Author's Note: The end is definitely in sight. Less than a day remains before the bottom of the ninth comes to an end.

Before the story ends, also: You will see the circumstances of "the bet."

X X X X X

The downside to finding out the psychology of Aaron Echolls from Aaron Echolls was that I had to talk to Aaron Echolls to learn it.

And I had to not remotely give away that I wanted the man incarcerated.

I was taking a risk, being alone in the house with the man who'd killed Lilly. I was relying on two things: The wish, and that Logan had seen me go in. Not 100 percent reliable. But the best I could do at the moment.

Smile plastered, I said, "So -"

"So, sit down," he said, projecting joviality, "You had breakfast yet? Anything I can get you?"

"I'm good," I said. "Just some answers."

He sat down and said, "Ask away," still smiling.

Okay, here was the tricky part. I'd start out with something basic. "Who did you hire?"

"About twenty guards from an organization called Whitestone, out of Los Angeles," he said.

"Anything to do with Wolfram & Hart?" I asked, because that would just be the thing to top off this riot.

"Huh? No. I didn't even go through them. Honestly, Veronica," and he spoke to me as though confiding a secret, finally lowering his voice, "They're good lawyers, but they're kind of sleazy."

"Really," I said flatly.

"Oh, yeah. I wanted someone whose reputation was above reproach – these guys are ex-cops and ex-military. They know what they're doing."

Which didn't equate to their reputation being above reproach, of course. I'd look them up, or ask Willow to do the same, depending on how the rest of my day went. This elite security force could be a well-oiled machine, or a bunch of ex-soldiers who just liked violence. I knew damn well that cops and military people weren't en masse a group of bloodthirsty knuckleheads, but there were more than enough of that kind around that I wasn't going to take anything for granted.

Either kind could be dangerous, of course – genuine professionals would know exactly what they were doing, and interfere, and the incompetent ones would be the Sunnydale police, with larger-caliber weapons.

"Good to know."

"You're going to look them up, I take it," Aaron said.

I nodded. "Of course. Not saying I don't trust you -" with my mouth, while screaming it with every other fiber of my being – "But I'd like to be sure."

"Maybe I should have come to your father before I hired the agency," Aaron said ruefully.

"Think about that next time," I said, then had a thought. "Hey – any way you can do that now?"

Shaking his head, he said. "Nope. They're already under contract."

"So, what are your plans?"

"Well, about fifteen of them are getting here later today -" Fifteen? Whoa. "And I was hoping your father could clue them in on the trouble spots. They can't make arrests but if they manage to reduce the crime rate in this town even a little, it'll be worth it."

"Have you talked to Don Lamb?" The Deputy would be having conniptions over this. Different universe or not, his basic character hadn't changed. A conflict between Mayor Wilkins and one of the most famous men in town would probably be won by the Mayor, but it wasn't an easy decision. Aaron Echolls, for all I knew that he was an asshole, had a good public image, even after the revelation of his affair, and Lynn's moving out – and there was a chance, for all that Donnie knew, that Aaron might come out on top, at least at first, and he wouldn't want to be seen as standing in the way of someone trying to make Sunnydale a safer place.

"Yeah," Aaron said. "I've talked to him. He doesn't approve of what I'm doing but he'll have his men take into custody anyone we catch and give him." Arron sounded a bit annoyed by that, but that was more than I expected out of the Deputy. Probably his way of compromising. He wasn't smart enough to play both sides off against each other.

Have I mentioned lately that I don't care for Don Lamb all that much? In case you couldn't tell.

"That's not the worst outcome," I said.

"No, it isn't." After a second, he asked, "So, Veronica: Interested?"

Wasn't going to touch that one yet. Instead I said, "I'm curious. What do you hope to get out of all of this? Besides a safer city, I mean?"

"Isn't that enough?"

"It's more than – most people – around here have done," I said, thinking of both Buffy and Dad. "But – can I be brutally honest?"

Giving me a go-ahead gesture, he said, "Of course. One of the reasons I wanted you and your Dad on board – you won;t hesitate to call anyone or anything out."

Of course we'd hesitate; Dad and I already were hesitating. Aaron had the right broad strokes – Dad and I weren't afraid of telling people things they didn't want to hear – but the wrong detail. "Thanks," I said. "I was thinking more about your reasoning. Aaron, your wife left you, publicly, in the middle of a party where someone you'd had an affair with tried to kill you. A couple of days later, this. While you're dead on about Sunnydale needing a good cleaning up, I can't help but think that this is actually something like what you did back in the high school when you told everyone you'd chased away the gang member – a publicity stunt."

A barked laugh, then, "Yeah, I've been getting that a lot." He didn't seem bitter, just resigned.

"And your answer is?" I prompted.

"It was then – when Lynn was leaving – that I realized how selfish I was," Aaron said. "That I was nothing like the characters I played – and not that much like my public image. I was never a coward -" which was true enough – "But I cheated on my wife – more than once, you know -"

"Really?" I said. "I'm surprised nothing's come out by now." Yes, I was deliberately poking the bear. That was the reason he'd killed Lilly in the first place – he was afraid he was going to expose her, to make his sins public. "Nothing before Viola Kerrigan, I mean."

He winced, "Well – before that I did whatever I could to make sure it didn't. Bribery, threats of legal action, jobs on my next movie – I even did a guest shot on Cheers because I was sleeping with someone on the staff and that was her payoff. Even -" he broke off, guiltily.

Yes, guiltily. The wish had affected his conscience. Not to the level that would have induced spontaneous confessions, but half responsible family men/half action heroes didn't murder comparatively innocent young women.

"Even?" I said, hopefully.

He shook his head. "No, that's not really why you're here. Anyway, if you want proof that this isn't about publicity, I can';t hand you anything ironclad.. But I can say this: I'm not going to hide who I've been. And I'm not going to be that man anymore. Anyone who asks me about the affairs, I'll tell them the truth. This isn't a matter of publicity, Veronica; this is a matter of atonement."

Jackpot. But I wasn't going to push any further, not today. I'd achieved part of my aim: Delving into the psyche of Aaron Echolls.

"Okay," I said. "I'll go along with you until you show otherwise."

"I'll try not to disappoint you." He sounded sincere.

Now for the other part: Checking the security force. "So, the folks from Whitestone are getting here later today?"

"Yes."

"What are your plans? Just set them loose on an unsuspecting town?"

Chuckling, he said, "No. I was hoping your Dad could tell them about the trouble spots, he seems less interested than you are."

"We both like our independence," I said. "I'll tell you what, though: Without committing to anything else, I'm willing to do that – but it can't be today, because I'm pretty much booked for most of the rest of the day."

He winced a little. "No offense, Veronica, but these are professionals here. I know how good you are, but that's one of the reasons I wanted your Dad here."

Right. Murderer has a point. I might be useful as backup and to tell them about crimes Dad might not be as up on – local gangs, things like that, if we had any, which we didn't, at least in a human sense – but they wouldn't buy me telling them the ins and outs of the entire Sunnydale scene. Damn. I needed an adult, and I only trusted two implicitly – and Giles would be busy tomorrow, and Dad, of course, was entirely out of the question –

Wait. Check that. Three. Not Ms. Calendar, if that's what you're thinking. She and I hadn't interacted a whole hell of a lot, officially; I'd never taken her computer class.

Rae Mistwood, though –

"Okay, so if I get someone else in here who knows the town, who isn't Dad, who would know about the trouble spots, and I backed her up, would that do?"

"Who do you have in mind?"

"Local business owner. Rae Mistwood."

"Don't know her."

"Ask Logan. He's met her." As soon as I said it, I winced. I hadn't exactly thrown Logan in front of a speeding bus, but he'd have to explain how he knew the owner of a magic shop."

Or not. "No, I trust you; you're not the type to bring in some hobo pretending to be a business owner." I was perfectly willing to bring in a ringer, but that particular iteration smacked of '80s sitcom. I wasn't quite that desperate, yet.

"Okay, then. I'll need to set things up with her -" but mostly Giles, and Angel, and Buffy, – "And I'll call you and let you know when."

He nodded his head. "Sounds good. Any other questions?"

Let's see. He has a conscience; it's being poked by the conditions of the wish, but not forced into confession, yet; and I have the elite security force locked down tight, here, tomorrow, at the same time as the raid. "I'm good," I said. "Thanks for taking the time."

"I want you on board, Veronica. I'm hoping you'll bring your Dad with you, but if that won;t happen, I'm happy to have you."

Once again, sincerity, and not the faked kind.

I stood up. "Good to hear. I'll let you know tomorrow."

He extended a hand. With no hesitation, much as I wanted to slap the hand, or spit on it, I shook it, said goodbye, and left.

Next step: pick up Sheila.

First next step: Call Buffy.

Really first next step: Call Rae.

Really, truly, first next step: Go home and shower.

X X X X X

Think I'm kidding? That's exactly what I did. I may have come across to Aaron as being as open and cheerful as he was being, but I was gritting my teeth internally the entire damn way. The only being in Sunnydale I would have had less fun sitting across from would have been Drusilla.

Yes, I'm including Spike,

Hell, I'm including Snyder.

Dad was out, so no awkward explanations were needed.

First, I called the magic shop and arranged to pick up Sheila in about a half hour or so. Then I called Buffy; no answer, so I tried Giles, first the home number, then the library number.

He picked up on the third ring. "Hello?" I said the same. "Ah. Miss Mars. Buffy informed me that Miss Kelly's tracking spell was a success."

"I expected as much. I assume now you're having a council of war? Because, if so, I need to get in on the tactical planning." I explained my conversation with Aaron Echolls.

"We are still trying to decide when the best time to attack is," he said. "Fortunately, Angel will be – in play, as it were; the Sunnydale sewer system, in having entrances into every building in town, did not exempt the bus depot."

"Good. Let me know as soon as you can."

"We shall."

I hung up and then called Rae at home and once again explained things. "Are you okay with doing that?" I asked.

"If it's as important as you say," she said, "Then of course, I'm okay. I'll get Pete to cover the shop again tomorrow."

Internally, I breathed a sigh of relief. I would have pulled out every trick in the book to get Rae to go along -.

actually, not every trick. Even though I was a goal-oriented type of girl and always would be, I had had it battered into me that using my friends to win a point wasn't healthy for me, and it wasn't fair to the person that was getting used. Even for something as important as this, which could very well mean my life, I wasn't willing to blackmail or browbeat. I would have found another way. I was just glad I hadn't had to.

I drove down to get Sheila, and when I entered the magic shop I found myself getting the (metaphoric, and in Sunnydale you do need to specify) evil eye from Pete. "I hear it's you I have to thank for having to give up my Sunday off," he said.

Since I couldn't tell how much, if any, of the annoyance in his voice was faked, I simply said, chipperly, "You're welcome!"

A slightly sour look on his face, he said, "That wasn't actually a thank you."

"I know!"

"Uh-huh. Try to warn me next time, okay?"

"If I could have, I would."

Apparently satisfied that that was the best he was going to get, he said, "She's in the back."

This time, Sheila wasn't meditating; she was creating darkness spells of various sizes. "Hey, manhunter," she said.

"And this is?"

"'m tryin' to figure a way to do that sun spell without burning out eyeballs," she said. "Addin' a darkness spell – a small one – might knock it down a bit. Still kill the vampires, but not blind the caster – case any vamps aren't caught in the spell."

It was a worthy goal. "And how are your experiments going?"

A small frown. "Not 'swell as I'd like. Fine tunin's a bitch."

"Can the bitch wait? I need to update you on the battle plan."

A small evil grin appearing on her face, Sheila said, "Sure. Frustrated right now anyway."

We left; I apologized to Pete on the way out, again, but he waved his hands and told me not to worry about it.

Good. Still not looking to piss people off, unintentionally. Even though, per Logan, it's one of my greatest skills.

X X X X X

The time came down later that day: The assault would go down at 1:15 PM. I called first, Rae, to make sure 12:45 tomorrow afternoon would be an okay meeting time (it would), then Aaron Echolls to confirm that the folks from Whitestone would be available at around 1 the next afternoon (he said they would be, or they wouldn't get paid), then Xander to see if he would have any interest in, at least, screwing over Aaron Echolls, and possibly getting him to confess (wild horses, you get the drill), Willow to see if she would be willing to do any research on Whitestone (despite her burgeoning interest in magic, she was still so the net girl) and then made sure Sheila would be available then also.

"Have to check my social calendar," S heila said. "Think I can work you in."

And that, dear friends, was all of interest that happened that day. Middle afternoon on was as boring as boring could be.

The universe giving me some down time before the big day?

I'm not naïve enough to assume so. But I'm not going to turn it down, either.

The plan was set.

There was no plan B, and I was expecting the unexpected, so I assumed that sometime tomorrow I'd have to pull something out of my hat in a desperate attempt to keep things on track, and me from losing the bet.

Sure, everything could go right.

But I'm not naïve enough to assume that, either.