Waking Up From The Past
Chapter 10: Morning Doesn't Always Shed Light
by Hollywood Phoenix
Want to post this story? Please email me at: hollywoodphoenix@yahoo.com for permission. Thanks.
A/N: Thank you for the feedback everyone! I really appreciate it!
Spoilers: 3rd season Angel ep 'Provider' and 3rd season Buffy up to 'Lover's Walk'
(c) May 8, 2002
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Super-speed and extra agility are gifts to a vampire. So are heightened extra-sensory perception and speed-reading.
'All very good things,' Angel mused as he finished scanning another bookshelf.
For the last ten minutes, he had been perusing the titles of books on Giles' 'secret' bookshelves. His keen eyesight and sharp mind was able to skim over each without needing too much attention. Which was a good thing, because he wasn't really paying attention.
No, oh, no. He was paying attention to Buffy.
He had forgotten what she had been like three years ago. After moving to L.A., he had become so distant from her, so much out of her life, that every time they met seemed so precious and everything she told him seemed so new and foreign. Each time they parted, he couldn't say goodbye to her. Instead, he would just turn and walk away, leaving her to her tears and numbing away his feelings so that they could live their separate lives. When she had died, he had immediately felt guilty for not having been there to save her and for never really saying goodbye to her. When she was brought back to life again, he was so happy not to have to worry about that and immediately fell back into his old habits.
What was it about the slayer that caught his thoughts, twisted them until he couldn't see, much less think straight, and then wouldn't let go? Why was it that both being with her and apart from her made him want to live and die, and breathe and suffocate all at the same time? She was probably the strongest woman alive on the planet, yet each time her doe eyes turned downwards, he wanted to gather her up in his arms and kiss her problems away. Experience showed that this seemed to work most of the time.
If only that could make his problems disappear too. Only, experience also showed that even if they could forget who they were, someone, the Powers That Be, fate, some divine god up above, something wouldn't. Never let it be said that he'd ever had a dull moment with the slayer. It was always about the patrolling, the demons they fought or the problems caused by all that melodrama concerning the impossible relationship of a vampire or vampire slayer.
Angel leaned against the last bookshelf, suddenly drained from all his sorrows. Seeing Buffy reminded him of how much he'd loved her, for reasons unknown to him and everyone else, but it also brought back the overwhelming array of emotions, guilt and memories from his entire past. This included all he'd done to get to Sunnydale, the destruction he'd caused when he had become Angelus again, and furthermore, the incredible burden he'd been to her friends and each other.
'I should never have come back from the hell dimension,' he thought, scanning the last row of that last bookshelf. 'I should be living a life of hell.'
Swiftly moving to Giles' office, he suddenly stopped, shaking his head. 'Snap out of this brooding.'
'Don't think you'll get away with that thought.'
Angel froze, startled when he heard Cordy's voice in her head. 'Do you really think you should be in hell right now?' she asked.
Oh, it sounded so much like her.
Looking around the darkened library furtively, he couldn't see anyone. Opening the door to Giles' office, he peered in. No, still no one. He almost chuckled in amusement, 'Now I'm hearing voices. Of all the ones to hear, it had to be hers.'
'Well, who else would keep you from your own depressing thoughts?' she challenged him in his mind. 'Who else wouldn't just wig out and let you brood yourself silly?'
"You're right," he said aloud, a little distractedly. "No one else has made me done that." He finished going through all the books in the cramped, slightly messy office, "Well, I guess that's it."
That was it! Angel looked around the office in dismay as the realization sunk in. Giles didn't have the book!
Suddenly, a noise caught his attention. Slipping out of the office to hide behind a bookshelf, a familiar scent of perfume and bubble gum assaulted his senses. Faith!
At that moment, her dark head came into his view. Ducking back to avoid an ugly confrontation, he crept towards the double doors of the library. Looking back once last time, he watched as Faith disappeared into Giles' office. Quickly, he headed out the doors, and then out of Sunnydale High, into the sewers.
The sun was just peeking up over the horizon.
Enroute to L.A., January 23, 2002
Willow sat in the coach bus that just pulled out of the Sunnydale bus terminal. Thinking of the phone call from the previous night, she started pulling out her laptap.
'I should start reading up on time travel and body switching before I get there,' she thought to herself. 'It's a good thing I saved some files about that.' Quickly, she went over Wesley's brief summary of everything that had happened to Angel and Cordelia so far.
'It's going to be so weird seeing them again,' she mused. 'Not that I haven't seen them recently, but this is different.'
The last time she had seen them was when she had to break the news of Buffy's death to Angel. He had immediately known that it had to do with Buffy, and he paled, to the same shade he had been when he was still living in Sunnydale. She had steeled herself as she watched him quietly shut himself off on the inside to avoid breaking down in front of everyone, because she had expected it. What happened next gave her a huge shock.
It was Cordelia snapping out of her shock to instinctively wrap her arms around the unresponsive Angel.
'Oh,' Willow recalled, 'Totally didn't see that one coming.'
It was so surreal, watching the former haughty somewhat friend of theirs let go of her usually icy demeanor and hug someone. It was downright unbelievable that the someone was the moody vampire. It was absolutely impossible that the Queen of Sunnydale High didn't think twice to comfort the former Evil Destroyer of Europe, as if she were soothing a cherished friend.
Or a lover.
Willow started at her last thought. Cordelia and Angel? No way. Shutting her thoughts from that possible pairing, she gazed out the window. When her eyes fell on the back of a honey-blonde woman walking the opposite way, she did a double-take.
"Tara..." the name fell, unbidden from her lips. She watched helplessly as the woman slowly faded from her sight. For a tiny second, she fought the urge to jump off the bus and run after her. Remembering that the lovely witch had made it quite clear that she wanted to be out of her life, she sighed. 'I have to respect her wishes... give her some space. I'll be able to do that in L.A.' Turning back to the front of the bus, she rested her head against the window. Sighing one last time, she stopped thinking about her mild-mannered ex-girlfriend and flipped open her laptop.
Sunnydale High, November 19, 1998
It was daytime. It was schooltime. The Scooby gang was in the student lounge.
Willow and Oz sat on one of the couches in the lounge. Across from the coffee table in front of them sat Xander and Cordy. For the last half hour, they had been discussing the events from the previous night. For the last twenty minutes, the main topic of debate was whether Angel and Buffy's relationship had a future.
And Cordy was desperately hoping to move to the next topic.
"So there's no more glove thingy?" she put in abruptly.
Xander smiled faintly, "No. Little Living Flame, little mesquite, gone for good."
At that, Oz deadpanned, "Sounds like we missed a lot of fun."
"Then we're telling it wrong." Xander replied impatiently. Cordy let out a breath, thinking that it was the end of the conversation. Willow seemed to have other ideas.
"What do you think Buffy and Angel are gonna do?" Willow asked them tentatively. Cordelia wanted to scream at her.
Xander nodded, "Boy, do I don't know."
Cordy fought back a glare as she swiveled her eyes towards him. 'Stop talking about them already!!' She took a deep breath in and held it.
"Well, he saved me from a horrible flamey death. That sort of makes me like him again." Willow said, giving a wan smile.
Xander panned, "Well, as long as she and Angel don't get pelvic, we'll be okay, I guess."
Fighting back a wince due to the unbidden mental image, Cordy crossed her arms. 'Was he really like this back then?' Unnoticed, she bit her lip to stop herself from snapping at Xander for how he phrased that crude remark.
At that moment, Buffy walked up the stairs to meet them. Xander immediately sat up straight.
Trying to look nonchalent, but not entirely succeeding, Buffy asked her friends brightly, "What are you guys talking about?"
Willow and Xander exchanged an uneasy glance. Cordy noticed the look and a lightbulb went off in her head. 'I didn't see that the first time around.'
Oz decided to come clean, "Oddly enough, your boyfriend. Again."
Buffy looked down sadly, "He's not my boyfriend."
Cordelia bit her lip harder and then stopped, fearing that she would break the skin.
Slowly, Buffy sank down onto the couch on the other side of Xander, "Really, truly, he's... (sighs) I don't know." She looked over at Xander and Cordelia. Xander returned the look right away.
Cordelia wrestled with the urge to turn away, afraid that Buffy would start a row with her about the previous night. She pursed her lips and finally looked back coolly.
Buffy focused on Xander and asked hesitantly, "Are we cool?"
Xander eagerly answered, "Yeah! Just seeing the two of you kissing after everything that happened, I leaned toward the postal."
As Xander paused, Cordy couldn't help herself from turning her head and shutting her eyes tight. 'What's with me?' she thought. 'Why can't I get a grip? I know, it's got to be Xander. He's being a jerk. That's it.'
Xander continued, "But I trust you."
Cordy moved her head back towards the blonde slayer. "I don't," she bit out. She stiffened her back, "Just for the record."
'Why did I just say that? Great, start a fight when I shouldn't be... Angel's going to love this one!' Cordy's mind screamed.
Buffy raised her eyebrows, not all that surprised, but didn't comment. Behind her Giles cleared his throat. Not even starting from surprise, she rotated around to face him. Cordy peered up to see Giles leaning against the railing with a large bandage on his left temple.
"Let me guess." Buffy panned, "Gwendolyn Post: not a Watcher."
Giles gently corrected her as he cautiously moved up the stairs, "Yes, she was. She was, uh, kicked out by the council a couple of years ago for misuses of dark power. They swear there was a memo."
Buffy thought for a moment, "Well, I better go." To Xander, she said, "Little more damage control." Getting up, she headed out of the lounge. Cordy sighed with relief.
Willow sighed when Buffy disappeared from sight, "The whole Angel thing is so weird."
Cordelia smirked. 'You don't know the half of it!' she thought. Then, annoyed, she thought, 'When are they going to stop talking about Angel and the exalted one?' Frustrated that the conversation still hadn't changed, she growled. Xander shot her a startled glance, but was distracted when Giles slowly sat down at Buffy's vacated seat.
Maintaining her control, Cordy pretended to look unimpressed by everything that had happened and started inspecting her nails.
Giles had a concerned look etched across his face, "Yes, well, we'll have to see how that unfolds, won't we?"
The Hyperion, January 23, 2002
It was late afternoon when Gunn strode into the lobby, the morning paper clipped underneath his left arm. Looking around, he flung the crumpled paper onto the sofa. No one was in sight in the lobby. In fact, it was so quiet, you could hear a pin drop.
The silence didn't last long.
All of a sudden, Cordelia floated down the stairs, an open bottle of nail polish in one hand, the nail polish brush in the other. "Isn't there any hot water in this place?" she demanded as she passed by him. Without waiting for a response, she sailed on by towards the kitchen, muttering, "Doesn't anyone pay the heating bills here?"
From the basement, Angel padded up to the main floor. Noticing him wearing a black t-shirt, black pants and black leather gloves, Gunn surmised that he had been doing some punches. Suddenly, a voice followed behind the vampire.
"Now, I know you're not familiar with the concepts from Pylea but..."
The vampire wheeled around to face the green demon behind him. For a minute, he looked ready to pick him up and effortlessly throw him over the counter. Instead, his face went expressionless as he said, "Thank you. I've learned a lot about Pylea today." Turning on his heel, he headed up the stairs quickly.
At that, Lorne puffed his chest out and announced to Gunn proudly, "I think our little Angel-cakes is finally understanding."
"Understanding what?" Fred asked curiously as she travelled under Gunn's nose. A whiff of strawberries and the tiny red juice spot that stained the side of her mouth betrayed what she had just been raiding.
"The oppressiveness of Pylean law!" Lorne replied, delighted with himself. Humming a tune, he twirled on his spot and then leaped up the stairs. Cordelia floated by again and headed back up the stairs.
Wesley appeared then, "What's gotten him so upbeat?" Without getting the response, he distractedly floated into his office.
Gunn stared after him, not quite sure what was going on. Focusing on Fred still standing in front of him, he again saw the red stain by her mouth. For some reason, he reached out and wiped it from her face with his thumb. To his great astonishment, he licked his thumb.
Fred was watching him, slightly open-mouthed. "Is it good?" she asked him.
"Mmmm..." he mumbled, then smiled slowly. "Strawberry."
"Want some?" she asked him brightly. She leaned towards him conspiratorially, "I saved some...it's hidden where only I can find it."
Gunn shook his head, still grinning, "Maybe next time."
Just then, Willow walked in.
"What's she doing here?" an irate voice echoed throughout the lobby. Cordelia was walking down the stairs again. "Did everyone from Sunnydale follow me out here?"
Willow looked a little flustered, "Uh, Wesley called for help." She laughed nervously, "Sorry, I forgot how you were before."
"What does that mean?" Cordelia demanded. She turned to Fred and Gunn, "What's she talking about?"
"Willow." Wesley said, relief in his voice. "You're just in time. I've been looking at the files you sent me last night but there's something I need you to explain to me..."
As Wesley shepharded Willow into his office, Angel came back downstairs, having changed into another black outfit. Behind him, Lorne held Connor in his arms.
"See, I told you he'd recognize his father." Lorne was prattling.
Seeing the distress on Angel's face, Fred rushed forward to take Connor. Angel floated to a dark corner, but his eyes were fixed on the baby's peacefully slumbering face.
"Father?" Cordelia asked, puzzled.
Fred handed Connor to Cordelia before she had time to react. "Angel is Connor's father," she clarified.
Shock spread across Cordelia's face. "That's not possible."
"That can't be possible." Willow said behind her. She looked stricken.
Wesley came out from behind her. Steering her towards the sofa, he gently said to her, "It is. It's true."
"But..." Willow looked up at Cordelia, "Who's the mother?"
Sensing Willow's eyes on her, Cordelia asked incredulously, "Me?" Afraid that she might drop Connor, Fred rushed towards her. However, Cordelia only tightened her grip on the baby in her arms.
"No," Wesley answered with a half smile. "It was someone else."
"Was?" Willow questioned.
Wesley looked helplessly at Fred and Gunn. "I don't think I should be the one to tell you."
"Tell us," Cordelia said, a warning tone in her voice.
Wesley sighed, "It was Darla."
"But she's dead," Willow and Cordelia both exclaimed.
"It's a long story." Fred said, by ways of an explanation.
Cordelia instinctively held Connor closer to her and started cooing, "Oh, you poor baby." Angel suddenly appeared at Cordelia's elbow. She noticed him staring at Connor in amazement and turned away from him, "Quit drooling like a thirsty vampire. You don't want to scare him."
Embarrassed, Angel backed up a few steps, still maintaining a steady gaze on his son.
Willow continued sitting on the sofa. "How's that possible? Why didn't Angel tell me?" A hurt expression flickered across her, "Why didn't Angel tell Buffy?"
Wesley cleared his throat, "I'm sorry, but we don't have time to go into all this now. Angel and Cordy are still stuck in 1998... we have no idea how they're faring right now and whether history is going to change drastically." He went back into his office.
Willow took a curious look at Connor's face before reluctantly following Wesley back into the office.
Cordelia took the vacated seat on the sofa. Rocking the baby a bit, she looked at Fred and Gunn, "We're not doing anything right now. So, are you going fill us in or what?"
Gunn and Fred exchanged an uneasy look. Seeing it, Angel spoke up.
"Please," Angel pleaded quietly, "I'd like to know."
Giving a little shrug, Gunn said to the vampire, "Where should I start?"
Crummy motel in Sunnydale, November 19, 1998
Faith lay on the bed in her motel room, flipping through a magazine and watching Dragnet in black and white. On the TV screen, a man opened his door to talk with the officers.
The main character said to the man, "Police officers. My name's Friday, this is..."
A knock sounded on Faith's door.
"Come in," Faith called out.
Buffy opened the door, peeked in and then stepped into the room. "Hey," she greeted the other slayer.
The man on the television continued, "Called the police just a little while ago. Talked to a man down there. I didn't get his name, though."
Buffy turned towards Faith, "The place looks nice."
Faith gave a half-shrug, "Yeah, it's real Spartan."
On screen, Friday asked the man, "Can you show us where they broke in, please?"
"How are you?" Buffy asked.
"Five-by-five." Faith responded.
Buffy looked a little puzzled, "I'll interpret that as good."
Faith didn't respond again but continued paging through the magazine.
Buffy tried again, "Look, Gwendolyn Post, or whoever she may be, had us all fooled. Even Giles."
Without looking up, Faith snorted, "Yeah, well, you can't trust people. I should've learned that by now."
Buffy attempted to regain her trust, "I realize this is gonna sound funny coming from someone that just spent a lot of time kicking your face... but you can trust me."
Faith looked up at her, amused, as she tossed the magazine aside. "Is that right?"
Buffy fought back a sigh, "I know I kept secrets, but I didn't have a choice. I'm on your side."
Faith gestured towards herself, and nodded, "I'm on my side, and that's enough."
Buffy shook her head, "Not always."
Faith shrugged, "Is that it?"
"Yeah, I guess," Buffy said sadly.
"Alright. Well then, I'll see you." Faith averted her eyes and stared at the television screen.
Taking the hint, Buffy turned to go.
Faith shook her head, thinking of what she saw Angel do the other night. "Uh, Buffy?"
Buffy faced her again, looking expectantly, "Yeah?"
Faith wavered for a long moment, reconsidering her decision. 'What was the point?' she thought. 'Those blinders will never come off anyway... at least not without proof.'
"Nothing." she told the blonde girl.
Buffy lowered her eyes in disappointment. Slowly she turned back to the door, opened it and left. Faith looked around her room, inhaling and exhaling deeply. Alone again in her room, she stared out of the window to watch Buffy walk away from the motel. After a long moment, she turned back to the TV. Not seeing what was in front of her, she determined to follow Angel until she could drive a wedge between him and Buffy.
The Hyperion, January 23, 2002
Night had fallen and the Hyperion Hotel was bustling with noise. Cordelia sat on the sofa in the middle of the lobby, still playing with Connor. After Gunn's explanation of Connor's existence, with occasional supplementing from Fred, Angel had seemingly completely overcome his aversion to Connor. He hovered over Cordelia and Connor protectively.
Pondering an article that he had just read, Wesley strode around them. Suddenly, his eyes fell on the first caption of the newspaper that still lay crumpled on the sofa from that morning. "What's this?" he asked Gunn.
"Oh, some employee at Wolfram & Hart was found dead in my hood," Gunn responded. "Lot of the bro's were brought in for questioning but no arrests were made... it was all for show. Bet it was an inside job."
"Willow, could you try hacking into Wolfram & Hart's computer files and see if you can find out more information on this ..." Wesley read the name on the front, "Gerald Morgan." Willow nodded and turned to her computer.
"Yo, English, I don't know what the big deal is. Murders happen all the time. My gang always gets pulled in for stuff we didn't do." Gunn said, confused.
"But this is a murder concerning a shady law firm." Angel cut in, his tone soft and serious. "I read your case files on them. If they're so powerful and corrupt, they would have swept this under the carpet. We never would have heard about it." the vampire turned to Wesley, "They're sending a message out, aren't they?"
"Quite right," Wesley nodded, surprised at the vampire's insight. Then, he asked thoughtfully. "The question is, to whom?"
"It looks like we're not going to find out." Willow spoke up from behind her laptop. "Their firewall's really heavily protected. I could get through if I was on the inside."
Cordelia looked up at Willow's last comment, shocked that the redhead was willing to jump into action.
"I need you to stay with me and continue the research from here." Wesley said to Willow.
"I might be able to get past it if someone were to hack in from the inside and patch some security codes through to me." Willow said, scrunching her forehead.
"I could do it." Fred said shyly. "If you tell me what I would have to do."
"I'm with you." Gunn jumped in.
"You'll need backup." Wesley turned to Angel, "You did say you wanted to help."
"I'm on it." Angel said grimly, a glint in his eye.
"Wait, so I'm just supposed to wait here with the baby?" Cordelia demanded loudly. She got up from the sofa, hoisting Connor into Lorne's arms and planted herself beside Angel. "If everyone's helping out, so am I."
Wesley nodded, shooting an appreciative smile towards the four would-be heroes. "Fred, Gunn, make sure you've got your cell phones but set it on vibrate so it doesn't make any noises. And please, all of you, be careful."
The Chase Sunnydale home, November 19, 1998
Angel doubled back to ensure that Faith had not followed him out. As soon as Angel was satisfied that he was in the clear, he headed to the Chase house. Standing outside on the front lawn behind a large maple tree, he realized that he had no idea which room was Cordelia's. Looking at the position of the moon, he decided it was too late for some strange guy to knock on the door and ask her parents to lead him to her room.
'Yeah, that would go over real well,' he thought. However, a little part of him was tempted, curious to meet the parents that she was so tight-lipped about. Plus, just seeing what her reaction would be if he did do that would be well worth the staking that he would surely get from her afterwards.
'Stop it," he told himself. 'This is serious.' He cursed the bit of Liam that was still very much a part of him. 'Play time can come after we're back to normal.'
Focusing on finding Cordy, he circled the house, methodically peering into each room. When he reached the only open window in the house, he peeked into the room through the parted curtains that were billowing inward. Cordelia lay flat on her stomach on her bed in a yellow tank top and comfortable gray stretch pants. Her long hair was swept up into a loose ponytail and she was reading from a spiral notebook, a smile playing across her lips. Considering that she always looked like she had stepped off a fashion magazine when she was in high school, this youthful appearance was incredibly refreshing. Angel couldn't help grinning at the happy sight. Content with watching her for a moment, he paused at her window as she started chewing on the edge of a pencil thoughtfully. When she bent over the notebook to start writing in it, the hair at the end of her ponytail fell forward to kiss her cheeks lightly.
Angel didn't realize that his breath caught in his throat as he moved forward to brush the hair aside.
And for the second time in two nights, he was stopped by an invisible barrier. Slightly frustrated, he suppressed a growl. He decided to make his presence known the conventional way.
"Knock knock," he called in. With a start, Cordy looked up. When she saw him at the window, she shot him a mega-watt smile and pushed herself off the bed to rush over to him.
"I'm so glad you're finally here!" she exclaimed. "I've been living the Sunnydale life of boooooredom today." Suddenly noticing him hovering outside her window, she asked, puzzled, "Why aren't you coming in?"
"I haven't been invited." he reminded her. Then realizing that Cordelia had never invited him in, he started to say, "Wait," as Cordy said, "Come in."
"Uh..." Angel said. Cordy clapped her hand over her mouth.
"This isn't supposed to happen, is it?" she asked. "Is this bad?"
Angel considered the possibilities. "I guess not," he said finally. "The only danger is if Angelus ever reappeared, and according to our past, he's not showing up."
"Okay," Cordy sighed in relief. "Well, are you waiting for an engraved invitation? Come on in." Grabbing his arm, she pulled him in. He climbed into the room and feeling a little out of his element, stood awkwardly by the window.
"So," Cordy began, climbing back onto her bed gracefully, "How do we get back? Hey, where's the book?"
"Giles doesn't have it." Angel replied. "We have to think of some other way of finding the book."
"You only checked his library, right? Maybe he's got it at home," Cordy suggested. "Because, that's what book-loving Watchers with no life read on Friday nights."
Angel shot her a slightly disdainful look, "Back to the deprecating comments, I see."
Cordy glared at him to cover her embarrasment, "I prefer to look at it as having 'bite'... you know, being honest." Switching the topic back, she shot back, "Guess this means you never checked his apartment."
"No," Angel admitted. "Good thinking, I'll get on it."
Cordy scrambled up, "Goody, excitement."
Angel strode over to her, his discomfort forgotten. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he pushed her back down onto the bed. "No way. We can't afford any complications. Someone could see us together, and Buffy is already suspicious. Besides, Faith is still on the warpath." At Cordy's confused look, he filled her in on Faith following him into the library.
Cordy stood up again, "I can be cautious."
He pushed her back down again. "You don't know how determined Faith can be."
"Oh and you do?" Cordy argued from her position seated on the bed. "I can be determined too. I can handle myself."
Angel detected the note of hostility in her voice. "It's not that."
"Then what?" she said, looking up at him with a glare in her eyes. He couldn't answer her for a minute. As he tried to think of a way to convince her to see his way, his eyes fell on the open notebook.
"Hey, is this a diary?" he exclaimed, his interest piqued. He reached out to pick the book up.
"No!" Cordy cried, snatching the book away and shutting it. Angel looked bewildered, stunned that she had beaten his lightening quick vampire reflexes.
"Isn't that interesting..." he teased, "Spilling your secret feelings for me?"
Cordy stood up, trembling in anger. "It's personal," she told him. Then, a little more calmly, she said, "I wrote an entry practically every night while I was in Sunnydale. I have to continue with it to maintain the timeline, remember?"
"Okay," Angel conceded. When Cordy nodded, and relaxed a bit, he suddenly threw himself at her, grabbing at the notebook.
Cordy twisted her arm away, but lost her balance and suddenly they were on her bed, squirming around. "What are you doing?" she asked him in disbelief.
"I just want to see what you wrote about Xander!" Angel pleaded, reaching over her to grab at it again. "It's always been a mystery as to what you saw in that guy!"
"As opposed to what Buffy saw in you?" she snipped back. Missing the notebook, Angel grabbed her stomach to hold her in place. "No way, broody boy!" she cried. She giggled under him, as he started stroking her stomach, "Hey, that tickles!"
"That was the idea," he smirked. He playfully wagged his eyebrows and wiggled his fingers above her. "Let me introduce to you my hidden talents!" he shouted and started tickling her ribcage.
Cordy scrunched up automatically, gasping for air, "Oh, my, oh, stop, ah!"
"Oh I'm so sorry!" a woman said.
Cordy and Angel looked up at her now open bedroom door and saw a stout woman carrying towels, her mouth hanging open.
"Maria." Cordy exclaimed, getting off the bed. Noticing that her tank top had ridden up her stomach, she hastily pulled it down. Regaining her composure, she said in her best snooty voice, "What did I say about knocking first?"
"I did." the woman protested. She opened her mouth again, but Cordy cut her short.
"That'll be all," Cordy said curtly, taking the towels from the woman's hands. "Shut the door behind you."
Nodding, the woman shuffled out of the room and when the door shut, Cordy turned around to stare at Angel. For a minute, silence reigned.
"Who was that?" Angel asked finally.
"The maid." Cordy answered quietly. Suddenly she let out a laugh, "Lord knows what she must be thinking."
Angel thought for a moment, then chuckled with her, "We were screaming pretty loudly." All of a sudden, they both became serious, slightly embarrassed.
"Oh well," Cordy said to break the tension, "I'll just beg her not to say anything to my parents." She opened a drawer in the nighttable beside the bed and hastily stuffed the notebook and towels in.
"You, beg?" Angel gently queried, a glint in his eyes.
Cordy sent him a glare.
"Never mind," Angel said, putting his hands up. "I should get going to Giles' place now."
Cordy headed towards the window with him. "Yes, WE should."
"Cordy."
"Angel."
After a brief staring down, Angel couldn't help an impulsive smile. "We have to be careful," he warned her.
"I always am," she smiled sweetly and climbed out the window.
Angel poked his head out of the window. Cordy was clinging onto the ledge, her feet stuck to the sloping roof under her window. "Forget you can't fly?" he asked with a bemused expression on his face.
"Oh crap!" she simply replied, staring at the ground below. Stamping one foot lightly, then freezing when her feet started sliding downwards, she lamented, "Damn, that was such a good exit too!"
Failing to contain a hearty laugh, Angel sprang out the window and grabbed her by the waist. Before she could register what happened, she was safely on the ground.
"Don't I get a thank you?" Angel questioned jokingly, tilting his head at her. He watched as a myriad of emotions slid by her face: delight, indignation, frustration, and then...
"My hero." she answered affectionately. Then, tinkling with laughter, she sprinted towards Giles' house.
Staring after her, Angel shook his head. 'I'll never understand that woman,' and quickly made his way after her in the night.
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Disclaimers: I'm only writing for amusement and because I'm such a fan! Angel and co. aren't mine. And those scenes from 3rd season Buffy? Ain't mine for sure!