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Jillian K
Disclaimer: BTVS is property of Joss Whedon and Mutant enemy. This fic is intended for entertainment purposes only so no money is being made of it. As if anybody would pay.
Summary: In a different Sunnydale in where the demon threat has been neutralized the slayer protects a vampire from the Initiative labs.
A few months ago a national magazine had done an expose on Sunnydale with an emphasis on the Initiative. It seemed that the world had an ongoing fascination with the closely guarded organization and its activities. On page eleven there was a large photograph of Riley and me walking down Main Street with cups of coffee in our hands. The captions identified us and announced our relationship to the world. After seeing the spread I had three reactions. First, why couldn’t they have picked a better picture of me? I mean there were countless of photographs of Riley and me in formal wear taken during various functions. Why didn’t they pick one where my hair doesn’t look like it’s been through an apocalypse? My second reaction was that I hadn’t even noticed that a photographer had been tailing us that day. I must be slipping. And the third was a surprisingly uncomfortable reminder that Riley and me were officially an item.
It wasn’t that we kept our relationship a secret. Riley Finn was my official escort to any event that the Slayer had to make an appearance. He acted as the Initiative’s ambassador to the world (the unpopular Maggie Welsh lacked the charisma to please the masses). Although at first it was all for show, we gradually moved into a real relationship. This was not a shock to anyone that knew us. After all, we shared similar interests and our lives ran parallel to each other. There was also a definite physical attraction. Our relationship progressed smoothly into casual dates, at home evenings and sex.
I liked Riley very much and enjoyed all aspects of our time together. He was smart, interesting and funny. His commitment to the Initiative ran deeper than my own to the Council and I admired that in him. But there were times when I felt that I really didn’t know him and that sex had taken the place of true intimacy.
But it wasn’t until I saw the Riley Finn that William had experienced that I realized that my instincts had been right and I had been sleeping with a stranger.
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“As you know, Finn is the Initiative’s wonder boy. It wouldn’t surprise me if Walsh passes the mantle to him if she ever retires”
It was true. Riley’s Walsh’s special favorite. She entrusted him with a lot of responsibility and power.
He continued. “To get where he is in such a short time you have to assume that he has made concessions in the personal ethics department. That he has looked the other way more than once”
The vampire’s words washed over me. He was voicing what I already suspected but chose not to confront.
“When Finn first joined the Initiative he was as poncy as they come. You know, the teacher’s pet that everyone hates because he is too bloody perfect. Walsh encouraged this she even assigned him to head one of the vampire studies only one year after he joined. She even allowed him to design the experiment. The bastard was into single- subject studies and the subject he picked was me”
I have to admit I was surprised. Single-subject studies are too limited to draw general conclusions from them because they only test the reaction of an individual as opposed to a group. Had something in William caught Riley’s interest so much that he had to research it?
“Do you know why it was you? I mean there were hundreds of other vamps in that lab”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe because I’m from a real tenacious line or maybe because I been lab rat the longest. Whatever it was it was I was the ‘chosen one’.”
I glared at him. He could really push my buttons when he wanted to.
“Very funny ha ha…so for some unknown reason he picked you. Did that change the way you were treated?”
He nodded.
“I was moved into a room with an iron door instead of Plexiglas. The new cell came complete with a bunk and a sliding tray. Instead of having my meals dropped on my head they would be placed on the tray and pushed inside. It was worlds of luxury away from the old setting. I was just getting used to my newfound privacy when a couple of Initiative guards opened the iron door and went directly for me. I didn’t struggle because by that time I was very aware of the consequences of resisting. I let them restrain my hands and feet before they pulled me through the door and into Finn’s office”
Huh? Riley had an office in the Initiative lab? I always thought he worked out of the setup that he had in the upper level base. I wonder why he never told me before.
“The guards threw me into a chair facing Finn and left. For a long time we did nothing more than stare at each other. He had a legal pad in his hands and every so often he would jot something down. All of sudden he starts telling me my life history from the moment I was turned to the time I was delivered here. I listened silently while trying to decipher his purpose. When he was done he asked me if I had gotten used to my life here”
“What did you say?”
“I wanted to say yes. I knew that he was looking for that. He wanted me to confirm that after more than a decade, I had adapted to this life and I would not be able to function on the outside. But I couldn’t get the words out. Even if I had spend a hundred years in that place I could never want to stay there. I could never want to stay in hell” he finished.
The emotion behind his words affected me in a way I wasn’t ready to face. So I didn’t
“You didn’t support his theory” Riley the ever consummate scientist would not have been happy.
“No, but I think he expected it. He informed me that for the next few months I would be involved in a series of tests conducted by his team. He made it clear that he expected my cooperation or otherwise I would be put down”
“What did you say to that?”
The vampire scoffed at my question.
“What could I say? He wasn’t asking for my permission, he was telling me what was going to happen to me. He wanted for me to know the consequences of refusing to be a good lab-vamp but he needn’t have bothered, I knew them by heart”
“So you went along but not that you had much of a choice”
“Exactly. I did as they told me and tried to deal with what they dealt me. I could handle quite a lot without breaking but Finn was interested in just that”
“In what?” I asked.
“In breaking me”.
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