Subversive

Disclaimer: I own absolutely none of the characters except mine, because Joss Whedon is a god.

Straightening my skirt, I took a very deep breath and prepared to walk forward. Any moment and I would be taking the interview with Angel, the head of Wolfram and Hart. If I got the job, I would be set. I would be able to finally get out of the rut I was in and make a career for myself. Of course, I would be working for vampires and demons, and whatever the hell the Senior Partners were. But I figured that if I just kept myself in line then there wouldn’t be any problems. After all, I was only applying to be a secretary slash research assistant. Surely even I could handle that.

Harmony, the blonde woman sitting at the desk, looked up at me. “Hey, Eva, right? Angel’s ready to see you now.”

I nodded, keeping a firm grasp on my purse under my arm as well as my folder of resume, letters of recommendation, and everything else I thought I’d need or had been told to bring, such as doctor’s notes, letters of the positive test results on my sanity, etc. Taking a deep breath once more, I strode forward and walked through the door.

His office was huge. There was a large desk beside one wall, a couch by another, floor to ceiling windows that had thick curtains waiting to be drawn, and a large television. It sang of the highest rank possible, but there was also something strangely titillating about it, something that had more to do with an undercurrent of magic running through the room like life blood. It shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. On the couch were sitting the Englishman I knew as Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, the gentleman who had spoken with me about arranging the interview, and a green-skinned demon in a flashy purple and blue suit, who I recognized as being from another dimension. I couldn’t remember off hand what his powers were, but I knew that he loved music.

Standing near the windows was Angel himself. He was tall, broad-shouldered and well-defined from head to toe. His dark hair was slightly spiky, as if he had just decided it wasn’t worth the effort to find hair gel today, but it worked for him. He turned around, his black suit fitting him perfectly, and as I met his eyes I felt a small tremble run down my spine. His eyes were kind but stern, compassionate but down to business. He had seen too much, done too much, and he just wanted to do his damn job. I knew he was a vampire, that he had a soul, that he had a rather colorful past although I wasn’t clear on the details. Looking at him now, however, I knew that there was a very intimidating man.

“Hello, Miss Harrison,” he greeted, walking over and extending his hand. “I’m Angel.”

I shook his hand, suddenly feeling very powerless and small compared to him. He had a very strong handshake, although I had a feeling that sometimes he didn’t know his own strength, especially when dealing with someone as small as me. “Hello, sir. It’s nice to meet you.”

Turning to the other two men, Angel said, “I believe you’ve already met Wesley?”

Wesley stood up and offered me his hand, smiling warmly. “Hello again, Miss Harrison. Wonderful to see you.”

I smiled and nodded. “Likewise, Mr. Wyndam-Pryce.”

“And this is Lorne. Lorne, this is Eva Harrison.”

The green-skinned demon stood up and shook my hand as well, smiling very broadly. “Oh, honey, you have gorgeous eyes. I hope you don’t hide them behind glasses.”

Smiling, I replied, “Um, no. I don’t wear glasses.”

“Thank God for that.” He looked me over, staring at my shirt. “And this is a lovely little number right here. It just screams Meg Ryan empowerment.” He chuckled. “Tell me, sweetie, do you sing at all?”

I felt as if I were on the teacup ride at Disneyland. This was not exactly what I had expected out of an interview. Blinking, I tried to keep up with the conversations. “Only in the shower. I’m afraid I don’t have a very good singing voice. I’m told I have a wonderful phone voice, though.”

Lorne grinned, eyeing me carefully. “Well, how about you let me decide that? Sing a little something. Come on, don’t be shy.”

“Uh…” I glanced at Wesley and Angel, uncertain as to what the hell was going on. No one had warned me I would have to sing.

Wesley nodded. “It’s all right. Lorne is able to read people’s auras when they sing. It’s just a security measure to make sure someone is safe, and he is also able to guide people on their paths in life.”

“Oh. All right. Um, please don’t make your decision to hire me or not based solely on my voice.” I cleared my throat and frantically tried to think of anything I could sing.

“Don’t worry, sweetness,” Lorne said. “You can’t possibly be any worse than Angel here. My God, if he had just taken some singing lessons at some point in his lifetime I might be able to listen without cringing.”

Angel just looked at Lorne. “Lorne, now is really not the time,” he said.

Lorne shrugged and motioned to me.

I felt as if I might be sick. Singing was not a strong suit of mine. But I had to do it, or I might not be hired. Taking a deep breath, I finally began to sing. “Someday when I’m awfully low/ when I’m feeling low/ I will feel a glow/ just thinking of you/ and the way you look tonight. You’re so lovely/ with your skin so warm/ and your cheek so soft/ There is nothing for me but to love you/ Just the way you look tonight.”

I cringed. “I hope that was enough.”

The men exchanged glances. Lorne, however, just beamed at me. “Oh, I love that song! It’s been forever since someone’s thought to sing that one for me. There’s been so many versions, but I’ve got to say that--”

“Lorne?” Angel broke in pointedly. “I don’t mean to be rude, but can we get on with this?”

“Oh, sure. Just trying to help her calm down a little. She’s a little tense.” He looked at me again and leaned towards me, lowering his voice a little. “You really need to work on that, sweetie. And just a little friendly advice: you’ve got some rough times ahead down the line. If I were you, I’d make sure that I stayed away from the bad boys, you know what I’m saying? They’re only trouble. Find yourself a nice, calm, TV producer or something. At least they won’t take you down screaming.”

My eyes widened and I felt a jolt of panic stir my heart. “What?” I whispered, trying to figure out exactly what he was saying. “Are you saying that--?”

“I’m just trying to let you know that you’re better off choosing men who aren’t all big and scary and ready to go traipsing all over the world trying to destroy everything.” Lorne shrugged. “Everything else is fine. She’s a golden girl.”

“Great.” Angel motioned towards the couch. “Please, have a seat. Let’s get started.”

I blinked, still trying to figure out what the hell Lorne was trying to tell me, and why he was trying to tell me that I shouldn’t date scary men. Wasn’t that kind of a given? I tried to put it in the back of my mind as I sat down stiffly on the couch, holding my folder delicately on my lap.

“Now, then, Miss Harrison,” Wesley said. “Did you bring all the forms I asked you to? Resume, letters, etc.?”

“Yes. They’re all right here and marked.” I handed him the folder.

Angel remained standing, while the other two men sat down on the opposite couch. “So what makes you want to work at Wolfram and Hart?” he asked.

Okay, we were finally into real interview questions. I figured I had to roll with the strangeness or I’d never survive. “I want to make a difference, whatever the position is. I am more than willing to give all of my time and energy to get the job done, to perform as well as possible, and to accomplish the goals that are given to me,” I answered. “Wolfram and Hart is pretty well known everywhere, and I’ve also heard about some of the things that you personally are trying to do here. I would very much like the opportunity to offer whatever talents I have to your team in an effort to do some good in the world.”

Angel nodded, eyebrows raised. Leaning on the couch, he said, “Well, that’s very noble of you, Miss Harrison. Wolfram and Hart is a law firm, the biggest and most influential in the world. However, its branches go far beyond this world that you see. You are familiar with its other branches in different dimensions, the fact that most of our work goes to the aid of creatures that are not human?”

“I am well aware of the fact that most of Wolfram and Hart’s clients are demons of some sort,” I replied. “I’m also aware that you are, of course, a vampire, and I have no problem at all with that. I’ve heard wonderful things about you, and that’s really part of the reason I’m here.”

“Really.” He seemed a little surprised, although he was obviously trying to be as objective as possible. “What sort of things have you heard?”

Ducking my head slightly, I managed to speak back up without too much embarrassment. “Well, I know you used to run Angel Investigations. You actually helped out a couple of my friends once. They told me all about you, about the risks you took to do good in the world. I… well, I really admired that.”

For the first time Angel offered a hint of a real smile, and it made him look absolutely handsome. I tried to control the sharp intake of breath I wanted to make. While it was true what I had said, I had also heard that he was charming and a great guy. Not that that had any bearing on my applying for a job working for him. No siree.

Flipping through the pages of my folder, Wesley asked, “Miss Harrison, can you explain to me what experience you may have involving inter dimensional relations?”

I frowned for a moment, and it took me second to realize what he was asking. “Oh. I’m afraid none, really. I’ve never had much experience dealing with the demonic except for a couple of people I spoke to. All my real experience is as a secretary and assistant. I’ve read books on various demons and cults for years, but unfortunately I’ve never been required to act professionally on anything I’ve learned.”

“I see.” Wesley scanned the pages further. “Let’s just go over your resume, shall we?”


It seemed interminable, but in a way I could handle better than being asked to sing on cue. By the time we had gone through all my resume and what not else, I felt as if I were being asked to join the Secret Service or something. All three men were completely easy to deal with, although I couldn’t help feeling more than a little inadequate. Each man had some great task in life, I could feel it even if they never said anything. It’s hard to compete with that.

Angel had sent me down to go through a drug screening as well as a basic psychological screening. Really wasn’t that bad, but the psychics kind of weirded me out. They had left me to wait in a conference room, assuring me that they would be back with me shortly. I was beginning to wonder what the day to day activities would actually be like, if I even got the job. If I didn’t, I was actually going to be a little pissed. I glanced at my watch. Nearly four o’clock. I had been at it for almost three hours. I had never had an interview go this long before, hence the impending pissed offedness if I didn’t get the job.

Sipping at the iced tea they had sent Harmony to bring me, I couldn’t help marveling at the way the office ran. Since stepping in the building I had seen more than I ever had before of the demon world. It wasn’t as if I had run the ghettos with demons trailing me while I was growing up. Nope. Just your average white collar two story house with a front yard and three cars. Very white bread.

At last the door opened and it startled me. I turned to see Angel and Mr. Wyndam-Pryce enter the room once more. I stood up, uncertain as to what I should do.

“Miss Harrison, I am most happy to welcome you to Wolfram and Hart,” Mr. Wyndam-Pryce said with a small smile.

I felt a rush of relief sweep over me like a cool breeze, and I broke into a relieved smile. On some level I couldn’t believe I had gotten the job, but the rest of me was just screaming to shut up and enjoy it.

“Thank you, sir. Sirs,” I amended. “Thank you very much.”

Angel stepped towards me, thumbing through some papers. “I’ll have Wesley take you down to Personnel to have you fill out your paperwork here in a few minutes. I just wanted to take a minute to tell you I think you’ll do fine here. You’ve got a great resume, you seem very comfortable here, and I think you’ll be a great asset for us here.” He paused, looking at me hard. “It’s not an easy job. There’s a lot more than what you’re probably expecting. I hope that you can handle the unexpected fairly well.”

I met his gaze confidently and nodded. “Yes, sir. I’m sure I can handle anything you throw at me. At least, I’ll do my best.”

“Well, that’s all anyone can do.” He watched me for a few moments, his eyes searching my face as if he were memorizing me. At last he said, “I’ll have Wesley take you down now. Be here tomorrow at eight o’clock and we’ll get you set up. Any questions for now?”

I scourged my brain, trying to think of where to start. Nothing seemed fit yet, so I figured I would wait. “No, sir.”

“Oh. You can just call me Angel.”

“Yes, sir. I mean, Angel.” I felt flustered, unable to shake the automatic instinct to call him sir.

He smiled at me then, a warm and friendly smile. “All right. I’ll see you tomorrow. Wesley, go ahead and take her to Personnel.”

Mr. Wyndam-Pryce nodded. “All right. Miss Harrison, please follow me.”