“ . . . I’m telling you Angel t was the weirdest thing,” Gunn said as he held an icepack to his head, “One minute I was guarding those two guys the next thing I know the floor disappears and I land in lobby of the Hyperion.”
Angel leans against the front counter angrily.
“Did anybody else get hurt?” he asked
“I made a few calls every ones fine. It’s like she wanted people out of the office.”
“Something doesn’t smell right.”
“You’re telling me,” Gunn replied, “why be an assassin if you’re not going to kill anybody.”
“Why go to all of the trouble of destroying the building you weren’t holding anything special we’re you?”
“Not that I know of,” Gunn pondered, “unless they had a sudden craving for parking violation cases.”
Gunn played the incident back in his head.
“There’s something that’s been worrying me. Why did she target you Angel?”
Angel looked at the lawyer carefully.
“What do you mean?”
“Out of everybody in the office Emerald picked the only person who couldn’t be hurt or killed. Doesn’t that just scream weird to you?”
The thought he pushed into the back of his mind resurfaced. What was it about this woman that was so familiar? Slowly it began to eat at him.
“I need to talk to her.” Angel said pushing himself off the counter.
Gunn walks with him.
“I’m coming with you. Those guys owe me an office.”
Roy locked up the pizza shop quietly. Like most nights it had been busy. This is not surprising since this was the only pizza shop willing to open in this area. He whistled to himself as he put his keys in his pocket. He turned to leave when suddenly he found himself face to face with Shona. Roy jumped back in fright.
“Geez! You scared the crap out of me!” he yelled at her.
Shona folded her arms and glared at the shop owner. Roy walked forward and got a better look at who was in front of him.
“Oh it’s you, the chick from last night who likes distracting my staff,” Roy said, “Store’s closed. Come back tomorrow.”
“Aint here for the food.” Shona replied
Roy smiled at her suggestively.
“I get it. You want me to ride you around town don’t you?”
“You better keep that thing where it is if you don’t want me to rip it off!” Shona yelled
“Feisty, I can work with that, just give me five minutes and you get out of those clothes and well get started.”
Shona punched him across the jaw. Roy stumbled back and collapsed onto some trashcans. He looked up in shock.
“What the hell is your problem lady?”
“You wanna know my problem? You! I don’t like the way you treat your staff!”
Roy wondered about this. Suddenly the Penny dropped in more ways then one.
“Oh I know what this is about. Your Penny’s friend aren’t you? I don’t know what she’s been telling you but it’s a lie.”
“She don’t need to tell me nothin’. I saw it for myself.”
“So what? She’s got a sweet ass. What’s wrong with showing a little appreciation?”
This comment earned him another punch across the face. Roy stumbled back he wondered where this girl got her strength from. He stood up and glared at her.
“Hey! Do you wan’t your friend to get fired?”
“So long as it gets her out of that stupid-ass outfit and away from you yeah!”
“If it’s the uniform that’s a problem, fine, I’ll just have her work naked. I know a lot of my customers would be real happy about it.”
This is all Shona could stand. She charged at him and kicked him in the stomach at full strength. Roy flies back about ten feet and collides with a street lamp hard. He collapses to the ground winded. Shona storms up to him and grabs him roughly by the collar.
“You know what I can’t stand?” Shona Growled at him as she held him high in the air, “misogynistic assholes, with god complexes, who think that just because they hire women they can do what ever the hell they want to them. And d’you know what I do to people like this?”
“What?” Roy asked weakly
Shona kicked him in the crotch as hard as she could. She slammed his head hard into a wall and dropped him. As Roy lay bleeding on the ground Shona leaned down over him.
“Penny quits.”
The elevator doors open and Rebecca and the Bothers walked into the lobby. She remembered how Angel described the lobby to her and from the looks of it it hadn’t changed one bit. Pearl and Jonas were waiting for her. Jonas smiled and stuck out his hand.
“Welcome to Wolfram and Hart Emerald,” he said happily, ”My name is Jonas I am the CEO. This is Pearl, Head of special projects, you’ll be reporting straight to her.”
Rebecca shook his hand. Jonas looked curiously down at the Jewelry she was wearing.
“Nice ring. What is that a little teddy bear?” he asked
“Found it, thought it looked cute, so when do I get paid to kill stuff?” Rebecca asked
“There are a few formalities we have to go through first. We still need to negotiate your contract . . .” Pearl explained
“ . . . I think we could hold off the details until later, the girls eager to start, what say you do one little job for us pro bono as a good will gesture.” Jonas replied
Rebecca looked suspiciously at them. She knew she was acting but she wasn’t sure about the two people standing in front of her.
“Who’s good will yours or mine?” she asked
Jonas laughed.
“You’re going to fit in well here Emerald,” he smirked, “Go with Pearl she’ll give you the details.”
Jonas excused himself and walked back to his office. Rebecca followed Pearl into the elevator.
“Shall take your jacket?” Pearl asked
Rebecca glared at her.
“I guess that’s a no.” Pearl continued
Rebecca went back to looking at the numbers.
“What’s the job?” she asked
“There’s a construction cross town that has been reluctant to take our take over offers. Seems that one of its executives has been emphatic about blocking our proposal repeatedly.”
Rebecca looked at her curiously.
“This doesn’t sound too hard why can’t you do it?”
“This executive has some pretty powerful connections and I don’t mean in the business world.”
“Oh,” Rebecca replied, “what is it? Some deal with the devil, we take your soul kind of deal?”
“No it’s not, we would have the paper work in contracts, it turns out that this guy is friends with the slayer general.”
Rebecca suddenly got a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. This description only fitted one person she knew.
“What’s a slayer?” she asked
“We’ll get onto that later. Right now we need this guy taken out discreetly. Think you can do it?”
“Sounds like a blast,” Rebecca commented, “What’s the guys name?”
“Good morning Xander Harris’ Office.” Janet, Xander secretary said cheerfully, “I’m sorry Mr. Harris is out to lunch at the moment can I take a message?”
As Janet scribbled down the message the elevator door opened and Xander and Willow stepped out.
“So you have no idea what this powerful thing you sensed is?” he asked her
“Nope,” Willow replied, “it’s like one minute you think you have it the next it was gone. Like you with math in high school.”
Xander gave her a look. Willow just smiled sweetly. Xander shifted his attention back to her hair.
“So are you thinking of dyeing it?”
“Why does everybody keep asking me that? What’s wrong with white?”
“Noting will it just makes you look kind of old,” Xander replied, “How about a nice green or a purple? I have some color charts in the office if you’d like.”
“You know I can turn you into stuff Xander.”
“That’s what I love about you Will.”
Xander kissed her forehead.
“I gotta get back to work see you next week?”
“Okay.”
Xander took the message from Janet and went into his office as Willow stepped back into the elevator. As she walked down the street heading away from the J & R construction office she passed by a group of four people, the most notable was the woman wearing the long green jacket with the hood. Willow pouted as she sensed something elusive in the air but she couldn’t get fix on where it was coming from.
Rebecca walked seriously towards the J & R construction office. Her plan wasn’t solid yet but she hoped she would think of something when she stepped inside. Moving down the street she saw a white haired woman who looked a lot like Willow. She shook this off reminding herself that she has a higher priority and a much larger complication.
Dan.
He was the vampire assigned to her by Wolfram and Heart to oversee her first task. This is going to make saving Xanders life a lot harder.
“I am really excited to work with you.” Dan said energetically, “Usually they don’t let me out of the office because people keep saying that I am annoying but I think my suggestion cards are finally getting read! So who are we killing?"
Rebecca looked at him angrily.
“Oh, right, incognito. Who are we ‘dealing with’?” he asked using air quotations.
“You’re just watching me Dan your not involved.”
“That’s not true, I was the one who suggested walking, I call that involved.”
“Yeah, great.” Rebecca replied blandly
The group stepped into the office and headed for the elevator. From the side security began to approach.
“Excuse me Ma’am this is a private office we’re going to need to see your . . . “
The security guard didn’t get to finish his sentence. Rebecca raised her hand towards them and all three guards fell instantly to sleep.
“That was neat!” Dan exclaimed, “Hey do you do parties? Bill in accounting is celebrating his 312th birthday next week.”
Rebecca didn’t reply. She simply kept her steady pace towards the elevator. As they approached she nodded to Markus and Samuel who stood either side of the doors as Rebecca and Dan entered.
“What do you mean it’s not done yet!?” Xander yelled down the phone, “Is there some kind of plumber holiday I don’t know about? Look, this municipal center opens next week and it’s going to get stinky real fast without working toilets! Just get it done!”
Xander slammed down the phone. He rubbed his head stressfully as he poured over the pile of plans for up coming building. There was a light knocking on the door.
“Yeah?” he yelled.
There was no response. Xander looked up annoyed.
“Hello?”
Still no response he got up from behind his desk and checked the door. There was nobody. He looked around curiously to see if anybody was playing a practical joke on him but nobody was around. Scratching his head he was about to enter his office again when he noticed Janet laying on the floor unconscious. Shocked he rushed over and checked. She had a strong pulse it looks like she just sleeping. This didn’t sit well with Xander. He’d seen enough magic in his time to know what it looks like. Xander scrambled to his feet and bolted into his office.
He came to a screeching when he noticed the masked woman in the green jacket. He looked from the elevator to his office. He never saw her enter so how did she get in.
“Hi there,” he asked nervously, “Did you have an appointment?”
The masked woman raised her hand and Xander flew violently backwards against the wall. In fear he climbed back onto his feet and made for the elevator. The masked woman watched as the doors closed. Dan popped his head in the door confused.
“You let him go,” he said.
Rebecca shook her head.
“No I didn’t just have to make sure he thought he could get away.”
“Why couldn’t you just kill him here?”
“How would that be discreet?”
Dan looked at her thrilled.
“Fantastic! You’re the man with the plan! . . Ah, I mean, the woman with the, ah, you got a good plan!” he said
“Just meet me at the construction site.” Rebecca said annoyed
A portal opened on the floor in front of Rebecca and she stepped in. down stairs the other end of the portal opened in the air just in front of the two brothers. Rebecca dropped out and looked at looked at them both seriously.
“Keep Dan as far away from Xander as possible,” she ordered, “I’ll do the rest.”
Samuel and Markus nodded. Rebecca walked out of the building as quickly as she could. As she paced down the street Rebecca pulled out the cell phone Whistler provided for her and speed dialed his number.
“Whistler. Got a favor to ask.”
Xander ran as far as he could down the street. He was panting heavily as he tried to get his bearing. Gen S was close to here and he was trying to find his bearings as the masked woman resurfaced. Having no time to think he turned and bolted into the adjacent construction site. He ducked and weaved his way through the scaffolding and the pipes until he felt that he was safe. Breathing a sigh of relief he leaned against one of the poles. A hand gripped him from behind and threw him roughly to the ground. Xander looked up in shock to see the masked woman again.
“What do you want?” he asked frantically, “Is it money? I have money. Do you want money?”
She didn’t reply, from outside the site they both heard the loud cheering of Dan as he encouraged her to go on. Xander looked at this momentarily then refocused on the strange woman.
“Do you want something else? I have the best Babylon 5 collector’s plate collection in the world. Do you want that?”
Rebecca leaned down next to him.
“Stay down,” she whispered, “When I tell you moved to the large pile of planks to our right, move behind them, and use what ever you find there then go to Gen S and wait till I sent someone to tell you it’s safe. Understand?”
“You lost me after ‘When I tell you’.” Xander replied
Rebecca flashed him a serious look.
“I understand.” He corrected
Rebecca looked at Samuel and Markus who, although far away, nodded in return. They both turned and forced Dan backwards. As he protested Rebecca used the distraction as she moved out of Xanders way and he bolted for the planks. Behind them he noticed a portal lying in the ground. Hesitantly he looked back at the masked woman who ushered him into it. Taking a deep breath he stepped in.
“Aww come on guys you’re making me miss the best bit.” Dan yelled he struggled against Markus and Samuels grip.
Moments later Rebecca resurfaced from within the partially constructed building.
“Jobs done.” She said as the brothers released Dan.
“Already? Are you sure?” he asked
Rebecca looked at him annoyed and she, Markus, and Samuel walked away. Dan watched them leave and, as soon as they disappeared into a portal, he rushed in to double check her work. It didn’t take long to discover the corpse behind the wood the smell was unmistakable. He checks its pause to make sure that it wasn’t some kind of trick. Satisfied he stood up and admired the work
“Wow,” he said in awe, “she’s good.”
Shona pushed open the door to Gen S and walked in tiredly. She sat down at the bar and grabbed a bottle of water behind the counter. As she was pouring herself a drink the door crashed open. Shona turned to see Nighthawk glaring at her angrily.
“Hey Nighthawk.” Shona said casually.
Nighthawk didn’t reply she stood there fuming quietly to herself. This worried Shona. Nighthawk rarely got angry about anything. Shona stood up and wandered over to her.
“What’s wrong with you girl?” she asked
Nighthawk growled and grabbed Shona by the collar of her jacket. She twisted her around and slammed her roughly against the wall.
“What the hell?” Shona said in shock, “what was that for?”
“Is there something wrong with your brain!” Nighthawk yelled at her, “is it, like, permanently set to ‘let’s ruin Nighthawk’s life’ or something?”
“What are you goin’ on about?”
“Roy. You know the guy to turned into a big pile of play dough!”
“He deserved it! I don’t want you hurt by a guy like that.”
“So that gives you the right to beat up my boss?”
“That guy was an ass Nighthawk! I’m surprised you didn’t see it.”
“I know he was an ass Shona but I still have to eat!” Nighthawk screamed in frustration, “I don’t have money coming out of different places unlike some people.”
Buy now Nighthawk had gotten so worked her face was completely red. The tears began to stream out of her eyes as she slowly loosened her grip on her slayer partner. Shona was beyond worried Nighthawk actions were beginning to scare her.
“If you were having money troubles why didn’t you come to me or Alex?”
“Yeah right!” Nighthawk exclaimed, “that would just be another thing your going to hang on me! ‘Look at poor Nighthawk she can’t look after her self’.”
“I would never do that to you.”
“Yeah you would! It’s like the slaying. You’re never happy with what I do and you always put me down in front of the new girls.”
“I was jokin’ Nighthawk.”
“Funny I never see anybody laughing.”
Shona tried to put her hand reassuringly on Nighthawk’s shoulder. Nighthawk brushed it off and continued to glare. Shona frowned.
“I’m trying to do the best I can with what I have. I know I’m not Rebecca . . . “
“You’re right! You’re not Rebecca,” Nighthawk yelled, “she always treated me like a human!”
Shona shook her head slowly.
“Nighthawk . . .”
“Stay the hell out of my life!!” Nighthawk yelled as she stormed out the door.
Shona scrunched up her eyes stressfully and swore to herself. She moved back to the bar and switched her water with something harder. Just before she put the bottle to her lips a hand stopped her. Shona looked up to Buffy who, in turn, was looking at her with concern.
“Step into my office.” Buffy said softly
“I can’t do this.” Shona explained, “This just isn’t my thing. Rebecca was the brain I was just the muscle. Get somebody else.”
“There isn’t anybody else Shona. Your it.” Buffy explained, “and I personally thing your doing a great job.”
“Right, great job, one of my best friends isn’t gonna speak to me and I have a witch in my team who needs a serious attitude adjustment.”
“What made you think hurting that guy was going to do?”
“I don’t know, guess I wasn’t thinkin’, when I saw him treating Nighthawk the way he did I just lost it.”
“You have to be careful about that Shona. You just can’t go off half-cocked until you have all the facts.”
Shona rolled her eyes in a depressed fashion. Buffy smiled warmly at her.
“Like I said your doing an amazing in a hard situation.” She reassured the down slayer, “Not many people could do that.”
“I still don’t know way Rebecca chose me.”
“You don’t?”
Buffy saw a small smile cross Shonas face
“Okay maybe I do.”
There was a loud bag as both slayers heard the front door slam shut. Curious they both wandered out to find Xander standing in the middle of the club.
“Has this entire town gone screwy?” he asked Buffy
“Xander?” Buffy replied, “What are you doing here?”
“You will not believe what just happened to me.”
The door to Pearls office smashed open. A couple of security guards flew in and crashed heavily against the sidewall. Pearl watched calmly as Angel and Gunn stormed into the room.
“You must be the infamous Angel.” Pearl commented
“Where’s Judson?” Angel asked
“His services were no longer required. I’m the new head of this department how can I help you?”
“One of your flunkies destroyed my office!” Gunn yelled, “We want to speak with her.”
“According to our records Mr. Gunn the building had metal fatigue major structural damage it was only a matter of time before it came down.”
“With a little help from the woman in green of course.” Angel commented
“I’m sorry I don’t know who you are talking about.”
“Don’t try to play me. You sent an assassin to that office named Emerald. Where is she?”
“If you’re looking for something emerald may I suggest trying to find a yellow brick road?”
“Don’t push me,” Angel replied, “I want to speak to her now.”
“Unfortunately Angel we currently don’t have any women name after shades of green in our employ. Now I might suggest leaving before the large security force moving towards this office decimates the both of you.”
“This isn’t the end.” Angel exclaimed as he and Gunn left the office.
A few moments later a portal opened in the roof and Rebecca dropped down.
“What was that about?” she asked
“Just one of the locals seeking attention,” Pearl replied, “It’s quite sad really. Dan informs me you did an excellent job with Mr. Harris.”
Rebecca took a seat and looked at Pearl curiously.
“I wanted to talk to you about him. What was the deal?”
“I wanted to see how well you work with distractions. And there’s no bigger distraction then Dan.”
“So you know I can do the job now. Do I start getting money now?”
“Of course. In fact I’ve got your next assignment right here.”
Pearl opened the manila folder on her desk. She pulled out a photo and slid it across to Rebecca who picked it up and looked at it.
This was bad . . .
This was really, really bad . . .
“That weapon’s called the scythe of the slayer,” Pearl explained, “It’s currently being held in the back room of a nightclub down town called Gen S.”
“So what do you want me to do with this thing?”
“We want you to get it for us?”
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