Prompt 376 - Retribution - Initiative Blues - comlodge - BTVS

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Title: Initiative Blues
Author: comlodge
Charachters:  Spike, Buffy, Maggie Walsh
Medium: Fiction
Genre: Angst, torture, mutilation
Words: 945
Rating: NC17 for blood, torture
Prompt: tamingthemuse Retribution
Disclaimer: They belong to Joss Whedon but he said have at 'em you Fanfic freaks, I love you'se. (or something like that).
Summary: An AU in S4. Spike doesn't make it back to Giles' when he is shot with the tracking device.When Buffy visits the Initiative to find out what they are doing, she finds out where Spike disappeared to. My first go at nastiness.

Stretched on the table before her, was the naked body of a man, strapped face up, his head covered by some sort of wide band. Metal cuffs on wrists, elbows, knees and ankles secured the pale figure to the stainless steel surface. Two wide bands ran across the torso; one high up near the armpits and one across the groin. A shallow groove ran around the edge of the table and came together in a hole between the feet. There was a camera and a microphone hanging from the ceiling, either side of a bright line of lights that shone directly down and lit the figure like day.

It was a scene from a nightmare or a horror movie. Buffy stared, unblinking, her brain not quite believing the information her eyes were sending it. The body was split from throat to groin, clamps holding the skin of the chest and abdomen open. The ribs had been broken or cut away and the organs were left exposed. The throat had similarly been cut open and smaller clamps held the flesh back from the wound.

One leg was opened for its full length, exposing muscle, tendon and bone. The other leg appeared to have been flayed from foot to thigh. She felt the bile rise in her throat and it was all she could do not to hurl, right there and then.

Professor Walsh stood at the end of the gurney looking at a clipboard she had picked up from the small table alongside it.

“We have learnt so much from these creatures. We are currently trying to ascertain if there is any way we can duplicate their amazing healing power. We had thought that we might be able to use them to harvest donor organs but unfortunately the organs are not viable outside of the body.”

Buffy blinked. Was she supposed to answer? It seemed not, for the professor continued her monologue.

“The blood work-ups have revealed little other than there seems to be an extra protein molecule in the make-up. There appears to be roughly the same ration of white to red cells though the white cells are markedly stronger, larger than normal. The red cells too, are thicker with a tough cellular wall. Unfortunately the blood begins breaking down within a day or so of harvesting. Whatever gives them the ability to return to some semblance of life after the victim has been drained does not survive outside the host.”

“You're trying to use vampires to heal people?”

“Of course. It's a natural progression. The fact that they were once human and, to all intents and purposes, still are, means that we could possibly use their physiology or some parts of it to further medical science.”

“But vampires are essentially dead bodies, reanimated. That's why we call them the undead. How could something dead be used to help live people?”

“That’s something we won't know until we try. We had thought if we have access to newly turned victims, that the organs would still be viable. Certainly they do not decay at the accelerated rate of one that is older but they nevertheless react exactly as one would expect of a cadaver, after a very short time outside the host body.”

“So what are you doing with this one?” She couldn't look at it. It was her job to kill them but the creature on the table was clearly alive for the simple reason he wasn't dust. She didn't know if it was conscious or not and she didn't particularly want to find out.

The professor donned a pair of gloves and handed some to Buffy. She motioned her towards the table.

“This is an old one. We aren't sure how old because it wouldn't co-operate when we questioned it. It certainly changed its tune when we strapped it down, but by then we had other priorities. It is very resilient. We’ve removed parts of most of its organs and watched them regenerate. Depending on the amount of damage and the amount and quality of what it is fed, it has so far been able to recover from quite major investigations.”

“Uh, what do you use to put him, uh, it, to sleep?”

“Oh anesthetics don’t appear to work well on them and this one has been chipped so we don't want to taser it and cause interference to the chip. We just strap them down well. And remove the vocal chords. Apparently they do feel pain. Depending on the procedure they may eventually pass out for a time.”

Oh god. Buffy couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was this woman even human herself? She certainly didn't seem to have any sort of sympathy for anyone.

“Come closer and have a look. It really is quite remarkable. We removed its spleen, part of its liver and colon three days ago. It has not been fed at all since though it was in good condition to begin. The wounds have closed over and already the spleen is starting to take shape. It is really quite remarkable. Think what we could do if we could replicate even a small part of this healing ability.”

Buffy turned her head as the professor poked and prodded in the cavity in front of her. She looked towards the head of the body and almost cried out. The man's mouth was open in a silent scream; tears were running down his cheeks. His chiseled cheeks. Buffy’s gaze traveled up over the creature’s face and saw a shock of white hair poking out from under the wide steel band that covered the top half of his face.

She had found Spike. Apparently Maggie Walsh’s boys had retrieved Hostile 17 and, it appeared, she was now exacting retribution for his having escaped.