Characters and settings are used without permission, and with no intention of damaging copyright in the original stories. This story may not be distributed on any profit-making basis. Distribution Fanfiction.net, Twisting The Hellmouth, Fonts of Wisdom, other sites please ask. I'm British, so's my spelling - live with it.
"What was the name again?" Billie asked two days later.
"Sunnydale," said Tommy, stealing a chocolate from the box on her bedside table. "Small town a couple of hours up the coast. Not to be confused with Sunnyvale, which is a lot further."
"Think I've heard of it... Where everyone started singing and dancing a couple of months ago?"
"That's the place, there's still scientists going nuts trying to work that one out, best theory is drugs in the water combined with subliminal TV messages, except that they haven't found a trace of either. It's also the town where everyone came down with laryngitis two years ago and someone murdered half-a-dozen people who had no way to let anyone know they were being attacked. Place has a lot of problems with gang-related violence and a very high homicide rate. Anyway, I got into the high school web site and the local paper's morgue. Cordelia Chase was born in 1981, wealthy parents, attended Sunnydale High School. Cheerleader, reasonable academic record, high SATS score. Her father was busted for tax fraud a few weeks before she graduated so she couldn't afford college. Sources here say she moved to LA, spent some time looking for film work, then joined Angel Investigations and is still employed by them."
"Did you get anywhere with her medical records?"
"Not exactly, but there was a story in the paper; she was hospitalized in ninety-eight for an abdominal wound following a fall."
"Get anything on the circumstances?"
"Trespassing in an abandoned factory, fell through some stairs. She's also mentioned as one of the people injured at the high school in ninety-nine, there was a gas leak and it blew up during the graduation ceremony."
"Damn, I knew there was another reason I'd heard of the place. Any explanation for all the other injuries?"
"Maybe she was involved in the gangs."
"Could be. Okay, that implies that my niece, if that's who she is, was also in Sunnydale at the time, because Chase said she was responsible for her fall. My guess would be someone she knew socially, maybe in high school. She'd be in the same year at high school so that seems the most likely relationship. Can you get a list of students in the graduating class?"
"No problem, like I said the school isn't there but there's a web site."
"The other thing we could look for is obituaries, they said her parents died a few weeks ago so maybe there's something there. Both parents dead, one daughter aged twenty-one surviving them."
"Or you could ask me," said a voice from the doorway.
"Miss Chase," said Billie, "We were just..."
"Digging into my private life to see what falls out?"
"Err.. yes, I'm afraid so."
"Well good for you," she said sarcastically, "it's nice to see people making an effort. Of course if you really want to meet your niece you could just ask me nicely."
"You've got the results?"
"Yep." Cordelia smiled, showing perfect teeth. "You're an aunt. Congratulations, I guess."
"So who is she, and when do I meet her?"
"Okay, that's the tricky part. She's a student and has tests this week, she can't get free until the weekend. Today's Wednesday, when do you get out of here?"
"Some time Friday if all goes well."
"That's pretty good. What she's suggested is that you meet up with her in LA. If you want to do that she can stay at the Hyperion for the weekend, we're not open for business as a hotel but we do have a few rooms redecorated, travelling back for classes on Monday. You could meet there and get acquainted."
"That sounds perfect. What can you tell me about her?"
"Okay, let's see. First thing, she says please don't put anything into your paper until you've met her and heard the whole story about her adopted parents. She didn't say why. I'd be interested to hear that one for myself."
"Well, it depends on what she tells me. For now I'll say yes. Tommy, you don't have anything ready to run at the moment, do you?"
"Zilch. But you've got me feeling really curious now."
"Let's say that we'll discuss this on Monday, see if we have a story or not. Okay?"
"Fine. I guess that means you want me out of here."
"Until I know the full story. I'm sorry."
"I guess it's understandable, but don't forget we've a paper to sell." He snapped her a mock salute, stole another chocolate, and prepared to leave.
"On your way out," said Cordelia, "better remind those guards you have out there that they want to do more than look at a visitor's legs when they're guarding someone. Even if she's a hottie." She put the word in quotes.
"Okay, I'll tell them."
"Sit down," said Billie, "and tell me about my niece. Chocolate?"
"Okay... mmm, Belgian, nice."
"David Nabbit sent them with the guards."
"He can afford the best. The best chocolate, anyway. Wish I'd hit it off with him."
"Why didn't you?"
"Honest truth? He's a total dork and incredibly boring, there just wasn't any sort of spark between us. He needs a nice quiet girl who's interested in computers and likes to play Dungeons and Dragons, but I only know two girls that are even vaguely like that, and one of them is gay and the other is committed to another guy, and both like more excitement in their lives. Anyway, what did you want to know?"
"Everything."
"Okay. Her name is Willow, Willow Rosenberg. She's about five six, a redhead with green eyes. I'll be honest, she doesn't look that much like you."
"Do you have a picture?"
"I thought you might ask." Cordelia dug into her handbag and pulled out a plastic wallet. "This first one is Willow on her own, her last high school year-book photo."
"Oh.. you're right, she doesn't look much like me, but there's a strong resemblance to my sister at that age. Could you pour me a glass of water?"
"Sure, here you go. Sorry, I didn't realise it would upset you to see her."
"I'm not upset, just.. it reminded me of her. I think I would have guessed we were related if I'd met her. I'd like to think so, anyway."
"Here's a more recent photo, the last time I was in Sunnydale."
"She's pretty, looks even more like my sister.. but so sad."
"It was at the funeral of a friend, not the best time for taking photos but I wasn't sure I'd ever be going to Sunnydale again."
"Oh. I suppose under the circumstances..."
"Okay, this next one is much earlier, some of us in the high school library a couple of months before graduation. The older guy behind us is Rupert Giles, he's British, he was the librarian at Sunnydale High. He's still a good friend of Willow's although he moved back to England a couple of months ago. That's me on the left, then Xander Harris, he's pretty much Willow's best friend, used to be my boyfriend, then Willow and her boyfriend Oz..."
"Oz?"
"Daniel Osbourne. They're not together any more, haven't been for a couple of years, last I heard he was seeking enlightenment in Tibet. Next we have Buffy Summers, another of Willow's friends. Mister tall, dark, and broody next to her is my boss..."
"Angel? I'm sorry, I shouldn't keep interrupting."
"Not a problem, Angel is paying my wages, so I don't care how long it takes. Anyway, yeah, that's Angel. He and Buffy had this whole doomed romance thing going back then but it didn't work out."
"Doomed romance?"
"Long story, but basically he's older than he looks and she was kinda immature. I don't think it would have ever worked, they had this love-hate-love relationship and his old girlfriends kept showing up and causing problems, so in the end they split. He came to LA and went into the private eye business while Willow, Buffy, and Oz went to UC Sunnydale..."
"Who's the dark-haired girl on the end?"
"Oh.. that's Faith, she was kinda a bad girl then, got into serious stuff later. She's in jail now."
"I think Tommy mentioned her... didn't Angel persuade her to surrender to the police?"
"That's right. Of course she nearly broke my jaw first, but she is trying to make amends. I guess." She didn't sound too sure. "I think that Wes took the picture, he used to work with Giles, then started working for Angel a while after I did."
"Why the exodus to Los Angeles?"
"I just wanted out of Sunnydale, Angel wanted a clean break from Buffy to end their relationship, and Wes had no job and went off looking for freelance work. Neither of us intended to end up working for Angel, we just ran into him when we needed work. Then Faith was on the run and wound up in LA, and Angel talked her into surrendering. It's what he does, help people any way he can."
"He sounds very... dedicated. "
"He is, kinda broody and intense. Hero type." She turned the next picture to show another group, this time in an old-fashioned looking shop. "Okay, this is the Magic Box, a shop that Giles ran in Sunnydale for a while. Specialised in occult books and materials. I think this was the day they opened it. That's Giles and Anya behind the counter, she's just married Xander and runs the shop now, the girl next to Willow is Tara McClay, she's another student at UC Sunnydale, then there's Buffy, her boyfriend Riley Finn, they're not together now, and her sister Dawn. I think Xander must have been taking the photo, it's kinda tilted."
She turned to another photo "Okay, this is the most recent photo I have, Anya and Xander's wedding three weeks ago. Willow was the best man, which was kinda odd since they had her dressed as a bridesmaid, but it apparently went okay. Wish I could have been there. The bridesmaids are Buffy, Dawn, Tara, and a friend of Anya, forget her name. Holly, something like that."
"She seems to have a dreadful rash." There was something very odd about her face too, but Billie didn't like to say anything.
"Some sort of birth defect, I think."
"Poor thing."
"Willow said she's used to it, does charity work with children."
"She's very brave."
"I guess. Well, that's about it for the photos, what else can I tell you?"
"Everything. What does she study, what's she like, what does she like to do, what are her plans for the future?"
"Let's see... her parents... sorry, her adopted parents... were Jewish, both of them were psychologists. I think they loved her but both of them had incredibly busy lives, spent a lot of time at conferences and lecturing once she was old enough to leave on her own."
"What happened to them?"
"That's something Willow's gonna have to explain, and not just to you. I'm not in on the full story yet. All I know is that somehow they've left her millions."
"Okay. Is Willow a practicing Jew? I don't want to make any silly mistakes, like taking her to a restaurant that isn't kosher. And won't she want to go to a synagogue on Saturday?"
"She got into Wicca, I think that's pretty much all the religion she has these days, but it's probably worth checking about the kosher thing. Okay, let's see, she's a brain, had the highest SATS scores in Sunnydale High that year, she could have got into pretty much any college in the country but she didn't want to leave her friends. I think she's majoring in computer science, minors in psychology, drama, four or five other subjects. From what I heard she's getting A's and A+ in everything. She's also the best hacker I've ever met."
"It sounds like she should be dating David Nabbit."
There was an uncomfortable silence, then Billie said "Oh... I take it that Willow isn't the one that's committed to another man."
"Umm.. No, she isn't."
"I thought you said she had a boyfriend."
"After Oz split she found herself falling for someone else. Tara. They've been together for a couple of years."
"You're very frank."
"Last year I said something to her that was probably pretty hurtful because nobody had bothered to keep me in the loop. I wouldn't want that to happen to you. I think Willow will tell you pretty quickly, until that happens you might want to avoid mentioning it."
Billie said "Thank you... it's probably good that you told me," and leafed back to the Magic Box photo and considered it. Cordelia said "Tara's pretty, kinda big-boned, but close to zero for fashion sense. Kinda old-style new-age look, suppose it comes from the Wicca influence."
"Will she be with Willow this weekend? I'd like to meet her."
"I think so. Willow said there were four of them coming down, I think it's Willow and Tara, her secretary, and the secretary's boyfriend."
"Willow needs a secretary?"
"She's just started, she's looking after Willow's business interests, her inheritance, it's apparently going to be a full-time job. April something, I haven't met her yet. Reminds me, Willow said that they might have to disappear for a short business meeting at some point, probably Saturday afternoon or early evening."
"That's a shame."
"Penalty of being rich, I guess."
"I guess. What about her personality?"
"Okay. On the surface sweet, shy, kinda a science nerd. Underneath I suppose... tough, incredibly stubborn and determined, spiritual, resourceful, ridiculously loyal to her friends... apart from the time she had a moment of madness and I caught her kissing Xander, about which the less said the better, I was running from the sight of that when I fell through the floor and got impaled... she's found a way of life she likes, I guess, but it's kinda left her with no roots now she knows she's adopted, and I think that's what she's looking for."
"And she's found me."
"Yeah. I think she'll want to get to know you and any other family, just to know that there's someone there, then pretty much stay out of your hair."
"You don't think she'll be looking for a closer relationship?"
"I think she'll leave that to you. My guess, don't push it too much, get to know each other before you start looking to get cosy, otherwise you might scare her off."
"You ever feel like giving up detective work, try the Trib and see if we're looking for an advice columnist. It pays reasonably well and I think you'd be good at it. Does she have any likes and dislikes?"
"Let's see... she likes mochas, chocolate generally, kittens, pastels. Dislikes... oh yeah, she's scared of frogs and gets stage fright."
"Frogs?"
"Frogs. Go figure."
"Okay, I wasn't exactly planning to bring any along with me. If she gets stage fright why is she taking drama?"
"Damned if I know..."
After Cordelia left Billie tried to get back to her reading, but had barely started when there was a soft knock on the door, and an Asiatic-looking man entered accompanied by a tall slim brunette. Both wore smart business suits.
"Miss Newman?"
"Yes?"
"I'm Gavin Park, and this is Lilah Morgan, of Wolfram and Hart. It has come to our attention that reporters of the Los Angeles Tribune have been spreading malicious rumours that the men responsible for the attempt to kidnap you were in our company's employ." He produced an envelope and handed it to her. "This is a court order signed by Judge Francis of the District Court instructing you to cease and desist from such activities forthwith. I hereby serve you with it."
"When you say 'spreading malicious rumours'," said Billie, taking the papers, "I take it that your definition would include looking for evidence of a link between your firm and these men."
"Exactly."
"And when you say 'you', you mean me specifically?"
"Certainly."
"Very well. When I get back to work I'll certainly take heed. But since I'm currently on sick leave and have no immediate intention of returning to work I'm afraid that there's nothing I can do to help you. Have a nice day."
"What?" said Park, confused.
"I'm on sick leave. Therefore I'm not in a position to give anyone at the Tribune any orders. Have a nice day." She returned to her magazine. After a minute or so of being ignored Park left, and Lilah began a polite handclap.
"Was there something else you wanted?" Billie asked eventually.
"I was just enjoying the moment," said Lilah. "Gavin's a bug, and more often than not an incompetent bug. It's nice to see him squashed occasionally."
"And you knew it was going to happen," Billie said with absolute certainty.
"I had a feeling."
"How nice. Excuse me a moment." Billie picked up the phone, dialled Joe Rossi, and said "Joe, I know I'm on sick leave but I thought I'd like to make a small suggestion... I've just been visited by some lawyers from Wolfram and Hart, they seem to be under the mistaken impression that I'm in a position to tell our reporters what to do... They've given me a court order and told me I can't investigate their links to the people who tried to kidnap me. Since I'm on sick leave I'd imagine they'll be going back to Judge Francis or someone else they've bought looking for another court order, against you or the Trib itself... You might want to have some reporters in court, maybe from a few other papers too, and make sure that this gets the coverage that it should... Yeah, should make a very interesting story. Pity I won't be there to edit it... yes, you too. 'Bye."
"That's just... peachy," said Lilah, "It's almost a pity I'll have to tell him not to be an ass. He's lost this one, he'll just have to accept it."
"You don't sound too worried."
"It's Gavin's project, not mine. Personally, I have better things to do with my life than take on... never mind, give my love to Angel when you see him."
"Certainly. Was there anything else?"
"Nope, that was it. Good afternoon." She left, leaving Billie feeling puzzled. Why were they being so blatant? And what had she said, " I have better things to do with my life than take on... "; take on what? The Trib? Angel Investigations?
Or did she mean Willow?
There was something that Cordelia had said two days before, that she'd forgotten to ask about... she found her notebook and read through her record of their earlier meeting, remembering enough to piece together roughly what she'd said... "Considering who her friends are it'd be stupid to try it, but they may be arrogant enough to think that they can get away with it."
Who were Willow's friends, and what the hell was going on?
To Be Continued