Title: In the Shadows of Twilight

Author: DOKChairman

Time/Spoilers: I have no idea when this takes place.  However, everything after season six is fair game.

Summary: There is no summary.

Disclaimer: Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy own the rights to Buffy the Vampire Slayer and all of its characters.  I own nothing except the story.

Author's Note: Warning!  This story is a hard R.  I have always wanted to do a more serious, more realistic, and darker story for the BTVS universe, and this is it.  There will be violence, language, sex (sometimes), and other adult themes.  If any of these things offend you, or just not your cup of tea, do not read any further.

Author's Note #2: This story takes place in the not so distant future.  As anyone who has read my other Buffy story knows, I love complicated plots, and this story is no different.  Things will start off as polar opposites, but eventually everything will converge.

Chapter 2

            "Is everything set?"

             The man's dark haired companion sighed.  "Yeah, boss, everything is ready to roll.  Tim and Mikey are in position, the ventilation system is rigged, and the power is ready to be cut whenever you give the signal.  We're five by five."

            The man did not respond, but instead went back to cleaning his weapon for the tenth time that day.  He was meticulous about those kinds of things.  A dirty weapon was a dangerous weapon, and he had no intention of letting his military issue M-16 become a dangerous weapon.

            The woman with the dark hair shifted in her seat and studied her own gear.  Unlike her boss she hated guns, and swore to never touch one.  She preferred knives (they were much more personal in her opinion), as evidenced by the two long, serrated, non-standard issue combat knives holstered on her combat vest.  The knives were the only weapons she carried on her person; of course, to those that knew her, they knew that her entire body was a weapon.

            Again the woman sighed and said with a slight grin, "You know boss, why is it every time we do this kind of thing you ask me if everything is ready?  Why don't you ever ask any of the boys?  If I didn't know you so well and if I didn't have such high self-esteem, I might begin to worry that you didn't trust me to get the job done."

            The man stayed silent for a few seconds before looking up from his gun with a frown on his face.  "You know I trust you.  That's why I ask you to take care of this stuff, because I trust you so much.  I love Tim and Michael like family, but you and I both know that they couldn't take a shit without somebody showing them how to sit on the pot."

            The woman laughed heartily.  The man continued talking to her as he reassembled his gun.  "Besides, you'd get bored if I didn't give you so much to do.  I spend half my free time just trying to come up with enough ways to keep you occupied enough to stay out of trouble."

            The woman leered at the man and said in a silky voice, "I can think of one way you can keep me busy."

            The man smiled at her as he held up one of his hands.  "You know the rule.  No contact whatsoever, remember?  Don't tell me you've forgotten what happened last time you tried to break that rule?"

            The woman leaned back in her seat with a pout on her face.  Giving a disgusted snort she said, "Don't remind me.  I can't believe you actually walked away.  I mean I was just lying there, completely naked, just waiting for you, and all you did was walk away.  Do you have any idea what something like that does to a girl's ego?"

            The man's smile faltered a little.  "I'm sorry, but you knew what was going to happen before you decided to embarrass yourself so it's your own fault."

            "Well, I didn't think you actually meant what you said.  Who turns down free, no strings attached sex, with a girl like me?"  The woman asked seriously.

            The man's smile grew larger, "You'd be surprised how many men might."

            The woman laughed and sobered before saying completely serious, "Sure.  A gay man.  You aren't gay are you?  Because if you are I'd really like to know so that I can focus my attention elsewhere."

            "No, I'm not gay.  You know that.  Why do you always ask that?"  He asked with a pained expression on his face.

            The dark haired woman smiled and slapped the man on his shoulder.  "Ah, I'm just giving you a hard time boss.  You know how much I like watching you squirm.  It's one of the few pleasures I'm allowed in my life."

            The man laughed sarcastically, "Haha, very funny."  Turning away from the woman's face, he turned to his left.  "How much longer James?"

            The man driving the van turned to briefly look over his shoulder.  "45 seconds, boss."

            The man nodded his head in response but James had already turned back around.  Facing the woman, the man smiled before reaching down to the bench next to him and picking up a black ski mask.  Pulling the mask over his face, he saw his partner do the same.

            The man picked up his rifle, and slammed a blue clip of ammo into the gun.  As he slid a round into the firing chamber, he asked his companion.  "You ready?"

            Even through her mask, he could see her feral grin.  "Damn, of course I'm ready.  I love this shit!"

            The man grinned in response as he reached for the handle on the van's back door.  Placing the strap of his rifle around his shoulder, the man reached into one of the pockets on his vest and pulled out a small remote control.  There were two buttons only.  One, the man knew, would cut the power for an entire block, effectively rendering their target's alarm system inoperable.  The second button would activate the target building's ventilation system, releasing a gas that would quickly spread throughout the building and knock all of its inhabitant's unconscious.  At least those that breathed oxygen.

            "Remember, anything that is still moving by the time we get in there isn't human.  I don't want a repeat of Baltimore. Anything moving dies."

            The woman let out a cry of indignation, "Hey!  That was one time.  Christ a girl makes one mistake and it haunts her for life.  He was cute and I thought he didn't get out much.  How was I supposed to know he was a vampire?"

            "You mean the pasty white skin, four bullet holes, and the fact that the man had a fashion sense that would make even me look GQ didn't throw you off?"  The man said in disbelief.

            The woman harrumphed, "Like I said, he was hot."

            The man laughed and shook his head as he pressed the two buttons on his remote control in rapid succession.  He soon grew serious as he felt the van rapidly decelerating.  As soon as the van came to a screeching stop, the man threw the door open, and both its occupants rushed toward the glass doors in front of them.

            Bringing his rifle up to his shoulder as he ran towards the two doors, he could see a gray substance already dissipating through the doors in front of him.  Reaching the doors first, the woman yanked one open, allowing her partner to go in first his gun sweeping the area in front of him.

            The woman just sighed to herself as she prepared to go in.  Her last thought before she focused herself completely on the mission was: God, I hate this bank robbing shit