Cordelia was seated in the kitchen, sipping coffee and trying to ignore the huge mess that used to be Angel's apartment. The sofa was trashed, as were the table and chairs; pieces of splintered wood strewn across the floor mingling with shards of broken glass and shattered plastic.

She was sitting quite still, lost in thought as Angel approached. His presence at her side made her jump, drops of hot liquid splashing onto the tabletop and she looked, confused, at the cloth he was holding out to her.

"Your head is bleeding" he said as way of explanation.

She reached up a hand and felt a sharp twinge of pain, remembering when her head had connected with the floor, courtesy of Yeva. She accepted the damp fabric with a smile, "Thanks."

The vampire shrugged, "Maybe you should head home and get some rest. I'll ring you if he wakes up."

She shook her head, "No, I'll stay. I won't be able to rest anyway, until I know he's okay."

Angel nodded in consent and returned to his mug. The following silence was long, but comfortable; neither party having the energy to strike up a conversation. A noise from the bedroom turned both their heads.

Doyle was stirring; a glass of water was knocked on its side from his flailing hand and his head was tossing back and forth. He was dreaming, and it didn't seem pleasant.

"Doyle, it's okay, calm down!" Angel placed a strong but gentle hand on his friend's shoulder, which seemed to calm Doyle down almost instantly. As Angel bent closer and righted the glass on the table, a pair of green eyes flickered open and fell lazily on him.

"Angel?" Doyle murmured.

Relief flooded through Angel's cold veins and he felt himself smile, "I'm here, how are you feeling?"

Doyle winced, "Lousy." A flash of something passed over his face and he briefly looked down at himself, "Am I still me?" It was barely a whisper but the sudden question had intensity about it, despite the weakened voice that carried it.

"Yes" Angel said softly.

The simple answer seemed to hold everything Doyle needed as the pinched look on his face melted, leaving him looking exhausted instead. He turned to look at Cordelia who was hovering at the foot of the bed.

"Hey Princess, are you okay?" His brow furrowed again, noticing the gash above her eye but her soft smile banished his concern.

"Peachy, though the next time you decide to aid a damsel in distress, leave me out of it!" Cordelia retorted with mock anger. Angel knew better though, her eyes told a different story.

Doyle smirked and gave her a winning smile of his own, "No problem."

His voice trailed off as his eyes slid shut, though he wasn't quite ready to sleep, "Will there be any scars?"

"I shouldn't think so" Angel replied.

"Damn, I could have made up a great story of heroics…." This time Doyle didn't finish as he drifted off, his breathing becoming even and restful.

"Trust Doyle to be the unlucky one. I mean, that monster had lots of people to suck emotions from and she chose him." Cordelia whispered from the foot of the bed.

At first Angel was confused by her statement, but then realised why she'd said it.

Cordelia didn't know why Yeva had targeted Doyle; she didn't know anything about his demon side. She believed Doyle had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Thankfully, her relief over Doyle's recovery seemed to blind her from the facts and Angel wasn't about the press the matter. Best to let her think it was all just unfortunate timing for now.

"Guess it was just one of those things. Lucky we got here in time." Angel replied, deflecting the issue the best he could.

"You mean, lucky he has you looking out for him. We'll make a hero out of you yet Angel." Cordelia smiled and headed into the kitchen to start cleaning up the mess from the fight.

Angel turned back to the sleeping figure of his friend on the bed.

"Yeah, maybe."


And there we go - this story is finally finished after what, four years? I'm not overly happy with the ending but if I left it too long, I'd never complete it! Thanks to everyone who stuck with me and thank you for the reviews.