BAD BLOOD
A Buffy the Vampire Slayer story.
P.J. Dickinson
Part One: SunnydaleNine
Giles. Ripper! No, Rupert. The chopper landing. Bundled. Being moved. Still blindfolded. Heat. Hot, dry dusty oppressive heat. Voices. Sounds. Chopper quietening down. Truck. Bouncing. Stopping. Doors opening. Artificial light. Pain. All over. Tired. Numb. Not numb enough. Olivia. Damn Ripper. Injection. Arm. Rushing. Speed. Coming back. NO! He didn't want to.
Ahhh, thought Giles. Where am I?
He remained motionless, he had learnt. Keep it quiet.
He was somewhere new, no longer on the chopper. Where was he being taken? He assumed he was still a prisoner of the Initiative. What had happened to them? This was not the same outfit he had gotten to know through Riley. These people were brutal. They had murdered Olivia because he had resisted them. They hadn't even threatened. An order had been given and now she was dead. He was to blame. It was his fault. Her blood was on his conscience.
He was being moved again. He was lying on his back. Probably on a gurney from the way the light came through his blindfold. Strongly and then weakly and then strongly again. It was as if he was being wheeled along a corridor. There was commotion all around him but it wasn't centered on him. He was passing through it. Anonymous.
Eventually he was taken away from the busy corridors. He came to a stop and heard people walking away; his porters most likely. He tried to move convinced he was momentarily alone. No luck. He could feel restraining straps crossing his body. More footsteps. The sound of plastic hospital doors swinging open then slapping shut. He heard voices. One voice he recognized immediately, he would never forget that voice. It was the sound of the man that had killed Olivia. He would get them. He would get them all. They would pay. They had no idea who they were dealing with.
The doors slapped together again. Either someone had come in or a decision had been reached and someone had left. Giles strained to decide which was the case.
There was a new voice. Someone had come in. Oh my God. He recognized this man.
"Riley Finn! You cowardly bastard. How could you do this?"
"I'm sorry Mr. Giles. Couldn't be helped."
Giles strained in the gurney and desperately tried to break the restraints. A stream of expletives spurted from his mouth.
"Please Mr. Giles." Riley was trying to placate him. He placed a hand on Giles chest but that just made him worse. He bared his teeth and tried to plunge them into Finn.
"Mr. Giles. Please calm down. I'm sorry for the circumstances. But believe me, when I tell you why you have been brought here you will help us."
"Like Hell. She was an innocent."
"Compared to what is coming we are all innocents." Riley reached behind Giles head and removed the blindfold. Giles fixed on the younger mans face. Riley had gone through some changes since the Watcher had last seen him. The blonde hair was still there but now was in a severe military cut. His face, or what remained of it was recognizably that of the soldier that Giles had once known and considered a friend, though now it was scarred and battle hardened. The right side was gone. Hidden behind metal and wiring. Where his right eye had been was now a pulsing red light.
"I hope that hurt."
"It sure did Mr. Giles. Still does as a matter of fact. I just hope you won't end up going through the same thing…. "
Riley left the rest open. He turned to the two guards.
"I brief him in twenty. Keep him quiet until then." With that Commander Finn left the room.
