Disclaimer: Yada yada, not mine.
I wasn't actually planning to do much with Guise will be Guise, beyond maybe alluding to it, but I forced myself to actually watch the episode for a second time (I've always skipped it on rewatches before) and I realized that - the episode's many faults aside - there was some cool stuff I could do with it in this verse.
Also, for the record, I checked, and the Crying Game came out the same year as Malcolm X, so Gunn could conceivably have watched it before he decided to boycott movies after Denzel didn't get the Oscar for it (assuming, of course, he was actually serious about not seeing a movie since Denzel Washington didn't get that Oscar). It's not the best option for a reference point for Gunn, but it was the only one I could find that worked.
Thanks, as before, to lilykep for beta-reading services.
Next Year's Girl
By Kylia
Chapter 7: A (Different) Case of Mistaken Identity
November 8th, 2000
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles
Once Angel gets Darla out of his head, we can go back to a steady stream of paying - oh, whom am I kidding? They were managing to tread water, doing a little bit better than before thanks to a couple of smaller cases that she and Wesley could do without Angel. They needed those, because Angel was being as useless as he'd been when Darla had been messing with his sleep habits, just differently. But even if Angel was paying attention, they were never, ever, ever going to be rolling in the cash.
Maybe they should do what Xander apparently did, and see if the vampires and demons they killed had anything shiny? Or, you know, some extra cash lying around in their lairs? Obviously some demons liked money, since Wesley's snitch Merl wanted cash.
It wasn't stealing, right? No more than buying a fancy dress, hiding the tag and then wearing it to the Hollywood function so she could try to catch the eye of a director or talent agent or something.
Not that that ever works. At least she was Vision Girl, so she always had this job. And didn't it suck that that was a bright side of anything.
Right, look on the bright side of the splitting headaches that are probably destroying my brain! With a sigh, Cordelia moved back into Angel's office, pulling the curtains shut. She'd barely finished that when suddenly an arm was around her neck, pulling her against whoever was standing behind her. Cordelia nearly yelped in shock, struggling against the grip.
"Where's Angel?" The man behind her demanded.
"He's not here!" Cordelia tried to pull his arm away from her neck, but she was getting nowhere. Just the perfect time for one of Angel's enemies to come looking for him!
"You're lying, get me Angel," The man insisted. Cordelia tried to kick at his leg, but she really wasn't managing to do anything with it.
"I can't get him when you're holding onto me like this, and by the way he's not here! Let go of me!" The arm pulled away and she was shoved forward - if she hadn't had years of experience as a cheerleader at reacting quickly on her feet, she might have stumbled or even tripped, but she managed to turn. "It's about time you listened to-"
The gun coming out of the man's coat, pointing at her. Gun!? Why would someone looking for Angel brought a gun!? Quickly, mind racing, she looked the man over. He was wearing a cheap suit, had a big forehead, thick neck, and he definitely looked like he knew how to use the gun.
Maybe.
It wasn't like Cordelia was an aficionado of that sort of thing, but at the very least, he looked like a perfect 'Central Casting' fit for 'Rent a Thug'. Which raised all sorts of questions, because again, who, looking for Angel, would bring a gun!?
"My boss needs your boss. So I cannot leave here without Angel!" Cordelia bit back the 'well then you're going to be here for awhile' response that immediately came to mind, because she did not want to get shot.
Cordelia held up her hands by her head, trying to slowly step back, not wanting the thug to think she was making any sudden moves...
Okay, so he wants Angel. Angel's not here, and he left his phone behind, not that he would have answered it anyway so...
"So you're gonna get him for me now," The man went on, leveling the gun at her, "or I'm gonna blow your head off!"
"I can't - he's not -" Wait. Cordelia held up a finger quickly. "He's not here, but I can call him!?" Please be okay with that... Not that she could call him, but she could call Xander. The man was an idiot, but if she told 'Angel' there was a guy with a gun who 'really wanted to talk to him' -
Xander was too much of a stupidly brave and now borderline suicidal idiot not to come and help.
"You're not lying to me, stalling? Or thinking you're gonna call the cops, hm?" The man lunged forward, closing the distance between the gun and her. Jumpy and suspicious too, just a wonderful combination!
"No, no - I won't - you can even watch me dial the -" Cordelia started, but before she could finish, a pair of hands grabbed the thug's shoulders, spun him around. Xander was there - Xander was here! - and he pushed the man's arm up, the gun going off, into the ceiling, and then twisted his wrist until he let go of the gun, letting it drop on the ground.
Cordelia shook her head, quickly, jolting herself back into reality and she dove for the gun, grabbing it and keeping it away from the thug, though she wasn't stupid enough to try and point it at the guy. Crossbows she could use safely. Guns? Really no.
Xander dodged a punch easily, and then grabbed his arm, moving forward, pulling the arm back, and -
Cordelia winced as the sickening crack of the man's arm ripped through the small office and he screamed.
"Okay, sorry, didn't actually mean to break your arm there, just dislocate it," Xander actually apologized to the guy as he grabbed the man by the front of his shirt and held him at arms length - not that he was trying to fight back now, too busy whimpering in pain and fear.
"Xander!" Cordelia dropped her mouth. "He had me at gunpoint! You don't need to apologize to him for breaking his arm!"
"...right." Xander blinked. He dropped the man to the ground and he half-collapsed, crying out again as his broken arm hit the ground. Xander looked back over her, stepping closer. "You okay?"
"I'm fine." Cordelia bit her lip, gratitude and annoyance at that same gratitude warring in her. "I - Thanks." She let out a long breath. "Shut up!" She looked at the whimpering thug, kicking his leg. She wanted to do worse. "What are you doing here!? I was - I was about to call you and pretend to be asking for Angel."
"You were lying! I knew you were lying, bitch!" The thug exclaimed. Cordelia kicked his leg again, harder, then leaned down and made to grab at his broken arm. He recoiled away, or tried to, and Cordelia let her arms fall back to her side as she stood back up, looking at Xander expectantly.
"...I came here to ask for Wesley's help with a demon identification thing, we're both coming in and we hear this guy threatening to blow your head off if Angel didn't show up... where is Angel anyway?"
"Visiting a magical swami to get Darla out of his head. The T'ish M'agev. The Host says he's the best at this sort of thing," Which had seemed like such a wonderful idea half an hour ago... This guy's timing couldn't have been worse.
"...seems like a good idea. He really hasn't gotten any better?" Xander rolled his eyes.
And there went the gratitude. Could he find another act, she was really, really, really getting tired of him hating Angel. Yes, I get it, you don't like him but come on! "Hey, you try handling yourself perfectly when a firm of evil lawyers brings your ex that you killed back from the dead and has her mess with your dreams!"
"Cordy, if you died and evil lawyers brought you back from the dead, I'd be more worried about the lawyers than me. You'd be flaying them alive, verbally anyway, within minutes." Xander countered.
"If I died and came back, I'd have better things to do than mess with you anyway," Cordelia snapped. The thug tried to get up,and Xander crouched by him, pushing down on his shoulder and stopping him from standing.
"Why does your boss even want Angel so badly?" Xander asked. He looked up at Cordelia, "I'm guessing, since you were about to call me, and not him, he didn't bring his phone with him to this Tush Magoo?"
"T'ish M'agev, doofus," Cordelia rolled her eyes. "And no, he didn't. He's more afraid of technology than Giles is." She looked over at the thug, who seemed as confused by everything as he was afraid of Xander, and in pain from the broken arm. We really should make sure he gets to a hospital... Of course, since he held her at gunpoint, he was also a criminal, but given how things had gone down with Lockley...
Maybe avoid LAPD for now.
"My boss needs him." The thug answered, hissing the words out through gritted teeth.
"For what? To complete his collection of people who wear too much black?" Xander asked.
"To hire him, to protect his daughter. I - I don't know all the details, I swear!" the thug responded, and Cordelia blinked, stared at him, then-
"Your boss. Your boss needs to hire Angel to protect his daughter, something Angel would probably have agreed to do for free because he's so heroic, and instead of calling, or coming down himself, or even sending someone to ask, he sends you, and you decide that holding one of his friends at gunpoint is your solution to get him?!" Cordelia didn't realize it until she got to the end of the rant, but she was shouting. "Are you the most mentally defective rent-a-thug he could hire, or are you actually the best he can do?!"
"My boss - he isn't used to people saying no to him." The thug replied. "If I go back without Angel, it's bad news for me. Worse news for you - he'll just send more."
"Angel's not here, and he's not gonna be back anytime soon!" Okay, so she was hoping the T'ish M'agev would be able to just hit Angel with some kind of nice spell and it would all be sorted, but with the perverse way her luck had worked since she'd come to L.A...
He probably wouldn't be done that quickly.
"My boss won't care. He needs Angel." The thug countered. "Better hope he gets back soon, or you'll catch a bullet one way or another, bitch," The shakiness of fear was vanishing from his voice, confident that maybe his threats were working.
Unfortunately...
I mean, Wesley and I - we could call in Gunn...
"Well, he can't have Angel, but he can have me." Xander interrupted Cordelia's train of thought.
"WHAT!?" Cordelia nearly screeched. "Xander, have you lost what's left of your mind?!" Xander ignored her, looking at the thug.
"Well?" Xander raised an eyebrow.
"Who the hell even are you?" The thug demanded. "My boss wants the best!"
"Well, the best would be in Sunnydale, and she'd have even less patience for you waving guns around than I did," Xander countered. "I'm a Slayer. You know, the thing vampires are afraid of? You felt how quickly I dealt with you, so yeah, I think I can handle protecting your boss's daughter."
Xander said confidently, but she could tell he was putting up that usual bravado he did when he felt out of his depth, or when he was pretending everything was fine. It was weird, seeing that look in 'Faith's' eyes that she'd seen on Xander when he'd act as though things at home were fine, when they both knew he was lying...
You stupid, self-sacrificing deathwish idiot! Cordelia understood what Xander was trying to do but-
"Or I could send you back to your boss empty handed?" Xander suggested. The thug frowned, then nodded. "Good." Xander stopped holding the thug down.
"Just give us a minute," Cordelia made sure she still had the thugs' gun, so he couldn't just pick it up again, and grabbed Xander's arm, dragging him out of the office and behind the front desk.
"Xander, are you-"
"Yes, I'm an idiot, that's pretty much always the case, Cordey," Xander rolled his eyes, and Cordelia waved her hand in front of his face.
"I already know that, I wasn't asking that!" Cordelia snapped. "Are you absolutely sure you want to do this! If this thug's boss has one guy with guns, he'll have more!"
"Well, our choices are to hope Angel gets back before more armed thugs get here, or I buy time by going along with this," Xander pointed out. "And, I don't know about you, but if someone innocent needs protecting, that's at least a good thing to do, no?"
"Of course it is, but considering what sort of guy her dad has to be...?" Cordelia trailed off. There was no talking Xander out of this. And - "I hate that you're right."
"...what?" Xander stared.
"I said I hate that you're right. Because you are. This is the best option." Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Of course the best option is for you - who swears you don't have a death wish - to go get surrounded by guns to work for someone whose name we don't even know to protect a daughter we don't even know exists! But yes, you're right." Cordelia inhaled quickly, exhaling slowly, furious as much at the situation as with Xander.
"I don't have a death wish!" Xander countered. "I'm not suicidal, I'm not trying to get shot-"
"I'd believe it if you stopped acting like it!" Cordelia interrupted. "You're an idiot, and apparently I'm an idiot for going along with this, but if you're going to do it, make sure you get paid." The boss had been willing to hire Angel... and he had to have known that you can't shoot a vampire, so the offer of money had to be somewhere in there, right?
Xander opened his mouth to protest, then closed it, frowned, then started over "That's... why was I even about to object?"
"Because you're too used to being a Scooby and doing everything for free? This stuff is what keeps me in food and rent, so yeah, we charge."
"Given that my Slaying schedule got me kicked from my shitty job, I really need the money from this one, so..." Xander grumbled. "It's like when I graduated high school all over again. Not even trying a phone sex job this time around though." He muttered that last part under his breath, but Cordelia heard it all the same.
"You worked at a Phone sex job? Before?!" She... could not see it. At all.
"...it didn't take. I was trying whatever I could get, until I landed on construction, which actually stuck. And then... This." He gestured to himself. "You can mock me for my post-high school loser status later." He brushed past her, moving back towards the thug, who had finally managed to get up and walk out of the office.
"I think we'll be keeping your gun," Xander told the thug. The thug grimaced, but didn't object. "Take me to your boss."
November 8th, 2000
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles
"...I tried following them, but I lost the trial," Cordelia finished up. "Then I called you, then I called Gunn. We have to find him! I've tried calling his cell phone and he's not picking up. And unlike Angel, he should actually have it on him!" Xander had saved her life - again - and she was so not going to owe him. So she was just going to have to save him instead.
"I can't imagine what that man hoped to accomplish," Wesley furrowed his brow, "If Angel hadn't been interested, then the gun would have done nothing."
"He could have pointed it at one of us!" Cordelia countered. "Or he could have just said some innocent girl needed protecting and off Angel would be to go and do the heroing thing. That's not the point, because Angel wasn't here! And unlike Angel, Xander isn't immune to bullets!"
"As a Slayer, Xander certainly would have an easier time avoiding getting shot..." Wesley pointed out, trailing off as Cordelia glared at him. "But the point is very much taken."
"For all we know, this boss still won't take 'Angel isn't here!' for an answer and might kill Xander for attacking his thug!" Cordelia's mind raced with the prospects. And whoever this was - even if the daughter was real and it wasn't some elaborate scheme to get Angel alone, and-
Xander why did you have to do that! Yes, best option but -
If you die, I'm bringing you back and killing you myself, you useless idiot!
The doors to the lobby opened and Gunn walked in. "I got your call. What's the situation?"
"Xander's been taken at gunpoint!" Cordelia explained. "...sort of."
"How do you just get 'sort of' taken at gunpoint?" Gunn raised an eyebrow, coming up to them. "Besides, I've seen Xander fight - girl moves fast. If they're close enough to take her, can't she just punch them first?"
"A Slayer may be faster and stronger than a human, but bullets still penetrate skin and vital organs all the way." Wesley lectured. "Firearms have caused the death of more than one Slayer in the past - only the fact that most demons and vampires eschew guns has prevented it from happening more often."
"Right. But still. Guy holds her at gunpoint, she can still grab the gun. What, was there a whole lot of them? And what's with the 'sort of?'" Gunn countered.
You could still grab the gun, Gunn, but doesn't mean you won't get shot! But Gunn did have a point.
"It was one guy - it's complicated." Cordelia quickly summarized - rent-a-thug grabbing her, pulling the gun, Xander breaking the guy's arm, the thug threatening that his boss would send more, that it was about protecting the boss's daughter, and Xander offering to go instead, since Angel wasn't here.
"That stupid, brave, idiot! Just because he's a slayer now doesn't mean he can keep doing the same stupid reckless crap he tried back in High School!"
"Wait, he?" Gunn interrupted, and Cordelia realized what she'd said. It hadn't come up, about the whole bodyswapping thing. "Xander was a dude? Like that chick in the crying game? Trans?"
"Not exactly. Xander was male, and then... magic happened." Wesley explained, then added with a grimace. "It's rather a long story."
"Evil psychotic bitch traded bodies with him with magic, then died in his body, and now Xander's stuck, but at least he got superpowers out of the deal," Cordelia summarized.
"Apparently not that long," Gunn waved a hand. "Whatever, not important right now. So what's the plan then? You called me here for a reason."
"We need you to go and get Angel, and get him back here." She scribbled down the T'ish M'agev's address. "We're going to need his head, unless you have a bunch of kevlar in that truck of yours."
"Don't run into vamps with guns that often. Other side has guns, best place to be is somewhere else." Gunn shrugged. "I'll get Angel, but what about you two?"
"I'm going to see if I can get a lead on this thug. He's got to have a criminal record, he was textbook rent-a-thug. Then Wesley and I can do recon, make sure we can figure out wherever they've got Xander and then when you get Angel back here-"
Gunn frowned, "Yeah, I can go fetch Angel, but-"
"Then go! The longer this takes, the more chance Xander gets himself killed because he can't shut up or for any other reason. He's gone and died on me once, or close enough!" Cordelia realized she was raising her voice and bit her lip, then swallowed and looked at Gunn. "Please, get Angel. It'll take hours to get to Ojai and back, more if there's traffic, so..."
"I'm going." Gunn agreed. "We'll save... him? Should I be calling Xander him?"
"At this point, go with whatever!" Cordelia gestured for him to go, even as she moved to the computer to try to pull up mugshots. If she could get a name on this thug, they might be able to do known associates or... something.
Anything.
November 9th, 2000
Magnus Bryce's Mansion, Los Angeles
Finding the man who'd held her at gunpoint in a celebrity magazine was unexpected, but at least it was faster than going through every single mugshot - there were a lot of people who got arrested in L.A., as it turned out, way different than Sunnydale - and trying to find him.
Finding out that Magnus Bryce, the software and cable mogul who was on the board of like seven different major nonprofits in the great Los Angeles Area - most of them theater and museum related - was the guy who sent the thug to get Angel...
That was quite the surprise.
"Look, yesterday, your boss sent someone to get my boss - that's Angel, since we're from Angel Investigations," She showed the gate guard the business card, "to hire him. Angel wasn't there, so my - our-" What was she supposed to say? She couldn't call Xander her friend, because, well, he wasn't. Or Angel's friend. He wasn't a co-worker...
"Our associate, Miss Turner, volunteered to fill in for Angel, to protect his daughter," Wesley interrupted, providing an answer as to what to call Xander along the way. "She's a little shorter than Cordelia here, short dark hair, quite fetching?" Okay, I mean that's true, Wesley, but really? Okay, really, how else would Cordelia describe Faith's looks? Even with Xander not wearing anything nearly as revealing as Slut-o-rama liked to, it was...
Okay, fine. And I can't say 'violently psychotic' because Xander isn't.
The guard took the business card, looking it over carefully, then lowered it and eyed them carefully.
"Look, we just want to talk with Alex and make sure she's okay, and maybe talk to your boss because Angel is actually probably almost back to L.A. now, so he should be able to fill in for Alex once he gets here." Cordelia pressed on.
"...I'll call it in." He stepped back into the little booth by the gate and picked up a phone, dialing. "Benny? This is Frank, out front. I've got two people out front, saying they work for Angel and the chick you brought in last night." There was a pause, while Cordelia resisted the urge to protest that they didn't work for Xander - or Alexandra Turner - and then the guard, Frank, went on, looking at them. "Yeah, some skinny English guy with glasses, and some chick with long black hair. Said her name was Cordelia?"
Pause.
"Alright. I'll let 'em in." The guard gestured for them to get back into their car, as he pressed a button and the gates swung open. Wesley drove through, up to the mansion itself and holy wow was that nice. Magnus Bryce was rich, but this...
Okay so maybe this isn't so bad after all? Maybe she'd worried too much. Magnus Bryce wasn't someone who could just go around and kill people willy-nilly, right? And his daughter Virgina Bryce was a real person, though she was apparently almost never out and about without her dad, which was weird, but maybe she was just shy?
So Xander would get paid, and if they could get Angel to fill in the rest of the way maybe Angel Investigations could make some real money. If Bryce needed a bodyguard for his daughter again, Angel could always fill in, or even Xander, since this was probably legitimate-
Oh right. The thug who held a gun at her. Rich doesn't always mean he's not, you know, evil. Wolfram and Hart, and all that... His boss hadn't fired him, at least, though his arm was in a sling, and he did not look happy to see them, scowling at her in particular.
"Hi. I remember you from the whole holding me at gunpoint thing. Sorry about the whole 'kicking you while you were down' thing. How's the arm?" Cordelia asked, offering him her biggest smile.
"This way." The thug gestured for them to follow him inside, and they did, through a very tastefully decorated front room, and then a ballroom that looked to be being setup for some kind of party - someone was starting to string up some sort of banner, she could only catch the word 'Happy' on before the thug guided them out of the room, down a hall and into an office.
Magnus Bryce was standing behind a desk, pouring himself a glass of scotch. She recognized the bottle was one of the most expensive ones her dad had ever bought, and he drank it only on special occasions. Really special. And - not that much in one glass at any one time.
"Angel's people to see you." The thug said, and Bryce nodded. "Thank you Benny." The thug - Benny - went to go stand by the door, watching them. She could feel his eyes on the back of her head.
"Mister Bryce, I'm so sorry to be interrupting your busy schedule like this, I'm just - that is, we were worried about Alex and -" Cordelia started, smiling broadly. Best foot forward, don't have him tell one of his people to shoot them...
"It's - it's just that Miss Turner hasn't actually done any bodyguarding work before, so we wanted to be sure that she was actually handling things." Wesley interrupted again. Cordelia elbowed him in the side. Stop doing that, and he staggered a bit, yelping. Bryce watched them for a moment, silent, and then took a sip of his drink.
"Miss Turner. Surely you mean Miss Lehane?" Cordelia stiffened and she felt the blood drain from her face. Oh crap. Did that mean - was he - "She's been more than acceptable at protecting my daughter - she's already thwarted two to kidnap my Virginia, so I'm more than pleased with her services, but surely you don't think a man in my position doesn't stay abreast of who the current Slayer - or Slayers, as seems to the case these days - is?"
Wait.. what? The whiplash of what Bryce had just said - he'd seen through Willow's fake ID for Xander, that she'd set up with the Council's resources, it had worked against the police, but given that Bryce was a software mogul it made sense he might have had the - but no, he knew about Slayers...
Well, he tried to hire the Vampire with a Soul so obviously he knows about the supernatural-
"I'm sorry but... what exactly is your position, Mister Bryce? I'm afraid I only know what I see in the business pages and they don't mention anything about familiarity with the Slayer." Wesley asked.
"And you are?"
"Wesley Wyndam-Pryce."
"Right. Well, the truth is, Mr. Wyndam-Pryce, the software, the cable network... that's all a front." He gestured dismissively with his free hand. "The real business is in magic. Illusions, charms, hexes, curses, transformations and alterations. If anybody is anybody in this town, they've probably had some work done by my firm. Unfortunately, a man in my business had enemies, and since they're all in the same line of business as me, protection wards are less than completely effective."
"Which would be why you wanted to hire Angel." Wesley nodded.
"I only hire the best. I admit, I was surprised that a man with Angel's reputation worked with Richard Wilkins' former fixer, but I suppose he's come to realize that pragmatism is the best way forward in this town."
"Anything to get the job done for the clients, that's Angel." Cordelia nodded, holding back the thick knot of worry that was back in her gut. So Bryce thought Xander was Faith - okay, that made sense. But he considered the fact that Faith used to work for Mayor "Giant Snake of Doom" Wilkins a plus? And he thought-
He must think Angel's evil too, or at least, not a good guy.
"So it would seem. Incidentally, I would like to apologize for Benny's - ah... overzealous following of my instructions. I told him to be insistent about getting Angel to come with him, and he knows I'm not used to hearing no, so-"
Cordelia waved a hand. "Water under the bridge. No harm, no foul... except for his arm." She added at the end of her sentence, words coming out more slowly. "Angel was out in Ojai, and he didn't take his cell phone with him. He's - he's really not good with modern technology. We did send someone to go get him, and he should be in L.A. by now, or soon, so if you still need him-"
"No need. My concerns about my daughter's safety were for the build up to today, and after tonight, it won't be a problem. Miss Lehane - or Miss Turner, as she is now in the eyes of the law - has been quite sufficient."
"That's great news!" Cordelia nodded. "Is there - is there any chance I can go talk with her, let her know at least that Angel's on her way back?"
"Of course. She's with Virginia in her room, Benny here can show you the way." He gestured behind her, and Cordelia turned to look at the still scowling Benny. She stood, and Wesley stood as well. "Not you, Mister Wyndam-Pryce. My concerns about my daughter's safety still stand, I do have to be careful about how many strangers I allow to wander my home."
"Of course," Wesley nodded, sitting back down.
Oh boy we are so in over our heads. She could call Gunn, have him ready to come get them if they didn't get back after those few hours...
She followed a surly Benny out of the office and up the stairs. Benny knocked on the door.
"What?" A voice - not Xander's - called from the other side.
"Someone here to see Miss Turner." Benny answered, and after a moment, the door opened and Xander was at the door. Past him, sitting on the bed she could see Virginia Bryce - she recognized her from the photos in the society pages. Xander saw her there, eyes widened.
"Cordy? What are you doing here?!" Xander demanded, then he glared at Benny. "Give us a minute?" Benny grunted, but then turned and walked off. Virginia stood up and approached.
"Who is this? Another bodyguard?"
"No, no - I'm - I work with Angel. I'm Cordelia Chase. Very nice to meet you." Cordelia held out a hand and Virginia took it, shaking. Best foot forward. They're rich, even if her dad is evil.
"The vampire with a soul that dad wanted to hire. Alex here said he was off seeing a shrink because was going nuts? But then, she also calls him 'Deadboy' so I get the feeling she doesn't like him."
"I don't." 'Alex' answered, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"Angel's been having some... spiritual issues, so he went to see a swami to get his head screwed on straight." Cordelia explained, glaring at Xander, who just had a stupid shit-eating smirk on his face. "Xa- Alex here," she corrected herself quickly, hoping Virginia didn't notice the slip... "offered to fill in when your dad's man came to hire him."
"You were the one that Benny held at gunpoint?" Virginia asked, and Cordelia nodded. "I'm so sorry about that. My dad is... he's a controlling, over-protective ass, and Benny is his favorite blunt instrument. He deserved to get his arm broken."
"I can't say I disagree." Cordelia admitted. "Your dad mentioned that Alex stopped two attempted kidnappings? So it's good that she was available to help with that."
"She was - she was very good at that." She swallowed. "Sorry... I'm just so used to dad being overprotective and paranoid over nothing that I'm not used to there actually being a reason for all the... cameras and bodyguards and stuff."
"The first guys didn't take more than a punch to the face to scare off." Alex shrugged. "The second group - weird dudes with robes - one of them tried to throw fire at me, but missed." Somehow Cordelia doubted it was quite that simple, since she was pretty sure she'd have trouble dodging someone throwing fire at her, but then, she didn't have superpowers.
Really not fair, when you think about it. Sure, Xander's a woman now, but he's got superpowers, and I've got the head-splitting visions. Where's the justice in that?
"They got all the way to my room, they were hardly pushovers, Alex." Virginia praised. "Thank you. Again."
"Right..." Xander flushed. "You're welcome." He looked back to Cordelia. "Wait, you never answered - why are you here? Shouldn't you be back at the Hyperion-"
"I came because I was worried about you, idiot. You know, with the way the guy with the gun led you off? I wanted to make sure you were okay - though clearly, everything's worked out."
"Right, yeah, sorry. Still not used to you giving a shit." Xander explained, and Cordelia rolled her eyes. Not the time and place to be having this conversation, doofus! Xander swallowed, then quickly turned back to Virginia. "Can you give Cordelia and me a minute? I'll just be out in the hallway."
"Yeah, of course. I'll - yell if I need you." Virginia nodded, and Xander stepped out, closing the door behind him.
"Oh thank god you're here, I am so far in over my head." Xander admitted in a low whisper. "This guy thinks I'm Faith!"
"I know. I think he thinks Angel is evil to be willing to work with you, even though he has a soul-"
"Well, Hitler had a soul, right?" Xander pointed out. Cordelia frowned. "Yeah, I know I've said that one before, but it's true!"
"...Okay, fine, but that's not the point!" Cordelia was hissing the words out, in Xander's face. "And yes, you are in over your head. You can't even see daylight! Fortunately, Angel has to be almost back-"
"I don't need Angel to rescue me!" Xander protested.
"If this goes bad you will!"
"It shouldn't - It won't. Apparently all the extra security concerns are because Virginia's dad is having some big to-do for his 50th birthday party this evening. I guess more people are coming in and out, or something, and that's why he needed more security."
So that would explain the party decorations going up in the ballroom... Still, why would he only be concerned up until the party? People would still want to kidnap his daughter afterwards, right? Something seemed off about it, but she couldn't tell what.
Then again, it wasn't like setting up for a big party didn't have people coming in and out of the house, sometimes for days if it was a big enough deal, and Bryce's security could be focused on that... maybe Bryce figured someone might try to come in with servers or the... string quintet or whatever he was probably hiring for the celebration. Maybe even more than a quintet, given how rich he is.
"So, I just need to make it a few hours, and then I get the rest of the money and I go and I don't have to pretend to know anything about Mayor McSnake's operation ever again." Xander let out a breath. "Besides, even if I wanted to just run off, I don't think this guy would take that for an answer."
Okay, that's true- wait. "The rest of the money? So-"
"I took your advice, I made sure he paid me, even asked for part of it up front." Xander reached into his pocket and pulled out a small folded stack of hundred dollar bills. Cordelia's eyes widened and she had to resist the urge to grab at it. Okay, so it wasn't some massive thick stack, maybe only a few thousand dollars - Cordelia was pretty good at counting stacks of bills by sight alone - but still!
"That's just part of it!?" This is so not fair! Okay, so it wasn't that much money compared to what she used to have, but especially with how good she'd gotten at looking good on a budget since moving to L.A. she could get a lot of really nice things with that money! And what was Xander going to spend it on? Comic books?
Okay, or maybe moving to a place that has reliable showers. Cordelia remembered what Xander had said after they'd fought the thrall demon and - then what had happened afterwards. Cordelia shook her head a little. I really need to get over this dry spell!
"Jealous?" Xander teased, slipping the money back in his pocket, then. "Look...I... Thank you for coming. Like I said, I'm not used to you... you know, caring about my well-being." His tone was a lot softer and quieter. "And you're right...I'm in over my head. So why don't you stick around, until this party is done or whatever. If whoever was behind the last two attempts tries again... second pair of eyes would be good."
Cordelia grimaced. Xander was right that Bryce probably wouldn't take 'I'm leaving' for an answer, and if people really were trying to kidnap Virginia Bryce, then they should at least see that through. And that... money. For not that much work, just maybe fighting a couple bad guys, and she could let Xander do most of the fighting, but she wasn't bad in a fight herself too, these days.
She looked at Xander a moment. The bravado was gone. He was worried.
"Fine." Cordelia nodded. "I'll help. But you're giving me some of the money." She waved a finger in his face. "Deal?"
Xander let out a relieved sigh. "Deal. Now we just need to make sure Benny knows you're sticking around." He laughed, "The guy's scared of me. It's actually kind of fun to get to be the one doing the scaring once in a while."
"I'll tell Wesley to make sure Angel knows to come get us, if we don't come back in a few hours." Xander opened his mouth, starting to complain, but then he shut his mouth.
"...fine. I suppose it'll be better to be prepared than not. But I'm not giving him any of the money."
"Oh, like he'd even ask." Cordelia scoffed. "Man's lived for over two hundred years, he's never heard of an investment portfolio."
November 9th, 2000
Magnus Bryce's Mansion, Los Angeles
"It looks like Lanier wasn't willing to try again, but your desire to make sure we didn't have anything go wrong in the last few hours was commendable." Bryce told Xander, handing him a stack of hundred dollar bills, thicker than the one Xander had shown her earlier. "I truly appreciate your efforts on behalf of my daughter."
The last few hours had indeed been absolutely quiet. No more kidnapping attempts, and Cordelia had actually managed to have a really nice discussion about fashion with Virginia, and picked up some interesting L.A. High Society gossip. She hadn't had a good conversation about fashion with anyone in months!
Virginia was, on the whole, pretty nice. A bit in awe of Xander - or Alex, anyway - but given that he'd saved her life, she could give her slack there.
Cordelia kicked Xander's shin lightly after Xander accepted the money and stood there for a moment, clearly struck dumb - well, dumber - by just how much there was, and he cleared his throat. "Happy to help, Mr. Bryce."
"You're welcome to stay for the festivities, but don't let me keep you if have anywhere else you need to be. And if I require someone with your skills again, Miss Lehane, I'll be very happy to reach out."
Cordelia stiffened a little, worried Xander would give something away, but Xander nodded.
"As long as you pay well, I'm all for it," Xander nodded. "We'll probably head out, but Happy Birthday." The idea of sticking around for the party almost appealed - the chance to hobnob with the sort of high society types that might be here for Magnus Bryce's 50th Birthday was not the kind of thing that sprang up that often.
But she also did not want to stick around here any longer. Bryce was... evil, or at least close, he had to be. And he had this... slimy feel to him. Probably because he was evil.
The faster they put distance between themselves and Bryce, the safer they were.
Only when they got outside the mansion - where instead of the previous suit-wearing security
guards there were two guys in weird hooded, creepy cult robes. Well, he does magic so maybe they're his apprentices - did Cordelia realize there was a stunning flaw in their 'get away quickly' plan.
"...Wesley took my car back to the Hyperion!" Cordelia groaned, dropping her head into her hands.
"We could call a taxi?" Xander suggested. Cordelia lowered her hands and stared "I mean, it's not like I can't afford it." Xander split the stack of money and handed her half of it. Cordelia's eyes widened. This was - easily five thousand dollars, give or take. She looked at him, eyes narrowed.
"It's been a while since you had money, and I... I figure I owe you. It was your idea to make sure I got the money and everything." Xander shrugged. "Besides, rent at my place is cheap, so this will last me a while."
"You could get a better place. With a shower and onsite laundry and stuff." Cordelia countered. But she held tight onto the money. She wasn't going to just spend it all at once or anything, but -
"I could, but then this won't last me as long, so it's a trade-off." Xander stuck the rest of this second stack of money in his pocket. "Well, you said Wesley should make sure Angel comes to rescue us if we don't get back in time, so we could just wait?"
"Or, I could call the Hyperion and have Wesley come bring my car, since he drove off with it in the first place." Cordelia resisted the urge to inhale the scent of the bills - love the smell of money - before pulling out her cell phone, starting to dial when the sound of tires screeching from the far side of the gate drew her attention. Angel's car, Gunn's truck right behind it, were speeding towards the mansion.
"...or they could already be riding to the rescue because Angel always has to be the hero." Cordelia grumbled. She started walking out towards the gate to meet them. Then Angel got out of his car, leapt out, more like it, and rushed for the booth, punching out the guard. "What the - Angel!" Cordelia ran for them as Angel pushed the button to open the gate. The two cars got closer and then stalled out, Wesley getting out of Angel's car, passenger side, while Gunn got out of his truck, and Angel, once again, leapt out of his car.
"Angel, what the hell are you doing!?" Cordelia demanded. "I mean, I appreciate the rescue and all but-"
"Cordelia, not now, where's Bryce's daughter?!" Angel demanded.
"Virginia?" Xander cut in, "What do you want with her, she's fine."
"No, she's not." Wesley explained, speaking quickly. "Bryce mentioned something about tribute to Yeska, at the party. The name sounded familiar, some sort of demigoddess from the context of what he was saying, so I started doing some research once I got back to the Hotel-"
"Yeah, Yeska's the guy's patron goddess. Virginia mentioned him. So what?" Xander shrugged.
"Yeska's not a goddess, she's a demon. A Davric demon to be precise. They grant great power to warlocks or witches that sacrifice to them on their 50th birthday. Specifically, live sacrifices of young, virgin women."
"Virginity?! What is it with demons and virginity?!" Cordelia demanded, raising her voice. Then it hit her. That was why Bryce was so 'overprotective' and why she never showed up in public without him. "That man was raising his own daughter just to feed her to a demon?! What kind of sick bastard!"
"The kind of 'sick bastard' who thought the Mayor had vision." Xander grumbled. "I knew he was probably evil but this?" Xander shuddered. "Come on, the party's just starting."
Xander was in the lead, but Angel was right behind him as they ran for the front door. They were both on the two guys with cloaks, punching them out and Cordelia and Wesley pushed open the front door.
"The party's in the ballroom, this way," Xander gestured and they raced in.
And now I know why he felt so slimy... first Bethany's dad, and now this guy! What is it with gross, evil dads being a thing lately?! At least hers was just a tax cheat and more fond of sleeping with his secretary than his wife.
Angel kicked in the doors to the ballroom. Cordelia's breath caught - they were almost too late. The lights were off, and Virginia was chained to some sort of stone altar, Bryce chanting in front of it.
"Yeah, so, if I'd realized this was all about you feeding your daughter to a demon, the last 24 hours would have been very different." Xander observed. "Let her go."
"I don't understand. You -" Bryce started, then shook his head. "It doesn't matter. Stop them!" He gestured to the thugs in suits and more men in cloaks and they charged. The rest of the guests, all wearing fancy suits and dresses, holding glasses of champagne and apparently very okay with the fact that Bryce had chained his daughter to an altar, scattered, some screaming as the fight started.
Cordelia ducked as one of the hooded guys threw a punch and then she grabbed at the overly long cloak, throwing him off and tripping him up - he fell over. Just past him, she saw a table with a silver tray with Hors d'oeuvre on it. Darting for the table, she grabbed the tray and spun, bringing it up to hit the guy in the face - the cloak and the hood really got in his way. He staggered back and she hit him in the head again, then a third time for good measure.
She looked up - the others were all fighting goons, and Bryce was crouched by a table at the far end of the room, and it looked like he was still chanting. Cordelia ran for the altar. If she could undo the chains holding Virginia to the altar, then...
"Cordelia!" Virginia struggled to get free. "Help!"
"Working on it," Cordelia grabbed at the chain on one wrist, and then a hand grabbed her shoulder and pulled her back. Cordelia staggered back, and she spun. Benny was behind her, now drawing a gun, with his good arm.
"I'm so glad I get to do this," Benny told her, fumbling a little with the safety of the gun. "Not as good with this hand, so you might take a few minutes to bleed out-" Before he could pull the trigger, they were all hit by gusts of wind, as if it was storming in here, and then suddenly, hovering over Virginia, was a demon.
It looked like an old, fat woman, with pallid, wrinkly gray skin, hair frizzy and massive. It reached out for Virginia, grinning. "The sacrifice..." It nearly touched her, and then the toothy, ugly grin vanished from its face and it shrieked in dismay, "is impure!" She snarled and vanished. Everyone had stopped fighting during the demon's brief apparition, and now they were all standing still.
Magnus Bryce straightened up, staring at Virginia in shock, and Benny was struck dumb by what had just happened.
Score one for Virginia! Take that patriarchal demon sacrificing rules!
Cordelia turned back to Benny, who was still holding the gun. She punched his broken arm, and he cried out, staggering back and dropping the gun. Cordelia kicked it away from him as he fell on his ass.
Cordelia went back to the altar and undid the bindings holding the chains to Virginia.
"I think we should get out of here before your dad finds a different demon to try to sacrifice you to. Real father of the year material, right?" Cordelia snarked, and Virginia nodded.
"She's impure? She's - she's not a virgin?" Bryce stammered out, stunned. "How - How!? I kept you away from all men! That's - that's why I wanted Angel, he's a eunuch! And a slayer was acceptable because-"
"A eunuch? I'm not a eunuch!" Angel protested, and Cordelia saw Xander doubling over, sniggering and trying very hard not to burst out laughing. Okay, so that is kind of funny... Cordelia couldn't help but smile a little at it. It all came together though, and made sense, just why he was so insistent on Angel, and why
"I haven't been a virgin for a very long time, Daddy," Virginia said, glaring at her face. "Remember that chauffeur I had when I was 16? And the one at 18?" Bryce's eyes widened, and then his face started to go red with anger, jaw saw, fists clenching. "I even dated Rick." Her eyes went to one of the hooded guys, who had gotten back to his feet and he started backing away.
"I mean, the curse isn't even all that clear..." Angel was muttering behind her. Cordelia rolled her eyes. Men. Did it really matter if people thought Angel was a eunuch? It wasn't like he was going to ever have sex anyway!
Bryce followed her gaze, then turned back to her, inhaling sharply, nostril's flaring. "Don't make me angry, Ginny. Don't do this-"
"Don't do what? This?" Virginia pulled her hand back and threw a punch, connecting with Bryce's jaw hard enough to send him reeling back to the floor. "Or what? You'll sacrifice me to a demon? Wait, you did that already!" She kicked him between his legs, and he cried out in a very high-pitched shriek. "You're not my father anymore!"
Score two for Virginia. Cordelia smiled at Virginia and walked with her out of the ballroom, the others behind her.
"For the record," Angel said as they left, "Not a eunuch."
November 9th, 2000
Hyperion Hotel
It was going to take Virginia a few days to get at the money from the trust funds on her mother's side of the family, and in the meantime, Cordelia suggested she stay at the Hyperion.
"If your dad finds another demon to try to feed you to, we can make sure he doesn't." Cordelia explained, "Until you can get everything sorted out. But then - I mean, will the money even protect you from him? You don't want to be behind bodyguards for the rest of your life, still, I guess?" Not from the way she'd complained about how stifling her dad's 'protection' had been.
"...I'd almost rather die." Virginia admitted after a moment.
"Fortunately that's probably not necessary." Wesley suggested, closing up the books he'd scattered over the front desk while researching Yeska. "It's quite likely your father is going to lose most of his magical power and money." Wesley suggested. "When people get wealthy and powerful through deals with demons, and then the deal is undone in some form, they tend to lose both quite rapidly, often even more than the demon gave them. Stock prices plummet, banks are robbed, assets degrade... if Magnus Bryce fails to find a solution soon, he will likely not have any ability to be a threat to you. Assuming his rivals in the wizardry business don't take advantage of his setback."
Virginia laughed humorlessly, "That would be just like Lanier and Briggs..." She nodded. "Thank you. I think... I think I'll take you up on that." She swallowed, letting out a breath. "I'm still - my whole life, all to sacrifice me?"
"It seems like it. Father of the year, like I said." Cordelia wasn't really sure what to say. "He wasn't much of a father anyway?" She offered, and Virginia let out a half-hysterical laugh.
"No - no, I guess." She swallowed again. "Is it - is it possible that I can have a room next to, or near Alex's? I just - I'd feel safer."
"Alex doesn't actually have a room-" Angel started, Cordelia interrupted.
"Yes she does." Okay, gonna have to keep working on making sure I call Xander 'Alex' and 'She' around Virginia, unless he decides to explain everything to her. Really shouldn't have let the cat out of the bag with Gunn... Xander had taken that in stride, at least, and it helped that Gunn hadn't really reacted much to the information.
"I do?" Xander asked, raising an eyebrow.
"You do now." Cordelia looked over at Angel, who looked ready to protest. "Come on, it'll be easier to have her help when we need her help if she's right here. And her room can be on the first floor, yours is on the second. Just be building mates and ignore each other off the clock." At the very least, this might get Xander to stop disparaging Angel every chance he got, if he was forced to live in the same building as him.
It got very annoying, very quickly.
"Don't I get a choice in this? I mean, I'm happy to stay while Virginia's here, not gonna turn down sleeping in a bed that isn't made of lumps, but - I don't want to live on Angel's charity!"
"Screw your stupid, stubborn pride, Alex!" Cordelia snapped, just barely remembering to call him Alex at the last minute. "It's not like you like the shitty apartment you're live at now, and if it makes you feel better, I'll charge you rent." Xander had saved her life, and since he hadn't actually needed her help getting away from some dangerous situation - not exactly anyway - this made them even.
"You'll charge?" Xander asked. "...how much."
"We'll work that out later. I already handle the bookkeeping for the agency as it is, I can handle figuring out your rent. Just say yes and get over yourself, already, will you?"
"...fine." Xander let out a breath. "Deal."