Disclaimer: I don't own a thing.

Summary: Post AtS and BtVS, Faith and Xander are approached by a secret government agency. Surprises all around.

Rating: PG-13

Chapter 4: Sunrise

Faith smashed the front door down, revealing the interior of the small elevator. The elevator car wasn't in the shaft, leaving a long, empty shaft, with a steel cable in the middle.

Xander, behind her, sighed. "Great," he said. "I can never get an elevator."

"Wait here," said Faith, jumping forward and grabbing the wire.

As she slowly descended hand over hand, she wondered just what she was going to do when it came time to fight three vampires, at least two of them serious threats, and the Destroyer. She was pretty sure those kinds of odds weren't what most people called favorable, or even half-decent.

As she neared the bottom she let go, landing on top of the elevator car. She found the hatch on top fairly easily, even in the dark, and tore it off, dropping herself lightly into the empty car.

She hit the top bottom and the elevator began ascending, giving her a moment to check her hands. The leather gloves she was wearing to match her leather jacket had protected her hands pretty well, and she only had one or two small cuts. She bound them quickly, knowing that vampires could smell blood so well it would be dangerous to go into combat with any kind of wounds.

Thanks to that vampire in Prague, that was a mistake she wouldn't be making again.

When she reached the top the doors opened and Xander climbed in slowly. "Going down," he said nervously, hitting the button.

Faith sighed. "Why are you coming along?" she asked for the fifth time.

"Because I know Riley, and I'm kind of hoping he'll listen to reason," replied Xander. "Okay, that sounded totally naïve and kind of stupid."

Faith shrugged. "Not so stupid," she said, glancing around the small elevator. "They've probably figured out we're coming down, and have guns waiting for us at the bottom."

"Way to make me feel confident here," muttered Xander. "Remind me again why we're doing this before Buffy and the rest of the Slayers arrive?"

Faith shrugged. "We're here," she said simply.

"You mean you want to protect Buffy and stake Spike before she has to," said Xander nervously. "You do know he killed two Slayers before, right? I mean, seriously...and Drusilla, she killed Kendra! This is like Slayer-killer central down here!"

Faith shrugged again, glaring at Xander. For once she let the cool reserve she tried to keep between them slip a little, feeling some real anger towards him. "Look, this is what it is, okay?" she asked him, her voice rising. "We're going to kick a little butt, take some names, and they better not try to stop us, okay?"

He nodded unhappily. "I know," he said. "I just...worry."

She felt her temper deflate, and felt a little more anger arise from that. What right did he have to be right, to take the high ground? He made her feel about two feet tall every time he did that, and she hated it.

She really, really hated Xander at times like this.

The doors opened, revealing two soldiers with guns leveled.

"Welcome back," said Riley, standing at the end of the hallway. "Spike said you might come back like this—and he was right, as usual." There was a slight note of bitterness in his voice, and Xander recalled all too well that Spike had been there when Riley's relationship with Buffy had unraveled.

"Sorry," said Xander. "But we learned a few things about Spike—about the things he's been doing since Sunnydale."

Riley shrugged. "You mean, the time he spent hanging out with Angel?"

"The people he killed!" shouted Xander. "He turned on us, Riley!" Faith turned to Xander in surprise, shocked by his outburst. "He's a vampire; that's what they do! He and Angel weren't fighting the good fight in LA, Riley, they were killing people! They brought an ancient demon, a force of evil, to life!"

Riley shook his head. "That's low, Xander."

"It's true," said Faith. "When we told Giles Spike was here, he came running. Would you like to talk to him?"

Riley frowned. "He summoned an ancient demon?" he said, his voice unsure for the first time.

"And how," said Xander, relieved.

Riley shook his head. "That's...immaterial. He's already been a great help to us."

"Where's Spike?" asked Faith.

"Why do you ask?" said Riley defensively. He then paused, taking a second to soak up the irony of his defending Spike. "That is, why don't you explain to me just what you want, and I'll see if I can't give it to you."

"He's going to try to end the world again," said Faith. "You see it, don't you? Open a portal into hell—that's what all the badguys do! It's what the hellmouth was all about. It's what Sunnydale was all about. The First Evil just did what everybody before him had tried!"

Riley stared. "What? First what?" he asked.

"Long story," said Xander. "But think about it. A portal into hell—that's not something good guys do. It's going to unleash hell on earth, letting more demons than you can imagine come to the ultimate buffet—Earth."

Riley scowled. "Okay, that's a pretty good spin on what he said, but he said he wants to kill the demons there."

"It's impossible," said Xander. "The ones here are the tiny three inch Joes. The ones there are the full-sized original models."

"You just used GI Joes to make a serious point," sighed Faith, covering her face.

--

Connor sat back in his seat, leaning his head against the top. Spike, who was driving, glancing over at him and made a snorting noise, then went back to watching the road.

"If she can get us into hell, do we wait for the soldiers to come with their guns before we go in?" asked Connor.

"Of course not," said Spike. "They've been compromised. Faith and the whelp'll have the whole Sunnydale crew and all those Slayers on the way by now. The soldiers'll fold, and probably they'll stake Dru." He frowned at the thought, and then shook his head. "S why we brought Harm with us."

"Thanks a lot," muttered Harmony.

"We're going to need her for phase two," continued Spike, as if she hadn't spoken at all. "Wouldn't do to lose her."

"And if this lead doesn't pan out?" asked Connor, worried. "What do we do then?"

Spike sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Then we're well and truly screwed," he replied. "If this doesn't work out then we go back to Buffy, and try to talk her into it. Just one more time."

"And if she still doesn't go for it?" asked Connor.

Spike was silent for a long moment. "Maybe this isn't something we can do," he said finally. "I mean, I'd like to do it, but maybe this just isn't something we can do."

Connor shook his head. "Geez. You're ready to give up?"

"The soldier-boys were our last contact. Now the Sunnydale crew will come in and gripe about how I fought beside Angel and Illyria and even Wes." Spike was silent a moment, remembering the dead. "And they're all dead, can't defend themselves, can they? Dead."

Connor shifted in his seat uneasily. "Spike," he said, his tone a warning.

"I'm not going crazy again!" protested Spike. "Been there." He shuddered, a full-bodied shiver that jerked the steering wheel, making the tires squeal. Harmony let out a squeal of surprise, the tone very near that the tires made. "I just need to stop," he whispered. "Stop and take a break. Sleep for a thousand years."

"You've been pushing yourself," acknowledged Connor. "But the worst is yet to come."

Spike chuckled. "Patience, grasshopper," he said roughly. "Cliché center here. Been there. Apocalypse brewing—Harm, do you smell anything yet?!" He roared the last words.

"Eep! Yes! I smell Eve!" said Harmony.

"Good." Spike slammed the brakes on, bringing the car into a skidding stop. Harmony let out another shriek. "Connor, you have the scent?"

Connor shook his head, frustrated. "Too many here. I wish I'd met her—that would make it easier."

Spike growled, rubbing his own nose. "Come on, Harm. Take us to her."

Harmony opened the car door. "God, you drive worse than you—!"

Spike cut her off with a glare, glancing at Connor, who got out of the car uncertainly, looking around.

"I know this place," said Connor. "Back from the days when I was..."

"And what if she has another demon army waiting for you?" asked Harmony. "Think about that, Spike! Demon armies, dragons, all sorts of nasties!"

"Eve isn't part of Wolfram and Hart, not anymore," said Spike. "They think she betrayed them. Especially since her cuddly puppy Lindsey helped finish off the Circle of the Black Thorn."

Connor frowned uncertainly. "But Lorne killed him, didn't he?"

"Yeah," said Spike. "Go figure."

Harmony led them down the LA street, following the scent. "This is nuts!" she said.

Privately, Connor agreed with her. For all his protestations that he was sane, Spike had been over the edge ever since Angel died. Ever since Buffy had refused to help him, telling him that she thought he and Angel had been fighting against goodness and right.

His babble about saving the baby had only made things worse, there.

But even if Spike was a little mad, Connor was standing by him in this. Not because he thought Spike needed a friend—good Lord, that sounded so touchy-feely his stomach turned over—but because Connor understood all too well the odds the vampire was up against.

His parents—the ones he thought of as real, even if they weren't—thought he was off in college. He felt bad, lying to them like this.

But he had a responsibility to finish what his father had started. It was a long shot, but Spike, in his mad, mad way, had come up with a plan to destroy the Senior Partners, the people who'd killed Angel.

The people who had destroyed Angel, really.

Then Connor felt the sixth sense he was only marginally aware of most the time tingling, and knew they were in trouble again.

Connor swallowed, glancing at the two blondes in front of him. "We have a problem," he reported grimly.

"What?" asked Spike roughly.

Connor nodded over his shoulder at the two men wearing long, tan dusters. Both of them held crossbows, and they were grinning, an evil set of grins. They looked like rejects from a bad movie, too cheesy to be real vampire hunters, and too lucky to be anything but Wolfram and Hart.

Spike turned around, growling low in his chest. "You lot better work for Eve," he said, the threat in his voice very clear. "If you were to be, say, flunkies for Wolfram and Hart—well, none of us here have any problems hurting humans, do we?"

"Not a bit," said Connor. "As our past history more than proves."

"Ain't it neat?" asked Spike.

"I can smell Eve on them," said Harmony nervously. "Um, don't point those things at me, guys. Perfectly harmless vampire here."

"The boss lady said you might show, and she said we could have you if you did," said the first, a tall blonde also wearing a fedora. He fired the crossbow.

Spike caught the bolt in mid-air, a movement of muscles that cracked in the night air, a coiling motion like a snake striking, only more graceful. "Nice try, chuckles. Do you know exactly who we are?"

The other fired quickly at Harmony. Connor caught the bolt, his arm flicking out. "I don't think they do," he said firmly.

"Holy crap!" exclaimed the second man. "Nobody's that fast! Nobody!"

Connor ran forward, jumping into the air. As they turned to run he landed in front of them, spinning to face them.

"You are out of your league." He said it quietly, without rancor. "Take us to Eve, now, or we'll tear your guts out and paint the street with them."

Spike, suddenly behind the two gaping mercenaries, growling in assent. Harmony, behind him, made a gagging noise. "That's just gross!" she complained.

Spike sighed, rolling his eyes. "You're a vampire. You like those things, remember?"

"Yeah, but it's messy!" complained Harmony. "Even...Oh, poo."

It didn't take a whole lot of convincing to get the two mercenaries, who Spike immediately started calling Miney and Mo, to take them to Eve. As they led the way up the narrow staircase in a tenement building, Connor took the lead, standing behind the two crossbow-toting soldiers.

"Crossbows can be useful," Harmony conceded. "But Angel could do that arrow-grabbing thing, and so you've got to figure that anybody who's any good can do that too."

"I've never tried it before," admitted Connor. "I had no idea I was that quick. I wouldn't even have tried, except Spike did it."

"First time for me too," admitted Spike. "Seemed better than being skewered."

"So I might have been killed?" asked Harmony, clearly unhappy with the thought.

"Yeah, more or less," said Spike. "So sorry about that, Harm. Are we there yet?"

"And are there more of you?" asked Connor.

The mercenary in front of him swallowed hard. "Number 307, and there's nobody else. We're, uh..."

"Yeah, yeah." Spike shoved him against the door. "Oh, Lucy, we're home!" he called, kicking the door open, sending the mercenary sprawling into the room. Eve, sitting at a computer, shrieked, and leapt for a crossbow in the corner.

Connor beat her there with a long leap, smashing it. "Ah ah ah!" he cautioned her, waving a finger in her face. "Let's all play nice!"

The tall, lanky brunette swallowed hard, her wide, bright brown eyes showing signs of panic already. She backed away, staring at Spike. "I thought you were dead," she said. "Oh god."

"Then what were Miney and Mo for?" asked Spike curiously, pushing the other mercenary into the room. "They were armed for vampire, after all."

She shrugged. "I didn't really believe it when I heard Angel was dead," she admitted. "I mean, a guy like that—you don't really believe he can be killed, do you?"

"I didn't," said Spike. "I mean, trust me, I have tried, in the past. And I couldn't do it. No, it took some major demons from hell to do it. Speaking of which, I hear you could perhaps take us there."

"Where?" asked Eve.

"Hell," said Spike, pushing forward and invading her personal space. "I hear that as the personal creation of the Senior Partners, and former conduit of their powers, you have the power to make visits to your 'parents.'"

"And we're thinking now might be a good time," suggested Connor.

Eve stared at them. "You're nuts," she said finally. "Completely nuts. Don't you know they'll kill you like they killed him? Don't you know that these people will leave you nothing?" Her eyes flashed, and the words on the tip of her tongue remained unspoken.

"Like we left you nothing?" asked Spike. "Like we took your precious pookie away from you? Go on, what have you got to lose, giving us a one-way ticket to hell, eh?"

She scowled at him. "You're insane," she noted.

"No, I'm not!" howled Spike. "Why does everybody think I'm insane? I've never been saner!" He moved even closer to her.

"This is dark magic!" she protested. "I thought you were supposed to be some kind of champion!"

Spike grinned, a forlorn, evil grin. "Ask Connor, pet," he advised.

Connor nodded, the tousled hair bouncing. "This isn't just about revenge, you know," he said. "It's about stopping them in a way that dad always wanted to—but couldn't. You of all people should know how much he really wanted to get to them, but couldn't. Now, this is about finishing his mission for him." And so much more, he didn't add.

The sharp planes of Spike's face were tilted in anger. "Dark magic, love? We don't care. One way ticket? We don't care. Now, you're going to open that door, or I'm going to kill you. It's as simple as that."

Eve deflated slightly. "You killed Lindsey," she said quietly.

Spike shrugged. "He was evil. You had to know it was coming."

"You took away the one man I ever loved!" Eve shouted at him.

Spike grinned. "Bit of melodrama there, ey? Get over it. The Senior Partners...if you believe they can kill us, then you believe this is justice. And if we kill them—they were the ones who corrupted Lindsey, you know. Led him down the path that ended with him dead. They're as responsible as us. You want vengeance? Get me on the same plane of existence as them. One of us will die, and either way, won't that make you happier?"

--

Riley finished listening to Giles and Xander, and sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I never did trust Spike fully," he finally said. "We needed him, however, to make this program work, and I kept him pretty well contained."

Faith snorted, standing by the door and watching the soldiers all around, keeping her eyes on their all-too-deadly guns. "And the fact that he brought the DESTROYER into the mix didn't bother you?" she asked.

Riley shrugged. "Connor's a good kid. Good parents," he said apologetically. "I did trust him. Maybe I shouldn't have. I'm sorry."

"Trusting Spike is always the big mistake," said Xander, a bit of venom in his voice.

"Fortunately, as I said, I didn't," replied Riley. "We have a tracker on Spike. I can take you right to him."

Faith smirked. "Wicked," she said.

"There's one other thing," said Giles. "Drusilla. I believe you have her?"

"I can have her staked with just a word," said Riley.

"No," said Giles. "Her visions—they always gave Angelus an edge, being able to see the future. Spike sought the same edge. If we could interpret her visions, her babble, perhaps we could use it as they did."

Faith snorted. "Using a vampire. The new Watchers are just like the Old ones. I say we just stake it."

Xander considered it. "Drusilla is pretty loopy," he told Faith. "If there's any vampire we could use, it would be her. I'm kind of on the fence on this one."

Faith sighed. "Any other little surprises we should know about?"

Riley shook his head. "We tried to keep him from developing any...surprises."

A soldier stepped into the room. "The other Slayer is here, Commander," he told Riley.

"Buffy?" said Riley, surprised. "Send her in, immediately."

Buffy entered, Dawn at her side, before the soldier could move. "—of my way!" she finished snapped, striding in. "Faith. Riley. Xander. Giles." She took in all the familiar faces. "Wow." The angry expression on her face melted away. "Hey, uh, is this where we talk about Spike?"

"Buffy," said Riley, smiling and standing. Xander stood too.

"We have a tracker on Spike!" he blurted out. "And Drusilla's locked up here somewhere."

"Oh," said Buffy. "Um. Hi, Riley. How's Sam?"

"Good, good," said Riley. "I can have a team on him in ..." He stopped, touching his ear. "Sorry, radio. What? Crossbows? They can do that? Yes? WHAT?" He glanced back at Giles. "They're casting a spell now, and Hartney thinks he can stop them. Except...Connor is pretty hard to stop."

"Who's Connor?" asked Dawn.

"The Destroyer," said Faith grimly. "We've got to get there, now. Maybe two Slayers could stop them."

"I can have you there in an hour," said Riley. "Which, from coast to coast, that's actually a pretty unsafe speed you'll be traveling at."

"No complaints here," said Buffy. "Let's go."

As they filed out Xander hesitated, glancing to Riley. "Thanks," he said finally.

"I've always tried to fight for the right thing," said Riley. "I just can't believe that Spike...again!...nearly turned me around. Last time it wasn't until I met Sam that I got my head screwed on straight again. I forgot how easy it is for him to manipulate. How...we should go."

Xander nodded, relieved that they had sorted it out.

He kind of hoped they wouldn't have to stake Spike. Despite his undying hatred for the bleached wonder, Spike had saved the world more than once. And in doing so had earned some respect from Xander.

Respect he was blowing every minute he tried to end the world.

"It comes down to it, if Buffy can't do it, somebody has to put Spike down," said Xander grimly.

Riley nodded. "I'm carrying a single-shot stake launcher," he said shortly. "It looks like a baton, just a night-stick, but it can take down a vampire. It's faster than any crossbow ever made, and it should give me an edge."

"Great!" said Xander.

"Just one problem," said Riley gloomily. "Spike knows about it. We used it against Drusilla's minions—I did, that is—and he saw me."

Xander shrugged. "So long as it isn't up to Buffy, that's all," he said.