He's Fast, She's Furious

zTiamaTz

:-:-: - Denotes the beginning/end of a flashback.

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CHAPTER SIX

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~~Cordelia POV~~

As we headed up the driveway toward the backyard, I could smell a barbecue going. Since I hadn't eaten anything since yesterday afternoon, it smelled absolutely wonderful.

We rounded the corner, and I saw four guys, from Alex's descriptions, I picked them all out easily. The guy at the grill had to be Mia's brother, he was freaking huge. The guy setting the picnic table was Jesse, and the two rough-housing to the side were Vince and Leon.

"We're back!" Mia called, as she went to help Jesse with the table.

Letty made a bee-line for Dom, he turned around, a barbecue fork in one hand, baster in the other, and let her reach up and pull him down for a kiss. It was pretty obvious she ran the show, and he was okay with it, damn she was lucky.

As Letty pulled back, I could see he was wearing a black and white checkered apron. In big red letters it said 'RACE THE COOK'. It just didn't fit with everything I'd heard of the guy.

"You like the apron?" Alex asked in a low voice. "I got it for his birthday, he's too nice to say he hates it." A series of snickers followed.

"You are evil." I told him, as I tried not to laugh. The imposing man looked silly in that apron, only Alex could be that cruel.

"Foods on, get a seat while you can!" Jesse called out.

Dom sat down in a lawn chair at the head of the table, as the others took chairs on either side.

Alex put an arm around me as we headed to the picnic table. "C'mon Cor, we gotta get there before those jackals eat it all."

Letty took the time to flip him the bird before sitting down directly to the right of her boyfriend. I was a little nervous around all of these new people, but what more did I have to lose?

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We sat down at the table, with Alex opposite from Dom. To his right were myself, Mia, and Jesse. On his left were Vince, Leon, and Letty.

"Who's turn is it to say grace?" Dom asked.

I looked on, as Vince elbowed Leon in the side. Shortly after, Leon jumped, as it looked like Mia kicked him under the table. I was really starting to see why my ex liked these guys so much.

"I guess it's my turn." Leon said sheepishly. "God, thank you for bringing us together at this table, for the food, and the fact that that rich bastard will be breathing from a tube for the rest of his life.

A round of nods and agreements came, and then he continued.

"And finally, the Lord most definitely works in mysterious ways, to let Alex Harris have an ex as hot as she is." He ended it with a wink at me.

I giggled at that, even as Mia gave him another kick. Looking over at Alex, I saw him shaking his head, as Vince cheerfully slapped him on the shoulder.

After I was introduced to everyone, and vice-versa, we ate. There were questions, pleasant and neutral, but I figured that wouldn't last forever.

"So, what is it you do for a living?" Mia's brother asked.

"Up until yesterday, I worked for Angel Investigations, part secretary, part investigator. It was owned by a guy I knew back in Sunnydale. The case he was working on blew up in his face, his old flame showed up, and bad things happened. We-"

"Old flame?" Alex interrupted. "You don't mean B-"

"No, not that one." I knew I had said too much. From dating him I knew how much he had hated Darla, and how angry he was that Angel had staked her before he could. The last thing I needed, was Alex scouring the city looking for revenge.

"It was just some random girl he met years back." I hoped he took the freaking hint.

"So what happened between you and this guy?"

I shook my head. "He got pissed off because things went bad, and fired us. I was so angry that it happened, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going. I didn't even see that red car coming at me, until it was too late."

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++Xander POV++

I couldn't believe she'd been working with Angel of all 'people', and a private dick at that? At least he had it half right. "What are you going to do now?" I asked her.

"I guess I'll just move back to Sunnydale, I have enough saved up to pay maybe two months rent, and then I'm broke." She sighed. "This is what I get for thinking I actually had a chance to make it big in Hollywood."

This was not 'my' Cordy, the girl who'd kept it together even right after she lost all her money. If I hadn't run into her at that dress shop, I probably never would have known, she was that good.

I saw Letty trying to get my attention. She was rubbing her thumb back and forth over her index and middle fingers. She wanted to know why I hadn't given Cordelia the cash I'd won. I mouthed the words 'not now' at her, as I glanced around at the full table.

She must have got the message. "Why don't we start cleaning up guys." She said as she stood up.

Mia stopped Cordy with a hand on the shoulder, as she got up to help. "You're a guest, just relax."

Soon the table was clear, and it was just the two of us and Dom.

"I've set up an appointment for you tomorrow with that lawyer I know. He's helped us out before, so you can trust him."

"Just as long as it's clear that he hit me. I don't want that guy's family trying to come and take what little I have left."

"His daddy is the VP of Healthy Foods Inc. They make millions on idiots who think they can lose weight from food in a box. The guy will do anything to keep his name out of the papers."

"I really hate lawyers, I've had some bad experiences with them. Besides, I don't have the money for something like that."

"Actually," I pulled the wad of cash from my pocket, and plopped it on the table in front of her. "You do."

"Where did you get this?"

"It's the money I would have won if I'd beat Sanchez." I gave her a smile. "If it weren't for you, I would have got destroyed."

"That's because you won't let me help you out." Dom interrupted. "You're a good driver, but you need the car to back those skills up."

I shook my head. "You've done plenty, if it weren't for you, I'd be flipping burgers at the Doublemeat Palace right now."

:-:-:

Vince and I walked back into the kitchen after hearing Mia's brother find out what had happened. At this point, I was just glad Vince and I were able to settle things peacefully. I'd been there before, I wasn't gonna knock the guy for how he felt.

The party had quieted down, as the people listened to her story. I guess anybody who had a nice car wanted to hear this, since it could have happened to any of them.

"Then all of a sudden, the guys lookout went down, and I heard glass break. I looked over his shoulder, and there was Alex."

Dom looked over at me, and gave a nod of thanks. I returned it in kind, even as my face turned red. I really didn't want this kind of attention.

"The guy threatened to shoot him, if Alex didn't take off, but he called his bluff, and scared him off with the broken bottle and the threat of cops. It it weren't for him, I would have lost the car Dom."

"Naw Mia, you're more important then any car, even a nine second one." That got a laugh from the group, then he got serious. "You ever seen these guys before, at the races, or the store?"

"I'm pretty sure it was random." I interrupted. "It was a case of see nice car, steal nice car."

"Why's that?"

"Simple, neither of them had a weapon. Someone is a helluva lot more likely to give it up with the threat of one. Plus, they didn't bother to wear masks, who's dumb enough fuck with a guy like you?"

He grinned at that. "Guess you never met Johnny Tran." He turned, and tore open one of the cases of Corona. Pulling out two bottles, he quickly uncapped both with his shirt and handed me one.

"Thanks."

Dom gave a glance at Vince, who gave him a nod. "I owe you, for saving my sister, and my car. We're gonna see about getting yours back on the road."

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I recently finished up a story with another author, Starway Man. It's a dark fic called 'A Promise To Lie'. If you have the time, please check it out, and let us know what you think. Thanks.

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END