Career

Spike whined as he watched the car speed off from the window. Angel was gone. Sire was gone. Safety had just completely packed its bags and pissed off. There was no one left to run too. He was alone.

Everything was different now. Angel wasn't here. Who was going to feed him? Who was going to look after him? Who was going to read him a story when he got scared at night? He was alone in a small room with nothing but a bed and nightstand. He didn't even have a big bed like Angel's. It was small and white with pale sheets and no Angel.

Angel's bed had big, black, smelly, safe sheets with Angel beneath them. Even his own bed sometimes had Angel in it. It smelled safe and comforting, but this was wrong. There was no Angel. No Wesley. No Fred. No Lorne. No Gunn. Nobody. He was alone and surrounded by people he could only describe as insane.

They'd put him in here and locked the door behind him before he even had time to say goodbye. Angel had been crying silently when he waved goodbye and Spike had been sobbing pitifully when he finally understood what was going on. He'd grabbed onto his sire's arm and tried to go home, but the strange men had pulled him off and taken him inside.

Wesley had just walked away with Lorne, but Fred and Gunn had held Angel and told him things. Whispered sweet things in his ear and hugged him. No one hugged Spike. No one said anything nice. Just, "Stay here until someone comes to get you." Then nothing. Left alone in a blank room with nothing.

Wrapping his arms around himself and pretending it was really Angel holding him, Spike made his way over to the bed. Sitting on the edge he tried to analysis it carefully. The sheets were not crumpled from use, or stained from spills like his real bed. This one was crisp, straight and clean. It smelled sanitary and like whiteness. Nothing was right here.

On the back of the door was a plastic wallet with a few slips of paper in. Spike watched as the plastic rustled in the breeze. There was no way he was getting off the bed. Even if it wasn't his, it was recognisable. Nothing else in this room felt safe enough to trust. The walls were bare and white; the floor was a dark blue carpet with a rough feel to it.

The window was plain and not special glass like at home. There were big, thick, heavy curtains each side that would keep out the sunrays. He shivered at the plainness of the room. There was nothing to do here. He was totally alone and no one would hold him. Not even if he asked.

He didn't like it here.

He didn't have to stay here if he didn't want to. Angel had said he didn't have to do anything he didn't want to. And he didn't want to be here! Sniffing slightly and wiping away the few tears that had escaped Spike stood slowly and crept his way over to the door. He was shaky on his feet from fear, but he wasn't going to let that stop him.

Slowly opening the door, he slipped into he hallway. It was plain and white and had barely any shadows for him to hide in. He grimaced at the blankness of everywhere as he inched along the hallway.

Doors were everywhere and he was trying not to go too near to them. If he did, something would probably jump out and get him. He didn't want anything to get him. He wanted Angel to come and get him. Maybe if he got out of this place, Angel would take him home?

It was a test...

It had to be. Angel would never abandon him. Not on purpose. He needed Angel. And Angel needed him. He'd said it. When Angel was holding him in their bed, it was so much better. Nothing could get him and he was safe. No one could hurt him or touch him except for his sire. Angel would protect him from the voices.

But here...in this place... the voices were everywhere. They were all round him. Circling like vultures and spinning round his head waiting for when he was the most vulnerable. Then they'd swoop in and grab him and hurt him and bite him and torture him like he deserved.

He shivered and made his way quietly along the corridor. Noises were coming from each room and he felt so scared and alone. He wanted Angel so badly. And he wasn't there. Where was he?

Wolfram and Hart. That was it. He had to get there. Go and find Angel and be held.

"Well who have we got here?" Came a voice from behind him. Spike span round and wailed loudly at the voices with no bodies. It was too bright in the hall and now the voices were louder. He stumbled backwards and tried to get to the door. He tugged and tugged at the handle but it wouldn't budge.

"Hey! Calm it buddy, you don't want us to use the tranqs do ya?" Said a different voice. Spike whimpered and tried to break down the door. He needed to get away. He couldn't let the voices get him again. He just couldn't.

"I don't think he gets it Carl." There was a moment's silence before a button clicked and the voice continued. "Doctor Black? We have a patient here on floor 2 trying to escape. Want us to tranq him?" There was a buzz and a click and then something blurry was said. Spike groaned as the noise hurt his ears.

Then it stopped.

"So? What'd the boss say? Do we get to shoot him?" Asked the second voice. Wow, they were actually having a conversation. They'd never had a conversation before. They'd just yell and scream and shout about how bad he was.

"Nah. Doc. wants us to take him back to his room. Keep him there." The first voice replied. Hey, maybe it wasn't voices. Spike screwed up his eyes and slowly turned round, still not peeking. Just in case.

"This is the newbie huh?" Slowly opening his eyes, Spike saw two men outlined in the white hallway. One had a gun and the other was grinning madly at him. He didn't like them. Not one bit. "Hey Darren, think we could teach him a lesson about trying to run?"

A lesson? Spike decided that he didn't want a lesson. Not if it was these two teaching. Angelus taught him. Only Angelus. No one else had ever even tried to teach him before. His head hurt from thinking too fast and he groaned a little.

"Think we might have to Carl. The little baby doesn't understand the rules yet." Darren grinned as well and approached the vampire quickly. Spike shuddered and pushed himself into the wall as Carl took the hint and also walked towards him.

He began to wail as they drew closer, but was stopped when Darren's hand covered his mouth. "None of that little baby. You have to be quiet." He grinned and slipped a hand beneath the struggling vampire's arm. Carl took the other side and they soon had Spike back in his room with a locked door.

Spike began to sob outright as he was thrown across the room and hit the wall. He began to sob to himself and try to curl up as he heard the men discussing what they were going to do to him. He wished Angel were here...

!"£$&()

Angel sighed as he walked into his suite. It was so quiet here. And too tidy. There were no cushions stacked up on the sofa to make a fort. No wail from the bed when his childe had had a nightmare. No blood splattered across the walls because someone thought it was contaminated. It was wrong.

He sighed as he crawled into his bed facing the smaller bed still at the other end. The covers were rumpled and there were a few bite holes in the pillow from where Spike had killed something in his dreams. But there was no insane vampire curled up and fidgeting in his sleep.

Even weirder, was the fact that said insane vampire wasn't curled up with Angel in his bed. Usually by now, Spike would have slept for a few hours in his own bed before crawling across the room and making himself comfortable next to, or on top of, the other vampire.

But there was nothing. Angel sighed and rolled over to face the wall of windows. All the way across L.A. his childe was undoubtedly not sleeping. He was probably curled up crying and hoping that his sire would come and find him. God did Angel want to.

There was no other way of putting it. Spike needed him and he wasn't there. He was the worst Sire ever.

!"£$&()!"£$&()

To those who thought I was abandoning this fic, don't worry! I'm not. I refuse to leave any of my fics half done. I think it's wrong to get peoples hopes up only to leave them hanging. So I will be continuing this and all of my fics. However, having said that, don't be surprised if there are barely any updates for a while. I'm currently trying to make my way through school and I have tonnes of coursework to do. So it may take a while for chapters to be posted. But I am not leaving anything. Luv Higgy xxx.