| Title: Eternally Yours Author: VisionGirl E-Mail: [email protected] Disclaimer: Blah blah blah, not mine. Let's not rub it in. Distribution: Want, take, have. Just drop me a line so I know where it is. (By that, I mean so I can go to your site, stare at the link, and go "*SIGH!* They like me! They really like me!" Feedback: Love it, love it, love it. Pairing: A/C...kinda A/N: Sort of a Buffy X-over... BARELY is more like it... PART ONE Despite the dark, cloudy skies, Cordelia found herself in a very happy mood. Her shopping bag swung by her side, and she hummed nonsense music as she walked down the sidewalk. Soon, the clouds opened, just a little, and rain drizzled down on the streets of L.A. Cordelia found it soothing. Like all of L.A.'s past secrets and sins were being washed away. The rhythmic patter of raindrops did wonders for her frazzled nerves. She tightened her leather trench coat around her waist and turned her head skyward and let the rain fall onto her face. The past few days had been hectic. But things were looking good now. She lowered her head and turned her attention to the world ahead of her. That's when she saw him. Angel stood in the rain, looking at her. His hair was wet and plastered to his head, and he stood, his hands in the pockets of his leather duster. Never faltering, she walked up to him and looked her boss in the eye. "Cordelia." He said, tonelessly. Cordelia stared at him for a moment, then: "Angel." The pair turned and started walking in the direction Cordelia had been headed. "You cold?" Angel asked. "Nope." Cordelia said simply. "A bit hungry, though." "Then eat." Cordelia shot Angel a look, then noticed a young man loading pizzas into a car, with the name DOMINO'S printed on the side. She smiled, then looked at Angel again. "I intend to." She said before walking towards the pizza man. "Hi." She said, then turned her attention to his nametag, "Steven. I'm Cordelia." She stuck her hand out, and Steven took it, grateful of the attention the pretty lady was giving him. Angel rolled his eyes. She always did things the hard way. "Anyways," Cordelia continued, "I was wondering if you could point me to your workplace." She patted her stomach, "Getting kinda grumbly." Steven smiled and turned around. "Just down the road." He said, then turned back to her. But the pretty lady was gone, and in her place stood a female vamp, looking really hungry. ***** "Oh my..." Willow said into the phone, "You're sure? I'm sure I could find it. Just give me some time. Well, I know time is short but... she's what? When did that happen? Ok, I'm sure I could find something for her, too.... Bye." Willow hung up the phone and sighed. "Who was that, Will?" Buffy asked. "It was Wesley. He said Angelus is back." Buffy and Giles exchanged worried glances. "Are you positive?" Giles asked. "Yes." "Ah," Spike said, "So my *favorite* sire is back." "So, if Angelus is back..." Buffy said, "That means he and Cordelia..." "Oh!" Willow said quickly, "No, no. Wes said it had something to do with Wolfram and Hart. I don't know what that means. He said something about a spell." "Well, then it should be easy to remove, you can reverse spells." "Well... yes." Willow swallowed hard, "Angel isn't the only one." "What? What do you mean?" "I mean... Angelus turned Cordelia." ***** Steven ran as fast as he could, but he felt his legs losing strength. He looked over his shoulder and realized the vampire was gone. When he turned around to face forward again, he ran into the chest of a tall man. He looked up at this dark stranger, clad in leather pants and jacket, despite the weather. "You've gotta help me." Steven panted, "That woman back there... she's a vampire. She's trying to kill me." Angelus smirked as he morphed into vamp face. "You don't say." ***** "The doors are done." Fred said as she walked into the lobby of the Hyperion. Wes nodded his approval, "The crib?" "Consider it done." Gunn said. "I just got off the phone with Willow." Wesley said, "She's going to try and find the spell to give Angel his soul back. As for Cordelia... we can only hope it works for her." Gunn hopped onto the counter. "What the hell is all this about? I mean how did this happen? One minute Angel's laughing and joking with us, and the next we're decorating our doorknobs with crosses and putting garlic in the baby bassinet. He and Cordelia didn't get all happy, did they?" "No. Apparently," Wesley began, "Wolfram and Hart got a hold of a spell. One in which Angel's soul is removed. But before we knew what he was, he waltzed into Cordelia's home, and now we have two vampires on our hands. We can only hope that we remain safe until Willow's spell kicks in. That means, NO leaving the hotel, for ANY reason. If Angelus finds we're trying to return his soul, we may as well call the funeral home and make reservations." "What about Wolfram and Hart?" Fred asked. "I'm not a very big fan of Angelus, but I'm proud to say, he'll give them what's coming to them." ***** Angelus leaned against the brick wall, licking the last bit of blood of his hands. "Are you done, yet?" He asked. Cordelia let go of Steven the pizza man and gave an exasperated sigh. "How am I supposed to eat with you complaining over my shoulder." "Just hurry up." "Mmm." Cordelia licked the last bit of blood off her fangs before morphing back to human face, "O pos, my fave. Let's get out of here. The storms clearing up and the sun should be out soon." Angelus stepped over Steven and began walking away. "We have to go to Sunnydale, you know." He said. Cordelia caught up with him and made a disapproving face. "Why?" "Because the English idiot is going to call the witch and have her put my soul back... and we don't want that, do we?" He slipped his arm around Cordelia's waist as they continued their walk down the street. "We need to make a stop to Wolfram and Hart. Thank those lawyers from bringing me back to my old self. What would we do without them?" "You and your vengeance, Angelus, don't you know how to have fun?" Angelus chuckled, "You sound like Darla." Cordelia let out a low growl. "Darla wishes she could be like me." "Cordelia, you're still an amateur at this. Darla has 400 years of practice, you shouldn't worry if you're not as go-" Cordelia pushed Angelus' arm away and turned to him, game face on. "You ass." She growled as she pushed him away from her. Angelus smirked at her, "I love it when you get rough." Cordelia looked at the sky, which was rapidly growing brighter. "Let's get out of here." She muttered. Angelus leaned down and grabbed the iron cover off the manhole, leading to the sewers underneath. Cordelia shot him an angered look before climbing down. "What a gentleman." ***** Gunn huffed as he flopped down on the couch in the lobby. He looked over to Fred, who was reading a huge book, and then to Wes, trying desperately to stay awake. Under house arrest, in a home that wasn't even his. There was nothing he wanted more than to go to his apartment and crash. Connor began to whine in his playpen, and the trio exchanged glances. Most of the time, they didn't hold him unless Cordelia or Angel weren't around. Fred stood up and picked up the whining baby. "Hey there, little guy." She cooed, "Your daddy had to go out for a little while...he'll be back soon." Connor was not amused. His whines became cries. Loud ones at that. Fred started to hum and swung the child in her arms. "Why won't he shut up?" Gunn asked. Wes looked up and met Gunn with sad eyes. "He knows." ***** "Smart little watcher." Angelus whispered as he investigated the crosses on the doorknobs. "It's just a cross, Angelus." Cordelia said, "Open it." "No." "Afraid of a little burn?" "I like using my right hand." "Then use your left. I want to see the baby." Angelus shot her a look. "Fine. We'll find another way in, love. Nothing to it." Cordelia stared at the doorknob for a moment, then perked her head up at the sound of Connor crying. "Hurry, Angelus." She said, a smile playing on the corners of her mouth, "I think he misses us." ***** "Go to sleep, and goodnight..." Fred sang softly, trying to keep her eyes open. Gunn was asleep on the couch and Wes was reading the book she once had. They had decided to do shifts, not wanting to be asleep at once. "I think I found something!" Wes said excitedly, "It says here-" "Honey, I'm home." Angelus smiled evilly as he stepped into the lobby. "Nice touch, Wes. Crosses on the doorknob." Cordelia stepped out from behind him. "Have you ever heard the story of the woman who lifted a car? Her baby was stuck underneath." Angelus took her hand and gingerly kissed her palm, where burns from the crosses were. Cordelia stepped forward and Fred whimpered and took a step back. Gunn's eyes fluttered open and he sat up, already on the defensive. "Don't worry, Fred." Cordelia smiled, "I don't want you." She eventually had Fred cornered, and she reached out and took Connor. Immediately, his cries stopped. Cordelia smiled down at him and placed a kiss on his head. She walked back to where Angelus stood, then turned to face the rest of the group, "Don't worry." She said, "We're not after you." Angelus smiled once more and playfully nibbled on Cordelia's neck. "We've got... bigger things to worry about." Angelus lifted his head from the crook of Cordelia's neck. "C'mon, Cordelia," He said, and led her out of the lobby. Just before he closed the door, he winked at them. "See you around." ***** "Why the hell didn't we stop them?" Gunn demanded as he stood up. "Go after one of the most deadly vampires, with one cross, and one stake?" Wes said, hotly. "We should have been more prepared!" "I didn't think they would come here, what with the crosses and all." "We need to start expecting the unexpected. Cordelia's pretty and all, but I do not want her sucking on my neck!" Wes looked towards the corner and saw Fred, shaking, obviously frightened. "Fred." He said, and walked to her, "Fred it's going to be ok." "I've never been so scared." Fred started to cry, Texan accent extremely audible now, "Cordelia was so nice to me. Probably my best friend here. Like, in highschool, where you have a girlfriend you can tell everything to." "You had a girlfriend?" Gunn asked. Wes shot him a look and Gunn caught on. "Oh. A GIRL friend." "Now shes gone." Fred continued, "And Angel. I've heard stories, but I never thought I'd have to meet him." Wes pulled Fred into a reassuring hug, "It's ok." He soothed, "We'll get them back." "But Cordelia... her life is ruined. Even if we do give her soul, she can never go shopping, or take Connor to the doctors, or..." Fred started crying harder and gave up talking. From the office, the phone rang. Gunn stood to get it and a moment later, stepped back into the lobby. "That was Willow. She has the spell." PART TWO "Why didn't we just eat them?" Angelus asked, annoyed. Cordelia stared down at the baby in her arms. "Because I didn't want to. You hungry? There's a mall right up the road. You're not eating them, and if I find out you do I'll give your soul back my damn self." Angelus growled at her and she growled right back. From behind Cordelia, Angelus' hands snaked around her waist and eventually rested on her stomach. "I have to keep my appetite." He said, "We're going to visit Wolfram and Hart later." Cordelia smirked at him. "Sounds like tonights gonna be a fun night." ***** "She's got the spell?" Wes asked, excitedly. Gunn nodded. "She said she would do it as soon as possible. Buffy is taking her somewhere to hide her, so that Angelus won't come after her. Angel should be back to normal soon... as normal as Angel gets anyway." Wes nodded. "Ok. Go to the weapons cabinet and get anything that may be useful to us. Crossbows, stakes, holy water, swords." Wes helped Fred lay down on the couch as he spoke. "Last time was my own mistake. I forgot, if thats possible, how horrible Angelus was." Gunn left for the basement and returned a moment later. Wes walked to him and lowered his voice, "Gunn, I want you to take Fred to the top floor. Put her in a room and lock her in there. I have a feeling things are going to get very dangerous." ***** Clap clap clap clap clap clap Lilah Morgan's stiletto heels made a rhythmic click as she walked briskly through the abandoned parking garage. She wouldn't admit it aloud, but that place always scared her. Lilah looked over her shoulder, and began walking faster. That was the motto here in the City of Angels. Run, or be raped, murdered, eaten, or sacrificed to a Motnah demon. Her BMW finally came into view, and she gave a sigh of relief. Suddenly, a strong hand came down on her shoulder. "OH!" She screamed with a gasp. She turned and saw the face of Gavin Park. "Gavin, you dumbass, what are you doing?" She demanded. Gavin smiled at her, "Congratulating you on your success with Angelus." He smiled at her and turned to leave, then turned back to face her "Oh yes, when he kills you, I do hope you know that I'm getting your place as the favorite with the Senior Partners." With one last smile he turned and left. "What an asshole." Lilah muttered as she continued walking to her car. Clap clap clap As she reached her car, she pulled out her keys, and became aware of a presence behind her. She whirled around. "Gav-" She stopped midsentence as she saw Cordelia. "Its you." She said, relieved. "You're one of Angel's lackeys, aren't you?" "Lilah Morgan." Cordelia said with a low, menacing voice, "I was a part of his life. But you and you're firm came and took his soul." "I had nothing to do with that." "Yeah, I'm sure you didn't." Cordelia took a step closer to her. Lilah found herself pressed against her car. "He was my best friend, you know that? I cared about him. We had a good life going on there. And you ruined it. But I'm not here to hurt you." Cordelia morphed into vamp face, and Lilah let out a startled yelp, "Not at all. I'm here to say thank you. When you took his soul, he took my humanity. Opened my eyes to a new world. But the thing about being a vampire, I don't have a soul. No conscience. No remorse. I could gut you right now, and not care." Cordelia let out an evil chuckle and placed her fingers against Lilah's throat. Lilah felt her nails digging into her skin and her heart beat faster. "But I'm wouldn`t do that, you know." Cordelia pulled her hand away from Lilah's face. "I like it when a plan backfires. Fate has a way of kicking you in your ass, doesn`t it? I could rip your throat out right now. But I think I'll let him do it." Cordelia took a step back and for the first time, Lilah noticed Angelus standing in the shadows, enjoying the show. "Hello, Lilah." Angelus said. He smiled as her heart beat faster. He could smell the fear on her. Taste it. Cordelia moved out of his way as he stepped in front of Lilah. "You think you would learn. You bring Darla back. Brought Dru. And they tried to kill you. They could have killed you, you know. But you got off lucky. You think that maybe after that experience, you would have realized that when you messed with vampires, you're going to get bit. But no. You didn't. You went and pulled the rug out from Angel, and here I am. And Lilah?" Angelus put his mouth close to her ear and whispered, "I'm not Darla. I will kill you." He felt her shudder under him and he smiled. Cordelia watched with glee as Angelus morphed into game face and bit into Lilah's neck. Lilah let out a scream, which made Cordelia laugh. Lilah felt her knees go weak and her vision became blurred. She couldn't think of anything but the pain. She closed her eyes and didn't think she would open them again. In the far distance, she heard Angelus offer Cordelia something to eat. Then, Lilah heard something else. "Hey! Whats going on here!" Cordelia dropped Lilah and looked at Angelus. "Company." "Let's go." Angelus said. He wrapped his arm around Cordelia's waist and started walking away. Just as she was about to enter the street, Cordelia turned and blew Lilah a kiss. "Sweet Dreams." A security guard ran to Lilah's collapsed body. "It's ok, Miss" he said as he lifted her up, "You'll be ok." Lilah muttered something about vampires, quickly losing consciousness. From the shadows, Angelus and Cordelia watched. "Lets get out of here." He said, "We'll come for her again. Later." ***** "Angelus, I'm hungry." Cordelia whined as she flopped down on her bed. She had brought Angelus and Connor to her apartment, and Dennis didn't make himself known. Now, Connor snoozed away in a crib in the corner of the living room, and Angelus and Cordelia relaxed in her bedroom. "You should have eaten faster." Angelus replied, "Its not like a parking garage stays empty at closing time." Cordelia growled at him and he shot her a look. "If you're really that hungry, then let's go find someone." Cordelia propped herself up on hands and knees. "Im not hungry anymore." She said as she crawled to the beds edge. "I want to play now." She grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and brought him to her in a kiss. He let out a satisfied growl and pushed Cordelia back onto her bed, climbing on top of her. Cordelia smirked as Angelus nibbled on her neck. "God, I love being evil." ***** "Ok. Here goes." Willow sat down in her dark room, surrounded by candles and incense. She looked up to Tara, who gave her a reassuring smile. Willow smiled back and began her spell. Quod perditum est, invenietur. (what is lost, return) Not dead... nor not of the living. Spirits of the interregnum, I call. Gods, bind him. Cast his heart from the evil realm. Te implor, Doamne, nu ignora aceasta rugaminte. (I implore you, Lord, do not ignore this request.) ***** "Ah!" Cordelia let out a gasp as her and Angelus continued their rendezvous. But as Angelus finished undressing her, he realized something was wrong. He lifted his head of out of the crook of her neck, and morphed into human face. "What?" Cordelia asked, "Why are you stopping?" "Something's wrong." "Yeah, somethings wrong! I havent had sex in two years, thats whats wrong!" "No. Its serious... I cant quite name it..." ***** Nici mort, nici al fiintei... (Not dead, nor of the living) Lasa orbita sa fie vasul care-i va transporta, sufletul la el. (Let thes orb be the vessel that will carry his soul to him) Asa sa fie! Asa sa fie! Acum! (So shall it be! So shall it be! Now!) ***** Angelus let out an unneeded gasp and felt energy drain from him. He weakly laid his head on Cordelia's chest. "Angelus?" She asked, "Whats... oh god, your soul! They're putting it back, aren't they?" Angel lifted his head and looked her in the eyes. "Cordy?" "God, no!" She yelled as she squirmed to get out from under him. "Get off me!" She rolled out from under him and stood up next to the bed. Cordelia brought her hands to her face in frustration. "This is horrible. I can't believe this! We have to take it back!" Angel stood and tried to touch her but she slapped his hand away. "Get away!" "Cordy..." Angel pleaded and tried again to touch her. "Get out of my house!" She growled. "What's going on?" "I've always wanted to be with you" Cordelia's voice began to break, but she swallowed it away, "But I couldn't because of your stupid curse. But we found a loop hole, and even if it wasn't you at least I could pretend but now it's all ruined!" Angel once more tried to touch her, comfort her, but he grabbed him and pinned him to the wall. "Get out of here." She growled. A look of horror crossed Angel's face as he stared at her vamp features. He reached his hand out and traced the bumps on her cheek. "I did this." Cordelia snapped away from him and walked into her bathroom, locking the door behind her. Angel just stared at the closed door. He killed his best friend. ***** "Yes... I suppose it makes sense." Wes said disappointedly into the phone. "The curse was designed for Angelus. Thank you for your help." Wes sadly hung up the phone and turned to face Gunn. "The spell won't bring Cordelia's soul back. It was written for Angelus. Not Cordelia. I'm actually not surprised... But I don't think we can get Cordelia back. Maybe-" "Wesley!" Wesley turned to the sound of Angel's voice, echoing in the main lobby. Gunn and Wes exchanged looks, then warily walked into the lobby. Willow had said the spell went ok... but in this case, they can never be too sure. As they stepped out of his office, a look of relief passes Angel's eyes. "Wes." He said. Wesley relaxed a little, he knew it was Angel by the way he spoke. "Angel?" "Wes, what happened? What's going on?" "Wolfram and Hart. They did a spell which removed your soul. We had Willow put it back." "And Cordy? I did that, didn't I?" "No. Angelus did it. He-" "Me. I did it. Me and Angelus are the same person, even though we hate to admit it. I killed Cordelia." Angel was silent for a moment before perking up. "Willow. Willow can put her soul back, right? She did it for me. Maybe she can do it for Cordelia." "She tried. Its...futile. The spell was written for your soul. Not hers." "There has to be some way." Wes said nothing, but exchanged another glance with Gunn. "Connor." Angel said out of nowhere. "Where's Connor? I didn't...." Wes cleared his throat. "No. Not that I know of. You and Cordelia came by here today... took him from us. We don't know where he is." ***** Cordelia hummed to the infant in her arms. "Looks like Daddy left you here, too. That makes two of us. That's ok, we're going to have our own little party." She bundled Connor up tight and walked out the door. She hummed to herself as she walked to her next door neighbors house and knocked on their door. A moment later, a pajama clad woman opened the door. "Hi, Allison!" Cordelia said hurriedly, "There's a family emergency. I need to run to the hospital for a little while. Can you watch my nephew?" "Why, of course!" Allison reached out and took Connor and Cordelia handed her a few bottles and a few more diapers. "I hope everythings ok!" "I'm sure it will be. Thank you so much, I wont be long." She turned to leave then faced Allison again, "Oh, his mom and dad just had a terrible divorce. If his father comes, looking for him, don't let him in. He's dangerous." "I'll take note of that." Cordelia smiled and said her goodbyes and began making her way to the building of Wolfram and Hart. They were going to pay. ***** "He's gone?!" Angel asked, appalled. "How could just let him go?" "We didn't let him go." Gunn said, "With all do respect, you and Cordelia made quite a dangerous team and we were not about to go after you. Not to mention, we knew Cordelia wouldn't even let Angelus touch a hair on that kid's head. So don't get all pissy with us because you failed your mission, bro." Angel shot him a look but didn't say anything. He knew Gunn was right. "Are you sure there's no way to turn her back? Willow can't make a spell or anything?" Wes sadly nodded. "Angel...Cordelia's dead. And she's not coming back." PART THREE "I love Cordelia as much as the rest of you, but I say we take the stakes, and find her." Gunn held a strong look on his face as Angel looked at him, partly in disbelief, partly in understanding. "There has to be another way." Angel said, simply. "I can't just... Kill her. Again." "Angel..." Wes started. "I don't want to hear it. She's not coming back. You told me." "For the first time in hours, Fred spoke. She had recently come downstairs after Angel went up to apologize immensely to her. "I don't think we should be afraid that she's not coming back. I think we should be afraid that Angel can." She said. "What?" Wes, Gunn and Angel replied in unison, equally confused. "Fred." Angel said, softly, "I will never ever hurt you again." "I know that. What I mean is...Cordelia is stuck as a vampire. And she knows that. But she also knows that Angel can be turned, and that Wolfram and Hart can do that..." "She's going to try and take Angel's soul again." Wes said, realization creeping across his face. Angel grabbed his leather duster. "I've got to get there before she does. You guys stay here and keep looking. Maybe we can revise the curse to fit her." Without another word, he walked out of the Hyperion, and into the night. ***** Lilah struggled to breathe under Cordelia's strong hand. The vampire had cornered her outside the office once more, and now had her pinned against the wall, a cold, manicured hand around her neck. "I don't know how to do it." She gasped. She could feel herself growing weaker. Cordelia's vamp face did not look amused. "You did it once." "No. I thought....I thought of the idea. I hired someone to do it." "Where can I find this person?" Lilah's eyes started to roll into the back of her head. Red was flooding her eyes and her vision was becoming foggy. "I don't know. She was a gypsy." Cordelia's grip loosened, but not much. "A gypsy?" "Yes, her name was-" "Cordelia!" Cordelia turned and saw Angel running towards her. She dropped Lilah in a heap on the cold concrete. "You better find this woman, or you'll find yourself dead." She hissed at her, before walking away and quickly turning a corner, into an alley out of sight. Angel hurried after her, but stopped in his tracks when he found the alley empty. "Cordelia!" He yelled, "I know you can hear me!" He looked around, trying to find any clue that she was once there. "Cordelia!" He growled and turned back towards the main street. From a balcony above, Cordelia watched him, amused. ***** Lilah felt her body being pulled up, and she blushed. This is the second time that security guard had saved her. Maybe she should send him her thanks. An orange or something. She looked up at her rescuer and grew afraid. "Angel!" She said and pushed him away from her. "Get away from me!" She yelled and reached into her purse and grabbed a cross. At least this time she had the chance to defend herself. Angel put his hands up in defense, but is expression was grim. "Where is Cordy going?" He demanded. "I don't know." Lilah retorted, still holding the cross at arms length. "Well, I need you to think." "It's none of my concern." Angel growled and pushed the cross away. He leaned in close so that he was inches from her face, and morphed into game face. "If she removes my soul, it will be your concern. So I suggest you think hard about where she may be going." "I told her about the gypsy. That took your soul the first time." "Gypsy, huh?" Angel growled again and pushed her away from him. "God, I hate gypsies." ***** "Shhhhhh..." Allison tried hard to get the young child in her arms to quite, but he continued screaming. As if that wasn't bad enough, someone began to ring her doorbell. "Maybe it's your auntie!" She told Connor excitedly. The sooner this kid left, the better. She placed him down on her couch and walked towards the door. "Yes?" She said as she opened the door. The young man looked at her with curious eyes. "Hello." He said with a defined British accent, "My names Wesley Wyndham-Price. Are you a friend of Cordelia's?" Allison was on the defensive immediately. Was this the dangerous father? He didn't look dangerous. He looked rather fluffy, to say the least. "Yes. I am." "Oh. Well," He produced a drivers license and a business card, "I work with Cordelia. She's asked that I pick up the baby." "I don't have the baby." Allison defended. Wes shot a glance to the baby toys on the floor. He knew Cordelia didn't have the baby at Wolfram and Hart, so she must have left him here. "I'm sorry, but I don't have time for games. If you look at my business card you'll see my name and hers. I am her coworker, and I've known her for years. Need more proof? Call our workplace, Angel Investigations, and speak to our employer himself." Allison gave him an uncertain look before disappearing for a moment, and returning with Connor. "Why, thank you miss. Cordy's asked that I pay you with this." He reached into his wallet and produced a 50 dollar bill. "Nice talking to you." He smiled at her before turning and walking down the steps to his car. Allison rolled her eyes and stuck the money in her pocket. Wes stared down at Connor as he hurried to his car. "Glad to see you, little man." He said, "Really glad to see you." ***** Cordelia smiled to herself as she approached her house. At least now she would be able to see Connor. Relax. She may be a vamp but she still knew how to pamper herself. She strolled up to Allison's doorway and rang the bell. Once. Twice. A minute later, Allison appeared, ragged and tired. "Yeah?" She said, hoping she didn't need to babysit. "I'm here for Connor." Cordelia said, casually. "....your friend already stopped by and picked him up." "My what?" "I-I thought you knew. He had an I.D. and everything and, oh gosh, that poor little baby, I'm so sorry. Oh gosh-" "What did he look like? Tall, dark, broody?" "No-no, he was tall. But not dark at all. Had a british accent and-" "Wesley!!!!" ***** Wes ran into the hotel and closed the doors firmly behind him. "Is he ok?" Fred asked as she ran to meet him. She scooped the baby out of Wesley's arms and smothered him with kisses. "Oh, I'm so glad you're back!" "Ouch!" Wes looked towards the door as Angel came in, looking at the cross burns on his hand. "I do hope those come off after this is all done." Angel murmured. He noticed Fred holding Connor and he ran to him, taking him gently out of Fred's arms and hugging his child to him. The sight and smell of Connor made him dizzy with relief. "How did it go at Wolfram and Hart?" Gunn asked. "Fred was right. She was there. Threatening Lilah Morgan to tell her how to take my soul again." "Well what happened?" "According to Lilah, she only knows that a gypsy did it. She doesn't know who." "We can't that chance. Angel...we have to find her. She will kill innocent people if we don't." "I know. I'm on it." "Do we have to kill her?" Fred asked, shyly. "I don't know." Wesley said, sadly. "No. We don't." Angel argued. "Angel, I care about Cordelia, too. I've known her for a long time and we have been working side by side for a while. I don't want to do this, but I will not be responsible for the deaths of innocent people. Of course it's hard on me, I love her just as much as you do." "There has to be some other...I know. We need to get her in here. As soon as possible. Gunn, get all the weapons we can use. Fred, take Connor upstairs somewhere and lock the door. Wes, I need your help. Tell Lorne I'm going to need him. I have an idea." ***** Cordelia sunk into her couch. She knew that Connor was at the Hyperion, but if she went to get him, Angel would get her. Her maternal instincts told her to forget Angel and go get him. But on the other hand, her survival instincts told her if she got Connor, she wouldn't be around long enough to get him home. Angel may not have the heart to stake her, but Gunn would, and maybe even Wes. She stood up and began walking towards the bedroom, but as soon as she took a first step, her door flew open, and in the doorway stood Angel. "What are you doing here?" Cordelia said, unphased by the dramatic entrance. "Hmm, I thought you'd be happy to see me." "Never." Angel took a step towards her and she took a few steps back. "Get out of here." She said, annoyed. "Please, Cordy. Come back with me. We can fix this." "I don't want to be fixed. Im stuck like this now. I can never go to the beach and I can't go to college, because of you. If I have to be a creature of the night I may as well act like one." "Cordelia. It doesn't have to be like that. Please." "Get out." "No." Cordelia let out a growl and lunged at him. She was a good fighter, but with vampire strength she was that much harder. She continued to throw punches and kicks, and Angel defended them. Cordelia attempted to knock him off his feet with a roundhouse kick, but Angel grabbed her leg, and threw her to the ground. Before she could get up or protest, he was on her. "We can do this the easy way, or the hard way." He said, trying to pin her down. She just growled at him. "Your choice." He said as he grabbed a vase off the coffee table and brought it down over her head. As Cordelia snoozed away, pieces from the vase began floating towards the garbage can. "Thanks Dennis." Angel said as he lifted Cordelia over his shoulder and began walking out the door. "I'll have her better soon...I hope." ***** "Everyone ready?" Angel asked as he walked into the hotel, Cordelia over his shoulder. "Ready as I'll ever be." Gunn said as he produced the chains. "We need to hurry. She'll be waking any moment." Angel took the chains from Gunn and walked upstairs. "God, I hope this works." ***** "Is this going to work?" Gunn asked. "Angel thinks so." Wes replied. "I hope it does but...they don't have the best giving reputation." "So tell me again why I have to danger myself with an angry vamp Cordy?" Lorne asked. "Angel needs you to get him to the Conduit." Wes explained for the third time, "From there, he's hoping he can talk them into giving her humanity back, or at least her soul." "And if it doesn't work?" "Well then," Gunn said, "Angel's pissed, and Cordelia's pissed, and I'm going on paid vacation." ***** "Im going to get you back to normal, Cordy." Angel said as he held Cordelia's hand. She was chained to his large bed in his room, looking awfully uncomfortable. "I'm going to work this out. I miss you." He turned attention to the opening door as Wes, Gunn and Lorne walked in. Gunn and Wes were equipped with stakes and crosses. It hurt Angel to have to take such extreme measures against Cordy. Especially since it was his fault. "You ready to go?" Lorne asked. Angel nodded. "Ok then. Let's get this party started, right?" ***** Angel stood in the bleak empty cave which held the Conduit. Why do you disturb us? "I need your help." Angel said, hopefully. You think you are worthy of our assistance? "Please. My seer. She's a vampire. She's not good to me like this. I need her human." That is your own fault. "I know... it was a spell." We need no excuses. You are the reason your seer is dead. We'll not bring her back. Leave. "I'll do anything. I need her back. I can't live without her." What are you willing to sacrifice for this vampryss? "Everything." ***** "Angel?" Cordelia stretched as she sat up in Angel's large bed. She didn't notice the crosses and chains on the floor. "Hi." Angel whispered. Cordelia looked at the chair next to the bed. He sat, staring at her. He looked relived and stressed at the same time. He had sent Wes, Gunn, and Lorne downstairs a while. He wanted to be alone with Cordelia when she woke up. "Angel, what's going on? What am I doing here? Why aren't I at home? How did I get here?" Angel smiled, relief shining through, but not masking his sadness. "I'm glad you're ok." He said simply. "What's wrong?" He smiled again, "Nothing. Just a long day." He stood and gave her a kiss on her forehead. She looked at him, confused. "I'll leave now and let you sleep." He started to walk towards the door. "Angel?" He said nothing as he turned around to face her. "Stay with me." Angel climbed into his bed with his Seer. Cordelia laid back down as Angel wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled him close to her. He breathed in her scent, her human scent and closed his eyes. "Angel, what's wrong?" Cordelia asked as she started drifting to sleep. "Nothing." Angel replied, "Nothing can possibly go wrong now." He didn't think he'd ever tell her. Maybe one day, far from now. He would tell her about the spell, and about how he turned her. He would tell her about their reign together and about how he got his soul back and how he brought her back to humanity. But... He would leave out the part about giving her his shanshu. How he gave up his humanity so that she would live...She didn't need to know that. ***** The End!!! Archive |