Chapter 4: Late Night Stakeout
"You're sure?" Giles asked Xander. Xander nodded.
"It was a bit of this one, and a bit of that one, with - wait - oh, yeah, the claws of that one." Xander gestured to the pictures of demons as held up for his inspection by his friends in a demonic line-up of suspects.
"This is certainly very disturbing," Giles said.
"Because you don't have a book on the demon that chased us?" Anya asked.
"No, because there is no book,” Giles said, "Clearly the demon the two of you saw is not any species of demon itself, but created from parts of different demons. Someone is harvesting demon parts and using them to create super demons with the attributes of the different species. It's quite chilling."
"Yeah, but it's not anything we haven't seen before, right?" Xander said, "It's just like when that guy tried to make Cordelia into a Bride of Frankenstein for his dead brother."
"True," Giles said, "But these demons could have...untold powers. It's really very serious and something you need to investigate straight away," Giles added, addressing Buffy.
"Hmm, who do we know that recently arrived in Sunnydale with an unhealthy interest in demons and the potential equipment to create monstrous demon hybrids?" Xander asked sarcastically.
"Xander's right, Buffy, you should talk to Riley and-"
"No!" Buffy said, panicked.
"No?"
"I...I don't want to involve Riley. There's no point in potentially letting the Initiative know we're on to them. Better to go and see for myself." Buffy babbled, rather convincingly, she thought.
"Very well," Giles said, "But don't go alone, Buffy, there's no knowing what these creatures are capable of."
"Fine." Buffy said, "I'll take Spike along."
"Spike? No, I am not loving this plan!" Xander protested.
"Cause you'd be so much more help in a fight, right, sweetie?" Anya said, stroking his arm patronisingly.
"Hey!" Xander said, feelings wounded. "What about Spike's chip?"
"His knowledge of the Initiative is valuable too," Buffy insisted, "And...he could still scare people." My god that sounds lame, Buffy thought, why am I even trying to get Spike along on this mission? Am I really that desperate to be alone with him again?
Spike woke to the sound of voices downstairs. Bugger, l overslept, he thought. Now how to sneak out of the Watcher's house without alerting Giles or anyone else who might be with him? He tried the window. Locked. Trust a watcher to be cautious, Spike scoffed. There was nothing for it; he would just have to use the door. It wasn't as if any of them would exactly be sorry to see him leave. He packed up all of his worldly possessions - that is, he put his lighter in the pocket of his duster - and crept down the stairs.
"Spike!" Bugger. Spotted.
"Bye, Buffy," Spike said, trying to be nonchalant.
"Spike, I need your help," Spike looked down into the Slayer's eyes and all thoughts of leaving were forgotten in an instant. He knew then he would do anything this girl asked, die for her if it came to that, and he would do it gladly.
"What do you want me to do?"
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They sat in the car in silence, each waiting for the other to make the first sarcastic remark. Finally, Buffy broke the silence.
"You're sure this is the place? You never seemed sure before."
"Yeah, this is it. Anyway, it's right where we ran into your honey and his initiative buddies the last time," Spike replied. "Course, they're bound to have more than one entrance."
"Yeah," Buffy sounded distant. Her mind was most definitely not on the job. Spike lit up a cigarette. Buffy coughed, "You're smoking? In a car?"
"My car, love," Spike shrugged, "You didn't like it, coulda driven your own."
"You know my mom won't let me," Buffy muttered, blushing. Buffy and cars did not mix. "You want a drink?" Buffy offered the vamp a flask.
"Is it blood?" he asked, sniffing hopefully.
"Ew! No. Coffee."
"No thanks. Vampires don't need coffee to stay up at night."
"No, I guess night's kind of your natural time for awakeness, huh?" Buffy asked.
Spike was suspicious. Was she making small talk about his vampiric nature? Usually any comments about what he was were preceded by insults and followed up by threats involving pointy pieces of wood.
"Do you like the Ramones?" he asked suddenly.
"Shhh!" Buffy shushed him, "I think I see something." They lapsed into silence again as Buffy peered into the distance through the hole in the blacked out windscreen. "No, I guess I was wrong," she shrugged, sitting back. "You sure you don't want any coffee?" she asked again.
Spike snapped.
"What is this, Buffy? The chatting like we're friends? The late night stakeout? The flask? Is this a date?"
"What?" Buffy exclaimed, "A date? Please, why would I even...I mean...do you want it to be a date?" Buffy stammered. Spike gaped at her. For a few seconds they stayed frozen like that. Then, suddenly, her face changed, becoming more Slayer-like.
"Someone's outside." she hissed. Spike sniffed, his senses confirmed her words.
"Got a plan," he whispered, leaning forward and pressing his lips to hers. For a moment, Buffy kissed him back, letting the sweet feeling wash over her, allowing herself to imagine, just for a moment that they were just a normal boy and girl, parking on a normal date. But they weren't of course. She drew back.
"Ok, that was only partly about undercover cover-up and partly about copping a feel, right?" Buffy joked weakly. Spike leaned forward as if to kiss her again when there was a loud knock on the car window.
"Come out of the car!" Buffy and Spike pulled away from each other and opened the car doors to confront a lone Initiative operative in combat gear.
"Gee," Buffy smiled toothily at the man, doing her best impersonation of Cordelia, "We weren't doing anything wrong, were we? We were just, you know, having a bit of fun," She curled a strand of hair around her finger and pouted in what she hoped was an innocent way.
"Sorry, ma'am," the soldier said, "But it really would be best for both of you if you head home. I need to see some ID first, though." Buffy pulled out her college card. "Thank you, ma'am. And you, sir?" he continued, turning to Spike.
"I, uh, I don't think I have any on me," Spike said, cursing the fact that he couldn't just flutter his eyelashes at the man like Buffy. If only he had Dru's vampiric power to enthrall people. The man looked at him suspiciously.
"Don't move," he said, and turned to talk into his walkie-talkie. Spike and Buffy exchanged a glance.
"He's calling for back up!" Buffy whispered.
"You know I can't fight," Spike whispered in reply, "Chip!" Buffy indicated the car with her eyes as the soldier turned back to face them.
"You know," he said to Spike, "You look familiar..." Spike was shocked to find that the man looked familiar to him as well. Must have been one of the guards when I was in there. If he recognises I'm a vamp, we're screwed.
Just then, soldiers appeared from all sides. They were surrounded. Even with Slayer strength, it would be tough to beat all these guys with guns, Buffy thought. Then she realised that she didn't have to. This could be their only chance to actually see inside the initiative caves. Buffy didn't know yet how they'd get out again, but they could cross that bridge when they came to it. Spike growled, as if he would like to put up a fight, but chipped, of course, he couldn't.
The caves were vast. This operation was bigger than Buffy had ever suspected. That was bad. It made it far more likely that there were sinister experiments going on behind one of the hundreds of locked doors.
"So...are you going to take us to your leader?" Buffy joked weakly.
"Just step in here, please, ma'am," said the soldier in a businesslike way. Buffy pouted. These soldier boys were no fun. At least with vamps you usually got a bit of banter. Then there was a buzzing sound. Buffy stepped forward, only to discover there was some kind of invisible force field in place. They were being held prisoner!
"Hey!" she shouted at the retreating back, "You can't keep us here!"
"I'm afraid under military regulations concerning the detention of suspected hostiles, we can." answered one of the soldier boys.
Chapter 5: Moving too fast
Buffy sat hunched in the corner of the cell. This hadn't gone exactly according to plan. Spike was pacing around the cell. There had been no contact of the kissing kind since being captured by the Initiative. Not that she wanted any. Well, ok, she did, but she would much rather be back in Spike's car with the windows blacked out than here with the invisible doors. Spike wasn't talking to her. Probably blamed her for walking straight in here. Possibly suffering from flashbacks to when he had been captured by the initiative before. She felt a pang of concern. She didn't know what they'd done to him, how he might have suffered. She got up and went over to talk to Spike, when soldiers appeared.
"Human female, got ID, found, er, parking with this individual, no ID, matching the description of an escaped hostile, sir," said the shorter officer reading from a clipboard. The taller one looked up.
"Buffy?" he said, shocked, as he recognised her.
"Riley!" Buffy ran forward, relieved to see a familiar face.
"I know this girl, she's no threat. Let her go." Riley said authoritatively. His comrade made to comply.
"What about the other one, sir?" he asked. Riley looked at Buffy, and she looked at him pleadingly.
"Come on, Riley, you know he's...harmless." Behind her Spike growled. The short soldier looked at him, worried.
"Sir?"
"Let him out." Riley ordered, "You heard the lady. He's no threat." Riley's eyes bored into Spike's, their message clear. Just to make the message even clearer, he grabbed Spike's arm when they were out of Buffy's hearing and hissed, "You come near here or near Buffy again and you're dead."
Spike shrugged him off and drove away in his car, without looking back. Riley's threats didn't bother him anywhere near as much as Buffy's words. Harmless. Stupid bint. He didn't need her to look after him. He'd show her....Oh sod it, who was he trying to kid, he'd just go to the Bronze to drown his sorrows and hope she turned up.
"So," Riley began, then trailed off into silence again. They were sat side by side on Buffy's bed. "What exactly were you doing at the caves?" Buffy sighed.
"We were on a stakeout. We were looking for evidence that the initiative is involved in taking parts of demons and using them to build a superdemon."
"No," Riley said instantly, "That's not possible."
"Isn't it? Riley, how can you know everything that goes on there?" Buffy questioned.
"We do take parts of demons, but it's strictly legitimate research."
"And everyone agrees that, do they? Riley, I'm sure you've done nothing wrong, but it might be that others in the initiative aren't so scrupulous. And the truth is there's no way of knowing." Riley sighed, knowing she was right.
"So why didn't you just ask me, instead of trying to sneak in. With Spike of all people?"
"Well...Spike's been there before."
"Before? Buffy, please tell me Spike isn't a hostile."
"He's not hostile anymore!" Buffy said, trying to defend him. "Please, Riley, it's true, he is harmless."
"But he is a vampire?" Buffy's silence confirmed it. "And you married him?"
"I told you, that was the spell..." Buffy's voice faltered, "Riley, promise me you won't turn him over to the Initiative." Riley looked at her. How could he refuse?
"If it means that much to you, Buffy, I won't. But I want to know why." He insisted. Buffy thought. Because I'm falling for him. No.
"Because he really is harmless. And I'm the Slayer. I've told him he won't be hunted down as long as he can't hurt anybody." Buffy stretched out on the bed, "Do we really have to talk about Spike all the time?" the subject was beginning to make her uncomfortable. All kinds of disturbing thoughts floated through her head.
"You really don't like him?" Riley asked. Buffy thought of her words when she told Riley she was marrying Spike. I don't really like him. But I love him.
"I really don't like him." she said, finally, "I like you," she added flirtatiously, turning towards him. But I don't love you, added a traitorous part of her brain, silently. Riley's nostrils flared as he moved in to kiss her. She kissed him back, trying desperately to remember that she liked Riley, she was dating him, and that Spike was a soulless vampire who meant nothing to her. Riley's breathing was heavy as his hands reached down to unbutton her shirt, clumsily. He pushed her down on to the bed, whispering to her, calling her baby....Buffy suddenly felt suffocated by his weight and his feelings for her. She pushed him off, perhaps a little harder than she'd intended, as he ended up on the floor. Riley sat up, rubbing his head.
"Well, if you'd prefer the floor..."
"I'm sorry," Buffy said, "Really sorry." She offered him a hand to get up, but he didn't take it. "I'm sorry," she said again.
"It's ok, Buffy. If we're going too fast, you just need to say."
"Ok, we're going too fast. I'm sorry. It's just that after Parker..." that wasn't the reason at all. Buffy hadn't given Parker a second thought since she'd married Spike. But Riley seemed to understand that excuse.
"Buffy, you know I'm nothing like Parker. I really care about you." Buffy squirmed. "That's why we'll go as slow as you like."
"Thanks," Buffy said, feeling awful, "I just...I just need some air. You want to go to the Bronze?"
"Sure," Riley said, "I'd better get changed, though. I'll meet you there in half an hour."
"Sure." Buffy breathed a huge sigh of relief when Riley closed the door behind him. This was bad. She didn't know what to do. She didn't even know what she wanted to do. But she had to get out. She put on a revealing blue halter neck top and denim skirt. Rifling through her jewellery box, she thought about putting on a cross, when she found a ring. Spike's ring. She held it for a moment, remembering the time he'd proposed to her. She smiled at the memory. Even though it hadn't been real, she had been happy. Smiling to herself, she slipped the ring on her finger before going out.
tbc
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