A/N: OK, so this is my first Angel story, be nice! This idea kind of popped into my head out of sheer curiosity over what the powers would be like if you could ever meet them. No idea whether or not I got the language down or not, I'm much more used to Buffy stories then I am to Angel. Oh well, one can only hope... The timeline on this story is going to be abit funky, and all of it might not make sense at first, but I hope it all reveals itself in good time. Drop me a line and tell me whether or not I have completely screwed this up.
Summary:Starts off just before Connor's cameo in 'The Price'. The gang are just about to research The Destroyer when someone pops into their lives. Goes AU from there but will follow the big events of the show. Angel/Cordy.
Kali
She was the most beautiful thing any of them had ever seen. Her skin was a golden brown that sparkled with gold. She had long curly hair that was the colour of dark toffee, with eyes that were like chocolate buttons with a gold pupil. She spent less then a second looking at all of them before her eyes rested on Angel. Her voice sang out like a lullaby, softly. "Angel"
"OK so I found some reference to an old Samarian myth about a creature they called Destroyer…." Fred said, walking out of the office a large volume in her hands. She stopped and looked up at their new guest. "Who's that?"
"I have no idea" Gunn replied without taking his eyes off her, he like all the others was bewitched by this woman's presence. Only Cordelia seemed unaffected, she was looking between Angel and this new woman. "Angel? Do you know her?"
"Hey kids, I'm gonna scootch off and see if I can ask any of my sources about this destroyer fella" Lorne called down the stairs putting on a bright jacket as he made his way to the group. " I'm not to sure how long it will be, I've kinda tapped out all of my sources lately…Holy sweet Moses who conjured a Cleo?"
"A what?" Cordelia asked
"A Cleo, very rare and powerful goddess, they are usually never in this dimension, how did she get here?" Lorne asked quietly, looking in awe at the Cleo.
"She just appeared" Angel said finally speaking, he slowly walked towards her. "Can we help you?"
The Cleo seemed to come out of the trance she was in and floated down the stairs. "You would think that after spending years watching over you all I would get a better greeting then a bunch of gawkers" the Cleo said, her voice losing its lyrical quality with every word. "Honestly, anyone would think that you weren't brought up with any manners"
"Oh don't you mind them, they're just a little shocked at your benevolent self Cleo " Lorne told her, bowing down awkwardly.
"Call me Kali, Cleo's a work name. And I was not summoned, my fellow powers just seem to be having an off day that's all"
"Fellow? As in…." Gunn trailed off waiting for Lorne to fill in the blanks.
"Cleo's are incarnations of the Powers that Be, kind of representatives if you will"
"What do you mean off day? How can the almighty Powers that Be have on off day? That's kind of disturbing" Cordelia shot at Kali, still not entirely happy with her presence.
Kali looked at Cordelia with a small smile, which she did not return. "I am no threat to you Cordelia"
"Oh, she knows that! Cordelia, tell the nice goddess how you're not a threat to her," Lorne hissed through his teeth, glaring at Cordy.
"I'm not, but call me curious why did you hop a couple of heavenly dimensions to come and see us?"
"Why I am here and exactly whom I am here for will shown later," Kali replied shifting her gaze back to Angel.
"Oh god, none of us is going to die are we?" Fred asked
"Relax Fred, I am not an angel of death," Kali answered sitting down on the couch. "Though if I were, anyone want to venture a guess at who I would be taking?"
"You stay the hell away from my girl" Gunn said angrily getting ready to go towards Kali.
"Easy their Kitten, Momma bear is not someone you want to get upset," Lorne warned, holding him back.
"You should listen to him, being over protective has gotten you into trouble before" Kali warned, smiling.
Gunn backed down, still keeping his eye on Kali. She only smiled further. "Now boys and girls if you don't mind I have a few words to say to Angel"
"Anything you have to say to him you can say to all of us" Cordelia told her, folding her arms.
"Patience Cody, you'll get your turn. I won't steal him for too long" Kali locked her gaze on Angel. "Leave us"
"Maybe we should give these two some air" Lorne said, pushing the others outside. "We'll be outside if you need us"
Cordy gave Kali an ice-cold glance and walked outside into the garden closing the door behind her.
"Alone at last"
"I don't trust her" Cordy exclaimed
"Cordy…"
"What? I'm sorry, but she just floats in here and makes Angel go all stoic and we just leave him with her? What if she's some kind of evil hell bitch from another dimension?"
"But she's part of the Powers That Be so doesn't that make her like inherently good?" Fred asked.
"And mighty powerful to, you guys couldn't feel it but I could, she was giving it off in tidal waves" Lorne answered
"You are not the only one" Gru corrected, speaking for the first time. " I to felt the power that the golden one possessed. She is a force of great good"
"Well isn't she just a big hit with everybody" Cordy muttered darkly.
"Princess, I know you worry for Angel's safety but I believe he is in no danger," Gru said comfortingly, rubbing Cordy's shoulder as she looked into the lobby.
"I just wish I knew what they were talking about"
"Can I get you some tea? Wait, you probably don't drink tea, I think we have some…."
"I do not want anything Liam" Kali interrupted.
Angel paused and then his face hardened "My name is Angel"
"Angel, Liam, Angelus, the man has known many names and yet still he remains a mystery to many. " Kali floated back over to the bed in Angel's bedroom where they had gone for more privacy.
"Do you know why I am here?" She asked
"The Powers sent you. I mean… you sent you I'm not really sure how this works"
"Something happened which was not meant to be, it has thrown the dimensions out of balance, meant that I have had to come here, to you."
She gazed up at him and realization hit him. "The spell. To one that I did to try and bring back Connor, it's why you're here."
"You were foolish to try and bring him back. It would have required a great many magicks then even Wolfram and Hart could posses. You should not have tried"
"He's my son and he's in one of the worst hell dimensions there is. I wasn't going to leave him there"
Kali let out a blissful sigh. "I can see why she loves you "
Angel looked at her, thrown. "She? Who's she?"
Kali floated around the room "In all the years that you have lived, all the things that you have seen and done, you have always put your entire being into a cause" She turned to face him " Kind of like another vampire I know"
Angel just followed her with his eyes around the room, waiting for her to explain. "When you were alive that cause was being as useless as you could and when you died it was being as evil and now that you have a soul, well that cause became a lot more worthy of our attention."
She floated back to him. "Your cause was love. You searched for it and yearned for it, for a feeling that would take away the agonizing break in your soul that was left when you remembered all the vicious things you had done. A few times you even thought you had found it, and although the Slayer is now much more better suited, you were still left with a void you were so desperate to fill. And then there was him"
She stepped closer, drawing him in her hypnotizing gaze "We felt your love, felt the strength and violence of it and we made a vow that your struggle would not be in vain that you would have your son as you had wanted from the second you discovered his existence. "
"You let him get taken" Angel murmured, his voice filled with pain
"Yes, but only so you could prove to us that you had enough faith that he would come back. But you didn't"
She stepped away from him, her smile lost "You risked everything to try and bring him back, a valiant attempt on the surface, but a reckless one underneath. A move worthy of Angelus."
Angel had the decency to look ashamed. "So after all of that I came here to tell you this." She paused, still staring at him "Nice going"
She smiled again and laughed. Angel looked at her confused "I don't understand"
"OK so you screwed up. Surprise, surprise you're not the first person to do that, or the first guy for that matter. You made a mistake but that doesn't mean we don't have time to fix it"
"Fix it? What my mistake or Connor being taken?"
"Now that would be telling and where is the fun in that? You're coming out of this pretty good considering, so when it's over I see a big ass gift basket in my future from you"
"So what happens now?"
"Now you're going to sit down and tell me why you haven't told Cordelia how much you love her"
"I'm going in there"
"I don't think thats such a good idea, " Gunn warned.
"I don't care, they've been in there for hours! What could they possibly be doing that's taking so long?"
They all fell silent, not wanting to voice the thoughts that popped into their heads simultaneously. "OK, now I'm definitely going in there" Cordy turned and went to go back into the hotel.
A small arm held her back "Maybe we should just give them some space? I'm sure Angel wouldn't want us barging in on him if he's receiving some prophecy or somethin'" Fred told her
"Fred's right, we should stay until Angel or the golden one returns" Gru added
"You know, you can stop calling her that any time" Cordy shot at him
"The best thing we can probably do now is leave them to it sweet-cheeks. Let them work it out huh? The last thing we need is a pissed off Power in our midst" Lorne cut in, rubbing Cordy's arm supportively before looking up at the hotel. Although he was telling Cordy to let it be, he couldn't help wondering, what would cause a being as powerful as Kali to talk to Angel?
"Who said anything about me loving Cordelia?"
"Please, Angel, I've been around since your ancestors were dinosaurs, don't insult my intelligence"
"I'm not, I'm just confused as to why you would think that I think of Cordelia in that way" Angel sat down next to her "She's just a friend"
Kali looked at him, the light dancing in her eyes making them look playful. "Really?"
She stood up and turned to face him. She did not break off the stare, but Angel did suddenly distracted as Cordelia appeared next to Kali out of thin air.
"Cordy? What are you…" Angel broke off at the sight of the wound that appeared in Cordelia's skin, her blood seeping through her neck. She gave Angel a look of shock before collapsing.
Angel caught her before she hit the ground and ripped off the sleeve of his shirt and pressed it against her wound. "What are you doing to her? Leave her alone!" He shouted at Kali. She merely looked down at him. Angel picked Cordelia up and carried her onto the bed. He turned around furious and went to grab Kali,but at that moment she became incorporeal so he grasped at thin air. All the while she never stopped smiling at him. "Undo whatever it is you have just done to her. Now" He seethed through clenched teeth.
"And you still don't understand" She whispered to him, before she disappeared from view and reappeared next to Cordelia, who had by now spilled so much blood it was leaking through the bed and onto the carpet. Her face was becoming more drained by the second.
"She is leaking blood, the very thing that you feed upon. It's just flowing out of her like a river, all hot and smooth" Cordelia started to drift into unconsciousness. Angel was by her side in a second "Cordy? Cordy! Stay with me here, I need you to stay awake"
"Taste her Angel, feel all that blood just pouring into you" Kali coaxed, her voice becoming lyrical again. Angel turned and faced her "I'm not going to drink her. Now you had better fix whatever it is you have just done to her, or I swear I will find a way to kill you"
Kali's smile widened. Angel looked down at the empty bed. "What…" he turned to Kali who was standing behind him. "That, would be one of the many reasons why I know you love her. You could have drained her dry in a matter of seconds, but you didn't. Fighting against your natural instincts like that, only comes through love"
Angel continued to stare at the bed, the image of Cordelia near death still in his mind "She's alright?"
"She's downstairs with Lorne and the others obsessing about how they shouldn't trust me, thinly veiled jealousy I might add"
"Does she love me?" Angel asked, staring straight at Kali.
"Why don't you ask her?"
"I'm asking you. Does she love me?"
"Does who love you?" Cordelia asked, from the door, arms folded.
Angel turned and gulped at Cordelia's presence, not daring to look at Kali.
"Patience never was a virtue in my book. Figured I'd come up here and see whether the world was about to end." Cordelia continued, walking up to both of them, her hands now transferring to her hips.
"Cordelia, we were just talking about you" Kali answered, her smile widening.
"Funny, I didn't feel my ears burn. Must have been you doing all the talking. Care to share?"
Kali turned to Angel "I told you, you should ask her"
"Ask me what?"
Angel considered lying to her, or even just running away but his curiosity got the better of him. Something told him that Kali knew the answer, and it didn't seem to be in the negative.
"Do you love me?"
Oh aren't I just a meanie? This chapter is quite long I know, I can't promise they will all be this length, its however long the muses make it. Comment's would be much appreciated, especially since the survival of this story depends on them. Be honest!