Chapter 4
An uncomfortable silence had fallen over the Hyperion Hotel, no one wanted to be the first to speak.
Fred watched from her stool behind the desk as she felt Gunn's finger loop around hers, she was grateful for the warm comfort his touch brought. She wasn't sure how long they had been sitting in silence but she knew that a lot of time had passed.
The piles of paper on the reception desk caught her attention and she leant forward slightly picking up one of the large leather bound books, 'Ancient Texts And Prophecies' she read to herself. The book slipped out of her right hand and dropped heavily back onto the desk the loud bang startling everyone out of his or her thoughts.
"Sorry' Fred said meekly, "Angel did you get these out? I don't remember them being here."
Angel dragged his gaze away from Cordelia to survey the paper covered reception desk, he shook his head, "No, I didn't get those-"
"It was me." Cordelia spoke up.
"But why would you be looking at these kind of books?" Fred held up the large book so that everyone could see its title.
"We're looking for a certain text, Cordelia thought Angel might already have it here." Willow leaned around Cordelia from the couch to look at Fred.
"But we don't?" Fred asked
Willow shook her head, worry still at the forefront in her eyes.
"Why are you here?" Angel's voice was verging on cold, as he tried to keep the emotion out of his tone.
"I wouldn't know where to start" Cordelia leant forward resting her elbows on her knees, unconsciously mimicking Angel's stance.
Faith leaned back into the couch folding her arms across her chest, "Darla."
"Darla?" Angel repeated with a question.
"Why don't you start where it all began, with Darla." Faith elaborated on her sentence.
'Darla's dust" Gunn tightened his grip on Fred's small hand.
"Not for us she's not." Faith's mouth set itself into a hard line.
Cordelia saw the looks of confusion that passed over the gang's faces and she sighed to herself, knowing she'd have to be the one to explain, "After Darla gave birth to Connor she reverted back to her natural state, evil pure and simple. That's when things started to go wrong. Angel, our Angel, did the best he could coping with his son and the horde of demons that wanted him including Holtz, Wolfram and Hart and Darla.
"And then when Holtz stole Connor, which I'm guessing happened here to since Connors all teenager like." Cordelia spared a short glance over to the 18 year old who stood leaning in the office doorway, "Angel broke, for a while I thought we'd lost him for good but I should have known better."
Willow reached over and squeezed Cordelia's hand briefly, bringing her back to the real reason they had come to this reality.
"Darla disappeared for a while, we looked for her but with no luck." Cordelia continued, "Then when Connor came back things really went to hell, what with the sinking Angel to the bottom of the ocean for something he hadn't even done."
A flash of anger rose up in Connor, he wanted to shout tell them all that Angel might not have murdered Hotlz but he'd certainly brought enough death to deserve the punishment he had dealt out but he knew it would get him no where. He'd be treated like an inconsiderate child.
"We looked for Angel for months but he'd disappeared without any trace."
"We got some experience in that' Gunn put in.
"You didn't disappear to?" Fred asked this Cordelia.
"Disappear?" Cordelia questioned Fred
"In this reality you went missing on the same night as Angel."
"You're a higher being now." Angel kept his gaze on Cordelia.
"That happened here? I never thought I would of taken Skips offer no matter what." She mused.
"Higher being?" Faith looked incredulously at her half demon friend.
Cordelia nodded, "I turned it down."
Now it was Willows turn to speak to her friend, "You could have been a higher being and you didn't take it up. Why would you do that?"
Cordelia's eyes flashed to Angel, "Bad timing, there were things I had to tell people."
Faith and Willow accepted this answer, knowing it wasn't the right time to probe their friend about it.
"Anyway, during the summer Faith appeared saying she'd been let out of prison on a technicality and she'd come looking for Angel. We had to tell her everything and she decided to stay on in LA, help us out with the demon slayage and boy was there a tense atmosphere in the hotel for weeks on end after that. Everyone was suspicious of her, me especially but Gunn as well and Connor, they hated each other for a while."
"What about me?" Fred interrupted, "Did I hate her to?"
A faint smile passed over Faiths lips and she fielded the question, "No we got on quite well, opposites attract and all."
"Then Wesley brought Angel back to us and everything was ok for a few days." Cordelia continued, not allowing anymore time for questions she just wanted to get it all out now she had begun, "That's when Darla came back, all pissed off and with a plan. Turned out she'd gone to gather the family."
"Family?" Gunn asked
"Spike and Drusilla." Angels voice was dark as he recalled his one time family.
Cordelia nodded, "She didn't stop there. Darla found a powerful shaman to remove Angel's soul, she wanted her boy back and she got him." Cordelia was finding it increasingly difficult to get the words out.
"Look you don't need to know the details," Faith said protecting her friend from having to recall the terrible things that Angelus had done, "The only things you need to know are that their all dead, Wesley, Gunn, Connor and Angelus did it all with a grin on his face."
Willow saw Angel's face seize up in pain, "It wasn't this Angel, Faith."
"It's in him though, just like Connor always said. We should have listened to that kid."
Gunn jumped off his stool but Fred took a tight hold on his right arm keeping him back, stopping him from saying something he might regret.
"Why did you go to LA Willow?" Angel fought to keep his shame at what he had just heard down.
"Cordelia called, I came to restore Angelus's soul. I couldn't though, Darla saw to that. She broke the vessel your soul was contained in and I couldn't get it back."
"What about me?" Fred spoke up, "You said Angelus killed us all but you didn't mention me."
"What he did to you was much worse. He made you one of them."
A shocked silence stunned the lobby at Willow's frank words and at that moment Cordelia fell onto the floor with a shout.
*
Authors Note: Just thought I should point out that in the alternate reality Spike never got his chip due to never returning to Sunnydale after he left with Drusilla in season 2 of Buffy. None of the Spike/Drusilla problems in their 'relationship' ever happened.
Thanks for the review, I was suffering writers block with this chapter until I read it. More review would be amazing please!
An uncomfortable silence had fallen over the Hyperion Hotel, no one wanted to be the first to speak.
Fred watched from her stool behind the desk as she felt Gunn's finger loop around hers, she was grateful for the warm comfort his touch brought. She wasn't sure how long they had been sitting in silence but she knew that a lot of time had passed.
The piles of paper on the reception desk caught her attention and she leant forward slightly picking up one of the large leather bound books, 'Ancient Texts And Prophecies' she read to herself. The book slipped out of her right hand and dropped heavily back onto the desk the loud bang startling everyone out of his or her thoughts.
"Sorry' Fred said meekly, "Angel did you get these out? I don't remember them being here."
Angel dragged his gaze away from Cordelia to survey the paper covered reception desk, he shook his head, "No, I didn't get those-"
"It was me." Cordelia spoke up.
"But why would you be looking at these kind of books?" Fred held up the large book so that everyone could see its title.
"We're looking for a certain text, Cordelia thought Angel might already have it here." Willow leaned around Cordelia from the couch to look at Fred.
"But we don't?" Fred asked
Willow shook her head, worry still at the forefront in her eyes.
"Why are you here?" Angel's voice was verging on cold, as he tried to keep the emotion out of his tone.
"I wouldn't know where to start" Cordelia leant forward resting her elbows on her knees, unconsciously mimicking Angel's stance.
Faith leaned back into the couch folding her arms across her chest, "Darla."
"Darla?" Angel repeated with a question.
"Why don't you start where it all began, with Darla." Faith elaborated on her sentence.
'Darla's dust" Gunn tightened his grip on Fred's small hand.
"Not for us she's not." Faith's mouth set itself into a hard line.
Cordelia saw the looks of confusion that passed over the gang's faces and she sighed to herself, knowing she'd have to be the one to explain, "After Darla gave birth to Connor she reverted back to her natural state, evil pure and simple. That's when things started to go wrong. Angel, our Angel, did the best he could coping with his son and the horde of demons that wanted him including Holtz, Wolfram and Hart and Darla.
"And then when Holtz stole Connor, which I'm guessing happened here to since Connors all teenager like." Cordelia spared a short glance over to the 18 year old who stood leaning in the office doorway, "Angel broke, for a while I thought we'd lost him for good but I should have known better."
Willow reached over and squeezed Cordelia's hand briefly, bringing her back to the real reason they had come to this reality.
"Darla disappeared for a while, we looked for her but with no luck." Cordelia continued, "Then when Connor came back things really went to hell, what with the sinking Angel to the bottom of the ocean for something he hadn't even done."
A flash of anger rose up in Connor, he wanted to shout tell them all that Angel might not have murdered Hotlz but he'd certainly brought enough death to deserve the punishment he had dealt out but he knew it would get him no where. He'd be treated like an inconsiderate child.
"We looked for Angel for months but he'd disappeared without any trace."
"We got some experience in that' Gunn put in.
"You didn't disappear to?" Fred asked this Cordelia.
"Disappear?" Cordelia questioned Fred
"In this reality you went missing on the same night as Angel."
"You're a higher being now." Angel kept his gaze on Cordelia.
"That happened here? I never thought I would of taken Skips offer no matter what." She mused.
"Higher being?" Faith looked incredulously at her half demon friend.
Cordelia nodded, "I turned it down."
Now it was Willows turn to speak to her friend, "You could have been a higher being and you didn't take it up. Why would you do that?"
Cordelia's eyes flashed to Angel, "Bad timing, there were things I had to tell people."
Faith and Willow accepted this answer, knowing it wasn't the right time to probe their friend about it.
"Anyway, during the summer Faith appeared saying she'd been let out of prison on a technicality and she'd come looking for Angel. We had to tell her everything and she decided to stay on in LA, help us out with the demon slayage and boy was there a tense atmosphere in the hotel for weeks on end after that. Everyone was suspicious of her, me especially but Gunn as well and Connor, they hated each other for a while."
"What about me?" Fred interrupted, "Did I hate her to?"
A faint smile passed over Faiths lips and she fielded the question, "No we got on quite well, opposites attract and all."
"Then Wesley brought Angel back to us and everything was ok for a few days." Cordelia continued, not allowing anymore time for questions she just wanted to get it all out now she had begun, "That's when Darla came back, all pissed off and with a plan. Turned out she'd gone to gather the family."
"Family?" Gunn asked
"Spike and Drusilla." Angels voice was dark as he recalled his one time family.
Cordelia nodded, "She didn't stop there. Darla found a powerful shaman to remove Angel's soul, she wanted her boy back and she got him." Cordelia was finding it increasingly difficult to get the words out.
"Look you don't need to know the details," Faith said protecting her friend from having to recall the terrible things that Angelus had done, "The only things you need to know are that their all dead, Wesley, Gunn, Connor and Angelus did it all with a grin on his face."
Willow saw Angel's face seize up in pain, "It wasn't this Angel, Faith."
"It's in him though, just like Connor always said. We should have listened to that kid."
Gunn jumped off his stool but Fred took a tight hold on his right arm keeping him back, stopping him from saying something he might regret.
"Why did you go to LA Willow?" Angel fought to keep his shame at what he had just heard down.
"Cordelia called, I came to restore Angelus's soul. I couldn't though, Darla saw to that. She broke the vessel your soul was contained in and I couldn't get it back."
"What about me?" Fred spoke up, "You said Angelus killed us all but you didn't mention me."
"What he did to you was much worse. He made you one of them."
A shocked silence stunned the lobby at Willow's frank words and at that moment Cordelia fell onto the floor with a shout.
*
Authors Note: Just thought I should point out that in the alternate reality Spike never got his chip due to never returning to Sunnydale after he left with Drusilla in season 2 of Buffy. None of the Spike/Drusilla problems in their 'relationship' ever happened.
Thanks for the review, I was suffering writers block with this chapter until I read it. More review would be amazing please!
