So, just who is Red Cross? Read on to find out.

Chapter 24 - Thursday, Alternate Reality

They left the cave complex just after midnight. Buffy, Spike and four Jelkas, hand picked by Spike, got into a van and drove to the hospital. Knowing that only essential personnel would be on duty at the hospital increased the likelihood of their getting in and out without concerned members of the public turning vigilante on them. The news on the vigilante groups was good in general. It seemed they had been told to stand down until further notice, and they seemed to be doing so.

Cordelia came round to find herself strapped to a bed. She was conscious, but initially found it difficult to open her eyes. Without her sight, she used her other senses to try to make sense of her situation. The first thing that hit her was the smell. It was obvious she was in a hospital. It didn't matter how hard they tried to cover up that smell, hospitals always smelled that way. She thought hard, trying to remember why she was in hospital. Slowly, her memory returned. The meeting. She was supposed to meet with the hospital administrator, but something had happened.

She had another go at opening her eyes, and found that this time, the muscles obeyed. She was in a largish room. Beds lined both the long walls. Looking around, she noticed that only two were occupied. The other, next to her own, held an unmoving form. There was no sign of anyone around. Filling her lungs with air, Cordelia tried shouting. She shouted for someone, anyone to come and untie her. When this elicited no response, she took another look around. As she looked towards the entrance of the ward, she saw a sign on the wall opposite, directing people into the ward she was in. It read 'Psychiatry'. Somehow she knew that the only people who could hear her already knew she was there.

The vampire and the Slayer had decided to check each floor in turn. They had managed to borrow a white coat each, and hid the Jelkas in a store room on each floor as they checked everything out. So far, they had found nothing suspect. They had checked four floors when Spike spotted the discrepancy. He found a telephone list next to an unmanned nurses' station. It implied that there were eleven floors to the building. The elevator they had used only gave access to the first ten. Having spotted that, they took the Jelkas straight to the tenth floor and went in search of a way up.

It took a while, but they found it. It was a service elevator, hidden behind some storage facilities. Retrieving the Jelkas from their hiding place, they went up to the top floor.

The floor seemed deserted at first. As they made their way along the corridor, they saw empty wards on either side. As they moved, Spike used his preternatural hearing to make sure no one crept up on them. The six moved silently, using only hand signals for communication. In fact, no communication was needed between Buffy and Spike. They both instinctively knew what the other intended. Suddenly, Spike signalled a halt. Raising his face to the ceiling, he slipped into demon face to sample the air more closely. He recognised Cordelia's scent, and another which was vaguely familiar, but which he couldn't place. He pointed to a doorway ahead and to the right. Continuing more cautiously now, they approached the doorway. Looking in, Buffy at once recognised Cordelia. Putting a finger to her lips to prevent her calling out, she went into the room. Spike and the Jelkas followed.

"You unite her, love," Spike whispered. "The rest of us'll just have a look further along. There's someone ahead, and I want to know who it is."

Buffy nodded her agreement and bent to the task of untying Cordelia and then went to look at the man in the other bed. He still appeared to be unconscious, and she was surprised to find it was the man who had returned the video tape to her. Panic suddenly assailed her as she realised how he had contacted the resistance. If he was here, whoever was responsible for this whole thing would now know about Willow.

Although they were both untied, Buffy quietly persuaded Cordelia to go back to her bed and pretend to sleep. She wanted to find Spike and persuade him to get out of here as quickly as they could so they could warn Willow. Buffy knew Willow had gone home that night after complaints from Xander that he had hardly seen her recently.

Following his nose, Spike had found the room containing those responsible for keeping Cordelia and Brian prisoner. There were eight of them, all armed. Of course, as soon as Spike and the Jelkas entered the room, they opened fire. Two bullets hit Spike and the Jelkas all had a similar number of injuries before those in the room realised their guns were useless. After that, it took only a short time before all eight were rendered unconscious. The bullets he had taken were painful, but Spike grinned at his Jelkas when everything went quiet. They were his 'army'. He had trained them, and they had done all he had asked them to do. He felt a glow of pride saturate him, and he knew they felt the same sense of achievement.

Buffy caught up with them at that point, running to the sound of the scuffle. She looked in and saw everything was under control. Spotting the two holes in Spike's T-shirt which still dripped blood, she ran to him, concerned. He winced as she gently touched his chest, close to his heart, where the two wounds were, but put an arm around her to reassure her he was ok. This was getting to be a habit, getting shot. He'd only just recovered from the bullet he took getting away from the Initiative base.

Red Cross watched them from the other side of the one way glass. He didn't feel threatened. He knew no one would realise it was more than a mirror on the wall. He was very put out, and had already sent for reinforcements to come to the hospital, but knew the Slayer and her demon band would be gone by the time they arrived. He was resigning himself to shutting up shop in Sunnydale and starting again somewhere else. He had already more than met his costs out of the Sunnydale operation, so he could afford to.

As Spike turned to look at Buffy, his attention was called to the mirror. Of course, he couldn't see his own reflection, he could only see Buffy and the Jelkas behind him. As he looked, he saw something where his own reflection should have been. He froze, eyes on the spot. There it was again. Something was moving, and it appeared to be behind the mirror.

Trying to be casual about it, he sidled up to the nearest Jelka and whispered something to him. The demon didn't understand why he was asked to go and break the mirror, but he trusted the vampire. He raised one huge, scaly fist and smashed the mirror. Glass fell around the floor as the mirror exploded from the impact. What she saw behind the broken glass made Buffy gasp in surprise.

The small man froze in terror. For an instant, he stood still, and then he tried to run. Spike jumped through the broken glass and caught the man as he tried to escape. Buffy followed, more cautiously, dismayed to see that Spike had picked up several long gashes to his limbs in his attempt to catch the man.

The man lay on his front on the floor, with Spike straddling him. He tried to struggle at first, then gave up the attempt.

"Turn him over," Buffy told Spike. He complied.

When she saw the face of the man behind the whole operation, she knew she had been right. It was Principal Snyder. The little man's bald head was prickling with perspiration as he lay on the floor. Already his mind was working, trying to find a way out of his current predicament. Unless his reinforcements arrived soon, he could think of none.

As quickly as they could, one of the Jelkas lifted Snyder off the floor and carried him over his shoulder to the service elevator, collecting Cordelia and Brian on the way. Fortunately, this elevator reached the ground floor in an area not much used at night and close to a back entrance. As inconspicuously as they could, they made their way to the van and from there to the cave complex.

Once in the back of the van, Buffy tied Snyder up as well as she could. The Jelkas were fussing over one another, removing bullets from their companions with their mouths. They had offered Spike the same service, but he had declined and got into the driver's seat. Cordelia went with him, while Buffy stayed with the Jelkas and a very nervous Brian Wakefield.

Snyder was calm despite everything that had happened. He knew his reinforcements would be close by now, and still hoped for rescue. What he didn't realise was that they had been held up on the way because they had been speeding. When they reached the concealed car park, he was lifted unceremoniously onto the shoulder of one of the seven foot demons and carried the rest of the way to the complex. Conscious of what had happened to Riley, Snyder was tied securely and left with an escort of both (uninjured) Jelkas and a human.

Buffy insisted that the medical student remove Spike's bullets. His comments that she could do it fell on deaf ears. While that was happening, she managed to call Willow. She wasn't at her dorm, but a friend said she was probably at Xander's. This was a relief, as Brian didn't know where he lived and couldn't therefore give the details to anyone. Warning the friend not to give anyone else that information, she ended the call. Next she called Xander's. She advised Willow to get out and come to the caves, bringing Xander with her. She agreed, and with a sigh of relief, Buffy went back to waiting for Spike.

It took some time before he emerged from Simon's ministrations looking grim and bandaged. His shirt had been too badly shredded to be worth keeping, and there were gashes in his jeans too, although he had insisted on keeping them. Spike threw Buffy an injured look. "Why couldn't you've done it?" he demanded.

Buffy was surprised. "Because he knows what he's doing?" she told him, bristling.

"Does he hell. Ham fisted is what he is. Nearly ripped me apart trying to get the second bullet out. You'd have made a better job."

Buffy smiled. "Aw, did it hurt?"

Spike just made an inarticulate sound and folded his arms. He immediately regretted this course of action as the pain from one of the holes in his chest was suddenly increased. He winced. A second later, Buffy was next to him, her face lined with concern. "Sorry, Spike." Her expression changed, becoming expectant. "Maybe I could kiss it better?"

Spike laughed, another action he immediately regretted. He pulled Buffy closer and kissed her.

"You know, maybe you could at that," he answered, leading her to 'their' cavern.

Ok, Claudia79AD, you were right - well sort of. You do know Red Cross. Well, is he evil enough? I thought so, but.. Definitely always had delusions of grandeur!