Title: Miracles Do Happen
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Sequel to 'Please, Don't Leave Me'. It's been 3 years since her death and The Powers That Be are letting Cordy go back…but it might take some work on her behave.
Couples: Regular ensemble.
Feedback: Yes please! Much needed!
Disclaimer: Angel and crew belong to the magnificent Joss
Whedon and company. Nothing is mine, just my imagination. *g* *************************************************************************** Chapter
Ten ***************************************************************************
Doyle: "You ready princess?" Cordelia looked at the orb as it showed Angel, Connor, Spike, and Buffy fighting the beast with all they had. She let a tear fall from her eye but quickly wiped it away and put on a serious face. It was no time for tears because she was going to kick ass. She turned to Doyle and Skip. She was no longer wearing the pure white robe she had been wearing. She now wore a black tight leather sleeveless top with tight leather pants and boots. She looked down at her outfit and then back at the guys with a raised eyebrow.
Cordy: "Guys."
Skip: "We just thought you might want something more comfortable to wear when you're fighting."
Cordy: "You call leather *comfortable*?"
Doyle: "Well I have to say it does look good on you." Doyle tilted his head to the side and whistled which got a laugh from Cordelia.
Cordy: "Funny, now what do I have to do to get out of here?"
Skip: "Go through this door."
Cordy: "What door?"
Skip: "This door." Skip moved to the side and there it was. Cordelia raised an eyebrow.
Cordy: "I don't remember that being there."
Doyle: "Yeah, I know, freaky. That's how come *I* don't live here." Cordelia smiled and shook her head. She hugged her best friend and guide.
Cordy: "Thanks guys."
Doyle: "Just go and kick some ass." Skip opened the door and she could see where everyone else was. It was like looking in her orb. She took a deep breath and walked towards the door.
Skip: "Happy landing." He gave her a good push and then closed the door behind her hearing her scream. The door disappeared and he rubbed his hands together and looked at Doyle.
Skip: "So…what do we do know?"
Doyle: "How about another game of poker?"
Skip: "Sounds good."
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Cordy: "AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Cordelia landed in a heap on the snow faced down. She raised her head and saw her friends, badly beaten and battered, still fighting the beast. She coughed the snow from her mouth and cursed Skip and Doyle as she made her way towards them.
Anya: "Hey…isn't that Cordelia?" She pointed towards the fight and squinted to see her better. Dawn smacked her upside the head.
Anya: "OW! What was that for?"
Dawn: "Anya! You know that Cordelia's…" Dawn got silent and lowered her head.
Anya: "Geez…I know that but look." She grabbed Dawn by the head and pointed her in that direction.
Anya: "See!" Dawn squinted as well and then her eyes grew wide as she gasped in shock.
Dawn: "Oh my god. Look guys!" Everyone turned to see and gasped at the sight before them. It was really Cordelia, in the flesh, no ghost no nothing.
Willow: "She must have completed her test." She turned to Wesley and smiled.
Willow: "Isn't this great Wesley? She's back…Cordelia's back." Wesley hadn't let the shock set in yet as he continued to watch Cordelia walk towards the fight. Everyone else watched as well and were confused at why she was heading in that direction.
Giles: "What in heaven's name is she doing?"
Gunn: "I don't know but does she really want to die again now that she just got back?" Fred jabbed him in the ribs.
Fred: "Gunn…look she's carrying something."
Lorne: "It looks like a sword." Xander turned and looked at Lorne with a skeptical look.
Xander: "You know we have still yet to know what you are? What if you're with that thing?"
Lorne: "I'm not sugarplum and I told you I'm Angel's friend. I'm from Pylea you know where Fred's from."
Xander: "Whatever and what's a sugarplum?" Lorne sighed.
Lorne: "What's she doing with a sword anyways?"
Xander: "Does she even know how to use one?"
Dawn: "I imagine better then you."
Xander: "Hey!"
Willow: "Maybe we should go help or…"
Wes: "No." Everyone turned to look at him but he continued to look towards the fight.
Willow: "But Wes…"
Wes: "We're going to win this and no one's going to die. Cordy's going to kill the beast."
Giles: "How do you know this?"
Wes: "I just do." Everyone turned back to watch patiently hoping and praying that Wesley was right. Wesley knew he was right. He felt like someone had came down and told him that everything was going to be alright and that they were going to win. And he believed that feeling without a doubt.
Cordelia walked towards the beast with her sword gripped tightly in her hand and a pissed off look on her face. Oh yeah she was pissed because she knew that anyone who messed with her family messed with her. She suddenly felt this rush of adrenaline build up in her giving her the strength she was going to need to defeat her opponent. She stopped as she saw Spike coming straight towards her and held out her arm to stop him from falling. Spike waited for the thud from the ground but it never came. He turned around to see who had caught him and froze as he saw her. He was a lost for words as he tried to talk. Cordelia smiled at him and a type of radiance projected from her face like she was some kind of goddess. Cordelia saw Buffy, Connor and Angel and her smile fell.
Cordy: "Spike, I want you to get Buffy, Connor, and Angel and go back towards the others as I hold off the beast. I'm going to take care of this and I want you to stay there until I'm finished." Spike finally got his voice to cooperate.
Spike: "But how did you get back?"
Cordy: "It's a long story but I want you to do what I told you."
Spike: "I can't let you do that luv. This thing is strong and you're asking…"
Cordy: "I'm not asking…I'm telling you. Now do it."
Spike: "But…"
Cordy: "Do it!" Spike looked her in the eyes and saw that she was serious. But he also saw something that he had never saw or could imagine seeing in her. He saw a woman who had more strength then any of them and the confidence to know that she was going to win this fight if she had to die all over again. He watched her as she walked onward with her head held high and…was she wearing leather? Spike tilted his head to the side.
Spike: "Damn." He shook his head and focused back on the fight. Spike caught up with her and then stopped as she continued onward.
Buffy charged the beast with full force punching it in the face. Her knuckles were badly bruised and bleeding from the sharp skin that the beast had. The beast threw a punch at her and she sidestepped it. It threw another one and she ducked again but as she got up it kicked her in the stomach sending her flying and stopping at the feet of Spike. She looked up at him just standing there and tried to get up. Spike helped her up to her feet.
Buffy: "What are you doing standing there? Aren't you supposed to help us?"
Spike: "We've got all the help we need."
Buffy: "Spike, what are you…" Buffy gasped.
Buffy: "Is she?"
Spike: "Oh yeah…she's real."
Cordelia stopped and watched as the two most important people in her life fought for theirs. She watched as they got beat down but got right back up to keep going. Connor threw a punch at the beast but it caught it and picked him up holding him by the arm. Angel jumped it from behind and rammed an axe in its back that made it growl and drop Connor. The beast threw Angel over his shoulder and stepped on his chest making a burn mark. Angel howled in pain and the beast put his other foot on Connor balancing his whole body weight between the two men. Cordelia heard them scream in pain and that's when she reached her peak of anger. She cried out loudly and the beast saw her. He growled and got off of Angel and Connor, who were now buried within the snow and unconscious. The beast walked towards her growling as her entire body began to glow and her eyes turned white.
Cordy: "Spike, Buffy, get them and get out of here!" Spike and Buffy ran to the two bodies and carried them back towards the cars and the others. Cordelia gripped her sword tightly between her fists and stood her ground as she watched the beast come toward her.
Cordy: "Come on Mr. Big and Bad. I'm ready for your ass. And look…I got a toy we can play with together."
Spike and Buffy carried the guys to the others and laid them on the snow as Dawn and Fred began to attend to their wounds. Willow helped Buffy and Spike to sit in the van.
Willow: "Thank god you guys are ok."
Buffy: "Yeah we're ok but did you guys see what we saw?"
Willow: "Yup."
Spike: "How?"
Willow: "We don't know. But lets hope that she can defeat this thing because she's our last and only hope."
Cordy: "Come on big boy…just a little closer." She swung at the beast but it caught the point of the sword between its palms. The sword began to smoke and the point melted away.
Beast: "Looks like your sword doesn't work."
Cordy: "Wow, our little beast does talk. Too bad it won't be for long."
Cordelia let go of the sword and kicking it from between its hands and landing behind the beast. She did a roundhouse kick and the beast caught it giving her the chance to use its hands as a boost and flip over the beast landing behind it. She picked up the remains of the sword and raised it over her head jamming it in the back of the beast. Cordelia twisted the sword into its body and broke the handle leaving the blade in. The beast howled in pain and a bright light emerged from within it. It engulfed up in flames and disappeared into a smoke scene.
Cordy: "See…I told you it wouldn't be for long."
Cordelia caught her breath as she watched the beast disappear and saw her friends on the other side scream with cheer. She smiled and lifted her head upwards sending a quick thanks to those who helped her up there. Her eyes went back to their normal color and she no longer glowed as she ran towards her friends. Fred was the first to run up to her and hug her knocking them both down onto the snow.
Fred: "Oh my god…it's really you and your alive and you saved us and…I missed you *so* much." She bean to break out into sobs and Cordelia hugged her tighter. She stroked her long chocolate hair shedding a couple of tears herself.
Cordy: "Shh, it's ok Fred. I'm back and I'm not going anywhere anymore." Fred pulled back and looked at her. Cordelia gave her famous 100-watt smile and wiped away Fred's tears. She helped Fred to her feet and walked over to the rest of the gang. Everyone got their chance to hug her and welcome her back.
Anya: "My name's Anya…I'm Xander's wife and I know you don't know me but I'm so happy your back." She hugged Cordelia much to her surprise.
Cordy: "Thank you Anya and it's nice to meet you."
Gunn: "Yeah, it's good to have you home Barbie…oh and them moves against that thing were off the hook." Cordelia chuckled as she watched him wrap his arms around Fred.
Cordy: "Thanks."
Xander: "Are you ok?"
Cordy: "I'm good. Nothing some food and a good night's rest couldn't heal. Your wife is some woman Xander…treat her well." Cordelia walked over to the van where Buffy and Spike were.
Xander: "(whispering) I will." He wrapped his arms around Anya as he watched his *first love* talk to Buffy and Spike.
Cordy: "I'm proud of you guys and thanks for helping." Buffy got up and hugged her friend tightly. She knew she wasn't all that close to Cordelia but she was just as happy as any of them to see her back.
Spike: "We should be thanking you luv. You were fantastic."
Willow: "How did you get back?"
Cordy: "It's a long story. But we should get home and…" Someone tapped her on the shoulder and she turned around.
Cordy: "Wesley."
Wes: "Before you say anything I just want to apologize for leaving you alone with that beast 3 years ago. If I wasn't so irresponsible then you wouldn't have…"
Cordy: "Hey…it's ok. Everything happens for a reason and we can just look at this as a miracle."
Wes: "Will you ever forgive me?"
Cordy: "Of course." She hugged him and for the first time she actually witnessed him cry as he let himself fall apart in her arms.
Lorne: "You know, that attire is looking good on you brown eyes. You should wear it more often." Cordelia let go of Wesley and hugged Lorne. She snaked her arms around Wesley and Lorne's shoulders.
Cordy: "I missed you guys so much."
Giles: "And we missed you."
Dawn: "Cordelia…" Cordelia let go of the guys and turned to look at the young girl before her. She looked so much like Buffy. Buffy came up behind her and placed a hand on her sister's shoulder.
Buffy: "Cordy, this is my younger sister Dawn."
Cordy: "I don't remember her."
Buffy: "It's a long story."
Cordy: "Hi ya Dawn…what can I do for you?"
Dawn: "It's about Angel and Connor…"
Cordy: "Oh my god, I almost forgot." She walked over to the two bodies that continued to lay unconscious on the snow.
Cordy: "Ok…we have to leave. We'll deal with them when we get back to L.A."
Dawn: "What…why?"
Cordy: "It's not over yet and something's going to happen. We need to be back home and there I will deal with the guys."
Buffy: "Ok everyone lets load up and head back. We'll take Angel and Connor in the van. Sun's coming up soon so Wesley and I will drive. Is that cool?"
Wes: "That's fine." They left Alaska without the nearest town knowing what had just happened. Maybe it was best that it stayed that way.
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They arrived back in L.A. and the city was still covered in darkness. Flies, gnats and locusts crowded the sky while frogs flooded the streets and everyone's homes. People screamed in pain as they suffered from boils and tried to avoid the hail that fell from the sky then erupted into fire when it hit the ground.
Willow: "Oh my god…what happened here?"
Fred: "While you guys were gone we found out that when the beast was awakened he would bring forth the 10 plagues of Exodus. So far it seems that only 7 have occurred."
Buffy: "So how do we stop it?"
Cordy: "We don't. We have to wait."
Gunn: "But what about the last plague about the first born dying?"
Spike: "Huh?"
Wes: "In the book of Exodus when Moses came to free the Hebrews and the Pharaoh wouldn't let them go, he used God's power's to call upon plagues to scare the Pharaoh and make him let God's people go."
Giles: "And the last plague that fell upon Egypt was the plague of the firstborn where every first child in the family would die."
Dawn: "Oh my god Buffy, you're the first."
Xander: "So are Willow and I."
Anya: "I don't know if I'm the first or not."
Xander: "Do you have any brother or sisters?"
Anya: "No."
Xander: "Then you're the first sweetie."
Anya: "Oh…oh my god." Xander shook his head and sighed.
Cordy: "No one's going to die. Let's get inside." They all carefully made their way inside stepping over frogs and swatting flies, gnats and locusts. Once inside Gunn turned on the TV.
Announcer: "The world is ending! We're all going to die! People are fleeing Los Angeles to get away from this terror! My god somebody save us…!" Gunn switched it off.
Gunn: "It's bad out there guys. What are we going to do?"
Cordy: "Just everybody hold on to something or someone."
Wes: "What's going to happen?"
Lorne: "I'm getting some huge vibes people. Brown eyes, what are you up to?"
Cordy: "It's not me Lorne, it's the big guys up there." The ground began to shake violently beneath them as the floor began to crack and everything fell from their place.
Cordy: "EVERYONE GET DOWN!"
Everybody huddled together using each other for support with Angel and Connor in the middle. Cordelia closed her eyes as a bright light emerged from outside and the people from outside began to scream. Then everything became quiet and everyone collapsed to the floor except for her. She opened her eyes slowly and looked around the room. Everything was back to normal. She walked to the door and looked outside and everything there was normal as well. The sun shone bright and people looked like nothing had ever happened. She turned on the TV and it was normal there too.
Announcer: "In today's news, police captured a robber trying to…" She switched it off and looked around again.
Cordy: "Nothing ever happened."
Dawn: "OW…my head." Cordelia saw her friends lying on the floor and ran to help them as they all began to wake up.
Cordy: "Are you guys OK?"
Giles: "What in god's name happened?"
Cordy: "Do you remember anything?"
Spike: "I remember getting bloody knocked out by some damn earthquake or something."
Buffy: "Yeah…OW…what was that all about?"
Cordy: "So you guys don't remember the beast or the plagues?"
Wes: "Yeah we remember…oh my god is it over? Are the plagues gone?"
Cordy: "You guys remember!"
Xander: "Of course, why wouldn't we?"
Fred: "Oh my…look guys!" Fred pointed outside towards the courtyard.
Spike: It's the bloody sun who cares about it?" Spike winced in pain as he got up and helped Buffy to her feet as well.
Gunn: "I sure as hell care. How did this happen?"
Lorne: "Did this have something to do with the Powers brown eyes?"
Cordy: "Yeah. They did some type of spell that reversed time or made people forget I don't know but all I know is that we're the only ones that remember what happened."
Wes: "Are they aloud to do that?"
Cordy: "Apparently so but Skip said it was only for emergencies."
Anya: "Who's Skip?"
Cordy: "Long story. Where are Angel and Connor?"
Fred: "Right here." Cordelia knelt down between to two bodies and placed each hand on both of their chests.
Wes: "What are you going to do?"
Cordy: "Work my demon mojo magic." She smiled to reassure them she knew what she was doing. Her hands began to glow and the energy was absorbed into the guys, which made Connor gasp and cough for breath. Connor blinked his eyes once or twice and slowly sat up not taking his eyes off of Cordelia.
Dawn: "Connor!" She jumped on him knocking his eyes away from Cordelia and onto her. He smiled weakly at her and tired to speak.
Connor: "Hey baby." She hugged him and kissed him as everyone else "awed" at the scene.
Anya: "Cordy…Angel's not getting up." Cordelia looked at him and he still lay with his eyes closed. She sighed and gave him a good slap on the chest.
Cordy: "Come on lazy bum, get up." Angel jolted his eyes open and sat up quickly as he put on his game face.
Cordy: "Don't have a cow it's just us." Angel looked at Cordelia with his yellow eyes and growled at her.
Cordy: "Don't you growl at me mister. You're messing with the wrong person." She smiled and kissed him softly on the lips. She felt his human face come back to surface as she deepened the kiss. He pulled back suddenly and looked at her then at everyone else then back at her. Connor leaned towards Angel.
Connor: "Who is that lady? She looks a lot like Mom."
Cordy: "Wow, I don't remember you ever calling me *Mom*. Is it because I died?" She placed her hands on her hips and Angel did a double take.
Angel: "Cordelia?"
Cordy: "I'm baaaack!" ****************************************************************************** Last chapter is on its way. Reviews guys…you know I love 'em! ~Michele~