After Adam's defeat, the spoils of the 314 project are up for grabs. Spike finds himself at the centre of a web of intrigue.
Disclaimer: Any characters and locations from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel the Series are the property of Mutant Enemy.
Chapter 2: Spike receives his second proposition in as many days.
Spike didn't have to wait long for the next job offer. It was far less refined in its way, but he had been prepared for as much. He was nursing a beer in a dingy bar when Nat, a sometime acquaintance from the old country, joined him.
"Hey Spikey boy, come down in the world a bit, haven't you?"
Itching to slap the grin off Nat's face, Spike nevertheless replied mildly: "Just regrouping. Not the kind of place I'd 'ave expected to see you either."
"I was looking for you. Got something you might be interested in, down on your luck as you are."
Spike bristled but still controlled his temper, though it was becoming touch and go. "What's on offer?"
"Spot of lucrative employment."
"I'm listening."
As Nat settled into the booth opposite, Spike reflected that his involvement in this business should not come as a surprise. Before he had been turned in the mid-eighteenth century, Nat had been a rogue and a libertine; bent on squandering what little remained of the family fortune. He'd been one of Francis Dashwood's bunch of posers who used satanic regalia to spice up their bawdy drinking sessions. Spike had always been amused by the fact that a devil, if not The Devil, really had taken Nat in the end. Anyway, one thing that remained from the mortal whose dead body now sat opposite him was a love of grand schemes - he was drawn to them like a bee to honey. If anyone was going to be mixed up in this it was Nat, who now leaned forward conspiratorially.
"I hear you were in the thick of that fracas with the soldier boys the other week."
"Yeah.... and?"
"Well, the place has been bought by an organisation I'm associated with. I'm setting up a team and I need a Second. When I heard you were in town I thought you might be interested - it should be a riot and the pay's good."
Spike feigned surprise at the revelation "Hiring vampires, why?"
"Nature of the business. It's all too tempting for mortals."
"Sound's interesting, but I'm not really flavour of the month these days. Sure you want me for a Second?"
Nat looked serious for a moment. "You know the place for a start but, more importantly, this is dangerous stuff. Unpopular as you are with the vampire community, if something goes down you've got no one to turn to but me. I like that."
Spike leaned back and scanned the ceiling as if ruminating upon the offer, but in reality his mind was working ten to the dozen. Nat wasn't giving much away yet and he didn't want to bite too early and arouse suspicions - there was too much at stake.
"Well, it's like this. There's no denying that I'm on my uppers but I' m not taking something on without knowing a bit more about it."
"So the rumours are right, then. You just haven't got it any more, have you? Did they take away your balls along with your bite?"
Spike erupted out of his seat. With his face barely inches away from the older vampire's he snarled, "I'm in."
Seemingly unfazed, Nat nodded. "Thought you would be. Now, let's get a move on."
They left the bar and headed towards UC Sunnydale. Nat was being uncharacteristically quiet and, when Spike could bear it no longer, he asked: "So, when do I get some information?"
With a look that Spike supposed was supposed to be enigmatic, but actually came off as daft, Nat said, "I'll explain when we get there. Walls have ears."
Spike restrained himself from pointing out that there were no walls around, with or without the proverbial ears. He'd thought that as a double agent he'd hold all the facts, but it seemed that all of the parties involved were conspiring to keep him ignorant. It was not a situation that he was prepared to tolerate for too long.
Eventually their steps led them to Lowell House, which even at this hour of the night was a hive of activity. Underground there were yet more contractors labouring to install unrecognisable pieces of equipment. Nat ignored them and led the way through the white, featureless corridors. As they walked, he finally began to fill Spike in on the situation.
"This place has been bought by a big corporation, name of Reculance. They've got more resources than you could shake a stick at and a turnover that would make a small European nation green with envy. Thing is, the company's run by a bunch of old fools obsessed with the bottom line. The Boss here, Georg Rauk, is one of the bright young things, prepared to push the envelope and make things happen. He's hooked into a new scheme and, if it comes off, he not only takes the company but he and his friends will hold the richest, most powerful people in the world to ransom."
"So, what's the project?"
"He's supposed to be here to find out whether the information on non-humans collected by the Government can be translated into any profitable sidelines like drugs and..." casting a sideways glance at Spike "...behaviour modification techniques."
Spike winced as Nat continued expansively.
"Of course Rauk has got something far bigger planned. What does every human want down in the murky depths of his soul? What do we have that they don't?"
"Apart from boyish good looks and a pert bum, you mean?"
"Immortality"
Spike had been prepared for something a bit on the dodgy side, but this was plain absurd. "Immortality? Well, excuse me for bursting your bubble, but why the hell should we want to help humans become immortal?"
Nat's face took on a beatific smile and when he spoke there was a definite whiff of the evangelical about it. "That's the great thing. Reculance'll be the only suppliers of a priceless commodity, so they're not going to sell it for mere money. It's only going to be available to the powerful because they're the ones that really want it and they're the ones who can pay by word and deed. If you can offer a human immortality you can ask them to do anything, absolutely anything, in return and they will. Rauk is going to run the world and we'll be part of it."
Spike was just beginning to wonder if he had fallen into a den of lunatics when he realised they had reached a familiar part of the complex, close to the secret laboratory that had formerly served as Adam's lair. Nat turned to him, his face now serious, and spoke: "OK, we're about to meet Rauk. If he likes you, you're in, if not... well let's just say that there's no room for any funny business, got it?"
"And if I don't "get it"?"
"You leave here in an urn. He's a good bloke, but a bit unpredictable. This project is his obsession - show enthusiasm and you'll be well in but any hint of disrespect for him or his ideas and you're ash and gone - it's your choice."
Spike shrugged his shoulders. " No choice there, mate. Lead on."
Disclaimer: Any characters and locations from Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel the Series are the property of Mutant Enemy.
Chapter 2: Spike receives his second proposition in as many days.
Spike didn't have to wait long for the next job offer. It was far less refined in its way, but he had been prepared for as much. He was nursing a beer in a dingy bar when Nat, a sometime acquaintance from the old country, joined him.
"Hey Spikey boy, come down in the world a bit, haven't you?"
Itching to slap the grin off Nat's face, Spike nevertheless replied mildly: "Just regrouping. Not the kind of place I'd 'ave expected to see you either."
"I was looking for you. Got something you might be interested in, down on your luck as you are."
Spike bristled but still controlled his temper, though it was becoming touch and go. "What's on offer?"
"Spot of lucrative employment."
"I'm listening."
As Nat settled into the booth opposite, Spike reflected that his involvement in this business should not come as a surprise. Before he had been turned in the mid-eighteenth century, Nat had been a rogue and a libertine; bent on squandering what little remained of the family fortune. He'd been one of Francis Dashwood's bunch of posers who used satanic regalia to spice up their bawdy drinking sessions. Spike had always been amused by the fact that a devil, if not The Devil, really had taken Nat in the end. Anyway, one thing that remained from the mortal whose dead body now sat opposite him was a love of grand schemes - he was drawn to them like a bee to honey. If anyone was going to be mixed up in this it was Nat, who now leaned forward conspiratorially.
"I hear you were in the thick of that fracas with the soldier boys the other week."
"Yeah.... and?"
"Well, the place has been bought by an organisation I'm associated with. I'm setting up a team and I need a Second. When I heard you were in town I thought you might be interested - it should be a riot and the pay's good."
Spike feigned surprise at the revelation "Hiring vampires, why?"
"Nature of the business. It's all too tempting for mortals."
"Sound's interesting, but I'm not really flavour of the month these days. Sure you want me for a Second?"
Nat looked serious for a moment. "You know the place for a start but, more importantly, this is dangerous stuff. Unpopular as you are with the vampire community, if something goes down you've got no one to turn to but me. I like that."
Spike leaned back and scanned the ceiling as if ruminating upon the offer, but in reality his mind was working ten to the dozen. Nat wasn't giving much away yet and he didn't want to bite too early and arouse suspicions - there was too much at stake.
"Well, it's like this. There's no denying that I'm on my uppers but I' m not taking something on without knowing a bit more about it."
"So the rumours are right, then. You just haven't got it any more, have you? Did they take away your balls along with your bite?"
Spike erupted out of his seat. With his face barely inches away from the older vampire's he snarled, "I'm in."
Seemingly unfazed, Nat nodded. "Thought you would be. Now, let's get a move on."
They left the bar and headed towards UC Sunnydale. Nat was being uncharacteristically quiet and, when Spike could bear it no longer, he asked: "So, when do I get some information?"
With a look that Spike supposed was supposed to be enigmatic, but actually came off as daft, Nat said, "I'll explain when we get there. Walls have ears."
Spike restrained himself from pointing out that there were no walls around, with or without the proverbial ears. He'd thought that as a double agent he'd hold all the facts, but it seemed that all of the parties involved were conspiring to keep him ignorant. It was not a situation that he was prepared to tolerate for too long.
Eventually their steps led them to Lowell House, which even at this hour of the night was a hive of activity. Underground there were yet more contractors labouring to install unrecognisable pieces of equipment. Nat ignored them and led the way through the white, featureless corridors. As they walked, he finally began to fill Spike in on the situation.
"This place has been bought by a big corporation, name of Reculance. They've got more resources than you could shake a stick at and a turnover that would make a small European nation green with envy. Thing is, the company's run by a bunch of old fools obsessed with the bottom line. The Boss here, Georg Rauk, is one of the bright young things, prepared to push the envelope and make things happen. He's hooked into a new scheme and, if it comes off, he not only takes the company but he and his friends will hold the richest, most powerful people in the world to ransom."
"So, what's the project?"
"He's supposed to be here to find out whether the information on non-humans collected by the Government can be translated into any profitable sidelines like drugs and..." casting a sideways glance at Spike "...behaviour modification techniques."
Spike winced as Nat continued expansively.
"Of course Rauk has got something far bigger planned. What does every human want down in the murky depths of his soul? What do we have that they don't?"
"Apart from boyish good looks and a pert bum, you mean?"
"Immortality"
Spike had been prepared for something a bit on the dodgy side, but this was plain absurd. "Immortality? Well, excuse me for bursting your bubble, but why the hell should we want to help humans become immortal?"
Nat's face took on a beatific smile and when he spoke there was a definite whiff of the evangelical about it. "That's the great thing. Reculance'll be the only suppliers of a priceless commodity, so they're not going to sell it for mere money. It's only going to be available to the powerful because they're the ones that really want it and they're the ones who can pay by word and deed. If you can offer a human immortality you can ask them to do anything, absolutely anything, in return and they will. Rauk is going to run the world and we'll be part of it."
Spike was just beginning to wonder if he had fallen into a den of lunatics when he realised they had reached a familiar part of the complex, close to the secret laboratory that had formerly served as Adam's lair. Nat turned to him, his face now serious, and spoke: "OK, we're about to meet Rauk. If he likes you, you're in, if not... well let's just say that there's no room for any funny business, got it?"
"And if I don't "get it"?"
"You leave here in an urn. He's a good bloke, but a bit unpredictable. This project is his obsession - show enthusiasm and you'll be well in but any hint of disrespect for him or his ideas and you're ash and gone - it's your choice."
Spike shrugged his shoulders. " No choice there, mate. Lead on."
