Chapter Two
Wesley's eyes suddenly snapped open and he lifted his head from the desk; pieces of loose paper sticking to his face. He pulled them off and ran his hands through his hair before looking at his watch. It was barely eight o'clock in the morning; he had obviously fallen asleep at the office again; he hadn't been home since Fred had died, the mere thought of it was too much to bear. He stood up and looked about for Cordelia but she was nowhere to be seen, assuming she had gone home he walked into reception to make a cup of tea. He flicked the switch on the machine and glanced across the counter to the circular sofa; Cordelia was knelt in front of it with a bucket of soapy, frothy water at her side.
"Cordelia, what are you doing?" he asked, frowning as he walked around the counter to join her.
"I'm cleaning," she said, scrubbing anxiously at the bloodstains on the sofa and the floor. "He hasn't even been downstairs since it happened and I don't want his first sight to be blood, it's tempting fate or something,"
"I really don't think the sight of blood will make Angel forget that he's a fighter for the forces of good,"
"Maybe, but it'll make me feel a damn sight better," she snapped, continually scrubbing at the sofa. Wesley could tell that she had been scrubbing for hours, as nearly all of Fred's blood was completely gone. All that remained were light stains on the sofa fabric that could easily have been coffee but Cordelia wasn't letting it lie, it had to go.
"Would you like a cup of tea?" asked Wesley, walking back to the automatic machine behind reception. Cordelia laughed softly and nodded, dropping the sponge into the bucket and standing up, wiping her wet hands down on her already filthy old t-shirt.
"I wonder where Gunn is," she sighed as she sipped at her drink. Wesley eyed her suspiciously, "I mean, I wonder if he had to kill her. Maybe she killed him," She was staring into her mug as she spoke, her voice faraway and light.
"Cordelia, it's out of our hands now. You can't keep thinking about Fred, if she comes looking for Angel then she comes looking for Angel. We can't spend our lives waiting for either of them to come walking through that door," said Wesley.
As if someone was deliberately out to mock Wesley, the double doors swung open and Gunn skulked into the room. He couldn't even look at Cordelia but walked across to the reception desk, Cordelia silently stood and walked around the desk to her chair. She had nothing to say to him, she didn't want to hear anything he had to say to them.
"She's gone. I couldn't do it, Wes. I'm sorry, man, I didn't know where else to come," he said, looking up at Wesley. All Wesley could see was the immense pain that Gunn was desperately trying to hide behind his tough exterior and despite the tremendous feeling of pity Wesley was feeling, Gunn had turned his back on everyone in the hotel and he couldn't just walk back in.
"I'm sorry, Gunn. There's nothing for you here, I think you should leave," he said, Cordelia's eyes widened as Wesley asked Gunn to go. She was convinced that he would ask him some questions rather than just show him the door. Gunn had no reply, he had no smart comeback, he had betrayed everybody, he had hurt Cordelia and he had hurt Angel in the worst possible way. He turned around and started walking towards the double doors, Cordelia ran out into the lobby.
"Gunn, what's she like?" she shouted. Gunn turned around to face her.
"She's tough, real tough. Strongest vamp I've ever come up against, I don't know how but she's an amazing fighter and she's smart as hell," he said.
"This is all your fault," said Cordelia and turned around, Gunn carried on walking out of the door.
"If what Gunn says is true then Fred is going to be a dangerous opponent," said Wesley, Cordelia nodded solemnly.
"I just don't understand how he could do that to us. To Angel," sighed Cordelia.
"Grief does strange things to people. He made a choice to make Angel the bad guy to make it easier on himself. We can't imagine what Gunn is going through at this moment, knowing that the woman he loves is a vampire and that it was his fault. It must be especially hard after having to kill his sister,"
"Yeah but you would think that would make him less anxious to have Fred turned into a blood-sucking fiend," said Cordelia.
"He didn't know what he was doing. He was just reacting, he wasn't thinking about anything," said Angel. Cordelia spun around to face him; she hadn't even heard his footsteps on the staircase. He stood before them on the other side of the reception desk, his face was paler than usual and his eyes looked red and sore as if he hadn't slept in days. Wesley was silent, intent on studying Angel's every motion and expression.
"Angel," sighed Cordelia. "I'm so glad you decided to come downstairs, I've been so worried about you. Do you want a drink? We've still got blood in the fridge, it's only a few days old,"
"I'm good, thanks," smiled Angel. "Have we had any cases? Anything going on in the real world?"
"Nothing. We haven't had any calls or drop-ins, it's like all the evil went on holiday," smiled Cordelia. Angel smiled weakly; Wesley couldn't help but be pleased that he was trying to get back into normality. The events of the previous week has obviously taken its toll, Angel was looking drawn and gaunt. He hadn't eaten in a week and he clearly hadn't slept either.
"Maybe you should have something, Angel. You look as though you could use it," offered Wesley. Angel shook his head, shooting Wesley a look of determination.
"So, what did Gunn have to say for himself?" he asked. Wesley looked across at Cordelia who sighed quietly and was obviously reluctant to say anything.
"He…er…he just stopped by to inform us that Fred is on the run. He couldn't kill her when she turned so she took off. Apparently she was really tough or something, really good fighter," mumbled Cordelia.
"Sometimes the person's character changes completely so even though Fred was always the brains here, she might be the brawn out there now," explained Angel. "Becoming a vampire changes people in different ways and that's probably what's happened to her,"
"Right," whispered Cordelia, she still couldn't believe the topic of conversation. It was still hard enough to accept that Fred wasn't going to come walking down the staircase in the mornings and that she wasn't going to be in Wesley's office when Cordelia brought him more paperwork. And as much as Gunn had hurt them, they hadn't just lost Fred that night, they had lost him too so the blow was doubled and it was still painful.
"Maybe we should think about whether she would come back here?" said Wesley, Cordelia and Angel both looked at him. "Well, she knows that we work for good and she might feel differently about that now. Plus the fact that she has a link with Angel now,"
"Wesley," hissed Cordelia.
"No, Cordy. He's right; I am Fred's sire so it's certainly likely that she might come back. If not to try and convert me to her cause then to try and kill me,"
"Do you really think that Fred would kill you? I mean, she's done so much for people. It can't all be gone, she can't be completely evil," sniffed Cordelia. Angel put his arms out and Cordelia fell into them, crying freely now. Wesley stood watching them and felt just as devastated as Cordelia but the truth was that Fred had no humanity left. She had been their friend and companion and now she was an evil demon and there was nothing they could do but go where Gunn had failed and kill her.
Cordelia finally stopped crying and sat down at her desk, occasionally sniffing but trying to be strong. Wesley and Angel had huddled together and started talking quietly and she knew that it was to make sure she didn't hear anything that would upset her again. She strengthened her resolve and stood up, walking over to join them.
"Cordy, I'm going to go and talk to some people. Just check if Fred has been checking out the usual haunts, demon bars, Caritas, that kind of thing," said Angel, Cordelia nodded in agreement and looked across to Wesley.
"I'm going too. We can't have Angel catching alight while he's driving," he laughed but it was too forced and Cordelia slapped him lightly across his arm.
"Fine, you can all go. I'm sure the big strong men will be able to save the day; I'll just sit around and answer the phone. If it ever rings!" said Cordelia.
"We won't be long," said Angel and walked out of the room, disappearing through the sewer access door with Wesley following. Cordelia sat back and sighed loudly, praying that things would get back to normal soon.