E-Mail: yanira_vazquez@hotmail.com
Disclaimer: This is a work of love and done for fun, not profit. BtVS and AtS are properties of the god also known as Joss. I'm poor, don't sue me. Distribution: If you already have my stuff, take it. Otherwise please ask.
Feedback: YES PLEASE!
Category: W/A, possibility of other couples as well....
Rating: R for now, could eventually be NC-17. I'll keep you informed.
Spoilers: Up to and including anything this season. If you don't want to get spoiled as to things which have occurred this season, you don't want to read this. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!
Summary: Dimensions are a funny thing when it comes to time. Cordelia discovers this upon returning to this realm.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~Part: 1~
Cordelia sighed, and picked up the blade, beginning to sharpen it. The repetitive motion of the whetstone against the metal was completely unecessary, but she did it because it was calming. Like many things here, things weren't always what they seemed, and her sword didn't need sharpening. It was special, like she was special. She had become a tool of the Powers That Be; no longer human, no longer simply a half-demon Seer. The thought caused her to smile. As if being a half-demon Seer were actually a simple thing.
She continued sharpening, lost in her thoughts. This ascendance stuff was starting to get kind of stale. She'd learned more about her new abilities. She'd learned what she'd become. She had even learned how to cut through the barriers of time and space. She could be anywhere, at any time, but they kept her here and always busy.
Was this all there was to this?
Had she given up her newly discovered love for Angel for nothing? And, more importantly; did she still love him? Had she ever loved him? Or had it been just one of those things? One of those things brought into being by loneliness and an unconditional friendship neither had had experience with before?
She sighed again.
"You're sighing quite a bit there princess. Bored 'eh?"
Cordelia looked up and stared up at her old friend. The intense blue eyes seemed to see right through her.
"I'm extremely bored Doyle. Totally and completely bored. I haven't had another assignment in what seems like forever." The brunette threaded a hand through her short locks.
Doyle leaned against one of the elaborate corinthian pillars. "Its only been two days. You deserve a rest."
Cordelia once again found herself unable to pull her gaze away from him. The intense blue eyes and unruly black hair. She'd missed him so much, and it still amazed her that he was here with her. In truth, Doyle's presence had been the only thing keeping her from loosing it for the weeks she'd been on the Higher Plane.
"Is that really all that's botherin' you Princess? I can tell you've got quite a bit on your mind."
The Seer placed her blade on the table in front of her.
"Why can't I go home Doyle? Why won't they let me go back when I'm not on assignment? Is it against some kind of rule?"
Doyle sighed. "No Princess, its not against the rules. The Powers just had to wait til things righted themselves that's all."
"Righted themselves?", she repeated blankly. "What things?" Cordelia felt fear clutch at her heart, as anger spiked through her veins. "What things?!", she demanded, standing with fluid grace and stalking towards the half-demon who'd placed the visions in her hands years before.
"They didn't tell me everything did they?", she asked, her painfilled voice softer this time.
Doyle closed his eyes. "No, I don't think they have", he murmured under his breath. He was dreading this.
"How long have you been here Cordy?"
Cordelia frowned in thought. "I think about eighteen weeks, give or take. Maybe three or four months..."
Her friend opened his eyes and met her gaze openly. He shook his head. "Here, maybe, but how about back home?"
"What are you talking about?", she barked in her normal, impatient way. "What--" Her voice froze in her throat. She swallowed.
"How long?"
Doyle looked at her.
"How long Doyle?"
"Its been more like three years Princess."
Cordelia inhaled shakily. "Oh god...", she breathed. "Three years?"
~Part: 2~
Cordelia's shocked disbelief gave way to anger. "I'm going back there. I'm going home, Powers That Be-- be damned!", she shouted angrily, turning around to grab her sword.
She felt the half-demon Irishman touch her shoulder. "That's what I'm here to tell you Princess. The Powers want you to go back."
Cordelia turned, her eyes searching Doyle's. "Really?"
"Yeah, you've got an assignment."
The hope that had briefly flowered in her heart, withered.
"Whatever", she bit out. "They can kiss my ass, I'm going to see Angel." With that, the tall brunette closed her eyes, using the strength of her will to access that well of power within her. Soon, bright light radiated from her form, strange and incandescent. Like the power of a thousand stars.
Doyle winced and closed his eyes to the brilliance. When the light faded, Cordelia was gone. He closed his eyes and turned to the wall. He banged his head on it, and then cursed when it hurt like a bitch. He should have known she'd react that way, now she would have no warning as to how much her world and Angel Investigations had changed.
He groaned. "Shit."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~L.A., 2006~
Cordelia appeared in the thankfully still very familiar lobby of the Hyperion hotel. She smiled and walked around in a nostalgic haze. Walking quickly to her desk, she frowned when she found it devoid of all her personal things. Where were her pictures? Why was it so dusty?
In fact, now that she thought about it, why was the entire place so dusty? They never let it get this bad, even when the cases were piled high.
Entering the office that had first been Angel's and then Wesley's, she dragged a finger through the layer of dust. "Ewww...."
"Who are you, and what do you want?!", an unfamiliar voice asked.
"I'm a friend", Cordelia responded quietly, raising her arms to show she was unarmed. "Let me prove it. I'll turn around slowly", she said.
"Go ahead. Turn around. Slowly!"
Doing as she was told, and uncertain what she was dealing with, the Seer turned and found herself face to face with Connor.
"Connor!", she squealed happily, rushing forward, only to be stopped by the tip of a quickly raised sword.
The young man stared at the woman before him in disbelief. He recognized but....
"Cordelia?", Angel's son said uncertainly.
The tall woman nodded, smiling widely.
"I can't believe it", Cordy said. "This is great. If you're here that means you and Angel finally got it together. I'm so happy... Where's your father?", she said in a rush, moving past the stunned youth and back out into the lobby. "How are Fred and Gunn? I bet they're married by now and maybe even have kids. I hope she looked like a fairy princess. The Powers That Be are so going to regret it if they made me miss their wedding."
Finally, Connor found his voice. "Cordelia what are you talking about?--"
The tone of his voice, sent a shudder through her and she fell silent.
"Don't you know what happened?", he continued. "Gunn's been dead for two years."
Sorrow caused the breath to be knocked out of her. "What?", she choked. "That's not-- that's not possible. Poor Gunn. Poor Fred." Her eyes widened in horror. "Oh my God, Angel." Without another word, she rushed away. Her feet taking the stairs two at a time.
Connor stared in horror at her receding form. "No! Cordelia, come back. You don't know about--"
But Cordelia was past hearing. All she knew was that she had to get to Angel. If she knew the souled vampire, Gunn's death had probably destroyed him, turning him back into the brooding, guilt-ridden vamp she'd first met in Sunnydale. She had to be there for him.
Unaware of what she would find, the brunette opened the door to Angel's suite and rushed inside. She stopped short, her eyes wide and unseeing at the sight she found.
A woman. A naked woman. With Angel, her Angel. A familiar, naked woman-- with red hair.
"Willow!", Cordelia shouted angrily. "What the hell is going on!"
~Part: 3~
The sound of her voice sent the unclothed figure at Willow's side into instant wakefulness. With a feral growl Angel leapt from the bed in a protective fury. He was in full game face, his features altered by the demon's manifestation, eyes blazing in protective anger and to Cordelia's surprise-- hatred.
Shock kept the Seer immobile. "Angel?"
It was only the sight of Angel angrily battering into an invisible barrier, which alerted her to the fact that he had meant to kill her. She knew she hadn't erected the protection and looked at the only other person in the room. Willow.
The red-haired witch had one arm outstretched, her eyes devoid of color. The half demon woman could feel the sheer enormity of the power her old allie commanded, and realized that it was only Willow's quick thinking which had kept her alive.
"He doesn't know you anymore Cordelia", Willow intoned, as if that explained anything.
"What are you talking about Willow? And why are you naked, in bed, with Angel?!" The question was asked harshly; incredulously.
Black orbs peered at Cordelia calmly. "Things have changed." Turning her head, Willow eyed the naked vampire. Muscles moved powerfully under skin. He was like a caged tiger, pacing in front of the shield she'd placed around her old high school nemesis.
"Angel!", she shouted, her voice crackling with the force of a whip.
The dark haired vampire's head came up. He looked at the redhead, and before Cordelia's eyes, seemed to make a visible effort to try to reign in his rage.
"You came in here unannounced Cordelia. He thought you were here to harm me, and Angel will do anything to protect me. Especially since, others have tried before."
"I tried to tell her Willow, but she was beyond listening."
Cordy looked over her shoulder and found Connor's lanky form in the doorway.
The young man's face was earnest and intense, his eyes on the witch's form. Willow nodded, apparently completely unconcerned with her nudity.
"It's okay Connor."
Angel neared his lover, and the hacker cum witch leaned into the body of her vampire consort, knowing her presence calmed him. Soon a low thrum filled the room and Cordelia realized that Angel was actually purring. Only then did Willow allow the barrier to dissipate.
"I don't understand", the brunette said. Though she eyed Willow with that familiar regal bearing, her voice was scratchy with untold pain.
When Cordelia met the witch's eyes again, they were clear and the familiar, verdant green she remembered. "Let me get dressed Cordy, and I'll explain." Eyes sliding from the Seer's face, Willow looked over the half demon's shoulder. "Connor, could you get Fred please?"
"Fred's still living here? Is she okay?", Cordy asked hurriedly, moving forward, even as her eyes glanced back in the direction of the doorway... but Connor was already gone.
Angel growled warningly. The stranger was getting to close to what was his.
"Don't make any sudden moves Cordelia", the redhead said quietly, before pulling open some dresser drawers. "And yes, Fred is here. She moved back in after her husband was killed", Willow said over her shoulder, as she searched for something to wear. Hastily she donned one of Angel's large, silk shirts. She then tossed a pair of sweat pants at the vampire.
Frowning, he stared at them accusingly for a moment, before putting them on.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Twenty minutes later, the two women sat in the lobby. Willow sipped tea, while reclining on one of the plush couches. Angel paced behind the couch, throwing increasingly strange looks in Cordelia's direction.
The brunette sat across her old high school allie, still in shock. She couldn't believe how much Willow had changed. The shy, stammering girl she'd known was gone. In her place, a confident, and frankly, slightly intimidating beauty sat.
Cordelia could feel the magic swirling about the redhead. It was amazing just how much power was at Willow's beck and call. She just didn't understand, how could everything have changed so drastically without her?
"I guess we should start", Willow said, putting the teacup down. Her green eyes glittered strangely. "Where have you been?"
"On a higher plane. The Powers That Be made me a warrior. Well actually they made me more than that. I'm a higher being I guess." Cordelia sighed. "I was on my way to see Angel on Point Dume when it happened. I was so scared and confused, but happy. I had just realized I was in love with him, when they came to me. I couldn't say no. What was my own happiness as compared to being able to help countless people?"
Willow stared at the former head cheerleader, unable to believe that the woman who recounted her story was the same Cordelia Chase who'd made her life a living hell since childhood.
"You're very different from the Cordy I knew, aren't you?"
The Seer took a sip of her tea. She didn't answer the question, instead she made an observation. "So are you."
"Fair enough", the witch responded.
~Part: 4~
~Part: 4~
Willow took another sip of her tea. "When you left--"
"Cordelia??", a voice queried, interrupting the redhead.
Cordelia stood shakily, confronted by the vision of the one thing in the Hyperion that had apparently not changed.
Fred looked the same. Slender as a rail. Clothed in jeans that were only slightly too big for her, and a slim-fitting camisole top in black.
Strange, the Fred she knew never wore black.
The physicist eye's flickered from Cordelia to Willow, and Cordy frowned stunned by the animosity in the other woman's eyes.
"What are you doing here?", Fred asked, her voice was low and angry.
"Fred?", she pleaded. "I didn't know... I only just found out--"
"Found out!", Fred shouted. "Found out! You wouldn't have had to find out if you'd been here. If you'd sent any word at all. We didn't know if you were dead, or kidnapped, nothing! We searched for so long. Gunn never gave up! And then we come to find out that you'd just left us--" The former slave was shaking from emotion. "If you'd been here... If you'd been here maybe my Charles wouldn't have died." The relentless stream of angry words cut into Cordelia like sharp blades, far more than the slap Fred leveled at her face.
Willow flinched, but Angel didn't move.
Fred's dark, velvet eyes opened in shock; as if she couldn't believe what she had just done. A small whimper of sound escaped her lips, and then she was running, running out of the door and out into L.A.
Cordelia moved to go after her, but was stopped by a hand on her arm.
"I'll go after her", Connor told her. He looked over his shoulder and met eyes with Willow. Then he took off after her.
Cordy stared after them. What had happened here? Gunn was dead. Wesley was gone. Fred hated her. Angel didn't know her. Connor... well, she didn't know what Connor was, besides in love with Fred. That much she'd seen just by looking into his eyes.
Numb, Cordelia sat down. "I don't understand", she whispered. "Where I was I had only been gone for four months, and then I find out its been years and I come here and its all different. Everything's changed."
She looked up at Willow. "And you're here. Why are you here Willow?" Dark eyes stole to the silent vampire by the witch's side. "And what happened to him? To everyone?"
Willow cleared her throat. "That night, that night that you choose heaven over your friends--"
"That's not how it went", Cordelia interrupted her angrily.
Calm green eyes met the Seer's angry gaze.
"Wasn't it?"
"No."
"Nevertheless, that night that you ascended, Holtz' plan finally clicked into place. He arranged it so that he would be killed and Connor would find him. His death was planned so that it would look as if--"
"-- As if he'd gotten munched on by a fanged one."
Willow nodded. "Angel waited at Point Dume for you, but found himself face to face with his son instead. They fought, but Angel didn't want to fight Connor. He knew he hadn't killed Holtz and tried to tell him that. But his son was beyond listening and with the help of Justine, trapped Angel in a metal box, soldered it shut, and dropped him into the ocean off of Point Dume."
Tears slid silently from Cordelia's eyes. And she's been unaware of it all. What had she done?
~~~~~~~~~~~
If Willow noticed Cordelia's tears, she didn't comment upon them.
"That same night in Sunnydale, an angry witch filled with sorrow tried to end the world."
"You?", Cordy whispered. The hacker nodded. "But why?"
"The woman I loved was killed; murdered. It was unintentional", Willow said hoarsely, "after all, he'd meant to kill someone else... but it was still murder. At first I just wanted vengeance on those I believed were to blame, but soon I was too far gone. I wanted this--", Willow uttered harshly, gesturing around them, "-- this world of pain, I wanted gone."
"But Buffy stopped you?"
The witch gave a short, awful laugh. "No, I actually kicked Buffy's ass to tell you the truth. Xander stopped me, he was the only one that could..."
Cordelia accepted this without question. She was a witness to the amazing bond of friendship between Xander Harris and Willow Rosenberg for many years. "And then?", the brunette asked.
"And then Giles took me with him to England. They all thought someone to watch over me and wean me off of the magic was the answer. It also helped that it took me out of Buffy and Xander's line of sight. They couldn't even look at me. It wasn't from lack of trying, either. They tried, they really did, it just didn't work anymore. We all knew things could never be the way they were before."
"In England however, the coven Giles took me too hoping to drain the final vestiges of magic from my system, discovered something. I wasn't just some hopped up magic addict, who could quit cold turkey. I was a natural born witch. The magic was now a part of me."
Cordelia wiped the last remnants of salty tears with a harsh swipe of the back of her hand. "How?", she asked sharply. "Your mother wasn't a witch was she?"
"No. It wasn't like that. I was just born a witch. Goddess knows if it was the position of the stars in the sky, or the color of my hair, or what, but I'd been born with these gifts, I just unlocked them incorrectly and without the proper guidance. I couldn't abandon magic the way everyone wanted me to, it was a part of me. I had to learn to master magic and use it correctly and judiciously. Giles understood this, but Buffy and Xander were wary."
"They weren't sure they couldn't trust me anymore. That's when I realized I had to move on, and make my own way. I couldn't stay in Sunnydale anymore, not when everything had changed so radically."
Cordelia's eyes flickered to Angel as Willow spoke. The vampire had sat at Willow's feet sometime during her narrative. His eyes were so dark, she could see herself reflected in them. His gaze was different somehow, almost... confused. Could he actually be remembering her?
"And Angel, what was happening to Angel during this?"
"He was still under water Cordy."
"How long?"
"Three months."
The Seer gasped.
Willow nodded, "That's why he doesn't remember you. He doesn't remember anything from the past. Its as if his life began the moment I broke into that box and got him out."
~Part: 5~
~ Three Years Ago ~
The boat rocked gently. They were about four miles off the coast, in the general area Connor remembered from the night of Angel's disappearance.
Gunn said it was called Point Dume. Willow remembered how hard it was for him to tell her and had wondered why. It was much later that Fred had admitted that they'd come here a few times since Angel's disappearance; when they wanted to be alone together.
Willow stared into the dark, tranquil ocean, her lips moving silently. She prayed that they would find him; that the sea would be merciful and give up its secrets to them this night. She prayed that Angel hadn't suffered too much.
Years of research told her that a vampire could survive indefinitely down there. Still, she realized that the sea itself was not the only problem. Long-term starvation could cause irreparable damage to his higher brain functions. She hoped that hadn't happened to Angel. She hoped that they had come in time. She continued to pray, hoping that someday he could forgive his son, and that someday Connor could forgive himself.
Glancing at Connor, she shook her head. The boys eyes were filled with hatred for the bitter redhead who sat not eight feet from him. The woman whom he had learned had actually been the one to take Holtz's life. Not Angel. Not his father, whom he had damned and let sink beneath the waves, into a cold and salty grave. She wondered if Connor was aware just how much of that hatred he'd actually turned on himself.
Justine sat silently, chains tethered in place. Her eyes stared unseeingly into the water. Connor's dagger-like stare had no effect, rolling off of her easily. She believed she had done what needed to be done. She believed that she was right.
Fred and Gunn huddled together for warmth, whispering. Neither was particularly fond of Angel's son right now. When Willow had told them that Connor knew more than he was sharing about his father's disappearance, they'd not wanted to believe her. Willow hadn't even wanted to believe it. But she recognized darkness when she saw it. She'd even taken it inside of herself once. And Connor-- well lets just say he wasn't exactly a shining beacon of light.
Confronting him, Willow had forced the truth from his lips. Connor's admission had shocked and angered the couple. The extremity of Fred's reaction in particular, had been shocking to Willow, since the slender brunette had always been so patient and understanding with the youth. It was then that Willow began to understand the souled vampire's importance to more than romantic fantasies of true love with her best friend. Angel had friends; a family. He inspired loyalty. He had a destiny. Willow was going to make sure he got that all back.
That is, if she could find him.
Sighing sadly, the hacker cum witch stood on the boat's prow. A cold wind whipped her almost copper-hued hair about her face. It stung.
Then she saw it. Squinting, she leaned over a bit.
"Oh Goddess...", she gasped, spotting a eerie glow to the starboard.
Gunn heard the witch's exclamation. "Willow?"
She turned, green eyes glinting and then pointed. "The spell, it worked.... the light will show the way."
Gunn nodded, a smile touching his generous lips, before jogging towards the back of the boat to change it course. Or at least what passed for a course, since they had no clue where they were going.
Turning grateful eyes to the sea, Willow gave her profound thanks. Fred stood next to her. The two women leaned against one another for strength, and in comfort.
~~~~~~~~~ ~Present, Streets of L.A ~
Connor paced his steps to match Fred's exactly. The slender woman was quiet, her eyes faraway.
"You are still very angry at Cordelia..."
Fred made a small noise in affirmation, but kept walking.
"Why?", Connor asked curiously. "She has been doing something good. She was elevated by the gods. Is that not a worthy cause?"
"The gods?", Fred queried aloud. "Ha! It wasn't any gods, it was the Powers That Be."
"Is that not the same?"
For the first time, the physicist's steps faltered. "Yes. No. I don't know, alright Connor!"
She turned to look at the boy. He was so tall now. A man really, but Fred could not help see him as a boy. To her he would always be a boy. Hadn't she changed his diapers?
"I'm just mad. When Cordy disappeared, at first I thought she and Angel had run off together-- and that kind of made me happy. But then we found out what happened to him, but what happened to her was still a mystery."
Connor swallowed at this reminder of his father's disappearance. Fred smiled at him kindly, squeezing his arm.
"Then we fished Angel out with Willow's magic and your information, and still Cordy didn't come back. Gunn couldn't let that go. She was his friend, she'd kicked his butt and kept him going. She kept him alive before he even met me; when all he could see was the last of his family crumbling to dust behind his eyelids. Cordy was like his sister, and he'd already lost one sister...."
The young man met Fred's dark eyes and nodded encouragingly, hoping she would continue.
"When we found out through Lorne later, where Cordelia was, it hurt. Angel Investigations was a family. We were misfits and outsiders, but together we could kick butt like nobody's business... and she'd left that, she'd left us."
"But it was for good reason", Connor interjected.
"I know, but it doesn't hurt any less."
"Do you really blame her for Gunn's death?"
Fred shook her head. "No, not really, and yes, sometimes. I can't help but wonder if her powers could have turned the tide and saved him. I know that's not fair... deep down I know that's wrong, but....", her voice trailed off. When she spoke again, it was with painful honesty. "I just want to hurt her. I can't let her get close again, not when I know she's just gonna leave. Heaven's waitin' on her."
Angel's son nodded sagely, despite feeling lost. He really didn't understand Fred's logic. Still, he did understand shying away from hurt, and so he remained silent. Together, the two friends continued walking.
~Part: 6~
~ Three years ago ~
Willow stood on the bow, head tilted back, her arms outstretched. Ahead, Gunn and Fred could see that one glowing section of ocean churn and bubble.
A dark mass broke the surface, defying all known laws of gravity. Fred gasped, and turned her head into her lover's shoulder. Being confronted by the reality of cruelty, was very much different from imagining it. She couldn't believe that all this time, her friend had been trapped in a big, metal box, alone in the cold, cold ocean.
As the redheaded witch's arms rose, so did Angel's prison.
Soon, Willow lowered it to a cleared off part of the deck. Except for the sounds of sea and wind, all was quiet.
Taking a deep breath, she rested and gathered her will.
"Are you okay?", Gunn asked her quietly. "We could get out the blowtorches...."
Willow shook her head. "I'm okay. And this is faster." Her eyes darkened as the magick built to do her bidding, and Gunn quieted.
Metal creaked and moaned as forces he didn't understand made the metal box give way. The cover lifted, and then settled to the side. Afraid what she would find, Willow walked slowly over. She felt her heart jump at the sight of him. Angel was pale, eyes closed and completely unmoving. His skin appeared cracked and dry like parchment, the fine tracery of veins beneath appearing almost black in comparison.
Then suddenly, his eyes opened and his hand clamped like a vise around her fragile wrist.
Her gasp, sent her friends on the deck into instant motion. Gunn with a loaded crossbow and Fred with bags of blood. Connor hung back his face a brittle mask of composure.
Willow simply stared into the starved vampire's eyes. There was no recognition there. And just as suddenly as he'd moved, he fell back into a strange, hibernatory state. His hand loosened, falling back on his chest.
The witch's chest heaved; all she could hear was the sound of her own racing heart.
Frowning Gunn lowered the crossbow, and Fred inched closer to the box. She looked at Willow questioningly.
She shook her head. "He's too weak to hurt you."
"I'll feed him then", Fred said, her voice decisive. Walking towards the box with the bags of human blood they'd salvaged from one of the local hospitals.
"Shut up. Shut up!"
Willow turned at the sound of Connor's voice. The young man had been silent the entire trip, but now he stood over Justine. The rage in his voice was frightening, and the redhead could see that the other woman was laughing softly, muttering something under her breath.
Connor lunged at the woman, but Willow stopped him with the spell 'thicken'.
The witch moved closer, finally able to hear what Justine had been saying. "He'll turn on you... He'll turn on you, mark my words."
Connor fought the spell futilely, the sheen of tears appearing in his expressive eyes. "Shut up.... Shut up...."
Sighing and purposefully ignoring their prisoner's maddening words, Willow released the teenager. "Connor, go down below and get us turned back towards port."
The youth stared at the witch. For a moment, Willow thought he was going to argue with her, but she stopped him with a softly murmured, "go."
Nodding, the souled vampire's son disappeared.
Behind her Justine continued to chant under her breath.
"Shut up!", Willow commanded, glancing over her shoulder and meeting the cold, bitter eyes of Holtz's right hand woman. "Shut up, or I will make you shut up."
Once again, only the sounds of wind and sea met the red witch's ears.
~Part: 7~
~Present, L.A.~
"So you've been here ever since?", Cordelia asked the redhead.
"Yes. Gunn and Fred needed me here. They needed help. Buffy and Xander didn't. It also helped that I was one of the few individuals Angel could interact with without things rapidly escalating to violence", Willow told her.
"And he's just been this way since you got him out of the box?"
The redhead nodded. "I'm not sure if his higher brain functions were somehow damaged, or if its some kind of protection his mind devised in order to deal with the reality of his situation and Connor's betrayal to tell you the truth. He may not know me from the past but he has learned to trust me; or at least see me as alpha, and therefore respect me. He seems to consider Fred and Connor as part of the pack and therefore okay because he sees them as mine too. Actually I think he's rather fond of Fred, he's always very gentle with her, especially after Gunn's death."
"Why are you alpha?", Cordelia asked.
Willow's green eyes flashed. "Because I'm the only one here who can stop him, and he knows it."
The Seer folded her arms over her chest, making a snorting sound. "Alright, that can't be it. The Willow I know would never sleep with someone she didn't love. This has to be more than what you're telling me."
Uncomfortable with the direction of Cordelia's questions, the witch's eyes slid from the other woman's face.
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?", Cordelia demanded. "Do you love Angel or not?"
Angry, Willow snapped at the brunette. "Yes, damn it, I do love him. He's courageous, and intelligent despite his inability to really communicate. He's caring and protective and I can't imagine what my life would've been like without Angel by my side."
The hacker's answer brought a small, bittersweet smile to Cordelia's face and his name brought Cordelia's gaze back to his face. He was staring back at her, and for a moment it was like she was seeing Angel again. Her Angel, not this almost feral creature who never said a word, and looked at her as if she were something stuck to the sides of a sewer tunnel.
"But?", Cordelia prompted.
Willow groaned. "But... I don't know what he feels for me, if anything."
Tearing her eyes away, the Seer met Willow's gaze and noted that something akin to worry seemed to be marring the smooth skin of the hacker's brow.
Willow couldn't remember Angel ever reacting to anyone in the way he was to Cordelia. It was almost as if he was remembering.... Swallowing down the desire to drive her old high school nemesis out of the Hyperion before her life was somehow altered forever, the witch clenched her fists; fear gripping her heart.
"What about Angel Investigations?", Cordy asked.
Willow shook her head. "That's over, Angel just isn't fit for that kind of work anymore. Strangers illicit the protective, defensive side of his personality. We tried for a while, but people were always asking for him, and often the cases demanded that we be in highly populated locals. Now the Powers contact us through new Oracles and we do what we can to help keep the world in one piece."
"So how do you survive?"
The redhead chuckled. "Fred did that actually. She helped Dave Nabbit develop the beginnings of a dimensional door. She made an absurd amount of money off of that theory. Its safe enough since David doesn't seem to understand that their is a metaphysical component to the getting it to actually work in more than a theoretical capacity."
"Oh..."
Both women were startled when Angel suddenly stood.
"Cordeeeliya."
The half demon woman lurched to her feet in amazement, staring at the dark vampire.
"Cordelia", Angel repeated, his enunciation more pronounced, as if he were trying to say something the way he'd heard it said before.
Willow stared at the two, and blinked back tears. She was frozen to her chair, watching this scene in horror. Two and a half years. She'd been there for almost three years, but all it takes is one visit from her old high school nemesis and her life as she's known it begins to crumble. It suddenly all made sense. Cordelia was back, her return triggered the return of Angel's memories... Now she would be unnecessary; unneeded. Willow was aware of how the two friends had felt for one another. Fred had told her funny stories about Cordy's and Angel's attraction before the brunette had disappeared and the vampire had been trapped beneath the sea.
Resolving to let him go, Willow felt her often-battered heart crumble. She would not stand between them. She loved him too much.
"Oh my god!", the Seer gasped, rushing forward to throw her arms around her old friend. "You remember me!"
"I do", Angel whispered against her cheek, bewildered. "I didn't but now I do."
"How?", Cordelia asked. "Why?"
"I don't know", the vampire replied. Disengaging himself from her arms, he turned towards where Willow had been sitting. "Your face... it just.... I don't know."
"The Powers... maybe they'd meant for me to come here. They had to have known...", Cordelia murmured to herself.
Angel growled. Willow's chair was empty.
Panic seized the souled vampire's undead heart. "Willow? WILLOW?" Where could she have gone? Not sparing Cordelia another glance, he sped up the stairs tracking his lover by her scent.
Forgotten, the brunette stared at the staircase in disbelief. Apparently it didn't matter that Angel suddenly remembered her. The fact that he was now Willow's became abruptly clear.
She became aware of a familiar presence in the room, and lowered her head.
"Princess."
"Doyle."
"You don't belong here anymore."
The tears she'd been holding back since she'd been thrust into this radically different world, could no longer be denied.
"Why?", she sobbed. "I don't understand... how is this better? Wesley's gone-- somewhere, nobody knows where. Gunn is dead. Fred is alone. Willow and Angel are--"
"Willow and Angel are the key", Doyle informed her. "They've been the key for so long." The Irishman shook his head, sighing. "If things had gone the way they were supposed to so much could have been avoided."
"I don't understand."
"They're supposed to be together. They always were, and if Angel had met Willow first in Sunnydale the way he was supposed to, none of this would have happened."
Cordelia gasped.
"But no, Whistler just had to take Angel to see Buffy", Doyle groaned. "That set off a chain of events that could easily have been avoided."
"You mean", the Seer began, "that if Angel hadn't been struck dumb by Buffy's obvious sun-drenched beauty, he would have gone to Sunnydale and fallen for Willow?"
Doyle nodded. "Yes. Willow's inquisitive nature being what it is, she would have gotten all the facts about his curse, done something about it, and that whole Angelus situation could have been avoided as well."
The beauty blinked. "Okay sure, I'll buy that. What I don't get is why now? And why is this even important? What's past is past."
"Sure it is, now", Doyle said in sarcastic agreement, "especially for people like Jenny Calendar."
Cordelia flinched at the mention of the pretty, technopagan computer teacher. She remembered Xander's phone call all too well. Angelus had broken Jenny's neck and left her body in Giles' apartment, in his bed. She shuddered.
The half demon male stepped closer, his proximity to Cordelia lending his spiritual form a bit more corporeality. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to throw her name out there like that. This has all just been very frustrating. The Powers didn't give me all the facts, but what I knew, I hated keeping things from you."
"Its okay, really", Cordelia sighed. "I didn't even really know her. It was always Giles' I felt for when it happened. We all knew he liked Jenny a lot, we just didn't know how much. Leave it to Angelus to figure out something Tweedman wasn't even sure of."
"Giles loved her."
Cordelia nodded, until more questions appeared in her mind concerning Doyle's explanation.
"So okay, I understand that Angel's being with Willow would have stopped the Angelus factor, but since when do the Powers meddle in people's love lives."
"Since Willow and Angel are the cornerstones to defeating evil in the upcoming battle", he told her matter-of-factly. "They are going to bring together the seven warriors that are desperately needed, or this realm will be lost." He paused. "In fact, Willow's being here has already made a big difference. This place already harbors three of the seven."
"Angel, Willow and Connor....", she sighed, "of course." Cordelia sat down heavily. "And Fred?"
"She's not one of them, but she's a very important part of this too, both as some of the brains of the outfit and also as an intrinsic part of one warrior's life."
Doyle held out his hand.
The former May Queen looked at it suspiciously.
"Come on Princess. You have a mission."
"Are you kidding me?", Cordelia hissed angrily. "I can't believe you're still going on and on about that. I am not doing the Powers any favors."
Doyle just cocked his head at her and stared at her expectantly.
"Stop looking at me like that."
"Only when you stop being stubborn. You're working for good now. There's more to all of this than you're hurt feelings, or the fact that you didn't get a go at Angel."
"You know that's not why I'm upset", Cordelia fumed. "I just missed so much. I love Angel, but I'm not IN love with him, my time with y--", she faltered, "-- away let me see that." Frowning at the strange slip of her tongue, she grabbed hold of Doyle's hand and stood back up.
"It was supposed to."
"Know-it-all", she muttered lightly, sticking her tongue out at her friend.
"Come on Princess."
"I'm coming, I'm coming. I'm just going to leave Angel a note."
Hastily writing on a sticky and slapping it on the phone, Cordelia turned back to her ghostly old friend, and then, in a flash of light, they were gone.
'Be Happy', the small piece of paper commanded, in Cordelia's trademark slanted script.
~Part: 8~
"Willow", Angel croaked hesitantly, having found the redhead hastily throwing possessions into a bag. Her name still sounded new and strange upon his lips.
She rushed around the room, gathering her things. She made sure not to look at him, determined that she would not cry in his presence.
"Its fine Angel, really. I understand. Cordy's back. Its fine. I'll just go and get out of your hair, and you guys can do the kyerumption comshuk thing all night."
"Please don't leave me." His pain-filled whisper rent her heart in two, and Willow turned, only to find herself nose-to-chest to a large, male vampire.
"I thought you'd want me to", she murmured. "You remembered Cordelia, I mean really remembered her. You love her... its obvious. I'll just be in your way. You can take care of yourself now. You're talking, and uh, reasoning well and I-- I-- ", Willow's voice broke. She whirled around, grabbing a bottle of perfume from the side table and throwing it in her bag haphazardly.
"I'm not going to stand in your way", she finally managed to say, her voice laden with unshed tears.
"No. You can't go."
She ignored him, walking toward the closet resolutely.
Angel grabbed her arm and forced Willow to look at him. "I remember everything", he whispered. "I remember how you got me out of that box, and kept me from hurting the people I love. I remember how you cared for me. I remember how you were by my side unwaveringly, even when I lost control, and became that part of me that I abhor. You never left, you never turned away and you never hated me because of what I was."
Willow stared at him in disbelief. She'd never heard him say so much. Not even before-- during what she thought of as the Sunnydale years.
"I never hated you", she admitted quietly.
The dark vampire pulled the witch closer, his deep voice weaving a spell around her. "I remember the night you bathed my wounds from that Krax'rax we fought and how good you smelled, and how you shivered when I touched you. And I remember when we made love for the first time, and how completely you gave yourself over to me, completely unafraid when my passion unleashed my beast. All of that means more than I can ever say..."
The slight hacker's lips trembled with emotion.
"But I can try", Angel continued. "I love you Willow, and I'm not letting you go. Cordelia's sudden appearance doesn't change that. What she and I felt for one another wasn't what we thought it was."
"Oh, Angel!", Willow cried in desperate relief, her arms embracing him strongly. "I was so afraid--"
"Never be afraid", he whispered, wiping the moist sparkle of salt from her cinnamon eyelashes. "I will never leave you."
His eyes closed in relief, and almost sagging against the amazing woman in his arms.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cordelia and Doyle reappeared somewhere dank and dark. Startled, the Seer grabbed his hand, until her eyes adjusted. Realizing what she'd done, she looked over at the half-demon male and dropped his hand.
"Where are we?"
Doyle shrugged. "Look around Princess, you've been here before."
Cordelia inhaled and stepped into the shadowed hallway. She looked around, her sharpened eyesight suddenly kicking in and making sense of what she was seeing.
"Oh my God", she breathed, moving towards the walls. They were lined with lockers. Lockers that had been a part of her life for four years. "We're in Sunnydale."
She looked at Doyle. "Why are we in Sunnydale?" She shuddered, touching the drab surface of one metal locker with almost shaking hands. Memories, horrors... the past came flooding back. She had never wanted to step foot in this place again. It had been hell. Both figuratively and literally.
"We're looking for someone."
"Here?", she asked disbelievingly. "In the trashed, definitely condemned remains of my old high school? You've got to be kidding me."
He shook his head. "I'm not", he sighed. "Wish I were though", he muttered under his breath.
Cordelia's gaze turned back towards him sharply.
"Why?"
"You know the seven warriors I mentioned before..."
"One of them is here?"
Doyle walked towards the beautiful brunette. "For a long time the Powers wondered why Angel, wasn't triggering all the prophecies which had been ascribed to the souled vampire."
"So what?", Cordelia practically growled at the dark haired man. "He would eventually, I guess. He is the ONLY souled vampire."
"Not anymore", Doyle told her calmly, moving down the hall.
Stunned into silence, she followed his glow, hurrying to catch up to him. She was aware that he seemed to weaken without her presence, and didn't want his ghostly form to lose total corporeality before they found whatever, or whoever they were looking for.
The hallway was blocked, fallen debris in their way.
Without breaking stride, Doyle proceeded right through the mess of concrete and metal.
Exasperated Cordelia disappeared in a flash of light, appearing at the ghost's side on the other side of the blockade.
"Parts of the old school, survived somehow", he told her.
"I can see that", she retorted shortly, "but I don't remember that." She pointed to the large metal door they stood in front of.
"Other parts of the school were made into the new high school's basement. The new Sunnydale High is right above us", Doyle said, pointing above them.
Cordelia tried the door. "Locked", she grunted. With a flicker of thought, her sword was in hand. Doyle stood by quietly as she embedded the impossibly sharp blade into the seam where the door's lock met the wall. The sound of scraping metal filled her ears, and then a sudden snap.
The metal door began to creek open, and the half demon Seer realized she could hear a voice.
Following the sound, Cordelia found a slumped figure. Empty liquor bottles were strewn or smashed around, the stench was overpowering.
She covered her mouth, and waited for the urge gag subsided. These new super-demon senses were a real bitch sometimes.
"Hey you", she shouted.
The lump moved, but never looked up. He was still talking to himself, or maybe singing.
She shook her head and moved towards him. Taking a chance she shook his shoulder, and was frozen in place when a pair of hauntingly familiar blue eyes pinned her.
"Spike!", she gasped, her stomach twisting with remembered fear and loathing. The last time she'd seen him, he'd been sticking Angel with metal skewers, torturing her best friend cruelly. She remembered all too well. Doyle had been there, alive and well during that time, and they'd had to follow a meager trail of crumbs in order to find Angel and rescue him.
"Bastard", Cordelia hissed, her fist already in impulsive, violent motion.
The bleached blond vampire didn't even bat an eye, capturing her fist easily.
"Smashing!", Spike exclaimed, a strange smirk on his face. "Still looking smashing. Smash, crashing, it all falls down."
The Seer blinked, and pulled her fist from the vampire's grip.
She looked over at Doyle.
"You've got to be kidding me. I think he's loonier than his ex-girlfriend."
"You all thought Fred was nuttier than a fruitcake too when you got her out of Pylea."
"That was different, she suffered and she survived. She deserved the right to be a little eccentric."
Doyle gestured with his chin. "Well he's dealing with getting his soul back after more than a century of blood and death."
"Good", she snapped.
"Angel went through this too, you know."
The brunette's jaw tightened at the mention of her friend's past.
"He's been down here on and off for years."
She frowned, and stared at the vampire. He was different than she remembered. Leaner, almost verging on emaciated. And his eyes, there was something about his eyes. They reminded her of another pair of beautiful eyes. Angel's eyes. Doyle was right. Somehow, Spike also known as William the Bloody, had gotten himself souled.
Cordelia summed up her feelings with one succinct word. "Shit!"
Leaning over the brunette grabbed the drunk and scatterbrained vampire's arm, and looped it around her shoulders.
"Where are you bloody takin' me?", Spike slurred.
"Yes, where are you taking him. You know you can't very well take him back with us. The Powers--"
Cordelia's glare cut off Doyle's words. He almost felt like he withered under her basilisk stare.
"The Powers can stick it. If they want a new Warrior for the Light, then they are going to let me do the job, my way. There is no way I'm leaving Spike here, and there's no way I'm just going to dump him on Angel in L.A. in his current condition. With the history those two have, Spike would be taking up residence in a Dustbuster before being able to live up to that little prophecy they cooked up for him."
The vampire staggered to his feet, leaning on the woman.
"Smells good", he murmured, his nose nestling into her neck.
Cordelia stiffened. "If you even think about doing what you're thinking, I'll shove holy water soaked toothpicks in your eyeballs!"
Spike groaned, head rolling away from her throat. "Can't a vampire have even a bit o' fun around here. Bloody Hellmouth. All the damned voices..."
The higher being rolled her eyes, and Doyle resisted the urge to geld the arrogant vampire, ire roiling in his gut at how close the creature was to HIS Princess.
"We're going to get him cleaned up and straightened out in the head, and then Angel is going to have to deal with the fact that he's got a new recruit", Cordelia said decisively. "Even if I have to kick Spike's ass and Angel's both."
Doyle chuckled at the steel in her voice. That was his girl. Or at least she soon would be, if he had anything to say about it. Making no comment, the half-demon stepped closer to the Power's chosen. As they faded in a bright flash of light, Doyle's voice could be heard.
"Its just as well.... You know how I mentioned Fred would be an important part of one of the seven warrior's life."
"Fred and Spike!!? You've got to be kidding me!", Cordelia's screech echoed in the empty room for a long time.
The End