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It all fits together perfectly now. When he got home I pretty much just stood there trembling with...what? Anger? Betrayal? Or...was this the excuse I'm looking for to get the hell out of here and go back to LA, back to my friends? Well, if I needed an excuse before I certainly didn't need one now. When he looked at me, he was all kinds of pale. I think he almost fainted when he saw that file in my hands. "So...just stopped by for a drink, huh?" I asked coldly, "Fancied a cold one after work? WHAT'S YOUR DEAL?"
"C-Cordelia..." He stammered, "How did you...when did you..." He couldn't even talk to me properly. I just shook my head, "Why?"
"Kalderash." He said simply, like I should know what it meant. My expression however, remained blank, "Uh...yeah?"
"Angel...he killed the favourite daughter of our clan. And then...Janna...you knew her as Jenny Calendar..." The colour drained from my face, this was all a ploy to get back at Angel? "His pain was lessening..." My eyes closed at this and he continued, "I was ordered to take you away from him...someone from Wolfram and Hart found out about it...the Slayer is on their payroll..."
"And she was already dead?" I asked, shaking. I think he nodded, I wasn't sure, I couldn't look at him. "Explain." I said coldly.
"My people...you have to understand that..."
"NOT THAT!" I snapped, "The other stuff!"
He breathed out a sigh, "I was to take you from him. She was supposed to attack *YOU*...kill *YOU* not the other way round. They tracked you for a while...when Angel started...losing it for the first time, they left him alone, let you live. And then...when the other Slayer died and you were there for him...his pain lessened...we sent her to attack you. Her job was to kill you, not him but...I guess the stigma attached to killing the vampire with a soul is...great..." He shrugged. I hated him. In that moment I truly despised him, whether I was carrying his child or not.
"So...why did she...I mean I always knew I couldn't over power a slayer..." I said quietly.
"Because if you were around...you would have figured out eventually that she was dead." He replied, "It would have linked back to Wolfram and Hart unless you were..."
I opened my eyes then and just stared at him, "This whole thing was a set up..." I whispered. "Wolfram and Hart covering their tracks had me put in prison. And you..." I turned away from him, began packing together what little in the way of possessions I'd accumulated over the past year. As I went to walk out of the door, he grabbed my arm. Slowly, I turned, "You touch me again and I will kill you."
Ryan was afraid...
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
I still haven't worked up the courage to go back there yet. I've walked past it a couple of times. I'm back in LA now and I just haven't worked up the courage to step inside the Hyperion and look upon my friends. Okay, so the stomach isn't helping. The great big damned stomach on my front. This is twice *tonight* I've walked past it. Okay, so my cover isn't all that great. A *so* fake blonde wig and a pair of sunglasses doesn't exactly make me Nancy Drew or anything but...hey, it's worked so far.
Hearing a growl behind me I turn. "Uh...hey!" A demon. Oh shit...in daylight? Does this have no standards? "Uh...sorry, was I in your way, I just thought I'd..."
It growled. Dunno what it said but it SOUNDED menacing enough.
Okay, me, running - as fast as is physically possible with a beach ball sitting on my front (NOT literally, duh!) and a demon following me, thinking the way Wesley does when braized veal or whatever the hell it is takes his fancy! And I have nowhere else to go...maybe they just won't recognise me. "Help, help, help!" I call as the vampire follows me in. Oh God, it's Wesley, running outside of the office and clutching an axe. He throws it at the demon, like I've seen him do so many times and...poof, demon dead and now there's Fred, Gunn...a new girl all looking concerned and...a little dark-haired boy...
"Daddy, no, no!" He's giggling and...
"Ungh..." The sound that comes out of my word isn't a word or...anything really, just a sound. It can't be! It's not possible! I SAW him getting dusted! Angel? No...it's not...
Slowly, I back away...and fall as the back of my legs hit the steps. I go down with a bang, sunglasses flopping to one side and my wig falling off to reveal me. Just me. Cordelia Chase. No, Cordy. Cordy. I can't...what's going...I'm not sure that I can...
"Angel?" Oh God, he's crying...and that dark-haired little boy is running towards me and yelling Mommy and Angel's crying and Fred's crying and Wesley and Gunn are smiling and...oh God, the little boy's arms are around my neck and...they're all staring at me. "Hey...I'm Connor..." Says the child, stroking my cheek softly, "Me waited for you to read the Cat and the Hat books, Daddy said them was your favourite..."
I can't move. I literally can't move. My eyes are locked on Angel's and...I start to cry. "What's going on?" Ohh, pregnant women and their hormones leave a LOT to be desired...
"Cordy?" Oh God, his voice is so soft and he's uttering that word that I longed to hear for so long. "I-is it you?" He whispers.
"It's me." I reply, "It's me, Cordy..."
And then, I realise that I can't do this. Up on my feet I run, and I hear them coming after me but I can't...I just can't...and then his hands on my arm and he's turned me back round. Wesley, Gunn, Fred, Connor and the new girl are all staring at Angel in complete shock and that's when I realise why they're staring at him...
It's daylight. Angel's outside. And he isn't bursting into flames. And then things get really weird and in a second they all go dark and my friends are gone...