FIC: Alibi (2/?)

["Shadow" <Shadowlander1@xxxxxxx>]

Title: Alibi (2/?)
Author: Shadowlander
Email: Shadowlander1@xxxxxxx
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters commonly associated with
Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel: The Series; they belong to others and
are used without permission. No copyright infringement is intended.
Rating: NC-17
Archive: You want it you got it.
Note/Warning: Violence and bloodshed ahead, as past sins are retold.
Also major Riley bashing.... but hell I think you got that impression in
the first part. ::big evil looking grin::
Spoiler Alert: For Graduation and minor ones for the fourth season, I
don't think there are too many others in there.

ALIBI (2/?)

The Magic Box, Sunnydale CA
Later that day -

Anya looked up from the open phonebook in front of her, a pen clutched
between her teeth while she had been studying the catering section of
the yellow pages. "Oh it's you," she said by way of greeting to the two
people that entered the shop.

"Anya," the young police officer in a SWAT team uniform said, with a nod
of her head, "is Xander around? We need to ask you a few questions."

"Okay... XANDER, AJ IS HERE WITH A DETECTIVE AND WANTS TO ASK US SOME
QUESTIONS!" the vengeance demon replied, yelling to her boyfriend who
had disappeared into the backroom moments ago.

Trying not to flinch as the voice echoed through the shop, the police
officer rubbed her temples with one hand, wondering for the millionth
time why she just had to be the one that was walking through the squad
room when the Chief was looking for someone to introduce the "new guy"
to the Scooby Gang. Over the years, a sort of understanding had been
worked out between the Slayer and her gang and the Sunnydale Police
Department, one that had ended up saving a lot of lives. The SPD would
let the Slayer do her thing, even offering their assistance when needed
resulting in the emergency room and morgue not being as packed as they
used to be. In all it was a pretty good system, people were just a bit
safer at night, and there were only one or two kinks, usually with
someone new to the force who didn't know of the situation concerning the
little group based out of the magic shop.

"Justice! My favourite SWAT member and very best gun-bud," Xander
Harris said, coming out of the backroom with his arms open wide and a
goof looking grin on his face. "Who's the suit?" He asked, noting the
well-dressed man standing beside her, a shiny gold detective's badge
hanging from his belt as he coolly looked around the shop.

"Detective Donavon, this is Alexander Harris and Anya... guys this is
Detective Donavon, he will be handling the Finn murder," AJ Justice said
formerly.

Xander looked at the Detective for a long moment before laughing, "This
is the guy that got the short end of the stick?" he questioned, pointing
a finger at the police officer in disbelief. "My condolences... hey AJ
if he's going to question Spike can I come too? I promise to be real
good and not make too any snide comments." He finished, leaning against
the counter for support as laughter shook his frame.

"Or Angel!" Anya added, grinning evilly, "can I be there for that?" she
asked hopefully, her eyes shining.

"I warned you Detective... Riley Finn had a lot of enemies," Justice
said, feeling a bit sorry for the new Detective, he was in a no win
situation here, because there was no way in the hellmouth anyone was
going to cooperate with him to find the killer, not when the victim had
more enemies then the Slayer in the demon community.

"I can see that... are these two of them?" Angelo Donavon asked, with
an arched eyebrow, wondering just what the hell he had walked into when
he took a job in the little university town outside of Los Angeles. In
his two weeks on the Force he had seen more things that scared the
living hell out of him that he was sure he had entered into some weird
Twilight Zone or something.

"Two of his enemies?" Anya questioned, cocking her head to the side to
regard the Detective, "oh yes, we were defiantly his enemies. Did we
want him died? Yes. Did we have anything to do with his death? No."
She continued honestly.

"Riley Finn... had friends in high places that felt he deserved
redemption, so we couldn't touch him," Xander added, growing a bit
sober.

"And you felt otherwise?" Donavon asked, noting the hatred in the young
man's eyes as he said the name Riley Finn. He had rarely seen such
hatred in a person since his dealing with a racist skinhead early in his
career.

"You have got to be new to the Demon Squad," Xander said to himself,
shaking his shaggy head in defeat, using the nickname the Scoobies had
given to the select group of Sunnydale's finest that they usually dealt
with. "How much does he know AJ... about the town and such?" He asked,
looking at the SWAT officer.

"Enough to know not to sneak up on me," AJ replied, with a rueful grin,
"he's still a bit green though... the Chief thanks he's far enough away
from all this to do an 'objective' investigation."

"Okay," Xander replied, with a tired sigh, "only because the Just-ster
is vouching for you... you aren't going to get a hard time from me. I
can't guarantee how anyone else is going to react, but I will try to
answer your questions with as little malice as possible." The young man
said, looking Donavon straight in the eye. "I hated Riley Finn,
detective... I hated what he did to my friends and what he had become.
I would have gladly have killed him without blinking... but I didn't."

"We might as well get comfortable... this is going to take awhile,"
Xander said, waving his arm over to the research table, and the
comfortable chairs surrounding it, tucked into a corner. Once the
Detective was seated, Xander took a moment to gather his thoughts,
remembering his promise to try to be civil to Donavon, 'Its not his
fault he got this case dropped into his lap,' he told himself firmly, as
Anya took a seat beside him and absently patted his knee. Beside
Donavon, Justice made herself comfortable, throwing one booted foot up
on the table and picking up the book on demons that had been left there.
The SWAT officer making it clear she was not apart of the interview and
was only there to make the introduces and stay out of the actual
detective work, wasn't her job anyway, her expertise lay in hostage
situations and defusing bombs.

Running a hand through his somewhat shaggy unruly hair, Xander took a
deep steadying breath before beginning. "Things began to fall apart a
little over two years ago I think... Riley the bastard... sorry force of
habit," he said, with a sheepish grin at his slip up, "came back after
running with the Army's version of the Demon Squad... only the
government's version isn't nearly as competent as you guys are." His
tone of voice leaving little double about what he thought of the
remaining Initiative commandos that still ran around hunting demons.
'Those clowns are just dying to become demon food,' he thought ruefully,
before turning his attention back to the interview.

"The US Army has a demon squad?" Donavon questioned, with raised
eyebrows, casting a look for help over to Justice.

"The leftovers from the Initiative program that used to run under the
campus about four years ago," Justice replied without looking up from
her book, "What? You don't think the Scooby Gang was the only ones
watching those idiots did you?" She asked Anya and Xander, looking at
them with a mischievous grin in her eyes.

"Actually... yes," Anya replied, "You guys used to be a joke."

"That was only because our demon-wannabe mayor kept appointing
stooges... after Buffy made snake road-kill out of him we got one of our
own in office, problem fixed. Our hands weren't tied anymore." Justice
replied, returning to her book and dismissing the three once more.

"The mayor was murdered?"

"He was trying to sacrifice the Senior Class of '99, the same class the
Slayer graduated from... she stopped him... and blew the high school up
in the process. Or actually the Librarian did, but since that would be
grounds to deport him, we're blaming Buffy for it." Justice replied,
turning a page in the book.

"Why wouldn't you want the Librarian deported?" Donavon couldn't help
but ask.

"Because he had all the demon books and knows how to train a Slayer, so
we can't deport him... he's the only authoritative figure she remotely
listens too." Justice replied, with a shrug.

"Am I the only one that finds any of this disturbing?"

"Yes... but don't feel so bad the newness will wear off soon and you'll
come to accept some of the creepier stuff in town without losing your
lunch too many times." Xander advised sagely, giving the Detective a
reassuring smile.

"Can we get back to talking about Riley now? Because I got a party to
plan and I want to have sex with Xander before all the fun begins," Anya
said after a moment.

"Oh don't go there Detective... not worth it one little bit."

Deciding that Justice was probably right, Donavon returned to the matter
at hand, "You said that it all began roughly two years ago, Riley Finn
returned to town," he prompted Xander, trying to get the mental image of
the two having sex in front of him out of his mind.

"Yeah... Finn's triumphant return," Xander couldn't help but sneer, "He
had gotten injured during a raid on this demon nest somewhere in Brazil
and wanted to come home. We could tell something was wrong with him
then but he kept insisting that he was fine. He was back to being a
full-blown initiative commando prick and didn't even try to hide it."
The young man began trying to remain calm as the memories began to stir
around in his mind.

"So you knew something was wrong with him from the beginning," Donavon
noted, pulling out a small notebook and making a notation. "Did you try
to help him in anyway?"

"Oh yeah we tried all right... that is when he snapped on us," Xander
said, shifting in his chair as the memories washed over him. "You see
in Brazil... a demon bit Riley, it was a rather nasty bite too... made
for a really interesting scar. Only problem is the Army... they don't
do any research on the demons they hunt, they walk into demon nests all
the time totally blind. No idea what the hell they are dealing with...
big mistake on their part and we paid the price."

"How?"

"He got possessed by a bore-demon... vary nasty little buggers, they
attach themselves to your darker emotions, bringing out your darker
urges and instincts," Anya explained, "it's a lot like getting vamped,
only you're still alive and the demon doesn't try to fry your brain
cells."

"Only we didn't know what kind of demon had possessed him, not until
after the attack," Xander continued, a nerve in the side of his face
twitching as his eyes harden at the memories running freely through his
mind now. "Riley always hated Spike... you know who Spike is right?"

"Yes... a vampire who I plan to interview later," Donavon replied,
making another note on his little pad.

Absently nodding his head at the news, Xander continued, "Well Riley...
he came looking for Spike that night, found him too at the Rosenberg
place. Spike had been staying with Willow and Tara, until he got his
new place fumigated or something like that. I just know that Spike was
staying there, helping out around the house... although the neighbours
hated all the hammering and power saw noises coming from the backyard in
the middle of the night." He couldn't help but smile at the fond memory
of the bleached blonde vampire playing with his power tools at two in
the morning just to irritate the neighbours.

"What happened that night?" Donavon prompted gently.

"They got into a fight... or at least Riley got into a fight. Spike was
just trying to defend himself, he had promised Wills no fighting as long
as he was under her roof. But that is just Spike.. he may be a
soul-less bastard but he's an honest one, he... I'm not sure what
happened, somehow the fight in the backyard migrated inside the house.
That is where Tara and Willow got into the middle of it." Xander said,
in a cold emotionless voice.

"They tried to restrain Riley," Anya picked up the story, her demon
pushing forward a bit at the memories, although she was able to keep her
human appearance for the most part, "with magic... because that is what
they do, they are witches. Anyway Riley had managed to stake Spike...
or at least half stake him, because Tara hit him with an energy blast
that sent him through the front window. As they were checking on Spike,
Riley came back in... and attacked all three of them. Tara got thrown
into a wall... it dazed her a bit, then he turned on Willow." Her
control slipped then, her demon self surfacing as she stared
unblinkingly at Donavon. "Riley Finn proceeded to rape and try to beat
Willow to death with a shovel... that is when we arrived at the house.
I saw him standing over one of my friends with a bloody shovel and slam
it into her knee with all his strength, it nearly amputated her leg."

"Dear god," Donavon said, the blood draining from his face. "Why...
How..."

"The only reason Finn survived that night was because we arrived
Detective, the neighbours had called," Justice said, pulling her foot
off of the table and putting the book aside. "We arrived just in time
to restrain a very enraged Slayer and take Finn into custody." She
reported, sharing a look with Anya and Xander. "While in custody... the
demon was exorcized from Finn and he had to deal with the consequences
of his actions."

"You said that he had friends in high places that felt he deserved
redemption... did you mean the government?" Donavon asked, wondering
why Riley Finn hadn't been locked up for the rest of his life demon
possession or no demon possession.

"Nah... these friends are a lot more powerful," Xander replied with a
humourless laugh.

************************
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles
Same time -

"You have to eat luvy," Drusilla said, placing a tray filled with tea
and a few sandwiches on the table next to the little redhead who had
been staring unseeingly at the wall for hours.

"I can still feel him Dru... why can I still feel him?" Willow asked
suddenly, her eyes still focused on the wall in front of her.

Crouching down in front of the little hacker who had become her dearest
friend over the past two years, the mortal's pain and injuries calling
to her, Dru peered deep into the red-rimmed green eyes before her.
"He's been a naughty boy," she whispered, a grim determined look
entering her own eyes. "Don't worry my little luv... the nasty one
isn't going to hurt you anymore," she then said in a more determined
voice, seeing something in her friend's mind she can only see. "Now eat
up luv," she encouraged, giving the hacker a bright smile.

End Part Two.

Yeah, yeah I know, know that was really mean and evil of me... but I
just couldn't help myself. :)


Shadow -
Dir. of Pub. Safety of the SECLGA and Chief Dungeon Keeper.
Vampire Teddy Bear and Flying Fox {Fruit Bat} of the Woods Outback.
The Big Bad and Little Comma.