The journey back to London was uncomfortable for Spike, as he remained hogtied and crammed into the foot-well of the seat he usually travelled in. But he knew that it would be a damn sight more uncomfortable when he reached his destination. From time to time, Riley gave him a short blast of the pain chip. Just enough to make him spasm against the chains.
As they unloaded Spike, carrying him by the chains he was bound with, Riley bent close to the vampire’s wrenched back head.
“Man, if you didn’t like being a hunter – you sure as hell won’t like what’s in store for you now!”
Spike’s limbs cramped as he was unchained and then firmly strapped down into a chair in one of the surgical rooms.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” chanted Spike over and over again as they manoeuvred him into position.
“Too late for that now, buddy,” said Riley, slapping Spike’s face a couple of times. “Have a nice existence!”
Spike couldn’t see the little red light on the top of the camera facing him flick on capturing his image on film. But for a time, he gave a good show as he thrashed against his restraints and roared in desperation.
*~*~*~*
Cameron was visibly wilting by the time that he was wheeled into Maggie Walsh’s office.
“Well now, Cameron, what do you think of our facility?” She smiled at him.
He leaned his head to the right until it was supported by the head rest and closed his eyes momentarily. If he told her the truth would he become the next subject for her insane projects? Luckily, she didn’t give him time to answer.
“Take a look at that screen – you may see something rather familiar.” She turned a monitor on the desk around so that he could see it.”
He opened his eyes and gasped. He’d known it was true that Spike was still alive, yet seeing him again after so long affected him deeply.
“Why did you take him back? Why couldn’t you have just left us alone?”
“It was fascinating, observing a vampire living for all intents and purposes as a human. Loving and being loved in return. It was something that we couldn’t allow to continue. If the public knew that a vampire could act like that they would demand we close the facilities. Hell, there’d probably be a campaign for equal rights for vampires as long as they were chipped so they couldn’t harm humans!” Maggie leaned forwards. “I couldn’t see years of work taken away because of one vampire!”
Tears rolled down Cameron’s face as Spike struggled and screamed. “Stop hurting him!”
Laughing softly, Maggie said, “We’re not doing anything to him right now. Seventeen just knows that he’s been disobedient and you’ve seen what can happen to disobedient operatives, haven’t you?”
“Please don’t hurt him. Leave him alone. I’ll do whatever you want.” Cameron’s voice was becoming wheezy as exhaustion and stress took their toll.
“Funny, that’s exactly what Seventeen said, right after we snapped your brother’s arm.”
Maggie glanced up at Mark, who had remained silent, standing near to the door. “Take him to his quarters – the nurses will clean him up and put him to bed.” Her eyes returned to Cameron. “Sleep well, boy. There is much work for you to do tomorrow.”
To Cameron’s relief, Mark didn’t take him back to his bed the same way and so was spared the sight of the physically mutilated beings. He was too tired to feel embarrassed as the nurses efficiently moved him from chair to bed and proceeded to give him a bed bath. Despite his fears, Cameron was asleep almost as soon as he was left alone.
*~*~*~*
Buffy woke before dawn. She dressed and paced back and forth as she tried to decide what to do. Her cell-phone was lying on the bedside table and a glance at it revealed that she’d missed no calls as she slept.
What the hell is Jerry playing at?
Her blood ran cold and she pressed speed dial three, tapping her fingers impatiently against the wooden headboard.
“Hello, Buffy. How are you? Glad to be home with the boys?” Willow said, knowing who it was from the caller I.D.
Biting the inside of her cheek to keep the tears at bay, Buffy said, “I need you to do me a favour. Can you get onto the Internet and check something out for me, please?”
“Sure,” said Willow, resisting the urge to ask why. “Give me a moment.” After a few minutes she said, “Okay, I’m online. What do you need me to check?”
Buffy quickly told her to go to the news sites and see if anything came up from her home town. Willow got a hit right away.
“There was an explosion at a house. A man was killed. Jerry Lloyd. They think it was caused by a gas leak.”
Sitting on the bed, Buffy found herself unable to speak.
“Hey! Wasn’t Spike’s handler called Jerry?” said Willow.
“Yes. Yes, he was.”
“So what has this to do with you?”
“Spike’s alive and the Initiative have taken Cameron,” Buffy said, her voice cracking. “Oh, God, Will. They’ve got Cam and they killed Jerry!”
“Where are you?”
“The outskirts of London. Jerry found out that they had brought Cameron here. I’m going to get him back, Will. And if they’ve hurt him…”
“Sweet Goddess, be careful! You can’t do this alone! Why didn’t you call me?”
“I didn’t have time. Craig is with me. I’ll be careful.”
“I’m coming over!” Willow declared and Buffy almost sobbed with relief. The witch’s magics might come in handy.
She told her where they were staying and after thanking her, hung up. Buffy put on her boots and grabbed her jacket, then strode out of her room and rapped sharply on Craig’s door. It opened so quickly that she wondered if he’d been standing waiting for her to knock.
“Come on. Let’s go see what we can find out.”
Craig nodded grimly and the pair went outside to the car. The black Range Rover followed at a distance. They no longer needed to be so close as a tracking device had been attached to the car during the night. Now all that was needed was for an opportunity to arise to stage the accident.
*~*~*~*
Cameron was woken when the nurses returned. They worked silently to bathe him and set him back in the chair he already hated. He didn’t try to make conversation. Once he was strapped into the chair, they left him alone. His hands were still too weak to be able to propel the chair and he knew that this was as good as he was going to be allowed to get. His life was over. Had they already made it look like he was dead? Were his mom and brother arranging his memorial service? Glancing round the sterile white tiled room, Cam longed for his familiar bedroom, with its posters and books and–
“Stop it!” he said out loud.
He had to keep thoughts like that away. Lock them up with the memories of the mutilated creatures he’d seen yesterday. It was almost a relief when Mark came, smirk in place, to take him to wherever Maggie wanted him to be.
A relief until he was wheeled next to the contraption containing Spike.
“Spike!”
Cameron reached out to touch the vampire, but Mark pulled the wheelchair back so his fingers fell short.
Spike turned his head in the direction of Cameron’s voice. It had been a long time since he’d been called Spike. When Mark’s scent joined the strange one of the person who had spoken his name, he shuddered uncontrollably. Then he hissed, lips drawn back, revealing the worn down stumps of teeth. His body went limp as he raised his chin, exposing his neck in the ultimate vampiric gesture of submission.
“Spike! It’s me! It’s Cameron!” Cam glanced up at Mark. “Let me touch him.”
With a shrug, the man rolled the chair closer, and Cameron placed his left hand on Spike’s side. To Cam’s dismay, Spike flinched and a whimper escaped his lips.
“Why doesn’t he know me?” Cameron asked.
“I guess you just weren’t that important to him after all? Why should a vampire care about a human boy?”
Spike froze. Was this the boy he’d seen in that image? But that was just a dream or a trick, wasn’t it?
“I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere!” Mark said with a chuckle, when as ordered, he left the boy and vampire alone together.
Cam stared at Spike. In all the years that he’d been with them, his features were fixed as human and now the lumpy brow was present. But no fangs, not really any teeth left at all.
“Look at me, Spike,” said Cam softly.
The vampire snorted. “They turned off my eyes. I’m blind. Don’t think they’re going to let me see again. Not now.”
“Don’t you remember my voice?”
Spike shook his head. “You’re human. I can smell that. But you’ve never been my handler.”
“Concentrate! You lived with us. Me and Mom and my brother.”
“Vampires don’t live with humans. What test is this? I don’t understand.”
“It’s not a test, Spike! You need to remember!”
Cameron managed to touch the partially healed scar on Spike’s chest where he’d tried to stake himself.
“What’s this from?”
The vampire turned his head away. “Tried to stake myself,” he mumbled.
“Spike, I’m sorry,”
“What?” Spike whipped his head round to face him. “What did you say?”
Cam took his hand away from Spike’s cold flesh. ”I-I said I was sorry.”
Tugging at his restraints, Spike said, “You’ve said that before. You shot me!”
“I was only eleven,” said Cam defensively.
“It was real? I was in a house?”
“Yes, you lived with us for years, then they took you back and we thought you were dust.”
“You’re not one of them – so can you untie me? We can escape.”
“Um…I c-can’t release you—”
“So you are a part of this!” said Spike, confused by what must be false memories.
“No! I’m not. It’s just…I-I’m paralysed. I can’t reach to open them.”
“But…what I remember…you’re…”
“Yeah…it’s new. They did it to me. I was searching for you and they got me and brought me here. They’ve done s-something to my spine. I can hardly even move my arms.” Somehow his condition seemed scarier to Cam when he actually said it aloud.
“You were looking for me?”
Cam nodded then remembered Spike couldn’t see and said quickly, “Yes.”
Spike opened his mouth to reply but instead screamed as the chip fired in his brain.
“Spike!” Cam glanced around helplessly. “Stop it! Stop hurting him!”
Mark walked back in. “Time to go, kid.” Abruptly he wheeled Cameron away from the still howling Spike and out into the corridor.
“No. Please let me stay with him!”
“The professor needs your help. He’ll be fine.”
Inside the room, Spike lay panting as the pain faded.
“Cameron,” he whispered.
Another image ran through his mind. Another boy – older this time, injured, a man holding his right arm.
“No!” cried Spike as the arm was twisted and broken. “Craig!”
Watching on the monitor, Maggie scowled. The vampire’s erased memories were returning as she’d suspected. She turned the monitor off as the door to her office opened and Mark pushed Cameron in.
“Good morning, Cameron. How are you?” she asked politely.
“What are you going to do to Spike?” Cam asked as strongly as he could.
“Don’t worry about him. He’ll soon be much calmer. I’m sure seeing you helped him.”
Cameron didn’t know what to say. What did she mean? He was afraid to ask.
“I need you to do some programming for me. And before you even think about doing it wrong – just remember what we can do to you. Gunn will show you what to do. You will be expected to work for six hours per day. Mark will escort you to the office and back.”
“I want to see Spike each day,” said Cam. “Then I’ll do whatever you want.”
“That sounds reasonable.”
"Why can’t I eat?”
“Are you hungry?” asked Maggie.
“Um…no.”
“So why exactly do you need to eat? The drip gives you all you need.”
Cam shrugged.
“Take him to the office.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Mark.
Cameron was pushed down more seemingly endless identical corridors and then taken inside the room. The walls were full of monitors and one side was made up solely of rows of computer memory banks. Sitting at the desk in the middle of the room, tapping rapidly on his keypad was a dark skinned man.
“Be with you in a minute – just need to finish this,” he said without looking up.
A few minutes later, he swivelled his chair around to face them and Cameron thought his heart would stop.
“Um…yeah, should have warned you. Sorry, man. I’m Charles Gunn but most call me Gunn.” He held his hand out to Cam.
It took a prod on his shoulder from Mark before Cam could bring his right hand out to meet Gunn’s.
“Cameron Evans – Cam,” he mumbled.
“Welcome aboard, Cam,” Gunn grinned, and for some reason the man’s cheerful disposition sickened Cameron more than if he’d been morose. “That’ll be your work station.” He pointed to a desk to his left.
Mark wheeled Cam where Gunn had indicated and made sure that Cameron would be able to reach the keypad. Just in case Cameron hadn’t put two and two together, Mark whispered in his ear just one word. “Lilah.”
Cam swallowed the bile that rose in his throat.
“So, this is what I need you to do.” Gunn rolled his chair over to Cam. “Look. Shall we just get it all out in the open from the start? My…condition. I was attacked by a vamp – damn thing tore me in two. Should be dead but they managed to save me.” He grinned. “Well, about a third of me, I guess. I’m no different from you really. Maggie told me how little movement you have.”
“But…”
“So your useless legs are still attached – does that make it any better?”
Cam shook his head.
“Damn, I miss my cock though!”
Gunn threw his head back and laughed as Cam’s eyes widened in horror.
“I tell you, man. I was hung like a horse!”
Squeezing his eyes shut against the image of Lilah’s small white hand firmly gripping that large black penis, Cam struggled not to throw up.
Gunn shifted his truncated torso in his specially adapted chair. “Sorry, I guess you’re only just adapting to your Johnson not working – not very tactful.”
“What do you want me to do?” asked Cam hoarsely, staring at the blank screen in front of him.
He wondered what Gunn would say if he knew that his lower half was currently attached to a pretty brunette and in full working order.
“Right, straight down to work. I get it. Want to impress on your first day.”
To Cameron’s relief, Gunn ran through the program that he wanted Cam to work on.
*~*~*~*
Two techs approached Spike and he knew it wasn’t going to be good. Hands roughly grabbed his head and strapped it into the brace. He began to pant in anticipation at the pain he knew was going to come. Electrodes were attached to his head, like they did when they needed to access his sight. He knew better than to ask what was going to happen to him.
*~*~*~*
“Mom,” said Craig slowly. “Don’t react, but I’m sure that we’re being followed.”
“What!”
“There’s a black Range Rover. It’s some way back but it’s there. I saw it yesterday too, I think.”
“Damn!” Buffy slapped the steering wheel with frustration. “That means they know we’re here.”
“So what do we do?”
Shaking her head, Buffy said. “I don’t know. I’m more used to worrying what a demon is up to than a human, and I haven’t had to do that in years!”
“We can’t search for the compound with them on our tail. We’ve got to lose them.”
Buffy glanced at her son. “You do know that that sounded like a line from an action movie, don’t you?”
Despite everything Craig grinned. “I know. But this proves a couple of things. We’re getting close to finding the place and that Cam is being held there.”
“Why does it mean that Cam’s here?” asked Buffy, looking in the rear-view mirror and seeing a black vehicle behind them.
“Because why would they do this to hide what was done to Spike? If we got too close they’d just stake him and deny everything! Cam’s here, Mom, and he’s alive!”
“I hope so, Craig.” Buffy leaned over and squeezed her son’s leg.
“Mom! Look out!”
As Craig yelled, the Range Rover ploughed into the back of the car, sending it forwards with a jerk. Buffy struggled to keep control as the Range Rover came up on the side.
Both occupants cried out as their car was rammed again, and this time Buffy had no hope of keeping the car steady as it spun wildly across the road and down a grassy bank where it impacted with two trees with a sickening crunch.
The Range Rover turned back and almost came to a halt, but continued onwards when a truck came up from behind. Not wanting to call attention to themselves they kept going. The hire car was barely visible from the road and they were confident that the occupants would be injured and so out of the picture for now. They radioed in what had happened and were ordered to return to base and that the relief squad would go immediately to the scene to make sure that the woman and son were taken out completely.
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