FF: Wolves, Slayers - 3/4 - B/W/T - R

["carrkjar" <carrkjar@xxxxxxxxx>]

Title: Wolves, Slayers, and Cages
Red Moon, Book II
Part 3

Author: Frau Hunter Ash 
Copyright © 2002 by Hunter Ash. All Rights Reserved.
Email: carrkjar@xxxxxxxxx Feedback welcome!!
Homepage Addy: http://www.hunterash.com/ 

Disclaimers: The characters and show all belong to Joss Whedon, Fox, 
Mutant Enemy, Kuzui, and God only knows who else. The storyline, 
however, is the sole property of the author. This story cannot be 
sold or used for profit in any way. Copies of this story may be made 
for private use only and must include all disclaimers and copyright 
notices.

F/F romance: the story assumes a loving and sexual relationship 
between people of the same gender and may even include 3 at the same 
time <G>. If this offends or is illegal for you, then please leave.  
Come back when you are older, have an open mind, moved, or changed 
your laws. 

Spoilers: this started around New Moon Rising and veered off from 
there. 

Summary: Willow is a captive of the Initiative and what they have 
planned for her isn't pleasant. Surprise characters and a bit of an 
X-File Crossover.

Rating: R for involuntary medical experimentations 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++

"Scully?" Mulder questioned as his FBI partner and Buffy entered the 
Summers' home that evening.

Scully knew that she looked like a wreck and felt like she had been 
through one. During her partnership with Mulder she had seen a lot 
of things and was tossed around a lot; Scully figured to just add 
this incident to that list. She was also going to add Sunnydale, 
California to her list of `not to visit ever again' places.

"I'm fine, Mulder," as her partner reached her and lifted her head to 
one side, taking in the large gauze pad and tape covering one side of 
her neck and the black eye she was quickly developing.

Giles and Joyce were looking Buffy over as well and discovered that 
she had a possible sprained wrist and a cut lip.

"What happened?" Giles questioned.

"Well, it was my fault, really," Scully began as Mulder led her to 
the sofa and made her sit. "I tried to kill a vampire with my gun 
instead of the stake Buffy gave me."

"We were jumped by several vampires," Buffy continued as her mom 
moved back into the kitchen. "I was about to take care of the one 
with his claws wrapped around Scully's neck when I got hit with one 
of those psychic flashes from Willow. I moved a second too slow and 
the vamp got her fangs into Scully's throat."

"What?!" Mulder exclaimed.

"Don't worry, not enough to drain her, just cut open her neck," Buffy 
said calmly. "When I jumped into the action, Scully was knocked 
aside and hit her head."

"Don't worry," Scully repeated. "I'm fine, honest."

"You didn't have chance to arrest any of them?" Mulder teased.

"Hey, if it had been you, they'd just walked up and bit you while you 
were asking them questions about what it was like to be a vampire," 
Scully teased back.

"Probably," the tall agent grinned.

"Where's Tara?" Buffy demanded.

"Lying down for a bit," Giles answered. "She'll probably think the 
psychic call you got was part of a nightmare. What did you see?"

"What's becoming the usual, Giles," Buffy said, her eyes filling with 
tears. "She's scared out of her mind and she's trying to block us 
from seeing or hearing it but can't help screaming sometimes."

Giles drew his Slayer into his arms while she cried for a few 
moments.  

Buffy drew back with a sniffle and wiped her eyes.

"What smells good?" Buffy asked trying to smile.

"Your Mom has made spaghetti. Xander and Anya have gone home for 
awhile and so, it's just the rest of us here," Giles answered.

"Any idea what they're doing to Willow, Buffy?" Mulder asked as he 
helped Scully stand up.

Joyce entered from the kitchen carrying a large bowl of spaghetti and 
Giles quickly moved around her to help with the dinner.

"Something to screw with her mind is what I got this time," Buffy 
answered wearily. "Drugs, lights and noise were the overall 
sensations I got."

Both Mulder and Giles were frowning as Giles moved to place a large 
bowl of salad on the table and Joyce followed with garlic bread.

"Xander will be so upset he missed my mom's spaghetti," Buffy 
commented. "Should I wake Tara?"

"Let her sleep as long as she can," Joyce suggested. "Right after 
dinner and a shower I want you in bed too, young lady."

"I can't sleep," Buffy protested.

"You really need to. They don't plan on moving Willow until tomorrow 
evening, after she's changed and is sedated," Mulder explained, 
reaching for the garlic bread. "They plan on transferring her and 
the other hostiles over to the next transport team just after dawn in 
Las Vegas. Lang?my friend, has the location and is sending 
credentials for Brad, Xander and Joyce by overnight mail."

"When do we move against the Center?" Buffy asked, taking a forkful 
of salad.

"As soon as we get Willow and the others in our hands," Scully added.

"Any idea how we do that?" Buffy asked.

"Through the service entrance," Giles answered. "Tara, Anya and I 
will have identification as transport drivers and you and Spike will 
be hidden inside hollowed out machines."

"Delivery drivers," Joyce corrected the Watcher's terminology from 
English to American with a smile.

"What?" he asked. "Oh yes, of course."

Buffy grinned at the goofy look on Giles' face as he looked at her 
mom. She still found it a little weird but nice, that her Watcher 
liked her mom and that the feelings were mutual. Buffy hadn't seen 
Giles look like that since before Jenny Calendar's death. The Slayer 
liked it.

"Spike?" Buffy asked.

"He came by earlier and is willing to lend a hand," Giles continued.

"Isn't this a little too dangerous? One wrong move and he's in the 
hands of the Initiative again," Buffy frowned, continuing to eat a 
hearty dinner. <Slaying always made her hungry, and `frisky',> she 
thought.

"I agree but he was insistent," Giles explained. "I wouldn't have 
thought that he'd take such a chance again but he merely said that he 
was fond of Willow and he remembered what it was like to be down in 
that?well, I can't use the words he did, in the Center."

"He's been inside?" Mulder demanded.

"Yes, well, you see," Giles stammered.

"Spike is a vampire. They put a chip inside his head that prevents 
him from killing or hurting humans. In a way, he's tame," Buffy 
chipped in.

"I thought you went around killing vampires, not `taming' them," 
Scully asked, a little sarcasm in her voice showing through.

"Well, we've met one vampire who didn't take human life because a 
curse had restored his soul and Spike who can't hurt humans even 
though he wants to," Giles explained.

Scully shook her head in disbelief, still trying to sort out the 
relationships and motivations.  

"So we go in there, find a computer and put in the disk and get out," 
Buffy said, bringing the conversation back around to the planning.

"Yes, exactly," Giles nodded.

"I want the place destroyed, Giles," Buffy said firmly, her eyes 
flashing angrily.

"I realize that," the Watcher nodded again. "Just after we send word 
to Agents Mulder and Scully that we are out of there and hear that 
they have Willow, I'm going to call the Center and phone in a bomb 
threat."

"What for?" Joyce asked.

"So that the place can be evacuated before those computers overload 
several systems, including the power supplies. After that virus 
destroys the computers the insides of the Center will explode," Giles 
explained.

"What about the `hostiles' they have down there?" Buffy asked. "I'm 
not into rescuing demons that I'm usually trying to kill, but what if 
some are like Willow and aren't bad guys?"

"Well, they're anticipating action from Agent Mulder by Monday and 
are transferring all their hostiles with Willow," Giles continued as 
they ate. "They're hoping that if Mulder forces his way in with 
official clearance that he'll only find scientific testing equipment 
and such, no vampires, werewolves or demons."

"Secret government research lab without the lab rats," Buffy growled.

"Exactly," Mulder agreed.

"I think we should change the plan slightly," Buffy said, catching 
everyone's attention. "I think Scully should go with us into the 
Center and I think Tara should be with my Mom and Xander when they 
get Willow back."

"Why?" Mulder asked before anyone else could. "Scully and I are a 
team, we know what the other one thinks and we trust each other with 
our lives."

"I know and I wouldn't suggest it normally but I think either me or 
Tara needs to be there when you get Willow out and I'm the logical 
choice to go into the Center," Buffy reasoned. "I can fight my way 
out of there if I need to, I've been in there before and know my way 
around, somewhat."

"Why is it so important for one of you to be with Willow other than 
the girlfriend thing?" Joyce asked and wasn't surprised when Buffy 
blushed.

"You haven't seen and heard what Willow is going through, Mom," Buffy 
said softly. "I keep getting flashes. They tortured her body and 
now they're working on her mind. She's breaking down and may not 
recognize anyone except Tara or me. We can use the connection we 
have to reach her, I hope."

"Giles," Joyce commented. "When did my daughter get so smart?"

Buffy's blush deepened.  

"I think she takes after her mother," Giles commented with a blush of 
his own.

"Oh mushy stuff!" Buffy exclaimed and Mulder nearly choked on a mouth 
full of spaghetti.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Tara mumbled something that might have been English in a coherent 
moment but Buffy couldn't tell for sure. The Slayer smiled and 
climbed out of her clothes, leaving on just her t-shirt and crawled 
into bed with the blonde witch.

Tara smiled in her half sleep and wrapped her arm around Buffy and 
drew the other blonde closer to her. Buffy let her tense muscles 
begin to relax as Tara's warmth spread over and encompassed her. The 
Slayer decided that <snuggling with someone was much, much better 
than sleeping alone.>

The only thing missing was Willow and Buffy bit back her tears again.

"Its okay, Buffy," Tara mumbled in a sleepy voice and gently stroked 
Buffy's hair. "We'll get her back."

"I love you both so much," Buffy said softly, letting her emotions 
overcome her.  

"Try and sleep, my love," Tara urged. "It's going to be a long day 
tomorrow."

"Yeah, tell me again why I'm not going to kill Riley," Buffy muttered.

"Because murder still means a long term in prison and that wouldn't 
be good," Tara reminded her girlfriend.

"Oh, okay, then I won't kill him yet," Buffy said softly as she began 
to drift into sleep.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

November 29

"Mulder, this is insane!" Scully protested over coffee and breakfast 
at a diner near their hotel.  

"I agree, tell me a better plan and I'll jump at it," Mulder 
countered. "How do you suggest that we get Willow out of the hands 
of a secret government organization that no one will acknowledge 
exists?"

"Court orders, SWAT raids," Scully suggested. "We are talking about 
a young woman who is being held against her will. They can be 
charged with kidnapping, probably torture, medical experimentation 
and who knows what else."

"That would take time, we have no evidence a court would believe and 
Willow will be gone before we could even get a search warrant," 
Mulder complained.

"Damnit, Mulder, we're not even officially on a case," Scully 
muttered.

"I know but I promised to help whenever I could," Mulder explained 
with a small smile.

"What is it about Willow that drew you in?" Scully asked, the 
curiosity apparent in her voice and on her face.

"She reminds me of a combination of me and you," he admitted.

"How so?"

"She's intelligent, curious about everything, a bit scientific but 
open to the paranormal," he grinned. "She's also a redhead, green 
eyes and is cute."

"Are you saying I'm cute?"

"Would I say that? That might ruin our professional relationship and 
our cool exterior personas," Mulder grinned.

"Right, I agree," Scully smirked back. After a moment Scully 
returned to the original conversation. "How do you plan on getting 
Willow and the others back to Sunnydale, won't some of them need 
special handling?"

"Langley and the others ordered one of the buses the Initiative 
uses for transport in for repairs in Las Vegas," Mulder explained 
with a smile. "We simply pick up the bus and transport Willow and 
the others back to Sunnydale."

"What do you plan on doing with them once you get them here?"

"Giles and Xander are installing iron rings and chains in the cell 
they have for Willow, we'll lock everyone up overnight," Mulder 
continued. "Saturday morning a friend of theirs is coming in from 
Los Angeles to take the hostiles away. He apparently has a lot of 
contacts among the demons, vampires and others in Los Angeles and can 
find them safe shelter."

"This just gets more bizarre by the minute," Scully complained. "I'm 
actually discussing what to do with demons, vampires and werewolves 
so they'll be safe from the government."

"Never said it was going to be dull working with me," Mulder grinned.

"Which one of us is going to Las Vegas and which one of us is staying 
here for the commando raid?" the red-haired agent asked.

"I'll take the commando raid, if you want," he suggested.

"Okay, any particular reason?"

"I like watching things explode?" he grinned. "And you can throw 
technical or scientific terms at them and sound like a scientific 
type."

Scully laughed, after all they had been through lately, it was good 
to see Mulder smiling and confident.

"What will they do with Willow every month?" she asked, getting back 
to the subject.

"Either sedate her on nights of the full moon and lock her away, or 
just lock her away and watch over her," Mulder shrugged. "They kept 
the boyfriend Oz out of trouble for months that way."

"Are we sure that the Initiative is so terrible? Couldn't they be 
working for a cure?"

"Not likely, we haven't come across too many benevolent secret 
government groups, have we?" he pointed out. "The orders about 
insemination cinched it for me. They want to take an unwilling young 
woman and impregnate her so she can breed little werewolves for them."

Scully shuddered and nodded her head in agreement.  

"What do you think of the relationship between the girls?" she asked.

"Besides giving me better fantasies than some of my books?" he asked 
with a grin. "I think the bond is genuine. You haven't met Willow 
or seen the three of them interact together. It's like watching a 
moving triangle in action. They each have strengths and weaknesses 
that compliment each other."

"It is unusual if it works, I haven't seen many three ways work for 
long," Scully commented.

"Yeah, they usually end up on Jerry Springer," Mulder grinned.

Scully laughed at her partner's comment and grabbed for the check.

"I hope for their sakes that it works," she smiled.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The day was an unusual one for the Scooby Gang but to any outsider it 
appeared like any other Friday in Sunnydale. Willow Rosenberg was 
out of school, an unheard of event; Buffy and Tara appeared concerned 
and told everyone that she was ill at home. Giles was seen at the art 
gallery owned by Joyce Summers; Anya was working at the Magic Box. 
Xander was patrolling the mall; saving shoppers from shoplifters and 
kids skateboarding inside; and Mulder and Scully were seen looking 
over police files on Missing Person's cases.

All of that was reported to Professor Walsh by 1 p.m.  

"Excellent," she commented as Riley Finn looked on. "They know we 
have her and the Federal Agents are hoping to get enough evidence to 
move against us before resorting to ambushing the transfer Sunday 
morning."

"I still don't like it, Buffy should have attacked the Center that 
very first night," Riley growled.

"I agree, it was totally out of character for her," Walsh 
responded. "We would have underestimated her and the others if we 
hadn't gotten that report about the ambush Sunday."

"Could they have planned on us changing the schedule?" Riley asked.

"No, I don't believe so," Walsh said thoughtfully. "They know 
tonight is the full moon and that it would be highly unlikely for us 
to transport Hostiles on a full moon."

"I wish you had let me bring Buffy in," Riley complained.

"You know the rules, unless we can show she's a danger to the 
Initiative, we can't justify bringing her in. She didn't test 
positive for vampirism or lycanthropy," Walsh snapped. "Unless she 
attacks the Center, we can't do a thing to her. We haven't even seen 
evidence that they plan to go to the press with this."

"How is Hostile 52 holding up?" he asked.

"She's stronger than I originally thought, given her background of 
being a `geek' most of her life," Walsh said, calling up a file on 
her computer and pointing to several places on the screen. "She 
hasn't changed involuntarily yet, even with the mental stimuli. I'm 
hoping that we'll be able to force a change after the next three 
nights of the full moon."

"Makes sense," he muttered. "How's the mental state?"

"Breaking down," Walsh commented. "If we had longer, she'd be easily 
managed after two weeks."

"I would love to send a werewolf Willow out after the Slayer," Riley 
grinned.

"That's not practical or logical," Walsh snapped at the young 
commando. "You're letting your personal life cloud your judgment.  
That is no longer Willow Rosenberg, close personal friend to the 
Slayer, but Hostile 52. Her past relationship with Buffy Summers can 
be used to our advantage if the Slayer moves against us but only 
then, Riley."

"I'm sorry, Professor."

"Is the cell ready for her?" Walsh asked, dismissing the admonishment.

"Yes, Professor," Riley responded. "Video cameras are set, sensors 
in place to monitor heart rate and body changes. You know when she 
changes she's going to break that cast and maybe injure her hand.  
How does that fit into your plan for her future?"

"Well, I still don't believe she could make it through Shock Troop 
training, so that hand won't matter with the drug research the main 
lab wants to do on werewolves."

"What about breeding her?"

"Oh that'll come first," Walsh explained. "After she has a couple of 
offspring, then they'll really intensify the drug testing on her."

"Are they testing her now?"

"Yes, we discovered some interesting paranoia, she's terrified of 
frogs," Walsh managed to smile.

Riley grinned. "So frog sounds, light sensation on the body combined 
with some mind altering drug?"

"Exactly," Walsh smiled at her favorite student. "Very good, Finn."

"When are you going to let me help you with your other project?" he 
asked.

"You know that's beyond your clearance for now," Walsh lost her 
smile. "Just be patient, Finn. You'll soon have access to 
everything. The superiors still question your judgment after 
bringing Buffy Summers in."

Riley's jaw tightened visibly.  

"Don't glare, Finn," Walsh scolded. "You made a lapse in judgment 
and it set you back a few months, it happens."

"Yes, Professor."

"Now go and check on Hostile 52," she instructed.

Riley moved to an observation window above one of the testing areas 
and tried to resist grinning at the sight of a hysterical Willow 
cowering in the corner. It wouldn't do to let the others see him 
getting emotional about a Hostile.   

Riley thought once more what a stroke of genius it had been to 
paralyze the girl's vocal cords; it saved all of them from listening 
to her screams and prevented her from working magick. <Not that he 
believed in magick,> he reflected. He just figured that she was 
telekinetic and used her voice to focus her mind.

He checked one of the technician's notes, ignoring Willow banging her 
head against the wall below him.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Buffy restless paced back and forth in Giles' living room as her 
Watcher sat in a chair, watching her with a tranquilizer gun in his 
hand. Tara sat in a chair slightly behind him.
"I want to go out and slay something," Buffy complained.

"We have to be sure, Buffy," Giles said patiently. "Just another 
hour and the moon will be well into the sky and we'll know for 
certain if Willow's spell worked completely and you're not infected."

"The Initiative hasn't come for me after testing my blood," Buffy 
pointed out.

"And she didn't change on the two nights after Willow did the spell," 
Tara added.

"Oh alright, just stay away from any Initiative squads tonight. They 
may use any excuse to kidnap you," Giles growled.

"I'll be back early, I just gotta work off some of this energy," 
Buffy explained as she leaned down and kissed Tara lightly on the 
lips.

"I know, just be careful," Tara said softly. "We get her back in the 
morning."

"Or Riley and Walsh will pay!" Buffy promised.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

A half hour later, Buffy met Xander and Anya at the gates of one of 
the many cemeteries in Sunnydale.  

"Hey, Buffy," Anya said in greeting, pulling out a stake.

"Ready to slay some vamps?" Buffy grinned.

"Yeah, we can pretend that each one we take out is Riley and Walsh," 
Xander grinned back.

"Total agreement!" Buffy concurred.

"I'm hurt," a voice called out and the Scooby Gang members turned 
with stakes ready, Xander with his other hand on a pistol in his belt.

"Riley," Buffy growled as they took in the sight of Riley with his 
commando platoon. "Checking to see that I'm not all furry like?"

"Yes, actually," he grinned. "I guess I was wrong about Oz biting 
you."

"You were wrong about a lot of things," Buffy growled. "Get out of 
here, Riley. You aren't on my `favorite' list right now."

"Why because Willow is missing and you think I took her?" he asked 
bluntly.

"I swear if you hurt her?" Xander began to threaten and drew his 
pistol but the platoon was ready and pointed their pistols at the 
Slayer and her friends.

"You won't do anything, Xander," Riley smirked.  

"You have enough Hostiles, let Willow go," Buffy said.

"If we have her, you don't think we'd turn a Hostile loose without 
neutralizing them somehow?" Riley demanded. "We haven't found a way 
to do that with werewolves yet."

"Go back and play your `war games,' Riley," Buffy said wearily. "You 
are less entertaining than the vampires out here."

"Goodnight, Buffy," Riley grinned. "Enjoy the thought of Willow 
changing into a werewolf somewhere and you can't help her."

Anya grabbed Buffy by the arms, encouraging restraint for the Slayer.

Buffy growled and turned back to the cemetery, vampires were going to 
pay this night.

"Hey, Buff," Xander said, catching up with the angry Slayer, Anya 
right behind him. "I got a question. Willow is changing into a 
werewolf tonight, right? Pretty traumatic and stuff. How come you 
haven't wigged with that connection thing you've got with her?"

"Tara and I have been working on my shields so those psychic flashes 
don't cripple me when I'm out Slaying," Buffy explained. "I get 
flashes but they aren't overwhelming."

"So what flashes did you get?" Xander pressed.

"Willow changed into a werewolf when the moon came up," Buffy said 
impatiently. "It was scary and extremely painful for her before the 
Wolf took over her mind. Any more questions? No? Good, let's slay!"

The three moved further into the graveyard for several minutes and 
then Buffy stopped the small group.

"Okay, Xander," she said. "They didn't follow us. Hotfoot it back 
to Giles' place, Scully is waiting with the car for you. The rented 
plane is set, right?"

"Yup, ready to go, the pilot is standing by," Xander nodded 
seriously. "After seeing me with you and Scully and Brad at the 
police station this late in the evening, they won't expect us to be 
in Las Vegas at dawn."

"Xander," Buffy said softly. "Bring her back."

Xander again nodded, totally serious. "I will, Buffy."

The young man turned to Anya and quickly held her tightly and kissed 
her.

"You be careful, Xander," Anya demanded. "I want to keep you."

"You bet," he grinned and trotted away for one of the far walls.

"Just a few more hours," Buffy muttered, gripping her stake tightly.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

The testing finally let up and inner instincts told Willow that it 
was sunset. She had no idea how long she had been in the Center but 
the witch knew the moon was about to rise and, with it, her wolf.

Willow remembered endless nights watching Oz change into a werewolf 
and sitting through the long hours with him, trying to keep the beast 
calm and everyone else safe. She particularly remembered the screams 
of pain as he changed in the evening and then at dawn.

The witch felt restless and caged. Willow knew they were watching 
her from the one-way mirror window set high in the wall. The cell 
was specially built for werewolves: no furniture, no fixtures, 
seamless metal doorframe, metal door with no handle, and metal 
covered walls. A special feature was the low ceiling made out of 
iron grates. This protected the observation window and kept the 
werewolf from reaching any part of the ceiling with the numerous 
cameras and sensors.

Willow began to pace restless and wondered why they weren't sedating 
her yet. Oz claimed he never remembered the change and the intense 
pain he went through; Willow was hoping for at least that much.  
Giles had been planning on sedating her to spare her the horrors of 
the first real change to a werewolf.

Once again the witch stood in front of the door and concentrated, 
trying to force her mind to compensate for not having a voice, to 
bend the lock to her will. A look of surprise crossed her face and 
Willow pulled back with a frown.

<Why was she trying to get out at this point?> She asked herself.  
She was about to change into a werewolf; being locked up was the best 
thing for the rest of the night. Even if she didn't like what the 
Initiative was doing to her and the other Hostiles, she didn't want 
the werewolf loose in the building. She might kill someone and they 
would be forced to sedate or kill her.

Willow abruptly whimpered as stomach cramps doubled her over. She 
gasped with the sudden shooting pain through her entire body and fell 
to her knees on the cold metal floor. She pulled her body into a 
curled position, trying to block out the pain and resist what was 
happening.

Willow could hear the cameras moving and tracking her as her hand 
pulled at her clothes; the feel of the cloth felt like sandpaper 
against her skin. She looked down and saw the faint reddish hairs on 
her arms growing darker and thickening, becoming longer.

Willow screamed silently as she heard her bones beginning to snap.  
The hacker closed her eyes, knowing her body was now breaking itself 
apart and reforming into a larger and scarier shape.

Instead of a scream, it now would have been a howl as her jaw 
dislocated and elongated. She wondered how long she would remain 
aware as her teeth grew into deadly fangs. She could actually feel 
her ears changing.

<The legs and hands were the most painful,> she thought with another 
howl.

Willow's conscious mind slipped into welcome darkness.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Buffy resisted giggling at the sight of Giles and Mulder in delivery 
uniforms but Anya wasn't as successful and earned a glare from the 
Englishman as he straightened up, the baseball cap on his head.

Mulder grinned and clipped the identification badge to his pocket.  

Spike growled as he looked at the machine inside one of the crates.  

"I'm supposed to bloody well stay inside this infernal device for how 
long?" he demanded.

"It can't be any worse than a coffin," Buffy snapped.

"Hey, I only do coffins when I'm hiding from hunters and Slayers," he 
snapped back.

"Well, you volunteered for this," Buffy countered.

"You think I would have learned not to volunteer for anything after 
Cromwell," he muttered.

Giles merely shook his head and removed a screwdriver from his tool-
belt and quickly undid several screws on the front of the machine, 
revealing the hollow inside to the vampire.

"What, no reading material?" Spike quipped and Giles rolled his eyes 
and moved to open the other machine.

"Are you sure that they won't recognize you?" Anya asked Mulder as he 
put on his baseball cap.

"The ID should hold up," he shrugged.  

"Won't they be expecting something like this?" she persisted.

"Yes, that's why if you push the buttons, the machines actually feed 
out a test page," Mulder explained. "We get the machines inside and 
open the crates. The machines can be opened from the inside but not 
the outside without removing the screws. We drop the machines and 
get out of there and wait for you guys to get out."

"Seems too simple," Anya complained.

"I agree, so be prepared for anything to go wrong," Buffy 
advised. "I'll share one machine with Anya."

"What?" Spike demanded. "You know I can't bite anymore."

"It's your hands I worry about," Buffy snapped back.

"As if!" Spike growled. "Oh bloody hell, now I'm talking like the 
rest of you morons. I need a new life!"

"Or is that a new death? I can help you with that," Buffy taunted 
and Spike raised a fist threateningly.

"Enough!" Giles snapped. "There are a couple of sleeping bags over 
by the wall. We have four hours until we need to leave, I suggest we 
get some sleep."

"Cold warehouses are not my idea of a slumber party," Anya complained.

"Mine either but Giles is right," Buffy shrugged and moved to grab 
one of the bags from the far wall of the rented warehouse containing 
their delivery truck and the goods that might get them inside the 
Center. Buffy touched the disk in her jacket pocket once more, 
reassuring herself that it was there.

Even if they didn't get Willow back, the Initiative was going to pay 
by having all of their records wiped out.

Buffy shut out Anya's complaining, Spikes' taunting of Giles, and 
Mulder's frequent telephone calls. She unrolled the sleeping bag and 
quickly laid down, rolling her jacket up for a pillow.

///Tara?/// she mentally sent out.

///Hello, love,/// came a welcome answer.

///I miss you/// Buffy smiled as she closed her eyes.

///I miss you too. The flight is going well. I hate small 
planes./// Tara answered.

///I bet. Be safe and come back to me.///

///We will./// Tara said reassuringly in her mind and Buffy felt the 
connection drift away as her focus slipped.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

"Hostile #52 barely conscious," a voice said faraway in Buffy's 
mind. She tried to not let her mind or body jerk in surprise as she 
realized she was connecting with Willow again and could hear was what 
happening around the witch.

"Full werewolf form, heart rate normal," another voice reported.

"Cast broken, hand possibly damaged again, as anticipated," the first 
voice added.

"You sure Walsh knows what she's doing?" the second voice asked. "We 
don't normally transport Hostiles in Hostile mode."

"I don't ask questions, I just take the huge bonus they give me for 
working here. Let them give me glowing recommendations in my service 
record and I get out of here and the service in three months," the 
first one answered.

"Good plan," the second agreed. "I've got another year and a half."

"I think we can move the Hostile to the gurney," the first one 
suggested.

"Okay, just make sure those shackles and restraints are tight," the 
second one urged.

"Oh yeah, no question about that one!" the first agreed. "I saw one 
werewolf Hostile get loose once. Just got an arm loose while on a 
gurney, but it was enough. He ripped one tech's arms right out of 
the socket and started hitting anyone who got close to him with the 
tech's arm."

"Oh man! That is not what I signed on for!"

"That's why you do things the right way the first time and you'll get 
out of here okay," the first one advised. "Never take short cuts in 
this job and always check everything twice. Hey, take note of this: 
Hostile #52 regaining voice at 0200 hours. Very harsh but unlike the 
previous growls."

"Why the panic over the voice?" the second one asked. "Can 
werewolves talk?"

"The advanced ones can, sort of," the first one answered. "Walsh 
doesn't want this one to regain her speech for some reason. The 
Hostile is scheduled to have her vocal cords permanently cut when she 
hits Area 51."

"Wow, you know, after working here, I give thanks every single day 
I'm simply human," the second one commented.

"Total agreement; let's move her to the van for the airport."

****

Buffy felt someone lightly shaking her and looked up into Giles' 
concerned face.

"You were dreaming," he said softly.

"I heard the guards around Willow," she responded, keeping her voice 
low as she looked over and saw Anya asleep in a sleeping bag, Spike 
playing solitaire across the room on the floor and Mulder dozing in a 
chair. "They're moving her now to a plane."

"What else?"

"She's in full werewolf form and broke her cast," Buffy continued, 
wiping away a fresh set of tears. "She may have injured her hand 
again. They also plan on cutting her vocal cords when she gets to 
Area 51."

"Oh God," Giles exclaimed wearily and sat down against the wall. He 
drew Buffy into his arms and she let her tears flow freely, as her 
Watcher held her until she fell asleep again. 

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++