Alarum

Alarum

"You're being too hard on yourself. Why don't we wait a half hour
and try again? Or…" What was I thinking? I had more or less just
invited a cold-hearted killer to hang around and have me as a snack.
I missed Oz, but it wasn't like…

Looking to my left, I grabbed the lamp and smashed it over the
vampire's head. It was Buffy's lamp, and I winced as it broke, but I
suspected that she'd forgive me for it. Running to the door, I
pulled and twisted the knob, panic setting as I realized that it was
locked and not going to budge.

The lights went out and I could feel my heartbeat speed up. I was
locked in a room, in the dark, with a vampire that I had just
attacked. Not good. Granted, he was apparently unable to bite me,
but never trust the hell mouth to stay on your side for very long.

Suddenly, the door flew open and I all but crashed through the
frame, knocking over two dark, masked figures. Looking, up, I found
myself staring down the barrel of a tranquilizer gun, my eyes
widening in horror. Vampires and masked attackers? That was just an
every day part of living in Sunnydale. Coming nose to nose with a
load weapon? That was something else entirely.

" No! Hold your fire!" I thought the voice sounded familiar, but
wasn't able to make out any faces. In fact, I wasn't even sure what
direction it had come from.

Before I had a chance to contemplate it further, I saw Spike rush
out the door and push the gun-toting figure into the wall. Creeping
backwards, I cowered in the corner, willing my eyes to adjust to the
darkness and hoping that no one would notice me. Let it never be
said that Willow is brave. At least, not always. I firmly believe in
the saying that she who runs away lives to run another day. You have
to, in a town like this. Any other philosophy will get you dead real
quick.

"It's on me!" someone yelled, just before Spike fell to his knees,
yelling and holding his head. As I watched the scene play out before
me, I wasn't sure who it should be that I was rooting for…The
vampire that had tried to attack me or the masked men who tried to
attack me. It was a coin toss at that point.

"Move!" There was that voice again. Where did I know him from?

A second later, I saw that the three figures had Spike held down
with some sort of hood over his head. Huh. Sucked to be him.

"Bag it, tag it. We're gone," the voice stated.

"Sir…Civilian. Could have turned," one of the other figures pointed
out, gesturing toward my little corner in the hallway. Damn. Didn't
these guys know anything? Hello, girl with a pulse and a heartbeat,
right here. I was a little too alive to have been turned.

"Leave her," the familiar one said, sounding slightly hesitant.

"We can't neglect quarantine, Sir," the other one argued. I closed
my eyes, trying to calm myself, hoping that I might be able to come
up with a spell to help my situation, but unless floating a pencil
would take down a small army of three, I didn't think I'd get very
far.

Suddenly, Spike broke free of the third commando's hold and grabbed
a nearby fire extinguisher. One of the others aimed his gun and
shot, but Spike's reflexes were too fast for them, and he quickly
held up the extinguisher, using it as a shield. A moment later, the
hallway was filled with gas and smoke.

Seeing my chance to escape, I began to crawl toward my room.

"Stop her!" someone yelled out just as a hand grabbed my arm and
held me still.

"She's contained."

I looked up helplessly as Spike was grabbed from behind and tackled
to the ground again, this time knocked out cold from a combination
of punches thrown from the soldier and whatever was causing the pain
in his head when he tried to fight back.

"I said to let her go," the familiar voice commanded.

"Can't do that. Procedure. You know Dr. Wa- She won't approve."
Geesh, I was really starting to not like that guy.

"Alright," he said, sounding slightly defeated. "Let's go, bring
them both in."

That was the last I heard before a cloth was held over my mouth, the
unmistakable scent of chloroform overcoming my senses.

~2~

"Agent Finn, explain this report to me."

"I know it's confusing, but we got the job done."

"And the chip?"

"It works. Hostile 17 can't harm any living creature, in any way,
without intense neurological pain."

"And the girl? What do you know about her?"

As I lay unconscious, strapped down to a cold, metal table, these
two discussed me as if I were nothing more than a science
experiment. A lab rat. A test frog, waiting to be dissected.

"Name's Willow Rosenberg." Way to hold strong, Riley.

He let out a deep, pained sigh, which did not go unnoticed by
Professor Walsh. "She's a civilian. Harmless." "Any chance she's been turned?"

"Negative. She's still human. There are faint bite marks on her
neck, not breaking the skin, along with an older scar that looks
like a vampire bite, but she was still very alive when we go there."

"She has previous bite marks?" Professor Walsh asked, her curiosity peeked. Riley immediately regretted adding that information.

"She's not a threat, Professor, just an innocent college student."
Ha! If he only knew. "She's in your Psych 101 course."

"Ah, yes, the know-it-all redhead in the second row, with all of the
different colored pens. She sits with that blonde that always seems
to be asleep," Professor Walsh commented. "She has previous bite
marks on her neck and just happened to be found in the same room as
the vampire, and you don't think she's any kind of threat? You know
the rules. A vampire has to be invited into a home. How do you think
he got in there." Had I been awake and able to speak, I would have
readily explained the dire results of calling out a casual "come in"
in this town.

"Trust me," Riley argued, "she's not a threat. She's one of the
sweetest people I know. I'm sure it's some sort of mistake, or…"

"Just the same, I think I'd like to run some preliminary tests…to be
sure," she told him. Riley knew that tone of voice and understood
that arguing the point would get him nowhere.

Whimp.

~*~

Spike woke up, his head pounding, his body aching. Rolling over and
opening his eyes, he squinted at the extremely bright lights. He
recognized where he was immediately, containment cell in The
Initiative. Right back to where all the trouble had begun.

The slayer.In his eyes, it was always Buffy's fault. First, she
took his ring. Then, when he went to kill her, he was captured by
the psycho army. After he escaped, he went after her again, only to
find out that they'd done something to him and he couldn't bite
anymore. And NOW he was back in that godforsaken hell hole.

Jumping up in anger, Spike slammed his hands against the glass
barrier, hearing the electricity snap and zip through it, feeling
only a slight sting in the palms of his hands. Hearing a buzzing, he
looked up, seeing a square in the ceiling opening, and watched as a
bag of blood fell to the floor.

"You think I'm that bloody stupid?" he shouted, picking the packet
up and squeezing it in his tight grip. "You think I'm actually going
to fall for that? Give Spike a little credit, will you?!"

At that, he threw down the blood, watching as it splattered on the
pristine white wall and floor. He briefly wondered if they would
actually allow him to starve to death, not doubting for a second
that they would, and how long it would be before he gave in and
drank one of the drugged packets.

What really unnerved him was knowing that they had done something to
him the first time they brought him in, but having no idea what. He
shuddered to think what they might try if he was drugged again. Who
knew what they might put a damper on next. He could wake up with all
sorts of things out of order!

~*~

"Is it as I suspected?"

"Yes, Hostile 24's blood is not entirely human."

"I knew it. So what have we got?"

"Not sure. Need a few more samples to run some tests. Seems to be properties that we haven't encountered before." "Not vampire?"

"No. In fact, I'm not entirely sure that it's demon at all."

"Well, what else could she be? It's not like she's a good fairy or a
wicked witch."

"Don't underestimate what goes on in Sunnydale. What are you going
to do about Finn?"

"Nothing for now. Simply keep a close watch on him. I believe he and
the girl are friends. Agent Finn is a good soldier, loyal. He will
do as he's told, but just in case…"

The two doctors paused as I let out a faint groan. Everything was
hazy and the voices sounded far way, echoing and hard to understand.
I had no idea where I was, and found that as I tried to sit up, not
only was I unable to do so, but waves of pain washed over my body.
My mind was swimming and the room spun as I struggled against the
straps that held me down to the cold, metal table.

"Well, it looks like our patient has finally started to come to,"
Professor Walsh said, her face appearing over mine, covered by a
surgical mask. "I'm hoping that you will be cooperative and answer
all of our questions, Miss Rosenberg."

"Please, I don't understand. Where…" My voice came out as little
more than a hoarse whisper as I attempted to speak.

"Now, Miss Rosenberg, I suggest that you cooperate and answer all of
our questions truthfully. I promise that things will be a lot easier
for you if you do," she told me, taking a step back and removing her
mask before she grabbed a clipboard from a nearby table. My gaze
followed her and widened when I realized who she was.

"Are you aware that there are elements in your blood that are not of
human nature?" I stared at her, still dazed, trying to understand
what she was asking.

"I don't…What do you mean, not of human…"

"Come now. I know that you're a smart girl. Straight A student, so
I'm sure that you understand what I'm asking you," she stated, in a
cold, condescending tone. "Do you have any idea what the foreign
elements in your blood might be from?'

I knew exactly what they might be from. After several years of
working spells and building my magical abilities, I was sure that
traces of magic flowed through my DNA, but apparently they didn't
recognized magic when they saw it, and I'd be damned if I was about
to give any information to the people that currently had me strapped
to a table, a needle in my arm.

Instead, I simply remained quiet, not answering any of the doctor's
questions. Finally, Professor Walsh stepped forward and yanked the
I.V. out roughly, a cry of pain escaping my lips.

She barked orders to the other doctor to give me some other kind of
drug…Something that I didn't recognize, and a minute later I was
screaming in agony as another needle was shoved into my arm, burning
liquid pouring into my veins.

Almost immediately, I felt the effects of the drug. My eyes became
blurry and I felt very drowsy.

"Do you know the demon that you were brought in with?" she asked.

In my light-headed, groggy state, I nodded slightly and
whispered, "Spike." My voice sounded far away, even to me, and my
mind was becoming increasingly hazy.

"Spike?" the professor repeated, jotting it down in her notes. "And
you were aware that he was a demon?"

"Or course," I told her. "He's only tried to kill us like a hundred
times." I gave her a goofy smile and rolled my eyes, as if that were
the most well known fact in the world.

"And you were associating with him."

I had to think hard to remember what she was talking about. "With Spike? I wouldn't assoc- Oh! Yeah! He came over and said he woulda
bit me if he coulda `cause he liked my fuzzy sweater. Said he
thought about it before, but didn't want to be all grrrr." Hey, it
was the drugs! I usually make much more sense than that.

At that point, I was slurring my words, my head rolled to one side.
My eyes stared off into nothing, my pupils dilated. Deciding that
she was going to get no more out of me at the moment, Professor
Walsh turned back toward the other doctor.

"Clearly she has some sort of prior connection with Hostile 17. Run
those tests and let me know what you find out. In the mean time, I
think I'll run a few tests of my own," she told him with an evil
grin. "I'd like to see what the vampire does when he's brought into
contact with her again."

"But you heard what she said," the other doctor argued. "He's tried
to kill her, and we don't know how well the chip is working. If it
malfunctions…"

"Well, there's only one way to test it, now isn't there?" she said,
effectively ending the conversation as she turned away. "Have her
dressed again in her civilian clothing and then place her in
containment along with Hostile 17," she ordered. "This, I'm sure,
will prove to be most interesting."

~3~

Spike jumped up, readying himself for a fight as he heard a buzzer
sound, and looked up to see three commandos standing in front of his
containment cell, opening the door. One held a cross bow, aiming it
directly at his heart, while the other two dragged me into the cell,
dropping my limp body onto the floor in a heap. They backed out,
never taking their eyes off of the blond, before locking the room
and walking away.

Spike watched them go, confusion clear on his face, before turning
his attention to the body that they had left. For a moment, he
wondered if it was a little snack for him, but quickly picked up on
the faint heartbeat and knew that wasn't the case. No way he could
bite the person if they were still alive. He could smell blood
though, strong and fresh.

Moving closer, he peered down for a moment, turning me over with the
toe of his shoe. Not the nicest treatment, but due to the
circumstances, I suppose that we can forgive him. His eyes widened
in surprise as an arm flopped over, away from my head, to reveal a
very familiar face.

Spike stepped back as he took in my appearance. No doubt I was
looking less than stellar at that moment. He now, officially, had no
idea what the hell was going on. I was laying in a heap before him,
not moving, barely breathing, several cuts strewn across my arms, my
eyes slightly open and completely unfocused.

"Red?" he called out, nudging me again with his boot. I didn't move,
other than to roll my head slightly from side to side, and finally
dragged my still-unfocused eyes up to look at him.

"Spike?" I whispered. The vampire stepped closer and crouched down
next to me, waiting for me to say more. Finally, my face broke out
into a slight, lazy smile. "You'd bite me in a heartbeat," I said
with a giggle.

Spike stood back up with a deep, aggravated sigh and a roll of his
eyes. He could see that I had obviously been pumped full of drugs.
Storming toward the corner of the cell, where a camera hung by the
ceiling, he looked up and growled.

"You think I'm that stupid? You bloody morons don't know who you're
dealing with!" he shouted. I suppose he figured that they must have
brought me in to see if he would try to drink my tainted blood,
since he hadn't touched the bagged stuff. He couldn't bite, but
there were enough open wounds that he certainly could have drank
from me if he had chosen. Pounding his fists on the walls, he
wondered just how long he could hold out before he had to drink
something, and knew that for as long as he could hold out, those
military bastards could hold out longer.

~*~

Hours later, I woke with a start, bolting up right and looking
around in confusion. My head was spinning, my body aching. My hand
immediately went to my side as searing pain shot through me, and I
squinted at the stark, white light all around me.

"Oh, god," I moaned. "Am I dead? Is this heaven? Kinda hurts more
than I thought heaven would."

"It's definitely not heaven, pet." I jumped and looked toward the
voice, surprised to see the vampire sitting on the other side of the
small, empty room.

"Spike!" I squealed, trying to scoot back, hitting the wall and
cringing at the pain in my side.

I didn't realize it, but Spike could smell the blood coming from
some wound that I had just reopened, and his demon immediately
responded. "Stop that!" he shouted, letting out a snarl.

"Stop what?" I asked quietly, not wanting to further upset him, but
not sure of what I had done wrong in the first place.

"Moving like that," he explained in an exasperated tone. Obviously I
didn't understand what I was doing to him. "I can smell the blood."

"Oh, I…I didn't mean to…" I glanced down at the side of my stomach,
pulling my hand back and seeing a small amount of blood seeping
through my shirt. Darn it. I liked that shirt.

"Make it stop!" he yelled. I could see his control slipping, his
anger flaring in his eyes.

"Well, you know, it's not like I'm trying to bleed on purpose!" I
yelled back. Geesh, vampires! And yeah, okay, maybe yelling at him
wasn't the best idea, but I was more than a little upset. Bits and
pieces of the night before were starting to come back to me. Those
commandos, they had come in and taken me, and apparently Spike as
well. I didn't entirely understand why I was being held there, or
why I was being held with Spike, but I did remember a lot of pain,
and someone who…Professor Walsh! She was the one in charge! I
couldn't wait to tell Buffy that our teacher was…Suddenly I
remembered, I was being held against my will, and Buffy had no idea
where I was. Dread began to fill me as I looked out the glass
doorway, seeing small groups of soldiers marching by and doctors
scurrying about. This was very, very bad.

~4~

"How is the experiment going so far?"

"It's just getting started. She's finally awake and interacting with
the vampire. We'll wait a while and see what happens, then bring her
in for further lab testing. Any ID on her blood yet?"

"Not yet. Still not coming up as anything recognized by the
database." Maggie simply nodded her head, a frown marring her face
as she listened and watched the monitor before her.

~*~

Stepping backwards, my eyes still wide in horror, I slowly backed up
until I hit the far wall, slumping down to the floor with a whimper.
Spike paced back and forth like a caged lion, glaring at nothing in
particular. After a few moments, the scent of something caught his
attention and he turned his gaze my way.

"What's all this about?" he asked gruffly, obviously scenting the
salt of my tears as they silently slipped down my cheeks. I had
already cried too much as of late. It was something I really wanted
to put a stop to.

"What is this all about? Spike, I'm trapped in some cell thing, with
a vampire that wants to kill me, being held by people that want to
do experiments on me, and no one knows where I am! Not to mention
that my boyfriend just left me after I caught him with another wolf!
I'm missing my classes and I'm going to completely fall behind, and
to top it off, I'm yelling at a vampire!"

Yes, I was aware of the hysteria creeping into my voice, but at that
moment I was past the point of caring.

"So, you're just going to sit there and cry like some girl, that
it?" he replied.

I shot him a look of disbelief. "I…I…I Am a girl, Spike! Hello!
Couple of double X chromosomes sitting right here!" As if my
situation wasn't bad enough, I now had to deal with his insults as
well.

"Yeah, well as I recall, you're also a witch, so why don't you just
whip up some of that mojo and get us outta here?" he asked.

"Us? What do you mean by us, exactly? You're a vampire who was
trying to make me dead less than twenty-four hours ago."

"Yeah, well," he began, walking toward me, tilting his head to look
me directly in the eyes, "you wouldn't have stayed that way." I
could see him smirk at the look of surprise on my face and I had to
swallow hard, closing my eyes for a moment as he sat down next to me.

"You…You said that I had a choice," I said, my voice little more
than a whisper.

"I lied," he replied with a grin and a shrug. I gave him another
incredulous look as he tried to look as innocent as possible.
"What? Evil vampire, remember? Not exactly known to be all that
trustworthy."

"Why would you have wanted to turn me?" Ok, I know, not the question
that I should have been asking, but come on! I was just dumped,
heart broken and alone. I needed a little bit of reaffirmation, as
much as I hate to admit it.

Again, he shrugged his shoulders, searching his pockets for a
cigarette before letting out a frustrated sigh. "Damn soldiers, took
my smokes. Just bought a new pack, too. Gonna leave a bloke in here,
could at least let him smoke!" he yelled. I cleared my throat,
impatient and ready to get back to the point at hand.

"I told you that I had thought about it before," he told me.

"Yeah, but…why me? I mean, I'm not the kinda girl that a guy looks
at and thinks, this is the one I want for eternity," I told him
sadly, looking down at my hands. God, I hated this. After
everything, fighting on the hell mouth, dating a musician, starting
college, I was just as meek and insecure as ever before.

"Maybe a human wouldn't think that," he said, "but a vamp has taste.
We know where the goods are, and trust me, Red, you got the goods.
Ain't nothing better than turning a sweet, innocent little girl like
yourself." He leered at me with his trademark smirk and I shifted
uncomfortably. I wanted to smile at that, grin like a crazy-lady
even, but somehow it didn't seem like the appropriate response at
the time.

"I am not all sweet and innocent," I told him. "I am deep, a-and
dark, and full of lots of…angsty…goodness, and…Oh, who am I kidding?"

"Nobody here," he snickered.

~*~

"And then he just left. Just like that. Said he loved me, but we
couldn't be together anymore."

"Yeah, Dru said the same sort of thing," he told me. "Wanted to just
be friends." I nodded, remembering him saying that a year back. Had
I taken a moment to think about it, my situation was mind-numbingly
confusing…Sitting in a cell, sharing my miserable love life with a
demon that would just as soon kill me as smile at me. As it turned
out, though, heartache and misery were good distractions from pain
and hunger.

"I mean, he didn't even try to stick around and work things out," I
told him, my voice a mixture of exhaustion and anger. I wanted
nothing more than to curl up and go back to sleep, but I didn't
trust anyone enough for that just yet.

"What was there to stay for?" he asked, seeing my face fall. He
rolled his eyes and I felt the strong desire to punch him as hard as
I could. "I'm sure that your love was great and epic and all that,
but you are a human and he's got the demon in him. It's something
you can't possibly understand." He was right, of course, but at the
time I just didn't understand that.

"You know, I'm really sick of hearing that," I shot back. "I mean,
yeah, okay, no demon here, but I'm getting pretty good with the
magic, and the deeper I go, I touch darkness. I feel it. I get the
general idea behind the whole evil dark power thing."

"You couldn't possibly get it," he told me, scoffing at my words and
then chuckling as he saw my anger rise. "It isn't a thing that he
invokes for a few minutes and then turns off. It's in him, all the
time. Sounds like he was doing the right honorable thing by leaving,
and you're just too busy indulging in self-pity to accept that."

I hate when people point the truth out at the worst possible
moments, as if knowing that you're wrong, that you've been wrong all
along, and that there is nothing you can do to change anything, will
somehow make you feel better. It's not Spike's fault that he's as
blunt as a spoon, but I won't pretend to feel bad that he bore the
wrath of my pain.

"Look who's talking! You came all the way back to Sunnydale to get a
love spell to make Drusilla want you again, and hello! You still
aren't with her!" Mean? Sure, but it's not like he didn't deserve
it.

"I don't want to be with her anymore," he growled. "I learned MY
lesson, witch. Don't want someone who don't appreciate me." I simply
frowned at his words, displeased by their truth as much as by the
fact that he chose to put it in such poor grammatical terms.

Growing aggravated and restless, he stood up and started pacing
again.

"Do you have to do that?" I asked. It was enough to make me crazy.

"No," he replied with another smirk, "but the fact that it bothers
you so much is good incentive."

"You are such a…a…jerk." Yeah, I know, it sounded pathetic, even to
me.

"You wound me with your words," he chuckled. "Now tell me again why
exactly it is that you can't just use a little magic and pop us out
of here?"

"Again, I'm hearing talk about `us'," I stated with a glare.

"Yeah, well I deserve a little something for keeping you protected,
now don't I?" Was he kidding?

"Keeping me protected? Uh, Spike, last I checked, you couldn't hurt
a human, so I'd say you're pretty useless to me in here." Turns out
that Spike doesn't like to be called useless. His low growl quickly
tipped me off to that, and I quickly moved onto the other
topic. "Teleporting…It takes a lot more strength and power than I
have. I can barely float a pencil, let alone move two people from
one place to another."

Spike stopped his pacing and turned to look at me. I didn't like
what I saw in his eyes. "Well then, what good are you?" I simply
frowned and looked away as he resumed his pacing.

Watching the monitor, a smile spread across Maggie's face. "I think
we have all the information that we need for right now," she told
the other doctor. Leaning over, she pressed an intercom button
before speaking into a microphone. "Have Hostile 24 brought to the
lab, and keep her restrained."

~5~

Looking up wearily, my eyes widened as I saw several armed soldiers
approaching, and I jumped up in a panic, alerting Spike to the
impending trouble. Where was a slayer when you needed one? Spike was
about to lunge forward, ready to try and run again, but he
immediately found three of the soldiers upon him. Two held
crossbows, the sharp bolt tips nearly touching his chest as the
third soldier moved behind him and roughly pulled his arms back.
Spike let out a growl as he yanked his arms free, simultaneously
striking the soldiers behind him and feeling pain shoot through his
temples. Yelling and clutching his head, the blond fell to his
knees, his arms once again wrenched back and secured behind him.
Yeah, he was going to be a big help. Way to protect the damsel in
distress!

Seeing Spike fall, I backed up against the far wall, desperately
searching for anything to defend myself with. A stake would have
come in very handy at the moment. Sure, they weren't demons, but I
was pretty sure that a stake in the chest would still have slowed
them down.

"Make this easy on yourself," a soldier barked. "Come willingly or
we'll take you by force."

I had seen the force they had used on Spike and wasn't really
interested in having a taste, but at the same time, I was fairly
certain that wherever they wanted to take me was not somewhere I
wanted to be.

"Call me crazy, but I'm not too keen on the idea of going anywhere
with you," I told him, trying to sound braver than I felt.
Unfortunately, I've never been good at bluffing my way through
anything.

Before I knew what was happening, one of the other soldiers advanced
on me, lunging at my side with a large, metal stick. The minute it
touched me, I screamed in pain, feeling a sharp electrical current
zip through me and I fell to the floor, completely immobile and
utterly terrified.

~*~

"I trust that you had no trouble bringing her in?" Professor Walsh
asked as one of the soldiers strapped me down to the table. It
seemed like an unnecessary precaution, what with my new found
paralysis and all.

"No trouble at all, Professor," he told her with a grin, before
turning to leave. I did my best to glare at him, though I was pretty
sure that my facial expression didn't change.

"Miss Rosenberg, so nice to see you again," Maggie said coldly. I
was quickly coming to despise the sound of her voice.

"I wish I could say the same," I mumbled through my clenched jaw,
squirming slightly as feeling began to slowly bleed back into my
body, causing a horrible tingling sensation.

"I expect that you will be a little more cooperative with us this
time. I would hate to have more force used against you," she stated.

"Yeah, I'm sure you'd really feel terrible," I shot back, my eyes
darting around the room.

"Prepare Hostile 24 for examination," she barked, ignoring my last
comment and looking back to her clipboard, an object which I had
already begun to mentally refer to as the clipboard-of-doom. Only
bad things were to come when she pulled that baby out.

Hearing her words, referring to a hostile, I tried to lift my
head. "Hostile 24? Is there a vampire in…oh." Suddenly, realization
hit. "That would be me," I whispered.

"Smart girl," the professor replied, just as I felt a needle roughly
jabbed into my arm. I winced at the pain before glaring at the woman.

"I'd be even smarter if you would let me go so that I can get back
to my classes," I told her, my tone sounding hopeful.

"Nice try," she answered, pulling up one of my sleeves, taking my
pulse. As she scribbled on the clipboard, not glancing up, she
continued to speak. "We are aware of what you are, so I suggest that
you make this as easy on yourself as possible and tell us what we
want to know."

"What exactly do you think that I am?" Hey, she could have been
bluffing, too.

"A witch," the other doctor responded, tapping a syringe a few times
before injecting something else into me. I was beginning to feel
like a pin cushion. Almost immediately, I felt more lightheaded, as
the burning liquid spread through my system and the voices around me
sounded a bit further away. My first thought was that this must have
been what an acid trip felt like. My second thought was that I never
wanted to experience it again.

"I've been wanting to study the occult for a while now…Or, well,
worshippers, to be more exact," she told me. "And to think, all this
time, you were sitting right there in my class, wasting your time
with the sleepy blonde. Now, I want to see exactly what your
capabilities are." At that, the woman grabbed a scalpel, slicing
easily into my arm, eliciting a whimper from me as I squeezed my
eyes shut, blocking out the pain. With all the drugs that they had
pumped into me, you'd think they could have added a little morphine
with it.

"First test," she told her assistant, a weaselly looking little man
of about forty, "self-healing abilities." Looking up again from her
clipboard, she stared impatiently.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked, feeling sick at the sensation of
blood running down my tingling arm.

"I was to see how easily you are able to heal yourself," she
explained. "You'd better hurry before you bleed all over the table."

Was she crazy? How had this woman ever received a PhD from any
school? Where did she graduate from, Psychosville State?

"Ya might have wanted to ask me about it first!" I shouted. "I can't
just heal an open wound. I don't have that kind of power or control."

"I see," Maggie responded, not sounding very convinced. I was
beginning to wonder if she would resort to burning me at the stake,
waiting to see if I would free myself. Of course, I had already been
there, done that. It wasn't an experience that I was looking to
repeat.

"I…I can float pencils, mostly, and change ice to fire, although
that's a hard one," I mumbled. "And restore vampire's souls," I
added in my head, not thinking that was something I should share
with the class.

"Alright then, float this pencil," she told me, holding a pencil out
in the palm of her hand.

"I'm not some circus side-show act!" I shouted, struggling with my
bonds again, my head growing dizzy as I moved around.

"I suggest that you cooperate, Miss Rosenberg. We do have ways of
getting the results we want."

I had no doubt that they did, remembering the force used to bring me
into the lab, and I let out a defeated sigh before concentrating on
the pencil in her hand, slowly floating it up a few feet, spinning
it and then dropping it back down.

"Amazing," Dr. Walsh responded, sounding awed. "Hostile 24 exhibits
signs of telekinetic powers and control on command." Looking down,
she began to write again and I felt a small part of me swell at the
way she had just spoken. I would have been almost proud of myself,
had I not been strapped to a metal table, still slowly bleeding.

Tilting my head a bit, I noticed a sharp scalpel on a table behind
the professor and closed my eyes, concentrating on the instrument.
The drugs that I had received were messing with my concentration,
among other things, and the little magic I had already worked had
taken a lot out of me. Concentration was difficult, but where
there's a will, there's a way.

A moment later, I mentally lifted the scalpel, bringing it up behind
her. I had no intention of killing her, but hurting the good doctor
a little bit would be nice. Just as I was about to propel it
forward, the door to the laboratory flew open.

"Professor Walsh! The demon that you were waiting for has been
contained and brought…" The voice trailed off as he took in the
scene before him, his eyes widening. Hearing Riley, my concentration
broke and the scalpel fell to the floor, unnoticed.

"Agent Finn, you are interrupting an examination," Maggie
reprimanded, seeing the stunned look on his face.

"Riley!" I shouted, just before a gag was pulled over my mouth. I
continued to scream, though my words were muffled, and I thrashed
about on the table, desperate to get his full attention.

"Professor, what are you…" Riley began, staring in shock.

"Agent Finn, you know better than to question my research," she told
him. "Please go wait in my office and begin filling out the capture
report for the latest hostile. Riley simply nodded mutely before
turning and leaving. I couldn't believe it. As I saw him walk away
my heart sank.

"Sedate her and send her back to the holding cell," Maggie
commanded, just before I felt more burning liquid being pumped into
my veins.

~*~

Spike watched, growling as the soldiers once again returned,
dropping my limp body onto the cell floor and backing out, locking
the electrified exit. The vampire paced back and forth for a minute,
trying to ignore my presence, huddled on the cold, white floor, and
the way my fresh blood was calling to him. It had been days since
he'd fed and Spike wasn't sure how much longer he could hold out.

I moaned softly and he glanced down before once more resuming his
pacing. I was starting to shake, my teeth chattering, my racing
heartbeat pounding in his ears. Finally, he let out an aggravated
sigh, kneeling down as he rolled his eyes at his own actions.
Reaching out, he slowly turn my so that I was laid out on my back,
and took in my appearance. My skin was paler than usual, my
breathing shallow, my heartbeat fast and irregular. Rivulets of
dried blood were spread down my arm and tear tracks stained my
cheeks. As my head rolled from side to side, he could see that my
eyes, which were only slightly opened, had rolled back, the pupils
no longer showing.

Leaning in a little further, he called out, "Red?" His voice was
softer than even he had expected it to be. "Can you hear me, pet?"
Receiving no response, he shifted me slightly, lifting my head up a
bit.

"They know," I mumbled, my voice barely audible. "They know, and…" I
stopped, gagging suddenly, my stomach doing flip-flops as I lurched
away from him, trying to cover my mouth.

Seeing that I was about to be sick, Spike quickly helped me as I
tried to crawl to the back corner of the cell. As I bent forward and
began to vomit the meager contents of my empty stomach, he jumped
back, surprised and unsure of what to do. He could hear me crying
softly, my face hidden as my tangled hair fell forward while I
leaned over the small bucket that had contained small amounts of
food that they had given me. I was mortified that he should see me
like that, so weak, so pathetically beaten.

Kneeling down behind me, Spike slowly reached out, pulling back my
red hair, gathering it at the base of my neck in one hand, while the
other rubbed my back gently. It wasn't an action to which he was
accustomed, comforting a human girl, and I was well aware of that.
He was usually the reason that they cowered and cried.

I could barely make out his whispered words as he tried to calm me
down. "Let it all out, love," he murmured, rubbing my back in small
circles. "Gotta get it all out of your system."

When I had finally been reduced to dry heaving, nothing left in me
to release, I sat back on my heels and sighed, wiping my mouth with
the back of my hand. I was still shaking, my eyes unable to focus on
anything. My skin was hot to the touch and I could feel sweat
dripping down my face, mingling with the tears.

I felt Spike lift me up, about ready to protest, though I quickly
gave in, no fight left in me. He moved to the other side of the
small cell, sitting down against a white wall, cradling me in his
arms. My eyes rolled back again and my breathing remained harsh and
irregular. He should have just tossed me aside and forgotten about
me. It's what his instincts were screaming at him to do, yet he
couldn't. He told himself that it was because I was the key to
getting out of that place, the witch and her magic, but he knew,
deep down, it was more than just that.

As I continued to shake, my heartbeat growing more wild, he became
more and more agitated. The scent of fresh blood hit him and Spike
looked down, seeing that I was unconsciously scratching at my arm,
the skin already torn, my nails stained slightly by my own blood.
Grabbing my hands, he had to hold them down to keep me from tearing
at my flesh. I suppose that if he didn't hate those people so much,
he might have actually been rather impressed at how sadistic they
could be with a human girl.

Glancing up, Spike noticed as one of the soldiers stopped outside of
the cell, watching with an unreadable expression. I faintly heard
him growl as he shifted into his true face, pulling me a little
tighter to him.

"What? Not enough for you to hurt her? Gotta come by and watch her
suffer'n as well?" he yelled, knowing that the man could hear
him. "And they call ME a monster," he mumbled.

Taking a step forward, the dark haired man pushed the button to the
intercom. "What's wrong with her?"

"What the hell do you think is wrong with her?" Spike shouted. "All
the drugs you've been pumping through her…She's human! Her body
can't take it!"

"Riley?" Spike looked down, hearing my soft, ragged voice. I was
trying to open my eyes, a pained expression on my face. Everything
felt so heavy, the effort to keep my eyes open becoming too much.

"You know him?" Spike asked. Receiving no answer, he looked back up
and saw that the man was no longer there.

My fight was completely gone as I continued to tremble in his arms.
A few moments later, we heard the familiar sounds of a code being
entered outside of the cell, just before the door was opened, and
Spike glanced up to see Riley returning, weapon raised and aimed at
the vampire. A man in a long, white coat trailed behind. Riley
continued to watch Spike as the other man pulled out a syringe and
filled it with something.

"You're completely off your rocker if you think that I'll let you
give the girl any more drugs," Spike shouted, his hold on me
protective.

"It's the anti-dote for what she was given earlier," Riley
explained. "It will help her."

You know what would have really helped me? Not injecting me with
that crap in the first place!

Spike eyed him for a moment, thinking over his limited options. He
didn't trust anyone there, but also knew that his back was up
against a wall, literally. It was this or let me die in his arms.
Had I been able to place my vote, I would have whole-heartedly
endorsed the injection, but as it were, I was a bit incapacitated at
that moment.

Finally, Spike nodded his head, watching as the doctor nervously
stepped forward. He tightened his hold on me as the man reached out
and roughly pulled my arm toward him. Opening my eyes slightly and
seeing the needle coming toward me, I immediately began to struggle,
incoherent but terrified. Fighting to hold me still, Spike tried to
calm me with hushed words, promising things that he knew he couldn't
deliver and telling me that everything would be alright. Finally,
the doctor was able to inject the antidote into my arm. Spike
watched as I immediately stilled, my heartbeat slowing slightly.

The doctor turned toward Riley. "There was a strong sedative in what
I gave her. She'll be asleep for a while and should be alright when
she wakes up."

"Thank you, doctor," Riley replied with a nod, glancing toward our
huddled mass in the corner, feeling uneasy at the sight of the demon
still holding me tightly. Not that I blame him for his unease. Heck,
even I didn't understand Spike's sudden need to protect me. I mean,
sure, we had made a deal, but the last thing I expected him to do
was actually honor that.

"You do know that Professor Walsh will not be pleased about this,"
the doctor warned.

"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it," Riley assured him as
they both walked out, leaving us alone once again.

~6~

It had been days and no one had come to take either of us from the
cell. It was a welcomed reprieve, but one that played on our
agitation none the less. Small amounts of food and water had been
provided, though Spike had still only received drugged blood. My
strength was slowly returning as we sat and waited. Very little was
said between us, and we both seemed to prefer it that way. We had
made a silent pact to not discuss what had happened that night, the
night that I almost died in his arms, and I was grateful for it. I
had no idea what to say. Thank you just didn't seem to cut it, and I
was pretty sure that any attempt on my part to be gracious or kind
would have quickly been cut down by the snarky vampire.

There were other demons, vampires mostly, in cells around us. For the
most part, they refused to say much of anything to Spike. I guess
they were still bitter about his past escape and the fact that he had
left them still trapped inside. That escape didn't do him much good,
of course, but I've noticed that demons tend to hold grudges longer
than other creatures. A few of them were willing to talk to me.
Mostly, their words were too crude to repeat, but there was
something, a rumor, circulating about a secret project in the
compound. Something called 314. Apparently it was about as secret and
underground as you could get, and from the sounds of things,
Professor Walsh was not going to let anyone or anything destroy what
she had been working on. I began to wonder exactly how far she would
go to keep 314 a secret…Not that I had even the slightest clue what
the hell it really was.

"What's all this?" Spike had just awakened from a long nap, ever so
inconveniently breaking my concentration. I was seated in the center
of the bright cell, my legs crossed, my hands resting on my knees. My
eyes HAD been closed as I practiced steady, deep breathing.

I cracked one eye open, glaring at him. He was pacing again,
reminding me of a caged lion.

"Shhh, I'm meditating," I hissed, closing my eyes once again.

"Oh, well, excuse me," he grumbled, making a face behind my
back. "Don't see what good that will do you." Man, he's such a pain
sometimes.

Opening my eyes again, I scowled. "I can't do this with you talking."

"Right, whatever. You go on and do your little yoga thing," he
groused.

"It's not…Oh! Never mind. Just be quiet!" Sometimes, it's like
talking to a wall. A really frustrating, rude wall, but still…

Ignoring him as he circled me, I closed my eyes and resumed my deep
concentration. It had been days since Professor Walsh had sent for
me, and though my strength was returning, I knew it was only a matter
of time before the doctor would decide to perform more tests. I could
feel my magic building, slowly but steadily, and though I didn't
understand why it was happening, I was certainly going to try and
take advantage of it.

Reaching out with my mind, I began to feel for my target. Mentally, I
called out, "Buffy? Buffy, can you hear me?"

Buffy was sitting in Psych class. You can just taste the irony of
that, can't you? She was slumped down in her seat, trying to keep her
eyes open as the Professor lectured about something she didn't
understand. She was more exhausted than usual, having spent every
free moment of the last week searching for yours truly.

"Buffy?" The faint, familiar voice startled the slayer, causing her
to jump and sit straight up in her chair. "Can you hear me?" She
looked around the auditorium, no one else seeming to hear the
voice. "Buffy?"

"You will note that in all of the patients, there were several common
characteristics, but not once did any of them exhibit telekinetic
abilities," Professor Walsh lectured. "Up until recently, it was not
believed that human beings had the mental capacity for…"

"Willow?" Buffy spoke aloud, finally recognizing the distant,
slightly distorted voice. Professor Walsh flinched at the name as
Buffy stood up, looking around the room. "Willow?"

"Is there a problem, Miss Summers?" Walsh questioned.

"I just thought…I thought that I heard my friend," Buffy mumbled,
looking around and slowly sitting back down, hearing several students
snickering at her.

"Yes, well if you are bored with my lecture, I'm sure that…"

"No, I'm sorry," Buffy apologized, grimacing in embarrassment and
sinking a little lower in her seat. "No more bored than usual," she
muttered to herself.

"Buffy?" This time my voice was a little more clear and frantic.
Jumping up, she quickly gathered her things and darted out of the
room, no noticing as Professor Walsh watched her suspiciously.

"Well, I suppose that some people simply can not handle discussions
of the supernatural," Walsh said with a chuckle, once the exit door
slammed shut.

"Will? Where are you?" Buffy yelled as she stumbled down the hall,
looking all around.

"Buffy, listen, I don't have much time."

"Where are you?"

"I'm in your head, sort of," I told her. "I'm being held by those
commando guys. I don't know where we are. Underground, on campus, I
think, but I'm not sure. Listen, Professor Walsh and Riley are behind
this. They have me and Spike and they know that…"

"Spike?" You're there with Spike?" Buffy shouted, making a face as a
couple of students passed her, giving her strange looks.

"Yes, listen. They know that I'm a witch, Buffy. You have to get me
out of here."

"You said Professor Walsh and…and Riley?" She sounded unsure as she
spoke the last word.

"He's one of the commandos, Buffy. Please, you have to find us."

"Us?"

Before I could say more, I felt the connection fade away, my body
pitching forward, slumping down, my breathing heavy and labored.

"What the hell was that?" Spike shouted.

I looked up wearily, trying to catch my breath. "Buffy. I was talking
to Buffy."

"You can do that?" he asked.

I nodded and he watched me for a moment, before shrugging and sitting
down against a wall. "Dru was able to do that, talk with her mind.
Bloody disconcerting, if you ask me, have'n someone else in your
head? Takes a bit of power to do that."

"Then I guess I have more control than I thought," I replied with a
soft, self-satisfied smile.

~*~

"Giles, what do we do?"

"You're certain that you heard Willow? I have to say, that's terribly
advanced, and I wasn't under the impression that Willow had that much
control or power." Oh, ye of little faith.

"I heard her, Giles. I know it was her. She said that she was being
held by those army guys. She said that Professor Walsh and Riley were
behind it."

"Riley? Could she have been mistaken?"

"I don't' know. I just don't know what to think. I've been so busy
trying to hide the fact that I'm the slayer from him, I never really
bothered to notice if he was hiding anything from me. Giles, what if…"

"We'll find her, Buffy. We will. Perhaps our best bet would be if you
question Riley directly about it."

"I guess that's a good place to start."

~7~

"I want Hostile 24 brought in here, immediately," Maggie demanded as
she stormed into the lab. "And I want Agent Finn called in as well."

"Professor, are you certain that is a good idea? Last time Finn came
in during an exam…"

"Do not question me," she responded. "Agent Finn was not at my
lecture today and something happened. I want answers. I believe that
Hostile 24 was attempting to contact her friends."

"But how could she…"

That's what I'd like to find out. Have her brought in, now."

~*~

Seeing a large group of soldiers heading for the cell, we both stood
up, trying to ready ourselves for whatever was about to happen.

I glanced at Spike. "What going on?"

"Don't know. Maybe they got wind of your latest little parlor
trick," he answered, taking a deep, unnecessary breath.

"But, how could they…"

Before I could finish, the code was punched in and the door slid
open, nearly a dozen soldiers entering, weapons aimed. Grabbing onto
my arm, Spike pushed me behind him, his game face slipping into
place. He had no idea why he felt compelled to protect me. That much
was clear. I could see the uncertainty in his eyes, the confusion in
his expression. It might give him one hell of a migraine, but I
could see that he was ready to do what he could to keep me safe.

"Step away from the witch," one of the soldiers barked. Spike merely
glared at him, not moving or saying a word.

~*~

"Professor Walsh, you wanted to see me?" Riley stated as he entered
the lab.

"Agent Finn, you were not at my lecture today," she repeated coolly.

"No, ma'am, I had a few things that needed taking care of. I
apologize for my absence. If I could…"

"Riley," she interrupted, "I would like to discuss Hostile 24 with
you. It seems we've come up against a few complications."

~*~

"Step away from the witch, now!" the soldier shouted again, taking a
step closer, his crossbow held high.

"Not gonna happen," Spike replied.

Watching the man with the gun, I started to have second
thoughts. "Spike, maybe you should just…"

"Not gonna let them take you again," he hissed. Who knew that Spike
could be chivalrous?

"I don't recall giving you a choice," one of the soldiers told him
with a sneer. "Now, this is your last warning. Step away from the
witch."

Again, Spike simply stood, glaring at the soldiers in defiance.

"Remove the vampire," the soldier commanded.

~*~

"It seems that someone brought a doctor down a few nights ago,
forcing him to inject Hostile 24 with the antidote to what I had
given her," Professor Walsh stated.

"She was dying," Riley told her. "I made a command decision, didn't
think you'd want to lose her."

Maggie nodded. "Still, you should have consulted me."

"You weren't immediately available and there wasn't much time," he
retorted.

"And I suppose that your decision had nothing to do with your prior
friendship with the girl?"

Riley thought for a moment, unsure of how to answer. "She's a
human," he said finally, "and she was dying. I did what I had to do."

"She's a witch," she reminded him.

"But still human, and a good person."

~*~

"Miller, he has the chip. He can't hurt you. Remove the vampire,"
one of the soldier shouted.

The other man looked uncertain for a moment, before raising a large,
metal rod and lunging for Spike. He managed to dodge the weapon and
pushed me back a little. Stumbling, I looked up as the soldier
shouted again.

"Miller, the vampire!"

"On it, Gates," the other shouted back, lunging for Spike again.
This time, he was able to side step the soldier, grabbing his arm
and wrenching it back and to the side, smiling slightly, despite the
pain that was obviously searing through his head, as he heard the
sound of the bone cracking, followed by the soldier's scream. The
man fell to his knees, two more soldiers stepping up quickly,
weapons raised.

"Take him down, now!" the first man yelled as he pulled the fallen
soldier back away from the growling vampire. I stared at him for a
moment, trying to remember where I had seen him before.

My eyes widened as I saw two more soldiers moving toward
us. "Spike!" I yelled out as they both lunged at him at the same
time. Grabbing one soldier's arm, he was able to use the stunning
rod in his hand on the other soldier, before cracking the arm in his
grasp, throwing the man to the floor. Grabbing his head, Spike
growled as pain lanced through his skill, threatening to break it
open.

"Spike!" I shouted again, just before he was hit again with a stun
rod, falling to his knees. "No!" I shoved the soldier aside with
strength I didn't know that I possessed and dropped to my knees
beside the fallen demon. For a moment, the chaos fell away, and it
was just the two of us. I whispered his name and he twitched a
little, letting out a slight growl. Looking up, the world snapped
back into place as I saw the soldiers surrounding us. I could feel
my eyes turn black as energy began to crackle in the air.

~*~

"We have another problem," Maggie told Riley. "What do you know
about Hostile 24's blonde friend?"

"Buffy?" he asked in surprise. "What does she have to do with
anything?"

"I believe that Hostile 24 was trying to contact her during class
today. She left in a hurry in the middle of the lecture. If she were
to find out about our operation, it could destroy everything that
we've worked for."

"I really don't think that Buffy is an issue, Professor. She's
harmless."

"Can you be certain? You thought that Hostile 24 was harmless and it
turns out that she's a rather powerful witch. How much do you really
know about her friends?"

~*~

The soldiers backed away as I glared at them through dark eyes.
Their weapons were raised and now aimed at me. That was fine. I
knew, somehow, that they were of little threat to me.

"Back away from the vampire and come with us," the one that seemed
to be in charge demanded. Suddenly, I remembered where I'd seen him
before.

"I know you," I stated in a low, dark voice, staring at the
soldier. "You're friends with Riley. We go to school together. We've
been to the same parties."

"I don't associate with demons," he told me, his tone filled with
anger and disgust.

"You should try it," I countered. "I think you'd find it better than
the current company you keep."

"Enough! You are coming with us, now." I was a little surprised.
Apparently, he thought that he still had the upper hand. I wasn't
sure where my new-found power was coming from exactly, but I could
feel it, coming off of me in waves, and I was sure that he could
feel it too. Apparently he just wasn't smart enough to turn and run
when he had the chance.

"Someone should have taught you," I informed him, "to never piss off
a witch." Holding out my hands, I let loose a blast of energy,
temporary blinding the men. I had no idea where it had come from. I
hadn't even muttered an incantation, and boom! There it was. I could
feel a protective barrier surrounding me and Spike, and I quickly
held my hands over him, hoping that the healing spell that I had
learned for Buffy would work on a demon.

The soldiers watched, apparently without a clue as to how to
proceed, as I knelt over the vampire, mumbling in a language I knew
they wouldn't understand. When was the last time you saw a bunch of
jocks sitting in a Latin class? A moment later, we both began to
glow as energy crackled around us, just before there was another
flash of light, followed by the feeling of electricity flowing
through the air, as if an electrical storm was brewing inside the
compound. The soldiers jumped as all of the security cameras
suddenly burst and alarms began to sound.

Glancing up, I winced. Oops. That was a new little twist.

~*~

"Buffy is just a nice, normal girl. A little peculiar, maybe, but
human," Riley explained. In truth, normal was never a word that he
would have used for the girl he was dating, but he was certain that
she wasn't a demon or a witch.

"Never the less, I believe that your emotions are overriding…"
Before Professor Walsh could finish, she heard the compound alarms
sound and looked up toward the monitors, seeing that they had all
gone blank.

"What's going on?" she shouted into an intercom. No response came.
When she turned back around, Riley was gone.

~*~

I watched as Spike opened his eyes and sat up, looking as if nothing
had ever happened to him.

"What did you do?" he whispered. I simply shrugged, suddenly feeling
drained, my eyes still black, my breathing harsh and ragged. I had
no idea where the power had come from, but my strength was fading
fast.

Standing up, Spike pulled me to my feet and looked at the stunned
soldiers who were backing away from us, weapons still raised. He
glanced up, seeing that the cameras were all broken and the lights
had gone out. Red emergency lights flashed as sirens shrieked around
us.

"We have to get out of here," I yelled from behind him.

"I know that. Just haven't figured out exactly how yet," he replied.

Suddenly, I grabbed his arm and rushed forward, holding my hand up
and watching as the soldiers were all shoved back by an unseen
force, held in place, unable to move. It was a neat trick, something
that I had read about before, but I never thought I'd get the chance
to try it.

"What did you do?" Spike asked again as I pulled him toward an exit.

"Stop asking that!" I hissed as we ran. Reaching the exit, we were
ready to push the door open when another soldier stepped out in
front of us. We both stopped. I was now panting heavily, my energy
completely drained. Leaning on Spike to keep from collapsing, I
looked up wearily, shocked at who I saw.

"Riley?"

"Let us go," Spike demanded, pulling me a little closer to him.

"I can't do that," Riley told him, raising a weapon and aiming at
the vampire's chest.

"Riley," I said softly, pain lacing my voice, "we were friends." I
closed my eyes, clutching at Spike's arm as the room began to spin.

Riley looked back and forth between us, clearly unsure of what to
do. Finally, he stepped aside, lowering his weapon.

"Get her out of here," I vaguely heard him say. "Take her somewhere
safe, far away. They'll be looking for you." I was grateful when I
felt Spike grab me, lifting me off of my feet, just before making a
run for it.