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A vignette that takes place within the time spanned by Odyssey.  Small tie-ins with The Pretender and the events of Let's Pretend. 

A Night at the Opera
By Imzadi


Holland Manners took his seat in the firm's box in the Kennedy Center Opera House in Washington, DC. The transplanted Wolfram & Hart, renamed Raines & Lyle, was flourishing in Washington. And why not? It was the perfect place for it. DC was even more corrupt than LA! One of the new senior partners was a former President; his ex-wife, a powerful Senator, would sign up when she finished her term unless she chose to run again. Life was good. He looked over at his companion, a beautiful and very talented (in more ways than one) junior partner named Laura McMillan. Although he sometimes missed Lila, this young woman was even prettier and didn't spend her time trying to get Lindsey MacDonald into her bed. That, of course, was because nobody knew where Lindsey was!

Even the people at The Centre were unable to find him, although he couldn't help but wonder if Miss Parker had sabotaged that effort. He knew that the two of them went back a long way. Of course, The Centre still hadn't been able to find their missing Pretender, Jarod, either. Lindsey had left the firm after almost totally destroying it six years ago. Maybe he's dead, Holland thought. I can dream. He felt a touch on his thigh; Laura gave him one of those looks that made him almost wish that the opera were ending rather than beginning. However, it was one of his favorites: Faust, by Charles Gounoud. Much as he loved the music, he loved the story even more. As the overture started, he closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair.

In his mind he saw, not the old philosopher who wanted to be young, but the bright young man who wanted to be rich and powerful. There was a beautiful, innocent girl whom Faust wanted enough to sell his soul to Mephistopheles, the devil. (Mental note: sue Saturday Night Live over Jon Lovitz' skit in which he portrayed the devil as a boob. They reran that thing every Halloween, and it was causing people to lose respect for the powers of evil.) Of course in reality she had managed to buy his soul back and redeem him. Well, there were other Fausts to be had in the firm. He had at least three good prospects!

As the opera progressed, Faust and Marguerite (or, as he saw them, Lindsey & Rosemary) fell in love. She became pregnant. So far, so good. However, in the opera, Mephistopheles persuades Faust to leave her by tempting him with beautiful women from history. She went mad, killed her baby, but still went to Heaven while Faust was dragged down to Hell. But Rosemary's baby, as he thought of it, killed her.  Lindsey would probably join her in Heaven someday. They had rewritten his favorite opera. But at least this one, the one on stage, was ending properly.

In the absolute privacy of the Parker & Lyle box, during the intermissions, Laura had done some pretty amazing things. What a woman! He didn't miss Lila so much any more. She should be out of prison by now. Maybe I'll have The Centre look for her. Maybe not, now that I have Laura.

He thought ahead to the next opera the Washington Opera would perform: Don Giovanni, by Mozart. In the end, the statue of the murdered Commandante drags Don Giovanni down to Hell. Surely Laura would enjoy that as well.

Sweeping down the grand staircase and out the front door where the P&L limo awaited, Holland didn't see the two men coming down from the second balcony. Father Ed Brenner and his good friend Father Lindsey MacDonald, who was visiting from LA, had taken advantage of the opportunity to see the opera. "So what did you think, Lindsey?"

"I've always loved this music. The singing was great, the costumes and sets were fabulous, the acting left a little to be desired, but the story always makes me think of Wolfram & Hart."

"I'm glad your story had a better ending, at least for you!" The two friends headed for the parking garage and the drive back to Ed's rectory in Baltimore.

As they drove off, Holland felt a slight prickling in the back of his neck. I felt his presence. No, it couldn't be! What would he be doing here? He closed the window between the driver and the passengers and enjoyed the rest of the ride to his place with Laura.

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