Disclaimer: I do not own Buffyverse or anything else you may recognize
Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed or reviewed this fic so far.
Also, originally I decided the Scoobies should remember Connor since they did in the follow-up comics, but then I remembered I don't need to follow those much, plus the reactions would be more fun if they didn't remember.
Before last chapter, I had referenced Connor once in the Season 1 finale, so I edited it to remove him, and so the Scoobies are confused over pregnant Darla in last chapter too.
Up until the next break, the confusion stays.
Also, a troll user whose real name I won't take because he doesn't deserve that kind of attention, has made an account called 'Aragorn II Eleszar' to mock me, because the pathetic moron has nothing better to do with his time.
So remember, if you get any messages or comments from them, its not me.
Chapter 58- That Vision-Thing
"Come on, let's start", Buffy said as she turned the latest recording on.
Wesley and Gunn were eating Chinese takeout as the two agreed to be gentle around Cordelia, and both greeted her as she walked by. Fred, who was sitting cross-legged under Angel's table with her Chinese take-out graded their attempts as B+ and C- respectively, saying a girl could tell.
"She's out of the room!" Willow said a little too happily.
"And she's grading them too", Dawn added.
"But she's under a table", Tara told them. "But still, little improvement."
"Guess the decade came pretty early", Xander said. "And like Tara said, little improvement."
Wesley pointed out she felt comfortable enough grading their sincerity so she could share meals with them too, and so she crawled out from under her table and joined them at the counter, using her fingers but was handed a fork, though she wasn't ready to use it. Cordelia walked through the lobby again as they greeted her but she knew what they were up to, and said she looked forward to her next vision.
"Do you really?" Willow asked in a concerned tone.
"She loves helping, but she knows the toll those visions take", Tara told her.
Fred asked to use the vision to find Angel but the visions were then properly explained to her. That was when Gavin Park arrived, and Wesley told Cordelia who he was. When he noticed Fred, Wesley shielded her from his view and remembering him, told him to piss off.
"Yes, just piss off", Giles snarled at Gavin himself, and all looked at him.
"You just used American slang", Buffy noted with narrowed eyes.
"Wesley used it, I'm not going to be left behind", Giles said, drawing some chuckles.
"Don't blame you, no one was missing him", Buffy said.
"He's so bad I'm actually missing Lindsey", Dawn told them, and no one could disagree.
Angel arrived as Gavin showed him 57 code violations for the hotel, but Angel wasn't impressed as Gavin left, and Cordelia said while he was horrible, he'd a nice suit. Angel was happy to see Fred around, who said she'd been forking with Gunn, to his confusion. Then Cordelia screamed as she had a vision of a clawed Demon thing but Angel and Wesley caught her before she fell to the floor. She gasped and told them of a coin, clawed Demon and a herbalist's shop in Chinatown.
"Another vision, another mission", Xander said with a sigh, really not liking what Cordelia was going through.
Wesley and Gunn headed for the books as Angel tried to help Cordelia up but she jerked her arm away with a gasp and said she'd just been caught off-guard a little, then asked to find the coin with a hole in it as she walked off and he stared after her.
"The way she jerked away", Buffy noted. "That only happens when you're trying to hide a physical injury."
"Speaking from experience?" Tara asked.
"Yeah", Buffy nodded.
Cordelia entered the bathroom and leaned in on the sink when Wesley knocked, holding a book, and asked if the beast had 4 or 5 claws, and she said 5. She pulled up her shirt and counted the claw marks on her belly, saying she was certain.
Now everyone was horrified completely.
"All right, that's it! Give away the visions and let the Powers shove those up their asses!" Xander snapped in a rage.
"How can they do this?" Dawn shook her head in anger too.
"There's something off about this", Willow then said as all looked at her.
"What? You think the Powers aren't jackasses?" Xander asked.
"Oh no, they are", Willow said. "But physically hurting their connection to their Champion, it just doesn't make sense."
"Yeah, while the visions are deteriorating her mentally, damaging her physically is just gonna make it worse", Buffy agreed. "Something doesn't add up here."
"What could that be?" Tara wondered.
"If the Powers are making a mistake here, then this is the worst mistake anyone can ever make", Giles snarled, angry at the pain Cordelia had to go through, and now it was more than just multiple splitting headaches.
"Guess we should watch and find out", Buffy said darkly.
Wesley stood in front of his table loaded with books as Fred was pacing with a thick phonebook and eventually found 5 herbalist shops. Angel arrived and Wesley had researched the things well. Gunn and Wesley agreed to first figure out about the things, then look into the coin. Angel then asked Fred to do something for him and she gave a huge smile in response.
"She has a crush", Willow realized.
"Angel saved her, that's why?" Dawn asked.
"Yes, that's why", Tara nodded. "He was the first good thing she saw in 5 years."
Cordelia was in the bathroom taking a couple of aspirins. She'd taken her shirt off and turned to look at her left shoulder blade in the mirror. There were three more claw marks there. Angel knocked on the closed door of the bathroom. She spoke of the coin again when Angel said. "It's me." Cordelia snapped. "I'm fine!" Angel told her. "I'm not leaving until you open the door. I mean it, Cordelia, open up." Cordelia opened the door, shirt back on, hiding the scratches, and gave him a bright smile. "See? Fine!" Angel stopped her from closing the door again. "They're getting worse, aren't they?"
"Much worse", Buffy said. "Tell him, Cordy. He wants what's best for you."
"Especially if our suspicions that it's not the Powers is right", Willow added.
Cordelia said she was feeling better and needed a little protein but Angel revealed he'd asked Fred to take her home, and said she had to take rest, eventually convincing her as he closed the door.
"Rest isn't going to solve this", Tara said grimly.
"Then what? Investigation?" Dawn asked.
"Yeah", Xander said with a nod.
Angel was sitting in the back of the convertible, with Gunn driving and Wesley in the passenger seat as they were driving down the dark streets of LA. Gunn noted they'd been to 4 of the 5 shops so the place they were looking for was last, and Wesley called it the law of being a 'dick', and on Gunn's look used British slang.
That brought a few chuckles as Giles said. "I am not using that word."
"Awww, please use it", Buffy said in a fake childish tone, making them all laugh again.
Wesley asked Angel about Cordelia and he informed she'd said she was fine, but Wesley knew he didn't believe her. They arrived at the place and got out. A white-haired old man was measuring some powder as a woman brought a jar when the 3 arrived. The woman said his kind was not welcome and Gunn thought they meant him but it was actually Angel, a Vampire.
"Not everything is about race", Willow said to Gunn.
Wesley said all could enter it due to it being a public facility and asked about the coin when the two screamed and flipped over the counter, landing in a martial arts stance.
"Oops", Buffy muttered.
"Huh? They got game", Xander said.
Gunn said. "Ah, so you think some fancy flipping and a little hollering can intimidate guys like us?" Suddenly their hands turned into long, gray claws. "Okay, that creeps me out."
"Me too", Dawn said.
Angel ordered. "You two take grandma. I'll take the old man." Wesley and Gunn were kicked away by the woman as Angel deflected the man's blows but got a spin kick. Wesley and Gunn were beaten back, Gunn getting a superficial cut. Angel dodged some blows but his shirt got cut and then he dodged as a wall behind him got claw marks too. Angel finally kicked the guy down as the woman threw Gunn into a wall. Gunn then deflected her blows and staggered her back while Angel punched the man. Wesley knocked the woman over the head. Angel took a hold of the scarf the old man had wrapped around his waist and with a sudden hard pull sent the man spinning through the air. The old man crashed into the shelves covering the wall and dropped to land in a heap on the floor. Gunn panted. "Damn. Grandma and grandpa got game."
"Yeah, more than I'd thought", Buffy said lamely with a nod. "And the claws."
"It's a miracle none of them got cut badly", Tara told them.
Angel found a leather necklace holding the coin around the man's neck and pulled it off.
"And they've got it", Dawn smiled.
At Wolfram and Hart, Lilah picked a page printed by the printer but was confused by it when Gavin arrived, saying he'd used her printer since his was down, and told her he'd been moved to Special Projects. Park said he'd something special for Angel Investigations and could add her to his team, A guy arrived to call Lilah and she assured she'll be in as Lilah told Park he didn't have a team, and when Gavin started taunting her she said she'd earned Lindsey's office, and Lindsey had too by sacrificing his flesh and blood for the company and even his hand.
"No love lost between them, but at least they respected each other", Willow told them. "Lilah doesn't take this guy seriously."
"Neither do we", Dawn said.
"Yeah, he's lame", Xander agreed.
Lilah mocked Park for building code violations as Park said this was his way of fighting but Lilah sarcastically said Angel was terrified as she walked to her office.
"We know how terrified he is", Buffy chuckled.
"Which is not at all", Willow said.
Cordelia walked out of her bedroom, stretching, putting on a performance that she was fine but Fred wasn't there and found her eating peanut butter from a jar in the kitchen. Fred apologized but Cordelia didn't mind as she told her to take it and started sending her out, saying she was right as rain, and Fred started interpreting the whole phrase, making Cordelia say she was linear compared to Fred.
"Fred's like Gandalf", Tara chuckled a little. "He managed to twist 'good morning' in many ways, and she did the same with 'right as rain'."
Then she turned grim. "But Cordy needs to speak up quickly."
"She still believes it's the Powers", Giles pointed out to her.
Cordelia ushered Fred to the door who called her Lassie to Angel's Timmy, and Cordelia was flattered other than being compared to a dog, and then Dennis opened the apartment door for Fred, only for Cordelia to get another vision as she collapsed onto the ground and Fred crouched down beside her, gently turning Cordelia on her back but then boils appeared on the side of Cordelia's face.
"WHAT? THE? HELL?" Xander snapped loudly.
"Oh my God!" Buffy was watching with horrified eyes.
"Cordy", Willow whispered.
"The Powers…..they can't be this bad….." Dawn trailed off.
"I really do not think even they would do this", Giles agreed, looking grim and sad.
"We'll find out later, Cordy needs to be taken care of", Tara said.
Later, Cordelia sat on the edge of her bed with Angel and told the others of a boil-covered Demon along with the location and also mentioned a key. She was going to get up to draw a picture of it but Angel pulled her down and gently pushed her hair back to reveal the boils, to everyone's horror as he said she couldn't ignore this, and asked if it had happened before, leading her to reveal the claw marks as Wesley realized the visions had a physical manifestation.
"At least they know now", Buffy said. "Now what we need is the solution, quickly."
"I'm sure they will find it", Dawn said confidently.
Cordelia then saw herself in the mirror and said this had to be a mistake as the Powers wouldn't do this to her on purpose for she was part of their team.
"Because maybe it's not them", Willow told her, voice laced with sadness.
The others later stood in her living room as Angel asked for suggestions but only got an allergy joke from Gunn and Wesley wondered why the Powers would communicate with her in this way. Fred said they could ask the Powers, the word 'communicate' getting her to think, and so they had to figure out the frequency of the calls that the Powers used to talk with Cordelia. Wesley found it a great plan and asked Fred and Gunn to bring him some books, and told Angel to get the key. He didn't want to leave Cordelia but Wesley said if the Powers were taking such extreme measures, he had to get those, and told Angel to trust him.
"We're not really sure it's the Powers, but we trust you", Giles said to Wesley, and back when they'd first met, Giles would never have thought he'd say that to the man.
"Please save her", Dawn whispered.
"Fred did great", Willow said with a proud smile.
"Yeah, sounds like a great plan for sure", Buffy agreed.
Angel later stopped his convertible and sword in hand kicked a store door open, asking the guy for the key. The man turned on more light and many keys with blanks used in duplication were shown. The man asked if Angel had lost the original, and he pulled out Cordelia's drawing of it. The man reached one hand under the counter. A buzzer sounded and a boil covered demon dropped down behind Angel swinging a sword. Angel blocked the sword and turned to engage the demon.
"And there's the demon", Xander sighed.
"So they have the key now", Tara realized. "Almost."
Fred and Gunn returned to the Hyperion where he flirted with her a little and said he followed orders, not matter how tough. Fred told him she was still jumpy which is why he was here probably, and then Gunn opened the door to see 2 exterminators, who were there in the middle of the night. Gunn asked Fred to bring the books and she walked in while he told them to show him their work orders or he'd do some exterminating.
"Gavin", Willow said in realization. "He was the one who sent these exterminators."
"His plan to defeat Angel Investigations using code violations", Buffy rolled her eyes. "What a great plan!"
Wesley opened the door to Cordelia's apartment to let Angel in, and Angel handed him the key while Wesley said they were finding out Cordelia's condition. They walked in to see Lorne by her side, who said Cordelia was resisting the process. Wesley explained while reading auras to determine destinies, Lorne was connected to the Powers, and Angel realized he could also reverse the process and trace the Powers. Lorne made a joke and made room for Angel as he told Cordelia the key was there, relieving her, and then he convinced her to let Lorne look into her head and trace the visions.
"Please Cordy, you need help", Tara begged, impressed by her bravery but knowing she had to take help now. "Let them help you."
"If there's one person who can convince her, it's Angel", Dawn said confidently.
Cordelia told him truthfully. "Sure I hate looking and feeling like this, but - if I lose the visions, I wouldn't be able to help you anymore. You wouldn't need me." Angel assured her. "That's not why I need you. You're important. - And the visions are just after market extras like Hurst shift or Krager wheels." Cordelia asked. "Did you just compare me to a car?" Angel told her. "It was a very nice car." Cordelia quipped. "I guess that's better than a dog."
The scene was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time.
"You are important", Buffy said, heartbroken at what Cordelia had to go through during all this time, and she hadn't even know about it. "You are, all right? You are brave, and kind-"
"And amazing", Xander added, the scene making him feel guilty for cheating on her all over again. "You are the heart of the team."
"She is", Willow agreed with a nod, and she'd never thought she'd say that about Cordelia, but it was true. Cordelia was the heart of Team Angel, just like Tara was the heart of the Scoobies.
Lorne assured Cordelia she wouldn't feel a thing as she closed her eyes and he put his hands on the sides of her temple, asking her to relax and picture herself somewhere, to which she chose the mountains. Lorne's description of 'The Sound of Music' freaked her a little so they started over, Lorne trying to reach someone. Lilah was pacing in her office, checking her watch while the fez-guy from before was writing something, and eventually she asked him to remember what they'd talked about, and he laughed about the fire before sitting cross-legged on the table, closing his eyes, taking a deep breath and levitating. Lilah smiled as Fez-guy reached up to take his hat off, revealing an exposed, glistening, gray brain, pulsing and flexing in a weird rhythm.
Everyone's eyes widened as the pieces all fell together.
"It's you", Buffy snarled, pressing her fingernails into her palm. "Wolfram and Hart."
"You little bastards", Xander sneered too.
"So now they're trying to get to Angel through Cordy", Willow said in a dangerously calm voice. "They shouldn't have done that."
"I hate them even more than before, and I hated them a lot already", Dawn said angrily.
"So it wasn't the Powers", Tara told them.
"Well, that's the only silver lining here, this man needs to be stopped", Giles said to them all urgently.
Lorne was massaging Cordelia's temples with his fingers. Suddenly Cordelia jerked as she was hit with another vision. Fez-guy's face exposed brain was pulsing. Then a blurry vision of a person engulfed in flames was shown. Blend back to Cordelia and Lorne getting blasted backwards through the air until he impacted with the wall to the sound of shattering glass as he smashes a floor lamp. Cordelia was still in the grip of the vision as there was a blend from her jerking around on the bed to the burning guy and some bronze demon. Cordelia screamed and Angel hurried over to her. Wesley looked down at Cordelia's arms that now looked to be severely burned in the aftermath of the vision. Fez-guy was slowly settling back down on the table in Lilah's office. He put his hat back on and opened his eyes to grin at Lilah. "Well?" He said. "I think she got the message."
"You want my message, you asshole?" Xander roared at him as all glared angrily.
"Bastards", Buffy snarled, rage shining in her eyes.
Later, Cordelia inquired about Lorne and Angel assured he'd be fine, but it was Cordelia he was worried about. Cordelia, close to tears, asked. "Am I a bad person? Am I just a horrible person? Because I know I can be snippy sometimes."
"No, you're not bad", Willow assured her, and Willow was the one who hated her most back in high school, so if she was saying it, then it was true. "You are one of the best people I know."
Angel assured. "This isn't happening because you're bad. - If anything it's because you're strong. Stronger than you realize." Cordelia shook her head. "I'm not. - I know what I said earlier. - But I don't want the visions anymore. I tried to be brave. I did. But I'm just scared now. I'm scared all the time." She did her best not to cry. "I mean look at me!" She held out her arms, then took a deep breath and wiped her eyes. "What could be so important that the Powers would do this? I don't understand."
"You are brave and strong and kind, don't let anyone tell you otherwise", Tara told Cordelia, her heart breaking over Cordelia's condition.
"And it's not the Powers, it's people who are actually bad and horrible", Buffy added. "They are the ones who deserve to have this happen to them. Not that the Powers aren't bad, but not this bad."
"I really hope bad things happen to them", Dawn said cruelly.
"Wouldn't mind it myself", Xander spoke up.
Angel reached to take a hold of her hand when Wesley arrived with important info, so Angel reluctantly stepped out into the hall. Wesley cocked his head to the living room and they walked there to see Lorne lying on the couch with Fred and Gunn nearby. Fred then told Angel the visions weren't from the Powers as Lorne jokingly scolded her for stealing his thunder and asked her to be hurled across the room next time.
"And now they know the truth", Giles said.
"But it's not over yet, Wolfram and Hart clearly want something", Buffy said, narrowing her eyes at the screen.
Lorne said he didn't know who it was but it was earthbound, as Gunn realized someone was hacking into Cordelia's head. Lorne explained someone was transferring false data through the Celestial pipeline, and now they better list out their enemies, ones who had resources too and had no regrets about messing up Cordelia's face.
"Please mess up Lilah's face", Dawn begged.
"Yeah, let's see how she likes it, or the big brain dude", Xander scoffed.
Lilah was sitting on her computer in the office and clicked the mouse as the golfer on the screen hit the ball into the water hazard, and Angel did a 'gosh' behind her, making her jump as he said he was gonna knock but she was too focused. Angel sat on the other side as she asked how he'd gotten here and he said Gavin had let him, and then gave her the Chinese coin and key, telling her they were done but Lilah gave them back to him, saying he'd need those to complete his mission.
"What mission?" Buffy now wondered. "Whatever it is, don't do it."
"She may not give him a choice", Willow warned Buffy.
Angel said they were through but Lilah told him a young man had been unjustly imprisoned so he must help him, as that was his mission. Angel told Lilah to stop sending Cordelia the visions once they were done but Lilah taunted him more, gliding a hand from his chest to back as she told him he could kill her but the visions wouldn't stop. She also called Cordelia as 'what's her name' and said the skin problems were an unintended side-effect, only for Angel to grab her by the throat as he snarled her name was Cordelia, and Lilah would help her. He let her go and then asked her where the jail was.
"Unintended? You think we're stupid?" Dawn asked Lilah.
"Probably does", Xander said to her.
"Looks like Angel has to do it", Tara sighed.
Lilah told Angel she needed a man of character, a champion of good, a warrior, and someone who could travel in and out of a fortressed Demon Dimension.
"So the man is imprisoned in a Demon Dimension", Giles noted. "However, if Wolfram and Hart want him, he definitely deserved to be there."
Wesley looked through the markings on the coin as Angel arrived and told him Fred and Gunn were taking care of Cordelia. Wesley then said he'd found out the coin and key were artefacts of good, and so the couple and boil Demon would have been good too, shocking Angel who commented they should wear pinned lapels now.
"Yeah, that would help a lot, please wear those", Xander requested.
"So now if those people were good, then this imprisoned guy is definitely terrible news", Buffy summed up for them. "And Angel has to get him out for Cordy."
Wesley said the inscriptions matched so they could be used to transport Angel in and out of the other Dimension, and they deduced the Dimension would have fire and guards too. Angel then left the room and looked through the weapons cabinet as Wesley told him this would violate everything he stood for and Angel agreed, and then Wesley asked to come with him, but Angel refused because he needed Wesley to stay back if something went wrong.
"Now that's smart, since none of us know how these trips can go", Willow pointed out. "Like remember when their book got left behind when they went to Pylea?"
"If they had been stuck longer, we'd be stuck wondering where they went missing", Dawn commented.
"Didn't happen, fortunately", Tara told her.
Wesley then inserted the key into the hole and turned it as little metal bars sprang out from ends to lock against the coin. Giving it a good twist, Wesley tossed it to the floor where it spun on one end like a top, creating a swirling little vortex of smoke and light. Angel told Wesley to take care of Cordelia.
Taking a deep breath Angel took a step closer to the spinning key. The ring of light and smoke expanded to include Angel. Angel's image became smeared and translucent then he and the spinning key disappeared with a small flash of light - while the sword, dagger and mace that Angel had just armed himself with clattered to the floor.
"Oh God", Buffy groaned at the weapons clattering. "Pylea didn't take the book, this Dimension isn't taking any weapons."
"Come on man!" Xander snapped.
"Looks like he must best this Dimension unarmed now", Giles said grimly.
Angel materialized in a darkened chamber. There were skulls worked into the stone walls behind him. Angel looked at his empty hands then checked his belt. "Sure. Because it would be too easy if I could actually defend myself." He took a step forward and his foot kicked the key. Angel bent down to pick it up. "At least I got the key." Angel stuck the key in the inside pocket of his jacket. He spotted a doorway to a room lit by fire at the bottom of a flight of steps and slowly walked towards it. As he entered the room he saw a man engulfed in flames inside a burning cube. A bronze-skinned demon steps up behind Angel. Angel turned to face it as they greeted each other and the Demon told Angel the man was monstrous to be sent here, this was the high institution, Angel realizing it was the Demon's job to keep him. "Yeah", the Demon offered his hand. "I'm Skip." Angel took the offered hand and they shook hands. "Angel. - So, ah, you live in here, Skip?"
"It's almost like 2 normal people talking", Xander commented, clearly surprised by that scene.
"Huh, you're not wrong", Willow agreed.
"He seems nice", Dawn said about Skip.
"Yeah, but Angel will have to fight him", Tara sighed sadly.
"Looks like it", Buffy agreed.
Angel asked if Skip lived here but he only came to commute for 20 minutes, and then said his will created the fire and prevent the guy's screams from being heard as they bugged him after a while.
That comment brought some dark chuckles.
Skip sniffed and realized Angel was a Vampire working for the Powers, but was still here to save the guy, which didn't make sense. Angel said it was a long story involving a girl and Skip couldn't take him out of this. "Sorry. I wish you could. I guess we just have to agree to..." Angel was thrown back as Skip hit him full in the face. "...disagree."
"Fight begins", Buffy muttered.
The two of them fought, Angel dodging blows and hitting Skip twice. Skip knocked Angel to the ground, and Angel vamped out, jumped back up and resumed the fight, the two punching each other a few times. Angel managed to kick Skip backwards towards the burning cage. The burning guy inside reached out and grabbed a hold of Skip's shoulders, trying to pull Skip into the cage with him. Flames licked at Skip's back as he struggled to get free. Angel, in vamp face stood there watching. Suddenly he morphed back to human and ran forward, pulling the hands off Skip's shoulders and swung Skip away from the cage. "Skip, are you okay?" Skip nodded. "Good. Sorry about this." With that Angel hauled back and knocked Skip out. The flames and the burning cage disappeared, revealing the naked, soot smeared man at its center.
"So this is the guy", Xander commented. "Wonder what he did to bring him here."
"Nothing good I imagine", Giles told him.
"At least Skip wasn't hurt here", Buffy said, not knowing that in the near future she'd wish he had been hurt really bad.
"Good thing", Dawn agreed, like Buffy, not knowing she'd be eating those words later.
At LA in night, two limousines were parked in a spillway. Lilah was pacing between them, checking her watch occasionally. The headlights of a car came towards her and she smiled as she recognizes Angel's convertible. Angel and Wesley were sitting in the front, Gunn and the guy Angel rescued were in the back. Angel told Gunn to kill the guy if anything went wrong, then went out to meet Lilah as some bodyguards stepped out behind her, and she called him a remarkable man for doing it, as she was the only one at the firm who knew he would. Angel called her an evil bitch and told her to take care of Cordelia, then she'd get her guy.
"I agree with them both, Angel is a remarkable man, and Lilah is an evil bitch", Buffy said with a snarl at Lilah.
"I'm wondering what this guy is gonna do once he's let off", Willow wondered grimly.
"I think we will see soon", Tara muttered.
Lilah walked to one of the limos and the window slid down to reveal the Fez-guy as she talked to him and the window slid back up. She told Angel it'd take a moment as he turned to his car and Wesley pulled out his cellphone, calling Fred who was near the asleep Cordelia. The Fez-guy's brain pulsed as the boils and blemishes on Cordelia all melted away, Fred informing Wesley of it.
Everyone sighed in relief.
"At least she is safe now", Xander said. "That's all that matters."
"But the guy is still there", Dawn said, gulping. "What if they have him do it to Cordelia again?"
"If Angel loves Cordelia as much as he loved me, and I know he does, he won't let it happen again", Buffy said confidently.
Wesley opened the car door and got out. He motioned to Angel with the phone. Gunn got out as well with the guy Angel rescued, his hands bound with thick rope in front of him. Angel watched as the guy walk past him and to the open door of one of the limos. The guy propped his arms on the open door to let one of the bodyguards cut the rope while smirking at Angel, then got in the car. Lilah told Angel. "It's just business." Angel muttered. "Right. Just business." Lilah walked towards the limo on the right. Angel bent down to pick up a piece of rebar lying in a pile of other thrash and sent it hurtling through the air. The metal bar whistled past Lilah to smash through the back window of the limo and through Fez-guy's head. Lilah looked back at Angel then took a couple of steps closer to the car to look at the Fez-guy slumping dead in the backseat.
"Hell yeah!" Xander cheered.
"Now he can't do it ever, and he got what he deserved", Dawn said with a vindictive smirk.
"Told you", Buffy said to them, slightly uncomfortable at human life being taken, but then again, this guy had supernatural powers so it brought him to the supernatural spectrum.
"Won't be missing that guy", Willow shrugged.
"Cordelia doesn't have to worry about any physical wounds from the visions now at least", Tara told them.
"So Angel has saved her from any future attacks of this kind, but this man is still not good news", Giles summed it up in a grim tone.
Lilah jumped when Angel was suddenly right there speaking softly into her ear. "Don't you come at me through Cordelia ever again. You play that card a second time and I'll kill you." Lilah watched as Gunn drove the convertible over and Angel got into the passenger seat, Wesley now sitting in the back, then drives away.
"I don't doubt it", Willow said to Lilah.
"Wouldn't mind if he did kill her", Xander said to her.
Next day, Cordelia, up again, poured Angel a cup of coffee who was happy she was fine but didn't want her to do all this, but she said they needed to use their industrial kitchen more, and also needed to get someone who could cook. Cordelia took the waffles out of the toaster and put one on Angel's plate, the other on her own and poured syrup over them. "Angel", he looked up at her. "What you did for me was unbelievably selfless - and brave, and amazing." Angel looked back down. "And it's so great to know that the next vision I have will just be blindingly painful and not turn me into Elephant-man or anything." Angel said. "I hear a big 'but' coming." Cordelia asked. "What if that guy you freed is someone or something that's truly terrible? Wolfram and Hart won this time and it's all my fault." Angel assured her. "It's not about winning, Cordelia, it's about what's at stake. And in this particular scenario you were way more important than winning. - I can't worry about that guy I set free. I did what I had to do. I'll just deal with the consequences when they happen." They smiled at each other, but the smiles disappeared as soon as the other one was no longer looking.
"Wow, up already, she is something else", Xander told them all, impressed.
"Slayers have nothing on her", Buffy told him, and while it sounded like a joke, Buffy meant some truth in it as well.
"I'd sleep for a week if that happened to me", Willow said.
"Yeah, so would I, which shows how strong she is", Tara agreed with her.
"When are they gonna confess their feelings?" Dawn wondered. "It's clear as daylight now."
"Everyone is a fool when it comes to matters of the heart", Giles told the youngest Scooby in a gentle and wise tone.
At the Yoro Mountains of Honduras, a thunderstorm was lighting up the night sky. And old man was throwing bones on a little mat on the low table in front of him. He turned around as Darla walks in from the rain, confirming he already knew why she was here, and asked about the thing growing inside of her. The Shaman confirmed the father was also a Vampire, though Darla said not a very good one. The Shaman needed blood and picked a knife and cup. Darla saw him hesitating so she took the knife from him and cut herself. "Men are such babies."
The women chuckled while the men shared a lame look.
The Shaman mixed some powders and herbs with the blood in the cup. "This has never failed me." He rubbed the contents of the bowl onto his hands then lay them on Darla's swollen belly. After a moment he was blasted backwards away from her. "I cannot help you. No man can. This is not meant to be known." Darla scoffed. "Yeah, yeah. Like I haven't heard that before." She looked down at her belly as she stroked it with her hands. "I guess there is only one thing left to do. Time to go visit daddy." The screen went black.
"Still thinking how that happened", Buffy said lamely. "And who is the daddy?"
"All in due time I'm sure", Giles told her.
"So, Cordy is saved, and Fred is going out more", Willow said with a smile.
"Yes, that was an improvement", Tara nodded.
"Don't think Lindsey can be the daddy though if he and Darla did it when she was human, because the baby should be born by now", Willow then commented.
"So, who is it?" Buffy wondered.
"Besides, Darla wasn't into Lindsey, but there was person she did do it with", Tara reminded, and now they had dropped jaws.
"Angel?" Xander asked. "But aren't they Vampires? How do Vampires have children?"
"Again, nothing is decided, it is all assumptions at this point", Giles reminded them all. "Let us just wait and find out."
"Wonder what the next one will be", Dawn muttered.
"Let's find out", Xander said as he turned to Buffy who picked up the remote to move to the next recording.
This episode showed Cordelia's character growth perfectly. Even though Lilah is an evil, cruel bitch, I love her. Maybe that's why I love her. And I think I've said it before that while I like Wesley/Fred, Wesley/Lilah is my OTP.
It's just so dark and twisted and wrong that I love it.
Anyway, hope all enjoyed and see you all next time with another chapter. Stay safe from the coronavirus ya all!