Disclaimer: Right so not mine, not a single character. All belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, yadda yadda. Don't sue me!

Spoilers: Just to be safe, we'll say everything!

Feedback: Welcomed! Not a problem with constructive criticism as long as you don't have a problem with me not taking everyone's advice all the time. :D

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Chapter Two

It took a moment for the words to settle in. By that time the doctor and nurses had left the room, leaving her in the arms of a vampire that had yet to learn that people, had to breathe. She wriggled but he didnt' let go, if anything he seemed to tighten his arms around her.

"Um, Angel, need to breathe. Angel? Angel!"

Finally he pulled back and gave a kind of apologetic smile, his hands still on her upper arms.

"Sorry, I just, needed to make sure you were, here. You are here right? To stay?"

She shook her head, she wasn't supposed to be, but the last few minutes seemed a little confusing. Her eyes darted around and she tried to raise an arm to run it through her hair. Before she could remember, much of anything really, she remembered what he said and her eyes went wide.

"Angel, what do you mean they heard you? What did you do?"

"Do?"

"To bring me back! Damn it Angel if you made some deal with the devil. . . "

He almost wanted to smile. It was definitely her, already laying into him rather than just being happy that she was alive. He didn't notice the goofy grin until she smacked at his arm. Then he frowned and let her arms go to rub at the spot.

"Ow! All right all right. I didn't do anything. Exactly. I just, "

She wasn't buying it and somehow he felt incredibly idiotic to believe that he did this, that he had somehow made a difference. Lying wouldn't help though, it never did. Lowering his gaze he answered, quietly.

"It was when you kissed me. I, was praying to the powers that you could stay. I knew that was a good bye kiss and I thought, if I askede, if I showed them I needed you, they'd let you stay."

Her face fell, her glare dissolving quickly and her eyes filled. Was that what they meant? His request? She lifted a hand to his face. Waited for his eyes to meet hers.

"Angel."

She didn't have a chance to finish, on a sharp inhale of breathe her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she felt arms around her. It was different, not the kind of pain she'd had in the beginning but not the easy glowing visions she was used to. As a matter of fact the only thing she recognized was that she could feel, absolutely everything. Her eyes were pure white, head snapped back, body tense, every muscle stretched and her mouth dropped open into a silent scream.

Angel could feel it come, he had gotten used to feeling them, this sparkle of energy before they hit her and he had grabbed her arms again. She wasn't seizing but she wasn't glowing, her eyes. . . He reached up to grab her face, stroke her cheek, but it was still going, it had never gone this long before had it? He pulled her close and grabbed for the button summoning the nurses. Finally she went limp in his arms and he laid her back in the bed.

"Cor? Cordy look at me."

She was drained, it was, so much. She'd never felt anything like it, like she was pulled from her body and floating high above as scene after scene played out. Opening her eyes she reached for him, hands grabbing the front of his jacket. She saw the doctor, the nurses and shook her head.

"No, no I'm fine. I have to get out of here. Can we, um, can we leave?"

She saw his face, saw the look and pulled out her last weapon, wide eyes begging. Finally he sighed and turned to the doctor.

"She's ready to leave."

"Oh she can't possibly! She's just woken up, we need to take some blood, run tests, physical therapy. . . "

"She's leaving. She can come back and get check ups, but she, wants to go home."

He glanced at her and got the nod he was waiting for. With a look back at the doctor, he gave his own glare. It was enough and the man left with a shaky nod and a mutter about paper work. Once the room had cleared again he looked back at Cordy, her eyes closed and face strained again.

"So? What was that? And dont' tell me nothing, Cordelia. I've never seen you like that, not even when you first got the visions. I gave you my explanation so how about you return the favor?"

She couldn't open her eyes, not just yet. There was so much. With a wince she sat up and ran a hand through her hair.

"I- I don't know. I mean it Angel, I wish I knew but it was like, someone downloaded an entire library into my head, it's all jumbled up right now. I can't untangle it all."

He nodded, but was obviously concerned, he had more questions than answers. Conceding that there was only so much he could do he tried for a smile.

"How about, we get you out of here, into some real clothes and talk to Lorne? He might be able to answer both our questions."

AA

It was more than an hour later when they had finally gotten the doctor to let her go and gotten her dressed. Unfortunately, she was in a wheel chair, which had her crossing her arms and glaring at Angel every time she tried to get up and he pushed her back down into. She was shaky, but was perfectly capable of walking. Unfortunately that didn't seem to matter much to Angel. She made up for it by taking her sweet time picking out her outfit. After all, she didnt' have her mystical body that looked exactly as she had before the coma. Well almost exactly. Now she had a body that was too thin, even by her standards. Her face too pale, and hair, well don't get her started. She was most definitely going to need a hot oil treatment at the very least.

They had chosen a conference room that Angel knew no one was using for awhile for the little meeting. Refusing to greet Lorne in the wheelchair when they both knew he'd have questions as it was, she hopped out as soon as they entered the room and walked to a seat. Angel had rushed forward as if she was some toddler unable to walk long. When she sat with a triumphant look he simply shook his head and moved the wheelchair out of the way. Lorne's entrance was difficult. He walked in with a smile and then his eyes roamed over Cordelia and his smile fell before he looked at Angel. Cordelia ducked her head and sighed. Lorne took a seat next to Cordelia, as directed and Angel stayed standing.

"It wasn't her. Before." Off her look he tried again. "It was, just, not her body. She hadn't woken up. She's awake now and she's had a vision. Or something, and we think you can help figure it out."

Lorne frowned, and looked distantly at her then reached for her hand. "Oh Princess, why didn't you tell us?"

Cordy looked up confused as to what he was referring to, then it hit her and she let the tears fall. Shaking her head was answer enough and Lorne nodded.

"Okay, well you're here now. So let's see what's going on in that pretty little head of yours shall we?"

She nodded and Angel gave Lorne a look. Part questioning, part upset. What had Lorne seen so quickly that he was missing? And why was no one telling him? Still, right now it was more important to find out what was going on with Cordelia, because he wasn't going to give up on her, not this time. His own guilt at how he had basically put her in the hospital, best doctors possible, and then left her there. He didn't visit, most of them didn't. Whether it was too hard or not, their reasons were selfish and he realized this. He crossed his arms and stood just to the side as Lorne flicked his arms to bring up his sleeves before putting his finger tips to her temples and Cordelia, for her part, closed her eyes and tried to relax. What actually happened he wouldn't know. All he knew was what he saw. Looks of pain and concentration, shock and then all of a sudden there was a spark and both flew back into their chairs, eyes wide and confused. He grabbed for Cordelia's shoulders and crouched in front of her, looking back at Lorne then to Cordelia again.

"Cordy! Are you all right?"

"I'm, fine. I'm, Lorne? Oh my god, did I hurt you?"

Lorne gave her a weak smile but shook his head.

"I'm fine, Princess. Totally my fault, I was trying to see a little more than I should have. I uh, would recommend we get everyone in here though. Before you start explaining that particular vision and, well, the rest."

"The rest? What rest, what did you see Lorne?"

Angel wanted answers and was not getting any. He looked at Lorne as if he'd hurt her and the green man sat back, hands up to show his innocence. He only stopped glaring when a hand landed on his arm and he looked up at Cordelia.

"He's right. We should get everyone. There was a vision, but, there's more. It's like the PTB just shoved all the information in at once and then a vision on top of it. But it's about you guys. It's about getting you out of here. Out of Wolfram and Hart."

AA

There had been no time for explanations, they all simply believed Cordy had woken up this morning and everything was just back to business as usual. They all knew that wouldn't last long, but for now, it was the best they could do. Gunn filed in almost immediately and gave a small nod, a bit curious but saying nothing. Fred and Wesley followed. Wes staggered then sat down, unable to take his eyes off of Cordelia and wondering what had happened. It was when Spike, who had not been called by Angel, came in that things got awkward. The man stopped, sniffed then glared at Cordelia followed quickly by his sire.

"Oi! What's that then?"

"Now now Spike."

Spike just smirked and walked up to Cordy, bent and sniffed at her, ignoring the growl from his sire before he stood and shoved his hands in his pockets.

"Someone's been playin' wit' clones eh? This one's human ya know. Not a trace o' demon in 'er."

Everyone looked confused and Angel looked frightened and betrayed, glancing from Lorne to Cordelia. Lorne sighed and waved Spike to sit down.

"All right kiddies, let's all play nice and let the Princess explain. Or, I can begin?"

He asked off of her look. At an enthusiastic nod he sighed and turned to look at the table before a smile.

"Right, well, long story short, the Princess here's time was up. Thanks to her previous work she got a freebie, 24 hours. She wasn't allowed to tell us, and before anyone asks I didn't know it wasn't really her because I wasn't allowed to. Now she said her goodbyes but someone threw a wrench in the plans."

That was a pointed look at Angel.

"She's back full time now as our little seer and yes, fully human."

The room erupted, questions flung from all directions. Except for Spike who leaned back in his chair, feet up on the table. Angel was quiet, too quiet when he finally held up a hand to quiet everyone.

"Human, the visions were killing her. Why would they do that?"

He growled and Lorne floundered under his gaze. Cordelia licked her lips and reached up to poke him in the side.

"Hey, stop glaring at Lorne! First of all, he didn't do anything. You did. You asked and so they sent me back. The powers never offered to make me part demon before, that was all, well, her."

She didn't want to talk about Jasmine, she didn't want to think about it. Being stuck watching and feeling unable to do anything had been bad enough. She sucked in a breath and looked around then back to Angel.

"I'm human but the visions aren't the same. You saw it. It was, confusing, but not painful. It has something to do with, being a seer. It's something different than just a person with visions."

Wesley cleared his throat, when everyone's attention was again on him he offered a small smile to Cordelia.

"If I may? There has always been a difference in the literature I have found, between a seer and one with visions. A true seer is rare. Human most certainly, but, 'touched' is the word most often used. Touched by their god, or the spirits with the sight. If that is true, perhaps the powers simply, 'touched', Cordelia. Allowing her to wake up and capable of handling visions without damage?"

Lorne grinned at Wes and relaxed under Angel's now more considering gaze.

"Bingo big man! She's perfectly human and perfectly safe. Well, as safe as any of us are here. And, she got a vision to help us all out here."

"Um, excuse me, but what do we need help with exactly?

Gunn had changed the most and Cordelia knew this. It bothered her because she felt he would be the hardest one to convince. She looked up at Angel and smiled as he nodded and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Right well, how about the fact that you guys are working for the bad guys? And before you try and tell me you don't, think about it. The only good you do here is on their terms. You've lost the mission. All of you have. There are people out there that need you, and, well, this was all part of their plan. The Senior Partners, just like, like, me. I agreed to the demon deal, I agreed to ascending, and it all went downhill from there. But, I got a second chance."

Here she looked up at Angel and reached up to squeeze his hand. She wasn't supposed to have this second chance, but she wasn't going to turn it down either.

"So now you guys are getting yours. I, well I'm not entirely clear on how it works, but I know the vision has the answers, it just doesn't make a lot of sense to me. Not yet. But, maybe if I explain it might help? It's kind of, well, like a flashback?"

Wesley took the lead of course, wondering about the vision. If he thought about it, he'd admit that he missed this. Them all together, working on a vision, a mission that they all believed in. Not that they didn't believe in what they were doing now, but they were all so separated. They weren't really a team anymore. The knowledge, the access to the books and prophecies at first had seemed amazing, now he just felt buried in the paperwork.

"A flashback, to what?"

Cordelia bit at her lip and looked at Angel and then Spike.

"To Angelus. And Spike, and Darla, and. . . Drusilla."

Spike was suddenly at attention, he pulled his feet down and glared at her. Wes looked worried and Angel tried to back away. He glared back at Spike. He didn't like this anymore than they did.

"Cordylicious is right, the answers are in there. That's all I can tell you though. Go ahead, Princess. Angelcakes, you need to sit for this."

He did, reluctantly, and they all leaned in a bit more interested and worried as Cordy quietly began retelling what she saw, what she'd felt.

AA

A/N: That's right folks! Next chapter is the vision! The Fanged Four and some exploits of theirs!