"What do we have?" Street asked as he strapped on his body armor.
"Bank, again," said Hondo. "Doesn't anybody ever try anything else?"
"Getting bored?"
"Hell yes, I'm getting bored. I want something new, Goddammit!"
Xander smiled as he checked his weapon.
"What are you smiling at, Harris?" Sanchez asked.
"I'm okay with banks," Xander said. "I like predictability. Makes it easier to win."
"Well, check out this cocky bitch," Deke said.
"Yeah, Hondo," Boxer said. "He likes to predict, let him make the plans."
"All right. Harris, you up to that?"
Xander smiled. "Sure," he said.
Hondo put the blue prints down in front of him.
"We got two entrances," he said, pointing to the blueprints. "Front door and the ventilation shaft in the roof. What do you think?"
Xander looked at the schematics. "This is the First National, over on Wilcox?"
"Yeah," Street said.
Xander nodded. "There's another entrance," he said, tapping the blueprints. "From the sewer up into the count room, here."
"Yeah?" Hondo asked.
"Yeah," he said. "Count room's big enough for two. They'll have the front door covered, and we can't assume they don't know about the vent. The sewer entrance isn't on the blueprints, they won't know about it."
"Well how the hell do you know about it?" Deke asked.
Xander grinned. "I don't know," he said, his eyes flashing wide, seemingly insane. "It's a mystery."
"Okay, Harris," Hondo said. "This thing comes off okay, and you get called by your first name when I can remember. You and Deke take the sewer, Street you and Sanchez on the roof. Boxer, I want you with me, we'll hold at the corner of the building, here. Everybody wait for my signal, got it?"
They nodded.
"All right," he said. "Let's go."
Boxer jumped into the driver's seat of the SWAT van and drove off. Five minutes later, they arrived on the site. Xander and Deke made their way into the sewers as Sanchez and Street got up on the roof.
"So how was it you knew about this? You rob banks or something?" Deke asked of Xander.
"Nope, I just know my way around," Xander said. "Here." He pointed up. There was a grate at the top of the sewer.
"That?" Deke asked. "No ladder?"
"I said it was an entrance," Xander said. "I never said it was easy. Boost me up."
Deke crouched and boosted Xander up to the grate. Very carefully, Xander slid a mirror that resembled one found in a dentist's tools up through the grate and looked around the room.
"It's clear," he said, dropping to the floor.
Deke spoke into his radio. "Hondo, this is Deke. Count room is clear."
"Copy, Deke. Hold until further notice."
"Seriously, man," Deke said. "How did you know about this?"
"I hang around with a vampire with a soul who gets around by the sewers during the day. He showed me this, and a lot of other things."
"Man, I'm not playin'. How'd you know?"
Xander just shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you," he said. It was technically true. Deke hadn't believed him.
"But you will tell me sometime?"
"Sure," said Xander.
"Deke, Harris," said Hondo over the radio. "Negotiations are going bad. Get in position in the count room."
"Copy, getting into position," Deke said. "You first or me?"
Xander looked up at the grate. "The question is, who will have the easier time pulling the other up?"
"Right," Deke said. "I'll go first."
Xander boosted Deke, who then pulled himself up, reached down and lifted Xander up as well.
"Hondo, this is Deke and Harris," said Deke into his radio. "We're in position."
"Wait for my signal," Hondo said.
Xander cracked the door of the count room and saw two men with AK-74's standing in the bank, but a potted plant next to the door blocked his view to the left. He shut the door and pulled back.
"Hondo, I see two men, but my view is obstructed to one side. Do we have a solid count on the number of men?"
"We have a count of three," Hondo said. "Be careful in there."
"Never anything but, Boss," Deke said.
"Okay, we're go on three," Hondo said.
Xander and Deke made a final check on their weapons.
"One," Hondo said.
Xander cracked the door again.
"Two," said Hondo.
Xander pulled his gun up and lined up on one of the bank robbers.
"Three!"
Xander swung the door open and fired two rounds into the man closest to him. He then rolled out into the room as Deke followed behind him. Street dropped in from the ventilation shaft and subdued the other man Xander had seen.
A string of bullets shot out from behind Xander and Deke, and all three SWAT members hit the floor. As the flow of bullets stopped, Sanchez dropped out of the ceiling, gun drawn, and let fly a couple of quick bursts from her gun. The man dropped.
Back on their feet, the entire team swept systematically through the rest of the bank, checking doors, under desks and all the time watching the hostages, and the criminals. They found no other suspects in the building.
"Street, clear," Jim said.
"Deke, clear."
"Harris, clear."
"Sanchez, clear."
Two paramedics rushed in ahead of Hondo, and checked on the two men who had been shot.
"Good work, boys," Hondo said, drawing a quick glare from Chris. "And girl, sorry. That was a very smooth operation, Xander. Well done."
"Just doing my job," Xander said as he clicked the safety into place on his gun.
"Boys and girls, we beat the bad guys," Hondo said. The SWAT team walked out of the building and back to the van, where they unloaded their gear and drove back to the station.
"So is that it?" Xander asked. "One thing and we're done?"
"Sure," Street said. "Until the next thing comes up."
"Well, what are you guys doing now?" he asked.
"Man, I'm going home," Deke said. "I need a shower and a nap. That sewer stank."
"We can tell, Deke," Hondo said.
The others laughed.
"I have to check on my daughter," Sanchez said.
"Wife," said Boxer.
"I have some administrative details to take care of," said Hondo, a sound of distaste in his voice.
Street shrugged. "I got nothin' man," he said.
Xander checked his watch. It was a little after noon.
"You wanna grab some lunch?" he asked Street.
"Sure," said Street.
"You two have a nice date now," Deke said in a falsetto tone. Street turned and flipped him the bird. "Hey, Harris, don't forget. You owe me a story about the sewer that doesn't involve a vampire with a soul."
Xander smiled at Deke, but did not reply. He noticed, however, that while Boxer, Street and Sanchez were all chuckling, Hondo looked up when he said that and regarded Xander curiously. Something to file away, Xander thought.
Street and Xander hopped into Xander's truck.
"Where do you want to go?" Xander asked.
"No, no, you're the rookie, you choose."
Xander smiled, grabbed his cell phone and dialed.
"Angel Investigations, we help the hopeless," answered a British voice.
"Wes, hey, it's Xander."
"Oh, hello. Everything went well, I assume?"
"Came out fine," Xander said. "Hey, it's about lunch time, I don't suppose Angel's got the kitchen open, does he?"
"We're currently housing almost thirty girls with appetites to rival yours. The kitchen has been open since they arrived. Why?"
"Thought I'd drop by."
"Well, Buffy has gone out for the time being, so that should be relatively safe."
"Oh, good," Xander said. "One less thing. Be there in a few."
"On the off chance you're bringing visitors, you should be warned that Lorne is about at the moment. I think the play we're using this week is a stage version of Star Trek: The Next Generation."
"Got it," Xander said, laughing. "And thanks, I hadn't thought of that."
"Of course," Wesley said.
Xander hung up and smiled. "You're gonna love this place," he said. "The guy's a great cook."
"What do they serve?"
"Mostly dead animal," Xander said. "Nothing fancy, but all of it greasy."
"My kind of food," Street said.
Ten minutes of small talk later, Xander pulled up outside the Hyperion.
"This is the same hotel we found you at," Street said.
"I have friends here, it's a good place."
Street looked at the building again.
"You know, I didn't notice it at night, but this is the same place you chased those other bank robbers to," he said.
"Drove them to, actually. A few well placed bullets to guide their path."
Street looked at him appraisingly. "You put your friends in danger?"
Xander grinned. "They were never in danger."
The men headed inside the hotel.
"Ah, Xander, nice to see you again," Wesley said.
"Hey, Wes," Xander said. "This is Jim Street, one of the guys on SWAT with me."
"Jim Street," he said, extending his hand.
"Wesley Wyndham-Pryce," said Wes. "A pleasure."
"You run this hotel?" Street asked.
"Oh, we're not actually a hotel, despite all appearances to the contrary."
"What are you, then?"
"A private detective agency. We got a great deal on the property."
"Xander!"
Xander looked up to see Willow on the balcony.
"Hey, Wills," Xander said as Willow came down the stairs.
"Who's this?" Willow asked.
"Willow Rosenberg, this is Jim Street, SWAT member. Jim Street, this is Willow Rosenberg, my best friend since forever."
"Nice to meet you, Willow," Jim said, flashing his best smile. "Xander never mentioned he had such attractive friends."
"Oh... uhh... okay," Willow said as Xander chuckled. "Xander, what did you say to Buffy this morning?"
"I told her the truth," he said. "Why?"
"She was just really quiet today, like something was bothering her."
"Well it should have been," he said. "She needs to realize that she can't control everything, or she's gonna... lose everything."
"I know, and I agree that she needs to, you know, calm down, but couldn't you go a little easy on her?"
"You mean like she did with Dawn?"
"Okay, well, that's a really good point, but –"
"Will, I want to talk about this, but can we not air all the dirty laundry my first day on the new job, in front of my teammate?"
"Oh, okay. You'll be around later though?"
"I will."
"Okay. Nice to meet you, Mr. Street," she said.
Xander and Jim headed towards the kitchen.
"Girls don't usually just blow me off like that, when I use that smile," Street said, frowning.
"Trust me, Jim, you have no chance with Willow."
"Why? She out of my league?"
"No," Xander said, laughing. "She's not even playing the same game."
"That was quite possibly the best burger I've had in... well, ever," Street said when they emerged from the kitchen.
"I told you, Angel's a great cook."
"Why does a guy like that have a name like Angel? Seems too... manly for a name like that."
"Oh," Xander said. "It's a nickname he's had for a long time."
"Hey, Xander."
"Dawn, hey. How'd it go this morning?"
"Didn't happen. Whatever you said really defused her, and she just kind of apologized and left."
"Weird," Xander said.
"Who's your friend?" Dawn asked.
"Jim Street," Jim said, holding out his hand. "I work with Xander."
"Dawn Summers," Dawn said. "I take advantage of Xander's ability to talk sense into my pigheaded sister."
Jim laughed, and again flashed his smile. Xander saw it this time, and held his arm up to Street's chest and looked him straight in the eye.
"No," he said forcefully as Dawn headed off to the kitchen. "She's seventeen, and just, no."
Jim raised his hands in surrender.
"There are a lot of girls here," Jim said, having noticed all the teenagers in the kitchen as well. "Are there any I can hit on?"
Xander smiled. "Sure," he said. "But you're better off sticking with Sanchez.""Oh, we're not—" Jim started.
"Yeah," Xander said. "I know. Stick with Sanchez."
At that point, Dawn came back.
"Oh yeah," she said, giving Xander a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks again for letting me use your bed last night."
Dawn skipped back to the kitchen.
Street raised his eyebrows at Xander, a smirk on his face.
Xander groaned. "I suppose that even if I tell you, truthfully, that I slept on the couch, it won't do me any good?"
"Not a chance," Street said. "That one's just too good to pass up."
"And so, right after he warns me off this seventeen year old, she kisses him very sweetly and says 'Thanks for letting me use your bed last night.'" The last bit was said in falsetto.
Everyone laughed. Xander turned red, but took his knocks in stride.
"Hey," Xander said. "I'm not the guy who tried to pick up a lesbian."
Deke spewed out the beer he was sipping and went into a coughing fit, forcing Hondo to smack him on the back.
Xander's cell phone rang.
"Hello?" he said.
"Xander, it's me," said Angel.
"Oh hey. What's up?" Xander asked, getting up from the group and walking to a secluded section of the bar.
"I need to run some plates."
"And your people at the firm can't do it?" he asked.
"They could," Angel said. "But I'm not quite comfortable with that yet."
"All right," Xander said, pulling a pen from his pocket and grabbing a spare napkin. "What's the numbers?"
Angel read off a string of numbers that Xander copied down.
"Okay," Xander said. "When do you need that by?"
"Tonight would be good, but tomorrow morning if that's not possible."
"All right," Xander said. "I'll call you back."
Xander slipped the napkin into his pocket.
"What's that?" Hondo asked, appearing as if from nowhere.
"Favor," Xander said, surprising Hondo by not being startled in the least.
"This have something to do with vampires?"
Xander chuckled with practiced ease. "Who really believes in vampires? They're a myth."
"Yeah," Hondo said. "That's what I hear."
"That's what I hear, too," Xander said.
"I also hear you hail from Sunnydale, the town that no-longer-is."
"Yep," Xander said. "You pull that from my file? Cuz it's kind of common knowledge, if anybody cares."
"You know I've heard stories," Hondo said. "I keep my ear to the ground, and I have friends all over the department. I hear things."
"Such as?"
"Rumor has it that the rain of fire thing, the sun blocked out? That was stopped by a vampire with a soul."
"Interesting, if wildly inaccurate," Xander said. "I mean come on, there has to be a more logical explanation than that."
"I don't know," Hondo said. "I mean, rains of fire are pretty fucked up. Why not vampires?"
Xander did his best to look unconvinced.
"What do you know about Detective Kate Lockley?"
Xander's expression broke. "She left the force a while back, after her father died under mysterious circumstances," he said. "Why?"
"Well, I heard that she was working with a private investigator. Purely off the books, of course. Heard his name was Angel."
"So?" Xander said. "We know the same guy. I actually met Kate through Angel. It doesn't mean he's a vampire."
"She got interested in some weird stuff. Occult things, like demons, vampires, witches, that sort of stuff. My friend down in that precinct said it all started soon after she began to work with Angel."
"Hondo," Xander said. "If you got a question, just ask it, man. Tell me you know something, or tell me you want to know something. I'm no good with subtle."
Hondo didn't say anything for a minute. Then his expression changed as he seemingly came to a decision. He pulled the collar of his shirt down and exposed more of his neck. Xander could very clearly see two puncture wounds.
Xander sighed and sat down. "When?" he asked.
"About six years ago," Hondo said. "I was close to my apartment, so I punched it and ran away, so I was okay. You?"
"I've never been bitten," Xander said. "One of my best friends was turned, though. I staked him myself."
"You staked him?" Hondo asked.
"Vampires can be killed a few ways," Xander explained. "Sunlight, wood to the heart, having their head cut off, and fire. Vampires are stronger and faster than humans, but they also tend to be dumber. Does the rest of the team know?"
"Not a clue," Hondo said. "So is it true?"
"Which part?"
"Did a vampire with a soul show you the entrance to the bank?"
"Yep. Roofs too. You'd be surprised how far you can go above the street."
"And is this the same guy who got Lockley interested in that stuff?"
"In a roundabout way, yes."
"And Lockley's dad?"
"Was killed by vampires."
"Damn," Hondo said. "But this Angel, guy. He's on our side?"
"Yeah," Xander said. "As long as he never achieves perfect happiness, he's a good guy."
"Perfect happiness?"
"Yeah," Xander said. "It's a gypsy curse thing. He can lose his soul."
"What happens then?"
"We die. Or he goes to hell. And by the way, when he unblocked the sun? Didn't have his soul, he was just in a pissy mood."
"Oh. But he has a soul now?"
"Yeah, but don't get the wrong idea," Xander said. "He can still be a nasty son-of-a-bitch. Just happens he isn't right now."
"Okay. Good. So, all these demons and vampires and stuff, and just a few humans and one souled vampire fighting them. It's amazing they don't kill more people."
Xander let out a snort. "First off," he said. "They kill a lot more people than you think."
"And second?" Hondo asked.
Xander grinned. "There's more than just a souled vampire fighting them."
Having said that, Xander started off back to the table.
"Like what?" Hondo asked. Xander kept walking.
"I said, like what!" Hondo yelled.
Xander sat at the table, propped his feet up and grinned.
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End Chapter 5