Author: Tohonomike Disclaimer: All characters belong to their rightful owners...it will start off with the Joss/ME characters, and the Lorimar characters aren't mine either and any other characters or real-life folks are clearly not mine. NO money is involved. None are mine.
This is dedicated to those of you who watched the show.
SHS Principal's Office, Monday, November 3rd, 1997, 12:00 PM
Alexander Lambert left Snyder's office with a satisfied smile on his face, especially as the process server and police officer escorting said server and Xander had made sure the offensive slacker had to remain somewhat under control during the business a hand.
Selma had managed to find in Snyder's own records and reports before the school board, twenty libelous or slanderous statements against Alexander and other Scoobs, two of which included Cordelia Chase, and five clear cases of negligence on the part of the administration in assuring the safety of staff and students during daylight hours. The process server left as soon as receipt was given for the lawsuit and the warrant to appear in State District Court with the school board members as a preliminary procedure before the grand jury as to whether charges need be brought.
When Snyder had nastily asked as to why 'the boy' and not his parents were present, the policeman had replied that with twenty-five separate charges of child abuse and complicity, the individuals in question would not be seen outside of confinement for quite a while. Snyder's eyes had gone big when Xander had placed his name change and emancipation papers on the desk.
"Anything you say to me now will be as to an adult, sir, and other than as per school requirements that the responsible adult for the student, in this case myself, present the requisite documentation, you are to maintain a policy of non-interaction during school hours and minimum of five hundred feet outside of school hours, with regards to those named in the charges. So, I've now in the presence of the police made available said documents for appropriate alteration in my enrollment papers, I'll be leaving. You'll find my attorney's contact information if you and the school board wish to discuss settlement of the civil matters. Good day, Principal Snyder."
Alexander was dressed nicely enough in a simple light blue shirt, khaki slacks, dress shoes and blue blazer, which in and of itself drew notice during that lunch hour as he made his way to where Buffy and Willow were sitting outside in the usual spot.
"Buffy, Willow, how are you?" he smiled as he scooted in next to Willow, "How's the dominatrix today?"
Buffy briefly choked on her food as Xander chuckled and Willow blushed deep red as Xander took pity on his new partner in crime…fighting.
"Just a little payback for a Willow joke the other day, Buffy. When my back was turned for a few minutes she asked if her dominatrix outfit made her butt look big. So not of the funny then. I turned around and she was in normal clothes."
"Way to go Willow!" Buffy applauded her friend, "Now if we can get you to dress more like Halloween…"
"Or at least the two of you in dominatrix costumes when it won't give me a surprise heart attack…" Xander kidded with wagging eyebrows, causing both to blush and roll eyebrows, "So what's new today?"
"You learned how to dress?" Buffy smirked as she pointed at his clothes with her sandwich.
"I'll have you know I learned to dress on Saturday, so there!" the responded with a show of fake dignity.
"Well, I seem to be able to speak the French better," Buffy considered.
Xander smiled, "Montrez-moi le vocabulaire!"
"Tu-parlaiz le francais?" she replied with a shocked smile, "Since when?"
"My costume guy was like an Interpol cop, Buffy, so he spoke the main languages. Maybe if we practice our Frenching, we'll keep the skills."
She missed the wagging eyebrows, and nodded agreement, "Okay…hey! Xander!"
Buffy left to check in with Giles, so Willow and Xander remained a few minutes to catch up. She was flabbergasted when he'd told her of his legal offensive that morning.
"But what if we get someone worse then Snyder! Some one who pays attention!"
"Oh, don't worry, Willow," Alexander smiled, "I plan for Dr. Giles' advanced tutoring sessions to continue at least until you and I graduate at the end of the school year."
"Why would we want to do that? And wouldn't that leave Dr. Giles and Miss Summers by them—hey! Now you have me being formal about our friends, Cap—Mister. Don't make me bring out the resolve face!"
"It might be nice if you really had a dominatrix outfit to go with the resolve face…"
"Oh!" she blushed deeply once again, then smiled evilly at him, huskily speaking, "Maybe I should, Alexander."
"No, that's alright, Willow," her friend taking his turn at blushing and redirected the conversation before his brain could shut down from the blood moving to other parts, "And I think Giles is right, though, at least when others might be able to hear us, other than a brief change in my position in the pecking order around here from perceived loser to better-dressed non-entity, we should minimize our profiles. I see you're dressing a little more fashionably, though not too noticeably hottie, kinda what I'm aiming at. I hope to have confirmation from my instructors once word gets out about my legal actions against Snyder; I'm going for independent study of my classes for this year, next year and the AP stuff. I seem to have Darien's intelligence and education."
"Wow, I thought about it, but I kinda like school. Why all the classes?"
They heard the bell rang and headed in as he answered, "It's easy now, and between working the store and cramming classes, I'll be Mr. Young Law-Abiding Citizen that'll be very hard for Snyder or others to cause direct troubles for. And I'll still be checking in before and after work hours with Giles and the teachers, so I will have a clear and indisputable reason to be here."
"You're gonna keep the costume shop?"
"Yeah, and I'm thinking of buying the magic shop next door and maybe putting in a regular book and gift shop, maybe even a coffee house since it's much closer to the college than the 'Pump."
"Wow, how're you going to keep up on two places, let alone three? And where are you getting the money?"
"I was actually hoping to persuade the daughter of Sheila and Ira Rosenberg to be my partner. And we'd hire a 'grown up' as manager. Maybe get your folks to put up some front money, which Selma's investing could repay within a short period of time but have fewer questions."
"Me? Your partner? Hmm, I'd have to do the school thing like you, then huh?" We could hire Amy part-time 'cause she knows the magic stuff. I don't know about Mom and Dad, though if I just placed all my school papers to sign in front of them… they might not even notice."
"See, so think about it, okay?"
She watched as he took his seat in class, 'Let's see, the two of us together that close almost every minute? And with you starting to notice me in a fun mature way? Captain, you just won't know what hit you after I say yes.'
Alexander was unlocking the front door to the store he'd had transferred over earlier that day, when his new attorney and two other men drove up and followed him in.
"What can I do for you, Mr. Levinson?" the young man asked, "Anything wrong?"
"Not at all, Alexander," Jonathan's father assured him, "But Mr. Finch with the Mayor's Office, and Mr. MacDonald, representing all parties of your lawsuit, asked to meet with you and offer a settlement prior to any court activity."
"Well, is their offer reasonable?"
"Actually, yes…"
The young lawyer offered his hand to shake, "We believe in light of the unfortunate combinations of circumstance, more than fair, Mr. Lambert. And we hope to clear this up before it can become too disruptive to school discipline and the learning process."
"Come in, then, and have a seat. I'm just cleaning up."
The lawyer from Wolfram and Hart looked around, "How does a young man make such a change in a weekend, if I might ask?"
"The owner of this place bumped me with his car," Alexander lied, "And while he didn't have insurance and didn't cause me much injury, he noticed other marks and offered me some advice on my familial condition, and about taking control of my life. So I settled for his marginal business, sent him on his way and filed the papers all of you know about. So while it all executed at once, this has been building."
The three men nodded, as all they really knew about was the Snyder and Harris situations.
Alexander gestured, "So what do you have for me?"
Mr. Levinson cleared his throat, "They're offering you seventy-five thousand as the clearly wronged party, which will be fifty-thousand after fees and such; Miss Rosenberg and Miss Summers will receive ten thousand after fees and such, and Miss Chase five thousand. The school aspects do not seem as great a factor in comparison to the failure to act against your parents, Alexander, and I agree."
"Mr. Finch? Who owns the empty store next door?"
"I believe its city-reclaimed property, why?"
"I want that, and the city or whomever to pick up the legal and other fees, with the utilities turned on, so if bringing it to code is necessary it need to be done first, then we have a deal financially. I submitted a program of independent stuffy with 24/7 school resource access, for instance dialing in and using the T-1 line, or continue my tutoring with Giles the library guy. That needs to be approved, and for others mentioned in the suit. I'll pretty much guarantee everybody but the Chases will comply if I ask. If any of you may have dealt with the Chases, you'll understand their being a possible exception."
Levinson smiled, "I figured that was why you specifically named them, just to make sure the suit was noticed."
"Yup. So, deal everyone?"
"Deal."
Xander had called Willow to have Buffy and Giles meet them at Mrs. Summers gallery just before it closed. The woman was almost as amazed by the improved Xander as she was by the sudden lawsuit and pending settlement.
"So, this will result in ten thousand dollars for Buffy? I think nine thousand should be placed into a college trust immediately, Mr. Levinson, if I'm to agree to that."
"Mrs. Summers, I'll handle that first thing in the morning at no charge. But I think this is extremely favorable for all concerned. Mr. and Mrs. Rosenberg?"
Over the speaker phone the long-distance call from DC carried through clearly, "We agree, and since you're already our personal attorney, just deposit into Willow's personal account if you would Stan."
"I'll take care of when I set up Miss Summers' college account, Ira, Sheila." He turned to the group, "Wow, that was fast, so let's finish signing and we're done. I do believe Mr. Johansen next door is a notary."
"Wow, Xander, you got me a thousand dollars of shopping money. If I'd have gotten the whole ten, I might've had to toss Angel to the curb."
"So if I give you nine out of my—"
Smack.
"Too late," she smirked, and laughed with Willow as the three walked arm in arm back toward the Espresso Pump.