By Ldynwaitin
"Help me!" they heard Jared shout. They saw him carried in the arms of one of the creatures. It rushed through a large metal door.
Without hesitation, they sprinted to where the boy was taken. As they rushed through the doors Spike shoved Giles and Xander to the side as two creatures lumbered towards them. He charged forward, his face morphing into vamp mode. He eagerly began to fight the creatures.
"Where's Jared?" Giles shouted to be heard above the roars of the creatures.
Xander scanned his flashlight in the large room they were in, there was no sign of the small boy. Hearing a cry, he faintly heard the boy's shouts from outside of the room.
"Look out!" Spike shouted. Giles and Xander leaped in the air as one of the creatures head rolled past them. Letting out a snarl, Spike literally shoved his hand inside of the remaining beast. It fell to the floor like a fallen tree.
"Nice Spike, I hope you remember to wash your hands before you eat," Xander said.
"The boy!" Giles said. His cries were faint, but at least they could still hear him. That meant he was alive.
Xander took the lead. As he rushed through a door, he faced several corridors.
"Where to now?" Spike said.
"Wait for it," Xander said. He placed his hands on either side of the doorframe. When the boy shouted, he pointed down the corridor to the right.
"What makes you think he's down there?" Spike said.
"Vibrations. I remember a Batman comic where he had to find Robin. He placed his hand on the walls and felt where Robins screams was coming from."
"Lets just hope we don't find Robin on the other side," Spike said.
Eager to lead them, Xander sprinted down the corridor. He slid his hand on the walls. The vibrations were getting stronger the close they were able to get to the boy.
They came to a small staircase that led deeper into the factory.
"I don't like this," Spike said. "All my alarms are ringin' full blast, tellin' me that’s not a place that Spike wants to go."
"A small boy is in danger," Xander said. "Part of being a hero, is to put your fear on a back burner."
"What do you do when the danger is over?" Spike asked him.
"You go home, and shake like hell for the next couple of days," Xander softly said. He began to go down the dark stairs, his flashlight illuminated the way before them.
"He's brave, for a bloody American," Spike whispered to Giles.
"He's brave for a bloody human," Giles corrected him.
Spike silently nodded his head, as he followed Xander down the stairs. They came to a place that looked strangely familiar to Spike…the basement.
"You going to be all right?" Giles asked him.
"I'm fine, lets find the lad and get out of here."
Again they heard the boy scream. This time Spike took the lead, he rushed past Xander and into a room. He let out a cry, as he was swatted to the side.
Once Giles and Xander entered the room, the door was blocked by two of the winged creatures. They saw Jared standing next to the creature. His eyes glowed as they trained their flashlights on him.
"What's going on here?" Giles said.
"Going on?" the boy innocently said. "Nothing much, just that you proved to me once again just how stupid and gullible humans are."
Jared slowly walked up to Giles. "You're a Watcher. I thought you would recognize me."
Xander shoved Giles back, as one of the creatures flew towards them. Spike was by his side in a flash, he focused on killing the creature. He was alarmed to find the winged variety was a bit tougher than the non-winged ones.
"Why should I know who you are?" Giles asked the boy.
"Actually I guess it's not fair. I should have told you my given name. It's Azubah," immediately his face morphed into a vampires.
"Oh…my…god," Giles mumbled.
"I really wish you would stop saying that," Xander said.
"Sorry, what would you rather I say?"
"How about bloody hell?" Spike offered. He ducked as a large claw sailed over his head.
"The Watchers wondered what happened to you," Giles addressed the boy.
"Giles, I don't think it's time for a chit chat," Xander sung out. "We got company."
The door on the opposite side of the room suddenly flung open. Three of the original creatures rushed into the room. It didn’t take them long to overtake Spike. He let out a curse, as two of the beasts firmly held his arms.
"I think the Watchers would have been very interested in what happened to me," Azubah said. He slowly walked up to where Spike was held. He stood as high as Spikes waist. Leaning forward, he sniffed him. "Oh yes, I can smell them on you," he said.
"Smell what you little beast?" Spike hissed.
"Slayers," the boy sighed. "I can smell the slayers that you killed. Disable him," he shouted.
The creatures held Spike, as one of them moved forward. It extended a hand, one of the claws suddenly grew longer. It stabbed it into Spikes thigh. He let out a moan as the creature began to siphon something into him. Once the creature was finished, Spike was thrown to where Giles and Xander were standing. They quickly helped Spike up.
"What did that monstrosity do to him?" Giles hissed.
"Oh just something that will keep him from giving me any more trouble," the boy innocently said. One of the creatures let out a roar. They spun around, growling and grunting to the boy. "Soon," Azubah sighed. "Soon no more pain."
"Who…the bloody hell…is that?" Spike struggled to say. His leg felt as if it was on fire.
"Many years ago the Watchers heard of Azubah," Giles said. "He was so innocent looking, and yet so deadly. He used his innocence to kill three slayers. It was after the third slayer that we lost track of him."
"It was after the third that I was kidnapped," Azubah snarled. His innocence marred by his Vampire face. "I was taken to another dimension. I spent hundreds of years there, a prisoner of these creatures. The only chance for my freedom was another Vampire, but it had to be a special one. One that killed three slayers."
"But I didn't kill…" Spike began to say.
"Nonsense Spike," Giles corrected him. "Don't be so modest."
"I can smell the blood of three slayers on you," Azubah said. "You can't lie to me."
Giles suddenly felt a pinch on his side. It came from Xander, he saw his eyes point up. As he began to describe the slayers that Spike killed, he glanced up. He saw the ceiling here was cracked. Made of plaster, it wouldn't take much to bring it down.
"Spike, you strong enough to lift that?" Xander whispered to him. Spike saw his eyes point to a large tool cart. He then glanced up to the ceiling. Spike immediately knew what needed to be done. "I'll try my best," he sighed.
Once Giles was finished describing Buffy's horrible death, Azubah let out a relieved sigh. "Finally, I won't have to go back to that hell hole. You don't know what it was like over there. They were like leaches draining my energy, then they would allow me to regain my strength. Again, and again they would return…." Azubah trailed off.
Once they saw his eyes glass over, Xander whispered to Spike, "Now!"
Stumbling to stand, Spike lunged for the tool cart. He swung it over the heads of the creatures. Slamming into the ceiling, plaster rained down on them. Giles and Xander grabbed Spike and helped him out of the room. Slamming the door shut, Xander used a small pipe he found in the room to jam under the door. They heard the creatures slam against the door.
They rushed down the corridor. They passed by many staircases, until Giles suddenly stopped. "This way," he huffed. He motioned them to go up the staircase. "How do you know this is the right one?" Xander asked.
"I'm a Watcher, I watch," Giles replied. "I also saw this on the walls." He pointed his flashlight towards some Graffiti. It read, 'Sally does the football team.'
"Ah Sally," Xander said, as they rushed up the stairs. "Nice girl, she could squeeze a lemon with her thighs."
"My kind of girl," Spike said.
They ran through the corridors and entered the room that Azubah first led them. As Giles and Xander rushed across the floor to the other side, they realized that someone was missing. Spinning around, they saw Spike lying on the floor near the door.
"Come on Spike," Xander shouted. "Not really a time to take a nap."
"Sorry," Spike panted. "End of the line, out of gas." Once he reached the room, his leg totally went numb. Already he could feel the other leg tingling.
Xander and Giles rushed to his side. They were about to help him up, until they heard a roaring coming from down the corridor.
"Leave me," Spike hissed. "It's me they want, get away while you can."
"Don’t go all noble on us now," Giles said.
"Why would you waste your lives on me anyway," Spike whispered.
Xander slammed the door, locking it he prayed that it would hold the creatures back. "We don't have much time for this guys."
"Xander's right," Spike said. "Get out of here. I'll only hold you back."
"I think Xander was right," Giles said.
"About what?" Xander brightly asked. "I'd like to mark it in my diary."
"You did get the bloody soul of a girl," Giles shouted. "You're nothing but a big girls blouse!"
"I know what you're tryin' to do," Spike said. He jerked when something slammed hard on the door. "You're tryin' to make me mad. It's not goin' to work."
"Where's the Spike I've learned to hate?" Xander now joined in on the conversation. "Where's all that spit and fire that I saw when you would tear a demon apart with your bare hands."
"Flattery will get you no where," Spike said.
"Buffy told us she believed in you Spike," Giles said. "I tried desperately to see the bad in you, but it kept getting overshadowed by the good that you've done." Squatting in front of Spike, Giles gazed deep into his eyes as he said, "It's taken me this long to realize that Buffy was right. You have changed, changed for the better. I still don't trust you enough to have eggs and bangers with me, but I do believe, that if I was facing the First Evil itself. I would like to have you by my side."
"What he said," Xander said. "Except for the bangers part. Really don’t know what it is, and don't want to know."
Spike's head hung down. He let out a halting breath. Raising his arms he said, "Just be mindful of the boots, they're new."
Grabbing his arms, they carried Spike across the room, and out the door.
End of Chapter Two