Welcome to the second chapter of HM,WR. First of all, here goes this *huge* THANK YOU note for Danielle. *grins* You gotta thank her for not having to read any grammatical/spelling mistakes. Isn't she a sweetie?
Of course, I can't forget the ones who sent feedback about the first chapter. Sol de Luna (I *still* like that oxymoron in your nickname!), Peygaan (Thanks for commenting on CC, too!), Kat (I'm answering your question next!), Ice Princess (Thanks for making me smile!), Sara-Lee (*glances around fearfully* Ok, dear. Here's the deal. One second chapter for you, no HellHounds after me, ok??), Serena (How can I thank you enough for saying that the story was 'believable'? Thanks! Thanks! Thanks!), Jennifer (No way I'm leaving this now. I'm addicted too!), Sharon (The first spark of this story was born in your 'Mirror Mirror', dear. THANK YOU!), Sarah Anne (*evil smile* Angel will pay...), Danni (Hope you will like this chapter, too!)... I think I covered you all... if I didn't, well, wait until I finish this story to begin plotting against me... *g*
Now, Kat asked -and I quote- "And what happened to Angel being able to recognise Buffy no matter what?". Well, I thought I had made it clear but... shame on me, apparently I did not. Angel *does* recognise Buffy in first instance. Just remember the scene where he caresses her and hugs her and what does poor Angel receive in exchange? A scream and -later- a Buffy who wouldn't know about him. Now, I think that Angel would have accepted a resurrected-after-three-years Buffy... but one who doesn't remember him? That's where he begins doubting her identity, and I can't say I blame him. I mean, *Buffy* not remembering *Angel*? In which dimension? In mine, of course. Hope that answered your question, Kat.
TITLE: High Mountains, Wide Rivers. 2
AUTHOR: Leni
DISCLAIMER: Technically speaking, this Buffy is mine.
DISTRIBUTION: After it's finished... we'll talk.
TIMELINE: I'll go three years into the future. Willow never resurrected Buffy after 'The Gift'. I'll even slip into denial and say 'Connor who?'. In one word? Right until the finale of S5/S2, completely AU after that.
SUMMARY: Buffy learns more than she wants to know about her new world.
PAIRINGS: Buffy/Angel... I'm wondering if I should do a C/G or a C/W here... both options are tempting... suggestions?
RATING: I've decided to take this to the R-level... not in this chapter, though.
DEDICATION: To Sara-Lee's HellHounds, who wouldn't leave me alone until I finished this chapter... such nice doggies...
FEEDBACK: You write it, I write this. I'm serious. dani_vasq@hotmail.com , a_d_v_v@yahoo.com.ar
-----------------------------------------------------------------
When she emerged from the bathroom, there was already Cordelia waiting for her.
Buffy looked up at Cordelia. "I needed a bath after what you've made me go through," she continued casting a glance at the door of her 'prison'. Cordelia followed her gaze and stayed wisely silent. Buffy just hoped she wouldn't lead her back to that room.
Indeed, Cordelia had other plans for their 'guest'. First, she needed to get Buffy some clothes, the ones she had worn were dirty and sweaty, and Cordelia wasn't about to endure them. And speaking about clothes... she took a look at the petite blonde and furrowed her brow. "You are using Angel's bathrobe," she accused.
Buffy shrugged. She had just taken a long, hot shower and it actually had relieved the tension a bit. Her muscles - stiff from the hours chained to that bed - had welcomed the warm water and assuaged the stress. In her relaxed state, Buffy wasn't about to fight with her ex-classmate over some silly bathrobe. "Well, I hope she doesn't mind," Buffy answered tiredly.
The brunette seemed taken aback but refrained from commenting, there would be enough time for explanations and accusations later. "I'm sure Angel won't. Come on, it's time to put you into some clean clothes. Your stay in that room has done nothing for your appearance, you know."
Buffy scowled inwardly. First they tied her to a bed for HOURS and then they had the galls to expect her to look good. Of all the things...
Apparently, Cordelia had picked her companion's humour. "And don't look at me that way, Buffy, I won't bite you." She tugged her arm and veered her in the opposite direction of the room she had been staying until now.
Buffy sighed in relief. At least they weren't chaining her anymore, she hoped.
Cordelia was totally unaware of Buffy's course of thoughts. She lead the blonde through the house all the while talking about her plans. "I think Fred left some of her clothes at the hotel." She glanced measurably at Buffy and sighed. "Oh well, she obviously wasn't as petite as you but at least they will fit better than mine, that's for sure." She opened a door and tugged Buffy into a room that obviously hadn't been used for a long time. Sheets covered the scarce furniture -Buffy could make out the bed, a table and some chairs - and dust covered the sheets.
Cordelia babbled on, "Now that you are here and we've determined that you are human and aren't much interested in Angel I think we could let you stay here for a while. You could use a room in this other wing. *Way* far from Angel's. By the way, Angel is a *he*." She looked at Buffy and shook her head. "I can't believe I'm telling *that* to *you*," she continued in a lower voice. She opened some drawers until she found the clothes she had been looking for. With a grin, she took a pair of pants and a top from it. She threw them to Buffy and she caught the bundle without thinking about it. Cordelia didn't notice. "I know they aren't the latest, but that was the last thing Fred bought when we went shopping before she left for Texas. They are at least three years old but--" she glanced at the rest of Fred's clothes and grimaced in distaste. "Believe me, they are the best Fred's wardrobe could offer you. I was the one who chose them, after all."
"T-thanks." Buffy said glancing at the garments. They weren't so bad, a few years old and absolutely out of fashion but, as far as kidnappings went, this was hardly expected. She saw Cordelia pointing to an adjourning door. A bathroom, of course. While she changed, she could still hear Cordelia speaking through the door. Obviously, that was only because Cordelia made sure that her voice was loud enough.
"I think you could use Fred's room, cuz it still has her bed and some of her things. I don't think Wesley or Gunn have a better idea and Angel, well, Angel knows he cannot let you roam the streets. Not that he'll want to let you go once he hears the news..." Cordelia sighed. She could already see the Buffy-Angel saga part V coming up...
"But still, if someone saw you it would panic a lot of people. Not that some panic in the demon district wouldn't be good, but... if the Scooby Gang ever finds out about your return... I doubt it would be pretty. They are still sore about your--- ummm--- disappearance (She and Wesley had decided that maybe Buffy was still confused about things and her mind hadn't accepted her death yet. Wesley mentioned that she had to remember that little fact for herself, hearing it from another person could cause serious damage to her psyche.) and they would never forgive us for hiding you. But then, we just cannot let you go, can we?"
She sighed again. Only few times she had felt the proverbial rock and hard place around her. Now was definitely one of those times. "I mean, there's enough problem with them getting used to reformed-Faith all over again. If you're included in the mix, hell! I don't want to think about that. Even if they deserve to know that you're back, well, I guess it'll have to wait. We don't even know how you came back from De-- wherever you were and maybe you'll go back there so--- why bother the Sunnydale team?" She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. "I'm sure I'll have enough handling Angel once you're gone. If you are going that is, if not, well, then I guess you'll have to worry about handling Angel yourself. Not hat you ever had problems doing it. Except when you were too busy breaking his heart and leaving him to me to mend. By the way, I think I deserve a 'thank you' for not letting him go greet the sun when Willow came..." As no 'thank you' came her way, Cordelia unlinked her arms to knock the door. "Are you even hearing me, Buffy?"
Pulling the pants up, Buffy only grunted an affirmative. She had heard Cordelia's ramblings; she just hadn't understood most of it. What she did grasp, anyway, was that they weren't planning on letting her go OR informing her friends in Sunnydale anytime soon.
Hearing Buffy's confirmation, Cordy just ranted on. "Finally, I think it's better you stay here safe and sound for now. Until we figure out how and why are you here, of course. And I'm warning you, Buffy Summers, if you're planning on abandoning us again without telling... I swear it, Buffy, Slayer or not I'll make you pay. I won't have Angel mourning for you all over again---" Buffy opened the door and came face to face with Cordelia. She actually took a step back at the determination in the brunette's face. Cordelia pasted a smile on her face and accepted Angel's bathrobe. She looked Buffy in the eye. "You won't hurt him this time, Buffy. Not if I can help it."
Buffy used Cordelia's pause for breath to ask the question, which had been bugging her for some time now. "Who is Angel? You keep repeating his name over and over but I still haven't seen a trace of him."
Cordelia turned to her with a nearly incredulous look in her eyes. Cordelia had a flash of a sixteen-year-old Buffy explaining Angel to her. A vampire with a soul whom the Slayer loved beyond reason. That girl was clearly not the same young woman in front of her now. Cordelia didn't know if it had been her life or her death which had changed Buffy so much... how couldn't she remember Angel at all? "I never thought about explaining Angel to *you*," she mumbled. Cordelia could understand if she didn't want to talk about him, but this... she had the nagging feeling that something weirder was happening. Buffy was not acting like Buffy *at all*. And Buffy was still waiting for an answer. She smiled and added, "but you are not exactly yourself right no, so I guess it isn't that strange after all."
Buffy stared at her. Had she gone crazy in these five years? Of course she was herself! Maybe Cordelia had fell prey to drugs or something, *that* would explain her current behaviour. She let Cordelia take her hand and guide her out of the room and down the stairs. For some moments, neither did say a thing.
"If you really don't remember who Angel is, then I think it's better I give you some pointers," Cordelia began, "Angel is---" She suddenly stopped at a lack of words. "Angel is our friend, I guess." She sighed and veered to the left. Buffy followed her docilely. "It's not enough and I'm sure you would have found a lot more words to describe him, mushy and hurtful alike, but 'our friend' will have to do for now."
Buffy stopped in her tracks and faced the brunette. "Look, Cordelia, I wouldn't have been able to 'find a lot more words' for this Angel because I DO NOT KNOW HIM." Cordelia lifted an eyebrow in apparent amusement. Buffy was already seething at her lack of understanding. "The only thing I want is to go back home."
Cordelia couldn't help but smile at the situation. Here was *Buffy Summers*, Slayer extraordinary, the other half of her boss and she couldn't even remember him. Her smiled vanished. What if she and Wesley had it all wrong and this wasn't Buffy after all? It could be someone else in her body. Or even something using a glamour to make them think it was Buffy. She loosened her hand.
"Is your name really Buffy?" Cordelia asked out of the blue.
The question came as a surprise. Buffy thought. She just looked up at the brunette with a 'duh' expression written all over her face.
"Ok, ok, I was just checking." She made a pause. "Where do you really come from, B-- Buffy?"
The blonde girl continued staring at her. Was she dense or what? She forced her voice to sound calm when she finally responded. "I thought we had cleared that matter, Cordelia. The only reason why you could be asking me this is because you don't know where you passed your high-school years yourself."
"How would I ever forget. Hellmouth, sweet Hellmouth," Cordelia muttered. Buffy stared at her quizzically but forgot about commenting when Cordelia grabbed her arm again and led her to a larger room. "Sit down, please." Buffy looked at her surroundings wearily. Not sensing any danger, she obeyed and sat on one of the comfy chairs. "Wesley will come in a moment. He and Gunn went to inform the boss about your humanity," Cordelia commented offhandedly and sat right in front of her. "Now, Buffy, once Angel learns of your harmless condition, nothing will stop him from coming see you, so, as his best friend I have to ask you." She breathed deeply. "Why did you come to him?"
Buffy blinked. "I? Come to him?" Cordelia nodded. Buffy gritted her teeth and practically hissed the rest of her sentence. "Aren't you missing a whole kidnapping plot here?"
"Nobody kidnapped you!" Cordelia cried out finally annoyed.
"Well, I know I didn't come on my own volition. How else would you explain my presence here? Magick?!"
"It could be an option," Cordelia deadpanned.
Buffy stared at her incredulously. The only people she had ever heard speak with such certainty about magick were Willow and her strange friends. "Please don't tell me you are also part of those Wiccan groups."
Cordelia seemed surprised by the question. "No, I'm not. But nobody brought you here either and, well, it's not as if anybody could bring you back from--- where you were."
Buffy was well past being careful. She had tried to reason with them to let her go, she had even begged. But now, if they were intent on keeping her here, they would have to deal with her. "Yeah, I'm sure that not anybody could do something like this." She showed the marks of the handcuff on her wrists. "It usually takes a kidnapper to do such a thing."
"Dammit, Buffy! We didn't kidnap you! We are just trying to know how the hell you appeared here out of the blue after all these years!"
"That's true," a man's voice said from behind Buffy. She turned around and recognised the creepy guy of the syringes and the stethoscope. "We don't have a clue about how did you appear in this hotel."
"Then why don't you call the police?" she asked. When they didn't agree nor reject her proposition and just gaped at her, she continued. "Well, if you just want to help me discover whoever did this, then the most logical action would be to call the police, wouldn't it?"
Not a word.
"I know it wouldn't explain why that guy chained me or why you seem so excited of me being just human, but hey! I'm sure he thought I was a thief or something. I mean, it's totally comprehensible that he wanted to restrain me, he didn't know if I was a threat or not... Come on, guys, help me here! Let's go to the police station and we'll forget all about this nasty event..."
Silence.
The man glanced at Cordelia. Cordelia put a finger to her temple in a telling gesture of believing her crazy. Buffy sighed. This was getting nowhere.
"Er..." Wesley cleared his throat. "Buffy, we do not believe that the police would be our best option in this case. The circumstances of your apparition are, to say the least, far less than common and the police department would be unable to deal with it."
"I'm sure they can deal with a couple of kidnappers who don't know what's better for them," Buffy retorted.
Wesley flushed. Cordelia's face reddened. "For once and for all, we.are.NOT.kidnappers!"
"And then how do you explain this, Cordelia? Me being dragged from Sunnydale? You not wanting to go to the police? Keeping me here against my wish? What ELSE can I think?!"
"Maybe that we are trying to *help* you!"
Buffy laughed aloud. "Some kind of help is this! You won't even let me tell my friends that I'm alive. They must be worried by now."
"We were worried since we met you," Cordelia mumbled under her breath. Aloud, she retorted, "Of course they are not worried anymore! They've been mourning you for the last years. You certainly can't expect them to be worried!"
"Mourn? Years? What the hell are you talking about!"
"About your death and your lack of consideration coming back without a warning!"
Silence. Wesley looked sharply at Cordelia. She lowered her hands from her mouth and shrugged. Buffy stared at both of the, mouth agape. "Me? Dead?" Wesley sighed and tried to salvage the situation.
"I'm sorry, Buffy. *I*---" he cast another glance at Cordy "I didn't want you to know of it like that. I'm sorry."
"But I'm not dead..."
"Obviously not anymore." Wesley silenced Cordelia with a chiding look.
"What is the last thing you remember before coming here, Buffy?"
Buffy couldn't believe this. She wasn't dead. She would know it. She was pretty much alive. She heard a question and responded automatically. "Fooling around with Willow." More voices in the background. She never believed in Heaven or in Hell but then why would they exist? Maybe she was stuck in some sort of Purgatory with the souls of her ex-classmate and some other guy. And if she was? Impossible! She would know it! "I am not dead," she said decisively.
Neither did acknowledge her statement but proceeded to fire more questions.
"Don't you remember Glory?"
The name was vaguely familiar. "What does my lab-partner have to do with this?"
Cordelia sighed. "What about Dawn?" Blank stare. "Your little sister?"
"I'm an only child, Cordelia. Just like you."
"Do you even remember Giles?" When she shook her head, Wesley took his glasses off and cleaned the lens.
"Xander?"
However, before Buffy could answer Cordelia's question, Wesley grabbed her hands in one of his and looked into her eyes. "Believe me, Buffy. I don't know for sure what has happened to you in these years, but I--" Cordelia coughed. "*We* will help you."
She didn't know why but she fell compelled to believe the older man. Maybe it was crazy but then, they were the ones calling the shots tonight. She nodded.
Wesley nodded back and went back to his seat. "Now, the first thing we have to determine is how you got into Angel's room. I think that's important to prove my theory."
I 'got' into Angel's room? She stole a glance at the curious Cordelia. Buffy squirmed uncomfortably in her seat and felt a blush stain her cheeks faintly. "So that was the famous Angel, huh? I guess he was the guy I first saw, the one with the---" she flustered, "--sheet."
"Sheet?" both echoed.
"Doesn't matter," Buffy hurried to say.
Nonetheless, it seemed to matter to Cordelia because Buffy suddenly felt very uncomfortable under the ex-cheerleader's gaze. "Say, Buffy," she began, "you wouldn't be giving Angel NC-17 performances and then letting him believe it was just a dream, would you?"
Buffy didn't know if the sudden venom in her voice or the ridicule of the question had surprised her more. She just answered with a "What?"
However, Cordelia had refocused on the older man at her right. "He would tell us if something happened, wouldn't he? I mean, after we went through Darla's ordeal I thought he would---"
"Yes, Cordy," he reassured her, "I'm quite sure that Angel wouldn't leave such an event uncommented. Especially if it was about Buffy."
"What is it about me and this guy that everyone keeps mentioning?"
Cordelia ignored her and made another question. "Where is he now? He isn't hunting down every demon that crosses his path again, is he? With Darla it went like that. First, he would forget that we helped him and then he would forget that we existed at all. Imagine what it will be like with *her*..." She pointed at Buffy, who looked at her about to ask again. Cordelia's rush of words stopped her. "Why isn't he with you? Did he fire us again? No, he wouldn't. Did you tell him that she was normal?"
"We didn't find him, Cordy." He looked slightly guilty. "I left Gunn and his guys to search for him."
"Then he doesn't know that Juliet is no demon," Cordy sighed.
Wesley shook his head.
"I just hope he won't turn up believing her to be one of W&H's lackeys and wanting to kill her. If someone doesn't tell him the truth soon then that's what will happen and then we will have him brooding for decades."
"K-kill me?" Buffy stuttered surprised by the revelation. She needed to get out NOW.
"Yeah, kill you. And now that your old tricks can't harm him, I doubt you'll stand a chance. However---" She glanced at Wesley. "Beheading can still kill him, can't it?"
Wesley sighed. "Calm down, Buffy. Nothing will harm you," he said to the girl who was beginning to hyperventilate. "Cordelia, you too. If my theory proves true, I seriously doubt that this Buffy has any idea of what you are talking about."
"THIS Buffy?" both girls questioned in surprised voices. Cordelia continued, "Wesley, there can't be *this* Buffy because the ONLY one d---" she cast a sorrowful glance at the blonde in front of her. "Er... *left* us three years ago. There just can't be two Buffys less Anya recovered her powers and shoved us again into some alternate---oh!" She looked at Wesley who just gave her a nod, and then turned to Buffy again. "Are you a scorned woman?"
Silence. Buffy just stared blankly at her and shook her head.
"Are you sure?" Cordelia prodded, "Would you happen to have met a strange girl with some ancient pendant who asked you to make a wish?"
Another mute shake.
Cordelia sighed. "Are you sure she is human?" This time, the question was directed to the dark-haired man. He nodded. "Really, really sure? Because Doyle was just half-human and I never could have told the difference," she said, "right until his face scrunched up and came all red with horns, of course."
Buffy nearly regretted her decision of trusting the nice man and remembered that he had prodded at her with syringes during the whole afternoon. Both were completely unaware of her wandering thoughts.
"Yes, Cordy, she is completely, hundred percent human."
"Could you explain me what the hell happened?!" Buffy finally demanded, tired of the crazy conversation which was taking place in front of her, and which really did not explain her current situation.
"Yes, Wesley, enlighten us," Cordelia agreed.
"Well, Cordy, as you already have remembered we have proof that alternate realities are indeed real."
Cordelia simply nodded, Buffy stared at the loonies she had been encased with.
"Could I ask you some questions, Buffy?"
She shrugged. This could not get weirder if she answered some more questions to the nice loony in front of her. "Fire away."
"How did you meet Cordelia?"
Buffy looked at the other girl wondering why it was so important and why couldn't she herself narrate the story. To her surprise, Cordelia seemed as interested in the answer as the man was.
"Well, I moved to Sunnydale after my parents divorced. On my first day at school, I met her in the hall. I think she quizzed me on some stupid things -sorry, Cordelia," Cordelia didn't seem to mind at all. "After that we were, well, I guess you could call it allies, in Sunnydale High the most popular people were never friends. We shopped together and went to the Bronze and at the end of the semester I was already her second-in-command in the cheerleader-team," she finished.
Cordelia was staring open-mouthed at her. "Allies? *We*? In Sunnydale?" When Buffy nodded, she glanced in the dark-haired man's direction. "You are SO right, Wes. That *never* happened here. I mean, immediately after she came to the school she befriended the Scooby Gang and provoked me by *threatening* me with her stake! That certainly doesn't count as 'alliance'!"
"What are you talking about, Cordelia?" This was getting weirder and weirder.
Cordelia didn't seem to even hear her question. "Else, it doesn't explain how *Willow* turned out to be her best friend! If you really were my friend - or my ally - then there was no reason for you to near Will. That girl was an outcast at school!"
"Thanks to you," Buffy murmured darkly.
Cordelia actually seemed flustered at that piece of truth. "Well..."
"And you know well why I ended up befriending Will. How wouldn't you when you left me to fend for myself when you got wind that after my mum's death I was left penniless!" Buffy felt the old rage coursing through her system again, it had been so long since that time and still the betrayal of her supposed 'friend' cut deep. "It didn't matter that I was disheartened after what happened. It didn't matter if I needed help. Of course you and your crew wouldn't lift a finger to help me! Willow did. She saw me crying in the bathroom and she actually cared about me and forgot all about that first year of me teasing her along with *you*."
Cordelia flinched at the venom in that last word. "No, no. It didn't happen that way." She shook her head vehemently. "It was *you* and the Scoobies the ones who left me alone in senior year."
Buffy actually laughed. "Oh yes! Senior year." She made a face at the brunette and cooed, "Poor, poor little princess found out that her house and her car and all her other goodies came from stolen money. You know, Cordelia, I always thought it was some kind of cosmic justice or something."
Cordelia looked at her, shocked. And Buffy was surprised to find out that she really hadn't meant it that way. It seemed that she really had some pent-up anger towards the snob princess.
Wesley, who had stayed silent while the girls resolved their differences, decided to take charge of the situation before it got out of hand. "Calm down, Buffy," he said in a conciliatory tone, "you too, please, Cordy," he added when the brunette opened her mouth to retort to Buffy's taunts. Indeed, both girls took a big breath. In Cordelia's case it actually managed to help her calm somehow. She nodded to Wesley indicating that all was okay. He turned to Buffy, who also seemed a little quieter and asked softly, "Tell us, do you believe in vampires?"
Buffy just stared at him.
"Or in werewolves and demons and portals to the hellish dimensions?" Cordelia listed.
"W-what?" she stuttered.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
And they'd shown her. Oh yes, they had...
Even now, she could remember how petrified she had been in that old cemetery. Although -or maybe because- Cordy and Wesley flanked her, she felt insecure. Insecure didn't begin to cover it when she saw the earth moving at a gravestone and just minutes later a vampire raised from his grave. She had been petrified, alright.
Wesley had killed it -or had it been Cordy? She had been fuzzy on the details of that night - and all the while she had stayed right in her place, clinging to a cross for dear life.
She laughed at the memory. That had to be one of her most pathetic moments in her life. Later, Cordy would always tease her openly about it and even Wesley would grin knowingly when she bragged to Angel that she was not a little girl... Angel...
She shook her head. That way only lead to madness. Wonderful, perfect, blissful madness... She cleared her thoughts of him and refocused on that first night...
--------------------------------------------------------------------
You want to know more about this story? Send feedback. dani_vasq@hotmail.com , a_d_v_v@yahoo.com.ar
Of course, I can't forget the ones who sent feedback about the first chapter. Sol de Luna (I *still* like that oxymoron in your nickname!), Peygaan (Thanks for commenting on CC, too!), Kat (I'm answering your question next!), Ice Princess (Thanks for making me smile!), Sara-Lee (*glances around fearfully* Ok, dear. Here's the deal. One second chapter for you, no HellHounds after me, ok??), Serena (How can I thank you enough for saying that the story was 'believable'? Thanks! Thanks! Thanks!), Jennifer (No way I'm leaving this now. I'm addicted too!), Sharon (The first spark of this story was born in your 'Mirror Mirror', dear. THANK YOU!), Sarah Anne (*evil smile* Angel will pay...), Danni (Hope you will like this chapter, too!)... I think I covered you all... if I didn't, well, wait until I finish this story to begin plotting against me... *g*
Now, Kat asked -and I quote- "And what happened to Angel being able to recognise Buffy no matter what?". Well, I thought I had made it clear but... shame on me, apparently I did not. Angel *does* recognise Buffy in first instance. Just remember the scene where he caresses her and hugs her and what does poor Angel receive in exchange? A scream and -later- a Buffy who wouldn't know about him. Now, I think that Angel would have accepted a resurrected-after-three-years Buffy... but one who doesn't remember him? That's where he begins doubting her identity, and I can't say I blame him. I mean, *Buffy* not remembering *Angel*? In which dimension? In mine, of course. Hope that answered your question, Kat.
TITLE: High Mountains, Wide Rivers. 2
AUTHOR: Leni
DISCLAIMER: Technically speaking, this Buffy is mine.
DISTRIBUTION: After it's finished... we'll talk.
TIMELINE: I'll go three years into the future. Willow never resurrected Buffy after 'The Gift'. I'll even slip into denial and say 'Connor who?'. In one word? Right until the finale of S5/S2, completely AU after that.
SUMMARY: Buffy learns more than she wants to know about her new world.
PAIRINGS: Buffy/Angel... I'm wondering if I should do a C/G or a C/W here... both options are tempting... suggestions?
RATING: I've decided to take this to the R-level... not in this chapter, though.
DEDICATION: To Sara-Lee's HellHounds, who wouldn't leave me alone until I finished this chapter... such nice doggies...
FEEDBACK: You write it, I write this. I'm serious. dani_vasq@hotmail.com , a_d_v_v@yahoo.com.ar
-----------------------------------------------------------------
When she emerged from the bathroom, there was already Cordelia waiting for her.
Buffy looked up at Cordelia. "I needed a bath after what you've made me go through," she continued casting a glance at the door of her 'prison'. Cordelia followed her gaze and stayed wisely silent. Buffy just hoped she wouldn't lead her back to that room.
Indeed, Cordelia had other plans for their 'guest'. First, she needed to get Buffy some clothes, the ones she had worn were dirty and sweaty, and Cordelia wasn't about to endure them. And speaking about clothes... she took a look at the petite blonde and furrowed her brow. "You are using Angel's bathrobe," she accused.
Buffy shrugged. She had just taken a long, hot shower and it actually had relieved the tension a bit. Her muscles - stiff from the hours chained to that bed - had welcomed the warm water and assuaged the stress. In her relaxed state, Buffy wasn't about to fight with her ex-classmate over some silly bathrobe. "Well, I hope she doesn't mind," Buffy answered tiredly.
The brunette seemed taken aback but refrained from commenting, there would be enough time for explanations and accusations later. "I'm sure Angel won't. Come on, it's time to put you into some clean clothes. Your stay in that room has done nothing for your appearance, you know."
Buffy scowled inwardly. First they tied her to a bed for HOURS and then they had the galls to expect her to look good. Of all the things...
Apparently, Cordelia had picked her companion's humour. "And don't look at me that way, Buffy, I won't bite you." She tugged her arm and veered her in the opposite direction of the room she had been staying until now.
Buffy sighed in relief. At least they weren't chaining her anymore, she hoped.
Cordelia was totally unaware of Buffy's course of thoughts. She lead the blonde through the house all the while talking about her plans. "I think Fred left some of her clothes at the hotel." She glanced measurably at Buffy and sighed. "Oh well, she obviously wasn't as petite as you but at least they will fit better than mine, that's for sure." She opened a door and tugged Buffy into a room that obviously hadn't been used for a long time. Sheets covered the scarce furniture -Buffy could make out the bed, a table and some chairs - and dust covered the sheets.
Cordelia babbled on, "Now that you are here and we've determined that you are human and aren't much interested in Angel I think we could let you stay here for a while. You could use a room in this other wing. *Way* far from Angel's. By the way, Angel is a *he*." She looked at Buffy and shook her head. "I can't believe I'm telling *that* to *you*," she continued in a lower voice. She opened some drawers until she found the clothes she had been looking for. With a grin, she took a pair of pants and a top from it. She threw them to Buffy and she caught the bundle without thinking about it. Cordelia didn't notice. "I know they aren't the latest, but that was the last thing Fred bought when we went shopping before she left for Texas. They are at least three years old but--" she glanced at the rest of Fred's clothes and grimaced in distaste. "Believe me, they are the best Fred's wardrobe could offer you. I was the one who chose them, after all."
"T-thanks." Buffy said glancing at the garments. They weren't so bad, a few years old and absolutely out of fashion but, as far as kidnappings went, this was hardly expected. She saw Cordelia pointing to an adjourning door. A bathroom, of course. While she changed, she could still hear Cordelia speaking through the door. Obviously, that was only because Cordelia made sure that her voice was loud enough.
"I think you could use Fred's room, cuz it still has her bed and some of her things. I don't think Wesley or Gunn have a better idea and Angel, well, Angel knows he cannot let you roam the streets. Not that he'll want to let you go once he hears the news..." Cordelia sighed. She could already see the Buffy-Angel saga part V coming up...
"But still, if someone saw you it would panic a lot of people. Not that some panic in the demon district wouldn't be good, but... if the Scooby Gang ever finds out about your return... I doubt it would be pretty. They are still sore about your--- ummm--- disappearance (She and Wesley had decided that maybe Buffy was still confused about things and her mind hadn't accepted her death yet. Wesley mentioned that she had to remember that little fact for herself, hearing it from another person could cause serious damage to her psyche.) and they would never forgive us for hiding you. But then, we just cannot let you go, can we?"
She sighed again. Only few times she had felt the proverbial rock and hard place around her. Now was definitely one of those times. "I mean, there's enough problem with them getting used to reformed-Faith all over again. If you're included in the mix, hell! I don't want to think about that. Even if they deserve to know that you're back, well, I guess it'll have to wait. We don't even know how you came back from De-- wherever you were and maybe you'll go back there so--- why bother the Sunnydale team?" She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed. "I'm sure I'll have enough handling Angel once you're gone. If you are going that is, if not, well, then I guess you'll have to worry about handling Angel yourself. Not hat you ever had problems doing it. Except when you were too busy breaking his heart and leaving him to me to mend. By the way, I think I deserve a 'thank you' for not letting him go greet the sun when Willow came..." As no 'thank you' came her way, Cordelia unlinked her arms to knock the door. "Are you even hearing me, Buffy?"
Pulling the pants up, Buffy only grunted an affirmative. She had heard Cordelia's ramblings; she just hadn't understood most of it. What she did grasp, anyway, was that they weren't planning on letting her go OR informing her friends in Sunnydale anytime soon.
Hearing Buffy's confirmation, Cordy just ranted on. "Finally, I think it's better you stay here safe and sound for now. Until we figure out how and why are you here, of course. And I'm warning you, Buffy Summers, if you're planning on abandoning us again without telling... I swear it, Buffy, Slayer or not I'll make you pay. I won't have Angel mourning for you all over again---" Buffy opened the door and came face to face with Cordelia. She actually took a step back at the determination in the brunette's face. Cordelia pasted a smile on her face and accepted Angel's bathrobe. She looked Buffy in the eye. "You won't hurt him this time, Buffy. Not if I can help it."
Buffy used Cordelia's pause for breath to ask the question, which had been bugging her for some time now. "Who is Angel? You keep repeating his name over and over but I still haven't seen a trace of him."
Cordelia turned to her with a nearly incredulous look in her eyes. Cordelia had a flash of a sixteen-year-old Buffy explaining Angel to her. A vampire with a soul whom the Slayer loved beyond reason. That girl was clearly not the same young woman in front of her now. Cordelia didn't know if it had been her life or her death which had changed Buffy so much... how couldn't she remember Angel at all? "I never thought about explaining Angel to *you*," she mumbled. Cordelia could understand if she didn't want to talk about him, but this... she had the nagging feeling that something weirder was happening. Buffy was not acting like Buffy *at all*. And Buffy was still waiting for an answer. She smiled and added, "but you are not exactly yourself right no, so I guess it isn't that strange after all."
Buffy stared at her. Had she gone crazy in these five years? Of course she was herself! Maybe Cordelia had fell prey to drugs or something, *that* would explain her current behaviour. She let Cordelia take her hand and guide her out of the room and down the stairs. For some moments, neither did say a thing.
"If you really don't remember who Angel is, then I think it's better I give you some pointers," Cordelia began, "Angel is---" She suddenly stopped at a lack of words. "Angel is our friend, I guess." She sighed and veered to the left. Buffy followed her docilely. "It's not enough and I'm sure you would have found a lot more words to describe him, mushy and hurtful alike, but 'our friend' will have to do for now."
Buffy stopped in her tracks and faced the brunette. "Look, Cordelia, I wouldn't have been able to 'find a lot more words' for this Angel because I DO NOT KNOW HIM." Cordelia lifted an eyebrow in apparent amusement. Buffy was already seething at her lack of understanding. "The only thing I want is to go back home."
Cordelia couldn't help but smile at the situation. Here was *Buffy Summers*, Slayer extraordinary, the other half of her boss and she couldn't even remember him. Her smiled vanished. What if she and Wesley had it all wrong and this wasn't Buffy after all? It could be someone else in her body. Or even something using a glamour to make them think it was Buffy. She loosened her hand.
"Is your name really Buffy?" Cordelia asked out of the blue.
The question came as a surprise. Buffy thought. She just looked up at the brunette with a 'duh' expression written all over her face.
"Ok, ok, I was just checking." She made a pause. "Where do you really come from, B-- Buffy?"
The blonde girl continued staring at her. Was she dense or what? She forced her voice to sound calm when she finally responded. "I thought we had cleared that matter, Cordelia. The only reason why you could be asking me this is because you don't know where you passed your high-school years yourself."
"How would I ever forget. Hellmouth, sweet Hellmouth," Cordelia muttered. Buffy stared at her quizzically but forgot about commenting when Cordelia grabbed her arm again and led her to a larger room. "Sit down, please." Buffy looked at her surroundings wearily. Not sensing any danger, she obeyed and sat on one of the comfy chairs. "Wesley will come in a moment. He and Gunn went to inform the boss about your humanity," Cordelia commented offhandedly and sat right in front of her. "Now, Buffy, once Angel learns of your harmless condition, nothing will stop him from coming see you, so, as his best friend I have to ask you." She breathed deeply. "Why did you come to him?"
Buffy blinked. "I? Come to him?" Cordelia nodded. Buffy gritted her teeth and practically hissed the rest of her sentence. "Aren't you missing a whole kidnapping plot here?"
"Nobody kidnapped you!" Cordelia cried out finally annoyed.
"Well, I know I didn't come on my own volition. How else would you explain my presence here? Magick?!"
"It could be an option," Cordelia deadpanned.
Buffy stared at her incredulously. The only people she had ever heard speak with such certainty about magick were Willow and her strange friends. "Please don't tell me you are also part of those Wiccan groups."
Cordelia seemed surprised by the question. "No, I'm not. But nobody brought you here either and, well, it's not as if anybody could bring you back from--- where you were."
Buffy was well past being careful. She had tried to reason with them to let her go, she had even begged. But now, if they were intent on keeping her here, they would have to deal with her. "Yeah, I'm sure that not anybody could do something like this." She showed the marks of the handcuff on her wrists. "It usually takes a kidnapper to do such a thing."
"Dammit, Buffy! We didn't kidnap you! We are just trying to know how the hell you appeared here out of the blue after all these years!"
"That's true," a man's voice said from behind Buffy. She turned around and recognised the creepy guy of the syringes and the stethoscope. "We don't have a clue about how did you appear in this hotel."
"Then why don't you call the police?" she asked. When they didn't agree nor reject her proposition and just gaped at her, she continued. "Well, if you just want to help me discover whoever did this, then the most logical action would be to call the police, wouldn't it?"
Not a word.
"I know it wouldn't explain why that guy chained me or why you seem so excited of me being just human, but hey! I'm sure he thought I was a thief or something. I mean, it's totally comprehensible that he wanted to restrain me, he didn't know if I was a threat or not... Come on, guys, help me here! Let's go to the police station and we'll forget all about this nasty event..."
Silence.
The man glanced at Cordelia. Cordelia put a finger to her temple in a telling gesture of believing her crazy. Buffy sighed. This was getting nowhere.
"Er..." Wesley cleared his throat. "Buffy, we do not believe that the police would be our best option in this case. The circumstances of your apparition are, to say the least, far less than common and the police department would be unable to deal with it."
"I'm sure they can deal with a couple of kidnappers who don't know what's better for them," Buffy retorted.
Wesley flushed. Cordelia's face reddened. "For once and for all, we.are.NOT.kidnappers!"
"And then how do you explain this, Cordelia? Me being dragged from Sunnydale? You not wanting to go to the police? Keeping me here against my wish? What ELSE can I think?!"
"Maybe that we are trying to *help* you!"
Buffy laughed aloud. "Some kind of help is this! You won't even let me tell my friends that I'm alive. They must be worried by now."
"We were worried since we met you," Cordelia mumbled under her breath. Aloud, she retorted, "Of course they are not worried anymore! They've been mourning you for the last years. You certainly can't expect them to be worried!"
"Mourn? Years? What the hell are you talking about!"
"About your death and your lack of consideration coming back without a warning!"
Silence. Wesley looked sharply at Cordelia. She lowered her hands from her mouth and shrugged. Buffy stared at both of the, mouth agape. "Me? Dead?" Wesley sighed and tried to salvage the situation.
"I'm sorry, Buffy. *I*---" he cast another glance at Cordy "I didn't want you to know of it like that. I'm sorry."
"But I'm not dead..."
"Obviously not anymore." Wesley silenced Cordelia with a chiding look.
"What is the last thing you remember before coming here, Buffy?"
Buffy couldn't believe this. She wasn't dead. She would know it. She was pretty much alive. She heard a question and responded automatically. "Fooling around with Willow." More voices in the background. She never believed in Heaven or in Hell but then why would they exist? Maybe she was stuck in some sort of Purgatory with the souls of her ex-classmate and some other guy. And if she was? Impossible! She would know it! "I am not dead," she said decisively.
Neither did acknowledge her statement but proceeded to fire more questions.
"Don't you remember Glory?"
The name was vaguely familiar. "What does my lab-partner have to do with this?"
Cordelia sighed. "What about Dawn?" Blank stare. "Your little sister?"
"I'm an only child, Cordelia. Just like you."
"Do you even remember Giles?" When she shook her head, Wesley took his glasses off and cleaned the lens.
"Xander?"
However, before Buffy could answer Cordelia's question, Wesley grabbed her hands in one of his and looked into her eyes. "Believe me, Buffy. I don't know for sure what has happened to you in these years, but I--" Cordelia coughed. "*We* will help you."
She didn't know why but she fell compelled to believe the older man. Maybe it was crazy but then, they were the ones calling the shots tonight. She nodded.
Wesley nodded back and went back to his seat. "Now, the first thing we have to determine is how you got into Angel's room. I think that's important to prove my theory."
I 'got' into Angel's room? She stole a glance at the curious Cordelia. Buffy squirmed uncomfortably in her seat and felt a blush stain her cheeks faintly. "So that was the famous Angel, huh? I guess he was the guy I first saw, the one with the---" she flustered, "--sheet."
"Sheet?" both echoed.
"Doesn't matter," Buffy hurried to say.
Nonetheless, it seemed to matter to Cordelia because Buffy suddenly felt very uncomfortable under the ex-cheerleader's gaze. "Say, Buffy," she began, "you wouldn't be giving Angel NC-17 performances and then letting him believe it was just a dream, would you?"
Buffy didn't know if the sudden venom in her voice or the ridicule of the question had surprised her more. She just answered with a "What?"
However, Cordelia had refocused on the older man at her right. "He would tell us if something happened, wouldn't he? I mean, after we went through Darla's ordeal I thought he would---"
"Yes, Cordy," he reassured her, "I'm quite sure that Angel wouldn't leave such an event uncommented. Especially if it was about Buffy."
"What is it about me and this guy that everyone keeps mentioning?"
Cordelia ignored her and made another question. "Where is he now? He isn't hunting down every demon that crosses his path again, is he? With Darla it went like that. First, he would forget that we helped him and then he would forget that we existed at all. Imagine what it will be like with *her*..." She pointed at Buffy, who looked at her about to ask again. Cordelia's rush of words stopped her. "Why isn't he with you? Did he fire us again? No, he wouldn't. Did you tell him that she was normal?"
"We didn't find him, Cordy." He looked slightly guilty. "I left Gunn and his guys to search for him."
"Then he doesn't know that Juliet is no demon," Cordy sighed.
Wesley shook his head.
"I just hope he won't turn up believing her to be one of W&H's lackeys and wanting to kill her. If someone doesn't tell him the truth soon then that's what will happen and then we will have him brooding for decades."
"K-kill me?" Buffy stuttered surprised by the revelation. She needed to get out NOW.
"Yeah, kill you. And now that your old tricks can't harm him, I doubt you'll stand a chance. However---" She glanced at Wesley. "Beheading can still kill him, can't it?"
Wesley sighed. "Calm down, Buffy. Nothing will harm you," he said to the girl who was beginning to hyperventilate. "Cordelia, you too. If my theory proves true, I seriously doubt that this Buffy has any idea of what you are talking about."
"THIS Buffy?" both girls questioned in surprised voices. Cordelia continued, "Wesley, there can't be *this* Buffy because the ONLY one d---" she cast a sorrowful glance at the blonde in front of her. "Er... *left* us three years ago. There just can't be two Buffys less Anya recovered her powers and shoved us again into some alternate---oh!" She looked at Wesley who just gave her a nod, and then turned to Buffy again. "Are you a scorned woman?"
Silence. Buffy just stared blankly at her and shook her head.
"Are you sure?" Cordelia prodded, "Would you happen to have met a strange girl with some ancient pendant who asked you to make a wish?"
Another mute shake.
Cordelia sighed. "Are you sure she is human?" This time, the question was directed to the dark-haired man. He nodded. "Really, really sure? Because Doyle was just half-human and I never could have told the difference," she said, "right until his face scrunched up and came all red with horns, of course."
Buffy nearly regretted her decision of trusting the nice man and remembered that he had prodded at her with syringes during the whole afternoon. Both were completely unaware of her wandering thoughts.
"Yes, Cordy, she is completely, hundred percent human."
"Could you explain me what the hell happened?!" Buffy finally demanded, tired of the crazy conversation which was taking place in front of her, and which really did not explain her current situation.
"Yes, Wesley, enlighten us," Cordelia agreed.
"Well, Cordy, as you already have remembered we have proof that alternate realities are indeed real."
Cordelia simply nodded, Buffy stared at the loonies she had been encased with.
"Could I ask you some questions, Buffy?"
She shrugged. This could not get weirder if she answered some more questions to the nice loony in front of her. "Fire away."
"How did you meet Cordelia?"
Buffy looked at the other girl wondering why it was so important and why couldn't she herself narrate the story. To her surprise, Cordelia seemed as interested in the answer as the man was.
"Well, I moved to Sunnydale after my parents divorced. On my first day at school, I met her in the hall. I think she quizzed me on some stupid things -sorry, Cordelia," Cordelia didn't seem to mind at all. "After that we were, well, I guess you could call it allies, in Sunnydale High the most popular people were never friends. We shopped together and went to the Bronze and at the end of the semester I was already her second-in-command in the cheerleader-team," she finished.
Cordelia was staring open-mouthed at her. "Allies? *We*? In Sunnydale?" When Buffy nodded, she glanced in the dark-haired man's direction. "You are SO right, Wes. That *never* happened here. I mean, immediately after she came to the school she befriended the Scooby Gang and provoked me by *threatening* me with her stake! That certainly doesn't count as 'alliance'!"
"What are you talking about, Cordelia?" This was getting weirder and weirder.
Cordelia didn't seem to even hear her question. "Else, it doesn't explain how *Willow* turned out to be her best friend! If you really were my friend - or my ally - then there was no reason for you to near Will. That girl was an outcast at school!"
"Thanks to you," Buffy murmured darkly.
Cordelia actually seemed flustered at that piece of truth. "Well..."
"And you know well why I ended up befriending Will. How wouldn't you when you left me to fend for myself when you got wind that after my mum's death I was left penniless!" Buffy felt the old rage coursing through her system again, it had been so long since that time and still the betrayal of her supposed 'friend' cut deep. "It didn't matter that I was disheartened after what happened. It didn't matter if I needed help. Of course you and your crew wouldn't lift a finger to help me! Willow did. She saw me crying in the bathroom and she actually cared about me and forgot all about that first year of me teasing her along with *you*."
Cordelia flinched at the venom in that last word. "No, no. It didn't happen that way." She shook her head vehemently. "It was *you* and the Scoobies the ones who left me alone in senior year."
Buffy actually laughed. "Oh yes! Senior year." She made a face at the brunette and cooed, "Poor, poor little princess found out that her house and her car and all her other goodies came from stolen money. You know, Cordelia, I always thought it was some kind of cosmic justice or something."
Cordelia looked at her, shocked. And Buffy was surprised to find out that she really hadn't meant it that way. It seemed that she really had some pent-up anger towards the snob princess.
Wesley, who had stayed silent while the girls resolved their differences, decided to take charge of the situation before it got out of hand. "Calm down, Buffy," he said in a conciliatory tone, "you too, please, Cordy," he added when the brunette opened her mouth to retort to Buffy's taunts. Indeed, both girls took a big breath. In Cordelia's case it actually managed to help her calm somehow. She nodded to Wesley indicating that all was okay. He turned to Buffy, who also seemed a little quieter and asked softly, "Tell us, do you believe in vampires?"
Buffy just stared at him.
"Or in werewolves and demons and portals to the hellish dimensions?" Cordelia listed.
"W-what?" she stuttered.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
And they'd shown her. Oh yes, they had...
Even now, she could remember how petrified she had been in that old cemetery. Although -or maybe because- Cordy and Wesley flanked her, she felt insecure. Insecure didn't begin to cover it when she saw the earth moving at a gravestone and just minutes later a vampire raised from his grave. She had been petrified, alright.
Wesley had killed it -or had it been Cordy? She had been fuzzy on the details of that night - and all the while she had stayed right in her place, clinging to a cross for dear life.
She laughed at the memory. That had to be one of her most pathetic moments in her life. Later, Cordy would always tease her openly about it and even Wesley would grin knowingly when she bragged to Angel that she was not a little girl... Angel...
She shook her head. That way only lead to madness. Wonderful, perfect, blissful madness... She cleared her thoughts of him and refocused on that first night...
--------------------------------------------------------------------
You want to know more about this story? Send feedback. dani_vasq@hotmail.com , a_d_v_v@yahoo.com.ar