The visions? Oh, yeah, I've got visions coming out of my ears, sometimes a little blood, too, but---that doesn't make me a princess. That just makes me---kind of weird - Cordelia, Through the Looking Glass
--
Lindsey MacDonald was back in a suit, but he still looked different than before, changed since she had last seen him, all those years ago.
The man's chocolate brown eyes were deep, dark, intense, and for a second, she wondered if she was looking into Angel's own intense gaze...
The guy had turned into a serious brooder.
"What the hell is Lindsey MacDonald doing here?" she whispered, hand tightening around the scaly shoulder of Miller, eyes wide and expression startled as she gazed at the ex-lawyer shifting uneasily on the dirt packed floor.
Craning his head to look around her, Miller dismissed the man with a single look. "Oh. Him. He's her Lawyer."
"Who's lawyer?"
"Bethany's."
"What?!" Lindsey's eyes furrowed, but he said nothing, moving from Cordelia to the group of demons congregated around the wooden table.
"You with these?" he asked, voice husky and rough, disgust edged in his voice.
"What are you doing here?" Cordelia asked, pushing off of Miller and intercepting MacDonald, hand on his chest to keep him from moving around her.
He stared at the eye contact, eyes shifting up to glance at her. "Didn't know you were still around."
"Make that two," she snapped quickly, "Answer the question."
"From what I know, Glowbug, Loverboy there worked out a deal with Wolfram and Hart, his soul for Bethany's or something if he was allowed to defend her."
The answer was tossed out casually and without caring.
"That's not what I was looking for, Marj, but thanks for being nosy," she tossed behind her. "Lindsey-"
"I've got something to say to these bastards," he muttered, and this time Cordelia wasn't able to stop him as he shoved past her and directly to the table of loitering Champions. "Someone has to tell these bastards who the hell they really are."
"Great... the 'who we are' speech,' Al mimicked, rolling his eyes as he snatched at the mouse with his hand, grinning when he caught the scurrying rodent. "Score!"
"Pass."
Cordelia blinked, arms crossed as her mind whirled, trying to process the information that she had just heard, but didn't quite understand. Once again her eyes flickered to the doorway of the entrance.
"You'd think they'd lock it."
"This is what's important to you?" Lindsey asked, fists shoved into his pockets as he glared. Eyebrow arching in puzzled contemplation, Cordelia studied the scene before her. Wow. He was really pissed. Why was he pissed? "This stupid game? A woman's life hangs in the balance. More than that, her SOUL-"
"What the hell do you want US to do about it, Lindsey?" Miller growled, shooting straight up so that he towered a good two feet above the lawyer. "This isn't our fight."
"No, it's not your fight. You just sit here, watch, wait- you won't give a damn. Is this what Champions do?"
"Only on weekends," Cordelia remarked, rolling her eyes as she finally moved past him and settled into her place in the corner. Forget Lindsey. She was on a timetable here.
Opening her laptop, Cordelia attempted to focus on the tiny green display. Lips pursed, the Seer leaned back, once again drawn to the band of demons as they huddled, monstrous frames over a slab of wood that looked ready to break under their combined weight.
And the lawyer continued to circle around them, hands on his hips.
"She's going to DIE! Can't you see that?"
"Lindsey, just because you want to save your own ass, and screw the girl as a bonus, is no concern of ours."
"You fuck. It's not like that." Cordelia's eyes once again flickered to the scene, eyes narrowing. He slammed his hands on the wood. "I never said I was in love with the girl. It's not about love, it's about saving a soul."
"Hers or yours?" Miller queried, chin resting on his hands as he watched the mouse make a two pass. "Hit."
"Pass."
"I met that girl once. Just once, all right? On the street in Bakersfield."
"Pass."
"Score one, Al."
"She looked sick, okay? Standing in the rain with just a coat, looked familiar. I asked her if she needed a ride. That's all! Any human being-"
"Human being. Like you, Lawyer Boy?" Cordelia pursed her lips, tipping her laptop closed. What on earth...
"Look. I'm not saying I'm perfect." Lindsey's hand ran through his hair, and she realized why it was so scruffy. The boy was big on messing with it. "I took her to my room and I kept her there to dry her off. That's all. The girl is a decent person. Wolfram and Hart screwed her, and I was just trying to help her. And you puppets sit here on your asses, not caring, not caring about what happens when you guys can DO something-"
"Go away, Linds! We're busy!"
"Yeah, why don't you go see your girlfriend? She's got a nice place." Miller grinned.
"Won't have it long."
Cordelia's eyes narrowed, heart stinging at the callous treatment that came with the territory of being a Champion. Hearts became numb, souls became gray... humanity no longer mattered to Higher Beings.
The rush of the flames that licked through the Hell Portal made them all jump.
Lindsey jerked his head, suddenly spotting the portal, the flames, hot and searing. "What the..." He moved forward, staring into it. "What the hell is that?"
"Hell. For your girlfriend."
Cordelia winced, taking in an unsteady breath as she slowly stood, Lindsey jerking around, eyes steel and hard, disbelieving. "You fucks. She's innocent. She had a damned hard life, no one's ever taken her seriously, cared enough to treat the girl decent, and YOU- LISTEN to me, DAMN YOU!" With one stride, Lindsey grabbed the mouse, threw it behind him.
That got their attention.
Suddenly he had eight Champions swirling around him. "Listen, you little runt. You've seriously gotten-"
"Take me, if you can, Demon."
Miller did, reaching forward with one long, taloned hand, directly toward Lindsey's neck.
Oh, crap.
In an instant, Miller was blocked by a flash of light that seared his hand light, forcing the demon champion to yelp, jumping back. Hissing, he glared at Cordelia, but she only smiled slightly, blocking the Champions from getting to Lindsey. "Down, boys. Lindsey, let's get out of here."
"Cordelia-"
"Come ON, they'll kill you."
"Let them try, I've got an evil hand-"
"Yeah? Al has five." Cordelia pushed, hard, shoving through the group of demons and keeping Lindsey moving toward the entrance of the portal.
"They're inhuman bastards!"
"Well... yeah," Cordelia remarked. "They're demons."
"A girl's soul is in the balance. An innocent girl and those bastards-"
"I know, Lindsey," Cordelia nodded mechanically, eyes narrowed in a glare as she finally succeeded in pushing Lindsey from the Pressroom. With one word, the wall slid closed, shutting out that world. Her world.
--
The evil hand twitched, fingers that he hated clenched, closed his circulation, and once again Lindsey MacDonald cursed his past, cursed his heart, cursed his black soul.
His heart was beating tremendously fast, too fast.
Behind him, there was a soothing voice, soft and almost unrecognizable.
"Calm down, okay? Just take a deep breath..."
He closed his eyes, banging his fist against the brick, wincing at the pain. The red dust of the wall crumbled beneath his fingertips, and for a moment, it was the only color that mattered: red.
A soft hand settled on his shoulder, pressure squeezing that massaged gently, almost in an unspoken rhythm, in sync with his heartbeat, moving slow, ever more slowly...
He opened his eyes, found his panting slower, gentler.
Turning, he found himself looking in Cordelia's hazel eyes.
"Nice bout of righteous anger, you just had there, pal," she said frankly, words edged with a bite he had always remembered. "Especially considering that in the past, you've had absolutely no qualms about trying to kill ME."
He blinked, staring hard at the Seer, older now, harder... beautiful and dangerous.
"What are you doing in there?" he asked, voice a rasp.
"Back to square one?" she asked. "Back atcha, buddy. Is it true what they said in there? You traded your soul for Bethany's?"
Lindsey's heart heaved, shook within his ribcage, and suddenly the strength left him. He felt the hardness of the wall as it took his weight, and eyes rolled heavenward as he closed his eyes.
"What soul?" he whispered. "What soul."
"Umm... yours?"
He slammed his fast back into the wall again, feeling the brick bite into his skin. The pain helped his focus, only slightly. "It's a bargain. They save her. I ... rejoin the partnership."
"The partnership you... repeatedly... screwed?" Cordelia blinked. "Sorry, lawyer-boy, I'm just wondering why they aren't killing you, yet."
"They probably will, it doesn't matter. She matters."
"D'ya love her?" she asked, a matter-of-fact tone that seemed almost playful, out of place in his somber world. He almost winced at it.
"That's not important."
"Ah. Cause that's NEVER important." There was sarcasm in the Seer's voice, but her gaze was distracted, arms crossed, as if her attention, her mind, was elsewhere. "So... why'd you come here?"
Lindsey's lips were chapped, his tongue darted nervously over them, feeling the cotton dryness of his throat. Coughing, he swallowed hard. "The case... it's... Bethany's... she's..."
"Doomed?"
"The Law Firm wins, they damn her soul anyway. And these guys... they're Champions... I... figured they had sat on their big asses long enough."
"And pissing them off was going to rally the masses? I thought you were a lawyer."
The irritating remark forced the bitterness back, and snake's eyes snapped and held the hazel beamed at him. "And I thought you didn't do this anymore. I was instructed that Cordelia Chase wouldn't be a problem."
"Don't have very good teachers, then, do you?" Cordelia cocked an eyebrow, crossing her arms and almost glaring. "I'm here. Not for long. I'm going to get Bethany pardoned, and then I'm going."
The tone, so frank and without judgment and just... there, flooded him with a spark, a stab of hope that was unlike anything he had felt. Not recently. In the myriad of memories and bitterness, there had only been the hope of one woman, of a belief that if he could save ONE soul, just ONE, maybe he would have a CHANCE to feel something besides anger and hate...
Cordelia Chase, last he heard, had been labeled a Champion. A higher being. He heard Lilah talking about it once, a few days ago. Her tinkling, irritating laughter as she held the wine glass to her lips, a one note joke about a 'Light Bright' who's light had 'fizzled out'.
A glimmer of light blinking in the setting sun distracted him, made him focus on her left hand, third finger.
There was a diamond on it.
He blinked, letting that sink in.
"Angel know?"
"Oh, for the love of-" Sore spot, apparently. The Seer shifted her eyes away and gave an exasperated sigh, rubbing at her temple as if he had personally just given her a migraine. "That's not the point. Look... do me a favor... are you out of this?"
"Not until she's free."
The gaze she gave him was scrutinizing. He wondered at it. This wasn't the girl he knew. Not Angel's Seer, and not Angel's wife.
This girl was Cordelia... and for some reason, the look she gave him, like she could see into his soul... it freaked him out.
"Tell me then, what's going on with Wolfram and Hart. What they want with Beth, and why you decided to help."
He took a breath, rubbing at his eyes, suddenly tired, dead.
"Dancing with the devil, Cor?"
She smiled at him, a knowing grin that made his eyes narrow, heart beat just a little faster.
"Sweetie, I've met the devil. He's not all that."
--
Cordelia Chase had a headache.
The cool dusk air was breezy, and she was cold, thanks to forgetting her leather jacket in the other dimension.
Fumbling slightly, Cordelia wrapped her arms around her slender body, hazel eyes darkening in through as their gaze touched up and down the deserted street.
It was really something, the way the Powers that Be did things. The Pressroom, where the Higher Beings congregated was located in one of the seediest parts of town. It was a bad neighborhood, no question. Down every street, every corner, was isolation and despair, and yet...
Here, hidden, almost invisible to everyone except for those who were looking for it, was the one stop hope shop.
Nothing gaudy, different. Just... there.
Her lips quirked slightly. Still, wouldn't have killed anyone any to do a little redecorating. At least the place could be pretty, even if the inhabitants, by human standards, weren't.
Her smile faded as she turned, slowly reentering the abandoned Post Office, thoughts alive with Wolfram and Hart. The law firm, despite Angel's increased presence and newfound dedication in the mission, had only grown stronger. But their grip was slipping, and she knew, if Lilah lost this one, she would consider it not only significant, but personal.
Cordelia's features tightened, her steps faltered as she considered. One soul, and worlds would tip. Lilah wouldn't take this lying down, not after losing Angel, especially not after losing Wesley.
Her grip on the wooden frame nearly splintered it.
Cordelia knew Lilah Morgan. She WAS Lilah Morgan. She knew all about icy exteriors and walls, she knew all about the desperate need to hold onto your bitchiness, your body, and your power over men in an attempt to hold your own against every other fucking 'good girl' in the world.
Lilah had tried everything to keep Angel on the darkside. In the end, he had married Cordelia.
Lilah managed to seduce Wesley, almost lost herself in the love/hate game, and even had him for a short while.
He betrayed her, nearly killed her, for Faith.
Cordelia swallowed.
This wasn't going to be pretty. Whatever this trial stood for, the outcome for the losing and the winning party would equal an all out war.
So why get herself involved? Why care?
"Damn it, Cor. You were GOOD at being self centered once." The words were whispered in self recrimination, and Cordelia pushed away from the door frame, steps faster now, as she whispered the words, waved her hand, and flung herself into the Pressroom hallway.
Just get it over with. Finish the character of witness, hand it to Angel, get the check, her fiancé and his mother, and just LEAVE.
Los Angeles was infecting her, filling her, and even now, her concentration on her visionity had never been so real, so conscious.
It was giving her a headache, the likes that she hadn't had in years.
She had to get out of here.
But Cordelia, ever present May Queen, former Princess of Pylea and Seer for the Powers that Be, found her steps slowing, her heartbeat quickening, and a very real rip of emotion slide through her as she entered the Press Room, and found a room of quiet demons, most twice her size.
//-You, on the other hand, feel nothing, because you are a vicious bitch.
-So. You know me.
-Please. I was you. With better shoes.//
Her eyes narrowed, and the disdainful, seeping anger that filtered into every syllable was real.
"Well. If it isn't the Champions of the Innocent."
There wasn't one that could meet her gaze for more than two seconds.
The pulsing in her temples grew, and it distracted her, forcing her concentration off her colleagues and onto her headache instead.
"Cordelia."
The unfamiliar use of her real name made her pause, blink as she turned back to find Miller with his hand outstretched.
"Call for you," he replied stiffly, large hand opening to reveal her open cell phone.
Pulling one arm into her leather jacket in an attempt to ward off the sudden chill, Cordelia walked forward, plucking the phone out of his hand and holding it awkwardly to her head with her shoulder, as she attempted to shrug into the jacket with her other hand.
"Hello?"
"Cordelia?"
She sighed, a welcome bout of relief sliding through her as she gave a soft smile. "Hey Douglas."
"Cordelia... I ... in trouble."
She froze, the tone in Douglas' voice panicked, scared...
"What?"
"I need help, Cordelia."
"Where are you?" she asked, body frozen as she listened.
"I'm... in jail."
The jacket fell to the floor.
"WHAT?!"
"In jail. Downtown."
"You're WHERE?!"
"I got arrested-"
"Well, how did you- what did you-" Cordelia's voice suddenly rose three octaves, to become something of a shrill yell, and when even SHE cringed from the tone, she had to stop. With a deep breath, and one sentence, "I'll be right there," Cordelia clipped the phone closed, grabbed her jacket, and whirled for the door.
--
When the little Light Bright wanted to move, she really could move.
Miller considered telling her about Skip's entrance, but even before his mouth was open, she had already plowed into the demon.
The larger guy doubled over in a howl as she tripped.
"Oh, God, sorry! Sorry!" Skipping on one foot to regain her balance, Cordelia flew (almost literally) to the door, leaving a limping Skip behind.
"What is that..."
"You all right, Skip?" Marksy asked, eyebrow cocked as the demon guide hobbled to the end of the table, grey hand massaging ruefully at one tender foot.
"Forget sabers, swords, light brights... that girl's HEELS are a BITCH." He blinked, once again looking toward the now empty doorway. "What's going on in here?!"
"Douglas is in trouble," Gypsy stated matter-of-factly, head buried in the book he had been reading all this time, never lifting his head.
"Man forgets hanky, Mama goes to wipe nose," Marj stated, a grin looming on his features.
"I still give that marriage six months," Miller groused, leaning over the table to pluck Cordelia's palm pilot from her chair.
"What the HELL are you talking about?!"
Oh, yeah. Skip. Arrogant Bastard.
"What do you want, Skip?" Al asked, looking almost comical, hunched over the way he was, trying to find the escaped mouse in the corner. "That you had to go and lower yourself to join us meager Champions."
"Stuff it, okay?" Giving his foot one final pat, Skip finally put it down, testing the weight with a small hiss of pain. "I'm checking up. You guys all know your positions, right?"
The impatience of the day was quickly wearing on Miller. With a growl of frustration, he slapped the saber on Skip's ass.
He yelped, turning to glare at him.
"Why can't you kill this girl at five instead of seven? I know you're dying for her ass."
"Ah. And I suppose seven is just TERRIBLY inconvenient for YOU," Skip groused, jerking the saber away from him.
"I'm bored."
"I can't change what the Powers have set."
"Oh, SURE he can't," Al said. He looked grumpy. The mouse was long gone. "But you can stall the judgement until the last possible minute so Wolfram and Hart could defend the case, now couldn't you?"
The look Skip gave the demon could have drawn blood. "I had nothing to do with that. All right? If it was up to me, this girl would be damned. You know her destiny as well as I do."
"So why the red tape?"
"You know the Powers, like to try and keep things fair. What with Angel Investigations running around like puppets trying to save her pretty little-"
"Angel Investigations is beating a dead horse." There was just enough malice behind that to force Miller to glance up, but there was no grin on Skip's face. The demon just looked pissed. "That vampire likes to play sides, and he's not playing this one. It's time that vampire got put in his place once and for all. He's no Champion."
"What about the Light Bright? She's in on this too, you know. Got a fighting chance."
That got a reaction. Skip's gaze locked on his, and something told Miller, Skip believed him. "She's not in this for long. You heard her. She's getting married."
The laughter came before he could help it, and it didn't help Skip any when the other Champions joined in.
"Shut up."
--
She had gotten out for a full five years before she had been pulled back in.
She hated all it stood for. She hated what the job was. What it meant.
But she could never really stay away from it, and when they opened the special 'X-Files' department (due to the excessive paranormal activity in Los Angeles that even THEY couldn't ignore anymore) and offered her the badge and gun back to run it, she had said no.
Repeatedly.
Until she couldn't say no anymore, when she said yes.
This was the one time she regretted it.
If it was one person in the entire world that Kate Lockley was just NOT in the mood to ever see again, it was Cordelia Chase.
It was a surreal nightmare, and it was one that made her keep her grip on her gun, and her free hand on her head, irritation giving way to plain resilience.
"I didn't STEAL any watch, Cordelia!"
The steel bars that held Douglas Sanderson III were dirty, but he didn't seem to care. His face was pressed between them, and he stared beseechingly at them from behind them.
She had to hand it to Cordelia. He was no Angel. But he was cute.
Someone snapped fingers in her face. There was a diamond speck masquerading as a ring on the left hand. "Kate! Over here."
Kate blinked, once again moving from Cordelia to the fiance'.
Curious, she had to ask. "Does Angel know?"
"OH, FOR THE LOVE OF-" Apparently, Cordelia had a headache, she kept rubbing at her temples like she had an itch. "Just let him out."
Kate sighed, once again locking eyes with the former Seer.
"Cordelia, you're screwed. He's already booked."
"But I'm innocent! I've never stolen a watch in my life!"
"Yes, sweetie, I know you didn't," Cordelia said mechanically, turning again to glare at Kate with hazel bursts of anger. "Come on, Kate. Let him out."
The detective sighed. It was because of this woman that she had those three grey hairs on the back of her head. "I can't, Cordelia," she repeated. "He's accused of stealing a watch, and they found the watch on him."
"But I NEVER STOLE THE-"
"Douglas, please. Shut up." Reaching behind her to pat absently at the hands flailing from between the bars, Cordelia kept her gaze locked. "Really," she said flatly. "Who accused him? Wesley. Wesley! Hello! Ex-Wolfram and Hart Employee? Ex-EVIL?!"
"Current do-gooder?" Kate interrupted. "Come on, Cordelia. The evidence-"
"Is shit! Let him out!"
"Right, because you saying it THREE times in the last minute is really gonna just make the law books just completely disappear."
"You KNOW this is crap!"
Kate took in a breath, closing her eyes in an effort to count to ten. Slowly. One. Two. Three.
"I'm going to KILL that weasely-"
Her eyes shot open. "Cordelia. You're in a police station. You make a threat, I'll have to book YOU, too."
"Kate!"
"Hey, Cordelia- I know about Wes, okay? But I can't just let him go, just because YOU say so!"
"But I didn't STEAL ANY-"
"Shut UP, Douglas!" Her voice marked in perfect sync with Cordelia's, and both woman blinked at each other in surprise, as the hapless fiancé shut his mouth and leaned miserably against the bars.
"Okay, enough. Are you going to let him out, or aren't you?"
Kate crossed her arms. "No."
"Oh?"
"Higher Being, or whatever crap you're calling yourself these days, Cordelia, I can't bend the rules."
Cordelia glared. She glared back. Cordelia glared some more. Kate shifted her feet, and glared back.
There had always been a lot of glaring between the two of them.
But this was it. The foot was down. It wasn't coming back up.
"Bail?"
"One thousand."
"Fine. Take a check?"
"Long as it's certified."
"I hate you."
"Nice to see you, too, Cordelia. Please follow the deputy to the cashiers."
One more glare, for old time's sake, and Cordelia was down the hallway, heels clicking and clacking in her wake.
Kate held her hands on her hips, eyes narrowing as she shook her head, looking back to study the fiancé.
Pursing her lips, she managed a small, grim smile, before turning away, through the cells, and into her office.
"You two are so full of shit."
The two figures lounging in her office both gave her beautifully fake smiles.
"But Ms. Lockley," Wesley sounded sincere and hurt, standing and patting at his jacket. "I couldn't be more truthful."
"If he was lying," Faith smirked. Did the girl ever learn how to sit right? Just SIT in a chair without treating the damned thing like finding new ways to straddle suggestively was an Olympic sport?
"Just tell Angel the guy owes me big," Kate finally said, closing her office door, pushing Faith's boots roughly to the ground from where they perched on her desk. "Once of these days that guy is going to have to catch up with this century and learn that a divorce is actually a DIVORCE."
"How'd Cor take it?" Faith asked.
"If she could have, she would have fried me," Kate said matter-of-factly, scribbling at a report in her hand, before casting a blue-hued glare at the employees of Angel Investigations. "And the next time you two want to frame the poor guy, can you make it a LITTLE more believable? I can't believe YOU actually TRIED the 'he stole my watch' trick. Even *I* watched that movie."
"Pretty fucking good movie, though, right, Wes?"
"A personal favorite of mine."
"Get out. I don't want to see you in here again. And tell Angel this is the LAST TIME. I still like to PRETEND to follow the rules, even where he's concerned."
"Lovely to see you again, Kate." Charming to the last, Wesley gave a small smile, pulling his girlfriend out of her seat and towards the door.
"See you later- 'bout six?"
SIX?! Kate's eyes widened, and her head jerked up.
"Hey! Wait- what the hell are you two planning at si-"
The door slammed so hard the glass almost broke in the dusted mirror.
Shit.
--
END CHAPTER.