[ hmm. i wonder who could possibly be in this gif? why on earth would it be here? hmm

he may not have a name, but he's got a face (seriously i gotta think of a name he's gonna officially be here two chapters from now) ]

♡︎

I AM NOT GETTING IN THAT WITH YOU AND A DEAD BODY.

[ 4.14 ]

Everyone listened intently as Buffy explained all that happened in the last few hours. It seemed Buffy's perfect Professor Walsh wasn't so perfect, as the woman tried — and nearly succeeded — to have Buffy killed while on a mission.

"So, Maggie sends me down into the sewers with one of those blasto guns and the next thing I know, it's raining monsters," Buffy said.

"Hallelujah," Xander managed to joke.

"And then this gate slams down behind me and I-I try to use the gun but it goes pfft," she continued, clearly still upset.

"You're saying that Maggie Walsh set you up?" Giles asked, needing clarification.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," she insisted. "She sent me on a one-way recon. "

"Got to hand it to you Goldilocks," Spike chimed in while looking at his recently painted nails. "You do have bleeding tragic taste in men. I've got a cousin married to a regurgitating Frolops demon that's got better instincts than you."

Buffy narrowed her eyes at him. "What does my taste in men have to do with this?"

"You think Riley was out knitting booties for your future offspring while Maggie was stringing you up?" he asked, giving her a pointed look.

Much to Buffy's displeasure, no one chimed in to say that Spike was probably wrong. She looked at them all with worried eyes. "You guys think Riley had something to do with this?"

"Um, probably not," Giles managed to say, grimacing. "But we'd, uh, be remiss if we didn't think all the possibilities through."

"Right. Remiss," Buffy muttered, looking at the ground. Then she spun around to look at Giles again. "No! No, Maggie made sure that he was nowhere around when she sent me on this very special 'make Buffy dead' assignment."

"Plus, Riley?" Willow asked doubtfully. "He seems like he wouldn't tell a little white lie let alone a whole bunch of big dirty ones."

"That's why they call it the secret forces, Will. Cause they kinda keep the whole lying thing to themselves," Xander reminded her.

"All I know is that Maggie has it in for me, which means the Initiative has it in for me," Buffy stated.

"I'm guessing the mad scientist isn't too keen on the fact that the entire Scooby gang knows that the Initiative is up to no good," Xander said, leaning his head back against the wall.

"Which brings us back to the not safe for any of us concept," she said.

"What could have happened to make Professor Walsh want to kill you?" Giles asked.

"I don't know. Uh, she wasn't keen on the fact that I was asking a lot of questions, that's for sure," Buffy told him.

"So you were getting too close to something," Anya guessed.

"Clearly," Giles said. "Although one can only imagine what she'd be so desperate to hide."

"I'm so gonna stand up Graham if he tries to kill me," Kitty mumbled. Then she sighed and looked at Buffy. "What do we do? I'd kind of like to not be hunted down and shot up with trackers like Spike."

"Yeah, I don't recommend it," he said, rolling his eyes from his spot on the stairs.

Buffy moved over to Giles' weapons chest and began passing the contents out. Kitty looked at the mace Buffy handed her before going to sit by Spike on the stairs. She smiled while poking him in the arm with the sharp end, making him roll his eyes playfully before snatching the mace from her.

"Everybody grab a weapon," Buffy instructed. "We've gotta move."

"Storm the Initiative. Yeah, let's take on those suckers," Xander said enthusiastically as Buffy put an ax in his hands.

"I was thinking more that we'd hide."

He instantly sighed in relief. "Oh, thank God."

"I think perhaps we should talk about this," Giles said, not thinking it wise to run away so hastily.

"We need to relocate someplace we're less likely to be found," Buffy said. "We need to come up with a plan."

"We could go to my place," Willow offered.

Buffy 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? The guys haven't seen us together that much, and there's enough room."

"Plus he just put up that bitching mirror ball," Kitty asked, grinning. "Very pretty."

"Cool! Come on down and boogie at Xander's hideaway," Xander said, smiling.

Anya was less happy. "Yes, come boogie."

"Absolutely not!" Giles exclaimed in disgust. "I will not squat in that dank hole."

"What, it was good enough for me, but you're above it all?" Spike asked, raising a judgemental eyebrow.

"Precisely," he said, earning a giggle from Kitty. Now it was Spike's turn to poke her arm with the mace to get her to stop laughing. "Besides I-I don't see why we can't stay right where we are. Pfft. It's very unlikely that those Initiative boys are going to come round here to—"

"G, I just told them all that we live on this street," Kitty interrupted. Then she cringed. "And gave Graham the exact address for picking me up on Friday."

"Oh, how helpful of you," Spike muttered, rolling his eyes with — well, it wasn't jealousy, that's for sure. Definitely not.

"So, we have until Friday," Giles said. "We don't need to rush off—"

Giles was cut off by the door banging open as Riley let himself in without an invitation. Spike instantly tensed up and pulled Kitty closer before leaning back on the stairs to try and hide behind her. Thankfully, all Riley cared about was Buffy, who he thought was dead for a short time. "Buffy!" he said, clearly relieved to see her alive. "God, Buffy are you okay? What happened?"

"You know?" Buffy asked carefully as she looked up at him.

"I know something went down," was all he said. "Tell me."

"Maggie tried to kill me."

Before Riley could really even process that, Anya chimed in. "It didn't work, but they're all upset anyway."

Riley shook his head and focused solely on Buffy. "Okay, listen, I need you to go over everything step by step. There has to be - has to be some kind of mistake."

"There was no mistake," Xander said, standing up for Buffy. "And how do you know something happened?"

"I was on a mission but I came back and — I'm not sure," he muttered, still so confused. "Look, let's just keep our heads and not jump to any—"

"What?" Buffy asked when Riley cut himself off.

As Riley had turned to address them all, he caught sight of the two on the stairs. Kitty tried to shove Spike's face down, but Riley still saw him.

"That's Hostile Seventeen," he said, not taking his eyes off Spike.

"No, I'm just a friend of Xander's," Spike said, once again using that ridiculous accent. But then he sighed and dropped the accent while shrugging. "Bugger it. I'm your guy."

Though he was sitting behind her on the steps, Kitty reached back and grabbed the fabric of his shirt — almost protectively. Riley wasn't going to be taking Spike with him.

Buffy looked at Riley and cringed, not really sure how to explain having a vampire in the house. "This is Spike. He's um — it's a really long story b-but he's not bad anymore."

Spike jumped up to glare at Buffy, and Kitty was pulled up as well since she was holding onto him. "Hey! What am I, a bleeding broken record? I'm bad!" Then he paused. "It's just I can't bite anymore. Thanks to you wankers."

Riley looked between Spike, Buffy, and Kitty, who had stepped in front of Spike. "We've been looking all over the place for him. Kitty, you said you hadn't seen a vampire, but you were hiding him in your house. You lied to us. How could you?"

"She's had like two conversations with you and Graham, mate," Spike said, rolling his eyes. Again with the feeling that definitely wasn't jealousy. "Get over yourself."

"We're kinda buddies, Riley. Couldn't throw him under the bus," Kitty said, shrugging. Spike was holding the wrist with the friendship bracelet up smugly from behind her. "Sorry for lying."

Riley shook his head before looking accusingly at Buffy. "And you've known where he's been all along, too?"

"It's not like that," Buffy said quietly. There literally wasn't enough time to explain their long history with Spike.

"Then what is it like? What's he doing here?" he asked.

"Leaving you swabs to your dramatics, thanks. I've got my stories on the telly for that," Spike declared, heading to the door. He put on his coat at the door before looking back at Riley. "By the by. If you're trying to kill her—" Spike then leaned back with a big grin, giving two thumbs up. Buffy and Willow rolled their eyes while he ran out the door, covering his head with his jacket.

"Was that a fucking Fonzie imitation?" Kitty asked, who nearly laughed at how ridiculous he looked.

But it seemed Riley didn't want to move on from the topic of Spike even though he was gone. He whirled back around to look at Buffy. "Buffy, what is this? You're hiding an HST?"

"Why don't you just back off and let her ask the questions, Jack?" Xander asked defensively. "Your boss just tried to make monster food out of her."

Riley looked around, taking note of how they were all staring at him accusingly. It was clear they didn't care about harboring Spike — they cared about Walsh trying to kill Buffy. "I-I didn't see much, I wasn't there. All I know is that Professor Walsh told me you were dead, but then I saw you on the monitors. Look, this isn't Professor Walsh. There must be something making her act this way. Something — I don't know, controlling her."

"We think Buffy may have been becoming too inquisitive," Giles said quietly. "That she was getting close to something that Professor Walsh was trying to hide. Do you have any idea what that might be?"

"What about 314?" Buffy asked, remembering Ethan's warning. "Maybe that's it."

But Riley still didn't want to believe that Walsh could be evil. "Maybe she was trying to test you. What if it was only a drill?"

"Then why did she tell you I was dead?" she asked, knowing that it wasn't the case. "Riley, it wasn't a test."

Giles spoke softly, not wanting to upset Riley even more. "See, I've heard rumors that the Initiative isn't all that we've been told. That, um, secretly they're working toward some darker purpose, something that might harm us all."

"No! That's - that's not what happens there," Riley insisted.

"Riley—"

"I would know!" he interrupted Buffy.

"No one is sure of anything, okay? We're were just trying to sort it out," Buffy told him.

"I can't be here," he said, shaking his head as he backed toward the door. "I'll sort it out on my own."

"Riley," Buffy called helplessly.

"No. Just — I'm sorry," he said before leaving, not giving Buffy a second look.

"Well, I'm assuming sleepover at Xander's is still a go," Kitty said, rocking back and forth on her feet. Buffy nodded while Giles groaned, not looking forward to it. "Right. I'll get Mystery Date. No sleepover is complete without."

"Sleeping in that cave is bad enough," Giles grumbled. "I shan't participate in such a game."

"Oh, come on, Giles," Xander said, shaking his head. "Don't get a buzzkill. Plus, if you get Tyler, Kitty will cry and call you a boyfriend stealer cause he's her favorite."

"It's true," Willow said, nodding. "I've seen her give the Tyler card a kiss."

"I don't think you can prove it."

Buffy bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. "There's a cherry lip gloss stain on it, Kit."

"That could be Xander's lip gloss for all we know. He steals my board game boyfriends, so why wouldn't he steal my lipgloss too?"

"That's sound logic," Giles said, nodding along. "Go pack a bag, Kitty. Necessities only."

♡︎

Evidently, Giles didn't consider three stuffed animals a necessity. He cruelly made her choose between a pink rabbit named Bowie, Scooby-Doo, and Love-a-Lot Bear. She chose the Care Bear, naturally, and the girls all got theirs when they stopped by their houses so they'd all have them. Anya even had one now, who was delighted on the day that Kitty presented her with a Wish Bear — a very on-the-nose choice.

Cramming six people into Xander's basement was quite difficult. He hung up a curtain to divide the room and give the girls a little privacy. The sleeping arrangements were less than ideal. Buffy, Willow, and Anya crammed into the bed while Kitty and Xander were in sleeping bags. Giles, much to his displeasure, was sleeping in a plastic, blow-up chair and footrest that definitely came from the toy section at K-Mart.

No one really got a good night of sleep because of it.

When morning came, Kitty left her sleeping bag and joined the girls on the bed to watch cartoons. They all watched sleepily as Wiley Coyote dropped a wrecking ball on a chain, only for it to miss the Roadrunner. Instead of stopping halfway, the wrecking ball continued in a full circle, coming back around and crushing Wiley Coyote.

"That physics doesn't check out," Kitty said with a frown. She thought Wiley Coyote deserved to come out on top at least once. "That'd never happen."

Willow smiled, knowing Kitty didn't even understand the overall concept of physics regardless. "Well, no Kit, that's why they call them cartoons, not documentaries."

"Must we have the noise?" Giles griped, pushing aside the curtain. "My head is splitting." Then he moved to turn the TV off.

"Well, look who's Cranky Bear in the morning," Willow said while holding up her own Tenderheart Bear.

"Yes, I can't imagine why I didn't sleep well in my beach ball," Giles mumbled, rolling his eyes.

Anya looked at him pointedly. "Every time you moved it made squeaky noises. It was irritating."

"Really?" he asked, narrowing his eyes at her. "I'm surprised you could hear it over your Wagnerian snoring."

"Okay, you guys, could we not please?" Buffy chimed in, not wanting them to fight. "Everything's screwed up enough without you two doing scenes from my parent's marriage."

"Sorry," Anya said, looking down.

"It's alright," he said before going back to the other side of the curtain.

"Thank you," Buffy said.

"It'll be okay, Buffy," Willow told her in an attempt to comfort her. "Riley's just confused, that's all."

"I don't know. It just seems like things could get heavier. His whole world's falling apart," she said with a frown.

"And after everything you've been through with Angel. You really should get yourself a boring boyfriend. Like Xander," Anya suggested. Then she glared. "You can't have Xander!"

"That was the idea," Buffy told them, sighing. "Riley was supposed to be Mr. Joe Guy. We were going to do dumb things like hold hands through the daises going tra-la-la."

"Poor Buffy. Your life resists all things average," Willow mumbled.

"So dump him," Anya said bluntly. "But you can't have Xander!"

"I'll try and remember that." Buffy sighed. "It's too late anyway. I'm already at the 'I hurt when he hurts, I smile when he smiles' stage."

"I hate that part," Anya muttered.

"I wish I had that part with someone," Kitty said, hugging her Care Bear. Of course, she was oblivious to the fact that she already had that part with someone.

"I'll just have to make it work," Buffy declared, nodding. Then she glanced at Kitty. "And you'll find that — maybe not with Graham if it turns out the whole Initiative is evil."

"Then who?" Kitty asked, dramatically laying across all their laps.

"Before Oz, uh, left, he and Xander had a bet that you and Angel would fall in love, so maybe him," Willow offered up.

"They did what?" Buffy asked, jealous at the mere thought of Angel moving on. Which was ridiculous, as she'd moved on. "My Angel?"

"Don't sweat it, B," Kitty said, patting her leg. "I could never fall for Angel. He's a horrible dresser."

"That's it? That's the only thing keeping you from falling in love with the only man I've ever loved with my entire body and soul? One wardrobe change is all it takes?" Buffy questioned, her eyes wide.

Kitty picked at her fingernail polish, not taking this conversation nearly as seriously as Buffy was. "I mean, he's not that crazy about The Beach Boys either—"

Their discussion was cut off by Xander rushing down the stairs, carrying a breakfast tray. "Turn on the TV. Now!" he instructed frantically.

Willow quickly got up and did so, turning it to the news, before sitting on the bed. Giles came back over as well, hearing the urgency in Xander's tone.

"Sunnydale is still reeling from news of the crime. A source in the coroner's office tells us that the boy was stabbed with what looks like some kind of large skewer and his body was then mutilated," the news reporter stated. "Police have not named a suspect, and the killer is still at large."

"That's horrible," Kitty said, her eyes watering at the thought of the little boy that was killed.

"The Polgara demon had a skewer in its arm," Buffy told them, immediately assuming that's what did the killing. "That's the one that Maggie insisted we bring back alive."

"She must have sent it after you," Giles assumed.

"And it got distracted," she muttered, sighing. "God."

Willow squeezed her hand comfortingly. "Buffy, it's not your fault. How could you know?"

"She's right," Giles said. "You mustn't blame yourself."

"I'm not going to. I'm going to the crime scene to see what I can find out," Buffy said determinedly as she got off the bed. "You guys research the Polgara demon. I want to know where it is. When I find it, I'm going to make him pay for taking that kid's life. I'll make him die in ways he can't even imagine."

While Buffy spoke with the conviction of a leader, it was difficult to take her seriously given her outfit. Kitty giggled before speaking up. "That might have sounded more commanding if you weren't in your yummy sushi pajamas."

"Says the one in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pajamas."

"Careful what you say about Michelangelo, Buffy, or I'll go straight to LA and give Angel a big, fat kiss," Kitty threatened.

"If you do, we can never tell Oz," Xander chimed in. He didn't have the money to be losing bets.

♡︎

As the morning passed, Buffy went off to do her Slayer thing. Willow left after she did and went to see Tara. Given that Xander and Anya were feeling very cramped with everyone moving in so suddenly, Kitty opted to leave the house as well, promising Giles that she wouldn't risk going home.

When two o'clock — Passions time — rolled around, she made her way to Spike's crypt. He had a small TV set up inside with an insanely long extension cord so that he could steal electricity from the nearby funeral home. That way, he had television. Soon, he'd have a minifridge to keep his blood in.

"So, how's it been living in my old prison?" Spike asked, lighting up a cigarette.

Kitty was sitting on top of the sarcophagus with her legs crossed. "We're kind of just living on top of each other right now."

"Well, you're always welcome here," he said, gesturing around the empty crypt. "Got rid of all the cobwebs."

That earned a snort from Kitty. "Yeah, right. Kitty sleepover requirements include things like lighting — seriously, get some candles or something — maybe a bed, some blankets—"

"Candles, blankets — sounds romantic," Spike joked, smirking devilishly at her. "So, to get you into bed, I just have to have one?"

If Kitty had something near to throw, she'd have thrown it. Instead, she rolled her eyes playfully and shook her head, not taking his flirting seriously even if she wanted to. "Cemetary sex is tacky."

Spike snorted. "Don't knock it til you try—"

A noise outside the mausoleum cut off Spike's saying. It sounded like a lot of people were running through the cemetery. While Spike cut the TV off, Kitty quickly rushed to one of the windows and gasped when she saw countless Initiative soldiers breaking into all the above-ground crypts, searching for anything supernatural. It wouldn't be long before the group made it to their current one.

"Soldiers. Almost here," Kitty said, looking at Spike with wide eyes. "They'll take you again."

"Shit," Spike muttered, looking around. It was daylight out, meaning he couldn't run. His eyes fell on the coffin, an idea coming to him. Kitty watched as he slid the top off just wide enough so a person could get in. Then he looked at Kitty expectantly. "Come on."

"No fucking way!" Kitty whispered, shaking her head. "I am not getting in that with you and a dead body."

"We've got to hide, Kitten," he said, dragging her over. "Ranger Rick could've told them about you lying. They'll connect the dots if they see you. Now, come on."

Kitty felt like crawling out of her skin as she and Spike got into the coffin. It made it even worse as they situated the dead body on top of them. There was a thin, tarp-like piece of fabric separating them and the bones on top, keeping them hidden in case the Initiative soldier did open the lid. If the dead body wasn't enough, Kitty was also scared of the dark, and she was now trapped in complete darkness. All she had was Spike to comfort her, whose chest she was lying flat on to take up the least amount of space.

Then the sound of the door of the crypt being thrown open traveled to them through the walls of the sarcophagus. Kitty flinched, and Spike held the back of her head — both as a comforting gesture and a way to keep her still. It did, in a way. She relaxed against him, keeping her nose pressed to his neck, focusing on his other hand, which was wrapped around her waist.

Spike listened intently as the soldiers moved around, extremely worried that this was about to go sideways. Kitty found that she recognized the voices when she clenched her eyes shut and focused on them.

"Somebody's been staying here," Forrest said, looking at the few possessions Spike left behind.

"What do you think, a homeless guy?" Graham asked, looking around as well.

"Could be — or a squatter of the demon variety."

"Not the Polgara," Graham stated. That was what they were after, so he didn't think a squatter was that important right now.

"Who cares?" Forrest asked, scowling. "I see a demon, it dies."

Graham neared the television and placed his hand on the top of it. "It's warm."

The next thing Kitty knew, the lid of the coffin was being lifted. She didn't even dare to breathe, hoping that the blanket and body covered them. Thankfully, the soldiers didn't look too closely, or they might have seen the bottoms of Spike's shoes peeking out from the end.

"Damn," Forrest muttered, annoyed to have come up empty. He and Graham began to leave, not bothering to put the lid back on the coffin. Before leaving altogether, Forrest slammed the butt of his gun into the TV, smashing it. "Animals!"

Once the door of the crypt was safely shut, Kitty and Spike sat up, pushing the body to the side. Spike looked incredibly furious at the soldiers, and Kitty was just disgusted from being in the coffin.

"I'm gonna have to take like eight showers."

♡︎

Riley was insane — a conclusion Kitty recently came to all on her own. With his entire world falling apart, which included Professor Walsh apparently being dead, he was having a total mental breakdown. He even followed Buffy into Willy's bar while she was trying to get information and threatened to shoot everyone in there, even the humans because he didn't understand what was right and wrong anymore. In addition to the crazy, he was sweating and shaking and scratching himself, getting physically worse as time passed.

So, yeah, Kitty had good reason for thinking he was insane, so she wasn't super thrilled when Buffy brought him to Xander's house. It took her a long time to get him to lay down and rest, but eventually, Buffy came out from behind the curtain to talk with the others.

"How is he?" Giles asked.

"It isn't just grief making him act this way. Something's affecting him physically and it's getting worse," Buffy told them, knowing this wasn't normal.

"Do you think Professor Walsh did something to him?" Anya asked.

"I don't know, but I'm ready to find out," Buffy said determinedly.

"That's gonna be tough, what with Maggie's deadness and all," Xander reminded her.

"She must have kept records somewhere. A-about Riley, about 314, about all of it," she said. "And I'm sure she wasn't the only person that knew what she was up to."

"So, what's the plan?" he asked.

"Giles, Anya keep researching," Buffy instructed. "Xander, you, Kitty, and I are going undercover."

"Hey!" Anya exclaimed before Kitty even question why the fuck she was going undercover. "Remember before. No Xander! Not in a boyfriend way or a lead him to a certain death way."

"He's the only one with military experience," Buffy stated. They still relied on that Halloween night so much.

"It's not like he was in the 'Nam," she argued. "He was G.I. Joe for one night."

Xander held her shoulders comfortingly. "It's okay, Anya. I've backed up Buffy before."

"Can't you do something else to help them? Like... Xerox handouts or something?" Anya asked, pouting.

"I'll be careful," he assured her. "Promise."

"Right, onto the next question," Kitty said, wrapping her arms around herself in a hug. Then she looked at Buffy like she was crazy. "Why the fuck am I going undercover? I don't do undercover!"

"It's come to my attention that you actually have talents," Buffy said, crossing her arms.

"No, I don't. I'm talentless. Can't juggle or twirl a baton or anything," she insisted.

"Your Cupid aura naturally makes people like and trust you. They don't think you're suspicious — just like the commandos had no problem believing your lies when hiding Spike. You're also very good at getting information through nonviolent means, which we may need in order to not draw attention to ourselves. And let's face it, in the event of needing a distraction, you're the best."

Kitty was stumped as Buffy listed all those things. She never really thought of small things like those as talents, especially when she hardly used them, and never for something as important and dangerous as sneaking into a military lab.

"I was going to object, but those are fair points," Giles noted while cleaning his glasses.

"But they're playing a marathon of The Nanny tonight," Kitty mumbled, really not wanting to go.

Buffy put a hand on her shoulder. "Giles can tape it for you."

"Fine," Kitty said, sighing.

"It's a minor point but how do you plan to get into the Initiative?" Giles then asked. "I'm sure their, uh, security system's almost impenetrable."

"I have my clearance. I'm hoping she didn't have time to revoke it," Buffy said.

Giles nodded at that. "As to the whereabouts of this Polgara demon, I'm afraid we've-we've not turned up much. There's been no reports since its original capture."

"Then we'll just have to keep looking."

♡︎

Kitty was nervous as she followed Buffy and Xander through the ATO frat house, which apparently was the entrance to the Initiative base. So, technically, she was a double trespasser. Like Buffy, she was dressed in simple clothes and a white lab coat that may or may not have been stolen from the science building on campus. Xander was wearing a spare soldier uniform that they snagged from Riley's room.

"Seems pretty quiet," Xander noted. He'd only been in the house for parties.

"It usually is this time of—" A man moved past them, and so Buffy stopped talking, not sure if it was a college student or member of the Initiative. Once he was gone, they continued on until Buffy stood in front of a full-length mirror, touching some kind of panel.

Xander and Kitty shared a confused look, not sure why she stopped in front of the mirror. "Buff, maybe you should check the look later," Xander said. He stepped over to Buffy, who quickly shushed him and shoved him back so that he wasn't in front of the mirror. "Oww! What'd you do that for?"

"Sorry," she muttered, "I'm the only one that can pass the retinal scan."

"The — ew!" Kitty whispered, wearing a matching expression of disgust with Xander.

"We don't wanna see that," Xander said, shaking his head.

Buffy rolled her eyes, wishing the two friends weren't so similar sometimes. "Retinal. Scan," she said flatly.

"Oh," Xander said, both of them calming down. He pointed to his eyes. "Eyes, not your — yeah."

"That makes more sense," Kitty added while nodding.

A green laser shot out of the mirror suddenly, running across Buffy's face and eyes. "Well, we'll know in a few seconds if my clearance is still good," she said just before it reached her eyes.

"Or if we're about to die at the hands of fifty grief-filled military goons," Xander said offhandedly.

But then a robotic voice sounded. "Retinal scan recorded. Summers, Buffy."

The mirror slid away, revealing an all-white elevator, which Buffy stepped into. Xander and Kitty reluctantly followed, uneasy about the whole thing.

"Why am I not entirely comforted by the arrival of the man-sized microwave?" Xander asked.

"Just pretend we're delicious snacks," Kitty said while Buffy typed some kind of code in. "I call dibs on being a Hot Pocket."

"Fine. I can be pizza rolls," Xander settled.

After a short elevator ride down, the door slid back open. Xander and Kitty looked below them with wide eyes as they stepped onto the walkway. Just the main room alone was ginormous. There was no telling how big the place was, and how much high-tech equipment they had stored away.

"Holy moly," Xander muttered, kind of nerding out a bit.

Buffy nodded, understanding how he felt. "I know."

"I totally get it now," he said. "Can I have sex with Riley, too?"

Buffy shot Xander an unimpressed look before leading them along the walkway and to the stairs that would take them to the lab. As they walked, two soldiers came from the opposite direction.

"Quick, pretend to make out with me," Xander said, pulling Buffy into a corner. Kitty rolled her eyes and kept walking slowly, knowing it'd make things worse.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" Buffy asked, keeping an eye on Kitty.

"Well I, uh, you know. In the movies, the guy and the girl have to hide," Xander said sheepishly.

"Please, could you possibly draw more attention to us?" she asked, scoffing. The two soldiers walked past, causing no problems. "Kitty's showing you up, and it's only her first undercover thing."

"Well, isn't she so great," he muttered childishly as they caught up with Kitty. She was glad, as she had no idea where she was going.

"This is the Initiative, Xander," Buffy said sternly. "Military guys and scientists do not make out with each other."

"Well, maybe that's wrong with the world. Ever think about that?" he asked.

"Let's just go," Buffy whispered.

They continued through the lab, following Buffy's lead. She seemed to know where she was going, searching for someone in particular. It wasn't long before they found Dr. Angleman, who was working closely with Professor Walsh. Buffy, Xander, and Kitty all hid around the corner, listening intently as he spoke with another Initiative employee. They heard all about how the soldiers were being given some kind of drug in their food without them knowing. With Professor Walsh's death, many of them missed doses while out hunting for the thing that killed her, leading to withdrawals. Riley was one of the last soldiers unaccounted for, which explained why his contrition was deteriorating so quickly.

"Keep me posted," Angleman said to the other man. "I'll be in records."

As Angleman passed the trio, they made sure their backs were turned — which was pointless, as he'd only recognize Buffy. He entered a room just behind them, using a keycard to access it. Buffy moved quickly, catching the door before it could shut completely.

Buffy rushed up to Angleman and grabbed him, shoving him against the wall. "Now, I don't generally like to kill humans but I've learned that it pays to be flexible in life."

"I thought we were using non-violent means," Kitty squeaked out. But it seemed Buffy was enraged by the information that they were drugging Riley without his knowledge.

"Changed my mind," she declared.

Angleman, though startled, wasn't particularly scared by Buffy's aggressive arrival. "I was wondering when you'd turn up."

"Oh darn! So this isn't a surprise," Buffy said while removing the ridiculous fake glasses she'd been wearing. "Now, you can tell me what you did to Riley and after that, we can take a tour of room 314."

"Somebody's coming, you know," he said. "I'm sure they've already seen you on the security monitors."

"Monitors are non-functional at this time, sir. Went down about ten minutes ago." They all looked to see Riley had entered the room, looking in even worse shape. He must have escaped from Xander's basement. And the news about the cameras was, well, news to them.

"What? I didn't do that," Buffy said, frowning.

"Thank god for small favors and we'll worry about the details later, huh, Buff?" Xander said, not exactly wanting a small army to descend upon them.

"Finn, take this girl to the stockade immediately," Angleman ordered.

"Riley, he can tell us what we need to know," Buffy told Riley, needing him to not take orders for once. Then she focused back on the doctor. "Maggie wanted me dead, didn't she?"

"She did," he reluctantly confirmed. Then Angleman looked at Riley, not wanting to anger him, as he knew he was unstable. "But understand the Initiative has no interest in eliminating the Slayer. It was her own vendetta."

"Why?" Buffy asked.

"And spell it out real simple," Kitty chimed in, leaning against the wall. "You know, us dumb blondes don't always understand at first."

"You're not a natural blonde," Xander whispered.

"I don't know," Angleman said.

Buffy tightened her grip on him. "Well, think harder!"

"It was the project," he sputtered out.

"Project 314?"

"It—" Angleman hesitated and looked at Riley once more. "It escaped."

"That's enough!" Riley snapped, coming closer. "You're making her sound like some psychopath. She wasn't like that! She was a brilliant woman!"

"She was," Angleman said, growing nervous of Riley's reaction. "It's not—"

"All she was doing was trying to help people and this is the way you want them to remember her?" Ruley asked accusingly.

"Angleman said Walsh was feeding you drugs," Buffy told Riley.

When Riley was within arm's reach, Buffy released Angleman to look at him. Riley glared accusingly at Buffy. "You're doing this to me, aren't you? This all started because of you!"

"If you will just listen to me, I am trying to help you get to the truth," she said calmly.

"You want the truth, then tell me, what did you do to her, Buffy?" Riley shouted, still thinking Buffy was responsible.

Riley grabbed Buffy, but she broke his grip. "Stop it! I didn't do anything."

Again, he grabbed her roughly, but she threw him off. "Riley, stop! This isn't about us. Everything that we need to know is here, we just need to find out what was in 314."

Suddenly, a body dropped from the raised platform above them. They all looked at the dead soldier with wide eyes before slowly looking up to see what threw him down.

"Me," some kind of creature said.

Kitty took a scared step back, cowering behind Xander. Whatever that thing was, it was horrifying and huge. It was part man, part monster, and part machine. Different body parts, all mixed and matched were put together like some kind of Frankenstein.

"I've been thinking about the world," the monster said, pacing above them. "I wanted to see it, learn it. I saw the inside of that boy... and it was beautiful, but it didn't tell me about the world. It just made me feel. So now I want to learn about me. Why I feel? What I am?"

The creature stepped off the platform and dropped down to their level. "So, I came home." Then he inserted some kind of disk into the port in his chest to process the data. "I'm a kinematically redundant, biomechanical Demonoid designed by Maggie Walsh. She called me Adam, and I called her Mother."

"Adam," Angleman said carefully, clearly not surprised by Adam's existence like the others. "Maggie would want you to stand down."

"Yes," he agreed. "But I seem to have a design flaw. In addition to organic material, I'm equipped with GP-2, D-11 Infrared Detectors, a Harmonic Decelerator, plus D.C. Servo."

"She pieced you together from parts of other demons," Buffy said in disbelief.

"And man. And machine," Adam claimed. "Which tells me what I am, but not who I am. Mother wrote things down. Hard data, but also her feelings. That's how I learned that I have a job here. And that she loved me."

"She wasn't your mother and she didn't love you!" Riley snapped angrily.

"Is that really the issue?" Xander asked him.

"Maybe don't say anything to piss off the big half-green monster," Kitty mumbled. Riley being jealous of Adam really wasn't what they needed.

But, of course, Riley didn't heed their warning. "She made you because she was a scientist!"

"Riley," Xander hissed.

Adam then pulled out another disk and inserted it in his chest. "Riley Finn—"

"Stop!" Riley shouted as Adam began sorting through the information. "Those files—"

"Oh. Mother created you too," he said, tilting his head.

"Maggie's not my mother! I have a mother! A real—"

"A birth mother, yes," Adam interrupted. "But after you met Maggie, she was the one who shaped your basic operating system. She taught you how to think, how to feel. She fed you chemicals to make you stronger — your mind and body. She said that you and I were her favorite children. Her art. That makes us brothers. Family."

Riley stepped forward threateningly. "No! I'm not like you."

"That's pain, isn't it?" Adam asked, trying to detect the human emotions that he couldn't feel. "Why? Because your feeding schedule — the chemicals have been interrupted? Or do you miss her? Tell me."

"I'll kill you," Riley said, shaking with rage.

"You won't. You haven't been programmed to."

"I cannot be programmed! I'm a man!"

"It's here," Adam said, holding up another disk. "The plan she had for us. What happens — how it ends. "

Riley shook his head. "No."

"Do you want to hear?"

"No!" Riley shouted.

He pulled his gun, but Adam disarmed him as easily as taking something from a child. Buffy stepped in, but Adam delivered a solid punch that sent her to the ground. Then he hit Riley so hard that he soared across the room, crashing into a table. Xander ran over to push Adam, but the beast effortlessly threw him back.

Adam turned to Kitty, who was the only one currently standing. She quickly put her hands up and slowly backed away.

"Oh, I'm good. No, thank you," she said uneasily.

Thankfully, Buffy got back on her feet and kicked Adam in the chest, keeping him from attacking Kitty. The two exchanged blows, and Buffy was struggling to keep up with him, as he was much stronger than anticipated. When Adam hit Buffy's shoulder and knocked her to the ground, he moved after Dr. Angleman, who was running away. A huge skewer appeared out of Adam's arm, which was taken from the Polgara demon.

"Doctor," Adam said, catching Angleman and stabbing him through the chest.

Riley let out a yell and rushed at Adam, grabbing his throat from behind. Adam broke the hold and threw him off before turning and running the skewer through Riley's side. As he fell to the ground, Buffy went after Adam once more. Yet again, he got the better of her and completely lifted her off the ground before throwing her against a set of steel doors — there were soldiers on the other side, trying to break it down.

Adam looked around at all the damage he caused and nodded. "Thank you. This has been... very interesting." Then the monster walked away, leaving from the same platform he'd arrived on.

Buffy moved to Riley's side while Kitty went to help Xander off the ground. To get the door open, a soldier shot the door handle repeatedly. Then they all rushed in, assessing the scene, which consisted of Angleman dead and Riley severely injured.

"We got a demon in here. It escaped through that vent," Xander told them, pointing to the platform Adam went to.

"It's not the Polgara. It looks sort of half-man," Buffy said while putting pressure on Riley's wound.

Forrest stared down at Buffy doubtfully, not trusting her. "Right, and you just happened to be in the neighborhood."

"She's telling the truth," Riley grunted out. "I saw it. It killed Engelman. Go, now."

While a few of the soldiers ran off in the direction Adam went, Buffy looked up at Forrest and Graham. "He needs to go to a hospital."

"We'll take it from here," Forrest said.

"I'm going with him," she insisted.

"It's a military hospital."

"No."

Forrest nearly growled as he became more irritated at Buffy. "Back off. We take care of our own around here, understand!"

Four of the soldiers behind them lowered their rifles to point at Buffy. Xander and Kitty quickly ran over to talk some sense into Buffy.

"Buff, come on," Kitty said softly. "It's what's best for now."

Buffy reluctantly nodded, and the soldiers lowered their weapons. Forrest and another each took one of Riley's arms to help him up. Then he looked at Graham pointedly. "Escort them out."

"Buffy," Riley weakly called before they carried him off.

The charming smile that Graham always wore was lost as he escorted the three of them out, taking a different way than when they snuck in. Buffy had her arms crossed and was glaring at him the entire time while Xander and Kitty stayed at the back of the group, not wanting to risk getting in more trouble or even getting locked up. If Buffy wasn't the Slayer, they'd definitely be getting locked up.

"I should have been able to stay with him," Buffy muttered.

"Some of the best doctors in Sunnydale will treat him," Graham told her, shaking his head. "You'd just be in the way."

Buffy scoffed. "Please. He's not safe here. No one in this place cares about Ril—"

"He may be my commanding officer, but he's my friend too," Graham said, offended by the implication that he didn't care about Riley's safety. "You've known him a few months — me, years."

Buffy opened her mouth to argue, but Kitty cut her off. "We didn't want this to happen. There's been enough bodies," Kitty said softly, referring to Professor Walsh, Angleman, and that boy. "It doesn't matter if Buffy doesn't trust you guys, and you don't trust Buffy. Stopping that - that thing is what we need to be focusing on."

"I think we'll be focusing on it separately," Buffy muttered, refusing to even think about working with the Initiative again. Especially since this was all their fault.

Graham had no objections to that as he continued to lead them through the underground base. When they turned a corner and ended up walking down a hall with containment cells, Kitty, Xander, and Buffy all let their eyes wander. The glass doors gave them clear shots of all the demons with scales and claws. There weren't even beds in the containment units, meaning most of them were laying on the hard floor. A few paced around and banged on the glass when they saw the group walking by.

Buffy and Xander didn't give the prisoners much thought as they followed Graham, knowing it wasn't like they could free them. But Kitty slowed down, taking in all the faces. She'd learned from hanging around Willy's bar that not all demons were necessarily bad. There were a lot of gentle, kind, and scared eyes that looked back at her as she walked down the hall.

Then Kitty came to a stop altogether in front of one cell, though she wasn't sure why. It was like her feet were unconsciously drawn to it

The person in the cell looked like a human, though he could've been a vampire for all she knew. The boy had been sitting down, leaning his head against the wall as he stared up at the ceiling. But even without Kitty calling out to him, he seemed to know she was there.

The boy looked at her as he slowly stood, seemingly just as intrigued by Kitty as she was him — though neither knew why. Kitty had never met the boy, who had curly black hair and dark skin, but he felt familiar as he walked up to her. He was wearing something resembling white nurse scrubs, likely clothes that the Initiative issued him.

With a thin wall of glass separating them, all they could do was stare at each other. When Kitty tilted her head, so did he, mirroring her movement. When she scrunched her eyebrows together in confusion at the feeling, so did she. Kitty took another step toward the glass, drawn to the boy, only for a hand to drag her back suddenly.

The boy retreated to the corner of his cell quickly while Kitty was turned to face Graham. "Don't get too close," he ordered under the pretense of caring. He was already dragging her off, not giving her another glimpse of the boy that was intently staring at her back as she left. "We may not be in the hostile wing, but you can never trust anything. Things escape more often than we like."

"Wait," Kitty said, frowning. "Non-hostile wing? And you trap things that aren't hostile?"

"Does it matter?" Graham asked, shaking his head. "If they're not human, they're animals that belong in cages."

Xander whistled lowly while moving to walk in between Kitty and Graham. "Oh, you are so killing any chance you have with her, my dude," he muttered under his breath.

"Let's just get out of here," Kitty mumbled, spotting the elevator to take them upstairs. God forbid they find out she's an animal and throw her in a cage along with Anya.

Graham didn't get in the elevator with them but pressed the button for it to take them up. He stared pointedly at Buffy. "Don't try coming back here. It won't end well for you."

"Trust me," Buffy said, narrowing her eyes. "I want nothing to do with this place anymore."

As the door slid shut, cutting them off from the Initiative base, Xander leaned against the wall of the elevator. "Well, that didn't go a hundred percent according to plan."

"It was kind of like a field trip," Kitty said, thinking back on her first undercover experience. "Except really dangerous and scary, and I did nothing useful. Never bring me on one of these again, please."

Buffy shook her head while stepping off the elevator once it returned to the house. "No promises, Kitty."

As the three of them walked back to Xander's house, Kitty couldn't help but think back to the boy from the non-hostile unit. It was like her thoughts went there without even intending to. Clearly, he wasn't a vampire if he was in that unit. Was he some kind of demon who could hide his features to appear human? Were they experimenting on him like they did with Spike?

Kitty kept her concerns about the boy to herself, knowing she'd have no way to explain to the others why he seemed so familiar and why she cared so much. She didn't even know why she cared.

She'd find out soon though. Then everything would change.