A/N: Thank you to all who've reviewed...including my non-Angel fanatic friend. I may just convert you yet, though (like with Alias? ;-) ) Sorry it's been so long since my last update, but life as been crazy busy. I can't believe I'm already on Ch. 13 and there is still so much story left to go! And now, the adventure continues...
Chapter 13 Bad Dennis, no biscuit!
"So now what?" Cordelia asked when they pulled away from Wolfram & Hart. She stifled a yawn, trying to cover up her exhaustion.
"Now," Angel said, noticing the tired expressions of his friends. "Both of you go and get a couple hours rest. It's been a trying day for all of us."
"But what will you do?" Wesley stifled his yawn. They were horribly contagious things.
"I'll go check with a couple of my contacts and see if I can dig anything up." Angel desperately tried to no let his worry show. He didn't fool Wesley.
"We will find her, Angel. You can bet on that."
"Hey guys?" Cordelia asked.
"Are you having a vision?"
"Are you ok?"
Cordelia looked at the concerned expressions on her friends' faces and couldn't help but smile.
"I feel the love. I really do. Thanks guys, but no I'm not having a vision. It's just a disturbing thought." Cordelia paused for effect. "Angel, Katie is you're kid sister, right?" Angel nodded. "And you sired her as a vampire."
Oh good God, I know where this is going, Angel thought.
"So that means in a way, you're Katie's brother and her father. Or in other words, she is your sister and your daughter!" Wesley caught on and wrinkled his nose at the thought.
"Well, we'll all just move into a rundown shack and call ourselves the Clampets!" Cordelia said, followed by silence. "Hello? Get it? The Beverly Hillbillies? The whole 'I am my own grandpa' thing?" At the continuing blank stares she just rolled her eyes. "You two really are culture rejects, aren't you?"
Angel cleared his throat.
"Excuse me, oh Undead One, 20th century culture rejects," Cordelia corrected with a grin.
Ugh, what a mess, Angel sighed as he parked in front of the office.
Across town, Katie waited until dusk and then set out for Cordelia's apartment. It was late in the evening when she finally arrived at Cordy's doorstep. After rooting around the front door, she found the spare key and unlocked the door.
"Cordelia? Anybody home?" Katie went to enter the darkened apartment when she felt herself being shoved back outside. But I've been here before. Cordy invited me in. She then realized that the invisible force was not the same as the one that prevents vampires from entering homes unwelcome. This felt more like hands.
"Dennis? It's me, Katie." She felt the felt the force let up and made her way through the door. She then felt herself flying backwards out the door and landed on her bottom on the sidewalk.
"Hey!" She cried indignantly. "That wasn't very nice. Bad Dennis, no biscuit!"
She brushed herself off and forcefully entered the apartment, ignoring the frantic invisible grabs and shoves. She settled herself in the recliner and said to the air, "We need to talk. I know you somehow must have heard from Cordy what I did to Wesley this morning. I'm sorry for that and I'm glad he wasn't hurt. I promise I won't do that to our friend. Just to prove it, here," Katie pulled a wooden stake from her jacket pocket. She had fashioned on the way over and had intended to give it to Cordy for insurance, but Dennis was proving to be the problem right now.
"Consider this a piece offering. If you feel I am threatening Cordelia, you know what to do with this. But I trust you to trust me and not stake me immediately." The stake floated out of her hand and wavered above her chest for a moment before being placed on the far end table.
"I'm glad we've come to an understanding," Katie smiled at the thought of talking to the ghost. She laid back in the recliner and decided to take a short nap until Cordelia came home.
"Dennis?" Cordelia asked from her front entrance a short while later. "What did I tell you about leaving the door unlocked and the lights on…?" She froze in mid-sentence as she saw a familiar figure sitting in her living room deeply engrossed in the latest issue of Marie Claire. "…and about letting psycho vampires into our house?" Katie looked up at the older girl.
"Hello, Cordy," she said with an innocent smile. "How was your day?"
"Y-y-young l-lady, you have some m-major explaining to do!" Cordelia stammered.
"Don't worry, Cordy, I'm not going to hurt you. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't," she nodded towards the stake on the table. It levitated and waved in front of her. "Dennis and I have an understanding. He doesn't hurt me, but if he even thinks that I'm threatening you, I'm staked immediately. I hope that's ok."
"I have to call Angel," Cordelia made a dash for the telephone.
"NO!" Katie leapt from her chair and caught Cordelia's arm. She leapt backward as she felt the stake pressed against her chest. She held up her hands. "Sorry!" She took a deep breath and pleaded. "No, Cordy, please don't call Angel. Don't tell him I'm here. He'll kill me!"
"Angel wouldn't do that," Cordelia reassured the girl.
"He already said he would. I believe 'If I see you here again, I will dust you' were his exact words," Cordelia could see the genuine fear in the girl's eyes. She also knew that Angel usually didn't make idle threats.
"He's been looking for you, but maybe we should let him cool down for a day before we tell him," Cordelia relented.
"Oh, thank you so much!" Katie was grateful. "You have no idea what a relief this is. Knowing that I have at least one friend in the world, I mean." Cordelia could see tears brimming in Katie's eyes. Besides, what could one day hurt, and she had Dennis' protection.
"Now, just because I'm not telling Angel right away doesn't mean I'm Mrs. Nice-girl. Now spill, and tell me exactly why you were trying to kill my friend," Cordelia said with a glare.
"We should sit down," Katie sat down in the recliner. Cordelia chose the couch. "Ok, it started like this…"
