Banner by the lovely and talented nmcil12

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Spike’s musings were interrupted when the cage door opened and he was hit with a taser blast that knocked him into unconsciousness.  His last thought as he slipped into darkness was, ‘Bloody buggerin’ hell, I’m gonna kill these gits when I get out of here.  I just won’t let Joyce know.’
 
Meanwhile….                                       §
 
 
“Buffy can I talk to you?” Joyce’s nervous and upset voice stopped her daughter as she was going up the stairs.
 
“Sure Mom, what’s up?” Buffy replied as she came into the living room.
 
“I need you to listen to me; don’t say anything until I’m done, please?”  At Buffy’s nod, Joyce started talking.
 
“I’ve been keeping in touch with Spike.  He’s changed, Buffy, he is changing.  I know he’ll always be a vampire, but I think he could be more.  He could be good.  Just - just look at these for me.”  When she finished, she showed Buffy the postcards and letters she and Spike had exchanged.  
 
When Buffy finished reading them all, she looked at her mom.  “Okay - so you’ve been in touch with Spike.  I don’t know why exactly or if I like it but, what’s up?”  Buffy looked at her mom, taking in her worried frown.
 
“He’s back in town; he stopped by two weeks ago at the gallery and we talked for over an hour.  He said he’d be by the next day to let me know where he was staying, but I haven’t seen him since.  Buffy, something’s wrong.  I stopped by Willy’s the other night to see if Clem had a letter or had heard from Spike, and Willy told me that there are soldiers capturing demons in town.  A few have escaped and the things they say are being done… oh, Buffy, it’s horrible.  What if they have Spike?”  Joyce’s voice rose in panic as she spoke.
 
“What were you doing going to Willy’s?  How do you even know about that place?”  Buffy jumped up from the couch, now equally panicked, but for different reasons.
 
“Spike asked Clem to give me some letters when he was traveling and I went to Willy’s once in a while to pick them up.  Willy told me that Spike had made it perfectly clear that no one was to touch me or Spike would come back here and kill them.  Slowly.”
 
“That’s - actually really wiggy, Mom, but -”
 
“But that isn’t the point, Buffy.  Spike said he would be back, but he hasn’t called, come by, or written and I’m worried about him.”  Joyce held up her hand to stop Buffy from talking.  “He’s my friend, Buffy, I probably know him better than you do.  After all, I have been talking to him for months now.  You read the letters, he didn’t hide anything about himself, didn’t lie either.  We’re friends and I’m worried about my friend.  Can you or Giles try to find him?”
 
 Buffy knew her mother was upset - and you didn’t try to argue with her when she was upset.  “Okay Mom, let me call the gang over here and you can tell them everything and we’ll see what we can do.  I’m not doing this for Spike - because I don’t trust him like you do - but if there really are humans capturing and experimenting on demons then I need to know about it.”  Buffy turned towards the phone and started making calls. 
 
When the gang arrived, Buffy told them that they were going to listen to her mother and no one was going to say anything until her story was done.  As Joyce spoke, Buffy had to glare at Xander to shut him up quite a few times.  Anya got more and more upset when Joyce started talking about the soldiers, and Giles seemed to be listening while he polished his glasses.  Willow just looked horrified and Oz stayed quiet, but looked upset.
 
“Joyce, while I have no idea how you became pen pals with William the Bloody, I do admit that what has happened is very disturbing,” Giles said as he put his glasses back on.
 
“Willy told me the soldiers are taking even the peaceful demons, Rupert.  Clem’s brother was taken and he found his body last week.  They’d cut him open and removed his organs.  Clem’s family was devastated.”  Joyce looked at the group. Anya gasped and covered her mouth, but the rest just looked puzzled and mildly upset.
 
“Okay Mom, who’s Clem?”
 
“Oh, he’s a very nice man - I suppose I should say demon - that brought me Spike’s letters.  He’s very sweet.  If you want, I can call him and have him come over.  He’ll be able to tell you more,” Joyce replied to a shell-shocked group of Scoobies. 
 
“Wait.  You know demons on a first name basis?” Xander questioned.
 
“Why didn’t I know this, Mom?”  Buffy looked at her mom in a new light.
 
“Buffy, you don’t want me involved with your slaying and I’ve respected that, but Clem wouldn’t harm a human, so I didn’t tell you about him.  He isn’t a vampire and actually doesn’t eat humans.  Besides, you haven’t been around much - what with college and living at the dorms - for us to talk about this stuff.  And I know it makes you uncomfortable.” Joyce got up from the couch.  “Now wait, I have his number.  I put it next to Willy’s and that nice old warlock who erased my parking ticket... hang on, I think I put them on the fridge, not in my purse...”
 
As Joyce tracked down the numbers and called Clem,she didn’t see the looks of surprise and bewilderment the group had on their faces.
 
Half an hour later, a floppy skinned demon rang the door bell.  Joyce opened it and Clem walked in.  He waved shyly at the group and looked at Buffy nervously.  “Hi, Slayer.”
 
Joyce introduced Clem to everyone, but before they could start talking, Anya jumped up, her agitation getting the best of her.  “What if they want former demons?  I don’t want to be captured!  What about you, Buffy, aren’t you worried? They might try to find out why you’re so strong and how you heal so fast.  Or… or how about Oz, huh?  He’s a werewolf three days a month.  Or even Willow since she’s a witch.  We could all be in danger.”
 
 Xander jumped up to try and calm her down.  “Sweetie, easy, easy.  Come here; let’s get you a nice big glass of water - and maybe a sedative.”  He led her to the kitchen, the last part said quietly under his breath.
 
While Xander was calming Anya down, Clem passed an envelope to Giles.  Giles blanched when he saw the pictures inside.  The group noticed his reaction and walked over to look at the pictures.  A demon that looked a lot like Clem was cut to bits.  Stomach and chest were sliced open, organs were missing, fingers cut off.  Skin had been peeled from his skull, and his skull had holes drilled into it.  His face had been cut opened and there was obviously something missing.
 
Clem’s voice cracked as he spoke. “Friend of mine escaped yesterday.  He came to see me today, he was leaving town.  He told me that the soldiers did that to my brother.  He also had a message for you, Joyce, from Spike.  The soldiers got him, but he’s going to try to get out.  He said he’s thinking of you.”  At this point, Joyce started to feel her throat tighten and she leaned on Buffy, who was surprised to see tears glinting in her mother’s eyes.  She knew then that she had to help.  No one made her mom cry.
 
“Anything else?” Giles asked, between the pictures and the obvious distress coming from both Joyce and Clem, moving him to prompt gently.
 
“Yeah, but - not to Joyce so much.  Just what my friend passed on.  Spike says he doesn’t know what they did to him, but they keep cutting open his head.  Tom, my friend, said some of the demons had surgery done on them while they were awake, and the scientists put something in their heads.  Afterwards they had no control over their actions.  The scientists and soldiers would force them to fight each other, controlling their actions to test out the ‘chip,’ but for some reason it didn’t seem to work right on Spike.  Tom overheard the scientists saying that it might be because Spike is such an old vampire and he has more control over himself then the fledglings.”
 
A muttered, “Behavior modification,” from Giles momentarily distracted the group.
 
Clem continued, “They’re also taking the peaceful demons and removing their defensive weapons.  That’s what they did to my brother.”
 
“What exactly did they take, Clem?” Giles asked softly, realizing it must be painful for the floppy skinned demon to speak of.
 
 “Nobody freak, okay?” Clem said just before a bunch of snake like things popped out of his face.  Xander screamed, Willow eep’d, and Anya and Joyce just chuckled.
 
Buffy looked at Clem and asked, “What exactly do they do?”
 
“Well they scare people, and that’s usually enough, you know? But they can release a spray that makes your eyes burn and water for a little while.  My species aren’t very good fighters, we prefer to run while you can’t see.  They cut them out of him,” Clem answered her, voice barely above a whisper on the last words.  He steadied his voice with an effort. “I don’t know if this will help but,I managed to get away from the soldiers the other day.  I overheard them talking and I caught a few names.  Finn and Forrest were the only names I got.”
 
“That’s a big help,” Joyce reassured him, touching his shoulder.  Buffy almost fell over backwards.  Her mom was touching demons like it was no big deal. “We’re going to look into this.  If anyone can stop those people from hurting demons like you and your brother, it’s my daughter and her friends.  You should stay for dinner, Clem.  It’s not good to be on your own after the loss of a loved one, you should be around friends.”
 
“Thanks, Joyce, but I gotta get going.  It’s close to dark, and that’s when the soldiers come out.  I don’t want to get caught.”  Clem waved goodbye, and after a hug from Joyce, hurriedly left.
 
“Buffy, isn’t Riley Finn the name of the TA in Prof. Walsh’s class?  The one you went on a picnic with?  Do you think it might be him?”  Willow turned to Buffy, breaking the silence Clem had left behind him.
 
“Might be, Wills.  I guess I have to find a way inside and figure out what’s going on.”