CHAPTER 11 – A Powerful Mind
When Cordelia opened her eyes, she found herself lying on the floor by Angel's side, with a hand still resting on his bare back. She twisted her face a little as she carefully retrieved her hand and pulled herself up in a seating position.
Cordy took a long hard look at her surroundings before moving any further. Three tall, rocky walls imprisoned her and Angel, while a ceiling hung at about fifteen feet above their heads. Looking around, she noticed she was still firmly chained to her wall, while Angel was chained to his. The chains had already begun to make her wrists bleed slightly. She rubbed her wrists momentarily, while still inspecting the place.
The fourth wall, to their left, looked more like a prison wall than anything else.
Prison.
That's exactly what this felt like. A cold, echoing prison.
Her eyes then fell back on Angel's semi-naked body and she felt her heart skip a beat. She reached and touched his sleeping form carefully. At the second her fingers brushed his skin, he jerked up, as if woken up from a nightmare.
"Angel…it's me…" Cordy spoke, moving closer to him.
"Cordy…" he let out, trying to remember how he'd gotten there in the first place.
"Are you alright? Does it hurt? Angel, what did they do to you?" the questions kept on coming, as if the fear of not speaking would drive her insane.
She placed her hands on Angel's shoulders as he sat up, cupping her face with his cool hands. He stared into her eyes, silently answering all of her questions. He pushed some messy strands of hair behind her ears, his fingers softly caressing the side of her face, making her heart leap. Cordy lowered her eyes, trying to hide the underlying guilt in them.
"What happened?" Angel asked, his voice a bit stronger than it had been before they'd fallen asleep, but still slightly weak.
Cordy shook her head, still looking down.
"I don't know…" she began and then finally looked up to meet his gaze. "Angel…" she whispered, her fears clearly conveyed in the mention of his name.
"It's okay." He whispered back. "It's going to be okay…"
"No, It's not." She argued, holding her breath for a moment.
Her voice was louder, but Angel knew it was only her way of not breaking down.
"It's not okay. Angel, you're chained to a wall…Gunn, Fred, Wesley and Lorne are dead…it's not okay…It's not!" she said, looking straight into his deep soulful eyes.
"We're going to make this okay…" he tried to reassure her, never breaking eye contact.
That's when Angel noticed the small traces of blood around Cordy's wrists. His eyes hurt from the sight, and he reached to wrap his hands around hers. His fingers slowly and carefully traced the edge of the manacles and Cordelia felt his muscles tense.
"You're hurt…" he stated, his voice slightly breaking.
"I'm fine…" she whispered back, searching his face for some sort of sign that he believed her.
He kept staring down at her bleeding skin.
"Angel…" she said, bringing her hands to his face and lifting it so he would look at her. "Angel look at me…"
Her tone was soft but filled with so much emotion that Angel was unable to keep the stern look on his face. They both shared a long silence, simply staring into one another's eyes. Cordy had seen a lot of things in the past years while observing Angel. She'd seen hate, guilt, despair, love in his eyes before. She had seen the good….and the not so good in him through the intensity of his eyes. She wasn't sure what she was seeing in them right at that moment. Probably a mixture of everything.
Cordy then took a deep breath and bowed her head down, staring at the floor. Angel reached up and cupped her face with his hands, leaning his forehead against hers.
"Cordy…" he began in a bare whisper that made her heart break. "Whatever happens…" he paused, swallowing difficultly. "Promise me you will get to that garden…whatever happens…"
"Stop." She immediately cut him off, looking up to him with tear filled eyes. "Stop it." She said through her teeth.
"Cordy…" he insisted in a weak voice.
"No. Don't talk like that…that's not like you." She let out angrily.
Angel mentally traced every line on her face, imagining it warmth and its beauty against his cool lips. He saw that Cordelia lowered her eyes once again. Angel leaned forward and kissed her forehead with such love and tenderness. She reached up and placed her hands over his, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply.
Their silent moment was interrupted by the sharp edge of a woman's voice, coming from the other side of the prison.
"Awww…Isn't that the sweetest thing ever? Whoever said the dead can't be dramatically romantic? Too bad, I'll have to kill you both anyway…"
Cordy and Angel, still kneeling on the floor, looked up and glared at Dennis' mother.
"Shut up." Angel growled at the sight of the woman.
The ghostly demon only smirked, clearly enjoying her sudden burst of amusement within her.
"This is it, Ladies and Gentlemen…The grand finale!" she laughed out loud, throwing her arms in the air.
"If you lay one hand on her…" Angel threatened, but Dennis' mom simply grinned from ear to ear.
"I won't have to…at least not until you are long gone." She happily informed him. She witnessed the fearful glare Cordelia threw at her and she faked her best puppy dog face. "Awww…don't look so frightened. I will let you watch." She added, her evil eyes peering into Cordelia's.
"You're sick. You know that?" Cordelia muttered. "You're sick!" she spitted out, never letting go of Angel's hands.
A simple 'Thank you' was the demon's only response. Cordy felt Angel growl once again, as the two of them stared at Dennis' mom from their side of the dungeon.
"I could easily have killed you already." The woman told a seemingly emotionless Cordelia. "But this is so much more fun…" she then giggled. "See…this way….you'll know what it likes to have the people you love being ripped from your arms…and in your case, turned into ashes."
"What?" Cordy shook her head at the woman's words.
"You took my son…I will take him." She then spitted out.
"Your son?? Dennis???" Cordy exclaimed while a protective Angel squeezed her hand with his left one and touched her face with the other.
"You stole him from me!"
"I Sto…What???! You killed him!" Cordelia couldn't help but yell back.
"Because of girls like you!" Dennis' mother accused of her. "And I will make you pay…" she informed with a determination worthy of any demon.
Cordy shook her head, fiercely trying not to lose her cool. She looked away from her and at Angel for a moment. Then, a strange feeling came over them and they turned towards the back of the room.
There, in the back of the room, trapped into a hole in the wall, lied Dennis' skeleton, a sight that obviously disturbed both Cordy and Angel.
"I will make you watch your cuddly vampire here die….before I kill you." She said, finally revealing her plan. "You see…in two hours, the sun will be up." She continued as a shocked Angel and Cordy turned to her once again. "And well…I'm sure you can figure it out from here…" she smiled.
Angel and Cordy quickly got what the woman was getting at. Angel looked up at the ceiling, and quickly studied its structure, finally realizing it was more like a door than a ceiling. He looked back down only to meet Cordy's fearful glance.
"Angel…I've seen this movie…and it doesn't end well…" Cordy's whisper was shaky and her words trembled in the night.
"And what a great movie that was!" Dennis' mother exclaimed with joy. "Except, well, he's no Brad Pitt…" she added, pointing at Angel, raising an eyebrow.
"Hey!" Cordy threw a pissed off glare at the woman.
"Oh, honey…It's true that love is blind, isn't it?"
"Shut up!" Cordy said louder. "And by the way, Brad Pitt is WAYYY overrated!"
"Whatever…"
"Don't 'Whatever' me!"
"Cordy…" angel tried to interject.
"What?" Cordy asked, turning to face Angel.
"Cordy." He said in a firmer tone, trying to stop her.
"What?! I'm defending you!"
Cordy sighed and shook her head at the insisting look in his eyes. She lowered her eyes, not bothering to even glance back at the evil ghost staring at them. Angel, for his part, did turn to her and met her evil glare.
"Well, time's a wasting…" Dennis' mother grinned. "I better go…Sun's almost here. Enjoy yourselves…you don't have much longer…" she wickedly laughed before disappearing into thin air.
Once she was gone, Angel turned his eyes back to a distraught Cordelia.
"We need to get out of here…" he whispered to her.
"No offense…but…DUH!" she said, trying to keep her fears in check.
Angel forcefully tried to yank on his chains a couple of times, while Cordy took a tiny step back. The violent gesture didn't seem to work and when Angel looked up, he met Cordelia's teary eyes.
"Let me try yours…" he said, motioning for her to give him her hands.
"Angel, you're the one who needs to get out of here…" she argued but he stopped her.
"Cordy."
His voice was determined and demanding. She decided that arguing was the last thing she should be doing at this moment, so she tended her arms in front of her while Angel tried to pull on the manacles. He saw Cordy's face twist in pain when the chains would not get off. Tears streamed down her face as the chains cut deeper into her skin, causing some blood to roll down her wrists.
--
A very worried Dennis, pressed a wet cloth against Cordelia's hands and wrists, cleaning the blood from her skin. Sweat covered Cordy's face and neck. Her comatose body had some more bruises than when Emily had left her in the hands of Dennis, and the phantom was beginning to get worried.
Worried about Cordelia.
And worried about Emily.
Wherever the young ghost had gone, he only hoped she was doing the right thing.
God, he hoped she was.
--
"Angel, stop…angel it's not working!" Cordelia said, a bit hysterically while Angel swallowed his tears and kept on trying to free himself and Cordelia.
Cordy yanked her arms away, shaking them with pain, while Angel tried to throw himself forward so that the chains would break from the wall.
"Angel…" Cordy's emotional voice broke through his desperate attempts and he relaxed.
Nothing seemed to be working.
There was no way out.
No escape.
Angel looked up and saw Cordelia crawling back to him with tearful eyes. She gave it one more attempt, trying to pull on her own chains – the ones around her ankles – but in vain. Angel closed the space between them by pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her.
"This is not happening…there has to be a way…" Cordy whispered against Angel's bare shoulders.
"There is." A voice resounded from the back of the dungeon.
Both, Cordy and Angel, turned, a bit stunned, towards the intruder. They stood still for a moment, taking in the presence that was standing before them.
"Dennis…" Angel whispered, on shock.
"Look within Cordy…" a very human Dennis spoke. "This is your head…you can – you CAN – overpower her…just look within…" he said, looking straight at Cordelia.
After a couple seconds of genuine surprise, Cordelia was about to respond to his word, but he took a step back into the hole in the wall and disappeared. His form folded back into the skeleton that lied in the small hole.
Cordy managed to turn back towards Angel and the two of them shared a long silence.
"Angel…" she finally spoke in a choking voice.
"You can do it." He whispered.
"I don't know how." She said with a glimpse of exasperation. "How many ways do I have to say it…look within for what?" she said, sheer panic invading her every words. "Angel…" she then said in a softer tone.
"Cordy…you're stronger than she is…" Angel reminded her. "You need to let go of your fears…just concentrate…" he gently told her while she closed her eyes.
Angel placed his arms on her shoulders and Cordelia tried to concentrate as hard as she could. With her eyes closed, her breathing and heartbeat filled Angel's ears, making him painfully aware of the fear that inhabited her at the moment.
Nothing.
The sound of activity behind the walls startled her and she opened her eyes quickly, grabbing one of Angel's hands.
"Why?" Cordelia muttered through her teeth, her eyes filling with tears… "Why is this happening?!" she breathed out angrily.
"Cordy…"
"No!" she exclaimed, shaking her head. "Why did you do this?" she asked and then found him staring at her with confusion. "Why did you come in here after me? This is not happening…." She spoke, her heart breaking inside of her. "Why?"
Angel looked into her tearful eyes, hearing more noise coming from the ceiling and behind the walls.
"Why?" he repeated the question in a soft voice. "Because I couldn't lose you…I won't." he whispered to her, cupping her face with his strong hands.
"Angel…" she began but he interrupted her.
"Cordy, promise me…" he began and Cordelia knew exactly what he was going to say. She started to argue, but he didn't let her. "Promise me that whatever happens, you will get to that garden. You will get to that safe place and you will get out of here…Cordy…" his voice was now begging her to promise him at least that.
She didn't have time to answer his plea, for the ceiling began to open up. Neither of them could believe it had already been nearly two hours since Dennis' mother's visit.
"I…" all of a sudden, he realized he was running out of time. Something inside of him snapped and he realized there was so much he didn't have a chance to say to her. "Promise me Cordy…" his tone was filled with despair and Cordelia nodded, silently promising him that she would find the garden. "There's so much I want to say…" he let out in a painful tone.
"This isn't fair…" Cordy said as a tear rolled down her face. "You can't die…" she whispered as the ceiling stopped moving, only opened of about an inch.
His hand caressed the side of her face tenderly and his eyes bore into hers. He rarely cried. He rarely even got teary. But in this instant, looking into her devoted face, his eyes began to fill with tears.
"I have never known anyone like you…" he whispered, aware that he had spoken these words before, but also aware that it added to its meaning. "Cordy…" his voice trembled momentarily, and he paused to swallow back his tears. "This…look at me…Cordy look at me." He softly said, lifting her chin to that she was looking back into his tearful eyes. "This isn't your fault…And if I had to do it all over again, I would…I would…" he said and then paused for a few seconds. "Because I love you. I want you to know that." He said in a bare shaky whisper as the ceiling began to open up again, letting a few rays of sunshine into the back of the dungeon.
Angel pressed his lips against hers, desperately and lovingly tasting her. He felt her kiss him back with the same sadness and despair he was showing her. Her hands came up on the side of his face as well, and she felt a tear roll down on her thumb.
The kiss was long, breathless, and emotionally draining, as if neither wanted to ever let go. Cordy lifted her lips from his, tears now flowing, long enough to mouth a slightly silent "I love you" back. She then pressed her lips against his once more, this time wishing she could step outside her own body and photograph this instant with her mind. After a few seconds, she abruptly pulled away from him.
"This isn't happening! I don't finally get a guy to put up with me long enough to actually say that he loves me, just so we can both die!" she said, her voice on the verge of breaking.
Ignoring the outburst of emotion in her voice, she barely glanced at the ceiling – long enough to notice it was about half-way opened – and then grabbed Angel's wrists and frantically tried to free him again. She and Angel were now standing in the small half of the room that still bathed in darkness, away from the sunshine…but time was running out. She knew it.
She and Angel gave it a last desperate try, but nothing worked this time around either.
They both locked eyes and stood still for a second. More emotions were conveyed in that second than in any conversation they'd ever had. Angel grabbed her and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her so tightly he knew he was crushing her.
She didn't care.
She didn't even notice.
Nothing else seemed relevant at the time. Just holding him, which she did with every fiber of her being. With her arms tightly wrapped around Angel's neck, she closed her eyes.
[I]"Look within…"[/I] she heard Emily and Dennis' voices in her head again.
She placed every ounce of energy she had left into concentrating.
The ceiling was almost all opened now and the sunshine filled the room, almost reaching the spot where Angel and Cordy kneeled, in each other's arms.
Cordy buried her face in Angel's shoulder, eyes still closed, and the more she held onto him, the more her surroundings seemed to be affected.
The walls began to shake violently, while Angel kept a firm hold of the woman he loved.
Whether it was the power of her will, or just sheer coincidence, the walls suddenly began to crumble on them and soon enough, the entire dungeon was being shattered and destroyed. The chains tying them to the walls broke and the fell backwards. Angel covered Cordelia's body with his, to protect her from the debris falling down on them.
Then, silence.
Frightening silence.
When Cordy opened her eyes, she could barely see through the dark. That's when she felt Angel's body pressed against hers…moving close to her. The debris that had fallen down on them had miraculously shielded them from the sun.
"Angel…" she said, feeling his hand on her waist.
"We need to get out of here…" he told her, helping her up to her feet and leading her into a hallway.
The were rushing when they heard a loud noise and some voices behind them. They looked around, but there seemed to be no escape this time around.
"Where's a door when you really need one?!" Cordelia muttered to herself angrily.
Just as the words left her mouth, a large door appeared beside them. Angel looked at Cordelia, who simply raised an eyebrow in response. The two of them looked over their shoulders and saw a handful of giant spider-like demons, and without hesitation, the opened the door and disappeared behind it, locking it behind them.
Once inside, the peaceful atmosphere was so powerful that they both stood still. It was a large bedroom, filled with furniture and teddy bears….obviously a child's bedroom. Their surprise and confusion was broken by the loud pounding on the door, but only Angel seemed to be distressed.
"They can't get in." Cordelia finally spoke, staying close to Angel.
"How do you know?"
Cordy looked around the room and then back at a hurt Angel.
"I…I just do…they can't get in here…" she said, not really knowing how she knew that, but she did. "Oh my God….Angel…you're bleeding…" she said rushing to him and touching the cut on his cheek.
As soon as her fingers touched the blood, she froze. Realization dawned upon her.
"Oh my god…" she whispered. "You are bleeding…" she repeated in a much softer tone. "Why are you bleeding?" she asked, her eyes deeply searching his. Her fingers softly became comfortable against his warm skin and her mouth dropped open. "…and you're warm…" her tone was tender yet disbelieving.
That's when it hit him…the pounding on the door fell into the back of his mind as the loud sound of his own heartbeat rang into his ears. Angel froze, suddenly realizing that he was breathing.
Vampires don't breathe, he reminded himself mentally.
Then again, vampires don't have a heartbeat.
Cordy looked genuinely surprised and swallowed difficultly.
"Oh God…you're…" she began in a bare whisper.
"I'm…" he echoed her stunned expression.
I'm human…" he finally breathed out as they both stared at one another, stunned.
When Cordelia opened her eyes, she found herself lying on the floor by Angel's side, with a hand still resting on his bare back. She twisted her face a little as she carefully retrieved her hand and pulled herself up in a seating position.
Cordy took a long hard look at her surroundings before moving any further. Three tall, rocky walls imprisoned her and Angel, while a ceiling hung at about fifteen feet above their heads. Looking around, she noticed she was still firmly chained to her wall, while Angel was chained to his. The chains had already begun to make her wrists bleed slightly. She rubbed her wrists momentarily, while still inspecting the place.
The fourth wall, to their left, looked more like a prison wall than anything else.
Prison.
That's exactly what this felt like. A cold, echoing prison.
Her eyes then fell back on Angel's semi-naked body and she felt her heart skip a beat. She reached and touched his sleeping form carefully. At the second her fingers brushed his skin, he jerked up, as if woken up from a nightmare.
"Angel…it's me…" Cordy spoke, moving closer to him.
"Cordy…" he let out, trying to remember how he'd gotten there in the first place.
"Are you alright? Does it hurt? Angel, what did they do to you?" the questions kept on coming, as if the fear of not speaking would drive her insane.
She placed her hands on Angel's shoulders as he sat up, cupping her face with his cool hands. He stared into her eyes, silently answering all of her questions. He pushed some messy strands of hair behind her ears, his fingers softly caressing the side of her face, making her heart leap. Cordy lowered her eyes, trying to hide the underlying guilt in them.
"What happened?" Angel asked, his voice a bit stronger than it had been before they'd fallen asleep, but still slightly weak.
Cordy shook her head, still looking down.
"I don't know…" she began and then finally looked up to meet his gaze. "Angel…" she whispered, her fears clearly conveyed in the mention of his name.
"It's okay." He whispered back. "It's going to be okay…"
"No, It's not." She argued, holding her breath for a moment.
Her voice was louder, but Angel knew it was only her way of not breaking down.
"It's not okay. Angel, you're chained to a wall…Gunn, Fred, Wesley and Lorne are dead…it's not okay…It's not!" she said, looking straight into his deep soulful eyes.
"We're going to make this okay…" he tried to reassure her, never breaking eye contact.
That's when Angel noticed the small traces of blood around Cordy's wrists. His eyes hurt from the sight, and he reached to wrap his hands around hers. His fingers slowly and carefully traced the edge of the manacles and Cordelia felt his muscles tense.
"You're hurt…" he stated, his voice slightly breaking.
"I'm fine…" she whispered back, searching his face for some sort of sign that he believed her.
He kept staring down at her bleeding skin.
"Angel…" she said, bringing her hands to his face and lifting it so he would look at her. "Angel look at me…"
Her tone was soft but filled with so much emotion that Angel was unable to keep the stern look on his face. They both shared a long silence, simply staring into one another's eyes. Cordy had seen a lot of things in the past years while observing Angel. She'd seen hate, guilt, despair, love in his eyes before. She had seen the good….and the not so good in him through the intensity of his eyes. She wasn't sure what she was seeing in them right at that moment. Probably a mixture of everything.
Cordy then took a deep breath and bowed her head down, staring at the floor. Angel reached up and cupped her face with his hands, leaning his forehead against hers.
"Cordy…" he began in a bare whisper that made her heart break. "Whatever happens…" he paused, swallowing difficultly. "Promise me you will get to that garden…whatever happens…"
"Stop." She immediately cut him off, looking up to him with tear filled eyes. "Stop it." She said through her teeth.
"Cordy…" he insisted in a weak voice.
"No. Don't talk like that…that's not like you." She let out angrily.
Angel mentally traced every line on her face, imagining it warmth and its beauty against his cool lips. He saw that Cordelia lowered her eyes once again. Angel leaned forward and kissed her forehead with such love and tenderness. She reached up and placed her hands over his, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply.
Their silent moment was interrupted by the sharp edge of a woman's voice, coming from the other side of the prison.
"Awww…Isn't that the sweetest thing ever? Whoever said the dead can't be dramatically romantic? Too bad, I'll have to kill you both anyway…"
Cordy and Angel, still kneeling on the floor, looked up and glared at Dennis' mother.
"Shut up." Angel growled at the sight of the woman.
The ghostly demon only smirked, clearly enjoying her sudden burst of amusement within her.
"This is it, Ladies and Gentlemen…The grand finale!" she laughed out loud, throwing her arms in the air.
"If you lay one hand on her…" Angel threatened, but Dennis' mom simply grinned from ear to ear.
"I won't have to…at least not until you are long gone." She happily informed him. She witnessed the fearful glare Cordelia threw at her and she faked her best puppy dog face. "Awww…don't look so frightened. I will let you watch." She added, her evil eyes peering into Cordelia's.
"You're sick. You know that?" Cordelia muttered. "You're sick!" she spitted out, never letting go of Angel's hands.
A simple 'Thank you' was the demon's only response. Cordy felt Angel growl once again, as the two of them stared at Dennis' mom from their side of the dungeon.
"I could easily have killed you already." The woman told a seemingly emotionless Cordelia. "But this is so much more fun…" she then giggled. "See…this way….you'll know what it likes to have the people you love being ripped from your arms…and in your case, turned into ashes."
"What?" Cordy shook her head at the woman's words.
"You took my son…I will take him." She then spitted out.
"Your son?? Dennis???" Cordy exclaimed while a protective Angel squeezed her hand with his left one and touched her face with the other.
"You stole him from me!"
"I Sto…What???! You killed him!" Cordelia couldn't help but yell back.
"Because of girls like you!" Dennis' mother accused of her. "And I will make you pay…" she informed with a determination worthy of any demon.
Cordy shook her head, fiercely trying not to lose her cool. She looked away from her and at Angel for a moment. Then, a strange feeling came over them and they turned towards the back of the room.
There, in the back of the room, trapped into a hole in the wall, lied Dennis' skeleton, a sight that obviously disturbed both Cordy and Angel.
"I will make you watch your cuddly vampire here die….before I kill you." She said, finally revealing her plan. "You see…in two hours, the sun will be up." She continued as a shocked Angel and Cordy turned to her once again. "And well…I'm sure you can figure it out from here…" she smiled.
Angel and Cordy quickly got what the woman was getting at. Angel looked up at the ceiling, and quickly studied its structure, finally realizing it was more like a door than a ceiling. He looked back down only to meet Cordy's fearful glance.
"Angel…I've seen this movie…and it doesn't end well…" Cordy's whisper was shaky and her words trembled in the night.
"And what a great movie that was!" Dennis' mother exclaimed with joy. "Except, well, he's no Brad Pitt…" she added, pointing at Angel, raising an eyebrow.
"Hey!" Cordy threw a pissed off glare at the woman.
"Oh, honey…It's true that love is blind, isn't it?"
"Shut up!" Cordy said louder. "And by the way, Brad Pitt is WAYYY overrated!"
"Whatever…"
"Don't 'Whatever' me!"
"Cordy…" angel tried to interject.
"What?" Cordy asked, turning to face Angel.
"Cordy." He said in a firmer tone, trying to stop her.
"What?! I'm defending you!"
Cordy sighed and shook her head at the insisting look in his eyes. She lowered her eyes, not bothering to even glance back at the evil ghost staring at them. Angel, for his part, did turn to her and met her evil glare.
"Well, time's a wasting…" Dennis' mother grinned. "I better go…Sun's almost here. Enjoy yourselves…you don't have much longer…" she wickedly laughed before disappearing into thin air.
Once she was gone, Angel turned his eyes back to a distraught Cordelia.
"We need to get out of here…" he whispered to her.
"No offense…but…DUH!" she said, trying to keep her fears in check.
Angel forcefully tried to yank on his chains a couple of times, while Cordy took a tiny step back. The violent gesture didn't seem to work and when Angel looked up, he met Cordelia's teary eyes.
"Let me try yours…" he said, motioning for her to give him her hands.
"Angel, you're the one who needs to get out of here…" she argued but he stopped her.
"Cordy."
His voice was determined and demanding. She decided that arguing was the last thing she should be doing at this moment, so she tended her arms in front of her while Angel tried to pull on the manacles. He saw Cordy's face twist in pain when the chains would not get off. Tears streamed down her face as the chains cut deeper into her skin, causing some blood to roll down her wrists.
--
A very worried Dennis, pressed a wet cloth against Cordelia's hands and wrists, cleaning the blood from her skin. Sweat covered Cordy's face and neck. Her comatose body had some more bruises than when Emily had left her in the hands of Dennis, and the phantom was beginning to get worried.
Worried about Cordelia.
And worried about Emily.
Wherever the young ghost had gone, he only hoped she was doing the right thing.
God, he hoped she was.
--
"Angel, stop…angel it's not working!" Cordelia said, a bit hysterically while Angel swallowed his tears and kept on trying to free himself and Cordelia.
Cordy yanked her arms away, shaking them with pain, while Angel tried to throw himself forward so that the chains would break from the wall.
"Angel…" Cordy's emotional voice broke through his desperate attempts and he relaxed.
Nothing seemed to be working.
There was no way out.
No escape.
Angel looked up and saw Cordelia crawling back to him with tearful eyes. She gave it one more attempt, trying to pull on her own chains – the ones around her ankles – but in vain. Angel closed the space between them by pulling her to him and wrapping his arms around her.
"This is not happening…there has to be a way…" Cordy whispered against Angel's bare shoulders.
"There is." A voice resounded from the back of the dungeon.
Both, Cordy and Angel, turned, a bit stunned, towards the intruder. They stood still for a moment, taking in the presence that was standing before them.
"Dennis…" Angel whispered, on shock.
"Look within Cordy…" a very human Dennis spoke. "This is your head…you can – you CAN – overpower her…just look within…" he said, looking straight at Cordelia.
After a couple seconds of genuine surprise, Cordelia was about to respond to his word, but he took a step back into the hole in the wall and disappeared. His form folded back into the skeleton that lied in the small hole.
Cordy managed to turn back towards Angel and the two of them shared a long silence.
"Angel…" she finally spoke in a choking voice.
"You can do it." He whispered.
"I don't know how." She said with a glimpse of exasperation. "How many ways do I have to say it…look within for what?" she said, sheer panic invading her every words. "Angel…" she then said in a softer tone.
"Cordy…you're stronger than she is…" Angel reminded her. "You need to let go of your fears…just concentrate…" he gently told her while she closed her eyes.
Angel placed his arms on her shoulders and Cordelia tried to concentrate as hard as she could. With her eyes closed, her breathing and heartbeat filled Angel's ears, making him painfully aware of the fear that inhabited her at the moment.
Nothing.
The sound of activity behind the walls startled her and she opened her eyes quickly, grabbing one of Angel's hands.
"Why?" Cordelia muttered through her teeth, her eyes filling with tears… "Why is this happening?!" she breathed out angrily.
"Cordy…"
"No!" she exclaimed, shaking her head. "Why did you do this?" she asked and then found him staring at her with confusion. "Why did you come in here after me? This is not happening…." She spoke, her heart breaking inside of her. "Why?"
Angel looked into her tearful eyes, hearing more noise coming from the ceiling and behind the walls.
"Why?" he repeated the question in a soft voice. "Because I couldn't lose you…I won't." he whispered to her, cupping her face with his strong hands.
"Angel…" she began but he interrupted her.
"Cordy, promise me…" he began and Cordelia knew exactly what he was going to say. She started to argue, but he didn't let her. "Promise me that whatever happens, you will get to that garden. You will get to that safe place and you will get out of here…Cordy…" his voice was now begging her to promise him at least that.
She didn't have time to answer his plea, for the ceiling began to open up. Neither of them could believe it had already been nearly two hours since Dennis' mother's visit.
"I…" all of a sudden, he realized he was running out of time. Something inside of him snapped and he realized there was so much he didn't have a chance to say to her. "Promise me Cordy…" his tone was filled with despair and Cordelia nodded, silently promising him that she would find the garden. "There's so much I want to say…" he let out in a painful tone.
"This isn't fair…" Cordy said as a tear rolled down her face. "You can't die…" she whispered as the ceiling stopped moving, only opened of about an inch.
His hand caressed the side of her face tenderly and his eyes bore into hers. He rarely cried. He rarely even got teary. But in this instant, looking into her devoted face, his eyes began to fill with tears.
"I have never known anyone like you…" he whispered, aware that he had spoken these words before, but also aware that it added to its meaning. "Cordy…" his voice trembled momentarily, and he paused to swallow back his tears. "This…look at me…Cordy look at me." He softly said, lifting her chin to that she was looking back into his tearful eyes. "This isn't your fault…And if I had to do it all over again, I would…I would…" he said and then paused for a few seconds. "Because I love you. I want you to know that." He said in a bare shaky whisper as the ceiling began to open up again, letting a few rays of sunshine into the back of the dungeon.
Angel pressed his lips against hers, desperately and lovingly tasting her. He felt her kiss him back with the same sadness and despair he was showing her. Her hands came up on the side of his face as well, and she felt a tear roll down on her thumb.
The kiss was long, breathless, and emotionally draining, as if neither wanted to ever let go. Cordy lifted her lips from his, tears now flowing, long enough to mouth a slightly silent "I love you" back. She then pressed her lips against his once more, this time wishing she could step outside her own body and photograph this instant with her mind. After a few seconds, she abruptly pulled away from him.
"This isn't happening! I don't finally get a guy to put up with me long enough to actually say that he loves me, just so we can both die!" she said, her voice on the verge of breaking.
Ignoring the outburst of emotion in her voice, she barely glanced at the ceiling – long enough to notice it was about half-way opened – and then grabbed Angel's wrists and frantically tried to free him again. She and Angel were now standing in the small half of the room that still bathed in darkness, away from the sunshine…but time was running out. She knew it.
She and Angel gave it a last desperate try, but nothing worked this time around either.
They both locked eyes and stood still for a second. More emotions were conveyed in that second than in any conversation they'd ever had. Angel grabbed her and pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her so tightly he knew he was crushing her.
She didn't care.
She didn't even notice.
Nothing else seemed relevant at the time. Just holding him, which she did with every fiber of her being. With her arms tightly wrapped around Angel's neck, she closed her eyes.
[I]"Look within…"[/I] she heard Emily and Dennis' voices in her head again.
She placed every ounce of energy she had left into concentrating.
The ceiling was almost all opened now and the sunshine filled the room, almost reaching the spot where Angel and Cordy kneeled, in each other's arms.
Cordy buried her face in Angel's shoulder, eyes still closed, and the more she held onto him, the more her surroundings seemed to be affected.
The walls began to shake violently, while Angel kept a firm hold of the woman he loved.
Whether it was the power of her will, or just sheer coincidence, the walls suddenly began to crumble on them and soon enough, the entire dungeon was being shattered and destroyed. The chains tying them to the walls broke and the fell backwards. Angel covered Cordelia's body with his, to protect her from the debris falling down on them.
Then, silence.
Frightening silence.
When Cordy opened her eyes, she could barely see through the dark. That's when she felt Angel's body pressed against hers…moving close to her. The debris that had fallen down on them had miraculously shielded them from the sun.
"Angel…" she said, feeling his hand on her waist.
"We need to get out of here…" he told her, helping her up to her feet and leading her into a hallway.
The were rushing when they heard a loud noise and some voices behind them. They looked around, but there seemed to be no escape this time around.
"Where's a door when you really need one?!" Cordelia muttered to herself angrily.
Just as the words left her mouth, a large door appeared beside them. Angel looked at Cordelia, who simply raised an eyebrow in response. The two of them looked over their shoulders and saw a handful of giant spider-like demons, and without hesitation, the opened the door and disappeared behind it, locking it behind them.
Once inside, the peaceful atmosphere was so powerful that they both stood still. It was a large bedroom, filled with furniture and teddy bears….obviously a child's bedroom. Their surprise and confusion was broken by the loud pounding on the door, but only Angel seemed to be distressed.
"They can't get in." Cordelia finally spoke, staying close to Angel.
"How do you know?"
Cordy looked around the room and then back at a hurt Angel.
"I…I just do…they can't get in here…" she said, not really knowing how she knew that, but she did. "Oh my God….Angel…you're bleeding…" she said rushing to him and touching the cut on his cheek.
As soon as her fingers touched the blood, she froze. Realization dawned upon her.
"Oh my god…" she whispered. "You are bleeding…" she repeated in a much softer tone. "Why are you bleeding?" she asked, her eyes deeply searching his. Her fingers softly became comfortable against his warm skin and her mouth dropped open. "…and you're warm…" her tone was tender yet disbelieving.
That's when it hit him…the pounding on the door fell into the back of his mind as the loud sound of his own heartbeat rang into his ears. Angel froze, suddenly realizing that he was breathing.
Vampires don't breathe, he reminded himself mentally.
Then again, vampires don't have a heartbeat.
Cordy looked genuinely surprised and swallowed difficultly.
"Oh God…you're…" she began in a bare whisper.
"I'm…" he echoed her stunned expression.
I'm human…" he finally breathed out as they both stared at one another, stunned.