Los Angeles, CA.
The law offices of Wolfram & Hart

January, 2005

Most of the male employees in the lobby stared at the group of mostly young women, as they came through the portal. And they were more interested in them, than the fact that they'd just come through a time/space tunnel like that.

Many eyes were glued on the attractive brunette, as she walked with a decided step to the front desk. (What wouldn't I give, to get me some of that...) or something similar echoed in the brains of said hormonal males.

"Welcome to Wolfram & Hart," the twenty-something redhead receptionist said, with enough good cheer to choke a dead horse. "How can I help you?"

"We're here to see..." Buffy started, but was interrupted by Cordelia. "We've got a standing appointment with the head vamp."

The receptionist smiled, "Of course, Ms. Chase. Mr. Angel is waiting for you in his main office." She pointed to the left, "If you'll just take the express elevator, it'll take you right to..." But Cordelia and Lara didn't wait for her to finish, as they headed right for the lift.

As they began to pile in, Vi looked back. "I guess we'll have to take the next one-"

"That won't be necessary, Ms. Lepete."

Vi jumped as Kennedy spun towards the receptionist, who had seemingly appeared next to them. "How did you know her last name?" the brunette Slayer demanded.

The perky smile stayed exactly the same, "It's my job to know these things, Ms. Michaels." She motioned to the elevator, "The carriage can easily hold all of you."

The young Slayers looked, and sure enough saw that there was now indeed room for all of them in the lift. "How the-?" Molly asked.

"Who gives a rat's arse!? Now get in!" Cordelia demanded, before she grabbed Vi and Molly and pulled them inside. Kennedy jumped in too, as the doors were closing.

Minutes later, the group was met at the top floor as soon as the doors opened. Lara smiled slightly, when she saw a rough-looking man in a banged- up leather jacket. "Chase."

The man that Vi had taken a liking to in the picture back at the Croft manor, hugged his sometime-girlfriend. "You doing okay, Red?"

The Tomb Raider just shook her head, as they parted. (Not till Xander's safe again...)

Chase Carver took Cordelia in a big hug next. "He'll be alright, woman, don't you worry that pretty little head of yours. Got me?" he told her, as the guy looked at his friend's ladylove. "He'll be up and around in no time, and besides! If something did happen to Harris, who the hell would I cheat at poker with?" Chase tilted his head towards Lara. "Her?"

Cordelia smirked at him. "Xander will beat this, I know." She poked a finger in his chest. "But after this is over, make no mistake - I'm going to go right back at being madder than hell at you!" the young woman said, before she started across to the main office.

"Oh come on," Chase said as he followed her. "It wasn't all that bad! Was it?"

Vi stopped Lara. "What's she mad at him for?"

Lara gave her a tiny grin. "Five words; Xander. Singapore. Strip club. Alcohol."

Faith butted in, looking over at the two people walking away, "He took X to a strip club? What, did she find him stuffing one-dollar bills down a girl's g-string or something?"

"No, not that simple," Lara responded. "She's pissed that he got Xander drunk."

"So what?" Kennedy said in confusion. "Everyone gets drunk every now and then!"

Lara turned to the girl. "Yes, but not everyone has the type of family history with the damn stuff that Xander does! It was the first time I'd seen him even go near hard liquor, from the first day I met him," she told them, as the gang moved to catch up.

As the group was just about to reach the main office, they heard an excited shriek. "Cordelia!"

No one moved, as a blond woman excitedly hugged the former Queen C; they were all either too shocked, or didn't know who she was.

"Oh my God!" Harmony declared. "It's been ages since I last saw you! While you're in town, we simply gotta catch up. I know this great little boutique, you know, that..."

"Why the hell are you hugging me, vampire?" Cordelia said with venom, her hand curled around her gun - which was pointed at Harmony's stomach.

The vampiress let go, and looked at her in surprise. "What? Cordelia! I know it's been a while, but it's me! Harmony. Remember? We were best friends for seven years? Any of this ringing a bell?"

Cordelia just looked at her as she holstered the weapon, as if Harm was a piece of disgusting vermin. "Don't worry, I know perfectly well whose body you're inhabiting there..."

Then she turned her head to look at Buffy, "What was it you said to your old crush Billy Fordham, back during junior year?" Cordelia then remembered and repeated the words Xander had told her once, "Oh, right. You die, and a demon sets up shop in your old house. And it walks, and it talks, and it remembers your life, but it's not you..."

She turned back to Harmony, who was now very upset. "Xander eventually understood that with Jesse. And I understand it with you. So let's cut the touchy-feely nonsense..."

Cordy then leaned into the blond's face, "And what the hell, let's even pretend for a moment that you really *are* the Harmony Kendall I once knew. As I recall, she did bloody well everything she could, to destroy the relationship between Xander and me! So tell me - why would I want to do anything with you, other than put a bullet in your head before tossing you out of a window at high noon?"

The blond shrunk back, "Okay, it's obviously your time of month or something here...so we can catch up later..."

"Don't count on it, vampire," Cordy said icily, as she walked away.

"Damn, but that was cold! Wasn't that your best friend at one time?" Faith asked the former cheerleader.

"Once, maybe..." Cordelia responded, dismissing the past. "But I only trust one vampire. And that's Angel."

"What's that riff all about?" Buffy asked, as they went through the doors. "Xander always hated Angel, so why would his girlfriend like him?"

"Because we got over it," Angel spoke from his desk, as he got up. "Hey, everyone. Welcome to LA-"

"Wait, hold up here," Faith said in amazement, as she watched Angel and Cordelia greet each other warmly. "Are you saying that C's boy toy and Fang here are friends now?! Somewhere, Satan's gotta be getting himself a pair of ice skates!"

Angel just shook his head, "It's true enough though, Faith-y..." before he and Giles shook hands as a hello.

"How?" was all Dawn could think to ask.

"Yeah!" Willow agreed in complete disbelief. "I mean, he was always jealous of Buffy and Angel, and..." she trailed off at the look Cordy was giving her.

"As I recall, Xander got over Buffy fairly quickly," the half-Englishwoman said just as icily as before.

"It was after the fight he and I had, that time..." Angel added with a sigh.

~~~

Flashback

Hyperion Hotel lobby

October 23rd, 2001

"Oh, man!" Cordelia said as she ran into the offices of Angel Investigations, with the others right behind her. "Where the hell is the basement?!" she cried, looking around frantically.

"Over here!" Amy Madison yelled, as she flung open the old door leading down to the steps. Cordelia quickly followed her, with a very worried look on her face.

Gunn looked at Wesley, as they headed for the door. "You don't think this guy would be stupid enough to take on Angel, do ya?"

The former Watcher shrugged. "From what I was told, he's fought Angelus several times. If he can do that, then no doubt he..." Both men stopped, as they tried to look past the two stunned women at the top of the stairs.

Gunn was definitely surprised at what they saw. His so-called boss and that Xander kid were beaten and bloodied, lying on the ground; but both men were laughing their asses off.

"You would have loved it!" Angel told Xander with a chuckle. "Just seeing Spike whine like that, when he couldn't hit anything. Even Dawn made fun of him!"

Xander roared in laughter, "Come on! Little Dawnie? Oh man, how the mighty have fallen!" Xander looked at the ensouled vamp lying next to him. "Serves him right for kidnapping me and Willow that time. Lord, I would have loved to..."

"Ahem!"

The harsh noise caused the two men to look up, from their spot on the floor. They quickly saw Cordelia standing over them with her hands on her hips, and a very pissed look on her face. "Would one of you mind telling me, just what the *hell* happened here!?"

Xander raised his hand, and waved half-heartedly. "Hiya, Cordy..." He jerked a thumb at the vampire, "Don't worry; everything's copacetic, sweetheart. Angel and I just had some issues to work out."

Angel rubbed his jaw. "You know what? You have *got* to tell me the name of your sensei, Harris. Your punches actually hurt nowadays."

"Oh, really?" Xander grinned. "Then it was just luck that got you off Buffy, way back when you were evil soulless guy in that cemetery?"

Cordelia moved over to Angel angrily, before the Champion could answer. "What's the big idea, going at it with my boyfriend?" she asked accusingly. "You're a super-powered vampire, for God's sake!"

"Hey, Cordy?" Xander asked innocently.

What?" the former shopping addict snapped at once.

Xander looked up...straight up his girlfriend's leather skirt. "Are those really the thin blue ones, that I bought for you in Switzerland?"

Cordelia looked down at his grinning face. And only then did she realize she was standing almost directly over his head... "Alexander Lavelle Harris!" the woman yelled n anger and mortification, and blushed at the same time as she quickly moved away and started to stomp up the stairs.

"Come on, already," Angel said to him, as they sat up. "I got a first aid kit in the office..." He saw Xander wince, as he got up from a pain in his shoulder. "And maybe a drink to dull the pain?"

"Uh..." Xander started to say, but his girlfriend cut him off.

"If even one drop of booze touches your lips, then I won't wear what *else* you bought in Switzerland last week!" the harsh voice was back.

The look on Xander's face changed in an instant. "Got it, no pints of Guinness will be consumed here," he said, as Angel helped him up.

"Damn right you won't have any of that! Don't think I've forgotten about Singapore..." Cordelia hissed, before she went through the door to the lobby.

End Flashback

~~~

"So they finally had it out?" Faith spoke. "Okay, I get that and all, but now what I want to know is - how come Wes isn't drooling at the sight of Cordy here, like he used to?"

At that question Cordelia had to release a small laugh, while Wesley just shook his head. "I was very...green at the time," the man in question said with a shrug, when Fred looked at him strangely.

Cordy just shrugged too. "It's a fact of life, people grow and change." She looked to Buffy and Willow, "Well, most do anyway..."

"Cordelia."

Everyone turned to see who had spoken from the door. Cordelia smiled warmly. "Amy!" She walked over to her best friend from Sunnydale during senior year, and hugged her intensely. "Any word yet?"

Amy looked up at her. "That's exactly what I was going to ask you," the blond half-demon said, as she wiped a tear away. "I mean, Xander is...and here I am, more worried about where Jon is and what he's doing. Selfish, much?" the woman asked, before she broke down in tears, not caring what the others from Sunnydale thought.

"Hey now, chin up," Cordelia said softly with the British-ism, as she held her. "It's going to be all right, ya hear me?" she then told her friend. "You didn't do all that stuff, you were possessed by Jasmine. And when we save Xander's lame but cute ass, we'll go find Jonathon and tell him what was really going on then... "

Amy nodded, as she sniffed. "Okay."

"After all, I can't have my maid of honor dateless for my wedding, now can I?" Cordy finished up.

"No. Right. We'll, we'll save them both," Amy whispered, as Cordelia helped her to the couch next to Fred. The Texan trying to add some comfort to her old friend, as well.

"Wedding?" Buffy asked a bit *too* calmly. "You and Xander are..."

"Getting married?" Cordelia told her. "Yes. We're getting hitched, tying the knot, doing the old ball and chain bit. We, we finally set a date before all this shit happened..."

"Just tell us where and when," Angel said with a smile. "And we'll all be there!"

"Yes, yes, uh, we all will be as well," Giles added. "Although God knows, it took you two long enough to finally take the plunge..."

Cordelia looked at him with a frown, before an impish smile appeared on the 24-year-old's face. "I know, I know. But you just make sure you have your tux ready, Giles. I want you to look your best to impress those stuffy old Englishwomen, when we walk down the aisle and you give me away!"

Giles nodded, unfazed. "Of course."

"*Giles* is going to give you away?' Dawn asked in amazement.

Cordelia gave a small snort. "It's better than trying to track down my dad again, wherever the hell he and Mom have been hiding out since 1999. Besides, I would still prefer Giles anyway..."

Cordelia was so ready to add a small insult to Willow about the wedding, when she saw how close the woman was to tears. Kennedy was holding her as they walked out of the room, unnoticed by anyone but her, so she stayed her tongue.

And for a moment, Cordelia felt guilt at the way she was rubbing it in that she and Xander had gotten closer than he and Willow ever had. But only for a moment...

She looked to Angel. "I need to see him."

"Of course," Angel said. "Wes, can you-?"

The former Watcher was up in an instant. "Follow me."

~~~

The office of Amy Madison

Willow sat down at the desk, putting her head in her hands as she did. Her thoughts a chaotic maelstrom, over the bombshell she'd just heard. (Cordy and Xander are getting married?!)

Kennedy closed the door, as her girlfriend started to sob. "It'll be okay, Willow," the young lesbian said, trying to reassure her lover.

"No it won't, Kennedy," the redhead responded in a low voice. "Because it hasn't been alright for years now. It's, it's worse than when I found out they first had sex, back in high school..." She sighed, "I mean, I cried in that stupid bathroom stall for half an hour!"

Kennedy sat on the desk next to her, her face sympathetic. "You really loved him, didn't you?"

Willow looked up at her. "How could you tell?" she asked sarcastically. "God, Kennedy! He was Xander! He was always supposed to be there for me, to catch me if I ever went wrong..." She shook her head. "He just took it the wrong way, right from the start."

"Took what the wrong way?"

"What happened in Sunnydale back then. We only did what we did because we wanted to protect him!" Willow exclaimed. "He was just a normal guy, and he should have had a normal life. He didn't have any fighting skills, or magic powers to fight the vampires with. Neither Buffy or I could have handled it, if something would have happened to him!"

"Well, you got what you wanted, right?" Kennedy told her with a frown. "He has a...relatively normal life, away from the Hellmouth. Granted the girl he left with is a mega-bitch, but he's safe. Or at least, he was."

"I know," Willow sighed. "But I...I guess I just always took it for granted, that he would always be there. I remember back before Cordy lost her money, that she had been talking about going to college out of state. And I'd thought for sure, that no way in hell would Xander ever leave with her..."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I was totally certain that he was just a fling to her. And I had me no doubts, 'cause I'd lost count of how many boyfriends she'd had in high school! But to *marry* him?" the former magic addict asked, starting to tear up again. "It just makes it so...final. I'm just as sure now as I was about that then, that Xander's not ever coming back to us...to me."

Kennedy could do nothing but hold her, as the young woman cried over lost chances and dashed hopes.

~~~

The first thing that the group noticed when they approached the door, was the people guarding it. A French and Asian girl, both looking about 19 years old. Some were surprised there were none of the guys in the dark blazers and suits that they'd seen all over the building, but not many.

Both girls straightened up, when the group approached. Cordelia went to the tall blond French girl, "Thank you for watching over him, Lisette."

The girl spoke, and only a few understood her. "Il est famille."

The Chinese girl spoke then in her native Cantonese, but Cordelia seemed to understand it as she replied in English, "As well as can be expected, thank you."

"How can they understand each other?" Faith asked in a whisper to Wesley.

"All the Slayers here use a translation spell, that's Wolfram & Hart commercial property. But Cordelia and Lara speak most of the languages the girls use. It takes too much time to have everyone learn English..."

Buffy's eyebrow went up. "How come we don't know any of the Slayers here?" When Wesley didn't respond, Buffy was going to press the issue...when she saw something she thought she'd never see.

Cordelia was in front of the door, and she was visibly trembling. Her cousin had to steady her, as Lara quickly whispered something into Cordy's ear. With a slightly shaking hand the future Mrs. Harris then turned the knob, entering the room with the others right behind.

There were no attempts to hide the sob that escaped Cordelia Chase, as they finally saw Xander Harris again after all these years.

He was strapped down onto a double bed. A long gash went from his left cheek over his nose to just short of his right eye, that had been repaired with stitches. Various bruises covered what they could see of him. His left arm was also in a freshly-made cast. And the sheen of perspiration on his face, made him look even worse.

They all watched, as Cordelia kneeled down and took her lover's right hand in hers. "Hey, baby," she whispered between the tears. "It's me, your little kitty..." She reached up, and moved some of his damp hair away from his face. "Honey, can you hear me?"

Lara turned slightly to Wesley, but her eyes still on her cousin. "Why is he strapped down like that?"

Wesley spoke softly, "The poison...ah, he's been going into seizures that, that are becoming more violent. That's what's responsible for his arm, I'm afraid."

Cordelia overheard and looked back as Wesley continued, "Last night...he started thrashing around, and it took three of the girls to hold him down."

"How long do we have?" Cordelia asked, as she clutched his hand tighter.

Wesley looked at her for a moment, before answering. "Nobody knows, to be perfectly honest. A day, maybe two at the most."

Dawn joined Cordelia at the side of the bed, while Buffy turned to Faith, Molly and Vi. "We'll get Willow to see if she can do a spell to find this demon. Faith, I want you to work with..."

"You're not in charge here," the Tomb Raider said, before Wes could open his mouth.

The 'Alpha Slayer' turned to Lara, "Well, someone needs to something!" The blonde pointed to Xander, unconscious in the bed. "You guys have like obviously failed miserably at keeping an eye on him-"

Dawn outwardly cringed, when she heard Buffy talk like that to Lara. The thing was that ever since the conflict with the First, Buffy had developed a huge take-charge mentality. And while it had worked then - it had not been of the good, on most occasions since.

The younger Summers daughter was then about to say something, when she noticed it. (Oh, boy...)

Cordelia had gone from sad to angry. And her eyes were glowing yellow.

"Buffy, please! Now is not the time-" Wesley said, aggravated.

"Yeah? When will it be the time then, Wes? When he's dead?" Buffy shook her head. "I'm the Slayer. This is my call..."

"Need I remind you that you're just *one* Slayer nowadays," Lara told her, trying not to get annoyed. "Do keep in mind you're not that special here, there's a good girl..."

"Don't try the superiority act with *me*, lady!" Buffy responded, by crossing her arms over her chest. "Where have you been for the last few years? Sitting around your huge mansion, while I fought to save the world?"

Molly and Vi shared a worried look between themselves, as they watched the two LA Slayers moving into position next to Lara. "Ah, Buffy, not to contradict you here - but maybe we should take this..." Vi started to say.

"No! We don't have time to argue," Buffy told them with determination. "And damn it, if Xander didn't have that ridiculous protection spell on him, I'm betting Willow could cure him in heartbeat!"

"Buffy, for heaven's sake, this poison is immune to all magic!" Wesley said, getting upset. He was going to at least try to get Buffy out of the room, when Cordelia silently rose behind the blond Chosen One. (Oh, bloody hell...) the Englishman almost wet his pants.

"Buffy."

The Slayer turned around, and was shocked to see the transformation in Cordelia. She had a look of pure hatred on her face, but of course Buffy was more fixated on her glowing yellow eyes. "Get. Out. Now!"

"I'm not going anywhere," Buffy said, not sure anymore what was happening, but definitely not backing down.

On the sidelines, Lara knew what was coming; and she didn't know if she wanted to stop it or not.

A low growl escaped the half-Englishwoman before, with an impossibly quick move, Cordelia grabbed Buffy - picking her up like she weighed nothing. And then she threw the struggling Slayer over Xander's bed into the wall across the room, hard.

The rest watched in utter shock as Buffy slid down to the ground, leaving a rather large hole in the wall.

"Hold her!" Lara yelled, to the two LA Slayers. Without a word, they grabbed the 'Alpha Slayer' as she got up.

"Hey! Lemme go!" Buffy yelled, as she struggled with them. The Tomb Raider was just grateful that the stunned others were not making any hostile moves towards her cousin.

"Cordelia!" Lady Croft yelled, as she twisted her relative away from her growling at Buffy.

And then, even Faith backed away at the look on the former spoiled egomaniac's face. With the glowing eyes, and the rage evident, Cordy looked somewhat - animalistic. "Snap out of it right now, damn it!" Lara shouted.

Cordelia just looked at her cousin, letting out another growl and causing Dawn to back up in fear. The former Sunnydale people had no idea whatsoever what was happening...

"Cordelia!" Lara tried again. When that had no affect, the English noblewoman slapped her cousin hard across the face. "Come on, cuz, take back control. You can do it. Xander needs you to do it..."

The rest just watched, as the two members of the Croft family kept their eyes locked on each other.

"Pryce?" Lara called out. "Get everyone else out of here, right now!" Obeying orders, he started to do so.

"No way in hell am I going to leave *her* in here with Xander!" Buffy yelled as the two Los Angeles Slayers took her by the arms and legs, carrying her out of the room in a very undignified way.

"Give us at least an hour, Pryce!" Lara called after Wesley, before the door closed. Then as soon as they were alone in the room, Lara let Cordelia go. The woman just turned immediately, going back to Xander.

Still acting in tune with her primal emotions, Cordy climbed onto the bed, lying next to him. She looked around with predatory eyes, as if looking for any enemies - before she made a purring sound, as she nestled in next to her mate.

Lara just sat in the chair next to the bed with a big sigh and watched, as Cordelia started to weep silently against her betrothed, wrapping herself around him.

~~~

The people in Angel's office quickly stood, as Buffy was pushed into the room. "Get your hands off of me!" The two Slayers just took position outside the office, while the others came in.

"What happened?" Angel demanded at once.

"What happened?!" Buffy yelled. "I'll tell you what happened! Cordelia has finally flipped out completely!" the Slayer then shrugged off Dawn, as her sister tried to calm her down. "Plus, she's possessed by something! Her eyes were glowing and..."

"Glowing yellow?"

Buffy spun on Chase. "This has happened before?"

The man shared a long look with Giles, before nodding. "Bloody toffing hell. Sheba must be going nuts, if Cordelia is flipping..."

"Who the hell is Sheba?" Buffy demanded "And none of that "it's a long story" crap, either!"

"Buffy," Giles began. "Making it an order that way...doesn't change the fact, that that's precisely what it is. The link between Cordelia and Sheba is-"

"You *knew* about this, G?" Faith asked accusingly.

"Er, yes, I did. I helped them research it when it first happened," Giles said, not liking the looks he was getting from the two Slayers in front of him.

"Sit down, ladies, and I'll tell you all the quick version of what happened," Chase said, as he sat on the edge of Angel's desk. When all eyes were on him he continued, "We were in Africa, about four years ago. To make a long story short, we got caught up in a ritual to...well, *bond* people to some animals."

"Uh, who would want to bond themselves to an animal?" Andrew asked from the couch.

"It's done more often than you would think," Giles told him, before he looked to Buffy. "It's marginally like what that zookeeper was trying to do, way back when Xander was possessed by that, that confounded hyena spirit."

"So, Cordelia got possessed?" Dawn summarized. "Then why haven't you removed it before now?" she asked, wondering why Xander had never told her any of this in their email correspondence.

"Because," Chase responded, "It's not entirely the same as what happened to my old mate, back in high school. Yes, she's possessed in the strictest sense, but it can't be removed without death for them both! The bonding lasts for the term of a natural lifespan. Cordelia ended up bonded to a Bengal tiger cub, that she later named Sheba. The cub had just been born too, so it ended up thinking of her as its mother. Since Xander is Cordy's mate, Sheba also thinks of him as her father."

"Well, that's weird," Faith said slowly, turning it over in her head.

"You see, the thing is - when Cordelia's under extreme stress, she, she, she can fall into an animalistic mindset," Giles told them. "And, I don't think we have time to explain the full theory behind this. After all, it took us nearly a year of phone calls to work it all out..."

"She gets a few benefits from it, though," Chase added, as he ticked them off with his fingers. "Better eyesight, hearing, smell, reflexes, strength. On top of the Slayer thing! Basically, you don't want to piss her off when she gets that way. Only Xander, and sometimes Lara, can help her back out of it."

"So only high stress can cause this?" Angel asked, concerned for his friend.

"Well...there is one other thing," Chase said with a shrug, as he looked back at the vampire.

"And what's that?" Dawn wondered.

Carver just looked to her. "Whatever you do - never, and I do mean never, make a serious play for our boy Harris. Cordelia in that mode is *very* possessive about her fella. Hell, it's a bloody miracle she didn't kill Sara that time!"

"Sara?" Gunn asked, undoing his tie.

"Sara Pezzini is a police detective friend of Lara's, in New York. And not that bad-looking either, I might add," Chase said with a smirk.

He went on, "Xander was helping her out, by posing as a crime boss's spoiled rich kid, and Sara was his girlfriend in an undercover deal. But what they didn't know was that the real arsehole and his woman had a reputation for...having a rather large appetite for one another. Plain and simple, to keep their cover intact Sara and Xander had to...play the part."

"They slept together?" Fred asked, with an upraised eyebrow.

Chase nodded. "Cordelia was less than thrilled."

"I'll bet!" Faith whistled. "So, him and C broke up for a while?"

"No," Chase told her. "But like I said before, Cordy's sense of smell is a lot better. She understood that they did it only to keep their cover going, however since she could smell Sara all over Xander like that..."

A faint smile appeared on the man's face. "Our pissed-off bird locked him up in their bedroom, and they didn't come out till about two days later. When Cordy had gotten Sara's scent off of him completely..."

~~~

The Mountain View Apartments building, Room 312
Two blocks from the Hyperion Hotel

Darryl Gazaway lit a cigarette, as he kept watch on the video monitors along the wall. And the 39-year-old man was disgusted with what he saw.

On all the monitors were various views of the old hotel built in the 1920's. Every entrance was covered, front to back; even the parking garage was being monitored.

The residence itself was not what made him upset, though; no, it was the more than 100 Slayers that lived and trained there.

He had records on all of them, as well as logs as to their comings and goings. Who went to what school, who liked to patrol with whom, and even where some of them went to meet their boyfriends or even girlfriends for a grope or a quickie.

And Gazaway couldn't touch any of them.

They were too well protected by that *damned* vampire and his forces. In the good old days of the Council, the *real* Council, they would just take a new Slayer away from her home city, maybe stage an accident to make the family believe she was dead.

And even back only a few years ago, they would have stormed that building and taken every last girl away for proper training. Supervised by Gazaway himself, of course.

After all, a few Slayers accepted their role and the need to be removed from their old lives, but others...others had to be forced. It was Gazaway's view that once a girl had been chosen, she was no longer a person with any human rights. She was a tool, plain and simple.

But then along had come the likes of Rupert Giles and Buffy Summers.

Gazaway blew out smoke, as he wondered how the hell any operative of the Council could have let his Slayer, his *bloody* Slayer order him around! Let alone carry on with not one, but two vampires...

In his opinion there was only one thing Buffy Summers had ever done right, and that was to have her witch friend cast that spell to activate all the potentials. But with the Council facilities gone or now unavailable, it had been impossible to rein them all in.

So far, with the new setup they'd had only one real success. A few others had not been able to handle the transition from a potential to what a Slayer had to become, and so regrettably they'd had to be put down.

"Sir?"

Gazaway turned to face the young Watcher, who had come into the room. "What!?" he pointed to the monitors. "Can't you see I'm in the middle of another boring night of Slayer 90210?"

"Sorry, sir..." the youth babbled, as he held up the phone. "But our man inside the law firm has some news."

The older man grabbed the phone in annoyance. "What is it, Markson? Did Harris finally croak already?"

#Ah, no sir,# the reply came back.

"Then what the bloody hell are you bothering me for?"

#Ah, well sir - it seems that his wife-to-be showed up via a portal, a little while ago.#

That caught Darryl Gazaway's attention. "She's in LA?" he asked, surprised. "Was there anyone with her?"

#I wasn't there to witness their appearance,# Markson responded. #But I'm told that a few, and I quote, 'hotties' came with her. One of them could be Slayer Summers, but...#

"Summers!" Gazaway snorted a laugh. "Ridiculous! Slayer Chase hates that bitch as much as we do. No way she would ever start talking to her now..." He thought for a moment. "Can you get access to where they are in the building?"

#Sorry, but no chance of that, sir. They're up in the main offices, and I would be unfavorably noticed at once if I went there. Plus, there's another slight problem. I'm supposed to be out of town for a court case, for the rest of the week. If I want to maintain my cover, I have to keep the appointment.#

"Yes. I see. All right, go on your little trip," the man ordered his underling. "We'll stake out the law firm. With luck, we'll soon get the third highest Slayer turned over to our side."

#Based on the reports of her activities to date, sir, I don't think she'll ever come back into the light,# Markson commented.

"Who the hell ever said I was going to give her a choice?" Gazaway asked rudely, before he hung up the phone. Going back into the living room area he addressed the others, "Get ready, we have a Slayer to grab."

As the others immediately started preparations for the capture, a figure walked out of the other bedroom. A tall, dark-haired 21-year-old woman dressed in a pair of plain black jeans and a black T-shirt.

"Is it true?" she asked Gazaway with an almost orgasmic smile. "A new Slayer?"

"Yes, she's one of your sisters," Gazaway responded, as he began to check the dart guns. "And a powerful one, at that. She's had a lot of training. It's Harris's girlfriend."

The woman shook her head in disgust. "That pathetic bitch! A Slayer with a boyfriend? She doesn't have the right for anything like that! While she should be fighting alongside *me*, she's globe-trotting with that imbecile!?"

She looked at Gazaway with glee. "I'm *so* glad I was able to beat him up a little, even if you didn't let me finish the job. I looked at the research on them; instead of doing her duty, they were taking ballroom dancing lessons!"

Gazaway smiled at his *properly*-trained Slayer's attitude. "Don't worry, you'll be able to teach her the error of her ways soon enough."

The woman gave a grateful nod to her mentor, before she thought out loud, "We'll have to leave the area to properly train her for her destined role."

"That's why we have the facility in Mexico," Gazaway told her with a sneer. "You know first-hand the wonders they can do there with a disobedient Slayer."

The Slayer grinned madly at the thought of it. "Well, it'll be a pleasure to go back to help in her training..."

~~~

Cordelia opened her eyes, to find her cousin watching her. The former Sunnydale princess carefully extracted herself from Xander's limp form, and stood up from the bed. She kissed her man on his sweat-covered forehead, before turning to Lara. "I zoned out, huh?"

"We pretty much figured beforehand that you would," her cousin said, as Cordelia sat across from her. "After all, I practically had to sedate you for the trip to that blasted school."

"Did I cause much damage?" Cordelia asked, cringing.

Lara tilted her head to the opposite side of the room. "Other than the Slayer-sized dent in the wall over there, not much."

"Buffy," Cordelia guessed with a shake of her head.

"Buffy," Lara acknowledged.

Cordelia rested her head on the table, before turning it to look at the man in the bed. "I can't lose him, Lara. I...just can't."

"You won't, Cordy," Lara told her. "We've been in tight spots before. I mean, what about when we had to escape Quill's underground city when the Midnight Squires attacked?"

Cordelia snorted. "Oh, you were just pissed that that stupid Eye of Shaherettin told Quill that you and him would become lovers someday!"

"Hey!" Lara exclaimed. "At least *you* didn't wake up completely naked in that weird bedroom!"

"Oh, please!" Cordelia waved her off. "You woke up in that huge four-poster bed with silk sheets and everything." She pointed to herself, "I, on the other hand, woke up dressed in a set of veils that would make a porn actress blush! I swear to God, if Xander had seen me before I changed back into my own clothes...Quill wouldn't be alive today!"

They shared small smiles before Lara asked, "You still want to go at it the way we talked about?" At Cordelia's nod Lara added, "It's a shot in the dark, as it is..."

"But it's the only lead we have," Cordelia told her firmly. "You read Xander's notes, same as I did. Those bastards are watching the school. All I have to do is put in an appearance, and it'll be like flashing a huge neon sign that says, 'come kidnap me'."

Lara moved over to Xander, and she placed her own kiss on his forehead. "You know, he would never agree to you going through with this. That's why he tried to do this behind our backs."

"I know," Cordelia told her cousin as she stood. She looked at Xander's prone form before she said in an accusing tone, "And don't think that it's gonna get you out of being yelled at when this is all over, Dweeb Boy!"

"Come on then," Lara said with a shrug. "Alex should be here soon."

"You go on without me," Cordelia told Lara. "Tell Buffy and Willow to come down here. I need to talk to them."

Lara looked at her in concern. "Cuz, are you sure that's wise? We don't really have time for you to beat up on those two..."

"Don't worry," Cordelia assured her. "No blood will be spilled. At least, not by me."

~~~

Angel's private office

Everyone looked up from the various groups they had spilt into, to watch as Lara came back in. The Tomb Raider walked right to the two women. "Summers, Rosenberg? Cordelia wants to have a little chat with you both, in Xander's room."

"Why?" Buffy demanded. "To try to throw me around the room again? To make Willow cry some more?"

"Buffy!" Willow hissed. The redhead didn't want anyone to know how badly the day's events were getting to her.

"Look, ladies," Lara said with much scorn on the 'ladies' part. "Cordelia needs her mind to be clear and focused during the rest of this. You three are going to have a nice discussion, with no yelling or fighting. She has something she needs to say to both of you. And you *will* listen to what she has to say. If you truly value Xander's life, you'll do this for her."

Slayer and witch stared at each other for a minute, before moving for the door. Lara quickly moved in front of Kennedy. "Just those two."

The junior Slayer was about to object, when she saw Willow shake her head at her. "All right," Kennedy said, as she got in Lara's face. "But if anything happens in there to Willow, I am personally going to come looking for you. And Heaven help you if I do."

Lara just turned away from her, and took a seat next to Chase. "Now she's gone and put the fear of God into me, hasn't she?" she told her so-called boyfriend sarcastically, as she laid her head on his shoulder.

Chase chuckled, as he wrapped his arm around her. "Don't worry, Red, I'll keep the big bad Slayer away from you."

Kennedy could only shoot them both murderous looks.

~~~

Xander's room

Willow tried not to run to his side, as soon as she first entered the room. Buffy had warned her to not show any major reaction to the state Xander was in. Whatever game Cordelia was playing at, it would do none of them any good to see her go all nuts again.

The brunette woman had moved her chair to the head of the bed facing the door. And she had Xander's hand intertwined with hers. "Please sit, both of you," the daughter of David and Rose Chase told them, and motioned to the two chairs set across from hers.

No one spoke for a minute, as they stared at each other. Willow found herself watching how Cordelia kept stroking Xander's still hand with her thumb.

"We don't have a lot of time," Cordelia said finally. "But we have to make time for this."

"Time for what?" Buffy demanded.

"Well, first, I have to 'fess up and say insulting you two has kept my mind occupied on something other than this," Cordelia tilted her head towards Xander. "But Buffy, Willow...we need to talk about what's been going on with you two and Xander."

Willow picked her head up in surprise. "What are you talking about? Nothing's going on between us! We haven't even talked to him in years!"

"That's what I mean," Cordelia told them, as if it was obvious. "When we moved away from Sunnydale, do you two know how much hurt it caused him to leave like we did?"

"You're blaming *us* for that?" Buffy asked her shocked. "You're the one who dragged him off to England back then!"

The brunette sighed. "First, I didn't drag him anywhere; he told me he wasn't planning to ever let me go away alone. And second...what I meant was the fistfight you started with me, Willow. The 'but my Xander-shaped friend can't leave!' thing from you as well, Buffy. You two went out of your way to make him feel bad for leaving. And after you two had pushed him out of your little Slayage club..."

"We just didn't want him to get hurt!" Willow interjected. "Can't you understand that? He was always jumping into the fight, when he had no real powers to help him..."

"Neither did you, Willow," Cordelia said calmly, surprising the redhead.

"Willow had her magic thing going then. She could handle herself!" Buffy shot back.

"Okay, if we're going to get technical," Cordy said musingly. "Willow, a vampire can snap your neck in less than a second. You're telling me you could have muttered a paragraph-long spell, or gone on a trip to the Magic Box in that amount of time?"

Willow looked like a deer caught in headlights. "Well, no. But no vampire ever got that close to me during a battle!"

"Really. What about when you were trying to restore Angel's soul, that day? And what about those Sisterhood demons in that cave, the year after that?" Cordelia asked her, going on a trip down memory lane. "Did your spells kill any of them?"

"No..." Willow said slowly. "I just did a cover spell, back then."

"As I recall from what Xander told me, you created a fog so the two Slayers could save the day," Cordelia summed up. "You yourself did nothing to help destroy or incapacitate those things. In fact, Buffy and Faith had to protect you the entire battle. So tell me something, Willow; just how many vampires or demons did you, yourself, kill back in the old days when Xander and I were around?"

As Willow just kept the lost look on her face, Cordelia pressed another point. "And what special power did Oz have, that made him so valuable?"

"He was a werewolf!" Buffy told her bitterly.

"So, what, he changed into his wolf form for the fights?" Cordelia asked. "He used his super-powers to rip the heads off of vamps?"

"Of course not," Buffy said hotly. "You know perfectly well that we had to lock him up, whenever he turned all wolf-y..."

"So then," Cordelia interrupted. "There were two people, Willow and Oz, who had sod-all skills in a fight and made you have to protect them, instead of fighting the bad guys..."

The dark-haired Slayer looked into Buffy's eyes. "Therefore please tell me why when Willow told you that she was going to stay in Sunnydale for college so she could help you slay, you hugged her. But when Xander wanted to help and was technically a better fighter than Willow was, you shut him out?"

Buffy looked surprised, as if she had never even thought of it. "I...look, we just..."

"You just what?" Cordelia asked.

"He is and was a normal human," Buffy said finally.

"And he kept getting hurt," Willow added.

"When?" Cordelia asked. When the two women looked at her with blank faces, Cordy asked again, "When exactly was he badly hurt? The only time I remember my boyfriend getting seriously injured because of the Slayage...was when he got his arm broken, that day Drusilla and her vamps attacked the library in 1998."

She thought for a moment, "Other than a bruise here or there, he never got hurt slaying vampires or fighting demons. So why do you two insist otherwise?"

"There were lots of times-" Buffy started to stay.

Cordelia raised an eyebrow. "Name them."

"What?" the blond Slayer asked, surprised.

"You're so sure about this, let's hear details, Buffy," the brunette ordered again. "Tell me the exact times and places that Xander was hurt with more than a minor injury during the fighting. And keep in mind that with one phone call, I can have his entire medical history for that time Fed-ex'd here in less than 6 hours to check."

"Well, I..." the oldest Slayer said, before she stopped to look in confusion to Willow.

"Having a hard time?" Cordelia asked them innocently. "You know what? I think you've told yourselves that line so many times, that you honestly believe it to be true without remembering what things were truly like back then."

Buffy had had enough. "Cordelia, sorry to burst your bubble, but what things were like back in high school...they were like the good old days, compared to what happened after you two left! I was there - I know."

At her once-again-raised eyebrow, the 'Alpha Slayer' went on, "You guys weren't there for ADAM, Glory, Willow's little ride on the wild side and the thing with the First. And most especially, that bastard Caleb!"

Cordelia nodded her head. "Angel's mentioned him. Said something about the attitude towards preachers being the only thing Liam, Angel and Angelus could all ever agree on..."

Buffy had a strange look on her face. "Whatever he told you, it wasn't detailed enough. That man was almost as evil as the Master - no, he was even worse, because he still had a soul! Look - two years ago, back before Sunnydale was scrunched, I made the worst mistake of my life. I led Faith and my so-called army of potentials into battle against that prick..."

The young woman briefly closed her eyes. "I was pissed at Giles, and didn't listen to Mr. Caution Man's prophetic words of wisdom; so it ended up a slaughter. Afterwards my people were either dead, in hospital or completely demoralized. And later when I was taking a walk alone, it was one of the few times I was *glad* Xander had left with you. Because knowing him - he would have been there on the front lines, and gotten himself killed..."

Cordy shrugged slightly. "Well, to tell you the truth, all that doesn't really matter anymore. If you two want to be his friends again..."

"Hey!" Willow yelled. "We-" she pointed to her and Buffy. "-are still his best friends!"

Cordelia let a groan escape, before she responded. "You said it yourself, Willow. You haven't talked to him in years."

"Like you would have let us get through to him?" Willow replied with spite.

"What?" Cordy asked with a laugh. "Willow, he's had his own email account for years! He has his own satellite cell phone too..." Her hazel eyes bored into the redhead's green ones. "Oz has called once or twice. Dawn's stayed in touch with him, and Giles talked to us all the time on the phone. Hell, he even stayed at the manor for a few days, when he briefly moved back to England then! You could have easily gotten the contact info from either of them at any time, but you never bothered."

Cordelia continued, "May as well face it; you two are not his best friends anymore. You haven't been for years." She pointed to herself, "Me, Lara, Chase, Alex, Hillary, and Bryce have all been there for him for the last five years. Not you guys."

The woman paused, then looked at both of them intently. "Back during the latter half of senior year, do either of you remember a week that Xander was out of school?"

Buffy frowned. "Maybe. But what does that have anything to do with-"

Cordelia ignored her as she looked towards the bed, "He would never admit it to you two, most likely. But a bit after I'd moved into my new house, I got a call at three in the morning one night..."

She turned and stared back at them. "It was Sunnydale General. Xander's dad had beaten him up after he got drunk one night. He was out of it from the pain pills for a day or so, but it wasn't either of your names that he called out in the middle of the night in that ambulance back then...it was mine."

"It doesn't matter!" Willow said with conviction. "When this is over, Xander is going to be moving to our school for good!"

Another laugh came from the girl opposite them. "Really. And exactly what, pray tell, is he going to do there?" She paused. "Teach math? Be a student? Wait on you two, hand and foot? What?"

Neither girl had any clear answer for her so Cordy continued, "Sorry to burst *your* bubble, but this is what's going to happen. When Xander's better, you guys will have to decide if you want to put in the effort for rebuilding your friendships with him. And if you do, then I swear - you both really have your work cut out for you."

"*We* do?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah, you do," Cordelia answered. "And to be honest, I don't know how you two can make it up to him. He owes both of you nothing. And we all know the glory days of the Slayer and her two Slayerettes are long gone now. He has his own personal Slayer these days - me. At best, you'll maybe be email buddies or something..."

She leaned into them. "But let me make one thing perfectly clear. If you two try to manipulate him or hurt him again...I will have no problem killing the both of you."

"You wouldn't do that," Buffy said at once. "You're a Slayer, you can't kill human beings-"

"Oh, that's where you're wrong. And that's the difference between us; I'll do whatever it takes, if I need to," Cordy said as she stood up. "I've done it once before, to protect him."

"You did what?" Buffy asked, still shocked.

Cordelia nodded. "In one of those godforsaken countries we visited...this old, rich tribesman saw Lara and me, and the big ponce decided he wanted us for his harem. And don't laugh; then and there, he could have gotten away with it..."

She reached down, and removed some stray hair from Xander's face. "So he came to the hotel room that the three of us were sharing...and he shot Xander. He just walked in at night, sodding well pulled out a gun and shot him as he was coming out of the bathroom. If Xander hadn't dodged it at the last second...the slug would have gone through his brain, rather than his shoulder."

At the girls' horrified look, Cordelia asked, "You've been told about the deal with me and Sheba?"

"Somewhat," Buffy said shakily.

"Sometimes..." Cordelia stated. "When I zone out, I can't recall a thing. Other times, I can. But when I saw Xander go down that night...." She trailed off for a moment, before going on. "When I saw his blood splatter onto the floor, I didn't care that I was waiting for him buck naked under the sheets. I just completely lost it."

She closed her eyes for a moment. "I took that guy out, with no weapons other than my own bare hands. In my dreams...I can still hear him screaming, as I killed him. It wasn't a quick or easy death, either..."

The young woman paused for a moment. "I've made my peace with it, sort of. But if anyone hurts my mate, I will utterly destroy them. Nothing can or will change that." She looked back at the Xandman on the bed. "He's mine, and I'm his. I'm going to marry him. And I'm going to have his cubs..."

"You mean his children," Buffy said with a frown.

"Whatever," Cordelia shrugged. "Like I said, he's mine and will be for the rest of our lives." A soft smile appeared on her face, as her enhanced hearing heard his semi-steady breathing. "All of us at the manor, we're his family and friends. And I take care of my family and friends; they're my pack."

Willow tried to make some sense out of all this. Cordelia was talking kind of like Xander had, when he'd been possessed by the primal hyena mojo all those years ago. "But you threatened to kill Harmony upstairs just now, before. Wasn't she your best friend for years?"

"Yes, and I did care for Harmony," Cordelia said with a sullen look. "But again for the record, that undead thing running around here is not her. It has her body, her memories, her voice...even the lameass sheep personality! But it's *not* her. And to call it her or act like it's her...that's like spitting on Harmony's memory. I'm not going to do that. And I really don't want to have to find her parents, and tell them that their little girl's corpse is working at a law firm as a vampire..."

She continued, "Whatever her mistakes, Harm deserved better. For a time back in senior year, I thought of getting past her distaste that I was dating Xander, and that - those two could have become friends. At least, I *think* Xan would have eventually gotten along with her, if they just gave each other half a chance. But that's not going to happen now."

She leaned down and kissed him on his still lips. "I'll be back when it's all over, baby. But right now, your little kitty has to go hurt some bad people."

Then Cordelia went for the door. "Stay with him for a few minutes if you want, but we have things to discuss upstairs in Angel's office," she said, before she left the room.

Willow was shocked now, as much as Buffy. "Do you think that story was true? About her killing that guy, I mean, all naked and stuff. It sounds like Faith's alligator story..."

Buffy slowly nodded. "If all that we've learned about that tiger and her is the real deal...then, yeah. You heard how she was talking."

"So, what do we do?" Willow asked the woman she'd fought beside for years.

Buffy sighed, as she looked towards Xander lying still on the bed. "I guess we better tone it down a little. At least, for now. I don't think that Xander would just ignore us when he wakes up, but if these people are Cordelia's pack..."

Willow shivered. "I remember back when Xander was possessed by that hyena. When all those other members of his pack came to rescue him. Buffy, Dawn and I had bad dreams about it for months after that!"

~~~

Sometime later in Angel's office

"Well, it's about time you got here!" Cordelia called.

Buffy, Angel and the others looked on when a short woman with the same body type as Willow came into the room, lugging a metal briefcase. After a few hugs with Lara, Cordelia, and Chase - the new arrival, who looked in her early twenties, asked Cordy, "How is he?"

The way she asked it, with so much emotion, Buffy guessed this was one of the people Cordelia mentioned a little while ago.

"Not good," Cordelia told the woman. Her voice trembled for a moment as she added, "They messed up his handsome face..."

"If we need to, we'll have Hermione take him to see Pomfrey, and everything will be okay. Nothing bad's allowed to happen to the old professor, after all."

"Ah, sorry to interrupt," Dawn said. "But are you Alex?"

The woman nodded, "Yeah, and I'm guessing you're Dawn, Xander's pen pal?"

"Hey, C," Faith wondered. "Is this chick a Slayer too?"

"God, no!" Alex Mack said with a horrified face. "Like I ever want that kind of lifestyle..." She turned back to her friend. "Not that you don't make it work for you, Cordy."

"So, you're a civilian?" Faith said, annoyed. "No offense, but we're going to need fighters for this, not..."

"I can take care of myself," Alex told her, equally annoyed. "And I could take you, any day."

"You and what army, babe?" Faith asked, getting in a combat-ready stance.

Alex just looked at her for a moment, "Oh, please..."

The next event shocked everyone, save for the part-time Tomb Raiders. Faith floated off the floor, seemingly all by herself.

"What the hellllll!?" the 'Beta Slayer' yelled out, as she kicked her legs trying to reach the ground. "What are you doing, you bitch!?"

"Oh, you just had to start with the 'B' word, didn't you?" Alex made a small movement with her head, and Faith flew through the air, crashing though the office doors out into the lobby beyond.

"Hey! Get off me, you über-skank!" Harmony could be heard from beyond the office.

Faith just ran back through the doors, ready to tear the new girl apart. Alex showed no fear, as she quickly pointed at the oncoming Slayer...and yellow bolts of electricity shot out of her finger, knocking the second- oldest Chosen One off her feet.

"Do you give up now?" Alex asked, looking down at Faith. "Or should I hang you upside down in the hallway, for a while?"

"She gets the point!" Buffy said, as she reached down to help her sister Slayer up. "You give up, right?" she said as more an order than a question.

"Yeah, fine," Faith growled as she got up. "Now, what the hell are you?" she demanded to Alex. "A demon?"

"You don't smell like a demon," Angel said as he went near her, getting a little too close for comfort.

"Oh my God, is that your best pickup line?" Alex asked him. "And back off buddy, I already have a boyfriend!"

"You got back together with Hunter?" Lara asked at once.

"Well, it sure felt like we were back together, two nights ago," Alex answered with a shy smile.

"Um..." Dawn said, hopelessly lost. "Why did you call Xander the old professor?"

"He taught me how to play pool at the manor," Alex responded to her question. "He's very good."

"Really?" Willow asked. "I know he used to play at the Bronze a lot, but he wasn't that great at it..."

"Oh, trust me luv; he's really good with the cue nowadays," Chase said. "He wipes the floor with me, whenever we play."

"Of course he does," Alex told him. "After Cordelia's 'helping' him practice before that ESPN 2 tournament two years ago, of course he's gonna sink every damn ball on the table!"

"There is definitely no need to bring that up again," Cordelia ordered her, as she blushed slightly.

"I'm still trying to get Lara here to play it with me," Chase told her.

"In your dreams!" Lara said, as she smacked his arm.

Chase just grinned at her. "Oh, actually, we do much better stuff in my dreams, Red."

"Come on, what is it?" Dawn asked amused.

"Well..." the blond man started, but was stopped by Cordelia. "Chase, don't you dare!"

"Fine, then!" the man said. "I won't say it out loud..." He then bent down and whispered into Dawn's ear. Cordelia blushed even more, as Dawn's eyes became as big as saucers as she looked at her.

"Ah..." the former Key stammered, not wanting to keep this topic going anymore. "Let's open the case, Alex! Time's a-wasting!"

The girl in question didn't move for a few moments, making Cordelia squirm a little longer. Then she put the briefcase on the desk, as Lara moved to Angel.

"That thing-" the Tomb Raider said, pointing to the 42-inch plasma TV on the wall. "-can do videoconferencing, I take it?"

"Of course," the vampire responded, as he pressed a button on his desk. A miniature keyboard popped out, at the same time the monitor came to life with a blue screen and a command prompt.

The senior Tomb Raider quickly typed in a long sequence of numbers that only Andrew seemed to understand. "Hey, wow! That's an English government secure line!"

Lara just pressed a finger to her lips. "Shhh. We just borrow it from time to time."

Alex finally unlocked the case, letting some see what was in side. Two ear and microphone devices with a tiny screen of some kind were sitting in protective foam. Also present were two short devices that looked like a hypo spray. One tube was empty, while the other was half full of a green liquid.

The plasma screen came to life, to show a scruffy, dark-haired Englishman. "Where are you guys callin' from?" came out of his mouth as soon as the connection came online.

"It's good to talk to you too, Bryce," Lara said, annoyed.

"We're at Wolfram & Hart," Cordelia said to the screen.

"Ah, right," Bryce nodded. "The connection on this end shows a lot of firewalls. Someone must have a lot of secrets."

"Or else are just really paranoid," came through the TV, from an unseen woman's voice.

Alex stepped up to Cordelia and Lara. "Annie? What, are you hiding or something?"

A short, dark-haired woman dressed in only a long shirt appeared into the frame. "No, Alex, I was trying to get some sleep. I trust you're keeping out of trouble?"

"You know me, Annie," Alex said with a laugh.

"Yes, I do, that's what worries me. You better be careful, I don't want to have to explain things to mom and dad if something ever happened to you!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Alex mumbled. "I already got lectured by Ray."

"Uh, back to the matter at hand, ladies?" Bryce cut in. "The good news is that the isotope lasts 24 hours. The bad news is that the satellite will only be in the right orbit for another four."

"Can you gain access to any other ones?" Cordelia asked him. "We have *got* to have some sort of backup."

"I can maybe piggyback through NORAD. But that's a big maybe," the man told her.

"Do what you can," Lara told him simply.

Bryce nodded and moved to sever the connection - but then stopped. "Oh, almost forgot. Cordelia?"

"What?" the woman asked.

"Martin called. They won 73-48."

Cordelia let a small smile come to her lips. "When Xander wakes up, I will be *sure* to tell him."

"Roger that," Bryce said as a farewell, as the screen went blank.

Chase shook his head. "Man, is he going to be brassed off. They finally make it to the championship game, and he's injured!"

Before anyone could ask the question, Cordelia told the former Sunnydale people, "Xander's on a park league basketball team."

Lara picked up the hypo syringe from the case, and rolled up Cordelia's sleeve. "Hold still, cuz..." A moment later, she injected the greenish liquid into her arm.

Cordelia closed her eyes for a moment, her face showing a disgusted look. "God, Daniel was right. It does feel weird!"

"What did you just do?" Angel asked.

"I injected Cordelia with a nonlethal radioactive isotope that was engineered by an ally to the American government. It's designed to shield people from scanners, for a time," Lara told him.

"Is that safe?" Fred asked before Wesley asked, "You're going to break into someplace?"

Lara answered Fred, "For normal humans or Slayers, it just breaks down naturally after a certain amount of time."

"And no, it doesn't block much of our tech," Cordelia answered Wesley. "It was made for a ship's internal sensors. And no, I can't tell you what kind of ship, but if you know what to look for - a high end satellite can pick it up."

"The people we're going after aren't dumb. They are in fact really smart bastards," Chase said. "They know how to block most magical ways to track a person."

"Why would you need to..." Buffy started before she understood. "You're going to let them take you!?"

The others reacted negatively to this idea, but Cordelia just shrugged. "It's the fastest way to find them. To save Xander." She pointed to Buffy, Faith and the other Slayers present. "That's why you guys are staying here, out of sight."

"If these people are hunting Slayers for their new order, or whatever, why shouldn't we come along and kick their asses?" Kennedy demanded.

Lara and Cordelia exchanged a look, before the former cheerleader spoke. "Because I'm one of their primary targets."

"You're what?" Faith asked in disbelief.

"Somehow, these idiots know I'm a Slayer," Cordelia said. "Xander's contact told him that they had plans to kidnap me, since the other two most experienced Slayers..."

"That would be you two," Chase said, pointing to Buffy and Faith.

"...would be too much trouble to try to get to," Cordelia finished.

"I really don't like this, Cordy," Buffy said firmly. "You just putting yourself out in the open, in the hopes that they kidnap you? What if they get away with it? I should be the one to..."

"No way in hell, Buffy," Cordelia told her sharply. "You're not the only Slayer in town anymore. And these assholes hurt *my* man. It's my right."

"Don't worry your blond head about it too much," Chase told Buffy with a merry smile that she instantly hated. "As soon as Cordelia gets taken, we follow her trail right to the bad guys, and then you can kick as much ass as you want."

"Are, are you sure about this, Cordelia?" Giles asked her.

"Yes Giles, I'm *majorly* sure," she responded, the old American slang resurfacing. "My better half might die because of those assholes!" Cordy told him, as she slammed a fresh clip into her Beretta. "They're going to learn the hard way, what happens when you mess with me or mine."

Cordelia then reached into the case and tossed the other hypo syringe, with the empty tube, to Alex. "You ready?"

The blond woman nodded silently.

"Well then," Cordelia said, turning to Angel. "Where's the garage around here?"

~~~

Main Wolfram & Hart parking lot. Basement Level A

Cordelia walked out of the elevator, heading to the car she wanted. Angel's Mercedes SLK 320 Auto. It would do for what she had in mind. She just hoped that Angel had the darn thing insured.

Then again, judging by where he worked, he most likely even had his clothes insured.

//How do I let you talk me into these things?// Alex's voice came to her ears.

"It was the only place we could hide you," Ms. Chase said, as she got in the car. And it was true; with Alex in her liquid state, she fit perfectly inside the crystal pendant that Cordelia now had around her neck.

Back when she'd first gotten her powers - the young woman could morph whenever she wanted, but her liquid mass stayed the same. But now years later, with much practice, she could shrink her mass to very small proportions, for a limited time. It had come in handy getting past a few locked doors over the years, and Cordelia felt it would again.

//Even for me, this is a little cramped,// Alex responded. //Plus I can hardly hear myself think, with your heart beating so damn fast!//

"Tigers get excited when they go hunting," the brunette said, as she started the car up.

//But you're not a tiger,// Alex reminded her.

"Don't let appearances deceive you," Cordelia declared, as the tires squealed and they shot along the ramp to the street above.

TBC...