Love at Second Sight
Doyle pushed open the door to Angel's office space, thinking he should go and check on how he was doing after all the excitement of the previous night - and after Tina …
But he came to a stop as he crossed the threshold and saw a young woman inside, wielding a feather duster. Frowning, he checked the front door - but, no, he had the right office. He just had no idea who this was or what she was doing here.
The girl turned to look, when she heard the door open, and her face lit up when she spotted him into the biggest, brightest smile Doyle had ever seen. 'Hi! Who are you? Can I help you?'
'Um…' he swallowed and shuffled his feet awkwardly. The girl was very pretty, he couldn't help but notice - and very helpful. He just didn't understand what was going on. 'Is Angel in?'
'Oh, you know Angel?'
He nodded.
A look of recognition suddenly crossed the girl's face, 'right, you were there last night. I remember. You crashed the car.'
'Uh - yeah - that was me.' Doyle was hit with sudden clarity. This was the damsel from last night - the one Angel had pulled out of Russell Winters' mansion amidst a hail of bullets. He frowned. That didn't explain what she was still doing here or … he wrinkled his brow, why she was wearing what appeared to be Angel's clothes.
The girl smiled, 'I didn't recognise you at first - you were wearing a hat last night.'
'Uh - yeah, I was.'
'I didn't like it.'
'It isn't mine.' It was Whistler's. He had been trying something out. But he could take criticism - the hat would be retired.
'You routinely go around wearing other people's ugly hats?' the girl asked, getting back to her dusting.
'Um…' he shuffled his feet, unsure how to answer - the truth was pretty complicated and he wasn't sure he should really get into it with damsel number two. 'So how come you're still here?' he asked instead, wanting to steer the conversation onto easier ground.
'Well I wasn't gonna go home with that creep after me, was I?' The girl said, sounding like it was obvious. 'I know vampires can't come in without an invite, but …'
Doyle zoned out for a moment, too surprised that this girl knew about vampires and that she mentioned them so casually to catch everything she was saying.
'... so I figured I'd stay here until Angel took care of it. Which he did. This morning - kicked him right out the window. You don't wanna get on the wrong side of Angel. Anyways, I figured while I was hanging out here I might as well make myself useful. This place has dust bunnies the size of dust elephants…'
'Hang on - Angel killed Russell Winters already? This morning?'
'Uhuh - how is it you know Angel?'
He just stared at her. 'How do you know Angel?'
She shrugged. 'He used to go out with Buffy. He turned evil one year and chased us all around Sunnydale, trying to kill us. It was this whole big thing. And then he was dead, and then he was back - and then I ran into him at a party a couple of nights ago. I couldn't believe it. I knew he was leaving Buffy but … didn't expect him to turn up here.'
Doyle folded his arms, trying to get to grips with this conversation. 'So - you know Buffy - the vampire slayer?'
'Uhuh, I went to school with her.'
'And … you knew Angel when he was evil?'
'He was called Angelus then. Like I said, a whole big thing.' She turned back, to glance over her shoulder at him - her smile was still so bright … and Doyle felt something lurch deep inside of himself.
'And despite knowing him when he was evil … you're still hanging around his apartment?'
'Duh! He isn't evil anymore - he isn't dangerous just because he's a vampire.'
'Well no, but …'
'The past is totally the past, you just have to move on, you know? He's a vampire, he can't help it. Doesn't mean he's not a person.'
'I…' he wasn't quite sure what to say to that, but her words were ringing in his ears.
'Besides…' she stopped dusting, her smile faltered and she looked a little sheepish - and more vulnerable. Doyle felt that lurch again. 'It's just kinda nice to see someone from home, you know?' she said in a small voice. 'I've been out here, on my own, since graduation. Then someone tried to eat me. A familiar face is … familiar. Comforting. Is that silly?'
'No - I guess … not at all. You - uh - how come you came to L.A, then?'
'To be a famous actress - duh!' She smiled brightly - and he smiled too. She put her duster down and perched on the edge of the desk. 'Not that that's going quite the way I had planned. I was supposed to go to college - I got into some pretty great schools, I graduated top 10% of my class - I wanted to go to Columbia … but my folks didn't pay their taxes for twelve years and the IRS got all huffy about it and so … there was no money for college and here I am. I'm Cordelia, by the way - did I tell you that?'
He shook his head, 'Doyle,' he introduced himself. She was still smiling and his heart was beating faster and faster. He hadn't had a conversation that lasted this long with a human - a human girl, no less - in … years. Not since before he knew he was a demon. Just talking to her, having her talk to him like he was normal - just like her - it made him feel normal. It made him feel human.
And this girl - Cordelia - what an unbelievably beautiful name - she really didn't hold back when it came to talking about herself. She was not shy about putting herself out there. And within minutes of meeting her he knew all about the auditions she had had, what she thought of L.A, what she thought of almost being eaten and how impressed she was with the spaciousness of Angel's pants' pockets. 'Girls' clothes just don't have pockets like these. If they did we wouldn't have to buy so many purses,' she told him. Her brow wrinkled, 'but then I do like buying purses…' it wrinkled further, 'but then I'm too poor to buy purses now.'
'Well maybe just borrow Angel's pants until you've saved up for a new purse,' he suggested. She laughed - and he felt the sudden lurch for a third time.
'I'm not sure he'll agree to that, he doesn't seem very big with the sharing. Anyway - you never told me how it is you know Angel?'
'Oh - right - yeah… I just met him, actually - I was … I mean it's kinda complicated, but I was sorta ... sent to him, I guess.'
Her brow furrowed, 'sent how? Like in the mail?'
'Yep - from Thailand, I don't wanna talk about it.'
She giggled again. He laughed too - enjoying talking to this girl more than he had enjoyed talking to anyone in a long long time. 'No, weirder than me bein' a mail order bride, I'm afraid, I've been sent by … some - I guess "higher powers" is the technical term. The Powers That Be.'
'The Powers That Be what?'
'I dunno. But they talk to me - not in a weird way. I'm not crazy. But I get visions. Like, flashing images of people in trouble.'
'Is that a good thing?'
'It's a painful thing. Blindingly so but … not being much equipped in the super strength department myself - I'm really more of a lover than a fighter -' he gave her a wink, she rolled her eyes. 'I pass the messages across to Angel - at least that's the plan. I get the vision, he goes out and does the rescuing.'
'Hmmm.'
He wasn't sure, but for a moment it looked like her eyes had lit up - as if some possibility had excited her. But she quickly hid it, and was looking thoughtful. 'So - did you have a vision of me in trouble last night?'
'I didn't, actually, no. Angel was just there on a vengeance kick after the first girl he was supposed to rescue … well … let's just say it didn't end as happily for her as it did for you.'
'Bummer.'
'Right.'
'But you get these visions often?' she asked, 'of people in trouble? And Angel then helps them?'
'Well - we've just set it up. Why?'
'No reason - and - um - when you say "people in trouble" that can be all kinds of people. Like - maybe rich ones?'
'Well…' he rubbed his neck thoughtfully, 'I guess anyone can get attacked by a monster. Why?'
'No reason. And I'm guessing the people Angel saves - if they're not dead - are pretty grateful, huh?'
'I guess. Why?'
She smiled her brightest smile yet. 'No reason. Angel's downstairs, brooding in his batcave, if you wanna go see him. ' She hopped off the desk and picked up her feather duster again.
'Right - yeah, that's … what I came to do. So I'll - I'll let y' get back to your cleanin'.' He nodded at her and headed for the stairs which led down to the apartment below. As he reached about half way down he was hit by a sudden memory - overpowering and almost overwhelming, like a vision but without the agonising pain. There had been something nagging away at him throughout his chat with Cordelia - a sense of familiarity tugging away at him, and it was now he realised what he was being reminded of.
It was the day he had met Harri. The day she had walked into the kitchen, where he was awkwardly doing the dishes, and just started talking - telling him all about herself, making him feel like he'd known her forever - and he had fallen madly in love right there and then.
He glanced back up the stairs and wondered; despite the utter mess he had made of his life, what he had become, what he had done, despite the fact he wasn't even human; if maybe he had just been lucky enough to experience that sudden head over heels connection with someone special for the second time in his life.
