Shades of Something Blue
by spikeslovebite
CHAPTER 14
She peered out through the slats of the grate that hid her from their view. Buffy knew these people were far from stupid. They knew from her previous escape that she had utilized their ventilation system and that would be the first place they searched once they discovered Riley Finn’s mutilated corpse.
Just thinking about her revenge brought a surge of intense satisfaction. The sensation of her teeth tearing through flesh after so long was almost a chemically induced high, and a soft, purring growl vibrated through her chest as she relished the memory of his screams. Even after dropping down into a convenient bathroom for a quick wash, the rank smell of his blood still clung to her skin.
The room she was looking down on now was a kitchen of sorts. The glass-fronted refrigerators lining the walls were filled with packets of blood. Human blood. Someone had even considerately labeled them with the type. How handy, Buffy thought with a feral grin.
Another cabinet with a huge lock held a lethal looking selection of drugs. A pair of lab-coated technicians was injecting various syringes into a number of blood bags laid out on the table. Buffy seethed with impatience as she waited for the techs to finish their job and leave. She desperately needed more blood to finish the healing process that Riley’s enhanced blood had started. Whatever demon steroid he had been injecting himself with, the effects didn’t last long and she was already feeling the pain of her injuries.
While she waited on the techs, she rested her head on her drawn up knees. Wrapping her arms around herself, she rocked gently back and forth in an attempt to soothe the clamoring demon. It was kicking up a hell of a fuss to be unleashed on the unsuspecting humans, but she knew that losing control now wouldn’t help her or Willow.
A familiar scent coming up through the vent brought Buffy’s head up with a snarl and she scooted over to have a look down below her.
Maggie Walsh ordered the lackeys from the room. As soon as they had collected their work and fled, she made her way to the drug cabinet and began to rifle through the contents. She was so intent on what she was looking for she didn’t notice the ceiling vent pop open and a figure drop silently to the floor behind her.
Finding what she was seeking, Walsh grunted in satisfaction and slipped three vials into the pocket of her white lab coat. She was locking the cabinet back up when she suddenly became aware that she was being watched. Spinning around with a gasp, she was horrified by the sight of a very pissed off Buffy Summers in full vamp-face.
“H-How did you get loose?” she demanded, hating the fact that her voice quavered in spite of her best efforts. The vampire was between her and the door. She was obviously weakened from her wounds, but even so she was far stronger than Maggie could ever hope to be. What could Riley be thinking to release her like this?
Oh, God.
“Riley?”
Buffy bared her teeth in a gruesome facsimile of a smile. “Merrily roasting in Hell by now, I imagine. He should get along well there. Torture is the ‘in’ thing, or so I hear.”
“You killed him?” Maggie asked tightly. There had to be a way out of here with her throat intact. She eyed Buffy nervously, grimacing as she watched her take several blood packs from the fridge and drain them in quick succession.
“Yup.” Buffy tossed the empty packets to the floor. She found a small cloth sack and slipped some extra blood packets inside. “Well, first I bit his miserable little dick off. Then I drained him. By the way, those are some kick-ass drugs you’ve been feeding your boys, Doc. Make me feel all tingly, ya know?”
Maggie blanched. The girl spoke so casually of mutilating Finn. She had no doubt that her death would be just as painful.
Green eyes glowing with a feral light, Buffy was careful to keep herself between the older woman and the door. “I’m a veal kinda girl, myself. You’re too old to eat,” she said conversationally. “But not to kill.”
Moving quickly, she had Maggie by the throat and slammed her into the glass and metal cabinets. Buffy was so hyped up by whatever had been in Finn’s blood that she didn’t even acknowledge the chip firing as she manhandled Walsh.
“Lucky for you, I have to keep you alive just an eency, weency bit longer. You’re gonna help me and my redheaded friend get out of this hellhole. And, hey! Bonus. Do it without trying to fuck me over and I might decide to be a little benevolent and let you live. Cross me and I’ll take great pleasure in ripping your over-inflated head off. Got me?”
Gasping for much needed oxygen, Maggie nodded. She was counting on her men to step in as soon as they saw her with the escaped vampire. She only hoped they would be able to rescue her before the girl made good on her threat.
“Great! Now, first you’re gonna boost up one of these blood bags with some of that serum you hid in your pocket, and then we’re going Willow hunting.” Her eyes narrowed threateningly. “And don’t even try to overdose me with that shit. I saw how much the tech drew up earlier.”
Once she had dispensed the drug, Maggie watched in horror as the vampire dropped the remaining vials to the floor and crushed them beneath her bare heel.
Expecting to be led towards the door, she gave a shout of pain when Buffy yanked her over to stand beneath the open air vent.
“Up ya go, Mags,” she instructed cheerfully. “Watch that first step, it’s a doozy.”
“You can’t honestly expect me to…”
“Oh, but I do. I’m not stupid. If I walk into that holding area with you, your boys will be all over me. We’re doing this my way, so hop to it.”
Maggie eyed the vent and then the little vampire.
Buffy flashed her some fang. “Are you a gambling woman, Doc?”
Shaking her head, Maggie struggled up onto the table and from there into the vent, with Buffy right behind her.
~@~@~
Standing in the dusky twilight, William clenched his jaw and stared across the street at the Crawford Mansion.
He should have been with her that night. Instead of listening to her when she insisted he stay with Joyce and do some research, he should have left with her. They still might have run into the soldiers, but he would have been there to protect her from them.
They had yet to find a plausible reason for Willow being taken as well. She made no secret of the fact that she hated Buffy, lately even refusing outright to be in the same room with the vampire. What possible reason could she have had to be with Buffy on the night she was taken?
William was so lost in his thoughts that Oz had to speak twice before he got his attention.
“So, this is where they were grabbed?” he asked.
“No. A bit further on. Just past those shrubs. Three crypts come together and make an enclosure. I’m thinkin’ that’s how they cornered her. Once they trapped them in there, they didn’t have a chance.” William said his voice thick with frustrated anger.
“Let’s check it out.”
They walked quietly, both relieved that Xander had passed out in the back of car, providing a much needed respite from his nattering. When they reached the area, Oz prowled the perimeter, a soft growl rumbling through his chest.
“I can still taste their fear after all this time,” he muttered lifting his nose and sniffing the air. William’s eyes widened as the smaller man shook his head, allowing his face to partially transform into his were-visage. His eyes yellowed, his ears lifted and rose to sharp points, and his nose and mouth elongated.
Seeing Will’s start of surprise, Oz managed to look sheepish in spite of the sharp canines and amber eyes. “Sorry,” he said around a mouthful of fangs. “It’s a little talent I’ve been perfecting. It heightens the senses more this way.”
“Do what you gotta do, mate,” William encouraged. “Warn a fellow next time, though.”
Oz paced the area, moving further out with each pass. “Willow. Her scent changes radically from here,” he moved to the opening in the shrubs. “To this point here,” he commented.
“Meaning what?”
“Not liking the vibes, man,” was all Oz would say for the moment. They could discuss his theory later.
He suddenly stopped, nose twitching as he faced west. “I got it. We ready?” he asked tensely.
“Let’s go, before Xander wakes up and slows us down.”
William was grateful for his enhanced speed and stamina as Oz completed his transformation into the wolf and took off with his nose to the ground. They traveled for roughly three miles before they neared a copse of trees.
Oz nearly smashed his head in as he came up against the huge grey boulder that marked the end of their hunt. Quickly shaking off the wolf, he began to sniff around the rock.
“Hidden entrance, Will; look for a trigger of some sort,” he muttered.
They dropped to their hands and knees, scrounging through the thick undergrowth. William had to hastily suppress a shout of triumph when he found the tiny green light glowing under a clump of decaying leaves. Beside it was a slightly larger black button. When he warily pushed it, the face of the rock opened to reveal a sterile-looking white elevator.
“Jackpot!” Oz grinned. His grin quickly turned into a look of stunned surprise when the Slayer stepped inside. “What the hell? Will, no! Use your damned head, man. If the elevator is up here, that means THEY are out here somewhere. If they come back and find it has been taken down below, the game is up.”
“We have to know where it opens up at down there, Oz. We’ll be going in blind otherwise and I’d really rather not do that. If they come back…fuck, I don’t know! Distract them, or something.”
Oz had a mental picture of himself running before a pack of baying mutant soldiers with big guns. “Cool, I’m bait,” he quipped sarcastically.
Will grinned. With a smart-assed salute, he hit the button inside and the doors swished closed.
Once he was alone, the cocky smile vanished and lines of fatigue and tension bracketed his eyes and mouth. The ride down was sickeningly fast and his stomach lurched in spite of its hollow state.
When it thudded to a halt he barely had the presence of mind to hide off to the side of the swiftly opening doors. Holding in on the button to keep the doors open, he peered cautiously around the edge.
It’s fucking huge! That was his first thought. How something this big had been constructed without the knowledge of the residents of Sunnydale was a mystery. His next concern was how in the world he would ever find Buffy and Willow in such a vast space.
He took in as many details of the immediate area as he could from this vantage point. The temptation to slip out and take a better look was strong, but he knew he was endangering the life of a good friend if he stayed any longer. He had no doubt that Oz would make good on his biting threat and he had no desire to find out if he looked better in fur than he did in leather. With a sigh of resignation and a whispered promise for Buffy that he would return soon, he closed the door and hit the button to return to the surface.
All was quiet when the doors slid open when he reached topside.
Too quiet.
The sound of voices raised in fear and ripping growls came from just over the next rise. Without a thought to his own safety, William took off at a dead run in their direction.
Two humans dressed in army green had Oz cornered in a small grouping of boulders. The werewolf was braced for attack, snarling and snapping at them viciously.
With a blood-curdling roar of pent-up rage, William leapt into the fray. The soldiers never knew what hit them. Slipping easily back into his human guise, Oz sat back and watched as the Slayer quickly incapacitated the frightened duo. It was over in less than a minute, the men lying unconscious at their feet.
Oz nudged one of them with a sneakered foot. “So,” he deadpanned. “I’d say they’re about our size, Will. How do you think I’ll look in baby-shit green?” The smaller man was already relieving the commandos of the handcuffs at their belts and trussing them up.
Realizing where he was going with this, William smiled tiredly. “You want to guard them while I go get the car?”
Moonlight glinted on the pearly edge of a fang as Will looked into the eyes of a predator.
“Right then. Taking that as a yes.” And he ran as fast as his legs could carry him, praying to a God that had lately been lax in His duties that Xan was a really heavy sleeper.
He had some damsels to save.
TBC
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