Spike was blasted backward by the force of the bullet when it entered his chest. He slammed against the wall and stayed there looking dazed. "No!" Lucas was finally able to scream out. He tried to rush to the vampire's side but was grabbed and hurled back by Warren.

The gun was inches from the young man's infuriated face. "Climb the god damned ladder." Warren yelled, shaking with his own rage.

Spike slowly got to his feet, his vampiric features thrown into deeper relief by the shadows. "Why the bloody hell would you shoot me? That hurt, you berk." He dabbed at the slowly oozing blood. "Come on now, you grew up in this town. You should know that won't kill me."

"Stay back." Warren ordered, pulling Lucas in front of him and sliding the gun barrel under his chin, forcing his head up. "Just stay away from me."

Lucas grit his teeth, his blue eyes piercing Spike's. The vampire sighed, "I can't. I have to stay with the kid."

"Why? Why are you helping him? You're evil."

"Well, yeah. But there are scarier things out there than me. Namely, Willow when she's pissed." Spike looked at the blood on his hands. "Do know how much I'll have to drink to heal this? Pig's blood doesn't do nearly as much as human."

Warren blinked at him and the gun dropped a fraction of an inch. Lucas was able to swallow and relax the muscles in his neck slightly. "What do you mean? Why would you drink pig's blood?"

"I… uh…" Spike realized the misstep too late. "Part of my… employment to the witch. Can't touch a human unless she gives the say so." He smiled and ran a tongue along his upper teeth. "She didn't say not to have a bite of you though…"

"You work for her?" Warren asked in disbelief. "Why?"

Spike hesitated, "why does it matter? She's strong, and she's smart. Now that Buffy's um… busy… she's the big dog round here."

Lucas rolled his eyes at the fumbled statement and Warren snorted. "You mean now that she's dead."

"Oh, you noticed that, did you?"

"Yeah, she didn't come bursting in after the first person I deleted and I did a little digging." He made a disgusted face. "Not, like, actual digging… I asked around. There were witnesses to her jumping. Everyone thought they were crazy people, and maybe they were, but they knew what happened."

Spike shrugged, taking a small step closer. "So? We've gone on without her. Many hands make light work and all that."

A new voice called down from the trap door. "Get them up here, the others are figuring out where you went."

Warren jumped when he heard the voice. He motioned Spike with the gun. "I can't kill you with this but it will hurt again. And while you're down, I'll shoot Lucas. Willow will hang you out to dry in the sun." He jerked his head backwards, "up, we'll follow you."

"Bloody hell, I should have left town went I had the chance." Spike muttered as he leapt up the ladder.

Warren shoved Lucas towards it as well. When he looked up, he saw Spike pulled up by a clearly not human appendage, followed by loud cursing and crashes. "Awesome… just awesome." He groaned as he followed the same path.

Willow dropped her phone in shock when they heard the gunshot. They all turned as one to the direction the sound came from. "The panic room?" Xander asked in confusion. "But I checked there." He ran back into the room, with the other's at his heels.

Jayde pushed by him and stared at the bed. She carefully ran her fingers along the edge of the sheet, closest to the wall, then pulled on it. The sheet seemed to pull directly out from the wall a few inches. "There's something here! It's a false wall. How do we open it?"

"I think with this," Willow responded, trying on the lock screen. "There must be a code or something."

"Think Warren is the kind of person to have a list of passwords laying around?" Xander asked hopefully.

Willow rolled her eyes and started to pull the screen loose with her fingers. She smiled appreciatively when Jayde handed her the dagger and easily popped it free. Peering at the tangle of wires with a sigh, she stepped back. "I don't know if I can open it. This is a little beyond me."

Tim reached for the screen and took it from her. "Let me try, I'm not as good as Lucas, but he taught me a few tricks."

At the top of the ladder, Lucas saw he had entered a small bare room. He was relieved to not have to be hoisted by whatever Spike was grappling with, but when he saw it clearly, his breath got stuck in his throat. Scrambling backwards, he tripped and hit the floor hard. "Wha… what is that?"

"That, young man, is what is commonly known as a bug demon. Ugly, but loyal and strong." Lucas looked up at the voice. A wheelchair bound man with brown hair peered down at him. "They operate under a hive mind, all thinking as one. I found this fellow wandering around LA alone, and lost. I took him in and now he obeys me."

Lucas' eyes widened at the sights before him. Spike was finally being subdued by the beast's cockroach like limbs. And the human watching the display, was smiling proudly. "You're… you're Dr. Kerchum."

"Yes, and who might you be?"

Lucas stood, and reached out his hand. "I'm Lucas Wolenczak, you're ...kind of one of my heroes."

Dr. Kerchum raised an eyebrow at the empty cuff hanging from his wrist, but shook the hand anyhow. "I am intrigued to meet you, young man. Although the circumstances leave something to be desired."

After letting out a heavy sigh, Lucas nodded with a smirk. "That isn't going to get an argument from me."

"Well, that's a first." Warren snorted, poking his head through the trap door. He stepped out and closed it, programing a code into the small screen next to it. "Do you have something I can put on top of this? They managed to mess up my last lock." He narrowed his eyes at Lucas. "And unless he's in a straitjacket, I don't trust him not to try some crazy escape plan."

"Warren, Mr. Wolenczak is our guest. We should treat him as such."

"You are aware that I am being held against my will, right?" Lucas deadpanned.

Dr. Kerchum nodded, "yes, and I apologize for that. But there is no reason why shouldn't be civil." A smile crossed his face, but to Lucas, it seemed like a shark's smile. He swallowed nervously and reminded himself not to be blinded for his admiration for this man. "Warren, will you please remove the handcuffs?"

Warren hesitated, but then nodded, carefully approaching him. Lucas smugly held out his wrist, but wasn't surprised when Warren took hold of it rougher than necessary to enlist a grunt of pain. Instead of cursing him, Lucas smirked. "Thanks." The two young males met eyes, and an intense staring contest started.

"Oi! Wankers!" Spike yelled from underneath the large creature. The bug demon had him spread eagle on the floor, his limbs each held down by a different appendage. It's hard brown face inches from his. "Can you call off your damn bug?"

"He won't hurt you… unless there are eggs implanted in your head." Dr. Kerchum called. "Doyle, come here." The demon jumped off of Spike and scampered towards Lucas and Dr. Kerchum. The older man held out an affectionate hand, while the younger hurried to stay out of the way.

Spike stood and dusted himself off, trying to regain some composure. Dr. Kerchum took the time to inspect the ridges that still stood out on Spike's face. "You are a very interesting specimen."

"I… what do you mean?" Spike asked, narrowing his yellow eyes.

Instead of answering him, Dr. Kerchum turned to Lucas. "Young man, I am on the cusp of making something amazing. You now have the opportunity to join me." His cold smile returned, and Lucas stiffened.

"What is it?"

He didn't answer immediately, stroking the head of the demon. "With some of the military connections I made long ago, I am in Sunnydale to invent a new race, an army if you will." He finally answered chillingly.

Lucas shook his head, not understanding, but Spike spoke up. "You're building a new Adam."

Dr. Kerchum scoffed loudly. "Adam was a prototype who was easily mislead. Much like the biblical version. I, my new friends, am creating Cain."