Disclaimer: The Veronica Mars universe was created by Rob Thomas; the Buffy universe by Joss Whedon; and this merging by me.

X X X X X

Warren?

Sociopathic, robot-building, Tara-murdering Warren?

Yeah. I could believe it.

But should he even be in Sunnydale right now? I vaguely remembered Willow saying something like "Warren was only in Sunnydale High for about a semester."

Of course, that didn't mean he'd been in Sunnydale for about a semester. And quite obviously, he'd been there at least back to the middle of sophomore year.

Next, there was the obvious question of, what in the hell was someone like Warren Mears doing at a party hosted by Cordelia Chase? Or anywhere within a half mile? I wouldn't have put it past Cordelia to have armed guards roaming the area, turning away the poorly-dressed and less-deserving.

Even Oz wouldn't have made the list if he hadn't been with the band. Devon, sure; he wasn't a rich jock, but he was good-looking enough to earn him an exemption. (Yes, I noticed. Fortunately, that internal list of 'qualities I'm attracted to' -- while broad enough to include Deputy Leo, Duncan, and Logan -- definitely had "smarter than a tree stump" on it somewhere.)

Damn. Warren. He definitely shot up to the top of my list -- definitely among those who were at the party, and probably at the top of the list in all of Sunnydale, at least as long as you counted the human denizens. Number one with a bullet I hoped he never got to fire.

(Even Aaron Echolls, loathsome jailbait-lover that he was, never quite went that far, to my knowledge. Still, he probably would have been second. And yes, I'm counting in Mayor Wilkins.)

There was no question in my mind that he was capable of doing it. He'd raped Katrina mentally with that gem before he raped her physically. It was well within his character to take advantage of an unconscious woman.

Further: it was within his character to have rendered her, by which I mean me, unconscious.

In the meantime, I asked Oz and Devon, "Do you have any idea why he was there?"

Oz said, "No. Surprised me, actually."

Devon said, "Cordelia was giving him dirty looks all evening, but she didn't have him thrown out."

Hmmm. How does someone who's not good-looking, a jock, or a part of the Sunnydale elite, or performing a valuable service, rate an invite to a shindig like Cordelia Chase's Christmas party?

Something I'd have to ask him. Or possibly beat out of him.

"Got some more chords to practice," Oz said. "Any other questions?"

"Yup. There was some GBH floating around that party," I said. "Some of it ended up in me. Either of you have any idea how it got there?" I knew Oz hadn't done it, and didn't think Devon had. Still.

"No. I'd have told you if I'd seen anything," Oz said.

Devon hesitated a second. "Spill, MacLeish," I said.

"I got offered it," he said. "I don't need it. The day Devon MacLeish needs anything artificial to get a girl is the day he becomes a priest."

"I know Logan Echolls brought it to the party and gave it to Cameron Walker," I said.

He shook his head. "No. It wasn't either of them. The guy who offered it to me was Percy West."

Well, well, well. For a something that had been intended to be high-class, Cordelia Chase's party was just swarming with lowlifes. I thanked Oz and Devon and let them get back to their practice.

So. Three possible leads, besides Duncan. Warren, Percy, Cordelia --

No, wait. Whither Cordelia, there go the Cordettes.

The Bronze was due to open in about half an hour or so.

Let's see who showed up tonight.

X X X X X

Apparently Reptile Boy was still somewhere in the future, because Buffy, Willow and Xander were there within an hour or so. I walked by and said hello to them. Buffy was friendly and invited me to sit down, Willow was pleasant enough -- maybe me having rescued her had soured her on whatever had soured her on me -- but Xander still looked at me as though I were some kind of demon ooze he had to wade through.

I was beginning to think it was more than contempt for my former way of life that had brought him to this. Xander Harris, from everything I remembered, was a fairly easy-going guy, except when you hurt one of his friends.

And for the life of me I couldn't remember hurting one of his friends.

Anyway. That was something for later. For the moment, while waiting for one of my targets to show up -- Warren would have to wait.

I chatted with them for a few minutes, but I didn't sit down. "Working on a case," I said.

"Nice case," Buffy said, "That lets you just hang around the Bronze."

I get what she meant; but since my "fall from grace" I haven't been a social butterfly. More like a social chrysalis, despite people's occasional efforts to drag me out of the cocoon. The Bronze was fun as far as it went, and I wasn't a stranger to the place, but it's never been tops of on my list of "Things to Do in Sunnydale When You're Not Undead."

"It's a living," I said.

Then one of my potential targets walked in: Not Cordelia, not Percy, and not Warren -- but good enough. At least, I remembered this person being at the party.

"If you'll excuse me," I said, "I have to go talk to Harmony."

"You have to talk to Harmony?" Willow said. I nodded. "Then maybe this isn't, you know, such a nice case after all."

"True, that," I said, excused myself, and beelined towards Harmony as she broke away from the other Cordettes and headed to the bar.

I tapped on her shoulder to get her attention. "Oh? What do you want?" The implication being that someone like me should know better than to talk to someone as wonderful as herself.

"World peace, a million dollars, and the answers to a couple of questions."

"How nice for you," she said, turning to leave.

I put my arm in the way. "However, I will settle for the answers to the questions."

"And why should I answer them?"

"Everyone has some secrets, Harmony. You talk to me and I'll keep yours."

This was what poker players call a semi-bluff. I actually didn't have any dirt on Harmony right now, but I was sure I could find some. Or manufacture some, if that's what it took.

She sighed, rolled her eyes, and said, "Over here in the corner. It's not like I want to be seen talking to you." When we got to the corner, she said, "You have five minutes."

"Cordelia's Christmas party. I was there. I don't remember most of it."

"Yeah! As wasted as you were. I'm surprised Cordelia even let you in, but she said something about it being a breach of etiquette to take back an invitation." She rolled her eyes as though she thought this were one of the stupidest things in the world.

This was one person I might not rescue. If I remembered correctly, Harmony made a nicer vampire than she did a human being. The perky demon from late Angel bore little resemblance to the ditzy bitch she was now. For one thing, the vampire had more of a soul.

"So," I said, "What was I doing?"

"Dancing around like a lunatic and singing at the top of your lungs and hanging off like every guy in the room," she said.

"Even Warren Mears?"

She snorted. "No. Even drunk even you had better taste than that. But really, Veronica. You should have had the common decency not to show up at all if all you were going to do is trash the place."

"Pretend I don't remember."

She rolled her eyes again. "Some of the swim team; Larry from the football team; and Duncan, of course. What did he ever see in you?" Well, Larry, at least, wasn't a suspect.

Harmony, I recalled, had long had a thing for Duncan. And might have had no problem embarrassing me in front of him and everybody. "A brain. You might want to think about getting one at some point."

"Is that it?"

"No, actually," I said pleasantly, "it isn't. You see, I wasn't drunk at that party and I hadn't stuck myself with the latest designer drug. Somebody took care of that for me. And honestly? Looking a whole lot like that someone might be you."

"The whole world doesn't revolve around you, Veronica Mars."

"Kind of figured that out when Lilly died and everyone suddenly started treating me like I was carrying the plague."

"The what?"

I refrained from rolling my eyes. "Answer the question, Harmony. Did you dose me?"

She said, "No. God! Don't you think if I had I'd've been bragging about it all over school?"

A good point, that. Harmony didn't go for subtle. I doubt she even knew how to spell the word. "Okay. I'll take you at your word. Now you might want to get going before the rest of your friends wonder why you're over in the corner talking to the biggest loser in school."

"Second biggest," she said. "Buffy's got you beat."

"Damn. I'm going to have to try to retake my crown."

She left.

A half an hour later, which was split between nursing a soda and being amused by Harmony's increasingly frantic attempts to explain to the Cordettes what she was doing with me in that corner, I decided to call it a night. Cordelia herself was a no-show. Percy West didn't show up either, and neither did Larry.

Okay. My work here was done. I'd catch Percy, Cordelia or Larry tomorrow at school. Warren, I'd need to track down.

Every instinct in me was saying that if I'd been raped, he was the one to do it.

Instinct was an important tool for a detective. It was not the only tool.

Knowing that someone is capable of rape and murder doesn't mean they're guilty of every rape that happens. Aaron Echolls had killed Lilly. but he wasn't guilty of every death in Sunnydale.

Much as I wanted to find Warren and scream at him about what he'd done, I didn't have proof.

So I'd need to find some.

On my way out, I found my arm grabbed. Shit. Had I just walked myself into a new career as a vampire?

No. It was Sheila. "Sorry, manhunter. Didn't realize you'd be so jumpy. Where you going? The night's just getting started."

"Here on a case," I said. "And now I'm done."

"Good. So you're off. Time to have some fun."

"Fun? Not really my thing."

"C'mon. There's got to be something in there you want to do. Or someone."

What the hell. I could take another half hour.

And as Sheila and I threw darts -- me imagining, alternately, the faces of Aaron Echolls and Warren Mears on the dartboard -- I realized: the Bronze? Not as bad as I thought.