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Spoilers: None really.  Now and forever: No Spuffy!

Summary: The Centre wants Willow.  Will Jarod be able to save her?

Rating: PG-13

 

 

    Buffy stared at Willow in disbelief.  "You have got to be kidding me!"

 

    Willow shook her head. "I'm not.  Jarod really was telling the truth.  Spike and I saw the proof."

 

    "Let me get this straight," Xander cut in, a confused look on his face. "Robert told us that Jarod was some evil  dangerous guy.  Then Jarod comes and tells us that Robert is a liar.  At first you believe Robert.  Then Jarod shows  you video of all these horrible things that Robert and The Centre did.  You tell Jarod that you believe him.  Then you see Robert and tell him that you lied to Jarod because you were afraid he would hurt you.  But really THAT was a  lie.  You do believe Jarod, but you're afraid of Robert, and also you want to get revenge on him, which Jarod is going to help you do."

 

    Willow was silent for a moment, playing back Xander's ramblings in her head. "Yeah, that's right."

 

    "This is insane."

 

    Giles looked up from the counter of the Magic Box.  "I'm afraid I'll have to agree with Xander on this.  This entire situation is much to complicated. I can't image all of this turning out well.  I just pray the whole thing doesn't get worse."

 

    "I hope his sister doesn't complicate things," Anya said.

 

    Silence fell over the store, as everyone looked at Anya.

 

    "Whose sister?"  Willow finally asked.

 

    "Robert's," Anya explained.  "She and two men came in looking for Robert earlier.  I directed them to his hotel.  They didn't purchase anything."

 

    Giles removed his glasses and began cleaning them,  "Anya, is there a particular reason you didn't mention this before?"

 

    Anya shrugged, "Well, the woman said she wanted to surprise Robert.  And what with the whole 'it turns out Robert is evil' thing, it kind of slipped my mind."

 

    Buffy impatiently paced the room.  "Do you really have to do this complicated revenge thing?  Couldn't I jut go beat the living crap out of him?"

 

    Dawn raised her hand. "I second the the beat the crap out of him plan."

 

    "I've gotta back that plan as well," Xander said.

 

    "No," Willow said firmly, resolve face in place.  "I'm going with the plan Jarod and I came up with.  Robert needs to pay for what he did. Both to me, and to Jarod."

 

    Buffy sighed.  She'd rather just hit the guy with a big stick, but there was no fighting Willow's resolve face.  "Okay, so what do we do next?"

 

    Willow stood up from the table, grabbing her coat off the back of her chair.  "I'm going to go see Jarod and ask him about Robert's sister.  I want to know exactly what we're dealing with.

 

 

 

---------------

 

 

    Mr. Lyle smiled as he unlocked his hotel room door.  Everything was going perfectly.  When this was all over, he would be handsomely rewarded by the Triumvirate.  He couldn't believe how smoothly things were going.  He opened the door, and stopped dead in his tracks.

 

    "Parker."

 

    The leggy brunette smiled from her seat on the bed. "Hello, Lyle.  What, no hug for your sister?"

 

     Lyle glared at the woman who sat on his bed, then glanced around the room to see both Sydney and Broots.  He sighed, and looked back to his sister.  "What are you doing here?"

 

    Miss Parker smirked. "Oh, I'm just doing my job. You know, capturing Jarod?  He's here in town."

 

    "I know," Mr. Lyle spoke through gritted teeth.

 

    Parker raised an eyebrow,  "Really?  Well, that's interesting." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "I just assumed you didn't know.  After all, you didn't contact anyone at The Centre to let them know what was going on."

 

    "I have it under control."

 

    Sydney spoke up, "It seems that if you really had it under control Jarod would be in custody all ready.  Surely you don't think you can capturing him by yourself?"

 

    Miss Parker stood up, "But you don't just want to have Jarod captured, do you?  You want to make sure you get all the credit for it.  I'm not going to let you screw this up, Lyle.  There's no way in hell you're going to get Jarod by yourself.  You should have had a sweeper team here weeks ago.  If he gets away this time, I'm going to make sure that you take all the blame for it."

 

    A cocky grin spread across Lyle's face. "Come off it, Sis.  You've lost Jarod more times than I can count.  You and your gang should have caught him several times over by now.  I have another important project going on here and you better stay out of the way.  We wouldn't want you getting hurt."

 

    Miss Parker moved towards Mr. Lyle until they were standing toe to toe.  She looked directly into his eyes, wearing a grin that matched his. "Well, I guess we're just going to have to work together than aren't we?"

 

    Behind the pair, Sydney and Broots exchanged a glance.  Parker saying she would strike a deal with her brother couldn't be a good sign.  They both knew there was no way she'd actually do anything to help Lyle, and wondered what exactly she had up her sleeve.  Whatever it was it was bound to be dangerous, Lyle wasn't the type of guy you wanted to mess with. 

 

    Mr. Lyle looked into his sister's face, trying to get a read on her thoughts.  "Well, I guess we're going to be  partners"