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Chapter 8
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A person might think that traveling from glamorous place to glamorous place, chatting up beautiful women and having some of them even cry on his shoulder, would be exactly what Xander would consider the perfect duty. Instead, he merely felt tired. One can only listen to so much angst before one feels sucked dry.

Whoever or whatever this Immortal was, he was a total bastard in the way he wined, dined and used women. He’d left a string of broken hearts that wrapped around the Mediterranean like a bleeding necklace. Xander had to
hope that Buffy hadn’t really opened her heart to the cad. She had enough issues to deal with regarding love already.

Xander had been trying to call Giles to report in for the better part of the last hour. The secretary, a girl unfamiliar to Xander, said that Mr. Giles was in a rather heated meeting with Andrew Wells and was not
to be interrupted. Xander didn’t have any real leads to report but he still wanted to pass on what he had found while the memories were still fresh. You never knew what one chance word might reveal and they needed all the clues they could gather. Too much time had already passed with Buffy gone from them. Now they were actually being proactive in the search, there was no time to waste.

After trying Council Headquarters and receiving a busy signal the last three calls, Xander decided to just call Willow and have her pass the information along to Giles.

Xander sounded exhausted when he finally spoke to Willow. He wasn’t used to the extreme hours of the jet set and since that was the crowd The
Immortal ran with, he had been up long past his bedtime most nights. Giles had provided Xander with papers identifying him as a reporter for a glossy magazine and doors opened easily for the rakishly handsome, one-eyed "reporter". In fact, Xander was amazed, and occasionally shocked, to discover just how free with information some people became when faced with press credentials.

"I tried to get to Giles, but he was in some sort of meeting with Andrew and when I called later, his phone was busy. Anything happening I should know about, Will?"

"Andrew was the one who sort of opened the door to let the wolf in, just like we suspected. He feels terrible about it, too. Giles read him the riot act. Then he put him to work alphabetizing books for the new Watchers Council library and checking and filing statistical reports from the field. I think Andrew is beginning to think he would have been better off if Spike had gotten all fangy on him instead of sending him to Giles. I think Dawn said that Spike was still planning on getting a look at the files in the Rome office of that law firm, maybe later today. What’s the what with you, o roving reporter?" Willow’s voice sounded carefree and
it made Xander homesick for times gone by, when doughnuts solved every problem or seemed to.

"You know, I think I’m getting old, Will. There was a time not long ago that the idea of spending hours with Sports Illustrated swimsuit models and a couple of Spanish female rock singers would have been the stuff of wet dreams. Now I just want a quiet night early to bed…alone!"

"Yeah, right there with you, Xander. Maybe when Buffy’s back and the stress is over, we can go and ogle some girls together. Maybe even get a real date. Be sure to keep those phone numbers."

Xander laughed as he pictured the two of them on the prowl together. "I came up with the big zero of useful information. All I have to show for the last few nights, aside from some truly memorable hangovers and a tattoo I don’t remember getting, is information we already had. The Immortal likes his women dark, exotic, smart and rich…or at least well-connected--definitely the anti-Buffy.

"He makes a woman feel like she’s the center of his existence, makes a complete whirlwind of the whole sweeping romance thing, then just disappears," Xander continued. "No call, no card, no flowers. Leaves them wondering what they did wrong and too embarrassed to even admit
they’d been dumped. Usually they never hear from him again, but for some weird reason, they still want to. Funny, none of them hate him. They all seem to think it was something they had done to drive him away and that he’s this wonderful catch. Magic, do you think?" Xander was suspicious why so many beautiful and desirable women fell for the same thing over and over again.

"More likely he just knows how to pick ‘em." Willow suggested. "There’s
lots of really great women who get sucked in to abusive relationships, convinced the guy is great and they are the ones deserving to be treated like that. It doesn’t matter how beautiful or even successful the girl is either. Maybe he just has a knack for picking them out in the crowd. Buffy’s got her own set of insecurities where men are concerned. I can see how a jerk like that could exploit some of them." Willow felt herself getting angry on behalf of the sisterhood of the abused and exploited.

"There was one cutie from Algeria who hinted he still met with her a few times for sex, even after he’d started his supposedly exclusive relationship with Buffy. I’ve got her number highlighted in case we need to talk to her again. She met him at some party for Dodi Fayed and Princess Di, claims Eduardo orchestrated that little romance, too!"

"You know, this guy makes me want to knock him senseless, even if he hasn’t hurt Buffy in a physical way." Xander was in total Protective!Brother mode. "I mean if he got this great woman to notice him
and treats her like he did the rest of his women, he deserves to have Spike pull off his arm and beat him to death with it. Whatever charms we know the Buffster has in spades, that jerk must not have appreciated them,
‘cause I can’t imagine having her and cheating! I’m gonna so love watching her tear him a new one when she finds out."

"God, Will, you wouldn’t believe hearing these ladies gush about Eduardo and how they lost this great love of their lives! Reminded me of Buffy after Angel left, made me sick. I mean, Buffy was just a kid, but
these women aren’t teenagers." Xander never had understood why Buffy had held onto her dreams of her doomed relationship with Angel even after he had lost his soul and started murdering. She should have washed her hands of him and been glad, in his opinion. They all should.

"When it comes to love, we all become insecure kids again, I guess. We can’t get lucky enough to find a Tara every time", Willow replied. Suddenly she was dreadfully tired as well. "I’ll let Giles know how it’s going from the man in the field so you don’t have to keep calling long
distance. Hey, take some pictures of these goddesses while you’re at it. A girl can dream a little! Now go get some rest. There’s still lots of southern Europe to cover before you move into the Near East. Gotta say, that guy sure got around!" Willow stifled a yawn as she ended the call.

No sooner had she hung up from that call than the phone rang again. This time it was Giles.

"Oh, hey, Giles! Psychic much? I just got done talking to Xander and promised that I’d call you with what little he’s come up with."

"Willow, I need for you to come to the research library at Council headquarters as soon as possible. I realize it’s quite late, my dear, but something has come up. Dawn has just faxed a rather extraordinary
paper that I will need your help in deciphering. She was followed home and it was slipped under her door. I think it prudent for us to decide what to make of this as quickly as possible. Dawn says that Spike is already putting his plan in motion, so he is unaware of this development. She is going to stay safely locked in the apartment until Spike gets back or she hears from us." Giles sounded worried. Not for the first time, he wished they were all in the same town, as they had been for so many
years. He felt powerless to protect his charges when they were spread so thin. His Buffy was gone and he had been too far away to even sense the danger to her until it was too late. He couldn’t stand to lose another.

"Be there as soon as I get changed. I don’t think even the new Watchers would be able to handle me in my ducky slippers. Giles, don’t worry about Dawn. She’s a pretty smart girl. I’m sure she’ll be fine until Spike gets there and, once he does, no one will touch her." She knew that Giles realized the truth of that even if he still held reservations about the vampire.

Willow decided to stop for some coffee to take for the research party. As tired as she was, she felt they’d need something more caffeinated than the Earl Grey that Giles always kept on hand. She hoped this would turn out to be a clue to help Buffy, not a red herring. If she had to be looking
at pictures at this hour, she’d far rather look at some of those swimsuit models Xander had been hanging out with.

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Spike easily steered Ilona to the small restaurant he and Dawn had scoped out the previous day. It was small enough to be intimate yet large enough to blend in with the few early diners occupying the small tables.

He was confident Dawn had done her part already and the whole project still had the green light. They had prearranged a signal if anything had gone wrong and no signal had been given.

Spike discovered that, as he had hoped, the lovely CEO did indeed live in the Wolfram & Hart executive apartment, just as Angel had in L.A. After wining and dining the beauty, Spike expected her to invite him back for a continuation of the evening. Of course, his plans of how to spend that
time were vastly different from Ilona’s.

They entered the restaurant and at Ilona’s request, were led to a table in
the back corner. She was unfamiliar with the restaurant, even though it was within walking distance from her home and office. She seemed mostly
unaware it even existed, eating most of her lunches at the office and her dinners at home. The Senior Partners were demanding bosses regarding all their Branches, it would seem.

They were seated and handed the wine list immediately. "Vorrei una bottiglia di vino rosso", Spike ordered in perfect Italian. Red wine was the perfect solvent, after all. He smiled at Ilona and asked shyly, "That’s all right with you isn’t it? I probably should have asked, but you look like a full-bodied kind of girl. If you’d have rather something else, speak up." He gave her one of his flirtiest smiles.

"No, the house red will be wonderful, I am sure. I am in your hands completely, Spike. You speak Italian?"

"Only a few words." He flashed a grin and ran his index finger over the back of her hand that she had placed on the table. "I made sure to learn the important words, yeah? Wine is important; it’s like love. Intoxicating, like a beautiful woman. I’ll have to watch myself tonight. Could get drunk on you all by yourself, pet."

"Such sweet words, my handsome vampire. I think maybe you could be the best dessert of all." Ilona leaned over the table and made a slight growling sound that reminded Spike of Dru for a moment.

"Seein’ how I’ve used up most of my Italian, except some words that’d get me arrested in public, how ‘bout you order for both of us. I’m gonna risk leaving such a beautiful woman alone for a moment while I wash up a bit." Spike winked at Ilona and stood up. He lifted her hand and kissed it then turned and headed for the men’s room.

He heard Ilona call for the waiter and ask what the special was for the day. Spike heard the waiter answer and hoped Ilona would pass on the eel. If he didn’t get that lucky, he could always use the excuse that vampires never really eat much. Something about the fish made Spike flash back to some bad memories of Angelus.

In the men’s room, Spike quickly reached behind the tank and found the small vial with a sedative that Dawn had hidden earlier for his use. Spike had suspected that there might be magic at the office that could detect anything he’d try to bring there. By drugging the wine here at the restaurant and making sure Ilona had enough of it, Spike hoped the drug whould begin to work around the time he got Ilona back to her
apartment. All any of her employees might see would be a slightly tipsy CEO and her affectionate date headed upstairs for a bit of amore.

Dinner turned out to be surprisingly tasty and the conversation remained light and flirty throughout. Ilona had been divorced around the
time she had been promoted to CEO of the local Wolfram & Hart branch a few years ago. All her time had been devoted to pleasing her bosses and proving herself to them. She was rather starved for the attention Spike
lavished on her. In fact, he was beginning to feel like a right bastard for stringing her along like this. Well, it was only one date, no harm in that. Besides, he was going to let her down easily when his mission was completed.

He idly wondered if he should try to play matchmaker with that stuffy git Giles. Ilona would loosen him right up and both of them could use a good shagging. Spike was startled when he realized Ilona was looking at him, clearly waiting for a response to something she had asked.

"Sorry, wool gathering. I’m afraid I was imagining how you’d look in your own environment. Got caught up in visions of satin and such. Did you ask
something, love?"

‘Ah, yes, you would like the satin. Such a tactile being you are! Something soft and seductive would be just the thing. I believe I have such a thing just waiting for appreciative eyes. Maybe you would like a
nightcap at my apartment, no? What I had asked was if you were pleased with your hotel accommodations. The place is so very small, but I am sure it is fine. Of course if it is not, other arrangements can be made." Ilona ran her hand up Spike’s left arm and her thumb caressed his sensitive neck.

"The hotel’s been fine. Don’t need much. Of course, other places might have more to offer, I’m sure", he replied with a sexy smile. Spike noted that Ilona seemed to be fully aware of just where he was staying. He wondered if she was having him followed out of suspicion or if it was standard with W&H to distrust everyone. She seemed to be trusting, but he didn’t dare mess this up. He’d only have the one chance.

They headed for her apartment with Spike’s arm around Ilona. She was beginning to show the first signs of the drug and he didn’t want to have to carry her in. Better she appear tipsy to any employee who might be watching.

"Scusi!" Ilona giggled as she stumbled slightly, pushing her firm body tightly against him as he helped keep her from falling. "I don’t understand. The vino seems to be making my legs like the jelly. Maybe it’s the oh so handsome man I am with and not the vino at all, eh? So nice to have such strong arms to steady me though. Grazie. You are so very fit, like one of our famous marble statues. I should like to become a sculptor and have you to pose for me one day."

"I can think of other uses for those lovely hands, Ilona. You don’t have to wait to use them either. Why not instead of making art,we make music?", Spike replied suggestively. He pulled her a bit closer as
they walked and used his hand to make small caressing movements on the side of her stomach.

Spike had spent endless hours roaming the building in L.A. as a ghost. He knew every nook and cranny in detail. The layout of the Roman office looked identical, on the surface at least. Spike was counting on it being more than superficially similar. He needed to get to the file room without being noticed or stopped.

Angel’s flat in L.A. had a private stairwell that led from the executive apartment to many areas of the office, including the file room. There would be no security with prying eyes to see him enter the room from that entrance. Lack of imagination on the part of W&H architects was the
best hope he had and he was gambling all on that being the case.

By the time they entered her apartment, Ilona was becoming drowsy. Spike helped her to the couch and knelt to take off her shoes for her before sitting next to the still-conscious woman. He drew her feet to his lap
and began a slow, sensuous massage to further her relaxation and his plans. She closed her eyes and moaned in pleasure at his touch.

"So gentle, the hands of a killer", she murmured. Her head fell back onto the pillowed armrest of the couch as the drug claimed her.

"Night-night, love. You’ll wake up just fine. Have sweet dreams." Spike covered his date with a velvet throw he found on the back of an overstuffed leather chair in the corner of the room and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead.

"Right then, off to work with me now." He went to the panel where the door to the passage had been located in L.A. It was there, just as he had counted on it being. Spike decided to detour into the room with the security equipment to disable the one camera that should be located in the file room. It wasn’t likely to be noticed at this hour and the guard would probably just assume a malfunction that could wait, but Spike was taking no chances. The mission was too important.