Part 2
”It’s this way.”
”No, Spike. It’s this way.”
“You never did have any sense of direction. You used to get lost going from the house to the stables. Now I’m telling you, it’s THIS way.” Spike turned down the left tunnel and began walking, not caring if Angel followed or not. They’d been down here for half an hour and Spike’s sense of urgency was increasing by the minute. He hadn’t gotten but five feet down the tunnel before he heard a voice floating out of the darkness ahead of him.
”Good thing I wasn’t waiting around for you to rescue me or I’d be as old as you before you got there.”
“WILLOW?” Spike stood frozen for a moment, not quite believing his ears. “ANGEL! She’s down here.” He walked quickly in the direction he thought Willow’s voice had come from.
”Spike, wait! It could be a trap.” Angel could hear Spike already sloshing through the water. He adjusted the bag of ‘breaking and entering’ supplies over his shoulder and started down the tunnel after his impulsive, annoying childe.
Willow stood pressed up against the side of the pitch black tunnel and waited for Spike to find her. She had been feeling her way through the darkness for what seemed like hours and now she just wanted to go home, take a hot bath and sleep for days. But she knew the most she’d probably get was a quick shower and a change of clothes. As it was, it was almost too late. She could hear Spike splashing towards her and what must be Angel, further back. “I’m over here, Spike.”
”I can see you, just stay there.” Spike reached her in three more long strides and pulled her into a fierce hug. “Are you all right…what happened, who took you, how did you get out…”
“You’re squashing me, Spike.” When he loosened his hold on her without completely releasing her, Willow took a breath and let herself relax against him. “I’m fine but could we wait on the rest of it until we’re out of this stinky sewer?” She raised her hands to his hair, curious as to whether he’d started to comb it back again and encountered the ridges on his forehead. “How come you’re all vampy? Angel getting on your nerves that much?” There was a smile in her voice at the memory of hearing Angel and Spike arguing over which section of the tunnel to take.
“I can see better this way, but yeah, he’s getting on my nerves. I’m trying to be good, though, he came to help me find you. Cordelia, too. That can wait, let’s get out of here.” Spike placed his arm around Willows shoulders and guided her back the way he’d come, carefully avoiding anything that might trip her. They soon met up with Angel, although Willow couldn’t see him.
”I’m glad you're okay, Willow.” Angel spoke softly, not wanting to startle her.
Willow held out her arms until Angel stepped into them for a hug. “Thanks for coming to find me. It’s good to see you… well, it will be when I can actually see you.” She stepped back and Spike’s arm went back around her shoulders. “I can’t believe you used to wander around down here in the dark all the time.”
”There’s usually lights on the wall for the sewer workers but it looks like this whole area has been blacked out.”
”Makes sense, gives them more time to find any escapees.” Willow shook her head to forestall any questions and started walking again. “I’ll tell you all about it once I’ve had a shower and some food.”
The trio walked on, soon coming to the ladder that led to up to an alley half a block from the motel where Angel and Cordelia were staying. The two vampires covered up and Angel went up the ladder first, removing the manhole cover. Willow was startled by the intensity of the light, she had lost track of time long ago. When all three were out, Spike replaced the manhole cover, grabbed Willow’s hand and walked quickly towards the motel. Once there, Angel pounded on the door.
”Cordelia, it’s me, open up!”
The door swung open and Cordelia stood back to the let the two smoking vampires inside, followed by a very bedraggled looking Willow. “That was quick.” She closed the door and took the blankets from Angel and Spike. “You look like hell, Willow.” Cordy kept her distance for a moment all three of them, they smelled horrible, but she really was happy to see Willow again. She pulled Willow into a quick hug and then stepped back and went over to the pile of bags she hadn’t gotten around to unpacking. She picked up the one she knew contained her more casual clothes and then headed towards the bathroom. “Come on, you probably want a shower. I’ll lend you something to wear until you can get home.”
”It’s good to see you too, Cordy. And a shower would be heaven.” She followed Cordy into the bathroom and shut the door.
*****************
The two vampires sat across the room from each other, eyes meeting and then skittering away. Spike, in one of the chairs, was taking an unnatural interest in his cuticles, Angel, on the bed, was suddenly finding the wallpaper pattern one of the most fascinating things in the universe. Now that there was no immediate crisis, no plans being made, and a temporary truce between them, neither of them knew quite what to say. The silence in the room was broken only by the sound of muted chatting and water running from behind the closed bathroom door.
”We have to tell Giles, you know.” Angel was the first to speak.
”I know. But now that Willow’s safe, he and Slu… Buffy, are less likely to kill me.”
”You said she was dating one of the ‘soldier boys’, is she happy with him?”
”Is that all you care about? Is *Buffy* happy?” Spike didn’t bother trying to keep the sneer out of his voice. “And how should I know, anyway? I try to avoid her and she tries to avoid me. We don’t chat about her ‘feelings’.”
“I’ll always love her, Spike. Just like you’ll always love..”
”DON’T. Just don’t, Angel.”
”I wanted to know if she was happy with him because I need to know what her reaction will be to finding out her boyfriend is one of the bad guys. I do care what happens to her, I always will, but I need to know if I can trust her to do what her head tells her and not her heart.”
“You’d know about that better than I would. But I can tell you that she’s been spending a lot of time with him, even to the point of ignoring her friends and neglecting her Slayer duties. The good thing is that she has access to the lab and such.”
”She joined them? She knows what they are doing and she JOINED them?”
”In her defense, she knows what they’ve *told* her and from her point of view, why wouldn’t making vampires and demons harmless to humans be a good thing? It would just make her job easier and free up more time for …. other things. But if Willow’s bitching is any indication, Buffy doesn’t seem to want to even consider that there is anything more going on.”
”And Giles? He just lets this continue? That doesn’t seem like him.” Angel didn’t like the sound of any of this.
”He’s not her keeper. And as I’ve heard him tell her more than once, he’s not her father and he’s not even her Watcher anymore. No matter how young she may seem to us, she is an adult. Not much he can do unless he’s willing to lock her in a room until she sees reason. If he wouldn’t do it before when you…. well, before, I don’t see Giles doing it now. I really don’t know why he hangs around here since she doesn’t listen to a word he says anymore.”
”So we’re going to have to either leave Buffy out of this or find some way to make sure she at least doesn’t interfere.”
Willow and Cordelia exited the bathroom just as Angel spoke. “It’s worse than that, Angel.” Willow went over to sit in the other chair across from Spike. “She’s played right into their hands and may even be in danger once they discover I’m gone.”
”What are you talking about, pet?”
”I only want to tell all of this once. Buffy will be getting out of her last class in about forty minutes. I’m going to call Xander and have him go meet her and see if he can keep her in sight but busy for a few hours. We need to get to Giles’ and tell him what’s going on. After he hears me out, he’ll know how to explain things to Buffy, but she has to know what’s going on, she can’t be kept out of it.”
”What ever you think is best, Willow. But if Xander only has forty minutes, you better hurry up and call him. Anya keeps him pretty busy and you know how she hates to be interrupted.” Spike smiled at Willow as they shared the memory of the reaction that Willow’s last phone call to Xander had produced. Spike had been able to hear the cursing coming through the phone from the other side of the room.
Angel looked from Spike to Willow and back again. He was amazed at how comfortable they were with each other. “I’ll hurry in the shower, then. I doubt Giles will be happy to see me at all, but I don’t think he’d let me in the door smelling like this. Spike, look through my stuff and grab something to wear. You’re going to have to hurry, too.”
Spike made a face at the thought of wearing anything of his Sire’s and opened his mouth to make an appropriate comment.
”Spike….” Willow had seen it coming and cut him off with a warning glance.
Spike closed his mouth and nodded his head. “Sure, whatever.”
Cordelia watched the little scene in shock, but for once in her life, she refrained from blurting out exactly what was on her mind.
****************
Showers taken and phone calls made, Willow and Cordelia were on their way to Giles’ in Angel’s car, Cordelia at the wheel, chatting about the odd turns their lives had taken in the last years. The two vampires were hunched down in the back seat, glaring at each other. Spike’s clothes selection had not gone over well with Angel, just as Spike had planned. Only intervention by the two women had prevented a lengthy argument that would only *start* with why Spike could not wear Angel’s favorite silk shirt. Of course, Spike had instinctively chosen it for just that reason. Willow’s not-so-subtle reminder that Buffy was in danger had Angel relenting with only an annoyed growl. Cordelia’s also not-so-subtle reminder that Willow was exhausted and in danger had Spike shoving the leather pants back into Angel’s bag and withdrawing a pair of new looking slacks.
They pulled to a stop at the curb in front of Giles’ apartment complex and Willow got out of the car to make sure Giles was home and the door was unlocked before Angel and Spike made a blanket covered dash for the door. While they waited for the ‘all clear’, Cordelia turned in her seat to talk to Spike. “So what is going on with you and Willow. You say you’re not…,” she made a face at the thought of Willow and Spike getting naked together, “…uh, you say you’re just friends, but why? I mean, why are you friends with her at all.”
Angel stopped glaring long enough to pay attention to the answer, he wanted to know as well.
”It’s really nobody’s business, now is it? But to avoid the ‘if you hurt her’ speech, I’ll just say, I don’t plan to hurt her, can’t even if I wanted. I guess we’re friends because everyone else was busy and we were both bored. She’s got other friends now that she’s at college, but she still spends a lot of time over here and she can’t talk about any of this ‘demons, vampires and end of the world’ stuff with her other friends.”
”Well, that sort of, but not really, explains why she’s conveniently forgotten that you’re a soul-less vampire who’s tried to kill her and all her friends several times and will be right back to trying to kill them if you have the chance, but it doesn’t explain why *you* want to be friends with *her*.” Cordelia lifted an eyebrow, showing him she wasn’t buying it.
”I told you, I was bored. Do you know how boring that Watcher really is? He does nothing all day but read. Oh, he goes out and jogs every day, and I caught him practicing his fencing once, but other than that…. boring. He and I didn’t talk to each other until recently, annoy each other, yes, but not talk.”
”You didn’t answer the question, Spike.” Angel knew Spike was avoiding the question, which only made him more curious.
Spike was saved from answering when Willow knocked on the window of the car and opened the door. She slid inside and shut the door, kneeling backwards on the seat. “Okay, I told Giles that you’re here, Angel. Like you said, he wasn’t very happy, but I explained a little about what happened, so he says for all of us to, and I quote, ‘get your arses in here’.”
Cordelia gave a shocked gasp. “Giles said that?”
”Yeah, he was a little upset, I guess. And Spike.. I’d keep out of striking distance for a few hours. I think he’s a little insulted and, well, pissed, that you didn’t ask for his help. Muttered something about shopping and assumptions, whatever that means.”
”We better get in there, then.” Spike said quickly, trying to forestall yet another round of questions about things that were his own business and no one else’s. He draped a blanket over his head and pushed at the back of the seat. “Well, come on, let me out.”
With a roll of her eyes, Willow opened the door and got out of the car, holding the seat forward and the door open. Cordelia did the same on the other side of the car.
Once everyone was safely inside, Willow sunk down onto the couch with a sigh of relief. She was amused to see Spike make a large circle around Giles and seat himself next to her on the couch. But Giles didn’t seem to notice, he was greeting Cordelia with a hug and eyeing Angel warily over her shoulder. Angel was trying his best to stand still and let Giles work through the initial, automatic, terror he felt every time he saw Angel, no matter if it was every day he saw him or once every six months. Once Giles finished the ‘how have you been’ ritual with Cordelia, the tightness had left his face and he nodded his head in greeting to Angel.
”Cordelia, Angel, have a seat.” Giles turned his attention to Willow and Spike. “We only have a short time until Buffy arrives. You said it was important that she not be here for this and that it involves the Initiative, so please begin.”
A look passed between Willow and Spike and then Spike began at the beginning. “You remember a few weeks ago when you went to L.A. to visit… “
”Olivia.” Willow supplied.
”Yeah. I took Willow to a bar called ‘The Dungeon.”
”You took Willow to a bar?” Giles asked angrily.
”It’s okay, Giles. I wanted to go, he didn’t force me or anything. I was fine and it’s not really the point.” Willow waived away Giles comment before he could make it. “Can we wait till the end for the lecture? We don’t have much time.”
Giles hesitated a moment, lips pressed together in disapproval, be he eventually nodded his agreement.
Spike went on to tell Giles an abbreviated and edited version of their visit to ‘The Dungeon’, what Norm the demon had said about raids taking place in other cities, the girl he’d noticed, the raid itself and seeing the girl sitting in one of the military vehicles. He then moved on to following the girl to ‘Tommy’s Rendezvous’ and then returning with Willow and his discovery of the hidden door. He continued his recitation with hearing Buffy’s message, looking for Willow, calling Angel, their rescue attempt and concluded with finding Willow in the sewers, not in need of any rescuing. “Then we showered and came over here. Willow hasn’t told us what happened to her or anything, so we’ll be hearing it for the first time along with you.”
”I see.” Giles’ voice was tight with obvious anger. “And you thought you couldn’t tell me any of this before now because I’m somehow an extension of Buffy and anything I know, she needs to know? Is that it?”
”Please don’t be mad, Giles. You’re Buffy’s Watcher, well not really, but you are and you’re her friend and Buffy is with Riley and.. and.. well, just let me finish, okay?”
”Very well, Willow. But we will be talking about this later.” Giles sat back and crossed his arms across his chest, still clearly angry, despite his words.
Willow took a breath and everyone leaned forward in their seats. “I was studying in the library. I’d been there about an hour when Tara came in and we started talking. The longer she talked the more spooked I got. She kept saying things and then kind of taking them back. Like she asked if she could borrow my yellow dress. I only have one yellow dress and it’s the one I wore to the piano bar the night I was there with Spike. That was the first and only time that dress has been out of my closet. Then before I could say anything, she said something like, ‘With your hair, you probably don’t have a yellow dress, never mind.’ She was there for about two hours and she kept saying things like that. I didn’t know what to think, but it was like she was testing to see if I’d freak out or something.”
Giles’ face had gone from anger to concentration. “Yes, it does sound that way. What happened next?”
Unconsciously, Willow’s hand found Spike’s and held on. “She went for coffee and I was going to leave but before I could get all my books together, she was back. She sat back down and she was just like normal Tara, no more odd questions or comments or anything. Buffy found me and that’s when I gave her that message.”
”Why didn’t you just tell Buffy you were in trouble, pet?” Spike interrupted for the first time.
”I wasn’t sure I was in trouble. I thought maybe I was just feeling a little paranoid and Tara is so shy….. if there wasn’t anything funny going on, I didn’t want to scare her.”
”Then why did you give Buffy the message at all?”
”Because I wasn’t sure I wasn’t in trouble, either. I kept sipping whatever it was she had brought me to drink. I don’t remember what flavor it was, I was so nervous. Finally, I started to feel sleepy, which I now know was from what she put in my drink, and I told her I was going back to my room for a nap. She said she’d walk with me and even helped me carry my books. We got outside the library and that’s the last I remember until I woke up in this locked room.”
”Yeah, then?” Cordelia made an impatient ‘go on’ motion with her hand. When everyone glared at her, she made a face back. “Hey! It’s just getting good and she stopped! Geez, some people are so touchy.”
”Can I have some water?” Willow cleared her throat, she wasn’t used to talking this much all in a row.
”I’ll get it.” Angel pushed himself out of his chair and hurried into the kitchen. He returned quickly with a glass of water and handed it to Willow before resuming his seat.
”Thanks.” She took a few sips and set it on the end table, her other hand never releasing Spike’s. “Basically, the Tara that I know, shy college student, supposedly a novice Wicca, is the same person that Spike saw at ‘The Dungeon’ and we both saw at ‘Tommy’s Rendezvous’. She was using a glamour spell to make herself look young, she’s really about thirty or thirty-five, but I never felt it and it never slipped. She showed up in the room right after I woke up and told me some pretty scary stuff. Well, scary to me, at least, she seemed to find it exciting.” Her grip on Spike’s hand tightened and he squeezed back reassuringly.
”The Reader’s Digest version is that the Initiative is a sanctioned part of the military who’s mission is to study ways to make demons and vampires harmless to humans. Tara said that the Defense Department hasn’t officially said why they are funding this research, but I can guess.”
”So can I.” Giles shook his head. “I told Buffy there was more to this than Riley has told her. I’m sorry, go on, Willow.”
”I’m getting to that. Tara also said that Professor Walsh is running a sideline of some kind. I really didn’t understand all the details, but she’s basically taking the research that she does for the government and using parts of it in her own private research. Again, Tara wasn’t real specific, but I think she was trying to say Walsh has moved to experimenting on humans. Okay, and that’s not even the really bad part.”
Willow took another sip of water. “The Initiative deliberately went after Buffy. They knew she was the Slayer before Riley ever met her. They are using Riley to slowly work Buffy into their research. And that’s why Tara was sent to make friends with me. They want me, too.”
“Want you for what, pet? And please tell me it’s not as a lab rat.”
”No, they want me because Tara says I can become a really powerful witch, with a little help from the Initiative and some of their wonder drugs, of course. And they thought by offering me power, I would come work for them. They don’t know me very well.”
Angel shook his head. ”No, they don’t know you that well, but a lot of people would have taken them up on the offer in a second.”
Giles groaned. “They have Ethan. I played right into their hands.”
”Tara didn’t say anything about Ethan so maybe Professor Walsh doesn’t know about him. Maybe he really is in the desert somewhere, learning the error of his ways. But Giles, what about you? I mean you can do that stuff too. They know about you somehow, which is really weird since Tara said they located you by your magic, but they knew about you before then. You haven’t been doing anything big, have you Giles?”
”Um.. no.. not really…. So they are after me, as well?” Giles hoped Willow wouldn’t comment on his avoidance of her question.
”I’m not really sure. Tara just said that they knew about you but she didn’t say anything about plans to ask you to join them. I don’t know if she was trying to use you as a threat or they just weren’t interested. But I think to be safe, we should assume the worst.”
”I don’t know whether to be insulted or grateful. Be that as it may, you said that Professor Walsh was using Riley to get to Buffy? Riley doesn’t know about their plans for Buffy?”
”And just what are their plans for her.” Angel didn’t care if they were using this Riley fellow or not. He just wanted to know how to protect Buffy.
”No, I don’t think he does know. Evidently, he believes exactly what they tell him and thinks that Walsh is just taking advantage of Buffy’s Slayer skills to further their official ‘mission’. As for what they have planned for Buffy… it’s not good, Angel. If I understood correctly, they are going to start by getting some of her DNA and see what makes her different. Then… I don’t know what the ultimate goal is, but I think Walsh is trying to build soldiers. Soldiers that answer to her, that she has control over… you know, putting stuff in their heads, like Spike. Soldiers that could have Buffy’s strength and a demons strength and who knows what else. And Tara said something about cloning, too. I just don’t know enough about genetics and that kind of thing to know what’s possible. Tara was talking about everything like it was perfectly reasonable and kind of skipping around a lot, like we were talking about the plot of some movie we’d both already seen. Only I haven’t seen it. And it all went by so fast. I think if I could write it all down, it might make more sense to me.”
”Oh dear…”
”You said it, Giles. This is giving me the creeps. Look, the hair on my arm is actually standing up. This is just too.. too.. Hellmouthy. And these are humans, right? I mean, I can see demons doing some of this stuff.. but I thought humans were the good guys. They’re not supposed to build private army’s from demons or… or… experiment on humans.. or kidnap people.. or any of that stuff.” Cordelia looked for reassurance from Angel and Giles, but found none.
”Some demons are good, some humans are bad. You know that, Cordelia. And it wouldn’t be the first time the government has experimented on humans. But the question is, what do we do about all this?” Angel tensed suddenly.
”What do we do about what? And would someone please tell me why Xander and Anya were leading me on mild chicken race?” Buffy closed Giles’ front door in Anya’s face and moved further into the room.
”It’s ‘wild goose chase’ and I think you need to sit down, Buffy.” Giles stood up and went to the door, motioning Xander and Anya inside.
One look at Giles’ face told Xander something was very wrong. “Not now, Anya. You can kill Buffy later.” Then both came inside and Anya ran into his back when Xander stopped abruptly. “What’s Dead-boy doing here? And Cordelia?”
Buffy was frozen in place, staring at Angel.. who was here.. in Sunnydale… in Giles’ apartment… casually sitting in a chair… like it was a perfectly normal thing for him to do. “Yeah…” she said shakily, “what he said.”
”Buffy… please.. sit down… there’s something you need to know.” Angel
moved to sit on the arm of Cordelia’s chair, leaving his free.