“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.
squawks
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!
05/18/17 04:16 am
pj! I remember wishing one of your stories would be finished seriously about a decade ago. Amazing. I just tried an old password I used to use and amazingly got in too. Memories!
pj
03/20/17 01:20 am
10 yrs later, i finally rem my username and password. Pari, you rock. Hope you are well.
Rabbit_moon1
12/23/16 01:12 pm
I donate every month. Please donate to keep this site up!
AudryDaluz1
10/06/16 08:34 am
Great post.
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:45 pm
And anyone else who loves this site, it's worth mentioning there's a nifty little "Donate" option just below the shout box here! ;)
Chrissel
08/31/16 03:43 pm
Just wanted to take a moment to thank Pari and all the mods for maintaining such a great site!