LEGAL A/N: Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all characters belong to Joss Whedon, 20TH Century Fox Television, UPN, The WB and CW. 24 and all characters belong to Robert Cochran, Joel Surnow, 20TH Century Fox Television, Imagine Television, Real Time Productions and Fox Network. No profit is being made off of this and no copyright infringement is intended.
THE FOLLOWING TAKES PLACE BETWEEN 4:00 A.M. AND 5:00 A.M.
4:00:00 A.M. PST
Xander stood wide-eyed in the middle of the nearly pitch dark room. Fear overcame him immediately as he heard the harsh, inhuman panting of the unseen creature crawling around on the other side of the room. He could barely see what was separating him from the enemy across the room, but he figured they were rows of shelves.
His eyes found a metal door shrouded in darkness – the only one that was possible to see through the shadows. The breathing of the creature grew louder and closer, as if the monster could smell his growing terror.
There was no assurance that the door on the other side would be unlocked, but it appeared to be his only chance. The mysterious monster, which sounded gigantic, would find him in just a few seconds.
Xander eyed the metal door across the room through the shelves. It was a straight-shot – twenty-five yards at the most. He would have to run faster than he ever had in his life, pushing every muscle in his body harder than ever before.
In a fury of fear and adrenaline, he broke away into a mad sprint across the room, racing down the aisle. He could practically smell the breath of the beast hot on his feet as he rushed to the metal door. He imagined himself bursting through the door, home-run-sliding across the ground, then slamming the door into the skull of the monster behind him.
Xander raced straight into the closed door, jamming his shoulder and bouncing off onto the ground in less than a second.
"Dammit!" he hissed, holding his injured shoulder as he scrambled to his feet. He turned and glanced behind him to see a large, shadowy figure rushing down the aisle on all fours towards him. Xander reached up for the door handle and threw himself through the doorway, shoving the door closed behind him.
The door jolted as the beast rammed into the steel door, denting it. Terrified, Xander sat with his back against the door, his heart racing in his chest.
4:04:37 A.M.
Jack marched into the front store where Tara and Willow were both sitting on the floor with a book between them. Willow looked at Tara with a smile on her face, nodding in agreement with Tara as she told a brief side joke.
"What the hell are you two doing?" Jack declared coldly. Willow and Tara looked up at him, blindsided.
"Uh…" Tara began, glancing down at the piles of books around them. "Well, we-we were just lo-looking at—"
"What are you supposed to be doing?" he cut her off.
"Jack," Willow declared, shocked, "what's the problem?" Willow gazed at him in confusion as she noted his appearance had slightly changed.
"The problem?" he repeated in disgust. "Where the hell have you been for the past few hours?"
"Jack… you're…. you're sweating," Tara declared. His face was beaded with sweat as it had been for several minutes. He could feel the muscles in his neck beginning to cramp and his shortness of breath from earlier in the evening was slowing coming back.
"There's no time for that," he spat in reply. "You two need to be doing something useful and tell me what you've been keeping from me."
Willow and Tara glanced at each other as Willow said with confusion, "Keeping from you? What?"
"The Initiative," Jack snapped. "Why haven't you told me what Buffy did to it?"
Tara shook her head, "I don't understand—"
"Don't play stupid with me!" he shouted.
"Hey!" Willow snapped back in defense. "Don't talk that way to her."
"The Initiative," he raised his voice again. "What happened to it? What was it?"
"The government built it at first to capture and study demon life in Sunnydale," Willow answered. "But then this woman who was running it – Maggie Walsh – she came up with a better idea of how to deal with it. They built a new entity that was part demon, part human and part machine called 314. Or… Adam, Maggie called it."
"Why did Buffy destroy the Initiative?" Jack demanded.
"She had to," Willow defended. "And… she kinda didn't. It destroyed itself. Adam came alive and let all the demons run free and they destroyed the Initiative. Buffy was just there to save our friend and stop 314 from escaping."
"Buffy didn't destroy anything," Tara declared.
"You should've told me this before," Jack answered as he began to pace around the store, fuming with anger.
Willow shrugged, "We didn't think it mattered—"
"Well, you were wrong!" Jack barked, startling both of the women. "Why don't you fix this mess and get me all of the information you have on the Initiative!" Willow and Tara stood there in disbelief as he spun around towards them, his multi-colored eyes flashing, "Get out!"
Tara and Willow glanced at each other in astonishment, both of them disturbed. They turned with angry faces and rushed out of the Magic Box, neither of them bothering to stand up to him out of a strange kind of fear. Jack watched them run off in amazement of himself. He stepped back in horror.
"Are you doing this because of Buffy?" he heard a soft voice declare from behind him. He turned around with a startled expression, staring at Dawn who stood in the doorway with a stunned face.
"Dawn…" he whispered, but was silenced, unaware of what to say.
"It's not your fault she left," Dawn answered, with a sound of encouragement. Her face fell flat as her tone turned to disapproval, "But it's not their fault either." She turned away and walked back towards the basement. "Maybe you need some rest. You do look sick," she declared as she walked out of the room, leaving him alone.
4:11:02 A.M.
"Buffy!" Anya screamed. She rushed up to the door of her new glass cell as four vampires dragged the Slayer across the ground. Anya began to beat furiously on the glass, but Buffy was unconscious and helpless. "Let her go! Let her go!" Anya demanded with an enraged scream.
Merrick strolled into the dark room after the vampires. "Silence!" he shouted at her. Anya glanced over as she saw them drag Buffy's body into a new cell across from hers and throw her in.
"Seal the vents," Merrick ordered. "Kill them both."
"Wait!" Anya cried as the vampires stomped out of the glass cell and the doors slid closed, the air being sealed inside. "I thought you said you needed us!"
"Incorrect, Anyanka," Merrick said, pausing for a moment to glance back at her. "You're no longer necessary." He glared at her coldly, then turned around and marched away. Anya stood in her cell in horror as the vampires left her behind. The outside doors slammed shut and Anya looked over to see Buffy on the ground of her own cell.
4:18:53 A.M.
A shadow crossed over Spike's pale white face as he lay in a cot in the basement. Jack watched him with growing concern as the vampire's vital signs went from dead to worse. He shook his head with a shred of remorse.
"Gettin' weak in the knees, are you?" Spike declared in a weak voice. Sweat beaded his face as dark circles formed around his sunken-in eyes. Shivers went through his body repeatedly as the vampire tried to stay strong and still through them.
"I was just checking on you," Jack answered as he crossed his arms. In his hand was a small napkin that he had been using to wipe the sweat from his face. His stomach had been churning slowly for the past ten minutes. He ignored his own discomfort presently as he said to Spike, "You're doing well."
"Buffy… g-gone?" he stuttered.
"She told me to tell you to hang in there," Jack nodded. He took another deep breath; those which he had been taking had been getting shorter. "She'll make it out of this in no time with the antidote. Just hold on until she gets back."
A smile curled Spike's lips. "She say all that?"
"Yeah," Jack shrugged. The smile widened even further on the vampire's face as he closed his eyes tightly, pain gnawing at his limbs.
"You suck for a liar, y'know," Spike grinned bitterly. "She's not thinkin' about any antidote." A few moments of silence passed as he declared with mixed emotions, "This is the end for me."
Jack stared at the ground. "You don't know that for sure."
"Do me a favor, secret agent man," Spike slowly said with half a smile. "I haven't got much time. Maybe a couple of hours. I can feel it. You kn-know it." He held his tongue for a few seconds and regained control of his muscles as best he could. "I'm not goin' out tied to a bed in a basement…" he grunted in soreness. "I… always pictured the sun takin' me out. Fire runnin' me through, burning me alive. Kinda poetic."
Jack glanced over at him as he pictured each of his words. "Make you a deal," Spike declared, having more trouble than before with his speech. "When the sun comes – I want to see it. One last time." His eyes opened and gazed up at Jack. With a considerate nod, Bauer agreed.
Seconds later, another episode took control of his body as he began to jolt lightly in his near-comatose state. Jack watched with no control of the situation, unsure of what to do. Spike's hands gripped the sides of the cots as he exclaimed through gritted teeth, "Got – got to kill him, Buffy… K-kill… Elijah…"
Jack looked away with pity, but a thought came into his head. He stared into the darkness of the basement, his mind descending into contemplation.
4:24:27 A.M. PST
Jack marched into the training room with a deadly glare. Tom Cruise remained tied to a chair, covered in his own blood for a change. The young vampire looked up and saw Bauer coming towards him and his unbeating heart shrieked inside him.
"I-I told you everything!" Tom shouted.
"Not everything," Jack hissed. He upper-cutted the young vampire, then wailed on him with four more punches to the face and head without warning and without reason.
"Please!" the vampire begged. "Please, stop! Please… What do you want from me? Anything!" Jack regained control of himself as he stepped back and stared at the sobbing teenage vampire, but that only made him fiercer and more determined. It only made him colder.
"I'm gonna ask you this once and once alone," Jack demanded. "The name of the vampire leader that was killed earlier tonight." He roared, "What is it?"
"Elijah!" the vamp screamed in horror.
"Elijah what?" Jack spat.
"Gaines," said the vampire, trembling with fear. "Elijah Gaines…" Jack stared at him, wide-eyed in silence. "It's the truth, I swear," the vamp cried. "I swear!"
4:26:19 A.M. PST
Merrick stood in the main conference room speaking with Kwan Paik as one of the vampire soldiers walked up to them. "Sir, we're ready," the vampire declared.
"Very well," said Merrick. "Release the Syntox."
"So soon?" Paik asked. "I was sure Vourdulak wanted—"
"She killed Ahmed," Merrick reminded him with anger. "She is a liability I won't have." He turned back to the vampire solider and gave the order. "Do it now."
4:28:57 A.M. PST
Buffy's eyes opened as she gazed up at the ceiling over her cell. Her head and body aching, she slowly sat up and peered around at her containment cell. The loudest, calmest silence of her life was roaring all around her, so much so that she almost wondered if she had gone deaf. She looked from left and right in her rectangular containment cell and saw Anya across the way through the grimy glass. Xander's fiancé was desperately banging her fists and palms of the glass walls of her containment cell, trying to get Buffy's attention, but no sound traveled through the soundproof glass of her cell.
Buffy shook her head in confusion as she stared at mute Anya, watching her try to mouth a word that looked like 'yeah' or 'hat.' I'm not wearing a hat, Buffy thought to herself, staring at the frantic woman on the other side of the room. "Man, I blow at this game," she whispered.
Suddenly, Buffy heard an abrupt sucking sound from overhead. She looked up fearfully as a nozzle was lowered out of the ceiling. The Slayer glanced over to Anya who stared upwards in her cell with a terrified expression. Buffy's eyes met the nozzle as a thick white gas began to seep from the top.
"Screw this," Buffy declared, then cupped her mouth. She glared at the glass door in front of her and lifted her boot, then slammed her foot through the wall, shattering it. Buffy was reintroduced to sound as a wave of wailing sirens went off all around and red lights began to flash in the room. She ran across the room to Anya's cell, jumped in mid-run and kicked through the wall, grabbing Anya by the wrist and sprinting off.
"Hold your breath!" the Slayer ordered as Anya willingly obeyed. The two women rushed to the sealed door of the room as Buffy slapped the button and the door slid open. Two vampires stood outside and turned around in shock. Buffy grabbed both by the collars and tossed them into the room behind them, then rushed out of the doorway and down the hall.
Anya and Buffy bolted down the hallway, running through every hatch door they could find as they pictured the toxic gas trailing them. Buffy glanced behind her to see that the gas was not on their tails. She pushed Anya into the closest room and took a deep breath, since they were both almost blue in the face.
Anya gasped for air as well as both of them balanced out their heartbeats. "We don't have…" Buffy said in between breaths, "a lot of time…"
"They'll be coming for us," Anya breathed. "Vam… vampires…"
"They're not gonna need the air," Buffy concluded. "We gotta move. They're going to try to seal us in." She took Anya by the arm as the two of them rushed off.
4:32:12 A.M. PST
"What the hell is happening?" Merrick demanded as he marched up to one of the vampire commanders just outside of the conference room.
"There was a breach in the containment room, sir," the commander replied, looking rather afraid. "We think the situation is under—"
"You think?" Merrick roared. "It's quite obvious that you don't do much thinking! Seal off the east wing! Make sure no gas enters the medical unit!"
"But, sir, we don't need the air," he suggested. "If we let the gas reach the Slayer, she'll just die—"
"Did I ask what you needed?" Merrick hissed. "I want vampires blocking the east wing exit now! Seal them in!"
4:34:38 A.M. PST
Xander found himself standing inside of a control room with the beast beating and roaring on the other side of the steel door. He gazed back at the dented door, fearful that it would not hold, but a new threat brought him to his feet. All around, sirens were going off and lights were flashing – something was happening outside. Was it Buffy and Anya?
He gazed around for an exit, but there didn't seem to be one. The only way out was through the unseen beast. "Where's G.I. Jack when you need him?" Xander rolled his eyes.
However, they stopped on something sitting on the control panel of the dusty, abandoned control room: a telephone. A brash idea suddenly popped into his head. "Who are the Ghostbusters gonna call?" he repeated to himself.
4:38:01 A.M. PST
Buffy and Anya raced down the hallway following the posted signs all around. "There's an exit that comes up on the south side of the college," Buffy declared as she led the marathon run. As they turned a corner, both of them threw on the brakes and gazed forward at the army of vampires standing between them and the elevator exit.
The Slayer's eyes widened hopelessly as the team of two dozen vampires blocked the exit. Suddenly, a computerized voice announced over the P.A. system in the hallway as the metal blast door in front of the exit depressurized: "Shutdown engaged. Prepare for east wing air-lock."
Anya looked up at the ventilation shafts in the hallway and remembered the one in her cell. "Buffy," she cried in fear, "the gas will be here any second!" The Slayer stared at the vampires standing in her way as she felt the ground beneath her tremble; the steel door was about to close.
Buffy reached back into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out the black metal canister twice the size of her hand. She pulled the pin out of the top and threw it on the ground. The canister rolled to the vampires as they stared at it in confusion. Buffy reached over and covered Anya's eyes as she sealed her own shut.
With a beep, the canister rolled to a stop on the concrete floor and an explosion of bright, white light ripped out of the can and filled the room, burning the retinas of those staring at the canister. Vampires screamed out in pain and dropped to their knees as their eyes felt as if they'd been set on fire. Along with the light, the canister emitted an electromagnetic pulse that blew out all of the other lights in the room. The white light faded down and ceased, leaving the room pitch black.
Buffy and Anya kept their eyes shut as the light came forth again in a weaker form, this time in the form of a disorienting strobe. The steel blast door slowly began to descend amongst the chaos. Buffy grabbed Anya's arm, and while keeping her eyes shut, both moved through the maze of confused or injured vampires until they reached the exit and rolled under the door.
The girls rolled to a stop and found themselves in an elevator. Buffy came to her knees and mashed down on the button which sent them rocketing upwards towards freedom.
4:44:16 A.M. PST
Kwan Paik ran through the flurry of vampires running around through the Initiative. The military was alive and thriving with as much activity as a bustling beehive. "Merrick!" Paik shouted, approaching him in the conference room. "The Slayer and the ex-demon have escaped."
Merrick's eyes moved over calmly to Vourdulak, sitting at the conference table with a mischievous smile. Merrick met her eyes, then turned back to Paik at peace. "It doesn't matter," he declared with a smile. "It's too late. They'll never stop us now."
4:48:28 A.M. PST
Tony sat in front of his wife's personal computer in their office with the cordless phone up against his ear as he typed away at the keyboard. "Jack, I don't understand why this is so important right now," he sighed in confusion. "I mean, this case has been closed for years."
"I just want to make sure of something," Jack snapped with frustration. "Can you tell me what I need to know or not?"
"Just give me a second," Tony defended himself. "I'm working as fast as I can."
"Well, hurry up!"
Almeida bit his tongue and continued searching through the F.B.I.'s case files until he found what he was looking for. "All right, I got it."
"And?" Bauer impatiently retorted. He wiped the beaded sweat from his forehead and took deep breaths, wondering why there was no air conditioning inside of the building anymore.
"You're right," Tony answered, staring down at the family history of one of their former enemies. "Ira Gaines had a son named Elijah. He was murdered four years ago outside of L.A."
Jack's eyes were wide as he stared at the front store of the Magic Box with the phone to his ear. "He's back," he whispered with horror.
"Jack?" he could hear Tony say. "Jack, what's wrong? What are you saying? Jack?"
"Oh, my god," Jack breathed with bewilderment. "This is about me."
4:51:45 A.M. PST
Buffy and Anya were racing at full speed off of the quiet UC Sunnydale campus as Anya stumbled and came to a panting stop. "Come on!" Buffy shouted as she went back and grabbed her by the arm. "We've got to get back to the Magic Box!"
Anya picked up her aching legs and followed Buffy into the dark streets, glancing back momentarily at the campus behind her.
4:53:22 A.M. PST
Jack marched into the training room where the bloody vampire was sitting, chained to a chair. "What does this have to do with me?" Jack demanded. The vampire lifted his head and stared with wide eyes at the oncoming freight train of madness. Jack lifted the vampire up off of the floor by his bloody neck with one hand – chair and all – and threw him against the wall.
The chair was destroyed and the injured vampire sprawled out on the floor helplessly. Tom Cruise erupted into sobs. "Tell me!" Jack hollered. He lifted his foot and slammed it down on the vampire's face and chest repeatedly at least a half-dozen times. With the sanity of a rabid dog, he rained down fury and brutality on the beaten animal.
"Tell me what you know! Stop lying! Tell me the truth now!" Jack screamed as his face turned red and his heart raced inside of his chest. "What does this have to do with me!"
The vampire lay on the floor still and broken, staring up at Jack as he stepped back and glared down at the demon. "Everything," Jack heard him whisper.
"What?" Jack snapped. The vampire said nothing. Bauer picked him up and delivered another harsh blow to his face. "Answer me! What are you planning to do!"
The vampire burst into a fit of bloody laughter. Jack stared at him – the only time fear had set into him in a long while – as the young-looking chuckled with insanity. The vampire stared up at him defiantly with a twisted smile. "Don't you see, Jack?" he whispered, blood forming around his body. Nothing could hurt him now. "It's already happening."
Jack stared at him motionlessly, then glanced down at his right shoulder. It was seven hours ago, just before ten, when James and Buffy were making their valiant escape from the meat cellar in the Doublemeat Palace when he was shot with a dart – not a bullet. The horrifying realization came over him. The sweating, the heat, the agitation, the sickness, the pent-up rage, all made sense.
He had been poisoned.
Tom Cruise continued to laugh in victory. "It's been planned for years," the vampire giggled. "All of it… Quinton Travers… The Initiative…"
"My real father…" Jack said, in shock and horror.
"Just a pawn," the vampire explained. "Part of Travers' old plan. Merrick was Buffy's first watcher. Why? Because of you. It was always about you."
Jack stared down at his arm, feeling the sickness rising in his throat. The vampire mockingly laughed even more. "I can hear it, Jack," the vamp grinned. "I can hear your heart beating away inside your chest. It's fast." He glared at Jack bitterly as he spat, "It's inhuman."
"What…" Jack breathed as he stepped away, holding his throbbing shoulder. "What did you… what did you do to me…?"
"We made you stronger," the vampire answered as he sat himself up against the wall. "We gave you what you need to show the whole world what you always were." Jack looked down at the vampire's blood-stained smile. "Welcome to the other side, Bauer," Tom said. "Now you're a real monster."
Jack stared at him in motionless silence for several moments and watched the vampire bellow. The laughing rose and fell, but Jack didn't move. Then, in an instant, Jack shot across the room, clutched the teenage vampire's head by his hair, and then ripped his skull from his neck with one vicious yank. The hair dissipated into dust which fell from his bloody hands and the vampire's body became a pile of dirt on the floor.
Jack stared down, in awe of himself and the horridness of what he had just done. How'd I do that? How could anyone do that? The vampire was right. He had surpassed his humanity. The infection inside of him had been wearing away at his soul.
4:55:09 A.M. PST
Chloe sat at her laptop computer as her cell phone began to blare loudly. She reached over and grabbed it, answering the phone with confusion and annoyance. "O'Brian. What do you want?"
"For the love of god! Help me!" Xander shrieked, from the phone in the Initiative on the other end. Chloe pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it in confusion.
4:55:49 A.M. PST
Jack rushed out of the training room, holding his pounding chest and stumbled out into the front of the store. He collapsed on the ground in exhaustion. He could feel something taking over him, as if he were drowning in a vast ocean of rage and fire. Bauer tried to push himself off of the ground, his weak arms quivering under the weight of his upper body.
He lifted his head towards the window outside and saw a little girl with light brown hair and large blue eyes holding a doll close to her staring back at him through the glass. Her innocent eyes bore a hole straight through his soul, and he could swear he was staring at his little daughter.
His stomach heaved and he caught a gag in his mouth – if he could only reach her... he would rip her throat out.
"Jack?" he heard a soft voice from behind. He rolled onto his back and stared up at Dawn, who gazed down at him in panic. "Jack, what's wrong?" she exclaimed, distressed.
"Get away from me!" Jack shouted fearfully. "Please!"
"What's happening to you?"
"Kim, please…" His eyes began to burn as tears of terror formed. He felt his daughter's neck in his hands, his fingers slowly tightening around it. It was so fragile that it was liable to snap with just the slightest pinch. He squeezed his eyes shut as Dawn stepped closer to him.
"Stop!" Jack shouted, pulling himself away. His pain was so sharp that he wanted nothing but to inflict it on anyone and anything... starting with the Slayer's sister. "Stay… stay away!" Dawn froze in her steps and stared at him with wide eyes until a loud crash erupted from all around her. She looked up to see three vampires smash through the windows of the Magic Box.
She screamed and spun around, taking off into a run to the weapons closet. Jack looked over to see one of the vampires kneel down and aim a rifle at Dawn. "No!" he hollered, and then pushed himself up as the shot rang from the barrel. He lifted up and caught the bullet in his right arm and it sent him back onto the ground.
Dawn screamed in terror with wet eyes as she rushed over to Jack. She looked up to see more vampires rushing into the room as they grabbed her arms and ripped her away. Jack looked up and saw his daughter being dragged away from him, yet he was helpless to stop it. Lying on the ground, he reached out his bloody hand, his arm extending out to Dawn as they dragged her across the floor to the back of the store.
"Daddy," a small voice said. He turned around to see the little, pale-faced Hispanic girl standing over him with her rag doll in hand. He watched as the innocent face of the small child transformed into that of a vampire. He stared into the yellow eyes and sharp mouth of the demon with horror. "The Day is here, Daddy. The time has come."
"Jack!" he heard Dawn shout. "Jack, help me! Jack!" Bauer looked over to see one vampire holding Dawn's arms back as the teenage girl sobbed with fright. The other vampire lifted a pistol in front of her chest and fired once while staring at Jack tauntingly.
Dawn jolted backwards and fell to the ground as Jack screamed in agony, "No!" The world around him swiftly went dark as the other commando vampires placed a black bag over his head. Through the breaking of his heart, Jack felt a jolt of electricity shoot through his chest and at once he felt nothing at all.
4:59:58…
4:59:59…
5:00:00