Under the Sun

Author: enigmaticblue

Rating: PG-13

Archive: Sure, if you already have my stuff. If not, just ask.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters herein; Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, and other lucky folks do. Of course, I'm not the one making money off of them.

Summary: Set after Avocation in an alternate S4 where many events of canon get thrown out the window. This one won't make any sense if you haven't read the previous story.

A/N: The title comes from Ecclesiastes, which most people know from the phrase, "A time for everything, and a season for everything under heaven." Really, this story is based on the entire book, which is probably my favorite in the Bible. It talks about making the most of what one has now, and while some find it depressing, I love it. If you've got the time, I'd really recommend you read the whole thing.

Chapter 44

"when life is quite through with/and leaves say alas,/much is to do/for the swallow,that closes/a flight in the blue;/when love's had his tears out,/perhaps shall pass/a million years/(while a bee dozes/on the poppies, the dears;/when all's done and said,and/under the grass/lies her head/by oaks and roses/deliberated.)" ~e. e. cummings, "when life is quite through with"

Spike didn't particularly like the idea of coming to Riley's rescue, but he had to admit that the man had put himself on the line for them. Besides, if Buffy had involved herself, then he was bound and determined to make sure she didn't get hurt.

He'd sent Wesley off with Willow in his car to get Giles; with any luck, they'd get the Watcher there before Buffy and Riley had to break in. Spike didn't think the Initiative would think to look for Riley at Giles' flat, but it never hurt to take precautions, and it would be safer if no one alerted the cops that someone had broken into the empty apartment.

At the moment, Spike wasn't taking anything for granted; their luck had been rather poor of late.

Spike followed the compass, frowning when it began leading him away from Giles' place. Picking up his pace, Spike tried to catch Buffy's scent, or the scent of soldiers, but there was nothing.

He heard the crack of a branch behind him, and turned to see Riley step out of the bushes. "Where's Buffy?" Spike demanded.

"We split up," Riley said. "She said we had a better chance of getting away clean that way."

Spike scowled. He would have preferred to have found Buffy, just so he knew that she was okay. "Fine. Let's get to Rupert's place." He led the way, glancing over at Riley. "Were you being followed?"

"We ran into a patrol," Riley admitted. "Graham was the one leading it, though, so he wasn't following too hard."

"Good to know that you've still got friends on the inside," Spike replied.

"They're good men," Riley insisted.

Spike didn't bother to answer him, figuring that anything he said would merely be inflammatory and would probably only blow his cover. That wasn't something he was willing to do just yet.

"I can understand why you'd have a grudge against us," Riley continued, reading Spike's cold silence correctly. "If Buffy had been my girlfriend—"

"It's not about Buffy, although that didn't endear your men to me," Spike snarled. "It's about the fact that you lot don't have the first clue about what you're delving into. Reckon you think every demon is the same, and those that take up with them are somehow wrong or evil."

Riley opened his mouth to respond, but Spike cut him off. "I've been around the world a time or two. I've seen a lot of things, done a lot of things. I've known good people and bad people, good demons and bad demons. They're not so different from you, you know." Spike had nearly said "we're," which could have been disastrous.

"I've seen what demons can do," Riley countered.

"Yeah, they're nasty buggers a lot of the time," Spike agreed. "I'm not trying to tell you otherwise. I'm just saying that maybe it's not as cut and dried as you want it to be."

Riley was silent the rest of the way to Giles' apartment.

~~~~~

Buffy smirked as she climbed into her own bedroom window; she'd left the soldiers behind a few blocks back, having successfully evaded them. She had deliberately decided not to head to Giles' place right away, thinking that she could shed the pursuers and lead them away from where Riley and the others would eventually end up.

"Hello?" her mother's alarmed voice called out.

"It's just me, Mom!" Buffy called back. "Sorry, but I needed to do some dodging."

Joyce came into the room. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Buffy assured her. "The bad guys are eating my dust as we speak."

Joyce sighed. "Giles already left. Wesley and Willow called, and he went to meet Riley at his place."

Buffy nodded. "What about Spike?"

"I think they were assuming that he was going to catch up with you," Joyce said. "What happened, Buffy?"

"Some of Riley's men attacked him," Buffy said. "I think they were trying to arrest him or something for talking to me. I figured it probably wasn't a good idea to let them have him."

"That makes sense." The doorbell rang, and Joyce headed downstairs to answer it, Buffy on her heels.

"I'll get it," Buffy said, wanting to be sure it wasn't any of the soldiers who had somehow managed to follow her. Her eyes widened when she saw Oz and Tara standing there. She hadn't seen Oz yet, and to find him on her doorstep was something of a shock. "Oz?"

"Hey, Buffy," he replied, looking at her warily.

She felt her face break out into a grin; even after what Oz had done, he had still been a friend, and it was good to see him alive and in one piece. "Hey!"

Oz appeared to relax a bit at her friendly greeting, although his change of expression wouldn't have been noticeable except to someone who knew him well. "It's good to see you, Buffy."

"Come in," she invited. "What brings you guys by?"

"I w-was supposed to meet Wesley and Willow," Tara said shyly. "They weren't at the dorm."

Buffy nodded. "Something came up, as you probably already guessed. Some of the Initiative guys came after Riley. I think we're going to end up meeting at Giles' apartment." She gave her mom a wry look. "Good thing he decided to keep it in reserve, huh?"

"I suppose so," Joyce said. "Are you heading over there now?"

"We'd better," Buffy replied, then hesitated, thinking that her mom might like to be included, even if there wouldn't be much she could do. "Do you want to come with us?"

Joyce smiled. "No, sweetheart; I think I'm just going to enjoy having the house to myself for a change, but thank you for asking."

Buffy followed Tara and Oz out to the van. "Are you staying for a while, Oz?"

"Yeah, I thought I might lend a hand," Oz replied. "Willow told me that there's been some pretty strange stuff going on."

"Something like that," Buffy replied. "Now that Walsh has pulled off the gloves, I'm going to enjoy going after her in a major way."

"You weren't going after her before?" Tara ventured timidly.

Buffy shrugged. "Well, yeah, but this just gives me one more reason to shut her down. She's starting to go after her own men now. It seems like she's feeling a lot like a god."

Oz lifted an eyebrow as he drove the familiar route to Giles' apartment. "You know what they say about power."

Buffy just smiled coldly. "And I'm looking forward to taking some of it away."

~~~~~

It didn't take anyone long to realize that they had everything they needed in place for the raid on the Initiative; Tara had done her homework well, and the spell was exactly what they needed. Moreover, their informant had shown them the back way in, and there seemed to be no time to waste. The longer Adam was allowed to run loose, the more people would die; that much seemed clear.

Of course, figuring out who was going inside the Initiative was a different matter entirely.

There needed to be at least one more person capable of some heavy-duty spell casting in addition to Tara and Wesley, and Giles quickly volunteered. Willow, of course, had to go, since she was the only one with a shot at cracking the computer files, and Riley was an obvious choice, because he was the only one who knew the Initiative complex well.

That left a third opening in the team, and both Buffy and Spike were equally adamant about going in—and that the other didn't.

"I don't want you to put yourself at risk, Spike. I'm the Slayer, and this is my job," Buffy insisted, Riley's presence making it impossible for her to point out that they'd already had their chance at dusting him, and she didn't want to give them another.

Spike scowled, then glanced down at his hand significantly. "I'm not worried about my safety. You're the one who could get hurt. Makes more sense for me to go; we've lost one Slayer already."

Giles cleared his throat. "Would both of you come with me, please?" he asked, leading them outside where they could speak privately. Once they were outside, Giles said, "I think it should be Buffy."

"What?" Spike demanded angrily. "Rupert—"

Giles raised a hand, cutting him off. "You have a good point, Spike, but what happens if the worst were to occur? You might be the only one capable of extracting all three of them. And what if someone recognized you? The Initiative would be able to get their hands on the Gem of Amara, and it's impossible to know what they might do with that information."

Spike shifted uncomfortably. "How would they know?" he demanded, a sullen note in his voice. "Those prats revere science as a god; they don't know anything about magic."

"No, but they would understand that a vampire who could be harmed is now invulnerable, and they might start looking for reasons why," Giles said patiently, knowing that Spike had to be won over. "Besides, I'm not sure you want Riley knowing what you really are, and he would have to be informed if you went."

Spike heaved a very audible sigh, scowling. "Fine, but I reserve the right to say 'I told you so' in case anything goes wrong."

Giles nodded, heading back inside and leaving Buffy and Spike alone.

"I don't like this."

"I know." Buffy met his eyes. "You know this is the best alternative, though. I need you on the outside, just in case things go badly."

"And if they do?" Spike asked quietly. "What then, luv?"

"Then you come riding to my rescue," Buffy said. "You can even ride a white horse."

He pulled her close. "Won't need a bloody horse. I'm going with you as far as I can, since I'm the only one besides Wesley who knows the way in."

"And I imagine you'll be sitting at the entrance when I come out," Buffy said, putting a slight emphasis on "when" just so Spike would know that she was confident that things were going to work out.

"You know I will be," he replied. "I'll always wait for you."

~~~~~

Everything was moving so fast that it had Willow's head spinning. Wesley had gone off to get magic supplies for the cloaking spell, and she was in the passenger seat of Spike's car to retrieve clothing for her and Buffy to wear inside the Initiative while Buffy and Riley planned their attack.

Well, not really an attack, since no one wanted a confrontation—only whatever information on Adam that they could get.

Once they knew how to defeat the demon cyborg, Buffy and Spike would take him out, and then they would be back to ignoring the Initiative and hoping that they didn't come after anybody. Willow knew that there was nothing any of them could do to shut the place down.

"Be right back," Spike said, sprinting from the car and into his townhouse while Willow waited. Buffy had given him explicit instructions on what clothing he was to pick up for her, the idea being that she and Willow would pose as scientists, just in case the cloaking spell failed. No one had talked about what would happen to Riley under the same circumstances.

She supposed that they would all just have to hope that the cloaking spell didn't fail.

Spike was back shortly, and tossed Buffy's clothing carelessly into the back seat. Willow raised an eyebrow, giving him a stern look.

"They're not going to be back there long enough to get wrinkled," he protested.

"If you say so," Willow said doubtfully, knowing how particular Buffy could be.

He parked the car as close to the dorm as he could, and Willow started to get out of the car. "I'll just run in."

"I'll go with you," Spike replied.

Willow gave him a look. "Spike, they're not looking for me. Don't worry about it."

"Humor me," he said dryly. She shrugged, and Spike got out to walk with her. "How are you and Wes?"

"We're fine," Willow replied.

"Not thinking about getting back with Oz?"

Willow snorted. "I told Wes that I wasn't using him to get over Oz."

"Didn't think you were," Spike said mildly. "But that doesn't always mean anything. Things change, and sometimes feelings change with them."

"My feelings for Oz changed when he didn't come back," Willow said softly. "I love him, Spike, but how am I ever going to trust that he won't just up and leave again? I don't think Sunnydale can hold him forever, not anymore."

Spike nodded, watching as Willow finished collecting the clothing she needed. "Makes sense, Red."

Willow sighed. "I wish—" She stopped, wondering if she really did wish that Oz had never come back. It would have been easier, but maybe she'd needed this to drive home what she really wanted.

Or just to remind her that she already had everything she wanted.

~~~~~

"I don't like this," Spike said for the thousandth time, watching as Buffy pulled on her blouse in the privacy of Wesley's bedroom. Willow had already changed, although she'd dressed alone, obviously feeling a little uncomfortable flaunting her relationship with Wesley while Oz was present. While Buffy didn't mind getting a few moments in private with her boyfriend, she almost wished he'd stayed outside.

Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Buffy said, "We talked about this, Spike. Besides, you heard what Giles said. If one of them gets too tired, you're the only one who could take over, besides being the best one to stage a rescue if it's needed."

"I don't care," he said, sounding like a rather sulky little boy. "I don't like you going in there. If the spell fails—"

"Hush." Buffy didn't tell him that the spell wouldn't fail; that would jinx them for sure. Nor did she tell him not to worry, because she would worry were their positions reversed. All she could say was, "Remember your promise? We're going to Europe this summer, come hell or high water, and I have no intention of letting you off the hook for any reason whatsoever."

She rested her forehead against his, taking deep breaths of his scent—leather and tobacco—wishing that there was more time. It never seemed like there was enough time for just the two of them, and while Spike was going with them as far as he could, there would be no privacy then. Whatever goodbyes they wanted to say, they had to say them now.

Buffy wasn't planning on saying goodbye, though.

Spike's lips were warm and soft under hers; she was used to the illusion now, but Buffy didn't think she'd mind if his flesh were cool. Whatever his temperature, Spike was the guy for her.

"I'll see you in a few hours," Spike whispered.

"Absolutely."

~~~~~

When the phone rang, Wesley took the call. "Alright, we're ready to begin," he said, and then he cut the connection. "They're at the entrance, and they're heading inside as soon as the spell is ready. Spike will call in fifteen minutes if he doesn't see any change, and we'll know that the spell isn't working."

Tara could see from the tension in his jaw how worried he was—about getting the spell right, about Willow being inside the Initiative, about his strength failing midway through and putting them all in danger.

Hanging out with Wesley the other night had been fun. Tara had spent time with he and Willow as a couple, but it had never been just she and Wesley; somehow they had begun talking about their respective fathers. Strangely enough, their families weren't all that different.

There were still moments when she thought about her upcoming birthday and what it would mean. She was going to be twenty and, according to her father, that's when the demon side started showing itself. The funny part was, after meeting Willow's friends—particularly Spike—Tara wasn't quite so worried. Even if her demon side did come out, so what? Unless she turned evil all of a sudden—and that would be something that she'd have to discuss with the others soon—it didn't matter.

Spike was a demon, and he got along with everybody just fine.

She cast a look over at Oz, who had been watching the proceedings with haunted eyes; Tara knew that it had hurt him to come back and find that Willow had moved on. He would recover, though; he appeared to be a very solid sort of person.

Bringing her thoughts to bear on the spell and its requirements, Tara took Wesley's hand to her right and Giles' to her left. Their large, calloused hands dwarfed her own, and she found it strange to be seated in between them.

It was more than a little intimidating to be in the circle with Giles, who represented male authority, something Tara was always a little wary of.

As the most experienced among them, it was Giles who started off the chant, with Wesley picking up the thread. Tara came in last, feeling herself begin to slip into a trance, the magic flowing between them.

Oddly enough, it was even more balanced than it had been with Willow in the circle, possibly because she and Wesley always joined forces so seamlessly, leaving Tara feeling a little like a third wheel. Or perhaps it was because Willow had outstripped everyone in power, although she had just begun to test it. The three of them were much closer to being equals, and the spell seemed to ebb and flow naturally.

Tara felt amazingly secure, and the world dropped away, narrowing to the words she spoke and the power that flowed between them. She felt as though she could go on forever, but after a while, she could feel Wesley begin to falter. Tara tried to pick up the slack, but the spell had been going on for longer than anyone had anticipated, she realized, and she had no more strength left to give, only enough to keep up her end.

Suddenly the circle was buoyed by new strength, and she could sense Spike's essence as his hand slipped into hers just as Wesley's slipped out. Spike's rough baritone took up the chant, and his supernatural strength shored her up as well.

Tara just hoped that the transition wasn't too noticeable to the outside world.

~~~~~

"What was that?" Buffy hissed.

Riley shook his head. "I don't know."

The Slayer looked at the cameras above them, sure that she had sensed something. If the spell had slipped at the wrong moment, while someone was looking at the surveillance video in Walsh's office, they were going to be in deep trouble, without having gotten the information they were looking for.

She turned back to Willow, swallowing her anxiety. There was no way to know for sure, and Willow assured them that she was close, that she just needed a little time.

Buffy just wanted to get out of there.

Spike had escorted them to the entrance of the cavern, and then had given them explicit instructions on how to get into the Initiative complex; once he'd called Wesley to initiate the spell, he'd stolen one last kiss and they had gone inside, Spike watching them disappear.

They had taken one wrong turn, but had quickly realized their mistake and turned around, though not without losing some time. Each of them knew how important it was to keep this quick in order to prevent burnout for those casting the spell.

Encountering the first commando had brought a very nervous moment as all three of them pressed themselves against the wall, trying to make themselves as thin as possible. The soldier had passed by without even a second glance, however, leaving them to make their way to Walsh's office.

There had been another couple of close calls, but no one had seen them; the spell held firm.

Willow was still trying to crack the files on Adam; she had managed to get into Walsh's computer easily enough, but the files were something else altogether.

"How much longer?" Buffy asked.

Willow shook her head, her fingers dancing over the keyboard. "I don't know."

"I thought you said another few minutes," Riley said.

"That's what I thought," Willow hissed, her voice betraying her frustration. "I don't know what else to say."

"Ease up, Riley," Buffy warned him.

He sighed heavily and walked to the other side of the office, leaning against the wall. "We can't stay much longer."

"I know," Willow said. She frowned in concentration, and Buffy tensed, knowing that look when she saw it. It was Willow's "almost there" expression, and it meant they were on the edge of a breakthrough.

"Will?"

"Got it!" she said triumphantly, the text of the schematics scrolling in front of her. She stuck the disk she'd found in one of the drawers of the office in the drive, quickly saving the file and tucking the disk inside her blazer pocket.

"Good job," Buffy said. "Now let's get out of here."

Riley nodded. "We're out of here."

"Riley?" Graham's voice called from the doorway. "I know you're here."