They had one shot, just one, to defeat Adam.
Slayer strength alone could not overpower him, and mere spells could not curse him, they needed more, a combination of everything. Alone, strength, magic and intelligence was not enough to win, but together…it might have a chance.
There was a spell, old, and ancient, that could bring souls together into one body, gifting that person immeasurable strength. That person would be Buffy, the only person of the group whose body could survive the spell. The people who would merge their souls with hers would be Willow, Xander and Giles. Each person had a part of them that would become a perfect blend. Buffy with her strength, Willow with her Magic, Giles with his knowledge, and Xander with his heart, each part would amplify together to become so powerful that Adam would be no match.
It was not going to be very easy to enact, however. The spell would need Willow, Xander and Giles to leave their bodies, which would make them vulnerable. And since they needed to be close to Buffy that the spell would not be strained, they would have to perform the spell within the Initiative, right in the heart of the war Adam had orchestrated. It would be incredibly dangerous, and so it would fall onto Eris to keep them safe from any onslaught. It was a big ask, and she could very well be killed, but they had to try.
With the plan in mind, the gang had gathered all they needed and began their infiltration of the Initiative by rappelling down the elevator shaft, "I've gotta admit Giles, I am absolutely shitting myself right now."
Eris was rappelling down next to Giles, them both being the last 2 to enter the shaft. Buffy and Willow had gone first, with Xander going next, then followed by the last two, "It's not going to be easy; I can't lie about that. But it is our best shot, though I do believe you have the skills to defend us, Eris."
Eris huffed, thankful for Giles' support, though it did little to stop the fear coursing through her, "I've gotten better at fighting since training with you, but I don't know if I can stand against Military AND demons at the same time."
Giles looked at her, a worried look on his face, "I don't expect it to be easy, and I don't have any words of wisdom, but as long as you can hold them off long enough for Buffy to win then that will be enough."
"We're going to die, aren't we?" Her words trembled slightly, making her sound so scared and small, like a scared child who had lost hope.
"We may…." Giles' trailed off, not looking forward to the fight. But he had hope, and it was that small hope that helped steel him for the fight ahead, "Eris, I just want you to know that...that you have come a long way from that scatterbrained girl who appeared in my life all those months ago."
Eris smiled, not one of sarcasm but a pure, happy smile, "are you saying you're proud of me, Giles?"
He let out a soft, short laugh, "yes, it appears I am. You've certainly been a challenge, but I've come to care for you like I do the others."
"You're probably the only male in my life that I look to as a father figure, it's...nice."
"That seems to be my role since I arrived in Sunnydale, though I can't say I'm not against being the father role."
"Good, because that's not going away anytime soon."
Their conversation slowed once they reached the others who were hugging on top of the elevator, "Hurry up you two!" they heard Xander shout up to them, "you definitely want to get down here for this!"
The duo slid themselves onto the elevator and immediately were swarmed by the other three who pulled them into a group hug, "why are we doing this?" Giles asked in exasperation. He just had a heartfelt talk with Eris, which rarely happened, and was now in a weird group hug. It was too much mushiness for one British man to handle.
"We love you guys so much!" Willow said with a lovey dovey voice.
Buffy agreed and shouted out, "Lets never get mad at each other again!" as she tightened her hug.
"If it saves me from this weird Hippie lovefest then I will never be angry again," Giles complained as he eventually wiggled his way out of the hug.
"Come on Giles, I think it was sweet," Eris replied as she pulled away with a chuckle, "though we should probably continue with our infiltration, whose got the wedge?"
Xander rifled through his duffle bag and pulled out a small tool, "I've got it, took it from my last job."
He moved to the elevator door with Giles, the pair working together to try and force open the door, "ok, we stick together and everything should be fine. Everybody ready?"
The group look nervous, but Buffy's strong and confident voice as she asked her question helped to ease them. With a nod to each other, Xander and Giles slid the doors open and let many guns poke their nozzles in to aim straight at them.
A group of Initiative members were looking at them, unimpressed by their infiltration. Right in the middle was Graham, his blue eyes staring right into Eris', "shit…" she muttered to herself, she knew he would be here, but she really wasn't ready to face him.
"What are you all doing?" Graham asked the group; his voice was his usual stoic tone but there was a hint of anger in his question.
Eris didn't get a chance to speak as Buffy stepped in front and spoke up, "take us to your Colonel," she didn't give any kindness to Graham, she had more important things to do and she didn't like the pain he was causing Eris. Yes, it was warranted but didn't mean she had to like it.
"You're not in a position to make demands," he shot back, unphased by her words.
She wasn't going to give up, she needed to stop Adam at all cost, "if you don't take us willingly then I will fight my way to him, and you know that I can defeat every person in this building."
Graham stayed silent, looking at her intensely. She was right, her supernatural strength would tear through every soldier on base without any effort, it was smarter to take her to his superior. That would be the reason he would go with, but internally he knew he was only doing this because he didn't want to see Eris with a bullet in her chest, "fine, we'll take you."
The soldiers helped the group out of the elevator shaft and took them to their Colonel. The entire walk felt like eternity to Eris and Graham, they had so much to say to each other, but they couldn't. They could feel the heat between them as she walked in front of him, both itching to hold each other yet both knowing that after tonight, that may not ever happen again. They were lovers, wishing only to find comfort in each other's embrace, but instead could only play the roles they were forced in to, Solider and Rebel.
After a long and torturous walk, they arrived in the command centre where the Colonel was. He barely gave them a glance as looked through the bag that was confiscated off the group, "Colonel…" Buffy began, only to be cut off by the Colonel.
"Shut up…You got some nerve, lady," he spared a short, almost hateful glance at Buffy.
The Slayer kept her resolve however, needing him to see reason, "you have to listen to us."
"You think you and your friends can just keep waltzing into a government installation brandishing weapons like…like…"
He was at a loss for words as he looked at what Willow described to him as a gourd…a magic gourd, which Giles clarified shortly after. He looked at the group like they were escaped asylum patients, "what kind of freaks are you people?"
"You fight demons for a living and you think that a gourd is the freakiest thing you've seen?" Eris shot back whilst giving him a 'are you for real?' look.
Buffy nudged her cousin's ribs with her elbow, signalling her to be quiet before she spoke, "Adam is here, Colonel. In the Initiative."
"Nice try," the Colonel was very much unconvinced, thinking the group would say anything they could to get inside the base.
"Those overcrowded containment cells of yours, courtesy of Adam. He's pulling a Trojan horse on you. He's just waiting-"
The Colonel cut her off as he walked up to her, "every inch of this installation is under constant 24-hour surveillance."
"Including the secret lab?" Willow asked softly.
"Including everything!...What secret lab?"
"The one Adam's been using," Buffy looked straight into his eyes, showing her cockiness at knowing something he doesn't, "the one built for the final stage of the 314 Project…" the Slayer was met with silence, "…and you have no idea what I'm talking about."
"You're the leader of this entire government base yet you don't know what it was actually for?" Eris once again chimed in, adding salt to the wound that was the Colonel's pride.
He turned his gaze onto her, looking as if he wanted to strike her down, which made Graham's grip on his fun tighten, "I know everything that goes on around here," the Colonel kept his confident façade, not willing to admit he may not know everything, "a tick on a mouse couldn't get in without my knowing it. And if Adam wants to try, we're ready for him."
The Scooby gang all rolled their eyes, already tired of this man's ego, "Jolly good. H-How exactly do you plan to get close enough to Adam to remove his power source?" everyone looked to the Colonel, awaiting his answer to Giles' question.
The Colonel took a moment to think before answering, "hit him simultaneously with multiple Taser Blasters. Incapacitate him with as much voltage as we can muster."
He seemed so confident with his answer, but Xander's sarcastic response made that crumble very quickly, "Great Plan. That's right up there with duck and cover."
Buffy nodded, deciding to add to Xander's sarcasm, "I've seen Adam hit with Taser blasts. He feeds on them. And now you're gonna give him an all you-can-eat buffet?"
"You telling me my business?"
The Colonel's words made Buffy take on a more stern and intimidating posture. She stalked forward, unphased by the people around her, "this is not your business. It's mine. You, The Initiative, the boys at the Pentagon, you're all in way over your 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," as if on cue, the lights in the entire base turned off the second the Colonel finished speaking.
Blue lights turned on and alarms began blaring in every section, "sir, the power grid's down. Backup's not responding," a solider spoke from his spot at one of the control centre pc's, he frantically typed on his keyboard but nothing seemed to change, "we're locked in."
"What was that about you being in control?" Eris asked after a moment of silence.
"The containment area's been breached," the soldier continued, now more panicked, "hostiles are loose."
"How many?" the Colonel tried not to look worried, but when the solider said, "all of them, sir," his façade finally fell.
"It's Adam," Buffy brought the attention back on her, no longer wanting to play the back-and-forth argument game, "look I'm the only one that can stop him now. Just let me handle this. Get your people out of here."
The Colonel barely gave her any thought as he started giving out orders, "all right, you men follow me. We got to take the armoury now."
"Colonel-"
"-These people are under arrest, do you understand?" he went up to Graham, ordering him to take them to their cells. The man nodded, agreeing to the order. At least he got to keep Eris safe.
The Colonel and the rest of the soldier left shortly after, which left the Scooby Gang with the command centre soldier and Graham. The soldier tried to get up to take them into cuffs, but Buffy sprung in to action and quickly knocked him out.
Graham had moved in to apprehend Buffy, but Eris quickly stood in front of them both, stopping any fight, "Graham stop!"
"I have to take you in Eris."
"You won't, Buffy will put you down and you know it," Eris placed a hand on his arm and looked at him pleadingly, "help us, please, we can stop Adam."
"I need to listen to orders."
"Stop being a solider for one second and be the man that I love!" she shouted, not caring that it was the wrong time to confess.
He looked at her in surprise, he never thought she would ever say that, "fine, I'll help," he didn't say it back, even if he felt the same. He didn't know if he could, after everything that happened, he felt unable to reciprocate it.
He followed the group as they looked at one of the pcs to find where Adam could be, ignoring how Eris looked at him in pain when he didn't say it back or even really acknowledge that she said it. "The joining spell is extremely touchy," Giles took the attention off Graham and Eris and focused it back to the situation at hand, though he truly did feel for the young woman, "it's, uh, volatile. We- we can't risk it being interrupted. We need a place that's close to you and quiet."
"Uh, quiet?" Xander asked as he motioned to the camera where he could see the soldiers and demons clashing in a brutal fight. All the scientists had been killed or eaten, none knowing how to fight or defend themselves. The soldiers were uncoordinated and fighting erratically or shooting blindly, some even shooting their own comrades in their fear induced attacks. Fires had erupted around the base which made the sprinkler turn on, turning the floor into a slippery space that many slipped on. It was hard to watch.
"How's it going Will?" Buffy asked, she wanted to kill Adam now and minimize the deaths.
Willow continued to type diligently on the keyboard, familiarising herself with their systems, "hold on…hold on…according to this, their's air ducts and electrical conduits all running into there," she motioned to the map of the base, which made Buffy confused.
"So?"
"So there's no there there. Look, " she motioned to a yellow line that went up at a diagonal angle then stopped in a completely empty space.
It took a moment for the Slayer to catch on, "it's Adam."
"Are you sure?" Giles asked.
"Right behind 314. Can you unlock it Willow?"
"I don't have to. All the locks in the Initiative have been disengaged, except for the exits."
"He's luring you to him," Eris said grimly.
"Great. So we know we're going to 314. Now all we have to do is get there."
"Xander and I can give suppressing fire whilst Buffy takes out anything that gets too close," Graham offered, finally speaking up. If he was going to help, then he would do it right.
They all agreed and raced ahead, going right into the heart of the fight.
It was in complete chaos, explosions were now firing off, car's engines being hit with stray bullets and consuming everything around it in flames. The gang pushed their way through, as if parting an ocean made of demons and humans. The demons were all melee which helped Buffy to take out anything that got close whilst the men with guns took out anything in range. Graham tried his best to stay focused, but not joining his comrades in the fight and defending the base was making it hard. He felt as if he was betraying them and choosing a woman over them, and woman who had rocked his entire life, made him fall hard only to crush him completely.
There wasn't time to change his decision, the group had gotten to 314 and ran inside, closing the door once everyone was in and trying their best to block it with various furniture so nothing could get in. "should be over here," Buffy said as she and Willow raced over to the corner of the room, they quickly moved things out of the way and opened the wall to reveal a secret entrance, "once I'm in, barricade the door behind me," she then looked to Graham, "is this place ok to be Magic central?"
"Whatever you're doing, we can hold off the assault here," he was standing by the door, gun trained at the window and ready to fire if a demon's face popped up.
"How long before the ritual kicks in Giles?"
"Five minutes, give or take."
"I'll move fast them."
"Buffy please let me come with you," Eris pleaded as she moved over to her cousin, her younger cousin, who she was meant to protect. It didn't matter that Buffy had Slayer strength, she was the younger one, and it was meant to be Eris' job to protect and look after her family.
Buffy looked at her cousin and placed a hand on her shoulder, "I won't be," she spared a glance at Willow, Xander and Giles, silently explaining what she meant.
"Come back in one piece Buff or I will kill Adam myself."
"I promise," the Slayer gripped her cousin's shoulder tightly one last time before rushing off, ready to face Adam.
They others quickly closed the wall and barricaded it, making sure nothing would know it was there. They needed to get the ritual started.
Eris moved over to Graham, using this moment of reprieve to talk to him, "Graham, please believe me when I say I never meant to hurt you."
"I know you didn't, but it happened anyway," he didn't move his sight from the door, mainly to watch for demons but also because he didn't know if he could handle looking at her.
"This could be our last moment together, I don't want to fight," she placed her hand on his arm like before, hoping he would look at her.
"I don't want to fight either, I don't know what to do Eris," he eventually looked at her, showing his pain, "can we even be together? After everything?"
"You don't want to be together?"
"I do, but I don't think it can be possible. We're from two different worlds, and we clearly don't understand each other or what we do."
"But it doesn't have to be that way."
"It does, I'm a solider, and I will always be loyal to the government, and that means against you. When this is all done what will happen then?"
"You could stay, with me, you can help us fight."
"What, leave the Initiative, be part of the Scooby gang?" he hated the way she looked at him in hope, "I don't know if I can do that…"
She stepped away, letting her hand fall from his arm, "you wouldn't leave them? Even for me…?
"I-I…" he didn't know how to answer that.
"We're starting now," Willow called out, she didn't want to interrupt but they didn't have a lot of time. The pair stopped talking and moved back to defending, it was too painful to continue anyway. Xander, Willow and Giles had sat on the ground in a triangle, in front of them being various candles and the gourd, they were ready, "The power of the Slayer and all who wield it. Last to ancient first, we invoke thee. Grant us thy domain and primal strength. Accept us and the powers we possess. Make us mind and heart and spirit joined. Let the hand encompass us. Do thy will. Spiritus…Spirit."
She handed a card to Xander who then spoke, "Animus…heart," which was then followed by Giles who said, "Sophus…mind."
Willow grabbed a card for Buffy and spoke, "and Manus….the hand."
The trio began to chant together, creating an atmosphere of power that Graham and Eris could feel swirl around them, "we enjoin that we may inhabit the vessel, the hand, daughter of Sineya, first of the ones." Power seemed to move towards where Buffy had gone, as if the trio's minds had gone along with it.
They all remained completely still; heads look ingup to the roof. Even as demons came flooding in, they remained still. Graham and Eris began to fight, using fists and guns to take out all the demons flooding in. Graham pushed himself out into the main area of the base so he could kill anything before it got past him and into the room whilst Eris stayed inside to kill that did get past. Slip into the room and swipe at Eris' face, slicing her cheek open before kicking her to the ground. Graham went to shoot the demon that was about to give a killing blow to Eris but was unable to as a flash of Bleach Blonde hair ran past him and tackled the demon.
"Spike?" Eris asked in confused as she watched him…save her?
"Thought you could defend the stiffs alone, did you?" he said cheekily as he stabbed the demon with a knife he managed to grab during the fight.
Graham really wanted shoot Spike and kill him, but too many demons kept his attention. For now, the vampire would be the one to keep Eris safe, which didn't sit well with him at all.
The demon population started to dwindle until it stopped completely in time for the trio on the ground to come back to their senses, "wow, that was…" they heard Willow mutter.
"You're back?" Eris asked in hope as she walked over to check on them.
"Glad I was here to save you all," Spike said cheekily once more, really hoping they would ignore his betrayal, which they did not.
"Thank you, although your heroism is slightly muted by the fact that you were helping Adam to start a war that would kill us all," Giles was straight to the point, not really wanting to deal with Spike whilst also dealing with immense exhaustion from the spell they performed.
"You probably just saved us so we wouldn't stake you right here," Xander chimed in, equally tired.
"Well, yea. Did it work?"
None cared for the answer, as Buffy came back with Riley in tow. Everyone got together and all stuck close to each other to try and escape the chaos outside, even Spike stayed with them as he knew he needed to stick with them to survive. Graham and Riley had gathered some of the soldiers still alive and ordered them to help keep the civilians safe and evacuate the base. They battled fiercely and dealt with many demons attacking them from all sides. Some of the soldiers were killed as they gave their all to keep the civilians safe, and they would be remembered as heroes alongside the many men and women that were slain.
With a small group of men left, they managed to get into the emergency stairs that Buffy was able to unlock from Adam's secret room. Demons piled into the hallways, trying their hardest to kill the humans and escape from the base that tortured and experimented on them. They may have been monsters, but they too were victims in Adams war.
Guns fired without rest until every bullet was fired, until every demon was killed and until every human left alive had gotten out of the base and onto the campus grounds where they were met with many other soldiers that were called in for backup when the base was cut off.
They used explosives to close the escape door whilst the soldiers and civilians were ushered into a tent to get looked at and kept out of the rain that was falling heavily from the sky above.
Whilst the others were taken care of, Eris had rushed out of the tent when she realised Graham wasn't in there. She was worried that during the chaos he had been killed, but as she stepped out into the rain, she saw him across the yard giving orders to soldiers.
He saw her out of the corner of his eye and turned to face her. Neither moved from their spots, both staring at each other with mixed emotions of pain and sadness. Eris hoped with all her heart that Graham would come over to her, hold her in his arms and kiss her passionately. And there was some part of Graham that wished that too, so very much…
But he knew that he needed to be with his men, to be the solider he had been trained for. With one last look at Eris, committing every inch of her face to memory, he turned away and walked off, returning to giving orders, and silently showing Eris what his choice was….not her.