Buffy and Spike were led into a large, ornately decorated foyer, and instructed to wait for a few moments while their escorts went to announce their arrival to the governor. Buffy felt reassured by the fact that they left them completely alone – if they had had any ill intent toward them, surely they would have left someone to watch them, right?

Not that a couple of humans stood much chance against the two of them *now*, anyway.

But Spike’s nerves were attacking again, and Buffy was surprised when his hand sought and quickly found hers, gripping it tightly in a sudden need for reassurance. They were completely alone for the moment, so Buffy did what she wanted to do anyway.

She kissed her vampire, slowly and thoroughly, turning to face him and clasp his other hand in hers as well as she wordlessly shared her own confidence and strength with him. She pulled back when she remembered that she did in fact, have the need to breathe, smiling into his eyes as she caught her breath.

“Feel better?” she asked in a soft, gasping whisper, her eyes bright with desire.

“Not yet,” he muttered, leaning in hungrily to capture her mouth for another kiss.

A slightly uncomfortable cough from the foyer into the main part of the house startled them into separating – mostly. Buffy maintained a firm grip on one of Spike’s hands, as if to physically keep her vampire from flying off the handle with the tremendous case of nerves he seemed to have developed, ironically, since *leaving* Riley’s facility.

They turned to see the same two men who had escorted them to the mansion – and a third man, well over six feet tall and impressively built. In fact, he might have been a little scary if Buffy had not had the knowledge that she could toss him through a wall one-handed if the need arose.

She was very much hoping that it would not.

Seeming a bit embarrassed by the display they had walked in on – more embarrassed than the slayer and the vampire in fact – one of the men cleared his throat quietly before speaking. “Mr. Governor – Mrs. Buffy Finn.”

The governor did not seem as bothered by the display as his employees were. In fact, there was a small smirk of amusement on his face as he stepped forward to greet her, his hand extended.

“Mrs. Finn,” he said with a nod. “A pleasure.”

His voice carried a slight accent which Buffy could not place – perhaps – some eastern European country? She was surprised, not having expected that. But then, America *was* called the “land of opportunity”, wasn’t it?

Unless you happened to be undead.

“Please,” she said in a dark tone with a wry smile. “Call me Buffy.” “Mrs. Finn” just would not do at all – not anymore.

“Buffy it is,” he agreed with a pleasant smile and a nod.

She shook his hand politely, her own smile becoming slightly cool, appraising, before she added in a calm but pointed tone, turning to gesture toward the nervous vampire at her side as she released the governor’s hand, “And this is Spike.”

She did not miss the subtle little surprised intake of breath that Spike made beside her, and knew that he would have rather she did not call any additional attention to him, as he was certainly scared enough already. But she needed to make this point; she needed to know right here and now if they stood any chance whatsoever of getting through to this man.

It pained her to see Spike’s demeanor at the moment. His entire body was taut with tension and fear. He seemed to have forgotten for the moment that he was more than capable of defending himself now. This large ornate building and the very powerful man facing them brought back memories of several of his former masters – wealthy, important people who had treated him like nothing more than a possession.

He began to feel like one again.

The governor regarded the vampire’s tense expression and carriage, his slightly bowed head and averted eyes, for a moment, before turning toward him with his hand extended. “Spike,” he said in the same polite tone he had used with Buffy. “Pleased to meet you.”

Buffy felt a tremendous sense of relief, and let out a breath she had not realized she was holding, as Spike stared at the extended hand for a long moment, stunned by the unexpected respect. It had been years since anyone had extended such a courtesy to him – since anyone besides Buffy and her friends had even treated him like a person at all.

It took a slight nudge from Buffy’s elbow to get him to actually respond, hesitantly shaking the governor’s hand and speaking softly. “Likewise, Sir.” Cautiously, he raised his gaze to meet the man’s smile, an almost shy curiosity in his crystal blue eyes as he studied the governor’s expression.

The governor held his gaze for a moment, silently accepting the vampire as an equal, before he looked at Buffy with new respect in his eyes, obviously aware that he had just been tested in a very simple but effective way, and pleased that, judging by the expression on her face, he seemed to have passed. “Please,” he said. “Come with me. I’ll see you to my office. We have much to discuss.”

They followed him down a long hallway, the two silent suits bringing up the rear, as they quietly took in the lavish surroundings. Everything appeared fine and expensive – but they both noticed that it did not appear much like a home. Much more like a very wealthy sort of place of business than a place that someone might actually live in.

At the end of the long hallway, the governor opened a door, stepping aside to usher his guests in. Buffy hesitated only a moment, out of pure instinctive reaction, before walking through the doorway, leading her still *very* hesitant vampire by the hand.

The governor’s employees started to follow them into the room, but he smoothly blocked their way, with a polite smile. “You may go,” he told them calmly.

“But, Sir,” one of them protested, frowning with concern. “Are you sure that – I mean – shouldn’t we…”

He did not have to finish the thought. The worry in the man’s eyes made it clear that he did not think it was wise to leave the governor alone in a room with a free vampire and a Slayer.

The governor shook his head with a tight impatient smile. “That will not be necessary,” he assured the fretful guard. “If I need you, I will call for you.”

Again, Buffy felt reassured by the gesture. Even as impressively strong and capable as the governor appeared – for a normal human – there was no question that if it came down to it, she and Spike could easily take him.

Of course, it was not *going* to come to that, as far as she was concerned – but the gesture of trust still meant a lot.

The governor waved them into the two leather chairs across from his huge oak desk, casually taking his own seat behind it. “Now,” he said with a smile, much easier and more natural than the one he had given his men. “Tell me about this video I’ve just watched.”

Buffy nodded slowly, her eyes serious and resolved. She had already determined that they could trust this man, as far as potential deception was involved. The only question left in her mind was whether or not he would believe everything they had to tell him.

Time to present the evidence.

“Okay,” she agreed. “But first – I need to show you something.” As she spoke, she reached up under her shirt and took out the papers she had hidden there – now quite crumped and dampened from the fighting and intense snogging that she had indulged in since hiding them.

She felt her face flush slightly as she handed them over to the governor. “They’ve – been through a lot,” she explained weakly.

“As I’ve seen,” the governor smiled, the suddenly sober expression in his eyes reminding Buffy that he *had* viewed the video footage. He looked over the papers quickly, all traces of amusement fading completely as he took in just exactly what they were. When he was finished, he looked back up at her with serious eyes.

“This is quite explosive information you have here, Buffy,” he commented quietly.

She nodded simply. “I thought you might want to know about that right away. Since we’ve no way of knowing when those assassins are supposed to take out their targets.” She paused, hesitating for a moment before adding with a little grimace, “And – since – the assassins, and all the other slaves are now – um – chipless.”

The governor’s eyes widened in surprise. Willow had sent him only the specific footage that Buffy had requested, and though he had surmised from the reports his men had given him of the extensive bite marks on Riley Finn that the Slayer’s vampire had somehow become unhampered by his chip – he was stunned to find that *all* of the slaves were now essentially free.

Much more hastily than she had originally intended to, Buffy let out the story of what had happened in a shaky rush, from the moment Anya had been kidnapped, to finding Riley’s secret facility, and that her friend was indeed being held captive there, to all the horrors they had seen there, and the dangerous situation they had found themselves in, with little hope of escape.

“I basically had to,” she said in a slightly apologetic voice. “According to Riley’s guy, there wasn’t any way to do just Spike’s chip – and there was no way I was going to be able to fight my way out of there alone.”

The governor stared at her for a moment, taking in what she said and considering it cautiously.

“I don’t think it’s as big an issue as it seems,” Buffy said matter-of-factly with a little shrug. “Except where the assassin vamps are concerned. I mean – with the *training* that Riley’s put them through, I don’t think any of the slaves are going to attempt to hurt a human anytime soon – so they won’t even know that their chips don’t work.”

The governor nodded thoughtfully, surprisingly not seeming very upset by the fact that she had gotten the chips turned off in the first place. “So this is something probably best kept out of the public knowledge for the moment. But it must be swiftly dealt with. There are possibly thousands of slaves out there – that’s a potentially very dangerous situation.”

Buffy nodded again. “I *do* have a plan. If you’d like to hear it.”

Over the next hour or so, Buffy outlined the plan she and Spike had discussed earlier in the night. Well, it was not so much a plan, as a loosely put together group of ideas, that she hoped would work out, with the help of her Watcher – and this man taking in said ideas at the moment.

She hoped that he could get past the ideas so deeply ingrained in society at this point as to the non-human – and therefore insignificant – status of vampires, to help her put at end to the injustices that were currently taking place. Her plan would keep the humans safe, but also free the vampires from slavery and help them to become useful, functioning members of society.

The governor was silent when she came to a rambling conclusion, neither approval nor disapproval showing in his face – simply consideration. Finally, he spoke quietly, mild sarcasm in his voice.

“That’s very compassionate for a vampire Slayer, Buffy. I must say, much more compassionate than I would have thought. And I am well aware that vampires have been your area of expertise for many years now, so I’m sure there would be few better equipped to deal with this situation than you,” the governor began in a slow, cautious tone.

He paused, and she wondered where he was going with that. “The thing that concerns me,” he finally went on with a slight frown. “is that your compassion for your fellow human beings does not seem equal to your compassion for the vampire slaves.”

Buffy frowned, confused. “I don’t understand.”

“Your – er – your husband’s condition when he was removed from that underground facility *has* been reported to me, Buffy,” the governor stated simply, his eyebrows raised as he met her gaze, expectant for an explanation.

Buffy was silent for a moment, her eyes suddenly downcast as she tried to think of the right words to make this man understand. When it came to defending her own, humanity versus undeadness no longer seemed to matter as much to her; she would defend herself and those she loved against an evil human as easily as against a vampire.

But she knew deep down that no one but Riley would ever merit the extreme punishment she had allowed tonight again.

In a quiet, halting voice, she explained about her relationship with Riley, the things he had done, to her and to Spike – culminating with his horrifying plan to force the vampire into turning her and then keep her as his slave.

“Maybe I’m wrong,” she conceded quietly, her eyes downcast as she concluded her story. “But Mr. Governor,” She met his eyes again, her own moist with tears of past pain, and alight with a fire of anger that still burned there. “If someone took somebody that you love more than anything else in the world – chained them up and beat and tortured and abused them for months – made them feel that they were worthless and insignificant and only good to be used in whatever way they saw fit – if they then took that person you loved, and *sold* them to the highest bidder, to be brutalized and – and hurt in unspeakable ways – and you suddenly found that person at your mercy…”

She paused, shaking her head, looking down again, her eyes dark with anger at the memories her words were bringing back. She looked up again with a challenge in her eyes.

“I’d like very much to know just what you would do with that person.”

The governor was silent for a long moment, and Buffy felt a bit awkward and uncertain of how he was taking her words. Had she crossed the line, across the familiar camaraderie he had seemed to want, into the realm of arrogance and disrespect? Had she angered him and blown their chances of gaining his help with her thoughtless words – simply her very heart, spoken aloud?

Feeling that she needed to try to rectify whatever damage she might have done, Buffy went on cautiously, “I’m sorry if you disagree with what I did, Sir. And if there are consequences, I will pay them. What went on in that room was completely *my* decision, and no one else’s. I allowed it.”

She paused, considering her words before she went on, “I don’t know if anyone you love has ever been placed in the kind of danger that Riley Finn has put me and Spike and everyone that I hold dear in. But I can tell you that I would do anything to protect the people I care about. And if that’s wrong – well…I’m sorry. But it’s not going to change.”

The governor was still quiet for a moment, regarding her with a scrutiny that made her look away again.

“You may be surprised to find out what I would find acceptable, Buffy,” he informed her mildly at last. “I try to avoid violence myself, usually. I see it as a last resort, as there are usually better ways of resolving things than that. *Usually*. There are times when force *is* necessary, to defend those you love.” There was a long pause, and Buffy kept silent, knowing that he was preparing to say something else.

Finally he added quietly, “Or to avenge them.”

His words surprised her, and she felt a measure of cautious relief. Self-defense, she had expected him to understand, considering that he was obviously a body builder of sorts – he clearly believed in it. But not necessarily vengeance. And what she had allowed Spike to do to Riley was definitely the latter.

The governor suddenly stood from behind his desk, some unspoken decision clear in his resolved expression. With a beckoning gesture of his hand, he started toward the door.

“Come with me. There is something I would like to show you.”