It was late afternoon. Xander was not home. Spike waited, and tried to be brave.
There was something wrong. He felt it and drained his feeding glove… then went to the fridge and found the small jar of 'emergency Xander blood' that his rescuer, his lover, his friend who seemed so angry at him for being weak, always left. He stared at it and worried, eventually closing the door and returning to his vigil beside the phone.
It was a very long night.
He rang Xander's mobile hourly. It was always off and switched to a voice mail immediately.
He rang Xander's work early the next morning.
A chirpy voice reported that the office was closed so he rang Xander's mobile one more time. It was still off.
Finally took a deep breath and rang Xander's boss on his 'emergency only' number. It was seven am, Hamish would be leaving for work soon.
A male voice answered, "Johns' residence."
"Hello, I'm…William? Um… a friend of Alexander Harris? Sorry to trouble you but he… he didn't return from work yesterday and I'm … um… just wondering if you knew… since he works with you and… there's no-one in the office now and…"
"OK, let me stop you there son. Xander was off site yesterday – called to the head honcho's office. I reckon he might have gone out to ... you know … ahhh … celebrate after… I wouldn't worry, he hasn't called me, but he's probably on his way to work right now."
Even as he said it, Hamish felt rather worried. Other employees had been 'shifted' by the investors in the past, requested to attend meetings with W&H, and never seen again.
For the most part he had turned a blind eye as they were the employees were folks he had taken on under duress anyway, and many had been rather a burden. But Xander had been a terrific addition to his team.
The tall male from Sunnydale was obviously a skilled manager - efficient and fair in his dealings with subcontractors; effective in resolving the many problems that inevitably arose on a building site; and an intelligent and much liked 'boss' for all the workers under his supervision.
Hamish was also sympathetic of Xander's status – the building industry had traditionally never taken kindly to folks 'batting for the other team'. At parties, even he had to be careful, since his own daughter had a permanent girlfriend – though that always seemed easier to explain, as for some reason, two girls sleeping in the same room raised little suspicion.
Hamish worried. Xander was not only a good worker but a caring and loyal man. That he had not contacted his friend, or come home, seemed utterly out of character.
"I'm sure it's all fine, son. He's probably just decided he shouldn't drive home. I'll give you a call when he comes on site, but you make sure, if you haven't heard from me, or he doesn't turn up by the afternoon, you give me a call and I'll contact Wolfram and Hart. And hey if he rings? Tell him he owes me some overtime!" The attempt at a jovial tone in the voice fell flat, and did nothing to placate Spike's worry, and the 'Wolfram and Hart' reference made the vampire's blood run cold.
They had Xander – he just knew.
He stood with the fridge door open, staring at the jar of Xander's blood for a time, then gave in.
With an unnecessary inhalation, then sigh, he pushed the container into the microwave and heated it just enough before pouring it into the glove.
He would not panic, he had to be there for Xan, and he would not panic! As he watched the container circle, a small part of him hoped it was all a terrible mistake. That Xander had just stayed out for the evening to punish Spike. But he knew in his gut, that it was not true, Xander would not abandon him like that – not even for a night.
He filled the glove with a shaking hand, then grabbed his duster and curled up on the couch by the phone to feed. Xander's blood. He should have felt just a little twinge of connection, but there was nothing. He pulled the duster up over his head, tugged the arm in close to his body and began to rhythmically caress the soft leather and suck the teat dry until sleep took him for the day.
Early evening, Spike woke with such a jolt that he rolled off the couch and fell to his knees as registering unexplained pain. The blood connection with his wonderful savior was wide open – and working! It crippled him with an urgent plea for help.
Spike had not felt such a desperate call since his connection with Angel and before that… Dru. The distress was coming from a muted source but still strong enough to be felt.
Spike was frantic. It was undoubtedly Xander.
The old Spike would have tackled the problem alone and without thought, but the vampire was now too timid to even venture out of the building alone. Instead, he checked for messages on the phone, rang Hamish to alert him that Xander had not returned.
Hamish sounded worried. It was not a good sign. But there was no offer of help.
He did the only thing he could think of. Tears began to fall as he called Jason. Mark picked up.
The two men were at his door in seconds. They willingly embraced the distressed friend as Spike gave a halted account of his fears and the hours prior, and enough of the Wolfram and Hart 'backstory' that they might understand the potential danger.
"C'mon Will… we can do something… I mean… are you sure!" Mark had taken on his 'clinical' persona, suspecting that their dear friend might be manifesting paranoia – given other difficulties discussed with his carer, it would make sense. To try to make sense of the situation Jason gave a quick call to the Johns' home and sadly confirmed Spike's story.
He turned in shock to the distressed pale friend, "Geez Will, what can we do? I mean if these guys are gangsters?... What about the police?"
Spike was now curled up on one lounge, while the lovely partners were seated on the opposite piece of furniture. He simply stated miserably, "Worse than Gangsters – Evil law firm, and it's all my fault!"
Spike was not ready to divulge everything, but instead took what comfort he could from the two lovely neighbors.
The men listened as he confessed various details, first of Xander and his long time friendship; then of 'taking on' the firm after working for them and finding out regards top level corruption; of losing some fight with them, but escaping courtesy of a colleague Illyria who they surmised must have departed around the same time as Will, and taken him under her wing. He spoke of becoming increasingly ill over the following year; and an odd statement about 'losing himself' and being near final death, before Xander took him at Illyria's request, and nursed him back to health… the blonde's anguish directly related to his guilt that now Xander was paying for his initial mistakes…
Jason squeezed Spike's hand and reassured him that they would sort everything out, then offered to make tea, dragging Mark with him, as Spike curled in on his duster, his anguish almost beyond bearing.
Jason flicked the tap on and began to fill the jug as he whispered urgently, "So what do you think? Come on dear heart… you're the psychiatrist! What the hell was that all about? What is this all about? F#$! Is he serious?" Jason flicked the jug on, then rounded on his partner hands on hips and a worried expression.
Mark's returning gaze was unreadable, "I think he's serious – at least from his point of view – and it all seems to line up – even Xander's disappearance. I mean… he doesn't strike me as the sort who would just 'take off', and the connection with this law firm and his disappearance is just too timely to be a coincidence. But I still don't know what we can do! We can't just march into one of the biggest law firms on the globe and accuse them of kidnapping or something!"
"So what do we…?"
"We look after Will, number one. And maybe we can find someone who is happy to talk to that firm – you know, just ask around… I guess that's all we can do for now… I agree with Will, the police will be pretty reluctant to march into those offices."
"Geez, what a mess! So now what?"
"S$# Jas… I have no idea! For now we just need to be there for him. Missing persons stuff is horrid at the best of times, but this… this seems that much more sinister. There are thousands of people going missing every year – even if we do get the police involved, the chances are they'll do a week or two of investigating and then file it along with the others. I guess we could get a PI onto it but, to what end I have no idea.
"And if what Will says is true – though it does seem a little far fetched, I still think that successfully charging a top law firm with abduction – no matter how good the evidence – is going to be a pretty tough call."
Spike's vampire hearing could clearly discern the entire conversation, but he remained still until the two returned and placed a cup of steaming hot tea on the table in front of him.
Jason and Mark began to draw their own conclusions. They knew from previous discussions that Will and Xander were long time friends. Jason had seen Will so sick that he could not even hold a cup or walk. They had the bizarre disappearance of Xander confirmed already by the employer, and the 'last seen' by Hamish defined as being Wolfram and Hart's private car.
Jason and Mark sat either side of their distraught friend. The sometime concierge and aspiring actor took one of Spike's hands in a reassuring grip, but it was Mark who spoke, "I'm not sure what we can do… but we're here for you, OK?"
……………………………….
Xander drifted in and out of consciousness. Still unable to move, his tight cocoon and inert form gave him no option but to think when he was awake. He had gradually resigned himself to his own death. It was confirmed by his inert form; his overwhelming thirst and cracked, now bleeding, lips; the gradual but definite slowing thump of his heart; his hallucinations, lightheadedness and blackouts. It seemed inevitable. He simply waited for the strong jaws and cruel mouth to break through his covering and drain his carcass, or the sting of an appendage depositing eggs inside his form to consume him from within.
Now, in the few lucid periods, he alternated between sending prayers of love and devotion in the direction of his beautiful vampire, and despairing that Spike would somehow be caught in Wolfram and Hart's net also.
Some time on the fourth day he could vaguely make out her form feeding from the body next to him, then felt her form move over him at lightening speed as he felt shudders through the strands of the web, indicating a struggle, then heard the panicked cries of another human. The muffled sounds soon ceased and Xander knew. She had more food for her larder.
……………………………………
Spike rallied a little, at least enough to allow Jason and Mark to depart with various reassurances, then had a thought.
What followed was Spike doing something he thought he would never do, he all but trashed the apartment looking for the collar he knew he had worn when with Illyria. He knew Xander had kept it, and even in his confused state, he had been aware that it had not gone to the trash, he could feel it!
Emptying every drawer and cupboard in a frenzy, he finally found the item in the back of the laundry cupboard hanging on a hook.
He took it down and with shaking hands buckled it around his neck once more, taking special care to stroke his claim mark. He then grabbed his duster and fell to his knees praying with all his might to the Powers, to Illyria, to any deity who would listen.
The Powers heard the cry for help from one of their former champions, and Illyria recognized the agony of her favored pet. Both responded.