Title: CONSEQUENCES
Disclaimer: Nope. Don't own them (regrettably so). Buffy and Angel belong to Joss Whedon, the WB, UPN, and Mutant Enemy etc. Rurouni Kenshin (RK as it's known among anime fans) belongs to Watsuki Nubuhiro, Sony pictures etc.
Rating: R (for now)
Spoilers: up till "Damage" in Angel. Also, Anya didn't die at the end of "Chosen" in Buffy.
AN: Hey…I got me first reviews. Yay! Imzadi, there will be quite a bit of Fred later. Don't fret! Shahid… keep on reading.
AN2: For the sake of this story, Spike is hanging around Angel after getting his hands back but he hasn't told anyone about 'Doyle'.
CH#2: VISIONS!
A
ngel had just gotten back from his patrol. He was surprised that he hadn't run into Spike thus far. Come to think of it, he hadn't seen Spike since the day of his operation. Maybe he had taken Angel's advice & gotten lost. Angel highly doubted that such good fortune could occur to him. He was thinking of going to bed, when the phone rang.
"Hello. Angelcakes? Where were you? We've been trying to get a hold of you for the last 3 hours." It was Lorne, sounding quite frantic.
"I was out. Why? Has something happened?" Angel asked
"Yeah…. It's Cordy!"
"What! I'm coming!"
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[5 minutes later… Cordy's room]
Angel burst into Cordy's room & saw Wesley, Fred, Gunn & Lorne plus around half a dozen hospital Staff looking at Cordy. She was tossing and turning & occasionally moaning.
"What's wrong with her? Why is she screaming? Is she awake? Answer me Dammit!!!" Angel roared at the poor doctor who was scared shitless.
"I-I don't know. W-we've t-tried giving her s-sedatives but they don't seem to be working. We've been trying to sedate her for the last half hour." The Doctor stammered.
"Lorne?" Angel looked at the empath.
"No Angelface. I can't get any reading what so ever. It's like a wall is blocking me." Lorne shook his head helplessly.
"Wes?" Angel looked at a flustered Wes.
"I don't know. She's been mumbling words in different languages. Some Japanese, Sumerian, Sanskrit, Abrani…. The words don't make any sense. We've even tried soothing spells, special medicine & Lord knows what else. Hell…. I even ordered A few wizards to look into her mind. They are now both in the emergency ward. As soon as they tried entering her mind, deep gashes appeared on their bodies as if someone was attacking them with a blade."
Angel looked stupefied at the news & looked at them all helplessly.
"I don't care what it takes…help her!" Angel roared.
"AHHH!!!!" A scream erupted from Cordelia's mouth. "Blood. So much Blood! Pain…grief…soul…Cold! Help! Hitokiris, the Shadow Assassins are awake. They are coming. They are here. They will Hunt their prey & deliver Heaven's Justice…they will bring balance. Ahhhh!!!"
With the final scream, Cordelia's head shot up & her eyes opened. Her eyes were blood-shod & had a wild look in them. She looked at the people surrounding her & tried backing away in her bed. She was looking like a very scared little animal.
"Cordy? You're awake." Angel said, emotions evident in his voice.
"A-Angel?" Cordy looked at him & then she did what no one was expecting. She fainted.
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It was some time before Cordy regained consciousness. When she came to, she saw that she was in her hospital room but on a couch. Her head still hurt. She tried remembering why but as thinking hurt her head even more, she decided to give up for the time being at least. She roused herself from the couch & stood up. She tried to stand up but her knees couldn't take the pressure & she fell down with a crash upon the small table by the couch.
"Damn!" Cordy cursed, irritated that she couldn't stand properly. She tried again but her legs just couldn't seem to take the weight. "aargh…fuck!" She Cursed. She continued cursing until she was able to haul herself back up onto the couch. She soon learned the use of her legs again and decided to check out her complexion. She found a mirror & was horrified at her look. Returning to the couch, she sat down & tried again to remember what had happened. She was thinking where the hell she was when she remembered seeing Angel. Angel…. remembering him made a rush of memories & feelings hit her. She sat horrified as she remembered the time before her coma. God…. What had she done? She had hurt all those close to her. Wesley…. Conner…. Angel. She had put all of her friends in grave danger. Had been prepared to kill them, even.
She was lost in her thoughts when the sound of the door opening broke her out of her thoughts. She looked up & saw Angel and Wes enter.
"Cordy… you're awake." They rushed to her & hugged her fiercely in a group hug. Warmth flooded her when she felt their true delight at seeing her. She gave her patented 1000-megawatt smile & said, "Hey…. I missed u guys too. And I'm all right."
"It's good to have you back Cordy. You don't know how we've missed you." Angel said as he hugged her again, grinning like a fool.
"It's good to be back. 'coz seriously…. That whole poor comatose patient thing got a little boring after a while. I mean…yes I needed my beauty sleep, but that was Waaayyyy too long. Besides I don't think that that gown looked good on me," Cordy replied in her typical fashion.
Angel & Wes shared a grin as they remembered how she used to be. She may have come a long way since then but it was good to see that some things hadn't changed at all.
"Ahh…. Good to see you haven't changed. Do you want to change out of these clothes?" Wesley asked with a smile that the others hadn't seen for a very long time.
"Wesley! Oh, hey look at you. I knew there was a stud there beneath all that knowledge." Cordy said making him blush. "Oh… and yeah, some clothes would be cool."
"Oh hey…. Why don't you change into something more comfortable & then come meet the rest of the gang?" Angel asked.
"Yeah sure. But I'm gonna skip the comfy part & head to the fashionable part 'coz I think I've been comfy for way too long." She said with a grin. "Just tell me where the bath room is & I'll change there."
Angel pointed towards the bathroom as he and Wes made to exit, "It's there. Your clothes are also here. We'll be outside. 'k?"
Cordy nodded & went to change.
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Cordelia came out of the room, dressed in a fashionable silk top & a pair of pants, and saw that the whole gang was assembled there, minus one. Gunn, Fred & Lorne, instantly drew her into a hug.
"Glad to see you're back, Cordy. Things just weren't the same without you being here with us." Said Gunn.
"Yeah…I mean it was like we were missing a piece, which I guess we were, but ya all know what I mean, right?" Fred said.
"I agree with Fredikins, sugarplum. Without you, it didn't feel right." Lorne added.
"Thanx guys. Believe it or not, I missed you guys too. I mean…it gets so lonely when you're in a coma." Cordy said with a grin. "So… where's Conner?"
"Conner?" the others looked at each other. "Who's Conner?"
"Um…. Oh, he's someone Cordy & I used to know." Angel hurriedly said as he gave Cordy a pleading look.
"Oh…ok. Hey, what do you guys say to a dinner on me?" Said Wesley.
"Yeah sure." Angel looked at Gunn & Fred who nodded their agreement.
"Hey…. Um where are we?" Asked Cordy.
"Ah…that's a long story. I'll tell it to u on the way." Angel said as they moved towards the elevator.
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During the ride, Angel filled Cordy in on what had happened & what they were now doing & also about Spike's situation. Needless to say that she was not overly thrilled.
"Angel?"
"Hmm?"
"I think you've lost your marbles. Were you high? I mean you not only erased your friend's memories, you also gave up on your son. I mean… how could you trust Wolfram & Hart? Do you truly believe that they'd give it all up to you? " She asked incredulously.
"Yes… no…. I don't know. It's just he was lost Cordy. He was ready to blow himself up taking you & all those other people with him. I saw it in his eyes. He was insane at that point. Nothing remained of my brilliant boy. Nothing!" Angel slammed his hand on the steering wheel.
"I mean… it's easy to judge but I didn't have a choice. Besides this also helped defeat the First in Sunnydale. Without the amulet that Lilah gave me, we would all have lost. But they couldn't remember that, could they? NO… they all think that it was some grand scheme of mine to kill Spike, who, incidentally is back & hell bent on stealing MY reward & being a general pain in my undead ass." Angel said in a strained voice.
"Hey… I'm not judging you. It's just…you shouldn't have erased your friend's memories & well…when u play with fire, don't expect to not get burnt." Cordy said in a soothing voice.
" I know Cor, I know. It's just…"
"You might want to hold that thought Angel, 'coz I'm having a serious vision right 'bout now" Cordy said as a vision hit her.
Angel watched her helplessly, his attention torn between her & the road, as
her expressions changed rapidly & she moaned as if in agony. She was
completely rigid & her face was getting white. Finally it ended & she
slumped back in her seat. Angel looked as she wearily opened her eyes &
said, "Oh boy!"
…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
[Half an hour later]
The entire team Angel, plus Spike (whose presence was only being tolerated because of Fred), was present in Angel's office listening to Cordy as she explained her vision.
"It was unlike any other vision guys. This time I was seeing it through the eyes of someone else. He was so angry. His Anger burned like a fire. & He was killing people. Yet… he was completely happy doing so as if what he was doing was perfectly right. There was no confusion. No unease…. & this is a human we're talking about. Then… I was myself again & saw a number of young women lying dead. It was like they were butchered. A katana was stuck in the ground & there was blood oozing from it. ….I felt souls being ripped away from their owners. There was lots of Destruction. But it all seemed to have a purpose. Then a voice unlike any I had heard before, saying, 'Hitokiris, the Shadow Assassins are awake. They are coming. They are here. They will Hunt their prey & deliver Heaven's Justice…they will bring balance.' And u know what… this vision reminded me of what I saw when I was waking up. In that vision, there were all sorts of baddies. There was darkness all around & it seemed to emerge from inside the people. There was power. It was thick in the air, but it was raw. It screamed violence. There were Slayers & demons fighting. The slayers beat the demons only to lose to some human warriors. A voice was calling, 'Stalk them. Fight them. Tear them apart!' There was SO much suffering & death. Oh… one more thing. The guys who were killing the slayers & people didn't feel evil. It was like they were doing what they were supposed to do. Although they did all have one thing in common: all were pure violence."
There was silence as Cordy finished. No one said a word. They were too stunned. Finally Wes broke the silence as he looked at Lorne, "Lorne?"
The empath demon looked at his friend's faces & sighed, "Yeah…sunshine here is right. I'm getting the same vibe off of her that I got last night. And speaking of vibes, how come I'm not getting any demonic readings off you?" Lorne asked, which caused everyone to look at her questioningly.
"Huh?" Cordelia looked at them stunned.
"Yeah…I am not getting any vibes of the strange kind, sugarplum, that I usually get from the old nasties or as I would say… the privileged." Lorne said the last part with a smirk.
Fred gave Lorne a look & then said, "Um…guys, if Cordy's lost her demon then why didn't she get those mind bursting headaches? Not that I want you to have them or anything." She added hastily as she got a glare from Cordelia.
"Who cares? She used to be a demon. Now she's not. Big deal." Spike commented in a bored voice.
"No one asked your opinion Spanky. And you're only here because of Fred, so don't push it" Angel snapped.
" Yeah? Well I bloody well don't care. As I recall… I didn't come here. I was called. Anyways… what's it to you peaches? Don't you like 'em with a li'l demon in 'em now? " Spike taunted.
Angel looked like he was gonna pounce any moment, but Fred intervened. "Boys… can we please delay this episode of the 'Angel & Spike pissing hour'? "
Both Vampires gave each other nasty looks but backed down non-the-less.
"Alright so that's two visions you have had in a span of 24 hours and both of them quite similar. You uttered the same words when you were waking up. Who are these 'Hitokiris'? Maybe we should look into it." Wesley commented.
"Yeah. And this dream reminds me of something else," Angel
looked at Gunn, "Did you finish that report on those dead girls?"
The others looked at Gunn inquiringly, "No. Net yet. I told you I'm booked solid." He said with a touch of impatience in his voice.
"What could be more important than some psycho killing young girls?" Angel demanded hotly.
"I don't know. Maybe the chief of some demon clan that's threatening to declare war on this whole city if his problem is not solved." Gunn shot back.
"Look, I don't care how you do it. But we are going to start looking into these murders. It's not a coincidence that not 24 hours are past when I received the news of those murders, that Cordy's awakened and had visions about some psycho butchering young women. Make time. Is that clear?" Angel said with finality, shifting into CEO mode.
"Perfectly…Sir!" Gunn responded tightly.
"Good. Now I want you all to find out all you can about those murders. Why/how/when the girls were killed & what did they have in common?" Angel ordered. "In the meantime, Wes why don't you & Lorne research Cordy's dreams/visions? Fred I want you to do a little check up of Cordy" Angel said, then seeing Cordy opening her mouth to protest, he added "It's no use arguing Cordy. We need to know if you're still part demon or human or if there is any new development. Does anybody have any questions?"
The gang looked at each other & then shook their heads. "Good. It's now 10:05. Fred your lab should be empty by now. Can you perform Cordy's check-up now? I know it's late, but I don't want anyone else to know." Said Angel.
"No. It's ok. Let's go Cordy." Fred said as she left Angel's office. Gunn, Wes and Lorne left after them. Spike waited for a moment as if wanting to say something, then he too walked out.