Someone To Watch Over Me
Spoilers- Early S3 before Birthday
Disclaimer- Joss owns all; I own university debt.
Note- this is set somewhere after Billy but before Birthday.
Note2- Dennis gets so little airtime, I felt a little sorry for him.
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Cordelia riffled through her bag, searching for her keys. Her head throbbed; with a stifled groan she put a hand to her head, giving up the search for the keys. Cordelia slumped against the front door and slapped her hand weakly against the wood of the door.
"Dennis. Dennis, let me in, please." Cordelia begged, her voice hoarse.
The door opened slowly and Cordelia stumbled in, wincing at the harsh lights in the lounge room. "Too bright, Dennis, please," she cried, one hand over her eyes.
The lights immediately dimmed and Cordelia breathed a sigh of relief. A hand clamped to her throbbing head Cordelia slowly made her way to the couch. She tripped over her own feet and nearly fell to the ground before Dennis could catch her. He helped her over to the couch and sat her down.
Cordelia leaned back, her head lolling against the top of the couch. "Dennis, I don't know how much longer I can last. The visions are just getting worse."
Dennis moved quickly into the bathroom and pulled out a half-empty bottle of painkillers and filled a glass with water. Dennis quickly took them out to the pain-racked seer.
"Thanks, Dennis." Cordelia quickly swallowed the pills, nearly gagging as they partially dissolved in her mouth.
Dennis brushed the hair away from her face, trailing a hand down her cheek. Cordelia smiled and leaned towards the coolness she always felt when Phantom Dennis was near. Dennis moved his hand away.
Cordelia frowned. "Cold feels good," she complained.
Dennis gave a ghostly sigh and placed his back on her forehead.
"Hmmm." Cordelia leaned into the cold, a relieved smile on her face. "Thanks, Dennis. I don't know what I'd do without you." Cordelia sighed and snuggled against the side of the couch.
Dennis waited until her breathing became even and he was sure she was asleep. Quietly he pulled the knitted blanket off the back of the couch and draped it over the sleeping Cordelia. He put the bottle and the glass back in the bathroom before coming to sit on the coffee table in front of her.
He watch her as she slept, her tense form slowing relaxing as the pain, which had been dulled by the painkillers, gradually ebbed away. She was strong, and yeah she wouldn't hesitate to complain about certain things but when it came to the big things like her visions, she'd remain mum.
Dennis chuckled to himself. His mother would hater her, she probably already did considering. Cordy was the strong, self-assured type of woman that drove his mother crazy. Cordelia reminded him a bit of his fiancée. That was possibly why she tried so hard to kill Cordelia. They both had the same aura about them, and the way they could make practically everyone love them.
Dennis had fallen in love with his fiancée the moment he saw her; it had been practically the same with Cordy, the very moment she released him from the prison his mother had put him in he loved her. Cordelia had a way of making everyone love her. Even when Angel and Wesley would get angry or exasperated with her, or when she and Gunn would start throwing insults at each other, there was still something in their eyes that told everyone who cared to look that they loved her.
Cordelia shuddered with pain in her sleep. Dennis pushed her hair behind her ear. If he wasn't so sure that Cordelia would give him hell Dennis would have told Wesley, Angel or Gunn about the aftermaths of the visions. He knew that Cordelia would smile bravely and send them off to save the day, never letting them know that each vision was slowly and painfully killing her. It was only when she got home that she would break down and sob from the stabbing pain that plagued her after each vision. She had made him swear on pain of 'Evita' and exorcism that he wouldn't tell anyone at A.I., and because he loved her, and because he couldn't actually speak, he had condemned himself to remain silent and watch her suffer.
Dennis sighed, although he was dead, without a solid form and invisible, these last few years had made him happier then he had been for most of his living years.
Cordelia said that she didn't know what she would do without him; well he didn't even want to think about what he would do without her.
But there was nothing he could do that would help her. He just had to sit and watch her deteriorate day after day, vision after vision. All he could do was hope and pray. Dennis would always be there to watch over her. It was the least he could do. He loved her. Cordelia. His savior.