Disclaimer: I don't own Prison Break, Angel, or Buffy: The Vampire Slayer.
A/N: Thanks to Imzadi and –J, as always, for the reviews.
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Lorne watched as the Oracle took a green marker out of the pocket of her cargo pants and started to sketch mystic symbols on the white linoleum of the Hall floor. "A portal spell?" She'd come back from wherever she'd vanished to wearing preppy boy's clothes and walking stiffly. Even now, as she drew, she was acting like she was uncomfortable.
"Fastest way to get you to Houston," she answered absently. Cass glanced past him to Anya. She chewed on the lid of the marker for a minute, then went back to scribbling. "This will put you out at Bush Intercontinental Airport. You got the badges I ordered?"
Lorne held up a plastic badge nearly identical to the one he'd used to get in and out of Wolfram & Hart's offices when he still worked there. Only this one had a picture of a blond man. "Carson Lulling, Singapore branch?"
Cass looked up from her work, a frown wrinkling her pale forehead. "That's a crappy name."
"I didn't pick it, princess," he said, but he clipped it to the lapel of the very bland navy suit. Another piece of the disguise that a messenger had brought to Cass's office while the Oracle was off doing whatever she did when she wasn't trying to help him. The PTB had produced a fairly thorough get up for him and Anya. Business suits, briefcases full of lawyer-like papers, fake drivers' licenses—the works. All of Anya's information said she was a 'Sharon Lulling'. He glanced down at the photo on the badge. Looks like he was going to be playing Big Brother to their favorite perky little Goldilocks. "Though I'm mighty interested in how you're going to make me look pale and human."
The Oracle's tongue poked out of the corner of her mouth as she worked on her portal spell. "Take a closer look at the badge," she muttered. "They were supposed to make the picture look like you—minus the green skin and horns."
Lorne reached up and rubbed a hand self-consciously over a horn. "I'm rather fond of these beauties, you know."
"I know." Circle done, she stood up, wiping her green-stained hands on her pants. "They look good on you. I'm just going to do a glamour to make you look like Carson Lulling. Your horns will still be there, under the illusion." She reached up a hand and passed it over Lorne's face.
A tingling sensation raced down his spine. It felt like there were a million ants marching along the underside of his skin. He raised a hand in front of his face and watched in fascination as the skin turned from green and scaly to smooth and Caucasian. His nails, typically the dark red of a very fresh bruise, slowly turned different colors of seashell-like pink. "Holy Moses!" he exclaimed. "Angel-wings, when you do a glamour, you do a glamour!"
Cass smiled and dropped her hand. "It'll last for up to a month—not that I have any plans for you to be in Houston that long. I just want to be careful."
"Are Wolfram & Hart's hoodoo detectors going to be able to pick up your handiwork?"
She shook her head. "This glamour bit's older than dirt—something I was actually born with, though I never got to use it. It's so out-of-style that I doubt anyone remembers how it works."
"And if it doesn't, pumpkin heart?"
"Then you and Anya get to…improvise."
"Have I mentioned lately that I don't fight? I'm not a fighter—I'm more the kind of guy who stays home and cheers for the good guys on the television." He fussed with his tie. He had a deep-seated urge to swap it out for something less Men's Warehouse and something more lamé. Silver would look good. It would be just the thing to take this boring old suit out of Yuppieville and into Tinseltown.
Cass put her hands on his shoulders and looked up at him with big solemn green eyes. "There's no reason for the two of you to get into combat, but if you find yourselves in trouble, do you think you can get out?"
Anya came over, her navy pumps clicking on the floor. "Don't worry—if we get into any trouble, I'll beat the bad guys to death with their own ribs," the former vengeance demon assured them with a perky smile.
The Oracle looked over at her charge in disbelief. "You can do that?"
"Well…I haven't in a couple decades, but I'm sure I could get back into the swing of things, no problem."
"Uh-huh." Cass turned back to Lorne. "If things go sour and you can't talk your way out, run like hell."
"How're they supposed to run if they're half way 'cross the country?" That question came from Fernando, who had been following Anya around since lunch like a lost little puppy. There didn't seem to be much less for him to do—all the magazines in the waiting room they'd found him in were at least a year old and mostly having to do with fresh water fishing. Anya was probably the least threatening of the little group, Lorne supposed. She didn't shapeshift, she didn't have horns, and once you got past her bag of share, the former vengeance demon was a downright sweetie. If you could ignore all the talk about castration. Fernando apparently had a fiancée waiting for him to get out of prison—a women named Maricruz, who if Sucre's overly enthusiastic description of her was accurate was more beautiful than half of Hollywood. It was obvious the poor kid was crazy in love with her. He'd knocked over a liquor store just to buy her an engagement ring. If Lorne had still been in the entertainment industry, it wouldn't have taken two seconds to sell that script—the passion, the angst…
While he was daydreaming, Cass had fished a small jewelry box out of one of her pants' many pockets and snapped it open. Inside rested a tiny, gold, sword-shaped tie tack. "This is a one use portal spell. If the shit should really hit the fan and you find yourselves in need of a quick escape, pull the backing off, jab yourself with the pin, and a portal back to here will open for fifteen seconds. It's about as subtle as a hand grenade, so use it only if there's serious trouble. Otherwise, I'll come check on you guys tomorrow night and make sure you're doing ok."
"You just carry one of those things around in your pocket?" Fernando asked.
"I grabbed it from my desk on the way down here," Cass snapped at him. Looked like their darling Oracle was feeling a bit cranky this evening, Lorne thought. He wondered if it had anything to do with her back, which was obviously bothering her.
However, it didn't look like there'd be time for any of his special brand of talk therapy, seeing as how she'd just activated her portal. The green markings on the linoleum let off a flare of bright light and when that faded, the air above them seemed to shimmer like a heat wave. "Next stop," Cass said, "Houston."
