Title: Perfectly Happy, Part 4 - - Character Death
Author: Anna - - niannah@hotmail.com
Rating: R
Pairing: Angelus/Cordelia
Disclaimer: Not mine, et cetera.
Distribution: Shippers United, The Crypt. Others, just let me know.
Feedback: Yes please. Thanks to all who have already reviewed and mailed me - support is greatly appreciated.
A/N: Set sometime after the end of Season 3. Vague spoilers only.
____________________________________________________________________________
She woke up late, the sun streaming through the window. Slowly spiralling dust glowed in the golden light. She stretched, yawned, and folded back the covers. Sounds wandered up from below, voices, wooden thuds, heavy clinking metal.
Showered and dressed, she made her way downstairs. The lobby had taken on the aspect of a medieval arsenal. Fred and Gunn busily oiled and polished every axe, sword, knife and crossbow, while Wesley sat at the reception desk watching them with a concentratedly disapproving air.
Gunn looked up as she entered.
"Hey, Cordelia," he said. "Tell English here why it's time to stake our boss."
Wesley sighed, exasperated. The argument had obviously been going on for some time.
"Cordelia," said Wesley, pouring her a cup of coffee. "It is possible that we could curse him again. We shouldn't simply rush into this."
Fred looked up, horrified.
"He killed Connor!" she said hoarsely.
"Angelus killed Connor. It's possible that we can bring Angel back. Surely that's the same as killing Angelus, without destroying Angel, too?"
Cordelia tasted her coffee. She put in more sugar.
"But you said there was no Orbs of Whatever around to curse him with," said Gunn.
"There aren't. But there are people I can call, leads I can follow up. I beg of you to wait until I do before you rush off and do something rash."
"Rash? Like staking the psycho vampire wearing our boss's face who wants to kill us?"
"Do you really think you are prepared to fight Angelus?" Wesley faced Gunn, his voice deadly serious. "Gunn, I know you have more field experience than almost any Watcher I know, perhaps you're almost up to Slayer levels, but you have no idea what you're dealing with here! A master vampire is very different from the minions you have spent your life fighting. And as masters go, you can't get more evil or malevolent than Angelus."
"All the more reason to take him out now, before he gets comfortable and starts snacking on the locals!" Gunn brandished a crossbow as he spoke.
"You're not listening to me!" Wesley paced the room, frustrated. "It is highly unlikely you would succeed in killing Angelus. He is more likely to end up snacking on you!" Wesley paused for a moment. "In fact, he is more likely to torture you until he lets you die in extreme pain."
Gunn shook his head, a humourless laugh escaping his lips. He glanced around at Fred. She held his gaze, before looking at Cordelia.
"I think Angel'd want us to stake him," said Fred quietly. "What do you think?"
Cordelia sipped her coffee thoughtfully. She sighed.
"I agree with Wes," she said finally.
"You what?" shouted Gunn, spinning to face her.
"I agree with Wesley," she repeated. "If it's possible to curse him again, then that's what we should do."
"And while we all are figuring out how we're gonna do that with no magic orb, he's out there killing people."
"Maybe Angel does more good than Angelus does bad," said Cordelia quietly.
"Yes," agreed Wesley. "Think of all the people he has helped, the apocalypses he has averted."
"The apocalypse he nearly caused, or that one slip your suddenly selective mind, English?"
"'Nearly' being the operative word," countered Wesley. "Anyway, this is a moot point! The fact is, without questioning for a moment your prowess with an axe, you simply do not have the capabilities to kill Angelus! We need a Slayer, and with Faith in prison and Buffy constantly required on the Hellmouth, we don't have one. Which means cursing him is our only hope."
"You finished your Princess Leia routine? 'Cause I got another hope. We sneak up on him quietly, we hit him with as much force as we got, and hey! Bring the Dustbuster, we're gonna need it."
Wesley began to laugh. Gunn's face became thunderous.
"You think you can sneak up on a master vampire!" Wesley stifled his laughter, shaking his head. "You simply have no concept of what Angelus is. Believe me when I say that if you go after him you will get yourself and anyone who goes with you killed. I for one am staying here, and will find an Orb of Thesulah or die trying." He was not laughing anymore.
"I'm with Wesley," said Cordelia.
Gunn stared at them, shocked.
"Fine," he said. "Fine. While you guys call your people or whatever, I'm gonna try to actually do something." He turned, crossbow in hand. "Fred?"
Fred looked sadly at Wesley and Cordelia.
"I'm with Charles," she said.
"Fred, you'll die." Wesley's voice allowed no argument.
"I'm with Charles," she repeated. Gunn nodded, and took her arm as they walked out of the hotel.
Cordelia and Wesley watched them leave.
"They're going to die," said Wesley.
"Probably," replied Cordelia.
"We can't stop them."
"No."
Wesley turned back to the reception desk, resting his elbows on it as he rubbed his eyes. Cordelia turned to him.
"So, what do I not know about Orbs of Thesulah? I thought you couldn't swing a Romanian cat without hitting one."
Wesley shook his head.
"No," he said. His voice sounded constricted. "A few years ago there were plenty, but not now. The magicks used to create them only erupt into this world once every ten, twenty, maybe even thirty years. When they appear, the gypsy craftspeople can harness them. But the flow that was used to make the orb Willow used four years ago to curse Angelus has since dried up, and so there will be no more for a decade at least, if not three."
"Oh," replied Cordelia. She bit her lip. "But you said there were people you could call?"
Wesley turned to face her.
"I'm afraid I rather exaggerated the likelihood of finding one, in order to stop Gunn rushing off and… well, to stop him doing what he's just done." He sighed heavily. "But there are people I can call. I should think the best place to start is Rupert Giles."
"You call him, then."
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to follow Fred and Gunn. You said I'm safe till everyone else is dead." She shrugged hopelessly. "Maybe I can do something, distract him or something."
"I think that plan is quite as flawed as Gunn's."
"Well, you can't stop me either."
"So I sit around till you're all dead?"
"Wesley, I'm going. You're staying and calling Giles. It's the best we can do right now." She looked softly into his eyes. "Oh, Wes," she sighed. "This is so hard."
"I know, Cordy. I know," he whispered in reply, as he took her into his arms and held her tightly.
Gunn cocked his crossbow in the twilight. Fred grasped a stake tightly in her hand. They waited, hidden outside Cordelia's apartment as the sun sank below the horizon.
Cordelia watched from a corner nearby. Neither Gunn nor Fred had noticed her. Her black clothes would soon fade into the night.
As would his. The glow of sunset had barely left the western sky when he emerged, leather pants now donned and fitting to perfection. He raised his head into the air, inhaling deeply. Glancing around, and seemingly noticing nothing, he set off into the night.
Gunn and Fred were soon on his trail, and Cordelia on theirs. Had her entire body not been twisted in fear she would have found the situation comical, the stuff of farce. But this was far from farce. It was life and death.
He walked with swift determination. He faced the breeze, so Gunn and Fred found it easy to stay downwind. Cordelia watched him as he passed people on the street, his glance flicking over them as he rejected them and moved on. She studied those he passed by. There was no pattern; they were of various ages, races, social backgrounds. What was he looking for?
Their surroundings had changed, and gloomy alleyways branched off the boulevard. He stalked on, melting into shadows, his body tensed and poised for the hunt. Fred and Gunn hurried after him, his lack of suspicion encouraging them to greater fearlessness. They scurried through pools of streetlight in his tracks, eyes bright, skin shining with sweat. Weapons at the ready. Cordelia followed as close behind as she dared.
Suddenly he disappeared. The shadows simply swallowed him. Gunn and Fred slowed, then came to a halt. Cordelia squinted into the darkness. He simply was not there. She watched as Gunn inched forward, a protective hand holding Fred behind him. Her nerves screamed as her body froze. The black mouth of an alley gaped through the gloom. She needed no visions from above to see what would happen next. She opened her mouth to scream, to warn him, but no sound came.
And then he was gone. Cordelia watched Fred freeze in horror, then slowly creep along by the wall until she reached the mouth of the alleyway. She peered in, apparently seeing nothing.
"Charles?" she called, her voice a reedy whisper. She took a tentative step into the darkness. "Charles?" she said again.
"No," whispered Cordelia. Her voice caught in her throat. She ran.
Before her eyes adjusted she heard muffled cries. Then she saw him, pale face appearing in the gloam, his arm clamped around a vainly struggling Fred. Gunn was penned into the end of the alley, no way past Angelus without coming inside his reach. His crossbow lay uselessly broken on the wet ground. Fred's stake had rolled against the wall.
Angelus turned to face Gunn.
"Did you think for one minute," he said, his voice mocking and arrogant, "that I wouldn't see you? That I couldn't smell your mortal stench? Who do you think you're playing with, boy?"
Gunn remained silent, his eyes riveted on Fred's face, blotchy with tears and struggle.
"Cordelia," continued Angelus, without looking behind. "You knew I'd know you were there. What was the plan? Distract me then have this kid stake me? Huh?" He turned to face her. "I expected more, Cordelia. From you."
She shook her head.
She saw Gunn move, take a tentative step forward as Angelus kept his back turned.
"No," she coughed. "No, that wasn't the plan…"
Her eyes flicked towards Gunn as he bent to the ground to pick up his fallen crossbow bolt.
"Let go of Fred," she continued.
"And miss all this fear?" Angelus laughed. "Not gonna happen! Lovely, betrayed blood. Huh, Fred? Your knight is gonna kill you. Drain you till you drop." He nuzzled her neck. Her muffled screams filled Cordelia's ears.
Angelus raised his face to her again. She stared at him, resolutely ignoring Gunn creeping along the damp concrete floor of the alley, bolt raised in his fist. Her horrified gaze remained on the concentrated shadows where black eyes glinted coldly under a heavy brow. Gunn continued to inch forward, Fred's screams muffling his footsteps. He was within an arms length when Angelus whirled and struck him a ferocious backhand to the side of the head. Gunn sailed through the air, hitting against the wall and landing on the ground beneath, limp as a rag doll. Blood flowed from a gash on his forehead.
Cordelia covered her mouth as she cried out. Fred's eyes strained to see Gunn lying unconscious on the cold ground. Angelus laughed.
"Your beautiful eyes, Cordelia," he said. "I can see everything when I look into your eyes."
"Angel! Angelus. Don't do this!" Her voice was full of panic.
"Don't do what? Kill the girl? Cordelia, you don't seem to get what I'm trying to show you here."
"So draw me a diagram!"
"He wants to do these things all the time." He jerked Fred tighter to his body, her arm twisted behind her back. "The only, only difference between him and me is that I do them."
"I believe you! Let her go!"
Angelus shook his head and morphed with a growl. Fred renewed her futile struggle, kicking him pathetically as he snarled in her ear.
"So naïve and innocent," he chuckled. "It's a long time since I've had anyone so sweet."
Cordelia rushed towards him, blindly flinging herself at him in a final effort to save Fred. He thrust out an arm and caught her, holding her throat, forcing her to watch as he sank his fangs into Fred's neck and began to drink, taking long, luxurious swallows, sucking, pulling, draining her blood in measured, even draws. Fred's struggle died, her eyes rolling back in her head. He uncovered her mouth and allowed her moan indistinctly as he drained the life from her veins. His hand held her to him like a lover as she exhaled for the last time. He let her body drop.
Cordelia crumpled as he allowed her collapse next to the dead girl. His fingers left bruises on her throat. Fierce sobs wracked Cordelia's body as she gently caressed Fred's face. She ran her fingers over her eyelids, closing them. Her expression was absurdly peaceful.
Cordelia looked to Gunn. He still lay unconscious against the wall. Suddenly Angelus was upon her, hauling her to her feet. He held her face in his hands, a breath away from his demonic visage.
"You see, Cordelia?" he snarled. "You said you wanted to know. Are you beginning to learn who exactly it is that you love?"
She could smell Fred's blood on his breath. She twisted back from his face, grasping his hands with hers to wrench them away. She failed; his grip was like steel.
"Aw, Cordy! Cordy baby! I make sweet love to you with Connor's blood filling my veins and now you're all squeamish? She tasted so good!"
It took less than a thought for Cordelia to clamp her jaws shut, as he assaulted her with his mouth, still red with blood and saliva. She strove to free herself, to get away from that fanged, monstrous face, filled with glee as she struggled in vain. He pulled back. She could feel her skin slick with blood, the coppery tang finding its way into her protesting mouth.
He laughed as he let her go. His face returned to its human aspect.
"Well, it's been fun, but gotta blaze." He passed her, his eyes constantly upon her, as he left the alleyway. She heard his footsteps fade as he disappeared into the night beyond.
She was alone.
She looked once more at Fred. Her face was still soft. It would be many hours before her skin would take on the waxy pallor of death. Gunn breathed shallowly, slouched against the wall. His forehead had stopped bleeding.
Cordelia moved to him and knelt down.
"Gunn," she said, holding his face. "Gunn, wake up." No response.
Cordelia's face crumpled as tears began to flow down her haggard cheeks.
"Gunn! Please wake up!" she whispered frantically. Again, nothing.
She reached a searching hand into his jacket pocket and drew out his cellphone. She called the Hyperion, trying to stifle her sobs.
"Angel Investigations, we help the hopeless," came the familiar voice down the phone.
"Wesley!" she said. "Right now, that's us."
By the time Wesley arrived, Gunn had regained consciousness. He tenderly held Fred's body in the back of the car as they brought her to the morgue in silence.
Author: Anna - - niannah@hotmail.com
Rating: R
Pairing: Angelus/Cordelia
Disclaimer: Not mine, et cetera.
Distribution: Shippers United, The Crypt. Others, just let me know.
Feedback: Yes please. Thanks to all who have already reviewed and mailed me - support is greatly appreciated.
A/N: Set sometime after the end of Season 3. Vague spoilers only.
____________________________________________________________________________
She woke up late, the sun streaming through the window. Slowly spiralling dust glowed in the golden light. She stretched, yawned, and folded back the covers. Sounds wandered up from below, voices, wooden thuds, heavy clinking metal.
Showered and dressed, she made her way downstairs. The lobby had taken on the aspect of a medieval arsenal. Fred and Gunn busily oiled and polished every axe, sword, knife and crossbow, while Wesley sat at the reception desk watching them with a concentratedly disapproving air.
Gunn looked up as she entered.
"Hey, Cordelia," he said. "Tell English here why it's time to stake our boss."
Wesley sighed, exasperated. The argument had obviously been going on for some time.
"Cordelia," said Wesley, pouring her a cup of coffee. "It is possible that we could curse him again. We shouldn't simply rush into this."
Fred looked up, horrified.
"He killed Connor!" she said hoarsely.
"Angelus killed Connor. It's possible that we can bring Angel back. Surely that's the same as killing Angelus, without destroying Angel, too?"
Cordelia tasted her coffee. She put in more sugar.
"But you said there was no Orbs of Whatever around to curse him with," said Gunn.
"There aren't. But there are people I can call, leads I can follow up. I beg of you to wait until I do before you rush off and do something rash."
"Rash? Like staking the psycho vampire wearing our boss's face who wants to kill us?"
"Do you really think you are prepared to fight Angelus?" Wesley faced Gunn, his voice deadly serious. "Gunn, I know you have more field experience than almost any Watcher I know, perhaps you're almost up to Slayer levels, but you have no idea what you're dealing with here! A master vampire is very different from the minions you have spent your life fighting. And as masters go, you can't get more evil or malevolent than Angelus."
"All the more reason to take him out now, before he gets comfortable and starts snacking on the locals!" Gunn brandished a crossbow as he spoke.
"You're not listening to me!" Wesley paced the room, frustrated. "It is highly unlikely you would succeed in killing Angelus. He is more likely to end up snacking on you!" Wesley paused for a moment. "In fact, he is more likely to torture you until he lets you die in extreme pain."
Gunn shook his head, a humourless laugh escaping his lips. He glanced around at Fred. She held his gaze, before looking at Cordelia.
"I think Angel'd want us to stake him," said Fred quietly. "What do you think?"
Cordelia sipped her coffee thoughtfully. She sighed.
"I agree with Wes," she said finally.
"You what?" shouted Gunn, spinning to face her.
"I agree with Wesley," she repeated. "If it's possible to curse him again, then that's what we should do."
"And while we all are figuring out how we're gonna do that with no magic orb, he's out there killing people."
"Maybe Angel does more good than Angelus does bad," said Cordelia quietly.
"Yes," agreed Wesley. "Think of all the people he has helped, the apocalypses he has averted."
"The apocalypse he nearly caused, or that one slip your suddenly selective mind, English?"
"'Nearly' being the operative word," countered Wesley. "Anyway, this is a moot point! The fact is, without questioning for a moment your prowess with an axe, you simply do not have the capabilities to kill Angelus! We need a Slayer, and with Faith in prison and Buffy constantly required on the Hellmouth, we don't have one. Which means cursing him is our only hope."
"You finished your Princess Leia routine? 'Cause I got another hope. We sneak up on him quietly, we hit him with as much force as we got, and hey! Bring the Dustbuster, we're gonna need it."
Wesley began to laugh. Gunn's face became thunderous.
"You think you can sneak up on a master vampire!" Wesley stifled his laughter, shaking his head. "You simply have no concept of what Angelus is. Believe me when I say that if you go after him you will get yourself and anyone who goes with you killed. I for one am staying here, and will find an Orb of Thesulah or die trying." He was not laughing anymore.
"I'm with Wesley," said Cordelia.
Gunn stared at them, shocked.
"Fine," he said. "Fine. While you guys call your people or whatever, I'm gonna try to actually do something." He turned, crossbow in hand. "Fred?"
Fred looked sadly at Wesley and Cordelia.
"I'm with Charles," she said.
"Fred, you'll die." Wesley's voice allowed no argument.
"I'm with Charles," she repeated. Gunn nodded, and took her arm as they walked out of the hotel.
Cordelia and Wesley watched them leave.
"They're going to die," said Wesley.
"Probably," replied Cordelia.
"We can't stop them."
"No."
Wesley turned back to the reception desk, resting his elbows on it as he rubbed his eyes. Cordelia turned to him.
"So, what do I not know about Orbs of Thesulah? I thought you couldn't swing a Romanian cat without hitting one."
Wesley shook his head.
"No," he said. His voice sounded constricted. "A few years ago there were plenty, but not now. The magicks used to create them only erupt into this world once every ten, twenty, maybe even thirty years. When they appear, the gypsy craftspeople can harness them. But the flow that was used to make the orb Willow used four years ago to curse Angelus has since dried up, and so there will be no more for a decade at least, if not three."
"Oh," replied Cordelia. She bit her lip. "But you said there were people you could call?"
Wesley turned to face her.
"I'm afraid I rather exaggerated the likelihood of finding one, in order to stop Gunn rushing off and… well, to stop him doing what he's just done." He sighed heavily. "But there are people I can call. I should think the best place to start is Rupert Giles."
"You call him, then."
"What are you going to do?"
"I'm going to follow Fred and Gunn. You said I'm safe till everyone else is dead." She shrugged hopelessly. "Maybe I can do something, distract him or something."
"I think that plan is quite as flawed as Gunn's."
"Well, you can't stop me either."
"So I sit around till you're all dead?"
"Wesley, I'm going. You're staying and calling Giles. It's the best we can do right now." She looked softly into his eyes. "Oh, Wes," she sighed. "This is so hard."
"I know, Cordy. I know," he whispered in reply, as he took her into his arms and held her tightly.
Gunn cocked his crossbow in the twilight. Fred grasped a stake tightly in her hand. They waited, hidden outside Cordelia's apartment as the sun sank below the horizon.
Cordelia watched from a corner nearby. Neither Gunn nor Fred had noticed her. Her black clothes would soon fade into the night.
As would his. The glow of sunset had barely left the western sky when he emerged, leather pants now donned and fitting to perfection. He raised his head into the air, inhaling deeply. Glancing around, and seemingly noticing nothing, he set off into the night.
Gunn and Fred were soon on his trail, and Cordelia on theirs. Had her entire body not been twisted in fear she would have found the situation comical, the stuff of farce. But this was far from farce. It was life and death.
He walked with swift determination. He faced the breeze, so Gunn and Fred found it easy to stay downwind. Cordelia watched him as he passed people on the street, his glance flicking over them as he rejected them and moved on. She studied those he passed by. There was no pattern; they were of various ages, races, social backgrounds. What was he looking for?
Their surroundings had changed, and gloomy alleyways branched off the boulevard. He stalked on, melting into shadows, his body tensed and poised for the hunt. Fred and Gunn hurried after him, his lack of suspicion encouraging them to greater fearlessness. They scurried through pools of streetlight in his tracks, eyes bright, skin shining with sweat. Weapons at the ready. Cordelia followed as close behind as she dared.
Suddenly he disappeared. The shadows simply swallowed him. Gunn and Fred slowed, then came to a halt. Cordelia squinted into the darkness. He simply was not there. She watched as Gunn inched forward, a protective hand holding Fred behind him. Her nerves screamed as her body froze. The black mouth of an alley gaped through the gloom. She needed no visions from above to see what would happen next. She opened her mouth to scream, to warn him, but no sound came.
And then he was gone. Cordelia watched Fred freeze in horror, then slowly creep along by the wall until she reached the mouth of the alleyway. She peered in, apparently seeing nothing.
"Charles?" she called, her voice a reedy whisper. She took a tentative step into the darkness. "Charles?" she said again.
"No," whispered Cordelia. Her voice caught in her throat. She ran.
Before her eyes adjusted she heard muffled cries. Then she saw him, pale face appearing in the gloam, his arm clamped around a vainly struggling Fred. Gunn was penned into the end of the alley, no way past Angelus without coming inside his reach. His crossbow lay uselessly broken on the wet ground. Fred's stake had rolled against the wall.
Angelus turned to face Gunn.
"Did you think for one minute," he said, his voice mocking and arrogant, "that I wouldn't see you? That I couldn't smell your mortal stench? Who do you think you're playing with, boy?"
Gunn remained silent, his eyes riveted on Fred's face, blotchy with tears and struggle.
"Cordelia," continued Angelus, without looking behind. "You knew I'd know you were there. What was the plan? Distract me then have this kid stake me? Huh?" He turned to face her. "I expected more, Cordelia. From you."
She shook her head.
She saw Gunn move, take a tentative step forward as Angelus kept his back turned.
"No," she coughed. "No, that wasn't the plan…"
Her eyes flicked towards Gunn as he bent to the ground to pick up his fallen crossbow bolt.
"Let go of Fred," she continued.
"And miss all this fear?" Angelus laughed. "Not gonna happen! Lovely, betrayed blood. Huh, Fred? Your knight is gonna kill you. Drain you till you drop." He nuzzled her neck. Her muffled screams filled Cordelia's ears.
Angelus raised his face to her again. She stared at him, resolutely ignoring Gunn creeping along the damp concrete floor of the alley, bolt raised in his fist. Her horrified gaze remained on the concentrated shadows where black eyes glinted coldly under a heavy brow. Gunn continued to inch forward, Fred's screams muffling his footsteps. He was within an arms length when Angelus whirled and struck him a ferocious backhand to the side of the head. Gunn sailed through the air, hitting against the wall and landing on the ground beneath, limp as a rag doll. Blood flowed from a gash on his forehead.
Cordelia covered her mouth as she cried out. Fred's eyes strained to see Gunn lying unconscious on the cold ground. Angelus laughed.
"Your beautiful eyes, Cordelia," he said. "I can see everything when I look into your eyes."
"Angel! Angelus. Don't do this!" Her voice was full of panic.
"Don't do what? Kill the girl? Cordelia, you don't seem to get what I'm trying to show you here."
"So draw me a diagram!"
"He wants to do these things all the time." He jerked Fred tighter to his body, her arm twisted behind her back. "The only, only difference between him and me is that I do them."
"I believe you! Let her go!"
Angelus shook his head and morphed with a growl. Fred renewed her futile struggle, kicking him pathetically as he snarled in her ear.
"So naïve and innocent," he chuckled. "It's a long time since I've had anyone so sweet."
Cordelia rushed towards him, blindly flinging herself at him in a final effort to save Fred. He thrust out an arm and caught her, holding her throat, forcing her to watch as he sank his fangs into Fred's neck and began to drink, taking long, luxurious swallows, sucking, pulling, draining her blood in measured, even draws. Fred's struggle died, her eyes rolling back in her head. He uncovered her mouth and allowed her moan indistinctly as he drained the life from her veins. His hand held her to him like a lover as she exhaled for the last time. He let her body drop.
Cordelia crumpled as he allowed her collapse next to the dead girl. His fingers left bruises on her throat. Fierce sobs wracked Cordelia's body as she gently caressed Fred's face. She ran her fingers over her eyelids, closing them. Her expression was absurdly peaceful.
Cordelia looked to Gunn. He still lay unconscious against the wall. Suddenly Angelus was upon her, hauling her to her feet. He held her face in his hands, a breath away from his demonic visage.
"You see, Cordelia?" he snarled. "You said you wanted to know. Are you beginning to learn who exactly it is that you love?"
She could smell Fred's blood on his breath. She twisted back from his face, grasping his hands with hers to wrench them away. She failed; his grip was like steel.
"Aw, Cordy! Cordy baby! I make sweet love to you with Connor's blood filling my veins and now you're all squeamish? She tasted so good!"
It took less than a thought for Cordelia to clamp her jaws shut, as he assaulted her with his mouth, still red with blood and saliva. She strove to free herself, to get away from that fanged, monstrous face, filled with glee as she struggled in vain. He pulled back. She could feel her skin slick with blood, the coppery tang finding its way into her protesting mouth.
He laughed as he let her go. His face returned to its human aspect.
"Well, it's been fun, but gotta blaze." He passed her, his eyes constantly upon her, as he left the alleyway. She heard his footsteps fade as he disappeared into the night beyond.
She was alone.
She looked once more at Fred. Her face was still soft. It would be many hours before her skin would take on the waxy pallor of death. Gunn breathed shallowly, slouched against the wall. His forehead had stopped bleeding.
Cordelia moved to him and knelt down.
"Gunn," she said, holding his face. "Gunn, wake up." No response.
Cordelia's face crumpled as tears began to flow down her haggard cheeks.
"Gunn! Please wake up!" she whispered frantically. Again, nothing.
She reached a searching hand into his jacket pocket and drew out his cellphone. She called the Hyperion, trying to stifle her sobs.
"Angel Investigations, we help the hopeless," came the familiar voice down the phone.
"Wesley!" she said. "Right now, that's us."
By the time Wesley arrived, Gunn had regained consciousness. He tenderly held Fred's body in the back of the car as they brought her to the morgue in silence.