Part Three - The Ones We Knew

As darkness silently made its way to Sunnydale, Spike prepared to leave his crypt. He needed some fresh blood, having drained every bag he had been stocking in his fridge. His wounds had continued to heal through the rest of the day and most of the cuts had closed, yet his bruises were still visible and made his every movement a rather painful experience. But the vampire had chosen to ignore that. Moving as usual kept the muscles from getting stiff.

A loud thump, and the door shook in its hinges.

"Why, is everybody picking up the Slayer's bad habits?" he muttered, as he turned around towards it. Another thump, and the door flew open.

"Now, look who's come to town!" the vampire sneered as he saw the figure appear in the doorway. "You arrived just in time to sod off!"

Riley shook his head as he marched through the crypt. "Negative, Spike. It's you who'll disappear."

Spike's smirk died away as he sensed the change, and was replaced by a startled expression. "A vampire?"

The soldier grabbed his collar, and slammed him against one of the columns. "Surprised?"

"Not much so. I expect one of your whores finally lost control?" The sneer returned.

A fist hit him hard on the nose, spilling his blood. "My Sire is not a whore," Riley hissed.

"Yeah, whatever. But, you know what I really like about you being a vampire? I can finally do this!" Spike brought his arm around to deliver a powerful blow at his enemy - and clasped his head in agony as pain shot through it. His opponent used that moment to land a punch himself, and the bleach-blonde staggered back, knocking over his TV set and crashing into the couch, unfortunately from the wrong side. The wooden back splintered under his impact..

"What, did you break your chip?" Another hard blow sent Spike to the floor, and as he still fought against the daze that filled his head, Riley erased his consciousness with a swift kick against his chin.

"That's too bad." The soldier eyed the limp body on the floor, and gave it a hard kick. And another, almost cracking ribs, for a moment allowing himself to release the hatred he had cultivated for so long. Then he reached into his pocket, and produced a stake. Finally… and this time for real!

"No, my boy. Not yet," A soft voice from the entrance made him look up.

"Why not? Better kill him now that he's weak."

Drusilla stepped into the crypt, and pouted as she looked at the fallen figure of her former lover.

"But there's no fun if he can't play." She smiled, and easily picked up the unconscious vampire. "And I want to have fun."

***

The mental ward was filling up faster than the hospital could handle. Three extra beds had been put into the room, and the doctors sent as many of the patients as possible home with their relatives, or even close friends, yet there seemed to be no stopping the growing streams of new victims.

Glory has to be very hungry. Ben shot an angry look at the mumbling patients. How much he hated this! It had always been that way: Wherever he went, she left lunatics behind. That had been part of his decision to become a doctor. When you had to move from town to town, it made life much easier if you had abilities that people needed.

Even if it was only as an assistant. An assistant that happened to be on duty tonight, to handle possible emergencies the nurses couldn't deal with. On the mental ward. That he hated. The young man even had summoned a Quellor demon, but that one had only gotten rid of five or six of Glory's food suppliers. Then the Slayer had killed it, and as much as he liked Buffy, this simply wasn't fair.

The thought of the Slayer seemed to ring a faint bell deep down inside him. Oh, no! He tried to think of something else, pretty little flowers, what he had for dinner, a girl - no, not a girl, for that brought the picture of Buffy Summers to his mind. The ringing grew more intense, and he grew desperate. No, nonoNO! He clasped his head, under the eyes of the uncaring patients, trying to fight it down, trying to-

Trying to ignore the fact that she was wearing cotton on her delicate skin. Hopefully, one of her ever-present bumpy minions would get her a dress, soon. Else she'd have to teach them once again the meaning of serving a god.

Glory looked around, and frowned in distaste as the babbling around her grew louder, more excited.

"Bah! The lunatic store!" He always had to do this! Taking her places he knew she couldn't stand.

"Would you stop that shouting! You're giving me a headache," she complained.

But there was no holding back the patients, now that they sensed the presence of their god. They began tugging at the straps that tied them to their beds, eventually freeing themselves and gathering around the blond woman.

Glory sighed angrily as she avoided hands that were reaching out for her, but then smiled as a tall dark-haired man approached her.

"So, still up to destroy my key, aren't you," she teased as the Knight of Byzantium stood before her.

"Pretty… pretty little girl" he stammered, looking down at the goddess with a wondering face.

"I'm not a girl, you stupid-" She broke off. "Hey, are you talking about my key?"

The knight smiled happily. "Pretty, shiny little girl. So shiny, pretty little key."

Glory's face turned into a broad smile as she looked at the tall man in front of her. "So. You were worth the effort after all," she cooed and patted his cheek in delight. Then, she clapped her hands, and started to laugh.

There was only one little girl protected by the Slayer.

***

Riley leant against a tree in Sunnydale's only park. The night had painted everything pitch-black, and it was almost impossible to make out anything but mere outlines in the shadows that were not reached by the light of the streetlamps. If you weren't a vampire.

If you were, you could even sense it when someone was approaching from behind. Just like now.

"Riley." Graham's voice cut the silence that surrounded them. Riley smiled, and turned to face the man that had been his best friend since their early army days. Although their abilities had leaded them into different directions, they had always managed to keep working together. Knowing that they could rely on each other.

"Did you get them?" he asked.

"Yes. Although I don't know what you would want them for. All HSTs with an implant died when… you know."

Riley took the map with the papers and examined them briefly. "That was the end of the Initiative," he replied, and looked up. "Our glory days," he added, smiling.

Graham returned the smile. "I'm glad you're not running from the memories anymore. Although I didn't expect to see you again that soon when I said we would stay for a while."

"Major Ellis and his boys looking out for demon activity, huh? Seems I have a little work to do before I can go back."

The smile ebbed away. "What do you mean?"

"I mean this."

Graham backed away in terror as his friend's face began to change. "Riley-" his voice was cut off when two strong hands grabbed his head, breaking the neck with a sudden twist. Horrified surprise was still written on the face as all life left the soldier.

The vampire let the body slump to the ground. He tucked the plans safely away under his shirt, then took off towards a certain headquarter without looking back.

Time for business.