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local_clown_livRated T
Ship: Kate Lockley/Cordelia Chase
Prompt: I knew you were trouble
Both a sequel and a prequel to Bait and Switch. Not beta read so read at your own risk
Cordelia chewed on a piece of gum as she worked on her computer. She got an email from a trusted informant about the Shroud of Rahmon being shipped into town and was looking into it more. Although it might not be the easiest or safest to acquire based on her research, Cordelia figured if she leaves an all-caps warning on the forum she’ll be fine.
After high school, Cordelia assumed she’d never have a normal life. Between being half-demon, her only human parent going to jail, and all of her friends abandoning her for bad dating decisions, her life in Sunnydale was definitely over. So, she moved to LA, initially attempting acting, but quickly found that wasn’t going to be a viable option. So she dusted some of that computer science knowledge off and tried using it. Soon enough, she was a hacker, and decided to focus on a market where she had found books in her father’s hidden library collection about: artifacts.
Her business was born. She’d give her hunter the adequate information they needed to get the job done as long as she got a cut of the profits. If she had a knowing informant, she’d give them a cut of what she got. A lot of the time, though, she’d use her father’s voicemail. Some of his old business partners never got the memo he went to jail, so they’d phone him about imported artifacts and where they’re going. Other times, though, she’d pretend to be an independent journalist looking to interview a curator, playing up to their egos and sometimes their libidos to get the information she wanted. Then she’d do more research to fill in the blanks and post an ad on a forum she frequented detailing what artifact she had info on and how much she wanted for said information.
Cordelia had to put a pin in what she was doing when she got a direct message. She opened up the chat.
LockItUp: I heard you had info on the Gem of Amara.
Cordelia smiled.
QueenC: depends. who’s asking?
LockItUp: Kate Lockley, I operate out of LA.
Cordelia leaned back in her chair. She had heard of Kate Lockley. She was actually one of the best in the artifact hunting game, to the point Cordelia had been offered money to dox her. Of course, Cordelia declined. She was corrupt but she wasn’t that corrupt.
LockItUp: It’s a gift so I need a finite amount of money to give you.
QueenC: quite an elaborate gift don’t you think?
LockItUp: My friend’s birthday is coming up. She’s a vampire.
LockItUp: Can you do it or not?
QueenC: I can
LockItUp: Then what do you want for the info?
Cordelia paused. What did she want? Money was nice but she had plenty of it, plus she kinda wanted to meet this Kate Lockley. Anyone who was willing to hunt down an artifact that for all they knew was a myth was someone Cordelia wanted to keep in touch with.
QueenC: take me out for coffee
It took Kate a while to respond.
LockItUp: Are you going to buy out the whole store? Because a single cup of coffee isn’t a lot of money.
QueenC: the coffee is nice, but I’m looking forward to talking to this very determined woman in person. plus, I wanna see if we can make this a more permanent partnership
LockItUp: Really? Just like that?
QueenC: yeah
LockItUp: Alright. When do you want to meet up.
QueenC: after you get that gem, and lucky for you, the person who has it is in LA
Kate sat anxiously at the table. Her date was fifteen minutes late. Was QueenC just standing her up? True, meeting on a forum for artifact hunters wasn’t exactly a traditional way to meet someone but it’d still hurt if she never showed.
Finally, after another minute, a gorgeous woman came into the coffee shop. She had long brown hair, with these beautiful brown eyes and a face that looked like it came right out of a movie. Kate felt her cheeks getting hot and she sat straight in her chair.
The woman scanned the room, eyes going over every person, and when they landed on Kate that’s when she realized this was QueenC.
QueenC smiled and walked over to the table. She sat down in the chair facing Kate. “When you said you were blonde with blue eyes, you didn’t mention the part where you were a knockout.”
Kate smiled, feeling like a high schooler again. “Well, I… Thank you. It’s nice to meet you, finally.”
“Nice to meet you too.” She held out her hand. “I’m Cordelia.”
Kate shook it. “I’m Kate, but you already knew that.”
“I did.” Cordelia took her hand back and grinned mischievously. “So, how’d it go with Angelus?”
Kate laughed, the question unexpected. “I should’ve known you were trouble.”
“What? It’s an honest question!” Cordelia took a folder out of the purse she had with her, opening it, revealing some copies of black-and-white photos of Angelus. “I mean, he’s certainly a looker, not to mention–”
“Cordelia,” Kate interrupted, closing the folder. “I think I’d rather talk about my date first.”
Cordelia blushed and nodded, taking the folder back and putting it away. “Sorry. We can discuss that later. I’ll start with Kate, then move onto Angelus.”
Kate laughed. “You’re lucky I like trouble.”
Cordelia smirked. “If you think I’m trouble now, you haven’t seen anything yet.”
