Chapter 22 - World Hopping

I come awake with a start. Something's moving, and it takes me a few seconds to realise what it is. I get up and pull on a wrap. In the kitchen, I find Rebecca, fiddling with the device on her arm again. She looks intent on what she's doing, so I don't speak, just put on some coffee, and pull out some cereal.

When she looks up, I ask her what she's found.

"There's an artificial world here. It's a big one, and it's busy."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, it's big. I mean, it could be any size, but this one is many times the size of this dwelling. And, there are a lot of people there."

"Can you tell who? I mean, can you recognise Jacob? Or .. or Spike?"

"I believe I should be able to recognise Jacob, but I haven't found him. Of course, there may be another world inside the one I found, and that's another level of difficulty to locate. I'm going to try .."

"Can I get you something?" I ask, pointing to the cereal.

"I believe I should be able to eat anything that is vegetable in origin." She peers at the package as she speaks. Well, the cereal probably passes that test, but she'd have to eat it dry. I go to the fridge, and pull out some fresh fruit. She lifts an apple first, sniffs it, then does the same in turn to an orange and a pear, and then a bunch of grapes. She pulls off one of the grapes, and nibbles at it carefully. She must like what she finds, because soon she's eating grapes whole.

When she's finished eating, she turns her attention back to her wrist, and I head off to shower. I'm on edge, the feeling that at last we're going to be able to find Spike giving me hope. When I've finished, Rebecca's still working, and I'm wondering what to do when the phone rings.

"Buffy?" Giles' voice is welcome.

"Hey, Giles."

"How are you? How's Rebecca?"

"She's fine. She's still working. She says she's found one world, but that there may be another inside that. She thinks she'll be able to recognise Jacob, so she's checking. I got the impression that might take a while, so I'm trying not to hover. But it's hard."

"I know, Buffy. Look, I don't want to worry you, but something's happened. I couldn't sleep, so I went to check on Riley. He's gone. Somehow, something broke Jenna's spell. I'm going to take her to the mansion in a moment, to see if she can tell us anything about what happened. It's crucial we know whether Riley broke the spell from the inside, or whether he had help."

I can't speak for a moment. I'm so keyed up at the prospect of being able to find Spike, that I just don't want to have to be looking over my shoulder again.

"Buffy, are you alright?" Giles prompts.

"Y ..yeah, Giles. I'm fine."

"Listen, Buffy, if Rebecca finds something, don't go rushing off. I'll have a mobile with me, so call me as soon as you know something."

I don't want to hear about anything that might delay Spike's rescue, but I know he's right. I really don't have any more than my instinct to tell me I can trust Rebecca, and even with Slayer strength, I'm no match for a gun. If Spike is being held by the Initiative, I'm going to need a plan.

"Ok, Giles." I agree.

I hang up and go back to watching Rebecca.

When Giles calls again a couple of hours later, I'm climbing the walls. Rebecca's still working, and saying nothing about what's happening.

"What did you find?" I ask.

"Nothing, I'm afraid. There's nothing to tell what happened. I'm going to drop Jenna and Willow at the shop, then I'll come and over. They're going to go back to the books. Given what they're looking for, I'm not sure how much I can help, and it sounds like you could do with some company."

"Thanks, Giles," I answer. The truth is that I'm desperate for something - anything to do.

"One more thing," he adds. "Anya's back. I haven't had a chance to find out what she's found, but it doesn't seem too important if we haven't got Riley."

"Yeah," I agree and he hangs up.

It seems like I've been waiting forever. When I hear a knock on the door, I rush to answer it.

As soon as I see his face, I know that there's something wrong. I don't have to wait long to find out what it is, because Riley's behind him, and it's obvious that he's holding something to Giles' back.

"Well hello there," he drawls at me. It's Riley, but it isn't. The malice in his eyes is something I've not seen before. But then, maybe it's because he thought I was human the last time I saw him.

Giles apologises, and Riley continues into the apartment keeping his hostage between us. He's wary of me, so that's good, but I can't see how I can do anything while he's holding a gun to Giles' back.

I move away, backwards, keeping my eyes on Giles, and on Riley's face over Giles' shoulder. Suddenly, I bump into something unexpected, and I glance round to find Rebecca there. It also takes Riley by surprise, and he gives Giles a dig in the back while he shouts "What the hell's that?"

Rebecca ducks behind me, shielding herself from Riley. If she can feel a fraction of the hostility emanating from him, it's not surprising. She grabs my arm, and I'm about to pull away, exasperated that she wants my protection, when she pulls my hand to her wrist. It only takes me a second to realise she must mean she's found something. I glance behind, and she nods, but gestures towards Giles. I don't have any idea of how her device works, but I can't imagine how it would work for anyone but her unless there's contact. I take the chance that that's what she means, and reach out my hand to Giles. Before Riley can react, the world fades, then reappears, dark and cramped.

"What on earth happened?" whispers a very confused Watcher.

"I'm not sure," I admit. "I think Rebecca was trying to tell me that she'd found something, so I grabbed you in case she could move all of us. I'd guess it worked."

"It did, but I suggest you keep very quiet, Rebecca tells us. "I found there is another world within the first one I found, and I found evidence that Jacob's there. I'm not sure about your friend, though. We're in the first world, and we're pretty well surrounded here. I managed to locate somewhere that seemed to be quiet, and aimed for it. If you'll just wait a moment, I should be able to arrange for us to jump again."

She goes back to examining her wrist band again, and I glance at Giles. He's looking a little confused, but I guess I must have a similar expression, so it's hardly surprising. We're in what looks like a storage room, with shelves stacked with medical supplies. I don't have a lot of time to look around before Rebecca's pulling on my arm again, and I grab Giles for the next move.

There's that same sense of dislocation, and we're inside a sphere. It's small, so an instant later, I spot him, Spike, lying, apparently asleep. Rebecca's sound of recognition is aimed at the other figure here - but I haven't got time to look that way. I rush to Spike, pulling his head into my lap, and shaking him to try to waken him. He seems to be unharmed, no bruising or blood, but he doesn't waken.

It's then I hear his companion speak. I turn around, and see what looks to be Rebecca's twin, although I assume from her reaction that this is Jacob. He's looking as I expected to find Spike, bruised and cut, but he's conscious, and Spike isn't. I missed what he said the first time, a combination, I assume, of the fact that my attention was on Spike and the state of his mouth, swollen and damaged enough to make speech difficult.

"He's been like that since the last time she took him. He said there was a sound, and that it could cause him pain. Said she warned him it could damage his brain if it went too far."

Rebecca's hushing him, telling him there'll be time for explanations when we get to safety. I know she's right, but it doesn't stop me from wanting him to give me the whole story right away. Giles sees how I'm feeling, and puts a hand on my shoulder.

"Can you take us back to the store room?" he asks.

"Yes, that's easy. The hard part will be where we go after that. I'm guessing back where we came from wouldn't be a good idea?"

"No," Giles agrees. "Let me think, Riley waited until I was away from the shop before he took me. That suggests that he's wary of someone there - I assume Jenna. So, that'd be the best place. Could you take us there? Where we were last night?"

Rebecca gives that some thought. "No, I don't think I could do that accurately enough. How about the place where you found me last night? I could get there easily, the co-ordinate are already programmed in."

It's not ideal, and I know it, but it's the best we've got. Giles nods our assent, and helps me to drag Spike closer to Jacob. When we're all in contact, we shift, and a few seconds later, we shift again.

Fortunately, it's daylight, so we're unlikely to meet any vamps, but we've still got the problem of an unconscious Spike, and a badly injured Jacob to contend with. With Giles' help, I manage to get Spike onto my shoulder, and Giles then goes to help Rebecca with Jacob. As we start to walk, he pulls out his phone, and calls the Magic Box.

He arranges for Anya to meet us just outside the cemetery, cutting off her complaints that it'll mean closing the store. He doesn't explain what's going on, just tells her to be wary of Riley, and ends the call.

To my relief, I can see Anya's car as we near the street. We bundle everyone into it, and Anya drives back. Once inside the store, there're questions all round, but I'm not listening. I'm sitting on the floor, cradling Spike in my arms. He's alive, I know that, I can hear his heart beating, feel his breath on my arm. There's nothing else.

Slowly, I start to become aware of the voices around me. Jacob's explaining what happened to them. He's detailing the fact that the humans were trying to 'persuade' him to hand control of his device to them. And then he's explaining as well as he can what happened to Spike. It was Dawson. She's been hurting Spike, and by the sound of it, it was for no better reason than the fact that she enjoyed it.

"He made up his mind what he was going to tell her. But he did it a bit at a time, trying to make her think she'd got it out of him unwillingly. He said when he'd finished talking, she seemed to believe that was all. But it didn't stop her taking him again. And each time he took longer to come round after her treatment. He said it was something they did to him when they put the chip in his head. Didn't understand it, but he said they'd conditioned him to feel pain or pleasure when he heard certain sounds. I think .. I think she's destroyed his brain. It's been so long this time, I don't think he's coming back."

I listen to him in shocked silence. That last bit causes me to shake my head. "He's coming back. He's got to. We need him. Zara and I, we need him."

I shift his position, taking one of his hands in mine. I hold it to my stomach, where our child is growing, hoping that she can get through to him where I can't. Because he's got to wake up. He's just got to.