"I don't know how many more ways I can say I'm not interested,"
"Well, try one. Check these flavours. Cherry Berry, Maple Walnut, oooh, Almond Liquorice."
"Yea, Xander, if Giles had even an inkling of buying one before, the Almond Liquorice probably just put a stop to that."
"You are not helping Eris," Xander and Anya had come over to Giles to sell some of the bars whilst Giles was getting Eris to read some demon tomes to increase her knowledge on demonology, something she hated but had to do or the ex-watcher wouldn't help her with the physical training.
"Just skip the selling part and tell him you want money to buy me pretty things, he'll understand" Anya said bluntly, not understanding Xanders way of selling the bars.
Giles sighed, but wanting to make Anya have her 'pretty things', he agreed, "very well, Maple Walnut."
Xander looked at him in excitement as he grabbed the bar Giles wanted, "an excellent choice."
He watched Giles in hope as the man took a bite, waiting for that sweet sweet money. However, Giles had other plans as he tried not to gag on the vile tasting bar, "please leave my home now."
"It's the, uh….the gritty texture, isn't it?" Xander began to panic as he frantically looked through his boxes, "maybe you're more of a cherry berry fellow."
"Let me try the cherry berry," Xander handed the bar over to Eris who ended up having a similar reaction of almost vomiting, "oh my god i'm dying…."
"No, don't say that, you might like the other ones!" Xander kept trying to peddle his wares as the door was pounded on frantically.
Not too long after, it was slammed open and Spike came running in. He looked dishevelled and half singed. "Close the door!" he shouted in panic.
"Spike? You may want to give up these morning jogs," Xander teased.
"Solider boys are out in force," Spike replied, ignoring Xander's usual jabs, "I've been trying to keep 'em off my scent, run 'em in circles, but they keep coming," he waited for Giles to close the door before taking off his cover.
"And…how is this our concern? Seeing that on several occasions you've expressed a desire to have nothing more to do with us unless it's to watch Eris flail around during training," Giles asked in disinterest which made Spike roll his eyes.
"Spike said that? That hurts," Xanders teasing finally caused Spike to groan in annoyance.
"Alright, what do you want me to say? I need help," the vampire quickly turned to point to Eris, "and no cheek from you."
"Not a word," Eris shot back sarcastically.
"Look, the buggers shot me…in the back," he took off his leather jacket to show a red spot sticking into his skin.
Giles causally sauntered over, "remind me, why should I help you?"
"Because, you do that," Spike said with a scoff, "you're the goody good guys. You're the bloody frickin' calvary."
"Nope, you can come up with a better answer than that. Why should I help you?"
"Oh, because I helped you. When you turned into that Fyarl demon, I helped you, didn't I?"
"And that was out of the, um, evilness of your heart?"
"Oh, hell no. I made you pay me," the bleach-blonde vampire paused when he realised what he said, "you right bastard."
He pulled out a wad of cash that he had taken from Giles before and handed it to the watcher, "That's all that's left. Spent the rest on blood and smokes which I'll never see again."
"Just help him Giles, he wont stop asking," Eris said from her chair, she knew Giles was toying with the vampire but she knew eventually it would become annoying.
"Fine," Giles replied with a sigh, "take off your shirt and sit on the chair so I can look at the wound."
The group crowded around Spike as Giles used tweezers to dig into the wound. Whatever was in there, it was deeply imbedded into his skin, so Giles had to carve his way through the teared flesh which caused immense pain to the vampire, "Ow! Watch it. That hurts."
Giles was unphased by Spike's pain, too engrossed in figuring out what was inside, "doesn't appear to be a bullet. It's too deeply imbedded for a tranquilizer dart."
"Also not tranquil."
"Some sort of illumination emanating from it…It's blinking."
"I don't care if it's playing rockin' the casbah on the bloody Jew's harlp, just get it out of me."
"Stop being such a baby," Eris said from his right, hands stretching his skin apart so Giles could dig in deeper.
"Alright, Anya, there's a bottle of cognac in the cabinet next to the sink, Will you get it for me?" the ex-demon nodded and rushed off to do as Giles asked.
As she did this Xander began to look increasingly more worried as he looked at the thing inside Spike, "what, you gonna get snickered now?" the bleach-blonde vampire said with a scoff which earned him an eyeroll from Giles.
"Its not for me, you prat. If I'm gonna operate on you, I need you anesthetized. This'll take some time."
Xander began shaking his head vehemently as he spoke, "we don't have any. That blinking thing, my pseudo-soldier memory bank tells me that's a tracer."
"A what?" the others all ask in unison.
"Its like a homing beacon. And if commando guys are reading the signal, they're coming home."
"We need to buy some time, its buried deep and I'm no surgeon."
Eris shook her head at Giles, "no time, if that tracker gets too close to here then Graham will know exactly where Spike is. We need it taken out and him hiding somewhere else."
"I didn't think of that," Giles said with a grim expression, "I'll have to get a little messy, start drinking Spike." Spike didn't say a word, only started to skull the alcohol heavily and quickly.
They quickly started gathering items whilst also calling Willow over to perform a spell that would scatter the tracer's location. It was the best they could do to buy them time to get the tracer out of Spike without causing any permanent or harmful damage. A vampire could heal well enough but Spike wasn't on fresh blood, so his healing factor was not as strong.
It took them another hour before Giles was able to dig it out and have it thrown down the toilet to be flushed, "lets hope they didn't get close enough," Giles said whilst wiping his sweaty brow.
"Graham's gonna come around and ask eventually, we need to clean Spike up and get him somewhere safe," Eris dapped at the wound on Spike's back to help keep the blood from dribbling onto the table.
"Perhaps it would be wise for him to leave Sunnydale completely," the older man shot back, which made Spike scoff as he put his shirt back on.
"I'm not going anywhere, not until those bastard's undo whatever they did to me. Put me back the way I was."
Xander rolled his eyes, "sure, just explain to the nice scientist guys that you really miss killing and torturing innocent people."
"You think that would work?" Eris frowned and poked his open wound, "Ow! Bloody hell!"
"Stop being an idiot."
"Spike, lord knows why I'm telling you this," Giles began, taking on a softer tone that he never used with Spike, ever, "its for your own good. As long as the Initiative is in operation, it's not safe for you here."
"No. Its not safe for any of us," the group stopped their conversation when they heard Buffy's voice coming from the door. She sported an angered expression, like she was ready to fight.
"Buffy, are you ok?" Eris asked as she came to her cousin's side.
"Professor Walsh tried to kill me, she sent me down into the sewers with one of those blasto-guns, and the next thing I know, it's raining monsters."
Willow's eyes widened in shock, "Professor Walsh tried to kill you? I-I know she's always been strict in class but…murder?"
"She tried to make it look like an accident," Buffy looked heartbroken, "and then this gate slams down behind me, and I try to use the gun, but it goes pfft."
Giles was equally confused by this entire situation, "you're saying that Maggie Walsh set you up?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying…she sent me on a one-way recon."
"Got to hand it to you, Goldilocks. You do have bleeding tragic taste in men," Spik spoke from his usual spot on the stars that he moved to once he got his shirt back on, he was idly picking off the black nail polish from his fingernails, "I got a cousin married to a regurgitating Frolopse's demon that's got better instincts than you."
"What does my taste in men have to do with this?" Buffy asked the vampire incredulously.
"You think Riley was out knitting booties for your future offspring whilst Maggie was stringing you up? Same with your boytoy Eris."
The group fell silent, taking Spike's words in. He had a point, as much as they didn't want to think that way. "You guys think Riley or Graham had something to do with this?" Buffy asked.
"Probably not, but, um, we'd be remiss if we didn't think of all the possibilities."
"No Giles, I refuse to believe that," Eris said as she stood from the couch, "they aren't like that!" She refused to believe either man would set up her cousin like that. Riley seemed to be falling head over heels for Buffy, and Graham was too kind and sweet to even think of something so horrid.
"I know its hard to think of bu-"
"No, Giles," Buffy interrupted, "Maggie made sure that Riley was nowhere around when she sent me on this very special make Buffy dead assignment, and neither was Graham."
"I dunno Buff, there is a reason why they call it the secret forces," Xander chimed in grimly, "they kind of keep the whole lying thing to themselves."
Buffy sighed deeply, but knew she couldn't argue with that, "all I know is that Maggie has it in for me. Which means the Initiative has it in for me."
"I'm guessing the mad scientist isn't too keen on the fact that the entire Scooby Gang knows the Initiative is up to no good?"
"You're right Xander, which brings us back to the not safe for any of us concept."
Giles leant against the wall, brows furrowed in confusion, "what could have happened to make Professor Walsh want to kill you?"
"I don't know…she wasn't keen on the fact that I was asking a lot of questions, that's for sure."
"So you were getting too close to something."
"Anya is right," Giles commented, "although, one can only imagine what she'd be so desperate to hide."
Willow nodded, "then what do we do?" she asked Buffy who moved over to the weapons chest.
"Everyone grab a weapon. We've got to move," the Slayer replied as she started handing out various weapons to each person.
"And storm the Initiative?" Xander asked in fake excitedness as he clutched the battle axe he was given, "yea. Let's take on those suckers."
Buffy looked at him plainly, "I was thinking we hide."
"Oh thank God."
"Buffy, I think perhaps we should talk about this."
"No Giles, we need to relocate someplace we're less likely to be found," Buffy replied, not budging on the topic, "we need to come up with a plan."
"We could go to my place?" Willow offered but the Slayer shook her head.
"The Initiative guys know how close we are. They'll automatically check the places that you hang out. Xander, what about your basement?" she asked the dorky man, "the guys haven't seen us together that much, and there's enough room."
Xander nooded, "cool, come on down and boogie at Xander's hideaway."
"Absolutely not," Giles replied, his nose turning up at the idea, "I will not squat in that dank hole."
This seemed to offend the bleach-blonde vampire, "what, it was good enough for me, but you're above it all?"
"Precisely. Besides, I-I don't see why we can't stay right where we are."
"Did you forget we've had Riley and Graham here?" Eris shot back at Giles, right as Riley stepped in the door. She raised her brows and motioned to the blonde man, "see?"
"Buffy, God, Buffy, are you ok?" Riley asked as he hurried over to Buffy to check her injuries. Anya immediately moved out of his sight and over to the kitchen and Spike stayed silent at the stairs, neither wanting to be too close to the soldier boy, "What happened?"
"You know?" Buffy asked softly. She was cautious, but hopeful that her boyfriend wasn't in on her death plan.
"I know something went down…Tell me."
The Slayer took a moment to compose herself before speaking, "Maggie tried to kill me."
Riley looked to the ground in shock and pain as Anya said, "it didn't work but they're all upset anyway," from her spot in the kitchen.
"Ok, listen, I need you to go over everything, step by step," Riley sounded frantic and unsure as he spoke, "there has to be….has to be some kind of mistake."
"There was no mistake," Xander cut in, "and how do you know something happened?"
"I was on a mission, but I came back and…I'm not sure. Looks, let's just keep our heads and not jump to any…" the solider boy trailed off when he spotted Spike who was really hoping that wouldn't happen.
Eris shuffled over to Spike slowly, just in case Riley acted, which he took notice of, "what?" Buffy asked, though she knew the answer.
"That's Hostile 17," he said with confidence. He saw the guy before when everyone was in the old highschool but didn't recognise him in his hawaiin outfit. Now that he was decked out in all black, he realised who he was.
"No, I'm just a friend of Xander's…Bugger it, I'm your guy," Spike rolled his eyes and went back to picking at his nail polish.
"This is Spike. He's, um…" Buffy trailed off, not really knowing what to call the annoying vampire.
"My ex," Eris said bluntly, getting right to the point, "don't worry, he's not bad anymore."
Spike looked at her in offence as stood to meet her gaze, "hey! What am I, a bleeding broken record? I'm bad. It's just…I can't bite anymore, thanks to those soldier boy wankers."
"You're theoretically bad then?" Eris asked as she pushed him back down on the stairs.
"Yea, that."
Riley seemed less than pleased as he looked at Buffy and Eris, "we've been looking everywhere for him, but you've known where he's been all along?" he then focused entirely on Eris, "and you said he's your ex? You dated a vampire?" he sounded disgusted at the thought.
Eris didn't like the way he was looking at her, judging her, "they have unlimited stamina and can pound into me like a pile of dough, what's not to like?"
Buffy scrunched up her nose in disgust, she so didn't want to hear her cousin speak like that. Though she certainly couldn't judge Eris for vampire sex, she's done it herself, "that was gross…But Riley, really, it's not like that."
"Then what is it like? What's he doing here?"
Spike took this moment to make a hasty exit in case Riley got twitchy with a stake, "leaving you swabs to your dramatics, thanks," he said as he grabbed his leather jacket to use as a cover from the sun, "I've got my shows on the telly for that. By the By, if you're trying to kill her…" he gave Riley to thumbs up before running out of the house to who knows where.
Riley wasted no time in returning to his questioning, "Buffy, what is this? You're hiding an HST?"
He got into Buffy's face, commanding an intimidating presence which Xander heavily disliked, "Why don't you just back off and let her ask the questions, Jack. Your boss just tried to make monster food out of her."
Riley looked around, seeing how everyone shared the same sentiments as Xander, "I…I didn't see much, I wasn't there. All I know is Professor Walsh told me you were dead. But then, I saw you on the monitors…" he realised he was not making his case any better and decided to go about it another way, "look, this isn't Professor Walsh. There must be something making her act this way, something…I…I don't know, controlling her."
Giles could see how Riley was struggling to come to terms with the Professors betrayal and felt for the poor boy, but that didn't mean he agreed with him, "we think Buffy may have been becoming too inquisitive, that she was getting close to something that Professor Walsh was trying to hide. Any idea what that might be?" the Watcher tried his best to not sound too accusative as he spoke to Riley, hoping that the boy would be able to think of something.
"What about 314? Maybe that's it," Buffy chimed in, remembering the massive amounts of security they had for that room and only that room.
Riley couldn't think of anything, his mind too focused on trying to find out reason for the Professor's actions, "maybe she was trying to test you. What if it was only a drill?"
Buffy hated seeing her man so distraught, but she needed to get through to him, for all their sakes, "then why did she tell you I was dead? Riley, it wasn't a test."
"See, I've heard rumours, that the Initiative isn't all that we've been told. That um, secretly, they're working towards some darker purpose, something that might harm us all."
"No!" Riley exclaimed suddenly, cutting off Giles' words, "That's…that's not what happens there."
"Riley-"
"-I would know-"
"-look no one is sure of anything. We're trying to sort it out-"
Buffy tried to help him, but their theories of the Initiative become too much for him, "I can't be here. I'll sort it out on my own," the Slayers words fell on deaf ears, and even when she tried to stop him, he wouldn't listen, he needed to figure things out and he couldn't do that around all these people.
"I should go after him-"
"-No, Buffy, leave him for now," Giles walked over to the Slayer and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, "we need to focus on our safety now."
All Buffy wanted to do was chase after Riley and convince him of everything, make him feel better, make him see the danger. But Giles was right, she needed to get everyone to a safe place.
"You're right, lets get to Xanders before someone else from the Initiative shows up."