Title: Running
Author: Nodakskip
Beta by: Theo
Rated: PG-13, apart from one f-word.
Disclaimer: All the characters in the different TV universes belong to their various owners, world without end, whatever.
Author notes: Timelines are screwed mostly in Charmed. It is early mid season 6 for Charmed. As for Buffy, school started the first week of September rather then the end of the month. Thus Buffy didn't come back to Sunnydale till a few weeks later.
Symbols: "" means conversation, // means thoughts.
Category: Charmed/Buffy/Angel Crossover
Summary: Cordelia takes Xander along after she discovers some shocking information about her family.
---
Chase Mansion, Sunnydale, California
Friday, September 25th 1998
8:34 pm
"I have a confession to make," Cordelia Chase told her boyfriend across the small, candle-lit table. "I tried to cook everything myself...but eventually I had to order out, since I kind of set the kitchen on fire."
Xander Harris snorted with laughter. "Kind of figured that out already, sweetheart. You even had trouble with the chips and dips gig back in January, remember?"
His girlfriend got up and took his hand, leading him into the sitting room. "But at least I tried, I mean me…manual labor. You should be in awe."
He looked at her ass for a quick second. "I always am, Cor." Then Xander refocused on her face, "Though I don't know what I did to deserve a romantic candle-lit dinner."
As he sat down on the nearest leather chair, she went to the bar and poured drinks. "Hey, I can do nice things sometimes…just don't tell anyone."
When he saw the wine glasses Xander looked concerned. "Ah, wine? Cordy, honey, I don't know..."
"Oh, please!" she scoffed. "Like I'd ever give you something like that. I've met your father, remember? You're never going to have anything even remotely approaching alcohol, as long as you're with me. This is grapefruit juice."
"Well, okay then." Xander took the glass from her with great relief.
Cordelia sat on the arm of the chair. "I have something else to confess, Xander, dinner wasn't the only reason I had you come over tonight."
Harris raised a teasing eyebrow. "Well, you know how the ladies just can't keep their hands off me…" he said as he took a deep gulp of his drink.
"Oh, like I'm the only one with grabby hands?" Cordy teased back. Then her face took on a more serious look. "No, I mean tonight is something I've been planning for almost two weeks now."
Seeing her face, Xander almost had a heart attack. /Oh my God. Her parents aren't here, the maid has the night off - does that means she wants for us to have sex? I think so. Me and her. Naked Cordy. Naked Xander. Woo-hoo, I'm gonna score! Oh, thank you God!/ "Cor?" was the only thing Harris said though.
Cordy moved his hair away to look into his eyes. "Sorry I had to do it like this, honey, but I have no other choice."
/Wait a minute, that doesn't sound like she's talking about sex!/ "Do whaaaa…" Xander started to say before the world started spinning.
Cordelia caught his glass before it spilled onto his clothes as Xander collapsed, out cold. After checking to see he really was unconscious, she pulled out a small cell phone, not her normal one which her parents knew about, and after dialing a number from memory she spoke into it. "He's out like a light."
A scant few minutes later Amy Madison came in through the front door. "I told you it would work." She handed Cordelia a small glass vial. "Just wave this under his nose, and hey presto it'll wake him up just like that."
Cordelia nodded as she stuffed it into her pocket. "Okay, thanks."
Amy looked at her companion. "You okay?"
"Not sure what I'm more concerned about," Cordy admitted. "My parents, or his reaction when he learns I actually drugged him."
Amy came over to her. "You're doing the right thing."
Cordelia sighed. "Yeah, better to run for my life now rather than end up the brain-dead mother of something that not even the Slayer can kill..."
----
Halliwell Manor, San Francisco, California
Saturday, September 26th 1998
6:25 am
"Alright, alright…keep your shirt on!" Phoebe Halliwell called as she came down the stairs in her pajamas.
As the doorbell kept ringing, Paige came down as well. "Ya think it's a demon?"
"No," Phoebe sighed. "Demons don't knock on the door, they always blast it down with an energy ball. We probably just forgot to pay the paperboy."
Phoebe pulled open the door to find a very annoyed teenaged girl. "Yes?"
The girl looked her over carefully. "You're Phoebe Halliwell, right? One of the Charmed Ones?"
Without even blinking, Phoebe shook her head. "You may have my name right, but I never heard of any Charmed Ones."
The brunette teenager just looked at her like she was retarded. "So, you're not the Phoebe Halliwell that was born from the line of Melinda Warren?" Looking past her, the newcomer added, "And that's not Paige Matthews, your unknown sister 'til a little while ago? The one that your mother had to have an illicit affair with her whitelighter in order to be born?"
The two sisters shared a look. "Who are you?" Phoebe demanded, giving up the act.
"I'm Cordelia Chase, of course," the dark-haired girl replied impatiently. "Look, I know it's really early in the morning, but I just drove for over six hours straight in order to get here…all the while hoping like hell my parents didn't decide to come home a day earlier than they said they would. Long story short, I need your help…or else in a few years, I'm dead after I give birth to something that'll take over the world - and then eat practically everyone in it."
---
The Manor sitting room
A few minutes later
Chris Perry orbed in with the unconscious Xander, who'd been stashed in Cordelia's car parked outside on Prescott Lane, and placed him on one of the sofas. "Okay. Now does someone want to fill me in on what's happening here?"
"I wouldn't mind knowing that myself," Piper said as she fixed her robe. "Starting with who he is, and how the hell you know who we are?"
"This is my boyfriend, Xander Harris," Cordelia told them as she checked on her significant other. "I kind of gave him a magic potion to get him to sleep for a while."
"And why would you do that?" Piper demanded.
Cordelia came over and sat across from the eldest sister. "Lemme start from the beginning. My name is Cordelia Chase, and I know the vampire Slayer in Sunnydale."
"The Hellmouth?" Chris asked at once. The man from the future looked rather shocked as he said, "You've got a lot of guts to live there."
"Uh, hang on. If I remember right," Paige said slowly. "The Slayer is a girl picked by some guys in England to get super-powers to fight demon-infested vampires…but what's a Hellmouth?"
"It's an area where the fabric of reality is torn and energy from Hell comes leaking through," Chris informed her. "It acts like a homing beacon to all sorts of demons and vampires."
"The entire town's full of them," Cordelia agreed. "They even have a bar for them."
"And why did we not know about this?" Phoebe asked Chris in annoyance. "It's kinda your job to keep us informed, remember?"
The man shrugged. "Sunnydale's been mostly quiet since the 1930's, and the California Hellmouth's only been fully active again for the last two years or so. And as she said, a Slayer is there. It's closed in my time…quite spectacularly, really."
"In your time?" Cordelia asked. The Hellmouth…is closed? As in no more? What the-? That wasn't in my parents' book!
"He's from the future," Paige told her.
"Oh," Cordelia said to that. "So, what, you know like winning lottery numbers and stuff like that?"
The others all stared at her, so Cordy wisely changed the subject. "Anyway, two years ago, Xander there got involved with Buffy, the Slayer, right away. I kind of joined their little club when I started dating him last year."
Paige looked at Cordelia's expensive designer clothes, and Xander's cheap-looking ones. "You and him? No offense, but you just don't strike me as his type."
Cordy nodded. "We really are polar opposites, and come from like totally different worlds. Without Sunnydale being like it is, we would have never even talked to each other besides sniping in the halls at school."
"With you so far," Piper prompted her.
Cordelia leaned back as she kept going. "Okay. My family's always been well off, I mean our mansion's so huge we have some rooms that I'm not even sure what they're for. But we were never that much of a family, for years I always saw more of my parents' credit cards than I did them. Then about two weeks ago, after we came back from the annual summer vacation out of the country…I stumbled by accident onto a secret room in the basement of the mansion."
A grimace. "For a while I couldn't get into it, since it had some magic shielding," the girl then told them. "But since it's the Hellmouth, I know a witch or two. I was able to get in eventually, and that's when I found out the whole sickening truth."
"And that would be the thing you mentioned before?" Phoebe asked.
"Yeah," Cordy said with a shudder. "My entire family, the Chases and my mom's relatives, for the last three hundred years they've been bred for magic and the right genetics…all in order for my mother to eventually give birth to me."
Paige looked at her, very surprised. "Are you saying that your entire family line was set up just so you could birth a demon?"
Cordelia nodded. "It sounds nuts I know, but there was this book on the altar in that secret room, it spelled everything out." She reached into her bag, pulled out the worn book and handed it to Piper. "It describes my entire life, which majorly freaked me out. When I would get conceived and where I would grow up, to meeting Xander and dating him – and what would happen after that."
Piper flipped through the book, noting how it was full of demonic symbols. She quickly jumped to the marked chapter. "A fluke?"
"That's what it would have been called," Cordelia told her. "Xander and a friend of his named Willow, they get hit by a lust spell from some demon called Skip. It would have happened a little more then a month from now, during Homecoming. Then I was supposed to discover them making out about six weeks later, and wind up with a rebar in my gut then almost die in hospital. Xander and I break up…then my parents lose everything thanks to the IRS, and I go to LA to find work as an actress."
"Only to find a vampire with a soul named Angel, and become his seer for the Powers That Be," Piper read out loud.
"A vampire...with a soul? I hate those," Chris said firmly, with a look of distaste. "And the Powers That Be are just low-level ascended beings, at best."
"Whatever. Here's the fun part; Angel somehow has a son that I screw, and then that bitch who hijacks my body goes around killing people in the name of world peace," Cordy added bitterly.
"Wait a minute. Are you talking about that thing called, uh…" he continually snapped his fingers to jog his memory. "Um, 'Jasmine' I think her name was?" Chris finally said.
"You know about her, Future Boy?" Cordy asked in surprise.
"Not from personal experience," Chris darted a momentary look towards Piper that no one noticed. "But I heard about all that, years afterwards. Believe me, you didn't want to be in southern California during that time. It was one of the marjorly bad events of 2003 that people really don't like to talk about."
"Okay, I guess now we know why you're here. But you've yet to explain the how," Paige said, after it became obvious Chris wasn't going to reveal anything more. "Mind telling me how exactly you learned about the Charmed Ones, if you're not a witch?"
Cordy sighed. "My friend's name is Amy Madison. Her mom was a witch too, her name was Catherine." She looked to Chris. "Ever heard of her?"
The man shook his head. "No. But that's not surprising; it sounds like she was someone long before my time."
"Well, the way I heard it, that crazy bitch went bad back in the Eighties and her whitelighter got his assignment revoked." Cordelia made a face over the memory of when Catherine-in-Amy had caused her to go blind, two years ago. "But Amy still rates one, only problem is since you guys can't tolerate being anywhere near a Hellmouth-"
"You got that right," Chris said. "It's not a great vacation spot for whitelighters."
"Anyway, that's why Amy's going to leave the Hellmouth after Graduation next year. So she did some digging into the craft, and heard about you guys on the magical grapevine. Then she passed the info onto me, and now here I am," Cordelia said in a rush.
"So, basically, you've run away from home," Piper remarked, looking at Phoebe. The middle sister scowled, reminded of her little trip to New York way back when. "Mind if I ask what exactly you were planning to do for school, or even money?"
"School, not so much a priority right now, what with everything else going on in my life," Cordelia growled. "And as for money, I got a friend of a friend to hack into the system and put some of the Chase family fortune into a bank account in the Cayman Islands that only I can access. I wasn't planning to mooch off of you three, if that was what you were implying."
All three Charmed Ones blushed with embarrassment. "So what's the deal with your boyfriend over there?" Chris gestured to the still-unconscious Xander.
"He's the only thing from Sunnydale that I didn't want to leave behind," Cordy said simply. "And this was the only way I could get around those two over-controlling friends of his putting their noses into my business." When she noticed Chris looking at Xander more closely she asked, "What?"
"Nothing. He just reminds me of someone I met once in my time, don't ask me who - I never even got a name," the guy told her, a weird expression on his face.
"Someone bad?" Phoebe asked him.
"No." Chris said, shaking his head. "Just a guy I met who had an eye patch, and a pretty hardass attitude."
----
Giles Residence, Sunnydale, California
The same time
The British man noticed the envelope that had been shoved under his front door as he started drinking his morning tea. "Cordelia?" Giles asked himself, as he wondered what the cheerleader would need to write a letter to him for.
He pulled out the letter and began to read, and shortly almost did a classic spit take with his tea. "Good Lord…if this is true, it explains everything." He got up and went to his phone, dialed a number from memory and spoke quickly. "Buffy, it's me Giles. Bring Willow and meet me at my place as soon as you can. We have a problem."
----
Halliwell Manor guest bedroom, San Francisco, California
A little later
Xander groaned as he came awake. "Ohh…what hit me?"
"Uh, technically, I did."
Harris turned around to see his girlfriend sitting on an old chair, in a very small bedroom. "You what?" Looking around he also asked, "Cordy, where are we? This place doesn't look like the mansion…it's too old, for starters."
"From the information I found," Cordelia told him. "It was rebuilt after the quake…the San Francisco earthquake."
Harris looked at her. "We're in San Francisco?!"
She came over and sat next to him on the bed. "Xander, I couldn't risk telling you about this back in Sunnydale, because you would have wanted to go to Buffy and Giles. And that would just have been a waste of time, since they couldn't help."
"Why not?" Harris asked her.
She sighed for a moment. "Xander…look, I found out my life is a lot like Buffy's, I have a destiny that was chosen for me."
"What, you just found you're Wonder Woman's secret daughter?" her boyfriend half-jokingly asked.
"No," the brunette girl replied. "Though I could fill that uniform out perfectly, if I do say so myself." After a beat Cordelia said, "I found out that my parents are demon worshippers…and I'm the sacrifice they intend to give up to their master."
Xander's mouth opened and closed as he tried to come up with a response. Even though he'd never gotten along well with the Chase parents, this was…unexpected. "Come again?"
Cordelia reached over to the small dresser and grabbed the stolen book. "I found this in their altar room. It details everything…our first kiss, our making out in the school broom closets, the love spell…and your cheating on me with Willow."
"WHAT? I never - I wouldn't cheat on you with Willow!" Xander said, upset. "For one thing she's with Oz, and second…she's Willow!"
Cordelia opened to the right page. "And on that night the Demon Servant called Skip," she started to read aloud, "Will cast a lust spell on the Human Boyfriend and the Witch. It will slowly grow in intensity until they are abducted by the one known as William the Bloody six weeks later…"
Xander took the book from her and kept reading. "During that night the Human Boyfriend and the Witch will surrender to their forbidden passion, and the Mother and the Werewolf will find them in each other's arms. The Mother will run from the site, and fall through the floor with a bar of iron in her gut...."
Xander couldn't read anymore. "This is impossible. It's, it's a fake, that's what it is! A bunch of lies!"
To convince him of the truth, Cordelia showed him various events listed in the book, then explaining how they would break up and she would lose all her money. Also how she would go to Los Angeles, and end up teaming with Angel, plus receiving the visions from Doyle before he died. Xander just gaped at her as she told him about how she would have sex with Angel's son and bring forth a former Power That Be.
After all that was shown to him in the book, and how accurate the tome had been so far, Harris leaned back in numb shock. "This is completely nuts."
Cordelia agreed with him. "It's more than nuts, Xander, it's insane even for people like us. But that's why I told you that telling Buffy and Willow everything wouldn't have accomplished jack. I'm still 17 years old, and no one would let me just walk out on or refuse this big grand destiny planned for me. For sure, not my parents. They own most of the damn town, remember?"
"Yeah, so you couldn't just hide in Giles's condo or whatever," Xander agreed. He got up and paced in the small room. "And you've known all this for two weeks now. Uh, not that I mean this the way it's gonna sound, but when you found out the truth…why didn't you just take off then? Why risk waiting to bring me along?"
"Because you're my boyfriend, for one," she told him. "The first one I've ever had serious feelings for. Plus, think about it, who would they go after first if I just vanished like that?"
"Your 'wrong side of the tracks' boyfriend," Harris instantly made the connection, recalling his not-so-pleasant talks with the elder Chases.
Cordelia nodded. "And it's not like we could go to the police. Hell, the cops shot up nearly the entire school trying to hit Buffy when Snyder blamed her for Kendra's death, remember? That was like totally illegal but they got away with it anyway! So there's no point trying anything through legal channels."
"So, what, then?" Harris asked her. "We just go to ground for the rest of our lives? Or at least 'til this thing is past, during 2004?"
She shook her head. "No, if we just hide like that we would never last. That Skip character would find me eventually, and he'd split us up somehow. Probably his boss would engineer the right circumstances and put a lust spell on me to screw Angel's future son when the time came, if worst came to worst."
"Angel comes back from Hell, and ends up having a son…" Xander said in disbelief. "That is just so wrong."
"Whatever. I'm going to lay it out for you here, Xander," Cordy told him. "I'm sorry for just taking you away from your best friends like that, but-"
"Hey," Harris interrupted her. "I'm not like joined at the hip with Buffy and Willow!"
Cordelia just gave him an amused glance. "Oh, puh-lease. What other guy do you know who's considered one of the girls like that?"
Xander briefly lowered his head, before looking her right in the eye. "I just feel like they're my family…given how my real one sucks beyond words."
Cordelia was smart enough not to comment on that, she just kept going. "Yeah. But according to the book I've been, uh, designed to have just one child…and only one. One that's supposed to be fathered by the miracle child, according to the book." She knew the next part would freak him out, and braced herself. "So there's only one thing I can do to be sure that I won't die before my 24th birthday as planned. I have to get pregnant and give birth before Angel's son is born." She smiled weakly at him. "Which, unless you want me to go pick up some guy in a bar, is the other reason why you're here."
Xander's eyes went huge. "What, are you shitting me?! Cordy! You're not – hell, I'm not even 18 years old yet. Neither of us are ready to have a kid, we're barely more than kids ourselves!"
"Hey, you think this is easy for ME!?" Cordy demanded. "I told you, it's the only way to be sure that Jasmine doesn't try to take over the world a few years from now! I don't want to have someone else's baby if I can avoid it, so I…I want you to get me knocked up." Before he could say anything she added, "But I'll understand if you won't stick around after it's born, assuming you're that desperate to go back to Sunnydale."
"Did, did you have Crazy Flakes for breakfast or something today?" Harris spluttered. "Cordelia, I thought you knew me better than that. You honestly think I'd just ditch you after you give birth to my kid!?" Xander asked in pure disbelief. "What is this, some movie from Lifetime where the guys are always the jackasses?"
Miss Chase tried to calm him down. "I'm not saying you're the type of guy who would just run off like that, but let's face it. I am asking you to give up your entire life, at least in a way."
Xander sighed as he sat down next to her. "Alright, assuming - just for the sake of argument, mind you - that I say yes to your little request. Sad fact is that on our own, and at our age, we simply can't give a baby everything it needs as well as live underneath the radar like that. So after it's born, I don't know – couldn't we just put it up for adoption or something? I mean, there have to be better families out there than ours!"
"No," Cordelia said with a shake of her head. "I've had two weeks to think about this. And like I said I can only have one baby, ever. I never told you this before, Xander, but I always wanted to be a mother someday. So I can't just give away the only child I'll ever have like that. For better or worse, I'm going to keep it. With or without you to help me raise it."
Xander gulped, absolutely certain that his tactless girlfriend meant every word she said.
-----
Giles Residence, Sunnydale, California
The same time
"Cordelia kidnapped Xander!?" Willow yelled.
Giles winced at the young woman's shrill voice. "From what she says in the letter, apparently the girl had no other choice. Her parents are preparing her for birthing a demon of great power. And as soon as they return to town and discover her disappearance…"
"They'll get the authorities to question us," Buffy said knowingly. "The police will talk to, like, everyone Cordy knows. And Xander woulda been the prime suspect, too, if she just vanished off the face of the earth like that." The Slayer shook her head, "Yeah, I can see where it'd make sense, well - at least from Cordelia's point of view."
"We have to find them," Willow said urgently. "Bring them back and protect Xander!"
"And Cordelia," Buffy added.
"Yes, and Cordelia," Willow nodded.
Giles looked at her. "Willow, um, it-it's not that simple. Say that we do succeed in finding them and bringing them back to Sunnydale…how exactly do you suggest we protect them from the retribution Cordelia's parents will seek to exact? We, we can't just hide those two in my guest bedroom, y'know." The phrase was eerily reminiscent of Xander's own conclusion far away in San Francisco, not long ago.
"But Giles-!" the redhead protested.
"No, hear me out; the, the police will search all of our homes, and several times too no doubt. With Cordelia's parents as rich and as influential as they are...well, err, not even the Council's intervention could help in a matter like this. E-even if they could be talked into helping people which they consider to be irrelevant associates of the Slayer anyway."
Giles wisely decided not to mention how he knew that there were some factions within the Watchers who would most likely decide to deal with the threat potential simply by putting a bullet in Cordelia's brain. He went on, "The problem is, th-this is a human matter; and we can't just go to court and say Cordelia's parents are demon worshippers without a great deal of proof. The, um, the American justice system doesn't work like that. So, for the moment, we must say nothing to no one. Look for Xander and Cordelia, yes, but in such a way as not to arouse suspicion or lead the enemy right to their door."
"Did she give you any ideas where they went in that letter?" the Slayer asked.
"No," Giles replied, before shaking his head. "But Cordelia did mention some things she's found out."
Willow was getting impatient. "Like what?"
"Like how we were wrong about this town, and the people in it," the Watcher told his two charges. "The police are not blind as we thought. They know we're on a Hellmouth…and what's more, they hide and cover up all the murders and supernatural events that take place in this town on orders from the Mayor. All things considered, he's most likely a bigger threat than even the Master was."
"Really? Huh. So who is the Mayor around here, anyway?" Buffy asked.
"Uh, Richard Wilkins the Third," Willow replied, looking rather stunned. "And he's a bad guy? I never woulda guessed!"
"We still have lots of time with regard to that, something called the Ascension is planned that I will be contacting the Council about soon," Giles said. "But for now, we have two more pressing matters. First, Cordelia described some disturbing things related to the new Slayer called after Kendra was killed, apparently her name's Faith..."
Buffy got a strange look when Giles looked directly at her. "And second, she also mentioned that Angel has come back to our dimension, or he will be coming back very soon. At any time, apparently."
"What!?" the Slayer demanded. "But he was sent to HELL! How does someone come back from that?!"
Giles had no answer for that one, at least not yet.
----
Halliwell Manor, San Francisco, California
A while later
"How'd he take it?" Phoebe asked as the teenager came down the stairs.
"About as well as I expected," Cordelia admitted. "Hell, I'm sure Xander still thinks he'll wind up a drunk like his dad. Add to that a kid so suddenly…"
Phoebe nodded. "He thinks there's no way that he'll avoid screwing it all up somehow."
"Got that right." The female teen sighed as she sat down. "Where did everyone go?"
"Piper had to go check on the club, Paige is up in the attic," the middle sister informed her. "And Chris went to talk to Leo…he's Piper's ex and an Elder."
Cordelia thought for a moment. "Those are the guys that run the whitelighters, right? Amy didn't have much info on them."
---
Upstairs in the guest bedroom
The same time
Xander was lying on the bed, thinking things over. /I am SO not ready for something like this. Me, a father? Sweet mamalooshin, but there's no way THAT can end well. And why does my life have to keep changing so drastically? First I meet Buffy and Jesse gets vamped, then I hook up with Jesse's girl after Buffy chose the walking corpse instead of me, and now I'm in a strange city with Cordy wanting me to have a baby with her. And then we go into hiding, maybe for the rest of our lives?/ His musings were interrupted by the room's door opening a little.
Looking around he saw no one, "Cordy?" Xander looked over further and stopped. "Oh, hey there big guy."
Crawling on the hard wood floor was a young toddler, a boy guessing from the Spiderman pajamas. "Where's your mommy at, Peter Parker?"
The boy just giggled at him, before Xander got another shock that day.
"Holy crap!" Harris yelled as he jumped off the bed. The boy had vanished and reappeared on the bed in a shower of blue-white lights. "What the hell?"
The kid just giggled some more, he seemed to think Xander's fright was funny. After a few moments of wondering, Xander sat back on the edge of the bed. "Ah, okay, you're a good little…something, right?" The kid crawled over to him slowly and started to suck on his shirt sleeve.
A lot of the nervousness quickly bled out of him, after all it was kinda hard to be afraid of a little boy who didn't seem overtly threatening in any way. Xander said, "Listen, kiddo, if you're hungry…I can think of a lot more tasty things to eat than my shirt. Hey, has anyone told you about the wonders of Twinkies and Ho-Ho's yet? 'Cause they're an essential part of every boy's diet..."
The kid ignored him, seemingly fascinated with Xander's shirt. For a moment Xander wondered if this was a sign, so to speak, a sort-of vision of the future if there was no other choice but to do what Cordelia had asked of him. /Hmm, I guess this ain't so bad...but hey, first thing's first./
A little later Phoebe, Paige, and Cordelia looked towards the stairs to see Xander coming down carrying the toddler. "I take this little guy belongs to one of you?" Harris asked.
"Wyatt," Phoebe cooed as she came over and took the child. "Did you orb out of bed again? You know how your mommy told you not to do that."
"Ah, so you know about that vanishing act he does?" Xander asked as he sat next to Cordelia on the couch.
"You mean this?" Paige asks as she orbed out and then back in.
"Yeah…" Xander drawled as he looked at her. It was amazing how quickly he seemed to get jaded about the supernatural stuff these days, well - if it wasn't trying to eat him or mate with him, anyway. "Care on filling the new guy in?"
"His dad's an Elder," Cordelia told him, pointing at Wyatt. "They along with their whitelighters can orb anywhere and heal people."
Xander whistled. "Well, if you're gonna get something from your father, I'm guessing that's a good thing to inherit."
"Well, I think he also got his daddy's eyes too, didn't you?" Phoebe cooed some more at Wyatt.
"Is he yours?"
"Oh no," Phoebe said to the young man. "I'm still missing the husband part of it. This is Piper's son."
Xander looked to Paige. "Piper?"
"Paige," the redhead told him.
Cordelia pointed to Phoebe. "That's Phoebe, and that's Paige, older sister Piper is at the club she owns. They're the Charmed Ones." Upon seeing his expression she added, "Just think of them as your friendly neighborhood super-witches. Hopefully, they'll be able to hide us from my parents."
"Yeah, about that," Xander told her. "Can we go and talk somewhere in private?"
"Sure," Cordelia said as Paige pointed them to the kitchen.
They sat across from each other at the small table. "What are you thinking right now?" the cheerleader asked him.
"Honestly? I don't know," the class clown admitted. "I mean, I know what my father would do right now. He'd tell you to screw off and then head back to Sunnydale…no, no, first he would have sex with you, and then take off."
"But you're not him," Cordelia reminded Xander. "Which is something you still have way too much trouble seeing, dweeb."
Xander sighed. "Does it make me a bad person that I think I'd be abandoning Willow and Buffy if I agree to your little proposal? I mean it's not like our lives are a WB teen soap opera…this is the real world, honey, if we screw up people will die."
Cordelia took his hand in hers. "Xander…people die every day and every night, that's life. And you can't save everyone from Jesse's fate. Willow has Oz now, and Buffy has Giles, her mother, and Willow. They'll be fine."
Xander nodded for a moment and looked away. "Cordy…I have to tell you something. I've heard from my parents that they were real happy without a kid…but after I came along, everything changed. They felt like they had to stay together, even though they weren't happy anymore. And after that…"
"Hey! You are not responsible for what your parents turned into," Cordy told him firmly.
"I know, but what if the same thing happens to us? And how am I gonna support you and a baby?" Xander asked her in honest perplexity. "It's not like I can cash in on the prison guard job that career test said I'd be good for last year."
"You don't need to support me, Xander," Cordelia informed him tartly. "Remember what the book said? The IRS is publicly going to take away my family's money. Granted, I don't know if that stuff about my dad not paying taxes is true or not, heck - maybe it's all just some ruse to make me think we were broke so that I would go to LA. But it doesn't matter. I've had two weeks to plan this…so let's just say that my dad will find that his daughter is not the only thing of his that's missing."
"Are you telling me…?" Xander had a stunned look on his face.
"Hell, yeah. Thirty-five point six million in an offshore bank account," Cordelia grinned at her boyfriend. "I'll be fine, money-wise, for life. Plus, I got some info from Willy about a guy who can get you great fake IDs if the price is right…and before long, we'll be untraceable. Or at least I will, if you decide not to do this."
Harris thought it over for a few moments. "If I do this, I want to be able to say goodbye to them."
The brunette teen sent him a small smile. "We can't go back there, or at least I can't…I don't know for sure what methods they have to track me. And any phone call can be traced if you know how. But there is another way."
"There is?" Xander asked, unsure.
"You saw it yourself with Paige and Wyatt. They can orb to anywhere on the planet," Cordelia said. "Granted that whitelighters can't stay on the Hellmouth for long, but I'm sure one can hang around long enough to deliver a letter for you."
----
The Chase Mansion, Sunnydale, California
Saturday, September 26th 1998
2:25 pm
"Miss Cordelia?" Maria the family's maid said as she came out of the den. "Where could she be?" she asked herself. The Chase parents had told her to make sure that their daughter stayed inside the house doing her homework or whatever, and not go out with that boy again today.
When she turned the corner, the maid stopped. The remains of the candle-lit dinner were still out on the table. "Don't tell me she had him over last night?" Maria shuddered at the concept that her employers' daughter might have done more that have dinner with her beau the previous evening. She went to clear off the table when she noticed a large vase filled with flowers, and sticking out was an envelope with 'To Mom and Dad' written on it.
Since it was unsealed, curiosity got the better of the maid and she opened the card to read it. But then Maria almost dropped it in shock over what it said. The words were not very lady-like at all.
'To Mother and Daddy….
Fuck you
-Cordelia'
She hurried over and picked up the telephone, whatever was going on she had to report to Mr. Chase as part of the terms of her employment in this house.
----
Halliwell Manor, San Francisco, California
Later that afternoon
Chris had brought Leo down from the Elder realm to the manor, and Leo was informing them all of what he and his peers had found out. He gestured to Miss Chase and said, "There's a magical tracer, and a very powerful one at that, attached to Cordelia here."
"What the hell is attached to me?" Cordelia demanded as she looked around herself. "I don't see anything!"
"You wouldn't," Leo told her. "It's nothing tangible. We think it's what this Jasmine creature uses to keep track of you. It's most likely been on you ever since the moment you were born."
"Track her?" Xander asked from his seat. "But why bother, she'd always be with her family-"
"Not after she would have moved to LA," Chris said.
"Right. Okay," Harris shook his head, remembering what he had learned a few hours earlier. "So, you mentioned something before about these Powers That Be?"
"They're a rather low-level group of higher beings," Leo informed him. "Even though they like to cultivate the idea that they're far more powerful than they actually are. The Powers mostly battle a three-member upper level demon cabal. Actually, 'Jasmine' was cast out of their ranks a long time ago, and it was for using mind control to develop sentient beings to the point where she can consume them easily. Something which caused quite a stir way back when, on both sides."
"And the whole world peace deal?" Paige asked.
Leo shook his head. "Because every human being on the planet would be under her power, they wouldn't fight each other. So from that warped point of view, yes, Jasmine would bring about world peace for the human race…even though she would have consumed most of the population after just a few years. The other Powers banished her because the balance they crave would be nonexistent, after humanity was gobbled up that way."
"Okay, Leo, but still - doesn't this entire breeding an entire family line seem like major overkill, just to get yourself born to a human mother?" Phoebe asked.
"No," the Elder told her. "Normal human bodies won't have the ability to contain a Power That Be for centuries, if ever at all. Plus, as the book says…Cordelia's agreeing to being demonized by this Skip demon would have had to be her choice, or else it would show up on many higher beings' 'bulletin boards' so to speak. Even that of the Elders themselves."
"Okay, look," Xander wanted to bottom-line all this. "Can that magic marker thing allow them to find her here?"
"No," Chris answered that one. "The Nexus underneath the manor is blocking it. So as long as Cordelia doesn't leave the house…"
"Right, got it. So what are you suggesting we do?" Xander asked impatiently, reminding Chris yet again of that one-eyed man he'd met once. "Go live down in the basement for the rest of our lives?"
"No. There is another way," Leo answered him. "The Elders can hide you both and keep Jasmine and her agents from finding you. Well, assuming you agree to a somewhat…radical proposal."
----
Chase Mansion Altar Room, Sunnydale, California
Later that night
"What do you mean, she's gone?" Skip demanded of the human.
Charles Chase moved back a little, afraid of the tall and imposing silver-armoured demon. "Her car's not here, and none of Cordelia's friends have seen her today. Plus she's not in the school library with the Slayer, the Watcher and the rest of that teenage rabble."
"Right. Well, you wouldn't be stupid enough to summon me if your daughter had just gone out to have some fun in this town with the boyfriend," the mercenary demon mused. "All right. Tell me the truth, the whole and nothing but."
"She, she somehow got into the altar room," Catherine Chase confessed with more than a little fear. "The Book of Life is gone."
Skip sharply turned to face her. "What? That's impossible. Not only is the place magically shielded, but it says in the book how she doesn't ever find it!"
"I know, but somehow it happened anyway. She, ah…she also left this," Charles said as he held up the card from the flowers.
Skip took it, read it and growled, "Damn it. She must know everything by now! This can not be happening..." The merc stopped as he suddenly heard the voice of his employer in his head. "The boss can't find her either?" With super-fast speed even for a demon, he grabbed Charles Chase by the neck and slammed him into the wall of the hardly lit room.
"Listen to me real carefully, you stupid ape!" he yelled. "I don't care what you have to do, but find her!" Skip leaned directly into Charles' panicked face. "Or else I'll take it out of your hide and that of your wife as well, wholesale!"
"Yes, master. Of course," Charles said quickly as Skip glowered and let go. Then the mercenary vanished in a puff of black smoke.
"What are we going to do if even THEY can't find her?" Catherine demanded of her husband.
"What we have to do," Charles said as he massaged his still-hurting neck. "Use the system, there are non-magical ways to find the little brat after all."
"Are you nuts?!" his wife demanded, knowing what that meant. "Not only are our families' masters mad at us, now you want to risk the Mayor coming after us as well?"
Charles just looked at her. "The Mayor can only kill us, Catherine. What the masters can do is far worse."
"You're right, damn it. Uhhhhh, how could that little bitch have screwed everything up for us this badly?" Catherine demanded. "She's the sacrifice; Jasmine was going to endow us with…"
"I know." Charles said, quickly cutting her off. He was afraid that even these walls might have ears at this point. "But the only way that's going to happen now is if we act. And act decisively."
----
Halliwell Manor, San Francisco, California
Saturday, September 26th 1998
6:05 pm
"But I loved that car!" Cordelia cried out to her boyfriend, after stepping away from the window. Outside, the vehicle had just vanished in a cloud of blue-white lights. "It just got a brand new leather interior!"
"There wasn't any other choice," Xander reminded her. "It would be bad for you – for us, if someone found your BMW right outside the home of the local super-witches."
"But to have that Chris guy just dump it in New Mexico…"
"I'll get you a new one for Christmas," Xander soothed her as he patted her back.
"Can it be red?" Cordelia asked.
"The brightest red possible," Harris told her, rolling his eyes.
Piper listened to them talking. "Nice to know she has her priorities in order."
----
CNN News, Atlanta, Georgia
Later that night
The anchorwoman came back on after the commercials. "This just in to CNN. Authorities in Sunnydale, California have issued an Amber Alert for missing seventeen-year-old Cordelia Chase." A picture of Cordelia filled the screen. "We go now to a news conference live in Sunnydale."
The image changed to the inside of the Sunnydale police station. A balding man stepped up to the podium and said, "Good evening, I'm Detective Stein of the Sunnydale Police Department. Earlier today the Sunnydale PD received a missing persons report from Charles and Catherine Chase concerning their daughter, the teenage heiress Cordelia Chase. She was last seen in an upscale restaurant, where she left with some food. It seems she had planned to have dinner with her boyfriend, one Alexander Harris."
He kept going, "Based on evidence recovered from the scene, we have obtained a rough idea on what happened at the Chase residence last night. The mansion showed clear evidence of a struggle, with torn female clothing on the floor. Thus, we believe that Alexander Harris tried to rape Miss Chase and then kidnapped her. Her car is missing, and Mr. Harris might have taken it - as he does not possess a vehicle of his own. That's why an all-points bulletin has now been issued on his whereabouts."
Instantly, there was dull roar of noise. "Detective Stein!" one reporter's hand shot up. "Do you have any background information that would explain Miss Chase's boyfriend committing a crime like this?"
Stein nodded. "Alexander Harris has been a person of interest in many unsolved cases here in Sunnydale over the last few years. Such as that incident several months ago at the Sunnydale Mall."
"Is that the incident where stolen explosives were used?" another reporter asked.
"Yes," Stein answered. "The Sunnydale PD has been attempting to build a case against him for that, but what with lack of coherent witness testimony we haven't had much luck so far."
"Is there any evidence that Cordelia Chase could still be alive?"
"We think it's possible, and even likely," Stein replied. "Blood was found on a shattered glass vase, leading us to believe that he knocked the girl out before he kidnapped her."
"Thank you, Detective Stein." Another man stepped up to the mic as the balding cop – liar, deceiver and a complete disgrace to his badge – moved back at once. "Folks, I'm Richard Wilkins the Third, the Mayor of Sunnydale. And I must say, this act of violence has surely shocked everyone here in our town. Serious crime, let alone kidnapping, isn't exactly something anyone's used to around here. So on behalf of Cordelia's parents, I must urge the public to be on the lookout for either Mr. Harris or dear Cordelia. I can only pray that we can find her in time."
----
Interrogation Room, Sunnydale Police Station, Sunnydale
Not long after the news conference
"Golly," Mayor Wilkins said, looking annoyed. "I really didn't enjoy having to do that. I thought we had an understanding, Commissioner?"
Police Commissioner Horts backed away nervously. He has lasted this long in Sunnydale by not pissing off the wrong people, and he was for damn sure not going to screw it up now not long before his retirement. "We do, Mr. Mayor. But as I said in my report, sir, those two went completely over my head," he told Wilkins quickly. "Mr. and Mrs. Chase called a couple of friends from the California State Highway Patrol, and apparently they went straight to the Lieutenant Governor's office. Unfortunately, after that point damage control was impossible to implement."
"That doesn't change the fact that I now have the national press running around in my town," Wilkins stated distastefully, apparently ignoring his minion's excuses. "Young Ms. Chase was one of the Slayer's crowd, you know…and if that little girl or her Watcher dig too deep, they could expose things that I cannot afford to have exposed. Well, either them or the media."
Horts went a little white as Wilkins came right up to the chief of police. "So pass the word onto your people, Commissioner. No one gives these outsider press people any other notion than Sunnydale is a nice, happy, NORMAL little town."
"Yes, sir," the older-looking man replied.
"Ah, sir?" the deputy Mayor said from the side. "Perhaps we should have a contingency plan in place if the national media alert doesn't find either the Harris boy or Miss Chase anytime soon? I mean, after all - those reporters might otherwise camp out here in Sunnydale for weeks, or maybe even months."
Wilkins considered his aide's words. "Well, gosh! Y'know, you're absolutely right Allen! Lord knows how the American people do lust after a story concerning attractive, missing, white cheerleader types." He turned to his vampire bodyguard. "Put the word out, I want a bounty placed on those two teenagers' heads. Make sure the only thing that's going to be found by the media are two dead bodies."
"Yes sir," the vampire said, starting to leave, but the Mayor put a hand on his shoulder.
"Make sure it's not messy either. Just shoot them or something," Wilkins instructed the undead guy.
After the vamp left Horts asked, "Mr. Mayor, what do you want done about the Chase parents?"
Wilkins sighed. "Well, as much as I'd love to make an example out of them…we will need the grieving parents to occasionally make an appearance for the cameras, won't we? Still, find out their travel plans. You'll have to arrange a lethal traffic accident for them soon enough, after all the fuss has died down."
---
Halliwell Manor, San Francisco, California
A short while later
The redheaded Charmed One was watching the televised press conference with a look of dread. "This is so not good."
"Oh, you can say that again!"
Paige turned around in surprise to find Cordelia leaning on the entryway to the living room. "You saw?"
"Yeah," the female teen said. "So did Xander," she added with a nod towards the upstairs. "And God knows it happened a little sooner than I thought it would, but that's about the only thing that's not a surprise to me. I mean, I kinda suspected that guy Stein would end up being the one to call Xander my evil kidnapper. He's always trying to blame Buffy for everything that has anything to do with demons in Sunnydale."
"Well, he sure looked like a fun guy on TV," Paige said in disgust. "We knew a guy like that once, actually. A good cop who didn't want to see anything other than his own particular world-view. He actually thought we killed our sister!"
Cordelia shook her head. "I don't think he could even compare to Stein. Besides, the entire Sunnydale PD is either crooked like him, or criminally stupid like…like those guys in Mayberry, y'know, on that old black and white TV show. Whatever it was actually called."
"So…" Paige said, ignoring that pop culture reference. "I'm guessing from the fact that you're down here, it's not going well with your boyfriend at the moment?"
"Well, how would you feel if people went on national TV and called you an attempted rapist and a kidnapper?" Cordelia said acerbically. "Still, I guess maybe one good thing's come out of it - there's no going back now, our old lives are definitely over. For better or worse, Xander and I are going to have a baby – and hopefully, never see the damn Hellmouth again."
The half-witch, half-whitelighter sighed. "It all goes to hell so quickly these days, doesn't it? One minute you're fine, then something like this happens! I didn't think anyone else besides witches had this kind of stuff happen to them."
Cordelia came around the couch and sat next to her. "Well, it does. And I wish I could still blame Buffy for bringing all the weirdness into my life…but then Xander and I lived in Sunnydale for YEARS long before she ever showed up, so I guess that's not gonna work anymore."
"You honestly never noticed anything?" Paige asked. "Chris doesn't make it sound like a very nice place."
"It isn't. But did you ever notice the supernatural stuff before you found out that you were a witch?"
"Point," Paige admitted. "So, what are you going to do now? I mean, after witnessing…that," she pointed to the TV.
"Xander isn't exactly looking to rip my clothes off right now, and I'm not really in the mood either," Miss Chase sighed. "But I guess I'll have to go upstairs and make love to my boyfriend anyway in order to get pregnant."
Paige thought for a few moments. "Maybe you shouldn't."
Cordelia looked at her. "Kind of have to, remember? Either I get a baby inside me before the bad guys ram that Jasmine bitch into my body, or it's good night sweet princess."
"No," the redhead told her, as Paige shook her head. "Wasn't what I meant. You already said it; it's too much of a mood killer with the running for your life, and him being an accused criminal on national TV…"
"Yeah, so?"
"So," Paige told her. "Don't make love to your boyfriend; just have hot, steamy, teenage sex with him instead. Go up there and make it clear to him that a totally hot girl is gonna screw his brains out. Trust me; you can tell a guy the world's ending in twenty minutes, but he still wouldn't push you away under those circumstances. Don't give him a chance to think about it, just completely rock his world."
Cordelia grinned a little. "Can't say that doesn't sound like fun, but…"
"But nothing," Paige cut her off. "You have to have sex to get knocked up before it's too late, like literally. I know it sucks, but you don't have any time to waste, so force the issue."
The female teenager suddenly looked unsure. "I've never really used…force with Xander before. It's always been more kind of a mutual lust thing instead."
Paige looked her over for a moment. "Come with me, I have an idea."
"Okay…" Cordy said uncertainly as she followed the older woman up the stairs.
A few minutes later, they were in the witch's bedroom. Cordelia was sitting on the bed while Paige was rifling through her closet. "It's gotta be here somewhere, I know I kept it!"
"Kept what?"
"This!" Paige replied triumphantly, as she pulled out a leather outfit and placed it on the bed.
Cordelia looked at the outfit with upraised eyebrows. It was basically a black leather bikini with a leather wrap around the waist, with metal bracelets and knee-high boots also studded with metal. "What is that? Were you Xena in a past life or something?"
"No. Nothing like that," the older woman laughed. "A while back, Leo was stuck on the island of the Valkyries and we had to dress up like them in order to help him escape. It was a whole big thing, but anyway, we're about the same size. So try it on already."
----
Sunnydale Police Station, Sunnydale, California
The same time
Charles and Catherine Chase looked up from the small couch in the office to see Detective Stein come in. "It looks like we may now have a lead."
"Really?" Catherine asked in surprise, glancing at her husband.
Stein sat in the chair next to them, holding up a piece of fax paper. "A uniform officer just over the border in New Mexico spotted her car. It's in a Wal-mart parking lot."
"New Mexico?" Charles asked. "You think they could have gotten that far so quickly?"
"It's possible," Stein replied. "We don't know how long after your daughter got the food at that restaurant they left town, after all. But they're searching the entire area close to the store as we speak."
Catherine looked upset. "Honestly though, a Wal-mart? Cordelia would never go into such a common store!"
Stein looked at her. "Which would actually make sense, if Harris didn't want them to be found. No point in going to a place that Cordelia Chase would be likely to frequent, is there?"
---
Paige's bedroom, Halliwell Manor, San Francisco
Saturday, September 26th 1998
10:05 pm
There was a knock at the door as Cordelia was fitting her legs into the boots. "Come in."
Paige entered, carrying a toy sword from the basement. "Wow, that thing really does look great on you!"
"You think so?" Cordelia asked as she did a turn. "I mean, I don't look like a reject from a Beastmaster movie or something, do I?"
"Not at all," Paige told her in amusement. "Wish I had your cleavage, though."
Cordelia looked at her in surprise. "You're a witch, can't you just…" she waved her hand over her chest.
"Unfortunately, no," Paige replied. "On account of that would fall under the whole personal gain thing, and that's the biggest no-no for natural-born witches. I mean been there, done that; it would literally come back to bite me on the ass."
"Bummer," the female teen said simply to this.
"Yeah," the Charmed One told her before she offered Cordelia the toy sword. "It's from last year's Halloween party at P3."
"Cool. Thanks," Cordelia said as she took it.
"Now, there's only one more thing," Paige said, as she went over to her dresser. She opened up her top drawer and pulled out a cloth bag. Opening it up, she dumped out a small crystal.
"And that is?" Cordelia asked.
Paige grinned. "This is an old house, so it's not exactly hard to hear through the walls sometimes." She rubbed the crystal, causing it to glow. "This is enchanted to keep the sounds nearby from being heard all over the manor. So take it with you and as long as it's in the room, don't worry about holding back - we won't hear a thing."
----
Spare bedroom, Halliwell Manor, San Francisco
A few minutes later
Xander Harris was far from asleep. The room was only lit by the streetlight across the road while he lay on his side, trying to put out of his mind all the lies that were being said about him on TV earlier on. /At least Buffy and Willow aren't gonna believe it, so I guess that's something. Well, maybe./
"Huh?" Xander asked as he saw the room get bathed in soft blue light, it was the effect that the 'orbing' thing did if he recalled right. Turning over, he saw something he was not expecting.
"Cordy?" the male teen asked, surprised and instantly aroused at seeing the costume his girlfriend was wearing. "That's a new look for you…"
There was no smile on Cordy's face though, as she came over and stuck that toy sword on his neck. "Silence, Man! You will speak only when I, Cordelia, Queen of the Amazons, decide to let you!"
The plan worked, as Xander forgot all about Sunnydale and all the blood in his body continued to rush south. After all, he was a male teenager in southern California who thought about sex every day, just like everyone else. "Ah…" Harris started to say.
But Cordelia kept going as she leaned in. "Some of my Amazon sisters say that sharing the pleasures of the flesh with a man can be most…interesting." She gave him a nasty smile. "So I have decided to test that theory for myself. Perform well, and maybe I'll let you live…as my pet."
"Okay," Xander said, amazed and now fully caught up in the throes of lust and passion. This was almost too hot for comfort, even though deep down he had been waiting for just this scenario or something like it for a long time.
Cordelia moved the sword away and quickly put her right boot-covered foot on his chest. "But fail to give me pleasure…and I will place your head on a pike in the main yard!"
Xander just nodded to the fake threat.
"Well? Don't just lay there, you stupid male, get to work!"
-----
Summers Residence, Sunnydale, California
Sunday, September 27th 1998
12:01 am
"How you holding up?" Buffy asked as she came into the dining room with her best friend. It was very late, but tomorrow was a Sunday and since Ira and Sheila Rosenberg didn't care there was no problem in having an impromptu sleepover. Joyce was kind enough not to say anything, she knew that the two girls had to be hurting after hearing all that crap about Xander on the news today.
"Well, I'm just…totally suck-y," Willow replied to Buffy's question. "Xander's gone, and gone with Cordy at that!"
"Kind of blows your big plans, huh?" Buffy asked wryly, as they sat at the table.
The redheaded apprentice witch quickly pointed out, "I'm with Oz now, remember? But Xander will always be, well, Xander to me. He stood up for me and stood by me through it all, Buff. Ever since kindergarten."
"You never forget your first love," the Slayer agreed with her, thinking of the prophesized return of Angel one day soon. "Take it from one who knows, it'll get better."
"I hope so," Willow said to that. "I mean, that letter that he had delivered, it kind of made it clear that Xander wouldn't be back at least for a couple of years. Well, before it burst into flames anyway."
"Whoever or whatever that guy was who dropped it off was right," Buffy said, having thought about what her Watcher had said earlier on as well. "It would not be of the good for the police or the Chases to ever find it. That's why Giles has already burned the one Cordelia left for him."
The redhead looked at one of her two best friends. "Guess we have a lot of work to do over the next year or so, huh?"
Buffy nodded. "Angel coming back a little nuts, Spike coming back for a while too, that Gingerbread demon, me nearly dying from be able to read minds…"
"And this Faith girl, who's supposed to be showing up soon," Willow pointed out, referring to the brunette Slayer who had been called after Kendra's death.
"Yeah," Buffy said. "Kind of surprised what Cordy's letter said about her, actually. And I wonder why it's such a big deal for us to become really good friends with her?"
"I dunno," Willow shrugged. "But Cordy made it sound like it would be major badness if we didn't do our best on that."
---
Halliwell Manor Kitchen, San Francisco, California
The next morning
"And how are you two doing this morning?" Phoebe asked Xander and Cordelia as they came into the room. She smirked at Xander's instant deer-in-headlights expression. "Make any babies last night?"
"Phoebe!" Piper scolded her.
The now second oldest sister shrugged. "Hey, it's kind of the whole point of them being here, isn't it?"
Xander shrugged. "Uh, well, we certainly gave it our best shot last ni-" He was cut off as Cordelia elbowed him in the stomach.
"We did what we had to do," the Chase girl said simply. "Now we just have to wait a while, to see if it-"
"No, you don't," Chris said from his spot near the fridge. "Whitelighter here, remember?"
"You can tell?" Xander and Paige asked at the same time.
"If you know what you're looking for, yeah," the guy from the future nodded. "It would be easier if you were my charge, but…" Chris came over to Cordy. "May I?"
"What are you going to do?" Cordelia wondered.
The guy held up his hands a little away from her stomach. "Just this…"
The entire group watched as Chris closed his eyes, and his hands started to glow with a golden light. He slightly moved them around as he mystically felt Cordelia with his magic powers. After a moment, Future Boy stopped and looked back up.
"Oh yeah," Chris grinned for a moment. "Congratulations. You've definitely got a bun in the oven."
"She does?!" Xander yelped.
"I do!?" Cordelia asked at the same time, happy. "You sure I don't have to pee on a stick, or something?"
"How did you do that?" Paige asked Chris, ignoring that as she came over to him.
"It's pretty much the same way a whitelighter can feel a charge's pain or death," he informed the woman. "Just close your eyes and feel for life forces, it's almost like homing in a radar beacon."
Paige did as he said and scanned the girl with her whitelighter senses. "Whoa!"
"We're going to be parents!" Cordelia said as she hugged Xander joyfully. "And I won't die!"
As much as Xander was happy to hear that, he still had major misgivings about entering the realm of fatherhood so quickly – and there was also the possibility that since the cheerleader had already gotten what she needed from him, like straightaway, there would now be no more bedroom nookie happening in the future...
---
Interrogation Room, Sunnydale Police Station, Sunnydale
Sunday, September 27th 1998
10:04 am
Buffy Summers was not in a good mood. She had been out late patrolling last night, and even though the Chosen One could get by on only a few hours of sleep a night, the lack of rest and this jerk's attitude was really trying her patience.
"How many times do I have to tell you the same thing?" Buffy demanded, as she sat in the little room. "Xander wouldn't hurt Cordelia! Let alone try to rape her!"
"Don't give me that 'he's a good guy' crap!" Stein said nastily as he sat across from the Summers girl. Not for the first time, he wished he'd never even met this blonde airhead. "We both know what kind of home life that boy comes from-"
"That doesn't mean anything and you know it," Buffy told the man who'd tried to arrest her for murder, both last year and just a few months ago. "You think I don't know what's going on here? You're on another witch hunt, only difference is this time it's Xander instead of me!"
"Doesn't it bother you that an innocent young woman is in the hands of a madman?" the crooked – the English would say 'bent' – detective persistently demanded.
"Doesn't it bother YOU that you're trying to frame an innocent man?" Buffy shot back, a slight sneer on her face that did nothing good for Stein's blood pressure. "'Cause the truth is gonna come out one day, you know. And for the record, I don't know where they are, or where they're going. All I do know is that Xander would never hurt Cordelia, and if they ran away from Sunnydale then they must have had a good reason for it."
"What possible reason would they have to just run away?" the man asked, fishing for any information he could possibly find.
Buffy shrugged. "Gee, they're seventeen and they're in love…maybe Cordy and Xander decided to go to Vegas, and get hitched by an Elvis impersonator?"
Detective Stein shook his head, resisting the urge to throw Buffy into lock-up right now. Because not only was he interviewing a minor without a lawyer or parental guardian present, what with all the media attention in Sunnydale - he knew the Mayor might just arrange a lethal 'accident' for him, if this wasn't handled the right way. "Miss Summers, are you seriously trying to tell me that you think Cordelia Chase, the daughter of one of the richest men in the state, left everything behind to go marry some drunk's deadbeat son in Nevada?" He looked at her. "Are you on drugs? PCP maybe?"
"Oh, for the love of God!" Buffy moaned, as she buried her face in her hands for a moment. "What, do you get royalties checks for how many times you mention PCP around here?"
---
Spare bedroom, San Francisco, California
The same time
Xander Harris looked at the bed in which he had lost his virginity to Cordelia last night, and sighed.
/It's all happening so damn fast,/ he thought to himself. /Barely two days ago, all I had to worry about was homework and getting eaten by a vampire or a demon. But now, I'm like officially Public Enemy Number One! Is this how that guy on TV felt, when he was wrongly accused of murdering his wife?/ Xander was thinking of the television show known as "The Fugitive". /And there isn't a damn thing I can do about it, either. Not without getting Cordelia or the baby killed, once her parents get their hands on 'em./
It refused to stop freaking Xander out, thinking of his impending fatherhood. He still thought he wasn't ready for something like that, but now the deed was done and he just had to deal with the situation. Not that the situation was ideal, mind you, but thanks to his girlfriend's foresight and planning, at least it was…manageable.
/And to think, all it took was just the one time?/ Xander mused to himself. /Huh, I guess Mr. Whitmore really did know what he was talking about during sex ed class last year, before those stupid bozo demons killed him./
Basically, in Xander's mind, the only upside so far to impregnating Cordelia (apart from saving her from Jasmine's clutches, of course) was that he was now useless to any virgin-seeking demons or bad guys out there. All this just felt…wrong. It wasn't the way Xander had ever wanted to be intimate with his girlfriend, despite what he'd thought back at the Chase mansion on Friday night.
There was no pride or sense of accomplishment, at least not yet; just an uneasy feeling in his gut.
"Hey. What are you doing in here all alone?" Cordelia came into the room and embraced him from behind, leaning her head on her boyfriend's shoulder.
"Thinking," Xander said, as he turned around to face the Chase girl. "About you. Me. Us. And how baby is gonna make three, in nine months time."
Cordelia grinned, and Xander could have sworn she was already glowing from the pregnancy. "I know. Isn't it great? Personally, I'm hoping for a girl. What about you?"
"Well, I dunno," Xander stammered. He hadn't even thought about that yet. "Uh, if it's a boy…could we possibly name him Jesse?"
Cordelia rolled her eyes, but nonetheless maintained that picture-perfect megawatt smile. "I'll think about it." Then she narrowed her eyes as the teenager knew her boyfriend better than he thought she did, and Cordelia could tell Harris was feeling uncomfortable about something. "What? What's wrong? Come on, mister, spill!"
"You're pregnant," Xander said, as he tentatively placed a hand on her belly. "So, I was wondering…what now? I mean…"
"What? You thought…oh, come on, you big dweeb!" Miss Chase had a moment of extraordinary insight, as she stepped back and crossed her arms over her chest in annoyance. "Just 'cause my plan worked during our first time, you were thinking that's it for you in the sex department? That I'm gonna go back to being that bitchy 'ice princess' which people used to call me behind my back, in Sunnydale?"
"Well, it's just…in a perfect world, last night wasn't the way I would have wanted for us to finally do it, y'know," Xander stammered. "I mean I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy it, 'cause Lord knows I did; but Cordy, I didn't make love to you like I always thought I would. It was just sex – great sex, incredible sex even, but still. You deserved better than that. Honey, I wanted our first time to be…special," he finished up awkwardly.
Miss Chase was feeling oddly touched, as she embraced the father of her unborn child and gave him a deep and passionate kiss. "From now on, it will be," she promised her boyfriend as Xander's eyes went wide. "Every single time you make love to me from now on, it really will. Whether it's wild monkey love or tender Sarah MacLachlan love, it will always be special Xander. That much at least I can promise you."
---
Halliwell Manor Attic
A short while later
The group plus Leo were pretty much just standing around, not far from the Book of Shadows. Over to one side, Piper was getting ready to do a spell.
"You know, I've been wondering about something."
"What's that, Phoebe?" Leo asked.
"Well, I can understand Cordelia's desire not to be body-jacked by a...Power That Be, but from what Chris says, this Jasmine thing would have eventually succeeded in doing that before being defeated in the future. And if that 'Book of Life' says that Cordelia was never supposed to find any of this out, that she was doomed to die in about five years' time…then how DID she find out the truth and save herself from such a crappy destiny this way?"
"Xander," Cordelia stated firmly. "Giles is always saying how he has a knack for screwing up prophecies."
"I bring Buffy back to life just once, and I'm never gonna hear the end of it?" Xander muttered to no one in particular.
"This so-called 'Book of Life'," Leo said. "It was written by a number of seers over three hundred years ago. And as you go farther out in time, it gets harder and harder to foresee the future with 100% certainty. For example the prophecy of the Charmed Ones mentioned nothing about a fourth Halliwell child, and yet here Paige is."
"We're just about ready over here," Piper called over to the group, even as her half-sister made a face at the Elder's comment.
As everyone started to mosey on over to the oldest Charmed One, Cordelia stopped Xander. "If you make me look like Buffy, I swear to God – father of my baby or not, I will skin you alive!"
"I hear ya," Xander told her, looking nervous as he suspected the threat actually had some weight behind it.
A moment later, Paige stopped the mother-to-be. "You really think he would make you look like that Slayer girl?"
Cordelia looked to make sure Xander was out of earshot. "No," she whispered. "But that's just how we are. I bitch and he tells bad jokes. Buffy and Willow never got it, but it's what we do. It also kind of helps for a fight to get started, in order to lead to make-up groping in the broom closet. Or, nowadays, make-up sex instead!"
After that the two women came over to the book, and potion area. Leo moved over to the front of the group and said, "Now as I mentioned before, this will be permanent, so you need to consider your choices carefully. Still, it's the only way for you two to be able to hide in plain sight after everything that's happened lately. You'll not only change into new bodies and have new fingerprints and retinal patterns, but even a DNA test won't be able to tell who you really are."
"Will we still be able to see our real selves?" Xander asked.
"No," the Elder told him. "I'm sorry, but neither of you can afford to have a loophole like that present. Chances are that if you can see your true selves, then maybe a powerful magic user…like the mayor of your town, apparently...might be able to see them as well."
"What about our voices?" Cordelia wondered.
"They should be hardly even affected by this spell," Leo informed her. "It's more about physical appearance, but that shouldn't be too much of an issue; the missing person and wanted posters have only a face on them, after all." He almost forgot to add, "Also, with an entirely new body, this will erase the magical tracer that was placed on you."
"Okay," Piper said as she added the last ingredient. "Who's going first?"
"I am," Xander said as he stepped forward. Cordelia just smiled at his making sure to test everything on himself before it was her turn. "And honey, I better not end up looking like Steve Urkel once this is done, or else that 'skinned alive' thing will be just as good for the goose as it is for the gander!"
"Well, we'll see," Cordelia told him with a smirk as she backed away.
"Everyone but Xander, join hands around him," Piper instructed. "Cordelia, put the image firmly in your mind and close your eyes."
"Right," the girl said as she complied.
The three most powerful witches on the planet joined by the sheer power of an Elder spoke the rhyming verse that would complete the spell. Smoke filled the circle as Xander closed his eyes.
After the spell was over, the group waited for the small amount of smoke to clear. Paige was the first to see the new Xander Harris.
"Well, hello sailor!"
"What?" Xander demanded as the rest of the group saw his new self. He felt…weird, knowing that he wasn't in his own body anymore.
"Not bad," Phoebe said with nudge to Cordelia.
"Mirror, please?" Xander demanded.
Piper escorted him to a large standing dressing mirror, and instantly Harris was a little surprised. He was now a moderately muscular young man with a chiseled-looking face and blond hair. "Cordelia! You turned me into a Brad Pitt clone?!"
"You're mad because you sort of look like one of the sexiest men alive?" Cordelia scolded him. "Because hey, we can do it again…maybe you'd prefer looking like Screech from Saved by the Bell?"
Piper smiled. "Sorry, but we only have enough of this potion for one more spellcasting, and that's you honey."
"Fine," Miss Chase grumbled as she came over and took her place in the center of the circle.
The spell was repeated, this time with Xander with the image in his head. After the smoke cleared Cordelia looked down, and checked out her new body.
"Bloody hell, Xander!" she called out in annoyance. "You just had to give me a bigger chest, didn't you?" Cordelia stopped when she saw the others looking at her. "What?"
"You have an English accent," Phoebe told her. "It's slight, but I can definitely hear it."
"What?" Cordelia demanded with a look towards Xander, before she went over to the mirror.
When she looked herself over the young woman had to admit, this new body was not bad at all. Aristocratic face, full red lips, lightly tanned white skin, some muscle in the arms and legs, along with the full D-sized chest. And her dark hair was down to the middle of her back in a tight braided ponytail.
"Who am I supposed to be, luv?" Miss Chase asked, not even realizing she'd used the English slang.
"Lara Croft," Xander admitted.
"That chick from the video game?" Cordelia demanded. "Xander, you need to get a life!"
Harris held out his arms, showing off his new body. "I kind of just did, Cor."
----
Sunnydale High Library, Sunnydale, California
Later that afternoon
"Are you alright, Buffy? Willow?" Giles asked them as they came into the so-called Batcave.
"No," Buffy replied. "I'm telling you, we'd still be in that darn police station getting grilled by that asshole Stein, if that lawyer from the Council hadn't shown up. Well, at least now we know that those guys are actually good for something."
As they went over to the table, Willow looked to the librarian. "Giles, why didn't you tell that Council guy the truth about Cordelia?"
"For her own safety, I'm afraid," the Englishman replied.
"What did you tell him?" Buffy asked.
"Just the basics," Rupert told her. "That Cordelia's parents were going to offer her up as a sacrifice to a demon within the next few years. If they knew that Cordelia herself was destined to give birth to it, then the Council might have just…well, killed Cordelia to stop it."
"They would do that?!" Willow demanded, instantly upset.
"In a heartbeat," Giles finally and regretfully admitted to his two charges. "In any case, I highly doubt that they will come up with anything on this 'Jasmine', as Cordelia's letter said that is what she will only become named that in the future." He sat on the edge of the table. "And truth be told, we need them to be looking for any mention of this 'Ascension' the Mayor is planning instead. The sooner we can stop it, the better it'll be for all of us."
Buffy had to agree as she sat back in her chair. "Too bad Cordy's letter didn't mention anything past graduation. In this town, we need as much early warning about the bad stuff as we can get."
"Yes," Giles agreed. "But as that book of her parents focused completely on Cordelia's life, and she was going to leave Sunnydale for Los Angeles after graduation, I rather doubt any of it would have been any use to us anyway."
----
Chevrolet Dealership, San Francisco, California
Monday, September 28th 1998
1:05 pm
Paige stood outside the dealership with the newly named Anna Wayne, as her husband, Alex, finished the deal to buy the new 1999 red Corvette convertible with the salesman. Earlier that morning they had picked up all the documentation from Willy's friend with regard to their new identities, which listed them as a 19- and 18-year-old married couple.
"Any idea where you two are going to go?" the red-haired witch asked her new friend.
"No real idea yet…" the former Sunnydale girl replied before swearing, "Damn it, he had to go and think an female English accent was sexy!"
"Just don't screw up and call him "Brad" in retaliation," Paige cautioned her.
"Oh, I can come up with something much worse than that if I put my mind to it," the pregnant woman replied nastily.
Paige smiled. "Well, you have your entire life now to do just that."
"I guess I do," Anna said with a smile as Alex came out with the keys and paperwork. "All set?" she asked him.
"Yep," the newly blond man told his wife simply as he got into the convertible.
Anna went over and hugged Paige, "Thanks for everything, I mean it. And you can ask him if you don't believe me," she said pointing to Alex. "But I don't say thank you very often."
"No, she doesn't," Alex grinned back.
Anna got into the passenger seat and closed the door. "Say goodbye to your family for us, okay?"
"Will do," Paige told her. "You guys have fun out there."
"Will do!" Anna said back to her as Alex started the engine, and they drove off the lot.
Paige just grinned as the young couple turned the corner and disappeared out of sight. It was nice to have been able to save a couple of innocents for once, to have one go right once in a while. She then looked around to check no one was around, and then orbed herself home.
The End…
For now.