A/N: This chapter contains sex

"I guess she hates me now," Buffy murmured as she and Riley lead the team of commandos through the dark and silent forest.

In total contrast to her usual classroom behaviour, she had raised her hand multiple times during the mission briefing before their deployment. She had had no idea that in military slang "any questions?" really was rhetoric. It was quite apparent no one had really known how to react to her queries – similar queries that she would have put to Giles before a mission like this as a matter of course. In her not so humble opinion knowing about the hunted creature's defences, for example, was somewhat pertinent, thank you very much. A "that's all you really need to know" wasn't very confidence inspiring – not at all.

She had been able to gather from the mostly technical briefing that they were hunting a Polgara demon, or "Sub-T 67119" in the Initiative's classification and that it had a) really tough skin for defence, and b) both considerable strength and wicked sharp barbecue skewers to use in battle. Plus, they were big.

She hadn't really understood the implicit order not to damage the creature's arms when capturing it, so her "why?" shouldn't have been met with sneers and under-the-breath snickers. And, as far as she was concerned, she really needed to know what "zap 'n' trap" meant in plain English. Well, both had become clear to her upon weapon requisitions, as "zap" apparently meant a rifle-like, turbo-charged taser and "trap" a gun that shot out a large net.

"What?" Riley blinked at her.

"Dr Walsh. Asking questions is really not encouraged at the Initiative, huh?"

"It's... a little unusual," Riley agreed. "Plus, you barely ever open your mouth in her classroom."

"That's not... the whole truth," Buffy defended herself immediately. "I... contribute plenty."

"Ummm, Buffy?" Riley grimaced. "Could we perhaps talk about this later? There's a dangerous HST around, and since I don't have Slayer reflexes I kinda need to stay on alert."

"Right," Buffy nodded. "Right."

They patrolled on for a minute or so in silence.

"Polgara, huh?" Buffy asked just to pass the time. "I wonder how she knew its name."

Riley was left spluttering, not really having an answer.

In another part of the forest Forrest was just explaining at great length why assigning one's girlfriend as second in command "just wasn't right" and with what body part said decision had been made when Graham shushed him and handed over the night-vision binoculars.

"Hello, Hostile 17," he murmured quietly as he followed the vampire's progress through the woods some 50 yards away. The hostile appeared to be carrying what looked like a brown paper bag full of groceries. Next to him Graham gave quick orders for two of their teammates to flank the former captive.

This was his chance to show Rye that they were better off without the Slayer complicating things.

His triumphant feeling was short-lived, though. With incredible reflexes their target was able to avoid the net shot at him. Then, using the grocery bag of all things, he was able to neutralise Dale.

"Graham," he prompted urgently but the other lieutenant was already in action.

"I've got him," Graham answered confidently and took aim with the tracer rifle he now held in his hands. At the last possible moment, he fired the projectile which hit the escaping hostile square in the back of his shoulder. "Gotcha," he grinned in satisfaction and lowered the weapon.

"Alert Base and Alpha Team," Forrest instructed their comms man. "We've tagged Hostile 17 with a tracer and we're in pursuit."

Even before they started their mission, Riley had been determined and eager to show Buffy that he was more than capable of carrying his own weight. So, when the creature attacked them from the darkness, he took it as a sign of luck that the attack came from his flank and not Buffy's. He immediately flicked open his expandable baton and assumed a fighting stance to meet the HST head-on.

He heard Buffy shout his name from behind him and then everything happened in a rush. He swinged the baton to deliver a stunning blow, but to his shock hit only thin air. The next he knew, the creature had delivered a tremendous blow which sent him flying and finally rolling on the ground ten feet away. As he shook his head to clear it, he glimpsed a blonde-haired whirlwind engulf the creature in a flurry of powerful punches and kicks from all sides. Seeming to be slightly groggy from the Slayer's attack, the HST flicked its arms and produced needle sharp skewers from both its wrists.

He was just about to shout a warning to Buffy when it first swung its new weapon at the Slayer. The word died in his mouth when Buffy, seemingly without breaking stride, just bobbed and weaved around the slashing arms and was immediately again delivering tremendous blows on their foe.

Again able to act, Riley picked up his dropped taser blaster from the ground and took a look around the battleground. Their net-gunner as well as the other two of their team with tasers were in position and ready to fire. In their midst Buffy executed an incredible spin kick which whipped the HST's head around to stun it momentarily. Following her spin seamlessly into a roll away from the creature gave Riley the opportunity they needed.

"Now!" he shouted at the top of his lungs and immediately the HST was hit by three pinpoint-accurate electric currents which dropped it to its knees. The net followed, and the more the creature thrashed around the more entangled it became.

He ordered a cease fire and then watched in mute shock as Buffy stepped quite calmly in front of the swaying HST and rendered it unconscious with a final savage kick to its head.

When the Slayer turned to face him, Riley nearly took an involuntary step back. The look on Buffy's face was... hungry and almost primaeval. Her chest was heaving, and she stood over her fallen foe like a predator.

She was the most breath-taking sight Riley had ever seen.

"So...," she practically purred at him. "What do you wanna do now?"

Maggie Walsh watched in grim satisfaction as three members of Riley's team wheeled the unconscious HST out of the elevator on a stretcher. He signalled for them to stop and carefully probed its arms for any damage that might have rendered them useless.

"Captain Finn?" she queried from the sergeant who had been the third in command of Riley's Alpha team as she continued her preliminary examination.

"He left the scene with the, ummm... Slayer, ma'am," the sergeant answered somewhat hesitantly. "She practically dragged him away, and he instructed us to deliver the specimen here without further delay."

"Thank you, sergeant," Walsh nodded. She saw Dr Angleman and two members of his team approach them from the direction of the pit. "We'll take it from here. Dismissed."

With a final salute the three soldiers left the scene.

"Seems your fears were somewhat unfounded," Dr Angleman commented idly as the specimen was being taken away by his assistants.

"We'll see," Walsh responded flatly. "Have your team make the necessary preparations. We'll operate tomorrow morning."

"Right," Dr Angleman nodded in agreement. "Good night, then."

Absentmindedly muttering something akin to a suitable response, Walsh went back to her desk with its multiple monitors. With a few typed commands she brought up the dashboard for their security cameras. Selecting the one labelled "Lowell House / Finn" she leaned back in her chair and waited.

Maggie's patience was rewarded only five minutes later when the door to Riley's room was forcefully pushed open, and he and the Slayer staggered inside practically wrapped around each other – kissing and caressing. The door was closed behind them with a little flick of Riley's heel which was the exact moment Walsh clicked the recording button with a sardonic sneer.

Watching the two practically compete to get each other naked as quickly as possible gave her no real pleasure. What she was doing was just a necessary precaution – an insurance on the smooth continuation of their operation. Distasteful as it was, she was determined to make herself watch the whole encounter all the way through. She kept the audio muted allowing her to make analytical observations on the interactions between the two unwitting stars of the show.

She was only slightly surprised by the Slayer's constant drive to be the one to lead, to be in control. Riley, on the other hand, seemed to instinctively try to take the traditional masculine role of being in charge and expecting the other to just submit to this. She let out a small, amused laugh at the soldier's initial, clumsy attempts at being seductive – something he had probably learned from adult movies.

For her part, the Slayer appeared to be intensely focused on the whole experience. Walsh briefly wondered if Riley had any idea what he had gotten himself into when he decided to pursue this wild creature... which gave birth to a totally new idea. She had never really wondered where the Slayer's preternatural abilities originated. If it was physiological, it could be studied. And maybe, just maybe, there was a way to improve Adam even further.

She was so intrigued by this new train of thought that she almost missed the moment when Riley finally managed to get Buffy lying down on the bed and climbed between her spread legs.

For Buffy this was the first time she had really acted on the whole H&H concept that seemed to be the driving force behind her sister Slayer. For once, she had given in to the post-slaying rush and practically dragged Riley all the way to his dorm. There had been a few clumsy moments when she thought she might lose the feeling – especially when Riley had all but slobbered all over her face in his urgency to smother her with kisses. There had also been the unsaid premise by him that they would do it missionary style. She had felt his hesitancy when she had first tried to push him down for her to be on top. In the end she abandoned that idea and slightly reluctantly gave in to his expectations just to get them started.

It was quite clear he was not used to anything but submissive women as far as sex was concerned.

Besides that, she had no real complaints. He was good-sized, apparently possessed some decent stamina, and expressed his pleasure vocally in just the right proportions. What he was mostly lacking in was imagination. He varied his position between full handstand and leaning on his elbows, but when Buffy raised her legs up for him to support them with his arms, he ignored the subtle hints and just kept on pumping in and out.

In the past she had only had sex with Angel and Parker, so she was quite inexperienced as it came to requests mid-coitus. She knew she was more than nimble, but actually getting the "hold my legs and push them behind my ears" out of her mouth required the kind of a shift in her mindset that she was not yet ready for. So, she settled for crossing her ankles behind his back to keep him fully buried inside her when she felt he was getting close to the edge. To her slight disappointment she most likely wouldn't be able to come herself before he was finished. She could only hope that he was gentleman enough to finish her with his mouth or fingers.

Maggie Walsh froze the picture on the image of the Slayer thrusting her head back and arcing her back as Riley brought her to climax with his fingers. She nodded to herself in satisfaction; despite Riley's many shortcomings, he apparently knew better than to leave a lady hanging.

Switching off the monitoring she stopped the recording and stretched her arms and legs. She gave the clock on the wall a quick glance. Six hours and she'd have to be back to supervise the operation on their latest capture. Nodding in satisfaction for an overall successful day, she locked her workstation and headed for the elevator to take her above-ground.