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Through Another's Eyes by Diabola
 
Interlude - The Initiative
 
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Unsure what to expect, the reunited Scoobies are sitting in the Initiative's conference room. It's not like they felt they could trust the soldiers that remain, but the man that asked them too meet him here had saved Willow's life, and they felt that they owed him enough to at least listen to what he had to say.
 
~*~*~*~*~*~

 
The unexpected help had come shortly after Xander had joined them. Buffy and Spike had been making great progress in forcing the soldiers back, especially since their mating had had an unexpected side-effect. Apparently the orbs of Nezzla Khan didn't need to be physically close to each other in order to protect the wearer as they and the Trio had thought. They hadn’t really been wrong, but they hadn’t understood the nature of the forces they were dealing with; the orbs just needed to be somehow connected. For normal humans wearing them, this connection could only be achieved by bringing them in close proximity to each other; however, Buffy and Spike weren’t normal humans, and the claim had connected them. Much to their delight, they had found out that the orbs worked just as well if the connection was of supernatural nature.
 
The discovery had been completely accidental; Buffy had dropped one of the orbs while securing them on her person and Spike unintentionally exposed his hand to the sunlight while attempting to pick it up. With the Slayer wearing one and her vampire mate holding the other, the orbs activated, giving them a sudden rush of power and protecting both of them at once.
 
Thanks to this unexpected help, they had been winning. The battle wouldn't have ended without casualties on their part, though, as Major Ellis had used the distraction of the Scoobies discovering Anya among the captives to sneak up on the witches from behind.
 
The cold steel pressed against the back of her neck had surprised Willow too much for the redhead to be able to think of a spell that might save her.
 
"You bitch! Your little friends just destroyed my career. The blonde cunt and her pet vampire might be bullet-proof, but I bet you're not."
 
All color drained from her face; unable to breathe through her terror, Willow just stood there as if frozen in place, waiting for the bullet that would end her life. But when the shot rang out, there was no pain; instead, there was only the heavenly feeling of the pressure leaving her neck as the gun suddenly wasn't pressed against her anymore.
 
Hearing some of the soldiers cry out in surprise and disbelief, the Scoobies had stopped their fighting and turned to where the enemy's attention was focused. Even Willow, by then enclosed in her relieved girlfriend’s arms, had been able to shake off her terror and turn around.
 
There he was, the man who had been prepared to end her life about something as relatively unimportant as his career. He was lying on the floor, blood still seeping from the head wound that had killed him.
 
Given that Willow was still alive, the discovery that Major Ellis wasn't had not been a big surprise for any of the Scoobies. The identity of her savior, on the other hand, had had them gaping in disbelief.
 
Just as the commandos prepared to launch an attack upon the supposed traitor in retribution, the man spoke. His authoritative voice stopped them in their tracks.
 
"Stand down, soldiers. This is Captain Graham Miller, Military Police. I am authorized to take over the command of this base until my unit arrives. Major Ellis was preparing to kill a civilian for unauthorized personal reasons, thus violating the terms of his command. I took the necessary steps to stop him. If any of you have a problem with that, you can denounce me to Colonel McClane when he arrives. Until he arrives, you will return to your quarters. Now!"
 
Relieved to be saved from further battle with the seemingly invulnerable blonde couple, the soldiers retreated, and Graham led the stunned Scoobies into the conference room.
 
~*~*~*~*~*~

 
And so it was that the Scoobies found themselves sitting around the big table, waiting for the uncomfortable-looking soldier to begin his explanation.
 
Only Xander seems distracted from the drama of the scenario. In fact, he seems to barely notice his surroundings; he is focused instead on keeping a tight hold on Anya, as though he is scared that she might disappear again. To his great delight, the vengeance demon has yet to make a move to leave his embrace; however, she seems to have calmed down, and is now watching Graham with a calculating look in her eyes.
 
"Alright. Let’s begin. First, I want to explain that, while you remember me as one of Riley's friends from the Initiative, that is not what I do anymore. After that organisation was shut down, someone in the upper ranks of the review board noticed that I had sent in several reports that should have lead to a thorough investigation of Professor Walsh's methods.  As a result, I was asked to join the Military Police and operate as their man on the inside of Major Ellis' unit. There was still some fear that leaving officers once involved with the Initiative in command positions might end up coming back to haunt us."
 
At the unbelieving stares he receives, Graham hastens to explain further.
 
"I know you have difficulties believing me here, especially since it must seem to you that I didn't do anything to stop what was going on here before you intervened. It's not that simple, though. See, this installation started out as an observation base. Our orders were to keep an eye on the activity on the Hellmouth. It was believed that this unit could act as reinforcement for you in case it should open. In fact, part of our orders required us to get in contact with the Slayer and her group to offer our services if you deemed it necessary."
 
At this, Buffy can't stay silent any longer.
 
"If that's true, then why the hell did you decide to spy on us instead of letting us know you guys were here? Fuck, the guys whose cameras you were using had nearly managed to kill some of us on numerous occasions. Their leader murdered his girlfriend, for God’s sake. How could you sit there and watch and never even think of contacting us?"
 
Flinching at the fury in the Slayer's voice, Graham decides it might be best to tell group in front of him the full story, rather than the slightly altered version he had prepared. There really was no reason to try to spare Riley in this. After all, his involvement had been the main reason everything had gone so wrong, and Graham really didn't want to be at the receiving end of the blonde girl's anger should she find out he had lied to her.
 
"While we were still setting up the base, some of our technicians accidentally discovered the signal from one of the cameras you’re talking about. They traced the signal and got a picture, but not knowing any of you by sight, they didn't know what to make of it.  They showed it to Major Ellis, and he, of course, consulted Riley; Ri fed him some line about how you, Buffy, had obviously changed sides since you never would have considered a relationship with a vampire otherwise.  Major Ellis bought it…"
 
"That's such crap, Graham! Riley knew about Angel even before we fought Adam. And I should know, since I'm the idiot that told him."
 
"I know that, Xander—he told me about it back then. The Major didn't know it, though, and he bought what Riley told him without question. Everything Ri said fit in well with his own ideas about demons, and he decided to use the access to the demons here on the Hellmouth to continue some of the research projects Professor Walsh started, I guess."
 
Shaking her head in confusion, Buffy wonders how a bit of deliberate misinformation could have led to all of this trouble. Voicing her question, she agrees to let the soldier continue his explanation.
 
"From there, things got only worse. The Major struck a deal with some armament companies. He agreed to complete the Initiative research they had been secretly funding in exchange for the promise of a well-paid position once he had finished his term in the military. At the same time, changes in the security system severed my contact to my unit, and that gave Riley the opportunity to pull his stunt with the eggs. You know what really happened there, right? That Spike didn't have anything to do with it?"
 
The Scoobies' agreement only furthers Graham's belief that he is doing the right thing in telling them the whole truth. Who knows what else they are already aware of, anyway?
 
"What you probably don't know, though, is that he claimed that his stunt was the result of an order by Major Ellis; the lie enabled him to enlist his unit help him. He even took one of his soldiers – Samantha Brown – with him on the mission so he could pretend that she was his wife. When the truth about the whole scam came out, he was in danger of losing his rank; to save his career, he offered to figure out a way to bring in a vengeance demon. You see, that had been one of the Major's main goals for a long time. He'd have been a rich man if he could have been the one to figure out how their teleportation abilities work."
 
Everyone in the room notices that the commando is by now trying to avoid looking in Anya's direction. Still, the man seems desperate to finish his story, so they stop themselves from calling him on it.
 
Gulping hard, Graham continues, "Vengeance demons are hard to distinguish from humans; they have the same body temperature as humans, and all of the same bodily functions, too."
 
"That's true. If you don't try to kill us, and we don't go into game face, no one can tell that we're not just another human. It’s what makes our disguises so effective," Anya agreed, feeling compelled to agree with him.
 
"Exactly. When Riley saw the tape of the aborted wedding, he was sure you'd have returned to your former profession. He monitored you for long enough to be certain that you had become a vengeance demon again, and then he convinced Major Ellis to let him assemble a team to bring you and your friend in."
 
Upon hearing who was responsible for Anya's captivity, Xander finally loses his temper. Jumping up, he exclaims heatedly that he is glad to have been the one to kill his former friend.
 
Noticing the stunned and curious faces around him, the young vampire realizes that no one yet knew about his loss of control. Still seething, he explains what had happened earlier in his cell and is surprised to see none of the expected disgust on his friends' faces.
 
Delighted by the news of Captain Cardboard's demise, Spike can't stop himself from congratulating the whelp; his gesture earns him only a half-hearted slap on the chest from his mate. Apparently, even the Slayer couldn't deny that he had more than one reason to rejoice her former boyfriend's death.
 
Xander, on the other hand, barely notices the blonde couple’s exchange, as he is solely focused on Anya. After distancing herself from him at the mention of the wedding earlier, she has now inched closer again and is now beaming at him, a look of pride in her eyes. He knows he should be bothered by her obvious happiness at hearing he killed a human, but he can't seem to force himself to feel anything but elation that she seems to be softening towards him.
 
Anya is a demon, after all, and more than that she is a demon that has been held captive by the very human he killed. Why shouldn't she like the idea of her tormentor being gone? And hey, humans were grateful to judges for punishing criminals so they couldn’t cause further harm, weren’t they? Xander's inner musings are interrupted when Graham speaks up again.
 
"Alright. I can't say that I didn't hope to get a chance to convince Ri that he was doing the wrong thing here. I've heard his men talk, though; you did warn them over and over that you wouldn't be able to control your actions if they starved you. Professor Walsh did enough experiments that Riley should have known without a doubt that you were speaking the truth. If he chose to ignore that knowledge, I can't exactly blame you for what happened. And if you want to be proud of what you did, I can’t really blame you… it's not like I can control your thoughts…."
 
"Oh, you could…."
 
Seeing the disapproving glares from her friends and her girlfriend, Willow hastily backpedals.
 
"Uhm, but… but you shouldn't, cause that'd be wrong…."
 
"It's ok, sweetie. We know you wouldn't do something like that again—not now. And you are right, it is possible. Now let’s let Graham finish, OK?"
 
Relieved that Tara doesn't seem to be angry with her, Willow relaxes back into her girlfriend's embrace and nods at the commando to continue.
 
"Anyway, you guys attacking the base finally gave me the opportunity to contact my men—they’re on the way as we speak. I’m pretty sure that what happened here will be the end of any government involvement with the demon world. My job right now is to figure out where to go from here, and what you guys are going to do. We need some sort of agreement on your part that you are not going to go public with what happened here."
 
The silence that follows Graham's announcement doesn't last long, as Anya shakes herself out of her stupor and straightens, looking the soldier square into the eyes.
 
"I want money—damages for the time you held me captive and did experiments on me. And you'd better make it a lot of money, or I'll arrange a meeting with some nice reporters who'd just love to hear what the army did to a defenceless woman."
 
No sound is heard in the room after the vengeance demon's exclamation until, slowly, first the vampires, then the Slayer, and finally even the two witches start chuckling. Soon they are all laughing out loud, grateful for the release of tension. What shocks them back into silence, though, is Graham's enthusiastic nodding at Anya's demands.
 
The soldier explains that it might actually be a good idea for her to go ahead with her plan to threaten to sue the army for damages. This way they would stand a better chance of avoiding a repeat of any Initiative-style operation, as the government and any involved companies would be threatened where it would hurt the most – their budgets.
 
Amazed that Anya's love of money should be what they need to finally get rid of the Initiative for good, the gang decides to keep their opinions to themselves and let the vengeance demon and the soldier work out how to proceed.
 
After the two come to an agreement about who Anya should approach with her demands, it doesn't take the group long to wrap up the meeting, all of them glad to finally be able to go home and rest.
 
Once outside the base, Halfrek, who had been silent throughout the meeting, grabs Anya's arm and suggests they return to the former’s apartment.
 
Panicked that his girl might disappear again, Xander hurries after her.
 
"Anya, wait! Do… do you think we could maybe… talk some time? I know I hurt you terribly, but I'd like to explain. I’m not saying there’s any reason that could possibly be good enough, and I don’t expect you to take me back, but maybe you'd feel better once you see that it really wasn't about you…."
 
Anya's first instinct is to tell him to leave her alone; seeing that he seems to be sincere, however, and remembering that he had admitted to being glad he had killed a human when he found out that human had hurt her, she softens and decides to hear him out.
 
"Alright Xander, you get one chance. Meet me in front of the Magic Box tomorrow after sunset, and if you really want to make sure I believe you, have Willow or Tara  do a truth spell on you beforehand. I’ll still talk to you if you don’t, but it’ll be easier for me to believe you if you do—it’s your decision. Oh, and bring money. You can buy me food while you explain."
 
Not waiting for his response, she turns and follows Halfrek back to her apartment.
 
Xander, on the other hand, stands frozen to the spot, the sentence "I have a date with Anya tomorrow!" repeating over and over in his head. He barely notices when his bemused friends finally give up on trying to get him to respond to them and simply drag the still-smiling vampire home.

 
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