Chapter Ten

Buffy strode down the crowded hallway with quick forceful steps. She knew Riley would be leaving for morning classes in a few minutes and she was determined to catch him before he left. Reaching his dorm room Buffy pounded loudly on the door, ignoring the strange looks she received from passing students.

“Alright, alright,” Riley muttered as he opened the door. When he saw Buffy standing before him a look of resignation crossed his features. “Buffy.”

She smiled up at him sweetly. “Good morning Riley,” she crooned before punching him hard in the nose. He cried out in pain, stumbling back into the room. She followed him inside, swinging the door shut behind her.

“Just thought I’d drop by for a chat,” she remarked casually as she waited for him to recover from her greeting.

Riley glared at her as he held a handkerchief to his bleeding nose. “What do you want Buffy?”

“I want to know what you and your buddies think you’re doing in my town.”

Riley laughed snidely. “So Spike found you before we found him. I figured he’d be looking for you. Had someone watching your dorm but it seems you failed to come home last night.”

Buffy gasped at his words. “You’ve been spying on me?” she cried indignantly.

“I’ve been searching for an escaped hostile,” he countered.

They stared at each other angrily for a few moments. Then Riley spoke. “What did he tell you?”

“Everything,” she replied coldly. “About The Initiative. The underground facility. The prison cells. The drugging. The torture. The experiments.” Her anger grew with every charge added to the list of atrocities. “What the hell are you people thinking?”

“Come on Buffy,” Riley argued. “They’re demons. Evil, plain and simple.”

“And you’re what? Good and kind? I saw what your people did to Spike. It made me sick.”

Riley pointed a finger at her accusingly. “You kill demons every night and now you’re going to…what…defend their right to ethical treatment?”

Buffy just shook her head in disgust. “You’re right Riley. I do kill demons. It’s my calling and I do it so my mother can leave the house in safety at night. But you do not see me beating them to a pulp first. I don’t dissect them just to see how much they’ll bleed. I don’t render them completely defenceless with computer chips and then leave them alive.” Stabbing him with a cold glare she continued, “And I sure as hell don’t try to harvest their strengths and abilities for my own purposes.”

“That’s what you think we’re doing?” he challenged.

“Oh please,” Buffy countered, rolling her eyes at him. “Give me a little credit why don’t you.”

After a tense moment Riley shrugged. “So you know. What do you think you can do about it? We’re a government-funded organisation Buffy. You even try to close us down and you’ll end up in a whole mess of trouble. The kind you can’t punch your way out of.”

Recognising the truth of his words only made her angrier at the whole foolish mess. “You people have no idea what you’re dealing with,” she ground out angrily. “Do you honestly think you can keep control of this? Spike escaped, others will too. You’re playing with forces you don’t understand and you’re all going to get yourselves killed.”

“Why is that Buffy?” Riley asked. “Because we’re not slayers?” He laughed at her contemptuously. “We’re trained soldiers with weaponry you’ve never even heard of. We’ll do a lot more for this town than your little scooby gang ever has.”

“You arrogant prick,” Buffy said quietly, seething with rage. Walking up to him she made sure to hold his gaze steady as she spoke. “I may not be able to shut down The Initiative. But I can sure as hell put a big dent in your operation and I plan to. Every demon you hold down there is already a threat to this town. You won’t be taking anymore.”

“You’re one person Buffy,” he replied scathingly. “You can’t stop all of us.”

Buffy raised an eyebrow and flashed him a knowing smile. “Can’t I?” She took a moment to enjoy the sudden wariness in his eyes before she turning to leave.

“Oh and just one more thing,” she said, pausing at the door. “Stay away from Spike.”

Riley’s eyes narrowed. “You’re protecting vampires now?”

“Your scientists put something in his head. He can’t hurt anyone now. Is that true?”

Riley nodded stiffly. “It’s a standard precautionary measure. But it doesn’t change what he is Buffy.”

“I know that.” Buffy pierced him with a glare. “But if he’s no longer a threat to humans then I no longer have the right to kill him. And I sure as hell well won’t let him fall into your hands again.”

Riley sneered at her. “How convenient for you and your demon lover.”

Buffy didn’t bother denying her relationship with Spike, realising she no longer gave a damn what Riley thought. Instead she settled on a simple promise. “If anything happens to him I will come after you personally. And I will bring you down.”

**********

When Buffy returned home she found the gang gathered in the lounge room. Willow and Xander had taken up residence on the couch, while Giles sat across from them. She had to stifle a giggle when she saw Spike, now back in his own clothes, retied to the dining room chair. He did not look happy.

Entering the room she shot Spike an apologetic shrug. “Hi guys,” she greeted the group quickly before heading for the kitchen.

“Buffy,” Giles called out to her, frowning in concern. “I thought you were going to keep Spike restrained till we found out more about what’s going on. I found him wandering the house free when I arrived.”

“Relax Giles,” Buffy reassured him, returning with a sharp knife. She quickly cut through the ropes binding Spike. “He can’t hurt anyone.”

“It’s about bloody time you showed up Slayer,” Spike muttered angrily as he rose from the chair. Turning to the others he glared at them each in turn, an evil glint in his eyes. “When I get this chip out of my head I’m gonna drain every one of you till there’s nothing left and then I’m gonna dance a merry jig on your graves.”

Surprised by the vehemence of his outburst Buffy could only stare at him as he stalked from the room.

“Oh yeah,” Xander piped up. “He’s just as friendly as a kitten now. No danger there.”

Sighing, Buffy began to fill them in on her conversation with Riley and before long the four of them were planning for the long nights they knew lay ahead.