Buffy and Cordelia drove through the evening and reached LA late that night. Cordelia pulled into her driveway, and Buffy's eyes widened at the site of her place.
"Damn
Cordy, you've done pretty good for yourself!" Buffy gasped. Cordelia grinned at her slightly.
They
exited the car, and Cordelia unlocked the front door. She stepped through, and the door suddenly slammed in Buffy's
face.
"Dennis!"
Cordelia said angrily. "She's a guest,
now behave yourself!" She reopened the
door, and Buffy stood there with a confused look on her face.
"Cordelia,
what just happened?" she asked. Cordelia smiled but not very reassuringly as she ushered Buffy inside.
"Wow,
Cordelia, this is incredible! How did
you find it? More importantly, how can
you afford it?" Buffy asked.
"Well,
the price is pretty cheap actually. You
see, this house is sort of out of the ordinary," Cordelia stated and suddenly
found the floor very interesting.
"Just
what do you mean 'out of the ordinary'?" Buffy demanded.
"Dennis,"
Cordelia answered. The ghostly image of
a young man appeared in front of them, and Buffy immediately put up her
fists. "Wow, Buff, easy, he's a good
ghost; he lives here."
"He
lives here with you, Cordelia!" Buffy gasped as she relaxed slightly.
"Yes. Okay, here's the story. This is where Dennis grew up; he and his
mother lived here. But, when he fell in
love with a girl, his mother became jealous and killed her own son to prevent
him from leaving. She buried him inside
one of the walls so the police wouldn't suspect anything. After she died, her spirit was trapped
inside this house, and she haunted anyone who came to stay here, including
myself!" Cordelia explained.
"So
what happened?" Buffy asked.
"Well,
Angel and Wesley found Dennis' remains in the wall, and his soul emerged to
silence his mother once and for all. His spirit was still tied to this place, so he became my roommate of
sorts," Cordelia finished. Dennis
nodded as she finished her story.
"Jeez,
Cordy, is there anything that hasn't happened to you?" Buffy joked.
"Nope,
not much!" Cordelia replied.
"All
right, I can accept staying here with a ghost, but…" she stopped and waggled
her finger at Dennis, "…no peeking on me in the shower, Mr.!" Buffy ordered
playfully. She laughed as he blushed
furiously and disappeared.
"Buffy,
be nice, he's shy okay," Cordelia said in his defense.
"Okay,
Cordy, let's get some sleep, I'm bagged!" Buffy stated. Cordelia pulled out her couch and gave Buffy
a blanket and pillows. They turned off
the lights and hit the sack.
The
following day, Cordelia showed Buffy around town so she was familiar with the
different places that Angel went to and used for information. She introduced Buffy to Gunn who came by her
place in the early evening along with Wesley.
"So
Cordelia, what's so special about her? She looks like an ordinary chick to me!" he stated. Cordelia restrained Buffy before her temper
snapped.
"Sorry,
I should have explained that he's not much for first impressions," Cordelia
said with a not-so-genuine smile. Buffy
just grinned at her and walked up to the young, black man.
"It's
okay, Cordy, I'm used to guys saying that to me. So, you're Gunn; Cordy told me that you're Angel's hired gun!"
Buffy said making sure that he heard her pun. Gunn suddenly found Buffy's right fist directly in front of his face.
"Hey!"
he gasped and jumped back. Buffy
smirked at him.
"If
I was an ordinary girl, you would have seen that long before then, so don't
push me," the slayer stated. Gunn
quirked a lopsided grin at her and extended his hand. Buffy shook it, and a mutual respect was exchanged.
"Wesley,
do you know if Angel has left the hotel yet?" Cordelia asked to try and break
up the tension.
"Not
that I know of," he replied. Buffy
nodded her head.
"Good,
that means I can still catch him before he goes out for night on the town," the
slayer quipped.
Half
an hour later, Cordelia and Buffy approached the old hotel.
"Jeez
Cordy, how old is this place?" Buffy gasped.
"It's
been around since the beginning of the 1900s; Angel bought the place because it
held certain memories for him," Cordelia replied not wanting to go into the
'whole' story right now.
"Well,
let's see if he's home," Buffy stated and hopped out of the car.
"You
want me to come with?" Cordelia asked.
"No,
I better see him alone; besides, if I have to pound on him, I'll need room to
work," Buffy joked. Cordelia grinned at
her, and the slayer headed up the steps.
Buffy
walked through the double doors and found Angel with his back turned leaning
over a counter. She leaned against one
of the pillars and crossed her arms.
"Now,
where did I put that?" Angel asked himself.
"Whatcha
looking for?" a voice asked. Angel
froze in place; it couldn't be her! He
turned around to find Buffy Summers standing in his doorway. 'And I thought that I'd never see her
again.'
"Buffy…hey…what
are you doing here?" Angel asked stupidly. Buffy uncrossed her arms and strolled down the steps.
"Angel…I
think you know why I'm here," Buffy retorted. Angel gave her a confused look as she approached him. Buffy extended her arms, and Angel did the
same like he was going to hug her in greeting.
At
the last second, Buffy drew back her right arm and plowed her fist into Angel's
stomach. The vampire gagged and hunched
over.
"Buffy,
what the hell are you…" he was cut off as she drilled him with a right cross to
the jaw. Angel fell onto the ground and
shook his head. Damn, he'd never felt
her punch that hard!
"What
am I doing, Angel? Maybe I should ask
you that? Just where do you get off
hurting one of your best friends?" Buffy said angrily. Angel moved his jaw around trying to ignore
the pain and wiped the blood off his lip.
"Buffy,
what are you talking about?" Angel gasped. His answer was met by a high-heeled boot to the face. "Buffy, enough of the hitting okay!" Angel
pleaded as he stood up. He found
himself in the sights of one very pissed off slayer and didn't know why!
"Cordelia
came to see me, Angel. She told what's
happened to you since you've been here," Buffy stated and relaxed her
guard. Angel breathed a sigh of relief
as Buffy toned down the slayer inside her.
"What
did she tell you?" he asked.
"Everything
Angel- Wolfram and Hart, Darla, Drusilla, you letting an entire room of people
die…" Buffy answered.
"The
bastards deserved it!" Angel growled.
"That
doesn't matter, Angel, you know how many people I'd like to see be sucked
dry! You can't let hatred control you;
it turns you into something you don't want to be," Buffy stated. Angel kept his expressionless mask.
"Well,
Buffy, let me put it to you plainly. I've got an entire law firm on a mission to drive me completely insane;
a person I cared about has lost her soul once again; and to top it all off, I
have to stop the apocalypse from happening at least once a week, okay. If my enemies don't wanna play by the rules,
then why the hell should I?" Angel demanded. Buffy absorbed his statements like a sponge.
"Why
should you play by the rules? Let me ask
you something Angel, what would you do if you found out that you were
personally responsible for hurting someone close to you?" Buffy asked. Angel drew back at her question.
"You'd
never forgive yourself, would you?" Buffy answered for him. "All you'd do is add another reason to carry
on your 'redemption' crusade." Angel's
eyes flashed, and Buffy knew that she'd hit one of his sensitive spots.
"Is
there a point to this, Buffy? I really
need to get going," Angel said and walked by her.
"Before
you leave Angel, did you happen to check on any of your former employees?"
Buffy asked coldly.
"No,
but Wesley came by a few days ago; he said that he, Cordelia, and Gunn were
going to keep the agency open even without me," Angel stated. Buffy could hear a slight hint of pride in
his voice. Maybe there was hope for him
yet?
"Of
course, they would, because they believe in what they're doing. What do you believe in Angel? Or have you lost your beliefs as well?"
Buffy said angrily. Now, Angel was
getting agitated; Buffy knew which buttons to push in order to get him angry.
"Buffy,
right now, I don't have to explain my actions to you or anyone else all right!"
the vampire growled. He turned and
walked away. Buffy jumped in front of
him before he could reach the door. Her
eyes blazed with fiery anger, and Angel could feel his stomach turn.
"Fine,
Angel, then explain to me why you broke one of Cordelia's ribs!" the slayer
roared. She was met by a pair of
shocked eyes.
"What
are you talking about, Buffy?" Angel asked.
"I'm
talking about your seer, Angel, the woman who puts up with you day in and day
out. She told me about your
'conversation'; you know, the one where she put a knife to her chest while it
was in your hand!" the slayer stated. Angel became defensive when Buffy mentioned the memory, and he tried to
look at anything but her.
"You
remember don't you?" Buffy continued, "Did you know that when you shoved her
out of the way that the impact on the railing fractured one of her ribs?"
"What?"
Angel gasped in astonishment. He
recalled the altercation like it had happened five minutes ago. Cordelia wouldn't take no for answer so he'd
forcefully pushed her out of his way. Apparently, he hadn't noticed how much strength he'd put into it!
"Now,
how do you explain that, Angel? Condone
hurting someone who's as close to you as Cordelia and shoving her aside like a
piece of garbage!" Buffy hissed.
"Buffy,
I didn't mean for her to get hurt, but she wouldn't leave me alone," Angel
groaned as he ran a hand through his hair. Buffy's expression softened, and she walked up to him.
"But
that's it isn't it, Angel?" the slayer asked as she put a hand on his shoulder,
"You couldn't stand listening to her, because everything Cordelia was saying
was absolutely true. She made you face
the fact that what you were doing was wrong, and you fought back because you
didn't want to listen!"
"What
happens the next time Cordelia talks to you, Angel? What are you gonna do- break another one of her bones because she
tells you the truth?" Buffy asked softly.
"Why
did you come here, Buffy? To torment me
over hurting her?" Angel growled as he turned away from her. Buffy walked around and faced him once
again.
"Angel,
I'm here for both your sakes. Cordelia
would do anything for you; I'm sure you know that. She'd follow you into hell and many times she has, just for the
simple hope that she might be able to help you. The girl puts up with a lot of crap from you, Angel; I wouldn't
put up with a lot of the crap that she's told me about. And frankly, you take advantage of her,
Angel," Buffy stated.
"I
what!" Angel gasped.
"You
know it's true. You put her and the
rest of your friends through hell time and time again, but you know that they
won't leave you. Answer this…when Wesley
and Cordelia worked for you, who did you complain to the most?" Buffy asked.
"Cordelia,"
Angel said flatly. Buffy smiled,
pleased with the response.
"Okay,
and when you had a bad day, who did you go brooding to?" Buffy said with a
slight grin. Angel groaned as he
realized what she was getting at.
"Cordelia,"
he replied.
"I
rest my case, Angel. You know that I'd
never put up with a lot of the bullshit that Cordelia deals with, but that's
why you put her through it, isn't it? You know that she'll stay by your side no matter what," the slayer
finished.
Angel
felt about a foot tall at that moment. Every one of Buffy's statements felt like a sledgehammer hitting him
over the head, because each of her statements was 100% correct!
"Buffy,
I don't want Cordelia to be around me, okay. I don't her or Wesley or Gunn to be around me. They don't deserve to live in hell on earth; each of them
deserves to have a normal life," Angel stated.
"How
did define normal, Angel? Do you know
how many times I wanted to have normal life? I'll never have a normal life, Angel, because I'm the slayer, but you
know what, I wouldn't change one thing about the way my life's gone because
every person that I've known is special to me, including you," Buffy
stated.
"You
know something else, Angel, I don't think that Cordelia, Wesley, or even Gunn
would take by a day that they've known you. You gave them a chance to help people, and it showed them what their
lives are supposed to accomplish!" she added. Angel gave her a small smile.
"Buffy,
I hate the fact that I've hurt each of them, but I can't let Wolfram and Hart
continue torturing the people I care about. I know what they want. They
don't want to kill me because they could have done that a long time ago. No, they- or should I say the people that
support them- want me, or more specifically, Angelus," Angel stated. Buffy suddenly realized what he was saying.
"You
mean they want to demon inside you; they want you the way that you used to be,"
she stated.
"Exactly. Everyday, that company finds new ways to
torment me, and it drives me insane!" Angel growled.
"Angel,
you can't do this alone; let your friends help you again; let Cordelia help you
again. You know she will; she wants to
be with you for as long as she can," Buffy said with a warm smile. Angel grinned at her.
"You
sound like a cheap romance novel, Buff," he quipped. Buffy grinned at him.
"Angel,
Cordelia cares about you deeply; it tears her up inside to see you hurting like
this. I think that it makes her feel
useless because she can't help the one person who's most important to her," the
slayer said firmly.
"Buffy,
Cordelia will never be useless; you know that," Angel said firmly.
"I
know, Angel, and so do you, but she needs to hear that from you! Right now, Cordelia feels lost just like
you! She's your seer, Angel, which
means that she's supposed to guide you, but if you don't want her around, then
there's nothing for her to do," Buffy explained. Angel raised his head and looked his former lover in the eye.
"Buffy,
I appreciate you coming all the way here, but I'm not playing 'the nice
vampire' anymore. The only way I'll
beat my enemies is if I strike them before they strike me! Until then, I'm not taking unnecessary
risks," Angel said coldly and walked away.
"Is
let someone love you an unnecessary risk, Angel?" Buffy asked casually. The vampire froze before he reached the
doorway.
"Excuse
me?" he asked.
"Cordelia
loves you, Angel; she loves you with all of her heart and soul. And to be perfectly honest, she loves you
far more than even I was once capable of doing. She believes in you, Angel, don't let her pure heart be crushed
because you simply want revenge. Let
Cordelia know what she means to you, Angel, tell her why you've pushed her
away. I know that she'll understand,"
Buffy said firmly.
Angel
listened intently to each of her words; he stood in place for a few moments
longer then walked out the front door. Buffy watched him go, and her heart fell slightly.
"The
poor guy doesn't know what he's giving up," the slayer said sadly.
Angel
walked outside the hotel to see Cordelia standing by her car. He went down the steps and headed in her
direction.
Cordelia
felt Angel's gaze upon her and tried to meet his eyes with hers.
Angel
saw the look in her chocolate, brown eyes. A silent 'Let me help you, Angel,' was radiating from them, and it was
getting louder as he got closer to her.
Cordelia
almost thought that he was going to talk to her, but he merely walked past her
completely ignoring the fact that she was there. The cold vice surrounding her heart tightened a little more. It had been there every since he'd thrown
her against that railing a few days ago, and every day, it closed tighter and
tighter around her weary heart.
Angel
calmed climbed into his car and drove off like she didn't exist.
Cordelia
felt tears welling in her eyes, but she fought them back.
"Here,"
a warm voice said and handed her a Kleenex. She turned to see Buffy next to her.
"Thanks,
Buff, so what'd he say?" the chestnut-haired girl asked as she wiped her eyes.
"Simply,
that he's not playing by the normal rules anymore; he doesn't want anyone to
get hurt but him. He thinks that he's
protecting you and the others by pushing you away. He's afraid that he'll lose you like he lost Darla," Buffy
explained. Even though Angel hadn't
specifically told her all that, Buffy had learned how to read Angel long ago,
and during their conversation, she'd read him like a book.
"I
wish there was something I…I mean we could do," Cordelia stuttered. Buffy touched her friend's shoulder.
"Don't
worry, Cordy, he's realizing just how much you and others mean to him, and I
think that he'll bring you guys back. Just give him a little more time," she said warmly.
"Thanks,
Buffy, I'm glad you're here. By the
way, when Angel walked by me, I could see blood on his lip!" she gasped. A sly grin spread across the slayer's face.
"I
confess, twas me!" Buffy said trying not to laugh.
"Jeez,
what'd you do to him anyway?" Cordelia asked.
"Nothing
much, just gave him a lesson from 'Slayer's School of Hard Knox'!" she
teased. Cordelia laughed as she
realized what Buffy had done.
"Ouch,
I hope I never see that," she laughed.
"C'mon,
Cordy, let's go meet the guys and see if we can find out anything new," the
slayer advised.
"Good
idea," Cordelia answered. They both
climbed in her car and headed back towards her apartment.
From
the alley down the street, a young man in his late twenties smiled evilly and
straightened his tie.
"So,
the slayer's come to help out her old flame; this could be interesting," he
laughed sadistically.
