Summary Extended: Remember when the Initiative was shut down? What if interest in Buffy Summers had not been dropped? This is for Lisette, who first introduced us to what the Slayer without the Buffy we all know and love behind her could be like in her excellent Pretender crossover Twist of Fate.

Chapter One

"The power of the Slayer and all who yield it. Last to ancient first, we invoke thee. Grant us thy domain and primal strength. Accept us in the power we possess. Make us mind and heart and spirit joy. Let the hand encompass us. Do thy will. Spiritus...Spirit."

"Animus...Heart."

"Sophus...Mind."

"And Manus... the Hand."

"We enjoin that we may inhabit the vessel—the Hand...daughter of Sineya...first of the ones... We implore thee, admit us, bring us to the vessel. Take us now."

***

"It was an experiment. The Initiative represented the Government's interests in not only controlling the otherworldly menace, but harnessing its power for our own military purposes. The considered opinion of this counsel is that this experiment has failed. Once the prototype took control of the complex, our soldiers suffered a 40 percent casualty rate. It is due to the actions of a deserter and a group of insurrectionists that our losses were not total. I trust the irony of that is not lost on any of us. Maggie Walsh's vision was brilliant, but ultimately unsupportable. The demons cannot be harnessed. Cannot be controlled. It is therefore our recommendation that this project be terminated and all records concerning it expunged. Our soldiers'll be debriefed. Standard confidentiality clause. We will monitor the civilians and usual measures prepared should they try to go public. I don't think they will. The Initiative itself will be filled in with concrete. Burn it down, gentlemen. Burn it down and salt the Earth."

*******************



Classified May, 2000

Request:

The failure of Maggie Walsh's vision was tragic, but ultimately to be expected. The creation of a super soldier using parts of the demons he would be expected to hunt was considered ludicrous by many scientists. The experiment would only succeed in creating a copy of Frankenstein's monster, and that did not turn out particularly well either. However, the Initiative did bring to my attention the existence of something so radical that it was difficult to comprehend. A girl. The one girl in the world with the strength to destroy the demons, in fact. This presented a fascinating opportunity to scientists. Not a part demon, part human, but a human, under the control of the military, with the strength to hunt the demons.

The source of this person would be the blood of Miss Summers taken when she joined the Initiative as military policy. I will attempt to clone the Slayer, in the hopes that the result will be able to be trained by the military. All I request of the military is the funds for this undertaking.

Sincerely, Dr. Albert Kessler, MD, PhD

A/N: Don't worry, the rest of the chapters will definitely be longer. So whatcha think?