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Starshine, when you gonna find me?
Starshine, they ain't gonna find me
Gorillaz - Starshine
~~~***~~~
*Spike’s lair, two days later *
He watched the wretched ruin of a man and weighed his options. He could simply leave him here, checking up on him from time to time to see if either hunger, blood loss, or shock finally do him in. He could offer him up for the minions, let them get some blood from the tap for a change, even if it was Initiative brand crap and it tasted wrong because of all the chemicals and demon derivatives in it. He could turn the guy—Jerry—and let him rise only to torture and dust him later. Or he could just rip his head off and be done with it.
A tingle at the base of his neck, spreading like tendrils to his head and chest stopped him short. It felt…
A minion burst in and gave a quick nod with his head. “Master, we were out on patrol and we encountered a vampire who was taking on one of the Initiative teams and winning. Together we killed all the fuckers, and then he said he wanted to pledge himself to you.”
A voice cut through what John was saying. “Now, now. Let’s not be putting words in the mouths of our betters. I only said I wanted to come pay my respects.” Angelus stepped fully into the chamber. “After all, isn’t that what family is supposed to do?” The bastard smirked and leaned against a wall, eyeing the expiring Initiative soldier. “Hmm. Your work, Willie? Glad to see all my lessons haven’t been completely in vain.” He cocked his head. “Though you might need a refresher, since I can see you were pretty sloppy around the torso.” He narrowed his eyes and scrunched his face as if considering. “And the feet could have been worked on longer.” Angelus shook his head. “I guess you still have some things to learn after all.”
Spike experienced the whole gamut of feelings his elder always elicited—from hate, to fear, to respect, to love—within the span of a second. He glanced at his torture victim and it reminded him of his own experience at Angelus’s hands only a few months back. He almost gave in to his terror, but a century of self-conditioning stopped him. Instead he sneered and drew himself straight. “There are some things I just can’t be bothered with, such as learning anything from you, Gelled Wonder. Now, what are you doing in my town?”
There was a brief flash of shock, covered by a sneer of annoyance on Angelus’s face. “Just because you found a bunch of idiots to do your bidding doesn’t make this your town.” His tone changed to harsh. “I came to take what’s mine.”
“Really? I’ll let the exterminator know the rat problem will be fixed. Anything else?”
Angelus gave a low, menacing laugh. “You talk big, Willie, but we both know who the better vampire is, don’t we?” With a casual wave, he turned around and walked away. “I’ll be seeing you around, boy, when I come to collect.”
Spike whirled around and punched his hand through the soldier’s chest, then ripped his heart out. The last thing he needed right now was to add family problems to the volatile mix on the Hellmouth. He cursed himself for a fool. Of course Angelus would come. Dru probably saw the Gem in one of her visions, or he got word that Spike was the new ruler of Sunnydale and it was too good to pass up. It was just like the sadistic bastard to always come and take what was Spike’s.
But that was tomorrow’s problem. Tonight, there was another job to do.
~~~***~~~
*Giles’s flat *
Spike burst through the door without bothering to knock and stopped short. There wasn’t anyone in the living room, researching as good little Scoobies were supposed to. He concentrated on his preternatural senses and heard one heartbeat coming from the bathroom. “Watcher, that you?”
He heard Jenny’s voice through the door. “Spike? What are you doing here?” She came out wiping her hands on a towel.
“Where is everyone?”
“They’re at Joyce’s house. She wanted—”
He didn’t have time to find out how that sentence ended. “You’re good with spells and computers, right?”
“Well, yeah.”
“Good, get whatever you need, and let’s go.”
“Wait, what’s wrong?”
“I’ll give you the Cliff’s notes on the way, but I’d rather explain everything when everyone’s together. Suffice it to say time is of the essence.” He smirked. “That’s why I’ll drive.”
She looked at a loss for words for a moment, then she shook her head and pointed to a briefcase by the door. “I have everything I need in there.”
“Great.” He cocked his head. “Are you coming or not?”
“Yes, of course.” She finally started moving, grabbed her keys and her things, and went out the door, Spike hot on her tail.
~~~***~~~
*1630 Rovello Drive*
Giles was feeling at a loss. Researching mysterious artifacts, obscure prophecies, or supernatural enemies came easy to him. Studying up on methods to break into and out of a secret military compound was beyond his scope of knowledge. Of course, he’d studied rudimentary infiltration tactics as part of his Watcher training, but it was usually about how to break into an abandoned building turned lair. Not how to circumvent state of the art security measures.
He hoped Willow had more success finding the blueprints she was looking for, but in the meantime he’d go to the kitchen and prepare some tea. Joyce’s attempt earlier had been superior to most American tea, but his fraying nerves required he prepare it himself, both to ensure the result, as well as a method of contemplation.
He hadn’t gotten to the kitchen yet when he heard a car screech to a halt outside. Jenny came into the house with an agitated Spike in tow shortly thereafter.
Before Giles had a chance to ask if anything was wrong, Joyce went straight to the vampire. “Do you know how to get her out?”
Spike looked startled for a second, then he darted his gaze quickly to Faith and back to Joyce again. “Yes. Or at least, I have everything I need to try.”
Joyce’s voice cracked as she spoke. “You can’t just try. You have to do it. I don’t care what you have to do, or who you have to do it to, just get her home. Please.”
Spike nodded. “With, or on the shield.”
Xander spoke up from his place in an armchair. “What shield?”
Giles replied without taking his eyes off of Spike. “It’s a Spartan saying meaning he’ll either return victorious or dead.” On a whim, he decided to test a theory. “It was ‘I tan I epi tous’ in ancient Greek.”
“It’s ‘tas’ you berk. I tan I epi tas.” Spike seemed genuinely offended at Giles’s baiting.
“Indeed.” The fact that Spike knew the saying, in the original form nonetheless, was another piece of the puzzle that didn’t fit with the official Council history of William the Bloody. Giles could only hope he’d get the change to find out the truth at some point, but a look at Joyce’s ashen face reminded him of the present problem. “What is it you found?”
Spike brought out a piece of paper that, once unfolded, proved to be a sketch of the Initiative base plans. He started pointing out various locations which had been marked. “Best I can tell, Buffy is being held here, in the general holding area, and they’re taking her for her tests here, in the ‘HST research area.’ I think these doors lead to tunnels which are connected to some caves near the edge of town.” The area he was pointing at was drawn in dotted lines as if the exact shape was unknown.
Willow spoke up. “It looks similar to what I found in the city records.” She pointed to the dotted lines. “I have some geological surveys of that area I could print out.”
“Please do so.” Giles addressed Spike again. “Are you certain you can get through?”
“Worst case scenario it’ll take some digging, but I have the equipment for that. It’s far enough from either area Buffy should be in that we could use dynamite to blast our way through in a pinch. The detonation might prove a good distraction, too.”
“And you have the resources?” Giles had a hard time putting vampires and explosives together in his mind.
“I’ve got enough left over from searching for the Gem, yeah.”
“What do I do?” Faith was studying the plans with the confidence of a seasoned warrior. Giles took a moment to appreciate how far she’d come from the scared girl who tried to hide away in Sunnydale.
“You take your crew, and together with some of my guys, you take Lowell house by storm.”
“I went to a party there once.” Xander shrugged his shoulders. “I can come as a guide.”
Spike nodded, seemingly pleased with the idea. “It’s all hands on deck. Just remember these guys are soldiers. They all have side arms, but if you take out their armoury you should be fine.”
In a short amount of time the plan of action was refined. Spike’s demons would blow open the entrances to Lowell House. The Wiccans would perform some dampening spells. Xander, Gunn, and Giles be in charge of reaching the armoury room and preventing the soldiers from getting heavy firepower on their side—the three were chosen as the most adept at using firearms. Faith and Wesley would go for the secret elevator entrance to the Initiative and try to enter through there. Willow seemed confident that if she had access to a computer in Lowell House she’d hack the Initiative mainframe and eliminate all the security measures, which would both allow them access, and open all the cage doors, thus freeing Spike’s ‘Trojan Horse’ demons. In the meantime Spike would get in through the tunnels, something he declared was already underway and wouldn’t take more than a day. Joyce would stay home, despite her protests.
“One more thing you should all know before we go.” Spike’s tone was even grimmer than it had been. “Angelus is back.”
Xander frowned and threw his hands up. “Why? He here to help or something? He disappeared for, like, more than two years.”
Spike’s face betrayed rage. “He’s not gonna help anyone but himself. I didn’t say he came back as Angel now, did I? This is Angelus, un-souled, and full of nasty ideas such as ripping everyone’s limbs off one by one and leaving them on the Slayer’s doorstep. Said he came to claim what’s his, which probably means he wants the Slayer dead and the Gem on his finger, not necessarily in that order. He’d probably use the lot of you for blood-bags as well.” He made a sweeping gesture with his index finger, pointing at everyone gathered. “So if any of you sees him, either stake him on the spot or run.”
“You really think he’d harm us?” Willow’s eyes were big with disbelief.
“Didn’t anybody listen when I first told you about it? He’s back to being a bloodthirsty sadistic bastard. Add in the rage for munching on rats and helping you white hats, and he’s gone barmy. Don’t go near him.”
“So how should we stake him if we don’t go near?” Faith was smirking, but it disappeared when Spike slammed his palm on the table.
“Crossbow, throw the stake at him, fucking use a ballista if you have to, but stay away.” He closed his eyes and spoke more softly. “And remember he’s most likely got Dru with him, and she’s a seer, as well as adept at thrall. Which means she could see you coming and stop you in your tracks before you know what’s happening. Best steer clear, yeah?”
Both Giles and Wesley exclaimed at the same time. “Good Lord.” Angelus on the loose in Sunnydale was a nightmare come true.
***
The rest of the meeting was even more tense, with backup plans discussed in case Angelus showed. A disinvite for Angel was performed on Joyce’s house, and then everyone not staying there left in the small hours of the morning. Faith, Wesley, and Gunn, being Joyce’s erstwhile guests, were also in charge of protecting her from any unwanted visit.
As Giles drove Jenny home, he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. “Want to tell me why you look as if you’ve seen a ghost?”
She all but jumped in her seat and focused her gaze on him, from where she’d been staring out the window. “You remember what my initial reason for coming here was, right?”
He gave a quick nod. “You were to keep an eye on Angel in order to ensure your clan’s curse did its job.”
“When he disappeared I couldn’t follow. We lost track of him, and I was almost sent away.” She put her hand on his thigh. “If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have gone against my family, and I’d have left.”
“I’m grateful you stayed.”
“Me too. But now he’s back without a soul. My people have been looking for him for two years, but all we got were rumors. I need to let them know.”
“Indeed.” His hands tightened briefly on the steering wheel. “My first instinct was to inform the Council, but as is, with their obstinate refusal to aid Buffy… Buggering bastards.”
Jenny let out a short bark of laughter, and she gave his thigh a squeeze. “Well put.”
He pulled in to their apartment’s parking lot. “Well, it’s true. Shall we?”
“Of course, baby. But let me perform the disinvite before I show you exactly what I think about my dirty, swearing, Englishman.”
Giles smirked and followed her home.
~~~***~~~
*Initiative holding cells*
Buffy lay curled up on the floor. The Initiative’s tests were becoming more and more taxing. They’d taken samples of almost everything, and she was starting to panic thinking of when and how they’d complete their collection. Her clothes were dotted with blood from all the puncture wounds. There was also blood that wasn’t her own.
Walsh had put her in a sealed room with a feral vampire and a Polagra demon, both out of their mind, either with hunger or pain, she couldn’t tell. She’d had to eliminate both of them using nothing more than her bare hands, and they’d gotten some good hits in before she managed it.
And through it all, there was still nothing she could use as a chance to escape. Nothing, except the bit of the Polagra’s skewer she’d hidden before they tazed and removed her. She wasn’t sure when she could use it, but she would try. Tomorrow she would have to try, or else she was afraid there wouldn’t be another chance.
Tomorrow when they took her for her tests, she’d make her move.
~~~***~~~
*MRI room, Initiative complex, the next day*
Joyce found herself strapped to a medical table, her clothes missing, and replaced with a hospital gown. She tried to get free, but the restraints were too tight and too strong. “What the Hell is this? Let me go.” What happened to her? Where was she?
A voice could be heard through some speakers Joyce was unable to see. “Mrs. Summers, so glad you could join us.”
“Who is us? Why am I restrained? Who are you people?”
“We are the US Government, and you are the mother of an HST were are studying, so we decided it would be wise to investigate whether she inherited her traits from you, of from her father.”
It took less than a millisecond for the meaning to become clear. “You have my baby.”
“Now, to continue our testing, it is time for a full set of body scans. Since you are awake, I would strongly advise you not move, otherwise we will have to tranquilize you again.”
Tranquilizers. So that’s how they got her. The last thing she remembered was pulling into her parking spot near the Gallery. She should have listened to Faith and not gone to work, but there was a shipment arriving and…
“Interesting. You have a brain tumor. Could this be due to exposure to some sort of unknown elements?”
Brain tumor? Oh God.

Starshine lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC





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