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Chapter Five


Jerry hovered at the school gates, glancing nervously from side to side until he caught a few odd looks from parents waiting to give their kids a ride home. So then he feigned nonchalance and leaned against the wall.

He’d almost given up when he saw his target. Cameron was trudging slowly along, a rucksack bulging with books on his back and his eyes cast down to the ground. Jerry opened his mouth to call him, then paused. The boy looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders and unlike the other kids coming out of school, he walked alone. Still unsure that it was the right thing to do, Jerry called out to him.

Cameron raised his head and while the smile seemed genuine, it didn’t reach his eyes. “Jerry, hi. What are you doing here?” He headed towards Jerry. Then a thought struck him and his face blanched. “Is Mom okay? Craig?”

It pained Jerry to see the carefree person he’d known so full of anxiety. “They’re fine, Cam. I just wondered if you could come for a coffee or something with me – I need to ask you something.”

Brows knitting together, Cam nodded. “Okay, I need to call Mom first. She worries if I’m late home.”

“I don’t mean now,” said Jerry, quickly. “Can you meet me at the Starbucks on Main Street in ninety minutes?”

“Um…yeah…I guess.”

“And don’t tell your mom that you’re meeting me, okay?”

Backing off a little, Cam shook his head. “I dunno about that. Why can’t I tell her?”

“Look, trust me, Cameron. I need your help with something, and I’ll tell you all about it later but please can you tell her that you’re meeting up with some friends and not mention me just yet?”

Cam smiled sadly. “That’ll be a bit difficult – my friends are all at college, but okay, I’ll think of something and come.”

“Thank you. See you later,” replied Jerry and was gone before Cam could reply.

“Okay,” said Cameron slowly. “Now that was just weird.” He turned for home and strode briskly along frantically trying to come up with a plausible reason for going out.

*~*~*~*

Cameron walked into the coffee shop and scanned the faces until he spotted Jerry sitting right at the back. The man nodded in acknowledgement and Cam weaved his way between the plethora of tables.

“What do you want to drink?” asked Jerry as the boy sat down opposite him. “Dr. Pepper?”

“No!” said Cam, sharply, before adding in a more moderate tone, “I’ll have a Coke, please.”

Jerry got up and went to the register to order the drinks; he paid for them and then took his seat back with Cameron.

“What’s going on Jerry? I don’t like lying to my mom.”

“I saw something at work the other day and need to find out more. The relevant data is all encrypted and I don’t have clearance for the code,” said Jerry. “I wondered if you could try to crack it for me. You’re good with computers.”

“Why don’t you just ask at work?” replied Cam. “This sounds like it could get me into a lot of trouble and my family’s been through enough lately.”

“I know. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t ask, but I think it could be really important and there’s no one else I could trust with it.” Jerry leaned forwards. “But if you do agree and you do manage to access the information – you won’t be able to tell anyone about it to begin with. If it’s what I think it is, you’ll soon see why.”

Despite himself, Cameron felt a rush of adrenaline through his body. School was boring, he’d re-established himself in the top echelons and the work was familiar and didn’t tax him at all. At home, he felt less than useless as both Craig and his mom struggled to cope with their emotions.

For the first time in what seemed like months, Cam grinned. “What do you need me to do?”

*~*~*~*

Mark regarded Seventeen with contempt. Since the work to erase the memories of the time he’d spent with the former slayer and her family, the vampire had changed. Sure, its work had been excellent but sometimes like now, the vampire had enjoyed it a little too much.

Seventeen was currently curled up on the ground panting with a combination of pleasure from his end of hunt reward and pain from the shock that Mark had caused the chip to give. He’d attacked one of the captives without any provocation other than being stared at in horror as the vampire was dragged semi-conscious to the truck. As usual, he’d gone for the eyes. It wasn’t normally too much of a problem but the facility wanted to try to train some as infiltrators and they needed the captives intact.

He noticed that Seventeen had stopped moaning and so he nudged him with his foot. “Stand up, Seventeen.”

Spike struggled to stand, the reward always made his legs a little unsteady and the pain in his head made him sway. He kept his head low to avoid looking at his handler.

“You knew that we needed these intact. Yet you still disobeyed and that’s why you were punished. What do you say to that?”

“S-sorry, sir,” Spike mumbled.

He followed Mark to the transporter and sat inside. It reminded him of when he was a tracker as he was strapped in the same way. Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, Spike couldn’t wait to get back to base and get the clothes taken away again. A patch on the crotch was cold and sticky. It was much nicer when the hunts were in wilderness areas so that he could feel the fresh air against his skin, and his spend dried quickly on his flesh. Unfortunately, since arriving in London, they were mostly in more urban areas.

“Pack it in,” snarled Mark.

Spike instantly stilled his fidgeting.

He walked meekly to the room where he stripped off his clothes and was then hosed down. Still dripping he was taken back to his cell. Spike stared in at the other hunters in his section. The only time he got to see them was when he walked in the corridor to and from working. They were all males of various builds and all sat patiently on their beds waiting for the call to hunt. Spike smiled and ran his left thumb over the head of his penis as he walked. The metal digit cool to the still heated flesh.

Before Mark locked the door, Spike whipped round to face him. “I’ll still help with the training, won’t I?”

It was the longest sentence Mark had heard him say in a long time. “If you can’t do as you’re told…” The door sliding shut cut of his words and Spike roared with frustration.

Mark chuckled as he walked away. No need to let the vampire know that he was too useful to leave in his cell. The techs would be along to get him soon and then they’d be able to use him with the new intake again.

The door sliding open startled Spike. Not even smells permeated his soundproofed cell. He stood up expectantly, but shuddered when he saw the techs.

“Seventeen, you’re needed in the lab.”

Spike swallowed and obediently went where he was asked, flanked on either side by a guard. When he was strapped in the chair, he relaxed. Just a routine check on his vision. Then the tech took a firm grip on his left hand.

“What?” said Spike trying, unsuccessfully, to pull it away.

His vision suddenly went dark as the feed to his eyes was cut. At the same time, a sharp pain pierced his hand and he yelled out. Only a few moments later the tech’s hold on his hand was released and he heard the rattle of metal instruments and their footsteps faded as he was left alone.

The return of his vision confirmed what he already knew. They’d taken his thumb. He turned his head and looked at his right hand, bending its thumb several times. His brows furrowed as he tried to recall why his thumbs were metal. His right knee was metal too; did they do his thumbs at the same time? He could remember them being taken away. He’d been bad then too – attacking a trainer! How could he have wanted to do that? Cocking his head, he regarded his left hand again. The incision was neat and already healing.

Mark’s smell reached Spike before he heard him and Spike found himself unable to meet his handler’s eyes.

“Seventeen.”

Spike tried to slouch down in the chair.

“Look at me,” ordered Mark.

Spike wished he could move his eyes so he didn’t have to raise his head so high, but reluctantly he did as he was told.

“What was the last thing that you did with your left thumb?”

“I-I touched my cock,” gasped Spike, after a momentary pause. “Didn’t know it wasn’t allowed. Doesn’t make it do anything – not like being rewarded.”

His handler burst out laughing. “Oh, Spike, I like you – I really do.” He patted his vampire’s shoulder. “Before that. What did you do?”

“Er…I…the vampire,” whispered Spike looking down. “But I thought you’d punished me?”

“I did, Seventeen. This is to remind you, okay? If you push your thumb in another vampire’s eye without permission – you’ll lose the other one too. Or maybe your whole hand. Understand?”

Spike nodded miserably. He’d let his handler down and that was really bad. He liked to watch the eyeball pop under the pressure of his thumb. He liked the blood, gore and screams. Almost as much as being rewarded. He wouldn’t risk not being able to do that again.

“I understand, sir.”

“I know you just get a bit carried away.” Mark began to unfasten the straps pinning Spike to the chair. “Right then, let’s go to work.”

Spike smiled. “Can I still hit them?”

“Yeah, Seventeen, hitting them’s fine.” Mark wished all the hunters had Seventeen’s attitude. A bit of violence and a good orgasm was all he wanted.

It was with a spring in his step that Spike made his way to where the new intake was housed.

*~*~*~*

“Did you have a good time, honey?” called Buffy as soon as the front door opened.

“Yeah, was great. Got a lot of work done.” Cam was pleased that there was a wall between them as he flushed at his lie.

“Want a snack?”

“No thanks, Mom. I’m going up to my room, okay? I need to go over the notes for the next tutoring session.”

“Okay.”

Buffy let herself sag back into the armchair. At least one son seemed to be getting back on track. Glancing at the clock on the mantel, she sighed. Craig had been out for hours. One thing was certain though, he’d be home before dark. His self-inflicted curfew had begun when he’d come home from the hospital. Only another hour or so to sit here worrying.

Upstairs, Cam threw his bag on the bed and took his jacket off before opening the rucksack and taking out the disks that Jerry had given him. He stared at them, wondering again whether he really ought to be doing this, but the way Jerry had looked when he’d said that the reason to keep quiet would be apparent if the data was what he thought it was…

Flipping open his laptop, Cam pressed the ‘on’ button then sat down and tapped his fingers impatiently as he waited for it to boot up. He inserted the disk with the earliest date and concentrated hard as he tried to turn the jumbled mass of letters into something that was readable.

It took him a week.


Chapter End Notes:
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