Part 11: Answers, Requests, and Decisions
#
Angel hit the mats hard, the air driven from his lungs by the impact. Some things about being human really stank, he muttered to himself. Things like this unfamiliar need to breathe, like the sweat that was pouring down his face, or the painful presence of the bruises he had received today.
"I think I know what the problem is," his opponent said, offering him a hand to pull him up.
Looking at the woman who had just sent him tumbling to the mat Angel thought back a few weeks. Mara Shilow was a martial arts instructor, one of the best according to what he had heard. They had met when one of Doyle's visions had sent him her way, saving her from a vampire attack. He had been impressed by her fighting skills, though they had not been too much use fighting creatures that simply brushed off blows that would have hospitalized normal men.
She had seen his true face during the fight and he had given her an abridged version of who and what he was. They had met once more since then, Angel having gotten the idea of her giving Cordelia and Doyle some fighting training after the two of them had nearly gotten killed when beset by a vampire when he had not been there. Angel was an accomplished martial artist himself, but doubted his ability to teach his moves to someone with mere human or even half-demon strength.
Now he himself had nothing but mere human strength to rely on and needed to know whether he was still able to hold his own. From the thrashing he had just received he rather doubted it, though.
"How long have you been ... different?" Mara asked. She was still getting used to the idea that vampires and such existed, trying to avoid mentioning them whenever possible.
"A long time," he just said.
"That's what I thought. Did you get any fighting training before you got all that super strength to play with?"
"Not really, no. I was ... I fought a lot, bar brawls and such, but never got any professional training until much later."
She nodded, apparently having her suspicions confirmed.
"I've seen cases like yours before," she said, then quickly amended, "not exactly like yours, of course. One of my own trainers was the best fighter I ever met. Then he lost his left arm in the Gulf War. It took him a long time to regain even a portion of his old skill level."
"He couldn't adapt?"
"Exactly. He had become so set in his fighting style that changing it, accommodating the lack of a limb, was almost impossible. Your case is even more extreme, Angel. You've had superhuman strength for God knows how long and much of your fighting style relies on that strength. Your body ... remembers being able to do things and tries to keep doing them, even though it can't do them any longer."
Angel nodded, knowing what she meant. Just a week or so ago he would have had no trouble flipping over Mara's head in the blink of an eye. When he had tried it a few minutes ago he had almost managed to crack his skull open. His legs simply did not have the necessary push anymore, his balance and reflexes were off as well. To speak nothing of his strength and speed.
"I need to do something about that," he resolved. "Will you help me, Mara?"
"Of course," she smiled at him. "I owe you my life; it's the least I can do. I have to warn you, though, it will take time. Ingrained skills like yours aren't changed in a day."
He sighed, thinking of Buffy. Every day he spent apart from her was torment and not just because he missed her so much. Every day he was not by her side, able to hold his own, might be the day the Mhora's words came true.
"Then let's start," he told Mara, resolve in his eyes. "I don't have as much time as I used to."
#
"You are certain about this?"
Riley watched as Burke spoke to their superior over the video phone, the weathered face of associate CIA director James Mason looking back at him from the screen. With the discovery of the supernatural threat the Central Intelligence Agency had quickly created a new department, naming it 'Special Domestic Operations'. So far this new department had nothing but a skeleton staff and no experience to speak of, but a budget that would make the senate scream if it knew about it.
"Now that we have a better idea what to look for," Burke explained to his superior, "we found quite a few notes on the Slayer in the files we confiscated from the late Mayor Wilkins. It confirms what Ms. Summers told Agent Finn."
Mason shook his head. Sometimes the unreality of what they were dealing with really got to him.
"So this girl is ... what? A supernatural defender of the world?"
"That's what it says, yes," Burke confirmed. "I wouldn't believe it myself, but Agent Finn saw her fight. She is definitely stronger, faster, and tougher than any normal human being has the right to be, sir."
Mason nodded. He, too, had known about the supernatural for but a few months now and had adopted something of a 'I'll-believe-anything-for-now' philosophy of dealing with his new job. It was the only way to go about it that would not drive him mad within the year.
"After your initial report our analysts put together a preliminary file on Ms. Summers," Mason said, taking the folder lying on his desk. "By all accounts she seems to be a rather normal young woman, though prone to get into trouble. She was suspected of murder about one and a half years ago, but the charges were dropped a short time later. She also burned down the gym of her first High School, it seems."
"Knowing what we do about her it does not come as a surprise that she got herself in trouble now and then, does it?"
"No, it does not."
Mason briefly looked through the folder, then put it aside again.
"You are the man on the spot, Burke. What is your recommendation we do about Ms. Summers?"
Burke turned to glance at Riley for a moment. They had discussed Buffy Summers' words to him quite thoroughly during the day.
"Sir, Ms. Summers brought up a very good point, I fear. So far our men have not done well containing the supernatural threat in this town. These creatures are too strong and too vicious to deal with them the way we have done so far. The way I see it we have two alternatives on how to proceed."
"Those would be?"
"Number one, we could escalate our activities here. Bring in heavier weaponry, more men. These things are tough, sir, but only very few of them use any kind of modern weaponry. If we outfit our men with stronger ordnance we can take care of things."
The thought of taking out a nest of vampires with a rocket launcher somehow appealed to Riley, he had to admit, no matter what his psychology training might say about that idea.
"That would almost certainly cause the public to take notice, will it not?" Mason asked.
"That is the downside of it, yes. Which brings me to our second alternative."
Once again Burke glanced at Riley. It had been his idea, truth be told, and though Burke had some misgivings about it, he could not dispute its potential gain.
"Sir, if what we have learned about Ms. Summers is true, then what we have here is an individual with years of experience in successfully fighting these creatures. She is still alive, which is no easy feat after what I've seen these last few months, and even more importantly she has done it with hardly anyone noticing it. This is a resource we should exploit."
Mason stared at him. "Burke, this operation is classified a dozen levels above top secret. Are you honestly proposing that we involve a civilian in it?"
"Yes, sir."
The associate director sighed deeply, rubbing his eyes for a moment. Then he looked past Burke at Riley.
"Agent Finn, you are acquainted with Ms. Summers, correct?" He nodded. "What is your opinion on this?"
"I believe, sir, that she could be a tremendous asset to our operation. I have seen her fight and she is more capable than any of our operatives here, including myself. I believe she is also deeply committed to fighting these creatures. Convincing her to work with us will not be easy, I suspect, but the potential gain from having her on our side is enormous, sir."
Mason kept looking at him for a long moment, then reluctantly nodded.
"Very well, I see your point. I will discuss this option with director Tenet. Considering the implications I suspect that even the big boss will have to have a word in this."
Riley managed to keep from stiffening. Mason wanted to carry his proposal all the way into the oval office? Maybe this had not been such a great idea after all.
"I will get back to you as soon as I have a decision," Mason finally said. "If we do approach Ms. Summers I want you to make certain that the paperwork is in order. Sign the non-disclosure agreement, swear her to secrecy, the usual. Agent Burke, I want your teams to keep an eye on her. From your report I assume she does not know too much about our operation yet, but I don't want anyone else to learn even that little, understood?"
"Yes, sir."
The screen went dark and Burke sighed.
"That went better than expected, actually." He looked at Riley. "If this works out I'll get you a medal, son."
"I didn't know the president was directly involved," Riley muttered, still in a bit of a shock. "He's gonna go to the president with this?"
"What did you expect? Looks to the contrary this is one of the most important covert operations you'll ever hear conspiracy theories about, Riley. And unlike what you may read in the tabloids the president is very much aware of all the things we're doing in our little spook show."
"Do you think they'll agree?"
"I have no idea, Riley. If they do, though, things are going to get mighty interesting around here, that much I can assure you."
Riley could not help but remember that the phrase "May you live in interesting times" was generally considered a curse.
TO BE CONTINUED
#
Angel hit the mats hard, the air driven from his lungs by the impact. Some things about being human really stank, he muttered to himself. Things like this unfamiliar need to breathe, like the sweat that was pouring down his face, or the painful presence of the bruises he had received today.
"I think I know what the problem is," his opponent said, offering him a hand to pull him up.
Looking at the woman who had just sent him tumbling to the mat Angel thought back a few weeks. Mara Shilow was a martial arts instructor, one of the best according to what he had heard. They had met when one of Doyle's visions had sent him her way, saving her from a vampire attack. He had been impressed by her fighting skills, though they had not been too much use fighting creatures that simply brushed off blows that would have hospitalized normal men.
She had seen his true face during the fight and he had given her an abridged version of who and what he was. They had met once more since then, Angel having gotten the idea of her giving Cordelia and Doyle some fighting training after the two of them had nearly gotten killed when beset by a vampire when he had not been there. Angel was an accomplished martial artist himself, but doubted his ability to teach his moves to someone with mere human or even half-demon strength.
Now he himself had nothing but mere human strength to rely on and needed to know whether he was still able to hold his own. From the thrashing he had just received he rather doubted it, though.
"How long have you been ... different?" Mara asked. She was still getting used to the idea that vampires and such existed, trying to avoid mentioning them whenever possible.
"A long time," he just said.
"That's what I thought. Did you get any fighting training before you got all that super strength to play with?"
"Not really, no. I was ... I fought a lot, bar brawls and such, but never got any professional training until much later."
She nodded, apparently having her suspicions confirmed.
"I've seen cases like yours before," she said, then quickly amended, "not exactly like yours, of course. One of my own trainers was the best fighter I ever met. Then he lost his left arm in the Gulf War. It took him a long time to regain even a portion of his old skill level."
"He couldn't adapt?"
"Exactly. He had become so set in his fighting style that changing it, accommodating the lack of a limb, was almost impossible. Your case is even more extreme, Angel. You've had superhuman strength for God knows how long and much of your fighting style relies on that strength. Your body ... remembers being able to do things and tries to keep doing them, even though it can't do them any longer."
Angel nodded, knowing what she meant. Just a week or so ago he would have had no trouble flipping over Mara's head in the blink of an eye. When he had tried it a few minutes ago he had almost managed to crack his skull open. His legs simply did not have the necessary push anymore, his balance and reflexes were off as well. To speak nothing of his strength and speed.
"I need to do something about that," he resolved. "Will you help me, Mara?"
"Of course," she smiled at him. "I owe you my life; it's the least I can do. I have to warn you, though, it will take time. Ingrained skills like yours aren't changed in a day."
He sighed, thinking of Buffy. Every day he spent apart from her was torment and not just because he missed her so much. Every day he was not by her side, able to hold his own, might be the day the Mhora's words came true.
"Then let's start," he told Mara, resolve in his eyes. "I don't have as much time as I used to."
#
"You are certain about this?"
Riley watched as Burke spoke to their superior over the video phone, the weathered face of associate CIA director James Mason looking back at him from the screen. With the discovery of the supernatural threat the Central Intelligence Agency had quickly created a new department, naming it 'Special Domestic Operations'. So far this new department had nothing but a skeleton staff and no experience to speak of, but a budget that would make the senate scream if it knew about it.
"Now that we have a better idea what to look for," Burke explained to his superior, "we found quite a few notes on the Slayer in the files we confiscated from the late Mayor Wilkins. It confirms what Ms. Summers told Agent Finn."
Mason shook his head. Sometimes the unreality of what they were dealing with really got to him.
"So this girl is ... what? A supernatural defender of the world?"
"That's what it says, yes," Burke confirmed. "I wouldn't believe it myself, but Agent Finn saw her fight. She is definitely stronger, faster, and tougher than any normal human being has the right to be, sir."
Mason nodded. He, too, had known about the supernatural for but a few months now and had adopted something of a 'I'll-believe-anything-for-now' philosophy of dealing with his new job. It was the only way to go about it that would not drive him mad within the year.
"After your initial report our analysts put together a preliminary file on Ms. Summers," Mason said, taking the folder lying on his desk. "By all accounts she seems to be a rather normal young woman, though prone to get into trouble. She was suspected of murder about one and a half years ago, but the charges were dropped a short time later. She also burned down the gym of her first High School, it seems."
"Knowing what we do about her it does not come as a surprise that she got herself in trouble now and then, does it?"
"No, it does not."
Mason briefly looked through the folder, then put it aside again.
"You are the man on the spot, Burke. What is your recommendation we do about Ms. Summers?"
Burke turned to glance at Riley for a moment. They had discussed Buffy Summers' words to him quite thoroughly during the day.
"Sir, Ms. Summers brought up a very good point, I fear. So far our men have not done well containing the supernatural threat in this town. These creatures are too strong and too vicious to deal with them the way we have done so far. The way I see it we have two alternatives on how to proceed."
"Those would be?"
"Number one, we could escalate our activities here. Bring in heavier weaponry, more men. These things are tough, sir, but only very few of them use any kind of modern weaponry. If we outfit our men with stronger ordnance we can take care of things."
The thought of taking out a nest of vampires with a rocket launcher somehow appealed to Riley, he had to admit, no matter what his psychology training might say about that idea.
"That would almost certainly cause the public to take notice, will it not?" Mason asked.
"That is the downside of it, yes. Which brings me to our second alternative."
Once again Burke glanced at Riley. It had been his idea, truth be told, and though Burke had some misgivings about it, he could not dispute its potential gain.
"Sir, if what we have learned about Ms. Summers is true, then what we have here is an individual with years of experience in successfully fighting these creatures. She is still alive, which is no easy feat after what I've seen these last few months, and even more importantly she has done it with hardly anyone noticing it. This is a resource we should exploit."
Mason stared at him. "Burke, this operation is classified a dozen levels above top secret. Are you honestly proposing that we involve a civilian in it?"
"Yes, sir."
The associate director sighed deeply, rubbing his eyes for a moment. Then he looked past Burke at Riley.
"Agent Finn, you are acquainted with Ms. Summers, correct?" He nodded. "What is your opinion on this?"
"I believe, sir, that she could be a tremendous asset to our operation. I have seen her fight and she is more capable than any of our operatives here, including myself. I believe she is also deeply committed to fighting these creatures. Convincing her to work with us will not be easy, I suspect, but the potential gain from having her on our side is enormous, sir."
Mason kept looking at him for a long moment, then reluctantly nodded.
"Very well, I see your point. I will discuss this option with director Tenet. Considering the implications I suspect that even the big boss will have to have a word in this."
Riley managed to keep from stiffening. Mason wanted to carry his proposal all the way into the oval office? Maybe this had not been such a great idea after all.
"I will get back to you as soon as I have a decision," Mason finally said. "If we do approach Ms. Summers I want you to make certain that the paperwork is in order. Sign the non-disclosure agreement, swear her to secrecy, the usual. Agent Burke, I want your teams to keep an eye on her. From your report I assume she does not know too much about our operation yet, but I don't want anyone else to learn even that little, understood?"
"Yes, sir."
The screen went dark and Burke sighed.
"That went better than expected, actually." He looked at Riley. "If this works out I'll get you a medal, son."
"I didn't know the president was directly involved," Riley muttered, still in a bit of a shock. "He's gonna go to the president with this?"
"What did you expect? Looks to the contrary this is one of the most important covert operations you'll ever hear conspiracy theories about, Riley. And unlike what you may read in the tabloids the president is very much aware of all the things we're doing in our little spook show."
"Do you think they'll agree?"
"I have no idea, Riley. If they do, though, things are going to get mighty interesting around here, that much I can assure you."
Riley could not help but remember that the phrase "May you live in interesting times" was generally considered a curse.
TO BE CONTINUED