Later that night Angel was restless. He had tried to read but found he
couldn't concentrate. After an hour of fruitless perseverance and another
fifteen minutes of pointless pacing he decided to go back to his office.
Entering by the side door he was surprised to hear the faint clicking of a
keyboard coming from the open door to Harmony's office. He approached the
door almost stealthily, unwilling to alert the person on the other side to
his presence.
He dropped his guard immediately when he saw it was Ariane working quietly at Harmony's computer terminal. She looked different, casually dressed in grey sweatpants and a white t-shirt. He smiled when he realised she was also wearing the black shirt she had borrowed from him.
He could hear the muffled sound of music and noticed that she was listening to something on headphones, dancing slightly and mouthing the words as she typed. He watched as she stared intently at the screen, then dropped her gaze to a folder on the desk, she lifted some sheets from the top and scanned them swiftly, then dropped them back onto the pile and began typing again.
She bit her bottom lip as through reconsidering what she had just typed. He heard her sigh deeply as she raked her hands through her long dark hair clasping her hands on top of her head, she leaned back in the chair and scanned the ceiling, deep in thought. Angel stepped back from the doorway unwilling for her to see him there.
"Are you going to stand there all night or were you planning on coming in?" Her words echoing in the night hushed office. Leaning back against the door he shook his head and rolled his eyes in an I should have known gesture.
"Are you planning on working all night?" He asked walking with his unconscious, arrogant grace across Harmony's office toward her.
"My boss is a slave driver." She commented. The light from the monitor glinted in her pure, blue eyes giving them a look of playful mischief.
"I'll have a word with him."
"Thank you, but he is not big on taking advice."
"Really? Some people huh." He smirked, his eyes displaying the same mischievousness as her own. "What you up to this late?" He nodded toward the computer.
"Reports for Lorne." She answered.
"Couldn't they have waited until tomorrow?"
"Yes, but I couldn't relax at home. I did not think you would still be in your office at this hour."
"I was upstairs reading but I couldn't concentrate. I figured I might as well do something constructive. Is there something wrong at Lorne's that you couldn't relax, or is it something else?" He asked, honestly concerned.
"Nothing specific." She replied becoming guarded.
"Is that nothing specific or just nothing you want to talk about?" He sat on the edge of the desk. She only shrugged in response.
"Which is it?" He insisted.
"I don't know. Pick one." She absently toyed with the papers on the desk, purposefully avoiding eye contact.
"Have I done something to upset you or are you always this prickly when you're tired?" He could feel the conversation had turned serious.
"I am not prickly, and I am not tired, I'm working. If I had felt like talking I would have stayed with Lorne."
"Is Lorne the only person around here you feel comfortable talking to?"
" No but perhaps you have not noticed Angel, the only time we talk is after I have a vision and if you could read your e-mail I do not think we'd talk even then." He was surprised to hear her repeat almost exactly what he had been thinking earlier.
"I've been busy." He made a futile attempt to defend himself.
"Who hasn't." She muttered.
"You can come to me at any time, for anything."
"Yes, Harmony can schedule me an appointment between beheading a Plescenoic Demon and a meeting with the accountants."
"I'll make time for you."
"I'm flattered, but there is no need."
"Okay truce." Angel stood and took hold of the back of Ariane's chair. He began wheeling her toward his office door.
"What exactly do you think you're doing?" She asked in disbelief clutching at the sides of the chair to stop herself from falling.
"We're going to sort this thing out once and for all. Every time we're in the same room together things turn bad. We don't seem to connect. I'm not going to have another relationship like the one I have with Spike."
"Perhaps that is the way things are meant to be?" She looked directly at him as he stopped pushing her and sat heavily on the sofa in front of her.
"I don't buy that. We just haven't gotten to know each other that's all. I was uncomfortable with the whole 'Master' thing and I guess I over reacted. I know I sound like I'm making excuses but, well I am making excuses. I should stop talking now." He was looking in every possible direction but at her.
"There is no need to justify yourself to me Angel." Her tone softened.
"I think there is. I've been thoughtless toward you, I sent you with Lorne practically the minute you got here and I've done my best to keep you there. So I'm sorry, you're right the only time we talk is when you have a vision, but that's not for the want of trying over the last few days. Every time I came to see you Lorne told me you were out or busy with someone. I'm not the only one who's been hiding."
"I have not been hiding. I was not aware you had been looking for me. If I had known I would have come to you."
"Well it doesn't matter, we're here now. I've been thinking, Lorne and Spike both told me there's a pretty good chance you know my whole life story, is that true?"
"Yes. Much of it at least."
"How does that work, we barely touch for seconds when you show me the visions."
"I don't need to touch you. We talked without contact the day of the offering, and time has no relevance." She saw by his puzzled expression that he was not following her.
"When I search someone the sensation is similar to a dream state. When the brain dreams it does so for very short periods of time, even though when we wake, we feel we have been dreaming for hours. What appears on this side as only seconds gives me more than enough time to view an average existence. Though I must admit you're life has been anything but average." She gave him a knowing look.
"And you've done this, how many times now?"
"Three times. Twice the day of the offering and a third the rising after."
"Hmm, I just know that wasn't pretty. I think I need a drink. Would you like something?" He walked to the drinks cabinet behind his desk and opened a bottle of 50-year-old scotch and poured himself a healthy measure.
"I can not." She shook her head gently.
"Sure you can, you are over 21 right?" He asked realising just how little he knew about her.
"I am in my twenty second year. But I can not accept. My powers as you call them are hard enough to contain when I am in full charge of myself." She explained shyly.
"Right, must be tough having to be in control all the time?"
"One could ask the same question of you?"
"Touché." He returned cradling his drink in his hands and took his seat.
"I don't like this." He commented, looking deep into her eyes, trying to read her.
"I shall leave." She misunderstood and moved to stand. He put his hand out to stop her.
"I didn't mean that, I meant I don't like this situation. You know everything about me and I know practically nothing about you."
"Is such knowledge necessary?" She asked innocently.
"Not necessary exactly but, couldn't we just get to know each other the way normal people do?"
"If it is what you desire, I would be willing to try." She gave a timid smile almost afraid of where this could lead.
"So far I know you're 22, how long were you with that swine Lord Meenotuk?"
"I was bestowed to Lord Meenotuk's gathering in my fourth year."
"You were there for eighteen years, now I get why you're always talking about punishment. He didn't seem to rate you much." She shook her head indicating she didn't understand. "He didn't make good use of your powers." He tried again.
"My gifts were not of interest to him. We existed in realm where pure pleasure was the ultimate goal. As you have witnessed, my visions are rarely pleasurable experiences. I was occasionally used during social engagements to read the minds of the guests, sometimes for simple amusement and sometimes with more sinister intentions."
"It doesn't sound like you had too much fun. Why didn't you leave?"
"Leave? You mean escape?" She questioned; he nodded his affirmation "To where? Until my first offering that life was the only one I knew existed."
"Then you figured you'd be chosen and given a better chance?"
"I thought my only escape would be death, which I had prepared for. This is a whole different ballgame." She smiled, as he raised his eyebrows. "I have been studying your culture." She explained smiling proudly.
"It shows." He smiled back feeling a strange calmness overtake him. He shook of the sensation. "I'd like to ask you a favour, I know I haven't exactly done anything to deserve it but..."
Ariane stood and made her way to the door. "You will have to escort me." She turned to him when he didn't follow her.
"You know it really freaks me out when you do that."
"Would you prefer I wait half an hour until you to summon the courage to ask me to read Cordelia?" She asked casually.
"Okay, good point."
They both remained quite as they walked the deserted corridors of Wolfram & Hart. Angel anxious but expectant. Ariane, contemplative. He led her down corridor after corridor, eventually she was so disorientated she could not hope find her way out alone. Eventually they came to an unmarked door, Angel halted and taking a deep but unnecessary breath he pushed through.
Ariane stepped through behind him then stood facing the prone, delicate figure of Cordelia. She was surrounded by medical equipment measuring every possible function of her body.
With out waiting to be asked Ariane lifted her pale, lifeless hand and held it gently, she closed her eyes and concentrated all her strength on reading Cordelia. After several minutes Ariane replaced her hand gently and turned toward Angel.
"I am sorry." She shook her head her eyes glittered like jewels with unshed tears.
"What do you mean sorry? What did you see?" Angel grabbed her by the upper arms gripping her tightly.
"I saw nothing." She replied evenly, looking up into his deep brown eyes, "Angel she is not here. This vessel is vacant."
"She's not dead, the doctors told me she's not dead." He shook her violently.
"Her body is not dead Angel, but the essence of Cordelia is not here. Her soul is not here." She spoke quietly trying soothing his anger and frustration.
"Where the hell is she?" He asked her, his fierce eyes blazing into her.
"I can not answer, for no-one knows but Cordelia herself. I am sorry Angel." Angel pushed her away and turned to Cordelia, he lifted her hand and raised it to his lips, kissing gently.
Ariane left the room silently, not willing to disturb Angel, tears spilled unchecked in silver traces down her cheeks as she tried to find her way out. After several wrong turns she halted.
"Spike, could you help me?" She asked the empty corridor.
"Thought you'd never ask sunbeam." He appeared beside her, grinning amiably, she returned his smile with a weak one of her own.
"I would like to leave."
"No problem follow me, what's with all the waterworks?" He asked as she fell into step beside him.
"I could not read Cordelia. It is the only task Angel has requested of me and I could not provide him with the answers he desires."
"That's not your fault is it, bloody powers that be sticking their flipin' noses in where their not wanted. Can't leave anythin' alone that lot." Spike sneered at the ceiling.
She giggled at his ranting and he smiled down at her glad to see her brighten. "That's more like it. That glow of yours was never meant to be pale. Your back to shining like the sun."
"Careful Spike, your soft side is showing." She blushed.
He dropped his guard immediately when he saw it was Ariane working quietly at Harmony's computer terminal. She looked different, casually dressed in grey sweatpants and a white t-shirt. He smiled when he realised she was also wearing the black shirt she had borrowed from him.
He could hear the muffled sound of music and noticed that she was listening to something on headphones, dancing slightly and mouthing the words as she typed. He watched as she stared intently at the screen, then dropped her gaze to a folder on the desk, she lifted some sheets from the top and scanned them swiftly, then dropped them back onto the pile and began typing again.
She bit her bottom lip as through reconsidering what she had just typed. He heard her sigh deeply as she raked her hands through her long dark hair clasping her hands on top of her head, she leaned back in the chair and scanned the ceiling, deep in thought. Angel stepped back from the doorway unwilling for her to see him there.
"Are you going to stand there all night or were you planning on coming in?" Her words echoing in the night hushed office. Leaning back against the door he shook his head and rolled his eyes in an I should have known gesture.
"Are you planning on working all night?" He asked walking with his unconscious, arrogant grace across Harmony's office toward her.
"My boss is a slave driver." She commented. The light from the monitor glinted in her pure, blue eyes giving them a look of playful mischief.
"I'll have a word with him."
"Thank you, but he is not big on taking advice."
"Really? Some people huh." He smirked, his eyes displaying the same mischievousness as her own. "What you up to this late?" He nodded toward the computer.
"Reports for Lorne." She answered.
"Couldn't they have waited until tomorrow?"
"Yes, but I couldn't relax at home. I did not think you would still be in your office at this hour."
"I was upstairs reading but I couldn't concentrate. I figured I might as well do something constructive. Is there something wrong at Lorne's that you couldn't relax, or is it something else?" He asked, honestly concerned.
"Nothing specific." She replied becoming guarded.
"Is that nothing specific or just nothing you want to talk about?" He sat on the edge of the desk. She only shrugged in response.
"Which is it?" He insisted.
"I don't know. Pick one." She absently toyed with the papers on the desk, purposefully avoiding eye contact.
"Have I done something to upset you or are you always this prickly when you're tired?" He could feel the conversation had turned serious.
"I am not prickly, and I am not tired, I'm working. If I had felt like talking I would have stayed with Lorne."
"Is Lorne the only person around here you feel comfortable talking to?"
" No but perhaps you have not noticed Angel, the only time we talk is after I have a vision and if you could read your e-mail I do not think we'd talk even then." He was surprised to hear her repeat almost exactly what he had been thinking earlier.
"I've been busy." He made a futile attempt to defend himself.
"Who hasn't." She muttered.
"You can come to me at any time, for anything."
"Yes, Harmony can schedule me an appointment between beheading a Plescenoic Demon and a meeting with the accountants."
"I'll make time for you."
"I'm flattered, but there is no need."
"Okay truce." Angel stood and took hold of the back of Ariane's chair. He began wheeling her toward his office door.
"What exactly do you think you're doing?" She asked in disbelief clutching at the sides of the chair to stop herself from falling.
"We're going to sort this thing out once and for all. Every time we're in the same room together things turn bad. We don't seem to connect. I'm not going to have another relationship like the one I have with Spike."
"Perhaps that is the way things are meant to be?" She looked directly at him as he stopped pushing her and sat heavily on the sofa in front of her.
"I don't buy that. We just haven't gotten to know each other that's all. I was uncomfortable with the whole 'Master' thing and I guess I over reacted. I know I sound like I'm making excuses but, well I am making excuses. I should stop talking now." He was looking in every possible direction but at her.
"There is no need to justify yourself to me Angel." Her tone softened.
"I think there is. I've been thoughtless toward you, I sent you with Lorne practically the minute you got here and I've done my best to keep you there. So I'm sorry, you're right the only time we talk is when you have a vision, but that's not for the want of trying over the last few days. Every time I came to see you Lorne told me you were out or busy with someone. I'm not the only one who's been hiding."
"I have not been hiding. I was not aware you had been looking for me. If I had known I would have come to you."
"Well it doesn't matter, we're here now. I've been thinking, Lorne and Spike both told me there's a pretty good chance you know my whole life story, is that true?"
"Yes. Much of it at least."
"How does that work, we barely touch for seconds when you show me the visions."
"I don't need to touch you. We talked without contact the day of the offering, and time has no relevance." She saw by his puzzled expression that he was not following her.
"When I search someone the sensation is similar to a dream state. When the brain dreams it does so for very short periods of time, even though when we wake, we feel we have been dreaming for hours. What appears on this side as only seconds gives me more than enough time to view an average existence. Though I must admit you're life has been anything but average." She gave him a knowing look.
"And you've done this, how many times now?"
"Three times. Twice the day of the offering and a third the rising after."
"Hmm, I just know that wasn't pretty. I think I need a drink. Would you like something?" He walked to the drinks cabinet behind his desk and opened a bottle of 50-year-old scotch and poured himself a healthy measure.
"I can not." She shook her head gently.
"Sure you can, you are over 21 right?" He asked realising just how little he knew about her.
"I am in my twenty second year. But I can not accept. My powers as you call them are hard enough to contain when I am in full charge of myself." She explained shyly.
"Right, must be tough having to be in control all the time?"
"One could ask the same question of you?"
"Touché." He returned cradling his drink in his hands and took his seat.
"I don't like this." He commented, looking deep into her eyes, trying to read her.
"I shall leave." She misunderstood and moved to stand. He put his hand out to stop her.
"I didn't mean that, I meant I don't like this situation. You know everything about me and I know practically nothing about you."
"Is such knowledge necessary?" She asked innocently.
"Not necessary exactly but, couldn't we just get to know each other the way normal people do?"
"If it is what you desire, I would be willing to try." She gave a timid smile almost afraid of where this could lead.
"So far I know you're 22, how long were you with that swine Lord Meenotuk?"
"I was bestowed to Lord Meenotuk's gathering in my fourth year."
"You were there for eighteen years, now I get why you're always talking about punishment. He didn't seem to rate you much." She shook her head indicating she didn't understand. "He didn't make good use of your powers." He tried again.
"My gifts were not of interest to him. We existed in realm where pure pleasure was the ultimate goal. As you have witnessed, my visions are rarely pleasurable experiences. I was occasionally used during social engagements to read the minds of the guests, sometimes for simple amusement and sometimes with more sinister intentions."
"It doesn't sound like you had too much fun. Why didn't you leave?"
"Leave? You mean escape?" She questioned; he nodded his affirmation "To where? Until my first offering that life was the only one I knew existed."
"Then you figured you'd be chosen and given a better chance?"
"I thought my only escape would be death, which I had prepared for. This is a whole different ballgame." She smiled, as he raised his eyebrows. "I have been studying your culture." She explained smiling proudly.
"It shows." He smiled back feeling a strange calmness overtake him. He shook of the sensation. "I'd like to ask you a favour, I know I haven't exactly done anything to deserve it but..."
Ariane stood and made her way to the door. "You will have to escort me." She turned to him when he didn't follow her.
"You know it really freaks me out when you do that."
"Would you prefer I wait half an hour until you to summon the courage to ask me to read Cordelia?" She asked casually.
"Okay, good point."
They both remained quite as they walked the deserted corridors of Wolfram & Hart. Angel anxious but expectant. Ariane, contemplative. He led her down corridor after corridor, eventually she was so disorientated she could not hope find her way out alone. Eventually they came to an unmarked door, Angel halted and taking a deep but unnecessary breath he pushed through.
Ariane stepped through behind him then stood facing the prone, delicate figure of Cordelia. She was surrounded by medical equipment measuring every possible function of her body.
With out waiting to be asked Ariane lifted her pale, lifeless hand and held it gently, she closed her eyes and concentrated all her strength on reading Cordelia. After several minutes Ariane replaced her hand gently and turned toward Angel.
"I am sorry." She shook her head her eyes glittered like jewels with unshed tears.
"What do you mean sorry? What did you see?" Angel grabbed her by the upper arms gripping her tightly.
"I saw nothing." She replied evenly, looking up into his deep brown eyes, "Angel she is not here. This vessel is vacant."
"She's not dead, the doctors told me she's not dead." He shook her violently.
"Her body is not dead Angel, but the essence of Cordelia is not here. Her soul is not here." She spoke quietly trying soothing his anger and frustration.
"Where the hell is she?" He asked her, his fierce eyes blazing into her.
"I can not answer, for no-one knows but Cordelia herself. I am sorry Angel." Angel pushed her away and turned to Cordelia, he lifted her hand and raised it to his lips, kissing gently.
Ariane left the room silently, not willing to disturb Angel, tears spilled unchecked in silver traces down her cheeks as she tried to find her way out. After several wrong turns she halted.
"Spike, could you help me?" She asked the empty corridor.
"Thought you'd never ask sunbeam." He appeared beside her, grinning amiably, she returned his smile with a weak one of her own.
"I would like to leave."
"No problem follow me, what's with all the waterworks?" He asked as she fell into step beside him.
"I could not read Cordelia. It is the only task Angel has requested of me and I could not provide him with the answers he desires."
"That's not your fault is it, bloody powers that be sticking their flipin' noses in where their not wanted. Can't leave anythin' alone that lot." Spike sneered at the ceiling.
She giggled at his ranting and he smiled down at her glad to see her brighten. "That's more like it. That glow of yours was never meant to be pale. Your back to shining like the sun."
"Careful Spike, your soft side is showing." She blushed.