Summary: This is a new series about Riley. It starts half way through Happy Ever After. There are a few spoilers for Happy Ever After in this chapter and future chapters. Buffy and her gang are not in the beginning of this series but a few members will be joining later on. In this chapter: Sam returns home from the hospital. Riley is trying to find out more about Anya and the Demon. Sam's sister is angry with Riley. His marriage is over....
Main Cast:
Riley - Marc Blucas,
Sam - Keira Knightley,
Jim - Billy Brown,
Guest Starring:
Buffy - Sarah Michelle Gellar
Mim - Melissa Joan-Hart
Other
Disclaimer: I own none of the Buffyverse characters as the all belong to Joss Whedon.
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"Here we are sweetie. Home sweet home, eh?" Riley whispered to his wife.
Here eyes fluttered open, still red from the crying.
“Riley, can we stay here?” Sam’s eyes were interlocked with Riley’s. His eyes were full of kindness, beauty and passion. Hers would have been too a few days ago.
“Pardon sweetie, your not making sense?” Riley stroked her face, and smiled at her.
“I meant can we stay here, in the car, forever, just me and you and nothing else,” Sam begged him so much, he nearly said yes. Her face looked so empty of love.
“We have to enter the real world sometime. C’mon I’ll take your bags and you can go in and make yourself comfy,” Riley gave her a peck on the cheek and left the car.
Sam just sat staring at the pouring rain. It fell gray and heavy, just like she was feeling. She looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her face looked tired and old. There were bags underneath her eyes, turning her whole face into a cloud of depression. Then she looked at the windscreen wipers flip back and forth. She saw how it cleared the window so she could see everything outside, and then how it all misted up again. Just like how she was feeling again. As though one minuet she knew what had happened in her life and how she was going to move on, as though she understood life again. And then her life would mist up again, and everything was blurry and she had no idea of how to live her life.
“Sam, you coming?” Riley popped his head into the car.
“Yeah, just give me second to collect my thoughts,” Sam replied, quickly picking up a tissue and blowing her nose.
She wondered, if you can blow your nose to get rid of the dirt, can’t you blow away the dirt in your mind? Can’t you blow away you r feelings? Was there any way all these things that were happening to her could just…. Disappear?
Sam opened the car door, and clambered out. She took her husbands hand, and he led her off towards the house.
Riley held the door open for her, and she stepped on through. She walked on into the living room, and stared at the mess she’d created. It seemed worse than when she actually made it. A few chairs were overturned. Papers were scattered everywhere. Sam clasped her hand to her mouth, unable to speak. Had she really created all this?
“Hey babe, it looks worse than it is. I’m gonna get this place spick and span in no time!” Riley put his heavy arm around his wife, trying to comfort her as much as possible.
“NO – it’s not your job to clean this. I caused this, I’ll clean this!” Sam turned to Riley, defiant in her decision.
“Listen, you need rest, you should go up stair-“
“Don’t you tell me what to do! I’LL DO WHAT I BLOODY WELL LIKE!” Sam stormed off into the kitchen, tears strolling down her cheeks.
The doctors had told Riley that Sam would be like this for a while. They’d said she’d be confused and scared. And she’d have mood swings. But he didn’t know what to expect. If she reacted like this every time he tried to do something for her, he wouldn’t know what to do.
*
Sam didn’t let Riley do anything from then on. She was always keeping busy. Always cleaning, or sorting something out. Riley started to get used to this, so instead of arguing with her he’d decided to get on with his own work. He needed to find out more about Zakynvlor, he needed to find out more about Anya. And what she had said.
"Your machine isn't buggered Riley, you were just tracking the wrong "beastie"!" she spoke softly.
"How do you know his name? And the only thing we see is you? Are you the beastie?" Jim blabbered away.
"Shut up Jim - Anya? Is that you? Anya?" Riley looked closer into the darkness.
"Do you two know each other?" Jim flipped from Riley to the girl and back to Riley.
"No Riley - not Anya, Anyanka" she whispered and started to drift away through the deserted streets, "Zakynvlor! It is time!" And Anyanka vanished.
What did she mean? Something had to have been wrong with the machine. There was no other demon around. And what was with the whole, it’s Anyanka thing. The name Anyanka rang a bell, something Buffy had said once. But it was too long ago to remember, so he decided to do some research. But if Anya or Anyanka had been there, that means they survived the First. That means Buffy’s alive. And probably in Manhattan. Did that Demon have something to do with Buffy?
He explored a couple of pages on the net first. He had no such luck as into finding any info on anything. Sam had told him he was being stupid, and that he should try and research something useful. Riley looked through a couple of books as well. He looked into a book of Prophecies, and found nothing but a couple of stories of how one day something will rise and bring back the dead. How many times he’d heard that he didn’t know. But the thing that pulled his attention was the picture. There was an army of monsters, nothing special about that. Except in front of the army he saw two women fighting. One held a sword, the other an axe. The one with the axe was dressed in a long robe-type dress, will curly hair. Just like how Anya was dressed the other night. The other girl, to him, looked like Buffy.
The thing that scared him then was the rest of the prophecy.
“The Slayer shall come face to face with her enemy, and they will do battle before the eyes of the Slayers Past victims. She will fight alone and lose the battle, at the strike of midnight.”
There was also another whole heap of rubbish saying the prophecy could not be stopped. And he knew from past experience, that prophecies could be stopped.
*
"Sam, I'm going to the Initiative for a few hours, do you wanna come or will you be alright on your own?" Riley called up the stairs to his wife.
"What do you need to go to the initiative for? I thought you were taking time off to be with...... me," Sam's face dropped to a frown.
"I have to pick some books up sweetie, I won't be long."
"WON'T BE LONG! The trip there takes 3 hours alone! By the time you get there, get the books and get back home, it would have been a good eight hours! Not long is half an hour!" Sam bellowed down the stairs, and Riley saw the tears gather in her eyes.
"Sam, STOP! This is my job, and yes I can take some time off to be with you sometimes but I still need to get on. Now are you coming or not -?" Riley was becoming infuriated. He didn't want to be like this to his wife, he knew how scared she was at the moment, but she needed to understand.
Sam just stood on the top of the stairs, not moving, not speaking. She looked into her husband’s eyes, but still did not move an inch.
"I'm not waiting around for an apocalypse sweetie, see ya later!" Riley left the house, leaving his wife trembling on the top of the stairs.
Oh my god!sniff He just said what the man said. It's happening again, my husband is speaking like my rapist! How dare he! Wait he didn't know, it's probably just something quite a few people say. But now... now I'm always going to think of the rapist when I think of Riley. What if that was a prophecy! What if it showed what my husband does to me! But it's happened already, it really happened.sniff . I was raped! I haven't come to terms with it before; I'm only now admitting it. I was raped. A stranger raped me. I was pulled into a truck and raped. He ripped my clothes off me. He... he hurt me bad!sniff WHY!? Why do these things happen to me? Why?
I can't deal with this now. Not here. Not with him. Not with Riley. He's tried to help me but... we're growing distant. And he can't cope either. I can see he wants things back to how they were. And they won't be back to how they were, unless I leave. I could come back? One day. Riley and me could sort it out, once I've sorted my self out. I'm gonna pack my bags, I can't be here when he comes back. Should I leave a note? To tell him why I've gone. But then he might find me. He might make the connection of how I'm feelin', to somewhere I have been before. He's always doing stuff like that.
Sam rushed around the house piling any belongings or clothing she could find into a suitcase. She'd get a taxi to drive her to the airport. Then she'd be out of this place, maybe for good, maybe for a couple of months. But she had to go.
*
We're all going on a summer holiday!" Riley sang trying to be happy.
"Where the sky is.... la di da!" He drove down the motorway, rain peltering on his windows.
He looked to the side of the road, where he saw crime scene tape. He thought of how his wife had been trapped on this road, pulled into a truck and raped. What could have been going through her mind? I should have been there, he thought. He stared at the couple of pieces of ripped clothing, and he saw blood splattered over. Was that from his wife? He would have stopped if it weren’t raining, to see the mess. To see more of what his wife went through. She wouldn't say anything, she just kept it all bottled up inside. But he just kept on driving.
*
She paused in the doorway, and remembered all the happy times they shared. Thos times seemed longer ago now, than any other time. She knew that her relationship could be rescued, someday, but not now. She felt the lump in her throat build up, and suddenly, it was as if the Niagara Falls was behind her eyes. The tears poured out, and she fell to her knees. She held her hands to her face, and wept as if there was no tomorrow. The blistering sun was hidden by a cloud in her eyes. Everything felt gray and cold and she wondered whether life was worth living anymore.
The gate squealed as it was pushed open. A tall girl stepped inside. Her eyes were black, her skin smooth and pale. Her hair was pinned back at the sides, black curly locks tumbling around her shoulders. A long midnight blue dress, swayed around her body, like a cloak of mystery.
"Sam!" The woman dashed over to where Sam lay, still crying.
"Sam - what's wrong!" the woman shook Sam's shoulders, and pulled her to her feet.
"Mim? Is that you Mim?" Sam wiped her eyes; the tears had stopped at the sight of her sister.
"Yeah baby, it's me. What's wrong?" Mim looked her sister in the eyes. She knew what was wrong already, but couldn't bring herself to tell her sister what she was. What she had become.
"Mim, I'm leaving. I'm leaving town, I'm leaving the country, and I’m leaving Riley."
Mim knew she had argued with Riley, but she didn't know she was leaving. If Sam left now, Mim would never see her sister again. Mim was trapped in the U.S because of her job, and if she left, or tried to leave, she'd be killed instantly.
"Why? What happened? Did you two argue? Did he hurt you Sam? C'mon tell me!" Mim fired the questions like torpedoes at her sister.
"No, he didn't hurt me - well not physically anyway. Ever since... ever since the rape, I fee - "
"Rape?!?! He raped you!!!" Mim gasped in disgust, rage exploding in her heart.
"NO! Riley would never do something like that! Someone else raped me, but I'm forgetting about it. Or at least trying to. That's why I have to go. Since.... it happened, there has been and awkwardness between us. And I know it's because of the rape, so I keep remembering it. It all floods back into my mind, and I get depressed, and I can't cope,” Sam burst into tears half way through, and pushed her head into her sister’s arms.
"Shhhh. Calm down babe, I'm gonna make this all better. Don't go, okay, 'cos I'm gonna sort it out. Promise me you won't leave. Promise me you'll stay until I get back. Please!" Mim whispered to her sister, before Sam nodded, and they walked inside.
*
Riley headed through the bustling streets of Maryland. He saw the giant library, shining in the mid-day sunlight. But even with the sunshine, a darker presence loomed from the library. The mystery of the initiative could be sensed from where Riley was. A good 500 yards away from the building. Nobody else noticed it, except for Riley. Well nobody else knew what was underneath the palace of concrete.
He looked around at the people, all busy with their lives. Most of them happy, all except a young toddler screaming for more ice - cream. Sam had only brought the subject of a child up once. And that time Riley had dismissed the idea completely. He could feel the hurt he had caused Sam by saying he didn't want a kid, but what was he meant to do? Lie? Tell her he wanted a child, so he'd spend the rest of his life with the kid of a woman he's never really loved. In the end that would have caused more pain to Sam, and even though he didn't love her, he would never want to hurt her.
Time had passed so quickly as he thought of his life, that he found himself almost immediately outside a pair of massive double doors leading into the library. He pushed them open, and looked inside. Dust hung in the air like an infinite cloud of silence. People were sat around old oak tables, piles of books at their side. Others, searched through rows, and rows of books, like a different world, where knowledge was king. Riley had never been a great reader; books had always seemed to bore him. Why read about explorations, and adventures, when the whole world's out there, just waiting to be discovered.
He thought of searching some of these books for information, but he knew there was much more of a chance of finding something out in the initiative. And the faster he could get home, the better. He hated leaving Sam alone, in case, she did something... stupid.
So he rushed over to the lift, and turned the handle.
"Shit!" Riley whispered to him, "It's bloody locked!" Riley kept twisting the handle, pushing fiercely at the door. He took his foot back, and slammed it into the wood.
But to no avail, the door didn't budge.
"Excuse me, is there a problem with the toilet door?" A guard from behind said, rubbing his bristly beard with his spidery fingers.
Riley turned around, and said sarcastically, "No, I'm just pushing at it for no reason at all........,” the guard just stared blankly, not getting what Riley meant, "IT'S LOCKED!"
"Don't you raise your voice at me sir, It’s just my job, and I think you'll find it is open, I went in it not five minutes ago, and if I remember correctly I left a bit of a stench. Anyhow, if you look at me demonstrate how to open the door, then hopefully your IQ will rise an inch," The guard smirked, and he walked up to the door, softly pushed down on the handle, and casually walked in.
Riley stared in shock, as the guard walked in and out over and over again.
"As you can see, the door is open,” then the guard walked off, without sharing a glance at Riley.
Riley went to the door again, pushed down on the handle, tried to open it - but yet again, it stayed completely shut.
"Hello Riley; remember me?"
He turned around, and they’re standing before him, was Mim, Sam's sister.
*
"M - Mim! You gave me a shock! What are you doing here? I didn't imagine you a great book reader!" Riley smiled at his sister in law and rushed to give her a hug. He'd always been fond of Mim.
But Mims gray, stonly expression, told Riley immediately something was wrong.
"I'm not here to read books Riley, I'm here to see you," Mim talked down at Riley, as if he was dirt.
"Mim - what's wrong? Why do you need to see me?" Riley puzzled.
"Please, if you may come with me for a minute, I fancy a quick - uhhum - chat," and she grasped tightly on Riley’s jacket pulling him away from the lift.
But after a few steps, the ground seemed to open up, and swallow him whole. Every thing went black. Riley fell and fell through a black void. He heard laughing echoing from a few feet away. He felt something sharp slice across his chest. He wrapped his arms around himself in pain, gasping for breath. He smelt the bitterness of peril and mystery. And before he noticed he was falling down into a pit of light, he slammed against a hard, cold floor.
He felt the wound on his chest sting like mad. His face was pushed against the perfectly white floor. He saw the slow trickling of blood, spread out across the floor. The puddle of deep red blood grew bigger and bigger, heading for his face. His head hurt too much to move, so all he could do was just stare. He closed his eyes, and squeezed tight. He felt the tears start to build up inside. He knew if anyone saw him cry, he'd be named a wimp for the rest of his life. But the pain circled his body, and it was too much. He opened his eyes again, everything blurry now. He tried to look at his surroundings, but he couldn't make any definite shapes. The blurriness quickly got worse, and it soon grew darker. Riley strained his face trying to keep his eyes open, but darkness, and blood overwhelmed him. They flickered for a second, and then snapped closed, and Riley was unconscious.
Mim paced the room. She stared at the man lying dead to the world on the floor. The blood had stopped leaking from his wound, and his breathing had become steady. The minutes ticked by, as Mim just paced and stared. After a good hour, the fun of watching a man suffer had worn off, and she bored stiff. She snapped her fingers like an amateur magician, grinned for a second, before exploding into a bomb of sunlight.
*
The pain woke Riley up. It shuddered up his leg, like a writhing snake. Riley burst awake, coughing and spitting blood. He pulled his body up, and winced in pain. He looked around, warily. He stared at his surroundings, the harsh, bright white piercing his eyes with pain. He was in a room; well, not much more than a closet. Everything was merged together. The floor was white, the walls white, and the ceiling white. He searched for a door, or anything, that might lead him to where he was. The walls were bare, nothing but white plaster and a large mirror nailed to the one wall. He looked up at the ceiling, the light stinging his eyes. He saw nothing, but a few cameras.
What - the - h-ell? Where - am I? This place - it's - somewhere I've been. I know it; I've been - here. I recognize the color - the whiteness. Something - about the scent. The strong bleach, acidic smell. I've smelt it all before. The mirror - the purple shine that bounces off - I've seen it somewhere. I recognize it. My head hurts too much to think. It's pounding like mad. Where am I? How did I get here? Where-s - Mim. She went.... no she was with me. She was tugging me through that darkness. I could feel her sweaty palms on my jacket. And she laughed. She was there. But how??? Ouch - and my chest. It's bled like hell. I don't remember it happening - when was I stabbed. Where's Mim? And this place, the feeling of similarity is stronger. I know this place - It's a place I'm often at. My head - it's hit something. I have amnesia. I'm sure of it. But the thoughts are coming back. That small square of gray plaster on the bottom of the wall. I can visualize myself touching it. I remember pushing it to set the lasers on in the Initiative. THAT'S IT! It's the Initiative. I'm in a cell. I'm in an initiative cell. Where they detain demons and Vampires for questions, for experiments. But why..................................? Why would Mim - put me HERE? This is wrong. Something’s not right. Maybe if I shout - one of the guys will here me. They'll see me through the mirror. They'll let me out. They'll sort out my wound. I'll be safe -
"HELP! SOMEONE! PLEASE CAN SOMEONE HELP ME!!! I NEED SOME HELP!!!!" Riley screamed, waving his arms around his head, as though he was trapped on a desert island.
"Ok already! Calm down, Mim is here now,” She glided through the mirror, smiling to herself. "You had quite a sleep Riley, I thought you'd never wake. For a second I thought I'd killed you - but alas, that would have been too easy."
"M-i-mim? What's going on? Why am I - here? Plea-" Riley crawled to her legs, begging her for answers.
"Enough of the wining! Don't tell me you don't know what's going on? I'm sure somewhere in your heart you know Riles - oh Jesus you have no clue, do you?"
Riley shook his head, so panick stricken, he was basically in a trance. He just sat the staring up at her; eyes wide open.
"You are so difficult! Okay, let's go from the start. Once upon a time, I used to delve into the magic’s. I was one powerful bitch of a Wicca, let me just say. But one day, I got bored. All this magic was piling up inside my body, bursting to get out. My family had disowned because of the magic, and as you should know, from Sam, that her and me are not real sisters. I'm thousands of years old, and she's like, 29. We stumbled across each other when we were both in trouble 20 years ago, and we made a bond. But anyway, long story. SO now that I had this urge to empty my magic, I decided to destroy the world. I'd offered Sam a place with me safe, but she had refused. But I still tried to destroy the world. But they took my magic away from me then, they meaning the powers that be, up in space. I was on the verge of turning earth into a fiery cavern, but it never worked out. I set out on a voyage then, to punish the powers that be for being such bloody - uhhh, ass holes. But when they caught a whiff of this, I was killed, sliced through the neck. Then about seven years back, a monk brought me back to life hoping that I'd help kill a Slayer. I took the identity of a Catherine Madison, and set out to kill her. But they stopped me, they - being the Slayer and her friends this time, put me in a trophy for eternity. But I wasn't staying in there, I soon was given my powers back, and I was out and free. I decided not to go in for the fight now, I wanted to live, and if I did want to live, no more magick. But after a while, I thought I was safe, and returned to the black arts. Some woman approached me, saying her marriage was over, and that she needed to me to punish her husband for hurting her. So I killed him. Then of course, like always, I got busted, but because I was doing good, they didn't kill me. They just locked me in the U.S never to b able to leave. How sad eh? Now then - the present day. I got a phone call the other day, from a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend. Now they said, that my sisters marriage was on the rocks. I thought, my, my, my, it's times like this that family sticks together. So I head over to see my little sis. When I find her - she's screaming her little heart out, over - you. She told me about what has happened. The rape. The silence between you. The arguing, the constant dirty looks. So she said she was leaving. She had her bag - "
"SHE'S LEAVING! What!" Riley screamed, terrified of being on his own again.
"Don't you interrupt me!" Mim thrust her leg into Riley's face, and he slid across the floor. " Now then, back to what I was saying. Riley, if Sam leaves, I'm never going to see her again. If I try and leave America, I'm dead. And I can't live without Sam. I just can't. Me and her need each other. And the only way for her to stay, is if you stop this arguing and silence. It just reminds her of the rape, and then she wants to leave. So I'm here to teach you a lesson. Hopefully by the time I have finished with you - you'll understand your duty." Mim pulled a glistening, silver knife from her sleeve.
"I understand already. I understand what I have to do. I'll try. I don't want her to leave either! But you don't need to hurt me anymore!" Riley pushed himself further into the wall.
"No Riley, you are wrong. I don't think you do understand, if you don't sort your marriage out, you need to know what I'm going to do to you. And it will be 10 times worse than this." She threw herself and the knife towards Riley.
He rolled to the side, Mim slamming onto the ground. She threw her arm at his leg, the knife sinking into his thigh.
"Arghh! You bitch! Get off of me!" Riley pushed his hand into Mim's face, her head smashing against the wall behind.
But Mim, wasn't having it. She spun her body around, continuously kicking Riley in his skull. He fell to the floor, groaning.
"Can't take it soldier? Well let's see about this!" Mim swung her arm down, heading for his neck.
Riley twisted his body just in time, ripping the knife from her hand. She stared in anger, as Riley swooped down with the weapon, lodging it in her skull.
"Oh- My god. You bastard....... you bastard" and Mim fell dead, black blood pouring from her mouth and eyes.
Riley leaned back against one of the walls, and sighed. He smoothed his head, the pain escalating from his bruises.
Out of the blue, part of the wall vanished. Jackson rushed through, screaming. Riley began to lose consciousness again, and before anything could be said, he was lying on his face.
*
L.A.
"Buffy, we need more people! We cannot defeat this, unless we have more people," Giles paced the room.
"I know, but it's just -"
"It's just nothing Buff - people are going to die! People have died! We need al the help we can get!" Willow stared at her best friend, not sure whether Buffy was doing the right thing.
"Is it me, or does every time something big come round, nobody cares about what I say would be the best plan of action!" Buffy became flustered, she was surrounded by a group of people who didn't trust her leadership.
"We will do whatever you say in the end Buffy. But we are here to help, and if you want anyone to survive, you need to listen to other people!" Spike couldn't believe he was turning against the woman he loved.
"Buffy - you need to get off your high horse a little!" Angel shouted across.
"I'm not being proud! I'd accept help if we had to, and if it was the right people."
"Buffy! That is being proud! We do need help, and why aren't they the right people? Because your ex is part of them?" Giles was getting angrier and angrier by the day with Buffy; she just couldn't see what had to be done.
"No, it's because they are evil! They created Adam, and seriously, he was not a good guy!" A while back Buffy might have thought she could win this argument, but all hope now seemed lost.
"Shut up Buff! They are good now - they kill demons! You should be jumping at a way for a better chance of beating this, they killed our friends - they killed your sister!" the tears began in Willow's eyes, as she thought of all the people she had lost.
"And they nearly killed me! I was turned into a vampire Buffy! I still am a Vampire - but it was lucky my soul was returned. Or I'd be dead!" Giles felt ashamed of what he was, but wasn’t scared of it.
"I know they have hurt a lot of people....... but we have battled them before, and we've killed them before. We will do it again. Trust me please!" Buffy begged, looking into each and everyone's eyes.
"Yeah, you have killed them before! But not together Buffy. You killed them one by one, day by day. And now - every single Demon or vampire you've killed has been cloned! And they are working together to kill us! We need all the help we can get. We need the imitative. We need all the other slayers. We need good demons. We need everyone" Tears started to pour from Buffy's eyes, at being told that she could not fight these demons herself anymore. They were telling her she wasn't good enough.
Buffy could stand this no longer, she brushed her hair to the side, and sped out the house as fast as she could. The tears were a waterfall now, and she fell to the ground, devastated.
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That was the third installment of Agent Finn. Hope you liked it!
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