Connection Part Two: Chapter Four
by rockangelz25
Buffy looked down when the doorbell rang. “His friend’s here,” she told them.

“Buffy, is this an intelligent plan?” Giles looked at her, concerned.

“I think so,” she told him. “Spike could probably get in there alright. If he goes in, gets out the psychopathic versions of Xander and Willow, then you and Will can go in with me…. And Riley, probably. One of us should be tranqued.”

“Buffy—this is dangerous.” Xander crossed his arms. He was equally worried. “What if they see through us? It’s going to be worse for you. They’ll have both of the slayers.”

“That’s why this is so important. You can’t let on who you are. That’s why one of us is going to be unconscious; or faking it.”

“Can Will pull it off? I mean, the leather’s pretty clingy. It’s going to be hard to smuggle in the stuff to do the spell.”

“Yeah, but who says that I’m wearing leather? And God knows that the guy with Initiative isn’t. We’ve got to be ready to move.”

She ran back down the stairs to open the door. A guy stood outside—also in military gear, probably about the same age as Riley. “You’re the girl…. The Slayer,” he said.

“That’s me. You’re a friend of Riley’s. That’s not going to make you real popular.”

“Your friend isn’t real popular at base. Forrest had to tell where Riley was.”

“Forrest?”

“Another member of our group. One of Riley’s friends,” the new guy said. “I’m Graham, by the way. I’d shake your hand, but I’ve got all of this stuff in order to chip the vampire. Is he still here?”

“I think so. Riley should’ve shot him up with a tranquilizer.”

“Good. Then let’s get going.” Graham walked into the house, then turned around to face her.

“I didn’t want to ask you if I could come in. It was okay, right?”

“Yes.” Buffy smiled a little. She shut the door behind him.

Graham walked through the house. “Hey, Ri,” he said when he got to the kitchen.

“Oh, goody.” Willow rolled her eyes, threw up her hands, and walked out. “More military people.”

“Will, it’s good. He’s here to chip Spike. You need to go change.”

“On it,” she said. “Not like I want to stick around with the crazy people that try to shoot me.” She sent another glare at Riley as she walked out of the room.

“I said I was sorry!” he yelled after her.

“You do know that’s a vampire, right?” checked Graham.

“No, that wasn’t. Long story. There’s apparently two of them—and that guy she runs around with. Not Angelus, but the other one.” Riley rolled his eyes. “It’s been a long night.”

“It’s going to get longer,” interrupted Buffy. Graham, right?”

He nodded.

“Can you get going on him before he wakes up? I need to talk to Riley.”

Graham nodded again as Buffy grabbed Riley’s sleeve, yanking him to the doorway. It wasn’t an easy task—but she was the Slayer, so it wasn’t too hard.

“Now what?”

“Spike’s going to go in and get the vampire counterparts of Xander and Willow. The real Xander and Willow are going to be waiting somewhere nearby with us. We’ll stake vampires X and W, then go in. The main priority’s going to be getting Faith and shooting up Angelus with your tranq gun. Willow’s going to give him his soul back.”

She took a deep breath.

“You can stake the two of them, right?”

“Two of—you mean vampire Xander, vampire Willow?”

“Yes,” she responded, her voice low.

“I…. I guess so.” He already knew that this wasn’t the time to try and boost his ego. If this girl could really do these things—if this could all work—they were talking about taking out three of the major players.

“Wait.” Graham looked up from his surgery on the floor. “What about that other vampire…. The Master? What about him?”

“He’s in big with the Mayor. I don’t know if he’ll be there tonight. If he is, we’ll take him out.”

“That’s hard, Buffy,” Riley warned her. Slayer or not, he didn’t want to be responsible for the death of a civilian.

“I’ve done it before,” she said grimly. “Point is, you’re going to take out the first two vampires. Not Angelus, got it? Just shoot him full of tranquilizer darts until he stops moving. If you see the Master, do the same thing. I’m going to be full of tranquilizer myself.”

“Why?”

“Because if one of us isn’t, they might notice it was a trap. I am not staking my two best friends. I know it isn’t them, they aren’t even from here, but it’s the same faces. I can’t do that. I sent the guy I love to hell last year; there is no way I can do the same thing again.”

“Fine. But what if we can’t handle it?”

“Leave me and get gone.” She crossed her arms. “You could always come back later.”

“Ri, it’s dangerous,” pointed out Graham.

“Yeah, well, I think it’s a good plan. We’ll go in as soon as that guy’s all chipped up.” Riley managed to override all of his own internal objections.

“He’s fine now,” said Graham, after a few minutes of silence.

“God. What the bloody hell—more boys? Slayer, how many of these guys litter your house?”

Buffy lashed out, kicking him backwards. He jumped up. “Ready for another go around, then, pet?”

He drew back his fist, shot it forward to punch her, then stopped; screaming.

He looked up, shaking his head as the pain cleared. “What did you do to me?”

Buffy crossed her arms, staring at him. “You’ve got a chip in your head.”

“And how…?” He let the question trail off.

“The military guys did it.” She looked a little smug now.

“You can’t hurt humans anymore,” said Graham.

“Stupid bugger! I haven’t touched a human since I got here, this time around, and I’m practically starving. What do you expect me to do?”

“Drink pig’s blood.” She was definitely smug now. “There’s probably some left in Angel’s old place.”

“Uh-uh. First off, not drinking leftovers of that ponce. Second, there’s no way I’m helping you now.”

“Stake?” Buffy held out a hand, and Riley gave one to her.

“Wrong, Spike.” In a swift movement, she was back beside him. She held the stake to his chest—he couldn’t leave without hurting one of the humans. Not that he had problems with that, just that his…. His chip did.

“Either you help us, or you’re extra crispy.”

“Well, love…” He searched for a way to get around it. “I’m a vampire, right? Can’t be trusted. I’ve left town a lot now, made you promises, right? Not trustworthy, no. You’d better just let me go.”

“Why? You’re basically neutered, Spike.” She smiled at him brightly, almost liking the insults—and almost not.

“Watch your language!” he snarled at her.

“You can’t hurt any humans.”

“How’m I supposed to fight?”

“You can still fight demons,” Riley told him.

“Oh, that’s just great.” The vampire threw up his hands, ready to stalk off in disgust if it weren’t for that pesky stake right beside his heart.

“So. You gonna help us, or am I going to get the ashtray?”

“I help you with this, we’re done. You’ll take my chip out?”

“No,” she said. “That chip isn’t leaving. But you could. Close your eyes, wish real hard, and I could make it go away—along with the rest of your body.”

“Dammit, Slayer. You’re supposed to be above these petty games.” He was disappointed in her.

“Says who? Are you helping us, or not?”

“Yeah, sure.” He sighed. “Might as well.”

“Good. You’re carrying me to the Bronze.”

“Contrary to popular belief, this town is not a part of ‘Gone with the Wind’. And I am not your keeper.”

“Too bad. Riley, get Willow and Xander. Then shoot me up.”

“Drugs, now, pet? Those things aren’t good for you.”

“No. Tranquilizer darts. You’re going to go in, get Willow and Xander. The vampire ones. Bring them outside, and help Riley stake them. After that, you’re free. But, just so you know, you could beat up on Angelus, too.”

“That’s nice of you, offering me a chance to beat up on my grandsire. Makes the whole thing worthwhile.”

“Good. Because if any part of this goes wrong, I’m blaming you. And there will be someone to kill you.”

“Lovely. Threats. I really didn’t miss this town.”

“You shouldn’t have come back,” she muttered under her breath as Riley came back into the room. Xander and Willow were behind him.

“You ready, Buff?”

“Yeah.”

“How many darts,” started Riley awkwardly.

“Just one.”

Spike raised his eyebrows. The girl had guts, he knew that. Of course, she’d proved that before. Didn’t mean that she wouldn’t die someday, like all of the other Slayers, it just meant that she might die slower. It might take longer.

“Ri, I’m going back to the base. I’ll tell Walsh you’re fine. Hurry up.” Graham started out. “It was nice to meet you, Buffy.” She shot a smile after him as he left.

Riley raised the gun, pulled the trigger.

She fell over backwards, more from the impact than anything else. One tranq dart was enough to incapacitate her a little. She could probably still move on her own, just not very well.

Spike caught her as she fell, easily fighting the minute urge to let her hit the floor. “Right, then. Let’s go. Got demons to kill, grandsires to beat up.”

Cordelia looked out the window, watching them leave. Spike was carrying Buffy out, her eyes half-closed. Xander and Willow were behind him, with that other guy—Riley, she guessed.

“They won’t be back,” she said.

“Sure they will,” Oz said comfortingly.

“We went through a lot in L.A., especially with the law firm, but this is something almost worse.”

“They’ll be back,” Oz told her.

“Will they? Will they really come back? Yeah, Xander’s not the greatest boyfriend, but he’s loyal…. And he’s nice, usually…. And he’s pretty funny. Willow’s not bad, either. Spike, yeah, I wouldn’t be crying if he suddenly fried, but I don’t want the rest of them to die. Sunnydale’s bad, Oz. We know that. That’s why we left.”

“It’s fine,” he told her.

Giles watched them from the room’s doorway. They’d grown closer, while they were gone. And they had all grown up a little. He supposed that there was something good from this after all. Maybe there was still hope.

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