16057/The Librarian: Buffy knows this Place.. Doesn't She

The Librarian: Buffy knows this Place.. Doesn't She
Date of Scene:	16 February 2024
Location:	Harry Dresden's Office, Kingston Falls
Synopsis:	The plot thickens as Harry, Buffy, and Willow think they know who sent calling card.. and why.
Cast of Characters:	Willow Rosenberg, Harry Dresden, Buffy Summers
Tinyplot:	The Librarian

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Willow Rosenberg has posed:
It had been a few days since she had received the calling card. And despite her scrying again, and again - even with the added oomph of the computer - for which she had to scry away from Harry, d'oh! - she still didn't get a firm idea of what it was, and who sent it.

It was time to drag in Buffy and ask her. Even though she felt kind of stupid not knowing herself.

It was a mystery. At least for Willow!

"Buffy is coming over for pizza, and together we'll go to the bottom of this. Every time I scry it by myself it stops at the churchyard. Maybe she's got an idea?" In fact, Willow was beginning to have a theory on the calling card, and Buffy may be the key to unravelling it. No sense in telling Harry yet, until Buffy could confirm it.

And the best part was? She was having pizza with two of her dearest friends to boot!

Harry Dresden has posed:
The place is clean at least. Maybe a little cluttered. The trap door to the lab is closed and the carpet over it. Harry has a a six of Mac's homebrew chilled and sitting in the living area. Nobody tell Mac or the world might end.

He nods, frowning thougtfully,"Pizza and council sounds good. It is never bad to have another point of view. We can ask Bob too, but you can be sure he'll want something and you won't like it."

Bob is a nuisance. A very powerful and wise nuisance, but a nuisance none the less. Unaware he isn't being told everything because, well nobody has told him, Harry gets settled on the couch and pats the couch. The walking fur tank that is Mouse comes to his side and Harry pets him and waits for Buffy to arrive so they can maybe shine a light.

Buffy Summers has posed:
There was a knock on the door at precisely that moment. For while a Wizard was never early nor late but precisely on time? Slayers tended to be late. Often. It sort of came with that whole monsters showing up at inopportune moments which led to delays in arrival.

She caught a glimpse of something out the corner of her eye and plucked a tiny twig out of the edge of her hair then quickly finger combed the rest with one hand as she was standing on the doorstep, making sure no other debris was evident by the time they might open the door.

She was in her working clothes. Tonight that was some jeans and a light colored sweater. A jacket over the top of that, which held all the tools of the trade--so to speak. No messenger bag today.

Her other hand was occupied with a stack o' pizzas. There were five boxes total, which might seem like overkill but there was a method to the madness. To add to the knock she called out, "I come bearing sustenance!"

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"Yay!" Willow was nervous. Not only because she had her over to Harry's. But, even she knows how silly it was to let something fester in your mind for years! And she had let it fester. To the point when she got the calling card, something in her brain said: 'This is it."

Although.. it could be totally unrelated to the Librarian!

Just *something* niggled.

Opening the doors, she waved Buffy on in - after she let the wards down. Harry had a different method then she did. She still has to sit and talk to him about their differences. For science! And, let's face it, Willow had bunches of wards placed by different people at the Hugo building apartment.

"Come in! Come in! You know Harry. The big furry suck is Mouse. Did you get my special one?" Cheese pizza to exact. The rest? Whatever Harry and Buffy wanted.

Harry Dresden has posed:
Looking up from the couch, Harry watches Willow go to let Buffy in. He doesn't need to follow since she can lower the wards and set them again. Different or not, she has the proverbial key.

He does get up when Willow and Buffy arrive. He and Mouse both get a strange look in their face when she calls Mouse a big furry suck. Question for later maybe.

From behind them, the over size cat, nearly bobcat sized, runs past them both. Nothing in this place is small it seems. Harry offers Buffy a polite nod,"Hello Buffy. Make yourself at home."

Buffy Summers has posed:
"Whoa!" Buffy found herself spinning in place, lifting the pizza boxes up high to be sure she didn't drop the boxes in the process as she watched the bobcat thing run past. She eyed where it had gone a moment. Then she focused on Mouse, shaking her head a little bit. "I think we met once. Or twice."

As though the dog understood. She was losing her mind. Buffy then focused on the actual humans in the room. Or Homo Magi since they were both special. "Of course. Cheese for you." She slid the box over to Willow. "And supreme for me without onions or peppers." Which was it really a supreme then? Cause that just meant olives and mushrooms with the meats. "Your special order as well." Passed to Harry. Which still left two boxes. "I wasn't sure what to get for Mouse so I got two. One meat lovers and one dessert pizza that is just peanut butter on it. If he can't have the meats, I'll take it home later." Joyce and Dawn would enjoy it.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow giggles and looks to Mouse. "Go on! We bought it for you."

Taking her pizza, she sits down on one end of the couch. "Really, I have a question for you. Well a puzzle. I hoped you might have remembered a church yard from years past? I've been scrying the calling card and it keeps taking me to this abandoned churchyard. The graveyard is kept up, so it isn't quite abandoned. The city only has a deed that goes hundreds of years, and is perpetually owned by the Church? At least they pay taxes on it. Someone does."

Of course she forget the obvious: Why she is scrying that particular thing.

Harry Dresden has posed:
Mouse and a pizza all his own. Willow and the Buffy person are officially his kind of people. Pizza down, Mouse engaged.

Harry takes a seat and grabs a home brew to go with is food,"Get a drink if you want or there might be a Pepsi or two in the icebox."

He takes a slice of pizza and starts to eat, waiting and listening to any input Buffy might have. There can be some annoying times when the scry just won't work. There are alot of graveyards in the world,even if they had a partial name it could be difficult.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Buffy settles down with her own pizza after setting down the one for Mouse. The extra is set on a nearby surface for the time. Then she realizes she didn't get a drink and hops up to do as suggested by Harry with a quick murmured, "Thank you."

Then she was back, drink in hand and sitting as she popped open the lid on her own pizza. She took a slice as she listened to Willow.

The thing about Buffy and Willow? She trusted her bestie implicitly. There was never a reason not to. And as such, she didn't think to question. She figured for Willow to be looking, it was important to the redhead in some way.

"Been to a lot of graveyards and a lot of churches. Guessing this isn't one on my usual patrol through or you'd know it. What's the calling card?"

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
Willow blushed. "I forgot to show you."

Handing it over, it was the size of a playing card. Black. With only an address. No time. No who to respond to. Nothing.

"It showed up at my university office."

That was strange as well. Who knew that Willow was a TA at Columbia, that could send a calling card that Willow could not scry - other than what she already knew by using the address.

Harry Dresden has posed:
The large cat bounds up onto a shelf and watches the gathering humans. He doesn't seem interested in food or the business at hand. He yawns and lays his head down.

He frowns thoughtfully at the card and the descrption of how it arrived. Annoying not knowing how it got there. Detective wants to chase facts and chase leads. Made far worse by the fact that none of that has worked thus far.

Buffy Summers has posed:
Using her non-pizza hand, Buffy took the card in her fingers. Then she examined the item, turning it over, looking back at the address again and her brow tightening. "This...is not a good." And that was never something one wanted to hear, doubly so from a Slayer perhaps.

She passed the card back then took a sip of her drink before she continued. "I know that address. Went there before. Creepy old woman there who said I had a smart mouth and no filter." She pursed her lips a moment. "Not wrong but still."

Because the quip and sarcasm were strong with Buffy. She also tended to speak before she thought through what she was saying, thus no filter.

"She was involved in that whole book thing from back when, involving some priest and items that needed to be destroyed. It was very Harry Potter Horcruxes feeling," she admittedly, now that she had that reference in her system thanks to Xander.

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"That's what.." Let's face it. Willow was hoping it was about the Librarian. "I thought."

In truth, at first she had almost forgotten about it - even though she had all the ritual pieces, except for the book. And every now and then she would get to idea to scry it. Mostly? Nothing happened. Occasionally she got blips. But when she went further in her scrying, the just disappeared till the next time the urge was upon her.

This time? There was nothing. Just snow.

"Why would she be contacting me?" Except she did have those things. But they wouldn't do anything without the booK. Given the choice to hand them back to this lady (who Willow did not like, one bit, without knowing her!) or keeping them tucked away where no one was aware of them..

And how did she know that Willow had them??

"Do you think I should go?"

Buffy Summers has posed:
"No, I definitely don't think you should go. At all."

But Buffy knew that once Willow got something into her head, she probably wouldn't be deterred either. "Though if you do decide to go anyway, I'm going with you. Cause I don't trust the old woman. She knew a lot about these items and stuff. "I remember she had told us when we had all the pieces, to bring them to her. Something about then luring him to the crypt and performing the ritual there. But I don't understand all this enough to trust her at all."

She frowned as she chewed some pizza then swallowed before speaking again. "I can try to call Sam and Dean. Sam was with me when I met her. But they are always all over the country so doubt they'll be of much help. Maybe Sam might remember something I don't."

Harry Dresden has posed:
Frowning, Harry chews on another piece of pizza. The two clearly know more about what is going on. Still, mental notes taken. He tries to get the feel of things.

He might be tempted to throw himself into that party of going with her, but he's learning. Instead he comments,"If there is trouble Mouse and I will come with you if you want. I can see if we can find one of or multiple knights to make it easier whatever you do."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
*blinks*

Did she just want the items for that?

"I.. I have them. Hidden away. No one told me about what she said." Or perhaps Willow is saying that. She only needed the book. Of course. The lynch pin of them all. "Well, except for the book. But she shouldn't know I have them all - should she? And what good are they without the book too?"

Even as she says it, one theory comes to mind: She has the book.

"You don't think she has it?" And what are they going to do about it if she does?

Buffy Summers has posed:
"She'd said the book was in parts. And they hadn't been able to find them, if I remember right." Buffy wasn't going to swear to that. It was a long time ago and there had been a lot of monsters since that time. Not to mention that hole in her memory. Though, thankfully, this was before that time.

She considered the question a moment. "She might have it. Or parts of it. Or knows where they are and wants us to go find them like? Like she had with the ritual items?"

She sort of rubbed her head and nodded over to Harry. "I would like you to come along, with Mouse. I don't trust the old lady. And don't drink the tea. She claims she is just being friendly cause she doesn't have visitors often but she was entirely too insistent on us drinking the tea. May be nothing to it but ...just a cautiounary step."

Harry Dresden has posed:
Listening again, Harry frowns. The whole thing sounds like a a wild tale from the NeverNever. He nods to Buffy and replies,"We'll come." Taking a draw from him beer he considers,"So she wants everyone to drink her tea. That is odd. Is she fae?" Someone is thinking ahead,"It does sound like it is possible though. Wants you to drink so you owe her something."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"The last we looked for the books we thought it might have been brought together at an auction house on the west coast.In Vancouver. But we couldn't find it. It could have been sold beforehand to a private collector. Then the trail went dead."

"Over the years I occasionally tried to find it.. but I couldn't. John said the book was tricky that way. If a collector didn't know what they had bought.." Or worse DID know.. "It could be anywhere. There aren't many places that it can be used on though? That's a plus?"

As for Harry and Mouse coming along, Willow is all for that.

"Ew? Her tea? Is everyone like that?" Willow crinkles her nose up at Harry.

Buffy Summers has posed:
"So it's possible she managed to get it from this collector. If that's the case, she probably will want us to get the ritual items. Or she knows you have them already. Or suspects sinces he had tasked us with finding the items back in the day."

Buffy continued to munch, as though there wasn't anything to be concerned about, Yet she was remaining focused which did point to it being more than nothing.

"I mean if it gets rid of this undead priest guy, that's good. But I just have a bad feeling about it all. Cause supposedly all the parts was what the guy wanted in the first place. The book and stuff, right?" SHe looked to Willow for confirmation.

"So while bringing it all together might help us do a ritual to get rid of him it might also be something that we don't need to be doing at all. Remember that whole portal end of the world thing with Angel." She didn't know if Harry knew the story but Willow certainly did.

She glanced to Harry to clarify. "Angel's soul was gone and he returned to being Angelus." She did /not/ explain exactly how that happened because everyone didn't need to be up in her business! "In that state, he wanted to destroy the world. Opened a portal. Only way to close it was with his blood. So...I stabbed him and shoved him into the portal."

Maybe being someone who dates her is bad after all. Thomas might've gotten off lucky with her loss of memory. Course, now he was with the other Slayer so maybe not so much. Though would Faith be able to make those hard choices if it came down to it? She didn't know her well enough to be sure.

Harry Dresden has posed:
"Vancouver. Thomas found an antiques dealer up there. He dealt in a lot of really obscure and strange things. I don't know exactly what we're up against, but maybe I could ask him." he comments. A nod to Buffy and he adds,"I won't mention what is going on."

He nods to both women and adds,"All right. We're in." A grimace and he adds,"If she has connection to the fae, absolitely they will. There is nothing a fae wants like they want you to owe them something or to know your full name. Either one leaves you susceptible to a lot of trouble."

A raise of his brow as she explains the Angel with no soul,"He's so charming with it." he mutters dryly. Shaking his head he admits,"I don't know him well, barely in passing. He's just stoic and brooding from what I have seen. Nothing wrong with that. I've been accused of worse."

Willow Rosenberg has posed:
"I'm not supposed to know, but John had his friend break in to the store.. He has weird friends." If by weird you mean crooked. Of course Kate Bishop would not thank you for that.

As Buffy and Harry continue to talk, Willow nods. "We should have a plan. If you guys are backing me, I feel better."

Buffy Summers has posed:
"There's a lot more to Angel than most people see." And Buffy left it at that. It was better that way. While he was her first love, he was not someone she could be with. To do so risked the entire world. The price of being a Slayer.

"Definitely a plan. Before we go in there. Do you have a way to see if she's fae without her knowing you are checking? Would be good to know if that is something we are dealing with. I'll bring all the usual tools of the trade with some iron thrown in for fun."