This is a HALO - Buffy the Vampire Slayer crossover story and contains an original character of my creation. I just want to say thank you to the creators, writers and designers of both the HALO and Buffy franchises. They have provided me with hours of enjoyment and entertainment. All characters are the intellectual property of their respective creators and publishers; this story may not be sold or distributed on a profit-making basis. All characters are the intellectual property of their respective creators and publishers; this story may not be sold or distributed on a profit-making basis.

The sequel to "Faithfully Spartan" brings you more of the story of Spartan Michael-113, Faith, Buffy and the rest of the gang from Sunnydale... The "Battle of the Hellmouth" is over and humanity has won, but not without losses and sacrifices...

Michael managed to seal the Hellmouth with a nuclear bomb ending the danger to Sunnydale and the rest of the world, but he now finds himself trapped and separated from Faith. Can he find his way home?

Will Faith sit and wait or will she take charge and look for her Spartan?

Will they find each other and will they be able to overcome the dangers that are out there as they search for each other?oOoOo

oOoOo

CHAPTER ONE
The Briefing

Female voice (Identified — Faith Lehane): "Michael... Please… Please don't leave me! I love you!"
Male voice (Unidentified — Unknown): "Faith, I love you! I will—" {Rest of transmission garbled}

— Communications intercepted by US military during 'Sunnydale Event'

oOoOo

Fort Meade, Maryland
February 22, 2004 — 0845 EST

The woman behind the desk looked up, greeting Riley Finn as he entered the office, "Agent Finn, General Gheller is expecting you. Please, go straight in."

Riley nodded as he passed the secretary to enter the inner office. He was still trying to figure out why he was tromping down to the building's basement to meet the General rather than his office or a conference room. The urgency of this meeting and its location only increased its mystery and raised a lot of questions in Riley's mind.

The mystery surrounding this meeting only increased as Riley entered the office and glanced around. General Gheller was sitting behind his desk, appearing to be reading papers, but Riley got the sense it was more for appearance. What also surprised him was the lack of decor and furnishings in the office. The office was very austere-looking office, along with a plain-looking desk and chairs. The only thing that stood out was a plasma TV and DVD player, sitting on a table along the wall. Something seemed out of place for the office, and then Riley realized there was no computer in the office… there hadn't even been one at the secretary's desk. Even the phone seemed dated, looking like one of the old-style corded phone that would be more at home in his grandma's house than a General's desk. The whole scene only raised more questions as Riley came to attention, saluting, in front of the General's desk.

As the General looked up from his paperwork, Riley noted the up-and-down appraising gaze his commanding officer was giving him. For a moment, Riley thought he was here to face a reprimand or a disciplinary hearing, but he couldn't think of any reason. More questions grew in Riley's head as the General returned the salute, and gestured to the empty chair, "Good morning, Riley. At ease… take a seat."

Riley tried to maintain an air of relaxed calm as he sat down.

"How's your wife?"

"She's keeping well, sir," Riley replied. He still got the sense that the General was studying him.

General Gheller nodded, "Your last mission debriefing report said it was rough. That was the one in Brazil if I remember correctly?"

"Yes, sir. It was pretty rough, but we got the job done."

"Good work," Gheller replied, his face still not betraying any sign of why Riley was here.

By now, Riley's head was screaming warnings to him. He'd been in the military long enough to know that something else was going on and this was no simple meeting to review or rehash previous missions. The same military experience told him to let the whole scene play out until the General told him the real reason he was here.

The General leaned forward in his chair, "Riley… I was reviewing your file. Before you joined our operations here, your last assignment was with Doctor Walsh and The Initiative program, correct?"

Alarms bells rang in Riley's head at the use of the words 'Walsh' and 'Initiative' in the same sentence. A torrent of memories pushed to the surface of his thoughts. He got a bad vibe of where this conversation was going as a dark cloud descended over this meeting. Despite his inner turmoil, Riley maintained his composure, betraying none of his growing worry or concern, "Yes, sir. That is correct," he replied in a flat voice.

The General eyed Riley, "You were in Sunnydale, correct?"

The bad vibe continued to grow as Riley tried to figure out what the General wanted, "Yes, sir."

While Riley sat trying to maintain his composure, General Gheller studied his subordinate, noting the subtle changes in his body language and eyes. The General continued, "It's my understanding you were in a personal relationship with Buffy Summers… also known as 'The Slayer'."

And, there it is, Riley thought.

At the mention of Buffy's name, memories of her and Sunnydale bubbled to the surface. Old emotions and feelings pulled at his composure as he sat there. Riley wondered why the General was bringing up Buffy, his activities in Sunnydale along with his relationship with her were on the record.

There's something going on…

"Yes, sir," he said, trying to keep his poker face in place as he noted the General studying him closer, trying to gauge his responses.

"I take it you're aware of what transpired in Sunnydale several months ago?"

Riley had heard about Sunnydale, but the news had said it had been an accident. It was funny, at the time of the event he'd wondered if more had gone on and a part of him wondered if it involved Buffy in any way. The General's question triggered more alarms in his head, "Only from what I saw on the news. Something about a seismic event and a natural gas explosion," he replied, shrugging.

The uncomfortable expression flashing across the General's face as he leaned back in his chair caught Riley by surprise, setting off more alarm bells, "Um, yes. That's the story being given to the public… Before we go any further, I need to ask several more questions?"

Riley struggled to keep his composure in place as confusion, doubt and worry filled his head, "Go ahead, sir."

"Have you ever meet the other Slayer… Faith Lehane?"

Ouch!

Riley hadn't expected this question, and it was like a harsh slap of reality to the face as he recalled his one and only 'encounter' with Faith. Granted, it wasn't his fault she'd gotten hold of a magic charm allowing her to switch bodies with Buffy.

That still didn't get rid of the lingering sense of guilt and regret he still carried knowing it was Faith who'd seduced him using Buffy's body. A whirlwind of emotions grew inside him as he replayed the memories of those events. Yet, he maintained his professional demeanor, "Yes, sir. I've met Faith… the last information I had was that she was in prison?"

"Well, your information is out-of-date soldier. Faith broke out of prison."

Long dormant feelings exploded, and Riley forgot about his wife for a moment as Buffy filled his thoughts and worries. He struggled to maintain his professional composure as he tried to figure out what the General wanted and why with all the questions.

These questions were dredging up old memories and feelings and were putting Riley on edge. He was tiring of the game and playing docile, "Does this have anything to do with what happened in Sunnydale, sir?" he said, his voice taking on a harder edge.

General Gheller continued to study Riley. He already knew about the encounter with Faith. These questions were a mere formality to size up Riley's state of mind before they got to the reason he was here, "Settle down, Agent Finn. Your ex-girlfriend is doing fine. We'll get to the matter in due course."

The General's tone set off more alarm bells in Riley's head as this meeting took on the atmosphere of an interrogation. The General continued, "When you were dating this Slayer, you got to know the people around her… the weapons and tactics they used?"

Huh? Where is he going with this?

Riley treaded lightly, unsure of what the General wanted, "Yes, sir."

"What kinds of weapons did they use?" the General said, his eyes narrowing as he studied Riley closer.

Looking back, the 'weapons' they used seemed unreal and silly, "Wooden stakes… swords… crossbows… magic," Riley said, trying to hold back his embarrassment.

General Gheller nodded, "Understood… Did they ever have access or use automatic weapons, claymores, explosives or any other military hardware and equipment?"

Riley blinked, staring at the General, not sure if he'd heard him, "Huh! What're you talking about?"

"Just answer the question, soldier!"

Riley's military reflexes kicked in, "No, sir! I never saw Buffy or any of the others use military hardware or weapons in the time I was with her! The only one to use military hardware was myself when I used grenades to take out a vampire nest. There was talk about where Buffy used a rocket launcher to take out a demon called 'The Judge'. That was before my time with her, but other than that nothing… sir!"

The General's eyes grew narrower as he continued, "To your knowledge, are you aware if Buffy Summers or any of her associates had access to nuclear or fissionable materials?"

Time stopped and Riley's mouth hung open as the question sank in, "N-Nuclear! You're joking! Right?" he replied.

"Enough soldier! Just answer the question!"

Riley took a deep breath, clearing his head as he took a moment to get a grasp on what was going on, "No, sir!" he said, shaking his head vigorously.

The General nodded, appearing satisfied with his response, "Thank you. Just one last question, are you aware of anything peculiar that happened outside your normal experiences while you were in Sunnydale?"

Riley took a moment to think about the question, "Well, it seemed as if nothing ever normal occurred in Sunnydale, so—."

The word 'nuclear' triggered a long dormant memory, "T-There was one thing," he said, trying to recall the event, "There was one particular incident. Doctor Walsh received a report of an energy event… almost like a nuclear flash that occurred around Sunnydale. One of our recon satellites detected it and we sent in to investigate it. Is that what you are asking about, sir?"

The General leaned forward, his interest obvious, "Did your teams find anything during their search?" he said, trying to keep his eagerness in check.

Riley shook his head, "No, sir. We located the event site and investigated. We discovered a thermal burn area. The heat was so intense, it cooked the soil into glass. There were a few tracks from civilians, but they didn't lead anywhere. As per SOP, we took photos and soil samples, and everything got shipped to the Pentagon for further analysis. We heard nothing back on the incident. I guess it got forgotten."

The disappointment on General Gheller's face was obvious as he leaned back in his chair, "Thank you, Riley. That at least gives us somewhere to start."

The General's response surprised Riley, "Start what? Where? Sir?" he said, tiring of all the questions and being confused.

General Gheller noted Riley's confusion. It looked that Finn wasn't hiding anything. He leaned forward, "Riley, what you are about to see is classified 'Beyond Top Secret'. Only a small group knows what really happened in Sunnydale. If you ever breathe a word about it… They will bury you… period! Understood?"

Alarm bells now screamed in Riley's head. He briefly toyed with the idea of getting up and running the hell out of the office. A small sigh escaped, knowing that his curiosity had won out and he would stay, despite common sense telling him otherwise. He shook off any doubts and hesitation, "Understood, sir," he said.

The General picked up the TV remote control and turned his chair towards the plasma TV, Riley took the cue to turn his attention to the television too.

"You're probably wondering why we're meeting down here. Normally, we would use my office or one of the conference rooms, instead of hiding down here in the basement," the General said as he turned on the TV. A grim expression crossed the General's face, "We believe someone has compromised our computer network."

Riley blinked. In a day of surprises and confusion, he couldn't believe something like this happening, "O-Our whole network! H-Hacked! T-That's impossible! Who was it? The Russians? Chinese? North Korea?"

Gheller shook his head, and despite the seriousness of the situation, Riley saw a smirk flash on the General's face, "It is possible. Fortunately, we don't believe it was any foreign power, terrorist or hacker group."

Riley debated pinching himself. He wasn't sure if this was a dream or if someone was playing an elaborate joke on him, "Then who was it?"

"That's what we would like to know. We think this video offers some insight and clues," Gheller said, pressing the play button on the remote. Riley's attention focused on the plasma TV as the video started. A test pattern flashed and then darkness filled the screen. He took a moment to realize that he was seeing an aerial view of the ground at night.

"What you're seeing is drone footage taken over Sunnydale on May 23, 2003," the General explained.

Riley studied the footage as the drone flew over the nighttime countryside. It was real color video rather than a thermal imaging video which surprised him. He got a sense of why he was seeing this format as lights appeared in the distance… the drone was closing on a large town. The lights grew brighter, removing the darkness, and Riley's eyes widened in shock as flames and explosions became distinct. As the video panned the area, what looked like tracer rounds from automatic weapons fire became more distinct, adding to the scene.

Gun fire and parachute flares filled the screen while Riley stared in disbelief, watching a war rage in Sunnydale. He blinked to make sure he wasn't dreaming as the drone circled the town, observing the fighting taking place. The video zoomed in on the rubble of a large building. Flames provided an eerie lighting to the hellish scene as he picked out movement—lots of movement—in and around the rubble. The video anticipated the question on his lips as it zoomed in to get a closer view of the movement. His heart froze seeing the creatures streaming out of the destroyed building.

Riley realized he was viewing the Hellmouth… somehow it must have opened. As he watched these creatures pouring out of it, a sickening feeling grew in his stomach as it all sank in.

"My God…! Buffy!" Riley whispered, staring at the video, knowing she would have been down there somewhere in the middle of all that fighting.

"My god indeed," Gheller replied in a muted voice. Even though he'd viewed this video many times, he still found himself humbled by the creatures and the intensity of the fighting by those holding back those hordes.

He shook if off, "As you can see the Sunnydale Hellmouth opened. Those creatures that came streaming out were nothing like we'd ever seen before. We're not sure what type of creatures they were, but intelligence believes it was a new vampire… something stronger and more vicious compared to the standard vampire."

Riley swallowed hard, remembering his own fair share of vampire encounters. The idea there was a vampire even more vicious and stronger was not a happy one. Somewhat recovering his composure, he noted the fighting and how the fire was being directed. The defense appeared organized and was channeling the vampires into kill zones, "Which unit engaged these… vampires?" he said.

The General's face became awkward, "Ah, yes. As you can see, these vampires are being engaged by a military-type force… quite effectively too. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your point of view there were no US military units involved in this battle."

Riley stared at the General, afraid to ask, but he had to, "So who or what group was fighting in Sunnydale?"

The General's sigh didn't reassure Riley, "That's the million dollar question isn't it?" he said.

Gheller pressed the volume control button to bring the sound up, "Whoever fought these vampires knew what they were doing. Their defense was military textbook organized. They even had an elaborate communications system in place to coordinate their defense. Most of their communications were in the clear, but we did pickup ELINT of some highly encrypted communications taking place on a different channel. The NSA says it is nothing like they've ever seen before."

Riley was still trying to come to grips with what the General was throwing at him when voices started coming from the TV. Panic, fear-filled voices played from the TV, but there was also determination and resolve mixed in there too.

"There're so many…!"

"Watch the left side…! They're swarming…!"

"OH GOD! THEY'RE BREAKING THROUGH! SOMEONE—"

"Keep firing!"

Riley noted how the voices were all female… and sounded young. The sounds of fighting with the voices screaming and being cut off abruptly set off flashbacks of his own combat experiences. He was just getting a grasp on what he was hearing when a voice—he easily recognized—came through clear as day.

"This is Bravo-Team, I can see vamps flowing into the gap by Fox-Team…"

Riley blanched hearing Buffy's voice, only confirming his worse fears about her. The General easily read Riley's expression, "Yes, we've identified through voice analysis that was Buffy Summers."

A stunned Riley sat there for a moment staring at the screen unable to find any words. His mind was a blank as he tried to regain his composure, "I-I d-don't know what to say, sir. The last time I was in Sunnydale and saw Buffy… I didn't know she'd organized or armed to this level."

The General's smirk caught Riley off-guard, "Oh, that's not the most interesting part."

Riley blinked, not sure how to react anymore. He felt trapped in a waking nightmare as the General pointed back at the TV as the video continued playing, "Watch closely now," the General said.

At first, Riley didn't know what the General wanted him to see, but then he picked up something moving across the battlefield. It was moving so fast the drone's camera was having a hard time keeping a steady lock on target. To Riley, the object appeared man-shaped, but no human could move that fast… not even a Slayer.

The drone finally locked on the moving object, giving a close-up view, Riley blinked in stunned disbelief seeing the human-shaped person wearing what looked like full-body armor. Yet, it didn't look like any configuration he'd heard of or was familiar with. The armor made it appear like he was watching a robot.

"W-What is that?" he said.

The General didn't immediately answer him, letting the video continue on. Riley sat mesmerized, watching as the "armored person" encountered one of those vampires, and easily warded off its blow. His eyes widened in shock as he saw the "armored person" cripple the vampire with crushing back breaker more and then followed up by tearing the creature's head off.

"My god…!" Riley whispered.

"Wait, it gets better," the General said.

Riley watched in stunned silence as the "armored person" ran… faster than he thought was possible for any human. They closed on a strip mall that appeared to be a scene of intense fighting as the defenders were trying to hold back waves of vampires.

From what Riley could see, the situation looked desperate, and the defenders were close to being overrun. That all changed in the blink of an eye as the "armored person" scooped up what looked like a mini-gun and stood on top of an abandoned vehicle.

It seemed all so melodramatic, but Riley still held his breath as the drone camera panned out, showing the waves of vampires threatening to overwhelm this "person". Tracer rounds erupted, cutting into the attacking ranks of the vampires turning them into dust.

"Jesus…! This is unreal! Who or what is that?" Riley muttered, shaking his head. He stared in utter disbelief trying to grasp what he was watching unfold as the death and carnage raged round the unknown person.

The fear and nervousness was obvious in the General's voice as he spoke, "Unknown, and that's what scares us. At first, we thought it was a robot or cyborg. Something along the lines or similar to Walsh's Project-314."

Riley's heart skipped a beat as nightmares flashed in his head at the mention of Adam. Just the thought of another Adam running loose sent chills down his spine.

"We re-evaluated our hypothesis and upgraded the threat level after this point of the battle," the General added, letting the audio continue to play.

"Under UNSC command authority… Sierra-113 has authorized deployment of nuclear weapons…"

"What the hell is going on? Adriana? What is Michael doing? He can't be serious?"

"We obtained a high yield fifty kiloton nuclear warhead. We modified it to be used as a portable battlefield weapon."

The General paused the video as a visibly stunned Riley held up his hand, "T-This… T-This has to be a joke! A-Are you saying that someone nuked Sunnydale? H-How is this…? How did they get one?" he sputtered out, shaking his head in disbelief.

A grim-faced General Gheller met Riley's eyes, "That's another million dollar question. After the battle we reviewed all nuclear weapon inventory records. The computerized inventory records showed all weapons accounted for. Yet, soil samples recovered from Sunnydale continued fissionable trace elements we identified as having come from our nuclear weapons facilities. We ran the inventory again, this time doing a hard count of every warhead… we discovered one fifty kiloton battlefield nuclear warhead was missing."

Riley stared at the paused video, trying to comprehend everything he was seeing and hearing. He finally put a coherent thought together, "In the audio they mentioned the UNSC and a Sierra-113. I also heard the names Michael and Adriana. I don't recognize the names. Any idea on what and who these people and groups are?" he said.

General Gheller shrugged, "We're not sure, but we think this Sierra-113 and Michael are the same person… and is our mystery person in that armored suit. We don't know who this Adriana is other than what we have on audio."

The General pressed the play button, "There's more you need to hear."

"All fireteams will seek shelter and protection at alternate defense positions from nuclear blast and radiation."

Riley watched the video as the armored figure again used its unbelievable speed to move towards the building ruins, containing the Hellmouth. Swarms of vampires chased after the figure, vainly trying to catch up, pursuing the armored man down into the Hellmouth.

"Michael… Please… Please don't leave me! I love you!"

"Faith, I love you! I will—"

The audio cut out as the screen flared white and distorted. After a moment the screen went black.

Riley sat there, staring at the black screen, as his mind raced. He finally turned to the General, shaking his head, muttering to himself. The General anticipated his question, "The nuclear weapon detonated in the Hellmouth. Despite the depth of the explosion, the EMP from the blast fried the drone's electronics, causing it to crash."

"This is just so unbelievable, sir," Riley muttered.

"Well, believe it soldier! Our problem is it appears an unknown, apparently well organized and well-armed group fought a major battle against vampires and detonated a nuclear device on US soil! You can understand how that would trouble some people," the General said.

"But… but they stopped those demons from spreading! They saved us!" Riley exclaimed. Yet, as he said the words he also realized how others would view them as a threat.

The General sighed, "When we discovered what happened in Sunnydale, there were many who felt they'd done the country, and the world a great service. After much debate, the highest-levels decided to leave the situation and them alone to avoid any problems that could result from any further investigation."

"So, the cover story about the earthquake and natural gas explosion then?"

The General nodded, "The panic and backlash that would erupt if the news leaked out about what really happened was more than enough justification for the decision. It was also felt that there was no more threat from our unknown friend with him apparently dead. With the potential threat and danger to us gone, we considered the situation and the risk manageable."

Riley picked up on the General's choice of words, "Apparently, sir?"

General Gheller sighed, "Even with the decision made not to investigate further and push the issue, we continued to monitor them. To avoid any problems, we maintained a discreet light surveillance presence from a distance. It helped that in the battle's aftermath they kept a low profile, confining their activities and movements to the Sunnydale area as the town rebuilds. There was one exception… Faith Lehane. She left Sunnydale, ending up in Los Angeles. She kept a low profile, staying off the grid which made it hard for us to track her. As you heard in the transmission, it's obvious that Faith and this Michael were in a close relationship. Our PSYOP profile workup on her says she left to deal with her grief."

Riley got a sense that something was happening for him to be here now, "So what's changed now?"

A smile flashed on the General face, appreciating Riley's quick uptake, "Two weeks ago, Buffy was in Los Angeles. Her ex-boyfriend before you… Angel, located Faith, and she brought Faith back to Sunnydale. Since their return, we've monitored an increase in activity around their base of operations with increased shipments of electronic parts and other supplies. We can't get any audio or video from inside the warehouse they're using as their base because it has some heavy-duty security protecting it. We don't know what they're doing or what they're planning. As you can imagine this has spooked a lot of people at high levels."

"You think Buffy and the others have something to do with the compromise of our computer networks? I know Willow, she's good with computers, but to pull off a hack like this seems even a little too much for her. What evidence do you have that we're being hacked?" Riley said.

The General shrugged, "We have no definite proof they're involved, but we've been seeing anomalies in any data related to them and Sunnydale. The nuclear weapon inventory count was the starting point. They stole a nuke without us even knowing about it! We've also noticed computer data related to Sunnydale, and the battle has either suddenly gone missing or become corrupted. There are too many coincidences taking place for us not take a second look at this group."

General Gheller sighed, "Riley, you can see our dilemma. We have a group with unknown allegiances with a lot of firepower that evidently stole a nuke from us. Granted, they used it to save us, but we don't know what their long-term goals are. The more alarmist-types in the administration are panicking. They're worrying that this fringe group may try to expand their power beyond Sunnydale. If they have access to our data networks anything becomes possible! We need to get a handle on the situation before it spins out of control."

Riley took a moment to consider the situation. He couldn't believe that Buffy would involve herself in some fringe political craziness. She was the most apolitical person he ever met, "Are you planning an active intervention? Where do I fit into this?" he said, worrying how bad this could get.

The General shook his head, "There are no plans for extreme measures… for the moment. We're keeping our options open right and we want to avoid inflaming the situation if possible. Our main problem is with our networks potentially compromised, we're limited in our communications and what we can say and do. Where you come in and where I need you is back in Sunnydale."

Even though he'd been expecting this, it still came as a shock, "You want me back in Sunnydale? Sir?"

The General nodded, "Yes, I want you to take a small team into Sunnydale and keep an eye on this group. You know the people involved, so you're the best person placed to study and determine their intentions. Your former relationship with Buffy may prove beneficial. Any intel you gather would be valuable, especially if you can get a look inside their warehouse."

A torrent of questions filled Riley's thoughts. Of all the questions, one question stood out, "If we can't trust our networks and communications… if we think they're compromised, how do I communicate and report in?"

Gheller smiled, knowing he'd selected the right person for this mission, "You'll use hard copies for reporting. We have a courier system in place for you to send in your reports and make requests. If there is an emergency or a requirement for immediate contact, there is a onetime code system you can use over electronic communication networks. Your briefing package is outside with my assistant in hard copy format. Review all information and make sure you don't transmit any of it electronically. Understood?"

With that said, the General stood up, signaling their meeting was at an end. Riley took his cue, standing up. Outwardly he was an image of military professionalism, but the inside was a mess of confusion emotions, memories, doubts and fears. Questions filled his head, but he knew there was only one person who could answer them and allay his fears, "Yes, sir! Understood, sir!" Riley said, coming to attention and saluting the General.

"Dismissed, and good luck, soldier."