CHAPTER 2
MUSIC:
"Witness" by Sarah McLachlan
As the weeks went on things got a little easier. Wesley had shown up, his presence providing a small distraction from the pain. Cordelia was back to work, though Angel found her staring at the empty place on the couch where Doyle should have been sitting from time to time. He never interrupted her during those moments; had advised Wesley not to touch the newspaper she brought in and placed on the cushions every morning for the man that would never again be there to read it.
It was nearly three weeks after Doyle's passing when they got an unexpected visitor. Wesley had turned from where he'd been trying to swallow a gulp of the foulest coffee he'd ever tasted, smiling and walking over to the man. "Well hello, fine sir. Welcome to Angel Investigations. What can we do for you?" He asked in a nauseatingly cheerful tone. He'd taken over greeting the few clients that walked through their doors. Cordelia had at least passed the point of screaming at people for no reason but she was still far from her carefree self. Being greeted by someone who looked like they were ready to burst into tears at any given moment wasn't exactly good for business.
The man was short, twitchy, dressed in baggy clothes. Pale skin was made all the more jarring by his shaggy, dark hair and severe features. His dark eyes flicked around the office nervously as he stood with his hands stuffed in his pockets. After a moment he finally seemed to work up the courage to speak. "This where Doyle used to work?" He asked hesitantly with a thick New York accent.
Wesley instantly turned back to Cordelia, giving her a worried look as her face fell. He'd learned by now that the "D" word brought on at least a two hour session of sobbing and turned toward Angel's door hoping for backup in case she needed him.
Angel had just been walking out of his office and quickly crossed the room as Cordelia turned away and tried to hold back tears. "I'm Angel...and you are?" He held out a hand to the man but watched him stare down at it with obvious distrust. Angel cleared his throat and stood up straight. "Doyle worked here. So you knew him – I'll assume by your question that you're already aware…of…him being…"
"Dead, huh?" The man finished bluntly and Angel flinched. "Yeah, I figured that's who it was." He muttered, shaking his head angrily. "Name's Puck…" He said with a sigh and leaned to the side to look past Angel. "And you, you'd be Doyle's little 'princess'. Cordy, am I right?"
Cordelia's eyes widened and she grabbed a tissue from the ever present box to blow her nose, trying not to let her sobbing get out of control again hearing the infinitely heartbreaking "p" word.
"Why do you ask?" Angel said, crossing his arms over his chest and stepping to the side enough to block her from view as he eyed the stranger appraisingly. Big brother instincts were kicking in and he wasn't taking any chances until he knew why this man was so interested in her.
"I can see why he was so crazy about her." Puck said, nodding in approval before looking up at Angel. "I'm really only here to see her." He tried but Angel simply arched a brow, not letting him move any closer. Puck sighed. "He said you'd probably be like this. Alright, so I known Doyle for a few years now – he was a regular down at the tracks for a long time and…"
Angel cut him off. "What kind of demon are you?" He asked, his eyes narrowing suspiciously. The man gave all the outward appearance of a human but he could smell it on him, just as he had been able to with Doyle when they'd first met.
Puck bristled at the question, tugging at his shirt indignantly. "Getting awful personal, ain't ya? Christ, way to skip the small talk."
"I asked your name first, didn't I?" Angel said, still eyeing Puck impatiently.
He shifted his weight from one foot to the other nervously before leaning closer, cupping his mouth and telling Angel with his suddenly low tone that it wasn't a good idea for the answer to get out. "I'm what your kind calls a Sermoporta."
"A gateway demon…" Wesley breathed in wonder, ignoring the fact that it hadn't been meant to be repeated and stepping closer, staring at him in awe. "You're an actual Speaker?"
Angel's arms dropped to his sides as his jaw fell open in surprise. "What's he saying? Is he alright? Is he here now? Can he hear us?" He asked quickly and Puck held up his hands.
"Angel?" Cordelia said softly, slowly standing from her desk and eyeing him with concern. Angel cast her a pained look before turning his attention back to the demon in front of him.
"Hey, he's not close enough for all that so just keep your shirt on, will ya? My first indication it was him was when he tried to get my attention last night he knocked over the vodka instead of any of the four bottles of whisky surrounding it. Ain't no other ghost woulda made that decision. Then there was the accent." Puck explained and Angel laughed in astonishment.
Cordelia crossed the room to reach them, staring at Puck with wide, hopeful (if still puffy) eyes.
"Wow – yeah, no wonder he was all about you, girl. How'd he get lucky enough to trick you into liking him? You don't by chance have a blind sister, do ya?" He said with a grin now that she was close enough to get a better look at. "May I?" He asked, pointing to the couch and Angel and Cordy both quickly stepped aside, motioning for him to go right ahead. "Thanks." He said, settling down on a cushion, somehow managing not to disturb the ever-present paper and looking around the office as the other three watched him expectantly. "His soul is pretty deep, like I said; he's not that close now…so he's been gone a few weeks already?" They all nodded. "You mind?" He asked, pulling a cigarette from his coat pocket.
To Angel's surprise, despite how she'd always ragged on Doyle about the smell and never allowed it indoors with any of their clients, Cordelia nodded as if he could have asked to borrow her lipstick in that moment with no problem. He lit the cigarette and took a drag, taking a styrofoam cup that Wesley brought for him to flick in and thanking him.
"Well seeing as how he was caught up with the Powers and the visions and what not I'm betting he had some talking to do once he got up there – must have went well if he's out and about. Yeah, them wanting to blabber to him would explain him taking a while to find me, but he ain't passing 'Go' for some reason. I think it's cuz he wanted to make sure I knew he was gone. See the trouble with being a Speaker is not only do you have a price on your head – it makes people around you start thinking about their own mortality. Everyone you know gives you like a list of what to do if they die. Doyle was never one of those guys…was a real live-in-the-now type…least he was till you showed up, babe." Puck said, inclining his head to Cordelia. "For the first time a little while back he brought it up; said if he ever passed he'd let me know, asked me to bring you something…and then spent half the night telling me about how great you are. I had to get him hammered just to shut him up."
Cordelia was sitting on the coffee table in front of him and leaned forward with wide eyes as the demon pressed the cigarette between his lips and patted down his coat pockets.
"Now where did I put…ah, here we go." He said, pulling a wooden box from his pocket and looking down at it. "Whatever this is he's been pretty nuts about me getting to you with it. I gotta tell you – waking up to the ghost of an Irishman screaming 'wake up, ya slacker!' in your ear before the mattress is flipped over with you still on it is not a pleasant experience. The deeper he gets the harder it is for me to hear him and he loses his ability to effect my surrounding – I can't really have a conversation with him but I'll be damned if he didn't make sure I got the message. Probably stood there cursing at me under his breath all night, saving up enough energy to do it while I was sleeping." He handed the box over to Cordelia, watching her stare down at it with tear-filled eyes.
"Are you…umm…" She swallowed hard, clearing her throat and looking up at him slowly. So Doyle was able to reach this man, he was still here…she wanted to talk to him, the thought of missing her chance was heart wrenching. "Are you gonna stick around for a while?" She asked in a weak voice and watched him nod, giving her a reassuring smile. "Angel…I'm…"
"Go." Angel said, motioning for her to head downstairs for some privacy.
"Thank you." She whispered, climbing from the table and walking to the elevator, unable to tear her eyes from the box in her hands as she went.
If you read it, FEED it! :D
