TITLE:  The Initiative Files, part 2
AUTHOR:  Phantom Chic
Disclaimers and notes on 1st part

*****

Giles' Flat
30 minutes later

"...In the last few years we've discovered that there is a faction of
aliens who are opposed to Colonization and who have been
massacring test subjects in order to derail the Colonists plans.  Last
year they managed to make the Consortium believe the time for
Colonization had come.  When they and their families were
gathered together the Rebels burned them all alive, though a few
managed to escape.  Including the man Scully and I have had the
most contact with, whose name we discovered last year was C.G.B.
Spender."  The Scooby Gang, Spike, and Lara listened in growing
disbelief to Mulder's recounting of all that he and Scully had learned
and hypothesized about the Consortium and their global
extraterrestrial conspiracy.

"Mulder, I've found something in here.  It looks as though they've
been testing 314 for tolerance to the black oil virus." Scully
interrupted Mulder's narrative with the new, disturbing information.

"You mean they're testing the vaccine?" Mulder asked,
remembering how his former-informant Marita had appeared a year
ago when she was a test subject.

"No, they're testing to make sure that the genetic engineering came
out as planned.  314 is apparently immune to the virus."

"So chances are that the answer to Spike's question is that the force
they're building is intended for use in fighting either the Colonists or
the Rebels--depending on how much the remnants of the
Consortium are still cooperating after the massacre by fire last
year."  Mulder concluded, not liking the conclusions they were
being forced to draw.

"I, um, hate to play the Devil's Advocate.  But I think it's more,
likely that these forces you're talking about are demonic rather than,
um, extraterrestrial.  These clawed creatures and green-
blooded, er, clones sound like demons of some sort.  And demons
were on earth before humans." Giles asserted hesitantly, unable to
reconcile the idea of aliens with his knowledge of demon lore.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to agree with Rip," Lara spoke up
when she saw the frustrated expressions on the Agents' faces, "it
does sound more likely that the governmental conspiracy--which I
have no doubt exists--is in collusion with some sort of forces from
hell rather than from outer space. Don't get us wrong, we're not
disregarding your experiences, only disagreeing slightly with your
interpretation of events."

"And I thought you were the going to be the biggest skeptic in the
room, Scully," Mulder said, trying to figure out how to convince
them of all he had seen.

"Mulder, I think it's my turn to tell this story," Scully looked at him
and he saw a determination in her eyes that frightened him as he
realized her intent.

"Scully, we don't need to go into this," Mulder's eyes pleaded with
her not to open those wounds.

"Mulder, they need to know.  They have to understand why this so
personal for us." He relinquished to her with a nod and she turned
to address the group.  "Six years ago, I was abducted by these
people.  I was gone for months and I still have very few memories
of that time.  I was in bad shape when I was returned, I nearly died. 
Later, I found a computer chip implanted in the back of my neck
and had it removed.  Three years ago I developed a fatal,
untreatable cancer.  I would have died, but in the last days Mulder
found another chip and I had it implanted in my neck again.  The
cancer went into remission.  We've also discovered that some of the
procedures performed included an extraction of my ova which were
used to create children who weren't entirely human.  We found a
little girl--my daughter--who was some kind of hybrid.  She died. 
These are aliens we're dealing with.  I saw a ship two years ago
when a group of abductees were gathered together by the Rebels to
be killed."  It was Scully's tone and the haunted look in her eyes as
she spoke of her experiences that convinced the group that it had
taken a great deal of proof and personal experience to overcome
her innate scientific rationalism.  That and the tortured look on
Mulder's face at reliving the horror of almost losing her to the
Consortium's efforts.

"All right, let's assume that you're right.  That the demons, and this
biomechanical demonoid are being used against some group of
extraterrestrials.  What do we do?" Lara asked, putting the debate
to rest and focusing the group on the next step, "We're talking
about an international conspiracy.  Powerful men, the military,
possibly an alien force, a barely controlled group of demons, and
some sort of super-monster.  How do we take all of that down
when you two haven't been able to stop the conspirators in seven
years?"

"Wait, how do we know who's really involved.  I can't believe that
Riley would willing participate in this.  He and the other
commandos, they hate demons, they would never work with them. 
I mean, if you're right then this has got to be really top secret.  The
soldiers probably don't know anything about this.  I know Riley
couldn't know that they've been running tests on him."  Buffy
protested, unwilling to surrender her belief in Riley and their
relationship.

"It's possible, even likely, that they don't know the whole story. 
But how do you suggest to find out?  You can't just come out and
ask them, even your boyfriend.  If they do know, voicing any
suspicion would put you in danger of being silenced.  If they don't
know, it's unlikely that any loyal soldier is going to simply accept
that they're pawns in a conspiracy.  Either way, presenting this
evidence is tantamount to admitting that we're the ones who broke
into the compound." Mulder pointed out.

"Yeah, your super-commando boyfriend seems to really like his
work." Spike interjected, enjoying the pained confusion on Buffy's
face.  "You really know how to pick 'em, blondie."

"Look, it's late.  Why don't we all get some sleep and we can make
a decision tomorrow.  Our flight's not until the afternoon and we
can always postpone it if necessary."  Scully's voice of reason met
with nods of agreement all around and the group silently packed up
and scattered to their various homes, motels, and crypts to collect
their thoughts.

*****

Giles' Flat
10 a.m.

The eight humans had been sitting in Giles' living room sipping
coffee (or in some cases tea) for nearly ten minutes when the door
burst open and Spike rushed in, the jacket held over his head
smoking from his exposure to the sun.  They watched as he
slammed the door and hung up his leather jacket, grumbling about
daytime meetings.

"Spike, why didn't you just stay here last night so you wouldn't
have to come out in the sun," Lara asked, as Spike made his way to
the refrigerator searching for one of the packets of blood he had
stashed there.

"And sit around here for hours while Rupert slept?  I don't think
so," Spike answered as he poured the blood into a mug before
settling himself on a chair.

"Now that everyone's here," Buffy said, pointedly, "what are we
going to do?"

"I think we need to try to find evidence to support our suspicions
about the purpose of the Initiative," Scully suggested, "Lara was
right, we can't stop them on our own.  So the first step has to be to
gather comprehensive intelligence on both sides of the operation."

"Well, I should still be getting Initiative clearance soon.  I can
gather more information on the inside, see how they operate, how
much everyone knows.  I'm not ready to give up on Riley yet, and
spending time with him informally will let me figure out how much
he knows," Buffy suggested, obviously a little reluctant to play
double agent with her boyfriend.

"While Buffy does the undercover thing, I can work on hacking into
various records, see what I can find," Willow added.

"I'll put you in touch with the Gunmen so you can coordinate your
efforts," Lara agreed.

"Spike, will you put out some, um, feelers in the demon world? 
See if anyone knows anything about these, uh, Colonists or
Rebels?" Giles added, drawing Spike's attention from his mug of
blood.

"I'm not exactly the most popular vampire right now, but I'll give it
a go," Spike nodded, throwing his lot in with the group a little less
reluctantly that before.  "I don't much like the idea of being
controlled by those Rambos and forced to fight little green men."

"Grey," Mulder corrected him.  Scully gave him a small smile
before continuing.

"We'll continue investigating their activities on our end.  Now that
we have some idea of their plans we need to start working on a
timeline.  See how much time we have left before this starts.  I
doubt Spender and the others behind this have much concern for
the people who will be caught in the crossfire."  Scully concluded
the plan.  "Everyone will be able to help with correlation of
information so we'll need to keep open lines of communication
between Washington and Sunnydale."

"We should route all our information through Willow and the
Gunmen for security," Mulder added.  Everyone agreed to the plan
and there was a general straightening out of details and exchange of
contact information before Mulder and Scully were forced to leave
to head to the airport.

*****

U.C. Sunnydale
February 23, 2000
4pm

"Mulder, how it is that the Gunmen had time to work at FPS and
still act as our communications link to Willow?"  Scully asked, as
she and Mulder walked toward the stage that had been set up for
the press conference Lara had somehow arranged.

"Langly did most of the actual programming.  Byers was the one
who actually worked with Willow most of the time.  And it paid off
didn't it?  Come on, can you honestly say that a trip to Southern
California to put a dent in the Smoking Man's operations isn't a fun
way to spend your birthday?"  Mulder concluded with a grin.

"Yes, Mulder, it is.  No one will ever accuse you of being boring
when it comes to celebrating my birthday.  Although I'm not sure I
want to know how Willow and Byers got a hold of the Initiatives
budget reports.  Who knew monster hunting and genetic
experiments on demons cost so much?  Two billion dollars a year,
how were they getting that past Congress?" Scully shook her head
bureaucratic holes that had ultimately proved the Initiatives
undoing, though they didn't know it yet.

"The same way they fund the Groom Lake facility, I suppose, with
creative paperwork.  I just can't believe it took us two weeks to
realize that their funding had to be listed somewhere."  Mulder
shrugged as he considered the work that the Scooby Gang-with
the facilitation of the Lone Gunmen--had accomplished while he
and Scully had been chasing a fear monster in front of a national
audience and fighting a virtual goddess.  He turned to greet Lara as
they arrived at the podium.  "Hi, Lara.  Where is everybody?"

"Hello, Mulder, Scully," Lara said warmly, hugging Scully.  "They
should be here in a few minutes.  Hard to believe this is it, isn't it? 
Look at Maggie Walsh over there.  She has no idea what's about to
happen to her."

"How did you get this set up without the Initiative catching on?" 
Scully asked, as they took seats on the chairs lining the back of the
stage.

"The national reporters are here as a favor to me, people I've
known for years.  They don't know what I'm about to announce. 
The local reporters, students, townspeople, and faculty think I'm
going to talk about 'a problem I've discovered among the
fraternities on campus.'"  Lara smiled, "Which is technically true, as
this will probably lead to the closing of Lowell House.  Aah, here
comes my brother."

Mulder and Scully turned to Giles as he arrived at the press stage. 
Hugs, handshakes, and greetings were exchanged.  Just as they had
settled down, Buffy rushed up with Willow, Xander, and Anya right
behind her.  After a repeat of the greetings, they all took their seats.

"Are we late?" Buffy asked, looking around at the still growing
crowd.  Her eyes fell on Riley standing next to his fellow
commandos Forest and Graham a few steps away from Professor
Walsh.  She looked away quickly; Riley had left no doubts about his
loyalty to the Initiative when she'd questioned its modus operandi
over the last month.  He had repeatedly insisted that Walsh and his
other superiors knew what they were doing and that he trusted
them completely.  She had been unable to get him to even consider
the idea that their operations might be less than kosher.

"Right on time.  In fact, I think it's time for me to start the ball
rolling."  Lara stood up and walked to the podium as a hush fell
over the crowd and cameras started rolling.  She began to speak,
her crisp British accent lending extra authority to her words. 
"Ladies and Gentlemen, I would like to thank you all for coming. 
What I am about to tell you is extremely disturbing.  In the month
since I came here to take my professorial position in the Occult
Studies department, I have uncovered some shocking information. 
With the help of my brother, some of my students and friends, as
well as Agents Scully and Mulder from the FBI, I have gathered
information on a dark part of this University.  I originally believed
the problem to have originated in the Lowell House Fraternity, but
we have found that the problem goes much deeper.  Unbeknownst
to the majority of the faculty and administration here at the
University, there exists a top secret military compound positioned
beneath much of our campus, with access to all parts of the
buildings and grounds.  From this high security installation, there
operates a group of commandos who routinely patrol our campus
and this town with high powered weaponry.  Among them are the
inhabitants of Lowell house, several of whom are among us today."
Lara paused with satisfaction, to allow the murmuring of her
audience to die down and to take in the alarmed looks on the faces
of Walsh, Riley, Forrest, and Graham.  "In this compound, they
perform medical and genetic experiments on various captured
subjects, as well as some of their own soldiers, designed to engineer
a better class of fighter.  Among us today is the commander of
these projects:  Professor, or should I say, Colonel Margaret
Walsh." Lara pointed to the panic-stricken Walsh as flashbulbs went
off capturing the guilty faces of the four Initiative agents. "Before
anyone objects to these accusations, let me say that I do not speak
without concrete evidence."  She turned her head and nodded and
the entire group behind her stood and stepped forward.  "We have,
through a variety of sources, gathered documentation on project
314--the prototype eugenics creation of a technologically enhanced
soldier.  As well as proof that these secret operations are costing
your American citizenry over two billion dollars a year in military
funding.  We will now begin answering your questions."  For the
next hour, Lara, Mulder and Scully responded to questions about
their investigation of the Initiative--with the occasional additional
commentary from the others--while the crowd prevented a
frustrated Maggie Walsh and her operatives from leaving as they
demanded explanations and justifications that Walsh was unable to
provide.  Finally the questions died down, the Initiative operatives
retreated to the compound, and the crowd and reporters dispersed. 
When only the eight of them were left sitting along the edges of the
stage, Buffy broke the short-lived silence.

"That's it.  It's finally over.  The Initiative won't be able to continue
operations now that their cover's blown and the press is watching
them."  She sighed and lay back to rest as they watched the sun sink
towards the horizon.

"Buffy, what about Riley?" Willow asked, as the others listened in
silence.

"I don't know.  I don't even know if he'll stick around once the
Initiative is shut down.  He might even be transferred or whatever. 
I just know it's over." Buffy's voice was with tinged with sadness,
but also sounded generally resigned.

"Because you exposed the Initiative?" Willow asked, looking down
at her.

Buffy nodded, "But even without that, I've learned that Riley and I
are different kinds of people.  I can't be with someone who's so big
on following the rules and blindly obeying orders."  She looked
around and saw nods of agreement from the rest of the group

"Yeah, I've never been good with rules." Mulder agreed with smile.

"What a surprise, Mulder," Scully smiled at him as she shook her
head. "But then, I guess I've broken my share too since I started
working with you."

"Scully," Mulder said in a pseudo-shocked tone, "are you saying I'm
a bad influence?" Everyone laughed at that, but all Mulder saw was
the bright grin Scully gave him.

"You, Mulder, of course not.  You're always a perfect angel."
Scully replied, enjoying the happiness she saw in her partner's eyes.

"And don't you forget it."  He quipped.

"Why don't we all go to my place to, um, celebrate?" Giles
suggested.  "I suppose Spike deserves to know that everything
went off well."  The group began to collect their things, ready to
take their party to somewhere less exposed.  Mulder offered Scully
a hand up and was thrilled when she didn't release his hand as they
made their way to their rental car.

*****

Somewhere in Washington D.C.

To say that C.G.B. Spender was not pleased with the verbal report
he received from Colonel Walsh that night would be the severest of
understatements.  "Colonel, I thought you said that you had the
problems with the project's security under control...Then how do
you explain that press conference?"  He stamped out his cigarette as
he listened to her answer.  "Colonel, you have destroyed any
possibility of plausible denial in this matter.  The exposure of your
operations leaves me with no choice but to abort the Initiative
project in Sunnydale.  While I can prevent the headlines and news
stories on these revelations from reaching the public, there is
nothing that can restore the ignorance of Sunnydale's populace
about the existence of your facility."  Spender lit a new cigarette as
listened with scorn to Walsh's reply, "No, Colonel.  You will
evacuate the compound tonight.  All materials, personnel,
equipment, and test subjects will be transferred immediately to our
operational center in Tunisia.  The continuation of the project in
America is no longer feasible, now that Mulder and Scully are
aware of its existence and intent.  When everything has been
removed you will have the base destroyed...It's underground,
Colonel, fill it in."  He paused for a moment as she issued the
instructions to someone in the facility with her.  "No, Colonel, you
will not be going to Tattouine.  You are to stay behind and insure
that everyone, particularly the Slayer and her friends, believe that
the Initiative has been closed down for good."  He hung up the
phone and sat for a moment in the dark, smoking his cigarette. 
Then he looked up at the blond operative sitting across the room. 
"Marita, find me something to distract our favorite Agents from
following up on the 'shut-down' of the Initiative.  Perhaps
something to do with Scully's cancer."  The fully recovered Marita
Covarrubias nodded her understanding and rose to carry out his
instructions.  He stopped her just as she reached the door and she
turned to look at him as he issued a last set of instructions.  "And
make sure Maggie Walsh takes the fall for the exposure of the
Sunnydale operation."

*****

Giles' Flat
1:15 a.m.

The celebration that night at Giles' was dry but far from quiet. 
After Buffy explained their previous experiences with beer on the
Hellmouth, Mulder and Scully had agreed that it was best to keep
the party non-alcoholic.  The defeat of the Initiative was toasted
instead with a mixed collection of iced tea, Pepsi, and one mug of
blood.  Finally after several relaxing and enjoyable hours spent
exchanging stories of paranormal cases investigated and evils
defeated--with a few laughs at Spike's expense over his tendency to
get his ass kicked by Buffy--they agreed that they could all take
credit for the fact that the world had yet to end.  It wasn't until
Anya complained about the late hour that they realized they had
been celebrating for over six hours.

"We'd better head back to the motel," Scully said reluctantly, "we
have an eight o'clock flight."  There was a long exchange of good-
byes and promises to keep in touch, before Mulder and Scully
headed for the door.  Before they left, Scully turned to the Scooby
Gang.  "Buffy, Willow, you might consider Quantico after your
college graduation.  You're excellent investigators and we would
love to have you on the X-Files."  The two girls smiled and
exchanged considering looks and shrugs, before Scully turned to
Xander and Anya.  "Xander, you should consider college and the
FBI as well.  And Anya, if you need any help getting a Social
Security number and establishing identification papers, the Gunmen
could help so that you can take that track too.  With your unique,
albeit unofficial qualifications, you would all do well at the
Academy and as Agents, either in the X-Files or another division." 
They exchanged good-byes with the four teens as well as the two
Giles siblings and received a cursory nod from Spike before they
headed out to their rental car with stakes in hand.

As Scully settled into the driver's seat, she turned to her partner,
"Well, Mulder, this birthday was a lot more fun than waiters singing
to me with a pink snowball, but I still wouldn't mind another batting
practice."

*************
The end.