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 15: Someone else wants a piece of Spike.

When Spike regained consciousness he initially assumed that the pounding in his head was the result of yet another alcoholic binge and that the acrid smell of smoke meant that, once again, he had passed out where the morning sun could reach him. But as memory finally returned he realised that his aches and pains were not, for once, self-inflicted.

Groaning he turned over and realised that he was, for a second time, a resident of the featureless white cell block. Spotting Nat's feebly stirring form on the other side of the cell, he realised that he was not alone. A cursory glance showed him that each of the cells on this level held two or three of the vampiric members of the complex's workforce, some of whom were also showing signs of slowly returning awareness.

He struggled slowly to his feet, wincing with pain at the burns left by the passage of the electrical current through his body, and staggered over to the Nat who was now attempting somewhat unsuccessfully to make it to a sitting position.

"You OK mate?"

Nat opened his eyes a fraction and muttered, "been better," before slumping back onto the ground. "I feel like someone lit a firework and shoved it up my arse."

Spike grinned humourlessly before replying, "know what you mean."

While he waited for Nat to regain his bearings, Spike paced the cell. Unfortunately, the fact that he knew how the opening mechanism worked was about as useful to him as a bicycle to a goldfish now that he was on the wrong side. Snarling impotently, he kicked the wall and swore as pain shot through him.

Behind him he could hear Nat finally lurching unsteadily to his feet observing, somewhat caustically, "that's not going to get us out of here."

Spike rounded on Nat. "Yeah, and it doesn't even make me feel better, but you got any better ideas?"

Nat raked a trembling hand through his hair before responding and Spike reflected that if he only looked half as bad a Nat did then he must still look like shit.

"You tell me. You're the one that got out of here before."

Spike shrugged. "I was lucky, I spotted a weakness and exploited it. They were giving us spiked blood to knock us out before the tests and they didn't check whether we'd drunk it or squirted it down our trousers. Can't happen twice."

Nat considered for a moment. "I don't see why not. They've got to do something to pacify us before trying the antidote and drugged blood is as good a way as any."

Spike shook his head, the pain making him regret it almost instantly. "Nah, why do they need to drug us when the souped up versions can handle us as easily as they did you earlier? I'm betting on brute force."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Nat fingered his throat where, despite his rapid healing abilities, the bruises from his encounter with Rauk still marked his skin. "I thought they just wanted to live forever, but he was like some sort of superman."

"So" said Spike "What did just happen back there - apart from us getting right royally screwed, of course?"

Nat hacked and spat blood onto the pristine floor. "It was that fucking bitch. I knew there was something going on but I didn't count on her moving so quickly. Ever since she's been here she's been trouble, setting the major players against each other, causing trouble in the ranks and Rauk just let her. Well, all I can say is she must be one hell of a good lay. I hope she's worth it."

"Yeah," agreed Spike, "but what does she want?"

A female voice cut in from behind him "Guess..."

Spike whirled back to the door and saw the woman standing just beyond it looking as cool and unruffled as she had done when she was watching from the edge of the pit earlier.

Spike snarled, "I don't like to play games, lady."

The woman raised her perfectly styled eyebrows "That's not what I'd heard...William."

Spike was shocked into silence. He'd made damned sure as few people as possible were familiar with that name. "You know me?"

"Know of you, know of your bloodline," she smiled acquisitively, "that's why I'm here - you're too valuable to be wasted."

"My bloodline?"

"Drusilla, Angelus, Darla, Nest...all powerful names, all troublesome names and troublesome individuals, but none more so than Angelus." She watched Spike's face as she slowly pronounced that last name, almost seeming to savour the feeling of it in her mouth. "Angelus...Angel. You hate him so much, don't you? I could work wonders with a man who hates him that much."

"You went to all this trouble just to get me?"

She laughed. "Don't flatter yourself. You're quite inconsequential compared with what I'm really here for, but I make it a policy never to miss an opportunity when it presents itself."

Again there was that air of familiarity but, though Spike desperately wracked his brains to work out who it was, the face remained elusive. Nat's voice broke into his reverie as he came to stand behind him. "So, you gonna get us out of here then?"

"Sure." The woman's hand moved to the control panel next to the door and then paused as she reached to the small of her back, unholstering the pistol that had been concealed there. "Just a little insurance."

"That's not going to do you a lot of good lady," Nat mocked, a little unwisely given the circumstances, "you can empty the entire clip into my heart and I'll still rip your throat out."

She was as unfazed as ever. "Maybe, but a couple of shots through the eyes and into your brain should slow you down nicely."

Spike couldn't help grinning. "OK, we'll behave. Just get that door open."

Her hand touched the door's release mechanism and it began to slide open. It was at that point that Nat discovered that Spike had been economical in the truth when it came to the details of his previous escape. It was true that quick thinking had exploited a loophole in the Initiative's procedures, but Spike would never have made good his escape had he not sacrificed his companion to eternal death in order to buy those vital few seconds. As soon as the door had opened wide enough to allow the passage of a body, Spike grasped Nat's arm and catapulted him into the woman, throwing the pair of them off balance and into an untidy heap on the floor.

The sound of gunfire rent the air but Spike raced away down the corridor without a backward glance.