Chapter Six: Mirroring Life and Death

Though wary of triggering another seizure, Spike was determined to get through to Sam as much as he could. By dint of some very quick thinking, Spike presented himself as someone who'd been caught snooping around and been tossed in with Sam for reasons he, Spike, didn't know. Seeing someone in pain, he'd tried to help and been very surprised when Sam opened his eyes. If Sam had been on the top of his game, he'd have seen through Spike's story in seconds, but, in pain, confused, and without any conscious memory of Spike, Sam bought the story.

Gingerly, Spike shifted his teammate, inspecting the broken arm as best he could in the bad light. "Want me to try and strap that, Sam?" he asked, struggling to keep Sam from seeing just how worried he was.

Sam, sweating, blank-eyed, and groggy, looked down at his arm, brow furrowing. "I, uh…sure," he managed.

Spike scanned the room, searching for something he could use and lit on some material that had once been curtains or sheets. Moving carefully, he dragged Sam to the wall and braced him against it; Sam used his left arm to stay upright as the bomb tech scrambled over to the curtains and brought them back, already tearing a strip of material off the bottom. Spike knelt, getting a better look at Sam's arm. "What happened here?" he queried, wincing at Sam's involuntary cry of pain when he re-aligned the bone. The tech pulled the fabric as tight as possible, hoping to keep the broken bones from moving again.

"Not sure," Sam panted, trying to keep from yelling his head off during the operation. "I don't remember breaking it," he added, cocking his head to the side with a frown.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Spike pressed, still focused on the wrapping.

"What?"

How to phrase this… Spike sighed internally, then just blurted out, "Why do you hate wizards?"

For a moment, Sam gaped at him, jaw working. "You don't?" he demanded, sounding both better and worse to Spike's ears. The sniper's voice sounded stronger, but the uncharacteristic venom and anger were really starting to scare the tech.

Spike mutely shook his head, but added, "Sure, some of them deserve a good sock in the jaw, but I've met wizards who aren't all bad…" He forebode to mention that he knew two who'd sooner die themselves than let anything happen to Team One.

Sam was silent for a minute, gasping and clenching his jaw while Spike worked. Then, "You're lucky then. All the wizards I've ever met are so arrogant that you wouldn't believe it and they think Muggles and Squibs are hardly worth their notice; not even worthy of saving if it means they get so much as a chipped nail." He paused, grimacing. "It was the Veritaserum," he confided. "That and they expected me to just go back on duty as if nothing ever happened…as if I hadn't just shot my best friend. Thank God I didn't kill him…don't know how I managed that."

Spike couldn't help it. "You're a sniper, you shot your friend, and he's still alive?"

Sam shrugged, though only with his left shoulder. "Yeah; must have been off my game…otherwise Matt would be dead now and he's not."

Though the bomb tech knew better, he kept his mouth shut and finished strapping Sam's arm. "Anything else that hurts?" he questioned, giving Sam as stern a look as he could.

Sam shrank back a little at the look. "Ribs…I think…but not much you can do there."

All too true, Spike admitted to himself. Sam needed a hospital, a Healer, something…not field first aid that could only treat the symptoms. The bomb tech sat down next to Sam, thinking hard. "So, who are these guys?" he finally asked, deciding to play as ignorant as possible. While Sam was distracted by the question, Spike snuck his phone out and pressed the power button. The phone thrummed to life in his hand; the tech quickly tucked the phone back in its hiding place, hoping the phone would guide his team right to himself and Sam.

"My squad," Sam confessed after a minute, sounding ashamed, bewildered. "After I helped that wizard, they had to do it…they had stop me from betraying them again…" He leaned his head back, staring up at the ceiling while Spike shoved as many nasty remarks down as he could. "Can't believe I did that," Sam mumbled.

Spike jostled his teammate a little, avoiding the injured arm as much as possible. "Hey, don't be like that, Samtastic; you didn't betray anyone," he coaxed, unable to leave the topic alone despite the danger of another seizure. Quickly, he moved on, "But you were telling me who everyone is."

Sam's gaze swung down to Spike, the murky blue eyes suspicious. After a few seconds, he began again. "Matt and Ryan run the squad; Matt's our commanding officer and Ryan's one of two wizard handlers. Then there's me: I'm Matt's second in command and I take over when Matt's gone or when he needs to delegate." Spike nodded understanding.

"After that, rank is the same and it's by seniority. Hawke's at the top of the heap: he's been on the squad for years. Then there's Alicia, but Matt keeps her at arm's length 'cause she keeps trying to get him to date her and she can be a bit…obsessive." A shiver from the listening bomb tech. "After that is Hersh, but he's…not exactly playing with a full deck. He hates wizards…sometimes I have to sit on him to keep him from killing any of our allies. Our newest member is Alex; I'm still figuring him out, but I do know he's more of a follower. He'd follow Matt straight off a cliff, it's that bad." Spike choked down laughter at that description.

Before Spike could figure out his next move, the door swung open. Instinctively, the bomb tech moved so he was between Sam and the new arrivals, his eyes defiant. In a moment, the tech had identified both new arrivals: Matt and Ryan. Now the black eyes and the air of darkness around the tall, muscular man made sense; Matt wasn't alive, not really. Ryan, looking deranged and right on the edge of control, sneered at Spike's move.

"I do hope the accommodations are…comfortable," he drawled, smirking at the two captives.

"First rate – please, tell me, where do you hire your decorators?" Spike snarked back, not giving an inch. His eyes spat sparks of fury at both men. "I mean, resort destination like this…it's a wonder you don't have people knocking down the door just to stay here."

Matt's answering smirk had enough dark amusement in it to make Spike quail internally, but Ryan snarled, his eyes wild and furious.

"Peace, brother," Matt rumbled, drawing an incredulous look from Sam. "Do not allow Scarlatti to discompose you so; he can do little, save annoy us."

"He's been trying to get to Braddock!" Ryan protested loudly.

Darn right I have. "So, a little talk, a little banter; that's a problem?" Spike asked as innocently as he could, cocking his head to the side. "What, can't take a few jokes? A little chit-chat? Funny…I thought you wizards had a thicker skin than that." Turning, Spike winked at his wide-eyed teammate. "Right, Samtastic?"

All the training in the world couldn't have prepared Spike for what happened next. Ryan's eyes went from wild to feral and he pulled his wand with a shriek that sounded more animal than human. "No!" he hissed, "I won't let you stop us! Crucio!"

Wordy'd tried to describe being hit by the Cruciatus, but there were no words for this. The curse struck Spike head on, sending him to the ground with an involuntary howl of agony. Pain, everything was pain; the bomb tech couldn't even curl into a ball as his nervous system went haywire, couldn't think, couldn't do anything but scream. Another scream cut the air; the pain stopped. Spike struggled to move, to see, and saw Sam right in front of him, panting and gasping.

"He's a civilian; you can't hurt him," Sam rasped out. "I-I won't let you."

"Let me?" Ryan whispered, the sound carrying; Spike shuddered at the malice in the words. "You think I care what a traitor like you thinks?"

"From where I'm laying, Samtastic's not the traitor here," Spike snapped, ignoring the way his limbs trembled and twitched.

"He betrayed me," Matt rumbled, his black eyes glinting. Spike glared, not hiding his contempt for the creature in front of him. Abruptly, Matt pulled his uniform open, revealing a massive bullet wound in his chest; Sam reeled backwards at the sight, gasping in horror. "You shot me, Sam; my best friend, betraying me, betraying my unit."

Spike hurled the words Sam himself had used, no longer hiding that he knew exactly what was going on from Sam. "You shouldn't have been there; Sam was cleared to fire."

Darkness pinned the bomb tech, malevolence deciding if the tech had outlived his usefulness. "You think to prove Master Corporal Braddock innocent of the charges laid at his door? How…amusing…and futile."

Ryan moved in, a slavering beast for the kill. "My brother's life, Braddock…you killed him with your shot…you owe him a life – your life. And you're going to pay; my brother can't live like he is forever."

He's not living at all, you dirtbag, Spike thought furiously.

"Tonight, we go to England; tomorrow, you pay for the life you stole, Samuel Braddock. A life for a life – Mirroring Life and Death – just as the Old Religion demands."

"You're insane," Spike spat from his position, still on the floor. "Samtastic doesn't owe you a plug nickel, much less his life." The tech forced himself up. "And if you think you're going to get away with this," he smirked, "I think you're underestimating just how many friends in high places Samtastic and I have."

Matt strode right up to Spike, leaning into his space. "You think two Wild Mages, young, untested, unblooded, can stop this?"

Despite his fear, Spike grinned wider. "I think they'd go to Hell and back for us." He cocked his head to the side, mock-thoughtful. "Hey, are they still 'unblooded' if they kicked Morgana Le Fay and Tolay's tails to the curb?"

Ryan's eyes widened with shock; Spike felt Sam's incredulity drilling into him from the side. But Matt laughed, so dark and full of malicious glee that Spike's bravado faded. "Let us see what they have for us, Constable Scarlatti; let us see what the last of Narnia can do this time."

Author note: As a reminder to all my readers...this story will be heading back to the Flashpoint/Harry Potter crossover archive this Friday. Thank you all for your patience during this shameless attempt to snare Sam-whump lovers into reading my series.