Found

Spike opened his eyes and was greeted by darkness. It took several moments for his eyes to adjust to his dank surroundings. His arms were chained up above his head, and they ached horribly. He seemed to be chained up in some kind of basement disguised as a dungeon. Just like in Buffy’s basement, he surmised. Only this wasn’t Buffy’s basement.

He pulled and yanked on the chains, but they wouldn’t budge. They were held firmly in place, bolted into the ceiling. Oh this was so not good, he thought. He wondered how long he had been out, and remembered he had been shot by some dart gun. A man had been bent over Deidra. She had been lying on the floor. Then he had been hit by the dart. That’s all he remembered.

Allison! Where was she? He struggled and pulled on the chains again. “Bloody Hell!” He screamed and yelled and roared, vamped out and used all his strength to free himself from his bondage, but nothing worked. He had to get out of here. He had to get to Allison. If they hurt her….

Suddenly he heard someone outside the door. A key in the lock. The door opened slowly, and a man dressed in a dark suit stood in the entrance. It was not the same man that had bent over Deidra. That man had been older. This man was younger. He sort of looked like that ponce Wesley, only more confident, Spike thought. If Spike didn’t know that the Watcher’s Council had been wiped out, he’d have bet kittens that this man was a Watcher.

“Well lookie here, it’s a fancy ponce in a suit paying me a visit.” Spike leered in his best vamped out face. “Lovely accommodations you’ve got here. Pity I won’t be staying long.”

“I don’t know why the boss didn’t let us just stake you while we had the chance.” The man said in his stiff British accent. He took a step towards Spike.

“I’d like to see you try, berk.” Spike sneered.

The man softly laughed. “I could pull out a crossbow easily and dust you right there if I wanted to. Actually, I do want to, but it’s not up to me unfortunately.”

“Who is it up to then?” He went out of vamp face, and went for the charming grin instead. He wanted to keep him talking, learn what he could, and bide his time. He had to get to Allison as soon as he could. Then they’d probably have to find Deidra. Buffy was going to him him.

“You mean to tell me that the famous William the Bloody doesn’t know who Quentin Travers is? I would think your little, what do you call it, ‘Scooby gang’ would have informed you.” His eyes flashed with amusement at Spike’s ignorance.

“I thought you looked like a Watcher Man. Thought all you ponces blew up? But I guess that would have been too tidy for us all.” Spike relaxed for the moment, trying to ease some of the aches caused by his bondage.

“The Watcher’s Council did blow up, and most were killed. Travers, however, protected himself with the magics. He ran his own underground group all these years right under the noses of the Council. Now I guess he has free reign.”

“I don’t know how you berks do it. Me, I have to be my own man, do what I want, when I want, with who I want. Don’t want no one tellin’ me what to do. Yet, here you are following some old guy’s orders. How do you sleep at night with that tale between your legs?” Spike was hoping to rile the guy up, catch him off guard, and get him to make a mistake.

But the man just smiled a sad smile, pushing his hands into his pockets, and leaned against the wall. “I don’t do it willingly. You’ll learn in time. Quentin Travers is not a man you want to cross.”

“Oh, sod off, Watcher. What did you come down here for, to torture me with your sad story? If it’s not to kill me, then what?”

“Like I said before, the boss does not inform me of all of his plans. However, you are still alive because you have killed two slayers. Travers wants you to kill a third. I’m here to see that you do just that.”

Spike looked at the man coldly, but didn’t say anything.

“I know you won’t do it willingly, but you have been controlled before. Not by a mere chip in your brain this time, or any material that functions like a trigger. Travers has his ways, and his reasons.”

“And where is this Travers? Why does he send you to do his bidding?”

The Watcher shrugged. “He’s preparing Deidra for tonight.”

That got Spike’s attention. Tonight? So soon? Was that prophecy thing coming to fulfillment tonight? “Preparing her for what?”

The man laughed. “Don’t be coy. You know for what purpose. She is the Forgotten One, after all. Seems like you all did forget about her. Picking her up was too easy.” He pulled his hands out of his pockets, and held a small dart gun in the right. He fired and hit Spike in the shoulder. “Get some more sleep, vampire. When you awaken, your true destiny will begin, and we’ll all be rid of that pesky slayer.”

Spike strained in his chains as he met the darkness once again.

* * *

“It’s not working.” Willow said. “Where ever they are, there must be protective spells around them or something. My magic is being blocked.” She laid her head down on the table in frustration.

They all looked despondent. Giles opened up Sulu’s book to try and find something, anything that could help them.

“Maybe I should go and search around town? Maybe I could find some clues or something?” Buffy stood as if to leave.

“No, Buffy.” Admonished Giles. “You can’t just go wandering around without a plan. They could be anywhere. Don’t be rash.”

She scowled at him, but realized he was right. She sat down and opened up the donut box. She picked up a glazed, looked at it, then set it back down. She had no appetite. That didn’t seem to be the case for Xander though. He took a donut in each hand and started taking huge bites of both.

Suddenly the bell over the front door rang. All heads turned. They had failed to lock the door behind them earlier.

“Holy Crow.” Gasped Buffy. “It is Indiana Jones!”


TBC