| Title: Turn Back Time Author: Kizmet Chapter 2 Their arrival had been greeted with chaos. First Angel's mother had taken one look at him then promptly fainted. Angel and his father moved her to a couch in the parlor. Then his father had left, looking for smelling salts or the serving girl, Anna, who'd know where they were kept. When they returned Anna shrieked and ran out of the room upon recognizing Angel. She took the smelling salts with her so Angel's father ended up going after her. The only thing that kept Cordelia from giving up altogether on the women in this time period was Angel's younger sister. From her first glimpse of the fourteen-year-old, Cordelia had known who she had to be. Kathy's intense, dark eyes were exactly like Angel's. Through all the commotion she just stood there watching Angel patiently. Once things had calmed down a little, at least in the parlor, seeing as how Anna was elsewhere and Angel's mother was still in a dead faint, Kathy asked, "Are you an angel?" And Cordelia suddenly understood why Angel had called his name a sick joke. "No," Angel relied seriously. "A ghost?" Kathy asked. "No," Angel said. Cordelia could see Kathy stretching for other possibilities. "He's a vampire cursed with a soul who came from about two-hundred and fifty years in the future," she explained helpfully. Angel glared at Cordelia for a moment the turned back to his sister and said, "I'm still your older brother." Kathy considered that for a moment then smiled brightly and reached up to hug him. Angel returned the hug enthusiastically, lifting her off the floor. "I missed you terribly Kat," he said softly. "I missed you too," she replied. Angel knelt to set Kathy back on her feet but she kept one arm twined around his neck holding him close even as she turned to ask Cordelia, "Who are you?" "Cordelia Chase, future superstar and current private detective and seer. I'm just along for the ride, which by the way I haven't liked. You have no idea how much I miss indoor plumbing. These clothes are going to suffocate me, plus I'm wearing a corset. An honest to God corset, it isn't even mildly comfortable!" "Think of it as research for a period piece," Angel suggested. At that point Angel's mother woke. "Are ye a spirit?" she asked. "I'm just Liam," Angel answered and Cordelia decided not to help this time, she didn't want the woman to pass out again. Angel's father returned and an uncomfortable silence descended. After awhile Cordelia asked, "So has anyone seen any good movies lately?" Everyone looked at her with confused expressions. "It's 1753," Angel said quietly. "Right. Has anyone read a good book lately?" she corrected herself. When that conversational gambit failed as well Cordelia fell back on the old standby. "So how's the weather?" "There was a storm in the channel." Angel father replied. "A ship was lost." "Which one?" Angel asked. "The Chelsea, she was carrying primarily flax." "Sean sailed with her didn't he?" Angel asked. "The Connelly boy? I don't believe so." After that conversation faltered again. Another awkward silence descended. "I'm sorry," Angel blurted out. "About how I was, how I always acted. I'm really sorry." "It's in the past. Let it stay there," his father replied. "It's late," Angel's father said after another silence. "I had Anna make up the guest room for your friend. Goodnight Liam." "Goodnight Father, Mother," Angel replied. "Kathy, it's time for bed," Angel's mother reminded the young girl firmly. "Wait for me," Kathy whispered to her brother. Then more loudly she announced, "Goodnight everyone." After the others left Cordelia said. "Well that was uncomfortable." "You thought so?" Angel asked. "My father and I didn't even fight and we were together for hours. "Oh. Well, if you look at that way, everything went great," Cordelia said. "Of course you barely spoke to each other." "I thought it was safer that way," Angel admitted. "Me saying something started about thirty percent of our fights." "What about the other seventy percent?" Cordelia asked curiously. "Some were because of the stuff Li did," Kathy said rejoining them. "The rest were about stuff he didna to do." "I thought you didn't know about those things," Angel muttered, clearly mortified. Kathy curled beside Angel on the settee, leaning her head against his shoulder. "Mum and Da don't know what ta make of ye Li. Yer different, sad not angry." "It's been a long time for me Kat," Angel said. "And being angry led to me doing much I regret." "I'm glad ye kept yer promise," Kathy said sounding sleepy. "I'd be lonely without ya." "I love you Kat," Angel told the girl. "Whatever happens please remember that." Cordelia waited until Kathy was clearly asleep then asked, "You still think you're going to stop existing?" "I don't know what I think," Angel said. "But I feel like I don't belong anywhere." As Angel spoke the room flickered around them and, for a second, the neat quiet parlor was replaced with an ugly concrete room, it looked like a broom closet made over into Spartan living quarters. Precise, orderly and barren, it stank of hopelessness but not surrender. Then the parlor was back along with the living warmth of Kathy's sleeping form resting trustingly against Angel's shoulder. Only Cordelia was different, where she had been wearing a plain cotton dress sufficiently modest for the 17th century a second ago, now she was in a utilitarian tank top and worn jeans. She had a choker composed of crosses around her neck and it almost hid the scar from a vampire bite that also adorned her throat. Her eyes were cold and her face was set in a hard expression that left her looking years older. "What the Hell!" she exclaimed and then they were back in the other place. Cordelia sat on the edge of a Spartan cot, she blinked several times then her expression softened and despite the scar and the cloths she was the person Angel knew again. "What was that? Where are we? And why can I see through you?" Cordelia asked. Startled Angel looked down at himself and realized she was correct. It was like he'd become some sort of ghost. "Cor! Get off your butt and help us out here!" a familiar voice yelled. Both Cordelia and Angel turned to see Gunn standing in the doorway. "Faith managed to take down one of the Hybrids. Kate thinks we can recycle its mech weapons." Cordelia and Angel, who Gunn hadn't noticed, followed the demon hunter into the main room of the compound. The place and people didn't look too different from those present at Angel's original meeting with Gunn, but the pair leaning over the demon corpse didn't belong with the others, or even one another. Not in Angel and Cordelia's version of reality. They were dressed like the others but they were still Kate Lockley and Rupert Giles. "Whatever you're going to do, do it bloody fast," Giles was saying to Kate. "I recognized the torso, it's from a Telus demon, they have regenerative powers. We need to burn the corpse." "Not until it's stripped down," Kate argued. "These things are walking arsenals. I'm not loosing that much ammo." Kate turned and saw Gunn and Cordelia approaching. "Cor, get started on its right arm. This one had a machine gun, we could use that and Ripper says we need to finish this fast." "I stowed the last of the weapons," Faith announced coming in from another room. She strode up to Gunn and ran her hands suggestively down his chest. "I guess that means I'm done working for the day." "Damn girl, you're insatiable," Gunn said with a smirk. "That's what you love best about me," Faith replied pulling him into a hard kiss. "Naw," Gunn replied coming up for air. "What I love best about you is having you at my back in a fight." "So does that mean I'm going to have to fine someone else for tonight?" Faith pouted. "Hell no, Minx," Gunn replied scooping Faith up in his arms and carrying her out of the room. "What was that?" Cordelia asked. Kate gave her an odd look. "Are you on something Cor? They fight demons then they fuck. Everybody knows that." "Oh right," Cordelia said accepting a bone saw and kneeling by the corpse of the demon/human/machine hybrid. "I know him," Angel said staring down at the corpse in shock. Except for Cordelia, everyone ignored him. "It's Riley." "Buffy's boyfriend Riley?" Cordelia asked. Angel nodded as Giles asked. "What did you say?" "This guy, he used to date Buffy," Cordelia repeated. "Before he was a Frankenstein thing. Well I assume it was before. It was before, wasn't it Angel." Giles looked tired suddenly. "She managed to find a boyfriend during her time in Sunnydale," he muttered. "If she'd been half that aggressive when it came to slaying maybe none of this would have happened." "What do you mean?" Cordelia asked. "I suppose you never knew Buffy Summers was a Slayer," Giles explained. "She was Kendra's predecessor. She died the night before the Master opened the Hellmouth." "That's not what happened!" Angel exclaimed. |