A/N: Thank you for all the reviews so far.

Summary: Their roles are reversed, and Cordelia's the vampire with the soul, while Angel--better known as Liam--is, ultimately, her human messenger from the Powers That Be, complete with those pesky visions. (AU obviously.)

Disclaimer: Angel does not belong to me; if I was the owner, Angel would've been shown to have gotten over Buffy, not seeking her out in "The Girl in Question", or kissing her in that season 7 crossover.

Chapter 2

What was with these men and Batman? That was pretty much the first thought that ran through Cordelia's mind as she recognized the bleak fact of now having to entertain double annoyances, one old (Liam, son of a Wolfram & Hart bastard), one new (Doyle, half-demon who couldn't keep his eyes off her, nor the drool out of his mouth)--both Irish.

The Powers That Be were very bored today.

"Liam, state your business now, then I can refuse you gently."

"Oh, that's great progress toward making a human connection--"

"Doyle!" The 19-year-old turned curiously toward the man Cordy had snapped at, sizing up his scruffy appearance.

"That's my name," he replied gamely, offering his hand to Liam, who shook it in kind. Good first impression, check.

"And I'm...well, you probably already know who I am." The boy's rather sheepish expression made Cordelia boil; and he had the gall to call her Ms. Schizo, when he could turn from joking to serious in a split-second, bold cockiness into quiet bashfulness...although, she had to be honest, Liam had always seemed shy more often than outgoing.

"Great, great, everyone knows everyone; now lets get to the damn point." The vampire glared, daring Liam to make his trademark crack about her so-called eternal PMS; apparently, things were serious, as the boy skipped the joke and went straight to the meat. But she just had to stop him at Russell.

"You know him?"

"Yes Liam, I've actually been tracking this guy down with Doyle's help--"

"Oh, so you've been working to take him down already--"

"Uh-huh, she's been doing undercover work, passing herself off as a human he'd like to take in--"

"So that's why you were at the party, and not off brooding like you normally would."

"Like I normally would? I'll have you know, I browse the malls quite a lot--"

"Is that what you consider a social life? A bunch of shopping?"

"Hey now, as fun as this Han Solo/Princess Leia banter is, we really should be getting back to the whole Russell thing," the half-demon put in, again earning more respect points from a grudging Cordelia. Liam swiftly finished his explanation, and then they were off--all together, much to Cordy's chagrin. That chagrin soon disappeared into a cool foreboding once they made it to the 19-year-old's rathole of an apartment, finding this Tina nowhere in sight. She was surprised at how calm and clear-headed Liam was as he said, "There's no sign of a struggle; Tina must've gone back to her place." And then they were off again, and just when the vampire was beginning to feel as if she were on some wild goose chase, they stumbled upon the corpse.

The vampire was quiet and stood to the side as Doyle solemnly dialed the mortal authorities; she couldn't take her eyes off Liam as he kneeled by the blonde, stroking the bite marks, then the hair, then finally giving in to the desire to pick her up and straighten her out on the couch. With a doctor's clinical grace, Cordelia diagnosed shock in the boy. When the mortal authorities arrived, it was a worthless blur, the only noticeable things being the corpse's departure, and Liam's hair--it finally registered with the vampire that the 19-year-old's hair had been cut, no longer partly lengthy and unruly like in Sunnydale, but short, and a little spiked by some sort of product.

"What now?" Hissed out Liam, back toward them.

"Russell will probably be looking for another girl after this," the vampire intoned dryly, and she could just feel Doyle's eyes glaring holes into the back of her head.

A deep breath from the boy, then he asked, "Are you sure he'll pick you? What if he's noticed your certain lack of heart beat or breath?"

"Do you actually believe I would bother presenting myself as a human to another vampire if I wasn't confident of success?" She began heading for the door, the half-demon on her heels, while Liam remained very still. "Besides," and with that she tauntingly flipped a rather luxurious wave of her hair, "Who could possibly resist me?"

A/N: Up next...uncertain of whose POV. Maybe Doyle's?