Summary: Internal and external forces threaten to tear Angel Investigations apart.
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Chapter 1 - Mistrust
As always, Wesley was the first to arrive at the offices, not counting the pair that lived there. The lobby was still and deserted. That Angel wasn't up yet was only to be expected but Fred was an incurable morning person and despite almost two years of claiming a vampire as her best friend and lately something more than that, she could generally be found up and about long before the agency opened. A post-lunch nap was her way of adapting to Angel's nocturnal existence. But this morning she wasn't.
Half an hour later Cordelia and Gunn straggled into the hotel and made a beeline for the coffee maker. Neither Fred nor Angel had shown themselves yet.
An hour after that, feeling quite cross Wesley sent Cordelia up to roust AI's final two employees from their respective beds, or whichever bed they'd chosen to share.
Less than a minute passed and Cordelia dashed back downstairs and grabbed up a cross. "Angel's either possessed or evil, I'm not sure which," she announced brandishing the cross toward the staircase.
Gunn quickly snatched up a sword as Wesley loaded his crossbow. "Has Fred been harmed?" he asked.
"I don't think so… she looked okay… unless maybe he turned her," Cordelia reasoned.
Angel and Fred appeared at the top of the stairs, both were paint spattered, bare-foot and clothed in jeans and old tee shirts.
Angel glanced over the armed trio assembled at the foot of the stairs and his eyes darkened in disgust. "What do you think I've done this time?" he demanded irritably.
"You're evil again!" Cordelia proclaimed.
"You concluded that based on what, exactly?" Angel snapped.
"Well… um… you were laughing and you know the clothes are anything but Angel-normal," Cordelia said.
Angel rolled his eyes. "We were painting Fred's room. I enjoy being around her, hence the laughter."
"And none of his clothes would do for painting. So we got new ones, I even put a hole in the knee of the jeans so they'd be right. Can't paint in anything but holey jeans and old shirts," Fred explained. "Can clothes make you evil?" she asked Angel. "That would be really weird, even in Pylea."
Angel smiled at her, "No, clothes don't make me evil, but when I lost my soul a few years ago my alter-ego developed a real fondness for leather pants and satin shirts."
Fred looked Angel over appraisingly. "I think you'd looked good in leather pants," she decided.
"He does, good enough to eat, that is if he doesn't eat you first," Cordelia said. "But that's not the point, Angel in weird clothes equals evil."
"Trust me Cordelia, without my soul I'd never be caught dead helping someone with anything," Angel sighed. "I'm taking today off unless a case comes up. I don't really feel much like being around you three right now."
"Can you say 'never be caught dead'?" Fred asked Angel as the air disappeared into the depths of the hotel. "Cause, you know, the whole being dead thing. Maybe you should say caught alive or maybe…"
The weapons Wesley, Cordelia and Gunn held suddenly looked awkward in
their hands as they stood there staring up at the empty landing.
Chapter 2 - Refuge
Angel walked into Fred's room and slumped dejectedly against her tarp-draped bed.
"They're all stupid," Fred announced crouching in front of him, her eyes filled with contempt for the trio downstairs.
"They don't trust me," Angel said "Not even a little bit. God, I was insane to think this could ever work."
"So let's leave," Fred said. "Or kick them out since we're the ones who live here."
"I can't. As long as Cordelia is my seer, I have to stay," Angel said. "They were my friends, the closest I'd ever had, my family really. Then I screwed all that up, they'll never forgiven me for that. I miss what we had so badly but now whenever I'm around them I feel trapped. Like I'm being forced into a mold that doesn't fit anymore. I have to act exactly like they expect me to act or out come the stakes, and I can't leave. I don't even want to leave. It would kill me if anything happened to them, but I don't want to be around them anymore. What am I supposed to do?"
Fred sat down beside Angel, wrapping her arms around his neck and leaning her head against his chest; with a grateful sigh he wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her tightly against him.
After a few minutes he gently untangled himself. "Enough brooding," he said determinedly. "Let get the room painted. I can handle this; I've dealt with worse. And this time I have you, I'll be okay."
Fred gave Angel a quick kiss than picked up her paintbrush. Angel went back to the work on ceiling Cordelia's arrival had taken him away from.
For a while they worked in silence. Fred was doing the edge work, leaning in close, squinting at her work. By chance she and Angel both turned to refresh the paint on their brushes at the same moment. Angel cracked a brief grin.
"What?" Fred asked frowning.
"There's paint on your nose," Angel informed her.
"Where?" Fred asked, looking adorably confused and innocent.
"Right on the tip," Angel said leaning forward to tap the marked spot.
Fred brought up her brush and dabbed it across Angel's face. "Now you have paint there too," she said grinning broadly.
"Oh Fred, Fred, Fred, you know I have to retaliate now," Angel said shaking his head with mock sadness.
"I dare you," Fred said dashing away.
In a flash Angel was after her. He caught her at the door. Fred squealed happily as he lifted her off the floor. Slowly, holding her in front of him, Angel backed Fred toward the freshly painted wall.
"Not the wall!" Fred protested. "We'll have to repaint it!"
"Is this better?" Angel asked setting her down, but still keeping hold of her as he reached toward the roller tray.
"Oh yes," Fred agreed.
"Okay, if you say so," Angel said dipping his fingers into the paint. Delicately he drew a line across Fred's forehead and down her cheek. Fred turned into his touch, nuzzling his hand. The paint and games forgotten, Angel slid his hand through her hair to cradle the back of her head. Fred wrapped her free arm around his neck to pull him into a kiss.
After a moment Angel broke off the kiss to simply hold her close, resting
his cheek on top of her head. "I'm so glad we found you Fred," he murmured.
Chapter 3 - Shut Out
Cordelia glanced at the closed door to Angel's new office area.
A week ago he and Fred had cleaned out the old manager's suite ad turned it into a separate office area. They'd fixed up another room on the ground floor of the hotel for Gunn so no one could complain, but where Gunn barely used his office at all and Wesley generally left his door open to the lobby, Angel and Fred kept their distance from the rest of AI's staff.
They were spending their spare time looking for a way to secure Angel's soul now. Cordelia had had to hear that from Willow. They'd asked for her and Tara's help and Willow's next email had been filled with "I can't believe we didn't think to do this years ago." If not for the Wicca's gossipy streak, Cordelia wouldn't have even known what Angel's current spare time project was. He certainly hadn't asked her, Wesley or Gunn for assistance.
Cordelia sighed; the new office arrangement and the second hand communication chain weren't the only changes in the Hyperion. There were also the private dwelling signs Angel had added to the hallway leading to his and Fred's apartments. Beneath Angel's neat, old fashion handwriting Fred had scrawled, "That means stay out! We are talking to you!"
Cordelia remembered telling Angel she wasn't his friend back when he'd first returned after getting over his Darla-obsession. She'd never once considered how that might have felt. Now she knew.
Angel didn't have her blunt, tact-be-damned style, but that didn't mean he couldn't drive a point home with painful clarity. Angel had told them to either act like his friends or butt out of his personal life. Apparently he'd decided that the first option was now closed.
Cordelia squirmed uncomfortably. Okay, so she'd over-reacted the week before last. Blue jeans were a far cry from leather pants, even if they were way too casual to belong with the Angel she'd gotten used to. Shoving a cross in his face might have seemed a little extreme, but Angelus wasn't someone to kid around with. Plus Angel and Fred were on awfully close terms; how could she not worry?
It didn't mean she wanted to be politely, but firmly pushed out of Angel's life, or unlife, as the case may be.
Angel had even gone so far as to leave her a phone number so that she couldn't use a vision as an excuse to invade his and Fred's home.
Cordelia paused, surprised at her own thoughts, but it was true; the second floor of the Hyperion was Fred and Angel's home, theirs together. She knew they were renovating several more rooms beyond their apartments and had even heard them talking about maybe putting in a real kitchen someday so Fred didn't have to keep using the public one on the ground floor. Once Cordelia thought about it, she had to wonder where Fred and Angel were finding all the time for everything,
The ground floor was office space and the third floor had a few rooms made habitable for any clients they needed to put up, but the second floor was very simply a private home. One where Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn were clearly not welcome.
Angel's dedication to dealing with Cordelia's visions and their other cases was beyond reproach. Sure, sometimes he and Wesley had power struggles about the whole leadership issue, but the truth was it only happened when Wesley blatantly disregarded Angel's opinion. Angel had gone off on his own to deal with things his way several times. Still, those times only made it even more clear that Angel had learned from what happened with Darla. He was listening to what they had to say, only sometimes the two hundred and fifty year old, souled, vampire saw things in a different light from his co-workers and frequently he had a point, even if they didn't want to hear it.
The only real issue between Angel and his old friends was that he didn't
like them anymore. It wasn't really something they could legitimately complain
about, not anything Angel would listen to them complain about actually,
but that fact, that Angel didn't want them as friends anymore, cut deeper
than Cordelia had ever dreamed it could.
Chapter 4 - The Clause
Angel shifted nervously as he stood before the new oracles.
"Warrior, why do you come before us?" the male asked, his skin was a deeper blue then his predecessor's had been, but other than that he appeared very much the same, as did his sister.
"I would respectfully request your advise in learning how to remove the clause from the curse which gives me my soul," Before they could reply Angel hurried on. "I think it's in your best interest if I'm not switching sides and I know I can take precautions against loosing my soul, but worrying all the time about how happy is too happy is going to drive me nuts. I won't be much use to anyone if I go insane. Besides, I'd be a stronger warrior for your side if I didn't always have to be fighting myself as well as my opponents. I know that the guy who told me that wasn't the real swami, actually he was more of a hit man, but that doesn't necessarily mean what he said was wrong. And I'm only asking you for a hint…"
The female oracle held up her hand to silence Angel. "It is done," she said.
"Really?" Angel asked.
He was certain he caught a glint of humor in the woman's eyes as she nodded an affirmative.
"That's all it took?" he had to asked. "Why couldn't you have done that years ago?"
"You never asked," the man said.
"But if you'd told me," Angel began.
"Why did you never asked before?" the woman replied.
"I didn't know," Angel said.
"Did you know today?" the man asked.
"You asked when you were ready to ask," the woman added. "It is as it should be. Fare-thee-well Warrior of the Power that Be."
"Wait," Angel exclaimed suddenly. "Would it be a problem for you to make Spike's soul permanent as well?"
"It is done," the male replied and with that Angel found himself back in the entryway below the post office.
"And Buffy thought I was cryptic," Angel muttered shaking his head.
"What'd they say?" Fred asked.
"They did it, just like that, no more happiness clause. That and a bunch of Zen stuff about not my being ready to ask," Angel said.
"Wow, why didn't you ask them before we turned insomnia into a life style choice?" Fred asked.
Angel grinned and shook his head in bemusement, "We really haven't slept much in the last few months, have we."
"Because we can't sleep apart," Fred began.
"And when we're together, sleeping is the last thing on our minds," Angel finished ruefully.
A sudden, radiant, smile lit Fred's face. "Oh… the curse is fixed, that means we can do some of the not-sleeping things now… or all of them. I think that will be really… oh drat… what is that word? Nice to the exponential power."
"Wonderful," Angel said. "Being with you would be wonderful."
"I could say belle, belle, even say vonderbar, each language only helps me tell you how great you are…" Fred sang suddenly.
Angel laughed. "Where did you learn that Fred? I haven't that song since the forties."
"So kiss me and say that you understand!" Fred continued, loudly and off-key.
Angel's eyes darkened with passion as he complied.
Chapter 5 - Love and Marriage
"Oh not again!" Lorne groaned when a portal opened in the middle of his performance.
The Grooselog fell out. "Krevlorneswath of the Deathwok clan, you will take me to the Princess," he declared as soon as he spotted the Host.
"Well, now, you're one hero sandwich I never expected to see on this side of the looking glass," Lorne said.
"Please, I need her. I must speak with her," Groo plead
"Hold on to your horses, handsome," Lorne replied. "I'll call you a cab, they can take you right to your lady love."
"Groo! You're here! In L.A.!" Cordelia shrieked running across the lobby to throw herself in to his arms.
"Majesty, I found you in this strange land of La," Groo exclaimed crushing her to him.
"Oh wow, this is so great," Cordelia gushed. "I've got to show you everything. You're never going to want to go back to Pylea again. We've got movies and nightclubs and football, I used to be a cheerleader, you know."
"Your Highness, I must ask you something," Groo interrupted seriously as Gunn and Wesley arrived, drawn by the commotion in the lobby.
Groo took Cordy's hand and dropped to one knee. "Princess Cordelia, would you consent to have me as your consort?" he asked nervously.
For a beat Cordelia simply stared down at him. Then comprehension hit. "You're proposing?" she stammered. "For real proposing. But, I can't, we went over this before, I need the visions so we can't… well you know. Plus don't you have a world to run back in Pylea Mister? You can't just…"
"I'm not," Groo said, not rising. "We need you. You are the prophesized Messiah to the Reactionaries, the Priest's chosen one. To the Rebel's you are their savior, the freer of the slaves. You, Majesty, are the one person who could tie us all together; you could end the war… And I miss you. To live without you in my life is painful. I thought it would ease with time, but the pain only grows sharper. I need you."
"I… Groo… I don't know what to say," Cordelia said. "I want to go with you. I think about you so much, but I'm the Seer. I've got people who need me here too… I just don't know what to say… this is just too much."
Before anyone could say anything else Fred and Angel practically fell through the front door. A shouted "Get a room!" drifted in after them.
Fred pulled away from Angel long enough to yell back, "We're working on it!"
"Angel!" Wesley exclaimed loudly, utterly horrified. "The curse!"
"Fixed," Angel replied distractedly, ducking his head to place a string of kisses down the column of Fred's throat.
Fred wrapped her arms around Angel's waist as he maneuvered her toward the elevators.
"Angel! We're having an issue here!" Wesley snapped.
Angel stopped, pulling away from Fred slightly, he asked. "Is someone in danger?"
"Well, no," Wesley began.
"Then tell me later," Angel said turning his attention back to Fred. "Much later."
"But Groo has asked Cordelia to leave us," Wesley protested.
"Oh! That's nice," Fred moaned.
"Hey!" Cordelia exclaimed.
"I think she was talking to the one sucking on her earlobe," Gunn commented.
Angel groped blindly for the elevator button as he and Fred kissed. The doors opened a few seconds later and Angel swept Fred off her feet and into the elevator. A few seconds after the doors slid shut behind them everyone in the lobby heard the distinctive sound of a body thudding against the wall followed by sounds of growing passion.
"Oh for God's sake, take it upstairs!" Wesley yelled.
A pause followed then the elevator began its assent.
"Majesty, where may I await your response?" Groo asked.
"Oh Groo, I just don't see how I could possibly…" Cordelia began only to double over in pain as a vision hit her.
Groo caught her as Gunn said, "Paper, scissor, rock, the looser has to disturb the lovebirds."
"No," Cordelia said. "It wasn't that kind of vision. Groo stay here, I need to think about things."
With that the dark haired seer fled the building.
Chapter 6 - Dropped Ball
"Lorne, I really need to sing tonight," Cordelia said as soon as she'd made her way to the Host's table.
"Oh Sweetie, this is about our delectable champion from another world isn't it?" He asked sympathetically. "You just sit here and look at the song book, I'll go fit you into the schedule."
Cordelia flipped through the songbook until a title leapt out at her.
"Okay folks, I want you all to give a warm welcome to our lovely Seer, Cordelia," Lorne introduced her.
Cordelia started at the slightly strident music and when she sang her voice was more plaintive that the song called for. "Should I stay or should I go now?" she sang. "If I stay there will be trouble. If I go it will be double."
After the song ended Cordelia hopped off the stage and joined Lorne at his table.
"So that's what's on you mind," He said. "And I thought it was just about Groo. Do you really need a psychic or just a friendly ear?"
"I'd appreciate either," Cordelia sighed. "The PTB told me I've served my tenure and I can choose a successor for the visions. That means I'm free to choose to go with Groo if I want to. Someone else can be Angel's link to the PTB. According to Groo, I'm the only one who has a shot at ending the war in Pylea and I think I really love him, but…"
"But you don't want to leave when there's hard feelings between you and Angel-cakes," Lorne finished.
"Yeah," Cordelia sighed smiling sadly. "If I stay, maybe he'll stop hating me someday, but if I leave he'll just forget me. I'm not stupid enough to think he'd even expend the energy to keep on disliking me if I weren't here. If it weren't for the visions he'd have already disappeared on us."
"Oh Honey, Angel never hated you," the Host sighed.
Cordelia looked down at her hands. "Maybe not hate, but he sure doesn't like me much anymore."
"Cordelia, listen to me; Angel loves all three of you, he never stopped.
You're his family in everyway that counts. Well, except for blood and trust
me; blood doesn't count for much. The thing is, he's repeatedly hit the
ball back into your court and you never bothered to return it. He gave
up. So if you want things to change between the two of you, you're going
to have to take the initiative this time." Lorne said. "A long time ago
I told Angel he couldn't go back to what had been, that he had to move
on to something new. It took him some time, but he's done that. If you're
going to get anywhere with him now, you'll have to deal with the person
he's become, not the one he used to be. And you're going to have to listen
to him to figure out who that is."
Chapter 7 - Second Chances
Cordelia stared at the closed door, mentally psyching herself up for this. This time she was going through with it. She was going to get up from her desk, walk over to Angel's office, knock on the door, and ask him to Caritas for dinner, just the two of them, so they could talk.
It was a simple plan, easily set into motion. She just had to get up. She'd been working on it all day. Once she'd even gotten as far as knocking on the door before retreating back to her desk. When Angel had opened the door she told him he was hearing things. Angel had given her a very odd look before going back into his office that time.
Cordelia considered plan B-ness in case she decided on backing out at the last moment again. She definitely needed a better cover story.
"Who am I?" Cordelia thought to herself in disgust. "Cordelia Chase or mousy, little, tenth-grade, Willow Rosenberg? I don't waffle about speaking my mind. I want to have a nice friendly dinner with Angel to start straighten things out between us. So why am I sitting here thinking up ways to not say what I want to say instead of just asking him?"
Determinedly Cordelia marched across the room and banged on the door. When Angel opened it she asked, "Would you like some coffee?" in her best receptionist voice.
"Cordelia, is something wrong?" Angel asked, concern shining from his dark eyes.
For a moment Cordelia just stood there uncertainly, then she nodded. "I hate how things are between us," she said, on the verge of tears. "And I want to ask if maybe we could have dinner and talk, at Caritas or someplace you can get something to eat too… But I keep chickening out, am I really this scared of admitting I screwed up?"
There was a second where Cordelia thought Angel wasn't even going to answer her then he said, "You leave the message for Wesley. Tell him we're together and we'll be using your cell phone… I forgot to charge mine yesterday."
Cordelia cracked a watery smile. "And just when we all thought you and the cell had made peace," she joked in relief.
"I think it's feeling neglected," Angel replied easily. "I haven't sworn at it in months."
During the drive they stuck to light topics; demons killed, Willow's frequent complaints about how Anya seemed to think pregnancy gave her the right to boss everyone else around; safe topics, ones that didn't really matter.
Upon showing them to a table the Host smiled at both of them. "You're doing the right thing," he said before leaving them.
After they had ordered Angel waited expectantly.
"I'm sorry for what we did," Cordelia said. "But I don't even understand what we did that was so horrible that you don't even want to be in the same room with us anymore. I'm sorry that I don't know too."
"I told you why, you just didn't listen," Angel said with a sigh. "I'm tired of being punished, of knowing there is no way you'll ever let me gain back the trust I lost. Maybe it was all my fault in the first place and maybe you have a right to keep me on probation forever, but I don't think so anymore. Beyond that I couldn't stand it any longer. I tried to make amends with you; I might as well have been beating my skull against a brick wall for all the good it did me. I wore myself out Cordelia, and every time you forced me to look at how little progress I'd made in gaining your friendship back it hurt. And, surprise, even I get tired of pain eventually, so I quit trying."
"I can't make you trust me, I certainly can't make you like me. I know that now, but I don't have to let you rub my nose in it every fucking day," Cordelia cringed at the anger underlying Angel's words. Angel paused and Cordelia could see him pushing the anger back down. "I quit trying. I put distance between us because that was the only way to stop you from hurting me. It was the only option you left me."
"I never meant to hurt you," Cordelia said softly.
"And you think I did? Do you think that I chose to have the only friends I've ever had get caught in the wake of me self-destructing? Didn't it ever occur to you that I sent you away because was trying to minimize the damage, not because I was trying to hurt you?" Angel replied bitterly. "And does it change anything? I hurt you. You hurt me. We both know what good intentions get used for."
They subsided into silence when the waiter arrived with their orders. After he'd gone they turned their attention to their meals, eating slowly, trying to draw out the time before they would have to say anything more.
Finally, unable to stand it any longer, Cordelia set down her fork and said, "The PTB are going to let me pass the visions on to someone else. I was thinking that if I decided to go with Groo I'd give them to Wesley. I wanted to force you guys to stay together, cause I hoped you'd eventually make up if I did. It isn't really fair to do that to you though, is it?"
Cordelia paused and looked down at her plate. "I'll ask Fred if she'll take them. She's the one you want to be bound to isn't she? I'll ask her even if I decide to stay here." Sadness apparent in her expression Cordelia met Angel's stunned eyes. "I'm letting you put all the distance between us that you want. After this you can kick us out of your life all together if that's what you want to do, but Angel… Please don't walk away from us. I really do want us to be friends again. I realize I can't speak for Wes or Gunn but I think they want that too. Besides the Agency is their life, don't take it away from them. We managed without you once, but it was never the same."
Angel took a deep, unnecessary breath, then gave an awkward laugh. "I don't know whether to be happy or not. I've wanted to hear that so badly, why couldn't you have realized this months ago? I don't know what to do anymore. Where do we go from here?"
The Host walked up to their table. "You don't have time to push her
away just because you're scare of being hurt again, she's sincere," he
told Angel. "As to what now… Now you talk, about everything. Not just the
things that went wrong but all the things you've missed because of them
too. Get to know each other again. You'll thank yourselves, and me, for
it later." As he departed Lorne said to himself, "Sometimes it's good to
be prescient."
Chapter 8 - Long Overdue
"… That's Fred and I," Angel finished. "Now it's your turn, are you really in love with the Grooselog? Enough that you're willing to give up your world for him?"
Cordelia smiled. "I never used to believe in love at first sight," she said.
"Oh it's real," Angel replied, his voice husky with pain.
"Buffy huh?" Cordelia asked sympathetically.
"Yeah, I love her for almost a year before we even spoke. I became someone solely to be able to protect her. I don't think I'll ever stop loving her," Angel said quietly.
"But I thought you and Fred…" Cordelia asked.
"Does how you feel about the Grooselog change your feelings for Doyle?" Angel asked.
Cordelia nodded her understanding.
"I do love Groo," she said. "He's so sweet and sincere… and I could just drown in his eyes. But if that was all of it I don't think I could go. Moving to Pylea isn't even like moving to Iowa, more like moving to some third world country where they don't have indoor plumbing. But Groo thinks I can make a difference there. Right now I can give the visions to anyone, but I'm the only one who might be able to help Groo. Plus he pretty much staked everything on me coming back with him. …Ooh, I probably shouldn't have said 'staked' to a vampire, right?"
"It's fine Cordelia," Angel replied.
"Okay, anyway, he got everyone to declare a cease fire while he went on this big quest to bring me back if he fails it'll be majorly bad," Cordelia explained.
"It's not fair for him to put that kind of pressure on you," Angel protested.
"Why not, it's true," Cordelia sighed. "And anyway, the world, all worlds, aren't big on fair. Groo used up all the influence he had to get that cease fire, he's counting on my influence to make it a permanent peace."
"It won't be that simple," Angel said quietly. "Don't let him tell you that you're being there will make all their problems go away."
"I know," Cordelia shrugged. "We'll get a tenuous peace between the main-streamers at best. But some of the Rebels are really just bandits and others are hurt so bad that all they want is a chance for vengeance. The real, sane Rebels trust me though. On the other side the Priest all knew I was just a puppet and so did their soldiers. Groo says a few of them will take positions as my advisors and in my military, but those will be the weakest of the Priests and their flunkies. They're the ones who can't expect to get much real power anyway things go. Still if even one or two of the Priests support me a lot of their civilian backing will come to me as well. Groo's support comes from the death or dishonor types. They respect him and people respect them, that's one group that's ours securely. But Pylea's champions aren't that numerous, or team players. Groo doesn't have a real army; he has about a dozen groups like the Scoobies or us. They've sworn loyalty to Groo, but he's trying to stand between a full-fledged military and a serious guerilla force. I'll pull some people from both, hopefully enough to field our own army, and I'll hopefully get popular support on our side. But it isn't going to be pretty. Groo doesn't try to tell me otherwise."
"It sounds like you've decided to go," Angel said.
"Do you think I'm crazy?" Cordelia asked. "'Cause sometimes I think I'm crazy, but you're right; When Groo and I talk, he's not trying to convince me, we're making plans. I'm so scared of this, but I still can't say no."
Suddenly Cordelia giggled. "It's going to be like being Queen C of Sunnydale High all over again, only this time when someone backstabs you, they'll be using a real knife."
Angel looked serious. "We need to talk to Fred about more than the visions.
She's the best person to ask about creating some kind of inter-dimensional
distress signal. If you're serious about this you should have someway to
call in the cavalry if things turn ugly."
Chapter 9 - Snapshots
"You're sure you want me to do this?" Angel asked.
"Who else would I ask?" Cordelia replied.
"Wesley," Angel said.
Cordelia sighed, "Okay, Wes is family, but he's not the one gave me a place to start again and he's not the one who kept me alive long enough for me to grow up. Things aren't like they were between us, but they're getting there and you're the one I'd regret not asking."
"I just want to be sure you're not asking me as an apology," Angel said.
"I already apologized," Cordelia said. "I'm asking you because you're the one I want to give me away, so will you do it?"
"I'd be honored."
------------------------------------------------------
"So where's Cordy?" Xander asked.
"I thought it was in the invitations," Wesley said. "The actual ceremony is in Pylea. Cordelia and Angel have already gone ahead to finish preparing for the wedding."
"The mirror is really a portal," Fred said pointing proudly to her creation. "A stable one. You just have to touch it and speak the consonant representations of the proper mathematical transfiguration formula, and it takes you to its mate in Pylea. That one takes you back here. I'm very pleased with it."
"I'm sure Alice would approve," Willow commented, Tara squeezed her lover's hand appreciatively.
"Who is she?" Fred asked curiously.
"She's you Sweetie," the Host said walking through the door. "She's the original girl who went through the looking glass."
"Lorne, I didn't think you'd be coming," Wesley said.
"Yeah, given how much you love all things Pylean," Gunn deadpanned.
"I wouldn't miss our very own Princess' wedding for anything," Lorne said. "I thought I might even sing a little."
"That would be bad," Fred said seriously. "Seeing as how harmonic vocalizations cause Pyleans to enter into convulsions."
"Don't worry Sweetie, I was just joking," Lorne assured her.
"Am I late?" David Nabbit asked rushing into the lobby, his purple cape flapping behind him. "My board meeting just wouldn't end, so I ducked out at the last minute. I mean board meeting or royal wedding in a demon dimension, what would you do?"
"We haven't left yet so you're probably not too late," Spike said in a subdued tone of voice. "You're sure it's safe for Dawn to go through this portal, what with her being the Key and all."
"Forget about Dawn, is it safe for me, I'm pregnant," Anya announced proudly.
"Yes, both concerns were presented," Wesley replied. "Fred and I looked into then thorough, you'll be quite safe."
"So do we go now or is there someone else we're waiting for?" Xander asked.
"Giles couldn't get away from Council business in England, Kate said thanks, but no thanks to visiting a demon dimension, and, thankfully, Cordelia didn't know where to send Harmony's invitation. I don't care if Pylea would have given her her soul back, even when she was trying to be helpful, that creature was a menace."
"So lets get this show on the road," Gunn said gesturing to the portal.
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"Is her highness angry with me that she won't allow me to see her?" Groo asked nervously.
"No," Landoc replied. "Angel has informed me that it is considered an ill-omen if the groom should see the bride's wedding gown before the wedding occurs."
"I am most relieved to hear this," Groo sighed. "Do you think I should polish my breastplate again?"
"Grooselog, if you polish it any further it will wear through," Landoc sighed.
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"I'm doing this, I'm really doing this," Cordelia fussed with her hair. "I'm getting married. I'm never going back to LA again."
The dark haired girl sniffled suddenly and tissue floated over to her.
"Thanks Dennis," she said. "Remind me to tell Willow how much I appreciate her relocating you to Pylea. I know I'd just be dying of homesickness without you."
"Okay, the visions." Cordelia said refocusing on Fred. "You've got to remember everything, even the smallest detail can be important."
"You've said that before and before and before," Fred sighed.
"Well I'm nervous okay?" Cordelia snapped. "Doyle trusted them to me and I want to make sure you'll be a good Seer… I'm sorry Fred, it's just they've been what made me special for a long time. It's hard to give them up, even with the migraines. But now's the time… cause well after the wedding comes the wedding night and so I've got to give them to you before then or I'll end up giving them to Groo when we…" Cordelia trailed off blushing.
Fred sighed again.
Cordelia took a deep breath then leaned forward and kissed Fred on the forehead, a bluish glow passed between the two girls as Cordy whispered, "Take care of Angel."
"What else would I do?" Fred asked, plainly confused.
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"There are more people here than at our wedding," Anya complained to Xander. "Why didn't we have more people?"
"Because you weren't going to be the queen of anybody," Dawn snapped.
"I don't think that's right. I should be the queen of something," Anya objected.
"You're the queen of my heart," Xander said kissing her cheek.
"Oh," Anya smiled sweetly. "That's okay then."
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"How do I look?" Cordelia asked rearranging her veil and tiara.
"You're stunning," Angel said offering her his arm.
When the doors opened they walked slowly down the aisle to where Groo waited.
Pylea's greatest champion stared at his bride in awestruck wonder.
"Take good care of her or I will finish that fight we started the first time we met," Angel threatened Groo under his breath as he handed Cordelia off to the other man.
Groo nodded, never taking his eyes off Cordelia.
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"And so you are bound, by the law of the Covenant," the Pylea Priest intoned.
"With the blessing of the Powers that Be you are joined," a young man who had become a spiritual leader among the former slaves said.
Cordelia smiled and tried to ignore the fact that they looked like they'd rather be ripping each other's throats out as opposed to performing the joint ceremony.
After a moment's pause, Gunn asked loudly, "Isn't anyone going to say 'Now you may kiss the bride'?"
Groo looked at Cordelia questioningly. "It's a custom where I come from," she told him.
Groo slowly lifted her veil and chastely kissed her. "This is a most agreeable tradition," he said. "Much preferable to the one where I couldn't see you."
Cordelia wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a fierce kiss.
"Now that's a kiss," Lorne laughed.
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"I guess Queen C is more than just a nickname now," Xander said giving Cordelia a quick hug.
"We're having a constitutional monarchy," Cordelia told him.
"The Grooselog seems quite nice and very attractive, I'm sure you'll be very happy and have many orgasms," Anya told her. "But I got Xander and you didn't."
"Honey," Xander sighed. "Remember what I told you?"
"You said I shouldn't talk about Buf…"
Xander slapped a hand over Anya's mouth and led her off saying, "Yes, but the other things were important too. The part about not needing to qualify compliments and not using the 'o' word, for example."
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"What happened to forever?" Dawn asked bitterly with a significant look at Fred.
Angel stopped the girl as she turned to stalk off. "Dawn, I never betrayed your sister. I love Buffy, I always will. But she's gone, and I had to accept that or die myself."
"You didn't have to move on," Dawn replied. "You should have looked for a way to be with Buffy instead of just leaving her."
"Angel, don't argue," Fred said, pitching her voice for vampire ears alone. "She's just hurting."
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"Spike, nice color with the hair," Cordelia said.
"It's how it's supposed to be," Spike said softly. "How it was when I was human. And it's William please."
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"The Grooselog tells me you assisted him in his quest for the Princess' hand," Landoc said. "You did well cousin."
"I appreciate your saying that," Lorne said sarcastically. "Considering how much it had to hurt."
"Not as much as I anticipated." Landoc replied.
And to his own surprise Lorne found himself grinning. "Did you just make a joke Cus? Maybe there's hope for you yet."
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"Are you a demon princess?" David Nabbit asked Marelda.
"I'm just a lowly serving wench," Marelda replied staring at the floor.
"Oh, so you'll join some quest and help a small band of heroes save the world or something, right?" David asked.
"I don't believe so," Marelda replied.
"Do you need rescuing?" he tried again.
Marelda giggled. "You're strange, it's very cute," she said.
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"How are you doing?" Angel asked.
Spike shrugged. "I feel like everybody's pet project. Sometimes I hang out with Xander just because he's the only one who'll be mean to me anymore. Willow says it isn't healthy, wanting people to hurt me, but even she can't argue that I don't deserve it."
Spike paused for a moment. "I really depend on all of them. Can't see how you did this alone. Dawn's a sweetheart, thinks I'm her hero. Tara is the most understanding, gentle soul you could ever hope to meet. Willow's my best friend. Anya's decided we formerly evil demons should stick together. Even Xander stopped a human type from pounding on me. And I'd do anything for Buffy… Bloody Hell! I meant Dawn… I'm sorry… I don't swear, not anymore, it's bad… I'm sorry…"
"Will, easy," Angel commanded, shaking the younger vampire slightly. "Easy."
Spike smiled in embarrassment. "I'm sorry," he said.
"I know… And Will, you know if you ever need someone to talk to, just call or come by."
THE END