Summary: A beautiful blonde is undercover for the FBI in Los Angeles. She is working as a computer hacker for one of the country’s richest, dirtiest, and most handsome businessmen, who just happens to have a few secrets of his own. Sparks fly, because don’t they always?
Winner at the Spuffy Awards! Reader's choice for Best Spike Characterization and Best Fantasty Saga, Judge's Choice for Best Fantasty 'We Missed The Bed, Again', and Judge's Pick. Nominated at the Cradle of Humanity Awards for the Happy Worker Award. 
Rated: NC-17
Categories: NC-17 Fics Characters: None
Genres: Romance,
Action,
AngstWarnings: Violence,
Adult Language,
Sexual Situations,
Character Death
Challenges: Series: None
Chapters: 35
Completed: Yes
Word count: 61064
Read: 51582
Published: 02/08/2008
Updated: 03/18/2008
1. Chapter One by Vanilla [Reviews - 11] 
(1097 words)
Welcome to my very first Buffy fanfic! Hope you enjoy the ride, and if you do, I wouldn’t mind hearing about it. Constructive criticism and plain old praise are always welcome, especially since I’m nervous! And a quick disclaimer: I don’t own most of the characters, some of the dialogue, or anything else that you recognize from the Buffyverse. That is all owned by Joss Whedon and the good folks at Mutant Enemy. This is meant for fun, not for profit. Any songs or quotes will be attributed to their owners.Enjoy!
2. Chapter Two by Vanilla [Reviews - 5] (2513 words)
Thanks to those who commented! I'm writing a ton on this fic, so the chapters will be coming pretty quickly for awhile. As always, I don’t own most of the characters, some of the dialogue, or anything else that you recognize from the Buffyverse. That is all owned by Joss Whedon and the good folks at Mutant Enemy. This is meant for fun, not for profit. Any songs or quotes will be attributed to their owners.
3. Chapter Three by Vanilla [Reviews - 12] (1753 words)
As always, I don't own the rights to the Buffyverse characters, I'm just having some fun with them.
4. Chapter Four by Vanilla [Reviews - 6] (2015 words)
Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I'm so glad people are liking the fic so far. Standard disclaimer of I-own-nothing-cakes, and a note that I know very, very little about computer hacking. So I either make up something or just kind of---gloss right over it.
5. Chapter Five by Vanilla [Reviews - 10] (1614 words)
I'm ecstatic that there's people already loving this story, and I promise you, there is some good stuff coming up. As it's my first fic, I'd really love some more positive reinforcement. And, again, I'm merely borrowing these characters and playing with them like Barbie dolls. I have no rights to them.
6. Chapter Six by Vanilla [Reviews - 7] (1075 words)
Aw, you are all so sweet! The response thus far has been so great and a huge boost to my ego. Keep on reading, the story will start to heat up soon.
7. Chapter Seven by Vanilla [Reviews - 7] (2053 words)
Another quick update for you! Hope it leaves you wanting more...Standard disclaimer, standard request for reviews!
8. Chapter Eight by Vanilla [Reviews - 12] (1401 words)
One of my favorite chapters so far...I think you'll be able to tell why! I really am so grateful to all of you who are reading, and especially to those who are reviewing. It puts such a smile on my face to read your kind words!
9. Chapter Nine by Vanilla [Reviews - 22] (1323 words)
I can't but giggle when I read some of your reviews...I love knowing what you think is going to happen I'm so excited to see your reactions to this chapter, it's probably the most...eventful yet, so really, if you read it and like it, please review! Thanks so much for sticking with me so far!
10. Chapter Ten by Vanilla [Reviews - 5] (2886 words)
As a Happy Valentine's gift to y'all, you'll be getting TWO, count 'em, TWO double size chapters (meaning they were originally two chapters each and I combined them)! One right now, and one tomorrow evening. This is a thank you for your sweet, sweet reviews! So glad you're all enjoying the story.
11. Chapter Eleven by Vanilla [Reviews - 13] (3347 words)
Happy Valentine's Day, all! Hate the holiday, really, but I'm in a lovey-dovey mood recently. I'd love your feedback on this chapter...out of all that I've written so far, it was the one I revised the most. Standard disclaimers always apply!
12. Chapter Twelve by Vanilla [Reviews - 8] (1190 words)
Glad you all enjoyed the last chapter! Definitely a fun one to write. I appreciate your reviews so much, enjoy this chapter! (PS I'm heading out of town so depending on internet access at my sister's new apartment, I may or may not be posting again until Sunday night.)
13. Chapter Thirteen by Vanilla [Reviews - 9] (1320 words)
Crazy crazy weekend! But I found stolen wireless (hehe) to post a chapter for you all! Thanks for your reviews, hope you keep enjoying my story!
14. Chapter Fourteen by Vanilla [Reviews - 10] (1142 words)
Another update for you all! I had this massive burst of creativity on a long car trip yesterday, so I have about 75% of the story totally completed! I'll probably be posting once a day from here on out, maybe every other if I keep revising. Thanks for your reviews, and enjoy!
15. Chapter Fifteen by Vanilla [Reviews - 11] (2231 words)
So, wow, I’m apparently not very bright, and just figured out that you can respond to reviews! I feel like a brat for not doing this before. From here on out I’ll try and reply to all your reviews, because certainly if you take the time to tell me what you think of my story (and seriously, your comments make me feel all warm and fuzzy), I can take the time to thank you all personally! I really intended to wait until tomorrow to post this update, but at this point I'm doing whatever I can to avoid writing a term paper. So, enjoy the fruits of my procrastination! (Blahblahblah rights to the Buffyverse not owned by me.)
16. Chapter Sixteen by Vanilla [Reviews - 12] (2093 words)
Thank you so much for your reviews, and keep them coming. It's like crack, but cheaper, and not bad for me. Enjoy the update!
17. Chapter Seventeen by Vanilla [Reviews - 8] (1671 words)
Another quick update, but you may have to wait a liiiittle bit longer for the next one! Thank you all so much for reading, and for your reviews. I don't own the characters, and a few lines of the dialogue are straight from the show, too. Don't sue.
18. Chapter Eighteen by Vanilla [Reviews - 8] (1777 words)
Cancelled plans = posting the new chapter sooner than expected! Yay. Thanks for the reviews, and pleeeease, I'd love to get your reactions to this chapter. From here on out it is actionactionaction.
19. Chapter Nineteen by Vanilla [Reviews - 12] (1351 words)
Woohoo! Thank you so much to Shadowsbabe for nominating me for the Spuffy Awards, Round 14 for Best Spike Characterization, Best Fantasty 'We Missed the Bed, Again' and Best Fantasy Saga. I'm so so so excited. Not bad for my first fic, eh? Thanks for all your reviews, it's looking like there will be at LEAST ten more chapters, so don't get too comfortable...
20. Chapter Twenty by Vanilla [Reviews - 14] (1538 words)
Thanks to everyone who's reading, and to those who are reviewing! It's so great to know that people are really enjoying the story, and are anxious to find out what happens next! I'm excited for the response to the next few chapters, so please, let me know what you think...
21. Chapter Twenty One by Vanilla [Reviews - 20] (2056 words)
Such a great response to the last chapter! Thank you all for reading, and extra thanks to those who review. I love, love, love hearing what you guys think! And I would especially love hearing what you think about this chapter...I'm guessing the response is going to be pretty interesting.
22. Chapter Twenty Two by Vanilla [Reviews - 16] (1785 words)
Loved loved loved the huge response to yesterday's chapter! I figured that would spark some very intense emotions. I won't tell you how Spike is, but really: this is definitely a Spuffy story. What fun would it be if Spike was dead? Oh, huh. Wait....hehe. Joke. Anyway, thanks so much for reading, and I'd love to keep hearing what you think! Oh, and I got bored, made a picture. Standard disclaimer as always.
23. Chapter Twenty Three by Vanilla [Reviews - 13] (1461 words)
As always, I am so, so grateful to everyone who's reading, and especially to those who review. Almost 200, wow! It's such a boost to hear that people are enjoying the story. I know a lot of people are reading, so hey, if you've never let me know what you think about "Crystal" before, I'd love it if you'd email or review to let me know! I'm always eager for constructive criticism, too, so don't refrain from letting me know what you think, good or bad. You'll definitely be getting daily updates up through Friday.
24. Chapter Twenty Four by Vanilla [Reviews - 15] (2415 words)
Phew, this part was hard to write, let me tell you. I'm a bit nervous about it, actually. It was originally supposed to be two chapters, but the website wasn't letting me post last night (because the fic used the word "curl", finally realized), so I combined the next two chapters. Thank you so much for all your reviews, and even just for reading. I can't believe how high the read counts are every day! I love hearing all your theories about what the heck is going on, so if you have any guesses, let me know!
25. Chapter Twenty Five by Vanilla [Reviews - 12] (1317 words)
Next chapter, as promised! I've got a busy weekend ahead of me, so my next update will probably be Saturday night, then hopefully, daily up until the end. Having a littttle crisis with some of the things I've got going on, but you know what would motivate me? Reviews. (I'm pathetic, I know.) Thank you so, so much to everyone who's reading and responding, it makes me so happy I can't even tell you. Don't own the characters, or some of the dialogue, just the plot. Don't sue!
26. Chapter Twenty Six by Vanilla [Reviews - 14] (1321 words)
I made my self-enforced deadline! Go me. Thanks as always to everyone who takes the time to review and let me know what they think of my fic! Just an ego boost, let me tell you. Enjoy the chapter, and keep in mind that the events aren’t necessarily occurring simultaneously.
27. Chapter Twenty Seven by Vanilla [Reviews - 12] (1387 words)
Thank you oh so very, very much for sticking with my fic thus far, and thank especially to my loyal reviewers (you know who you are!) Updates probably won't be daily this week, but at least every other day, depending on my real world obligations. But, exciting, I'm getting a shiny new MacBook tomorrow, so that might just kick my productivity into high gear, and you all might reap the benefits! Please, as always, let me know what you think! It makes me happy as a clam (if that clam were not about to be made into chowder).
28. Chapter Twenty Eight by Vanilla [Reviews - 14] (1228 words)
Thank you all so so much for your kind words on this story. You have no idea how wonderful it is (and how motivating!) to hear how addicted people are, and how much they enjoy it. So thank you for reading, and reviewing, and enjoy the update!
29. Chapter Twenty Nine by Vanilla [Reviews - 12] (1967 words)
Thank you thank you thank you to whoever nominated me for the Sunnydale Memorial Fanfiction awards! In addition to specific nominations for both my stories, I was nominated "Best New Author". Thank you SO much, and make yourself known so I can thank you again! Thanks to everyone else who's reading, and reviewing, and enjoy the chatper!
30. Chapter Thirty by Vanilla [Reviews - 10] (1167 words)
Ah, so sorry this took for-ev-er to post. Well, like two or three days, but I'm usually so much quicker! Thank you thank you thank you for your continued support in regards to this fic, the response has been overwhelming and inspirational. Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! Please keep up the reading, and the reviewing!
31. Chapter Thirty One by Vanilla [Reviews - 10] (1372 words)
Yay for timely updates. Thank you so much to my loyal readers and reviewers, it's great to know there are so many people desperate to find out what happens in this story! Please, keep letting me know what you think!
32. Chapter Thirty Two by Vanilla [Reviews - 9] (2573 words)
A thousand million thank yous to Shadowsbabe for her invaluable help and hard work on this chapter, and throughout the fic in general! WIthout her it would not be nearly as complete. Many thanks as always to my readers and reviewers. We're in the home stretch now, you might just see the end of this fic by next week.
33. Chapter Thirty Three by Vanilla [Reviews - 33] (2142 words)
Thanks muchly to those who left such nice reviews, and everyone who's reading. Hope you all enjoy the update, and I'd love to know what you think!
34. Chapter Thirty Four by Vanilla [Reviews - 19] (1999 words)
Oh. My. Gosh. When I shamelessly fished for reviews, I didn't expect such a huge response! A thousand million thank yous to all my readers, especially those who reviewed the last chapter and wished me a happy day of birth! I had a lovely, relaxing day and all your comments made me smile so much! I can't even begin to tell you how much it meant to me. Thankyouthankyouthankyou again! Enjoy the chapter, and tomorrow will be the conclusion!
35. Epilogue by Vanilla [Reviews - 57] (1484 words)
And here is the conclusion of my first ever Buffy fan fic story. I cannot tell you all how much it means to me that so many people have been reading and reviewing. The response has been so much more than I had ever imagined, and I wish I could individually thank each and every person who's read, reviewed, emailed me, or helped me get the story to where I wanted it to be. THANK YOU! Hope the last chapter is everything you all hoped it would be. Oh, and I know there are some questions left unanswered, but isn't it fun with a little mystery left at the end? And a sequel? Not entirely out of the question...
