Rating: PG, just general Buffy-ish type things a-happenin'
Feedback: I'd like that very much, thank you.
Spoilers: If you know about Tara and Spike's Chip, you're good to go.
Distribution: Here. If you're interested, please let me know.
Summary: Willow's magic has backfired again, and this time she's so upset she decides it would be better if she leaves Sunnydale.
Author's Note: Set sometime during Season 4.
Disclaimer: All characters are owned by Mutant Enemy (Joss Whedon), a wonderfully creative company whose charcters I have borrowed for a completely profit-free flight of fancy. Kindly do not sue me, please, as I am terrified of you. Thank you.
Dedication: For Joe, who is going to have a great future ahead of him.
Chapter 5
"Once again, I am of the clueless," Willow said as the unfamiliar cityscape loomed around her. It didn't look like a very good part of town. In fact, it looked downright skanky.
"You'll know what's up soon. Just keep looking."
Suddenly, a piercing scream ripped through the night air. Whipping around, Willow saw a young woman running flat out along the alleyway behind them, her long brown hair streaming behind her. She was closely pursued by a pair of extremely dangerous looking thugs.
"Get away from me, you jerks!"
"That's Cordelia!" Willow exclaimed as the woman almost ran her over. "But why is she dressed like that?"
The girl who had once been the fashion queen of Sunnydale was wearing an outfit that was anything but haute couture. At least not this season. Her feet were encased in what appeared to be an ancient pair of orange stilettos, the heels nicked and gouged. The hot pink Spandex skirt was shorter than any of Buffy's, which was really saying something. Her spaghetti-strapped top was a very odd shade of blue that matched nothing in her outfit. The heavy make-up that caked her face couldn't hide the fact she was aging remarkably fast for a woman barely twenty years old. In short, Cordelia looked horrible from head to toe.
"She's not…" Willow began, taking in the possible implications of the outfit and the area.
"No, she's not a prostitute," Jenny replied.
Willow looked relieved.
"She's a stripper."
Willow's jaw dropped at this statement as she watched Cordelia belt the two men in the gut, making them run for cover to look for an easier mark. Cordy was working as a… she couldn't even finish the thought.
"Okay, now how exactly is this my fault?"
"You weren't here to give Angel back his soul, so he never got spewed out of H-E-double hockey sticks. He's still roasting on a slow spit. Don't worry; I won't be taking you down there. Consequently, when Cordy got to L.A., which is where we are if you haven't guessed, she never became his secretary. Her acting career didn't exactly take off, her brain was never too great so she couldn't get a decent job, and this is where she ended up."
"Cordelia's working in a strip joint, and Angel gets to be tortured for the rest of eternity? All because I wasn't born?" Willow asked in disbelief.
"You think that's bad, I can't even begin to show you all the people who are suffering because Angel never had the chance to help them. We're talking literally hundreds."
"Losers," Cordelia muttered behind them. She was looking down the alley after her two would-be muggers. "Like they'd get a dime off me anyway."
Cordy looked down at her shoes and realized she'd broken one of her heels while running. In exasperation she tried to fix it by pounding the shoe against the pavement, but she only succeeded in making the problem worse.
"Stupid shoe! This is the only pair I've got!" she shouted as she continued to beat the heel against the asphalt, no longer trying to repair the problem but simply letting her anger get the better of her. "What's the point anymore!"
And then she did something that scared Willow silly. Cordelia Chase, the scourge of Sunnydale, began to cry in gut-wrenching, soul-ripping sobs. She sat with her back to the alley's brick wall, hugging her knees to her with her bare arms and rocking forward and back in lonely pain. There wasn't a soul around to comfort her but Willow and Jenny, and they could do nothing.
"This is terrible," Willow said as she looked with pity at the woman before her. "Cordy and I weren't really friends, but I never wanted her hurt like this."
