Buffy made it inside the house and leaned against the front door catching her breath. Her thoughts moved in a million different and conflicting directions causing her head to ache. She went to the kitchen to look for aspirin and found Joyce sitting at the island with a cup of tea.

"Buffy," she said with a smile. "Willow called for you. She said you all needed at meet at Giles's house for something."

"Did she say what?"

"Nope. I don't think she wanted me to worry. So naturally, I'm worried. What's going on Buffy?"

Buffy shrugged. "Same old. Monster on the loose, lives to save. You know."

Joyce nodded. "Right. Are you feeling okay? You're skin's a bit flushed." She stood up and pressed the back of her hand to Buffy's forehead.

"I'm fine." She went to push her mother's hand away but she forgot about the broken fingers.

"What happened to your hand?" She held Buffy's hand in her own.

"I think I broke a couple fingers. It happens."

"Did you wrap this yourself? It's very well done."

Buffy thought about Spike taking care of her while she was sleeping. The color in her cheeks deepened. "I've had a lot of practice."

"Well, all the same, it probably needs to be re-wrapped. Old rags make a poor substitute for real bandages."

"Okay. Let me just get some aspirin. It aches a bit." She hopped her mother didn't notice her wince as she turned around to find the bottle in the cabinet.

After she'd gulped down two big pills, she let Joyce fix her a cup of tea and a grilled cheese sandwich. Joyce talked about work while Buffy ate. Gradually conversation was directed toward Buffy.

"So, how have your classes been?"

Buffy nearly choked. When was the last time she'd actually gone to class? She'd been maybe twice since Riley. If she wanted to have the slightest chance of passing, she'd have to get with Willow for notes. Several weeks worth of notes...

"Good. Classes are good."

"That's good. I was worried that losing that psychology teacher might make things difficult for you. Did they find someone else to teach the class?"

"Uh, no. They had to cut it." That was what Willow had said, right?

"And right in the middle of the semester." Joyce shook her head. "Well, I'm glad it hasn't been too hard for you. The last thing you need is more work."

"Right."

"Are you sure you're feeling okay? You're awfully distracted."

"Peachy," Buffy said as convincingly as she could.

"Is it a boy thing? Because you know it's okay to move on already. It's not too soon if you're interested in someone else."

"No, I'm alright, mom. Really."

"Well, if you want to talk, I'm always here." She ducked down to kiss Buffy's forehead and carried the empty plate to the sink.

"I'd better go meet up with the gang," Buffy said.

"Be safe," Joyce called as Buffy made her escape.

Everyone was waiting when Buffy came through the door. They all sat in the living room and Willow jumped up excitedly as she joined them.

"I decrypted the disks. Sorta. I got the information off of them anyway. This monster thing, it's not a demon."

"What is it?" Giles asked curiously.

"It's this demon, human, machine hybrid. There was this top secret project called 314 that only a handful of scientists knew about. Maggie Walsh was one of them. Actually, she was the head of the project. They were trying to create a perfect organism. So they put all the best pieces of different species together to make this super intelligent, super strong being."

"Well it worked," Buffy commented.

"And it looks like the demon parts are pretty dominant," Willow said. "He's called-"

"Adam."

"How did you-" Willow began.

"I ran into him last night in the cemetery." She lifted her bandaged hand.

"Are you okay?" Willow asked.

"What happened?" Xander asked.

"I'm okay. We fought. Well... I punched him and he threw me into a headstone. Turns out they're as solid as they look."

"Just like that?" Willow asked.

"It was like nothing to him. With a sweep of his arm it was lights out for Buffy."

"You fainted?" Giles asked with concern.

"If Spike hadn't found me, I would have been monster food."

Giles looked uncomfortable but he didn't say anything.

"So this super monster, exactly how bad are we talkin'?" Xander asked.

"According to the disks, his brain is somehow half computer. He could just suck information out of any disk or drive in the Initiative. If Riley told them about Buffy, then there's a good chance he knows everything."

"Everything they would find relevant. He wouldn't know about you guys," Buffy said.

"Well how much do we really help?" Xander asked.

"You help lots! I mean if Willow hadn't cracked the disks-"

"Actually, Buffy they kind of cracked themselves," Willow interrupted.

"Okay, well if Willow hadn't done that locater spell, or that light spell we wouldn't have been able to stop Angelus."

"Well, that's Willow. Willow is of the helpful sort. I'm of the get in the way sort," Xander insisted.

"That's not true!" Willow said.

"Yeah, you're our wheels. And moral support," Buffy said.

"Oh, and you're good at the whole sarcasm thing. It's more important than you'd think." Willow nodded.

"Fine. I help. But I don't see how I can help with this one. I mean, it knocked you unconscious and while I am very good at being unconscious, I don't see how that helps."

"Well you can help us with the thinking, since right now that is what we're doing," Willow offered.

"Alright, I'm the brains of the operation." Xander smiled.

"We're all doomed," Giles said behind a cup of tea.

"Hey!"

Buffy ignored them. "Did those disks say anything about how to shut him down?"

"He doesn't have a heart, but he is alive. I don't think cutting his head off will do it though. Not with him being all computerized."

"I don't think I could anyway. His neck is pretty solid."

"Well how do we kill this thing then?" Xander asked.

"Uranium," Willow said.

"Good thing we've got such an ample supply of that," Xander snarked.

"It's his power source," Willow said giving him a reproachful look. "Problem is, we don't know where it is. The disks didn't exactly provide a detailed copy of the design plans."

"Well that's something. I think," Buffy said.

"Yeah we'll just ask him to lie down while we do some exploratory surgery," Xander suggested.

"What about magic?" Willow suggested. "There's gotta be a spell for that. Some kind of uranium extracting spell..."

They all looked at her strangely.

"Yeah I know."

"Perhaps a paralyzing spell," Giles suggested much more helpfully. He stood up and retrieved a book from the nearest shelf and flipped a few pages. "Only I can't preform the incantation for this."

"Don't you have to speak it in Sumerian or something?" Willow asked.

"I do speak Sumerian. It's not that. Only an experienced witch can incant it and you'd have to be within striking distance of the target."

"See what you get for taking French instead of Sumerian?" Xander said looking at Buffy.

"What was I thinking?" She rolled her eyes.

"Ooh! The brains has an idea! We just need like a combo Buffy: her with her slayer strength, Giles' muti-lingual know how, and Willow's witchy power... Yeah don't tell me. I'm the brainiest of operation brains."

"As a matter of fact, you may just be," Giles said getting another book. He found the right spell and handed the book to Willow.

"Oh! It's an enjoining spell. This could really work!"

Xander smiled. "So I really am brainy?"

"The brainiest. We just need to find Adam and a quiet place where we won't be interrupted and a few other things and we're good to go," Willow told him.

"We'll if that's all," Xander said disappointed.

"Actually guys. I think he might be hiding out in the Initiative," Buffy said.

"How do you figure?" Willow asked.

"Well, he's super intelligent right? So, he'd know there's no safer place in Sunnydale. Plus, whatever he's up to, he'd have endless resources there."

"Not to mention all the information a bio-mechanical demonoid could wish for," Willow added.

"So, we're going back in?" Xander asked.

"Looks like," Buffy replied.

With everything gathered together, the gang made their way to the Initiative cave. They hesitated before the concealed door.

"Everybody ready?" Buffy asked.

"As we'll ever be," Willow said.

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Xander said.

"I think I left the kettle on," Giles said.

"Good," Buffy said. "Let's do this."

She swiped the key card from the first venture into the Initiative. The green light flashed and the door slid open. They marched inside and as they rounded the first turn, they were stopped by ten heavily armed commandos. They were escorted into a room with lots of security equipment and even more commandos.

"How did you get in here?" the colonel commanded.

"There's a monster living in your facility planning a big take over the world scheme," Buffy told him. "You have to help us find him."

"You think you and your friends can just keep waltzing into a government agency? Yes, we know you were here. What we don't know is why you didn't show up on the cameras. Or how you got in after we deactivated that key card," he said scowling down at her.

"You have to listen to us. This thing is gonna do some serious damage and we're the only ones that can stop it."

"You expect me to believe four civilians carrying weapons like... like," he dug through the bag confiscated from Giles. He looked confused.

"It's a gourd," Willow told him. The man looked astonished.

"A magic gourd," Giles added.

"What kind of freaks are you people?"

"Adam is inside the Initiative, Colonel" Buffy said.

"How do you know about Adam?" he asked with a disapproving scowl.

"I'm the slayer. It's my job to take down monsters like him."

"Every inch of this installation is under constant surveillance."

"Including the secret lab?" Willow asked.

"Including everything!" He scowled at her. "What secret lab?"

"The one Adam's been using. The one used for the final stage of the 314 project... And you have no idea what I'm talking about," she added catching another disbelieving look.

"I know everything that goes on around here. A tick on a mouse couldn't get in without my knowing," he said proudly. Buffy rolled her eyes.

"We did," Willow informed him.

"And we took things," Xander informed him.

The colonel scowled. "If Adam wants to try anything, we're ready for him."

"How exactly do you plan to get close enough to remove his power source?" Giles asked.

"Hit him simultaneously with multiple taser blasters."

"Which would work if he wasn't a good part machine. You'd most likely be feeding him more power," Willow said.

"That's pure speculation."

"But it sounds a lot better than that 'duck and cover' plan you've got going on," Xander said. Willow held back a smirk.

"You tellin' you me my business?"

"This is not your business. It's mine," Buffy said. "You, the Initiative, the boys at the Pentagon, you're all in way over you're heads. Messing with primeval forces you have absolutely no comprehension of!"

"And you do?"

"I'm the slayer. You're playing on my turf."

"Up there maybe, but down here I'm the one who's in control."

The lights cut out surrounding them in darkness. Emergency lights slowly came on as they all looked around in confusion.

"Sir, the power grid is down. Backup's not responding," said a soldier a computer. The colonel looked at Buffy. "Locks have released. Hostiles are loose."

"How many?"

"All of them, sir."

"It's Adam," Buffy told him. "I am the only one that can stop him now. Just let me handle this, get your people out of here."

"You men follow me," he said pointing at the soldiers. "We've gotta take the armory, now."

"Colonel!" Buffy protested.

"These people are under arrest," he said to another soldier. "Do you understand?"

"Yes sir," said the soldier.

The gang shared irritated and discouraged looks as the soldiers matched out of the room leaving two behind.

They moment they were gone, Buffy kicked the soldier at the computer right out of his chair and knocked the second into the table. She slammed her elbow into his face and he fell to the ground unconscious. She grabbed his blaster.

"Come on, we've gotta find Adam."

Willow sat down at a computer and started typing.

"The enjoining spell is very touchy," Giles said. "It's volatile. We can't risk it being interrupted. We need a place that's close to you and quiet."

"Uh, quiet?" Xander nodded to security monitor displaying the chaos as soldiers were torn apart by demons and demons were shot by soldiers. Everything was fire, electrical sparks, and blood.

"There!" Willow said pointing at the screen. "According to this there's air ducts and electrical conduits all running into there."

"So?" Buffy asked.

"So there's no there there. There's nothing on the map."

Buffy nodded understanding. "It's Adam."

"Are you sure?" Giles asked.

"It's right behind 314. Can you unlock it?'

"I don't have to. All the locks in the Initiative have been disengaged. Except the exits."

"Demon open house," Xander commented.

"Well, there's one that's reporting damage, but that doesn't mean it's open either. Something heavy probably just fell against it and it jammed or something."

"Great. So we know we're going to 314. Now all we have to do is get there."

Buffy handed Xander the blaster and they marched out of the room, right into the heart of the Initiative. Solders hid behind burning trucks and lab tables as demons, less strategically, leaped over them and tore apart anyone they could get their hands on. The floor was littered with the bodies of unarmed scientists with a soldier or demon corpse here and there.

Buffy led the way through the chaos doing her best to clear a path. Xander came second firing taser blasts at any demons that got in the way. Buffy tackled Willow to the ground as a well-meaning but confused soldier aimed his machine gun their way. They got back on their feet the second the gunfire stopped and ran into the room marked 314.

"It should be over here," Buffy said walking past lab tables and machinery. Willow helped her move a cart away from the wall where a door was hidden.

"Okay, once I'm in barricade the door behind me. Is this place okay to be magic central?"

"It should do," Giles nodded.

"As long as we don't get blowed up or nothin'," Willow said with a shrugged.

"What are the odds of that?" Xander joked.

"How long before the ritual kicks in?" Buffy asked.

"Five minutes give or take," Giles said.

"Gotta move fast then."

"Buffy I still don't like you going in alone," Xander said.

"I won't be." She turned and ran down the secret hallway.

They immediately got to work setting up. The sat together in a circle and hopped Buffy hadn't already gotten into trouble as they started the spell.

Buffy found Adam watching the chaos he created as is it flowed through the entire facility.

"Fun isn't it?" Buffy asked.

"I do appreciate violence," Adam agreed.

"Good."

Buffy went at him ignoring the part of her brain that reminded her it wouldn't do any good. He dodged every blow, except the one that snapped his polgara skewer right from his arm.

"Broke your arm," Buffy taunted.

"Got another." He raised his arm as it changed form until it was more mini-gun than flesh. "I've been upgrading."

Buffy dove behind a panel of computers as he fired at her. Her body suddenly felt warm and she was no longer afraid as she could feel her friends within her own mind.

Bang, bang! Bang! A large demon crashed through the door and came right at the group sitting on the floor just as they finished the ritual. Spike ran into the room and grabbed it. He twisted its head around and dropped it to the floor.

The group looked at him feeling disoriented as they returned to their own bodies.

"Nasty sort of fellow. Lucky for you blighters I was here, eh?" Spike said.

Giles blinked at him dizzily. "Yes... Although your heroism has been slightly muted by the fact that you've tried to kill as all."

"You probably just saved us so we wouldn't stake you right here," Xander said.

"Did it work? Well, then everything's all right. And we all get to be not staked through the heart. Good work, team." He offered them all a smile and a thumbs up.

Buffy came back through the door as the others finally made it to their feet.

"Buffy." Giles said with obvious relief.

"Wasn't it amazing?" Willow said excitedly.

"You were great," Xander said.

"We were great." Buffy smiled.

"There's still a lot of people out there," Xander said.

"Well, let's go save 'em, by gum," Spike said. Everyone but Buffy looked slightly confused.

"You guys get to the exits, get 'em open," Buffy said. "I'll take point. We'll try to pull the soldiers back. Get 'em outside."

"Are you up to this?" Willow asked as she led the way out.

"I am," Buffy responded knocking out the nearest demon.