Welcome to the Hellmouth, Agent Finn: Part 5
by Aesop
Disclaimer: See part 1
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Part Five
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Forrest watched, amazed as Riley's girlfriend waded into the fight. He had never seen anyone as quick or strong. Another vampire crumbled to dust as Forest shook off his surprise. He had one of the last weapons in the group, so he took aim and fired. A hostile behind her hit the ground hard and didn't get up. The other agents charged in swinging improvised clubs and fists. The weapons were gone except for Forest's taser and the short heavy batons that two others had managed to hang onto. The fight was short and confused.
Buffy took out most of the vampires, dusting four more in under two minutes, but the rest piled on, abandoning any pretense at form. The arrival of five more vampires didn't help matters. Forest and the others fought on bravely, but their numbers were dwindling. By the time the vampire reinforcements arrived two were unconscious and badly wounded. Forest had placed his own call for help, but had been told that it might be a while before help arrived.
Then help arrived. The vampire clinging to his back, a small, vicious female, was abruptly snatched away and thrown hard against a tree. There was a flurry of taser blasts, including two directed into the pile on top of Buffy. Two agents, and a man in civilian clothes came out of the bushes. Jay and Graeme began firing at anything that moved while the civilian began using a stake to lighten the stunned, twitching pile on top of Buffy. He staked four before another vampire noticed and tackled him. They rolled to a stop near Forest and he kicked the hostile hard in the head. It sagged and went poof a second later as the stranger's stake found its mark.
He got up breathing hard, nodded his thanks to Forrest and went back to the pile. He staked another before Buffy was able to shake herself free. It was at this point that he became aware of another. There was a platinum blonde man in a long duster coat breaking heads and looking as if he were thoroughly enjoying himself. A vampire with a broken back landed near him and Forest quickly knelt to stake it. He didn't recognize hostile 17 until it turned to face him. Despite the twisted features he could tell the vampire had a huge grin on his face.
"Oh yeah! It's been too long since I got some quality violence." He looked around and his face fell. "Hey! Where'd all our playmates go?"
"Ran off," the civilian came up breathing hard. Guess they decided they'd had enough fun. Time to go home."
"Well, lets go after them." The agents stared at him open mouthed. "Come on. Gonna leave 'em out here to kill people? Let's go wipe 'em out."
"Have fun." Jay panted, holding his ribs where a vampire had slashed him. "Give them my regards." Xander glanced at the agent and shook his head.
"He won't want to go alone. He likes to have someone to show off for." Spike glared at him and made a disgusted noise.
"Have it your own way." He turned and left the clearing, just as Forest was picking his jaw up off the ground. The rest were groaning and picking themselves up as best they could. The civilian was walking, actually limping around the clearing killing the three remaining vampires that were still incapacitated by the taser blasts.
"We better get back to base," Jay suggested. "I think we all need medical attention." He nodded at Buffy who was just barely on her feet. She was covered in bruises and minor cuts and what appeared to be a bite on her arm. Forest made a decision.
"Okay, lets go. You two come too."
"Sir, security…"
"You want to leave 'em out here after they saved our hides?" The agent who'd spoken frowned, but shook his head. "Lets go then."
* * *
Spike walked along the road grumbling to himself. Why had he pitched in? Why had he even followed them? It made no sense to him. Well, maybe it did. He would never admit it, but Xander was right. He did enjoy having an audience. That never seemed to matter before. Now for some reason, it felt like he needed outsiders to validate him. He wasn't comfortable being the 'lone wolf' anymore.
He really enjoyed being a vampire and all that went with it, but now things were different. What sort of demon was he that couldn't so much as harm a mouse? "It's not fair!" He kicked a soup can lying on the sidewalk and smiled as it left a nice starburst pattern in the front window of a shop across the road.
"What business have you got complaining?" a soft gravely voice demanded, sounding almost as morose as he felt. Spike stopped and looked up. There was a demon of a type he didn't recognize sitting on the roof of the shop he was passing. It was a rather depressed looking demon.
"What have we here? A demon. I was just thinking I needed someone to kill." The pale skinned creature gave him a bored look then went back to looking depressed. Spike, not liking the implication that he was someone who could be ignored jumped and grabbed a foot. Setting one booted foot against the wall he yanked.
The demon's only reaction was a surprised grunt. Spike suddenly found himself jerked skyward as the demon drew its legs up, and a crushing grip as it seized his arm. "Leave me alone." it growled.
Spike's mouth opened and closed a few times silently as he tried not to yell in pain. Fortunately, the demon got bored quickly. It gestured casually and Spike found himself flying through the air. He landed hard on the roof of car and rolled off onto the ground. By the time he was able to get up, the demon was gone.
"What the hell was that?" Spike dusted himself off, looking around to be sure no one had seen his less than graceful landing. He turned toward home. "Enough for one night." He looked over his shoulder once or twice on his way there though.
* * *
Riley and what was left of delta squad came through the door. Two members of the group had been badly injured and taken to the hospital. Another was missing. Most of those who were with him were injured in some way, mostly scratches and bruises, but they were all exhausted.
Learning that professor Walsh was at the infirmary with several other agents, he made his way there with the rest. He wasn't prepared for what he found. Walsh was dressing down Forest Gates about a blatant security violation, and everyone seemed to be talking at once.
"Professor?" Walsh looked over at him
"Riley. I'm glad you're here. Reports this evening have not been encouraging. What's your take on this?"
"We seem to be under a coordinated attack," he said bluntly. "The vampires Beta team encountered were searching the campus, probably looking for a way in or maybe just trying to draw us out. I'm not sure which. The smaller hostiles provided a diversion, forcing us to split our forces. I haven't had time to confer with the other teams yet. I can prepare a full report and tactical briefing by morning. Frankly though professor, we're all exhausted. Staying out any longer would have been an unacceptable risk. We need rest and medical attention." Walsh considered this briefly and nodded.
"Agreed. In the meantime there's a situation here." She nodded toward Gates who was standing at attention, as she'd left him.
"What's going on Forrest?"
"It looks like I owe you an apology," he gestured into the next room. "There is a Slayer." Riley pushed past into the next room. One of the doctors was bending over a bed, where Buffy lay unconscious.
"How is she?" The doctor glanced up as Riley entered.
"She'll be fine. The injuries aren't as bad as agent Gates first believed, but-" He shook his head in confusion.
"What?"
"Some of these injuries, seem to be weeks old. Its possible that the fighting reopened older wounds, but I'm not sure how she fought as she did with those kinds of injuries though. She'll need a couple of weeks to recover fully though. The broken ribs alone will-"
"Don't worry Riley, she'll be fine by morning." Both turned to see a young man in civilian clothes standing in the doorway.
"Xander? What are you doing here?"
"I brought them in," Forrest stepped past Xander into the room. "They really saved our lives out there, especially her. We were surrounded, outnumbered three to one. She cut those odds in half in under two minutes. It cost her though. They stopped with the fancy stuff and just piled on top of her and started pounding." He shook his head. "Sheer weight of numbers did the trick. She could have handled all twelve of them otherwise. It took six to pin her. We could have handled the others, but they got reinforcements. Luckily, so did we." He nodded toward Xander. "Harris, Jay, Graeme and hostile-, Spike came to our rescue."
"Glad to hear it." They all turned to see Buffy trying to sit up. "Oohh. I think it's time to turn off the sign." The commandos traded confused looks.
"What sign?" Riley asked for the rest.
"The one at the city limits that says 'Vampire Night! No cover no minimum.'"
"Uh, yeah," Xander nodded. "We'll get right on that." She smiled weakly at him as the doctor pushed her back down on the bed
"You need rest. You've got a couple or three broken ribs. You'll be on the sidelines for at least two weeks."
"She'll be 100% by morning," Xander assured them. Riley nodded.
"There are advantages to being a Slayer." Walsh looked at them, distinctly unhappy. The other agents looked back and forth between the two. "You're right Forrest. She is the Slayer. Guys," he looked around at the others, who were all staring at him by now. "Meet Buffy Summers, vampire Slayer."
"A Slayer who fights with a vampire's help?" Walsh sounded very displeased. This aspect of it was news to her. "You didn't tell me that the 'tracker' you would be using was my escaped hostile."
"Spike can't harm anything mortal, but vampires aren't mortal. He can hurt other types of demons as well. It makes him useful. He helps out to get his recommended daily allowance of violence, to pick up a little spending money, and to keep me happy. Neutered or not I'd dust him if he gave me a good excuse. Thing is he can't defend himself against me anymore. It just wouldn't feel right."
"So why let him roam free? He could expose us. He could tell other demons about us. How do you know he didn't instigate this?" Buffy shook her head.
"Vampire's are sorta like wolves. If one of their number turns up lame, they'll happily turn on him. Spike knows this, and he knows he's lame." Xander interrupted with a short bark of laughter at this. Buffy shot him a look and continued. "Other vampires aren't going to pay any attention to him. At best they'd give him a beating and send him packing. Besides, Ethan knew about your operation, and he heard it from demons he deals with. The cat was out of the bag before you captured Spike."
"How is that possible? We took every security precaution. That was the only breach we've had." Buffy shrugged.
"Demons like to watch from the shadows. I doubt you catch every one you see, and I'm sure you don't see everyone that sees you. There's also the little matter of magic. Demons don't always get their information through traditional channels. There are ways of hiding from security cameras and sensors. There's probably the magical equivalent of a security spy camera. Scrying I think its called. There are some things all your toys just can't guard against."
"Magic?" Walsh sounded deeply skeptical. Buffy considered the best way to convince her. "I can accept certain things, but our understanding of magic is so limited." She shook her head. "Even if there is, as you say a magical way of watching us, which I'm not sure I believe, what can we do about it?"
"I'll look into it." There was one sure way of proving that magic existed, but that would entail putting friends at risk. She wasn't prepared to do that. She wasn't ready to trust them that far.
"I'm not happy with this Summers. I want hostile 17 back under lock and key."
"You gave your word."
"You deceived me."
"Not at all. I said I had a way to find the mantis and I did. I told you he was a harmless demon, and he is. He's also a lot more useful out there than in here. I'd appreciate you not saying that to him though. I know I only tolerate him because he's sometimes useful, and he knows it, but he doesn't like hearing it said. He'd probably get all mopey and refuse to do anything productive for at least a week." Walsh stood open mouthed for a moment, looking for an appropriate response. Riley stepped in.
"I don't like it either, but he did help out tonight and he is neutered. Maybe we should give Buffy the benefit of the doubt." After a moment, Walsh nodded.
"I'll be watching closely." Buffy nodded.
"Understood. I have to do things my own way professor. I've survived four years of this by following my instincts and doing what I think is right. I can't change now. If that means we can't cooperate, then I'm sorry."
"The world doesn't revolve around you Buffy. The military works because people follow orders. I can't deny your success rate, but I can't do things your way either." Xander cleared his throat, drawing their attention.
"Why don't we just try to get through tonight and see if we can't reach some kind of understanding when things have calmed down?" Walsh considered this briefly and nodded, wondering what the civilian's connection to all this was.
"What is our current situation?" She looked from Xander to the agents who had gone with him. "The mantis?"
"Dead," Graeme answered promptly. "It had three hostages. We arrived just in time, and they're fine." Walsh nodded and moved on.
"The small hostiles?" Riley stepped forward.
"We think we got them all. We must have killed dozens of them, and things have finally started to calm down out there. We still have agents on the street, looking for signs of disturbance, but nothing has been reported yet."
"Vampires?" It was Forest's turn.
"Almost twenty staked. We may not have gotten them all, but we hurt them bad."
"Unfortunately," Riley cut in. "All of this confirms Buffy's suspicion about a new master demon in town. Some one went to a lot of trouble to organize this." Walsh looked around at the others. All of them were nodding in agreement.
"Very well then. I need all able bodied agents back on the streets. Find any remaining hostiles and capture one of the small ones alive if there are any left. The vampires will retreat at dawn, but we don't know about these small creatures." About five agents broke away and headed for the exits. She looked at the rest. "Get your wounds tended to." She turned and left for her office, leaving the doctor to handle their injuries.
* * *
Two hours later, Xander's sprained ankle was tended to as were the injuries, mostly minor, of the rest of the group. The agents in the field had reported in by then. They had found only three more vampires, and had located a missing agent. By the time the sun rose, the crisis had passed. Wherever the small creatures had come from, they went back there, and the surviving vampires had retreated to their lairs.
"Where were you Gary?" Riley asked, sounding a bit peevish after his long night. "You just disappeared."
"It's a bit embarrassing actually." He broke off, clearly not wanting to admit to what had happened. "I followed a pair of the small hostiles through a door in an alley. It turned out to be a utility room of some sort. They wriggled through a vent and the door slammed behind me. I spent the next four hours pounding on the door to be let out."
"Why didn't you call in?" Riley asked. Gary looked away.
"Um, well, one of them picked my pocket." Riley stared at him, not quite believing what he'd heard.
"Picked your pocket?"
"Yes sir. Three of them jumped on me from a roof and tore up my vest," he gestured at his shredded uniform. "I threw them off easily, but I saw one had grabbed my phone. That was one of the two I chased into the alley." Riley sighed.
"Wonderful." Riley shook his head and moved away. "File your report and requisition new equilpment." Gary sighed with relief when Riley was out of sight. Gary turned toward the locker room where he could get into something less torn.
Riley caught up with Buffy and Xander as they were getting into the elevator to take them to the surface. "Hang on a minute." They turned back to face him. "Walsh will want your take on this. A complete report about what happened." Buffy rolled her eyes.
"Great. More homework from her," but she nodded. "I'll take one of the little things to Giles, and see what we can find out about them." Riley was obviously wanting to say something else, but wasn't quite sure how to get it out. "Don't worry Riley. We'll figure it out. You can't stress over everything."
"Okay." He nodded reluctantly. "I guess we did come through it pretty much in tact, and we did win this battle." Xander shook his head as they got in to the elevator.
"We won this skirmish," he corrected.
"Skirmish? What qualifies as a battle in your experience?" Buffy gave him a little half smile as the doors began to close.
"Welcome to the Hellmouth, Agent Finn."
THE END
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