CHAPTER TEN - APOCALYPSE NOW
Dawn forced herself to keep completely still as she heard the van's door being opened. Try not to even breathe, she told herself.
"Just the three?" she heard a strange male voice ask.
"That's all we came across." It was Xander's voice. He sounded different. All military. He had slipped into the role of army guy easily. All of them, in fact, seemed to find it easy to act their roles, even Tara in her military guise. Well, their lives did depend on it. And so did Buffy's.
The door slammed, and the van started to move again. She risked opening one eye, and saw Spike sitting up. Dawn did the same, as did Willow. They were ready when the van stopped and Tara hurried round to let them out.
"Right then, Red," said Spike, slipping back into his authoritative role. "Which way now?"
Unhesitatingly, Willow led them through a doorway and down a number of corridors. Spike heard the occasional footstep or voice from nearby, but none close enough to warrant alarm, and soon they were standing outside a sturdy metal door. Willow motioned toward it, and they all understood. The main surveillance room.
Except for Xander, the Scoobies all pressed themselves against the wall. Checking they were hidden, Xander knocked loudly on the door. Almost immediately, it swung open, a young man in fatigues standing just inside.
"Sergeant." Xander barked, stepping back slightly. "What, exactly, do you call that?"
Accusingly, he pointed a little way down the corridor. The sergeant stepped out of the room, peering down the dim corridor.
"Sir?" he said, but got no further as Anya slammed a club down on the back of his head.
Quickly, Xander and Spike dragged him into the surveillance room. As they stripped off his uniform and tied and gagged him, Willow seated herself at the main computer terminal. As she began tapping on the keyboard, Tara came up behind her, resting a hand lightly on her shoulder.
"Any problems?" she murmured.
"I don't think so," Willow answered. "Here are the video files ... it's just a question of finding the right one, and replacing the current video feed ... here."
The two were silent for a moment. On the screen in front of them was the video surveillance images of Buffy, lying on a bed in a sterile, medical room.
"Will?"
Xander's voice roused them, and Willow quickly replaced the live feed with a file video that showed exactly the same thing. She put it on a five minutes loop, checking that the surveillance would now show the same thing, Buffy lying still.
"All done." She brought up a different file, something she hadn't seen before. "Just a minute ... I think I've found something interesting ..."
There was silence in the room for a few minutes, bar the tapping on the keyboard. Finally Willow turned to the others, clearing her throat.
"I didn't access these files before," she explained. "It's to do with the vampires. Why they're here, what the Initiative is doing with them."
"Well?" Spike prodded, impatiently. He wanted to get Buffy out. That's what they were here for. As far as he was concerned, they could worry about the Initiative's shenanigans after that.
Willow looked at him, now dressed in the uniform of the unconscious sergeant and standing stiffly by the door, the need for action evident in every line of his body. "You were right about the vampire with the chip, Spike. They've been capturing vampires, implanting chips in them exactly the same as yours, so they can't hurt humans but can harm and kill other demons. It looks like they're still trying to raise an army to fight demons, but in a slightly different way."
They all digested this. "They want to get these chipped vampires to fight on their side?" Xander asked, wanting to be clear. "Against other vampires and demons?"
"That's what it looks like," Willow answered. "They've got about 200 vampires locked up in here, chipped. But from what I can see, it hasn't been too successful so far. Guess vampires aren't the most predictable."
Xander snorted. "Could have told them that."
"Red, this is very interesting and all, but can it wait until we've got Buffy out of here?" Spike asked, his impatience clear.
"There's something else," Willow said slowly. "The chips in the vampires ... they can be modified. There's a report here - they modified yours, Spike. So that you're able to hurt Buffy without the chip going off."
"So that's why ..." Tara breathed, and Willow looked at her sharply.
"You knew?" Willow asked, and Tara nodded.
"She asked me to find out why - she thought that maybe she had come back wrong ..." Tara explained haltingly.
Willow opened her mouth to ask another question, but changed her mind. "The thing is, I can alter Spike's chip from this computer. Change the readings, just like they did before. Make it so he can't hurt Buffy again. Make it so he can't hurt demons. Whatever ..."
"Make it so that it doesn't work at all?" Dawn interrupted, and they all turned to look at her.
"Make it so that it doesn't work at all," Willow agreed, her eyes turning to Spike.
Spike stood frozen. He couldn't ask them ... it would have to be up to them. To decide if they would trust him - or not. For what felt like centuries, he stood there, waiting for his fate to be decided.
Finally, Xander spoke up. "Do it, Will. Deactivate the chip, or whatever you want to call it."
Spike's mouth almost fell open in shock. Xander was the last person he had expected to support him. The others seemed almost as stunned.
"What?" Xander spread his hands as he registered the surprised looks. "Either he goes back to being a killer, and we stake him, or he's really changed and will keep with the goodness and light. Whichever it is, we need to know. We can't just go on relying on the chip."
"Xander has a good point," Anya said, and Tara nodded slowly, her enormous eyes flicking between Willow and Spike.
"Please, Willow," Dawn begged. "I know Spike won't hurt anyone. We have to give him a chance."
Willow looked undecided. Images flashed through her mind - Spike abducting her and Xander so she could perform a spell for him to get Drusilla back; Spike lunging at her in her dorm room, when he had first got the chip. Then she remembered watching Spike rush up Glory's platform to rescue Dawn, regardless of his own safety; and the way he had looked after Dawn last summer. And the Spike she had come to know so well in the past few weeks ...
With a quick nod, she turned to the computer. After a few minutes, she looked back up. "It's done."
Spike tilted his head, looking at her. "Thank you."
Willow gave him a half-smile. "I'm going to create a diversion for you, Spike. I'll release the locks on the cages of the vampires while you go find Buffy. It should keep the soldier boys distracted for a little while."
"Fine." Spike's voice was tight with tension, his gaze turned inwards as he prepared for the final stage. He gave a quick look round the room, them moved towards the door.
"Spike?" Dawn stopped him before he got there. He watched as she came over to him. "Good luck." She gave him a brief hug, then stepped back. He nodded, touched her cheek, and left the room.
****
They were close.
Buffy could sense her friends strongly now. They would be here soon. She breathed deeply, summoning all her strength. She could still feel the Slayer strength flowing strongly through her veins, but her weakened, starved body was holding her back. She had planned to rest for a few minutes to gather as much strength as she could, but now she knew help was at hand.
Behind her closed eyelids, in the darkness of her mind, she could see a white-hot light like a tiny sun growing stronger and stronger ....
They were here.
She opened her eyes and looked towards the door. It swung open just as she had expected.
"Spike." She smiled faintly. She had known it would be him.
"Buffy." He crossed the room in a few strides, his gaze intense. Surprised to find the straps broken, he helped her sit up. "Are you ... are you all right?"
Buffy took a deep breath. "I feel - weak. But I'll be fine." She closed her eyes to let a wave of dizziness pass over her, fighting to keep from blacking out from the sudden rush of blood from her head.
Spike watched her patiently, waiting for her to be ready. She looked - he ran his eyes over her quickly. God, she looked like hell. Her hair was dirty and matted, her eyes hollow, her skin clammy and colourless. But the set of her jaw told him that the Slayer was still home. And ready to fight.
****
The fighting on the lower floors was already beginning to draw to a close as Riley reached the compound. Crippled by the chip, the vampires had been unable to fight back. The soldiers had herded most of them back into the cages, although the dust in the air and on the floor bore testimony to a number of casualties.
Riley stopped by an engineer at a computer terminal trying to reinstall the restraints on the cages. "What happened," he asked tersely.
The engineer shrugged. "I don't know. They've just - been turned off. It won't take long to bring them back online..."
Riley stood back, thoughts racing through his brain. Just turned off? Why would someone do that? Who would do that?
As if by instinct, an answer came to him. "The Scoobies."
Without another word, he turned and ran back. Back to the room where Buffy was being held.
TBC
Dawn forced herself to keep completely still as she heard the van's door being opened. Try not to even breathe, she told herself.
"Just the three?" she heard a strange male voice ask.
"That's all we came across." It was Xander's voice. He sounded different. All military. He had slipped into the role of army guy easily. All of them, in fact, seemed to find it easy to act their roles, even Tara in her military guise. Well, their lives did depend on it. And so did Buffy's.
The door slammed, and the van started to move again. She risked opening one eye, and saw Spike sitting up. Dawn did the same, as did Willow. They were ready when the van stopped and Tara hurried round to let them out.
"Right then, Red," said Spike, slipping back into his authoritative role. "Which way now?"
Unhesitatingly, Willow led them through a doorway and down a number of corridors. Spike heard the occasional footstep or voice from nearby, but none close enough to warrant alarm, and soon they were standing outside a sturdy metal door. Willow motioned toward it, and they all understood. The main surveillance room.
Except for Xander, the Scoobies all pressed themselves against the wall. Checking they were hidden, Xander knocked loudly on the door. Almost immediately, it swung open, a young man in fatigues standing just inside.
"Sergeant." Xander barked, stepping back slightly. "What, exactly, do you call that?"
Accusingly, he pointed a little way down the corridor. The sergeant stepped out of the room, peering down the dim corridor.
"Sir?" he said, but got no further as Anya slammed a club down on the back of his head.
Quickly, Xander and Spike dragged him into the surveillance room. As they stripped off his uniform and tied and gagged him, Willow seated herself at the main computer terminal. As she began tapping on the keyboard, Tara came up behind her, resting a hand lightly on her shoulder.
"Any problems?" she murmured.
"I don't think so," Willow answered. "Here are the video files ... it's just a question of finding the right one, and replacing the current video feed ... here."
The two were silent for a moment. On the screen in front of them was the video surveillance images of Buffy, lying on a bed in a sterile, medical room.
"Will?"
Xander's voice roused them, and Willow quickly replaced the live feed with a file video that showed exactly the same thing. She put it on a five minutes loop, checking that the surveillance would now show the same thing, Buffy lying still.
"All done." She brought up a different file, something she hadn't seen before. "Just a minute ... I think I've found something interesting ..."
There was silence in the room for a few minutes, bar the tapping on the keyboard. Finally Willow turned to the others, clearing her throat.
"I didn't access these files before," she explained. "It's to do with the vampires. Why they're here, what the Initiative is doing with them."
"Well?" Spike prodded, impatiently. He wanted to get Buffy out. That's what they were here for. As far as he was concerned, they could worry about the Initiative's shenanigans after that.
Willow looked at him, now dressed in the uniform of the unconscious sergeant and standing stiffly by the door, the need for action evident in every line of his body. "You were right about the vampire with the chip, Spike. They've been capturing vampires, implanting chips in them exactly the same as yours, so they can't hurt humans but can harm and kill other demons. It looks like they're still trying to raise an army to fight demons, but in a slightly different way."
They all digested this. "They want to get these chipped vampires to fight on their side?" Xander asked, wanting to be clear. "Against other vampires and demons?"
"That's what it looks like," Willow answered. "They've got about 200 vampires locked up in here, chipped. But from what I can see, it hasn't been too successful so far. Guess vampires aren't the most predictable."
Xander snorted. "Could have told them that."
"Red, this is very interesting and all, but can it wait until we've got Buffy out of here?" Spike asked, his impatience clear.
"There's something else," Willow said slowly. "The chips in the vampires ... they can be modified. There's a report here - they modified yours, Spike. So that you're able to hurt Buffy without the chip going off."
"So that's why ..." Tara breathed, and Willow looked at her sharply.
"You knew?" Willow asked, and Tara nodded.
"She asked me to find out why - she thought that maybe she had come back wrong ..." Tara explained haltingly.
Willow opened her mouth to ask another question, but changed her mind. "The thing is, I can alter Spike's chip from this computer. Change the readings, just like they did before. Make it so he can't hurt Buffy again. Make it so he can't hurt demons. Whatever ..."
"Make it so that it doesn't work at all?" Dawn interrupted, and they all turned to look at her.
"Make it so that it doesn't work at all," Willow agreed, her eyes turning to Spike.
Spike stood frozen. He couldn't ask them ... it would have to be up to them. To decide if they would trust him - or not. For what felt like centuries, he stood there, waiting for his fate to be decided.
Finally, Xander spoke up. "Do it, Will. Deactivate the chip, or whatever you want to call it."
Spike's mouth almost fell open in shock. Xander was the last person he had expected to support him. The others seemed almost as stunned.
"What?" Xander spread his hands as he registered the surprised looks. "Either he goes back to being a killer, and we stake him, or he's really changed and will keep with the goodness and light. Whichever it is, we need to know. We can't just go on relying on the chip."
"Xander has a good point," Anya said, and Tara nodded slowly, her enormous eyes flicking between Willow and Spike.
"Please, Willow," Dawn begged. "I know Spike won't hurt anyone. We have to give him a chance."
Willow looked undecided. Images flashed through her mind - Spike abducting her and Xander so she could perform a spell for him to get Drusilla back; Spike lunging at her in her dorm room, when he had first got the chip. Then she remembered watching Spike rush up Glory's platform to rescue Dawn, regardless of his own safety; and the way he had looked after Dawn last summer. And the Spike she had come to know so well in the past few weeks ...
With a quick nod, she turned to the computer. After a few minutes, she looked back up. "It's done."
Spike tilted his head, looking at her. "Thank you."
Willow gave him a half-smile. "I'm going to create a diversion for you, Spike. I'll release the locks on the cages of the vampires while you go find Buffy. It should keep the soldier boys distracted for a little while."
"Fine." Spike's voice was tight with tension, his gaze turned inwards as he prepared for the final stage. He gave a quick look round the room, them moved towards the door.
"Spike?" Dawn stopped him before he got there. He watched as she came over to him. "Good luck." She gave him a brief hug, then stepped back. He nodded, touched her cheek, and left the room.
****
They were close.
Buffy could sense her friends strongly now. They would be here soon. She breathed deeply, summoning all her strength. She could still feel the Slayer strength flowing strongly through her veins, but her weakened, starved body was holding her back. She had planned to rest for a few minutes to gather as much strength as she could, but now she knew help was at hand.
Behind her closed eyelids, in the darkness of her mind, she could see a white-hot light like a tiny sun growing stronger and stronger ....
They were here.
She opened her eyes and looked towards the door. It swung open just as she had expected.
"Spike." She smiled faintly. She had known it would be him.
"Buffy." He crossed the room in a few strides, his gaze intense. Surprised to find the straps broken, he helped her sit up. "Are you ... are you all right?"
Buffy took a deep breath. "I feel - weak. But I'll be fine." She closed her eyes to let a wave of dizziness pass over her, fighting to keep from blacking out from the sudden rush of blood from her head.
Spike watched her patiently, waiting for her to be ready. She looked - he ran his eyes over her quickly. God, she looked like hell. Her hair was dirty and matted, her eyes hollow, her skin clammy and colourless. But the set of her jaw told him that the Slayer was still home. And ready to fight.
****
The fighting on the lower floors was already beginning to draw to a close as Riley reached the compound. Crippled by the chip, the vampires had been unable to fight back. The soldiers had herded most of them back into the cages, although the dust in the air and on the floor bore testimony to a number of casualties.
Riley stopped by an engineer at a computer terminal trying to reinstall the restraints on the cages. "What happened," he asked tersely.
The engineer shrugged. "I don't know. They've just - been turned off. It won't take long to bring them back online..."
Riley stood back, thoughts racing through his brain. Just turned off? Why would someone do that? Who would do that?
As if by instinct, an answer came to him. "The Scoobies."
Without another word, he turned and ran back. Back to the room where Buffy was being held.
TBC