Title: Prisoner
Author: victoriamartynne
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Spoilers: Season Four
Summary: What if things had run different after Angel had seen Cordelia and Connor together?
She made no sound as the handcuffs were strapped around her bloody wrists. The blood was covering her, whether it was hers or not she wasn't sure. She was frogmarched past the crowd that had gathered and she lowered her head. A passing photographer took a picture, which she knew would end up being sold to the morning newspapers or appear on the television.
A hand was pressed on her head to lower her into the patrol car. The door was shut and the car cruised to the station. She was led into a room where she was strip searched and given a uniform to wear. Fingerprints and mug shots were taken. She was led down the hallway to the cells where she was locked up.
Cordelia Chase was a prisoner.
Angel stood on the rooftop watching. His son and his best friend, the woman he loved, together. He watched as they moved as one on the bed in a room on the building across from him. His heart broke and anger rose up within him at the same time. He spun, averting his eyes away from the scene that disgusted him and dropped off the building.
"Get the hell away from me!" Angel shouted at a hurt looking Cordelia.
"Angel, I don't understand, what's going on?" She asked confused, looking at the gang around her.
He came up closer until his face was in hers. "I saw what you did."
"What I did?"
"You screwed my son, you bitch!" He shouted in disgust.
Cordelia's face reddened in a blush, she had never blushed. She wished she could block out the gasps that came from Wes, Gunn, Fred and Lorne. "Angel, I."
"Shut up!" He interrupted with a snarl. "You were my best friend and I loved you. I understand that you were confused after being up in the higher realm and losing your memory but that no way gives you consent to screw my son, the boy you used to think of as a son! You disgust me! Gat the hell out of my hotel and out of my life! I never want to see you again Cordelia!"
Cordelia felt tears well up in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. His words had hurt her but most of all, he had called her Cordelia. She had never been Cordelia unless he was angry. Even when he was pissed off at her she was still Cordy or Cor. She blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall. She cast a look at her shocked and disappointed looking friends. With one last look at Angel, her best friend, her soul mate, she ran out of the hotel.
At first she'd lived in a refuge, claiming she had left her abusing husband. Then she'd started to work at a dingy café in the bad part of town. The little money she was paid gave her enough to pay rent at a seedy motel. It gave her no money for food or clothes.
She had nothing except the clothes she had walked out in and the few she'd been given at the refuge. Her uniform at the café consisted of a short black skirt, barely legal and a white shirt. They'd been given to her by one of the other waitresses who'd felt sorry for her.
A month after she'd started work there she got a vision. Although it was pain free it surprised her, after not getting one for so long, and caused her to drop a tray full of food.
Her boss fired her on the spot, refused to pay her for that night and demanded that she return the uniform the next day. Cordelia left in tears to walk back home when she realised that she needed to help the woman in the vision she'd received. She wiped her eyes and changed direction.
She realised after walking a block or so that walking in this part of the town at night probably wasn't a good idea. In the 'old days' she would have called a cab or just gotten Angel to sort it out. But that wasn't going to happen. Walking past a phone booth she got an idea. She pulled out the couple of coins she had in her purse and put them in the slot, dialling the familiar number.
Wesley answered. His voice was so comforting that it brought tears to her eyes and a sob caught in her throat. He said hello three times before she could talk. "There's a girl on Wilson and Fourth about to be attacked by a vampire. You've got thirty minutes." She hung up before he could say anything else.
She left the phone booth and began walking back to her motel, her arms wrapped around herself for warmth. She could see her breath in the night air. Waling past an alley a man jumped out at her and pulled her down. Instinctively she fount back against his strength, the demon in her allowing her to gain the upper hand. She didn't know whether he was human or not but her was strong. With one blow to the chest he fell to the floor. She turned around to see that a crowd had gathered at the end of the alley. One man was calling the police on his cell phone while people just stared in shock.
"He attacked me." She started to protest but stopped when she received cold glances.
Knowing what they thought and what was going to happen, she slid down the grimy wall to the floor where she sat shivering waiting for the inevitable to happen.
The cell was cold and the bed was hard. There were no blankets or even a pillow, just the hard mattress, if that's what you could call the piece of foam on the steel structure. She didn't sleep, she didn't do anything. She only thought. The man had been human and had died from a heart defect that he hadn't known he had, or so the police man had said when he'd brought her some water a couple of hours ago. She assumed that it would make it okay, it wasn't her fault. But the police man went on to say that he was a homeless man that stood on the corner of the block begging for food. He wouldn't hurt a fly. To rub salt in the wound he told her harshly that she could be charged with murder or manslaughter, depending on how the jury decided.
He left her alone to think about what he had told her.
The vampire in the vision was killed easily by Gunn. Fred stood by the sidelines with the woman it had attacked. Afterwards they drover her home and then went back home themselves.
"At least we know she's okay, right?" Fred said quietly as Gunn parked his truck outside the hotel.
"Right." He said and looked at her in the dark. "Look Fred, we can't change what happened. She screwed Connor. Angel's never gonna forgive her for that. She called and it sent him into brood mode again. The way I see it she should get on with her life and leave us alone."
"Charles!" Fred exclaimed, upset. "That's a terrible thing to say! Cordelia's our friend, our family. Everything's falling apart without her. She made a mistake and now she's paid for it."
He sighed. "I know, but there's no way Angel's gonna let her come back. The most we can hope for is that she keeps getting the visions and we can still keep contact with her and know that she'd okay. With a little luck eventually, when Angel forgives her, she can come back to us. Until then we need her to keep calling like that to know she's okay."
The trial took place two months after she was arrested. The jury was selected and Cordelia was sent in to give her statement. She was pale and thin. Her eyes were hollow and her skin was sallow. The highlights in her had grown out and overall it looked dull and lifeless. There was no makeup or nice clothes and the impression she gave as she gave her evidence was that of tough street kid. Witnesses gave their evidence and court was adjourned until they had made their verdict.
Cordelia was led back into the stand as the verdict was given.
"The case against the state versus Cordelia Chase." The juror said into the court.
"Have you reached a verdict?" The judge asked.
"Yes we have." The juror said and paused. "In the case versus the state against Cordelia Chase we had found the defendant not guilty against the charge of manslaughter and not guilty against the charge of murder."
Cordelia fainted in the stand.
"You're free to go."
Cordelia thought she had never heard words so pleasing. She took the small bag of belongings, her purse, her motel key and a few photographs that had been in her bag and left the police station.
Outside a hoard of reporters waited snapping their cameras and bombarding her with questions. She walked straight through them with her head held low. She'd walked a block when she realised a woman was walking a few feet behind her. "What do you want?"
"I thought that you might need a place to stay." The woman said kindly.
"And the catch?" Cordelia asked, shoving her hands in her pockets.
"That you grant me an interview on my show." The woman said bluntly, her eyes hardening.
"I don't want to do any interviews." Cordelia muttered and turned to keep walking.
"Look," The woman persisted. "You have no place to go. I know that. I researched you in the course of the trial. You can stop at my apartment for as long as you want for one interview on my news show."
Cordelia turned back towards her cautiously. A year ago she would have laughed at the offer and wouldn't have dreamed of taking up the offer. With nowhere to go and no money for somewhere to stay the offer looked appealing.
"Only on interview?"
"Only one." The woman promised and held out her hand.
Cordelia took it slowly. "Okay."
"What happened to her?" Angel asked stonily as he came downstairs.
Wes knew instantly who he was talking about. "Innocent on all charges."
He nodded but said nothing. Fred looked at Wes nervously. "That's good, isn't it Angel?"
He didn't reply.
"This will be your room." The woman said. Her name was Marcie Walsh and she worked for one of the most important news shows on television. Had Cordelia seen the show in the past two months she would have realised that the previous well known host, who she would have known, had been axed due to off screen drug problems and had been replaced by this young woman. Ratings on the show had never been higher and Marcie knew that the ratings for the only Cordelia Chase interview would be high. Publicity on the trial had been high due to the amount of witnesses who wanted their moment of fame who had given exaggerated stories to the press. At the end of the trial, she had been known as a drug crazed street kid, a tough hooker and a daughter of the mafia. All completely untrue but believable to readers and listeners. Now, when she didn't want it, Cordelia Chase was famous.
"Thanks." Cordelia said quietly.
"I put some of my clothes in the dresser for you." Marcie told her and then indicated that she should sit on the bed.
Cordelia did as she was told and watched as Marcie took on of the chairs by the window, facing her. "You will be on my show on Friday. I ask the questions and you answer, so you don't have to have a statement or anything prepared. There will be no other guests; the whole show is reserved for you. I don't know whether you realise it but your trial has become famous in LA. I took the liberty of taping some of the news programmes and reconstructions that appeared on the TV while you were in prison." She pointed to the TV in the corner of the room. "The tape is in if you want to watch."
Cordelia nodded. "Thank you for letting me stay here. I know it's because you want the interview and as soon as that is over I'll find a job and a motel and get out of your hair."
Marcie smiled. "I always do the best for my guests, I'll admit, I haven't let one of them stay here yet but there's a first time for everything, right? I'll organise everything for the show, clothes, times, transportation, things like that and let you know before Friday. You've got two days to rest and regain your strength before then."
Marcie stood up and squeezed Cordelia's shoulder before leaving her alone with the promise of milk and cake later on.
Cordelia laid her head on the pillow and before she'd realised it she was fast asleep.
"And tonight on News World we have Cordelia Chase, the wrongly accused victim in an assault that went terribly wrong." Marcie Walsh smiled into the camera.
Wes, Angel, Fred, Gunn and Lorne were crowded around the small television in Angel's office. Everyone except Angel were sat watching intently. Angel was sat with his feet propped up on the desk pretending to read a book.
Connor was sat in a café drinking a cup of coffee watching his former lover on a wide screen television. He'd tried to see her a couple of times in prison but the officers would never let him past.
"It's good to have you here Cordelia." Marcie smiled. "Tell us what happened that night Cordelia."
"Well," She began quietly. "I was walking down the street when he jumped of the alley at me. There was a struggle and I tried to get free. I hit him and he fell to the floor."
"And the coroner said he had a heart defect, is that right?"
She nodded. "He didn't know it. He was homeless and I guess he'd never been to see a doctor."
"What was it like in prison Cordelia?" Marcie asked and looked at Cordelia intently.
"It was scary, I mean, I'd never been involved with the law before and I was all alone and it shocked me." She spoke truthfully but timidly, not revealing too many details.
Marcie nodded. "Didn't your family come see you? Do you have family?"
Cordelia shook her head sadly and took a deep breath. "No, my family and I had a disagreement or sorts a few months back and we haven't spoken since."
"Was your family a big part of your life?"
She nodded and a tear fell down her cheek. The cameraman focused on this, although Cordelia didn't know. "I loved my family. I love my family. They were my life. Every waking moment was spent with them. They supported me and loved me and I miss them."
"Do you want to tell your family anything if they are watching?"
Angel looked up from the book that he was pretending to read.
She nodded and felt more tears begin to slide down her face. "That I'm sorry and that I love them. I don't expect anything from them; I don't even expect their love. I just, I just need them to know that I miss them and I think of them all the time."
Marcie smiled sympathetically. "How did you feel when the verdict was given?"
"I felt relieved because I didn't want to stay in prison and I didn't think I'd done anything wrong. But I felt a little scared because what if I had done something wrong and they had just misread the situation. A voice was running though my head saying that maybe I was guilty and that they had given the wrong verdict."
"It must have been a tough time." Marcie patted Cordelia's hand. "What are your plans now?"
Cordelia shrugged. "I don't know. I'll try and get a job and somewhere to live, so I can support myself, rebuild my life."
"Where did you work previously?"
"A detective agency."
Marcie looked surprised, even though she knew what Cordelia had done before from her research. "You were a detective?"
"No, I was a secretary stroke receptionist for a detective." Her eyes grew sad and Marcie noticed.
"Did you have a relationship with the detective?"
She nodded almost without thinking. "He was my best friend. I loved him."
"You were dating your boss?"
She shook her head. "No, I didn't mean it like that. When I spoke of my family earlier he was part of it. We all worked together at the agency."
"What agency would that be?"
"Angel Investigations." She said the name fondly.
"Did this agency help you out while you were in prison? Maybe try to find evidence to help your cause?"
She shook her head. "No, as I said earlier we'd had a disagreement earlier and we no longer kept in touch. They had no reason to help me."
"Did the thought that you may have killed a man enter into your mind at any point during the trial?"
"Of course it did. Every night I would lie there thinking that I had taken a life and that I deserved eternal punishment for it. I was ashamed and disappointed in myself."
"But you said earlier that you were acting in self defence?" Marcie looked confused into the camera.
"I guess I was, but it didn't matter. I'd taken a life and that was on my head. It was my fault. Without me he would be alive."
"But without you maybe he would have attacked some other innocent person who hadn't fought back. Maybe he would have succeeded in killing someone."
"I don't think of it like that." Cordelia replied.
Marcie smiled warmly at Cordelia and then into the camera. "Thank you Cordelia for talking to me tonight. On behalf of everyone here I wish you luck in the future."
She kissed Cordelia on the cheek and then the camera was off Cordelia so she could leave the set.
Cordelia found a job in a bar shortly after the interview so she was able to move out of Marcie's spare room and pay for a room in a small motel, not as dingy as the previous one but still not very good quality.
Her money mostly went on the room and she had not much left for anything else. She was still way too thin and had a dark look in her eyes. Marcie kept in touch with her for the first month but then gradually stopped calling. The newspapers finally stopped printing stories about her and the fame she'd gained through the trial had died down, leaving her to rebuild her life.
Three months after starting her new job she had a vision. She made her way to a phone box to dial the Angel Investigations number. This time Fred answered.
"Hello?" The young Texan said into the phone.
"There's a group of demons about to attack a couple of women in Hancock Park. You've got a couple of hours." She said quickly and was about to hang up.
"Wait!" Fred shouted desperately.
Something in the girl's voice made Cordelia pause.
"Cordy, please come home!" Fred blurted.
"I can't." Cordelia said quietly, eyeing the counter on the phone.
"Cordy, everyone's miserable without you."
"I can't." Cordelia repeated. "I have to go Fred, my money's running out."
"Meet me then, tomorrow at the diner? Twelve o clock? I'll come alone." Fred made one last attempt to talk to her.
"I don't know."
"Try!" Fred pleaded and then heard the click as Cordelia hung up.
She sighed and put down the phone.
"Who was that?" Angel asked as he walked past.
"My mom." Fred lied. "She's in town tomorrow and she wants to meet me around twelve, is that okay?"
He nodded.
Fred was waiting at the diner at eleven. At quarter past twelve she was ready to leave.
She finished her coffee and then looked up to see Cordelia stood in front of her, next to her table.
"Hi." She said surprised. "Sit down; I'll get us some coffee."
Cordelia sat while Fred ordered coffees from the hovering waitress. When she'd left Fred took a look at Cordelia. She looked awful. Her cheekbones stood out and her skin was pale. Her eyes were hollowed and her hair was limp. Fred would never have believed how bad she looked if she hadn't seen it herself.
"How are you?" Fred asked awkwardly.
Cordelia shrugged, even more awkwardly.
"Where are you living?"
"A motel east from here." " What about work? Are you working?"
Cordelia nodded. "A bar near my motel."
Fred looked nervous. "Is it safe? I mean, you're not doing anything wrong are you?"
Cordelia laughed bitterly. "You mean am I selling my body? Not yet."
Fred looked shocked. "Cordy, you can't! Look, you have to come home."
"You know as well as I do that I can't come home." Cordelia said sadly as she sipped the coffee the waitress had brought.
"What happened in prison Cordelia? Hell, how did you end up there?"
Cordelia looked upset. "I don't want to talk about it."
Fred looked angry. "Maybe you need to talk about it! Cordelia, I'm your friend. You left without saying goodbye or anything. We've seen the news you know. We saw the interview. We all did. Even Angel. He won't admit it but he misses you. It's been too long. The least you can do is make an effort!"
Cordelia started to cry. "The least I can do? Do you think I asked to be kicked out of my family by my best friend? Do you think I asked to be attacked by a homeless man and then put in prison because he happened to drop dead when I hit him? Do you think I enjoy working and living in such seedy places or like looking like I do? I never asked for any of this." Cordelia stood up and brushed away the tears on her cheeks angrily.
"Thanks for the coffee but in future leave me alone."
Before Fred could say anything she was gone. Running outside to see where she had gone did nothing, she'd disappeared.
Author: victoriamartynne
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Spoilers: Season Four
Summary: What if things had run different after Angel had seen Cordelia and Connor together?
She made no sound as the handcuffs were strapped around her bloody wrists. The blood was covering her, whether it was hers or not she wasn't sure. She was frogmarched past the crowd that had gathered and she lowered her head. A passing photographer took a picture, which she knew would end up being sold to the morning newspapers or appear on the television.
A hand was pressed on her head to lower her into the patrol car. The door was shut and the car cruised to the station. She was led into a room where she was strip searched and given a uniform to wear. Fingerprints and mug shots were taken. She was led down the hallway to the cells where she was locked up.
Cordelia Chase was a prisoner.
Angel stood on the rooftop watching. His son and his best friend, the woman he loved, together. He watched as they moved as one on the bed in a room on the building across from him. His heart broke and anger rose up within him at the same time. He spun, averting his eyes away from the scene that disgusted him and dropped off the building.
"Get the hell away from me!" Angel shouted at a hurt looking Cordelia.
"Angel, I don't understand, what's going on?" She asked confused, looking at the gang around her.
He came up closer until his face was in hers. "I saw what you did."
"What I did?"
"You screwed my son, you bitch!" He shouted in disgust.
Cordelia's face reddened in a blush, she had never blushed. She wished she could block out the gasps that came from Wes, Gunn, Fred and Lorne. "Angel, I."
"Shut up!" He interrupted with a snarl. "You were my best friend and I loved you. I understand that you were confused after being up in the higher realm and losing your memory but that no way gives you consent to screw my son, the boy you used to think of as a son! You disgust me! Gat the hell out of my hotel and out of my life! I never want to see you again Cordelia!"
Cordelia felt tears well up in her eyes but she refused to let them fall. His words had hurt her but most of all, he had called her Cordelia. She had never been Cordelia unless he was angry. Even when he was pissed off at her she was still Cordy or Cor. She blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall. She cast a look at her shocked and disappointed looking friends. With one last look at Angel, her best friend, her soul mate, she ran out of the hotel.
At first she'd lived in a refuge, claiming she had left her abusing husband. Then she'd started to work at a dingy café in the bad part of town. The little money she was paid gave her enough to pay rent at a seedy motel. It gave her no money for food or clothes.
She had nothing except the clothes she had walked out in and the few she'd been given at the refuge. Her uniform at the café consisted of a short black skirt, barely legal and a white shirt. They'd been given to her by one of the other waitresses who'd felt sorry for her.
A month after she'd started work there she got a vision. Although it was pain free it surprised her, after not getting one for so long, and caused her to drop a tray full of food.
Her boss fired her on the spot, refused to pay her for that night and demanded that she return the uniform the next day. Cordelia left in tears to walk back home when she realised that she needed to help the woman in the vision she'd received. She wiped her eyes and changed direction.
She realised after walking a block or so that walking in this part of the town at night probably wasn't a good idea. In the 'old days' she would have called a cab or just gotten Angel to sort it out. But that wasn't going to happen. Walking past a phone booth she got an idea. She pulled out the couple of coins she had in her purse and put them in the slot, dialling the familiar number.
Wesley answered. His voice was so comforting that it brought tears to her eyes and a sob caught in her throat. He said hello three times before she could talk. "There's a girl on Wilson and Fourth about to be attacked by a vampire. You've got thirty minutes." She hung up before he could say anything else.
She left the phone booth and began walking back to her motel, her arms wrapped around herself for warmth. She could see her breath in the night air. Waling past an alley a man jumped out at her and pulled her down. Instinctively she fount back against his strength, the demon in her allowing her to gain the upper hand. She didn't know whether he was human or not but her was strong. With one blow to the chest he fell to the floor. She turned around to see that a crowd had gathered at the end of the alley. One man was calling the police on his cell phone while people just stared in shock.
"He attacked me." She started to protest but stopped when she received cold glances.
Knowing what they thought and what was going to happen, she slid down the grimy wall to the floor where she sat shivering waiting for the inevitable to happen.
The cell was cold and the bed was hard. There were no blankets or even a pillow, just the hard mattress, if that's what you could call the piece of foam on the steel structure. She didn't sleep, she didn't do anything. She only thought. The man had been human and had died from a heart defect that he hadn't known he had, or so the police man had said when he'd brought her some water a couple of hours ago. She assumed that it would make it okay, it wasn't her fault. But the police man went on to say that he was a homeless man that stood on the corner of the block begging for food. He wouldn't hurt a fly. To rub salt in the wound he told her harshly that she could be charged with murder or manslaughter, depending on how the jury decided.
He left her alone to think about what he had told her.
The vampire in the vision was killed easily by Gunn. Fred stood by the sidelines with the woman it had attacked. Afterwards they drover her home and then went back home themselves.
"At least we know she's okay, right?" Fred said quietly as Gunn parked his truck outside the hotel.
"Right." He said and looked at her in the dark. "Look Fred, we can't change what happened. She screwed Connor. Angel's never gonna forgive her for that. She called and it sent him into brood mode again. The way I see it she should get on with her life and leave us alone."
"Charles!" Fred exclaimed, upset. "That's a terrible thing to say! Cordelia's our friend, our family. Everything's falling apart without her. She made a mistake and now she's paid for it."
He sighed. "I know, but there's no way Angel's gonna let her come back. The most we can hope for is that she keeps getting the visions and we can still keep contact with her and know that she'd okay. With a little luck eventually, when Angel forgives her, she can come back to us. Until then we need her to keep calling like that to know she's okay."
The trial took place two months after she was arrested. The jury was selected and Cordelia was sent in to give her statement. She was pale and thin. Her eyes were hollow and her skin was sallow. The highlights in her had grown out and overall it looked dull and lifeless. There was no makeup or nice clothes and the impression she gave as she gave her evidence was that of tough street kid. Witnesses gave their evidence and court was adjourned until they had made their verdict.
Cordelia was led back into the stand as the verdict was given.
"The case against the state versus Cordelia Chase." The juror said into the court.
"Have you reached a verdict?" The judge asked.
"Yes we have." The juror said and paused. "In the case versus the state against Cordelia Chase we had found the defendant not guilty against the charge of manslaughter and not guilty against the charge of murder."
Cordelia fainted in the stand.
"You're free to go."
Cordelia thought she had never heard words so pleasing. She took the small bag of belongings, her purse, her motel key and a few photographs that had been in her bag and left the police station.
Outside a hoard of reporters waited snapping their cameras and bombarding her with questions. She walked straight through them with her head held low. She'd walked a block when she realised a woman was walking a few feet behind her. "What do you want?"
"I thought that you might need a place to stay." The woman said kindly.
"And the catch?" Cordelia asked, shoving her hands in her pockets.
"That you grant me an interview on my show." The woman said bluntly, her eyes hardening.
"I don't want to do any interviews." Cordelia muttered and turned to keep walking.
"Look," The woman persisted. "You have no place to go. I know that. I researched you in the course of the trial. You can stop at my apartment for as long as you want for one interview on my news show."
Cordelia turned back towards her cautiously. A year ago she would have laughed at the offer and wouldn't have dreamed of taking up the offer. With nowhere to go and no money for somewhere to stay the offer looked appealing.
"Only on interview?"
"Only one." The woman promised and held out her hand.
Cordelia took it slowly. "Okay."
"What happened to her?" Angel asked stonily as he came downstairs.
Wes knew instantly who he was talking about. "Innocent on all charges."
He nodded but said nothing. Fred looked at Wes nervously. "That's good, isn't it Angel?"
He didn't reply.
"This will be your room." The woman said. Her name was Marcie Walsh and she worked for one of the most important news shows on television. Had Cordelia seen the show in the past two months she would have realised that the previous well known host, who she would have known, had been axed due to off screen drug problems and had been replaced by this young woman. Ratings on the show had never been higher and Marcie knew that the ratings for the only Cordelia Chase interview would be high. Publicity on the trial had been high due to the amount of witnesses who wanted their moment of fame who had given exaggerated stories to the press. At the end of the trial, she had been known as a drug crazed street kid, a tough hooker and a daughter of the mafia. All completely untrue but believable to readers and listeners. Now, when she didn't want it, Cordelia Chase was famous.
"Thanks." Cordelia said quietly.
"I put some of my clothes in the dresser for you." Marcie told her and then indicated that she should sit on the bed.
Cordelia did as she was told and watched as Marcie took on of the chairs by the window, facing her. "You will be on my show on Friday. I ask the questions and you answer, so you don't have to have a statement or anything prepared. There will be no other guests; the whole show is reserved for you. I don't know whether you realise it but your trial has become famous in LA. I took the liberty of taping some of the news programmes and reconstructions that appeared on the TV while you were in prison." She pointed to the TV in the corner of the room. "The tape is in if you want to watch."
Cordelia nodded. "Thank you for letting me stay here. I know it's because you want the interview and as soon as that is over I'll find a job and a motel and get out of your hair."
Marcie smiled. "I always do the best for my guests, I'll admit, I haven't let one of them stay here yet but there's a first time for everything, right? I'll organise everything for the show, clothes, times, transportation, things like that and let you know before Friday. You've got two days to rest and regain your strength before then."
Marcie stood up and squeezed Cordelia's shoulder before leaving her alone with the promise of milk and cake later on.
Cordelia laid her head on the pillow and before she'd realised it she was fast asleep.
"And tonight on News World we have Cordelia Chase, the wrongly accused victim in an assault that went terribly wrong." Marcie Walsh smiled into the camera.
Wes, Angel, Fred, Gunn and Lorne were crowded around the small television in Angel's office. Everyone except Angel were sat watching intently. Angel was sat with his feet propped up on the desk pretending to read a book.
Connor was sat in a café drinking a cup of coffee watching his former lover on a wide screen television. He'd tried to see her a couple of times in prison but the officers would never let him past.
"It's good to have you here Cordelia." Marcie smiled. "Tell us what happened that night Cordelia."
"Well," She began quietly. "I was walking down the street when he jumped of the alley at me. There was a struggle and I tried to get free. I hit him and he fell to the floor."
"And the coroner said he had a heart defect, is that right?"
She nodded. "He didn't know it. He was homeless and I guess he'd never been to see a doctor."
"What was it like in prison Cordelia?" Marcie asked and looked at Cordelia intently.
"It was scary, I mean, I'd never been involved with the law before and I was all alone and it shocked me." She spoke truthfully but timidly, not revealing too many details.
Marcie nodded. "Didn't your family come see you? Do you have family?"
Cordelia shook her head sadly and took a deep breath. "No, my family and I had a disagreement or sorts a few months back and we haven't spoken since."
"Was your family a big part of your life?"
She nodded and a tear fell down her cheek. The cameraman focused on this, although Cordelia didn't know. "I loved my family. I love my family. They were my life. Every waking moment was spent with them. They supported me and loved me and I miss them."
"Do you want to tell your family anything if they are watching?"
Angel looked up from the book that he was pretending to read.
She nodded and felt more tears begin to slide down her face. "That I'm sorry and that I love them. I don't expect anything from them; I don't even expect their love. I just, I just need them to know that I miss them and I think of them all the time."
Marcie smiled sympathetically. "How did you feel when the verdict was given?"
"I felt relieved because I didn't want to stay in prison and I didn't think I'd done anything wrong. But I felt a little scared because what if I had done something wrong and they had just misread the situation. A voice was running though my head saying that maybe I was guilty and that they had given the wrong verdict."
"It must have been a tough time." Marcie patted Cordelia's hand. "What are your plans now?"
Cordelia shrugged. "I don't know. I'll try and get a job and somewhere to live, so I can support myself, rebuild my life."
"Where did you work previously?"
"A detective agency."
Marcie looked surprised, even though she knew what Cordelia had done before from her research. "You were a detective?"
"No, I was a secretary stroke receptionist for a detective." Her eyes grew sad and Marcie noticed.
"Did you have a relationship with the detective?"
She nodded almost without thinking. "He was my best friend. I loved him."
"You were dating your boss?"
She shook her head. "No, I didn't mean it like that. When I spoke of my family earlier he was part of it. We all worked together at the agency."
"What agency would that be?"
"Angel Investigations." She said the name fondly.
"Did this agency help you out while you were in prison? Maybe try to find evidence to help your cause?"
She shook her head. "No, as I said earlier we'd had a disagreement earlier and we no longer kept in touch. They had no reason to help me."
"Did the thought that you may have killed a man enter into your mind at any point during the trial?"
"Of course it did. Every night I would lie there thinking that I had taken a life and that I deserved eternal punishment for it. I was ashamed and disappointed in myself."
"But you said earlier that you were acting in self defence?" Marcie looked confused into the camera.
"I guess I was, but it didn't matter. I'd taken a life and that was on my head. It was my fault. Without me he would be alive."
"But without you maybe he would have attacked some other innocent person who hadn't fought back. Maybe he would have succeeded in killing someone."
"I don't think of it like that." Cordelia replied.
Marcie smiled warmly at Cordelia and then into the camera. "Thank you Cordelia for talking to me tonight. On behalf of everyone here I wish you luck in the future."
She kissed Cordelia on the cheek and then the camera was off Cordelia so she could leave the set.
Cordelia found a job in a bar shortly after the interview so she was able to move out of Marcie's spare room and pay for a room in a small motel, not as dingy as the previous one but still not very good quality.
Her money mostly went on the room and she had not much left for anything else. She was still way too thin and had a dark look in her eyes. Marcie kept in touch with her for the first month but then gradually stopped calling. The newspapers finally stopped printing stories about her and the fame she'd gained through the trial had died down, leaving her to rebuild her life.
Three months after starting her new job she had a vision. She made her way to a phone box to dial the Angel Investigations number. This time Fred answered.
"Hello?" The young Texan said into the phone.
"There's a group of demons about to attack a couple of women in Hancock Park. You've got a couple of hours." She said quickly and was about to hang up.
"Wait!" Fred shouted desperately.
Something in the girl's voice made Cordelia pause.
"Cordy, please come home!" Fred blurted.
"I can't." Cordelia said quietly, eyeing the counter on the phone.
"Cordy, everyone's miserable without you."
"I can't." Cordelia repeated. "I have to go Fred, my money's running out."
"Meet me then, tomorrow at the diner? Twelve o clock? I'll come alone." Fred made one last attempt to talk to her.
"I don't know."
"Try!" Fred pleaded and then heard the click as Cordelia hung up.
She sighed and put down the phone.
"Who was that?" Angel asked as he walked past.
"My mom." Fred lied. "She's in town tomorrow and she wants to meet me around twelve, is that okay?"
He nodded.
Fred was waiting at the diner at eleven. At quarter past twelve she was ready to leave.
She finished her coffee and then looked up to see Cordelia stood in front of her, next to her table.
"Hi." She said surprised. "Sit down; I'll get us some coffee."
Cordelia sat while Fred ordered coffees from the hovering waitress. When she'd left Fred took a look at Cordelia. She looked awful. Her cheekbones stood out and her skin was pale. Her eyes were hollowed and her hair was limp. Fred would never have believed how bad she looked if she hadn't seen it herself.
"How are you?" Fred asked awkwardly.
Cordelia shrugged, even more awkwardly.
"Where are you living?"
"A motel east from here." " What about work? Are you working?"
Cordelia nodded. "A bar near my motel."
Fred looked nervous. "Is it safe? I mean, you're not doing anything wrong are you?"
Cordelia laughed bitterly. "You mean am I selling my body? Not yet."
Fred looked shocked. "Cordy, you can't! Look, you have to come home."
"You know as well as I do that I can't come home." Cordelia said sadly as she sipped the coffee the waitress had brought.
"What happened in prison Cordelia? Hell, how did you end up there?"
Cordelia looked upset. "I don't want to talk about it."
Fred looked angry. "Maybe you need to talk about it! Cordelia, I'm your friend. You left without saying goodbye or anything. We've seen the news you know. We saw the interview. We all did. Even Angel. He won't admit it but he misses you. It's been too long. The least you can do is make an effort!"
Cordelia started to cry. "The least I can do? Do you think I asked to be kicked out of my family by my best friend? Do you think I asked to be attacked by a homeless man and then put in prison because he happened to drop dead when I hit him? Do you think I enjoy working and living in such seedy places or like looking like I do? I never asked for any of this." Cordelia stood up and brushed away the tears on her cheeks angrily.
"Thanks for the coffee but in future leave me alone."
Before Fred could say anything she was gone. Running outside to see where she had gone did nothing, she'd disappeared.