Betad by seapealsh and dawnofme


Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of BtVS but I do own the plot. This is written for fun and not profit - no copyright infringement intended.



Banner by dawnofme


Chapter Four

Hostile Seventeen

Spike had been unable to sleep because of worrying about what was going on with his body and the fact that the ‘comfy’ chair was anything but. It wasn’t until he’d located Giles’ well hidden bottle of brandy that he managed to sleep at all.

“Spike.”

It was repeated this time with a none too gentle shake.

“Wha…? Huh?”

“For God’s sake, Spike, wake up!” Came the voice again.

“I’m awake, I’m awake, ooh, I don’t feel too good,” groaned Spike.

“I’m not surprised. You sank enough brandy to knock Giles out for a week. You’re not in your vampire body now,” said Buffy impatiently.

Spike looked around blearily and realised everyone must have been up for ages. He rubbed his eyes.

“Here.” Buffy held out Giles’ glasses.

“Thanks.” He put them on then took them off, wiped them with the handkerchief he found in his pocket, and put them on again.

Buffy was staring at him.

“What? They were dirty is all,” said Spike. God, I’ve got to get out of this body.

“Right. Here’s the plan: I’m just heading off to The Initiative. I’ll locate Giles and study the plans for the best way to get him out. My security clearance should help. Xander and Willow have found out what sort of demon it was and the dust we found yesterday appears to be the key to summoning one to reverse the spell. Willow’s gone to get some ingredients that will act as a catalyst for the dust,” stated Buffy.

“So what do I do?” said Spike.

“Sit there and get over your hangover. Look, I’ve got to go.” She turned on her heel and left.

“Is she always like that in the mornings?” said Spike to no one in particular.

*~*~*~*

When Giles woke up it was clear that he’d been moved whilst he’d been drugged. He was in a much smaller cell with a glass wall at one end and he could see an ordinary door in the opposite wall. He shuffled along, hampered by the straight-jacket and shackles, until he was able to see out of the glass. That side of the cell was slightly curved and it looked out on to what appeared to be a circular pit, the floor being level with where he sat and its walls being some thirty feet high and topped with railings. At intervals around its base were steel shutters that looked about the same size as the glass he was looking through. Pressing his face up against the glass he could see that it looked like his cell had steel shutters too, but they’d been drawn back.

He jumped as the door behind him was opened and turned to see three soldiers come in, two were armed to the teeth.

“Just stay where you are,” ordered one of the gun toting men. “Don’t even twitch.”

They approached cautiously. Giles didn’t move - he could see their fear and didn’t want to startle them into using their weapons.

“Turn around,” ordered the soldier.

Giles turned so his back was to them. Without even knowing he was doing it he emitted a low growl. A gun was pressed to the back of his head.

“This thing will blow your head clean off and the only mess we’ll have is a pile of dust,” snarled the soldier.

“Okay, okay,” said Giles.

The unarmed man unstrapped the straight-jacket and then removed the shackles on Giles' ankles.

“Get up. Slowly.”

Giles cautiously pushed himself up until he was standing, still with his back towards them. His arms ached from being held so tightly and the wound on his shoulder had started to bleed again as it had stuck to the fabric of the jacket.

The unarmed man picked a radio out of his pocket and walked back out of the door to the cell.

“We are releasing Hostile Seventeen to the cage. Confirm door is open.” With that, he pushed a button on the outside of the cell and the glass wall in front of Giles slid open almost silently.

“Step through the door.” Giles was ordered.

Giles walked through and immediately the door slid shut, followed by the steel shutters. He looked around but there was nothing more to see than he had in his cell. The cage was about twenty five yards in diameter. He couldn’t see anyone up at the railings, and he walked about a bit swinging his arms to get some feeling back into them. He was surprised that the wound hurt so much less than yesterday, vampire accelerated healing he supposed. After a while he sat down, leaning against the wall and wondering what Spike was doing.


*~*~*~*

Buffy entered The Initiative via the access in the house where Riley lived. She went down in the elevator with Riley and Graham. She had to find Giles. It was easier than she thought it would be. As soon as they got down into the heart of The Initiative they were approached by Maggie Walsh.

“Ah, good, you’re here. Come on, I want to show you something.” The last part was directed at Buffy. “It’s a vampire, a very interesting one as it is the only creature ever to escape and then manage to elude recapture on many occasions.”

“Graham was one of the ones who bagged it,” said Riley.

“Yeah, surprised it in the sewers,” said Graham with a smile. “Phil shot it then it kicked him, but the pain chip put it on the ground. One short blast with the tazer and it was over.”

Poor Giles. Buffy felt sick.

Giles could hear the voices for a long time before he saw anyone arrive at the railings. One of them was Buffy. He stood up, walked to the middle of the area, and looked up, waiting for them to come in to view.

“Here it is,” announced Maggie. “Hostile Seventeen.”

Buffy peered down and saw Giles staring up. Well, it was Spike’s body but she knew Giles was inside it. He was wearing just jeans and his boots and, though she hated to admit it, boy, did Spike’s body look hot half naked.

Bad thoughts, Buffy. Bad thoughts!

Their eyes met and she nodded slightly, hoping Giles would realise she knew.

“Since it’s obviously a prime example of a vampire we are going to test it to find out its strengths and weaknesses,” continued Professor Walsh.

“Tests? What tests?” asked Buffy, recalling the operating theatre she’d seen the last time, with limbs being removed and internal organs examined.

“To begin with, physical tests here in the cage. The men have nicknamed it Thunderdome. We shall put different species of demon in with him one at a time and see how he fights and adapts to their different methods.”

Buffy could see Giles take a couple of steps back in horror at her words. She spoke loudly to be sure her words carried down to Giles.

“He doesn’t look so tough. I mean, he looks like he could be a librarian to me.”

Maggie, Riley and Graham looked at her as though she was crazy but she could see Giles realised that she knew it was him.

“We’ll start the trial tomorrow to make sure all traces of the drugs are out of his system. We want him strong and clear headed. Graham, throw him a couple of bags of the grade A blood,” said Maggie.

As they left the railings Buffy managed to give Giles a little wave as he left. He raised a hand to acknowledge it.

Thank God Buffy knows. But how will she get me out of here?

He heard footsteps and Graham threw down two bags of blood.

“Don’t waste it,” he called. “That’s the best vintage we got.”

Giles looked at the bags on the floor in front of him. He knew that vampires’ healing abilities and strength came from their dependence on blood so he knew he’d have to drink it again if he were to stand a chance of fighting those demons. He gingerly picked up a bag, again as he brought it to his mouth he felt his face change and he deftly ripped a couple of holes in it and drank it, swiftly followed by the other bag.

Mm, that does taste better than the other did.

“Good Lord!” he said aloud, when he realised what he’d just thought.

*~*~*~*

Buffy raced back to Giles’ apartment to tell the others.

“Is he okay? Is my body okay?” asked Spike, jumping up as soon as she came in.

“Yes to both. Well he got shot when they caught him but –”

“Shot? He let my body get shot? Great, this is just great. I give his a hangover and he gets mine shot and captured.” He paced up and down, arms waving.

“Spike, shut up,” yelled Buffy.

He did and also stood still.

“As I was saying,” she continued. “It wasn’t a bad wound. They’ve fed him some of what they called their grade A blood, not drugged, so your body’s fine…for now.”

“Giles has drunk blood? Eew,” said Willow.

“Hang on a minute,” said Spike, pointing at Buffy. “Did you just say ‘for now’? What’s happening later then?”

“Er...well...we’ve got to get him out tonight. Professor Walsh is going to be testing Giles by having him fight demons since they were so impressed at Hostile Seventeen’s escape.”

“Impressed, eh?” said Spike, puffing up a bit with the praise. “Yeah, didn’t get caught again until an out of shape, bloody ex- watcher was in charge.”

“Maggie Walsh did say she didn’t want the demons to kill him as she had more tests planned. She didn’t say what, though,” said Buffy.

Spike paled and shuddered at the thought.

“So what’s the plan?” he asked.

To be continued…