When In Rome
4 All Roads
There's an expression "All roads lead to Rome", I guess that means all roads lead away from it, too.
Currently that's what the gang was doing. They were leaving their new home to head back to an old place that only had death to offer. All four of them, Buffy, Dawn, Willow, and Andrew, were sitting on a plane flying towards L.A.
Andrew kept awkwardly looking over at Buffy. He opened his mouth a couple of times, to be honest he looked kind of like a fish out of water. Finally, Buffy turned to him and grumpily asked "What?!"
"What?" Andrew retorted, his voice three octaves too high.
"You keep looking at me and gaping." She replied, a little short of temper. All Andrew could do in return was gape some more. Buffy rolled her eyes and turned back away from the aisle. Willow was sitting next to her, staring out the window. She hadn't spoken the entire flat except to ask the stewardess for another bag of peanuts.
Willow had cried the night Andrew came and told them the news. It wasn't even that she and Cordy had been the best of friends... they hadn't. But if you had asked Will to list all the characteristics present on Cordy, yeah, sure 'bitch', 'snob' and 'narcissus' would be on the list, but so would 'alive'. She was the most honest and energetic person Willow had ever known, she almost felt like Cordy could never die, like her life force would be too strong. But it wasn't. Cordelia was dead. She had to say it a few times in her head before she could really comprehend it, and when she finally did, she began to cry. Sunnydale was slowly fading away.
Buffy and Dawn hadn't cried. Not right then, anyway. But Buffy had heard Dawn quietly sobbing in her room that night when she couldn't get to sleep.
For Buffy, it hadn't sunk in yet. She hadn't seen Cordelia for such a long time, it didn't really feel like anything was different. But something was, because now she never *could* see her again, and before there was always the possibility. She didn't think about it much, but she realized, some part of her always expected her to talk to Cordelia again, the thought that she wouldn't even have the chance...
"I haven't ever really met her." Dawn said, breaking them all out of their own private thoughts. "Not really. I think I did. I remember meeting her, but I haven't." They were all quiet, they didn't know what to say. "Do you think she remembers-" Dawn caught herself, then nervously stuttered "re-remembered- did she have memories of me? Or did the monks only bother to put the memories in current Sunnydale residents- well not current now, 'cause now Sunnydale's a big crater, current then, when I was created."
"She knows you, Dawnie." Willow said, leaning out to see Dawn, and giving her a small smile.
Andrew was incredibly uncomfortable. He didn't really know Cordelia, so he didn't know how to comfort them. And then there was the thought he kept thinking, that he should tell them all now that Spike was alive, so nobody would make a big deal out of it at the funeral. This day was supposed to be about Cordelia.
There was a little 'bing', and the little seat belt light lit up. A stewardess came in and told them all to buckle up their seat belts, they would be landing in L.A. shortly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was 10:30 am, the plane was a little late arriving, Wesley noted. Then he spotted them walking out of the terminal, the blonde, the redhead, the brunette, and the weird guy that took Dana away. They spotted him too.
"Hey Wesley... and two other people I don't know." Buffy said coming up to them.
"Hi." The squeaky southern girl said, rocking on the balls of her feet.
"Hi, Fred." Willow said.
"Nice to meet you all, my name is Dawn." She said reaching out and shaking Fred, Gunn and Wes's hands.
"We've met before." Wesley said, raising his eyebrows a bit.
"Well, not for real."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Should I go? I didn't really know her. But I... she seemed good... honest, like the kind of person I would've respected if I'd gotten to know her." A pacing figure in Angel's Wolfram and Hart office wondered allowed "I might just mess everything up, though, if Buffy comes. I wouldn't want to do that. What do you think?" Spike finally asked, breaking his rant.
Angel just looked at him for a moment. "I really don't know, Spike." he said exasperatedly. "I don't have the time to deal with this. I don't have the anything to deal with any of this."
Spike stood still and looked at Angel for a moment. "You want, should I just bugger off? That's what I'll do. I go find out if Harmony has gotten a hold of Cor's parents yet. I'll let you know."
Angel nodded in broody approval, and Spike left the office.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The girls walked in to their hotel room. There was radiator buzzing, and two queen sized beds with inexplicably patterned sheets on them. The sky was glowy and white with clouds threatening to pour rain down on them. It was that type of cloud that came before and after storms, and caught the sunlight, so that all the rays that reached the earth were duller and more evenly distributed. There were hardly any shadows. Buffy put her suitcase down, and sat on the edge of the bed. She just stayed there frozen, listening to the hum of the radiator for a while.
"Maybe we should unpack." Dawn said, but then she too sat down. The radiator kept buzzing. It didn't stop all night long.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next evening they had the funeral. It was held at dusk so Angel could come. It was still cloudy anyway, though. It turned out Cordelia's mother had died around a year ago from some disease, and her father was still in jail for tax fraud. Some of the Cordetts were there though, Harmony included. And all the Scoobies and the Fang Gang, too.
"Xander!" Willow said, running over to him and hugging him tightly. He held her back, and they stayed that way for a good few minutes. Finally they let go, and he hugged Dawn and Buffy. Giles walked over to them and gave them a brief bittersweet smile.
The funeral began.
Wesley started to cry, it was unusual to see... but how could he not? There was a stone that said "Cordelia Chase 1981-2004" that meant Cordy was never coming back. Fred was crying, too, and Buffy saw a tear slide down Xander's cheek. And although he didn't cry, it was obvious Angel's heart was breaking. Buffy questioned briefly if that meant Angel wasn't evil after all, but then remembered even soulless Spike had the ability to love her.
She didn't know if it was simply the act of thinking his name, but Buffy suddenly got a tingly sensation that Spike was there. She quickly glanced behind her, but didn't see anything. What she missed was the form of Spike standing in the shadows, listening to the story of a girl who lived and died, and managed to build up a shoe collection to rival Imelda Marcos's. She was Cordelia Chase, and always will be.
TBC
4 All Roads
There's an expression "All roads lead to Rome", I guess that means all roads lead away from it, too.
Currently that's what the gang was doing. They were leaving their new home to head back to an old place that only had death to offer. All four of them, Buffy, Dawn, Willow, and Andrew, were sitting on a plane flying towards L.A.
Andrew kept awkwardly looking over at Buffy. He opened his mouth a couple of times, to be honest he looked kind of like a fish out of water. Finally, Buffy turned to him and grumpily asked "What?!"
"What?" Andrew retorted, his voice three octaves too high.
"You keep looking at me and gaping." She replied, a little short of temper. All Andrew could do in return was gape some more. Buffy rolled her eyes and turned back away from the aisle. Willow was sitting next to her, staring out the window. She hadn't spoken the entire flat except to ask the stewardess for another bag of peanuts.
Willow had cried the night Andrew came and told them the news. It wasn't even that she and Cordy had been the best of friends... they hadn't. But if you had asked Will to list all the characteristics present on Cordy, yeah, sure 'bitch', 'snob' and 'narcissus' would be on the list, but so would 'alive'. She was the most honest and energetic person Willow had ever known, she almost felt like Cordy could never die, like her life force would be too strong. But it wasn't. Cordelia was dead. She had to say it a few times in her head before she could really comprehend it, and when she finally did, she began to cry. Sunnydale was slowly fading away.
Buffy and Dawn hadn't cried. Not right then, anyway. But Buffy had heard Dawn quietly sobbing in her room that night when she couldn't get to sleep.
For Buffy, it hadn't sunk in yet. She hadn't seen Cordelia for such a long time, it didn't really feel like anything was different. But something was, because now she never *could* see her again, and before there was always the possibility. She didn't think about it much, but she realized, some part of her always expected her to talk to Cordelia again, the thought that she wouldn't even have the chance...
"I haven't ever really met her." Dawn said, breaking them all out of their own private thoughts. "Not really. I think I did. I remember meeting her, but I haven't." They were all quiet, they didn't know what to say. "Do you think she remembers-" Dawn caught herself, then nervously stuttered "re-remembered- did she have memories of me? Or did the monks only bother to put the memories in current Sunnydale residents- well not current now, 'cause now Sunnydale's a big crater, current then, when I was created."
"She knows you, Dawnie." Willow said, leaning out to see Dawn, and giving her a small smile.
Andrew was incredibly uncomfortable. He didn't really know Cordelia, so he didn't know how to comfort them. And then there was the thought he kept thinking, that he should tell them all now that Spike was alive, so nobody would make a big deal out of it at the funeral. This day was supposed to be about Cordelia.
There was a little 'bing', and the little seat belt light lit up. A stewardess came in and told them all to buckle up their seat belts, they would be landing in L.A. shortly.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was 10:30 am, the plane was a little late arriving, Wesley noted. Then he spotted them walking out of the terminal, the blonde, the redhead, the brunette, and the weird guy that took Dana away. They spotted him too.
"Hey Wesley... and two other people I don't know." Buffy said coming up to them.
"Hi." The squeaky southern girl said, rocking on the balls of her feet.
"Hi, Fred." Willow said.
"Nice to meet you all, my name is Dawn." She said reaching out and shaking Fred, Gunn and Wes's hands.
"We've met before." Wesley said, raising his eyebrows a bit.
"Well, not for real."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Should I go? I didn't really know her. But I... she seemed good... honest, like the kind of person I would've respected if I'd gotten to know her." A pacing figure in Angel's Wolfram and Hart office wondered allowed "I might just mess everything up, though, if Buffy comes. I wouldn't want to do that. What do you think?" Spike finally asked, breaking his rant.
Angel just looked at him for a moment. "I really don't know, Spike." he said exasperatedly. "I don't have the time to deal with this. I don't have the anything to deal with any of this."
Spike stood still and looked at Angel for a moment. "You want, should I just bugger off? That's what I'll do. I go find out if Harmony has gotten a hold of Cor's parents yet. I'll let you know."
Angel nodded in broody approval, and Spike left the office.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The girls walked in to their hotel room. There was radiator buzzing, and two queen sized beds with inexplicably patterned sheets on them. The sky was glowy and white with clouds threatening to pour rain down on them. It was that type of cloud that came before and after storms, and caught the sunlight, so that all the rays that reached the earth were duller and more evenly distributed. There were hardly any shadows. Buffy put her suitcase down, and sat on the edge of the bed. She just stayed there frozen, listening to the hum of the radiator for a while.
"Maybe we should unpack." Dawn said, but then she too sat down. The radiator kept buzzing. It didn't stop all night long.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next evening they had the funeral. It was held at dusk so Angel could come. It was still cloudy anyway, though. It turned out Cordelia's mother had died around a year ago from some disease, and her father was still in jail for tax fraud. Some of the Cordetts were there though, Harmony included. And all the Scoobies and the Fang Gang, too.
"Xander!" Willow said, running over to him and hugging him tightly. He held her back, and they stayed that way for a good few minutes. Finally they let go, and he hugged Dawn and Buffy. Giles walked over to them and gave them a brief bittersweet smile.
The funeral began.
Wesley started to cry, it was unusual to see... but how could he not? There was a stone that said "Cordelia Chase 1981-2004" that meant Cordy was never coming back. Fred was crying, too, and Buffy saw a tear slide down Xander's cheek. And although he didn't cry, it was obvious Angel's heart was breaking. Buffy questioned briefly if that meant Angel wasn't evil after all, but then remembered even soulless Spike had the ability to love her.
She didn't know if it was simply the act of thinking his name, but Buffy suddenly got a tingly sensation that Spike was there. She quickly glanced behind her, but didn't see anything. What she missed was the form of Spike standing in the shadows, listening to the story of a girl who lived and died, and managed to build up a shoe collection to rival Imelda Marcos's. She was Cordelia Chase, and always will be.
TBC