My Documentsfanficnetfbu04 The Road Before Us
By Misty Flores
Email: mistiec_flores@yahoo.com, mistyjox@hotmail.com
Series: the Winters Trilogy – but purposely written so it could also be a standalone
Rating: R
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.
Crossover: Sorta. Highlander – but seriously, you do NOT need to be familiar with that.

* additional notes on previous parts
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The Road Before Us – Chapter Six
--

Sunnydale, California 2006

"Hello?"

Faith's scent was unique, always discernable, and it brought a smile to Angel's face every time it wafted through the battered hotel.

She smelled of spice and cinnamon, graveyards and fresh dirt, leaves and the mingled scent of her favorite cologne and a small tinge of blood and leather.

Occasionally, she smelled just a little bit like Cordelia – which was disconcerting and a bit nostalgic at the same time.

Jogging down the stairs, he found the Slayer making herself at home in the circular sofa, sitting back and meeting his eyes.

"Hey."

"Hey. Good to see you."

"Good to be here."

Faith, his little redeemed Slayer project, showed up on his couch whenever the mood struck her since her release from prison, and it had given his current coworker, the recently fired and now fulltime private investigator, Kate, a heart attack every time she walked in and found Faith on the couch.

It was no different now, as the blonde walked into the room and almost double stepped back.

Faith turned, and grinned. "Hey, Kate."

"What is she doing here?"

Oh, boy. Here we go.

"Kate, Faith is welcome."

"Right, just like all murderers are."

"Uh, hello, Kate?" Faith flicked a thumb in Angel's direction. "Former mass murderer, right there. You don't give him half the flack you give me."

Angel could only smirk as Kate gave him a pointed glare.

"Not a word."

Angel just shrugged, moving toward the coffee machine, grimacing at the taste of the first cup he poured.

"How old is this coffee?"

"What you expect me to make it?" Kate asked. "At the station we had the rookies for that."

"Hey don't look at me," Faith said, shaking her head emphatically as she shifted on her seat. "I can't even make toast."

"Heard from the new Seer yet?" Kate's voice was clipped, as she put her bag down on the table and fired up the computer, pointedly ignoring the Slayer who moved over to watch her work.

"Not yet." The smile had fallen from Angel's face and Faith noticed, narrowing her eyes.

"You lost the other guy already?"

Kate and Angel's eyes met, and the frown that passed between them was enough for Faith not the press the issue.

Instead the Slayer patted Kate on the back, who jolted at the contact, and turned to Angel. "So Cordelia knows you stalk her."

The coffee automatically spilled on his shirt.

Cursing, Angel reached for a napkin, mopping at the mess, ignoring Kate's look of bewilderment.

"What?"

"It kinda slipped out."

"Who's Cordelia?"

Faith's eyes didn't move from Angel's face as she automatically answered, "Chick who got me out."

"Oh… I thought that was Chase Winters."

"Same, tomato, tomato difference."

At this Kate looked completely confused.

This was definitely not good. Angel knew that Cordelia and company weren't exactly receptive to any form of Angel's passing reference. Xander hadn't trusted him since the moment he attacked Cordelia regarding Buffy's death – and they would never understand that the promise he had made Buffy had become a true calling – an obsession with keeping them safe the only way he knew how.

"They … know?"

"Nope. Only her. Don't worry about it, Angel. She'll be discreet."

"Why are you stalking Chase Winters?"

Faith flipped her dark hair back, looking into Kate's blue eyes. "Didn't you know? They go way back."

Once again Kate looked supremely confused. "You do?"

"We don't," Angel said hastily. "We barely know each other."

"She stalks you too you know."

This time Kate was the one who spit out the coffee she had been in the middle of drinking.

"What?!"

"Oh, yeah. Though for her it's a little more impersonal. Detectives and shit."

"Detectives… are stalking… us? Angel what the hell did you do to her?"

"I didn't do anything!"

"Oh, please, Angel." Faith rolled her eyes, moving off the counter and back onto the couch. "She's just trying to make sure you're okay. Some promise to Buffy."

"She made a promise to… " Even now, Angel's chest constricted slightly at the mention of his dead wife's name, and he came forward, completely absorbed in the tattling Faith's story.

"Yes, she made a promise to Buffy. To look after you." The tone was different, somber, as Faith took an unsteady breath, all pretension gone out of her mouth as she gave her friend an even glance. "What the hell did you two do to each other, Ang? She can barely even tolerate your name and you go into hives every time I mention anything about her."

"Can someone tell me what's going on?" Kate demanded, running her hands through her hair, blue eyes brightened in anger.

Angel only continued to stare into the renegade Slayer's dark orbs, feeling the tremor inside of him as she focused completely on him.

The challenge was clear, and he closed his eyes, breaking the connection.

"I'm going to bed."

"You just got up."

"I don't care."

"Angel- okay I was just lying, okay? Just messing with you, she doesn't stalk you I swear-"

He jogged up the steps, ignoring the conversation behind him.

"Thanks Faith, confuse the crap outta me and make him brood even more."

"Oh bite me, Kate. All I was trying to do was bridge a gap, okay? Him and the Queen C got some buried issues that they gotta let go of, or it's gonna tear them up inside."

"What are you talking about?"

"Facing your issues, Kate. If not you explode. Trust me, chica. I know."

--

Eddie's was a deceptively simple, innocent name.

The faded neon sign was missing one of the 'd's, as it hung crookedly over the old fashioned tavern walls.

Angel looked at it, the way it swung, the memories swirling through him-

It was all so familiar, places like these a dime a dozen in the 1800's, perfect for easy pickings, perfect for a vampire with creativity, and a penchant for blood.

He felt the familiar itch in his mouth, the rise of anger inside of him mingled with lust for the chaos, and after a hundred years, it still bid to him. Closing his eyes, he let out a soft growl, quelling the urge.

A hand on his elbow squeezed, and eyes opened to find Cordelia staring up at him, her eyes squinted at him.

"You realize you've gone all vamp face, right?"

Shit. Taking a breath, he shook himself, letting the demonic face receded.

"Sorry."

"Geez. Remind me to get you the hell outta Europe, Angel. Too close for comfort."

How close to the truth she truly was.

He waited as she pulled out black gloves, covering her delicate fingers before reaching for the knob, catching his eyes and nodded slightly as she turned, and the noise increased two fold, as they ventured into the smoke and darkness.

The floor was packed with bodies, cold mingling with warm, laughing and chaos. Placing a hand on Cordelia's shoulder, he made sure to stay right behind her, eyes narrowing as he walked through the crowd, letting her choose the path.

People moved, gave way, let her walk, and it seemed to Angel that the chaos lowered to a dull roar, as more than one of the undead gave them more than a passing glance.

"Okay, I know I liked being popular in high school, but I'm so over that phase," Cordelia said in a low tone.

Angel nodded, moving to her side and taking her hand, slightly surprised when she tangled their fingers and held on tight.

She was trembling.

He let out an unneeded breath, and gave her a squeeze, thankful she had insisted on bringing along Katherine's sword, and even more grateful she had made him wear it.

He pushed his way to the bar, and found a demon with three horns in very inappropriate places size them up.

"Better get that human outta here. They don't last too long in here."

Cordelia raised an eyebrow, smirking slightly.

"She's with me."

"So?"

"Humans don't belong to anyone but themselves," spoke up a voice behind them.

Angel whirled, the low growl rising to his throat menacing enough, but Cordelia's quick intake of breath followed by a hand on his elbow stopped him from doing any real harm.

The vampire who had intruded eased onto the bar stool, eyeing the Immortal up and down.

To her credit, Cordelia, even as the vampires and demons surrounded her and Angel, only looked mildly bored.

"Aren't you the free thinker?"

The vampire, with dark black hair and midnight eyes, grinned at toothy smile.

"Let's just say I have a real taste for what women need."

"Listen, pal-" Angel was once again cut off with a well placed elbow into his kidney.

Cordelia ignored the growl he gave her as she patted his ridged forehead. "Calm down, Angel."

"Angel?" The vampire's grin grew even wider, and he began to laugh. "Pussy Angel? Hey guys! It's Angelus!"

Chuckles and quite a few growls rumbled through the crowd.

"Oh that's it-" Angel stepped forward again, and yet again Cordelia elbowed him back into place, barely giving him a glance.

"I said stay, Angel."

He growled again, louder, glaring, the anger overweighing his tolerance for her little show.

"So you know him?"

"Not personally, but I think I know him and his stupid little soul saving is gonna get him killed really soon." The vampire's eyebrow furrowed as he cocked his head, tongue sliding over his fangs as he sidled closer to Cordelia. "What are you, some kinda vampire whore?"

"Oh, that's it-"

"ANGEL!"

"Apologize to her," he seethed, pushing away Cordelia's attempts to keep him contained.

"Fuck you, Pansy."

"Oh, shit, now you pissed him off," Cordelia muttered, her hazel eyes whirling onto the guy, all the while keeping her hands on Angel's broad chest, trying to hold off the steamed vampire. "Listen, buddy, what's your name?"

"Why the hell do you care, bitch?"

"Angel! Stop!" Cordelia grabbed her friend by the coat, swinging him back to behind her as he continued to glare at the vampire.

"I said apologize to her!"

The vampire grinned, moving off the stool while his compatriots whooped and howled.

"Because I'm going to let him loose in about two seconds and I think it would be a really good thing to know your name before he cuts your head right off your body."

"Just suck her dry, Nick!"

NICK. Angel paused, his eyes flickered down to Cordelia and she nodded shortly, mouthing a quick, 'WAIT'.

Oh.

He gave another growl, full of bluster for good measure, and he saw a quirk of a smile on Cordelia's face before she straightened her expression, playing it out.

"Wait, you wouldn't be, THE Nick?"

Nick looked slightly taken aback, a smile of surprise on his vampire features flickering on as he cocked his head. "Sure."

"The Nick who got his ass kicked by a girl?"

He blinked in surprise. "What?"

Two seconds later he reeled back from a spinning heel kick, crashed over the bar and lay in a daze as Cordelia held a sword directly beside his neck.

Angel smiled, crossing his arms as he grabbed a peanut from the cup on the bar and watched.

"Shit, the bitch is an Immortal?"

Angel casually reached back and backhanded the demon who had spoken, breaking his nose, never taking his eyes off the scene.

"Hey, Nick. I'm Chase."

"Fuck."

"What the hell is with the swearing? I mean, geez. Don't you have respect?" she huffed, leaning down and placing her knee painfully on top of his chest, bearing her weight down onto the bone. "So, what do you say we take this outside, loverboy?"

"HEY! No fighting in here!" The demon behind the bar vaulted over it, and immediately Angel grabbed him, swinging him into the bar.

"Can't you see the lady is talking pal?"

"I'm not going anywhere, bitch," Nick wheezed, careful not to move as she moved the sword slightly, grazing his skin and drawing blood.

"Ooh… gee. You know, as much as I appreciate the compliment, I do NOT appreciate the derogatory way you use the word, bitch. But being as I'm such a nice person and all I'm going to be really understanding and let you live, if you tell me where Katherine is."

The vampire grew incredibly still. The dark eyes narrowed, flashed, and the demon face receded into the human.

With a growl he thrust his hips up, knocking Cordelia backwards, into Angel, and vaulting up, pushing past the demons and out of the door.

"MOVE!" Angel thrust through the demons, clearing the path and knocking into another as Cordelia stumbled outside.

"Where is he?" he said, whipping around. The courtyard had four different exits, and the entire place looked completely deserted.

"Oh, he's a fast little vampire," Cordelia said, grimacing as she massaged at her wrists.

Her sword had disappeared, once again hidden in the folds of the trenchcoat, which took nothing away from her femininity.

"We lost him," Angel breathed, taking the wrist and looking at it. "What happened?"

"Eh, he wrenched it a bit with that little move. That guy is flexible! No wonder Katherine married him. Wow."

He raised an eyebrow, and she blushed.

"Well I'm not saying *I* would, but- you know for a vampire… " she trailed off when he only gave her another look, and she finally just sucked in her breath and changed the subject. "So – the vampire got away, huh?"

"And no sign of Spike," Angel breathed, choosing to let her little comment go.

"Well we can worry about that later, right now, we have to follow our good friend Nick."

"But he got away."

She only rolled her eyes. "You really think I would let a vampire get away from me? Please. I've only been staking them for HOW many years?" With that she took out her data pad, speaking clearly. "Initiate trace sequence."

He gave her a blank look, and she gave him a bright smile.

"Sounds all cool and star treky, huh?"

He moved behind her, ignoring the smell of her perfumed hair as he peered into the small screen.

"You put a tracer on him?"

"Duh."

He couldn't help but smile, clasping her shoulder in regard. "You're something else, Cordelia."

"I know. I rock."

"Hey pansy! You got your girl fighting your fights for you now?" Cordelia gave a groan, and Angel turned to see the some of the demons in the bar trickling out.

He turned to Cordelia who was watching him with barely contained impatience. "This will just take a minute."

"I'm counting."

Without another word Angel turned, walking back to the group, and without preamble smashed a fist into the snickering demon's face.

One launched into his shoulder, and he reached up, grabbing the figure and hauling him over it, banging him on the ground head first, and then reaching back and digging a heel into the last one's groin.

Making sure to dust off the leather jacket, he smiled at the pile before him and then turned to find the Immortal checking her watch.

"Fifteen seconds to spare. I'm impressed."

Their eyes locked, and upon closer look, it turned out Cordelia had a fleck of gold in those hazel irises.

He must have been focusing a little too intensely, because she suddenly coughed, and their gaze broke, and he found himself focusing on the very interesting graffiti next to her as she turned, walking back into the darkness.

"Come on, let's follow Nick."

"Good idea."

Her body was warm when he caught up with her, and if Angel noticed the flush of red on her cheeks, he said nothing.

--

When he burst into the hallway, stumbling to a stop, the vampire was only mildly annoyed.

The way the other one was gasping, just made him rolled his eyes.

Flapping the old newspaper open, he said in a bored monotone, "Bloody idiot. You're a hundred years old. When the hell are you going to learn you don't have to breathe so bloody loud?"

Nick looked confused, and his eyes refocused on him and he ignored the observation, instead coming forward. "Spike, I ran into Angelus."

"I know."

"What?"

"I know. Who do you think bloody lead them there?" Spike said, putting the paper down to look at the vampire with barely disguised contempt. "You have the IQ of a mop."

He wasn't exactly lying. Nick, smart, agile and incredibly smart, wasn't stupid – but compared to many other vampires he had encountered, Spike had to give him credit for not being the sharpest tool in the shed.

"Why?"

"Like I'm really going to explain myself to you," he muttered, returning to his newspaper. "I'm bloody tired of spelling things out for you. Speaking of which, I hear you've been snacking on our little Immortal."

"My Immortal."

Spike grinned. "Your Immortal. That's funny, Nicholas. Very funny." He turned cold eyes onto the other vampire, but the foolish American vamp only glared right back, standing straight with his fists clenched. Spike's grin faded, and his gaze turned cold as he finally forced himself to put down the paper and stand, meeting the vampire face-to-face. "I'm going to explain things to you one more time, Nick. And the next time I'm taking that bloody stake and sticking it in your arse. It won't kill you but it'll give Love's Bitch a whole new meaning."

Nick crossed his arms defiantly, a low growl coming from his body.

Spike pursed his lips, turning, and then coming back and swinging a crushing right hand across Nick's face.

The younger vampire's entire body jerked, losing his footing and crashing into the wall, not having a chance to recover before Spike brought a booted foot up, directly into his ribs.

This brought Nicholas to his knees and Spike stood over him, looking down in contempt.

"I knew I gave you too much trust," he sneered. "You break her mind, and we've already lost the stupid GAME," he enunciated clearly. "I'll take over with her. Stop seeing her, stop playing with her head, and stop making her into a frivolous mess. We need the bitch alive, sane and at full strength, so get over your bloody obsession with your ex-wife and start concentrating on what's to come. It's getting closer."

The vampire took a cigarette from his pocket, considering the match, and then just using Nick's stubble to create the needed friction, ignoring the grunt of pain.

He took a drag, and let it out slowly.

"It's going to be a bloody good show."

--

"This is a nice car."

"Thanks."

"It's nice."

"You said that."

It was nice. Angel ran his hands over the dashboard, admiring the curves and stability as she leaned back into the seat, peering into the abandoned mansion.

"Tell me something."

"What?"

"What IS it with vampires and boring old dead mansions? I mean, cryptic much?"

"Well in our defense we are vampires, Cordelia."

She sighed, brushing her bangs behind her ear as she continued to gaze at the house. "Just once I'd like to see a vampire with a cheery demeanor. It'd throw the slayers off for sure, tell you that."

Angel raised an eyebrow, and she only shrugged.

"I mean come on, usually it's black leather and that's a dead give away. We go stake happy but I tell you, if I ever saw a vampire come along singing Barney show tunes I'd do a double take."

"On behalf of my people, Cordelia, I would ask you to kill him on principle. "

A small smile flickered over her lips and he returned it, before they both fell silent.

"So what are we waiting for?"

"We're checking the place out," she said evenly.

"I know but we've been checking the place out for an hour. It's been dead."

"Give me a few more minutes," she said, her eyes moving to the data pad. "I'm just mapping Nick's movements. Gives us a little map to go by."

Ah. That made sense. He sighed, drumming his fingertips on the panel.

"You hungry?" she finally said, reaching into the back of the car as he nodded hesitantly, grabbing a bag and pulling out a sandwich for her, and a thermos for him.

A wave of insecurity came over the vampire, once again caught off guard with the casual way she handed him the blood.

Swallowing, he stared at it.

"Oh, don't be embarrassed, Angel. We're practically family."

For some reason, the words brought a smile to his lips, as he caught her sparkling hazel eyes, the grin she gave him electrifying and bringing warmth inside of him that had been missing for a while.

Carefully, he pulled the thermos top off, and his mouth pulled into a frown.

"Uh… Cordy?"

"Hmm?"

"I think it's gone bad."

"What? Let me see?" Leaning over, she inspected the cup. "Oh, no! That's cinnamon! Thought it would give it a kick."

He blinked.

"You put cinnamon in my blood?"

"Sure." When he gave her a look, she only shrugged. "Be glad I didn't go with my first impulse and put jalapenos in it."

"Jalapenos."

"Festive."

"Right." Wrinkling his nose, he carefully lifted the cup to his mouth, gingerly taking a sip.

It was… different.

Not bad different just… different.

Like … brunette was different than blonde. Not… bad different. Just… different.

His breath hitched inward and he choked, spitting the blood out as he felt his heart heave.

What the hell?

"You okay?"

"Fine," he said hastily, swallowing down the blood and grimacing.

His eyes flickered down to the ring that was still on his third finger, and said nothing.

"Okay… I think we've got enough info." Cordelia, never noticing his agitation, pressed her shoulder into his showing him the pad. "You see? We should be okay on our own – doesn't look like there's that many in there not many have come out and if we take these two pathways we can meet up here – and find Katherine in the process. We can link our voice synthesizers on the same frequency-"

"That sounds like a lot of work."

"What do you suggest?" she asked impatiently. "Burst in and fight it out?"

"It's worked before."

He got a huff in response. "I'm just curious, how long did it take for you to learn how to use a cellphone?"

"I never used one."

"Geez."

The jolt that went through him startled him yet again, and he cursed, almost spilling the blood as his hand jolted to his ear.

"What?!"

"Angel! You gotta come back NOW!"

"Travis, not a good time."

"Angel, NOT CARING."

"Angel?" He waved a quick hand at Cordelia, speaking quickly to his seer. "Can it wait for one hour? Look – talk to Lorne and get someone to handle it. I need to-"

"Angel- it's… fine. FINE. It's only a vision. I don't care. Why should you?"

"Travis-"

Too late, the line was cut off.

"Damn it."

"What's wrong?"

He gave an exasperated sigh, leaning his head back against the seat. "I gotta go back to LA."

"NOW!?"

His eyes opened and connected with hers, and he took a breath, one he felt he needed – odd considering he knew for a fact he didn't. "Soon. Come on. Let's go in."

"Without the plan?"

"Look, I'll do the stupid frequency thing and I'll even take the little map."

She was waiting for something from him, disappointment mingled with her hazel eyes with something that he couldn't quite place. But the look softened her face, and his own eyes softened in response as he said nothing.

There wasn't anything he could say.

She took in a breath, and let it out slowly, giving him a small smile.

"Okay. Let's go."

Without another word, they opened the doors, and swords naked in their hands, they strode to the mansion, side by side.

--