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Chapter 29
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“This note, that’s why!”  Anya was as nervous as a cat with six tails and pacing furiously while talking a mile a minute.  “How do I know they only bugged the Box?  Why bug me at all?  I’m as human as I was before I ever met D’Hoffryn.  Who would do this?  Why?”
 
“Those are all excellent questions, Ahn.  I don’t know how you got on anyone’s radar, but I swear by Grabthar’s Hammer no one is going to hurt you.”  Xander wrapped his arms around his frantic fiancé.
 
He put up a good pretense of calmness, but his insides had turned to jelly.  He knew he loved Anya, but the very thought of her hurt or dead had him nearly mad with worry.  “Let me see that again,” he reached for the short note.
 
Ahn handed over the note.  It wasn’t overly specific, but at the same time told them more than enough to create panic.
 
”Box bugged.  Vids 24/7.  Suspect demon or sympathizer.  Take care.” so few words, so much terror.
 
Xander had looked around as well as he could without making it obvious he was searching for something.  If the note wasn’t a hoax, whoever had bugged the place had done a good job of concealment.
 
“When?”  Ahn cried.  “I mean, what if they had surveillance before I got this note?  It’s not like I’ve been indiscreet,” she ignored Xanders snort of amusement at that.  “Not about my past anyway, not since all this started.  I’m pretty sure I haven’t said much, but who knows what might have slipped!”
 
“I think if they had anything they’d have done something by now.  Relax, honey; I’m gonna turn in my notice today. I’ll say we’re moving to greener pastures.  We’ll be safe underground with everybody before you know it.”
 
“It can’t be too soon for me.  This spy business sucks,” Anya buried her head in Xander’s shoulder, seeking comfort.
 
“Yeah, all my James Bond fantasies are over, that’s for certain!  Too much stress.  Let’s face it, I’m not cut out to be a real G-man, no matter what our own G-man might think.”
 
“I’ve been worried about you,” Ahn admitted and snuggled deeper.  “I hate that Max Taylor!  He’s a bigot, and nasty too.  Just the kind of man I used to be called upon to punish.  You’ve seen how he acts around all the wives and he never hires women for his crews. “
 
“Shhh,” an alarmed Xander looked around nervously.  “We don’t know if the apartment is bugged too. Same with the car.”
 
“This is so hard for me.  I’m still not used to filtering what I say and now I have to be almost paranoid.”
 
“Not almost, Ahn, be paranoid.  Nothing wrong with healthy paranoia when the circumstances call for it,”  Xander grinned, “Besides, it’s not paranoia when they ARE out to get you.”
 
Xander drove Anya to the Party Box to start packing the merchandise to store it for a better day to come and then headed for the construction site.  Max wasn’t going to be happy, but then he rarely was unless he was lording it over on someone.
 
It didn’t take long for Xander to be called into Taylor’s trailer office after his arrival.  “Harris, get your ass in here!  We’re behind schedule and I’d have thought you’d have shown up early to help fix that,” Max bellowed.
 
“Well, boss, you never said you wanted us in early or that you would authorize overtime.”
 
“Don’t get smart with me, Xander,” Max sneered.  “You’ll never amount to anything if you don’t learn to take some initiative on your own.”  Max was reminding Xander of his old man more and more everyday, and that was anything but a compliment.  He seriously hoped the Taylors never had kids.
 
“About that, boss man,” Xander began.  No way was he going to let Max Taylor bully or guilt him into a delay.  Anya was in danger.  “Need to turn in my notice.  Ahn and I are headed to Vegas.  Got a great offer, I’d tell you with whom, but you know, ‘What happens in Vegas…’  We can do the wedding before I start.”
 
“What the hell, Harris!  I’m short enough without you bailing on me.  Just what am I supposed to do to cover?”  Max’s face was red and his manner livid.
 
“Don’t know and don’t really care, Max.  Maybe firing good guys right and left wasn’t a good business model after all.”
 
“You think you’d be foreman if Joe Perkins hadn’t as good as admitted he was demon filth?”
 
“Joe merely remembered he’s an American.  Here in the good ol’ U.S.A. you’re innocent till proven guilty.  That much is still in the Constitution anyway.  He wasn’t a criminal and wasn’t about to give up his rights and take your test to prove himself innocent,” Xander huffed without giving away Joe’s actual demon status.
 
“You should thank me for keeping the crew pure.  Those things will turn on you the first chance they get,” Max snarled.
 
“Same goes for lots of human people I know,’ Xander walked off leaving Taylor sputtering in rage.
 
***
 
Finn’s team rushed to the female demons’ holding cells, intercoms alive with chatter.  “I need to know exactly what went down, so cut the hysteria and report NOW!”
 
A calmer voice responded as the other voices quieted, “Sir, Barnes was…um…interrogating one of the detainees, a Lurite adolescent.  Next thing we know, body parts are flying and all the females in the area started a godawful keening and tried to get into the cell.  Barnes didn’t have a chance!  Man, I don’t think there’s enough of him left to even bag for his folks to lay to rest.”
 
“Current status in the pit?”  Finn demanded.  He was pretty sure he could fill in the blanks.  Barnes had a reputation for letting his smaller head make his choices when dealing with the females in his charge.  He was well hated and feared by most of the prisoners.
 
“The females are all yelling and going wild.  Frankly, sir, we’re all afraid to go in there to stop the riot.”
 
Finn rolled his eyes.  He wondered where they were getting some of the recruits lately.  Idiots, bullies and near criminals, more often than not.  How was Riley supposed to keep a lid on things with Barnes and his clones riling up the prisoners?  “Hit ‘em with gas and knock ‘em out.  DO IT!”  His order brooked no argument.  “I want that area locked down and contained NOW.”
 
“Sir…Mr. Travers and his aide are headed that way.  Should we intercept them?”

“Think they’ll be in any danger?”  It wouldn’t break Riley’s heart to see Quentin Travers get a bit of a scare in him.  That man had spoiled all of Finn’s fun of late, making his home videos when there was ball busting to do.
 
“None of the females are making moves to get out.  There’s lots of screaming and pandemonium and it won’t look good unless we get them under control quick, but I don’t think there’s any physical danger.”
 
“Good thing the other dignitaries and the press aren’t parading around the area with Travers then.”
 
***
“So, Starling, you see why I am confident that the traitors will soon be singing another tune.    I’m not shocked, of course.  I’ve been through this with Miss Summers once before, insolent girl!”  Travers rolled his lip in distaste.  “Had the audacity to demand we assist in saving the life of her paramour Angelus, if you can believe that.  At least she hasn’t tried to bargain for this one’s freedom.  She’s no longer under any delusions about who holds the power this time.”
 
“Still scandalous behavior in a Slayer, I must say,” Starling agreed.  “And the Potentials we are holding are not proving to be any better.    They’ve clearly bonded with the demon females in their wing.  Perhaps we should include footage of that as well.”
 
Travers narrowed his eyes and gave Starling a look, as if questioning his sanity, “Hardly!  Good Lord, my man, the last thing we want is for them to see what we’ve had to do to rebelling Potentials!  Remember, they all took their girls and some others into hiding with them.  They’d not wish to see their charges incarcerated.  Get a grip!”  Travers face was red and he looked like he was near apoplexy.  “The idea is for them to see the perversion first hand.  They all knew about the murderous second Slayer, of course.  I doubt any of them truly objected to her being removed.  They need to see the repeated behaviors of the original Slayer, Summers.  One mistake made while still a very young girl might be brushed over, but THIS, this shows a pattern!  There can be no denial that something is terribly wrong with the choices of the Powers at this point in history.  The system is broken and I did not break it.”
 
“Do you think it was wise,” Starling ventured, carefully picking his words like dodging mines in a battlefield, “to have placed the fully human Potential Slayers directly in with the demons?”
 
BOOM!  Clearly he hadn’t dodged a thing, judging by Travers infuriated look.  “I mean…er…em…I do understand what you had hoped to achieve.  The idea was brilliant, truly, sir!  It’s just that the girl…well, the girls are already obviously corrupted.  They didn’t behave as one would anticipate at all, not how they were trained. “Travers was looking ever so slightly mollified with Starling’s hurried back-track.   “Actually, sir, it has served to prove your thesis correct.  It is not just the last two called Slayers, but a rot within the system itself!”
 
“Just so, Starling, just so.”  Travers nodded.  “Any human thrown in with the demons that then bond with them shows his true colors.  I must say that any demon that doesn’t rend such a human to bits, as any normal animal would, clearly shows the human is not right in some way.  They must be little more than animals themselves.”
 
“Yes, sir,” Starling concurred.  “What about this new situation the Youth leader has brought to our attention?  This former demon that is now fully human?  What are your thoughts on how to proceed there?”
 
“Ah, yes, another ‘friend’ of Miss Summers, is she not?”  Starling nodded in the affirmative.  “I think something a bit different is called for there, don’t you?”
 
“Like what, sir?”
 
“I’m thinking a fair and open trial might be in order.  A public examination of this female’s history and character.  It should be televised, of course.  The court of public opinion will weigh heavily on the civilian authorities.  Show her lack of remorse, her long list of deaths and dismemberments.  If I’m not mistaken, our Council even credits this Anyanka with having a hand in the bloody Russian revolution!  Lay communism at her door, that’s the ticket.  The numbers of ‘unnatural deaths’ under Stalin alone are estimated at twenty million people!”
 
“I’ve heard it might be upwards of sixty million,” Starling paled.  “Makes Hitler and Pol Pot look like pikers, if one can imagine that.”
 
“Yes, and this vengeance demon helped usher it in, from what our records tell us.  As I said, not one word of apology, even when returned to human status!  Just what does that truly make her?”  Travers tilted his head and looked down his nose piously.  “Proof is what it makes her!  Proof that even if they can pass the tests for humanity, once they become tainted in any way by demonic contact, they neither seek nor deserve redemption.”
 
“I rather like the idea of a public trial, sir,” Starling agreed heartily.  “Will we be holding her here for the duration?”
 
“I think not,” Travers mused.  “I think decent, humane confinement with all the rights and privileges any human would expect is in order.  Don’t want to drum up sympathy among the bleeding hearts.”
 
“What about that boyfriend of hers?”
 
“Leave him alone unless he breaks the law by trying to free her.  We don’t want to make it look like a witch hunt, now do we?”
 
*** 
 
“Thank Willow for this brilliant talisman,” Spike whispered to Gunn.  With Finn out of the block, it was the perfect time to run the plan by the imprisoned duo.  “Wouldn’t be able to discuss a thing without it.”
 
“Yeah, helps to have a witch in your corner,” Gunn agreed.  “So you guys set for tomorrow?  Got the plan nailed down in your mind?”
 
“Yeah,” Buffy affirmed.  “Once the bells and whistles go off, you’ll open our cell and we head for the carts.  You order the kapos on duty to carry on and clear out the bodies.  We play dead while they dump us out and, while the fireworks are still popping, we climb out and head for the woods.  Am I forgetting anything?”  Buffy looked nervous but more than ready.
 
“That’s pretty much it in a nutshell.  Just remember to have Buffy under you so they don’t notice her breathing, right, Spike?”
 
“Got it.  Buffy under me.  Not an order I’m likely to forget,” Spike smirked.
 
Charles chuckled, “Keep it in the pants, bro.  You’re not out of the fire just yet.  Plenty of time for bumpin’ the uglies once you’re clear of this hellish place.”
 
“There will be no bumpin' of anything,” Buffy tapped her toe and gave them both her best prim school-marm glare.  She smacked Spike on the forearm, “That’s enough from you, pig.”
 
 Spike could tell from her tone of voice that it was all teasing and bluster.  They were both fairly giddy in anticipation of getting out and tasting freedom once again.
 
“Any heads-up on when the show starts?”
 
Charles could see the worry on Buffy’s face and wished he could give her something concrete.  “We’re planning for shift change, first one in the afternoon.  You don’t have any watches or anything, but you’ll know when you see the day crew start to do turnover.”
 
“What about Finn?”  Spike could just see the giant Boy Scout ruin their plans!
 
“He’s supposed to be in an admin meeting most of tomorrow morning and afternoon.  They’re looking at ways to shore up security in the female demon section.  Right now the girls are all in the open pit while they clean up from the riot.”
 
“How about you, Charlie?  How’re you gettin’ out?”  Spike had come to like the young man in the short time they had become acquainted.  He would hate to see Charles Gunn pay for their freedom with his life.
 
“I figure in the confusion I slip out and they chalk me up to collateral damage.  There’ll be more than a few bodies and not all of them are going to be able to be identified.  Slip my tags on one and blow this joint. “He smiled in genuine happiness, “I plan to be about two steps behind you.”
 
“Well, then, that’s alright,” Spike smiled.  “Don’t stick around for photos and souvenirs, yeah?”
 
“Nah, nothin’ here I’d want to remember, “Charles said with a shudder.
 
Spike looked at Buffy tenderly, “Don’t want to forget everything; been a diamond or two in the dirt.”
 
Buffy squeezed his hand and smiled at him, “There are better ways to make those kinds of memories than being in a place where you get tortured on a regular basis.”
 
“Yeah, but if it was the only way…gotta say gettin’ close to you…you’re worth it,” Spike’s look could melt the glaciers.