Wish Upon a Cheating Boy (3/4)
I know, I know. I said this would be three parts. I lied. It WILL be four,though. I just didn't think the tone of the next bit fit with this, so two chapters it is.
Wish Upon a Cheating Boy (3/4)
Xander/Cordelia
Femdomme
A/N: Written for "Utopia" prompt at Taming the Muse and
lothy's challenge HERE
When Cordelia's wish is not for Buffy to disappear, but for men and their stupid hormones to not run the world, Anya creates a whole different kind of alternate reality. Cordelia's world already changed, and now it's time to change Xander's whole world
Part one HERE Part two HERE
Cordelia twirled her pen and traded bored looks with Harmony. Of course, Harmony would be in trouble without notes, but Cordelia had Xander to copy down all this stupid trivia that Mr. Clark was always trying to shove into them. History in any reality was just boring. Cordelia glanced down to make sure that Xander was paying attention.
Xander was sitting crosslegged on the floor, the notebook in his lap as he took careful notes. He'd had trouble the first day because of Mr. Clark's podium, but Cordelia noticed that after that first day, the podium had been moved to the side of the room. Now Xander could catch every boring word on the board. Clark droned on about the development of communication in the developing industrial world. Boring.
Watching Xander take notes, Cordelia tried to decide what was bothering her. Willow had given up trying to talk to Xander and just stared at him from a distance with shiny eyes that made her look tragic and pathetic, and the entire school had clearly decided that she was a total loser. It took her two days to get up the nerve to ask Cordelia permission to speak with Xander, and when Cordelia had turned her back and simply walked away, Xander obediently following behind. He wouldn't even look at Willow, and Cordelia was basking in the witch's frustration. Yes, Cordelia had definitely settled into a life where her social position was utterly without challenge.
She finally figured out what was wrong. Reaching down, she gave the leash laying against Xander's back a little tug to pull him closer. Normally, he leaned against her leg, and she enjoyed that contact, but today he was sitting too far away. Without a word, he slid back until she stopped pulling his leash, his shoulder brushing her knee as he reached forward to pull his backpack closer.
A pimply-faced boy came to the door with a pink office pass, handing it to Mr. Clark in the middle of his lecture, and Clark took it before holding it up in the air.
"Mistress Chase, the office would like to see you," Mr. Clark said. Cordelia glanced toward Harmony and shared matching rolling eyes before she stood up with a sigh. Xander had already gathered his books back up and was shoving them into his bag, and she gave him a second before she reached down and gathered his leash, walking off toward the door and leaving Xander to grab the pass as they went by Mr. Clark.
Grateful for a chance to get away from that class, Cordelia walked slowly down the main aisle.
"I think he's trying to kill us all with boredom," she complained.
"Hellmouth here. That might actually be possible. Our teachers do have a creepy tendency to end up either evil or dead, Mistress Cordelia," Xander agreed.
"Teachers and that one janitor," Cordelia agreed. "You did have the creepy ghost Romeo and Juliet thing in this universe, didn't you?"
"Where evil Angel and Buffy kissed?" Xander snorted, his love of Angel unchanged in this universe. "Oh yeah. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. I just wish Buffy had shot him with holy water instead of a bullet."
"She never could think straight when it came to him."
"Which is with the funny," Xander said and then he fell silent.
"What's funny?" Cordelia stopped outside the door to the office and waited.
Xander shrugged. "I guess I thought she was all 'no, I can't possible kill him' because she had sorta claimed him. I mean, it's not like you can file claims or contracts on someone who's been technically dead for nearly three hundred years, and this is a good place for me to again say ew, but she still felt responsible. It's strange to think that in your weirdo-world she still couldn't kill him, even if she didn't have that mistressy feeling toward him."
"She's no saner in my world than yours," Cordelia sniffed, and Xander looked like he might answer, but then he fell silent, chewing on his lip as Cordelia headed into the office. The secretary smiled and gestured toward the waiting chairs. Heading toward the end, Cordelia sat in the one chair that didn't have another one close enough for Xander to use, so he sank to the ground and sat crosslegged, his shoulder leaning into her leg. Cordelia reached down and threaded fingers through his curls as she waited for whatever the office needed. They probably wanted to have another of those 'have you planned your future' meetings. Oh please. She had her future planned, and it did not include having significant conversations with a guidance counselor.
"Mistress Chase?" a man asked from the door to one of the offices. He had dark good looks and a nice, if off-the-rack, suit.
"Right here," Cordelia said as she stood up. She didn't recognize this guy, and on the Hellmouth, new often meant Hellmouthy. She traded looks with Xander, and she could see him shift his backpack to get his right hand clear, so he was clearly ready. With a smile she headed into the office after the strange man.
"I'm Cordelia Chase," she said with a nod at the strange man as he held out a chair toward her before retreating behind the desk. Cordelia sat, and Xander perched on the edge of the chair next to her, his backpack in his lap.
"I'm Kenneth Gonzalez from Social Services."
"Social Services?" Cordelia asked in surprise.
"A couple of teachers have asked that we have a conversation. I'm just here to ensure that all the rules have been followed, but I certainly don't want to keep you from class any longer than I need to, Mistress Chase."
Cordelia narrowed her eyes and glared at the stranger. The only time people were that polite was when they were afraid that what they were about to say would cause righteous anger. "Well, then what do you need because I can't sit here all day," Cordelia said as she leaned back and glared at the man.
"A few teachers have been concerned about the personality change in Xander since his contract."
Cordelia glanced over, but Xander looked just as confused as she felt.
"And what business is that of theirs?" Cordelia demanded, the best defense always being an imperious attitude and vicious attack. She'd learned that at her mother's knee.
"If there's abuse, it is the school's business, but right now I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding, and I'm here to clear it up if you would allow me to have a discussion with Xander. Do you always keep him leashed here at school?" Kenneth Gonzalez from Social Services pulled out a red notebook.
"For his protection, yes. Willow Rosenberg has acted unconscionably toward him and now that he's contracted, I have a responsibility to make sure she does not get close to him again."
"Perhaps I could talk with Xander about that," the man said, his pen pausing above the paper. Cordelia made a grand gesture with her hand and leaned back, crossing her arms. Xander just looked from the social worker to her with a little panic.
"Xander, does Cordelia keep you leashed all the time?"
Xander's eyes went wide.
"I'm not here to judge, only to decide if your needs are being protected in this contract."
"I'm feeling the judgmental creeping up here," Xander said softly, his hands going to the hem of his shirt, and Cordelia reached over, resting her hand on top of his to still them before he damaged good silk. It just couldn't take the sort of nervous twisting polyester could. "And she just leashes me at school. We see Wi-Mistress Rosenberg a lot."
The social worker nodded and made a note. "Is Mistress Rosenberg the one who attempted to initiate physical contact with you after you first agreed to escort for Mistress Chase?"
Cordelia narrowed her eyes at the question. Leave it to a man to make that sound so perfectly harmless-initiated physical contact. Willow had almost climbed down Xander's throat and Xander's hands had been definitely--. Cordelia just stopped thinking about it. She didn't need to relive that moment, not when she could remember all the times the bitch had been standing in the hall, clutching her books as she watched Xander pass on his leash, her eyes shiny with tears. That was a memory worth reliving. Xander just nodded at the social worker.
"How does it make you feel when you see Mistress Rosenberg?" The social worker waited, pen poised above the paper.
"Weird?" Xander said uncertainly.
The social worker nodded but didn't take a note. "Who were your friends before the contract?"
Xander glanced over at Cordelia, but she didn't allow herself to react. "Um, Mistresses Cordelia, Buffy, and Willow. I used to have a friend Jesse, but he…" Xander trailed off. "Sometimes I would hang with Oz. It isn't as formal as him agreeing to escort for Willow, but he often goes out with her when we go to the Bronze."
The social worker nodded. He did that a lot. It was annoying. "How many times since the contract was signed have you spoken to any of them?"
"I… um, not really with the time to talk. My grades… not the best. Okay, not the best in the way that the Roman Empire kinda fell, and I've really been trying hard to pull them up."
"The teachers do say you've done quite well bringing your grades up. You should be proud of that," the social worker hurried to say, and that condescending tone really made Cordelia want to get up and walk out right now. She considered it. She could have her mother's lawyer handle this because the Rosenberg bitch had probably talked some teachers into making complaints. Interfering with a contract was illegal. Cordelia started plotting her counterattack even as she sat with a calm expression on her face. The bitch was going down.
"Other than Mistress Chase, who have you spoken with in the last few weeks?"
Xander didn't answer; he looked at Cordelia desperately. "I've been busy," he finally said. Cordelia frowned at him.
"You haven't even talked to Buffy?" she asked. The boy had a phone in his room. What did he do with all those hours in his room after dinner?
"And again with the busy and the Roman empire falling metaphor and the grades," Xander joked weakly.
The social worker clipped his pen to the side of the notebook and leaned forward. "How much time do you have to yourself?" he asked softly. Xander didn't answer, so Cordelia did.
"He always has from dinner on to himself, and he never stays out in the family area. Two or three times he's asked to go home right after school because he has projects due and he needs to use the computer for research, and I've always taken him right home when he asked. I'm not keeping him chained to a grindstone," she huffed, but she couldn't help feeling a heavy discomfort that Xander, who was always the social one, the funny one who flitted from one person to another, hadn't even talked to Buffy. Xander was now a dull shade of red as he fiddled with the chain of his leash.
"What do you do in your room after supper, Xander?" the social worker asked. Xander's red darkened.
"I study. I'm not out graffiting garages or setting trashcans on fire, and my grades are doing good, so I don't know why you're bothering Mistress Cordelia."
"Does it bother you that I'm asking questions?"
"Yes," Xander snapped, but then the anger drained from him and he just sort of shrank into his chair.
"Does it bother you to have everyone at school see you leashed when you aren't out graffiting garages or setting trashcans on fire?"
Xander's dull red turned several shades brighter. "My judgment, especially around Mistress Rosenberg isn't good," he said softly.
"And how do you feel being leashed for so long?"
"I am well within my legal rights, especially since he has shown questionable judgment in the past, and since Willow still watches him every time we're in the same room. I know her. She likes to act all innocent, but the first time my back is turned, she was trying to tempt Xander away from me, and the second my back is turned, she's going to be right back at it."
"Mistress Chase…" the social worker paused and took a deep breath. "Mistress Chase, the leash is for those who have shown significant deviance. By putting him on a leash for three weeks, you're sending a message to not just Mistress Rosenberg, but the entire school, and that message is more about Xander than the young mistresses foolishness."
Cordelia crossed her arms and glared at the man until he broke eye contact. It was time to end this. Xander was looking miserable, and Cordelia definitely wanted out of this room.
"We need to get to class," she said standing up. Xander got up to follow her, and the social worker stood as well.
"Mistress Chase, I just need to ask one more thing. Without it, I'm afraid that the office will simply have to send someone else out and bother you again."
Cordelia stared at him, waiting for him to say what he needed and he shifted uncomfortably under her glare.
"I need to see Xander without his shirt, and pants."
"What? Hey, no offense, but so not gay, and undressing is way too gay for me. I mean, not that there's anything wrong with being gay, because I'm all for lifestyle choice, but just not for me." Xander had his arms across his stomach as he backed toward the door.
"Xander!" Cordelia said sharply. Xander froze, but even from three feet away, Cordelia could see the tremors in his arms. What was wrong with him? She could feel her stomach twist at the idea that someone had hurt him or touched him in a way that made him uncomfortable even taking his shirt off. "Xander," she said more softly as she stepped forward and laid a hand on his arm. "I'm not leaving. I'll be right here, so he's not going to do anything. He just needs to see you. The shirt will be enough," she said firmly as she looked over her shoulder at the social worker. He nodded.
"But Cordy," he said softly and desperately. Cordelia held firm and waited with an expression that made it clear she wasn't backing down. Xander's gaze slipped to the floor and he started working the buttons on his shirt slowly with unsure fingers. Once he had them open, he just stood, holding the shirt together as he gave her one last pleading expression. She raised her eyebrows, and he let the shirt slide off his shoulder.
Cordelia gasped. Vivid purple blotches with constellations of red dots decorated his body. A fading green bruise right above his elbow looked vaguely like a huge hand. For a second, Cordelia couldn't even breathe. Oh goddess. Cordelia stepped back, her hand groping for the back of the chair to brace herself. Xander looked like he had gone three rounds with an entire vampire clan.
"Who did that?" the social worker asked.
"Not Mistress Cordelia," Xander quickly said as he looked up sharply, but then his gaze slid back to the floor and he crossed his arms over his stomach and angled himself toward the door. Now Cordelia could see the edge of a black bruise that vanished into the waistband of his pants.
"Who?" Cordelia demanded. She was going to kill someone.
"Some of the guys in gym don't like me," Xander shrugged. "They're mostly just accidents from when we're playing games."
"Accidents?" Cordelia could feel hot anger in her guts like nothing she'd ever felt before. She'd kill them all. She'd show Buffy what they did, and then hold their arms while the slayer killed them all. This was definitely slay-worthy.
"Why don't they like you, Xander?" The social worker was using a tone of voice Cordelia normally heard people use on hurt animals and lost children.
Xander just shrugged.
"Were they cruel before the contract?" he asked.
"Okay, I spent more time in trashcans than anywhere else my freshman year, so this isn't the contract," Xander said with just a hint of fire and anger of his own. Cordelia just wished he would show that anger toward the people who had hurt him.
"Xander, tell me the truth," the social said as he stepped forward and laid a hand on Xander's arm. Xander twitched and bit his lip. "When the other boys hurt you, do they mention the leash?"
Cordelia frowned, and when Xander blushed and refused to even look over at her, Cordelia found herself sitting down just because her knees had suddenly turned soggy. Oh god. No.
"Do they hurt you because they see the leash and think you deserve to be hurt?" the social worker prompted. Physically pressing his shoulder to the wall, Xander refused to answer. He should have. He should have started cursing Cordelia out because maybe then she wouldn't feel the need to hate herself quite so much.
"Xander," she breathed, finding it hard just to get air in her lungs.
"I can handle it. They'll get tired of it," Xander quickly said as he glanced toward her with a frown. He was afraid. Cordelia could feel her forehead throb as she fought back the urge to throw up. He was afraid of her. She had leashed him, cut him off from all his friends, made the school think he was a perfect target, and then didn't even notice when he was being abused day after day. She looked at the map of abuse across his body, and she didn't have to ask the social worker what he was going to do. Cordelia was not only going to lose Xander's contract, she deserved to. Her mom's lawyer could probably fight it, but Cordelia wasn't going there. Buffy had warned her. Hell, Willow with those damn, fucking worried eyes… she'd known. She would have protected Xander.
"Goddess. Xander," Cordelia breathed again, and Xander was there on his knees in front of her.
"I should have told you. I'm sorry. I thought they'd stop."
Xander didn't say what he should have. He didn't say that they would have stopped if she'd stopped and thought about how it looked to everyone else that he was on a leash day after day. Cordelia reached up and fingered a curl, knowing that she was about to lose the legal right to touch him again.
"Give us a second," she asked the social worker without looking up at him. Silently, he slipped out of the office, closing the door behind him.
"I'm sorry, Mistress Cordelia. I didn't mean to embarrass you; I really didn't," Xander hurried to say.
"It's not your fault," Cordelia quickly told him. "Being from the other world, I didn't think. I should have thought about how other people would see this, see me keeping you at my feet."
"I don't mind sitting on the floor. It's actually more comfortable than school chairs, and I can see the board better from the front," Xander hurried to say, and even now he was making excuses for her.
Cordelia shook her head. "I was so busy reclaiming my position and rubbing Willow's nose in the fact that you were mine that I never stopped to…" Cordelia stopped and took a deep breath. She was not going to get emotional over this. She just wasn't. "I'm not going to wait for them to file incompetency papers. I'll give your contract back to your mother voluntarily," she said with far more calm than she felt.
Xander had put his hand on her knee, but now he pulled it back. Cordelia reached out and unfastened the collar from Xander's neck. She should burn the thing, but somehow she didn't think she would. Maybe there was some tiny masochistic piece in her because she wanted to keep that collar as a reminder of just how stupid and cruel she could be sometimes.
"Put your shirt back on," Cordelia said softly when Xander just knelt silently. "Maybe you should go back to class. I have some... some things to take care of," Cordelia said vaguely. She needed to get away, to find someplace that she could breathe. Xander stood up and slipped his shirt back on without a word. "And don't go to gym class. Go to the library or something that hour," Cordelia ordered him. Yeah, she had no business giving him orders anymore, and there was still a black little part of her heart that hated the fact that he would probably run into Willow there, but it was time to stop thinking about her own anger and notice Xander.
Xander nodded and walked to the door, hesitating at it for a second before opening it and leaving Cordelia alone.
Wish Upon a Cheating Boy (3/4)
Xander/Cordelia
Femdomme
A/N: Written for "Utopia" prompt at Taming the Muse and
lothy's challenge HERE
When Cordelia's wish is not for Buffy to disappear, but for men and their stupid hormones to not run the world, Anya creates a whole different kind of alternate reality. Cordelia's world already changed, and now it's time to change Xander's whole world
Part one HERE Part two HERE
Cordelia twirled her pen and traded bored looks with Harmony. Of course, Harmony would be in trouble without notes, but Cordelia had Xander to copy down all this stupid trivia that Mr. Clark was always trying to shove into them. History in any reality was just boring. Cordelia glanced down to make sure that Xander was paying attention.
Xander was sitting crosslegged on the floor, the notebook in his lap as he took careful notes. He'd had trouble the first day because of Mr. Clark's podium, but Cordelia noticed that after that first day, the podium had been moved to the side of the room. Now Xander could catch every boring word on the board. Clark droned on about the development of communication in the developing industrial world. Boring.
Watching Xander take notes, Cordelia tried to decide what was bothering her. Willow had given up trying to talk to Xander and just stared at him from a distance with shiny eyes that made her look tragic and pathetic, and the entire school had clearly decided that she was a total loser. It took her two days to get up the nerve to ask Cordelia permission to speak with Xander, and when Cordelia had turned her back and simply walked away, Xander obediently following behind. He wouldn't even look at Willow, and Cordelia was basking in the witch's frustration. Yes, Cordelia had definitely settled into a life where her social position was utterly without challenge.
She finally figured out what was wrong. Reaching down, she gave the leash laying against Xander's back a little tug to pull him closer. Normally, he leaned against her leg, and she enjoyed that contact, but today he was sitting too far away. Without a word, he slid back until she stopped pulling his leash, his shoulder brushing her knee as he reached forward to pull his backpack closer.
A pimply-faced boy came to the door with a pink office pass, handing it to Mr. Clark in the middle of his lecture, and Clark took it before holding it up in the air.
"Mistress Chase, the office would like to see you," Mr. Clark said. Cordelia glanced toward Harmony and shared matching rolling eyes before she stood up with a sigh. Xander had already gathered his books back up and was shoving them into his bag, and she gave him a second before she reached down and gathered his leash, walking off toward the door and leaving Xander to grab the pass as they went by Mr. Clark.
Grateful for a chance to get away from that class, Cordelia walked slowly down the main aisle.
"I think he's trying to kill us all with boredom," she complained.
"Hellmouth here. That might actually be possible. Our teachers do have a creepy tendency to end up either evil or dead, Mistress Cordelia," Xander agreed.
"Teachers and that one janitor," Cordelia agreed. "You did have the creepy ghost Romeo and Juliet thing in this universe, didn't you?"
"Where evil Angel and Buffy kissed?" Xander snorted, his love of Angel unchanged in this universe. "Oh yeah. It couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. I just wish Buffy had shot him with holy water instead of a bullet."
"She never could think straight when it came to him."
"Which is with the funny," Xander said and then he fell silent.
"What's funny?" Cordelia stopped outside the door to the office and waited.
Xander shrugged. "I guess I thought she was all 'no, I can't possible kill him' because she had sorta claimed him. I mean, it's not like you can file claims or contracts on someone who's been technically dead for nearly three hundred years, and this is a good place for me to again say ew, but she still felt responsible. It's strange to think that in your weirdo-world she still couldn't kill him, even if she didn't have that mistressy feeling toward him."
"She's no saner in my world than yours," Cordelia sniffed, and Xander looked like he might answer, but then he fell silent, chewing on his lip as Cordelia headed into the office. The secretary smiled and gestured toward the waiting chairs. Heading toward the end, Cordelia sat in the one chair that didn't have another one close enough for Xander to use, so he sank to the ground and sat crosslegged, his shoulder leaning into her leg. Cordelia reached down and threaded fingers through his curls as she waited for whatever the office needed. They probably wanted to have another of those 'have you planned your future' meetings. Oh please. She had her future planned, and it did not include having significant conversations with a guidance counselor.
"Mistress Chase?" a man asked from the door to one of the offices. He had dark good looks and a nice, if off-the-rack, suit.
"Right here," Cordelia said as she stood up. She didn't recognize this guy, and on the Hellmouth, new often meant Hellmouthy. She traded looks with Xander, and she could see him shift his backpack to get his right hand clear, so he was clearly ready. With a smile she headed into the office after the strange man.
"I'm Cordelia Chase," she said with a nod at the strange man as he held out a chair toward her before retreating behind the desk. Cordelia sat, and Xander perched on the edge of the chair next to her, his backpack in his lap.
"I'm Kenneth Gonzalez from Social Services."
"Social Services?" Cordelia asked in surprise.
"A couple of teachers have asked that we have a conversation. I'm just here to ensure that all the rules have been followed, but I certainly don't want to keep you from class any longer than I need to, Mistress Chase."
Cordelia narrowed her eyes and glared at the stranger. The only time people were that polite was when they were afraid that what they were about to say would cause righteous anger. "Well, then what do you need because I can't sit here all day," Cordelia said as she leaned back and glared at the man.
"A few teachers have been concerned about the personality change in Xander since his contract."
Cordelia glanced over, but Xander looked just as confused as she felt.
"And what business is that of theirs?" Cordelia demanded, the best defense always being an imperious attitude and vicious attack. She'd learned that at her mother's knee.
"If there's abuse, it is the school's business, but right now I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding, and I'm here to clear it up if you would allow me to have a discussion with Xander. Do you always keep him leashed here at school?" Kenneth Gonzalez from Social Services pulled out a red notebook.
"For his protection, yes. Willow Rosenberg has acted unconscionably toward him and now that he's contracted, I have a responsibility to make sure she does not get close to him again."
"Perhaps I could talk with Xander about that," the man said, his pen pausing above the paper. Cordelia made a grand gesture with her hand and leaned back, crossing her arms. Xander just looked from the social worker to her with a little panic.
"Xander, does Cordelia keep you leashed all the time?"
Xander's eyes went wide.
"I'm not here to judge, only to decide if your needs are being protected in this contract."
"I'm feeling the judgmental creeping up here," Xander said softly, his hands going to the hem of his shirt, and Cordelia reached over, resting her hand on top of his to still them before he damaged good silk. It just couldn't take the sort of nervous twisting polyester could. "And she just leashes me at school. We see Wi-Mistress Rosenberg a lot."
The social worker nodded and made a note. "Is Mistress Rosenberg the one who attempted to initiate physical contact with you after you first agreed to escort for Mistress Chase?"
Cordelia narrowed her eyes at the question. Leave it to a man to make that sound so perfectly harmless-initiated physical contact. Willow had almost climbed down Xander's throat and Xander's hands had been definitely--. Cordelia just stopped thinking about it. She didn't need to relive that moment, not when she could remember all the times the bitch had been standing in the hall, clutching her books as she watched Xander pass on his leash, her eyes shiny with tears. That was a memory worth reliving. Xander just nodded at the social worker.
"How does it make you feel when you see Mistress Rosenberg?" The social worker waited, pen poised above the paper.
"Weird?" Xander said uncertainly.
The social worker nodded but didn't take a note. "Who were your friends before the contract?"
Xander glanced over at Cordelia, but she didn't allow herself to react. "Um, Mistresses Cordelia, Buffy, and Willow. I used to have a friend Jesse, but he…" Xander trailed off. "Sometimes I would hang with Oz. It isn't as formal as him agreeing to escort for Willow, but he often goes out with her when we go to the Bronze."
The social worker nodded. He did that a lot. It was annoying. "How many times since the contract was signed have you spoken to any of them?"
"I… um, not really with the time to talk. My grades… not the best. Okay, not the best in the way that the Roman Empire kinda fell, and I've really been trying hard to pull them up."
"The teachers do say you've done quite well bringing your grades up. You should be proud of that," the social worker hurried to say, and that condescending tone really made Cordelia want to get up and walk out right now. She considered it. She could have her mother's lawyer handle this because the Rosenberg bitch had probably talked some teachers into making complaints. Interfering with a contract was illegal. Cordelia started plotting her counterattack even as she sat with a calm expression on her face. The bitch was going down.
"Other than Mistress Chase, who have you spoken with in the last few weeks?"
Xander didn't answer; he looked at Cordelia desperately. "I've been busy," he finally said. Cordelia frowned at him.
"You haven't even talked to Buffy?" she asked. The boy had a phone in his room. What did he do with all those hours in his room after dinner?
"And again with the busy and the Roman empire falling metaphor and the grades," Xander joked weakly.
The social worker clipped his pen to the side of the notebook and leaned forward. "How much time do you have to yourself?" he asked softly. Xander didn't answer, so Cordelia did.
"He always has from dinner on to himself, and he never stays out in the family area. Two or three times he's asked to go home right after school because he has projects due and he needs to use the computer for research, and I've always taken him right home when he asked. I'm not keeping him chained to a grindstone," she huffed, but she couldn't help feeling a heavy discomfort that Xander, who was always the social one, the funny one who flitted from one person to another, hadn't even talked to Buffy. Xander was now a dull shade of red as he fiddled with the chain of his leash.
"What do you do in your room after supper, Xander?" the social worker asked. Xander's red darkened.
"I study. I'm not out graffiting garages or setting trashcans on fire, and my grades are doing good, so I don't know why you're bothering Mistress Cordelia."
"Does it bother you that I'm asking questions?"
"Yes," Xander snapped, but then the anger drained from him and he just sort of shrank into his chair.
"Does it bother you to have everyone at school see you leashed when you aren't out graffiting garages or setting trashcans on fire?"
Xander's dull red turned several shades brighter. "My judgment, especially around Mistress Rosenberg isn't good," he said softly.
"And how do you feel being leashed for so long?"
"I am well within my legal rights, especially since he has shown questionable judgment in the past, and since Willow still watches him every time we're in the same room. I know her. She likes to act all innocent, but the first time my back is turned, she was trying to tempt Xander away from me, and the second my back is turned, she's going to be right back at it."
"Mistress Chase…" the social worker paused and took a deep breath. "Mistress Chase, the leash is for those who have shown significant deviance. By putting him on a leash for three weeks, you're sending a message to not just Mistress Rosenberg, but the entire school, and that message is more about Xander than the young mistresses foolishness."
Cordelia crossed her arms and glared at the man until he broke eye contact. It was time to end this. Xander was looking miserable, and Cordelia definitely wanted out of this room.
"We need to get to class," she said standing up. Xander got up to follow her, and the social worker stood as well.
"Mistress Chase, I just need to ask one more thing. Without it, I'm afraid that the office will simply have to send someone else out and bother you again."
Cordelia stared at him, waiting for him to say what he needed and he shifted uncomfortably under her glare.
"I need to see Xander without his shirt, and pants."
"What? Hey, no offense, but so not gay, and undressing is way too gay for me. I mean, not that there's anything wrong with being gay, because I'm all for lifestyle choice, but just not for me." Xander had his arms across his stomach as he backed toward the door.
"Xander!" Cordelia said sharply. Xander froze, but even from three feet away, Cordelia could see the tremors in his arms. What was wrong with him? She could feel her stomach twist at the idea that someone had hurt him or touched him in a way that made him uncomfortable even taking his shirt off. "Xander," she said more softly as she stepped forward and laid a hand on his arm. "I'm not leaving. I'll be right here, so he's not going to do anything. He just needs to see you. The shirt will be enough," she said firmly as she looked over her shoulder at the social worker. He nodded.
"But Cordy," he said softly and desperately. Cordelia held firm and waited with an expression that made it clear she wasn't backing down. Xander's gaze slipped to the floor and he started working the buttons on his shirt slowly with unsure fingers. Once he had them open, he just stood, holding the shirt together as he gave her one last pleading expression. She raised her eyebrows, and he let the shirt slide off his shoulder.
Cordelia gasped. Vivid purple blotches with constellations of red dots decorated his body. A fading green bruise right above his elbow looked vaguely like a huge hand. For a second, Cordelia couldn't even breathe. Oh goddess. Cordelia stepped back, her hand groping for the back of the chair to brace herself. Xander looked like he had gone three rounds with an entire vampire clan.
"Who did that?" the social worker asked.
"Not Mistress Cordelia," Xander quickly said as he looked up sharply, but then his gaze slid back to the floor and he crossed his arms over his stomach and angled himself toward the door. Now Cordelia could see the edge of a black bruise that vanished into the waistband of his pants.
"Who?" Cordelia demanded. She was going to kill someone.
"Some of the guys in gym don't like me," Xander shrugged. "They're mostly just accidents from when we're playing games."
"Accidents?" Cordelia could feel hot anger in her guts like nothing she'd ever felt before. She'd kill them all. She'd show Buffy what they did, and then hold their arms while the slayer killed them all. This was definitely slay-worthy.
"Why don't they like you, Xander?" The social worker was using a tone of voice Cordelia normally heard people use on hurt animals and lost children.
Xander just shrugged.
"Were they cruel before the contract?" he asked.
"Okay, I spent more time in trashcans than anywhere else my freshman year, so this isn't the contract," Xander said with just a hint of fire and anger of his own. Cordelia just wished he would show that anger toward the people who had hurt him.
"Xander, tell me the truth," the social said as he stepped forward and laid a hand on Xander's arm. Xander twitched and bit his lip. "When the other boys hurt you, do they mention the leash?"
Cordelia frowned, and when Xander blushed and refused to even look over at her, Cordelia found herself sitting down just because her knees had suddenly turned soggy. Oh god. No.
"Do they hurt you because they see the leash and think you deserve to be hurt?" the social worker prompted. Physically pressing his shoulder to the wall, Xander refused to answer. He should have. He should have started cursing Cordelia out because maybe then she wouldn't feel the need to hate herself quite so much.
"Xander," she breathed, finding it hard just to get air in her lungs.
"I can handle it. They'll get tired of it," Xander quickly said as he glanced toward her with a frown. He was afraid. Cordelia could feel her forehead throb as she fought back the urge to throw up. He was afraid of her. She had leashed him, cut him off from all his friends, made the school think he was a perfect target, and then didn't even notice when he was being abused day after day. She looked at the map of abuse across his body, and she didn't have to ask the social worker what he was going to do. Cordelia was not only going to lose Xander's contract, she deserved to. Her mom's lawyer could probably fight it, but Cordelia wasn't going there. Buffy had warned her. Hell, Willow with those damn, fucking worried eyes… she'd known. She would have protected Xander.
"Goddess. Xander," Cordelia breathed again, and Xander was there on his knees in front of her.
"I should have told you. I'm sorry. I thought they'd stop."
Xander didn't say what he should have. He didn't say that they would have stopped if she'd stopped and thought about how it looked to everyone else that he was on a leash day after day. Cordelia reached up and fingered a curl, knowing that she was about to lose the legal right to touch him again.
"Give us a second," she asked the social worker without looking up at him. Silently, he slipped out of the office, closing the door behind him.
"I'm sorry, Mistress Cordelia. I didn't mean to embarrass you; I really didn't," Xander hurried to say.
"It's not your fault," Cordelia quickly told him. "Being from the other world, I didn't think. I should have thought about how other people would see this, see me keeping you at my feet."
"I don't mind sitting on the floor. It's actually more comfortable than school chairs, and I can see the board better from the front," Xander hurried to say, and even now he was making excuses for her.
Cordelia shook her head. "I was so busy reclaiming my position and rubbing Willow's nose in the fact that you were mine that I never stopped to…" Cordelia stopped and took a deep breath. She was not going to get emotional over this. She just wasn't. "I'm not going to wait for them to file incompetency papers. I'll give your contract back to your mother voluntarily," she said with far more calm than she felt.
Xander had put his hand on her knee, but now he pulled it back. Cordelia reached out and unfastened the collar from Xander's neck. She should burn the thing, but somehow she didn't think she would. Maybe there was some tiny masochistic piece in her because she wanted to keep that collar as a reminder of just how stupid and cruel she could be sometimes.
"Put your shirt back on," Cordelia said softly when Xander just knelt silently. "Maybe you should go back to class. I have some... some things to take care of," Cordelia said vaguely. She needed to get away, to find someplace that she could breathe. Xander stood up and slipped his shirt back on without a word. "And don't go to gym class. Go to the library or something that hour," Cordelia ordered him. Yeah, she had no business giving him orders anymore, and there was still a black little part of her heart that hated the fact that he would probably run into Willow there, but it was time to stop thinking about her own anger and notice Xander.
Xander nodded and walked to the door, hesitating at it for a second before opening it and leaving Cordelia alone.