Disclaimer: I don't own it, yada yada
Thanks to Lilykep for beta-reading
This continues with episode 2x05, "Dear Boy"
I tried not to make this chapter nothing but Xander snarking about not liking Angel, but it was hard not to, both because it was funny and kind of fitting to the situation. I like Kate Lockley, I really do, but she gets this really weird fucking hangup about Angel after Prodigal, but does very, very little to actually... like, combat vampires? I mean, I hate to give Justine credit, but she was out there actually trying to kill Vamps?
(Though from what I've heard, Kate might have ended up taking Justine's place had Elizabeth Rohm stayed on the show, which is... well, I suppose I'm glad Kate left, given that)
So especially in this episode, Kate is just - even allowing for the fact that we the viewers know something she doesn't, she absolutely should have known that she was barking up the wrong tree from the word go, that something else was going on.
Anyway, if the Xander-snark does get annoying, know that I did cut out quite a bit, okay?
I borrow a line from near the end of the chapter more or less wholesale from the book 1632 by Eric Flint, the one about Molotov cocktails. I didn't realize I'd used it until after it was done, but it fit, so I kept it.
Next Year's Girl
By Kylia
Chapter 6: Are You Trying To Get Shot?
October 26th, 2000
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles
I'm going to dust him. I am going to dust him.
Okay, so in fairness, it wasn't as if Xander wasn't inclined to jump at the first legitimate excuse to dust Deadboy that came up. So there was every chance he was overreacting, especially since he knew Angel - like it or not - was one of the good guys. But this cop seemed pretty damn sure that Angel had killed an innocent guy and then kidnapped a woman who happened to look like his ex.
Darla.
Which was the vamp he staked for Buffy, right? So... why did he even care? Wouldn't killing your ex be a pretty straightforward sign that it was over?
Then again, this is Angel we're talking about, king of the brood and lord of guilt, so...
And, while not as important as innocent people dying, Xander's job was in major jeopardy because he'd cut out an hour early because Angel had gone nuts.
From the way Wesley and Cordelia were reacting to this Detective, she was someone they knew, that Angel knew. She knew Angel was a vamp, but didn't seem to have gotten the memo that he was - technically, anyway - one of the good guys.
Like me, but worse? There was a troubling thought. But he had been honest that watching the SWAT team shoot Angel would have been hilarious.
And now they were examining his ID. The Council had given Willow what she needed to make a pretty solid ID, or so Willow had promised him, so he wasn't too worried that they'd realize Alexandra Turner didn't exist a year ago, but...
There was a chance.
The detective's question of "Who's Darla?" had shut everyone up, though he could tell Wesley and Cordelia still didn't buy it.
I do. But was it him? And was it... actually him? It's not like Xander hadn't been controlled by something else before...
Even if he wasn't in control, I'm still staking him the first time I see him, I swear to God. Xander promised himself, as Detective Lockley walked back into the lobby, holding a long sheet of paper.
"You've led a rich and full life, haven't you, Mr. Gunn?" Lockley noted, standing in front of him. "Assault, grand theft auto, disturbing the peace, resisting arrest... I can see how you'd forget about all these priors."
Well, at least she's not saying anything about how I look like a previously wanted murderer... Xander could feel the disdain the cop had for Gunn, which was... kinda gross. Well, no, not kinda, it was.
"Like you said, I've lived a rich and full life," Gunn countered, flatly.
"I know Gunn," Cordelia cut in, trying to step between the detective and Gunn, "He helps people! I bet this stuff you're dredging up happened a long time ago, didn't it!?"
"Some of it was when he was a minor," Lockley agreed, but she ignored Cordelia's triumphant 'AH-HA!' as she went on, "and some of it was in the last two weeks."
If it was, why is he not in prison? Xander didn't volunteer that question, not wanting to give the cop any ideas. Besides, given that the man hunted vamps and demons full-time, Xander was pretty sure Gunn probably had good reasons for most of those priors. Hopefully.
Not like I don't break the law... with mostly good reason, a lot? More or less.
"Word to the wise, Charles, hanging out with these two and their creature of the night boss won't be good for the resume." Lockley added. She turned, "And that goes for you too, Miss Turner."
"I can see you're looking out for us, Detective," Gunn drawled.
"Really feeling the concern," Xander agreed. "But I think I can manage without your oh so helpful advice."
"Really." Lockley turned away from Gunn, and looked at Xander. "You're from Sunnydale. You hear things about Sunnydale, once you know what to listen for. And you're here, helping Angel."
"I'm here helping Cordelia," Xander countered. "Helping Angel is an incidental downside, but I've learned to live with it." He crossed his arms in front of him. "I know why I hate Angel. But what exactly do you have against him? Just that he's a vampire? Because there's plenty of them in L.A. Are you hunting them too?"
"Angel is dangerous, and he killed an innocent man and kidnapped his wife."
"And?" Xander shrugged. "I come from Sunnydale. People dying at the hands of vampires is routine there. As far as I can tell, you're only marginally less useless than the Sunnydale Police Department." The SPD was apparently a laughingstock among police in California, that much Xander had heard plenty of times, and from the way Lockley inhaled sharply at his words, that might just be right.
"After all," Xander went on, tempting fate, unable to help himself. "They can at least pretend they don't know vamps exist, but you know, and you're doing... what? Nothing? Coming after a guy who actually is trying to help?"
Except maybe he's not, but I don't like this woman. Xander didn't have strong feelings about police in general, but this Detective was full of bullshit. She had some sort of very specific reason for hating Angel, but she was making it about some woman who Angel may or may not have actually gone after of his own free will, or just that he was a vampire in general.
If she cared about that, she'd at least try to do something about vamps.
"Xander, stop antagonizing the woman with the gun," Cordelia cut in before Xander could keep going - and he had more to say. Then she looked back to Lockley. "We want the same thing, to find Angel before he hurts anyone else."
"No," Lockley shook her head. "You want to protect him, even though he's lost it." Well, she's not wrong... Xander considered, at least regarding Cordelia and Wesley. Xander on the other hand... well, protecting him was only a thing he wanted to do as long as it was merited.
"Oh, believe me, if I was sure it was actually him, I'd be first in line to dust him and dance on his ashes," Xander cut in, ignoring Cordelia's glare. "I mean, given the number of times he's tried to kill me-" Xander added, but he was cut off, the detective not listening and not interested.
"He stalked that poor woman because she looks like this Darla from his past, then broke into her house, killed her husband and kidnapped her!" Lockley raised her voice. "It was him! I've read everything there is to find about Angel, and I know he hasn't changed."
Xander blinked, the way she said that. The way Lockley really was so-
Oh.
She had a grudge against Angel, but...
It was personal.
It was personal.
Xander wasn't sure, and as much as he wanted to make a comment about it, test his theory... he saw the way Cordelia was glaring at him, cutting her hand across her throat in a 'shut the fuck up' gesture, and decided not to push the issue.
"He broke into her house?" Wesley broke in. "That's impossible."
"He murdered a man, and you're complaining that he wouldn't break and enter!?" Lockley demanded, nearly yelling.
"You are right, you know." Gunn said, quietly. "He hasn't changed. He's still a vampire. And last I checked, vampires can't just break into a house. Not unless someone invites them in? So - did she invite him in?"
Oh shit. Xander wanted to smack himself for not getting that sooner. For crying out loud, he lived in Sunnydale, where even as a kid he was raised on the never quite stated out loud 'don't verbally invite people in' thing that loosely permeated Sunnydale.
Not that everyone follows it, but it is still a custom of sorts. He'd never gotten it as a kid, until he found out about Vampires. It made a lot of things about Sunnydale make sense, once he finally remembered to think about it all.
He hadn't, before.
"No, of course she didn't invite-" Lockley started, immediately reacting, and then cutting herself off as she did so.
"And if she didn't invite him in, the only way he'd have been able to get in would be-" Xander started, years of Sunnydale life talking, but Cordelia - with all the same experiences, just about - got to it before he could:
"Would be if the real owners were dead. And if that's the case, then this is obviously a whole lot bigger than just some random woman and her husband - who Angel probably didn't even kill!" Cordelia kept going, getting that intent expression she had when she was on a roll, figuring something that had been bothering her out as she spoke. "Which comes back to what Angel was saying all along - she isn't DeEtta Kramer!"
Well. Xander inhaled, annoyed and relieved at the same time. Sure, it sounded like dusting Angel was definitely not in the cards (which meant he risked his job coming over here for nothing? Thank you for that Cordelia), but on the plus side, it meant Xander wouldn't actually have to fight Angel.
And even if Xander won - not something that he was remotely sure of, Slayer or not - it would have been a hard fight that could have still left Xander on the verge of death. And if he did kill Angel...
Well, someone else could be the one to tell Buffy that.
"Now you're just grasping at straws!" Lockley protested, though to Xander's ear, her words sounded weak-
"Are we?" Wesley cut in, approaching with an open book. Xander stepped closer, as Wesley handed the book to Kate. "This is a daguerreotype of Darla, taken over 100 years ago." Xander had to position himself behind and to the left of Lockley to get a look at the book, then inhaled sharply as he saw the picture.
Jesse.
Xander had known Darla was the vamp Angel staked for Buffy, but...
He didn't even notice what Wesley was saying as he processed this revelation. Or...
Was it a revelation? Was this actually Darla, somehow back from the dust, as a human? Could vamps even become human? If that was possible, could it have been used for Jesse?
You didn't have a choice. You didn't even mean to stake him so even if an option existed-
Was Jesse's killer - or at least, the one who had taken him down to the tunnels under Sunnydale to die - back? But human? But also...
Working with bad people messing with Angel? Maybe? Or she was the bad person? What - what the hell was going on!
Xander stepped back again, pinching the bridge of his nose, trying to -
Darla is Angel's ex. She's the one who killed Jesse, or at least close enough. Probably. And somehow she's back, and a human. And has been messing with Angel, apparently. Driving him nuts/ And then arranging something that makes it look like Angel killed 'her' husband and kidnapped her. But was this all just as planned?
Who lived in that house? Who died?
And-
Darla was back. Jesse's killer was back.
But she was human.
So... no slayage. And... would she have a soul? Why was she evil, then? Or...
Xander shook his head, trying to focus on the situation now, in front of him. He shook his head again, trying to drive the memory of Jesse, face all vamped out, turning to dust as the stake drove into his heart...
As he looked back up, he saw the SWAT team that had come in with Lockley coming down the stairs.
"He's nowhere on the premises," One told the Detective, who let in a long, exasperated breath.
"Keep a few officers on the Perimeter, in case he comes back. Don't engage, just call it in," Lockley instructed, and the SWAT team filed out of the building, bringing the number of cops inside down to just Lockley now. She looked over at Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn.
"I'll be sure to make a note of your cooperation in the report."
"Hey, we did more than cooperate, Detective, we solved your damn case. Find out who killed the real owners of that house, and you'll have your killers."
Lockley inhaled sharply again, looking like she'd bit into a lemon, then she let out the breath slowly, rolling her neck a little as she did so.
"And why are these people dead? If you're right, and this really is Darla, or it is some deliberate plan with a look-alike, then it was all about your Boss to begin with. So it still comes down to being on him." Lockley nearly snarled those last words out.
"You can't blame that on him!" Cordelia protested, which Xander had to agree with. Hate Angel or love him, you can't blame -
Buffy's not at fault because some bad guy killed someone to draw her out.
"Angel's just trying to do what's right," Wesley added.
"Right. He's good now." Lockley stretched the word 'right'. "I keep forgetting. It's so hard, what with the fangs and lack of a pulse."
"If vampires bother you so much, maybe start hunting some?" Xander suggested. "It's not hard. Stake, heart, boom, you've got a dead vampire." Hell, if you hate Angel that much, you could just stake him yourself. Of course, if what Xander's theory about just why this was so personal for Lockley was true...
Well, that would explain why she never tried it, even when he was sleeping or something.
Lockley glared at him a long moment, then turned away, leaving the lobby behind.
"So looks like the verdict is that Angel isn't evil, then?" Gunn asked, "That Darla was messing with him?"
"So it would seem, though... the effects of her influence on him are yet to be determined," Wesley replied
"He means we don't know if he's still crazy," Cordelia offered, and Gunn rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, I got that." He took a breath, "I can stick around for a bit more, in case you guys need me, but -"
"That's good. Thanks." Cordelia interrupted. "Please, stay handy, I need to talk to this idiot a moment," Cordelia was speaking quickly, and before Xander realized by 'this idiot' she meant him she had grabbed his wrist and was dragging him into one of the hallways.
"Hey!" Xander pulled his arm free from her grip, easily, though doing it without risking breaking one of Cordy's fingers proved a little harder. "What-"
"That room, now, you lamebrain dumbass!" Cordelia snapped, gesturing to one of the hotel rooms. She crossed her arms in front of her chest and stared at him, as if daring him to say no. Her eyes were narrowed, her exhales through gritted teeth reminding him of those few times in High School when he'd made her really mad, really got under her skin.
"Next time you can just say it rather than trying to drag me away," Xander muttered, then opened the door, an unused hotel room, like all the others inside. Cordelia followed behind him, slamming the door shut as she came in. Then she got close, nearly up in his face, and poked him in the chest, just below his collarbone, hard.
"Are you trying to get yourself shot?!" She demanded. "Yes, fine, Detective Lockley has a hangup about Angel - she blames him for the death of her father, even though he had nothing to do with it - and she's was going after Gunn without any good reason and she's just kind -" Cordelia let out a growl of frustration. "But that's not the point! Your patented brand of antagonizing people is exactly the wrong thing to do with a cop that has a short fuse and gun!"
She poked him again, and Xander grabbed at her wrist before she could pull her hand back.
"One, that hurts, stop. Two, she wasn't going to shoot me just because I annoyed her! Three, I didn't know the thing about her dad, but I'm also pretty sure she had a thing for Angel-"
"Given that she once held me at gunpoint because we wouldn't let her go get herself killed because she was loopy after being hit with magical happy pills, I don't think I agree!" Cordelia snapped, trying - and failing - to pull her wrist out of Xander's grip. "And yes, she had a thing for Angel before she found out he was a vampire. The sky is blue and water is wet." Well, okay, I guess that confirms that. "That's still not important! If you kept poking at her, she might have just shot you!"
I'm - I'm really sure that wouldn't have happened. Xander opened his mouth, ready to protest, but Cordelia pressed her other hand to his mouth. Xander let go of her wrist and pulled her hand away, but Cordelia was talking by the time his mouth was uncovered.
"It was bad enough watching your body bleed out from being shot, Xander, and that was knowing it wasn't you dying! I don't need to add watching the rest of you die the same way to the list of horrible things I've had to see and deal with!" Cordelia went on, nearly yelling.
Xander's breath caught as he processed what Cordelia was saying.
Seeing my body bleed out as bad enough for you? What do you think it was like for me!? But Xander managed to bite back that response, because he knew it wasn't fair. Also, this was Cordelia, and even if she wasn't as bad as she used to be, the world revolved around her. Especially when she was angry.
And it wasn't the point because-
"What are you-" Xander blinked, confused. Why - why would it bother her this much? To get this angry? Seeing his body die, or him actually dying or - why would she care that much? "Why would it-"
"Xander, I stopped wanting you dead, like, three weeks after I got out of the hospital after the rebar," Cordelia snapped. "If I still wanted you dead, I wouldn't have asked for your help, risk of Angelus or not!"
Not sure if I agree with that... not given his likely fate if he had gone up against Angelus...
"I didn't -" Xander started, then cut himself off and stepped back, away from Cordelia, letting go of her hands completely, taking a breath. "I didn't think you still wanted me dead, I know we moved past that. But - why would you - why the hell do you care enough to yell at me like this? You don't actually yell like this unless something's really gotten under your skin-"
"Oh for the love of - God forbid I maybe don't want someone I've known since first grade to die!?" Cordelia snapped, stepping closer to Xander again and poking him. Again. Why - how does her finger hurt that much? "God forbid, maybe I care if you live or die?! You're an idiot! A dumbass of the highest order!"
Despite the intensity of her words, their closeness, the way Cordelia was in his face... his eyes drifted to her lips. Cordelia didn't get this worked up this often, but one time she had...
A very familiar basement. Cordelia, her lips just as kissable-looking as they were now, the same way her cheeks flushed, her-
Wait WHAT? Xander's brain stopped entirely for a moment, like a record scratch in a movie-
No, no, no, I am not - that way lies all kinds of badness!
Reacting quickly, Xander pushed her hand away, raising his voice: "Stop poking me!" he snapped, wishing he could come up with a better comeback, but he was busy trying to avoid thinking about Cordelia's lips. And what she felt like, pressed up against -
Nope. Nope. Change of topic. I - I didn't realize Cordelia would be that bothered - I mean, that's - yeah I wouldn't want Cordy to die either and -
"Well, you're going to have to get used to the whole me dying thing, because this - this isn't changing!" Xander gestured to himself, jumping at the first thought to actually say that came to mind. "I'm a fucking Slayer, and no matter how much Willow keeps telling herself she can magic up a solution, that's not happening! She can't just grab a spellbook and go 'Xander Andonicus!' and expect me to be a guy again!" It wasn't like Xander hadn't known this, hadn't said it, hell it was the whole reason he left Sunnydale but-
He kept going, the words just sort of spilling from him. "No, Cordelia, I don't want to get shot, I don't want to die, but I'm a Slayer now, and that means I've got a giant fucking target on my neck, and a sell-by date that probably comes up in a year, or less! Buffy? She gets to beat the odds. She's the hero, she's the chosen one, she's the one who has proven she can take on the whole world and win!"
Buffy was... she was still, as he'd told her last year, his hero. She fought and she sacrificed, and she did good, was good, in a way Xander could only hope to be a pale imitation of. And he was never going to be as good at the slayage as her.
"Me? I'm the fucking sidekick! I was fine with being the sidekick - at least by the time this happened! So yeah, I don't think my odds of lasting all that long as a Slayer are good!" Xander's hands were balled into fists, fingernails digging into the base of his palms, sucking in breath through clenched teeth, fast, shallow, his mind landing on the realization that what he was saying was true.
I probably don't have more than a year to-
Cordelia's hand connected with his cheek, and Xander reeled, staggering back - in surprise, rather than pain or the force of the impact.
"So what, you're so sure you're going to die that you'd rather just do it on your own terms? Mouth off to the people with guns? What's next, running up to a vampire and screaming 'EAT ME?'"
"...pretty sure that's Buffy's thing," Xander countered, finding enough humor in him to smirk as Cordelia crossed her arms in front of her chest at his words. "And no, I'm not - I wasn't trying to get shot, I already told you. I don't think she was going to! But she was being wrong... and also acting like I give a shit about Angel."
"And we can't have anyone think you care about 'Deadboy'," Cordelia tried to mimic Xander's voice... his actual voice, from before, but even if Xander hadn't heard his real voice in months, he could tell it was a bad effort.
"I don't. He's one of the good guys, but I wouldn't be bothered if he died tomorrow." Xander shrugged. Better to talk about Deadboy and how much I hate him. There's safe ground. "Look - you work for him. You - I mean, you consider him a friend, right, for whatever strange reason?" Cordelia rolled her eyes and nodded. "So it's not like I'm actively rooting for him to die, but... I mean, he's not my friend."
"We both know this isn't still about Buffy, so what the hell is your problem with him, really?" Cordelia demanded, drumming her fingers against her arm, eying him.
"Do you want the smart answer, or the stupid answer?" Xander offered, then quickly raised a hand. "No, no, I left myself wide open for that one. No, not all my answers are stupid." Cordelia frowned a moment, and her expression almost screamed 'spoilsport'.
"We just rub each other the wrong way, okay? Or at least, he does me. He bugs me." Xander shrugged. "He's a vampire, and I don't really think I'm ever gonna be comfortable with that." Xander wasn't always an idiot. There was more to it. A lot more. Or at least, there was a lot surrounding the whole thing. But also...
He's an ass.
Shallow, but true.
"You may as well ask Angel why he doesn't like me!" Xander suggested, rather than elaborate more. It wasn't Cordelia's business, the whole deal. It's not my own damn business. There's a reason I don't think about this much.
"If he actually cares enough to not like you, it's probably because you keep antagonizing him and calling him 'Deadboy'." Cordelia pointed out.
Xander opened his mouth to protest... then closed it. "...yeah, I guess that actually makes sense." He blinked, then... "Yeah. Huh." He snorted, holding back a chuckle. "Still don't like him, but I guess that makes sense," he repeated.
"...you're hopeless."
"And proud of it." Xander agreed. "Do you need to yell at me more, or can I just go back to the lobby and wait for Angel to get back so we can find out for sure if I need to try - and probably fail - to dust him, or if we're just tranqing him or what?"
Cordelia inhaled sharply, glaring at him as Xander said 'and probably fail', but then she shook her head, dropping her arms to her sides loosely, and then she rubbed at her forehead a moment, exhaling long and slow. "Just - fine. Go." She gestured. "Hate Angel all you want, but stop doing it in front of me!" She called after him as Xander started for the door, back out into the hallway, towards the Lobby.
"...I don't think that's how things work? I can't turn off hate," Xander chuckled.
"You know what I mean, you absolute dumbass!" Cordelia grabbed a pillow off the hotel bed and tossed it at him - Xander was out of the room by the time it sailed through the open doorway and landed in the hallway behind him.
Same old Cordelia. Xander considered, not noticing the soft, wistful smile on his face, one side of his lips turned up a little.
October 26th, 2000
Hyperion Hotel, Los Angeles
Without much else to do before Angel returned, Xander spent the next hour, maybe two, it was hard to say, regaling Gunn with stories from the Hellmouth - Buffy's numerous victories over vamps and demons, as well as some of the more absurd insanity from Sunnydale. Gunn appreciated the stories about Buffy dusting vampires in job lots, which really didn't surprise him.
But there were others he liked too.
"Wait, so you really stole a rocket launcher?" Gunn's laugh was more of a disbelieving bark, rather than amusement. "Really? Damn you white kids have ambition! I never thought bigger than a molotov cocktail!"
"Oh, then there's the time my best friend figured out how we could blow up the High School," Xander countered. He blinked. "Do those really work well against vamps? The Molotov cocktails I mean." He still had a few soldier-boy memories floating around in his head, and he had 'memories' of the Vietcong using them in 'nam, but from what he remembered, which could be wrong, they were less useful as anti-personnel weapons unless the bottle broke on you or something like that.
Maybe.
That's why I never suggested one for Buffy... that and she'd probably have said no. But if they did work, maybe Xander could try some? Only in some cases, he didn't want to set himself on fire, but...
"If you get the drop on them, or they're clustering in a group or something, sure. Or to get them out of a hideout, if you can do it without burning down the whole building. But mostly? No good, really." Gunn shook his head. "Throwing one on the ground at a vamp's feet can buy you time if you're running."
Xander sighed, "That's no fun." he was about to say something else when he heard the sound of movement upstairs. He held up his hand, "I think Angel's back." he grabbed his stake, and stood. Wesley hurriedly grabbing the tranq gun, Gunn getting ready as well. Xander moved towards the stairs when Angel appeared in view.
No vamp face.
"Angel!" Wesley said, quickly trying to hide the tranq gun behind his back.
"Is - is everything copacetic?" Cordelia asked brightly, moving towards the stairs. "Apart from the whole framed for murder thing." She paused. "You were framed, right?"
"I'm not evil," Angel answered flatly, walking towards the stairs and heading down.
"And we're just supposed to be sure of that?" Gunn asked, grip tightening on his axe's handle. "I mean, I like you Angel, much as I can any vamp, but if you're evil-"
"I'm pretty sure he's the same old Deadboy," Xander offered. Angelus hadn't really spent all that long pretending to be Angel last time, and from what little Buffy had ever said about the brief window before he'd stopped faking, in hindsight, it had been pretty obvious.
Hell, even that time Angel was pretending to be Angelus, it wasn't that good an acting job... Good enough to fool the Mayor, yeah, fool Faith, but...
And fool you, but then, you hated Angel so you were happy for any excuse to call him evil. Not that Xander still wouldn't mind an excuse, but-
"Did it physically hurt to admit that?" Cordelia asked, turning to him.
"A little," Xander shrugged. He lowered his stake. "Since I probably lost my job because Cordelia was panicking about Angelus being back-" Cordelia protested, interrupting and trying to deny it, but Xander ignored her, "I feel like I need a few answers about what the hell happened, especially after that Detective came along." He laughed. "I think she might hate you more than I do."
Well, love-hate, anyway.
Angel has a thing for blondes, clearly. Or maybe blondes have a thing for him? Buffy, Detective Lockley, Darla...
"I'd be up for answers too," Gunn admitted, leaning his axe against the front desk and crossing his arms. "Also, more about this whole 'you can sometimes go evil' thing."
"It isn't something that happens with regularity or that he switches back and forth from!" Wesley pointed out, "Once the curse is undone, it's undone and then he's back to Angelus, unless the curse is cast again."
"Whatever," Gunn shook his head. He looked back at Angel. Even Cordelia and Wesley, pretending they weren't, were curious, and wanted to know what the hell had happened.
"Wolfram and Hart brought Darla back as a human," Angel explained, sitting down on one of the lower steps.
"How? That - that shouldn't be possible. Resurrection requires some form of body and even then is... even Wolfram and Hart shouldn't have been able to muster the resources to do something like that so casually!" Wesley protested, then he flushed,
"She was what was in that box," Angel explained, and Xander watched Cordelia and Wesley nod, like they had any idea what he was talking about. "She was using some kind of spell to get in my head, make me dream of her. They thought they could use her to turn me evil again."
"Wait, so like, moment of perfect happiness turn evil?" Cordelia scoffed. "Like you'd ever with anyone that isn't-" Cordelia started, then cut herself off, as if afraid to say Buffy's name.
"Something like that." Angel explained. "But now I know she's back, so she can't get in my head the same way anymore."
"Still, that Wolfram and Hart is doing this..." Wesley shook his head. "That's a lot of resources they've arrayed against you."
Why don't they just kill him? Sure, killing Angel was easier said than done, but - like... why that? Vampires were a dime a dozen, sure Angelus was nasty but...
But Wesley was right - at least, if he was right that what they did to bring Darla back was so impossible, or expensive... Is this the thing? Am I supposed to be on hand to stop Angel if Wolfram and Hart's plan works? If this was the reason Xander was here in L.A., just to save Angel, he was going to be very annoyed.
I'd rather just dust Darla, but...
"Is Darla still human?" Xander doubted Angel had turned her, but the evil lawyers might have? Maybe? And would she be as weak as a fledgling?
"She was when I left her," Angel shook his head. "She's got a soul now, as a human. She's been able to pretend the guilt isn't there, but it will hit her."
Great. Another one. Okay, not technically, but close.
"Well... I suppose it's for the best that you're not evil," Xander sighed, then shook his head. "But, if you don't need dusting, or restraining, I'm not needed here anymore." He turned, moving towards the door, eyes passing over Cordelia again - and immediately remembering the hotel room, how close she'd gotten-
Nope. Nope. Stop it Xander.
No thinking about Cordelia, her lips, or what kissing her had been like, could be like or-
Stop it! Xander shook his head as he reached the door, trying to refocus on the questions raised by everything, or on the fact that he'd gotten this close to having an excuse to stake Angel or -
Anything else.
Please.
Anything else.