Title: The Assistant, part 48
Author: Sweetdoggie (stirling_summer@yahoo.com)
Pairing: B/G
Rating: R
Summary: More about the Initiative
Spoilers: season 4
Disclaimer: No permission has been granted to use the characters. They are owned by their creator, Joss Whedon, Twentieth Century Fox, UPN, WB, and Mutant Enemy. This story is non-profit and is intended solely as entertainment. No copyright infringement is intended.
To Riley’s surprise, there were fifteen known entrances to the Initiative complex. Five of them led directly to the sewers riddling the underside of the city. Buffy frowned at that.
“Not good,” she muttered.
“How come? I mean, sure, kinda yucky to go into a sewer but not really bad,” Riley asked.
“Underground, vampires can stay up 24/7. No rays to burn them. I’m surprised you never ran into any if you used these tunnels.”
He studied the map. “I think these are mostly utility access, not for daily use.”
She nodded. “We’ll block those off first. Say, groups of five men, four to do the heavy stuff and one to guard. Give them all crosses and Holy water. They should make it if they’re careful.”
“How soon can you have the construction supplies on hand?” Giles wondered.
“They’re on their way now,” Riley explained. “I asked for some assistance in how to block these tunnels. It’s pretty cool actually. See, you set up this mesh barrier ten feet in. Then you start lining the tunnel with rebar—friction fitting it floor to ceiling and side to side. When that’s done, you put in another mesh barrier and then start pumping quick drying compound that’s like cement but harder. Within twenty-four hours, the seal is permanent. The entire procedure takes about an hour to set up.”
Buffy looked at the map again. She pointed to an opening near the woods. “Let’s leave this one open. It gives us more cover—less for people to see.”
“It also provides cover for the enemy, Buffy.”
She shrugged. “Most of the demons will run if confronted in force. I can finish them off when I have more time. Adam is our primary goal here, don’t forget.”
He frowned but complied. It was in the Initiative’s interest to not draw attention to themselves, though he resented taking orders from this tiny girl. She bent over the map one more time studying it and Riley leaned right next to her, shoulders brushing.
Giles felt a familiar rush of jealousy as he saw the younger man put his hand on her shoulder to draw her attention to some feature on the map. He fought it down but glared at the younger man with dislike. He wished they didn’t have to be involved with this group.
Buffy passed out the assignments. She let Riley organize his own men according to her directions. To her friends, she assigned various roles that would help the group but mostly keep them out of harms way. To Giles, she gave the task of coordinating the home front. He was insulted.
“You don’t think I can hold my own with this monster. You think I’m dead weight.”
“No, Giles! If any human could deal with him, it would be you. I just need you here, that’s all.”
“Let Willow coordinate reports. She’s at least as capable as I.”
“I need Willow to be doing other things. You know that.”
“You think I’m old and need a protector. I can handle myself.”
“I know you can. I don’t see why you’re getting all wigged about this.”
He merely looked at the ground, knowing his actions seemed childish, but also understanding that this was a fundamental problem that was only going to get worse. He didn’t like Buffy excluding him. He was her Watcher and her husband and demanded to be included, not coddled as if he were Merrick’s age.
Buffy, thinking things had been resolved, dropped a kiss on his lips before moving off to check her weapons.
The teams went out to begin the tunnel blocking the next day at dawn. By noon, half the openings were permanently sealed, though all had not gone completely smoothly. One team had simply disappeared and another had lost three of its members. Riley wanted to lead an expedition into the sewers to track the men down and bring them back.
“You can’t help them,” Buffy told him sadly. “If you see them again, they are going to be part of the thing we’re fighting against. You’ll have to dust them.”
He gritted his teeth. “They’re my men. You don’t leave your men behind.”
“They’re gone, Riley. It won’t help to lose more guys because you can’t accept that.”
He looked furiously at her. “Then I’ll go alone.”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah, that’s smart! You think you’re a big military badass and can take on anything, even by yourself. Well, get over it! If you go off by yourself, you’ll end up dead. We need you here, Riley. You are the commander of these troops and you owe the ones that are still alive the responsibility of not doing dumb stuff because you’re having a testosterone blip.”
She stomped off, damned tired of men and their seemingly constant need to have their egos stroked. Giles was giving her a cold shoulder and now Riley was sulking in another corner. At this rate, she would also alienate Xander by the end of the day, just to top things off nicely.
Riley pouted and thought about her words. It was true that he was responsible for his troops, but didn’t that include the missing men as well? He let the subject prey on his mind all afternoon as he worked with his team. He lost radio contact with another patrol about three o’clock and had word that a fourth had been in a firefight; two dead, one severely injured. He had lost fifteen good men today and might lose more before the sun set. It ate at him.
Finally, the last tunnel was sealed off. The men were sent back to their barracks and Riley and Graham headed back to Buffy’s.
“Well, we did it,” Riley told her. “All access points except the one in the woods have been sealed.”
“Good. Now, here’s the plan…”
Buffy, Riley, Graham, Willow and Xander made their way to the surviving open tunnel that evening before sunset. They carefully stationed themselves so that their backs were protected and they had maximum room to maneuver. Willow cast a small spell on them to enhance their night vision. It was sort of odd, but they felt better having the extra bit of aid.
As soon as it was full dark, they heard movement in the tunnel. Six vampires made their way out of the darkness and were quickly dispatched. Soon, five more appeared and they too were dealt with. Next came a pair of bluish-gray demons with horns. They took a bit longer but were eventually killed. Riley was feeling pretty confident that they could handle anything thrown at them, when a very large, furry demon came charging out of the tunnel.
Before anyone but the Slayer could react, it had knocked Willow to the ground, bashed Graham into unconsciousness, tossed Xander across the clearing and hit Buffy in the head so hard her vision swam. It came at Riley and swatted him in the temple, knocking him out. Before Buffy could recover, the young soldier had been thrown across its back and spirited off down the tunnel.
The gang regrouped and quickly decided that they needed to take Graham home. He wasn’t recovering very well and they were all at less than their peak fighting ability.
Buffy helped carry the stumbling Graham into the house. “Giles. We had trouble.”
He looked around. “Where’s Riley?”
“Some big demon thing got him and carried him off.” Buffy began cleaning Graham’s head wound.
Xander nodded. “It pretty much swept the floor with us, then knocked him out and popped him over its shoulder. We were all pretty beat up and nobody wanted to head down that tunnel at night.”
Giles nodded. “Well, I’m glad you are all relatively uninjured.”
Willow groaned and helped herself to an ice pack before speaking. “What are we going to do? Riley was like our lifeline to military manpower. Now that thing has him.”
“He’s gone, Will. I don’t think there’s anything we can do for him now except pray that they kill him quick and don’t, don’t turn him.”
Graham sat up. “You’d better seriously think about getting Ri back alive. Not only is he my friend, but he has more military knowledge inside his head concerning Sunnydale than anybody else I know, including Dr. Walsh. Riley knows all the weak spots, all the places humans are vulnerable. Plus, he knows your situation here. He knows where all of you live and what your strengths are. If he becomes part of the enemy force, we are so screwed.”
Buffy dropped her head into her hands. “I guess he’s right, guys. I’d better saddle up.”
“No!” Giles put his hand on his shoulder. “You can’t go down in that hole alone and we are of no use against an army of creatures. We need something, some way of fighting this thing that won’t get us all killed.”
Xander finished cleaning a cut on his arm. “It’s too bad we can’t somehow combine forces. I mean, I have my military knowledge, Giles has his huge brain with its scads of demon lore, Willow has magic, and Buffy’s got the strength. If we could somehow whip that into one person, we’d have a chance.”
Willow and Giles exchanged a stunned glance. “An enjoining spell!” the young witch all but shrieked.
“It’s dangerous; very, very dangerous,” Giles warned. “There could be unknown repercussions of such an act.”
Buffy and Xander shared a look. Neither of them liked magic, but had to admit that it was handy to have practitioners handy on occasion.
“Uh, guys? Want to let the non-magicky people in the room in on the idea?” Buffy asked in a deceptively calm voice.
“It’s what Xander said, Buffy! We could do that—combine all our strengths into one body—yours. It would give you the power of magic, the ability to cast spells, the military knowledge to do all that strategy stuff combined with your Slayer strength. It’s perfect. You could go in there and kick Adam’s demony behind for him.” Willow bounced around for a minute before moaning again slightly and adjusting the icepack.
Buffy looked to her husband for confirmation. “Giles?”
He pulled off his glasses and began an almost frantic cleaning binge. “She’s right, but the dangers…”
“Well, I’d say we’re pretty much up the creek without a paddle on this one anyhow, honey. Without Riley, we’ve lost our military advantage and the enemy has gained a lot of previously unknown information. I’d say, we pretty much have to make our move as soon as possible.”
Giles pulled a book off the shelf and spent a few minutes confirming his suspicions. “It’s as I supposed, Buffy. While the four of us are under the influence of the spell, only the focus, that would be you, can physically act or react. We would be helpless. In addition, the range of the spell is quite limited. We would need to be within a hundred feet of the target while it was cast.”
Buffy paced around the room. “So. So we get you protection. Graham, can you get us more military guys?”
“I can put in the call, but it’s not exactly like ordering pizza. The higher ups will do what they think is best to contain the situation. For all I know, that involves nuking Sunnydale.”
Buffy looked at Xander. “Would they do that?”
He called up the military knowledge he had gained one Halloween after being possessed by a soldier. “I would say at this point, probably not, but if we lose a pitched battle or enough troops, then maybe. It becomes more of a possibility the more they learn about Adam and his army. If they start evacuating civvies, then we’re in trouble.”
“How long to get the spell ready?” Buffy asked.
“Twenty-four hours, minimum,” Giles said, glancing back at the text.
“Graham, how long to mobilize troops?”
“At least a day.”
She paced around the room again. “OK, here’s the plan…Graham, you get on the horn and call up as many military guys as you can get us. Tell them they will be part of a diversionary front, but make sure they know they’ll be fighting. Tell your generals that you’re sending in some special ops on an infiltration raid. That should keep them busy long enough for it not to matter anymore. Giles? You and Willow start doing your thing. Xander and I need to go scout up Spike.”
Xander stood. “How come you want Spike?”
“Somebody needs to guard you guys while you’re under the spell.”
He stopped in his tracks. “And you want to trust dead boy II to do that?”
“Of course I don’t want to trust him. I don’t trust him and I think he’ll probably try to betray us at the first whiff of benefit to himself.”
“Then why Spike?”
“We need somebody with strength almost equal to a Slayer. He’s got that. Plus, self-interest is his middle name. We have to make sure he knows that 1) if he betrays us, he’s dust and 2) if he helps Adam instead of us, he’ll never get the chip out.”
Giles spoke up. “You mean to tell him you can get the chip removed?”
“No. I’m not going to lie. I’m simply going to tell him that if the Initiative falls, there goes his only hope.”
“Will it be enough?” Giles sounded skeptical.
“It’ll have to be,” she said grimly.