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For the first few weeks after Spike’s disappearance, Buffy had found herself focusing the greater part of her attention during her patrols on Restfield Cemetery, spending an unusually large amount of time there -- and inevitably stopping by the now empty crypt near the center of the cemetery.

Just in case.

Usually she just ended up slaying some new random demon or vamp that had decided that the unoccupied but cozy little crypt would make a good lair.

Those slays tended to be particularly vicious.

Buffy knew deep down, each time she stopped there, that she was not going to find Spike in his old home, no matter how badly she wanted to – but in spite of that fact, each time was still a fresh disappointment, and a renewal of her fears as to what might have happened to him.

By the time Spike had been missing for four months, Buffy had stopped patrolling Restfield altogether – and her lack of attention to the place was becoming as much of an issue as her focus on it had been before. She knew that she should be checking it periodically, but she found after a time that she simply could not bring herself to walk by Spike’s old crypt, where she had spent so many hours with him, knowing that he was not there, and never would be there again.

She told herself that it didn’t matter much; Sunnydale had demons enough scattered throughout it to keep her busy – and her avoidance of Restfield was nobody’s business but her own.

The problem was – Sunnydale’s demon community was beginning to make it their business.

If some vampire or demon wanted a relatively safe place for a massacre or ritual or sacrifice of some kind – Restfield had become the place to go. They could be more than reasonably sure that whatever evil they were up to would go undisturbed, since for whatever reason, the Slayer seemed inclined to avoid the place.

While the kill count from her nightly patrols became smaller and smaller – leading her to believe that she was doing her job effectively – Restfield gradually became a hot spot of demonic activity in Sunnydale…and the Slayer remained completely unaware of the situation.

But there were others who *were* aware.

Buffy was making her way rather listlessly through Westside Cemetery, after a rather uneventful patrol, more than ready to get home and go to bed. She had been working double shifts at the Doublemeat as often as possible – and although she was thoroughly exhausted, all the hard work was finally beginning to pay off. The bills were being paid – all on time – and she was actually finding that she was able to set back a bit of money each week for emergencies, as well as being able to afford a few small extras for herself and Dawn.

Things were definitely improving in most areas of her life.

All except one.

She was trying so hard not to focus on that one area of her life that she could not seem to forget, that when a large, hulking shape suddenly stepped out in front of her from the bushes beside her, she jumped back, startled. Instinctively she raised her stake – the action freezing midway as she recognized the person standing in front of her. She released a weary sigh that just barely managed to not sound annoyed as she lowered the stake again.

“Riley,” she said simply, an expectant note to her voice, as she tucked the stake back into her back pocket.

“Buffy,” he replied with a nod, taking a deep breath before he added, “There’s trouble.”

"Shocking," she remarked flatly, her expression not changing. "What's going on?"

"I was patrolling East Central Cemetery -- there was a girl -- and this -- group of demons -- don't know what kind, never saw them before -- grabbed her, and dragged her off. I followed them, looking for a chance to attack...but...there were so many, Buffy..."

"How many?" she asked, her tone now 100% Slayer, as she immediately turned and headed in the direction of the cemetery Riley had mentioned, assuming that he would keep up with her as he went on with his story.

"At least a dozen -- maybe more..."

"Where did they take her?"

"Restfield."

Buffy's step faltered for just the barest fraction of a second -- so briefly that she was sure Riley hadn't noticed -- but then she smoothly shifted her course just slightly, in order to be headed toward Restfield, instead of the cemetery Riley had been patrolling.

"By now it's probably too late," she observed. "By the time you got all the way over here to me, they've probably killed her already."

"Maybe not," Riley explained with a shrug. "They were -- waiting for someone. Their leader, maybe? They said they couldn't begin the -- ritual feeding ceremony, until this -- other one arrived."

"They -- spoke English?" Buffy frowned, a bit surprised as she looked up at the soldier.

Riley shrugged with an ironic little half-smile. "As a *second* language, I'm sure," he replied, easily keeping pace with her as they quickly made their way toward Restfield Cemetery.

When they reached the cemetery, they slowed their pace, keeping close to the cover of the trees that surrounded the cemetery. Riley silently nodded for her to follow him as he led the Slayer cautiously toward the spot where he had last seen the demons. Buffy peered over the dense undergrowth at the assembled circle in the secluded little corner of the cemetery that Riley had led her to, her nose crinkling in distaste as she took in the scene before her.

The demons were huge – over seven feet tall – with dark, scaly gray skin that seeped to be oozing some sort of green substance. The same green substance was dripping from their horns – three each, across their foreheads, above gaping mouths full of hundreds of long, needle-sharp teeth.

She could not quite see through the rough circle that they formed, but she could hear quiet, muffled whimpers and cries coming from the center of the circle – so she could safely assume that was where they had their human victim…and that the girl was still alive.

“You didn’t mention how extremely disgusting these things were,” she hissed. “But there *are* like, twenty of them at least. That’s *almost* like a dozen.” Even in a whisper, it was impossible to miss her sarcastic tone.

“They’re gathering,” Riley explained, more than a little defensive. “There weren’t as many when I left.”

“Right,” Buffy replied tersely. “Doesn’t matter now. Wait for my signal – then you take the dozen on the left, I’ll take the dozen on the right.”

“That’s it?” Riley’s tone was dubious, as he gave her an uncertain look. “That’s the plan?”

“Well,” Buffy shrugged carelessly. “Once I get finished with my half, I’ll probably be starting on what’s left of yours. What do you expect, some brilliant complex plan in ten minutes? Just – wait ‘til I say go…”

They waited in silence for a few minutes longer, trying to get a handle on exactly what was happening n the clearing. The creatures did indeed seem to be preparing for some sort of ritual. The largest of them – apparently the leader – moved to the center of the circle, and as he did, the others shifted to the sides, allowing Buffy and Riley to see inside the circle.

A large tree stump was set in the middle of the circle, with a heavy iron peg driven deep into it, attached to one end of a thick, heavy chain. But what caught Buffy’s attention was the terrified young girl, bound at the other end of the chain by her wrists, close enough to the stump that she could not rise from her knees, and gagged to prevent her panicked screams from being heard.

But the gag did not keep her from *trying* to be heard.

“Thank you all for coming to the annual feast of the human virgin,” the leader began in a pleasant, casual tone.

At least – Buffy *thought* it sounded pleasant and casual, for a – whatever-it-was. It was really hard to tell, between the growls and slurps that punctuated its heavily accented English.

“If we’re all here – I believe it’s time to begin the ceremony,” the leader continued, stepping slowly closer to the increasingly terrified girl, who yanked uselessly, desperately against the chains that bound her.

“You see any weapons?” Riley asked Buffy in an anxious whisper.

“Do they look like they need them?” she shot back incredulously. “Look at those teeth! And they’re just – out in the open? Dozens of those huge, disgusting things, and they’re not hiding or anything? They’ve got a lot of nerve! Don’t they know that a cemetery is just -- *naturally* the Slayer’s territory?”

“Well – not Restfield, Buffy,” Riley reluctantly informed her. “Restfield is always like this…”

“Since when?” she demanded, eyebrows raised as she stared at him in surprise.

“Since – well, since I’ve been back in town anyway. I thought you were just – scared to come down here by yourself…”

Buffy’s soft, offended huff of disbelief was her only response to those words.

“So,” Riley whispered a bit nervously, clearly trying to shift the topic of conversation away from his thoughtless comment, “*when* are we going to…”

“*Go*!” she hissed suddenly, just before launching herself from the underbrush out into the clearing, drawing a dangerous-looking sort of small battle axe from under her jacket as she did so.

“I guess that’d be now,” Riley muttered with a half-smile, following right behind her and leaping into the battle.

They had caught the unsuspecting group of demons completely off guard, taking down a half dozen of them before they even realized that they were under attack. The element of surprise was in their favor, at least, since the demons had assumed that they were safe in Restfield – and that bought the Slayer and the soldier a few precious seconds.

After that – all hell broke loose.

Buffy fought for all she was worth, spinning and kicking, throwing well-aimed blows left and right – and found to her relief that although these creatures were large and definitely very strong, they were also less agile, a bit slower, because of their size and the rather unwieldy shape of their bodies.

Before long, between the two of them, she and Riley had managed to take down all of the monsters – except one.

The leader.

A silent stand-off between the demon on one side, and the Slayer and the ex-commando on the other, ended with a sudden unexpected action…

…as the demon leader suddenly turned tail and ran away from them across the clearing, headed out into the woods surrounding Restfield.

Buffy hesitated only a moment, glancing between Riley and the girl the demons had captured, still bound to the stump, her arms pulled up to cover her face from the violence and bloodshed that had resulted in her rescue. Looking back out into the woods, where the creature had disappeared, Buffy made her decision.

“Make sure she’s not hurt,” she ordered Riley, already heading for the woods. “Get her loose and make sure she gets home okay.”

“But Buffy,” Riley called after her. “You can’t just…”

“I can take him, Riley – take care of the girl,” she cut him off, disappearing into the woods before he could say another word to stop her.

Buffy stopped short after a few hundred yards, looking around her into the surrounding darkness, trying to see where the creature had gone. After a moment, she realized that it was not going to be difficult to track…considering the trail of glow-in-the-dark green goop that it had left in its wake, coating the ground and brush that had been in its path.

“I love this job,” she muttered darkly as she followed the trail, her axe ready in her hand.

“Now let’s see,” she said to herself under her breath after a moment, slowing her pace a bit, as it suddenly occurred to her that she might not want to catch up to this thing too quickly, which would give it the opportunity to catch her by surprise. “If I was a seven foot slime monster being pursued by a much faster, much smarter Slayer – what would *I* do?”

The creature was much slower than she was – she knew it, and it knew it. It was obviously at least somewhat intelligent, and it had seen her make short work of the rest of its clan, so she could expect it to know what a threat she was, and also to be capable of some kind of trick.

Buffy held back slightly, following the unmistakable trail of the neon green slime that the monster left in its wake, watching carefully around her all the while for any signs of trickery – which, now that she thought of it, would be pretty obvious. The monster could not help but leave its trail anywhere it went – so there was only so much deception it could possibly pull off.

She came to an abrupt stop when she saw where the trail was leading. Directly in front of her, a worn wooden door swung slightly in the wind, beckoning her onward – toward the dark stone steps that led downward, into the old Initiative caves. The steps that she could see from where she stood were coated with the creature’s trail, so there was no mistaking where it had gone.

She thought about how long it had been since any human had set foot in those caves – how many nasty things might have taken up residence down there in the past two years – and she almost turned around and let the thing go.

*No,* she told herself firmly. *Gotta get it. If I let it go, it’ll just pick up another victim sooner or later…*

*But there are *lots* of evil, nasty things – nice and *above* ground – probably about to grab a human snack in the next few hours, too,* she reminded herself. *No need to go down into the dark, scary…*

*No! Not scary!* she suddenly cut off that train of thought, remember Riley’s annoying comment earlier about her being scared to go into Restfield – and that was *so* a whole other issue that she was going to have to take care of right away! *You’re the Slayer, Buffy, suck it up! Get down there!*

Slowly, cautiously, she descended the stairs – suddenly glad for the glowing monster goop that cast an eerie green light on the walls around her, at least partially illuminating the room, allowing her to see at least far enough around her to know if anything was close enough to reach out and grab her.

And for the moment – nothing was.

Buffy followed the trail, deeper and deeper into the caves, glad for another reason that it was there – because it would make finding her way out that much easier when the time came. She kept her footsteps soft and quiet, moving swiftly but silently through the semi-darkness – and eventually she became aware of distant sounds ahead of her.

She was catching up.

The monster did not seem to be aware of her presence, as its pace did not seem to increase at all, so she gradually allowed herself to catch up to it, though being careful to keep out of sight – at least one turned corner away at all times.

Suddenly, she heard the footsteps cease, and froze momentarily, wondering if it had realized it was still being pursued. She pressed her back to the wall, listening closely for any further sounds.

“Well…what’s this?” she heard the raspy, garbled voice of the creature from just on the other side of the wall – followed by a disgusting, wet, snuffling sort of sound, as if the creature was sniffing something.

Buffy focused for a long moment just on *not* losing her dinner.

“Not exactly human,” the thing went on, talking to itself. “But close enough…”

Buffy frowned, puzzled and disturbed by the monster’s words. If it was about to feed on something, she thought, perhaps this was her opportunity to catch it off guard. Slowly, cautiously, she stepped out away from the wall, moving into the doorway that led into the small, roughly circular cavern in which the creature now stood, its huge bulk obscuring her view of whatever it was it was looking at.

She cringed slightly when her next step squeaked loudly, the squeak of rubber soles when wet – and then cursed softly when she looked down to see that it was not exactly water that she had stepped in.

The monster growled as it whirled around to face her, and even before she looked up, she knew that it was aware of her presence – no use being subtle anymore.

Good. She was getting tired of subtle.

“Any idea if this green nastiness of yours washes out?” she asked lightly. “Because it might have some influence on how quickly I kill you.”

She looked up as she spoke to gauge the effect of her quip on her quarry – and suddenly froze, all the breath sucked from her body in an instant. She couldn’t have moved – spoken – couldn’t have defended herself. She was aware in some distant part of her mind that if this creature wanted to kill her now – she would not be able to stop it.

*One good day,* the words echoed in her mind, as her eyes welled with tears and a deep ache began anew in her heart.

Completely unaware of the conflict the Slayer was experiencing – only remembering how she had killed more than a dozen of his fellows and had hardly broken a sweat – the creature turned tail abruptly and fled, choosing to run rather than attempt to fight her.

Buffy did not take her eyes off of the sight that had arrested her attention – though at the last possible moment, she did recover enough presence of mind to swing her axe-bearing arm, releasing the weapon to fly straight and true into the back of the creature’s skull – dropping it to the ground, dead, with a single blow.

She didn’t bother to check and be sure – had no further interest in the creature she had hunted down. All of her attention was focused on one thing – the “not quite human” thing that the creature had been about to feed upon.

The very thought made her weak with horror.

She took a couple of slow steps forward, her mind scarcely processing the numerous injuries, bruises and cuts and marks unidentifiable in the dim light cast by a single torch on the wall. For the moment – none of it mattered.

All that mattered was that he was here – and judging by the trembling of his body, even as he shrank back against the wall, his eyes screwed tightly shut in fear and avoidance of the fate that had nearly befallen him – alive.

For the moment, to Buffy – that was all that mattered.

As she took another slow step forward, the Slayer finally found her breath, and a single word left her lips in a trembling, tearful whisper of mingled hope and terror.

“*Spike*?”