The first one was easy -- it usually was when the vamps traveled in groups. They tended to get cocky. And this group seemed to be taking advantage of the fact that the Slayer was otherwise occupied -- in a public place like this it was rare that they played with their victims quite so much.
By the time the dust fell to the ground, the other vampires noticed that they weren't alone. Two of them turned in shock as the third came running at Riley, growling and leaping in the air. Riley braced himself for the impact, but he still went down, the vampire rolling on top of him and going for his neck.
Riley was trying to shift his weight when the vampire suddenly recoiled and hissed as he whipped his head around. Riley saw Kaplan standing over them, looking at the middle of the vampire's back. She lifted her foot up and stomped down on something. The vampire turned to dust.
"I see what you mean by more force." She pulled another stake out of her vest. "Next time I'll get it right."
"Takes practice," Riley said as he turned. The other two vamps were coming at them. The female one went at Kaplan, throwing a punch that whipped her head back. Kaplan came up swinging, though, and seemed to be holding her own.
Riley didn't wait for the last vamp to reach him. He stepped forward and brought his fist in for a gut punch. The vampire doubled over and stumbled. Riley caught him and pulled him up, throwing another punch. And maybe one more just for the hell of it. The vamp fell back against a brick wall, sinking to the ground. Staked. Three down.
Turning, Riley saw that Kaplan was losing the fight. He pulled at the vamp's collar and threw her against the wall. To Kaplan he said, "Take care of them." He nodded towards the two women who were huddled on the ground. "Get them inside."
He approached the vamp who was now sitting on the ground. He crouched down to stake her, his eye still on Kaplan -- she was looking a little shaky.
Dumb move. He was caught off guard when the vampire jumped up at him, grabbing his wrist with both hands, sinking her teeth into his arm, and knocking him totally off balance. They fell to the ground. Riley was on his back -- again. Great. Twice in ten minutes. Good example for the new troops who, luckily, weren't around to notice. Unluckily, however, the vamp's body was pinning his so that he couldn't shake her off. She started to drink deeper and he could feel the pull throughout his entire body. And that voice -- so hard not to give into that voice.
Not good. So not good.
Twisting his head, he looked around for the stake that had dropped out of his hand when the vamp grabbed him. He couldn't see it, but he did see a beer bottle. Knew what one of those could do. He strained to reach it, taking advantage of the fact that she was now focused on the drinking and not the fighting.
Almost...got...it... There.
He grabbed the bottle and slammed it down on her head. That got her attention. He twisted and pushed her off him, scrambling up. Total head rush and he almost dropped back down. He had forgotten about that part. Shit. He leaned back against the car to steady himself, his hands resting on his knees. He was reminded once again of how lucky he was that none of the vampire girls had ever tried to finish off the job. He had always had his stake nearby, but still. It would have been so easy.
Where was the damn stake?
"Duck!" came Clem's voice from inside the car.
Riley looked up to see the vamp coming at him again. A bit of a drunken stagger to her gait; still fast, though. Riley dropped to the ground, noticing the stake under the car and reaching for it as he rolled. He came up to his feet as the vamp was pushing off the car, practically flying at him. She caught him before he was fully standing and pushed him back against the wall.
"I always wanted to taste you," she said slamming his head against the brick. "Such a pretty boy, but you had your favorites." She punched him in the stomach, smiling as he doubled over. She pulled his head up so it was level with hers. "It's o.k. You were worth the wait." She leaned in for the bite.
He'd been waiting for that. Everything was still spinning too much for him to have been able to fight her. But once her guard was down? No problem. He brought his hand up to her chest, smiling faintly at the shock on her face as she looked down at the stake and turned to dust.
"Shouldn't talk so much," Riley muttered as he slid down the wall, fighting the urge to throw up. Or pass out. Take your pick. "Should've just bit me."
The car door slammed. "You o.k.?" Clem asked, crouching down.
Riley looked up, glaring. "Thanks for the help."
"Hey," Clem said, holding his hands up, "Demon. I make it a point not to kill my kind. Especially now that I hang with Spike. No one likes him much anymore. You wouldn't believe how hard it's been to get into the poker games. And that was before everyone knew he was seeing the Slayer. Hoo-boy. Aren't enough kittens in the world..."
Before everyone knew. Nice. Although the image of Spike and Buffy together did get the blood going. Helped stoke up the urge to kill.
Clem stood up. "So -- you're not looking that great. You want to just sit there a little while? That's o.k. I can be lookout." He turned back toward the Bronze. "Uh-oh."
"Don't say uh-oh," Riley said, still queasy.
"Um, o.k.," Clem answered helpfully. "Company."
Riley cocked his head to the side so he could see around Clem. Six more coming their way. So not good. Hadn't fared so well with four and that was with help. Speaking of which, "Where's Kaplan?"
"Inside. Oooo -- I'll go get her. See? I'm helping." Clem ambled around the side of the car, whispering, "Don't want to attract their attention."
Wonderful. Thanks so much. Riley got to his feet slowly. A little better. The dizziness wasn't so bad this time and he could feel the rush kicking in -- blood coursing through his veins, senses heightening, nerves tingling. Usually it started as soon as the bite did and lasted for a little while afterwards -- the only reason he had ever been able to walk out of that place without hanging his head in shame. Not that the shame wasn't there, it was just that the high held it at bay.
This was different, though; he hadn't wanted this bite. Wasn't sure if it would still affect him the same way. Wasn't even sure if that all-powerful, invincible feeling was possible any more, even if only for a few minutes. But it seemed that it was, which was a damn good thing -- it would probably get him about 15 minutes of pure adrenaline; not nearly enough to take on six vamps single-handedly, but maybe enough to stay alive until the reinforcements came. Maybe even take out another vamp or two.
The six vamps fanned out and one of them spoke. "At first I was just going to kill you, but now I'm thinking I might want to play."
"Always up for games," Riley said, glancing over the vamp's shoulder.
"You looking for the cavalry?" There was some laughter from the peanut gallery. "Sorry, they're otherwise occupied. We've got your boys running all over town. Even the Slayer couldn't have taken us tonight."
Riley nodded toward the Bronze. "Picking on drunk high school kids? That's your idea of a good time? Isn't that a bit pathetic?"
The vamp shrugged. "Blood's blood. I was just about to have myself a fresh one when your friend came in. The kids can wait, though. I do prefer the challenge." He looked around. "Gotta say -- I am a little disappointed. Thought there'd be more of you out here."
"Sorry, but I'll do my best 'til they get here." Riley's heart was pounding. Enough talk. Let's do this.
"Don't you listen?" the guy snapped. "I already told you they're busy. Might be a while before they show up."
"Or not," Riley said looking past the vamps. "Guess we won." He started running forward as all six of the vamps turned to look behind them. "Oh, come on," Riley muttered. "Oldest trick in the book."
He reached the one farthest to his left and used the taser. Turning to his right, Riley staked the vamp who had just realized they'd been duped. As the vamp on the left came out of his shock, Riley staked him, too.
But he didn't even have time to turn around before another vamp grabbed him from behind and slammed him into the car. Even an adrenaline high wasn't enough to take on four of them. They spun him around and two pinned his arms back while a third punched him in the jaw.
"Told you this would be fun," said the lead vamp. He bent down and picked something up from the ground. He looked at it and flipped a switch. "Always wondered how these things worked. So," he said to Riley, "would you rather I shock you first? Or should I just go ahead and stake you?" The vamp held the stake in his other hand. "You've done it enough -- it's only right you get to see what it feels like."
Riley didn't answer. He was too busy thanking God that the vamps had no discernible strategy other than force. "Anyone ever teach you guys about tactical positioning?"
The vamp who had punched Riley was still standing directly in front of him. He looked at Riley quizzically. Riley kicked at him and he fell backwards into the lead guy, getting not only shocked, but staked in the process.
"Now that was fun," Riley said, laughing as the lead guy shocked himself while scrambling up.
"You're laughing?" the vamp asked incredulously. "Are you kidding me?" His punch showed exactly how pissed he was. Fuck, did that hurt. "That smile is coming off your face if it's the last thing I do." Another punch to Riley's jaw. And ribs. Side. Side. Jaw. After another few punches, Riley stopped keeping count.
It seemed like forever, but it couldn't have been that long before Riley saw a pair of headlights in the distance. "Finally," he mumbled painfully, but with a smile nonetheless. "I win."
The vamp didn't care. "Not..." Jab. "Falling..." Jab. "For that..." Jab. "Ag-"
"Warned you," Riley said as the vampire turned to dust.
Riley staggered forward as a soldier with a crossbow -- kneeling on the ground from about thirty yards out -- took out the vamps pinning Riley's arms. Five more soldiers came running towards Riley from further down the alley.
"Inside," Riley said, weakly gesturing at the Bronze. "I think there are more inside." He bent over and spit out a mouthful of blood. Ran his hand down his side. Not broken. That was something.
He really should go inside and see if they needed help, he thought. In a minute. As soon as he could see straight again. He leaned back against the car.
Maybe two minutes.
O.k., three.
Didn't even take that long before people started pouring out. Kaplan came running -- practically jumping. Clem followed right behind smiling, but keeping really close to her as he eyed the five men bringing up the rear.
"Riley!" Kaplan yelled as she approached him, excitement written all over her face. "Riley! I got two! Two!"
Clem cleared his throat.
"O.k.," she conceded. "One and a half. Clem got the other half. He kind of pushed the guy into my stake. We-" she broke off as she noticed the blood on Riley's face. "Oh my. Are you o.k.?"
Riley was still trying to shake it off. "Probably time to switch drivers."
A soldier in a black uniform came up behind them. "Sir -- what do we do with the civilians?"
An Initiative guy. Riley couldn't remember his name. Could barely remember his own name right now. "Let them go. Or call ambulances. Or whatever."
Kaplan looked at Riley with concern and then back at the soldier, telling him, "Put away the guns first. Then tell them to go home. And there are two that got hurt -- see if they're o.k." She turned back to Riley. "You need a doctor. Don't shake your head at me. You look terrible."
No way in hell he was spending the rest of the night in the ER. "Night's not over yet."
"Damn right, it's over." She reached in the car and pulled out the radio. "Base, this is Kaplan."
"Go ahead," Vaughan answered.
"Bronze is secure," she reported. "Two injured civilians, one injured soldier."
"Who and how bad?"
Kaplan gave Riley an appraising glance. "Finn and he's standing, but just barely."
Riley tried to glare at her. Couldn't, though. It hurt too much.
"Finn. There's a surprise," Vaughan said, sounding anything but. "Well, tell him Oakdell was right. It'll make him feel better."
"Won't," Riley mumbled. There were very few things that would make him feel better right now. Being told Oakdell was right wasn't even close to being one of them.
"Orders, ma'am?" Kaplan asked.
There was a minute of silence before Vaughan said, "If it's really bad, the guys in black have combat medical training; if it's manageable, though, wait for the ambulance. Tell Finn that's an order. To at least let the EMTs look at him. If they say he's good, keep patrolling."
"And the others?"
"Get them back out on the streets as soon as possible. The calls are slowing down, but I'm not ready to call it a night. Let me know when you're up and running. Out."
"Hear that?" Kaplan asked Riley. She pointed at the ground. "Sit." She assigned one of the rookies to stay with the injured civilians and dispersed the other soldiers. She sat down across from Riley. Clem sat down next to her. "You want to wallow or you want the story?" she asked Riley.
"Story," he said, smiling. Or trying to.
She grinned. "O.k. So I go in and I got one by surprise, but then they grabbed me. And then five, maybe six of them went outside -- sorry, I told them there were a bunch of you. I figured you'd think the civilians' safety was more important. You would, right?"
Rhetorical question. Good thing.
"Then we sat there for a while," she continued excitedly. "There were three left."
"Four," Clem said.
"Four," she repeated. "So we were just sitting there and they were looking evil. And then Clem came in and he pretended he was on their side. He kept them busy until the other soldiers came in. That's when he pushed the guy into my stake. Those guys in black are pretty good; the other three were dead in no time."
"Technically, they were already dead," Clem corrected, and the two of them continued to discuss their exploits until the ambulances arrived.
A couple bruised ribs, a lot of cuts and bruises, and a slight concussion turned out to be the diagnosis. Before letting him go, the EMT made sure Riley knew the signs of a concussion gone bad and said it wouldn't be a bad idea to try and stay awake for the next few hours.
Like that was going to be a problem. "Yeah, I know the drill." Riley handed the keys over to Kaplan. "Your turn to drive."
As soon as they were back on the road, Riley opened the glove compartment. He dug around a bit and pulled out a bottle of pills.
"What is that?" Kaplan asked as he popped one into his mouth.
He showed her the bottle. Black Ops standard issue. Didn't matter if you were almost dead -- if you could stand, your job was to keep fighting. Riley had learned to live with a hell of a lot of pain -- he hated the idea of ingesting anything that the government told him to. But this night could just be getting started and there was no way in hell he was getting benched.
"One of the perks of this job," he said. "An unlimited supply of pain medication."
"One of the perks of most jobs is that they don't require such a thing," Kaplan snapped as Riley grabbed the radio.
"Base, this is Finn."
"Good to hear your voice." Vaughan's tone was clipped and impersonal, but Riley could hear the undercurrent of amusement in her voice. This was a conversation they had repeated countless times over the past year. "So how many did you get? Miller wants to know -- he says he's got three so far."
Riley smiled and said, "Six. And tell him there's no way he's going to catch me." They had started keeping track around month four; Riley maintained the only reason Graham was even close was because of Riley's two-week stint in a hospital in Scotland. "So where do you want us? Still driving around? Or should we be heading somewhere in particular?"
"Just patrol. But steer clear of the magic shop -- on Miller's orders."
"Really?" Riley didn't like the sound of that.
"Really," Vaughan answered. "Cursing you every step of the way, but that's what he said."
"What -- did he have a vision?"
"He ran into your friend," Vaughan said. "Or, rather, she ran by him. Told him to stay out of her way and stay away from the magic shop."
Definitely sounded like Buffy, Riley thought with relief. "When was this?"
"Just came in."
Well that was good. Buffy and Graham still o.k. enough to be snapping at each other. At least something about the world was normal. "How are the teams doing?"
"Rookies are learning fast. They've already picked up some kills. Minimal injuries so far - two broken arms. One guy recovering from a taser blast."
"Got his weapon turned?" Considering it had almost just happened to him, Riley felt quite sympathetic.
"Umm, no. Friendly fire. Someone was a little too eager."
"Understood," Riley said, laughing. Not the first time that had happened. "Let us know if we're needed. Out."
Kaplan waited until Riley was done on the radio before saying, "You always talk to her like that?"
"Like what?" Riley asked, reaching forward to put the radio back in its place.
"I don't know -- so... familiar."
"Oh." Yeah, he guessed so. "Only when I'm not in trouble."
Kaplan turned to him. "Do you get in trouble a lot?"
Smiling, Riley answered, "Not as much as I used to."
The rest of the night -- the little that was left -- was quiet. Twice they drove by teams right after the kills had been made. They helped with the remains of one particularly large demon, but that was it.
"So how long do we keep this up?" Kaplan asked.
"Until it's over," Riley said.
"And we know that how?"
Riley shrugged. "Usually you just know."
"Aren't the vampires all in bed, now that the sun is up?"
"Vampires are; no one else is."
Kaplan jerked her head toward the back seat and said, "What about him?"
Riley turned to look at Clem who was stretched out across the seat, snoring. "We can take him home when he wakes up."
"Base to Finn." Vaughan's said over the radio.
"Finn."
"Riley -- I'd prefer not to use the term 'panicking,' but things are getting a little hairy." Her voice definitely had an edge to it. That wasn't good.
"Demons?" he asked.
"No. The readings are off the charts. I want you back here and I want you to reconsider your previous orders. It's been bad all night, but this is getting out of hand."
Damn. Not good at all. At least she wasn't overriding him altogether. Yet. "Yes, ma'am. We're on our-"
"What the hell was that?" Kaplan asked, pulling the car to a stop as the ground shuddered.
Riley spoke into the radio. "Did you just feel that? Colonel Vaughan -- are you there?"
"Affirmative," Vaughan answered, shouting over the sound of all the warning bells that seemed to be going off in the background. "We're checking on it. Stand by."
Like hell he would. Riley turned to Kaplan. "Campus."
"Yes, sir," Kaplan said, nodding and turning the car towards campus. She slammed on the breaks as the ground shook again. She looked at Riley. "Am I supposed to drive through those things?"
Outrunning tornadoes? Yes. Earthquake avoidance, however? Not part of driver's ed at Ballard Senior High. "Don't know much about earthquakes. But I suggest you try and avoid any big holes in the ground."
"Thanks," she muttered. "That was very helpful."
"Anytime."
She decided to drive through the subsequent tremors and they reached the building just as the radio sounded again.
He grabbed it. "This is Finn. We're here. Give us thirty seconds," he said, already out of the car.
He could hear the alarms sounding from two security checkpoints away. By the time he got to the door, though, everything was silent. As he ran in, Vaughan turned to him, a puzzled look on her face.
"What just happened?" Riley asked. "Did the monitors go down?"
"No," Vaughan said. "They just stopped."
"Stopped? Just like that?" That made no sense.
Vaughan nodded.
"That's a good thing, right?" Kaplan said from right behind Riley.
"Um, don't know," Riley replied.
"So what next?" Kaplan asked.
Riley looked at Vaughan.
"Your call," she said.
He looked up at the monitors again. Nothing. "Guess we'll head back out," he said. "Try and figure out what just happened." He hoped that it meant the end of Bad Willow and not the end of, well, Willow.
Vaughan nodded.
Kaplan followed Riley out of the building. "So how exactly do we do that?"
Riley climbed back in the car. "I'm not totally sure, but I know where to start."
"We bringing him?" Kaplan said, gesturing at Clem who was still asleep in the back seat.
Riley shrugged. "Sure. Why not?"
He gave her directions and a few minutes later they pulled up in front of the Magic Box. "I'll be right back," Riley said to Kaplan as he got out.
He looked in the window, completely unprepared for what he saw inside. He opened the door slowly. Holy shit. He walked through, ducking beams and stepping over piles of debris. There was too much junk everywhere to be absolutely sure, but it didn't look like there were any bodies anywhere.
Heading back out and getting into the car, he shook his head at Kaplan's question. "Nothing. One more place I can think of and then we have to get creative. Take a left up ahead."
They were barely off Main Street when he saw Anya walking along the side of the road, supporting a man who did not look to be in good shape. Riley told Kaplan to stop the car; he got out.
"Anya," he said, his mouth dropping as she and the man stopped and turned. "Giles. You're... I thought..."
Riley rarely got flustered, but seeing Giles was totally unexpected. And more than a little nerve-wracking, considering Giles was more of a father to Buffy than her real dad. The shame came rushing back in spades.
He stepped forward to help Anya support Giles' weight. "Here -- let me help. Where are you going? Can we give you a ride?"
Giles smiled. "That would be very much appreciated," he answered in the most understated way. "Yes, thank you."
"We're going to Buffy's," Anya said. "Giles refuses to go to the hospital."
Kaplan jumped out of the front seat and helped them get Giles in. She opened the back door for Anya.
Anya pushed Clem over. They were clearly already acquainted. "Oh, Clem, wake up. You couldn't possibly have slept through all this."
Clem protested as he stirred, but he sat up straight. "Is it over?" he mumbled.
"Yes," Anya snapped. "Finally. And I'm tired. So move over."
Clem moved over so that Anya and Kaplan could climb in.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Anya said as soon as Riley closed his door. "Go now. Please."
"Yes, ma'am," Riley said, smiling as he pulled back on the road. "Anything else?"
"No," Anya said. "Oh, wait. Yes." She leaned forward and punched him in the shoulder with a surprising amount of force.
"Ow! What the hell was that for?" he said whirling around.
"That was for what you did to Buffy," she answered. "It made her very unhappy. And then you go and get married. Why are you back?" she asked, moving to punch him again.
Giles caught her hand. "Anya -- could we perhaps do this another time? I'd like to get to Buffy's house in one piece."
Anya sat back with her arms folded against her chest. "Fine," she said. Then back to Riley, "I guess I'm glad you're not dead. And I'm sorry I didn't meet Sam; Xander said she was very nice."
"Um, thank you. I think," Riley said, glancing in the rear view mirror and seeing Kaplan turn to look out the window with an amused smile.
Giles cocked his head at Riley. "Congratulations," he said, his face unreadable. "Is your wife here, too?"
"No. It's kind of complicated." Riley looked at Giles and was surprised to see a warm smile come over his face.
"I'd think so," Giles said. He put his hand on Riley's shoulder and squeezed. "Welcome home."
~~ to be continued in SW9: There's No Place Like It ~~
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