White Knight, Black Knight

White Knight, Black Knight Chapter Nineteen

Spike slammed down the phone and fought the urge to throw it against the wall. Never good to kill the messenger, and pulling wires wasn’t the same as intestines. Between him, Giles, and Xander they’d been making calls all night to different areas around Southern California. Not only was there a sudden rash of disappearances in Los Angeles but in areas like Bakersfield and San Diego as well.

But not one demon had disappeared under unusual circumstances in Sunnydale. He could see the cogs turning in his Xander’s head. Part of him was proud he’d kept the town safe and part of him felt guilty because his cheerleader friend was in trouble. And Spike had to admit he owed the bint a debt; she'd helped Xander, after all, and even encouraged their relationship.

Plus Spike knew the bloody Initiative wouldn’t stop with just taking a few demons here and there, they had some sort of agenda on their minds. They had to be stopped and they needed to get their people back. Fast.

The Magic Box had a sort of contained panic feel to it. Xander was talking on his cell phone while the Watcher and Glinda went looking to see if some disaster had been prophesied. He could have told them not to bother, there were probably a million prophecies about this demon and that evil spirit but when it came down to the evil that humans could do the prophets were oddly silent. Still, it gave them both something to do, which Tara desperately needed.

Spike knew that he’d be facing Willow far sooner than he’d like; after all, she was stuck like an annoying lamprey on Buffy’s side nowadays, and they’d have to talk to the Slayer before killing her boyfriend. He wasn’t sure if he hoped Red would start something or that she wouldn’t. While he would love to teach her what happens when someone plays with people’s minds as well as their lives, he doubted Xander would appreciate it. His eyes flicked to Giles’ face and he decided to let the other man deal with her.

Besides, he’d heard from Xander that the Watcher was much more fun when Ripper came out to play.

He gave an evil grin and when Xander looked at him he just shook his head. Hopefully they could get rid of the gits in green and go back to just the Hellmouth beasties to worry about, although Spike had to admit that he liked Xander working nights. Maybe his boss would find something else for Xander to do at night; he seemed like a stand up demon and all.

And Xander was a sight to behold. He’d tried to pace for about the first five minutes after hearing the new girl’s story until finally Spike had pushed him into the chair and Glinda made a healing poultice for the bite on his leg. Still, Xander was talking to his friends and acting all confident. It was a pleasure to see and only made Spike want to take him home and molest him.

The new girl, Fred, was at the store’s computer and mumbling under her breath and writing weird things down on the tablet of paper Giles had snuck over and put there after she had started writing on the desk itself. Her soft Texan accent and tendency to babble hid the strength he could sense inside her.

Then again she had, “lived in a Hell Dimension for five years, it’s not like I can’t take care of myself!” Evidently Angel and the other two working for him had all but told her to go play with her dollies and leave looking for the cheerleader to the men-folk. He could understand the two humans looking over her, but Angel had dealt with both Drusilla and Darla; you’d think he’d learn that the girls who acted the shrinking violets were more dangerous than the Slayer even.

He really hoped they found the cheerleader alive, and he got to see her and Tex go after the men. That would be a sight worth selling tickets for, wasn’t often you got to see a public castration.

Spike moved over to the table where Xander was sitting and, while his lover didn’t acknowledge his approach, he did scoot forward in his chair so Spike could slip in behind him. As soon as he did Xander leaned back and wriggled until Spike had had enough and pinched him, hard.

“Ow! Asshole. No Bobby, not you, I was teasing my evil half and he got me back.” Spike growled in Xander’s ear so as to not show the big grin that was threatening to overwhelm his face. Finally Xander got off the phone and laid his head back on Spike’s shoulder.

“That, as you heard, evil dead, was Bobby. There’s no sign of any of the old Initiative tunnels being reopened. And no one has noticed any unusual activity or trucks around the small Army Base here in the ‘Dale. Bobby even asked his neighbor; she’s got some sort of clairvoyance and is the nosiest person, well demon, around. She did some sort of past-vision snoop and didn’t find anything. She only can sense things from the general area so it won’t help us track down Cordy or Lorne.”

“I think I can help with that.” Fred’s voice was right behind him and, much to his embarrassment, Spike jumped. The shy girl had managed to sneak up even on him. Xander jumped as well but then started laughing at the peeved look on Spike’s face. He growled.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you. I kinda got used to being quiet when I get nervous and it’s a hard habit to break. It’s best to be quiet when people are trying to turn you into their version of a quarter pounder. Or, you know, roast you over a slow fire, because I don’t really think they had fast food places…”

Spike put a hand over Xander’s mouth, effectively stopping the giggling coming from his mate. The boy was tired, and that was part of it, but Spike just knew he was enjoying having someone making the vampire jump. He’d pay him back later.

“Never mind that, Tex, what did you say about finding out about the cheerleader?”

“Oh, yeah!” Fred’s voice lost the timid tone and she pushed her glasses up on her face a bit more. “See, I managed to hack into the State’s tax records and assessor’s office. They list all the big landowners and, well, if they pay taxes or not. There’s a big stretch of land on the west side of LA, in the desert. It used to be owned by Warner Brothers or someone for making movies, television shows, that sort of thing. It had the beginnings of plumbing and electric and was off the beaten path. A little over a year ago, like maybe a month after the Initiative was supposed to pull out of Sunnydale, it was bought by a private company. The thing is that it’s tax exempt, and that status was issued by the federal government, not the State.”

She gave a big smile and Spike couldn’t help but smile back. The girl had a right to be proud, that was a good bit of detective work. And the poof hadn’t let her help? Spike always knew Angel was an idiot, this was just further proof.

At Xander’s tugging of his arm Spike released his mouth and his beloved’s babble spilled forth. “Wow, that’s neat. That does make sense, and we wouldn’t have thought to look for them on a movie set. I wonder what shows they filmed? I mean, if we could figure that out we could figure if there were fake barracks or something already built or maybe they’ve been building all this time and they’ve just now finished. That’s why they didn’t snatch anyone before. Do you think you could hack into their computers and get blueprints or something?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so, not without a better computer system and something specially made to help me break encryption codes. I’m not even sure they’re there but it seems like a good place to start.”

“I don’t know, Tex, I think it’s a great place to start, especially since we know of a couple of Army boys that might just help us out, given the right…persuasion.” Spike couldn’t keep the eagerness out his voice, he didn’t even try. He was looking forward to getting his hands on one of the Initiative and see just how well their training against torture worked. There were so many soft places on a human body he could puncture without even getting close to letting his victim die.

Fred had a faintly green look to her but she didn’t protest, and Xander had a look of resolve mixed with a “isn’t my vampire cute when he growls?” look. Part of Spike was proud that Xander accepted all of him, and part of him just wanted to throw him on the table and, well…

A hand smacked him on the leg and he growled. “None of that, lover. I know torture gets you all hot and bothered but first we have to rescue Cordy. Do you want to tell her we stopped the calvary ride so we could make out, because I don’t. She scares me.”

Fred looked up from where she was smiling at the floor. “Besides, I love Cordy and all, she’s my best friend, but I don’t think she’d make the best captive. She’s not the type to wait to be rescued and that might make them…testy.”

“Testy? I dated her, remember? They’ll be homicidal soon, we’ve got to get her out. What I don’t get it why they took her in the first place. Was she with this Lorne guy?”

“No, we were out looking for Lorne. He’s not exactly the type to just run off, he likes his comforts too much. Cordy was checking out travel agencies and some of her acting contacts. Lorne is a really great singer, so she thought maybe he was trying to break into show biz or something. She went out and didn’t come back. I think…well, did Cordy tell you about the visions?”

They both nodded and Fred continued. “Well, they were killing her, literally. Phantom Dennis told on her, emailed Angel on the computer before they could get too bad and blow her brains out. He and Wes got together and took her to some healer. To make a long story short, she’s healed but not really human. She’s a…a human with extras. And from what I found out before coming here that’s what the Initiative is looking for these days, humans who deal with demons and vice versa. It’s like…well, it’s like they’re wanting to segregate tainted humans from pure humans.”

Xander jumped up, a litany of “ohmygods” running under his breath. Spike agreed, most of their friends fell into the humans with extras category Fred placed Cordy in, even Giles.

But what came out of Xander’s mouth next made Spike lose his human face and growl out loud.

“Oh my god -- Dawnie!”

*****

Xander fought the urge to bite his nails or something equally stupid as he paced across the Magic Box floor. Spike had moved to the training room, and if the heavy bag lived through the night he was going to give it a medal for bravery. His lover was taking out all his frustration on the thing, pounding into it till the chains that attached it to the ceiling rattled and Xander worried for the stuffing inside.

This time it was Tara trying to get a hold of Buffy and Willow. Either the girls really hated him, or they weren’t answering their phones. Giles had tried using his pull as Buffy’s Watcher but there had been no answer to their frantic calls.

Xander wasn’t sure if it was because something had happened to them, or because they hated him now, or even if Buffy was taking Willow out to help her get over the fight she and Tara had. All he knew was that it was getting late at night and he wasn’t sure where Dawn was.

If anyone fell into the human plus category Fred mentioned, it was Dawn.

He wasn’t naïve either; he knew he fell into that category as well just by living with a vampire. And the Initiative knew that Spike had managed to get rid of the chip and he bet they’d love to learn how that had happened. Take his lover apart like an old car to see how he worked. Bastards. He just couldn’t sit there and wait around, he had to be doing something.

“We need a plan. A good plan. How to get into their base and how to get the people and demons out.”

The others looked up at his words and Tara just nodded and went to the shelves that contained the most powerful spell ingredients. She had been quiet all evening, but he couldn’t blame her. He felt kind of icky at the thought that Wills had been rooting around in his head as well.

Giles went to the weapons cabinet. “I’m afraid we don’t have much that will be effective against human weaponry. Demons don’t usually bother with things such as guns and the like.”

“I’ve got something to help with that, Giles. Willow…” Tara’s voice broke for just a moment and Xander just wanted to wrap her up in his arms. “Willow and I were working on a spell to deflect blows from metal objects, swords and the like. With your help I think we can make it so it deflects bullets as well. Sort of…like magic Kevlar.”

“Way to go, Tara! Because unlike my evil half I am in no way bulletproof, and even Spike will get pissed if they put too many holes in his duster.” Xander gave his friend his biggest grin and the shy witch managed a weak smile at him.

Giles continued to rummage through the weapons in the front area of the store. They were all avoiding Spike at the moment. “While that is a wonderful defensive weapon, I’m afraid we’ll need something more for the offensive. Crossbows may not cut it and I’d rather not get close enough to use swords.”

Xander made a face. While he didn’t like the Initiative, he doubted if he’d be good at hacking his way through their ranks. Even too much demon gore made him sickish to his stomach. Plus it took a lot of strength. Spike would have fun but that was about it.

It was Fred who came up with the suggestion. “Do…do you have any friends in the community that could help us get guns, maybe? I mean, quickly, without the wait? I can handle a .22, a .30-30 and you wouldn’t need much skill to use a sawed off shotgun, those are pretty much just point and shoot… What?”

Xander had found his mouth falling open during her suggestions and looked to find the others staring at her as well. “It’s just…well you don’t look like the type to be packing firearms. But that’s good, I’m sure Spike would know someone.”

“That I do. Good thinking, Tex.” Spike had come up behind him and Xander jumped. His lover looked like the cat that was about to get the canary. “Don’t be so shocked at the little lady, she’s from Texas and probably a Daddy’s girl, am I right?”

Fred nodded. “Yeah, plus I lived on a farm. You have to know how to shoot the rattlers and the predators trying to get into the chicken coop. I can handle a 9mm too; Daddy made sure I could protect myself before coming to the big city. Too bad he didn’t take dimensional portals into consideration.”

“That was unexpected, wasn’t it, Tex? What about some surprises for the gits to get in the door, got any ideas for that?”

“Oh sure, that’s easy, I just need to go to a store for some supplies. Wal-mart should have most of what I need…potassium, iodine, ammonia, borax, fertilizer, some balloons or something like that to make portable smoke bombs. I’d need shoelaces for fuses unless it’s all chemical bombs and…”

She moved off with Spike, the two of them planning mayhem and destruction. Xander looked at Giles and Tara. They both had the same look of shocked horror that he kinda figured was on his face. “My god. I really hope the two of them never try to take over the world. They’d win.”

Giles adjusted his glassed. “Yes, well, I can see why Miss Burkle got upset that Angel underestimated her. And it looks like Spike isn’t going to make that mistake.”

Xander tried not to whimper, really. “I think I’m scared.”