"Orphans Beloved: "My Freakin' Valentine…II"
Summary: Like my Immortal Beloved bits in my Buffyverse stories, these are fragments and short bits, some longer…Just to fiddle with ideas, possibly forming longer tales later.
Disclaimer: No copywrite infringement intended…
Saturday, February 14, 2015…
Audience Hall of the Wizard…
The huge floating face regarding Rachel Duncan in her suit calmly regarding it…A nervous Vic next to her, though doing his best to contemplate the Way even as he trembled…This is serious shit going down here…I mean it was fun at first when we crash-landed on that witch broad…Yet another Sarah of course…And the little Felixes running round were cute with the singin' and all. But this…And that other Sarah, the broomstick flyin' one.
Kinda expected she'd be that Alison Hendrix but no way we in Canada any more…
Dr. Nealon, to Rachel's other side, regarding the image with both curiosity and some annoyance…
Would be Leekie…
"I…Am…Aldous… The great and powerful! " the figure sternly eyed them. "Who are…? Miss? What the hell happened to your eye?!"
"Sarah Manning, back home." Rachel tersely. "I'm Rachel Duncan of Dyad Institute…The efficient, well-coiffed, and anything but meek. Our corporate jet went down, no doubt as part of a cabal to dispose of three people our corporation considered liabilities."
"I'm not with them…" Vic tried.
"Nonsense…He was a monitor in our organization for our cloning experiment, though clueless until the moment he was taken and brought abroad on someone's order to join Dr. Nealon here and myself on a flight obviously intended for nowhere." Rachel, frowning at Vic… "Now, we crashed here in…Whatever…And hearing you are the man to see, we've come to make a few deman…"
"SILENCE!"
"Excuse me…" Rachel glared.
"Damnit Rachel, I'm CEO here!" the face insisted. "And the great and powerful Aldous knows why you have come!"
"I'd imagine so after that other skank version of Sarah did her skywriting…" Rachel noted calmly.
"Step forward, Nealon…!"
Doctor? Rachel eyed him…Nealon somewhat reluctantly putting himself forward, something which as a rule he preferred to avoid at Dyad.
"So, you have the effrontery to come to me for a download of all research including Ethan Duncan's secret synthetic sequence data on the Leda project of your world?"
"A small price to pay for my past services…Meaning that of course Ms. Duncan will compensate you on her return to power." Nealon tried.
"Go!" The face roared…Looking over… "And you, Dick…"
"Now that is a bit…" Vic tried.
"GRRRR…! Now I'm being defied by Vic the Dick?!" the head roared.
"Uh…No, see it's just the Way of the Buddha is…"
"SILENCE!"
"Ok…Ok…" Vic put up a hand. "Lets all be cool. You know this really has nothing to do with…"
"You dare to ask for enlightenment and the courage that comes with it?!" the face glared.
"Uh…Well…" Vic fainted, falling flat on his face…
Really. Rachel sighed, eyeing him.
One cannot get good help when one's corporate accounts are seized or frozen.
"Very impressive, Aldous…" she eyed the face sardonically. "And we'll discuss how you pull off the cute special effects later. But shall we get down to real business…Nealon wants the research, Victor here, whatever nonsense he's asked for, and I want a ride back to supreme corporate power and all the heads of my enemies including Marion Bowles, Sarah Manning, and all her clone clubbettes in a basket. Now you seem to have a little clone problem here yourself in Leekieland…Can we deal? Or are we all talk and no power and I should be attempting negotiations with the broomstick-flying skank psycho?"
"Eh…Well, actually the benevolent and magnificent Aldous has every intention of granting your requests." Puckish smile. "In fact, I'll even throw in a new eye for free. It does look gross by the way, couldn't you wear a patch or something?"
"Not wearing it reminds me of my quest for vengeance." Rachel coolly. "And it chafes. So we have a deal?"
"Really?" Vic, looking up from floor, trying to wipe bleeding nose. "And we get to go home, if we…"
"SILENCE! But for every action, Rachel…" the face returned to study hers. "You know there must be an equal and opposite reaction. Bring me the broomstick of my own rather hybrid Helena/Sarah clone and deal done."
"To do that, we'd have to kill her…I hope." Rachel noted. "And would it help if we brought back an eye from her as well?"
"Now that's clearly against the Way…" Vic waved a hand.
"Your time is up…Bring me the broomstick and I'll grant your requests. Have an excellent Valentine's day, dear." The face disappeared.
Hmmn...Both a necessary job and a pleasure, Rachel thought.
Hospital room 101C…Dyad Medical Institute.
"No improvement?" Marion Bowles addressed the nurse scanning the chart of the comatose Rachel Duncan lying in bed, hooked to various machines and monitors.
"None…She may be in that coma a very long time, perhaps for good." The nurse sighed. "Though, it's odd…Since this morning she's been smiling. Funny she should start smiling today."
"Hmmn?" Marion stared. "Oh, right. The ritual nonsense." She peered at Rachel's smiling face. "Can't believe Rachel would be interested in such foolishness but she did have a fuzzy side that caused her to lose focus and let her emotions gain control, pity."