Title: Daughter of the Demon

Author: Nodakskip

Email: by: Theo

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Buffy/Batman Begins/ DC comics
Summary: After an attack the lives of two of the scooby gang change.

---

Outside the Bronze, Sunnydale, California

Friday, October 17th 1997

10:25 pm

"You bastard!" Angel yelled furiously, as he tossed the badly beaten male teenager against the wall of the adjacent building in the alley. "I swear, I'm going to rip you apart!"

Xander collapsed in a bloody heap. "No…don't…" he spluttered out to the vampire, as he failed in an attempt to get up.

"Is that what she said to you!?" Angel roared, as he grabbed the mortal by his shirt and lifted him into the air. "Did Buffy plead with you to stop? Answer me, you lousy piece of shit!!!"

"I…I don't remember!" Xander yelled, upsetting the vampire even more.

"You don't lose your memory from being possessed by an animal spirit! You think I didn't know that!?" Angel spat in his face. "You just couldn't handle it that she chose me over you, could you!?" He suddenly threw Harris into a pile of crates that splintered into many pieces, from the force of the throw.

"Well…" Xander gasped as he lay on his back. "You are a dead corpse!"

"And you're a rapist!" Angel growled, his face a mask of fury as he grabbed Xander by the neck.

"No, I…m not!" Xander was able to get out, before Angel punched him in the gut.

The ensouled vampire wound up as if to strike again, when someone grabbed him from behind. "Oh my God, stop it! You're killing him!"

Angel dropped Xander and shrugged off the new arrival. "Beat it. This has got nothing to do with you!"

"Well, it does now!!" Cordelia yelled at the man she'd previously considered 'pure salty goodness', but suddenly saw in an entirely new light. Has he gone completely psycho or what? "What are you, high on PCP?! You're beating Xander to death!"

"It's nothing less than what he deserves!" Angel yelled. "He raped Buffy!"

Cordelia turned and glared at Xander. "He did what!?"

"I didn't…I was…possessed…" Xander got out as he spat up some blood. "That wasn't me!"

Cordelia thought for a moment before she turned back to the vampire. "This is crazy, right now I don't know what to believe. Look, let's go talk to Giles-" she tried to say.

"No. I'm not going to let this piece of filth get away with what he did!" Angel hissed venomously. Cordelia instantly got in his way, figuring that he'd thank her later for not committing murder.

Too bad she had no idea that Angel was a vampire, and Angelus was just beneath the surface - howling for Xander's head on a silver platter. "Move!" he finally yelled at the cheerleader.

"No…" Cordelia said nervously. "Look, pal, just calm down! Whatever you think happened, this is not the answer-"

Angel was too blinded by rage to even see her clearly. "I told you to move!" he yelled, as the vamp carelessly grabbed the girl and tossed her hard to the side, focused only on ripping Xander's spleen out - for starters. "Now as for you, you son of a bitch. I'm going to-" He then stopped, as he noticed Harris was not looking at him. "Hey! Look at me, you-"

But Xander looked past him, blinking the blood out of his eyes. "Cordelia!"

Angel grinned. "Hiding behind a girl, Xander? To think I thought you actually had some stones…"

"No!" Xander yelled weakly, as he pointed a shaky finger.

Angel glanced back and stopped cold, the fury instantly replaced with a cold sense of dread and horror. "Oh, no..."

Cordelia was lying in a heap on the ground. Her lower back was covered in blood, and a deep gash was visible in her bare skin. Forgetting all about Xander, Angel rushed over and saw that he had thrown the cheerleader directly onto a rusted and exposed water spigot.

"No, damn it!" Angel said, cursing his temper as he tried to stop the bleeding, even if he had to take a moment - because the smell was making his vampiric bloodlust almost go straight through the roof.

"OH MY GOD!"

Angel spun and saw Harmony Kendall and several other people at the mouth of the alley. "She needs-"

"Somebody do something, that guy is attacking Cordelia!" the airheaded blond yelled as two guys in Sunnydale High letterman jackets rushed over.

"Get away from her!" one of the jocks said roughly as they ran over.

"No, you don't understand!" Angel tried to explain. "I didn't mean to-"

"He just told you, back the hell off from Cordelia you bastard!" the other jock yelled, as he nailed Angel in the face with a right cross.

Angel hardly even felt the blow, but saw that the gathering crowd was getting very hostile; a few of the male students had even grabbed bits of metal pipe as weapons. It reminded him far too much of the lynch mobs of the past, so the Irish-born vampire decided the best thing to do right now was to get out of there. And thus he ran and jumped for the nearest fire escape, quickly disappearing up onto the roof and off into the night.

"Who was that guy?!" one of the Cordettes asked, horrified as she saw all the blood.

"I don't know…" the first jock called out, "But geez, we need to get Cordy an ambulance right now!"

"Better make that two ambulances!" someone called out, pointing over to the other side of the alley.

"Xander Harris!?" Harmony demanded in shock. "What the hell's he doing here?"

A football player went over to the unconscious Xander. "Man, he's been worked over but good! Looks like he must have been trying to help Cordy against that son of a bitch. Guess the nerd has some guts, after all..."

---

KTSU 11 o'clock News, Sunnydale

"Hello, and welcome to news at eleven, I'm Mark Thomas. Our top story tonight," the main anchorman said from the news desk, "is the vicious attack on two local Sunnydale High students."

"That's right, Mark," the female anchor added. "Sixteen year olds Cordelia Chase and Alexander Harris were both attacked outside the local night club known as 'The Bronze', earlier this evening. Mr. Harris was severely beaten, while Miss Chase ended up with a large wound to her back. And the young woman is in fact the teenage daughter of Charles Chase, the CEO of the Chase Financial network of banks..."

"From the various witness accounts of this attack, local authorities have released this police sketch of the attacker," Mark said, as a rough drawing of Angel appeared on the screen. "The individual in question is described as tall, pale, in his mid-twenties with dark hair. He was wearing a black leather jacket, and is believed to be the same man seen outside the Bronze back in March when a gang fight took the lives of two other students and the club's doorman. He is also believed to be armed and extremely dangerous; if you have any information about this man, you are asked to contact the Sunnydale Police department at once..."

---

Sunnydale High School Library, Sunnydale

Saturday, October 18th 1997

Buffy Summers and Rupert Giles had gathered here to talk about what had happened last night, even if Willow Rosenberg had refused to leave Xander's hospital bed; the Slayer was sure it had to be some kind of mistake, while the Watcher was berating himself for being fool enough to ever trust a vampire, soul or not.

"Angel!" Buffy suddenly yelled in relief, as her undead boyfriend came in through the old tunnel access door early that morning.

"Stay away from him, Buffy!" Giles ordered her quickly, as he grabbed a stake.

"But Giles, he's Angel!" Buffy defended her man as she hugged him. "He wouldn't have done those horrible things to Xander and Cordelia!" She turned back to the vampire. "Look, we just have to keep you out of sight till we find out who or what framed you-"

"No," Angel told her, upset. "Buffy…it's true. What happened last night, it was me who was responsible."

"What?" Buffy asked, completely confused. "But Angel, that's insane! You wouldn't hurt anyone-"

Giles had had enough of Buffy's stubborn blindness where this THING was concerned, so he moved over and roughly pulled his Slayer away from her boyfriend. He then faced the undead guy, "Explain yourself quickly. And this had better be good, or one of us won't be walking away from this meeting!"

"I didn't mean for Cordelia to get hurt, I was just so upset!" Angel said honestly. "Look, I came here last night and overheard Buffy and Willow talking-"

Buffy's face went white as she interrupted, "You did what? Angel, what did you hear?"

"What Xander did to you back in April!" Angel roared, the anger surfacing all over again.

"Oh my God!" Buffy said in mute horror, as she backed up and almost missed the seat she sat in.

"Buffy?" Giles demanded. "What does he think Xander did to you?"

Buffy looked down, not wanting to talk about this with her Watcher, as she had only just admitted it to Willow. "Six months ago…when Xander was possessed by that Hyena thing?"

"Yes?" Giles pressed.

"I kinda lied about what really happened," Buffy admitted. "When Xander tried to…rape me." She looked up to him. "Giles, see, before I hit him with the desk he got my pants off and-"

"Good Lord!" Giles exclaimed in shock. "He DID rape you?"

"NO!" Buffy said quickly. "I mean, there was some naughty touching…but I know it wasn't him!" She looked up to the British man again, afraid. "Oh God, Giles, if he was so upset at what he said to Willow then, if he ever finds out how he tried to do something like that-"

"What are you talking about? He already knows," Angel said darkly.

Buffy's head snapped back to her boyfriend. "What?!"

Angel shook his head. "With that sort of possession, you remember all of it. It's not like an intelligent demon possession. Besides, I've heard of these Primal spirits, Darla told me about them once. Bottom line is, Xander remembers what he did then-"

"No!" Buffy said, shaking her head in denial. "He told us he didn't remember!"

"He lied. And now I know why," Angel said flatly. "But YOU should have known he would remember!" he said pointedly at Giles.

"W-well, he didn't mention…this," Giles said with a sigh as he sat on the edge of the table.

"You knew?!" Buffy accused. "Giles!"

The Englishman took off his glasses and sighed deeply. "We didn't talk about it much, he just wanted to know if I'd told either of you girls about him remembering. I assumed it was because that whole business of eating the pig."

"No," Angel growled. "It was how he forced himself on Buffy!"

"Oh, do shut up!" Giles snapped at the vampire, still irate over what he had done to Cordelia and Xander. "You're hardly in any position to moralize, and I know for a fact in his right mind Xander would never willingly force himself on one of his friends! And no doubt it's been eating away at him this entire time."

"Who cares about hi-" Angel started to get out, but Giles stopped him.

"Don't start!" the Watcher said, taking umbrage at hearing that. "Because I've heard all about your history, you should know."

"That was Angelus, not me!" Angel said very emotionally.

"No. I meant before you were turned, you ruddy berk!" Giles said in annoyance as he stood back up. "At my request, the Council did an extensive background check on you. What kind of a man you were, during your mortal life. As well as all of your Scourge days, I thought that if you were going to be anywhere near my Slayer - I wanted to know all about who you were."

"So what did you find out?" Buffy asked impatiently, somewhat annoyed as Angel's face tightened in concern. "'Cause I already know Angel didn't go around killing people when he was alive-"

"No, he didn't," Giles said evenly. "But quite apart from his being a drunken lout, he did force himself on quite a few young barmaids in his day…didn't you, Liam?"

"WHAT?!" Buffy demanded in horrified shock, as Angel drew away from her.

"Do you honestly want me to tell Buffy just how many illegitimate children you sired on all those women in Galway, back then?" Giles asked the vampire, whose face had gone even paler than normal.

The Slayer couldn't deal with any more of this right now, all of the shocking revelations were just too intense and simply could not fit into her world-view. "Okay...just, just please, stop it, both of you!" Buffy stood up. "Because we have to figure out what to do, NOW!"

"Xander should be arrested for what he tried to do back then!" Angel said firmly, returning to his main theme.

"No!" Buffy told him at once, to Angel's disbelief. "Whether he remembers it or not…damn it, Angel, it wasn't him! I don't blame Xander for what happened then, because he simply wasn't in control of himself. I mean, if I start down that road, I may as well blame YOU for all the people your evil alter ego slaughtered back in the day!"

"I'm afraid we have bigger problems to concern ourselves with," Giles said abruptly, as Angel continued to stare at Buffy in disbelief. "Apart from being responsible for Xander and Cordelia getting hurt so badly, Angel, you being here now could expose us. Expose Buffy."

"Giles?" the blond Chosen One asked, not understanding.

"Miss Chase is the daughter of one of the richest men in the state, Buffy. And money can buy results, as it were. While this town's police force may be rather inept and in complete denial with regards to the demons living on the Hellmouth, I rather suspect they will not - they cannot afford to - let Angel simply vanish into the woodwork after such a public spectacle."

The Watcher looked directly at the vampire, and said emotionlessly, "That's why you shouldn't be seen with any of us or come to this place again, at least not for the foreseeable future. At the moment you are, for want of a better word, compromised; a wanted man in the human world. Buffy would have all sorts of impossible questions to answer if you continued to patrol or even associate with her, and someone sees you both together. I think it would be best if you left town. The sooner the better."

Both Slayer and vampire quickly raised objections to that plan, but Giles held firm. "It is common knowledge among the student body that Xander is friends with Buffy, and so the police will no doubt be interviewing her and Willow, as well as Cordelia's friends. Looking for a connection to you, Angel."

"Doesn't matter," Buffy said quickly. "Angel just has to lie low for awhile!"

Giles shook his head. "I'm afraid there is also the matter of the wetworks team the Council will no doubt send after your boyfriend, as well."

"What's that?" Buffy demanded, as Angel's brow furrowed in concern.

"A special operations unit, I believe you lot call it over here. They, uh, handle the Council's trickier jobs - smuggling, interrogation, even assassination. Whatever needs to be done, they are famous for finding ways to do it. They would come after Angel, and unless you are willing to kill human beings - there's nothing you can do to stop them-"

"So then, just don't report all this to anyone back in England!" Buffy instructed him, briefly glancing at Angel. And the starry-eyed schoolgirl did not like what she saw there.

"Buffy, please. The, the Council is hardly comprised of fools," Giles replied with a sigh. "You should know the Watchers routinely monitor news reports coming out of this town to see if they need to come in en masse, this is the Hellmouth after all. And my superiors already know who Xander and Cordelia are, after reading my reports of the past year or so. Given that both of them are now in the hospital, if he continues to stay here - the long and the short of it is, Angel's days are quite definitely numbered."

---

Office of Mayor Richard Wilkins III, City Hall, Sunnydale

Later that day

Richard Wilkins stopped in his tracks as he entered his office. Someone was sitting in his chair. "Gosh, now who might you be?" he asked pleasantly. "And how the dickens did you get past my security?"

The large leather chair turned from the window, revealing the older man sitting in it. And Wilkins was instantly stunned. "Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle! Ra's Al Ghul, as I live and breathe!"

The uptight Englishman in the very expensive suit didn't crack a smile. "Richard. I thought we had an arrangement."

"You mean about your daughter?" the Mayor asked quickly, as he closed the door. "Well, we do. I'll admit it was a terrible thing that happened last night, but from what I hear she'll be fine. For the most part-"

Ra's slammed his fist onto the desk, the calm façade vanishing. "You told me that you could control the demons in this damned town of yours! My daughter shouldn't even have gotten a hangnail last night!"

"Now, now," Wilkins said, amused yet with a hint of steel in his voice. "There's no need for getting all upset like that. Golly! It was just an accident after all, from what I'm told."

"I would hardly call being attacked by a deadly vampire an 'accident', Richard," Ra's said, the menace in his voice quite unmistakable. "And not only that, but on the flight over here I was informed of the fact that Talia has almost been killed several times during the last year or so. And you did nothing to prevent it! If she hadn't fallen in with the current Slayer's crowd, then my daughter would have been dead three or four times over!"

"You might want to watch your temper, you know," Wilkins said calmly, as he ran a rag over the edge of a shelf. He checked it to make sure no dust was present before he went on, "I can understand anger at this moment, but don't forget who you're speaking to."

"Oh, I know perfectly well who I am speaking to, Mr. Wilkins," Ra's said darkly, his tone of inflection growing colder by degrees. "A dead man walking."

The Mayor just chuckled. "Well, Ra's, the last time I checked - I had more 'backers' than you. Especially here on my home turf!"

At that moment the office door opened, and two large vampires came into the room. "Ah, perfect timing!" Wilkins told his two associates. "Please escort Mr. Ghul to his car-"

"I'm afraid that won't be happening, sir," one of the vampires said simply.

"Oh?" Wilkins asked, the amusement instantly gone. "Now why is that, pray tell?"

"Because I've made them a much better offer, in return for their services," Ra's said darkly. "Not to mention told them what their fate will most likely be, if your mad plan to achieve Ascension were to ever come to fruition."

The Mayor wasn't invulnerable yet, and hadn't ever anticipated anyone finding out his big secret like this. And as the vampires advanced, Richard couldn't help contemplating the fact that when he had sold his soul he had been given eternal youth for it, not eternal life...

----

Sunnydale High Library, Sunnydale

Later that night

"Buffy!!!" Willow called out urgently, as she ran into the library.

"Willow?!" Buffy jumped up from her dazed contemplations of recent events. "What's wrong?"

"It's Xander…he's missing!" the redhead cried.

"What?!" Buffy demanded.

"Mom dragged me home for a shower and change of clothes," Willow explained, upset. "And when I got back there, Xander's room was empty!"

"And so is Cordelia's, by the way," Giles said, as he came out of the office. "My contact at the hospital says they were transported somewhere by helicopter, less than an hour ago."

"Okay. Calm down, Will," Buffy told her best friend. "They must have just gotten transferred to a better hospital. Maybe in LA-"

"No, that's not it I'm afraid," Giles said with a stereotypical British scowl. "My contact said it was a private unmarked helicopter that took both of them away. He has no idea as to where, though."

"But why would anyone kidnap Xander?!" Willow demanded in confusion.

"And Cordy," Buffy pointed out.

Willow scowled, as if Cordelia was not important right now. "Fine, okay, apart from the whole rich girl thing - and Cordelia!" A look of horror suddenly manifested itself on her face, "Oh God, if Xanderwakesupinsomestrangeplacewithoutanyonetobethereforhim…"

"I'll see what I can learn through my unofficial contacts," Giles said, almost unable to understand what the teenage girl was babbling. "Willow, you and Buffy go to Xander's home and ask his parents if they know anything. He is under 18, after all."

"Right," Buffy said as she took Willow's arm. "We're on it!"

---

Featureless room, unknown Tropical Island

Two days later

Cordelia woke with a start. When her eyes first opened, they saw a very odd thing. An older Englishman with a beard was looking down at her fondly. "Who the hell are you!?"

"Please relax, Cordelia," the man said calmly as he gently pushed her back onto the bed. "I am not here to harm you, or your friend Alexander."

"Xander!" Cordelia's eyes went wide. "Oh God, Angel was about to..."

The man nodded. "Yes, I know. But don't worry; the young man is here as well. He is alive, and will be better shortly, as you are."

"Better?" Cordelia demanded. "Buddy, what was wrong with-"

"That vampire - Angel - threw you off of him, and you were impaled upon a water spigot in that alley," Ra's told her. "In a nutshell, you had serious life-threatening injuries because of that occurrence." He anticipated her next question, "We healed you, almost as soon as you arrived here. Surely you know of what some call magic?"

"Who are you?" the young woman wanted to know. "A friend of Giles?"

"No," the Englishman told her simply. "I did meet that individual once many years ago, granted, but he was just a child at the time."

"Child!?"

"All your questions will be answered in time, Cordelia," Ra's told the girl. "But first, I need for you to watch something." He picked up a remote control and handed it to her. "The tape is ready for you, just hit play and it will all be explained."

Cordelia looked at him in confusion, as the man turned and left. Jumping off the bed, she walked towards the wall-mounted TV on the far side of the room. She turned it on and hit play on the remote, and her life was changed forever.

Charles Chase came on the screen. "Hello, Cordelia."

"Daddy?" she asked, unsure. Even if no one else was in the room to hear her say it.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart. What I have to tell you will no doubt be a very big shock to you, and something that I'm pretty sure you won't want to believe, but it's the truth. The truth that's been hidden from you for your entire life."

---

Chase Mansion, Sunnydale, California

Tuesday, October 21st 1997

"Hey!" Buffy Summers yelled, as she saw the swarm of men moving stuff out of the mansion. "What the hell is going on here?"

"Out of the way, little lady!" one guy yelled, as he lugged a rolled-up Persian rug out of the mansion.

Looking through the open garage, the Slayer saw all the cars and motorcycles being loaded onto a flatbed truck. "What is going on!?!"

"Who the hell are you?"

Buffy spun to come face to face with a short man in a jumpsuit. "What are you doing robbing this place?!" she demanded.

The man looked at her in anger. "Listen here, girly, we're not thieves. We were hired to come here and do a job, and we're doing it!"

"I hardly think they hired you to steal-" Buffy started but was cut off.

"Charles Chase talked to me in person. This morning," He turned around and grabbed one of his men. "Bob!"

"Yeah, boss?"

He motioned to Buffy. "Get this teenage brat out of my sight!"

"Sure thing," Bob replied as he grabbed Buffy's arm to drag her away.

He failed to take into account Buffy's Slayer strength though, and as his boss walked away Bob just stared at her in confusion, "How the hell-?"

The blond Champion realized she was attracting unwanted attention, and quickly adopted a pleading look. "Look, I'm just after the Chases, whether or not they can tell me where their daughter Cordelia is? I'm a-" Buffy hesitated before admitting, "a friend of hers, from school."

"I don't know nothing about that. Me and everyone else from the transport company just work here, sweetheart," Bob replied testily. "Now, are you gonna go peacefully, or do I have to call the cops to arrest you for trespassing?"

Buffy inwardly shuddered at the response that would engender from her mom, and quickly made tracks away from No. 4 Parkview.

----

Featureless room, unknown tropical island

The same time

Xander woke up slowly. "Ohhhh," he moaned. "I feel like-"

"You're fine, you stupid dork!"

Harris sat up at the harsh and critical female voice, and looked across the room. All he saw was a remote that had been smashed against the wall, and a bed with a weeping Cordelia Chase. "Cordy!" he yelled, getting up. "Are you okay, did Angel hurt you? More!?"

As he came to the edge of her bed Cordelia snorted, "Oh, he almost killed me. But that's not the damn problem!"

"Uh, Cordelia…"

"That's not even my real name!" she spat out in rage. "I'm Talia! Talia Al Ghul!"

"What are ya talkin' about, Cor?" Xander tried to figure it out in vain.

"That British guy…" Cordelia suddenly started crying again. "He's my real father!"

Still confused Xander leaned in and unconsciously hugged her, providing comfort as he would for his other two girls despite their history, even as the brunette continued to cry on his shoulder. "Cordy? No big surprise, I know, but I still don't understand what the hell you're talking about..."

---

Control room, not far away

The same time

Ra's and his assistant Michael watched the scene on the large monitor. "She is not taking the news well."

Ra's nodded. "Better than I expected, though, what with her being raised an American."

Michael asked. "Not to doubt you, sir, but why train them? It is very unlikely they will ever join the ranks…"

"I know," Ra's said. "But she is my daughter, and when it becomes known that I have offspring - like it or not, she will become a target. It is the least I can do for her."

"And the boy?" Michael asked.

Ra's looked at the image of the male teenager comforting his daughter. "This one has potential. Thus, he will be molded into the perfect bodyguard for her. He's the perfect raw material for it, after all. The child has fought vampires for a while now and survived, without any training at all..."

A man in a black ninja-like outfit came in and handed Michael a clipboard. "Sir," the aide said. "All the requested equipment has been brought in, and the items from her former home have arrived."

Ra's looked to the new man. "How long till the room is ready?"

"A few more hours, sir."

"Excellent," Ra's said and motioned for him to leave. "Michael, prepare them for dinner."

---

Featureless room

A short while later

Xander looked up as the door to the room opened. A woman in a black outfit walked in with a steady stride, full of confidence. "Mr. Harris, Ms. Ghul. If you'll come with me? It is requested that you be readied for dinner."

"Her name is Cordelia Chase," Xander told the woman simply. His mind still reeling from the tale his old kindergarten nemesis had told him.

The woman looked to Cordelia. "If that is what you wish to be called for now, I will honor your wishes, madam. The master will answer what questions you have at dinner."

---

Xander walked out of the door of the room he had used to change in, to an amazing sight. He was on a paved path within what looked like a large tropical resort, like Club Med or something. "Wow," was all he could say as the youth looked at the custom-built one-story buildings around him.

"Never thought I'd ever see you wearing a tux, dweeb-o," Cordelia said, giving him a once-over as she came up the path to meet her high school classmate.

Xander looked her over too, almost letting his jaw drop to the ground - as the cheerleader was in a thin strapless black cocktail dress with high heels, which left little to the imagination. "Whoa!"

"Thanks," Cordy said simply, glad to see there was still one tiny island of normality within this sea of insanity that she'd gotten caught up in. And that was her ability to make any boy drool at the sight of her, even Xander Harris. "You look good too," the young woman then added in a moment of generosity, privately admitting to herself it wasn't a lie either.

"Young sir and madam," the woman said as she came up the path. "Mr. Ghul is waiting for you in the dining room. But first, he wanted you to have this." She motioned to Cordelia and held up a large velvet jewelry box. When she opened it up, Cordelia looked at the object dumbfounded.

"This was your mother's," the woman told her as Cordy gazed in utter amazement at the large necklace full of diamonds. "Mr. Harris, if you wouldn't mind?"

"Ah…okay, sure," Xander said with a shrug, as he took the necklace offered to him and went to put it on Cordelia. She moved her hair back, and he somewhat nervously clasped the necklace around the brunette's neck. He then said, "Just so ya know, I'm pretty sure this thing's got to be worth more than what my dad makes in ten years..."

"I know what your parents are like, Xander. I think twenty would be a better guess," Cordelia said as she glanced down at the necklace that hung on her ample chest. It had three stems full of diamonds with a very large tear-shaped diamond on the end. "My God. It's beautiful!"

"That it is. And it looked just as lovely on your mother as well," the nameless woman said fondly, as she motioned for the teens to follow her.

---

Large dining room

A short while later

They were escorted into the formal chambers, and saw Ra's as he rose from his chair at the head of the large ornate table. "Welcome, and thank you for joining me."

"I don't think we had much choice in the matter, myself," Xander said, a little hostile as he noticed Cordelia look anywhere but at the man in the suit. "So, I take it you're the guy claming to be Cordy's real father?"

"Xander!" Cordelia angrily stage-whispered to him.

But Ra's just grinned at the boy's attitude. "Excellent. On account of that's what I hoped you'd say, Mr. Harris. You should know that you two have been described to me as bitter enemies, and yet here you are defending her? Some call that the White Knight or Boy Scout mentality..."

"Whatever. And my name's Xander," Xander told him, deciding to throw caution and discretion to the wind. "Mr. Harris is the guy who drinks and feels like beating me up, every time he has to pay off his bookie."

Cordelia looked at him sharply. "What!?"

Xander basically ignored her stare. "Whatever, I've learned how to live with it-"

"But you shouldn't have to!" Cordelia scolded him. "Does Willow know about this?"

Harris shook her head. "The Rosenbergs would have had me taken away by Social Services…and Sunnydale doesn't have any foster homes, you know that. I'd have ended up in LA or somewhere, years ago - and how would I have protected Willow for all those years then?"

"Xander," an astounded Cordelia said softly, as she put aside past differences and placed her hand over his. "You shouldn't have to live like that-"

"Told you. Doesn't matter," Xander said stonily.

"Hmmm. Nice to know that the caring also goes both ways," Ra's told them.

"Why are you doing this?" Xander demanded simply, wanting the topic to change. "And Cordy said something about you healing us with magic?"

"Ah, yes," Ra's said as the waiters started to serve the appetizers. "To answer your second question first - as you both know by now, this world contains many things unknown to the general public. The Lazarus Pits are one of them. I discovered one here many years ago, and found that it had great healing powers." He put his napkin across his lap. "How old would you say I was, Xander?"

Xander just shrugged. "Fifty? Fifty-five?"

Ra's shook his head. "More like five hundred and thirty-four."

Both teens briefly looked at each other in shock. But Xander had been around the weird stuff longer, so he was able to shake it off first. He asked point-blank, "You're a vampire?"

"No!" Ra's told him firmly. "The Pits can also take years off of you, physically. Barring a major accident, a human could theoretically live for an indefinite period of time with its use. Why, Cordelia's mother was ninety-two when she gave birth to her..."

Cordelia looked at Ra's as if he was nuts. "You have GOT to be kidding me!"

But he wasn't, and over the three-hour dinner many other secrets of the Al Ghul family were told. How an old enemy of Ra's had killed Cordelia's mother after she was born, and Ra's had been forced to put their baby girl into hiding with a couple of old friends. And how the Hellmouth had been picked to make sure any unfriendly eyes that arrived in town were killed by the town's nightlife.

He had used her middle name of Cordelia as her first name to further hide her true identity, and her foster parents' stand-offishness had been so that when Ra's eventually came back for her, she wouldn't have a big emotional breakup with the Chase's.

Now as the dessert plates were being taken away, Ra's outlined his plans for the two teenage kids. "Cordelia, in time, it is my hope you will take back your real name. Your mother was very fond of it," the centuries-old man mused. "But with regard to the present, both you and Xander will be trained and schooled here for the foreseeable future. And that is not up for discussion."

"What?" Xander demanded. "You want to keep us here? Why?"

"I have many enemies throughout the world," Ra's told him firmly. "No one lives for as long as I have without acquiring them. If word gets out that I have a daughter before she's been trained how to defend herself-"

"But I didn't do anything to your enemies!" Cordelia said bitterly. "God, I just met you!"

"That will not matter to them," Ra's said bluntly. "You are, or will be soon enough, a target. Accept it." Then he turned to Xander. "Which is where you come in, Xander."

"Me?" Xander asked in confusion. "Unless I missed something humongous, you aren't my father-"

"No, I'm not," Ra's said, raising an eyebrow. "But getting back on topic, despite outward appearances - my daughter trusts you, and cares about you as you do her. That is why you will be trained as her bodyguard."

"Say what?" Harris demanded, stunned.

Ra's looked at them both. "Why else did you think I bothered to bring you here, and heal you of the injuries that vampire inflicted? As I said, you two will remain here. You will do almost everything together…you will eat, sleep, train, take class, even bathe together."

"Sleep?" both teens demanded in unison, as again the duo shared a brief look.

"Bathe!?" Cordy then looked apoplectic. "No way! Xander may be a complete dweeb, but he's still a guy!"

Ra's had known that that one would raise some objections, but pressed on nonetheless. "That is irrelevant. With the training you will both receive...basically, everyone here must be able to function side by side. You must know everything there is to know about your teammates, as your life often depends on it. When the League was first founded-"

"League, what league?" Xander interrupted.

"Later. But as I was saying, when the organization began - women were not allowed in. Nowadays things are different, but despite the fact that many females have joined us within the last two decades, the rules have not changed for them."

"And if we say no to this big grand scheme of yours?" Xander asked.

Ra's didn't miss a beat. "Well, Cordelia is my daughter. You, however…" He pulled out a small handgun. "You're not indispensable, and I cannot afford any holes in my security. So I'll shoot you and be done with it, right now."

All the blood drained from Xander's face, and even Cordelia looked horrified as she stared at her so-called father. "You wouldn't!"

"I would." Ra's Al Ghul spoke in a very cold voice, his English accent very pronounced and his gun hand rock-steady.

"Well, since you put it that way…how can I refuse?" Harris said, offering a somewhat weak smile.

---

tbc…