Made by Spikes Slayer2


Willow was beginning to become concerned. Giles had gone to locate the missing vampires over an hour ago, and she hadn’t seen him, or even heard a single sound, since. Tara had come downstairs for a moment to tell her that the calming spell she had put on Xander was wearing off, and she was going to perform it again – but that had been well over half an hour earlier, and she was beginning to feel restless and uneasy.

On the screen in front of her, Buffy and Spike seemed to be doing okay – not that there was anything she could do to help them from here, anyway, if they *did* run into a problem. She got up and went upstairs, passing the closed door to the room where Xander was resting, and began to check the other upstairs room – the bedroom that Buffy and Spike had been sharing – the bathroom – the small study at the end of the hall…

She stopped, frowning thoughtfully. The door was closed, and it was usually left open when no one was in there. She tried the handle. Locked – and the lock was on the inside.

*Well – guess I’ve found our fugitive vamps,* she thought with mild humor, tinged with sadness. The poor things had to be so freaked out right now. She knocked softly on the door, not wanting to startle them or give the impression of anger.

“Julian?” she called quietly. “Mara? Are you guys in there?”

There was no response for a long moment. Then, finally, a soft answer was heard through the door, sounding as if the speaker was standing very close to it.

“Yes?” It was a question, not an answer. “Do you need something?” Mara’s voice was timid and uncertain.

“Just wanted to be sure you guys are all right,” Willow replied softly, wishing that she could see the young vampire girl. “Could you – could you open the door, Mara?”

Another long, hesitant silence. “I – don’t think that’s a good idea,” she finally answered.

“Why not?” The fearful tone of the vampire’s voice tugged at Willow’s heart. She knew that Buffy’s words had to have frightened the chipped, helpless vampires, for a variety of reasons. It did not surprise her a bit that they would go and hide themselves away. They were probably afraid that they were going to be staked.

“You heard what Giles said, Sweetie,” Willow went on in a gentle, reassuring tone. “No one’s gonna hurt you. It’s okay. You guys can come out of there.”

There was another brief silence before Mara answered reluctantly, “It’s – it’s not that…it’s just – Buffy said – they can control the chips. If – if that’s true, then – then who knows how it works? I could hurt you or Mr. Giles without even meaning to! I just – just think it’s safer this way.”

Willow was quiet for a long moment before she pointed out in a voice that was patient but not patronizing, “Mara – you locked *yourselves* in there.”

“So?”

“So – you can unlock the door at any time and come out – like, say, if Riley suddenly decides to use whatever weird mind control he may or may not have over you and make you kill Giles. Locking yourself in doesn’t really make us any safer, when you’re the ones who can unlock the door.

Another *long* silence. “Oh.”

“Yeah.” Willow smiled in spite of herself. “So you might as well open the door and talk to me.”

There was yet another weighted pause, before Willow heard the lock turning, and the door slowly opened. Mara stood there looking at her with troubled eyes.

“And in my opinion,” Willow went on with a gently teasing smile. “Riley’s not exactly bright enough to handle the finer techniques of mind control. I think if you were his assassin – you’d probably know it by now.”

Mara frowned thoughtfully for a moment as she considered her words – then her eyes widened in alarm as they sank in, just as Willow glanced past her, frowning slightly herself, and asked, “Where’s Julian? I thought he was in here with you.”

The realization came to both of them at the exact same moment, and their wide eyes met in a look of dreadful understanding – and the next moment they both bolted for the stairs, hoping against hope that they were not already too late.


“You’re too late,” Giles said dryly, as he closed the door to the den behind him after stepping out to face the two frantic girls who had been pounding on it, giving Willow a serious look, though the corner of his mouth twitched up just a bit as he spoke. “He’s already killed me and turned me, and I’ve been feasting on the blood of the innocent, for, oh,” he checked his watch – it had been nearly an hour since he had talked Julian down. “…forty-five minutes or so now.”

He gave her a tight, exaggerated smile, nodding curtly. “But thanks for your concern.”

Willow stepped back in alarm, aghast at his words – but Mara did not move. All her vampire senses reassured her that her caretaker was still alive and well – heartbeat, body heat, and all features identifying him as human still intact.

Willow was slightly less equipped to recognize the difference, and appeared about to hyperventilate.

“Willow,” Giles said flatly, seeing the look of panic on her face. “I’m joking.”

The little redhead breathed a heavy sigh of relief, but her eyes were still anxious as she glanced at the firmly closed door. Both she and Mara had seen Julian in the room before Giles had closed it, sitting on the floor and looking quite subdued.

“Then – Julian’s *not* the assassin?” Willow guessed in a loud whisper, her eyes widening as her mind raced with possible explanations.

“Yes, he is,” Giles replied calmly. “and he can still hear you, Willow. He *is* a bloody vampire, my dear,” he reminded her with mild reproof, knowing that her words would not offend Julian as much as her speaking about him behind his back – so to speak.

Mara smiled in spite of the situation, and her own curiosity. “Joking *and* cursing?” she commented with wide, innocent eyes. “Are you sure he didn’t turn you?”


“Quite,” Giles assured her curtly, unamused, but not upset. “No thanks to the two of you.”

Willow made a second attempt to figure the situation out. “Then – then he *tried* to…”

“Willow,” Giles interrupted patiently. “Julian *was* planted here as an assassin, and whatever hold Riley has over him is powerful indeed, and almost did lead to disaster. But he has chosen to defy Riley’s threats and refused to carry out the act. As to what exactly those threats are – I am attempting to find out. I’ve only just managed to calm the boy down at all. So if the two of you would please grant us some privacy. Go back to the computer and see how Buffy is faring. Tell her that she can trust Aaron. He’s without question on our side. And that everything is under control here.”

Willow knew from his tone that she would not be getting any more information from him just yet, so she and Mara obediently returned to the laptop, leaving Giles to the very difficult conversation he was just beginning with his shaken, tearful charge.

Julian was still sitting on the floor, his back against the wall, his elbows resting on his knees and his head in his hands, when Giles walked back into the room, carefully closing the door behind him. He looked up through desolate, red-rimmed eyes as the older man slowly approached him, sitting down on the floor beside him in a mimickry of his position.

“They’re gonna hate me,” Julian said softly, his voice full of despair. “When they know what I did.”

“They already know what you did,” Giles pointed out gently. “They know that you stood up to the threats of a very cruel, very powerful man who could easily destroy you – choosing to disobey him and spare me, at possibly great cost to yourself.”

Julian laughed, a soft, sad sound. “You make me sound like some kind of hero, instead of the vampire who just tried to kill you.”

Giles put a gentle hand on his shoulder and said softly, “You’re both, Julian.”

The young vampire bowed his head again, tears streaking his face. His panic and confusion had been eased by the comfort of the older man beside him, but his emotions were far from spent. He did not bother to argue, though he did not agree at all with Giles’ assessment of his actions, which he thought to be far too generous.

“Well, it won’t be long,” he said in a voice barely over a whisper, “and it won’t matter. I won’t be anything.”

Giles’ jaw worked for a moment with repressed anger – and fear – at the as-yet unknown threat that had the boy so thoroughly convinced of his own doom. “Why don’t you tell me about it, Julian?” he suggested quietly. “Tell me what they’re doing to you, and we’ll find a way to stop them.”

“There’s no way to stop them,” Julian argued quietly. He sounded completely exhausted, as if he hadn’t the strength left to object too forcefully. “They’re going to kill me. They’re gonna know I didn’t do what I was supposed to, and they’re gonna kill me.” He paused. “If I’m lucky,” he added darkly.

“How are they going to know? How can they hurt you, when you’re here with me, and they’re – well, not?” Giles pressed him gently. “Tell me.”

Julian took a deep, shaky breath, eyes focused forward as he tried to prepare himself to tell his story, opening his mouth to speak – but then faltering, his face crumpling, his eyes threatening tears again, as he covered his face with his hands again.

Giles put a steadying hand around his slight shoulders, pulling him closer to him in a comforting way. “Let’s just start at the beginning,” he prompted him gently. “Was it Riley’s doing that you were sold into my care?”

Julian nodded without looking up, a little grimace on his face. “God, when I’m done, you’re gonna hate me!” he whispered in an utterly wretched, miserable voice. “I’m so sorry! I should have told you…”

“You’re telling me now,” Giles said firmly. “So – you’d been told beforehand what you were to do. That your eventual task was to – eliminate me.”

Another silent nod.

“And how did Riley and his people intend to keep you under his control, while you were out of their hands?” the Watcher asked. “How could they ensure that you followed through with your orders?”

Julian was quiet for a moment before he replied quietly, “The chip.” He paused, trying to keep control of his emotions, before going on. “They can – they can make it fire. Even if I – don’t try to hurt anyone. In fact – my chip *won’t* fire if I try to hurt someone – not automatically. Only if – if they make it. They fixed it that way when I left the training center.”

“How do they make it fire, Julian?” Giles asked in a tone of quiet urgency, beginning to realize the peril that his youngest charge was truly in, and mentally seeking a way to protect him from it.

“Some – remote control device thing. Mr. – Mr. Finn has it. If I do anything he doesn’t want me to do, he – he can…” Julian’s voice broke off, the haunted look in his eyes telling Giles that he had experienced Riley’s wrath before, and was terrified at the thought that he had just earned it again.

“How does he know if you’ve done as he said or not?” Giles frowned. “How has he been communicating with you?”

Julian’s mouth trembled with the fear and pain of recounting the details of his betrayal, however unwilling, to this man that he practically worshipped, adored above all others. “I – I have a – a cell phone. I mean – it’s not a *real* cell phone. I can’t call anyone else with it. It’s more like a – a radio. But it looks like a cell phone. It doesn’t ring or light up like a regular phone. But if he wants to talk to me, I get a message on it, and if I don’t contact him back soon enough…” He swallowed hard. “He…he….”

Giles got the idea. “Do you have this device right now?” he asked, curiosity mingled with the anger building in him at the thought of how mercilessly Riley and his people had manipulated and abused Julian, even in the supposed safety of his own home.

Julian nodded, taking it out and handing it over for Giles’ inspection, showing him where a tiny red light would blink if he had a message from Riley. It really did look like a cell phone, but there were only two buttons, much like a two-way radio. One to listen, and one to speak.

“He’ll be calling any minute now,” Julian whispered, his fear obvious in his voice. “Wanting to know if I’ve done it yet. He – he told me earlier that it – it had to be tonight.”

Giles frowned, alarmed. “Why tonight? When did he contact you?” he asked.

Julian looked up at him, his eyes troubled. “I don’t know why tonight. But he called a couple of hours ago, and – and he said – that it had to be tonight, and – and it had to be…everyone.”

Giles felt his blood run cold at the words. “What do you mean?” he asked softly, though he already understood. His mind simply could not fathom the cruelty, the brutality, that Riley was capable of. And at one time they had all called him friend…

“He said that – that it wasn’t just you anymore. He wanted me to – to kill you first…and then…the others. Not to – not to leave anyone in this house alive,” Julian whispered, his voice betraying his horror at the idea – and his terror at his failure.

He laughed softly, bitterly, before shaking his head and adding, “You don’t know how many times he told me to do it, and – and I came up with some excuse. I couldn’t do it because – because someone walked in the room at the last second…because you were armed at the moment – because...whatever I could come up with quick.”

He paused. “He said this time…no excuses. If I don’t do it…he’s gonna kill me. Period.” Julian’s voice was flat, his eyes wide and fearful. “And – and it won’t be easy.”

“And just how does the sadistic berk intend to get to you?” Giles asked in a quiet voice that was trembling with protective anger. “If I’m still alive?” His tone made it clear that he had no intention of allowing Riley to take Julian; he would lay down his own life first.

Julian swallowed hard, looking down. "The chip," he whispered again.

Giles frowned. "What? How?"

Julian was quiet for a moment. "Think about it," he said finally, his voice chillingly soft, full of an intense fear that saturated every word. "What does the chip do that causes so much pain?"

"It sends an electrical shock through the body, creating an intense burning, sharp pain..." Giles began to reply, almost as if by rote.

Julian interrupted quietly, "And electricity is very closely related to..."

Giles frowned, not quite following him.

"Burning..." Julian prompted him in a haunted whisper, his eyes wide, as he lowered his head to run his hands through his hair, clutching at his head, his breath coming faster as he thought of his certain fate, growing nearer by the moment.

Giles' eyes widened as he realized what the boy was saying. "Fire," he whispered.

Julian nodded slowly, a cold smile on his face. "He explained it all to me very thoroughly," he said in a voice that was a mockery of unconcern, with a little shrug. "He did experiments. He proved that it would work. That if you make the signal strong enough...it would...it would dust a vamp. Burn him up. From the inside out."

Giles was too horrified to speak, as Julian went on.

"But -- he said -- he won't do it all at once. He said...he'll just start it going. Turn it on and make it fire. Not too hard at first -- but steady. Keep it going. And then -- gradually -- he's gonna turn it up. Make the current stronger -- and stronger -- until -- until I'm dust. He -- he's done it a lot. With other vamps. He said," Julian paused, his shoulders shaking as his tears began to overwhelm him, "he can make it last hours..."

He stopped talking for a moment, swallowing back a sob, hugging his knees, his body shaking with the fear of the threat he was describing. "He -- he showed me once," he admitted, to Giles' horror. "He -- got mad when I -- didn't do it -- another time, and -- and he made it fire...it just kept getting worse and worse and I called him and begged him to stop and he just laughed and turned it up...and...I thought -- I thought he was gonna..."

Instinctively, Giles set down the device in his hand and put his arms around the boy, pulling him closer to him, running a sympathetic hand through his hair, cradling him protectively to him, and Julian gratefully turned into his embrace, his breath hitching with sobs of fear and the pain of his memories.

Giles just held him and tried his best to soothe him, all the time his mind racing trying desperately to think of a way to save him. Riley would be calling any moment -- and after that, it would only be a matter of time. They did not know where Riley was -- how to stop the controller, if they could find him...

He kept murmuring to the sobbing creature that it was going to be all right, that they were going to find a way to help him, but he had no idea if he could actually keep that promise -- in fact, he was more and more sure by the moment that he could not.

And in that moment -- the tiny red light on the device on the floor beside them began to blink.