Part 4: All the Men In My Life
#
More than ever Riley had problems concentrating during Walsh's lecture. Maybe it was the fact that it was already quite late in the afternoon and he had had a really boring day with little more than his own thoughts to occupy him. Or maybe it was just frustration with the way things were going on this assignment.
Over the past few days he had spent most of his time observing the vampire they had imprisoned, the one who called himself Spike. Had watched as the researchers tried to get information out of him, first by starving him, then through various forms of torture. It was not an experience Riley particularly enjoyed and he had to keep reminding himself that this thing that looked like a human being was actually nothing but a dead body, somehow animated and out for the blood of the living.
Unfortunately so far they had had little luck. Spike refused to answer any of their questions, though he kept mumbling about all the things he would do to someone or something called the Slayer. They had managed to gather some data, for example how long it took the vampire to recover from a gunshot to the chest or head; that any and all kinds of gas and poison were utterly useless; several other details they had not known before. All in all, though, they were not much smarter than they had been before.
It was getting frustrating, especially considering the situation in the field. There was a limit to the size of the special operations forces they could employ in a town like Sunnydale without the citizens becoming aware of something going on. Heavy weapons were out of the question unless they were in remote areas, too much noise. All circumstances pretty much worked against them and Riley was all too aware of how ineffective he and the other 'beasty-killers' were so far.
If all of that was not frustrating enough, well, there was that other thing. That thing called Buffy Summers and the fact that he could not stop thinking about her. A few days ago she had actually come down to ask him a few questions and they had chatted quite amiably. It had taken all his self- control not to ask her out right then and there, especially seeing the way she smiled at him. A smile so innocent and beautiful, yet at the same time somehow laden with sadness and hurt.
Rumors around the campus had it that Buffy Summers was 'damaged goods'. Riley had almost punched the guy who had told him that. According to the grapevine she had fallen for a jerk called Parker, one of those who collected one-night-stands like other people did stamps. A big part of Riley wanted nothing better than to look up that idiot and beat the shit out of him. Several times.
Not his place, he reminded himself.
Yesterday he had talked to Forrest, one of his colleagues, who was also something of a friend. They had gone through the academy together and then found themselves assigned to the same mission. They worked well as a team and Forrest was an easy guy to talk to. Something of a macho, though.
Riley had somehow hoped that Forrest would strengthen him in his conviction to stay away from Buffy, but quite the opposite had happened. His friend did not see a problem in them having some good times with the local girls as long as it did not jeopardize the mission.
Of course 'having some good times' was not exactly what Riley had in mind. He had never been the guy to just sleep around and forget about it a week later. Sometimes he regretted that, guys like Forrest seemed to have it easier with the ladies, but he had never tried to change, either.
As the lecture ended and the students began filing out of the room Riley had come to something of a resolution. His thoughts kept going back to Buffy and there seemed to be nothing he could do about it. It was distracting, keeping him from performing his assignment as best he could. He had tried ignoring it, denying it, reminding himself of all the things his trainers had taught him about things never to do while in the field.
As none of that had helped any he decided to try something else. Ask Buffy Summers out on a date. No, maybe not a date. A cup of coffee. Yeah, that sounded a lot better. Neutral. He could always tell her it was just to talk about college stuff. A backdoor to weasel out through if things turned awkward in any way.
And if they did not? Well ... he would be here for some time with the way things were going. This could be quite the long-term mission and if it turned out that Buffy and he could become ... something ... he could do that. He would have to be careful to juggle all that in addition to his cover story and the mission, but it could be done, could it not?
Gathering all his courage he stood from his desk and walked toward Buffy as she and her redhead friend were filing out of the room.
#
"Oh, Riley at three o'clock," Willow whispered to Buffy.
The Slayer turned to look at the approaching TA, stepping to the side a little to let the other students pass. Ever since their little pity-fest a week or so ago she and Willow had made a pact to help cheer each other up. That included pointing out potential boyfriends, but did definitely not include any kind of setting-up or encouragement. Both still needed time to heal and Buffy doubted that she was capable of doing more than enjoying the occasional eyeful right now.
Still, she clearly saw that Willow was excited about any potential romance for her friend. Buffy smiled. Willow was a person who could find almost as much joy in other people's happiness as in her own and she envied the redhead for that ability. It could be unnerving sometimes, especially when Willow went out of her way to make other people happy whether they wanted to or not, but after everything that had happened with Oz Willow had gotten a lot better at stifling that particular urge of hers.
She studied Riley as he came closer. During their few talks she had come to regard him as a genuinely nice guy. He had helped her somewhat when she was down and out after that terrible mistake with Parker, had cheered her up. He was a tremendous help when it came to the whole psychology stuff and talking to him was easy and enjoyable.
The possibility that he was interested in her had not really entered her mind so far, but the undertone in Willow's voice clearly showed that she thought so. Judging by the look on Riley's face, a rather adorable kind of anxiousness, she might not be too far off the mark there.
"Hi, Buffy. Willow."
"Hi," the two girls said almost in unison, causing Willow to giggle.
"Buffy, could I talk to you for a second?"
Willow smiled and excused herself, leaving the two of them alone in the now empty lecture hall. Riley stepped from one foot to the other, causing Buffy to grin. He was really cute when he was nervous.
"What's up, Riley?" she finally asked him.
"Well, ... I was wondering if you would like to go for a cup of coffee. With me."
He gave her a shy smile and Buffy almost said yes right then and there. There was something about his shy farm boy charm that really called to her. Then, though, she remembered the last time she had fallen for someone's charm so easily and so quickly. Her smile fell a bit.
"Riley, I ...," she began.
His beeper went off and Riley muttered a curse as he took it out, looked at the number.
"Just great," he muttered.
"Problem?"
"Yeah, I really have to go. Something of an emergency. Listen, about ..."
"Let's talk about it later, okay? Go deal with your emergency."
There was a somewhat hurt look on his face, maybe he had expected a more positive answer from her than 'later'. Buffy was a bit sorry to see him like that. He was a good guy, that much she believed. Then again, she had believed that about Parker, too.
"I'll take you up on that," he finally said, smiling again, before he turned to walk away. Buffy looked after him for a moment, then shook her head. Riley seemed nice, but ...
She really needed something to distract herself. The sun was about to go down and she was on for a long patrol tonight, hopefully finding and killing quite a few vampires in the process. Before that, though, she had promised to visit Giles. He had done some research on those strange black- clad S.W.A.T.-team type guys she had seen popping up around Sunnydale as of late and wanted to talk to her about it. Maybe he had found out something. Something that would require her to fight and beat up someone.
A girl could hope, could she not?
#
Riley reached the base in record time and his car had barely come to a stop when he jumped out and ran inside. The number on his beeper was the emergency alarm code, calling all operatives back to the base for immediate action. The small gun he always carried under his jacket was in his hand as he stormed through the final door and came upon the chaos inside.
The main area of the warehouse was in shambles. Tables overturned, computer screens broken on the floor, the two paramedics on their team busy with several wounded men. The emergency exit door had been pulled off its hinges.
He saw Burke talking to one of the agents assigned to research, quite loudly so, even as several operatives where in the process of suiting up, loading weapons and getting ready for action.
"What happened?" Riley asked, picking out his own equipment in the process.
"Damn researchers fucked up, that's what happened," Forrest said, an angry look on his face. "They let that vampire escape."
"What?"
"That's what I said, too."
Burke came up to the men, looking rather angry and out of patience. Agent Weinheim, the man in charge of research, trailed along behind him, looking somewhat subdued.
"He escaped ten minutes ago," the senior agent said. "Timed his escape just right to go through the emergency door the second the sun set."
"We theorized that vampires have some sort of internal clock that lets them know when the sun ..."
"Shut up," Burke interrupted Weinheim. "Termination order is in effect. That vampire has seen too much of our operation here. He must be destroyed tonight. Find him and do it!"
Riley looked around. The current roster of their special operations force contained twenty agents for search and destroy assignments. Fourteen of them were present and Riley knew that two were still in intensive care at the moment, having run afoul of some vampires a few nights ago. The others were probably on their way right now, but they could not wait for them to arrive.
"I don't suppose we have come up with any way to track them yet, have we?" he asked.
Weinheim motioned toward the night vision gear they all carried.
"Data gathering on the vampire has shown that his body generates no heat of its own. They are always room temperature. Use the infrared mode paired with motion tracking. If you see a moving body with no heat signature ..."
Riley shrugged. Not the best of ways to track something, but better than nothing.
"The vampire has been starved for some time," Burke told everyone. "He will probably be looking for a victim first thing. Teams 1 and 2 will check out the college grounds. Team 3, take the harbor district and check the bars. Team 4 will head for that nightclub, the Bronze. Stay in radio contact at all times and call in the moment you find him!"
Riley nodded. Moments later they were on their way and all thoughts of teaching, dating, and everything else not connected with the hunt for their fugitive disappeared from his mind.
#
Spike panted unnecessarily as he reached the edge of the college grounds, an angry snarl permanently frozen on his face. Somewhere around here was that bitch of a Slayer. He would find her and this time there would be no alliances, no fancy magical rings, no daylight, no angry mothers with axes. This time he would simply kill her.
"Think your friends can take me off your back, do you?" he mumbled under his breath. "You've got another thing coming, Slayer."
TO BE CONTINUED
#
More than ever Riley had problems concentrating during Walsh's lecture. Maybe it was the fact that it was already quite late in the afternoon and he had had a really boring day with little more than his own thoughts to occupy him. Or maybe it was just frustration with the way things were going on this assignment.
Over the past few days he had spent most of his time observing the vampire they had imprisoned, the one who called himself Spike. Had watched as the researchers tried to get information out of him, first by starving him, then through various forms of torture. It was not an experience Riley particularly enjoyed and he had to keep reminding himself that this thing that looked like a human being was actually nothing but a dead body, somehow animated and out for the blood of the living.
Unfortunately so far they had had little luck. Spike refused to answer any of their questions, though he kept mumbling about all the things he would do to someone or something called the Slayer. They had managed to gather some data, for example how long it took the vampire to recover from a gunshot to the chest or head; that any and all kinds of gas and poison were utterly useless; several other details they had not known before. All in all, though, they were not much smarter than they had been before.
It was getting frustrating, especially considering the situation in the field. There was a limit to the size of the special operations forces they could employ in a town like Sunnydale without the citizens becoming aware of something going on. Heavy weapons were out of the question unless they were in remote areas, too much noise. All circumstances pretty much worked against them and Riley was all too aware of how ineffective he and the other 'beasty-killers' were so far.
If all of that was not frustrating enough, well, there was that other thing. That thing called Buffy Summers and the fact that he could not stop thinking about her. A few days ago she had actually come down to ask him a few questions and they had chatted quite amiably. It had taken all his self- control not to ask her out right then and there, especially seeing the way she smiled at him. A smile so innocent and beautiful, yet at the same time somehow laden with sadness and hurt.
Rumors around the campus had it that Buffy Summers was 'damaged goods'. Riley had almost punched the guy who had told him that. According to the grapevine she had fallen for a jerk called Parker, one of those who collected one-night-stands like other people did stamps. A big part of Riley wanted nothing better than to look up that idiot and beat the shit out of him. Several times.
Not his place, he reminded himself.
Yesterday he had talked to Forrest, one of his colleagues, who was also something of a friend. They had gone through the academy together and then found themselves assigned to the same mission. They worked well as a team and Forrest was an easy guy to talk to. Something of a macho, though.
Riley had somehow hoped that Forrest would strengthen him in his conviction to stay away from Buffy, but quite the opposite had happened. His friend did not see a problem in them having some good times with the local girls as long as it did not jeopardize the mission.
Of course 'having some good times' was not exactly what Riley had in mind. He had never been the guy to just sleep around and forget about it a week later. Sometimes he regretted that, guys like Forrest seemed to have it easier with the ladies, but he had never tried to change, either.
As the lecture ended and the students began filing out of the room Riley had come to something of a resolution. His thoughts kept going back to Buffy and there seemed to be nothing he could do about it. It was distracting, keeping him from performing his assignment as best he could. He had tried ignoring it, denying it, reminding himself of all the things his trainers had taught him about things never to do while in the field.
As none of that had helped any he decided to try something else. Ask Buffy Summers out on a date. No, maybe not a date. A cup of coffee. Yeah, that sounded a lot better. Neutral. He could always tell her it was just to talk about college stuff. A backdoor to weasel out through if things turned awkward in any way.
And if they did not? Well ... he would be here for some time with the way things were going. This could be quite the long-term mission and if it turned out that Buffy and he could become ... something ... he could do that. He would have to be careful to juggle all that in addition to his cover story and the mission, but it could be done, could it not?
Gathering all his courage he stood from his desk and walked toward Buffy as she and her redhead friend were filing out of the room.
#
"Oh, Riley at three o'clock," Willow whispered to Buffy.
The Slayer turned to look at the approaching TA, stepping to the side a little to let the other students pass. Ever since their little pity-fest a week or so ago she and Willow had made a pact to help cheer each other up. That included pointing out potential boyfriends, but did definitely not include any kind of setting-up or encouragement. Both still needed time to heal and Buffy doubted that she was capable of doing more than enjoying the occasional eyeful right now.
Still, she clearly saw that Willow was excited about any potential romance for her friend. Buffy smiled. Willow was a person who could find almost as much joy in other people's happiness as in her own and she envied the redhead for that ability. It could be unnerving sometimes, especially when Willow went out of her way to make other people happy whether they wanted to or not, but after everything that had happened with Oz Willow had gotten a lot better at stifling that particular urge of hers.
She studied Riley as he came closer. During their few talks she had come to regard him as a genuinely nice guy. He had helped her somewhat when she was down and out after that terrible mistake with Parker, had cheered her up. He was a tremendous help when it came to the whole psychology stuff and talking to him was easy and enjoyable.
The possibility that he was interested in her had not really entered her mind so far, but the undertone in Willow's voice clearly showed that she thought so. Judging by the look on Riley's face, a rather adorable kind of anxiousness, she might not be too far off the mark there.
"Hi, Buffy. Willow."
"Hi," the two girls said almost in unison, causing Willow to giggle.
"Buffy, could I talk to you for a second?"
Willow smiled and excused herself, leaving the two of them alone in the now empty lecture hall. Riley stepped from one foot to the other, causing Buffy to grin. He was really cute when he was nervous.
"What's up, Riley?" she finally asked him.
"Well, ... I was wondering if you would like to go for a cup of coffee. With me."
He gave her a shy smile and Buffy almost said yes right then and there. There was something about his shy farm boy charm that really called to her. Then, though, she remembered the last time she had fallen for someone's charm so easily and so quickly. Her smile fell a bit.
"Riley, I ...," she began.
His beeper went off and Riley muttered a curse as he took it out, looked at the number.
"Just great," he muttered.
"Problem?"
"Yeah, I really have to go. Something of an emergency. Listen, about ..."
"Let's talk about it later, okay? Go deal with your emergency."
There was a somewhat hurt look on his face, maybe he had expected a more positive answer from her than 'later'. Buffy was a bit sorry to see him like that. He was a good guy, that much she believed. Then again, she had believed that about Parker, too.
"I'll take you up on that," he finally said, smiling again, before he turned to walk away. Buffy looked after him for a moment, then shook her head. Riley seemed nice, but ...
She really needed something to distract herself. The sun was about to go down and she was on for a long patrol tonight, hopefully finding and killing quite a few vampires in the process. Before that, though, she had promised to visit Giles. He had done some research on those strange black- clad S.W.A.T.-team type guys she had seen popping up around Sunnydale as of late and wanted to talk to her about it. Maybe he had found out something. Something that would require her to fight and beat up someone.
A girl could hope, could she not?
#
Riley reached the base in record time and his car had barely come to a stop when he jumped out and ran inside. The number on his beeper was the emergency alarm code, calling all operatives back to the base for immediate action. The small gun he always carried under his jacket was in his hand as he stormed through the final door and came upon the chaos inside.
The main area of the warehouse was in shambles. Tables overturned, computer screens broken on the floor, the two paramedics on their team busy with several wounded men. The emergency exit door had been pulled off its hinges.
He saw Burke talking to one of the agents assigned to research, quite loudly so, even as several operatives where in the process of suiting up, loading weapons and getting ready for action.
"What happened?" Riley asked, picking out his own equipment in the process.
"Damn researchers fucked up, that's what happened," Forrest said, an angry look on his face. "They let that vampire escape."
"What?"
"That's what I said, too."
Burke came up to the men, looking rather angry and out of patience. Agent Weinheim, the man in charge of research, trailed along behind him, looking somewhat subdued.
"He escaped ten minutes ago," the senior agent said. "Timed his escape just right to go through the emergency door the second the sun set."
"We theorized that vampires have some sort of internal clock that lets them know when the sun ..."
"Shut up," Burke interrupted Weinheim. "Termination order is in effect. That vampire has seen too much of our operation here. He must be destroyed tonight. Find him and do it!"
Riley looked around. The current roster of their special operations force contained twenty agents for search and destroy assignments. Fourteen of them were present and Riley knew that two were still in intensive care at the moment, having run afoul of some vampires a few nights ago. The others were probably on their way right now, but they could not wait for them to arrive.
"I don't suppose we have come up with any way to track them yet, have we?" he asked.
Weinheim motioned toward the night vision gear they all carried.
"Data gathering on the vampire has shown that his body generates no heat of its own. They are always room temperature. Use the infrared mode paired with motion tracking. If you see a moving body with no heat signature ..."
Riley shrugged. Not the best of ways to track something, but better than nothing.
"The vampire has been starved for some time," Burke told everyone. "He will probably be looking for a victim first thing. Teams 1 and 2 will check out the college grounds. Team 3, take the harbor district and check the bars. Team 4 will head for that nightclub, the Bronze. Stay in radio contact at all times and call in the moment you find him!"
Riley nodded. Moments later they were on their way and all thoughts of teaching, dating, and everything else not connected with the hunt for their fugitive disappeared from his mind.
#
Spike panted unnecessarily as he reached the edge of the college grounds, an angry snarl permanently frozen on his face. Somewhere around here was that bitch of a Slayer. He would find her and this time there would be no alliances, no fancy magical rings, no daylight, no angry mothers with axes. This time he would simply kill her.
"Think your friends can take me off your back, do you?" he mumbled under his breath. "You've got another thing coming, Slayer."
TO BE CONTINUED