The Wheel
Book Two: The Chariot
by Cynamin

"Tomorrow night."

The shattered fragments of the Initiative looked up in shock at that. Like much of the town, they bore the scars of the last several weeks. Bruises and scrapes were evident on most of them. For that matter, most of them weren't even there. Those that weren't sitting around the table or nursing more serious injuries were either dead or had fled the town completely. So much for the unified strength of the Initiative.

"Tomorrow night?" Forest asked, sounding amused. He looked the least injured out of the group, or maybe he just hid it better. "They just had to schedule the apocalypse for tomorrow night. I kind of had plans…"

Riley was not amused. This was a serious occasion and he was in no mood for jokes. "It's not the apocalypse," he explained. "It's a ritual. We need to go in, stop it, and then there will be no apocalypse."

Looking completely exhausted for the most part, no one said anything at that. When Riley didn't continue immediately, Forest finally took it upon himself to speak up. "So we go in, kick some demon ass, and the world is La-dee-dah again. Why the big meeting?"

"It's not that simple," Riley tried to explain.

"Then tell us, Agent Finn."

Riley sighed and stood. He adjusted his head bandage nervously before he spoke. "Already this town has been decimated by these hostiles. Some of our friends are among the many dead. We can't imagine that these hostiles don't know that tomorrow night is the crucial night when they can be stopped. We're not the only ones that know we have to assume that the demons know, too.

"They are certain to be prepared for opposition. They will be calling on every force they can get to ensure they are successful. We need as many people as possible to make sure that they're not."

Riley tossed a couple of photographs out on the table. "We will be working with these people," he said.

Forest spoke up once again. "Civilians, Riley?" he asked doubtfully. "This is going to be dangerous. Do you really think…"

"They know what they're doing," Riley protested. He paused, then said in a softer tone, "They were friends of Buffy's."

"Man, it always has something to do with that girl."

"Stop it," Riley said angrily. "Besides, without them we wouldn't know about the ritual tomorrow night."

Forest sighed. "Fine. So what's the plan? Or do you have any other bombshells to drop on us."

"The plan is to go in there and kill anything that's not human," he explained. Then he seemed to realize something. "And there is another bombshell, yeah."

Forest sat back with a sigh. "What is it?"

"There is an exception to the 'kill every non-human' rule," he explained a touch reluctantly. He fished out a separate picture and slid it onto the table. "His name is Angel, he's a vampire, and he's on our side."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."

"I'm not," Riley said seriously. "Believe me, if the situation was less dire I'd be questioning this too. But the truth is we need all of the help we can get. He's…well, he's on our side. He's strong, he's hard to kill, and he has experience fighting demons. We need him."

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