The Road Before Us

The Road Before Us

By Misty Flores - mistiec_flores@yahoo.com

Rating: R - for violence, sexual situations, and some language

Genre: Angel/Cordelia - Buffy/Angel and Cordelia/Xander implied

Teaser: Years after the death of their true loves, a lonely Cordelia and Angel reunite to stop a new nemesis, and find themselves fighting a mutual attraction as they cling to the memories of their mortal lovers.

Disclaimer: Buffy/Angel are owned by Joss Whedon and the WB. the Highlander Concept is owned by Rysher Ent. No infringement intended.

Crossover: Sorta. Highlander - but honestly, only the concept is taken, you don't need to know the show or the characters. If any are used, they are introduced as one would introduce OC's. This is a BTVS/Angel story, after all.

Notes: I wasn't exactly sure which I should post this in, Buffy or Angel. The story contains Angel concepts and themes, but is written as an AU- taken directly after the proceedings in Season Two Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

Spoilers: Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Season Two - Angel concepts are introduced.

Series - The Winters Trilogy - but you don't have to read it to get it. Noted, those two stories are both Cordelia/Xander and Buffy/Angel - this story does NOT diminish that. But just so you don't get lost - better yet, just read. All your questions will - hopefully - be answered.

Personal Archive - Stoic Simplicity at www.wolverineandrogue.com/mistiec

--

Chapter Three

--

As a child, so long ago, Katherine had hated enclosed spaces. Her mother, always unsure how to handle the temperamental, headstrong child, used to threaten to lock her in the cellar, and little Katherine, always afraid of it, had rebelled even more because of it.

But the hard life of peasant work had driven the playfulness out of her, and with so many brothers and sisters, she had learned to subdue the stubborn nature - in favor of searching for food, and hiding from the marauders who had taken advantage of the Crusades.

The fight to survive had served her well, for even as she awoke from her first death gasping, confused and scared beyond her wits, she had always the innate ability to take whatever fear, whatever paralyzed her, and put it aside for the most instinctual thing: to survive.

When her eyes drifted open, her head pounded and reality seemed foggy. Her back ached, and as she attempted to move, she realized why, bound hand and feet with metal chains, in a room that resembled something out of a gothic horror novel.

With her mind clearing came the fear, and her throat was dry as Katherine searched the room, desperately, for her sword.

No sword.

Crap.

She took in a breath, a deep breath, and moved, as much as she could, until she was sitting semi upright, her head resting against a pillow, easing the ache slightly.

She felt faint, slightly dizzy, as she tried to recollect exactly what had happened to her.

Blood… all the blood….

She looked down, realizing that by some miracle, she was now dressed, in a slip of a nightgown, but it was enough - for now.

Hands fumbled for the chains, and she pulled, but her body was weak, and although she was alive, like she always came back to life, that was still a hell of a lot of blood.

She cursed in anger, and then stared at the door, wondering, always wondering, and saturated with fear and dread and wonder, and in the darkest recess of her heart, just the slightest bit of hope…

Because Nick had been her true love.

Nick had been her savior, and when Nick died…

She took in an uneven set of breaths, as her muscles contracted, and her head cleared, eyes set on the door.

But no one came in.

--

Sunnydale Airport, California 2004

"Attention all passengers, Flight Number 1482 to New York City is now ready to board. Please have your tickets ready. We will now begin boarding First Class passengers only."

Cordelia reached a hand to her neck, massaging lightly as she cocked her head, attempting to get the kinks out as she walked out of the private terminal.

Airports were a bitch for Immortals, with their metal detectors and cops who didn't `care who you are, you follow the rules' and annoying flight attendants who offered you champagne every half minute when all you really wanted to do was close your eyes and sleep.

Cordelia was never a great flyer, and to her, the best part of the whole damn affair was the part where she was home, most often late at night, carefully placing her sword by the chair, pulling off her clothes, nightgowns be damned, and slipping into bed next to a young man who was snoring lightly.

Homecoming.

And today she was even going to be denied that.

Sighing in aggravation, she walked forward, eyes trained until she saw the unfamiliar young man holding the card that said in bold black letters : Chase Winters.

Standing next to him was a very familiar blonde who had an identical card that read: Cordelia Chase.

Buffy.

Cordelia rose an eyebrow, stifling the smirk as she walked toward them.

"Funny," she said dryly.

"I thought so!" Buffy replied, smiling as she wiggled the card, sticking it in her purse. The young man looked confused, as Cordelia walked up, placing her bags in his hand, plucking the card out of his hands.

"Not that I'm not glad to see you and all that, but what are you doing here? I thought I told Xander not to pick me up-"

"He doesn't know I'm here," Buffy said, slinging the bag over her shoulder. "I'm hijacking you."

The poor young chauffer looked even more confused. "I… uh… Ms. Winters?"

"Her name's Cordelia, bub-"

"Buffy!"

"Uh… you're not Ms. Winters?"

"I'm Ms. Winters - Cordelia is a nick name, right Buff?" Poking her friend in the ribs, Buffy only smirked, reaching over and taking the bags the young man carried.

"Come on, Cordy. Let's get outta here."

"I have a limo-"

"Get your ass in my little jeep, Cordelia."

"Buffy!"

But Buffy was already walking away, at a brisk pace, and Cordelia swore underneath her breath.

Her sword was in that bag.

Running her hand through her long dark hair in frustration, she finally just turned to the young man. "Take the limo back, tell Johnson I'm sorry - I'll call him in a few."

After that, she had no choice but to run after her friend.

"Okay, so WHAT the hell is THIS about?" she asked, sliding into the car seat, making sure to buckle her seatbelt. Buffy was NOT known for her prowess on the highway. Xander had once mentioned he preferred Cordelia behind the wheel - and considering an accident was how she met her first death, and a couple ones after that - that said quite a lot.

"What? Can't we bond?"

Cordelia again just gave her a suspicious look. Buffy was acting way too perky.

"Can you WATCH the road!" she suddenly yelped, grabbing a hold of the arm rest, sinking into the leather seat. "That was a stop sign!"

"Was it?" Buffy looked into the rear view, and then looked back, narrowly avoiding another accident when the baggage claim guy jumped out of the way.

"Hey Buffy? How about *I* drive?"

"You? I don't think so, Ms. I-Can-Never-Die. How much IS your car insurance these days, anyway?"

"Okay, why does everyone think I *LIKE* dying? You think I ENJOY biting the big one? Like a little game? `Gee, I think I'll get run over by a bus today!'" she grumbled, staring outside the window.

Buffy smiled, swerving out onto the highway. "So… how'd it go?"

"What?"

"Whatever pulled you away from your birthday bash."

"Oh…" Cordelia shrugged. "Okay I guess… Didn't sleep a lot - one of the vice presidents of the one of the companies involved in the mergers got cold feet."

"Didn't wanna go through with it, huh?"

"No… literally. He was bitten by a Vorax Demon while skiing up in the Alps and ended up with an equivalent of frostbite on his feet. He was going to die and we needed him alive for the merger so I had to hunt the damn thing down and…" Cordelia leaned her head back, closing her eyes. "It was annoying. Did I miss anything?"

"Oh…not a lot. Some scary freaky thing happened where we couldn't speak-"

"Mmhmm." Cordelia kept her eyes closed, settling her tired body back against the seat.

"Well these demons came into town, `The Gentlemen' - none of us could talk! It was so freaky-"

Cordelia made some sort of sound, and felt her head slip.

Jolted awake, she only caught the last bit of Buffy's speech.

"destroyed it and we were all able to scream and I killed it. That's all."

"Cool."

"Cordy?"

A furious shake of her shoulder made her open her eyes, catching Buffy's annoyed expression.

"Hmm?"

"Did you sleep at all?"

"Nope."

"Ah. Okay, then let me do this now, before you slip away again."

Cordelia blinked, shrugging her shoulders and taking in a breath, rubbing at her eyes. "Okay, do what?"

"I'm … I want to extract a promise."

"You want to `extract a promise'? Whenever Giles comes to visit you always get all `SAT' on us."

"Cordelia…"

"Okay, geez. I'm listening. What's up."

The pause, followed by the unsteady breath, made Cordelia open her eyes, and she found Buffy with an insecure, very serious, face.

Her mouth opened, closed, took in a breath. Hands around the steering wheel tightened, making Buffy's knuckles an odd shade of white.

"I … uh… I know you guys don't like to talk about this… but… you being … I need to make sure you'll take care of-"

"Buffy," Cordelia interrupted, hazel eyes now completely focused on her friend. "Spit it out."

The blonde Slayer's voice trembled slightly when she finally said, "I want you to promise me that if anything happens-"

"Oh, Geez, Buffy!" Cordelia sounded exasperated, as she crossed her arms and looked outside the window. "Why the hell do you have to bring that up again?"

"Look, Cordelia-"

"Do you honestly think I want to think about the `come the time' day?"

"Cordelia get over it. I need you to promise-"

"Why?"

The heated question came with a heated response. "Because I've been having dreams, okay? And they're not of the good. Something's coming and I want to make sure that if I don't pull through you'll-"

"Wait, wait. WHAT?! STOP THE CAR."  Cordelia jerked the wheel to the side, and Buffy cursed, swerving into the side of the road and pulling to a stop.

"What the hell, Cor!"

"What do you mean dreams! Bad dreams? And why the hell haven't you told anyone about them-"

"Cordelia-"

"Buffy, the last time you had freaky ass dreams you DIED!"

"I KNOW!" Buffy's face made Cordelia stop yelling, as she watched the tired Slayer lean her head back against the seat, close her eyes for a fraction of  a  second. "And that's why I'm telling you now. Only you. Everyone else…"

"But Angel-"

"Especially Angel." Her eyes were unexpectedly bright as she turned to regard her friend. "I need to make sure you'll take care of them. You're the only one that can. Angel… he might try but he doesn't know how to… how to be on his own yet."

Cordelia could only stare at her friend, trying desperately to find a way out of this, to find a way to escape the huge mantle of heartache and responsibility Buffy was handing her. Buffy just couldn't DIE. Buffy was the strong one… she was always the strong one...

"Do you realize how much it HURTS Buffy, when you make us think about that? Make  me think about spending my life without ANY of you? I mean here… right here? It ACHES Buffy- I just… I don't want to think about it."

"Yeah well, tough cookies. You have to, Cor," Buffy replied. "It comes with the territory. Just like I have to think… you think this is pleasant for me too?

"I'll take care of them, okay?" she finally interrupted softly. "I will. If… God forbid… anything happens I will do everything in my power to take care of them - everyone. Xander… Willow, Oz, Giles-"

"And Angel."

A small, morose smirk came onto Cordelia's face. "I think Angel can pretty much handle himself, Buff."

"No, he can't. He's… insecure and scared and he doesn't… he still feels things Cordelia. Vampire things. Soul bound and all - and there's still a lot of things he has to atone for… he'll need help. Humanizing influences. Make sure he has them."

"Okay, okay." Cordelia shrugged. "Angel too. Boy, Buffy - you this morbid and depressed ALL the time? Cause this is just… fun."

"Nah… sometimes I'm actually grim. Immortal witch."

Cordelia grinned at the game they never stopped playing. "Slayer Freak."

"Bitch."

"Dead Guy Boffer."

"Geek Lover."

"Xander's not a geek. He's a lame dork!" And with that Cordelia turned up the volume on the radio, a real smile on her face as hazel eyes met blue and they both burst out in time with the song, dancing in their seats as they cruised down the highway.

"I will SURVIIIVE. OHHHh, as long as I know how to love I know I'll be alive-"

"I got all my life to live-"

"And I've got all my love to give-"

"And I'll survive! I WILL SURVIVE! HEY HEY!"

--

"Are you insane?"

Angel sighed, a needless, almost breathless sigh as Cordelia's cold hazel eyes rested on his, dropping the tiny computer and snapping it off before sliding it into her lapel.

"Cordelia, these visions are real-"

"They're wrong. I don't need help. I've never even…" she broke off suddenly, grabbing her cup and downing it, obviously agitated. "I'm not in trouble. I'm not one of your little victims, so… just forget it."

He only continued to stare at her, sadness in his eyes that seemed to penetrate her gaze, as she broke the stare, flushing slightly.

"Just… how do you even know it'll even get to that point? These things look pretty vague to me. Don't tell me you get them right all the time."

"We don't," he admitted freely, leaning back and watching her carefully. "But that was pretty clear. Some way or another this Katherine girl and you are going to be tied together with some… bad stuff."

"I'm already tied to bad stuff."

"Okay, then worse stuff."

"Angel-"

"Cordelia, like it or not you're my damsel, okay?"

"I'm no one's damsel Angel," she said, her glare and her low, dangerous tone certainly a testament to that.

"Uh… that came out wrong. What I mean is…"

"And besides, don't you need like, blonde hair to fill that role?"

"CORDELIA!" The tone almost came out in a growl, but she only raised an eyebrow, regarding him. Swallowing hard, he forced himself to continue in a lower voice. "Look. This isn't going to work, okay? This pushing me away with those little barbs. I'm not letting you go now. I promised Buffy and Xander…"

That did it. A softness immediately flickered over her face before she could hide it, a small wince and a hint of grief at the mention of her dead husband, and her voice was different, her voice softer as she finally asked, "Xander asked you…"

"Yeah."

"I'll help you with this Katherine girl, okay? That's the best I can do. I don't know about the rest."

The insecurity on her delicate features brought an uneasy smile to Angel's face, and he found himself nodding, reaching forward to gently press her hand, and stopping at the last second, pulling back.

"Thank you," he finally said.

She only managed a grim smile, somewhat pained and a little sad. "Just like old times, huh?"

His smile froze, and the haunted look in her eyes brought back memories, of a blue-eyed girl not above twenty five, with a sad smile and a grim face, and a mentality that made her save the world at the cost of her life, ripping out his very world from under him.

"Yeah," he said, his voice rough. "Just like old times."

--

"Is this it?" Cordelia asked breathlessly, hands dug deep into her pocket as she looked up at the small flats that lay nestled on top of the cobble stoned hill.

"I think so," he replied, coming up behind her, eyes on the building. "Feel that tingly thing?"

"No, not yet," she answered, eyes taking in the place, and suddenly stopping. "Hey," nudging him lightly, she motioned to a darkened corner, where two inconspicuous men were talking in low tones. "Looks like my watcher and Katherine's watcher know each other."

Angel narrowed his eyes, immediately uneasy. "They just follow you around like that?"

"Usually yeah."

"And you let them."

Cordelia shrugged, non committally. "Hell as long as he's not watching when I'm changing I could care less. I got it all explained to me - they're not supposed to interfere. Just record it. Sort of like an underground newspaper. We're not even supposed to know they exist." With that she took a breath, and jogged up the stairs. "Come on."

Angel took another look at the men and shook his head. "And they call me a stalker."

 He met Cordelia at the doorstep, and immediately paused, a twist in his heart, and a sniff confirming what he suspected.

Blood.

A low growl emitted from him, and Cordelia glanced at him, eyebrow cocked in curiosity. "Any reason for the growl face?"

"Dead Body."

"Oh… goody." Taking in a breath, she quickly unsheathed her sword, leaning against the hall, staring at the doorway. "So… on three?"

"Okay, three-" And with that, Angel kicked open the door, rattling the hinges and damn near blasting through it.

He heard a sigh from behind him. "Thank you, Batman. Oh- EWW." She shuddered, moving from around him to inspect the body before them, lying in it's own sticky mess of congealed blood and dead weight.

Angel knelt down, carefully poking at the body. "Vampire."

"The body's a vampire? But wouldn't he have - oh. Vampire killed him, you mean."

"Bite marks."

"Yeah. I can see that." She turned surveying the scene, sword drawn as she swung the arc of the room. "Okay… no tingly feeling means no Immortal - and I highly doubt she would let cute dead guy out of her sight…and…" Cordelia paused, blinking, and moving forward.

Angel looked up. "What?"

Cordelia frowned, leaning over to pick up a fallen object. "Her sword. She's so dead."

"What?"

Cordelia eyed the antique saber, let it shine in the moonlit beams that danced across the flat wood floor. "Immortal, NEVER leaves their sword behind unless they are complete idiots. Katherine, from what I've heard, is NOT a complete idiot."

"So what do we have?" Angel said, still crouching next to the body, straightening to survey the room.

"Thrown towel," Cordelia said, kicking at the floor, "and blood here too."

"Vampire is somehow or other invited in here, kills... this guy… takes out Katherine?"

"Without her sword." Cordelia crossed the room, looking onto the mantle piece. "No real sign of struggle… and believe me she would have…"

She paused, glancing at the pieces on top of the mantle above the fireplace.

"What?"

With a carefully closed expression, Cordelia gently took a framed photo off, holding it up to Angel as he walked over. "This must have been mortal hubby. Late `tens… judging from the way whispy hair and the Crouching Tiger look here… 2001?"

"She had a mortal husband," Angel said.

Cordelia clamped her mouth shut, nodding shortly as she put the framed picture back, carefully. "Something we have in common."

There was an uncomfortable silence, as both vampire and Immortal held thoughts that were elsewhere, before Cordelia coughed, wiping quickly at her eyes before turning away from the mantle, and moving around the room.

"Alright, so we've got no leads but vampy activity and a REALLY stupid Immortal chick who either forgot her sword, and her towel on the way out over the dead guy or got captured by him…"

Angel only watched, his heart in an odd place. "Do you always do that?"

"Do what?"

"Avoid thinking about him… about them … like that. Push them away."

Her shoulders slumped slightly, her face naked for two seconds before she finally just said, turning away, "I have to."

And with that she placed Katherine's sword in her holster, and walked into Katherine's bedroom, leaving Angel to watch.

--

Sunnydale, California, 2004

Chase Winters walked up the darkened steps, her key in her hand, always careful to be quiet as she gently inserted it into the lock, turning.

God it was good to be home.

With a sigh she closed the door behind her, putting her bags down, leaving only her sword swinging on her back as she walked past the little table with all the pictures, the dearly departed Joyce, and to the stairs, where Willow and Oz's little Rupert gave them a gummy and toothy smile from the portraits that were hanging on the wall.

Up, past the banister, shedding clothes as she went, and into the darkened room where only a young man snored lightly on the king sized bed.

A small, relieved smile played across her face, and with almost panther like grace, she slid under the coves, moving over to rest against his back and place tiny kisses on his shoulders.

"Hi honey," she whispered, her voice a tad husky. `I'm home."

A small groan and a moan, and she could only grin, moving from his shoulder to the crook of his neck, biting lightly.

Bastard slept like a log.

She sighed, half in frustration, half in contentment, and finally just ran her fingers over his shoulder and down his chest, brushing her chest against his back.

"Alexander Lavelle  Harris if you don't wake up and give your wife a long overdue welcome she will take that sword and stic-"

The body flipped, and suddenly she was pinned under a very sleepy, but still very desirable male, who glared at her with a wolfish smile. "You know we have to talk about you and that sword fetish."

She chuckled. "This isn't band camp, Mr. Harris."  And with that she leaned up, pressed her lips against her husbands throat and held him to her, unable to keep the smile off her face when he groaned, capturing her chin and pulling up to meet her lips with a passionate kiss of his own.

His palms slid down, over her shoulders, rounding her hips, pulling her lower body a bit more snugly against his hardening flannel covered groin.

"Mmm. I LOVE when you're naked."

She giggled, kissing him again, the smile sliding off her face as his hands, and caresses, and kisses became more and more urgent.

Soon she was panting, as she slid her palms down his chest, pressing her lips against him, straddling his body, and moving down to a nipple, to the ridges of his abdomen, a slow, mischievous grin coming over her when she heard his gasp inward.

Her chin nudged the ties of the pajama bottoms when the phone rang.

SHIT.

"Leave it."

Cordelia really wanted to. She REALLY wanted to, but she only swallowed down her disappointment, making a point not to look at her husband as she pushed her hair out of her sweaty face and reached for the phone.

"If someone isn't dead I'm going to -"

She paused, and suddenly the anger slid away and a look of pure panic replaced it. "What? When?" Xander frowned, letting her move off of him, sitting up and watching her with concern etched on his face. "Okay."

Swallowing, she purposely didn't look at his face as she slid off the bed and reached down to grab her pants. "I have to go."

"WHAT?!"

"Xander," she began with a sigh. "Don't-"

"NO! Not again, Cor! You just GOT here."

"I have to!"

"Why? Another merger president lost a pinky this time?"

"Claribel had a stroke." She turned, her face sad, stricken with grief. "She's dying, Xander."

Xander paused, and immediately she knew he understood. Claribell, the young adopted daughter of Winters, who had grown old, tired, and for two years had been the only family Cordelia had ever had.

That Claribell, was dying.

"Oh."

She swallowed down, hard, slipping on her bra and pulling on her shirt. "Tell them I'll be back as soon as I can… I don't know when…"

"Okay." Her motions faltered, watching as her young husband sat on the edge of the bed, face in his hands.

"Come with me," she suddenly blurted out. He looked up in surprise. "I just… I'd like you to come."

A pause, flicker of doubt on his face, and the beginnings of a nod before he shook his head slowly. "I can't.  There's this new… this Glory girl… claims she's a god… we were going to -"

"Forget it."

"It's not that I don't want to-"

"No. I understand. Sunnydale… sucks. My life… sucks." The words were emphasized with the jerk of her zipper, followed by the way she flung on the long coat, grabbing her sword. "You have my cell phone number?"

"Yeah."

"Okay." He stared at her, and she paused, face softening when she saw his expression. "I'm sorry."

"Me too. Good luck with… I hope she's okay."

Cordelia nodded, and her eyes watered as he stood, and in two seconds she was locked in his arms, shuddering slightly.

She pulled away, and kissed him once, hard on the mouth.

"I love you."

And Chase Winters walked away from her husband, yet another time.

--

"Great. So we've got next to no leads and a disappearing Immortal."

"We've got a lead." Cordelia gave Angel a scathing look and he almost looked sheepish as he pulled out the tiny computer. "We have the vision."

"Screams, ickiness and MAYBE a face? Please. How do you work like that?"

"It's all we got."

"For now," Cordelia admitted, stepping over the body and outside of the door. "Oh, thank God. Fresh air." Standing next to the flat, she glanced over the hill. "So? You're the detective guy now. What do we do?"

He grazed over the hill with his eyes, and finally just smirked. "We find a witness."

Cordelia looked from him to the man at the bottom of the hill, and her jaw fell slightly open. "Angel we can't do that."

But he was already moving.

Sighing, she went down after him. "Angel they won't tell us anything. They can't interfere."

"They can't interfere with the Game. I'm not a part of it."

She paused, considering. "Good point."

He strode purposefully, down the hill, and with long strides, making it almost impossible to keep up with him.

Her damned watcher never even saw it coming.

In two seconds Angel had a handful of the Watcher's throat, picking him up off the ground and never giving the terrified face any leeway.

"So… let me introduce myself," he said in full demonic visage. Cordelia looked around his shoulder to take a peek. Yeap. Still scary. "I'm Angel. You already know Cordelia. Where's Katherine?"

--

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