Welcome to the Hellmouth/Harvest

Cordelia's whole body was shaking as she ran out of the Bronze that night. She just wanted somewhere she could curl up and cry before she had to trek across town to her home. She turned into an alley and crouched down behind a dumpster, head buried in her knees as her body shook with sobs.

Angel looked down at the crying girl who had shot into his hiding spot. "Miss?"

Amber eyes shot up to meet his, "Oh, god," Cordelia moaned, pushing herself away from him, "please don't hurt me."

Angel crouched down, sure not to make any movements toward her, in case she felt even more threatened. "It's okay, I'm not going to hurt you," he assured her softly.

"How do I know? What if you change like he did? I never thought he would hurt me, but he almost– Oh, god." Cordelia cut herself off as the reality of what almost happened sunk in. She hugged her knees to her chest, shaking.

Angel slipped out of his jacket, offering it to her. "Here, you look cold."

Cordelia looked up at him and hesitantly reached out for the jacket. Wrapping it around her shoulders, she muttered her thanks.

They stayed silent for a minute, before Cordelia spoke again. "Cordelia" she offered. When he looked at her confused, she sighed. "My name. Cordelia Chase."

"It's nice to meet you, Cordelia Chase. I'm Angel." he responded with a small smile as he sat down in front of her.

"Angel what?" she asked.

"Just Angel."

"I don't trust people with one name. It's always a lie." Cordelia accused him. "What's your real name, 'Angel'?" she asked, complete with sarcastic quote marks.

Angel stared at the girl wonderingly. "My name was Liam O'Connell. I haven't gone by that name in years."

Cordelia snorted at the funny name. "I can see why."

Angle responded defensively, "I'll have you know that Liam is a perfectly respectable name."

"Uh-huh," Cordelia agreed insincerely. "Perfectly respectable."

Angel almost growled at the insolent little girl, but with a look into her sparkling teasing eyes, he felt a smile twitch at his lips.

"What do you say we get up off the ground?" he asked instead.

Cordelia looked around, realizing that she was sitting in a disgusting alley. "Yeah," she agreed, reaching for the hand he offered her.

Angel pulled her up easily, steadying her as she got to her feet.

"Thanks."

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yeah. Moment of weakness brought on by an old schoolmate turning into a monster and trying to rape me. I mean you hear things about this town and people missing but… I remember one night, Harmony and I ran into this big green scaly thing, and the next day, she starts babbling about the costumed freak we ran into. I played along, because really, who wants to sound crazy?" she shrugged.

"You're not crazy." Angel assured her.

"Well, duh." Cordelia snorted. "That was never the question."

Angel smiled at the young girl before shuffling his feet awkwardly.

Cordelia glanced down at the thin silver watch adorning her wrist. "Well, my night has been ruined by– what were those anyways?"

"Vampires."

"Vampires, right. Like sunlight, garlic and crosses?" she asked.

"Garlic is a myth, but yes."

"Huh," Cordelia said considering. "They popular here?"

"Pretty much," Angel answered sadly.

"Right, I'll need to do some shopping then."

"Shopping?" he asked confused.

"Hello? Crosses. I'll have to find some that fit in with my wardrobe. Hey, what about holy water?"

"Burns." Angel answered shortly, unable to follow her train of thought.

"Great! So if I just add some to my perfume, no vampires will be able to get at my throat."

"I guess." Angel answered slowly.

Cordelia nodded, making a mental note, before looking at her watch again.

"As I was saying," she glared at Angel, as though it was his fault he got her off topic. "My night has been ruined, and I might as well go home now."

"Right." Angel answered. He noticed her looking at him impatiently and asked awkwardly, "What?"

She raised an eyebrow, "Aren't you going to offer to walk me home?"

"Me?" Angel asked.

"Yeah. You seem to know about these Vampires and all, so obviously you'll be able to protect me."

"Um, I don't think–" Angel paused when the second eyebrow rose. "Which way?" he asked meekly.

Cordelia grinned brightly, grabbing his arm to steer him out of the ally and toward her house.

When they finally reached the Chase residence, it was all Angel could do not to sigh in relief. The girl had been talking of High school dramas practically the entire way, and he didn't really want to hear any more about Harmony's shoes or Aura's broom closet hook-ups.

"Well, thank you, Angel." Cordelia said as they reached her door. "Will I see you around?"

"Maybe." Angel answered with a small smile.

"Well, if you're looking to save anyone, I'll be at the Bronze again tomorrow night." Cordelia offered.

"I'll keep that in mind." Angel answered.

Cordelia smiled brightly as she opened the door. She moved to go inside, before running back to Angel, leaning up to brush a quick kiss against his lips. "Thank you, my Angel," she whispered before disappearing behind the closed door.

END