Mbwa Mwitu

Chapter Summary: In which Tara shocks Spike and Riley gets a surprise.


Spike sat on the hood of his Desoto, watching as Tara exited their apartment. He had no idea as to what she had been doing, but he trusted her and followed her order to remain outside. Swinging his legs, he observed her pleased expression. He slid off the car as she approached. "Are you planning on telling me what's going on?"

"No." Tara replied, smiling. "I plan on showing you. We're heading to the college next, right?"

"Yeah." Spike nodded. "It's barely midnight, so we should have enough time to find the commando bastard and get underground."

"Alright, then we better do this now." Tara took a deep breath, stepping in front of Spike. Slowly, she reached up and pressed the palms of her hands against the sides of his head. "This might hurt a little."

Spike frowned, but said nothing. He watched as Tara closed her eyes and a small crinkle developed between her eyebrows as she concentrated. Then, he felt it. A jolt, so similar to electricity, shoot through his brain. It happened again. There was no pain, just the strange feeling of a shock. Spike felt himself relax, closing his eyes along with Tara.

But then there was pain. Jolt after jolt of something otherworldly. Electric, yet not quite. It pulsed through his head, concentrating on a single spot so deep within his brain that he could not locate it. And just as soon as it started, the pain was over. Gasping for unneeded breath, Spike jerked back just as Tara let go.

Tara panted, her eyes wide and sweat dripped down her forehead. She took a moment to compose herself, before speaking. "Pinch me. Hard."

"What?" Spike asked, his voice croaking as he pressed his hand to his forehead.

"Pinch me!" Tara ordered.

"Bloody hell, what are you going on about?" Spike snapped. Tara narrowed her eyes stubbornly. Growling in frustration, Spike used his free hand to reach over and pinch Tara on the arm. Tara let out a yelp and rubbed at the spot, a bruise already forming. "There! Feel better now?"

"Yes." Tara said, almost smugly. "It worked."

"What worked?" Spike asked, finally letting go of his head. His mind felt muddled, but was slowly clearing.

"That pinch hurt, Spike." Tara glanced down at the bruise. "A lot, actually."

"I'm sorry, pet." Spike immediately said. He paused. "Wait, but I didn't get shocked by the chip... Bugger me! What did you do?"

"Basically, I fried the computer chip." Tara replied, her voice soft. She walked past Spike and to the passenger-side door. "Wesley helped me find the right electrical wave, in magical terms, that would most likely work. I tried it out on that flashy phone Xander bought last month, first."

"I..." Spike cut himself off and climbed into the car. He started the engine and pulled out of the parking lot, turning toward UC-Sunnydale's dormitories. After a moment of silence, he glanced at Tara. "Thank you."

It was stupidly simple to find Riley Finn. Spike was shocked to find him standing outside his dorm, dressed in army gear. The idea that these people had remained hidden so long was almost laughable. They parked the car and waited until Riley was alone, fiddling with his rifle, before ganging up on him.

Riley didn't know what hit him. One moment, he was waiting to start his patrol. Next, strong arms were dragging him around the corner and slamming him into the wall. Spike's face sneered at him, his teeth looking white in the dark. Beside to him, Tara stood, her arms crossed and a sour look on her face.

"Hello, sweet pea." Spike whispered, leaning in close. "You're going to do us a favor, yeah?"

"Fuck off, Spike." Riley snapped, moving to lift his rifle. Spike's hand shot forward and enclosed around his neck.

"Hmm, how long do you suppose it takes a human to die from lack of oxygen?" Spike asked, squeezing Riley's neck until the soldier squeaked in pain.

"I suppose we could find out." Tara commented.

"Oh, good idea, pet." Spike grinned, watching as Riley's face turned red, followed by a bright plum color. Spike leaned in close once more. "Feel that? That's your throat closing in on itself. And that pain right there? That's the muscles in your neck fighting to reopen the air passage. But they can't, can they?"

"Spike." Tara said, stepping closer. "We need him alive, remember? We will kill him later."

"The lady is always right." Spike nodded. Oh, how he wished to feel this man's blood on his hands. He released Riley's neck, sliding his hand down the commando's chest and then slipping round his side to pull the rifle out of Riley's limp hand. "Bet you're wondering what happened to the chip, eh?"

Riley said nothing, his jaw clenched.

"Staying quiet? What a good little soldier." Spike praised, as though speaking to a puppy. "Well, let me just tell you this, hmm? That little piece of plastic, metal, and wires trapped within my skull isn't a problem anymore. So, I can cut you down to size, literally. Now, if you don't want that to happen, it would be best to cooperate."

Again, Riley didn't speak.

"Good boy." Spike smirked, slipping his hand behind Riley's body to take hold of the back of his belt. He yanked Riley forward and then turned him. Pushing Riley ahead of him, Spike spoke once more. "Lead the way, Fido."

Riley stiffened a moment, before glancing over at Tara. The blonde witch tilted her head in a perfect imitation of Spike, before giving him a sneer. She stepped forward and slipped her hand into one of Riley's big pockets, where she pulled out a sleek pistol.

"You won't be needing this." Tara informed him, placing the gun into the hem of her skirt for safe-keeping. "Take us to the Initiative, Riley."

"They'll kill you if you step foot inside, you know." Riley finally said, his voice low with what could have been fear.

"Oh, I'm sure you know all the secret passages." Spike commented from behind him. "Don't make me wait, boy. You won't like me to get angry, after all."

"You won't get away with this." Riley hissed, but he began walking.

It wasn't much of a shock to find that the Initiative's entrance was inside the dormitory. They entered through a small elevator, where Riley spoke the password. The elevator barely made a noise as is moved downward, and soon the plain white door was opening to reveal a pure white hallway. They were the only ones present and Spike wasn't able to see any cameras along the ceiling.

Spike pushed Riley forward, his hand tightening around the commando's belt, while his other hand squeezed Riley's arm in warning. He was not about to let his hostage get away now.

"Where is everyone?" Tara whispered, pulling out the pistol. She gripped it tightly in both hands, pointing it toward the ground.

"Answer her." Spike ordered.

"The scientists are most likely in the labs." Riley replied, his voice turning stiff with anger. "The soldiers finished debriefing an hour ago and are now patrolling Sunnydale. Those that remain here are guarding the cells and scientists."

"We need to find Xander." Spike said. "Where would he be?"

"I don't-" Riley started. He was suddenly shoved into the wall, Spike growling at him in game face. Spike stared at him with yellow eyes a moment, before reaching over and gently pulling the gun out of Tara's hands. Riley gulped as the pistol was aimed for his shoulder.

"As a soldier you should know how many bullets a man can sustain before death catches up to him." Spike growled. "Let's see if we can push that limit, hmm?"

The echo of a gunshot bounced down the hall and back. Tara jerked in surprise, before gasping as Riley let out a yell of pain. Spike calmly handed the gun back to her. She took it and checked to see that there were only five bullets left.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" Spike asked, reaching forward with his hand. Riley let out a painful moan as Spike pushed his index finger against the bullet wound, blood trickling around the pale finger. "There's more where that came from, if you don't take us to Xander and Oz."

"I..." Riley's breath came in short gasps, his eyes darting between the two wildly. "Oz... The werewolf."

"Where?" Tara demanded, raising the gun once more.

"The laboratories." Riley replied, pressing himself into the white wall, in order to hold himself upright. "They transferred one of the werewolves into Lab 132 for regenerative studies. It might be him."

"What's regenerative studies?" Spike asked, his voice growing colder than before.

"They want to see if werewolves can heal themselves." Riley stated.

Spike let out a growl, his face returning to it's human form. He grabbed Riley by his injured shoulder and yanked him upright. "And Xander?"

"I don't know." Riley insisted. "Honestly. I'm just a soldier!"

"Soldier." Spike muttered, his lip curling. He turned to Tara. "We'll get to Oz first. He might know where they are holding Xander. If not, we'll capture someone who's of actual use to us, instead of this piece of shit."

"Right." Tara nodded.

They continued down the white hallway, before turning down another. Riley took them along a maze of passageways. They had yet to pass any other soldiers, or even scientists. A sense of nervousness washed over Spike. This wasn't normal. There should be more people. They should have encountered someone else by now. What was happening to keep everyone in one area?

Just as the thought crossed Spike's mind, they turned another corner, which led to a doorway. The doorway opened up to a large room, with electrical equipment lining the walls. There were a few other door leading out to unknown areas and in the center of the room was a large pit. Inside the pit, Spike could see a peace-loving Corclont demon strapped to a steel table.

Before Spike could even acknowledge anything else, a swarm of soldiers were surrounding them. With a growl, Spike pulled Riley in front of them to block Tara and him from their aim. He began backing up, hoping to get back into the hall and make it to relative safety. But before he could reach the passage, a gray door slid closed, blocking their path.

"Halt!" The commanding officer ordered. The man focused on them with his gun, lifting a walkie-talkie to his mouth. "We've got an unidentified hostile and unknown female in Level C's security room, along with a wounded soldier."

"You bastard!" Spike hissed into Riley's ear. He should have known. The commando had led them into a trap. The Initiative must have caught on to them being there early on, possibly while in the elevator. That's why there were no soldiers nearby.

"Spike, duck!" Tara ordered.

Spike dropped down into a crouch, twisting around until he was facing Tara. The blonde witch's gray eyes narrowed as she calmly lifted the pistol and aimed for Riley's head. Before Spike could blink, the trigger was pulled. Blood splattered across Spike's lowered face as Riley Finn fell limp in his grip.

"Fire at will!" The commanding officer yelled, before stepping back in order to speak clearly into the walkie-talkie. "Warning: We officially have two hostiles on Level C. Sound the alarm. I repeat, sound the alarm."

*****

Xander lightly trailed his finger across the stitches along the side of his head. When he had first discovered them, after Oz was taken, he had assumed they had placed a chip inside his skull. This proved wrong, however, when he had attacked the last soldier to come collect him for experimentation.

He had gotten out of that situation with a new wound. Now, Xander could only assume they had taken out a part of his brain or merely cracked it open to see if it looked like a hyena's or not. These people seemed the type of psychos to do that sort of thing, after all.

With a sigh, Xander lowered his hand and thumped his back against the white wall. He hated to admit it, but he was bored. He was terrified of what they were doing to Oz, along with scared that he'd never see Spike or Tara again. But after all of those emotions, he was bored to the point of paranoia.

"Geeze, people, don't leave me hanging in here like this." Xander muttered. "You're giving me too much time to think."

Xander sighed again, then watched as a group of soldiers frantically ran past. He leaned forward, forcing his hearing to pick up on their words.

"Get the vampire!" The static surrounded the words informed Xander that it was coming from one of the commando's walkie-talkies. "Shoot her, dammit!"

Xander stared in shock at the space that the soldiers had just ran past. He looked up at the ceiling as the lights began blinking red. Xander's lip twitched, before blossoming into a smile. Spike and Tara were here and they were causing enough chaos to cause the entire Initiative to react. Xander let out a relieved, almost hysterical giggle. He was saved.