23.
After such a close call the working atmosphere at Wolfram and Hart strained once more while security tightened in all areas. Front line workers in the central lobby were joined by a squad of shadowy, mind scanning mystics disguised as a group of luxuriant ficas near the spouting water feature just beyond the lobby entrance. It was a no fail way of detecting any potentially duplicitous assassins among Wolfram and Hart’s many visitors.
For Buffy and the other members of the entrance crew it meant augmenting their cheery enthusiasm with potentially lethal defense strategies. Once again Buffy found herself training raw recruits for potential confrontations. This time, however, she was dealing with committed Wolfram and Hart employees and not temperamental teenage mavericks. There was a certain tactical advantage when dealing with raw recruits infused with blind devotion and amiable spirits. It made for a willing and pliable fighting force.
“And have yourself a great day!” With a nod of professional dispatch, Buffy turned away from another satisfied visitor and found herself face to face with the last people she’d expected to see in Los Angeles: Dawn and Andrew.
“Dawn!” Buffy blinked in disbelief. “What are you doing here?”
Dawn held up a finger to put Buffy on hold while she chatted casually into her cell phone. “Yeah, extremely whoosh like. No problems on this end. Yep, right to our destination. You rule, Del. Cool. Okay. Talk to ya later.” Dawn pressed the end button and pocketed her cell.
“You’re supposed to be in England. Both of you.”
“Don’t be happy to see me, Buffy,” Dawn complained. “I was there. Now I’m here. What can I say? I’m a coven buddy. There are benefits. Wind blown yes, jet lag no.”
Buffy wrinkled her brow and waved to Irma at the greeter podium. “I need to take my break now.” Irma nodded her assent as Buffy snagged Dawn’s elbow and dragged her away toward a seating area at the far side of the lobby.
“Teleporting? You’ve been teleporting?”
Hoping to avoid a lecture, Dawn answered with animated exuberance. “It’s so cool, Buffy, really,” Dawn’s fingers gestured wildly. “You should try it. It gives you the tingles.” She wiggled her body in demonstration.
“You tingled?” Andrew felt a little queasy. “It was more a dizzying vibration for me.”
“And you!” Buffy glared at Andrew. “What were you thinking going along with Dawn’s half baked idea?”
“It was a good idea, Buffy,” Dawn snorted in reply. “And fully baked. I’m here aren’t I?”
“And we’re helping out the sisterhood.” Andrew gestured in a peculiarly I-am-woman manner.
“Oh yeah?” Buffy stared sternly at Dawn. “How is popping across the ocean helping out Althenea, exactly?”
“Well, not so much her,” Dawn explained, “but Delphine needed some practice. She’s got finals coming up in conjuring and needed some volunteers.”
“And you thought, conjure away on me?” Buffy tightened her jaw at the implication. “Dawn, you knew better than that. Magic isn’t a party game.”
“Duh. Give me some credit. This is hardly veiny badness territory. I had a few days left of school break and wanted to see you and Del needed some third party teleporting feedback. Buffy, it’s a win win situation.”
“I can’t believe Althenea approved of this.”
“Um, she was kind of digging roots in the garden at the time.”
“I see. And what about you, Andrew?”
“As the appointed chaperone, I am ever mindful of my duties.” It was obvious that Giles was rubbing off on Andrew. “Dawn is perfectly safe with me. No need to worry, Buffy, really. I can curb her irrepressible rambunctious nature with my–“
“Stop it with the dweebish, Andrew.” Dawn straightened her shoulders. She didn’t need an apologist or a chaperone. When were people going to realize she wasn’t a toddler but a brazen, coltish vixen ready to do some damage?
“This is all I need,” Buffy whispered an exhausted sigh. “Dawn, get back on your cell and have Delphine conjure your butts back, right now!”
“No can do, sis. Del needs 24 hours to meditate and recharge, so I’m here to see the sights and the sight of you in another themed hat is bringing back memories of indigestion and congealed fries. What’s with the horns?”
“Oh! That’s my big surprise.” Buffy flared her eyebrows and gripped the lapels of her vest with pride of accomplishment. “I’ve got a job here at Wolfram and Hart. It’s only as a greeter but it’s a foot in the door.”
“Congratulations, Buffy!” Andrew pronounced. “I can see this being a terrific career move for you.”
“Thank you, Andrew. I feel the same way.”
“Yeah, big whoop,” Dawn replied coolly. “You had a job, Buffy. And slayering didn’t require wearing a dorky visor.”
“It’s not dorky. It’s approachable and friendly.”
“Whatever. I can’t believe Harmony hired you; that’s unbelievably cool of her. She really should have hired me, at least I wasn’t ever her sworn enemy. I bet I could get a deferment for a semester. Plus, I’m way perkier than you and I wake up in the morning with a smile on my face.”
“In what universe? Besides, you’re in school.”
“Yeah, um, what does that mean if you’re here?”
“You just go from being a day student to a residential student. I’ve got it all squared away with your head mistress.”
“Move into the dorm?” Dawn worried the edge of her lip with her teeth. “Okay, that doesn’t totally suck.”
“I am looking out for your future, Dawn. Remember that.”
A disappointed grunt accompanied Dawn’s sullen demeanor. “Unh! I’m totally jealous. You get this sweet job and I get calculus and chemistry…like that’s fair. I think I’ll need extensive retail therapy. Harmony should have hired me! We are old buds, you know.”
“What are you talking about?”
“She did kidnap me and everything.”
“That makes you old buds? She was so using you to get to me.”
“But we talked about a bunch of stuff and I think we really connected.”
“Harmony flicked her hair at me once in the halls.” Andrew interjected with a dreamy smile. He felt like sharing. “I think it was Harmony or maybe Tiffany. I got those senior girls mixed up. They all looked alike, like glossy towers of unattainable–“
Buffy interrupted Andrew’s rambling. “You’re also underage, Dawn.”
“Geez! If only I was in a co-op program I could work and get high school credits at the same time. That would be so cool! I could sharpen Harmony’s pencils– Wait! Staking issue. Pencils are out. I could hold her high lighter markers. I bet she has a ton of high lighter markers.”
“Angel holds Harmony’s high lighter markers,” Buffy countered.
“Lucky duck.” Dawn stuck out her lip in a pout.
“Okay, well I guess I can’t do anything about you being here, but I have to work and you two can’t follow me around and bother me because I’ve got to concentrate on doing my job.”
“You smile at people who walk in the building. How hard is that?” At Buffy’s scolding look Dawn continued. “What? Am I missing something?”
“Smiling is harder than you think. Plus, I’m always evaluating people. And things.” Buffy leaned into an impromptu huddle. “Things especially. It’s actually an important security position but shhh!” She held a finger to her lips for emphasis.
“Okay, whatever you say, Jane Bond.”
“I understand completely,” Andrew added his own thoughtful whisper. “I’ll take charge of Dawn and we’ll get out of your hair.”
“Can’t we stay here before going to your place?” Dawn asked.
“Um. About that. I don’t have a place yet. Everything’s kind of crazy around here at the moment. I’ve been sort of staying at Angel’s.”
“Angel’s!” Dawn shrieked. “But you’re supposed to be with Spike. I didn’t raid Giles’ frequent flyer miles for you to come here and snuggle with…Angel,” Dawn pantomimed retching. “Bleah!”
“There’s no snuggling! Spike and I had a misunderstanding–“
“Well, color me amazed,” Dawn rolled her eyes.
“Nothing big, mind you,” Buffy continued, “but we needed a breather and Angel kindly offered. And breathing is a good thing right now. Breathing, talking, and taking it slow, these are the steps toward a solid relationship. It’s going to be okay, I promise.”
Dawn got the distinct impression Buffy was convincing herself. “So why are you at Angel’s if everything’s so hunky dory with Spike?”
“Well, it’s closer to work and the bed’s bigger.” Two legitimate concerns for a dedicated Wolfram and Hart employee.
The implications of that statement alarmed Dawn. “Okay, for the sake of my mental health I’ll need you to be really specific about this, Buffy. Angel’s not actually in the bed wi–“
“No! Oh God, no.” Buffy’s eyebrows arched at a frightful angle.
“Okay, so you’ve not gone completely insane, just partially. That’s good to know. I see I’ve arrived just in time. Okay,” Dawn paused, assessing the big picture. “Andrew and I will stay with Spike tonight and cheer him up, since you’re busy not snuggling with Mr. High Lighter.”
“Stay with Spike?” Andrew perked up at that thought. “Cool.”
“We’ll have to check with Spike first,” Buffy warned, although it sounded like the perfect option. Lately, everyone was pulling weird shifts and Dawn’s sudden arrival was yet another unneeded complication. “He might have something to say about it though.”
“I can just bet what he’ll have to say.” Dawn looked forward to an evening of rejuvenating Angel bashing.
“Oh, it will be okay with Spike,” Andrew spoke confidently. “He and I share an unspoken bond. It’s a kinsman thing, warrior to warrior.”
“Please. Spike hardly ever acknowledged your presence.” Dawn didn’t want to be cruel but Andrew’s fixation was getting old, even for her.
“But it’s the way he ignores me that reveals all,” Andrew explained. “The manful indifference, the significant squints, the turn of a shoulder? It’s all about the love.” Both Buffy and Dawn looked at him with perplexed expressions on their faces. “What? We’re tight.”
“And you have to wonder why I opted for teleportation instead of an endless, transatlantic flight?” Dawn raised an eyebrow toward Buffy in her own defense.
“You really have to be a man to understand,” Andrew continued, unfazed by their blank expressions. “It’s like a code; a subliminal, chromosomal repartee. Chicks just don’t get it. Sorry ladies, you’ve got to be a dude for this one.”
“Whatever,” Dawn folded her arms protectively about her.
Buffy picked up a wall mounted phone and dialed Angel’s desk. He usually had some idea of Spike’s location if only to steer him clear of Harmony.
“Hey roomie! Any chance you’ve seen Spike? No, huh? Well, Dawn’s just popped in unannounced and…” Buffy stopped speaking for a few moments and then turned with animated eyes and looked at Dawn and Andrew. “Oh, that’s sounds great! Thanks Angel, you’re a life saver!”
Dawn raised her fingers to her lips and turned to Andrew with a whisper. “Red alert. She’s comparing Angel to candy. That is so not good.”
“Okay you guys, good news.” Buffy hung up the phone. “Angel said you could sit in the waiting area by his desk. He says Spike wanders by periodically to bug him, so that’s the best we can do at the moment. I’ll hit the walkie-talkies and try to track him down from here but I’ve got to get back to my station. Irma times my breaks and I can’t afford another caution this soon.”
“Why don’t you just hit the loudspeaker or something?” Dawn suggested. “That would get Spike’s attention quick enough.”
“Dawn, where do you think you are? The mall? We don’t have a loudspeaker.” Buffy grabbed Dawn’s elbow again and eased her and Andrew toward the elevator. “It’s the fifteenth floor, just press fifteen and it will take you right there.”
“Gosh, really?” Dawn’s forehead rippled with incredulity.
“Dawn please,” Andrew intervened with a calming hand gesture. “This is Buffy’s work space. Both she and it deserve your respect.”
“Thank you, Andrew,” Buffy appreciated the assist. “I’m glad someone understands what it means to be a professional. Now I’ve really got to get back. This will all get sorted out. I promise.”
The elevator doors closed on Andrew and Dawn. “What the hell was that, Andrew? Getting Buffy to spaz is, like, my sacred sisterly duty. I feel so unfulfilled now.”
“Dawn,” Andrew’s eyes blazed with barely restrained excitement. “Angel’s waiting room is like two inches from Harmony’s office. Think about it. The seat of power. I bet she knows Bill Gates personally.”
Dawn squeaked an intake of breath as her mood took a sharp turn toward exuberance once again. “I want to get her autograph. Do you think she’d see us?”
“Why not? We’re Sunnydale homies. She could totally spare us a minute.”
“Fo’ shizzle, dizzle!”
“God,” Andrew chewed the edge of a fingernail. “You can sound so street, Dawn. It’s spooky.”
“Do I look okay?” Dawn whisked her hair behind her ears with nervous excitement.
“Just be cool, Dawn,” Andrew advised. “Follow my lead.”
“Okay.” Perhaps it was mounting panic or just a delayed reaction to the teleporting but Dawn felt nauseated. “Just don’t let me do anything stupid, okay?”
“Gotcha,” Andrew winked at her and for an instant he looked older and mature, like someone who actually knew what he was doing. Dawn was thankful for his company.
Two sets of dazzled eyes stared at the passing floor indicator lights in anticipation of their eventual destination. Dawn found herself swaying to the strangely soothing melody playing over the speakers. She couldn’t identify the band.
“What is this weird music, Andrew? It’s kinda cool.”
Andrew tilted his face toward her and sang along to the mesmerizing chorus. “Laaaa, la, la, la, laaa. Close to you.”
With a pleasant chime the elevator ride came to an abrupt end.