Portal

And Buffy couldn't help but chuckle quietly.

"I'm probably a little bit crazy, but I wasn't messing with you. It's . . . complicated."

"Sure sounds like it," Jessie agreed.

They walked in silence for a few more minutes, the shop just ahead of them now.

"I was thinking," Jessie continued, "if things don't work out for you, maybe you can come to the city for a visit."

Buffy smiled. It wasn't like one of Faith's usual invitations but Jessie reminded her of Faith so much then that her heart ached for home.

"Maybe," Buffy replied. "I'm really hoping that I'll make it home this time."

"Yeah, I get that," Jessie said and looked down at the dirt road. "Thanks for . . . well, everything."

They'd reached the shop and Buffy stopped just in front of the wooden porch, turning to face Jessie. She felt bad that she wasn't able to stay here; Jessie was a great girl and a lot like Faith. Heck, maybe even better than Faith; the lack of baggage and drama sure made things easy between them

But this wasn't her home, and Buffy couldn't just sit around and forget where she came from.

Smiling softly, Buffy leaned up and gave Jessie a soft kiss on her cheek, then on the corner of her lips.

"I'm glad you made it," she said sincerely.

"Yeah, well . . . we're not exactly on the road to home yet," Jessie said with a nervous laugh.

Getting the hint, Buffy climbed up onto the porch and looked at the map up on the wall. The highway was faintly marked but the most prominent road outlined was the one that led to Mutant Mountain.

"You know what?" She tore the map down from the wall. "I think we'll find our way just fine on our own."

She ripped it into a hundred pieces and let them fall freely around her onto the dusty old floor boards. Wiping her hands on her pants, she turned around to face Jessie with a smile . . . and promptly fell through a swirling black and green portal that had opened up just beneath her feet.

Chapter 5: Care to Tango?

Author: lycanthrope

Rated: PG-13

Name -Dana Tasker (code name Tabby)

Age — 21

Occupation — Agent 56482, Omega Sector

Alias — Dana Stevens — Graphics designer.

Current Location — Toshima, Tokyo.

Yep. That's me. All summed up in three little sentences. Well that's what my dad would have you believe if you were some guy chasing tail. Hell, I think that's all I'd have you believe if you were some guy chasing tail. I might have to edit out my actual occupation though. What with that being a breach of national security and everything.

Seriously though, you could read my file forwards, backwards, upside-down and inside out and you could never know who I really am. You would know I'm an agent for the Omega Sector. You'd also know that I'm the daughter of two of the best agents this division has ever seen. That I'm an adrenalin junky, and I wouldn't think twice about jumping from any height, with or without a parachute. I always seem to land on my feet, so why mess with a good thing? Where do you think I got my code name? Drives my dad nuts. You should see him; he gets this big vain that pops out of his neck.

You could know all of that and not know who I am. `Cause the truth is I am whoever the agency tell me to be. Today I will be playing Dana Stevens. Computer Graphics Designer, currently working with the Yakimoto Corporation, a large entertainment company in Tokyo. They called me in to try to get the flow of clothing in computer graphics for their up-and-coming release.

You've already guessed that it's all a cover. There's a computer wiz back at the hotel remotely controlling my computer so it looks like I'm actually able to understand HTML or RSS or any other sort of computer language. Sorry to say this, ladies and gentlemen, but it's all just ones and zeros to me.

That's not to say that I'm only here to copy the homework from someone else. While my computer genius works his magic, I'm out here working a little magic of my own. Here's a little bit of background for you. Yakimoto Corp. is a relatively small animation entertainment company. I'm in Tokyo for Christ sake. There are some pretty big fish in this pond. Somehow even in this economic climate this small fish in the Pacific Ocean of animation is managing to stay alive. Not only that, it's managing to chase all the sharks away with little to no struggle.

So some computer geek... Er genius back in the States starts to look over the records for the company for his economics project... Yeah this kid's in eighth grade. Anyway he finds this big hole in their account. We're talking the equivalent of three billion dollars. Our eighth grade genius goes to his teacher thinking at some point he must have just dropped a one or something and lost over three billion dollars in the companies accounting records. His teacher wisely contacted the US government. That was six months ago.

Now we have some compelling evidence that the company's entertainment connection is a cover story for the real business behind it all. Selling nuclear warheads. I know, I know. There's always some nut job company selling nuclear warheads out the back door, but it got my bosses quaking in their very expensive boots. So here I am. My mission today is simple, get in and gain access to one of the big shots' computer, so the genius on my team can work his magic and get some concrete evidence, then get out. My dad's kinda intense about the last part.

The black SUV comes to a halt at the door. "I think we should go over the plan, Dana." My Dad pulls on the parking break and turns to me. His thick Austrian accent, showing through more than usual, with his worry. He's my handler. He insisted, not that I don't like him around in those life or death situations. I'm all grown up, but my old man is still looking out for me.

I turn to him, trying to hide my smirk. "Pops, we've been over this at least six times in the ride over, and I lost count in the hotel. I know what I'm doing."

There's the vein! "That's what worries me." He turns his eyes back to the road, his knuckles going white on the steering wheel.

I give him a moment to compose himself. He always gets like this when I go undercover. This mission is only a light cover, but it still gets to him. It's strange, but I think it would make him feel better if I were to be in an all-out firefight with us on one side of a room and the terrorists on the other. "Hook me up Johnny." I turn in my seat to accept my earpiece from our tech guy. It fits easily into my ear canal and my hair comes down to conceal it from the world. "Check."

"I read you, Dana." Johnny smiles and turns back to his screens. We got ourselves a father/daughter moment going on over here. So he pulls his earphones over his ears and gives us our privacy.

"I'm ready, Dad."

He gives me a short nod before letting out a long breath. "Be careful, Dana."

I give him a large dimpled grin. He always says that. "Why start now?" And I always say that. I pop the door and pull my laptop bag over my shoulder. Lets get this show on the road.

My palm pushes against the cold glass of the doorway, walking with confidence across the cavernous reception. Why is everything so Big in Tokyo? My fake identification slides cleanly across the glass reception desk and the Japanese falls easily from my lips. "I'm Dana Stevens, computer Graphics Designer. I'm here to see Mr. Yasmerik."

A perfectly sculpted eyebrow is raised in my direction. She snatches my ID from the surface and scans her eyes across it. She turns to her computer screen without a word and begins to furiously type away. Seriously, her fingers are moving so fast across the keys they are like a blur. Without thinking about it, I feel both of my eyebrows raise. She stops for a moment and presses a single button four times slowly and once again goes back to furiously typing something into the machine. I'm almost ready to just walk away and try my luck in the elevator when she abruptly stops typing and turns back in my direction with a large smile on her face. Starting to think I prefer the frown. "Thank you Miss Stevens. Mr. Yasmerik is waiting for you. Go to the fifth floor. His office is the last one on the left."

She hands me back my ID still with that smile on her face. It doesn't look natural. Go back to frowning woman. "Thank you." Now all I have to do is run away from the scary smiling lady.

I make it to the elevator and out of the woman's sight before I can blow my cover by screaming and running for the door.

My dad is staying suspiciously silent in my ear on the ride up to the fifth floor. I don't question it I need this time to get into geek mode. I have Johnny in my ear feeding me all the technical stuff, but I still have to appear to be excited about this stuff. The elevator announces in Japanese that I have reached my destination and the doors slide open.

Quick trip to the john and I'm all set.

I make my way into the restroom and occupy a cubical after I check under all of the doors to make sure I'm alone. The toilet tank lid lifts clean off the porcelain base and I tuck my little present into the side. Submerging it in the water before replacing the lid. I push my mic further into my ear and confirm the payment. "Blackbirds are in the pie. We are a go." God I hate code phrases.

I set my shoulders and make my way along the long corridor. Knocking on the glass office door, a small man looks up from his screen to me with a frown on his face. I'm not totally surprised by this. I've only spoken to Mr. Yasmerik on the phone and the tech guys have been speaking to him via email. This is the first time we've actually met.

He stands from his desk and comes to the door. It opens sharply and I have a small Japanese man looking at me like he could melt me where I stand with only the power of thought. "Can I help you."

My training kicks in as I bow politely to him. "Good afternoon Mr. Yasmerik. I am Dana Stevens, we spoke on the phone."

Immediately his face lights up and he smiles wide. "Yes, yes Miss Stevens. Why didn't you say so?" He slips easily into excellent English, which makes my job so much better. Now I don't have to translate geek language into Japanese. Just listen and repeat.

He calls me into his office and urges me to open my laptop that is being controlled by Johnny back at the van. He feeds me all of the technical bullshit for the program they have been working on for the animation and I repeat it word for word. I kinda switch off through this conversation. This is really not my thing. It doesn't take long for me to press the release in my pocket setting off the smoke bomb, which I placed into the toilet earlier. The fire alarms go off in seconds.

Mr. Yasmerik immediately stands and silently leaves his office forming an orderly line to the stairs to leave the building. Gotta love how disciplined these Japanese are. I'm at his PC in an instant, plugging in my portable modem so Johnny can work his magic.

"All yours, Johnny." I say to the tech and he's already working his magic before I can finish.

My dad's voice comes over the com link. "How did it go?"

"Fire drill went off just like we planned. Keep an eye on the fire services. Don't want to get caught up here."

He chuckles. His nerves are settling down. "What's your exit strategy?"

I smile at this; I really do take after the old man. "I was just going to follow the fire code."

Now he's laughing. "Ballsy."

"Nearly there, Johnny?"

There's a sigh of frustration that comes through the com links. "These are some pretty heavy firewalls and encrypted documents. I'm going to need some time."

Great. "We don't have time. Copy everything; we'll go through it back at HQ."

"Copy that." I love being in charge.

The air shifts around me, picking up speed, which isn't physically possible. The Air Con goes down when the fire alarms go off. Papers on the desk begin to lift from the desk before being swept into the air around me. What the fuck is going on?

It starts as a small green impossible dot in the middle of the room. It quickly grows in size, becoming a huge pulsating green... what? All I'm coming up with is hole in reality. I feel stuck to the spot. My legs will not carry me away. But really where would I go? It's kinda blocking the doorway. "Pop. Could be a change in plan." Somehow I manage to keep both the fear and my confusion out of my voice.

Through this pulsating green light drops a blonde figure and the hole disappears in an instant. I have to blink a few times to remind myself of exactly what happened. I have indisputable proof of that in the form of a petite blonde girl now lying on the floor. What the fuck was that?

She begins to stroke the thin carpet under her. "Solid, it's solid." She pats the floor just to reassure herself that it is in fact there. "Land. Like land." She pushes herself onto her back and smiles up to the ceiling. Her eyes catch me and I suddenly take up all of her attention. "Faith?" Why does she sound so hopeful?

"You found God in the pulsating green light?" My training still hasn't kicked in after the shock. I just said the first thing I thought. "Hay, if you found your faith in there that's slightly fucked up."

She shakes her head. "Not Faith." She arches her back and springs herself up onto her feet and on instinct I drop into a defensive combat pose. "Can't I land in an alternate dimension where the name `Faith' doesn't evoke biblical references? I'm starting to see a theme here."

"What is going on, Dana?" My Dad's thick accent assaults my ear. I'd forgotten he was even there.

I swallow back the lump in my throat. Alternate dimension? So are we saying that I just witnessed a rip in space and time? I need to get out of here. "Change of plan. Did you get the copy?"

The blond girl in front of me tilts her head to the side in question. To be fair to her it does look as though I'm talking to myself.

John's voice crackles in my ear. "I've got eighty-seven percent copied. I just need another two minutes."

"You've got one. I'm extracting." I reach down and pull my laptop bag up onto the desk.

"New plan?"

I consider John's question with a tilt of my head, which I know he can't see. "It's only five floors up."

The blonde is at my side by now and she makes me jump as she speaks. "You're going to jump?!?" Where did all of my levels of unflappable go?

Angry at myself for letting this small woman get to me like this, I rip open the bag's padding and pull out my climbing gloves. "What difference does it make if I do?"

"Dana, who are you talking to?" It's my Dad again. His accent has gotten thicker.

"Not now, Pop!" I never yell at my pop. Especially not when we're on a mission. What the fuck is wrong with me?!