A soft sound from the corner drew her attention. She hadn't ventured into that area of the room for ages but remembered quite well the stairway entrance it provided to the sewers two stories below.
"So… you did come back."
The darkly dressed man who had stood hidden deep in the shadows cast by the velvet draperies approached the canopied bed. "I promised I would, didn't I?"
The elderly woman chuckled. "Yes, you did, some seventy years ago." She sighed deeply and shifted her arms against the soft blankets that were draped across her lap, still caressing the framed picture.
"How much did you overhear, Angel?"
"Most of it. But why did you leave out so much?"
The elderly lady closed her eyes briefly. "I told him what he wanted to know. I believe he will be true to the story I related and he will try to tell it as factually as he is able. I didn't leave out anything important."
"You left yourself out, Fred, how important you were to everyone."
"I wasn't important. He didn't come here to hear about Winifred, he came to hear about you, Cordelia, Angel Investigations…" She glanced back down at the picture that rested atop the blankets. "You know, I was only with you a few months, but once Cordelia and you were gone, I started trying to fit in a little more. Cordelia became the mold by which I was able to rejoin society."
"I'm glad." Angel shifted in the chair. "How are you, Fred?"
She smiled brightly. "Old, I'm quite old, thank you for asking. Ninety-eight on my last birthday. I never thought I'd live so long, not when I was in Pylea or when you and Cordelia disappeared or when Wes and Gunn got taken away in the line of duty, so to speak." Her smile faded slightly. "I'm glad you finally came back, Angel. I didn't want to miss getting to tell you goodbye." Sighing deeply, she let her eyes drink in the sight of her old savior. "I've waited for you for so long. I'd almost forgot why I was waiting."
"I know." He reached out and clasped both of Fred's hands in his, comparing the differences in their age.
He had never dared to hope that any of them would live such a long life although he was glad that at least Fred had been given the chance. Even in the twilight of her earthbound days, she was still just as pretty as she had been when she had invaded his life in Pylea and demanded he was her savior. Age did not destroy her beauty, it only altered it, improved it beyond anything he could have imagined. When he raised his eyes to meet hers again, he saw the sudden look of awe that filled her face.
"Your hands… they're warm." She gently tugged on them until he was pulled to his feet and standing against the edge of the bed. Raising one of her own hands from his grip, she placed it firmly on his chest, a smile tugging again at the corners of her mouth. "It's beating."
"Cordelia's shoe-shine," he murmured fondly.
"Shanshu," Fred corrected, then explained, "I studied Wesley's notes after you disappeared but I never actually thought I would live to see the day… I hoped, but I never believed I would."
"It's here, I guess."
"Angel? What happened? After you and Cordelia went through the portal we waited for hours for something to happen. Then we kept waiting, driving by and hoping to see something that would say the doors had been opened again, but we never saw any sign, none at all."
Angel remained quiet for a moment before he began to speak. "I didn't want Cordelia there. Lorne had said that two would go in but only one would come back out. I knew that if Cordelia went with me, she wouldn't come back. But I also knew that Wesley said that the doorway led to hell and that wasn't anywhere I wanted Cordelia to be, especially if she would be living out the rest of her life there. I don't know what happened at first. One second we were standing in front of the door, the next we were in a cavern." He took a deep breath and slowly blew it out again.
"I thought Wes had been wrong about the portal leading to hell, I would have been glad for him to have been wrong. He wasn't. Hell dimensions are all different but they all mean the same thing. The only uniqueness about this one was that there was a war, a battle that would determine the outcome of the world. We ended up fighting to keep this world safe, even if it meant we wouldn't ever see it again."
He looked at the photograph Fred held, reaching out to take it from her. "We were only there a few days before another vision came. With the fighting and how sick she already was, her body just couldn't handle it anymore and she went into a coma. The war was over a week later and the gates were firmly held shut, no one would be able to reopen them on the world for a long time. I wanted to bring her home, hoping she could be at peace at last. When I stepped back through the portal I brought her back here."
"It's been a long time since the Hyperion was a hotel," Fred said, stating the obvious and looking around her bedroom. "Wes and I invested a little money and managed to earn enough to buy and renovate it, then when Wolfram and Hart were chased out of town we never had anymore building problems. We didn't want to give it up. If you ever made it back, we wanted you to be able to find us."
A sudden thought struck her. "Wait, when did you get back? What did you do with Cordelia?"
"We just got back today."
Fred looked back to the heavy drapes where Angel had been hiding previously, a figure stood just outside her field of vision, framed by the secret passage; a tall willowy form she had come to recognize as the epitome of 'fitting in'.
"Cordelia?" Pressing a hand to her mouth, she watched the young woman take form as she stepped into the light.
"Time differential," she explained. "Hey, who would'a thought the end of days wouldn't happen here on Earth? Oh, and that coma Angel mentioned? Not a coma, just a catnap."
"A catnap that lasted a week?" Angel egged.
"Hey, I was tired. You try having demons stomping around in your head for a while and see how you feel." Cordelia walked closer to the bed, a smile brightening her dark eyes. "It's good to see you again, Fred. But I guess you've been missing us a little longer than we missed you."
She smiled. "Just a little. Wesley and Gunn would be so pleased to know you are both safe. All of your friends were quite distressed when we related what happened. Buffy and Giles even came themselves to see if there was anything they might be able to do." She grinned. "I don't think I made a very good impression on the slayer though, or on Spike who followed her here."
"I'm so sorry we weren't…"
"But you're here now. I can't believe it's actually happening." Fred raised her hand to her chest, taking a deep breath.
"Great, Angel! I told you we should have used the front door. All this sneaky stuff is going to give her a heart attack."
"What about the visions?" Fred asked, suddenly fearful of losing Cordelia again so soon after recovering her.
"Angel's human, no visions," she chirped. "And let me tell 'ya, couldn't have happened at a better time. So, how's the film industry these days, huh? I mean, with no demons around to hunt down, I've got to find a job."
Fred grinned at the entourage of thoughts that escaped Cordelia's mouth, watching Angel shake his head in exasperation. Heaving a deep breath she moved her legs slowly off the bed and slowly rose. "There's a very astounded young man who would like very much to meet you both. Shall we go to Caritas?"
the end
author's note: And you all were so sure it was Cordy speaking… lol, I do try to stay away from convention when possible. Hope you enjoyed it.
