***
New part ready finally. Sorry it took a week, but I was working on a new layout for my site. Oh, a warning: CLIFF ahead!!!
Also with the recent 'discussion' over people wanting to know how a fic will end, I thought I'd offer this up: if anyone wants to know what kind of ending this series will have, you can email me and I will tell you. I won't tell anything other than if it will be happy or sad, so if you want to know that, email me: vagabond_angel@comcast.net
Thank you to those of you who sent feedback on Part 4, hope you like the new chapter.
Enjoy,
~Isis
***
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
Part 5
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
"So I take it you are both interested in hearing Lorne's and my idea?" Doyle nearly smiled at the hidden excitement he saw from Buffy and Cordelia. He was growing more confident in the idea he'd come up with, knowing they were both frustrated with their living situation and lack of money.
"Well, it can't hurt to hear it," Cordy answered as nonchalantly as possible. All the while, visions of new shoes and dresses were flittering about her mind.
"Uh, yeah, sure," Buffy added in, still trying to get over her initial shock of the situation. This wasn't turning out at all like she had expected.
"Good," grinned Lorne, who then wandered a few feet away. "See, I used to own a club in Los Angeles. It was quite popular, but LA can be rather...dangerous. I got tired of having the place destroyed. So I closed up shop, and moved up here a while back.
Buffy's brow scrunched in perplexity. A club? Lorne, an obvious demon, owned a club? What the Hell kind of place was it?
Cordy, on the other hand, laughed out loud at the idea, only stopping her chuckles when Lorne looked at her and frowned. "Sorry, I just can't picture you owning a club."
"It wasn't a typical club," Lorne spoke, conceding that it was a bit of a strange concept. "It catered to the underworld of L.A."
"The underworld?" Cordy questioned, head cocked.
"Hey, even demon's like to have fun sometimes!" he exclaimed, a smile now on his face.
"Umm, okay," Buffy stated, interrupting the banter. "What does this have to do with us?"
"I'm getting to that, Sunshine," Lorne looked toward her. "Here's the deal, ever since moving here, I've wanted to reopen the club. But I was waiting for the right opportunity, and you two are just what the doctor ordered, so to speak."
"Uhh...that's...wow. I umm wasn-," Buffy suddenly stopped her sputtering and looked at Lorne. "Wait. Why do you need us? I mean you had a club before so would you need help this time? And why do you want *us* anyway?"
"My club in LA was strictly for demons, or those who knew of demons and didn't mind socializing with them. It drew a surprising amount of business, but now that I'm starting over, I'd like to expand to include the general public. Problem is, I don't think this," he gestured to himself, "is apt to draw people in. It'd more than likely scare them away. That's where you two come in."
"Ya might want to close yer mouth Princess," Doyle pointed out, referring to Cordy's hung open jaw.
"I...huh?...I mean...let me get this straight. You want us to help you open up and run a club?" the flabbergasted brunette asked slowly
"Wait a sec!" Buffy interrupted quickly. "Maybe I'm having a dumb blonde moment, but I'm confused."
"It's okay Sunshine. Here, have a seat, and I'll explain," Lorne pointed to a couple of crates near the center of the room. Buffy gratefully sat down, her feet and back were killing her. Cordy, though, looked at the dirty crates and decided to remain standing, as did Doyle.
"What I want to do," began Lorne, "is open up a club that will draw your average humans because it would bring in quite a bit more revenue than just catering to demons. But, being what I am, I can't do that on my own. So I would like you two to handle the human side."
"The human side?" Buffy asked, her mind reeling over what the demon was proposing.
"Yeah. I'd still like to have a demon club, separate from the human club, which I would run, and then you two, along with Doyle could handle the other," he clarified, sharing a look with Doyle, who already knew what the plan was.
"But we don't know anything about running a club!" Cordelia blurted out suddenly.
"I realize that," Lorne conceded, shrugging slightly. "But that's why you'd still have me, Sugar! I'll be around to help out with the behind the scenes stuff. At least in the beginning until you understand things better. I would just need you to be here when the club is open to kind of manage things, you know, be the pretty faces behind the name. Besides, it certainly can't hurt business end of things to have said pretty faces dealing with the supplies, bands and such.
"Wow...I, uh, don't know what to say," mumbled Buffy, wringing her hands together nervously. What did she know about running a nightclub? Sure, she'd been to the Bronze hundreds of times, but that was as a customer.
"I know it's a lot ta take in," Doyle spoke up after being quiet for a while. "Ya don't have to give him an answer tonight."
"Yes," agreed Lorne. "Please take some time to think about it. I'm hoping you'll agree. I've been trying to find the right people to help for a while. I couldn't hire just anybody, considering the whole demon aspect. When Doyle came to me and told me your situations and that you knew of the supernatural world, I knew you'd be perfect."
"I, uh...yeah, I think we'd need to talk it over," Buffy looked to Cordy who nodded slowly. Both girls were in a bit of a daze over the opportunity that had literally landed in their laps.
"So we'd just have to be at the club when it was open?" Cordy questioned, trying to get a better understanding of what exactly Lorne wanted from them.
"Well, yes that, and as I said, dealing with face to face human interactions also. Plus, I'm hoping you'd want to help with the décor, since I've been told, just once or twice," he added with a chuckle. "That my taste is a bit extreme. You two would probably also be helpful in dealing with the music end for the human part of the club. I'm familiar with today's popular music, but I want to make sure we play stuff young people would like. It's better for business that way."
"Decorating?" a giddy twinkle entered Cordy's eyes.
Buffy couldn't help but laugh at Cordelia's statement. "So, uh, where is this club going to be?"
"Right here," Lorne spread his arms out, gesturing to the space all around him.
"Here?" both Cordelia and Buffy squeaked out loudly.
"I know it doesn't look like much at the moment. It will need quite a bit of work to be turned into a club...well, sort of. A few years back, some renovations were done on it, but they were never completed. It's up to code, and in good shape otherwise. The interior would just need to be converted into a club atmosphere," the green-skinned demon explained, his eyes wandering around the space he hoped would soon be his new business venture.
"Why don't we take 'em on a tour of the place, eh Lorne?" Doyle interjected, hoping to take some of the pressure off Buffy and Cordy, who he knew had to be overwhelmed.
"Sure. We can start with this floor," he stated, referring to the area they currently were in. "This floor would be the human club. As you can see, it's quite large. There would be a bar, a stage for live bands, an area for a DJ, and also some tables and counters for the customers. I've not thought too much about the layout, yet, though.
"You definitely have enough room for all that," Cordy pointed out. The space definitely was huge.
"I know," Lorne laughed lightly. "Come on, let's go down to the basement floor."
The group followed Lorne through a door near the back of the room, then down a hallway until they came to another door that opened to a staircase to the basement. Soon, they found themselves in a smaller, yet just as open area as where they had just been.
Lorne flicked on some overhead lights before speaking to the group. "This would be for my demon customers. It's smaller than upstairs, but it won't draw as much business, so that works," he pointed out. "There's a direct entrance to here from the back of the building so the demons can come and go from here without running into the humans."
"I don't know if I like the idea of a demon bar," Buffy stated doubtfully. "Demons aren't known for being nice. They tend to have one track minds: kill...present company excluded."
"Oh, don't worry about that," Lorne shook his head. "I have some friends who can cast a no-fighting spell over the place. It works quite nicely. Plus, sometimes demons just like to kick back."
"Oh," Buffy muttered, still not liking the idea.
"Let's go upstairs to see the other floors," Doyle attempted to break the sudden tension in the room. He knew the demon aspect was going to be a bit of a stalling point, but hopefully, he'd be able to reassure them that it would all work.
They started walking back toward the stairs when Buffy spoke again. "I don't suppose this place has an elevator."
Lorne laughed at the question, knowing that in her condition stairs were probably not enjoyable. "It does, but it's not been used for a while so I didn't want to use it in case it needs some work."
"Damn!" Buffy muttered, frowning at the prospect of climbing more stairs. They were even more of a hassle now that she was getting larger.
"Don't worry, sweetie. If you two decide to accept my offer, I'll make sure I get it working properly as soon as possible," Lorne offered as he began climbing the stairs.
A short time later, the group was standing on the third floor of the building. It was similar to the ground floor in size except that it was divided up into five or so separate rooms centered off of a large, open main area.
"Geez! How many stories is this place?" Cordy questioned, internally grumbling over her choice of wearing heels for their outing and having to walk so much.
"It's five floors, and then the basement. So technically six," Lorne responded, taking a seat on one of the chairs that sat around and oddly placed table.
"What are you going to do with the rest of the floors?" Cordy asked, studying the new area they were in.
"I'm getting to that, Sweetcheeks," he grinned teasingly. "This floor, since it's right above the first floor, would be for offices, and the business aspect of everything. Also, I don't know if you're planning on going back to slaying once you pop out the little one Buffy, but you can also set up a training area here too."
"You told him about me!" Buffy glared at Doyle, clearly unhappy.
"It was kinda necessary," shrugged Doyle helplessly.
"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," Lorne patted Buffy's arm. "I wouldn't want to put you in any danger. Do you plan to continue slaying?"
"I don't know," Buffy sighed. "I haven't really thought about what I will do once I have the baby."
"I'm sure you'll do what's best," he spoke sadly. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor girl. From what he knew from Doyle, she'd had quite a rough life for someone so young.
"So, umm, what about the other floors," Cordy steered the conversation elsewhere, taking the focus off her friend before things got too serious.
"Oh, yeah. Well, they are pretty much just like this floor. They would work well for you guys to live in," Lorne told them casually.
"Live?...but....what....huh?" Buffy sputtered, completely not comprehending what had just been said.
"Oh? Didn't I mention that before?" Lorne grinned, as did Doyle. "I was told you are looking for somewhere better to live, and I've got all this extra space. So why not put it to good use?"
"But...but...we can't afford something this big!" Cordy said dejectedly. As much as she'd love to live somewhere this big, they so didn't have that kind of money."
"Now don't you worry about that," Lorne spoke with finality to his voice. "You would be doing me a favor by helping me with a club. I wouldn't want one cent for you to live here. And yes, you would also get paid to work for me."
"Man, this deal just keeps getting better every second," the brunette muttered under her breath.
Both Lorne and Doyle hid smiles at the statement, knowing the offer was going to be extremely hard for them to pass up. Doyle was glad he'd gone to Lorne for help. The demon had certainly come through for him. Not only did he have a great job opportunity for the two friends, but also an improved living situation. He just hoped they'd take it. They deserved more than they had now.
"I hate to toss all this at you and run," Lorne said, looking at his watch. "But I've got to run. Take a few days to think everything over and get back to me. Doyle has my number."
The demon spoke his goodbyes and left, leaving behind Doyle and the two shell-shocked females. When Doyle had told them they were going to meet a friend of his, they certainly never imagined the night would turn out as it did. Lorne's offer was definitely enticing, but he was right, they really did need to talk it over before making a decision.
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
Buffy, Cordelia and Doyle were nearing the girls' apartment when Doyle finally decided to ask them what they thought of Lorne's offer. If need be, he would plead his friend's case. The opportunity was perfect for them, but he knew they would probably be wary of accepting it.
"So what do you think?" he questioned, taking a peak at the two friends.
Buffy shrugged, honestly unsure of what she thought. It all seemed almost too good to be true. The job sounded good, and she certainly would be incredibly happy to get out of their crappy apartment, but....and there always had to be a but....it was all so perfect...too perfect. There had to be a catch.
On the other hand, Cordy was already thinking about all the possibilities the new situation offered them. She hated being poor. It didn't suit her. And helping to manage a club? How cool was that? Especially if they did things right. They could make the club one of the newest, trendiest places in Seattle, and that would bring respect and credibility. What girl didn't like that?
"It all sounds great, but...I'm not too sure about that Lorne guy," Cordy voiced the one concern she had over the whole thing.
"Yeah, I mean, how much do you know about the guy...err...demon," spoke Buffy, supporting Cordy's wariness.
Doyle sighed loudly, he knew this was going to be an issue. They were more trusting of him when he first arrived than Lorne. Maybe that was because he looked human, and Lorne, well, didn't. "Lorne's fine. I've known him fer a while, though I wouldn't say we were best buds, but he's good guy....just a little on the odd side."
"I don't like the idea of having his demon bar right below the club where all the humans will be," Buffy repeated her earlier problem with everything she'd heard.
"Yeah. Does he really think that it won't create any-," Cordy suddenly stopped speaking and halted her steps. "Oh shit!"
"What? Cordy? What's wrong?" Buffy looked at her friend oddly, not understanding why she was acting the way she was.
"Umm...I'd say we have some trouble...," the brunette trailed off, pointing about twenty feet in front of them.
Doyle and Buffy followed the direction of her gesture and found themselves staring at two rather large demons. Both had to be around seven feet tall with orange-ish skin. There were wicked looking swords perched in sheaths across their backs, and their fingernails looked razor sharp. Buffy hoped for a moment that the demons hadn't spotted them, but unfortunately, the pair were staring directly at them, a wicked gleam shining in their eyes.
"Get over there and out of the way!" Doyle snapped, roughly pushing both girls out of the way. He stared ahead at the now snarling demons and let his own demon come forth.
Cordelia shrieked when Doyle's face changed to a blue hue and sprouted quills. They'd never before seen his demon side. He'd never had a need to use it, and hadn't ever actually told them that his appearance could change as it just did.
"I suggest you leave," Doyle spoke forcefully to the two demons, who were taking slow steps toward them.
"Now why would we do that?" the slightly larger demon snarled through a mouth full of vicious looking teeth.
"Because you'll die if you don't!" he told them more confidently than he actually felt.
The two demons laughed at the statement. "You think you can stop us?"
"I plan to!" Doyle pulled a long dagger out from the inside pocket of his jacket.
Quickly, the demons charged at him. Doyle sidestepped just as they were about to pounce, and spun around behind them. He jabbed the knife in his hand into the back of the second demon, which had yet to recover from Doyle's first movement. The blow was either perfectly aimed, or a lucky hit, because the demon fell to the ground motionless, green blood oozing from the wound.
Reaching down, Doyle grabbed his only weapon out of the demon's back and stood to face the remaining threat. To his horror, he found the demon closing in on Buffy and Cordelia, who were standing helplessly a few feet away. The demon shoved Cordelia aside, causing her to land almost at his feet, and stalked closer to Buffy, who being pregnant, was the most defenseless of them all.
Buffy pressed herself further against the brick wall behind her. Wildly, her eyes searched for anything she could use to defend herself, but there was nothing. At any other time, she'd be able to fight him with just her body, but not now. There was no way she could take on the demon when she was six months pregnant. Well, she could probably fight him, but she was out of shape, and her balance was nowhere near perfect because of the added weight. It was a toss up as to which was more dangerous: trying to fight the demon or standing there in hopes that Doyle would be able to take it out. Her body began to shake as the realization hit her that she was likely not going to make it through this, that this demon was going to kill her and her baby. Tears streaked down her cheeks with the knowledge that her child would never make it into the world.
Doyle risked a glance at Cordelia and saw that she appeared to be fine so he focused his attention back on Buffy. He tried to think of a plan, but quickly came to the conclusion that there wasn't time to think. He needed to act. The demon had unsheathed it sword and was raising it to attack position.
Taking a deep breath, Doyle stared forward, his gaze steely with determination. He would absolutely NOT let anything happen to the Slayer. It was his job to protect her, and he would do that at all costs, even if that meant putting himself in the line of fire. So without last thought toward himself, Doyle dashed towards Buffy and leapt in between her and the demon who was beginning to bring his sword down upon her.
"BUFFY!! DOYLE!" Cordelia screamed, watching the horror in front of her unfold.
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
TBC!!
New part ready finally. Sorry it took a week, but I was working on a new layout for my site. Oh, a warning: CLIFF ahead!!!
Also with the recent 'discussion' over people wanting to know how a fic will end, I thought I'd offer this up: if anyone wants to know what kind of ending this series will have, you can email me and I will tell you. I won't tell anything other than if it will be happy or sad, so if you want to know that, email me: vagabond_angel@comcast.net
Thank you to those of you who sent feedback on Part 4, hope you like the new chapter.
Enjoy,
~Isis
***
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
Part 5
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
"So I take it you are both interested in hearing Lorne's and my idea?" Doyle nearly smiled at the hidden excitement he saw from Buffy and Cordelia. He was growing more confident in the idea he'd come up with, knowing they were both frustrated with their living situation and lack of money.
"Well, it can't hurt to hear it," Cordy answered as nonchalantly as possible. All the while, visions of new shoes and dresses were flittering about her mind.
"Uh, yeah, sure," Buffy added in, still trying to get over her initial shock of the situation. This wasn't turning out at all like she had expected.
"Good," grinned Lorne, who then wandered a few feet away. "See, I used to own a club in Los Angeles. It was quite popular, but LA can be rather...dangerous. I got tired of having the place destroyed. So I closed up shop, and moved up here a while back.
Buffy's brow scrunched in perplexity. A club? Lorne, an obvious demon, owned a club? What the Hell kind of place was it?
Cordy, on the other hand, laughed out loud at the idea, only stopping her chuckles when Lorne looked at her and frowned. "Sorry, I just can't picture you owning a club."
"It wasn't a typical club," Lorne spoke, conceding that it was a bit of a strange concept. "It catered to the underworld of L.A."
"The underworld?" Cordy questioned, head cocked.
"Hey, even demon's like to have fun sometimes!" he exclaimed, a smile now on his face.
"Umm, okay," Buffy stated, interrupting the banter. "What does this have to do with us?"
"I'm getting to that, Sunshine," Lorne looked toward her. "Here's the deal, ever since moving here, I've wanted to reopen the club. But I was waiting for the right opportunity, and you two are just what the doctor ordered, so to speak."
"Uhh...that's...wow. I umm wasn-," Buffy suddenly stopped her sputtering and looked at Lorne. "Wait. Why do you need us? I mean you had a club before so would you need help this time? And why do you want *us* anyway?"
"My club in LA was strictly for demons, or those who knew of demons and didn't mind socializing with them. It drew a surprising amount of business, but now that I'm starting over, I'd like to expand to include the general public. Problem is, I don't think this," he gestured to himself, "is apt to draw people in. It'd more than likely scare them away. That's where you two come in."
"Ya might want to close yer mouth Princess," Doyle pointed out, referring to Cordy's hung open jaw.
"I...huh?...I mean...let me get this straight. You want us to help you open up and run a club?" the flabbergasted brunette asked slowly
"Wait a sec!" Buffy interrupted quickly. "Maybe I'm having a dumb blonde moment, but I'm confused."
"It's okay Sunshine. Here, have a seat, and I'll explain," Lorne pointed to a couple of crates near the center of the room. Buffy gratefully sat down, her feet and back were killing her. Cordy, though, looked at the dirty crates and decided to remain standing, as did Doyle.
"What I want to do," began Lorne, "is open up a club that will draw your average humans because it would bring in quite a bit more revenue than just catering to demons. But, being what I am, I can't do that on my own. So I would like you two to handle the human side."
"The human side?" Buffy asked, her mind reeling over what the demon was proposing.
"Yeah. I'd still like to have a demon club, separate from the human club, which I would run, and then you two, along with Doyle could handle the other," he clarified, sharing a look with Doyle, who already knew what the plan was.
"But we don't know anything about running a club!" Cordelia blurted out suddenly.
"I realize that," Lorne conceded, shrugging slightly. "But that's why you'd still have me, Sugar! I'll be around to help out with the behind the scenes stuff. At least in the beginning until you understand things better. I would just need you to be here when the club is open to kind of manage things, you know, be the pretty faces behind the name. Besides, it certainly can't hurt business end of things to have said pretty faces dealing with the supplies, bands and such.
"Wow...I, uh, don't know what to say," mumbled Buffy, wringing her hands together nervously. What did she know about running a nightclub? Sure, she'd been to the Bronze hundreds of times, but that was as a customer.
"I know it's a lot ta take in," Doyle spoke up after being quiet for a while. "Ya don't have to give him an answer tonight."
"Yes," agreed Lorne. "Please take some time to think about it. I'm hoping you'll agree. I've been trying to find the right people to help for a while. I couldn't hire just anybody, considering the whole demon aspect. When Doyle came to me and told me your situations and that you knew of the supernatural world, I knew you'd be perfect."
"I, uh...yeah, I think we'd need to talk it over," Buffy looked to Cordy who nodded slowly. Both girls were in a bit of a daze over the opportunity that had literally landed in their laps.
"So we'd just have to be at the club when it was open?" Cordy questioned, trying to get a better understanding of what exactly Lorne wanted from them.
"Well, yes that, and as I said, dealing with face to face human interactions also. Plus, I'm hoping you'd want to help with the décor, since I've been told, just once or twice," he added with a chuckle. "That my taste is a bit extreme. You two would probably also be helpful in dealing with the music end for the human part of the club. I'm familiar with today's popular music, but I want to make sure we play stuff young people would like. It's better for business that way."
"Decorating?" a giddy twinkle entered Cordy's eyes.
Buffy couldn't help but laugh at Cordelia's statement. "So, uh, where is this club going to be?"
"Right here," Lorne spread his arms out, gesturing to the space all around him.
"Here?" both Cordelia and Buffy squeaked out loudly.
"I know it doesn't look like much at the moment. It will need quite a bit of work to be turned into a club...well, sort of. A few years back, some renovations were done on it, but they were never completed. It's up to code, and in good shape otherwise. The interior would just need to be converted into a club atmosphere," the green-skinned demon explained, his eyes wandering around the space he hoped would soon be his new business venture.
"Why don't we take 'em on a tour of the place, eh Lorne?" Doyle interjected, hoping to take some of the pressure off Buffy and Cordy, who he knew had to be overwhelmed.
"Sure. We can start with this floor," he stated, referring to the area they currently were in. "This floor would be the human club. As you can see, it's quite large. There would be a bar, a stage for live bands, an area for a DJ, and also some tables and counters for the customers. I've not thought too much about the layout, yet, though.
"You definitely have enough room for all that," Cordy pointed out. The space definitely was huge.
"I know," Lorne laughed lightly. "Come on, let's go down to the basement floor."
The group followed Lorne through a door near the back of the room, then down a hallway until they came to another door that opened to a staircase to the basement. Soon, they found themselves in a smaller, yet just as open area as where they had just been.
Lorne flicked on some overhead lights before speaking to the group. "This would be for my demon customers. It's smaller than upstairs, but it won't draw as much business, so that works," he pointed out. "There's a direct entrance to here from the back of the building so the demons can come and go from here without running into the humans."
"I don't know if I like the idea of a demon bar," Buffy stated doubtfully. "Demons aren't known for being nice. They tend to have one track minds: kill...present company excluded."
"Oh, don't worry about that," Lorne shook his head. "I have some friends who can cast a no-fighting spell over the place. It works quite nicely. Plus, sometimes demons just like to kick back."
"Oh," Buffy muttered, still not liking the idea.
"Let's go upstairs to see the other floors," Doyle attempted to break the sudden tension in the room. He knew the demon aspect was going to be a bit of a stalling point, but hopefully, he'd be able to reassure them that it would all work.
They started walking back toward the stairs when Buffy spoke again. "I don't suppose this place has an elevator."
Lorne laughed at the question, knowing that in her condition stairs were probably not enjoyable. "It does, but it's not been used for a while so I didn't want to use it in case it needs some work."
"Damn!" Buffy muttered, frowning at the prospect of climbing more stairs. They were even more of a hassle now that she was getting larger.
"Don't worry, sweetie. If you two decide to accept my offer, I'll make sure I get it working properly as soon as possible," Lorne offered as he began climbing the stairs.
A short time later, the group was standing on the third floor of the building. It was similar to the ground floor in size except that it was divided up into five or so separate rooms centered off of a large, open main area.
"Geez! How many stories is this place?" Cordy questioned, internally grumbling over her choice of wearing heels for their outing and having to walk so much.
"It's five floors, and then the basement. So technically six," Lorne responded, taking a seat on one of the chairs that sat around and oddly placed table.
"What are you going to do with the rest of the floors?" Cordy asked, studying the new area they were in.
"I'm getting to that, Sweetcheeks," he grinned teasingly. "This floor, since it's right above the first floor, would be for offices, and the business aspect of everything. Also, I don't know if you're planning on going back to slaying once you pop out the little one Buffy, but you can also set up a training area here too."
"You told him about me!" Buffy glared at Doyle, clearly unhappy.
"It was kinda necessary," shrugged Doyle helplessly.
"Don't worry, your secret is safe with me," Lorne patted Buffy's arm. "I wouldn't want to put you in any danger. Do you plan to continue slaying?"
"I don't know," Buffy sighed. "I haven't really thought about what I will do once I have the baby."
"I'm sure you'll do what's best," he spoke sadly. He couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor girl. From what he knew from Doyle, she'd had quite a rough life for someone so young.
"So, umm, what about the other floors," Cordy steered the conversation elsewhere, taking the focus off her friend before things got too serious.
"Oh, yeah. Well, they are pretty much just like this floor. They would work well for you guys to live in," Lorne told them casually.
"Live?...but....what....huh?" Buffy sputtered, completely not comprehending what had just been said.
"Oh? Didn't I mention that before?" Lorne grinned, as did Doyle. "I was told you are looking for somewhere better to live, and I've got all this extra space. So why not put it to good use?"
"But...but...we can't afford something this big!" Cordy said dejectedly. As much as she'd love to live somewhere this big, they so didn't have that kind of money."
"Now don't you worry about that," Lorne spoke with finality to his voice. "You would be doing me a favor by helping me with a club. I wouldn't want one cent for you to live here. And yes, you would also get paid to work for me."
"Man, this deal just keeps getting better every second," the brunette muttered under her breath.
Both Lorne and Doyle hid smiles at the statement, knowing the offer was going to be extremely hard for them to pass up. Doyle was glad he'd gone to Lorne for help. The demon had certainly come through for him. Not only did he have a great job opportunity for the two friends, but also an improved living situation. He just hoped they'd take it. They deserved more than they had now.
"I hate to toss all this at you and run," Lorne said, looking at his watch. "But I've got to run. Take a few days to think everything over and get back to me. Doyle has my number."
The demon spoke his goodbyes and left, leaving behind Doyle and the two shell-shocked females. When Doyle had told them they were going to meet a friend of his, they certainly never imagined the night would turn out as it did. Lorne's offer was definitely enticing, but he was right, they really did need to talk it over before making a decision.
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
Buffy, Cordelia and Doyle were nearing the girls' apartment when Doyle finally decided to ask them what they thought of Lorne's offer. If need be, he would plead his friend's case. The opportunity was perfect for them, but he knew they would probably be wary of accepting it.
"So what do you think?" he questioned, taking a peak at the two friends.
Buffy shrugged, honestly unsure of what she thought. It all seemed almost too good to be true. The job sounded good, and she certainly would be incredibly happy to get out of their crappy apartment, but....and there always had to be a but....it was all so perfect...too perfect. There had to be a catch.
On the other hand, Cordy was already thinking about all the possibilities the new situation offered them. She hated being poor. It didn't suit her. And helping to manage a club? How cool was that? Especially if they did things right. They could make the club one of the newest, trendiest places in Seattle, and that would bring respect and credibility. What girl didn't like that?
"It all sounds great, but...I'm not too sure about that Lorne guy," Cordy voiced the one concern she had over the whole thing.
"Yeah, I mean, how much do you know about the guy...err...demon," spoke Buffy, supporting Cordy's wariness.
Doyle sighed loudly, he knew this was going to be an issue. They were more trusting of him when he first arrived than Lorne. Maybe that was because he looked human, and Lorne, well, didn't. "Lorne's fine. I've known him fer a while, though I wouldn't say we were best buds, but he's good guy....just a little on the odd side."
"I don't like the idea of having his demon bar right below the club where all the humans will be," Buffy repeated her earlier problem with everything she'd heard.
"Yeah. Does he really think that it won't create any-," Cordy suddenly stopped speaking and halted her steps. "Oh shit!"
"What? Cordy? What's wrong?" Buffy looked at her friend oddly, not understanding why she was acting the way she was.
"Umm...I'd say we have some trouble...," the brunette trailed off, pointing about twenty feet in front of them.
Doyle and Buffy followed the direction of her gesture and found themselves staring at two rather large demons. Both had to be around seven feet tall with orange-ish skin. There were wicked looking swords perched in sheaths across their backs, and their fingernails looked razor sharp. Buffy hoped for a moment that the demons hadn't spotted them, but unfortunately, the pair were staring directly at them, a wicked gleam shining in their eyes.
"Get over there and out of the way!" Doyle snapped, roughly pushing both girls out of the way. He stared ahead at the now snarling demons and let his own demon come forth.
Cordelia shrieked when Doyle's face changed to a blue hue and sprouted quills. They'd never before seen his demon side. He'd never had a need to use it, and hadn't ever actually told them that his appearance could change as it just did.
"I suggest you leave," Doyle spoke forcefully to the two demons, who were taking slow steps toward them.
"Now why would we do that?" the slightly larger demon snarled through a mouth full of vicious looking teeth.
"Because you'll die if you don't!" he told them more confidently than he actually felt.
The two demons laughed at the statement. "You think you can stop us?"
"I plan to!" Doyle pulled a long dagger out from the inside pocket of his jacket.
Quickly, the demons charged at him. Doyle sidestepped just as they were about to pounce, and spun around behind them. He jabbed the knife in his hand into the back of the second demon, which had yet to recover from Doyle's first movement. The blow was either perfectly aimed, or a lucky hit, because the demon fell to the ground motionless, green blood oozing from the wound.
Reaching down, Doyle grabbed his only weapon out of the demon's back and stood to face the remaining threat. To his horror, he found the demon closing in on Buffy and Cordelia, who were standing helplessly a few feet away. The demon shoved Cordelia aside, causing her to land almost at his feet, and stalked closer to Buffy, who being pregnant, was the most defenseless of them all.
Buffy pressed herself further against the brick wall behind her. Wildly, her eyes searched for anything she could use to defend herself, but there was nothing. At any other time, she'd be able to fight him with just her body, but not now. There was no way she could take on the demon when she was six months pregnant. Well, she could probably fight him, but she was out of shape, and her balance was nowhere near perfect because of the added weight. It was a toss up as to which was more dangerous: trying to fight the demon or standing there in hopes that Doyle would be able to take it out. Her body began to shake as the realization hit her that she was likely not going to make it through this, that this demon was going to kill her and her baby. Tears streaked down her cheeks with the knowledge that her child would never make it into the world.
Doyle risked a glance at Cordelia and saw that she appeared to be fine so he focused his attention back on Buffy. He tried to think of a plan, but quickly came to the conclusion that there wasn't time to think. He needed to act. The demon had unsheathed it sword and was raising it to attack position.
Taking a deep breath, Doyle stared forward, his gaze steely with determination. He would absolutely NOT let anything happen to the Slayer. It was his job to protect her, and he would do that at all costs, even if that meant putting himself in the line of fire. So without last thought toward himself, Doyle dashed towards Buffy and leapt in between her and the demon who was beginning to bring his sword down upon her.
"BUFFY!! DOYLE!" Cordelia screamed, watching the horror in front of her unfold.
^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^-^
TBC!!