A/N: Dear Fellow Readers,
I do NOT own either the song Almost Lover by A Fine Frenzy or the Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel series created by Joss Whedon. Although I wish I did...oh well...ENJOY!
-Flower Child
Your fingertips across my skin
The palm trees swaying in the wind
Images
Doyle's POV
Skip, the PTB's demon guide, was telling me that my time was done on earth and the Powers wanted me to be a higher being and of course I had accepted with no hesitation. Just as we were about to cross over so I could be in peace forever, Skip stopped in his tracks and I looked up at him completely confused. I was so close to peace that the light was beaming down from heaven, waiting for me.
"It seems as if the PTB have a different plan for you, Doyle." Skip said to me.
"What do you mean?" I questioned, hoping he would tell me.
"I-I can't tell you. The only thing I can say is that you have some unfinished business to attend to."
Just then, I felt as if I was going backwards on a roller coaster but I was standing straight up. It looked that way too. The scenery flew past me. Skip was no longer near me. I thought that I heard myself screaming but it could simply just be a figure of my wild imagination. I had no idea what was going on. I was thrown in front of an extremely familiar building and a man who was walking by stepped on my leg. I was about to yell at the guy until I realized that I didn't feel it at all. I only knew that he stepped on me because I saw it happen. Instead, his foot went right through me.
"This can't be good…" I said to myself.
I was sent back to Angel Investigations and this time the PTB decided to send me back as a ghost.
You sang me Spanish lullbies
The sweetest sadness in your eyes
Clever trick
Angel's POV
I walked up from my apartment to the Angel Investigations office. I found Cordelia picking up each of the many coffee mugs one by one and closely looked at each of them before setting them back down again. I had no idea what she was doing.
"Cordelia, what are you doing?" I asked.
"Nothing." she quickly answered and I knew she was lying. Cordelia immediately added, "Looking for Doyle's special coffee mug."
"Doyle didn't have a special mug."
"Don't you think he should have?"
Well, I never want to see you unhappy
I thought you'd want the same for me
Cordelia's POV
Both Angel and I heard the front door open then close once again. We both glanced up at the door and when we saw that nobody had walked through it, returned to what we were doing. A part of me expected to see Doyle walk through that door and the other part of me was saying that he will never ever return no matter how badly I wanted him to, just to see him once again.
I looked at Angel completely confused and he just shrugged. I went to my desk and attempted to organize it as best as I possibly could considering how messy it was.
I could have sworn that I felt something or someone run something across my cheek. In the same instant that I felt it, it went away, giving me a cold chill. Then, I thought that I heard a noise kind of like somebody who had previously lost their voice was trying to yell out something to me. When I could no longer hear the noise, I thought that it was simply my mind playing tricks on me once again so I acted as if it never happened.
Goodbye, my almost lover
Goodbye, my hopeless dreams
I'm trying not to think about you
Can't you just let me be?
So long, my luckless romance
My back is turned on you
Should've known you'd bring me heartache
Almost lovers always do
Doyle's POV
"Princess!" I yelled out as loud as I possibly could to Cordelia after I had discovered that nobody could hear me. Not even Angel with his super sensitive vampire hearing.
Even though I was standing right next to Cordelia, she still couldn't hear me calling for her; not even a little bit. Cordelia just continued on with her organizing but I knew just by the way she looked that she was depressed and having troubles adjusting.
Then I thought, "If I can touch solid objects, maybe I can touch Cordelia."
I tried to touch Cordelia's left shoulder but my hand went right through her. I sighed in disappointment and decided to try once again. This time, I focused as hard as I could to be able to touch her just this once. I ran my fingers across her cheek which gave her a cold chill. I was able to touch her for just that short moment until my attention was diverted to the door to see who walked in just now.
"PRINCESS!" I yelled at the top of my lungs once again just to see if that made any difference. For a minute, I thought she heard me but to my disappointment, she didn't and stood in the office, arms crossed over her chest as she looked at the demon standing in the office. The demon that was standing just inside the doorway turned out to be an empathy demon that looked like he had a bad case of the chicken pox.
"Well isn't this just-wait. Empath demon? Maybe he can read ghost emotions as well." I realized as I threw the emotions I was feeling at him, hoping that he could read them.
The demon stopped in mid-sentence as I threw as many emotions at him as I could and he said, "Disappointment…Love…Despair…Hurt…Need…Frustration…Want…Confusion..." matching every one of my emotions as I smiled.
"Doyle." Cordelia and Angel said together.
"Hallelujah!" I shouted.
"That's impossible." Angel stated.
"Dammit." I mumbled.
"Well somebody here is throwing out those emotions." the demon said.
We walked along a crowded street
You took my hand and danced with me
Images
Cordelia's POV
After a long day at work with a vampire and a 'rouge demon hunter' who was actually scared of everything , all I wanted to do was to go back to my apartment and relax and maybe chat with Dennis for awhile. The trip to my apartment seemed longer than usual. When I finally walked in, I grabbed a can of root beer. I stood in my kitchen for a moment to let off some steam…
"I hate you, Doyle! Why did you give me your visions? Ugh!" I shouted even though I knew he probably wasn't listening in heaven.
I gripped the counter in frustration as a few tears fell from my eyes. I walked in my living room, grabbing a pen and a notebook on my way, and sat down on my couch. Dennis opened my root beer for me and I began to write a letter. A letter to Doyle.
Dear Doyle,
Angel says that writing might help with easing my emotional pain a little bit but there's a part of me that doesn't believe him at all. I am trying so unbelievably hard to understand everything that has been going on around me but maybe if you could just explain it all to me, then it might start making some kind of sense to me. Wesley tells me that talking about that night will help but even just thinking about talking to Angel and Wesley about the night that you perished before my eyes just makes my pain even worse. Or maybe I'm just simply confusing my emotional pain with the physical pain in my head. Oh and thank you very much for those skull cracking visions by the way! I don't know how you put up with these oh-so-lovely visions from the Powers That Be for as long as you did. Well there is one thing that I kept to myself after I broke it off with my totally geeky ex-boyfriend, Xander Harris. I had told myself that I would never fall for guys like him (which includes you) ever again in my lifetime. Even though I promised myself that, here I am, realizing my love for you a little on the too late side to act upon it. One thing that I do wish is that you could have told me about your Brachen demon half a little sooner than you did. I grew up in Sunnydale for God's sake. Oh well. The past is the past and there is absolutely nothing anybody can do to change it no matter how much we want to. I love you, Doyle. The day I realized my love for you was the day you died.
Love, Cordelia
PS: An empath demon was in Angel's office today and was telling Angel and me that one of us was throwing out a bunch of feelings that neither of us were feeling. The very first thing we thought of was you but it couldn't have been you, could it?
I laid my notebook and pen back down on the table and slowly sipped my root beer while talking to Dennis. Dennis gave me a blanket and I whispered a 'thank you' to him just moments before I curled up and fell asleep.
And when you left, you kissed my lips
You told me you would never, ever forget
These images
Doyle's POV
One of the many disadvantages of being a ghost is that I can not leave the place that I was sent back to. I honestly do not know how Dennis stays cooped up like this all the time. I sat in Cordelia's desk chair at Angel Investigations and tried to think up a way to communicate with her. Dennis talks through his actions but I already knew I did not want to do that. I wanted to 'speak' in a different way.
I leaned back in the chair and closed my eyes. As soon as they were closed, a face flashed, disappearing then reappearing. I saw a letter on a table and I saw the face full on.
It was me.
My eyes shot open and I held a fist in the air as I complained, "I am dead and a ghost and I am still getting visions? What the hell?"
Well, I'd never want to see you unhappy
I thought you'd want the same for me
Cordelia's POV
"Ahh!" I screamed in the middle of the night as I began to have a vision.
A face flashed in front of my eyes, disappearing then reappearing. I saw a letter with my name on it and I was actually about it see who the face belonged to.
It was Doyle.
"What the...?" I asked myself as I scrambled out of my bed.
Dennis floated in with a glass of water and two ibuprofens. I gave him a smile and accepted both gifts. I drank the water as I threw some decent street clothes on to go to Angel about my vision. Hopefully the both of us could figure out what in the world my vision meant. If the two of us could not, then maybe Wesley could help.
Goodbye, my almost lover
Goodbye, my hopeless dreams
I'm trying not to think about you
Can't you just let me be?
So long, my luckless romance
My back is turned on you
Should've known you'd bring me heartache
Almost lovers always do
Angel's POV
I heard a rapid knocking at my door and I slowly made my way to open it up, almost knocking a few things over in the process.
"Cordelia?" I groggily asked.
"I had a vision and it's contents completely confused me." she said as she walked in and sat down at my table.
"What was it about?"
"Um...there was a face that was disappearing and then reappearing. At my apartment was a letter adressed to me. I do not know why it's important but I felt that it was of great importance. The face belonged to Doyle."
"Are you sure it wasn't a dream?"
"Ha. I wish! Dreams aren't painful."
"Doyle, if you are here, please give us a sign." I said.
There was nothing. No sound; just silence.
"Cordy, it's probably an imposter."
"But the handwriting looked exactly like his! I swear!"
"I know, Cordelia, but there's no way he was sent back here. I would think that the Powers That Be would want him to become a higher being. Come on. I'll make some hot chocolate for you." I said, raising from the table.
I cannot go to the ocean
I cannot drive the streets at night
I cannot wake up in the morning
Without you on my mind
So you're gone and I'm haunted
And I bet you are just fine
Did I make it that easy to walk right in and out of my life?
Doyle's POV
"I'm right here!" I yelled at a seemingly deaf Angel and Cordelia as loud as my voice would allow.
I also attempted to touch Cordelia just to tell her that I really am here. When I was scheduled to become a higher being, I had plans to watch Cordelia from above; just to give her one last chance at
don't even get to see the light. They simply just can't cross over. Some paranormal experts believe this is because the ghost has unfinished business to attend to.
"The unfinished business can vary from a promise the person made while he/she was alive or to simply telling a loved one goodbye. There's also the kind of spirits who refuse to cross over because they want to haunt somebody to the point of insanity.
"With Cordelia's ghost, Dennis, he has unfinished business as I understand it. He has/had a fiance waiting for him out there somewhere. That is what is holding him here and he probably won't ever cross over.
"Another thing that I do know about ghosts is that it could just be a simple object holding them here. Also, ghosts can't touch anything with a heartbeat." I lectured.
After I said that, Angel jumped out of him chair and exclaimed, "What was that?"
I pulled out my K2 meter from my pocket and scanned Angel's area. It was SCREAMING with electromagnetic fields. Then the energy went away and was now surrounding Cordelia.
"Angel, did Doyle have any unfinished business that you know of?" I questioned.
"Not that I know of."
Cordelia mumbled something but it was too quiet for me to hear.
Goodbye, my almost lover
Goodbye, my hopeless dreams
I'm trying not to think about you
Can't you just let me be?
So long, my luckless romance
My back is turned on you
Should've known you'd bring me heartache
Almost lovers always do
Cordelia's POV
I laughed when Angel jumped out of him seat like something had bit him in the butt. Wesley laughed as well and I could almost see Doyle's facial expression if he were here and I swear that I heard his laugh.
Wesley removed a white bar like thing that was about eight inches or so in length. He, I guess the right word would be scanned, the area where Angel was sitting only a moment ago. The lights on Wesley's device flashed like crazy then stopped.
Wesley questioned, "Angel, did Doyle have any unfinished business?"
"Not that I know of." Angel answered.
"Yes." I mumbled.
"What was that, Cordelia?" Wesley asked me.
"Yes."
"He did?" Angel asked, confused.
"Yes, he did."
"What are you talking about?"
I looked up at Angel with blurry vision and said, "Doyle made a promise to me the night that he...died. He promised to take me out on a date. Nobody knew about it except us because I didn't say anything about it. Now, I'll never see him again."
A/N: Please, please tell me if I made ANY spelling and or grammer mistakes. Those bother me and even though I double check it before I post it, I am quite sure that I STILL don't catch all of the errors.
Thank you all!
-Flower Child