CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

" I knew using you as bait was a bad idea," Abigail held an ice pack to her jaw as she inspected Lorne's head for any bruises, " You got hurt,"

" All of us did pumpkin. How's that jaw?" Lorne asked.

" Its not broken, just sore," Abigail said.

" You shouldn't have been there," Wesley admonished her.

" But we were using my boyfriend as bait to lure Cordy. She could have killed him. I had a right to be there." Abigail countered.

Abigail stood up, " I'm going upstairs, I have a sudden headache," she said and headed for the stairs.

" If nobody minds, I'm going to follow the brunette," Lorne said and left too.

" Abikins, you ok?" Lorne asked once they were in their bedroom.

" I'm ok…just shaken up. I can't believe its Cordy…all this time and none of us knew. How could she do this? Hurt her friends?"

" It's not Cordy. Not really." Lorne reminded her. " I really don't know what it is."

" Was this it?" Abigail asked him, " I mean, was this what you saw when you read her?"

" Afraid so kitten." Lorne sighed.

" Oh, there was something else I needed to talk to you about. I wanted to talk to Cordy first, get another girl's advice but that kind of went out the window…"

" What is it?" Lorne asked.

Haltingly she told him her concerns about the picnic the other day.

" Oh Abikins," Lorne stood up and pulled her up in a hug," I was into it, I just had a lot on my mind, that's all."

" But if you weren't into it, you could have just said." She pointed out.

" I know but I didn't want to hurt your feelings. It wasn't you, it was me." He hugged her tighter, " Things will get better. You'll see." He bought his mouth to hers for a long, lingering kiss and slid a hand under her shirt, warming the skin there…

" She's not a nobody and an outsider. She's an integral part of the team and is part of something huge," Angel's words came flooding back as she woke up, with Lorne spooning behind her. She didn't want to wake him, so she grabbed her bathrobe and headed downstairs. It was nearly 10pm but knew Angel would most likely by awake. Being a creature of the night and all.

She found him in the basement, doing some violence on a punching bag.

" Hey," she greeted him.

" Hi," he grunted and stopped punching.

" Can I ask you something?" she asked sitting down on a step.

" What is it?" he asked, taking off his gloves.

" Earlier when we were confronting Cordy, you told her that I wasn't a nobody and that I was part of something huge."

" Oh," Angel said and wanted to kick himself. Trust Abigail to pick up on that.

" That was just…a figure of speech." He told her.

" Are you sure?"

" Positive," he replied without missing a beat. He hated lying to Abigail, she had been a good friend but it is what Lorne wanted.

" Oh, okay."

" We're good then?" he asked.

She nodded, " Sorry to keep you from….whatever it is you're doing." She said and disappeared back upstairs.

ONE WEEK LATER

Abigail had arrived home after going on a mission with Fred and Gunn, killing a nest of vampires downtown. She had killed two vamps and was proud of her efforts. She didn't want to be useless to the group.

Lorne didn't seem to be around and there was a pile of books, papers and newspapers left on the table. She straightened the mess when a slip of paper drifted to the floor. She picked it up. It was Lorne's handwriting. It had the name Jasmine written all over it with little love hearts around the name.

I knew it! She thought to herself with dread. Ever since that picnic Lorne hadn't been himself. He had assured her everything was fine but he was still acting odd. Now this confirmed it.

Lorne was having an affair with someone named Jasmine.