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Chapter 32
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Spike stretched until he heard his joints pop.   It felt good to have freedom over his life and body once again.  He’d had the first halfway sound sleep since his capture and finally felt like himself again.  The blood was pig swill, but it tasted of ambrosia nonetheless.  There was no question of additives or waking to a living nightmare after drinking it.
 
Buffy smiled at her fellow escapee and gave a cheery, “Good morning, lazy bones.”
 
Spike smirked, “Right back at you, Slayer.  Don’t think I didn’t notice you sleepin’ in a bit too.”
 
In fact, both had startled awake a few times only to reach for the other before drifting back into slumber once reassured of the other’s presence.  The situation had not gone unnoticed by Giles, confirming his suspicion that the pair had bonded while in custody.  The Watcher wasn’t too sure how he felt about that, given his training, but the man in the tweed suit was simply happy to have his girl back safe.
 
It hadn’t escaped anyone’s notice, actually.  All had seen that the two seemed intent on staying fairly close together, even when it came to sleeping arrangements.  No one had said a word about it, however.
 
“So…think we can get to talk to this T’Mcasla guy?”  Buffy wasn’t sure if she wished to ally herself with the one demon making any real effort to fight back.  He didn’t seem to have the same agenda as Buffy, even if part of her understood his position.
 
“Probably not you, pet.  Bloke has serious hate for humans and my guess is a Slayer would be top on his list.”
 
“Willow told me he had a human wife who turned him in,” Buffy shook her head sadly.  “I can’t imagine sending anyone into that place, especially someone I once loved!”  Buffy thought back to Riley and realized she wouldn’t even wish that on him.  “I can’t say I blame him for the hate.”
 
Spike had a faraway look but nodded.  He could think of a few deserving individuals he wouldn’t mind seeing caged and prodded.  His shining girl, however…she had too much pure goodness in her to entertain thoughts of revenge.  He hoped her innate kindness wouldn’t get her killed one day, ‘Not if I can help it,’ he vowed.
 
“Think he’ll see me though.  Probably figures William the Bloody will want to sign up.”
 
Buffy furrowed her brow, “You don’t, do you?”
 
“Once upon a time, I’d have given the bugger a run for his money leadin’ the operation.  Show ‘em why we were called the Whirlwind, the Scourge of Europe.”
 
“And now?”
 
“Now I have a lady who wouldn’t put up with it,” Spike smiled.  “Pretty well tamed me, she has.”
 
“Must be pretty special lady to do that,” Buffy smiled shyly.
 
“That she is,” Spike agreed and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead.
 
“So wholesale slaughter is off the table.  You joining up with insurgents is off the table.  What is on it?”
 
“Like we were sayin’:  Lots of mayhem possible without just killin’ across the board.”
 
“Where do we start?  If you don’t have something in mind already, I’d like to finish what the guys started and close up the base where they held us.”
 
“Sounds like a right fine startin’ place.”  Spike looked more enthused than Buffy had seen in ages.  “M thinkin’ we give ‘em a little extra package next supply shipment.  Ammonium nitrate can do lots of damage, take out part of that whole wing and open it up so the demons in that area can scamper off or do some of our work for us.”
 
“Won’t that kill the guards working in that area?”  Buffy looked troubled.
 
“We have the copies of the duty rosters that Charlie left for us.  Think we can time it for when no one’s in the direct line of fire.  Pet, there will be casualties.  You knew that goin’ in.”  Spike began to worry that the Slayer wasn’t going to let Buffy go full into attack mode, not if humans were possible targets.
 
“I do know that, Spike.  I can’t help but feel weird though.  My whole calling is about protecting humans from demon threats and now I’m in the position of considering killing humans to protect demons!”  Buffy paced, clearly uneasy with the thought.  “I’m on board.  I know we have to do this.  I just have all these built-in issues…I’ll deal,” she reassured Spike.
 
“Love, I can’t guarantee no human’s gonna die when we do this; likely some will.  We won’t set out to target them and we’ll do our best to keep casualties to a minimum.  That’s more than they’ve been doin’.  Sure you’re gonna be okay with this?”
 
Buffy was silent long enough to worry the vampire.  She thought about her all important mission and what it really was supposed to mean.  It had to be more than making her the appointed executioner of demonkind.  “I guess there’s no way around it.  I’m supposed to protect the innocent and that always meant the humans, but they aren’t so innocent lately.  I suppose that’s kinda changed.  ‘Innocent’ has a lot of different faces and descriptions now. “She paused then nodded as if finally coming to some inner agreement.  “Okay, I’m in.  We do what we need to do to shut them down and save as many innocent lives of any kind that we can.”
 
Spike gave her a warm look of awe and approval, “That’s my Buffy.”
 
“Maybe we can time it so that when the loading dock goes up, we can take out the main roads leading to the base and that one bridge over the culvert too.  Hit them all at once before they figure out they’re under attack.”
 
“Sounds like a good plan, love.”
 
Xander had been listening to the conversation.  Not eavesdropping, the living area was too small for secrets after all.  “I think I can get all the supplies we need still.”  He turned a wicked grin towards Spike,”Wanna help me steal a truck, fang boy?”
 
Spike returned an evil grin of his own, “This could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
 
“Don’t get too mushy on me, vampire,” Xander grinned.  “And I expect you to be front and center when we go to get Anya out of their hands.”
 
“That is a given.”  The two men shook hands over it.
 
*** 
 
“Lindsey McDonald, representing Anya Jenkins,” the well dressed lawyer presented his card to the deputy on duty.  “Here to see my client.”
 
The deputy gave him a dirty look, “Who’d you piss off to get this one assigned to you?”
 
“Not a public defender.  I was hired by concerned citizens to make sure Miss Jenkins gets the best defense possible, like she’s guaranteed by our laws.”  Lindsey gave him a pointed look, “You know, those laws you are sworn to uphold and defend?”
 
“Yeah, but she was a demon,” the deputy sputtered.
 
“And now she isn’t.  You have a point there?”
 
The deputy buzzed the door open.  “Okay, but don’t expect your other clients to love you taking this case.”
 
“I’m not worried.  In fact, this kind of case is why I went into law in the first place.  I just forgot that somewhere along the way.”
 
The key clanked as it unlocked the cell door and Anya looked up from her bunk, wondering who the good-looking man in the suit might be.
 
Lindsey extended his hand and offered a genuine smile, “Miss Jenkins.  I’m your lawyer, Lindsey McDonald.  Nice to meet you.  What do you say to us taking this meeting somewhere more comfortable?”
 
The deputy put up only a cursory argument before leading the pair to an interrogation room, one without a two-way mirror or surveillance systems after Lindsey again reminded him of Anya’s rights.
 
“Now we can talk.  I’ve been sent by some friends of yours to make sure your stay here is a short one.”
 
“Well, I certainly hope so!  I don’t mind telling you that as a law abiding citizen and business owner, I’m not used to this treatment,” Anya looked around with suspicion. 
 
“No one’s listening,” Lindsey smiled.  “Promise!”
 
“How can you tell?  I didn’t know anyone was listening at my store until it was too late.”
 
Lindsey pulled out a small amulet on a chain around his neck and grinned.  “Product of a certain talented redheaded entrepreneur you may remember.  She said to say ‘hi’ and that the whole crew is on the job, by the way.  Here’s one for you as well,” McDonald handed over the amulet.  “Probably going to have to give it back to me when we’re done in here, so they don’t confiscate it.  Still, as long as you wear it when we’re talking, it won’t matter if they are violating your rights to lawyer-client confidentiality, because they won’t hear anything.  Worked with a couple of your other friends, I’m told.”
 
Anya quickly put on the necklace and breathed a sigh of relief.  She and Willow might never be close friends, but she did respect the young witch’s talent.  “So are those friends home now?”
 
“They are indeed,” Lindsey confirmed.  “Let’s see how to go about arranging for you to join them as soon as possible.”
 
“I’m for that!”
 
“Why not start by telling me your story, or a condensed version since I gather you’ve had a pretty long life.  The more I know, the more I’ll see the case they are building against you.”
 
“This is a first.  Usually when I want to talk about my life, everyone tells me to shut up,” Anya quipped.
 
“Hey, I’m paid to listen.  Well, at least I used to be,” Lindsey chuckled.  “My firm pretty well left this dimension and took my salary with them, but I think seeing these bastards sweat will be a pretty good paycheck.”
 
*** 
 
“So how did the meeting go?”  Buffy had been on edge the whole time Spike was gone.  Not only was he meeting a very volatile being, but he was out in the open and the thought of his recapture had her nearly biting her nails.
 
“Went like we expected mostly.  He wants no part of humans, even one who was recently a prisoner.   Calmed down a bit when he got that I wasn’t plannin’ on tellin’ him his business.  We’ve agreed to stay out of each other’s way, work together on some projects and basically call a truce otherwise.  They won’t target our people or get in the way of our operations, and we won’t try to shut them down.”
 
“Did you have to tell him much about our people and plans?”
 
“Just enough to make sure his group keeps out of our way,” Spike sighed.  He hated haggling with demons; they rarely had a sense of humor and often couldn’t be trusted.  One thing he did come away with from his meeting was that T’Mcasla was honorable.   Once his word was given, it was to be trusted.  That boded well for them not tripping over each other.  Just what would happen once the big picture was righted was another matter altogether.  Spike didn’t see the betrayed and bitter demon ever agreeing to live in peace with humans again.  Sooner or later, Buffy was going to have to take him out, just not now when they had a mutual enemy.
“The good news is that he already has a couple of people who have infiltrated the lab.  Think they can place some smaller explosives here and there that’ll help.  He can get them to his people and that’ll be easier than us tryin to sneak someone in.  We agreed that the purpose was to free as many of the prisoners as we can, not target the humans.  He’s willin’ to go for that because of the larger payoff.”
 
“I can get what we need with a few days notice.  Maybe we should start to stockpile for future missions?”  Xander suggested.
 
“That would be wise,” Giles agreed.  “I’m certain there are areas here in the tunnels where we can safely cache weapons and explosives?”
 
“Yeah, one of the tunnels goes to one of the original Initiative storage areas from their first incarnation.  Kinda poetic justice usin’ one of their own former sites to put together their eventual ruin.”  Spike’s smiled gleefully.
 
*** 
 
You’re hearing it first here with Coops Scoops, folks.  Rumor has it that Crispin Starling, former aide de camp for the assassinated Quentin Travers, is going to be the man taking his place as head of the Global Human Initiative.  Since he was right there from the beginning of the war against this plague of demons, there should be no gap in the protection we have enjoyed under Travers’ guiding hand.
 
Meanwhile, in the latest press release from the high command, the savage and unprovoked attack on the holding center that took the life of Mr. Travers and so many other fallen heroes has been officially labeled a terrorist attack.  While the infamous DRA continue to deny responsibility, it is unlikely any other group has the sort of network to have planned and succeeded in creating such devastation and tragic loss of life.  
 
The President has ordered all flags at half-staff in honor of our fallen heroes and an official three-day mourning period.  Similar proclamations have been issued in allied countries and the UN has also issued a statement of condolence and plans for a plaque to honor the fallen.
 
Congress is working on legislation to permit temporary suspension of certain articles in the Bill of Rights to allow better intelligence gathering to prevent any such occurrences from happening again.  I, for one, think the only patriotic response is to call your Representative and urge them to fast-track this legislation.  Human lives are at stake, people.  Earth for humans!