Chapter 11

Complications

Sunnydale – May 12th

"It's really not that complicated," Buffy said to Giles an hour later in the workout room in the back of the Magic Box. She spun and gave the heavy punching bag a vicious side kick, and followed it up with a strong one-two punch combination. Giles leaned heavily on the bag, trying to control the rotation. However, his ragged breathing seemed to indicate that it was he, not Buffy, who'd been doing most of the workout. "We just have to put on our logical brains, and you'll see that the right decision is totally clearsville."

"That's what you said an hour ago, Buffy; only nobody could understand what you were talking about then. To be honest, I still don't." Giles wiped the sweat from his brow, holding his hand up for a brief respite. "You say that it all makes sense, but there are simply too many possibilities. I'm really not sure which one is the most likely reason Spike was attacked."

"Giles, work with me here. It doesn't matter, because all the possibilities point to the same conclusion: we have to find out who is behind this." Buffy was confident, shaking her head emphatically.

"Okay then, let's assume that it is a human whom Spike has harmed before he was tampered with. They have a legitimate right to seek revenge, and we shouldn't interfere. That does not support your contention that we should find out who is behind this." Giles gave Buffy his best 'fatherly' stare to emphasize the point.

"Giles, those vamps almost got me in the process. If whoever is behind this is seeking revenge against Spike, they're being way too reckless about it. We had better find out before I get caught in the cross-fire again." Buffy began to hit the bag again as Giles moved back into position to consider her point.

"All right, you have a good point there. Though I'm not sure I agree, I'm not sure I can argue against it." Giles was uncomfortable with Buffy getting involved in the attempt on Spike's life, but he couldn't fault her reasoning on the most likely cause of the attack.

"The thing is," she continued on, interrupting his thoughts with a quick hand-foot combination, "that explanation is the least likely scene-thing."

"Scene-thing?" Giles was momentarily confused.

"Yeah. You know, the reason that somebody would do this." Buffy replied.

"Scenario," Giles supplied helpfully.

"That's it. Scenario. Anyway, that simply isn't what's going on here." Buffy looked up from hitting the bag to see the puzzlement on Giles face. "People who get victimized by vampires aren't selective in their revenge. They hate all vampires. That means they don't go hiring a bunch of vampires to do their dirty work. They stake'em when they see'em." A certainty burned in Buffy's eyes – a clarity Giles rarely saw in her. But when he did see it, he knew to trust it.

"All right, I follow. So, it isn't someone looking for revenge," Giles relented. "Who then? What the other possibilities?"

"The Initiative," Buffy offered returning to the workout. "Or some kind of government cleanup squad. I saw a movie about that. I think it had Brad Pitt."

Giles nodded ominously. "If that's the case, then we need to find them and stop them before they start another demon war. I mean the government squad, not Brad Pitt." The Initiative had sought to create the perfect solider by combining humans with demons. The prototype, Adam, had instigated a war deep in the underground bunker between demons and humans in order to get an assemblage of 'spare parts' with which to construct them. Buffy, with the help of the scoobies, was able to stop Adam's mad plan, but not before many humans and demons alike had died in the violent conflict.

"All right, who else?" Giles asked, shaking himself from the memory.

"The Watcher's Council?" Buffy offered.

"No," Giles said after a moment's thought. "No, they wouldn't deal with vampires that way. When they use them, it is under very tight controls. Besides, they'd want to capture Spike, not kill him. They won't figure out that chip in his head unless his head is still there for them to see it wired in." Giles thought a moment longer. "What about some rogue demon hunters?"

"Same scenario as before. They'd kill the other vamps rather than use them."

"Hmm, why else would someone want to kill Spike?" Giles wondered.

"You mean, besides revenge, general principle, or he owes them money?" Buffy replied.

"Buffy, wait a moment." Giles stepped back as he worked through something troubling him deeply. "What if the attack on Spike wasn't about Spike per se?" he said mysteriously.

"You mean, what if it really was about me. I thought of that. Giles, what is Spike, besides a vampire?" Buffy was fishing for Giles to come to the same conclusion she had.

"A pain in the arse," Giles muttered.

"Giles took the train to personalville, maybe he should come back now?" replied Buffy archly. Giles spared her a disparaging look, and then went back to thinking.

"He's the only demon in our little band," he said slowly. "That means there are some things he can do that none of the rest of us can." Giles stopped to clean his glasses, considering. "Buffy, I don't like where this is leading."

"Exactly. This has 'set-up' written all over it. They want Spike out of the way, because there's something about him being a demon that will let him pick up on whatever it is they're going to do to me." Buffy nodded for emphasis.

"And getting other vampires to do it is meant to throw us off the trail." Giles shook his head and muttered, "Diabolical. But how can we be sure?"

"We can't," said Buffy. "But it makes the most sense. Think about it, Giles. This is Sunnydale, not Peyton Place. People don't do normal things here, like try to kill people out of greed or revenge. There's always something more complicated at work. Something darker – sorta like living in a Pink Floyd album."

"Yes, well, I didn't realize you even knew who Pink Floyd was," said Giles, smiling slightly for the first time in the conversation.

" 'VH-1 Where are They Now?' It's a show about old guys," Buffy offered helpfully. "No offense," she added hurriedly.

"Well, they're younger than Spike," Giles muttered. "Speaking of, it appears that having Spike alive means we may have an advantage."

"At least until we figure out how they're going to come after me." Buffy thought for a moment. "You know, it's not enough for Spike to have survived that attack. We need to keep Spike alive. That means keeping him hidden," Buffy smiled at Giles meaningfully.

"No. Absolutely not. He's stayed with me once already this millennium, he can find someplace else to stay this time." Giles voice rose until he was practically shouting.

"Giles, where else can he stay? Willow and Tara and I live in a dorm. Xander and Anya have just moved in together – and we'd rather not invite him in anywhere he hasn't already been. Besides, you guys are more compatible. You can do British stuff together." Buffy smiled again.

"British stuff?" Giles asked incredulously.

"Yeah, like drinking tea. And watching Masterpiece Theater. And eating bad food, not going to the dentist, and saying, 'Bloody,' a lot. And let's not forget …" Buffy struggled to think of more. "Let's not forget all that other British stuff." Buffy shrugged as if the whole matter were obvious.

"We'll talk about that later," grumbled Giles, sensing defeat. "But first, we need to figure out how we're going to track down who did it and why."

"Not necessarily in that order," Buffy said. "While I track down who, you guys can track down why. Or at least work on some theories. If we have some idea as to who, it might help us figure out why." Buffy began toweling off why Giles muddled this over.

"All right. First, we need to see what Willow pulled off the Initiative's computers between the battle and when the government purged everything." Giles began to pace as he ticked off the tasks to be done. "Then we can search the reference materials and see if there's anything about a vampire's powers that might give us a clue. We can also see what Anya knows, or at least can suspect. She was demon for a thousand years, after all." He stopped, and looked at Buffy. "Just how did you plan on finding out who was behind this?"

"Easy," said Buffy. "These vampires got information from some of the local demons. I think it's time we got some information, too; even if somebody has to beat it out of them." She paused and looked around melodramatically, then feigned surprise. "And hey, look, I'm the Slayer. Who better to do it?"

"Well, be careful. I'll get everyone else started on things." Giles was worried, but had enough confidence in Buffy to let her do her job.

* * *

"Now, are we going to finish this, or do I have to finish you?" Buffy asked calmly. The demon she was holding against the wall, a sniveling green-skinned torborg named Vic, cast his yellow eyes about in anxious glances.

"Look, I'm tellin' you, I didn't do nothin'," the demon whined unconvincingly. "I wouldn't do nothin' to hurt old Spike."

"Really? You and he big friends, are you?" The Slayer contemplated the thought for a moment. "Funny, he doesn't seem the friendly type."

"Look, put me down and I'll try to explain it to you nice and simple-like, okay?" The demon pleaded.

Buffy slowly lowered him down from the alley wall. "You run, I slay. Deal?" she said simply. He nodded vigorously. "Spill," she ordered.

Vic looked around self-consciously, making sure nobody could see them. Then he took a few moments in an exaggerated act of straightening his clothes. Growing agitated, Buffy clenched a fist, but Vic threw his hands up in submission. "Okay, okay, I'll spill. Look, ain't nobody Spike's friend. Not after he got rewired and all. He just ain't done nothin' to go deservin' no friends, see. But ain't nobody gonna mess with him, either. Spike's done too much to keep the scaries out of Sunnydale."

"I thought you were the scaries," Buffy replied tartly.

"Shows how much you know," countered Vic, pointing one misshapen finger at her. "You might think that we're afraid of you, Missy – "

"You mean you're not," Buffy postured.

"No, no, we are," Vic countered smarmily. "That's not the point. There are things that demons fear a lot more than you. That's all."

"Like what?" Buffy asked acidly.

"Management," Vic replied. Buffy was puzzled. Had he really said what she thought she had just heard him say? Management? Her bewilderment emboldened the scaly demon. "Thought you knew everything, didn't you? But you don't know about the management. What? Did you think we demons just wandered around wherever we wanted in this pathetic dimension of yours?"

"Yeah, kinda," Buffy replied.

"Well we don't. We have management, just like you do," Vic nodded triumphantly.

"So are you saying everything you do is part of some grand, overall plan? Because if you are, you guys really suck at it." Buffy shrugged.

"No, it's not all some grand, pre-ordained plan. Well, some of it is, but not for most of us." Vic shook his head and sighed. "Most of us are just working class demons. You know, we have things were supposed to do in certain places, quotas to meet, orders to fill - the usual grind. Some of us have steady jobs; some of us are freelancers. We just try to do what we can and not attract too much attention from the management. 'Cause let me tell you, if you think we're nasty, you just wait until meet one of those guys."

"So what does Spike have to do with this?" Buffy asked.

"Spike's what we call 'Self-Employed.' That means that he don't have no manager looking over his shoulder. But let me tell you, the management don't like that. They don't like having elements in their territory that they can't control. So, guys like Spike know that they have to make sure things stay on a nice, even keel. They make sure that nobody does too much, and nobody does too little. That keeps the management from looking too close at this town, which means they don't come looking for him." Vic crossed his arms and nodded.

"And let me guess," replied Buffy. "The rest of you guys like that just fine."

"Hey," the demon said, spreading his arms, "we don't need management's attention any more than Spike does. So even though we don't like him all that much, we appreciate having him around." He paused a moment and reflected. "Plus, I think he owes just about everybody money, so nobody's going to dust him till he pays up."

"So, what does this have to do with those other vampires attacking Spike?" Buffy asked.

"Nothin', just like I said," replied Vic, looking around suspiciously.

"Why don't I believe you?" Buffy asked. "Maybe if I hit you some more, you'd remember some more. What do you think?" Buffy lifted a fist.

"No, no, I'll talk," Vic shrunk defensively.

"Hurry up, I'm getting bored," Buffy said.

"Okay," said Vic, looking clearly scared. "Those vamps who came through said they had a …" his voice dropped to a whisper, "management job." He looked around, worrying that very words would bring the evil hordes down upon him. "They even said it was …" his voice dropped again, "an executive contract." He shivered and looked around again.

"But I heard it was a human who hired them," Buffy said.

"Coulda been. Or it just coulda looked human. They do that, you know."

"The management?" Buffy clarified.

"Yeah, the management - especially the executives. They need to keep an eye on things down here, so they go about as humans. They take power as humans." Vic again looked around, afraid.

"What do you mean, they take power as humans?" Buffy asked.

"They take positions of power over your affairs." Vic replied.

"Like what, mayor?" Buffy's memory of the Sunnydale mayor made her shiver.

"Maybe, if there's a local problem. But the executives go for something bigger. Governor, congressman, stuff like that." Vic informed her matter-of-factly.

Buffy thought on this for a moment. "Did they say anything else?"

"Nah," Vic began, but as Buffy clenched her fist again he threw up his hands defensively. "Okay. They just said that they needed to get things cleaned up before he came to town. That's it. I swear it."

Buffy put her fist down. She had a lead, now, but she needed to check a few things out first. "Thanks," she said, and walked out the alley.

"No problem," Vic replied. "Anytime. And hey, if you see Spike, tell him he still owes me twenty kittens."

Buffy rejected the urge to gag. "I don't even want to know," she muttered.

When he was sure she was gone, Vic pulled out his cell phone and dialed. A click was the only indication that he had that someone had picked up. No voice spoke on the other end of the line. "The slayer knows about the management visit," Vic said. He waited for instructions, but he only heard a small hum. A moment later, the hum burst into a high-pitched invocation, light burst from the phone's speaker, and Vic's brain melted. Before he hit the ground, Vic was dead.

* * *

            As Buffy walked home, she pondered the demon's words. Could this be true? Could some high-powered demon overseer be coming to Sunnydale? Some demon masquerading as a human? But who could it be, and how would she ever know? Buffy stopped at the corner and heaved a heavy sigh. Looking around, she spied a freshly stocked newspaper machine. The extra large headline on the Sunnydale Gazette caught her eye, and froze her heart:

            "Sunnydale Prepares for Congressional Visit."