Chapter 21 – Tuesday, Standard Reality

Spike had arrived at the warehouse earlier, but had been left kicking his heels. The master was busy, and could not be disturbed. Although better than it had been, Spike's hand was still painful. Two short bursts of the special lamps had done enough damage. He had refused to have it bandaged and had a cover story about the problems of sleeping in a human house. He thought again about the effect of that, all over, for days on end and shivered. Eventually, he was called before Dominic.

"Everything ok for later?" Dominic asked casually.

"You mean the Slayer?" Spike replied, equally casually.

"Yes, will you be able to deliver her? Tonight?"

"Yes, she should be patrolling tonight. I can steer her to the right place. Then it'll be easy."

"I see," Dominic seemed to be thinking. "It's just, you see, I'm starting to wonder about you. I've been hearing things. And I'm just not sure of your loyalty any more. I think we need to try something else. I think you should stay here for the rest of the day."

"But, how can I get her to the right place?" Spike protested.

"I'm sure you can think of something. You're a resourceful fellow. You can ring her later, and arrange to meet her at the place we agreed. You can even come along when we take her. Until then, I rather think you're going to be my guest. Of course, if everything goes according to plan, you will have my apology for doubting you."

The other part was unspoken. If it was proved that he intended to betray Dominic, he would suffer.

Motioning to one of his bodyguards, Spike was ushered out of the room and taken down the corridor. The room he was given was substantially less comfortable than the one he had used the last time. There was no furniture, and the floor was bare. The door was locked, and he had been warned that it would be guarded at all times.

Sitting in a corner of the room, Spike started to plan how to get out of the warehouse. The only problem was that he couldn't think of anything. His only hope was to use the attack later to make his escape. Then he had to think of a way to get out of the warehouse in daylight without being hurt by the lamps. There was nothing in the room that could help - not even a blanket.

Buffy had spent the night jumping at every sound, convinced Spike had returned. It was still full dark when she had to get up, and she dressed quickly, still hoping he would be back soon. She left for the newspaper offices, still hoping. When the sun rose, she rang her home, terrified to discover that no one answered. Doing her best to put her worries about Spike to the back of her mind, she turned to the task at hand.

Meddows had taken the decision to suspend production of the paper overnight, and there were delivery vans waiting ready in the loading bay. Instead of newspapers, they loaded the modified lamps, and other weapons people had brought. Someone had managed to get their hands on two containers of holy water, and several high power water guns. In all, there were fifteen men and women in addition to the Scoobies ready to go.

They had five modified lamps, and three water guns. The containers of holy water had been decanted into other, more portable bottles and the team split into smaller groups, all of which had either a lamp or a water gun.

Before they left, Buffy had told them the plan. "We need to take a route to the basement. We've got to get those people out. From what Spike said, some may need hospital treatment. Most vampires will be in communal dormitories on the ground floor. We need to make sure they stay there."

Mrs. Meddows and Sarah had agreed to stay outside the warehouse to help those who got out. They would call the emergency services when they were needed. With a signal from Buffy, they moved towards the entrance.

Teams were left at various points along the escape route, effectively cutting off most of the clan. The lamps worked like a charm. They had vampires running for cover immediately. Since it was daytime, most of the clan had been asleep, and when they heard the reason for the commotion, most decided to stay where they were. Fear of the sunroom was such that none of them wanted to get anywhere near the lamps once they had heard what they were.

Buffy, along with Anya, Willow and Tara were one of two teams who made it to the basement. Willow had the lamp for their group, and Tara was ready to use magic if needed. The red-haired witch still hadn't recovered from the shock of what her actions had meant for Xander, but she had improved when she heard he was still alive. And she was determined to make sure he got out.

When he heard the commotion, Spike knew what was happening. Listening at the door, he heard his guard leave. He put a foot to the door, and it splintered. Careful not to stake himself, he climbed through the remnants of the door. He knew that at the first sign of trouble, Dominic and his bodyguards would mass in his quarters. Their first priority would be the safety of the master.

Unknown to Spike, Dominic was not trapped in his quarters. He had been around a long time, and had always made sure he had a bolt hole. There was another exit from the top floor, and he had had one of his people hide it magically. You couldn't see it unless you knew it was there. When he realised the warehouse was under attack, he had assembled his current cohort of bodyguards, ordering four of them to get Spike.

As he crept along the corridor, Spike saw two guards coming towards him. He turned to go the other way, and found two more creeping up behind him. He defended himself as well as he could, but was hit over the head with a baseball bat and fell to the floor.

They dragged Spike's unconscious body through the magically hidden doorway onto a stairwell which had once been a fire exit. They made their way to the basement.

Once there, they moved quickly to another magically hidden door which led to the tunnels. A few hundred yards away was an exit, and on the other side of this, was a covered area which held a van. As they threw Spike into the van, he came to. Noticing this, Dominic motioned to his bodyguards to keep him under control. Looking up from where he was held down, he saw Dominic looking at him, an evil curl to his lips.

"I see," Dominic began. "My luck is still with me. You weren't to be trusted after all. I suspected as much. You are responsible for this outrage. Still, you can be our insurance policy. We'll just take you with us, and make sure my plan succeeds despite this set back."

Spike struggled, but it made no difference. "I was just trying to find out what was happening," he protested. "Wanted to see if I could help."

Dominic looked at him, pityingly. "Such a pity," he said, "you could have been useful. But now, you're going to wish the Slayer had just staked you the first time she saw you. You're going to be wishing for that stake for a long time. Still, I wonder, is her loyalty as great as yours?"

All the white coated vampires were huddled in Wilson's office when Buffy and her team reached the basement. A little threat to use the lamp in the confines of the office provided the keys to the pens. Tara and Willow held the vampires there, while Buffy and Anya started opening the pens, the latter using the keys, and Buffy using brute force. Those who could walk started to make their way up the stairs, past those holding lamps or holy water filled guns. Those who couldn't walk were helped or carried by those who could.

Xander was one of the first to be released. He was relatively unscathed, and helped get many others outside, coming back into the building several times. When they were sure they had all the humans out, and ambulances had taken all those needing treatment to hospital, Xander started organising the distribution of explosive.

Having succeeded in the first part of the plan, Buffy was frantically searching for Spike. She'd taken Tara and Meddows, both armed with lamps and was searching every corner of the warehouse. There was no sign of him. By mid-morning, all the vampires in the warehouse had been gathered into a few communal areas. Most were still in their sleeping quarters. There was no sign of anyone who could be Dominic, and none of the clan was offering any information. Xander took Buffy aside.

"Look, we've got to do this."

"I know, but, what about Spike? If Dominic's got a hiding place in here somewhere, he could still be here. You've got to wait. I'll just have one more look around."

Xander put his hand on Buffy's shoulder. Anya and Tara were standing with him. "Buffy, no. It's got to be now. We're holding them now, but it's just a matter of time before they realise how few of us there are. And these batteries we've got for the lamps only have a limited life. We've lost a few lamps already, and that's all that's saving us right now."

As the van pulled out of its concealment, Dominic decided to share a little of his cleverness with Spike. "The doors we used were hidden by magic. No one will ever spot any of them, even though they have now served their purpose. I wonder if you'll serve my purpose so well?" Spike felt a weight in his stomach. Dominic's face was at its coldest. Even congratulating himself on his foresight, even when he had apparently won this round of the 'game', his cold cruelty was apparent on his face, and Spike knew that Dominic had been right. He would soon be hoping for a stake through the heart.

Reluctantly, Buffy acquiesced to Xander's logic. She felt numb as she was ushered out to the remaining transport and driven home by Anya. She heard the explosion just as she got to her house. She was a couple of miles away by then, but she heard it. Meddows had promised a big story on the 'gas explosion' the next day, so they didn't expect any trouble from the authorities. The authorities in Sunnydale were good at accepting plausible explanations for the unexplainable.

Buffy didn't say anything to anyone. She simply went upstairs to her bed and threw herself down on it. She couldn't even cry. She just wrapped herself in the covers, the lingering smell of Spike clear as she breathed deeply. Nothing anyone said elicited any response. She simply lay, eyes open, staring into space.

The journey in the van didn't take too long. They had heard the explosion when they were less than a mile from the warehouse, and Spike felt satisfaction that the plan had been successful. Within half an hour, they had arrived at their destination, a dilapidated building in an industrial area Spike didn't immediately recognise. He was bundled inside. Within minutes he had been shackled in chains in a room lit only by candles. Four of Dominic's bodyguards lounged close to the only exit from the room. Dominic and the rest of his bodyguard went into an adjacent room. Soon, the master came in, a mobile phone in his hand. While Spike watched, he dialled Buffy's number.

"I will speak with the Slayer," he said when someone picked up the phone.

"I'm afraid she can't come to the phone," Xander's voice responded.

"Get her."

A few seconds later, Tara came on.

"Yes?"

Dominic seemed to accept this must be Buffy. "I have the vampire. You will meet me at the Hellmouth tomorrow night. I will give further details later."

"H..how do I know you've got him?" Tara sounded nervous.

"You didn't find him at the warehouse, did you?" he replied before ending the call.

As he left the room, Dominic motioned to his guards. "Begin," he said simply. Understanding, two stood. One held in his hand a stout leather belt studded with nails, the other a chain. Working together they started to beat Spike viciously. Each stroke of the belt pulling out chunks of flesh and the chain bruising and breaking bones. Some time later, Spike's last coherent thought was a prayer to no one in particular to say thanks that there was no electricity in the building. At least he didn't have to worry about the sun lamps.

It took Willow ten minutes to elicit a response from Buffy. Even the news that Spike was apparently alive didn't filter through for a while. When it did, she first started to shake and then to cry. It took some time before she calmed. By that time, Xander and Anya had joined the others upstairs. "So," Xander asked. "What's the plan?"

"No plan," Buffy replied. "Tomorrow night, I go to the Hellmouth."