Title: "Glitzy Changes"
Spoilers: Post "Waiting In the Wings".. right after Groo arrives. Everything after that? Didn't happen.
Rating: R.. starting this chapter, just to be safe.
Distribution: Ask me. I'd probably be flattered. :P
Disclaimer: Joss, Mutant Enemy, Greenwolf, and UPN own the shows and it's characters.. all that jazz.
Summary: Angel Investigations is lead to investigate a strange vision; Cordy and Angel are inadvertently effected.
Feedback: I welcome constructive criticism. And any other sort of comment, if any. :P

:D Thank you so much for all the great feedback from the last chapter. Some said it was a bit too short, but the fact is it was longer than the rest of them. :) Hopefully this will satiate you all.
Dilkara: I can't bring myself to switch away from the semi-script format this far into the story, but I do hear you. I'll try to key into the emotions a bit more.

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---Sunnydale High Library | March 1998---

Cordelia: "So what are we here for again? It better be important, after yanking me here during my bustling nightlife."

Xander: "Yeah, I got me one of them too. I hate to be interrupted during my special nightlife time."

He resists the impulse of using hand gestures to prove his point, and Cordelia rolls her eyes.

Buffy: "I told you guys, we have to wait till Giles gets here."

The slayer begins to tap her fingers on the table. Not because of boredom, but rather of her very active thought process. Angel was human, but he wasn't very Angel. Cordelia was there with him, and Buffy just didn't know what to make of her. Willow catches wind of Buffy's frustration and seeks to calm her uninformed friend down a bit.

Willow: "Just believe me when I say it's a whopper, and you'll be wanting to stick around Batgirl."

Just then, Giles comes in through the library doors.

Giles: "Buffy, you called for an emergency meeting?"

He takes a seat, squinting a bit due to the late hour. Buffy nods, and takes her time before beginning.

Buffy: "What took you so long?"

The exhausted man replies.

Giles: "What? Oh, my glasses fell into the bog."

Cordelia: "Hm, I didn't notice a haze outside. So anyways, why are we all here Buffy?"

She breathes in deeply, and looks toward her watcher.

Buffy: "Outside the Bronze today, we saw Angel."

Hearing that name kindled a primal anger in Rupert, and he struggles to steady his voice and filter his rage.

Giles: "Angelus."

Buffy: "No, Angel. He had his soul, and he was... human. I felt his pulse, and listened to him breathe."

She leaves out the fact that it was warm breath coming from a innocent, handsome face.

Buffy: "He was with Cordelia."

The slayer adds the last bit timidly, but they all hear it.

Cordelia: "What? No he wasn't!"

A surprised Cordelia jumps to her own defense in utter confusion.

Cordelia: "What are you talking about?"

Buffy: "No, not you, Cordelia. The other Cordelia. But it was still you."

Buffy clarifies, and Cordelia just kept her eyebrows tilted upward and her forehead creased in bewilderment.

Willow: "They told us they were clones."

Xander: "..two Cordelias.."

He smiles.

Giles: "Clones? But that's not possible, genetic science isn't anywhere near that."

Buffy: "And they were so.. pretty. They were Angel and Cordelia, but they were so.. beautiful."

Cordelia: "What? And I'm not?"

Buffy: "I mean.. like.. pure."

Cordelia: "What!?"

Buffy: "It's just.. it was like they were just born at 18, if that makes any sense."

Willow: "What about magic?"

Giles: "Well.. there are a few instances from which such a the situation could've rooted from. But they couldn't be defined as clones in any-- the most logical conclusion would be, perhaps, that they were from an alternate dimension.."

Buffy: "We have those?"

Willow: "What if they're more? What if there's one of me?!"

Xander: "..two Willows.."

Buffy: "Maybe even another slayer? I'm not an original?"

Xander: "..two Buffys.."

He smile turns into a grin.

Giles: "Actually, we should be the primary dimension. There are only a few alternates, and all the rest should be rooted from a few slight changes. So we'd all have copies of ourselves, but I don't see how we'd be able to determine which ones leaped here."

Xander: "..two Gil-- ew!"

Giles: "Where are they now? Why didn't they come with you?"

Buffy: "They ran away from me. It was all very strange."

Willow: "They could be anywhere."

Giles: "We'll have to find them. Their presence could affect the very universe. We'll have to look everywhere."

Cordelia: "So I'm with human Angel in another dimension?"

Buffy shoots an icy cold glare at the girl.

Cordelia: "Hey, you're not the one with a clone here. I'll have you know that I'm going through a very traumatic experience."

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---Angel's Apartment | March 1998---

Angel: "Mmm. This is so good, Cordy."

He goes for another mouthful, and mumbles.

Angel: "I mean, it's been so long.."

Cordelia: "Yeah, well I always used to order Wong's. They're the best in town."

She watches in amusement as Angel scarfs down another eggroll, while she twists some lo mein unto her chopsticks.

They've ordered the Chinese food first thing when they arrived from their trek from the Bronze, and changed into some of Angel's clothes while they waited. Angel practically fainted in delight when he found some leftover hair gel, and used such accordingly.

Cordelia: "Okay so, first thing we need to do is research. We'll have to sneak into the library tomorrow morning for the books."

With cheeks full of rice, Angel smiles at a thought.

Cordelia: "Oh yeah, you get to walk in daylight tomorrow! Well hooray for you."

She grins, and Angel chokes down his rice in order to let a laugh out.

Angel: "Funny how your smile's still beautiful when there's fried rice smushed on your teeth."

Cordelia blushes. Whether from the compliment or the embarrassment, she wouldn't know.

Cordelia: "Shut up, you dork."

Angel: "So.. should we pose as students?"

Cordelia: "Chances are, Giles will be there. Maybe I should go alone.."

Angel: "You wouldn't know what books to get.."

..and I'd miss you.

Angel: "I have to come."

Cordelia fiddles with her chopsticks in the now empty carton as her brain schemes.

Cordelia: "Alright.. so we get you a hat, sunglasses, and some baggy clothes.. instant nondescript teenager."

Angel: "A hat?"

She sighs.

Cordelia: "Up to you. Mess up your hair or hide out here forever and never find out if your destiny's screwed.. I could go either way."

Angel: "Fine."

He sulks as he cleans up the coffee table, and Cordelia smiles tenderly toward him.

Cordelia: "Aww.. ya big lug. I guess we could make do with just the ray-bans."

The corner of Angel's lips curl into a smile. She was just too good to him.

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---Hyperion Hotel | Lobby---

Gunn: "Wes, man.. what does it say?"

Wesley: "Eh.. it's-- it's a bit depressing and.."

Gunn: "We have to know, Wes."

Wesley: "The multiverse can only permit ten new realities made by this god, and he doesn't know that."

Fred: "So what if he goes over?"

Wesley: "..it would result in.. in the end of all realities."

Gunn: "So we stop him before he does. What about Angel and Cordelia?"

Wesley: "Even if we do stop him, I'm not sure if he could reverse the process. If he can't.. they remain in their comas forever in this reality."

Fred: "They can't do that! What about Conner? What about us? What about the mission?!"

Groo: "What about me?"

Wesley: "If he can't reverse it, then we certainly can be left to do so. There is no magic capable of bringing them back, other than the god's."

Groo: "So what shall we do, Wes-man?"

Wesley looks towards his friends.

Wesley: "We go kick some deity arse, is what we do."

All the group, save Groo, smiles at their leader's attitude. Wesley knew it'd be categorically impossible to stop a god, but he wasn't about to dishearten his friends.

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---Angel's Apartment | March 1998---

Angel sits on the recliner, getting ready to sleep there. Cordelia slips under the covers of the bed, and sits up.

Cordelia: "Well, you coming?"

Angel didn't realize she was going to share the bed with him, and his young male hormones reeled, along with his nerves. He'd have to do his best to stifle them. Cordelia knew it might be just a wee bit awkward without the baby in between them, but how much could a little thing like that possibly change? Besides, she couldn't just leave him to sleep on the armchair. Angel rises and heads over.

Angel: "Um.. yeah. I-- I guess."

He turns the light off, and slips into his side of the bed. Angel struggles to regulate his breathing, something he hasn't gotten use to control yet at times like these. Cordelia tries not to notice. Her calve brushes against him.

Angel: "So.. good night then."

Cordelia: "Night."

They turn their backs to each other, as each struggle with their temptations. She figures he was thinking of Buffy, and he figures she was thinking of Groo. Well, that's what they tell themselves, in order to hinder their hopeful thinking a bit. They each smolder with heat, and feel each other's body temperature radiating off their bodies. Any movement in the small bed would lead to something brushing against something else, and their bodies would spark at every one. Despite it all, they lay quietly and do their best at attempting to sleep.

..

...

Cordelia: "Angel?"

Angel: "Mm?"

Cordelia: "Did you just fart?"

Angel: "What? Well.. I- I haven't used a digestive system in-- in a while.. and when you start with-- with Chinese food.. you.."

She goes into a fit of hysterics, rolling and giggling into the sheets. He turns around on his side to look at her, propping his head up with his fist. Her speech was joined with heavy laughter.

Cordelia: "Oh ha haoh my God! Eee hehehewww, Angel!"

He smiles nervously and fells his cheeks (on his face) fire up.

Angel: "Does it makes me less sexy?"

She snorts and giggles even louder. It was the kind of laughter that seems like it'd never end, and fills your heart with what seems like absolute contentment. Her uncontrollable fit included grabbing her pillow and hitting Angel's face with a backhand swing. He rips the pillow from her grasp and moves so that he's hovering over her. His smile fades. Her laughing subsides, leaving a trail of light giggles here and there.

Angel: "Does it?"

His face is inches away from hers, and their breath mingles. She grins.

Cordelia: "Actually, it does."

..

Angel: "Oh. Okay."

Angel rolls back to his side and returns her pillow. She giggles a goodnight, and he returns it. They then easily drift into dreamland without trouble.

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