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Wordsmith
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McDonald had to admit he was impressed. Angel had invited Lorne over to pick his brain about any rumors concerning this Glorificus. Xander, however, had latched on to Lorne with the same tenacity he had used in questioning Lindsey. Xander asked questions that never seemed to occur to the souled vamp. The human appeared to be better versed in the subtle dealings of the demon world; he not only asked who was doing what and who was talking to whom, but would ask how another, unrelated third party felt about certain recent alliances. He seemed to realize that a single change anywhere could set off a wealth of consequences. The young man would have made a great lawyer.
Xander had, at first, appeared willing to just listen to Angel question Lorne, until the Pylean had mentioned that someone had been asking for Spike that afternoon. The person had been a half-breed from whom the firm occasionally bought information, and had only heard that Spike might have been there the night before. Given that Spike and Xander had left early, the snitch was unaware that Spike had been with Angel's party. The informant seemed to think it had been a chance meeting of Sire and Childe and that only the location -- Caritas being magically-enforced neutral ground -- had prevented one of their legendary dust-ups. Upon hearing this, Xander's eyes had lit with unholy glee and he had started interrogating Lorne about the snitch. He had even somehow co-opted Lindsey to play secretary, since his lover was off on some errand for him.
"Xander, I don't think..." Angel said. The detective was shifting uncomfortably in the doorway of the library as Lindsey, Wesley, Lorne and Xander sat around the conference table. The notes on the prophesy had been usurped by schematics of the firm's office building, detailed charts of the surrounding buildings and underground structures, along with various lists in Xander's nearly illegible handwriting and Spike's precise clerk-like script.
"No, no. I can work with this..." Xander bounced in his chair and
clicked the speed dial on his cell phone. "Are you done?" He asked
by way of greeting. "Well, what's taking so long?" Lindsey thought
that the young man
sounded like an anxious lover rather than someone plotting to invade the devil's
law firm. "Well, hurry up... I got an idea! We're gonna have so much fun."
Angel groaned and Lindsey smothered his smirk in his hand. "Uh huh,"
Xander said. "No, go as fast as you can, Angel will understand if you get
a ticket. Hurry back."
"Why will I understand..." Angel started and stopped when the young man disconnected the call and batted his long lashes, while giving him an innocent smile. Lindsey lost it and made an odd snorking sound when the vamp said, "Where's my car?"
~~~~~
Cordelia bit her lip and sorted through the pile of clothes. Xander had asked
her to put together something stealthy. Of course, being a man, when she had
asked him what sizehe needed, he had blinked in confusion and then said, "About
your size". Her brief sojourn into working retail had shown her that every
man answered that question the same way. She had taken in returns size two through
twenty for women who brought in birthday presents she had sold their husbands.
Thankfully, Tara and Dawn had donated clothing and spilled the
beans about who would be wearing it. In addition to wondering if there was anything
here slutty enough, Cordelia now had to anticipate Angel's reaction - not to
mention Wesley's.
Abandoning her task, Cordy decided that although she had promised to let Xander
break the news to Angel, it would be best if she had a word with Wesley herself.
She left the third-floor bedroom and stopped next door to
see if Fred knew where he was, and ask if she had extras of shampoo and stuff
for their 'guest'.
~~~~~
Gunn waited in the cab of his pickup. He had adopted the spy system which had
worked so well for the C.O.T.H. when the Initiative had shut down all the cell
phones. Miller had been impressed with how the kids had passed
messages via joggers from civilians loitering in the area. Gunn had borrowed
the manpower from his crew. He felt a little guilty in disrupting their regular
patrols, but as his buddy Carl had pointed out, it all balanced out
in that this way they didn't feel as indebted for all the commando training.
He noticed Carl rounding the corner, and wondered if anyone would notice that this was the third time this evening that this guy had stopped to tie his shoe by his truck.
"They're still lapping the lobby. It's odd - all the foot patrols. All that should be on their monitors. They have a guy checking all the cars - not that any are let into the garage, but he's waiting at the entrance. He sent two away. " Carl took his time, not looking up as he tied.
"Anything else?" Gunn asked.
"Yeah, I just noticed. That upscale bar off the lobby - it's closed, on a Saturday night," he said.
~~~~~
Lilah sank into the chair behind her desk. She was getting too old for this. She lifted her purse out of a drawer and removed a bottle of pills. She had a prescription, so that there could be no question as to her right to have them, but she rarely permitted herself this weakness. It would too easy for someone like Gavin to exploit. But, as this looked to be her second sleepless night, she shook out two of the tiny white tablets and rinsed them down with cold coffee.
It was just possible that all her phone calls would pay off. She had someone working on setting up a meeting, which would be tonight if fortune smiled. Hopefully she could make Glorificus obsolete before upper management realized the expense this defunct project was going to generate. How does one disposed of a used hellgod?
~~~~~
Faith was almost to the car when a light flared in the deepest shadows off to the left. A sharp, aristocratic face was highlighted by the flickering flame of a lighter. Definitely not Angel, but her senses screamed 'vampire'.
"Get in - now," he said. William the Bloody, dressed in black jeans
and a tee shirt and looking like a wet dream. She remembered him from her brief
sojourn in Buffy's body. He hadn't seemed dangerous that night in the
Bronze; she had even toyed with him. God, she thought, had she really been that
stupid or just incredibly naive? She hadn't thought she had much to lose then,
but he wasn't some freshly risen minion - she must have been
fucking suicidal.
"Well, don't just stand there," he growled, "get in!" He nodded toward the passenger side. It had been so long since she had been this close to any vamp but Angel. Angel no longer sent her instincts into Slayer mode, but she had no idea how long she could stay near this... creature, without doing something stupid.
He said nothing on the ride into LA. He drove fast but safely and didn't appear
to be watching her. Of course, if she staked him going ninety down the freeway
she'd be a pile of ash too, or worse. As he parked across from a
creepy old hotel she asked, "What's going on?"
"Innit obvious?" He pinned her with his laser-blue gaze and said, "It's the end of the world."
The vampire followed her up to the hotel entrance in a silent glide. As Faith opened the door she heard raised voice. One she had almost expected, and one which made her want to squirm with guilt.
"You can't just make a decision like that," Angel shouted. From the entryway Faith could see Cordelia pulling on Angel's arm while Xander held a sobbing Dawn tucked under his arm.
Dawn. How could she have forgotten Buffy's kid sister? She was obviously the girl from the dream, but until that moment Faith had somehow completely erased the girl from her memory.
"Made and done, Deadboy - and if not me, who?" Faith was stunned at the aggressive growl in the young man's voice; this wasn't the Xander she remembered.
She hadn't really paid any attention when she was last in Sunnydale. She vaguely remembered a girl hanging on him... Ann? Anna? He looked good in clothes that molded themselves to his body. And what a body; this wasn't the same skinny boy she had known. He stood toe to toe and eye to eye with Angel. His shoulders were just as broad as the vampire's and even though Xander was only human he radiated a restrained violence that was new and exciting.
"Glory is our responsibility," Xander insisted as Willow's quiet girlfriend took Dawn from him and ushered her up the stairs.
~~~~~~
Gavin slammed the door to his office, which was six floors below where he deserved to be. Lilah had suggested he go home and get some rest. He knew she was up to something, but with the security system still sporadically on and off line he couldn't bribe a guard to leak any information to him. She had gone so far as to imply she would need his help with Glory tomorrow, which almost guaranteed that something was going down tonight. Using his private line he called his contact at Caritas.
~~~~~
Gunn had left Carl in charge of the surveillance. He had a feeling that Harris
was only going to use his own people, but wanted to see if he could get dealt
into the game. It was probably smart to stick with faces that
Wolfram and Hart weren't familiar with but he had enjoyed working with the Sunnydale
crew and wanted to again.
As he entered the hotel, Gunn noticed a big-eyed girl looking like she would like to bolt right back outside lingering at the doors. Spike was nearby, but it was unclear if he were her guard or just an amused member of the audience. The girl was a pretty, fragile-looking thing that reminded Gunn strongly of Fred.
"It's okay," he said to her, hoping to put her at ease. "They butt heads all the time but it doesn't mean anything."
She turned a stunned look on him and then smiled tentatively. She really was beautiful. Without any sign of make-up and in nondescript gray attire she still radiated an energy. She wasn't the only one startled by his comment. Spike snickered and Angel gaped and said, "Faith?"
"I... I understand that the world's going to end, again," she said. She pushed back her long brown hair and twisted her fingers around a lock in a nervous gesture.
"I can't believe you did this," Angel said to Xander.
Xander ignored him and nodded to the tiny brunette. "Faith," he said.
"Xander," she said, looking down and shuffling her feet.
Gunn tentatively touched her arm and asked, "Are you all right?"
Xander cleared his throat and seemed to shake off whatever tension the girl's presence had added to the room. "Gunn? Cordy has a room ready for Faith, next to Fred's. Would you show her the way? Faith... you may want to clean up; we're going to go dancing. Your kind of dancing."
As they went up the stairs, Gunn noticed that the arguing was much more subdued.
~~~~~
Tara had taken Dawn out of the battle zone. Willow was frantically preparing for the rest of the evening and Tara needed to rest after what they had just pulled off. It was one thing to see the 'Omega Plan' on paper, and quite another to implement it.
Willow had been right; most of the work had gone into the preparation. The actual spells done tonight had mostly involved setting off other spells that had been primed by ritual all through the summer. She was almost grateful for all of Xander's contingency plans. Willow really needed an outlet to stretch her powers and to hone that clever mind of hers, and preparing for the worst kept her busy, and prevented her from meddling with more dangerous magics out of boredom.
Up on the third floor she and Dawn settled into a cozy alcove, much more like a living room than the spacious lobby. She was unsure where to start and Dawn was tensing up in anticipation.
"Ah... Dawn. Willow wanted me to ask you, just... How much do you remember about Faith?"
"Well, Mom liked her. Buffy was jealous at first. Willow used to defend her and then... something happened, besides the Mayor, because Willow was really angry..."
"Yeah, about that... Listen, it's really important that we don't mention Faith and Xander around Spike. Willow... well, I agree with her, she thinks that we should try to leave the past in the past," Tara said.
Tara was twisting her fingers together and focused on her hands in her lap, so she missed Dawn's shocked look until the girl gasped, "Faith and Xander dated!"
"No! Well, not exactly dated. It's just better if Spike doesn't know -" Tara broke off as one of the old floorboards creaked. She was sure that with the luck of the Hellmouth, Spike would be standing there.
Instead, Gunn nodded and smiled. "She's going to shower. I didn't want
to hang around outside her room so... if you could just send her down, I'll
go see if we have any leftovers. She shouldn't go on whatever Xander has
planned without eating."
As Gunn headed down the stairs, Dawn leaned over to Tara and giggled. "He has it bad."
~~~~~
It had been heaven to shower alone. Faith had changed into a pair of workout
pants and a black camisole. She assumed Cordelia had supplied the toiletries.
Most were trial-size samples, but she had been grateful for the
mascara and lipstick, even though they were obviously the free gifts offered
with a fragrance purchase. She had felt naked without makeup and could now face
Buffy's team and their justified hostility.
Faith heard the music as soon as she left her room. She followed the soft guitar and a sweet smoky voice to a small parlor in front of the now-defunct elevators. It had a homey look but she figured Angel spent few of his daylight hours there since wide floor-to-ceiling windows looked down over the front drive. The singer had his back to her and his audience consisted of Willow's girlfriend and Buffy's little sister.
He sang, "Through the storm we reach the shore
You give it all but I want more
And I'm waiting for you
With or without you
With or without you
I can't live
With or without you [1]"
"Faith." Dawn interrupted his song and Faith couldn't have been more surprised when she saw that the singer, who turned quickly, was Lindsey McDonald.
The lawyer looked ten years younger without his corporate suit. He was well-tanned and his sun-streaked hair fell into his eyes. As he pushed it back, she noticed a beaded turquoise bracelet around his wrist.
"Um, hi," Dawn said, with a ghost of her sister's smile. She waved nervously and looked to the blonde beside her.
"You're looking well," Lindsey said. He appeared relaxed as he watched
her step further into the room, but Faith could almost see the wheels turning
behind his eyes. Apparently she was a bit of a surprise to more than just
Angel.
"I'm Tara. We met before... when... you weren't yourself," the blonde woman said with a sly smile.
Faith returned the smile. The shy girl had hardly been able to speak to Faith
when she thought Faith was Buffy and Faith appreciated Tara's attempt to lighten
the atmosphere. The dark Slayer felt awkward and she was
consciously trying not to make fists. Circling around Lindsey, she still hung
back, not wanting to appear threatening and unsure of just how relaxed she should
try to act. She put both hands behind her and clasped them tightly together
so she wouldn't look as nervous as she felt.
Desperate to break the growing silence Faith said, "So... does anyone know what's going on?"
"Being an ex-evil lawyer," Lindsey drawled and winked at Dawn, "I'm kind of out of the loop. But I think that the out-of-town team is planning to take down Wolfram and Hart."
"Oh, no." Dawn bounced. "We... " She looked at Tara and at her nod continued, "That's not in the plan. Xander promised Angel the lawyers are his. We're just going to use the Olaf maneuver on Glory."
"Okay," Lindsey said to the nodding, bouncing teen. He looked at Faith, who was now in front of him and a little to the left of the sofa that Dawn and Tara were on. Faith answered his raised eyebrow with a shrug.
"Glory..." she said. "Angel said that she killed Buffy." Faith winced as she saw pain in the girl's eyes.
Tara put an arm around Dawn's shoulder and said, "No. Buffy defeated Glory - we all thought she was dead. Buffy died to keep the walls between the worlds intact. Glory had already started to lower them and Buffy used her life force to heal the breach."
"But now this Glory is back?" Faith asked.
"Having a hellgod in your debt could be useful in many ways. It looks like the firm has either taken her on as a client or has a client in need of her abilities," Lindsey said.
"So, why am I here?" Faith perched tentatively on the arm of the sofa.
"You and Xander are going to bust Glory out, Spike is going undercover, and once we get her out of their wards, Willow and Tara are sending her to the world without shrimp," Dawn said.
"Huh?" Lindsey and Faith said together.
"Oh, there's a world without shrimp, and a world of perpetual Tuesday, but Willow thought that would be too cruel even for Glory." Tara said.
~~~~~
Lilah stationed the remaining four Anubians inside Glorificus' chamber. There
was little danger of her wreaking havoc in her earlier manner as she still stood
in the center of the room in almost the same position as earlier. The building
was almost as secure as normal so Lilah's biggest concern was that some internal
threat would use the hellgod's vulnerability to discredit her. She knew Gavin
had remained in the building, so she gave
orders that permitted him to visit but that would prevent the Diva from being
taken on anymore unauthorized field trips.
The silent jackal-headed demons had refitted the room after her earlier morning tantrum. It was once again an elegant boudoir filled with frilly amenities. Almost as an afterthought as she left, Lilah ordered the demons to place Glorificus on the divan.
She decided to stay close. Besides, she thought, this floor was much better
warded. Lilah ordered a sycophant to set up the conference room for her meeting.
Once everything was to her liking, she sent the last of the staff
home. It was hard to train help and she didn't want her 10:30 mistaking anyone
for an appetizer - his file said he was impetuous.
[1] With or without you - U2
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