Disclaimer: I, of course, own none of anything Joss Whedon or anyone else has created. I own my plots, my storylines, and my characters.

Author's Note: This story is littered with flashbacks and/or references to things that have happened earlier on (things that are not told in this story) that are fictitious but fit with the plotline, meant to give some hint to what happened before the start of this. Anything on its own, separated from other text, in italics is a flashback/memory. Also, the only AU part of this story is that Cordelia is with the Scoobies, for amusement's sake - you'll see. She fit the bill for the kind of character I wanted to have around. Please review!

Prologue

The woman moved through the alley, her path dimly illuminated by the glow of nearby streetlamps, the air thickened by steaming vents and fog. Had an onlooker been present, they may have seen this as a cliche foretelling of something. She could not see the end of the alley through it. Her eyes, belying her age, cut around at her surroundings, cautious and impatient. She was acutely aware of the girl's presence; waiting for the right time to appear. It was the age. No fear.

There were no footsteps, nor breathing, or movement; but there was a shadow breaking away from the thick darkness that engulfed the walls of the surrounding buildings, moving through the steam and haze. A face came into view, partially, beneath the few streetlamps and the prominent, striking features caught the woman's eye as they had before. The look of complete fearlessness; confidence with power and strength. She stood ready, firm, conscious of every single thing in the universe around her.

The full lips parted. "You're late." Dark hair framed her face, darkening her already murky eyes.

A ghost of a smile. "You're early."

"I'm punctual. It helps." She spoke in a bold, self-assured voice; she had done this, and probably much else, several times before. "What do you want?"

"I asked you to come because, as I'm sure you are aware," she gave the young woman a wanton look, speaking not as a superior but as a cheeky companion, "you hold a great deal of power within you. You're highly skilled. I know what you're capable of." She paused. "I want you." Her voice contained a matching confidence.

There was no impressed or surprised attitude offered, only a cocked eyebrow and an amused, dark grin. "Well I've heard that before. You have to sell me on it first." No fear. No apprehension.

"You've seen and done a great deal in your travels, as I'm sure was your intention. You certainly did away with more - unpleasant creatures, and experienced more dangerous situations than can be counted. I know that it's honed you into an even more supreme being than you were before." The light in her eyes flicked down to the necklace around the girl's neck for an undetectable moment in time. "I could use you."

"Sorry, I'm a one-man team." There seemed no break in her defenses; compliments and praise alone did not faze her, were nothing new.

The woman laughed deeply in her throat, barely opening her mouth. The sound might have unsettled any normal person; but this girl was very far from that. "My dear, I can offer you much more than you have been offered before. Believe me." The light in her eyes shone brighter.

"I seem to like what I have now pretty well. I chose it." She emphasized her words, staring hard and deeply at the woman.

"You're going to find that you will have many choices." She paused. "Can you always choose the best?" Her eyes seemed to bore right through the other woman, but still she did not so much as flinch.

"Is this all you wanted?" Cutting the meeting short.

A smile, somehow more unnerving than the laugh. "I will see you again."

And the girl was gone in an instant, without another word, the shine off her necklace the last thing the woman catching as it vanished from view.