Chapter Two
After watching Angel descend to play his part in the latest installment of the Angel-Buffy angst fest, Cordy scooped up Connor, opened Angel's fridge to collect his current blood supply, and marched over to Fred's room. She knocked loudly and called to Fred through the closed door. There was no way she was going to take the chance of walking in there before Fred and Gunn had a chance to, um, compose themselves. Cordy could hear Fred scampering around, and the sound of dresser drawers hastily open and closing. "Fred, it's just me, Cordy, don't spaz out."
"Oh, okay Cordy, so sorry for the delay, I'll be right there. I thought it was about time to get back to work, but the strange thing about time is that it moves differently depending on whether or not you're paying attention to it, and I had other things that were occupying my attention…" Cordelia could practically feel Fred blushing as she babbled.
"Fred, sweetie, calm down. I just need to talk to you about Angel. And I know Gunn's in there, so just relax."
"You do?" Gunn's deep voice rose up from behind the door.
"I do. Cordelia here, I know everything. And I think it's fantastic, so don't get your panties in a bunch. If you're even wearing any," said Cordy, letting a laugh escape. She just couldn't help herself, after all, they were family.
"Cordelia," Gunn's voice was stern. "Big, bad-ass, black man in here. I do not wear panties."
"Like I said, you may not be. But I really don't want see that, so just let Fred out, I need her gi-normous brain." Cordy heard muffled laughter and squeals from behind the door, and then Fred popped out, fully dressed in jeans and a snug green knit tee, blushing and smiling. Her long brown hair was a little on the tousled side, but Cordy really couldn't say anything about that, given her current unwashed status.
"God, I really need to take a shower," she said aloud to herself.
"What was that?" Fred inquired.
"Nothing sweetie, it's just that I'm dirty." Fred turned a deeper shade of red. "God, Fred, you are so bad. Not like that, it's just I was practically up all night with Connor and I still haven't showered, so I feel yicky. You, on the other hand, Ms. Vixen-" Fred swatted at Cordy's arm with a look of outrage on her face.
"Hey, no hitting!" Cordy retaliated by poking Fred in the ribs, sending the willowy girl into a fit of laughter.
Cordy and Fred were talking in hushed whispers as they walked towards the stairs along the hallway that overlooked the polished lobby of the Hyperion, their conversation intermittently devolving into bursts of high-pitched laughter. It caught the attention of Buffy and Angel, who were standing by the large, circular front desk, having it out. "What's with the Giggle Twins?" Buffy asked.
"Honestly don't know," Angel replied. "But it's nice to see them happy. Those two deserve to laugh after everything that's been happening around here lately."
Buffy rolled her eyes. "Please spare me, Angel. I'm sure Cordelia's really been suffering running around playing house with you and Angel junior."
"His name is Connor. And don't talk about Cordelia like that." Buffy's eyes widened in shock. So this is how it was going to be? The last time she came back, he chose Faith over her, and now he was busy defending Cordelia, of all people. Unbelievable.
Cordy and Fred were quietly making their way downstairs as Cordy briefed Fred on her theory about the blood, the Buffy situation, and the overwhelming need for them to stay out the range of fire of whatever was going down between Buffy and Angel. They snuck past the feuding duo, and ducked into the office, where Wes was finally stirring, lifting his head off of a stack of ancient books, legal pads with partial translations littered over the desk. Cordelia laid Connor in his basinet, and held a fresh bottle to his lips, then turned to address their appointed leader.
"Oh good, Wes, you're up. We're making progress on the whole Dark Angel situation. I'll fill you in while Fred gets the microscope and slides and stuff." The Englishman blinked slowly and reached for his glasses.
"Good Lord, I suppose I never made it home last night."
"Don't worry, Wes, you weren't the only one. Babysitting is tougher than it looks. Wesley nodded. "So what's your theory?" he asked. Twenty minutes later, Cordy had espoused her theory to Wes and Fred had finished examining Angel's blood supply.
"There's definitely human blood mixed in with the pig's blood, just trace amounts, and I can't say for sure that it's Connor's although it does match his blood type … but who would do this to Angel? Try to get him to eat his own child?"
Cordy sighed and raised a knowing eyebrow in response, but Wesley's face looked drawn and pensive.
"Wolfram and Hart, Fred," replied Cordelia in an even tone, but then announced brightly, "But this is great, that means that all we need to do is get rid of this stuff, get Angel some fresh, untainted O pos, and he'll be all back to normal again!"
Wesley's voice pierced Cordy's happy resolve. "I'm afraid that may not be enough Cordelia."
"What, why?"
The former Watcher stared down at his books, reluctant to speak.
"Come on, Wes, you can tell us, what is it?" Fred coaxed gently.
"Well, the thing of it is, I am working on a translation of the authoritative commentary of Nyazian prophecies, there is a particularly confusing passage … the upshot of it is, I think that while someone at Wolfram and Hart may be acting to hasten the fulfillment of one the prophecies about the Vampire with a soul and his offspring, that may not be the true source of the danger. If my current translation is, in fact, correct … the threat may be much more difficult to elude."
"Geez Wes, cryptic much?" replied Cordelia, with an expression of frustration. "Just say it in English already. We've all been through way too much together to start keep things from each other."
"It's not my intention to conceal anything from the others, Cordelia. But I need to be certain before I reveal any alarming information. I … I need more time."
Cordy regarded him thoughtfully. "Okay, sure Wes. I get it. You don't want to have a repeat of the whole Shanshu debacle." Wes nodded solemnly. "But we've got to tell Angel about the blood right away." After lifting the baby from the bassinette, Cordy and Fred burst eagerly out of the office door. Buffy and Angel facing each other in a standoff, their arms crossed, their eyes shooting daggers at one another.
"Ahem," Cordy said loudly, announcing their presence. Angel turned toward them, welcoming the distraction. Buffy, on the other hand, seemed annoyed by the interruption. "Angel, good news," Cordy beamed. "You are not turning evil! Well, not as long as we get rid of this blood."
"What is it, someone put a spell on my blood?"
"Not exactly. Less magical, more diabolical. It's just that Lorne and I were talking it out last night when it hit me that you've been drinking like it's going out of style, and you're wacky temper tantrum was only directed at Connor, so I thought what if-"
"What if someone had spiked your pig's blood with human blood, specifically, Connor's blood?" Fred just couldn't resist spilling the punch line. Cordy rolled her eyes and smiled before continuing.
"So then Fred here did her science mojo and found that your pig's blood has definitely been contaminated with human blood that matches Connor's blood type."
"Although we don't have the right equipment here in the office for me to be absolutely certain its Connor's," Fred acknowledged.
"No, you're both right. I really didn't want to admit it, but Connor's been smelling like food to me for the past couple days. Good work, guys. Can you just get rid of whatever's left and I'll go get some fresh stuff just as soon as I pay a friendly visit to our local neighborhood law firm." Angel was heading straight for his weapons cabinet.
"Angel, wait." Cordy asked.
"Cordy, you know I have to do this."
"Yeah, absolutely, go threaten Lilah and Gavin, that's not why I asked you to wait." She walked across the room and stood next to Angel, addressing him directly in a hushed, solemn tone.
"Listen Angel, Wes is up to his eyeballs in doom and gloom in there with that translation. He seems to think that there is more to this than another Wolfram and Hart mind game, but won't quite spit out what exactly he thinks is going to happen. He told me he needs more time before alarming us, and that's fine. But Angel, he's really worried. He thinks something awful is coming, I can tell."
"Cordy, whatever it is, we'll deal with it. Together, like we always do." He took her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze, then softly brushed his thumb over her knuckles. Cordy was holding his gaze, her eyes filled with concern for her friend. "And you know I would never hurt my son."
"I know. Still, maybe I should stay here for a couple more nights, just to be on the safe side?" Angel took a long look at his beautiful baby boy happily cooing in the arms of the woman he— of his dearest friend.
"Yeah, okay. I think that's probably a really good idea. And Cordy, Fred, thank you for everything." The two tall brunettes smiled at him in unison.
"Okay. I'll have Groo bring by some of my things from the apartment in a bit, but in the meantime, Angel, I really need a favor."
"Name it."
"Can I please use your shower? I'm gross."
"Of course, Cor, you don't even need to ask. You've still got clothes in my closet, and you know where to find all my, uh, products."
"Of course I do, ya big pretty boy," she teased, then threw her free arm around his neck, smiling up at him and giving his shoulder a squeeze. "You're the best!"
At that moment, Connor began nuzzling hopefully at Cordy's breast. "Sorry little buddy," she told him. "Those are strictly for decoration, but I know where to get you what you want." She ducked into the office to retrieve his bottle.
"Well, you can hardly blame the kid for trying," Angel joked once Cordy had returned to the group.
Cordy blushed beet red but she couldn't help but smile. "Angel! Since when do we flirt?"
"Yeah, that's what I'd like to know." Buffy muttered. This whole Angel/ Cordelia friendship, or whatever it was exactly, was turning out to be harder to stomach than his tryst with Darla. She was supposed to be Angel's soulmate, his lifelong partner in fighting the good fight, not ditzy, self-centered Cordelia. Though even Buffy had to concede that she had matured somewhat. But still, this was not remotely how things were supposed to be. Suddenly Buffy raised her head and met Angel's eyes. "I'm coming with you."
An incredulous "what?" was the response that came in unison from Angel, Cordy, Fred, and even Wes, who had apparently been listening from inside the office. Everyone was speaking at once, offering up a smorgasboard of reasons for why Buffy's suggestion was a bad idea.
"Uh, Buff, Angel generally does the lawyer-threatening as a solo job, he's got this whole routine worked out-" was Cordelia's contribution.
"Well, I am not certain that would be the wisest course of action," could be heard in a British accent, as Wes popped her head out from behind the office door. Even the new girl was rattling on about something that sounded like Voltron, or maybe it was Tro-Clon, but the tone was definitely discouraging.
Buffy stared in disbelief. What had gotten into everyone? It wasn't long ago that this same crew was backing her up in Sunnydale, now suddenly she was being treated like a pariah, and worse than that, like someone who couldn't help. That was just insulting. As if Cordy and that Twiggy chick were anywhere near in her league when it came to kicking demon ass.
"Stop," she said firmly. That caused everyone to shut up pretty immediately. "I don't know what is up with you guys, but we all used to work together to fight the Big Scary, remember? Well, all of us except you." Buffy shifted her focus onto Fred. "Who are you?" The tall, slender girl with the luminous brown eyes eagerly ran over to shake Buffy's hand.
"Oh, I'm Fred, er, Winifred. Winifred Burkle, but I go by Fred. I'm so sorry; it was rude of me not to introduce myself earlier, wasn't it? It's just that I was afraid to get in the middle of your reunion with Angel, because we all know you're the love of his life, and I'm sure you still love him, I mean how could you not? He's Angel. I mean, sure until a couple weeks ago, I thought that he and Cordy were meant to be, what with them both being Champions and everything, and so noble, sacrificing everything to fight for The Powers, but now that she's with Groo, well, why wouldn't you be with Angel?"
"Um, wow, that was some world-class verbal diarrhea," Buffy blinked, feeling like she'd been hit by some type of fast-moving motor vehicle. Who the hell was Groo and since when did the words 'Cordelia' and 'noble' belong in the same sentence? "It's nice to meet you, Fred." She managed a small, close-lipped smile for the earnest newcomer.
Angel took a long look at Buffy and sensed something of her bewilderment and feeling of betrayal. "Okay, Buffy, let's go, I'll fill you in on the way.
As soon as Buffy was alone with Angel, tromping through the sewer tunnels yet again, she resumed lecturing him about being irresponsible, but her thoughts had moved away from Darla and the baby.
"Angel, you really need to be more careful."
"Trust me, Buffy I can handle a couple of lawyers. I really don't need a chaperone."
"That's not what I meant. I'm talking about this thing between you and Cordelia."
"Buffy, there has never been a thing between with me and Cordelia. Well, except for that one time at the ballet with the kissing and the stripping, but we were possessed, it wasn't really … nevermind. There's nothing going on. Cordy and I … Cordy doesn't feel that way about me. And even if she did, we could never … I would never do that with her."
"Oh really, so it was some other broody vampire who got Darla pregnant?"
"Darla was a totally different story. She didn't have a soul when we … well, you know. I didn't love her; I couldn't have lost my soul."
"But you love Cordelia?" Buffy's tone had gone from accusatory and sarcastic to small and vulnerable.
Angel sighed. "Buffy," he started.
"No Angel, don't. Don't lie to me. Don't stand there and try to twist the truth into something that you think will hurt less" she said in a low voice, tears threatening to break through. She folded her arms across her chest and turned her back to the tall vampire. After a long moment, she began speaking again despite herself. "But how could you? How could you love her the way you loved me?"
"I don't," Angel responded, his voice catching.
"Oh?" A slice of hope had crept into Buffy's voice.
"The way I feel about Cordelia, it's different from what you and I had."
"Oh," she said flatly.
"Buffy, please. I don't want to hurt you. I've never wanted that. And what we had was … you were the first woman I ever really loved in my unnaturally long life. Nothing will ever change that."
"But?"
"But it doesn't work with you and me; we both know that."
"And how exactly is it that it works with you and Cordy?"
"She's my best friend. And she's gotten past the idea of having a normal life."
Angel spoke the words with an even-toned simplicity, and Buffy swallowed hard at hearing them. Because of all the things she and Angel had been to one another, friends hadn't been one of them, not really. Still, she couldn't quite accept what she was hearing.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that whole normal life thing, Angel. Believe me, if Cordelia suddenly got her big acting break or met some rich hottie who wanted to marry her, she would drop you and your precious mission in an instant."
"No she wouldn't."
"You seem pretty confident about that."
"I am."
Buffy scoffed. Angel furrowed his brow, but continued. "I'm sure because she was given all that and she gave it back … to stay with me, to keep her visions, to keep being my connection to the Powers. Even though she was dying. Even though the only way she could keep the visions without them killing her was to become part demon. That's the choice she made just so that she could keep helping me. So don't walk in here and try to act like you know her."
Buffy felt as though her insides were slowly congealing and sinking down to her feet. "What are you talking about?" she asked in a low whisper. Angel briefly explained what had happened to Cordelia on her 21st birthday and how she came to make the decision that she did. Buffy was astonished. She could barely believe that Angel was talking about the same silly, self-absorbed cheerleader whom she had gone to high school with. And what was even more painful was that seemingly without hesitation, Cordy had made the choice that Buffy never could—to give up the potential of being a normal girl with a future that included sex, and a family, and maybe even a life without demons and vampires, in order to stay at Angel's side.
"God, Angel, I had no idea," Buffy was silent for several long seconds. "But that doesn't change anything. It actually makes it even more dangerous, because if you two … slip up, you really will lose your soul." She couldn't quite force herself to make eye contact when saying those words, but she felt Angel's penetrating gaze, nonetheless.
"We won't. And it's not like that between us. Cordelia and I are … Cordelia has a boyfriend. She doesn't feel that way about me."
"Well, maybe someone should tell her that." Angel looked puzzled but Buffy didn't bother to explain her meaning to him. She had seen the way they looked at each other and she knew that if Cordy had given up everything she had ever wanted for Angel, her feelings went a lot deeper than friendship.
The pair walked in silence for several paces. Finally it was Angel who spoke. "So are you finished lecturing me now?"
"Yeah."
"Good. So maybe now you can explain to me why it is that I can smell Spike all over you?"