1 Part 7 –
"I'm gonna sit here and read for awhile." He told her as the elevator stopped and they stepped out and he headed for the sofa which had a pile of books next to it.
Cordelia gave him an incredulous look, but then seemed to remember WHO she was looking at. "Fine by me, dead-boy. If you wanna be boring, you go for it!"
"What is *wrong* with reading?!"
"As I said, it's totally way up on the, -" she gave an enormous yawn placing her slender hand over her mouth, " - factor."
Angel's reply was to sit on the couch and snap a book open almost snapping it in half, his eyes never left Cordy. And he then fixed her with a look.
Cordelia span on her heel and made for the bedroom. "Brooder." She called over her shoulder.
"Ice Queen." He called back without even a heart-beats hesitation.
She appeared back in the room, frowning, Angel had never said anything like what she thought she'd heard him say. "What'd you call me?"
He didn't bother looking up from his book. "Ice Queen." He repeated.
She snatched the book off him. "Hey!" He cried, standing up.
"What ya gonna do? Go all 'grr' on me?" She asked as she held the book behind her back.
"Cordelia, I could get that back in a sec if I wanted."
She just stared at him for a moment. "Then you obviously don't want it back that much cuz a couple of seconds just *flew* by!"
"Do you want me to hurt you? 'Cause, y'know, I will." He was only joking, and Cordelia knew that, but anyone watching would've thought the brunette was in serious trouble.
"Hey, don't you threaten me, mister! - I have a Guardian Angel!"
He backed her into the wall, continuing their little game. "And what's he like, then?"
Her eyes misted over for a second. "Well, he *totally* kicks evil's ass - which in this case you would be. - He, like, almost never flaws. He's tall, dark - and his dark is like a whole new dark to people who don't know him. And I *guess* he's handsome. - "
"Y'know, I've been told I look like him."
Cordelia's face scrunched up and she ducked under his arm he was leaning on the wall with. "Well, my Angel has yellow eyes and fangs. You don't."
"I could if the pretty girl wanted."
Cordelia looked about. "And she'd be hiding where?"
Angel suddenly grinned. "Y'know Cordy, if I was to turn into Angelus right now for no reason, maybe someone 'uncursing' me and lifting off what the oracles did to my soul, I know you'd be able to handle him well."
"Yeah, I'd totally kick his Angelic butt all the way to Sunnydale and have the Scooby gang deal." She rolled her eyes.
"I doubt that, but, you'd out-wit him and keep the verbal going until you cleverly persuaded him to leave. You have spunk."
"Yeah, and -" she pulled out a mini water-pistol from the back of her designer jeans, "I have holy water."
Angel laughed he never knew she carried that around, though it didn't cross his mind she'd ever use it on him. They were the best of friends now. He wasn't just Buffy's vampire boyfriend anymore, and she wasn't just a tag along. "You ever used that?"
She nodded. "Yep. Gave Spike an earful of it back in Sunnydale - *literally*." (totally just made that up -never actually happened in the series, but, in this pretend it did.)
Angel laughed. "I wish I had seen that."
"Yeah so do I. Y'know *none* of the others believed me when I told them I totally kicked blondies ass!"
Angel suddenly reached for his book she was still holding behind her back.
Much to his surprise she had quicker reflexes than he thought, and he fell to the floor as she jumped out of his way, keeping the book firmly in her grip.
She looked down at him. "Wow! Angel, maybe you need to train a little, I mean if you can't get a book from a nineteen-soon-to-be-twenty year old secretary how are you gonna protect that secretary from a bad-ass demon, huh?"
Angel pulled himself off the floor, still shocked at what had happened. "I just didn't expect you to realize what was going on - and even if you did I had no idea you could move like that. AND if I'd known you could move like that, I actually would've put some effort into it."
Cordelia smiled. "I *so* have hidden talents. - Just like you, I mean, no one would've guessed under that angelic face is this yucky yellowed eyed -"
"Hey, I thought that 'yucky yellowed eyed' guy was your Guardian Angel a minute ago!"
She grinned even wider. "Hey, y'know I love both your faces really. It's Angel behind *both* of them right?" Suddenly her eyes misted over and she looked to the floor, her beautiful smile gone.
Angel sensed her change in mood, though he didn't need his vampire senses to do that. "Cordelia?"
She looked back up at him, tears that had yet to be released shone in her beautiful wide eyes. "It's like Doyle. His last words, 'too bad we'll never know.... if this is a face you could learn to love'. - I never got the chance to say that I loved him no matter what he'd look like in demon form - gross eyes or not it's still Doyle in there looking out at me. And it's still Doyle I see."
Suddenly the book he'd been trying to get from her was shoved into his hands.
He looked at her worriedly. "Hope whatever your reading has a happy end, Angel. We need some more of those round here."
"It's non-fiction, Cora. On demons as it happens." He showed her the title.
"Oh,... well, in that case I hope they all *don't* have a happy end. And it's our job to do so I guess."
"No." He said abruptly.
Cordy raised an eyebrow. "No what?"
"It's not *our* job. You're not the one working for redemption here. You shouldn't have to take up a life like this. - You shouldn't have to see all the deaths and constantly put your life at risk. You're a young woman with your whole life ahead of you. You don't need all this demon crap. It's MY job. And mine alone."
"I'm your seer."
"You're my *friend*."
Cordelia's face slowly worked it's way into a smile at his words. "And *you're* my friend. And I won't let you face all the monstrosities in this world alone. I chose this life, Angel. And I'm happy living it, *with you*." She shrugged. "Besides, I think I'm not getting better at the acting thing.... And, well, there's the whole side of while I'd love to be famous, being on the big screen doesn't exactly compare to saving lives. And I've decided, that's what I wanna do. Grow old in these very offices with you, although you're gonna stay looking young and I'm gonna turn out like an old granny."
"You'll be a beautiful old granny, Cordy."
"I know. - Shame that I probably won't have any grandkids to call me granny."
"Hey, there's hope for you yet. The love of your life might just be in your next vision, you might marry him and have the kids that will give you those grandkids to call you granny."
Cordelia smiled. "Nice thought, Angel. But, if I'm planning on staying in this business, I might just turn away the love of my life - wouldn't want my job to put him in danger, and that goes for the kids and grandkids too."
"You want to dedicate your life to fighting evil." It was more of a realization than a question.
"What can I say? Fighting evil gives me a buzz."
"Cora, if you put your life into this - your whole life, you'll be giving up so much. Not just now, but in the future, who knows what things would be like if you left now and started a normal job someplace."
"My future's *here*, Angel, with you and all the soon-to-be-dead-demons. And Cordelia Chase has made her mind up on that. There's *so* not gonna be any changing it."
Angel was finding her giving up on the norm a little hard to handle. "You don't want kids?"
"Well, in my line of work, they'd be kind of a bother, cuz, like, all the bad demon guys who knew Angel Investigations were on their tail would probably attempt to blackmail us, and what better than a kid who has a place in the secretary slash seer's heart?"
"But, Cordy, one day you might want kids."
"If that day comes, Angel, I'll quit. And if I don't, you have permission to fire me - *only* when it gets to the stage of pregnancy though, cuz before that I could change my mind."
"Deal."
"Right, good. So is this the end of the conversation? - Cuz I am so *dying* to take a shower!"
"Go ahead."
He couldn't help but smile to himself as she dashed towards the bathroom saying something about it being her first shower there since she moved in.
Angel knew this girl was going to brighten his un-life.
~*~
Go on to part EIGHT
"I'm gonna sit here and read for awhile." He told her as the elevator stopped and they stepped out and he headed for the sofa which had a pile of books next to it.
Cordelia gave him an incredulous look, but then seemed to remember WHO she was looking at. "Fine by me, dead-boy. If you wanna be boring, you go for it!"
"What is *wrong* with reading?!"
"As I said, it's totally way up on the, -" she gave an enormous yawn placing her slender hand over her mouth, " - factor."
Angel's reply was to sit on the couch and snap a book open almost snapping it in half, his eyes never left Cordy. And he then fixed her with a look.
Cordelia span on her heel and made for the bedroom. "Brooder." She called over her shoulder.
"Ice Queen." He called back without even a heart-beats hesitation.
She appeared back in the room, frowning, Angel had never said anything like what she thought she'd heard him say. "What'd you call me?"
He didn't bother looking up from his book. "Ice Queen." He repeated.
She snatched the book off him. "Hey!" He cried, standing up.
"What ya gonna do? Go all 'grr' on me?" She asked as she held the book behind her back.
"Cordelia, I could get that back in a sec if I wanted."
She just stared at him for a moment. "Then you obviously don't want it back that much cuz a couple of seconds just *flew* by!"
"Do you want me to hurt you? 'Cause, y'know, I will." He was only joking, and Cordelia knew that, but anyone watching would've thought the brunette was in serious trouble.
"Hey, don't you threaten me, mister! - I have a Guardian Angel!"
He backed her into the wall, continuing their little game. "And what's he like, then?"
Her eyes misted over for a second. "Well, he *totally* kicks evil's ass - which in this case you would be. - He, like, almost never flaws. He's tall, dark - and his dark is like a whole new dark to people who don't know him. And I *guess* he's handsome. - "
"Y'know, I've been told I look like him."
Cordelia's face scrunched up and she ducked under his arm he was leaning on the wall with. "Well, my Angel has yellow eyes and fangs. You don't."
"I could if the pretty girl wanted."
Cordelia looked about. "And she'd be hiding where?"
Angel suddenly grinned. "Y'know Cordy, if I was to turn into Angelus right now for no reason, maybe someone 'uncursing' me and lifting off what the oracles did to my soul, I know you'd be able to handle him well."
"Yeah, I'd totally kick his Angelic butt all the way to Sunnydale and have the Scooby gang deal." She rolled her eyes.
"I doubt that, but, you'd out-wit him and keep the verbal going until you cleverly persuaded him to leave. You have spunk."
"Yeah, and -" she pulled out a mini water-pistol from the back of her designer jeans, "I have holy water."
Angel laughed he never knew she carried that around, though it didn't cross his mind she'd ever use it on him. They were the best of friends now. He wasn't just Buffy's vampire boyfriend anymore, and she wasn't just a tag along. "You ever used that?"
She nodded. "Yep. Gave Spike an earful of it back in Sunnydale - *literally*." (totally just made that up -never actually happened in the series, but, in this pretend it did.)
Angel laughed. "I wish I had seen that."
"Yeah so do I. Y'know *none* of the others believed me when I told them I totally kicked blondies ass!"
Angel suddenly reached for his book she was still holding behind her back.
Much to his surprise she had quicker reflexes than he thought, and he fell to the floor as she jumped out of his way, keeping the book firmly in her grip.
She looked down at him. "Wow! Angel, maybe you need to train a little, I mean if you can't get a book from a nineteen-soon-to-be-twenty year old secretary how are you gonna protect that secretary from a bad-ass demon, huh?"
Angel pulled himself off the floor, still shocked at what had happened. "I just didn't expect you to realize what was going on - and even if you did I had no idea you could move like that. AND if I'd known you could move like that, I actually would've put some effort into it."
Cordelia smiled. "I *so* have hidden talents. - Just like you, I mean, no one would've guessed under that angelic face is this yucky yellowed eyed -"
"Hey, I thought that 'yucky yellowed eyed' guy was your Guardian Angel a minute ago!"
She grinned even wider. "Hey, y'know I love both your faces really. It's Angel behind *both* of them right?" Suddenly her eyes misted over and she looked to the floor, her beautiful smile gone.
Angel sensed her change in mood, though he didn't need his vampire senses to do that. "Cordelia?"
She looked back up at him, tears that had yet to be released shone in her beautiful wide eyes. "It's like Doyle. His last words, 'too bad we'll never know.... if this is a face you could learn to love'. - I never got the chance to say that I loved him no matter what he'd look like in demon form - gross eyes or not it's still Doyle in there looking out at me. And it's still Doyle I see."
Suddenly the book he'd been trying to get from her was shoved into his hands.
He looked at her worriedly. "Hope whatever your reading has a happy end, Angel. We need some more of those round here."
"It's non-fiction, Cora. On demons as it happens." He showed her the title.
"Oh,... well, in that case I hope they all *don't* have a happy end. And it's our job to do so I guess."
"No." He said abruptly.
Cordy raised an eyebrow. "No what?"
"It's not *our* job. You're not the one working for redemption here. You shouldn't have to take up a life like this. - You shouldn't have to see all the deaths and constantly put your life at risk. You're a young woman with your whole life ahead of you. You don't need all this demon crap. It's MY job. And mine alone."
"I'm your seer."
"You're my *friend*."
Cordelia's face slowly worked it's way into a smile at his words. "And *you're* my friend. And I won't let you face all the monstrosities in this world alone. I chose this life, Angel. And I'm happy living it, *with you*." She shrugged. "Besides, I think I'm not getting better at the acting thing.... And, well, there's the whole side of while I'd love to be famous, being on the big screen doesn't exactly compare to saving lives. And I've decided, that's what I wanna do. Grow old in these very offices with you, although you're gonna stay looking young and I'm gonna turn out like an old granny."
"You'll be a beautiful old granny, Cordy."
"I know. - Shame that I probably won't have any grandkids to call me granny."
"Hey, there's hope for you yet. The love of your life might just be in your next vision, you might marry him and have the kids that will give you those grandkids to call you granny."
Cordelia smiled. "Nice thought, Angel. But, if I'm planning on staying in this business, I might just turn away the love of my life - wouldn't want my job to put him in danger, and that goes for the kids and grandkids too."
"You want to dedicate your life to fighting evil." It was more of a realization than a question.
"What can I say? Fighting evil gives me a buzz."
"Cora, if you put your life into this - your whole life, you'll be giving up so much. Not just now, but in the future, who knows what things would be like if you left now and started a normal job someplace."
"My future's *here*, Angel, with you and all the soon-to-be-dead-demons. And Cordelia Chase has made her mind up on that. There's *so* not gonna be any changing it."
Angel was finding her giving up on the norm a little hard to handle. "You don't want kids?"
"Well, in my line of work, they'd be kind of a bother, cuz, like, all the bad demon guys who knew Angel Investigations were on their tail would probably attempt to blackmail us, and what better than a kid who has a place in the secretary slash seer's heart?"
"But, Cordy, one day you might want kids."
"If that day comes, Angel, I'll quit. And if I don't, you have permission to fire me - *only* when it gets to the stage of pregnancy though, cuz before that I could change my mind."
"Deal."
"Right, good. So is this the end of the conversation? - Cuz I am so *dying* to take a shower!"
"Go ahead."
He couldn't help but smile to himself as she dashed towards the bathroom saying something about it being her first shower there since she moved in.
Angel knew this girl was going to brighten his un-life.
~*~
Go on to part EIGHT