Chapter 41
“Luminous mind, bright devil/of absolute clusterings, of the upright noon—:/here we are at last, alone, without loneliness,/far from the savage city’s delirium./Just as a pure line describes the dove’s curve,/as the fire honors and nourishes peace,/so you and I made this heavenly outcome./The mind and love live naked in this house./Furious dreams, rivers of bitter certainty,/decisions harder than the dreams of a hammer/flowed into the lovers’ double cup,/until those twins were lifted into balance/on the scale: the mind and love, like two wings./—So this transparency was built.” ~Pablo Neruda, “Sonnet LIV”
Wesley pushed himself up, groaning a bit from the pain; it was going to be a while before he could move without aching in various locations. Faith had certainly done a number on him. He pulled his robe on, stumbling out of his room but freezing when he saw Willow talking with Spike.
“Hey there,” Willow said as soon as she saw him. “How are you feeling?”
“A bit sore, but I think I’ll live,” Wesley replied. “What about Faith?”
“She’s dead,” Spike said quietly. “The Initiative has her body, and we’re going to have to get it back, but she’s not a threat to you anymore, mate.”
Wesley nodded, unable to hide the relief he felt. “Thank you, Spike.”
“Well, now that Spike’s here, I’d probably better get to campus,” Willow said. “I have to turn my paper in, and I promised I’d let Tara know how you were.” She gave him a gentle kiss. “Take it easy, okay?”
“Of course,” he replied, watching as she left. “I assume she asked you over to make sure someone was with me?”
Spike shrugged. “Does it matter either way? Besides, I wanted to see for myself that you were alright.”
Wesley nodded. “I’m fine, but I think I want to take a shower.”
“You do that,” Spike responded. “I’ll be right here.”
Wesley wasn’t sure whether to feel insulted or warmed that everyone was so concerned. It was rather like the previous night when the doctors had released him from the hospital; even Giles and Xander had had a difficult time hiding their concern. He was just grateful to be able to spend the night in his own bed; it was all he’d really wanted.
The shower and clean clothing revived him considerably, and when he made his way to the kitchen, Wesley was unsurprised to find that Spike had already brewed a pot of coffee and was busy making breakfast. “You didn’t have to do that,” he said, pouring a cup of coffee.
“That’s not the point,” Spike replied. “I’m under strict orders to take good care of you.” He gave Wesley a sharp look, naked concern in his eyes. “You really alright?” When Wesley opened his mouth to reply, Spike added, “I’m not talking about the physical. I’ve been tortured before, Wes.”
Wesley looked away, then back at Spike, managing a real smile. “It wasn’t pleasant, but I knew that you would come.”
“Wes, I—”
“The torture didn’t matter as much as seeing everyone riding to my rescue did,” Wesley explained. “It was—it’s difficult to explain.”
“I think I understand,” Spike replied. “If I had known that Faith would come after you, I wouldn’t have let her go.”
“But you couldn’t have known, Spike,” Wesley reminded him. “This was not your fault, not by a long shot. Faith made her choice, and there was nothing you could do about it, anymore than I could have changed things.”
Spike smiled. “You’ve come a long way.”
“Thanks to you,” Wesley replied. “You can’t save everyone.”
“No, you can’t,” he agreed. Spike looked at the clock. “I’m under orders to make sure you don’t do yourself more harm before we go over to Joyce’s for dinner.”
Wesley didn’t bother to hide his groan. “She’s going to mother me.”
“You have a problem with that?”
Wesley glared at the vampire, hearing the amusement in his tone. “I believe I remember you not liking people hovering, either.”
Spike shrugged. “It’s not so bad; at least you know that she’s going to feed you. Besides, it’s a chance to talk about what our next move is going to be. The sooner we can get Faith’s body back, the better.”
“Why is it so important that we have her body?” Wesley asked. “If she’s dead, she’s of no more use to the Initiative.”
“I only wish that were true,” Spike replied. “I guess no one’s filled you in on Adam yet.”
“I was a bit out of it from the pain killers last night,” Wesley reminded him.
Spike nodded. “Then I guess I’ll explain it now.”
~~~~~
“So he’s okay?” Buffy asked.
“He was this morning.” Willow made a face. “I don’t know, though. Faith hurt him really badly, and it’s hard to tell what’s behind that stiff upper lip.”
“He seemed okay last night,” Tara offered. “I-I don’t th-think he was hiding anything.”
Willow breathed a sigh of relief; she knew, by this point, how good Tara was at reading people. “That’s good. I’m sure he’d tell me if he was hurting eventually, but…”
“In the meantime, you hate that he is hurting,” Buffy guessed, knowing all too well how that worked.
“Pretty much,” Willow agreed. “What are we going to do about the Initiative?”
“That depends on what you and Riley can manage,” Buffy replied. “We need to know more about this Adam, and that means getting access to Walsh’s files. Do you think you could do it?”
“I don’t know,” Willow replied doubtfully. “You’re talking about hacking into a top secret military installation. It’s definitely going to be a challenge.”
“But doable?” Buffy pressed.
Willow shook her head. “Maybe. I can give it a shot anyway. What about Riley?”
“We’re hoping he’ll help us get information, or possibly get inside.” Buffy made a face. “I don’t think Spike’s real happy at the thought of us breaking in, but I don’t think that there’s another way to get Faith’s body back.”
Tara and Willow exchanged a look. “That’s pretty macabre, Buffy,” Willow commented.
“I don’t think Faith would want to be used as the basis for something like Adam,” Buffy replied. “It might be morbid, but we can’t let that happen to her.” Her jaw set. “Besides, if we can get inside, we might be able to do enough damage on the way out that it’ll make it very clear that they can’t run their operation in this town.”
“What are you thinking?” Tara asked.
“I’m thinking that Adam needs to be destroyed, and so does the Initiative,” Buffy replied. “It’s just a matter of time before we figure out how to do it.”
~~~~~
When the alarms went off, Riley didn’t hesitate to join the other soldiers as they headed for the laboratory. He’d had a sleepless night, trying to decide what he was going to do next; Riley knew that whatever that creature had been, it wasn’t part of their mission—at least, not the one he’d signed up for.
They were supposed to be killing existing demons, not building new ones.
“What’s going on?” he asked Graham as they entered the lab.
“Something got loose,” Graham replied. “I haven’t heard any more than that.”
Just then, Riley spotted Forrest for the first time in weeks. “Forrest!”
The tall dark-skinned man lifted his chin in greeting. “What’s up, Riley?”
“I should be asking you that,” Riley replied. “What’s the word?”
“One of the professor’s pet projects escaped,” Forrest said. “Sounds like he took something with him, too.”
“I need your attention!” Professor Walsh called from the front of the room. The soldiers all lapsed into silence, their eyes fixed on her. “I’ve been working on a special project, as you might have heard; that project, Adam, has escaped, and he needs to be brought back as soon as possible.”
“What are we looking for?” one of the men asked.
“Adam is unmistakable,” Walsh said. “Remember that he was built to be a weapon, and approach him cautiously.”
“What’s going to take him down, Professor?” Riley asked, remembering the creature he’d seen the day before. It had been big, ugly, and very scary looking; if that’s what Walsh had been doing with the demon parts, things could get very sticky.
Walsh smiled tightly. “I think that’s your job to figure out, Agent Finn. Just remember that a lot of money has been spent on Adam, and do your best to bring him in unharmed.”
Riley tried to keep the scowl off his face, not liking the sound of that. Having to be careful not to harm the creature was going to put his men in more danger, and Riley was very focused on making sure his men stayed in one piece.
“Dismissed,” Walsh barked.
Riley moved away, wondering what his next move was going to be. There was no way he was going to risk his men just to bring that thing back in one piece. “What’s next, Ri?” Graham asked, immediately at his side.
“We find this thing and bring it in,” Riley replied. “Any way we can. Graham, get the guys we can trust.” Riley met his friend’s eyes, hoping that the other man would get the message—guys who wouldn’t mind questioning orders, if that was the way they had to do it.
Graham nodded. “Give me five minutes.”
Riley watched as Graham began rounding up men to form their squad, seeing Forrest doing the same across the room. He wondered when things had changed; Forrest was studiously avoiding him, where once before he would have been at Riley’s right hand.
No, Riley knew when things had changed; Buffy had changed everything. Riley wondered what it said about him that he didn’t regret it.
“Ready?” Graham asked, four men lining up behind him.
Riley looked over the chosen few and gave a satisfied nod. “Let’s move.”
~~~~~
Spike watched, amused, as Joyce hovered. “Can I get you anything else, Wesley?”
“I’m quite alright,” he assured her.
Spike took pity on the man. “Could I get a drink, Joyce? I’d get it myself, but I’m not sure where you keep your alcohol.”
She smiled at him. “Of course. Wesley?”
“Please,” he said fervently.
“You aren’t taking anything?” Spike asked under his breath.
Wesley shook his head. “I don’t like how they make me feel.” He gave Spike an inquiring look. “What are we going to do about the Initiative, Spike? Now that we know what they’re trying to do…”
“We have to do something,” Spike agreed. He glanced up, hearing the girls’ approach even through the front door. He stood to greet Buffy, keeping a hand on Wesley’s shoulder so he couldn’t get up. “Sit.”
Buffy came to give him a kiss, and then gave Wesley a sympathetic look. “If you feel as bad as you look…”
“I probably look worse,” he replied, trying once again to rise to greet Willow.
“Sit,” she said, leaning down to kiss him. “You’re going to get taken care of, mister, whether you like it or not.”
There was a long pause, broken only by Buffy and Spike’s snickers as they both caught the unintentional innuendo, before Tara’s voice broke the silence. “I’m p-pretty sure that W-Wesley isn’t going to dislike it.”
Wesley couldn’t help the smile that broke out over his face. “I’m fairly sure you’re right.” He touched the side of Willow’s face that hadn’t been bruised by Faith’s fist. “I’m fine, Willow.”
Spike watched with interest as their eyes met for a long moment, and Willow finally nodded, seemingly reassured. “As long as you’re okay.”
They seemed to forget that they weren’t the only people in the room until Spike cleared his throat. “Now that we’re almost all here…”
“Where’s Giles?” Willow asked to cover her blush.
“Right here,” he said, coming into the room behind Joyce with the tray of drinks. “Willow, can you break into the computers?”
“I don’t know,” Willow admitted. “If they have an internal server, there might not be an access point unless we can get inside the lab itself.”
Spike scowled. “I don’t want you going in, Red.”
“We might not have another choice,” Buffy reminded him.
“I think it should be a last resort,” Spike insisted.
“That goes without saying,” Wesley inserted. “The question is how to stop them.”
“Can we blow the place up?” Spike asked, not entirely joking about it.
Giles frowned at him. “I don’t think that’s going to help, Spike. We need a long-term solution.”
“It is a long-term solution,” Buffy said pragmatically. “It worked for the Mayor.”
Spike shrugged. “Plant enough explosives, and that place will cave in on itself. Saves the military the trouble of doing it.”
“We’re not blowing anything up,” Giles said sternly. “At least, not yet.”
There was a perfunctory knock on the front door before Xander came rushing in, Anya on his heels. “We’ve got trouble,” he announced.
“When don’t we have trouble?” Buffy asked rhetorically.
Xander shook his head. “This trouble is a little different. We’re talking dead, mutilated kid kind of trouble.”
Buffy’s face paled. “A kid?”
“I don’t know details, but it’s all over the news,” Xander replied. “I figured it probably didn’t mean good things for us.”
Spike stood at the same time that Buffy did. “It’s Adam; it’s got to be. We have to look for him,” Buffy insisted.
“What are you going to do when you find him?” Giles objected. “If it is Adam, from what you’ve told me, he’s nearly indestructible.”
“We’ll figure something out,” Buffy said, giving him what she hoped was a confident smile. “We always do.”
~~~~~
Riley led his group out into the woods, knowing that they were running blind. They had no way to track Adam at the moment; he gave off none of the pheromones that many of the other demons did, and so they just had to hope that one of the squads ran across the cyborg and didn’t wind up getting killed while they were at it.
He was more than a little worried about their ability to take it down, since they didn’t have any technical specifications regarding its weaknesses or its capacities for damage. They didn’t know what kinds of weaponry it had at its disposal, and Professor Walsh—for all her desire to get her pet project back—hadn’t given them anything to go on.
“Riley, we’ve got trouble,” Graham said quietly.
Riley glanced over at his friend. “What’s the problem?”
“Looks like Adam’s already cutting loose,” Graham said. “They found a boy’s body in the woods near campus.”
“Let’s go.” They set off, covering the ground in an easy lope. The woods loomed in front of them, and Riley didn’t hesitate to plunge in. His men followed him, fanning out, but staying within calling distance.
Riley caught a glimpse of a blond head through the thick underbrush, and he knew it wasn’t one of his men, nor was it Adam.
“There!”
Graham’s voice came from his left, and Riley veered in that direction, sensing the other men in his squad converging on the location.
Adam seemed to rise up in front of him, and Riley slid to a halt, lifting his blaster to a firing position. He didn’t care what Walsh’s orders were at the moment; Adam had killed a child, and that was all the information he needed.
Riley fired without hesitation, stumbling back a step when Adam seemed to drink in the power, rather than being hurt. “Ah, that was helpful.” Adam gave him a grimace that might have passed for a smile.
Up close, he could see the half-human, half-demon features, the glinting of metal giving some clue as to why the blast from the weapon had no effect. “Professor Walsh is looking for you,” Riley said, wondering if he could reason with the creature.
Although he’d be happier if he could destroy it.
“Mother wishes to hide the world from me,” Adam said. “I wish to see it.”
“It doesn’t work that way,” Riley replied. “You’re a soldier; you have to take orders just like the rest of us.”
“Perhaps you must take orders,” Adam said. “But I do not.”
The black-clad figure came hurtling out of the darkness so quickly that Riley didn’t even have time to train his weapon. He heard the charging up of his men’s blasters and quickly called, “Hold your fire!”
Adam hurled Spike off of him and into the trees as Riley charged forward, thrusting the butt of his rifle into Adam’s gut. The cyborg backhanded him, and he went flying. Someone helped him to his feet, and Riley recognized Buffy. “What are you doing here?”
“We met your friend the other night,” she responded. “He’s already killed once, and it looks like he has a taste for it now. Did you get any instructions on an off-switch?”
Riley shook his head. “We’re supposed to bring him in unharmed.”
Buffy’s eyebrows went up. “You’re kidding, right?”
“I’m all for killing it,” Riley said defensively.
“Can your men cause a distraction?” Buffy asked. “Spike and I will try to—I don’t know, break him or something.”
“Are you sure? We could—”
“Get killed,” Buffy said shortly. “He’s already killed a Slayer; I don’t think he’s going to have a problem with a few soldiers.”
She took off, and Riley hastened to follow her. His men were spread out in a flanking action, but they obviously had no idea what to do next, not when their weapons didn’t work. Riley couldn’t help but wish for an old-fashioned shotgun, or a grenade, which might at least do some damage; he doubted that Adam could incorporate shot the way he could the energy from the blasters.
Buffy hit Adam with a kick in the back, aiming for his spine in hopes of breaking it. When the cyborg turned on her, Riley picked up a rock, for lack of anything better, and threw it at Adam’s head. The rock bounced off, not even leaving a mark, but Adam turned away from Buffy to look at him. “I think it’s time to go home, Adam,” Riley said.
“You have no power,” Adam replied. “Mother has not gifted you as she has gifted me. And soon, I will have a companion.”
That moment of distraction was all Spike needed to leap up and thrust his hand into Adam’s side, where soft flesh was unprotected by metal. Adam gave a roar, grasping Spike around the throat and holding him aloft.
“Spike!” Buffy called, driving a fist into Adam’s gut, trying to get the creature to loosen his grip.
“Graham,” Riley called.
As one, they ran at Adam from behind, driving their shoulders into Adam’s back, preventing him from attacking Buffy and causing him to stumble and release Spike. With a cry of rage, Adam ran off into the woods.
The other men turned to Riley, waiting to see what his orders were going to be. “We need different weapons,” Riley said. “There’s no point in getting ourselves killed until we know what’s going to take him down.”
He could see the relief on their faces, and Riley turned to look at Buffy, who was helping Spike up. A human’s throat would have been crushed by Adam’s grip, but Spike didn’t even look bruised. “Graham, make contact with the other squads; let them know what Adam’s capable of. The rest of you are dismissed; I’ll make the report to Professor Walsh.”
No one argued with him, possibly because, by making the report, Riley would be taking responsibility for their failure to capture the Professor’s pet project; no one wanted to deliver that news.
They didn’t call Walsh the “Evil Bitch-Monster of Death” for nothing.
Buffy and Spike stood still, both of them meeting Riley’s frank gaze easily. “Can you stop him?” the soldier asked.
“We don’t know,” Buffy replied. “It’s going to take more information, at the very least. Can you get it for us?”
Riley shook his head. “I’ll see what I can do, but Walsh isn’t talking.” He sighed. “I need to talk to you both, but not here.”
He watched as Buffy looked at Spike, a silent conversation seeming to transpire. “Buffy’s place,” Spike said. “We’ll meet you there tomorrow afternoon around four. Bring whatever information you can.”
Riley nodded. “You got it.”
They disappeared into the night like two shadows, and Riley wiped the sweat from his face, cursing angrily, knowing what he was going to have to do unless Walsh could give him answers, and good ones.
He couldn’t believe that he was actually thinking about committing treason; Riley hadn’t thought that he was that kind of guy.