Disclaimers, etc., in chapter 1

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Six months ago
Prague, Czech Republic

Lucy looked around, shading her eyes from the bright morning sun.

"Never a cab when you need one," said a voice from off to her right. Lucy turned to look and saw a man in a rumpled black button-up, blue jeans and work boots, a generous amount of stubble and an eye patch over his left eye.

"Excuse me?" she said.

"Well, you'd think when the cops let you out they could at least call you a cab, so you can get back to your hotel. Hell, I don't even know how to get to the Icon from here, so it's not like I can walk."

"You're staying at the Icon?" she asked. She was impressed. That was an expensive place, and really nice, from what she'd heard.

The man shrugged. "It was recommended by a friend. You wouldn't happen to know where it is from here?"

"Sorry," Lucy said. "And a cab wouldn't help me. I couldn't pay him to take me anywhere." She turned out her pockets. "No cash."

Just then a motorcycle came roaring up the street, carrying a young woman with dark hair, wearing curve-hugging leather pants and a jacket and shirt that exposed a well-toned midriff.

"Hey lover," she said when she pulled to a stop. She tossed the man a helmet.

"Looks like my ride is here," he said. He whispered into the woman's ear for a moment. She rolled her eyes, but reached into her jacket and pulled out a few bills.

"Here," he said, handing her the money. "That should get you to your hotel, if you can find yourself a cab."

"Oh, I couldn't," Lucy said, silently thanking whatever gods were watching over her. She had no money, all of her stuff was in a hotel room that she didn't have a key for, and all of the people she knew in the city had just been arrested as part of a massive drug bust.

"Oh, please, I insist," he said.

"Well, how can I pay you back?" she asked. If the girl on the bike was his lover, Lucy figured she probably couldn't seduce him out of any money, but if he had a thing about hard-luck cases, maybe she could at least get a dinner out of him.

"Don't worry about it," he said.

"Oh, no, I insist," she said.

"Well, you know what hotel I'm at," he said. "You can ask for me at the front desk."

"Not if I don't know your name," she said.

The man smiled and held out his hand. "Xander Harris," he said.

"Lucy Lane," she replied. "Nice to meet you."

"You too, Ms. Lane," he said. Then he put on the helmet, mounted the bike, and wrapped his arms around the woman's stomach, before they rode off on the motorcycle.

Lucy stood there watching them for a second, trying to figure out the best way to play this one. She'd try to get into the hotel room, but she had no money except the fifty Euros this guy had given her.

Lucy shook her head and started to look around for a cab.

* * * * *

Lucy placed her two bags down next to the front desk, and then rang the bell for service. The young woman behind the desk looked up at Lucy and smiled. "Can I help you?"

"Um, I hope so," she said. "I'm looking for Xander Harris, I believe he's a guest here?"

"Certainly," she said. "Your name?"

"Lucy Lane."

The desk attendant tapped a few keys on her computer, then picked up the phone. It rang for a moment, and then she said, "Mr. Harris? There's a Lucy Lane at the front desk for you. Yes, sir. Thank you."

She hung up the phone. "Mr. Harris will be down in a minute."

Lucy turned around and leaned against the front desk, waiting for him to arrive. When he did, he looked nothing like she expected.

"Ms. Lane," he said, walking up to her, hand extended. "Nice to see you again."

"Please, call me Lucy," she said, taking in his attire. He was clean shaven, looking very professional in a well-tailored suit with a dark blue shirt and a maroon tie. It was a very smooth look, and he pulled it off well. More interestingly, he'd lost the eye patch over his left eye, and in its place was what appeared to be a fully functioning eye. "You look… different."

"Ah, work clothes," he said, tapping the glass eye. "They make incredible prosthetics these days." He pointed to the bar. "Care for a drink?"

Lucy looked at her watch, as if she had somewhere to be. "Um… sure. Why not?"

The pair headed over to the bar and ordered a couple of drinks.

"So, Lucy Lane," he said, "why were you in jail?"

She rolled her eyes. "Apparently the guy who I was involved with was involved in some other things."

"Such as?"

"Heroin, cocaine, opium, and the dealing of all of them. He got raided last night, and I got picked up. But I wasn't of interest, so they let me go."

"Lucky you," he said. "I mean, to an extent."

Lucy shrugged. "I'm used to guys who aren't very nice, but this one's kind of a new low for me. Luckily, I wasn't that attached to him."

"That is lucky," Xander said, sipping his drink.

"What about you?" she asked.

"Murder," he said.

Lucy's eyes widened, and she leaned away from him. That completely changed her plans, and now she was inclined just to pay him back and be on her way.

"Oh don't worry, I didn't do it," he said, smiling. "They picked me up because my fingerprints were all over the house. The guy who was killed was the father of a girl who my group was trying to get out of here. They've been harassed by a local criminal gang, I'm honestly not sure why."

"Your group?" Lucy asked.

"Ah," Xander said. He reached into his front pocket, pulled out a business card and handed it to her.

"Children's Welfare International," she read. "Vice President of Field Operations?"

Xander shrugged. "I'm in charge of making sure our people in the field get what they need, and occasionally handling sensitive or especially important contacts. Or dangerous ones."

"Like here."

He nodded. "Like here."

"So what happened to the girl… what was her name?"

"Kamila," he said. "She was kidnapped. I was about to head out to the local consulate to see if we could get some international assistance, although I'm not hopeful since she's a Czech citizen."

"And the police are no help," said Lucy.

"And the police are no help," he agreed.

"So what do you do if you can't find any help?"

Xander sighed. "My colleague you saw, Faith, who picked me up? There are some people here who owe her a few favors. They might be able to help out a bit. If not, I have a few other avenues I can try. But I'm not hopeful."

"Colleague?" Lucy asked. It was an opening. A slight glimmer that maybe she could come out of this still on her feet.

"Hmm?"

"No, it's just… she called you 'lover.'"

Xander laughed. "That's an old, old joke," he said. "I've known Faith since high school, and we once had an ill advised encounter. She's big on nicknames."

Lucy smiled, and finished her drink. "Well, it sounds like you've got important work to do. I shouldn't keep you from it." She reached into her purse, counted off fifty Euros and handed it to him. "That settles us, I think. Good luck finding your girl."

"Thank you," Xander said, pocketing the money.

Lucy hitched her purse up on her shoulder. She was deciding whether to ask him if he knew of any hostels, or any really cheap hotels, when a young man, a bellhop, ran into the bar.

"Mr. Harris!" he said, pointing to the lobby. "Out here!"

Xander frowned, slid off the barstool and followed the young man into the lobby.

"Kamila!" he called when he entered the lobby. Lucy followed and saw a pretty young girl, with dark hair and dark eyes, limping into the hotel. Her clothes were ripped, and she was bleeding from three or four wounds. She looked like she was about to collapse.

Xander rushed to her side and wrapped his arm around her to help hold her up until the bellhop brought a chair for her to sit on.

"Call an ambulance," Xander told the young man. He rushed off to the front desk.

"Kamila, what happened? How did you get here?" he asked.

"I… I…" she started. Then she broke down crying, and threw her arms around him. Xander pulled her close and held her tightly.

"The ambulance is on the way," said the young man. "Should be here very soon."

"Thank you," he said.

Lucy stood back and watched as Xander did his best to comfort this young girl, whose father had been murdered, who had been kidnapped, and who had apparently escaped from her kidnappers. Lucy shook her head. Even she had limits of who she would con.

She waited until the ambulance arrived. As the medics were loading the young woman up, Xander found her again.

"Listen, I hate to be an imposition," he said. "But Faith isn't here right now, and I need someone who can tell her what's going on, where I am. Would you mind?"

"Excuse me?" Lucy asked.

"I understand if you're busy," he said.

"No, not at all. I'd be happy to." It was a curious thing, she thought, that she actually meant it.

"Help yourself to anything at the bar or restaurant, I'll have them put it on my account," he said, nodding to the young bellhop. The young man nodded back.

"Thank you so much," Xander said, shaking her hand. "Oh, and let Faith know where you're staying."

"Why?" she asked.

Xander shrugged. "Never know." Then he turned and ran off to the ambulance, hopped in the back just before the doors closed. The ambulance sped off, and Lucy was left with an open tab at a bar, nowhere to sleep, and an assignment to wait for a woman she'd seen once and tell her about what had just happened.

"Okay," she said to herself. "I'm doing him a favor. This is not taking advantage. Just a quick favor, and I'm gone."

She sat down at the bar and ordered another drink.

* * * * *

It was hours later, and Lucy was a little more drunk than she had intended to be. She saw the woman from earlier stride into the bar looking around. Lucy got up from her seat a little unsteadily and waved at her. The woman looked at her oddly, but didn't walk away.

"You're Faith, right?" Lucy asked.

"Who's asking?"

"Lucy Lane," she said. "Your friend Xander asked me to wait here for you."

"How do you know him?"

"We met outside the jail this morning," Lucy said.

"Oh, right. You're the chick he gave my money to. What are you doing here?"

"Paying him back," she said. "And now I'm waiting for you."

"Any particular reason?" Faith asked.

"Yeah. He wanted me to tell you that the girl, Kamila?"

Faith's breath caught in her throat.

"She came back. Don't know how. He's at some hospital with her."

"Which one?"

"I… didn't actually get the name," she said. "That was pretty dumb of me."

"I'll figure it out," Faith said. "Thanks."

She turned to walk away, but Lucy grabbed her arm.

"One more thing. He told me to tell you where I'm staying."

"He what?" Faith asked. "Why?"

"Don't really know," Lucy said. "He said, 'Never know.'"

"Whatever, boy's got weird reasons for everything. So where are you staying?"

Lucy's face scrunched up. "Do you know any good hostels, or cheap hotels around here?"

Faith glanced at a clock on the wall. "You know it's like 11 pm, right? You're not gonna have much luck getting into a good hostel at this time of night."

Lucy's shoulders sagged.

"Tell you what," she said, "Xander obviously thinks you're trustworthy, or he wouldn't have left you here. We've got a suite. You can crash on the couch for the night, if you want."

"Seriously?" Lucy asked. These people were very generous.

"Sure," Faith said. "I mean, you helped us out. No need for you to sleep on the streets. Where's your stuff?"

"By the front desk," Lucy said. She pointed over to next to the front desk and saw – "Oh, crap."

Faith waved to the bellhop. "Did you see some bags over by the desk there?" she asked.

"Hours ago," he said. "A young woman came by and picked them up."

"Thanks," Faith said. She turned to Lucy. "Damn, girl. You're having a bad day."

"Seems so," Lucy said.

"Come on upstairs," Faith said. "At least you can get a good night's sleep. Maybe things'll look better in the morning."

Lucy nodded and followed her upstairs.

* * * * *

"This is not your fault," Lucy said. She had breakfasted on a handful of Advil and three glasses of water, and was currently arguing about money with Xander. And for once, she wasn't trying to take any.

"But I feel responsible," said Xander. "You wouldn't have been here if I hadn't asked you to stick around for Faith."

"And my bags wouldn't have been stolen if I hadn't been an idiot and just left them sitting in the lobby," Lucy said. "You don't owe me anything."

"Technically, no," he said. "But you helped me out. Now I want to help you out."

"I'm not going to take your charity," Lucy said. She almost didn't believe what she was saying.

Xander sat back in his chair. "Okay. Well how about this, then. I hire you as my assistant and local guide for the time that I'm here. As a member of my staff, of course, it's my responsibility to provide you with a place to stay and a daily food stipend, in addition to your salary."

Lucy leaned forward, her arms resting on her knees. "Why would you do this for me? You don't even know me."

"Honestly? I've seen what happens when young women with no money are left on their own."

"I can handle myself," she said.

"I don't doubt it," Xander said. "And also…" he shook his head.

"Also?"

Xander shrugged. "You're… you know."

Lucy shook her head. "I'm what? A girl? Alone? Poor?"

Xander laughed. "I was going to say cute, actually," he said. "If I was going for understatement."

Lucy sat back in her chair. She looked at him. He smiled lopsidedly. It was… actually kind of charming, she thought. And honest. Honesty was something she could use at this point.

"Okay," she said. "Then as long as you're in Prague, you've got a guide and assistant. What's my first assignment, boss?"

"Well, I have to go to the hospital to check on Kamila," Xander said. "So your first assignment is to pick out a restaurant, and then have dinner with me."

"Doesn't that violate some kind of company policy?"

Xander laughed. "Trust me. It won't be an issue."

"You know I don't have anything to wear to a nice restaurant."

Xander smiled at her, reached into his pocket and counted off some bills. "That should cover you."

"See you tonight then," she said, pocketing the money without counting it.

Xander smiled. "Tonight."

Lucy smiled back at him. For once, she actually had a good feeling about this.

* * * * *

Now
Smallville

"So that's how it started," Lucy said. "I started out as his executive assistant, but..."

"But she was far too valuable to keep there, as much as Xander liked having the hot secretary," Buffy said, smiling at her. She was leaning against the wall, from where she had listened to Lucy's story. "Lucy has kind of carved out her own little niche in our organization. She's kind of our business strategist."

"So now you work angles for this charity?" Lois said.

"I prefer to think of it as looking at things from a slightly different direction," Lucy said. "Which we all kind of do."

"So, this charity you help out with. They're into some weird stuff? Because Xander said that the girl in the kitchen was a witch. So what, you've been indoctrinated?"

"They're not a cult, Lo," Lucy said, rolling her eyes. "They're just involved in some things that you're not aware of."

"Oh, and you are?"

"I am now," Lucy said. "They've opened my eyes to a lot of truths, Sis."

"Wow," said Buffy. "Lucy, I love you, your sense of fashion is beyond reproach, but you're really making us sound like a cult. Do you mind if I take over?"

Lucy smiled. "Sure."

Buffy sat down across from the sisters and looked Lois in the eyes. "There's never a good way to do this, so I'll just go at it full force. How much do you know about vampires?"

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End Chapter 5