Disclaimer: See part 1
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Part Two
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"Thought you had the night off Riley?" Professor Maggie Walsh glanced up from the reports she was reviewing. He nodded.
"I did."
"Trouble? You look like you've had quite a work out."
"I went on patrol with Buffy." Walsh resisted the temptation to roll her eyes.
"Of course. Spending time with Buffy. That's what you always do on the days when the earth rotates." Riley looked at her blankly and Walsh smiled.
"Something I heard Willow say. It seemed rather apt." She changed the subject when she saw she was embarrassing him. "Anything to report?" Riley nodded, more comfortable with this topic.
"Six vampires and one demon of indeterminate type killed. The first two vampires were loners, but the other four and the demon were together. They seemed to be fighting as a unit." Walsh took greater interest in the verbal report now.
"They were working together?" Riley nodded.
"Not very well, but they were definitely together. Buffy is speculating about a new leader in the vampire community. It's too soon to be sure of anything yet though. This could have been the equivalent of a small gang and nothing more." She nodded thoughtfully.
"I think that's the most likely explanation. We've never seen them operating in groups of more than three or four. Still, have the teams keep an eye out for signs of organization. A single leader in the vampire community could cause us serious problems. Has Buffy dealt with such situations before?"
"Yes ma'am. We talked about it on the way back. She's fought several such vampires and demons, individuals who've organized large groups of followers. Her input will be quite useful."
"Perhaps, but you still need to be cautious. She isn't cleared to know a lot of what we do here. General Ramsey is being stubborn about granting clearance to a myth. He may require proof of her identity and abilities before he'll even consider it."
"That could be a problem. I don't think she's much for exhibitions. She has secrets of her own, and…" He broke off, obviously uncomfortable.
"And?"
"I don't think she really trusts the Initiative. Sometimes I think she agreed to get involved in order to keep an eye on us." Walsh was suddenly wary.
"Really? Do you think it's our methods or our goals she distrusts?" Riley shrugged.
"I'm not sure. It's probably just that we're somewhat unprecedented. She's never met an organization that hunts demons before, let alone a government agency. Our methods may trouble her. Sometimes I get the impression she thinks we're a bit naïve." She nodded, acknowledging the possibility and allowing herself a slight smile.
"Well that works both ways. Our methods are very different. She has a point though. Ramsey still has trouble believing that there are such things as demons, despite what he's seen. It is difficult to accept some of the more… bizarre things we've encountered. It's quite reasonable to worry about someone trained in science not accepting things that aren't readily explained by science."
"How do you do it?" She glanced up in surprise. "I mean, how do you explain some of the things we've seen? Some of these creatures have abilities and weaknesses that simple biology or even physics can't explain. You remember her story about the mayor? How does an average sized human turn into a fifty foot long demon snake in under a minute? What about Mr. Giles? I was there when Ethan Rayne broke the spell he cast. I saw him change from a demon into a man. It was incredible."
"With little or no data or physical evidence to work with I can't begin to speculate, and I don't. We'll just have to take every opportunity to gather information. That's one of the reasons I told Buffy as much as I did. She has information we need." Her tone had turned all business when Riley had mentioned Giles. He didn't know what had passed between them and wasn't about to ask, but there was clearly a lot of hostility there.
"Well. It is late. I'm heading back to the dorm." He nodded toward the terminal on her desk. "There's a report on what details I could make out about the demon. Buffy said she would try to find something more on the creature tomorrow." Walsh nodded absently, returning her attention to her work, and Riley slipped out
* * *
Forest Gates and Gary Keyes moved through the cemetery gates quietly and headed toward the south end. There was supposed to be a rising tonight and they had been ordered to tend to that before they proceeded with a standard sweep. There was sometimes one or more vampires waiting for the newborn.
They hadn't crossed half the distance when Gary held up a hand. "Wait." He moved off to the side of the rough trail they had been following through the brush and parted the bushes. Now Forest could hear what his partner had heard. Voices, or rather, a voice. He knelt next to the opening and looked through. About five yards away was a young woman kneeling next to a grave. It wasn't fresh, but it was well tended. They couldn't make out the words, but as they listened they realized that she was talking to the occupant of the grave, much as one would speak to an old friend.
She was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt. Beyond that they couldn't tell much about her. She was partially hidden by intervening headstones. "Strange time to be visiting a grave site," Gary observed, readying his weapon. Forest checked his infrared scanner.
"98.6. She's human, whoever she is." Gary frowned.
"We can't just leave her here with vampires on the loose. She'll wind up someone's dinner. Tell you what. I'll watch her. You go check on the newborn. If there's any sign of others come and get me." Forest nodded and silently moved away. They had been intending to just stake the newborn anyway, and one agent was sufficient for that. Gary settled down to watch.
The late night visitor seemed to be rambling on about nothing in particular. She was probably telling whoever was in the grave the latest news. His mother did things like that sometimes. Once a week for as long as he could remember she had gone to the grave of his father, who had died shortly after Gary was born, and would spend a half hour or so just talking to him. It had never made any sense to him, but he accepted it as something that was just done every Sunday, like going to church.
"You don't need to worry about her." Gary jumped at the voice behind him and turned to find a tall, skeletally thin creature standing behind him. It's marble white skin almost seemed to glow in the pale moonlight. The face looked human enough if you discounted the skin color and the unnatural thinness. Gary raised his weapon and the creature casually snatched it away. "None of that now. You don't want to disturb her." Gary blinked in confusion. Aside from disarming him, the creature made no hostile moves. "No one disturbs her while she's visiting Kendra. The last vampire who did literally got his head torn off."
Gary glanced back at the gap in the bushes and saw that the woman was getting to her feet. There was a fresh flower on the grave and she seemed to be saying goodbye. He turned back and the creature was still there. He thought about physically attacking it, but the demon shook its head.
"Not a good idea. I'm not here to hurt you."
"Why are you here? What are you?" It smiled, a rather unpleasant sight, Gary thought, given the rows of needles it apparently used for teeth.
"I'm a Zcar'te demon, call me Makin. I'm here to give you a message."
"Anything you want to say you can say to my superiors." He took a step forward.
"It's not a message for the Initiative. It's a message for you, Gary." Gary stopped and stared. "You'll have to make a choice soon Gary, a big one."
"What are you talking about?" Why was this hostile talking to him instead of trying to kill him? And how did it know his name? It didn't make sense. Again he moved forward to attack. The hostile grabbed his arm in a crushing grip. Gary dropped to his knees.
"I offer the choice out of deference to an old friend, but don't try my patience. Right now you don't have a chance of surviving a fight with me." He gave a casual shove and Gary hit the ground hard. "Know who and what you're fighting, and fighting for before you make your choice boy." The demon turned and vanished into the dark. Gary picked himself up looked after the demon, but it was already out of sight. His weapon was leaning against the tree. He picked it up and turned back in time to see the girl making her way toward the gate, oblivious to what had just happened.
He waited impatiently for Forest to return, and luckily didn't have to wait long. Forest came through the bushes and shook his head at Gary's unanswered question.
"We're too late. It's long gone, and I can't find any trace of it on infrared." He looked toward the open cemetery and saw the woman pass through the gates. "Think we should follow her or look for the vamp?" He narrowed his eyes, looking at his friend curiously. "Hey Gar, you okay?"
"Yeah, fine." He considered a moment, then looked after the departing woman. "Let's follow her. If the hostile is in the area she's a likely target." He turned to hurry toward the gate. He didn't tell forest about the other hostile. He wasn't sure why, but there were too many unanswered questions at the moment.
* * *
Buffy Summers stopped in the office door and knocked on the jamb. Walsh looked up and motioned her in. She hit a few more keys on her terminal and nodded, satisfied. "Hello Buffy. How are you today?"
"Fine. You wanted to ask me something?" Walsh nodded.
"Riley tells me you intercepted a new vampire the other night."
"Yeah, in Crestfield cemetery."
"I thought as much. Two of our agents were by there later that night. They thought it had gotten away."
"Nope. It didn't even get out of its grave. Hope they didn't spend too long looking." Walsh made a dismissive gesture.
"Unfortunately there are always plenty more where that one came from. What does concern me is that this is the third rising in as many nights."
"Fourth," Buffy corrected. "You're only counting the ones that were buried." Buffy shrugged. "Its hard to keep track of sometimes. Too many people simply vanish in this town. I ran into a fresh one in street clothes last night." Walsh looked troubled.
"This is rather above the average number is it not?" Buffy nodded, suddenly all business.
"I think someone's on a recruiting drive. Riley tell you about the four vamps and the demon we ran into?" Walsh nodded. "Someone is organizing. Possibly someone who knows about your work here." Walsh watched her closely as she prepared to ask her next question, but Buffy cut her off. "They didn't find out from me or my people. I learned most of what I know about the Initiative by listening to rumors. Ethan Rayne knew quite a bit."
"Rayne? That would be the 'sorcerer' that Riley had detained."
"Yeah, Riley said something about rehabilitation." Her face took on a wistful expression. "I'd prescribe electric shock therapy for him."
"You think that would help him?"
"I don't know," Buffy shrugged, "but just thinking about it is doing me a world of good." Walsh closed her eyes briefly.
"You have quite a vicious streak there you know."
"I know. Fortunately, I'm in just the right line of work." Again she grew serious. "The bad guys know about the Initiative. I don't know how many actual facts they have. It's all a bit vague, but they're getting real stirred up. Giles has been seeing a disturbing trend."
"What sort of trend?"
"A gathering of forces. You know about rise in the number of newly made vampires. A week ago in L.A. a colleague of mine killed a Hacksaw beast." She raised a hand to forestall any questions. "It had, through some human servants/surrogates, impregnated seven women. My friend managed to get a prenatal on one of them. The sonogram showed seven or more heartbeats. What does that suggest to you?" Walsh paled as the implications hit home.
"Seven women with multiple births?"
"It was trying to raise an army, in several senses of the word, and I looked up this Hacksaw beast thing." She reached into her bag and pulled out several photocopied pages. "This thing is powerful. Fire won't kill it, decapitation won't kill it, and it's really, really big." She handed them to Walsh who scanned the pages.
"It's in Latin."
"Yeah. I can get a translation, but the gist of it is in the letter." She indicated the last page. "When big daddy demon died all of the pregnancies terminated. The women needed a couple of days rest, but they're all fine, not even stretch marks."
"And you say you see a pattern just from these two instances? It could be coincidence." Buffy shook her head.
"I used to say there were two things I don't believe in, leprechauns and coincidence. Now there's only one thing I don't believe in." Walsh looked at her incredulously for a second but decided that she really didn't want to know.
"We'll be on the look out for any other signs, but I'm still skeptical. In the mean time, I have something else for you to look at." She opened a desk drawer and removed a folder. Buffy accepted it and looked at the contents.
"A headless corpse?"
"A seventeen year-old male. He worked as a janitor at a movie theater. He was found in a closet there and identified by fingerprints. The head wasn't found."
"The cut is jagged, like a serrated blade." Buffy examined the pictures closely, a knot forming in her gut as she remembers.
"The coroner's preliminary suggests a saw of some kind…"
"Dr. Gregory."
"What?"
"This wasn't done with a saw it was done with a claw." She looks up at professor Walsh. "Send someone to the scene with those pheremone tracking devices you use. If I'm right the thing should go nuts. I could have gone a long time without seeing this again." She dropped the folder on the desk. "You wanted more evidence of someone organizing against us? Well, a she-mantis lays eggs, lots of eggs." She told Walsh about an incident a few years before involving a biology teacher at her high school. Walsh listened without interrupting until Buffy finished.
"Bat sonar? That should be fairly easy. The pheremone tracker should be able to find this creature." She typed a brief note into her computer.
"Anything else today?"
"No. That should be it. Thanks for the input."
"Good. I do have a question though." Walsh looked up. "How many people in the initiative know about me?"
"Only Riley and myself. I haven't been able to get clearance for you yet, so the number of people who know about you and your involvement with us is limited. Why?"
"I noticed two of your people following me a couple of nights ago. They kept a fair distance, but every time I checked they were there." Walsh frowned and thought a moment.
"Agent Gates reported seeing someone in the cemetery when he went to look for the newborn. He wondered what someone was doing visiting a grave at that hour. He didn't see that it was you, but he told me that he and Keyes followed you to the edge of campus just in case the 'escaped' vampire was around and hungry." Buffy nodded.
"Appreciate the thought. I have to get to class." Picking up her books, she nodded briefly to professor Walsh and left.
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