SERIES: Preternatural Gifts (Part 1)
AUTHOR: Kylia
DISCLAIMER: Nobody belongs to me, unfortunately. They belong to Joss & Mutant Enemy, and a few other people I don't know.
RATING: R
SPOILERS: General S1 AtS - references to S3 BtVS; Some AtS Season 2; Specific Spoilers from Restless & Primevil throughout the series
CATEGORY: Romance, angst, general demon slaying
PAIRINGS: Xander/Angel; Cordelia/Gunn
SUMMARY: Xander arrives in LA
DISTRIBUTION: My site, AENO, List archives, anyone else, ask, and you shall receive
FEEDBACK: Please My muses need to be fed
AUTHOR'S NOTES: For those of you who are following the WWAWDHA series, this is a sort of companion piece that depicts was Angel & Cordy have been up to while Wes is away.
AUTHOR'S NOTES 2: This takes places several months after the events in "To Shanshu in LA", Some of the Season 2 events have happened, but without Wesley.
AUTHOR'S NOTES 3: This fic deals heavily with the consequences of the spell Xander, Giles & Willow performed in 'Primevil'
DEDICATION: To Kaite, who asked.
**********
Alexander LaVelle Harris stopped briefly at the door to Giles' condo. He wasn't sure what exactly he was going to say once he went inside. He figured he'd just take it as it came. So much had happened in the past few weeks. More than he could even comprehend, and it was him it had happened to.
"Okay, Harris. I'll go in there and just tell them. Its not like they'll try and stop me, right?" He asked himself quietly and then shook his head when he realized he was talking to himself.
He lifted his hand up to knock but froze just before his knuckles hit the door. He heard voices inside and paused to listen.
"Something weird happened, Buffy. It was right after Willow left. He sort of just just shut off." Anya's voice was pleading.
Xander stepped closer so he could hear better.
"I'm sure he's fine, Anya." Giles, the voice of reason as always.
"He won't talk to me anymore!" Anya continued. "And he makes excuses not to see me."
"You know it ain't polite to eavesdrop." An all-too-familiar British accent came from behind him.
Without so much as a warning, Spike felt his body being pushed backwards and heard the crunch of bones as he was slammed into a tree. He cautiously looked at the mortal, who was now standing in front of him with a slightly apologetic look on his face.
"I've warned you about that, Spike." Xander held out a hand to help the vampire up.
Spike tried to look irritated, but it was ruined by the mischievous glint to his eyes. "So, you're finally doing it, huh?"
Xander turned back to Giles front door and was about to step forward when he thought better of it. He smiled sadly and then shook his head. "Tell them I said so long, will ya, Blondie?" He grinned at Spike and stepped forward, "And this." He motioned between Spike and himself, "Stays between us."
Spike grinned as he watched the mortal walk away. "Peaches is gonna have his hands full with that one."
*****
Cordelia Chase hung up the phone and stared at it for several long minutes before turning her attention back to her desk, and the files she was trying to organize. After ten minutes she turned to look up the long winding staircase of the old Hotel Angel had insisted on buying for them to work out of.
He had history with the Hotel and after they had ridded it of a demon, which had haunted it for the better part of a century, Angel had decided it would be the ideal base of operations for Angel Investigations. Ideal my ass! Cordelia thought, although she had to admit that getting him out of her apartment had been a definite plus.
"Hey. Where's Angel?"
Cordelia looked up startled. "Hey, Gunn. He's upstairs."
Charles Gunn turned his head to the same staircase, which had occupied Cordelia's attention just a few minutes previous. "What's wrong?" He asked as he turned to face his self-appointed protector.
"Nothing." Cordelia shook her concerns off for a few moments. She'd have time enough to deal with all of that when Angel resurfaced. "What do you need, or did you just come here for my sparking personality?"
Gunn rolled his eyes but couldn't deny, to himself at least, that that was part of the reason he had come. "I need some help."
"What kind of help?" Cordelia asked as she stepped away from the computer.
"We've had some people and things come up missing recently." Gunn told her a little hesitantly.
"People? And things? What sort of things?" Cordelia asked with the crinkle of her brow.
"Parts." Gunn didn't really want to elaborate but he had no delusions that the seer would force him to.
"Parts?" Cordelia asked with confusion. "Parts of what?"
Gunn remained silent for a moment then sighed when she continued to stare at him, expecting an answer. "Of people."
Cordelia scrunched up her nose in distaste. "Eww."
Gunn couldn't help but laugh. She looked kind of cute that way.
"And you think this is a demon because?" Cordelia asked after a moment, regaining some semblance of professionalism, although Gunn wasn't a client, but for some reason she hated to come off like a whiny child in front of him.
Gunn groaned. Her constant questions could really grate on a guys nerves. Either that or intrigue him beyond his ability to tell whether that was a good thing or not. "There were some odd things left behind."
Cordelia nodded, reading between the lines. "Well let's go check it out." She grabbed her jacket and started heading for the door when she stopped mid-stride, remembering something. "Oh wait. I'll be right back."
Gunn watched as she disappeared up the stairs and wondered why it was he had come here again?
****
Cordelia hesitated in front of the door to Angel's room and then took a deep breath and knocked.
"Come in."
Cordelia popped her head in to the room and saw her closest friend and boss sitting on his bed, doing what he did best, brooding.
"Hey. I'm gonna go out for a bit, but I wanted to let you know" She hesitated.
"What is it?" Angel asked as he looked up.
"Um Xander called."
"And?" Angel asked. "Is something wrong?"
"Not exactly. He said that Willow emailed him. She's with Wes."
Angel's eyebrows raised at this. "Really? How are they?"
Cordelia nodded happily and grinned. "Good. Really good." She frowned again.
"What else?" Angel asked nervously. He didn't like the look on her face.
"Xander's on his way here. He says he's in some trouble and needs your help." Cordelia watched her boss carefully for a reaction. She wasn't disappointed.
Angel stood up. "You said there wasn't any trouble. What's wrong? Is he all right? You didn't have a vision did you?"
Cordelia smiled slightly to herself. "No, nothing like that. He uh needs your help." She repeated.
"Yeah, I heard you the first time."
"No, you're help. Not our help. Not Angel Investigations' help. Your Help." She punctuated the last two words.
Angel sat down heavily on his bed. "Oh."
"Yeah. I gotta go. He'll be here in a few hours." She smiled slightly before disappearing out of the door.
Angel watched her leave and then lay back against the mattress. "Great. Can my unlife get any more complicated?"
****
Xander looked out the window of the cab, not sure if he should get out. He knew he was in the right place. The address was correct, and you couldn't mistake this large hotel for anything other than what it was.
He didn't know if he had made the right decision. Nothing had changed since he had finally decided to come here. He hadn't changed, neither had his problem. But coming here, to LA, to *him* didn't seem like the smartest move.
But what choice did he have?
After paying the cabbie, Xander climbed out of the vehicle and made his way into the hotel. The front door was unlocked and he crept inside, almost afraid to disturb anything.
"Hello?" He called out, but not loudly enough to be heard by anyone outside the lobby. Unless of course that person was a vampire with above average hearing.
"Xander." Angel stepped out of the shadows. He looked the mortal over carefully and didn't like what he saw. Xander seemed to be nervous, edgy, almost as if he was afraid that them being in the same room together was dangerous. Maybe it was.
"Hey, Deadboy Angel. Uh how are you?" Xander stepped further into the room, each second that passed reminding him of a dozen reason's why he should just turn around and leave. He was about to do just that when Angel spoke again.
"Why are you here?" Angel's words came out harsher than he had intended.
Xander took a deep breath and looked up. He had intended to tell him the truth, but the look in Angel's eyes made him rethink things. "This was a bad idea."
Xander turned around and started to walk out the front doors when he felt a hand on his shoulder, keeping him from moving. He had never heard Angel move and the touch startled him.
Angel was caught off guard as the Axe Wesley had left behind flew across the room and embedded itself in the wall above the front desk. Angel stared at it in shock and then turned his questioning eyes to Xander.
Xander shrugged slightly. "I need your help."
****