Title: 500 Minutes
Chapter 3 – Caught!

"Bout damn time Joe."

"Just get off my back already. Cops were called to something next door so I had to wait. I got the stuff. You guys can come anytime now."

"Fine," Chloe finishes before she heads into the bathroom to put everything away that was out of place and to wipe away any prints.

Upon hearing the phone and soft talking, a soft groan escapes his lips as Spike tries to pull himself from his sleepy stupor. His mind flashes images of him arriving at the hotel room, having sex with Chloe before room service came and then a knock on the door and…nothing. He struggles to open his eyes and stretch out a bit more, his head pounding and stomach tight. But as soon as he opens his eyes he realizes that not everything is the way it should be.

Spike's warm brown eyes quickly open to find that he's still in the hotel room, on the bed and he's wearing his black boxers but his right wrist is handcuffed to the bed and he's alone. "So we did…" a small smile escapes his lips as he rubs his face with his free hand, mussing his already slightly spiky hair a bit more.

"Chloe?" Spike asks softly as he blinks some of the blur away a bit more and then squints at the clock before it comes into view. His mind tries to search back to the act of kinky sex but all he can muster is black fuzziness. If he did enjoy something a bit out of the ordinary, he was now at a loss to remember it.

"What…did we do…" He mumbles to himself with a smile, still looking around for the current object of his growing affection.

"Chloe? Hey I'm not goin' anywhere," Spike tries once more with a big smile, finally hearing some soft noises in the bathroom. He leans back on the bedframe and allows his eyes look around for the key, wanting to set himself free and join her. Or I could just lay here and wait for her to come back and take advantage of me, his mind playfully suggests. The latter wins out and Spike settles back on the bed to wait for his lovely captor to return. However, his ears pick up a door being opened but much to his shock it's the front door and not the bathroom, where he assumes Chloe is.

Spike watches with utter surprise and wonder as a strange man dressed all in black walk into the room and then shut the door behind him not paying him much heed.

"Hey uh…I think you have the wrong room," Spike mentions in haste, trying to grab the sheet to cover himself but being unsuccessful as it was out of reach.

"I'm in the right room."

"Excuse me then…who are you?"

However, the man simply ignores Spike and locks the door and then heads for the small table and starts to gather a few already wrapped items from the night before, carefully placing them into a duffle bag.

"Hey excuse me…Chloe!" Spike calls out a bit loudly, finally bringing the lone female into the picture.

"You're late," she looks right at the intruder and speaks firmly.

"Yeah well the damn cops showed up and we had to make the time."

"I know I got the call from Joe."

"You could have cleaned better," the man hisses at Chloe.

"I was busy."

"Yeah I'll bet. What did you do with your glass?" The man asks Chloe, ignoring Spike.

"It's here," she walks up to the strange man and hands it to him, her back to Spike.

Giving both of them a look of bewilderment, Spike pushes himself back up on the bed a bit more. "Yeah so I'm not really into threesomes," Spike mentions with a small smirk. But when he doesn't get anything but silence in return his agitation instantly skyrockets. "Okay so if I um…well don't get an answer I'm gonna start to pound on the wall."

"Actually you won't do that Mr. Scarlatti," the man states meanly as he turns to Spike with a readied weapon.

"What the…hey okay hold on here…" Spike stammers as he looks from the man to Chloe, trying to raise his hands in defense. "What do you want?"

"Actually I'm in charge here Mr. Scarlatti not you."

"He prefers Spike."

"Very well, Spike. You pound on that wall and this silenced weapon will put a hole that is non-life threatening into your very vulnerable body enough to make my point. Do you understand? Good. Now we won't be long."

"Can you at least tell me…"

"I am warning you Spike," the man retorts with a narrowed gaze. "You are not Greg Parker, you are a tech geek so don't even think about trying to negotiate your way out of this. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do. Do not piss me off again. Am I understood?"

Spike slightly frowns as he just stares at the man before trying once again in vain to reach for a sheet to cover himself with. Being only in his underwear in front of the strange man was starting to unnerve him. Not Greg Parker. Was this a team vendetta? He knew his name...what else did he know? And what did he and Chloe want? She wasn't putting up a fight so that meant she was invovled. That thought made his heart sink instantly but his brain race.

"Put that away, he's not going anywhere," Chloe assures the strange man who finally lowers his weapon and goes back about his other duties.

Not going anywhere! Spike's now panicked mind replay's over and over. "Chloe?"

"Good morning Spike," she finally turns to him with a smile as she slowly walks toward the bed and then sits down beside him, her fingers instantly drawn to the smooth olive toned skin of his bare chest.

"Chloe what's going on? Why am I handcuffed and who is that man?" Spike asks as he rattles the handcuff attached to his right wrist as he tries unsuccessfully to squirm away from her advancing touch.

"You'll find out in a bit Spike."

"Find out what. What is going on? If this is a robbery I have nothing…you know that. Why is he cleaning?"

"Mmm just sit back and relax okay? I think you're so sexy like this…" Chloe winks and Spike just stares at her in shock.

"Chloe…are you serious?" Spike asks in shock.

"Haven't you had enough my dear?" The man snaps, his side still to them as he finishes cleaning away certain dishes.

"Obviously I haven't," she replies scornfully and then turns back to Spike.

"Chloe…what's going on? Who is that man and why is he…damn it what's going on?" Spike asks, slightly flustered but overly frustrated; his voice raising.

"Keep your voice down," the man hisses, "or I'll really silence you."

"Will you stop waving that damn gun around?"

"Why? Because I might do this…" the man fires off a shot that just grazes Spike's bare thigh forcing him to utter an instant yelp and the man to rush up to him in anger.

"Ahhh oh god…" Spike stammers as searing heat sizzles his bare thigh.

"I warned once…next time I will shatter your knee cap. Understand?" The man growls as he leans over Spike with an angry sneer.

Spike looks up and offers a small nod, his teeth clenched and his left hand now applying pressure to his wounded right thigh.

"You idiot you got blood on everything."

"Clean…it up…" the man looks at Chloe in heated rage. "Do it now or you'll have other things to worry about."

"Fine," Chloe snaps as she hurries into the bathroom and then back to Spike. The graze wasn't very big and the band aide she had wasn't going to be effective but it made its point. These people, whoever they were, meant business. Serious business. But what did they want from him?

"Just relax okay?" Chloe looks up with a small frown.

What was he to say? Did she honestly expect him now not to try to look for an escape route or fight back at any cost? He wasn't just a passive bystander, he had to focus and try to use his training. But as much as he tries telling himself to keep his panic down he now starts to develope that sick feeing inside his own stomach the same as how those hostages must feel when he's trying to help save them; he was now one of them. Only problem was, his team wasn't on the way to rescue him from this burgeoning nightmare, they didn't even know he was in trouble. He had to act fast and think smart. How could he warn them? Or at least alert them or someone to his whereabouts. He had to try; he'd have to push through the pain and try, it was expected of him and it now meant his life. He couldn't just sit by and do nothing.

"Can I use the bathroom?"

"Shut up already," the strange man snaps at Spike.

"Shhh," Chloe's fingers rest on Spike's flushed lips. "Just keep your voice down Spike and everything will be fine. I'm almost done here."

"Keep my voice down? Chloe he shot me and I'm…" he gently jerks his arm, "handcuffed to the bed. I think I have earned the right to know."

"Very soon all your questions will be answered."

"Please Chloe," Spike half begs. "Tell me you aren't…what's he doing?" Spike inquires as he jerks his head free of her touch and looks up as the man produces a bottle of ammonia and starts to wipe down certain areas.

"Her job of cleaning if you must know Spike. Seriously they really need to teach you guys to listen better. Now shut it!"

As his panic skyrockets, Spike quickly realizes that the man is taking away anything that might have usable fingerprints on it or anything that can ID himself or Chloe. He looks at Chloe but she only smiles, forcing his frustration to boil.

"You liked this last night Spike," Chloe tries to touch him once more, frowning when he tries in vain to pull away from her once more.

"Last night I wasn't like this," Spike answers sourly. Despite the cut being cleaned and crudely bandaged, this thigh was throbbing and heart racing. Chloe's touches were doing nothing to soothe his frantic mind.

"Oh damn it, will you stop fondling him!"

"Well maybe if you could offer me what he did," Chloe turns back to Spike with a warm smile. "I would stop. But he's too tempting like this."

"I can change that…with this. Would you still like him if he couldn't walk. I can arrange that right...now," the man holds up the gun and aims it at Spike's forehead. Spike's whole body instantly tenses, his throat trying to swallow down his rising panic. He tells himself that he must not show fear and calmly try to figure out firstly what they really want from him and secondly a way out or a way to call his team. Neither was going to be easy.

"Put that damn thing away and just finish your damn job," she snaps.

"Don't push me!" The man snaps at Chloe and then turns back to finish his task.

Spike's mind races with thoughts about what these two were really after as Chloe turns back to him with a small wink. Her fingers rest on the black waistband of his tight black underwear but instead of allowing himself to enjoy the sexual arousal, he tries to pull himself away from her touch. The handcuff, however, didn't allow that, only kept him in place as her prisoner.

"Aww don't be that way Spike, I know you like my touch."

"Not any more. What is going on?" Spike asks in haste, his brain trying to keep the sounds of desperation from coming to the fore in his tone. "Please?"

"You'll find out soon enough," Chloe kisses the top of his nose and then pulls back. "Just be a good boy and sit there and relax while we finish up…or else," she tells him in a tone that had instantly gone cold.

Like hell, Spike's racing mind protests inwardly. As soon as Chloe was off the bed, his eyes quickly search for his phone, finally eyeing it on the other side of the bed, the side he had supposedly slept on the night before. He waits a few seconds to make sure that they were both involved in their discussion before he rolls onto his back and tries to reach for his phone.

Come on…just a bit more…please…he frantically urges his brain just as the tips of his fingers reach it. He fumbles a bit, his heart racing and face flushed but finally his fingers grasp the phone just as Chloe and the strange man turn back to face him.

"Get him!"

"Spike!" She growls as he quickly pushes redial, remembering that it was Wordy's cell. But both the man and Chloe converge on him in seconds, the man snatching the phone and pressing the end button before the call can connect, or so they think; Chloe wrestling with his free arm.

"Not a wise move Spike," the man looks at him in anger before placing his phone on the floor and stomping on it with his heel busting it.

"HEL…" Spike tries to call out before the man's large hands grab him, one wrapping around his neck and the other covering his mouth to keep him quiet. With one hand cuffed to the bed, Spike was at the disadvantage, using his free arm to try to pull the man's arm away from his neck so he could breathe properly.

"Bring the needle," the man directs Chloe as Spike continues to struggle in vain. "Don't worry Spike you aren't going to die – just yet. You are worth a lot of money to us. But you didn't listen and now you'll face your first consequence."

Money? What? No! I have no money…I'm not rich! You have the wrong man!

Spike's words only come out garbled as he tries to speak into the man's hand, desperately trying to tell them he wasn't rich and his family had no money to pay for his release; they had the wrong man if this was indeed a robbery. But all that escaped were muffled groans, his mind a mad panic between escape and wonder. He watches Chloe nearing with the needle and tries once again in vain to pull himself away, the handcuff of course sealing his ultimate demise. Spike's lips offer an instant groan as his side sustains a hit from his captor, forcing his struggling half naked frame to slightly falter in his captor's grasp.

The man's hand finally leaves Spike's mouth long enough for him to ask Chloe one important question. "Who…are you?" He lightly wheezes as the man's arm still remains wrapped around his neck.

"Not who you think," Chloe answers matter of factly before she plunges the needle into Spike's red and chaffed neck and then leans in and kisses him on the cheek. "But…it wasn't all pretend," is all he hears before the drugs render him unconscious once again.

"Annabelle, he has the day off right?"

"Yes David, unless he gets a call."

"Well you better pray that doesn't happen," David snaps at her as she undoes the handcuff, merely allowing Spike's unmoving arm to fall limply to the bed at his side. "I'll let you tend to him – for the last time," David looks down at Spike and frowns before rolling him onto his side and giving his vulnerable stomach a hard punch. "That's…for sleeping with him and enjoying it."

Annabelle just rolls her eyes as she heads for Spike's clothes. "You should have watched and got some pointers."

"Don't push me! He's a boy and you better not have gotten soft because of that boy," David snarls as he grabs her by the arm and turns her to face him. "Remember the deal. We have eight hours to get out of the country, get our money and then get rid of him. Time has already started, you know that."

"Yeah…I know that," she growls back as she yanks her arm free. "And I haven't gotten soft. I want my damn money and I want out of this god forsaken country. I'll let you do the dirty work."

"Fine. We'll pick up the plane tickets after Spike gets us what we need. Now hurry up," David urges with an angry edge in his voice as he watches Annabelle heading for the bed. She grabs Spike's clothes and then turns to look at David. "What?"

"Nothing. Just hurry up," he directs with a narrowed gaze.

Annabelle looks down at Spike's peaceful expression and smiles in spite of the situation. But in reality, to her he was a nothing more than a number, a ticket out of hell, a means to an end, an opportunity. And once he had done what they were asking, or if he wasn't able, his value would be gone and his life would be over. Her fingers slightly run through his thick chocolate brown mussed hair, her mind flashing images of their night together.

'You are the most amazing woman Chloe,' Spike had told her. Her steely grey eyes drift in David's direction and then back to Spike. It had been a long time since any man had made her feel as wonderful as Spike had the past two nights and something deep inside was begging that his life be spared and she remember what being adored and desired was really like. But the other part, the rational part of her brain that finally won the battle, starts to cloud over the emotional side, reminding her he was a job and this is what she did; leaving a wake of dead men behind her after they had outlived their usefulness.

"Oh damn your sentimentality already," David huffs as he snatches Spike's jeans from her grasp. "Go and get ready to go and I'll get him dressed and ready for transport."

"Fine," Annabelle answers with a glare before she pushes past David and heads into the bathroom

"Yeah like you were special," David sneers down at Spike as he roughly pulls on his jeans and then his black pullover shirt. He leaves Spike on the bed and eyes something in the corner; a wheelchair. He fetches it and then arranges Spike's still unconscious frame onto the wheelchair securing the chest and wrist straps and then goes in search of Annabelle.

"Does Joe have everything arranged for us?"

"Yes. He said his computer stuff will rival any NSA or CIA…stuff."

"Well this stuff…better get us our money, or Joe will end up with Spike's fate sooner rather than later. Now let's go. A quick stop at Joe's, get our money and get on that plane. Just the two of us."

"Where do we dump him?"

"In the river."

XXXXXXXX

"Kevin what is it?" Shelly asks her husband early Saturday morning.

"It was…Spike," Wordy groans as he slowly rubs his eyes and looks at his phone. '1 missed call.' But it had only rung once and then disconnected.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah no message…probably a mis-dial," he frowns as he places the phone back on his bedside table and turns to his wife. "I'm sure everything is fine."

"Okay," Shelly replies, studying the small look of concern on her husband's face. She had been with him long enough to know when he was hiding something important from her so she wouldn't worry and when he was uncertain about something and unable to tell her what it was.

"What is it Kev?"

"Nothing."

"Did you want to call him?"

"Nah...I...I'm sure it's nothing," Wordy tries to convince not only his wife but his worried mind as well. "I'll try later. He probably rolled over on the phone or something."

"Rolled over?"

"Yeah you know when they were doing this…he's a geek after all," he mentions warmly as he leans in and kisses her on the lips.

XXXXXXXX

The next time Spike opens his eyes, his situation had drastically changed but not for the better – in fact it was worse. He was in the back of a dark windowless van, strapped down by his wrists and chest to a wheelchair and gagged with a piece of heavy tape over his mouth. He looks around the dark slow moving van and feels his panic starting to rise as he finally looks forward to see Chloe and the other man in the front seat. Spike tries to squint past them, wanting to see where they were going but was unable, the seats blocked the view for the most part and all he could tell is they were still in the city but heading out of town.

He looks down at his trapped wrists and tries to move them, wincing when his already chaffed right wrist scrapes the hard fabric edge of the restraint and cursing in futility when he finds no room to move. Spike's mind races with new ideas to try to escape or at least draw attention to himself. If he tries to rock the wheelchair back and forth, it will either backfire and he'll be drugged again, which he didn't want or it would flip over, perhaps causing an accident and he could be injured or killed. Either scenario was grim but then so was his supposed fate wherever this van would come to a stop.

Worth a lot of money to us. This had to be a joke. He had no money and his family was far from rich. This has to be mistaken identity. His mind tries to convince himself over and over.

Aside from the warm throbbing in his right thigh, Spike feels a small twinge in his stomach and winces once more, his brain telling him that the strange man probably got a good punch or two in before he was dressed and strapped into this thing. Course he was drugged so it really didn't matter when it happened it just didn't bode well for what else he might still have to endure.

Wordy I pray my call went through.

Spike looks up, this time drawing the man in black's gaze in the rear view mirror and eliciting an evil smile that made Spike's spine tingle from fear and apprehension. He watches as the van pulls to the side curb and swallows hard, his heart rate instantly skyrocketing at the possibility that his end was closer than he thought.

"My dear take over, I'm going to have a little chat with our dear Spike," David smiles as he turns back and looks at Spike's helpless predicament.

"Remember we need him alive still."

"Don't tell me what to do Annabelle!" David snaps and then gets into the back, slowly inching toward Spike.

Annabelle? Spike feel's his mind and heart sink instantly. What? She had been playing me all along, his brain wonders in misery? David pulls up a small stool and sits down just as Annabelle starts up the van once more, heading toward the industrial district close to the airport.

"Yes Spike her name is Annabelle and I'm David. I will of course forgive you for not shaking hands," David smirks while Spike just rolls his eyes, but keeps his gaze forward. He tells himself that he won't show fear but when David pulls the gun and sticks it into his cheek and cocks the trigger, human nature takes over, pushing aside years of professional training and his frame offers up a small shiver of helpless fear.

"That's right I'm in charge. Not you….not your team…me."

Please don't…oh god please don't shoot me… Spike tries to beg in futility, eliciting a small chuckle from his captor.

"Oh I'm not going to kill you just yet Spike," David leans in closer. "You are worth a lot of money to me," he whispers in his ear, the gun easing back from his face and coming to rest by David's side. "But I can make things very painful for you. So listen up…"

I have no money…Spike shakes his head, wanting to desperately tell his captors that they had the wrong man and that he didn't have the kind of money that people would want to kidnap him for.

"Right now you are probably wondering how much money? I think…fifty million? One hundred million? Or how about one billion?" David laughs and Spike's fear ceases, his expression changed to one of utter shock.

What the hell...

"Oh you don't have that kind of money right?"

Right…I'm not rich, Spike's head nod's furiously.

"Well then…if you personally don't have it…" David leans in, his fingers grasping the back of the top of Spike's hair, pulling his head back and painfully putting pressure on his neck. With his mouth covered by the thick tape, Spike's breathing starts to shallow and chest heave. "Then you'll just have to get it for us."

A robbery? I can't do that. Wait! Actually that could work out for the best. If he was sent into a bank he could notify his team by a note or a text and…

"Computer hacking is what you do best right?" David qualifies his earlier statement and Spike's hopes immediately dissolve.

What? No…not best…no no…oh no…

It all made sense now, he had told Annabelle mostly everything he did for work, even bragging in his mostly drunken state how he was able to hack into secret government places, wanting to impress her.

"So here is my plan...listen very closely. You my dear Spike are going to hack into the Federal Reserve and get me…well whatever amount I want," David laughs as he brings the gun up to Spike's face once more and rests it against his flushed cheek. "And if you can't do that in my timeframe…then you will die."

A/N: Okay so how will the team discover that Spike is missing and what tactics can Spike use to stall? But what other plan does one of his captors have for the other and what will that mean for him? Hope you are all still liking the story and please review before you go.

PS: I hope you also all liked and please do review my latest eppy one shot called 'every second counts' Thanks in advance.