Title: Clueless 19/20
Authors: Kim & Jen
Feedback: Oh yes, please! It's our drug of choice.
Disclaimer: We don't, never have, never will. We own our obsession with the G-man. We let them have fun and return them relatively unscathed to the Jossverse. Although, they probably have more fun with us.
Buffy woke to a pounding in her skull. Lifting her head to look around, she stifled a groan at the lance of pain the movement caused. A second later, she realized that she was chained and back in the mansion, in the drawing room.
Someone, a very unlucky someone when she found them, had chained her hands together and bound one ankle to the radiator. Taking a deep breath, she brought her wrists apart abruptly in an attempt to break the chains.
Unfortunately, they refused to snap and she succeeded in nothing but causing bright spots to dance in front of her eyes from the strain. "Fine," she thought, "If I can't get my hands free, at least I can break this radiator and be able to move around."
Standing, she tried to pull back on the chain around her ankle, hoping the radiator would give. When that proved fruitless, she began kicking the radiator; certain she could break it eventually. Her concentration on freeing herself, and the noise from her kicking, prevented her from hearing the door open and close.
"I wouldn't bother, the chains are magically enhanced."
Buffy spun her face reflecting the surprise she felt at who stood before her.
"You had better know that in an `I just learned that from the evil mastermind' way rather than in an `I am the evil mastermind' kind of way. Otherwise, you're really going to regret life when I get loose."
Riley looked offended. "Evil mastermind seems a little harsh, don't you think? I have a question I need to ask you, and unfortunately you haven't been willing to listen to a word I have to say."
"So you hit me over the head and chain me up? You couldn't have just said, `Hey, Buffy, I need to ask you a really important question?'"
"You always do this. You make everything about you. Sometimes it's about other people Buffy."
"Gee, color me confused, but I don't think it was me signing up to donate blood on a nightly basis to skanky vamp chicks."
Riley ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "Look, this isn't getting us anywhere. Could you just listen to me for a second?"
Buffy folded her arms as best she could. "By all means. I'll try to listen over the clinking of my shackles."
Riley strode over to the fireplace, where he began to pace back and forth. "I know when I left, that things were sort of strained between us." He looked up at her snort, decided to ignore it, and went on. "But my time in the jungle gave me some time to think. We were good together, Buffy. We belong together. But I realized that I couldn't come back and be the Riley I was when I left. Spike's right, you know? You'll never be satisfied with an ordinary guy."
"I can't believe you think you can make relationship decisions based on what Spike says." Buffy's tone conveyed her annoyance. "I hardly think that Spike qualifies as an expert on my love life."
Riley's eyes narrowed. "Maybe he's not. Because if you're with Giles, like you claim to be, then maybe you don't mind ordinary."
Buffy shook her head. "You just don't get it." A wistful smile crossed her face. "Giles is the least ordinary man that I've known. It just took me a while to realize that."
Brushing aside her comment, Riley continued, "I decided I needed to be what I was before. I needed my enhanced skills back. Then we could be together, a team, like we used to be."
Buffy tamped down her rising frustration and decided the best way to get answers was to just let Riley talk. If he didn't hurry, however, she was going to find a way to wrap the chain around his neck and make him talk.
"I started doing some digging; trying to locate Professor Walsh's colleagues. I found Dr. Huston doing research in Seattle. He was one of the people who had helped her develop the serum that she used to give us. He had his own version that he was perfecting. I convinced him that I would be a perfect candidate to test it on. It was great." Riley turned, his face flushed and excited. "I was better than ever. I was going to come back for you then, but my unit got sent to clean up some demons in El Salvador."
"Riley," Buffy's tone was gentle, trying to calm Riley's rising energy level. It was time to nip these ideas in the bud. "Even if you had come back, I wouldn't have gone with you. I'm not going to go with you now. Hello, Slayer. I have to stay in Sunnydale. My life is there; Giles is there."
Riley's excitement turned to agitation. "You don't understand, Buffy. I need you."
"You don't need me Riley. You didn't need me before you left, and you sure don't now. You just think you do."
"No, Buffy. You're the one who doesn't get it. I *need* you."
"I'm only going to say this one more time Riley, and then things are going to get ugly. You. Don't. Need. Me."
Riley walked over to her, careful to stay out of reach. "I'll always need you, Buffy. But this time, it's so much more. I don't just need you, I need your blood."
*********************
"Riley?" Giles exclaimed in shock. "Why would he do this to us? To Buffy?"
Dawn slapped a hand to her forehead. "That's where I'd heard the name Huxley before. That's Riley's hometown."
Willow's eyes widened as she realized Dawn was correct. She returned her attention to the rest of the group and explained. "I'm not quite clear on that. Unfortunately, either Riley didn't let Ethan in on the reasons for his plan, or he managed to shield it somehow."
Ethan shrugged his shoulder, a casually elegant gesture. "He said he needed something, and he thought this was the best way to get it. Quite honestly, I wasn't going to ask too many questions if it meant ending my stay as a guest of the government." He sniffed. "Substandard accommodations, if you must know."
Dawn rolled her eyes. "Okay, people. We need to get out of here, and we need to figure out what Captain Creepy wants with Buffy."
"Captain Creepy?" Spike mused. "Better than Captain Cardboard, even."
Xander turned to Ethan and Giles as best he could with Anya clinging to his arm. "So, shall we go find the Buffster and contain the situation?"
At Giles' raised eyebrow he blushed. "Sorry, it's hard not to revert back when I'm around military stuff."
"I think it's very sexy," Anya declared.
"Yes, well, as fascinating as this is, we should go," Ethan suggested. Before they could all move toward the door, it opened suddenly.
"I don't think you're going anywhere," Graham said, releasing the safety on the machine gun he held.
******************
"You need my what?" Buffy shrieked. "Are you crazy?" Deciding that escape from the madman was an excellent option, she began struggling against her chains again. With a sudden thought, she stopped for a moment. "You're not a vampire are you?"
"No," he replied defensively.
"Okay," she acknowledged as she started kicking the radiator again.
"Buffy," Riley began. When she gave no indication she could hear him, he yelled, "BUFFY!"
She stopped her efforts, but moved into a defensive stance, determined that he was not going to get near her.
"Something was wrong with the serum."
"What serum?"
"The serum Dr. Huston developed. Its effects aren't as long-lasting as Professor Walsh's. I found out that the effects would only last for a couple of days at a time. I had to start taking more and more of it, but the results kept diminishing. I'm up to four doses a day. You don't understand, pretty soon, it's not going to work on me anymore." He clenched his fists tightly at his side, eyes wild. "I can't go back to being normal. I won't."
"Riley, there are worse things than not having super-strength. Don't you remember how sick you got?"
"That's where you come in, though. I told Dr. Huston all about you, your strength, and your healing ability. He thinks if he could use your blood, he could come up with a lasting serum that didn't wear off."
"Well you can forget it. That's just creepy. You cannot have my blood."
"See, I thought that's what you'd say." He moved back to the fireplace. "I thought about it for a long time. I needed to find a way to get you to agree to go with me, willingly.
"This was your brilliant plan? A game of Clue? Gee, maybe we could have played rock, paper, scissors for it?"
"I decided that if you wouldn't give me your blood, maybe blood from some other people would help while you changed your mind. Why do you think everyone else is here, Buffy? If I just wanted your blood I wouldn't have brought all the rest of them. I figured that a couple of witches, a Watcher, and a former vengeance demon might have some power running through their veins. Plus, watching Dr. Huston experiment on your friends might give you the incentive you need."
Buffy's mouth gaped in shock. She fervently hoped that Riley didn't have the first clue about Dawn. "What about Xander and Dawn? She asked. "And Spike"
"Xander and Dawn are collateral damage. And there are quite a few people who would like to have Spike back to do more tests on."
"Well forget it Riley. None of us, and most definitely not me, are going to cooperate. There's no way you're getting blood from anyone."
Riley turned towards her, a look of utter seriousness on his face. "Fine. You know, I didn't want to have to do this. In fact, I hate it, Buffy, but I've got everyone else trapped. If you don't agree to come with me, I'm going to kill them."