Title: the Marked One
Author: Aset
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*-*-*-*
PART FOUR.
*-*-*-*
*-* a couple of days later *-*
She was standing outside, still doubting between walking away, or knocking on the door.
'Damn it, Chase! Just knock the damn door!' she said to herself. It wasn't like her, being nervous like this, and she felt like a kid again. It was like that time she went to see Michael on her own, by bike, without a phone- call first. Her heart had thumbed just like this. Michael had been her best friend when she was little, although most people didn't know that. They didn't know Cordelia Chase had real friends, not to mention a heart.
She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
'See, that wasn't so hard' she said, smiling.
She heard footsteps approaching, then the door opened.
'Cordelia?' Giles frowned as he saw the cheerleader standing outside, 'What are you doing here?'
'I'm...is Vicky home? I was just going to... I figured we could hang...' she said.
'Yes...Come in' Giles said as he opened the door a bit further and let the girl in. He was still surprised to find Cordelia at his porch, alone. She'd been to his place before, but that was with the rest of the Scoobies...
He gestured her to sit down on the couch and called Victoria downstairs.
'She's up in her room' he explained.
'I'm coming!' they heard her yell from upstairs, followed by the door flying open and closing again.
'Cordy!' Victoria shouted as she saw her friend from up the stairs.
'Hey' Cordelia said, smiling at the girl.
'What are you doing here?' Victoria asked, not really expecting visitors on a Saturday afternoon.
'I figured, maybe we could...hang or something?' she said.
'What about Xander?' Vicky asked as she jumped into a chair, 'he's your boyfriend, right?'
'He is... but he's having some quality fun with his friends.' She said with a sigh.
'Doesn't that include you?' Vicky asked her, feeling a bit sorry for the girl. She genuinly liked Cordelia. After all, she was the one who had greeted her as first, accepted her in a sort of way and she'd stayed with her after the others had gone of to their imagined appointments.
'I'm not named after a tree, or have no slay...goofy name' she explained, but Victoria only give her a 'huh?'
'Willow and Buffy' Cordelia then said with a sigh.
'Oh... Sorry' Vicky said, then, after a short pause, 'So...what would you like to do?'
'All the same to me!' Cordy said with a smile.
'What about a game of Scrabble, or...we have other games too' Victoria said, enthusiastic as ever, but also insecure... Although she really liked Cordelia, there was still something intimidating about her...
'Sure...you're in too, Giles?' Cordelia asked, looking over to the man her friend called 'dad'.
'I'm...' Giles said entering ht living-room again with a plate of cookies and some tea.
'Oh, come on, dad! It'll be fun'
'Guaranteed!'
The girls both gave him a brilliant smile, and he couldn't say no anymore.
'Scrabble it is then...' he sighed as he went to sit down.
*-*-*
'Why do we keep doing this?' Xander asked, looking away from the Tv-screen. They were in Buffy's room, watching their weekly movie, boring as usual. Another Indy-movie, musically as ever, with Xander and Buffy almost bored to sleep, and Willow, smiling, or weeping, in front of the screen, hanging on each and every sound that comes out of the boxes.
''Cause we don't want to miss out on the latest romantic-touching-trend in India?' Buffy said, patting Xander's knee supportively.
'The Willster seems getting pretty into this' Xander sighed, laying back on the bed, sighing deeply.
'Well...it's kinda cool. And it's always good to lean stuff about other cultures.' Willow said defensively, looking at her friends, 'besides, what else can we do?'
'Yeah...it's a Saturday-afternoon, we're young, and...' Buffy started
'Broke' Xander filled in. No need for more words.
'Well, couldn't we... ask Cordelia or so?' Willow carefully asked.
'No... This afternoon is ours!' Buffy said, not wanting this day with her friends to be spoiled by Queen C.
'I meant because of the money' Willow then said
'Oh'
'hey, you're still talking about my girlfriend' Xander said, feeling personally attacked in some way. He knew they didn't really like Cordelia, and heck, even he had hated her, but she was his' now!
'Yes, who's got money, and is now having a wonderful time spending that money!'
The three of them sighed again, and watched the rest of the movie in silence. Only Xander's snoring was to be heard.
*-*-*
'I'm sure it's right' Cordelia said. They were still in Giles' place, playing Scrabble. The play-board was only filled half, and Cordelia had just lay don a word... wrongly spelled according to Giles, non-existing according to Victoria.
'Soo-chong' Victoria read teh word again, still clueless about it's meaning.
'Yes, Soochong! And I'm sure it's correct' Cordelia said, looking over at Giles, searching for a dictionary.
'But what does it mean?' Vicky asked.
'I thought you were British?' Cordelia said, looking over to Victoria
'I am...mostly' the girl said.
'Oh, come on, and you tell me you don't know about tea?'
'tea?'
'Soochong is a sort of tea' Giles said,, ' But I was pretty sure it was spelled with o -u instead of o-o'
'Maybe it's American English, dad!' Vicky said.
'Well, that's also possible of course' Giles said as he put the dictionary down and joined the girls at the table.
'So...is it all right?'
'I guess so.'
Cordy smiled brightly, 'You guys so remind me of Michael. He used to do that all the time, use that silly dictionary!' She said as she wrote down her well-earned points.
'Who's he?' Vicky asked with raised interest.
'He...he used to be my best friend' Cordelia said, looking down. The smile had disappeared of her face. 'I can't believe I just said that!' she thought.
'Used to be?' Giles asked. He was actually surprised to see Cordelia so...sad. He'd never really seen that with her, nor had he ever heard her say anything about friends, not to mention best friends.
'Yes...he...disappeared four years ago...' She said, still looking down.
'I'm sorry' Giles uttered.
'We didn't know..'
'He was British too...or so he claimed... he was born in London, that's all.'
A silence fell between them as a tear appeared in Cordy's eyecorner. She smiled as she wiped it away, pointing at Giles, telling him he was up next to form a word.
*-*-*
That evening, Buffy left her friends behind, deciding to run some errands by herself. She decided to go patrolling, knowing Angel would show up. Xander and Willow had enthusiastically volunteered to come along on her night of slaying, but she wanted to go alone. After all what happened with Angel, she didn't want them to be around him too often, so she left the two of them at Xander's playing monopoly...
It was calm on the streets, and on the cemetery. She waited for a vamp to rise, and when he id, he was soon turned into a pile of dust.
'You haven't lost your touch' a voice behind her said while she was putting her stake away.
'Angel' she said, turning around with a bright smile on her face.
The former lovers walked around the cemetery together, talking about what happened that day. Buffy decided to fill Angel in on the news....
*-*-*
They had finished the evening with a game of cards, which Cordelia had won, then Cordy decided to go home. It was already eight o'clock, and she didn't want to disturb Giles and Victoria any longer. She'd stayed there for dinner already, but she was happy too, her parents weren't at home anyway.
They'd made French fries and fish, and it had been surprisingly good. She had no idea Giles could cook!
'Thanks, it's been a great day' Cordelia said as she left.
'Yes, it was wonderful!' Vicky agreed.
'We should do this again some other time', Giles said. He had a great time, with his daughter, and surprisingly enough also with Cordelia. She had risen in his estimation.
'Why don't you come over to my place the next time. We can go horseback riding or something! And we have a pool!' Cordelia said with a smile!
'Cool!' Vicky exclaimed as she put down the same radiant smile as Cordelia.
'You should come too, Giles!' Cordy said, not wanting to exclude Vicky's new-found father, 'We can have a barbecue or something'
'I...That'd be nice' he smiled at the girl.
'Well, gotta go now! Thank you for the great afternoon, and the... delicious food' Cordy said with a smile, picking out her carkeys as she left the house, waving behind her.
Giles sighed as he closed the door behind him. He was tired. It had been a great afternoon, but now he longed for a book, a seat and a cup of tea... he smiled at his daughter as he went to sit down, picking up the book he'd been reading previously, watching as his daughter jumped into the couch, changing channels, finally stopping on a Cartoon...
'Being a dad is exhausting' he concluded as he started to read...
*-*-*
'So Giles has got a daughter?' Angel asked, still a bit in disbelief, 'and all this time he didn't know?'
'Yup, that's the idea.'
They were walking back towards Buffy's house. There hadn't been much trouble that night; two vampires, that had been all. One dusted at the cemetery, the other one, well, that had been Angel...
'Well, it's a good thing..Giles deserves a family' Angel concluded.
Buffy sighed, 'I guess...'
'You don't like her' Angel stated
'No, not really... It's like...you know... she just rushes in...'
'Standing between you and Giles?'
'Yes..no!...maybe just a little...'
Angel sighed. He knew Giles meant a lot to Buffy, even though he could be grumpy and demanding, but he was her watcher after all. He was like a father to her.
They continued the rest of the way in silence, just enjoying each others company... At her porch, Angel gave her a little good night kiss
'Don't worry, you haven't lost him' he whispered in her ear, before disappearing into the night.
*-*-*
Author: Aset
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*-*-*-*
PART FOUR.
*-*-*-*
*-* a couple of days later *-*
She was standing outside, still doubting between walking away, or knocking on the door.
'Damn it, Chase! Just knock the damn door!' she said to herself. It wasn't like her, being nervous like this, and she felt like a kid again. It was like that time she went to see Michael on her own, by bike, without a phone- call first. Her heart had thumbed just like this. Michael had been her best friend when she was little, although most people didn't know that. They didn't know Cordelia Chase had real friends, not to mention a heart.
She took a deep breath and knocked on the door.
'See, that wasn't so hard' she said, smiling.
She heard footsteps approaching, then the door opened.
'Cordelia?' Giles frowned as he saw the cheerleader standing outside, 'What are you doing here?'
'I'm...is Vicky home? I was just going to... I figured we could hang...' she said.
'Yes...Come in' Giles said as he opened the door a bit further and let the girl in. He was still surprised to find Cordelia at his porch, alone. She'd been to his place before, but that was with the rest of the Scoobies...
He gestured her to sit down on the couch and called Victoria downstairs.
'She's up in her room' he explained.
'I'm coming!' they heard her yell from upstairs, followed by the door flying open and closing again.
'Cordy!' Victoria shouted as she saw her friend from up the stairs.
'Hey' Cordelia said, smiling at the girl.
'What are you doing here?' Victoria asked, not really expecting visitors on a Saturday afternoon.
'I figured, maybe we could...hang or something?' she said.
'What about Xander?' Vicky asked as she jumped into a chair, 'he's your boyfriend, right?'
'He is... but he's having some quality fun with his friends.' She said with a sigh.
'Doesn't that include you?' Vicky asked her, feeling a bit sorry for the girl. She genuinly liked Cordelia. After all, she was the one who had greeted her as first, accepted her in a sort of way and she'd stayed with her after the others had gone of to their imagined appointments.
'I'm not named after a tree, or have no slay...goofy name' she explained, but Victoria only give her a 'huh?'
'Willow and Buffy' Cordelia then said with a sigh.
'Oh... Sorry' Vicky said, then, after a short pause, 'So...what would you like to do?'
'All the same to me!' Cordy said with a smile.
'What about a game of Scrabble, or...we have other games too' Victoria said, enthusiastic as ever, but also insecure... Although she really liked Cordelia, there was still something intimidating about her...
'Sure...you're in too, Giles?' Cordelia asked, looking over to the man her friend called 'dad'.
'I'm...' Giles said entering ht living-room again with a plate of cookies and some tea.
'Oh, come on, dad! It'll be fun'
'Guaranteed!'
The girls both gave him a brilliant smile, and he couldn't say no anymore.
'Scrabble it is then...' he sighed as he went to sit down.
*-*-*
'Why do we keep doing this?' Xander asked, looking away from the Tv-screen. They were in Buffy's room, watching their weekly movie, boring as usual. Another Indy-movie, musically as ever, with Xander and Buffy almost bored to sleep, and Willow, smiling, or weeping, in front of the screen, hanging on each and every sound that comes out of the boxes.
''Cause we don't want to miss out on the latest romantic-touching-trend in India?' Buffy said, patting Xander's knee supportively.
'The Willster seems getting pretty into this' Xander sighed, laying back on the bed, sighing deeply.
'Well...it's kinda cool. And it's always good to lean stuff about other cultures.' Willow said defensively, looking at her friends, 'besides, what else can we do?'
'Yeah...it's a Saturday-afternoon, we're young, and...' Buffy started
'Broke' Xander filled in. No need for more words.
'Well, couldn't we... ask Cordelia or so?' Willow carefully asked.
'No... This afternoon is ours!' Buffy said, not wanting this day with her friends to be spoiled by Queen C.
'I meant because of the money' Willow then said
'Oh'
'hey, you're still talking about my girlfriend' Xander said, feeling personally attacked in some way. He knew they didn't really like Cordelia, and heck, even he had hated her, but she was his' now!
'Yes, who's got money, and is now having a wonderful time spending that money!'
The three of them sighed again, and watched the rest of the movie in silence. Only Xander's snoring was to be heard.
*-*-*
'I'm sure it's right' Cordelia said. They were still in Giles' place, playing Scrabble. The play-board was only filled half, and Cordelia had just lay don a word... wrongly spelled according to Giles, non-existing according to Victoria.
'Soo-chong' Victoria read teh word again, still clueless about it's meaning.
'Yes, Soochong! And I'm sure it's correct' Cordelia said, looking over at Giles, searching for a dictionary.
'But what does it mean?' Vicky asked.
'I thought you were British?' Cordelia said, looking over to Victoria
'I am...mostly' the girl said.
'Oh, come on, and you tell me you don't know about tea?'
'tea?'
'Soochong is a sort of tea' Giles said,, ' But I was pretty sure it was spelled with o -u instead of o-o'
'Maybe it's American English, dad!' Vicky said.
'Well, that's also possible of course' Giles said as he put the dictionary down and joined the girls at the table.
'So...is it all right?'
'I guess so.'
Cordy smiled brightly, 'You guys so remind me of Michael. He used to do that all the time, use that silly dictionary!' She said as she wrote down her well-earned points.
'Who's he?' Vicky asked with raised interest.
'He...he used to be my best friend' Cordelia said, looking down. The smile had disappeared of her face. 'I can't believe I just said that!' she thought.
'Used to be?' Giles asked. He was actually surprised to see Cordelia so...sad. He'd never really seen that with her, nor had he ever heard her say anything about friends, not to mention best friends.
'Yes...he...disappeared four years ago...' She said, still looking down.
'I'm sorry' Giles uttered.
'We didn't know..'
'He was British too...or so he claimed... he was born in London, that's all.'
A silence fell between them as a tear appeared in Cordy's eyecorner. She smiled as she wiped it away, pointing at Giles, telling him he was up next to form a word.
*-*-*
That evening, Buffy left her friends behind, deciding to run some errands by herself. She decided to go patrolling, knowing Angel would show up. Xander and Willow had enthusiastically volunteered to come along on her night of slaying, but she wanted to go alone. After all what happened with Angel, she didn't want them to be around him too often, so she left the two of them at Xander's playing monopoly...
It was calm on the streets, and on the cemetery. She waited for a vamp to rise, and when he id, he was soon turned into a pile of dust.
'You haven't lost your touch' a voice behind her said while she was putting her stake away.
'Angel' she said, turning around with a bright smile on her face.
The former lovers walked around the cemetery together, talking about what happened that day. Buffy decided to fill Angel in on the news....
*-*-*
They had finished the evening with a game of cards, which Cordelia had won, then Cordy decided to go home. It was already eight o'clock, and she didn't want to disturb Giles and Victoria any longer. She'd stayed there for dinner already, but she was happy too, her parents weren't at home anyway.
They'd made French fries and fish, and it had been surprisingly good. She had no idea Giles could cook!
'Thanks, it's been a great day' Cordelia said as she left.
'Yes, it was wonderful!' Vicky agreed.
'We should do this again some other time', Giles said. He had a great time, with his daughter, and surprisingly enough also with Cordelia. She had risen in his estimation.
'Why don't you come over to my place the next time. We can go horseback riding or something! And we have a pool!' Cordelia said with a smile!
'Cool!' Vicky exclaimed as she put down the same radiant smile as Cordelia.
'You should come too, Giles!' Cordy said, not wanting to exclude Vicky's new-found father, 'We can have a barbecue or something'
'I...That'd be nice' he smiled at the girl.
'Well, gotta go now! Thank you for the great afternoon, and the... delicious food' Cordy said with a smile, picking out her carkeys as she left the house, waving behind her.
Giles sighed as he closed the door behind him. He was tired. It had been a great afternoon, but now he longed for a book, a seat and a cup of tea... he smiled at his daughter as he went to sit down, picking up the book he'd been reading previously, watching as his daughter jumped into the couch, changing channels, finally stopping on a Cartoon...
'Being a dad is exhausting' he concluded as he started to read...
*-*-*
'So Giles has got a daughter?' Angel asked, still a bit in disbelief, 'and all this time he didn't know?'
'Yup, that's the idea.'
They were walking back towards Buffy's house. There hadn't been much trouble that night; two vampires, that had been all. One dusted at the cemetery, the other one, well, that had been Angel...
'Well, it's a good thing..Giles deserves a family' Angel concluded.
Buffy sighed, 'I guess...'
'You don't like her' Angel stated
'No, not really... It's like...you know... she just rushes in...'
'Standing between you and Giles?'
'Yes..no!...maybe just a little...'
Angel sighed. He knew Giles meant a lot to Buffy, even though he could be grumpy and demanding, but he was her watcher after all. He was like a father to her.
They continued the rest of the way in silence, just enjoying each others company... At her porch, Angel gave her a little good night kiss
'Don't worry, you haven't lost him' he whispered in her ear, before disappearing into the night.
*-*-*