Betad by Carol and dawnofme


Banner by dawnofme


Disclaimer: the characters do not belong to me - they are used purely for fun and not fiancial gain






Chapter Forty-Three


Newsflash


Xander drove Giles’ car to the hospital to get Spike’s blood. He had barely gone a half-mile when he realised something was going down. There were army trucks everywhere. They were all going the same way – out of town.


When he got to the hospital, he went to the basement where the blood supply was kept. He’d gotten to know the staff down there, figuring it was better to be given the expired blood than to keep stealing it.


“Hi, Xander,” said a pretty brunette with a broad smile when she saw him. “Need more blood? You must be doing a lot of research experiments.”


“Yeah, Kirsten, I do need more, thanks. Have you got any?” he cringed a little when she mentioned the research but it was the only cover story he could come up with to explain why he kept needing the blood.


“Sure. I’ll just go get it.”


Xander handed her the bag and she disappeared into the cold storage, returning moments later with it packed to capacity.


“So what’s going on out there?” asked Xander. “There’s army trucks all over the place. Are we being invaded?”


“Where have you been?” asked Kirsten.


“Been kind of busy in the…er…lab, why?”


“So you haven’t seen the newsflash on the TV?”


“No, I haven’t been near one for a few days. What’s going on?”


“Apparently, the military had a secret base here in Sunnydale and it was attacked by terrorists,” replied Kirsten. “There was a massive fire but fortunately most of the soldiers got out.”


“But why all the trucks?”


“They’re moving out. The place has been sealed off. The damage was too great, and I suppose there’s no point in having a secret base if everyone knows where it is, is there?”


“I guess not,” said Xander. “My God, they did it. They really did it. The Initiative is no more.” “Huh?” He realised that Kirsten was talking to him.


“I was saying that it wasn’t terrorists, was it?”


“What do you mean?”


“Do you think it was…something else? Something like what you get the blood for?”


“What do you mean?” repeated Xander stupidly.


“Come on, do you think I’ve managed to work here for three years and not see a vampire or two stealing the blood?”


Xander blinked.


She laughed at him. “I might have thought you were a vampire but for the fact that you’ve got a decent tan and I’ve seen you stand in direct sunlight.”


“But? How did you...?” stuttered Xander.


“Did a bit of research of my own after I saw my first one. This keeps me safe,” said Kirsten, pulling out an ornate silver cross hanging from a chain beneath the neck of her uniform. “I’ve been a nurse for a few years now and we see all sorts of strange things hanging about the hospital.”


Xander’s mind was reeling, both from what Kirsten was saying and the fact that the Initiative was moving out. “I’m really sorry, Kirsten, but I’ve got to go,” he said, taking the bag from her.


She held onto its strap. “So is this for a vampire? Have you got one as some sort of a pet?” she joked.


“A vampire – yes,” said Xander. “But he sure ain’t a pet!”


“Why are you helping a vampire? They’re evil.”


Xander thought of Spike trying to save Dawn from Doc and the way time and again he’d helped them, even though he and Giles made no secret of the fact that they didn’t like him.


“Not Spike; he’s not evil. He’s the exception that proves the rule.”


Ooooooo


Xander burst into the house, flinging the door wide open in his haste.


“Turn on the TV!” he cried.


Dawn jumped up and turned it on. “What channel?”


“The news channel.”


They didn’t have long to wait before the programme returned to the main story.


“Spike! You’ve got to see this!” shouted Matt.


Spike was in the basement still holding Buffy in his arms and made no move to go.


“Sounds important, Spike,” said Buffy, pulling out of his embrace. “You’d better go.”


“’S okay, they can tell me,” he replied.


“No. You go and see what they want and then you can tell me.” Buffy’s voice was firm.


“Oh, all right then,” he sighed, and he limped up to the lounge.


He spotted the discarded bag full of blood on the floor and snagged a couple as he walked by. He leant on the doorframe.


“What’s this about?” he asked, nicking the first bag and starting to drink.


“Look,” said Dawn, pointing to the TV and increasing the volume.


The newsreader took on a suitably grave demeanour as he began to speak.


“We have just received confirmation of the names of those missing presumed dead. Their next of kin have been informed and our sympathies are with the bereaved families. The death toll is mercifully low considering what a terrible atrocity has occurred. Those who have lost their lives are, Graham Maitland, Andrew Goldsmith, Matthew Wood, Robbie Maguire, Charles Taylor and Bradley Shorter.”


Matt gasped as his name was read out. He was officially dead and that meant he was free. He closed his eyes, thinking of Graham and Charlie; they were the two soldiers that had been guarding the control room.


“God, I killed them as surely as if I’d put a bullet in their heads.”


That shook him to the core. No matter that Charlie had been scarily enthusiastic in assisting with the torture of the captives. He’d had a habit of doing his own thing on the night shift, but he still didn’t deserve that.


They started to show photographs of the deceased. When Charles Taylor’s picture was shown, everyone was startled by Spike’s ferocious growl. They all looked at him. He was rigid, demonic features on show, amber eyes blazing with intensity.


“Spike, what’s wrong?” asked Xander, thinking he’d never seen Spike look so terrifying.


“It’s Charlie, isn’t it?” said Matt softly, reaching for the remote control in Dawn’s hands and turning the TV off.


Spike remained there, quivering with rage for several seconds after the screen went blank. Then his features faded back to human.



“The bastard,” he said quietly. “He was the worst.”


“What do you mean?” asked Willow.


“He worked to his own agenda in there, Willow,” Matt said quickly, eyes on Spike who still looked like he could explode. “He was a total psycho. The Initiative gave him plenty of opportunity to hurt those who couldn’t answer back and that nobody would have cared about it if they had.”


Spike closed his eyes as unwanted, unwelcome images filled his mind. He didn’t realise that his features had vamped up. He gripped the doorframe so hard that the wood creaked as it split.


“Which was the worst? The first time it happened or every other time when you knew what was coming?” thought Spike bitterly.


Ooooooo


The middle of the night and Spike was sitting at the back of his cell; it was just after his speech had been taken away. He looked up as one of the soldiers stopped at the door.


“Number Seventeen,” said Charlie Taylor.


Spike struggled to his feet as his conditioning demanded. His head was still sore from the programming the day before. He swayed slightly and put a hand on the wall to steady himself.


“Yes, you’ll do just fine,” smiled Charlie. “Maggie’s hoping you’ll be her best subject so far. I wonder if you’ll be mine?”


Spike just stared at him, not liking the way he was looking at him. The cell door slid open and Charlie stepped inside. Spike’s sensitive nostrils were suddenly filled with a scent that horrified him – the other man’s desire. He vamped up his features and tried to growl but no sound came out. He lunged at the soldier, knowing the chip would fire but too desperate to care.


He got just two strides before he was hit by a short blast from a tazer. It knocked him off his feet and left him unable to do more than weakly move his limbs. As Charlie approached, he tried frantically to move but couldn’t.


“Save your energy, demon,” sneered Charlie. “You won’t be able to move properly for at least a half hour. That will give me plenty of time.”


He reached for the zip on his pants. Spike redoubled his efforts to move.


“Keep freaking still,” said Charlie as he kicked Spike viciously between the legs.


The pain was so great that Spike almost blacked out but as he was flipped over and his face came into contact with the cold tiled floor, he came to.
He wished he hadn’t. Soon, the pain of Charlie’s attentions joined those caused by the kick.


The assault lasted for fifteen minutes. The soldier turned Spike back over, laughing at the vampire’s discomfort - the look in its eyes and the way it was panting. It always turned him on when he got a vampire to pant like that - it meant he’d really got to it. He wondered if he had time to go again? But he just kicked Spike in the ribs instead.


“See you soon, Number Seventeen. I think Maggie was right, I think you are going to be special.”


Spike lay there helpless for another twenty minutes or so. When he could finally move he dragged himself into a corner and huddled there, knees drawn up to his chest, rocking slightly to and fro. He tried not to look at the smear of blood he’d left on the floor. He tried to ignore the pain.


As the programming of the chip became more sophisticated, Charlie could abuse Spike without having to resort to the tazer blast. Simply by ordering Spike to cooperate, Charlie could do anything he liked to him and frequently did. Unlike Maggie, he never ordered Spike to forget.


Ooooooo


Spike’s eyes flew open as he felt a hand on his shoulder. He took two quick steps backwards, crying out in pain as he put too much weight on his right leg.


“Hey, Spike, it’s okay; it’s me – Matt,” soothed the young man.


“Uh…?”


Spike looked around. Everyone was staring at him. Matt looked at Spike’s face and suddenly realised that the rumours he’d heard about Charlie not just torturing the captives had been true.


“Oh, Christ,” he whispered, so low that only Spike could hear him.


Spike held his gaze for a moment, accurately guessing Matt’s thoughts. He looked away, shame written all over his face, and limped silently out of the room.


“What’s got into him?” asked Xander.


“Charlie used to…torture the demons when he was on the night shift. It’s pretty clear that Spike was one of them,” replied Matt, not feeling quite so bad at having a hand in Charlie’s death after all. Spike was one of the good guys and Charlie the bad.


Oooooo


Spike went to the only place where he knew that his pain would lessen. He went to Buffy. She looked at his stricken face but he wouldn’t meet her eye.


“Spike, what is it?” she asked.


Wordlessly, he just wrapped his arms around her and clung to her, burying his face in her shoulder. Letting her scent banish the remembered ones.


“God, you’re trembling. What’s happened?”


“We did it. It’s closed down,” he whispered hoarsely.


Buffy tightened her hug around her lover who was still shaking uncontrollably.


“Shh, Spike, it’s okay. It’s over. No one will ever hurt you again.”


To be continued…