"Now, Buffy," Riley said, backing up slightly with his hands held out protectively. "You have to understand in the context of the conversation I had with Forrest. He said the Slayer was a myth, like the Easter Bunny. That's all I meant."

"Oh, Really!" Buffy said, changing direction and moving toward Forrest. "Lucky for you the 'Easter Bunny' isn't a myth, isn't it, Sarcasm Boy."

Forrest was still looking a bit shell-shocked, but he had enough of a sense of self-preservation to slither sideways and hide behind Riley. He looked down at the bound and unconscious demon on the floor, then up at delicate, fragile... dangerous!... Buffy, who looked as though she was going to kick his butt, right now.

His butt was saved by the entrance of four heavily armed commandos, who picked up the demon and backed out the door to return him to the lab. They were almost run over and knocked to the ground by the flying entrance of Professor Walsh. "Riley, what is going on? I got a Code Red that Agent Gates was being held hostage by a demon, and that you and they had last been seen heading up the elevator. You know policy. No matter what the cost to personnel, no demon is to be allowed to exit these premises..." Walsh broke off from her tirade, finally noticing Buffy standing next to Riley and Forrest in the room. "Miss Summers." Walsh was chagrined to see a civilian had been exposed to the Initiative secrets. "Agent Gates, Agent Finn, you know quarantine. Bring her..." pointing at Buffy, "and return to the Lab immediately."

Without waiting for a response, Professor Walsh exited the room, letting the swinging door fall shut behind her.

"Riley?" Buffy had pretty much figured out that the professor was the boss in this 'Initiative', but what was this about quarantine procedure? "What does she mean, 'quarantine'? That sound like a locked hospital room and poking and prodding by a bunch of strange people."

"I don't do hospitals!" she continued insistently. "And I am certainly not one of her soldiers to be ordered around."

"Buffy, you have to come down with us. Walsh just wants to check you out and make sure the demon didn't contaminate you...and maybe ask you a few questions," Riley spilled the last part out in a rush. Forrest was nodding agreeably, trying to look reassuring, but Buffy had no doubt that he was faking it. Forrest didn't do reassuring well.

"And you and what army is going to take me down there?" Buffy asked hysterically. *I don't do hospitals, and I certainly do not do interrogations! Especially when I am the interrogatee...interrogated, which...?* Buffy realized she was locked in a grammatical battle with herself, and snapped back to attention. She narrowed her eyes at the two men and said, "Well?"

"Buffy, I know I can't make you go down, but, to be honest, Walsh will probably mobilize a squad to bring you back if you leave now, and I'd hate to have any of my men hurt by you." Riley was hoping that appealing to her sense of honor would calm her down so they could get this over with.

Forrest snorted behind him, and Buffy pushed by Riley and stepped up to Forrest. "You find something funny, Agent Gates?" she said, and picked him up by the throat, pushing him up against the wall. "No..." Forrest managed to choke out, gasping, and Buffy dropped him and turned away. Forrest glared at her from the floor where he was holding one hand to his rapidly bruising throat, but after careful consideration, decided not to antagonize her further.

"Alright, I'll come with you...for 2 hours, but I'm calling Willow first to tell her where I am." Buffy marched over to the phone and dialed quickly, leaving a message on her answering machine when Willow didn't pick up. Not trusting that Willow would get the message, she also called Xander's house. Xander was at work, but Spike picked up the phone.

"Spike?" Buffy said, not noticing that Riley jumped noticeably at the sound of that name. "I'm being taken for a little visit to the commando center where Riley works, call the others in 2 hours if you don't hear from me. Willow will know where I am."

Setting down the phone, she swiveled to face Riley and Forrest, satisfied that the troops would come looking if she was detained. "Alright, boys, let's go."

"I thought we talked about you not telling anybody about this," Riley whispered furiously in Buffy's ear as they traveled down the elevator. Buffy had been unwillingly fascinated by the retinal scan and voice matching technology, and somewhat intimidated.

"I didn't tell anyone, Spike was Xander's friend from the high school last night," she whispered back.

"Wasn't Spike the name of the guy..." Riley broke off as the door opened, and they stepped out of the elevator into a large open room with numerous white-coated personnel walking back and forth, going about their duties.

"Miss Summers, please come this way," a stern-faced commando said, walking toward them with his hand on the gun belted at his waist.

"And where will we be going?" Buffy inquired, folding her arms and not moving an inch.

"Professor Walsh has asked that I escort you to the infirmary for some tests," the man said impassively, reaching forward to grasp her elbow.

"Riley?" Buffy asked, pleading with her eyes. She shrugged the soldier off, and Riley waved him back.

"Buffy, they're just going to look you over. You don't have to submit to anything you are uncomfortable with," Riley promised her.

"Alright," she said, walking to the soldier. "You," she said, pointing at the soldier, "can keep your hands to yourself."

Forrest waited until they had walked away, then grabbed Riley's arm and hustled him toward Walsh's office. "What do you mean, the Easter Bunny? You're telling me that she's...the Slayer?"

Buffy walked into the infirmary, which looked like the emergency room at a major hospital. A cold-eyed man walked toward her, smiling in a friendly, completely unbelievable way. "Miss Summers? Dr. Walsh has told me that you have come in contact with a demon..." he glanced down at the chart in his hand, "Hostile #27, the one that escaped briefly."

"Hostile #27? Oh, you mean the Varsha demon." Buffy strolled around the room, careful to keep at least 5 feet between her and the doctor. She really didn't trust him. "You could say I came in contact with him. I beat the crap out of him and choked him unconscious." She continued after a moment, not wanting to stop talking. Anything to delay the physical exam she was sure he was about to request. "Nothing wrong with me. I killed his pal last week, and look! I'm still walking around. No contaminants on me."

The doctor made a note on his chart, jerking his head up at the information that she had killed another one of them the previous week. "Miss Summers, I just want to give you a quick going over, make sure you're healthy, then you can rejoin Agent Finn."

"Please remove your clothes and get up on the table." Without waiting for a response, he left the room and closed the door.

"Oh, right, I'm going to strip down for a complete stranger, in an unfamiliar lab, with a...VIDEO CAMERA! in the room!" Buffy finished her rant with a shriek of outrage. Standing beneath it, she launched herself straight up 10 feet, ripped the camera down, and broke it in half. "I don't think so."

The doctor and technician in the other room had no idea what had happened. Watching the video screen in the room, they had listened to Buffy's tirade with condescending grins, which slipped when the video recorder suddenly went black. What had she done?

The doctor opened the door a moment later to find Buffy strolling around the room, looking at the charts on the wall. The video camera lay in pieces on the floor underneath the bracketing it had previously been mounted on.

Without turning around, she said, "First Forrest, now you guys. Is this a military installation, or an underground porno ring?"

The doctor flushed angrily, but suppressed his anger. "Miss Summers, this would go a lot easier for you if..." he stopped as Buffy spun to face him.

"Don't...threaten...me," she said with gritted teeth. "Get your readings done, then get me out of here."

After taking her medical history, which consisted of the usual childhood ailments, all the standard vaccinations, and the obligatory strep throat and tonsilitis infections, he requested she list any previous injuries.

"Let's see. Broken ribs, 2 broken arms, dislocated hip, oh, and one drowning death." Buffy didn't see any reason to mention the number of times each had occurred, or how fast she had healed. "And one stab wound from...let's see...2 days ago."

"None of this is mentioned in your medical records." Somehow Buffy wasn't surprised this group had managed to acquire her medical file.

"No, they healed on their own."

"Let me take a look at the stab wound, if you would?" The doctor had discovered that being polite was getting him more cooperation than the supercilious, superior attitude he had adopted earlier with this girl.

Buffy turned and lifted her shirt, indicating a small, newly healed scar, still pink around the edges. "It's fine."

The doctor couldn't believe what he was seeing. This scar looked weeks old, yet she had just said she received it 2 days ago. He suppressed his excitement, and continued with the exam, taking her temperature, blood pressure, and weight. Everything was normal. However, when he approached her with a needle, tensions quickly escalated.

"Uh, uh," Buffy said, backing away. "I do not do needles." Funny how she could face demons without a qualm, but needles scared the life out of her. "No way!"

"Miss Summers, I need to ensure no contaminants are present in your blood," the doctor insisted, approaching her again.

"Unless you want that needle buried uncomfortably deep in your hand, I suggest you back away...now!" Buffy said. Sighing, she knew that what they really wanted was to see if her blood was any different from normal blood samples. It wasn't, but she wasn't about to tell them that.

"Here, give me that scalpel," she pointed to the instrument tray behind him. Rather hesitantly, he handed it to her, and she quickly sliced her palm, making a shallow cut. "Well, bring your blood vial, I'm dripping here!"

Shocked by the ease with which she had cut herself, he quickly scurried over and squeezed her hand, taking the necessary amount of fluid. Handing her a towel to wrap her hand in, he turned away to grab a bandage. Coming back over, he took her hand and whipped away the towel to find the cut had already stopped bleeding. Putting the bandage on, he quickly concluded writing on his chart, then advised Buffy that someone would be in shortly to escort her back to Riley.

He scurried to the lab, excited. He had blood work to do.