9 o'clock, just in time. The darkness fully settled into the city, cloaking the ordinary truck with a sort of mystery. Xander in the driver's seat. Buffy in the middle. And Giles on the other side. None of them spoke. Buffy's blue eyes focused on the clock, running through all of the information in her head for the millionth time. She never considered before that something this bad like stealing the Hope diamond would bring about something good, like saving Giles' life. It was too confusing.
They pulled up in front of the building just as Giles' watch ticked to 9. "Showtime." Xander whispered, stopping the car. Buffy nodded. She'd changed sometime before they left into something less ooze covered and darker in color. Even Giles had opted for something stealthier and less Giles like. She was impressed. They got out of the truck while Xander idled. Buffy turned back to him.
"Take off for now. Be back at fifteen til ten. If we're not out again by 9:55, just go."
Xander reached out and grabbed her hand. "Good luck, Buff." He turned his attention to Giles, determined to be good in the face of his confusion. "You too, Giles."
The pair headed up the stone steps quickly, keeping to the side. They met in the middle of the large glass doors. They were locked, of course. Giles knelt and took out a small kit of tools and began attempting to pick the lock. After a minute Buffy sighed and pushed him out of the way. She punched the lock and it fell harmlessly out on the other side. She reached into the hole left behind and triggered a mechanism inside. The door unlocked as Giles shuddered.
"Do you have any idea how much noise that made?"
She looked mildly chastised before she shrugged. "Took all of a minute. Besides, we couldn't wait on your lockpicking skills to save us."
He sniffed disdainfully at her comments. "I'd have gotten the lock." He assured her.
"Since when do you pick locks, anyway?" she asked as they entered the building. Her voice was a tight whisper in the open space. Her Watcher rolled his eyes.
"Remind me to tell you stories of my misspent youth."
"Will I be traumatized if I listen to them?" she asked dryly, pressed to the wall as she looked around.
"Hard to say. Does the idea of my having a wildly scandalous life and a promiscuous love life bother you?"
"Yes!" she looked horrified.
"Then you might just be traumatized."
"Right, band candy."
"Ripper." He agreed. "A part of him always remains and remembers, Buffy."
She shivered, remembering the kiss of Ripper's whip on her skin and his gravelly, lusting voice purring in her ear and commanding her to submit to him. She squirmed where she stood.
"Can we not?" she asked somewhat more urgently than she intended. The older man nodded not quite sensing the reason for the tone in her voice. It was just as well, they were breaking the law after all. She glanced up and flinched when she saw a security camera trained on her body. Then she remembered and blessed Willow in her mind. They kept low to the ground, ducking out of sight when a guard passed through. Luckily with the quiet of the museum, the guard's footfalls echoed and were easily heard. They always had time to hide.
By the time they reached the west wing of the building Buffy was feeling rather confident. They saw the Hope Diamond in its case, a relatively small blue diamond. It was beautiful, sure, but Buffy couldn't understand the fuss. She looked at the brown haired man and nodded. "It's your turn, Giles."
He looked over at the small case. The diamond was housed in a medium case with two other gems, part of some royal collection. The blond didn't care much and didn't bother to read about it. Her mentor closed his eyes but remained silent. He moved his hands in a strange way. Despite her quizzical expression when she looked into the room she saw the solid beams of red light filtering through the air. One crossed very close to where her leg was. She moved back away from the lights.
It was going to be tricky but Giles was giving her an expectant look. "I can't deflect this many. The grid is too tight. I'll do what I can."
Another period of closed eyes and she saw the beams literally shift with nothing seen to distract them. It made her trek slightly easier, but just as treacherous. She lay flat on the floor, sliding under one beam as it passed over her back. When she was on the other side she reached her torso upward and arched her back, slipping her legs underneath her body in a tight bundle. She stood slowly, ducking her head under one beam as she brought her leg slowly over another. She took a step. Giles watched from the sidelines, worried.
She jumped over another beam before dropping to the floor and sliding under another. Here she had to pause. The last group was a complex knot of light, gathered at a central point. She sighed, backing up slightly. Taking two quick steps forward she flipped, sliding neatly between two beams to come out on the other side. Giles let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding. She saw the diamond nestled on a pillow, a small blue gem strung on a chain with diamonds surrounding it.
She pulled a tool out of her belt and stuck a suction cup to the glass. Then the traced a hole big enough for her hand out of the glass. Once again she blessed Willow for being such a genius. When she pulled the tool away the glass came with it. She set it on top of the casing and reached into the display. Tearing the stone from its setting, she pocketed the gem and made her way back through the beams in the same way she came. Giles held her immediately as she grinned.
"See? That wasn't so hard."
The distinct metallic click behind her made her pause. A security guard stood behind them, gun drawn. She saw him as she turned slowly around, hands up in surrender. Giles looked at her. "Perhaps you spoke too soon, dearest." He said dryly. The security guard kept his gun trained on them both. His eyes drifted from one body to the next and back again. He cleared his throat.
"Don't move." He commanded.
"No, duh." Buffy replied. "But, you know, I'd really hate to have to beat you up so why don't you just step aside and let me go?"
"You guys some father daughter museum robbers?"
"God, no!" Buffy cried out, louder than she intended. "He's not my dad. He's…"
"Her lover." Giles piped in, thinking the lad wouldn't understand if he mentioned Watcher. The guard looked skeptical.
"But he's like twice your age."
"You should see him in action…you may not think so badly of him." Buffy smirked.
Momentarily confused by the whole scenario, Buffy took advantage and spun a kick in his direction with a small cry, knocking the gun from his hand. She grabbed him and butted him in the head. With a weak sound, he slumped to the floor. Buffy felt bad for it but she couldn't stop. They were already running late. Time to blow the joint. She started running. Giles was close behind. They reached the door out of the west wing when they heard another guard discover them by coming into the room.
"Hey, STOP!" he cried. Of course, they couldn't slow, not yet. They bolted down the corridor. With their head start it would be hard to catch them. Giles was only slightly behind her as they ran, he was in good shape, after all.
They didn't even pause at the front door but burst through it and down the steps. Xander was there, pulling away. Buffy picked up the speed, using a burst of energy to try and get his attention. She moved to cut him off, moving to intercept the truck as it pulled forward. Thankfully he saw her and slammed to stopping. "C'mon, Buff!" he yelled through the open window. She managed to pull the door open as the first shot rang out. She paused in her tracks, looking back to find Giles. He was close, fifty yards off. A second shot rang out, then a third. The back of the truck was hit and Xander started.
"Hey!" he protested as Buffy slammed Giles into the truck. She didn't bother sitting or situating them before she slammed the door and Xander wasted no time driving off. His tires squealed as they pulled away, speeding into the nearly empty Sunnydale Main Street. Once they got a mile out Xander pulled into a lesser used street and then into another. They were headed to the cemetery. Giles groaned.
Buffy immediately turned to him, ignoring the lights of the city as they passed by. Her blue eyes were full of concern. "What's wrong?" she asked softly, looking him over. "My leg." He complained, gritting his teeth as her hands moved down. She stopped when he sucked in his breath in one long pull, making a sound of pain in the back of his throat. She pulled her hands up and saw his red blood coating it, making it sticky. She reached down and felt the bulge of broken skin through his pants. A bullet wound.
"They've shot you." She confirmed as Xander looked panicked in her direction.
Giles nodded. "I suspected that." It was a stupid thing to say but as he lay there in pain he didn't much seem to care. "I believe they left a souvenier."
She reached down again and felt. Sure enough, the bullet lay lodged under his skin.
"How'd that happen?"
Giles bit down harder. "I couldn't let the bullet go all the way through or I'd not be able to fight. It was amazing I caught it as soon as I did."
"We have to get it out."
"Not yet. Wait until we're there."
She nodded and kissed his cheek. She wasn't looking forward to digging the bullet out of his skin. It seemed like it was only too soon when they stopped in front of the path toward the cave. "I need light." Buffy assessed. "And I need you to lay down on your stomach."
Xander helped the Watcher to lay down in the bed of the truck before he positioned it under a street lamp. Buffy crouched by his side, looking at all of the blood soaking into his pants with a weary look. "Take a deep breath." She warned and then pushed her finger into the bullet hole to dig the small object from his skin. Giles screamed in pain, unable to hold it back. Buffy's heart broke as she pushed the thing to the surface and didn't breathe again until she heard the bullet fall into the truck bed.
The Watcher was breathing rapidly, his chest heaving as his body buzzed with residual pain. "We need to go. Get this over with." He growled out. Buffy's eyes grew wide.
"You're hurt." He shook his head.
"We have to do this. It's the plan."
Buffy nodded, not really agreeing with him but knowing he was stubborn enough not to listen to her, either. Xander handed them both the heavy duty weapons and gave them that stern look he always gave in these situations. "I'm not losing either one of you." He said quietly, voice grave. "I'm gonna go get Willow and we'll be back waiting."
Buffy nodded and looked at Giles. "You ready?"
Her Watcher nodded and they walked off toward the cave. Xander sped off behind them to go to Giles' apartment as the full moon shone overhead. Both Watcher and Slayer were determined in their mission though it was dangerous and might end with one or both of them dead. There were only a few hours until sunrise and, one way or another, after the sun rose things would be solved.
