Fic: Finding the Slayer (7d/?) B/W PG

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"We three, we merry band ?."

"Shuss Cordelia!" Willow hissed at her. They had been able to slip into the hospital through a broken window in the basement. They had made it as far as Buffy?s floor only to come up against more Council men outside of the Slayer?s room. There were two Council members standing shoulder to shoulder in front of Buffy?s door. She briefly wondered if they had been there this morning when she left in a huff. Willow assumed they were invisible to the one police officer napping in the hard plastic chair by the door. There was another police officer by the stairs and one near the elevators.

By the distinct lack of medical personnel on this end of the floor, Willow could tell that the rest of the rooms down Buffy?s hallway had been cleared of patients. It was a relief to the Hacker to know that if she failed, no innocent people would get hurt by the Council.

"Will, what?s the plan now?" Xander asked from behind her. They were pressed up against the wall by the nurse?s desk which was manned by only one nurse. Even though she had her back to them, Willow could tell that it was Nurse Robbie from the night before.

"Nurse Robbie," she hissed under her breath with as much venom as she could place in her voice. Willow knew that the nurse couldn?t hear, but that didn?t keep her from wanting to ? she didn?t know what she would have done to the nurse.

"Whoa, she?s the one that drugged Buffy?" Xander asked, and Willow saw his hand clinching at his side as he reigned in his temper.

"Yes," she answered him. Willow didn?t know if she was madder at the council?s lackey or at herself. She should have been able to tell that the nurse was doing something bad to Buffy just by the way she had acted. If the nurse hadn?t given Buffy that last dose of whatever it was they were using ?. ?Stop it! Just stop it.? Willow told herself. ?It happened. It?s done and over, we have to figure out what to do now.?

"We're going to need a distraction," she said lost in thought. If the council had the nurse in their pocket, then barring a medical emergency from Buffy?s room, no one was going to enter it. So that meant they just couldn?t slip in behind a nurse or a doctor. And the way the council men were arranged, none of the Scooby?s could get by them without touching one. One thing she was sure of--the council soldiers would be well-trained. According to Xander their guns were fully automatic which meant they could mow down anyone invisible or not once they had a target.

?What to do? A simple diversion won?t work. And when Mrs. Summers and the police come back it will be to late.?

"Ok, do you guys have any ideas?" Willow asked Xander and Cordy.

TBC in Part Eight