Disclaimer: Joss Whedon and Mutant enemy get all the money, I just get the joy of writing.
 
The reviewers make me a happy author. Thank you so much!
 
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Chapter 20
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In a dilapidated warehouse in a small second floor office, a meeting of spies was taking place. The two original Kratash agents had been joined by two more male agents and another female agent. They sat around a battered table with pictures and notes spread out before them, the new arrivals listening intently as they were briefed on the situation.
 
“We have established that the child is due around midsummer local time,” the brown haired female was explaining. “The Slayer’s name is Buffy Summers. She lives with a master vampire known as Spike or William the Bloody.” She passed around a picture, taken with a telephoto lens of the two blonds leaving the Magic Box one evening.
 
The Latino looking Kratash took over. “They have a number of known associates. The Slayer lives with a younger sister.” He passed around pictures of Dawn. “We are not certain of her name, but she seems to attend the local high school. She associates with two witches, one of whom is apparently called Tara. We are unsure of the other’s name, but she definitely smells of strong magic. We should be careful with her.”
 
The female Kratash resumed. “The Slayer and the vampire spend a great deal of time at this store, the Magic Box. It is owned by a Rupert Giles and his business partner, Anya Jenkins. She is involved with a young man named Xander, who also appears to be a close friend of the Slayer.”
 
One of the new Kratash, who appeared as a well-built young African American man spoke up. “What are we looking for here?”
 
“We need to know the nature of the wards on the Slayer’s house. Although they are not up all the time, they seem to be up whenever the Slayer and vampire are gone. However, when they are home, they are a formidable pair, and attacking them may be difficult. We also need to know if she is planning to leave town. We know she is aware that we are observing her. She seems to have developed some way of detecting us, and it goes without saying that the vampire can as well,” said the Latino.
 
“How do we go about this then?” said another of the new Kratash, who looked like a typical blonde surfer type.
 
“We have a plan,” explained the brown haired female. “We do not have any reason to believe that either the sister or the friend, Xander, have any way of detecting our presence. We would like you,” she nodded at the black skinned Kratash, “to infiltrate this Xander’s work. He works in construction; try to find a way in.” The new agent nodded his assent.
 
The brown haired female turned to the last new agent, who was small and slight, and looked Asian in appearance. “I want you to infiltrate the younger sister’s school. See if you can befriend her. Find out all you can about her, their living arrangements, whatever you can.” The Asian agent nodded and studied a picture of Dawn, memorizing the face.
 
The Latino continued. “I want the rest of us to spend as much time as we can in that store. They spend a lot of time in there discussing things. I want to know what they talk about. I want to plant listening devices, audio and video. Never go in looking the same twice, and if you see either the Slayer or the vampire there, get out as fast as possible. We must not be caught.”
 
“We should all report here nightly. If anyone turns up anything else, we need to know. Now let’s get to work.” The five agents bent down over the scattered documents, learning everything they could about their prey.
 
**************************
 
A few more weeks passed. Buffy was into her sixth month and was starting to feel a bit like a walking weather balloon. She still looked normal when she went out, thanks to the amulet, but she found her movement getting more restricted by the day. Her balance was off, she found herself getting winded earlier, and she had gone from being unable to stomach anything to wanting to eat the designs off the plates. She was also beginning to admit to herself, reluctantly, that patrols were becoming a bit of a problem.
 
The current patrol was a case in point. She and Spike were walking through cemeteries, but Spike was doing most of the work. She had been able to dust a couple of vamps that decided to rush her, but otherwise she found that her kicks weren’t as high as before, and she kept feeling off balance. She was able to do the job with fists alone, but it cramped her style. She found herself feeling a bit down after the last vamp fell to Spike’s stake and they headed off toward the Magic Box.
 
Something the matter pet? Spike wondered silently as they walked. You seem blue tonight.
 
Buffy sighed. I think I’m going to have to stop patrolling. My balance is just so wonky, and the kicks are getting harder and more awkward by the day. Between that and the lack of sleep, I’m just dragging all the time.
 
You know I’ll take care of patrolling for you. Don’t have to worry about that, he reassured her.
 
It’s not that, she explained. I just feel… useless or something. It’s frustrating not to be able to do everything.
 
Spike stopped and turned to her, stroking her face. “Buffy Summers,” he said tenderly. “You may be exasperating, bossy, and a cold-blooded murderer of the English language, but you are not, and never will be, useless.” He pulled her into a sweet, lingering kiss that brought a smile to her face.
 
“Thanks, Spike,” she said with a smile. They turned and walked hand in hand to the Magic Box. Giles had asked them to stop by after patrol, saying that there was someone he wanted them to meet. They made their way through the dark streets until they were pushing the door open to greet the assembled Scoobies.
 
“Ah, good evening,” Giles said. Standing next to Giles was a small middle aged woman, with short graying hair and light gray eyes. “Allow me to introduce you to Lucy Carrier. She is the seer that Wesley introduced me to. Lucy, this is Buffy and Spike.”
 
“A pleasure to meet you,” Lucy said, shaking hands with them both. She looked quizzically at Buffy, then at Giles. “You said she was expecting?”
 
“Oh, the amulet,” Buffy said. “I always forget when I have it on.” She pulled it off and the others boggled a bit at the sight of her sudden transformation into an obviously pregnant person.
 
“Ah, there we are,” Lucy said. Lucy studied her carefully. Moving close, she held her hands out and said, “May I?” Buffy and Spike exchanged a quick look, then Buffy nodded. Lucy gently rested her hands on Buffy’s bump, closing her eyes and concentrating. Buffy’s skin felt pleasantly warm under the seer’s touch, but she struggled to control her nervousness.
 
Lucy tilted her head, with a look of puzzlement on her face. She concentrated for several minutes, crinkling her brow, as if she were listening intently. Suddenly her eyes flew open as she gasped and released Buffy, stepping back with wide, astonished eyes.
 
“What is it?” Buffy asked. “Is everything okay?” Buffy trembled slightly, and Spike moved over to reassure her.
 
“Yes, just… I need to sit down a moment.” Lucy made her way over to a chair and dropped into it, looking at Buffy with open-mouthed awe.
 
“What did you see?” Spike asked impatiently. Buffy sat down as well and Spike stood behind her, massaging her shoulders reassuringly.
 
“Light,” the seer said in a hushed voice. “I saw light. Endless light. Every shade of white imaginable. Your child will be the source of unimaginable power.”
 
“Was that all you saw?” asked Giles.
 
Lucy shook her head. “There was a shadow, trying to block the light. Like a thousand dark hands reaching for a glowing orb, trying to crush it, block it out. The Dark Ones are after the child.”
 
“The Dark Ones?” Buffy said, her voice soft with fear. “Who are they?”
 
“I don’t know,” said Lucy. “It was like that phrase just came into my head. Maybe it is what they call themselves. The child is a force for good, and they cannot abide it.”
 
“The baby’s not a demon then?” Spike asked.
 
“No. The child is a force for good, but her exact nature is unclear. Not demonic though. Almost too bright to look at.” Lucy looked up at them both. “You must guard this child. She has an important destiny to fulfill. She will save the world.”
 
The Scoobies all stood in stunned silence. Finally Buffy spoke up. “Thank you. I… I needed to know what I was carrying. It means a lot.”
 
Lucy stood up, and so did Buffy. Lucy gave the Slayer a hug and said, “You’ve got a hard road ahead of you. Be strong.” To Spike she said, “Guard them well.”
 
“Until the end of the earth,” Spike promised quietly. Lucy nodded and gathered her things to go.
 
Giles showed Lucy out to her car while the others stood around awkwardly. Finally Xander spoke up in a halting voice. “Buffy? Spike? I… I want to apologize. I haven’t been as helpful as I could have been. I let my past prejudices get in the way of being a friend, and I’ve said some things I shouldn’t have. Can… can you…”
 
Buffy gave Xander a hug. “It’s okay, Xander. And thank you.” She released him and he held out a hand for Spike to shake. Spike took his hand firmly and nodded his understanding. The others felt varying degrees of relief, as if an elephant had finally walked out of the room.
 
Giles came back in and said, “Well, I believe that was worth the effort it took to get her here.”
 
“So who are these Dark Ones?” asked Tara as they all sat down.
 
Buffy turned to Anya. “In your travels, did you ever encounter any race of demons that called themselves that?”
 
Anya shook her head. “No. But there are lots of dimensions out there. I mostly hung out here and in Arashmaharr.”
 
“I just had a thought,” Willow interjected. “These things can’t be from our dimension, or they can’t easily get to our dimension. If they did, why would they have to employ spies? If they really want to grab Buffy or her baby, wouldn’t they just come here and try to do it? So either they’re not capable of getting here, or they are worried about defeating the Slayer or something.”
 
“That is a possibility,” Giles said. “So we can eliminate beings that easily jump dimensions, and we can eliminate pretty much all the common demons.”
 
“That doesn’t help that much though,” Xander said. “I mean, yay, we get to look up demons that don’t exist here so no one has written about them.”
 
“Maybe they need to do some sort of spell to open a portal between dimensions. If that’s the case, they probably need a lot of information to get the spell right,” Tara reasoned. “I mean, if they do it wrong, they could end up anywhere.”
 
“Could the baby be some sort of key, like Dawn was?” Buffy wondered. “Could there be some other Glory-equivalent out there?”
 
Giles frowned. “I suppose we need to consider that.” He seemed to wrestle with his thoughts for a moment, then came to a decision. “I think I need to make a trip to England.”
 
“For how long?” asked Buffy anxiously.
 
“For a few weeks at least,” Giles answered. “The council has extensive resources about this sort of thing.”
 
“I still don’t trust those wankers,” said Spike. “Don’t want them objecting to our marriage with a stake.”
 
“I will keep the true reason for my research quiet, rest assured,” said Giles. “But I think I should leave as soon as possible. We are running out of time.” He looked pointedly at Buffy’s expanding midsection.
 
“Less than three months,” Buffy said, rubbing her belly thoughtfully. Looking up at Giles she said, “Please hurry back?”
 
“I will, I promise,” Giles reassured her. Then the meeting broke up and the Scoobies went their separate ways.
 
************************
 
Dawn rummaged in her locker, trying not to cause an avalanche as she fished her History book from the bottom of the pile. Why is it the rule that whatever you want is on the bottom? Is there some physics thing that I should have learned that explains that? Really annoying! She wrestled the book out and slammed the locker before the rest of the stuff cascaded out, and considered it a temporary victory. Shouldering her bag, she was about to move off down the hall when she noticed an unfamiliar girl standing nearby. She looked Chinese, wearing a baggy sweater and a plaid skirt, and looking confusedly around her. “Are you lost?” Dawn asked helpfully.
 
“Yes,” said the girl, sounding relieved that someone had noticed her. “I need to talk to the guidance counselor, but I have no idea where that is.”
 
“Come with me. I go by there on the way to History,” Dawn said. “I’m Dawn Summers.”
 
“I’m Phoebe Chen,” she said. “We just moved here from near L.A. We haven’t even finished unpacking yet, but my folks are way traditional about the whole education thing, and didn’t want me to miss a moment.” She rolled her black eyes.
 
“I’m a freshman, how about you?” Dawn asked.
 
“Same,” Phoebe answered. “Did you grow up here?”
 
Dawn shook her head. “No. We used to live in L.A. too. We moved here with my mom when my folks divorced.”
 
“Does your mom work at the university? My dad teaches there, and it seems like everyone we’ve met so far works there.”
 
“My mom died last year,” Dawn said with a sad shrug. “I live with my sister and her husband.”
 
“Sorry to hear that,” Phoebe said sympathetically. “Is your sister cool at least?”
 
“She’s not bad. Although she and my brother-in-law are also heavy with the ‘thou shalt go to school’ thing, so no advantage there.”
 
“I guess you can’t win,” Phoebe said.
 
“Guess not. Anyhow, here’s the guidance office,” Dawn said as they arrived. “I’ve got to run to History, but it was nice meeting you!”
 
“Thanks for your help. Nice meeting you too!” said Phoebe. She gave a little wave then watched as Dawn disappeared into her classroom. She turned and walked the other way, her dark eyes swirling as she went to make her report.
 
****************************
 
“Harris! Come over here!”
 
Xander put down the bucket of tools he was carrying and went over to where his boss was standing next to a large, muscular black man. “Harris. This is Joe Baker. New guy. I want him with you working on framing the bathrooms on the second floor.”
 
“Xander Harris,” said Xander, extending his hand. “Follow me, I’ll show you the ropes.”
 
“Thanks,” said Joe. He picked up his tool belt and followed Xander up to the second floor of the apartment building that was the current project. “How’s this guy to work for?”
 
“Jim? He’s okay. He’s a little cranky before his third cup of coffee though. If you want to ask for a day off, bring in donuts in the morning and ask him right before quitting time. He’ll be putty in your hand. “
 
“Good to know,” Joe laughed. They had arrived at their work site and soon they were working together on framing various new rooms. The new guy seemed a bit awkward, but did fine once Xander gave him a few pointers.
 
“Ever work construction before?” Xander asked.
 
“Is it that obvious?” Joe said ruefully. “I helped my dad around the house, but this is my first real construction job.”
 
“Well, you seem to have a knack for it, so I’m sure you’ll pick it up. Do you live around here?”
 
“Just moved down here from Seattle area,” Joe answered. “Got tired of all the goddamn rain up there.”
 
“Well we got less of that down here at least,” Xander said. They lapsed into silence for a while, hammering things and placing two by fours until lunch time. They both brought out their coolers and sat down to enjoy a break in the recently framed room.
 
“So you married or anything?” Joe asked, making conversation as they munched their sandwiches.
 
“Engaged,” Xander said. “Her name’s Anya.”
 
“What does she do?”
 
“She works at the Magic Box. There seems to be a market in this town for people who like to pretend to be witches and stuff like that.” Xander felt no need to explain to this newcomer the reality of life in Sunnydale.
 
“So when’s the big day?” Joe wondered.
 
Xander shrugged. “Haven’t set a firm date yet. She wants to invite all sorts of far flung relatives and friends I’ve never met and she can’t seem to figure out when they’ll all be able to come.” This was true enough. Trying to get D’Hoffryn there was difficult, and Anya refused to even consider leaving him off the guest list. Given that he was pretty much the head Vengeance Demon of them all, it probably was wise not to snub him. Besides, they hadn’t found a good time to break the news to the Scoobies, what with Buffy and Spike and all that, so they really hadn’t progressed very far in their planning.
 
“Makes me happy to be single,” Joe said. After a few more minutes of munching he said, “Where’s the nightlife in this town?”
 
“A lot of folks end up at the Bronze,” Xander said. “They get a lot of good live bands, the drinks are pretty cheap, and the crowd is pretty lively.”
 
“I’ll have to check it out sometime,” Joe said, clearing up his wrappers. “You and your girl go there often?”
 
“We usually go with a group of friends on Saturdays,” Xander said.
 
“Maybe I’ll see you there one of these weekends.” Then Joe got up, stretched, and got back to work. He chatted idly with Xander the rest of the afternoon, talking about his home in Seattle, his move, his desire to find a better apartment, and other small talk. In between he managed to learn that Anya more or less ran the magic shop, together with an older English man named Giles. He learned the hours for the shop, and the fact that they were usually not there on Saturday nights.
 
Xander found the day passing quickly. This new guy was a talker, but seemed easygoing and had less of a ‘me tough guy’ attitude than some of his other coworkers. Xander enjoyed his work, but sometimes found himself on the receiving end of a fair amount of ribbing due to his odd girlfriend and tendency to hang out with his high school friends. He let most of it slide, but he found it a bit refreshing to talk to another guy who didn’t know his history. At the end of the day Xander turned to Joe and said, “Definitely come by the Bronze on Saturday. I’d like you to meet Anya.”
 
“Thanks, man. I’ll see what I can do. See you tomorrow,” Joe said as he picked up his gear and left with a wave. I think the others will be pleased with the report, he thought as he headed off toward the meeting with the other Kratash.
 
********************************
 
Anya rang up another sale and remarked, “Business seems up lately. Is there a full moon or something?”
 
Willow, who was using her laptop to do further research into possible matches for ‘the Dark Ones’, paused and looked up the current phase of the moon. “Nope,” Willow said. “I guess we’re just popular.”
 
“I thought that blond guy was going to handle every item in the store,” Anya said. “I was tempted to pat him down before he left to make sure he didn’t steal something.”
 
“I think Xander would have gotten jealous,” Willow teased. She searched for a few more minutes and slumped back in her chair. “And what kind of name is ‘the Dark Ones’ anyhow? That’s real original. We’re demons and we’re dark. I know! Let’s call ourselves ‘the Dark Ones’. Sheesh.”
 
Anya came over to look over Willow’s shoulder. After studying what Willow had been looking at she said, “Have you tried looking for something that translates to ‘the Dark Ones’? I mean, maybe their name doesn’t have any other human language equivalent, but that’s as close as Lucy’s mind could get. A lot of demon tongues are pretty obscure and hard to translate.”
 
“I’ll try,” said Willow doubtfully. But even with a different focus, Willow found she was getting nowhere. Giles had been gone for a week now, and although he sent email updates from time to time, they didn’t sound terribly encouraging.
 
The door rang and Tara trooped in, flopping in a chair and dropping her bookbag. “I thought my Philosophy professor was going to succeed in actually making time stop. That woman would bore Plato to tears.” She noticed Willow’s frown and asked, “No joy on the research front, huh?”
 
“No joy whatsoever,” Willow sighed. “Giles is striking out too.”
 
The door rang again as a gray haired man walked in wearing a battered tweed blazer and spectacles. Looks like Giles’ long lost brother, thought Anya as she went up to him. “May I help you?”
 
“Yes, I was looking for a certain book of charms,” he said in a high pitched voice. He showed Anya the title written on a sheet of paper and she led him over to the books-for-sale section to look for it.
 
Tara had been concentrating on reading the message from Giles over Willow’s shoulder. She straightened up and took a look at the person talking to Anya. His aura was gray all over, just like the demon they had seen in the store. “Willow, can you come into the training room with me for a moment?” she asked in a conversational tone. Willow looked quizzical, but followed Tara out the door. When the training room door closed, Tara said in a low voice, “That man. He’s one of those Kratash demons. His aura is the same as the other one.”
 
“Are you sure?” Willow asked.
 
“Yes, I’m sure,” Tara answered. “What do we do?”
 
Willow thought for a second. “Call Buffy and Spike. I’ll keep him contained until they get here.” They left the training room, Tara heading for the office to make the phone call and Willow heading back into the main room, where the tweedy-looking man was paying for his book. Willow muttered an incantation under her breath. Her eyes went slightly darker for a moment, and then she said, “Arretio.” The man froze in mid movement like a statue.
 
Anya was indignant. “What are you doing? That’s a paying customer!”
 
“Tara saw his aura. He’s a Kratash demon,” Willow explained. “Do we have something to tie him up with? I can’t hold this spell forever.”
 
Anya looked closely at the man, and saw the telltale swirling black in his eyes. She quickly went into Giles’ office and found some rope. Together she and Tara bound the Kratash’s ankles together and tied his arms firmly to his sides. They tipped him none too gently onto the floor and tied him up further, with him still in an awkward pose, arm extended to receive his change. When they finished, Willow muttered another phrase and sat down, a little tired from the effort of holding the spell. The Kratash struggled a bit, but found himself well and truly caught.
 
“Did you get a hold of the others?” Willow asked as her heart rate slowed to its usual pace.
 
Tara nodded. “They’re on their way. Spike is coming over now. Buffy has to wait for Dawn to get home.”
 
About ten minutes later the cellar door burst open and Spike walked in, duster flapping behind him. “Where is it?” he asked. He then noticed the tied up Kratash on the floor and growled. The Kratash’s eyes widened in fear.
 
“Spike,” Tara warned. “If you kill him we can’t get information from him, remember.”
 
“Don’t worry, Glinda. Not going to kill him. At least not yet.” He got down next to the Kratash and hauled him up by the shirt collar. “But let’s get things straight here mate. You are going to die eventually. The question is whether you die quickly, or slowly and extremely painfully. The Kratash swallowed, but said nothing. Anya went to flip the ‘Closed’ sign on the door as Spike hauled the Kratash up and tossed him into a chair. “Talk, Kratash,” Spike growled.
 
Sweat ran down the human mask of the demon who kept silent but looked completely terrified. Spike lost patience and took hold of the demon’s hand. The women watched in horror as he proceeded to methodically break the demon’s fingers one by one. The creature howled in agony as Spike got to the last finger, and then squeezed the whole hand, grinding the entire mess together. “Please. No more,” the creature begged pathetically.
 
“How many of there are you?” Spike demanded, barely letting up on the demon’s hand.
 
“Five of us. I just got here a couple days ago,” he gasped.
 
“What were you told to do?” Spike asked, looming over him.
 
“My job was to come to the shop, see what you were up to.”
 
The door rang and Buffy stalked in at that point. “This him?” she asked Spike, indicating the tied up, groaning figure.
 
“Yeah. Says he’s one of five. His job was to spy on the shop,” Spike said.
 
Buffy moved past Spike and grabbed the creature by the throat. “What do you want with our baby?”
 
“We… don’t know… the client,” he said with a struggle. “They just… want to know… when the child is due.”
 
Buffy released the demon with a gesture of contempt. “Guys? Conference,” she said. They moved together into the corner, keeping a constant watch on their prisoner. “So what do we do with this guy? Do we keep him alive so he can lead us to the others, or do we kill him?”
 
“I’m all in favor of ripping the bastard’s head off, but you know me…” Spike’s words were cut off by a noise from the Kratash. He writhed and groaned in his chair, straining at his bonds until with a flash he went up in flames.
 
“Fire!” shrieked Anya. Tara kept her head and grabbed a fire extinguisher, playing it over the demon as quickly as she could, but it was too late. Willow was completely stunned, but Buffy happened to look out the window to see a figure turn and flee. She ran out the door and noticed a Latino man walking rapidly down the street. Her demon detection amulet grew warm as she picked up the pace and chased him. He looked behind him, noticed her, and turned quickly into an alley. She ran as fast as her pregnant body would allow, but found the alley empty when she got there. Frustrated, she returned to the store.
 
The fire was out, but all that remained of the Kratash demon was a smoldering pile of flesh. “What the hell was that?” Buffy asked.
 
“Magic,” said Spike. “Can smell it. Whatever you chased out there used some kind of incendiary spell from outside the window. I’ve heard of the Kratash doing stuff like that before – they’d rather kill their own than fail a client. The other guy must have followed this one and acted when he saw that we had him.”
 
“What do we do now?” Willow asked. She was a bit alarmed at the viciousness displayed by both Spike and Buffy, although she understood where they were coming from.
 
“Could we please get this… thing out of my store? I am missing potential customers here!” said Anya.
 
“I’ll dump it down in the tunnels,” Spike said. “But we know there are four others out there. We’re going to need to keep our eyes open.”
 
“Do we need more of these amulets?” Buffy asked. “I mean, Tara can see their auras, Spike can smell them, and I can feel the amulet get warm, but everyone else could be talking to them any time and never know it.”
 
“Good idea,” said Tara. “Willow and I can get to work on that right away.”
 
“I’m going to go back and give Dawn the update,” Buffy said. “Everyone just make sure to keep a lookout for anyone unusual until we get the rest of the amulets made.” She gave Spike a kiss, and he stroked her cheek tenderly. Then he picked up the charred remains of the Kratash and headed for the cellar, while Buffy headed for home. Anya grumbled as she sprayed air freshener and vacuumed the carpet while Willow and Tara started working on the amulets.
 
***********************
 
It was dark when the four remaining Kratash gathered for their nightly briefing. As the Kratash who called herself Phoebe Chen came in she remarked, “We’re missing someone.”
 
The brown-haired woman said, “Our fifth agent was compromised. One of the witches who associates with the Slayer can apparently see auras and recognized him. We had to eliminate him.”
 
“Did he give up much information?” asked the Kratash named Joe.
 
“They know there are five of us, but I was able to get to him before they got much else,” said the Latino. “I very nearly got caught myself. Even pregnant, the Slayer is fast.”
 
“Fortunately, he was able to get into the store under a different guise earlier in the day and managed to plant the camera. We can hear and see everything that goes on there now.” The brown-haired Kratash pulled out a small black screen that no computer geek on Earth had ever seen. She touched a few controls and soon they all could hear and see Anya cleaning, and Willow and Tara bent over spellbooks. “Apparently, they provided the Slayer with an amulet to sense our presence, and they plan to give them to the rest of their associates as well.”
 
“How can we possibly get near them then?” asked Phoebe. “I’ve managed to get some information from the sister, but not enough to break through their wards.”
 
“We’ll have to think of something else,” said the Latino. “Tell us what you found out.”
 
“Her name is Dawn. She lives with just her sister and the vampire,” said Phoebe. “Their father is gone, and their mother is dead. From what I gather, her sister and the vampire are very protective of her. I was hoping to spend more time with her tomorrow, but if they’re going to be making amulets, then I guess not.”
 
“What is your report?” The question was directed at Joe, who said, “I spent the day with Xander Harris. He is engaged to the girl Anya, who helps run the Magic Box with Rupert Giles. They often go out to this place called the Bronze on Saturdays. Unclear if the vampire and the Slayer go as well, but that might be a night to stake out their house, see if we can get inside.”
 
The lead Kratash agents considered for a moment. Then the brown-haired woman spoke up. “I think we need to do a couple of things. You two,” she indicated Phoebe and Joe, “Are going to stake out their house. Stay in the car as much as possible so the vampire doesn’t pick up your scent. We are going to look into some way to defeat all the protective spells on the Slayer herself. If she can no longer hide her pregnancy or detect us, it will restrict her movement somewhat and take away some of her advantage.”
 
“Remember,” admonished the Latino. “Don’t get caught. The Controller’s going to be angry already when he hears that another agent was compromised. All of our heads are going to roll if we screw up any further.” The others nodded in understanding and went to work.
 
TBC