~ Please excuse all errors in anything! I only got the WB this year (Around October of 1999), so needless to say, my only information comes from episode guides, which don't go into much detail. I'm only assuming that they'd met Willie already, and that he sells blood, so please, just bare with me. J ~


The Power Within
By Jules


Chapter 2
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** The library **


"Wait out here Angel, I'll give them a little heads up kind of." Cordelia whispered very quietly, from behind the book stacks.

She took a deep breath, then walked into sight of the rest of the. Cordelia plastered a smile on her face, "Hey guys. Um, we need to talk."

Everyone's shocked to see her, after being a no show for the earlier part of the day, they hadn't expected her to come tonight.

"Good evening Cordelia. How are you? Were you ill today?" Giles greeted her.

Cordelia shook her head, "No, that's what we have to talk about. I had a dream last night . . . about Angel."

Everyone's eyebrows raised, including Angel's behind the stacks.

Buffy, was the most interested, and surprisingly to Cordelia, she seemed nervous, "What about Cordelia?"

"Well, he was at the mansion, chained up. In the dream that is, then I went over and touched his shoulder. Then suddenly, I was in Hell, with him. And it wasn't Angelus, it was Angel. He was in lots of pain too . . ." Cordelia shuddered at the memory, Hell wasn't a pleasant place, "He begged me to help him. I woke up, and I could feel myself being pulled to the mansion. I had to go. I just had to."

Buffy's eyes were wide, she knew exactly what Cordelia had found.

"Guys, I found Angel there. ANGEL, not Angelus. Trust me on that. He would have killed me otherwise, chains or no chains. But that's the weirdest part, someone had been there, they'd chained poor Angel up." She told them.

Giles coughed, and cleaned his glasses, "Cordelia, I'm sure it was just a dream."

Cordelia rolled her eyes, "Sure Giles, that's why I went to Willie's today and got Angel blood, had the mansion's electricity turned on." She marched over to the stacks and pulled Angel out with her, "It's just a dream that I drove him over here, and I'm holding his hand and pulling him over here."

Everyone jumped up, taking a number of steps back.

"Oh puleeeaaaazzzeeeee people. It's Angel, there's nothing to be frightened of." She walked over towards Giles.

He holds out a cross in front of himself.

"He-he, must have t-turned you. You're a va-vampire."

Cordelia rolled her eyes, and seized the cross, "Ooh, the pain. Oww, ooh, ahh. I think I have been wounded." She declared sarcastically.

Angel stifled the grin that wanted to break loose after Cordelia dropped the cross on the table.

"Now, as I was saying. I found him at the mansion, chained up. I don't know how he got there, how long he's been there, or who chained him up, but that's how I found him."

Giles took a couple of deep breaths, staring at the face of the man who had killed Jenny. Reminding himself that IAngelus/I killed Jenny, not Angel.

Angel looked at the expression on Giles face, and felt so guilty, "Giles, I am so sorry, for what I did. I feel so guilty about everything, but especially that."

Giles nodded his head, "I know, I understand that. But it's very difficult to see her killer standing before me. I know it was Angelus who did it, not you, but it's still his face. And he is in there, part of you." He sat down in a chair.

Cordelia put her hand on the older man's shoulder, in a shocking act of kindness, "We understand Giles, but believe me . . ." She looked at Angel as she disclosed what she knew, "Angel has paid for his crimes many times over. More painfully then anything we could think of, trust me." She finished, remembering her brief little trip.

Cordelia sensed Buffy's growing displeasure. She turned to the girl, and caught sight of Buffy's guilty eyes, and Cordelia's own get wide with realization, "Oh my god, Buffy! It was you! You chained him up!"

"What?!" Buffy's startled that the cheerleader figured it out.

"I can tell! You have this majorly guilty look in your eyes. How long? Huh? How long was he chained up like that?" Cordelia demanded, stomping over to the slayer, her eyes flashing dangerously in anger.

"Only a day! I found him in the woods! He didn't recognize me and he attacked me!" Buffy's words tumbled out.

"Oh dear." Giles uttered, rubbing the bridge of his nose, "Why on earth did you not inform us?"

"I don't know! I was really confused!" Buffy yelled, "I mean, it's not everyday your ex comes back from Hell and attacks you."

"You still should have told someone." Cordelia asserted, her temper still flared.

"Sorry!" Buffy yelled, "God! I'm sorry! I wasn't exactly in my right mind. I was just making sure that it wasn't Angel killing people, we would do the same thing to Oz."

"Buffy, I think the part that has everyone in an uproar about, is that you told no one." Giles explained logically.

The room is silent, except for Oz, freaking out in his cage.

Angel timidly spoke up, "I think there is a bit of a more pressing matter here."

"What's that Deadboy?" Xander inquired.

"How your girlfriend-."

"Ex-girlfriend." Cordelia interrupted.

"Right, how your Iex/I-girlfriend was able to get into my dreams, and know that I was at the mansion." Angel enlightened him, stating the obvious.

"Ooh, good question!" Cordelia agreed, "What the hell happened there?"

"She was in my nightmare, I know that. And I mean she was there." Angel revealed, "I talked to her. And she talked to me."

Cordelia nodded her head, "I saw him on the floor there. He asked me to help him, and muttered something about the mansion . . . so that's where I went."

Everyone went to the table and sat down, for a roundtable discussion, except for Faith, who was on patrol.

Xander groaned as they sat down, "I'm suddenly feeling very psychic, I see us all surrounded by books, researching for the answer to what is going on."

"Shove it Xander." Buffy ordered, sitting at one end of the table.

Cordelia sat at the opposite end of the table of Buffy and Xander, her chair very close to Angel's, protectively.

Willow was to the right of the end of the table where Angel and Cordelia were sitting, next to Xander.

Giles gave out the books, and then they all get to work. For once no one was complaining.



** A couple hours later **

Everyone was getting frustrated. They all jumped when Faith came busting in pulling some guy by his ear.

"Giles, I found this guy in the cemetery." Faith threw him on the ground. "He was killing vampires, the jerk killed the two I wanted." She pouted.

Buffy rolled her eyes, "God Faith, don't hurt him. Is his alive even?"

Just then the guy moaned, "Yeah, I'm alive. Man, is it just me or are all slayers really territorial when it comes to killing vamps." He complained as he got up.

Buffy stood strait up, looking shocked.

"What's gotten into you B?" Faith asked.


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