Chapter 2: It's time you begun
All disclaimers and info are in Chapter 1.
Note: This is the beginning to F&L. I'm picking up RIGHT where the Angel ep "Calvary" (2/12/03) left off. Cordy has just murdered Lilah, Angelus is loose, Fred & Gunn have separated and we all know The Beast is working for someone. I know, I know, Cordy/Angelus-blech! Don't worry, all will be well.
Spoiler Warning! I am a spoilerholic so I have a lot of supposed information. Lots of what I'm about to write is based on what I've heard plus my own fun speculation. I wont say what's spoiler, rumor, or my own imagination; it's more fun this way!
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Angelus stopped dead in his tracks as he saw Lilah's lifeless body fall to the ground. Cordelia looked at the ornamental dagger with ease and tossed it into a nearby room. For once, Angelus was speechless. His words were caught in his throat until the brunette turned around to face him. She gave him an eyebrow raise as if to say "Oh well".
"Well… this is a new twist in an old snake, wouldn't you say?" Angelus said in his usual lazy drawl.
Cordy made no move to run or reply. She casually looked down at Lilah's corpse and brought her gaze back up to Angelus's. The vampire flinched as he saw her eyes were completely white, devoid of any iris color. He gave a mock shiver and began to speak.
"Yeuugh… have you ever looked in the mirror when you're doing that?" he asked.
Cordy merely smiled and sauntered over to Angelus. Her pallid stare never broke as she placed her hands against his chest and put herself flush against him. Angelus didn't know what to make of this, if it was a distraction, battle tactic, he didn't know.
Once she began to nibble the skin on his neck he frankly didn't care.
"We don't have to be enemies, Angelus," she seductively whispered in his ear. "I can show you true power… we can ally and together, we can burn this town tonight."
Angelus pulled away, a smirk playing at the corner of his mouth.
"Do tell." He replied.
"I'll do better than that," Cordelia continued, "I'll show."
Still a bit apprehensive, Angelus simply nodded in agreement. With lightning fast reflexes he grabbed the discarded murder weapon from the rotting floor of the hotel room and followed the seer.
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After driving awhile, Angelus was able to convince Cordelia to get out and walk with him. They had fallen upon an area with a few humans wandering around, and his senses were completely off balance with it being 2 o'clock in the afternoon and nighttime. Angelus soon felt freshly rejuvenated as he stopped to feed on a passing policeman trying to check abandoned cars. Cordy simply stopped her strides and paused to watch and wait while the vampire finished.
"Are you done yet?" she impatiently asked.
Angelus answered with a brutal snap to the man's neck and continued their walk. "I am now."
Eventually the populace and buildings died down and it turned into more secluded, forest regions. The walk became a trudge uphill into what appeared to be some caves. "This is just getting more and more interesting…" Angelus thought to himself. He followed the seer inside and he swore his non-existent breath could have caught in his throat. The infamous Beast stood no more than 20 feet from him, looking exactly as he did over 200 years prior. The vampire was further shocked as the demon got on its knees and took the woman's hand in its own and kissed it with reverence.
"You've gotta be kidding me!" Angelus gasped in disbelief. "Her?! That's who you're a minion to!?"
"I serve my master well." The Beast replied loyally.
Cordelia cleared her throat and the demon moved quietly to a corner of the cave. She sat calmly on a nearby rock and motioned for Angelus to come closer. He instead stood still and crossed his arms over his chest. Cordy merely sighed and began to talk.
"Fine, stand. There's a lot to explain though."
"Like, say, how you became a dark lord to an evil minion from Hell, for instance?" the vampire questioned.
"Among many things. This is the truth. Cordelia has been dead for many months now. She did return from a higher state of existence, but I was waiting for her. She was disoriented and slow, so I quickly took care of her and seated myself in her body-"
Angelus quickly interrupted her. "Wait, wait, wait. What's with all this talking in third person jibe? Who are you if you're not Cordy?"
The brunette gave an evil smile and simply replied. "I am the thing the darkness fears."
Angelus pulled a memory from Angel's of a few Christmases ago when he tried to kill himself and put two & two together.
"The First Evil…" he said in awe.
"I was able to sit myself so deeply inside her being that not even the impath demon could detect me. I simply carried out my wishes through the seer's body, slowly preparing for this time. My Beast was free, the sun was gone, and you had come back into play. I put your soul out of sight, had my boy dispose of the Svear, and any other whim I felt. I knew you were the key to destroying Angel's alliance. Your skill in demolishing relationships is extraordinary, Angelus. Really. I had my hands full in L.A. and both Sunnydale-"
"Sunnydale?" he interrupted. "What are you doing there?"
"Instilling fear. The relationships were unfortunately too strong to break in that alliance. I knew this already. Instead, I gave the slayer something else. An enemy she couldn't fight, that was relentless and untouchable. She still fights and prepares as we speak."
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Back at the hotel, Gunn, Wesley and Fred had regrouped and began their search for Angelus, Cordy and Lilah. Not long after beginning their investigation, they found Lilah's cold body, still sprawled in the hallway. Fred looked sick to her stomach as she turned away and Wesley merely stared, stone faced. He slowly began walking down the hall again, calling out Cordy's name.
"We can't waste time like this. We need to split up, it'll only make finding Cordy faster." Wesley said.
There was an awkward beat as thoughts raced through their minds. Who would Fred go with? She made the decision for herself, trying not to feel horrible guilty in the process.
"I'll go with Wesley, Gunn-you can handle yourself just fine." Trying to play on Gunn's ego, she hoped to escape contemptuous stares. Unfortunately, Gunn wasn't satisfied with her comment and gave a huff as he walked the opposite direction, tossing a "Fine, meet you in the lobby in an hour", back in their direction.
Once he had disappeared, Wesley turned to Fred. He gave her a small smile and brought his hand up to caress her cheek. Fred tried not to get all flustered, and was easily able to push down her desire as the dreading thoughts of what state Cordy could be in crept back into her mind. She gave a nod to continue looking, and Wesley quietly followed suit.
After an hour of fruitless calling and door kicking, they made their way back to the plush lobby where Gunn was waiting on one of the cushy couches.
"No luck either, huh?" he asked.
Fred & Wesley gave solemn shakes of their heads. Everyone let out a sigh of exasperation and shuffled their feet as to what to do next. Wesley moved towards the office and began to go through an address book sitting on the main desk.
"Who are you looking for?" Fred asked curiously.
"A last try." He replied simply.
Picking up the phone, he looked to the page open in the book and began to dial. After a short amount of time, he took a breath of air in and asked into the receiver.
"Hello, may I speak with Willow Rosenberg if she's there please?"
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Next in Chapter 3!: More banter with the Beast, an appearance from Sunnydale and a broken bottle, oh my!
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