"Can we get a slushie and some beef jerky?"

"Hey, let's play a travel game! I spy..."

Natasha's heart sunk in her chest when she saw the sign that said how many miles there were to the Mexican border. She hoped Lothar would be able to pinpoint the Raptor's location quickly. Otherwise, she was killing somebody.

"So how'd a nice girl like you end up in a place like this?" Croc asked.

Anya had heard that line a million times, but the Croc was making it over-the-top sleazy, which kind of made her grin.

"I Liked the ambiance."

Johan looked over at them.

“Would you two like me to leave? Or maybe you'd like to get a room?"

Croc had been picking at Anya all morning like a cat at its food, probably realizing that this mouse had teeth of its own.

"What? Just makin' conversation." He stopped suddenly. They had arrived at what had once been the Dark One's headquarters. Strangely, there was no police tape around the scene. It was as if the human race didn't want to acknowledge a place seeped in evil.

"This was it wasn't it?"

"Yep," Anya said.

"Still creeps me out," Johan said. Coming from a demon that was born of shadows, that was saying something.

"And one girl beat it?" Croc replied. He had heard rumblings from the mystical forces in the area, and knew that whatever had been here had put great strain on the world.

“Yep." Anya was more than a little proud and slightly awed by what her friend had done.

“Darn thing must've damn near killed ‘er," Croc said.

“Almost did something a lot worse than kill her," Anya replied.

Croc looked around. Then he quickly vanished, disappearing into a ripple of . . . nothing. It was as if the air shimmered, then he was gone.

"That was interesting," Johan said.

Then, Anya felt someone pinching her butt. She turned to slap the intruder, but no one was there.

“Okay smartass, show yourself."

A pair of eyes attached to a translucent face appeared in front of her. The lines of the face seemed to stretch and fade. It was almost like Croc was pushing against plastic wrap, and only the parts of him that were closest were visible. The rest faded into obscurity.

Finally, he pushed himself back into the Earth dimension.

“Cool trick," Anya said pleasantly, and then slapped him.