Disclaimer: I don't own the characters from BTVS. I'm just borrowing them for the story, and I don't make any profit from this.
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Part One
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Riley Finn ducked under the creature's wild swing and drove his fist into it's gut. It was like hitting a brick wall, but it had the desired effect. Its breath went out in a rush and it staggered back. Riley dove to the right, out of the range of its long arms with their, absurdly he thought, oversized clawed hands. Coming up on one knee with the taser he had lost earlier in the fight he aimed and fired. The blast struck the demon dead in the center of its mass, catapulting it backward into the park's decorative fountain.
The water seemed to boil as the thing emitted a loud hissing scream and started to melt. Riley took a step closer and looked down into the fountain. There was a large spreading cloud of ick in the water, but nothing else to indicate that the creature had even existed.
"What was that thing?" he wondered aloud.
"The wicked witch's ugly cousin." Riley turned to look at his girl friend with his, by now customary, confused expression.
"How do you say things like that with a straight face?" Buffy only grinned at him and put an arm around his waist as they started to walk away.
"Enough patrolling for one night. Let's head back." Riley nodded, happy to call it an evening. They walked in silence for a while, enjoying the peace and quiet. It didn't last. Riley was the first to speak.
"Did this seem a bit unusual to you? I mean the vampires and that thing?"
"A little," Buffy frowned. "Usually, vampires don't work and play well with other demons." She shrugged. "We'll tell Giles about it. He should be able to ID the baddy and that'll give us a clue as to why they were working together." She decided to change the topic. "So. Are you enjoying your night off?"
"Its different," he admitted. "Usually, when we're on patrol we're more...um..."
"Organized? It's okay. You can say it." Riley nodded.
"Professor Walsh would call your methods haphazard. In fact she has." Buffy considered this as they headed back towards the campus. They had done a patrol sweep of three cemeteries before ending with a sweep though the park. They had found one newbie, just waking up, right where Giles had said he would be, and an older lone wolf type, that were easily dispatched. Then they reached the park.
"She's right, but I'm one person. I have to do things differently. I have a patrol route that I vary fairly often. I hit the cemeteries and parks in different orders, things like that. It may seem like wandering, but I can't afford to become predictable." Riley nodded, acknowledging the point.
"I suppose it works. We certainly surprised that bunch." He gestured with his head back toward the park. Four vampires and a demon Buffy hadn't recognized were gathered in the park not far from the fountain. They seemed to be in the middle of some sort of discussion when the Slayer and Riley had happened along. The fight had been a little unusual too. They had worked as a unit, at least at first, cooperating with each other in order to gain the upper hand, but none of them were skilled enough to pose a serious threat. Their attack had dissolved into a melee and the two humans had quickly gained the upper hand. The relatively easy victory didn't detract from the unusual aspects of the fight though. It made Buffy curious, and she mentioned it to Riley.
"So we did." She frowned. "They fought as a unit at first, but they didn't have the discipline to hold it. What do you think it means?" Buffy considered. The possibilities began to worry her a little more, but she wasn't prepared to show Riley that.
"Could mean there's a new boss in the vampire community. We've been overdue for a while."
"Boss?"
"A leader, a vampire or demon strong enough or smart enough to get others to follow him. I've faced several, Lothos, the Master, the annoying.. ah anointed one, Spike, Balthazar, Mr. Trick." She shrugged, and continued to walk. She deliberately left out one name. Riley wasn't ready to hear about Angel, or at least Buffy wasn't ready to tell him. She kicked herself though, when Riley latched onto another name.
"Spike? Isn't he the guy you said you were going to marry?" Buffy tried to hide her reaction at the memory. It was still a huge embarrassment.
"Umm, yeah, well..."
"Long story?" She nodded mutely
"And an embarrassing one." Riley chose not to press it. He knew that there were things that Buffy was not telling him. It disturbed him a little, but if anyone understood about keeping secrets he did. They continued to walk in silence for a while. The walk ended when they approached Stevenson Hall.
"I have to go prepare my report for the morning. Professor Walsh will want details, especially if your speculation about a new leader in the vampire community is true." Buffy nodded.
"I'll talk to Giles tomorrow. I'm sure he'll be able to fill in some blanks. This could be just a small gang working together. Too often it's a wait and see game." She gave him a peck on the cheek and went into her dorm. Riley watched her enter and then turned toward his own dorm. The closest entrance to the Initiative's lab was there. He had a report to make.
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