A/N In working on this story I did a little bit of research into the modeling industry since I have Cordelia working as a model. What I've found with just a few hours of research is that models, unlike actors, have no union or minimum safe practices standards. Many are paid by companies they model for with the clothes they model and abuse of the young, underage mostly female workers is still a huge problem today. New York State is currently considering passing legislation to force the industry to modernize, something it's fighting hard against. Jennifer Sky, who played Heidi on 'The Pack' episode worked as a model starting in her early teens. I found a testimony she gave of how when she was fourteen she was forced to stand under a freezing cold shower for several hours while they worked to get the 'right' shot. She and other models testified how they were harassed, molested, yelled at, criticized and what they ate was regulated so they didn't gain weight. Their agencies are supposed to protect them and instead will take as much as 70% of their earnings because they're not considered employees, but independent contractors, which somehow means they can charge them additional fees, beyond finding them jobs. The industry doesn't even deny it, they just excuse it as a cutthroat business. Jennifer Sky moved to acting and got treatment for PTSD and depression.

Tyra Banks was one of the lucky ones, her parents, especially her mother, were very involved with her career and fought to keep her safe. Most of the girls parents have no clue what's happening and the girls are intimidated into not saying anything.

There was an episode of Angel where Cordelia was doing a commercial and being treated like crap and Angel saw it and wondered why she just put up with it. It's because they get beaten down and told there are dozens just waiting for the paycheck they'd be throwing away if they do fight back.

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Xander settled into a chair off to the side of where Cordelia was working and watched the film shoot. She was modeling a dress that showed more skin than she was comfortable showing. For all Willow's insults on Cordelia being 'skanky', she was actually very modest. She didn't wear outfits that displayed the majority of her breasts to the world and her skirts were longer than Buffy's, who patrolled in miniskirts and halter tops. Xander could tell she wasn't comfortable with what she was wearing, even if no one else could. But he was one of the few people who knew Cordelia wore a social mask to hide her true self from the world.

She got more uncomfortable as the day wore on and was working hard not to show how tired she was getting. After a hour and no break and knowing she'd already been there for several hours before he'd arrived, Xander began to wonder how long she'd been standing in the four inch heels she was wearing. At 5'8" she was above average height for a woman, but below average height for a model, hence the heels that made her legs seem even longer than usual, but had to be playing havoc with her feet and ankles. After another hour of watching and no one calling a break and Cordelia looking like she was fighting just to stay upright, Xander decided he was going to call a break.

"Who the hell are you and why the hell are you on my set?" The photographer yelled.

"I'm with her." Xander nodded at Cordelia. "And she needs a break, the shoes are killing her feet and she needs something to eat before she passes out."

"She can just suck it up. She has a job to do and she's going to do it!"

"She is doing it, but she's not a manikin, she's a human being and unless you want her to faint from hunger and pain, you'll let her have a break."

"Not until I get my shot!"

"If you're so incompetent that it takes you several hours to get one shot right, why did they bother hiring you in the first place? She gets a break or she walks."

"She can go if she wants, but she forfeits her pay if she does." The photographer threatened.

"I don't think so." Xander smiled pleasantly enough, but his eyes looked just the same as they'd looked when he'd confronted Angelus in the hospital, a promise of pain even if it cost him his own life to deliver it. The photographer actually briefly wondered if this is what a deer felt like when the lights of a car hit it. He tried to bluster.

"Chase, get your bodyguard under control if you ever expect to work again!

"If you ever expect to be able to hold a camera again, you'll give her a break." Xander said quietly. "Such a small thing to do, in exchange for being able to continue working yourself."

"I should have you thrown out for threatening me."

"I should have you charged with forcing an unsafe working environment on your models, trust me I can make things more difficult for you, than you can for me."

The photographer glared at him and than abruptly capitulated. "Fine, just make sure she doesn't get fat!" And gulped as Xander narrowed his eyes slightly and if anything, they got even colder. "Everyone, take a fifteen minute break!" The photographer yelled and moved nervously away from Xander. Cordelia gratefully moved to the nearest empty chair and Xander crouched down to remove the shoes with the ridiculous heels on them. He moved a chair across from her and pulled her feet into his lap and began massaging them, she sighed as he began to work the knots out of them. Someone brought her a finger sandwich and a bottle of water.

"That's it?" Xander demanded. "That's not even a real bite worth of food."

"They're already upset that she's bigger than the model they wanted." The assistant told him. "This is all they'll allow her."

"For every break?"

"This is the first one and we've been working since five this morning."

"It's nearly noon!" Xander exclaimed, horrified.

"That's normal." Once the assistant had left Xander looked at Cordelia.

"This is normal?"

"They keep telling me it is." She ate the tiny sandwich. "I've been a model for exactly one week, Xander, since we got to New York, it's nothing like I expected or what my agent told me it would be like."