"Daughter of Rosenberg..."
Summary: One year after the events of "Groom of Rosenberg" Buffy
the Rosenberg Monster and her honey have returned to ask a special
favor of their creators Rosenberg and Praetorius...While Tara faces
the
more or less Big Bad...
Disclaimer: Would Joss want his name associated with this? I think
not...But anyway all BTVS characters remain the property of Joss
Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the
Vampire Slayer series...Though his brother Mort gets nothing...
Archived at the Cicelyverse page of the Buffy Rebecca verse,
www.geocities.com/buffyrebecca/Cicelypg.html
Part VII...
=93And just how did the sprinkler system get turned on?...=94 the
frustrated tone of an extremely annoyed Artemis McNab, proprietor of
Sunnydale=92s grandest collection of ghouls, freaks, and various demonic
and human denizens of the netherworld since the Master had passed on
to his just reward...A bored-looking police officer writing on his pad
beside him...An officer at the door, speaking to someone...Two other
officers searching around...One pausing to stare up at the large mummy
in open sarcophagus in an exhibit...
Didn=92t I see that guy lumbering down Phelps St. a year or so
ago?...With that looney Summers kid chasing him?...
=93Who knows, Art?...=94 security guard Bud shrugged at his fuming
cousin... =93The thing went off just after the alarms sounded...Right,
Lou?...=94
=93Yeah...Just started up while we were...=94 Lou paused at McNab=92s
fierce=
stare...
=93... =91while-we-were...=92 What?...What the hell did you two idiots
do?...=94
=93Us?...We didn=92t do anything...=94 Bud shook his head... =93Just what
yo=
u
told us about getting the last exhibits over to their spots...Then...=94
he waved a hand...
=93Yeah...=94 Lou nodded... =93We didn=92t do anything...It was just after
w=
e
opened up Dracula and...=94
=93I was supposed to open in two days!...What the hell, look at this
place...=94
=93It=92s not too bad, Art...=94 Bud tried... =93The rugs are dryin=92
fast =
and
we just gotta clean up a little and throw the exhibits=92 costumes in
the dryer...=94
=93Moron!...Those =91costumes=92 are either expensive or authentic and
priceless...Tell me you didn=92t try drying them...?!=94
=93Uh...No, not yet...=94 Bud hastily nudged Lou who quickly made a
mumbled excuse regarding the bathroom and hurried off to the back
where several exhibits=92 outfits had just begun tumbling in the
dryer...
=93Joey, you remember this guy?...=94 the officer still staring at the
mummy nudged his passing partner...Who paused to take a look...
=93Another one?...=94 Joey sighed up at the exhibit...
=93You know if we hadn=92t been here to turn things off...=94 Bud
carefully
noted...
McNab put up a hand... =93All right, all right...I=92ll have the alarm
company come in and check it out tomorrow...And the staff will take
care of the costumes...Just clean up the worst of the mess and keep an
eye out...Remember the system will be off, so don=92t goof off and take
a walk or a snooze...=94
=93Not a chance...Thanks, Artie...We=92ll get right to it...=94
=93I guess we=92re done here, then...Officer?...=94 McNab turned to the
third policeman just finishing his writing...
=93Just let us finish checking in here...Then we should take a look
outside, round back...Just in case the alarm didn=92t sound off on its
own...=94 the officer replied...
=93Fine...Then if you don=92t need me...=94 McNab began...
=93Excuse me, young man...=94 a voice at the front door...Addressing the
officer who=92d just informed a bespectacled tall British gentleman and
the group of voyeurish bystanders accompanying him that everything was
fine, false alarm, and the museum was closed....
Oh, Christ...McNab sighed at the sound...
=93McNab...=94 the Mayor entered, looking round, the Sunnydale police
chief in his wake...The officer at door and others in sight, instantly
acquiring intensely-devoted-to-duty looks...
=93I just heard...Was there a break-in?...=94
=93No, no...Your...=94 (idiot, with hand out 24/7) =93..Honor....=94 McNab
shook head...
=93That we know of...=94 the officer by his side insisted...
=93Ahhh....=94 the Mayor looked about... =93What=92s happened...To our
lates=
t
cultural addition...?=94
For which the payoffs to you and your Council to get permits probably
cost more than the whole construction and outfitting...McNab
thought...Bud taking the opportunity to join Lou in back...
=93Just a faulty alarm, Francis...=94 McNab explained....
=93We think...=94 the reporting officer noted, firmly...Eyeing the police
chief...Who nodded but bore a glum look, having been dragged from
dinner by the Mayor=92s insistent call...
=93In any case, no real harm done that we=92ve found...Your
boys...Er...=94
McNab eyed the Mayor=92s nervous look...Then the frowning female officer
just entering to report the front of the building showing no signs of
forced entry... =93...People...Were just about to get in back...=94
=93Good, good...Everyone on their toes?...Very good...I want you to
know, Artemis that this town appreciates your efforts to give us a new
cultural institution...=94
The female officer, reporting to her superior, the reporting officer,
eyed the fake blood of an exhibit depicting Jack the Ripper in mid-
career...
=93And bring in more economic activity...=94
Yeah, why not cash-in on the supernatural and the Undead?...The only
resources we got...The chief thought...But didn=92t we just spend two
million last year on another lawsuit claiming the town owed for not
protecting property from some Thing...The girl Monster or whatever
this time...Running amok?...
Now we=92re billing ourselves the capital of this sort of thing?...
=93...And that this administration will do everything in its power to
help make it a success...=94 the Mayor caught sight of a wax figure of
a comely young woman in Victorian attire being eviscerated by a
ghoulish, (hopefully likewise wax) figure...
Well, nothing you can=92t see on television...Or every now and then on
Main Street, after midnight...
(=93Now that sounds like a museum...=94 Angelus noted...
=93Dru?...What the devil is =91television=92...?=94
=93A monstrous evil to be inflicted on the world...=94 she noted
solemnly... =93But quite nice for the vampire insomniac shut-in by
daylight...=94)
=93Is that Chief Brodie in there?...=94 Giles=92 voice at the door
addressing the officer there... =93Would you tell him Rupert Giles would
like a word?...=94
Oh, God...The Chief sighed, hearing...
***
=93Think that was Oz...=94 Buffy noted... =93Say, Willow do spell good,
huh?...=94 happily... =93She gettin=92 better all time...=94
Unless she blow it and they all dead...she did not say...Giving
William an earnest look...
=93No...=94 he whispered back, firmly... =93And we=92d best vanish as well
before...=94 he grabbed at Buffy as a flashlight shone their way...They
backed away from the rear door of the museum, edging carefully toward
the wall leading to the rear gate...
=93Who=92s out there?!...Halt!!...Police!!!...=94 a stern cry...
=93Run!...=94 Will pulled Buffy...Both racing for the rear gate...Though
he held back, keeping pace with her somewhat lumbering (Thanks for
that great gross motor neural work, Red...) step...
=93Go, honey!!!...=94 Buffy urged him, trying to shove him along...As a
shot rang out...And cries to halt swelled behind them...
=93Me be...Oh...=94 she looked back, caught in a flashlight=92s glare,
then
gave a startled cry as William picked her from the ground...A shot
tearing through her coat...
=93Hey...My new coat...=94 And do you know how hard it was to find a
decent-looking coat in my size?... she fumed... =93Honey, me too
heavy....Put down...=94 As he raced clumsily with her in his arms...
Though perhaps not all that urgently...She rather enjoying the feeling
of being swept away...In her lover=92s arms...
Not really a common experience when one has reached seven feet in
height...And it wasn=92t likely a bullet would either of them much
damage...
Anyway, turnabout=92s fair play...The last couple of times, including
the fire at his crypt that had made Willow=92s return to extreme
reconstructive surgery necessary, had involved her carrying him...
=93Bud?...=94 within the museum Lou looked anxiously at his partner at the
sound of gunfire...
=93Just get to work and clam it...=94 Bud insisted...Refraining from
making any look toward the scene of action...
=93But if that=92s Miss Rosenberg and her friend they=92re shooting
at...Shouldn=92t we go tell them?...=94
=93She said leave it to her...We leave it to her...=94
=93But...She said it was just a college prank with the kid and all...=94
=93Prank my eye...Just zip it and be glad Art didn=92t notice the Dracula
and werewolf exhibits were missing...Yet...=94 Bud hissed...
Another shot...Stern calls to =93Halt!!=94...
Uh, boy...Bud sighed at Lou=92s anxious look...
***
=93So who?...=94 Officer Joey asked the female officer, both glancing
briefly back at the group of =91bystanders=92 just reluctantly allowed
entry by the summoned police chief...She shrugged...God knows...=94I=92ve
seen the English guy with the chief before...Some pal...=94
=93Isn=92t that girl the one we arrested for murder a few years
back?...=94
he stared at an alert-looking-while-trying-to-seem-nonchalantly-
bystanderly Faith...
=93Acquitted...And when we pulled her in two months ago fooling around
Greenwood Cemetery the Chief said she was another Summers case...Hands
off...=94
=93Another one?...Are they all with that government thing...?=94
=93I=92d guess so...But =91Summers case=92...So no questions...=94
=93Must be FBI at least...She dresses just like the Summers kid,
probably standard field agent...You know they say that =91kid=92 was
probably really thirty-something and maybe CIA to boot...=94
=93Joe...=94 warning look...
A puzzled and tad annoyed...This ain=92t no free street
performance...And the box office is closed... McNab by the Mayor
likewise eyeing the group...
=93Who=92s the Sherlock type and the others with Brodie?...=94
=93Rupert Giles, friend of Chief Brodie who works at our high
school...Librarian, I believe...=94 the Mayor, seeming interested in
moving the conversation along...
=93Just let us look around a moment or two when your people are
done...=94Giles asked Chief Brodie quietly... =93So far as I know it=92s
nothing serious but...=94
=93Librarian...?=94 McNab frowned...Particularly at an intent-looking Anya
who seemed to be making careful note of all the exhibits in sight...
Definite crowd appeal, she noted to Xander, nodding at the Ripper
exhibit...
Shouts and sounds...Including gunshots...From the rear now distracting
all...
***
Willow and Tara Cottage...Cute, as Anya indeed had said with repressed
sardonic air when the happy couple=92d moved in...On the
Rosenberg...Either we give =91em their own place on the place for a
wedding present or we=92re lucky to see Willow at Passover, Sheila
Rosenberg had reluctantly sighed...Estate...
(Passover?...Angelus stared...Oh, I get it... =93So...The mad human
ghoul woman doctor=92s Jewish...=94 he nodded wisely...That explains a
lot...
=93You just got that?...In the middle of the third tale?...=94 Spike eyed
him...
=93It=92s my vision from the possible future...She just happens to
be...That...=94 Dru, looking a bit...Wouldn=92t wish to offend
anyone...Must be true to my visions...
After all...Some of the nicest vampires I know were...)
=93Are you sure you can do this?...=94 Tara, anxiously...
=93Of course...Just let me concentrate...I can almost see the bullet...=94
Willow frowned, carefully positioned over the side of the unconscious
Oz on their kitchen...I think we=92ll getting a new one, Tara
thought...Table...Towels and ice packs staunching the flow of blood
which had resumed as Willow=92s spell had faded out...
=93Yeah, but maybe a doctor...?=94
=93It=92s only one bullet and not near a vital organ...I=92m perfectly
capable...Ennnugh...=94 she twisted around... =93Of...=94 Errrr...
=93Dealin=
g
with...=94 Arrrrr...Oz gave an unconscious moan...
Uh...
=93I thinking the bleeding=92s worse...Willow, this isn=92t a dead corpse
or=
collection of corpses you=92re cutting up...And you=92re just not that
good a surgeon...=94
=93Well, we can=92t take him to a hospital...Even if I thought he=92d live
long enough...Ooops...=94 she pulled back at the flow of blood...
=93Clamp...=94
=93Clamp...=94 Tara placed the surgical clamp in Willow=92s gloved, open
hand... =93Willow...We really don=92t know what we doing...He=92s gonna
die...=94
=93Don=92t worry...=92Sides, I can deal...Never lost a
patient...Permanently, anyway...=94 she removed her gloved hand, now
blood-covered, from Oz... =93That=92s got it for the moment...=94
=93I don=92t think Oz would appreciate the reanimated corpse
route...Willow...=94 worried glance at monitors... =93Oh, blood
pressure=92s dropping fast...=94
=93All right, fine...I=92ll try magics...=94 she looked at Tara=92s
uncertai=
n
face... =93There=92s no time now for anything else...Unless...=94 she
hesitated...
=93Andrew might be available...=94
Not quite that desperate a situation...Tara frowned...
Still...She sighed again, her native compassion overwhelming the
jealous twinge for the moment...
=93He is the best...=94 Willow noted... =93But probably too late to get
him
here now...Just let me focus...And try repeating my blood flow
spell...=94
I see the desired object in my head...I touch it with my mind...I feel
it...I...Holy crap...
=93What are you doing?...Willow, he=92s dying!...=94 Tara, urgently...
It=92s ok...The thing last year with Andrew just got me all
discombobulated in my thinking...And Oz and I did have quite a nice
thing going for a while...Natural that I might find myself thinking of
his...Ok, focus...Gay now...Happily married to the woman I love...Uh,
right...
Focus...Guy I used to love...Bullet...
Out she comes...Up, up...Focus...
=93Tara, I think I need some help here!...Tara...?!=94 she turned to see
Tara rather lost in thought...
=93Good heavens!...=94 Andrew exclaimed, staring at the two women...
Clearly a mixture of fantasy and nightmare...He eyed the shocked
Willow...People still wear nightcaps?..., then the now-coming -to-
awareness, Tara...Who glared a bit at him...
=93Andrew, we got a patient for you...=94 she indicated Oz...He took a
brief look...Hmmn...
Praetorius the physician kicking in, he raised hands and demanded
sterile gloves...And some decent lighting...
=93Nice...=94 Willow grinned at Tara, briefly...Putting as much admiration
as possible into the look...
=93Ladies...A little attention...Scalpel...=94 Praetorius frowned...Tara
slapped one...A less force required, he glared...Precious instruments
here...Into his hand...
=93By the way, very nice teleport, Ms. Rosenberg...=94
=93Wrong wiccan, Andy...=94 she nodded at Tara...Who was looking a bit
troubled now...
=93Ga....Uze...=94 a hard stare... =93Any time you=92d like, Ms.
Maclauy...=
=94
=93Oh...Sorry...=94 Tara handed the gauze...
=93So...Who is the young man?...Whose life I just saved...In the first
house call I=92ve made in ten years...=94 Andrew asked pleasantly...
Wait...He frowned, looking at Oz=92s face...
Oh, no...
Osborne...
I=92ve just pushed myself down to number three on the pole?...
=93Tara?...=94 Willow patted her... =93You might wanna sit down...That was
a=
lotta power you channeled...=94
=93Vlad?...=94 Tara whispered, staring...
Hmmn...? Andrew perking ears a bit...Willow staring...
=93What?...=94 Tara looked at the two...
***
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