Mbwa Mwitu

Chapter Summary: Spike and Tara are found, and Buffy gives them a warning.


Doyle glanced up from observing the security cameras as something heavy slammed into the control room's door. There was a pause in the room, as everyone held their breath. Then, the door swung open and Wesley ran inside. Buffy stormed in after him, dragging something heavy behind her.

"Shut the door!" She yelled, falling to her knees and panting. Doyle pushed it shut and locked it, watching as Wesley leaned against the far wall. He slid downward until he was sitting, sweat forming across his forehead.

"Are you okay?" Doyle asked.

"Yeah." Buffy nodded, wiping at her face.

"The soldiers caught up with us half-way here." Wesley informed them. "We managed to lose them, though."

"We need to finish patching up Oz." Buffy announced, tugging the bloodstained sheet off of the werewolf. Willow let out a small gasp at the sight of Oz's body and quickly turned back to the computer to avoid seeing it. Doyle knelt down and began bandaging the last of Oz's wounds as Buffy caught her breath. "Did you find the others?"

"Yes." Willow replied. "The damage sustained to Level C's security room was caused by a vampire and a woman with unknown power. I looked up their holding cells. Give me a second and they should show up on the middle screen."

"Wait... Tara and Spike did that?" Buffy asked, looking shocked.

"Apparently, so." Willow replied. Buffy frowned slightly and said nothing more, her face looking confused. Willow twisted in her seat. "There, they should be up."

The middle security screen flashed over to reveal a small hall with four holding cells. Only two of them were occupied. It took the camera a moment to focus. Angel took a step closer, narrowing his eyes as the image of Spike appeared on the screen. He was still in his leather duster, but even with that covering him Angel could see the large smear of blood on the floor. Spike was injured.

Across from Spike's cell was Tara. Angel frowned at the sight of her undress, unsure if that meant what he thought it meant. The two were currently leaning against the glass, staring at each other. They did not speak.

"Where is this?" Angel asked.

"Level C." Willow replied, looking back at her computer. "High level security."

"I don't see any guards." Angel said.

"That's not exactly what they mean by high level." Willow said, nervously. "The front walls are five inches of bullet proof glass. The walls a pure cement, as are the floors. There are very few members of the Initiative that have clearance to enter it." Willow tapped at the keyboard a moment. "It looks like Professor Walsh and a small, elite group of soldiers have clearance... Riley is one of them."

"Can you hack into the system and give someone clearance?" Angel asked. Willow frowned slightly, before nodding.

"It will take me a moment, but with the security on the level being down it shouldn't be too hard. Who should I allow in?" Willow asked, twisting back around in her seat. Angel walked over to one of the unconscious guards and pulled out his I.D. card. He handed it to Willow.

"What about Xander?" Wesley asked. Angel opened his mouth to reply, but was cut off by a low groan. Oz's head shifted, his face grimacing in pain. Wesley dug into his pockets and pulled out a syringe and small bottle of morphine. He crawled over to Oz's side and prepped the needle.

"Oz?" Doyle asked, wrapping up the last wound. Oz's green eyes blinked open. Oz glanced around, wincing slightly as Wesley injected the morphine.

"Where-" Oz started, his voice sounding raw.

"Shh. It's okay." Wesley insisted. Doyle stood up and moved out of the way, allowing Wesley to move into Oz's line of sight. "You're still inside the Initiative. Angel, Doyle, Buffy, and Willow are here with me. We came to help you, Spike, Xander, and Tara."

"Tara?" Oz asked, looking confused. A soft growl emitted on it's own accord from his chest. "Where?"

"They..." Wesley paused, unsure if it was wise to inform Oz of Tara's whereabouts. He glanced over at Angel and then Willow, who looked confused. Taking a deep breath, he turned back to Oz. "They captured her and Spike. We know where she's at, though. We're going to go get her."

"Promise." Oz said, looking up at Wesley, his eyes wide. "Find her."

"I promise." Wesley replied. "Oz..." Oz closed his eyes a moment, before blinking them back open. "Oz? Do you know where Xander is?"

"Xander..." Oz breathed, his mouth forming a thin line as a shot of pain went through him. "Pack... Level..."

"Which level, Oz?" Wesley reached out and cupped Oz's face, turning it until Oz was looking directly at him. "Which level?"

"Level D..." Oz replied, softly. "Cell... Three."

"Cell three?" Wesley repeated.

"No." Oz shook his head slightly, wincing. "Cell three hundred and... And..."

Wesley sighed as Oz's eyes rolled up into his head and the werewolf slipped into unconsciousness. Biting his lip, he looked up at Angel. "I think that's as close as we are going to get on Xander's location."

"I have you guys clearance." Willow informed them, handing back the I.D. card.

"Right." Angel paused a moment, before turning toward Buffy. "You and Willow stay here. Doyle, Wesley, and I are going after the others."

"Watch Oz." Wesley added, standing.

"Okay, but..." Buffy stood up and gave them a determined look. "You have thirty minutes. In thirty minutes, I'm ordering Willow to unlock all of the cells and start the computer's self-destruct. Demons are going to be swarming through this place like cheerleaders in a shoe sale."

"Alright." Angel replied, as Doyle glanced at his watch.

"Buffy..." Willow suddenly said, her voice sounding strange. She looked back at Buffy with wide eyes. "I found Riley."

"Where?" Buffy demanded, rushing to the computer.

"He's... He's dead, Buffy." Willow said, meekly.

"What?" Buffy gripped the back of an empty chair, her knuckles turning white. "How?"

"The report said he was shot by..." Willow paused, glancing at Oz's form. "He was shot by the woman that destroyed Level C. Tara... Tara killed him."

"But... Why?" Buffy asked, her lower lip wobbling in warning of tears to come.

"According to this he led her and Spike into a trap." Willow said, softly.

"Oh, God." Buffy wiped at her face, taking a deep breath.

"You can mourn later." Angel informed her. "Now is not the time."

"I'll choose whatever damn time I please to mourn." Buffy snapped, giving Angel a dark look. "You have thirty minutes. Go!"

*****

Spike felt himself losing hold on reality. The loss of blood, which now coated the inside of his coat and the floor, forced his body to demand sleep. Now was not a time to fall into a coma. Spike forced his eyes to remain open, locking them with Tara's tear-filled ones. He frowned. It looked as though she were in pain. Before Spike could contemplate on in, the hall's main door opened and a series of footsteps rushed toward them.

"I must be hallucinating." Spike informed the shape of Angel and his small group.

"Get out here." Angel ordered, unlocking the glass wall.

It slid open, allowing Spike to squeeze through. Spike immediately rushed over to Tara, pulling her against him and breathing in her scent. He nearly jerked back in anger as the smell of at least four other men attacked his nose. Spike growled, holding Tara tightly.

"I'm okay." Tara whispered, burying her face in his chest. "We've got to find the others, Spike. I can wait."

"We have a general idea where Xander is." Wesley informed them.

"Where?" Spike demanded, loosening his hold on Tara. They began making their way out of the hall, Tara limping alongside Spike.

"Level D." Wesley said. "Just one floor down. He's in the three hundreds, but..." Wesley glanced at Spike. "I'm hoping once we get to the right floor, you'll be able to find him."

Spike didn't reply. They quickly made their way to the elevator. Spike was shocked to see that they didn't encounter anyone along the way. He refused to think about what that might mean, hoping that it was just by pure luck that they made it to Level D without any interference.

As they exited the elevator, they found themselves in a long hall with bright ceiling lights. In the top corner was a small, black camera. The light was off, indicating Willow had turned the camera's off. They turned the corner and then another. Doyle glanced down at his watch.

"We have less than ten minutes." He whispered.

"Why ten minutes?" Spike demanded. He could feel something tickling in the back of his mind. They were getting close to Xander.

"Buffy and Willow." Angel replied as they turned another corner. Spike stepped forward and took the lead, directing them through the twisting hallways of the Initiative. "They're going to destroy this place."

"While I'm pleased to see the two bints are finally going to get something done right, why can't they wait?" Spike asked.

"Because they are restless." Angel said, sounding rather bitter. "And Buffy wants to be the one calling the shots."

"Ah." Spike smirked. "She can't do that with the big ol' ex there, hovering over her shoulder?"

"Shut up, Spike." Angel said, tiredly.

"Whatever." Spike muttered, as they turned down on last hall. Spike stopped, closing his eyes briefly. A sense of fear and loneliness, with a hint of panic, washed over him . He followed the emotions until they brought him to a small cell.

In the corner of the cell was Xander, curled up in a ball and completely nude. Spike bit back a growl at the sight of the stitched up wounds down his body. He glanced over, watching as Angel swiped the I.D. card through the lock. The glass wall began to slide back, allowing Spike to step inside. "Xander?"

Xander looked up, his brown eyes glowing with a small ring of green. Xander tilted his head at Spike, frowning as he sniffed the air. Then, a harsh growl emitted from his throat as Xander tried to push himself even farther into the wall. Spike frowned and took a step toward him. Xander let out a warning, a sound that was a mixture of a hiss and a hiccup, as his lip curled upward to reveal a row of white teeth.

"Xander?" Spike asked once more, before his own frustration took over. Letting out a roar of anger, Spike felt all he could do was pace and rant. "Those bloody fucking bastards! When I get a hand on one of those.... Argh! Dead! All of them! I'll rip out their spleens and poke out their eyeballs. I'll-"

"Spike?" A hoarse, broken voice asked. Spike spun around to find Xander slowly standing up, completely ignoring the fact that he was naked. "Is that really you?"

"Yeah, pet. It's me." Spike whispered softly, stepping forward.

Xander stared at him a moment longer, before rushing toward him and wrapping his arms around Spike's waist. Spike gently slid his arms around Xander, drawing the man practically into him, while avoiding any of his wounds. Xander's scent waved over him, completely pure and strong, but hinted with something strange. Unable to tell if it was an emotion or something wrong with Xander in general, Spike pushed it away and focused on his lover.

"Spike." Xander breathed, looking up at him. Spike smiled, before growling slightly when he caught sight of the stitches along Xander's head. "What? ...Oh. Those."

"What did they do to you, love?" Spike asked.

"I thought nothing, but..." Xander's eyes were filled with fear. "Spike, something's wrong."

"What? What is it?" Spike demanded, trying to get a hold of his anger.

"I can't smell you." Xander replied, his voice low, as though speaking normally would make what he said even more true.

"What do you mean?"

"I can't smell you!" Xander repeated. "I can't smell anything. I never noticed it before, because I tend to ignore the smells of other people anyway, so when I didn't scent the guards... Well... But, you? I know your scent, Spike. I can't smell it at all."

"Bloody hell." Spike whispered. He didn't know what else to say. The fact that Xander couldn't smell was... Spike blinked away his confusion. "We've got to get out of here, pet. We'll fix it later, yeah?"

Xander nodded and followed him out into the hall. When he spotted Tara, he dragged her into a tight hug. For one split second, Spike was thankful that his mate couldn't smell the men coating Tara's body. Angel watched them a moment, then coughed slightly and pulled off his coat. Turning his eyes away, he handed the coat to Xander.

"Thanks, Deadboy." Xander said, pulling the coat on.

"We should be going." Wesley pointed out.

"What about Oz?" Tara asked.

"Buffy and I found him earlier." Wesley informed them. "He's in the main security room with them."

Tara nodded and followed them down the hall. Spike quickly pulled her closer to him, his other hand slipping around Xander's waist. He glanced down at Tara, noting how she still limped. Spike took an un-needed breath and pulled his pack mates closer. His own wounds had already healed, leaving the bullets within his back. He knew, later, they would have to go in and dig them out. But for now he was fine and able to care for the others.

They had just reached the elevator when a series of sounds echoed toward them. Hundreds of doors, sliding open. Spike twisted around, watching the long hallway. Doyle glanced at his watch, before sending Angel a terrified look. Wesley lifted his crossbow, his hand shaking slightly as the sound of footsteps filled their ears. Behind them, Tara was pushing the elevator's button fiercely.

"Oh, shit." Xander stated as the first demon turned the corner. Even at the distance, it looked huge. More followed in it's wake, faces filled with anger.