Title: Picking a new path.

Author: Nodakskip

Rating: PG-13

Beta by: Theo

Continuity: Everything Buffy, AU for Angel people. Took some stuff from the Angel ep 'Birthday'.

Summary: A disillusioned Xander has to pick where his future is going to go, after Sunnydale falls.

---

Los Angeles, CA

May, 2003

Xander Harris felt nothing.

All through the bus ride from the huge crater that had formerly been Sunnydale, he had become a void; an empty shell, almost. Something that had kept on going with the mechanics of life, but lacked the necessary spark that differentiated a human being from, say, a zombie for example.

Because SHE was dead.

Anya Jenkins - his former betrothed - had been killed 19 days ago, saving the life of Andrew Wells.

And what really got Xander's blood boiling, was that no one - apart from him - seemed to be truly mourning her loss...

His friends had tried to talk to him about it, but to no avail. None of them had really cared about Anya the way he had, no matter what they said. And finally, they'd all left him alone like he wanted.

And throughout his journey to the City of Angels, Xander Harris felt nothing.

---

The basement car park of Wolfram & Hart, Attorneys at Law

"Good afternoon, Mr. Harris."

Xander kept his distance; he didn't know for sure what this being in the tight mini-skirt really was, and given his demon magnet status it was better to be safe than sorry. "Afternoon," he replied carefully, as they walked towards the elevators. "Is the big cheese up yet?"

"Mr. Angel is currently in a meeting with Ms. Summers and Ms. LeHane," the blond woman told him. "However, Ms. Summers asked that you be escorted up as soon as you arrive."

"Thanks," Xander said simply, as he went into the elevator.

"Just doing my job, sir."

---

The outer lobby of Angel's office building

Ding!

The vampire Harmony Kendall looked up from her desk, as the elevator chimed. She already knew who was going to come out, since she had been alerted to his arrival.

"Xander, hi..." the blonde woman said carefully, as the man walked towards her desk. "Uh, you're not going to try to stake me again, are you?"

"As much as it would really make my shitty day...for some incomprehensible reason, Angel asked me not to," Xander told the much-relieved demon. "But don't think for a second I'm forgetting about your attempts to kill me and my friends in the 'dale, back then. And if we ever meet outside this building? I'll put six bullets into your head, before I drown you in holy water..."

"Well, sorry!" the undead woman exclaimed, as she threw up her hands. "I'm a vampire now, remember? And you guys were the Slay-gang...you should know the program by now! And God, even when we were back in high school you-"

Xander's face took on a VERY nasty look. "Don't."

"Don't?" Harmony asked in confusion. "Don't what?"

"Don't say stuff like that," he told her seriously. "Because you're not the real Harmony Kendall. She's dead, and has been for four years. You, you're just a demon that's set up shop where she used to live..."

Vamp Harmony backed up, as Harris edged closer. "What the hell, I never liked Harmony. Fact is - she was a complete pain in the ass, to be brutally honest. The only time she ever acted like a person, was when she helped us fight the Mayor at Graduation. And for her one act of bravery, her corpse gets used as a plaything by Spike? There's no justice in this world..."

Harmony didn't take that kindly. She pointed a finger at the carpenter and told him quickly, "I was SO not a plaything! I happen to be a Master vampire!"

"Sure you are. And I just got started on a blood-only diet! Come on, YOU'RE a master vamp? One who's now working as a bimbo secretary, for Spike's grandsire?" Xander quickly retorted.

"Why, you-!"

"Really, Xander..." Both human and vampire stopped at Wesley's voice behind them. "Must we have this childish display in public?"

"I don't recall asking or caring what you think, Wes," Xander told the man simply, as he turned away from Harmony.

True, Xander might have shown more respect towards the ex-Watcher, but then it wasn't his hospitality that the Sunnydale gang was enjoying. It was Angel's.

Also, the young man was more than a little miffed over how the British guy had instantly assumed Xander was the same person he'd been in high school - apart from the eyepatch. While Xander was supposed to be in awe, of how big of a badass Wesley had become?

(Screw that.)

Xander may have had more than a few sour spots in high school, but at least he'd never attempted to sell out the rest of the gang while under threat of losing his kneecaps.

(Plus, there was all that drooling over my ex. Nothing better to have made me dislike his limey ass,) Xander had to privately admit to himself.

"Hey, everyone," Harris said, as he and Wesley entered the boardroom.

"You feeling okay, stud?" Faith asked from her seat near the bandaged Robin Wood.

"Painkillers are doing their job, Faith-y," Harris told her, as he sat down in an empty chair. (And, thanks; at least you weren't hypocritical enough to come up to me on the bus, and say how sorry you were for my loss.)

Angel checked a sheet in one of the folders he had in front of him. "The doctors tell me that they should be ready for the transplant tomorrow night."

Xander nodded. "Dea- sorry, Angel. I want you to know, that despite how intensely I very much hate saying this...thank you."

"You're welcome," the ensouled vampire responded. "It's just one of the things that we can do now, with this place's resources."

Buffy looked at her oldest male friend. "The last of the potentials should be released from the hospital in a few days. Then we can all join Giles and the others in England..." She was still a bit edgy about their...discussion...on the bus earlier.

"Good to hear," Xander said emotionlessly. Truth be told, he was feeling burnt out and didn't even know if he was going to bother leaving the U.S.

The meeting went for a while, discussing how the firm could best assist in locating newly-called Slayers. It was the main sticking point; as no one knew if there was some hidden catch to this deal that the Senior Partners had dished out to Angel.

Faith and Xander were the main ones not to want the law firm too involved in the Council's activities.

If it all went south at some point, they didn't want Wolfram & Hart too deep in bed with the good guys.

---

The outer lobby

A few hours later

"Now, you look like you could use a drink."

Xander looked up from the plasma TV on the other wall. "It's Lorne, right?"

"Correctamundo, Mr. Gloomy Sourpuss," the green demon said, as he sat down across from Xander. "Need a friendly ear?"

Xander looked at him in thought for a moment, before he just shrugged. "There isn't much for me to do right now..."

Looking through the windows to Angel's office he saw Angel, Wesley, Buffy and that Fred girl talking. "We're just cooling our heels, till the new Slayers get out of the hospital. And then..."

"And then off to merrie olde England?" the demon filled in for him. "Land of the bangers and mash?"

"Yeah, off to England..." Xander replied, amused for a second before the general apathy set back in. "No clue as to what I'm going to do there though, actually. My luck, I'll get sent to some remote place to search for new Slayers-"

"Important work," Lorne said.

"Yeah," Xander said to the anagogic demon. "But as I said - with my luck, I'll get sent to some really remote place. Maybe the land of Narnia? Or possibly even Middle Earth, to get my ass kicked..."

Lorne grinned. "Now you, my friend, have a unique outlook on life!"

Harris ignored that. "Trouble is from what Giles has learned, the First only killed off the big boys and their potentials. About fifty percent of the Watchers' facilities and personnel that were underground, off the radar, are still intact."

The lounge demon leaned forward. "And you think you're going to be unimportant?"

Xander sighed. "Don't know how much of the backstory you know, but my friends have had this thing for quite a while now, for me to be out of the fighting. During the big fight with the First, Slay-gal sent me off on babysitting duty with her little sister. Granted I'd lost my eye by then, but still I have to wonder..."

Not wanting to hash all this out at the moment, Xander changed the subject. "You're the head of the Entertainment division now, right?"

Lorne tilted his head slightly. "Guilty as charged."

"I need to do something, Lorne. Get away from everyone here. Any suggestions? This is LA, there must be something going on tonight," Xander said. "Something to take my mind off maybe becoming Captain Dunsel."

When Lorne raised an eyebrow at the term, Xander added, "Pop-culture reference from Star Trek. Probably way too 1967 for you."

"Oh," the former Host said, before he smiled. "Well, sugar-pie, there's a billion things to do here in LA on a Friday night. Anything in particular catch your fancy?"

Xander shook his head. He really didn't feel like being the one-eyed man people stared at within a nightclub, or something. He then stopped mid-musing, as he saw Harmony walk out of Angel's office with a stack of papers. (Of course.) "Hey Lorne, can you get me tickets to a TV show taping?"

"Shouldn't be hard. What studio?"

"Show was on NBC last I heard, so I assume theirs," Xander mused.

"You never know in the TV biz, kid," Lorne replied. "Some shows are sold to other networks. Damn shame too, in some cases. What show did you have in mind?"

"The one that a former girlfriend is on," Xander told him. "Cordy."

Lorne whistled. "Next to Friends, sweetikins, that's one of the top shows out there today! It'll be taped at NBC, for sure. And who's this woman on that show that you know?"

"Cordelia Chase."

Lorne's eyes showed surprise at that name. "Wes's old flame?"

"Wesley?" Xander asked, surprised. "Huh. Never knew they dated out here."

"No, they didn't..." Lorne replied. "But I recall him telling Gunn that he dated her once, before they arrived in town."

"Drooled over her, maybe," Xander told him, amused. "But yeah, I think they went on one date back in the day. Tops."

"Well, anyway," Lorne said, getting up. "Let's head on over to my office, pilgrim, and see if I can't hook you up some tickets."

---

NBC Studios, Los Angeles, CA

Two hours later

Xander sat in his seat in the upper corner of the audience, trying desperately not to think of Anya's loss.

Lorne had managed to get the very last of the free tickets for the show taping. There wasn't much to look at for the moment, from his vantage point. There was a large moveable wall set between the sets, and the crowd. The show's logo 'CORDY!' was in a large decal on the wall.

So while he had time to kill, Xander tried to recall the last time he had seen Cordelia.

It had been way back when she'd first gotten her big break as the love interest in an action flick, if he recalled right. She'd invited him to the set one time, to see her in her emerging stardom. They'd then spent her day off from shooting, hanging out and putting the past to rest.

But that had been three years ago. Before he and Anya had gotten serious; and Harris had not seen her in person ever since. Outside of a few phone calls and some emails, plus one belated Christmas card, they hadn't talked at all.

But he had seen her. Xander had gotten the DVD of her movie, plus he had watched the sitcom she had landed every week. Granted, he'd had to TiVo it most of the time; he had been busy with Anya, work, or Slayage. Plus, since the show was on NBC the DVD box sets of the first two seasons were already out and on his shelf.

Even though, granted, his apartment shelf was now at the bottom of a crater.

Xander had to admit he was luckier than most there. When the entire town had just suddenly up and evacuated, he didn't need to be called 'the one who sees' to tell that the jig was finally up. One of his employees was taking off, so Xander had gotten him to take a few boxes of his stuff along. All his important stuff, including the box sets, had been waiting for him here in town to be picked up.

"You actually know Cordelia Chase?"

The loud, screeching female voice in the seats in the row under him jarred Xander out of his musings. Three young girls, he'd guess around 19 years old, were staring at a guy in his twenties.

"Not only do I know her," the guy said smugly. "I dated her in high school!"

Xander's eyebrows rose, as the girls oohed in astonishment. As Harris knew Cordelia had had a lot of boyfriends before they'd gotten together, but he didn't remember this guy at all.

"Yep," the loudmouth told the femmes. "And you know how her bio said she had only one serious boyfriend in high school?"

The girls nodded their head almost as one. "You were the guy who cheated on her?" one of them asked him.

"Hell, no!" the guy said. "I, Chuck Martins, would never cheat on a girl like Cordelia! That guy was scum. It was all before I met her..." The man leaned in towards the girls. "Of course - once I found out what he'd done, I kicked that loser's ass!"

(What the hell?) Xander thought as he listened. (This just went from interesting, to unbelievable! Ah, wait, of course. He wants to get one or more of 'em into bed tonight...)

"Good!" one girl said. "From what I read, he sounded like a major creep!"

"Oh, he was..." Chuck said. "In fact, she switched schools to get away from him. You see - that asshole started to stalk her," Chuck kept talking. "So Cordelia changed over to Fondren High. It was an all-girls private school-"

That finally caused Xander to laugh. (Dude, check your facts before you...) He stopped mid-thought, when he saw the girls and Chuck looking at him.

"What are you laughing at, creep?" one of the girls demanded.

Xander just shrugged. "Cordelia Chase never switched high schools during her senior year."

Chuck didn't lose his cool, as Xander talked; the girls on the other hand, scoffed at the one-eyed man. Harris then added, "And just for the record, Chuck, the all-girls school near Sunnydale was Kent Prepatory. Fondren was no-"

"And just how would you know?" Chuck smirked at him.

"Because I'm the guy whose ass you kicked, for cheating on Cordelia," Xander replied. "Name's Xander Harris?"

The girls broke out into laughter, as Chuck suddenly went pale. "Right," the one right below Xander's seat scoffed. "Cordelia Chase went out with a one-eyed freak like you? Try something a bit more believable-!"

Xander took out his wallet, and showed his mini-diploma to the foursome - at least, those who bothered to turn around. "Xander Harris; Sunnydale High, class of 1999." He then looked at the weasel. "And Chucky? I got some questions for you, like when exactly you got together with Queen C..."

When the girls looked at Chuck, he just shook his head. "Ignore him, he's obviously crazy-"

"Am I?" Xander asked, feeling more alive than he had in weeks. "Well, you may be right. Hey, you guys are probably wondering what happened to my eye, aren't you? Everybody does. Well, what the hell - the truth is, a few weeks before Sunnydale was sucked into the earth, I was at a vineyard one night - and met a crazy priest, who liked to kill people..."

The girls went pale, as Xander went on. "Long story short, I saved a 19-year-old lesbian from Reverend I-Hate-Women, and as thanks he gouged out my left eye with his thumb. Pretty gross, I gotta tell you. I spent ages in the hospital. Lost my depth perception. And then, Cordy's replacement Anya - the woman I'd left at the altar, but still loved - she got killed, during the big earthquake. So tell me, guys - would all that qualify me as crazy?"

Chuck and the girls looked sick, and would have tried to get away from Xander. But before the discussion could go on, the lights dimmed and a set of lights in front of the logo covered wall light up. An announcer came out, and told them he was going to introduce "Cordy's" stars.

"Gregory Danne."

"Elliott Sims."

"Carol Wright."

The audience clapped for all of them with earnest, Chuck and the girls forgetting about the loony right above them. Then when the last name was announced, the show's main star, the place erupted in a frenzy.

"And of course, Cordelia Chase!"

As Xander was applauding, the three teenage girls started screaming. "Cordelia, we love you!"

Harris had to cover his ears as the obviously-deaf man in his sixties next to him, started yelling and applauding as well. The group of guys in the first row made the most noise; Xander had seen fraternity sweaters on all of them, as they came in.

(Guess the audience approval doesn't need to be faked...) he thought, as Cordelia took the microphone. And Xander guessed she couldn't see past the first two rows of seats, because of the blinding lights.

"Thank you, everyone!" she told the crowd. "Thanks for coming to the show tonight!" The crowd erupted again as the cast left, and the crew moved the wall and set up the cameras.

As he watched the show, Xander unexpectedly found himself enjoying watching the episode being taped. (Thanks again, Lorne. This is probably just what I needed...)

It was a typical sitcom plot. The main female lead (Cordelia) unexpectedly had two dates, and tried to go on both of them on the same night without getting caught. And it was also rather amusing to watch, as Cordelia and Carol Wright kept flubbing their lines during one of the end scenes...

---

After the taping was over, Xander though about leaving. But deciding to avoid the crowds, he waited along with a few others at the bottom of the audience bleachers to see Cordelia when she came out.

"Hey, where did Chuck go?" one of the girls asked.

"It's fairly obvious," Xander told her.

The girls spun around, and were horrified to see that the lunatic from before was now up close and within their personal space. "What do you mean?" one asked, as they edged away.

"Think about it for a second," Xander told her slowly. "When Cordelia comes out and has no clue who the hell he is, he knows he isn't going to get any action from you or your two friends here. Plus, there's always the chance I would have been waiting for him, outside the building-"

"You think he was lying to us to get laid?" another one of them asked. "No way!"

"Yes, way!" Xander replied in a mocking tone. "Trust me, you guys would have fit in real well with the rest of Cordy's sheep, back when we were in high school. Besides, some guys will say they only have two nights to live if it'll get 'em laid..."

"Oh, but you're totally different," the third girl scoffed at him. "You're Mr. Nice Guy?"

Xander just shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I've never been that hard up for a date."

---

Backstage of "Cordy"

Cordelia Chase, TV star and former rich princess, was now dressed in a pair of black slacks and a white blouse with her hair in a ponytail. As she walked down behind the apartment set, the man named Elliott Simms called out to her as he was leaving. "Great show, Cordy!"

"Thanks, you too!" the brunette called back, as she turned to wave to him. When she turned back her assistant, Nev, was standing by her side with his trusty PDA. "Okay. There are stars, and there are stars, and then there is you!"

Cordy smiled at his little suck-up. "God - that is sweet, Nev. Am I paying you enough?"

"Well, as a matter of fact..."

"Good," Cordy said, cutting him off. "What's cooking?"

Nev quickly checked his PDA. "Okay. You got a costume fitting. The producers want to run some ideas past you, for next week's show-"

They reached the bleachers, and started at the far end for her adoring fans. Cordy took a pen and pad from one of the frat guys and said, "Hi, how are you? What's your name?"

"Uh... Phil," the frat guy stammered out.

As Cordy signed the pad, the guy couldn't seem to move, and could barely accept the items back from her when she was done. His buddies just patted their star-struck friend on the back, while wishing they'd remembered to bring their copies of the 'Cordelia' issue of Maxim...

Nev talked, as Cordelia quickly went through the line of fans wanting autographs. "You wanted to record that breast cancer PSA, but tomorrow is pretty thoroughly booked. Maybe next week-?"

"No, make it tomorrow," Cordelia told him, as she leaned her head in towards a fan as another snapped a quick picture. "I wanna get it on the air, already..."

A few rows up, the three teen girls were heading for the exit when one of them stopped. "Hold up..."

"Why?" another one asked. "We don't have a camera, so we can't get a photo-"

"No," the first one said. "Look, the creepy lunatic is still around!"

The other two looked, and indeed Xander was still there. He was at the end of the row of fans, leaning against the wall with his eye closed. "You guys want to watch him get tossed by security?"

"Oh yeah..." the first girl said with a grin.

"Thanks for coming," Cordelia said to the last group. "Hope you enjoyed the show..." She then trailed off, as a look of absolute shock and horror hit her face - from recognizing someone from her past. "Oh my God! Xander?"

Everyone watched, stunned, as the TV star jumped over the railing and hugged the fan at the end of the bleachers. When she jumped back again Cordy looked to the security guys, "Don't worry, he's okay!"

They nodded and backed off, as Cordy dragged Xander came down the stairs to the studio floor. "You big dweeb!" she told him. "What the hell happened to your eye?"

Before he could answer Cordy added, "And why didn't you tell me you were coming tonight? I could have gotten you backstage! Of all the boneheaded..."

As the pair walked away, the three girls watched - very surprised. "Huh," one of them said. "I guess Creepy Guy really does know her-"

"Uh, you think then - that everything else he told us...was true?" asked another.

The trio looked at each other, before instantly sprinting for the front door.

---

Cordelia's Dressing Room

A short while later

The former couple came in, after Cordelia sent Nev to see what time the producers wanted to talk to her. "My God, Xander," she told him, as they sat down on the couch. "I see on the news a few weeks ago that the good ol' hometown vanished into a hole in the ground - and I can't get a hold of anyone! And then you show up with an eye patch...what the hell really happened in Sunnyhell?"

"Oh, the normal stuff, if you can remember that far back," Harris said with a sigh. "The First Evil took out a lot of the Watchers and the potential Slayers..."

"The who took out the what?"

"Okay, try to remember. Senior year, I think I told you about the First Evil? The thing that tried to get Angel to off himself, during Christmas?" Xander told her.

She thought for a long moment. "Wait, I...you mean that thing with all the ghosts of the people he'd killed?"

"Yeah," Xander replied. "Well, it came back and brought an entire army of uber-vampires with it. It wanted to end the world..."

"Like they always do!" Cordelia sighed, remembering clearly her years up north. And they were not happy memories, either. In fact - most days, she repressed that she'd ever lived anywhere except LA, the humiliations and setbacks still too hard to deal with.

"Right," Xander agreed. "The First, however, also went after the Watchers Council and the potential Slayers, kind of wanted to make sure no one picked up after Buffy and Faith was taken out." When Cordelia's clueless look stayed, Xander added, "You remember how Kendra was said to have been taken from her family, to be raised by the Council?"

"Uh, very little," the Hollywood star replied. (And it's not like I WANT to remember, either!)

"Well, trust me, she was. Turns out the Watchers had a lot of young girls in their care that could maybe be Slayers one day," he told her. "The First killed the ones that the Council thought could be the next Slayer. Then it went after the ones that Giles had sent to Sunnydale."

"Big battle?" Cordy asked. "Lots of death?"

"Oh, big time on both accounts," Xander answered, the nightmare of Anya's death making him lower his head. "Plus, during the battle Willow did a spell that activated all the potentials world-wide."

"Activated?" Cordy asked. "You mean, what?"

"Buffy and Faith aren't the only Chosen Ones now," he said. "There are a lot of Slayers out there, these days."

"Well, joy to the world!" Cordy said in her typical fashion, as she leaned into the cushions. "As long as they're not all psychos like Faith - then it's a good thing right?"

"Believe it or not, Faith has mellowed a lot," Xander told her, as there was a knock on the door. "She's one of the good guys again, too."

Snorting Cordelia opened the door, to see Nev standing there. "They say the fitting shouldn't take long, and the producers would like to talk to you now."

"Okay, I'm coming," Cordy told her assistant. "Xander? I should be done in an hour, you want to wait for me?"

"Sure. Haven't got any other plans for tonight."

"Good," she told him. "And when I come back, you're telling me what the hell happened to your eye!" She turned to Nev, "Can you talk to security, get him a pass?"

"Right away," Nev said, as he went to conference with the right people.

"Just sit tight here till he gets back with your pass, alright?" Cordy told her ex. "Security gets grumpy if you don't have one around here."

"As you wish," Harris said, as he leaned into the couch. He closed his eye again and started to meditate, as Cordelia marched out.

---

Angel's office, Wolfram & Hart

The next day, 2:45 pm

"Where the hell is Xander? Has anyone heard from him?" Buffy demanded from the others.

"No," Gunn said from his chair, disliking both her attitude and the Slayer personally. "Haven't seen your boy since yesterday morning."

"He's not my-" Buffy cut herself off.

"Robin and I haven't seen him either," Faith said from her spot, trying to keep the peace.

"Oh! Lorne said he gave him a ticket to a TV show taping last night," Fred said, as she came in the office.

"Really?" Buffy remarked. "Did he say which one?"

"No," Fred replied. "Lorne's been out of the office all day. I only just caught him on his cell for a moment, before he went into a meeting about some demonic boy band-"

"Hey. Heard you guys were looking for me?" Xander Harris asked, as he came into the office.

"We were worried! We haven't heard from you at all since yesterday..." Buffy said, trying not to sound to condemning - but failing miserably.

"Why's that a problem?" Xander asked. "I wasn't aware that this was a prison. And you don't think I can handle one night in LA on my own?"

"Of course you can!" Buffy said quickly. "It's just - I wanted to keep a close eye on everyone, for the moment."

"Plus, you're almost late for to be prepared for your surgery," Angel commented.

"Hey, trust me Dead Boy," Xander said at once. "There's no way I was ever going to miss getting my eye grown back..." He looked at Buffy and Faith, as he sat on the arm of the chair Gunn was sitting in. "But before we get into that, I have to tell you guys something."

"Something happen last night?" Faith asked him.

"Yeah, sorta," Xander said. "Thing is, I went and saw Cordy's show get taped live-"

"Wait, you went and saw Wes's old girlfriend's show?" Gunn asked. "Man, but that girl is hot! Makes the little general wanna stand up and salute, if ya know what I mean..."

Xander just shook his head, at hearing for the second time how Cordy was Wesley's old girlfriend. "Well, anyway, I hooked up with her after the show and we went out to eat at some restaurant - one that I had to get a jacket for, to even be seated in..." He didn't know how this idea was going to go down with these people. "Turns out one of her assistants is leaving at the end of the month, for a job with a talent agent. And she asked if I would be interested in taking over, after he leaves."

"You want to stay here in LA?" Buffy asked, trying to hide her inner joy. (I just knew he could have a normal life!)

Xander just shrugged. "Guess so, for a while anyway. And no need to sound all excited about putting me out to pasture again, Buffy."

"Boy toy?" Faith asked with smirk, as Buffy's face went red with embarrassment. "You really ditching us to go hang with the TV stars?"

Xander returned her smirk. "Well, she asked. And I never could turn down a beautiful woman; remember that night in your hotel room?"

This time Faith's cheeks went scarlet, as Robin stared at her curiously. "So, you're going to stay for sure?" Buffy asked, trying hard as hell to sound neutral.

"Yeah, what the hell," Xander said, easily telling that Buffy was happy. "Cordy's heading to New York Sunday night, to rehearse for a week. It's her second time hosting SNL, actually. If I feel okay after the surgery today, I can grab a seat on the NBC plane ride tomorrow night..."

Buffy Summers was silently ecstatic. (At last! Finally, something good has come out of all this...)

---

London, England

Fourteen months later…

Dawn sat with Vi, Kennedy and several new Slayers as they filled the TV room. They were taking full advantage of the Council's large satellite dishes out the back, that could pick up a lot of shows and networks from all over the world. Dawn and many of the American Slayers loved it that they were able to see their favorite shows from the States, without having to watch Sky or BBC2 or whatever.

While they were waiting for the next new episode of the FOX series 24, they sat watching the E! Gossip show.

"…sources tell E! that Brad and Jennifer's marriage is going great, and that there's no truth to the rumor that they might be splitting up," the perky young blond host said.

She was standing next to the large screen, showing the two stars' faces. The show's host then turned slightly, as another camera showed her off to the side. Instantly, a large superimposed image of Cordelia Chase appeared at the top of the screen.

"And in other news, a close friend says that the mystery man that has been seen with Cordelia Chase lately..."

A clip of Xander and Cordelia walking and talking down the red carpet at the Golden Globes was shown. "…is her old high school ex-boyfriend, Alexander Harris. Representatives for Cordelia have previously stated that the star hired him to be her new assistant last year, after her last one departed. And apparently, while during high school they were a couple, now they're only close friends..."

The host smiled as she came back on the screen. "Cordelia herself is unavailable for comment, but her old friend Laura Prepon from 'That's 70'Show', had this to say…"

A clip of Laura at a FOX press junket was put on screen. "Oh, please, they're just good friends," the redheaded actress said with a shrug. "Some people simply need to get their minds out of the gutter, there's nothing romantic going on with Cordy and her ex!"

Linda, a young American Slayer, turned to Dawn. "Hey, why don't you call that Xander guy, and find out what's really going on?"

"Because like Laura said, nothing IS going on," Dawn said with a shrug of her own. "If Xander was dating anyone, Willow and I would know about it."

Marcie, another Slayer, asked, "So - what about that report in the 'Sun' that said they were acting very affectionate with one another last month, while out at a restaurant?"

"Oh, come on! You're paying attention to what's printed in the tabloids now? They're just friends, you guys!" Dawn said firmly. "I know! End of story!"

---

NBC Studios, Los Angeles, CA

The main set of "Cordy"

"And that's a wrap for tonight, everyone!" the director said. "Good rehearsal, I'll see you all here on Thursday for the final shoot!"

The cast and crew started to leave. "So what did you think, Xander?" Cordelia asked, as they walked off the set.

Xander followed her towards the exit. "It was okay, but the jokes seemed a bit flat. Watered down, maybe."

"I know..." Cordelia groaned. "I will NEVER understand why we have to have the 'Will & Grace' writers write our part of the crossover! They don't know our characters!"

"Mark's trying to get them to let our guys retouch it," Xander told her with a shrug, as they walked towards the row of TV star trailers.

"Well, tell him to call in some favors or whatever if he has to, but make sure someone does something about it!" Cordelia grumbled. "The network's going all out at promoting the stupid crossover, so it may as well be done right!"

"Gotcha, Cor. Anyhow, Peter told me to tell you that either way, we'll know by the end of the day tomorrow," Xander said as he held the trailer door open for her.

However, the talking stopped as soon as they both were in Cordelia's trailer. And to Xander's semi-surprise, the TV star grabbed him into a passionate kiss as soon as the door had completely shut. Something she did when ever she was upset about something with her show, which she couldn't control. She told him it took her mind off of the idiots at the studio.

So forgetting about everything else, Xander returned the kiss whole-heartedly as they fell together onto the leather couch.

The thing was that a few months after Xander had started working for Ms. Chase, the two had gotten into one of their old arguments. And as with how they'd first gotten together in 1997, after viciously screaming insults at each other - they'd started massively making out. Though this time, it had ended in sex rather than running from Norman the Bug Man...

Another key difference was that neither of them wanted a formal relationship at the moment, for many reasons. Cordy was much too busy with her career, and Xander was still hurting over Anya.

So they'd decided to stay at where they'd been, back in the school's janitor closets. Apart from the sex of course, which could possibly become a complication later on, but right now the 'friends with benefits' deal worked great for them. Someday it might or might not become more, but that was still a long way off.

And they had very wisely decided to keep it all to themselves. The only other person that knew about it was Cordelia's best friend, Laura. And she was not saying a word to anyone. As they did live in Hollywood, rumors abounded about everything. Rumors about everything and everyone that Cordelia knew, were constantly tossed around by the supermarket tabloids...

Hell, before Xander had entered the picture - the tabloids had linked Cordelia and her costar from her first movie, 'Hard Kill' as a couple. Even if the guy was already married, with three kids! But as always in Tinseltown, you just had to go with the flow. And so Cordelia let her publicist and others endlessly keep denying the rumors about her and Xander.

It was free publicity, after all.

THE END