"Cordelia? Cordelia Chase, is that you?"

She groaned, her mind and body protesting the sound of the voice pulling her reluctantly towards consciousness. When it persisted, she opened her eyes, and blinked as the image of a blonde woman came into focus.

The woman smiled. "You're awake! I was really starting to worry there. Cordelia, it's me, Anne Steele. Remember, we met before—you know, with the zombies."

When the only response she got was a blank stare, Anne frowned. "You don't remember me, do you? What happened to you, Cordelia? I know something went down—something big. Were you caught in that?"

Still, she got no answer, and Anne knew Cordelia was in bad shape. Granted, she'd never known the other woman very well, but she had gotten the distinct impression she wasn't the type who normally hung out in alleyways in nothing but a dirty white coat. She held out her hand. "Come on, Cordelia. I'll take you someplace safe, okay?"

The brunette eyed the outstretched hand warily. This woman kept saying "Cordelia"—was she Cordelia? She couldn't remember anything, her own name included. She had no idea where she was or what had happened to her, but the blonde woman seemed nice and she seemed like she knew her. Hesitantly, she took her hand.

Anne helped Cordelia to her feet, then steadied her when she began to waiver. "Come on, my car's close by. Let's get you out of here."

For the first time since she'd woken up in that strange place, Cordelia was beginning to feel warm. Anne had found her some comfortable clothes and had fixed her a bowl of soup, both of which had helped immensely. Now, they were sitting at a small table in the kitchen of Anne's apartment.

"Things have been really bad tonight," Anne said, bringing Cordelia's attention to her. "The reports on the news have been saying it's gang wars, but a lot of the kids who have been streaming in tonight have been saying it's monsters. That's why I went out. I was trying to see if I could find anyone who needed help." She gave Cordelia a small smile. "I guess I did."

Anne's words were making little sense to Cordelia. She could pick out some, but the overall meaning of the sentences was lost. She'd determined her name must be Cordelia since Anne had said it so much, but the word was as strangely unfamiliar to her as everything else.

"Do you have any idea what's going on?" Anne asked, unaware of Cordelia's current state of confusion. "I know you're involved with all that monster fighting stuff. Is that what happened to you? Was there some kind of big fight, and you got hurt?"

Cordelia stared across the table at Anne, her only sign of life the occasional blink. Anne frowned as she began to catch on to the situation. "You have no idea what I'm talking about, do you? Do you even understand what I'm saying?" When she got no response, Anne assumed a negative. She sighed and said softly, this time expecting no answer, "Cordelia, what happened to you?"

Anne stood and walked over to Cordelia, guiding her to her feet and away from the table. She spoke as she did, still unsure if Cordelia didn't understand her at all, or if she simply couldn't answer. Either way, she felt more comfortable if she was talking, the silence seeming too heavy. "Come on, you need rest. You can take my bed. I'm going downstairs to the shelter, because I'm sure I'm needed down there. It was pretty hectic when I left, and I've already been gone too long."

Anne brought Cordelia into her small bedroom and guided her over to the bed. Cordelia did seem to understand that much, and she lay down when Anne guided her. "Here, sleep," Anne said. "I'll be up to check on you when I can."

Cordelia lay her head down on the pillow, exhaustion quickly catching up with her.

However, when she slept, it was full of dark dreams she didn't understand, and it brought her little rest.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, and Cordelia winced as her eyes opened, turning away from the light. Most of the events of the previous night were foggy at best, and she still had no idea who she was or where she really was for that matter.

She did, however, remember Anne, and Cordelia smiled when she walked into the kitchen and found the blonde woman at the stove. Anne turned when she heard Cordelia come in, and returned the brunette's smile. "Good morning," Anne said. "It looks like we all made it through the night. Whatever was going on out there seems to have ended, so I think we're safe for now. Do you remember anything this morning?"

Cordelia answered Anne's question with silence, so Anne took it as a no. Deciding it would be useless to press it any further, she instead walked over to Cordelia and guided her to sit down. "Here, I made you some breakfast," Anne said as she walked away from the table and to the stove. "I didn't have a lot, but I did have some eggs and some toast, and I doubt that soup did much for you last night."

Anne brought Cordelia a plate and a glass of water, then started to fix herself something to eat as well. "I'm sorry if all my rambling is bothering you or anything," Anne said as Cordelia inspected her eggs. "It just feels weird not saying anything at all, you know?"

Cordelia didn't start eating her food until she saw Anne sit down and take a bite of hers, assuring her the strange, yellow mass must be safe enough to eat.

"I tried to call your friends," Anne said after swallowing a bite. "Or at least I guess they're still your friends. All I had was Gunn's cell phone number, but he didn't answer. I'll keep trying, though. You seemed really close before, so I figure you probably want to get back to them."

Cordelia didn't look up, only continued to eat. She hadn't realized how hungry she was until she had the food in front of her.

Anne watched Cordelia, her heart going out to the other woman. She had no idea what had happened to her, but it had clearly been something traumatic. For one thing, in the short amount of time she'd been around her, Anne had come to the conclusion Cordelia was rarely anywhere near this quiet, She wondered if Cordelia's throat had been hurt somehow or if whatever had happened to her had actually been enough for her to forget how to speak.

Maybe she should take Cordelia to a doctor, find out if there was something physically wrong with her. A couple of doctors were supposed to be coming by the shelter later to examine some of the people who had been rescued from the so-called "gang wars" which had occurred the night before. Anne decided she'd have one of them take a look at Cordelia as well.

For now, she simply got up and brought her more to eat.

"So there's nothing wrong with her at all?" Anne asked, trying to verify what the doctor had just told her. It seemed impossible with the way Cordelia was behaving she wouldn't have at least some kind of injury.

"Nothing physical, no," the doctor replied. "She seems to be in perfect health. There's not as much as a scratch on her." He cleared his throat. "However, I don't think I'd be wrong in assuming whatever she's been through has damaged her psychologically. I believe what would be best for her now would be to take her to the psychiatric ward at the hospital, have them try to help her."

Something about the doctor's advice made Anne feel cold. Sure, she hadn't know Cordelia particularly well, but she had known her, and at one point they'd even fought side by side. She couldn't in good conscience simply drop her off at a mental hospital, especially since—if what she'd seen anytime she'd had any contact with Angel's people was indication—what had happened to Cordelia was most likely more than any regular doctor could handle. If Anne tried to explain to them that whatever happened to Cordelia was probably because of some kind of demon or a vampire, they'd put Anne in the room right there with her.

"Thank you, for the advice," Anne replied with a smile. "I'll decide what to do. We're…we're old friends."

The doctor put his hand against Anne's shoulder. "Then make sure you give your friend the help she needs."

Anne nodded. "I will. Thank you." She walked over to Cordelia, took her gently by the arm, and guided her back upstairs to the small apartment.

Cordelia woke up with a start, gasping for air as sweat beaded on her forehead. She'd had another dream, only this time, something about it seemed different.

She shook her head, trying to clear away the horrible images, only to find she couldn't. They stayed, vivid in her mind, refusing to leave until…

Until she fixed it…

In the haze her life had become, this seemed familiar—this seemed right. She knew without hesitation what she'd seen was not a dream, but something that would come to pass very soon—unless she stopped it.

Cordelia slid out of the bed and gathered the clothes Anne had given her from where she'd placed them on a chair, removing her sweats and tank top she'd been sleeping in to change into them. Once she was dressed, she crept silently from the apartment, looking at Anne for only a moment to make sure the blonde was still asleep on her cot in the living room. She needed to leave now, needed to find the monster whose face had woken her from sleep.

She had a mission.

Her feet seemed to know where to go even if she was clueless of her surroundings, and soon Cordelia found herself standing in the same spot she had seen in her dream. A woman's scream caught her attention, and she turned quickly towards the sight of a tall, scaly creature lumbering towards a frightened woman.

Instinct kicked in as power surged through her, and Cordelia charged the demon, tossing it away from the woman. The demon roared in outrage and came at his attacker, smacking Cordelia hard with its clawed hand and slicing open a gash on her forehead. Cordelia narrowed her eyes even as blood trickled down into one and she leapt up, coming at the demon again. This time when it moved to strike her, she ducked, then grabbed its arm, wrenching it behind the creature's back.

The demon howled in pain as Cordelia forced it to the ground, its knees hitting the hard concrete. She let go of its arm then, but before the demon could blink, Cordelia grabbed its neck and twisted, a loud crack sounding in the alley before the demon slumped dead to the ground.

Had she the memories to compare the amount of strength she was used to having to that she had needed to break the demon's neck, Cordelia would've been highly disturbed by what she'd just done. As it was, she simply stepped back and wiped the blood and sweat from her brow, happy she'd been able to prevent the terrible vision which had pulled her from sleep.

"Oh, wow. I can't… You just saved me."

Cordelia looked up sharply when the woman spoke. Her face was pale from fright and she was trembling, but the look she gave Cordelia was one of sheer gratitude. "That thing, it would've killed me, but you saved me. You're…you're like an angel."

In everything the woman said, one word made its way through the cloudy mess in Cordelia's mind, the sound of it triggering memories she couldn't quite access. She clung to the word, desperate to remember what it had once meant to her as she let it roll off her tongue.

"Angel…"

"Is that what you are?" the woman asked. "Are you like, my guardian angel or something? 'Cause that thing…it looked like a demon."

"Angel," Cordelia whispered, more to herself than the woman, before she turned and ran out of the alley.

Thank you to the people who reviewed the prologue and let me know you were interested. If you are liking this story, please leave a review and let me know!