Part 5-
A/N- Thanks so much everyone for the wonderful feedback to part four!! It really drives me to keep churning new chapters out!!! Thanks also for your patience and understanding during the long wait between chapters!! I really really hope you enjoy this chapter nad that it was worth the wait!
"What?" Angel asked her, hoping she hadn't just said what he thought she had.
"I said we might have to go and see Buffy," Cordy said, watching his face carefully to see what kind of reaction he'd have to this news. She was relieved beyond belief that Angel seemed upset at this news. Oh thank God, she thought to herself, all the while feeling bad at feeling good about Angel's discomfort.
"Why? What did you see?" Angel asked her, hoping that maybe they wouldn't have to do this. Seeing Buffy and the gang would only complicate things beyond belief. He and Cordy would have to explain what was going on and the Scoobies would have a hard time believing their situation, and when they did accept what was going on there would be some very uncomfortable questions that Angel wasn't sure they could answer.
"Ah well, nothing that gave me the warm fuzzies, I'll tell you that now," she joked, trying to lighten up the situation a little. "The usual you know, blood, gore, screaming people. And then this big ugly dude with even bigger dental issues than you. It was just like a standard PTB migraine- disguised-as-a-vision, but I just got this feeling, like this was bigger than us, that we can't fight this on our own. And hey who better to recruit in the fight against the nasties than this town's very own Slayer, huh?"
Angel took another look at Cordy, and then leaned back slowly so that he was propped up against the leg of the table. God why can't anything ever be easy? He thought to himself. Ok so I maimed and killed and was generally evil, and I'm paying for it, but this? This is too much. God just think of all the trouble this is going to cause!
"Angel would you please say something?" Cordelia asked him. "You look like you're trying to figure out a way to fake your own death, jeez, you really don't wanna see Buffy and the gang do you?"
"No," he said but rushed on when he saw Cordelia open her mouth to speak again. "But it's not what you think ok. I'm just worried about how things will go. I mean they're gonna have a tough time believing all this you know. And then, if for some unknown reason they do believe us there'll be all sorts of questions. Are you sure you wanna go through that?"
"Don't think I haven't considered all of this Angel, 'cause I have," Cordelia said after a while. "I just think that there's no other choice, is there? We can't fight this thing on our own, we need help. And the faster we get this done, the faster we can get home. Plus, hey, we've been through worse than the Scooby gang interrogation, we'll answer their questions, get their help, slay the big bad and then go home to our nice normal lives.ok, ok, normal for us anyway!" She added quickly, seeing the look on Angel's face.
"Ok, look I know you're right, I know we have to get their help if we wanna get out of here, but I just.Why can't anything ever be easy?" He asked her, hoping that she would say something to make him feel better.
"I know what you mean Angel, but unfortunately for us this is the life we have, no use complaining about it, well not now anyway," she said comfortingly. "Look, how about we go see Giles first, he's bound to be much calmer about all of this; he's not likely to fly off the handle at us. So we'll go to him, see if he can help us. How does that sound?" She asked him hoping that he would go for her idea.
"Ok, sounds like a better plan than just marching up to Buffy and her friends and ether waiting for the laughter or a nice pointy stake. Giles should be reasonable about all this, after all he is a Watcher, I mean our situation can't be that weird can it?" He asked her, getting up from the floor and slowly pulling her up from the chair she had been sitting on and into his arms.
It still surprised him a little when she wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled into his chest like she had done every other time they were in this position. He had wondered daily how he had come to deserve someone so beautiful, both outside and in, as Cordelia. This woman who had the rest of her life ahead of her, who was so innocent, had chosen him, at one time the most evil of beings, who had destroyed the lives of people like her without even thinking twice about it. She trusted him, wanted him and loved him, and he couldn't help but think that after everything that he had gone through, maybe he deserved to feel like this, maybe just maybe he did deserve her.
Cordelia felt Angel pull out of their embrace just a little, lifting her head slowly from his chest where it had been rested just a minute before, their eyes locked as Angel slowly lowered his mouth to hers. God she loved this, every time he kissed her it was like he was putting his entire self behind it, like he had to prove that he loved her and how much, every single time he kissed her. That was one of the things she really loved about Angel, that whilst he remained stoic and quite and unemotional on the outside, he really did feel things, and feel them strongly, and when he was with her he didn't feel the need to hide these feelings.
Finally, after a few minutes, Angel pulled back to let Cordelia breathe. His head found its way to her shoulder where he rested his forehead, listening to her laboured breathing, smiling slightly at the sound of the increase in her heart rate, knowing he was responsible for it. He smiled even wider when he heard the tiny little heart of his child beating away inside its mother. That sound still amazed him and he had a feeling it would continue to do so for a very long time.
"Ok, look, I've figured out a plan," Cordy said as she got her breath back. "How 'bout we get some sleep, and tomorrow afternoon I'll go to the library while Buffy and the gang are in class. I'll talk to Giles, tell him what's going on, make him believe me any damn way I can and get down on my hands and knees and beg him to help us if need be."
"I don't want you doing this by yourself," Angel said, his over protectiveness making its presence known once again. "What happens if you run into Buffy, or Willow, or Xander? What happens if you run into your past self? How the hell would you explain that?"
"Look I know it's gonna be difficult and I'll have to be really careful, but I wanna get this over and done with and the sooner we get in contact with Giles the better. In case you've forgotten, you're still a vampire, still can't go out into the sun, so I'll have to go myself. I'll be careful, I promise," Cordelia said to him, already knowing that she had won this little argument, Angel could never say no to her.
"Alright, but I want to see Giles, try and work something out with him, I want to help figure this out and I really don't want you to do all of this alone," he said, hoping that she would listen to him for once and do as he asked.
"Ok, ok, I'll try to sort something out with Giles, you'll be a part of all this don't worry, especially if there's research to be done, all those smelly, musty books, there's no way you'll be getting yourself outta that one," Cordelia said, smiling up at him. "So, why don't we just get some sleep and I'll go into the school tomorrow and find Giles. Sound like a good idea to you?"
"Yeah ok," he said, still not very happy about the prospect of Cordy going to see Giles by herself, but she was right, he couldn't go out in the sun, and they needed to start sorting things out, if they ever wanted to get back to LA.
And, as they had the day before they both climbed into bed-Cordy wrapped up in the tight cicle of Angel's arms-said their goodnights and fell into a peaceful sleep.
***
It was around eleven o'clock when Cordy finally managed to get to the school. Angel had still been apprehensive about her going out alone, but she had reminded him that she was a big girl and didn't always need to be protected by him, she could look after herself, afterall, how else had she managed to survive through her years living here on the Hellmouth? He had finally, grudgingly, let her go, realising that they had to do something and he wouldn't really be able to stop her from going anyway. She had kissed him goodbye and set off for the school, still knowing the route after all these years.
The halls of the school were deserted and it was hard to believe that in the not too distant future the walls around her would be mere piles of dust and rubble. As much as she hated to admit it, she felt a little nostalgic walking through these halls again. Last time she had been here life was so much easier, sure, things had been a little complicated after she had found herself mixed up with the Scoobies, but, she had been a teenager then, the biggest problems she had had were who she was going to go to the prom with or what she would wear to the Bronze that night. Things had been easier then, now she was in the adult world where she had to deal with adult problems, not to mention supernatural ones as well. And right now she had a whole pile of problems to sort through, the biggest being how the hell she'd tell Giles what's going on without him either thinking she was a raving loonatic, or taking a stake to her.
Oh well, she thought to herself as she rounded the corner, coming to a halt in front of the familiar swinging doors that mark the entrance to the library. No time to think about it now, I'll just tell him the truth and if he doesn't believe me I'll have to think of something else.
With that thought, she took a deep breath and pushed open the doors, to see a thoroughly deserted library.
Great, she thought, huffing as she perched herself on the table in the middle of the room. Trust Giles to finally get out of this damn library when I need him!
While she waited for Giles to return, Cordelia looked around the library that had become something of a Head Quarters for the Scoobies back in the day when the school had been standing. She remembered sitting at the chairs that surrounded the table she was now sitting on and moaning and groaning about research. She remembered the bookshelf in which she and Xander had kissed only to have Willow find them and Xander chase after her as she fled. She remembered finding Vamp Willow in the book cage and letting her out, not realising that she wasn't the real Willow. And she definitely remembered clinging to Angel as they sat at this table waiting for the Scoobies after she had discovered a bin full of body parts, god she had been desperate, clinging to him like there was no tomorrow. She chuckled to herself as she remembered how uncomfortable Angel had been in her presence, he hadn't been like that with her in a long while, not since her first year with him in LA, Angel was not really a people person and she was glad that she had mananged to crack through the barriers he had formed to cut himself off from human interaction, she was glad he felt comfortable around her. Her thoughts were cut short by a deep cough, like someone clearing their throat, she looked up to see Giles standing in front of her, book in hand as usual.
"Can I help you?" He asked her, looking at her strangely, like he couldn't place her name to her face.
"Oh god Giles I really, really need your help," she said, standing and walking forwards a few paces.
"Ah, I'm sorry, but have we met?" He asked her, looking at her familiar face but not recognising exactly who she was.
"Jeez, I haven't changed that much! Ok so, I cut my hair and I'm not really heavily into the designer clothes, shoes and accessories anymore, but hey you should still recognise me!" She looked at him, hoping that he would recognise her now, but seeing that he didn't.
"Oh for crying out loud Giles, you're meant to be all observant and super intelligent," she said in exasperation. "It's me, Cordelia."
TBC
A/N 2- I know, I know I'm evil but I couldn't help ending it like this!!! I promise to have the next part up as soon as humanly possible!! In the meantime, please review!!!
A/N- Thanks so much everyone for the wonderful feedback to part four!! It really drives me to keep churning new chapters out!!! Thanks also for your patience and understanding during the long wait between chapters!! I really really hope you enjoy this chapter nad that it was worth the wait!
"What?" Angel asked her, hoping she hadn't just said what he thought she had.
"I said we might have to go and see Buffy," Cordy said, watching his face carefully to see what kind of reaction he'd have to this news. She was relieved beyond belief that Angel seemed upset at this news. Oh thank God, she thought to herself, all the while feeling bad at feeling good about Angel's discomfort.
"Why? What did you see?" Angel asked her, hoping that maybe they wouldn't have to do this. Seeing Buffy and the gang would only complicate things beyond belief. He and Cordy would have to explain what was going on and the Scoobies would have a hard time believing their situation, and when they did accept what was going on there would be some very uncomfortable questions that Angel wasn't sure they could answer.
"Ah well, nothing that gave me the warm fuzzies, I'll tell you that now," she joked, trying to lighten up the situation a little. "The usual you know, blood, gore, screaming people. And then this big ugly dude with even bigger dental issues than you. It was just like a standard PTB migraine- disguised-as-a-vision, but I just got this feeling, like this was bigger than us, that we can't fight this on our own. And hey who better to recruit in the fight against the nasties than this town's very own Slayer, huh?"
Angel took another look at Cordy, and then leaned back slowly so that he was propped up against the leg of the table. God why can't anything ever be easy? He thought to himself. Ok so I maimed and killed and was generally evil, and I'm paying for it, but this? This is too much. God just think of all the trouble this is going to cause!
"Angel would you please say something?" Cordelia asked him. "You look like you're trying to figure out a way to fake your own death, jeez, you really don't wanna see Buffy and the gang do you?"
"No," he said but rushed on when he saw Cordelia open her mouth to speak again. "But it's not what you think ok. I'm just worried about how things will go. I mean they're gonna have a tough time believing all this you know. And then, if for some unknown reason they do believe us there'll be all sorts of questions. Are you sure you wanna go through that?"
"Don't think I haven't considered all of this Angel, 'cause I have," Cordelia said after a while. "I just think that there's no other choice, is there? We can't fight this thing on our own, we need help. And the faster we get this done, the faster we can get home. Plus, hey, we've been through worse than the Scooby gang interrogation, we'll answer their questions, get their help, slay the big bad and then go home to our nice normal lives.ok, ok, normal for us anyway!" She added quickly, seeing the look on Angel's face.
"Ok, look I know you're right, I know we have to get their help if we wanna get out of here, but I just.Why can't anything ever be easy?" He asked her, hoping that she would say something to make him feel better.
"I know what you mean Angel, but unfortunately for us this is the life we have, no use complaining about it, well not now anyway," she said comfortingly. "Look, how about we go see Giles first, he's bound to be much calmer about all of this; he's not likely to fly off the handle at us. So we'll go to him, see if he can help us. How does that sound?" She asked him hoping that he would go for her idea.
"Ok, sounds like a better plan than just marching up to Buffy and her friends and ether waiting for the laughter or a nice pointy stake. Giles should be reasonable about all this, after all he is a Watcher, I mean our situation can't be that weird can it?" He asked her, getting up from the floor and slowly pulling her up from the chair she had been sitting on and into his arms.
It still surprised him a little when she wrapped her arms around him and nuzzled into his chest like she had done every other time they were in this position. He had wondered daily how he had come to deserve someone so beautiful, both outside and in, as Cordelia. This woman who had the rest of her life ahead of her, who was so innocent, had chosen him, at one time the most evil of beings, who had destroyed the lives of people like her without even thinking twice about it. She trusted him, wanted him and loved him, and he couldn't help but think that after everything that he had gone through, maybe he deserved to feel like this, maybe just maybe he did deserve her.
Cordelia felt Angel pull out of their embrace just a little, lifting her head slowly from his chest where it had been rested just a minute before, their eyes locked as Angel slowly lowered his mouth to hers. God she loved this, every time he kissed her it was like he was putting his entire self behind it, like he had to prove that he loved her and how much, every single time he kissed her. That was one of the things she really loved about Angel, that whilst he remained stoic and quite and unemotional on the outside, he really did feel things, and feel them strongly, and when he was with her he didn't feel the need to hide these feelings.
Finally, after a few minutes, Angel pulled back to let Cordelia breathe. His head found its way to her shoulder where he rested his forehead, listening to her laboured breathing, smiling slightly at the sound of the increase in her heart rate, knowing he was responsible for it. He smiled even wider when he heard the tiny little heart of his child beating away inside its mother. That sound still amazed him and he had a feeling it would continue to do so for a very long time.
"Ok, look, I've figured out a plan," Cordy said as she got her breath back. "How 'bout we get some sleep, and tomorrow afternoon I'll go to the library while Buffy and the gang are in class. I'll talk to Giles, tell him what's going on, make him believe me any damn way I can and get down on my hands and knees and beg him to help us if need be."
"I don't want you doing this by yourself," Angel said, his over protectiveness making its presence known once again. "What happens if you run into Buffy, or Willow, or Xander? What happens if you run into your past self? How the hell would you explain that?"
"Look I know it's gonna be difficult and I'll have to be really careful, but I wanna get this over and done with and the sooner we get in contact with Giles the better. In case you've forgotten, you're still a vampire, still can't go out into the sun, so I'll have to go myself. I'll be careful, I promise," Cordelia said to him, already knowing that she had won this little argument, Angel could never say no to her.
"Alright, but I want to see Giles, try and work something out with him, I want to help figure this out and I really don't want you to do all of this alone," he said, hoping that she would listen to him for once and do as he asked.
"Ok, ok, I'll try to sort something out with Giles, you'll be a part of all this don't worry, especially if there's research to be done, all those smelly, musty books, there's no way you'll be getting yourself outta that one," Cordelia said, smiling up at him. "So, why don't we just get some sleep and I'll go into the school tomorrow and find Giles. Sound like a good idea to you?"
"Yeah ok," he said, still not very happy about the prospect of Cordy going to see Giles by herself, but she was right, he couldn't go out in the sun, and they needed to start sorting things out, if they ever wanted to get back to LA.
And, as they had the day before they both climbed into bed-Cordy wrapped up in the tight cicle of Angel's arms-said their goodnights and fell into a peaceful sleep.
***
It was around eleven o'clock when Cordy finally managed to get to the school. Angel had still been apprehensive about her going out alone, but she had reminded him that she was a big girl and didn't always need to be protected by him, she could look after herself, afterall, how else had she managed to survive through her years living here on the Hellmouth? He had finally, grudgingly, let her go, realising that they had to do something and he wouldn't really be able to stop her from going anyway. She had kissed him goodbye and set off for the school, still knowing the route after all these years.
The halls of the school were deserted and it was hard to believe that in the not too distant future the walls around her would be mere piles of dust and rubble. As much as she hated to admit it, she felt a little nostalgic walking through these halls again. Last time she had been here life was so much easier, sure, things had been a little complicated after she had found herself mixed up with the Scoobies, but, she had been a teenager then, the biggest problems she had had were who she was going to go to the prom with or what she would wear to the Bronze that night. Things had been easier then, now she was in the adult world where she had to deal with adult problems, not to mention supernatural ones as well. And right now she had a whole pile of problems to sort through, the biggest being how the hell she'd tell Giles what's going on without him either thinking she was a raving loonatic, or taking a stake to her.
Oh well, she thought to herself as she rounded the corner, coming to a halt in front of the familiar swinging doors that mark the entrance to the library. No time to think about it now, I'll just tell him the truth and if he doesn't believe me I'll have to think of something else.
With that thought, she took a deep breath and pushed open the doors, to see a thoroughly deserted library.
Great, she thought, huffing as she perched herself on the table in the middle of the room. Trust Giles to finally get out of this damn library when I need him!
While she waited for Giles to return, Cordelia looked around the library that had become something of a Head Quarters for the Scoobies back in the day when the school had been standing. She remembered sitting at the chairs that surrounded the table she was now sitting on and moaning and groaning about research. She remembered the bookshelf in which she and Xander had kissed only to have Willow find them and Xander chase after her as she fled. She remembered finding Vamp Willow in the book cage and letting her out, not realising that she wasn't the real Willow. And she definitely remembered clinging to Angel as they sat at this table waiting for the Scoobies after she had discovered a bin full of body parts, god she had been desperate, clinging to him like there was no tomorrow. She chuckled to herself as she remembered how uncomfortable Angel had been in her presence, he hadn't been like that with her in a long while, not since her first year with him in LA, Angel was not really a people person and she was glad that she had mananged to crack through the barriers he had formed to cut himself off from human interaction, she was glad he felt comfortable around her. Her thoughts were cut short by a deep cough, like someone clearing their throat, she looked up to see Giles standing in front of her, book in hand as usual.
"Can I help you?" He asked her, looking at her strangely, like he couldn't place her name to her face.
"Oh god Giles I really, really need your help," she said, standing and walking forwards a few paces.
"Ah, I'm sorry, but have we met?" He asked her, looking at her familiar face but not recognising exactly who she was.
"Jeez, I haven't changed that much! Ok so, I cut my hair and I'm not really heavily into the designer clothes, shoes and accessories anymore, but hey you should still recognise me!" She looked at him, hoping that he would recognise her now, but seeing that he didn't.
"Oh for crying out loud Giles, you're meant to be all observant and super intelligent," she said in exasperation. "It's me, Cordelia."
TBC
A/N 2- I know, I know I'm evil but I couldn't help ending it like this!!! I promise to have the next part up as soon as humanly possible!! In the meantime, please review!!!
