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Universal Vampire by Mabel Marsters
 
Stolen
 
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Chapter Four


Stolen


Buffy and Giles once more made their way into The Initiative. Both were nervous, as this was their one chance of getting Spike out. They had to somehow get hold of one of those little remote control units without it being missed. It was their only chance of finding out what had been done to Spike and attempting to undo it. If it was discovered missing, the game would be up, and it would be apparent that they had been involved in the escape.

When they got to his cell, he was already standing, waiting for them.


“Aw, come on,” said Buffy. “You can’t have him go out in a pair of bright blue pajamas. Conspicuous, much? Haven’t you got any real clothes he can wear? It’s cold out there.”


“I’ve already thought of that,” snapped Maggie. “I’ve sent for the clothes it was wearing on capture to be brought up.”


Sure enough, an assistant appeared with a bag full of clothes which he put down in front of Spike.


“Number Seventeen, change in to these clothes,” ordered Maggie.


Spike pulled the end of the knot that Buffy had tied and it fell loose. He took off the scrubs and then pulled on the jeans, struggling a little with the button on the waist. He pulled the belt two holes tighter than the mark on it where it had fastened previously. He reached for the t–shirt, holding it for a moment as he looked at his left arm. He then tried to thread it over that arm and then pull it over his head, but the sleeve caught on his left elbow and he couldn’t do it. He started to panic a little, as failure to do as he was told resulted in punishment.


“Oh, for God’s sake!” cried Buffy as she went in to the cell to help him.


“It must adapt to doing it himself,” said Maggie.


“Yeah, well it’ll be dawn before we get out at this rate. You can practice dressing up your vampire on your own time, but not while I’m waiting.”


She gently pulled on his left hand and helped him get the arm through the sleeve so he could put it over his head and on properly. She fastened the buckles of his boots once he’d put his bare feet into them, and helped him put on the leather duster that was so ‘Spike’ that she felt a tear running down her cheek before she could stop it. She quickly wiped it away and saw Spike looking at her curiously. She put his left hand into the pocket of the duster so that it was held there.


Whilst Buffy was helping to dress Spike and everyone’s attention was on her, Giles took one of the hand held computers from a rack on the wall and quickly put it in his pocket, unseen.


“Let’s get going,” said Buffy. “I’ve got the perfect spot picked out. It’s nice and quiet and we won’t be interrupted by Joe Public.”


They made their way out of The Initiative, the group consisting of Maggie, Spike, Buffy, Giles and two troops. As this was Spike’s first time outside of The Initiative in over a year, his step faltered. He raised his chin and breathed in a deep and unnecessary breath, and then carried on walking beside Maggie Walsh. They went to the graveyard that Buffy and Giles had chosen as the best site for their plan.


They got to the spot and on Maggie’s order, the fight began. Buffy made a good show of fighting but kept them moving in the direction she wanted. Giles stood with Maggie while the two soldiers followed the action, tazer guns at the ready.


As they disappeared behind a large mausoleum, the soldiers followed. Xander, who was hiding there, hit one from behind and used his weapon on the second. Neither soldier saw what had hit them.


Willow stood in the shadows near Maggie Walsh. She knew Xander had taken care of the soldiers so now it was her turn to go to work. Muttering an incantation she raised her hands at Maggie, sparks flying as the spell hit the professor. With a sigh, she collapsed to the ground unconscious.


“Well done, now do me,” said Giles and he was soon laid next to Maggie.


“Spike, stop fighting,” said Buffy. Nothing happened - the vampire still kept calmly coming for her.


“Damn! Number Seventeen, stop fighting,” she yelled and immediately he stood still. “Thank God,” she sighed.


They’d been worried only a voice he’d been programmed to respond to would work, but mercifully, it wasn’t the case.


“Xander, get him home and when you ask him to do something say ‘Number Seventeen’ or else he won’t respond. Please take care of him. Now hit me.”


“What?” said Xander.


“Punch me. They’ve got to believe I was taken out too. Come on, hurry,” she ordered.


Reluctantly, Xander punched Buffy hard enough to split her lip, then, with Willow at his side, he ordered Spike to follow him. The three set off running, heading back to Buffy’s house where Dawn would have things ready.


When one of the soldiers started to stir, Buffy lay on the ground and waited until he was on his feet before she groaned and got up holding her head. The soldier hit with the tazer blast was still out cold. They raced around to see Giles and Maggie struggling to their feet.


“What’s happened?” asked Maggie, leaning on Giles for support. “What the hell was that?”


“I have no idea,” said Giles. “Buffy, are you alright?”


“Yeah, I’m fine. Just got socked by something that I never saw coming. The other soldier is still out. Looks like he was hit with a tazer blast.”


“Number Seventeen?” cried Maggie. “Where’s Number Seventeen?”


They looked around for a while but they found no sign of him. Maggie was beyond furious and tore strips off the soldier, ordering him to get his partner back to The Initiative. She then stalked off, dismissing Giles and Buffy’s offer of help with a wave of her hand as she walked away.


Buffy and Giles looked at each other - so far so good. They quickly made their way to the house. As soon as they set foot in the door, Dawn rushed up to Buffy.


“Why did Xander chain him up? Why won’t he speak? What’s wrong with his arm?” she cried.


“Hey, hey, steady. Calm down, Dawnie. We asked Xander to chain Spike up because we weren’t sure how he’d react to being somewhere different. The no talking and arm are things that were done to him. We hope we can undo it but it may take time. Willow’s got to work on the computer thingy, but he’s safe now, Dawnie. They can’t hurt him anymore, and we’ll do all we can to make him OK again, I promise,” said Buffy.


“Did you have any trouble getting him back here?” asked Giles.


“No, he just did what he was told. I tell you, it’s freaking me out; it’s like something out of Universal Soldier.”


“What?” chorused the girls.


“Man, do I need more male friends. Movie; Jean Claude Van Damme? Forget it,” he said when they continued to look blank.


“Have you fed him yet?” asked Buffy.


“No,” said Willow. “We were waiting for you to get back, figured you’d want to do it.”


“Thanks, Will. I’ll go see how he is.”


“Want me to come with?” asked Willow.


Buffy silently shook her head. None of her friends really knew how she felt about Spike, and although Willow suspected that she had feelings for him, she’d never opened up to her.


“OK, I’ll get started on this gismo,” Willow said, waving the little computer in her hand.


Buffy heated a bag of blood in the microwave and walked down the steps to the basement. Her feet - somehow of their own accord - slowing their pace as she got further down.


“God, it hurts so much to see him like this.”


Taking a deep breath, she stepped down onto the floor of the basement and turned to look at Spike.


Dawn had set out a bed for him with blankets and a pillow, and Xander had fixed a five-foot length of chain to the ring in the wall. Spike sat on the edge of the bed, feet on the floor, his right wrist with the chain attached to it. He glanced up, then stood as she approached, his blue eyes looking slightly wary, body held a little tense. Xander had taken off his leather jacket before he’d chained Spike up, and she was once more struck by how thin he was. She walked over to him and held out the blood.


“Here’s your supper, warmed to 98.7. Just how you like it,” she said, forcing her voice to sound light.


He just looked at her, not quite meeting her eyes. She held it out closer to him. He looked at the bag of blood then back at her but didn’t take it.


“Number Seventeen,” said Buffy, “take the blood and eat it.”


He reached out with his right hand and took it from her, the chain jangling as he did. A faint look of surprise crossed his face when he felt its warmth. Buffy realised that for the past year he’d probably had it given straight from the refrigerator. He turned and sat back on the bed, pulling his legs up on to it so he could face the wall before he changed his features, nicked a hole in the bag and drank it all. As soon as he’d finished he shook his head a little, as his features returned to human but didn’t turn back around.


“Oh Spike, what have they done to you?” said Buffy. She went up to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He tensed against her touch. She felt her heart would break and turned and rushed upstairs before her tears came.


Once upstairs she found Willow.


“Will, you’ve got to work out how to get him able to speak again, and fix that arm, I can’t bear it,” said Buffy.


“I’ll try. The arm should be OK to do because Professor Walsh told Giles that it was the chip blocking messages to the nerves, but Buffy, what if they didn’t use the chip on his voice?”


“What do you mean? How else could they stop everything from speaking?”


“By removing their vocal chords,” Willow said quietly.


“Oh, my God. No. Please don’t let it be that,” Buffy could hold in her tears no longer.


“Hopefully it’s not, but from what Giles said Maggie Walsh told him, it’s certainly been used on some of the demons they’ve captured.”


“Oh please, Willow, try to work out what to do with the computer. I don’t know where to start. He doesn’t even respond to his name, just to Number Seventeen. He doesn’t do anything unless told to.”


“I think we’ve got to encourage him to use his own initiative again. My God, is that why they use that word for their operation? Because it removes the captives’ initiative?” pondered Willow. “But you know what I mean.”


“How do we do that?” asked Buffy.


“The easiest would be not to tell him to eat and to just leave it there.”


“But he’s so thin; if he doesn’t keep eating…” protested Buffy.


“That’s my point Buff; at some point hunger will make him do it. We’ve got to encourage that and take it from there. It’ll take time - they’ve had him for over a year,” said Willow.


At that point, they decided to call it a night and start work in the morning.


Since being captive, Spike had been conditioned to follow normal human sleeping patterns, not the natural nocturnal tendencies of a vampire. But down in the basement, Spike couldn’t sleep. Something was wrong. Used to the sterile, brightly lit glass fronted cells at The Initiative, he glanced fearfully around the dark basement. One of the lights had been left on, and it cast a dim light out over where he was sitting, leaving the corners in darkness.


“Is it a test? Is a demon going to appear from the dark? Can’t smell it.”


He knew that he’d been tested like this before, hampered by shackles, but he looked at his useless left arm and knew he’d be in trouble if he had to fight. The only arm he could use was chained to the wall. The stress made him pant a little. He got up off the bed and managed to push it away from the wall. The length of the chain allowing him to move it far enough so that he could get behind it. He lay down on the floor and after a time he managed to fall asleep.


Ooooooo


Dawn sneaked down the stairs and opened the door to the basement. She’d been given strict orders not to go down tonight, but she couldn’t wait to see Spike again. She’d seen him for a couple of minutes when Xander and Willow had arrived with him, but that was all.


She tiptoed quietly down the steps. She could see that the bed had been moved and, the figure of Spike lay on the floor behind it. She walked over to him. Why hadn’t he slept on the bed? She stood looking at him; she could see him shivering, so she gently put a couple of blankets over him. He stirred in his sleep but didn’t wake up. Dawn was glad he hadn’t. The others had been right; he should be left in peace. She quietly made her way back to her bedroom.


To be continued……



 
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