Subject: [SpikesSalvation] Phoenix Dreams Chapter 9 Date: Tue, 28 Oct 2003 15:06:53 -0800 (PST) From: Jerusha Hancock Reply-To: SpikesSalvation@yahoogroups.com To: SpikesSalvation@yahoogroups.com Chapter 9 "Mr. William, you have someone waiting for you." The secretary's voice came through the intercom clearly, and he frowned. He knew he didn't have an appointment for the afternoon. "Who is it, Shelly?" he asked. There was a pause, and then she replied, a disapproving note in her voice. "She says her name is Mary Elizabeth Carletti. She's been here for two hours already and refuses to leave unless she sees you. Should I call security?" William lifted one scarred eyebrow. This was odd. It was rare that a visitor would even be able to get through the front lobby without an appointment, but that they would actually be able to reach the inner offices? He found himself wanting to meet the person that had managed it. "No, that won't be necessary. Go ahead and send her in." The girl wasn't what he expected for sure. She was perhaps 17 or 18 and certainly underfed, with dark eyes and shaggy dark hair. She was dressed in what was probably her best clothing, even though it was shabby. William pegged her for a street kid immediately, and if she wasn't right at the moment, she had been recently. "Can I help you?" Mary Elizabeth Carletti's chin came up defiantly as she heard the doubt in his voice. "Yeah. I came to see you about a job." "I think you'd want to go through the personnel department for that," William said, with some amusement. He might be the personnel director, but that was just a fancy way of saying that he took care of what Angel didn't want to. William was the people-person, after all. "I think you know my resume wouldn't get past the front door," she replied belligerently. "I heard this was the place to go if you wanted to fight the monsters." "And you do?" "Yeah, that's right. I been fighting 'em since I was 13, and I'm stronger and faster than most of the guys you got here, I bet," she replied, and William suddenly felt his heart ache for the shabby teenager with the defiant chin and scared eyes. She was just a kid, and he could smell her desperation from across the room. "Why don't you have a seat, Miss Carletti," he suggested gently. "And then you can tell me why you came to me." Suddenly he could sense it. He couldn't always, and Angel was better at it, but he could usually tell a Slayer when he saw one. There was a hidden power to them, and this girl reeked of it. "It's Emmie," she said. "That's what my friends call me." She sat cautiously. "Look, I know this is crazy, but word on the street is that you guys help people, and I can fight. I just need a job, and I thought if you helped people you could help me find one." He smiled. "How long have you been able to fight?" "Since I was 13," she said, relaxing a little now that she knew the man behind the huge oak desk wasn't going to have her thrown out. "One day my dad was whaling on me and the next day I tossed him out the door. Then I left. Look Mr. William, I'll do anything." Emmie was desperate; that was the honest truth. She needed to get off the streets. She'd been able to keep herself clean and out of trouble, but times were getting harder and she couldn't panhandle like she used to anymore. The kids' shelters were starting to look at her askance and the women's shelters were usually full. So today she'd gathered up every bit of courage she had, dressed in her best and cleanest clothing, and walked in here fully expecting to get kicked out. And instead she meets this guy with the kindest blue eyes she'd ever seen. That he was hot and had a great accent only increased the attraction. "Call me William," he replied. "I'll be honest with you, Emmie. We've got fighters; we don't need any more. You got any other skills? Interests?" He had no intention of sending her back out onto the street. Angel had a special fund for Slayers, but he wanted to test the girl's mettle. She shook her head. "I didn't finish high school, but you probably already knew that. About the only thing I know how to do is fight." And then, almost as a second thought, she added, "I like kids though. Always thought I might want to be a teacher." William paused. He and Angel had talked about getting a nanny/bodyguard for Ty. He had been unwilling to put his son in the hands of some neanderthal, but he hadn't really thought about hiring a Slayer to look out for him. If she liked kids, and Ty liked her, it might be a match made in heaven. Ty got a nanny, and he got the assurance that there was someone looking after him that was capable of tackling vampires and demons. "Wolfram & Hart has a special fund set up for girls like you, pet," he said. "So don't worry about that just yet. But I might have a job opportunity for you. What would you think of a position as a nanny, provided you and the kid get along?" She stared at him for a long time, and then hope began to light behind her eyes, an expression that hadn't been there for years. "You mean it?" "I never say anything I don't mean, luv," he replied with an answering smile. "Then I think I'm in," she said. And for the first time in years, she wasn't afraid. "But we have this treasure in clay jars, so that it may be made clear that this extraordinary power belongs to God and not to us. We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed." 2 Cor 4:7-9 ---------------------------------