"Who would have imagined Cordelia Chase as a visionary and part demon?" she
shook her head. "I have trouble believing it myself sometimes. I could
have had a normal life with fame and fortune, and I chose to be . . . well,
whatever I am."
"So let me get this straight, you chose this?" Spike queried. Cordelia had told him everything from Doyle's 'gift,' being worshiped in another dimension, nearly dying from the visions but deciding to keep them with the price of becoming part demon, to ascending as it were to a higher plane. Oh and giving that up to return to fight the good fight on the lowly third rock from the sun.
"Go figure, huh?"
"So that makes the whelp the only 'normal' one left out of the lot of you," he chuckled.
"If you mean nothing-spectacular-run-of-the-mill-human, you'd be right," she smiled. "I left Sunnydale to get on with my life, international shopper or megastar, and yet I could never quite leave all this behind."
"So you can take the girl out of the Hellmouth, but you can't-OW!" he rubbed his shoulder where she had hit him. "Bloody hell, woman, I'd hate to see you really mad."
"Keep cracking Harris-eque one-liners like that and you might just see it. And if you think that hurt, wait til I go all glowy demon power on you."
Spike had to admit, the girl had gone from intolerable and shallow to, well, entertaining to say the least.
"Buffy and you, huh? I could have told you I saw that one coming, before I got visions."
"What?"
"Oh, come on, Spike. The way you two were going at each other from the beginning. The boasting, the beating . . . weren't you ever a kid, or weren't things like that back then?"
"William the Bloody for my poetry, mind you. That should be answer enough."
Cordelia stifled a laugh. "I've spilled my guts. Your turn."
And he did, everything. From hatred to realization that it wasn't, obsession to acceptance, hope to temporary insanity, action to consequences. He even told her about the robot; she nearly fell off her stool with that one. It took a full five minutes before she stopped laughing enough to let him finish.
"And now you're in the same boat with me, waiting to see if they're choices are lasting or if old flames rekindle," she smiled sympathetically.
"Yeah, well, what else is there to do?"
"How 'bout I buy the next round?"
~*~
"Cordelia Chase? Whose biggest priority in high school was to be popular?"
"Buffy, she's changed."
"Ugh! I'm getting sick of that word, I really am. What is she now, a superhuman warrior with visions and other extraordinary powers?"
Angel didn't say anything.
Buffy burst out laughing. "This is . . . too . . . much . . ." she managed between fits of laughter. She wiped her eyes at last, "I'm sorry, but you have to admit, it's . . . funny!"
"What about you and Spike?"
He hadn't cracked a smile once. Always Mr. Serious. Couldn't he lighten up once in awhile? She discovered with Giles that day when Willow ran rampant that you sometimes had to see the humor in it all.
She sobered at last, "What about me and Spike? Is it really that foreign of a concept to you, all things considered? Angel, is it?"
"It's Spike, Buffy, he's-"
"Not you?" she finished for him. "And you know what I've realized about that fact? I'm glad."
"So, what? You hate me now, is that it?"
"Angel," she sighed with frustration. "Does someone have to die in order for the two of us to get along civilly? At long last we're moving on with our . . . existences. True, neither of us is pleased with the other's choice, but that's the way things are. A lot has happened in the last year or so, in both of our cases. And I finally realized something, though I forget from time to time. This pettiness is pointless and I'm sick of it. Doing the same thing over and over. Falling into old patterns.
"We loved and hurt each other deeply. But that's long over."
"Thanks for the memories, Angel, but please be so kind as to stay out of my life?" he grimaced.
"That's not what I'm saying."
"We've tried the whole 'just friends' thing, it doesn't work, remember?"
"It didn't work. Things are different now," she caressed his face fondly. "I'll always love you, Angel. But I think it's time we both started acting our ages."
He was silent for a moment. Buffy was right though. It was time to grow up. "So, you and Spike, huh?" a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"At least Cordelia knows what she's getting into," Buffy returned.
~*~
"The Slayer didn't always have a sister," Connor broke the silence at last.
Dawn shrugged. The whole not always existing thing didn't bother her as much as it used to.
"So do you remember any of it?"
"Any of what?"
"Before?"
She stopped, uncertain. "I didn't until Willow was going to-Since then I've been remembering things."
"What were you?"
"I just was," she considered. "Nothing definitive. Just consciousness. And I was everywhere."
They resumed walking.
"It's hard," Connor spoke.
"What, life? My sister could fill you in on that one."
"No. It's hard accepting that things weren't always like this. That . . ."
"We weren't always like this," Dawn completed his thought. "You know what's funny?"
"A joke?" he ventured uncertain.
Dawn looked at him. He grew up in a hell dimension, she reminded herself. One she probably could have opened. "Kind of a joke played by life."
He waited.
"You and me aren't supposed to even exist, you know."
"We have something in common."
"Yup, only on the Hellmouth can a human son of two vampires meet a former cosmic ball of energy turned into a teen sister that never was."
~*~
Cordelia put her glass down suddenly. "We have to go, now!" she said grabbing Spike and dragging him out the door behind her. "North end, right?"
"What are you going on about?" Spike asked, trying to keep up to Cordelia's break-neck pace.
"We need to find Dawn."
~*~
"You know, I'm really in the mood to stake some vamps tonight," Buffy called out into the calm night. She noticed Angel take a couple steps away. "Hmm, I may take that into consideration."
Just then his phone rang, causing the 200 plus year old vamp to jump.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" Buffy laughed. "A cell phone?!"
It rang again. Angel just looked at it.
"Phone rings, you answer," she giggled, taking from him.
"It's not my fault it never works right," he looked sheepish.
"River in Egypt," she muttered, answering on the third ring. "Hello? Cordelia? What about Da-Fine, we'll meet you there."
"What did she see?"
"Oh, Dawn's going to be in trouble," she shrugged, just barely picking up her pace.
"You sound . . . unconcerned."
"It's not Tuesday and yet . . . Let's just say it's not that unusual for Dawn to be in trouble."
~*~
"Do you ever try and use your powers?" Connor asked.
"Mr. Twenty-Questions, aren't we?" she smiled. Maybe the non-normal boys were worth checking out. "But to answer: What powers? Ritual, I bleed, portals open. That's something to brag about."
"You've got to be able to do more than that?"
"Excuse me for only have one measly power, Blade," she rolled her eyes, but then caught his clueless look. "Boy, if I get the chance I am going to introduce you to the wonders of pop culture and Hollywood's take on all this. What about you? What nifty little powers do you have?"
Before he could answer they where thrown to the ground by a brilliant flash of light.
"Okay, that sucked," Dawn groaned, Connor helping her up. "What wa-"
"The Key!"
"So let me get this straight, you chose this?" Spike queried. Cordelia had told him everything from Doyle's 'gift,' being worshiped in another dimension, nearly dying from the visions but deciding to keep them with the price of becoming part demon, to ascending as it were to a higher plane. Oh and giving that up to return to fight the good fight on the lowly third rock from the sun.
"Go figure, huh?"
"So that makes the whelp the only 'normal' one left out of the lot of you," he chuckled.
"If you mean nothing-spectacular-run-of-the-mill-human, you'd be right," she smiled. "I left Sunnydale to get on with my life, international shopper or megastar, and yet I could never quite leave all this behind."
"So you can take the girl out of the Hellmouth, but you can't-OW!" he rubbed his shoulder where she had hit him. "Bloody hell, woman, I'd hate to see you really mad."
"Keep cracking Harris-eque one-liners like that and you might just see it. And if you think that hurt, wait til I go all glowy demon power on you."
Spike had to admit, the girl had gone from intolerable and shallow to, well, entertaining to say the least.
"Buffy and you, huh? I could have told you I saw that one coming, before I got visions."
"What?"
"Oh, come on, Spike. The way you two were going at each other from the beginning. The boasting, the beating . . . weren't you ever a kid, or weren't things like that back then?"
"William the Bloody for my poetry, mind you. That should be answer enough."
Cordelia stifled a laugh. "I've spilled my guts. Your turn."
And he did, everything. From hatred to realization that it wasn't, obsession to acceptance, hope to temporary insanity, action to consequences. He even told her about the robot; she nearly fell off her stool with that one. It took a full five minutes before she stopped laughing enough to let him finish.
"And now you're in the same boat with me, waiting to see if they're choices are lasting or if old flames rekindle," she smiled sympathetically.
"Yeah, well, what else is there to do?"
"How 'bout I buy the next round?"
~*~
"Cordelia Chase? Whose biggest priority in high school was to be popular?"
"Buffy, she's changed."
"Ugh! I'm getting sick of that word, I really am. What is she now, a superhuman warrior with visions and other extraordinary powers?"
Angel didn't say anything.
Buffy burst out laughing. "This is . . . too . . . much . . ." she managed between fits of laughter. She wiped her eyes at last, "I'm sorry, but you have to admit, it's . . . funny!"
"What about you and Spike?"
He hadn't cracked a smile once. Always Mr. Serious. Couldn't he lighten up once in awhile? She discovered with Giles that day when Willow ran rampant that you sometimes had to see the humor in it all.
She sobered at last, "What about me and Spike? Is it really that foreign of a concept to you, all things considered? Angel, is it?"
"It's Spike, Buffy, he's-"
"Not you?" she finished for him. "And you know what I've realized about that fact? I'm glad."
"So, what? You hate me now, is that it?"
"Angel," she sighed with frustration. "Does someone have to die in order for the two of us to get along civilly? At long last we're moving on with our . . . existences. True, neither of us is pleased with the other's choice, but that's the way things are. A lot has happened in the last year or so, in both of our cases. And I finally realized something, though I forget from time to time. This pettiness is pointless and I'm sick of it. Doing the same thing over and over. Falling into old patterns.
"We loved and hurt each other deeply. But that's long over."
"Thanks for the memories, Angel, but please be so kind as to stay out of my life?" he grimaced.
"That's not what I'm saying."
"We've tried the whole 'just friends' thing, it doesn't work, remember?"
"It didn't work. Things are different now," she caressed his face fondly. "I'll always love you, Angel. But I think it's time we both started acting our ages."
He was silent for a moment. Buffy was right though. It was time to grow up. "So, you and Spike, huh?" a smile tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"At least Cordelia knows what she's getting into," Buffy returned.
~*~
"The Slayer didn't always have a sister," Connor broke the silence at last.
Dawn shrugged. The whole not always existing thing didn't bother her as much as it used to.
"So do you remember any of it?"
"Any of what?"
"Before?"
She stopped, uncertain. "I didn't until Willow was going to-Since then I've been remembering things."
"What were you?"
"I just was," she considered. "Nothing definitive. Just consciousness. And I was everywhere."
They resumed walking.
"It's hard," Connor spoke.
"What, life? My sister could fill you in on that one."
"No. It's hard accepting that things weren't always like this. That . . ."
"We weren't always like this," Dawn completed his thought. "You know what's funny?"
"A joke?" he ventured uncertain.
Dawn looked at him. He grew up in a hell dimension, she reminded herself. One she probably could have opened. "Kind of a joke played by life."
He waited.
"You and me aren't supposed to even exist, you know."
"We have something in common."
"Yup, only on the Hellmouth can a human son of two vampires meet a former cosmic ball of energy turned into a teen sister that never was."
~*~
Cordelia put her glass down suddenly. "We have to go, now!" she said grabbing Spike and dragging him out the door behind her. "North end, right?"
"What are you going on about?" Spike asked, trying to keep up to Cordelia's break-neck pace.
"We need to find Dawn."
~*~
"You know, I'm really in the mood to stake some vamps tonight," Buffy called out into the calm night. She noticed Angel take a couple steps away. "Hmm, I may take that into consideration."
Just then his phone rang, causing the 200 plus year old vamp to jump.
"Oh you have got to be kidding me!" Buffy laughed. "A cell phone?!"
It rang again. Angel just looked at it.
"Phone rings, you answer," she giggled, taking from him.
"It's not my fault it never works right," he looked sheepish.
"River in Egypt," she muttered, answering on the third ring. "Hello? Cordelia? What about Da-Fine, we'll meet you there."
"What did she see?"
"Oh, Dawn's going to be in trouble," she shrugged, just barely picking up her pace.
"You sound . . . unconcerned."
"It's not Tuesday and yet . . . Let's just say it's not that unusual for Dawn to be in trouble."
~*~
"Do you ever try and use your powers?" Connor asked.
"Mr. Twenty-Questions, aren't we?" she smiled. Maybe the non-normal boys were worth checking out. "But to answer: What powers? Ritual, I bleed, portals open. That's something to brag about."
"You've got to be able to do more than that?"
"Excuse me for only have one measly power, Blade," she rolled her eyes, but then caught his clueless look. "Boy, if I get the chance I am going to introduce you to the wonders of pop culture and Hollywood's take on all this. What about you? What nifty little powers do you have?"
Before he could answer they where thrown to the ground by a brilliant flash of light.
"Okay, that sucked," Dawn groaned, Connor helping her up. "What wa-"
"The Key!"
