A Job Well Done
Summery: Graham takes a new job in the fight against evil
Date: September 20, 2000

**********

Graham Miller had faced many horrors and overcome countless obstacles during his career in the military. He had suffered humiliations designed to break men, and then endured the training meant to rebuild them. Graham had made a good soldier. He had followed orders, never questioning, never wondering. . . Not even when he was given to a 'special' organization. . . Not even when they told him what that 'special' organization was going to be doing.

Graham was sent to Sunnydale. He made friends. He hunted and helped capture things that were only supposed to exist in nightmares and the odd non-Disneyfied children's story. Things were good. . . until they began to fall apart. There was death, and betrayal, and loss. . . and there was love. Somehow, in the midst of chaos, Graham had found the man he would come to regard as his soulmate.

And all of that, amazingly enough, had led him here.

It wasn't such a big leap from his past life to this. Not really. This was just another mission. Innocents were in danger. People needed help. Someone had to take point.

Blue eyes suddenly glanced at the monitor on the far wall. Someone was out there. This was what he had been trained for. It was time.

Graham took a deep breath. He adjusted his headset, swallowed his pride, and spoke clearly into the mike. "Welcome to Crazy Burger, where we're just crazy about burgers. Can I take your order?"

*****

In a town like Sunnydale with a body count that's prestigious to say the least, the deaths of four rather innocuous young men could very easily go unsolved, or worse yet, unnoticed. But, luckily not everyone on the Hellmouth was quite as apathetic towards the destruction of innocent life, or towards the creatures that cause it.

Interest was piqued. Research was done. A pattern emerged.

These kills were not random. Each of these young men had something in common. They had all been employed at Crazy Burger. They had all worked the late, late shift. They had all been found horribly mutilated.

A plan was quickly devised. Someone would have to go undercover. Yes, undercover. That just sounded so much better then 'being bait'.

Xander, having already been employed, and consequently fired, from the restaurant was immediately taken out of the running, leaving only Riley and Graham.

The tension ran high as the two ex-soldiers battled over who would take the assignment. Finally, a decision was made. Each man held out one hand. Riley's was flat, palm down. Graham's was balled into a fist. Paper covers rock, and Crazy Burger was about to get it's newest employee.

*****

Graham sighed deeply and removed his paper hat. The outer doors had been locked, but the drivethrough was scheduled to stay open another few hours. Everyone else had already left for the night, and Graham was alone in the building. At least, he *thought* he was alone. It was pretty much a given that there was something lurking about, and not just the Scoobies hiding in the bushes.

A car came, burgers were made. Another car came, sodas were poured. Yet another car came, Graham began to mentally list the ways he could kill a man with a plastic spoon. Perhaps it was good old fashioned American know-how provided by the military, or public high schools, but the former commando amassed a fairly long list.

Graham was about to start categorizing the deadly qualities of drinking straws when a soft sound to his left put him on instant alert. He watched as someone slowly stepped into view. It was the night manager. Now, wasn't that a bit obvious?

"Hello, Mr. Kendel." Graham nodded slightly, his body almost unconsciously readying itself for combat. "Thought you'd left for the night."

The manager cocked his head and gave the younger man a lingering once over. "You know, I never expected to find someone like you working here." He said, ignoring the question.

"That makes two of us." Graham murmured, slowly inching his way over to the window.

"Where are you going, Graham?" The smile on Kendel's face got bigger, impossibly so, as rows upon rows of jagged teeth were exposed. It's pupil's lengthened into reptilian-like slits. A long, thin tongue repeatedly darted out of it's deadly mouth. With a flashback to tenth grade biology, Graham realized the creature was tasting the air. "You s-s-smell *s-s-so* good."

"Eww." Graham grimaced, and opened the drivethrough window.

The creature laughed, a strange cackling, hissing sound that made the human's skin crawl. "I don't think you'll fit though that, but if it'll make you feel better, by all means-s-s, try." It began to advance.

"It's not the escape route," Graham allowed himself a small smirk. "It's the signal."

The creature stopped short, an almost comic look of confusion on it's hideous face. "S-s-signal?"

A resounding crash came from the front of the restaurant. Two heads swung around to see Buffy, in one of her majestic superheroine-like poses, standing in the middle of the remnants of a floor to ceiling glass window. One could never accuse the Slayer of not knowing how to make an entrance.

The fight was short. The killing blow was swift. They decided to let the morning crew clean up the mess.

And so ended an ex-commando's foray into the fast food industry.

*****

Graham let out a happy sigh as he sank further into the almost scalding water. Coconut scented froth tickled his nose as he patiently waited for the floor show to begin. He had been promised an extensive demonstration as to why The Fabulous Ladies Night club had been so distraught at losing 'Alexander the Great'.

Xander appeared in the doorway to the bathroom, wearing his lover's old commando uniform and the sexiest of smiles. "So, you survived Crazy Burger." His fingers lightly traveled across his chest.

Graham licked his lips at the impending striptease. "Yep. Out of a job, though."

The younger man pulled the drab green sweater over his head, as his hips slowly began to undulate. "Might know of some places that are hiring."

"R-really?" Graham was practically panting.

Xander grinned at him. "How are you at phone sex?"

**********

the end


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