Title: Immolo
Author: Chrissy
Email:
Rating: PG-13
Category: AU
Content: C/A friendship. C/X flirting
Summary: Cordelia's the Slayer. Buffy's the Queen C biotch of Sunnydale High. They both have a destiny that'll tie them together forever, even if they hate each other.
Disclaimer: The characters in the Angelverse were created by Joss
Whedon & David Greenwalt. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.
Distribution: anywhere, as long as I know.
Notes:
Feedback: Need it. Want it. Give it. (please)

Cloaked in the shadows, the brutish vampire leaned against the brick wall and drew deep on the cigarette in his mouth, inhaling its addictive fumes. Only the red glow of the cigarette sparked in the darkness. His enhanced night vision caught sight of a cuddling couple exiting the movie theater across the street.

They were moving towards the alleyway, obviously looking for some privacy and perhaps a shortcut home.

They always want the shortcut, the vampire mused to himself, dropping the butt of the cigarette onto the ground and putting it out with his polished boot as a grin appeared on his pale features.

Leaning further against the wall to cloak himself in the shadows, the vampire waited patiently and silently as the couple entered the alleyway, moving at a leisurely pace.

When they were barely five feet from him, he stepped out and sported his game face proudly. "Hello, my pets."

His confidence was short-lived as a flash of bight light blinded him for a moment. A blade cut across his chest and dug into his neck so deeply that it seemed like the blade, sharp and well-kept in all it's shiny glory, was all that kept his head from falling.

When he recognized the person, their presence, he would have yelled out their name if he had the strength or the ability to speak. Instead he just mouthed, in utter disbelief: "Slayer!"

The figure that appeared before him, jumping from above, most likely from the roof of one of the buildings, had dark russet eyes and toned, chiseled features that were illuminated by the moonlight. She had no mercy and proved it. With one sweeping kick the vampire's head flew off, falling to dust with the body.

Cordelia Chase sheathed her blade and fixed her top unconsciously, as if it were a routine action, before moving to leave the alleyway. Holding back a growl of frustration when she felt the woman's hand grab at her arm, she reluctantly turned to face the couple.

"Thank you, thank you." They both thanked her over and over through shining, tear-filled eyes, a sight Cordelia was disgusted to behold when she noticed the man practically trembling. I guess the whole 'Man is the protector' thing is out.

She pointed to his crotch area where it was amusingly evident that he had been scared enough to pee in his pants. "Manly."

Only a short minute passed before Cordelia groaned as she shrugged out of her jacket. The reason was the deep rumble of her father. "Where were you, Cordelia?"

Turning to face her father, her brown tresses going just below her shoulder gracefully moving along with her, Cordelia firmed her jaw and tried to prepare herself to deal with her always paranoid father, William Chase. "Out."

"That's assuring," the man with skin as tan and hair as brown as his daughters said, not bothering to even stand up from the comfortable chair he was seated in. While one hand gripped the arm of the maroon recliner, practically ripping at the worn texture that had been replaced several times when the cat had scratched it far too much, the other held a small glass, filled predictably with Scotch. "I thought you'd be smart enough to come up with a better excuse."

"Well, you know me...always disappointing you," Cordelia bitingly snorted, turning and moving to go upstairs. She was tired and wanted nothing more than to fall asleep and drown in wonderful, fantasy like dreams that had her back in Los Angeles instead of in the gallingly small town of Sunnydale. "I'm tired and sore, and school starts for me tomorrow, can I just go get some sleep?"

Her father didn't miss a beat, as usual. Will Chase was never a strict father, always the lenient parental figure in the household when it came to allowing his only daughter to go out and have fun; but since the divorce from his high school sweetheart, Cordelia's mother, a bitterness had seeped into him, took over and caused him to slowly decay as a human being.

"You need to tell me where you're going before you leave."

"Sorry," Cordelia sighed, and somewhere deep down she meant it. Even if at the moment she was frustrated and covered in dust, she reminded herself that her father was all she had; and what he was going through was just as worse as what she was going through, perhaps even more so.

Miranda Chase promised to call every week and so far she'd kept her promise, but ever since she'd demanded a divorce from Cordelia's father, she'd been different, distant even.

Cordelia still loved her just as she still loved her father, but truthfully, she wanted nothing more than for everything to go back as it was. "Can I go to bed now?"

"No," her father said gruffly, so suddenly that Cordelia almost took a step back in surprise. "We need to talk. Tomorrow's a new start for both of us. School will take up most of your time just as the gallery will take up most of mine. I just..."

Cordelia waited for what seemed like hours for her father to continue speaking after he swallowed hard. But as the seconds, the minutes, passed, his eyes drifted and the only movement he had was his arm lifting his drink to his mouth.

"Dad...?"

"A lot has happened and I just want you to know..." He let his head fall as he closed his eyes, the silence engulfing him and his daughter for the longest time. Finally, he looked up and offered not a smile but not a grim expression either, something that lay in the middle. "Good night, Cordelia."

Nodding, Cordelia turned and walked upstairs. But once she reached her door, she stopped and turned to look downstairs, where only her fathers feet were visible. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, he finally stood up and cleared his throat before entering the kitchen, most likely to fill his glass with more scotch.

Cordelia's face fell but she collected herself enough to take what she had and silently bid her father goodnight as she closed the door and went to bed.

Halfheartedly double checking to see if he had all his books in his pack, Xander Harris gripped the locker door and slammed it shut, revealing his redheaded best friend Willow Rosenberg, much to his delight.

Greeting her with an amicable wave, Xander smiled as he used his other hand to scratch the mop of dark hair on his head absently. "How was your night?" he asked her enthusiastically, tossing the hacky-sack from his right hand to his left and repeating it over and over as the two started to move at an unhurried pace down the hallway of Sunnydale High School.

"I spent some time on my laptop," Willow shrugged, clapping her hands together. "My mom was in one of those moods so I got out of my grounding. You know, the usual."

"Any time is a good time to get out of punishments for you," Xander pointed out benevolently, subtly winking at her as he pulled an apple from his bag and tossed it into her hand just as she pulled out a turkey sandwich from her backpack to hand to him.

Nodding, Willow took a bite of her apple. "Though my mom's an airhead with ADD and my dad's never home the shallow teenager in me is glad of the benefits."

Xander just laughed. "You're lucky. You're mom has documented ADD as an excuse to ignore you. My dad needs about five beers in his belly to pay attention to me. But then again, it doesn't take much for me to disappoint him, which leads to the..."

Willow stopped to get a drink of water, leaving Xander to greet Jesse, who approached them casually. "Hey, guys. What's the occasion for this festival parent bashing fest?"

"Did you not remember or something? It's parents day," Xander mumbled as he took a large bite of his sandwich.

Remaining as nonchalant as he could about it, Xander continued. "Though I didn't tell my dad this year, my mom's bound to show up and charm people with her ability in choosing not-so-good but not-so-bad lottery numbers and tell them how much she enjoys spending the twenty dollars she wins every time on cheap, fake nails."

Jesse raised his eyebrows but wisely kept his mouth shut, detecting the obvious bitterness in his friend's voice.

Willow pursed her lips as she spoke ever so casually about her own parents, "I don't even expect mine to come. Isn't that sad?"

"Lighten up, guys..." Jesse started to say, hoping to cheer his friends up. But the flash of sunlight reflecting on a perfect head of blonde hair caught his attention.

Buffy Summers, with her posse trailing behind her, sauntered down the hallway with her usual poise.

Taking in a deep breath, Jesse took the small ounce of confidence that he had and walked up to Buffy, stopping her in her path. "You going to the Bronze tonight?"

"Why? Are you going?" Buffy asked, looking to her friends with an expression of disbelief on her face.

"Only if you are," Jesse responded, lowering his voice to sound at least a little intriguing. "I'm still saving that dance for you."

Snorting derisively, Buffy rolled her eyes. "If you're there, then I'm not."

With a nod of her head, Harmony and her other friends walked off. Once they were out of sight, she leaned in and lowered her voice so that only Jesse could hear her. "Maybe the reason so many girls at Sunnydale High ignore you is because of your blatant, and by the way creepy, stalker tendencies."

Nodding, Jesse couldn't help but smile. "When I like a girl, I just like to show her. Why don't you ever talk to me at school?"

Buffy shook her head and spoke in a condescending tone as if he were a child. "It's not good for my rep," she reminded him, almost losing her patience for having to have said it for the thousandth time. "No matter how nice you are sometimes, you're a weirdo. You just need to lighten up and tone down the 'night-vision goggles and following girls home' routine."

Giving him a once over, she couldn't help but add, "And get a better wardrobe."

Jesse watched Buffy with his boyishly blue eyes as she sauntered off, her hips moving from side to side in such a graceful manner that he almost forgot her biting tongue. When Xander and Willow walked up, teasing him already through silence, Jesse shook his head in wonder. "I'm going to marry that woman."

Xander couldn't help but snort. "Maybe when the entire world changes and you just happen to get into Buffy's pants, you'll become like the treasurer of the Buffettes!"

When his friend didn't respond, Xander shook his head and turned to go, hoping to find some more interesting things to waste his time on. Only he was barely two steps away when he knocked into a shockingly gorgeous woman.

When she looked at him, apologizing quietly under her breath, he was shocked to realize she was a student.

Cordelia struggled to pick up all her things that spilled out of her backpack, hoping that she hadn't just made an enemy. But when she glanced up at the boy, who eventually knelt down beside her to help pick her stuff up, she realized there wasn't even a spot of danger in his innocently flickering russet eyes. He had the kind of puppy dog look that, if he had the personality to match, would make for a perfect guy.

Sure, he wasn't Brad Pitt, but he was more of the subtle kind of handsome, mixed in with the sweet smile he flashed at her.

"Sorry," he said to her, handing her books to her.

"No problem," Cordelia shrugged it off, adjusting her backpack to a place where it was at least near comfortable.

Nodding down the hallway, Cordelia took the opportunity to ask the question that had been bothering her all day. "Do you know where the library is? I seriously need a science book or else I'll fail my first day."

The casualness she was trying for with the guy was ruined when she stood up holding a stake, curiosity clear in his eyes.

On instinct, Cordelia grabbed the stake from him and turned to hide her blushing cheeks. I knew I shouldn't have brought this for protection, it's fricken daylight outside and already a guy's seen it. Great decision, Chase.

Seeing that she was already turned away and proving that she was hiding the stake from him, Cordelia chose to walk speedily off in the opposite direction, putting as much space between her and Xander as possible.

Cordelia jolted out of her daydream like trance when the teacher bellowed out his orders. "Turn to page 267, now!"

As the entire class flipped open their texts, Cordelia couldn't help but outwardly project her lack of being prepared.

A pretty blonde girl next to her offered to share her book with her and Cordelia took the offer wholeheartedly. "My name's Cordelia, Cordelia Chase."

Smiling warmly, the girl responded in a casual yet surefooted tone. "Buffy Summers."

Just as soon as the bell had rung to dismiss the end of class, hundreds of students filed into the hallway through several different doors. Cordelia followed Buffy Summers out into the hallway, enjoying the fact that she'd met a friendly face.

"Sunnydale might not be the center for all things fashionable but I am definitely the queen of what is fashion in this whole-of-a-town we're in."

The way she spoke of herself proved she was more cocksure than simply confident and it brought a falter to Cordelia's smile. But she remained as casual about it as possible and scratched her nose, hiding her frown until she managed to strain another smile.

When the memory of her former persona, pre-slayerhood, entered her mind, Cordelia decided to give her a chance. "I'm from L.A. and remember how good it felt to be around all that fashion."

Buffy seemed to have a mini-orgasm when she heard 'L.A.' come out of Cordelia's mouth, nearly snapping her neck from whiplash when she turned to face her, her blonde hair flying through the air. "Why'd you leave? I can't imagine leaving a place like that. That close to that many shoes? It would be, like, heaven!"

Before Cordelia could answer Buffy's question however, she continued to speak, almost ignoring the fact that other people had the ability to speak also. "I'll help you to the library, since you're obviously not carrying all the books that you need to sleep on."

Cordelia laughed. Oh, she made a funny. Who woulda thought? "Thanks," she offered, trying to hold back the urge to choke the girl to death as they nearly ran into a redhead who was drinking from the water fountain.

"Willow!" Buffy exclaimed and for a moment, Cordelia thought they were friends. That lasted about .5 seconds until Buffy continued opening her big mouth to speak. "I love your outfit. I'm really glad that you've seen the softer side of Sears."

"Hi, Buffy." Willow greeted her almost exhaustingly, as if the entire thing were routine. Cordelia forestalled a grin at the discovery.

When Willow noticed Cordelia, she waved at her cutely. "Hi."

Just as Cordelia opened her mouth to return the kind greeting, Buffy interrupted her, gripping her arm and forcing her to move away. "We have to go. I'm already getting all squirmy and wanting to talk about school from just being around Willow. Let's hurry before either of us gets any geekier."

As Buffy practically yanked Cordelia down the hallway, the Slayer managed to turn her head back at Willow, offering a small grin as she waved a small wave in her direction.

The library was thoroughly creepy as Cordelia edged into it quietly, alone thankfully. She'd ditched Buffy when she pointed out a bunch of hunky football players, easily distracting the blonde-haired narcissist.

"Anyone here?" she called out as innocently as she could muster, walking over to the counter and looking over it for anyone, any sign of life.

Her senses tingled for a moment, the hairs on her neck rising just seconds before a stodgy looking man in a tweed sweater vest with 'old-man' glasses on the bridge of his nose popped up.

"Who are you and what are you looking for?" he asked, his English accent clear in his words.

Tapping her finger on the counter, Cordelia casually crossed her ankles as she twirled a stray hair with her index finger. "Cordelia Chase, and I'm looking for a science book."

The man froze at the mention of her name, the muscles usually used to smile twitching, the corner of his mouth tugging to grin as he let out a small yet terse laugh.

Before he said anything or before Cordelia could ask why he was looking at her like a pervert, he backed up into his office, disappearing for quite some time.

"Um...hello? Sir? Mister...um, Englishman?" Cordelia called after him, her brow furrowing in confusion.

When he appeared again, Cordelia didn't have time to let out a sigh of relief. In one quick motion he slammed a large, dusty tome on the counter before her with one disturbing word etched on the front cover:

VAMPYRES

"I've been waiting for you ever since I was informed that you were coming," he exasperatingly explained, for the first time smiling. Though it was small, it was a nice smile, one that surprisingly brought a small tinge of comfort in Cordelia, but that comfort was disturbed by her common sense, her instinct and her overwhelming disturbance of the book before her.

Backing away, she pointed to the book. "That is so the last thing I needed to see on my first day of school."

It wasn't that she was afraid; though she was disturbed she admitted that to herself. It was the shock of finding out that there were books written about vampires, that there were other people then Slayers that knew about them...it was all quite overwhelming.

Trying to explain, Giles held his hand out to try and stop her as she started to move towards the door, her eyes moving from the book to him several times. "I was informed by the Watcher's council, I expected that you were also informed..."

Cordelia shook her head, "Nope. Wasn't informed about dusty, really big books with the word vampire on it being thrown onto the counter by creepy old Englishmen who wear ugly vests. I—I uh, I have to go."

Before Giles could protest further, however, she was already out of the room.

Emerging from the lunch line with her rather pathetic tray full of left-over teriyaki chicken and mashed potatoes, Cordelia winced as she walked out into the sunlight, her mind still reeling from seeing the book being thrown onto the counter in front of her, with the significant word written on top of it.

Her confusion was soon replaced by annoyance and a groan when she noticed Buffy Summers waving at her from a table off in the distance where she was surrounded by similarly blonde and, from the looks of it, ditzy teenagers.

Luckily, and uncomfortably at the same time, the boy she'd ran into earlier walked over to her, blocking Buffy and the sun from Cordelia's view.

His brown eyes flashed a unique innocence that Cordelia was intrigued by but at the moment she didn't look too much into it as he spoke to her in a casual yet quiet tone. "Is it all right with you if I ask a question?"

Cordelia just nodded, "It's fine."

"I hope you'll be honest when telling me this, do I have bad breath, an eye booger or any other variation of a booger hanging from my face and/or any other body parts?" he asked her earnestly and with a bit of amusement.

Cordelia couldn't help but smile inwardly and outwardly, not so surprisingly fascinated by the boy that had a body of a man yet so obviously had the heart of a child in front of her. "No," she said through a small laugh. "Why?"

Xander shrugged, shoving his hands in his pockets and his breath escaping him for a moment when he took in her smile, such a beautiful; perfect one that his heart nearly skipped a beat. "I was just wondering since you and the rest of the school's population seems to be plaintively ignoring me. Name's Xander."

He held out his hand and Cordelia took it, holding back a laugh when she surprised him with her grip. "Cordelia. Cordelia Chase."

"The gym teacher calls me by my last name. But it's usually preceded by little and girl. Yep, I've been Little Girl Harris since god knows when," he nodded his head in the direction where he had been sitting, his eyes flashing enough of an invitation that Cordelia couldn't mistake it as anything but him wanting to be in her company.

Cordelia walked alongside him for a few feet before he stopped and blocked her from moving any further, his face scrunched up in an adorable way as he shook his head vehemently.

"No way are you going to eat that. Two reasons. If you're like most girls, then you'll freak when you find out how much of that goes to your hips and secondly? Well, it's total crap and I have the theory that the cafeteria lady is putting rat poison in all of it. May I?"

He grabbed the tray from her and tossed it into the trashcan, while his other hand pulled a five-dollar bill from his pocket, handing it to her, all in one nonchalant and skillful motion. "My treat? You'd be surprised at how many low-calorie snacks are in the snack machines."

Cordelia nodded and followed him over to where a dark haired teenage boy, typical height and averagely-cute looks, sat with his back to the redhead who'd been insulted by Buffy earlier.

When she followed where Jesse's eyes were, she noticed, with much disdain, that his eyes were locked onto Buffy, filing her nails and looking totally clueless off in the distance.

"Hi," Willow greeted her, looking up from her laptop. When she did a double take and realized it was Cordelia from earlier, she held out her hand. "I'm-"

"Willow, right?" Cordelia took her hand and shook it, gentler than she had with Xander. "I remember. Sorry we couldn't talk earlier. Buffy's a little..."

"Yeah," Willow just nodded, as if the mere implication were enough to end the topic right then and there. Moving a little on the bench, Willow motioned for her to sit, which Cordelia gladly did. "So, I see you've had the unfortunate opportunity to meet Xander."

Xander shook his head and rolled his eyes, "Don't listen to her, she's just mad because I ate the last of the playdo."

It was then Willow's turn to roll her eyes.

Xander leaned in and whispered in Cordelia's ear, his tone not without sarcasm. "You'd think she'd forgive me after ten years."

"Is Buffy usually mean to you guys?" Cordelia asked as she caught on a little too late to Willow's reluctance to speak about the blonde-y.

Her question was practically answered when the aforementioned uber-bitch strode up to them, her hands on her hips as she looked from Cordelia to the three people she was associated with at the moment. "Seriously, you should never speak to the geek squad without proper de-sanitization of the environment, it's not safe for your health, or worse, your rep."

"Hi," Jesse greeted her.

"Hi," Buffy said back, but caught her nonchalant greeting soon after. "Loser."

"Is there a problem here?" Cordelia asked, purposely looking confused.

Buffy cocked her head, "Why does it matter? Are you trying to be some sort of loser-peacemaker? Power to the geeks?"

The way she said it was insult enough but when she threw a mock-fist into the air and rolled her eyes, Cordelia found herself biting back the urge to teach her a lesson. That or maybe break her fingers.

"Is there something stuck permanently up your ass or what?" Cordelia asked her dark eyes burning holes into Buffy's green ones. "Are you PMSing, because if you are then take some damn Midol and do us all a favor by locking yourself in a room."

Willow snorted into her orange juice, trying to hide her laughter.

Buffy, lost for words or a proper insult, just scoffed and walked away, throwing her hair in Jesse's face just to further string him along.

Xander came up behind Cordelia and threw his arm around her neck and Cordelia astonishingly didn't mind. "I must congratulate you on rendering the Buffy Summers speechless! It's a goal I set for myself back in junior high but I've pathetically failed to achieve since."

Cordelia just nodded her head, slightly creeped out by the weirdness that was Xander Harris. But in a good way.

Finishing the last of her orange juice and closing her laptop, a light bulb seemed to go off in Willow's head as she perked up. "Oh! Did you guys hear about the dead guy found in second period gym? He fell out of a locker."

"Dead guy?" Cordelia reiterated breathlessly, her stomach turning over at the thought. She hadn't come to Sunnydale to avoid vampires, but she had to admit that she figured in a small town such as Sunnydale vampires would be hard to come by.

She'd killed the vampire attacking the couple and arrogantly thought she was done when really, there were more helpless people out there to help.

"Yeah, he had two bite marks in his neck too," Willow shook her head. "Weird, isn't it?"

Cordelia swallowed her disturbance and nodded halfheartedly. "Yeah...weird."

Sneaking quietly under the yellow crime-scene labeled tape, Cordelia slinked into the locker room, edging around the room, trying to pick up the scent of blood. As much as her senses had been heightened, she still didn't possess the unique talent that vampires had to smell blood.

When she came to the aisle where the body remained, Cordelia couldn't help but wonder if the C.S.I had come yet or why the coroner hadn't taken the body away. They're probably waiting till school is out, trying not to make a huge scene.

Kneeling down, Cordelia held back the urge to gag as she lifted the head of the teenage boy, the neck disgustingly flexible.

Snapped neck and... She saw the bite marks and closed her eyes in disappointment. Definitely a vampire attack.

"Mister Creepy Englishman!" Cordelia bellowed, kicking open the swinging doors leading into the library, her hands clenched into fists and her jaw firm while her dark, russet eyes were fuming.

The librarian walked out of the cage where several books were, obviously the RETURN BOOKS section, and when his eyes locked with Cordelia's he smiled wryly. "What changed your mind?"

Breathlessly, Cordelia jabbed her finger in the direction of the exit. "Guy in the locker room? Yeah, he's pretty persuasive for a DEAD PERSON!"

"I heard the rumor that there was a corpse in the girls locker room," the Englishman shook his head, closing the book in his hand and gently placing it on the cart beside him. "But then again, I try and keep myself from believing any high school rumors. Last time I did that I thought O.J. Simpson was going to be our new Gym Teacher."

"You better believe this one because I checked and there's two holes in his neck," Cordelia said to him, holding back a growl.

"Does it disturb you?" he asked her quietly, looking up with a concerned expression on his face.

Honestly, Cordelia replied. "Ever since I was called I've killed quite a lot of vampires with no problem and I always got them before they killed anyone. Sometimes, though, I slip and someone ends up dead. I hate people dying as a result of my ineptness."

"You're not inept," the librarian assured her, his comforting blue eyes looking into her brown ones with an emotion that not necessarily could be categorized as paternal, but pretty close to it. "You just haven't been properly trained yet."

"I would have been if that old, wrinkly man hadn't croaked," Cordelia shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest and trying to act unaffected by the memory.

"Tonight? We'll start training."

Cordelia shook her head, trying to respectfully disagree and provide an explanation. "Can't. Nighttime is when vamps are out if you've forgotten. It's a good time to Slay and kill and well...'stake'" she made an amusing jabbing movement with her arm before continuing. "Not to be stuck in some library with a crusty old Englishman, no offense, who wears sweater vests constantly when my skills could be put to better use out in the world where the vampires are."

"Giles," the man said, walking around her and behind the counter, where removed his glasses and looked down at his feet for a moment before returning his gaze to Cordelia. "My name is Rupert Giles, Giles for short. Not Englishman. Just Giles."

"My name's Cordelia," Cordelia smiled at him, almost sweetly as she walked over and held out her hand over the counter.

Giles took it, smiling at her in almost the same manner. "I already know your name..."

"I know, I just thought I'd introduce myself again. If you have a problem with that you'll just have to tell me and I'll try to fight the habit."

Giles chuckled under his breath as he wiped the lenses of his glasses with his sweater vest before giving in. "Tomorrow morning, before school. Training. Alright?"

Cordelia just nodded.

"Xander!" came a sweet and feminine voice from behind the teenager, standing at his locker and fixing his arrangement of things.

Turning to see who it was, Xander was more than pleased to discover it was Cordelia approaching him.

"Hi," he greeted with a lopsided grin.

"Hi," she said back, smiling at him for what seemed like twenty minutes before she shook out of it. "What's the deal with 'The Bronze'?"

Xander groaned in response, hitting his head against his locker door. "You were my last hope for a girl in Sunnydale who wasn't obsessed with that place."

"Sorry, I just kept hearing about it around school," Cordelia shrugged, tilting her head as she looked at him for answers. "Is it that bad?"

"It's a place for guys with spiky hair, big biceps and IQ's equal to one's of toddlers to pick up girls with big breasts and blonde hair who have nothing better to do than starve themselves to make themselves think they're pretty."

Xander closed his locker and threw his backpack over his shoulder, shoving his other hand into his pocket as he leaned against the row of lockers. "It's also headquarters for the Buffettes too. Which is good enough reason to avoid it."

"Cool. I'll see you there?" Cordelia smiled teasingly at him before turning away and bouncing off.

Though he started to protest, opening his mouth to say that he was the one person who avoided it religiously, Xander considered it as he watched Cordelia walk off, her movements flowing and her hips swaying from side to side in a way that made him...

She's worth it; "I'll be there!"

Applying a capillary layer of lip-gloss on her bottom and top lips, Cordelia repeatedly glanced at the clock in her mirror, hoping she wouldn't be late.

Her reasons for going to the Bronze were three fold. Most importantly she was there to prevent some killings, since the place was obviously popular and the area surrounding it would be filled with vampire activity. Secondly she'd be able to spend some quality time with her newfound friends Jesse, Xander and Willow, hopefully to learn more about them.

But the bonus and last reason was the possibility of snarking on Buffy Summers some more, proving to her she wasn't some little crybaby.

Cordelia Chase stands her ground.

A knock at her door signaled her father's impending entrance and Cordelia turned to face the door as it opened.

"Cordelia...why are you dressed up?"

"I'm going out," Cordelia reminded her father, speaking slowly so the possibility that he might wake up and remember it would be more likely. She got off her knees as she spoke, standing up and getting a full look of herself in her floor-length mirror.

Cordelia passed by her father and grabbed her bag before moving to leave her room. But he stood in front of her, his hands immediately snatching the bag from Cordelia's hands.

The stench of alcohol became evident as he looked through it, breathing heavily through his nose. Will Chase had his alcohol problems but he was never violent and he would never hurt his daughter but sometimes he'd get a little...irrational.

She didn't know what to expect when he discovered there was nothing suspicious in the bag but somehow, the blank expression on his face was severely unsatisfying. As much as Cordelia loved proving people wrong when they assumed with her, she hated to see her father embarrass himself sometimes.

"I'll be back by 11..." she said as softly as she could manage, taking her bag from her father and brushing past him to leave the room.

Closing the front door, Cordelia walked along the line of bushes, throwing furtive glances over her shoulder as she moved nearer to the set of bushes strategically underneath her window. Her tongue poking out of the corner of her mouth, Cordelia dug aimlessly through it before her hand latched onto her other bag, the one with her crossbow, quarrels and stakes in it.

The clicking of her shoes echoed along the alleyway as she strode leisurely down it. While she was looking forward to hanging out with her friends, throwing insults at Buffy, Cordelia couldn't help but hope that her lack of company and her slow pace while walking down an abandoned, slightly creepy alleyway would attract some vampires to stake.

A noise behind her brought on tingles of anticipation in her stomach. Playing the game with the guise of an innocent, naïve little teenager, Cordelia put on her fearful face as she looked over her shoulder, biting her lip not only to look afraid but also hold back her grin as she knew that somewhere in the shadows was an enemy of some kind thinking he picked an easy prey.

Whoever they are, boy they are in such trouble. Cordelia turned the corner, dropped her bag and launched herself onto the railing above all in one quiet, graceful movement.

A few silent moments passed before Cordelia, adjusting her eyes to the upside-down view, saw a dark, indescribable figure walk below her, looking around for the prey it had picked out a few minutes prior.

Not giving the distinctly male demon a chance, Cordelia dropped from the railing, knocking him down and straddling him, keeping him down with her weight. The stake she held in her overcoat was already in her hands and pressed up against his chest.

Just for fun, she didn't stake him right away, just to see if he'd put up a fight.

But as the moonlight illuminated the man's features, she discovered he didn't have his game face on and what she saw was possibly the sexiest, most handsome man to grace the darkness since Brad Pitt in Interview with a Vampire.

Swallowing her attraction, Cordelia pressed the sharpened piece of wood into his chest to the point where he grunted.

When she saw the casual smile on his face, she couldn't help but let a flicker of curiosity cross her face.

"Is this how you greet all your new friends?" he asked her, his voice low and not in the least bit menacing. He seemed amused and not near threatened by her, but impressed nonetheless.

"You're not my friend," Cordelia snapped back at him. "You're a vampire and I'll stake you."

The vampire that she was straddling smirked, but it was much smaller and more of a honestly sweet one, the kind she'd seen on Xander but with a more intense depth to it, if that was even possible. "You can kill me now and it'll feel pretty good, but later you'll regret it."

"Explain what the hell you're babbling about," Cordelia demanded of him in her own version of a low, threatening voice.

"Name's Angel, I'd extend my hand as a gesture of friendship, but that would be quite inappropriate, considering the position I'm in," he teased, but his dark eyes gave away a more troubled side to him, one that Cordelia was becoming more intrigued to learn about, much to her displeasure.

He started to shift under her, but she dug the steak not further into his chest, but moved it up to his jugular. "It won't kill you but it'll hurt like hell."

Angel's face took on a slight color, the vampire's version of a blush as he tried to explain. "The way you're positioned on top of me is kind of putting pressure on my..."

Cordelia rolled her eyes as she lifted herself up off of him just enough so that he could move around to find a comfortable spot. "I was sent by a friend of a friend to help you. And I guess I'd like to become your friend in the process."

"You may be charming," Cordelia growled at him. "But I don't befriend vampires."

"I have a soul," Angel explained in a more serious tone, the smile disappearing from his chiseled features. "You can smell it just like any other Slayer or demon could. It's gotten me both in and out of trouble and I'm kind of hoping that in the situation I'm in, being straddled by a pretty young woman who thinks she can handle all the power she's got, it'll benefit me."

Cordelia relented and pushed herself off of him, her muscles still taught and ready to strike as she watched Angel stand up, brushing off his pants. "I'm only letting you up because I know I'll be able to snap your neck before you even think of hurting me or anyone else."

Nodding, Angel wholeheartedly agreed. "I know enough about you to agree. You can handle a stake like no other Slayer that I've seen."

"How old are you?" Cordelia asked, her control over her curiosity slipping for a moment.

Nonchalantly, Angel estimated it in his head for a quick moment before returning his gaze back to Cordelia. "Two hundred and some change. I lost count a while ago. Once the number got past the amount I could count on my own two hands I got a little lazy."

"What're you here for?" Cordelia asked, cutting to the chase.

"I'm here for two things." Angel smiled at her, looking to see if she was still listening or if she was imagining the thousands of ways to kill him. An adorably goofy expression crossed his face when he tilted his head, waiting for her reaction. When nothing came, he continued. "To give an offer and a present I thought you'd like."

Clearing his throat, Angel took a small step forward, so small that he knew Cordelia wouldn't feel threatened. Or at least not anymore threatened then she already felt. "My offer is to be your ally against the enemies that you'll inevitably, whether in days, weeks, months or even years, face. And the gift..."

He pulled a small box from his pocket and held it out to her.

Cordelia took it quickly from his hands, not giving him even the slightest chance to hurt her. Opening it, she discovered a silver cross. "Why'd you give this to me?"

Angel shrugged, "In a town like Sunnydale, you could use it. And besides, silver seems like a color that works for you." He nodded in finality and turned to leave, only the swish of Cordelia's coat and the sound of her hand gripping tightly the crossbow from her bag, pointing it at him, stopped him from going anywhere.

Raising his hands in the air, Angel turned to face her.

Sarcastically, Cordelia spoke to him with her dark eyes set firmly on his dark eyes that seemed unending, filled with such intrigue and even a little despair. "Though I appreciate the sentiment of your gift, silver isn't really a color I wear. And besides, soul or no soul, I'm not letting a vampire walk away."

Angel looked unfazed, not necessarily taking her seriously. "What are you gonna do? Take me to your Watcher?"

"Giles," Cordelia greeted casually, half-heartedly waving at her Watcher as she entered the library, Angel following behind her. "I knew you'd be here this late."

"How do you figure?"

"I got that kind of vibe off of you," Cordelia chalked it down, removing her jacket and placing it on the counter.

When Giles caught Angel in his eyesight, he looked from him to Cordelia, a reprimanding glare directed at both of them. "I will not stand here and allow you to engage in hormonal teenage activities by going in a corner and fornicating-"

Cordelia waved her hands in the air, stopping Giles from embarrassing both him and her any further. "Whoa. Never ever say the word 'fornicate' again. Besides, Angel isn't that kind of guy-friend, he's a vampire."

Choking on his tea, Giles looked at Angel with a wide-eyed expression before looking to Cordelia incredulously. "What were you thinking walking around with him, then?"

Angel smirked, "I didn't have much of a choice. She threatened to castrate me if I didn't follow. And I have the chilling feeling that she knows exactly how to do that."

"Giles, calm down. I came here because I wanted you to do a back-up check on Angel," Cordelia said to him, stepping into the space between Giles and Angel. "Use some of your books."

As Giles reluctantly grabbed his Watcher's diary and started leafing through it, Angel casually perked up. "You might want to look under Angelus."

At the mention of 'Angelus' Giles dropped his book and grabbed the crossbow propped up against the wall beside him, pointing it at Angel in a threatening manner.

"Why are you so freaked?" Cordelia asked, moving to Giles when she noticed him gripping the crossbow. "Sure, it's a weird name. But jeez."

"Angelus was the Scourge of Europe in earlier centuries and is the most dangerous vampire alive."

Angel shrugged as he muttered under his breath, "Actually, The Master holds that title..."

Giles couldn't help but look confused at Angel's reference.

Pointing at the book that was poorly spread out on the dirty floor, Angel held back a teasing look. "You're a Watcher, you should really read the diaries a lot more. It also should state that Angelus was practically force-fed his soul."

Turning to Angel when she heard what he said, Cordelia asked him, "Are you serious? So...you feel guilty for all the things you did before you got your soul."

Angel nodded slowly, "In a nutshell? Yeah, I feel pretty damn guilty about it."

Xander looked over Willow and turned in his stool to look in the opposite direction, his fingers tapping relentlessly on the table until Willow finally placed her hand on his to stop him from doing so.

Not noticing her hand on his Xander continued to look around, his toe tapping replacing his finger tapping. "You think it was a come-on?" Xander asked out loud absently. "She gave me a look, there was a definite look."

Being practical and trying to hold back her own personal feelings for Xander, Willow just kind of raised her shoulders in resignation as she let out a long sigh. "Maybe she was being polite..."

She looked at the back of Xander's head for what seemed like forever, hoping that he would look back at her, to see in his eyes when he looked at her what she knew was in hers when she looked at him. But was an empty wish and had been for her entire adolescence.

Yet Willow couldn't help but still yearn for her best friend.

Jesse walked over to the pair and greeted them, but neither greeted him back, both distracted by looking for and looking at people who weren't there literally and figuratively.

Luckily, Jesse caught sight of Buffy, sitting alone at her table obviously waiting for her posse to arrive. Seeing it as an opportunity, Jesse moved through the dozens of people that filled the bottom floor of the Bronze before finally arriving beside her, his arm brushing against hers in a way that brought Goosebumps to his arms but didn't startle her.

"Hey," he said to her as casually as possible. "Wanna dance?"

"There's no music," Buffy pointed out, taking a sip from her cup and enjoying her virgin margarita to the fullest.

Jesse laughed at his mistake, recovering as coolly as he could manage. "When the band finishes setting up and the right music comes on...then do you want to dance?"

Buffy, placing her cup on the table shook her head. "My friends will be here by then. So...no."

Firming his jaw to keep his frustration controlled, Jesse leaned in to whisper in Buffy's ear, his voice surprisingly enticing. "When you get smart and dump those 'friends' of yours, I'll be waiting."

Before Buffy could even emote a response, Jesse was gone, hoping to make it outside before he kicked anything or anyone.

Once he was out in the dark alleyway, though, he soon regretted coming out there alone when, out of no where, a hard object collided with the side of his face, knocking him into unconsciousness.

TBC...