Title: Us Against The World
Author: Crazy_Girl_Mary
Email: crazy_girl_mary@yahoo.com
Rating: mild PG-13
Pairings: Lindsey/Cordelia
Summary: AU: Things are going even worse for Cordelia before City Of. She’s in a desperate place and meets a charming wealthy man who makes her an offer she can’t refuse. He’ll give her the acting start she could only dream of, if she kills a vampire from a past, barely a distant memory. What will she do?
Disclaimer: I’m so damn sick of admitting they aren’t mine. They belong to Joss and all those other creeps that are genius.
Feedback: Pretty please with sugar on top? I love it. I love it all. I even love flames! I want honesty.
Dedication: To Rain, through this common thread of the Buffyverse I hope I can bring joy to a stranger in her time of need. Feel better soon sweetheart!
Author’s Notes: This is the answer to my participation in the Rainficathon. For the full challenge, see below.

She walked the streets like she feared them, feared them and despised them horribly. She had let her head and her gaze fall to the gritty streets three years ago and she had never looked up, never looked back. She was a Prom Queen, she was The Leader of The Pack… she was a homeless hungry loser in a city where being a winner was your only other future.

A gang-banger on the corner made her an offer that was hard to refuse with a wad of cash that would feed her for a month but she kept walking. She hadn’t fallen to prostitution yet and hoped it wouldn’t come to that. She still went to auditions regularly, more for the hot coffee and fruit trays then the chance at stardom.

It was still her dream to be famous but the cruel reality of Los Angeles has long since set in and she knew most of the people she longed to live like had found another way into their fame. She also knew if she found the way she would give it her all.

When she first moved to LA she was horrified to hear stories of how many guys Cameron Diaz had to sleep with to get her first movie gig. Now she was searching high and low for the opportunity. The first movie exec who offered would get the time of his life if he promised to catapult Cordelia Chase on her way to the spotlight and more importantly the accompanying wealth.

She walked into the dark diner without even looking up but once inside the doorway the façade came on strong. She kept her head and her nose in the air, biting back her defeat and smiling for the sake of the image. She doubted anyone inside would care whether she was broken down or not, but a broken woman didn’t have the fight that kept the prowlers away.

The façade came on for another reason too, for the job. She had heard of a few girls getting discovered in this very diner so she came every night hoping for that break, and perhaps happy to have a somewhat solid stable roof over her head and a cheap meal in her stomach.

She nodded to the waitress behind the counter talking to some regulars; and the waitress nodded back, a little more withdrawn then usual, as Cordelia made her way to the very back and around the corner to the table she always sat at. It was far away from everyone else, and it was hers- but not tonight, she thought as the back of a blonde male head came into view.

She stopped and stared at the suited man, slouched over a plate of scrambled eggs. He put his fork down, wiped his lips with a napkin, looked up in the mirror facing both of them and smiled toothily at her. “Have a seat.” He gestured towards the empty seat across from him where another plate of scrambled eggs sat untouched. “I took the liberty of ordering for you, figured you wouldn’t mind.”

Cordelia stared cautiously. She didn’t know who this guy was but she knew what he was playing at, well partially. He had claimed her booth and ordered her special, clearly expecting her at this exact moment on this exact night like all the other nights.

“Don’t worry,” he said with a smile, “I don’t bite.”

She frowned. They always said that, especially the ones that loved a good assault. She took off her jacket and pushed it into the booth then slid in next to it. She picked up her fork and didn’t hesitate to shovel the eggs in while they still resembled eggs and were somewhat warm.

“Not bad,” he said lightly.

“For a hole in the wall diner,” she answered through a mouthful of eggs, not bothering to be ladylike.

His smile was a keen predatory one. “I was talking about you,” he said looking her up and down, blatantly appraising her, “Not bad at all for a washed up small town Daddy’s-Little-Girl.”

She dropped her fork, gave him her best you’re scum on my heel look, which worked far better when her heels had been fresh from Europe Manolo’s, hooked an arm in her coat, and started for the door.

She didn’t hear him following her out into the street so she leaned against an alley wall around the diner’s corner and waited to take him by surprise. She waited a few more moments and he still didn’t come. She inched her way over to the very corner, listening intently for his approach, but she still didn’t hear anything. She dared a peek around the corner.

His proximity startled her. She jumped back, stumbling slightly on the uneven pavement, before drawing the small canister of mace from her pocket.

“What do you want?” she asked shakily.

He was leaning calmly against the wall directly around the corner from her, smoking a cigarette and looking like he didn’t take her brandished weapon at all seriously. “What do you want?” he countered.

She looked hardened further and frowned, not answering his question or posing another one in return.

Finally he stubbed out the cigarette and seemed to get the idea. Besides, he didn’t fancy standing out on this dirty street to see how the scenery improved with nightfall. He doubted anyone would call the cops on a man in an Italian suit with a black limo parked at the curb for harassing a homeless woman on the street, but you never knew for sure with these people.

He looked around cautiously for onlookers but most people just passed by them. “Okay,” he said throwing up his hands in defeat. “I just wanted to give you a job but I guess you’re not the right girl.” He turned towards the limo and opened the door. “Shame,” he called over his shoulder, “I had so many arrangements made.”

For the first time the whole nature of the situation came to Cordelia. Maybe this was the man, he was rich from what she could tell, and he wasn’t at all bad to look at once she got herself past the part where she wanted to mace him.

“What do you want?” she repeated in a steady tone putting the canister back in her pocket and staring at him.

He turned around, “I just want you to do a job for me.”

“And in return?” she asked lightly.

“I’ll fulfill all your dreams.”

“You look beautiful,” he said genuinely in the mirror from behind her. They were admiring her new haircut and color, something professional and promising, the hair stylist had assured them.

She followed him to the counter where he paid the woman for her services then he put a hand on her lower back and led her to the limo.

She slid down the leather seat ahead of him and he slid in next to her, instructing the driver where to go, and then pouring her a drink. He was advising her not to be nervous again but she wasn’t paying attention.

She wasn’t naive. Cordelia knew how the world worked, she had since she came to LA and fell to the bottom of it. She doubted that all he wanted from her in return for the fulfillment of all her dreams was a pretty trophy, someone to take to the law firm’s parties, despite the fact that that was all she had been for the past two weeks.

He had dressed her up like a doll, bought her expensive clothes, filled her head with expensive wine, and even filled her mouth with his sweet talking lawyer tongue… she had filled his bed in exchange, but she didn’t think it was enough.

“Cordelia?”

He was trying to get her attention, knew she wasn’t paying it to his kind warnings and assurances. “I’m the actress Lindsey,” she chided him with a false smile, “I know what I’m doing.”

She wasn’t so sure, but he didn’t counter with the obvious question of why, if she knew so well how to act, she had been living on the streets with no work likely in past, present, or future only two weeks ago. He just patted her thigh almost lovingly and turned his gaze towards the tinted city flying by outside the limo’s long row of black windows.

He had given her everything he had promised, fulfilled every dream she had. She had an apartment (although she usually spent her time at his), she had a job on a upcoming sitcom, an agent who was ambitious to find her even more work, a walk-in closet bursting with clothes, a new Prada bag just as stuffed with plastic money, and what she found most importantly was that she had him.

It had been only three months, but she had grown to enjoy his company, and trust him, at least more than she ever thought she would. The weariness had stepped aside and they had grown comfortable with each other.

That was how she knew that tonight was different, at least for him. There was something different about him. He wanted to tell her something, and it was something he wasn’t sure how to tell her.

She knew what it was about. He wanted her to do something for him in return, and she didn’t think she would mind doing it for all he had given her and would give her in return even beyond possessions, but his nervousness was making her uneasy as well.

She reached across the dinner table and touched his hand. “Lindsey, just tell me,” she said with a light smile. “I can’t take the suspense any more.”

At first he looked taken aback, wondering how she had known, had she read his thoughts. She definitely knew he had something to tell her but did she know what. She smiled reassuringly and he looked into her eyes.

“I never thought that you would be like this…” he started lightly, averting his eyes down to the untouched meal before him to avoid her, “I never thought I would be like this around you.”

He stood and stepped away from the table, starting to pace into his words which was sure to make her all the more uneasy. “I’m cold-hearted, money hungry, and I don’t care about anything or anyone but myself… until I met you.”

She smiled. His kindness was making her feel better. “My law firm assigned me to pick you up, to pull you in, to get you close… and I did that, I did it because it’s my job, but now it’s personal… now I’m falling for you.”

She stood and looked at him. “I’m falling for you,” she answered before she realized what the implications of her words meant. He turned and met her eyes again for the first time since he stood from the table.

His eyes were warm for a moment, then cold as he turned his gaze away from her and back to the floor. “There was a reason it was you Cordelia. The firm sent me to you for a reason.”

She stepped closer to him and grabbed his hands to steady him, “what was the reason?”

“They want you to kill Angel.”

Her first thought was, ‘Angel who?’ quickly followed by “Whoa.”

“I know,” Lindsey said sitting next to her where she had flopped down on the couch. It was now his turn to take her hands. She didn’t know what to say to that, what to say to him. It had all been a sham, he wanted her to kill someone, actually kill someone, okay so he wasn’t a person, he was a vampire, but he was good… right?

“Is he… is he evil again?” she asked, her eyes locking in Lindsey’s.

For a second she was sure he was going to say yes, but then it passed. “No,” he answered truthfully, “he’s not evil… I’m evil… the firm is evil, and he’s interrupted too many of our evil little schemes so he has to be eliminated.”

She was shocked by his coldness until she realized he was using a bitter, sarcastic tone, at least she hoped it was a bitter tone. “Why me?” she asked.

“Well we tried Faith the Slayer, massive demons, spells, humans, traps, hired hits… nothing works, the guy’s invulnerable.”

“And you think I can kill him?” she asked flatly.

“The Senior Partners think you might have a chance…”

“A chance?” she asked angrily, “she might have a chance so throw the poor girl into the bull pen and we’ll see what happens hey!”

She stood quickly and walked towards the door, picking up her jacket on the way. “I have to go Lindsey.”

“Wait,” he said following her out into the hallway.

He grabbed her forcefully and pulled her back into the room. He closed the door and slammed her roughly up against it. She tried to pull away from his grasp at first but when she looked at him she saw his eyes were full of tears and her heart melted for him. She had no doubts. Sure he was evil, she had known that from the start, but he loved her, and she loved him, they had each other and that was all that mattered.

Before she had him she had nothing, the remnants of too many unmet dreams, and with his love he had given her everything. She thought maybe this was that foolish, childish love she had never bothered with in high school, that puppy dog love that always ended badly but she didn’t care in the here-and-now.

“Just stay with me,” he begged through watery eyes. She knew she could never deny him.




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