Title: Inconsequential Issue
Author: Wicked R
Disclaimers: characters belong to Mutant Enemy. No copyright breach is intended.
Bare in mind, it's just for fun.
Genre: Angst, h/c, traditional sickfic.
Rating: G
Set: early season 3 AtS, before "Once More with Feeling", BtVS.
Summary: the gang tries everything to help an ailing Angel. Alternate ending to my other fic, Report. First chapter is the same.
Pairing: A/C, with reference to A/B.
Warning: not beta read. English is not my first language, so be kind.
Note: my mind only functions one particular way. But honest, I'll try to retrain my mind in some other way too.
Gunn was reading up the Lawndale Local for the others in the lobby, "a 20-year-old woman headed home at 3 a.m. from a night bazaar where she had a job washing dishes. At sunrise, a neighbour discovered her dead body on the building's stairs. The failure of LAPD to catch the culprits was also clearly exposed by a mob of murderers in the central area. Their modus operandi is to break into houses using battering rams. Once inside, they practically butcher the residents. In addition, the bunch of criminals puzzled the police force with a startlingly effortless trick. "The killers changed shoes for each crime," revealed criminal investigator Wang, "the treads police collected didn't correspond." I smell vampires in that area. What do you think, is it worth checking out?"
"Definitely, we should check out all newly rented houses with lots of blinds or curtains, and with a sewer access. It will probably be a family group, Sire and many Childe. I assume we still have the list of the houses to rent in that area, don't we Cordy?"
"We best go in daylight," said Gunn.
"So, we can count for two suspicious houses, you check out nr 343, I can get to nr 7 easily through the sewers. Meet you there."
The first address was a wrong lead. The residents were not all there, but some of the kids were playing outside. It was time to catch up with Angel. Wes was parking the convertible into the virtually empty residential parking lot and killed the engine. The residents must've all been at work at this time of day. They all heard the bell ring, but there was no answer, not even when Gunn started shouting for attention. They walked along the edge of the house, but seen no movement. There was an undersized porch on the rear and the door there stood open a crack. Cautiously they stepped up and pushed back the door. They did a brief examination of the area and found it empty of life. It had two floors and almost certainly a cellar as well. The floor, definitely, and the rest of the house was completely dark. The next room was the kitchen. The cooker was cold, no stench of any variety. The other rooms were closets, they were basically overly small to have been anything else.
"Nothing's here," Gunn stepped over an overturned chair.
"That looks like the basement door," pointed Fred.
They jumped back as they saw the door slowly open much to their shock, and an exhausted and battered looking Angel came staggering out, "I'm finished with them," he let them know. With no forewarning, his legs gave out and he collapsed to his knees.
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"Where's Angel?" asked Wes.
"He is still asleep," answered Cordelia from behind the desk.
"Sleeping? It's 3 in the afternoon. Hope he doesn't do strange dreams again."
"I am a bit worried myself. But not about that. He is sleeping, really sleeping this time, because he is tired I think. Did you notice that he heals slower than he used to? For instance, when he was in Sunnydale?"
"Hmm…not sure. He was hiding his pain back then. Now he is more comfortable showing it."
"Nnno. I think there is something wrong. I saw him working out yesterday. He got tired in like…ten minutes."
"You must be exaggerating. And maybe his injuries were more internal than we thought."
"And how do you explain the fact that he got so beaten by four rookie vampires?"
"Who knows? Maybe they were karate masters in life."
"Wesley. You are making excuses so you don't see the obvious."
"Nothing is obvious Cordelia. I will keep an eye on things anyway."
"Thanks Wes, but I will talk to him about it now, and not when it's maybe too late."
"Cordy?" Angel came down the stairs, "I…I heard you. And…yes, I assume there is something I need to tell you…something I should've told you a while ago."
"We are all ears," put her hands on her hips Cordelia, "are you in trouble?"
"I must tell you this, because one day you might be endangered by a sudden weakness of mine…"
"And that is the only reason you should tell us? And not because we are your friends and we will help each other through difficulties?"
"Cordelia," interrupted her Wesley, "let him speak."
"Yes, ok. One can defend her right for opinion though?"
"Cordelia is actually spot on again," admitted Angel. "I should have told you this the first time it really ended me in trouble. You remember Trepkos?"
"Who's Trepkos?" asked Fred.
"Demon. Trapped in a cage with dozens of others that were made to fight each other in a ring. Angel was in there too," clarified Cordelia.
Angel nodded, "just an ordinary demon like him doesn't usually end up knocking me out several times. We are at least equal at strength."
"So what happened?"
"This thing…I don't know exactly what it is. It makes me weak. Mostly for a few minutes, but in the last time it can last hours. In fact, this is the first time I feel it going on for days. Well, no. It's been coming and going for the last few days. It is why, as you so accurately pointed out, I was almost defeated by rookies…"
"Would you finally spit it out?!" Cordelia was on the edge.
"It is not easy to speak about this…because it is so weird, I didn't really believe it at first. I get strange feelings. Well, not feelings, more like stomach cramps. Pain. And I…sometimes get sick. I don't know why. I checked the foodstuff, it seems fine."
"Aha," said Gunn thoughtfully, "when we first talked. When we cornered you with the gang. Just a bunch of kids with no real ideas of the capabilities of vampires. Later on, when I thought about it, it seemed a bit unreal."
"Yes. You are right."
"For God's sake, Angel!" cried out Cordelia, "there were numerous accounts when this mattered and you said nothing!"
"So far, it only endangered me."
"And you think you are entitled to that, huh? A regular exercise you like? Stretching the truth?"
"I swear, Cordelia, it wasn't big deal so far. A bit of discomfort here and there. I didn't think much of it. But nowadays…"
"When did this start? At least tell the truth about that now! About the time Wesley joined us?"
"No. It was back in Sunnydale. After I came back from Hell. Around Christmas time, was when I first felt it, I'm quite sure. I thought it has something to do with the First playing with my head. But it doesn't."
"Was it ever investigated?" asked Wesley, "what did Giles think of it?"
"Giles? Nothing. I never told anyone. I never told Buffy."
"The prom," sighed Cordelia.
"The prom?"
"The prom. We danced once on the prom, remember? Half a dance? I asked you if you were feeling ok, because you lost your balance a couple of times. You said you were exhausted of a fight and I took you aside to sit down."
"Yes, I remember. And yes, you are right again."
"Uff. And Buffy did not see any of that? When she was with you a lot? I knew there was something wrong with you."
"She was…she was busy. There was the slaying, allowing her mother see what she was doing in reality, trying to get the others to give me one bit of chance, her life choices, college, me…"
"Yeeh, right. Is love blind or what? I mean you. She is an egoistic bitch. And people pretend it's me instead."
"Cordelia. You know I don't see her…like...the white…since that thing in LA with Faith. Can we maybe not talk about this part?"
"Angel is right," intercepted Wesley, "we need to figure out what this thing is and help him."
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The noise of the hardly ever sleeping city of LA calmed down in Cordy's not so peaceful as advertised neighbourhood towards the morning and now she could really enjoy being sound asleep. When the phone rang, she jerked awake, startled by the ringing. But before she even turned on the light, Dennis handed her the receiver.
"Hallo?" She made the person at the other end know she was there.
"Cordelia?" came Angel's unsure voice from the phone.
"Um, well, you call Cordelia, at the middle of the night, you call Cordelia, what do you get? Not so happy Cordelia!"
"Sorry, I…I'll maybe call Wesley."
"You woke me up already," Cordelia had just remembered that Angel had just told them a few days before he wasn't that strong nowadays he had usually been, "are you all right?"
"Um…I don't know what to do. Nothing seems to help."
"I'll be over as soon as possible," Cordelia jumped up, worried. Since Angel had told them about his problems, they hadn't been able to pinpoint the cause.