Chapter 5: Breaking Molds
Hyperion Hotel, Room 204
Next day
08:17 AM
A few years back Xander's thoughts on waking up beside Faith and making slow and tender love with her afterwards would have some serious repercussions, none of them good. Right now, he was in a blissful haze, body cooling down, with a satisfied Slayer in a light daze tucked under his arm. But, to be honest with himself, he wasn't thinking much in the benefits of their relationship, but in the argument with Sam yesterday.
"Don't worry about her, X," the muffled voice of the brunette suddenly piped from under his chin.
He looked down to the top of her head, smirking.
"Didn't know that the empowerment gave you telepathy," he said, trying to muster as much fun as he could in the tone.
Faith lifted her head, finally looking to his face.
"Not telepathy. At least not the mind-reading mojo from comics. But I can . . . I don't know . . . sense things now. If I focus, I can see some shit around you, like those funky aura pics or somethin'."
"Kirilian Aura?" he asked, surprised.
"I dunno, I guess so. At least it looks like it."
Xander grinned. "Ooooh, I have a Jedi as a girlfriend. Achieve greatness you will, young padawan," he said, in a passable imitation.
Faith actually grinned, slapping him playfully in the abdomen. "Don't go there, Yoda. And if Lucas could only get a glimpse of what it is to me, he wouldn't have written those fucking movies as he did!"
"I guess that vampires and demons in Star Wars universe wouldn't be as cool . . . even if the Emperor looked like an over-wrinkled vamp with too much make-up."
They kept going with the playful argument for some time yet, and she ended it when she realized that he had used a diversionary tactic to skip the initial subject.
"Anyway, as I was saying, don't worry about Sam, mainly because I'll accept her offer."
There, done. She had taken the decision last night as soon as Boy Toy had ended his half-hour pissed-off, screaming rant.
Xander looked her in the eyes, dumbstruck. "H-have you listened to what I've said last night?"
"Yep, and that's why I'm going to accept it," she said, surprisingly calm. The time in the joint had served several purposes in her life, one of them was that she had addressed her confrontational issues dead on. She could argue with a friend about a subject without wanting to tear the guy's head off, in special cases. And Xander was 'The' Special Case in her life.
"Why?" he asked, annoyed.
"First of all, I'm tired of running, Boy Toy. I've paid my debt, to society at least, I know what I did, and now I'm an escaped convict. You guys are cool with me, but you are accessories to a crime. If the cops find out where I'm hiding, not only me, but also all of you are joining me in a joint somewhere." Xander shook his head, and when he was going to speak, two slender fingers silenced him. "Let me finish, 'k?"
He shook his head, and she removed her fingers.
"Second, you, more than anyone, knows we need help. I need help to train an' stuff, we need help to patrol, and this fuckin' city is too big as it is. If we had some serious help, our jobs would be made easier, right? And the Council is gone, so until G puts it back together, I'm definitely without support, you notwithstanding. An' Slayage with government benefits is a plus," she grinned. "Third, and more important than all of the others, I have you to protect me if the shit hits the fan."
"Always," he said, smiling lightly. He sighed, and pushed her until she was lying fully on top of him. "I said that the decision is yours, and I'm going with it. But don't expect me to trust them completely, or to stay in the good graces of Uncle Sam. Or Aunt Sam."
Faith snorted and smiled. "I would never ask you that, since I don't, myself. But her proposal is good. Anyway, thanks, Xan," she said, and kissed him lightly in the mouth.
Xander found some surprising sides in the dark Slayer in those past months. First was the calm and thoughtful side she began to develop after some weeks of 'light' slaying. He caught her once doing Tai-Chi in the morning, and decided to join her. Now, it was a morning ritual to them both. Of course, the brash and outspoken Slayer was still in full effect for everyone, but now she stopped to listen what the others were saying.
Second was the caring side. The hungry, want-take-have Slayer was also still there, but once in a while, he was presented with some actions that surprised even him. One night, a few weeks ago, he fell asleep with her calmly massaging his scalp. Some kisses were lighter, filled with more care and love than lust and passion.
Faith, his Faith, was still there, in full effect most of the time, but the new one was slowly, very slowly filling the immense void left behind by his past, relationship-wise.
"So, who you gonna sic into Sam?" she asked dead-on, devious grin in place.
He grinned. Yep, his Faith. "Cordy."
Faith's eyes almost jumped out of their sockets.
"Her? I-I mean . . . hummm . . . Her? W-why?"
He grinned with her antics. "She survived the Dale. She helped the Fang Gang. She's a Seer. She's smart, she's resourceful, and she doesn't take shit from no one. She's perfect for the job. Hell, she survived me! That should get her the job on the spot."
Faith was laughing so hard that she fell from her comfortable spot on top of him, almost falling from the bed as well, if his arm hadn't latched to her waist in the last moment. Xander joined her in laughter, which only subsided several minutes later.
"Ooohh, I needed that, Boy Toy," she said, drying some tears from her eyes.
"Pleased to help," Xander said, re-adjusting his position in bed.
"Ok, seriously, I think Queen C has it. Just don't mention it to her, or I'll have to hurtcha," Faith said, pointing a finger to his nose. Xander playfully engulfed the finger with his mouth, biting it lightly.
"Ofay. No minchon fu quincy, gucha," he said, with the digit still in his mouth.
"Hey! Down, boy!" she said, pulling her finger back, which he promptly released.
"Woof!" he said, his trademark grin in place.
Faith laughed, and kissed him lightly.
"Do you know what I really like about you, Boy Toy?"
"My refined sense of humor?" he asked, grinning.
"No," she said, ever so slowly returning to her spot on top of him.
"My extremely good looks?"
"Maaaybe, but no."
"My intelligence?" the grin was subsiding.
"What intelligence?" she laughed. "No."
"Ok, I quit. What?"
"Mystically enhanced stamina," she said, and kissed him hotly.
The next sounds for a couple of hours were the ones Xander preferred.
Xander thought twice about joining the Slayer in the shower, but he had some business to attend to first. He picked his cell phone from the nightstand and pressed a number on speed dial. It rang a couple of times before someone picked up on the other side.
"Hello?"
"Hi, Dawn," he said, voice more serious than he wanted.
"Hey, Xander. How are things? And the gang in LA?"
Xander frowned under the tone. Some time ago, Dawn would receive his calls with a squeal of delight and happiness. Now, the normal and almost emotionless answer hit him harder than any physical blow could.
"Thing are going, Dawnie, and the gang is fine. You?"
"I'm cool. Things are looking up, for a change," she said, voice gaining a happier tone.
"Yeah? What's happened?"
"Sam called, and she offered me a job."
"What job?" the Crow asked amidst grinding teeth. Sam was trespassing some boundaries, /his/ boundaries, and he wasn't a happy camper.
"If I tell you, I'll have to kill you. Damn, I've always wanted to say that," she said, and from the tone, she was grinning.
"I was gonna be your superior officer, Dawn, so spill."
"Was gonna? What? How?"
"Not important right now. Spill."
"All right, all right. Calm down. Sheesh! Impatient much? Anyway, she didn't tell me much over the phone, just that she has a job that fits my profile, and it's currently danger-free. From what I could gather, it's research-related. She offered a good pay and the chance to get out of here. And I can keep going to college if I want to."
"Where are you going to?"
"Cleveland."
"There is a Hellmouth in Cleveland. Do you know that?" he asked and stood up, pacing the room.
"Yeah, it was one of the things she told me about. But it's not here, Xander. It doesn't have the . . . memories. And the pain."
Xander took a deep breath. "I'm sorry," he said, almost in a whisper.
"For her?" she asked, hopefully.
"No. For you. For the pain that I caused you. But never for her," Xander said, bitterly.
"You made mistakes as well, Xand. Do you know she doesn't sleep without waking up screaming? She almost doesn't eat . . . No one deserves that, Xander."
"I /will/ not forgive her, Dawn. She was the /Slayer/, for fuck's sake. Protector of man, /not/ vampires. Man," he said, angrily. He heard her sobbing on the other side of the line, and his heart sunk deeper than it already was. "Sorry," he said, and kept hearing her crying for a few more minutes in complete silence. Once the crying stopped, he decided to change subjects.
"How's Willow? And Kennedy?" Xander already knew, since he spoke to the wicca at least twice a week.
"T-they are cool. Willow's keeping the house when we move. I kind of rented it to them."
"Kind of?" he asked. That, he didn't know.
"Yeah, very low rent, just to not be free. She didn't like it much, but agreed."
"And Anya?" he surely didn't want to speak with his former girlfriend and fiancée, and he guessed the opposite was also true.
"She vanished a while ago, taking Andrew with her. I don't know where they went, though."
Xander found it odd. Not Anya disappearing, but with Andrew?
"I really need to go back to SunnyD. How are things in the front?" he asked. This conversation was getting too impersonal for his tastes. He looked like he was interviewing someone, not speaking to one of his oldest friends.
"Actually, pretty quiet. Since the rumors that the First was defeated around here, the big bads are skipping town. Looks like the Hellmouth reversed polarity."
"What?"
"Never paid attention to physics class, Xan?"
"Too worried about sleeping. Demon-hunting is tiresome, you know?"
"Yeah, yeah, you whiner," at least, he detected a bit of humor. "Anyway, Wood and Kennedy are training the Potentials that stayed behind, and Sam sent a few troops to our corner of the woods a few weeks back, so I guess we are cool."
"Good, good. But if you need help . . . "
"I have your number. Look, I have to go, Bu . . . my sister needs me. Call me sometime next week, I guess we'll be moving before next weekend."
"I will. And Dawn?"
"Yeah?"
"Sorry, once again," he said, voice full of guilt over the pain he caused her.
"No problem. See ya," she said, voice cold and impersonal and hung up.
Xander looked at the cell phone, emotions crashing to the surface. He threw the small phone in the direction of the wall, the projectile flying at an absurd speed. It would have turned to several thousand pieces of plastic if not for another impossibly fast hand grabbing it from the air. Faith looked at the device and to Xander's angered face.
"Who was it this time?" she asked, still wrapped in her towel, hair damp from the shower. She put the phone back in the nightstand and sat on the bed.
"Dawn."
"She pissed you off?" Faith knew that Pip didn't have it in her, but after the recent events, she didn't know how to thread with them.
Xander sighed. "No, was pissed with myself."
"Wanna talk about it?"
Xander thought it over for a minute, before walking to the bathroom.
"No, not right now."
He entered the still foggy bathroom, locking the door behind him. Faith sighed. She would never have the same relationship with him that Red, B or Pip had. The door to the bathroom unlocked a second later, and his head appeared.
"Faith?" he asked, sheepishly.
"Yeah?"
"This bathroom is too big for me alone. Care to join me?"
The Slayer looked him in the eyes, a bout of lust reawakening her fire. She stood up, letting the towel fall to the floor. Perhaps not the same relationship, but a good one, nonetheless.
"Move over," she said, sultrily. He obeyed.
Cordelia Chase was back in her job of public relations/manager/operator/annoying employee for some time now, her body still recovering from her ordeal. With the now absurd amount of jobs they were receiving, she didn't even have time to take a break for coffee and some nail filing. Blowing up an evil law firm surely had its benefits in the market. She was answering the phone with one ear while the other was typing furiously at the recently installed computer.
"Yes, madam. You have a description. . . blue skin . . . two horns . . . bad manners . . . eaten your newspaper? That's new. Ok, I'll send one of our employees to check it out. Sure . . . Monday is fine? Ok, Monday it is. See ya."
She put the phone in the cradle, and it rang again almost immediately. The former Queen C of Sunnydale was going to pick it up, but changed her mind.
"Damn, give me a break. I need some coffee, and I need it right /now/!" she screamed to no one in particular.
"Aren't you picking that up? Might be another hopeless. Or is it helpless?" a voice floated from her back.
"Buzz off, dweeb. I need caffeine, now. And no demon is going to keep me away from it,"she said, finally turning to him. It was still odd seeing him with Faith attached, but not in a bad way. The jealousy had died some time ago, and she was happy for them both. It was just . . . strange. And the crow perched on his shoulder also didn't help things much in that regard.
"Can I speak with you?" he asked, seriously. His bird flew from its spot and landed in the back of a chair. Cordy followed the bird's path with her eyes before answering.
"Sure. Speak."
"Privately, please," he asked. The reception was empty now, but people's transit around it was intense.
"Can it be over coffee?" she pleaded. He nodded. "Faith, could you...?" she asked, pointing to the phone and the computer.
"Sure," she said, and sat down. Her hand picked the phone.
"Just don't scare the clients," she muttered. Faith heard.
"Fuck off, "she said, phone already perched in her ear. Cordelia grinned.
They walked to the coffee machine inside Wes' office, and Cordy sat on the former Watcher's chair, after serving herself of a cup. The table was filled with books and some old papyrus, but in amazing order. Xander sat in front of her, waiting for her to take the first sips of the hot beverage.
"So, what's the what?" she asked, after some time.
"What do you think about working for Uncle Sam?" he asked.
"Huh?"
Xander explained it to her. Cordelia's expression went from curious to surprised to scared while he spoke. "No, Xander. I couldn't. I don't even know. . ." she started. One lifted hand halted her nervous rambling.
"Cordy, it's not much different than this thing here. Just in a bigger scale. I know you will do perfectly fine. You kept Angel Investigations rolling for quite some time. You are perfect for the job."
"Angel and Wes kept this thing rolling. Not me."
"Not from where I'm standing. Dead Boy may be a good warrior and such, and Wes may be smart, but to do this, you have to /know/ people, how they think, how they react. You have to read them perfectly. And I don't know anyone more capable than you to do that."
"What if I fuck up?" she asked. It was so off-character to see her cursing, but the Crow thought it was understandable.
"We all fuck up one time or the other. The problem is why you fuck up and how are you going to stand up after that. And I guess Sam will provide you with a great team to work with. So, what do you think?"
Cordelia stood motionless for a few moments, only her face betraying some of her emotions.
"Can I at least talk to her?" she asked. She didn't know Sam, only by some third-party information.
"Sure," he said, and picked up his cell phone. He dialed one of the numbers in the mobile's phonebook, and waited while it rang. The line was picked up, and after a series of sound that he recognized as a scrambler, Sam's voice came over.
"Yes, Xander?"
"I have someone for you," he said, almost emotionless.
"Who?"
"Cordelia Chase," he said, the woman in front of him flinching with the tone.
"You are becoming predictable. I knew it would be her. I came to the same conclusion," she said.
"Why didn't you call her directly, then?"
" I didn't want to overstep my bounds. And I asked for some input from you, didn' t I?"
"Like you did with Dawn?" he asked, voice hardening
"I do what I have to do, just like you. I honor you because you are a friend of mine and of Riley's. But if I have to walk over you to do something needed, I will," she said, voice as hard as his.
"Understood. Is the job dangerous?" he asked, flatly.
"No, she'll be the head of one of our research teams. She knows her stuff, and she did a lot of research with you guys to be able to pull a nice job. She'll be a desk jockey, Xander."
"Good. I'll put Cordelia on the line."
"Wait, I want to speak about one last thing with you. Faith?"
"She agreed. But if you fuck her or Dawn up, I'll rip your heart out and shove it into the President's mouth while it´s still beating."
"Don't threaten me, Harris."
"This isn't a threat. It's a promise. Cordy will speak with you."
He passed the phone to a white-faced Cordelia, and he left the room, to give them some privacy. He went to the Slayer's side, who was busy with the phone calls. He noticed by her posture and attitude that she was two minutes away from throwing the desk with phone, computer and everything else against the far wall.
Cordelia appeared minutes later, and returned the phone to Xander's hand, right on time to avoid a tragedy. She placed her hand on the Slayer's shoulder, and the woman calmed down promptly.
"Whatever it is that they are paying you, tell Wes to triple it. I'll help with the intimidating factor," Faith said, standing up and almost breaking the phone. Cordelia giggled.
"So, how it did it go?" Xander asked.
"We still have some things to straighten out, but I believe I'll be working for her," Cordelia said, still thinking about Sam's proposal.
"Ok," he said.
Cordelia turned to Faith. "She said she'll get in contact with you to solve your legal problems, and to set up your new job. And thanks for the phone."
"Five by five."
At that moment, a weary and covered-with-demon-goo Wesley Wyndham-Pryce entered the hotel, followed by an equally weary and dirty Charles Gunn.
"Hey, Wes, what happened?" Cordelia asked.
"Remember that easy mission Mr. Furbink asked for us to perform?" he asked, dropping bonelessly over a chair.
"Yes. What's with that?"
"Remember me to ask Mr. Furbink what he thinks it is easy about a nest with more than fifteen Croachi demons."
"Ugh," Faith sounded disgusted. Croachi were ugly suckers, and deadly.
"Ugh it is. Anyway, it served another purpose. One of them told us that he heard that Angel might be in San Francisco."
Xander and Faith looked at each other.
"We'll be leaving tomorrow," Xander said, eyes narrowing.
"I'll go with you," Cordelia said.
"Had a vision?" Faith asked.
"No, just a hunch."
"Care to go on a bike?" Xander asked.
"Do you have a spare helmet?"
"Faith does."
"No problem, then. Thanks, Wes. And now, take your filthy, demon-innards covered body from my reception and go take a shower. This goes to you too, Gunn. And put some of that perfume that I gave you guys after it. Those things stink. Meanwhile, I'm gonna call Mr. Furbink and rip him a new one," Cordy said, hands flying to the keyboard to find the phone number of the man.
Xander and Faith looked to one another, then to Wesley and Gunn, and promptly dissolved in a fit of laughter.
Somewhere else
Same day
09:38 PM
The man walked by the dimly lit corridor, approaching a single steel door. He pulled the key from his pocket and turned it in the lock. The door opened slowly, the room's single occupant not even aware that someone had entered.
"I guess I have to thank Heaven for a few miracles," he said to the almost unconscious form chained to the wall. "And kill them all after I conquer it."
