Title: Cleaning The Air
Author: Kylia
Email: kylia_bug@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Nobody belongs to me, unfortunately. They belong to Joss & Mutant Enemy, and a few other people I don't know.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: Eternity
Category: Angel/Cordelia
Summary: Angel & Cordelia talk after the events in Eternity.
Distribution: a Vampyr's Vision, Of Sire & Childe, anyone else, ask, and you shall receive
Author's Notes: Something I had to write after watching Eternity.
Dedication My Girls, & Kaitelynn.

Angel walked into the office silently. He stood in the doorway and watched as Cordelia went about her business. She didn't seem to notice he was there. He was thankful for that. Things had change. He had changed them. He regretted a lot of things he had done in the past week, but the worst was the things he had said to Cordelia when his demon was in control. The fact that it was true didn't make it any easier. Things had gotten tense between them. Partly because of what he had said and partly because of what she had said. He hated the silence, which constantly surrounded them. He needed to clear the air. He needed to apologize. He needed to know the truth.

"Cordelia," He stepped into the office.

Cordelia looked up. She plastered a smile on her face. "What's up?"

Angel came and sat down across from her. "We need to talk."

Cordelia sighed. "If this is about what happened before… It's not necessary. You weren't yourself."

Angel stood up and paced around the office, trying to think up what he could say. What he could ask.

"Angel?" Cordelia asked, noticed his frustrated movement. "What is it?"

Angel stopped and turned to face her. "Did you mean it?" He asked quietly, almost afraid to hear the answer.

Cordelia stood up and walked around the desk, so that they were only inches away. "Mean what?"

"What you said, about being afraid, all the time." When she didn't answer him right away, Angel's undead heart fell. " I never want you to be afraid of me."

"I'm not." She quickly assured him. When he looked at her incredulously, she amended her statement. "Okay, yeah, I was afraid. But it's not what you think." She paused as she leaned back against her desk.

"Okay, the thought of you all Grr again is terrifying. But what's more terrifying is the thought of you never being happy enough to go all Grr." She watched him closely before she continued. "Angel, you live a lonely existence. You don't deserve that. No one does. If being in L.A. has taught me anything, it's that." She smiled at him.

Angel tried to process everything she was saying, but it just wasn't computing. He looked up at the woman who he had grown to admire a great deal over the last several months.

"So you're not afraid that I'll turn on you?" He asked cautiously, the corners of his mouth quirking up slightly in the beginnings of a smile.

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "No. Not now. Not ever. In the beginning I used to worry, but now… I just don't. I've seen you. I see you. That won't change."

It took Angel a moment to understand what it was she was saying. When he fully understood the depth of her trust in him, he did smile. "Thank you, Delia."

Cordelia waved her hands, shooing him away. "Work. You remember? That thing we don't get paid for?"

Angel chuckled and headed back to his office. When he reached the door, he stopped and turned around. "About what I said…"

He never got the chance to apologize.

"Forget it. You were right. I'm a horrid actress. It's time I realized that." She grinned at him, "Besides it's not like I could get rid of you, even if I made it big."

Cordelia could hear Angel amused chuckle as he returned to his office. She smiled to herself. Her life wasn't so bad. Sure, she would never realize her dream of being a rich and famous actress, but she was somebody. She was Cordelia Chase, seer to the vampire with a soul. That wouldn't change. They were connected now. Their fates entertwined.

Cordelia's inner musings were interrupted as the telephone rang. "Angel Investigations. We Help the Hopeless."