A/N: Thanks for all the feedback. Oh, I know - that pesky Angel!
Buffy saw Spike roll his eyes and felt the same urge come over her own face but she thought it back. After all, someone had to be mature in these things. The man who had shouted repeated the order and Buffy put her hands up in the air and took a step back, turning to face them real slow. She looked over them. Four average joes, well-built and probably corn-fed, decked out in full black body armor with helmets and, most pressingly, rifles. Buffy knew she could take them but why bother? It would just cause a lot of unwanted and unneeded animosity. Besides, they hadn't done anything really threatening yet. Just following orders.
Buffy turned to look at the camera in the corner of the hall; she glared "Angel, call off your goons. Spike and I were just talking….okay, there was some hitting involved –"
"Ponce needs to curb that jealously of his," Spike smirked leaning back against the cage, glancing over the SWAT team "So, you boys can just run along and –"
His clever retort was cut off when he made a loud, and rather unpleasant gagging sound. Buffy turned to face him quickly. Her eyes widened.
The Kraal stood on the other side of the cage door, it's arm was looped through the bars and was encircling Spike's neck pinning him against the door. Buffy saw the reinforced handcuffs dangling from it's wrists. She looked down and saw that the handcuffs on his ankles were also broken. So much for reinforced.
Buffy took a step towards the cell and the SWAT team lifted their guns.
"Don't move!" The Kraal roared "Don't move or I decapitate this scrawny half-breed"
Buffy stopped abruptly and she motioned to the men to lower their guns. They shook their heads and she gave them a very threatening look. Slowly, they lowered the guns.
"Scrawny?" Spike gasped and spluttered "Why, I oughta…"
The Kraal tightened it's grip "Shut up. Now, you" He looked at Buffy "Let me out of this cage now"
Buffy shrugged slowly "No can do"
"Do it! Do it or I kill your boyfriend"
"I don't have the key" Buffy said slowly and carefully, not making any sudden moves "And he's not my boyfriend. I don't care if you rip his head off. So, you might as well just let him go or you'll get shot by those guys"
The Kraal shook his head, spittle emerging from his mouth "No! No! If you don't care maybe I'll just do you a favor and rip the sucker's head off!"
Spike gagged as the demon pulled him up further. The tip of his toes brushing against the floor. He looked at Buffy, fear in his eyes. Buffy looked back, keeping her face blank. She then turned her attention to the Kraal.
"You do that and you won't have a shield any more and these guys will still kill you," Buffy explained simply "So, either way you're screwed. But if you let him go we can talk about this"
"No!" The Kraal roared "Don't play with me, woman!"
The Slayer sighed "Fine. I get it. You're mad. You're bad. I thought you were supposed to be super strong, being all strung out on your alternative to crack? So, why not just rip the bars off the cell and leave?"
The Kraal narrowed it's eyes "My strength is drained. I can't. But, don't worry, I still have enough in me to dispose of this garbage" it said looking down at Spike.
"So, the Speed Beads have an expiration point then, how long are they good for?"
"I will not tell you" The demon said, "I will not tell you anything. Now let me go"
"Sorry can't do that"
Buffy turned to the source of the voice. Angel. He walked into the room, waved his SWAT team back a little. He took centre stage, standing next to Buffy as if they were united and the tension between them wasn't even there. He was showboating. Buffy played along, presenting a united front.
"You're not getting out of that cell" Angel told him "I'm CEO of Wolfram and Hart, one pathetic vampire means nothing to me"
Spike glowered.
"In fact" He turned to the SWAT team "Shoot him"
"Sir?" The team leader questioned.
"Shoot the Kraal. Go through the vampire, if you have to"
"Yes sir,"
"Angel, what are you doing?" Buffy asked quietly "He'll rip Spike's head off"
The dark-haired vampire didn't even look at her. The men lined up their guns. The Kraal tightened his grip on Spike so much that his eyes bulged and his face was turning red. Even though he didn't need to breath, a crushed windpipe would be a bitch to have.
"Let me go!" The Kraal yelled
Angel whispered in the team leader's ear and the man nodded, he then looked at the Kraal "You're going to tell us everything you know about Speed Beads. Who deals them, the original source, where we can find and destroy the stashes. Everything"
"No way in hell!" The demon replied, narrowing it's eyes "You think you scare me? Mr. Shiny Leather Jacket, Coiffed Hairdo Guy? Not even. The guys dealing in this stuff are ten times…no, one hundred times scarier than you, pretty boy"
Even through his pain Spike could be heard choking up a laugh.
Angel morphed into vamp face "That so?"
"Ooh, I'm shaking. A vampire" The Kraal mock-trembled "Please, mommy! Help me!"
"I'm the vampire that's gonna rip you limb from limb, but not before I have some real fun with torturing you" Angel growled "And then after that, I'll lock you up in the basement of this complex, in a tiny cell, and keep you alive forever like that. Not moving. Not seeing anything but an empty corridor. Trust me; what you've got now will be luxury"
Buffy looked at Angel. She knew he was acting. Or, at least, she hoped he was. It was far too close to Angelus-speak for her liking. Still, she was a warrior of action herself and she knew in times of great danger drastic things had to be done. Even so, she couldn't imagine ever doing that. Angel had changed a lot since Sunnydale. Or maybe he had always been like this and had just hidden it from her fearing that it would scare her away.
Buffy was pretty sure it might have done just that.
The Kraal paused, looking around at Buffy then Angel, to the armed guards "No dice!"
He yanked on Spike's neck. Everything went slow-motion to Buffy. She started to run towards them. Angel yelled out 'Now!', The SWAT team fired at once.
Buffy ground to a halt to avoid the flying bullets, she hit the floor.
Spike's body shook as the bullets riddled him. The Kraal staggered backwards letting go of him. Spike keeled forward, falling to his knees on the floor.
"That bloody hurt!" He proclaimed before pitching forward onto the floor face-first.
Buffy sat half-up, looked at Angel "Good plan. I think that worked out real well"
Angel pouted.
A/N: I think that worked out rather well to, don't you? Reviews make me weep with joy!