After Adam's defeat, the spoils of the 314 project are up for grabs. Spike & Willow find themselves 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 6: Spike starts to think about just what he's got himself into.

A few days later found Spike lurking in the grubby depths of the Grotto, a part of the campus that had, not unsurprisingly, been shunned by the big city conference types who were currently infesting it. The venue had the benefit of being deserted and, being partly subterranean, also provided protection from the sun and allowed ingress via the sewers.

The last few days had passed uneventfully as he had settled into his new position with Reculance. Short nights of overseeing the grunts and kow-towing to the powers and long days of planning and restless pacing. The food in the canteen made a nice change from the usual butcher's cast-offs, but it made him restive. Nat was keeping a weather eye on him, of course, and there was a possessive gleam at the back of those eyes that make his hackles rise. Still, he'd deal with that if it ever became a problem. He hadn't laid eyes on Willow - the techies were on the day shift and kept well away from the real work of the company - but today he would get her report.

He heard movement above him and the tread of soft footsteps approaching. If it hadn't been for his other senses telling him that this was Willow, his eyes might have momentarily fooled him into thinking it was someone else. The fiery hair was now dyed a deep mahogany. She was wearing make-up, and a smart business suit had replaced the trademark quirky clothing. A cloud of heavy perfume hung in the air about her, redolent of violets, which almost drowned out the smells of mildew and old burning but not that which was essentially Willow.

"That won't fool a vampire, you know. Not if he already knows your scent."

He moved unhurriedly towards her, catching hold of her wrist and drawing it up so that he could inhale deeply at that point where her blood thrummed so close to the surface.

"Your scent is as individual as your fingerprints. You can't disguise that."

His tongue snaked out and lapped delicately along the path of her vein as instinct started taking over from practicalities. He felt her shiver, partly with fear and partly with desire, as the pulse beneath his lips started to race. Abruptly the spell that had been winding its way around the two of them shattered as she flinched and pulled violently away from his touch.

"Please don't."

"Another lesson sweetheart. Let any vampire but me that close and you're finished."

She drew in a sharp breath and cradled her hand against her breasts as if he had ravaged more than just her senses.

"I'm not stupid."

"Never thought you were, pet, but you ain't got the street smarts I've got. Still, the disguise was a good idea. It doesn't look so bad on you either. Now - what've you got to tell me?"

Willow sighed and dropped despondently onto one of the sagging leather settees, forgetting what she was wearing for a moment as she tried, unsuccessfully, to curl her feet up under her.

"Not much at all. The stuff we're inputting is pretty meaningless in isolation and I haven't been able to get anywhere with the mainframe yet. We're closely supervised and the security on the system is some if the best I've ever come across."

"Can't you just..." Spike wiggled his fingers "...you know?"

"It doesn't work like that...at least I don't think it does. I'm afraid it's just going to take a bit of time to find my way around it."

"How much time?"

Willow's brow furrowed in thought, "It's hard to say. If I can punch through the firewall I can work on it from home as well and that'll help."

"Could they trace you?"

"Maybe, it depends on how good they are."

"They're likely to be very good. Still, I guess you're still less likely to get caught that way than messing around on their time. Just don't give them my address if they come a-calling."

"How about you? Have you found out why they've got vampires on the staff?"

He gave her a potted history of what he knew. Enough to keep that smart little brain of hers satisfied, but not enough to let her know must how far onto the inside track he really was. Nevertheless, what he could tell her had her leaping to her feet.

"Immortality? But that's...that's impossible."

"Think they'd invest this much if it was impossible? They must think there's a good chance that they can use what the Initiative found to create some sort of drug or something. My guess is that they've heard about Adam and the 314 Project. If Walsh could create a new form of life then who's to say what's impossible any more?"

Willow's brow furrowed even further. "But Adam was part demon and his "life" came from atomic power. This is quite different."

"Look sweetheart, I ain't no bloody boffin. All I can tell you is that they believe it's possible."

"And if it is possible, then how do we know that it's a bad thing? Curing death - just imagine it!"

"That's just it pet, I don't have to imagine it. If there's even the slightest chance they can succeed then we'd all better be worried. D'you think that a company that would hire someone like me is going to be doin' this for the greater good? The only reasons you humans are running this show is that demons don't have any imagination. We can't change, we can't invent and we can't create. Yeah, sure there's the odd one who wants to rule the world, but they all try the same old thing - maim, slaughter, destroy. I don't know about you, but the idea of a human with a demon's life span bloody terrifies me - particularly the sort of human that'd be involved with this bunch. I've heard what the Mayor did here. That was just one man and you couldn't destroy him 'till he gave up his humanity. If we don't stop this now the whole bloody lot of us are going to be slaves of the new master race."

His vehemence startled Willow. Hell, it even startled him. He'd never really put it all together like that before - he'd been to busy concentrating on what he could get out of it to even notice the possible ramifications of what Reculance were up to. Now he realised that it scared the shit out of him.

Looking at the girl he saw that she was even paler than usual and trying hard not to shake. Pushing his on concerns to the back of his mind he took a step towards her, reaching out to tip her chin up so she had to look into his eyes. What he saw in hers reflected his own fears and old habits nearly had him taking her into his arms the way he used to when Dru's madness retreated enough for her to feel despair. His fingers traced up her jaw and, almost absentmindedly, he stroked the pale cheeks.

Willow's voice broke through his reverie. "We can't do this on our own, it's too big. We need Buffy.... Giles...someone..."

His fingers ceased their stoking movements and wound themselves almost painfully tight into her hair, dragging her closer. "No Slayer, no Watcher. What, you think they're going to believe it if I just waltz over and say 'Hey Buddy, I've just unearthed another plot to take over the world?' Give me a break; they'd have a stake through my heart before I got through the first sentence. And how about you - what proof do you have beyond what I've told you?"

"But..."

"No buts. We're on our own for now, at least until we've got some proof to lay before them and enough information that the Slayer won't just waltz in with all guns blazing and expect to wipe them out like a bunch of bleedin' Yarbnies. Now pull yourself together and let's concentrate on what we have to do."

She took a deep breath to steady herself and pulled away from his hand, its pale fingers snagging in mahogany strands. "OK, how far are they along? How long do we have to get this proof?"

"We've got a bit of time. I haven't seen any signs of them getting ready to test it yet."

"Goddess! Who are they going to test it on?"

Spike thought rapidly for a moment. Whilst he knew that Reculance were planning on acquiring 'disposable' test subjects, he'd already decided that he didn't want to complicate matters by having Willow embarking on some sort of rescue mission when she should have been concentrating on his agenda.

"Dunno, maybe they'll ask for volunteers. Y'know - tell them they're testing for one thing and stick 'em with something else. There's plenty of people out there who'd do it for a quick buck."

"Maybe." She didn't sound convinced. "But I can't see them testing it on just anyone and letting them walk out of there."

Damn, but she was quick.

"Yeah well, if we nip it in the bud early enough we won't have to worry about them testing it on anyone, will we?"

"I suppose so...I just don't know how you think we're going to do it."

The problem was, neither did he.