Title: Even in Death
Author: T. C. (Scealai)
Category: Daredevil/Angel/Smallville Crossover
Rating: R
Pairing: Matt/Elektra; Angel/Cordelia; Lex/Chloe
Summary: An uneasy alliance is formed between heros from different
backgrounds when evil moves from Los Angeles to New York
City.
Disclaimer: The characters from the movie Daredevil belong to 20th
Century Fox, Regency Enterprises, and Marvel Comics. The
characters from Angel belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy,
20th Century Fox, and the WB. The characters from
Smallville belong to Alfred Gough & Miles Millar who based
them on the DC comics characters created by Jerry Siegel
& Joe Schuster. The series is produced by the WB &
Tollin/Robbins Productions.
Spoilers: The movie Daredevil is definitely spoiled so if you haven't
seen it, shut off your computer and go now. Also things
from the current seasons of Smallville and Angel will be
used as well as spoiler rumors for Angel.
***********************************************************************
Part One
Little, all too brief moments ruled his life now. The first time the
intoxicating scent of rose oil tickled his senses and invaded his soul.
The intricate mating dance of martial arts in the playground and the
feeling of delicately balancing his weight against hers on the
teeter-totter. The shimmering blue image of her face composed by the
rain and his radar sense that replaced his sight. Tracing and
memorizing every inch of her body with his fingertips as they made
love. Holding her while they danced at the ball. Matt Murdock
crouched high up on a ledge overlooking the neighborhood of New York
City known as Hell's Kitchen and savored every memory he had of Elektra
Natchios. It was all he had of her, a handful of memories of their
fleeting relationship that had ended abruptly and much too soon. The
last memory - and the only unhappy one he allowed himself - was always
the slow pulsing of her heart fading to blackness as it beat its last.
A stifled scream that would have been barely audible to someone on
street level was as clear to Matt as if the woman was standing next to
him. It was time to put away his memories and become Daredevil,
guardian of the night. The red leather of his costume creaked as he
stood. The scream had come from an alley a few blocks away. Without
any thoughts about risks or danger, Daredevil leaped from the ledge to
the rooftop across the street. He raced to the other side and launched
himself down onto a fire escape. He jumped across the alley and caught
the drainpipe of the next building. He slid down and landed in the
alley. This was the only thing he could do for Elektra now - protect
others in the way he had failed to protect her.
"Not sorry to interrupt," Daredevil growled in a low, gravely voice.
The heartbeat of the woman pounded in his ears and compounded with the
heavy breathing of the man, the sounds created the image of a large
male body pressing a smaller female shape up against a wall. "Let her
go."
"Mind your own business, pal." The man didn't turn around. Daredevil
could tell because there was no sound of a shoe scraping the pavement.
Instead he heard the tearing of material the pop of buttons.
"Don't you read the papers? You are my business." Daredevil grabbed
the man and tossed him down the alley. He hit a chainlink fence with
a loud clatter and fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Daredevil
turned to the terrified woman, conscious of the fact that he was
causing some of her fear and wanting to relieve it. "Are you all
right?"
"Y..yes," the woman stuttered. She was still pressed up against the
wall. Daredevil heard the bricks scratching the material of her coat
as she edged toward the street. He let her go. Her footsteps
retreated quickly as she left the alley and realized that no one was
following her.
Daredevil turned to her attacker. "Get up." He slowly approached the
fallen man. It was the predator's heart that pounded with fear now.
"Don't hurt me."
The plea sickened Daredevil. The man had probably heard it many times
from his victims and had ignored it - most likely he had enjoyed it.
For a moment, Daredevil wished things were the way they used to be and
he could ignore the appeal as well, but things had changed. He had
changed. He no longer fought for vengeance, it truly was about justice
now. Daredevil picked the man up and lifted him off of his feet. Just
because he handed the bad guys over to the police now, that didn't mean
he couldn't put the fear of the devil in them first.
*****
"That's not Cordelia." Willow's words echoed in Angel's mind. They
wouldn't leave him alone. Willow hadn't said them out loud, she had
made the declaration telepathically to him just before she and Faith
had left for Sunnydale. When he had flatly refused to believe it,
Willow had went on to explain that something was missing from Cordelia
and something else had taken its place. She couldn't tell him any more
than that without digging deeper into Cordelia's being and very likely
alerting whatever it was that was possessing Cordelia that she knew
about it. Instead she just warned Angel not to trust Cordelia.
Angel glanced over to Cordelia. She was sitting with Fred at her desk
and the two women were laughing at something on the computer screen.
Angel leaned back in his chair and set his feet up on his desk, keeping
Fred and Cordelia within his line of sight. Cordelia tucked her hair
behind her ear and beamed at Fred. Willow was wrong. She didn't know
Cordelia - not like he knew her - and she had probably just sensed
Cordelia's demonic abilities that The Powers bestowed upon her.
Besides, Lorne had read Cordelia and he didn't say anything about her
being possessed.
No, Lorne had seen death, destruction, and evil when he had read
Cordelia. But that wasn't a part of her, it couldn't be. She was his
champion. He knew that word got thrown around a lot, but it was true.
She was the driving force of his mission. She had kept him going all
these years - first with her demands of payment and then with the
physical demands the visions had cost her. She had become part demon
to help him. She had promised to be there when he finally shanshued.
Cordelia couldn't be evil. Willow was wrong.
As Angel watched Cordelia with a slight smile, she beckoned to someone.
For a moment, Angel thought it was him and he swung his legs down to
the floor and started to stand up. Connor went to her side instead.
His son. Angel sat back down, the smile gone. Cordelia smiled at
Connor and touched his arm. She was pregnant with his son's child and
she was happy about it. They had announced it earlier. Wesley and
Gunn were concerned with the possible ramifications, just as they had
been when Darla had turned up pregnant. Fred was being supportive of
Cordelia even though she was confused by the other woman's feelings and
actions. Angel had retreated to his office where he was now.
Would his Cordelia have done this to him? After his anger had abated
somewhat, Angel had come up with all kinds of explanations for what had
happened between his son and the woman he loved. It had looked like
the end of the world. Connor was an angry boy getting back at the
father he had been taught to hate. Cordelia was confused. She was
afraid. Both of them had been alone. Or was it something else? Could
Willow be right and this woman not be Cordelia at all? Angel sighed
and rubbed his hand over his forehead and through his hair. He didn't
want to suspect her motives, but why had she trusted Connor? After
finding out that he was a vampire and that they fought demons, why had
she left the hotel with some strange boy who had just killed a demon?
Why hadn't she been afraid of Connor? By staying with Connor she had
isolated the two of them from the group. Connor trusted her. Hell,
the boy loved her. He had tried to kill his own father to protect her.
Maybe she had made him think he was protecting her.
The coffee mug on his desk was the perfect missile to smash against the
wall. It fell to the floor in as many pieces as Angel had questions.
He jumped up and started pacing. This wasn't right. He had wanted
Cordelia for so long, was his jealousy of his son making him question
her? But it was Willow who had made him question.
"Angel, are you okay? I heard something break." She stood in the
doorway with a worried frown marring her features. Her hand rested on
her abdomen. "I know you're upset about this baby, but you have to
accept it. Connor and I are going to be parents. This child is going
to be your grandchild." She smiled at him and caressed her slightly
distended stomach.
For the first time since she had suddenly shown up in the hotel lobby,
Angel really looked at her. There was something in her eyes, something
he didn't like. She looked satisfied. He knew Cordelia's faults.
She could be tactless and sometimes harsh in her observations and
advice, but she hadn't been intentionally cruel since highschool.
"Who are you? And you had better tell me where Cordelia is."
*****
The room was alive with the severe, driving sounds of Garbage's 'I'm
Only Happy When it Rains.' The loud music was in stark contrast to the
utterly still figure on the bed. Elektra Natchios remained in a deep
coma, unaware of the noise or the person that sat vigil at her beside.
Lex Luthor smoothed back a strand of her hair and glanced up at the
monitor above her head. Her heartbeat was strong and steady.
"You're doing fine, Athena." Lex used the pet name he had given
Elektra when they were teenagers. He had been fourteen and his father
had taken him to Greece to close a deal with Nikolas Natchios - her
father. The first time he had see her, she had been training with her
sensei and he had immediately thought of the goddess of war and wisdom.
She had laughed when he called her Athena, but she had also blushed
with pleasure. Later, when they were bonding over too-busy fathers and
the death of their mothers, she had confided that her mother had also
likened her to the goddess of war once and that she missed her
desperately. Lex knew then that he had found a kindred soul in Elektra
and she had been his only friend until Clark Kent had saved his life.
Lex brushed the bandage that covered Elektra's neck. "You just have
to wake up now."
As usual, Elektra didn't seem to be taking orders. There wasn't even
a flutter of her eyelid or a twitch of a finger. Lex had never seen
her so still. She had been so happy she had called to insist that he
attend the Black and White Ball at her father's hotel in New York.
"Lex, you have to come. There is someone you have to meet." That
someone had turned out to be Matt Murdock, a blind do-gooder lawyer
who had made Elektra glow with a visible aura of love. Maybe he should
have told Matt Murdock that Elektra's death was only a sham. He might
be able bring her out of this coma and he might have had an idea of who
had done this to her. But then again, maybe not. Elektra had cut him
off pretty harshly at her father's funeral. It was doubtful that she
had confided in him. She certainly hadn't confided in Lex, except to
say that the person who killed her father would pay with his life, and
this was where she had ended up. Lex had tried to stop her. Had tried
to show her there were other roads to vengeance.
*****
A few weeks earlier....
Lex sipped at his champagne and surveyed the tuxedo and gown clad
crowd. He recognized the wheeler-dealers and the socialites, but he
wasn't there to see them. He was looking forward to seeing Elektra.
He looked up and there she was, looking down on them from the top of
the staircase. She was luminous in her shimmery silver gown and her
honey brown hair swept up with a few stray tendrils brushing her neck.
Helen's fingers dug painfully into his biceps and Lex's smile turned
into a wince.
"Is that your friend?" Helen asked tightly, emphasizing the word
friend. She didn't believe that he and Elektra had never slept
together. Hell, sometimes he couldn't believe it either, but it was
true. He and Elektra had needed each other as a friend, so that's what
they were. He couldn't explain that properly to Helen though. To ease
the tension, Lex had invited Clark and his friends. Unfortunately, he
had been unaware that his friend was in the middle of a teenage love
triangle that only made the tension worse. At the moment, Clark and
Lana were trying not to gaze doe-eyed at each other for Chloe's sake.
Chloe had walked off in disgust and had cornered Ben Urich, a reporter
for the Post.
"Lex, you came." Elektra beamed at him as she approached. Her fingers
were laced with those of a well-dressed man wearing sunglasses, the
cane indicating why the glasses were necessary. Lex was mildly
surprised. Elektra had never been the Florence Nightingale type,
attracted to wounded birds. She greeted him with kisses to both of his
cheeks. "This is Matt Murdock. Matt, this is my old and very best
friend, Lex Luthor."
"It's nice to meet you." Lex shook Matt's offered hand. "Didn't I
see you talking to Wilson Fisk?"
"Yes, my partner sometimes forgets that we only represent the
innocent." Matt smiled politely.
"That's certainly not Wilson Fisk." Lex smirked. Helen squeezed his
arm once again. "Elektra, Matt, this is Dr. Helen Bryce."
"His girlfriend," Helen added. "I just moved into the mansion."
"How nice. I had lost hope that Lex would ever find someone who could
put up with him full time." Elektra leaned forward and gave Lex a peck
on the cheek. "Have fun. I'm going to be rude and spend the rest of
the evening dancing with Matt." Unfortunately, that's not how the
evening went. Lex watched with concern as Elektra followed her father
out of the ballroom. The party ended abruptly with the news that
Nikolas Natchios had been murdered.
At the funeral, a few days later, Lex waited for Elektra in the
backseat of the sedan. She was talking to Matt. She walked away from
the lawyer, leaving him standing alone in the pouring rain, and got
into the car. "Drive," she ordered hoarsely. She stared at her lap.
There were no tears, not for her father or the man she had left
heartbroken. "He wanted me to stay with him."
"Why didn't you? He seems like a nice guy and he made you happier than
I've ever seen you." Lex took Elektra's hand and gave it a comforting
squeeze. "Your father would want you to be happy."
"Dikaiosyni dikos mou." Elektra pulled her hand away. "My father
would want justice. I was stupid to believe that I could be happy
without paying for it with tragedy."
*****
Tragedy absolutely was the word for what had happened. Lex squeezed
Elektra's hand, irrationally hoping that she would pull it from his
grasp. There was no reasoning with her in the days that followed her
father's funeral. She trained hard than ever and Lex was actually
afraid. She was entirely focused on taking her revenge in blood. When
she had left to go after the man who had killed her father - she
referred to him as the man without fear - Lex had thought he would never
see her again and he had almost been right.
The song 'My Goddess' by The Exies ended and there was only the soft
beep of Elektra's heartbeat on the monitor and the whir of the cd
player changing cd's in the sudden silence. "Not your standard coma
selection, but if it works...." Chloe walked hesitantly in the room.
"Is it working?"
"Not yet." Lex granted the girl a tired smile. After all the times
Clark had come to him complaining about how Chloe had invaded his
privacy and used his life as a headlining expose, Lex was surprised
that she was keeping this secret. A Greek heiress near death after
attempting to avenge her father's murder was big news, but Chloe wasn't
writing it. "This would be quite the exclusive for the Torch. It
would cement an internship at the Planet."
"Wow." Chloe dropped down into a chair on the other side of the bed.
She brushed at the blond fringe of bangs that covered her forehead.
Lately, Lex had noticed that she had taken to dying chunks of her hair
darker colors. Today it was an indigo blue. "I was wondering when you
would get around to asking me what I wanted, but I thought you would
be less obscure and more insulting."
For some reason, Lex was disappointed. He shouldn't have been, he
practically ruled the world where everyone had a price. "So, what do
you want in return for compromising your journalistic integrity?" Lex
stared coolly at her, thinking that he already knew the answer to his
question. Chloe might be infatuated with Clark Kent, but there was
really only one love of her life. He would make Chloe Sullivan a
household name if he had to if that would keep Elektra safe.
"Nothing. I don't plan on compromising anything." Chloe looked down
at the sleeping woman and shivered. She looked like a prone statue,
beautiful and remote. Elektra had looked a lot more human and fragile
that night Chloe had found her on the rooftop. When Clark and Lana had
left to go back to Smallville, Chloe had stayed in New York in Lex's
suite at the Grand with the excuse that she wanted to tag along with
Ben Urich and soak up reporter vibes and hopefully make a good enough
impression for a reccomendation. That night she had been in Urich's
office, reading some of his past articles on Daredevil and the Kingpin
when the police scanner on his desk started to crackle with urgent
voices. It was too much temptation, Chloe had to see this Daredevil
guy in action and who knew, it might get her a byline in the Post.
It was weird Chloe logic that had led her to that rooftop with the
chaos of cops, paramedics, and onlookers down on the street. Where
else would you find a leather wearing vigilante? And she had found
one. She had also found a great story, but she couldn't write it.
"You are not going to print one word about Elektra." Lex's harsh,
threatening tone broke into Chloe's memories.
Chloe frowned at Lex. He talked to Clark too much and had obviously
gotten a bad impression of her. "Of course I'm not, but it wouldn't be
because of anything you threatened to do," she snapped back. "If I was
going to break this story, it would already be published."
"Then why haven't you?"
Blood on her hands. Chloe looked down and could almost see the rusty
stains on her palms and fingers. It had been ages before she had the
chance to wash the blood away. "Because I don't have the whole story.
I'm not going to publish a word until I get an exclusive interview with
Elektra Natchios."
Lex leaned forward and whispered loudly in Elektra's ear, "Take my
advice, Athena, and wake up now." He glanced up at Chloe with a
smirk. "Chloe is horribly persistent and it'll only get worse the
longer she has to wait."
"Haha." Chloe rolled her eyes. For the first time in her life, she
didn't really want an interview. She felt responsible - not for
Elektra's death, but for her life. Blood on her hands. It had gotten
there when she had made an impromptu pressure bandage using her light
summer sweater and the tightness of Elektra's leather vest. Then she
had started CPR. It had taken forever for Lex to find them. Actually,
it had probably only been a few minutes before the illegally hired
police helicopter swooped down and whisked them to a private hospital.
Lex had paid everyone involved in resuscitating Elektra for their
silence, everyone except her. Chloe didn't need payment. "God, I
don't know how Clark does it. Being accountable for other people's
lives is tiring," Chloe muttered.
"Excuse me?" Lex raised an eyebrow. He had caught what she said, but
he wanted her to repeat it. It was nice to share the responsibility of
protecting Elektra with someone else.
"Nothing. I saw Helen on my way in." Chloe waved her hand at him
before he could reproach her. "Don't worry, I avoided her. She didn't
see me. Shouldn't you tell her about Elektra? She seems like a smart
woman, she's going to be suspicious of you disappearing into the
unused wing of the mansion all the time."
"I told her I was thinking of redoing it. Helen wouldn't understand
about Elektra." Lex sighed. He wanted to let Helen in behind his
emotional walls, he really did, but not at his best friend's expense.
It galled him that he couldn't trust the woman he loved. He knew that
Helen would insist on telling the authorities that Elektra was alive
and he hoped that it would be because of her morals and not out of
jealousy. He couldn't take the chance that Elektra's attacker wouldn't
come back to finish the job. He had to protect her, even if it meant
sacrificing his relationship with Helen.
*****
"Hubris. It was your downfall, you know." Nathaniel Elias
straightened his cravat and smoothed his tuxedo jacket. His silver
blond hair hang down to the middle of his back and was gathered in an
elegant ponytail. His gaze in the mirror shifted from his reflection
to the image behind him. A cage with bars of purple fire sat in the
corner of the dark, wood paneled room. Inside was the glowing astral
form of Cordelia Chase. "You shouldn't beat yourself up too badly for
it though. It's been the bane of human existence for centuries."
"Shut up," Cordelia yelled. She threw herself at the purple flames
that contained her and was zapped back. She fell to the floor and
stayed there. "Shut up. Shut up. Shut up."
"But I'm in such a talkative mood." Nathaniel smiled. He turned, but
didn't approach the cage. He could have let her go on believing that
she was on a higher plane doing 'good,' but this was so much more fun.
He could torment this woman with her colossal mistake for hours and
never tire of it. "Did you really think the Powers That Be would offer
you such an opportunity? Just because you suffered through a few
nasty headaches and helped a vampire save some inconsequential lives?
Ah, Cordelia, you really did think a lot of yourself."
"No. I trusted Skip." Cordelia glared up at him. She hated his eyes.
His dark brown eyes reminded her too much of Angel's. "I only accepted
because you looked like Skip."
"You keep telling yourself that." Nathaniel lifted his black cloak
from the coat hanger and draped it over his shoulders. "Maybe the
guilt won't crush you when your error in judgement destroys the people
you love." It was a premature proclamation, but it would happen. His
plan hadn't been without flaws - the first being when Cordelia kept her
memories from the demon inhabiting her body - but luckily, Angel and
his friends had been more than happy to overlook and sometimes even
fix them for him. It wouldn't last long though, the Beast and the
demon weren't smart enough not to make any mistakes. Angel would
realize that the demon wasn't the woman he loved and he would tear
Los Angeles apart looking for her and the sorcerer who held her
captive. "Well now, you have a good evening Cordelia. I must leave
for the Opera now. I'll be back in a couple of hours, so don't miss
me terribly." Nathaniel nodded a pleasant good-bye to his prisoner.
The vampire could search all he wanted, it wouldn't do him any good.
Not when he and the lovely Miss Chase were in New York.
To be continued....
Author: T. C. (Scealai)
Category: Daredevil/Angel/Smallville Crossover
Rating: R
Pairing: Matt/Elektra; Angel/Cordelia; Lex/Chloe
Summary: An uneasy alliance is formed between heros from different
backgrounds when evil moves from Los Angeles to New York
City.
Disclaimer: The characters from the movie Daredevil belong to 20th
Century Fox, Regency Enterprises, and Marvel Comics. The
characters from Angel belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy,
20th Century Fox, and the WB. The characters from
Smallville belong to Alfred Gough & Miles Millar who based
them on the DC comics characters created by Jerry Siegel
& Joe Schuster. The series is produced by the WB &
Tollin/Robbins Productions.
Spoilers: The movie Daredevil is definitely spoiled so if you haven't
seen it, shut off your computer and go now. Also things
from the current seasons of Smallville and Angel will be
used as well as spoiler rumors for Angel.
***********************************************************************
Part One
Little, all too brief moments ruled his life now. The first time the
intoxicating scent of rose oil tickled his senses and invaded his soul.
The intricate mating dance of martial arts in the playground and the
feeling of delicately balancing his weight against hers on the
teeter-totter. The shimmering blue image of her face composed by the
rain and his radar sense that replaced his sight. Tracing and
memorizing every inch of her body with his fingertips as they made
love. Holding her while they danced at the ball. Matt Murdock
crouched high up on a ledge overlooking the neighborhood of New York
City known as Hell's Kitchen and savored every memory he had of Elektra
Natchios. It was all he had of her, a handful of memories of their
fleeting relationship that had ended abruptly and much too soon. The
last memory - and the only unhappy one he allowed himself - was always
the slow pulsing of her heart fading to blackness as it beat its last.
A stifled scream that would have been barely audible to someone on
street level was as clear to Matt as if the woman was standing next to
him. It was time to put away his memories and become Daredevil,
guardian of the night. The red leather of his costume creaked as he
stood. The scream had come from an alley a few blocks away. Without
any thoughts about risks or danger, Daredevil leaped from the ledge to
the rooftop across the street. He raced to the other side and launched
himself down onto a fire escape. He jumped across the alley and caught
the drainpipe of the next building. He slid down and landed in the
alley. This was the only thing he could do for Elektra now - protect
others in the way he had failed to protect her.
"Not sorry to interrupt," Daredevil growled in a low, gravely voice.
The heartbeat of the woman pounded in his ears and compounded with the
heavy breathing of the man, the sounds created the image of a large
male body pressing a smaller female shape up against a wall. "Let her
go."
"Mind your own business, pal." The man didn't turn around. Daredevil
could tell because there was no sound of a shoe scraping the pavement.
Instead he heard the tearing of material the pop of buttons.
"Don't you read the papers? You are my business." Daredevil grabbed
the man and tossed him down the alley. He hit a chainlink fence with
a loud clatter and fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Daredevil
turned to the terrified woman, conscious of the fact that he was
causing some of her fear and wanting to relieve it. "Are you all
right?"
"Y..yes," the woman stuttered. She was still pressed up against the
wall. Daredevil heard the bricks scratching the material of her coat
as she edged toward the street. He let her go. Her footsteps
retreated quickly as she left the alley and realized that no one was
following her.
Daredevil turned to her attacker. "Get up." He slowly approached the
fallen man. It was the predator's heart that pounded with fear now.
"Don't hurt me."
The plea sickened Daredevil. The man had probably heard it many times
from his victims and had ignored it - most likely he had enjoyed it.
For a moment, Daredevil wished things were the way they used to be and
he could ignore the appeal as well, but things had changed. He had
changed. He no longer fought for vengeance, it truly was about justice
now. Daredevil picked the man up and lifted him off of his feet. Just
because he handed the bad guys over to the police now, that didn't mean
he couldn't put the fear of the devil in them first.
*****
"That's not Cordelia." Willow's words echoed in Angel's mind. They
wouldn't leave him alone. Willow hadn't said them out loud, she had
made the declaration telepathically to him just before she and Faith
had left for Sunnydale. When he had flatly refused to believe it,
Willow had went on to explain that something was missing from Cordelia
and something else had taken its place. She couldn't tell him any more
than that without digging deeper into Cordelia's being and very likely
alerting whatever it was that was possessing Cordelia that she knew
about it. Instead she just warned Angel not to trust Cordelia.
Angel glanced over to Cordelia. She was sitting with Fred at her desk
and the two women were laughing at something on the computer screen.
Angel leaned back in his chair and set his feet up on his desk, keeping
Fred and Cordelia within his line of sight. Cordelia tucked her hair
behind her ear and beamed at Fred. Willow was wrong. She didn't know
Cordelia - not like he knew her - and she had probably just sensed
Cordelia's demonic abilities that The Powers bestowed upon her.
Besides, Lorne had read Cordelia and he didn't say anything about her
being possessed.
No, Lorne had seen death, destruction, and evil when he had read
Cordelia. But that wasn't a part of her, it couldn't be. She was his
champion. He knew that word got thrown around a lot, but it was true.
She was the driving force of his mission. She had kept him going all
these years - first with her demands of payment and then with the
physical demands the visions had cost her. She had become part demon
to help him. She had promised to be there when he finally shanshued.
Cordelia couldn't be evil. Willow was wrong.
As Angel watched Cordelia with a slight smile, she beckoned to someone.
For a moment, Angel thought it was him and he swung his legs down to
the floor and started to stand up. Connor went to her side instead.
His son. Angel sat back down, the smile gone. Cordelia smiled at
Connor and touched his arm. She was pregnant with his son's child and
she was happy about it. They had announced it earlier. Wesley and
Gunn were concerned with the possible ramifications, just as they had
been when Darla had turned up pregnant. Fred was being supportive of
Cordelia even though she was confused by the other woman's feelings and
actions. Angel had retreated to his office where he was now.
Would his Cordelia have done this to him? After his anger had abated
somewhat, Angel had come up with all kinds of explanations for what had
happened between his son and the woman he loved. It had looked like
the end of the world. Connor was an angry boy getting back at the
father he had been taught to hate. Cordelia was confused. She was
afraid. Both of them had been alone. Or was it something else? Could
Willow be right and this woman not be Cordelia at all? Angel sighed
and rubbed his hand over his forehead and through his hair. He didn't
want to suspect her motives, but why had she trusted Connor? After
finding out that he was a vampire and that they fought demons, why had
she left the hotel with some strange boy who had just killed a demon?
Why hadn't she been afraid of Connor? By staying with Connor she had
isolated the two of them from the group. Connor trusted her. Hell,
the boy loved her. He had tried to kill his own father to protect her.
Maybe she had made him think he was protecting her.
The coffee mug on his desk was the perfect missile to smash against the
wall. It fell to the floor in as many pieces as Angel had questions.
He jumped up and started pacing. This wasn't right. He had wanted
Cordelia for so long, was his jealousy of his son making him question
her? But it was Willow who had made him question.
"Angel, are you okay? I heard something break." She stood in the
doorway with a worried frown marring her features. Her hand rested on
her abdomen. "I know you're upset about this baby, but you have to
accept it. Connor and I are going to be parents. This child is going
to be your grandchild." She smiled at him and caressed her slightly
distended stomach.
For the first time since she had suddenly shown up in the hotel lobby,
Angel really looked at her. There was something in her eyes, something
he didn't like. She looked satisfied. He knew Cordelia's faults.
She could be tactless and sometimes harsh in her observations and
advice, but she hadn't been intentionally cruel since highschool.
"Who are you? And you had better tell me where Cordelia is."
*****
The room was alive with the severe, driving sounds of Garbage's 'I'm
Only Happy When it Rains.' The loud music was in stark contrast to the
utterly still figure on the bed. Elektra Natchios remained in a deep
coma, unaware of the noise or the person that sat vigil at her beside.
Lex Luthor smoothed back a strand of her hair and glanced up at the
monitor above her head. Her heartbeat was strong and steady.
"You're doing fine, Athena." Lex used the pet name he had given
Elektra when they were teenagers. He had been fourteen and his father
had taken him to Greece to close a deal with Nikolas Natchios - her
father. The first time he had see her, she had been training with her
sensei and he had immediately thought of the goddess of war and wisdom.
She had laughed when he called her Athena, but she had also blushed
with pleasure. Later, when they were bonding over too-busy fathers and
the death of their mothers, she had confided that her mother had also
likened her to the goddess of war once and that she missed her
desperately. Lex knew then that he had found a kindred soul in Elektra
and she had been his only friend until Clark Kent had saved his life.
Lex brushed the bandage that covered Elektra's neck. "You just have
to wake up now."
As usual, Elektra didn't seem to be taking orders. There wasn't even
a flutter of her eyelid or a twitch of a finger. Lex had never seen
her so still. She had been so happy she had called to insist that he
attend the Black and White Ball at her father's hotel in New York.
"Lex, you have to come. There is someone you have to meet." That
someone had turned out to be Matt Murdock, a blind do-gooder lawyer
who had made Elektra glow with a visible aura of love. Maybe he should
have told Matt Murdock that Elektra's death was only a sham. He might
be able bring her out of this coma and he might have had an idea of who
had done this to her. But then again, maybe not. Elektra had cut him
off pretty harshly at her father's funeral. It was doubtful that she
had confided in him. She certainly hadn't confided in Lex, except to
say that the person who killed her father would pay with his life, and
this was where she had ended up. Lex had tried to stop her. Had tried
to show her there were other roads to vengeance.
*****
A few weeks earlier....
Lex sipped at his champagne and surveyed the tuxedo and gown clad
crowd. He recognized the wheeler-dealers and the socialites, but he
wasn't there to see them. He was looking forward to seeing Elektra.
He looked up and there she was, looking down on them from the top of
the staircase. She was luminous in her shimmery silver gown and her
honey brown hair swept up with a few stray tendrils brushing her neck.
Helen's fingers dug painfully into his biceps and Lex's smile turned
into a wince.
"Is that your friend?" Helen asked tightly, emphasizing the word
friend. She didn't believe that he and Elektra had never slept
together. Hell, sometimes he couldn't believe it either, but it was
true. He and Elektra had needed each other as a friend, so that's what
they were. He couldn't explain that properly to Helen though. To ease
the tension, Lex had invited Clark and his friends. Unfortunately, he
had been unaware that his friend was in the middle of a teenage love
triangle that only made the tension worse. At the moment, Clark and
Lana were trying not to gaze doe-eyed at each other for Chloe's sake.
Chloe had walked off in disgust and had cornered Ben Urich, a reporter
for the Post.
"Lex, you came." Elektra beamed at him as she approached. Her fingers
were laced with those of a well-dressed man wearing sunglasses, the
cane indicating why the glasses were necessary. Lex was mildly
surprised. Elektra had never been the Florence Nightingale type,
attracted to wounded birds. She greeted him with kisses to both of his
cheeks. "This is Matt Murdock. Matt, this is my old and very best
friend, Lex Luthor."
"It's nice to meet you." Lex shook Matt's offered hand. "Didn't I
see you talking to Wilson Fisk?"
"Yes, my partner sometimes forgets that we only represent the
innocent." Matt smiled politely.
"That's certainly not Wilson Fisk." Lex smirked. Helen squeezed his
arm once again. "Elektra, Matt, this is Dr. Helen Bryce."
"His girlfriend," Helen added. "I just moved into the mansion."
"How nice. I had lost hope that Lex would ever find someone who could
put up with him full time." Elektra leaned forward and gave Lex a peck
on the cheek. "Have fun. I'm going to be rude and spend the rest of
the evening dancing with Matt." Unfortunately, that's not how the
evening went. Lex watched with concern as Elektra followed her father
out of the ballroom. The party ended abruptly with the news that
Nikolas Natchios had been murdered.
At the funeral, a few days later, Lex waited for Elektra in the
backseat of the sedan. She was talking to Matt. She walked away from
the lawyer, leaving him standing alone in the pouring rain, and got
into the car. "Drive," she ordered hoarsely. She stared at her lap.
There were no tears, not for her father or the man she had left
heartbroken. "He wanted me to stay with him."
"Why didn't you? He seems like a nice guy and he made you happier than
I've ever seen you." Lex took Elektra's hand and gave it a comforting
squeeze. "Your father would want you to be happy."
"Dikaiosyni dikos mou." Elektra pulled her hand away. "My father
would want justice. I was stupid to believe that I could be happy
without paying for it with tragedy."
*****
Tragedy absolutely was the word for what had happened. Lex squeezed
Elektra's hand, irrationally hoping that she would pull it from his
grasp. There was no reasoning with her in the days that followed her
father's funeral. She trained hard than ever and Lex was actually
afraid. She was entirely focused on taking her revenge in blood. When
she had left to go after the man who had killed her father - she
referred to him as the man without fear - Lex had thought he would never
see her again and he had almost been right.
The song 'My Goddess' by The Exies ended and there was only the soft
beep of Elektra's heartbeat on the monitor and the whir of the cd
player changing cd's in the sudden silence. "Not your standard coma
selection, but if it works...." Chloe walked hesitantly in the room.
"Is it working?"
"Not yet." Lex granted the girl a tired smile. After all the times
Clark had come to him complaining about how Chloe had invaded his
privacy and used his life as a headlining expose, Lex was surprised
that she was keeping this secret. A Greek heiress near death after
attempting to avenge her father's murder was big news, but Chloe wasn't
writing it. "This would be quite the exclusive for the Torch. It
would cement an internship at the Planet."
"Wow." Chloe dropped down into a chair on the other side of the bed.
She brushed at the blond fringe of bangs that covered her forehead.
Lately, Lex had noticed that she had taken to dying chunks of her hair
darker colors. Today it was an indigo blue. "I was wondering when you
would get around to asking me what I wanted, but I thought you would
be less obscure and more insulting."
For some reason, Lex was disappointed. He shouldn't have been, he
practically ruled the world where everyone had a price. "So, what do
you want in return for compromising your journalistic integrity?" Lex
stared coolly at her, thinking that he already knew the answer to his
question. Chloe might be infatuated with Clark Kent, but there was
really only one love of her life. He would make Chloe Sullivan a
household name if he had to if that would keep Elektra safe.
"Nothing. I don't plan on compromising anything." Chloe looked down
at the sleeping woman and shivered. She looked like a prone statue,
beautiful and remote. Elektra had looked a lot more human and fragile
that night Chloe had found her on the rooftop. When Clark and Lana had
left to go back to Smallville, Chloe had stayed in New York in Lex's
suite at the Grand with the excuse that she wanted to tag along with
Ben Urich and soak up reporter vibes and hopefully make a good enough
impression for a reccomendation. That night she had been in Urich's
office, reading some of his past articles on Daredevil and the Kingpin
when the police scanner on his desk started to crackle with urgent
voices. It was too much temptation, Chloe had to see this Daredevil
guy in action and who knew, it might get her a byline in the Post.
It was weird Chloe logic that had led her to that rooftop with the
chaos of cops, paramedics, and onlookers down on the street. Where
else would you find a leather wearing vigilante? And she had found
one. She had also found a great story, but she couldn't write it.
"You are not going to print one word about Elektra." Lex's harsh,
threatening tone broke into Chloe's memories.
Chloe frowned at Lex. He talked to Clark too much and had obviously
gotten a bad impression of her. "Of course I'm not, but it wouldn't be
because of anything you threatened to do," she snapped back. "If I was
going to break this story, it would already be published."
"Then why haven't you?"
Blood on her hands. Chloe looked down and could almost see the rusty
stains on her palms and fingers. It had been ages before she had the
chance to wash the blood away. "Because I don't have the whole story.
I'm not going to publish a word until I get an exclusive interview with
Elektra Natchios."
Lex leaned forward and whispered loudly in Elektra's ear, "Take my
advice, Athena, and wake up now." He glanced up at Chloe with a
smirk. "Chloe is horribly persistent and it'll only get worse the
longer she has to wait."
"Haha." Chloe rolled her eyes. For the first time in her life, she
didn't really want an interview. She felt responsible - not for
Elektra's death, but for her life. Blood on her hands. It had gotten
there when she had made an impromptu pressure bandage using her light
summer sweater and the tightness of Elektra's leather vest. Then she
had started CPR. It had taken forever for Lex to find them. Actually,
it had probably only been a few minutes before the illegally hired
police helicopter swooped down and whisked them to a private hospital.
Lex had paid everyone involved in resuscitating Elektra for their
silence, everyone except her. Chloe didn't need payment. "God, I
don't know how Clark does it. Being accountable for other people's
lives is tiring," Chloe muttered.
"Excuse me?" Lex raised an eyebrow. He had caught what she said, but
he wanted her to repeat it. It was nice to share the responsibility of
protecting Elektra with someone else.
"Nothing. I saw Helen on my way in." Chloe waved her hand at him
before he could reproach her. "Don't worry, I avoided her. She didn't
see me. Shouldn't you tell her about Elektra? She seems like a smart
woman, she's going to be suspicious of you disappearing into the
unused wing of the mansion all the time."
"I told her I was thinking of redoing it. Helen wouldn't understand
about Elektra." Lex sighed. He wanted to let Helen in behind his
emotional walls, he really did, but not at his best friend's expense.
It galled him that he couldn't trust the woman he loved. He knew that
Helen would insist on telling the authorities that Elektra was alive
and he hoped that it would be because of her morals and not out of
jealousy. He couldn't take the chance that Elektra's attacker wouldn't
come back to finish the job. He had to protect her, even if it meant
sacrificing his relationship with Helen.
*****
"Hubris. It was your downfall, you know." Nathaniel Elias
straightened his cravat and smoothed his tuxedo jacket. His silver
blond hair hang down to the middle of his back and was gathered in an
elegant ponytail. His gaze in the mirror shifted from his reflection
to the image behind him. A cage with bars of purple fire sat in the
corner of the dark, wood paneled room. Inside was the glowing astral
form of Cordelia Chase. "You shouldn't beat yourself up too badly for
it though. It's been the bane of human existence for centuries."
"Shut up," Cordelia yelled. She threw herself at the purple flames
that contained her and was zapped back. She fell to the floor and
stayed there. "Shut up. Shut up. Shut up."
"But I'm in such a talkative mood." Nathaniel smiled. He turned, but
didn't approach the cage. He could have let her go on believing that
she was on a higher plane doing 'good,' but this was so much more fun.
He could torment this woman with her colossal mistake for hours and
never tire of it. "Did you really think the Powers That Be would offer
you such an opportunity? Just because you suffered through a few
nasty headaches and helped a vampire save some inconsequential lives?
Ah, Cordelia, you really did think a lot of yourself."
"No. I trusted Skip." Cordelia glared up at him. She hated his eyes.
His dark brown eyes reminded her too much of Angel's. "I only accepted
because you looked like Skip."
"You keep telling yourself that." Nathaniel lifted his black cloak
from the coat hanger and draped it over his shoulders. "Maybe the
guilt won't crush you when your error in judgement destroys the people
you love." It was a premature proclamation, but it would happen. His
plan hadn't been without flaws - the first being when Cordelia kept her
memories from the demon inhabiting her body - but luckily, Angel and
his friends had been more than happy to overlook and sometimes even
fix them for him. It wouldn't last long though, the Beast and the
demon weren't smart enough not to make any mistakes. Angel would
realize that the demon wasn't the woman he loved and he would tear
Los Angeles apart looking for her and the sorcerer who held her
captive. "Well now, you have a good evening Cordelia. I must leave
for the Opera now. I'll be back in a couple of hours, so don't miss
me terribly." Nathaniel nodded a pleasant good-bye to his prisoner.
The vampire could search all he wanted, it wouldn't do him any good.
Not when he and the lovely Miss Chase were in New York.
To be continued....