***Sorry for the long hiatus, hopefully my fanfic muse won't go on
another extended holiday and I'll be able to update more quickly from
now on. I also hope that interest hasn't waned and that there are
people who still want to read this story as well as my others. I'm
working on the next part of 'Corruptible' and will have it posted
within the next week. Thanks for hanging in there!!
Part Three
Never in all of Angel's two and half centuries on this earth had time
moved so slowly. Days and nights dragged endlessly, but he didn't mind.
During the night he could find some relief from his guilt and grief by
kicking the shit out of various demons and vampires. The days were a
mixture of heaven and hell. His days were spent in one of two ways -
he either slept all day and dreamed of Cordelia or he stayed awake and
remembered her. In the beginning he had remembered her smile, her
laugh, the sparkle in her eyes, the way she smelled sweet with a hint
of spicy raspberry. Those had been the easy things to remember, now
Angel found himself recalling other things - things that surprised him
because he hadn't realized how important they had been to him. He
remembered meeting her at that inane Hollywood party where she had
innocently asked him if he was still 'grrr' and then brushed him off
to go talk to 'important' people. She had been so young and sweetly
innocent then. He shuddered to think about how he hadn't recognized
that Cordelia had been just as desperate and vulnerable as Tina. He
had almost lost her that night because he had seen her as the Sunnydale
Cordelia - all brass tacks and arrogance - and not a target for a
sadistic, hungry vampire. He had learned so much about Cordelia in
that first year.
A sharp knock invaded Angel's memories, but he ignored it. Usually
someone would wander up to his room a few hours after sunset to drag
him out. Angel wasn't ready yet. He smiled as he remembered Doyle's
crush on Cordelia and how she would always brush him off. Back then
Angel had let himself think that he was acting the protective big
brother role, looking out for Cordelia by interrogating her dates and
making sure that Doyle's advances didn't go too far, but even then a
part of him recognized that he needed her. He was protective because
he hadn't wanted another man to take her away from him. He had been
too mired in his love for Buffy to have those feelings for Cordelia
then, but she had still been the most important thing in his life. She
still was even though she was no longer with him.
The bedroom door opened and Connor stepped into his room. His son's
eyes stayed trained on the floor. "Fred tracked down the vampires that
took that lady's kid."
Angel didn't move from his bed, but his mind did wander from Cordelia
to his son. He didn't hate Connor or blame him for Cordelia's death,
but he knew that the boy blamed himself. Angel wished that he could
alleviate that guilt and tell him that the events that led up to
Cordelia's death had started long before the boy was born and that he
couldn't be blamed. It was his fault that Cordelia had been involved.
She had received the visions because of him, she had refused to give
them up because of him. He should never have involved her in his life,
his mission. He should have let her go.
"Dad, we have to go. Wesley says that there's a chance that the little
girl is still alive. This vampire family uses a child in a ritual that
they perform during a new moon." Connor ventured a quick glance at his
father. Angel's face was blank, as always. His father had become a
machine since Cordelia.....Connor shut down the thought. The only
reason why he hadn't followed through with killing himself was because
Fred said Angel couldn't lose both of the people he loved, it would
kill him. He had caused his father enough pain in his lifetime, so he
lived with all of the things he had done. Holtz would have been proud.
He had accomplished his goal of taking away the woman and child that
Angel loved just as the demon Angelus had done to him. Of course,
Holtz had only intended to take away the son - Connor had wanted
Cordelia. He had thought that she had wanted him too - that she had
chosen him over his father - but that had been the demon, not Cordelia.
She had never loved him. "Dad..."
"Let's go," Angel interrupted. He swung his legs over the side of the
bed and stood up. He didn't want to hear his son apologize. Cordelia
was gone and there was nothing they could do about it. Angel grabbed
his leather jacket as he walked out of the room, unaware that he was
already wearing his vampire face. He needed to kill.
*****
It was weird that the sai fascinated Chloe so much. She wasn't a
'warrior' person and weapons rarely held any interest for her, but the
trident-like blades were strangely compelling. She was especially
intrigued when she watched Elektra use them. It was difficult to
believe that it was only a few months ago that Elektra had been
mortally wounded. She moved with strength and grace as she whirled
the sai in fluid movements.
"Hi, Chloe." Elektra halted her workout once she noticed the blond
girl in the doorway. She set her weapons down on a table that was
pushed up against the wall and grabbed a towel. Lex had arranged for
the furniture to be removed from the bedroom next to hers to provide
her with space to workout and get her strength back. Now that she was
feeling better, being confined to the unused wing of the Manor was
making her a bit stir-crazy and she was grateful for company. "How
was school today?"
"Same as always." Chloe rolled her eyes and let her bag slip from her
shoulder to land on the floor. "Clark and Lana are mooning over each
other like lovesick teenagers and I'm barely a blip on their radar
screen. Why does she have to be so damn perfect? I can't even hate
her properly." Chloe sighed. She and Elektra had bonded since Lex's
old friend had woken from her coma. It had become a habit for her to
come to Luthor Manor after school and vent her Clark/Lana frustrations.
She walked over to the table to stand beside Elektra. She couldn't
help reaching out to touch the handle of one of the sai. "So, have you
decided what you're going to do now?"
"I'm not going to call Matt anymore than you are going to go up to
Clark and tell him how you feel about him." Elektra took a sip of
bottled water. She had told Chloe all about Matt - everything except
his identity as Daredevil - and the younger girl was trying to convince
her to tell Matt she was still alive.
"Clark only thinks of me as a friend." Chloe twisted her lips into a
wry smile. "I guess it's about time that I accepted it and moved on.
But you don't have to move on, Matt loves you. He deserves to know."
"Matt deserves to find someone who will be there when he needs her. I
can't promise that while my father's murderers escape justice."
"I bet he wouldn't see it that way. I know if Clark did love me, I
wouldn't care when he did his usual disappearing to save the world
act." Chloe stared wistfully down at the table. Clark would never
love her and she did have to move on. That's why she had taken Lex up
on his offer to help Elektra by finding out who Daredevil was and
letting Lex deal with him. Then Elektra could go back to Matt and live
happily ever after. Hopefully, digging around in someone else's
business that had nothing to do with Smallville would help her forget
Clark.
"Yes, you would." Elektra smiled. Clark Kent was a fool for not
loving Chloe. "So, do you finally want to learn how to use these
instead of admiring them from afar?"
"No, I don't think so." Chloe backed away, shaking her head adamantly.
"I'm not the Xena type. I'm more first season Gabrielle."
"And look how good she was by the end of the series." Elektra held out
one of the sai. She grinned when Chloe took it. She needed something
to occupy her time until she was ready to leave Luthor Manor and Lex
and teaching Chloe what her sensei's' had taught her was perfect. She
and Chloe moved to the middle of the room. "Okay, we'll just go over
a few basic moves. This is how you hold it." Elektra positioned the
weapon in Chloe's hand as she talked. "The middle blade rests along
the inside of your arm like this with your pointing finger running up
against the handle. Your fingers curl over the third tine and your
thumb goes under the first tine to fold over the fingers. The sai are
primarily defensive weapons and this is a blocking hold."
"Okay." Chloe clutched the handle tightly. She hated doing things she
wasn't good at and her previous experience with the sai told her that
this was not her forte. It was just her and Elektra though and Elektra
had looked so happy when she had agreed to be taught how to use these
things. It was kind of exciting.
"You'll have to ease up on your grip, Chloe. The key to using the sai
is changing how you hold it." Elektra stepped away from her student
and held the other sai as she had just explained. She quickly flipped
it out into an offensive hold, thrust it at an invisible attacker, and
flipped it back to block an imaginary blow. "There. Now you try."
Chloe stared at Elektra in wide-eyed disbelief. "No."
"Come on, you can do it." Elektra moved back to Chloe's side. "We'll
take it slow. First, flip it. Get used to the feel of the weapon in
your hand." She demonstrated, slowly whirling the sai to point out in
front of her.
It didn't look too difficult when Elektra did it that way. All Chloe
had to do was flip it. She loosened her grip, carefully weighing the
weapon in her hand. She could do this. Chloe took a deep breath and
let go. Unfortunately, she used too much force and the sai sailed out
of her grasp and landed with the middle tine sticking out of the floor
at Lex's feet.
Lex looked down at the blade that had narrowly missed his foot as he
had stepped into the room. He looked up at Chloe, her face was a
delightful shade of pink. "I think you should stick to writing."
"Don't listen to him, Chloe." Elektra smiled at her old friend. She
walked over and plucked the sai out of the floor and then set both of
them on the table. "Lex is just jealous because you've already
mastered more than he ever did when I attempted to teach him the same
thing."
"Luthors don't get jealous." Lex smiled back. It was good to see
Athena back to her old self - although he knew she hadn't given up on
getting her vengeance. The only way he could keep her safe was to deal
with Daredevil himself and Chloe was already in a position to get all
the information he needed. "Gabe tells me that you've found yourself
a mentor in Ben Urich, Chloe."
"Yeah, he's been helping me a lot." Chloe picked up her book bag and
shouldered it. "He's arranged for me to do a one month internship at
the Probe, it's an affiliate paper of the Post's in Los Angeles. I've
worked everything out with my teachers, I'll email my assignments and
take my exams when I get back. Dad's the only holdout, he doesn't
want me going to L. A. alone."
"I'm sure we can convince him. You must be getting bored shut up in
here, Athena, why don't you accompany Chloe to Los Angeles?" Lex made
the suggestion like it had just occurred to him and hadn't been
planned. He needed Elektra to be as far away from New York as possible
if he was going to go after Daredevil. "We can tell Gabe that she's
my assistant from Metropolis."
"Sure. I've never really spent a lot of time on the west coast so no
one should know me. Besides, you're a terrible host, Luthor." Elektra
agreed even though she knew Lex was up to something. This was a great
opportunity for Chloe and she didn't want to ruin it for the girl. It
would be nice to also be able to go outside without worrying about
running into Lex's fiancée.
"I'll have you know I'm the perfect host to guests who haven't been
declared dead." Lex relaxed a fraction. Elektra would soon be far
away from New York and Smallville. Helen was starting to get
suspicious about his absences and Chloe's frequent visits. She had
even accused him of carrying on an affair with the girl. Luckily, he
had managed to convince her that Chloe was merely working on an
exclusive interview with him that would help her get an internship at
a paper. Now Helen would no longer doubt his claim.
"Great. I have to meet with Mr. Urich in New York on the weekend to
finalize the details and then it's off to L. A." Chloe grinned.
"Well, I should get back. I'm supposed to meet Clark, Pete, and Lana
at the Talon. Thanks, Elektra."
"I'll walk you out," Lex offered. He needed to speak to Chloe about
Ben Urich and what she had found out about Daredevil.
"Can I talk to you for a minute first, Lex?" Elektra stopped them from
leaving.
"I'll wait in the hall." Chloe left the two friends alone.
Elektra hopped up onto the table next to the sai. "How is Helen? You
are still engaged to her, right?" She casually sipped at her water.
"She's fine and of course we're still engaged." Lex's eyes narrowed.
"Why the odd question?"
"I don't think it's odd. Do you know what I think is odd?" Elektra
paused and waited for Lex to nod at her to continue. "I think it's
odd that you're marrying someone you don't trust."
"If I insisted upon marrying someone I could trust, my options would be
severely limited." Lex smiled in mild amusement. "I would have to
marry you, Athena, and we don't want that."
"Definitely not. What about Chloe?"
All amusement left Lex. "Chloe is a child."
"Not for long," Elektra countered. She leaned forward. She had
watched Lex and had seen how he interacted with Chloe. He let his
guard down and actually enjoyed her company. "You should see the spark
in your eyes when you talk with her. She challenges you. Lex, if you
just wait...."
"Patience was never a skill I possessed. I'm marrying Helen." Lex
turned to walk out the door.
"I want you to be happy."
"I know. I want the same for you." Lex looked back pointedly at his
friend before leaving. Chloe waited at the end of the hall. She
really was much too young. "Has Urich shown you anything new on
Daredevil?"
Chloe shook her head. "Not really. He just reports it when Daredevil
catches a criminal or rescues a damsel. Mr. Urich knows who Daredevil
is and it's someone close to him."
Lex raised his brow. "That's an awfully confident assumption. What do
you base it on?"
"He's not investigating Daredevil's identity. If he didn't know,
that's what he would be concentrating on. Also, Daredevil's identity
is a major story - one Mr. Urich isn't writing. I know that if Clark
was some cloaked superhero fighting crime and I knew about it, I
wouldn't be able to report it. Mr. Urich admires not only Daredevil,
but the man he is when he's not dressed in a red devil suit. Are you
sure Daredevil killed Elektra's father?"
"Elektra is and she won't stop until she kills him. If I can unmask
him and have him prosecuted first, then she will have to let it go."
Lex frowned. He was telling Chloe too much. Elektra was right, he
did trust her. It didn't matter. Helen was his fiancée, any
attraction or connection he felt for Chloe had to be ignored.
*****
It was difficult to visit Elektra's grave, but Matt forced himself to
do it once a week. He always brought fresh flowers - roses. Dark red
roses for Elektra. It was ironic that he would forever associate their
heavy scent with the love of his life and the death of his father. The
pungent smell of the rose Kingpin had left on his father's body had
overwhelmed him as he had realized that he was alone. That same odor
had heralded Elektra's arrival in his life and he had thought that he
would never be alone again. Then Kingpin had taken her away from him.
He brought white roses as well for her father's grave. He knew Elektra
would have wanted Nikolas Natchios grave tended to, so he did it for
her. Matt set the white roses down first before turning to Elektra's
grave. When he had begun these visits, he had traced her name with his
fingertips so many times that the sensation of marble never left his
skin. He didn't bother doing that anymore. She wasn't here. Matt had
thought that once he had accepted Elektra's death, he would find
something of her here. That he would be comforted by the feeling that
her spirit was still with him.
"Why aren't you here?" Matt whispered. "There's so much I want to
tell you." But he didn't. He didn't want to tell his secrets to the
wind. He wanted to tell Elektra - even if it was only her spirit -
but he couldn't feel her presence here at all and he didn't know why.
A sudden breeze ruffled Matt's hair and with it the scent of roses
wafted around him. His head snapped up as hope flared through him.
"Elektra?" A small part of him had always believed that the reason
why he couldn't find her here was because she wasn't here. He hadn't
accepted her death at all. Matt opened his clenched fist slowly,
letting the petals of the rose he had crushed drift down onto the
grave. Elektra wasn't alive. He had watched her die. He had attended
her funeral. She was dead and he had to let her go. Matt let himself
remember for a moment how beautiful she had looked that night in the
rain and then he turned and left. He wouldn't be coming back.
There was someone else in the cemetery. He had heard their approach
moments after had had arrived, but whoever it was had stopped abruptly
about ten feet behind him. As he walked by, Matt had an irrational
urge to say something that would require a response from the person.
He needed to her their voice. He squelched the urge and ignored the
need. It was one thing to entertain his fantasies of Elektra coming
back to him in his head and quite another to interrupt another person's
grief with them. He continued on to his waiting cab instead.
The stale interior of the cab wiped the scent of roses from Matt's
nostrils. He gave the cabbie the address of his law office and sat
back. He reached across the seat and picked up a bouquet of lilies
and brought it to his nose. Cordelia. He had bought these flowers
to cheer her up and to thank her. She had opened up a whole new world
of evil for him - demons, vampires, magic - and had showed him how to
fight it. She hadn't told him how she knew about these things yet or
who had taught her how to fight them and he didn't ask.
The night he had met Cordelia had changed a lot of things for him. He
was no longer alone. He knew instinctively that she had lost the
people she loved as well. The first few days she had hardly spoken -
the only thing she would say was not to take her to a hospital. He
had taken some time off work to nurse her back to health, but her
injuries healed amazingly fast. For some reason - maybe because she
knew his secret - Cordelia had told him about taking on the aspect of
a demon so that she could have visions that helped her stop evil. In
the months that Cordelia had lived with Matt they had saved a half
dozen innocent victims using their powers.
"Hi, Matt!" Karen's perky voice greeted him as he walked into the
office.
"Hi, Karen." Matt smiled. He handed her a bouquet of tulips. Karen
was a bit put out having Cordelia in the office. She was threatened
and she tended to treat Cordelia coolly. He hoped that he could
smooth things over. "These are to thank you for all the hard work you
do around here. We couldn't do this without you, Karen."
"Oh, thank you, Matt. You're so sweet." Karen gave him a quick peck
on the cheek and he could feel the slight heat of her blush.
"You're welcome. Do you know where Cordelia is?"
He heard Karen sigh as she moved away from him. "She's re-organizing
the files in the back."
"Thanks." Matt made his way to the back room where they kept the old
client files. There really wasn't anything to re-organize, Matt
suspected that Cordelia was uncomfortable out front with Karen. "Hi,
Cordelia."
"Matt." Cordelia looked up from the file in her hands. She was
sitting on the floor in front of a file cabinet pretending to be
useful. Like the good old days. Things had been so simple in the
beginning when it had just been her, Doyle, and Angel and their worst
problem was her filing system.
"Karen said you were back here." Matt leaned in the doorway and
smiled. "You know you don't have to do this."
"I know." Cordelia put the file away and closed the drawer. "Karen
really knows her filing. I suck at it. I'm probably messing it up
anyway." She moved to stand and wasn't surprised when Matt's hand
extended to help her up. He was an extraordinary man. During the
long days of her recovery when they were both confined to his
apartment, he had told her about the accident when he was a boy that
had taken his sight, but had enhanced his other senses. He had also
told her about his father's murder and his quest to exact justice for
the innocent victims of violence. There were things he hadn't told
her - like why he was so sad and alone. That's why she had trusted
him after he had taken her out of Nathaniel's wretched penthouse. He
was as sad and alone as she was. Cordelia was also aware that Matt
reminded her of Angel, but she tried not to think about that.
"I brought you these." Matt produced the lilies from behind his
back. He hoped they made her smile. He suspected that she had a
terrific smile.
"Thank you, Matt, that's sweet." Cordelia smiled. She took the
bouquet from him. The lilies were huge and an almost incandescent
white. She reached out and touched his cheek. "I should be the one
who is giving you flowers. You've done so much for me."
"You've done a lot for me too, Cordelia." Matt took her hand. "I
know we haven't known each other very long, but I consider you to be
a very good friend." He leaned down as if to tell her a secret and
said in a lowered voice, "I like it when my friends are happy."
"So do I." Cordelia caressed the soft waxy petals of one of the
lilies. For the first time in a long time, she felt a bit of warmth
beneath her pain and guilt. Matt was her friend. She may not be able
to return to Angel and her friends in Los Angeles, but she had found
a place in New York. With Matt's help, she could still help the
hopeless with her visions. She had a day job at an office with people
she liked - despite Karen's bitchiness - and if she wanted to, she
could even start acting again. Maybe audition for a play. She could
start over here. It wouldn't be the same, it wouldn't be perfect like
in L. A., but it would work. She would make it work. "I'll make you
a deal, Matt. I'll do my best to be happy if you will." Cordelia
squeezed his hand.
Happy. The last time Matt had been happy was when he had danced with
Elektra at the Black and White Ball. He could never be that happy
again, but if it would help Cordelia then he could pretend and maybe
even find some semblance of happiness. He shook Cordelia's hand.
"Deal."
*****
The Luthor jet was beautiful. The cabin was spacious with large,
comfortable black leather seats and a mini bar. Elektra watched the
clouds drift by her window. She never should have visited her
father's grave, but she had wanted to say good-bye and there had been
some morbid curiosity about her own grave. A part of her had wanted
to see Matt once more. She hadn't been surprised that he was there.
It had physically hurt her not to go to him. Her stomach was still
twisted in knots and her fingers ached from being denied the chance to
touch him. Her resolve had almost broken when he had looked up and
said her name. "Matt," Elektra whispered the answer she had so
desperately wanted to give to the clouds instead of the man who was
now beyond her reach. She had made the right decision. Matt would
eventually go on with his life. He would find someone new to love.
Someone who would love him more than anything. Elektra sighed. All
she had was revenge. Once Bullseye and Wilson Fisk were dead she
would move on. She glanced over to Lex and couldn't help smiling.
He was sitting at the other end of the cabin with Chloe, engrossed in
their conversation. He would help her create a new life once it was
done. It wouldn't even come close to the perfect life she could have
had with Matt, but she would survive. Elektra Natchios would stay
dead, but she would try to piece together some sort of life for
herself. Elektra closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. She could
still dream of Matt.
"Is she okay?" Lex shifted his gaze from Elektra back to Chloe. He
couldn't help observing that Chloe looked good. Her cheeks were pink
and her eyes gleamed with keen excitement.
"She visited her grave today while I was meeting with Urich at the
Post. Matt was there." Chloe looked up at Lex. He was sitting so
close. She had never sat beside him before - there had always been a
desk or a table between them. "I wish she would tell him. She would
be so much happier if she did."
"Yes, it would be nice to make decisions based solely on happiness,
but that isn't how our world works. Elektra and I were raised to make
happiness a low priority." Lex couldn't believe he had said that.
He never confided about his childhood to anyone but Elektra. He
cleared his throat. "Did you get anything further from Urich?"
Chloe frowned, but decided to take the change in subject in stride.
Delving into the Luthor psyche was a risk she couldn't afford to take.
As much as she would like to get to know Lex better, she knew it would
end up hurting her. Lex was going to marry Dr. Helen Bryce and the
last thing Chloe needed was to have another unrequited crush. "Ben
left me alone in his office to do some research while he was in a
meeting with his editor. I recovered a deleted file that was in his
Daredevil folder." She handed Lex a disc. "I didn't have time to
look at it."
"But you did make a copy for yourself."
"Of course."
Lex smiled and slipped the disc into his breast pocket. He was going
to miss Chloe while she was in L. A. He would have to fly out to
check up on Elektra and make sure she was okay and Chloe would be
there. "Of course."
To be continued.....
another extended holiday and I'll be able to update more quickly from
now on. I also hope that interest hasn't waned and that there are
people who still want to read this story as well as my others. I'm
working on the next part of 'Corruptible' and will have it posted
within the next week. Thanks for hanging in there!!
Part Three
Never in all of Angel's two and half centuries on this earth had time
moved so slowly. Days and nights dragged endlessly, but he didn't mind.
During the night he could find some relief from his guilt and grief by
kicking the shit out of various demons and vampires. The days were a
mixture of heaven and hell. His days were spent in one of two ways -
he either slept all day and dreamed of Cordelia or he stayed awake and
remembered her. In the beginning he had remembered her smile, her
laugh, the sparkle in her eyes, the way she smelled sweet with a hint
of spicy raspberry. Those had been the easy things to remember, now
Angel found himself recalling other things - things that surprised him
because he hadn't realized how important they had been to him. He
remembered meeting her at that inane Hollywood party where she had
innocently asked him if he was still 'grrr' and then brushed him off
to go talk to 'important' people. She had been so young and sweetly
innocent then. He shuddered to think about how he hadn't recognized
that Cordelia had been just as desperate and vulnerable as Tina. He
had almost lost her that night because he had seen her as the Sunnydale
Cordelia - all brass tacks and arrogance - and not a target for a
sadistic, hungry vampire. He had learned so much about Cordelia in
that first year.
A sharp knock invaded Angel's memories, but he ignored it. Usually
someone would wander up to his room a few hours after sunset to drag
him out. Angel wasn't ready yet. He smiled as he remembered Doyle's
crush on Cordelia and how she would always brush him off. Back then
Angel had let himself think that he was acting the protective big
brother role, looking out for Cordelia by interrogating her dates and
making sure that Doyle's advances didn't go too far, but even then a
part of him recognized that he needed her. He was protective because
he hadn't wanted another man to take her away from him. He had been
too mired in his love for Buffy to have those feelings for Cordelia
then, but she had still been the most important thing in his life. She
still was even though she was no longer with him.
The bedroom door opened and Connor stepped into his room. His son's
eyes stayed trained on the floor. "Fred tracked down the vampires that
took that lady's kid."
Angel didn't move from his bed, but his mind did wander from Cordelia
to his son. He didn't hate Connor or blame him for Cordelia's death,
but he knew that the boy blamed himself. Angel wished that he could
alleviate that guilt and tell him that the events that led up to
Cordelia's death had started long before the boy was born and that he
couldn't be blamed. It was his fault that Cordelia had been involved.
She had received the visions because of him, she had refused to give
them up because of him. He should never have involved her in his life,
his mission. He should have let her go.
"Dad, we have to go. Wesley says that there's a chance that the little
girl is still alive. This vampire family uses a child in a ritual that
they perform during a new moon." Connor ventured a quick glance at his
father. Angel's face was blank, as always. His father had become a
machine since Cordelia.....Connor shut down the thought. The only
reason why he hadn't followed through with killing himself was because
Fred said Angel couldn't lose both of the people he loved, it would
kill him. He had caused his father enough pain in his lifetime, so he
lived with all of the things he had done. Holtz would have been proud.
He had accomplished his goal of taking away the woman and child that
Angel loved just as the demon Angelus had done to him. Of course,
Holtz had only intended to take away the son - Connor had wanted
Cordelia. He had thought that she had wanted him too - that she had
chosen him over his father - but that had been the demon, not Cordelia.
She had never loved him. "Dad..."
"Let's go," Angel interrupted. He swung his legs over the side of the
bed and stood up. He didn't want to hear his son apologize. Cordelia
was gone and there was nothing they could do about it. Angel grabbed
his leather jacket as he walked out of the room, unaware that he was
already wearing his vampire face. He needed to kill.
*****
It was weird that the sai fascinated Chloe so much. She wasn't a
'warrior' person and weapons rarely held any interest for her, but the
trident-like blades were strangely compelling. She was especially
intrigued when she watched Elektra use them. It was difficult to
believe that it was only a few months ago that Elektra had been
mortally wounded. She moved with strength and grace as she whirled
the sai in fluid movements.
"Hi, Chloe." Elektra halted her workout once she noticed the blond
girl in the doorway. She set her weapons down on a table that was
pushed up against the wall and grabbed a towel. Lex had arranged for
the furniture to be removed from the bedroom next to hers to provide
her with space to workout and get her strength back. Now that she was
feeling better, being confined to the unused wing of the Manor was
making her a bit stir-crazy and she was grateful for company. "How
was school today?"
"Same as always." Chloe rolled her eyes and let her bag slip from her
shoulder to land on the floor. "Clark and Lana are mooning over each
other like lovesick teenagers and I'm barely a blip on their radar
screen. Why does she have to be so damn perfect? I can't even hate
her properly." Chloe sighed. She and Elektra had bonded since Lex's
old friend had woken from her coma. It had become a habit for her to
come to Luthor Manor after school and vent her Clark/Lana frustrations.
She walked over to the table to stand beside Elektra. She couldn't
help reaching out to touch the handle of one of the sai. "So, have you
decided what you're going to do now?"
"I'm not going to call Matt anymore than you are going to go up to
Clark and tell him how you feel about him." Elektra took a sip of
bottled water. She had told Chloe all about Matt - everything except
his identity as Daredevil - and the younger girl was trying to convince
her to tell Matt she was still alive.
"Clark only thinks of me as a friend." Chloe twisted her lips into a
wry smile. "I guess it's about time that I accepted it and moved on.
But you don't have to move on, Matt loves you. He deserves to know."
"Matt deserves to find someone who will be there when he needs her. I
can't promise that while my father's murderers escape justice."
"I bet he wouldn't see it that way. I know if Clark did love me, I
wouldn't care when he did his usual disappearing to save the world
act." Chloe stared wistfully down at the table. Clark would never
love her and she did have to move on. That's why she had taken Lex up
on his offer to help Elektra by finding out who Daredevil was and
letting Lex deal with him. Then Elektra could go back to Matt and live
happily ever after. Hopefully, digging around in someone else's
business that had nothing to do with Smallville would help her forget
Clark.
"Yes, you would." Elektra smiled. Clark Kent was a fool for not
loving Chloe. "So, do you finally want to learn how to use these
instead of admiring them from afar?"
"No, I don't think so." Chloe backed away, shaking her head adamantly.
"I'm not the Xena type. I'm more first season Gabrielle."
"And look how good she was by the end of the series." Elektra held out
one of the sai. She grinned when Chloe took it. She needed something
to occupy her time until she was ready to leave Luthor Manor and Lex
and teaching Chloe what her sensei's' had taught her was perfect. She
and Chloe moved to the middle of the room. "Okay, we'll just go over
a few basic moves. This is how you hold it." Elektra positioned the
weapon in Chloe's hand as she talked. "The middle blade rests along
the inside of your arm like this with your pointing finger running up
against the handle. Your fingers curl over the third tine and your
thumb goes under the first tine to fold over the fingers. The sai are
primarily defensive weapons and this is a blocking hold."
"Okay." Chloe clutched the handle tightly. She hated doing things she
wasn't good at and her previous experience with the sai told her that
this was not her forte. It was just her and Elektra though and Elektra
had looked so happy when she had agreed to be taught how to use these
things. It was kind of exciting.
"You'll have to ease up on your grip, Chloe. The key to using the sai
is changing how you hold it." Elektra stepped away from her student
and held the other sai as she had just explained. She quickly flipped
it out into an offensive hold, thrust it at an invisible attacker, and
flipped it back to block an imaginary blow. "There. Now you try."
Chloe stared at Elektra in wide-eyed disbelief. "No."
"Come on, you can do it." Elektra moved back to Chloe's side. "We'll
take it slow. First, flip it. Get used to the feel of the weapon in
your hand." She demonstrated, slowly whirling the sai to point out in
front of her.
It didn't look too difficult when Elektra did it that way. All Chloe
had to do was flip it. She loosened her grip, carefully weighing the
weapon in her hand. She could do this. Chloe took a deep breath and
let go. Unfortunately, she used too much force and the sai sailed out
of her grasp and landed with the middle tine sticking out of the floor
at Lex's feet.
Lex looked down at the blade that had narrowly missed his foot as he
had stepped into the room. He looked up at Chloe, her face was a
delightful shade of pink. "I think you should stick to writing."
"Don't listen to him, Chloe." Elektra smiled at her old friend. She
walked over and plucked the sai out of the floor and then set both of
them on the table. "Lex is just jealous because you've already
mastered more than he ever did when I attempted to teach him the same
thing."
"Luthors don't get jealous." Lex smiled back. It was good to see
Athena back to her old self - although he knew she hadn't given up on
getting her vengeance. The only way he could keep her safe was to deal
with Daredevil himself and Chloe was already in a position to get all
the information he needed. "Gabe tells me that you've found yourself
a mentor in Ben Urich, Chloe."
"Yeah, he's been helping me a lot." Chloe picked up her book bag and
shouldered it. "He's arranged for me to do a one month internship at
the Probe, it's an affiliate paper of the Post's in Los Angeles. I've
worked everything out with my teachers, I'll email my assignments and
take my exams when I get back. Dad's the only holdout, he doesn't
want me going to L. A. alone."
"I'm sure we can convince him. You must be getting bored shut up in
here, Athena, why don't you accompany Chloe to Los Angeles?" Lex made
the suggestion like it had just occurred to him and hadn't been
planned. He needed Elektra to be as far away from New York as possible
if he was going to go after Daredevil. "We can tell Gabe that she's
my assistant from Metropolis."
"Sure. I've never really spent a lot of time on the west coast so no
one should know me. Besides, you're a terrible host, Luthor." Elektra
agreed even though she knew Lex was up to something. This was a great
opportunity for Chloe and she didn't want to ruin it for the girl. It
would be nice to also be able to go outside without worrying about
running into Lex's fiancée.
"I'll have you know I'm the perfect host to guests who haven't been
declared dead." Lex relaxed a fraction. Elektra would soon be far
away from New York and Smallville. Helen was starting to get
suspicious about his absences and Chloe's frequent visits. She had
even accused him of carrying on an affair with the girl. Luckily, he
had managed to convince her that Chloe was merely working on an
exclusive interview with him that would help her get an internship at
a paper. Now Helen would no longer doubt his claim.
"Great. I have to meet with Mr. Urich in New York on the weekend to
finalize the details and then it's off to L. A." Chloe grinned.
"Well, I should get back. I'm supposed to meet Clark, Pete, and Lana
at the Talon. Thanks, Elektra."
"I'll walk you out," Lex offered. He needed to speak to Chloe about
Ben Urich and what she had found out about Daredevil.
"Can I talk to you for a minute first, Lex?" Elektra stopped them from
leaving.
"I'll wait in the hall." Chloe left the two friends alone.
Elektra hopped up onto the table next to the sai. "How is Helen? You
are still engaged to her, right?" She casually sipped at her water.
"She's fine and of course we're still engaged." Lex's eyes narrowed.
"Why the odd question?"
"I don't think it's odd. Do you know what I think is odd?" Elektra
paused and waited for Lex to nod at her to continue. "I think it's
odd that you're marrying someone you don't trust."
"If I insisted upon marrying someone I could trust, my options would be
severely limited." Lex smiled in mild amusement. "I would have to
marry you, Athena, and we don't want that."
"Definitely not. What about Chloe?"
All amusement left Lex. "Chloe is a child."
"Not for long," Elektra countered. She leaned forward. She had
watched Lex and had seen how he interacted with Chloe. He let his
guard down and actually enjoyed her company. "You should see the spark
in your eyes when you talk with her. She challenges you. Lex, if you
just wait...."
"Patience was never a skill I possessed. I'm marrying Helen." Lex
turned to walk out the door.
"I want you to be happy."
"I know. I want the same for you." Lex looked back pointedly at his
friend before leaving. Chloe waited at the end of the hall. She
really was much too young. "Has Urich shown you anything new on
Daredevil?"
Chloe shook her head. "Not really. He just reports it when Daredevil
catches a criminal or rescues a damsel. Mr. Urich knows who Daredevil
is and it's someone close to him."
Lex raised his brow. "That's an awfully confident assumption. What do
you base it on?"
"He's not investigating Daredevil's identity. If he didn't know,
that's what he would be concentrating on. Also, Daredevil's identity
is a major story - one Mr. Urich isn't writing. I know that if Clark
was some cloaked superhero fighting crime and I knew about it, I
wouldn't be able to report it. Mr. Urich admires not only Daredevil,
but the man he is when he's not dressed in a red devil suit. Are you
sure Daredevil killed Elektra's father?"
"Elektra is and she won't stop until she kills him. If I can unmask
him and have him prosecuted first, then she will have to let it go."
Lex frowned. He was telling Chloe too much. Elektra was right, he
did trust her. It didn't matter. Helen was his fiancée, any
attraction or connection he felt for Chloe had to be ignored.
*****
It was difficult to visit Elektra's grave, but Matt forced himself to
do it once a week. He always brought fresh flowers - roses. Dark red
roses for Elektra. It was ironic that he would forever associate their
heavy scent with the love of his life and the death of his father. The
pungent smell of the rose Kingpin had left on his father's body had
overwhelmed him as he had realized that he was alone. That same odor
had heralded Elektra's arrival in his life and he had thought that he
would never be alone again. Then Kingpin had taken her away from him.
He brought white roses as well for her father's grave. He knew Elektra
would have wanted Nikolas Natchios grave tended to, so he did it for
her. Matt set the white roses down first before turning to Elektra's
grave. When he had begun these visits, he had traced her name with his
fingertips so many times that the sensation of marble never left his
skin. He didn't bother doing that anymore. She wasn't here. Matt had
thought that once he had accepted Elektra's death, he would find
something of her here. That he would be comforted by the feeling that
her spirit was still with him.
"Why aren't you here?" Matt whispered. "There's so much I want to
tell you." But he didn't. He didn't want to tell his secrets to the
wind. He wanted to tell Elektra - even if it was only her spirit -
but he couldn't feel her presence here at all and he didn't know why.
A sudden breeze ruffled Matt's hair and with it the scent of roses
wafted around him. His head snapped up as hope flared through him.
"Elektra?" A small part of him had always believed that the reason
why he couldn't find her here was because she wasn't here. He hadn't
accepted her death at all. Matt opened his clenched fist slowly,
letting the petals of the rose he had crushed drift down onto the
grave. Elektra wasn't alive. He had watched her die. He had attended
her funeral. She was dead and he had to let her go. Matt let himself
remember for a moment how beautiful she had looked that night in the
rain and then he turned and left. He wouldn't be coming back.
There was someone else in the cemetery. He had heard their approach
moments after had had arrived, but whoever it was had stopped abruptly
about ten feet behind him. As he walked by, Matt had an irrational
urge to say something that would require a response from the person.
He needed to her their voice. He squelched the urge and ignored the
need. It was one thing to entertain his fantasies of Elektra coming
back to him in his head and quite another to interrupt another person's
grief with them. He continued on to his waiting cab instead.
The stale interior of the cab wiped the scent of roses from Matt's
nostrils. He gave the cabbie the address of his law office and sat
back. He reached across the seat and picked up a bouquet of lilies
and brought it to his nose. Cordelia. He had bought these flowers
to cheer her up and to thank her. She had opened up a whole new world
of evil for him - demons, vampires, magic - and had showed him how to
fight it. She hadn't told him how she knew about these things yet or
who had taught her how to fight them and he didn't ask.
The night he had met Cordelia had changed a lot of things for him. He
was no longer alone. He knew instinctively that she had lost the
people she loved as well. The first few days she had hardly spoken -
the only thing she would say was not to take her to a hospital. He
had taken some time off work to nurse her back to health, but her
injuries healed amazingly fast. For some reason - maybe because she
knew his secret - Cordelia had told him about taking on the aspect of
a demon so that she could have visions that helped her stop evil. In
the months that Cordelia had lived with Matt they had saved a half
dozen innocent victims using their powers.
"Hi, Matt!" Karen's perky voice greeted him as he walked into the
office.
"Hi, Karen." Matt smiled. He handed her a bouquet of tulips. Karen
was a bit put out having Cordelia in the office. She was threatened
and she tended to treat Cordelia coolly. He hoped that he could
smooth things over. "These are to thank you for all the hard work you
do around here. We couldn't do this without you, Karen."
"Oh, thank you, Matt. You're so sweet." Karen gave him a quick peck
on the cheek and he could feel the slight heat of her blush.
"You're welcome. Do you know where Cordelia is?"
He heard Karen sigh as she moved away from him. "She's re-organizing
the files in the back."
"Thanks." Matt made his way to the back room where they kept the old
client files. There really wasn't anything to re-organize, Matt
suspected that Cordelia was uncomfortable out front with Karen. "Hi,
Cordelia."
"Matt." Cordelia looked up from the file in her hands. She was
sitting on the floor in front of a file cabinet pretending to be
useful. Like the good old days. Things had been so simple in the
beginning when it had just been her, Doyle, and Angel and their worst
problem was her filing system.
"Karen said you were back here." Matt leaned in the doorway and
smiled. "You know you don't have to do this."
"I know." Cordelia put the file away and closed the drawer. "Karen
really knows her filing. I suck at it. I'm probably messing it up
anyway." She moved to stand and wasn't surprised when Matt's hand
extended to help her up. He was an extraordinary man. During the
long days of her recovery when they were both confined to his
apartment, he had told her about the accident when he was a boy that
had taken his sight, but had enhanced his other senses. He had also
told her about his father's murder and his quest to exact justice for
the innocent victims of violence. There were things he hadn't told
her - like why he was so sad and alone. That's why she had trusted
him after he had taken her out of Nathaniel's wretched penthouse. He
was as sad and alone as she was. Cordelia was also aware that Matt
reminded her of Angel, but she tried not to think about that.
"I brought you these." Matt produced the lilies from behind his
back. He hoped they made her smile. He suspected that she had a
terrific smile.
"Thank you, Matt, that's sweet." Cordelia smiled. She took the
bouquet from him. The lilies were huge and an almost incandescent
white. She reached out and touched his cheek. "I should be the one
who is giving you flowers. You've done so much for me."
"You've done a lot for me too, Cordelia." Matt took her hand. "I
know we haven't known each other very long, but I consider you to be
a very good friend." He leaned down as if to tell her a secret and
said in a lowered voice, "I like it when my friends are happy."
"So do I." Cordelia caressed the soft waxy petals of one of the
lilies. For the first time in a long time, she felt a bit of warmth
beneath her pain and guilt. Matt was her friend. She may not be able
to return to Angel and her friends in Los Angeles, but she had found
a place in New York. With Matt's help, she could still help the
hopeless with her visions. She had a day job at an office with people
she liked - despite Karen's bitchiness - and if she wanted to, she
could even start acting again. Maybe audition for a play. She could
start over here. It wouldn't be the same, it wouldn't be perfect like
in L. A., but it would work. She would make it work. "I'll make you
a deal, Matt. I'll do my best to be happy if you will." Cordelia
squeezed his hand.
Happy. The last time Matt had been happy was when he had danced with
Elektra at the Black and White Ball. He could never be that happy
again, but if it would help Cordelia then he could pretend and maybe
even find some semblance of happiness. He shook Cordelia's hand.
"Deal."
*****
The Luthor jet was beautiful. The cabin was spacious with large,
comfortable black leather seats and a mini bar. Elektra watched the
clouds drift by her window. She never should have visited her
father's grave, but she had wanted to say good-bye and there had been
some morbid curiosity about her own grave. A part of her had wanted
to see Matt once more. She hadn't been surprised that he was there.
It had physically hurt her not to go to him. Her stomach was still
twisted in knots and her fingers ached from being denied the chance to
touch him. Her resolve had almost broken when he had looked up and
said her name. "Matt," Elektra whispered the answer she had so
desperately wanted to give to the clouds instead of the man who was
now beyond her reach. She had made the right decision. Matt would
eventually go on with his life. He would find someone new to love.
Someone who would love him more than anything. Elektra sighed. All
she had was revenge. Once Bullseye and Wilson Fisk were dead she
would move on. She glanced over to Lex and couldn't help smiling.
He was sitting at the other end of the cabin with Chloe, engrossed in
their conversation. He would help her create a new life once it was
done. It wouldn't even come close to the perfect life she could have
had with Matt, but she would survive. Elektra Natchios would stay
dead, but she would try to piece together some sort of life for
herself. Elektra closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep. She could
still dream of Matt.
"Is she okay?" Lex shifted his gaze from Elektra back to Chloe. He
couldn't help observing that Chloe looked good. Her cheeks were pink
and her eyes gleamed with keen excitement.
"She visited her grave today while I was meeting with Urich at the
Post. Matt was there." Chloe looked up at Lex. He was sitting so
close. She had never sat beside him before - there had always been a
desk or a table between them. "I wish she would tell him. She would
be so much happier if she did."
"Yes, it would be nice to make decisions based solely on happiness,
but that isn't how our world works. Elektra and I were raised to make
happiness a low priority." Lex couldn't believe he had said that.
He never confided about his childhood to anyone but Elektra. He
cleared his throat. "Did you get anything further from Urich?"
Chloe frowned, but decided to take the change in subject in stride.
Delving into the Luthor psyche was a risk she couldn't afford to take.
As much as she would like to get to know Lex better, she knew it would
end up hurting her. Lex was going to marry Dr. Helen Bryce and the
last thing Chloe needed was to have another unrequited crush. "Ben
left me alone in his office to do some research while he was in a
meeting with his editor. I recovered a deleted file that was in his
Daredevil folder." She handed Lex a disc. "I didn't have time to
look at it."
"But you did make a copy for yourself."
"Of course."
Lex smiled and slipped the disc into his breast pocket. He was going
to miss Chloe while she was in L. A. He would have to fly out to
check up on Elektra and make sure she was okay and Chloe would be
there. "Of course."
To be continued.....