Title: Fluffy Initiative (Ep 14 of the Fluffy Files)

Author: Hilary

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Everything I have borrowed from Joss.

Author's Notes: This is part of a series I have lovingly titled The Fluffy Files. I'm taking every ep that Spike has appeared in and twisting it to give it a nice fluffy B/S ending. The eps are not meant to be read in sequence (unless you want to). They are all stand-alone fics which I have just grouped together, sort of a 'how they might get together' thing. In other words ignore any other Fluffy File fics and just pretend this is the first. For each Ep just assume that the show has gone more or less as normal up until the point where I start.

A HUGE thank you to Becca and Isabelle for looking over this for me. Your suggestions and ideas were a great help. You may each have a chocolate naked Spike for being so great.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

As Buffy filled up her glass with some coke she could feel eyes burning into the back of her neck. Either she was being incredibly paranoid or she was being watched. Quickly scanning the cafeteria her eyes fell on Riley and a couple of his friends. She didn't know why they would be watching her but as soon as she made eye contact with them they all looked away, Riley apparently focusing on some papers he was grading.

Shrugging it off she finished paying for her lunch and sat down at a nearby table.

"You have to be the one to ask her." Forrest insisted as Riley did his best to ignore him. "You're the one that knows her."

With a sigh Riley looked up. "Listen Forrest, if you're so keen on Buffy coming to the party why don't you just go and ask her yourself. It's not like you to be-"

He stopped as his pager began to bleep, as did Forrest and Graham's. They were needed.

"Let's go." Riley instructed and the three of them quickly made their way out of the cafeteria. In his rush Riley's papers remained unattended on the table.

From her seat Buffy watched as Riley, Forrest and Graham made a hasty exit. It was then that she spotted the papers lying on the table. Professor Walsh would probably kill Riley for forgetting them like that. Grabbing them she ran out of the cafeteria, hoping she wasn't too late to catch up with him.

* * *

"What do you suppose it is?" Graham asked as they made their way into Lowell House. "It's unusual for us to get called during the day."

Forrest and Riley silently agreed, something big was obviously going on.

As they approached the large mirror in one of the hallways the three of them stopped and turned to face it. Forrest reached out and pulled down a small panel in the wall. After punching in a code a small beam of light travelled over their faces.

'Retinal Scan Accepted' A robotic voice sounded and the mirror slid down to reveal an elevator.

* * *

As Buffy made her way though the corridor she began to wonder if she'd been mistaken in seeing them come this way. Still, Riley did live here so if she couldn't find him she could just leave the papers in his dorm

Rounding a corner she spotted the three guys just ahead of her and sped up slightly.

"Riley." She panted as she caught up to them. "You forgot your papers."

All four of them froze as the three guys became aware of Buffy's presence and as she noticed the elevator hidden behind the mirror.

"What's going on?" She asked with some surprise, realising she'd stumbled across something that she shouldn't have.

The three men glanced at each other and the next thing Buffy knew Forrest had grabbed hold of her and all four of them were in the elevator with the door closed.

"The professor isn't going to like this." Riley sighed.

"Well, what else was I supposed to do?" Forrest protested, keeping a tight hold of Buffy. "She'd already seen too much, I couldn't just let her go."

With a grim nod the rest of the journey was made in silence, Forrest's hand clamped over Buffy's mouth to stop her from making any noise.

Glancing around the small area Buffy knew that it would be pointless trying to fight them just yet. It was too closely compacted and she didn't want to reveal her strength until it was absolutely necessary.

After a few minutes they reached the bottom and as the doors slid open Buffy's eyes widened. An enormous complex spread out before her, further than her eyes could see. Hundreds of people moved about in various directions, some of them dressed in white lab coats and others wearing the olive green army uniform that she recognised from the commando she had seen a few days ago. She could hardly believe she was seeing this, it was like something from a James Bond movie. And it was right beneath her own college.

"Come on." Riley said, moving down the steps. "We'd better go and explain this to the professor."

Forrest went next, pulling Buffy along with him and Graham went behind them. Buffy continued to take in the vast area as they walked. There seemed to be a flurry of activity going on everywhere. Some of the rooms she passed had the commando's training, some had what looked like classes going on but what stunned her most of all was the wide open area that they passed.

The area was literally full of dozens of men and women wearing the now familiar white lab coats and laid out on several tables were various species of demons, including at least one vampire. Some of them were still alive and others, she was almost horrified to see, were in the process of being dissected. Several of the lab coats were taking down notes as the demons were sliced and diced.

Buffy had to resist the urge to throw up. Sure, she killed demons, but that was to help people, and it certainly didn't involve putting them through a painful death so that she could see what their insides looked like. She shuddered which only caused Forrest to walk a little faster. Soon the scene was behind them and Buffy found herself being walked into a small room. As they entered she noticed a figure stood with their back to them and she could only assume this was the person the guys had referred to as 'the professor'.

They stood there in silence for a moment until finally Riley cleared his throat

"Professor, we have a situation."

If Buffy had been surprised up until now, she was positively stunned when the figure turned around. She jerked her head so that Forrest's hand was away from her mouth.

"Professor Walsh?"

She couldn't believe it. The one teacher she reasonably admired was involved in some sort of military based demon experimentation.

"She saw us getting into the elevator." Riley explained sheepishly.

If she was disturbed by Buffy's appearance on the base she didn't let it show.

"Alright Agent Finn, that will be all. Leave Miss Summers here with me; we'll have a little talk. Have someone get her some tea would you."

With a curt nod the three of them made their way out of the room, closing the door behind them.

"Well." Professor Walsh began, motioning for Buffy to take a seat at the small table in the centre of the room. "I suppose you want to know what's going on."

"I think I have a pretty good idea." Buffy replied dryly. "You and your soldier guys capture demons and vampires and perform experiments on them."

This time Walsh did look surprised. "You're aware of the existence of vampires and demons?"

Buffy paused for a moment, unsure if she should reveal her identity as the Slayer. Finally she decided that her identity was a card she would play only if it was absolutely necessary.

"I saw them I was being walked here. Pretty creepy stuff."

Walsh nodded, looking up as the door opened and Riley came back in with a cup of tea for Buffy.

"Thank you." Walsh said as Riley stood back. "That will be all."

Once the door had closed again she continued her talk.

"Needless to say you weren't supposed to see any of this and I'm trusting you not to say a word to anyone else."

"That's it?" Buffy asked with surprise as she sipped her tea. "I stumble across something like this and you just ask me to keep it to myself?"

"Well what else am I going to do?" Walsh asked with mild amusement. "The chances are if you told anyone they wouldn't believe you anyway."

Buffy drained her cup and pushed it to one side. "So what happens now? Are you going to-"

She stopped and swallowed; it suddenly felt overly hot in the room, like the air was too thin. Looking back up at Walsh she noticed that everything was swimming in and out of focus. She tried to call for help but her vocal chords weren't responding.

There must have been something in the tea, was her last coherent thought before she slumped forward onto the table, unconscious.

Satisfied that Buffy was out Walsh eyed her coldly. She'd put years of dedicated hard work into this organisation and she wasn't going to let some stupid little schoolgirl wander in and ruin that.

Walking over to a phone in the corner of the room she picked it up.

"This is Walsh. Send an agent to room 259 immediately."

Hanging up the phone she walked back over to Buffy.

"You chose the wrong place to wander into Miss Summers."

Moments later the door opened and Graham marched in.

"Agent Miller, take Miss Summers to one of the containment cells."

His eyes drifted to the unconscious girl and then back to Walsh.

"That's an order, Agent." She repeated sternly.

"Yes, Ma'am." He finally said, scooping Buffy up in his arms and carrying her out of the door.

"That will hold you until I decide what to do with you." Walsh murmured before heading out of the door herself to find the one man who could solve this little problem.

* * *

Walking briskly through the main area of the complex Walsh pulled out a keycard when she reached the far side and swiped it. Punching in a series of numbers she door swung open and she stepped inside.

"Dr Angleman, we have a situation."

A thin man in his forties appeared from behind a computer terminal.

"What's happened?"

"It appears that a civillian has stumbled across the base, one of my students actually. I'm not about to let anyone jeopardise what we've worked for all. I need to know if the neurological distorter is operational."

Angleman blanched slightly, this was something he'd been working on for some time. If it worked it would give them the ability to erase and even re-write people's memories.

"The prototype is finished but I'll need to run some final tests before its safe to actually use on anyone."

Walsh nodded. "I want you to make that your first priority. Notify me the instant its ready, I want this girl off the base as soon as possible."

"Of course."

Walsh made her way back over to the door. "I'll be in the monitor room for the rest of the day. I don't want any disruptions unless you're ready."

Once she was sure Angleman understood her Walsh left him to it. It was time to see what was going on in the containment cells.

* * *

White. Everything was white as Buffy opened her eyes and looked blearily around.

Am I in a hospital? She wondered, not quite able to shake the groggy feeling in her head.

Slowly bits and pieced began to drift back. She'd been following someone....Riley.....She remembered hands grabbing her.....She remembered drinking tea....tea?......then she remembered feeling so tried, like her body weighed so much more than it should.....then nothing.

As she lay there trying to get her bearings more and more pieces slotted into place. She remembered seeing the experiments and she remembered talking to Professor Walsh. She'd been drugged; there had been something in the tea that had knocked her out.

She cursed softly as she sat up; it wasn't like her to make such stupid mistakes. She should have known that Walsh was being too nice.

It was then that she noticed her surroundings. She was in some sort of cage, three white walls around her and a glass door at the front.

Climbing to her feet she pushed back the dizziness and walked over to the door, trying to see exactly where she was. As she leant forward her palms made contact with the glass and instantly she flew backwards as an electric shock repelled her.

"Ow." She muttered to herself, checking her hands for any damage. Aside from a slight tingling sensation she was alright. "Of course the glass is electrified."

Moving forward again she was careful not to touch the glass this time. She peered to the left and then to the right. As far as she could see there were small cages like the one she was in, each of them containing a vampire or demon. It was like something out of the X-Files; the cages seemed to go on for miles.

Finally her eyes rested on the cage opposite her and instantly her body tensed. No, it couldn't be.

"Spike?"

* * *

Dozens of monitors spread before Maggie Walsh, enabling her to view every inch of the complex. With a press of a button she zoned in on Buffy's cell, surprised to see her awake already.

She smiled grimly as Buffy received a shock from the electrified glass and watched with interest as Buffy took in her surroundings.

Her interest peaked as a look of recognition and shocked played across Buffy's features and with the flick of a button she zoomed in on the area Buffy was looking at.

"Well, well." She said to herself. "This is interesting. It appears Miss Summers is acquainted with Hostile 17."

* * *

As Buffy watched Spike it was clear that he hadn't noticed her as he continued to pace up and down the small length of his cage. Once or twice she saw him raise his hand to the glass, almost as though he was contemplating trying to punch his way out. But after a moment his arm dropped back down to his side and he resumed pacing.

Keeping her eyes locked on him she now clung to the fact that there was a familiar face in amongst all this insanity, even if it was her enemy. It was clear that he was in exactly the same situation as her and if she was honest it was nice to see a familiar face, no matter who it was.

Finally his eyes met hers across the corridor and she watched as a similar expression of shock and surprise flooded his features. After a moment he seemed to recognise her own predicament and after mouthing her name he raised his hand in a gesture of greeting. She did the same and gave him a small, forlorn smile, which he returned.

'Are you ok?' She mouthed, there being no other way of communicating with him.

He shrugged and nodded. 'You?'

She nodded and began to examine the glass door for signs of any weakness. Spike shook his head, indicating that he'd already checked and found nothing.

With a sigh Buffy stepped back. These things always happened to her, even when the people concerned didn't know she was the Slayer. She was pretty sure no normal girl would manage to get herself kidnapped by a covert military group who experimented on demons. It was like a curse that followed her around.

Glancing back over at Spike Buffy jumped when she saw three people entering his cage. Two of them were dressed in the white lab coats she'd seen earlier and the third was dressed in the olive green military uniform, which was also now disturbingly familiar.

The soldier had a crossbow in his hand, which was aimed at Spike's chest while the two 'doctors' backed him into a corner. Buffy wasn't an idiot, she knew what was coming, and she could see it as if it was right in front of her. It was time for Spike to be experimented on.

Images rushed through her mind of Spike laid out on a table while various different people cut into his flesh so that they could see how he functioned. She saw one of the soldiers casually staking him once the doctors were done, Spike having served his purpose.

The next thing she was aware of she was hurling herself at the door of her cage, punching and kicking the glass and not caring about the shocks she was receiving.

"NO!" She screamed desperately. "Leave him alone."

The thought of losing him was suddenly more than she could bear, at the moment Spike was her only tie to the world outside of this place. The one thing that kept her from thinking she'd gone insane.

Her screams evidently fell on deaf ears however, as neither the soldier nor the doctors even appeared to notice her. Either they were ignoring her or they couldn't see her. A few minutes passed and Buffy watched numbly, her violent attacking having passed as quickly as it had come. Finally the two doctors emerged and Buffy's stomach twisted inside her as she saw them carrying a limp and apparently unconscious Spike between them. She waited for them to carry him away and was more than a little surprised when instead they headed in her direction.

The next thing she knew she was looking down the barrel of what appeared to be a tranquilliser gun.

"Don't try anything or I'll be forced to use this." The soldier barked as the doctors dumped Spike on the floor of her cage. Then as suddenly as they had appeared they were gone again, leaving Buffy alone with the supine vampire.

Once she was sure the others were gone she knelt down next to Spike and quickly checked him over for any visible injuries. Finding none she had to assume that he had merely been drugged which then begged the question of why. Why put them in a cell together? It didn't seem that they were short of room, and out of all the demons being held there, why had they chosen to lock her up with the one she had a history with. There was only one explanation. They knew. Somehow they either knew she was the Slayer or they knew that she knew Spike. Glancing around the cage she wondered if they were being watched.

Not seeing any cameras she had to assume that she was either being paranoid or the cameras were well hidden, the latter seemed more likely at this stage. Finally her eyes drifted back down to Spike who hadn't moved since he'd been dropped in there with her. She had no idea how long he was going to be out so all she could do was wait for him to wake up. At least when he did she'd have someone to talk to.

* * *

From her seat in the monitor room Maggie watched intently as their 'guest' took a seat beside the vampire she'd had placed in there. This was going to be the most interesting experiment performed yet, they'd actually get to see a vampire interacting with a human, and not just for food.

Her eyes narrowed as she watched the girl remove her jacket and tuck it beneath the vampire's head. This got more and more interesting with every moment that passed. Could it be possible that she actually cared for the creature? With her lips pursed together Walsh sat back and continued to watch.

* * *

Having pillowed her jacket beneath Spike's head Buffy sat back and smiled to herself. At least he looked a little more comfortable now. She just wished she knew what was going on, the uncertainty of it all was what made her nervous. She had no idea what they were planning for her and Spike but she could only imagine it was bad.

Her mind wandered to her friends, they were bound to notice she was missing. But would they be able to find her? The only reason she was here herself was because she'd stumbled across it by accident. And who would think to suspect Riley, he seemed like such a nice innocent guy. Not the sort to be some kind of undercover soldier. She had to face facts, either she waited around to see what professor Walsh and her gang had planned for them, or she waited for Spike to wake up and between them they figured out a way to get out of this place.

She waited.

Hours passed and Spike showed no signs of movement. Buffy found herself starting to worry. What if they'd done something worse than drug him?

Don't be stupid, she reprimanded herself. Why would they kill him and then leave him with you? He'll wake up soon enough.

Almost as if to prove her point Spike chose that moment to moan, open his eyes and sit up. As his eyes met hers he blinked, stared at her and then looked around at their surroundings.

"I was hoping this had been a bad dream." He groaned, rubbing his hand over his eyes in an attempt to get rid of the last traces of his drug induced sleep.

"I wish it was." Buffy replied softly.

"So what happened to you?" They both asked at the same time.

"You go first." Buffy said with a small smile, already feeling at ease despite the fact that she was trapped in a small room with a vampire who could easily kill her if he wanted.

Spike shrugged. "Nothing to tell really. Came back to Sunnydale after I couldn't get my ring back. Was out one night when I got zapped by something and when I woke up I was in here."

Buffy wished she could say she was surprised that Spike had tried to get the gem from Angel but in all honesty she wasn't.

"What about you?" Spike asked. "Last time I checked this was a place for holing up demon, not humans."

Buffy sighed. "It seems they don't take kindly to college girls stumbling across secret military bases. I'm assuming they locked me in here until they figure out what they're going to do with me."

Spike suddenly seemed to become aware of the fact that they were now locked up together. "Um...why are we together?"

This was the burning question, and one Buffy wasn't sure she had the answer to. "I'm guessing that this place is wired with a camera and probably a mic too. They probably saw that we know each other and decided to conduct another little experiment."

Spike groaned. "That's just great, former bad-ass vampire reduced to little more than a guinea-pig. I knew there was a reason I hated this town."

Buffy arched an eyebrow. "So why did you come back?"

Spike shrugged again. "Place like this keeps you on your toes, plus it's got the Slayer."

Buffy immediately shot him a warning look, telling him to keep his mouth shut. "So, you're still gunning for the Slayer are you? I'm surprised she hasn't staked you yet."

Spike immediately picked up on the fact that these people didn't know Buffy's identity and she wanted to keep it that way. Good idea really, they might be able to use it to their advantage later.

"Well, me and the Slayer have a bit of a history, pet. That's why we're both still alive. We've been dancing together for a while now, I don't think either of us can quite bring ourselves to end it. Plus she's hot, seems a pity to kill her straight away."

Buffy stared at him with wide eyes. "You think I...the Slayer is hot?"

"She wouldn't be alive if I didn't."

Buffy scoffed. "Somehow I doubt that."

* * *

Walsh's ears pricked up as she listened to the banter going back and forth between the girl and the vampire. The Slayer? She really existed? This was unbelievable; she'd heard tales from various Hostiles that they'd captured about the Slayer, a powerful warrior who lived to fight demons and vampires. This was an amazing discovery. Not only was the Slayer real, but she was right here in Sunnydale, under their very noses. Suddenly it became vital that they found this girl, she could prove to be a useful ally and she relished the idea of being able to study someone like her.

She picked up the phone and quickly dialled the number of the research area.

"This is Walsh. I want you to find out everything you can about the Slayer. No, The Slayer, a girl. I don't care if you think it's just a myth, I want to know all we have on her, including who she works for."

Slamming down the phone Walsh sighed. Despite everything they saw in this place, the people around her seemed to have some sort of reluctance to accept anything that was out of the ordinary.

With another sigh she turned her attention back to her current interest.

* * *

"So, how long have you been here?" Buffy asked, having decided to drop the Slayer topic before it became too suspicious.

"Don't know." Spike replied, both of them not sitting with their backs to the far wall of the cage so that they could see what was going on outside. "I was out of it for a while, and after that the days pretty much blended into each other. I'm guessing a couple of weeks."

Buffy stifled a yawn. "But they haven't tried to cut you into little pieces yet?"

"Tired?" Spike asked, ignoring the question about the experiments. The truth was he didn't want to think about it. They could have done anything to him while he'd been unconscious and at the moment he was just thankful that he had no memory of it.

Buffy sighed and laid her head on his shoulder, apparently not caring that up until recently they'd been enemies.

"I'm just going to rest for a minute." She murmured and moments later she was sleeping soundly.

Spike gazed down at her for a moment, still trying to come to terms with the fact that they had been thrown together like this. What stunned him more was the fact that Buffy trusted him enough to sleep curled up with him like this.

His stomach began to growl and he closed his eyes, laying his head back against the wall. What he hadn't told her was that during the whole time he's been there he hadn't been fed once. He'd been able to keep the hunger at bay up until now, but having a warm human body close to him was becoming too much.

Opening his eyes he glanced down again and his brain immediately honed in on her neck. He hadn't noticed it before, but now the sound of her pulse was almost deafening and he could almost see the veins throbbing as they carried her blood around her body.

He didn't want to bite her, she was all he had, ironic considering the words he's used to her when they'd formed a true against Angelus.

It seemed that at the moment, all they had was each other and neither of them wanted to lose that. But the pain in his stomach was becoming unbearable as he let out a small whimper

Maybe if I just take a little, he thought to himself. Not enough to kill her, just enough to make this pain go away

The demon inside him rejoiced and before he was even aware of it his true features had come forth and he was leaning down towards her.

Just get it over with before she wakes up, a voice inside him growled. She won't mind sparing a little of her blood for you

Before he had time to think about it he buried his fang in her throat and began to drink.

Almost as soon as he did so a pain flooded into his head which surpassed the one in his stomach three-fold. It was like someone had dropped pieces of flaming hot coal into his brain. With a scream he pulled back from Buffy, slumping to one side and clutching his head as he willed the pain to go away.

* * *

Walsh smiled as she watched the vampire crumple in agony. This was the first time an HST had been left alive long enough to test the behaviour modification implant and from the looks of it, it worked perfectly. She'd honestly expected him to try and feed from her as soon as he'd woken up; she almost wanted to applaud his strength of will, or was it just plain stubbornness?

She was distracted from her thoughts by the phone ringing.

"Walsh." She barked as she lifted the receiver. "You have my information? I'll be there in a few minutes."

Although she was reluctant to give up her seat watching the couple on screen, she knew there were more pressing matters to deal with. Inserting videotape into one of the machines she set it recording before making her way to the archive room to find out what they knew about the Slayer.

* * *

As Spike jerked back Buffy jolted awake, becoming aware of both a pain in her neck and an agonised scream at the same time. Jumping to her feet she noticed Spike curled up on the floor, clutching his head and moaning softly. She quickly knelt down beside him.

"Spike, what is it? What happened?"

The pain in his head was starting to fade now and after a minute he managed to open his eyes to see Buffy looking worriedly down at him. His eyes honed in on a small trickle of blood on her neck and he winced as he remembered what he'd tried to do.

"Sorry." He whispered, closing his eyes again.

Buffy was puzzled, something must have happened while she was asleep. Spike appeared to be in a lot of pain and her neck was still burning. Reaching up a hand she pressed her fingers to the painful area and when they came back bloody it all began to click into place.

"You tried to bite me?" She asked softly, more hurt than she was angry. She thought that they at least had formed a sort of friendship whilst being stuck here.

"Sorry." Spike repeated, his voice little more than a small whimper. "I was so hungry."

Buffy stared at him for a moment, suddenly noticing what she hadn't before. He actually looked almost sick, paler than normal with his lips dried and cracked. And he looked thinner too, his normally tight back T-shirt hanging loose on him.

Sitting down beside him she pulled his head into his lap and began to stroke his hair, hoping it would do something to ease the pain even if she didn't know what had caused it.

"Have you fed at all since they brought you here?" She asked gently.

He shook his head and winced when the pain flared a little. "I'm so hungry."

"I know." Buffy replied, rage at the people that had starved him starting to swell inside her. She leant down and kissed his forehead softly. "Spike, we're getting out of here. I don't care what it takes."

With a small nod he closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift into sleep. At least when he was sleeping he didn't have to think about how hungry he was.

* * *

"Well, this is certainly interesting." Walsh mused as she made her way through all the material she'd been given on the slayer. As well as the historical documents on what the Slayer was and the organisation she worked for, there was also a list of events that had happened in Sunnydale, which had possibly been attributed to the Slayer, and one name seemed to crop up time and time again.

"I think it's time Miss Summers and I had another little talk."

* * *

As the door to their cage slid open Buffy knew it was time to act. Before she could even see who is was she charged, knocking them to one side and running out of the door, Spike right behind her. As they ran she just hoped she could find the way out, the place was like a labyrinth. An alarm soon sounded and she knew it would be a matter of minutes before the entire complex would be swarming with soldiers.

Suddenly she found herself in the experiment area that she'd passed on her way in, and she could see the elevator up ahead. Glancing over her shoulder she noticed Spike was lagging behind a little, the lack of food clearly having weakened him. She grabbed his arm and pulled him along with her.

As they reached the elevator door she realised they'd made it and she pressed the button

'Please give vocal code match.' The computer droned.

Buffy could have cried, they'd come this far and now some stupid computer wouldn't let them out. She guessed it was time to use brute force. Facing the door she was about to punch when a voice stopped her.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you."

Turning slowly she found herself facing about two dozen soldiers, several of them with weapons pointed at both her and Spike. Professor Walsh stood at the front of them, a look on her face which seemed to be a mixture of admiration and annoyance

"It seems you haven't been entirely honest with me." She said, locking her eyes on Buffy and barely giving Spike a second glance.

"Well, there's something about being drugged and locked up in a cage that makes me less than a little talkative." She replied.

Walsh sighed. "If you'd told me who you were in the beginning we could have avoided all this. We're in the same line of work here, we can help each other."

"You're wrong." Buffy ground out. "I kill demons to help people, not to perform sick experiments on them."

"What we do is for science." Walsh explained, almost as though she was talking to a small child. "But at the end of the day we still remove the threat from the public arena. Do you think you'd still be alive if we hadn't put a behaviour modifier in Hostile 17's brain?"

Buffy looked confused. "You did what to who?"

Spike stepped forward. "She means me, pet. They've done something to me to stop me biting people."

"It goes much further than that." Walsh smiled, obviously proud of her work. "The chip in your head reacts if you intend to harm any living creature. That includes hitting, pushing, biting, anything. Now, as the Slayer, Buffy, tell me what's so wrong with that?"

"What's wrong?" Buffy yelled. "Look at him, he's starving to death. At least when I do it its over with quickly."

Walsh sighed. "I didn't come here to argue about the morality of what we do, I came here to offer you your freedom

Buffy's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "What?"

"The only reason you were here is because we thought a civilian was wandered onto the base. Now that I know we're in the same line of work you're free to go. I assure you that provided you tell no one about our organisation that your identity as the Slayer will remain a strict secret."

To prove her point Walsh stepped over to the elevator and activated the lock so that the door opened. Buffy remained motionless as the soldiers kept their weapons trained on Spike.

"What about Spike?" She asked cautiously. "I assume he doesn't get the same rights of freedom as me."

Walsh shook her head. "I'm afraid he has to stay."

Buffy took two steps back so that she was by Spike's side. "Then there's no deal. You said yourself that Spike can't hurt anyone. You either let us both go or we both stay. Just remember that the people I work for will find me eventually, and when they do I can't promise they'll make the same deal as me about keeping this place a secret."

Buffy knew this wasn't exactly true, technically she didn't work for the council anymore and even if she did she doubted they'd care much. But Walsh didn't know that.

"Very well." She finally agreed. "Allow us to monitor his whereabouts and we'll let him go. But should anything happen to his implant we will be forced to terminate him."

Buffy nodded. "And if anything happens to him while it still works then the whole deal is off."

A curt nod from Walsh and the next thing either of them knew they were on their way out.

Once they were out of Lowell House and into the cool night air Buffy heaved a sigh of relief.

"I am so glad that's over."

"Why did you do that?" Spike asked, his eyes fixed intently on her.

"Do what?" Buffy asked, taking deep breaths and enjoying the freshness of being outside again.

"Why did you help me? Would you really have stayed if they hadn't let me go?" The questions came tumbling out of his mouth so quickly Buffy could barely make them out and she raised her hand to stop him.

"Ok, I helped you because I wanted to. And yes, if they hadn't have let you go I'd have stayed until we figured out another way to escape."

Spike stared at her in disbelief. "I don't get it. Why? We're supposed to be enemies. I tried to bite you for God's sake."

Buffy nodded. "Do you remember what the first thing you said to me after you bit me was? 'Sorry.' You actually apologised for biting me. Whether you like it or not, Spike, you've changed. You were like a friend to me in that place, and that's why I helped you."

For once Spike was lost for words, Buffy, the Slayer, thought of him as a friend and had saved his life. "Well, thank you."

Buffy smiled. "You're welcome. What are you going to do now? I really should go and see Giles, tell him what's happened. You can come too if you like."

Spike shook his head. "Somehow I don't think your Watcher will be as understanding as you are, pet. I think I'm going to head over to Willie's and stock up on blood."

Buffy mentally scolded herself for forgetting that he still hadn't eaten. "Ok, I guess I'll see you around then."

Spike nodded. "I guess so."

And with that the vampire and the Slayer headed off in two different directions until the night enveloped them

* * *

"This is extraordinary!" Giles exclaimed as he sat down and handed Buffy a cup of tea. "And this whole operation is based underneath your university?"

Buffy nodded

"Tell me about Spike again." Giles probed. "You say he was in there with you?"

Another nod from Buffy

"And he's been rendered unable to harm people?"

Nod

"Fascinating."

As Giles continued to talk Buffy found her mind wandering. She hoped Spike was alright. The chip may prevent him from harming people but she also imagined it stopped him from defending himself as well. As well as being worried about him another thing struck her hard.

She missed him

* * *

"I missed you."

The look on Harmony's face quickly shifted from anger to joy and then next thing Spike knew she'd thrown herself into his arms and was hugging him tight. This was all working out nicely. He'd drunk almost every drop of blood in Willie's bar, leaving him feeling contentedly full. Now he'd managed to get back into Harmony's good books which meant he had a place to stay.

"I've got a great idea!" Harmony exclaimed, clapping her hands with glee. "Why don't we kill the Slayer. It'll be fun, we can do it to celebrate that we're back together.

Spike flinched at the mention of Buffy. He hadn't been able to stop thinking about her since they'd parted earlier that night. He'd also neglected to mention to Harmony that he was now unable to hurt people. He missed Buffy; she didn't mind what he was or what he'd done.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Harmony called as Spike turned and marched out of the cave.

"Gotta go see a girl." He called without looking back.

* * *

Having told Giles her story over and over again Buffy just wanted to go home now. She was tired and wanted to sleep. Tomorrow night she was going to try and find out where Spike was staying and check up on him, just to make sure he had enough to eat and was ok.

Or at least that was what she told herself.

Finally Giles seemed to notice she was drifting off and told her to go home, insisting they talk about it again tomorrow. He also suggested that she tell Xander and Willow about it so that they were aware of the situation. It was going to be a long day.

As she made her way down Giles' drive she ploughed face first into someone. Expecting it to be Willow or Xander she looked up and almost jumped when she found herself gazing into Spike's eyes.

"You should watch where you're going." He said with a small smile.

She couldn't help but smile back. He looked good, obviously having fed well. His skin had lost its sickly look and there was an element of the old, cocky Spike in his demeanour. She suddenly felt the urge to hug him and tell him how much she had missed him in their few hours apart but her mind wouldn't let her.

"Spike, what are you doing h-?"

She was cut off as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Her body reacted instantly as she wrapped her arms around his neck and tried to pull him closer, deepening the kiss as she did so. Finally they were forced to part to allow Buffy to breathe.

"Wow." She gasped, smiling at him. "I didn't see that coming."

Spike smiled and pulled her in for another kiss. "What can I say, baby, I'm full of surprises."

The End