Chapter 10: Desperate Times

Everyone had their assignments and had taken action immediately after learning Buffy's condition. Gunn decided to travel to the White Room to see what he can find out about Buffy's fate. Wesley and Fred went down to the lab and conducted tests on the sarcophagus and to try to find a cure for Buffy. Lorne made everyone he came in contact with in the halls of Wolfram and Hart sing their soul out, seeking out any traders among the employees. And Angel and Spike did what they did best--fight with their heart instead of their head.

The door of Eve's bedroom burst open with a sudden kick. Spike and Angel stepped forward and right behind them Lorne stood.

Eve scrambled to the corner of her bed in her pajamas when the guys walked in. The three of them thought it was such a pitiful site.

"What…what do you want?" Eve asked, popping her head from behind her covers that she clunched around her body.

"Buffy to be alright and not sick is what I want." Angel answered, "Why don't you tell us what's up Eve."

"Buffy? Who's that?" Eve asked. Clearly she had been around Wolfram and Hart when Buffy came into the picture and never met the legendary Slayer.

"More of a woman than you'll ever be." Spike said firmly.

Usually Eve was terrified of Angel's snippy come backs but now...now her fear was directed to the bleached vampire.

"I—I don't understand." Eve shook her head, "I didn't do anything."

"Sarcophagus Eve…it was sent to Fred and we want to know by whom." Lorne spoke up for the first time since he entered the room. He walked towards Eve and sat down on her bed side. "You see a sweet little sugar pie of a girl has been an innocent victim of whatever lied inside this coffin and she is now seriously ill…now you are going to sing for me or we'll rip your throat out….oh and singing anything by Diana Warren will result in your gruesome death—except for 'Rhythm of the Night'."

"I swear it wasn't me." Eve pleaded.

"Sing." Angel demanded.

All three guys waited. Eve sighed and opened her mouth and began to sing 'Hero' by Mariah Carey, "There's a hero….If you look inside your heart."

Lorne interrupted, "She's clean." He got up off the bed and walked towards Spike and Angel.

"You sure?" Angel asked.

"Not quite but she has nothing that I'm picking up on…" Lorne said

The three guys turned to leave but Eve yelled out, "Wait!" They turned towards her and waited for her to speak. "I want to help..."

"Then get your Senior Partners to help us." Angel stated.

"They can't…" Eve said.

"Can't or won't?" Spike spoke up.

"They can't…for real…If you're talking about a sarcophagus then that doesn't match our records….except the ones before…the old ones." Eve explained.

"You mean before human kind…with the original demons?" Angel asked.

"But they were driven away." Lorne provided.

"Not all of them." Eve stated, "And the ones that stayed had been fighting and killing each other all the time. But they don't die the way we do…tell Fred and Wesley to look up in the oldest scrolls…the text that is forgotten. Look under the 'Deeper Well'."

The elevator of the lobby dinged and out exited Lorne, Angel, and Spike. They all walked towards the middle of the lobby.

"Lorne go down to the lab and tell Fred and Wes the update and get them cracking on that text." Angel ordered.

"You got it." Lorne said and started back into the elevator.

Angel turned to were Spike was standing, "And Spike—". He stopped when he noticed that Spike was already traveling up the stairs, going to see Buffy in the medical wing.

Spike looked inside Buffy's room from the doorframe. He noticed that a heart monitor was now hooked up to her that wasn't there before. As a doctor was walking down the hallway and passing Buffy's room, Spike grabbed him by the arm and slammed him up against the wall hard. The doctor cringed in pain and dropped his charts to the ground.

"What's the purpose of the monitors? And why is she alone in here?" Spike growled and pointed inside Buffy's room.

"They are just for precaution…and I'm not sure who was watching her." The doctor acted like he was too involved for Buffy's case.

Spike took notice that the doctor was acting like Buffy was not a big deal and it made him anger. Spike pushed the doctor against the wall harder and held his neck. "I want your best doctors here with her twenty-four seven….do you bloody well hear me or do you need more convincing?"

Somehow the doctor shook his head while still being held by his neck. Spike let go of the doctor and went into Buffy's room and directly to her side. He noticed that she looked even paler than when he left her an hour ago.

"Buffy?" he whispered.

She fluttered open her eyes and turned to Spike, "Any good news?"

"We got a lead…" Spike said and tried to smile for her but it didn't seem at all convincing for her.

"Do you have to go away again?" She asked sadly.

"No…I'm going to stay here with you…I'll let Angel take care of the rest." Spike said as he stroke her hair lightly and grabbed her hand and gave it a little squeeze. He had to hide his fear when he felt her hand was as cold as his.

"It's okay…you do what you have to do…" Buffy said sounding weak with ever word she spoke.

"I'm not leaving your side." Spike reassured.

"I'll be okay…all you'll be keeping company if you stay is a splotchy girl...two heads are better than one to solve this mystery…even if it is yours and Angel's." She tried to make a joke and let out a little laugh but neither one of them did. Buffy just felt too weak to laugh and Spike just seemed too stressed out.

"Spike…" Spike turned around when he heard his voice being called. He saw Angel and Gunn standing at the door.

"Go…" Buffy said.

"I'll be as quick as can be…" Spike said and leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

"I'll be still here…maybe…" Buffy said with a little emotion.

"Hush…" Spike said and ran his hand across her cheek before getting up and leaving.

Outside Buffy's room Gunn and Angel waited for Spike.

"What's the news?" Spike asked once he got in the hallway.

Gunn and Angel exchanged a look.

"We got word by security that something weird is on one of the security tapes in the med lab…" Gunn said.

"Weird as in…" Spike said.

"As in…it looks like one of our own has been double crossing us…Buffy's blood sample was replaced in the lab with a fake…it was caught all on tape." Angel said.

"By who?" Spike asked, waiting for a name to be mention so he can jump at the chance to kill someone.

The elevator dinged in the lobby and out stepped Knox in his lab coat, ready to find out what's going on. However as soon as the doors slide open he was greeted by the hard cold stares of Angel, Spike, and Gunn.

Knox glanced back and forth from each guy. "What's up?"

TBC….