Halloween, Part 1
A/N: Folks have been looking forward to the mayhem differently-costumed Scoobies would wreak. While there will be costume changes, this is NOT that sort of story.
(_)(_)(_)
October 22 - 31 Ethan's Shop
Ethan was quite pleased with the number of costumes he'd sold thus far. Even if he didn't sell the rest, the dozens he'd sold in the first week would be enough of an offering to Janus, if only barely. But Ethan knew he'd be selling costumes right up until Trick or Treating started on All Hallow's Eve. With any luck, he'd have fully half the town's children caught in the web of the spell, and some quarter or so of the adults, since he did have adult-sized costumes.
The little bell over the shop door jangled, and Ethan looked up from the book he'd been reading between customers. When he saw the teens that piled into his shop, he was very hard put to keep from smiling. Ahhh, wonderful. The Slayer and her friends. This would make things quite interesting.
Not least because the girl had friends at all. That was not, Ethan knew, the normal way of things. Nor were Slayers usually permitted such frivolities as going trick or treating. It would seem that not all of Ripper had been subsumed by the starched, proper Watcher he had become. So much the better. Though he had to admit that too much of Ripper had been subsumed. Thus far, Ripper hadn't realized that Ethan was in town, a mistake he'd never have made prior to becoming a Watcher. Ethan wondered if he'd get a visit after today, now that the Slayer had been here.
The two teenage boys in the group made a beeline for the military costumes and began sorting through them for something in their sizes. The Slayer and her female friend seemed to have less of an idea as to what sort of costume they wanted, and settled in to browse through the possibilities.
"Ohhhh, look at this dress!" The Slayer fairly cooed, holding up a fairly accurate replica of an 18th century dress. She flattened it to her front and twirled around with it. "It's gorgeous." Then she sighed. "And really, really, really not viable."
The other girl nodded. "It's too bad, really."
The Slayer hung the dress back up and the two girls moved on. A few racks down the line, the Slayer spotted a cheerleader's outfit. "Now that's familiar." She said. "And something I can definitely move in, if you know what I mean." She grinned at her friend. "Hopefully it's the right size." She checked the collar. "Yep! Ok, I've got mine. Now we just have to find something for you, Willow."
The other girl, Willow apparently, looked slightly uncomfortable. "I really don't know." She said. "I usually just throw a sheet over myself and go as a ghost."
"Well, that's not happening this year. C'mon, we'll find you something." The Slayer said.
Willow seemed reluctant still, but did follow along. The two boys got involved in the search as well, as it had taken them only a couple minutes to find soldier costumes in their sizes.
"Hey, Willow. Check this out." One of the two boys, the one with darker hair, called, holding up a costume with a lot of black and small amounts of silver. "Goth outfit. Complete with black combat boots. We can get some makeup to complete the look."
He was grinning a bit toothily. Probably, Ethan assumed, at the joke of someone dressing as a goth in Sunnydale. Dressing as a member of a culture known to have interest in the ghoulish parts of life in a town chock full of actual vampires, other creatures of the night and sundry ghoulishness did have a certain amusement factor.
Willow took the outfit from the boy and looked it over. It consisted of a short-sleeved black blouse, a pleated black skirt, a wide black belt with a silver buckle, fishnet stockings and the combat boots the boy had commented on.
"I suppose." Willow said. "It is fairly practical, so it won't slow me down. And it's not all ... " She waved a hand. "Weird, you know? Or showing stuff I don't want anyone oogling." Then she grinned at the dark-haired boy. "And, well. Goth. Here. This is probably the only time I'd ever be able to get away with this sort of outfit and not get the willies."
"Too true." The dark-haired boy agreed. "Well, that's us settled. Let's get this paid for and get out of here."
Ethan smiled as the four teens approached the till. "Find everything you need?" He asked genially as he accepted the cheerleader costume from the Slayer.
"Yep. You have a lot of pretty cool stuff." The dark haired boy said.
"I do try." Ethan said. He made short work of ringing them up, and then watched them file out of the store.
(_)(_)(_)
Even though the dorm renovations weren't complete, the first of the soldiers who would be involved in the Trust's investigation in Sunnydale arrived about a week before Halloween. This was partially due to the plan for them to infiltrate the town as college students. If they'd come in much later in the year, it would have caused entirely too much comment. Fortunately, colleges did not hold as stringently to the 'September through June' timeline as did regular schools. Many had classes that started and ended at comparatively odd times. Because of that, some guys showing up two months into the 'school year' wouldn't raise too many eyebrows. The rest would be sent in on the first week of January.
Sergeant Riley Finn was one of the early arrivers, along with Sergeant Graham Miller, Sergeant Forrest Gates and two others he wasn't familiar with from a different service. With them came Dr. Walsh and a bevy of lesser scientists and gofers who would be supervising the construction of the laboratory levels and beginning the task of cataloguing the hostiles the military contingent would be tracking and observing. Riley would be liaising with both Dr. Walsh and the construction team to ensure sufficient security protocols were put in place on the containment level that was being dug out below the laboratory level.
It was ... very difficult for Riley to credit the mission they were carrying out. Non human hostiles that weren't the familiar range of predators and the occasional dangerous herbivores? Worse, apparently, one of the hostiles was supposedly a vampire. It was very difficult to credit, and Riley couldn't help but wonder if whatever general had green-lighted this mission hadn't slipped a little too far into insanity for comfort.
Still, at least for the moment, he didn't have to worry about that. Their first job was to establish their undercover identities as college students. Riley was quite pleased that he and his fellow soldiers would actually be receiving credits for attending classes. It meant that not only would attending classes not be a giant waste of time, but he would be able to further his career while completing this mission, since they were projected to stay in Sunnydale essentially indefinitely.
The college campus was surprisingly large, given its location in a fairly small town. It was bordered on one side by the highway, and on another by a fairly extensive wooded area that would be convenient for snipe-hunting and training both.
It felt odd, dragging more than a duffel or two's worth of belongings around. But in order to sell that he was a college student, he had to be seen bringing in the sort of equipment college students deemed necessary. He was even going to have to set it up in his room and hide his military gear, just in case someone peeked in a window. That meant a lot of clothes other than his uniforms and camo gear, a laptop, stereo, and innumerable other bits and bobs. Graham and Forrest were similarly burdened. Thankfully, the three of them had been friends since shortly after they'd signed up for the Army. Their natural tendency to heckle each other and get in each others' space made their cover that much more authentic.
They laughed and joked as they toted boxes back and forth from the ratty old truck they'd arrived in. Forrest even flirted with a couple girls they crossed paths with on the campus.
They were paired up two to a room - though Forrest's roommate wouldn't be arriving until tomorrow. Once they'd gotten their rooms set up, they made their way down to the laboratory level. Despite the slow speed the construction crew had been forced to move at in order to conceal their work, the laboratory control room and two labs had been completed. Similarly, two cells had been completed on the containment level, allowing them to capture at least two subjects right away if so ordered.
Provided this wasn't all a snipe-hunt, that was. Riley still wasn't entirely convinced. Oh, they'd been shown footage, but really now. Anyone with access to halfway decent makeup and an editing program could pull off the sorts of things that had been in the footage. Riley would believe it when he saw it face-to-face, and not a moment sooner. That said, he wasn't going to go off half-cocked and under-prepared just because he thought it was a bunch of nonsense. He'd make very sure he was sufficiently armed when he went out patrolling tonight.
Fortunately for Riley's sense of composure, Dr. Walsh informed them they would not be expected to capture any hostiles this early in the mission. That, she informed them, would wait at least a month, when the laboratory and containment levels were much closer to being complete. They were, however, encouraged to gather any unusual materiel they might encounter on their patrol that the hostiles left behind, and were supplied with containers in which to gather such materiel.
The five of them headed out immediately after Dr. Walsh's brief, to familiarize themselves with the town during daylight hours. Fortunately, they'd be able to wander about largely unremarked during the day thanks to their cover identities. The residential areas would be the most tricky to infiltrate without raising any alarms, but they'd manage.
They returned to base early enough to eat dinner and catch catnaps before their first night's patrol.
(_)(_)(_)
It was a rather shell-shocked Riley that flopped down on his bunk just before dawn. So. The general, or whoever it was that had authorized this mission hadn't been insane or on drugs after all. Non human hostiles were very, very real. Including vampires. Part of Riley's brain was gibbering in horror at this discovery. The rest of him was sorting through what he'd seen last night, ferreting out usable information and starting to come up with equipment lists, patrol schemes, and other plans. After a few minutes of that, he sat up, grabbed a notebook and pen, and started writing. He'd need much of this for the report he'd be submitting later anyway, so he might as well get it all jotted down while it was fresh. Across the room, Graham, who was as shocked as Riley was, was sitting on his bed with his hands between his knees. When he saw Riley grab the writing materials, he gave his head a shake and gathered his own writing gear.
"Right. Need to write this shit down. We're going to have some *work* cut out for us if we're going to detain any of these hostiles without getting killed in the process." Graham said.
"No kidding." Riley agreed with a sigh. "They're going to need to increase the security measures on both levels. Especially the containment level. I do not want to think about what would happen if some of those things we saw last night got loose in the labs."
Graham shuddered. "Yeah, no, that would be really bad. We're going to need to requisition some better weaponry, too. I don't fancy going up against some of those things with just a P-90." Then he made a face. "Riley? You reckon we should ask for garlic and silver bullets, crosses and holy water?"
Riley made a face. "They're going to think we're crazy, but we'd better. We can test them long-range. Requisition a grenade launcher and empty shells. That way, if they don't do anything, nobody's close enough to get ... " He made another face. "Bit. Or worse."
"Right, right, good idea." Graham agreed. "And we're bound to need to test other materials on these things later, so having the launcher and shells on hand is a good idea. We'll just have to be careful about when and where we deploy it. Stick to the docks and the warehouses if we possibly can, or the woods by the cliffs on the far side of town. Maybe figure out a way to herd the hostiles to those places for testing."
"Better binocs, and night vision equipment." Riley added to their wish-list. "I'll bet some or all of these things have better senses than humans do. Most animals beat us out on one sense or another, if not several. These things are probably no different. So the further away we are, the safer we are."
"And nobody but *nobody* goes out solo. Not even during the day. Because I refuse to believe that every single hostile sleeps during the day." Graham added.
"Agreed." Riley said with a nod. "And at least two of us escorting the doctor and the other science geeks per person whenever they leave the building."
"Stronger restraint equipment." Graham suggested. "I don't fancy our chances of keeping these things in a standard pair of police cuffs." He sighed. "Never mind other 'standard' restraints. And we're going to need specialized nets and other gear to catch some of them, 'cause like hell am I touching the ones that looked like they had goo on their skins."
"Good idea." Riley agreed. They both got busy writing the things they'd mentioned aloud down, then looked at each other, trying to think of anything they might have missed in the first round. "Scanners." He said after a moment. "To check folks when they come in, make sure they're not hosting a nasty that can crawl inside 'em." They both shuddered at that idea, but were realist enough to know it was a possibility. "We can put 'em around the doors into the dorm, make 'em look like anti-theft measures, and stick the 'security booth' in one of the rooms."
"And if the holy water thing works - especially if it works on more than one kind of hostile - we can figure out a way to convert the sprinkler system to use only holy water. Maybe holy water laced with ... well, anything water-soluble that hurts other hostiles. Use it as a security measure in case something escapes the labs, or tries to break into the dorms from the campus." Graham said.
Riley nodded. "That one'll have to wait until we find out if holy water works at all." He said. "But it's definitely something to keep in mind." They finished writing things down, then both of them got to their feet. "Right." Riley said. "Time to go talk to the doctor, see if we can get her to agree to any of this."
They headed down to the labs. Dr. Walsh was waiting for them, looking faintly amused.
"And how did the evening's patrol go, gentlemen?" She asked.
"It was ... illuminating." Riley admitted.
Dr, Walsh smiled. "In that you have come to realize your superiors weren't insane after all?" She asked. "Though I must say I don't blame you for thinking that without having encountered a hostile."
Riley grinned. "Well, we did see a few different hostiles last night. Graham and I have come up with a few things - things we'd like to suggest to you, and if you agree, requisition the supplies yet today."
Dr. Walsh motioned to a small table nearby. "By all means, gentlemen. Let's hear it."
Riley took a seat across from her and gave her the rundown on the stuff they wanted to requisition. Dr. Walsh listened patiently. When Riley wound down, she sat forward a bit.
"Well, on the security measures, I will give you gentlemen full reign. You are far better equipped to make such decisions than myself or my associates. We want to investigate these hostiles as safely as possible. I have no problem with you requisitioning any of the non lethal equipment you have suggested for patrols, either. My only hesitation is on the lethal weapons. I recognize that you and your men must protect yourselves, but our early reports suggest that many of these hostiles disintegrate when killed, so I would ask that you use lethal methods only as a last resort, since we can't learn anything if we don't have something to poke at."
"They do?" Riley asked, then sighed. "I suppose that makes sense. If they left bodies behind, someone would have noticed these hostiles a *lot* sooner than this. Yeah, we can keep the bullets and explosives as last resorts."