Summary: Cordelia never becomes a 'higher being'. She and Angel tell each other that they love one another, and their relationship only grows stronger. But will all that be lost after something terrible happens to Cordelia?

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Rating: R

She whimpered and winced while gently draping her jacket over her battered shoulder.

She felt cold.

Not a snowy day cold, or a sudden temperature drop cold. No, this was an empty cold. It was the feeling of nothingness, your dignity shattered into pieces kind of cold.

Her legs were numb and bruised, her eye and lips swollen, her forehead caked with dried blood. She was still shaking with fear, wincing at even the slightest sound. She had tried to get away, oh God she tried.

And they laughed.

She fought and squirmed underneath them with all her might, but there they stood, those monsters, grinning. They gagged her and tied her with rough pieces of rope; she had the marks on her ankles and wrists to prove it.

She screamed and kicked but they pinned her down, and she pleaded. She begged until all she could do was close her eyes and pray.

And then it was over.

She began to feel slightly dizzy and reached down to feel her bleeding hip. It was from an attempt to escape them, a huge gash from scraping against the dumpster. So much blood lost, enough to make her head spin.

She wept in the alley until the first rays of the sun began to dance upon the ground beside her. She wept until the arm of her jacket was drenched in blood. Then somehow, she stood up with the support of the brick wall, and stumbled down the deserted alleyway.

Cordelia woke up at her apartment, collapsed on her floor. She hadn't even made it to her room. Dennis had kindly surrounded her with pillows and tended to her bleeding arm and side. Bandages floated near her, along with bags of ice on her legs.

She suddenly felt violated.

"Please Dennis…just don't touch me." She whispered softly.

And with that she half crawled to her room and into her bed, Dennis politely closing the door behind her. He could hear her cry into her pillow from the hallway and he knew only too well what had happened.

What have they done to her? He thought. His poor Cordelia.

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