Title: Wolves, Slayers and Cages, Part 1
Red
Moon Series, Book 2
Author: Hunter Ash
Copyright © 2001 by Hunter Ash. All
Rights Reserved.
Email:
hunterash@sti.net
Feedback
welcome!!
Disclaimers: The characters and show all belong to Joss
Whedon, Fox, Mutant Enemy, Kuzui, and God only knows who else. The X-files
characters and show all belong to Chris Carter, Fox and possibly others. No
copyright infringement was intended and suing me will not make you any
money! The storyline, however, is the sole property of the author. This
story cannot be sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of this story may be
made for private use only and must include all disclaimers and copyright
notices.
F/F romance: the story assumes a loving and sexual relationship between people of the same gender and may even include 3 at the same time <G>. If this offends or is illegal for you, then please leave. Come back when you are older, have an open mind, moved, or changed your laws.
Spoilers: Some general 5th season stuff, but nothing major. This universe splits off before New Moon
Rising.
Summary: Willow and everyone is
trying to deal with Willow’s lycanthropy and things go into crisis when
Willow
disappears and it looks like the Initiative is involved.
Rating: R, violence, werewolf attacks, major character injury, angst, hurt and comfort. Some mental/physical torture but very little is described. It’s Buffy, there’s violence, but there’s also sex.
Author's Note: This will be posted in parts. This being part one. Feedback always welcome.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
November
27
Buffy
frowned when she looked at the calendar on the wall as she toweled her hair
dry. Two more days until the full moon,
she realized. Two more days before the
nightmare began.
The
Slayer glanced over at the sleeping redhead and blonde in the bed and smiled
slightly. Willow was on her back with
Tara snuggled in her arms. Buffy’s
smile widened like it always did whenever she looked at either or both of
them.
Buffy
sat down on the edge of the bed and gently brushed a lock of red hair from
Willow’s forehead. She glanced down at
the young woman’s beautiful chest and lost her smile.
Willow’s
pajama top was slightly open and Buffy could see the healing wounds from the
incision running down the witch’s breastbone.
The wound where the silver dagger had entered her chest, killing her.
The
Slayer wished she could do more to ease those scars, wishing she could give
Willow some of her Slayer healing powers and lessen those scars. Buffy knew that the young witch was
self-conscious about them, no matter how much Tara and Buffy reassured Willow
that she was still sexy as hell.
Buffy
once again cursed the name of Daniel Oswald, known to the Scooby Gang better as
Oz. She hoped whatever hell he had
ended up in that he was paying over and over again for bringing her lover any
kind of pain. Especially the pain of
carrying his damned werewolf curse.
Buffy
leaned over and lightly kissed Tara and then Willow before heading out the
door.
Being
Tuesday, she knew that Willow and Tara didn’t have a class until 10 a.m. and
was going to take the opportunity to sleep late. Buffy, restless with worrying about Willow and the upcoming full
moon, decided to run over and see Giles.
For
once, her mom had spent the night at home and not at Giles’ place or he at the
Summers home. Now that they had
officially announced their engagement and set a tentative wedding date in
January, the two older adults were much more open about their affection and the
fact they were sharing the same bed almost every night.
As
she trotted to school, Buffy reflected on how good the last three weeks felt as
compared to October. Xander still had
his security job, Anya was working at the Magic Box, Oz was dead, Riley had
given up thinking any of them were now werewolves and she was caught up in her
classes.
Then
there was Tara, Willow and herself.
Despite
fears, misgivings, and everyone thinking it wouldn’t last more than a week; the
three women were still feeling like they were in the early stages of new
romance. <It was amazing>,
Buffy thought; <she didn’t feel jealous that Tara and Willow loved each
other, she loved them both and knew they loved her as well.>
Giles
had been fascinated by the developing relationship between the three but had
been a stuttering mess when he tried to ask about the unique connection they
had formed, especially during sex.
Willow
and Tara had blushed a bright red and Buffy had resisted giggling hysterically
when they tried to describe to him what they were talking about to the
typically uptight Englishman.
<How
could you adequately describe the mind, soul and body opening up to your lover
to the point where you both felt what the other one was feeling?> They had a
difficult time explaining that it wasn’t like an out-of-body experience but
maybe something like it.
Willow,
not much for sexual descriptions anyway was only matched by Tara’s stuttering
and had tried to leave it to Buffy to explain things. <That hadn’t gone well, either,> the Slayer laughed
to herself.
Giles
had finally given up with a toss of his hands and concentrated on other aspects
of their connection to each other.
Willow
hit upon the idea later of each of them typing into the computer their
descriptions of what had happened during sex and she emailed it to Giles. Buffy and Tara had laughed but both agreed
it was a wonderful idea.
It
had taken a major effort though, not to fall on the floor with laughter when
Giles thanked Willow for her email and described it as “helpful,” while he
cleaned his glasses.
Willow
placed those writings under a password security file. When Tara and Buffy had asked the witch why, she offered them the
scenario of Xander someday finding those descriptions and both of them promptly
agreed security was needed.
Buffy
hated the fact that in two nights she was going to have to lock part of her
life away in a cell in a dusty old tomb.
She and Tara were going to spend the night in the same tomb where Oz had
once contained his beast only this time it was Willow they would be locking up
for the night.
The
Slayer tried to dismiss those thoughts from her mind. It was a crisp winter day and the break from Thanksgiving was
over and she was feeling good about school, her growing relationship with Tara
and Willow and her Mom wasn’t considering her a lost cause. Things were looking up. Except for the full moon thing.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Willow
woke up as Tara smacked the radio alarm clock’s snooze bar. The blonde grumbled and turned back over to
snuggle in Willow’s good arm, lightly nuzzling her neck. Willow turned, being careful not to whack
her witch lover with her cast, and threw a leg over Tara’s and smiled as blue
eyes met her green ones.
“Morning,”
Willow said softly before gently kissing Tara’s lips.
“Morning,
how you feeling?” Tara muttered.
“Better,
the hand isn’t too bad,” the witch smiled and wiggled one of her fingers to
demonstrate. “The other…well, I’ve got
two days before…well, I mean…before we have to…”
“Its
okay, Willow,” Tara said softly and began kissing Willow’s lips to stop a
trademark Willow babble.
“I’m
scared, Tara,” Willow admitted when they pulled back from the kiss to touch
foreheads together, sharing space.
“You
don’t remember changing when you did the spell to take the lycanthropy from
Buffy, you probably won’t remember it this time either,” Tara tried to reassure
her girlfriend.
“I
remember such incredible pain and then nothing,” Willow remembered, her voiced
thoughtful. “I’m worried about the two
of you being there.”
“Why?”
Tara asked with a puzzled look.
“I
remember what it was like watching Oz change and watching Buffy beginning to
turn after Oz’ bite. I don’t want
either of you watching that,” Willow frowned.
“It hurts.”
“Willow,
Buffy and I are going to b-be there for you.
End of d-discussion,” Tara tried to smile and managed to get Willow to
smile slightly. “We love you and you…
you aren’t going to go t-through this alone.”
“Okay,”
Willow agreed, knowing she wasn’t going to win this argument, they had gone
over it enough in the last three weeks since she had taken the curse from Buffy
onto herself.
“Have
you heard from Mulder?” Tara asked as she sat up on the edge of the bed,
slipping her feet into her house shoes.
<Wooden floors were cool looking but they were cold in the
winter>, she thought.
“Not
in the last couple of days,” Willow said as she sat up on the other side of the
bed. “He’s got his computer friends
looking everywhere for any kind of a cure besides the ones that include the fat
of unbaptised[1] babies.”
“Oh
gross!” Tara declared, her eyes widening.
“Total
agreement!” Willow grinned. “He and I
decided that was a little too much over the top, even to remove a curse.”
Tara
shivered and shook her head to dismiss the images trying to crowd her
brain. She glanced over at Willow who
was at the closet deciding on what to wear for a day at school.
The
blonde witch was pleased with how well her girlfriend was looking. <After the attack, and her hand and
heart recovering from the trauma they obtained, Willow was looking quite
good,>, Tara thought. They were
still being cautious with the heart recovery though; Willow tired easily and
still couldn’t do any kind of exertion or intense emotional distress without
sending her heart racing into a danger zone.
The
cast was the most irritating for the red-haired witch, however. To even take a shower required help at
times. Willow had opted for a shorter
hair cut since she was doing most of her personal hygiene with only one hand
now and would be for awhile. Getting
dressed could be a nightmare of buttons, zippers and shoe laces.
Willow
thanked the Fates that they lived in Sunnydale, California and not somewhere up
north or back east where multiple layers of clothing with zippers and thick
shoes would be required.
Tara
grinned and walked up behind Willow and wrapped her arms around her fellow
witch as Willow leaned back into the embrace.
“Buffy
left early,” Willow commented softly.
“She’s
feeling cooped up,” Tara commented.
“For some reason, nothing want to be slain the last few nights.”
“I
wonder if anything is up?” Willow frowned.
Usually when the evil undead became scarce in Sunnydale, it meant
something evil was planning something unpleasant.
“Giles
hasn’t heard anything and neither has Spike,” Tara added, slipping past Willow
to grab her own clothes.
One
of the developments of the three weeks was the continued living arrangements of
the three students and lovers.
Tara
and Willow had moved into the Summers home with Buffy when Oz was stalking
Willow and Buffy but after Oz’ death, they had continued living with Buffy and
her mom. No one suggested moving back
to the dorms, including Buffy’s mom.
Also
unspoken was the sleeping arrangements, most of the time the three ended up in
the same bed for the night and Joyce Summers never said anything about it.
They
were still adjusting to the fact that Buffy’s Mom and Giles seemed alright with
their unusual relationship while they were still adjusting to it themselves.
Also
unspoken was whoever was sleeping with whom each night. Some nights they all ended up in the same
bed snuggling, other nights two of them would end up in bed together sexually.
Surprising
to everyone was that no one got jealous of either of the other young
women.
Willow
smiled as she watched a sleepy Tara rummage through the closet and settle on
what she wanted for the day.
Tara
glanced back at Willow and smiled. “I
love you too,” she said easily.
Willow
grinned and wrapped an arm around Tara’s waist and kissed the other witch.
“What
are your plans for today?” Tara asked as she held Willow in her arms.
“Getting
through Professor Walsh’s class,” Willow frowned. “Ever since Buffy turned her back on the Initiative, Professor
Walsh has been really hard on the two of us.”
“I’ll
try and get a different Psych teacher next semester,” Tara smiled.
“After
that I’ve got another class and then lunch,” Willow continued. “Then two more classes in the afternoon.”
“Want
to meet for lunch? Buffy said she’d be at the cafeteria during our lunch
break,” Tara suggested.
“Excellent!” Willow grinned. “Wanna help wrap my cast for the shower?”
Tara
leaned in for another long and lingering kiss.
“Maybe I can help with the shower too?” she asked, her voice turning
husky.
“Yes,
I was hoping you’d suggest that,” Willow said softly, her eyes beginning to
darken with arousal.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Buffy
resisted growling when she walked into the lecture hall and saw Riley talking
with Professor Walsh. The Slayer
stopped at the top of the stairs, watching them as they were having apparently
a serious discussion.
“Hey,
sexy,” a voice said softly behind her and Buffy turned with a wide smile.
“Hey,
Red,” the Slayer’s mood was instantly lifted and she had to fight and restrain
herself from wrapping her arms around the taller red-head. “You are adorable when you sleep,” she
whispered.
Willow
blushed and glanced over Buffy’s shoulder with a frown.
“What’s
up with them?” she asked.
Buffy
turned around and looked down to see Riley and Professor Walsh watching them.
“I
don’t know and I don’t care!” Buffy growled.
“Wanna do lunch?”
“Yes,
Tara too,” Willow agreed and then leaned down to Buffy’s ear with an evil
grin. “I’d like to do you tonight, by the
way,” she whispered.
Buffy’s
eyes widened and she began to blush as Willow slipped by her, heading for their
seats.
“Full
moon,” the Slayer muttered, remembering Willow’s comment that Oz always got
really ‘frisky’ before a full moon.
Buffy grinned, that was one part of Willow being cursed as a werewolf
that Buffy might actually like.
When
she sat down next to the red-head Willow was already getting her books out of
her backpack, in serious student mode and Riley was gone.
The
Slayer thought class actually went well for once. Professor Walsh seemed to focus on someone else for the day. She grabbed up her books and started up the
stairs.
“Willow,”
both Buffy and Willow turned at the sound of Professor Walsh’s voice.
“Yes?”
Willow questioned.
“Could
I see you for a minute, I have a question about one of your papers while you
were gone,” Professor Walsh, the lead psychological scientist for the
Initiative Center and professor at Sunnydale University, asked.
“Sure,”
Willow said easily and looked over at Buffy.
“I’ll catch you and Tara at lunch, Buff.”
Buffy
hesitated, looking back at the Professor but Professor Walsh had turned her
attention to something on her desk. The
Slayer managed to smile at her friend.
“Okay,
see you in a bit,” Buffy muttered and headed for door with an uneasy feeling.
Willow,
knowing Buffy’s protective streak, smiled as she gathered up her books and
shoved them in her backpack. She
trotted down to the Professor’s table and went around joining Professor Walsh
hovering over the papers.
The
hacker leaned over the table, recognizing one of her papers and wondering what
could be wrong with it.
“Ow!”
Willow stood upright, feeling at the back of her neck. She looked over at the Professor with a
confused expression. The hacker was
suddenly having trouble focusing.
“Sorry
about this, Willow,” the Professor said flatly. “I’m hoping I’m wrong.”
Willow
tried to respond as the Professor reached out to catch her.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A
class later, Tara grinned when she caught sight of Buffy sitting at one of
their regular tables. Buffy, feeling
the energy shifting around her, looked up and smiled in response.
The
witch finished paying for her meal and worked her way over to her girlfriend, hoping
not to trip and make a fool out of herself.
Tara knew she wasn’t as clumsy as she used to be since meeting Willow
and the gang and she definitely stuttered less around them. Out in public, Tara still felt inadequate
and clumsy at times.
Buffy
smiled, seeing the blonde witch with loving eyes and never seeing the clumsy,
unattractive, shy geek Tara always feared everyone saw.
“Hey,
where’s Wills?” Buffy asked.
“She
usually beats us here, maybe she’s taking it easier walking across campus,”
Tara suggested.
Ever
since plunging a silver dagger through her heart to stop Oz from claiming her
as his wolf mate, Willow had been on a long road of recovery and that included
taking it easier physically and especially no slaying with Buffy.
“Yeah,
I hope she’s taking it easy,” Buffy agreed.
“Last thing we need this week is her heart acting up. Giles is still worried about the change
Thursday night and what it might do to her heart.”
“Well,
she made it through the change the first night when she grabbed the curse from
you,” Tara commented.
“Yeah,
drugged out of her mind,” Buffy mumbled and glanced at the clock on the wall
with a frown. “Where the hell is she?”
“What’s
wrong?” Tara asked with a frown.
“I
don’t know, I was getting ‘spidey’ vibes from Professor Walsh when she asked
Willow to go over one of her papers after class,” Buffy complained.
“How
so?” Tara asked.
“I
don’t know, she didn’t act strange or do anything weird, it just felt strange,”
Buffy tried to explain.
“Okay,”
Tara said softly and closed her eyes.
Buffy felt her ‘spidey’ sense tingling, like something was lightly
brushing a feather just above her skin.
With a start, the Slayer realized that Tara was extending her magickal
senses, trying to connect with Willow and touching her connection with the
Slayer as well.
Tara
opened her eyes with a frown.
“Something’s wrong, Buff, I can’t sense her.” The witch closed her eyes again and concentrated. Buffy’s skin began to crawl and she could
almost swear she could see a visible aura forming around Tara.
Tara
opened her eyes and Buffy was instantly on alert at the fear in the witch’s
eyes.
“Nothing!”
Tara hissed. “Not even fear or
anything.”
“Let’s
find her!” Buffy growled, lunch forgotten.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Giles
watched Buffy pacing across the living room floor while Tara nervously pulled
at the hem of her t-shirt nervously.
“You
talked with Professor Walsh,” Giles repeated the question.
“Yes,
she said Willow answered her question and left the forum hall,” Tara answered
while Buffy just growled.
“Did
you believe her?” Joyce asked.
“No,
her aura was all off s-somehow but she was so c-calm and cool,” Tara
stammered.
“You
think the Initiative took Willow,” Giles questioned.
“Yes,”
Buffy said firmly. “The problem is I
don’t know how to get into that place since they’ve revoked my clearance.”
“Why
would they take her? You convinced
Riley none of you were cursed,” Joyce asked.
“I
thought we had,” Giles muttered. “Maybe
we didn’t.”
“Giles!”
Buffy shouted, “What do we do? I’m not sure I can just rush in there, pound
heads and get Willow out. As much as
I’d really like to right now!”
“I
don’t know,” Giles admitted. “You two
can’t sense anything with her?”
“No,
not a thing,” Tara complained.
“She
must be drugged, if she was injured or unconscious, I think you’d be able to
connect,” Giles commented.
“Okay,
she’s drugged,” Buffy snapped. “Someone
has her, odds say it’s the Initiative, what do we do?”
“Maybe
Agent Mulder can help?” Joyce suggested.
“I’ll
call him immediately,” Giles reached for the phone as someone pounded on the
door. “Tara, can you do the computer
hacking thing and find the plans for that damned center?”
“What
are you thinking, Giles?” Buffy asked as she opened the door for Xander and
Anya. “Willow’s missing; we think the
Initiative has her.”
“Well,
you’ve described the only entrance as an elevator,” Giles muttered as he
searched for Fox Mulder’s card. “There
must be a service entrance to get all that equipment down there.”
“Of
course!” Buffy grinned. “I can’t see
them taking out the demons through the Frat House.”
“I
don’t know,” Tara muttered. “I don’t
have Willow’s skills with hacking.”
“Knowing
Willow, she never trusted the Initiative and already has the plans on her
computer,” Xander suggested and Tara made a dash for the stairs.
“Joyce,
you and Buffy sit down and draw out what Buffy remembers of the inside,” Giles
continued as he dialed the phone.
“Anya, coffee and tea would be excellent. It may be a long day and night.”
Buffy
growled at that comment but sat down at the dining table while her mom grabbed
paper, pencils and rulers.
“Agent
Mulder, please,” Giles asked into the telephone.
“Mulder,”
a voice answered after a moment and several clicks.
“Yes,
Agent Mulder, this is Rupert Giles,” Giles announced.
“Yes,
Giles,” Mulder answered easily. “Is
your line secure?”
“What?”
Giles looked puzzled. “Well, I have no
idea, actually.”
“Go
out and call me back on a pay phone,” Mulder instructed.
“Well,
I’m on the damned cell phone, does that help?”
“Yes,
that’s better, what’s the problem, Giles? Does it have something to do with the
flash I got across my computer that the Initiative has captured a ‘hostile’
female werewolf?” Mulder asked.
“What?”
Giles stammered. Both Buffy and her
mother gave up trying to work to listen.
“I’ve
got friends who send me anything that might be interesting from the
Initiative’s computers,” Mulder explained.
“We have reservations on the next flight out into Los Angeles, we’ll
rent a car there and drive out as soon as possible. We should be there sometime in the middle of the night.”
“We?”
Giles questioned.
“I
have a partner,” Mulder explained.
“Don’t move against the Initiative until we get there.”
“Do
you know what they do to ‘hostiles’?” Giles snapped.
“Yes,
and I’m betting the first few days will be spent on lab testing,” Mulder said
calmly.
“Hurry,
Agent Mulder,” Giles urged. “I won’t be
able to hold Buffy and the gang back for long.”
“I
understand but know this, the Initiative is waiting for that according to one
of their memos,” Mulder warned. “If I
know organizations like this, your kids will disappear.”
“Oh
God,” Giles muttered as Mulder cut the connection.
Giles
turned to explain as Tara and Xander dashed down the stairs to hear about the
conversation.
Buffy
growled at the instructions to wait but knew that Riley and the units would be
on alert and expecting the Gang to mount a rescue attempt.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
By
nightfall, however, the Slayer was unable to be contained and grabbed her
stakes.
“Where
are you going?” Giles demanded.
“I’ll
be back, Giles,” Buffy snapped as she slipped on her leather jacket. “I really…really need to slay something and
heaven help the vampire that crosses my path tonight!”
Buffy
leaned down over the back of the sofa and kissed Tara quickly. “I won’t do anything stupid, I promise,” she
whispered.
Giles
and Joyce flinched as the front door slammed.
Xander
whispered to Anya and dashed out the door behind the Slayer.
“He
wishes to keep an eye on Buffy,” Anya explained.
“Good
idea,” Joyce agreed, heading to the kitchen for more coffee.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Willow
moaned and opened her eyes slowly. Her
head hurt, her encased hand itched, something was stuck in her mouth and she
couldn’t move.
The
witch glanced around quickly with her eyes and tried to slow her heart-rate
down as it began to pound rapidly.
Everywhere Willow looked was white, government white. She turned her head to look left and right
and wasn’t reassured any. Various
machines were pulled up to the gurney she was strapped to as well as a medical
table that had several trays covered with blue sterile paper. Leaning up as far as she could, Willow
discovered that she was dressed in a horrible hospital gown and her limbs were
held down with metal clamps. She
couldn’t tell what was in her mouth but it was keeping her from shouting out in
fear and anger.
Willow
whimpered around the gag and heard the machine tracking her heart increase to
an alarming rate.
The
witch wasn’t really surprised when the door opened and both Riley and Professor
Walsh walked into the room and shut the door behind them.
"Hello,
Hostile 52," Professor Walsh said cheerfully and Willow's heart-rate
increased.
Noticing
the alarming rate of the beeps from one of the machines, Professor Walsh walked
over to a medicine cabinet and unlocked it.
After a moment of searching through the medicine bottles, she selected
one and then rummaged in a drawer, pulling out a syringe. Willow tried to shake her head 'no' as the
Professor wiped her arm with an alcohol pad and injected her with whatever the
drug was.
"Don't
fight it, the drug is just to help slow your heart rate down a little and keep
your mind unfocused," Professor Walsh explained. "We can't have you dying of a heart attack this soon in the
research."
Willow
whimpered and tried to pull out of the restraints.
"What
are we going to do with her?" Riley asked, looking down at Willow like she
wasn't even an interesting test subject in a science lab. <Which Willow figured she now was.>
"With
her heart injured the way it is and that hand having to be rebuilt, we don't
dare let her change Thursday night without sedating her," Walsh commented,
frowning in thought. "The change
just might kill her and she'd definitely injure that hand."
"She'd
never make it through Shock Troop training either," Riley commented,
looking at the printout of Willow's heart-rate.
"I
agree," Walsh muttered. "You
know, Hostile 52, we were lucky you tested positive for lycanthropy. If you hadn't we would had to have grabbed
Buffy Summers next for testing."
"How
did she keep from changing last month?" Riley asked.
"Probably
a magical spell, that's why I insisted on gagging her," Walsh explained to
both Riley and Willow. "This early
in magic learning, she needs to vocalize for a spell to work. Can't speak,
can't cast spells to get out of here."
Willow
felt a tear escape her eye and tried to keep from whimpering.
"Its
impractical to leave her gagged all the time," Riley complained.
"We'll
handle that," Marsh assured him.
"It really is a shame that she couldn't be recruited to work with
us and only be locked away three nights out of the month. She is highly intelligent and a wiz at
computers."
"Buffy
already rejected us, no way Willow would work for us if her friends and lovers
object," Riley commented bitterly.
"Too
bad she went and got herself bitten," Walsh commented. "She probably would have been recruited
by the FBI or CIA with those computer skills."
"Or
Bill Gates," Riley muttered.
"So, she can't be trained as a soldier or mindless assassin, though
it would be interesting to watch her destroyed mentally."
"Finn!"
Walsh snapped. "Never get personal
with a Hostile, you know that."
"Sorry,
Professor," he muttered.
"You're
right though, we can't train her as a Shock Troop assassin with that heart
condition."
"That
leaves breed stock or lab rat," Riley commented.
Despite
the fuzzy feeling of the narcotic hitting her system, Willow felt her heart
rate jump once again at those words and Marsh frowned.
"Stop
teasing the Hostile," she snapped.
"Well,
we have the Hostile that started this mess with her, why not let him finish and
mate with her? We don't get many female werewolf hostiles," Riley
suggested.
//Started
this mess? Oz?//
"After
the usual battery of tests, we'll put them together and observe their
interaction," Walsh decided.
"The usual blood tests, x-rays, MRI, scans, complete work up on
her."
"The
gag?" Riley questioned, writing down instructions on a metal clipboard.
"Leave
it for now, we'll put her under this evening and take care of that," Walsh
said and looked down into Willow's terror filled eyes. "I'm sorry this happened to you. I
really liked you and had high hopes for you and your friends with our
organization."
Willow
tried to scream around the ball gag in her mouth and struggled against the
straps as Walsh walked out the door and two men in lab coats entered but didn't
even look at her.
"Full
range of testing," Riley ordered and the two techs position themselves at
either end of the gurney and unlocked the foot brake.
Willow
screamed as loud as she could around the gag.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Tara!"
Joyce cried as the young witch dropped her glass of soda and grabbed for the
kitchen counter. Buffy's mom rushed to
grab Tara as her knees buckled.
"Giles!"
The
Watcher dashed into the kitchen from the living room and helped Joyce move a
semi-aware Tara to a chair at the kitchen table. He squatted down in front of her as she shook her head and began
to blink.
"Tara?"
he asked softly.
"It's
Willow," she whispered, closing her eyes as tears began escaping. "She's terrified. She's so scared, Giles."
Joyce
pulled the young woman into her arms as Tara began crying.
"Can
you tell where she is?" Giles questioned.
"No,
she's drugged and can barely think, it's mostly images," Tara answered
between sobs. "Machines, needles
and white walls."
"The
Initiative," Giles said bitterly as he glanced at his watch.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Xander
leaned against a sturdy gravestone as Buffy sobbed in his arms. She had been working a lot of her frustration
out on the local vampire population and had just finished killing two of them
when the Slayer had dropped her stake, her eyes becoming unfocused. Xander had rushed forward in time to catch
Buffy as she cried out for Willow.
From
what he could gather from Buffy's gasping words, Willow was scared to death and
Buffy could see some of it.
The
young man angrily wiped at his own tears as he kept an eye out for vampires as
the Slayer wept.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Mulder,
tell me again the story of why we're going to a small town here in
California," Special Agent Dana Scully insisted. She was still on East coast time and was very grumpy at traveling
in the middle of the night when Mulder was being even more vague than usual.
Fox
Mulder started to answer when his cell phone rang, he took advantage of the
situation to shrug and click on his phone.
"Mulder,"
he answered.
"Mulder,
we have the plans you wanted and we sent them to that email address," a
familiar voice said. "We're also
working on finding out what they have planned for the prisoner they're calling
Hostile 52."
"Can
you get us access?" Mulder asked Langley of the Lone Gunmen.
"No
can do, your voice, prints and retina scan are all on record and on their hot
list," Langley responded.
"They know you might be coming, Scully too."
"Damn,
what about Elizabeth Summers?"
"On
their To Capture if Caught on Premises list," Langley informed him.
"Okay,
I'll get back to you about possible identification and access codes,"
Mulder said and clicked off.
"Mulder,
what is going on?" Scully demanded.
"Well,
I told you about the college student I've been exchanging information with in
California, right?"
"Yes,
one of your many paranormal buddies," Scully nodded, looking out the
window into the California darkness.
"Well,
she's a witch, actually practicing magick type witch," he began. "She asked me for a really rare
spell."
"You?"
Scully's eyebrows rose in question.
"Yeah,
I found it too. I didn't know the exact
details because no one I knew could translate it," Mulder continued. "About the time the Gunmen translated
it with random programs, so did Willow.
I found out that it was dangerous and was damned costly."
"What
do you mean? And I'm supposed to believe that this college student, computer
geek is performing spells like Merlin?
She's not just one of those Wiccans dancing in the moonlight?"
"No,
real magick and is apparently getting very good at it," Mulder grinned at
Scully's usual skeptic comments.
"The spell could cost the caster their soul and the spell is
designed to transform the curse of lycanthropy from one person to the caster,
willingly."
"Lycanthropy?
Werewolves?" Scully demanded with a frown.
"Yup!"
Mulder's voice wasn't as enthusiastic as Scully would have expected and she
glanced over at her partner.
"You're
telling me that she did the spell and is now cursed?" Scully asked softly, noting his frown.
"Yeah,
I flew out here for several days when she didn't respond to my emails,"
Mulder said in a flat voice. "I
was too late in stopping her. Willow
took the curse from her girlfriend."
"Is
she locked up?" Scully asked.
"That
may be the problem," Mulder said cryptically. "Her friends and Willow have dealt with werewolf friends
before and know how to take care of each other. She was stabbed through the
heart and dealing with that injury and now the werewolf thing. They planned on sedating her this full moon
to prevent the change from human to werewolf from injuring her heart
again."
"Whoa!
You expect me to believe some young college girl is going to change into a wolf
in a few days?"
"You've
seen werewolves before, Scully," Mulder grinned.
"I
didn't see a werewolf on that Indian Reservation, Mulder," Scully
countered. "I saw the body of a boy
who was obviously demented. He tore his
own father to pieces."
"As
a wolf," Mulder insisted.
"I
didn't see a wolf in the darkness," Scully repeated. "Maybe I can watch your friend change,
even some testing?" she said hopefully.
"I
promised never to reveal the existence of the weird things that happens
here," Mulder muttered.
"What?"
"I
can't without endangering Willow and her friends to the damned secret
organizations," Mulder complained.
"The problem we're coming out to help with is that they may already
have Willow."
Mulder
launched into the long explanation of Slayers, vampires, werewolves and the
Intiative. It took time but they had
the time to spend talking as Mulder drove from Los Angeles to Sunnydale in the
darkness.
Mulder
had just finished when his phone rang again.
"Mulder,"
he answered.
"Langley,"
a voice responded. "Your Hostile
52 is scheduled for round the clock testing, sleep deprivation, something
preventive, observation for a day with Hostile 49 and then transport of Hostile
52 and several others to a larger facility in Area 51."
"I
thought Area 51 was closed down," Mulder complained.
"They
reopened it to investigate the Hostiles they've captured. Once there, they plan on inseminating her
and using her as a lab rat," Langley informed his FBI friend. "Mulder, these guys don't care about
finding a cure for werewolves or vampires.
I think their ultimate agenda is creating very scarey monster
soldiers. If you know this girl, you'd
better get her out of there fast. They
don't care what mental state they leave their test subjects in."
"Thanks,
Langley, that's the plan," Mulder said firmly as he clicked off. A glance over at Scully's face told Mulder
that she had heard the conversation.
"Inseminate?"
she whispered, her eyes wide in the light of the dashboard of the rental car.
"That's
what he said. Turn her into a puppy mill for werewolves," Mulder said
bitterly, trying not to choke as he thought of the last time he had seen
Willow, looking very fragile in Buffy's arms, legs tossed across Tara's lap.
"Mulder,
if even half of this is true, we have to stop them," Scully said firmly.
"I
know, I was hoping that both sides could stay away from each other. Willow and her friends thought they had
convinced the Initiative that none of them were infected," Mulder
explained. "I guess the Initiative
wasn't fooled or wasn't taking any chances."
"How
long before we get there?" Scully asked, rubbing her eyes.
"About
an hour now," he answered.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Xander
grabbed Buffy's arm when they both spotted Riley standing at the gate of the
graveyard with his Initiative platoon.
"Don't
do anything stupid like I would," Xander urged and Buffy nodded.
Both
Slayer and her best male friend noticed the soldiers had their fingers on the
triggers of their stun guns and a couple of them were armed with shotguns as
they approached.
"What
do you want, Riley? I already cleared the graveyard for the night," Buffy
asked.
"Just
checking to make sure you're not furry and fanged," he grinned.
"That's
not for another two nights, come on by," Buffy quipped "I might need
a snack."
"We'll
be around with either a tranquilizer or a silver bullet," he promised.
"You
weren't stupid enough to grab anyone innocent, were you?" she asked.
"Nope,"
he grinned. "The only things we
have are confirmed hostiles. You want to give me some of your blood and get me
off your back?"
Buffy
frowned in thought.
"Don't
do it, Buffy," Xander growled, his hand tight on a stake. "Make him earn his brownie points."
"Shut
up, loser," Riley snapped.
"Who
you calling a loser, you son of a bitch?" Xander growled and Buffy held
out her arm to restrain her friend.
"I
don't feel like beating them senseless tonight, Xander," Buffy growled. "Since you were looking for me, I
assume you have a kit with you."
"Yeah,
right in my pocket," Riley grinned.
"I
don't trust them, Buffy!" Xander whined.
"I
know," Buffy said softly and handed her friend the stake in her hand. "Not you, Riley, one of your other
qualified goons and there'd better not be anything in that syringe," Buffy
growled as she pulled off her jacket.
Riley
smirked and pulled out a green medic kit and handed it to one of his platoon
mates. The soldier started forward but
stopped suddenly when Xander dropped the stakes and pulled out a Glock pistol
and pointed it at the group.
"You!"
he pointed the gun at the young black male with the kit. "Drop your weapons first."
The
soldier slowly eased his rifle off his shoulder and handed it back to Riley and
then handed over his pistol and held up his hands with the kit in one.
"Nice
and slowly," Xander instructed as Buffy rolled up her sleeve. "I want prepackaged needles, alcohol
pad and secure test tube."
Buffy
raised her eyebrows in amusement and admiration. Xander was surprising her with his quick thinking and protective
streak.
The
Slayer submitted to having her blood drawn once the soldier showed them the
needle was still in a sterile package and he had only one vial for the blood.
Buffy
glared at Riley as she rolled down her sleeve and reached for her jacket.
"Any
bad affects and I'll take your balls off personally," Xander threatened as
he picked up and handled the jacket to Buffy and Buffy picked up the stakes.
"Since
she gave up her blood so quickly, I doubt we'll find anything," Riley
commented with a frown.
"Disappointed?"
Buffy taunted.
"Kinda,"
Riley admitted. "Giles tried to
talk me into being your friend last month.
Tell him he was wrong and I still owe him for that stunt with the
police."
"Stay
out of my way, Riley," Buffy snapped.
"If you hurt any of my friends, I'll take your head off,
slowly."
"We
only deal with Hostiles," Riley grinned as he handed the commando back his
rifle and pistol. "See you around,
Buff."
Buffy
waited until the soldiers were out of sight and then spun on her heels and
snapped a tree branch in half with an angry shout.
"They've
got her, Xander," she growled.
"He was baiting me."
"You
are so right and you were so cool!" Xander said admiringly. "Why did you give up your blood?"
"I
didn't want you hurt; they would have fought for it. I'm no longer infected and this might throw them for a loop a
little," Buffy explained.
"Goddamn it! Willow!" she suddenly screamed and smacked her
fist into a wooden fence, snapping the board.
"Come
on, Buff," Xander said gently as dogs began barking up and down the alley
they had reached. "Agent Mulder
should be here soon, maybe he has some answers."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Willow
had no idea how long she had been wheeled from one room to another but it felt
like hours and she was exhausted. She
also felt like a very large lab rat.
The witch had no idea how many times blood had been drawn, how many
x-rays had been taken or how many series of MRI scans she had been
through. The only thing she was certain
of, the techs had changed shifts which meant there was some kind of passage of
time.
After
awhile even the terror had worn down and Willow tried her best to sleep through
most of the tests they were running.
Since she couldn't talk or protest and she never had the chance or
energy to fight back whenever they undid the steel restraints, she gave up
fighting for the moment and tried to rest in order to save her energy.
"Is
she sedated?" Marsh's voice reached her and Willow opened her eyes to
glare at the scientist.