Title: Family: Back to Sunnydale
Author: victoriamartynne
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Spoilers: None, I think!
Summary: Imagine if Connor had never been taken by Wesley, Xander and Anya had never split up and Angel had told Cordelia how he felt. Cordelia gets a phone call that leads her back to Sunnydale and back to the past.
The sun set and Willow cast her spell. Her eyes turned white and images flashed in her mind.
"I can see trees and dirt. Why can I see dirt? I see blackness. There's a fireplace and there's a bookcase. It's a room with red wallpaper but it's black. It flashed to black. There's fire, a ring of fire and a book. I think its Latin or Greek. There's a painting above the fire. It has a house in it and a stream." Willow's eyes turned back normal. "That's it guys."
"It's okay, I got it. It's my old house. In the library." Cordelia said and grabbed one on Angel's swords.
"The cheerleader had a library?" Spike asked Gunn who just shrugged.
Xander and Anya burst into the shop with a very disgruntled looking Kathryn.
"Sorry guys, we haven't got time." Buffy said as she ran out of the door with Wes hot on her heels. "Keep her here though."
The rest of the AI gang and the Scoobies quickly followed and jumped into the various cars waiting outside.
They pulled up outside what used to be Cordelia's very magnificent home. Now it was half fallen down with the fire and had black covering the two remaining walls that stood.
Cordy gasped in shock as she saw it. "Oh my God." She breathed.
They all sensed that she needed to do this alone and so stood back to give her space. She walked through what would have been the front door, the sword swinging by her side. The others followed.
She walked through what would have been the dining room. Part of the roof had caved in and the table was a chunk of charred wood. She swallowed heavily, remembering her family sat around the table eating dinner on large white plates with crystal glasses and napkins. It was a far cry from what she was used to now. She left that room and entered the living room. There was nothing left, just blackness. She left quickly and opened the door to the library. It fell off its hinges with a large crash.
She jumped and placed a hand on her fast beating heart to try and steady her nerves. She peered around the doorway and looked inside. Her father, or rather, the Creator, was sat in the middle of a large circle of fine reading aloud from a leather bound book.
"Father stop!" She ordered.
He looked up in shock, the flames disappearing. "How dare you interrupt my ceremony?"
"I dare to do more than that."
"And what are you going to do now? Weak child."
"I'm going to kill you father." She threatened, her voice only wavering slightly. "With that sword, I don't think so." He laughed scornfully. "With your hands, I don't think so either. So why don't you go and look in a mirror or something that you're good at and let me finish my ritual and end the world quietly?"
Cordelia thought she heard someone catch their breath behind her, as if they were stopping themselves from laughing. She refused to give them the satisfaction of turning around.
"Over my dead body."
"Don't tempt me child." He grinned evilly, his yellow eyes glowing shockingly against his blue skin and red hair.
"You keep saying child. But I'm not a child anymore. You can't hurt me anymore. I'm not a weak innocent child that you can batter your fists against."
The words struck home as they were meant to.
"You're not going to terrify me anymore. I'm not going to run away from you, scared." She took a step forward. "I'm not going to scream as I feel your knuckles hit my face or your feet kicking me stomach. And I'm not going to let you make me beg for mercy."
Her father fell to his knees, weakening.
"Can you remember my seventh birthday?" She continued, seeing him weaken. "You gave me two black eyes and a broken rib. I couldn't even go to my own party. Or remember when I was twelve; I put a lock on my door for the first time. You hit me for putting it there and then hit me again for taking your tools without telling you. I screamed at you to stop more times. Every night you would come to my room and batter me with your hand because your business wasn't running right or you'd had a fight with mother."
She saw him visibly shake. "Yes, mother. You'd hit her too. She'd run screaming through the house because you were chasing her with a knife or baseball bat."
He screamed. "Shut up bitch!"
"No! You know you did it! I heard the screams and felt the pain! And now she's dead, your wife's dead! My mother is dead! And all because of you! You bullied both of us for so many years but you never controlled either of us, and that's what scared you."
The tears came all at once. "You never even told me she'd died."
He screamed out in pain and patches of normal coloured skin flashed across his blue skin. "Stop!"
"No! You would never stop so why should I? You made me beg and you made mom beg so now you should beg!" She screamed.
Blood began to seep down his shirt sleeves. He ripped open the shirt to reveal a large bloody hole over his heart. Something inside him began moving and he began to scream hideously. His heart began to pull itself out of his body.
Cordelia looked away and Angel instantly came to hold her. The sword she was holding crashed to the floor and she sank to her knees taking Angel with her. Behind them Willow fled the room and Fred hid her eyes.
For a second her father looked at her with eyes filled with love and then he exploded into thin air, leaving only his heart on the floor.
The AI gang and the Scoobies left the house, leaving only Cordelia and Angel sat on the floor. She clung to him and cried.
"It's over, right?" She whispered after all the tears had gone.
"Right." He replied and stroked her hair. "Do you want to get up?"
She nodded and he helped her stand up. She noticed the books on the bookshelf and went over to it. There were two leather bound books on the bottom shelf that she noticed and picked up. None of the books had been touched by the fire.
"Let's get out of here." She said and smiled.
They arrived back at the Magic Box to find Kathryn sat with her children. They instantly came over to hg Cordelia when they saw her.
"We're leaving town." Kathryn said. "I was just telling your friends. We're going to stay with my mother in Montana for a while, until things settle down."
"I understand." Cordelia smiled. "I'm glad things worked out okay." "I really did have no idea what would happen at the ritual. He just told me that we would have power. Well, I suppose he did. I just lost all mine. I wasn't an evil demon. I used my powers to heal; I could heal injuries and cure illness. I'll miss being able to help people." She admitted and clung to her children. "I had no idea he was hitting the children. They told me that it happened at school and I was a fool to believe them."
"You don't have to have demonic powers to help people. There are plenty of good things you can do with your life to help people." Cordelia told her and tucked a strand of Morgan's hair behind her ear. "Can I trust you to do something for me?"
Morgan smiled and nodded. "If I give you this card will you promise to write to me or send me pictures?"
Morgan nodded as Cordelia handed her an Angel Investigations business card.
"Be good for your mommy, okay Jake?" She kissed his forehead.
"Goodbye Kathryn." She said and watched as they left the store.
Cordelia stumbled as she walked further into the store.
"You did good Barbie." Gunn said.
"Yeah, you did Cordelia." Buffy said, almost grudgingly.
"Thanks." Cordelia replied with a small smile.
"When are we going home?" She asked as she took Connor off Lorne.
"How soon do you think we can pack up the car?" Gunn joked but they all knew he was serious.
"Hey Cor." Angel said as an after thought. "What are those books that you picked up?"
"One is a photo album and the other is a jewellery box." She smiled. "Some of the stuff in it is worth thousands."
Angel just smiled.
They set off while it was still dark. Goodbyes were said and e-mail addresses were exchanged but everyone had to admit, the Scoobies and the AI gang, they were glad that they were going home. Whether it was back to their homes in Sunnydale or back to LA.
The End.
Author: victoriamartynne
Rating: R
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
Spoilers: None, I think!
Summary: Imagine if Connor had never been taken by Wesley, Xander and Anya had never split up and Angel had told Cordelia how he felt. Cordelia gets a phone call that leads her back to Sunnydale and back to the past.
The sun set and Willow cast her spell. Her eyes turned white and images flashed in her mind.
"I can see trees and dirt. Why can I see dirt? I see blackness. There's a fireplace and there's a bookcase. It's a room with red wallpaper but it's black. It flashed to black. There's fire, a ring of fire and a book. I think its Latin or Greek. There's a painting above the fire. It has a house in it and a stream." Willow's eyes turned back normal. "That's it guys."
"It's okay, I got it. It's my old house. In the library." Cordelia said and grabbed one on Angel's swords.
"The cheerleader had a library?" Spike asked Gunn who just shrugged.
Xander and Anya burst into the shop with a very disgruntled looking Kathryn.
"Sorry guys, we haven't got time." Buffy said as she ran out of the door with Wes hot on her heels. "Keep her here though."
The rest of the AI gang and the Scoobies quickly followed and jumped into the various cars waiting outside.
They pulled up outside what used to be Cordelia's very magnificent home. Now it was half fallen down with the fire and had black covering the two remaining walls that stood.
Cordy gasped in shock as she saw it. "Oh my God." She breathed.
They all sensed that she needed to do this alone and so stood back to give her space. She walked through what would have been the front door, the sword swinging by her side. The others followed.
She walked through what would have been the dining room. Part of the roof had caved in and the table was a chunk of charred wood. She swallowed heavily, remembering her family sat around the table eating dinner on large white plates with crystal glasses and napkins. It was a far cry from what she was used to now. She left that room and entered the living room. There was nothing left, just blackness. She left quickly and opened the door to the library. It fell off its hinges with a large crash.
She jumped and placed a hand on her fast beating heart to try and steady her nerves. She peered around the doorway and looked inside. Her father, or rather, the Creator, was sat in the middle of a large circle of fine reading aloud from a leather bound book.
"Father stop!" She ordered.
He looked up in shock, the flames disappearing. "How dare you interrupt my ceremony?"
"I dare to do more than that."
"And what are you going to do now? Weak child."
"I'm going to kill you father." She threatened, her voice only wavering slightly. "With that sword, I don't think so." He laughed scornfully. "With your hands, I don't think so either. So why don't you go and look in a mirror or something that you're good at and let me finish my ritual and end the world quietly?"
Cordelia thought she heard someone catch their breath behind her, as if they were stopping themselves from laughing. She refused to give them the satisfaction of turning around.
"Over my dead body."
"Don't tempt me child." He grinned evilly, his yellow eyes glowing shockingly against his blue skin and red hair.
"You keep saying child. But I'm not a child anymore. You can't hurt me anymore. I'm not a weak innocent child that you can batter your fists against."
The words struck home as they were meant to.
"You're not going to terrify me anymore. I'm not going to run away from you, scared." She took a step forward. "I'm not going to scream as I feel your knuckles hit my face or your feet kicking me stomach. And I'm not going to let you make me beg for mercy."
Her father fell to his knees, weakening.
"Can you remember my seventh birthday?" She continued, seeing him weaken. "You gave me two black eyes and a broken rib. I couldn't even go to my own party. Or remember when I was twelve; I put a lock on my door for the first time. You hit me for putting it there and then hit me again for taking your tools without telling you. I screamed at you to stop more times. Every night you would come to my room and batter me with your hand because your business wasn't running right or you'd had a fight with mother."
She saw him visibly shake. "Yes, mother. You'd hit her too. She'd run screaming through the house because you were chasing her with a knife or baseball bat."
He screamed. "Shut up bitch!"
"No! You know you did it! I heard the screams and felt the pain! And now she's dead, your wife's dead! My mother is dead! And all because of you! You bullied both of us for so many years but you never controlled either of us, and that's what scared you."
The tears came all at once. "You never even told me she'd died."
He screamed out in pain and patches of normal coloured skin flashed across his blue skin. "Stop!"
"No! You would never stop so why should I? You made me beg and you made mom beg so now you should beg!" She screamed.
Blood began to seep down his shirt sleeves. He ripped open the shirt to reveal a large bloody hole over his heart. Something inside him began moving and he began to scream hideously. His heart began to pull itself out of his body.
Cordelia looked away and Angel instantly came to hold her. The sword she was holding crashed to the floor and she sank to her knees taking Angel with her. Behind them Willow fled the room and Fred hid her eyes.
For a second her father looked at her with eyes filled with love and then he exploded into thin air, leaving only his heart on the floor.
The AI gang and the Scoobies left the house, leaving only Cordelia and Angel sat on the floor. She clung to him and cried.
"It's over, right?" She whispered after all the tears had gone.
"Right." He replied and stroked her hair. "Do you want to get up?"
She nodded and he helped her stand up. She noticed the books on the bookshelf and went over to it. There were two leather bound books on the bottom shelf that she noticed and picked up. None of the books had been touched by the fire.
"Let's get out of here." She said and smiled.
They arrived back at the Magic Box to find Kathryn sat with her children. They instantly came over to hg Cordelia when they saw her.
"We're leaving town." Kathryn said. "I was just telling your friends. We're going to stay with my mother in Montana for a while, until things settle down."
"I understand." Cordelia smiled. "I'm glad things worked out okay." "I really did have no idea what would happen at the ritual. He just told me that we would have power. Well, I suppose he did. I just lost all mine. I wasn't an evil demon. I used my powers to heal; I could heal injuries and cure illness. I'll miss being able to help people." She admitted and clung to her children. "I had no idea he was hitting the children. They told me that it happened at school and I was a fool to believe them."
"You don't have to have demonic powers to help people. There are plenty of good things you can do with your life to help people." Cordelia told her and tucked a strand of Morgan's hair behind her ear. "Can I trust you to do something for me?"
Morgan smiled and nodded. "If I give you this card will you promise to write to me or send me pictures?"
Morgan nodded as Cordelia handed her an Angel Investigations business card.
"Be good for your mommy, okay Jake?" She kissed his forehead.
"Goodbye Kathryn." She said and watched as they left the store.
Cordelia stumbled as she walked further into the store.
"You did good Barbie." Gunn said.
"Yeah, you did Cordelia." Buffy said, almost grudgingly.
"Thanks." Cordelia replied with a small smile.
"When are we going home?" She asked as she took Connor off Lorne.
"How soon do you think we can pack up the car?" Gunn joked but they all knew he was serious.
"Hey Cor." Angel said as an after thought. "What are those books that you picked up?"
"One is a photo album and the other is a jewellery box." She smiled. "Some of the stuff in it is worth thousands."
Angel just smiled.
They set off while it was still dark. Goodbyes were said and e-mail addresses were exchanged but everyone had to admit, the Scoobies and the AI gang, they were glad that they were going home. Whether it was back to their homes in Sunnydale or back to LA.
The End.
