It wasn't difficult to find a stairwell that led down into the bowels of the fortress. Forcing herself to descend down the passageway was another thing entirely. The way was dark and stank of mold and decay, and the stairs were slippery with god knew what, but she slowly made her way down into the blackness.
Using a simple illumination spell, she created a small light to guide her way down the narrow corridor. The walls were close and the ceiling low, but she had no troubles finding the dungeon door. It was low and made of heavy wood, and there was a small barred window in it. Using both hands, she pulled free the heavy bolt and opened the door to the chamber.
The room was dark and silent, and it smelled foul. Old straw littered the stone floor and the remnants of manacles and shackles hung from the walls, along with a very colorful assortment of weapons and torture instruments. There was a series of cells lining the far wall and another solid door with a barred window at the end of the chamber. Holding her little light high, she looked around and in the far corner, she thought she saw a faint hint of movement and moved towards it.
There, huddled in the darkest corner, with his hands wrapped around his knees, was the true William. He raised frightened eyes to her as she approached and tried to make himself even smaller than he already had.
"Don't be afraid," she soothed, coming near.
His face was dirty and streaked with blood and tears.
"Who are you?" he asked in a faltering voice.
She knelt beside him. "I'm Willow. I'm a friend. I'm here to find Spike."
William cast a nervous glace at the barred wooden door. "I… I don't think you can…can go in there."
She looked at the door, secured with a heavy chain and huge padlock. Rising, she fiddled with the locking mechanism.
"You... you shouldn't do that. They'll be angry if you do. You... you should get out of here."
She looked at the scared man on the floor. "I'm not leaving without the two of you. We're going to get out of here."
William shook his head, one fist coming up to stifle his sudden sobs. "No... no no one can help us. The wreck... the wreck of our memories sinks forever."
"Hey. That was pretty good. You *are* a poet," she said, trying to distract him.
"It's... it's not mine."
"Oh," she commented, biting her lip as she examined the lock more closely.
"You... you really should go. They'll be back soon. They'll be so cross if they find you here..."
She lifted the heavy lock, placing one hand over the locking handle and impressing her will upon it.
"Release," she ordered softly, feeling a rush of pleasure as she felt the bolt give way.
A shocked gasp came from William and he tried to scramble away from her. "Oh. Oh dear. They'll be so cross..."
"Look. I said I'm not leaving without you. Don't worry about who might show up. Spike and I can handle 'em."
"You don't know. You don't know how terrible they are."
She gave him a confidant smile as she pulled free the chain and dropped it and the padlock to the floor with a heavy clang.
"Yeah? Well I've faced quite a few Big Bads in my day and I've come out okay. It'll be alright William. We just have to get Spike and get out of here. Stay here. I'll be right out."
Without further hesitation, she pulled open the cell door and stepped in.
"Spike?" she called, holding her little light high to illuminate the gloom.
"You shouldn't be here, Red," came a raspy voice from the shadows.
Turning towards the source of the sound, she found Spike naked from the waist up and hanging from a set of chains fastened to the roof of the cell. His arms were stretched high above his head and he was dangling just enough to that only his toes touched the ground. He was laced with whip and burn marks, his skin hanging in ribbons in places and streaked with blood.
"Well, at least you see me and know who I am. That's an improvement," she replied, going to him.
She raised one hand and concentrated on the manacles. "Release," she ordered, and the restraints unlocked under her command causing Spike to collapse to the hard floor with a groan.
"Can you walk?" she asked, crouching down beside him.
"Ow. Don't be Florence Bloody Nightingale now, Wicca," Spike groused, slowly getting his legs underneath him. As he picked himself up into a kneeling position, Willow got a good look at what was left of his back and winced.
"Goddess, Spike. Geeze..."
He gave her a withering glance. "Yeah? Well what were you expectin'? It's a bloody torture chamber, an' there's nothin' my maker an' her soddin' daddy like better than a decent spot of torture."
"Angelus and Drusilla did this to you?" she asked, helping him as best she could.
He looked at her through one swollen eye. "Who else beats me like this?" He dropped his gaze. "Except for Buffy. But I haven't the guts to conjure 'er into this nightmare. Bloody spineless wanker I am."
"Spike, listen. Glory has Dawn and you're the only one who knows where she is. You have to come back with me. You have to take us to where Glory has Dawn."
Still on his knees, Spike hung his head. "Won't do any good, Red. I can't change it. Been tryin'. Been tryin' with all my might, but nothin' seems ta make a difference. Everything I knew, everythin' I did ta try ta change what happened, it all just blew up in my face. It's useless."
"No it isn't. Look, I *saw* what happened. I took a little trip down your musical door memory lane. I *know* how much you changed. Now maybe you didn't change everything you wanted to, or maybe some things couldn't be changed, but you can't give up now. Regardless, you have to be there to help Buffy fight the final fight against Glory."
"What, and watch her die again? Watch her jump off that bloody tower because I was too much of a failure? Because I couldn't do one damned thing right?" he snapped back, breathing heavily. "If it's all the same to you, I'll just stay here."
"You can't stay here, Spike. When you kept Tara from going out to be brain-sucked, we lost our guide to Glory. Without you to show us the way, Glory will perform the ritual, Dawn *and* Buffy will die and so will the rest of the world with it," she argued.
He looked away, defeated. "I can't... I can't Wills..."
"So you're just going to let Dawn and Buffy and the whole world die because things didn't go the way you thought they would?"
"I..."
"Well, well, well. Who do we have here?" came a sneering voice that Willow knew all too well.
She looked to the doorway and saw Angelus and Drusilla standing there. Angelus held a whimpering William by the back of his neck.
"I... told you... they'd be cross," William choked.
"Repulso!" Willow commanded, thrusting out her hand.
A wave of red energy burst forth from her palm, knocking the two vampires backwards and out of the cell. The shock made Angelus release William and the man fell to the floor.
"Wow, Red," Spike breathed appreciatively.
"Best defense is a good offense. C'mon," she answered, bending down to take his arm and urge him to his feet.
He rose, staggering, but went with her, leaning heavily upon her for support.
"C'mon ponce, get a move on," Spike groused to William as they approached the cell door.
Still whimpering, William did as ordered and got to his feet.
"Bloody Hell I was such a wanker. Why couldn't I have asked for Bruce Lee's soul?"
Willow managed to chuckle as she helped Spike out of the cell. Crossing the threshold, she saw that Angelus was still down, but she couldn't see Drusilla. She didn't have time to wonder where Spike's Sire had disappeared to because Drusilla grabbed her and yanked her backwards.
"Nasty girlie. Spoil all our fun. Naughty," the vampiress scolded, knocking Spike from her grasp and sending the injured vampire slamming into a wall covered with weapons.
Willow growled and grabbed Drusilla's hands, pulling them from her hair.
"Repulso!" she yelled, sending the insane vampire flying across the chamber.
"Reveale!" she then ordered, raising her hand to grab the stake that materialized in her palm.
Drusilla screamed a challenge and rushed at her, but she was ready. She ducked and spun as the vampire lunged, coming up behind her and swinging the stake home. Drusilla exploded into dust with a shriek.
"Wow. I did it," Willow mused, surprised and pleased with herself.
"I'll kill all of you for that, bitch," Angelus threatened, grabbing William and preparing to bite him.
Scrambling, she looked for an opportunity and a way to save the terrified man, but then a shadow rose up behind Angelus and she saw Spike swing a sword he'd taken from the wall of weapons Drusilla had tossed him into. The sword arced through the air and neatly lopped off Angelus' head, making the body disintegrate into a pile of dust.
Dropping the sword with a heavy thump, Spike stared down at what was left of his tormentor.
"He might be a ponce, but he's *my* ponce," he snarked.
William shakily got up, brushing off his dusty clothes. "Th... thank you."
"Spike, are you ready to go?" Willow asked.
"I'm half afraid to tell you no, Red. You might send me flying through a wall or ram that pretty stake right through my chest," he answered, still standing on shaky legs.
Willow looked at the stake in her hand, then dropped it.
"Buffy and Dawn need us, and I came all the way here to find you. If you're coming with me, we have to leave now."
Spike placed a hand on William's shoulder and the two of them rose to their full height, each silently supporting the other.
"We are with you, Miss Willow," William replied.
Spike sighed. "Yeah. Lead on, Wicca. We'll be right with you."
Willow flashed him a brilliant smile and led the way out of the dungeon. They followed slowly behind.