I've been writing 'Price of the Wish' for a few years now, and gone through several beta-readers. The length of the story, and the glacial pace of my updates, seem to put them off, understandably.
I'll not post the first 23 chapters here, unless people really want to see them. They're all available at http://www.fanfiction.net/~robert2 though the version there is missing some edits. (I had copies on line in a few places, but some web sites have died, and others gotten out of sync). I'll be updating the ff.net version sometime over the next few days, before I upload chapter 24.
Instead, I'll just summarise the relevant plot points.
* Cordelia thought a moment longer, and wished she could go back in time, using her foreknowledge to make her life perfect while ruining Xander and Willow's.
* Soon after she got back, she decided the best way of doing that was to worm her way into the gang. It's so much easier to stab people in the back if they trust you. However, she's now put revenge off until the indefinite gfuture; for now, staying alive is much more important.
* The day she arrived in epsiode one, all the old prophecies were annulled. Most seers dies of fright, or committed suicide, but not without leaving new propjhecies, revealing that the world now faced a new and darker future.
*Willow and Xander noticed Cordelia was behaving oddly imediately, but didn't tell Giles. A brief quote to indicate their reasoning, irrelevvant details snipped:
* Over time, it has become apparent that the hellmouth is now growing stronger. The reason why has proved impossible to track down.
* When the Master tried to turn Colin, in vain adherence to the old prophecies, it went drastically wrong, letting a great terror touch the world, something to vile that even a third-hand copy of a satellite photo of its manifestation radiated mind-shattering despair. Every consecrated site in Sunnydale was reduced to a pit of boiling lava, and the dead rose from their graves, as the entity ripped open a deathgate (similar to the hellmouth., but differently tuned).
* One minor side effect of all this was the desecration of holy sites world-wide. Words of vile prophecy appeared on all of them, written in an inhuman tongue which drove mad all who read it. Since one of those holy sites was in Jerusalem, the Middle East is now lurching into war.
* The council split after vigorous discussion over how to handle this, and the new prophecies, led to a coup, led by Travers, who I've got being nominally a few rungs below the top job.
* For my purposes, the nominal top council rank is the board of directors, whose position is actually ceremonial, much like the British Queen - influence, but no real power. In fact though, unknown to the watchers, they are really just the latest proxy for the Board.
* Around this time, Cordelia realises something is using her wish to twist events onto a dark path, and goes to Gilkes. She tells him, and only him, that she has seen the original future, but claims that this was in visions given to her by a rogue watcher.
* In response to the crisis, the Board send their most junior member, Dame Margo, to Sunnydale to seal the deathgate - not close it, that's beyond their power, just to stop the dead wandering through it almost at will. Margo proves to be a magical powerhouse with a very forceful personality, despite being the weakest of the board.
* Within a few minutes of meeting her, everyone decides they don't want any more help from the board, save in the very last resort. It also becomes clear why the board normally don't take direct action - it would be extreme overkill. They're there as a backstop for if the slayer loses, and hell is unleashed on earth, at which point it doesn't matter if half a continent is reduced to molten slag.
* While in Sunnydale, Margo does a few things relevant to this chapter.
** She uncovers the true nature of Wolfram & Hart, and declares war on them, using her influence to get files revealing their corruption to evey honest judge and government official they can find. This doesn't destroy Wolfram & Hart, who fight back vigorously, doing serious damage to the watchers, but they have no idea the board exists. During the first clash, their LA offices were accidentally vaporised.
** She works out that Cordelia is a time traveller, but decides Giles doesn't need to know. For differing reasons, both Harmony and Xander were present when Margo interrogated Cordelia, but both were sworn to secrecy, a vow which proved to be magically binding. Cordelia gets clever, and negotiates a detailed contract with Margo, though it's apaprent to the reader that she's being manipulated.
*** Part of this contract includes the provision of an apartment, nominally inherited from the rogue watcher Cordelia invented for her lie to Giles. Cordelia stipulates that this just have the best magical protections possible, and gets rather more than she expected. Margo's idea of good defences turns out to include a spell that lets the apartment owners produce magical effects with verbal commands, and a door that can open anywhere. She also insisted on providing an extensive library.
** She declared, very firmly, that it was good for Buffy to have helpers besides Giles - her faction of the watchers having differing views of the slayer to his - and instructed him to train them properly, both in occult lore and in martial arts. She also manipulated Xander and Cordelia into swearing a key watcher oath, the great oath. Willow would have been included too, but was possessed by hyena spirits at the time.
* Also during this period, Cordelia's hosue is destroyed when the horror beneath wakes, because of the strengthening hellmouth. This battle leaves a crater half a mile deep. During this, Cordelia's mother dies, and she discovers her father may know about the dark underside of Sunnydale.
* In the previous chapter, Jenny Calender and her uncle attempt a tarot reading, but some dark force attacks them out of the potential future. They think they've defeated it, but spend the rest of the chapter being mind-raped. In the end, Enyos commits suicide, and Jenny's mind is wiped clean. That chapter was from Jenny's POV, so the Scooby gang have no idea what happened to her. All they know is that she's been acting oddly.
* Meanwhile, Moloch has been released onto the internet on schedule, but when he contacts Willow, Fritz and the rest, he uses the pseudonym I. G O'Lonac. Some of his other activities are different too: rather than an essay on Nazi Germany as the perfect society, there's an essay on why de Sade didn't go far enough.
There are also large chunks of plot I've not mentioned at all, such as what happened to Harmony, but they're not greatly relevant in this chapter, so now, the actual chapter, in four parts:
Xander smiled, and turned the page. All the really juicy bits might be in Latin, but that just meant he got to have fun speculating about what they were, and anyway there were plenty of dictionaries and grammar books here. With their help, he could manage to puzzle out the gist of the Latin, and satisfy his curiosity.
ôYou were right,ö Cordelia said, walking into their secret room.
ôI was?ö Xander said, hastily closing the book he'd been reading. ôOf course I was right. Um, what about?ö
ôMartial arts,ö she said, snatching the book from his hands. ôThe life cycle of the common succubus?ö
ôWe need to know how to recognise them,ö Xander said. ôYou been attacked again?ö
She didn't look hurt, but he was pretty sure she hadn't been wearing that top when she went out.. Either she'd found a bargain, or she'd lost more clothes to combat damage.
Cordelia pointed at the bookcase next to the kitchen door. ôMargo left us dozens of books on demon recognition, and yes, I was.ö
ôNeed any first aid?ö Xander said, standing up. ôI've been reading about that too,ö and not because of the perks. Buffy had slayer healing, but the rest of them didn't, and they all kept getting attacked, particularly Cordelia. As she'd said, they needed someone who could patch them up, and she wasn't the type, however hot she'd look in a nurses uniform.
ôOnly for my clothes. I ripped my top getting away.ö Cordelia said, then sighed. ôI don't know why you bother. All the explicit stuff is in Latin, and you can see better pictures in Playboy any day.ö
Playboy wasn't real though. Succubi were. He would never be pounced on by twin nymphomaniac gymnasts, but he might meet a succubus at any time, if he was really unlucky.
Smiling, Xander opened the book to page 217. ôThey don't have pictures like that in Playboy.ö
Cordelia glanced down at the the full colour plate, a desiccated corpse covered in bite marks, then quickly looked away. ôSuccubus victim?ö
Xander nodded. Succubi made for pleasant daydreams, but the photos made it very clear the reality was nightmarish.
ôDon't you forget it,ö Cordelia said. ôSo, when do you want to start?ö
ôStart what?ö
ôMartial arts,ö Cordelia said, as if it should have been obvious. ôI don't think Giles is delaying on purpose ...ö
ôBut it's not something he's comfortable about teaching us.ö Xander finished, ôand Willow isn't fit enough yet.ö
Cordelia scowled. ôShe's not trying hard enough. She doesn't really want to learn.ö
ôLike you didn't?ö Xander said, smiling.
ôDon't,ö Cordelia said sharply, and Xander shrank back in mock terror from her glare. ôRunning isn't enough, and we can't wait for Willow.ö
ôNoticed how it's always her Giles picks for the little errands?ö Xander asked. ôYou still sure you don't want to find another teacher?ö
ôKnow any who know about vampires and demons?ö Cordelia asked. ôThe ones in the phone book can only teach us how to fight people, not much use. Either we wait for Giles, or we use the books -- but no magic. We can't trust it.ö
ôThe books it is,ö Xander said reluctantly. A human teacher would be much better, but he couldn't afford to pay for lessons, and even Cordelia couldn't hurry Giles much. The books would have to do for now. Anything would be better than nothing.
ôSo, what do we need? You've been looking at the books.ö
ôA rolling pin, skipping rope, knitting needle, chair leg, and toy train,ö Xander said, straight-faced. ôNo, wait, that's for one of the advanced exercises.ö
Cordelia sat down, her eyebrows raised. ôYou serious?ö
ôIt's some medieval English style, invented by these guys called the Masters of Defence, and adapted by the watchers. It's very, um,ö Xander hesitated, searching for the right world.
ôOdd?ö Cordelia suggested. ôWhat's the point of that exercise supposed to be?ö
ôFlexibility, I think.ö At least, that was what the Latin proverbs the writer had quoted seemed to mean. ôPick up a random weapon, use it for a random time, then switch to the next one.ö
ôImprovisation. Like you might do in a real fight,ö Cordelia said. ôSounds practical.ö
ôVery,ö Xander agreed, ôonce you get under the tweed. There's a chapter on using bottles in bar fights -- how to pick the best one, how to break them safely, what to do once you've broken them û all in ye old English, but there's also several hundred pages of commentary, with footnotes.ö
ôWatchers,ö Cordelia said, smiling. ôThey can make anything dull. Where do we start?ö
ôChapter one,ö Xander said. ôBasic hand to hand stuff: deflecting blows, taking falls, what to do if you're slammed into a wall.ö
Xander hesitated. Cordelia might not like the next bit, but she was going to find out. He'd have to be diplomatic. ôThere's a lot of grappling involved. We've got to learn all the joint locks, and how to escape from them. If you don't want to do that with me-ö
ôJust make sure you don't get confused,ö Cordelia said, then muttered something under her breath.
Xander sighed with relief. He'd enjoy all the touching, of course, Cordelia did have a great body, but that was just a perk. The really important thing was learning how to fight properly, and for that he needed Cordelia's cooperation.
ôUpstairs, then,ö Cordelia said, standing back up. ôYou go first.ö
Cordelia stumbled backwards, then tripped, landing on her side.
Sprawled on the next mat, Xander looked at her. ôTwo minute break?ö
Two minutes wouldn't be enough to recover, the way he felt two days might not be enough, but if Cordelia could keep going so could he.
Her chest heaving, she slowly turned to face him. ôOptimistic, much? Wednesday.ö
ôNot tomorrow?ö
ôTomorrow, you'll be aching all over.ö She began pushing herself up off the floor. ôShower time.ö
Her arm wobbled, then folded.
ôOnce you're not too tired to stand,ö Xander suggested, smiling wryly. ôYou look--ö
ôWe both look terrible,ö Cordelia said wearily. ôNext time, we stop sooner.ö
ôBut the book says we're supposed to do it until we drop. We need to know our limits, and be able to fight even at them.ö
ôWe can work up to that,ö Cordelia said firmly. ôYou need -- we both need to get in better shape, and read the footnotes next time. You might've missed something.ö
ôBut there're thirty pages-ö
ôRead them,ö Cordelia repeated. ôThey might be important.ö
Xander looked at her, sweat glistening on her perfect skin, then quickly up at the ceiling.
ôRemembered anything else about Moloch?ö he asked, changing the subject.
ôNo.ö Cordelia scowled. ôYou didn't tell me much.ö
So she kept complaining, but that didn't make any sense. ôIf I'd known you might be blasted back in time-ö
ôRemember the hell mouth? Big mystic thing. Makes-ö
ôWhy didn't I think of that?ö Xander asked sarcastically, wondering what was bugging Cordelia. ôI'll go and tell Jonathon about this right now, in case he-ö
ôJonathon isn't your-ö Cordelia began hotly, then cut herself off. ôHe was never part of the team.ö
Xander looked at Cordelia, her face shadowed by a subtle pain. That explained part of her issues, a very small part. Something had gone wrong between them all in the original future, something that had left Cordelia bitter about his future self not telling her stuff.
ôYou're not just part of the team,ö Xander said, guessing at what she wanted to hear. ôYou're my friend. Forget about what future me did; I'd never keep any secrets from you, promise,ö he said, then jokingly added, ôWant to know what I did in the bathroom this morning?ö
ôWere there demons involved?ö Cordelia asked, her face unreadable.
ôNot real ones.ö
Cordelia's lips twitched. ôI'll pass.ö
ôMalcolm was Moloch,ö Xander said, returning the original subject, ôand Ira is acting like Malcolm.ö
ôMaybe,ö Cordelia sighed. ôHow much has Willow told you about Ira?ö
Xander scowled. ôShe keeps saying how great he is, how he understand her, how he's sensitive but strong-ö
ôDo you know how many girls I've had to listen to, mooning over their boyfriends?ö Cordelia asked. ôToo many, and most of them said the exact same thing. Ira might be Moloch; he might just be a conman. Either way, Willow-ö
ôBut we know Moloch's involved. His book was blank.ö
ôHe's out there somewhere,ö Cordelia agreed, ôbut things are different this time round. We know there's someone else involved.ö
ôI saw you lock that book in the drawer, and Giles checked-ö Xander smiled as realisation hit him. ôWe know someone released Moloch deliberately this time. How do you know they didn't last time?ö
ôBecause-ö Cordelia hesitated. ôIf they did, you never found out about it. Not as simple as it seems, is it?ö
ôYou were right,ö Xander conceded, remembering that first private conversation with Cordelia, the day after Margo had sealed the deathgate. He'd said something about how easy her future knowledge would make things and she'd disagreed, vehemently. Her objections had sounded like excuses at the time, but that had been before he'd seen the whole Moloch thing go wrong.
Cordelia smiled. ôFinally.ö
Xander smiled back. ôHey, I'm not used to all this weirdness. You're the expert, like Giles but, um-ö
ôBetter dressed?ö Cordelia suggested, slowly clambering to her feet.. ôJust remember, this is the hellmouth. We don't get good weirdness.ö
She paused, and looked down at him, her face sombre, then shook her head and staggered gingerly away, leaning on the wall every few steps.
Xander thoughtfully watched her go. Something had been troubling Cordelia all month, ever since she'd cut herself off from her old friends, but that couldn't be the reason why. No one would loose sleep over those airheads.
It might be because she'd seen her mother die; he'd felt pretty bad after-
-but thinking about that wouldn't help anything. What mattered was helping Cordelia through her problems. She was his-
His what? She wasn't his friend, exactly. They had too much past for that, some of it in his future, but he was spending more time with her than with Willow now. Frowning, Xander shelved the question.
Whatever she was, he didn't like seeing her hurt. He had to do something.
Xander tentatively tried to stand up, but fell back, his thighs flaring with pain. Cordelia might be used to this level of exertion, with her cheer-leading practice; he wasn't.
Well, it'd be at least twenty minutes before she was out of the shower, judging by Willow, time enough for him to think, and he had a lot to think about.
Closing his eyes, Xander began running over everything Cordelia had said.
ôI wasn't asleep,ö Xander said, for the third time. ôI was thinking.ö
ôDo you normally-ö Cordelia began, looking through the peephole. ôThere's someone watching.ö
ôYou sure?ö Xander asked. ôRemember last week?ö
ôWearing plaid was suspicious,ö she insisted. ôThis guy's staring at our door.ö
ôMonstra,ö Xander said, pointing casually at the wall. Cordelia had made a couple of mistakes, but she was pretty good at spotting vampires, something to do with the way they dressed, and the spells Margo had put on the apartment made it easy to check.
An image formed on the wall where Xander had pointed, showing the street outside. There were a few dozen people out there, scurrying from shop to shop with bags in their hands, but only one of them was looking at the apartment door, a middle aged man in t-shirt and jeans, his hands clasped in front of him.
ôIn the doorway?ö Xander asked. ôHe could be waiting for someone.ö
ôNo, then he'd stand where he could look up and down the street.ö
Xander nodded, trying to remember the command he'd looked up last time. ôOmnia minus monstra? Omnes minus monstra? Omnes minas monstra?ö
The image darkened, unnatural shadows drifting through the air, the malign aura of the hellmouth made visible, but the man remained unchanged. ôHe's human, Cordy, and not evil.ö
He was definitely watching them though. He hadn't looked away once.
ôNot big time evil,ö Cordelia agreed, then frowned. ôHe's too obvious.ö
ôMaybe he wants to talk,ö Xander suggested. ôHe could be a watcher.ö
ôMaybe,ö Cordelia said. ôHe's not armed and there are two of us. We'll talk, on our terms.ö
ôYou want to fight him?ö Xander asked, surprised. He was still sore all over, and Cordelia wasn't in much better shape.
ôNo,ö Cordelia said, ôI want to bluff him. Think you can manage to look tough?ö
ôEasy,ö Xander said, trying to sound more confident than he felt. He could hardly say no, not if he wanted to retain any creditability as a man.
She looked at him thoughtfully. ôI'm not sure about that shirt. It's--ö
ôYou want me to go home and change?ö Xander asked sarcastically. ôI think-ö
Cordelia smiled. ôYou don't need to do that. You've got a full wardrobe upstairs, in the bedroom.ö
ôI have?ö He hadn't even been in that room since they'd bought the place. With Cordelia sleeping there half the time, it would have been too awkward. ôSince when? I haven't brought any-ö
ôWe agreed you needed some here for emergencies, remember,ö Cordelia said, ôand it was too good an opportunity to miss.ö
ôWe did? When?ö Xander said, then hesitated. ôYou've been buying me clothes?ö
ôMargo paid for them.ö Cordelia corrected. ôI just made sure they weren't a century out of date. It's all part of our arrangement with her. I did wonder why you'd put that shirt back on.ö
ôOh,ö Xander said slowly. ôUm, did you ever write that agreement down?ö
At the time, he'd been too busy thinking about the earlier revelations to pay much attention, which might have been a mistake. Discovering that Cordelia was a time traveller who was also possessing Harmony had been quite a shock, even by the standards of the last two months, but now he didn't know what he'd agreed to.
ôOf course,ö Cordelia said. ôNow, go and change. The left hand wardrobe's yours. The t-shirts are in the middle drawer, on the left-hand side.ö
Xander looked at the steep stairs, then smiled. ôI'll just go and tell him to wait, shall I?ö
His legs were still aching, and he was pretty sure letting a girl pick his clothes for him was getting into dangerous territory. Cordelia would never want to date him, of course, but that would just mean he got the bad without the good.
ôLook at the way he's standing,ö she said patiently. ôHe's not going anywhere soon. White will lo- look the part. Now, hurry.ö
Xander looked at Cordelia, watching him impatiently, then up at the stairs, and sighed. Some arguments, there was no winning.
ôFine,ö he said flatly, and began clambering back up the stairs, exaggerating his winces.
ôXander,ö Cordelia shouted cheerfully, when he was nearly at the top, ôI owe you one.ö
ôYou got the wrong size,ö Xander said, tugging at the t-shirt. ôThis is too tight.ö
ôIt's supposed to be,ö Cordelia said, a strange smile on her face as she looked at him. ôTight is good. Didn't you look in the mirror?ö
ôWhy would I do that,ö Xander asked, puzzled.
Cordelia sighed, and turned the door handle. ôLet's go.ö
As the door opened, the man smiled and began beckoning them over.
ôHe wants to talk, all right,ö Cordelia said. ôRemember what I said.ö
ôKeep quiet,ö Xander repeated. ôLet you do all the talking, like normal.ö
ôBecause you're so shy and retiring,ö Cordelia said. ôNo, wait, that's Willow.ö
ôEver asked her about Microsoft?ö Xander said wryly.
ôYou see,ö Cordelia said, as if she'd scored some point, then looked at the man and tilted her head quizzically.
Xander smiled as the man strolled towards them. Cordelia had just demonstrated why he let her do all the talking, and without even realising it. He could banter with her for hours on end, and he wasn't intimidated by talking to complete strangers, but he never treated conversations like some kind of twisted chess game. Even if he'd wanted to, he wouldn't have known how.
Cordelia did, better than he ever would have guessed. He was used to seeing her cowing people by sheer force of personality, or easing her way with a flash of her father's credit cards, but while that was certainly her preferred approach, she was much smarter than she usually acted, smart enough to be subtle.
ôWho are you,ö Cordelia asked as the man approached, making sure she got her questions in first. ôWhy were you staring at our door?ö
ôBill Stevens, private detective,ö he said. ôWe need to talk.ö
ôAbout-ö
ôAbout why I've been watching you for the last few days. Come back to my office-ö
ôWhere you can ambush us?ö Cordelia said. ôNo. We'll talk in the coffee bar.ö
Bill glanced at the shop diagonally behind him, one doors down from where he'd been waiting. ôA predictable choice.ö
Cordelia shrugged. ôIf you could arrange an ambush somewhere like that, you wouldn't need approach us like this.ö
ôUnsound logic.ö
ôYou-ö Cordelia began, but Bill overrode her. ôI spent twenty years in the FBI, girl. I'm a professional; you aren't.ö
ôWhy talk to us?ö Xander asked, tossing the plan aside. ôWhat do you want?ö
ôVengeance,ö Bill snapped, his face grim. ôThey must pay.ö
Cordelia frowned. ôWe're not-ö
ôYou have backers,ö Bill said firmly, ôpowerful backers.ö
ôHow would you know?ö Cordelia challenged.
ôWhen I'm asked to watch people, I always research them,ö Bill said, ôbut it's a long story. The coffee bar?ö
Looking round at all the abandoned tables, Xander frowned uneasily. He didn't know how much Bill had slipped the owner to get him to close the shop down, but it must have been a lot, which meant serious business.
Cordelia sipped her coffee. ôWhat do you know about us?ö
ôTwo things,ö Bill said, looking out of the window at the secret apartment's door. ôFirstly, all official records show Cordelia bought your hideout last year, and I do mean all records. When I tracked down Beedon, he eventually told a very different story about how he sold it, and when.ö
ôSo he exaggerated a few details,ö Cordelia said dismissively. ôPeople do that.ö
ôMore than a few,ö Bill said. ôHe was telling the truth, so the records must have been forged.ö
ôWe didn't do it,ö Xander said quickly.
Bill smiled. ôOf course not. No one your age could. Oh, you could have bribed Beedon easily enough, and backdating the actual purchase documents wouldn't have been too difficult, but the records also show that you've been paying all your taxes and utility bills on time, and the banks' own records tally with that. Tampering with those records, without triggering any alarms, would take a serious player.ö
That must be something Margo had done, probably with magic, but she was dead now. If Bill was trying to contact her, he was too late, and he'd aimed too high
ôAnd the other thing?ö Cordelia prompted.
ôI record everything said in my office, for legal reasons. I have to-ö
ôBut you don't tell your clients,ö Xander said, cutting off his justifications. ôWhat did they say?ö
ôThey've got plans for the two of you,ö Bill smiled, ôdisturbing plans, but were clearly nervous about capturing you. Oh, and none of them were human.ö
Xander leaned forwards. ôYou know about-ö
ô-the demons,ö Bill interrupted. ôI've known for five years. If only I'd left back then, my Jane would still be alive.ö
Bill's hand tightened on the cup, his face contorting with rage. ôThey killed her, and played me for a fool. I'll make them pay for that. I'll make them all pay. I'll-ö
ôWas she your wife?ö Cordelia asked, sounding almost sympathetic.
ôBegin at the beginning,ö Xander added quickly.
Bill took two deep breaths, then nodded. ôThe beginning? That'd be when I found the statistical anomaly.ö
ôHow could you miss it?ö Cordelia asked. ôThe school paper's got its own obituary column.ö
ôThe hellmouth was going through a quiet patch?ö Xander suggested, smiling at Cordelia's bluff.
ôHellmouth?ö Bill muttered, then looked at Xander. ôI wasn't in that section. I'd decided to run a cross-comparison of declared income with retail expenditure in small towns, excluding the tourist sector, naturally. I thought it would be a good way to identify targets for further investigation.ö
ôProud much?ö Cordelia asked. ôI'm sure your idea was brilliant. How is it relevant to us?ö
Xander half-smiled. Cordelia hadn't understood Bill's explanation either, but she'd never admit to that.
ôIt's why I retired here, after my wife died. Over ten percent of the economy of this town is black, maybe as much as thirty percent.ö Bill looked from Xander to Cordelia, then sighed. ôOn average, people here are spending significantly more money than they've officially got, and they're not borrowing it from any legal source.ö
ôDirty money,ö Cordelia said slowly. ôThere are enough people doing business with demons to show up in your figures.ö
Bill nodded. ôOther lines of evidence showed the anomaly wasn't related to organised crime, so the file was closed.ö
ôAnd you decided to investigate yourself,ö Xander said. ôBut-ö
ôI'm getting to that,ö Bill said. ôIt didn't take me long to discover the real situation here, but, but-ö
Bill ran his finger round the rim of his cup, his eyes unfocused. ôThey made me an offer.ö
ôYou sold out,ö Cordelia spat, tensing up.
ôI had no choice,ö Bill said, thumping the table, then he looked directly at Cordelia. ôThese people had the mayor in their pocket, and they had magic. I couldn't fight that.ö
ôYou should have tried,ö Xander said, watching Bill warily. Anyone who would help demons could never be trusted.
ôIf it had been just me, maybe,ö Bill said, ôbut they threatened my daughter, and then they offered me a deal. I'd do the cabal and their friends some little favours, but not anything illegal or even unethical, and they'd ease my way. That was five years ago.ö
ôAnd now you're talking to us,ö Cordelia said, her voice tinged with contempt. ôWhy? What's changed?ö
ôThey arranged an internship for my Jane,ö Bill said, staring into his cup, ôwith Wolfram and Hart. If I'd known what they were like ... but I didn't. I thought I was doing the right thing.ö
ôWhat happened to her?ö Xander asked quietly, ôWas she-ö
ôThey told me she died in a car crash,ö Bill said, his voice filling with cold fury. ôThey lied. The investigators found her remains at the LA site last week. The autopsy reports ...ö
Bill shuddered. ôShe was my little princess, and they slaughtered her. I will see them pay for that, I will-ö
ôOf course,ö Cordelia said, looking pleased. ôThat's why. You could have told your FBI friends everything, but you want the personal touch.ö She looked thoughtfully at him. ôAnd you've been spinning this out. You could have told us everything important in half the time. You're setting us up for something, aren't you?ö
ôHe's not checked his watch once,ö Xander objected. Cordelia might be right, but she was assuming the worst again.
Bill looked at Cordelia, then sighed. ôI was a trained professional. I'd never do something that obvious. Outside, I-ö
ôEnough delays,ö Cordelia said sharply. ôWhat are you waiting for?ö
ôMy client is sending someone to assassinate you in about forty minutes.ö
ôWhat?ö Xander said disbelievingly.. Nothing had ever targeted him before. Plenty of things had tried to kill him, since he met Buffy, but it hadn't been personal. Now, it seemed, it was.
ôHow?ö Cordelia asked, looking intently at Bill.
ôThey'll break in while you're out, then set an ambush.ö
ôThey can't break in,ö Xander interrupted, relieved. ôMargo said it would take a god to break our defences.ö
Bill blinked in surprise. ôA god? Better still. You can ambush them when they try to break in. Their deaths will be-ö
ôYou expect us to kill them?ö Cordelia said sceptically, glancing up at the clock. ôTwo unarmed teenagers? Or were you planning to help?ö
ôI can't-ö Bill began.
ôWhen did you find out about your daughter?ö Cordelia asked.
ôLast night,ö Bill said.
ôAnd I bet you didn't get much sleep.ö Cordelia looked at Xander. ôThis is why we need to think things through.ö
ôLike with Mrs French, or Margo?ö Xander asked pointedly. Cordelia might like to plan ahead, but she had done as much last minute improvisation as him, not always successfully. He'd gotten enough out of her about what she'd been doing with her future knowledge before he found out to to know that much.
ôBill,ö Xander continued, before Cordelia could reply, ôwho are they sending? Va-ö
ôI don't know. The couple I spoke to looked human, but I think they were just flunkies.ö
ôWhen was that?ö Cordelia asked. ôHow long-ö
ôLast Tuesday. I gave them my preliminary report Saturday, then met them again yesterday. That's when I overheard what they were planning.ö
ôThree days, then,ö Cordelia said, smiling faintly. ôThat's not much time to set up anything complicated.ö She paused, and looked at Bill. ôThey're going to be targeting you now too.ö
ôSo what?ö Bill said, shrugging. ôI sent my daughter to her death. I deserve to die. I just hope I can take the cabal down with me.ö
ôYou don't have to do it alone,ö Xander said quickly. No one should. ôGiles-ö
Cordelia clapped her hand over his mouth. ôWhat did I tell you?ö
ôYou two need a private conference?ö Bill said, standing up.
Cordelia nodded. ôStay where we can see you, and keep your back to us.ö
Xander pushed Cordelia's hand away. ôNow what's your problem.ö
ôIf we involve Giles,ö she said, once Bill had moved away, ôwe're going to have to explain things to him.ö
ôStill not seeing the problem.ö
ôI'd like to be able to tell him everything,ö Cordelia conceded. ôHaving to keep track of what everyone thinks everyone else thinks we know is getting .... a bit annoying, but-ö
ôA bit?ö Xander echoed. ôYou've spent too long round Giles,ö and half the intrigue was her fault anyway.
ôBut,ö Cordelia repeated firmly, ôwe can't. What about all the things we promised Margo we wouldn't talk about?ö
And breaking that promise would be a very bad idea. Xander frowned, trying to remember the exact words. ôWasn't there some way round that?ö
ôWe'd need Harmony's consent.ö
ôSo, we just tell him as much as we can. He already knows there's stuff we can't tell him.ö
ôYou don't get it, do you?ö Cordelia said. ôYou want Giles to track down this cabal, right?ö
ôThe cabal are already dead; they were working with Wolfram and Hart,ö Xander said. ôI-
ôThe cabal wouldn't want his daughter killed,ö Cordelia said. ôWithout her, they've got no leverage over Bill.
ôBad guy politics,ö Xander said dismissively. ôWe can't let Bill kill himself.ö
He might be a collaborator, but he was still human, and he was grieving. Letting him commit suicide by demon would be wrong.
ôWe can't,ö Cordelia agreed, ôbut if they talk, he'll tell Giles everything he found out about us.ö
ôThat's-ö
ôIncluding our apartment.ö
ôYou're still worried about that, when there's a man's life at stake?ö Xander asked, and Cordelia winced.
Half the point of having the apartment was to back up the story she'd told Giles about a rogue watcher showing her visions, but it hadn't taken her long to spot a catch.. If Giles discovered they'd only bought the apartment a few weeks ago, he'd realise her story was false, and go looking for the real source of her foreknowledge. Margo had said that would be too dangerous; the fewer people who knew the truth, the better.
Margo had almost certainly been right û she couldn't lie, and she'd known more than even Giles û but she hadn't objected when Cordelia had been talking about telling Giles about the secret apartment, before she'd had second thoughts. If Margo hadn't been worried about Giles finding out anything from that, Xander certainly wasn't going to and Cordelia shouldn't be either. She probably just liked the idea of a secret lair.
He had thought about telling Giles himself. The promise only covered the things said in the science lab that afternoon, leaving him free to talk about actually buying the place, but that would have felt too much like running to a teacher, and Giles hadn't needed to know, until now.
ôOK,ö Cordelia finally conceded, her voice sour, ôbut only Giles, and we tell him as little as possible, or we might give away the stuff he's not allowed to know. We can say we don't know why Margo did anything.ö
ôWe don't,ö Xander pointed out, smiling, ôand we'd need Harmony's permission to tell him-ö
ôOnly for the bits she was there for,ö Cordelia said, ôbut you need my permission too, and I'm not giving it.ö
Not yet. He'd persuade her to tell the rest of the gang the whole truth, but that could wait. Right now, all that mattered was surviving the assassination attempt, and keeping Bill alive.
Cordelia glanced at Bill, staring glumly at the prints on the wall, then up at the clock. ôDon't you think this is all a bit too convenient?ö
ôYou think we're being set up?ö
ôI think Bill might have been. Could he really have got hold of our bank accounts that fast, without help?ö
ôNot a clue. Willow might know,ö Xander said. ôHe was a professional though. He should know how long it takes.ö
ôHe's too old to know anything much about computers. He got his daughter's autopsy report at just the right time for us too.ö
ôYou think they're trying to panic us?ö Xander asked, after a moment's thought. ôLet us know they're coming-ö
ôSomething like that,ö Cordelia said. ôThey'd have to be overconfident, but also worried about someone tracing them, which mean, um, I'm not sure.ö She shrugged. ôMaybe nothing, it's all circumstantial, but we should be careful.ö
Xander nodded, wondering what exactly she expected him to do that he wasn't already.
ôThought about who might be responsible?ö Cordelia asked.
ôYou only just-ö
ôFor the assassination attempt,ö Cordelia clarified.
ôAnyone who doesn't like the new prophecies?ö Xander suggested. It couldn't be for anything he'd already done, after all. None of that lot would be coming back, apart from the Master, and he didn't use human agents.
ôThat'sö Cordelia began scornfully, then hesitated, ôa good point. We don't know who any of those people are.ö
ôWho did you think it was?ö Xander asked curiously.
ôMoloch,ö Cordelia said, ôor one of his accomplices. It can't be the Master, or Wolfram and Hart, not their style-ö
Xander nodded. Wolfram and Hart's American branches were too busy fighting for survival to bother with him.
ô-and the cabal,ö Cordelia went on, ôhave no motives.ö
ôHope you're right,ö Xander said. The fewer evil masterminds he had trying to kill him, the better.
ôMe too,ö Cordelia said quietly, then glanced back up at the clock. ôNearly thirty minutes yet. We need to decide what we'll do.ö
ôAre you sure you don't want to wait for them inside?ö Bill asked. ôThere's still time to set up an ambush.ö
ôThey won't be able to get in,ö Xander said, checking his watch. ôFive minutes to go. Phone Giles.ö
ôAnd we can't let you in,ö Cordelia added as she pulled out her cell phone. ôSecurity reasons.ö
ôYour defences are that good?ö Bill said sceptically.
Xander smiled. ôYou'll see.ö
ôGiles,ö Cordelia said, ôwe need to talk. Not over the phone. Meet me-ö
ôXander?ö Bill said casually, ôwere you involved in any of the recent .... incidents?ö
ôMaybe,ö Xander said warily. ôWhy?ö
ôYou were, then,ö Bill said. ôPeripherally, I presume.ö
ôGiles is coming,ö Cordelia said, putting her phone away. ôWe don't have that kind of power, but we know people who do.ö
ôImpressive,ö Bill said, ôI can see wh-ö
Mid-word, Bill stopped, his face going slack as he stared at something outside the window.
Xander turned to look, and smiled. There were three girls sauntering down the street in skimpy tops and hot pants, and they were gorgeous. Next to those beauties Cordelia or Buffy would look as drab and plain as Willow. No wonder everyone was staring, even the women.
Cordelia muttered something, then nudged Xander.
He ignored her, watching rapt as the girls sauntered past the window, heart-stoppingly close.
ôXander,ö she shouted, pulling at his ear, ôwhat are you looking at?ö
ôGirls. They've stopped outside our door,ö he said,smiling broadly
ôAnd you don't find that suspicious?ö Cordelia asked him, rummaging in her bag..
He shrugged. It was suspicious; girls that beautiful just didn't visit people like him, but that didn't matter. Let them do what they liked, as long as he could sit and admire their-
Slamming his hand on the table, Xander swore under his breath. There'd been another girl who'd made him think like that. She'd turned out to be a witch, using some kind of magical hypnosis. Now these three turned up, just when they were expecting assassins.
ôHello, salty goodness,ö Cordelia murmured, peering into her make up mirror, then swivelled round to get a better a look.
Half-way, she stopped. ôI saw three men, right outside our door, talking to each other.ö
ôThey're not men,ö Xander said firmly. ôMen don't have, um, definitely girls.ö
He frowned thoughtfully. He'd read about something like this recently, in one of Margo's books. What had it said?
ôGot to be magic,ö Cordelia said, turning her back to the window. ôThey must be our assassins.ö
ôBite your tongue,ö Xander said, remembering.
ôWhat?ö Cordelia said disbelievingly.
Xander smiled. ôWhile you're looking at them, bite your tongue and think about something you're committed to. The stronger, the better. That book said that would break moderate glamours.ö
ôNow who sounds like Giles? You first.ö
Xander stuck his tongue between his teeth, hesitated, then bit down hard, mentally reciting the great oath he had sworn, in front of Margo: 'I will remember the fallen, the heroes and the innocents alike. To their memory I will dedicate...'
The three girls shimmered, as if seen under water, then came back into focus, their true appearance revealed.
ôDefinitely not girls,ö Xander muttered, scowling at the assassins, then smiled. He'd just done a bit of magic û only trivial magic, the kind anyone could do if they knew how, but still real magic.
Beside Xander, Cordelia mumbled the great oath, '... dedicate my life. I will strive...ö
The assassins weren't even human; they were demons. He only had a back view, and he was over fifty feet away, but he could clearly see the rainbow shimmer of the scales on their bald heads and the inhuman proportions of their limbs.
ôDemons,ö Cordelia said, ôSuccubi?ö
ôHow'd you know?ö
ôApart from their appearance, you mean?ö Cordelia said. ôThey're the only demons you'd want to about.ö
Xander nodded. ôLesser classic succubi, I think. They seduce men disguised as women, then collect the, um, you-know, then turn into men and, um-ö
ôI can guess,ö Cordelia said quickly. ôThey're pretty blatant.ö
ôThe book said they can turn the glamour down, and target it. They only go full power when they feel threatened. Oh, and they're supposed to be solitary. They don't like to share.ö
ôHmm,ö Cordelia said, mock-thoughtfully. ôHow many demon lords do we know, with a sex theme?ö
ôMoloch?ö Xander suggested. No one had said anything about him using succubi before, but all the traces of his actions they'd spotted in the last week had involved sex.
Cordelia nodded. ôLook at the way the three of them are standing.ö
Xander looked. ôThey seem tense, must be why they're using full power, but-ö
ôLook closer,ö Cordelia said. ôThey're braced for an attack, from each other, and I think they're arguing. They've been forced to work together, which takes power, and anyone who's been around a while would use minions that could work together.ö
ôMakes sense,ö Xander said, looking at the rest of the street. Almost everyone outside was staring at the succubi, only the younger children seemed to be immune, but there wasn't anyone within twenty feet of the demons. Judging by the longing looks on the boys, and their uncertain shuffling, they were probably all too nervous to get any closer.
The middle succubus pulled something out of a bag, holding it at arms length, then shoved it at the one on its right, but that succubus backed away, shaking its head.
ôI'm not sure,ö Cordelia said, squinting, ôdoes that look like a hand to you?ö
ôCould be,ö Xander said. It was the right size and colour. He glanced at Bill, still drooling over the succubi. ôShouldn't we wake him up.ö
The left succubus gestured angrily.
ôNo point,ö Cordelia said. ôDidn't Giles say something about a hand?ö
The right-hand succubi looked nervously at the other two, then took the hand and tapped it.
A flame sprang up where she had touched it, a single black flame.
ôThis is it,ö Xander muttered, leaning forwards to catch the action.
The succubus pointed the hand at the door.
The door shuddered, then glowed, engulfing the succubi in golden light.
Before Xander could even blink, their flesh melted away, their bones evaporating as they dropped to the ground, and then the light was gone.
ôWhat?ö Bill gasped. ôWhat just happened. Did you-ö
ôThey were succubi,ö Cordelia said. ôYou know about them?ö
Outside, people scurried past the window, anger and fear mingled on their faces.
ôI've heard of them,ö Bill said. ôNot seen any before.ö
ôThey're new,ö Cordelia said, then frowned. ôThey should be attracted to the hell mouth though. Why are they new?ö
ôNo idea,ö Bill said softly. ôI thought I'd seen everything, but those women, and that light .... It was ... impressive. No, more than that, and yet you just sit there, as if it was nothing.ö
Xander shrugged. ôWe've seen-ö
ô-a lot,ö Cordelia interrupted.
Bill looked at her, then shook himself. ôShouldn't you be clearing up the bodies?ö
ôSee,ö Xander said, a minute later. ôNo bodies.ö
There was nothing left of the succubi but a sprinkling of ash and a few faint scorch marks.
ôI can see why you weren't worried,ö Bill said. ôA good forensics team might be able to draw conclusions from the distribution of the ash, but there isn't enough left to prompt an investigation.ö
ôNo witnesses either, officially,ö Xander said. Plenty of people had watched the succubi die, but they were all gone now, leaving the street deserted.
ôAnd the police in this town are useless,ö Cordelia said.
ôDeliberately,ö Bill said. ôThe police chief has been taking bribes.ö
ôFrom the cabal,ö Xander guessed.
A few dozen yards behind Bill, Giles got out of his car.
ôFrom everyone,ö Bill said. ôThe cabal likes to know who else has strings on their assets.ö
Xander smiled. ôYou'll have a lot to talk to Giles about.ö
ôGiles?ö Bill said. ôYou said he set up your defences? He-ö
ôYou're fishing,ö Cordelia said sharply, ôAll you need to know is that Giles can help you, right Giles?ö
ôPerhaps,ö Giles said cautiously, as Bill spun round to face him. ôWho's this?ö
ôBill Jones,ö Cordelia said, ôex-FBI. He's spent the last five years working for the bad guys.ö
ôDefecting?ö Giles suggested, looking quizzically at Bill.
Xander nodded. ôWhen he found out about his daughter, he decided to warn us about the assassins.ö
Giles pushed his glasses up. ôYou didn't mention assassins when you phoned, Cordelia.ö
ôYou'd have wanted to bring Buffy-ö
ôExactly when are these assassins due?ö Giles asked, looking suspiciously at Cordelia.
Xander smiled. ôYou just missed them.ö
ôBy design, I take it,ö Giles said. ôDare I ask what happened to them?ö
ôYour defences-ö Bill began.
ôMargo's defences,ö Cordelia said quickly, ôto protect our secrets. Remember Winston?ö
Giles looked sideways at Xander, then at Bill. ôI understand. Is there anything you can tell me.ö
Xander tapped the door. ôThis is our place. The succubi tried to break in with a magic hand to-ö
Giles looked sharply at Xander. ôBurning with a black flame?ö
ôYe-ö
ôA Hand of Glory,ö Giles said. ôInteresting. How did you know they were succubi?ö
Cordelia smiled. ôXander's been reading about them.ö
Xander smiled back. ôAnd you thought I was just looking at the-ö
ôThey said you'd help me,ö Bill interrupted. ôI want them dead.ö
Giles blinked. ôYou want who dead?ö
ôThe cabal,ö Xander clarified. ôThey got his daughter a job with Wolfram and Hart.ö
ôThey killed her,ö Bill said, his voice low. ôThey killed my darling Jane. I will see them pay for that-ö
ôBill has nothing else left to live for,ö Cordelia said, staring intently at Giles. ôHe wants to see the cabal brought down, at any cost.ö
Giles looked at her for a moment, then turned and smiled broadly at Bill. ôOf course we'll help you. You'll-ö
ôYou will?ö Bill said. ôYou will?ö
Cordelia's phone rang.
ôI've got their names right here,ö Bill said, pulling a piece of paper from his pocket, ôthirteen prominent local businessmen who-ö
ôBuffy?ö Cordelia said. ôYes, why?ö
ôBuffy?ö Giles muttered, turning away from Bill.
Cordelia shushed him. ôSomewhere nearby. I can see his car. Why?ö
Xander sighed. She was doing it again. For someone who prided themselves on blunt honesty, Cordelia was rather too good at bending the truth.
ôAssassins!ö Cordelia exclaimed. ôYou- OK, I'll look for Giles.ö
ôNeed to know?ö Bill said hesitantly.
ôI can neither confirm nor deny,ö Giles said, smiling faintly. ôHow far away am I?ö
ôGiles!ö Cordelia shouted, holding the phone at arms length. ôNot that far.ö
Giles waited a moment, then took the phone from Cordelia. ôBuffy? Cordelia-ö
While he was talking, Cordelia nudged Xander. ôWillow was with her,ö she said softly.
ôShe OK?ö Xander instantly asked.
ôBuffy didn't say, but she didn't sound worried.ö
ôGood,ö Xander said, relaxing.
Cordelia frowned. ôYou forgot, didn't you. Buffy said she was going to try and keep her away from the keyboard.ö
ôShe did?ö Xander muttered. Maybe she had, but all his attention had been on her looks. Her latest outfit really showed off her legs, and the top had been pretty good too.
ô-standard practice.ö Giles said. ôSearch the area for possible observation points, and collect any evidence you find. I'll meet you in the library at half-seven, the teachers should all be gone by then. Bye.ö
Xander checked his watch. Six o'clock? Later he'd realised, but he'd been heading home for his tea when they'd spotted Bill, and that had been nearly an hour ago. He'd have to phone his mom soon, and let her know not to expect him, but why half-seven?
ôThat's ninety minutes,ö Xander said, puzzled. ôWe can be there in ten.ö
ôWe can't take Bill with us,ö Giles said, looking apologetically at him. ôSecurity, you understand.ö
Bill nodded. ôOf course.ö
ôBut we can't leave you loose either. Um, anyone got scissors?ö
ôNail scissors,ö Cordelia said, ôfor emergencies. Why?ö
ôBill,ö he said, ôI'll need a lock of your hair, and your promise of good faith, freely given. Break your word, and I'll be able to use the hair to strike you down.ö
Bill looked briefly uncertain, then said firmly. ôOK, for my daughter, but I want your promise too.ö
ôYou have my word as a watcher,ö Giles said. ôCordelia, the scissors?ö
ôThey're nail scissors,ö she said. ôThey're not for hair. Can't you use blood?ö
ôI am not in the habit of carrying empty phials in my pockets.ö Giles paused. ôBut nail clippings are just as good.ö
Grudgingly, Cordelia passed Bill the scissors. ôThis isn't going to take ninety minutes.ö
ôBill is a marked man now,ö Giles said, frowning at the phone. ôI'm going to try and get him out of town. Um, how do you start dialling on this thing.ö
ôShe'll be waiting when you get off,ö Giles said, forty minutes later.
ôAnnette Chadwick, mid-forties, red hair,ö Bill said, ôGot it. You're certain she-ö
ôShe's been working on the Wolfram and Hart investigation,ö Giles said patiently. ôShe....ö
Xander stopped listening. Giles had already explained that twice.
ôSit down, Cordy,ö he said instead, picking his hamburger carton off the seat at the side of him. ôThere's room.ö.
ôIn this dress?ö she said scornfully. ôI'd rather stand.ö
Xander leaned back and glanced round the Sunnydale bus station, nearly empty at this hour. The paint was peeling, and the windows were grimy, but it was only shabby, not filthy. The only litter he could see was a couple of empty coke cans and half a dozen cigarette stubs, and there was no graffiti at all, so why was Cordelia taking such pains not to touch anything?
ôYou don't get it, do you?ö she said, looking thoughtfully down at him, then hesitated. ôI don't have-ö
A bus pulled in, drowning Cordelia out.
ôFinally,ö she muttered, then frowned.
ôThat's Bill's,ö Xander, watching as Giles ushered him on board.
ôObvious, much?ö
Standing up, Xander tossed the empty carton at the nearest bin.
It missed.
Cordelia smiled as he bent over to pick it back up. ôYou'll have to aim better than that.ö
ôI got the can in, didn't I?ö Xander said, then looked uncertainly at Giles as he walked up to them. ôWould you really strike him dead?ö
He'd seen Margo kill someone with magic before, but not Giles, and Margo's victim had been a demon worshipping cannibal. Killing people for breaking promises didn't seem like something he'd do.
ôStrike down, not strike dead,ö Giles said, ôand I was bluffing. The theory is sound; I lack practice. Cordelia-ö
ôThis Annette,ö she interrupted. ôHow well do you know her?ö
ôNot personally,ö Giles said, smiling, ôbut she has a good reputation, her political position is weak, and she doesn't have access to any paper evidence. I didn't give Bill time to collect anything from his office-ö
ôAnd now you've got those keys,ö Cordelia said. ôYou can edit everything you send her.ö
Giles nodded as he checked his watch. ôI can, if I decide I should. You've clearly not been-ö
ôThat's-ö Cordelia began.
ôImpatient, aren't you?ö Giles said, and she scowled. ôWait until we're in my car.ö
I'll not post the first 23 chapters here, unless people really want to see them. They're all available at http://www.fanfiction.net/~robert2 though the version there is missing some edits. (I had copies on line in a few places, but some web sites have died, and others gotten out of sync). I'll be updating the ff.net version sometime over the next few days, before I upload chapter 24.
Instead, I'll just summarise the relevant plot points.
* Cordelia thought a moment longer, and wished she could go back in time, using her foreknowledge to make her life perfect while ruining Xander and Willow's.
* Soon after she got back, she decided the best way of doing that was to worm her way into the gang. It's so much easier to stab people in the back if they trust you. However, she's now put revenge off until the indefinite gfuture; for now, staying alive is much more important.
* The day she arrived in epsiode one, all the old prophecies were annulled. Most seers dies of fright, or committed suicide, but not without leaving new propjhecies, revealing that the world now faced a new and darker future.
*Willow and Xander noticed Cordelia was behaving oddly imediately, but didn't tell Giles. A brief quote to indicate their reasoning, irrelevvant details snipped:
* Over time, it has become apparent that the hellmouth is now growing stronger. The reason why has proved impossible to track down.
* When the Master tried to turn Colin, in vain adherence to the old prophecies, it went drastically wrong, letting a great terror touch the world, something to vile that even a third-hand copy of a satellite photo of its manifestation radiated mind-shattering despair. Every consecrated site in Sunnydale was reduced to a pit of boiling lava, and the dead rose from their graves, as the entity ripped open a deathgate (similar to the hellmouth., but differently tuned).
* One minor side effect of all this was the desecration of holy sites world-wide. Words of vile prophecy appeared on all of them, written in an inhuman tongue which drove mad all who read it. Since one of those holy sites was in Jerusalem, the Middle East is now lurching into war.
* The council split after vigorous discussion over how to handle this, and the new prophecies, led to a coup, led by Travers, who I've got being nominally a few rungs below the top job.
* For my purposes, the nominal top council rank is the board of directors, whose position is actually ceremonial, much like the British Queen - influence, but no real power. In fact though, unknown to the watchers, they are really just the latest proxy for the Board.
* Around this time, Cordelia realises something is using her wish to twist events onto a dark path, and goes to Gilkes. She tells him, and only him, that she has seen the original future, but claims that this was in visions given to her by a rogue watcher.
* In response to the crisis, the Board send their most junior member, Dame Margo, to Sunnydale to seal the deathgate - not close it, that's beyond their power, just to stop the dead wandering through it almost at will. Margo proves to be a magical powerhouse with a very forceful personality, despite being the weakest of the board.
* Within a few minutes of meeting her, everyone decides they don't want any more help from the board, save in the very last resort. It also becomes clear why the board normally don't take direct action - it would be extreme overkill. They're there as a backstop for if the slayer loses, and hell is unleashed on earth, at which point it doesn't matter if half a continent is reduced to molten slag.
* While in Sunnydale, Margo does a few things relevant to this chapter.
** She uncovers the true nature of Wolfram & Hart, and declares war on them, using her influence to get files revealing their corruption to evey honest judge and government official they can find. This doesn't destroy Wolfram & Hart, who fight back vigorously, doing serious damage to the watchers, but they have no idea the board exists. During the first clash, their LA offices were accidentally vaporised.
** She works out that Cordelia is a time traveller, but decides Giles doesn't need to know. For differing reasons, both Harmony and Xander were present when Margo interrogated Cordelia, but both were sworn to secrecy, a vow which proved to be magically binding. Cordelia gets clever, and negotiates a detailed contract with Margo, though it's apaprent to the reader that she's being manipulated.
*** Part of this contract includes the provision of an apartment, nominally inherited from the rogue watcher Cordelia invented for her lie to Giles. Cordelia stipulates that this just have the best magical protections possible, and gets rather more than she expected. Margo's idea of good defences turns out to include a spell that lets the apartment owners produce magical effects with verbal commands, and a door that can open anywhere. She also insisted on providing an extensive library.
** She declared, very firmly, that it was good for Buffy to have helpers besides Giles - her faction of the watchers having differing views of the slayer to his - and instructed him to train them properly, both in occult lore and in martial arts. She also manipulated Xander and Cordelia into swearing a key watcher oath, the great oath. Willow would have been included too, but was possessed by hyena spirits at the time.
* Also during this period, Cordelia's hosue is destroyed when the horror beneath wakes, because of the strengthening hellmouth. This battle leaves a crater half a mile deep. During this, Cordelia's mother dies, and she discovers her father may know about the dark underside of Sunnydale.
* In the previous chapter, Jenny Calender and her uncle attempt a tarot reading, but some dark force attacks them out of the potential future. They think they've defeated it, but spend the rest of the chapter being mind-raped. In the end, Enyos commits suicide, and Jenny's mind is wiped clean. That chapter was from Jenny's POV, so the Scooby gang have no idea what happened to her. All they know is that she's been acting oddly.
* Meanwhile, Moloch has been released onto the internet on schedule, but when he contacts Willow, Fritz and the rest, he uses the pseudonym I. G O'Lonac. Some of his other activities are different too: rather than an essay on Nazi Germany as the perfect society, there's an essay on why de Sade didn't go far enough.
There are also large chunks of plot I've not mentioned at all, such as what happened to Harmony, but they're not greatly relevant in this chapter, so now, the actual chapter, in four parts:
Xander smiled, and turned the page. All the really juicy bits might be in Latin, but that just meant he got to have fun speculating about what they were, and anyway there were plenty of dictionaries and grammar books here. With their help, he could manage to puzzle out the gist of the Latin, and satisfy his curiosity.
ôYou were right,ö Cordelia said, walking into their secret room.
ôI was?ö Xander said, hastily closing the book he'd been reading. ôOf course I was right. Um, what about?ö
ôMartial arts,ö she said, snatching the book from his hands. ôThe life cycle of the common succubus?ö
ôWe need to know how to recognise them,ö Xander said. ôYou been attacked again?ö
She didn't look hurt, but he was pretty sure she hadn't been wearing that top when she went out.. Either she'd found a bargain, or she'd lost more clothes to combat damage.
Cordelia pointed at the bookcase next to the kitchen door. ôMargo left us dozens of books on demon recognition, and yes, I was.ö
ôNeed any first aid?ö Xander said, standing up. ôI've been reading about that too,ö and not because of the perks. Buffy had slayer healing, but the rest of them didn't, and they all kept getting attacked, particularly Cordelia. As she'd said, they needed someone who could patch them up, and she wasn't the type, however hot she'd look in a nurses uniform.
ôOnly for my clothes. I ripped my top getting away.ö Cordelia said, then sighed. ôI don't know why you bother. All the explicit stuff is in Latin, and you can see better pictures in Playboy any day.ö
Playboy wasn't real though. Succubi were. He would never be pounced on by twin nymphomaniac gymnasts, but he might meet a succubus at any time, if he was really unlucky.
Smiling, Xander opened the book to page 217. ôThey don't have pictures like that in Playboy.ö
Cordelia glanced down at the the full colour plate, a desiccated corpse covered in bite marks, then quickly looked away. ôSuccubus victim?ö
Xander nodded. Succubi made for pleasant daydreams, but the photos made it very clear the reality was nightmarish.
ôDon't you forget it,ö Cordelia said. ôSo, when do you want to start?ö
ôStart what?ö
ôMartial arts,ö Cordelia said, as if it should have been obvious. ôI don't think Giles is delaying on purpose ...ö
ôBut it's not something he's comfortable about teaching us.ö Xander finished, ôand Willow isn't fit enough yet.ö
Cordelia scowled. ôShe's not trying hard enough. She doesn't really want to learn.ö
ôLike you didn't?ö Xander said, smiling.
ôDon't,ö Cordelia said sharply, and Xander shrank back in mock terror from her glare. ôRunning isn't enough, and we can't wait for Willow.ö
ôNoticed how it's always her Giles picks for the little errands?ö Xander asked. ôYou still sure you don't want to find another teacher?ö
ôKnow any who know about vampires and demons?ö Cordelia asked. ôThe ones in the phone book can only teach us how to fight people, not much use. Either we wait for Giles, or we use the books -- but no magic. We can't trust it.ö
ôThe books it is,ö Xander said reluctantly. A human teacher would be much better, but he couldn't afford to pay for lessons, and even Cordelia couldn't hurry Giles much. The books would have to do for now. Anything would be better than nothing.
ôSo, what do we need? You've been looking at the books.ö
ôA rolling pin, skipping rope, knitting needle, chair leg, and toy train,ö Xander said, straight-faced. ôNo, wait, that's for one of the advanced exercises.ö
Cordelia sat down, her eyebrows raised. ôYou serious?ö
ôIt's some medieval English style, invented by these guys called the Masters of Defence, and adapted by the watchers. It's very, um,ö Xander hesitated, searching for the right world.
ôOdd?ö Cordelia suggested. ôWhat's the point of that exercise supposed to be?ö
ôFlexibility, I think.ö At least, that was what the Latin proverbs the writer had quoted seemed to mean. ôPick up a random weapon, use it for a random time, then switch to the next one.ö
ôImprovisation. Like you might do in a real fight,ö Cordelia said. ôSounds practical.ö
ôVery,ö Xander agreed, ôonce you get under the tweed. There's a chapter on using bottles in bar fights -- how to pick the best one, how to break them safely, what to do once you've broken them û all in ye old English, but there's also several hundred pages of commentary, with footnotes.ö
ôWatchers,ö Cordelia said, smiling. ôThey can make anything dull. Where do we start?ö
ôChapter one,ö Xander said. ôBasic hand to hand stuff: deflecting blows, taking falls, what to do if you're slammed into a wall.ö
Xander hesitated. Cordelia might not like the next bit, but she was going to find out. He'd have to be diplomatic. ôThere's a lot of grappling involved. We've got to learn all the joint locks, and how to escape from them. If you don't want to do that with me-ö
ôJust make sure you don't get confused,ö Cordelia said, then muttered something under her breath.
Xander sighed with relief. He'd enjoy all the touching, of course, Cordelia did have a great body, but that was just a perk. The really important thing was learning how to fight properly, and for that he needed Cordelia's cooperation.
ôUpstairs, then,ö Cordelia said, standing back up. ôYou go first.ö
Cordelia stumbled backwards, then tripped, landing on her side.
Sprawled on the next mat, Xander looked at her. ôTwo minute break?ö
Two minutes wouldn't be enough to recover, the way he felt two days might not be enough, but if Cordelia could keep going so could he.
Her chest heaving, she slowly turned to face him. ôOptimistic, much? Wednesday.ö
ôNot tomorrow?ö
ôTomorrow, you'll be aching all over.ö She began pushing herself up off the floor. ôShower time.ö
Her arm wobbled, then folded.
ôOnce you're not too tired to stand,ö Xander suggested, smiling wryly. ôYou look--ö
ôWe both look terrible,ö Cordelia said wearily. ôNext time, we stop sooner.ö
ôBut the book says we're supposed to do it until we drop. We need to know our limits, and be able to fight even at them.ö
ôWe can work up to that,ö Cordelia said firmly. ôYou need -- we both need to get in better shape, and read the footnotes next time. You might've missed something.ö
ôBut there're thirty pages-ö
ôRead them,ö Cordelia repeated. ôThey might be important.ö
Xander looked at her, sweat glistening on her perfect skin, then quickly up at the ceiling.
ôRemembered anything else about Moloch?ö he asked, changing the subject.
ôNo.ö Cordelia scowled. ôYou didn't tell me much.ö
So she kept complaining, but that didn't make any sense. ôIf I'd known you might be blasted back in time-ö
ôRemember the hell mouth? Big mystic thing. Makes-ö
ôWhy didn't I think of that?ö Xander asked sarcastically, wondering what was bugging Cordelia. ôI'll go and tell Jonathon about this right now, in case he-ö
ôJonathon isn't your-ö Cordelia began hotly, then cut herself off. ôHe was never part of the team.ö
Xander looked at Cordelia, her face shadowed by a subtle pain. That explained part of her issues, a very small part. Something had gone wrong between them all in the original future, something that had left Cordelia bitter about his future self not telling her stuff.
ôYou're not just part of the team,ö Xander said, guessing at what she wanted to hear. ôYou're my friend. Forget about what future me did; I'd never keep any secrets from you, promise,ö he said, then jokingly added, ôWant to know what I did in the bathroom this morning?ö
ôWere there demons involved?ö Cordelia asked, her face unreadable.
ôNot real ones.ö
Cordelia's lips twitched. ôI'll pass.ö
ôMalcolm was Moloch,ö Xander said, returning the original subject, ôand Ira is acting like Malcolm.ö
ôMaybe,ö Cordelia sighed. ôHow much has Willow told you about Ira?ö
Xander scowled. ôShe keeps saying how great he is, how he understand her, how he's sensitive but strong-ö
ôDo you know how many girls I've had to listen to, mooning over their boyfriends?ö Cordelia asked. ôToo many, and most of them said the exact same thing. Ira might be Moloch; he might just be a conman. Either way, Willow-ö
ôBut we know Moloch's involved. His book was blank.ö
ôHe's out there somewhere,ö Cordelia agreed, ôbut things are different this time round. We know there's someone else involved.ö
ôI saw you lock that book in the drawer, and Giles checked-ö Xander smiled as realisation hit him. ôWe know someone released Moloch deliberately this time. How do you know they didn't last time?ö
ôBecause-ö Cordelia hesitated. ôIf they did, you never found out about it. Not as simple as it seems, is it?ö
ôYou were right,ö Xander conceded, remembering that first private conversation with Cordelia, the day after Margo had sealed the deathgate. He'd said something about how easy her future knowledge would make things and she'd disagreed, vehemently. Her objections had sounded like excuses at the time, but that had been before he'd seen the whole Moloch thing go wrong.
Cordelia smiled. ôFinally.ö
Xander smiled back. ôHey, I'm not used to all this weirdness. You're the expert, like Giles but, um-ö
ôBetter dressed?ö Cordelia suggested, slowly clambering to her feet.. ôJust remember, this is the hellmouth. We don't get good weirdness.ö
She paused, and looked down at him, her face sombre, then shook her head and staggered gingerly away, leaning on the wall every few steps.
Xander thoughtfully watched her go. Something had been troubling Cordelia all month, ever since she'd cut herself off from her old friends, but that couldn't be the reason why. No one would loose sleep over those airheads.
It might be because she'd seen her mother die; he'd felt pretty bad after-
-but thinking about that wouldn't help anything. What mattered was helping Cordelia through her problems. She was his-
His what? She wasn't his friend, exactly. They had too much past for that, some of it in his future, but he was spending more time with her than with Willow now. Frowning, Xander shelved the question.
Whatever she was, he didn't like seeing her hurt. He had to do something.
Xander tentatively tried to stand up, but fell back, his thighs flaring with pain. Cordelia might be used to this level of exertion, with her cheer-leading practice; he wasn't.
Well, it'd be at least twenty minutes before she was out of the shower, judging by Willow, time enough for him to think, and he had a lot to think about.
Closing his eyes, Xander began running over everything Cordelia had said.
ôI wasn't asleep,ö Xander said, for the third time. ôI was thinking.ö
ôDo you normally-ö Cordelia began, looking through the peephole. ôThere's someone watching.ö
ôYou sure?ö Xander asked. ôRemember last week?ö
ôWearing plaid was suspicious,ö she insisted. ôThis guy's staring at our door.ö
ôMonstra,ö Xander said, pointing casually at the wall. Cordelia had made a couple of mistakes, but she was pretty good at spotting vampires, something to do with the way they dressed, and the spells Margo had put on the apartment made it easy to check.
An image formed on the wall where Xander had pointed, showing the street outside. There were a few dozen people out there, scurrying from shop to shop with bags in their hands, but only one of them was looking at the apartment door, a middle aged man in t-shirt and jeans, his hands clasped in front of him.
ôIn the doorway?ö Xander asked. ôHe could be waiting for someone.ö
ôNo, then he'd stand where he could look up and down the street.ö
Xander nodded, trying to remember the command he'd looked up last time. ôOmnia minus monstra? Omnes minus monstra? Omnes minas monstra?ö
The image darkened, unnatural shadows drifting through the air, the malign aura of the hellmouth made visible, but the man remained unchanged. ôHe's human, Cordy, and not evil.ö
He was definitely watching them though. He hadn't looked away once.
ôNot big time evil,ö Cordelia agreed, then frowned. ôHe's too obvious.ö
ôMaybe he wants to talk,ö Xander suggested. ôHe could be a watcher.ö
ôMaybe,ö Cordelia said. ôHe's not armed and there are two of us. We'll talk, on our terms.ö
ôYou want to fight him?ö Xander asked, surprised. He was still sore all over, and Cordelia wasn't in much better shape.
ôNo,ö Cordelia said, ôI want to bluff him. Think you can manage to look tough?ö
ôEasy,ö Xander said, trying to sound more confident than he felt. He could hardly say no, not if he wanted to retain any creditability as a man.
She looked at him thoughtfully. ôI'm not sure about that shirt. It's--ö
ôYou want me to go home and change?ö Xander asked sarcastically. ôI think-ö
Cordelia smiled. ôYou don't need to do that. You've got a full wardrobe upstairs, in the bedroom.ö
ôI have?ö He hadn't even been in that room since they'd bought the place. With Cordelia sleeping there half the time, it would have been too awkward. ôSince when? I haven't brought any-ö
ôWe agreed you needed some here for emergencies, remember,ö Cordelia said, ôand it was too good an opportunity to miss.ö
ôWe did? When?ö Xander said, then hesitated. ôYou've been buying me clothes?ö
ôMargo paid for them.ö Cordelia corrected. ôI just made sure they weren't a century out of date. It's all part of our arrangement with her. I did wonder why you'd put that shirt back on.ö
ôOh,ö Xander said slowly. ôUm, did you ever write that agreement down?ö
At the time, he'd been too busy thinking about the earlier revelations to pay much attention, which might have been a mistake. Discovering that Cordelia was a time traveller who was also possessing Harmony had been quite a shock, even by the standards of the last two months, but now he didn't know what he'd agreed to.
ôOf course,ö Cordelia said. ôNow, go and change. The left hand wardrobe's yours. The t-shirts are in the middle drawer, on the left-hand side.ö
Xander looked at the steep stairs, then smiled. ôI'll just go and tell him to wait, shall I?ö
His legs were still aching, and he was pretty sure letting a girl pick his clothes for him was getting into dangerous territory. Cordelia would never want to date him, of course, but that would just mean he got the bad without the good.
ôLook at the way he's standing,ö she said patiently. ôHe's not going anywhere soon. White will lo- look the part. Now, hurry.ö
Xander looked at Cordelia, watching him impatiently, then up at the stairs, and sighed. Some arguments, there was no winning.
ôFine,ö he said flatly, and began clambering back up the stairs, exaggerating his winces.
ôXander,ö Cordelia shouted cheerfully, when he was nearly at the top, ôI owe you one.ö
ôYou got the wrong size,ö Xander said, tugging at the t-shirt. ôThis is too tight.ö
ôIt's supposed to be,ö Cordelia said, a strange smile on her face as she looked at him. ôTight is good. Didn't you look in the mirror?ö
ôWhy would I do that,ö Xander asked, puzzled.
Cordelia sighed, and turned the door handle. ôLet's go.ö
As the door opened, the man smiled and began beckoning them over.
ôHe wants to talk, all right,ö Cordelia said. ôRemember what I said.ö
ôKeep quiet,ö Xander repeated. ôLet you do all the talking, like normal.ö
ôBecause you're so shy and retiring,ö Cordelia said. ôNo, wait, that's Willow.ö
ôEver asked her about Microsoft?ö Xander said wryly.
ôYou see,ö Cordelia said, as if she'd scored some point, then looked at the man and tilted her head quizzically.
Xander smiled as the man strolled towards them. Cordelia had just demonstrated why he let her do all the talking, and without even realising it. He could banter with her for hours on end, and he wasn't intimidated by talking to complete strangers, but he never treated conversations like some kind of twisted chess game. Even if he'd wanted to, he wouldn't have known how.
Cordelia did, better than he ever would have guessed. He was used to seeing her cowing people by sheer force of personality, or easing her way with a flash of her father's credit cards, but while that was certainly her preferred approach, she was much smarter than she usually acted, smart enough to be subtle.
ôWho are you,ö Cordelia asked as the man approached, making sure she got her questions in first. ôWhy were you staring at our door?ö
ôBill Stevens, private detective,ö he said. ôWe need to talk.ö
ôAbout-ö
ôAbout why I've been watching you for the last few days. Come back to my office-ö
ôWhere you can ambush us?ö Cordelia said. ôNo. We'll talk in the coffee bar.ö
Bill glanced at the shop diagonally behind him, one doors down from where he'd been waiting. ôA predictable choice.ö
Cordelia shrugged. ôIf you could arrange an ambush somewhere like that, you wouldn't need approach us like this.ö
ôUnsound logic.ö
ôYou-ö Cordelia began, but Bill overrode her. ôI spent twenty years in the FBI, girl. I'm a professional; you aren't.ö
ôWhy talk to us?ö Xander asked, tossing the plan aside. ôWhat do you want?ö
ôVengeance,ö Bill snapped, his face grim. ôThey must pay.ö
Cordelia frowned. ôWe're not-ö
ôYou have backers,ö Bill said firmly, ôpowerful backers.ö
ôHow would you know?ö Cordelia challenged.
ôWhen I'm asked to watch people, I always research them,ö Bill said, ôbut it's a long story. The coffee bar?ö
Looking round at all the abandoned tables, Xander frowned uneasily. He didn't know how much Bill had slipped the owner to get him to close the shop down, but it must have been a lot, which meant serious business.
Cordelia sipped her coffee. ôWhat do you know about us?ö
ôTwo things,ö Bill said, looking out of the window at the secret apartment's door. ôFirstly, all official records show Cordelia bought your hideout last year, and I do mean all records. When I tracked down Beedon, he eventually told a very different story about how he sold it, and when.ö
ôSo he exaggerated a few details,ö Cordelia said dismissively. ôPeople do that.ö
ôMore than a few,ö Bill said. ôHe was telling the truth, so the records must have been forged.ö
ôWe didn't do it,ö Xander said quickly.
Bill smiled. ôOf course not. No one your age could. Oh, you could have bribed Beedon easily enough, and backdating the actual purchase documents wouldn't have been too difficult, but the records also show that you've been paying all your taxes and utility bills on time, and the banks' own records tally with that. Tampering with those records, without triggering any alarms, would take a serious player.ö
That must be something Margo had done, probably with magic, but she was dead now. If Bill was trying to contact her, he was too late, and he'd aimed too high
ôAnd the other thing?ö Cordelia prompted.
ôI record everything said in my office, for legal reasons. I have to-ö
ôBut you don't tell your clients,ö Xander said, cutting off his justifications. ôWhat did they say?ö
ôThey've got plans for the two of you,ö Bill smiled, ôdisturbing plans, but were clearly nervous about capturing you. Oh, and none of them were human.ö
Xander leaned forwards. ôYou know about-ö
ô-the demons,ö Bill interrupted. ôI've known for five years. If only I'd left back then, my Jane would still be alive.ö
Bill's hand tightened on the cup, his face contorting with rage. ôThey killed her, and played me for a fool. I'll make them pay for that. I'll make them all pay. I'll-ö
ôWas she your wife?ö Cordelia asked, sounding almost sympathetic.
ôBegin at the beginning,ö Xander added quickly.
Bill took two deep breaths, then nodded. ôThe beginning? That'd be when I found the statistical anomaly.ö
ôHow could you miss it?ö Cordelia asked. ôThe school paper's got its own obituary column.ö
ôThe hellmouth was going through a quiet patch?ö Xander suggested, smiling at Cordelia's bluff.
ôHellmouth?ö Bill muttered, then looked at Xander. ôI wasn't in that section. I'd decided to run a cross-comparison of declared income with retail expenditure in small towns, excluding the tourist sector, naturally. I thought it would be a good way to identify targets for further investigation.ö
ôProud much?ö Cordelia asked. ôI'm sure your idea was brilliant. How is it relevant to us?ö
Xander half-smiled. Cordelia hadn't understood Bill's explanation either, but she'd never admit to that.
ôIt's why I retired here, after my wife died. Over ten percent of the economy of this town is black, maybe as much as thirty percent.ö Bill looked from Xander to Cordelia, then sighed. ôOn average, people here are spending significantly more money than they've officially got, and they're not borrowing it from any legal source.ö
ôDirty money,ö Cordelia said slowly. ôThere are enough people doing business with demons to show up in your figures.ö
Bill nodded. ôOther lines of evidence showed the anomaly wasn't related to organised crime, so the file was closed.ö
ôAnd you decided to investigate yourself,ö Xander said. ôBut-ö
ôI'm getting to that,ö Bill said. ôIt didn't take me long to discover the real situation here, but, but-ö
Bill ran his finger round the rim of his cup, his eyes unfocused. ôThey made me an offer.ö
ôYou sold out,ö Cordelia spat, tensing up.
ôI had no choice,ö Bill said, thumping the table, then he looked directly at Cordelia. ôThese people had the mayor in their pocket, and they had magic. I couldn't fight that.ö
ôYou should have tried,ö Xander said, watching Bill warily. Anyone who would help demons could never be trusted.
ôIf it had been just me, maybe,ö Bill said, ôbut they threatened my daughter, and then they offered me a deal. I'd do the cabal and their friends some little favours, but not anything illegal or even unethical, and they'd ease my way. That was five years ago.ö
ôAnd now you're talking to us,ö Cordelia said, her voice tinged with contempt. ôWhy? What's changed?ö
ôThey arranged an internship for my Jane,ö Bill said, staring into his cup, ôwith Wolfram and Hart. If I'd known what they were like ... but I didn't. I thought I was doing the right thing.ö
ôWhat happened to her?ö Xander asked quietly, ôWas she-ö
ôThey told me she died in a car crash,ö Bill said, his voice filling with cold fury. ôThey lied. The investigators found her remains at the LA site last week. The autopsy reports ...ö
Bill shuddered. ôShe was my little princess, and they slaughtered her. I will see them pay for that, I will-ö
ôOf course,ö Cordelia said, looking pleased. ôThat's why. You could have told your FBI friends everything, but you want the personal touch.ö She looked thoughtfully at him. ôAnd you've been spinning this out. You could have told us everything important in half the time. You're setting us up for something, aren't you?ö
ôHe's not checked his watch once,ö Xander objected. Cordelia might be right, but she was assuming the worst again.
Bill looked at Cordelia, then sighed. ôI was a trained professional. I'd never do something that obvious. Outside, I-ö
ôEnough delays,ö Cordelia said sharply. ôWhat are you waiting for?ö
ôMy client is sending someone to assassinate you in about forty minutes.ö
ôWhat?ö Xander said disbelievingly.. Nothing had ever targeted him before. Plenty of things had tried to kill him, since he met Buffy, but it hadn't been personal. Now, it seemed, it was.
ôHow?ö Cordelia asked, looking intently at Bill.
ôThey'll break in while you're out, then set an ambush.ö
ôThey can't break in,ö Xander interrupted, relieved. ôMargo said it would take a god to break our defences.ö
Bill blinked in surprise. ôA god? Better still. You can ambush them when they try to break in. Their deaths will be-ö
ôYou expect us to kill them?ö Cordelia said sceptically, glancing up at the clock. ôTwo unarmed teenagers? Or were you planning to help?ö
ôI can't-ö Bill began.
ôWhen did you find out about your daughter?ö Cordelia asked.
ôLast night,ö Bill said.
ôAnd I bet you didn't get much sleep.ö Cordelia looked at Xander. ôThis is why we need to think things through.ö
ôLike with Mrs French, or Margo?ö Xander asked pointedly. Cordelia might like to plan ahead, but she had done as much last minute improvisation as him, not always successfully. He'd gotten enough out of her about what she'd been doing with her future knowledge before he found out to to know that much.
ôBill,ö Xander continued, before Cordelia could reply, ôwho are they sending? Va-ö
ôI don't know. The couple I spoke to looked human, but I think they were just flunkies.ö
ôWhen was that?ö Cordelia asked. ôHow long-ö
ôLast Tuesday. I gave them my preliminary report Saturday, then met them again yesterday. That's when I overheard what they were planning.ö
ôThree days, then,ö Cordelia said, smiling faintly. ôThat's not much time to set up anything complicated.ö She paused, and looked at Bill. ôThey're going to be targeting you now too.ö
ôSo what?ö Bill said, shrugging. ôI sent my daughter to her death. I deserve to die. I just hope I can take the cabal down with me.ö
ôYou don't have to do it alone,ö Xander said quickly. No one should. ôGiles-ö
Cordelia clapped her hand over his mouth. ôWhat did I tell you?ö
ôYou two need a private conference?ö Bill said, standing up.
Cordelia nodded. ôStay where we can see you, and keep your back to us.ö
Xander pushed Cordelia's hand away. ôNow what's your problem.ö
ôIf we involve Giles,ö she said, once Bill had moved away, ôwe're going to have to explain things to him.ö
ôStill not seeing the problem.ö
ôI'd like to be able to tell him everything,ö Cordelia conceded. ôHaving to keep track of what everyone thinks everyone else thinks we know is getting .... a bit annoying, but-ö
ôA bit?ö Xander echoed. ôYou've spent too long round Giles,ö and half the intrigue was her fault anyway.
ôBut,ö Cordelia repeated firmly, ôwe can't. What about all the things we promised Margo we wouldn't talk about?ö
And breaking that promise would be a very bad idea. Xander frowned, trying to remember the exact words. ôWasn't there some way round that?ö
ôWe'd need Harmony's consent.ö
ôSo, we just tell him as much as we can. He already knows there's stuff we can't tell him.ö
ôYou don't get it, do you?ö Cordelia said. ôYou want Giles to track down this cabal, right?ö
ôThe cabal are already dead; they were working with Wolfram and Hart,ö Xander said. ôI-
ôThe cabal wouldn't want his daughter killed,ö Cordelia said. ôWithout her, they've got no leverage over Bill.
ôBad guy politics,ö Xander said dismissively. ôWe can't let Bill kill himself.ö
He might be a collaborator, but he was still human, and he was grieving. Letting him commit suicide by demon would be wrong.
ôWe can't,ö Cordelia agreed, ôbut if they talk, he'll tell Giles everything he found out about us.ö
ôThat's-ö
ôIncluding our apartment.ö
ôYou're still worried about that, when there's a man's life at stake?ö Xander asked, and Cordelia winced.
Half the point of having the apartment was to back up the story she'd told Giles about a rogue watcher showing her visions, but it hadn't taken her long to spot a catch.. If Giles discovered they'd only bought the apartment a few weeks ago, he'd realise her story was false, and go looking for the real source of her foreknowledge. Margo had said that would be too dangerous; the fewer people who knew the truth, the better.
Margo had almost certainly been right û she couldn't lie, and she'd known more than even Giles û but she hadn't objected when Cordelia had been talking about telling Giles about the secret apartment, before she'd had second thoughts. If Margo hadn't been worried about Giles finding out anything from that, Xander certainly wasn't going to and Cordelia shouldn't be either. She probably just liked the idea of a secret lair.
He had thought about telling Giles himself. The promise only covered the things said in the science lab that afternoon, leaving him free to talk about actually buying the place, but that would have felt too much like running to a teacher, and Giles hadn't needed to know, until now.
ôOK,ö Cordelia finally conceded, her voice sour, ôbut only Giles, and we tell him as little as possible, or we might give away the stuff he's not allowed to know. We can say we don't know why Margo did anything.ö
ôWe don't,ö Xander pointed out, smiling, ôand we'd need Harmony's permission to tell him-ö
ôOnly for the bits she was there for,ö Cordelia said, ôbut you need my permission too, and I'm not giving it.ö
Not yet. He'd persuade her to tell the rest of the gang the whole truth, but that could wait. Right now, all that mattered was surviving the assassination attempt, and keeping Bill alive.
Cordelia glanced at Bill, staring glumly at the prints on the wall, then up at the clock. ôDon't you think this is all a bit too convenient?ö
ôYou think we're being set up?ö
ôI think Bill might have been. Could he really have got hold of our bank accounts that fast, without help?ö
ôNot a clue. Willow might know,ö Xander said. ôHe was a professional though. He should know how long it takes.ö
ôHe's too old to know anything much about computers. He got his daughter's autopsy report at just the right time for us too.ö
ôYou think they're trying to panic us?ö Xander asked, after a moment's thought. ôLet us know they're coming-ö
ôSomething like that,ö Cordelia said. ôThey'd have to be overconfident, but also worried about someone tracing them, which mean, um, I'm not sure.ö She shrugged. ôMaybe nothing, it's all circumstantial, but we should be careful.ö
Xander nodded, wondering what exactly she expected him to do that he wasn't already.
ôThought about who might be responsible?ö Cordelia asked.
ôYou only just-ö
ôFor the assassination attempt,ö Cordelia clarified.
ôAnyone who doesn't like the new prophecies?ö Xander suggested. It couldn't be for anything he'd already done, after all. None of that lot would be coming back, apart from the Master, and he didn't use human agents.
ôThat'sö Cordelia began scornfully, then hesitated, ôa good point. We don't know who any of those people are.ö
ôWho did you think it was?ö Xander asked curiously.
ôMoloch,ö Cordelia said, ôor one of his accomplices. It can't be the Master, or Wolfram and Hart, not their style-ö
Xander nodded. Wolfram and Hart's American branches were too busy fighting for survival to bother with him.
ô-and the cabal,ö Cordelia went on, ôhave no motives.ö
ôHope you're right,ö Xander said. The fewer evil masterminds he had trying to kill him, the better.
ôMe too,ö Cordelia said quietly, then glanced back up at the clock. ôNearly thirty minutes yet. We need to decide what we'll do.ö
ôAre you sure you don't want to wait for them inside?ö Bill asked. ôThere's still time to set up an ambush.ö
ôThey won't be able to get in,ö Xander said, checking his watch. ôFive minutes to go. Phone Giles.ö
ôAnd we can't let you in,ö Cordelia added as she pulled out her cell phone. ôSecurity reasons.ö
ôYour defences are that good?ö Bill said sceptically.
Xander smiled. ôYou'll see.ö
ôGiles,ö Cordelia said, ôwe need to talk. Not over the phone. Meet me-ö
ôXander?ö Bill said casually, ôwere you involved in any of the recent .... incidents?ö
ôMaybe,ö Xander said warily. ôWhy?ö
ôYou were, then,ö Bill said. ôPeripherally, I presume.ö
ôGiles is coming,ö Cordelia said, putting her phone away. ôWe don't have that kind of power, but we know people who do.ö
ôImpressive,ö Bill said, ôI can see wh-ö
Mid-word, Bill stopped, his face going slack as he stared at something outside the window.
Xander turned to look, and smiled. There were three girls sauntering down the street in skimpy tops and hot pants, and they were gorgeous. Next to those beauties Cordelia or Buffy would look as drab and plain as Willow. No wonder everyone was staring, even the women.
Cordelia muttered something, then nudged Xander.
He ignored her, watching rapt as the girls sauntered past the window, heart-stoppingly close.
ôXander,ö she shouted, pulling at his ear, ôwhat are you looking at?ö
ôGirls. They've stopped outside our door,ö he said,smiling broadly
ôAnd you don't find that suspicious?ö Cordelia asked him, rummaging in her bag..
He shrugged. It was suspicious; girls that beautiful just didn't visit people like him, but that didn't matter. Let them do what they liked, as long as he could sit and admire their-
Slamming his hand on the table, Xander swore under his breath. There'd been another girl who'd made him think like that. She'd turned out to be a witch, using some kind of magical hypnosis. Now these three turned up, just when they were expecting assassins.
ôHello, salty goodness,ö Cordelia murmured, peering into her make up mirror, then swivelled round to get a better a look.
Half-way, she stopped. ôI saw three men, right outside our door, talking to each other.ö
ôThey're not men,ö Xander said firmly. ôMen don't have, um, definitely girls.ö
He frowned thoughtfully. He'd read about something like this recently, in one of Margo's books. What had it said?
ôGot to be magic,ö Cordelia said, turning her back to the window. ôThey must be our assassins.ö
ôBite your tongue,ö Xander said, remembering.
ôWhat?ö Cordelia said disbelievingly.
Xander smiled. ôWhile you're looking at them, bite your tongue and think about something you're committed to. The stronger, the better. That book said that would break moderate glamours.ö
ôNow who sounds like Giles? You first.ö
Xander stuck his tongue between his teeth, hesitated, then bit down hard, mentally reciting the great oath he had sworn, in front of Margo: 'I will remember the fallen, the heroes and the innocents alike. To their memory I will dedicate...'
The three girls shimmered, as if seen under water, then came back into focus, their true appearance revealed.
ôDefinitely not girls,ö Xander muttered, scowling at the assassins, then smiled. He'd just done a bit of magic û only trivial magic, the kind anyone could do if they knew how, but still real magic.
Beside Xander, Cordelia mumbled the great oath, '... dedicate my life. I will strive...ö
The assassins weren't even human; they were demons. He only had a back view, and he was over fifty feet away, but he could clearly see the rainbow shimmer of the scales on their bald heads and the inhuman proportions of their limbs.
ôDemons,ö Cordelia said, ôSuccubi?ö
ôHow'd you know?ö
ôApart from their appearance, you mean?ö Cordelia said. ôThey're the only demons you'd want to about.ö
Xander nodded. ôLesser classic succubi, I think. They seduce men disguised as women, then collect the, um, you-know, then turn into men and, um-ö
ôI can guess,ö Cordelia said quickly. ôThey're pretty blatant.ö
ôThe book said they can turn the glamour down, and target it. They only go full power when they feel threatened. Oh, and they're supposed to be solitary. They don't like to share.ö
ôHmm,ö Cordelia said, mock-thoughtfully. ôHow many demon lords do we know, with a sex theme?ö
ôMoloch?ö Xander suggested. No one had said anything about him using succubi before, but all the traces of his actions they'd spotted in the last week had involved sex.
Cordelia nodded. ôLook at the way the three of them are standing.ö
Xander looked. ôThey seem tense, must be why they're using full power, but-ö
ôLook closer,ö Cordelia said. ôThey're braced for an attack, from each other, and I think they're arguing. They've been forced to work together, which takes power, and anyone who's been around a while would use minions that could work together.ö
ôMakes sense,ö Xander said, looking at the rest of the street. Almost everyone outside was staring at the succubi, only the younger children seemed to be immune, but there wasn't anyone within twenty feet of the demons. Judging by the longing looks on the boys, and their uncertain shuffling, they were probably all too nervous to get any closer.
The middle succubus pulled something out of a bag, holding it at arms length, then shoved it at the one on its right, but that succubus backed away, shaking its head.
ôI'm not sure,ö Cordelia said, squinting, ôdoes that look like a hand to you?ö
ôCould be,ö Xander said. It was the right size and colour. He glanced at Bill, still drooling over the succubi. ôShouldn't we wake him up.ö
The left succubus gestured angrily.
ôNo point,ö Cordelia said. ôDidn't Giles say something about a hand?ö
The right-hand succubi looked nervously at the other two, then took the hand and tapped it.
A flame sprang up where she had touched it, a single black flame.
ôThis is it,ö Xander muttered, leaning forwards to catch the action.
The succubus pointed the hand at the door.
The door shuddered, then glowed, engulfing the succubi in golden light.
Before Xander could even blink, their flesh melted away, their bones evaporating as they dropped to the ground, and then the light was gone.
ôWhat?ö Bill gasped. ôWhat just happened. Did you-ö
ôThey were succubi,ö Cordelia said. ôYou know about them?ö
Outside, people scurried past the window, anger and fear mingled on their faces.
ôI've heard of them,ö Bill said. ôNot seen any before.ö
ôThey're new,ö Cordelia said, then frowned. ôThey should be attracted to the hell mouth though. Why are they new?ö
ôNo idea,ö Bill said softly. ôI thought I'd seen everything, but those women, and that light .... It was ... impressive. No, more than that, and yet you just sit there, as if it was nothing.ö
Xander shrugged. ôWe've seen-ö
ô-a lot,ö Cordelia interrupted.
Bill looked at her, then shook himself. ôShouldn't you be clearing up the bodies?ö
ôSee,ö Xander said, a minute later. ôNo bodies.ö
There was nothing left of the succubi but a sprinkling of ash and a few faint scorch marks.
ôI can see why you weren't worried,ö Bill said. ôA good forensics team might be able to draw conclusions from the distribution of the ash, but there isn't enough left to prompt an investigation.ö
ôNo witnesses either, officially,ö Xander said. Plenty of people had watched the succubi die, but they were all gone now, leaving the street deserted.
ôAnd the police in this town are useless,ö Cordelia said.
ôDeliberately,ö Bill said. ôThe police chief has been taking bribes.ö
ôFrom the cabal,ö Xander guessed.
A few dozen yards behind Bill, Giles got out of his car.
ôFrom everyone,ö Bill said. ôThe cabal likes to know who else has strings on their assets.ö
Xander smiled. ôYou'll have a lot to talk to Giles about.ö
ôGiles?ö Bill said. ôYou said he set up your defences? He-ö
ôYou're fishing,ö Cordelia said sharply, ôAll you need to know is that Giles can help you, right Giles?ö
ôPerhaps,ö Giles said cautiously, as Bill spun round to face him. ôWho's this?ö
ôBill Jones,ö Cordelia said, ôex-FBI. He's spent the last five years working for the bad guys.ö
ôDefecting?ö Giles suggested, looking quizzically at Bill.
Xander nodded. ôWhen he found out about his daughter, he decided to warn us about the assassins.ö
Giles pushed his glasses up. ôYou didn't mention assassins when you phoned, Cordelia.ö
ôYou'd have wanted to bring Buffy-ö
ôExactly when are these assassins due?ö Giles asked, looking suspiciously at Cordelia.
Xander smiled. ôYou just missed them.ö
ôBy design, I take it,ö Giles said. ôDare I ask what happened to them?ö
ôYour defences-ö Bill began.
ôMargo's defences,ö Cordelia said quickly, ôto protect our secrets. Remember Winston?ö
Giles looked sideways at Xander, then at Bill. ôI understand. Is there anything you can tell me.ö
Xander tapped the door. ôThis is our place. The succubi tried to break in with a magic hand to-ö
Giles looked sharply at Xander. ôBurning with a black flame?ö
ôYe-ö
ôA Hand of Glory,ö Giles said. ôInteresting. How did you know they were succubi?ö
Cordelia smiled. ôXander's been reading about them.ö
Xander smiled back. ôAnd you thought I was just looking at the-ö
ôThey said you'd help me,ö Bill interrupted. ôI want them dead.ö
Giles blinked. ôYou want who dead?ö
ôThe cabal,ö Xander clarified. ôThey got his daughter a job with Wolfram and Hart.ö
ôThey killed her,ö Bill said, his voice low. ôThey killed my darling Jane. I will see them pay for that-ö
ôBill has nothing else left to live for,ö Cordelia said, staring intently at Giles. ôHe wants to see the cabal brought down, at any cost.ö
Giles looked at her for a moment, then turned and smiled broadly at Bill. ôOf course we'll help you. You'll-ö
ôYou will?ö Bill said. ôYou will?ö
Cordelia's phone rang.
ôI've got their names right here,ö Bill said, pulling a piece of paper from his pocket, ôthirteen prominent local businessmen who-ö
ôBuffy?ö Cordelia said. ôYes, why?ö
ôBuffy?ö Giles muttered, turning away from Bill.
Cordelia shushed him. ôSomewhere nearby. I can see his car. Why?ö
Xander sighed. She was doing it again. For someone who prided themselves on blunt honesty, Cordelia was rather too good at bending the truth.
ôAssassins!ö Cordelia exclaimed. ôYou- OK, I'll look for Giles.ö
ôNeed to know?ö Bill said hesitantly.
ôI can neither confirm nor deny,ö Giles said, smiling faintly. ôHow far away am I?ö
ôGiles!ö Cordelia shouted, holding the phone at arms length. ôNot that far.ö
Giles waited a moment, then took the phone from Cordelia. ôBuffy? Cordelia-ö
While he was talking, Cordelia nudged Xander. ôWillow was with her,ö she said softly.
ôShe OK?ö Xander instantly asked.
ôBuffy didn't say, but she didn't sound worried.ö
ôGood,ö Xander said, relaxing.
Cordelia frowned. ôYou forgot, didn't you. Buffy said she was going to try and keep her away from the keyboard.ö
ôShe did?ö Xander muttered. Maybe she had, but all his attention had been on her looks. Her latest outfit really showed off her legs, and the top had been pretty good too.
ô-standard practice.ö Giles said. ôSearch the area for possible observation points, and collect any evidence you find. I'll meet you in the library at half-seven, the teachers should all be gone by then. Bye.ö
Xander checked his watch. Six o'clock? Later he'd realised, but he'd been heading home for his tea when they'd spotted Bill, and that had been nearly an hour ago. He'd have to phone his mom soon, and let her know not to expect him, but why half-seven?
ôThat's ninety minutes,ö Xander said, puzzled. ôWe can be there in ten.ö
ôWe can't take Bill with us,ö Giles said, looking apologetically at him. ôSecurity, you understand.ö
Bill nodded. ôOf course.ö
ôBut we can't leave you loose either. Um, anyone got scissors?ö
ôNail scissors,ö Cordelia said, ôfor emergencies. Why?ö
ôBill,ö he said, ôI'll need a lock of your hair, and your promise of good faith, freely given. Break your word, and I'll be able to use the hair to strike you down.ö
Bill looked briefly uncertain, then said firmly. ôOK, for my daughter, but I want your promise too.ö
ôYou have my word as a watcher,ö Giles said. ôCordelia, the scissors?ö
ôThey're nail scissors,ö she said. ôThey're not for hair. Can't you use blood?ö
ôI am not in the habit of carrying empty phials in my pockets.ö Giles paused. ôBut nail clippings are just as good.ö
Grudgingly, Cordelia passed Bill the scissors. ôThis isn't going to take ninety minutes.ö
ôBill is a marked man now,ö Giles said, frowning at the phone. ôI'm going to try and get him out of town. Um, how do you start dialling on this thing.ö
ôShe'll be waiting when you get off,ö Giles said, forty minutes later.
ôAnnette Chadwick, mid-forties, red hair,ö Bill said, ôGot it. You're certain she-ö
ôShe's been working on the Wolfram and Hart investigation,ö Giles said patiently. ôShe....ö
Xander stopped listening. Giles had already explained that twice.
ôSit down, Cordy,ö he said instead, picking his hamburger carton off the seat at the side of him. ôThere's room.ö.
ôIn this dress?ö she said scornfully. ôI'd rather stand.ö
Xander leaned back and glanced round the Sunnydale bus station, nearly empty at this hour. The paint was peeling, and the windows were grimy, but it was only shabby, not filthy. The only litter he could see was a couple of empty coke cans and half a dozen cigarette stubs, and there was no graffiti at all, so why was Cordelia taking such pains not to touch anything?
ôYou don't get it, do you?ö she said, looking thoughtfully down at him, then hesitated. ôI don't have-ö
A bus pulled in, drowning Cordelia out.
ôFinally,ö she muttered, then frowned.
ôThat's Bill's,ö Xander, watching as Giles ushered him on board.
ôObvious, much?ö
Standing up, Xander tossed the empty carton at the nearest bin.
It missed.
Cordelia smiled as he bent over to pick it back up. ôYou'll have to aim better than that.ö
ôI got the can in, didn't I?ö Xander said, then looked uncertainly at Giles as he walked up to them. ôWould you really strike him dead?ö
He'd seen Margo kill someone with magic before, but not Giles, and Margo's victim had been a demon worshipping cannibal. Killing people for breaking promises didn't seem like something he'd do.
ôStrike down, not strike dead,ö Giles said, ôand I was bluffing. The theory is sound; I lack practice. Cordelia-ö
ôThis Annette,ö she interrupted. ôHow well do you know her?ö
ôNot personally,ö Giles said, smiling, ôbut she has a good reputation, her political position is weak, and she doesn't have access to any paper evidence. I didn't give Bill time to collect anything from his office-ö
ôAnd now you've got those keys,ö Cordelia said. ôYou can edit everything you send her.ö
Giles nodded as he checked his watch. ôI can, if I decide I should. You've clearly not been-ö
ôThat's-ö Cordelia began.
ôImpatient, aren't you?ö Giles said, and she scowled. ôWait until we're in my car.ö