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I know it's been a very long time since I've last updated. (Opal ducks down from rocks being thrown at her). Things have been hectic in real life!

I hope all is well with everyone. Thanks so much for your reviews and support. It's so fab to see that folks have been stimulated enough by this ficcie to leave feedback. You all rock!!

Happy Holidays! ** Hugs** Opal

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*Single Quotes = thoughts to oneself or between Buffy & Spike

Chapter 18 - Las Vegas

Spike was startled out of his nap by the ring tone on Angel’s cell phone. ‘Figures the poofter would have something as lame as Manilow as his ringer.’

“Tut-Tut. No bad thoughts about Daddy,” Dru reprimanded. “You need to listen to Daddy for news about sunshine.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Spike answered back to her. ‘She’s right,’ he thought, ‘I ought to be listening for news about my girl.’ By the time he came to that conclusion, Angel was already off the phone.

“Who was that on the line?” Spike asked.

“Giles, he gave us an exact location where they will be tonight.”

“How did he find that out? Red cast a spell?”

“No. Apparently they did some reconnaissance work and overheard this information firsthand,” Angel replied.

“So how is Buffy?”

“He didn’t know. He just was able to tell us that Riley is taking them to the Bellagio Casino.”

A low growl emitted from Spike’s throat. He was aggravated that he could not connect with his mate and apparently, he could not get any confirmation of Buffy and William’s well-being. Dru patted his arm to reassure him everything would be ok.

“No worries. All will be well,” she whispered.

Spike nodded to Dru in acknowledgement before he turned to Angel.

“So Peaches, how much longer until we get there?”

“We can be there before the sun comes up.”

“Perfect. Let me make a few calls on your phone. I have a few friends in the area that will do me a favor and make arrangements for us to get in there undetected.”

Angel handed the cell phone to Spike and let the blond vampire get to work. Spike quickly made a few calls, some of which caused Angel to shake his head and wonder why he was using Spike’s connection. It was hard not to laugh though when Drusilla managed to persuade Spike to get her and Miss Edith their own suite, complete with tea on arrival. He was puzzled for the request for cheese though, he had no clue what she would need that for.

“The arrangements have been made. When we arrive, we are to go around back to the demon entrance. They have also set up surveillance to watch for their arrival and monitor all of Riley’s movements. My contact will give me a call as soon as they arrive, but they will not attempt to intervene.”

“Smart move on their part,” Angel replied. “Since your feeling better now Spike, would you mind driving the rest of the way?”

“No problem. We’ll get there faster anyway,” Spike replied.

As Angel and Spike went through the motion of changing seats, neither of them noticed Dru quickly swipe Angel’s cell phone. Both of the male vampires had not thought of her to be technology savvy. However, little did they know she had learned quite a lot in the time since they were all together. A wicked grin spread across Drusilla’s lips as she flipped the phone open and quickly went to work. Luckily, Angel was too preoccupied with settling back in the car and getting some rest to notice her handiwork. Carefully, she shut the phone as to not bring attention to her mischief.

Dru swiftly returned the cell phone to its resting place and smiled. Her William would be much happier the next time Daddy’s phone went off.

~~*~~

Cordelia glanced at the clock in the front of the SUV, twelve o’clock. She could not believe how late it was. She heard little William start to fuss. ‘Shit! I left him back there with Buffy,’ Cordelia thought. Quickly she looked over to see him lying on his back next to his mom. She reached over and pulled him over the back seat and into her arms. Caressing his back, she leaned against the window and peered out into the dark night.

That is when she saw relief from the confines of the SUV. Cordelia was confident at this point, that many individuals were happy to see the “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign.

Her happiness quickly vanished when she remembered that there was one more hurdle to go through – getting Buffy into the hotel without getting them killed. It would be so easy to just alert the security guards, but the unknown outcome of doing such was not worth the risk.

She knew that Angel and Spike were coming.

A noise from the back indicated that Buffy had started to wake up from her taser-induced sleep. Cordelia saw that they were very close to the Strip, so she decided that perhaps she was better off just letting the Slayer exact her vengeance now, since they were no longer barreling down a highway.

Nevertheless, the Slayer did not rouse as she had expected.

Instead, Buffy was trying to reach out to her mate. Cordelia’s earlier decision to taser her had been enough to temper her feral desire to exact the vengeance that her son had marked on Riley. As much as she wanted to reach for her son now, she knew that communicating with Spike might be the difference between William’s life and death. She relaxed and centered herself, allowing her mind to open up the bond between Slayer and mate.

Spike’s voice suddenly echoed in her head, ‘Buffy?’

‘Spike? Is that you? Where are you?’

Spike could sense her panic, and hoped to calm her fears and keeping the link open.

‘On my way love. Driving now. Peaches and Dru are resting. We estimate that we will be there with you before the sun rises. How are you doing luv? How is the baby?’

‘I’m a little shaky. Cordelia is taking good care of William. How are you going to find us before sunset? I don’t even know where we are.’

‘Thank your Scoobies and Watcher. They did some legwork and got us some information first hand.’

‘Great. So where are we going?’

‘Bellagio. Soldier boy doesn’t know it, but Peaches and I got the place covered.’

Spike could feel Buffy’s relief that help was on its way through the bond. Before he could feel satisfied that he had calmed her, he felt her anger balloon up.

‘Slayer, do not let the call for vengeance make you do something stupid. You just cooperate with the soldier boy until you get there.’

‘We’re slowing down Spike, we must be about there. Keep the link open, but don’t distract me.’

‘Be careful luv. Just pretend that you should go along with him, and please do not do anything rash.’

Spike waited for a reply, but it did not come. He assumed that the soldier boy had finally arrived at their destination. Meanwhile, Buffy had to decide if she should continue to feign being unconscious or at least rejoin the world of the living.

As she heard the driver’s side door open and close, she quickly sat up. It was time for this little pathetic game that Riley was playing, was played on her terms. As the back of the SUV opened, Riley was surprised that she was up and that she had not tried to attack him. It was a good thing too, because Riley had made the mistake of leaving his taser in the front of the vehicle.

Buffy decided to start with making Riley think and that she thought he was doing the right thing. She hoped that he would not see right through her fake sweetness; however, she was confident that he would be too smitten with having his ego stroked to even notice.

“Riley, you rescued us from the Evil Vampires! I’m so glad you helped us, I don’t know what even happened back there, like I said so happy you got us away.”

Riley had not even expected her to respect what he did for them, never mind be happy about it. His heart swelled with pride.

“No problem Buffy. I could see that Spike was taking advantage of your pain before you both went to the room. When we all reached the room, I saw his fangs in your neck and just knew I had to act,” he replied. Riley figured it would be best just to keep the information about her and William having fangs to him. Perhaps they would not feel threatened about being around the Initiative. For once, the burly soldier was actually able to think quickly and use her cooperativeness to his advantage. “In fact Buffy, I’m sure we’ll have two angry vampires coming after us. That is why we fled to Las Vegas. I have some of my friends from the Initiative coming out to help us. They’ll help protect you and William from any retribution we may have.”

Buffy hopped out of the back of the SUV and jumped into the soldier’s arms. “Oh Riley,” she said as she placed a kiss on his cheek, “you’re my hero. I do not know how to repay you? Maybe we can see if Cordelia will sit for William and we can enjoy some time in the casino together?”

Cordelia was still in the backseat of the SUV holding William. She rolled her eyes at the situation. All it took was a little shameless flirting and Riley was putty in Buffy’s hands. Cordelia had to give Buffy credit. If the Slayer could occupy the soldier long enough, it would give Angel and Spike enough time to get there and launch a surprise attack. When she heard Riley agree to Buffy’s idea, Cordelia stepped out of the SUV and walked, with William in her arms, around to the back of the vehicle.

With her best one hundred watt smile, she looked at the pair and spoke, “That sounds like a fantastic idea. I would love to watch him for you both. In fact, let the valet park the car and after we get keys to our rooms, you two can run off and have a good time.”

“Thanks Cordelia,” Riley replied. “It really means a lot to me that you’ll do us this favor. With all the stress Buffy and I have had over the past few days, a good stress reliever is what we need.”

As she felt Riley’s arm sneak around her waist, Buffy had to resist pushing out of his arms – even if she could feel her mate’s heavy disapproval through he claim. She winked at Cordelia and leaned into Riley.

“That’s so sweet of you to do this for us Cordy. I really appreciate it,” Buffy said. She leaned in to give little William a kiss on the forehead. She could feel her son’s disapproval of his mommy being so close to the bad man, but she would hope that Spike would send William some soothing vibes to calm him down. Spike had been able to read her thoughts at the moment, so as quickly as she felt her son’s disdain it also went away. Buffy kindly sent Spike some loving thoughts through the claim, reassuring him that her actions with Riley were absolutely an act, one big torturous act.

Riley had entered into the hotel to take care of their rooming arrangements for the night. It gave Buffy and Cordelia a brief moment together to set their plan in motion. Buffy backed away from William, and as she did, Cordelia noticed both mother and son’s eyes change colors. Before she could question what was going on, Buffy spoke up.

“Cordelia, keep William away from me and keep him safe. It’s so hard for me not to rip Riley to shreds right now, and being close to William is making it very difficult to fulfill the call for vengeance he put on Riley. I can’t make a move until they get here.”

“Are they close?” Cordy asked.

“Yes, they should be here sometime after midnight. Then vengeance will be ours.” Buffy said. She leaned in, gave Cordelia a hug, and quickly shifted back into her act. “So, thanks again Cordy. I appreciate you watching William.”

Buffy quickly turned around and put her arm through Riley’s as they waltzed into the Casino. Cordelia turned to the staff member whom was waiting to escort her and William to their room.

“Ahh, the souled one’s seer,” he said. “Don’t worry about them. Angel and Spike have this placed covered with friends to keep things from getting out of hand. We have already taken care of all of the Initiatives operatives that were here. So now let’s get you up to your suite so you can relax in the whirlpool until the rescue squad arrives.”

Cordelia happily followed the staff member all the way to the elevator. Finally, she was going to be treated like Queen C again, for the first time in a long time.

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