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by Chris Kenworthy (scoobyhq@fcmail.com)
Disclaimer: I don't own the Buffy characters or the Charmed characters. Bringing them together is an idea in the public domain, though I believe I may be the first to actually do it. The results of bringing them together in this particular way are mine, all mine!
"Ah, you must be Trick," the man said. "Don't worry, we're secure here. Buckland."
"Yeah, I'm Trick."
"Well, then this is for you," the young woman said, holding out a silvery medallion towards him.
"Thanks," Trick said, accepting it. "You're Hannah Webster?"
"Pretty much."
"It's a nice name."
"Thanks, I put it together from a TV show, and a book," she replied, giggling. "You know how to use that thing?" Trick shook his head. "The catch opens by pressing in that knob at the end. Like a pocketwatch."
Trick had to smirk at that, which brought curious stares from Rex and Hannah. "Look at me - take a good look. Do I look like the kind of brother who ever had some fancy-dancy pocketwatch?"
Hannah giggled at that, and even Rex smiled. "Just push the button in and swing the front plate open."
Trick did so, and revealed an intricate net of silver mechanisms supporting two tiny crystalline half-spheres, which would clearly meet when the medallion was closed. "I'm thinkin' the blood of the target goes right here, huh?" he said, pointing to it.
"That it does," Buckland agreed. "Will there be anything else?"
"Well, as a matter of fact, I was told you might have some information I could use. About one of the Halliwell witches, who works here, right?"
"Yeah, Prue, the oldest."
"Which power does she have?"
Rex's face lit up in a calculating grin. "Well, that information wasn't included with Wilkins' deposit. You're gonna have to pay for it seperately."
"Let me guess," Trick said, smiling. "You don't take American Express."
"Not for information like this, no. A vampire like you must have something more interesting to offer."
"Hmm..." Trick pondered a second. "You trade in magic, right?" Rex and Hannah nodded. "Have any vampire blood in stock?"
The shocked looks on their faces told him what he needed to know. Quickly he picked up a clean-looking sampling beaker from the counter, drew his knife, and raked it lightly along his palm, letting blood drip into the beaker. When there was enough there, he drew out a hankerchief and wrapped it around the wound - it would heal in less than an hour.
"Many uses for it," he muttered, "including catalyzing vampirism."
"It doesn't work that way," Hannah informed him. "The blood must have come from a vampire who has just bitten the target for it to create a vampire."
"Normally," Trick asserted. "But there are ways to get around that restriction, and I know a smart girl like you can figure them out. Now, is this payment in full?"
Rex reached out to grab the beaker. "Prue is a telekinetic - she can move objects through magic."
"She splattered paint on me," Hannah grumped quietly.
Trick smiled and slipped the talisman into his pocket. "So my target is one of the other two. It's been nice doing business with you." He turned around and headed back to the elevator.
(Back to the Halliwells...)
"Shredded orchid petals and essence of granite," Piper muttered, tossing some items into a large saucepan. "You know, that witch's cauldron starter pack is really paying off."
"Yeah yeah," Phoebe said. "So, Prue, how does this finding spell work?"
"Uh, we say the chant over a compass," Prue began uncertainly, "and kind of flick our hands at it. It'll point us to the Knights."
"Okay. Do we need Piper to do it too?"
Prue shook her head, studying the Book of Shadows intently. "No, it looks like the two of us should be fine. I'm just... the entry on the Dark Knights referred me to the finding spells section, but there are a lot of them and I can't find... oh, there they are. Dark Knights." She scanned the entry for a few seconds, then passed the Book over to Phoebe, pointing at the appropriate spot.
"Okay," Phoebe said, taking a breath and signalling Prue when to begin:
Compass needle, straight and true
New labor do we have for you
Leave your quest towards the north
And guide us on our journey forth
Warriors black do roam the land
And slay the lost with cruel hand
Let your arrow guide our way
That we may find these ones this day
Dramatically, as they finished the rhyme, Prue and Phobe flicked their hands at the compass as requested, and the needle began to move. "It's orienting, it's orienting... no it's not," Phoebe complained. "It's just going round and round in a circle. What gives?"
"I'll check," Prue said, reaching over to consult the Book of Shadows again. "Oh, right. The Knights cannot be seen by white magic while they cloak themselves as mortals. The finding spell will only start to work when they drop the illusion and reveal their true form."
"Well then," Phoebe considered, "we'd better be ready to motor as soon as that happens, or someone else could die. Are those potions almost ready Piper?"
"Yeah, in just a second."
(On a street near the art gallery.)
"Okay, here goes nothing," Buffy said. Carefully she upended the perfume bottle onto her hand, and patted the fragrance onto her neck. She stopped in place, looking around and waiting. Nothing happened.
"Well, it's probably gonna take a few minutes," Willow said. "We should probably keep walking, meanwhile."
"Na," Buffy refuted her. "Stay here, keeping an eye out in all directions. You can't do that on the move."
"Good plan," Xander said, turning himself right angles to Buffy and staring in that direction. Willow and Oz followed suit, taking the other two bearings.
"So, any idea where that perfume came from, Buffy?" Willow asked out loud.
"Not really," Buffy answered. "Someone planted it in my luggage to mark me to these guys, figuring that I'd try it." She sighed, and smiled ruefully. "I probably would have, except that Cordy beat me to it."
"Hey," Oz interrupted. "We got bogies at ten-thirty. They match the description."
Buffy turned around and took a look. "Okay. Let's lead them over there, out of sight of the street." She pointed to a small park in the opposite direction. "The last thing I need is to get arrested for starting fights." She tapped the baseball bat she had scrounged up against her palm as she led the way.
Once they were in the middle of the park, she about-faced and turned to meet the approaching strangers, motioning her friends off to a safe distance. As Cordelia had said, they looked like ordinary young people, three guys and one girl, but there was an unmistakeable determination in the eye - these were hunters. The one in the lead looked at Buffy, and then opened his mouth and spoke with seeming effort. "Are you the Slayer?"
Buffy shrugged. There didn't seem to be much point in decieving them. If she told them she wasn't, they would either attack her anyway, or go away - and the whole point had been to settle with them. "One of them."
In the twinkling of an eye the ordinary young people changed. Now there were four figures all clad in black armor and carrying broadswords. A faint Willowish cry escaped from behind Buffy.
"This could be trouble," Buffy muttered to herself.
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