WARNING: This fic will include violence, torture, bondage, character death,
bloodplay, etc...
 

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Part 5

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?Thirty three test subjects! Quite an impressive haul, Agent Finn.? Maggie
smiled proudly, fully expecting to see a similar look of accomplishment
reflected on Riley?s face.

It was not there. ?Yes, Ma?am,? he said grimly. ?But they came with a price.?

Maggie opened her mouth to impart one of her mother?s favorite sayings. But,
she stopped as she realized the folly of comparing a mission to an omelette, and
referring to dead Marines as eggs, at least in present company. ?Yes, the price.
It?s truly heart-rending when we lose good men.?

Riley nodded solemnly. In his mind there was no such thing as an acceptable
casualty. Not on his team. Five Marines had died, and Riley felt responsible for
each of them. He had gone over the raid countless times in his mind, and one
scene stuck out at him. In all honesty he knew it probably had nothing to do
with the deaths of any of his men, but that wasn?t to say it wouldn?t be a
contributing factor next time. They couldn?t afford to have any weak links. So,
Riley cleared his throat, and dropped his bomb. ?I think it might be best if I
were taken off active duty.?

Maggie?s mouth fell open, then promptly shut again. This had certainly not been
expected. Not for the first time, she wondered about the inner workings of
that pretty head of his. ?Oh, you do?? She made sure her voice was liberally
laced with sarcasm. All the better to undermine whatever shortcoming he had
managed to convince himself of. ?And why exactly is that, Agent Finn??

The tone of her voice was not missed, but Riley had prepared himself for
derision. He knew that Maggie favored him, and she often shared her opinions
about how far Riley would rise in his chosen career. But, even she would have to
concede to the facts. ?I assume you?ve read my report?? His expression
remained neutral.

?Yes.? Maggie replied carefully.

?I froze Ma?am. I was faced with a charging hostile and I froze. If Agent
Gates hadn?t have been there-?

Maggie waved her hand dismissvely, cutting him off. ?As I said, I did read your
report, and I can say with utmost certainty that your reaction had nothing to
do with a lack of ability on your part.?

Riley blinked at her, confusion plainly written on his face.

?Evidently,? Maggie continued, ?We underestimated some members of this
species. It appears the vampire that attacked you has some sort of... mental
powers. It stunned several guards and one of my scientists.?

Riley looked alarmed. ?Was anyone hurt??

It had been a nightmare. The fact that just one creature had undermined nearly
everything Maggie Walsh had staked her reputation- ?Hmm? Oh, no. Luckily the
behavior modification chip was already in place. They managed to subdue it
fairly quickly.?

?Why wasn?t I told-??

?It was a non-event, Agent Finn. And, in case you were wondering, the answer to
your request is no.?

Considering the new information, Riley was quite relieved with that decision.
And it showed.

Maggie almost smiled as the tension flowed out of the young man. He would
really need to learn to curb those self-sacrificing impulses. ?If that?s all...?

?Actually, Ma?am, it isn?t. I have something I?d like to ask you.?

Maggie?s eyebrows raised expectantly, one hand unconsciously reaching down to
smooth her skirt. ?Yes, Riley??

?Well, Ma?am, the men have been through a lot lately, what with the fighting,
and losing some of their own, and the... people we found in the club...? Riley?s
voice faltered for a moment. ?I think they need a break and I was hoping you?d
grant permission for a little R&R.?

Her mind whirred for a few seconds, clicking away all the pros and cons of such
a request. ?All right. You can have the weekend.? She felt quite proud that she
was being so understanding towards her men?s emotional wellbeing. After all,
they were only human. ?But, I want everyone back and in fighting form come
Monday.?

?Yes, Ma?am.? Riley grinned, and Maggie?s heart skipped a beat.

*****

Xander quietly stared at the beer bottle in front of him. It was an ordinary
bottle, containing a piss poor excuse for alcohol, yet even that was infinitely
better tasting then the fat-free, low salt tripe this place had the gall to pass
off as pretzels. The vampire had never fathomed the possibility that one day
he would actually miss Willy?s.

It had been almost twenty four hours since the raid on the Bronze, and there
was no telling what the ?green men? might be going after next. The regular
demon bars were too dangerous, so, Xander had come to Moe?s, one of the few
human bars still operating in Sunnydale. He raised his head and rolled his
shoulders, surreptitiously checking out the hole-in-the-wall?s other clientele.

Xander couldn?t remember the last time he had seen so many non-bleeding
humans in a room. There were nine of them, not counting the bar?s employees. It
had been a bit of a shock, seeing so many ?free range? meals gathered in one
spot. But, the shock had turned to understanding when Xander began paying
attention to the snippets of conversation floating around him.

All talk, slurred or otherwise, centered on the ?gang war? that had happened the
previous night. The ?PCP addicts? that had been terrorizing the town for years
had been taken down by a rival group. Probably from L.A. Probably heroin
junkies. Or maybe they were using that new sex drug. That ecstasy stuff.

Xander?s eyes rolled back into his head as he had a flashback to tenth grade
English. ?What fools these mortals be...? he murmured. And, with a slight,
unidentifiable pang for a Willow that was lost forever, he reached for his
bottle again, tipping it upwards, letting the still cold liquid flow into his
mouth... and then by some miracle managing to keep it from shooting out of his
nose.

When the door to the small bar had opened, Xander?s eyes, along with everyone
else's, had darted towards it, instinctively. But, while everyone else had
immediately classified the newcomers as slumming frat boys, Xander had known
better. Xander had recognized one of them.

It was Miller, the soldier he had followed the night before. And judging by
their physical appearance, the other two people with him were part of the same
outfit. But why were they at Moe?s?

Xander recovered himself and set the bottle back down on the table. Were
they looking for vampires? Were they looking for him? He risked a few glances
at the group of young humans. They were wearing normal clothes, and they
weren't carrying any obvious weapons.

Xander watched as the humans paid for and picked up the beers that had been
placed on the counter. After a few seconds? debate, they headed for one of the
unoccupied tables towards the back of the room. They really didn?t seem to be
that concerned with their fellow patrons. Maybe they?d already reached their
vampire quota for the month. It certainly didn?t seem like they were actively
searching for demons, but their proximity was more then a bit disconcerting
for Xander.

He could handle this. He knew he could handle this. He just needed to... breathe.
Xander closed his eyes and purposefully inhaled. He waited a second, pushed
the air back out, then repeated the process. After moment it was happening
unconsciously. His body was still young enough to remember when respiration
was a necessity, and it adapted well to this, albeit now strange request. That
was good. His face was in its human guise, his chest was lifting and falling in a
regular fashion, and he knew that, as long as no one got too close, he could pass
for a normal mortal.

He hoped.

*****

Forrest grimaced as his hand came into contact with the sticky surface of their
table. ?Nice place. Really. Loving the atmosphere.?

?Baby.? Graham said scornfully. ?I like it.? He glanced around the room. ?It?s...
colorful.?

?If by colorful you mean ?shitty?, then, yes, it?s colorful.?

?Can it.? Riley commanded, a frown on his face. Something had been bothering
him since they had entered the building, and he had finally realized what it was.
He nodded towards the front of the room. ?Check out the guy at the end of the
bar.?

Forrest?s eyes slid in that direction and he raised an eyebrow. ?Nice, but I
prefer blondes.?

?Funny. That was... Seriously, though, don?t you guys think he... looks a little
strange??

Graham fondly smiled at his Midwestern CO. ?Ri, this is California, you think
everyone looks a little strange.?

?No I don?t. I-? Riley scowled. ?Don?t tell me, we?re back to the Iowa jokes??

?Would we do that to you?? Somehow Graham managed to keep a straight face,
though the corners of his eyes crinkled. ?Okay, you said seriously, so, let?s be
serious. What?re you thinking, Ri? He a hostile??

The ribbing had been good natured, but Riley was still sheepish about his
proclamation. ?Maybe. You know, vampires *can* look human.?

?Vampires!? Forrest looked at his friend in disbelief. ?Vampires. Yeah, a
vampire that eats pretzels and drinks beer.?

Graham shrugged. ?Maybe it?s blood lite.?

Riley dropped his head to his hands as Forrest glared at their teammate. ?You
know, later, we?re gonna have to beat you for that, right??

?Yeah.?

?Good.?

Riley lifted his head and spread out his hands. ?You know what, forget it.?

?No, we?re not gonna forget it.? Forrest said with finality. ?Something?s telling
you that that guy?s a little off, and I?m gonna check it out.?

Riley was almost afraid to ask, but did it anyway. ?How??

?Well, I figure I?ll walk over there, pretend to trip, grab onto his arm for
support and check for a pulse.?

?Really??

?No.? Forrest reached over and flicked Riley on his forehead, then got up and
moved to the bar.

*****

Xander had been furtively watching the trio at the table. Miller, and the other
two, who Xander had decided to call ?The Player?, and ?The Yokel?, had been
laughing and joking with each other, behaving like a group of normal young men.
The vampire found it hard to relate the three men sitting at the table to any of
the soldiers he had seen by the Bronze.

Hard... but not impossible. Under those joking exteriors were the bodies of
fighters. They were hard, but their movements, even the most common of them,
were utterly graceful. They were masses of well toned, well trained, muscles.
Tight packages of flesh built for endurance, resilience...

One corner of Xander?s mouth quirked up. Oh, now *that* was an interesting
idea. One that could work. One that could definitely work.

He had been mulling over doing something on a grand scale. A kind of thing that
would have his name being whispered reverently in demon communities all over
the world. But, those were usually the plans that ended up coming apart at the
seams. And Xander was still young, real notoriety could wait a few decades.
However, the chance to have a little fun had just announced itself in big, bright
letters, and who was he to pass up on such an opportunity? After all, if the
soldiers weren?t actively hunting tonight then they probably didn?t have any
back-up. Just the three little humans, all out by their lonesome.

This was going to be a fun game.

The brief, predatory grin stretched Xander?s lips. That?s what he was. A
predator. And, the vampire decided it was high time he started acting like one
again.

So, when the Player sidled up next to him and politely asked the bartender for
a bowl of pretzels, Xander didn't flinch, or go on the offensive, he just sat
there quietly observing how the soldier quietly observed him.

The Player gave him a slight nod, and a ?Hey.? Xander return the noncommittal
gestures. The Player got his pretzels and went back to the table.

*****

Riley was practically jumping out of his seat by the time Forrest got back.
?Well??

?A little pale for my tastes, but alive and kicking... well, breathing, at least.?

?Damn.?

?What, you *want* to face another hostile so soon?? Forrest asked, eyebrows
raised.

?No. it?s just...?

?Look, we've got a weekend furlough, and by the way, I don?t even want to think
about what you had to do to pull that off-? Graham snickered while Riley
looked befuddled. ?-and we?re approximately a three hour drive away from one
of the most debauched cities on the planet. I say, tomorrow, we head down to
L.A. All in favor??

?I could get with that.? Graham said.

?L.A.?? Riley frowned. ?I don?t know if... You guys are just gonna drag me down
there anyway, aren?t you??

?Yep.?

?Pretty much.?

Riley smiled. ?All right. We?ll go to L.A.? He looked at Forrest. ?Debauched,
huh??

?Son, by the time you leave there you won?t think anybody in *this* town looks
strange again... not even the demons.?

*****

Xander watched as the Yokel, the Player, and Miller rose from their table and
calmly walked to the door, relaxed smiles on their faces.

The vampire waited roughly a minute and a half, his anticipation steadily
building. He then slid off his barstool, and followed his prey into the Sunnydale
night.

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