(ooc-Since you don't have a lotta time, and it'd be hard for you to do a really good post with Cat and Spike just wondering around, I'll NPC Cat and just have her follow Spike. If you want me to change or add something, or if you want to edit yourself to change or add something, then feel free to ask me to or to do so yourself!)
The room was rather large, how large exactly was hard to determine because of the dim lights and the fact it was like a large maze.. It actually reminded Spike of the sewer system back in Lost Angels, the tunnels and passageways all twisting and turning, a labyrinth easily able to get lost within.. Joan gave Catherine a simple wooden stake, which Spike seemed to eye almost keenly for a moment..
The two where ushered into the entrance of the maze, Joan pressing a button that activated a shield, which closed off the exit, a shock zapping Spike's hand as he reached for it. Joan gave a teasing wave of her fingers before to turned and lead her team out of the area so she could go and watch what was happening in the security room. Spike ducked down again, crouching beside Catherine's legs as he stared into the dim passage that stretched out before them. Closing his eyes, he focused on the one thing he assumed Catherine would want, Riley's scent.
His scent was faint.. obviously the guy recently had a shower, and with the strong demonic scents it was difficult for him to split up all the scents. Standing up, the vampire slowly moved forward, his eyes darting about, it was very confined in here.. very small spaces.. They came to an intersection, it was rather cool in the darkly lit tunnels, the cold gray walls making the air even cooler when you stood near them. Spike placed his hand against his head with a frustrated look upon his face as he glanced about at the three different directions that where able to continue in. After a moment, of studying the different directions, Spike's eyes slowly peered upwards, his head tilting slightly to the side. In the intersections, the ceiling was much higher, where as the tunnels there was only another two heads or so of room before Spike would have had to duck to move through them.
He turned his body about, making it face Catherine though he kept his eyes peering upwards, after he was sure of the fact Riley's scent wasn't in any of the tunnels thus meaning he was positive Riley went to the upper level.. Spike could sense vampires above them.. Most probably there was another way for the humans to access the upper levels, but even though Catherine wouldn't be able to see the gap, a vampire could easily leap up and climb up the tunnel. Letting his eyes fall back down to the girl, he needed to get her up there.. he raised his hand slightly, though he kept flinching, as if her touch would burn him..
"Hold it there!" A male voice yelled out, an agent wearing a black sleeveless singlet held his weapon towards the two, another agent similarly dressed backing him up. With a panic, Spike wrapped his arms around Catherine leapt up into the above tunnel, the sound of a knock out dart cluttering to the ground after hitting the wall heard. Spike's hand grabbed the ladder as he hangs from the mouth of the opening, he glanced down as he quickly helped Catherine climb up into the tunnel, the metal gripping bars cold to the touch. Another shot was fired blindly up, smacking the needle near where Spike was hanging while he waited for Catherine to climb up into the upper level passage way, the vampire resisting the urge to growl back down at them.
After Catherine pushed off the metal disk that served to cover the hole that lead to the lower levels, Spike managed to quickly scamper up and re-closed the hole. Creeping on all fours till he was on the other side of Catherine, Spike's eyes peered down the passageway before him. Slowly he stood, his eyes still glancing around carefully as if he thought something was about to lung out at them. With another sniff of the air to sort through the scents, he moved forward, one step at a time, too afraid to rush off and leave Catherine by her self. At another cross road of tunnels, Spike once again allowed his eyes to stare towards the ceiling as soon as they entered the area, but not for the same reasons he had before.. As soon as they stepped into the area, a single vampire dropped from the hiding spot, his demonic face snarling at the pair. Spike didn't seem to flinch in the slightest, or break his stride, they where getting close to Riley, and that's where Catherine wanted to be.. close to him.. As Spike walked casually towards the other vampire, his fist snapped out, the weaker creature falling back and clutching at his nose in pain as Spike remained fully focused on the scent he was following, not even glancing at the whimpering demon.
The ancient demon turned back around and stared at Catherine, Riley had doubled back, now Spike was all confused, alright.. so he went back this way.. Spike moved back towards the tunnel they had come from, but a yell and a crashing sound come from the right of them, they quickly hurried down the passage. Spike could sense a demon, a strange creature, one that was not a vampire, something else. When they got to the end of the tunnel, there was a doorway that the passed and they stood on a plate form that over looked a much larger area, much like an arena. The open area was filled with things, crates, stacks of metal pipes, boxes, ropes and nets that could be climbed up to another platform that was made of poles and planks of wood. One would need good balance to be able to fight up there.. but neither of the two captives where focusing on any of that, they where staring down at the fight taking place. It seems there where two teams inside the training room, the Black Singlet's being one team, the white Singlets being another.
There where three black members with weapons, shooting at the vampires in the room, two white singlets, another white member was slumped out cold on the ground, a cut on his forehead telling them that this was a very real fight for survival. Spike's eyes scanned the faces, searching for Riley, which was actually, after a moment, easy to see.. he was the only one unarmed. Riley's team was the white team, so far only he and Graham where in the arena, aside from their fallen comrade. But unlike Graham who was trying to take care of the other operatives, Riley was trying to handle one of the demons that had attacked his teammate. The tall, reddish brown rough skinned, man-like creature was extremely heavy and strong, meaning there was no chance a human could topple him over with simple brute strength.
"I know you're a fighter lil'nibblet, but jus' hold on." There was no way for them to get down, and it was at least a 10 meter drop, so they'd either have to climb across the rope that lead to the center of the room, or Spike would jump down with her.. he preferred the jumping down.. He didn't wait for her permission, because he doubted she'd give it to him, and he was too scared of having to hold her to risk the chance of her saying for him to back off. With quick reflexes, the vampire wrapped his arms around the girl, one holding her legs and the other holding her upper body closely to his own so she wouldn't be hurt when he landed. Leaping from the platform, he landed on a crate, and from there, he leapt to the ground, quickly letting go of her and instantly recoiling away from her, dropping to the ground and covering his face with his arms, terrified she was going to start hitting him.
Only seconds later, Riley's form was thrown past the crate they where hidden behind and slammed hard into a collection of steel pipes that was piled against the wall. Breathing heavily, he dragged himself off the now dented pipes and staggered to his feet. He clenched his bloodied knuckles, having punched that stony skinned creature continuously had scrap away the skin over the bones. His hand was hurt, he twisted it earlier, it was much harder fighting demons bare handed then it was with weapons.. He placed his hand on the side of his right thigh as the pain of his ankle came when he put weight onto it, however it didn't hurt as much as it should due to his dulled pain senses. His army puts kinda helped keep the ankle tightly held, they where black, just like the long black pants he wore. He looked up, tearing his eyes from his hurt knuckles and finally registering Catherine's presence, though he ignored Spike totally for the time being. An extremely painfully hurt expression fell over Riley's face as he stared at the girl, he couldn't help but remember words that had haunted him in his sleep..
'..he'll be all mine when you're gone, whenever I want him, I'll have him..' It sounded just like what Jon was hinting at when he had talked so terribly about Catherine, and while stood up for her.. she just.. after Joan bluntly tells her that she plans on drugging him, plans on sleeping with him even though Riley's already told Catherine Joan had no right to kiss him.. all she could say was she didn't care..
'I don't like Riley that way ... I don't want him, you can have him for all I care.' He didn't want her memories, he didn't want to remember anything, he didn't want to be Riley and he didn't want to be Marc because both of them where terrible people and Riley wanted both of them to stop existing.. He limped slowly towards Catherine, trying to hide his limp but it was still faintly seen, he stopped right in front of her, staring down at the girl. At this distance, it was easy to see the red tint in his eyes, the faint reminded of the tears he had shed earlier when he had woken up. The hurtful expression refused to leave his features as he raised his hand, his finger gently touched her cheek, but then he stepped away from her, he could feel his eyes where burning again, he didn't want to cry in front of her, she'd just smile at him, she'll say she doesn't care.
Taking in a shaky breath as he dropped his eyes away from her for the moment, he looked up again, having been able to blink away the tears that had threatened to come. They where hidden away from the rest of the fight for now, so he ignored the battle taking place, leaving Graham and any other members of his team that wondered in here to fight for themselves. He wasn't sure what he wanted to do, part of him wanted to wrap his arms around her, another part wanted to scream and shout.. But instead his voice came out as a quiet whisper.
"When.. when you defeat me, after Joan takes you to your cell.. she's going to drug me.. she's going to.." He dropped his eyes again, why did he feel so betrayed? It's like he expected her to stand up for his human rights.. she doesn't care.. why would she? He did try and shoot her repeatedly.. he kidnapped her, he hated Riley, he hated Marc, he hated both of them so much.. they both kept hurting her.. He stepped towards her again, his voice stressed though it was still spoken quietly.
"..bu-but you know that, you know, she told you, I remember, it's how I know what she's going to do. But who cares? You don't.. you don't and you're the only thing I.. so.. so maybe I want her to sleep with me.. how do I know, how do I know I won't like being used like that? Riley didn't want to sleep with her, Riley couldn't even sleep with his girlfriend, not that you can call her a girlfriend.." He trailed off as he remembered what Joan and Catherine had talked about, he didn't remember everything, he barely remembered anything that had to do with anything other then Catherine or what he's told her. His voice raised to his normal speaking tone though it still sounded hurt and confused.
"But you already know that as well, don't you, you just know everything about me.. aren't I a wonder? Mum's perfect little son, look at her gift to the world now, all grown up and kidnapping young ladies." He gently reached out for her hands, his fingers taking hold of her own as knelled down in front of her, his teary eyes staring down at the floor as he did. His forehead rested against her stomach, he was so confused, he was so angry and upset and hurt..
'..maybe he was my friend but I wasn't his.' He didn't care any more, what was the point of fighting? Maybe his tears will make her feel better about herself now.. she's done her job, torn him apart.. torn his entire world apart.. and left him alone because she was all he had, he told her that.. but she doesn't care..
"I hate them Catherine, you can't ever understand how much I hate them, Marc and Riley don't even deserve to exist, they don't deserve to.. I hate them.. I want them to go away forever.. I want them to die for what they did to you." He spoke into her stomach, his face still hiding against it as if refusing to let her see his weeping eyes, it was so rare for him to cry and yet she's seen him cry twice and what's worse is that both times where because of her..
Riley: So, tell me about your dream. As a Psych major, I'm qualified to go 'hmm.'
'... bu-but you know that, you know, she told you, I remember, it's how I know what she's going to do. But who cares? You don't.. you don't and you're the only thing I.. so.. so maybe I want her to sleep with me.. how do I know, how do I know I won't like being used like that? Riley didn't want to sleep with her, Riley couldn't even sleep with his girlfriend, not that you can call her a girlfriend ...' Cat looked confused for a second, still feeling the warmth of his hand on her cheek, she couldn't believe that this was the same man who had tried to shoot her such a short space of time ago. He seemed to be jumping from emotion to emotion ... was that something else the initiative had done to him, she wondered if she could ever find Riley. She shifted about uncomfortably, listening to the sounds of fighting then glancing up and across at Riley.
She didn't like the way Joan was treating him, he wasn't a piece of meat, he had feelings, she could see his hands smeared with blood, his knuckles grazed, he didn't really seem to notice. She didn't know why she was suddenly angry, very angry, she wanted to hurt Joan for what she was doing, remembering the female vampire who'd been lead off by that boy.
'She'll only do that if you win you know.' She said looking away from him, glancing nervously at Spike she dropped her eyes to the floor, she shifted from foot to foot slightly agitated. She didn't want to fight with Riley, she'd didn't want to hurt him or be hurt by him, her eyes nervously found his large bloodied hands, he was large enough and strong enough to snap her neck in a moment if he wanted to.
She heard him speak and felt him kneel down in front of her, making as if to move away until he engulfed her small hands in his larger ones, staring down in suprisement at the top of his head as he leaned his forehead against her stomach. Her tummy muscles tightened at the contact, her hands suddenly very warm, remembering him holding out the blanket to her, the beginnings of a shy nervous smile hovered for a moment on the edge of her lips.
'I hate them Catherine, you can't ever understand how much I hate them, Marc and Riley don't even deserve to exist, they don't deserve to.. I hate them.. I want them to go away forever.. I want them to die for what they did to you.' The smile died instantly, taking a step backwards her body jerking away from him. Her eyes upon him, he seemed to look up at her confusedly.
'How can you say that? ... Riley never hurt me.' Her voice was shocked and distressed. 'Your the one who shouted at me, your the one who tried to shoot me, you wanted to kill me.' She stepped further away from him and closer to the protection of Spike. 'I like Riley ... I want him to come back ... I want, I ...' She turned her head away from Riley her eyes searching for Spike's, her train of speaking interrupted. 'I wan t'get out of here Spike.' She looked across at the fighting operatives, wrapping her arms about her, not looking down at the figure of Riley, trying desperately to ignore him. 'Take me home, Riley isn't coming back.' She wouldn't allow herself to glance down at the figure of Riley, wouldn't let herself see the tears on his face. It wasn't Riley, it was just a shell, just his body ... and she wanted him back, she couldn't sense Riley in him and now he'd just said he wanted Riley dead.
Don't frown, you never know who might be falling in love with your smile
Re: The Arena - We all have Lessons to learn
The agent wasn't the only confused one, but Spike did as he was told, moving forward to help take Catherine back to the upper level they had come from. He didn't understand that girl.. but where was she going? There was no chance she could get out without being forced to fight him.. Joan said the fields won't be deactivated until one of them is defeated.. He staggered to his feet, he was tired.. he just wanted to go back and sleep.. he wanted to sleep and then pretened when he woke that none of this was real..
'I like Riley ... I want him to come back ...' He thought for a moment, staring down at his hands, hadn't she told him that she wasn't his friend.. she didn't like Riley.. why is she changing her mind now? She sounded confused.. she sounded so confused about everything..
'... Riley never hurt me.' That's not what she said, that's not true... she was lying.. he had hurt her.. he kidnapped her.. he.. he yelled.. also the drugs in Lost Angels but still, that was Riley then. Suddenly he panicked, Spike was about to take hold of her and take her away from him, he hurried forward, placing his hands on the back of her shoulders gently. He didn't want her to leave him, he didn't want to lose her, he didn't want to be left alone..
"I don't want the only thing I ever say to you to be I'm sorry." He had said that once before, back in Lost Angels, Spike glanced at him and then at Catherine, unsure what she'd want him to do with the agent who had his hands upon her. But Riley moved around to her front quickly, stepping between her and the vampire quickly so Spike couldn't take her away unless they moved around him. He tucked his left hand fingers lightly under her chin and guided it upwards so her eyes would looked directly into his.
"Then find him.. don't stop looking until you find him.." He stood close to her, his voice and eyes desperate, if getting Riley back meant she'd not hate him then that's what he wanted.. She had such dark eyes.. so much pain was inside them, he wanted to take that pain away.. but he was only managing to add to it..
His right hand raised slowly, a confused look faintly seen in his eyes as he studied her own, but his eyes drifted away from hers as he watched his fingers touch her cheek again. Her skin was so soft.. his fingers moved to her fringe, lightly running his fingers down her smooth hair. His wondering fingers soon found there way to her cheek once again, a pause coming as he hesitated, before tenderly letting his finger stroke over her lips. His heart felt so tight.. as if something was gripping it, his stomach was so knotted.. Closing his eyes, Riley leaned his forehead down slowly, resting it longingly against Catherines..
"Catherine... do you really want me to come back?" It was a whisper, he sounded uncertain if what she said was true.. but hopeful.. he'd like to think someone would want the old Riley back.. But how did he get the old Riley back? They wouldn't stop trying to alter him until he left.. he'd have to leave.. did he want to? Oh course he wanted to leave.. he wanted to be where he felt safe.. but he felt safe now.. he didn't care there was a demon loose in the same area.. he had Catherine in his arms and he felt safe..
"They made me into nothing.. I don't want to be nothing any more.. I want to something.. I want to.. I want to be your Riley." His right hand rested gently on the back of her head for a moment before letting it drop lightly down to her shoulder. Why did he miss her so much.. she was right here.. it was like he was never going to see her again and he didn't want that.. he'd try and remember, he'd try hard.. he didn't want her to leave him behind.. he didn't want her to leave him alone with out her.
Riley: So, tell me about your dream. As a Psych major, I'm qualified to go 'hmm.'
Re: The Arena - We all have Lessons to learn
She started slightly at the feel of his hands on the backs of her shoulders, waiting for them to slide up to her neck, for him to finish what he'd started back in the cells. But all she heard was his voice in the back of her ear, she turned her head slightly and looked upwards at him a small shiver running through her from his point of contact with her body.
'I don't want the only thing I ever say to you to be I'm sorry.' She could remember him speaking those exact same words to her in Lost Angels, his tone of voice had been the same ... but last time he'd had his arms about her. She felt him let go of her shoulders but his body was suddenly in front of her, blocking her route to the vampire. Spikes body lost to view behind Riley's larger one, she stared at his chest, still refusing to look him in the eye. She felt his hand slip under her chin, felt him gently force her head upwards, her eyes travelled up his body till they centered on his eyes.
'Then find him.. don't stop looking until you find him.' She blinked, her long lashes closing over her dark eyes, he was still there when she opened them again, his hand still lingered under her chin.
'I don't know how, you didn't tell me how.' She said looking rather blank as she spoke. She felt his tentative fingers on the smooth surface of her cheeks, his eyes moved from hers his eyes following the movement of his caress. What was he doing ... why did he try and shoot her one minute and then touch her like this another, she didn't understand.
'What ... what you doing?' She said as his fingers moved to touch the edge of her hair, she realised she was holding her breath at the same time as his fingers slid down to touch her lips. She opened her mouth to breath out as he stroked his finger over the delicate skin of her mouth, her eyes still watching him from her heart shaped face ... was ... was he about to kiss her? men did that didn't they? ... they tipped your face upwards ... did she want him to kiss her?
His head dropped down towards her's, her eyes widened slightly feeling a hot rush spring though her at the thought of his lips pressing against hers. She tilted her head back slightly more, exposing her lips, her body instinctively moving slightly closer to his, leaning in ... but a split second later she realised that wasn't his intention. As his forehead touched her's she felt her cheeks flush red in embarrassment, feeling foolish, hoping he didn't notice her behaviour, she didn't know how to read all these signs, she didn't understand why he'd just touched her in a way no one ever had before if he didn't want to kiss her.
'They made me into nothing.. I don't want to be nothing any more.. I want to something.. I want to.. I want to be your Riley.' Her Riley? her eyes were still open wide and staring ... he must mean in the sense of the Riley she knew, she felt her ears burning, felt the reassuring press of his head against hers. His hand moved to the back of her head, against her hair before dropping to her shoulder.
'I don't know how to get Riley back.' She whispered knowing her words of discouragement would probably hurt him.
Don't frown, you never know who might be falling in love with your smile
Re: The Arena - We all have Lessons to learn
There was a delay before Riley even registered her words, he heard her speak, he felt the warmth of her breath stroke against lips. It was painful.. she was so close.. and yet he didn't feel it was his right to be holding her like this.. it wasn't really though was it? Not after what his done to her.. he didn't deserve to have her warm touch, her didn't have the right to be so close to her lips, he didn't have the right to touch her skin as he had done.. But why couldn't he move away? Lightly, his forehead moved to the right side of her face, his lips hovering just against her cheek, but her body flinched, he pulled his head away convinced he had offended her. But just a few meters away, Spike was pulling a weapon from an operative's grasp, with a panicked look, Riley held Catherine as her body grew weak. His hand moved from her shoulder and removed the dart from her back, his arm then scooping her up so he could hold her, resting her head against his chest.
"Catherine? ..Don't worry.. I won't let them take you away." He didn't let his eyes leave hers until she had drifted off slowly into her drug induced slumber, but once she was asleep, Riley's gaze turned up to the operative.. a cold and angry look within his eyes. How dare he hurt her.. how dare anyone hurt her..
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