More Muscle
She hadn't spoken since Angel had hastily bundled her into the car almost 15 minutes ago.
"Are you worried about him?" asked Giles.
She stared straight ahead, breathing carefully.
"Are you worried about yourself?" he asked gently.
He thought he saw a tiny shrug.
"Well, I'm sure he's fine," said Giles. "And with Buffy helping…"
The campground with the vampire nest was about an hour out of both their towns. When Cordelia's vision had shown at least 15 vampires, Angel had quickly realized that they would need more muscle to defeat them. Buffy and Giles had come to the rescue, but what they hadn't counted on was the Thrax demon that guarded the mouth of the caves. He had startled them. It was a messy battle, with Gunn and Wesley barely making a dent while Buffy and Angel did as much damage as they could. Cordelia, coming in last, had been in a convenient place to strike a lucky final blow, but on his way down, the demon scratched her. Gunn and Wesley were almost as well-armed as Buffy and Angel were strong, and they had no idea how many vampires the demon had been guarding. Giles was therefore the logical choice to get Cordelia taken care of: least crucial as far as the muscle was concerned, and suitably knowledgeable about demon venom and how to treat it. And Cordelia herself hardly seemed particular about the situation: she was likely in some shock from the injury, but even so she had been unusually subdued.
"Thrax venom…it's not fatal RIGHT away," offered Giles awkwardly. "And we're only about an hour out of Sunnydale. I've called Willow and she's already assembling ingredients for the antidote…"
"You were very brave," Giles rambled nervously. "And you WILL be fine. I just…I know this must be awkward for you, Cordelia, but…"
She eyed the road impassively. "Pull over," she said suddenly.
"What's wrong? Are you…" He shook his head, giving up trying to engage her. He pulled over and Cordelia stumbled out of the car, retching into the bushes. His worry mounted: the scratch must have been deeper than he thought, if she was showing symptoms already. He gave her a moment to compose herself, then helped her back to the car.
"Feeling better?" he asked with forced brightness.
"No."
He sighed. "Let me see…" He examined her arm delicately: the scratch was several inches long, and deep enough that the blood flowed freely. But it was the venom that was really the concern: the skin was raw and inflamed, the wound crusting over darkly.
"I'm sorry," he told her. "I know it's painful, and you're likely as woozy from the blood loss as anything else. But I can't bind your arm: we mustn't let the venom circulate."
She shrugged off his hand, eyes glassy.
He sighed. "We'll stop at a gas station," he said. "I'll buy you some Tylenol and a bottle of water. You'll be fine soon enough."
At last, an answer. "It's not me you should be worried about," she said.
The water, the pain pills, and the fresh air of the open road revived her somewhat. They were pulled over at a rest stop as Giles helped her manage the water. Her features were pinched in obvious discomfort, but she seemed to be managing.
Giles opened the packet of pills and handed them over to her.
"These are generic," she said after a moment.
"So?"
"So? So there are some things you should never go generic on, Giles. Tylenol is one of them!"
Giles smiled. "Nice to see that you're getting your energy back. And your personality."
Abruptly, her face darkened. "That's not my personality. I just…I can be a little cranky when I'm not feeling well."
"Perfectly understandable. But don't worry, Cordelia, you'll… be fine."
"So you keep saying."
He revved the engine. "It's nice to see you again, Cordelia. You haven't changed a bit."
A mile later, she finally spoke again. "Can I have some more water?"
"Of course." He paused briefly to open the bottle for her. "Is it feeling worse?"
She half-shrugged, holding her arm delicately.
"Thanks." She handed back the bottle, as he gunned the accelerator. They ought to make better time than this…
His eyes darkened as the car hit a bump and he heard her sharp intake of breath.
"I have, you know," she said after a moment.
"What?"
"Changed. You said I haven't changed a bit, and that's not true. I have."
This was the most she had said to him all night. "I'm sure you have, Cordelia. I only meant…"
"I know what you meant. I know what everyone's always meant. It's why…it's why I left so suddenly," she said. "Why I didn't prolong my goodbye. I didn't need to be the flighty, shallow little Cordelia abandoning the noble fighters of evil to go do something less noble somewhere else."
"Cordelia, nobody thought…"
"They did, Giles! YOU did."
She paused, closing her eyes and breathing deeply. After a moment, she opened them, and her gaze was decisive.
"Giles, " she said carefully. "Did Angel ever tell you what it is I do for him?"
"Well, I always assumed…I mean, you do his bookkeeping, and help out with his…work…"
"Well, it started out that way," she said. "But then Doyle died. He was Angel's link to the powers, and you know how those powers work…one door closes and another opens…I was that door."
"You're…you mean, you're his link to…"
"Damn right. I may not be a slayer or anything, but I can still be useful."
"But that means you have…"
"Visions." she said quietly. "That's how we knew about the vamp nest, Giles. I saw it in a vision."
She saw the slightest trace of sympathy creep over him. "The powers are not known for being gentle with their emissaries," he said softly. "Are you…"
"I manage. I've changed, you know."
"I'm beginning to realize."
Half an hour later, she asked him again to pull over. This time, he got out of the car with her. Her arm was oozing, and she held it awkwardly. He helped her back to the car and gave her some more water.
"Giles?"
"Hmm."
"My arm hurts. A lot."
"I know, Cordelia. We're almost there. Another half hour…"
"But…really. Before, I was…it really hurts a lot, Giles. And I'm…god, I can't believe I'm telling you this, but I'm scared."
"Well, I admit things are progressing faster than I thought they would. But as long as you get the antidote within six hours, you'll make a full recovery."
"Can we go a bit faster?"
"I'll do my best, Cordelia. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
His cell phone rang, and when he finally put it down again, he was smiling. "That was Willow. The antidote has been synthesized, Cordelia. They're waiting for you."
"They? I'm not sure I feel like…"
"She figured. Xander and Dawn have gone home, and she's only kept Tara to help with the treatment."
Cordelia relaxed, her relief apparent. "Who's Tara?"
"That's a long story. You're not the only one who has changed, you know."
"I didn't tell you something," she said some time later.
"What is it?"
"It's…well, I didn't tell them either, and I should have. In the vision…"
"Yes…"
"They don't get there in time. In my vision, there was a body. I'm not sure whose…could be a victim, probably is. But it was all shadowy, and it could be Angel or Buffy. And we still haven't heard from them. They could be…"
"Angel and Buffy can take care of themselves," he said.
"Right. A lot better than I can…"
He sighed. "Is that what this is about?"
"Look at me, Giles. Leaving the mission part-way through, being driven home by the babysitter because I was dumb enough to let a demon scratch me…"
"Cordelia…"
"Buffy wouldn't have gotten scratched."
"Now, you're just feeling sorry for yourself."
"And if she did get scratched, I bet she wouldn't whine as much."
"You aren't whining, Cordelia. You have a serious injury. And Buffy has superior healing powers, so it wouldn't hurt as much."
He paused. "And I am NOT a babysitter," he huffed. "I am a watcher."
"I think I'm gonna be sick again," she said. "Pull over."
After that, she seemed to retreat. Giles knew she was hurting, and she must be exhausted. He let her rest. But as Sunnydale got closer, she tensed up again.
"Do you think I should have told him?" she asked.
"Told whom?"
"Angel. Do you think I should have told him that they don't get there in time?"
"Well, what do you think?"
"I didn't want to distract him. I couldn't say for sure who it was, if it was even him or Buffy…I didn't want to distract him."
"That sounds all right," said Giles. "The powers would not have given you the visions if they didn't trust your wisdom in interpreting them."
"I hate the visions! If I have to fight evil, why can't I be the one with the super-strength?"
Giles sighed. "We can't all be warriors, Cordelia. In every fight, the powers need a voice of reason. If it was only about brute strength…"
A thought occurred to him. "Cordelia, are you sure the person you saw in your vision was dead?"
Her eyes quickened. "What?"
"Well, you said it was shadowy. Could they simply have been knocked down?"
"I suppose. It was very fuzzy, I guess they could have been….oh."
He smiled. "If I am right, then you can stop worrying. Buffy and Angel are fine. And you'll be fine too."
She shuddered. "That's creepy. I've never seen myself in one of the visions before."
By the time he pulled into the Magic Box, it had been two hours since the incident. They had stopped a few more times, and Cordelia's arm was sensitive enough to movement that he couldn't drive as fast as he had hoped. But she had fallen asleep about 20 minutes ago, and he had gunned the engine for the last few miles. They were well within the safety margins, but fixing her up would still be messy. Willow rushed out to meet them.
"Hey, Giles. How is she?"
"Ready." He shook her awake gently. "We're here," he said. "Willow, a hand if you will…"
Willow smiled warmly. "Hey, Cordelia. Nice to see you again."
"Uh, right." She was a bit out of it, and she allowed them to help her in, Willow chattering comfortably as Tara remained behind the counter, gathering supplies.
"That's Tara," said Willow. "She's been helping with the…stuff."
Tara smiled. "Hi."
"We've set something up in back," continued Willow.
"Let's just get it started," said Giles.
They had assembled a makeshift bed with a table and some gym mats. Giles set Cordelia down gently, and Willow took her hand. "This is going to hurt, Cordelia."
"It does hurt."
"I mean, more. Think of pouring acid onto a…."
"Great," she said archly.
"Don't worry," reassured Tara. "The potion we've put together will clear out the venom and heal the scratch at the same time, so you'll be…"
Giles looked up with alarm. "Is it supposed to do that?"
Willow grinned. "We've kicked it up a bit. But don't worry Giles, Tara's done this sort of thing before."
Willow gave the mix a final stir, and slowly began to drip it onto Cordelia's arm.
The sizzling the compound made when it touched the skin was almost as loud as Cordelia's scream. It took all three of them to hold her down, but in moments, it was over. The ooze was running clear and the swelling shrinking. Willow gooped the remaining mixture onto a gauze bandage and wrapped Cordelia's arm carefully.
"She'll have to sleep it off, I guess," said Willow. "But she'll be all right."
"Someone's going to be glad to hear that," said Tara, grinning. She had the phone in her hand. "That was Buffy, she's on her way back with Angel. His two guys are going to be another hour or so with clean-up at the vamp nest, but they'll be here later."
"Lovely," said Giles. "Then they were successful?"
"Yup. No casualties, 17 vamps dusted. And thanks to our heroine here, one Thrax demon out of commission too. They were very worried about her."
Giles smiled. "They needn't have. She's stronger than she looks."
Cordelia awoke to a crowd of anxious faces peering over her.
"Angel?"
"I'm here," he said. "I was worried about you."
"I'm fine. Willow and Giles…"
"They're here. Tara's gone to take Buffy home. She says to tell you feel better."
She sat up gingerly. "Wesley…"
"He and Gunn had some clean-up to do. They're on their way back, and you can see them later."
"The vamp nest…"
"Dusted."
Willow pushed Angel aside cautiously. "I don't want to interrupt," she said. "I just want to check on the…" She unwrapped the bandage and inspected Cordelia's arm.
"Good as new," she pronounced.
"Thanks, Willow. Umm…can I have a minute?"
Willow and Giles turned to leave.
"No, I mean…Giles?"
Angel looked surprised, but left with Willow as Giles pulled up a stool and sat beside her.
"Nice to see you feeling better."
"Thanks to you. You were…really decent for a stuffy old watcher."
She smiled. "That was the old me, wasn't it?"
"I like them both."
They sat quietly for a moment, then she said "You know, I think I understand now."
"Understand what?"
"What it was like for you….to be a watcher. It's like…you know better than she does what can go wrong, but you aren't the one who gets to control that. We sent them out there because of me and my vision, but when the fight started we were the first taken out. That sucks."
He smiled. "The powers don't often put the seer and the super-strength in the same package."
"Funny how it all works out though, isn't it?" she said.
"Indeed. You were very brave."
"And you were very patient."
They smiled, then muttered, as one, "This time…"
The end