Initiative HQ
"You were almost hit by a WHAT!?"
Forest and Graham flinched under the Professor's tone.
"An airborne body, Ma'am."
"And how exactly did this body *become* airborne?"
"We didn't see that Ma'am."
Professor Walsh glared at the two agents. "And where was Harris while this was going down?"
The two men winced, "From the looks of it he was in the washroom Ma'am."
"Let me quite certain that I'm understanding you," Walsh bit out, "You watched Harris arm himself, rip out of a parking lot, speed all the way to the airport, to USE the BATHROOM!?"
The two agents looked at each other guiltily.
Walsh seethed for a moment before speaking again, "get out. Get out NOW!"
Forest and Graham gratefully ran for the door.
*****
Giles answered the phone on the first ring, he'd been expecting a call. "Xander?"
"It's me."
"What happened? Buffy and Willow said that you tore out of the Bronze like a madman."
"Friend in trouble."
That said it all. "I see. And now?"
"Friend's not in trouble anymore." Xander said simply, "Are the girls there?"
"No..." Giles said, "They left a short time ago."
"Good. I'm coming in with some friends. We're going to be holding a war council, G-man."
The line went dead and left Giles staring at the phone for a long moment. "Good lord. What in the world?"
*****
Giles watched in shock as the five people barreled into the apartment, the three young women who had stopped by his place earlier asking about Xander and a new man.
"May I presume that this is Jarod?"
Xander flashed a smile, "Yep. Jarod, this is G-man."
"Good to meet you, G-man." Jarod extended his hand.
Giles glared at Xander as he shook the man's hand. "Rupert Giles."
Jarod looked quizzically at the older man for a moment, "And G-man?"
"Is an infernal nickname that Alexander over there uses."
"Ah." Jarod smiled, "My apologies, Mr. Giles."
"N... not a problem."
Giles looked over the room, "And the young ladies?"
Xander glanced at them, a question in his eyes. "I trust Giles."
The sisters nodded, "ok."
Xander turned to the watcher, "Giles, allow me to present Phoebe, Piper, and Prue Halliwell. Better known in demonic circles as the Charmed Ones."
It wasn't often that Xander got to see Giles truly shocked, and he savored the moments when they happened.
"Oh... I say!"
Xander grinned at the sisters, "Your reputation proceeds you."
"It's nice to be recognized." Phoebe grinned.
"Now that that is over with," Xander grinned, "We have a small problem to deal with."
"Ah... Yes." Jarod grimaced, "Those were 'Cleaners' employed by the corporation that abducted me as a child. Paid assassins working for Dr. Raines, one of the Frankenstein's that run that place."
"I see." Giles said slowly, removing his glasses and wiping them clean.
"The question is, what do we do about them?"
Xander's question floated around the room for a moment.
Finally, Jarod answered. "I'm not sure. I could probably drain their finances severely, but they have assets that are not stored electronically. They would recover."
"I suppose a frontal assault is out of the question?" Xander grinned.
"Completely." Jarod said seriously. "The Centre is well insulated from the law, they have a small army of sweepers and cleaners for this sort of thing."
Xander sat back down slowly, thinking hard, finally he smiled. "I have an idea."
*****
The Centre, Blue Cove, Delaware
"What happened in California?"
Mr. Parker's shout echoed through the Centre's upper floors.
Dr. Raines drew in a deep breath, "My cleaner team was arrested for illegal weapons possession. Airport security found them unconscious in a loading zone, silenced pistols in their hands."
"Can they be connected to the Centre?"
"No." Raines took another breath, "I made sure of that."
"Good. Make certain that they can't implicate us."
"Understood."
"And have more teams sent to that town. I want Jarod eliminated."
*****
"I want Jarod eliminated." The voice echoed through the ventilation shaft, bouncing off the narrow walls until it reached a form crouched quietly. Listening.
The trembling form shook itself back and forth, "Jarod in trouble... needs help... needs help."
Angelo snapped up and suddenly shuffled off through the ventilation system at high speed. He slipped from the vents and broke quietly into an office. He quickly accessed the computer and tapped out a message. Smiling he hooked a small device up to the computer and transferred a file, then attached it to the message, and hit send.
"Jarod have help." He smiled and rocked himself in the chair for a few moments before scrambling off the chair and ducking back into the vents.
*****
"Sidney? What is it?" Miss Parker snapped as Sidney's attention was suddenly diverted to his computer.
"My god." Sidney whispered as he read the message. "The Centre has put a termination order on Jarod."
"What?" Parker practically jumped around the desk. "This doesn't make any sense."
"Of course it does, Parker." Sidney said, "Jarod challenged them openly. They can't allow that."
"I'll talk to my father, he'll be able to..."
"I don't think so." Sidney pointed to the attached file.
"No..." Her whispered voice trailed off.
"He gave the order." Sidney said gently.
Miss Parker jumped up, grabbing her coat and headed for the door.
"Where are you going, Miss Parker?"
"Sunnydale." She snarled.
*****
Xander looked around the room, "Any objections?"
The sisters grinned and shook their heads quickly, Prue answered for all of them. "We're in."
"Jarod?"
"It's dangerous." He said, "people could get hurt."
"It's possible, but the only other option is to eliminate the Centre personnel wholesale."
Jarod nodded, "I'm in."
"Giles?"
Rupert Giles looked at the assembled group, uncertain what to say. He agreed with the goal, but Xander's plan was nothing short of lunacy.
"Xander... I..."
"Come on, G-man." Xander urged, "This is Jarod's life we're talking about. These people stole it from him once, I won't let them do it a second time."
Giles stammered slightly, but finally conceded the point. "Very well," he sighed, "I'm in as well."
Xander smiled. "Good. Then here's what we do..."
*****
"Buffy..." Willow asked hesitantly, "What do you think Xander is involved in?"
"I don't know." Buffy said, slightly worried. "What did you think of that Phoebe girl?"
"She looked nice..." Willow ventured, "But worried... really, really, worried."
"Yeah... you got that too?"
The two friends looked at each other for a moment, the same question running through their minds. Xander, what did you do now?
*****
Two Days Later
The Cleaner's had been moving through the town, searching for their target through the small town with a single mindedness born from fear of their employer.
"How the hell are we supposed to find him in this burg?"
The passenger glanced over at the driver, "Don't know. He's probably not here any more anyway, so relax."
"Relax?" The driver asked, snorting. "After what happened to the last crew that hit this town?"
The passenger didn't say anything. Raines and the Centre brass had tried to keep them from finding out, but they were professionals. They found out that the five cleaners sent to Sunnydale last had been found 'mysteriously' dead of unknown causes in their jail cells.
"Just focus on the job." The passenger said finally, "And we won't wind up like that. He's only one man, i don't care how smart he is."
The driver nodded once, "Right. What's up next?"
"UC Sunnydale campus. We'll check and see if there are any new employees or even students auditing courses. You never know with this guy."
"No shit." The driver chuckled under his breath and turned the car in the direction his navigator indicated.
*****
UC Sunnydale
The Cleaner team moved casually through the campus quad, carefully observing the milling of the student body as they did.
"Shit!" The first one exclaimed, "Look over there!"
The second followed his finger, and his jaw dropped at what he saw. Leaning against a tree, in black jeans and a black leather jacket, was the target. He was smiling, watching them over his dark sunglasses, a smirking look as if he knew something they didn't.
"Come on. Get him."
The two cleaners broke into a run toward their target, losing sight of him as he ducked behind the tree. As they circled the tree they stopped and stared around. There was no cover for a hundred yards in any direction but Jarod was gone. The only people in sight were a small group of students who were talking and joking as they ate their lunch.
The Cleaners approached the group, holding out a picture of Jarod. "Excuse me, did you just see this man pass by here?"
A young man leaned forward, looking at the picture thoughtfully for a second. "Yeah. He headed over that way." The man pointed away from the campus center.
"Thanks." The Cleaners took off, pulling out cell phones and calling in their backup as they did.
"No prob, guys." The boy whispered under his breath as he helped his girlfriend to her feet. They both watched the assassins race off across the campus. "Glad to be of service."
*****
Buffy Summers strolled across the quad wondering what she was going to do until her next class. She frowned when two men in suits ripped past her, violently jarring her books from her hand. "Impolite much?" She called after them but they didn't even bother to acknowledge her existence.
She bent down and gathered up her books, aggravated at the event. As she straightened up she saw two people vanish around a corner and frown. "Xander?"
Curious she moved off to follow them. It sure looked like Xander and that 'Phoebe' girl... what are they doing on Campus? And since when does Xander wear black leather and jeans?
*****
The Cleaners waited for their backup to arrive, an additional ten two-man teams that had been assigned to Sunnydale.
"Where is he?"
"He was last seen moving toward this section of the campus. Be careful, he's probably up to something."
"I don't care how bright a puppy he is," Replied the first man who had spoke, "He can't outsmart a bullet."
The teams split up into three groups and started moving through the area is a search pattern.
*****
"Wonder what he's up too around here?"
The cleaner shrugged, "Doesn't matter. He won't get a chance to do it no matter what it is."
His partner smiled, a stiff grin. "Yeah. Poor guy."
The two chuckled under their breath as they moved through the crowd. The second man grabbed the first's arm, "there!"
"After him."
Both men took off at a full run, pushing their way through the crowd in pursuit of their target.
*****
"Xander!"
Xander turned and groaned audibly. Not now.
"Be nice." Phoebe slapped him slightly, "She is your friend."
"I know, but her timing stinks." Xander smiled goofily as Buffy caught up to them. "Hey Buff, what's the haps?"
"Oh not much," Buffy smiled, "I wanted to know what happened the other night... And why you've been ducking me for two days."
"Ducking the Buffster? Moi?" Xander grinned, "Never. I've just been really busy with a personal project."
"And the other night?" Buffy pushed.
"Oh that," Xander waved his hand dismissively, "Phoebe asked me to come with her to pick up a mutual friend from the airport."
"Oh." That sounded reasonable, "So that's why you left in such a hurry?"
"Yeah, his flight was running on time..." Xander grinned wider, "Who knew?"
"Ok..." Buffy trailed off for a minute, she'd been so sure that something was up. "So why are you hanging around campus?"
"Oh! Giles didn't tell you?" Xander asked, surprised.
"Tell me what?"
Xander held up a class schedule, "I'm auditing classes this semester and starting here full time in the next term."
Buffy beamed, "That's great! I thought you couldn't afford it?"
"Oh, I came into a little money through a friend. I've got a small place just off campus, I'll be throwing a little apartment warming part this week... You'd better be able to come."
"Of course I'll be there." Buffy smiled, happy for her friend. "The scoobs are all together again. This is gonna be great."
"Scoobs?" Phoebe finally entered the conversations.
Xander flushed somewhat, "Just something I coined for our little clique of friends back in highschool... I'll tell you about it sometime."
Buffy shot Xander a warning look, but let it go. Phoebe just smiled as if she knew something that Buffy didn't.
"Hey, Buff." Xander said, looking at his schedule. "I wish I could hang around but I have to catch a lecture in a few minutes. See you later?"
"You bet you will. Maybe get something to eat?" Buffy asked. "That Diner just off campus? Say around five o'clock?"
"Yep. Sounds good. We'll see you then." Xander said as he and Phoebe turned and left.
Wow... Buffy thought as she watched her friend leave, Xander in college... and he's looking damned good too.
*****
"We've got him! He's in the southern sector, moving south!"
The two cleaners faltered in their pursuit to look at each other, perplexed at the message that came over the radio.
"That's not possible." The lead man radioed back, "We have him in our sights now, he's in the western sector, heading east!"
A third voice came back almost instantly, "What the fuck are you people talking about? We've got him in the eastern sector heading west!"
*****
Three copies of the man in question met each other under a small grove of trees, grinning behind their darkened sunglasses.
"If you'd like to do the honors Miss Halliwell."
"With Pleasure, Mr. Giles." Prudence Halliwell waved her hand and dropped the glamour covering her, her sister, and the Watcher.
As the spell shimmered and dropped the three people started strolling along the trail, watching for their pursuers.
"I must say that these clothes bring back some very old memories." Giles smiled slightly as he removed the darkened glasses and dropped them into the pocket of his black leather jacket.
"Good ones I hope." Piper grinned up at him.
Giles smile darkened slightly, "Some. Some."
*****
The three groups of cleaners ran into each other at full tilt, barely avoiding an embarrassing collision. Their prey was nowhere in sight.
"Hey you!" The lead man called to an older man who was walking by with two female students..
"Pardon me?" The man asked in a cultured English tone, "Are you speaking to me?"
"Yeah I'm speakin to you." The man said, roughly. "Have you seen this guy come by?"
The man fished out his glasses and peered at the picture. "Why yes... He ran by here, headed into that building over there." He finished by waving his hand in the general direction.
"Which one?"
"Oh, you couldn't miss it." The man said, "It's an old fraternity building... there is a sign out front that reads 'Lowell House'".
"Thanks." The teams ran off.
"Anytime, you ruddy buggers." The man's accent slipped from its cultured English roots momentarily as he favored the retreating men with a evil grin.
*****
"Buffy!"
Buffy turned and smiled as Riley jogged up to catch her. "Hey Riley, how's it going?
"Pretty good, have some time off. You?"
"Same."
"Walk with me?" Riley raised his eyebrows questioningly.
Buffy grinned wider, looping her arm around his waist. "Sure."
*****
Miss Parker slammed the door to her sedan as she stared across the university campus, his lips curled up in distaste. She thumbed the portable scanner on her hip and listened carefully to the Cleaners conversations.
Lowell House. What? Is monkey boy joining a frat now?
He smiled darkly and started across the campus toward the Frat house, her right hand unconsciously resting against the comfortable weight of her Smith and Wesson automatic. She could already see the dark suited cleaner teams as they started setting up their assault on the unsuspecting building.
Cleaners. She thought in disgust. No pride in their job, always going for brute force.
*****
The Cleaners watched as a Blond man and Girl strode into the Frat house, oblivious to the gathering of assassins around the building.
"Ok, that's it. We have to move before we get anymore sheep in there to eliminate."
"Agreed. Pass the word, we move in five."
The three cleaners nodded and split apart, heading for their groups and organizing the assault.
*****
Riley Finn stepped into the house, smiling as he wrapped his arms around Buffy Summers. He looked across the room, catching the eye of Graham as he did and nodding. Graham nodded back in greeting and the Commando continued across the floor of the main room of the building.
"Hey Riley, Buffy!" One of the Lowell House 'brothers' called out in greeting as the couple smiled and nodded their greetings to the assembled people. "Looking good!"
"Hey." Riley returned amiably, turning to smile at his girlfriend. He dipped his head and kissed her firmly before looking back with a goofy grin. "Thanks."
The people all grinned and laughed cheerfully as the couple settled into a couch in front of the TV. Graham watched them thoughtfully for a moment and then got up and moved to the window. Casually he parted the curtains and looked out, suddenly frowning at what he saw.
"Hey, Finn!"
Riley looked up, "What?"
"You expecting company?"
"No." Riley frowned at the odd question, "Why?"
"Cause there are a pack of suits with silenced pistols covering the south side."
"What?"
The Soldiers that made up the Lowell House fraternity scrambled into motion, some heading for the other windows. "Shit! Some here too!"
"And here!"
"What the hell is going on?" A soldier at the front said, "We're surrounded."
Riley jumped up from the couch and started snapping orders, "Establish a perimeter! Grab your blasters!"
The soldiers started popping open hidden compartments through the room, revealing nasty looking weapons nestled carefully into the oddest places. Quickly these were tossed around the room as the troops armed themselves.
"Take them alive, people!" Riley ordered as he primed his blaster. "I want to know what the hell this is all about."
The hard eyed college students nodded at the order and settled themselves in behind furniture, door jams, and anything that would provide cover.
*****
Miss Parker easily slipped past the cleaners as they prepared their assault, approaching the house quietly. She slipped in though an unlocked door and started moving from room to room, looking for Jarod. She stopped at one door and observed the main room of the first floor in shock when the 'students' began arming themselves and settling int for a siege.
She slipped her gun from her him, holding her arm straight and pointed at the floor as she watched the room carefully from her hidden position.
What the hell are Raines' people getting into here?
Her breath caught in her throat when she felt the muzzle of a weapon press against her back, and a firm hand pull her S&W from her limp hand.
A strange voice whispered softly in her ear, "You have excellent timing Miss Parker. Watch what happens."
Who the hell?
*****
The cleaners checked their watches carefully as they approached the front door, pistols hidden behind their backs. Around the building they knew that the other teams were doing the same, one thought passing through every mind. Twenty seconds.
*****
"Here they come!" A soldier called as he stepped back from the window he was watching from and kneeled behind an overturned chair, his blaster aimed at the door.
Around the house the soldiers tensed, listening to the high pitched whines coming from their weapons, and slipped the safeties off.
"Steady." Riley called, pulling Buffy closer to him as they watched the door closest to them. "Let them come to us, wait until you see them all."
The soldiers calmed as they listened to their commander's steady voice. A few of them smiled slightly, others just glared along their fields of fire.
"Bring it on." One whispered as his fingers cracked along the trigger of his blaster.
*****
The cleaners moved as one, kicking in the doors and sweeping in with their weapons looking for targets. The point man on each team stepped through the door and sidestepped as he moved to cover the room, allowing the next men to move through.
To a man the cleaners blinked in surprise as they entered the building. The rooms were in a chaotic mess, furniture was tossed about haphazardly and nothing seemed in place. Then they noticed the people ducked down behind the obstructions. The, apparently, *armed* people.
As the cleaners realized the trap and their fingers tightened on the triggers of the pistols, all hell broke loose.
*****
"Take them down!"
Riley's order rang through the main room and a dozen blasters fired simultaneously, catching the surprised intruders in a web or blue-white electrical discharges.
Silenced pistols went off, shots chewing into furniture or drilling into walls and ceilings as the fingers of the hapless cleaners jerked from the electricity running through their twitching bodies.
Miss Parker watched in stunned silence as the twenty-two man cleaner team was ripped apart in moments by a group of college students armed with weapons she didn't recognize. "What the hell?" She whispered, still extremely conscious of the weapon digging into her back.
The same strange voice whispered into her ear, "The Centre is biting off more then even they could possibly chew."
Though she could still feel the weapon on her back she recognized the muzzle of one of the strange weapons as he slid over her shoulder, discharging its energy into a cleaner who had gotten too close to the blond soldier who was calling the shots.
"Who are you?" She snarled in frustration as the battle continued.
*****
The Commandos' weapons shifted to recharge mode, pouring power from their energy cells to the capacitors for the next round of shots, but most of the soldiers discarded the weapons and closed on the stunned 'suits' before they could react.
Buffy jumped up and got a fast spin kick on the closet cleaner, knocking his pistol from his hands. She quickly followed through with a sweep that took his legs from under him and rolled up beside the prone man and jabbed her elbow into his face.
"That's gotta hurt." Riley winced as the man was taken down roughly, "But I do love your style."
"Thanks, you know you're not so bad yourself." Buffy grinned at him and the two went after the next cleaner.
*****
In minutes the 'battle' was over. The Cleaners had been taken down quickly and effectively by the forewarned 'college commandos.'
Riley surveyed the scene and started snapping order, "Cuff them. I want them taken for interrogation. Graham, you're with me and Buffy. We're going to patrol outside and see if there are any more around."
The men snapped to attention and nodded at the orders. They quickly began gathering the unconscious bodies and cleaning up the mess. Graham appeared from where he had ben concealed, with a dark haired woman at his side.
One of the men noticed her and cracked a grin at Graham, "Hey man, don't you think she's a little old for you?"
The woman stiffened at the soldiers words but Graham just grinned and pulled her tighter, "No, I think she's just my speed."
*****
Miss Parker was raging inside, but she couldn't do much about it since the stranger had her own pistol sticking uncomfortably into her side. Every instinct she had was screaming for her to take the man down, but between the gun in her side and the armed college students around her she kept her peace.
Riley just quirked an eyebrow when he saw the brunette but accepted the nod from Graham that everything was alright. Graham and Riley tucked weapons under their jackets and escorted their girlfriends out of the battleground to look for more of the 'suits'.
*****
One of the soldiers on cleanup duty watched as his Commander and Graham left, smirking at the brunette's ass as she walked out the door. "I don't care how old she is... That's one nice piece."
The soldier next to him grimaced, "Graham better hope he comes up with a good explanation for all this, or else Walsh might have her brought in for 'debriefing'."
The first soldier winced. "Yeah. Damn, that would be a waste."
*****
Outside the four people quickly put distance between them and the building. Finally Riley turned to Graham. "We good?" He asked, looking at the brunette suspiciously.
"We're good." Graham replied.
"Ok. Phoebe?"
Phoebe smiled and muttered a couple words, dropping the glamor and revealing herself, Xander, and Jarod.
"What the hell!?"
The three friends grinned at the shocked look on Miss Parker's face as she tried to understand what she had just seen.
"Why Miss Parker, haven't you ever heard of magic?"
*****