Hello, I've waited here for you
Everlong
Tonight, I throw myself into
Out of the red
Out of her head she sang
Come down, and waste away with me
Down with me
So how you wanted it to be
Over my head
Out of her head she sang
And I wonder
When I sing along with you
If everything will ever be this good forever
If anything will ever be this good again
The only thing I've ever asked of you
Gotta promise not to stop when I say when
Skip looked upward. "Almost that time, Cordy."
Her eyes went wide. "ALMOST? We've been in here FOREVER!" She gestured to the stack of magazines Skip had conjured up for her from his own personal stash. "And all of your material is like, three years old."
He shrugged. "Don't usually have a lot of time to read. But if you look through the Home and Garden, there's a wicked summer barbeque recipe."
She ran a hand through her hair. "Uh…why don't you tell me about this place you're taking me?" she changed the subject.
Skip looked uncomfortable. "Well, I don't usually go there, it's Whistler's assignment."
She poked him in the shoulder. "C'mon, you've got to know something."
He sighed. "I'm not sure I'm supposed to be giving you details. It wasn't in the mission statement. All I know is it was another dimension a lot like earth. Had the good, the evil living together. Then all of a sudden the bad guys get some inspirational leadership and embroil the whole plane in all out war. It's lasted about 2 centuries. Of their time, anyway. It's creepy. They have armies and uniforms and everything. It's very Starship Troopers."
Cordelia shuddered. "And they need me?"
Skip smiled. "Honey, they need all the help they can get. You especially."
"God, that's a lot of responsibility."
The demon guide placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about it. You'll have help. I hear they've assembled a good bunch of the Powers' champions up there. Just like you."
"You mean I'm not the only one?"
He laughed. "Oh, no. Definitely no. We have a lot of faith in you, but we wouldn't make you fight a whole war on your own. What we've been doing is bringing in graduates from other dimensions to lead the fight here, people that are good, like you, to help try and restore order in the Kaylorin dimension. They come from all different types of dimensions. The least number of them have come from earth in the past… it makes you and a few others really special."
She sighed and leaned backwards against some invisible wall. "That's a lot of pressure."
"Hey, don't worry about it, kid. We only bring up the best, remember? Called this one guy up about three years ago, saved the good guys from annihilation. We're pretty sure you'll do the same."
She smiled a little. "I guess we'll see in…how long now?"
"Not long…" Skip paused, thoughtful. "In fact…"
The general whiteness of the vicinity grew brighter, if possible, and Cordelia had to wonder if the Powers That Be might be having an epileptic fit and if so, whether they had hospitals or not. "What's happening?"
"You just caught your connecting flight to Kaylorin, Cordy. Good luck!!"
She didn't have time to answer him before everything faded around her.
~~~~~~~~~~
Cordelia's head seemed to be whipping from side to side, the kind of rollercoaster movement that left her with kinks in her neck that could only be worked out by a heat pack and hours of self-pity. **Ladies and gentlemen, as we approach our final destination we'll be encountering some turbulence, and the idiot captain forgot to turn the fasten seatbelt sign back on…** She would have snorted at her own clever thoughts, but she feared the movement might cause a sudden cerebral hemorrhage or something of the like… later, she vowed to kill Skip for neglecting to tell her that reentry was a bitch.
Suddenly, she was thrown from her original trajectory, and almost screamed at the force of it, except she couldn't quite get her mouth open with the air working against the muscles of her mouth. Crashing downward, she gasped when her feet hit something solid, and she realized she was stumbling. Solid ground…she hadn't even realized it. Taking another deep breath of air she shook herself, ignoring the blinding flash of light and rumbling noises that accompanied her arrival like something out of Xena: Warrior Princess without the lesbian undertones. In the background, a voice droned on about something, only audible because she strained to hear it, needing something to focus on while she regained a state of equilibrium.
"We of the United Kingdom of Kaylorin Protective Army welcome you to our realm in 'opes that…"
**Wait a minute…I know that voice…** She strained to hear better.
"… you 'ave come to pledge yer' skill an' loyalty to the cause o' worldwide peace…"
**I DO know that voice!!!! But…that's not… it's not…is it?**
"…though ye hail from another land all together, the Powers that Be have deemed you a being of goodness an' believe that you…"
**It IS!!!!** Cordelia let out a high-pitched, excited squeal- something along the level that only dogs could hear. He was alive. "DOYLE!!!" she shouted, before springing off the platform, intent on giving him the hugging of his life. He was alive!!!
~~~~~~~~~~~
Doyle blinked as a flash of light rippled in the entry bay, and he threw out his arm. At the signal, the corps behind him immediately stood at attention, ceremonial uniforms flashing to add the room's festive decoration with swords' blade salutes. On the other end of the reception room the Officers were placed on either side of a white carpet with the UKKPA symbol emblazoned on it in gold stitches. They stared ahead, rock-like statue guards saluting the arrival of another into their ranks. Maj and Doyle both stood at the end of the carpet at ease, like motley destinations. They faced straight ahead, looking at what seemed to be a spinning ball of light. They watched as it slowly grew in diameter, ringlets like Jupiter's whipping around its body in silver lightning orbit.
"Attention! Officer arrival of dimension Earth! Look sharp, men!" Maj bellowed, voice bouncing off the walls of the elliptical room.
Doyle cleared his throat as the ball grew and split in a brilliant flash, stretched into a jagged line that seemed to rip the very fabric of time. His face remained passive, but inside, a wellspring of hope stirred within him, the thought that this would be a change in the tide, that the Powers might have found someone better suited to save this world than he.
There was a sudden flash, the sound of clapping thunder, and a figure stepped from the dimensional fissure, glowing in a blinding halo of incandescent light. Squinting, Doyle's eyes shifted first left then right at his officers, who stood without flinching at the brightness. He stood up straighter and raised his voice, ready to begin the official welcome statement, as protocol demanded.
"We of the United Kingdom of Kaylorin Protective Army welcome you to our realm in 'opes that…"
He faltered slightly as the light suddenly dimmed, and closed his eyes to ignore the funny blindness such sudden shifts in environment caused his vision. He continued his welcome greeting. "… you 'ave come to pledge yer' skill an' loyalty to the cause o' worldwide peace… though ye hail from another land all together, the Powers that Be have deemed you a being of goodness an' believe that you…"
A high-pitched scream pierced the air, and startled that it came from the new arrival, the General stopped speaking, eyes shooting open. The figure dashed off the platform, running towards him, ephemeral in white, a cry escaping its throat as it descended upon him. Immediately, the officers formed a solid phalanx between them, stances ready to protect unarmed superiors. Doyle and Maj looked at each other. The wolf shook his head, standing on hindquarters in hopes of seeing over the crowd of officers blocking their view. "I don't suppose this is a good sign, General."
"Understatement, man. You've a talent fer it."
~~~~~~~~~~
Cordelia grunted as her forward momentum was suddenly stopped, as a line of uniformly dressed demons appeared out of thin air around her. She screamed as menacing eyes looked down at her from all sides, the faces of beasts growling around her, to each other in gruff tones. She felt one's hands close around her left forearm, and tried to land a punch with her free fist. "Let go of me!" she demanded, swinging as hard as she could, only to have the blow deflected and her right arm restrained similarly as her left.
"She's trying to attack the General!" someone called over their shoulder, as more and more uniformed demons seemed to spill into her line of vision.
**I swear, if the Powers put me in the middle of some evil demon battle I quit. I quit right now! No more super-Cordy!** She struggled ineffectually, subdued by arms much stronger than her. **Wait a second…duh…** "DOYLE!!"
~~~~~~~~~~
Doyle squinted into what was shaping up to be a grade A melee. "I don' think the Powers'd send us a nutcase…well, a complete one, anyhow…"
Maj shrugged. "We'll let them get control of her… see what happened."
"Maybe the cross-travel got to 'er," the General suggested, thoughtful. "I knew when I came outta there I was half out o' me mind an' scared."
Maj chortled. "Yeah, but you mostly just looked around and shook a lot. Maybe this one's really cracked her nut."
"That doesn't seem right, Maj."
"Hey, the Powers aren't infallible, are they?"
"Don' know."
They stood for a second longer, nine officers attempting to restrain the new arrival. "What a damn circus…"
"DOYLE!!"
Maj's head shot towards the General. "Sir! How does she know your…" the question died on his lips as he took in his commander's expression. "Sir?"
The haunted look in Doyle's face scared him, a mixture of disbelief, haunted apprehension, and skepticism. A wacky blender of mix'n match emotions. "No…" Doyle muttered under his breath. "It can't…"
"Sir, is something the matter?"
Ignoring Maj, the General sprung towards the crowd. "Stand down!! Stand down right now dammit, or I'll start hackin' off ears! STAND DOWN!!"
Shocked, the small struggle stopped as Officers immediately ceased where they stood, dropping the human girl that had begun attacking them in her own defense. She landed on the floor with an indignant thud. Doyle shoved past a Captain and a Corporal, ignoring their startled yelps, and kneeled down beside her. "Cordy? Cordelia?"
Shaking her head a little dazedly, she managed to get onto all fours. "All right, who punched me in the nose?!"
Everyone was silent. Doyle put a hand on her arm. "Cord, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine I…" She suddenly looked up, one hand still at her rather red looking nose. "Doyle!! It is you!"
He managed a meek smile. "'Ey, Princess."
Much to everyone's amazement, she immediately proceeded to throw her arms around him, making all sorts of human happy-noises. "Oh my God, Doyle! You're alive! How? Not that I'm not happy… Why are you here? How have you been? I can't believe this…how long have you been here?"
He chuckled a little and returned the embrace, not bothering to answer any of her questions. Instead, he closed his eyes. She smelled different.
"General? Explain…"
He was brutally shoved back into reality by the sound of Gwyn's voice, his Major sporting a dark purple bruise on her cheek. Opening his eyes, he drew back from Cordelia's embrace and stared at her face, a strange, almost sad, almost happy half-smile on his face. "Everyone, meet Cordelia."
Hello, I've waited here for you
Everlong
Tonight, I throw myself into
Out of the red
Out of her head she sang
Come down, and waste away with me
Down with me
So how you wanted it to be
Over my head
Out of her head she sang
And I wonder
When I sing along with you
If everything will ever be this good forever
If anything will ever be this good again
The only thing I've ever asked of you
Gotta promise not to stop when I say when