Chapter 16

Willow and Xander had arrived in LA last week, and the group had the Coven, and all available slayers were scouring the globe looking for any signs of Buffy or Riley. In Africa, one of the slayers had gleaned some information on Riley's past. He and his wife, Samantha Finn, had surprised a demon pod in South Africa. The two had been captured and held hostage for some time. It had been days before the Initiative had been able to successfully extract Riley, and annihilate the demon pod. Unfortunately, Riley's wife had not been as lucky. After being tortured for days, the demon pod had killed her right in front of her husband.

Riley had an emotional and mental breakdown. He took leave from the Initiative, and then the trail went cold.

Giles had recognized another name involved in the Initiative, however. Graham had been one of Riley's buddies back in Sunnydale, and Graham's name was listed as one of the soldiers that helped to extract Riley in South Africa. Soon after Riley had been granted leave, Graham had taken a leave of absence as well. It made sense that the two had now been working together. The research now included finding anything and all related to Graham, as well as Riley.

Evening was approaching, and Angel and Spike were out in the city now that the sun was set. The two vampires were each, independently, interviewing their underground connections to see what was known about the Initiative or any of it's soldiers. They were hoping to find a bartender in the underground that knew something about this new information that had been uncovered, but so far they had no such luck.

Willow and Xander and Giles were in Angel's office, documents spread out before them on the table. Xander, his one good eye beginning to blur, was yawning. It was still early, but the jet lag was rearing it's ugly head. Willow was engrossed in her laptop, trying to hack into restricted Initiative documents. Giles was pouring through Riley and Graham's personnel files they had secured from South Africa. He looked haggard and worn. Giles slept little. His appearance reminded Willow of the time when Buffy had run away after Acathala, only this time he looked much worse. Willow was thankful that Giles didn't seem to be drinking again. Laying off of the Scotch would help keep the Watcher's head clear.

Suddenly Knox burst into the office. The door swung open violently, causing the papers on the table to flutter and float down to the floor. "Bloody Hell!" Giles raged, leaping out of his chair to gather the papers. Xander barely stirred, but when Willow pulled her eyes off of her computer monitor to glare at the intrusion, she saw the excitement on Knox's face. "What is it, Knox?"

"I found something." He hurried into the room, stooped down and helped Giles gather the documents and placed them back on the table. Knox had Giles' full attention now as well. "What is it?" Giles asked.

Knox held up the yellow piece of paper that was in his hand. Xander looked over Knox's shoulder to look at the note, but it looked liked a foreign language to him, all formulas and chemical symbols.

"We know that Riley either took Toxin 16 from our lab, or had it stolen, since we discovered it missing shortly after Buffy's disappearance. And we know what that toxin is supposed to do. We saw it render Buffy unconscious on the surveillance tape, and it's components erase a human's memory banks as well. In theory, Buffy would wake up not knowing who she was. She'd be a blank slate."

"In theory?" Giles whispered.

Knox nodded. "Yes, in theory, that is what that toxin does, and I'm sure that is what Riley was expecting. Only, that toxin wasn't complete. It is not made up of chemicals found solely in nature. We have to manufacture it here in the lab. I just discovered that Toxin 16, the missing toxin, was not completed. It was being manufactured by Wolfram and Hart before Angel took over, but that project was shelved before it's completion, and two compounds are missing. One is Eradictaure. That's the compound that would erase Buffy's memory. A full dosage was not yet administered to Toxin 16, so I'm guessing that Buffy will regain all of her memory back!"

"That's great!" Willow shouted, clapping her hands together. Xander and Giles also shared smiles. "That is good news, indeed." Giles breathed a little easier at that news. If they couldn't find Buffy, perhaps she could find her own way back?

"There's more." Knox interrupted. The suppressing compound, called Annheliar, wasn't mixed into Toxin 16 at all. That means that Buffy should have all of her strength as well."

Xander and Willow cheered at that news, and Giles even looked excited.

"Fred is furthering the research on the compounds," Knox continued. "She wants to see if she can isolate a time period for exactly when Buffy's memory would return, and how quickly. We don't know if she will get it back in bits and pieces, or all at one time. Hopefully Fred will learn more soon, but she wanted me to let you know this information for now."

Gunn entered the room, and he too had an expectant look on his face.

"Did you hear the news, Gunn?" Willow babbled excitedly. "Knox said Buffy will get her memory back, and has all her powers still!"

Gunn nodded. "Yes, I stopped in the lab and Fred told me. I have good news too. It seems things are finally falling together for us!"

"What have you got, Gunn?" Giles was pacing now. He had never given up hope, nor had he stopped beating himself up or blaming himself for Buffy's kidnapping. But today was the first ray of sunshine beaming in since the weeks of despair.

"Whoever took Toxin 16 had to have prior knowledge of not only the toxin's attributes, but how to get to it as well. It was an inside job. And now we know who, or at least we think we do. Lynn Warner, according to my sources, is Graham Miller's aunt. She works here as a lab assistant. We suspect she is in on the plan. Security section is questioning her now, and I sent out orders to get Angel back here to further that questioning along. We think she secured the toxin and gave it to her nephew. Then Riley used it on Buffy."

"With that connection, we should be able to find Graham through his aunt, and then in turn find Riley!" Xander's hands were clenching. He'd love to pound Riley about now. Giles noticed his young friend's stance, and frowned. If anyone was going to pound Riley, it would be him. Once Giles knew that Buffy was back, safe and sound, he'd kill the soldier boy, himself.

At that exact moment, Buffy was on a bus, headed out of Oregon. She wasn't sure which direction she should be heading, but something pulled her South. So far her instincts had helped her immensely, so she wasn't going to doubt them now.

As the bus meandered down the freeway, Buffy thought back to her escape from Fox's house. After brushing herself off from the dust of the vampire she had killed in the woods, she had picked up her bag and continued through the forest with a lot on her mind. She was hardly a blank slate anymore. Her mind swirled with visions, and names floated in the mist. She was Buffy, the Slayer. Obviously, she killed vampires. She saw visions of herself staking many of them, and some things she killed were not vampires. She saw some big, ugly demon floating in a vat of water. She had electrocuted him. And another monster she thought she might have drowned in a flooding basement? She shook her head, and squinted at the pain burrowing in between her eyes.

At the edge of the forest, she spotted a building in the clearing. A small sign was posted. "The Initiative. Keep Out. Authorized Personnel Only." When she read the words, a chill ran through her body.

She spotted a young soldier exiting the building. He headed towards a small pick up in the parking lot. As he opened the door, Buffy shoved him inside, and pushed herself in beside him. She held on to his arm. As she had manhandled him into the truck, she had disarmed him and now held his gun at his side.

"Hey." She smiled wickedly at him. "I don't want to hurt you. I just want some information. Dig?"

His eyes were huge, and his face had drained of all color. It was the Slayer. He recognized her picture from some of Captain Fox's papers. And she was holding a gun at him. He nodded, too scared to speak.

"Good." She relaxed the grip on his arm a bit, but didn't drop the gun. "Do you know who I am?" She asked the soldier, glancing down to read his nametag. "Nelson?"

Again he nodded. She quirked her eyebrow at him, prompting him to go on. "You are the Slayer. Buffy?"

Buffy nodded. She glanced around the parking lot. This wasn't the best place for a deep discussion, she surmised. "Nelson? We are going to switch seats, and you are going to drive us somewhere where we can talk." Buffy couldn't remember if she knew how to drive or not, but even if she did, she had no idea where they were.

As it turned out, Nelson was a lot of help. He was just a scared little boy, and Buffy had no idea how he got such a job with the Initiative, with such a weak character. It was her lucky day.

Buffy was shocked to learn that Rick Fox was this man's supervisor. As far as Nelson knew, Fox was not married. He knew nothing about Samantha Fox, and Buffy kept her mouth shut. She did not offer any discussion, but merely listened, and pushed the gun into his ribs when he would hesitate. Nelson did not disclose the fact that Fox was really Riley Finn. He told her that Captain Fox was his direct supervisor, and that Fox was in charge of the Special Ops in the Initiative. That is how Nelson knew of the Slayer. He told her of the demise of Sunnydale. That's really all he knew. But he disclosed enough that Buffy realized that Fox was not her husband. Somehow, she was entangled in something that she didn't yet understand. Why would Fox want her? Did she know something? And why would he hide her? Even his co-workers didn't know about her. It was eerie, and she couldn't wait to get as far away from his as possible.

She made Nelson promise to not disclose the fact that she was here. That was easy for Nelson to promise, because the last thing he wanted was for Captain Fox to find out that he had betrayed his boss. He'd be fired, and perhaps worse. People in the Initiative tended to disappear after disciplinary action had been sanctioned. He'd keep quiet, and that was a sure thing.

After releasing him, Buffy had walked to the bus station. It was a "one horse town", so the bus station was not hard to find. She tackled a candy machine behind the ticket area, careful to not arouse suspicion. She felt bad, but she needed money. Thankfully, there had been enough in the machine to provide her with a ticket to LA, which was the next departing destination, as well as change left over for a quick meal at the café across the street. She had an hour to kill before the bus left, so she paged through a newspaper while sipping on her soda and finishing a light salad.

She was reading the Personals when the idea struck. Perhaps she could somehow give the British man from her visions, if he indeed existed, a clue for help in a Personal Ad? But how could she word it? What could she say that wouldn't give too much away so that Fox found her, yet enough to let the man know it was her, and she needed help?

Buffy didn't have much time. The newspaper office, thankfully, was only a block down the street. She asked the lady if she could place an ad in the LA Times. The lady gave her a number she could call in order to do it over the phone. The newspaper lady was very helpful, and promised to transfer the funds for Buffy's ad to run in the LA Times. After placing the ad, and paying for the call, Buffy again was broke. She had gotten on the bus penniless, but hopeful.

Chapter 17