No bet

"Two cokes."

Xander just stared at Buffy. After more then thirty seconds of just staring in silence he asked in his most deadpan voice, "really?"

Buffy giggled and made a show out of patting down her pants pockets. "C'Mon, Xand, I'm just a poor freshwoman in college. Not exactly rolling in the dough, y'know. Two cokes is me splurging. "

"Ah-huh." Xander kept his voice deadpan and rolled his eyes.

Buffy kept smirking and chortled a bit as she watched him.

"So, no bet is what your saying." Xander said when she finally calmed down.

"No betting." Buffy agreed. "Besides how much were you going to bet with your deep pockets, Mr. Working Man?"

Xander groaned, "Don't remind me of work. Please."

Buffy quirked her eyebrows and made a questioning noise.

"Kinda unemployed what with the caveman beer, the bar burning down and all that jazz, Buff." Xander explained.

Buffy winced, "Uhm, sorry?" She said with uncertainty.

"Not exactly, strictly speaking, your fault Buff. My life is just one long slow motion car crash right now. And this is just another part of that accident. Unemployed, paying rent to live in my parents basement and with no love life to speak of." Xander sounded depressed as he finished his sentence.

Buffy decided to change the subject. "So how bout them Dodgers."

Xander chuffed and gave a grin at his friend, "Yeah, how bout them Dodgers."

"Sorry." Buffy said with a sympathetic wince.

"I've got only two glimmers of hope at the moment. I've got two interviews tomorrow. Tomas, my barber needs help around his shop and if I do good there that might lead to an apprenticeship and eventually being a barber. Or the other job which is a local construction company is hiring." Xander mimed weigh scales with his hands. "A job I dont want that could be easy for bad pay or a job with back breaking labor for semi reasonable pay."

"People always need a haircut." Buffy offered.

"Would you let me cut your hair?" He asked, leaning in toward Buffy.

Buffy defensively pulled back and unenthusiastically murmurred, "Ummmm....my hair specifically?"

"Exactly." Xander nodded his head.

"It's going to be okay, Xander." Buffy tried to be supportive.

"Sure. Because I'm just a natural born hair stylist with a golden touch." Xander harrumphed. "Not to mention a genuis when it comes to construction and building and demolition, a true diamond in the rough when it comes to architecture."

Buffy gave him a small pat on the back, "The demolition part is true. You did orchestrate the Sunydale High blowing up. It killed the Mayor real good, invulnerable demon form be damned."

"Mmm, my true calling in life, explosives." Xander nodded his head sagely. "And demon hunting."

"Sadly not a growth market with lots of high paying jobs." Buffy grumbled.

"Yeah." Xander nodded his head.

Buffy shook her head, "Well, this evening has taken a depressing turn."

"Sorry. Didnt mean to bring the mood down." Xander hunched his shoulders.

"Things'll get better." Buffy said, "Or at least that's what Mom and Giles say."

Xander snorted, "Sure, because we're suddenly going to stumble across the resting place of D.B. Cooper with all the money he had on him when he disappeared and be rich."

Buffy laughed. That laugh turned into a squawk as the ground gave out under her and she plummeted down into a dark hole in the ground.

"Buffy!" Xander shouted as he crouched down and examined the hole that had suddenly swallowed his friend. "You okay? Are you being attacked?"

Buffy shouted up after a minute. "I'm okay. Nothing down here but me. I don't see anything but dark in all directions. Looks like one of the caves that the Nightlife use to get around. Tho, not exactly a high traffic area by the looks of it, I dont see any other foot prints but mine."

"Do you see a way out or can you use your superjump to get back up here?"

"Hold on. I think I see something." Buffy called out.

Xander waited, sparing a second to look around for something large enough to put down the hole to use to get Buffy out. No tree branch long enough, no vines, certainly no rope. After more than a minute of waiting he shouted down "Buff, you okay down here?"

"I found money." Buffy called back after a minute. "A fifty and then another fifty. Like... twenty feet apart... like right in the middle of the cave floor, right out in the open."

"That's... weird."

"Like breadcrumbs leaving a trail." Buffy called up.

"Trail to what?"

"A trap?" Buffy answered.

"Thats all we need." Xander grumbled.

"I'm going to explore a little more." Buffy shouted up. "Follow the money."

"Keep your guard up. Be alert. Use all your slayer powers to the max." Xander tried to be cautious but also supportive.

"Five minutes and I'll be back." Buffy promised.

Five agonizing minutes later Buffy's voice came out of the dark hole, "Xander, your not going to belive this."

"Believe what?"

An old muddy bag came hurtling out of the hole in the ground and when it landed with a thud loose money spilled out of the old bag. Lots of money.

Xander stared at it with wide eyes. "You gotta be fucking kidding me."

"I found even more money than that. Like, a lot more." Buffy called out. "Also a dead body. Long dead. Just a skeleton really. With decaying clothes and no id."

"You got to be fucking kidding me." Xander repeated.

"I'm not saying it's DB Cooper. Buuuuut..."

Xander looked at the bag full of money. Then down at the hole in the ground. "Uh, Buffy...."

"Yeah, I'm freaked out too. What you said came true. So do me a favor and don't say anything else right now. Whatever is causing this to happen... let's not give it more ammo."

"Good idea." Xander mimed locking his lips.