(Untitled)

[cordys_bitch]

I was practically thrown out of the law firm despite my attempts to shake the guard off. All I got was tasered for my trouble and they didn't have half the talent at using it that Fred did. Fuck Harry. I was going to rip his head off when I saw him next and see if the next time they bring him back he manages to bring his common sense back with him

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[chosenpotential]

I'd put in a long day at the school and despite the fact that I knew I should hit the streets and do some patrolling, all I wanted to do was come home and chill out with my girlfriend. Yes, I said girlfriend. Felt good too. So, I drove home, grabbed a quick shower and called Izzi to see if she wanted to just have a quiet night in at my place. Shannon was out for the night, she'd actually left me a note. Gotta say I was pretty surprised by that, but it was cool. I kinda liked having her around, it seemed like we'd started actually getting along and stuff.

I ordered some Chinese food, despite my urge to ask Izzi to cook some more Italian food. What can I say? Girl can definitely cook. But, I didn't want her to come over to cook, I wanted to treat her this time. And since I'm not much on the cooking, ordering in sounded like a plan. The food beat her there, so I had it all set out and ready when she got there. We had dinner and stretched out on the couch to watch a movie. About 30 minutes into the movie, my cell phone rang and I sat up, reaching over to the new coffee table I'd had to buy thanks to the Azumon demons that had busted up my old one. Looking down at the screen, I wrinkled my brow. Connor? Why was he calling?

Flipping my phone open, I held it up to my ear and before I said hello, his voice came over the line. "Where are you? We have major fucking problems with your sister."

Oh great. What the hell had she done now? Was this how it was going to be with her here in LA? Me bailing her ass out every time I freaking turned around.

"I'm at my place." I said. "My sister?" I frowned. "Great. What now?" I shook my head, running my hand through my hair as I stood up. "What the hell did she do now?" I asked in an annoyed tone, looking over at Izzi who was looking at me curiously.

[cordys_bitch]

"I'm on my way," I told her, before hanging up. It was best we have the discussion in person because chances were if I told her on the phone she'd just haul ass to the firm. I didn't want her going there alone. I wasn't sure if she and I could get past security together or not, but we had a better chance as a team.

The drive to her place didn't take too long. It didn't help me calm down any either. I couldn't believe he was being such a dick. Okay, yeah, I could. I'd heard about what happened when he came back so clearly he was trying to hurt Faith and Dad like they hurt him.

You'd think he would be grateful that they didn't sink his ass to the bottom of the ocean, but whatever it was still an option as far as I was concerned. Not that I wanted to do that to him. It's just, man what the fuck was his problem?

Right. No soul. This was going to be such a pain in the ass to deal with it. I turned on to Kennedy's street and parked my car outside her place. Exiting, I pocketed the keys, and walked up to the door, barely knocking once before it opened.

"Hey."

[chosenpotential]

He just told me he was on his way and hung up. Damn, this didn't sound good. And how the hell did Connor know about Shannon? Which only led me to believe something was going down that I wasn't gonna like.

Flipping my phone closed, I tossed it on the table where it landed with a loud thud. Izzi was still looking at me, concern and confusion on her face. "Something's up with Shannon." I said, not really knowing what else to say until I got the full scoop on this whole thing. "Connor's on his way over to give me the run down on whatever the hell she's got herself into this time."

I sighed. So much for a quiet evening huh?

I paced back and forth in the foyer, chewing on my thumbnail as I waited for Connor to show up. I heard the car door slam and as his knuckles made contact with the door, I jerked it open.

"Hey." I echoed back. "Come on in." He stepped inside and I shut the door behind us, motioning toward the living room. "Connor, this is Izzi. Iz, this is Connor." I said, getting the introductions out of the way. I'm sure he could figure out she was my girlfriend. It didn't take a genius. "Now what the hell is going on with Shannon?"

[cross_to_bare]

'Something's up with Shannon.'

Shannon Bradford had only been in town for a small fraction of Kennedy and I's short relationship so far, and I was beginning to get the distinct impression that I was going to be hearing a lot of those four words. I was trying to swallow the whole 'Slayer' thing. Demons, monsters, fighting the good fight. All of this crap Kennedy had been slowly filling me in on and trying to get me to adjust to.

It was all still a little unbelievable, but once you'd seen certain things with your own eyes, it was all a little hard to deny. I wasn't sure how I fit into this line, but I did know that a lot of things in my life suddenly made more sense. And were that much more confusing, too.

"Should I get my hairspray and lighter?" I asked, trying to lighten her instantly dark and impenetrable mood.

I vaguely remembered getting the scoop on Connor. And by scoop, I mean she'd mentioned him by name so I at least knew he was someone important in the scheme of all this madness. Which, could possibly mean double the stitch jobs this time. Silently, I watched Kennedy pace, waiting for him to get there, and I could feel the tension rising in my own blood. I thought her and that Buffy girl killed those demons?

Once Connor arrived, I stood, meeting them in the entry way. "Nice to meet you," I managed to get in in between the hasty introduction and Kennedy's demands.

"Can I get you something to drink?" I suddenly asked Connor. "I'm going to go get us all something to drink." Quickly, I backed away toward the kitchen, looking for something. I could tell by the look on this guy's face that in about five seconds, she was going to look probably more pissed off and ready to kill than he did. Which meant I probably didn't want to be at Ground Zero when he dropped the bomb.

[cordys_bitch]

"Hey," I said to Izzi when she was introduced to me. I felt kind of bad for barging in on them, but this was about Kennedy's sister. Maybe she would have more luck getting her sister under control than I had reigning my brother in. Ugh brother, I kind of hated that I thought about him that way.

Once she excused herself to grab us drinks, I turned my attention to Kennedy, because she wanted to know what was up. There was no easy way to tell someone their sister is a slut who is hanging on the very married vampire that has two kids back at the hotel. Okay maybe I should not use the word slut. That would probably be for the best.

"Did you know that Harry and Shannon used to date?" I asked her, but I didn't wait for her to answer. It really didn't make a difference that she was his ex-girlfriend. He was married now. He was a vampire who lost his soul and was currently residing in the evil law firm. Kennedy's sister had no business chilling out there with him.

"I was waiting in the penthouse with the intention to drag Harry back to the hotel. Figured it was the least I could do since Faith's dad dragged him out of the hotel originally. The elevator opened and there was Harry and your sister...intertwined."

Okay so I was trying to spare some details. It wasn't like I wanted to hear about what may family did with the people they were with. Gross okay, just gross.

"Before I could drag him home and send her back to you, security showed up and dragged me out. It didn't appear your sister had any plans to leave."

[chosenpotential]

I barely heard Izzi say she was going to get drinks, I was too focused on Connor and him telling me what the hell was going on with Shannon. As she left the room, I looked at him expectantly. Come on miracle boy, spill it. You're killing me here!

He asked me if I knew that Harry and Shannon used to date. What the hell does that have to do with--wait! Harry Osborn used to date my sister? What the hell?! Before I could voice my lack of knowledge on that subject, he continued on, telling me about going over to the penthouse. Oh right, I almost forgot Wolfram & Hart somehow brought Harry back due to some kind of contract and now he was like the boss over there or something. Not to mention, he had absolutely no soul now.

And did I just hear him right? Harry and Shannon? Intertwined? What the hell kind of word was that? Well, I guess it was better than him saying all over each other, 'cause the thought alone just made me throw up in my mouth.

Clenching my jaw so tight I thought my teeth might break, I felt the anger crash over me like a wave. "Shannon. My sister Shannon was with Harry? As in Harry Osborn. Lexi and Tyler's dad, Faith's husband and Angel's --" I stopped, not sure what they even had that labeled as. Boyfriend just sounded all kinds of wrong.

"She's at that law firm right now?" I was getting more and more pissed by the minute. "What the fuck is she thinking?!" My voice was getting loud. I couldn't help it, I was pissed. "I'm going over there. I'll drag her fucking ass out if I have to." I grabbed my boots and sat down on the couch, slipping them on and starting to lace them up.

[cross_to_bare]

Moving back into the room, having heard everything, I offered Connor a glass of the wine we'd been drinking with dinner. I second thought handing Kennedy one because I could already see it splashed across the wall. Putting it, and the bottle down, I moved over where she was putting on her shoes.

"Wait a second." I said, grabbing her hands and holding them firmly still. "What the Hell is going on? Your sister is with some guy at a law firm and you're getting all heated over that?" I asked.

She started to argue with me, but I shook my head. "No, I heard you. Harry is... taken. And your sister shouldn't be messing with a married man. But she's not in danger, so it's not really any of your business what mistakes she makes until you're cleaning up her mess. Again."

I looked up at Connor. "She's not in any trouble, is she?" I asked. "Outside from the obvious of what Kennedy told me about this place making all of those lawyer jokes seem obsolete with their level of depravity."

[cordys_bitch]

"I don't think he plans to hurt her, no," I admitted. Then I looked at Kennedy and couldn't resist asking, "She's not the type to want to be his chew toy right? Because he may not bite her without permission, but with the lack of soul and current lack of judgment who knows if he would go for it if she offered."

He really needed to be dragged back to that cage. Why the hell did they even want him running the company? Oh right, to try and lure Faith there. They couldn't have her. We'd figure out how to fix this.

Her girlfriend, who damn was really hot and giving me the slayer tingle, looked a little confused. I guess she hadn't been brought up to date on the fucked up Aurelian tree yet. And here I was without my handy dandy white board and colored coded system to explain how fucked up we were.

"Harry is a vampire, but he's not exactly normal. He's sort of neutered...for the most part. But they were both drugged. I could see their eyes were dilated. Security kicked me out, Kennedy. I heard him tell them not to let anyone else up tonight so we'd probably just get tasered again if we showed up."

We not her because if she was determined to go, she wasn't going alone, and that wasn't up for discussion at all. I wondered if two slayers and me showed up if we could overthrow security to make it up to the penthouse. Even if we did they would probably just send more security to drag us back out.

"It's better if we grab them away from the firm when they don't have so many people watching out for them."

[chosenpotential]

"It's more than that! You don't understand Iz, he--" I tried to argue but she cut me off, basically telling me it wasn't my business. Fuck that, it's totally my business. My sister is hooking up with some vampire without a soul. Not only that, but he's my best friend's husband! This is so not cool.

I drifted off in my own thoughts for a minute, trying to figure out how I was going to fix this one when Connor's question brought me out of it. "What?" I looked over at him, my brow furrowed. "He better not fucking bite her. I don't care who he is, I'll stake him. He might come back again, but I'll just be there waiting. I'll stake him over and over and over until he comes back with some freaking sense. What the hell is he doing Connor?"

Drugs? Shannon was on drugs now too? Wait, wasn't that what was killing Harry before? Isn't that why Angel had to vamp him, so he'd be around to see his kids and all that stuff? God, this was worse than a fucked up supernatural Springer episode. I glanced over at Izzi. Welcome to my life, baby. Now you see why I kept my distance. Yeah, she'll probably be the one playing the avoiding game after this one.

I frowned, trying to think of some other way to get in. I wasn't exactly in the mood to get tasered, but I had to get in there and get Shannon before she ended up becoming snack food for Harry. He wouldn't do that would he?

"You're right, it's probably better if we get them when they're away from the firm. But, what if it's too late by then? What if he kills her, or even worse, what if he turns her? Then I'll have to stake my own sister." I stood up, kicking my coffee table over. "Fuck!" I screamed out, running both hands through my hair. Turning back, I looked at both of them. "There's gotta be something we can do." I turned my attention over to Connor. "Does Faith know any of this? What about your dad?" Things were definitely going to get ugly when they found out if they hadn't already.

[cross_to_bare]

Neutered? A vampire can be neutered? I tilted my head a little in thought, still looking at Connor, but only in the way your eyes are on something when you lose focus and take a solo trip out to la la land for a moment. This whole thing, this life, it just kept getting weirder and weirder.

I snapped out of it when Kennedy started going off about how he'd better not bite her and how she'd stake him and he'd keep coming back. And I was just about to probably space out again, wondering how he could just keep coming back, because from what Kennedy had taught me so far, once you staked them, that was it. They were done. R.I.P. But I caught her glance in my direction, and I instead turned toward her with a reassuring smile.

"No one's getting tasered." I said calmly. Though, it was starting to look like less and less of a bad idea when Kennedy started screaming and kicking things over. Cringing slightly, I backed away from the impact, getting back to my feet. Where did I put that wine?

"Look, if they dated before, then maybe this is all just harmless, Kenn." I said quietly. "Except for the part where it's going to hurt other people. If he wanted to bite or turn or otherwise hurt and maim someone, I doubt he'd take someone as high profile as your sister. It's probably no coincidence that they're exes."

I was new to this whole thing, but I was learning quickly, nothing in this strange little world happened accidentally.

[cordys_bitch]

"If he was going to hurt her I doubt he would do it now anyway. Not when he's been spotted by me with her and went to the trouble of making an introduction."

I sighed as I looked down at the coffee table. I understood the rage. I wouldn't mind ripping some thing apart right now. God I had to go back to tell Dad and Faith about this. Awesome.

"No matter what a dumbass he is and how much he may be wanting to hurt Dad and Faith for the cage stunt, you're his kids aunt. He's not going to hurt someone who is important to you. Harry doesn't work that way."

So, basically he came back from hell without his soul, and sort of in heat. Great. Can we please lock him up again? The cage was looking better and better all the time.

"No, I'll tell them when I get back to the hotel. I don't want the kids to hear me though. They are already having a hell of a time adjusting to the fact their dad is back. If they hear he's shacking up with your sister...yeah let's not bring that to their attention if possible."

[chosenpotential]

"No this is just Shannon's way of getting to me. She lives for it." I said angrily to Izzi. It wasn't directed at her, just me being mad over Shannon always doing something to piss me off. "This is the thanks I get for saving her ass from those soul stealing demons. Instead, she goes and hooks up with someone without a soul. Talk about her great ideas." I rolled my eyes in disgust. Yeah, I was pissed. I couldn't help it.

I turned to Connor as he brought up how Harry was probably trying to hurt Faith and Angel for putting him in a cage. "That cage is sounding like a good idea right now. Maybe we should put him back in it." I smirked. Hey, it sounded like a good idea.

"Yeah, the kids definitely don't need to know about this." I shook my head, thinking about how much drama those kids had already been through. "They've been through enough." I sighed. "I can't just sit back you guys." I looked between them. "I can't just wait and hope that this all works out for the best. Shannon's fucking with something she has no clue about. She's not really been part of my life for a reason. Not only have we never got along, but she doesn't know how dangerous this whole Slayer thing is. She knows some of it, considering she got her ass kidnapped by those Azumol demons, but she doesn't know about other stuff." I sighed again. "Plus, I can't let either one of them do this to Faith." I shook my head, clenching my jaw again. "Or the kids."

Walking over to the debris of the table I'd destroyed, I picked up my cellphone. "Let me try to call her, maybe she'll listen to me." Pressing the speed dial number assigned to Shannon, I held it to my ear and listened to it ring several times before her voicemail picked up. Flipping it closed again, I felt the anger wash over me again. "She's not answering. Big surprise."

I looked over at Connor. "Bottom line? I've gotta do something about this. Either you're in or you're not. We just need a plan."

[cross_to_bare]

"Maybe she doesn't know." I suggested. "Shannon just came in to town, what? A few days ago? A week or two maybe, tops? And all of this has gone down in that amount of the time. What are the chances she knows when you just found out yourself and you're actually a lot closer to all of these people than she is?"

I had no idea what was right in front of me and going on all around me until Kennedy pretty much smacked me over the head with it and the undeniable proof of its existence. Maybe Shannon was clueless too, considering even being in denial, I wouldn't be stupid enough to offer up my soul to anyone, regardless of what they offered me.

But Kennedy didn't seem convinced, and I couldn't say I blamed her. Of the three of us, she was the only one who really knew her sister or could say for sure what was what with her.

I took a deep breath, and waited as she tried to get ahold of her sister. Stealing another glance at Connor, I wondered how he'd done this for so long. His whole entire life, dealing with all of this chaos? That had to be so rough.

"No, Kennedy. The bottom line is there is a full security force, armed with tasers waiting for him or anyone else to show up over there and cause trouble. This Harry guy has made it clear that no one's allowed up there tonight, so I think you should stick with Connor's alternate plan. Grab them away from the law firm. Your chances are better. You go now, and screw it off, and tip them to what you're up to, then they'll be prepared for a next time." I warned.

"If you can't just sit there and let this happen, which to me, it sounds like it's already happened, then maybe you should go with Connor to tell your friend."

Please don't make me knock you out again.

[cordys_bitch]

I understood why Kennedy wanted to charge in and grab her sister. Hell, my plan had been to wait for Harry to come home and grab him. Now in retrospect I realized grabbing anyone from the belly of the beast wasn't going to work.

"She's right. The best thing we can do is wait for your sister to leave the penthouse and come see you. Her stuff is here right? Be here when she gets home and talk some sense into her."

If that didn't work well we had a big cage in the basement of the hotel? Right no locking up non-vampire members of the family. I got it.

I paced as I tried to figure out the best way to handle this. Pondering for a moment I finally said, "I'll go back and tell Dad and Faith. Knowing Dad he'll probably corner Harry first chance he gets. If anyone has a chance in hell at talking sense to him it's probably Dad."

That sire pull or whatever it was. But the drugs thing was really bugging me. Did Harry forget that drugs was what landed him with fangs to begin with.

"I know you don't want to just sit here, but at the very least they will escort us out of the building before we even get there. Who knows what else they would be willing to do to us. Faith's father probably knows you're a friend of hers and you'd be a pretty present for him to send back to his daughter in pieces. Let's not just hand you over, all right?"

[chosenpotential]

I looked at Izzi with a frown as she tried to .... defend Shannon? Okay, what the hell was that about? Shannon was trying to get to me, she was always trying to do something to piss me off. It's just how she worked. Why should it be any different just because I saved her freaking life?

I knew that what she was telling me made sense. And it was a better plan than storming in there and getting my ass tasered. But, I didn't like the word 'no' and when I wanted something, I was used to getting it. Right now, that something was Shannon back here in one piece and away from Harry Osborn. But this time, I wasn't getting what I wanted and I definitely didn't like it. I wanted to throw another tantrum, but I had a feeling if I kicked or threw anything else Izzi would pull her big sleeper grip on me and I'd end up unconscious. I wasn't helping anyone that way.

And Connor's gonna agree with her? Who's on my side here? Anyone? See, now Faith would be busting up in that place with me, no questions asked. No matter what the sitch was. Maybe I should call her, I'm sure once she heard the story she'd be all about storming in and kicking some ass. Hmmm, that's definitely an idea. Not that I'm going to share that one. No, that's gonna be all mine. I'd play that card if I needed to.

"Fine. You go talk to them. And I guess I'll just sit here and do nothing." I pouted. Yeah, I was a big brat. Nothing new there. Well, not to Connor anyway. I'm pretty sure Izzi hadn't seen this side yet. "That's really gonna help. And I'm already feeling so much better about it." I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes. "And for the record? I'm not scared of James." I said defiantly. "He might try to do something to get to Faith, or even Grace, but I'm not afraid of him."

[cross_to_bare]

Everything was starting to sound reasonable again. Until Connor mentioned Faith's father taking people apart in pieces. What the Hell? Who does that? And what was he if he could take a Slayer apart? In pieces, no less.

I'm not running. I swear, I'm not even thinking of running. Nope. Not thinking about it at all.

Kennedy seemed like she felt betrayed because God forbid anyone see another side of this but hers. But I couldn't help it. And I was sure Connor couldn't either. It's nothing against her if someone doesn't want to be tasered if it can be avoided! I frowned a little at her, because while I knew she was pretty ruthless when it came to getting what she wanted, this was a side of her I hadn't seen before. And so far? I wasn't a big fan.

"Don't talk to him like that." I said, when she started mouthing off in that sarcastic tone. "He did you a favor. He could have just gone to Faith and Angel and gave them the head's up and left you to find out about this later. Don't be bitter toward him because you're pissed at the position your sister's put herself in."

Okay, probably not helping her and her sullen little attitude. But I can't help it. I'm not spoiled, and the way I was raised usually dictates that I end up calling people who are on their behavior.

My eyebrow raised a little when she mentioned Grace, and that's when I started putting things together and coming up with the bigger picture. Grace was Faith's sister. Faith was Kennedy's best friend. Kennedy's sister was now sleeping with Faith's husband. Wonder who Grace's boyfriend is and how he's related to everyone.

I glanced at Connor for a moment, but quickly ruled that out. Kennedy wouldn't be so cool with him if he'd taken her girlfriend and then shut her down when she'd tried to see the girl in the hospital.

"You're not afraid of anything, are you?" I sighed.