~4~
"Ah, Cordelia. Welcome, fair
maiden. Join us for the breaking of the fast." Xander stood, bowed sweepingly
and pulled out a chair, arranging himself between Buffy and Cordy. Angel, on
Buffy's other side, threw the newcomer a grateful look, probably happy to see a
non-predatory friendly face. Xander poured her a cup of coffee and sat back
down. "As I was saying, I have a few things to clean up on this current job,
and I'll be back. Probably before lunch. Then we can go do something – hit the
beach, the park, catch some rays." That cold grin was firmly in place and aimed
as usual at Angel.
"I don't know," Buffy said
suggestively. "I might want to hang here." She scooted closer to Angel. *I have
an idea,* she cooed in Xander's mind as she stroked the vampire's arm absently.
*I think Angel's defenses are strong against me, right now, but how would he
handle Unity?*
The cold grin widened. *I
love your deliciously evil mind. She looks like you, but she's strong and
dangerous. From what I've heard about his fling with Darla from Wes, that's his
kind of girl. And with all of us acting together…* She could feel him pull the
other two Parts into the discussion. *Hey, guys. Buffy thought of a way we can
have real fun with Angel later.*
The plan was outlined, and
they all agreed. *But we can't let them know yet,* Willow pointed out. *Cordy's
gonna fight us tooth and nail because of that weird dislike she has for Unity.*
Giles' smile was distinctly
icy as well. *And since when has the cheerleader been any match for us?* With
an affectionate glance at his life-mate, he softened slightly. *Okay, we'll
keep it a surprise.*
"It's exceptionally rude to
talk about people behind their back," Wesley growled.
"Poor Mr. Priss," Willow
crowed, "So paranoid he thinks we're talking about *him.* We have better
things to do."
The group finished the meal,
and Angel pulled Cordelia aside. "This big evil – was it dangerous to the whole
world, or just these four? 'Cos I'm beginning to think we might be doing the
world a favor if we let them get destroyed."
The May Queen rolled her
eyes. "I'm going to pretend you didn't say that." She began to walk away, and
stopped, hearing Giles making unpleasant insinuations about Wesley's manhood.
"Even if you are right," she threw back over her shoulder.
~**~
"The house is perfect,"
Ernst Heinrich assured Lilah. "Wonderful views of the back of Unity's
residence, and the surveillance cameras have the front fully covered, as well.
I'd still like to get something inside, but…"
"They've even covered the
back windows, Ernst," Travers, who'd been awake since before they left LA,
whined. "Do you think they knew we'd be watching?"
"I believe that's another
dubious benefit of Angel's presence, sir," Lilah offered. "He's a vampire, and
since he is staying there…"
"I didn't make the
connection before," Heinrich announced. "Of course. Angelus."
"So you're familiar with our
little problem already?" the lawyer asked, amazed.
"Naturally. My research for
this has been thorough. I have all of the medical records, down to their dental
files. I have their school transcripts. I've read all of Rupert Giles' diaries
repeatedly. Where do you think the idea for my little additive came from? It's
merely a variation of a spell that was successful once before on the Slayer."
He strolled to the window, studying the pool area of the nearby home. "Perhaps
we could find a way to work even this to our advantage. We'll have to see."
More to himself than anyone, Heinrich muttered, "I wonder if he's affected?"
~**~
"Any idea yet as to what's
causing the Anger Olympics here?" Andrea asked as she materialized behind Angel
soon after he went in his room.
The Vampire jumped. "Jeez!
Now I know why people hate it when I sneak up behind them. You're far too good
at that."
"Thank you. I'm thinking of
changing my name to The Shadow," she grinned.
"Don't you have a medical
practice to maintain?" he asked, more in curiosity than an attempt to get rid
of her.
"Physician's Assistant
handling most of it; beeper on 'vibrate' for emergencies," she explained.
"Ideas?"
"Well, they all seemed only
mildly irritating when they first came downstairs this morning, but as they had
their coffee and woke up, they got progressively more hostile," Angel said
thoughtfully. "Could it be the coffee?"
She shook her head. "Giles
doesn't drink it, and neither does Wesley. Cordelia does. No common denominator
there, either."
"How long have you been
here, anyway?"
"I saw you were the first
one up. I don't think you'd been awake long when I arrived. I didn't know
vampires ate scrambled eggs."
If he could have blushed, he
would have. "I made 'em for Cordy, mostly, although there was enough for
everyone. She got me hooked on them – I like the texture for some reason. She
went through a period she was on this bizarre diet, and that was all she could
eat for breakfast and lunch. Wes and I finally convinced her that being thin
wasn't worth death from high cholesterol, but she still likes them once in a
while."
"Do you eat human food
frequently?"
"Enough. But food can't be
the denominator, either, since Cordy eats."
"I know, it's just… I spent
a great deal of my youth, my Watcher training, studying vampires, learning
their habits. But it was almost all academic. I rarely ever saw a real one.
Very few of us ever did. Only the lucky ones, like Wesley and Rupert, who got
assigned to Slayers, knew what we were really up against. And I'm sure they
didn't tell us everything in their diaries – the Council is at its core, good,
but any group that size is only as good as a majority of the current members,
and there were decidedly bad spots – still are. It's why I quit, really. You
couldn't tell them everything, unless you wanted certain things to be used
against you, later. So anything the slightest bit questionable would either be
edited out or referred to obliquely. It wasn't always this way. Older diaries
told it like it was." She looked at her knees for a moment, then raised her
head, smiling. "Still, I doubt you are representative of the average vampire,
are you?"
He couldn't help but smile
in return. "Hardly."
Andrea stood and moved over
towards him, taking his cold hand in her warm smaller one. "I'm sure the
Council is behind this, whatever it is that's going on. You've got to help me."
Their eyes locked, and Angel
nodded almost imperceptibly. "I will." He murmured.
Just then, the bedroom door
burst open, and a very pissed May Queen breezed in. The vampire and the doctor
stared at her like deer caught in the headlights, neither sure why they felt
guilty. Both realized at the same time their hands were still joined, and
dropped the grip like hot iron. But Cordelia had taken it all in.
"Oh, great. I'm being
verbally beaten up downstairs, and the only two people I thought were on my
side are more interested in staring meaningfully into each other's eyes. You
know that's as far as he can go, don't you?" she snapped at the older woman.
"Get horizontal with him, and it unleashes his inner demon, and we've already
got enough bad stuff going on, right now, thanks."
"As for you," she spat,
turning to her co-worker, "I didn't know you liked older women. Oh, yeah, I
forgot, for you, outside of Darla, there *aren't* many older women." Brown eyes
snapping, the girl backed towards the door. Just before she turned to go, she
hissed, "By the way, when you two are done cooing at each other, we still have
a crisis downstairs, and I could use a little damn *help*." On the last word, she
slammed the door shut, and the pictures on the wall rattled.
Angel and Andrea stood,
speechless for several seconds. Then the doctor observed, "Well, maybe it *is*
the coffee…"
~**~
Cordelia decided they needed
more food, and that was a great way for her to get out of the house. And, boy,
did she want out. It had been a couple of hours since she'd come in on Angel
and Andrea, and she was ashamed of the things she'd said to them. Anger had
just welled up inside of her, and she couldn't control it. As she wandered
through the isles at Albertson's, she considered what could have made her
behave so badly. Angel was one of her closest friends, and Andrea one of their
only allies, right now. They hadn't been doing anything but holding hands, and
there could be a million explanations for *that*. And she certainly held no
claim on Angel, in spite of what the doctor had assumed about their
relationship.
At least she hadn't had to
face either of them since her blow-up. They hadn't shown their faces downstairs
all morning, and she could only hope it was because they were working on the
problem, not avoiding her. She hadn't been that much of a bitch since high
school. Absently, Cordy threw a twelve pack of water into the basket. She'd
bought peanut butter, lunchmeats, bread… She couldn't put it off much longer.
With a sigh she headed to the checkout counter, before taking her provisions
back to the trenches.
~**~
"Wes," Angel insisted, "You
have to try and focus. What are you so upset about?"
The young ex-watcher's face
contorted. "Rupert is worse than my father – I'm so stupid in his eyes, never
good enough."
"He never treated you that
way before, did he?"
"It was subtle, but this
whole crew never liked me. Superior little twits, all of them. They knew it
all, never wanted me around… And then there's you and Cordelia…"
The vampire frowned. "Why is
it all of a sudden, everyone's saying 'me and Cordelia' as if it were a
hyphenated word?"
"Well, you're always
together – doing things…"
"Wes, so are you and I. We *work*
together, remember?"
Wesley's mood darkened
rapidly. "And there's that whole handsome, dark and brooding act that wraps
women around your little finger. I've seen you do it before. She's beautiful,
you want her. None of the rest of us stand a chance."
"I never knew you wanted
her. I thought you'd tried that, and it didn't work. And you were seeing
Virginia…"
"Oh, sooo mature. Remind me
of my failed relationship. At least I've never bedded an underage girl, then
tried to kill her and all her friends afterwards. Or obsessed over a dangerous,
ill woman to the point of hurting everyone I know. I'll take my advice on women
elsewhere, thanks." With that, the young Englishman stormed out of the room,
rattling the same pictures that Cordelia had when he slammed the door.
Andrea materialized. "I
think the symptoms we're seeing can be summed up as irrational anger combined
with sadism. Not a pretty mixture, especially in people who have so much fodder
to feed to the cannon. You've managed to really piss these folks off in the
past, haven't you?" She smiled, softening her words slightly.
"I am a vampire, after all.
And when I lost my soul, I was pretty bad. They all let it go, I thought, a
long time ago. I suffer enough every day over the things I've done." Angel
looked terrifically melancholy.
"If they did let it go,
they've all picked it back up. We've interviewed Willow, Rupert and Wesley, and
they've all gone straight for the jugular, if you'll pardon the turn of phrase.
They seem happiest when they've scored – made you wince. They want to hurt you
and Cordelia, maybe Wesley, but not each other. I wonder why?"
"I would guess that the
mental link they share would make it too much like self-torture," Angel
ventured. Andrea nodded thoughtfully.
"What if whoever set this up
had just the members of Unity targeted? Perhaps Wesley, and that brief glitch
earlier, which may or may not mean Cordelia's been affected, were simply
by-products? What would be accomplished by making them sadistic and cruel?"
Angle sat down, deep in
thought. Suddenly his eyes grew wide. "Oh, God. This is eerily familiar. I may
have an idea of who's behind this, anyway…"
~**~
Cordelia wrestled the door
open, trying to carry the water and the other groceries all inside in one trip.
"Here," an oddly familiar accented voice offered, "let me take some of that."
Since she couldn't see over the environmentally proper brown paper bag she was
carrying, Cordy released the water to whoever it was, and kicked the door to
the garage closed behind her. She finally made it to the kitchen and dumped the
bags with a huge sigh.
"I hope I didn't squash the
bread," she said cheerfully to her helper. Turning, she saw a petite redhead,
dressed in an unseasonable black leather catsuit emerge from the pantry, where
she had probably put her load down. "Who are you?" Queen C asked, not unkindly.
Smiling, the woman extended
her hand. "You're Cordelia, I know. Thanks for doing the grocery shopping for
us. I'm Unity."
~**~
Angel was aware of pounding
footsteps out in the hall, just before his door swung open and a panting
Cordelia threw herself inside, locking the door behind her and leaning against
it heavily.
"Cordy?" Angel wondered if
their hostile hosts had moved from verbal abuse to an attempt at physical attacks.
"Sh-sh-she's here. It's
HER," the May Queen gasped in fear.
"Who?" Andrea asked.
"Bad," Cordy burbled.
"Evil."
There was a soft knock on
the door.
"NO!" Cordy pleaded. "Don't
let her in." She threw herself into a startled Angel's arms. "We'll all DIE!"
He patted her awkwardly,
trying to calm her hysteria. "Why don't I go talk to her? I promise to be very
cautious. At least then we'll know what we're dealing with." Her expression
uncertain, Cordy backed hesitantly away, knowing that Angel could handle
himself, but still concerned for him.
"Can we lock the door behind
you?"
"How about I make both of us
invisible, Cordelia, and we can see if she's dangerous?" Andrea felt certain
that things would be fine with Unity, but Cordelia's fears would be calmed if
she saw it for herself.
"Oh, yes," Cody breathed
gratefully.
"Cordelia?" the soft voice
from the other side of the door enquired. "I won't harm you, I promise. I need
to talk to you, and…" Cordy and the doctor faded away, and Angel opened the door.
"…Angel. Oh, Angel! Hi. I'm Unity." She held out a slim hand, and the vampire
shook it, taking in how much like her four Parts this being looked. The body
was precisely Buffy's build, something he had seared into his brain years ago.
The hair was Willow's, the voice Rupert's, and the soft brown eyes, Xander's,
when he wasn't angry, anyway. Those eyes filled with tears, and she choked out,
"there's something terrible going on, and you've got to help me."
As she collapsed into the
chair beside the bed, he grimaced. "I'm beginning to feel like Dr. Laura," he
quipped. "Everyone wants me to help them." A soft snicker told him that Andrea
remembered using the same words with him earlier. "We thought you were
dangerous. Cordy had a vision…"
*NO!* Cordy thought, *Don't
trust her.* Although what she was seeing led her not to voice that thought
quite yet. Something about this girl just screamed "trustworthy."
"I'm aware of everything
that you told my Parts," she interrupted him. "Although I am my own person, I
am also made up of the four of them. And that's my problem. I don't know how
much longer I'm going to be able to keep them in check, and it frightens me. My
Heart is cold and animalistic, my Spirit full of Dark Magic. My Body wants only
to destroy, while my Mind is cruel and manipulative. The portion that is just
me is stronger and holding onto sanity, but they're fighting me, tooth and
nail." She looked at him in anguish. "It's as if the darkness inside of me is
trying to take over, and I'm afraid of what I could do if it does."
Cordelia's voice came from
the thin air. "So, the darkness was swallowing Unity, as well as the four of
them. It wasn't Unity herself. I can buy that." Their cover blown, Andrea
allowed herself and Cordy to reappear. "I'm sorry, Unity," the younger woman
apologized. "I just assumed it was you."
The being smiled in spite of
her distress. "Understandable. What I am and what we do is hard for people to
comprehend."
"I think that answers the
question we were asking earlier, Doctor," Angel offered. "Whoever is doing this
wants Unity to become evil, and I'm sure they plan to use her to do their will.
Cor, does this remind you of any plan we've heard before?"
"Your Darla obsession –
Wolfram & Hart were trying to make you become Angelus, weren't they?" He'd
never told her all the details of his return to the fold, but she could figure.
The vampire nodded.
"They couldn't have you, so
now they want me," Unity realized.
"But I was sure this smelled
of the Council," Andrea insisted.
Unity's soft eyes hardened
for a moment, and anger flashed across her pretty face. Angel backed up a step,
instinctively. Then she relaxed again. "My Heart," the being apologized. "He's
the strongest since their bonding, and he really doesn't like you, Angel. We
have to hurry – I don't know how much longer I can hold on."
The vampire nodded in
agreement. This was one battle he really didn't want to fight, and wasn't sure
he could win if he did. Turning to Andrea, he questioned, "Who do you know that
we can call to help?"
~**~
