There wasn't much grumbling from either Xander or Cordelia the next morning when the alarm went off signaling the start of Cordelia's first day working on her first movie. Cordelia was use to working early and long days on the soap she was part of and Xander was military and well able to respond at a moment's notice to report for duty.
Dawn on the other hand was a teenager who could easily sleep twenty hours a day and still want to go back to bed. But she wanted to support Cordelia and insisted on going along.
"I can sleep in the car." She reminded them. "I'll just bring my pillow and a blanket. I get why we aren't staying in a motel, the drive distance through LA would be just as much as coming from Sunnydale with the studio being nearer to the highway from Sunnydale, plus Faith's got actual food in her apartment."
"And we can stop to see Buffy again on the way back." Xander added. "Or at least you can. She and Cordy weren't really friends and she made it clear, she preferred the Echo to me. Which is her choice, I won't force my friendship on someone who doesn't want it. Alright, everyone caffeinated?" With nods from both girls and a travel mug filled with coffee and Dawn's pillow and blanket tucked under her arm, the three headed down to the car and were soon on their way to Los Angeles and hopefully the start of Cordelia's dream coming true. A little more than half an hour before she was required to be at the studio, let alone in the makeup chair getting ready, Xander parked the car and the three of them headed for the Security Office. Xander took note of just how thorough the Security Officers were, checking their IDs, matching them against the pictures taken yesterday, calling to confirm they were expected and that both he and Dawn were also approved for entry etc. He also noted the weapons they were carrying, each had a side arm, a taser, cuffs and a baton. Monitoring cameras showed the parking lot and public access areas of the lot. They took the safety of the people here very seriously and given that currently included members of his family, Xander had absolutely no problem with it. And no knowing feeling that anyone might be a problem. Time to get Cordy to hair and makeup, plus wardrobe. He'd been on set with her before and knew the routine, but Dawn hadn't and was excited, chatting with people and just being herself. No one seemed to mind.
The day was long though and Xander and Dawn chatted as they watched Cordelia and the woman playing her mother, have their argument repeatedly. Eventually the director called it a day and told everyone 'Good Job.'
The end of the day was the reverse of the beginning, hair and makeup, wardrobe changed and back through Security, which was just as thorough on the way out as on the way in.
"Are you going to do the arguing scene again tomorrow?" Dawn asked, as they headed toward Buffy's.
"I don't know." Cordelia answered. "My day is done, now it's time for the director and others to review the footage shot today and determine if there were any problems. If there were, than yes, we will have to do it again. My death by drunk driver scene will be filmed outside and that's scheduled for tomorrow too, but the schedule can always change. I won't know until tomorrow."
"I thought it was believable." Dawn assured her. "If I saw you two arguing for real, I'd believe she really was your mom and she was drunk. You guys look alike and she definitely acted drunk."
"She wasn't though and now you see why I was even considered for the role. She was cast first and all the actresses playing her daughter at various stages of her life have to have a believable resemblance."
"That's why you were considered, not why you were hired." Xander grinned at her. "You were hired because you were the best person for the job, you impressed them with your talent."
"Hard earned talent, not just automatically having it talent." Dawn grinned too. "You've work hard to get here and it shows. But it's a good thing you don't have to sing. Buffy told me about the Sophomore year talent show. Well she told me about the demon and Sid, but she also mentioned your attempt to sing."
"Yeah, no amount of practice is going to change the fact that I, unfortunately, can't sing." Cordelia agreed ruefully, as Xander wisely remained silent on that subject.
"Sid was pretty cool." Xander said. "Would have been nice if he could have stuck around, we could have used his advice and expertise. But he'd been stuck as a dummy for decades and was ready to move on." He pulled up to the facility where Buffy lived and the three got out. "Our visit to California isn't going to be very long, but you are going to be able to get several visits with Buffy while we're here."
"I'm glad. I have missed her and yesterday's visit went well." Dawn told them. "No one visits her, Faith's working and they hate each other. Giles is in prison and Willow's dead. Is there a chance we could move her to New York? We could see her more often."
"I'll talk to the General about it." Xander was a little distracted, he had an uneasy feeling, not quite a knowing feeling. But something was off, he looked around, but he saw nothing concerning. He stayed alert, he wasn't going to let trouble just sneak up on them.