Title: This I Promise You
Name: Jules
Rating: PG-15 maybe sometimes higher
Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own any of the characters, no matter how much I WISH I did. They belong to the idiot Joss and the WB. The rest belong to whoever owns the Highlander series. Any other characters, I created, like Jonathan Damians. And Detectives Donner and Attkins.
Classification: (romance, friendship, little-angst, crossover)
Summary: During the summer of her junior year (of HS), something happens to Cordelia while in Paris and she must spend the rest of her vacation training for her life as an Immortal. Once back in Sunnydale her life is altered again. Can Cordy hide her secret from Angel and the Scoobies? Cordy comes back a totally new woman, with a new out look on life, and some new friends who are going to really shake up Sunnydale, Methos, Duncan, and Richie. (AU Season 2) (Highlander Crossover) (Ang/Cord)
Status: Completed.
(Please excuse all errors in anything! I only got the WB this year, so needless to say, my only information comes from episode guides, which don't go into much detail. I'm assuming Cordy knows about all the icky demon things, and that she knows Angel's a souled vamp!
Author's note 2005: Ok, this fic is going through a rewrite! I first wrote this fic when I was like, 15, way back in oh, I think it was 1999-2000! I'm 20 now, so needless to say, my writing style has changed a GREAT deal, not to mention gotten much better. On top of which, I've gotten BtVS Seasons 1-5 on DVD since then, so I don't have the problem I did back then, which having not seen season's 1-4. LOL, infact, I'm actually the one usually getting on other authors butts these days about errors in their timelines (I'm a huge stickler about things like that now.)
Anyway, I figured everyone would appreciate my fixing up this fics booboos, while I was in the midst of doing the rewrite of it too (see, I'm kind of currently writing an AU version of it for those of you who are HUGE Angel/Buffy fans, and I'll be Pairing Cordy with another Immortal from the show . . . . either Methos or Connor (who died at like 17, reply with votes on who you want me to pair her with in the AU, cause I just can't decide) Sooo, on with the show!
Also, those of you who are Highlander fanatics, and know how the timelines would match up, um, well ok, the Archangel thing, as you can guess, DID NOT HAPPEN. Yeah, Duncan defeated that demon thing, but that last scene . . . you know where he killed (sniff) it didn't happen, it just didn't. You know who didn't die.)
THIS I PROMISE YOU
By Jules
Prologue
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Ok, here's the deal, it's the end of the 1st season, which should make the gang like 16-17. I've decided to alter the story line for my purposes, (if you don't like it, bite me . . . wait, with the subject matter we're dealing with, maybe 'bite me' isn't what I want to say . . . )
ANYWAY lets see, um,
Cordelia (17 going on 18) – Rich, popular, beautiful, May Queen of Sunnydale High. She's fallen for the handsome souled vamp, from the moment she saw his broody bod she was done for. Contrary to popular belief, the cheerleader isn't completely self-centered and she's not a total bitch. It's just a mask she hides behind, because she doesn't trust anyone, no one has ever given her reason to, nor proven that people could be trusted. A sometimes member of the Scooby Gang. She's also Immortal. Friends with Duncan, Richie, and really good friends with Methos. (I'm pretty sure that's her age, because in Season 1 of Angel she's 19…
Angel (240-something) - Has that thing for Buffy, but he's also kind of got his eye on Cordelia. He's pretty sure he loves Buffy, but every time he sees Cordy, his heart tightens in his chest (I didn't say thumped, or skipped a beat, I said tightened, that possible isn't it?) Anyway, he doesn't know what he wants. He's torn between the two girls.
Duncan MacLeod (Like 400 years old ) – He is Immortal. Born in the Highlands of Scotland 400 years ago (at age 29-30). He is not alone. There are others like him, some good, some evil. For centuries he has battled the forces of darkness, with Holy Ground his only refuge. He cannot die, unless you take his head, and with it his power. In the end there can be only one. He is Duncan MacLeod, the Highlander. (If you wanna hear the opening, type in (without the spaces): yauger. / highlander/multimedia/season2-3. wave )
Richard 'Richie Ryan' Redstone (About 23 years old) –A wisecracking street kid, who made thefts to get by, until Duncan MacLeod caught him breaking into his antique shop, but kept him around when he recognized his pre-immortal status. Trained by Duncan after his first death at age 19, goes by the alias Richard Redstone after a very public fiery motorcycle death on the pro-circuit in Paris. Knows French (kind of) due to frequent trips after moving in with Duncan and Tessa (who died three episodes in Season II of Highlander, same Episode that Richie became an Immortal.) Is not very experienced in The Game due to his relatively recent entry.
Adam 'Methos' Pierson – A legendary 5000 year old Immortal, the oldest current living Immortal. Methos was a member of the feared Four Horsemen who raped, murdered, and pillaged across three continents three thousand years ago. Since then he has tried to make up for his past sins by helping Immortals he sees promise in (such as Duncan MacLeod). (Will be known as Adam for awhile). Connects with Cordelia right off the bat, unlike Duncan, sees himself in her, beyond the layers.
Buffy (16 going on 17) (not a MAJOR character, but she's fairly big) – Smitten with the souled vampire. Pretty sure she's falling in love with him. The only hindrance in their relationship is that whole, he's a vampire, she's the Slayer thing. Discovered she was a slayer back in LA, forced to move to Sunnydale after she burned down the Gym (in her defense it WAS full of vampires . . . though, it must have been a different breed . . . .)
Alexander 'Xander' Harris (around 17) - Entire world was turned up side down his sophomore year when he overheard the school librarian and hot new girl, Buffy, talking in the library about vampires. Soon, his best friend since kindergarten, Jesse, had been turned and Xander was forced to confront the truth of the 'myths' of vampires and stake his best friend. A dedicated fighter of the undead, or at least tries to be, the comic relief of the group.
Willow Rosenberg (16) - An aspiring Wiccan, best friends with Xander Harris (and totally crushing on him, but slowly getting over it.) Extremely smart (therefore a resident geek at Sunnydale High) Willow is a bit of an outcast. Hanging mostly with her true friends of Xander and Buffy, she's only just becoming more confident with herself with Buffy's help.
Then there's the rest of the gang, Giles, Jenny, Joyce, maybe Spike, and others as we go along! Also some more characters from Highlander don't know whom else yet though.
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This I Promise You
By Jules
Chapter 1
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Paris Café
Twilight
Cordelia Chase had only been in Paris for a week, but she was having the time of her life. It was a great way to spend the summer vacation before her junior year. Getting away from Sunnyhell, the Hellmouth, especially after that whole thing with the Master . . . .
It was hard to believe that only a year ago, she thought all the things she'd seen lately were just myths and legends to scare little kids, but they were there. Along with lots of other creepy crawly, things that went bump in the night.
Before Cordelia knew it her mind drifted to the shadowy man that occupied her every thought. Cordelia didn't know how, or why, but the moment her eyes had laid on the dark, handsome, muscular, brooding man (with great hair she might add), she'd fallen for him. Somehow, she just knew, he was the one for her. Perhaps it was the way her heart beat was more erratic when he was near or the how her thinking seemed get all muddled up when he entered the room, Cordelia just prayed he didn't notice how flustered she'd gotten around him. But he had eyes only for Buffy, the Slayer as it had turned out. Which she totally didn't get; why would such a hunk want to be with a Vampire Slayer?
Cordelia shook her head in melancholy, it really sucked the way life turned out sometimes. She had to snap out of it her slump though, she couldn't have him and she wouldn't try to steal him either, if he was destined for Buffy, she wouldn't stand in their way. Cordelia Chase wouldn't make a fool of herself trying to make him fall for her. So she was going to force herself to completely get over him while she was here.
She looked at her watch then quickly stood up; she'd been invited to a party by the teenagers of some old friends of her parents. She'd lost track of time and now she only had two hours to get back to her hotel and get ready. That included taking a shower and doing her hair; she was going to have to hurry.
The hour had grown late, and the streets were now sparse with people as she walked to her hotel. The teen shivered a bit, fashionable white Capri's, a tight sky-blue t-shirt with a low neckline, and white platform sandals. The outfit had been perfect for the summer heat earlier in the day, but dusk had brought with it cooler air and she was feeling chilled, not to mention a little frightened of the her surroundings. Having only been in Paris a week, she wasn't too knowledgeable about the area quite yet, but she'd just wanted some time to herself that day to think . . . she was beginning to regret that decision, now that night was beginning to fall, and she was having to find her way back to the hotel alone.
As Cordelia walked along the street, a shiver ran down her spine and her senses all went on high alert. She felt as if someone was watching her, and just moments later, she heard footsteps behind her. Wanting to check and see if she was right, Cordelia stopped, so did the noise.
All was quiet at the moment, except for the distant sounds of music and lapping water drifting from the canal . . . .
Nevertheless, growing up in Sunnydale had made Cordelia Chase a very wary young woman, especially once the sun had set in the sky. So with instincts ingrained after a lifetime on the Hellmouth, she began to walk faster. Just a few moments later, she was absolutely positive she heard footsteps behind her and the ominous steps shortly sped up, growing closer to the teen.
Cordelia began running as fast as she could, but the shoes that she wore prevented her from achieving her maximum speed. Scared, and not familiar with the area, she made a wrong turn and found herself trapped in an alley. No way out on one end, and the form of her pursuer, who was holding a gun, now occupied where she came in.
The man demanded something in French -
'God, why didn't I pay more attention in French class? Um, I only understood hands, up, give, and purse . . . . Oh Gods, he's mugging me! My first week here and I'm being mugged! Why does this kind of stuff always happen to me? Do I have the word, VICTIM tattooed on my head or something!'
Cordelia's mind, in absolute turmoil, gave into her fear, and she did what came naturally . . . she screamed at the top of her lungs in terror, because while she'd actually seen scarier things, and been in much worse situations, Buffy or Angel or somebody had always been there to save her before. And in Sunnydale, bad stuff happening was to be expected, but not in Paris, not during her vacation from the bad and scary. So yes, she screamed . . . in later years she would realize just how out of character it was and how stupid a reaction it had been . . . . . .
xXx
Near the Canal
Duncan MacLeod, had just finished picking up some groceries, and was walking back to his barge when he heard a woman scream, her voice full of fear. A split second after that, a BANG! reverberated through the night, a very familiar noise, which that sounded exactly like a gunshot.
Dropping his groceries, MacLeod of course did what he always did when he heard signs of someone in trouble, ran right in the direction of the upheaval. The Scot just hoped he was able to find whoever was in trouble, and prayed he got there in time to help.
xXx
The Alley
'BANG!'
Cordelia felt something rip through her upper abdomen, through the lower part of her chest. And pain, lots of pain.
"Sacre bleu!" Cried the French thief, just as shocked about the gun going off as the girl was about being shot, and he ran off in a panic, forgetting to grab the rich girl's purse.
Cordelia's hand fluttered down to her stomach, she looked down, shocked to see blood on her fingers. She felt her knees grow weak, and Cordelia sunk to the ground. The pain was making spots dance in her eyes, and she could taste the coppery tang of blood in her mouth, as her lung filled with the thick liquid, which would end her life. Her last thoughts were of disbelief at the irony, that after having grown up on the Hellmouth, and having managed to survive for so long around vampires and other all the demons that ran around the town, that it was a simple mugging that was going to kill her. This wasn't fair . . . . Her last regrets caused a single tear to run down her cheek. The realization that she'd never had real friends, ones like Buffy, Xander, and Willow were. That no one would ever love her, or care about her. That she'd never even get the chance to tell Angel how she felt . . . .
Cordelia Chase was only 17, less than year away from 18, when she felt her heart stop, and she closed her eyes, all the life forces in her body stopped.
xXx
As Duncan reached the area where the scream and subsequent gunshot had originated, his Immortal detection warning went off, giving him a sensation of the Buzz, which felt like something was constantly coming at him and told him another Immortal was near. The sensation was felt for several moments, and happened whenever an Immortal came into sensing range. (Until an Immortal learned to deal with the Buzz, it could be almost painful, and overwhelming. Powerful immortals, very in-tuned with their natures and taught how, also had the ability to sense pre-immortal, who had not yet been killed for the first time, therefore vulnerable.)
The Buzz he was sensing however was a bit different though, it was much more faint, Duncan almost had to strain to detect it . . . it was then he recognized the sensation as the Buzz of a Pre-Immortal, like that of his former student Richie Ryan's, before he'd experienced his first death that awful night in Seacouver, four years ago. That night Duncan's beloved Tessa had been shot as well, but she hadn't had the gift, or curse of immortality to bring her back to life when the dust had settled . . . .
As Duncan neared the area where the sensation was originating, it suddenly stopped. He knew what that meant and his heart dropped like it was suddenly made of lead. It meant the pre-immie had been killed. Duncan had been too late to save whoever had been shot, however that didn't mean that he was too late altogether . . . there was still something he could do.
Duncan looked around, searching for what could have set off his Immortal senses, seeing nothing. Then his gaze finally lit upon on the dark alley, and landed upon a fallen girl lying in a pool of blood. Could it have been that young teenage girl who set him off? He prayed that it wasn't her. For her to have died so young, to be brought into the Game at such an age and so late . . . .
His years of combat experience took over though, and he managed to walk over to the grizzly scene. Duncan knelt down next to the girl and checked for a pulse, closing his eyes in sorrow when he found none. Sighing, he knew now he'd found the source of his earlier Buzz. Duncan was immediately able to identify the cause of death, a very bloody bullet wound, right below her left breast. He could see through the hole in the t-shirt that the wound had already stopped bleeding though. Duncan knew he couldn't very well leave her there either, not unless he wanted her found by people in her state. If that were to happen, she would have to give up everything she knew; family, friends, her whole life, because she would be dead to them.
He slipped off his coat and wrapped her in it, hiding the bloodstains on her clothes from anyone he might pass on the streets. Looking around, finding the streets unsurprisingly empty, he picked her up her, and then hurried to the barge. It was Paris and to see a man carrying a passed out par amour was a quite common occurrence. So as long as no one looked too close and saw any of the blood on the two of them, Duncan knew he would be fine.
By the time he laid her on the bed, the wound that went from the front all the way through the back of her chest, was also already quickly closing, and beginning to heal. Duncan left the coat wrapped around her and put her purse, which had still been clutched tightly in her hand, on the dresser. He then he picked up a book and started reading. It would be a while before she awoke, and when she did, he knew from experience it was going to take forever to explain things to her. The shock from waking up from the dead was a bit overwhelming, and could sometimes take awhile to sink in, not to mention the complications of explaining the rules of the game . . . . He just hoped Richie didn't show up while he was trying to explain it and try to hit on the girl.
Late that night
Cordelia woke up swiftly, gasping for breath, her lungs refilling with air and she sat up abruptly, eyes darting about the room wildly trying to determine her location, and what the hell had happened.
"Good, you're back." Duncan declared in his slightly Scottish accent, setting his book down and standing up. He could tell the young woman was terrified, and he wished to soothe her frightened state as quickly as possible.
Cordelia gazed at the handsome thirtyish man who had just stood from a chair, only 20 feet away. He was very handsome actually, about 6'3", long black hair that was tied back in a pony tail that went to his shoulder blades, dark brown eyes, broad muscular shoulders, a diamond earring in one ear, dressed in black slacks and a white button up shirt . . . . Yes, avery pleasing picture over all, but at the moment Cordelia Chase wasn't that interested in the looks of her host, for once. Frankly, she was just trying to take in her surroundings, and the fact that the man was a stranger, meant she wasn't going to take her eyes off him. Being a stranger, meant he could be dangerous, she'd learned to be wary of the mysterious, and that meant keeping her all her senses on them.
"Where am I?" She demanded, scared out of her mind. Cordelia knew this wasn't right, and she wasn't just talking about the strange man close by.
"My home, on the river."
She looked down at her blood soaked shirt, fingering where the bullet had gone through, and then felt how there was no wound below it on her skin. It looked, from the holes in the shirt as if it had gone through her left lung, but there wasn't even a scar, not a single mar on her body.
"I was dead." She murmured softly, "I remember dying . . . I felt my body getting colder and I could taste blood . . . ." Her mind raced, and she came to her only logical conclusion, "Damn it all, you turned me into a vampire-thingy didn't you!" She accused glaring at him.Well, the only logical conclusion one comes up with when one is from Sunnydale.
Duncan stared at her in shock, "What? No! There's no such thing as vampires. Trust me, I've been around for over 400 years, there are no vampires. The only thing that I've ever seen that ever even came close, was an Immortal named Nicholas Ward, who ran around Paris in 1840 pretending to be a vampire, murdering certain people so he could get control of a business. I discovered what he was doing and stopped his killing spree." (Season II, Ep 16 – The Vampire, if your interested)
Cordelia raised an eyebrow at him smirking, "Yeah, well I live in Sunnydale, California. On a Hellmouth. You know a gateway to hell? Trust me, I've seem more vampires in the last year, then my fair share. God, I even know the Slayer. She who's chosen to kill what goes bump in the night! God, my boyfriend was killed by vamps, then we killed a Master vampire before prom while the Hellmouth was like, opening . . ." She trailed off, then started up again, "Over 400 huh? Wow, that's old . . . . and we thought Giles was old and he's like, 40 . . . ."
Duncan gazed at her, dumbfounded. Here he had been, thinking that he was going to have to convince her that it was possible for Immortal's to exist and there she was telling him that things he'd thought were legends, were real.
"So, if you didn't turn me into a vamp, how am I alive?" She demanded, getting up.
This was Duncan's cue, he'd had to do this many times before, but it never grew easier, "You are an Immortal. One of a select few chosen to live forever . . ." He launched into the long saga of their existence.
To summarize, some people are chosen to live forever, no 'dying' per say, never aging. The theory was that they were all foundlings, having no parents, so nobody was really sure where they come from. They can be killed in the conventional way, but they are reanimated a while later. The only way for them to DIE, die, is by beheading. And if the victor of this fight is an Immortal, he/she gains the power, memories, and strength of the defeated, in this occurrence is called the quickening, which involves lots of lightning, and explosions. (Really cool to watch!) "… I must say though, you are really lucky that no one else came upon you after you, um, died the first time. Most Immortals are forced to abandon their old lives and assume completely new identities, giving up everything they new before after their first death."
"Yeeeaaahhh right . . . ." Cordelia agreed distractedly, having absorbed it all in stride, "So back to this aging thing, so what you're saying is, I'll never get all wrinkly, flabby, and all that other icky stuff involved in aging."
Duncan had to smile at the girl, it was obvious that she was very young, extremely blunt, but that it took a lot to faze her, so he just went on, not sure how she was going to take the next part, "Cordelia, you're never going to change again. You are going to stay this age for the rest of your life."
"So?" Cordelia looked at him incredulously, "No wrinkles still means, no wrinkles. You will not see me complaining. And no scarring, right? Just so we're clear on that, I had a really bad experience at the end of last year, really close call involving my face and someone with a scalpel."
Duncan's jaw practically dropped at that bit of information, "A scalpel?"
"Yeah . . . just a little incident with some girl jealous about how popular I am, and how pretty I am. So she decided slashing my face would be the answer…but you said that's not going to ever be a problem again, right? Right? No scaring?"
"Rrright. Yeah, Immortals have advanced healing. It takes longer, depending upon how old you are, and how many quickenings you've taken. Or at least that's the theory, but every injury you get from now on will completely heal."
"Great! I just have one question then." She told him, staring at him seriously.
"Yes?" he asked, a bit taken aback by this new Immortal.
"Who the Hell are you?" She demanded, adopting her Queen C persona, raising an eyebrow at him.
Duncan shook him self a bit, realizing he'd forgotten to introduce himself. Flashing her his charming smile, he bowed and kissed her hand, "Duncan MacLeod, of the clan MacLeod, and you are?"
"Cordelia Chase, only daughter of the second richest man in Sunnydale. Oh, by the way, I'm only 17. Just so you know, if the police come. Because what this is looking like is soooo not legal."
Duncan was once more taken aback by what he was discovering. She'd looked older . . . something for which she would be thankful for in later years, because from this point on, she would never age again.
But she still looked so young to him. It just wasn't fair for her to have died for the first time at such a young age. She'd have to be thought of as a teenager for the rest of her life . . . .
"So, what happens now?" Cordelia probed eagerly, pulling Duncan out of his musing.
"Well, I'm going to train you: in martial arts, sword fighting, and many of other things you will need to know. It will take awhile."
Cordelia sighed, "Well I can only stay until I need to start school again. And I'll have to call my parents and tell them that I'll be at a friend's most of the time now, for them to not try and call my hotel anymore, and that I'll see them in September. Don't even think about trying to make me stay longer. I'm already kissing my summer vacation goodbye, if you think I'm gonna ditch my friends next year you can, like, soooo forget about it." She informed him seriously.
Duncan could tell this was going to be a long three months and just hoped he would be able to train her to protect herself in that small amount of time, "Alright, maybe we should go get your clothes and things. We'll have more time to train if you stay here on the barge with me."
"Right, um, can I borrow something to wear though? I don't think that me walking into the lobby wearing a majorly bloodstained shirt will not cause the security staff to get alarmed."
Duncan raised his eyebrow; this girl wasn't as dumb as she acted.
Two days later
Cordelia was ready to kill Duncan, barely lifting her head from the pillow "You have got to be kidding me, it's six am, it's my summer vacation, and you're making me get up?"
"Come on Cordelia, rise and shine." Duncan ordered, fully awake.
"MacLeod, you are cruel. Truly cruel." She grumbled, stumbling out of bed and into the shower.
45 minutes later
Cordelia re-emerged, her long, damp hair brushed and in a ponytail. She was wearing black wind-pants, which she had rolled down to her hips showing off her slim toned stomach and a white Nike sports-bra top. She was awake, but still cranky.
Duncan handed her a cup of coffee and half a grapefruit.
They quickly ate, and then were off to train.
Ten am
Cordelia did have some training, due to cheerleading, and because it was a dangerous world out there her father had insisted on her taking kickboxing. At the moment with her new teacher and mentor she was working on the mental and physical parts of martial arts.
But the focusing part of the training wasn't exactly Cordelia's area of expertise; she was actually having a bit of trouble with it. In fact, at the moment, Cordelia was bored out of her mind as she hit the practice dummy. She was hot, sweaty, and she knew, she just knew, her breaking a nail was inevitable.
"No." Duncan stopped her, "Here." He advised her, pointing to a spot a few centimeters above on the dummy's side, where she had been kicking, "I know, it looks the same, at least to the untrained eye it does. But I promise, you'll cause a hell of a lot more pain if you kick here."
Cordelia kicked the stupid, stupid thing where Duncan had told her to, then punched it in the face a few times,just for pleasure, "There, happy? I can't take this anymore! I, am going to do my cheer routines until lunch." Cordelia declared, leaving no room for argument.
Duncan could tell she was going to stand firm on this, and relented, "Fine."
The frustration on Cordelia's face melted away into delight and she shot him one of her dazzling smiles. She slipped in one of her CD's, and then started working on the cheerleading routines she'd been planning out, which always calmed her down and worked out any sort of annoyances that had been building up inside.
Duncan stood off to the side, scrutinizing his latest charge. He knew already that she was very obstinate, which could get her killed, but it might also be a valuable aspect, however it was still too soon to determine.
He had to wince after he observing her doing five handsprings into an American spit, which looked seriously painful to him, but Cordelia just rotated her torso so her legs were now on either side of her. She put her hands down in front of her, and lifted herself off the floor, shaking a bit, then slowly letting her self down. Cordelia hopped up and did a few back bends, slowly flipping over. Her agility would give her an advantage as well he noted. Speed and agility were what his long time friend and lover Amanda used to win her Immortal battles, and it had worked for her for over 1000 years.
Duncan knew what he really needed to work on though, was her sword handling, and controlling her anger. If he could just have her get a handle on that, he would feel so much better about when he had to send her back home to California.
Several Days later
Cordelia glowered at the man above her, shiny sword at her neck. Yes, he'd knocked her down once more and once again, his shinny sword was at her neck, and he still wouldn't let her use a real sword. She decided to take this moment to bring up her protest yet again.
"I still don't see why I can't use a real sword Duncan." Cordelia whined as Duncan pulled her up, "Why do I have to use a wooden one?"
Duncan, having heard this argument many times over the past week, just put it to her simply, "Because, until you can control this one, I'm not trusting you with anything that sharp. I let you start with a katana, remember? Must I remind you of what happened?"
"I replaced everything! I just lost my grip!" Cordelia protested loudly, stamping her foot, glowering at him.
"Oooh, what'd she break Mac? Something from your past, or just something really expensive?" A new voice called out from dry land, interrupting.
The Buzz hit them all, and Duncan's stern countenance broke out in a grin.
"Richie! I haven't seen you for a few months, where'd you get off to?" Duncan queried, leaving his new charge and striding over to greet his friend and student, who jogged onto the boat.
"Oh, you know, here and there . . ." Richie finally got a good look at the girl behind Duncan, who was not paying any attention to the proceedings what-so-ever, and his eyes just about dropped out of his head. He had never seen a more attractive female in his life, the curves on her body had to be illegal, "Oh my God, Mac, this just isn't fair, how do you always manage to snap up most beautiful ones."
"What?" Duncan was confused for a second, then he looked behind him and realized what Richie was talking about, "Oh, no, Richie, you have the wrong idea completely, but even though I'm not involved with her, you cannot be either."
Richie was hurt, "Why not Mac? Aren't I good enough for her?"
"Well, honestly, probably not, but, more importantly my friend, she's 17." Duncan told him, clamping a hand down on his young friend's shoulder, "And even if she wasn't, her father's really, really rich. Have you ever heard of the Chase family?"
"Wait, let me think, yeah, when we were in Seattle. And especially while up and down the West Coast."
"She's Cordelia Chase, one of the two remaining heirs and while obviously, she's not blood related, she still stands to inherit most of it. High class all the way tough guy."
Richie still looked beyond Duncan at the young heiress, "I suppose, but I can gaze in adoration . . . oh Lord, can I."
Duncan shook his head in amusement, "You are terrible."
"I don't care, just introduce me already Mac!"
"Alright, alright."
Cordelia used Duncan's distraction as an opportunity to check on her occult supplies. While she didn't expect anything to happen while she was on vacation, there was no way she was ever getting attacked yet again without being prepared.
She had packed some stakes in her suitcase, as well as crosses, a holy water squirt gun, plus some extra holy water. Now she was putting a couple stakes, a cross, and her squirt gun in her purse. In Sunnydale it was just absurd to even think going outside after dark without the things in her purse unless she had a death wish, and Cordelia had no idea what lurked in the shadows of Paris . . . .
She was so caught up in her thoughts, she didn't hear Duncan and Richie coming up behind her, though in their defense, they weren't speaking.
Richie reached out and tapped her on the shoulder, to get her attention.
Cordelia's mind was on vampires, so of course, she immediately thought, vampire. Her body went into auto-pilot with the stake in her right hand. She grabbed the hand that had touched her with her left, sweeping whoever-was-behind-her's feet out from under them, and stopped from staking the guy, just an inch away from his chest.
Duncan watched the scene in astonishment, very glad that his friend was an Immortal, and on some morally wrong level, proud that Cordelia had obviously learned something from him in her training.
On Richie's part, everything went in slow motion, and then moved very quickly, because all of a sudden, he was on the floor. His mind and heart was racing. Richie didn't know if he should be terrified of the fact that he had just been attacked, and that there was something very sharp and pointy pressed to his chest, or pleased that there was a beautiful girl lying on top of him.
Cordelia on the other hand, was thinking nothing of the person underneath her. She just starred at the stake in her hand in shock for a moment and then she hopped up grinning. "Wow Duncan, I never thought about how what I was learning could be applied if I went out slaying. But I was standing here, packing some stakes in my purse, thinking about the vamps at home and your buddy here surprised me. I totally went into autopilot, next thing I know, the stakes at his heart. Good thing I realized he was breathing before I staked him or he would have been a goner...for a little while at least, but it would have hurt like bitch."
"Vampires, are real?" Richie croaked out from the floor, processing the flood of information that came from the girl's mouth.
"Oh yeah. Is everyone like, oblivious to this fact? I mean, they totally roam the nights." Cordelia shook her head in wonder, completely disregarding very significant fact that she, herself hadn't even know about vampires until last year, and she probably wouldn't have even bothered to acknowledge their existence if her boyfriend hadn't gotten murdered, even though she'd been involved in multiple vampire attacks prior to that time.
"Well, most people don't live on the Hellmouth." Duncan rationalized, having finally accepted the fact that vampires did exist after a few stories about Cordelia's hometown of Sunnydale, "Now why don't you help Richie off the floor Cordelia, and apologize for trying to stake him through the heart, even though he would have regenerated and resuscitated eventually."
"Oh, right!" Cordelia reached down and pulled the muscular strawberry-blond up with her left hand, "Sorry, I wasn't expecting you to come up behind me. I was lost in my thoughts about what if there were vampires lurking in the shadows of Paris and how much that would suck and . . . . So you must be Duncan's friend Richie Ryan. He's told me all about you. It's great to finally meet you." Cordelia flashed him her patented smile, and looked him up and down appraisingly.
Cordelia Chase had an eye that could calculate a man's net worth a matter of a few seconds and while she now knew Richie Ryan was not husband or even boyfriend material for that matter, if Duncan liked him, Richie was good enough to be a friend. Besides, if he was Immortal, after a few decades, who knew how much he could be worth, eventually.
Duncan finished the introductions, "And Richie, this of course, is Cordelia Chase, my newest student, who's gonna be goin' back Sunnydale in less than two and a half months, so we really need to get back to training."
"Is Richie going to be joining us?" Cordelia questioned, eager for someone else to join them, so the poundings would be dispersed somewhat.
Duncan looked to his other student with a raised eyebrow. Richie meanwhile, was staring at Cordelia in her workout clothes, unable it seemed to take his eyes off her.
"Oh, yeah, definitely." The older protégée answered.
Duncan rolled his eyes at the boy's behavior, and discretely smacked him on the back of the head.
"Richie, why don't you go get changed, Cordelia and I will just do a few katas while we wait for you." The Highlander told him.
Richie nodded, "Right, I'll be back in a few minutes." With that, he ran down into the barge.
"He seems . . . nice." Cordelia said a few moments later.
"Aye. He is. He's a very good boy. Loyal, trustworthy." Mac told her.
Cordelia cocked her head, "How'd you meet him?"
Duncan blushed, "Well, um . . . he . . . that is to say . . . .We uh met when Richie was 17, a while before his first death. He saw me and my kinsman, Connor MacLeod fighting with another Immortal, Slan Quince, who had come for my head for some reason . . . I still don't know why he came after me, I'd never even met him in my life. Anyway, Richie saw Slan cheat and shoot a knife out of his sword, when he was about to loose to Connor, right into Connor's chest, which knocked him off the bridge they were fighting on. I showed up, defeated Slan, and Richie witnessed me receiving Slan's quickening. He also watched me dive off the bridge and pull Connor out of the river and he then saw how Connor was still alive. Connor and I both realized that we'd need to keep an eye on Richie, because A) we could sense he was a pre-immortal, and B) he'd just witnessed something that mortal's weren't supposed to see, and we really didn't need him spreading what he'd seen around. So, I took him in, gave him a job in my Antique store . . . . He managed to get himself mixed up in The Game multiple times though, even before he himself was finally pulled into The Game." Duncan sighed, "I didn't tell him how he was destined to become an Immortal like me one day . . . frankly, I was kind of hoping he would be able to avoid the whole thing. Some pre-immortals are able to do that, they can live their whole life and die a normal death, of old age. . . . But Richie . . . it was obvious from the moment I met him that wasn't his destiny. The Game had too strong a pull on him, even before his first death. It finally caught up with him when he was 19 . . . my fiancé died by his side."
"Oh Duncan . . . I'm sorry, I-I really don't know what to say . . . . I'm sure she was a wonderful woman."
Duncan gave her a small smile, "She was . . . Tessa was great and she loved Richie too. But that was a four years ago and if I've learned anything in 400 plus years, it's that you shouldn't live in the past. You can't or the past will drown out your future."
Cordelia nodded, "I suppose you're right . . . though I really don't have much of a past yet to speak of . . . ."
Duncan laughed, "No, I don't suppose you do." He shook his head, "Come on now, that's enough of a break, you distracted me long enough. Let's get back to work Chase."
Cordelia sighed in frustration, then began the kata routine with Duncan.
One month later
Cordelia sighed blissfully as she looked around, finally, a day off. It was her reward for pinning Duncan in a fight after all this time. She was going to shop all day, then eat a café, call Harmony and brag that she had some Paris originals.
Duncan walked beside her, silently amused at the teen's giddiness. He was glad to see his young charge was so happy; she seemed totally in her element as she shopped all day. He figured after forcing her to train for so long, he could at least accompany her without complaining.
Richie Ryan was with them of course. He had shown up the month before, and was completely smitten with Cordelia, though she had no inkling with regards to his affections for her. He too, was an Immortal, a recent addition to their ranks too, with in the last five years was very young for an Immortal, but Immortal he was. Only a bit older then Cordy was.
Both Richie and Duncan were taken with her charming bluntness, and her tactlessness.
Richie had burst out laughing one day when Cordelia had looked Duncan over in his dramatic black trench coat and asked him, "Alright, I give up, what is it with Immortal's and black? Practically every vampire I've ever seen only wears black! Richie might not be wearing the latest things, but a that's easily remedied . . . . But seriously, what is up with the black? This black trench coat thing especially . . . . "
"Ooh!" Cordelia squealed, picking up a dark red button up silk shirt off a rack, "Duncan, this would look great on you!" She held it up to the Scots man, "See! Wouldn't it be perfect for him Richie?"
Richie smiled, "Oh yes Cordelia. It's just totally Duncan."
Cordelia smiled back at him, causing him to blush. She had a quick look around and spotted something else she liked, "Ooh, this suit is totally you Richie!"
Richie's own visage turned to one of horror.
"Go try it on! I know you're gonna look totally handsome in it." Cordelia ordered.
Richie was among those afflicted to not being able to say no to her, he groaned taking the Armani suit from her. She handed him a white shirt to go with it, "Take this too."
The trial of trying on the suit however was totally forgotten when he stepped out of the dressing room. And Cordelia looks him up and down, then whistled, "You are a total hottie. Doesn't he look great Duncan?"
"Oh, yes, a total babe." He teased the poor boy.
Cordelia didn't even notice, she walked around Richie, "I'm gonna buy it for you. Every guy needs a really hot looking suit, and something tells me you don't have one."
Richie was about to protest, but the look on her face kept him silent.
"We'll just have it tailored to fit you're measurements, the shirts as well . . . ." She murmured to herself, pulling on the sleeves and brushing the jacket. Cordelia also knew the only way to have a proper fitting suit, was to have it custom tailored for the wearer. She found the in-store tailor, made the arrangements to have the suits and shirts tailored to Richie's measurements after which they would be delivered to the barge in one day (it was such a short time, due to the large purchase Cordelia was making at the store and the expense of the items she was purchasing. The store was eager to facilitate them in any way possible.)
They managed to get out of the store half and hour later, with three suits for Richie, five shirts and several ties. For Duncan there were four shirts and two ties, since his wardrobe was better then Richie's had been, but it still was due for an update. The suits and shirts would all be delivered the following day as promised and the two men were now quite impressed with the way Cordelia Chase handled sales clerks. They'd never seen anyone handle Parisian clerks with such finesse before . . . not to mention the way she got the staff to jump at her every whim, Duncan hadn't been so waited on in years.
Seven pm
Duncan and Richie flopped down on the couch in the barge, surrounded by bags, exhausted.
Cordelia, who had carried just as many bags, if not more, was still very energetic, "God, you men are such wimps." She shook her head as she went into the bathroom to change.
They guys were surprised when she came out wearing her workout clothes.
"What on earth are you doing?" Duncan questioned, wide eyed.
Cordelia glanced at him like he was crazy, "Going to work out of course, my God, I was shopping all day and I had a huge lunch. I need to go work off those calories. Besides, I have to be ready for Cheerleader tryouts in like, a month! I need to really concentrate on that to if I'm going to be captain! If you want to join me I'll be up on deck." When she saw they weren't going to move, she jogged out.
"Where the hell does she get all that energy?" Duncan demanded, looking up to the heavens, hoping for an answer.
"I don't know . . . but man, the possibilities . . . ." Richie uttered, naughty thoughts running through his head on how she could expel some of that energy with him.
Duncan noticed the look on the young man's face, "Don't even think about it. She's only 17 and I know she's not interested."
Richie groaned, "I know, but I can dream."
Duncan laughed, "Yes you can. Just don't let yourself get too wrapped up in those dreams, I don't want you getting hurt."
"I'll try, but with a body like that, you can't help but get burned . . ."
Up on the deck Cordelia practiced the Tai-chi Duncan had taught her, trying to get that damn Angel out of her head. Her call to Harmony had revealed that Buffy had left Sunnydale for the summer to stay with her Dad in LA until the school year started. For the past month she hadn't thought about Angel as much, because her training consumed practically her every waking moment, only in her dreams was she focusing on him now, for that she'd made herself train extra because she had to break this habit. She was going to get seriously disappointed if she didn't. And she wouldn't do that to herself. Plus, there were more important things to think about, like other immortals coming after her head . . . that was something she personally thought was quite important to concentrate on. She'd already died once and thought that those few moments were her last on earth. She hadn't liked the feeling, she hadn't done enough with her life. There was too much left for her to do . . . she wasn't going to die with so much left undone . . . Cordelia took the Game seriously, not like some Immortals, where they actively sought to end it, no Cordelia wanted to live as long a life as possible, which meant she would train as much as she had to and avoid it if she could.
Cordelia Chase wasn't going to let herself get taken out early, she'd survived almost 17 years on a Hellmouth damn it, she wasn't about to let some stupid 'Game' take her out . . . her thoughts completely resolved, Cordelia's focus became clear and her movements more graceful as she was able to concentrate fully on her task, as she stopped dwelling on the thoughts that had plagued her for many long nights . . . for the moment.
A couple days later
Middle of the night
Even if Duncan had been sleeping, he would have heard the sounds coming from Cordelia's room in the barge. Richie was soundly sleeping couch, not yet stirring as the moans and cries of fear began to drift out.
The night-terrors had been happening on and off for weeks, waking the two men up often. They had not yet said anything, knowing what a private person Cordelia was. Cordelia herself hadn't said a thing about her nightly dreams, every morning after one of her 'dreams', she would wake up at Duncan's prompting, though looking a bit worse for wear, acting just as chipper as usual, if not even more cheery. The two Immortals had soon realized Cordelia was not going to be the one saying anything about what had been happening and that they were going to have to do something about it. But they still had no clue as to what her dreams could be about, whether it was just a horrible nightmare, memories of her death, which they both could relate to, or something even worse from her past, that they had no clue to, possibly even something supernatural that she'd had to deal with.
Duncan and Richie had discussed the matter repeatedly and finally come to an agreement that it could no longer go on. They both decided that they would take turns staying-up for the night and if she had a dream that night, the person awake would be responsible for waking her up and finally having a long talk with the girl. Duncan was just really glad it was his night that it was happening on, it wasn't that he didn't believe that Richie could have a proper talk with the girl, or that he didn't trust her, it was just, Cordelia was Duncan's student, and he knew he'd screwed up with Richie, big time during the days when he was still Richie's teacher. He didn't want to make the same mistakes this time around or to be as neglectful.
Duncan took a deep breath, to brace himself and then approached the door to his pupil's room. Opening the door it became clear, that Cordelia wasn't just moaning, she was crying out someone's name, as if trying to protest. She was tossing and turning, her limbs flailing around, as if they were trying to hit some unseen person.
Duncan's frown deepened once he made out the words the young girl was mumbling, "No … Stop…Jesse!" his thoughts immediately turned to what a protective boy-scout, who always is rescuing damsels in distress would automatically assume when hearing such terror filled dreams from a woman. Rape. Duncan strode to the side of her bed, kneeled down, and began attempting to wake her up…to no avail
Then she suddenly sat straight up in bed, eyes wide open, a look of extreme fear and terror on her face.
Cordelia woke up in a cold sweat on the barge of her new teachers barge for the third night that week, fear flooding her veins. The sight of a large shadowy figure looming next almost caused her to scream but her eyes quickly adjusted to the moonlight and she saw it was just Duncan.
Gasping, she clutched her breast over her racing heart, taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm it down, "Damn it MacLeod, you scared me half to death…what the heck are you doing in here!"
"I'm sorry if I frightened you Cordelia, but really, you've been having night-terrors for weeks now. Don't try to deny it Cordelia, I heard you when I came in, moaning about someone named Jesse. I tried to wake you up, repeatedly, but you refused to wake until you finally woken on you own and when you did, you were quite obviously in the grips of extreme terror."
Cordelia stared at him, just blinking, then her shoulders sagged, "It's just a dream . . ."
"It sounded like more than a dream from what I've been hearing over several nights and definitely taking into account what I heard when I came into this room tonight. Cordelia, who is Jesse and what did he do to you?"
Cordelia picked at the bedspread, remaining silent. After several tense minutes she looked into Duncan's eyes and saw that he wasn't giving up, that he was serious about this whole thing. She hadn't been sleeping well for a while now, and since having helped Buffy defeat the Master, memories of other past supernatural occurrences that had happened in her life had been coming back to the girl. But there was one particular occurrence that was sticking out, that she kept dreaming about night after night. After having died here in Paris and actually having experienced death, the nightmares grew more frequent. She was tired, so, so tired of it all . . . maybe talking about it, would help.
"Jesse, Jesse was this boy I knew. A real loser, geeky, all arms and legs. He was always following me around, like a puppy dog. He was totally obsessed with me, always trying to flirt with me, asking me to dance and stuff at the Bronze, that's like, the only club we have in town and it lets in teens. Anyway, one night, he was like, different. He was . . . confidant, he had this air about him, it was commanding, dangerous. He didn't ask me to dance, he just suddenly appeared in my path on my way off the dance floor. One second I looked away, the next, he was there…I asked what he wanted, he didn't say anything, he just started pulling me back to the middle of the crowd and when I demanded to know what he was doing, he just gave me this . . . look and told me to just, shut up!" Cordelia looked up at Duncan and gave him a small helpless shrug, "I-it was sexy. I couldn't say no . . . .We danced . . . and some how, like overnight, dweeb-boy had gotten some moves and rhythm. And when I looked into his eyes . . . I just couldn't look away. Then lights in the club went out and the music stopped. Someone upon on the stage started talking and a spotlight lit up from behind one of the most built men I had, and have, ever seen, and then a something focused a blue spotlight on him. Someone screamed . . . . His face, his face was so, messed up. Now I know it's because he had his game face on. At the time though, it was just so freaky. When a vampire puts on its true visage, the ridges on its forehead become much more pronounced, especially between the eyebrows, it's like the vampire is constantly frowning. The cheekbones become more prominent, the eyes turn a freaky yellow. Then there are the fangs . . . ." Cordelia shuddered, "A vampire's canines elongate and sharpen, so do some of their other teeth. It's way freaky. Anyway, this guy up on stage was making speeches and none of us have any idea what was going on. I looked to Jesse, hoping he had some idea and . . . ." she fought back a wave of terror from the memory, "Oh God, his face had changed too. He was giving me this look, this hungry, longing look. And the guy up on stage ordered for the 'first' to be brought to him. One of the vampires brought him the bouncer. You've got to understand. This bouncer was a big dude and I mean huge. Twice my size. His biceps were the size of my calves. The vampire on stage grabbed the bouncer by the neck, then feed off him. When he'd drained the man, he just dropped the bouncer like he was a napkin he was finished using and called for the next. They brought him a girl. He drank her, then discarded her. Jesse meanwhile is backing me into a corner, his arm wrapped around me, playing with my hair . . . . Even after he died his obsession with me had lived on.
So this vampire named Darla, who I'll tell you about at a later time, interrupted Jesse's attempted feeding, or possibly his attempted 'seduction'. Though I'm not sure which is more disturbing, anyway… We were all for the 'Master', apparently, the other vampires weren't supposed to be feeding. Only that guy on the stage for some reason . . . I never did find out why . . . anyway. Jesse scowled like a child, held me to him and said that I was 'his', like I was some kind of property…it's kind of flattering when you think about it, being fought over like that, but also very scary. Thank God I didn't die then, I would have been sixteen for the rest of my immortal life. Anyway, Darla, being the ranking vampire, and way smarter than Jesse, won, telling him that we, ie, the humans, were all for the Master. She then yanked on me and Jesse let go. I think I was more frightened during that walk with her, than any time with Jesse. Sure, Jesse had been about to kill me, but he'd been a man, with hormones. I might have been able to talk him out of it. Darla though . . . she was fanatical in her beliefs and loyal to whomever had staged that whole thing at the bronze, and it was very obvious in the way she acted. Anyway, Darla brought me up to the big guy on the stage, who had just asked for 'volunteers'. She called me, a pretty one." Cordelia shuddered at the thought of Darla even taking the time to notice she was pretty, and then the memory of seeing Luke up close for the first time, he'd been much scarier than Jesse in his game face.
Duncan rubbed the teen's back in slow soothing circles, in an attempt to calm her. He'd had no idea things had been this bad in her life before they'd met.
"I-I think I screamed when I saw him up close for the first time. He was just so . . . big. I mean he was massive! Tall, with really broad muscular shoulders, and his face . . . it was just so distorted by his vampire visage and the lighting just made it look even more frightening. He was just grinning down at me, in this insanely smirking way, saying your going to die, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it. And on his forehead, there was this symbol, I think it had been painted on in, ewwness, blood. He was holding me tightly to him, but I don't think I could have run if I had the chance, I was just too frightened by that time. Then, that, that, man, firmly grasped my jaw, to keep me from moving my head, and with his other hand caressed my cheek, like I was some lover he was about to ravish . . . .He was so close to biting me right then. God, I could practically feel his fangs on my neck, when some lackey vampire fell from the catwalks. Lead vamp who was about bite me watched him fall, then got distracted by Buffy, she's the Slayer. The two started bantering, Buffy flipped off the catwalk down onto a pool table, so she could fight. A vampire attacked, like her right away, but damn if she didn't dust it right away with a pool cue. I mean the girl does hang out with losers, but I got to admit, it's a good idea to have her around when weird shit is going down…of course, half the time she's the cause of the weird shit . . . ." Cordelia sighed, "Let me think, what happened next… oh yeah, she challenged him, asking if he wanted blood…though he being a vampire, that's kind of obvious, but anyway, he said, only hers, and kind of, forgot that I existed and let go so I ran off. That left me off me into the melee of the rest of the club filled with vampires. What happened next is kind of . . . confusing, a bit of a blur. I remember trying to get out…but Jesse, Jesse grabbed me again." Her rate of breaths increased, "He, he grabbed my wrist, hard, and was pulling me around. Then, he had me on the ground and was on top of me. I tried to get away, God, I tried so hard, but he was just so strong, stronger than any human. I hit him, so he grabbed my arms and held me down, ordered me to hold still, said I wasn't making it easy." Cordelia snorted, and looked up at Duncan, with a look of disbelief, "I didn't know you were supposed to in those types of situations. Then, out of nowhere, Xander showed up. Xander, who had been Jesse's best friend since like, kindergarten. Xander, who hated me. Xander, who to this very day, loathes and detests me, appeared with a stake in his hand, to stop Jesse. They were standing, close, really close to each other. Xander had the stake pointed right at Jesse's heart, a couple inches away. He was conflicted inside though, anyone could have seen that. He really didn't wanted to stake Jesse. Jesse taunted him, telling him the old Jesse was dead, something like that . . . . Then told him to put him out of his misery, he started saying that Xander didn't have the guts . . . but never got to finish his sentence. Someone, someone rushing to get out of the club pushed him…right onto the stake Xander was holding and then Jesse was gone, for good. Dust on the floor of the club. I high tailed it out of there after that, I wasn't going to let any more fangs near my neck . . . at least for that night.
Anyway, I drove home, and the next day, somehow, the memory of that night got . . . hazy, mixed up. Like a lot of my memories of Sunnydale were, for a long time. It wasn't until after I had to face the truth, face the truth about what the hell was going on in our freak of a town, that the real memories started coming back, of what had really happened, on so many occasions, late at night, at school, parties, on dates. Its like, your mind doesn't want to accept what it's seen, so it makes up a scenario, that's much more acceptable . . . I mean, for the past couple months, I actually accepted the explanation, that wild dogs got into the school and ate the principle."
Duncan's eye grew wide, "Wild dogs!" he blinked several times, "Um, what did really happen?"
Cordelia shook her head, "I don't think I want to know . . . I really don't even want to imagine what it was."
The Highlander nodded his head in agreement, his stomach turning at the very idea, "But back to the whole incident with Jesse, it's obvious this has been on your mind for some time now."
Cordelia nodded, "I guess, but I think it's mostly just memories coming back to the surface. I never got the chance to process the major traumas as they happened to me. Jesse . . . he's just one of many."
Duncan nodded his head in understanding, "We all have things in our past that haunt us. Whether it be things that we've done, or things that were done to us. We can't ever change the past, but remember it's over. I know it's difficult sometimes to move forward, to stop dwelling but everyone must. Just remember, Richie and I are here for you to talk to if you need us. Whenever, you need us, even in the middle of the night, don't worry about waking one of us if you want to talk. Even after you go back to America Chase, feel free to call, any time."
Cordelia sighed and nodded, "Yeah, alright. Thanks Duncan…and um, thank you for listening. I don't say thank you sincerely often, but really, thank you."
Duncan gave her shoulder a warm squeeze, "You're welcome. Now, do you think you're going to be able to sleep?"
"Oh yeah, no problem. Go, get some sleep yourself!" She told him, "You look like you've been up all night…" then with a start, she realized he probably had, then silently laid down, and rolled over facing the wall. Her stomach churned at the thought that someone had actually been so worried about her that they'd stayed up to make sure she'd been ok . . . her parent had never done that . . .
Duncan sensed the sudden wall that Cordelia had erected when she'd realized he had stayed up to see if she would have a nightmare…he didn't want to push their new found openness though, or Cordelia when she was fragile like she was. He realized the best thing to do right then, was to go to bed. She knew now that people cared about her, and that was what mattered. He wasn't sure why the idea that someone could care for her would cause her to shut down, and the notion of that made him sad.
He slowly stood up left the room, and went to bed, thinking over what he'd learned. It was odd, how his two students, who came from such different backgrounds, could be so similar in certain ways. Both Richie and Cordelia were starved of attention, and people who really cared about them in their life, cared about what happened to them. Emotionally, physically, on a day-to-day level. And it was obvious that there were scars for both on a mental level. Cordelia hid her pain behind her Queen C façade, Richie behind his tough-guy attitude, but both were vulnerable underneath, craving love and someone to give them some sort of path.
A few weeks later
Nine am
Duncan, Richie, and Cordy (as they called her) were on the deck of the barge. The trio was slowly going through the painstakingly planned sword training exercises, when they were afflicted with The Buzz, signaling that yet another Immortal was in close proximity. It was a very powerful Buzz as well, signaling that of an old lifeline.
All three immediately began to look around and quickly spotted a tall, thin man sauntering en route of them. The three tensed, ready to fight if need be, until Duncan and Richie finally recognized him.
"Methos!" Duncan called out. Cordelia noted that Duncan and Richie had put down their swords, so she did as well.
The man came and gave Duncan and Richie each a firm handshake. Stopping at Cordelia looking her up and down, then took her hand and bought it up to his mouth and kissed it, "And who, is this lovely creature we have here?"
Duncan made the introductions, "This is Cordelia Chase. She's from America. She's completely new to the game. Just found out her Immortal status a couple months ago, she is my new student."
"It's a pleasure to meet you Cordelia, as you have heard, I am Methos, but I prefer to go by Adam Pierson." He glared a bit at Duncan when saying this, angry at the other immortal for being so careless with his name.
Cordelia's nose crinkled for a moment, and then it was as if a light flickered on inside her head, "You're like the oldest living person in the world aren't you?"
"So you told her eh?" Adam queried Duncan, a bit more pissed.
Duncan shook his head, bewildered that she had known.
Cordelia explained it to them, "Immortals aren't that much of a secret. . . I mean, it's not like mortal's haven't ever heard stories about us, they just think we are just myths. But the Slayer's Watchers council does have a few books on our legend. Methos was one of the first Immortals, over 5000 years old by now. Suspected to be one of the four horsemen . . . . Gods, you're the legend of legends to them."
"How on earth do you know that?" Methos demanded, very suspicious of the girl.
"I live in Sunnydale. I've read a few of the books in the library." She explained indifferently.
"Ah, the Hellmouth. I see you must work with the Slayer. Actually, the Immortal's Watchers Council is where the origin's of the Slayer's Watchers Council got started, they just have blocked out their existence for some reason." Adam informed her.
Cordelia smirked at Duncan and Richie, "Told you I lived at the Hellmouth, and that Buffy was the Slayer."
"I never said that you didn't!" Richie exclaimed.
Cordelia glared at him, "Maybe, but you never said you believed me." She turned to Adam, "You ever met a vampire? Or any of those other things that go bump in the night?"
"Oh tons of times. Most of them are down right ugly wankers."
"I know! Total gross factor of a scale one to ten, most of them are like 15." Cordelia imparted to him, sheathing her sword as they started to walk and talk, leaving Richie and Duncan behind.
"I really hate the ones with slime, or ooze. The smell is impossible to get off your clothes." Adam commented.
"I know! And of course the ones they ruin are always the really expensive ones, never the stuff that is easy to replace . . ."
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Please, I want replies, I know it sounds pathetic, but I live for feedback, good or bad! I need to know what you think so I know where to go with this.
AN 2005: Oh, and I really, really need a beta for this fic. Beta's are the backbone of my stories. I desperately need them, not just to send my fics to be edited, but for someone to bounce plot ideas off of (and who will know what the heck I'm talking about!)
So, if there are any volunteers out there, either say so in your reply, or e-mail me at: goddessacacia hotmail. com (remove the spaces for it to work)
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Rules of the Immortals
A) Immortals must eventually fight each other until all but one are dead, as "there can be only one."
B) The fact of their immortality must never be revealed to mortal humans. (Duncan has broken this one several times)
C) When Immortals fight, they fight one against one - no mortal or another Immortal may assist in a fight.
D) No fighting may take place on Holy Ground. It is considered to be sanctuary and is a place where talks between enemies can occur safely.
