Untitled
- Pre hush
- Post Something Blue
* * Denotes thought
Disclaimer: I own nothing
Rating: G/PG
~~~~
"UGH! What the hell is that thing?" Forrest's face was a mask of total
disgust as he peered through the glass cell door at the newest initiative
inmate. He hadn't been on duty tonight and only came down to see how
everyone who had gone out was doing.
Riley came up behind him and got a good look at the creature that he had
caught that night. "I can't remember."
"You can't remember? You've seen one before?"
"Yeah, we had caught one before but it was a lot smaller. It was weird.
One minute here in its cell and the next it wasn't. I guess the researchers
took it away and found that it was better off dead."
"What a shame." The amount of sarcasm in Forrest's voice said that he had
little sympathy for the hostiles. "If we already caught one then we'll just
have to go into initiative records and find the right file."
"That might take a while." Both men looked a little startled as they
turned to face the third "musketeer" as it were, Graham Miller.
"Why?"
Riley looked directly at Graham, "How bad is it?"
"Pretty bad. They don't know if he'll make it through the surgery. As it
is they'll have to wait a few hours to let him stabilize so he'll even have
a chance on the table."
"What happened out there?" Forrest was really worried. The initiative's
members were usually ultra-careful and not many of them got injured enough
to warrant major surgery.
"Waters. This one," Riley nodded towards the hideous demon in the cell,
"got him really badly."
"Oh, God. And for a demon we really don't need. We can just look it up in
the computer."
"Like I said that might take a while. Waters is about the only one who can
make anything out of the new system since that x-band encoded order came in
over the computer. You know everything's been acting up, even Professor
Walsh has had to turn to him for help." They didn't know Waters that well,
no one really did. He was the perfect example of a computer guy, quiet and
smart and introverted.
"As it is he came out on patrol tonight to get away from the computer
screens before his eyes went square. Anyway, there's not much we can do
about it now. I'm heading for the shower and then to bed. You guys
coming?"
"Yeah." Graham and Forrest answered together as the three agents headed
for the elevator.
~~~~
It was a tense day at the initiative for everyone. The soldiers all hoped
for the best for Lt. Waters, the researchers' stress level shot through the
roof without him there to access the central computer, and the doctors
fought to save his life. In the end they lost. The news came to Forrest,
Riley, and Graham while they were in a meeting with Walsh.
Riley ran his hands through his hair. "We are so screwed. We lose an
agent AND he's the only one who can access the network. Now the only thing
our computer will let us do is say hello and play solitaire."
"Maybe not." Forrest said leaning on the table. "We could recruit a
computer expert."
"Go on Agent Gates." Walsh prompted, interested in this idea. They could
always use a computer geek around, even if they wouldn't be as good as
Waters, he was almost a genius.
"Well, Waters told me about this chick in that computer science class he TA
's. He said she was brilliant with the machines, even the old beat up ones
the University's got."
"Yeah," Graham agreed, "I remember him talking about her work. She's a
freshman, with a strange name, like her parents were hippies or something.
It had something to do with nature."
The three agents and the head of the initiative all sat there contemplating
odd names for girls. Of course Forrest didn't really want to involve some
innocent little girl just because she could pass a computer science course
with A's, what they did was way too dangerous for the average man let alone
a freshman girl. If it had to be done though he'd do it.
Graham finally broke the silence almost shouting, "Willow! That's it!
Willow." Riley's eyes widened considerably as he sat bolt upright.
"NO." was his emphatic answer. He knew that there couldn't be that many
freshman girl computer geeks at UC Sunnydale with the name Willow, in fact
only one, and that one he liked and didn't want hurt.
"Excuse me Mr. Finn?"
"If I'm thinking of who their thinking of she won't be able to handle it,
any of it."
"Just who are you thinking of, Riley?"
"Willow Rosenberg, Ma'am. She's in your Psych 101 class, with Buffy
Summers. I know she's very good at computers, maybe as good as Waters was,
but I don't think could handle anything else that goes on around here. She'
s pretty fragile."
"What does she look like?" Graham had to shake his head at Forrest, always
thinking about the wrong things.
"Short, small, redhead. Why?"
"That's her then. Waters had said something about her being as bright as
her hair, he could go kind of weird sometimes."
"Well, let us see just who this girl is." With that Walsh pulled out a
laptop that was quickly connected to the school network, about the thing
that did work. Graham looked over at Riley and sighed softly. He couldn't
help but agree with his friend, the initiative was no place of a little
girl. All he kept seeing when he pictured her was a frail young thing, no
not a good idea.
"She seems qualified enough. Tomorrow I'll talk to her in my office.
Riley, you can be there, you are friends with her aren't you?"
With a heavy sigh Riley acquiesced and moved to leave. He could only feel
sorry for the delicate redhead whose world would be shattered the next day.
~~~~
Willow was surprised to say the least. She had never expected Professor
Walsh to ask her to her office when she had been asked to stay after class.
When she arrived and saw Riley she was even more surprised, mentally
reviewing passed assignments and deadlines in her head to see where she had
missed one.
"Ah, Ms. Rosenberg, won't you come in." Willow looked around cautiously.
Professor Walsh had never been this nice before.
"Thank you. You said you had something important to discuss with me, I
didn't think I had missed any deadlines, did I fail the last essay I handed
in?" Riley had to close his eyes. How sweet and unassuming she was, little
did she know her reality was about to be blown to bits.
" Oh, no. I wanted to offer you a position with one of my projects."
Professor then proceeded to explain the initiative's computer problems
without actually mentioning the initiative, either by name or by true
purpose.
" It sounds like it would be simple enough to fix. I can't imagine you
would need me after that so sure I'll take a look at your system."
Riley sighed and spoke for the first time since this little meeting began,
"Willow, if you enter the project your IN, no just fixing and leaving."
"Oh." Turning back to Walsh with her brow furrowed, "Just what exactly is
this project?" Willow was starting to get suspicious. Riley was obviously
a part of this project and he didn't seem happy about her entry into it.
"Well, we study certain aberrations in the wildlife populations in and
around Sunnydale."
"What does ecological studies have to do with psychology?" Willow was a
little confused, and then she remembered that Walsh's specialty was
behaviour patterns and modification. "Are these aberrations manifested
physically or behaviourally?"
Walsh had to smile, *this IS a smart one*, "Both actually and we research
both aspects."
Truth be told Willow was interested, she had always wanted to get into
research early through something like this. It usually led to other offers,
jobs, and of course a little money to play around with. "Is there anything
else that you can tell me about this project before I sign my life away?"
Walsh was pleased. *Another youth to teach, to really teach, and Ms.
Rosenberg seems like she could really grasp the academics of the initiative
too. * "Don't misunderstand Ms. Rosenberg, we aren't going to make you go
into something totally blind. We just want to keep this as confidential as
possible and so if you weren't interested in the first place there wouldn't
be any extra information given out."
Willow nodded. She wasn't the biggest fan of secrets but since when did
her life not consist of secrets. She was the best friend of the slayer,
friends with an ex-demon and an ensouled vampire. She was probably the best
hacker this side of the Colorado River and she was always working on her
magic, which was getting stronger all the time even though no one knew,
almost no one. Cordelia knew, she told Lia everything because the former
May Queen didn't judge and always supported her. *Who would have thought
that one of my closest friends would end up being Cordelia Chase! *
Walsh continuing, "Since you are interested, we can give you further
disclosure before you make your decision, no promises attached", silenced
her thoughts.
"That sounds fair."
"Good. Then let's proceed to the lab for a fuller explanation." With that
all three stood and left Walsh's offices with Willow between the professor
and Riley.
Riley wasn't thrilled with the thought of Willow being a part of the
Initiative but at least Walsh was being perfectly honest and not trying to
catch the girl like a prize salmon. She gave her plenty of opportunity to
change her mind, to ask questions, and to refuse at anytime. He was just
having a hard time believing that he was following little Willow down to the
lab, *probably just to catch her when she fainted out of pure terror*, he
thought as they continued to make their way down the maze of hallways that
led from Walsh's office to the entrance to the Initiative.
~~~~
"So, how loud do you think the screams will be?" Forrest and Graham were
tossing a football back and forth between them in the TV. room Lowell House.
They knew that Walsh and Riley would be talking to the girl today.
"Huh?"
"The girl, Graham, when she freaks? The explanation, the lab, or the
hostiles?"
"That's really cold man. She's gonna be totally terrified and all you can
think about is how loud she's gonna scream. Riley's right. The Initiative
is no place for a mouse."
"How do you know she's a mouse? I mean sure, computer nerd, freshman chick
that no guy has even heard of, not even Parker and he knows all their names
at least. you're right man, I shouldn't have said anything about her. This
is going to be a bust."
"A bust? More like slaughter of everything she ever knew. What were we
thinking about bringing a nervous thing like her into our world?"
"Wait a minute, how do you know she's a mouse and nervous?"
" I was talking with Riley. He said she was really quiet, nervous, and
always looked like she was scared of her own shadow."
Forrest rolled his head back on the couch and groaned, "We're going to hell
for destroying a young girl's ideals of the world." Just then the phone
rang, preventing them form continuing on in their wallowing.
~~~~
Professor Walsh, Willow, and Riley were nearly at the initiative Laboratory
when Riley's cell phone rang. "Hello."
"Riley, it's Graham. Your Mom just called the house, she wants you to call
her back right away."
"Did she say why?"
"No, but she didn't sound really upset, or in shock or anything so I don't
think its anything bad."
"Who is it Riley?" Walsh asked quietly.
Riley pulled the phone from his ear to answer her, "It's Graham. My mother
just called and would like me to call her back."
Walsh knew about the close ties Riley had with his family and so she
understood his concern. "Why don't you go back to the house and call her
and tell Graham to meet Ms. Rosenberg in conference room three?" Riley
nodded his agreement and then turned back to his phone.
"He'll be there by the time you arrive." He turned to Willow, concern in
his eyes that she couldn't understand, "I'll see you later okay Will?"
"Okay." With that Riley turned and walked back the way they came while she
and Walsh proceeded to conference room three. *I wonder what this project
is? Why is it so secret?* Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt when Walsh
opened a door waiting for her to enter. There in front of her was one of
the most gorgeous looking men she had ever seen. He was tall and broad
shouldered. He had trim hips and oh so strong arms. What stopped Willow,
however, were his eyes. They were piercing blue. *Like Spikes*, she
thought, *But not as cold and much deeper. I could lose myself in them.*
Graham in turn was sizing up the girl who had entered the room with
Professor Walsh. She was how Riley had described her, short, small,
redhead. His friend had forgotten one little detail though, she was
beautiful. Her hair shone in the overhead lights of the room, her green
eyes sparkled, and her delicate features gave the look of a fairy or pixie.
Walsh saw the looks being exchanged between her newest possible recruit and
her most serious agent and had to stop herself from grinning. *This just
might be what Graham needs to bring the shine back to him. Willow will need
help adjusting as well and he'll be perfect.* "Why don't we all have a
seat?" The two young people stopped staring at each other and quickly
seated themselves on either side of Professor Walsh.
The only thing Willow was thinking was *I hope everyone involved in this
project look like him. Oh, naughty thought Willow! Head back in the game!*
She then turned her full attention to Walsh.
Graham on the other hand had different thoughts, *Riley was right, we
shouldn't have approached her. She won't be able to take it, I hope she
can, but she won't. She's too beautiful to know the dark side of this
world. I hope she says no.*
Walsh took her seat at the head of the table between the other two and took
a deep breath to begin her The World Is Full Of Evil speech. "Ms.
Rosenberg, this world contains many things we do not understand. Many of
these things we don't even know exist, many we don't want to believe that
they exist, but they do. Many of these things are bad. My project is to
stop what is bad in this world."
*Oh God, is she talking about vampires? Does she know about the Scooby
Gang? Is that why she called me in? No, is she did she would have called
Buffy in. Maybe she just wants me to fix the computers like she said. That
's all I can tell, that's got to be it.* "Professor Walsh, what.what kind
of bad things are you talking about?" Graham winced at the girl's question,
she already sounded scared to death.
With a sigh Walsh stood. *She isn't going to believe unless she's sees
them.* "Before we go one I need your answer. Will you help us?"
*Great. Make it sound all heroic. She'll be staying in the lab with the
hostiles and you make it sound like she's being really brave. She is I
guess but still this is a bad.* Graham's thoughts were cut off by Willow's
answer, more like the way she answered.
*Help them fight evil? Where have I heard that before? If I can do it
with Buffy, I can do it with them. The others don't seem to need me as much
anymore anyway. I'll just be fixing computers anyway. It's not like I'll
be in anymore danger than slaying.* Clearly and definitely Willow answered
"Yes."
Wlash gave a sigh of relief. "Will you follow me please?" They walked to
the far end of the room where a green beam of light scanned Graham and
Professor Walsh. A door slid open from behind the projector imbedded in the
wall to reveal an elevator. They stepped inside and Walsh motioned for
Willow to be quiet for a moment. The computer proceeded with voice
identification and then it was okay to talk.
"Who funds your project?" Willow answered tentatively remembering the
retinal scan and voice I.D.
"The United Stated Government."
"Oh." was Willow's small answer. *government, government.TERRORISTS!!
That's it. It's got to be terrorists. There aren't any terrorists in
Sunnydale. Are there?*
Graham looked at the Redhead deep in thought, *She's going to be retreating
into that mind a lot after today. I'll try to help her trough, now that she
's probably made the biggest mistake of her young life. She's been pretty
good so far though.* "What are you thinking about?" The question was out
before he could stop himself.
"Huh? Oh!" Willow blushed at being caught in thought. *This is the first
time he's said anything at all, nice voice too.* "I was just think what bad
things the government would be trying to stop."
"What did you come up with?" He wanted to know what she thinking so he
could gage her reaction to the truth.
"T...The only thing I could think of was terrorists."
*Terrorists? Well at least she's realistic, that would make sense. She's
still gonna be blown away. She sounds scared of terrorists, how's she gonna
handle HST's* "You're scared of terrorists?"
"I'm not a fan of the guns, no." With that the elevator opened to reveal
the huge underground compound that was the Initiative. "Whoa. This is the
lab?"
Walsh walked in front of them with Graham beside her as Willow looked
around. "Yes, this is the lab. We're going to proceed directly to the
holding blocks. Please follow me." Willow noticed that she and Professor
Walsh were the only women in the compound as they made their way through
corridors. She also noticed quite a few men staring at her as if she had
two heads.
Very quietly she asked Graham, "Um, why is everyone staring at me?"
"Professor Walsh is the only other female involved with the Initiative and
she's the head."
"Oh." They came to a door with a key card and digital code lock. Wlah
unlocked the door and hesitated. She turned to Willow and looked directly
into her eyes.
"What you will see will frighten you but remember they are all locked up
and can not escape."
"Okay." With that Walsh opened the door and walked in, Willow following
her and Graham bringing up the rear. He looked like he was ready to catch
the girl if she fainted or to hold her if she went into hysterics. To Both
their surprises Willow did neither. Instead she walked into the middle off
the room that was surrounded by cells all containing vampires and slowly
turned in a circle. With a sigh she just shook her head and faced the far
wall. "Vampires, I should've known, this IS Sunnydale."
Graham stared at the girl with disbelief. There was no fainting, no
screaming, no denial, just I should've known. "You know what they are?"
"Of course I know what they are. I was born and raised right here in
Sunnydale and I'm fairly intelligent. I know what goes bump in the night.
Is it just vamps?"
"Is what just Vampires?"
"Do you only catch vampires? Why do you catch them? Why not just kill
them? I mean they are kind of evil and all that."
That's when Walsh regained her powers of speech. "We catch any kind of
Hostile Subterrestrial. We study them and their reactions."
Willow walked over to them and they all left the containment wing. "By
Hostile Subterestrial you mean demon right?" Both Walsh and Graham nodded a
little dumbly. "Well why don't you just look them up if you want to learn
about them?"
"Look them up in what?" Graham was a sarcastic. She might know that they
exist but she obviously didn't know that Dracula and Anne Rice were fiction.
"In the demon indexes. They're big books with nothing but demons listed.
You know, what they are, what they're after, what their stories are. There
are lots of them. Prizol's for instance is a complete index of just water
demons and monsters. Did you know that not all demon's are evil, some
simply try to survive and rarely have contact with humans unless accidental
or absolutely necessary."
"Ms. Rosenberg where did you obtain such knowledge?"
"Like I said born and raised in Sunnydale. I also got involved with some
demon killage back in high school really been dong it ever since, well the
research part anyway. Hey! Are you the guys that go around in commando
gear?" Graham's mouth dropped open and his eyes went wide. Seeing his
reaction Willow couldn't help but smile, "I take it that's a yes. Just a
hint, be more stealthy, not everyone is the average blind Sunnydale
citizen."
"You said you have participated in the extermination of hostiles?"
Professor Walsh was stunned. *Miss Rosenberg is certainly an extraordinary
person!*
Willow cocked her head to the side as if reading Walsh's thoughts. "Yes.
Some friends and myself took out a few baddies in our day. You know
vampires, demons, apocalypses. Actually I'm not in the fighting so much as
the research end even though I am getting a lot better at the whole violence
deal."
Graham was having enough trouble processing this information that he could
only stare at this girl. This vibrant, beautiful, brilliant, obviously
brave girl who talked about apocalypses like basketball games. "Friends?
Have your friends also noticed us?"
"Uh-huh, but don't worry we've never said anything. We're pretty good at
keeping secrets, having a couple ourselves and all that."
"Oh." By this time they were back in the main part of the facility and
really just standing there when all of a sudden an ugly looking demon that
was being escorted by two marines broke loose tossing its guards to either
side. In an instant Graham was in front of Willow protecting her. She
watched as man after man tried to subdue the demon with guns and tasers
without success all within a few seconds. That's when she got a good look
at the demon.
"That's a Hummarmra demon!" Willow looked frantically around until her
eyes fell on a rather wicked looking labrys on a table, confiscated from
another monster. She sprinted for the axe as Graham went for the demon in
an automatic reaction to seeing his fellow soldiers fall. Willow retrieved
the weapon and charged at the Hummarmra at top speed. "Graham duck!!"
"Willow! What the." Graham's sentence was never finished as he collapsed
to the floor just as the slip of a girl took a huge swing with the labrys
and decapitated the demon. The body fell to the ground as the head rolled
away leaving a tiny redhead holding a large weapon shaking bodily. Graham
was on his feet in an moment with his arms around Willow. "God, are you
okay?"
"Y.yeah, the shaking is just a side affect of the fear. I'm alright, after
all I wasn't the one that went after him without any sort of protection."
Graham looked down at her to find her smiling a little beguiling smirk.
"Oh really? Just because I happen to be in civilian clothes I happen to be
armed thank you very much."
Willow pulled away from him yet still in the circle of his arms. "That was
a
Hummarmra demon, the only way to kill those is either by decapitation or a
poisonous mixture of belladonna, sulphur, and a virgin's spit. Some how I
don't think you had either weapon handy"
Graham quirked an eyebrow up, "Really?"
"Yes really." Any further debate was stopped by Walsh clearing her throat
bringing their attention back to her. Graham dropped his hands from Willow
some what reluctantly.
"Ms. Rosenberg, I thank you for saving my men but we usually try to keep
the specimens alive."
"I'm sorry, well actually I'm not. You see I've only encountered demons in
situations where its they die or I or some one I care about dies. I tend to
lean towards them dying in pretty much all cases"
"I understand." A tiny beeping noise interrupted the professor and Willow
checked her watch.
"Eep! Its later than I thought! I have to go meet my parents at the
airport, their actually home for a few days I wanted to talk to them a bit."
"That's perfectly understandable, we can continue this tomorrow in my
office. Graham, why don't you show Ms. Rosenberg out."
Graham took Willow's hand and led her out of the complex silently. Willow
could tell he was deep in thought. Instead of just showing her to the exit
he walked her all the way back to her dorm seeing as it was dark out. Just
before she went inside he broke the silence.
"What will your friends think about you working with us?"
"I don't know, we could always find out?"
"Oh yeah, that would be great just haul them into Walsh's office." Willow
started to say something but her words were lost on him however and before
he could stop himself Graham kissed Willow. *What the.oh, never mind this
is good.* Willow thought and then kissed him back which took Graham off
guard. They separated finally both needing to breathe.
"Can I come by and walk you to Walsh's office tomorrow?"
"No. Um, I mean I'll be heading straight over from class. How you meet me
there afterwards to walk me back?"
"Sounds good. Goodnight, Willow."
"Goodnight Graham." He saw that she was safely inside the building before
turning away.
*I don't know why I waited for her, she can probably take care of herself
just fine*, he thought remembering the sight of her holding that huge double
headed axe in her hands after decapitating the demon. Her hold on the
weapon wasn't weak or slack but relaxed and easily brought to ready again if
need be. * One thing is definitely sure, I WILL get to know Willow
Rosenberg better. She's amazing.* With that her walked returned to Lowel
House to tell Forrest all about the redheaded wonder he had the pleasure of
meeting before is libidinous friend.
~~~~
The next afternoon Professor Walsh, Riley Finn, Graham Miller, and Forrest
Gates all waited in Walsh's office for Willow. Walsh wanted to discuss
Willow's future in the Initiative. Riley wanted personal assurance that she
was alright. Forrest wanted to see for himself the girl that Graham
described as being practically fearless. He mentioned her friends but he
figured she was amazing enough without bringing that up. Graham was there
simply because he wanted to see her again.
All four heads turned at the sound of a soft knock on the door. "Enter."
Called out professor Walsh.
In walked Willow who they all smiled at. Their smiles changed to looks of
disbelief however when she was followed by a tall dark haired young man, a
small women with light brown hair, an older man in his late 30's early 40's,
and a blonde who brought up the rear.
"Buffy?" was Riley's surprised exclamation.
"Riley?" Buffy returned with equal surprise.
Willow took a deep breath that drew all eyes to her in question. "Guys,
meet the Initiative. Initiative, meet the Scooby Gang."
Graham had a sudden flash back to the night before and had to bite down
hard on his lower lip to keep from laughing. *Oh yeah, I must get to know
Willow better.*
The End
