CH 11: Warm on the Inside
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Silence permeated the small room as all eyes looked at Tyler and then Buffy and Kate.
Private Dubois even commented, "Bloody mess, sounds like," before turning and going back to her task of re-wiring the panel box.
"Say what?" Buffy asked, sounding a little more like herself for an instant.
"You see," Tyler began, "the blood of the demon makes you start to ovulate every day until you become pregnant. Once you become pregnant, the ovulation stops. If you don't become pregnant, in a few weeks it overworks your reproductive system and … and … things rupture. You would bleed out."
Buffy looked at him with hurtful eyes for a moment. "Why does this stuff keep happening to me," she said, her voice showing that she was very weary of it all. Buffy turned, not wanting to face anyone for a minute.
"But, but … I'm a vampire. It can't kill me, can it?" Kate shifted from one foot to the next nervously. "We, we don't even, uh … really know if that thing attacked me just because! I mean, I still say I can't get pregnant like for another fifty years or something."
"Kate, it would be my guess that somehow, somewhere either shortly before or after you were turned, you encountered the blood of a Durthok." Tyler touched the girl's arm as a gesture of support. "Remember, people do use it as a drug. It has certain … properties."
"Like … ecstasy," Kate muttered in private realization. Finally she spoke again, "Right after I awoke for the first time … turned … they gave me several wine glasses full of blood. I remember one glass was very … odd tasting."
"The Durthok's blood crystallizes in the drug making process. It would look something like a blue sugar cube." He let that sink in for an extra second. "If they used it on you, it likely restarted your ovulation cycle."
"Oh my God," Kate again muttered, "I … I was pregnant!" This time she said it with more conviction in her voice. She looked William in the eyes before tears started to stream from her own eyes. She too walked to a corner of the room to be as alone as possible for a few minutes.
"Don't mean to interfere with the bloody soap drama but I could use a wee bit of help over here," Dubois said, looking toward Tyler for the needed help. "We need to tug this cable a couple more feet to the power box. Can you give me a hand?"
Tyler walked over to the Soldier and took a hold of the cable along with her and started inching it closer to the electrical junction box while Buffy, Kate and William huddled in their corner of the room in a state of somewhat disbelief concerning the whole pregnancy drama.
Walking up to the group of three in the corner, Harmony wise cracks, "Just tossing this out there but if ole Willie here were a vampire, he'd be shootin blanks like ole Spikey and you wouldn't be …," Harmony was interrupted.
"Harmony, if you say one more word, you'll be dust in like 2.5 seconds," Buffy said through gritted teeth.
Harmony backed away with her hands in front of her and her eyes wide. She walked over and began looking over Tyler's shoulder, "Whatcha all doin?"
A few minutes go by but Dubois and Tyler finally get the cable connected to the power box and flip the main switch.
"Must not work," Harmony commented, "no lights."
Give it a bloody minute," Dubois said. "I have a few safeties in place. I don't want to survive the end of the world just to be done-in by a stray electrical wire ya know!" The tired Soldier concluded as she continued to work on the electrical box.
On the other side of the room, Buffy directed a question to Dubois with a faint melody in her voice, "Where do we go from here?"
"We should head for sub-level two," Dubois said with confidence. "I hope someone else went to the power generator station to flip that switch. I do not relish the idea of fighting my way back down there in the dark with those beasties out there running mad."
Clearly weary from the intense private discussions with Buffy and Kate a few minutes earlier in the corner, William offered, "Can we just stay here til morning?"
"Might as bloody well," Dubois agreed.
All eyes looked to Buffy for concurrence, "I'm a little less than fight girl right now. I guess staying here is better than taking a stroll out there right now." She motioned her head toward the door.
Buffy, William and Kate gathered back in their corner for the night. The Private and Tyler found separate spots to try and snooze uncomfortably. Harmony was, as one would expect, bored. She tried to sit somewhere where she could hear the good gossip between Buffy and the others. Her ears were not disappointed.
After an awkward silence of about twenty minutes, Buffy whispered, "My God, what am I gonna do?" She sat on the floor of the room with her back against the wall and her legs pulled up tight against her chest. "I still … can't believe all … this." Her voice seemed to hint to all the stresses of the last month and not just the pregnancy issue.
"Total hysterectomy might work," Harmony offered with a smile. Every eye met Harmony with a shocked look causing Harmony to offer, "Hey, just trying to help here."
"I just wish everything was normal again." Buffy started to slowly rock back and forth. "I wish I could walk in the door of our house in Sunnydale and give my mom a hug. She'd always make things better."
Kate voiced the same thought with slightly less pain in her voice, "I know. All this … it's insane," she said to all who listened. "I so want my old life back. I don't want to be a vampire anymore. I don't want a baby either. I just want to be normal again."
After a few minutes of silence, Buffy choked out, "I don't want to … be pregnant. I'm … not ready yet." Buffy's eyes let a few tears fall. "I, I, wanted to save it for … for …," she couldn't finish. She started to cry.
Buffy's tears caused a domino effect with Kate, who started to cry too, as much for herself as for Buffy. Harmony even shed a tear to William's surprise.
"Hey, I can enjoy a little girl drama too you know," Harmony offered in explanation.
Private Dubois thought they were all crazy and really didn't care about the drama when the world had gone insane a month ago. She doubted the world would still be here by the time they delivered anyway. She closed her eyes and decided to try and get some sleep.
Amid her soft sobs Buffy tried to speak. She had to get it off her chest, "I, I have to … get pregnant … or I die," she sobbed. "It's not … FAIR!"
"Buffy, I don't … I mean … I'm," William seemed to be at a loss for words.
"Don't!" Buffy exclaimed at a loud whisper. "You don't have to say anything. I know … how it happened. I was … there."
Turning to Kate, William tried to offer a thought. "Kate," he began, "I'm … I mean I want to help."
"Will, part of me wants to sock you in the mouth and part of me wants to curl up next to you naked … then sock you in the mouth. Just … just leave us alone for awhile." Kate turned her back to William and faced the wall.
Each one managed to drift off to sleep somewhere in the night. Even Harmony fell asleep after the juicy conversations ended.
Somewhere after sunrise they all awoke to the flicker of lights coming on around the room. Someone had made it out to the generator and turned on the power. Private Dubois stirred first, waking the others quickly.
"We need to move. We need to get to the rest of my team on the second sub-level," Dubois insisted.
"Uh, I gotta go to the bathroom," Harmony said with urgency.
"No way! You need to use the lav when the place is running wild with infected?" Dubois sounded rather unsympathetic. "There are lavatories on sub-level two. Now, can we go?"
"I agree with G.I. Jane here, we need to get going. You can stop for a potty break but I'm not waiting on you." Buffy's serious face quickly changed into a slight smirk.
They all gathered their respective weapons and huddled near the door, listening for sounds. It seemed all silent so Buffy and William opened the door and took up positions on either side as Dubois led the way for the others. They went quickly out the door and to the left, heading for the stairwell.
Buffy had an odd feeling of dread come over her. Looking up toward Kate it was like she sensed something too. It was like both of them were hyper-sensitive to things around them.
The group made it to a stair way and down to the first floor. They stopped twice enroute and crouch down, listening for any nearby noises. Buffy's heart started to pound and her thinking became very focused on survival. She had a desire to hide somewhere but she fought it off. Kate was lurking close to her for some reason as well.
"Okay, the entrance to the sub-levels is all the way down the hall and to the right. Then through a set of doors and down two set of stairs." Dubois briefed the group in a loud whisper. "Stay close and don't get separated," she added.
Dubois led the way with Buffy and William covering the rear of the group as they tried to quietly trot down the hall. As they ran down the hall, Buffy slightly lagged behind William to cover his escape if necessary.
Passing a series of destroyed desks and overturned file cabinets in the wide hallway, something on the floor suddenly lashed out and grabbed Buffy by the ankle. She fell fast and the piece of mental pipe she was using as a weapon flew out of her hands.
William heard her fall, "Buffy!"
"Keep running," she yelled back at him but she knew he would not leave her behind. The others stopped and turned to see what grabbed Buffy.
Something in the debris pulled at her. The lights were broken out in this section so it remained dark. Buffy felt a hard tug drag her several feet back before she scrambled to her feet and turned to face what grabbed her.
Forgetting the red eyes, torn flesh, and blood dripping from his mouth, the infected attacker would have been considered rather dashing if they had met in another situation. He looked like a thirty-something cross between Giles and Riley. She wondered if Riley was okay over in the states and if he ever thought about her from so long ago.
Survival mode started over-riding reminiscing and Buffy immediately brought her other foot up and slammed it into the face of the attacker, scuffing off a good patch of skin from his forehead. She kicked again and again as the infected attacker struggled to get its teeth into her leg. Each one of her kicks cut deeper into the man's face. His blood started splattering the floor and nearby wall.
Then with a strong, solid kick, she heard "CRACK", its face caved in, gore and chips of bone sticking to her shoe. The body shuddered just as William arrived to help. The attacker collapsed in a heap, blood and brain matter leaking out onto the floor.
Looking down the hall toward the rest of the group … their eyes said, "come on," without saying an audible word. Luckily, they encountered nothing else in the hall. Within a minute they managed to reach the second set of stairs leading down to the sub-levels. Dubois pulled out a huge gold colored Key from her pocket and began to unlock the door. Buffy was still shaking from the rush of fear and adrenaline when they all stepped through the first door on sub-level one, Dubois being certain to shut and lock the door behind them.
"Note to self," Buffy said, catching her breath, "no more bringing up the rear! From now on we should all stick closer together … like peanut butter and crackers."
"I agree with that," Kate said as she leaned against a wall to steady herself. "It's insane out here!" Kate just stood there clutching herself tightly. Buffy went to her and put a reassuring arm around Kate. The touch turned to a hug that seemed somehow to make William squirm.
Dubois checked a couple small rooms near where everyone stood while Harmony darted into the girl's room right near the door they just came through. The area was on emergency lighting only and seemed less devastated than the floors above.
Looking at Tyler as they stood in the dim light, William commented, "I think I liked it better when they wanted to bloody kill each other … or me." His eyes motioned for Tyler to look at Buffy and Kate.
"The blood of the demon makes his victims stick together, protect each other so nothing can cause a miscarriage before he harvests the newborn," Tyler replied with a cold scientific tone to his voice.
"Yeah, but what … uh … explains that?" William pointed again toward Buffy and Kate as their lips slowly parted from a rather moist kiss.
Slightly mesmerized for a few lingering seconds, Tyler replied, "The blood makes them rather amorous … rather amorous indeed."
After a few minutes of quiet contemplation to let everyone's nerves calm down, the group started walking down the dark corridor toward another set of doors. Moving quickly and quietly they made it to the next set of doors and down another set of stairs to a larger and heavier looking metal door.
Dubois pounded on the door first three loud thuds and then a series of small taps. Nothing happened. She repeated the process. Still nothing happened.
Harmony made the observation first, "Let me guess, the door should have opened by now?"
"We've had a few of the infected make it down this far but we've always stopped them. Maybe they …." Dubois didn't finish the thought. Dubois rapped again on the door.
This time they all could hear something moving around on the other side of the door. Everyone held their respective weapons tight in their hands. When the door cracked open, William brought his rifle to his shoulder and took aim at the door.
"Who's out there?" a voice whispered from behind the door.
"Dubois, hurry up and let us in," she said with urgency.
"Dubois? Figured you for dead … or worse," the voice said.
"Enough drabble you prat, be a good boy and let us in now," she said.
The door swung open to reveal three Soldiers with weapons all aimed at Buffy and the others. Behind the group of Soldiers stood another uniformed man. Additionally, Buffy noticed several people dressed in civilian clothes covered with lab coats standing in the shadows.
"Whoa! Don't shoot! It smarts like the devil," Harmony exclaimed.
Dubois stepped in the darkened corridor as the whole group followed. "I picked up a few friends on my way back sir," she said to the older senior military person.
While the group moved out of the stairwell landing and into the corridor of the second sub-level, Buffy took notice of the place. The halls appeared to be lined with small offices and classrooms or something. The place looked pretty battered from several fights, dried blood, bullet holes, and broken windows were everywhere. It also had a slightly musty smell as well.
Harmony and Kate were flirting with several of the younger British Soldiers while Tyler and William helped a couple of the civilians secure the door again, barricading it back up.
Dubois walked over to Buffy with the senior military man following her. He carried himself much like the major did back at Harefield but did not seem as warm or inviting. "Sir, this is the leader of the group of civilians that broke into the building."
Buffy thought, "Thanks for the great introduction." She glared at Dubois and then looked to the man in front of her. "Note to self, never trust someone that you have to knock unconscious."
"Miss, I am Commander Kippton, Royal Navy. I must ask, what are you doing here? This is a secure facility. You are not allowed to be here. Under slightly different circumstances I would be forced to place you all under arrest." The man looked about fifty or so, had a receding hairline and clearly no personality.
Buffy started with a nervous tone to her voice, "The place can't be too secure since WE managed to get in without much trouble. Also, I, I've been fighting infected people since I got here so they need arrested too!" Buffy immediately started to calm down as she spoke. She wondered if it was because she knew she could handle the situation or was the blood of the Durthok was just having its effects on her. In either case, she started to relax and mentally plan a strategy as she continued to speak.
"I would suggest you get a guard dog or something. Whatever you call security just isn't cutting the mustard buddy." Buffy thought to herself, "What does that really mean anyway? Why would I want to cut mustard? Oh well, I'll save that for another day."
"We cannot help you with whatever you are looking for. You must leave, now." The man seemed cold and unconcerned.
"Wrong answer Captain Kirk," Buffy retorted. "We fought to get to this place, so I am not planning on leaving anytime soon."
"Yeah," William chimed in, "we were sent here from Harefield by Major Alfred Abel, of the Commando Regiment of the Royal Marines."
"I do not know him. It makes no difference. This is a secure facility. You will leave." The man met Buffy's gaze with his own steel determination.
"Guards, open the door and toss them back out," Commander Kippton said to the Soldiers standing in the corridor. With little more than a quizzical look to each other, they began unbarricading the door yet again.
"Sir, they did help with the electrical repair," Dubois offered.
"Then thank you for your assistance to the crown but I insist that you leave." The Commander unsnapped his holster and put his hand on the pistol grip. As he did so, the three Soldiers removing the blockade from in front of the stairwell door started to round up Harmony, Kate, William and Tyler.
Buffy's used her helpless school girl voice to distract Kippton's attention from what she planned next. Playing a little helpless seemed to always work on demons or humans. They are all suckers for a damsel in distress. "Can we discuss this a little more? We have nowhere to go. We'll die out there! Who is in charge of this place exactly? I mean, maybe we got off on the wrong foot here, you know, misunderstanding and all."
Commander Kippton's took his hand off the grip of the pistol on his hip for just a second. That is all the time Buffy needed. Her elbow hit him squarely in the nose at the same time her other hand grabbed his left arm and twisted it behind his back. She grabbed the gun from the holster and held it behind him.
Her moves were so fast that Dubois and the other Soldier's were caught off guard. Slightly confused as to what to do next, Dubois and the other three military people started pointing their weapons at Buffy, then back toward William and Tyler and then back to Buffy and then to Harmony and Kate and so forth. The other civilians seemed to scatter. They had seen too much fighting it appeared to want to be part of any more bloodshed.
William had his rifle pointed in the direction of one of the Soldiers while Tyler dropped his weapon. Harmony and Kate did not seem too concerned about the show of force knowing that they could handle the problem once the fighting started.
"Okay Captain Kirk, tell them to drop their guns," Buffy said with clear determination. He yelped slightly as she twisted a little harder on his arm.
"Not on your life," the commander began, "we're not like the bloody French you know, we don't surrender." Kippton struggled to get free from Buffy but she easily held him in place.
Buffy's eyes caught a glimpse of Kate. Kate licked her lips which Buffy thought was very erotic but a little odd considering the situation at the moment. Looking closely Buffy noticed that Kate's fangs were extended. Buffy liked the idea and gave an almost undetectable nod to her.
Keeping the sight of her fangs out of view of the Soldier standing near her with a gun, Kate looked over casually at Harmony who quickly caught on to the plan.
"You can twist my arm off but my people are not …," a shot rang out and she felt the commander jerk. She also felt a minor burning sensation across her left shoulder. Looking up, Buffy saw that one of the Soldiers had fired at her but William hit him as he fired, knocking his aim off slightly.
Dropping Kippton to the floor, she noticed that the bullet passed through him and just barely grazed her shoulder as it exited his body. Luckily it did not hit anything vital on either of them. Buffy looked up from Kippton and noticed that Harmony and Kate already had their fangs in the two unsuspecting Soldiers near them.
Buffy ran to Dubois, who had her rifle aimed at Tyler. Buffy knocked the rifle out of Dubois' hands and then hit the feisty Brit with a punch to the face. Buffy followed that attack by tossing the shaken Dubois through the air, impacting a Soldier giving William a rather rough beating at that moment.
Tyler's demon side prevailed against his attacker, knocking the Soldier to the ground just before Buffy planned on doing the job herself. Looking around quickly noticed the vampire's were still in a feeding frenzy. "It's like having two puppy dogs. You can't leave them along for a second," Buffy thought.
Wasting no time she ran over to Kate and pulled her off the already pale looking Soldier. Kate's mouth was dripping with blood and her eyes seeming to glow in wild hunger. Buffy held her arm for a second longer to make sure the young vampire was not going to return to her near dead victim.
Then, Buffy grabbed Harmony and pulled her off the unconscious Soldier she had attacked. Harmony growled at Buffy and shoved Buffy away. Just before Harmony could sink her teeth back into the victim, Buffy back handed the vampire then, grabbed Harmony by the throat and started to squeeze hard.
Harmony's face transformed back into her human soft features as she said, "Hey, hey, hey … sorry, just got carried away there! Sorry! I'm sorry!" Buffy finally let go of Harmony's throat.
Before Buffy could scold Harmony for being … Harmony, a hand touched Buffy's shoulder. Still in combat mode, Buffy whirled around with a low leg sweep and solid strike to the chest dropping her assailant. When she saw him, she was sorry she hit him. She recognized that face … those features. She thought of all their history, experiences and pain together. After he bounced hard on the floor, he finally came to a stop by a nearby wall.
Looking up at her he just said, "Buffy?"
Her reply was instant, "Riley?" She couldn't believe it was him! She had to say his name again, "Riley!"
In unison they both started to say, "What are you …," the obvious ending, "doing here," left unsaid.
She ran to him and knelt down beside him as he propped himself up on both elbows. Their eyes met, exploring each other in disbelief. Finally she spoke, "Riley, I can't believe it's you? What are you doing here? I mean I am so glad you are here but I'm just … surprised."
She helped him stand up at the same time he gave a thumbs up to three more Soldier's who had just arrived with weapons ready. "Buffy … I should have known you would survive if there was any way, you would find it." He reached out and offered her a hug that she so warmly accepted.
"Riley, what's this place all about? Where are we … really?" Buffy fired off the questions once she finally let go of the hug. "I mean, I have an idea but … what is all this? How are you involved? How'd you get here?"
"Uh … hello over there, could any of you chaps render a little assistance?" Commander Kippton had pulled himself to a seated position leaning against a water-cooler.
"Buffy, we need to talk but first lets' get everybody looked at. Your team seems to have cleaned house here." He glanced at a still bloody Kate and Harmony, and then he noticed Tyler. "You came prepared."
Everyone assisted getting the commander and the rather drained Soldiers into a nearby small meeting room that had been previously turned into a medic station. Several of the civilians in lab coats started treating the injured. Kate and William seemed to be sticking close together while Harmony and Tyler seemed to be engrossed in conversation. After a heated discussion with the injured Commander Kippton and that crisis seemed adverted for the time being, Riley walked over and whispered in Buffy's ear, "Ready to go have that talk now?"
They slipped out of the medic office un-noticed. Buffy was sure that Harmony and Kate were waiting around in there for any chance to get another drop of blood from an unconscious victim. William and Tyler knew to keep a close eye on them after feeding on human blood.
Buffy and Riley walked the dim corridors of the facility. After they walked and talked for over an hour they came to a hallway with heavy steel framework construction on sub-level three. Riley had systematically shown her the place and explained everything as they walked. Buffy noticed that he walked with a slight limp. He had put on a few extra pounds, had a weeks' growth of beard, but he was Riley Finn … the one human boyfriend she let slip away.
"Buffy, in 1998 the British with American help invented an inter-dimensional time machine. That is what this thing is … a huge time machine. They always said that if the yanks ever messed something up so bad that it could end the world, that the English would be able to fix it."
Buffy commented, "But magic can do all that, why make this place?"
"The machine does use extra-dimensional crystals but not magic. They made it so humans would not be at the mercy of witches and wizards to save the world." He hesitated but then said, "However, it doesn't have all the bugs worked out yet."
"It's been around since 98 and still has bugs in it? Someone needs their money back … or an exterminator, depends on how literal you want to be." She shot that very familiar smile back up at him as she spoke.
"They used it after 9/11 to a limited degree of success." Riley sounded somber mentioning 9/11.
Buffy thought, "Wait, if they used a time machine to change history after 9/11 … how come I can still remember bad things happening on 9/11?"
Riley answered, "A few months after 9/11 the US Government pressured the Brits into letting us use the machine for a live mission. Before then, only equipment, cameras, and stuff had been used in tests. This time we decided to send back five agents from the CIA and FBI to intercept the terrorists before they got to the planes." Riley dropped his head as he walked, "Only two of the agents survived the transport."
Buffy looked confused, "Survived? What happened to the ones who didn't survive?"
"That is a story of its own," Riley responded. "The two agents who did make back in time alive didn't materialize when or where we had planned. One agent arrived a year early and in the middle of North Korea. He was captured and eventually shot as a spy. The other agent killed his targets in Saudi Arabia and then made it back to the US just in time to catch Flight 93. He realized that he was the only time traveler agent left so he reported in as planned to CIA headquarters and then did what he could to stop the terrorists. He obviously stopped Flight 93 but three of the five planes hit."
"Five? Wow! So the thing does work." Buffy was truly amazed at how they change history.
Smiling, Buffy said, "So can I like go back and meet like George Washington or something?"
"You could if you had an extension cord to the sun for power. The farther back you go the more power it takes. Also, it's a one way ride. They can't pull you back to this time."
"Okay," Buffy said with a clear thought to change the subject to what she really wanted to know, "so how do you fit in to all this?"
"When the infection broke out the world had no choice but to isolate the UK. Right now, just over the horizon the US, Brit, French, and German Navies are out there waiting on the infection to die out. The US sent four separate teams to secure this facility and assess the situation. When nobody survived they sent my team. I'm all there's left of my team Buffy."
Thinking for a moment Buffy responded, "Of all the people to show up here, why you Riley? I heard you got out of the Army a couple years ago." Buffy had her sources occasionally report on Riley Finn.
"Actually, I got out in 2008 after being seriously injured over in Afghanistan. We were tracking a group of demons into the mountains. The vehicle I was in hit an IED … a bomb." He added the last part for clarity. "Luckily Sam wasn't along for the ride. Three others on the team with me didn't make it. If she would have been there, she would have likely died too."
"I thought you two like … did everything together?" Thinking of how that came out, Buffy further qualified the statement, "I mean … hunting demons and all." Buffy fiddled with her belt loop as she walked. Talking about relationship stuff with Riley still seemed to make her feel hurt at a deeper level.
"She didn't come with me on the mission because … she was pregnant with our first baby, Joshua."
Buffy looked surprised and hurt but she knew that was to be expected, after all they were married. Trying to make conversation to cover up how hurt she felt Buffy asked, "Did she leave the military then?"
"Oh, she was never in the military. The government hired her as a contractor," Riley corrected. "The government uses contractors all the time. They usually get twice the pay of a Soldier but none of the benefits."
Riley smiled as he reflected back on memories of the good old days. "She had such a natural talent for hunting demons; they hired her in an instant."
"Had?" Buffy asked.
"Oh, she's back home in Iowa with the kids … worrying about me I'm sure."
"Kids? As in plural?" Buffy's voice betrayed her heart. She wished she could go back and fix things in the past … then the thought entered her head, "Maybe I could go back … fix the past." Her brow furrowed as they walked and he continued to talk about his long recovery and then being hired by the National Security Agency as a mission specialist.
Finally she zoned back in to the conversation as Riley explained how he got to Dover himself, "US and British officials sent us here to secure the equipment and if necessary, go back in time and stop the disease from spreading. I came over with the operatives. They needed a person with field experience in 'the weird' to be the mission specialist for the contact team."
Looking at Riley's limp Buffy commented, "Riley … you don't look up to going back in time to beat up the creators of this mess."
"It was never the plan for me to go back in time. I'm here to help plan and organize the mission. I supported the American NSA agents that were here to hook up with the British agents. British MI6 agents were already waiting for us. Our team just came to go along for the ride back in time to KILL the creators of the infection." Riley let the word sink in with Buffy before he continued. "The mission never happened. We lost power, the infected over-ran the building, and my entire team was killed or infected … same with most of the Brit team."
He came to a stop in front of a big heavy steel door. "This is an isolation cell. One of the infected British agents is in there. We kept him so we could run experiments on him. I know what you are thinking," Riley flatly stated. "It is NOT like the initiative," Riley continued after making sure Buffy understood, "We kept him in hopes of counter-acting the infection. We have a couple of the best scientists on the infection trapped in the labs below."
Buffy asked with hope in her voice, "Have they found anything yet?"
So far, no luck," Riley said with clear disappointment in his voice.
Buffy cautiously looked in the reinforced glass window. A naked blond man in his forties was strapped to a metal chair in the center of an otherwise empty room. He practically sat there and vibrated; his red eyes and distorted features marring his dashing good looks. Buffy was fascinated by him, "Who is he?"
"His name is Bond. He is a famous British secret agent."
Buffy smirked at the irony of it all. "Doesn't the word 'famous' and 'secret' seem to not be a smart mix here or is it just me?"
Riley smirked as well and continued walking down the hall with Buffy moving along beside him. She reached out a cautious hand and took his. He did not resist the touch. They slowly walked a full minute in silence, just holding hands.
With a familiar tune in her head again, Buffy asked, "So, where do we go from here?" Again, she knew she had to clarify her question, "I … uh … mean with the time machine thingy?"
"Well, with the power back on we are working at getting the security door open to the forth level where all the 27 remaining scientists were stuck when we lost power after getting over-ran by the infected. Once we get that open, the plan is … several of the Brit Soldiers and I go back in time and stop this. I have the names of the people that have to be killed in order to ensure this disaster never happens." Riley's voice started to break startling her as much as it did Riley himself.
They stopped walking and Buffy looked up at him. "Riley, you … you said it was a one way trip. You have your wife and kids. You can't go."
His eyes started watering up. As a man and as a Soldier, Riley had trained himself to NOT cry. This time his training didn't win. "Buffy, I …," he choked up for an instant, "I love my wife and my babies. I don't want to leave them! Even if another me gets to be with them … it won't be this ME!"
"Riley you don't have to go! They'll send someone else to go. Just wait."
The crystals are destabilizing. They need constant power and with the power down for so long … it … it just means that if we don't go in the next few days, we never will. It could take years if ever to get new crystals. Also, if the rage virus spreads, it could destroy the entire population of the planet." Tears started to fall from Riley's eyes. One hit her hand as she held his hand.
She wanted him in all the ways she had him in the past and a thousand new ways. She wanted to sexually ravage him. She wanted to feel him inside her as they use to do so many years ago. Buffy knew it had to be the blood of the Durthok pushing her at a time like this but Riley was someone special, someone different. She wanted to rip his clothes off and do amazing sexual things with him. She should have never let him leave Sunnydale!
Buffy pulled Riley into a hug, to comfort him. She knew that she tempted him as he did her. She struggled to shrug off the naughty thoughts just now. "I'll go in your place," she said softly.
He pulled her away from him to look at her. "What?" he said with a nervous giggle. "Buffy you can't be serious. There is no coming back. You will be stuck in whatever time you arrive in … if you arrive alive."
"You are going to do it if I don't," she said with a pout.
"Buffy, it's my job. I have to …," he started to say when she cut him off.
"You have to what? Leave your kids, your wife," she said as she pulled away with a touch of righteous anger in her voice.
"Buffy, you're a civilian, you don't have to save the world from this," he said defiantly.
"I can't believe you said that Riley Finn! You of all people should know." She started to fume.
"Know what Buffy? That you want to save me again because I'm not able to do it?" Riley started to get angry even as the tears welled up all the more in his eyes.
"You should know that I am the Slayer and saving the world IS my job! If you forgot, Slayer's have been saving the planet longer than any government." Buffy turned, paced several steps and then turned back to face him. "I've died twice! I have faced death a thousand times. This is no different."
Riley looked at her and then broke eye contact. She knew that he did not want to go back in time on this mission. "I love my wife and kids Buffy … but this rage virus … it … it will kill them if it spreads. It will kill us all Buffy. This may be our only chance to stop the end of the world."
Buffy's mind started thinking, she could change more than just the start of the rage virus. "Riley, how does this time travel thing work exactly? You know if … you change your history do you somehow magically disappear?" Her thoughts were spinning. "I mean … if I am me and I change the way things happen in my future … like … what if I accidently push my great grandmother in front of a bus … wouldn't I just vanish?"
"No, no, it's not like that," Riley said drying his eyes. Before you are transported you are injected with some stuff that connects you to the time you are transported to. It is way too high tech for me to fully understand but in theory, you could go back and kill yourself and the time traveler version of you would still exist because you are sort of taken out of the loop by the stuff you are injected with."
Buffy simply said, "I see."
Riley started to wonder about her motives. "What are you thinking Buffy? You're not going back anyway, it's … it's my job, not yours."
"We covered that already," Buffy said sternly. "It IS my job Agent Finn and I am telling you now … I am going back." Her eyes betrayed the emotions deep inside of her. "Riley, EVERYONE I LOVE IS DEAD!" She screamed it as loud as she could. Doing so, released the flood of tears coming to the surface.
Riley reached out to touch her but she pulled away. "Buffy, we all have lost someone in this."
"Riley, you don't get it … I didn't lose some ONE … I lost them ALL! Xander, Willow, Giles, Faith, all the other slayers … all gone! Dawn is back with the Marine guys near London. By now, she might be gone too." Buffy sobbed for a few seconds and then pulled herself together slightly. "You see Riley, I have nobody left alive … you do."
"The trip alone will likely kill you. It's killed people before," he said with force.
"It sounds much easier than the long slow ugly end waiting for us all if I don't go back." She wiped her face with her shirt sleeve. "Either way Riley, I'm going.
"Buffy, what's your other motive? Are you planning on catching up to me the night I left on that transport, stopping me from meeting Samantha?" Riley could see in her eyes that she had thought of it already.
"No, of course not," she said emphatically. "Well, I thought about it but not seriously."
"Buffy," he whispered as he walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Buffy, that night I left you … it … it tore a hole in my heart. I was so empty inside that I really didn't care if I lived or died. I felt so totally … alone."
Buffy put her arms around him as well. They stood there in the dim hallway in a long embrace. They were somewhere in the maze of underground hallways of the sparely populated secret facility but for the few minutes that Riley spoke of their past together … she was there, reliving the moments with him.
"I really, really loved you Buffy."
"I know … I know Riley, I should have …," she couldn't finish her sentence. The words stuck in her throat.
"I had been with other women before but you were the total package. I guess … I just couldn't deal with not having all of you."
"You have me now," Buffy offered. She knew that such a bold offer was the Durthok talking.
"Buffy, I still care for you so much. You still own a part of my heart that I can't give up no matter how hard I try but … I can't … have you. I am married and I have my little one's back home that are my life now. They have a piece of my heart too Buffy."
Buffy hesitated as she tried to fight off the feeling and thoughts coming over her. Finally, she spoke up. "Riley, right now it is not your heart I need as much as it is a part of you just a little farther down your body." Her hand stared rubbing up softly against him.
For an instant Riley enjoyed the touch, and then he realized that he couldn't allow himself the pleasure. "Buffy, what … what are you doing?"
"Riley, I need you to get me pregnant," she said with her most sultry voice.
.
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A/N: Sorry it has taken me awhile to get all the revisions done and get this work near end. I have had ALLOT going on in my life over the last few years … mostly not fun and my heart has not been there. I hope to finally finish my greatest story to date.
As for this chapter … looks like Buffy has come a long way with this adventure. She started in a container just outside of a London rail yard with Dawn hiding from the infected, now she is down in Dover, reunited with Riley. On the way, she has made a few friends, become pregnant by William, been in a zillion fights, been lost and then found, and has become a little too friendly with ole Kate.