Agent Finn's (Alternative) Employment History (4 of 5)
Part 4 of the 5 Jobs Riley Never Had fic. These were supposed to be drabbles. Drabbles!!!
4
Forty thousand pieces flying in close formation, Riley thought and wondered where he heard that before. The helicopter rattled and shook, vibrated around him. His companions had practiced thousand yard stares, and blank, square-jawed faces. He bit back the urge to ask "are we there yet?", turning instead to stare at himself in the tinted glass, at his dark reflection, the faded, hollow ghost in the glass.
("You're a soldier."
"I quit the government a long way back."
"We're not government. We're army. Just like you. It's not the Initiative, Finn. We don't do experiments. None of us give a damn what makes monsters tick. We just stop them."
"What do you need me for?"
"I think you can handle yourself.")
He could at that. All puns intended. Soldiers and guns. And they'd done Belize, boy howdy had they done Belize, he could still smell the burning flesh, feel the scars itch, remember the taste of bile after that night, the Peace Corps camp shredded, no survivors, no pieces even close to big enough, and Ellis had gone down, Graham lost an arm and Riley-- Well, Riley survived. Carried on carrying on, even though he had no idea where he was or where he was going, as usual.
"Major Finn." The pilot, cutting through memory. "We're on final approach."
Riley nodded acknowledgment, sitting up straighter. Military bearing. Good work, Agent Finn.
("It's deep undercover. No contact with civilians.")
Life in montage. He was in Central America, military funeral. He was on a plane. He was in Washington, debriefing, mental, physical. He was talking to a General with deadpan humour and intelligent, calculating eyes. He was in a helicopter. He was on tarmac. He was being hurried across grounds. He was in an elevator. He was going down, down, down.
("You trying to get as far away from her as possible)
Major Finn?" Without waiting for a response, the blue uniformed man waved him to follow. "Lots to do, little time. You're wondering why you've been brought here."
"Actually--" said Riley.
"You should be prepared to have your basic assumptions about the universe challenged."
"I lived in Sunnydale," Riley said.
"Oh. Well, we can skip the whole first hour of this tour then. This way." He turned into what looked like an engineers wet dream, a room filled with equipment. "We've been -- you do have security clearance to be here?"
"Yes, sir." Riley's original Initiative security clearance had been restored in Washington, though he was assured the original project had been definitely closed down.
"Good, good." The man waved at two soldiers guiding what looked to Riley like a miniature robot tank. "Be careful! Do you have any idea how much that equipment costs?"
"Eighty-five thousand dollars," said one of the soldiers.
"It-- Well. Yes. Exactly!"
"We'll take good care of it, Doctor," added the other.
They grinned at Riley as they walked off, robotank between them.
"You see what I have to work with," the Doctor sighed, pushing through the next set of doors. "Here's why you were called in." He pointed at a small blue disc on a table, walking past it to get at the coffee machine. "It's -- is this lemon tea? Who put lemon near my coffee? Are you people trying to kill me?"
Riley pretended he couldn't see one of the assistants nodding at the doctor's back, and picked the disk up. It lit up in his hand and he stared when a semi-translucent image of a ghoulish creature appeared floating above it, first in amazement and then in disgust when the scene panned out to show the armoured monster driving its claws into a man's chest, turning him old before Riley's eyes.
"Is this magic?" he asked.
"The disc? Arthur C. Clarke would say so."
"What is it?" Riley asked. "Demon? New form of vampire?"
"Ancient form," said the doctor and smirked. Riley just looked at him, and the man rolled his eyes. "You'll get that later."
"So this is another bug hunt?" Riley examined the disc for a switch before discovering he could turn the recording on and off by thinking about it. Neat. "Why all the secrecy?"
"It's much bigger than-- Well, okay, yes, in a way, it is a bug hunt, but it's bigger than you're thinking." The doctor nodded at the disc. "Your expertise at fighting non-human enemies is one of the reasons you were recommended, but if that was our only qualification, we have thousands of people to choose from. We want something a little more unique. There's a rare gene that allows certain people to activate certain technology."
"You know I have it because the hologram thing worked," Riley said. "That was a test?"
"That and we have a complete record of your DNA. Professor Walsh was extremely thorough. Amazing work, really--" The doctor noticed the assistant listening in and quickly added, "highly immoral of course, no sense of ethics. Come on, there's something else you need to see."
Carrying his coffee, the doctor headed for the far doors. Riley carefully put the disc on the table and then strode after him, long legs quickly catching him up to the shorter man.
"This isn't a battle, Major Finn. It's a war. There's a good chance that if you come out with us, you'll never come back. Mostly because I expect you to heroically sacrifice yourself to keep me alive should the occasion call for it. Wait a moment." He opened a door, leaned in and said, "we need a demonstration."
Riley couldn't hear what the man inside said -- over the doctor's head he could just glimpse a room that reminded him of an aircraft control tower, all screens and keyboards and the big glass window -- but it was clearly an affirmative, for the other man quickly closed the door and moved off down the corridor again.
"You've got experience working deep cover, having no connection to your friends or family. You've got a good record--"
"Not exactly a clean one," Riley said.
"You should see your commanding officer's." Armed guards moved out of their way to let them into a huge room. The control-tower-like place was up on their left, and the doctor waved to the man behind the window. "You're used to being in the middle of nowhere, which also works for us, because where you're going is about as far from anywhere as you can get."
Riley looked at the massive stone ring at the end of the ramp.
"Some kind of gate." He guessed. "A portal -- a hellmouth?"
"Oh, no," the doctor said. "This one doesn't go down -- it goes up, millions of light years up. To a galaxy far, far away, with strange new planets and strange new people who will shoot at you or try and eat you."
("You trying to get as far away from her as possible, Riley?")
Warning lights flashed. Motors rumbled. Things thudded.
"Also," the doctor added, "you'll get to save the universe on a daily basis. Which, I might add, doesn't make up for the lack of good coffee."
There was a loud fwoosh and a plume rushed out of the gate, making the doctor jump back a little, though it came only a few metres close to them. Riley didn't move at all, watching as it sank back, forming a vertical pool of water inside the ring.
"The food's terrible," the doctor said, "but we're needed."
"I'm in," Riley said.
"Me more than you," the doctor added, "in case you missed the bit about self-sacrifice."
Riley grinned at him in the shimmering blue light. "I'm in."
4
Forty thousand pieces flying in close formation, Riley thought and wondered where he heard that before. The helicopter rattled and shook, vibrated around him. His companions had practiced thousand yard stares, and blank, square-jawed faces. He bit back the urge to ask "are we there yet?", turning instead to stare at himself in the tinted glass, at his dark reflection, the faded, hollow ghost in the glass.
("You're a soldier."
"I quit the government a long way back."
"We're not government. We're army. Just like you. It's not the Initiative, Finn. We don't do experiments. None of us give a damn what makes monsters tick. We just stop them."
"What do you need me for?"
"I think you can handle yourself.")
He could at that. All puns intended. Soldiers and guns. And they'd done Belize, boy howdy had they done Belize, he could still smell the burning flesh, feel the scars itch, remember the taste of bile after that night, the Peace Corps camp shredded, no survivors, no pieces even close to big enough, and Ellis had gone down, Graham lost an arm and Riley-- Well, Riley survived. Carried on carrying on, even though he had no idea where he was or where he was going, as usual.
"Major Finn." The pilot, cutting through memory. "We're on final approach."
Riley nodded acknowledgment, sitting up straighter. Military bearing. Good work, Agent Finn.
("It's deep undercover. No contact with civilians.")
Life in montage. He was in Central America, military funeral. He was on a plane. He was in Washington, debriefing, mental, physical. He was talking to a General with deadpan humour and intelligent, calculating eyes. He was in a helicopter. He was on tarmac. He was being hurried across grounds. He was in an elevator. He was going down, down, down.
("You trying to get as far away from her as possible)
Major Finn?" Without waiting for a response, the blue uniformed man waved him to follow. "Lots to do, little time. You're wondering why you've been brought here."
"Actually--" said Riley.
"You should be prepared to have your basic assumptions about the universe challenged."
"I lived in Sunnydale," Riley said.
"Oh. Well, we can skip the whole first hour of this tour then. This way." He turned into what looked like an engineers wet dream, a room filled with equipment. "We've been -- you do have security clearance to be here?"
"Yes, sir." Riley's original Initiative security clearance had been restored in Washington, though he was assured the original project had been definitely closed down.
"Good, good." The man waved at two soldiers guiding what looked to Riley like a miniature robot tank. "Be careful! Do you have any idea how much that equipment costs?"
"Eighty-five thousand dollars," said one of the soldiers.
"It-- Well. Yes. Exactly!"
"We'll take good care of it, Doctor," added the other.
They grinned at Riley as they walked off, robotank between them.
"You see what I have to work with," the Doctor sighed, pushing through the next set of doors. "Here's why you were called in." He pointed at a small blue disc on a table, walking past it to get at the coffee machine. "It's -- is this lemon tea? Who put lemon near my coffee? Are you people trying to kill me?"
Riley pretended he couldn't see one of the assistants nodding at the doctor's back, and picked the disk up. It lit up in his hand and he stared when a semi-translucent image of a ghoulish creature appeared floating above it, first in amazement and then in disgust when the scene panned out to show the armoured monster driving its claws into a man's chest, turning him old before Riley's eyes.
"Is this magic?" he asked.
"The disc? Arthur C. Clarke would say so."
"What is it?" Riley asked. "Demon? New form of vampire?"
"Ancient form," said the doctor and smirked. Riley just looked at him, and the man rolled his eyes. "You'll get that later."
"So this is another bug hunt?" Riley examined the disc for a switch before discovering he could turn the recording on and off by thinking about it. Neat. "Why all the secrecy?"
"It's much bigger than-- Well, okay, yes, in a way, it is a bug hunt, but it's bigger than you're thinking." The doctor nodded at the disc. "Your expertise at fighting non-human enemies is one of the reasons you were recommended, but if that was our only qualification, we have thousands of people to choose from. We want something a little more unique. There's a rare gene that allows certain people to activate certain technology."
"You know I have it because the hologram thing worked," Riley said. "That was a test?"
"That and we have a complete record of your DNA. Professor Walsh was extremely thorough. Amazing work, really--" The doctor noticed the assistant listening in and quickly added, "highly immoral of course, no sense of ethics. Come on, there's something else you need to see."
Carrying his coffee, the doctor headed for the far doors. Riley carefully put the disc on the table and then strode after him, long legs quickly catching him up to the shorter man.
"This isn't a battle, Major Finn. It's a war. There's a good chance that if you come out with us, you'll never come back. Mostly because I expect you to heroically sacrifice yourself to keep me alive should the occasion call for it. Wait a moment." He opened a door, leaned in and said, "we need a demonstration."
Riley couldn't hear what the man inside said -- over the doctor's head he could just glimpse a room that reminded him of an aircraft control tower, all screens and keyboards and the big glass window -- but it was clearly an affirmative, for the other man quickly closed the door and moved off down the corridor again.
"You've got experience working deep cover, having no connection to your friends or family. You've got a good record--"
"Not exactly a clean one," Riley said.
"You should see your commanding officer's." Armed guards moved out of their way to let them into a huge room. The control-tower-like place was up on their left, and the doctor waved to the man behind the window. "You're used to being in the middle of nowhere, which also works for us, because where you're going is about as far from anywhere as you can get."
Riley looked at the massive stone ring at the end of the ramp.
"Some kind of gate." He guessed. "A portal -- a hellmouth?"
"Oh, no," the doctor said. "This one doesn't go down -- it goes up, millions of light years up. To a galaxy far, far away, with strange new planets and strange new people who will shoot at you or try and eat you."
("You trying to get as far away from her as possible, Riley?")
Warning lights flashed. Motors rumbled. Things thudded.
"Also," the doctor added, "you'll get to save the universe on a daily basis. Which, I might add, doesn't make up for the lack of good coffee."
There was a loud fwoosh and a plume rushed out of the gate, making the doctor jump back a little, though it came only a few metres close to them. Riley didn't move at all, watching as it sank back, forming a vertical pool of water inside the ring.
"The food's terrible," the doctor said, "but we're needed."
"I'm in," Riley said.
"Me more than you," the doctor added, "in case you missed the bit about self-sacrifice."
Riley grinned at him in the shimmering blue light. "I'm in."