Chapter 23

"We found him."

Wesley's voice rang loud and clear. Everyone stopped what they were doing to look at the former Watcher.

"You found him?" Spike needed Wesley to clarify, just to make sure he wasn't jumping to conclusions.

"We found the vampire who ordered that Xander be turned into a vampire. Lindsey's information checks out. He calls himself Romeo."

"I've still never heard of him," Spike said, leaning casually against the wall. "Who exactly is he?"

"I'm not surprised," Wesley replied, thumbing through the file in his hand. "It appears he's only about eighty years old. I'm assuming that's why he sent other vampires instead of coming himself."

Xander frowned. "If he's not old enough to have made a name for himself, why come after me?"

Wesley cleared his throat. "Not all of Lindsey's information checks out."

"Of course not."

Ignoring Spike's mocking, Wesley continued. "It wasn't just a love note to Buffy. Being so young in vampire terms, it's likely he wanted to make a name for himself. If he'd gotten both you and Willow, and then gone after Buffy, he could have taken out the Slayer."

"His idea of a fun first date, huh?" Xander scoffed.

"That's a good way to make a name for yourself," Spike admitted. "But it's even better if you take out a Slayer by yourself." He snorted in derision.

"But if he's not confident enough to take on the Slayer by himself, that means he'll be an easy target, right?" Xander's question was hesitant, as though he wanted to believe it, but knew it couldn't be that easy.

"It could be that simple," Angel agreed, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his desk as he clasped his hands in front of his mouth. "But it's wiser to err on the side of caution in this case. We should expect a difficult fight, and hope for an easy one."

"So, where is he," Spike asked, moving to look over Wesley's shoulder at the file.

"It's reported that he's been in New York for the past fifty years."

Spike grinned at Xander. "Ready to see the Big Apple, whelp?"

Xander grinned back. "Of course!"

Angel smiled fondly at them both. "Want to show him a bit of culture while we're there?"

"As long as it's not one of the girly musicals you're so fond of."

Angel rolled his eyes. "There is nothing wrong with my taste in plays, Spike."

"Right. But I was thinking we might look for something more along the lines of Macbeth, or Sweeney Todd."

"Sweeney Todd is a musical," Angel said, raising his eyebrow.

"Yeah. But it's grim and bloody," Spike replied, crossing his arms against his chest.

"Sounds fun," Xander said, interrupting before their argument could even really get started. "I'm sure anything you choose will be great, Spike, but can we get back to discussing a plan? I'd really like to get this guy before we explore New York."

"Well," Spike began, reclining easily in the chair across from Angel with his feet on the desk. "We could explore a bit first, maybe put him on edge just knowing we're there."

"Yes, intimidation could work to put him off his game, but if he knows we're there, he'll have more time to prepare. A complete surprise attack might be best," Angel said.

Xander was impressed at the seamless transition of the conversation.

Spike turned to Xander. "What do you think?"

Xander drew back, startled. "Um…I…have no idea."

"Sure you do," Spike encouraged.

"Um…"

Xander hesitated, eyes wide, unwilling to let the fate of this plan rest on him. Then he glanced at Spike, who was staring at him with a confident smile. Spike knew that Xander didn't know a lot about strategy. This was a test, Xander realized, a test to see if he would feel comfortable offering his input to two seasoned vampires. And he was failing.

Straightening up, Xander met Spike's eyes. He had some tactical experience. He'd spent time planning strategies with the Slayer and her Watcher. He could do this. Even if his ideas had no merit, he could offer them. Maybe he would have some insight they hadn't considered. And that, he realized with awe, was Spike's plan all along.

"What if we meet in the middle? We could make sure he learns that we're coming. But we could fake the time, say make him think we're arriving later than we are, so he's overconfident that he has time to prepare. And then we arrive and destroy them," he finished with a wild grin.

Spike nodded. "That could work. But if he's too prepared it could backfire. We'll need a plan B, just in case."

"That's not like you," Angel observed.

"I won't leave anything to chance this time," Spike affirmed, meeting Angel's eyes.

Angel dipped his head in acknowledgement. "How likely is it that he'll be overly prepared? He seems overly confident, taking a chance that the Slayer wouldn't hunt him down after he hurt one of her friends."

"Perhaps also overly cautious," Wesley said from his seat on the couch. "He did send other vampires to do his dirty work, after all."

Xander frowned. "That's true, but he's not as old as Spike or Angel. They have more experience with things like this, right?"

Spike agreed. Between the two of them, he was sure he and Angel would have no problem taking out this guy, but he didn't want to risk losing everything he'd so recently gained.

"We should still make sure we have a plan," Spike said. "Angel, remember when we took out that demon who'd tried to expose us in Paris?"

Angel smiled fondly for the first time at a memory that Spike had evoked. "I remember. Do you think something like that would work?"

Spike smirked. "I think so. Especially if we can have a surprise waiting like we did then."

Xander smiled now. He'd heard so many of Spike's stories that he was pretty sure he knew what they were talking about. "Willow?"

"Now you're catchin' on." Spike smiled proudly. "They'd never suspect a witch on our side."

A wicked grin spread across Xander's face as he moved to join Spike across the room. "What if we had another surprise?"

"What do you mean, whelp?" Spike was pleased that Xander was offering his own ideas, and was willing to give him a little encouragement, even if the idea was terrible.

"What if we had a Slayer?"

A genuine look of surprise came over Spike's face before it morphed into his vampire visage. His childe never failed to impress him. His feral grin, combined with the yellow eyes, prominent ridges and gleaming fangs, made Wesley shiver, and when he replied, the malevolence dripping from his voice surpassed Xander's. "Brilliant."

Angel chuckled darkly. "Should I make the call?"

Xander smirked. "Let me."

Wesley swallowed heavily as the three vampires left the room. This Romeo vampire wouldn't know what hit him.