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 47
"My own Beloved, who hast lifted me/From this drear flat of earth where I was thrown,/ And, in betwixt the languid ringlets, blown/A life-breath, till the forehead hopefully/Shines out again, as all the angels see,/Before thy saving kiss! My own, my own,/Who camest to me when the world was gone,/And I who looked for only God, found thee!/I find thee; I am safe, and strong, and glad./As one who stands in dewless asphodel/Looks backward on the tedious time he had/In the upper life,—so I, with bosom-swell,/Make witness, here, between the good and bad,/That Love, as strong as Death, retrieves as well." ~Elizabeth Barrett Browning, "Sonnet 27: My Own Beloved, Who Hast Lifted Me"
Willow worked feverishly to hack into the mainframe of the energy company; it was possible, of course, that the Initiative had their own generators as a back-up, but cutting the power would throw everything into confusion, and make it that much easier to catch the soldiers—and Adam—off guard.
They were on a timetable, though if she couldn't hack in quickly enough, they could wait. As Spike had impressed upon her, however, the longer they waited to go in, the better the chance there would be that the soldiers would begin to return to base, and Adam would decide to leave.
And Wesley was one of the ones going in.
"There," Oz said quietly, pointing at the screen.
She had no desire to get into trouble for this. Of course, she'd never been caught before, so she wasn't too worried.
Minutes later, she was inside, with just minutes to spare to meet the deadline. "Okay, I'm in. Which grids?"
Oz looked at the map of Sunnydale, the electric lines superimposed over the image. "You'd better do J and K," he replied. "J would probably take care of it, but it's hard to say how far underground the labs go."
"I guess it worked," she said, watching as Oz opened the blinds. She unplugged the laptop cord from the wall, knowing that her battery would last her at least a couple of hours. By then, the electric company would have turned the power back on, but not before the Initiative had been thrown into further chaos. And really, that was the main purpose. "Now we just have to wait."
"Yeah." Oz was quiet. "I don't think I'll stay in town after this."
"I liked traveling," he admitted. "I saw—so much." His face was mournful in the late afternoon light. "I'm sorry. If I haven't said it before."
"You have."
Oz bent his head, and she wished that this was easier. "I'll always love you."
If things had been different, maybe they might have worked it all out, but things weren't different, and they hadn't, and as happy as she was with her circumstances, it didn't make the hurt any less.
~~~~~
Although it was entirely possible that the Initiative hadn't had time to revoke Riley's clearance, they weren't about to risk getting stuck at that early of a stage. Instead, between Buffy and Spike, they forced the elevator doors open, then they set about rappelling down the shaft.
Spike and Wesley went first, the ex-Watcher wearing his sidearm openly. "You ready to use that thing?" Spike asked as they shoved off from the wall again.
"I wouldn't have brought it otherwise," Wesley replied. "I imagine we'll meet some resistance, both from the demons and the soldiers."
"Demons will probably fight amongst
themselves," Spike opined. "And whatever soldiers are left will be too busy
trying to keep control to worry much about us. At least, that's the idea." They
descended another fifteen feet. "That's why
"I'm glad she's well out of this," Wesley admitted.
Both of them landed on top of the elevator at the same time with twin thuds of their boots. Working in silence, they managed to get out of their harnesses, looking up to wait for Riley and Buffy. "Imagine you are," Spike agreed. "Wish I could say the same."
"There's no way she would have allowed you to come without her."
"I know that."
It only took a few more minutes before Buffy and Riley touched down. "Where to?" Buffy asked, looking at Riley.
He was the one who would be leading them into the warren of hallways. From Graham's report, they had some idea of where Adam might be hiding; it was down the same hallway that Walsh had kept him, anyway. What he was doing was anyone's guess, but it didn't really matter, as long as they managed to stop him before he finished it.
"That way," Riley replied, pointing.
Buffy pulled a couple of flashlights out of the small pack she carried, handing one to Wesley and keeping one for herself. She gave Wesley and Riley both a very serious look. "I want you both to stay away from Adam. Spike and I will take care of him."
"And if Adam gives us no choice?" Wesley countered.
Buffy started to shake her head, but Spike cut her off. "Do what you think is best, Wes. I trust your instincts." He didn't—couldn't—say the same for Riley, but he knew that the other man would do the same.
The Slayer gave him a look, but she didn't contradict his order. "Fine. I want you both to be careful, though."
They were silent then, waiting for the electricity to go out. The only lights in the elevator shaft were small emergency lights. "Do you know what kind of generators the Initiative has?" Wesley asked suddenly.
Riley shook his head. "The generators aren't powerful enough to provide power to the entire complex; all they'll do is allow power to the control room and the elevator. The idea was that if something like a blackout was to happen, the cells would still be locked, even if the doors weren't electrified, and it would hold most of them for long enough to get it back on."
Buffy glanced at Spike. "If the doors are locked..."
Spike shook his head. "Trust me,
luv. Someone will make the attempt as soon as the lights go out, and soon as
one gets out, the rest will follow in short order." Silence fell again, and
Spike glanced at his watch. "If
Just as he spoke, the emergency lights went out. Wesley grinned, his expression visible in the light from their flashlights. "She's always so punctual."
"Let's get going," Spike said. He and Buffy pried open the trap door in the top of the elevator, and the vampire dropped through first, taking Wesley's flashlight to provide the others with light. The others dropped down one at a time, and then he and Buffy opened the doors to get out of the elevator.
Graham was standing there, his expression grim. "Riley."
"What are you doing here?" Riley asked, wary of his friend's presence, thinking that perhaps Graham had changed his mind.
"Thought you could use the help," Graham said. "Things are crazy down here." He cocked his head as a scream sounded. "It's going to get worse."
"It always does," Spike commented. "Don't get in my way, and we'll be happy to have you."
Graham nodded, not saying anything in reply. They set off down the darkened hallway, Riley in the lead. "How many of our men are still here?" Riley asked.
The other soldier thought for a moment. "Maybe twenty," he estimated. "Most of them are cool, though."
"How many who aren't 'cool'?" Buffy asked.
"Half a dozen." Graham paused. "Forrest stayed."
Buffy scowled. "Crap."
"He'd better hope I don't see him," Spike warned. "I won't hold back this time."
Graham frowned. "This time?"
"Let it go," Riley warned him. "It's better not to know."
Graham shot Spike a curious look, but that was it; he stayed on Riley's heels unquestioningly.
Spike's head came up. "We're getting closer."
There was another scream, and Riley's steps faltered. "What—"
"You keep going," Spike said. "You keep going and you don't stop. We're going to take Adam out, and then we'll deal with the rest of it."
Riley and Graham both looked torn, and Spike wondered if they were going to accept his authority. "Adam's our first priority," Riley agreed.
Spike nodded. "Good."
~~~~~
Buffy couldn't help but wonder how they were all supposed to make it out of the Initiative alive once she saw the melee out on the floor. A number of demons had already broken loose and were attacking the soldiers that had remained with vicious savagery; even though Buffy was dedicated to protecting humans, she couldn't say that she felt much sympathy, not after what they had done to Spike, and tried to do to her.
The soldiers weren't doing very well for the most part, fighting back to back in small groups or crouched behind the lab tables or around corners. As she watched, a vampire managed to tear out one man's throat, though the soldier's comrade immediately stunned him with a blaster.
She heard Spike snort from just behind her. "They'd be a lot better off with more lethal weapons."
"We can't do anything about that now." Buffy looked around; no one had spotted them yet, but it was only a matter of time before they did, and the hallway leading to 314 was all the way across the room. "What's the plan?"
"We clear the way," Wesley said, pulling his gun out of its holster. "You two have to be in one piece to take on Adam."
Buffy would have liked to argue with
him; she hated to think about Wesley getting hurt, if only because
Assuming that they were capable of stopping the cyborg, of course.
She finally nodded. "Okay, we'll follow you."
It was a nightmarish journey across the open lab, with small fights going on everywhere they looked and flying bodies coming at them from every direction. The only lights were those few powered by the generators, and the low lighting was interspersed with the light from the soldiers' weapons' fire. While Buffy would have liked to wade in, she couldn't worry about the soldiers—or the demons—right then. Adam had to be stopped; clean-up could be done on the way out.
Buffy nearly got skewered by a Polgara before Riley managed to shoot it with the blaster he'd brought with him; she kept Graham from being gutted by a demon of unknown origin, and Wesley killed several more with well-placed bullets.
It took them nearly twenty minutes to traverse the laboratory floor, and when they reached the door leading to the hallway holding 314, there was a moment's pause as they considered how they were going to get inside.
Riley reached out and tried the handle, and they all breathed a sigh of relief as it turned easily under his hand. "What about that rocket launcher?" Spike asked.
The big soldier opened the door, motioning them inside. "I'll be right back; the armament isn't too far from here."
"Spike—" Buffy began, thinking that it was probably not a good idea for Riley to go by himself.
He rolled his eyes, not at all happy with her unspoken plan, although he agreed with her assessment. "Do not let Adam see you," Spike ordered her.
"When have I ever gone in without you?" Buffy asked. When he opened his mouth to speak, she gave him a dirty look. "Never mind. Go. I'll wait."
The trouble was that the hallway really didn't have any areas to hide, and Buffy wasn't sure where to stand to make sure that Adam didn't catch sight of them. If Adam was even still around.
"Wait here," she told the guys.
"Buffy—" Wesley began.
She cut him off. "I'll be careful, Wes. Just sit tight." Buffy made her way down the hallway carefully, peeking through the first window she came to. She couldn't see anything inside; it was just an empty room. Sidling up to the next door, she peeked through the window, again not seeing anything.
Buffy thought about calling the guys, thinking that they could at least be out of sight in there, when she saw 314. Hesitating, she thought about turning around and walking away, but the window was uncovered, and it might help if they at least knew that Adam was inside.
Standing on tiptoe, Buffy peeked through the window.
And looked directly into Adam's eyes.
~~~~~
Joyce had a bad feeling, and it didn't have anything to do with the fact that Rupert hadn't called her yet. As concerned as she was about Buffy and the others returning safely, she trusted her daughter's abilities, as well as Spike's. The others would do fine as well.
No, what worried her was the fact that the nausea she'd felt earlier that day had completely dissipated by lunch time, and she was starving. In fact, when Joyce thought about it, her appetite had been a lot bigger over the last few weeks.
Maybe if she hadn't been pregnant before, the idea wouldn't have even crossed her mind. She would have chalked up the fact that she'd missed at least one period to the early onset of menopause and left it at that.
But Joyce had been pregnant before, and she remembered the nausea that came on strong in the morning and was gone by lunch. She also remembered her appetite increasing to the point that Hank had teased her about eating for three, and—perhaps most telling of all—the fact that she knew exactly when it had happened.
There had been one night when they hadn't taken any precautions, mostly because they had forgotten. At the time, she'd dismissed the danger because women her age didn't become pregnant.
Except that sometimes they did.
"This is not happening," she muttered, taking the pregnancy test out of the box with a grimace; she wasn't sure how accurate it would be, but it was worth a shot. Maybe she was just imagining things, creating symptoms. Now that she had the idea in her head, she couldn't get it out. That was all it was.
Joyce read the directions carefully, not wanting to mess up and get a false positive, and then she waited.
And watched the blue lines appear.
She leaned against the bathroom sink heavily. "Oh, dear," she murmured. "What am I going to tell Rupert?"
~~~~~
"We should have done this before," Spike muttered. "Buffy's going to get herself into trouble. It never fails."
Riley didn't even look up. "Just a second," he muttered. "Almost there."
"You'd better be," Spike warned. "Because if something happens to her, I'm blaming you."
"Here." Riley stood in front of the box that held the rocket launcher he thought would do the trick. "I don't have the key, though."
The wooden box had a padlock on it, and Spike snorted. "Right." One solid kick had the hasp breaking away from the box, and he pulled the weapon out of the packing with a whistle, soon followed by a satisfied grin. "This ought to knock him back a step."
"Let's go," Riley said, leading the way out of the armory.
It had been obvious to Spike that no one, demon or human, had been back there to collect weapons, and he found that rather strange. "Why were we the only ones pulling something like this out?"
"Most of the men don't have access," Riley explained.
Spike raised an eyebrow. "Why should that matter? The only things working right now are the emergency lights."
Riley shrugged. "I guess they just didn't think about it with all the fighting."
Spike couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "They really teach you to think on your feet, don't they?"
Riley glared at him but didn't answer, not really having a response for that. They reached the door quickly, moving at double-time; Spike didn't want to leave Buffy for any longer than he had to, knowing that it was likely her curiosity would get the better of her. Luckily, most of the fighting was in the center of the lab, not on the fringes, and it appeared as though it was beginning to die down. That meant either that the soldiers had killed most of the demons that had escaped, or that Giles and the others were going to have their work cut out for them.
Spike heard the shots before he reached the door, and both he and Riley sprinted the remaining steps. The other man opened the door and was through first, Spike following. They both froze at the tableau that faced them.
Adam had Buffy by the neck, holding her up off the ground. She was struggling, but Spike could tell that she was getting weaker by the second. Adam already had one eye gone, Wesley having been able to hit him dead on, but it hadn't slowed the cyborg down.
Obviously, Walsh had done her work too well.
Spike shoved the rocket launcher at Riley. "You have a chance, you take your shot," he ordered, running down the hallway, hoping that he wasn't already too late.
~~~~~
Xander looked over his shoulder as
"We finished hacking in,"
"There hasn't been any activity." Giles looked at his watch. "It's been hours since they went in."
"Of course they are," Giles said impatiently. "Spike and Buffy have taken on dangerous foes in the past."
At the hurt expression on
Giles glanced at the girls and winced. "Forgive me. I'm a bit on edge."
"It's okay,"
"Weren't you supposed to be blowing
up the cave?"
"We already did," Xander responded. "It went up with a bang, just like we planned."
When
"Do you really think anything will get out this way?" Oz asked.
Xander shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not, but at least we'll be here when Buffy and the others come out."
Silence fell, and they watched the front of the house, waiting for some sign of the others. No one they knew appeared, but they watched as a rather large demon exited the building, looking around in the waning sunlight.
"Crap." Xander spoke for all of them. "I thought we were going to get off easy."
They moved quickly, and Giles cut the demon's head off with a quick sword stroke. "Do you see any more coming?"
Xander shook his head. "No, I—Yes!" The last was spoken in a panicked tone of voice as a slime demon came running out of Lowell House, charging straight for Xander.
Xander scrambled to his feet,
pulling out his stake and driving it through the demon's back; Giles finished
it off with a quick thrust. They stood shoulder to shoulder in front of the
house, all of them breathing heavily. "Okay,"
"I'm hoping not too many more." Giles wiped his sword on the grass.
"Incoming," Oz called, and they all got ready to deal with the next escapee.