When Buffy and Spike pulled up outside UC Sunnydale, the Slayer was silently seething instead of trembling with fury. Whilst she had made a vow make sure the Initiative was finished, she had wanted to do it like she would a demon. No feelings, no vengeance, just part of her mission. But they had crossed the line when they hurt her mother. She had no problem with them coming after her, it was part of being a Slayer she knew that.

She blamed herself entirely. She should have ended it much sooner than this. She had let her desire for retribution get the better of her and now her mother had paid the price. At the same time, the fact the Initiative had the gall to attack the house just to get at her and Spike disgusted her. It just showed how little they cared about collateral damage.

And if you cared at all about the people you were meant to protect, you minimised collateral. But clearly anyone associated with demons, human or others, was nothing to the Initiative.

And that was what made taking them down a necessity.

She stepped out of the De Soto, Spike following her and she stared at the building, coming up with a plan. He came up next her, waiting for her command.

"They still in there?" She asked. He nodded, his nostrils flaring.

"I can smell them. Captain Cardboard is in there. So is the head bitch and there're a couple of other soldier boys." He rolled his shoulders, his need to hunt them down surging now they were here. He was just as furious as Buffy about Joyce being hurt and his demon was chomping at the bit to shed some blood.

"Riley's mine." Buffy stated, coldly. "He ordered the attack on the house. I owe him."

"He's all yours, I'll go after Walsh, make sure she doesn't get away." He said as he began to head towards the side entrance. They had planned to cut the power when they got there if The Initiative was still present. Take them down on their terms. The Initiative wanted to hunt demons, they were about to learn what it meant to be the hunted. Just as Buffy had warned them they would two weeks ago.

"Okay, make sure Riley heads my way. You can have the other two. And just make sure Walsh doesn't leave."

"Way ahead of ya, luv." He called back over her shoulder as he disappeared around the side of the building. Buffy closed her eyes and cracked her neck, gradually allowing the Slayer side to wash over her. This was to be the last time she hunted to the Initiative, and she planned make it count. She took a deep breath, slowly opening her eyes that were now a piercing green.

She was ready.

…

"Professor, we need to go now!" Riley was glaring at Walsh who was dashing around her office. He managed to get to her in time, but she had insisted on returning to her office first to get her work. She was grabbing various documents, pulling out draws and riffling through them desperately. She refused to leave without her research. "Professor!"

"I refuse to leave without this research, Lieutenant!" She snapped back, still riffling through her draw. Riley growled, glancing over his shoulder at the door. Every time he did, he expected to see Buffy standing there. It really unnerved him to realise just how much he had underestimated her. He had always seen her as someone he could handle, someone he needed to protect if they ever entered a relationship. But she was different and he now knew she was beyond his comprehension.

He just hoped he was getting out of this alive.

"Leave it, Professor. We need to leave!" He shouted. She jerked her head up, glaring at him.

"This is years and years of work, Finn." She snarled, walking around her desk to stand in front of him. "Everything the Initiative has done is recorded in these documents," she pointed at him. "I will not let that go to waste over a couple of escaped hostiles." He threw his hands up in the air, his men were out in the main hall, keeping watch but he hoped they would not be needed. He hoped they would be gone before Buffy and Spike got here.

"Those escaped hostiles are on their way. And they'll catch us if we don't go now!" He shot back. "These are two hostiles we have seriously underestimated, Professor!" he marched over to her and grabbed her wrist and yanked it up. They scowled at each other, neither backing down. "We can start again, but if we're not around to make sure we can rebuild saving the research doesn't…"

There was a distant rumble and suddenly all the lights died, bathing them in darkness. Walsh looked around with a gasp, her nerves suddenly on edge as Riley swallowed.

"They're here." He breathed. Walsh grabbed the phone on her desk and pushed the button that connected the line to the main hall. There was nothing, not even a dial tone. The power was out. She put the phone down, her hands shaking as she glanced at Riley. His hand was on his gun.

Suddenly the cracks of gunshots sounded in the distant, causing them both to stare at the door. As quickly as they came, they were gone and an ominous silence followed. Riley licked his lips glancing at the Professor. She was clearly terrified; she had studied sub-terrestrials before but from a safe distance. She had never been in the presence of real, unrestrained hostiles before.

"Do you still have that gun in your desk?" She nodded. "Stay here." As she headed to her desk to retrieve said firearm, Riley headed out of the office. He could not protect her if he was forced to face down both Buffy and Spike in a fight, she had more chance of survival where she was. Just as he had a better chance of escape if he just left her there.

Stepping out into the corridor, he drew his gun and held it front him, switching on the flashlight. He cautiously made his way down the hall, his footsteps thudding along the walls as he did. At every small noise, he would stop and aim in the direction it came from, only to find nothing. Calling on every ounce of his training to keep him calm, he continued to make his way to the main hall.

Reaching the stairs, he slowly descended, aiming his weapon ahead of him in case they jumped out at him. Reaching the bottom, he turned towards the main doors and peered through the glass. He gasped, opening the door and jogging inside.

Both of his men were laying there, heads at awkward angles and completely still. He dropped down next to them and pressed his fingers to their throats. Nothing, they were gone. The vacant stare had already confirmed it but he had to be sure. Looking around wildly, his panic finally got to him and he made a dash for the entrance to the school.

To hell with Walsh, he was getting out now.

He grabbed the bar and pulled. It rattled violently. He gazed at it, wide-eyed jerking desperately. The door would not give; it was locked from the outside. He was trapped. He dropped his hand, the full-scope of his situation sinking in when an ominous laugh resonated around him.

"Sorry, Riley." Buffy. He spun on the spot, raising his gun again searching for her. She was nowhere to be seen, but she was everywhere around him, he could sense her. "But it's not gonna be that easy."

"Buffy, we don't have to…" he began, still searching manically for her.

"No, we really do." Her voice was cold and aloof, filled with the promise of death. "It's like I said: the one thing you need to know about Sunnydale is how fast the hunters become the hunted." Another menacing chuckle followed, causing the sweat to trickle down his face. "And now you're the hunted." Suddenly, her voice was right in his ear. "So let's play." With a cry he whirled around, only to be met by her fist.

…

Walsh paced her office, her gun held loosely in her hand as she looked around nervously. She was certain Riley should have been back by now. An agent of his experience and skill should be able to handle those two hostiles, regardless of their level of strength. But he had yet to return and she was getting more and more nervous.

Finally throwing her caution to the wind, Walsh headed out of the office. She walked quickly towards the back entrance of the building, her gun at her side. Her high-heels were clicking loudly on the floor as she tried to escape, feeling the worrying sensation that she was being watched. As she turned a corner, she saw the back entrance and hurried towards.

She gripped the handle and pulled, the door clattering in response. She pulled again before backing away. She gulped, her heart pounding as she tried desperately to think of a way to escape. She tried the door again, futilely a frustrated shout leaving her mouth.

"It's locked, luv." She whipped around, holding her gun out clumsily as she whimpered in fear at the sight of Spike. The bleached blonde was in full game, his face morphed into a terrifying smile as he revelled in her fear. "You really think you're getting away, after what you let happen to my girl and her mum?" He stalked towards her slowly, measuring each step like a predator.

"Don't come any closer." She commanded, shakily. He sneered, taking a taunting step forward and she pulled the trigger. The shot was way off, hitting the wall beyond the vampire who laughed mockingly.

"Good shot." With a cry of fear, she dropped the gun and ran back towards her office. Spike rolled his neck, growling softly. "That's right, run!" He drawled before he took off after her.

…

Riley hit the wall, gasping for breath before ducking to the side as Buffy's fist crashed where his head had been. He kicked her in the back and she grunted, before smirking at him derisively.

"Now that hurt." She buried her foot into his sternum, sending him crashing to the floor. He scrambled away and barged through the doors leading back into the school. He leant against the wall, catching his breath before turning to run again.

The fight had been one-sided from the start. Buffy had swiftly disarmed him, snapping his gun in two before they had fought hand-to-hand. And she had picked him apart. Riley thought that he could go toe-to-toe with her, but she had quickly proven him wrong. No matter what approach he tried, she had a counter. He needed to get out and re-think his tactics.

He dashed into a corridor but saw the door at the end was locked. He held his torso, struggling for breath before turning and running back towards the main hall. Reaching the staircase, he heard Buffy chuckle and stopped, looking around.

"Frankly, Riley, I kinda expected more from you." She was in the shadows again, stalking him. He descended the stairs, spinning on the spot as her voice echoed around her. "Not so tough now without another fifteen guys to back you up, are you?" Riley swallowed, thinking back to when he and his squad had jumped Buffy.

He never admitted it to anyone, playing it off as being caught by surprise, but even back then she had been too much for him. She had knocked him to the ground before dismantling his team. The only reason they had restrained her was because she was not fighting to kill, she was fighting to subdue. And he had attacked from behind with a taser.

"What's wrong?" Buffy taunted him. "I am too much woman for you?" he growled, his temper overriding his fear for just a moment.

"What is this, Buffy?" He snapped, eyes searching for her in the darkness. Finding nothing, he snarled. "What kind of game are you playing?"

"What game am I playing?" She laughed, a deadly symphony of amusement as she watched him flail in the dark. "Really? No, this game is all yours. I'm just better at playing it, Riley Finn." She snorted, thumping her foot on the ground. He twisted, looking for her futilely as she slid around him in the shadows. "You weren't this mad when it was me on the receiving end. When I was the victim."

"You're a hostile!" He shouted, his common sense being overridden by his anger and fear. "A sub-terrestrial who feels nothing but the thrill of the hunt. There's no such thing as victim when it comes to your kind."

"What the hell do you know?" Her voice was cold and it froze him on the spot. His insides shivered as the icy grip of terror tightened around his spine. "You don't know anything about the 'sub-terrestrials' you hunt. They're just there for you to kill because you think you have the right to pass judgement on them for being what they are, not for what they do." He backed up; taking steps back from her unseen but intimidating presence. "You even kill humans just for being around them. You're pathetic."

Riley yelped when suddenly his feet were swept out from under him. He crashed to floor, groaning before glancing up. His eyes widened as Buffy loomed over, him her eyes burning with a malicious fury. With frightened cry he scrambled back as she raised her leg and slammed her foot down just above his head. The floor cracked under the impact of her kick as he crawled, Buffy stalking him all the way.

"Buffy…wait…" he began.

"Shut up!" She hissed, grabbing him by the collar with both hands and yanking him to his feet. Not that it mattered as Riley let out a squeaking cry as she drove her knee into his groin. He dropped to his knees, Buffy still holding by the collar. "What right do you have," she punched him round the face, "to beg me for anything?" she punched him across the other cheek. "Do you remember when I begged?" Another punch, knocking a couple of teeth out. "When I begged you to stop," another blow to the face, "when you and seven men tasered me with no break while I screamed?" she punched him again, some tears slipping down her cheeks as the repressed emotions from two months ago came surging back up once more.

Buffy twisted him around with a sobbing growl. Blood was oozing from his mouth as Riley stared up at her pleadingly. There was no reprieve, no mercy. The Slayer was weeping from the intensity of her emotions as she took the vengeful justice she was owed.

"Did you listen when I pleaded with you," she backhanded him, cracking another tooth, "telling you I was human? All you did was say 'what kind of demon is a Slayer?'" She drove her fist into his nose, breaking it. "Every time I screamed," she snapped her fist across him again, crying in earnest, "every time I cried," another breath taking blow to the chest, "every time I begged," she jerked him up so he was looking into her tear filled eyes, her cheeks streaked, "you did nothing!" She punched him to the ground and straightened up.

She took a deep shuddering breath, trying to get her raging emotions back under control. She wiped her eyes, sniffing defiantly as she looked down at the man who could have been her supposedly normal boyfriend in another life or time. But in this one, she saw him for what he was. A bully, a bigot and an idiot. She turned to him again as he crawled back, hand held out as if trying to stay her off. She shook her head, harshly.

"You don't get to beg, Riley." She said, shakily. "You didn't listen to me, or to any of the other innocent people you had in that hellhole when we begged you." She slowly approached him as he pushed himself up to one knee, staggering to his feet. "This is justice, for me and for everyone you've tortured and killed." He groped for something on his belt and drew a combat knife. She laughed as he lunged at her, his face a crimson mask from the nose down.

Done with him now, recognizing he was not worth the time or effort he was causing her, Buffy easily grabbed his wrist and twisted the knife from his grasp. She spun around, altering her grip on the knife and driving the blade into the side of his neck. He gave a strangled grunt, stumbling backwards and slumping down against the wall as she gazed him, impassively.

His chest began heaving as he realised just what was happening, that his life was draining away. He looked up at her in shock, the girl who could have, should have been his. He raised a hand weakly to the knife in his neck, already lacking the strength to try and save his own life.

"Buffy," he gurgled, "I'm human." She shook her head, crouching down in front of him. There was no remorse in her eyes, no guilt. She was just the Slayer who was resolved in her decision.

"No," she answered, "you're a monster with a soul." She inched closer, determined to get the last word on him before he died. "That makes you worse than any soulless demon in this world…because you made the choice to do evil, regardless of the consequences." She leant down to whisper in his ear. "And that's why you had to die." His eyes widened just a faction before the colour left his eyes and his hand dropped to his side with a soft thump. She stood and took a deep breath.

It was strange; she had thought she would feel guilt. But she did not, she felt like a weight had been lifted. Not just because she had killed the man that had made all of her torment possible, but because she had realised she could be the Slayer who fought evil, not just the one dictated to her. She sniffed again, her earlier emotional outburst still nudging at her as a few more tears slipped loose when a crash caused her head to whip to the side.

Maggie Walsh came falling through the door, clambering to her feet clumsily as she glanced behind her in terror before freezing at the sight of the Slayer. Buffy turned to her, blocking her path as the Professor panted nervously. The doors banged open a second time, causing Walsh to cry out in fear as Spike came through with a growl. Walsh's kept glancing between them, as they caged her in. Her eyes flicked to Riley's body in disbelief before they rose back to Buffy.

"You killed him?" She whimpered, her voice trembling. "A Slayer kills demons not…"

"A Slayer fights evil," Buffy corrected as she and Spike circled the terrified woman, "and that's why I killed him."

"He was just following orders…" Walsh tried as she was hoping to play on the Slayer's guilt in order to escape.

"He was following orders without caring for the repercussions." Spike growled, the smell of Buffy's tears was driving him insane. He knew she was not feeling any guilt towards Riley's death, but he wanted to go to her. No doubt what happened to make her cry had been the exorcising for her pent-up anger. "That's evil by proxy…"

"He…"

"Spike's right." Buffy cut Walsh off before she could begin. She knew what the older woman was doing and let her know she was not playing her game. They were playing Buffy's tonight. "He did not question his orders, he carried them out and ignored what they could do to others, ignored the pain they brought to others." She shrugged calmly. "That's evil, to ignore the consequences of your actions when they involve the lives of others." She glanced at Riley's corpse. "He was following your orders, which makes you the real bad guy here." Walsh shook her head.

"Everything I've done has been for the greater good of humanity." She answered, fearfully but defiantly. That was what the Initiative was doing, if they understood the demons, they could defeat them and better serve their race by doing so. "There may have been sub-terrestrial sacrifices but…"

"You killed innocent people!" Buffy snarled, her anger rushing forth once more. "Demon or not, they were people you killed. And you killed them without caring what they were, who they were and who they might be leaving behind." She shook her head harshly. "There is no justification for that, there is nothing good about it." Buffy watched Walsh stammer trying to think of a response. "And nothing you can say will save you," she turned her back to the woman and began to walk away. "Spike…"

Walsh shrieked as the vampire yanked her towards. He seized her hair and tugged her head roughly to the side and bit down, hard. The Professor screamed at the sheer agony of the vampire's bite and she cried and pleaded for Buffy to help her. But the Slayer did not, she simply kept walking, not turning or faltering, not even turning her head. Spike growled into her neck, as her struggles tore the wound in her neck further as he pulled the blood from her throat.

And slowly, Walsh's world went black.

…

"I think she's coming to, luv."

Walsh's eyes slowly opened, pain pulsing through every nerve in her body. Her neck was burning terribly as her vision slowly sharpened and her senses returned to her. She was sitting propped against a wall, her wrists tied. She could feel the blood still trickling down her neck as her focus returned, the blurry shapes in front of her revealing themselves.

Buffy and Spike.

Walsh licked her lips, the action terribly draining as she grimaced at the effect that had on her neck. Buffy slowly slid down to crouch in front of her, Spike standing over her shoulder, his thumbs looped into the waist of his jeans.

"Why…" the older woman whispered, weakly, "why didn't you just kill me?"

"You didn't think it would be that simple, did you?" Buffy answered her voice cold and detached. "You honestly think you deserve that mercy after everything you've done?" The slayer moved her head from side to side. "No, you don't get off that easy." Walsh breathed groggily, trying to stay lucid as fear shot through her again.

They had not killed her yet, so that could only mean…

"Torture?" She whimpered.

"No." Buffy replied. "I'm not like you. I've got something else in mind." She leant her head back, watching the older woman coolly. "While me and Spike were busy dealing with you and Riley, my friend Willow was working some magic of her own." Spike snorted behind her as Buffy shot him a look. "She hacked into your computer system, she's got everything. All the tortures you inflicted, all the experiments you've performed. Everything."

Walsh's eyes widened fractionally, catching the implications behind Buffy's words.

"Right now, all those files are on their way to the Watcher's Council," Buffy cocked her head, her eyes taunting and merciless, "these are the guys who train the Slayers, they have eyes everywhere." Buffy smiled triumphantly. "They may not care much about demons, but even they won't be able to ignore the depravity of what you've done. Especially, since it involves humans…and a Slayer." She leant in, her words slow and deliberate. "They'll destroy everything, all your work, everything the Initiative stands for. They'll destroy it all."

Walsh felt despair suffocate her at those words, which she somehow knew to be true. Everything she had done, she advances she had made and the hours and hours of experimentation she performed. It was going to be thrown away; it was going to all be for nothing. Spike chuckled at the sight she made. She was shattered and lost and it was even more satisfying that his Slayer had been the cause.

"So after that's happened. After everything you've worked so hard to achieve has been…turned to dust," Buffy's eyes went cold and ruthless as she moved her mouth to Walsh's ear, "then you have my permission to die."

With that, Buffy stood and she and Spike turned and walked away, leaving the broken woman alone in her defeat and her desolation.

The hunt was done.

Justice and vengeance had been served.