SUMMARY: Sometimes, just when you thought you had everything figured out, you realize that you know nothing. And that's exactly what Spike is about to find out when going to Italy to warn his former lover of impending doom.

RATING: NC-17

DISCLAIMER: BTVS is property of Joss Whedon. I own nothing.

SPOILERS: Inspired by the first book of the comics Buffy season 8. You don't need to have read it to understand what's going on, but it will spoil you if you haven't read it yet.

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CHAPTER ONE: City of lights, city of sins

The inky sky above Sin City was sprinkled with stars that could not compete with the bright lights illuminating the streets. But who had time to look up at the sky anyway? Too much to look at, things to do, places to be, money to lose. Thousands upon thousands of tourists navigating the crowded sidewalks either to go from one casino to another hoping their luck would change, or simply taking in the extravagant and outrageous beauty of the multimillion dollar hotels. Of course, all of this was done while sipping on some alcoholic beverage from a tacky oversized plastic sippy cup for adult.

But while the locals were busy giving fake smiles and taking people's money, and the tourists were busy enjoying the show girls, the flashing lights and losing their money, a fight was raging in one of the very few corners the light couldn't reach.

The vampire dropped down just in time to avoid being decapitated, the sharp edge of the sword grazing his bleached blonde hair.

"Hey! Watch the hair, mate." He said before knocking the lizard-like demon off his feet with one swoop of his leg.

Three of the demons were already dead, their bodies littering the alley, but the last two were putting up a fight.

"Might as well give up now you wanker." Spike said through clenched teeth. He stood up from his crouching position and with a snap kick, he finally managed to knock the weapon out of the demon's clawed hand. "I fought a dragon not too long ago, all by myself--mostly--and came out of the fight in one piece. You don't stand a chance in hell."

A laugh could be heard coming from somewhere behind the vampire. A short, yet incredibly agile demon was fighting the remaining lizard. His facial features were humanlike, but his skin was yellow and he sported spiky blue hair that seemed to shimmer in the darkness of the alley. His eyes matched the shade of his hair.

"Stop bragging, Spike, we all know you got lucky. No one fights a dragon and lives to tell the tale, especially not someone as flammable as you, buddy."

"I bloody well did, you soddin' wanker!" Spike yelled out indignantly.

Another snicker came from his friend. "Whatever you say."

They were in a neighborhood neglected by tourists and inhabited mostly by seedy people. Whores, pimps, gangsters, and most of all, demons. They even had a casino for demons. The police in Vegas turned a blind eye, the way Sunnydale police had back in the old days of the Hellmouth. They already had enough to worry about without starting a war against the increasingly large demon population.

Spike took his frustration out on the demon he was fighting. He punched him hard enough to make him fly back and land on his ass. Then he picked up the abandoned sword and swiftly impaled the scaly demon. Spike pulled the now bloody weapon out of the body, turned around, and beheaded the one his friend was fighting.

"Hey! I was winning..." His friend Lazarus complained.

"It was taking too long. I need a drink."

"Wanna go to Caritas?"

"Yeah, sure. But I'm still pissed at Lorne. Last time, he had me pay for my drinks. Can you believe that? After everything we've been through together?"

"Spike, buddy, if Lorne let you drink on the house every time you go there, soon he’ll go bankrupt and there won‘t be ‘house‘ anymore."

"Yeah well, at the price he charges for a drink, I seriously doubt that."

The blonde vampire inspected with a critical eye the sword left behind by the now dead demon. The low quality heavy steel and lack of fancy decoration made him frown in disdain and discard it in the nearest dumpster.

"Cheap bastards couldn't even afford a real sword. I provide a free service to the population, you'd think I'd at least get a little something out of it. The dead wankers could at least have the decency to leave good weapons behind after they die. Am I asking for too much?"

"I know, how rude!" Lazarus mocked his friend.

"Oh sod off."

They walked around the casino and made their way to the front door. Caritas was inside the casino. You had to walk pass the poker tables to get there, which most of the time made it hard for Spike to actually reach the bar. But tonight, Lazarus really wanted to drink so as soon as he noticed Spike eyeing the poker tables with longing, he grabbed him by the sleeve of his duster and forced him to keep walking.

"Let go of me, you stupid git. You're gonna damage the coat."

"No gambling tonight. I'm broke and I need to talk to you about something."

"Can't you watch and talk while I gamble? I‘ll even give you my free drink."

"No. Let's go."

They walked into the new and improved Caritas, third business attempt for Lorne, and his pride and joy. After working at a demon bar for a few months after he arrived in Las Vegas, the flamboyant demon was happy to be his own boss again.

"Spike, cup cake! So nice to see you!.. Please don't empty my bar." He said, greeting the vampire warmly. "I'd hug you but that coat looks dirty."

"Better dirty than pink." Spike commented, slightly insulted.

"Hot pink does wonder for my complexion, honey bunch. " Lorne smoothed down imaginary wrinkles on his extremely flashy jacket. "A friend of yours is here, Spike. The one with the little ears... Oh he's a sweetheart this one. Clem, isn't that his name?"

"Yeah. Where is he?"

"Karaoke section upstairs. I put him in a booth. Just look for the table loaded with snacks."

"Thanks, mate."

As predicted, Clem was sitting alone at a table with an assortment of snack food in front of him. Chips, dips, wings, peanuts, nachos, potato skins... If it was on the appetizer menu, he had it on the table. The floppy eared demon saw his friends and waved at them with enthusiasm.

They took a seat on the bench in front of Clem.

"Isn't this place great? They have the best food. And Lorne is so nice; he gave me free beer with my food."

Lazarus laughed at that. "He usually offers a free appetizer to his good customers when they've been drinking a lot, but in your case, I guess it was a smarter business move to offer free beer."

Clem paused with a wing half way to his mouth and looked thoughtful for a moment. "Yes, I guess I do eat a lot more than I drink. Wow, he's nice and smart. Good for him."

Spike looked at Lazarus. "Don't worry, it's normal. The bloke is always this happy."

"So I guess it's true what they say about opposites attracting each other. That would explain why you two are friends, Mister Gloom and Doom."

"He is rather moody, isn't he?" Clem commented. "Spike, we're in the best city in the world so have a wing and cheer up."

The vampire gave his old friend a half smile and reached for the spicy wings. "I'll have a wing, but don't expect me to turn into a member of the pep squad any time soon. It would ruin my reputation."

Spike ordered beers for both him and Laz, then sat back. "What did you want to talk about, mate? And it better not be about investing in that soddin' pyramid scam of yours again. Not interested. I like my money where it is... in my pocket or on a poker table waiting to get back in my pocket with some new friends."

"It's not a scam, it a genuine business opportunity. And no, that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. It's about Sunnydale actually."

Sunnydale. Spike hadn't thought of Sunnydale for months. Although, can you really say you're not thinking of something if you're thinking of not thinking of something? He'd made a conscious effort to leave that behind. In fact, he had closed the door on that part of his past a few months ago, during a trip to Rome. Until then, he'd still had some hope that he didn't really have to move on. While in the plane with Angel on their way to Rome to see Buffy, Spike had secretly fantasized that he'd come face to face with the love of his unlife, she'd get all happy and emotional after thinking for months that he was dead, and would open her arms to him. Then he'd be back where he belonged, with her and the Sunnydale gang. But seeing for himself that Buffy had already forgotten about him and was enjoying life in the arms of that bloody poofter the Immortal, had been the slap in the face he needed in order to force himself to turn the page. So that‘s what he spent the last few months trying to do.

Eventually, he'd be able to think of everything that happened in Sunnydale with nothing but some nostalgia, but he hadn't reached that point yet. It was still too raw and painful. A big part of his unbeating heart had been buried in that crater and he needed time to heal.

Spike was doing good these days. He’d started his life in Las Vegas with a clean slate and a brand new reputation to build. Things weren’t perfect, but good enough not to complain. He was feared and respected again, his old mate Clem had shown up in town two weeks ago, about two weeks after he got there himself. Spike had been stuck in a small town outside of Vegas for a while, trapped in an asylum. But that was another long and complicated story he’d rather forget about. Now that he was here in Vegas, he had new friends and contacts in the demon community, and everybody knew who he was. He had the respect he had craved for so long and wasn’t stuck in his sire’s shadow anymore. If only he didn't have these nightmares of the Immortal mocking him almost every day, things would be just fine. And that's of course when he didn't dream of an entire city swallowing him up. Sunnydale.

"Spike?" Lazarus glanced briefly at Clem, obviously wondering if he should talk about Sunnydale in front of the other demon.

Lazarus had only met Clem recently. He never asked who he was and where he came from. All he knew is that the friendly demon with a penchant for processed food and kittens was important to Spike and seeing him had put a smile on the moody vampire's face. That's all he needed to know to welcome Clem to Vegas with open arms.

"Clem knows what happened in Sunnyhell. He was there for most of it. But you should know that it's not a topic that puts me in a happy shiny kinda mood, mate. And I don't see what you could say that would be news to me. We fought, I destroyed it, I died, and didn't even get a lousy T-Shirt for my trouble. All that's left now is a crater. So tell me, what could you possibly add to the story to make it even more interesting?"

The waitress, a sweet girl from Pylea, a cousin of Lorne who took the transdimensional trip only a month ago, brought them their beers with a charming smile. Like every other waitress in the bar, she had an obvious crush on Spike. Probably because Lorne had warned her against the bad boy vampire. Women have a tendency to fall for troubled men.

"There you go, Spike. Ice cold the way you like it. Let me know if you want anything else, I'll be around."

The vampire smirked and winked at the girl. "Thanks pet, appreciate it."

He watched the girl giggling as she walked away, then he returned to the conversation at hand.

"Well?" Spike prompted his friend who was busy taking a swig of his beer. Clem was focusing all his attention on him as well, curious as he was about anything related to Sunnydale. He‘d miss the big show down and hadn‘t been back there since.

"Have you been there lately?" Lazarus finally said cryptically.

Spike was starting to lose patience. "No, I haven't bloody been there since I died, lost my girl and the only family I've known. Not too fond of the memories if you get my drift. Will you get to the point already?"

"Sorry. It's just that I was talking to my cousin Romulus yesterday..."

Spike gave his friend an incredulous look. "Bleedin' hell, mate, who gave you these nancy names?"

"Shut up. These names have been in my family dating back to the Roman Empire. Nothing wrong with our names... Spike. And can we get back on topic, please? I was saying something important here."

"Sorry, go on. What about your cousin Romulus?" Spike asked with a smirk.

Clem chuckled and put a handful of BBQ peanuts in his mouth.

"Romulus said that he knows a guy who thought of a good way to make money. He wanted to go to the Hellmouth and dig a little. See if he could find stuff he could sell on eBay. Sunnydale memorabilia or something."

Spike's face darkened considerably. "You're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting, are you? If you like being alive, you'll stop talking right now."

"Yes, Lazarus," Clem chimed in "I don't think you should continue with your story. I doubt Spike will be interested to go back to Sunnydale, especially not to dig out whatever got buried there. It's a little creepy, even for a vampire, don't you think?"

Laz looked clueless for a second before his eyes widened in understanding. "Oh, no! That's not... I didn't mean..." He shook his head and then took another swallow of his beer. "That was just to explain why the guy went there, but it wasn't the point of my story. What I meant to say is that he never made it to the digging part. He got freaked out and turned back around."

That definitely got Spike's attention. "What do you mean he got freaked out? What's going on there? Did it reopen?"

"Military. Lots of little G.I. Joe guys milling around, tents everywhere, helicopters flying overhead. The military even started digging. And that guy, he gave my cousin a name..."

"What name?" Spike almost growled.

"Buffy Summers."

"What? How do they know her? Why the bleedin' hell were they talking about her?"

"I have no idea, Spike. But the way he was talking, it wasn't a good thing. Like they were blaming her for what happened. Sounded like they were doing some research on her or something. Apparently, my cousin’s friend didn't stick around long enough to find out more, but that's what he said."

Spike looked thoughtful for a moment, sipping his beer and looking off in the distance. Lazarus and Clem exchanged a worried glance. Finally, Spike spoke up.

"I guess that means I'm going back to the Hellmouth then." He commented, sounding anything but cheerful.

Going back to where everything had started and ended was the last thing he wanted to do. But if the US military was after Buffy, he didn't have a choice. He had to find out what was going on, and find a way to warn her. Maybe it was true that she had never loved him even though "I love you" had been her last words to him. But he did love her, and always would; whether she returned the feelings or not did not matter. And he always looked after the ones he loved.

"I'll go with you." Lazarus told Spike. "I'll watch your back."

"I'll go too." Clem added almost hesitantly. "I'm not the most courageous guy around, but I'm really curious to see what it looks like now. It used to be my home town. I was born and raised on the Hellmouth and I kinda miss it."

"Not much to see, mate. I was told by my poofter of a sire that it's nothing but a huge hole in the ground. He saw it a couple of days after it all happened. He went back with the watcher to make sure that everything was in order and there wasn't any activity of the Hellmouth kind going on. But if you two want to come, fine. Just don't get in the way."

He stood up. "Let's go."

"Uh, Spike?"

He turned around to look questioningly at Clem.

"Unless you wanna fry, I'd say we wait until tonight. It's 4am. The sun will rise before we get there."

Spike smirked. "You haven't seen my new ride yet, have you?"

Lazarus rolled his eyes. "Here we go again. The car. The goddamn stupid car, apple of his eye, love of his life... pain in my ass."

"Hey! Don't talk rubbish about MY car you wanker."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you won it at a poker game against your 'hair gel addict poofter sire', or 'Peaches', whatever, fair and square. We know."

"He doesn't." Spike turned to Clem, a glimmer of excitement in his eye. "It was bloody brilliant, mate. You should have been there. God, the look on his face..."

"Let’s tell him the story during the three hours drive to the crater, shall we?" Laz asked Spike hopefully, knowing that if he started telling the story now, they would still be there in the afternoon.

"All right. Let's go back to bloody Sunnyhell."

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CHAPTER TWO: Digging for the truth

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