“I can’t believe you’re actually getting out of this hellhole man.” The younger of the two inmates told his cellmate and friend.

“Yeah, me either.” William ‘Spike’ Ocean, a light brown haired man wearing prison clothing, replied as he gathered the last of his few belongings, mostly letters and photographs sent from his family and friends.
Moments later, a guard arrived to escort him out, giving him a few minutes to say goodbye to the man he’d shared his small room with over the last two years.

He remembered the day Jesse McNally had arrived at the prison. Spike was just getting used to having the cell to himself since the man he had previously shared with, a long haired guy called Rack who he had never really gotten on with, was released. That was a year after he’d been incarcerated and he remembered being so envious, wishing he was the one walking out of there.

When Jessie was shown into his cell a week later, Spike’s first thought was how young the dark floppy haired boy looked. It turned out he was twenty and was very quiet, making him an easy target for the jails ‘bullies’. Spike immediately took the newcomer under his wing.

“You look after yourself Jess, stay out of trouble and before long it’ll be you walking out of here.”

“Thanks man, you take care of yourself too. Good luck with the missus.” The pair exchanged a ‘manly’ hug before Spike turned and departed.

“So Mr. Ocean,” the guard accompanying him out began, “What are you going to do now you’re a free man?”

Spike considered this with a genuine smile. ‘Where to start’.

A short while later and Spike was changing out of the pale blue overalls into the clothes he was arrested in. After pulling on his trademark black jeans, black tee and blood red shirt, he slid into the penultimate item, his well worn leather duster.

“The old skin feels good.” He said outloud, though there was no one there to hear him.

Finally, he pondered the last of his possessions, a silver wedding band. He smirked, before slipping it onto his finger. ‘Now to find a hairdresser’.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After stubbing out his cigarette under the heel of his boot, Spike walked into the LA casino. He ran a hand through his newly bleached hair, relieved to finally be back to his preferred colour. Prison didn’t exactly cater for the upkeep of his image. Sure you could get a cut, but peroxide was a big no.

After taking a brief look around, he exchanging a few notes for chips, and sat himself down at one of the empty blackjack tables eying the blonde dealer with his trademark smirk.

“Hello, Anya. Like the hair; it‘s quite fetching.”

The former brunette, recognizing the cocky English accent anywhere, glanced up at Spike with wide eyes. She quickly hid her astonishment and addressed her greeter.

“I’m very sorry sir, but you must be mistaken. My name is Christina. See?” She said pointing at the name tag pined to her shirt. She smiled flirtingly at the security guard who was glancing curiously at the exchange.

Spike recognized the silent plea in her eyes. “Very sorry love; must have you confused with someone else. I should be off anyway.”

“You might like to try ‘Crush’, sir. Around eleven o’clock is the best time.” Anya/Christina told him as he rose from the table.

He grinned; he knew he could count on her. “Thanks pet.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Later that night, Spike checked his watch, 10:58, as he sat waiting in the upmarket bar. Glancing around, he couldn’t help but smirk at the snooty man and woman who were giving him distasteful looks, clearly feeling him and his appearance didn’t belong with their social class. Finishing his bourbon, he ordered another before turning his attention to the LA Times in his hands.

He took specific interest in one particular article, with the header ‘Bitter divorce takes new turn: Las Vegas attraction to be demolished’, accompanied by two photographs. One was of a tall, dark, brooding looking man, new owner of said attraction, Angel Benedict. The second was of a scowling brunette woman, former owner and Angel’s ex-wife, Cordelia Chase.

Anya entered, now out of her uniform and into a bright red dress, sitting down next to him and ordering a drink from the barman.

“Christina?” He asked with a smirk.

“Yeah well thanks to you Anya Jenkins couldn't get by the gaming board. And you know how much I love my job, taking money off of foolish people who don’t know when to quit while they’re ahead. I had to dye my hair and change my name before I could get a job.” She paid the barman as he deposited her drink. “So you just got out?”

“This very morning. Sorry I missed the wedding pet.”

“Yeah well you should be; it was very inconsiderate of you to get arrested. We had to replace you with Oz as the best man and his hair clashed with the bridesmaid dresses.”

“So where is he?”

“Oz?” She asked with a frown. “How should I know? Probably off blowing something up.”

Spike chuckled. “No, your hubby.”

“Oh, he’s been teaching minor sporting personalities to play cards over at a new club called ‘Seeing Red’. Not as glamorous as it sounds, but it means he can afford to buy me pretty things.” She narrowed her eyes. “Why? You have something planned already?” ‘As if she really needed to ask’.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Xander Harris paused in the doorway of a small dark room. Looking around it, he sighed. This is what he’d been reduced to, practically babysitting. He should’ve been rich after that last job; be out there spending money, not taking it from a bunch of kid basket and baseball players.

With one more conceding sigh, he took a seat at the round table.

“Ok, guys. Let’s play some cards." And the group lesson began.

“Two please.” Gage Petronzi said.

Xander dealt him two cards before turning to the next player, Cameron Walker.

“Five.”

Xander sighed. “Cam, I keep telling you; four's the max and only if you have an ace.”

“Okay, four.”

“Let's see the ace.”

Cameron gave in with a huff. “Three.”

The rest of the game was uneventful, until Dodd McAlvy took a while deciding what to do.

Cameron sighed impatiently. “Come on, somebody bet already. I got three 'K' cards.”

The rest of the table promptly folded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An hour later after the lesson had finished, Xander sat at the bar in the main part of the club, a beer in front of him. Not for the first time he wished he’d had of made more of an effort to get good grades at school, gone on to college and got a real job. Or maybe taken that construction job he’d been offered a couple of years back. ‘Oh who am I kidding’, he thought to himself, ‘never was the nine to five kind of guy’.

Looking into the mirror behind the bar, he saw a black clad, bleached blond figure come to stand next to him. A mixture of shock, anger and amusement passed across Xander’s face.

After standing in silence for a couple of minutes, the brunette turned to his new companion. “Let me guess; you stopped by to try and sell me some Ancient Chumash Artefacts? Still having trouble moving those?”

That was the one. That last job which should have made both their fortunes. The one that cost Anya her job, Xander his dignity and Spike his wife and his freedom.

“Actually I found a buyer in Texas. Its amazing what you Yanks will buy.” Spike said with a smile, before turning and walking towards the exit.

After downing the rest of his drink, Xander followed. When they were outside, he led Spike to his old black Desoto.

“You been keeping her safe whelp?” The peroxide headed one asked, circling the car, checking for scratches or other damage.

“Told you I would didn’t I?” The brunette replied, taking out his keys. He was about to climb into the drivers side when the other man stopped him.

“It’s been three years since I got to take my girl for a spin. I’m driving.” He stated, taking the keys and shoving Xander out of the way.

They rode for a while silently, Spike concentrating on the road ahead, Xander staring out of the passenger side window.

The latter sighed. “How was prison? You get the Weetabix I sent you?”

Spike turned to him with a smirk. “Why do you think I came to see you first? Speaking of food, could really go for some hot wings right about now.” He pulled into the parking lot of an all night deli.

After ordering their food and taking a seat, Xander waited for the inevitable conversation. When Spike showed no sign of starting unless asked, the brunette gave a resigned sigh.

“Alright, tell me. What’s the target?”

Spike took a deep breath, unsure of this companion’s reaction. “Fancy a trip to Las Vegas?”

“Hey baby” Xander greeted his wife with a kiss as he and Spike entered his apartment. The two had made a stop on the way home, Spike now carrying rolled up blueprints

“He found you then.” Anya indicated to the man following behind her husband.

“Yeah, he’s gonna crash on the couch for a couple of nights if that’s ok with you.”

“Well that depends. What’s he up to? Is it likely to get you arrested? And can I be involved?”

“Anya, you know there’s always a part for you.” Spike told her smoothly as he put an arm around her and lead her towards the dinning room. Xander followed closely behind.

Laying the plans out across the table, Spike announced smugly, “The vault at ‘The Stake’.”

Both Xander and Anya scanned the document.
“You do know this is the least accessible vault ever designed.”

“That it is.” Spike replied almost proudly.

Anya considered this. “Angel Benedict’s casino. The most feared man in Nevada.”

“Well I always did like a challenge.”

Xander sighed, something he seemed to be doing a lot of that night. He idly wondered when his life got so draining. “You know we’re gonna need a big crew, and what about funding? Or did that Chumash stuff sell for more than I thought?”

“As long as we're hitting this casino, we'll get our capital. Angel has a lot of enemies.”

“But does he have enemies with cash to spare who are willing to provide the means to pull off what’s got to be the craziest idea you’ve ever had?” Xander asked.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Anya interjected. “Remember the Larconis job. We were all washing the slime out of our hair for weeks.”

Seeming to ignore his spouse, Xander was still waiting for the other man to answer his question. Spike held up the LA times with a smirk and Xander finally grasped the answer. “Ah! Cordelia!”

“Ah Cordelia.” The still smirking Spike clarified.

“Would someone mind telling me who ‘ah Cordelia.’ is?” Anya was frustrated to not be in on the understanding.

Xander put his arms around her. “His ex-wife sweetie.”

“Oh. Ah!” She thought for a moment. “Wait a minute; didn’t you used to date a woman called Cordelia? How many people have a name like that? It’s the same one isn’t it?”

“Well yeah, but…”

“Don’t you ‘but’ me Alexander LaVelle Harris! I don’t want you going anywhere near the woman you used to give orgasms to!”

“Ahn, that was a long time ago. She was married to Angel before you and I even met. You know you’re the only women for me now.” He reassured her, pulling her into his arms.

Amidst his friends bickering, Spike had noticed the framed picture on the shelf in the corner of the room. He picked up it up, tentatively running his thumb over the smiling wedding party. He stopped it over the beaming blonde next to the bride, tracing every curve of her turquoise dress. Anya detangled herself from her husband and went over to him.

“She turned up then?” He asked her.

“Of course she turned up. She was my maid of honour!” She told him. “Look Spike, I know you two aren’t exactly on the best of terms but she’s still my best friend, even if I don’t see her as often as I’d like. And she’s actually seeing someone who apparently adores her–”

He cut her off. “Apparently?”

“Well we’ve not actually met him yet, she’s keeping very quiet about him. But the point is she’s moved on and you should too.”

He sighed, giving Anya a small smile as he put down the picture. “Easier said than done pet.”

Wanting to ease the tension which had settled over the room, Xander figured a change of subject was needed. “I wonder what Cordelia will say?”

Spike turned to his own best friend with a smirk, mind firmly fixed back on the job.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“A casino?! You’re both crazy!” Was the said response when the two had finished explaining their mission to the brunette as they sat by Cordelia's pool two days later.

Cordelia herself was laid out on a sun lounger decked in a gold bikini, while her visitors were perched on chairs either side of her. She sat up and took her sunglasses off, placing them on the top of her head.

“You are, both of you, mad. I’d expect this sort of harebrained scheme from bleach boy, but you Xander, you used to be the sensible one. Listen, I know more about modern casino security than the two of you combined. It cannot be beaten. There are cameras and watchers, unpickable locks and impenetrable vaults. They’ve got enough armed personnel to fill the Dodger Stadium.”

“It’s never been tried.” Spike argued.

Cordelia scoffed. “Oh, it's been tried. A few guys even came close. Of cause, none of them are alive to tell the tale.”

“So I take it that’s a no then?” Spike asked with a sigh.

For a moment Cordelia almost looked sympathetic. “Listen guys, we’re old friends, I’m saying no for your own good. Really.”

Spike decided it was time to pull out the big guns. “Would it make a difference if I told you the casino was The Stake?”

Cordelia looked suspicious. “Angel's casino?”

“Say, you know, she's right.” Xander said with fake surprise.

Cordelia took a sip from her brightly coloured cocktail complete with umbrella. “What have you got against Angel?”

Spike smirked. “Well pet, I guess you could say the real question is; what do you have against him?”

“Aside from not keeping his pants zipped? He got my casino in the divorce, now he's gonna blow it up just to piss me off. I mean, I was the injured party; he cheated on me. But just because of his connections and power, I ended up with nothing.”

A smile graced the lips of both Spike and Xander. They looked around them at the grounds of the Las Vegas mansion. ‘Yep, sure looks like nothing.’

“If you’re going to steal from Angel Benedict, you better know what you’re doing. And afterward he’d better not know who’s involved. Because if he does, he will kill you.”

“That’s why we have to be well-funded.” The bleach blonde said slyly.

“Yeah, you have to be crazy, too, which we already established you are. But you're also going to need a crew as nuts as you are.” She paused to put back on her sunglasses. “Who do you have in mind?”

Spike and Xander both smiled; they knew they’d got their money.
“You just leave that to us.” The first said knowingly.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


“Alright. Who’ve we got?” Xander asked his best friend after they’d arrived back at the LA apartment the next day.

“I got my transfer.” Anya told them, coming out of the kitchen, handing them both a bottle of beer. “Told them I was pregnant by an Elvis impersonator and needed to move to be near him. They were glad to get rid of me, didn’t want to pay all that maternity leave.”

Spike chuckled at the complicated tale Anya had spun, not really understanding why she couldn’t have just told them she needed to move for her husband’s job. Still, that was Anya, quirky to the core.

Xander visibly paled. “You’re not though right? Pregnant?”

“No, I’m not. We already discussed this; you have to plan for babies, or they just run roughshod over your entire existence.”

“Yeah, y...you gotta know what to call 'em before they hit college.” Xander joked nervously.

“Oh, I already know that, Josh and Sarah.” Anya said completely seriously.

“Right…” Xander said, paling further.

“But for now I’m still not ready to give up my perfectly proportioned body. You can continue giving me orgasms without worrying about impregnation.”

Spike, keen to steer the subject from his friends’ bedroom antics, led the three into the lounge where the two men found a small blue haired guy waiting already with beer in hand.

“Well, looks like weapons and explosives are sorted.” Spike said as the ‘guest’ rose from his seat and embraced his old friend. “Oz, great to see you man.”

“Yeah you to Spike.”

“So Anya fill you in? You’re in right?” He asked as they both sat on one of the sofas, Xander and Anya on the one opposite.

“Of cause.”

“Great.” Spike turned back to Xander. “What about drivers?”

“Got to be Andrew and Jonathon.” Xander told him.

“Those two nerds?” Anya protested. Spike also looked unsure.

“Come on guys, I know they’re not exactly the most intelligent guys out there but at least we can trust them.”

“Alright, give ‘em a call.” Spike told his friend.

“Already did. They’re in.” Xander replied, taking a swig of his beer.

“Ok, electronics. Warren?”

“Dead. Electrocuted himself with one of his robots.”

“Ouch. Graham?”

“Joined the army. He's in South America somewhere.”

Spike sighed. “I’m out of ideas.”

Xander also struggled to come up with another name.

“Guys, I know someone who might be interested.” Oz informed them. “I’ve been kind of seeing this girl who’s pretty much an expert when it comes to computers and stuff. Her names Willow, she's been doing freelance surveillance work lately for the F.B.I.”

“What you think whelp?” Spike asked Xander.

“I trust Oz.” He turned to the blue haired one. “You say she’s cool, she’s in. Have a word. Meanwhile, we need to find a grease man, another area I’m drawing a blank, seeing how that’s usually…”

“Yeah well we can’t get the usual.” Spike cut him off before he could say the name it pained him to hear. “But don’t worry whelp, we can get the next best thing.” He assured the brunette with his trademark smirk.

The next afternoon, Spike and Xander were seated in the stands of the UCLA gymnasium, surrounded by parents and kids. The banner above them read ‘State gymnastic championships.’

“Ok, what exactly are we doing here?” Xander asked dubiously.

“Told you, getting our grease man.” Spike pointed to the next competitor just about to take the floor.

Xander’s eyes went wide with shock. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“Ladies and gentlemen,” the announcer began, “next up, Dawn Summers.”

Dawn launched into her routine, oblivious to the two sets of eyes watching her intently.

“Lil’ bits got talent, very flexible.” Spike rose to his feet clapping and whistling as she finished with a bow, for the first time noticing the bleached blond, a huge grin spreading on her face.

Xander also rose, but with less enthusiasm. “Who else is on the list?”

“She is the list.” Spike replied, leading him out of the sports hall, stopping outside the changing rooms where the contestants were gathered after their performances, greeting proud family and friends.

“Spike!” Dawn called out, fighting her way through the crowd and throwing herself into his arms. “I can’t believe you came! And Xander too!” She hugged the other man.

“Niblet! I can’t believe how much you’ve grown.”

“Well it has been three years Spike. You get all my letters?”

“Every one. Including the one about that R.J guy. I’m telling you Dawn, you just say the word and he’s a footnote in history. I’ll make it look like a painful accident.” He leaned in to her, running his finger across his throat in a beheading gesture.

She chuckled. “Hey, just ‘cause you’re out of prison doesn’t mean you can go all ‘protective big brother’ on me again. I’ve actually been on second dates since you’ve not been around to scare the guys off!”

“Nice to know that you’ve missed your dear old bro-in-law platelet.” Spike said placing a hand over his heart in mock hurt.

She punched him playfully on the arm. “I have missed you. And I’m really glad you came to see me.” She paused, a thought striking her. “Wait, you did come to see me right? ‘Cause if you came to see my sister you wasted your time, she’s not here.”

“Niblet, we came to see you in action. No ulterior motive I swear.”

Xander scoffed. Dawn eyed them both sceptically.

“Ok, maybe just a little one…”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

An hour later and the three were sat in Baskin Robbins, the youngest with the biggest bowl of ice cream either of the other two had every seen.

“This is so cool. I can’t believe I’m actually going to be part of one of your heists.”

Xander still wasn’t convinced. “Buffy finds out, you’re a dead man.” He told Spike. “Hell, then she’ll probably kill me too.” He turned to Dawn. “And she won’t exactly let you off lightly either.”

The teen scoffed. “No Xander, she won’t do a thing. She doesn’t care about what happens to me anymore. I’ve not even seen her since Christmas. That was six months ago. She’s too wrapped up in her ‘perfect new life’ to even come and watch me in my most important competition yet. There’s no room for her little sister at her cocktail parties and galas. Besides, I’m nineteen years old. I can do what I like.”

Spike smiled to himself, ‘there was the stubborn streak, a trait of both my Summers women.’

After dropping Dawn off at her dorm, Spike turned to Xander.

“We need Giles.”

“He won't get involved. I’ve not seen him since the wedding but I heard he went straight a year ago. Got himself a nice little bookstore.”

“You can ask him.”

Xander sighed in defeat. “I can ask.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The bell above the door of the small bookstore, named ‘The Library’, rang and Xander entered.

“Hello, welcome, how may I hel…” the man behind the counter trailed off as he looked up from the bookwork he had been doing and saw who his customer was.

“How ya been, G-man?”

“Never better.” He took off his glasses and began to clean them. “You? And Anya? How is married life treating you?”

“Yeah, good. You know Ahn, any excuse to boss me around.”

There was silence for a few minutes.

“Xander, as much as I enjoy your company, I do have work to do. So are you going to ask me whatever it is you came here to ask me? Or should I just say no and get it over with?” Giles said.

“You’re the best there is. We want you on board.”

“I’m settled here. I’ve changed.”

“Guys like us don't change, Giles. We can bury the thief deep inside, pretend we don’t crave the thrill anymore, but it’ll always be part of who we are. Come on man, I know Ripper’s still lurking in there somewhere. You’re just trying to ignore him.”

Giles sighed. “What is it this time? What’s the scam?”

Xander placed an envelope on the counter in front of Giles, and then walked out of the store.

Giles considered his options. He looked back down at his paperwork, grimacing at all the red minus amounts; his business wasn’t doing as well as he liked to make out. He then looked at Xander's envelope: a ticket to Las Vegas.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, Spike sat on the crowded subway car with a smirk on his lips, the only one aware of the inevitable heist.

His eyes were fixed on an attractive brunette women and her pray; a bulky stockbroker who stood facing her, focused entirely on the v of her low cut top and curve of her hips in her tight leather pants.

Watching the man carefully, the young women waited for just the right moment. When the train hit a sharp curve, she stumbled forward, her left hand finding support on the stockbroker's shoulder as her right reached out and took his wallet. He meanwhile, oblivious to her actions, quickly reached an arm around her waist to steady her (and to cop a feel).

“Wow, sorry 'bout that. And thanks.” She told him with an innocent smile, while detangling herself from his grasp.

“No problem.” He replied with a leer.

Reaching the subway station, the car screeched to a stop. The women gave one last smile to her victim before squeezing between the bodies and off the train.

A few moments later, Spike stepped off, too. He followed the women through the chaos of rush hour at the station until she was almost at the exit. Picking up his pace, he nonchalantly pushed passed her, departing quickly into the cool night air.

“Hey, watch it asshole.” The women shouted, but didn’t take further action; she was used to the rudeness of crazed commuters. She relied on it actually in her chosen ‘career’. That was until she reached to examine her lift; her stolen wallet was missing. She groaned, then her fingers found its replacement; a calling card. One side, in black printing, simply said ‘Spike’, and on the other, handwritten, was ‘Nice pull. Robin’s bar.’

Five minutes later, the women entered said bar, instantly spotting the wallet on a table occupied by the peroxide headed, black clothed man. She cautiously walked towards him.

“Hello, Faith. Please, take a seat.” Spike gestured to the chair opposite, taking out a cigarette and lighting it, offering one to the women.

“Who are you? And how’d you know my name?” She asked, eyes narrowed, hesitantly doing as she was told. She didn’t even acknowledge his offer, so Spike put the packet away.

“I’m a friend of Richard Wilkins.” He replied as he reached into his jacket, pulling out a plane ticket and setting it on the table, keeping his hand over it. “I need an answer. Now. In or out?”

“What is it?” Faith asked.

Spike smirked. “A job offer luv.”

“Well Blondie, gotta say, you're pretty trusting pretty fast.”

“Wilkins has every confidence in you.”

“Huh. Well, fathers are like that.” She noticed Spike's shock. “He didn't tell you? Not surprising really, he doesn't like me trading on his name.”

“You do this job; he'll be trading on yours.”

“If I say no?” Faith inquired.

Spike hesitated for a moment. All the others he’d recruited he’d been sure of, known without question they’d be in. But with this woman he had his doubts, it could go either way.

“Well I guess we'll get someone else who won't be quite as good and you can go back to being felt up by stockbrokers.” He eyed her expectantly.

Faith looked down at the ticket, then at the wallet. ‘It’s one or the other,’ she thought to herself.

The waitress passed the table, and Spike looked up at her and asked for his bill. When his attention returned to Faith, he looked down at the table; the wallet remained but the ticket had gone. It was now in the brunette's hand, who was studying it intently.

“Las Vegas, huh?” Faith said to the ticket, then lifted her eyes to meet the sparkling blue ones. “You do know I’m not going to sleep with you right? ‘Cause flirting with a guy to pick his pocket is one thing, but I gotta tell you, I don’t drive stick. That’s something else dear old daddy probably forgot to mention. He still thinks it’s just a phase.”

Spike was momentarily taken aback, but recovered quickly. “Hey what you do in your private life is nothing to do with me pet. And as for me hoping for a shag; there’s only one woman in my life.” He explained, holding up his left hand where his platinum wedding band resided. ‘Even if I’m not the only man in hers’ he added silently.

Saturday (14 days to go)

A week later and it was time for the team to assemble in Las Vegas, the venue: Cordelia's mansion. Anya had arrived with Xander and Spike a few days previously to start her new job and get a lay of the land. After assuring there were no residual feelings left between her husband and his ex, she and Cordelia had been getting on surprisingly well.

Anya was currently making herself at home, mixing a couple of cocktails for herself and Cordelia as they sat out by the pool while the afore mentioned men were discussing their ‘presentation’ in the vast living room.

“So you were married for a while right?” Anya asked.

“Yeah, six years.” Cordelia replied. “Why?”

“Did the sex ever get boring? I worry sometimes that Xander and I are going to run out of things to try. I mean we’ve not even been married two years yet and we’ve already gone through most of the positions I know.”

Cordelia stared at the other women, whose bluntness rivalled her own, but was thankfully saved by the chiming of the doorbell.

“I’ll get it.” Anya told her.

After walking through the house she opened the heavy wooden door to reveal Dawn, Giles, Oz and a red haired girl she didn’t know.

“Hey guys,” she said before turning to the new girl. “You must be Oz’s new orgasm friend. I’m Anya.”

The red head’s face promptly matched her hair. Giles cleaned his glasses, while Dawn sniggered.

“Anya this is Willow. Willow, Anya.” Oz said, a hint of embarrassment creeping into his normally impassive demeanour. Willow gave her a tiny wave.

Anya led them into the back where Cordelia was still residing, now hesitantly sipping the concoction the first had produced.

Half an hour later, the group had been joined first by Jonathon and Andrew and finally Faith. Greetings and introductions had been made and the associates were now all chatting amongst themselves in various corners of the grounds.

Jonathon and Andrew were leaning over the buffet table, piling their plates with various foods while Giles looked on, preferring the simplicity of his scotch.

“So, you're English, right?” The taller of the double act asked.

The older man raised his eyebrow suspiciously. “Yes.”

Andrew grew excited. “I've seen every episode of Doctor Who. Not Red Dwarf, though, ‘cause it's not out on DVD yet.”

Giles simply smiled politely, having no idea what the boy was prattling on about.

Elsewhere, over at the bar Oz mixed a drink for Willow, while seated at a table, Dawn and Anya chatted animatedly, catching up on each others gossip from over the few months since the two had last seen each other.

“By the way, have you met this new guy of Buffy’s yet?” The blonde asked.

“Nope, don’t even know his name.” The younger replied.

“She’s certainly being very secretive about him.” Anya mused.

In a corner, off on her own, Faith watched the interactions of the group, her eyes narrowed warily.

“Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Las Vegas.” Spike announced as he walked out onto the patio, closely followed by Xander. He glanced around the assembled crowd. “Okay. Before we start, there’s still time to change your mind. If you don’t wanna play, leave now, no hard feelings. Otherwise, come with me.”

He turned and walked back inside. Xander held his arm out towards his wife, who took hold of his hand, and the two also swiftly returned to the house.

Oz copied Xander's gesture towards Willow. “M’lady”. She giggled and accepted the invitation.

“Come on Giles.” Dawn urged, dragging inside the man who had acted as a surrogate father to her for as long as she could remember.

Jonathon and Andrew looked at each other, sizing things up. With a sigh and a nod in wordless agreement, they too disappeared.

Faith remained seated in her corner, watching the others depart. She still had her doubts.

Cordelia, the only other person left outside, approached her. “You coming?” She asked

Faith smirked, looking up at her companion. “You offering?”

“Huh?” Cordelia questioned, not understanding her fellow brunette’s innuendo.

The other women, still smirking, shook her head and stood. “So you’re Cordelia right? Lady of the house?”

“Yeah”

“Nice place you’ve got here.”

“Thanks.”

Faith paused, thinking things over for a second.

“Well Queen C, I guess I’m in. Com’ on.” And with that she linked her arm through Cordelia’s and set off towards the house.

In the living room the two leaders were stood next to their ‘borrowed’ blueprints which they had pined to the wall. Anya had taken a seat to the left of Xander, Oz and Willow were on a two seater, Giles had somehow managed to land himself in the unfortunate position of being seated between Andrew and Jonathon on the three seater and Dawn was perched on the coffee table in the centre.
As the two late comers arrived, the only choice was one armchair. Faith offered the seat to Cordelia, who took it without comment, used to getting her own way. Faith herself then sat on its arm.

“So when we’re done here, how’s about you and me hit the town? Place a few bets, have a few drinks, maybe a little dancing. Then, maybe back to your place to finish the evening off.” Faith whispered in the other woman’s ear.

Cordelia, finally understanding the situation, was struck with a mixture of shock, fear and feeling flattered. She didn’t get a chance to answer, as Spike cleared his throat and began.

“The Stake Hotel and Casino, the most profitable social establishment in Las Vegas. Two hundred feet beneath it is the vault. It holds all the money that comes through the building above it. We’re going to rob that vault two weeks from tonight.” He announced matter-of-factly.

Everyone in the room gasped, torn between being awed and thinking the idea was crazy.

He noticed their uncertainty, knowing they needed a pretty big incentive. “That night is a fight night, meaning inside that vault will be about a hundred million dollars.” He glances around the room, smiling at the glazed over faces. “Now there are eleven of us, each with an equal share. You do the maths.”

Everyone did precisely that, the cogs turning in their heads were practically visible, except for Andrew who counted it on his fingers. He smiled, reaching his conclusion. “Wow”.
Everyone seemed rightfully impressed by their share.

“Ok, down to business. Now this place houses a security system which rivals the Tower of London and Crown Jewels. First problem is the cameras. They may be useful to us, but they also make it impossible to move around the casino undetected. Next is a way in, we need to get within the casino cages, behind the scenes, which only staff have key card access to.”

At this point Xander pointed to the corresponding place on the blueprints. “Here.”

The bleached blond again took up the explanation, while the brown haired man continued to trace the route on the plans. “Next; through a maze of corridors leading to the lift.”

“That’s English for elevator.” Anya helpfully interjected, in case anyone was in doubt of the Brits wording.

“Thanks pet, I sometimes forget I speak a different language.” Spike told her with a smirk. He turned back to the rest of the group. “As I was saying, the lift, and this is where it gets tricky, it won’t open without a six-digit code which is changed every twelve hours and won't move without authorized fingerprint identifications and vocal confirmation.”

“Also the shaft is rigged with motion detectors, meaning we can’t climb down it undetected.” Xander added.

“Once we've gotten down, we’ve then got to get past the two guards with guns, another set of doors requiring another set of codes, and then the most elaborate vault door ever conceived.” Spike paused, looking surprisingly upbeat considering the information he just relayed. “Any questions?”

There was silence. Each of the group having too may questions to at least begin to voice.

Giles stood. “I have a question.” Everyone turned to look at the eldest member of the team. “If we do get through the security doors there and into the corridors, down the elevator we can't move, past the guards with the guns, and into the vault we can't open. We’re just supposed to walk out of there with a hundred million dollars in cash on us without getting stopped?”

Spike smiled, his renowned wide, sure-of-himself, cocky grin; the one Xander couldn't deny earlier and the one these guys wouldn't deny now. “Well, yeah.”

Giles looked panic-stricken, taking off his glasses and cleaning them vigorously. “Right.”

After leaving the group a few moments for all the information to soak in, Spike began to relay the plan. “Ok, this is how it's going to lay out. First, reconnaissance. I wanna know everything that's going on the casino, the rotation of the dealers to the path of every cash cart. Faith…”

The brunette women nodded. “Gotya. Looks like I’m getting my night on the town after all.”

“Anya, I wanna know everything about every dealer, every watcher, anyone with a security pass...”

“No problem. I can be very friendly.”

“Not too friendly though.” Xander protested. Anya placed a reassuring hand on her husbands arm.

“Jonathon, Andrew, shadow the guards, note where they stand and where the security cameras are.” Spike continued.

“You got it.” Jonathon told him.

“Ok, secondly, power. On the night, we're going for total blackout. Oz, that's your show.”

“Done”

“Third, surveillance. I want a tap into their cameras; we need to know everything if not more than Casino security know. Red, that’s up to you.”

Willow nodded meekly.

“Okay, let’s get to work.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Wednesday (10 days to go)

Needing to be on site, the group, thanks to Cordelia’s funds, booked rooms at the hotel in The Stake. A few days later, having giving the team time to get to know the casino, Spike, Xander and Willow were inside one of the said rooms studying the blueprints.

“Well, it's not the least accessible system I’ve seen, but its close. I’m going to have to do it from the inside. Do they employ an in-house technician?”

Spike looked at Xander in question.

“Yeah, Ahn said there are two. She listened in on their conversation in the break room. One of them is a regular visitor to the ‘Fool For Love’ strip club. Goes straight after work. I believe you know the place.” The brunette looked back at the blonde with a smirk.

“Oh bloody hell, looks like I’m paying a visit to an old friend.” Spike grumbled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thursday (9 days to go)

Spike stood at the back of a dark smoky club, eyes fixed on the lap dance in progress; the one of a security technician from The Stake. While the technician grinned not-very-soberly and ogled the blonde dancer, she discreetly removed the key card from his belt.

Spike watched the move with a grin. Downing his drink, he headed outside to where he had arranged to meet the girl.

“Here you are Blondie Bear, told you I wouldn’t let you down.” Harmony said, handing him the card.

“Thanks Harm, keep him busy and I’ll have it back within the hour.” He replaced it with a couple of notes.

“You still together then?” She pointed to his left hand.

He twisted the ring but didn’t answer the question. Instead he asked his own. “What about you and that Devon guy?”

“Yeah, but he’s on tour with his band and sometimes I just get so lonely.” She ran a hand up his arm suggestively.

Spike moved away. “Yeah well, I’d best be getting back.” He all but ran back to his car and sped away, leaving the blonde dancer with a frown on her face.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With Spike having arrived back at the site and handed the key card over to Willow, it was time for the next course of action.

Andrew, dressed as a delivery boy, casually carried a bunch of ‘Happy Anniversary!’ balloons through the casino. When directly under one of the embedded ceiling cameras, he ‘accidentally’ bumped into a ‘random’ tourist, or rather Jonathon posing as one. Letting his load go, the balloons drifted out of Andrews hand and into the camera.

Jonathon turned. “Hey, watch it, bud...”

“Who you calling 'bud,' pal?” The blond replied.

“Who you calling 'pal,' friend?”

“Who you calling 'friend'...” Andrew struggled to think of another synonym “... bud...”

“I already said that one jackass.” Jonathon pointed out.

“Hey, I’m not a jackass, you’re the jackass!” Andrew resorted childishly.

Meanwhile, in the security centre, having noticed the balloons had filled the frame of a monitor thus blocking the view of the camera, one of the watchers radioed down to the casino floor.

“Forrest, we have visual impairment on the east door camera.”

After hearing this, Forrest, the sentry on the door nearest to the pair, spotted the balloons covering the camera and approached the delivery boy, leaving his post.

Willow, dressed in a technician's uniform, quickly approached the now unguarded door and swiped the newly-acquired key card, entering when it flashed red-to-green.

Closing the door behind her, she took a few deep breaths in an effort to squash her mounting nerves before taking the route she’d memorised from the blueprints until reaching the door next to the entrance to the security centre. Swiping her key card again, she walked into the room full of electronics.

Relaxing a little at having reached her destination without incident, she kneeled down in front of one of the complex looking pieces of equipment and went to work, splicing into all sorts of wires, lines and cables.

She clipped a small mechanism to a main line, and then verified her tiny receiver was picking up its feed. Clicking into place, she crossed her fingers that the brief blip that would have caused on the monitors in the next room went unnoticed.

Having finished her job, Willow stepped out of the room, only to almost walk into another member of the security team.

“Hiya.” The man, whose name tag revealed him to be called Riley, said.

Willow panicked slightly. “Yeah, hi,” she mumbled before hurrying past him.

**********************

Meanwhile back in the casino, Jonathon and Andrew continued to argue, nose-to-nose, blocking the sentry from retrieving the balloons.

“You bumped into me.”

“I did not.”

“Did to.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever, balloon boy.”

“I’m going to need you to move those balloons sir.” Forrest tried to explain.

Jonathon and Andrew ignored him, continuing their squabbling.

At last, the sentry outmanoeuvred the pair and grabbed the balloons himself. Andrew quickly snatched them back. “Hey, get your own balloons. I have to deliver these, some of us actually have jobs to do you know.” He whined walking off through the casino.

“Yeah, a balloon boy. That’s really a great career.” The shorter man called after him.

Forrest shook his head and returned to his position by the cage door.

**********************

as casually as she could, Willow made her way back down the corridors, sighing in relief when she saw the exit ahead. Retrieving her ‘borrowed’ key card, she was about to swipe it across the keypad, when a voice bellowed from down the hall.
“Hey...” the guard named Riley said, approaching her.

Panicking, she swiped her card and began to pull open the door, but Riley blocked it.
Willow peered up at the man, her expression reminiscent of a deer caught in headlights.

“You new here?” He asked, narrowing his eyes. “I only ask because I make a habit of knowing every beautiful woman who works here and I don’t remember seeing you here before.”

Willow blushed. Finding confidence but still wanting to get out of there as soon as possible, she took a breath before calmly using the excuse she had ready in case anyone stopped her. “Oh, I’m just filling in for Angleman. He’s off sick. Food poisoning; I’d steer clear of the cafeteria if I were you.” She whispered conspiratorially. “Anyways, got to go.” She told him, before slipping through the door and disappearing into the crowded casino.

Riley, not the most astute of men, came to stand next to Forrest, staring after her. “Hey. That girl. Who is she?”

“Not a clue, new technician I guess.” The other man replied.

“Huh. She’s cute.” Riley told him, before turning and heading back through the door.

**********************

Up in the hotel room where the two leaders were waiting anxiously, the monitors Willow had previously set up had come to life with the current images of the cages.

Having witnessed the close call, Spike and Xander breathed out simultaneously.

“Well...”

“Yeah...”

Spike turned to his companion. “You’re taking the card back.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday (8 days to go)

The next day Spike lead the group into a large warehouse, containing mass amounts of building materials; timber, tools, paint, etc.

“Number four; construction. We need to build an exact, working replica of The Stake’s vault.” Spike told everyone.

“For practice.” Xander supplied.

“Something like that.” Spike broke into his trademark smirk.

As Faith was bringing in equipment, Spike took her aside.
“Faith you’re on number five. Intelligence; Shadow Angel, I wanna know his every move from the moment he steps foot on the casino floor.” He told her, before turning back to the team.

Faith grasped the bleached ones arm, turning him back to face her. “Wait a minute Blondie. All I get to do is watch him?”

Spike sighed. “For now.” He turned back again, focusing on Jonathon and Andrew. “Sixth task; transport. You two know what we need. Xander, go with them.”

“Sorry can’t, I’m on costumes remember?”

Spike looked around the warehouse at the rest of his crew, looking for someone else with a bit more intelligence to go with the duo to make the transaction. He, Cordelia and Giles had their own appointment, Willow and Oz were taking care of the technical side of things, and Faith was tailing Angel.

“I’ll go.” Anya told him brightly.

Spike was unsure. “Um, Anya, while I completely trust you to take care of the money, dealing with people requires a certain, uh ... finesse.”

Anya looked angry. “I have finesse! I have finesse coming out of my bottom!”

Spike sighed in defeat, it was either Anya or Dawn, and he really didn’t trust the teen with a pile of cash. “Fine, but be nice.”

The blonde gave him a bright smile. “I’m always nice!”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saturday (7 days to go)

Anya sat at a desk in a small dank office of ‘Ethan’s’, a van and truck dealership. The man opposite her was staring out of the window to where Andrew and Jonathon were jumping up and down on opposite bumpers of a van, testing its durability.

“I’m sorry, eighteen-five each is the best offer I can make you.” Ethan said; half-paying attention to the woman, half-fretting over the antics of the two men outside.

“Oh, I understand.” Anya told him, rising from her seat, distracting him with a coy smile, “They are beautiful vans. Well, thank you for your time, mister...?”

“Rayne. Ethan Rayne.”

Anya brightened. “Yes, Rayne, like precipitation. Such a shame about the vans though. They were exactly what we’re looking for.” She leaned over his desk seductively. “They would have serviced me perfectly.”

He gave her a tight smile. “Well quite. I’m sure you can find your own way out.”

For a second Anya doubted her own attractiveness when her flirting was ineffective, but then she caught sight of the photo on his desk, of the man in front of her gazing adoringly at a middle aged woman and two small boys.

‘Plan B’, she thought; to make Ethan so uncomfortable he’ll lower his price just to get the crazy woman out of his office.

Anya smiled and pointed to the picture. “Is that your family?”

Ethan smiled also. “Yes, that’s my wife Gwendolyn and our two sons.”

“I recently got married myself. But we’re not ready to make life yet.”

“I’m sorry?” The man asked, confused.

“We’re not ready to make life,” she repeated. “But I could. We could. Life could come out of our love and our smooshing, and that's beautiful. It all makes me feel like I'm part of something bigger. Like I'm more awake somehow. You know?”

“Uh-huh. Now you said you'd be willing to pay in cash?”

“I did. See at first I thought a relationship was just about having lots of orgasms…"

Ethan, disturbed by the woman’s words, cut her off. “If you could pay cash, I could probably drop the price a little. To, say, seventeen...”

Pretending not to hear him, Anya continued. “But now I know it’s about so much more than that. It’s about the circle of life. One day we will make life and add to the circle; one day in the future
when we don’t mind having our nightly sex marathons interrupted by screaming babies.”

“... Sixteen each.”

Anya smiled big. “That would be lovely. You see, that’s my second favourite thing behind having orgasms, exchanging money for goods and services.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A couple of blocks away, a tailor was fitting Giles for a selection of fine suits courtesy of Cordelia's money

“This is nice material.” He said to the mirror, as he smoothed out a grey jacket sleeve.

“It’s imported silk, Rupes.” Spike informed him.

“It’s very nice.”

The younger man could hear the tension in his voice. “Giles, you sure you're ready to do this?”

Giles turned his focus to him; his features stone, his eyes icicles, his look pure Ripper. “If you ever question me again, William, you won't wake up the following morning.”

They exchanged a long, fierce glance; Giles's eyes never surrendering.

Spike smirked, “You're ready.”

He signalled Cordelia to pay for their selection, while Giles immediately dropped back into his conservative self. To his own reflection, he practiced the persona he was to adopt in a couple of days time.

“Hello. My name is Lyman Kakistos…” He deepened his voice a little, disguising the English accent. “My name is Lyman Kakistos...” He tried again but this time with his accent even deeper, sounding very much like a stereotypical Dracula.
“My name is Lyman Kakistos...”

“Where’d you get that accent, Sesame Street?” Spike asked, “You sound like the Count.”

Monday (5 days to go)

Two days later and Giles, escorted by Andrew and Jonathon his supposed bodyguards, made his way through the hotel lobby and over to the check in desk.

To the left of where the trio had come to a stop, outside the entrance to one of the restaurants, Xander and Faith watched Giles check in.

“Okay, tell me about Angel.” Xander turned to his female companion.

“Man, the guy is a machine. He comes down from his penthouse suite every day at two pm. He talks to the receptionists, finds out if there are any problems or complaints. There’s rarely an incident he doesn't know about or handle personally. Then he heads to his office. He works hard, and then comes back to the floor at seven exactly. He spends a couple of minutes with his casino manager, a guy named Wesley Wyndam-Pryce followed by a little sweet talking the high rollers. He’s out by seven-thirty, when an assistant hands him a black portfolio containing a record of the day's takings and the new security codes. Then he heads straight to the restaurant.”

They watched the entrance as the clock struck half past seven. Sure enough, from around the corner came the man in question, carrying his black portfolio.

“Like I said; a machine.”

“And that portfolio contains the codes to the elevators and the Vault anti-chamber?”

“Two minutes after they've been changed, he's got 'em in hand.” Faith paused. “I’ll tell you man; you guys picked a hell of a target. He is as smart and ruthless as they come.”

Xander smiled. “You scared?”

Faith smiled back. “You suicidal?”

The two stared each other down, neither willing to give in.

“Now what?” The male of pair broke the silence.

Faith grinned wider. “Now comes the girl. If she comes in after he does, that means they've had a tiff.”

“Where’s she come from?”

“The museum upstairs. She’s the curator there. Wait... here she is. This is the best part of my day.”

Xander looked to the direction his fellow brunette was staring. Descending the stairs was a beautiful woman dressed in a simple yet elegant black satin spaghetti strapped dress cut to the knee, with matching high stiletto-heeled sandals. Her long blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders in soft curls, and she moved as in a world of her own. Several heads turned to look at the vision; the women in envy, the men in lust.

Xander couldn’t believe his eyes; this was the last person he expected to see. Though at the same time, he wasn’t surprised at all.

Faith cut into his thoughts. “I don't know if we can use her yet. I haven't even caught her name. But what I wouldn’t give…”

“She's Buffy.”

“What? Buffy? I like that. That girl's so hot, she's buffy.”

“It's her name, Faith.” Xander looked very certain and very upset. “Her name is Buffy.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back at the warehouse construction was continuing despite the late hour. The duplicate of The Stake vault was beginning to take shape. Most of the team were there getting on with their jobs.

Spike turned as Xander approached him with an extremely pissed expression on his face. “We need to talk. Now.”
The two exited the warehouse.

“What is it?” Spike asked concerned once they were alone outside.

“Tell me this isn't about her. Or I’ll walk off the job right now.”

Spike looked confused.

Xander continued, one hundred percent certain his friend already knew about the latest turn of events. “Tell me this isn't about screwing the guy who's screwing your wife.”

“Ex-wife.” Spike supplied clenching his jaw.

Anya and Dawn came out of the warehouse then, eager to find out what had gotten Xander so distressed.
“What about Buffy?” The younger Summers asked, having only caught Spike’s last comment.

Xander and Spike continued to stare each other down, fire in both their eyes.

Anya touched her husbands arm gently. “Xander? What’s going on?”

“Buffy. She’s with Angel now.”

Both the women looked shocked.
“Angel Benedict is Buffy’s new mystery man?” Dawn asked both astounded and annoyed. She turned to Spike. “And you knew and didn’t tell us?”

“Wow, Buffy’s boinking the wealthiest man in Las Vegas.” Anya said almost in awe. “I wonder if he covers his bed in money, and their naked bodies writhe around amongst hundred dollar bills while -”

“Ahn!” Xander interrupted, keen to cease the disturbing images his wife was creating in all their minds, but also to get back to the point of the confrontation. He turned to the other man in the foursome. “Tell me.”

“It’s not about that…entirely.” Spike sighed. “I know I’m not the best person to pass judgement but Angel Benedict is bad news. And if I can help Buffy realise that while taking him down a peg or two, well then that’s what I’m going to do.”

“Yeah well see, here's the problem; we're stealing two things now, his money and his woman. And if you can't have both, which are you going to choose?”

Spike didn’t hesitate. “You know there’s no contest.”

“Well we better hope things go to plan then, otherwise you’re going to have to deal with some extremely pissed crew members wanting to know where their cash is.”

The two men stood quietly for a moment.
Spike couldn’t help himself. “How’d she look…?

“She looked fantastic.”

Spike sighed and walked back into the warehouse, Dawn trotting close behind. Anya grabbed Xander’s hand, holding him back.

She turned him towards her. “If you ever decide to go, I want a warning. You know, big flashing red lights, and one of those clocks that counts down like a bomb in a movie? And there's a whole bunch of coloured wires, and I'm not sure which is the right one to cut, but I guess the green one, and then at the last second ‘No! The red one!’ and then click, it stops with three-tenths of a second left, but then you don't leave.” She paused. ”Like that, okay?”

Xander smiled and nodded. “Check. Big bomb clock. Come here.” He pulled her into his arms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tuesday (4 days to go)


Buffy Summers, manager of the museum within The Stake hotel and casino, stood with wide green eyes transfixed on its latest addition: an ancient tribal mask once thought to hold the power of a Nigerian god called Ovu Mobani.

Though you wouldn’t know it to look at her now, her first passion was actually gymnastics. But she took an interest in artefacts after her mother died. Joyce Summers had been a curator at a museum over in LA and Buffy felt that by following suit, it was a way to keep her moms memory alive. She had actually taken over her mother’s position in the same LA museum, but had to leave after an incident involving Ancient Chumash Artefacts and a particular bleach blond.

She’d been amazed to get another job in the industry after what happened, let alone at one of Las Vegas’s most renowned attractions. When she’d seen the job at The Stake advertised she’d thought what the hell and applied, never in a million years thinking she’d even get an interview. But she had and Angel had been instantly captivated by her as a person. He hadn’t even checked her background. She’d told him, of course, but leant on the side of her involvement being a misunderstanding.

Buffy was interrupted from her thoughts by the double doors to the gallery swinging open. Angel strolled in, exactly on time, as if he owned the place, which of cause he did. Wearing an expensive looking designer suit, his first move was to greet the seller, shaking his hand and smiling as a photographer took a few shots. After a brief chat, the seller and photographer departed, leaving Angel with Buffy and the new piece.

“You like it?” She asked, eyes never leaving the mask.

“I like that you like it.” He replied.

She looked up at him then. “That’s not an answer.” But she knew it was the best she was going to get.

Angel smiled. “I’ll see you tonight.”

She nodded and instinctively she leaned up to kiss him. He backed away slightly, his eyes shifting up to the ceiling, or more specifically the camera embedded in it. Buffy followed his look.
“In my hotels, there's always someone watching.”

Buffy pouted playfully, but Angel didn’t retaliate.

“Love is brains Buffy. You know how many enemies I have. I don’t want you to be something anyone can use against me. I’ll see you tonight.”

He glanced once more to the mask, offered her a small smile, then turned and exited the gallery.

Buffy was left alone with her thoughts. ‘He’s rich, he's handsome and he’s charming, but am I really happy?’ She just felt like there was something missing.

‘He's not making you miserable?’ A little voice at the back of her mind taunted. She shut it out but knew it was right; she couldn't help thinking ‘isn't that where the fire comes from? Can a nice, safe relationship be that intense?’ She was sure if anyone was to read her mind they would think she was nuts, but part of her believed that real love and passion had to go hand in hand with pain and fighting.

Sure she really liked Angel, but, if she was honest with herself, there was no spark, no fire. The truth was she believed you only really got that with one person; the person you were meant to be with; your soul mate. Her traitorous mind automatically conjured an image of a bleached blonde black clad figure, and her eyes fell to her bare left hand. ‘Bad Buffy’. She scolded herself, quelling that train of thought before it went somewhere she so didn’t want to go.

She heaved a heavy sigh and headed back to her office.

Wednesday (3 days to go)

The atmosphere in the high rollers' room was quiet but filled with tension. Giles, or rather Lyman Kakistos, took off his glasses and began to clean them. Hearing someone enter the room, he placed them back on his nose as Angel walked in, right on schedule, and approached the pit boss by the entrance.
“Alright Ben, anything for me?” He whispered.

“Mr. Kakistos, sir.” The other man replied. “Lyman Kakistos. In the third position. Wishes to speak with you privately.”

“Who is he?”

“Businessman of some kind. He’s very vague, but I asked around. Word is he’s pretty powerful in Europe.”

“He’s staying here?”

“Checked in yesterday, sir. He’s in the Innocence suite.” Ben informed him.

“How’s he doing?”

“Up, almost two hundred.”

“Good for him...” Angel said sarcastically, knowing he couldn’t avoid meeting with this man. He checked his watch, ‘going to make me late…’

**********************

At the same time, Buffy was sitting at a table in the restaurant sipping a glass of wine, also checking her watch. She smiled when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Without turning, she teased, “You’re thirty seconds late. I was about to send out a search...” She trailed off when she looked up at the man.

“Hello cutie.” Spike grinned down at her. It had been over three years since he’d last seen her and she was more effulgent than ever. Xanders ‘amazing’ didn’t begin to do her justice. “You miss me?” He asked as he moved around the table and pulled out the chair opposite the blonde.

Buffy tensed, staring at him, various emotions running across her features; she seemed stunned, thrilled, petrified and outraged to see him. Of cause she’d known his realise date and that he’d track her down eventually, but she didn’t think it would be so soon and was totally unprepared for his sudden reappearance. Her automatic reaction turned out to be anger.

“Like a hole in the head.” She spat.

He smirked while Buffy stared daggers; it obviously wasn’t meant as a joke.

After sitting in awkward silence for a while, Spike looked down at his companion’s hand.
“You’re not wearing your ring.” Though he wasn’t all that surprised.

Following his gaze, she took her hands of the table self consciously, placing them in her lap. She raised her eyes to meat his defiantly. “I don't have a husband anymore.”

He gave her a tiny nod and a sad smile, she looked away from him.

“Spike, go, now. Before -”

“Angel?”

Her eyes snapped back to him to find him grinning, realising he already knew.

“I ain’t scared of that poofter.”

“Spike...” She warned.

“You’re doing a great job curetting the museum pet.”

She sighed, exasperated. He always did that, got her so frustrated she was ready to tear her hair out, or more temptingly his, and then changed the subject at the drop of a hat.

He continued. “I like the Inca section, although that mummy is starting to show its age.”

“Looked in a mirror lately?”

Spike smirked again, marvelling in the way he could still wind her up and get a reaction out of her. Three years apart and they were already back to sniping at each other. He’d missed this.

They went back to silence until Spike couldn’t take it anymore. “Okay. I’ll make this quick; I know I don’t exactly have a reputation for being a thinker. I make a lot of mistakes. A lot of wrong bloody calls. Twenty eight years and there’s only one thing I’ve ever been sure of. You. I came here for you. I still love you Buffy and I always will. ”

She continued to stare at him, trying to keep her expression blank. But on hearing his words, she twitched ever so slightly and he noticed, taking it as encouragement to continue.

“I’m going to get on with my life, and I want you with me.”

Buffy shook her head. “Do you know what your problem is?” She asked him.

“I only have one?”

Buffy continued, ignoring his remark. “You’re too used to getting your own way.” She looked down. “I’m with Angel now.” ‘Yeah, good one Buff, that sounded real convincing. Now say it once more, with just a splash more conviction.’

She refused to meet his eyes, afraid he’d see the doubt in them; he always could read her like a book.

“Listen, you don't love me anymore; you want to make a life with someone else? Fine, I’ll have to live with that. But not him.”

“If it hadn’t been for Angel who knows where I’d have ended up. Flipping burgers at a Doublemeat Palace probably.”

“I’m not joking, Buffy.”

“I’m not laughing William.”

He winced at that; she only reverted to his real name when she was really serious.

“So you’re only shagging him because he gave you a job?”

The quiet restaurant seemed to echo with the sound of the slap and heads turned to witness the apparent quarrel.

Spike exhaled and leaned back, his hand going to his still stinging cheek. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. But I know people, Buffy. And my gut tells me this is a wrong guy.”

She looked at him sadly; part of her deep down knew that he wasn't wrong. She’d had her doubts about Angel too. But she was stubborn to the core and there was no way she was going to let him know that.

Spike placed his hand on her chin, guiding her head up to look at him again. “You remember what you used to say? There is one perfect person for everyone, their soul mate. You said there are two groups of people in the world, that minority who actually find that someone and those that never do, who never get to experience real true love. You said I was that person for you; we were amongst the lucky few who fell into the first set. Now, what, you just don’t believe that anymore?”

Buffy’s eyes filled with sadness. “No I still believe it, but I’ve also realised there’s a third group. Those people who found that perfect person, but then something happened and it ended. Those people are worse off than the people who never find it, because they have to live their lives everyday knowing how perfect they had it for a while.”

She paused, gathering her thoughts.

“The problem with loving someone so deeply is that when the bad times come, the hurt can be too much to endure. It becomes too hard being with someone who can trigger such intense emotion. Then, sometimes love isn’t enough.”

Spike sat quietly, contemplating her words. They stared at each other in silence.

**********************

On the other side of the hotel to where the ex’s were ‘catching up’, Angel and Giles were in a corner of the casino deep in discussion.
“I have a package arriving here Saturday evening. A black briefcase, standard size, the contents of which are very valuable to me.” he older man said.

“I’d be happy to put it in the house safe for you.” Angel told him, starting to move away.

Giles stopped him. “The house safe is not satisfactory. I’m afraid I need something more secure.”

“I can assure you Mr Kakistos, the house safe is utterly –“

“And I can assure you, Mr. Benedict, your generosity in this matter will not be overlooked. Now, what can you offer me besides the safe?”

Giles's eyes were pure steel; Lyman Kakistos was not a man familiar with being denied. Angel recognised that fact.

**********************

Buffy sighed again, the little patience she had left dwindling. “Remember how we always used to joke that you were like Robin Hood? You’d only steal from rich people, who’d barely notice it was gone. But then you robbed the museum. MY museum. You promised me I wouldn’t be affected, you wouldn’t get me involved. I had to leave LA to get away from what happened, Spike. Leave my friends and family.”

He sighed too. “Pet, I’m sorry. Pulling that job was the biggest mistake of my life and I wish I could take it back, but I can’t.”

“You’re right, we can’t change the past. What’s done is done. But we can learn from our mistakes and make sure we don’t make the same ones again.” She told him.

Spike wasn’t sure how to take that. “Do you remember what you said to me when we first met that night at the Bronze?”

^^^^^^^^^^^

Flashback

“I don’t know why I let you drag me here.” A nineteen year old Buffy complained as a then brunette Anya pulled her onto the dance floor.

“Because sitting at home mopping over that jerk Ford wasn’t doing you any good. He isn’t worth your time; he’s an arrogant dick who’s intimidated by strong women. It’s been two months. Time to get back out there and start having orgasms again.”

Buffy shot her best friend a dubious look.

Anya sighed. “Buffy, you’re young and beautiful, its time to start having fun. Look I’m not saying you have to marry the next guy you meet or anything.”

Buffy sighed and reluctantly began to dance to the beat, unaware a figure was watching her every move from his position at the bar.

It wasn’t long before Anya began dancing with some random guy, a goofy looking brunette. Not wanting to dance alone, Buffy was about to go and sit down for a while when she felt eyes on her. Turning her head sharply, she found herself staring into a pair of sparkling blue orbs across the other side of the club.

Spike held the gaze of the gorgeous blonde who had caught his eye as soon as she’d walked in. Up until that point he’d thought the evening was going to be a disappointment. His best friend Xander had dragged him out to keep him company while he drowned his sorrows; his ex-girlfriend had just gotten married to some big shot Vegas businessman. But the more he’d drank, the more Xander’s mood changed for the better; from being heartbroken and thinking he’d never find love again, to realising it was time to move on, Cordelia had after all in marrying Angel. So the brunette had since been doing the rounds, trying to find someone new, leaving Spike alone at the bar for the rest of the night. And it looked like Xander had been successful. Behind the blonde Spike saw his friend in the arms of a curvy brunette man-eater. In fact, it looked to be the girl his Goldilocks came in with.

Focussing back on the object of his attraction, Spike downed the rest of his drink and made his way through the crowd. When he reached her, he wrapped his arms around her from behind without saying a word and the two began swaying to the music.

Buffy turned to face the stranger, placing her arms around his neck. “You better like a challenge.”

^^^^^^^^^^^

Spike smiled wistfully. “You know I don’t give up easily.”

They held each others gaze.

“Am I interrupting something?” They both turned their heads sharply, looking up at the figure looming over them.

Spike faltered for just a second before catching himself. “Not at all. We were just catching up.” He smirked.

Buffy shot him a warning glace before smiling at the taller man. “Angel, meet my ex-husband Will-“

Spike stood up, extending his hand. “Spike Ocean.”

Angel took it. “Mr. Ocean.” He turned to Buffy, sitting down in the chair the other man had vacated. “Sorry I’m late Buff, I had to speak to a guest.”

“It’s fine. Spike was just walking through the restaurant and spotted me.”

“Is that right?” Angel asked, eyebrow rose doubtfully.

“I was shocked myself. Imagine the odds.” Spike said with too much enthusiasm.

Throughout the exchange, Spike played with his wedding band. Angel noticed this.
“You’ve been in prison until recently, isn't that right?” He asked, continuing when he got a nod of confirmation. “How does it feel to be out?”

“Not a lot's changed actually.” Spike said, looking at Buffy. ‘Still want what I can’t have.’

Buffy was keen to end the awkwardness. “Angel, Spike was just about to...”

Spike sighed, giving in. “I just wanted to say hello. For old time's sake.”

“Stay for a drink, if you like.” Angel told him, wanting to prove he wasn’t threatened by the man from his lovers past.

“He can't.” “I can't.” Buffy and Spike said simultaneously.

An awkward silence followed, the two staring at each other, a small smile on both their lips. Angel noticed, and he wasn’t happy. He took Buffy's hand in his. It did the trick; she focused her attention back to him.

“Well then, I don't imagine we'll be seeing you again, Mr. Ocean.” Angel’s eyes never left Buffy.

“You never know.” Spike’s gaze was directed the same way.

“Oh, I know everything that happens in my hotels.” Angel assured him, kissing Buffy’s hand; marking his territory.

‘I wouldn’t be so sure about that Peaches.’ Spike smiled in defeat, for now. “Good seeing you, Buffy.”

“Take care, Spike.” She sighed, glad the confrontation was over but knowing it wasn’t the end.

“Angel.” He nodded to the other man.

“Spike.” Angel all but spat out.

The bleached blonde left the restaurant without glancing back. If he had of done he would have seen the brunette woman watching him.

Faith shook her head; ‘you’re playing with fire Blondie.’

Thursday (2 days to go)

The next day, Angel walked onto the stage in front of the ‘April Fools’ hotel and casino, stopping next to the oversized plunger. On his left stood Buffy while to his right, slightly behind him, his ex-wife scowled.

This was the moment Cordelia had to watch all her hard work literally crumble before her eyes. It had taken her years to build her mini empire, overcoming the barriers of discrimination and chauvinism in becoming a successful and respected businesswoman. And now her asshole of an ex-husband was going to destroy it all.

Feeling her eyes on him Angel turned to greet Cordelia for the sake of the TV cameras and newspaper reporters. “Good to see you Cor.” He smirked.

On the outside, she plastered on a fake smile, while inside she seethed.
“Screw you Angel.” She muttered under her breath so only he could hear. He simply chuckled in response.

Not paying attention to the exchange, Buffy was scanning the crowd, her eyes immediately locking on the person who had caused her a restless night due to their reunion the previous evening. Said meeting had left her confused and frustrated.

Spike looked up at the women he loved; holding her gaze, not knowing that behind him Faith was watching the exchange.

Angel moved over to the plunger, and the crowd turned to watch the implosion of the building. All except for the peroxide blonde, who continued to stare at Buffy, and the brunette women staring at him.

**********************

Oz sat in his hotel room preparing equipment, while watching ‘April Fools’ crumble on his TV. Suddenly, the lights and TV flickered and went out.

He looked around uncertainly. “Huh.”

Heading out the door, he made sure to post a ‘do not disturb’ sign on the handle; he had a lot of equipment, including explosives, in his room and didn’t want the maids discovering them.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

While the Munitions expert investigated the new turn of events, the other members of the team assembled in the warehouse around the now completed copy of The Stake vault.

A guard, or rather Andrew dressed as a guard, wheeled a cash cart into the vault, left it in the centre and headed out again, closing the thick metal door behind him. When the vault locks clicked, the false top of the cart opened and Dawn, neatly folded within, climbed out.

“Okay, they’ve put you in the middle of the room, ten feet from everything. You have to get from here to the door without touching the floor. What do you do?”

Dawn back flipped from the cash cart, landing perfectly on a ledge at the edge of the vault.
The others were impressed, all clapping the gymnast.

The practice over, Xander addressed the team. Spike stood a little way behind him, seemingly preoccupied in thought. “Ok, last meeting is five o’clock, we check everything’s in place. Giles's package arrives at seven-fifteen. Seven-thirty, Faith grabs our codes. Jonathon and Andrew deliver Dawn by seven forty five, then there’s no turning back. Willow switches to video and Oz cuts power. After that, it’s smooth sailing…”

“Err, guys…” They all then turned simultaneously as Oz entered, covered head-to-toe in what looked, and smelled, like sewage, seeming decidedly annoyed. “…we have a problem.”

Those who knew Oz knew at that moment there was serious trouble. For the normally laid back easy going guy to show any emotion, especially anger, took something big.

Oz pulled off his shirt, revealing a clean(er) tee shirt underneath. The rest of the group held their breaths discreetly, except for Anya who, true to her blunt form, wafted the air dramatically. Willow was torn between wanting to comfort her boyfriend but being repulsed by the substance which covered him.

“Had to go down into the sewers to figure out what cut the power.” Oz gestured to his person before he began to explain the problem. “The demolition crew have blown up the backup grid.”

All the other members of the team looked confused.

Spike tried to make sense of what he was hearing. “And that means…?”

The blue haired man sighed. “They did exactly what I was going to do; only they did it by accident. So now they know their weakness, and they're fixing it. Meaning we need a new plan.”
He explained, quite possibly saying more in those few sentences than the bleach blonde had ever known him to say in one go.

Spike turned to Xander. “We could always –”

“In two days?”

“Wait.” If they were in a cartoon, a light bulb would have appeared above Oz’s head. The others looked at him expectedly. “We could use a pinch.”

There was silence for a moment until Spike asked what everyone in the room was thinking.
“What’s a pinch?”

“Of cause!” Willow stepped in to explain. “A pinch is a bomb, but without the bomb. See every time a nuclear weapon detonates, it unleashes an electromagnetic pulse which shuts down any power source within its vicinity.”

“Like on Broken Arrow.” Dawn pitched in.

All eyes turned to the teen confused.

“The movie?” She added at their blank stares, then turned to the only (female) blonde in the room. “Don’t you remember Anya? Buffy made us watch it all the time ‘cause she had this huge crush on Christian Slater. Anyways, in it John Travolta said near enough exactly what Wills just said.”

“Well anyway,” Willow went on to explain once Dawn had finished her interruption, “Usually the explosion destroys everything you might need power for, so you wouldn’t notice. But a pinch creates a similar electromagnetic pulse, but without the destruction of the explosives.”

“For how long?” Xander asked.

“About thirty seconds.”

Spike thought for a moment. “Could a pinch take out the power of an entire city? Like, for instance…”

“Las Vegas?” Oz finished for him. “Yeah, I think it might. But there's only one pinch in the world big enough to manage it.

“Where?”

“UCLA. Built by a couple of the professors.”

Spike smiled at Oz. “Looks like we’re going home. Jonathon, Andrew, you’re driving. Faith, lookout. Ok let’s get on it.”

“I’m coming too.” The youngest member spoke up.

“I don’t think so Niblet.” Her brother-in-law told her.

Dawn reached in to her back pocket. Pulling out her wallet, she took out her UCLA student pass. “I study biology remember? Got clearance to the science block where I’m guessing this thing is?” She raised her eyebrow in question at Oz, who in turn nodded and looked at Spike.

“Be a hell of a lot easier than breaking in.”

The bleach blonde sighed in defeat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Friday (1 days to go)

The unmarked white van pulled into the car park of the University Of California Department Of Science.

Spike, Oz and Dawn climbed out of the back. Faith started to follow, only to be stopped by Spike.
“Where are you going?”

“Coming with you.”

Spike shook his head. “Fraid not. You’re lookout remember. You see any security hanging around you call us.” He held up his cell phone in indication.

“But...”

He slammed shut the van door. “No”

“Don’t leave me with these guys!” She pleaded in vain as he followed his two companions into the building.

Faith huffed, clearly annoyed at not being able to participate. She rolled her eyes as the two occupants of the front seat began another ‘intelligent conversation.’

“Alright, I’ll start.” Jonathon told his companion

“But I already though of one.” Andrew whined.

The shorter man sighed. “Ok, are you a man?”

“Yes. Nineteen.”

“Are you alive?”

“Yes. Eighteen.”

“Timothy Dalton”

“You cheated”

Jonathon frowned at the other man. “How can I cheat? I can’t read your mind! You just always think of Timothy Dalton.”

“Well he was the best Bond.” Andrew looked up dreamily.

“Don’t get me started on that again. Connery is Bond. He had style. And Roger Moore was funny. But Dalton? Come on, the guy had, like, no edge.

“Dalton had edge! In Licence to kill he was a rogue agent. That's edgy.”

Jonathan gave him a look of disbelief.

“And he was amazing in The Living Daylights.”

“Yeah, which was written for Roger Moore, not Timothy Dalton! But Connery is clearly the best actor of the bunch.”

“Timothy Dalton should get an Oscar and beat Sean Connery over the head with it!” The blonde yelled.

“Okay, that's it.” Jonathon grabbed Andrew, getting him in a headlock.

Half an hour later and the two ‘children’ could still be heard wrestling. Faith had had enough. She sneaked out the van's back door without the Jonathon and Andrew noticing.

Deciding to check the place out, she disappeared around the back of the building just as a door opened and Spike, Oz, and Dawn exited, complete with pinch.

Sliding the equipment into the back, the trio jumped in after it, oblivious to their missing associate.
“We got it. Let’s go.” Spike practically growled to the two in the front seat who were still interlocked.

Disentangling himself from his friend, Andrew floored the van, and they speeded towards the exit.

“Wait a minute” Dawn suddenly shouted. Andrew slammed on the brakes. “Where’s Faith?”

Spike groaned and opened the vans side door, all five occupants scanning the compound.

“Shall one of us go look for her?” Jonathon asked.

Spike rolled his eyes and Oz shook his head, reading his friends thoughts. “Then there'll be two of us MIA.”

Suddenly Faith appeared from the side of the building, swiftly followed by two security guards.

“Back it up!” Spike shouted.

Andrew did as he was told and Dawn moved to the back to open the doors. Faith jumped in and the van pulled away, but in doing so one of the doors slammed shut on Dawn's hand.
“Ahhh!” She screamed in pain.

Spike shot straight to her side, cradling her hand in his, staring down Faith. “I say stay in the van, you stay in the van, got it? 'Cause you lose focus for one second in this game, and someone gets hurt.”

“I got it.” Faith bit back.

Spike turned to Dawn, his hardened features softening. “You ok lil’bit?”

“Not really.” She replied through clenched teeth.

“Drop us off at the hospital,” He called to the driver, “That’s going to need an x-ray.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meanwhile, back at the hotel in the luxury suite, Willow was busy watching the monitors showing The Stake security cameras while Giles sat on the sofa and Cordelia paced the floor nervously.

“Where the hell are they?” She asked.

“They’ll be here.” Giles said in his Kakistos accent, so used to using it he didn’t realise it wasn’t needed.

“Thanks, that makes me feel so much better.” Cordelia replied sarcastically.

Elsewhere, Anya was at ‘work’ in the casino, while Xander waited in the lobby of the hotel for the missing members of the team to arrive. When the white van pulled up, only Faith and Spike climbed out, with Andrew and Jonathon taking the vehicle back to the warehouse. The two went on to walk past the brunette without a word, entering the elevator with a confused Xander trailing shortly behind.

“Where’s Oz and Dawn?” He asked as Spike pressed the button for their floor.

“Hospital.” The bleached blonde replied simply, sending a glare in Faith’s direction.

Before Xander could question further, the doors opened to their floor and they found Willow stood nervously the doorway to the Innocence suite.
“Erm, guys, we have a problem.” She held up a printout of a mug-shot of Spike coupled with various bits of general information.

Spike took the paper and entered the room, in which Cordelia and Giles sat on the couch anxiously.

Willow further explained. “You’ve been red-flagged. It means the moment you step onto the casino floor, they'll be watching you. Like hawks with video cameras.”

Spike began pacing. “This is a problem.”

“You have any idea how this happened?” Xander asked, shutting the door after he and Faith had also stepping into the room.

Spike shook his head, “No…”

Faith grunted. “Oh come on Blondie.” She turned to the rest of the rooms occupants. “He’s been chasing Angel's girl. They got into an argument two nights ago.”

The peroxide blonde narrowed his eyes.

Faith shrugged. “I was tailing you.”

“Who told you to do that?”

Xander sighed. “I did.”

Spike whipped his eyes around to his best friend.

“Look man, I’m sorry, but I knew you couldn't leave Buffy alone.”

“Who's Buffy?” Willow asked.

“My wife.” Spike said

“Ex-wife.” Xander countered.

Giles then also stood. “Buffy is here?”

“My ex-husband is with your ex-wife?” Cordelia squealed, hands on hips. “Is there anyone here who hasn’t slept together?”

Xander and Spike continued to stare down one another.
“I’m sorry, I didn't know if it would sting you, but it did. You’re out, Spike.”

“He’s out?!” Cordelia yelled, voice an even higher pitch.

“It’s either that or we call the whole thing off. The whole security team knows him now, and they’ll be watching his every move. His involvement puts us all at risk.”

“This isn't your call. This is my job.” Spike said.

“Not anymore.” Xander argued. “You made it my call when you put her before us.”

“You wouldn’t have done the same if it was Anya?”

“I wouldn’t have planned a job I knew I’d probably end up jeopardizing in the first place.”

They continued to face off, furious with each other.

“But, but... he can't just be out. We can’t find a replacement by tomorrow! Who’s going to trigger the vault?” Cordelia asked incredulous.

Xander turned to Faith. “You up for it?”

Faith's eyes drifted to Spike, who looked to be silently seething. Holding his gaze, she replied, “I can do it”

The new leader nodded. “Good.” He then addressed Willow. “Find the others and let them know the change in plan. Curtain goes up at seven.”

Giles took of his glasses, turning to Spike. “Buffy is with Angel now?” Spike cast his eyes downward in an attempt to mask the pain within them. Giles sighed. “She’s too small for him.”