Chapter 22 – Wednesday, Alternative Reality

When morning came, it was still dark. Buffy woke to find herself in Spike's arms for the second morning in a row, but this was better than the last time. There was nothing separating them, as they lay wrapped together in blankets. Sensing she was awake, Spike kissed her and then moved to get up. "Others'll be up and about soon, love. I think it's time we got dressed."

Pulling on his jeans, he walked out of the cavern, returning with a lit torch from further along, which he used to light those he had extinguished previously. He returned to her, and she found the clothes she had shed the night before. She remembered 'mornings after' from before. Neither Angel nor Parker had been there when she woke. Riley frequently was, but he always seemed awkward, as if he was somehow ashamed of being with her in daylight after making love in the dark. There was nothing like that now. Waking up together had seemed as natural and comfortable as everything that had happened before. Together, they went off in search of breakfast.

They ate, both lost in their own thoughts. Spike just marvelled at what had happened. It had been everything he had fantasised about, and more. Everything had been special, and, as she had promised, she hadn't run from him this morning. She sat opposite him, eating toast. Her leg rested against his under the table, and the contact warmed him.

Buffy was happy. She had tormented herself for so long about the fact that she wanted Spike, that to have given in to those feelings at last was a tremendous release. But it was more than that. She had meant it when she said that she loved him. At that moment, he was the central pillar of her life, and she didn't want to even consider being without him again.

When they finished eating, Spike retrieved one of his dwindling supply of blood bags. Grimacing at the taste, he downed it as quickly as he could, recognising that it was none too fresh. Buffy was hovering, as if wanting to say something. Jenny had spoken to her a few moments before, but he hadn't heard what was said. When the blood was gone, he approached her, curious to know what was on her mind.

"What is it, love?"

"It's just, Jenny wanted to know what to do with the body… with Riley. She asked me because, I'm the only one here who knew him - at all. There's a cave, deep in the complex, where there's enough earth to bury him, and she wanted to know if I'd do it. I.. I feel I owe it to the other Riley, somehow, but I can't do it alone." She stopped, almost afraid to go on.

"Course I'll help. Don't expect me to say anything, prayers or praise or anything, but I'll be there."

To himself he wondered if she would take this trouble over his demise.

A couple of Jelkas helped them to take the body to the cavern. They left as soon as they could, so it was left to Buffy and Spike to do the digging. It was hard work, but the vampire and Slayer didn't break a sweat. They worked without talking.

When the job was complete, Buffy stood, looking at the newly replaced earth.

"Riley, I hope you find peace," she started, speaking softly. "I hope you find love."

She held onto Spike's arm as she spoke. When she finished, she stood looking at the grave for several minutes, before she turned to go, tugging his arm as she did so.

Given that he had paid for much of the equipment in the Initiative base, Red Cross had made sure he had people working for him there. In the early days, there had been several. At present, there was only one, and he had had no contact with him since he was hired. That was as he intended. He was an insurance policy, no more. One phone call, and the man was activated. And the relief base commander had orders not to interfere.

He checked Finn's office first. He found the camera hidden in the wall. He noted the preoccupation Riley had had regarding a certain, human, woman. He discovered she had been captive at the base for a time. Checking Finn's living quarters, he found the tape of Brian Wakefield leaving the office with a video tape. Unknown to anyone working at the base, there was an additional recording system installed. It was audio only, and it covered the whole base. Collecting the tapes for the relevant few days, Red Cross's agent retired to an unused room to listen. He soon knew a good deal of what Finn had been up to.

Red Cross was disappointed. He had known of Finn's childhood. Indeed, he had been a close friend of his father. He hadn't realised he was obsessed with this woman. When he read the transcript of the audio recording, he was intrigued. A human with a vampire lover? Not unheard of, but for the human to be allowed freedom as she had been? That was unusual. He had the information. Brian Wakefield had been traced, and some of his people were due to visit. Somehow, he needed to find a way to get Jack Singer out of the picture before too much damage was done. He had an idea, and made a few phone calls from his base.

Cordelia could hardly believe she was home. She hadn't thought about Sunnydale since she left, and her job with Jack Singer, while not what she had dreamed of, certainly had possibilities. She was still hoping she'd get some time in front of the camera, but in the meantime, while he was investigating a story, she had plenty of excitement. Jack was the sort of man who lived his work. When he was on a high because everything was happening, Cordelia couldn't help but admire him more than ever. There was an energy about him that left her breathless.

Because she knew the town, she had been given the job of the 'on the top' investigation. Jack always ran two concurrent investigations. He had someone openly interviewing people, while his backroom boys got the details by other means. Cordy's job that morning was to get around the local authorities and the hospital management to take their official statements regarding 'allegations of irregularities'. This was easily the most boring job around at that stage. You can only hear 'No Comment', or 'Of course we deny these completely spurious allegations' so many times before your eyes start to glaze over.

When she reached her last call of the day, she was tired and her feet were sore. She dreaded looking in the glass door of the hospital as she entered because she knew her hair must be a mess, and the linen suit she had chosen to wear that day must be wrinkled to the point of absurdity. Promising herself a long, cool shower when she got back to the hotel, she went to the reception desk to present herself for her appointment with the hospital administrator. She was taken to a nicely decorated office, with a smartly dressed secretary sitting at a desk. Everything was as it should be, except for two things. Firstly, the clothes the secretary was wearing should have been beyond her earnings. And she seemed nervous. Cordelia was uncomfortable, but sat waiting. After a few minutes, the secretary got up and left. "Relax, Cordy," she told herself. "She's allowed a comfort break. And she's human. There's too much sunlight in this room for her to be anything else." When the door to the main office opened, a smartly dressed man opened it and called her in.

"Miss Chase, I'm so sorry to have kept you waiting," he said, holding out a hand. "You know how it is, an important call from a benefactor. In fact without the gentleman in question, the hospital simply couldn't continue to offer the service it does to those unfortunates in the town who don't have sufficient medical cover."

By this time, the door had closed, and the man had an arm on her shoulder as if propelling her to a chair. His other hand held a hypodermic syringe, and it crept, unseen, closer to her uncovered neck.

It was seven. Jack had expected Cordelia back before now. She was never one to keep to office hours, but she shouldn't have taken this long. And he knew she wouldn't want to be out after dark. Even if the demon population was at an all time low, her memories of Sunnydale after dark would keep her indoors. Except she wasn't. He was worried.

When the call came, he knew he was right to be worried.

"Your assistant is very attractive," the voice began. "It would be a pity if that had to change, and I really wouldn't want to be responsible for that. Get out of Sunnydale. Stop the investigation. And when we're quite sure you have, she'll be returned to you."

Jack had been threatened before. You didn't get to the top of this line of work without threats. He'd even had an employee threatened before, but this was different. Somehow, and he didn't understand it, Cordelia had become important to him recently. He checked her appointment list for the day. Apparently, she had completed all of her visits. That implied she disappeared either during or after the last. Jack contacted the resistance. They had no new information to offer, as they had no clue as to the identity of those behind the whole scheme. Jack decided he had no option but to pull out of Sunnydale. He would continue sifting the information that had already been gathered, but would not actively seek more.

At the resistance headquarters, this news was a major blow. The news that Cordelia had disappeared either during or after her appointment at the hospital suggested a lead, but it wasn't clear what they could do about it. When Buffy and Spike heard, they started to plan. They had much more experience of this sort of thing than the other resistance members. Spike knew he could rely on some of the Jelkas he had been training, too. They got together in a quiet cavern and planned. The last known location for Cordelia had been the hospital, and that seemed a good place to start - particularly when you took into account the fact that it must have been the centre of the whole organ removal business.

Red Cross was content. He had had confirmation that Jack Singer's investigation had been put on hold. Now he had to arrange for the resistance to be a thing of the past. He watched on closed circuit television as Brian Wakefield was questioned on his involvement with the organisation. It was disappointing that he knew so little, but the red-haired college student shouldn't be too hard to find.