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#17
Dave's bar:


Holy...! Cordelia thought as she saw the crowd inside of
the bar. It certainly was not like the column of the
teens hanging out at the clubs down the block. Here
there was not so much action. But, just look at the
people!
It was dark and a bit damp, but there wasn't the usual
air of cigarette smoke. And the silent figures of the
not quite human regulars sitting at the back, clutching
to the shadows and their drinks and whispering.
This place wasn't at all like Willie's seedy shithole.
Rather like the Bronze.
With added class.
It had a lot of lights, leaving shadows. It was clean.
It had a stage and a dancecourt and there were even
some flowers and some art here and there...stylish.
The entrance was hidden, too.
There was a seedy bar outside, nothing special. With a
path to the back where there was a very big and solid
door in a stone wall. And ever since they stepped out
of the way to the toilets there was a distinct change.
New carpet, new dark tapestry and all very clean. Even
the lighting was in the spooky indirect way.
There was a bouncer at the door to the stairs leading
down and he eyed her and Doyle warily, seemed almost
ready to send them away like the foursome before. And
they looked pretty drunk and rich, too.
Guy looked like he was more solid than the door he stood
in front of and the conservative suit gave him some air
of class...whew. And he had such a bad glare.
And that chin, uargh! Nutcracker man was here.
Cordelia felt like a mouse in front of a cat, for a
moment. Then she looked right back. She had seen things
way scarier than this guy and she was still there. And
they were not. She wouldn't be intimidated by some
maybe-neandertal in a suit, not Cordelia Chase!

They got let in and it was like descinding into the...
well, no places a good girl ever went. Looking at the
couples dancing around there and the air it was exactly
the place a wild side girl with class wanted to go.
Red and black and dim lights, they moved through stairs
and corridors a lot more than necessary. There were a
lot of closed doors and curtains and some people.
There was a wardrobe upstairs, with a human looking
old man in a red uniform taking coats and clothes in
and handing out bills for the return.
Cordelia almost thought she could discern a ring under
the tight dress one of the girls wore, a pierced nipple?
They walked past the group of girls standing there and
chatting lividly. Too fast for her to spot much but she
saw metal glint as one opened her mouth.

Taking in the sight of the less shiny tables where the
stranger things sat and enjoyed their drinks while they
listened to the music and the people mingling about.
Some of the regulars had bunny girls with them, who also
were looking around. Some even had plates of food in
front of them and a couple of uniformed waiters served
the tables in the back silently. The band was even
really good, as far as Cordy could say.
As she looked on she found things that were more odd.
People in bikers' leathers sat aside those who wore blue
jeans and cotton shirts and then there were folks in the
conservatively cut grey suits...and they all stood at
the bar or sat at a table. The tables either were close
to the mid or at the walls, with a few breaks and mostly
empty space around. The access to the toilets was
removed from sight by the wall decoration.
And it all got added by different heights, too. Making
the stage and the ground level up and the isle in the
midst slightly raised, on par with the stage. And then
there was another level of separated rooms with tables
on a level halfwards up...
There was a fontain and green in the middle isle,
enclosing the group of tables and it had that outdoors
feeling to it - there were marble figurines between
bushes and some flowers and running water. And there
was a colum hiding an elevater for the tablets a lone
wiater carried aroud between the tables...one who had
the look of heavy style on him. "THIS is the kind of
place you guys hang out at?"

"Um...no. Wasn't like that last time I was here," Doyle
answered with his accent underlying the words. He had
dressed in his usual plain clothes style while she came
with a high collar dress that allowed movement and did
not mean that much to her wardrobe. She figured she
might end the night by running through dark and dirty
places to save her own life. "Honestly. I heard there
was some guy here who had a bit redo done but nothing
like...that."

Cordelia spied arounbd and discovered older woman in
suits along with those showing off in tight costumes
to young high school girls dressing up for a party.
"I really do wonder who did that...!" Cordelia stated
as she looked around warily. "And how many of the folks
in here aren't human?"

"A few," Doyle answered and pointed to a couple of the
diverse folks at the long bar. "The pontytooth community
is there, and I guess the demons ar over there and...oh
boy, did you see that one?"

"No," Cordelia said, whipping her head around to see a
man in a white suite walk into the stairways to the
second level. All she could see was a girl in a red gown
looking like a top model (Damn, did her ass look fat?)
vanishing in there. Holding his arm. "Who was that?"

"One of THAT lawyers," Doyle commented wrily and gave
her the cause for drwaing deep breaths. "Boy, that one's
got potential going in here..."

"Say that aloud," Cordelia grunted. She remembered that
in the other side of this old building there was some
restaurant and a few shops...probably they had access
to this one here as well. "Bang, this place is hot!"

"It's got a certain...flair," Doyle agreed. Obviously
missing his seedy old bar. "Shall we go up and take a
table?" They had to wait for their customers.
Probably a pair who didn't get along so great.

"You want to eat here?" Cordelia asked shocked. At a
place which catered for the...well, evil demons. She
wouldn't be surprised when they got reconiged and, er,
poisoned or such.

"Don't worry," Doyle answered her concerns. They were
safe in here, safer than out on the streets in fact. He
said that whoever ran this establishment also had to be
able to get the surrounding demons to tolerate it. And
with all the figures showing up here they probably had
a strict no-violence-policy. Very much like Willie's
bar in Sunnydale.

"Why do you think that's being enforced?"

"Puh-leaze," Doyle gloated, pained. With that kind of
folks he thought he saw they would be at each others'
throats rather quickly. Someone in the back must have
kicked ass and made it clear this was neutral grounds.

The more time they spent in there the more Cordelia had
to agree. This whole place screamed class at her. The
decoration, the serving personnel, the music. And the
guests...really weird. When she got a look at the menu
she knew she was in class country again.
That looked a lot like the kind of place her mother had
dragged the family to, back when there still was money
from her father. Except that it did not have the boring
factor, not at all.
And it was totally weird...because there were dishes
served in a cheap diner to the restaurant stuff.
She looked at Doyle. Dining here could take up a whole
month's salary. "This place has weirdo vibes!"

"Say that again," Doyle nodded, putting the menu on the
table. Down on the dancefloor the people got lively.
"This place is really underground."

"Do tell the obvious one," Cordelia chuckled. Looking
around she knew why. They didn't want this place to be
run over or besieged by the partycrackers. She had the
distinctive idea this place wasn't going to make it
through official inspections. She blinked as she watched
a girl at the neighboring table take a small dose of
cocaine into her nose. Without breaking the chat with
her buddies. This was a pit of vice.

"'Delia, if any scary figure forced that kind of big
operation, we should have heard of it," Doyle croaked.
"So, who do we know is said to have gone to grounds
around here AND would be scary enough to pull that one
off?"

"You mean...?" Cordelia grasped. Damn, he couldn't be
right. Faith was a wild animal and she never had shown
half of that class displayed here. Or the brains to get
that aplace like this to work. And, for that, neither
had Xander. "Comeon. Faith hasn't a tenth of the class
here and Xander...don't make me laugh my head off."

"You got any other suspects?" Doyle asked grumpily.
"I would say we found them."

"Ain't they in Sunnydale right now or that?"

"Are you sure?" Doyle asked her, smirking. "'Delia, this
place doesn't look like a cheap bolthole to me. That's
the kind of place you make up when you want to stay for
a damn long time..."

"Comeon," Cordelia held against it. Even if she knew he
was right. "Vampires don't have the mind to come up with
this, oh hell, I mean...you know how they are."

"Usually," Doyle stated icily, scratching his head. "And
usually they don't come out as masters. Or go around and
survive actions like our couple has, do they?" He pouted
and grimaced. "Do you think Angel ever thought of what
sort of brains they had? You know them...maybe even bit
better than him."

"Brains?" Cordelia repeated and hid her groan. and the
laugh that was her first response. Brains and Faith?
Unlikely bedmates, she was the kind of girl that went
by kill-them-all-and-party-afterwards. Thinking was no
part of that package. And Xander? Brains?
She almost would have denied it.
If not for a summer when he had the gang survive their
terrible comedy of Slayage unscathed. And graduation,
he had been the one to make up most of the stuff. Willow
had helped with the labworks but he had been the one to
tell where to hide what, how to fight. Playing the dear
little foot soldier once again, just like when he got
the rocket launcher to fry the Judge.
A stunning revelation to Cordelia but Xander actually
had brains. And whenever he came to use that he started
to do surprising things. Like actually enjoying that
creative writing class.
"Her, I don't think she's into much more than the here
and now and next kill. But he...maybe he got a plan?"
Cordelia whispered. "Goddamn. They might be here."

"Doubt that," Doyle said. "Otherwise, we would be in
troubles already...well, Angel's paying for dinner
tonight. What about...?"

Cordelia turned her mind to the issue and after the
shock of her first discovery she found he owed her for
that. It wasn't as if he needed the money so much, with
all his hidden accounts. And then they still had their
task at hands - swordguy and that girl he was arguing
with before running her through.
They could always talk to Angel later on.


#18
Dave's bar:


"Goddamn!" Harmony whispered the instant she recognized
her. She had been friends with Cordelia Chase long
enough to recognize her even after she changed wardrobe
and style to the high-necked fashion. Cordy was always
so goot at playing hard-to-get, though she wasn't that
hard to get at all. Getting between her thighs was easy
after a fashion, getting inside of her heart was the
impossible thing that only one man ever made.
Harmony had dreamt of it - getting in there and being
the special one to Cordelia. Of course they would have
kept it secret, as secret as their brief fling.
She wasn't exactly after girls bur Cordelia...she just
was Cordelia. Epitome of fashion and social standing.
A queen without a crown until Buffy Summers showed up
and she went with Xander Harris.
Who, by now, was a master vampire with the sort of
power to make her insides rearrange themselves.
Harmony had not noticed much but he just had looked up
during their conversation at the bar and then he had
grimaced and retreated.
And sent her to watch out.
Not even bothered to tell her for whom.
With the rumor mill being up and her interested for her
own good, Harmony knew with which dog Cordelia ran these
days. And she was sure of one thing - she didn't want to
get any damn closer to The Angelus than she had to.
Soul or not, around this broody man with the beautiful
face only the reaper was partying.
She wondered what that meant. Was it just a coincedence
that they showed up? The bar wasn't that much of a
secret and Cordelia was the kind of girl to walk these
grounds upstairs - some sort of higher being of her own
right. The sort of woman they were looking to occupy in
the other firm one level up, where the serious partying
happened.
Harmony wasn't into bondage stuff so much or domination,
but Cordelia was born for that. Just look at the outfit
she wore and how she breathed and one knew!
She could spot several of her undead companions throw
glances and one said he did not mind a bite. Another
said to forget about the bite, she wouldn't hesitate to
lay under her heel and then they went on to more graphic
propositions.
Now she got it why Queen C hung out with the Scoobies in
the end - even her own demon lusted for that one. Either
to drain her or be dominated by her. If someone didn't
do something damn quickly she would have a trail after
her ass as soon as she left the boundaries of the club.
And if she even got a scratch they had Angel breathing
down their necks next...not to mention that she could
imagine who else would gun for her assailants.
She had seen Xander take out five unhappy suckers only
two days ago and she got to see him and Faith go at it
in their training...she knew she wouldn't last a minute
of that.
These two were predators, going after Slayers and that
sort of creatures - for the fun of it. The challenge.
They were into the fighting and killing angle totally.
Damn, she had been a Slayer and he had hung out with
them and hunted...being just the ordinary guy.
But, whenever someone had went after this puppy dog
he turned up missing an he had come over to the Bronze
with the other whitehats.
What noone thought Harmony now knew for a fact: the
puppy dog had teeth. And something else she wasn't
very sure of.
Xander had not even vamped out as he ripped them to
shreds, and Harmony had almost failed to see him as he
kicked their asses around before staking them.
Yeah, right, she got some real backup from him.
She didn't want to loose that sort of support.
And so she said something about them better not going
after that one - this one was hers. Better not to let
the folks knew she had meaning. Or was a hunter, they
would want to kill her for that.
"Don't see your name tagged to the tasty," one of
the female vampires answered. Presenting a not so
sublte challenge to her.

"Then learn to read," Harmony replied easily, measuring
her rival up and staring her down. "Anyone else wants
to mess with my claim?"

Noone was. Good for them. Maybe she would get to be
still unlive come morning...Cordelia meant for her to
get into troubles. She always had, and even Harm knew
why. She was bad business and anyone noticed it or got
stuck on her spikes and eaten wholly.
Though, Harmony wouldn't mind another chance at those
lovely shaped...okay, okay, slow it down! She didn't
want to get into that troubles.

So she partied on and looked at the couple in the
first floor niche - Cordy and whatever creature she was
here with, probably one of Angel's part-human friends -
and waited. They dined in there and spoke, seemed to
wait for someone. She hoped Cordelia didn't see through
her makeup and harido as it seemed.
They were waiting for someone...it took hours until that
one arrived. There was a middle aged man, a human, who
led a blonde woman to a table. A formal dinner with
one of the regulars.
Around midnight they left the house, Cordy and her man
followed them out. Which meant that Harmony followed
them just the same.
She wished Faith were here to do that.
But she wasn't even here, she had had enough and gone to
the harbour area to kick some ass...pity anyone who got
unto her wrong side tonight. Or looked like even the
slightest challenge.
So it devolved to Harmony to protect their guests.
And it obviously needed to be done. She wasn't so sure
why but Cordelia and her friend looked into the alley
and the middle-aged man had hidden in a niche behind
them. He stepped out and had a saber drawn from some
hidden sheat in his coat and demanded to know why they
were following them...looked like a bad situation.
They claimed they hadn't followed him at all - and then
the man shrugged and smiled at Cordelia, raised his
sword in some weird salute.
"A pity to loose such a flower as you, ma cherie," he
said before moving in. "But the Game doesn't spare
anyone! And neither does Henri laFollet!"

"Game?" Cordelia asked. "What...hey, mister, don't...
help! Stop that, you could hurt someone!"

She and her friend barely evaded the leisure slashes
executed by the man. Who clearly had an idea about how
to use his weapon. Even Harmony could tell that.
"But, mon cheri! That's the purpose of it," he laughed
easily. With a heavy french accent. "It was foolish of
your master to let you get into my sights...is he that
much of a coward to let his charges fight for him?"

"What...hey, watch it!" Cordelia exclaimed as the saber
touched her blouse...and ripped right through the stuff,
it was razorsharp. "Don't you dare that! Angel will..."

"Thanks for the name, dear," the man grinned. "Time to
die." Bad situation. They were no muscles and this one
wouldn't be scared by a cross and holy water.
And the man blocked the only exit from the alley while
he came closer and closer...oh shit. Shit. He was going
to kill them.

Harmony watched as Cordy's male friend picked up the
top of a ton and made it into an improvised shield but
the swordsman only laughed...then his saber clang
against it, sparks flew and the thin metal was dented
deeply...the frenchman even made a joke about it. It
was evident he was just playing with them.

Harmony stepped out of her hiding place and neared the
man, hoping she could stop him. "Hey, you! Let them go!"

"Uh...I don't think so," the man said and produced a
knife from a sheat in his sleeves. It was a quick motion
that was a blurr and Harmony was unable to say what he
did exactly. Even if she saw it. She just knew that the
next instant she had a shard of metal hit her right in
the chest and bury itself into her dead heart. "Now,
where were we? Oh yes, the part where I kill you...yes."

Harmony staggered, he had not even turned around fully
to see whom he was killing! Cold eyed boy. She growled
enraged and stepped forward. "I said let them go!" she
purred, her eyes going to glow. "Or else the owner of
that place will get VERY angry at you!"

The frenchman whirled around, turned his saber and then
he looked Harmony in the face. Telling her that was
exactly what this all was about her walked to her, his
saber raised...and run her through her guts. Laughing
as he did that.

Now, that was a mistake...he got close and he let his
weapon get taken away from him. Harmony had never faced
a sword in a fight but she knew that it could kill her.
It hurt like hell but she would survive it. And then she
vamped out, saw the horror on his face. "Now I am going
to be that angry with you freak," she hissed after she
ripped the sword from him and backhanded him so har dhe
stumbled back several steps. Pulling the weapon out of
her stomach she threw it away to what she guessed was
a safe distance. "Do you know what that gown costs?"
she walked closer to him, her claws raised. "What the
hell, I'll just kill you anyway...fool."

She saw Cordelia and her friend held their breath. And
then Cordelia recognized her, called her name. Great.
"Yeah, it's me. Now run!" Harmony answered as she was
about to take the frenchmen down. He had caught himself
and now took the fighting stance of a martial artist.
One with a damn high belt.

And he had another knife. "What in the name of the lord
ARE you?" he croaked out as he saw her gameface and the
fangs.

"What's it looking like, Einstein?" Harmony taunted him,
ripped the first knife from her heart. "I'm a vampire
and you...you're going to be my dinner, pal."

"There are no vampires." A confused statement, stated
with not much certainty. A look at her and he knew
better.

"Yeah, right," Cordelia said. "Look who's gonna rip
your throat out right now!"

"We'll see about that," the frenchmen answered and then
he moved against her. It wasn't so fast, it was just...
Harmony had never seen anything like it. The closest
was Xander coming at someone he wanted to take out.
Harmony barely was able to evade the first attack and
then she got the knife slashing at her hand...he was
just evading whatever she tried to take him.
She couldn't belief it until she got a kick to her
belly that sent her tumbling backwards...with the knife
stuch in her left leg, so deep it hit the bone.

"Clumsy. VERY clumsy," the frenchman stated as he
straigthened and walked to pick up his sword. "Now..."

Shit, Harmony thought. Of course Cordy had to attract
one total psycho who's gonna take me out, human or not.
She called upon them to run and the did as she got up
and the frenchmen got surprised by her tackling him.
If he thought she was taken out by any but cripling
wounds he was wrong, she just got stunned.
He reacted to her attack by throwing her off with some
martial arts shit and the next instant she hit some
trashcan...and he was still unscathed.
Harmony howled, fully enraged. That bastard. If he
thought he could kick her around so easily he wasn't
born in the right century...she wasn't about to go
down that easily!
She got up aagin, ignoring the pain in her wounded leg
and launched another attack. The result was that she
hit the air, never him, and got some nasty series of
right and left hooks at her. Then a kick to her knee,
followed by a grip at her hand, made her go down on
her kness. And then her arm was on her back...Harmony
had never experienced anything like this. It was as if
she was completely helpless.
The shoulder joint was ripped out of the socket and
a knee tore into her back, hard. She cried out in
pain and used all her undead strength to breack the
hold - and managed to roll away with him being forced
to stagger back.
Albeit he was unhurt...and she was...not.

The frenchman took up his saber right as Cordy and her
partner ran from the alley. He sighed, muttering
something about him getting that pretty head another
time and turned back at her. "I don't know what you
are, cheri, but now we'll see if you survive a good
old fashioned decapacitation, so help me god!"

Harmony looked up at him, knew she was defeated. He
certainly was one hell of a fighter...

And then the man stopped dead in his tracks and he
turned around. Just as Xander stepped out of the hidden
back entrance to the club. Holding his katana and with
an awful look on his face.
"Leave her alone, asshole."

"What is it with you?" the frenchman answered, now he
was enraged. "That's a...a fiend! A creature of evil!
You won't fight for your charge but for that? What a
sick coward are you!"

"Cordelia isn't anything but a friend, freak," Xander
replied. "She is under my protection. So leave her the
hell alone or we will fight."

"And why should I be scared of you, boy?" he said. "If
you run from a challenge...do you even know how to use
that sword there?"

"Good enough," he answered. "Angel's gonna come after
you now. I figure you better pack up and motor out of
town before he catches you."

"Think I'll be scared of you, Angel?"

Xander stared at him and then laughed. "I'm not Angel."

"Then who are you?" the bugger coughed, tired of this.
"Forget this, I'll know after I take your head...Henri
laFollet, and I challenge you right now!" He didn't even
hesitate to launch himself into the attack against her
boss.

Harmony ripped the knife from her leg and looked up,
ignoring the pain from her searing wounds. And she
watched as the two man clashed and wondered if Xander
could take that guy.
She watched as the swords clashed and this time it was
a more even fight. One where that mad as they came
martial arts expert had a clear edge on style and tricks
but wasn't able to keep up with the speed and strength
he faced...it was an uneven fight.
Harmony stood on her legs and watched, not able to
interfere. She didn't dare to. For more than tne minutes
they hacked at each other and Xander just barely avoided
getting cut to shreds...but he was not tired. He healed.
As did the frenchman. There was no other explanation but
that - and it meant he was not human.
In the end the panting frenchmen won by Xander making a
mistake in the deadly dance, as Xander let himself get
run through and fell to his knees with his guts cut up.
The sword was hit out of his hands and cluttered to the
ground a few eyeblinks later.
"There can only be one...!" the frenchman shouted as his
saber arced in a circle that should have cut off the
head of the kneeling Xander.
Except that Xander was on his feet again and used one
desperate uppercut to hit the frenchman. And he hit him.
Harmony would have stopped breathing and wondered how
the hell he had done that - it just didn't look like he
was so powerful or had hit so well - but the swordsman
flew through the air and fell to the grounds again. As
if hit by a damp ram - and it was evident that the hit
had broken his opponent's neck.

Xander turned aroud once and groaned, clutched his cut
belly. "Now that...was a mean...son of a...wow!" His
eyes were strangely alight.

Harmony glanced at him and wondered what was wrong with
his head until she got it. He was thrilled. Excited. The
smile he flashed was that of a dead man walking, the one
thrill he and his ex-Slayer lover were hunting after.
"Faith's gonna kill me for leaving her out of this!"

"I think I'd be more happy to be still unlive," Harmony
rasped out and limped over to him. To pick up the sword
he had lost. When she turned around she saw something
that shouldn't be possible. The frenchman twitched and
his still heart was beating again.
A dead man came back to life.
"Shit, what IS that fucker?"
And how could they kill him?

"Dead meat," Xander answered and went after him. He
very quickly disarmed the confused swordsman and then
had him up in the air by a hand. His hand squeezed the
life out of him before he brutally drained him.
That should have finished it.
But it wasn't.
The bugger's wounds healed even as they looked at it.
Some kind of little blue lightning crackled around the
flesh as it reconstructed itself.

Harmony couldn't believe it without seeing it, and even
so she doubted her senses. Dead people stayed dead
unless they were demons. At least that was it in her
book. "Do you think calling to Christ might help, boss?"

"Doubt it," Xander answered after another draining.
He laughed and had them go inside again.
Dragged the dead fellow down to the cell he had in the
deep basement. Some very dark and very safe place, where
he had him chained up. Didn't take the man more than a
few minutes to wake up again.