Simple Twist of Fate

Disclaimer: Eve, Cordelia, the rest of the Angel cast and events are all brought to us by the magnificent minds of Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt. They alone carry the rights to use these characters. I'm just stealing for the sole purpose of writing this fic.

Author's Note: Another random couple involving Cordelia. For you, Karma-mommy. Told you I could (and would) eventually do this.

Eve stood outside Cordelia's hospital room at Wolfram and Hart, her hands twisting together nervously as she could not gather herself to go in there. Surely if the other woman knew why she wanted to go in, she would protest immediately, but she was in a coma. She had no idea of where she was, or that Eve even existed.

Eve let out a painful sigh. Love could be so cruel at times. Did she want to have affections for the comatose woman? No, it was honestly not her intention. She had things all laid out when she had accepted this job. She was the liaison to the Senior Partners. She would liaise and in exchange, she would be immortal. But all that changed the second Angel came to power.

Under the conditions of which Angel accepted the offer, his friend Cordelia was to be given full and proper care while in her coma. The medical wing at Wolfram and Hart had done their best to provide that. She had all the necessary medicines, foods, and beauty care. Despite being in a coma for over two months, Cordelia had never looked more radiant in Eve's eyes. The moment Eve had set her eyes on the woman, she knew there was something special about her.

She would try to block it out of her mind. She would try to think of a guy, any guy. But every time she had a nice image of a man, it dissolved into nothing and Cordelia's face came rushing back to mind. Shortly after, Eve found herself caring that the woman was getting proper care. Cordelia never did anything, just lay there peacefully. It pained Eve to see her like that. She knew Cordelia was a fighter. She should be off fighting, not lying in a vegetative coma for the rest of her life.

Eve finally gathered her nerve and placed one thin, pale hand on the cold, metal doorknob. She twisted it slowly then pushed it open gently. Luckily there was no staff worker in there at the time. She walked over towards the woman, carefully holding Cordelia's non medicine-receiving hand and held it in hers. "Why is it always the good ones?" she whispered. "I could have made you happy. I went to UC Santa Cruz; I know all the sex tricks out there."

She brought her perfectly manicured fingers towards Cordelia's face and gently stroked the woman's cheek. It was so soft, so perfect. Eve frowned, knowing that Cordelia was still not awake. She did not even know if the woman was ever going to wake up. But every day she would come by her room just in case. One of these days she had to wake up. She just had to, Eve told herself.

She leaned over slightly, positioning her head above Cordelia's. She closed her eyes then carefully moved closer, her lips just barely touching Cordelia's for a moment. She kissed her twice but got no change. "Come on, Sleeping Beauty," she whispered as she kissed Cordelia's forehead. She stood up tragically, wondering why she tried. Nothing ever happened. There was no change.

Until now, that is.

Cordelia's brown eyes began fluttering open. The brunette looked at her surroundings, wondering what on earth was going on. She was not in the meat factory place she had been when someone possessed her to give birth to itself. Instead she was in what appeared to be a hospital room and there was a thin, young woman standing at the bed next to her.