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 46

"To-night I close my eyes and see/A strange procession passing me—/The years before I saw your face/Go by me with a wistful grace;/They pass, the sensitive, shy years,/As one who strive to dance, half blind with tears./The years went by and never knew/That each one brought me nearer you;/Their path was narrow and apart/And yet it led me to your heart—/Oh, sensitive, shy years, oh, lonely years,/That strove to sing with voices drowned in tears." ~Sara Teasdale, "The Years"

"Is everything alright?" Giles asked.

Joyce looked up, smiling absent-mindedly. "Hm? Oh, I'm fine."

He hesitated. "It doesn't seem like everything is alright."

"I was just thinking about yesterday."

She didn't have to specify what about the previous day she was thinking about. "Are you worried?"

"I'm a mother, Rupert," Joyce said with a laughing sigh. "I always worry. I just—I never realized what it meant to be involved in Buffy's life. This last year..."

Giles gave her a sympathetic look. "You don't have to be involved if you don't want to be."

"That's not it," Joyce said. "It was just easier to be ignorant, you know? She could so easily be killed—any one of them could be killed. Before I knew that Buffy was the Slayer, I worried about her, but for very different reasons."

"And now that you know what to worry about..." Giles prompted.

"It's harder to deny how dangerous it all is," Joyce admitted. "But I'm not sure I would go back to not knowing, either."

"I wish I could spare you the worry." Giles touched her arm gently. "Although I can't be sorry that you know."

"No." Joyce knew quite well that their relationship never would have worked if she hadn't known the truth about her daughter's extracurricular activities; they never would have met if Buffy hadn't been the Slayer.

It was a high price to pay, but Joyce thought it might be worth it. Thinking about Buffy's relationship with Spike, she guessed that her daughter might say the same.

The knock on the door startled both of them, and Joyce put a hand on her suddenly queasy stomach. "Rupert?"

"I'll get it," he said, rising quickly.

Joyce frowned as he left, wondering what had her feeling so ill all of a sudden. She'd only had a couple of pieces of toast and a cup of coffee for breakfast. Giles came back into the kitchen, a young man she didn't recognize close behind him. "Is everything okay?" she asked.

"This is Graham Miller," Giles explained. "He's one of Riley's friends, the one Buffy and Willow were talking about."

It took her a moment to recall what he was referring to. "Oh! It's nice to meet you, Graham."

"Likewise, Mrs. Summers," Graham responded formally. "I thought this might be the best place to come to get word to Riley about Professor Walsh."

"What about her?" Joyce asked, glancing over at Giles, who was already on the phone.

"She was killed this morning," Graham said somberly. "Some of the guys saw Adam, and they're not very happy about it. It's chaotic right now."

Joyce felt her stomach sink, knowing with a mother's intuition what that meant; chaos meant that no one would be in charge, and Spike's plan could be carried out with ease.

Or at least more easily.

Giles hung up the phone after his quick, mostly whispered, conversation; Joyce hadn't been able to catch who exactly he was talking to. He met Graham's eyes. "How many of the men do you think you could get out of there?"

Graham's eyes flickered with an unreadable emotion. "I don't know." He stared at Giles for a long moment. "Most."

"We have to stop Adam," Giles said quietly. "I think we can do it, but we prefer to minimize casualties."

Graham nodded. "I'll do what I can. Riley knows how to get in touch with me."

Joyce watched him go; Giles was already getting ready to leave. "I have to go," he said. "Do you want to come, or—"

"No, I need to be at the gallery today," Joyce replied. "What about the bookstore?"

Giles frowned thoughtfully. "Perhaps I should ask someone to help out. Not today, of course, but..." He shook his head. "There's nothing I can do about it right now, but I'll need to get someone to help me for just this reason."

"You'll call as soon as you decide what you're going to do?" Joyce asked.

"Of course," he kissed her, and then was out the door.

Joyce rushed upstairs to her bathroom, thankful that her stomach had waited until he was gone to rebel. He didn't need one more thing to worry about.

~~~~~

It had been weird staying in a strange apartment, with two men she barely knew, but Tara's night hadn't been too bad. Oz had been a gentleman and insisted she take the couch, so she'd managed to sleep. Thankfully, Riley hadn't been any trouble; she had checked on him a few times, but other than requesting aspirin for his headache, he hadn't wanted anything.

There wasn't any food in the apartment, and Oz had gone to get them something for breakfast. Willow and Wesley were supposed to relieve them shortly, but she wasn't sure what the plans for the rest of the day were. Mr. Giles had wanted to think about Spike's idea, but how much time would be required to think about it, Tara didn't know.

"Hey."

Tara glanced up to see Riley standing in the living room, looking better, but still much the worse for wear. "How are you feeling?"

"Better, I think." He took a deep breath. "What—uh, what did they decide?"

"To think about it," Tara replied. "You didn't miss anything, really."

Riley sat down on the couch wearily. "Spike was upset over the demons."

Tara wasn't sure how to respond to that statement, finally saying, "Some of his best friends are demons."

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

"They're not all bad." Tara hoped he could see that; she hoped that Riley could begin to see past his own narrow worldview.

The big soldier stared at his hands. "Spike is one of them, isn't he?"

Tara kept her mouth shut, feeling very exposed all of a sudden. If Riley decided to go berserk, there would be nothing she could do.

No, she reminded herself; she was a witch. She had more than a few tricks up her sleeve; she just had to believe in her own abilities.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Riley took a deep breath. "I remember where I'd seen him before. He's Hostile 17. I didn't believe my own eyes, because I've seen him in the sunlight, but after going into the Initiative, and no one seeing us... It's something like that, isn't it?"

Tara bit her lip, not wanting to say anything for fear of putting Spike in danger. "It's okay, pet. Go ahead and say it."

Spike stood in the doorway, Buffy and Oz behind him. The late morning sun fell on him fully, and Tara looked from one to the other, waiting to see Riley's reaction.

Riley stared at him, his mouth twisting in distaste—and something else. "You don't have a chip, do you?"

"No, he has a soul," Buffy said tartly. "And a scar from where you sliced him open for no reason."

"I don't understand," Riley said helplessly.

"Demons aren't so different from humans," Spike said, entering the apartment. "Some of them are good, some bad. Maybe there are a few more that are bad, but I'm not quite sure you can't say the same thing about people."

Oz handed Riley a sack filled with his own greasy breakfast. "I didn't know what you wanted."

"I'm sure this is fine," Riley said, sounding stiff, but not angry.

Tara saw the look that Buffy and Spike exchanged, and she knew it meant trouble. "Is everything okay?"

"Adam snuck back into the Initiative labs," Buffy said, her voice gentler now. "He killed Professor Walsh."

Riley shook his head. "But why? Why would he even go back?"

"Not sure that anything like logical thought runs through that brain of his," Spike said gruffly. "Best guess, though, is that he regarded her as some sort of threat."

"How did you find out?" Riley asked.

"Graham came by my house this morning," Buffy said. "Giles talked to him; he's on his way over now."

"Graham?" Riley asked, sounding hopeful.

"Giles," Buffy clarified apologetically. "I think we're going to put our plan into action; Graham said he thought he could get most of the soldiers out of the labs since things are pretty chaotic right now."

Riley's eyes widened, and he stood as he realized what Buffy was saying. "You—you can't! Do you know how many people will be killed?"

"We set it up right, it'll be mostly demons getting killed," Spike said. "And your soldiers can take care of themselves. Our concern is shutting the Initiative down; I'm sure you can understand why."

For a moment, Tara believed that he was going to balk, outright refuse to participate and insist on sounding the alarm. Instead, Riley's shoulders slumped as he sat back down, burying his face in his hands. Tara could feel the confusion and dismay radiating off of him, and she put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

There was a long, painful silence, and then Riley lifted his face. "What do you want me to do?"

~~~~~

Buffy sat next to Spike outside, watching as he smoked another cigarette; she knew he was anxious just from the fact that he was chain-smoking. As impulsive as they both could be, neither one of them had planned on acting this quickly. They had expected to have more time to plan, and instead they were rushing forward, hoping for the best.

"Rupert tell you that the morgue called?" Spike asked quietly.

She shook her head. "No. What did they say?"

"They're releasing the body. He asked to be notified since she doesn't have any relatives; I think he's going to pay for a funeral."

Buffy felt a wave of sorrow pass over her. They had been too busy since Faith was killed for her to grieve properly. Even though they had been on opposing sides, the other girl had been a Slayer, and they were connected in that way; there was no one who knew what it was like to be the Chosen One—except for the other girl who had been chosen. Not even Spike completely understood.

Then again, Buffy didn't know what it was like to be a souled vampire, so she figured that they were even.

Buffy looked out over Giles' courtyard; they were still waiting for Wesley and Willow to arrive. "I think we should cremate her."

Spike met her eyes and then nodded slowly. "Might be best. A Slayer's body..." He trailed off, not wanting to explore the macabre subject any more than that. "This is moving too quickly," he murmured. "Feel like I'm on a runaway train, and I don't know where it's going."

"I know." She reached over to take his hand. "We know how to stop Adam, though. Between the two of us, I think we can manage it."

"I know we can," Spike said. "Question is, how many more people will have to get hurt before we stop that monster?"

Buffy couldn't answer that, but she was spared from trying when Wesley and Willow entered the courtyard. "Sorry it took us a while," Willow said. "We slept through the alarm."

"You both had a full day," Spike said, dismissing her apology with a wave of his hand. "We think we need to move on this in the next few hours, though. Apparently, Adam's been sighted within the Initiative; hard to know what he wants, but as long as he's there, we have a chance to shut the whole thing down once and for all."

"What about the soldiers?" Wesley asked.

Buffy smiled grimly. "It sounds like Professor Walsh had begun to raise a lot of eyebrows. Graham said that he thought he could convince most of the guys to go out on patrol today and just not come back. Things are so crazy right now that it's unlikely anyone will really notice, but that's why it has to be done now."

Wesley nodded. "What's our first step?"

"We were waiting for you to start planning," Spike said. "But Xander said he'd be on his way. I think we'll need all hands on deck for this one."

"You've got us," Willow said, her chin coming up in a gesture of defiance.

Buffy looked at them and felt some of the anxiety loosen; with friends like these, it was hard to believe that they couldn't face down their enemies.

~~~~~

"What about Adam? Are you just going to ask him nicely to stand still while you yank out his battery?" Xander asked.

Spike shrugged. "Figure I'll hold his arms while the Slayer yanks it out."

"Could you hit him with something first?" Willow asked tentatively. "Something that would slow him down?"

"I vote for a rocket launcher," Xander said. "Those are always fun."

Buffy raised an eyebrow. "Can we get a rocket launcher?"

"I can." Riley's expression was stubborn. "But only if you promise to use it on Adam."

"I don't want to kill anybody I don't have to," Buffy assured him.

Riley didn't look completely satisfied with her answer, but he nodded anyway. "What else?"

"That means you'll have to go in," Buffy pointed out. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Riley said; he held out a hand that was still shaky, but it was easy to see that the worst had passed. "Some of my men will be in there. I have to go."

"We'll need you to call Graham and get as much information about Adam's whereabouts as you can," she told him. "According to what he told Giles, Adam's still inside." Buffy looked to Willow. "Will, what about you? Can you cut the power from the outside, or are you going to need to go in?"

"I think I can do it from the outside," Willow replied.

"We'll need better than 'I think I can,'" Spike said, although his gentle tone belied the harshness of the words. "We're only going to have one shot at this, pet."

Willow nodded. "I can do it from outside." She glanced at Wesley. "I'm going to need help with the computer stuff, though, if we're going to get it done in time." Wesley nodded, knowing what she was telling him without words. "Oz?"

"I'm there," he said instantly.

"Where does that leave me?" Wesley asked.

Spike eyed the other man, trying to decide whether or not he was in good enough shape to accompany them into the Initiative, knowing that it hadn't been very long since Faith had tested out her torture techniques. "Are you fit for it?" he finally asked.

Wesley nodded, his gaze steady. "I am."

"Then you're with us." Spike turned to Tara, Giles, and Xander. "I need you lot to do something else for me."

"What's that?" Xander asked suspiciously, wondering if he was being shoved out of the way of the action.

Spike smiled. "You're going to help us with the clean up."

Tara's eyes went wide. "Clean up?"

The vampire just grinned. "I have plans for this summer, and I don't want to spend my time cleaning up the mess left by these bastards. We're going to make it just a little bit easier."

~~~~~

Joyce swallowed hard as Giles told her the plan. "What time do you think you'll be home?" she finally asked, hoping that none of her fear was evident in her voice.

"Late, I'm sure," he replied. "I won't tell you not to wait up for us, though."

"Thank you," she said dryly. "It wouldn't do any good."

Giles took a deep breath. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll mostly be out of harm's way. We're just making sure that no one slips through the net."

"What if something does slip through?" Joyce asked. She knew that he was trying to tell her that he'd be fine, without making hard and fast promises, but she was still worried about him.

She was worried about all of them; anything could happen.

"Then we'll take care of it," Giles replied, sounding confident. "It won't be just me, Joyce. There will be others there."

Joyce clutched the phone, but responded calmly, "Then I'm sure you'll be fine. I'll see you later."

"Of course." Then, in a softer voice, Giles added, "I love you."

"I love you, too." Joyce took a deep breath, trying to compose herself before Buffy got on the phone. "Hey, sweetheart."

"Hey, Mom, I don't have much time. I just—Spike thought I should say hello, and he said to tell you that he promises to take us all out to dinner next week."

Joyce smiled, knowing that Spike meant it to be reassuring, which it was. He would be with her daughter, making sure that she came out of the fight alive and in one piece. There probably wasn't anyone she trusted more to watch Buffy's back. "Tell him thank you for me. How's Riley doing?"

"He's feeling better," Buffy replied. "Good enough to go in with us anyway." There was a pause, and Joyce could hear her talking to someone, the voices muffled as though Buffy had put her hand over the mouthpiece. "Okay, I have to go. Love you, Mom."

"I love you, too."

Joyce stared at the phone long after the connection had been cut, wondering what she was supposed to do now, how she was supposed to fill her time while waiting.

How was she supposed to distract herself from the knowledge that nearly everyone she loved was going into battle?

~~~~~

"Are you sure that's going to work?" Giles asked for the tenth time.

Xander shot him a dirty look. "It's not like I can't follow a set of instructions." At Giles' raised eyebrow, he scowled. "I can so follow directions."

"Did I say anything?" Giles asked, pleased that he'd managed to get a rise out of the younger man. He did enjoy baiting Xander at times.

Xander mumbled something under his breath that Giles couldn't quite catch, and then, out loud, "The detonator is the tricky part, and Tara's providing that."

Giles glanced over at the young woman, who was watching the proceedings with wide eyes. After having seen Tara in action, and having worked with her, he had no doubt that she could set off the explosives without any trouble.

He had to admit that Spike's idea was a good one. It wasn't likely that many demons would make it out using this route, but it was possible, and it was their job to plug the hole. The explosion would take care of that, as well as cutting off Adam's potential escape route. From there, they would go to Lowell House, making sure that anyone coming out wasn't a dangerous demon; non-dangerous demons were to be left alone.

That's where there was the potential for things to get dangerous, depending on how many demons got through.

Oz and Willow were already working on hacking into the electric company's grid; Willow would have to be careful not to cut the power to any more locations than were necessary. The hospital, for example, needed to keep their power supply uninterrupted.

Spike, Buffy, Riley, and Wesley were headed down into the Initiative labs. If Graham had kept his promise, most of the soldiers would be out of there. That would leave Adam and the demons—assuming that Adam was still down there.

According to Graham, the demonic cyborg had killed Walsh and then barricaded himself in one of the offices. After two soldiers had been killed trying to take him out, they had decided to leave him alone. It was anyone's guess as to what he was doing, but then again, the one who knew him best was dead—and Walsh hadn't been able to control him once he was activated.

It was a good plan, Giles reminded himself. They had covered all their bases, and there were enough people to go around.

However, even that knowledge wasn't enough to calm his anxiety.