"The Mayor had an absolutely brilliant idea when I told him we'd dealt with the lastest Big Bad." Xander informed the group. "Bonuses in our paychecks when we succeed in taking down a Big Bad."
"I say, that is a brilliant idea." Giles agreed. "Too bad the Watchers Council wouldn't agree."
"Between Buffy's regular paycheck working for the city and bonuses, she will be able to start covering her own tuition and expenses just like you are, Xander." Joyce said.
"Hey, that means less spending money for me." Buffy protested.
"It's called a budget, Buffy." Joyce told her. "It's time you started learning how to make and follow one yourself. It's one of those adult things."
The look on Buffy's face had everyone laughing.
"On a more serious note." Xander said. "The alphabet agencies taking apart the Initiative found out why Walsh was interested in me and it had nothing to do with Slayers or demons for that matter. Apparently they didn't even realize they were dealing with demons, they just saw them as some kind of undocumented animals. The Initiative has been watching Sunnydale for a few years, they're the ones who took Marci away. They're also the ones who made Pete disappear. But Walsh is also the reason why the hospital did a full body blood transfusion on me. She found out about the experiment the swim coach did and that I'm the sole survivor. She wanted my blood so she could figure out what he'd done and come up with a version of her own. She's been dosing the soldiers who work for her without them knowing it."
"I bet that information isn't going over well with the soldiers." Faith said.
"Especially since they're all going to be court martialed for their involvement." Xander agreed. "But her notes also indicate the soldiers are going to need medical intervention to help them deal with not being dosed. Without the stuff she's been giving them, they could die. Her notes indicate, she doesn't understand how I survived, let alone don't need continuous dosing to maintain my increased strength."
"That's because she didn't bother to determine what the coach's experiment actually entailed." Giles told the Scoobies. "If she had, she would've understood. She probably just read that the coach used a steroid mixture and students died. She didn't know they actually mutated. Halting the experiment on Xander stopped the mutation from progressing. At the time we didn't realize, he'd already been effected by his limited exposure to the mixture. Her analysis of his blood would likely have centered on finding elements that would physically strengthen the soldiers. Which means she probably ignored anything else as irrelevant to her goal. Continuous dosing caused the soldier's bodies to become dependent on the drugs. Yet another example of her not thinking things through."
"I hope there's no more of my blood out there for someone else to get the bright idea to experiment with it." Xander said. "And freaky that she'd steal my blood in the first place. As if vampires wanting it isn't bad enough." Which had everyone laughing.
"You know on the subject of your blood and vampires. Angelus bit one of the school team members in front of me." Buffy said. "He spit it out, he thought the taste was disgusting. I wonder if that means Xander's blood is also disgusting to vampires?"
"Not a theory I'm eager to test." Xander decided.
"I don't blame you. However, it is an intriguing idea." Giles said.
"Too bad all human blood doesn't taste bad to vampires." Cordelia said. "Then they'd leave humans alone."
"Unlikely, as they'd still enjoy torturing and killing." Giles said. "And they can live on animal blood, they just prefer not to."
"On a more serious note, the Mayor emphasized to the government that the City of Sunnydale is his responsibility and he'd already formed a predator control department to deal with these unusual and dangerous creatures preying on the citizens of Sunnydale. He formally requested that the government keeps its nose out of our business unless invited to do so in the future. The government has sheepishly agreed and thinks it would be a good idea to use our group as a model for other cities that may be plagued with a similar problem with unusual wild animals preying on the population. Mayor Finch says they actually congratulated him on having the foresight to establish such a department." Xander informed the group.
"If the government thinks they're just animals, then where do they think they came from?" Buffy asked.
"Leading theories include nuclear testing failures, small populations in remote areas that are being encroached on by humans and possibly from underground and unexplored cave systems opened up by earthquakes. Xander answered. "At least according to Walsh's notes."
"I wonder what's going to happen to the classes she was teaching?" Willow mused. "Buffy and I are both taking one of her classes, after all. Will the school bring in another teacher? Are our grades even valid because she was an evil scientist killed by her own creation?"
"Willow, breath!" Buffy yelled. Willow sucked in a deep breath.
"Sorry, it's just academic stuff."
"That's our Willow." Xander said fondly. "Accept no substitutes!"
And with a laugh, the Scooby meeting broke up. Unsaid by everyone, but beating a tattoo in their brains though, was the thought. 'What will we have to deal with next'? Did anyone ever get around to finding out if that Murphy bastard can read minds?