Even after she and then Cordelia had both left the office, after custodial services had cleared away the remnants of our feast, Fred's words regarding her unusual experiences so far this day stayed with me.
"Well, when I got here this morning, other than I visit to drop off some mail... I haven't seen anyone today, I mean any of ya'll. I went
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I sighed. "Yes, yes of course," I answered quietly. He was here to check up on me. Oh, I was sure that the Council would officially state that Father's task was to observe the inner workings of the new Wolfram & Hart and determine whether or not Angel and the rest of us had made a deal with the devil which we would not be able to use to our advantage. Ostensibly, that would be the case, but more correctly and more importantly, Father was here to look in on me.
As I fought for some composure and comportment after spilling the papers to the floor, I found myself with very little. I also found myself resenting deeply the sudden resurgence of the Wesley-that-was, the clumsiness and the unsurety and the encompassing insecurity. And yet, there it all was, it is coloful and mortifying glory.
"Mr Wyndam-Pryce. Well, this is an honor. Wesley's told me virtually nothing about you at all, and I can see why. I assumed you'd be much older, and less... commanding."
I all but rolled my eyes at Lilah. What in the blazes was she doing? Or was she entirely unable to forgo the application of 'feminine wiles' to any situation involving a male?
"Father has always been one of the foremost Watchers the Council has been able to boast," I interjected, genuinely proud, though simply hoping to redeem a few moments to tidy up.
"I know what you're thinking. Formerly evil law firm, vampire running the show, how could your son possibly be mixed up with all of this? I assure you, Roger, may I call you Roger? that Wesley is, and will always be, one of the good guys."
I hid my jaw-dropping susprise behind a hand raised to my chin. Now I truly couldn't fathom Lilah's game. She'd come into the office and slapped me full in the face, and now was complimentingly shamelessly to my own father? What was her angle?
"And actually, your timing is impeccable. I was just about to give Wesley my report on an important case he's been overseeing, that you might also have a vested interest in. Seeing how it's about one of yours... We still haven't been able to identify the body, but we're working on it. All we know is that she claimed to be a watcher, and was in contact with Faith and Kennedy. Fred is down in the lab performing the autopsy as you requested, and I was just about to deliver her a sample of fluid from the Permanent Storage facility. So shall we go down and see what progress has been made?"
The surprises for the day seemed to be enverending this afternoon, and from somewhere, I discovered a small reservoir of aplomb with which to take the news as confidently as I could manage.
Who was this corpse that had apparently been in contact with not just one, but two Slayers whose presences in this city were a mystery? And what was the upside for Lilah-- for she was sure to have one-- in implicating me in that investigation so strongly? As if I weren't already convinced that she required watching, now I was sure of it.
"Yes," I answered as calmly and casually as I could muster. "Yes, let's all go downstairs."
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