Part 6 – Back at the Mansion
Angel woke up to an empty bed. He felt around and realized that Cordelia was gone. He listened quietly and realized that she was not in the bedroom, he couldn't hear her heartbeat. He listened harder and realized she wasn't on the floor. Why did she leave him? He shook his head a little and realized that the pain had subsided a bit, actually quite a bit and that he was capable of having thoughts.
He looked down at himself and saw that he had little bandages over his chest and taped to his forehead. He pulled them off and saw that his wounds had healed. He stretched the sleep away from his body and rose from the bed. His body was still stiff and slightly sore, but much better than yesterday. He looked around the room. There was no sign of Cordelia. Shower...he would shower then be able to think straight, he shook off the feeling of hunger.
After showering he walked into his closet and looked around. Things had not changed since he had been gone for all that time. Clothes still neatly hung, but something seemed different. He sniffed the air, and realized that Cordelia had been there. He chuckled a little, she was a snoop. It was a strange sound to hear him chuckle. He didn't chuckle before he went to hell, why was he starting now. He reached over and pulled out a pair of black sweat pants, noticing only one on the pile, he thought he recalled having two pairs and a grey t-shirt. Color was not a big part of his wardrobe.
He wanted to see Cordelia, maybe she was downstairs. Hungry, he was hungry.
He pulled on the loose fitting clothes, not wanting anything restrictive on his body and then headed downstairs. He looked at the grandfather clock on the landing of the staircase and it said 4 o'clock. He wondered if it was right, with no one there to wind it, and realized the hands weren't moving, so it was definitely not 4 o'clock.
He shouted from the stairs "Cordelia!"
No answer...he continued down the stairs into the living room. "CORDELIA!" He shouted again. He listened quietly and realized that he could not hear her heartbeat anywhere.
He started pacing in the living room. He needed to go find her, had to have her here. She kept him safe. His mind was racing, reverting back to animal instincts he had survived on for so long in Hell. It was a quick turn, back to a primitive, in pain, scared. One night's sleep and a couple bags of blood would not be enough to bring Angel fully back to normal. He paced back and forth in the living room. His body had no idea what time it was and he moved toward the front door. He pulled open the heavy door and stepped slightly to the side, making sure to stay out of the sun light if there was any.
It was the end of the day and the afternoon rays poured into the room through the open door...to early to go out and search, but soon. His demon instincts thought.
"Oh thanks Angel, how did you know my hands were full?" Cordelia asked breezing into the mansion with her hands full of grocery bags and an overnight duffle.
Angel was in shock when the girl walked in. He had not heard her, had not smelled her. He slammed the door close, blocking out the deadly rays of sun, making Cordelia jump.
"Geez Angel...scared the life out of me." She turned and looked at him. She was showered and clean and wearing a pair of black pants with a burgundy red sweater set. Her hair was slightly curly and she looked like a million dollars (and she knew it)
Angel moved quickly over to her and squeezed her into a hug tightly. Rubbing his hands up and down her back and breathing in her scent. "You leftme leftme" he mumbled over and over and then other words poured out, "cold.. alone.. leftme.. gone.." There was fear in his voice, something that Cordelia had never heard from the vampire, except for last night at least.
It made her heart swell that he really seemed to need her. But he was getting a bit clingy, and he sounded just this side of crazy, so she tried to bring him back to reality. "Hey Big Guy...need to breath here" She said and tried to pull a way a bit from his grasp. He only held her tighter. She dropped her bags and hugged him hard.
"Okay, Angel, it is okay, I am right here" She stroked the nape of his neck and tried to calm him down. She was so glad she had never had to face hell, and was amazed that he was in as good of shape as he was.
Angel shook his head, tried to get his thoughts back to sanity, it was such a thin line between sanity and lunacy. He released the girl and looked at her, glad his body was now covered in her scent. "Ahh...sorry, just got, well..."
"Crazed, Angel" Cordy said with a smile in her voice, "didn't you see the note on the refrigerator in the kitchen?"
"No...just been pacing here waiting for you" he said with his head down.
"Angel, have you had anything to eat, I mean drink, I mean...oh Angel have you had any blood today?" Cordy asked, thinking that maybe his insanity had to do with hunger.
He blinked at her, Buffy had never asked him if he was hungry, had never cared if or when he needed food. He thought a moment and shook his head no.
"No wonder you are crazy, I bet you are just hungry. Here, come sit on the couch, I will put away my groceries and come back with food for both of us okay." She pulled away and grasped his fore arm, pulling him toward the couch.
She pushed him to sit down and then went back to take the groceries into the kitchen.
She was back, Cordelia was back, He was safe. Warm, soft, safe – were the thoughts rolling through Angel's head. He listened to the sound of her voice from the kitchen but did not hear the words. Cordelia came back, not alone. A few minutes passed and then she entered the living room carrying a tray with a mug on it and a bowl full of steaming liquid.
She sat the tray on the coffee table "So I told Willow that I was smart" Cordelia, continuing the story of her afternoon, of which Angel had heard nothing.
He looked at the tray she had brought in and could smell the warm human blood, he didn't move, but his body growled slightly at the smell. He didn't usually feed in front of humans.
Cordy picked up the bowl of wonton soup and started eating, starving from the day. She looked over at Angel in mid-spoon. "Hurry up Big Guy, it is going to coagulate if you don't hurry. Plus I only think you can microwave blood once before it is not fit to drink" She joked, he needed to feed. He looked pale again, well paler than usual.
He nodded and then hesitantly took up the mug and greedily drank it down. It tasted so good, so alive. His thirst hadn't subsided.
Cordy looked up from her bowl in time to see Angel chug the mug of blood. He was hungry, starved. Why hadn't he eaten when he first got up she wondered. Does he even realize he is back was a bigger concern that she had.
"Oh gross Angel, blood mustache" yes it was gross, he licked his lips, and smiled a little
"Is there more?" He asked, his hunger was still there and he could smell her blood pumping so close to him.
"Yes, I will be right back." Cordy got up from the couch and went back to the kitchen to heat up another bag of blood. He had almost gone through all of the blood she had gotten last night. Well, it had been a while since he had eaten. She started thinking of new stories to convince Harold at the blood bank to keep her fully stocked up for her hungry vampire.
Wait he wasn't her vampire, he was just a friend. Yes that is right a friend, and we don't have the hots for our friends. Cordelia kept thinking that over and over again.
She returned to the living room and handed Angel his mug, and this time he drank a little slower. Less like a starving man. She sat down on the couch next to him this time and took up her bowl of soup. They ate and drank in peaceful silence. It was nice not to have to eat alone Cordelia thought.
She sat the empty bowl down on the tray and took the empty mug out of Angel's hands. He had a far away look on his face, deep in thought, or else maybe he needed to be burped.
"I'm just gonna take these into the kitchen, I will be right back Angel" Cordelia was careful to tell him where she was going, she didn't want him to panic, or go off the deep end.
He nodded in response and watched her gracefully get up and take the tray and dishes into the other room. He liked having her presence near him. He felt like he could think again, the hunger was so much less than before. And the pain in his body was lessening slowly, as he felt the healing process speed along with the help of human blood, even if it wasn't fresh blood. Cordelia was quiet in the kitchen but he could hear her movements. Hear the thudding of her heart. It was nice.
She came back out and sat down on the couch next to Angel and looked at him.
"So, how are you feeling now?" She asked. Now that they had eaten the silence was going to be too much for her.
"Better"
"Good, 'cause I was worried that we would need to have you committed and who knows how we would find an asylum that took vampires, I mean the keeping you out of sunlight thing is key right" Cordelia babbled. His one word answers were going to make her crazy and she needed a little more to go on. If she counted correctly her guess was that he had said maybe 5 full sentences to her since last night.
"Cordelia..." Angel started; he took her small hand in his larger one. Her hand was so warm, it felt so good. "Thank you. I'd be lost without you right now."
Cordelia smiled her 100 watt smile that warmed him to the core of his cold dead heart. She was so grateful that he had said a complete sentence and that he was glad she was there. "No problem Big Guy, hey you have saved my life on more than one occasion right?" She gave his hand a tight squeeze.
"Will you stay with me for a while longer, I have a feeling if you are not here, I will for get to eat and go crazy again." Angel pleaded his case to her, she was his life line and he wanted to keep it close at hand. "Please Cordelia; I don't want to be alone."
"Well my parents are out of town for the next few, well for a while, and my housekeeper is on vacation. So I only have an empty house to go home to. And you are right; you won't eat unless I am here, so you do need me. Yes you need me and I will not abandon you now. I brought a bag of clothes because it was my intention to stay until you got better Angel." She said definitively, as if it was her idea in the first place.
"Good" was all he said and he held her hand tighter.
Angel woke up to an empty bed. He felt around and realized that Cordelia was gone. He listened quietly and realized that she was not in the bedroom, he couldn't hear her heartbeat. He listened harder and realized she wasn't on the floor. Why did she leave him? He shook his head a little and realized that the pain had subsided a bit, actually quite a bit and that he was capable of having thoughts.
He looked down at himself and saw that he had little bandages over his chest and taped to his forehead. He pulled them off and saw that his wounds had healed. He stretched the sleep away from his body and rose from the bed. His body was still stiff and slightly sore, but much better than yesterday. He looked around the room. There was no sign of Cordelia. Shower...he would shower then be able to think straight, he shook off the feeling of hunger.
After showering he walked into his closet and looked around. Things had not changed since he had been gone for all that time. Clothes still neatly hung, but something seemed different. He sniffed the air, and realized that Cordelia had been there. He chuckled a little, she was a snoop. It was a strange sound to hear him chuckle. He didn't chuckle before he went to hell, why was he starting now. He reached over and pulled out a pair of black sweat pants, noticing only one on the pile, he thought he recalled having two pairs and a grey t-shirt. Color was not a big part of his wardrobe.
He wanted to see Cordelia, maybe she was downstairs. Hungry, he was hungry.
He pulled on the loose fitting clothes, not wanting anything restrictive on his body and then headed downstairs. He looked at the grandfather clock on the landing of the staircase and it said 4 o'clock. He wondered if it was right, with no one there to wind it, and realized the hands weren't moving, so it was definitely not 4 o'clock.
He shouted from the stairs "Cordelia!"
No answer...he continued down the stairs into the living room. "CORDELIA!" He shouted again. He listened quietly and realized that he could not hear her heartbeat anywhere.
He started pacing in the living room. He needed to go find her, had to have her here. She kept him safe. His mind was racing, reverting back to animal instincts he had survived on for so long in Hell. It was a quick turn, back to a primitive, in pain, scared. One night's sleep and a couple bags of blood would not be enough to bring Angel fully back to normal. He paced back and forth in the living room. His body had no idea what time it was and he moved toward the front door. He pulled open the heavy door and stepped slightly to the side, making sure to stay out of the sun light if there was any.
It was the end of the day and the afternoon rays poured into the room through the open door...to early to go out and search, but soon. His demon instincts thought.
"Oh thanks Angel, how did you know my hands were full?" Cordelia asked breezing into the mansion with her hands full of grocery bags and an overnight duffle.
Angel was in shock when the girl walked in. He had not heard her, had not smelled her. He slammed the door close, blocking out the deadly rays of sun, making Cordelia jump.
"Geez Angel...scared the life out of me." She turned and looked at him. She was showered and clean and wearing a pair of black pants with a burgundy red sweater set. Her hair was slightly curly and she looked like a million dollars (and she knew it)
Angel moved quickly over to her and squeezed her into a hug tightly. Rubbing his hands up and down her back and breathing in her scent. "You leftme leftme" he mumbled over and over and then other words poured out, "cold.. alone.. leftme.. gone.." There was fear in his voice, something that Cordelia had never heard from the vampire, except for last night at least.
It made her heart swell that he really seemed to need her. But he was getting a bit clingy, and he sounded just this side of crazy, so she tried to bring him back to reality. "Hey Big Guy...need to breath here" She said and tried to pull a way a bit from his grasp. He only held her tighter. She dropped her bags and hugged him hard.
"Okay, Angel, it is okay, I am right here" She stroked the nape of his neck and tried to calm him down. She was so glad she had never had to face hell, and was amazed that he was in as good of shape as he was.
Angel shook his head, tried to get his thoughts back to sanity, it was such a thin line between sanity and lunacy. He released the girl and looked at her, glad his body was now covered in her scent. "Ahh...sorry, just got, well..."
"Crazed, Angel" Cordy said with a smile in her voice, "didn't you see the note on the refrigerator in the kitchen?"
"No...just been pacing here waiting for you" he said with his head down.
"Angel, have you had anything to eat, I mean drink, I mean...oh Angel have you had any blood today?" Cordy asked, thinking that maybe his insanity had to do with hunger.
He blinked at her, Buffy had never asked him if he was hungry, had never cared if or when he needed food. He thought a moment and shook his head no.
"No wonder you are crazy, I bet you are just hungry. Here, come sit on the couch, I will put away my groceries and come back with food for both of us okay." She pulled away and grasped his fore arm, pulling him toward the couch.
She pushed him to sit down and then went back to take the groceries into the kitchen.
She was back, Cordelia was back, He was safe. Warm, soft, safe – were the thoughts rolling through Angel's head. He listened to the sound of her voice from the kitchen but did not hear the words. Cordelia came back, not alone. A few minutes passed and then she entered the living room carrying a tray with a mug on it and a bowl full of steaming liquid.
She sat the tray on the coffee table "So I told Willow that I was smart" Cordelia, continuing the story of her afternoon, of which Angel had heard nothing.
He looked at the tray she had brought in and could smell the warm human blood, he didn't move, but his body growled slightly at the smell. He didn't usually feed in front of humans.
Cordy picked up the bowl of wonton soup and started eating, starving from the day. She looked over at Angel in mid-spoon. "Hurry up Big Guy, it is going to coagulate if you don't hurry. Plus I only think you can microwave blood once before it is not fit to drink" She joked, he needed to feed. He looked pale again, well paler than usual.
He nodded and then hesitantly took up the mug and greedily drank it down. It tasted so good, so alive. His thirst hadn't subsided.
Cordy looked up from her bowl in time to see Angel chug the mug of blood. He was hungry, starved. Why hadn't he eaten when he first got up she wondered. Does he even realize he is back was a bigger concern that she had.
"Oh gross Angel, blood mustache" yes it was gross, he licked his lips, and smiled a little
"Is there more?" He asked, his hunger was still there and he could smell her blood pumping so close to him.
"Yes, I will be right back." Cordy got up from the couch and went back to the kitchen to heat up another bag of blood. He had almost gone through all of the blood she had gotten last night. Well, it had been a while since he had eaten. She started thinking of new stories to convince Harold at the blood bank to keep her fully stocked up for her hungry vampire.
Wait he wasn't her vampire, he was just a friend. Yes that is right a friend, and we don't have the hots for our friends. Cordelia kept thinking that over and over again.
She returned to the living room and handed Angel his mug, and this time he drank a little slower. Less like a starving man. She sat down on the couch next to him this time and took up her bowl of soup. They ate and drank in peaceful silence. It was nice not to have to eat alone Cordelia thought.
She sat the empty bowl down on the tray and took the empty mug out of Angel's hands. He had a far away look on his face, deep in thought, or else maybe he needed to be burped.
"I'm just gonna take these into the kitchen, I will be right back Angel" Cordelia was careful to tell him where she was going, she didn't want him to panic, or go off the deep end.
He nodded in response and watched her gracefully get up and take the tray and dishes into the other room. He liked having her presence near him. He felt like he could think again, the hunger was so much less than before. And the pain in his body was lessening slowly, as he felt the healing process speed along with the help of human blood, even if it wasn't fresh blood. Cordelia was quiet in the kitchen but he could hear her movements. Hear the thudding of her heart. It was nice.
She came back out and sat down on the couch next to Angel and looked at him.
"So, how are you feeling now?" She asked. Now that they had eaten the silence was going to be too much for her.
"Better"
"Good, 'cause I was worried that we would need to have you committed and who knows how we would find an asylum that took vampires, I mean the keeping you out of sunlight thing is key right" Cordelia babbled. His one word answers were going to make her crazy and she needed a little more to go on. If she counted correctly her guess was that he had said maybe 5 full sentences to her since last night.
"Cordelia..." Angel started; he took her small hand in his larger one. Her hand was so warm, it felt so good. "Thank you. I'd be lost without you right now."
Cordelia smiled her 100 watt smile that warmed him to the core of his cold dead heart. She was so grateful that he had said a complete sentence and that he was glad she was there. "No problem Big Guy, hey you have saved my life on more than one occasion right?" She gave his hand a tight squeeze.
"Will you stay with me for a while longer, I have a feeling if you are not here, I will for get to eat and go crazy again." Angel pleaded his case to her, she was his life line and he wanted to keep it close at hand. "Please Cordelia; I don't want to be alone."
"Well my parents are out of town for the next few, well for a while, and my housekeeper is on vacation. So I only have an empty house to go home to. And you are right; you won't eat unless I am here, so you do need me. Yes you need me and I will not abandon you now. I brought a bag of clothes because it was my intention to stay until you got better Angel." She said definitively, as if it was her idea in the first place.
"Good" was all he said and he held her hand tighter.