CHAPTER 7
All the lights were out, except for a tiny little lamp in the corner of Angel's bedroom, making small vacillating shadows dance across the wall. Sitting on the floor, their backs against the wall were Angel and Cordelia, literally half asleep. Cordy's head rested on Angel's shoulder as they mumbled in nearly incoherent slumber, not really listening, not really speaking. His right arm lay still, wrapped around her shoulders as they surrendered to their mutual exhaustion.
"Her father…did she tell you anything about him?" Angel whispered, his eyes closed, leaning his head back against the wall.
He could feel her warmth on his shoulder; hear her deep breathing and the beautiful, comforting sound of her heartbeat. It's all that filled the room in that instant.
"Nope…" Cordy sighed, half-asleep. She paused and took a deep breath before mumbling some more. "Is it supposed to rain sometime soon?"
Angel raised an eyebrow and looked down at the resting woman in his arms, before closing his eyes again.
"Why?"
A smile crept up on Cordelia's face as she remembered Alessia's words. A glimpse of hope and anticipation appeared across her tired features.
"Oh, no reason…" she yawned before closing her eyes again and getting comfy on Angel's shoulder.
The two of them soon drifted farther and farther away into peaceful sleep, unaware of the moving shadows around them.
Creeping from the shadows, two strong, menacing hands traced the side of the bed where Connor and Alessia slept. The fingers lingered on the mattress, slowly moving up to the pillows. The two strong, human hands then hovered above little Connor's body, casting a menacing shadow across his peaceful face.
A tiny growl was heard in the room, coming from nowhere, and in one quick, unexpected movement, the two hands launched for the two sleeping forms on the bed. One hand grabbed Connor's fragile face and made him suffocate while the other savagely began strangling a helpless Alessia. Connor's cries were heard into the night as the two moving hands aimed to kill.
Cordelia opened her eyes in a panic, startled beyond belief, sweat covering her forehead and a gasp escaping her throat. Her heart was beating a hundred miles a second and she struggled to regain a more regular breathing pattern. She frantically searched the room with her eyes as she sat up straight, lifting her head from Angel's shoulders.
In the darkness, nothing.
Nothing.
Alessia and Connor were still sound asleep on the bed in front of her. Cordelia inhaled deeply, her eyes still conveying the panic and fear of her nightmare, and she turned to take a look at Angel, who still had an arm wrapped around her shoulders. She paused for a moment, slipping out of her dream state and back into reality. She looked back and forth between the bed and Angel's sleeping face and a strange gut feeling invaded her.
It had felt so real. Much too real.
She ran her hands through her hair, wiping away some of the sweat on her forehead and took a long hard look at Angel's sleeping form. The lines on her face softened as she watched him, remembering how they had ended up sitting on the floor, asleep, in his dark bedroom. A quick flashback of that kiss – that long, emotional, unforgettable kiss – came back to her, and a small, almost invisible, smile came to her lips. She was confused, unsure, glad, happy and even more confused, all at the same time. She wasn't sure if either of them really knew what or why they had done what they had done. At this point, her mind was on overload – not to mention her emotions – and she had trouble discerning which was real and which wasn't. All she knew was that in that one moment, she had felt safe. In that one moment, she had felt…uncomplicated…even if in theory, she knew as well as he did that that kiss had complicated things even more.
Careful not to wake Angel, she gently lifted his arm and slipped out of his cool embrace. Slowly, she pulled herself up and walked towards the bed, where Connor had stirred a little and Alessia slept with a grave expression on her face. As she watched them, Cordy couldn't help but wonder when was the last time Alessia had slept well. When was the last time that girl had had a good night sleep? As she approached the bed and stood there to admire the two, she wondered what Alessia would look like without that grave, fearful expression on her face. It broke Cordelia's heart to realize that even in sleep, Alessia Chase wasn't free. Even in sleep, she wasn't safe or peaceful.
Careful not to make any noise, Cordy took a deep breath and reached on Angel's desk to pick up a blanket. She walked back towards the bed and proceeded to cover the sleeping young woman with it.
At the second the covers touched Alessia's body, the girl jerked awake, violently grabbing Cordelia's hand, jerking her away. Cordy's heart skipped a beat and she stared down at the girl who held her wrist tightly in her hand. It took Alessia a few seconds to realize what she was doing and she quickly released her mother's arm, closing her eyes in embarrassment. Cordelia was frozen. Her eyes rested upon the distraught girl who had suddenly jerked herself awake and her heart broke at the sight of the painful look in Alessia's eyes.
"I'm…" Alessia began in a soft whisper that betrayed all her confidence. "I'm sorry…"
"No…no, I'm sorry…I shouldn't…" Cordy managed to let out, pulling back a little, still a bit on shock.
The sight of danger and alert in Alessia's eyes had taken her by surprise, and she mentally forced herself to recover from the incident.
"I was just going to put Connor down…" Cordy admitted, swallowing the awkward lump in her throat.
Alessia finally looked up, now sitting up, and her apologizing eyes met her mother's.
"I'm sorry…" she whispered once again.
Cordy gave her a warm, genuine smile before carefully picking up Connor in her arms and turning around towards the nursery. Alessia found herself getting up and following her in silence. She watched as Cordelia gently put Connor down into his crib and whispered sweet nothings to the little baby boy. Alessia walked to the crib where Cordelia was still admiring the little baby and they both stood like that in silence, watching Connor for what seemed like forever.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Cordelia then found herself breaking the intense silence. She turned to look at the young woman standing beside her and silently pleaded for answers. "Why didn't you tell us?" she whispered.
Alessia had to struggle to keep control of her trembling voice and she lowered her eyes as she spoke.
"Skip talked to you didn't he…" It wasn't as much a question as it was a realization.
"Alessia…"
"Look," the girl began, taking a deep breath, "Skip is a melodramatic guy, okay. I'm willing to bet anything that he skipped over all the good stuff and gave you his own little tear jerker version of history." She said in a calm but somber tone. "He did, didn't he?"
Alessia then looked up and saw Cordelia's tearful eyes staring back at her.
"If you knew that he would, then why didn't you give me your own version…?" Cordy whispered, in a barely audible voice.
Alessia paused, unable to answer that at first, but then gathered her strength and gave Cordelia the truth.
"I just couldn't…I knew it would hurt you…and I couldn't bring myself to do that." She honestly replied.
Carefully, Cordy reached out and placed her hand on the bracelet worn by Alessia. The two of them fell into a deep, painful silence as Cordy examined the bracelet for a moment.
"So he told you everything, huh?" Alessia said with misty eyes. Cordelia nodded, unable to speak. "It doesn't hurt." She then promptly added, seeing the concerned expression on Cordy's face. When Cordy looked up with a suspicious look on her face, Alessia caved in. "Not much." She added with a slight reassuring smile.
After taking a deep breath, Cordelia finally retrieved her hand and turned back to the crib to watch a peaceful Connor. Mother and daughter stood still like that for several minutes. Thoughts, worries, questions and concerns filled Cordy's head, and she managed to dismiss most of them.
Except one.
"Can I ask you something?" Cordelia ventured, not turning around to look at Alessia. "I mean, I don't want you to lie to me. I want the truth, no matter what it is…I need you to tell me something…" she whispered in a fearful voice.
"Ok…" Alessia nodded, waiting for Cordelia's question.
It took a while for Cordelia to formulate the words, and even more so to utter them in a coherent manner.
"When you were little…did I…" she began and then closed her eyes momentarily. "When you were a little girl…did I hug you?" she finally spoke, tears filling her eyes, but she never turned to look at Alessia's stunned face.
In that instant, with those spoken words, time seemed to stand still. And a painful realization dawned on Alessia concerning Cordelia. When the girl didn't answer, Cordy turned around, her eyes filled with tears as the question still lingered in the air.
"All the time." Alessia finally spoke.
"Good…good…" Cordy found herself sighing in relief, despite herself. It was like years of fears and worries had been suddenly lifted off her shoulders with these three small words.
"You know…Skip is wrong. And so is Lilah." Cordy then said, taking a deep breath and facing Alessia. "I may not know you the way that you know me…and I may not remember you the way that you remember me…but when I look at you, I don't see a stranger." She whispered, seeing the emotionally surprised look on Alessia's face. "Looking at you is overwhelming, yes. It's a bit scary to tell you the truth. But most of all," she added softly, "It's reassuring."
Off Alessia's questioning look, Cordelia continued.
"Up until yesterday, I lived with this fear…this constant fear that I was never able to get rid of." Cordy quietly explained. "When I was very little, like all little girls, I had dreams about meeting the man of my dreams, the perfect wedding, having children…the great big old little girl fantasy. And then I took a long hard look at my parents…so…detached. So not there. And I could never understand how someone would be given the chance to be a mother and not take it. How someone could be like that. And all my life, I became afraid that someday I would be like that. I would be like her." Cordy said as a tear rolled down her face. "It scared me to death to think that I could grow up and be that kind of person…it petrified me to think that one day I would be given that chance to be a mom, and I would make the same mistakes that she did. That I just…wouldn't be able to tell my child that I loved her or him…that I wouldn't be able to show it…" Cordy swallowed back her tears and emotions. "That I would be given the chance to be a mom…and I wouldn't take it. That petrified me." Cordy looked up into Alessia's face and smiled through her tears. "And here you are…" she whispered in a shaky breath. "And maybe that should scare me out of my mind, but if anything it's made me less afraid."
They both looked at one another in silence for a moment.
"You're nothing like them." Alessia then whispered, making sure that Cordelia understood just how great a mother she had been to her in her world. "I always knew that you loved me…" her voice trembled a little as the words were spoken. "Never doubt that."
Cordy took a deep breath and sighed, wiping away a few tears and letting out a little chuckle.
"Well, look at us!" she smiled. "Skip is melodramatic?" she said with a raised eyebrow.
Alessia softly laughed in return, shaking her head.
"Yes, well, maybe I am too…just a little. Not so much that I would give Angel a run for his money, but just enough to drive you insane once in a while." Alessia grinned, trying to lighten up the mood.
Cordelia smiled in response. The nice silence was then broken by a sleepy voice from the other side of the room.
"Why does everyone think I'm melodramatic?"
Cordy and Alessia turned around to see Angel standing there, watching them with a slight smile on his face.
"Well, you kind of are." Alessia said as a matter-of-factly.
Angel took a few steps towards them before his eyes locked with Cordelia's. There was a quick moment of awkwardness between the two as they looked at one another, remembering the kiss they'd shared before falling asleep. Alessia lowered her eyes, a slight grin appearing across her face. A slight, knowing grin.
"Hi…"
"Hi…" Angel replied in a soft, barely audible voice.
"How long have you been standing there?" Cordy then asked, already knowing the answer to that question.
"Long enough." He replied, softly.
"So…" Alessia said after a long silence. The smile on her face brought a questioning look to Cordy's face while it brought a slightly embarrassed on to Angel's.
"So, anybody hungry?" Angel asked and off Cordelia's raised eyebrow and funny look, he continued, "I meant that in a very normal human way." He grinned, and she smiled back.
"I'm starved." Alessia chimed in.
"We have pancakes all warm and ready waiting for you downstairs! Whoa! The energy in this room is on overload kiddies…" Lorne exclaimed, walking into the room.
The sound of his voice woke Connor up so Angel went to pick him up while Alessia brightened up at the sound of the menu.
"Pancakes?!" she exclaimed, as if she was 5 years old again. "Gosh…I haven't eaten that since the impromptu Las Vegas wedding!" she said shaking her head as everyone came to a halt.
Angel froze with Connor in his arms, while Cordy and Lorne stared at the young woman with wide, questioning eyes. Alessia looked up and saw their confused, and slightly fearful looks and burst into laughter.
"Oh no!" She exclaimed. "Not me! You thought it was me, right? You thought I was talking about my wedding…"
"No…no, of course not." The three of them all sheepishly said as they glanced at one another, embarrassed.
"Good, 'cause me? Married? Now that would weird." Alessia sighed.
"Right…weird…" Angel nervously agreed.
"No, it was Gunn and Buffy's wedding." She casually spoke, nearly giving Cordelia a heart attack.
"What?!" Angel and Cordy exclaimed at the same time.
"Yeah, Gunn and Bu…Did I just say that out loud?" she grinned, knowing that she probably gave a little too much information there.
Just as Cordelia was about to say something else, Cordy and Alessia fell forward and fell onto the floor in pain. Alessia gasped, while Cordelia grabbed her head in pain. Lorne and Angel threw themselves on the floor in front of them, not exactly knowing what was happening.
"Cordy! What's going on?" Angel demanded, panic sweeping through him.
Alessia and Cordelia crashed down onto the floor in pain as the vision hit them.
"The visions are supposed to be painless!" Angel spoke, glaring at Lorne, in need of an answer.
"I said the energy was on overload in this room. Not good. Two seers with the same power, getting the same vision, from the same source at the same time, and yes, via the same energy wave is not normal by any means and the signals probably got mixed up between the two princesses here, creating some bad reception." Lorne offered as he and Angel quickly helped Cordy and Alessia to sit up.
"Oh my God…" Alessia whispered in a rusty voice as the vision finally stopped.
"…We so need to get out of here!! Now!" Cordy added in a warning voice and she and Alessia jumped to their feet so quickly that they startled Angel and Lorne.
"Cordy…"
"Out! OUT!" she yelled at him, pushing him and Connor towards the door.
--
"It seems that the book is indestructible. According to the prophecies, only the Powers That Be can destroy it. So as long as Wolfram and Hart don't get their hands on it, it buys us time." Wesley explained to Gunn and Fred as the three of them walked on the sidewalk towards the Hyperion with bags of food in hands.
"Where is the book now?" Fred asked, as they neared the hotel.
"My office…" Wesley spoke, as began walking towards the front door.
Just as the words left Wesley's mouth, a loud explosion was heard, propelling them backwards into the air. Wesley, Gunn and Fred crashed onto the cement ground and looked up just in time to see a second explosion, making the windows shatter into millions of tiny pieces. Wesley shielded himself from the flames as he, Gunn and Fred crawled away from the burning and exploding building. A loud 'No' escaped Fred's throat as the horror in front of them intensified, leaving them helpless as the hotel burned into flames.
All the lights were out, except for a tiny little lamp in the corner of Angel's bedroom, making small vacillating shadows dance across the wall. Sitting on the floor, their backs against the wall were Angel and Cordelia, literally half asleep. Cordy's head rested on Angel's shoulder as they mumbled in nearly incoherent slumber, not really listening, not really speaking. His right arm lay still, wrapped around her shoulders as they surrendered to their mutual exhaustion.
"Her father…did she tell you anything about him?" Angel whispered, his eyes closed, leaning his head back against the wall.
He could feel her warmth on his shoulder; hear her deep breathing and the beautiful, comforting sound of her heartbeat. It's all that filled the room in that instant.
"Nope…" Cordy sighed, half-asleep. She paused and took a deep breath before mumbling some more. "Is it supposed to rain sometime soon?"
Angel raised an eyebrow and looked down at the resting woman in his arms, before closing his eyes again.
"Why?"
A smile crept up on Cordelia's face as she remembered Alessia's words. A glimpse of hope and anticipation appeared across her tired features.
"Oh, no reason…" she yawned before closing her eyes again and getting comfy on Angel's shoulder.
The two of them soon drifted farther and farther away into peaceful sleep, unaware of the moving shadows around them.
Creeping from the shadows, two strong, menacing hands traced the side of the bed where Connor and Alessia slept. The fingers lingered on the mattress, slowly moving up to the pillows. The two strong, human hands then hovered above little Connor's body, casting a menacing shadow across his peaceful face.
A tiny growl was heard in the room, coming from nowhere, and in one quick, unexpected movement, the two hands launched for the two sleeping forms on the bed. One hand grabbed Connor's fragile face and made him suffocate while the other savagely began strangling a helpless Alessia. Connor's cries were heard into the night as the two moving hands aimed to kill.
Cordelia opened her eyes in a panic, startled beyond belief, sweat covering her forehead and a gasp escaping her throat. Her heart was beating a hundred miles a second and she struggled to regain a more regular breathing pattern. She frantically searched the room with her eyes as she sat up straight, lifting her head from Angel's shoulders.
In the darkness, nothing.
Nothing.
Alessia and Connor were still sound asleep on the bed in front of her. Cordelia inhaled deeply, her eyes still conveying the panic and fear of her nightmare, and she turned to take a look at Angel, who still had an arm wrapped around her shoulders. She paused for a moment, slipping out of her dream state and back into reality. She looked back and forth between the bed and Angel's sleeping face and a strange gut feeling invaded her.
It had felt so real. Much too real.
She ran her hands through her hair, wiping away some of the sweat on her forehead and took a long hard look at Angel's sleeping form. The lines on her face softened as she watched him, remembering how they had ended up sitting on the floor, asleep, in his dark bedroom. A quick flashback of that kiss – that long, emotional, unforgettable kiss – came back to her, and a small, almost invisible, smile came to her lips. She was confused, unsure, glad, happy and even more confused, all at the same time. She wasn't sure if either of them really knew what or why they had done what they had done. At this point, her mind was on overload – not to mention her emotions – and she had trouble discerning which was real and which wasn't. All she knew was that in that one moment, she had felt safe. In that one moment, she had felt…uncomplicated…even if in theory, she knew as well as he did that that kiss had complicated things even more.
Careful not to wake Angel, she gently lifted his arm and slipped out of his cool embrace. Slowly, she pulled herself up and walked towards the bed, where Connor had stirred a little and Alessia slept with a grave expression on her face. As she watched them, Cordy couldn't help but wonder when was the last time Alessia had slept well. When was the last time that girl had had a good night sleep? As she approached the bed and stood there to admire the two, she wondered what Alessia would look like without that grave, fearful expression on her face. It broke Cordelia's heart to realize that even in sleep, Alessia Chase wasn't free. Even in sleep, she wasn't safe or peaceful.
Careful not to make any noise, Cordy took a deep breath and reached on Angel's desk to pick up a blanket. She walked back towards the bed and proceeded to cover the sleeping young woman with it.
At the second the covers touched Alessia's body, the girl jerked awake, violently grabbing Cordelia's hand, jerking her away. Cordy's heart skipped a beat and she stared down at the girl who held her wrist tightly in her hand. It took Alessia a few seconds to realize what she was doing and she quickly released her mother's arm, closing her eyes in embarrassment. Cordelia was frozen. Her eyes rested upon the distraught girl who had suddenly jerked herself awake and her heart broke at the sight of the painful look in Alessia's eyes.
"I'm…" Alessia began in a soft whisper that betrayed all her confidence. "I'm sorry…"
"No…no, I'm sorry…I shouldn't…" Cordy managed to let out, pulling back a little, still a bit on shock.
The sight of danger and alert in Alessia's eyes had taken her by surprise, and she mentally forced herself to recover from the incident.
"I was just going to put Connor down…" Cordy admitted, swallowing the awkward lump in her throat.
Alessia finally looked up, now sitting up, and her apologizing eyes met her mother's.
"I'm sorry…" she whispered once again.
Cordy gave her a warm, genuine smile before carefully picking up Connor in her arms and turning around towards the nursery. Alessia found herself getting up and following her in silence. She watched as Cordelia gently put Connor down into his crib and whispered sweet nothings to the little baby boy. Alessia walked to the crib where Cordelia was still admiring the little baby and they both stood like that in silence, watching Connor for what seemed like forever.
"Why didn't you say anything?" Cordelia then found herself breaking the intense silence. She turned to look at the young woman standing beside her and silently pleaded for answers. "Why didn't you tell us?" she whispered.
Alessia had to struggle to keep control of her trembling voice and she lowered her eyes as she spoke.
"Skip talked to you didn't he…" It wasn't as much a question as it was a realization.
"Alessia…"
"Look," the girl began, taking a deep breath, "Skip is a melodramatic guy, okay. I'm willing to bet anything that he skipped over all the good stuff and gave you his own little tear jerker version of history." She said in a calm but somber tone. "He did, didn't he?"
Alessia then looked up and saw Cordelia's tearful eyes staring back at her.
"If you knew that he would, then why didn't you give me your own version…?" Cordy whispered, in a barely audible voice.
Alessia paused, unable to answer that at first, but then gathered her strength and gave Cordelia the truth.
"I just couldn't…I knew it would hurt you…and I couldn't bring myself to do that." She honestly replied.
Carefully, Cordy reached out and placed her hand on the bracelet worn by Alessia. The two of them fell into a deep, painful silence as Cordy examined the bracelet for a moment.
"So he told you everything, huh?" Alessia said with misty eyes. Cordelia nodded, unable to speak. "It doesn't hurt." She then promptly added, seeing the concerned expression on Cordy's face. When Cordy looked up with a suspicious look on her face, Alessia caved in. "Not much." She added with a slight reassuring smile.
After taking a deep breath, Cordelia finally retrieved her hand and turned back to the crib to watch a peaceful Connor. Mother and daughter stood still like that for several minutes. Thoughts, worries, questions and concerns filled Cordy's head, and she managed to dismiss most of them.
Except one.
"Can I ask you something?" Cordelia ventured, not turning around to look at Alessia. "I mean, I don't want you to lie to me. I want the truth, no matter what it is…I need you to tell me something…" she whispered in a fearful voice.
"Ok…" Alessia nodded, waiting for Cordelia's question.
It took a while for Cordelia to formulate the words, and even more so to utter them in a coherent manner.
"When you were little…did I…" she began and then closed her eyes momentarily. "When you were a little girl…did I hug you?" she finally spoke, tears filling her eyes, but she never turned to look at Alessia's stunned face.
In that instant, with those spoken words, time seemed to stand still. And a painful realization dawned on Alessia concerning Cordelia. When the girl didn't answer, Cordy turned around, her eyes filled with tears as the question still lingered in the air.
"All the time." Alessia finally spoke.
"Good…good…" Cordy found herself sighing in relief, despite herself. It was like years of fears and worries had been suddenly lifted off her shoulders with these three small words.
"You know…Skip is wrong. And so is Lilah." Cordy then said, taking a deep breath and facing Alessia. "I may not know you the way that you know me…and I may not remember you the way that you remember me…but when I look at you, I don't see a stranger." She whispered, seeing the emotionally surprised look on Alessia's face. "Looking at you is overwhelming, yes. It's a bit scary to tell you the truth. But most of all," she added softly, "It's reassuring."
Off Alessia's questioning look, Cordelia continued.
"Up until yesterday, I lived with this fear…this constant fear that I was never able to get rid of." Cordy quietly explained. "When I was very little, like all little girls, I had dreams about meeting the man of my dreams, the perfect wedding, having children…the great big old little girl fantasy. And then I took a long hard look at my parents…so…detached. So not there. And I could never understand how someone would be given the chance to be a mother and not take it. How someone could be like that. And all my life, I became afraid that someday I would be like that. I would be like her." Cordy said as a tear rolled down her face. "It scared me to death to think that I could grow up and be that kind of person…it petrified me to think that one day I would be given that chance to be a mom, and I would make the same mistakes that she did. That I just…wouldn't be able to tell my child that I loved her or him…that I wouldn't be able to show it…" Cordy swallowed back her tears and emotions. "That I would be given the chance to be a mom…and I wouldn't take it. That petrified me." Cordy looked up into Alessia's face and smiled through her tears. "And here you are…" she whispered in a shaky breath. "And maybe that should scare me out of my mind, but if anything it's made me less afraid."
They both looked at one another in silence for a moment.
"You're nothing like them." Alessia then whispered, making sure that Cordelia understood just how great a mother she had been to her in her world. "I always knew that you loved me…" her voice trembled a little as the words were spoken. "Never doubt that."
Cordy took a deep breath and sighed, wiping away a few tears and letting out a little chuckle.
"Well, look at us!" she smiled. "Skip is melodramatic?" she said with a raised eyebrow.
Alessia softly laughed in return, shaking her head.
"Yes, well, maybe I am too…just a little. Not so much that I would give Angel a run for his money, but just enough to drive you insane once in a while." Alessia grinned, trying to lighten up the mood.
Cordelia smiled in response. The nice silence was then broken by a sleepy voice from the other side of the room.
"Why does everyone think I'm melodramatic?"
Cordy and Alessia turned around to see Angel standing there, watching them with a slight smile on his face.
"Well, you kind of are." Alessia said as a matter-of-factly.
Angel took a few steps towards them before his eyes locked with Cordelia's. There was a quick moment of awkwardness between the two as they looked at one another, remembering the kiss they'd shared before falling asleep. Alessia lowered her eyes, a slight grin appearing across her face. A slight, knowing grin.
"Hi…"
"Hi…" Angel replied in a soft, barely audible voice.
"How long have you been standing there?" Cordy then asked, already knowing the answer to that question.
"Long enough." He replied, softly.
"So…" Alessia said after a long silence. The smile on her face brought a questioning look to Cordy's face while it brought a slightly embarrassed on to Angel's.
"So, anybody hungry?" Angel asked and off Cordelia's raised eyebrow and funny look, he continued, "I meant that in a very normal human way." He grinned, and she smiled back.
"I'm starved." Alessia chimed in.
"We have pancakes all warm and ready waiting for you downstairs! Whoa! The energy in this room is on overload kiddies…" Lorne exclaimed, walking into the room.
The sound of his voice woke Connor up so Angel went to pick him up while Alessia brightened up at the sound of the menu.
"Pancakes?!" she exclaimed, as if she was 5 years old again. "Gosh…I haven't eaten that since the impromptu Las Vegas wedding!" she said shaking her head as everyone came to a halt.
Angel froze with Connor in his arms, while Cordy and Lorne stared at the young woman with wide, questioning eyes. Alessia looked up and saw their confused, and slightly fearful looks and burst into laughter.
"Oh no!" She exclaimed. "Not me! You thought it was me, right? You thought I was talking about my wedding…"
"No…no, of course not." The three of them all sheepishly said as they glanced at one another, embarrassed.
"Good, 'cause me? Married? Now that would weird." Alessia sighed.
"Right…weird…" Angel nervously agreed.
"No, it was Gunn and Buffy's wedding." She casually spoke, nearly giving Cordelia a heart attack.
"What?!" Angel and Cordy exclaimed at the same time.
"Yeah, Gunn and Bu…Did I just say that out loud?" she grinned, knowing that she probably gave a little too much information there.
Just as Cordelia was about to say something else, Cordy and Alessia fell forward and fell onto the floor in pain. Alessia gasped, while Cordelia grabbed her head in pain. Lorne and Angel threw themselves on the floor in front of them, not exactly knowing what was happening.
"Cordy! What's going on?" Angel demanded, panic sweeping through him.
Alessia and Cordelia crashed down onto the floor in pain as the vision hit them.
"The visions are supposed to be painless!" Angel spoke, glaring at Lorne, in need of an answer.
"I said the energy was on overload in this room. Not good. Two seers with the same power, getting the same vision, from the same source at the same time, and yes, via the same energy wave is not normal by any means and the signals probably got mixed up between the two princesses here, creating some bad reception." Lorne offered as he and Angel quickly helped Cordy and Alessia to sit up.
"Oh my God…" Alessia whispered in a rusty voice as the vision finally stopped.
"…We so need to get out of here!! Now!" Cordy added in a warning voice and she and Alessia jumped to their feet so quickly that they startled Angel and Lorne.
"Cordy…"
"Out! OUT!" she yelled at him, pushing him and Connor towards the door.
--
"It seems that the book is indestructible. According to the prophecies, only the Powers That Be can destroy it. So as long as Wolfram and Hart don't get their hands on it, it buys us time." Wesley explained to Gunn and Fred as the three of them walked on the sidewalk towards the Hyperion with bags of food in hands.
"Where is the book now?" Fred asked, as they neared the hotel.
"My office…" Wesley spoke, as began walking towards the front door.
Just as the words left Wesley's mouth, a loud explosion was heard, propelling them backwards into the air. Wesley, Gunn and Fred crashed onto the cement ground and looked up just in time to see a second explosion, making the windows shatter into millions of tiny pieces. Wesley shielded himself from the flames as he, Gunn and Fred crawled away from the burning and exploding building. A loud 'No' escaped Fred's throat as the horror in front of them intensified, leaving them helpless as the hotel burned into flames.