Part 03
All You
Have To Do Is Smile
Part 3
~~~~~*****~~~~~
NOTE: A
special thanks to Jay who described Ireland to me with
such captivating beauty that I could only use those exact words.
~~~~~*****~~~~~
Angel stared into her eyes,
searching for something, anything to explain the wild look on her
face. Her eyes were wide and teary.
"Cordy, what did you see?"
he asked as he continued to rub her arms. He leaned back against
the tree, pulling her closer, clutching her into him as she
shivered uncontrollably. She had almost hit the ground and he had
almost let her, had almost been unable to stop it. He had felt
completely vulnerable for the first time in almost 200 years and
he didn't like the feeling. How could he possibly protect her now?
"Danger."
"For who?" he asked,
looking down at her, "Us?" She nodded and his heart
began to race. Was this what fear felt like? Was this what it
felt like to be vulnerable?
"I watched you die," He
tilted her chin up and gazed into her eyes, "He had a gun.
He shot you and I watched you die."
Again that feeling surfaced, the
confusion of the familiarity clouding his fears as he searched
his memories. He knew something. Problem was, he didn't know what
he knew.
"Angel?" Cordelia's voice
shook him from his reverie.
"Sorry,"
"What is it?" she frowned.
"You went into brood mode again."
He smiled a little, "Sorry, II
remembersomething,"
"Oh, well, that's helpful."
He smiled before frowning in
concentration again, "II know there's something but"
"But?"
"But all I feel is, well, déjà
vu,"
"You mean about the
surroundings, right?"
"No, I mean about everythingincluding
you."
~~~~~*****~~~~~
Cordelia groaned and lay her head
against his chest feeling him chuckle. She smiled as she listened
to the low thumping of his beating heart and snuggled closer into
his warmth.
"So, what does that mean?"
"I wish I knew, "he sighed.
"I just know I've done this before, I can feel it."
"Before, when we were back in
the hotel. You know, with the hot running water, nice clothes,
less"
"Cordelia."
"Sorry." She grinned
impishly. "Anyway, you said you remembered. When I picked up
the drawing, you said you'd forgotten but it was all up there."
She lay a hand against the side of his head to emphasize her
point.
"What drawing?" Angel
asked, leaning into her hand. He frowned and Cordelia couldn't
help but worry at the slight Irish lilt to his voice.
"Oh, no. You are not
going all cave man on me, Angel. You're going to stay you. Do you
hear me? You stay you."
Angel smiled, "I'm okay
Cordelia, things are just a little fuzzy at the moment, that's
all. Nothin' fer you to worry 'bout, precious,"
"That's not funny."
~~~~~*****~~~~~
Cordelia watched the scenery roll by.
This was quite possibly one of the most beautiful places on earth,
well the most beautiful place she had ever seen. Its rustic
beauty called to her, wild and untamed. It held a charm known to
no other place. She inhaled the sweet scent, the gentle smell
of flowers that wafted through the cool breeze. She was sure she
could stay here forever, allow herself to be captivated by the
wonder of this place.
She glanced at Angel, the contented
look on his face making her smile. He was home. But was this
truly his home? Did this place hold something for him that she
didn't? That she couldn't?
She ignored the tears stinging her eyes and smiled sadly at the
scenery. Sighing, she closed her eyes again, breathing in the
freedom of the passing green hills.
~~~~~*****~~~~~
"Be careful," she hissed,
pulling him down behind the large, moss covered wall, "Don't
you remember the hissy fit I had about the gun about an hour ago?"
"Sorry," he smiled
reassuringly,
"Do we have to do this?"
"We need to get you some
clothes."
"But stealing from an old lady?"
"Look, you need clothes and she
probebly has more than she'll ever need."
Cordelia sighed, "Sure, fine."
she frowned, "What about money?"
"Well, the old lady's rich, too."
"You're not suggesting that we steal
her money as well as her clothes?" she asked incredulously.
"Well, not exactly"
"Angel, we are not robbing an
old lady."
"But"
"No."
He took one look at her hardened
expression and sighed, "I only thought you could pretend to
be a relative."
She raised her eyebrows, "Who
just happened to turn up on her doorstep wearing one of the
dresses she's just had stolen?"
"Good point." He scanned
the area once more, quickly ducking as an elderly man walked
across the grounds to the house. The gun tucked under his arm
urged Angel to stay well hidden.
"That's him. That's the man
with the itchy trigger finger."
"Actually, that would be my
fault."
"He shot you with no reason and
no warning, Angel. I saw itI felt it."
"Actually, there kinda was a
warning"
"What?"
"Well, he gave me fair warning
to keep out of his sights or he would shoot me." He frowned,
"Guess he meant it."
"What did you do?" she
asked, staring him down, causing him to shift uncomfortably.
"Ihis
granddaughterwell, she was prettyand, well"
"You being the whoring drunk
that you are made a pass at her."
"Oh, it was more than a pass."
"Ugh, men," she rolled her
eyes and glanced over the wall again, "We might be here for
a while. Unless you plan to rob this old lady in broad daylight."
"Would you stop that?"
"Stop what?" she asked,
sitting back against the wall next to him.
"Trying to make me feel guilty.
It's not going to work."
"Then why does it bother you?"
she asked crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows, "If it's
not going to work, why are you so bothered?"
"Because you're annoying me."
"I'm annoying you?"
"Yes,"
"I'm annoying you?"
"Look can we just drop this?"
"No, Mister broody and, oh, so
tortured I can't even tell my best friend what's got me down, we
can not."
"Ugh, this is going to be a
long day."
~~~~~*****~~~~~
"Ouch!"
"Will you be quiet? We're going
to get caught."
"Well, I'm sorry, but I'm not
exactly a master thief!"
"Stop being such a baby and get
up here."
"Do you realize how high this
is? I could fall and break my neck."
"That'd be the quieter option.
Now get that cute little hiney of yours up here, NOW. This was
your idea, remember." Cordelia groaned as she watched Angel
grasping onto the tree like a cat at fifty feet.
"You're like five feet off the
ground!" she hissed as he slowly made his way towards her.
He stopped, turned and glared.
"I'm alive now Cordelia, if I
break something, I won't heal as fast." He turned back to
the tree and began his slow ascent.
"Ugh, this is going to be a
long night,"
~~~~~*****~~~~~
Slowly they creeped across the roof
top, the shadows dancing ominously in the wind. The cool air
brushed by them as they held on for their lives, their hearts
racing as they approached the window.
Peering inside, Cordelia held her
breath. The splendor of the large room was etched into every wall,
carved into every beautiful wood surface. She gasped as the gold
lined box on top of the dresser caught her eye, it's hard
elegance drawing her in. The beautiful rustic look of the old-fashioned
poster bed set the room of in its mirage of colour and style.
This was her idea of heaven.
"Cordelia."
"What?" she looked at him
and was instantly curious. His face was contorted and she couldn't
quite tell if it was from pain or laughter.
"Angel, what?"
"Llook." He pointed
to the window and she turned, instantly pulling herself away as
she spotted the form of the old woman. Although she didn't look
as frail as Angel had described her. The pink gown was splendidly
embroidered with gold thread and the sheer elegance of it glowed.
The material appeared to be fine silk and the design was so
intricate that she could almost see the painstaking accuracy and
time placed into the stitching. The woman had in place a cap made
of the same exquisite detail. Cordelia watched as the woman began
to turn, pushing herself closer to Angel as they both moved out
of the light.
"That's the old oh my God,"
Cordelia began to laugh as Angel
grabbed hold of her ankles to prevent her from slipping
completely off the roof. However, they were both laughing so hard
that she was almost dropped to the ground. Cordelia put her hand
over her mouth to stop a high pitched squeal. The blood was
rushing to her head and there was a slight pain in her ankle as
Angel attempted to keep a firm grasp, as he, too, fought against
laughter.
"CorCordelia," Angel
gasped, "Keep still or I'll drop you," He laughed.
"I don't have vampire strength anymore, remember."
"Ookay," she giggled
as he tried to pull her up, dragging her along the roof, ending
up on top of her. "Do you think Gunn would have agreed to
this knowing he was gonna end up in a petticoat and little pointy
shoes?" Cordelia asked as they started to laugh. Angel tried
to keep himself propped up enough that he wasn't actually
crushing her.
"I don't think that's actually
Gunn. The spell was only for you to enter."
"Oh, so their part of the spell
works but I get stuck in 18th Century Ireland."
"Remember that they were only
supposed to be guides. Only their images would enter."
"Yeah, that's one hell of an
image," Cordelia said as they snickered, watching as 'Gunn'
pulled up his pantyhose. A moment later, heshe left the
room but Angel remained where he was, gazing down at Cordelia,
his weight pressing into her.
He cleared his throat and pulled
away, taking her with him as they returned to their positions
right against the window. She turned to look at him as he stared
back into the room. The light was playing with the contours of
his face, lightly skipping across every chiseled detail. She
studied him. Alive, breathing, warm.
He hadn't made any mention of the
reason they were actually there. Whether she wanted to squeeze
Wesley's scrawny little neck or not, she felt that they should
take the opportunity to figure what was wrong. To at least try.
After she was properly dressed of course.
He was her best friend and she owed
it to him. She gazed at him, watching the light sparkle in his
eyes, but it wasn't alone. There was something else there.
Something that she rarely saw. That gentle glimpse of happiness,
that glint of laughter.
"Cordelia?" She blinked
herself back to reality and gave him an embarrassed smile. She
had been caught staring at himagain. Her only saving grace
was that she hadn't been drooling. She quickly checked. Nope,
drool free.
"You ready?"
"If I say no, can we leave?"
"No."
"Okay then, I'm ready,"
Cordelia huffed, watching as he struggled to pry the window from
it's frame. He grunted in frustration, thumping his hands against
the wall.
"Yeah, Angel, way to go. Let's
let everybody know we're trying to rob the nice old lady,"
She rolled her eyes. "If you're like this now, while it's
temporarily, I can't wait till you Shanshu."
He glared at her before stopping
suddenly, all emotion draining from his face. She watched as he
turned back to the window, his face almost as pale as when he was
a vampire. He gripped onto the edge of the window frame, his
knuckles white from the force of his grasp.
"Angel?" she asked
tentatively, "Angel, what's wrong?"
"What if this is it," he
said softly, his eyes downcast, "What if this is what
the scroll meant about being my alivewhat is this is my
Shanshu."
~~~~~*****~~~~~
END PART 3
Well, still like
where it's going?!!! ;)