This is the chapter I had in mind when I rated the story.

Chapter 14 – Saturday, Alternative Reality

It was 6am when Riley finally made it back to the Initiative base. They had found a pocket of demons holed up in a disused mine about five miles from Sunnydale. At first, Riley had thought he had hit gold. He thought he had really found the headquarters of the resistance. When it became obvious he hadn't, he worked on the assumption that they must know where it was. Riley had spent the last year or more learning everything he could about demons of every type. He knew their weak spots, and more importantly, he knew how to cause them pain. He had spent several hours at the mine, putting his knowledge into practice. When it became apparent that the twenty or so demons there had no useful knowledge, he had ordered them killed.

He was not in a good mood when he reached his quarters. He was filthy and covered in demon blood and slime. And he'd planned to spend some time with Buffy. There were so many things he had to do with her, and he was anxious to get on with them. He was tired too, but that didn't worry him too much. He knew he was due another vitamin supplement' and that that would sort him out. He showered and changed, then called the medical attendant to give him his injection. He had planned to go straight to Buffy's room, but the doctor insisted he have some rest first. Reluctantly, Riley lay down to sleep, setting his alarm for later that morning.

Willow had agreed to return to the resistance base with Oz. He had phoned ahead to assemble a group of sympathetic humans who could help in the next stage of the plan.

When they arrived, they went straight to the meeting room. There were more than fifty humans there, as well as a larger number of demons. The makeshift table and chairs had been cleared to one side, and Oz stood on one of the packing cases to be heard.

"Thank you all for coming. This is probably the most important development we've had to date. If this works, we'll be on our way to putting things in Sunnydale right once and for all. The information we have gathered on reported demon related deaths and the possible link to an organ transplant conspiracy is being collated and checked. The next step will be to get that information out of Sunnydale. In the meantime, Willow Rosenberg has come up with something which might render the sniffers used by the Initiative useless. She's come up with a harmless chemical which mimics the demon pheromones the sniffer detects. What we need to do is get this chemical into the air all over town. That's where you come in. We want you to go into Sunnydale; into every public building you can, and find your way to the air conditioning plant. A few drops of the liquid we supply, added to the water supply for the plant, will get this chemical into the air all over town. Do what you have to do. Use any contacts you have. Use any subterfuge you think will work, but get this stuff out there. We're counting on you."

Spike had listened to Oz's speech carefully. He watched Willow standing to one side, trying to inconspicuous. He'd always had a soft spot for the red head. He was struggling badly with the waiting, and now it looked as though he would be able to get out of here soon. Get out of here and find Buffy. And then he was going to kill Riley. That was the only thing, which had kept him here. He knew he had to be ready to kill Riley when the time was right. He'd learned that much with the two Slayers he had killed. You had to time things; you had to have patience.

Within a couple of hours of Oz's speech, the plan was in force. Soon afterwards, the chemical started to seep into the air. Tiny quantities of it landed on clothing, on cars and trucks. And slowly, the area contaminated with it grew to include not only Sunnydale, but most of the surrounding area too.

Buffy had had another bad night. When no one came in to give her an injection, she had decided not to eat in case they had changed their method of administration. She had slept in snatches, dreaming of Riley's leering face every time. For the first time in a long time, Buffy felt helpless. She had come to rely on her Slayer strength, and now she was without it. She suspected she was still without it when she woke the next morning. If it wasn't in the food, she wondered how else it could be getting into her system. At about seven, she got up and decided to have a shower. The evening before, with her evening meal, she had been issued with a new all-in-one overall thing, which, while not exactly stylish, was at least clean. She laid this over the towel rail in the bathroom and turned on the water. She stepped under the water and closed her eyes. She hoped the shower could make up for her lack of sleep. She felt groggy as a result this and whatever drugs she had been dosed with. Hearing an unexpected noise, she opened her eyes to find a yellowish gas coming from the centre of the shower outlet. She realised this must be the chemical which removed her extra strength, but it was already too late. More than enough had already dissolved in the water running over her body and once on her skin, it was easily absorbed. Turning off the water, she hit her hand against the wall of the shower in frustration. She just wished she were able to hit someone instead.

"She spotted it," the orderly reported to the officer who called to check on the prisoner. Of course, he didn't go into the room, Finn had asked that no one but he go in for now. He viewed the relevant parts of the tapes, which had been prepared for his perusal.

"No problem, put the next dose in the outlet over her bed," he answered.

The orderly nodded and went back to watching the live output from the cameras in the bedroom and bathroom.

It was just after noon when Riley had showered and broken his fast. He decided he needed to sort things out with Buffy right away. As he walked to the detention area, he fingered the heavy leather belt around his waist. Yes, there was a lot he needed to do, but it was necessary. He needed to be able to forgive her.

Dismissing the orderly and switching off the live feed to the screen on the desk, Riley let himself into the room. She was lying on the bed looking dejected. He liked that. He had seen her angry, and sad, but never dejected.

"Hello, Buffy," he started. She was wearing a standard issue coverall – easily the least attractive piece of clothing ever invented, yet she still looked amazing. No make up, nothing to take away from the girl he had wanted from the first time he had seen her.

She saw him looking at her, undressing her with his eyes, and she hated him. She sat, throwing her legs over the edge of the bed, trying to look less vulnerable. He loomed over her – he always had, she remembered. Her Riley had loomed over her, but he had never made her feel like this. One of his hands ran down the front of the coverall undoing the poppers as he went. She lunged at him, trying to push him away, but he was too strong. He laughed.

"Not used to this, are you?" he taunted her. "Used to being the strong one, aren't you? But now, you're all weak and I've been taking my vitamin supplements. So the tables are turned, aren't they?"

Buffy looked down, trying hard not to let him see the fear in her eyes. She knew it was there. She felt it bubbling through her entire being. She was helpless, and she knew it.

"Don't be afraid, Buffy," he coaxed her, lifting her head to face him. "We'll get this mess sorted out. There're some things we need to get out of the way, though. First, you need to earn my forgiveness. That needs two things. First I have to punish you. I learned that from my Daddy. Punishment before forgiveness. And you have to be punished for being the whore of that filthy monster. Then, you have to tell me where that he is. Him and the rest of that demon loving garbage which styles itself the resistance'. Then, when you've earned your redemption, you can find out how it feels to have a man in your bed. You see, everything will be ok. There's a reward at the end of it. It's up to you, really, it doesn't even have to take long, just so long as you tell me what I need to know. You know he doesn't care about you. He's long gone." He paused, letting this sink in. "But I'm getting ahead of myself, punishment first."

As he spoke, he undid the buckle of his belt and slid it out through the loops in his trousers. Buffy's mind raced. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard. He honestly thought she'd fall into his arms willingly. He was mad. But he was also deadly serious.

He gripped the collar of her coverall, yanking it off her shoulders and down her arms. He pulled her upright and continued pulling the garment off until it fell to her knees. As he did this, Buffy had been punching ineffectually at him as hard as she could. He didn't seem to notice. She remembered her Riley – the one she had cared about. When he was on the Initiative drugs, he hadn't felt pain. She knew she was shaking. She was so angry with him and the feeling of helplessness was so acute, that tremors were running up and down her limbs. Having pushed the garment out of the way, Riley pushed her down onto the bed, face down on the covers. He held her there with his left hand on her shoulder. He looked down at her. She was shaking. He could see her trembling before him. He wanted her so much. But no, that would come. Punishment must come first.

"I'm not going to tell you that this'll hurt me more than it'll hurt you. My Daddy always used to say that, but I know it's not true."

He pulled her pants out of the way. Raising his right hand, her brought the belt down on her buttocks hard. He saw her flinch and the raised, red welt caused by the leather. He looked at the belt. It was a replica of the one his father had used on him so many times. His father used to boast that it was the best for this purpose. He raised his hand again and again. Her buttocks no longer showed the appearance of individual strokes, but had become an angry red whole.

Buffy endured. It was all she could do. She couldn't stop herself flinching with every stroke, but she had a mouthful of bedlinen between her teeth to stop her from crying out. As the Slayer, she had been hurt many times before, but always in a fight. Always in circumstances where she stood some chance of fighting back. The pain being inflicted on her now was intended to be simply that – pain. It was intended to degrade her. Everything Riley had in mind for her was intended to degrade and humiliate her.

Riley was breathing hard. It wasn't the physical effort of beating her that caused that, it was the physical effort of controlling his arousal. He had always found her physically exciting, but seeing her lying in front of him, totally in his control, was almost more than he could cope with. "She's going to fight it," he thought. "Her redemption is going to take time. But I've got time. We'll take it slowly. Today, she'll earn my forgiveness for debasing herself with that filth. But it'll be a long time before she's completely cleansed of all her corruption. It's going to hurt her, but it's for her own good."

He dropped his hand to his side. Removing his other hand from her shoulder, he pushed her over on to her back. He knelt on the bed with one leg either side of her, his face close to hers. "Punishment is complete – for the present," he told her. "Now it's your chance to show me that you deserve my forgiveness. Tell me where he is. Tell me where the resistance is based. You tell me right away, and we can get right on to the next bit – when I prove to you that you won't ever miss him." As he said this, he rubbed himself suggestively against her, while his right hand dropped the belt to the floor and moved to stroke her breasts through the material of her bra. Unable to do more, Buffy spat in his face.

Livid, Riley got up off the bed then leaned over to slap her face. "Filthy slut," he whispered menacingly into her face. "This could have been quick and easy on you. We'll just have to continue. When I've punished you enough, you'll see what he's done to you, how he's corrupted you. Some day, you'll thank me for this."

Gritting her teeth, Buffy ground out, "Some day, I'll kill you for this."

Retrieving the belt from the floor, Riley gave her one stroke across the front of her thighs before turning her back over. He continued his ruthless beating.

Buffy wasn't sure how much longer it was. It felt like forever, but she time was crawling, the pain from each stroke seemingly lasting a lifetime. Suddenly the air was split with an electronic siren. Riley didn't hear it at first, and gave her two further strokes before it penetrated his lust- and anger-filled brain. Once it had filtered through, his military training overtook the emotion he felt, and he left the room, pausing only to retrieve the videotape of the recent happenings in the room.

Buffy lay, unmoving on the bed. She felt tears start in her eyes. She didn't know what the alarm meant, but she was grateful for it. She had no intention of telling Riley anything, but she suspected he wouldn't give up. After collecting herself, she pulled herself onto her knees and shuffled to the bathroom without bothering to move the coverall from around her knees. She thought she'd be safe from another dose of the muscle relaxant for a while since it was only a few hours since the last one. She turned the shower on to cold, and stripping off her clothes, stepped under the water, hoping that the cold water would ease the pain in her lower body. He had started aiming the belt in a narrow area, but latterly, the belt had landed widely over her back, from just below her shoulders to her ankles. When she had finished, she dried herself off gently, minimising contact with her aching body, and pulled her underwear and the coverall back on. Raising her hands to the collar around her neck, she pulled at it violently, trying desperately to remove it. She failed, just as she had every other time she had tried. She couldn't even feel a join in the metal. She felt anger burning in her anew, and she started to pace her bedroom, desperate for some way to escape before Riley returned to continue the punishment'.

Riley knew what the alarm meant and he was worried. That particular tone meant that the demon sniffers had detected a demon within the base in an unauthorised area. That would instigate a total lock down. The people of Sunnydale had welcomed the Initiative, so the security measures were designed to deflect only the threat from demons. The key to the system was the demon detector. He was angry. He knew she would have broken soon. She was reaching the limit of what he had taken from his father, and he knew how it felt. No matter how angry he was with his father, no matter how sure he was that he was right, he had always backed down and apologised in the end, and as soon as he had, he was forgiven. And once that was over, she would want him as much as he wanted her.

Stopping at his office only briefly, he headed straight for central control to get the details on the hostile incursion. What he saw when he got there reignited his anger. The place wasn't the usual hub of organised activity. He knew they were running at well under minimum manpower – as far as his superiors were concerned, the Sunnydale base was closed. He had made the decision to return and had taken only a few staff with him. The three men in the room were hurrying from display to display, calling out readings and detector positions. "What the hell is going on?" Riley shouted. All three stopped dead. They knew Finn, and he was feared, but they had never seen him as he was now. None wanted to be the one to tell him, but at last, one stepped forward.

"Sir," he began, "we have detected demon presence at forty-nine" He was interrupted by one of the others. "Fifty-one, now sir."

The first continued. "sites in the base. No visual contact."

Riley ran to check the displays himself. The man was gibbering. There was no way the detectors would show that many incursions without visual evidence. Looking at the screens, he had to accept what he had been told.

"Get Green up here," he ordered. "There must be something wrong with the detectors. There's a new batch in the basement. Break them out and check these positives. It's the only explanation."

"But, Sir, with a security lockdown in place, it won't be possible to get near the detectors."

Riley sighed in irritation. The man was right, and he was the only person on the base with security clearance to put that right. He walked to a console and input the correct series of commands and passwords. A message flashed on the screen when he had finished. It was a warning that the security system had lost communication with the emergency power system. He didn't understand how that had happened, but it was less important than getting the detectors up and working again.

By midday, Spike had had enough waiting. He wanted to go and get Buffy. It was all he could think of. When the message got through that sirens had been heard at the Initiative base, a cheer went up among the assembled group in the meeting room. As soon as he knew what was happening, Spike cornered Oz. "Right, that's it. I'm heading off to get Buffy. I can go alone, or I can take a team with me, that's up to you, but I'm going."

Oz looked at the vampire. He saw in his eyes that he would not be dissuaded. He nodded his head. "You pick three or four of the demons you've been training. We may need some muscle – apart from you. I know about your chip – one attempt at hurting a human and you'll be incapacitated. We should really leave you here, you could be a liability, but I can see you won't change your mind. We'll assemble here in thirty minutes. That good enough?"

Spike's shoulders relaxed visibly. He had been ready to fight his corner, and was relieved he didn't have to. He was boiling over with rage, but it needed to be directed at Riley Finn.

To add to Riley's discomfiture, reports from the mobile units he had set to continue checking the surrounding areas had reported the same thing. Either there were hundreds of invisible demons around, or there was a problem with the detectors. Reluctantly, he stood down the mobile units and contacted those in charge of the various vigilante groups he had armed. The last thing they needed was for one of those groups to go and kill a human because of a faulty detector. He went back to his office to phone his commanding officer. He intended to ensure that the boffins responsible for this fiasco were held to account.

Spike got into the back of the van with Oz and three Jelka demons. Two men, who were introduced as Jon and Steve, sat in the front. As they headed towards the base, Spike hoped this base was similar to the one he had escaped from in his own reality. He knew his way to where he had been held, and if Buffy was in the same area, they might be able to get her out quickly.

Oz had a plan. They hid their van off the road about half a mile from the base. The road led only to the base, so there was no traffic at present.

Jon lay in the road and Steve knelt by his side – an apparently injured man and his concerned companion. Oz had heard of the recall of the mobile units from those listening to local radio traffic. The others remained out of sight – Spike in the back of the van since it was daylight. When a van approached, Steve waved them to a halt. The passenger got out and went to see if he could help. He wasn't worried. It was broad daylight and these two were obviously human. At the same time, one of the Jelka demons approached the driver. Spike had chosen Jelkas because of their physical strength, but they had the added ability of being able to move silently. At the same instant, both Steve and the Jelka hit their target with a previously concealed cattle prod and the two men collapsed. They hid both in the bushes close to the road, and they all got into the other van – Spike covered by a blanket for the short distance. Steve drove and Jon was by his side. The others were hidden in the back.

By the time they reached the base, security was a mess. It had taken a while to check out the new batch of detectors and every available man had been moved from current duties to achieve it. When the new detectors were found to react in the same way, the men reporting to Riley just didn't know what else to do. The van was waved through without a check. Parking it in the underground garage, the resistance members got out. Spike took the lead. It all looked familiar. He assumed Buffy would be held in the same section as he was, and he was able to find his way easily. There was no security to be seen anywhere, and doors had been left open to simplify the task of changing the detectors. The detention area appeared to be deserted. Most of it was made up of a row of empty cages. Looking around, they found a desk opposite a closed door. The desk was unmanned, but there was a control console which allowed the door to be opened.

As she heard the door whirr open, Buffy froze. He was back. She steeled herself to fight back harder this time – to show him she wasn't going to be broken this way, and approached the doorway.

Spike knew as soon as the door opened that he had found her. He could smell her, and as he did, his anger ignited again. He knew that smell. It was fear and pain. He rushed ahead of the others into the room.

She raised her hand to hit him as he entered, and was amazed to see it wasn't Riley but Spike. He was so relieved to see her, that he took an unthinking step closer to her. To his surprise, she took a step towards him, falling into his arms shakily, relief turning her legs to jelly. He just held her there until she managed to support her own weight and she took a step away from him. She looked at him, questioningly, as if she didn't understand her own reaction, but said nothing.

"Let's get you out of here," Spike started, holding out an arm to lead her to the door. She started to follow, but her hand crept to her neck and she felt the metal collar. Remembering the demonstration she explained.

"I can't. This collar'll stop me getting out. There's some sort of barrier at the door and the collar can't get through."

Spike approached again, taking the collar in his hands and trying to find the join. He looked at her. "There's no join. How'd they fit it?"

"There was a join. I'm not sure how it disappeared. Can you break it?"

Spike put his hands back to the collar and tried to pull it apart, but found he couldn't even stretch it slightly. "How's it powered. Is it magic? Or something more mundane?"

Buffy thought for a moment, remembering the electrical crackle she'd heard before. "Electrical, I think," she decided.

Oz stepped forward. "Ok, there has to be a generator here somewhere. I suggest we go and find it."

At these words, Buffy started to shake again. She didn't want to be left here alone again. She knew that if she was, Riley would come back. And she knew what would happen then. Spike spotted her terror. The smell of it suddenly became overpowering. "What is it, love? What'd the bastard do to you?"

Buffy shook her head. "I'm fine. It's just, please don't leave me here. He'll come back, I know he will." Her voice was pleading.

"If he's coming back, I'm staying," Spike announced. Oz put his hand on the vampire's shoulder. "And what'll you do if he comes back? Collapse with a headache? You can come with me. We'll take the Jelkas too. Steve and Jon can stay. They're ex-military. They can handle themselves."

"He's s..strong," Buffy stuttered. "He's on something, he's stronger than he should be. He gave me something so I'd lose my Slayer strength, but he's still too strong."

The two men smiled at each other. They each pulled out a miniature cattle prod and a gun from under their jackets. "Don't worry, Miss, we can handle him," Steve reassured her, taking up position to one side of the doorway.

Somewhat mollified, but still reluctant to leave, Spike followed Oz into the corridor. He didn't know what Riley had done to her, but she was obviously in pain and terrified. Headache or no, he promised himself he'd kill Riley if he met him.

Spike had no real idea of where to look for a generator. Eventually, they agreed to split up, the Jelkas going in one direction and Oz and Spike in another. It took some time. There were surprisingly few people around, and those they found were disposed of when Oz applied a cattle prod while Spike did his best to look frightening. He managed it too – in his current rage, his demon face was easier to maintain than his human one.

Coming to series of laboratories, Oz thought they might be close. Spike used his preternatural hearing to listen for a telltale hum. When he picked it up, he followed the sound like a bloodhound would a scent. He was no longer worried about being discrete. Doors were simply removed from hinges as he stormed from room to room. At last they reached the source of power for the headquarters.

The energy control room wasn't too big, but it was filled with equipment. Oz started to look for a control which would switch off power to the complex. Spike took a simpler approach. On the way, he had picked up an axe from a fire point. Oz had assumed he did it to look more menacing. Spike had other ideas. He started to swing the axe at the machinery, sending sparks into the air and causing spurts of smoke as he did so. After a dozen or so strokes, he must have hit something critical. There was a loud explosion, and as the light faded to be replaced by low level emergency lighting, Oz saw Spike hit the floor, every muscle in his body twitching as a massive bolt of electricity earthed through his body.

It took several minutes before Spike came around. Oz was surprised he managed it so quickly, but assumed it was because of his rage. He must be totally high on adrenaline or whatever demons use instead. As he came round, his hand went immediately to his head. "Bloody hell," he moaned. "Did I hit someone? That's the worst zap this thing's ever given me."

He got shakily to his feet, still clutching his head, but was soon all business as he noted the emergency lighting.

They made good time back to the detention centre and found that the Jelkas had already arrived and that Steve and Jon were helping Buffy out of her cell. Steve was holding the collar in his hand. It must have been possible to remove it when the power went off. They made for the exit as fast as they could. Fortunately, the lack of main power meant that electronically operated doors had all frozen open, so there was nothing to stop them getting outside. Again, those they met were only too afraid of the Jelkas and the vampire in demon face, and most melted into the background. Just as they got to the exit, one fool decided to stop them. He was armed, but Spike just kept on at him. He fired, hitting Spike in the chest, but he carried on regardless. Spike hit him as he walked past, knocking him to the ground. He didn't even notice the significance of what he had done, but Buffy did.