i'm leaving you my last curse

[bravebartender]

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[wereall_addicts]

Aalis. What a pleasant surprise.

[The noise of the giant quarter Thanksgiving celebration floats in through an open window, but she, Eliot and other members of her team are planning on staying in. Eliot is cooking and Sophie is helping. Mostly by pouring wine and providing witty conversation.

But when her phone rings, she steps away, moving towards the sounds on the street below.]

Happy Thanksgiving.

[She says, despite the fact that they are both older than the idea of America, let alone the nation.]

[lengthened]

Happy Thanksgiving.

( It is weird to celebrate something you remember the slow inception of, the glorified holiday that people formed through word of mouth and consumerism. Perspective is easy when you're older than most things and people. When you're history itself.

Like everyone else, she doesn't sugarcoat. )

Brannigan is dead.

[wereall_addicts]

[Sophie immediately straightens, her body filling with immediate tension at that news.]

Are you sure?

[Not that she doesn't trust Aalis to get her facts straight but that is a very significant person to be dead.]

[lengthened]

I'm sure. Donna called me.

( And Donna knows what she's talking about. Always. She doesn't make mistakes. She's often the first person in the room to know. Maybe the second. )

The Colony threw the Gauntlet. And in doing so, Wallace and Corsair sent the Ivory Tower after the slayers in Scotland.

[wereall_addicts]

[Well. If Donna is saying it, then it must be true.

But when she hears the reason why, she blanches.]

Have they lost their minds? What did they think they would gain?

[Brannigan's usually smarter than that, but he always was a sucker for Corsair's charms, no matter what form they chose to take.]

[lengthened]

Someone ( cough ) has been taking out members of the Inner Circle. Wallace and Corsair believed that the slayers were involved. And, even if they weren't, that going after them said something.

( Besides the office. )

Buffy Summers survived, but I don't know who else is on the ground there. I've been tasked with finding out, but I thought you deserved to know first.

[wereall_addicts]

I appreciate the heads up. I assume that Ms. Summers is going to be turning her attention to the Riverboat?

[Because if you're going after Wallace and Corsair, that's the logical place to target.]

[lengthened]

A full-on assault is imminent. If you have anybody affiliated, I'd pull them out yesterday.

( For their own good! )

[wereall_addicts]

Noted.

[She pauses, weighing her next question carefully.]

Are you safe? In need of an extraction yourself?

[lengthened]

I'm safe. I work behind the scenes.

( She could be less safe if she inserts herself, anywhere. Or, just on the streets. But, as of this moment, she is safe. )

We'll let each other know what we need.

( If they need anything? And with that, she doesn't keep her on too long. She has an assignment.

Without her, the party continues, everyone none the wiser. Alice finds Angel in a turtleneck standing next to a laughing Cordelia. )

Cordelia, a word?

[letsbe_clear]

Yeah, of course. Oooh, have you had any of the pie yet?

[She points down to her plate which contains a half-eaten slice of pumpkin pie.]

Delish.

[lengthened]

One or two bites.

( In between pleasantries.

She glances to Angel, knowing the two of them come as a packaged deal, and knowing Angel will want to hear this, too. He has very public history with Buffy Summers. )

I'm just going to say this. Buffy and the slayers were attacked. We've been waiting for the Gauntlet. It's here. Two members of the Colony tasked an affiliated organization with the attack.

( "Which organization," Angel asks. )

The Ivory Tower. Abernathy needs you to make contact. We know there were casualties, but not how many. Not Buffy. Buffy survived. Beyond that, we don't know.

[letsbe_clear]

Oh my god.

[Yes, that is very concerning. She immediately reaches for her phone and checks the time, as well as the time in Scotland - late but not too late probably - before nodding.]

I'll reach out. See what I can find out.

[lengthened]

I have my own calls to make as well, but I anticipate coming together soon. Abernathy will want a full report.

( And she should check in on her -- well, Aalis isn't sure Cordelia is friends with anyone, but she knows she has ties to the slayers. She gives Angel a sympathetic look before leaving them to their call.

"Come on," he says.

From outside, one of the doors opens, ready for Cordy to step through. He'd rather they do this call privately. Even if it's a little chilly.

"Call Buffy." )

[letsbe_clear]

[Cordelia nods, putting her phone on speaker as she taps Buffy's name in her address book. She's still not Buffy's best friend - no one can be Willow, but the Slayers took care of her when she suddenly reappeared back on Earth. She wants to know if they're okay, even beyond Abernathy's request.

So ring, ring, ring Buffy phone.]

I hope they're all okay.

[attainathons]

( "It's Buffy. If it was bad, she would've told us." Or, she would be getting around to it. He has to hope it wasn't bad.

Buffy hasn't slept, probably won't. She's been working with a map of the local land around the Riverboat. She still thinks they're coming in from the front, as guests, but if they have to, she likes to have another, surprise way in.

She checks her caller ID and makes a face, checking the time, before answering.

She hopes it's not angel. If they were attacked, could others have been, too? )

Cordelia, is everything okay?

[letsbe_clear]

Are you?

[Naturally, Cordelia does not have the soft touch, at least not when it comes to Buffy. She doesn't think Buffy actually appreciates someone who coddles her feelings that way, but at the same time, she's worried about her friend and it comes out a little angry.]

I heard that someone blew up the castle.

[attainathons]

( Good to know that the supernatural game of telephone has its facts right this time. But, that moved quickly within a few hours. Normally, she's better at tracking where information might come from, but there were enough survivors today. Among those lost. )

You heard right. The castle's gone. We lost some in the initial blast, but there were more survivors. ( She pauses. ) Four slayers including Faith survived. And the other guests. We were hosting a party, if you can believe it. Tell me, you haven't heard of any other attacks, have you?

[letsbe_clear]

No, not today. Aalis said something about the Gauntlet, but she came to me because she knew I had connections. I'm sure she and Abernathy are playing phone tree to see if there's anything else that might have happened.

[The concern is still there in her voice, though as she leans back against the nearby wall.]

I can reach out to some of the local cells though. Make sure everything's okay.

[attainathons]

Please. We have our hands full over here. ( And because they're working from all angles, Cordy needs to know. ) I'm taking the fight to them.

[letsbe_clear]

Do you need backup?

[She will one hundred percent send out her boyfriend to make himself someone else's problem on Buffy's behalf if that's what she needs, but that's about the only force she can allocate at the moment.

Unless she gets ahold of other cells.]

If you tell me where, I can see what cells are available to back you up. And send Angel.

[attainathons]

We actually have a pretty big contingent gearing up. Can you ask him --

( "I'm right here, Buffy." )

Angel. Hey. ( It feels a little like a Mean Girls speakerphone attack, but she knows Cordelia didn't mean it like that. She does hate speaking about people in front of them like they're not there. She should've been listening carefully. Someone on speakerphone does sound different.

But she has a lot on her mind. ) Do you know anything about the Riverboat?

( Angel nods, looking to Cordy, stepping closer to her and the phone.

"It's dark. It's a roaming casino party, but mostly they traffic in bodies, not money. The Riverboat is guarded. And you need an invitation," Angel explains. He's been on it once in his more morally gray years, back when he tried to help and a hotel got together and hung him. In the intervening years, he fell in with interesting crowds. He wasn't beloved, but he also wasn't bothered.

The Ivory Tower likened him to a neutered circus animal. )

The invitations are covered. Stefan's old friends with Scarlett O'Hara.

[letsbe_clear]

[Cordelia blinks, and then her head tips.]

Like ... Gone with the Wind Scarlett O'Hara? She's an actual person?

[This is news to Cordelia that she has not been looped in to.]

[attainathons]

Her, Rhett, Melanie. And they're exactly how you'd expect. But, better. And sometimes, worse, between tantrums and mysoginy.

( Rhett doesn't mean to, anyway. Is that the point, though? )

Stefan ran back into them here in Scotland and we've all become friends? I think. Damon and Scarlett and Melanie have more of a past. But, Stefan jokes like they're friends. I just go with it.

( "I like Rhett," is Angel's contribution to this portion of the conversation. )

[letsbe_clear]

[Cordelia stares at Angel for a good long moment before holding up a finger.]

We are so talking about this later.

[But moving on to the point at hand:]

Okay, I will start getting on the phone with the Slayer cells. You do what you have to do, and keep us in the loop. Be safe, Buffy.