Thoughts on a CL55

[morethanmuscle]

I parked the Benz two blocks away from the hotel, settin' the alarm. Truth was, though, that it might actually be the best thing for me if the thing got boosted or chopped up. Lookin' at the keys in my hand-- this weird hunk of plastic that was only kinda key-shaped and plugged into the steering column-- I remembered how I used to be so jealous

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[morethanmuscle]

"Yeah. Where else would I be?"

Huh. I couldn't help but feel a smile comin' on. That was definitely soundin' like the old Cordy on the other side of that door. We all loved her to pieces, and she could be just about the sweetest girl ever put on the planet, but she had about the sharpest tongue I'd ever had the questionable pleasure of takin' a lashin' from. But this was definitely soundin' like the good-natured version of her snark, which worked just fine for me. I could use it.

"I'd call you a stranger, but I've seen you around."

And there it was.

I nodded, givin' her a kinda smile. "Yeah, here and there, that'd be me. You, uh, you got some time, Cordy? I was just thinkin' that you and I ain't had a decent talk in about forever. Place seems to be catchin' its breath, probably a good time to do it."

Cordy showed me inside, but as I passed her, she started givin' me one hell of a once-over. I knew that she didn't have Lorne's kinda way of readin' people's auras and whatnot, but she was still the vision lady, and she was still Cordelia. I hadda try not to be nervous.

"Is everything okay?"

I answered quickly. "Like usual, y'know-- good and bad, little of both."

Somethin' in the way a frown was startin' to work its way onto Cordy's face told me I needed to fill in the blanks a little.

"I just got back from helpin' one of the boys from my old crew. Had some fangy-type problems left over from before the sun came back, and asked for a hand. I have. Came back."

[xxcordeliaxx]

"Yeah, here and there, that'd be me. You, uh, you got some time, Cordy? I was just thinkin' that you and I ain't had a decent talk in about forever. Place seems to be catchin' its breath, probably a good time to do it."

"Okay..."

Let me guess, the world's ending again and the stupid Powers That Be care more about the battle than the apocalypse so they didn't warn us. If that's the case, hearing it from Gunn is unacceptable. Buffy could have stopped screwing Wesley long enough to put up a big sign or send me a text message.

If we were going to go new millenium with the technology of our warnings, I bet she'd make sure that I conveniently didn't get one.

I know that it's wrong of me to hear that one of my closest friends wants to talk and immediately expect the worst, but this is Gunn. We don't seek each other out for casual conversation, it happens naturally. Although for the past few days, all of our not seeking has lead to plenty of not seeing, maybe it was starting to bug him too.

"Like usual, y'know-- good and bad, little of both."

"Well, we're looking at a lot more of the bad on it's way. I had a vision of another attack on the hotel."

He can't be surprised about the vision. Gunn couldn't have expected the balance to last longer than a Hollywood romance. Good and evil are never equal in power; there's always another fight to be fought that keeps us either one step forward or two steps back.

"I just got back from helpin' one of the boys from my old crew. Had some fangy-type problems left over from before the sun came back, and asked for a hand. I have. Came back."

Great, the crew. I'm not stupid enough to think that a few demon hating idiots who held us all hostage in Caritas and wanted to kill Angel are representative of his former gang, but the memory isn't going anywhere. I met some of his friends before then too, for the most part they were good people. It's just the 'most part' that I get stuck on. Not all of them are as good as Gunn is, I hope he didn't back up one of them on a vengeance kick. Those never go well.

"Good. We're going to need you here."

I sat down on the bed and hoped that he would tell me what was on his mind. There had to be something; there was always something.

"Are you going to tell me what's on your mind? Or do I have to question it out of you?" I smiled, then realized he didn't seem to get the joke. I haven't used the spell to my advantage yet, it's a little insulting to see Gunn act like he thinks I would.

"I didn't mean that. I'm still a fan of free will."

[morethanmuscle]

"Well, we're looking at a lot more of the bad on it's way. I had a vision of another attack on the hotel."

That one hit me like a punch right to the gut. As if I didn't know that the not-so-nice folks over on the W&H side of town were getting antsy about the fact that we'd actually been able to carve out a couple of wins, now we got a real threat on its way. Damn, I should never have thought we'd catch a break for long.

"Gotta go pass that stuff on to Wes and Buffy, right? Folks in charge, need to know, all of that stuff?"

I pushed myself up and took half a step toward the door, but Cordy looked more in the mood to do more talkin', and about the subject I wanted to bring up the least-- me.

"Are you going to tell me what's on your mind? Or do I have to question it out of you?"

For a second, I just kinda stood there, not sure if she was serious or not. 'Cuz if she was, I was shit outta luck, 'cuz once she asked, I'd have to tell.

"I wasn't plannin' on tellin'," I said, the answer forced outta me. "And maybe you might have to." Shit! Think, man, think...

"Y'know, 'cuz it really ain't anythin' worth sharin'. I'm just worried about another attack on the hotel. I took a hell of a beatin' the last time around, and I gotta figure round two's gonna be even worse, right?"

Takin' a deep breath, I knew I had to get the subject changed, and quickly. I held out a hand to Cordy and helped her off the bed.

"C'mon, we gotta go fill the leader-types in on the vision. Everything else'll keep."

Pretty much without letting her get a word in edgewise to argue, we left the room and headed for the lobby.