TIMELINE: After the end of s4/s1.
RATING: PG-13.
SPOILERS: Nothing major.
DISCLAIMER: If I owned anything, I wouldn't be writing fanfic. I'd be writing the canon. The title sprang fully formed from an REM song which will not be making an appearance.
FEEDBACK: Please, please, please. Please?
SUMMARY: Angel and Buffy have a surprise meeting after a high school reunion.

'You're going to a high school reunion,' Wesley clarified.

'Yes,' Cordelia replied.

'Possibly the head trauma I received has clouded my memories of your graduation, but was that not only a year ago?'

'Yes,' Cordelia said impatiently.

Wesley waited. 'Then why a reunion so soon?' he prompted eventually.

Cordelia sighed, 'This is Sunnydale we're talking about. The more often we have them, the less we notice the decrease in numbers.' Wesley nodded in sympathetic acknowledgement.

'Explains a lot about the average Sunnydale adult,' Angel said as he came up the stairs wielding a sharp, but gleaming, knife, which he set on the desk. Cordelia smiled softly, 'Yeah, I guess.'

Angel fixed a slightly concerned gaze on her, 'Are you sure about this? Last night you said you'd rather eviscerate yourself than go back for a reunion.'

'But the night before, she was all but packed,' Wesley noted.

Now both had concerned looks directed at her. Cordelia realised how it felt to be a really badly dressed person on the street. She resisted the impulse to go straight for a mirror.

'I'm sure. It'll be nice. To see everyone. Will be nice.'

The smile, Angel decided, was a fraction too bright, the answer a fraction too pat, the picture, a fraction too brittle. He exchanged a knowing look with Wesley, which conveyed -

'I saw that!'

- a few things he hadn't wanted Cordelia to see.

Angel took a (metaphorical) deep breath and caught Wesley's eye to ensure back-up would be ready. Then he launched his offensive, 'I just don't want to put up with you for days if any of those girls upset you.'

'You don't want to put up with me moping around!' she shrieked, 'After everything I had to deal with when -' she caught his gentle smile and stopped, disconcerted, 'Oh. Okay. No, I'll be fine. I think I need some closure over that whole phase. In fact,' she brightened, and Angel saw the lightbulb flick on in her brain, 'We should all go! Angel, you can get closure on Buffy, and Wes, you can get closure on ... on ... on the Watcher's Council! Or something. Like an office trip. It'll be fun!'

Angel seriously doubted such a trip would be any such thing, and in any case, doubted whether he could attain closure over Buffy. So far, all the signals had pointed firmly to 'no'; mainly, he admitted to himself, because he lacked the desire to begin any process that would give their separation such finality.

He was jolted by Cordelia snapping her fingers in front of his face, 'Brood after you've answered! Come on!'

Angel was surprised. She must be desperate if she was giving him tacit permission to brood. But, still ... Sunnydale, where Buffy was - where Buffy and Riley were - no. He didn't think so.

'Sorry, I ... no.'

Wesley quickly chipped in, 'And I couldn't possibly leave Angel here to handle things alone.' Angel gave him a yeah-blame-me look and said, 'I'll be fine, really. You go.'

'But - I don't want to,' Wesley said.

Cordelia pouted, 'Look, at any rate I cannot go in front of everyone without a date. So one of you is going to have to come.' She showed Angel a sweet, smiling face. He responded with an impassive one. She made her eyes wide and pleading. He raised an eyebrow. She gave up.

'No,' Angel said firmly.

'No,' Wesley echoed.

Cordelia called upon all her acting skills and drooped, hunching her shoulders imperceptibly (awful for her posture, but some sacrifices had to be made), hanging her head and casting her eyes downward. A moment later she risked a quick glance up to check her audience. Wesley was reading and Angel was out of range. Damn. She gave up and gathered her bag, preparing to leave.

'Angel, I'm going to need an advance,' she tossed over her shoulder as she left.

'You need a dress?' he asked.

'No,' she fired off, 'I'm going to have to hire an escort. They're expensive.'

'Great,' Angel muttered. He checked she was gone, then turned to Wesley, 'You could take her, you know.'

Wesley fielded the ball and returned it neatly, 'You could take her. It's at night.'

'So could you.'

'We've done me.'

They stared at each other for a moment.

'Can we afford her an advance?'

If there had been anyone to watch her, Cordelia would have sulked. As it was, neither Angel nor Wesley had been persuaded to come with her. They had also refused her demands of resources to hire a suitable escort, citing lack of cash flow instead of the he-might-be- an-axe-murderer argument that had been just on the tip of Wesley's tongue. She knew the kitty was not quite as healthy as it might have been. But surely the helpful injection of David Nabbit should have left enough to afford her a little?

Logically, she knew neither Angel nor Wesley hated her. In fact, she knew they cared deeply for her. But alone in Sunnydale - and in a crappy motel - it didn't help much.

And Angel had been right about the dress.

********

Cordelia surveyed the Bronze glumly. In the absence of a high school with actual memories for them, the reunion committee - and Cordelia was almost positive she recognised the mark of Aura - had decided on the club as the location for the reunion dance, which was to be held the next night. With nothing else to do, Cordelia had turned up to try and resoak a little of her hometown's colour (red, naturally). Scanning the occupants of dancefloor and surrounding area, she realised it might as well be the official gathering; everyone who was likely to show for that was already here. She silently cursed small town mentality, and the hellmouth which had kept most of the (surviving) graduating class close to home.

Her eyes fell on a familiar blonde head. Some more than others.

Cordelia silently debated whether or not to go over. True, they had been kind of close at one point. But Xander was now close - very close, from what she could see - to demon Anya, and she'd never really liked the others.

Never really liked Xander much either, until their illadvised illicit romance. And after that she hadn't liked Xander much again. Well, she'd been grateful when he'd apid for her dress, but that didn't mean that she ... anyway.

Her eyes fell on a group of familiar heads and outfits. The Cordettes, only fawning over someone she hadn't seen before.

Lesser of two evils had to be ... the Slayerettes. At least she could get away with talking business to them.

Not to mention she couldn't remember precisely what she'd told various Cordettes about her life in LA.

********

'Isn't that Cordelia?' Anya asked, squinting into the darkness on the other side of the club.

Xander turned to check, 'Yes. Yes, it is,' he confirmed, unsure exactly how he felt about that. Nothing, he decided. It was nice to see her ... and see so much of her ... but he was with Anya. As she reminded him by sitting firmly in his lap. He resisted the impulse to say anything about being unable to breathe.

Willow brightened, and also turned to look. Spotting Cordelia, she waved enthusiastically, then turned to Tara next to her, 'Cordelia went to school with us. She knows all about the whole ... demons thing. she lives in LA now.'

Riley caught the last of her sentence, 'She lives in LA? What does she do?'

"She works for Angel,' Buffy said quietly. He looked at her, frowning a little, and she met his gaze squarely.

'Great,' Riley said, 'I didn't realise we were due for another Angel visit.'

'I doubt he's around,' Buffy answered, irritated, 'Cordelia's probably here for the reunion tomorrow.'

He realised he'd annoyed her and reached for her hand under the table. She pulled it away under the guise of standing to go around the table to greet Cordelia, who was approaching swiftly. Buffy reached for other woman and hugged her warmly for a second.

Cordelia was surprised, but hugged her back, acute relationship radar noticing the sudden tension between Buffy and New Guy. She appraised him cooly over Buffy's shoulder. Boyband-floppy hair, tall, muscular, steady looking. She couldn't see his shoes, but she bet they were regulation shiny. Dress sense - fair to medium. Could use work. Final conclusion? Good enough, but not the sort of guy she pictured Buffy with. He wasn't Angel, for a start. Cordelia didn't exactly approve of that relationship - it was too hard on Angel - but she felt a surge of loyalty to her boss and called upon the spirit of the Old Cordelia (the bitch is back!) to test the guy.

Step one: do not directly challenge the opponent. Cordelia looked around the table, nodding hello to Xander in a way that wouldn't threaten Anya, who she was relying on for gossip. Anya smiled smugly, got up from Xander's lap (missing his small sigh of relief) and air-kissed Cordelia on each cheek. Score one. Cordelia moved on to Willow and the mouse next to her, who was introduced as Tara, Willow's girlfriend. Cordelia responded in no other way but to raise her eyebrow just a little, though inside she was pretty shocked. She hadn't seen that one coming. But everyone seemed to be cool with it, so ...

And finally, violent commando guy.

Step two: get the upper hand. She aimed a heart-stopping smile directly at him, and offered him her hand, 'Hi. I'm Cordelia Chase. Old friend.'

He stood up to shake her hand, 'Riley Finn. I'm - with Buffy.'

She spoke in a light tone, not enough to get Buffy mad, 'Nice to meet you.' She held his hand for a fraction longer than strictly necessary, then let go. He gave her a slightly nervous smile and sat back down, getting up quickly as Buffy nudged him, 'Ah, would you like a drink?'

She switched the smile back on, 'Diet Coke. Thanks'.

As he left and the others engaged her in banal chatter, she analysed his response. Quickly established himself as Buffy's boyfriend - slightly nervous with the relationship. Didn't hold her hand too tight or smile too long - definitely into Buffy. She quickly turned to check and; yes. Shoes so bright she was surprised he wasn't blinded every time he looked down. Looked stable enough. His handshake had been good; firm, not too tight, hands not clammy, thank God. Though she held little faith with that as a measure of personality - most of the really bad stuff didn't have hands at all.

But, as he returned, handing her her Coke and sitting down to join in the chatter, she reflected that the big guns didn't come in until she made her first casual mention of Angel.

'You're sure you don't want to come?' Cordelia whined hopefully down the phone.

'I still don't want to come,' Angel replied firmly, 'And we've just found a nest of Trayil demons to clean out. And I can't get to Sunnydale before it starts.'

'Well, could you -'

'Wesley doesn't want to come either.'

Cordelia pouted silently, knowing Angel would pick up on her severe displeasure.

'Cordy ...' he said cajolingly, 'It's only a couple of hours. You'll be fine. I'll talk to you afterward and you'll be back tomorrow.'

'I guess,' she allowed, sighing. She was surprised how much better she felt at thinking that she'd be back tomorrow. She missed LA, and Angel and Wes, more than she'd thought she would.

'I saw the gang yesterday,' she told him.

There was a tiny hesitation, 'How are they?'

'She's fine,' Cordelia answered dryly. 'And everyone else is still alive. I didn't like her boyfriend much.'

Angel laughed softly, 'No, neither did I.'

'He didn't like you either,' she pointed out, 'He got all grumpy when I said you were doing well.'

'You probably shouldn't have brought the subject up.'

'That's why I did. But Buffy seemed really pleased that you were good. You know, if you saw her again ...'

'Cordelia. I am not going to the reunion. I'm sorry,' he reiterated.

She heaved a martyr's sigh, 'Fine, fine. I'll just go solo and put up with the sniggers, and gossip, and pointed comments. Don't worry about me at all.'

'Goodbye, Cordy,' Angel said.

"Bye,' she muttered. She could just see him smirking.

When she had put the phone down, she leant on the headboard of her lumpy bed in her cheap motel room and closed her eyes, wriggling to get comfortable, a difficult task. Still, it was only for a couple of nights.

She was surprised a few minutes later by a tentative knock at the door. She rolled off the bed and went over, opening it to see Buffy standing, a little nervously.

'Hi,' Cordelia said.

'Hi,' Buffy replied. They stood for a moment before Cordelia remembered herself and moved back to open the door wider, inviting her in. Buffy stepped over the threshold and smiled a little to see the room.

'Nice place.'

'It was cheap,' Cordelia said, a little uncomfortably, 'And anyway, you should have seen my first place in LA.'

'You should have come and asked,' Buffy said, perching on the bed, 'One of us would have given you somewhere to crash for a couple of nights.'

'Out of the habit,' Cordelia said, shrugging and going over to sit next to her.

There was silence for a few seconds.

'So, what do you want to know?' Cordelia said, taking the plunge.

'What?' Buffy said.

'Come on,' Cordelia replied, 'You didn't come here to comment on my choice of bed for the night. You want to know about Angel.'

Buffy fidgeted guiltily, 'I guess ... I don't know. He is okay, right? What you said last night, he's alright?'

'Fine,' Cordelia said. 'He goes out at night and fights demons. Sometimes he goes for a drink with Wesley. Occasionally he'll let me drag him out clubbing. He's got quite a reputation for good deeds now. People come to him and he helps them. He's just a happy little vamp bunny.'

'Seeing anybody?' Buffy asked noncommittally.

'Why?' Cordelia said.

'Just curious,' Buffy said, refusing to meet Cordy's eyes.

'Oh,' Cordelia said, but didn't answer.

'Is he or not?' Buffy burst out after another silence.

'No,' Cordelia said calmly. 'He's still recovering from you.'

'Recovering from me?' Buffy said, confused.

'Yeah. I mean, I try to get him to date, and he just says it's not fair to the girl. And I say why not and he doesn't answer.'

Buffy smiled softly.

'Probably less to do with you than the vampire thing, but I can't make him,' Cordelia continued idly. Buffy's smile lapsed.

'So, Riley. Quite the infatuated little commando, isn't he,' Cordelia said.

'I don't want to talk about Riley,' Buffy said firmly.

'But you want to talk about Angel? Your ex? There's something not right there, Buffy,' Cordelia said, slightly mockingly.

'Am I not allowed to care about Angel, then?' Buffy said defensively.

'Do you still love him?' Cordelia asked her out of the blue.

Buffy stared at her in shock.

'Does ... does he still love me?' she questioned quietly.

'Do you care?' Cordelia shot back.

Their eyes met for a moment, and then Buffy looked down at where she was twisting her hands in her lap.

'Of course I care,' she said, almost too softly for Cordelia to hear her.

'But you love Riley now?' Cordelia said.

Buffy didn't answer.

'You told Angel you did,' Cordelia reminded her.

'I shouldn't have. I was trying to hurt him,' she admitted.

'You did a good job,' Cordelia said snidely.

Buffy stared blankly at the wall. Then, in one fluid motion, she got up.

'I shouldn't be here.'

She practically ran over to the door and raced out, leaving the door to bang behind her. Cordelia watched her go.

Cordelia leaned against a wall of the Bronze, sipping her drink and watching the band, who she didn't recognise. People had come up and said hi. She'd danced with a few old dates. She'd laughed with some of the Cordettes.

She was bored out of her mind.

Cordy checked her watch again, and was heartened when she realised she could probably leave in an hour or so, putting her back in LA in time to greet Angel when he came in from the hunt.

She wondered whether it was a good idea to invite Buffy back for a visit. Almost certainly not.

But she should say hi anyway. When they all arrived.

**************

Buffy walked into the Bronze, Riley's arm resting uncomfortably around her shoulders. She was half glad that an unexpected demon had forced her into lateness. Really, what was the point of a reunion? For whoever made up the death tolls to be able to work out the eighteen-year-old age bracket with minimum effort? She knew at least four of her high school classmates were dead, and she knew because she'd staked them when they turned out to be not quite as dead as one - one Slayer, anyway - might have hoped. There were probably more. Not many people moved away from Sunnydale. The place had a strange pull over people who stayed too long.

Like her.

She noticed the gang sitting at an inconspicuous table, which might explain why Cordelia was standing alone just around the corner from them.

She quickly detached herself from Riley. 'Why don't you go and sit with everyone while I say hi to Cordy?' she suggested, smiling brightly at him.

'Sure,' he said, kissing her on the cheek before walking off.

Buffy resisted the impulse to wipe her cheek like a child. The shiny- new-relationship-bloom had definitely bloomed.

'Hi,' she said loudly, over the music, when she reached Cordy, 'Having fun?'

'No,' Cordelia replied frankly. She turned to look at Buffy, practised eyes taking in her slightly rumpled look. 'Unwelcome demon interruption?'

'Not terribly unwelcome,' Buffy confided, 'I was debating whether to come at all.'

'Same,' Cordelia said. 'At least you're still in town. My bad decision's costing me.'

'Angel not paying you enough?' Buffy teased, ignoring the slight shiver she got just from saying his name.

'Not nearly,' Cordy sighed, 'But he can sometimes be persuaded to sign blank checks, so it's not all bad.'

'That's not like him,' Buffy said.

Cordelia turned big eyes to her, 'How do you know?'

Buffy bit her lip, accepting the unspoken rebuke. She looked down for a moment.

'Look, why don't we ...' the sentence died on her lips. Cordelia's drink dropped to the ground and smashed as she panted and clutched her head.

**************

'I'm fine,' Cordelia said weakly as the Slayerettes clustered around her, concerned.

'Cordelia, you had a fit,' Willow protested.

'No, it wasn't a fit.' Cordelia sighed. 'It was a vision, okay? Now I have to call Angel and tell him where to go to save the next poor guy who's getting eaten.'

'You have visions?' Tara piped up.

'Yeah. I didn't used to and then Doyle died and passed them on to me,' Cordelia explained vaguely, waving her hand and searching through her purse for paper and pen. Finding some, she quickly sketched a triangular design containing apparently random cicles.

Buffy craned her head to look at it, 'You saw that?'

'Yeah,' Cordelia said, narrowing her eyes at the drawing and making a slight change, 'So if I tell Angel he'll know what to look for.'

'Maybe we should go to Giles, see if he knows what it is,' Willow suggested anxiously.

'No. It's happening now. I need to tell Angel what I saw,' Cordelia said, getting up and going inside, heading straight for the payphone.

Buffy followed her; the others trailed after.

'.. the wall. Triangle with circles in. No, lots of little ones. What? Why? Um ... some kind of warehouse, I could smell diesel oil ... I know it's not. Two guys. Yeah. No. No, no spikes, but it was big. Armoured, or something. Okay. No, I'm going to leave now anyway. What? Fine, I won't leave Sunnydale until I hear from you. Be careful, okay?'

Cordelia hung up and stared at the phone for a few moments.

'Is he going to fight it?' Xander said.

'Yeah,' she replied absently.

'Alone?!' Buffy exclaimed. She'd hovered by Cordelia as the other woman spoke, aching to grab the phone and declare her love down the mouthpiece to the vampire on the other end.

She hadn't. But she might have if Riley hadn't been standing there.

'He'll be fine,' Cordelia said, but she looked worried.

***************

Buffy wandered around the area near the Bronze, slapping a stake against her leg. She'd decided to do a quick patrol after leaving the reunion; and if she was honest with herself, it was more not wanting to share a bed with Riley than actual concern for the citizens of Sunnydale.

She didn't know what was wrong with her. The last couple of times she'd seen Angel, she'd been able to control herself - and now she only needed to see his secretary before being unable to stop thinking about him?

She suddenly froze, trying to trace a light sound that didn't belong to the Sunnydale night. Not hearing it again, she closed her eyes and held her breath - not a pose it was wise to do for long when hunting, but a good temporary measure.

She pinpointed the source of the sound and started running towards it flat out. She still wasn't sure what it was, but her spider sense was screaming that it wasn't right.

She burst into a warehouse, the scent of diesel oil filling her nose and the sight of the two human carcasses hanging on the wall filling her horrified gaze. She only had time to recognise Cordy's triangle/circles picture daubed on the wall in their blood before something hit her from behind and she sank into unconsciousness. Buffy came to feeling oddly alright. She didn't seem to be tied up. Her head hurt, and her back ached a little, but she didn't feel any more pain. There were no demon smells around.

Maybe she was dead.

Buffy groggily leaned herself up, looking blearily around. She was outside the Bronze, though the back entrance. She checked her watch - half past two. The reunion had ended, which explained why there wasn't any noise.

Maybe not dead, then. Her idea of heaven had never been the Bronze. Or her idea of hell, to cover all her bases. She supposed it might make a good purgatory.

She thought of the warehouse, and Cordelia's vision, and got up hastily, getting her bearings and jogging in the direction of Cordelia's motel.

***************

Cordelia zipped up her bag and checked she hadn't left anything, thanking God for all night Greyhound buses.

She'd had a certain amount of fun, she supposed. More fun than she usually had hunting demons with Angel and Wesley. But not as much fun as she could have with Angel and Wesley when they weren't hunting demons. It had been nice to look at all her former friends, or former people she'd looked down on, and to see them living humdrum lives, still at school, stuck in Sunnydale. At least she was out there making a living, fending for herself. Maybe living a little closer to the edge than she'd hoped, but it took time to break into the acting business.

In any case, she'd found out enough to know she wouldn't be going to next year's reunion.

She was disturbed by a frantic knock on the door.

'Cordelia? You still there?'

Buffy. Cordelia heaved an exaggerated sigh and hoped it wasn't going to be about Angel again.

'Buffy!' she said, opening the door and plastering a fake smile on her lips, 'What are you doing here so early?'

Buffy pushed her out of the way and went in forcefully, a bundle of barely-suppressed energy.

'That had subtext,' Cordelia said pointedly, 'And the subtext was "go away".'

'Have you heard from Angel?' Buffy said, cutting her off.

Cordelia rolled her eyes, 'What's it to you?'

'He didn't find the demon, did he?' Buffy asked, staring at Cordelia.

Cordelia stared right back, 'Not that's it any of your business, but no, he didn't. He will.'

'No, he won't,' Buffy said. 'Because it's not in LA. I've just seen it here.'

************

Giles was rudely woken by hammering on his door. Scrabbling for his galles, he got out of bed and, tying a robe around himself, hurried downstairs to open the door before the neighbours woke up.

As he got closer, he could hear furious muttering.

'I don't see why! It's got nothing to do with you! It's ours!'

'It's here! So it's ours!'

He opened the door and was surprised when Buffy and Cordelia tumbled in, glaring at each other.

'Hello, Cordelia,' he said.

'Hi, Giles,' she answered.

'What's the problem?' he enquired, anxious to hurry the meeting along so he could return to bed, 'Is Angel here?'

'No. There's no problem. Nice to see you again. Goodbye,' Cordelia snapped, whirling around to flounce out.

Buffy grabbed her arm, 'There is so a problem.' She turned to Giles, 'Cordelia had a vision about a demon for Angel to fight, only the demon's here.'

'Really!' Giles said, fascinated, 'The art of prophecy is very vague. How long have you -'

'On topic, Giles?' Buffy yelled.

'Oh, yes. Sorry. Well, can't you fight the demon, Buffy?'

'I don't know,' she said, letting go of Cordelia and going to sit down, followed a moment later by a reluctant Cordy, 'It knocked me out, and then it let me go. Like it wasn't interested in fighting me.'

'And we all know how hard it is for you to believe things have nothing to do with you,' Cordelia muttered.

Buffy shot her a poisonous look, then looked at Giles for an explanation.

'Odd,' he mused.

Cordelia sighed impatiently, 'Look, I get visions of the demons that *Angel's* supposed to fight. I'm not doing Buffy as well. It's bad enough already.'

'I can't think why the demon would have ... rejected you as an opponent,' Giles confessed. 'But if Cordelia is right -'

'I'm right.'

'- then perhaps the best course of action would be to get Angel down here.'

Both Buffy and Cordelia stared at him.

'Wouldn't have guessed you'd be saying that,' Buffy said eventually.

'Well, it is late,' Giles said. 'What can you tell me about this demon?' he asked Cordelia, 'I'll try some research while you call Angel. If he hurries he should make it here before sunrise.'

Cordelia looked like she was going to argue, but just said, 'Fine. Whatever,' and went to make the call.

***************

Angel stared into space for a moment, and then turned to Wesley, who was dozing on the couch.

'Wes. Wes!'

'Yes, what, sorry?' the other man stuttered, coming awake quickly.

'We've got to go to Sunnydale. The demon Cordy saw is there instead of here,' he explained succintly.

'Fine, fine,' Wesley said, stumbling up and heading for the door. When he got there, he turned around and peered at Angel. 'Sorry, where are we going?'

***************

'They're coming,' Cordelia announced, 'So can I go back to my motel, please?'

'What? Yes, certainly,' Giles said, looking up from his book for a second.

'What should I do?' Buffy asked.

'Go home and forget about it,' Cordelia said shortly, 'Angel will kill the thing tomorrow night and we'll go home.'

'Cordelia,' said Giles in surprise, 'I think Wesley and I will need to co-ordinate some kind of research, find out what this thing is, what it's weaknesses are ...'

'We can manage,' Cordelia said, 'Okay? We do this sort of thing perfectly well without your assistance usually.'

'Not in my town,' Buffy said, standing up and heading for the door.

'Where are you going?' Giles called after her.

'Home,' she returned. 'I'll go to the mansion tomorrow and see Angel. Meet me there at midday and you and Wesley can do what you do.'

'I didn't say they were going to the mansion,' Cordelia said acidly.

'I know,' Buffy said, smirking as she left. Cordelia stood for a minute, burning, then headed out herself.

Giles looked after them both in bafflement, then went to resume his sleep.

****************

Buffy tossed in bed, unable to sleep. Her entire being was focused on Angel. If she really stretched, she could feel him slightly, safe in the mansion. She wondered if he felt as nervous seeing her again as she did him. She didn't know why this excitement had suddenly come upon her; the feeling she had had whenever she saw him years ago, before they first made love. She didn't care to analyse the sensation too much - simply enjoyed the feeling of completion she had got when she had reached out, tentatively, knowing he would be near.

Across town, Cordelia lay fully dressed on her motel bed, waiting for the inevitable -

Knock on the door.

She got up quickly and flung the door open, grinning widely at Wesley and Angel standing on the other side.

'You're here!' she shrieked, throwing herself on Wesley to hug and kiss him on the cheek before repeating her actions on Angel.

'We are,' Angel replied calmly, 'But if I'm here much longer I'm going to turn into a little pile of dust, so ...'

'Yeah, yeah,' she said, hurrying back inside to grab her case. 'Did you bring those extra clothes I asked for?'

'In the car,' Wesley reassured her, taking the case and leading them out to where the black convertible waited.

Cordelia and Angel lagged behind a little.

'Was it as bad as you thought?' Angel asked her.

Cordelia rolled her eyes, 'Awful,' she said dramatically. 'It was the first time I've been glad to get a horrible migraine-causing vision.' She thought a moment, 'Well, at least not furious.'

'Well, at least you've done it,' Angel pointed out philosophically, 'Got that closure you were telling us about.'

'I didn't need closure,' she explained,' That was a line to try and get you to come. Was it not obvious?'

Angel gave her a weary look, which she didn't notice.

'Anyway!' she continued cheerily, 'As long as you're here, you can get your closure with Buffy. Because I was being totally honest about that.'

'What if I don't want closure?' Angel said reasonably.

'Oh, you'd prefer to brood for the rest of, what, forever?' Cordelia pointed out equally reasonably.

'It's familiar,' he said, 'I'm Angel. I'm the vampire with a soul. I brood. Goes with the territory.'

'Spike doesn't brood,' Cordelia noted.

'Spike doesn't have a soul,' Angel said, confused, 'What does Spike have to do with anything?'

'He's here,' Cordelia told him, 'But he's got a chip in his head which means he can't hurt anybody. You can discuss being an abomination in the eyes of your entire race together or something.'

She sailed ahead of him to gracefully enter the car.

'Two days in Sunnydale, and suddenly all that hard-won tact just disappears, eh?' Wesley said to her, closing the door.

Cordelia gave him a superior smile, 'I had to regress to fit in with all the people again. Psychological defenses.'

'Ah,' Wesley said, 'That explains it.'

*************

Buffy stood in front of the mansion, wavering slightly. At first after Angel had gone, she'd come regularly to sit for a few hours in the old building, but after college had started her visits had trailed off. And even when she had been coming, she'd gotten used to the feel of the place without Angel. Now, as last night, she could feel his presence strongly, and it threw her.

Willow stood slightly behind, eyeing the Slayer with concern. She could also feel Angel's presence in the house; whether due to her progress in witchcraft or simply that he had become a stronger personality, she wasn't sure, but she suspected it was a mixture of the two.

'Are we going in?' Giles said, surprised at seeing them just standing.

'Oh, yeah,' Buffy said absently, but made no move to move.

'Buffy?' Willow said tentatively after a moment.

'Yeah,' she said, turning to Giles and taking some of the books he was carrying. She looked at the mansion, an unreadable expression on her face, and then strode inside purposefully.

Willow and Giles shared concerned looks, then followed her.

'I told you, we'd be fine,' Cordelia was hissing at Buffy when they entered.

'And I told you we were coming anyway,' Buffy hissed back, then bestowed a sunny smile on Wesley as he approached from behind Cordelia. 'Hi, Wesley. How are you?'

'Well, thank you,' he said, coming forward to relieve her of the books. 'And you?'

'Great!' she said, too quickly. His gaze lingered on her for a moment and she shifted uncomfortably.

'Good,' he said softly, then looked behind her at Willow and Giles. 'I trust you're well also?'

'Yeah,' Willow answered, 'It's good to see you.'

'Likewise,' he assured her, then turned his full attention to Giles, 'Thank you for lending out your resources at such short notice.'

"It's fine,' Giles said, following as Wesley led him into an alcove off the main room, 'I had some thoughts last night - a slightly similar design to the one Cordelia and Buffy saw was once used by the Order of Delegra, but they ...' his voice trailed off as he and Wesley settled down.

The three girls were left in an awkward silence, Cordelia glaring unabashed at Buffy.

'Well, I'm just gonna - go and help,' Willow said, fleeing for the familiarity of research.

Buffy and Cordelia were left alone.

'I don't know what your problem is, Cordelia,' Buffy said, breaking the silence.

'You,' Cordy said simply.

'That's not a lot of help,' Buffy snapped back.

'You show up, or he goes to you, and something intense happens, and then you go back to your new life and he goes home and thinks about you for a month straight,' Cordelia said waspishly. 'You don't have to watch him looking up every time the phone rings in case it's you. You don't hear him mumbling your name when he's sleeping. And you don't fix him up when he gets hurt, you don't see him risking his life for person after person, you don't have to prod him into charging because he feels too guilty to ask, you don't sit up when he's out there wondering if he'll be home before the sun comes up,' she ranted.

Buffy stared at her in disbelief, 'Cordelia, are you ... I mean, do you -'

Cordelia looked at her blankly for a moment and then caught on, 'Oh, eew! No way!'

Buffy couldn't hide her relief, 'Then why ...?' she gestured aimlessly.

'He's family,' Cordelia said quietly, 'And I don't like seeing him hurting.'

'I don't mean to make him,' Buffy confided.

'I know,' said Cordelia flatly, 'But you do. You're not part of his life anymore, but you're still part of him.'

'I can't change that,' Buffy said helplessly.

'You could stay away,' Cordelia said, fastening her gaze on Buffy, 'Like now.'

She turned on her heel and walked away.

'But I can't do that either,' Buffy whispered to herself.

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