Something was chasing her. But it wasn't just after her. She wasn't even the main target. The creature was after her baby. The tiny life growing inside her that hadn't done anything to anyone. The creature came fast and hard and unrelenting. Always pursuing, always coming. It would never stop. Not until both mother and child were dead. Nothing could stop it. Except the birth.
And in her bedroom, held securely in the arms of her fiancé, Cordelia Chase woke screaming, a cold sweat soaking her nightgown, her heart pounding as if she'd just run a marathon. Doyle sat up, gathering Cordelia close, soothing words already pouring from his lips.
"Shh, darlin' it was just a dream. Nothin's wrong. It's okay."
Cordelia was shaking, trembling as if scared to death. "No, it's not. It's not okay. It's after our baby!"
"Nothing's after the baby, Delia. It was just a dream."
"I felt it Doyle. Something is after our baby." She looked at the clock. 5:15. "It isn't too early. Get dressed, we're going to work. I'll call Wesley."
Who was already up and answered the call on the first ring. "Wyndham- Pryce residence."
"Wes, it's Cordy. I had a dream."
"A dream? A nightmare?"
"More like a prophetic dream. It felt real. It was about the baby. Something trying to kill it."
"Prophetic, you say? How so?"
"I was there. It was real. I know Slayers are the only ones supposed to be able to have prophetic dreams, but…"
"Oh, quite on the contrary. People with even a slight sixth sense have prophetic dreams all the time. They just don't realize it. And as you were a Seer for a very short period of time, there's a chance that your channels to things unknown may be a little wider open than that of a normal person. Doyle gets dreams, doesn't he? Sleeping visions?"
"Yeah. But you were supposed to assure me nothing was wrong and make me feel stupid. Now I'm just scared."
"We'll be at the office in approximately an hour. Write down whatever you can remember and we'll go over it and begin research when we arrive. Perhaps you should mention something to Angel. He may know more about it than I. He has, after all had prophetic dreams in the past, and may be able to pin point just what kind of creature is after you."
Cordelia hung up and rushed toward the bathroom to shower. She ignored the fact that Doyle was already in there and hopped in. He looked at her strangely and handed her the shampoo. "For some reason, I don't think you're here for a little early morning quickie. What did Wes say?"
"He thinks I'm right. He's gonna come in early and head up the research party."
Doyle just stared at her for a moment. "He thinks there's something after our baby? But why? Neither of us have a big role in anything supernatural. We aren't Slayers or Angel or Watchers. We're practically normal."
"You're a Seer, Doyle. That's pretty spectacular. And I'm confused too. I mean, Avery and Reina are both the children of Slayers."
"We're just going to have to wait and see what Wes comes up with." Doyle said, moving so she could rinse her hair. She did so with several quick, efficient movements and poured conditioner out in her hand.
"I'm sorry, Doyle. I want this to just be a dream. I really do, but it just felt so real. And I've learned to trust my gut."
"It's okay. We'll just hope there's nothing to it. And deal if there is."
Wesley was waiting in the lobby of the Hyperion when Doyle and Cordelia rushed in. She had thrown on Jeans and a bulky sweater that hid her burgeoning belly, and Doyle had pulled on something similar, though careless didn't work on his the way it did on her.
"I've looked, I've conferred with Giles, Angel, and several other contacts, and we've only come up with one instance in which something similar happened. But it is next to impossible that this is the same thing."
"What was it?" Doyle asked, fixing Cordelia tea and easing her down onto a couch.
"A possible Slayer, who was certainly needed in other capacities, who was killed in a battle long before her time had come. She was offered a second chance by the PTB to travel to another dimension, live her life over again. When she became pregnant, the forces of evil, in order to make sure that the balance of power stayed even, sent a creature known as the Hound to kill both mother and child. The only way to defeat it was for the child to be born. She was said to begin receiving dreams before the attacks commenced. In order to be able to prepare herself."
Cordelia turned deathly pale, looked like she did right before a bout of morning sickness hit her. She stood, grabbed her coat. "I need to see the Oracles."
Doyle grabbed her hand. "What's going on, love? Why has this got you so freaked?"
Cordelia laid her hand on Doyle's cheek. "I can't tell you. Not yet. Not until I know for sure what's going on. If anyone knows, it's them."
Wesley intervened before she made it out the door. "What makes you think they'll tell you?"
"They wouldn't dare not tell me." Cordelia said, swinging her purse over her shoulder. She was out the door and into a cab before anyone could get any further than the door. Wesley rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"I think it safe to say there's something going on she doesn't want us to know."
Doyle heaved a sigh. "Brilliant deduction, Sherlock. What was your first clue?"
8
Cordelia dumped some of the sand Angel had left in the chamber into the ceremonial bowl. She took a pack of matches out of her purse and struck one. "I beseech access to the knowing ones."
The portal opened in the wall and Cordelia stepped through. The Oracles were waiting. The female spoke first. "Our gift, mortal, and then we will tell you what you wish to know."
Cordelia threw them her necklace, the one her father had given her for her eighteenth birthday. "What the hell is going on?"
"The Hound? You've begun seeing dreams of him?"
"Yes. The Powers didn't tell me this could happen. They made it sound like anything I wanted was possible. That nothing bad would happen because I went back."
"This is not because you transferred dimensions, but because you're with child. You were a possible Slayer, Cordelia, and are, therefore, very important to a lot of destinies. Your child, if a girl, would also be a possible, if it is a boy, it will inherit it's father's attributes. The Sight, and a few other abilities. The child is much more powerful than either of the parents. Evil wishes it killed."
"What do I do?"
"It would seem that you would need to tell your friends about where it is you come from."
Cordelia felt her stomach drop, laid her arms across her abdomen. "They'll be angry."
"Possibly. But without telling them, you and the child will surely be dead. I'll tell you something. Search for the one who is not supposed to be. The one who was supposed to die at the hand of an angel in a time of possession."
With their advice having been dispensed, Cordelia disappeared from the chamber. The female turned to her mate. "Perhaps we should do something."
"No. what has to be done is left to them. There is nothing more for us to do."
"We could alter time. Make it so she doesn't come back. Send him there. To take her place."
"And leave this dimension in ruin? I think not. No, what was done had to be done and what will be done is in the hands of the mortals. There is nothing for us to do about it."
"If she tries to remember what was blocked, she will."
"Of course. She is strong for a mortal. Stronger than she gives herself credit for. Not many could live that life. Let her handle it. We can also turn time back."
Cordelia took her time going back to the office. She didn't want to see anyone yet. Her whole life was falling down around her. She would have to tell them that she wasn't their Cordelia, that she'd only truly been there for three years, was living life over again. And she had a desperate feeling that they would be very angry. And Doyle. He loved her. Or thought he did anyway. He loved the Cordelia from his dimension, not her.
But she'd been there for years. He hadn't known her but a few weeks when she'd walked into her old body and started things over. Surely he would understand. He couldn't not understand. He had to. She needed him. Their child needed him. But she didn't want him to stay with her only because of the baby. She wanted him with her because he wanted her.
She was in tears by the time she got back to the office. Doyle and Angel were in his office going over a case file, and Wesley was no where to be seen. Buffy, and Faith and the kids had gone to the park. She didn't want them to see her, headed straight for her own office. There was nothing she could do or say to make what she had done okay. Her only hope was that they would understand.
She sat down at her desk, and waited for them to come to her. During the wait, she fixed her face, erasing all signs that she'd been crying. She knew she'd start again, and didn't want to look any worse than necessary. And sure enough, she hadn't had two minutes to herself when Doyle and Angel walked in, closed the door, and sat down.
"Want to tell us what's going on?" Angel asked, leaning his elbows on the desk top. Cordelia shook her head.
"No. But I don't have another choice. Do you remember the coma I was in a few years ago? After the Scourge?"
Doyle nodded. "Worst couple weeks of our lives. But what does that have to do with that dream you had?"
"Let me tell you a story." Cordelia sighed, sat back. It would be easier to do it from the third person perspective. "Seven years ago, there was a girl. She was a cheerleader, knew nothing of the dark side, of what lurked in the night. And then she met a Slayer, a vampire with a soul, and a Watcher. She didn't want to help, but couldn't turn her back on what was happening around her. So, she joined the group, did what she could to help. And three years later, she graduated from high school. That same night, her high school burned down, many of her friends died, and the Slayer's lover left for LA.
"She eventually landed in LA as well. There she was trying to become an actress, even though she was terrible at acting. She was targeted by a vampire, and rescued by the vampire with a soul and his half demon side kick. She went to work with them, and everything was all right for a while. But then the Scourge came, and the half demon was killed, leaving the girl with the visions.
"She used them as best she could, but they were killing her brain. Humans aren't designed for the stress it takes to carry the Sight. She lapsed into a coma, was given a choice. To become a half demon, or to go back so that she was never targeted by the vampire. She went back, but her destiny was to help, and she ended back in the same place she had been. So she became a half demon.
"Then, the souled vampire had a fit of depression, went a little wacky. He slept with another vampire, his sire, and she became pregnant, with a human child. She had to kill herself to bring the child into the world, and the vampire and the girl, along with a couple others who had joined their group, were left to raise the baby. But then an evil man the vampire had hurt long before he received his soul kidnapped the child, and took him into a demon dimension. Eventually, the boy came back, as a fully grown man.
"The girl thought herself in love with the son and became his lover. He got her pregnant, with something not a human. When the baby was born, it put her into a coma. Everyone was enchanted with her child, obeyed everything she said. Until one girl got her blood on her. Then she could see the truth. The baby was evil. So, the group destroyed her, and the woman was taken to a hospital to be cared for. Moments before her death, she was allowed to say goodbye to the vampire. And then she died.
"But that wasn't the end of it. The Powers offered her another chance. See, her life had been cut off prematurely, and she had more years to live. So they offered to place her in another, similar dimension, where she had been the one to take the Scourge down, not the half demon. She agreed. And woke up from a coma in a hospital to a souled vampire and his half demon Messenger." Cordelia leaned forward. "She's me."
Doyle was shocked into speechlessness. Angel wasn't. "So, let me get this straight. You're from another dimension, and you aren't our Cordelia."
"I've been here for three years, Angel. And your Cordelia was dead." Cordelia rubbed her forehead. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you, but the Powers told me not to."
Angel took a minute to take a few deep breaths. "Okay, so you've been here for three years. Which means that you got here nine weeks after we met up here in LA."
"Right. Doyle-"
Doyle didn't give her a chance to say anything. He spoke instead. "'Delia, darlin', we've all done things we should've told one another about years ago. I'm not mad at you, Princess. Yeah, you should have told me, but there were things I should have told you about long before I did. So, let's just move past it and figure out what to do about this thing."
Cordelia allowed herself a small smile. "I love you, Allan Francis Doyle."
Next Chapter up when I get it written!
