*****

~Personal Journal of Captain Alexander L. Harris~

January 13, 2006 0924 hours

I've just found out what my new mission is. After spending two years in a small jungle village in South America, commanding an elite group of Marines to protect the villages from attacks from their enemies, I'm heading back to civilization.

I'm not sure how I will like civilization. I've been all over the world as a Marine, and found I *really* enjoyed the sounds of the night in the jungle, the way I could look up and see the stars. . .and there is this one girl here. . .

She loves to praise America.

I love for her to.

But there's more than just the fact that I'm going back to civilization. I'm going back to Sunnydale, California. I have no idea how that's all going to work out. Buffy Summers is still alive, though from what I understand she is now Buffy Finn. Last I heard, she was expecting. . .that was about four or five months ago, I think.

I haven't talked to any of them - including the girl I once considered my best friend in the entire world. . .my Willow - I haven't talked to them in six years, not since the big blowout at the end of their Freshmen year at UC Sunnydale. We were screaming at each other, Willow admitted she was a lesbian, I told them that I didn't think they needed me anymore, and Buffy said to hell with all of us. She didn't need us.

That hurt. After everything we'd done for her, she didn't need us.

They said that I should join the Army, because that was all I could do. That was all my life amounted to, doing grunt work. I decided, since they thought that, that's what I would do, but I wasn't going to just do grunt work. Oh, no, I was going to make a *nice* military career out of my life. I already had some of the Commando experience, thanks to Ethan and Halloween. . .I knew I could do this.

I went out after the fight, didn't say a word to anyone, and joined the Marines. I figured if I was going to devote my life to fighting for the country, I might as well join the biggest, baddest branch of the service.

Boot camp kicked my ass worse than any demon ever did.

But I survived. As I'd done everything, I survived.

I think the hardest part about boot camp was not having anyone to write to, not having anyone write to me. The guys were great though - they knew that I'd had a big blowout with my friends, and that was a big part of the reason why I left. My best friend in the bunks, Johnson, he would send me letters. He was funnier than I was. Together, we had the barracks rolling in the floor.

I saw Graham Miller a couple of years later. We were both stationed in South Carolina, and he was still talking to all of them. He caught me up on everyone. Spike was still sulking around Sunnydale, whining because he still had his chip, Buffy and Riley were engaged, finally. Tara ended up breaking Willow's heart and the redhead moved to LA.

Graham and I stay in touch - he's my link to my former life. I thank God for him often, he never tells them that he knows where I am. . .they have no clue. Buffy and the rest of them, they don't even really remember I exist anymore. Only Willow gets misty eyed during Christmas, or whenever my name comes up, or anytime she thinks about me. . .I've thought of writing her, but what do I say? "Hey, Wills, sorry for leaving you, but I'm an officer in the Marines now. I'm somebody important."

I heard from Graham a few months ago. Apparently, Cordelia's vision said the Initiative was coming back, but they were going to be better. They were going to help Buffy. However, the kicker was that Angel needed to be there too. So his whole family - Willow included, apparently, her and Angel are *involved* now - moved back home.

And now, I'll be joining them.

Cordelia was right. The Initiative is coming back to Sunnydale.

And I'm the Captain in charge of the troops there.~

~*~

"Harris!"

Captain Alexander Harris looked up from his laptop, stiffening automatically. He stood and saluted his Major.

"At ease, Alex."

Alex threw him a smile and sat back down behind his desk. "Have a seat, Jim." He waved to the seat in front of the desk. Major James Horton took a seat in one of the chairs on the other side of the desk. Alex clicked 'save' on his journal and pushed his laptop away, smiling at his friend. They'd known each other for several years now, and Jim looked at Alex as almost a prodigy of his. Every little trick, every little rope that Alex Harris knew, Jim Horton had taught him.

Jim cleared his throat. "I'm here to brief you on the situation in Sunnydale." He threw a folder down on Alex's desk, the word *Confidential* stamped on the front.

Alex's eyebrow rose, and he grinned, always getting a kick out of things that were *confidential*. He opened the envelope, a hiss escaping his mouth. On the front page was a picture of Dr. Maggie Walsh, the leader of the last Initiative. "She was a bitch," he grumbled.

Jim's eyebrow rose. "You knew Dr. Walsh?"

Alex looked up, knowing Jim didn't know anything about his past, just that he was from a small town in California. It was apparent that the Major didn 't delve too deep in his personal files, or he would have known that the young man was from the very town he was going back to. "Not personally, no. But two of my best friends, at the time, were in her class." He flipped the pages, finally finding a picture of Riley Finn as Commander of the elite squadron of the Initiative. "That's Riley Finn. Teacher's Aide by day, Commander by night. Also, one of my former best friend's current husband."

"But. . .he's married to the Slayer. . ." Horton said quietly.

"Buffy Summers. Probably the best Slayer that ever lived, could kick anyone 's ass, other than Angelus or William the Bloody," Alex rattled off, an eyebrow cocked.

"Who?" Horton asked, shaking his head in confusion.

"Two really bad ass vampires."

"So you know about the demons, about what the Initiative is?"

"I grew up on the Hellmouth, Jim. I was part of the Scooby Gang. Of *course* I know what demons are. . .what the Initiative is. But I'm not going to experiment on them like the last one did," Alex said, sitting back. He crossed his arms. "I don't care what order you give me. It may be good for my country, but it's not good for our lives. If they escape - and trust me, they've escaped - then they go crazy. I can assure you, if and when Hostile 17 ever gets his chip out, there's a *long* list of people that will be killed."

Jim smiled, glad that he wouldn't have to try to convince Harris that vampires and demons existed. It was with sudden clarity that he realized exactly *why* he was the Captain assigned to run the Initiative this time around. "Actually, we aren't going to do it the same way we did last time. We were approached by the Watcher's Council in England. They wanted to reinstate the Initiative, but work together, to help the Slayer. The government also gets all the logs, which benefits both sides. The head of the Watcher's Council has appointed a. . ." He glanced through his files. "A Rupert Giles to be the liaison between you and the Council."

Alex smiled. "Giles. Haven't seen good old Rupert in years either. I'm glad he's still alive."

"You know. . .?"

"Buffy's Watcher. He was a father to us," Alex sighed. He cleared his throat, the wistful sad look on his face immediately replaced by the soldier in him. "So. When do we leave?"

*****
tbc...