Title: Family: On to LA
Author: victoriamartynne
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Spoilers: None, I think!
Summary: Sequel to Family: Back to Sunnydale, Family: Forward to LA and Family: Return to Sunnydale. The Scoobies visit LA and a haunted house.
"Fred, baby, it's so good to see you!" Mrs Burkle gushed as she and Mr Burkle came to hug Fred. "You've grown!"
"Aunt Claire, I stopped growing when I was sixteen." Fred objected but hugged her aunt back, pulling her uncle in too. "These are my friends, you've heard my parents talk about them?"
"Of course." Mr Burkle said and went to greet their other guests. "Come on, I'll show you to your rooms."
They all nodded.
Cordelia grabbed Angel's hand as they walked up the stairs. "This place is kind of creepy."
"Think how creepy it will be when you get put in your own room, all on your own and the shadows come out to play." He teased.
She thumped his arm and he noticed how scared she looked.
"I'm sorry baby." He whispered and pulled her closer to him. "It'll be okay."
"I must apologise for our traditions." Mr Burkle interrupted their conversation. "My wife and I believe that men and women should sleep alone until they are married. I understand that you might not live like that in real life but we feel that you should respect our traditions while you're under our room." He finished, sounding stricter that he meant to. "We might seem strict but it's how we've always lived and how we were taught when we were younger."
"Of course sir, we understand completely." Gunn said, at least sounding sincere. "I try to live my life by those rules myself."
"Suck up!" Cordelia hissed in his ear, making him jump.
He was stopped from saying anything as Mrs Burkle began to assign rooms to the girls.
"And of course, you men are in the other wing."
"The other wing?" Spike asked, looking panicked.
"Yes." She replied, unfazed. "Follow me."
"Uh, Mrs Burkle." Angel interrupted. "Cordelia and I are engaged to be married. Would you permit us to share a room?"
"You're not married yet boy, I suggest you keep her pure until you marry her." Mr Burkle dismissed Angel's plan, even though Cordelia held up her left hand to show them her ring. "Do the world good these days, if men didn't jump in the women's beds before they were married."
Buffy hid her laugh behind her hand and then pulled her tongue out at Cordelia when no-one was looking.
The Burkle's waited while the women had entered their rooms before taking the men down the corridor and into the next wing.
Cordelia looked around the room she'd been assigned. It was dark and gloomy and had a very small window that seemed to be refusing to let in any light. Walking towards it the floorboards let out an almighty creak. She jumped, her heart beating erratically.
"Shit." She swore and placed a hand on her chest.
She opened the window and found it would only open a couple of centimetres. Wiping at the dirty glass she saw a brick wall on the other side of the glass. "Great." She muttered.
The ancient phone in the corner suddenly began to wail, startling her into banging her head on the window.
She picked up the receiver. "Hello?"
"What do you think?" Buffy asked.
"There's a friggin' wall on the other side of my window!" She exclaimed. "And the floorboards creak."
Buffy laughed. "Sounds a bit like my room. Do you have a damp patch too?"
"No, I have peeling wallpaper though. What time is dinner?"
"In an hour." Buffy replied, still looking round her room. "Do you think anyone will actually stay here?"
"I doubt it. Does your room smell?" She asked, wrinkling her nose.
"Kind of fusty? I got that too. I wonder what they guy's rooms are like." She mused.
"Probably the same. I'm going to check out the bathroom, see you at dinner."
She hung up the phone and opened the door that must lead to the bathroom. It was a closet. She looked around, there wasn't another door.
She picked up the phone again and dialled Buffy's room number.
"I have no bathroom!" She said as soon as she heard Buffy's voice.
"Me neither." Buffy said, having realised herself once they'd hung up. "You don't think there's a communal one, do you?"
"There'd better not be." Cordelia said firmly. "I am not using a communal bathroom!"
"I'm using a communal bathroom." Cordelia said, shuddering as she placed her toothbrush next to Buffy's and Fred's next to the sink. "And it is disgusting."
There was no shower, a tin bath with rust around the top, a cracked sink and a fragile looking toilet.
"This is disgusting. I hope Fred appreciates this."
Cordelia rapped on Fred's door and looked seriously pissed off when Fred opened it.
"What's wrong Cordy?" She asked, expecting the worst.
"There are cockroaches in the bathroom." She said through her teeth. "I haven't lived with cockroaches since I rented that dingy room when I first came to LA. Get rid of them!"
Fred smiled gently. "Okay, I'll call Uncle Al and get him to get rid of them."
"Thank you."
Cordelia trotted back down the hall to her room to get dressed for dinner. After seeing the cockroaches she'd decided to forfeit a shower and just change, rather risking being smelly than having cockroaches round her feet.
She slipped into a floaty white dress and a pair of white thongs and slipped a silk orchid behind her ear. She'd heard that white was supposed to show evil spirits that they meant them no harm so she was going all out. She applied a little blush, mascara and brown lipstick and left her room to get Fred and Buffy.
The other two girls seemed not to know about the white to repel evil spirits theory and had both dressed in black.
"Calmed down yet Cordy?" Fred asked as they walked down the hall.
"What's this?" Buffy asked.
"There are cockroaches in our bathroom."
"Eew! I showered in there!" Buffy exclaimed and shuddered.
"There aren't any more, Uncle Al came and got rid of them for us." Fred promised.
"I hate this place." Cordelia decided.
Seated in the dining room the women felt a lot more relaxed. It was lighter in the spacious room and there was more life than they'd seen in the whole hotel, if you pardoned the cockroaches. There was an elderly couple sat in the corner and a group of middle aged couples, whom they assumed correctly to be guests. Mr and Mrs Burkle, or Claire and Al, as they insisted that they call them, were rustling around with drinks and food and generally seeing if their guests were happy.
They were on their second drink by the time the men came downstairs. Lorne had a trilby pulled low over his eyes but his green skin was clearly visible. Claire explained to the other guests that he was an extra on a new alien film. They seemed to believe her.
"How is your room?" Angel asked Cordelia as he sat down next to her.
She rolled her eyes. "Don't get me started."
"That bad?" He smiled, his own room was hardly the Ritz, or even as good as his own room at the Hyperion.
"Do you have your own bathroom?"
He nodded.
She glared at him. "I don't. And I have uninvited guests in the communal one down the hall. Cockroaches!"
He bit back a smile. "I'd say you could use mine but I don't think Big Brother will let you anywhere near our wing, never mind my room."
She pulled a face at him and took a sip of her highly alcoholic drink. "Very funny, I hate this place."
"Ah, you mocked me earlier Barbie, but now you're with me." Gunn pointed out.
"Okay." She admitted defeat just as Claire came to give them menus.
"How did you find your rooms?"
"Absolutely perfect, thank you." Buffy smiled, ignoring the poke Cordelia gave her under the table.
"I'm afraid it's a bit rundown but we're cleaning it up gradually. Of course, our little, uh, problem is hampering our efforts." Claire explained. "I'm sure you'll be able to help us with that though."
She smiled warmly and left them to look through the menus.
"Yeah. As soon as I get something other than a brick wall on the other side of my window and no other living thing it the room while I'm showering." Cordelia said flippantly.
"Oh Cordelia, please, be realistic!" Wes replied in annoyance. "I'm sure you're exaggerating."
Angel squeezed Cordelia's leg under the table.
Cordelia said nothing.
Angel walked Cordelia to her room.
He burst out laughing when he saw it. "It's like a hovel." He admitted.
"What does yours look like"? She demanded.
"A bit lighter, unfortunately. I have two windows with heavy drapes, thankfully. And my own bathroom. But there's one thing that your room has that mine doesn't."
"And what's that?" She asked.
He pulled her to him. "You."
She smiled and leaned into him. "True."
He kissed her just as there was a knock at the door.
They broke apart. "Who is it?" She asked, clamping a hand over his mouth.
"It's me, Claire."
Cordelia pulled a face and shoved him into the closet.
She straightened her hair and opened the door. "Hi."
"Is everything okay for you Cordelia?" Claire asked. "Can I get you anything?"
"Everything is fine, thank you and no, you can't get me anything." Cordelia smiled pleasantly.
"Okay then." Claire smiled back. "I hope you have a good night's sleep and please dispose of your boyfriend before you get into bed."
She smiled and left.
"Fiancé." Cordelia corrected weakly after the woman's back, waving her left hand in the air behind her back.
She shut the door and groaned. "She is trying to kill me."
Angel came out of the closet smiling. "I guess I'd better go."
She nodded. "What room are you in?"
"Two three four. Why?"
"If I get scared in the night I might call." She smiled and he kissed her goodnight.
Cordelia woke when she heard a light tapping on the door. She turned the lamp on and hoped to God it was Angel and not a ghost. But then she reasoned that ghosts probably wouldn't knock.
She opened the door sleepily and saw a wide awake Buffy. "What do you want?" She yawned.
"I was thinking maybe we could sneak across to the other wing." She admitted sheepishly.
Cordelia grinned, suddenly awake. "I like that idea."
She slipped on one of Angel's shirts over the skimpy shorts and vest she was wearing just in case they bumped into anyone. "Let's go."
They crept down the hall arm in arm, sticking to the shadows. "Couldn't you live a night without him?" Cordelia asked. "The sex that good huh?"
Buffy giggled. "You can't possibly imagine."
"How long do you think we've got until we get rumbled?"
"About five minutes probably." Buffy giggled again.
"That all? I've already been caught with Angel in my room once today."
They both burst out laughing and began to run down the hall.
Author: victoriamartynne
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Spoilers: None, I think!
Summary: Sequel to Family: Back to Sunnydale, Family: Forward to LA and Family: Return to Sunnydale. The Scoobies visit LA and a haunted house.
"Fred, baby, it's so good to see you!" Mrs Burkle gushed as she and Mr Burkle came to hug Fred. "You've grown!"
"Aunt Claire, I stopped growing when I was sixteen." Fred objected but hugged her aunt back, pulling her uncle in too. "These are my friends, you've heard my parents talk about them?"
"Of course." Mr Burkle said and went to greet their other guests. "Come on, I'll show you to your rooms."
They all nodded.
Cordelia grabbed Angel's hand as they walked up the stairs. "This place is kind of creepy."
"Think how creepy it will be when you get put in your own room, all on your own and the shadows come out to play." He teased.
She thumped his arm and he noticed how scared she looked.
"I'm sorry baby." He whispered and pulled her closer to him. "It'll be okay."
"I must apologise for our traditions." Mr Burkle interrupted their conversation. "My wife and I believe that men and women should sleep alone until they are married. I understand that you might not live like that in real life but we feel that you should respect our traditions while you're under our room." He finished, sounding stricter that he meant to. "We might seem strict but it's how we've always lived and how we were taught when we were younger."
"Of course sir, we understand completely." Gunn said, at least sounding sincere. "I try to live my life by those rules myself."
"Suck up!" Cordelia hissed in his ear, making him jump.
He was stopped from saying anything as Mrs Burkle began to assign rooms to the girls.
"And of course, you men are in the other wing."
"The other wing?" Spike asked, looking panicked.
"Yes." She replied, unfazed. "Follow me."
"Uh, Mrs Burkle." Angel interrupted. "Cordelia and I are engaged to be married. Would you permit us to share a room?"
"You're not married yet boy, I suggest you keep her pure until you marry her." Mr Burkle dismissed Angel's plan, even though Cordelia held up her left hand to show them her ring. "Do the world good these days, if men didn't jump in the women's beds before they were married."
Buffy hid her laugh behind her hand and then pulled her tongue out at Cordelia when no-one was looking.
The Burkle's waited while the women had entered their rooms before taking the men down the corridor and into the next wing.
Cordelia looked around the room she'd been assigned. It was dark and gloomy and had a very small window that seemed to be refusing to let in any light. Walking towards it the floorboards let out an almighty creak. She jumped, her heart beating erratically.
"Shit." She swore and placed a hand on her chest.
She opened the window and found it would only open a couple of centimetres. Wiping at the dirty glass she saw a brick wall on the other side of the glass. "Great." She muttered.
The ancient phone in the corner suddenly began to wail, startling her into banging her head on the window.
She picked up the receiver. "Hello?"
"What do you think?" Buffy asked.
"There's a friggin' wall on the other side of my window!" She exclaimed. "And the floorboards creak."
Buffy laughed. "Sounds a bit like my room. Do you have a damp patch too?"
"No, I have peeling wallpaper though. What time is dinner?"
"In an hour." Buffy replied, still looking round her room. "Do you think anyone will actually stay here?"
"I doubt it. Does your room smell?" She asked, wrinkling her nose.
"Kind of fusty? I got that too. I wonder what they guy's rooms are like." She mused.
"Probably the same. I'm going to check out the bathroom, see you at dinner."
She hung up the phone and opened the door that must lead to the bathroom. It was a closet. She looked around, there wasn't another door.
She picked up the phone again and dialled Buffy's room number.
"I have no bathroom!" She said as soon as she heard Buffy's voice.
"Me neither." Buffy said, having realised herself once they'd hung up. "You don't think there's a communal one, do you?"
"There'd better not be." Cordelia said firmly. "I am not using a communal bathroom!"
"I'm using a communal bathroom." Cordelia said, shuddering as she placed her toothbrush next to Buffy's and Fred's next to the sink. "And it is disgusting."
There was no shower, a tin bath with rust around the top, a cracked sink and a fragile looking toilet.
"This is disgusting. I hope Fred appreciates this."
Cordelia rapped on Fred's door and looked seriously pissed off when Fred opened it.
"What's wrong Cordy?" She asked, expecting the worst.
"There are cockroaches in the bathroom." She said through her teeth. "I haven't lived with cockroaches since I rented that dingy room when I first came to LA. Get rid of them!"
Fred smiled gently. "Okay, I'll call Uncle Al and get him to get rid of them."
"Thank you."
Cordelia trotted back down the hall to her room to get dressed for dinner. After seeing the cockroaches she'd decided to forfeit a shower and just change, rather risking being smelly than having cockroaches round her feet.
She slipped into a floaty white dress and a pair of white thongs and slipped a silk orchid behind her ear. She'd heard that white was supposed to show evil spirits that they meant them no harm so she was going all out. She applied a little blush, mascara and brown lipstick and left her room to get Fred and Buffy.
The other two girls seemed not to know about the white to repel evil spirits theory and had both dressed in black.
"Calmed down yet Cordy?" Fred asked as they walked down the hall.
"What's this?" Buffy asked.
"There are cockroaches in our bathroom."
"Eew! I showered in there!" Buffy exclaimed and shuddered.
"There aren't any more, Uncle Al came and got rid of them for us." Fred promised.
"I hate this place." Cordelia decided.
Seated in the dining room the women felt a lot more relaxed. It was lighter in the spacious room and there was more life than they'd seen in the whole hotel, if you pardoned the cockroaches. There was an elderly couple sat in the corner and a group of middle aged couples, whom they assumed correctly to be guests. Mr and Mrs Burkle, or Claire and Al, as they insisted that they call them, were rustling around with drinks and food and generally seeing if their guests were happy.
They were on their second drink by the time the men came downstairs. Lorne had a trilby pulled low over his eyes but his green skin was clearly visible. Claire explained to the other guests that he was an extra on a new alien film. They seemed to believe her.
"How is your room?" Angel asked Cordelia as he sat down next to her.
She rolled her eyes. "Don't get me started."
"That bad?" He smiled, his own room was hardly the Ritz, or even as good as his own room at the Hyperion.
"Do you have your own bathroom?"
He nodded.
She glared at him. "I don't. And I have uninvited guests in the communal one down the hall. Cockroaches!"
He bit back a smile. "I'd say you could use mine but I don't think Big Brother will let you anywhere near our wing, never mind my room."
She pulled a face at him and took a sip of her highly alcoholic drink. "Very funny, I hate this place."
"Ah, you mocked me earlier Barbie, but now you're with me." Gunn pointed out.
"Okay." She admitted defeat just as Claire came to give them menus.
"How did you find your rooms?"
"Absolutely perfect, thank you." Buffy smiled, ignoring the poke Cordelia gave her under the table.
"I'm afraid it's a bit rundown but we're cleaning it up gradually. Of course, our little, uh, problem is hampering our efforts." Claire explained. "I'm sure you'll be able to help us with that though."
She smiled warmly and left them to look through the menus.
"Yeah. As soon as I get something other than a brick wall on the other side of my window and no other living thing it the room while I'm showering." Cordelia said flippantly.
"Oh Cordelia, please, be realistic!" Wes replied in annoyance. "I'm sure you're exaggerating."
Angel squeezed Cordelia's leg under the table.
Cordelia said nothing.
Angel walked Cordelia to her room.
He burst out laughing when he saw it. "It's like a hovel." He admitted.
"What does yours look like"? She demanded.
"A bit lighter, unfortunately. I have two windows with heavy drapes, thankfully. And my own bathroom. But there's one thing that your room has that mine doesn't."
"And what's that?" She asked.
He pulled her to him. "You."
She smiled and leaned into him. "True."
He kissed her just as there was a knock at the door.
They broke apart. "Who is it?" She asked, clamping a hand over his mouth.
"It's me, Claire."
Cordelia pulled a face and shoved him into the closet.
She straightened her hair and opened the door. "Hi."
"Is everything okay for you Cordelia?" Claire asked. "Can I get you anything?"
"Everything is fine, thank you and no, you can't get me anything." Cordelia smiled pleasantly.
"Okay then." Claire smiled back. "I hope you have a good night's sleep and please dispose of your boyfriend before you get into bed."
She smiled and left.
"Fiancé." Cordelia corrected weakly after the woman's back, waving her left hand in the air behind her back.
She shut the door and groaned. "She is trying to kill me."
Angel came out of the closet smiling. "I guess I'd better go."
She nodded. "What room are you in?"
"Two three four. Why?"
"If I get scared in the night I might call." She smiled and he kissed her goodnight.
Cordelia woke when she heard a light tapping on the door. She turned the lamp on and hoped to God it was Angel and not a ghost. But then she reasoned that ghosts probably wouldn't knock.
She opened the door sleepily and saw a wide awake Buffy. "What do you want?" She yawned.
"I was thinking maybe we could sneak across to the other wing." She admitted sheepishly.
Cordelia grinned, suddenly awake. "I like that idea."
She slipped on one of Angel's shirts over the skimpy shorts and vest she was wearing just in case they bumped into anyone. "Let's go."
They crept down the hall arm in arm, sticking to the shadows. "Couldn't you live a night without him?" Cordelia asked. "The sex that good huh?"
Buffy giggled. "You can't possibly imagine."
"How long do you think we've got until we get rumbled?"
"About five minutes probably." Buffy giggled again.
"That all? I've already been caught with Angel in my room once today."
They both burst out laughing and began to run down the hall.
