Title: Edge of Lies
Author: Elka
Email: [email protected]
Post Date: 01-04-00
Rating: PG13/R
Parts: 1-3
Distribution: The regulars.
Disclaimer: Joss makes me frisky as a puppy.
Spoilers: Season four.
Feedback: I'll give you a cookie.
Author's Notes: Pea.

-----

"I hate this." Spike punched the pillow with frustration. "Not
being able to kill, not being able to hunt, I can't even eat.
I have the Slayer feeding me pig's blood from a mug."

Willow looked around the empty room for help. But there was
no one to rescue her from this conversation.

"We're all trying, Spike. Really."

"But why? Why would any of you do this?" He sat across from
her, staring with pleading eyes.

"Because you're right, it's not fair. You maybe a vampire,
but these people are wrong. That's all there is to it. We will
get the implant reversed." Willow smiled. "But you have to
promise not to bite us."

"As soon as that thing is gone, I'm getting the bloody hell
out of Sunnyhell. Every time I'm here, something goes wrong."

She regarded him solemnly. "I'll personally do whatever I can
to get it deactivated."

-----

"Willow."

She turned, stopping for the approaching male. "Riley."

He nodded. "How are you?" He pulled her away from the passing
students, his bright smile fading.

"Did you talk to him?"

"Yes. It's all taken care of. We should be able to proceed
from here."

Riley squeezed her arm. "Good. Good."

Willow glanced up at him. "Hostile Seventeen is right where
we want him."

"Excellent work, Agent Rosenberg."

-----
Willow strode into the dorm house, breezing by the tenants,
nodding briefly only to fellow Initiative members. She met
up with Riley at the base of the stairs, he quickly fell into
step beside her, neither stoping for pleasantries.

She glanced grimly at him as they stopped for a retina scan
in front of a seemingly innocent mirror. "Oh eight hundred
hours?" She confirmed.

"Oh eight hundred." He replied with a sigh.

The computer gave it's authorisation and the two stepped firmly
into the white tiled lift. Willow leaned into the speaker.

"Rosenberg, Willow."

The friendly computer again okayed the passengers and the elevator
began it's desent to the underground lab known as 'The Initiative'.

Willow looked at Riley nervously.

"Riley. How are you?"

His face relaxed into a smile. "Great. A little chilly. I missed
you last night.

-----

"You know, Riley, this is getting really hard, lying to my
friends and all. And with Hostile 17 living with Giles. I see
him everyday." Willow looked down, playing with her fingers.

"You're part of the Initiative, Willow, we drafted you with
strict instructions to befriend the Slayer for information.
We know more about vampires and demons because of your relays
then any other source we've used." Riley reminded her, stepping
forward.

"I know, but still..." She trailed off.

"You've been with us for almost five years. You couldn't back
down now, even if you wanted to."

"I still have a heart."

The elevator slowed to a stop and the doors slid open. Willow
and Riley stepped out.

"Besides." He said with a grin. "You're our hottest agent."

She smiled, shaking her head slightly.

"Rosenberg. Finn."

The two straightened, hands stiffly placed at their sides,
eyes glaring forward.

"At ease."

They relaxed, Willow glanced at her sideways.

"Rosenberg." Ms. Walsh approached her slowly. "Good work with
the Hostile 17 meeting. That was an important mission."

"Thank you, m'am." Willow nodded.

"But it's all over." She warned harshly.

The redhead paled slightly, trying to retain her composure.

"We realise you aren't one of us."

-----

Willow paled, fighting to retain what little composure she
had left.

"W-what do you mean I'm not one of you?" She asked the professor
shakily.

"You have excelled in your duties, Agent." Walsh turned, her
lacheys following. "Do I smell a promotion?" She called as
she boarded a tram, smiling widely.

Willow relaxed.

-----

"They still have no idea?" He heard Riley ask.

The footsteps were like thunder to his heightened senses.

"No." She answered. "They don't realise - I guess I play a
damn good teen-ager."

"Kind of a turn-on." Riley snickered. "An older woman."

Willow laughed. "You should talk, college boy."

Riley joined in her laughter. He leaned over to plant a soft
kiss on her cheek before continuing forward. Willow took a
left and headed down the cage-lined corridor.

She paused in front of his holding pen.

"Bitch." He muttered, refusing to look at her.

"I'm not a bitch. I'm just doing my job."

Willow kneeled, resting gloved hands on the grid-style bars.

"You're a liar. Your whole life is a lie."

"Not all of it."

"Just the parts with me?" His emotions caught in his throat.
"I'm just a number on a cage to you."

His words affected her, but she couldn't turn away.

"You're not..." She managed.

"Save it." He growled, interrupting before he had a chance
to believe what she said.

Willow glanced around for witnesses.

"I do care for you."

"Another lie. Look what you've done to me. This isn't caring.
This is not having a heart."

From down the hall, Riley drew in a silent breath. He felt
a twinge of emotion.

Willow cried, as she had many times before. "I have a heart.
But I have to do my job." He turned away from her. "Please."
She pleaded.

Tears wet her military uniform, splashing the gun at her hip.
"Oz..."

-----
-----

Willow stood slowly, knowing Oz wouldn't say anymore. It killed her to watch
him waste away in a cage. She had been informed that he was refusing meals.
He just sat and stared at the stark, white tile. He wouldn't forgive her for
turning him in to the Initiative. Or lying about being a part of it. About
being a part of his life.

She sighed, wiping a few stray tears from her eyes. No use crying over it.
She was given a job and she had to do it. She backed away from the cage and
headed to her living quarters.

-----

Back here, again. He thought angrily. He knew it had been a bad idea to come
back here. He struggled against the strong arms of his captours. It was no
use trying to fight, the implant prevented him from doing any serious
damage. Now all Spike could hope for was the Slayer to come and rescue him.
He cringed at the thought. Willow would know to come for him.

Riley glanced at Forrest. "Walsh better appreciate this."

"Damn straight, this guy's a pain in the ass."

"Ey." Spike cut in, annoyed. "I can hear you."

Forrest stuck his tongue out at him in an infantile fashion. "What's big,
bad vampy going to do? Huh?" He taunted.

Spike glared. "A bit of a headache won't stop me from ripping your lungs
out?"

Riley's gun nudged Spike's temple. "Watch it." He warned.

The vampire knew he was gone if he tried anything. "Just one lung?" He asked
sweetly.

Riley noticed a familiar figure, rounding the corner of an adjoining
corridor.

"Agent." He called, gripping Spike's arm firmly. "We've secured Hostile 17."

Spike followed his stare. The person stopped and turned slowly.

-----
"Agent." Riley repeated, holding Spike's arm firmly.

The vampire followed his enemy's line of sight. The agent turned slowly, a
familiar figure facing him.

"Hey." The person called.

"What's the word?" Forrest grinned. "We partying tonight or what, Graham?"

He shrugged, approaching the group. He looked Spike up and down. "Hostile.
Told you it was doable, Riley."

He nodded in reply. "We need to get him to containment, this guy has caused
more problems than any of the others."

"He's got something personal for that Buffy chick." Forrest elbowed a
glaring Spike in the ribs. "Got a thing for her, vamp?"

"Got a thing. Not for her, limpy." He shot back through clenched teeth.

"Okay, children." Riley shoved Spike along. "Let's go before the hair
pulling starts."

-----

The white corridors all looked the same to Spike. He tried to keep his
orientation as the soldiers led him through halls and halls of conformity.
Nothing was different. Plain starkness.

A stake in the heart was the worst he could get if he tried to escape. A bit
of a headache, maybe, if he attacked them, but that wasn't enough to stop
good old Spike. He'd live through that. He'd heard the commandos talking.
All that intense neurological pain bullshit. They'd see who had the intense
pain when he was finished.

The first fistful Riley got in the face stunned him. He didn't have time to
react, even with the pause Spike took to grab his head, reeling backwards.
The vampire recovered quickly, assuring them he'd fought in much worse
conditions before. A migraine wasn't going to stop him from kicking some
ass.

Spike had figured out how to turn them against each other without even
realising it. By the time they stopped to gawk at each other with bruised
and bloodshot eyes, the Hostile was gone.

He took hallways randomly, turning corners whenever he was faced with one.
He weaved in and out of demon sectors, ignoring the freedom pleas from the
imprisoned.

-----

Riley fumbled for his radio, switching it on. He wavered a moment before
shouting into it.

"Hostile on the loose. I repeat, hostile on the loose. All trained forces
sweep the building for an unarmed, but very unwilling vampire."

Forrest groaned from his place on the floor. "Unwilling?"

-----

Spike ran down what he thought looked like living quarters for the
commandos. He slowed a bit, searching for some sort of exit.

He came to a stop, glancing behind him. He heard nothing all around him.

He turned around.

The barrel was an inch from his face.

Willow stood behind the gun.

"Freeze."

-----
-----

Willow held the gun in his face firmly, her glare cold and heartless.

"Freeze." She repeated.

"Heard you, luv." He raised his hands. He licked his lips. "You do
realise I
could kill you from here, right?"

"Not with a bullet in your cranium."

Spike paused. "Maybe not."

They heard voices down the corridor.

"Don't move."

He opened his mouth to speak. "But-"

"Shut up." Willow whispered harshly.

The voices receded. She glanced over his shoulder.

"Aren't you going to tell all your commando boys you got me?"

"I have to..."

"Aren't you going to tell them how you betrayed me trust to lure me
into an
elaborate scheme when you were one of them all along?"

"...not really..."

"I saw your boy. Caged up. Quite the girl you are to do that."

"...listen..."

Spike raised his voice as he spoke, barely letting Willow get a word
out.

"Bitch. Ripping your head clear from your body would be festive. Or
pulling
your fingers off one by one."

"Spike..."

"No!" He shouted, stepping up to the gun. He grabbed the barrel and
shoved
it in his mouth. "Go ahead." He said around the metal. "Shoot me.
That's
what you want, right? Come on. Do it. I dare you, princess."

"They'll hear you..."

"So? Won't you get a promotion or something? Instead of Lieutenant
Traitor
you'll be Sargeant Traitor? Pull the trigger, luv."

His eyes narrowed, seething anger written all over his face.

"Spike, please..."

"Shoot me!" Spike wrapped his hand around hers, pulling the trigger to
a
dangerous location, a flick of his finger and the bullet would be
released.

"I'm not..."

"What?" He challenged. "Can't do it?"

Willow yanked the gun from his mouth.

"I'm not one of them."

-----

Edge of Lies (8/?)

He took in everything she said, hanging on each word with a hopeful face.

"Liar." Spike swore, looking her up and down.

"It's true." Willow hissed, glancing around. "Now, I'll get you out of here,
but you have to do what I say and keep your mouth shut."

"Yeah, right." He snorted, leaning against the cool stone wall. "You bring
me to some lab and I'm right back where I started except the part about me
being a pile of dust."

Willow shrugged his coolness. "Fine. Suit yourself. But I'm getting out of
here." She dropped the gun and turned away from him.

Spike hesitated. "Wait."

She stopped and faced him.

"Okay. Here's the deal, pet. I'll follow you, but if anything happens, I
won't mind a little headache to wring your neck." He stepped in beside her.
"And don't think that just to be an expression."

She bit her lip to hide a smile. "No problem." Willow removed an identical
gun to the one she had deposited at his feet. Spike stared at her
open-mouthed.

"Little bitch. You're evil." He rubbed his palms together. "I love it."

"Okay, I know this place inside and out." She pulled the safety, cocking the
gun. "Follow me and we should be fine. If we get into trouble, I know enough
magic to keep us one step ahead."

Spike gripped his belt cockily. "I can handle one step ahead."

Roll of the eyes. "Stop. Right now."

"What?"

"The cockiness. You're so damn full of yourself."

"Am not."

Willow shook her head, moving around the corner. "Arrogant bastard." She
muttered under her breath.

Spike followed. "I heard that."

-----

Willow led him through corridor after corridor, endless hallways and glass
panelled cages.

"This is all very stealthy, luv. And don't think I don't like seeing enough
white tile to cover Cincinnati, but when do we get out already?"

Voices approached from the hall they were headed for. Willow froze, holding
up a silencing hand. She cocked her ear to the sound, listening closely.

"Riley. Damnit."

The figure's footsteps were audible. She glanced at Spike.

"Think you could act invisible?"

"What?"

Willow muttered a few quick words under her breath. The vampire vanished a
beat before Riley and Forrest rounded the corner, the latter had a yellowish
bruise forming around his eye.

"Willow!" Riley said with surprise. "Have you seen the hostile?"

She glanced at Spike, his presence invisible even to her. She shrugged her
shoulders innocently at the commandos.

"Nope. It's like he's invisible."

Forrest patted her arm. "You know the word if you see him. Keep yourself
armed. He's not afraid of the implant."

They backtracked to the corridor they had come from, disappearing out of
sight. Willow listened for their receding footsteps before repeating the
incantation backwards. Spike reappeared beside her.

"He's not afraid of the implant." He mocked in a falsetto tone, making a
face.

She shook her head. "Come on, let's keep moving."

-----

Thirty minutes later, Spike was restless. They didn't appear to be making
much progress toward an exit.

"Can we get out of here?"

"Relax. This way."

Willow pushed through a swinging door under a large sign.

"'Containment Centre'" Spike read suspiciously. "Hey, what's that all
about?"

She moved forward. "Nothing. It's fake."

"Fake?" He asked, following slowly.

"Yeah. One of the cells leads to an emergency exit." She aimed her gun down
a hallway, checking for Initiative members. She punched in a code to a blank
cell, glancing both ways before waving him in.

He stepped inside the cell.

The glass panel slammed behind him.

With Willow on the other side.

Riley and Forrest stepped around an adjacent corner, grinning.

"As always, nice work, Agent."

-----
-----

Spike looked down at the folded slip of paper curiously. He waved a hand
over it, making sure it wasn't a trap. Over a hundred years on this earth
and he still couldn't trust anyone. He never learned. Angelus had come and
swept everything right out from under him: his plans, his health, and his
love. He should have known better, the little redhead had tried to take him.
But he wasn't going to fall for any of that anymore. He'd learned his
lesson, you bet he had. There's a new Spike in town, a smarter Spike, a
Spike that wasn't going to take anything from anyone. He leaned back,
satisfied with his revelation.

The jolt of electricity sent him to the floor roughly.

He twitched, pulling himself to his feet slowly.

"Bloody hell." He shook it off. "Note to new, smarter Spike: don't touch the
cattle prod glass."

He reached for the note, unfolding it. He squinted at the scribbled words.

"S - Sorry. I had to do it. I thought they were on to me. I'll come get you
in a little while and we'll leave. - Willow"

Spike softened for a moment before crumpling the paper and throwing it
against the glass. It sparked and flamed, being reduced to ashes in seconds.

He sunk to the floor in a corner of the cell, head in hands.

-----

Riley's fingers caressed her soft red hair, fingering the fiery strands.

"He fell for it?"

"I don't know. I didn't stay to watch."

"Rosenberg."

"Don't try pulling rank on me, Riley." Willow glared up at him. "I feel bad
about leading him on, then thrashing his hopes. It's not fair. Can't we just
do the experiments and stake him like the others?"

Riley sighed, turning away from her. "No. We can't. He's different. He's
older, much more valuable. You know that, Willow."

"He's a vampire, not a nice watch."

"We've gone through this. It's late and I'm tired. Let's just go to bed,
alright?"

He leaned down, one hand firmly on the back of her neck, his eyes closed.

Willow thrust her knee up in one solid movement. She stepped back as Riley
doubled over in pain. He fell to the floor, in too much pain to speak.

"Night, night, Riley."

She stepped over him, slamming the door behind her.

-----

"You again."

"Funny."

"You're a good actress."

"So are you."

"I'm a good actress?"

"You know what I mean."

"Have you made contact?"

"Not yet. He's kind of in an angry-hates-the-world-mood right now."

"Sigh. I know."

"That was pretty harsh. What you did to him, I mean."

"Should have seen what I did to Riley."

"I'll bet. Is everything in order?"

"Except for the tiny part about him totally not trusting me and the other
tiny part where he probably would never go along with it."

"So, we're ready?"

"I--"

"I'm kidding. He'll come around. Knock him out if you have to."

"So caring, so fair."

"Har. Har. Are you sure you can handle this?"

"No problem. Just a few access codes and I'm through."

"What about you possibly getting killed?"

"Don't worry about it. Oh-three-hundred. Be ready."

"Always."

She paused before leaving.

"Oz?"

"Yeah, Will?"

"Did you mean what you said? Earlier?"

"No."

"Thanks."

Willow turned away from the cell and pushed through the heavy doors. The
computer beeped.

"Please enter Vampire Implant Deactivation Code now."

-----
Willow tucked the gun in the waist of her camouflage pants. She glanced both
ways before slipping out the door and closing it quietly behind her. She
quickly passed through several corridors, careful to avoid fellow Initiative
members on her way.

His back was turned to her as she approached his cell. He didn't look when
she spoke to him either. She heard him mutter several explicitives.

"Great. I'm here to spring you and you're holding a grudge?"

Spike stood, glaring angrily at her. "Why shouldn't I? I can't bloody figure
out whether you're good or bad."

"I'll tell you when we get to Buffy's."

"Yeah right. Not going with you. You'll just cage me."

"You're already caged. What am I going to do? Let you out and bring you to
another cage? I wouldn't waste my time. Now come on. Before they get back
from the dining hall."

"No."

Willow sighed tiredly. "Look. See the exit sign down there?" She pointed
down the corridor. "That's where I was bringing you when I heard Riley
coming. I didn't have time to do a spell and I couldn't explain. Just come
with me. Please?"

Spike stared at her a moment. "What the hell do I have to lose?"

She punched in the security code, looking briefly over her shoulder. The
glass slid to the side and Spike stepped out.

"This way."

He followed as she swiftly made her way toward the exit. She pushed open the
door and they were outside.

It was dusk and the sun was gone so he was safe.

"Believe me now?"

"I don't know. Not too late for you to twist the plot all up?"

"Would I do that?"

"Done it before."

Willow smiled, moving throught he shadows with the vampire in tow.

-----

"I must say. Excellent work, Willow."

She beamed proudly at Giles' praise.

"Yeah. Wicked with the commando bit, Wills. And the camouflage? Very
runwayish." Buffy leaned down to finger the military garb.

Willow laughed, finally at ease in the Watcher's apartment. "We really
pulled it off, didn't we?"

"We? All you, girlfriend. You were kicking ass left and right."

"Thanks, Xand."

Spike stared at the group openmouthed, incomprehension clearly displayed on
his face. "What? What the bloody hell is going on?" He spat out.

"What do you mean, Spike?" Willow asked innocently.

"The commandos? You aren't?"

"No. I never was either. I used a form of a glamour spell to mask my
identity with them. They thought I was one of them and had been for years.
They didn't know otherwise. By now, they've forgotten everything. That's why
I was in such a hurry - I knew the spell would wear off."

"Why didn't you say so?"

"Would you have believed me?"

"No."

"Well, there you go?"

"What about the wolf?"

Oz stepped in the doorway. "Present."

Willow smiled at him. "You snuck away."

"Yeah, no problem. But I have to be getting back." He leaned down to plant a
small kiss on Willow's cheek. "You did good." He glanced at Spike. "You
better be on your knees thanking her, man."

Spike nodded slowly, still confused.

Oz removed a small device from his pocket, depressing a button and speaking
ito it. "Base Initiative, this is Full Moon, I repeat this is Full Moon. On
my way back." He nodded to the group and left.

"What about that?"

"Oz is part of the Initiative." Buffy put in. "But he's a good guy. Well, I
guess he is. He's Research Boy."

"How long--?"

"Since we broke up." Willow said. "They asked for his help in exchange for
curing his lycanthropy. We're just friends now. He helps out occasionally,
right under the Commandos' noses."

Spike paused to collect his thoughts.

"So, are you good or evil?"

Willow grinned, her face lighting up.

"Good." She replied. "With a little bit of evil mixed in for flavour."

-----

The End.