K, Melissa, here it is.  After reading so much yummy
Xander/Graham fic, I
had to give it a try for myself.  Spike, being Spike,
refused to stay on the
sidelines.  This one promises to be a long one, folks
- I hope y?all enjoy.

A special thank you to Karen, who never fails to cheer
me on, and to Sandy,
who in addition to listening to me babble also acts as
my patron saint of
titles when my brain has gone numb.  Thank you, ladies
<hugs>

Part One/?

?You know what I hate most about this job??

Graham didn?t bother to answer.  He knew he wasn?t
expected to.  He just
concentrated on putting one foot in front of the
other.  A few more minutes
and they?d be back at base, back where there were
showers and clean clothes
and aspirin.

Riley wasn?t fazed by his lack of response.  ?It?s not
the hours.  I can
handle being out all night, I?ve been doing it for
years.  It?s not the
slime and mucus and ick that we run into, either.
That stuff washes.  It?s
the lack of bragging rights.?

Graham nodded, continuing his methodical pace.  ?Next
time we?re in a bar
and everyone starts bragging about the ops they?ve
been a part of-?

?We?re going to be stuck with our mouths glued shut by
top secret
clearances,? Riley finished.  ?We won?t be able to say
anything so everyone
else is going to feel all big and bad because they
beat up on some po-dunk
terrorist death squad.  Meanwhile, we have just taken
out an entire nest of
Dimoir demons-?

?Way tougher than any pansy-ass bunch of terrorists!?

?And we won?t be able to tell anyone and make them
shut their damn mouths.?
Riley shifted his pack with a muffled curse.  ?First
stop, medics tent.?

Graham grunted his agreement.  The Dimoirs had been a
bitch to route out,
but they?d finally won.  He wanted a shower more than
anything else, but he
wouldn?t turn down pain relievers.  He was feeling
mildly pulped and Riley
was in worse shape.  Lately his tall friend had been
throwing himself into
skirmishes with near-mindless intensity, risking his
life and his health
without hesitation.  Graham was worried about him.
The silent fury that
filled him had only appeared once he left Sunnydale.
Graham suspected it
had to do with his break up with Buffy, but Riley
refused to discuss it.
All Graham could do was try to keep him alive until he
worked things out for
himself.

It wasn?t an easy task.  They were based in the middle
of the South American
jungle working to contain a recent outbreak of demon
attacks on humans
there.  The government considered it good training for
further encounters
inside US borders.  Their excursions into the jungle
were filled with
gunfire and blood and death.  Graham was beginning to
look forward to
returning state side and having some downtime.  He
just had to make sure
Riley made it back with him.

The medics bandaged them up quickly, used to having
them come in with
assorted scrapes and bruises.  Graham was halfway into
shower mode when they
were stopped by a soldier ordering them to report to
their commanding
officer immediately.  Graham cast a worried glance at
Riley.  They couldn?t
be sent back out into the field.  He was exhausted and
Riley was in no shape
for any sort of combat.  While they were waiting to be
admitted into the
office, Graham tried to come up with reasons that
would excuse them from
going back out.

When they were finally admitted into the office, their
CO was flipping
through a folder.  He didn?t look up as they entered.
?At ease.  I know
you?ve just come in from the field.  You?re due for
some downtime, but I?m
afraid I?m gong to have to ask you to prepare to ship
out immediately.?

?Where to, sir?? Riley asked.

?Back to Sunnydale.?  Graham didn?t miss the way that
Riley tensed up.  ?The
situation there has destabilized drastically in the
past few days.  It is
too important a strategic area to allow this to
continue.  We need people to
go in and assess the problem and if need be take steps
to restore order.
You two are the most qualified men we have.  There?s a
plane leaving in an
hour.  Pack up and be on it.?

?Sir.?  They acknowledged and saluted as one.

?Dismissed.?

As they packed, Graham waited for Riley to say
something.  There really
wasn?t a way for him to broach the subject - ?So, Ri,
looking forward to
seeing the ex??  ?Gee, it?ll be great to get back to
the scene of so much
death and destruction and humiliating defeats, won?t
it??  But Riley didn?t
say a word; he just packed his gear with robotic
efficiency.  They were on
the plane in plenty of time and still Riley stayed
silent.  Graham fought
the urge to fidget.  He was worried about Riley and
worried about the
situation in Sunnydale.  What could?ve happened to
Buffy that she let things
get out of hand?  What if something had happened to
her?

What if something had happened to one of her friends?

A chill rippled through him and he pushed the thought
away.  Xander was
fine.  He had to be.  Graham wasn?t going to have
spent so much time
thinking about him and dreaming over him only to find
out something had
happened to him while he was gone.  As it so often did
in quiet moments, his
mind turned to Xander.  He?d never really spoken to
the dark-haired man, but
his dreams had been full of him ever since he?d first
seen him.  He?d slowly
grown to recognize him as a part of the Slayer?s team.
Whenever Riley spoke
about time spent with Buffy, Graham listened most
intently when he talked
about things Xander had done or said.

He had been fascinated by the smile in Xander?s eyes,
the way he laughed his
way through life in a town filled with creatures
spawned from hell.  Graham
wanted to know what it was like to be able to do that.
He wanted to know
what it was like to hear Xander laugh, to maybe even
be the one to make him
do it.  That fascination had been influenced by a
healthy dose of
attraction:  he hadn?t missed Xander?s broad shoulders
or long eyelashes.
Soon, chance encounters hadn?t been enough contact for
him and he had begun
to deliberately seek the other man out.  He?d risked
food poisoning and
worse going to the various jobs that Xander had held.
He would order his
burger or buy his Icee and linger in the store,
watching the way Xander
moved with covetous eyes.  Every so often he?d be
rewarded by having Xander
smile at him as he wished him a nice day.  It wasn?t
much, but the warmth he
felt inside each time it happened was more than enough
to keep him coming
back for more.

Dividing his time between worrying about Xander and
worrying about Riley,
Graham gave in to the pain medication coursing through
his system and fell
asleep.  He awoke as the plane touched down.  Looking
at his friend, he
couldn?t tell if Riley had slept or not.  The dark
smudges beneath the blond
man?s eyes didn?t give him much hope.  The silence
between them continued as
they were led to the office of the major in charge of
maintain surveillance
over the Sunnydale area.

Major Tyndal shuffled the papers on his desk.  ?Take a
seat, gentlemen.  I
know you?re just in from the field.?  As they did so,
he pushed two folders
across the desk toward them.  ?The situation in
Sunnydale has changed since
the time you went airborne.  At first, there was a
total breakdown in the
Slayer?s control; HSTs were running unchecked through
the town and chaos
levels had noticeably risen.  This continued for
several days until the
situation reached a critical level, at which point you
were called in.
Eighteen hours ago, the situation changed.  The influx
of HSTs into
Sunnydale has slowed nearly to a stop and those
already there have ceased
all overtly hostile activities.  There is still more
disorder than usual,
but it has returned to manageable levels.  Our
surveillance on the Slayer
reveals that she is still out of the field, so
something else must causing
the stability.  For this reason, your mission has
changed.  You are no
longer to restore order, but instead determine exactly
what changed last
night and how order is being maintained.?

As Tyndal spoke, Graham perused the file in his hands.
He nodded to himself
as he found that Buffy was alive.  For reasons not
known, she had stopped
patrolling the town as Slayer.  He snuck a glance at
Riley and was pleased
to see him relax for the first time since they?d been
told they were
returning.  Graham was relieved as well; he hadn?t
wanted to think that
something serious might have happened to Buffy.
Experience told him that it
took a Slayer to control the Hellmouth and he didn?t
want to imagine the
sort of chaos that could result if she was taken out
of the picture
permanently.  Even more importantly, he didn?t want to
think about how Riley
would react to losing Buffy forever.

?Any thoughts, gentlemen??

Riley inhaled slowly.  ?Buffy didn?t always work on
her own.?  Graham knew
Riley was reluctant to bring her friends into this,
but it was his duty as a
soldier.  Besides, it wasn?t as though they hadn?t
already come to the
attention of the military.

?That is our current hypothesis as well.  We believe
that her friends have
brought the situation under control.  We want to know
how they are doing so
and if their efforts are going to last or if this is
merely a temporary
measure.  We?ve moved surveillance teams into position
to monitor them.  You
two have had the most experience working in this area:
I?m relying on you
to join the surveillance and assess the situation.  Is
that understood??

Graham rose to his feet, as did Riley.  ?Yes, sir.?

?If it is indeed the work of the Slayer?s friends,
then you are to also
determine if they will benefit from our aid.
Remembering the catastrophe
that occurred the last time we became involved in
Sunnydale, I am reluctant
to send any men in unless certain that they will be
able to effectively deal
with the situation.?

?Yes, sir.?

?Quarters have been assigned to you.  You have twelve
hours downtime to rest
and finish reviewing your briefing materials before
joining the surveillance
teams.  Dismissed.?

Graham saluted and followed Riley out the door.  Out
in the hall, Riley
sighed hugely.  ?She?s alive.?

Graham grasped his shoulder in a strong grip.  ?Come
on.  You need to
sleep.?  He was pleased to see Riley nod.  He had a
feeling that they had
better take what rest they could get.  Missions on the
Hellmouth had a
tendency to get ugly fast and with no warning.  Forget
the distractions
presented by Buffy for Riley and Xander for himself;
they were going to have
their hands full just staying alive.

*****