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Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed or reviewed this fic so far.

And thanks a lot to Brainstorm Sorcerer for his help with this chapter, couldn't have done it without him.

Chapter 10- Birthday

Los Angeles, Hyperion Hotel

"I'd - just like to say thank you." Cordelia, covered in slime and grime, said, then took a deep breath. "You believed in me when no one else would. Even in my darkest hours you were there for me", she almost started crying, "and that means more to me that you'll ever know."

She sniffed. "I guess what I'm really trying to say is - I love you. - To all my fans:" She held up a scrub brush in plastic gloved hand, "this is for you!"

Cordelia was sitting on the floor of the Hyperion lobby. Fred was sitting a little ways away, wearing yellow plastic gloves and applauding wildly.

"Wow! That was just - wow. 'cause... oh, and with the tears! I-I got chill bumps all up my arms."

Cordelia quipped. "Yup. That's the famous speech. Not that I'll ever use it of course - unless they start handing out awards for best slime and grime. - Oh, I swear. Next time Angel decides to blow something up he's cleaning his own scorch marks."

Gunn walked in wearing a hairnet and facemask and carrying a spray bottle. "Ladies. Less yammering, more scrub."

"My, Gunn. Don't you look - sterile."

Gunn took the facemask off. "Couple more hours of sniffing that industrial cleanser, I think I might be. Hey, I don't suppose you ladies wanna trade jobs?"

Cordelia pretended to think. "Ah - hmm. Scrape up Wolfram and Hart's entrails off floor, hmm - Fred?"

"You're screwed."

Cordelia chuckled and went back to scrubbing the floor. Gunn leaned in closer to Fred. "Wes back yet?"

Cordelia shook her head. "No. He's still at the store picking up some more extra strength ick remover."

Gunn saluted Fred with his bottle and left.

Angel arrived. "Look who's up from his nap."

Cordelia pulled off her gloves and gets up. "Oh, Conner!"

Angel curled up protectively around the baby as Cordelia stretched out her hands. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa - dirty people. Not touching the baby."

Cordelia jokingly asked. "But pig-drinking bloodsuckers are okay? - I meant that in a nice way. Okay, I'm gonna go wash my hands, but when I get back I get first dibs on baby snuggles."

Angel called after her. "Don't forget to get under your fingernails." He quietly asked Fred. "Does she know?"

Wesley burst through the door carrying a couple of bags. "Where is she?"

Cordelia was in the bathroom popping some pills from a prescription bottle. She came out of the bathroom to find Wesley and Gunn holding a cake with six lit candles and the picture of a female superhero on it. All four started singing 'happy birthday.'

Cordelia grinned. "Oh you guys. I can't believe you did this."

Gunn said. "Don't just stand there. Blow out the candles, girl."

Cordelia blew out the candles and the guys cheered. Fred asked. "Did you make a wish?"

Cordelia shrugged. "I sure did. Ah, Jude Law was a little busy, huh?"

Wesley sighed. "Oh, how disappointing for you. Well, I guess you won't be wanting the presents we..."

Cordelia was overjoyed. "Oh, wanting. Wanting presents."

Wesley and Gunn put the cake on the lobby counter as Angel asked. "Do you want to hold the baby now?"

"Yeah", she took Connor. "Oh, thank you. Hey, honey. Yeeh, the baby, baby."

"Also, here's something before we get 'em all", Fred said as she opened the laptop and Matt was on it via video call.

"Oh hey Matt!" Cordy greeted happily.

"Happy Birthday Cordy", Matt smiled and greeted.

"Awww, thanks, and you did it on video call, which you don't do", Cordelia said, touched.

"Figured you'd want to see me", Matt shrugged as both chuckled. "I sent my gift, the others will give it to you. Enjoy your day."

"Thanks so much", Cordelia said again as the video call was cut.

Angel then shifted awkwardly then pulled a small box out of his pocket. "Uhm - ah, I - I got you a - a little something."

Cordy took it. "Oh, Angel, you didn't have to do that. You have enough to take care of as it is."

"Well, I'm a champion", Angel chuckled. "We do important stuff. Hey, and who's more important than..."

Wesley said. "You have to forgive the wrapping. Some of us seem to have fostered a strange addiction to Scotch tape."

Wesley, Fred, and Gunn came up, each of them carrying a big, wrapped box with a big bow on top.

"Oh - what a cruel dilemma: presents of sweet little baby face." Cordy looked down at Connor and cooed. Then her head whipped up, the smile gone.

"Take the baby."

Angel jokingly asked. "You're choosing birthday gifts over my kid?"

"Take the baby! Take the baby!"

Angel quickly took Connor as Cordelia got hit by a vision.

"There's a teenager, a girl, she... she..." Cordy was suddenly blasted backwards into the glass doors of the weapons cabinet. The others clustered around her as she lay motionless on the floor.

Fred asked. "Is she alright?"

Cordelia gasped and sat up. "I'm fine - you guys. I'll be okay. I'm just..."

Cordy turned to see all of the guys clustered around her body - lying a few feet away from where she was.

"Dead?"

"Oh, no." Fred said in horror.

"Take him." Angel handed the crying Connor to Wesley. "Come on Cordy, wake up. It's all over. Come back to us."

Cordelia ran near them. "I haven't gone anywhere. Angel..."

"Please wake up."

Wesley trailed off. "Angel, is she..."

Angel and Cordelia said together. "No!"

"I'm not?"

Angel noted. "She's still breathing. Her heart's still beating."

Cordelia agreed before a realization hit her. "Yes! But - If I'm not dead then..."

"She's just in some sort of trance or a coma." Angel said.

"Like hell I am!"

"Well, let's get her over to the couch." Angel and Gunn picked up Cordelia's body and carried it over to the couch.

"Easy."

"All right."

"Easy."

Cordelia watched and paced. "Okay. I get it. This is some kind of bizarre birthday present you guys cooked up."

Fred spotted the bottle of prescription pills on the floor where Cordelia's body was lying and picked it up.

"Alright. The joke's on me. Now put me back in my body!"

Angel then pointed out. "It was a vision, wasn't it? I mean, she just started saying something about a girl..."

Cordelia agreed and tried to talk. "That's right. She's in a house on Oak street", the others kept talking, not hearing her, "the middle of Reseda. It feels like we have some time here, but – but", she looked at the others, "you can't hear me at all, can you?"

Lorne came down the stairs. "What's all the hubbub, bub?"

Cordelia was happy to see him. "Lorne! Thank god! You can hear me, right? 'cause if there's some weird, other-worldly thing going on you'd still be able to..."

Cordelia trailed off as Lorne walked right through her, never noticing her.

"Oh. That's not good." A black shadow passed overhead. "Did anybody else just see that?"

Lorne saw Cordelia's body and asked. "Jumping Judas on a unicycle. What happened?"

Angel told him. "All we know is that she had a vision."

"There is a lot we don't know. I think she dropped this." Fred held out the bottle of pills to Angel.

Cordelia snapped. "No Fred! Put that away. That's not important."

"Seltrex."

"Oh god." Wesley said in horror.

Angel asked. "What's Seltrex?"

Cordelia tried to say. "Nothing! It's just..."

Wesley informed. "Seltrex is a highly powerful migraine medication."

Gunn suggested. "Maybe we should get her to a hospital."

Angel was unconvinced. "So they can do what? Do what they did last time, strap her to a bed and tell us there's no hope?"

Wesley agreed. "Angel is right. Seltrex is potent but - it doesn't cause the catatonia."

Lorne told the rest. "I'm picking up some hardcore woo-woo vibes in the room. This ain't medical, kids. It's mystical."

Fred nodded. "That's what I'm saying. There is so much we don't know. If Cordelia is taking a drug this powerful in secret, the visions are probably doing a lot more damage than she lets on."

Gunn realized. "This last one must have overloaded her."

Angel snapped. "Don't say last! Okay? She'll come out of this. She has to."

Cordelia added. "She will!"

Angel told them. "Okay. Look, if this is a mystical problem there has to be some kind of mystical solution."

Cordelia agreed. "There you go. Great idea!"

Angel then gave instructions. "Gunn, you and Fred go to Cordy's place."

Now Cordelia was scared. "No! Bad idea. Bad idea!"

Angel picks up Cordelia's body. "See if she's been hiding anything. Anything that could tell us what's wrong with her. Wes?"

"I'll hit the books."

Lorne said. "I'll take the little peanut."

The group dispersed, leaving Cordelia behind in the lobby.

"Does nobody care that there is a girl in Reseda that is about to be fed to a no-eyed, three-mouthed monster?" She heard indistinct whispering and looked around. "What? - Hello? - Message. I'll leave a message."

Cordelia walked over to the counter top but her hand went right through the pens sitting there. She tried again, with the same results.

"Huh, well this is odd."

Cordelia jumped out of her skin when she turned around to see an old man with clouded eyes and old green clothing.

"The hell are you doing here?"

"Me?! Who are you?!"

"I asked first."

"Hold on, I just died...sort of."

"Oh, I am so sorry that you had a little headache and went all sleepy." The old man drawled sarcastically as he sat down in a chair. "Try chopping off your own hand and getting a sword through your chest by one of your own kids, then we'll talk."

"Sword? Wait..." Cordelia's eyes went back and forth before they widened. "You're Stick! Matt' mentor!"

"Guess you are more than just a looker."

"Hold on, how can you see me?"

"I'm dead. The whole blind thing was part of my physical body, which, as you can see," he gestured to himself, "I don't have anymore."

"Oh! Right!" Cordelia said. "So, what, you're stalking me now?"

"No, just the right place at the right time, I guess", Stick shrugged, standing up to face her. "This is quite the situation you've gotten yourself into, princess."

Later

Wesley was sitting at his desk reading a book. Cordelia was standing in front of it, yelling at him.

"Wesley. Wesley! WESLEY!" She waved her arms wildly. "Yoo-hoo!"

Stick drawled from behind. "If you haven't gotten it through your incorporeal head yet, you can't talk to him, or anyone on the normal plane, unless you mastered Astral projection in the next two seconds."

"Well I must master it then!" Cordelia snapped.

Wesley noted. "But if she's in the astral plane, she could be here unable to communicate."

Cordy sighed. "Yeah. Here! Unable to communicate." She slowly walked over to take a look at Wes' book. "'Astral Projection.' I should read up." Wes turned the page over. "Wait, don't turn - turn..."

"No use, princess", Stick shrugged.

"Are you here to pass comments or actually help me?" Cordelia asked, annoyed.

"Once I figure out exactly what this is, I will", Stick shrugged to her.

Cordelia sighed and walked over to Angel's room, where her body was lying on the bed. Angel held her hand. "Cordy - Look, I know that you can't hear me, but - there is something I have to say." He put down her hand. "You really piss me off, you know that? I thought we trusted each other. But you've been lying. MRI's and CAT scans? It's been going on for over a year. Why couldn't you let me in? I could have helped you. You make me so furious."

Cordelia asked in shock. "You're furious? I get body-jacked on my birthday, and you're the one that's furious?"

Stick told her from behind. "Well in the vampire's defense, never thought I'd say that, you did keep a secret from the whole crew. All those meds, you failed to tell your team and now they're paying for it."

"Oh, and you're Honest Abe?" Cordelia snapped at him. "Matt at least told me the truth, something you never taught him. He told me Elektra was sent by you to seduce him back to your cause. You tried to ruin his life."

Stick accepted responsibility. "I get it, I fucked up, but I think I've paid for that, or are not currently talking to an actual dead man? You on the other hand knew what would happen when eventually the price for those visions comes to pass. Should have at least trusted them to find a way to handle the toll it took."

Before Cordelia could respond, Lorne walked in. "Knock, knock. How is she?"

Angel informed. "The same. You ready?"

Lorne nodded. "As I'll ever be."

Cordelia asked. "For what? What's he gonna do?"

Lorne sat down on the edge of the bed. "Although I'm sort of wishing I brought my helmet. Last time I tried this I got blown across the room."

Cordy begged. "Oh, god, please let this work."

"Well, I'll make way", Stick stepped out of the way in case Lorne was thrown across the room as Cordelia scoffed.

Lorne put his fingers on the temples of Cordelia's body and closed his eyes. Cordelia closed her eyes as well.

"Cordelia? Are you there?"

"It's me. Lorne, I'm here."

"Cordelia?"

Cordy's eyes popped open. "Yes! One seven one Oak street. Can you hear me? Lorne?"

Lorne took his hands away and looked at Angel. Angel looked from Cordelia's body to Lorne. "What?"

Lorne sighed. "Cordelia's not in there. She's just gone."

"Well, I guess I can stand here again", Stick shrugged as he stood where he was standing before again.

Cordelia was horrified. "I'm standing right in front of you."

Angel sighed and rested his head on his hands. Cordy looked up as she heard the indistinct whisperings again. "And - I'm afraid."

Angel raised his head: "No. This isn't gonna happen." He got up. "I don't care how many favors you have to call in. I don't care how many gods you have to cross. You have a connection to the Powers That Be and you're gonna find me a way to talk to them. Understand?"

"Those bastards", Stick snarled about the Powers.

Lorne backed up a step. "A-Angel honey, it-it's not that easy. I mean, contacting the Powers is a muddy, not to mention dangerous, area. But this is a - this is a bit much to ask."

"I'm not asking."

Lorne sighed and left. Angel sat back down on the chair beside the bed. Cordelia then looked over as Angel began to snore in a while.

"Finally!" She walked over to Angel. "Okay, Wes, let's hope your books know what they're talking about."

"No, stop!" Stick said but Cordy sat down on the chair, melting into Angel's body as she positioned herself to match Angel's.

Angel's head came up and he exhaled slowly as he straightened. He saw a permanent marker on the nightstand, and knocked over a glass sitting beside it as he picked it up. Moving slowly, he started to write 171 Oak on the wall above the bed.

There was indistinct whispering and a dark, smoke-like shadow writhed across the wall beside Angel. Then suddenly Cordelia was pushed out of his body as Angel fell down.

"Listen up!" Cordelia snarled at the whispers as Stick now looked around, all alert, trying to determine what it was. "Whatever you are, you can't scare me!"

Wesley walked in, making her jump as Stick sighed just as Angel picked himself up off the floor. "Angel - what are you doing on the floor?"

Angel was confused. "I don't know. I had this dream that, uh - Cordy was here. She was - ah, trying to tell me something. Something really important."

Cordelia nodded. "Yes! And, and...?"

"It's weird."

Cordelia was getting annoyed. "How are you a champion? In what way are you a champion?"

This time Stick agreed with her. "I knew Vampires are dumb, but seriously?"

Wesley told Angel. "Fred studied Cordy's latest CAT scans. The news isn't good. The tests show widespread neuro-electrical deterioration."

Cordy started. "That's just a fancy way of saying..."

Angel finished. "She's dying."

Cordy said after a beat. "I think I like the fancy way better."

Stick shook his head. "No you don't. Not knowing, sometimes that's worse than actually knowing."

Wesley told Angel. "I'm still working on, ah, the mystical aspect: trance states, astral projection, spiritual possession. But so far I haven't been able to... Why don't you take a break? I-I'll watch her and Connor."

Angel left, not meeting Wesley' eyes.

Cordelia was looking down at her body. "I'm not ready yet."

"So say we all", Stick shrugged when a wind started blasting through the room affecting only Cordy and Stick.

Stick quickly shoved Cordelia behind him, raising his fists up as the dark shadow seeped out of the wall opposite her. The air rippled like a pond and a giant armored, intimidating Demon materialized from it.

"Hey. How's it going?"

Cordelia tried to walk past Stick but he held her back. "You're - you're - death? You've come to take me."

Stick now relaxed and told Cordelia. "That ain't Death, he hasn't got the tits for it. It's just another Demon."

"Death is a woman?" Cordelia asked, surprised by that info.

"That's what you're focusing on?" Stick asked, annoyed.

The Demon offered his hand. "I'm Skip." Cordy just looked at him. "You're Cordelia Chase, right?" Cordy nodded slightly. "Sorry it took me so long, I..." He indicated her body. "Is this you? Most people go astral, their spiritual shapes tend to be an idealized version of themselves. You know, straighten the nose, lose the gray, sort of a self-esteem kind of thing. You're pretty confident, aren't you?"

"Well, I would make myself look tall and handsome, but never got the chance since I died, and by luck managed to maintain myself", Stick quipped.

Cordelia just asked. "What is this? Who are you? What the hell is going on?!"

Skip assured her. "You have questions. I get that. And I'll answer them, too, but first we got to get out of here."

Cordelia was even more shocked than before. "But why? Here is good. I feel really comfortable here. I-I like here."

Skip pointed out. "But you see, there is a slight problem: you - don't belong here anymore."

Stick came to her defense. "Neither do I, dipshit, but here I am."

Skip glared at Stick, then told Cordelia. "You'll be dead very soon - unless - you - come with me."

Cordelia looked over towards Wesley sitting on the chair beside her bed. "Well, I'll follow you on-on one condition. You have to tell my friends about this vision that I had."

Skip shook his head. "Sorry. No can do. I'm not a messenger. I'm just a guide."

Stick now sneered. "Just do it, asshole."

Skip responded angrily. "You are not giving orders, ghost."

Stick shrugged. "And you can't tell me shit. I'm dead, but I know people who still kick supernatural ass, do what the lady says or I'll go calling."

Skip glared at Stick hatefully, then held up his hand as a ball of fire appeared in it, and Stick prepared to dodge, until there was a 'poof' sound and the fire turned into a note with the address on the paper.

Skip put it down, then held out his hand to Cordy. Cordy looked at it. "I don't wanna die."

Skip assured. "So don't."

She turned to Stick. "Will you come with me?"

"Well, don't want to see more of that ugly shitface, but I will come", Stick assured as Cordelia nodded gratefully while Skip fumed.

Cordelia slowly put her hand into Skip's as Stick grasped her by the shoulder. There was a blue flash of light.

Cordelia and Stick looked around as a flash of white light resolved itself into a deserted open room.

Cordy realized. "Is this... This is a mall."

"Gold star for observation", Stick quipped, earning him an annoyed glare from Cordelia.

Skip told Cordelia. "We just figured you'd be more comfortable here."

"We?"

"The Powers That Be."

"Oh those bastards", Stick scoffed.

Cordelia asked incredulously. "The Powers That Be popped me out of my body and sent me to a mall?"

Skip corrected. "Actually, this is more a construct of a mall. You know, like in the Matrix."

Cordelia was surprised. "You've seen the Matrix."

Skip nodded. "Oh, I love that flick. When Trinity is all 'dodge this' and the agent just crumples to the", Cordy sighed, "and I'm not really instilling any awe anymore, am I?"

"I miss the classic demons. No fuss, just the old "kill and slaughter" routine, it was simple back then. Less annoying." Stick commented after Skip was done.

"Did I ask for you to talk, old man?" Skip bite back.

"No one does, so I do it anyway." Stick retorted.

Cordelia then asked. "Why did you bring me here?"

Skip told her. "To give you a choice. But, we'll get to that later. Right now there is something I want you to see."

Skip touched an info-TV-screen and motioned Cordelia over as a picture of Doyle appeared on it.

"Oh my god. - Doyle."

"The lad with the visions, Matty avenged him a while ago", Stick quipped, pride in his voice as he remembered the Scourge crying out in terror and pain on being beaten up by Matt.

The screen showed the kiss that transferred the visions from Doyle to Cordelia.

Skip told her. "This is where it happened, big cosmic whoops. - Doyle was never meant to give you those visions."

Cordelia asked. "The why did the Powers let him?"

Skip shrugged. "Well, they're usually pretty good at catching that sort of thing. What they didn't count on where his feelings for you."

Cordelia asked. "You mean - Doyle gave me the visions because - he loved me?"

"I can't answer that."

"What can you answer, shitface?" Stick asked with a scoff as Skip glared again before turning to Cordelia.

"What I can tell you is that it was a mistake."

Cordelia turned away. "But I thought the Powers That Be knew everything."

Stick told Cordelia. "They like to think so, but in reality, they are just some blowhard bastards who are subservient to the real powers in this universe. Trust me, in the grand scheme, they are the lower beings."

Skip countered. "You know nothing, old man. Life and death, that sort of thing, they got a handle on. Who someone chooses to love, well, that's just good old free will. See Cordelia, the visions are an ancient, powerful force. Demons are the only ones who can withstand them."

Stick laughed at the bullshit and told Skip. "Correction, the visions are sent by the higher assholes. Humans have been able to have visions of the future and such for a long time, surprised you didn't know that, skull. Bosses too far up their own asses to see what humanity has achieved over the millennia, huh Skippy?"

Skip whirled on the old man. "What humanity achieved? Like your Hand? The slaughter of innocents, wars, and plagues?"

"They gave up their humanity a long time ago."

"They aren't the only ones."

"Never claimed I was a saint."

Cordelia then asked. "But I've had them for more than two years now. Doesn't that mean I'm strong?"

Skip told her. "Strong, yes. Demon, no. Just ask Tammy here."

"Tammy where?"

Skip stepped aside to reveal a girl dressed like a peasant.

Tammy then spoke in a Cockney accent. "Hello, miss?"

Cordelia spun to face her.

"This is Tammy. She had the visions back in - sixteen thirty?"

Tammy nodded and shared her experience. "Aye. Had 'em well neigh on a year, and a hellish year it was, too. Town fathers called me a witch, wanted to burn me at the stake."

"Tch, religious pricks", Stick scoffed at that.

But Cordy whacked his shoulder, and it connected as Stick sighed.

"Hey, Matt's Catholic." Cordelia repeated what Wesley had said to her during the Shroud of Rahmon business

"Just stating the facts."

Cordy then asked Tammy. "They killed you because you had visions?"

"No, miss. They didn't have to." Tammy turned so her back was facing Cordy and Stick, showing the hole in the back of her head. "Last vision I had blew out the back of me skull."

Tammy turned back around. "We wasn't mean to have the visions, us humans. Look, you want my advice, you listen to our man Skip here. He won't steer you wrong, this one."

Skip smiled. "Aw, get out of here." He turned serious. "Really. Get out. I've got work."

Tammy left.

Skip asked Cordelia. "You okay?"

Stick rolled his eyes and pointed out something really dumb. "So you had another human gain visions almost four hundred years ago, and after a year, her brains blow out. Did none of you geniuses think to, oh I don't know, put up safety measures in case it ever happened again? Higher beings, my dead ass. What use are you cocksuckers anyway?"

"Another word out of you, old man-!"

"You'll what? Kill me? Send me to hell? I welcome the challenge, ugly."

Skip moved forward but Cordelia, who was standing in between them, puts her arms up against them. "Would you guys just knock it out?! I swear, it's like I'm in high school politics. I need to think."

She walked away a bit, while Stick and Skip locked eyes.

"Congratulations, you get to live. For now." The former warrior of the Chaste mocked the Demon before following Cordelia.

There was a chamber and its walls were hidden in the shadows. The only thing in it was a square cube of stone with a fire burning on top. Angel then dropped with a scream.

"Thanks Lorne."

"It is come. The champion is come." Angel picked himself up and looked around. "Come for what? Answers not to be had. Death is certain. Death awaits."

Angel demanded. "I wanna talk to the conduit."

The voices said. "We are the conduit. We are the gateway, the all the time, the ever. It wishes to speak to us."

Angel nodded. "Yes, it does. Are you gonna show yourselves?"

"We are unseen. Formless. It speaks unknowing. Send it away."

Angel refused. "I'm not going anywhere until I get my message to the Powers That Be. My friend - Cordelia - has visions given to her by the Powers. They're killing her. I want the Powers to take them back. - Let her go. She's suffered enough!"

Before the voices could respond, Angel sneered. "My best friend, he is the Heir to Hell." He hated himself for the next words that came out of his mouth, but he figured Matt wouldn't mind since he too hated the PTB for giving Cordelia such painful visions. "The Spawn of Mephisto."

The fires in the center of the room flared up at the mention of the name before dying back down as Angel snarled. "Now tell me."

Skip asked Cordelia. "You ever have the vague sensation that maybe you left the oven on? Or that you're supposed to call someone back, you just forgot who it was? More to the point, have you ever felt that way about your acting career?"

Cordelia shook her head. "I don't have an acting career."

"Which sort of brings me to my next point." Skip pointed to a stack of TV screens and they came to life, showing scenes of a Hollywood party.

Cordelia's eyes widened in remembrance. "Hey! I remember that night."

Skip nodded. "You'd been in LA for a few months, things had been kind of lean, and who should you run into?"

Angel appeared on the screen, making his way through the party goers. Cordelia watched with a slight smile on her face as she and Angel met at the party from about 3 years ago.

"Your entire life changed that night. In ways you couldn't imagine. Indescribably painful ways, I think you'll agree. Now, what if the play ran a little different?"

The picture on the screen rewound. "You're on the sideline over here", Skip pointed and a white x appeared on the lower right corner of the screen, "talking to a couple wanna-be moguls. Angel is down field here." A circle appeared around Angel's head in the back of the screen. "Instead of cutting through the middle to meet Angel", two white intersecting lines appeared on the screen, "what if you'd been forced to counter? What if this guy", a circle appeared around another man in the crowd, "who happens to be a very powerful talent agent, flanks you", a white line connects the circled agent to the X denoting Cordelia's position, "and drew you off side?" A white line lead from the X in the right lower corner of the screen over to the left corner and another X. "What would happen then?"

Cordelia realized then. "I'd, ah, score a touchdown?"

"I hate football", Stick muttered.

Skip nodded. "Metaphorically speaking, heck, yeah! Inside every living thing there is a connection to the Powers That Be. Call it instinct, intuition. Deep down we all know our purpose in this world."

Cordelia started putting two and two together. "Are you saying that - I was meant to be an actress?"

Skip said. "No. I'm saying you were meant to be an incredibly famous and wealthy actress. And the Powers That Be can make that happen."

Cordy was even more shocked. "They can do that? They can turn back time?"

Skip corrected. "They don't go for that - much. Think of it as 'writing over history.' From this moment on you could live the life you always wanted. No monsters, no visions, no dying. Well, not for a long time, anyway."

Cordelia shook her head. "But no Angel."

Stick then added his own two cents. "Mephisto promised to save Johnny Blaze's father from cancer, only for the man to die from a motor cycle crash. Now he'll spend the rest of his life tied to Zarathos as the Ghost Rider. Be careful when you make deals with demons, princess, Johnny and Matt did, and they paid for it."

"We are nothing like him", Skip countered before telling Cordelia. "Cordelia, I want you to listen to me. If you go back inside your body, you won't wake up. You will lie there, unable to move, unable to speak - until the next vision hits you and then you will die."

Cordelia was conflicted now. "But that's not fair. Angel knows how to save that girl because you told him for me, but what about others? He needs me."

Stick shrugged. "What'd I tell, they're assholes. They put you in this mess, they're too pathetic to make it better."

Skip glared, then said after a beat. "Let's go in here."

Skip took a hold of Cordelia's hand and pulled her through one of the walls of the mall - into the space where Angel was arguing with the Conduit, Stick following.

"Its pleas are pointless. Her path is chosen. We will not interfere."

Angel argued. "The visions are too much. She's not strong enough to handle them."

"Obstinate. It speaks and does not listen."

Angel spun around, yelling. "No, you're not listening! Cordelia is not a champion. She is a rich girl from Sunnydale who likes to play superhero. She doesn't have what it takes to do this! Don't the Powers get that? Stop whispering and listen to me, damn it! She's weak."

Cordelia was now hurt from what she had heard and requested. "Skip. Get me out of here. Now!"

"No! Stop!" Stick requested but Skip and Cordy melted away.

Stick still stood there, listening to the rest of what Angel was saying. "You're killing her. She's unconscious, and she's alone. Who knows if she's in pain?"

"It is angry. It is afraid."

Angel then said after a beat. "I'm more afraid of her dying than she is. - What is that?"

Stick quickly ran after Skip and Cordelia back to the mall, only to see Cordelia, her eyes closed, fade away.

Stick now snarled at Skip. "You son of a bitch."

"It was her choice, mortal. Now it's time for you to-" Skip was cut off as Stick landed a punch to the demon's chest, sending him flying back and breaking through counters.

Groaning, Skip got to his knees as Stick casually walked forward with his fist up. "I'm no Iron Fist, but I can pack a punch."

Skip roared in rage and the two charged at each other.

In the new reality, Cordelia walked off the stage of her show titled 'Cordy!', dressed in a dark outfit. , though her expression was sad as she was looking at an old picture of Matt Murdock and herself, and she was wearing his glasses, the two looking very happy with each other, goofing around like that.

"Great show, Cordy!"

"Thanks, you too", Cordelia replied as she looked up, then quickly pocketed the picture as her assistant Nev walked beside her, holding a PDA.

"Okay. There are stars and there are stars, and then there is you!"

Cordelia quipped. "God, that is sweet, Nev. Am I paying you enough?"

"Well, as a matter of fact..."

"Good. What's cooking?"

"Okay. You got a costume fitting. The Producers want to run some ideas past you for next week's show."

Cordelia walked up to some fans lying in wait backstage, and began to sign some of the autograph books held out to her. "Hi, how are you? What's your name?"

"We want to record that breast cancer PSA, but tomorrow is pretty booked. Maybe next week."

Cordy was still signing: "No, make it tomorrow. I wanna get it on the air."

Nev then read in his PDA and told her. "Also, your marriage to a handsome, blind, pro-bono lawyer increased ratings and followers by a lot. The divorce then increased sympathy."

Cordelia sighed, not wanting to hear about that. She and Matt had met at a party in LA when Matt had come for a case regarding a Donald Sullivan, and hit it off immediately, so when he'd gone back to New York, she'd followed, and they'd dated for almost a year when she'd found out he was Daredevil after a close call with Bullseye.

Then they had married in a small ceremony attended by Matt's friends, because Cordelia had no real friends due to being a star.

Things had been stable for a while, but then gotten tough due to Matt's hero work, and his identity was at risk from the paparazzi due to his close proximity to the famous Cordelia Chase.

Cordelia supported his hero work but wanted him to be with her. At the end, they'd decided to end it, and Matt had said it could be publicized that the whole thing was his fault to protect her from any backlash.

Now they had been separated for almost 3 months.

Pushing the painful memories out of her head, she turned to Nev with a sigh. "Nev, you ever get that nagging feeling that you're supposed to be somewhere, doing something, but you can't remember what?"

Nev shrugged. "No. I'm highly organized. That's why you pay me - pretty well. But with the holidays coming I really..."

Cordy handed the autograph and pen back to one of the fans. Cordy: "I have to go, I'm sorry. I have to go."

She started to walk on. Nev dogged her, pulling out his phone.

"I want something. Hypo-something. Hypothermia?"

Nev said to the phone. "Josh, let's get a large tub of ice water to Miss Chase's dressing room, pronto."

"No, that's not it."

"Canceling ice water."

"Hyper... hyperbaric?"

"Josh, make it an oxygen tent."

"No, that's not it either."

"Canceling tent."

Cordy spun to face Nev. "Hyperion! That's it!"

"The hotel." He realized.

"Yes. I wanna go there."

"Terrific. When would you like me to..." Cordy was already walking on. "Now? Now you would like to..." Cordy snapped her fingers in the air without looking back at Nev. "Without security? Without an entourage of me? Right. I'll give them a call." He said to the phone. "Josh, car, side door, now."

Later

Cordy entered the Hyperion. A string of lights were decorating the plants framing the entrance. Jazzy music was playing. People were scattered around the lobby. A bellboy pushed a baggage cart towards the elevators. Lights were decorating all the plants around the lobby.

Cordy walked up to the concierge writing something in the book lying open on the reception counter. "Hi. Excuse me."

"Ah, yes, how can we help..." he looked up. "Oh, Miss Chase. How can you help me? Ah, how can I help with..."He gave a little laugh. "How can we help you?"

Cordelia replied. "I believe my assistant made a reservation."

Concierge checked the book. "Ah. The, ah, luxury suite. I will take you right up to my room." She sighed as he corrected himself, embarrassed. "Your room, I meant. - Welcome to the Hyperion."

Cordy followed the concierge down a corridor of the Hyperion.

"And here we are, Ms. Chase." He pulled out a key and started to unlock a door. "The luxury suite."

Cordy slowly walked past him looking around.

"No." She pointed at a door. "This one." She closed her eyes for a moment. "I want this one."

"That's ah - that's a standard Miss Chase. It's hardly fitting for someone of your..."

"Open it?"

"Yes, certainly."

Cordy slowly entered the suite as it was opened and looked around it. She slowly walked over to the bed as the concierge watched her from just inside the door.

"This wallpaper..."

"Ah, yes. Designed by renowned artist Jacques Latour. Part of the remodeling we..." Cordelia started to rip some of it off the wall. "Ha, ha... - Mmm, I hate that wallpaper. That's bad, bad wallpaper."

Cordelia had ripped enough paper off the wall to reveal the address she wrote on it while 'borrowing' Angel's body.

"One seven one Oak." She turned to the concierge. "Where is that?"

"Ah..."

Later

Cordy rang the doorbell of house 171. A teenage girl answered the door. "Oh, hi. I'm - I'm really sorry to bother you..."

"Oh, my god. You're - Cordelia Chase." Cordelia smiled and nodded. "You're - Cordy!"

"Yeah, hi. Listen, I know you don't know me, but would you mind if I..."

"Oh! Please, come in."

"Oh, thanks." Cordelia walked in, and the girl closed the door behind her.

"I'm Ella. Ella Lopez. And - I love your show. Like, love love. You're just - you're my idol, Cordy. I wanna be just like you, and have my own design firm and..." She frowned. "Wait a second. What are you doing in Reseda?"

Cordelia laughed. "Yeah, uhm, hmm. Good question. Uhm, this is - gonna sound a little bizarre, but, uhm, is everything okay here? Nothing - bad - happened, has it?"

Ella half shrugged. "My dad left us a couple months ago."

Cordelia reached out to touch the girl's shoulder. "Oh. Honey, I'm sorry. Is your mom here?"

Ella shook her head. "She's up in Ojai visiting friends."

"Oh. - Well, ah... - That's, ah... Well, okay, then, ahem..."

Cordelia turned to the door to leave. "Hey! You wanna see something cool?"

Cordelia turned back. "Sure."

Ella took Cordelia's hand and led her over to a pentagram drawn on the floor on the other side of the couch. "It's a retrieval spell. I'm gonna make my dad come back and live with us again. - I'm pretty sure I did everything right. Even though I - spilled some diet coke on the book I was using and had to improvise a little. Pretty cool pentagram, huh?"

Cordelia warned. "Ella? I think we should get out of here before..."

A blue light flashed and suddenly there was a big demon standing in the middle of the pentagram.

"...that happens."

Cordelia pushed Ella towards the door. "Get out of here, Cynthia. Go!"

Cordelia picked up a table lamp and smashed it over the monster's head, then turned to run. The monster tripped her, then grabs a hold of her ankle. Cordelia grabbed a hold of a book lying on the coffee table and rammed it in the monster's face, making it fall back. The door behind her opened and Cordelia turned to stare up as Wesley and Gunn entered. Wesley was carrying a drawn sword in his right hand. His left sleeve was pinned up, empty, against the side of his jacket.

"Get the girl!" Wesley ordered as Gunn pulled Ella towards the door. "Let's go. Outside."

Wesley ran the demon through with his sword as Cordelia asked. "Wesley, what are you doing here and - what - happened to your other arm?

He pushed her aside. "Look out."

The monster came at Wesley again and he fended it off with his sword. Gunn came in and tried to beat the monster with his baseball bat. After a brief struggle they managed to down the monster, and Wesley skewered it with his sword.

Cordelia then asked. "So, you - like - kill things now? Cause last time I saw you, you just kind of fainted in front of them."

Wesley asked back. "Cordelia, why on earth are you here?"

Cordelia shrugged. "I know, I know. Reseda. It's practically the ninth circle of hell."

"Not Reseda. Here in this house. Is that girl a friend of yours?"

"Oh, look, I know we haven't seen each other in a while, Wesley, and..." She laughed a little. "But there is something weird going on with me. Like", she whispered. "Sunnydale weird."

"Oh, my god." Ella looked at the dead monster. "My mom is gonna freak. Better do an autopsy or call the Devil to do it."

Later

Gunn was sticking the appendage of the monster hanging over the gate of his truck under the tarp spread over the bed of it. Cordelia and Wesley were walking down the walkway from the house to the truck as she finished her story. "...and underneath the wallpaper was an address. This address. So, for absolutely no sane person reason I can think of, I come out here and whammo! Slimy monster fun time. What's up with that?"

Wesley threw his sword in the back of the truck and turned to face her. "I'm not sure. I'd have to consult my books."

Cordelia smiled at him. "Some things never change."

Gunn cleared his throat behind them.

"Oh, sorry. This is my partner, Charles Gunn."

Gunn commented. "Man, Wes told me he knew you, but I-I didn't believe him."

"Yeah, we go way back", Cordelia gave a laugh. "Back to, uhm, when - you had two arms, which, by the way..."

Wesley revealed. "Ah, Kungai demon a couple of years ago."

Gunn then inquired. "Hey, is it true that you and Wes were... You know, that you had a little..."

"...humiliating kiss where he drooled all over my chin?" Gunn looked from Wesley to Cordelia. "Yeah. But I worked really hard to repress it."

Wesley nodded. "Right. Well, as much as I'm enjoying this forced death march down memory lane..." He went over to the passenger side of the truck and opened the door.

Gunn wondered. "Hey, what is it with you Sunnydale folks and repression? I mean, you three are the most denying it folks I've ever met."

Cordelia was surprised. "Three? Who else is here in LA?"

Suddenly, Gunn got a notification on his phone and looked at it. "Whoa! This sucks!"

"What's the matter?" Wesley asked as Gunn held up his phone for both of them and Cordelia was horrified at the headline.

"Daredevil exposed- Blind pro-bono lawyer and Cordelia Chase's ex-husband Matthew Murdock is the masked vigilante."

"So, your ex-husband was Daredevil?" Wesley asked as Cordelia simply stared with an agape jaw.

Later

Wesley walked into his apartment, followed by a numb Cordelia and Gunn. "Cordelia, I want you to think about this. Angel's not the person you knew. He came to Los Angeles in pain, vulnerable - and when Doyle, his only friend died he - he retreated into himself."

Gunn added. "Him getting the visions didn't help either."

Cordelia tried to clear it up. "So, let me get this straight. Angel gets the visions of people who are gonna die, and he tells you, and you go out and slay, and - this is how you make your living? This - got to be the suckiest job in the world."

Gunn sighed. "It pays the bills - occasionally. You'd know considering your ex."

Cordelia nodded sadly, since Matt too tried to make a living with kindness rather than business. When this was done, she'd see him again, he needed her now.

Wesley walked over to a door.

"Don't be shocked by his condition." He took a key from a hook beside it. "The visions have taken a toll - and the isolation. Sometimes he sends us out to save people he killed two hundred years ago."

Cordelia looked from Wesley to Gunn, then looked down. "So, why don't we just tell him you stopped by and said hi?"

"Wesley. I've gotta see him." Cordelia urged.

Wesley opened the door to a room empty except for some shackles dangling from the ceiling and a mattress lying cockeyed in the middle of the floor.

Angel, bare footed, was sitting on the edge of the mattress, his arms wrapped tightly around his knees. As the door opened he gasped, then curled up even tighter.

Cordelia looked at the shackles.

Wesley supplied. "Restraints. Sometimes the visions make him violent."

Angel scrambled to his feet, arms wrapped tightly around himself and began to ramble. "One seven one Oak drive, do you hear me? I feel better now. I can be alone here. I won't run away..."

"Oh my god." Cordelia said in horror. First her ex-husband Matt being exposed and now Angel in this condition, along with Wesley not having an arm, this was a horrible day, probably her worst. How was her life so good when others suffered horribly like this? It made her feel guilty, since she felt like she could have helped them all.

Wesley said sadly. "This is one of his good days."

"No, I - I won't. I won't do that. I won't do... I didn't mean... I didn't mean... Only if it's dead. It's me." Angel dropped back down on the corner of the mattress. "It was my fault. It was me. I'm okay. I didn't mean... I didn't mean..."

Cordelia took a step closer, but Wesley took a hold of her arm. "Don't get too close."

Angel covered his head. "Ah! I won't run away."

Cordelia walked towards him. "Angel. - Do you remember me?" She squatted down beside him. "Cordelia?"

Angel looked up and scrambled away from her on all fours. "No. I'm afraid."

Angel went to cower in a corner of the room. "I'm afraid. I'm afraid."

Cordelia slowly walked over to him. "Shh. Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you."

"I'm fine. Fine. One seven one. One seven one. You'll see. You'll see, one seven one. My head doesn't hurt." Angel banged his head back against the wall. "My head doesn't hurt. Now I'm warm. My head doesn't hurt."

"You don't remember me, do you?" Cordelia asked sadly.

"I was there. I wanted to die. But - but I was - was afraid to die. So afraid to die. One seven one." Angel repeated the number over and over as he kept writing it with his finger on the wall beside him.

"Shh, Angel, it's okay. Everything is gonna be okay."

"It was my fault. I was there. I couldn't do anything. There was nothing I could do."

"Everything is gonna be okay."

Cordelia leaned in and softly kissed Angel on the mouth. Wesley and Gunn watched in slow motion. There was a whoosing sound and a blue light passed from Angel's lips to Cordelia.

Cordelia sat back on her heels and turned to look at Wesley and Gunn, then stands up.

"I remember everything. The visions", she walked over to where Stick and Skip were suddenly standing in the room, "they're mine."

Both looked hurt at various places, Skip worse off, but they were standing.

Skip reminded. "We made a deal. You gave up the visions, not to mention the certain death that goes with them, and you get to live out your dream. Call me crazy, but I thought that was a pretty fair trade."

"Sure it's fair. But it wasn't me." Cordelia told him.

Skip shrugged. "We've been over this. I respect what you're trying to do. It's noble and heroic, and all that other Russel Crowe 'Gladiator' crap."

"You've seen..."

"Didn't love it."

"Knew you were full of shit", Stick sneered at Skip.

"The fact remains that humans are not strong enough to harbor the visions! Period. Even the Powers That Be can't change that."

Cordelia stepped closer. "Then find a loop hole, Skip. I know my purpose in this world and it includes the visions. And if the Powers That Be aren't complete dumb-asses, they know it, too."

Stick talked to Cordelia. "You can train to handle these powers. It'll take time and effort, but there are mystics who can teach you. It's difficult, but not impossible."

"And by then, she'd be dead." Skip interrupted.

"Not with the right doctor on the job." Stick shrugged.

Skip then suddenly said. "There maybe a - tiny - loophole."

"I'll take it."

"You may wanna think about that. The only way you get to keep the visions is by becoming - part demon." Cordelia looked down. "The process isn't easy. It'll make your vision pain feel like a stroll through candyland. And even after the pain subsides the effects of the transition will be numerous and unpredictable. You may never be able to lead a human life again."

Cordelia looked over at Angel, who was frozen, then back at Skip. "So - demonize me already."

Stick interrupted again. "Look Missy, Demons may be as good or bad as humans, but that's the Earth variety. There are monsters who exist that care for nothing and get off at seeing massacres. I don't know exactly what this bastard is, but becoming a demon, even partly? Look what's happened to Matty."

"This coming from a dick who abandoned one of the greatest men I've ever known when he was only a boy, after he had lost his only family." Cordelia shot back at him.

"That is all true, but guess what? Matty wasn't the only one in pain when I left." Stick told her.

Skip just shrugged after a beat. "It was an honor being your guide, Cordelia Chase."

Cordelia gave him slight smile.

"Cordelia," Stick called her by the name for the first time instead of 'princess' or 'lady'. "Matt lost too many people that he loved. I don't want to see what happens to him if you die."

Cordelia was hesitant, then said after a beat. "Then I won't die."

Stick sighed, then nodded, reluctantly accepting her decision as Skip raised his hand, a blue light illuminating the room and Cordelia arced back, screaming in pain.

On the bed in Angel's room Cordelia arced back, screaming in pain. Angel rushed to her side as the rest of the gang come running.

Fred asked. "What's happening to her?"

Cordelia sat up on the bed, gasping, and opened her eyes. Angel caught her in a hug. "I thought I'd lost you."

"Angel." Cordelia gasped, pulls back and grabbed a hold of her head. "No horns."

She checked her backside, then smiled up at Angel. "No tail."

Angel looked at the others, but no one volunteered an opinion.

"Whew! Just checking." Cordelia scrambled up out of bed and stretched, while Angel took a suspicious look under the pillow before slowly trailing after her.

"It feels so good to be solid again."

Angel joined the rest of the gang and they all pivoted to keep watching Cordelia.

Wesley asked. "Cordelia, what is the last thing you remember?"

"When? I've been so... Oh. You mean the vision downstairs. No, I had a vision, but it's been taken care off, I think. There was this actress, and a one-armed guy." Everyone watched her silently. "It's a long story. But right now, we have to solve my vision."

"We got your message and took care of it", Lorne said.

"No", Cordelia clarified. "The one I'm having right now. There is a young man in a park in Glendale. Uh, somewhere near a pond. There is a demon waiting for him. He's red with four, no make that five horns."

Angel looked at the others, then back at Cordelia. "Uh, Cordy?"

Cordelia was floating about a foot off the ground.

"What?"

Same time, New York Sanctum

Stick looked around, then looked at Strange who was standing in front of him. "Ah, the Sorcerer Supreme. The Ancient One's bearded successor, pleasure to meet you, Sherlock."

"You tried to stop Cordelia from taking that Skip's offer", Strange noted.

"She still took it", Stick shrugged.

"Well, there was no other option at the time, but I don't trust Skip", Strange told Stick, since he had no idea where Skip had come from or where his allegiances lay.

"That makes two of us, Sherlock", Stick nodded.

"And we both know what's going on with Matt", Strange pointed out. "So I have a request for you- keep an eye on both Matt and Cordelia, and if anything goes wrong, you tell me."

Stick thought for half a minute, then said. "I have no problem doing the job, but I'm not entirely available for babysitting in two places three thousand miles apart, 24/7."

"If this is about your form's limitations-"

"I'm not talking about being a ghost, I'm talking about those bastards hunting me. I stick around for too long in one place, they'll find me."

"Who will find you?"

"Take your pick, Doc. I lived longer than others, made a lot of enemies in a lot of places. There's nothing they won't do to get some payback."

Strange considered, then raised his hands as they glowed with Eldritch energy, enveloping Stick in a glow, which faded in a second. "This shall protect you from anyone who may seek to harm you."

Stick then nodded, realizing it was time for a job. "All right then, let's go to work."

And done here, and yes, I changed Cynthia's name to Ella because why not? LOL!

Anyone who guessed the Daredevil character appearing in this chapter will be Stick, pat yourselves on the back.

I was a but confused here, since Cordelia, Wesley and Gunn saved Cynthia in the other reality, then how is she saved in the normal timeline too? So I had her saved in both via Brainstorm's suggestion.

Thanks a lot to Brainstorm Sorcerer again for his help with this chapter, and now we're done with half of the Season.

Hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter. Stay safe from the coronavirus ya all!