Disclaimer: All characters and things from ANGEL and BUFFY belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. If they aren't on the show they belong to me.
Summary: Angel and Spike get a chance to get back the people that meant the most to them after the battle against Wolfram and Hart. But can they keep the real past a secret from the only people they want to share it with? A/C S/B
CHAPTER 17
Buffy and Spike arrived at Giles' right before Giles was walking out the door to leave for another day of work at the Sunnydale High School library. They could tell he was getting ready to leave because he had pulled the shades up in his living room, a task he only completed when he was about to leave his house.
Buffy and Spike quickly ran up to the door. Buffy did not bother to knock; instead she just pushed the door open.
"Giles?" Buffy called out.
"Buffy?" Giles stuck his head out of the kitchen. "Spike? You're back."
Buffy and Spike both nodded at Giles.
"What happened?" Giles asked.
"We were too late." Buffy looked at her hands.
"What do you mean?" Giles asked. "Angel was arrested?"
Spike nodded. "Not only that, but he was charged with kidnapping and rape."
"Rape?" Giles was shocked.
"He didn't." Buffy said instantly. "He and Cordelia were just a little too close, you could say, when the police arrived."
Giles made a face. "That's all I needed to know. These are still my students after all."
"Anyway, Angel is in jail here in Sunnydale and Cordelia was taken to the hospital. We think she might be home by now." Buffy said.
Giles nodded, checking his watch. "She probably will be."
"Alright, so what is the plan then?" Buffy asked. "Some of Angel's friends in L.A. are running the police files, trying to help get him out of jail."
"That's good. I should get in contact with them." Giles said.
"Yeah. Here is the number to their place." Spike handed Giles a small piece of paper from his jacket with the number to the Hyperion Hotel on it. He had kept it there in case he would ever need it.
"Thanks." Giles held the paper up. "I'll call them from the library, in the mean time, you should go visit Cordelia and maybe later one of you should stop by the jail. Spike maybe, talk to Angel. It wouldn't be too suspicious, you were his roommate after all."
Spike nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a plan."
Buffy nodded also. "Oh yeah, and I am so skipping school today." She smiled at Spike and then waved goodbye to Giles before following Spike out of Giles' house and to his motorcycle, which they got on and then drove off in the direction of Cordelia's house.
Connor and Fred arrived at the Hyperion Hotel just as Lorne, Gunn, and Wesley were getting settled in the lobby. Connor entered waving the police files on Angel in his hand, and Fred was carrying her laptop with her.
"I got the files." Connor said, handing the folder to Wesley. "Took hell to get them. Fred made some copies and put them in the place of these ones."
"Thank you, Fred." Wesley smiled warmly at her. She was beautiful and he was definitely attracted to her.
"Whatever I can do to help." Fred said. "I want to help Angel and Cordelia." She could not explain it, but the minute Connor had told her what had happened Fred wanted to do nothing but help Angel and Cordelia. For some reason she felt a connection, not only with Angel and Cordelia, but the Hyperion Hotel and everyone in it from the minute she walked in. She had no idea that was because in her past she had lived in the Hyperion and considered the rest of the people who inhabited it her family.
"It's appreciated, sweetie, believe me." Lorne patted Fred on the back. He had missed her so much. The minute Illyria had taken her body over Lorne felt a piece of him break off. It was the same when Angel had informed him that Cordelia was dead. Lorne was so glad that both girls were back now, even if they didn't remember knowing him. He had no idea Cordelia had gotten her memory back.
"It is." Wesley agreed.
"We should get to work." Gunn said. "We have to figure out how to prove Angel didn't do anything."
"Cordelia's testimony wouldn't hurt." Connor said. "If we can get the right people to listen to her, the charges against Angel could be dropped."
"Yeah, but who the hell are the right people?" Gunn asked.
Everyone in the room looked at each other, but remained silent. None of them could answer Gunn's question. They all knew how bad the situation Angel was in could get, most of them had seen how bad it had already gotten, and none of them were really sure who the right people were. All they knew is that they wanted Angel to be okay.
Angel paced his cell. He could not sleep, he could not sit still. Too many things were going on in his head at once. He marveled at the dent in the brick wall in front of him, the dent he had put there. His demon strength was definitely returning, he could feel it every time he clutched his hand into a fist. He just didn't understand why.
There were many reasons his strength could have been returning. The only one that seemed to cross his mind, however, was that the Powers realized they needed their champion even in the new reality. He just hoped it didn't mean he was turning back into a vampire. Not that he had hated his immortality or the fact that it took a lot more then a few bullets to kill him, he just didn't want to become a pile of dust when the sun came out. After all, his jail cell had a window.
His thoughts also drifted to Cordelia and the fact that she remembered him. Somehow, she had gotten her memory back. It had happened right after he kissed her, right after he thought he would never see her again. That's when it hit Angel. Cordelia remembered because he had allowed her too, just as he had allowed Lorne too. He had let Lorne read his soul, which brought the demons memory back, and when he kissed Cordelia he gave into her completely. For a moment, he felt as though time had stopped just for them, and in that moment Cordelia was given the chance to remember.
"But, how?" Angel asked himself out loud. It didn't make any sense. He knew he really had no control over Cordelia or Lorne's ability to remember, but he felt as though he had opened up the gate just a little to let their memory's come pouring back in. He wondered if it would work on anyone else.
Cordelia heard the doorbell ring downstairs. She climbed out of bed to see if she could tell who was at the house, but she saw no car in the driveway besides Xander's. She sighed and moved back to her bed. A minute later she heard Xander's voice traveling up the stairs.
"She really isn't up for any visitors. Her parents ran out for the day and told me to make sure she sleeps." Xander was telling whoever had arrived at the Chase mansion.
Cordelia rolled her eyes and climbed back out of bed, moving to her door, and swinging it open. "I'm fine, Xander."
"We assumed you were." Buffy stuck her head out from behind Xander who was blocking Cordelia's view of the visitors. "Or we were just going to move him."
Xander looked back at Cordelia and then back at Buffy and sighed, stepping aside to allow Cordelia to see that both Buffy and Spike were at her house.
"Buffy! Spike!" Cordelia was so happy to see them both, especially Spike. She ran forward and hugged them both.
"Good to see you're feeling better." Spike patted Cordelia awkwardly on the back.
"Oh, a hell of a lot better, fang boy." Cordelia gave Spike a little grin.
Spike let Cordelia's words register and then he stared at her, a look of shock on his face. How did she know he used to have fangs? Suddenly Spike realized what had happened to Cordelia. "Cordelia, you…"
"Remember?" Cordelia finished his sentence. "Oh yeah. I remember."
"Remember what?" Buffy asked.
"Nothing…" Spike told her, but couldn't take his eyes off Cordelia. "How?"
"I don't know. Angel said you'd let me in on everything." Cordelia told him.
"In on what?" Xander didn't like that Angel's name had been brought into the conversation.
"Nothing, Xander." Cordelia shot a look at him. "Why don't you go downstairs and do something."
"But…I…" Xander started.
"You heard her." Buffy gave Xander a push out of Cordelia's room and then closed the door. "Okay, what the hell is going on?"
Spike shook his head. "Nothing. Cordelia and I just need to discuss something."
"Something…?" Buffy fished around.
"It's not a big deal, Buffy." Cordelia tried not to get angry. She had not seen Buffy in a few years really, and had to remember that Buffy thought she was still eighteen.
"It isn't." Spike assured Buffy. "Let us talk and I'll inform you later. Someone needs to keep an eye on Xander anyway."
Buffy thought for a moment, but then nodded. "Fine. I'll go make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." She gave Spike a quick kiss and then moved to go downstairs.
Once Buffy was out of the room, Spike turned to Cordelia. "You bloody remember?"
"My past? Yeah." Cordelia folded her arms across her chest. "What I don't remember is how the hell I ended up in whatever bizarre world we are in!"'
Spike chuckled to himself, sitting on her bed. "Bizarre is the best you could come up with?"
"Spike? What the hell is going on?" Cordelia asked.
"Alright. Well, the old reality ended." Spike started.
"What?" Cordelia asked.
"The vision you sent Angel. The battle against Wolfram and Hart?" Spike reminded her. "Well, we lost it. All of us died. After, the rest of the world seemed to fall to bloody fast for even the Slayer to catch it."
"So the world just ended?" Cordelia asked.
"The reality we existed in did." Spike said. "So the next thing Angel and I know, we are standing in some bloody white room and Darla was talking to us."
"Darla?" Cordelia raised an eyebrow at the mention of Angel's old lover.
"Yes, Darla." Spike could tell Cordelia was annoyed by this fact. "Can we get over that now? Believe me, Angel is head over heels in love with you anyway."
Cordelia looked down. "You don't know that."
"Bloody hell I don't." Spike said. "The man let the world go to hell because you weren't by his side anymore."
Cordelia looked up at Spike, shocked by his words.
"Yeah." Spike nodded, indicating what he said was true. "Even the Powers That Be noticed it. That's why they stuck us in this reality. They said that they realized that you meant more to Angel then any damn Shanshu or any damn redemption. He gave up when he lost you."
Cordelia felt tears rising in her eyes as she heard Spike's words. She had never realized how important she was to Angel until that moment. She had always considered him the most important man in her life, even before she had fallen in love with him, but she never expected him to feel the same way about her.
"Anyway, the Powers said that some things happened in the old reality that weren't meant to, so they were putting us in a different one. It was our second chance, all of ours. Like a different path our lives could have taken. There were supposed to be no vampires, we were all just humans, living in a normal world." Spike told her. "Except Angel and I had a punishment. We had to remember our old lives, and watch the people around us knowing they had no idea of the past they shared with us or each other."
Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Typical of the Powers That Be to do that. It wasn't enough that Angel was dedicated to them. They always had to make him suffer a little more."
"Not only that, but they bloody lied." Spike snorted. "No vampires? Yeah, that's a bloody joke."
Cordelia nodded, realizing that fact too. "We've got to get Angel out of jail. Things are clearly starting to go to hell around here and we're going to need him." She moved to her phone. "I'll call Lorne, see what he thinks."
"Lorne?" Spike raised an eyebrow.
Cordelia nodded. "Yeah, he knows too. Angel said he did anyway. I'm guessing its because he is empathic or something."
"Well, you aren't." Spike told her. "So how in the bloody hell did you remember?" He was curious how Angel had gotten Cordelia to remember. He was hoping that maybe he could do the same and get Buffy to remember.
"I don't know." Cordelia told him. "I just did. Angel and I kissed before the police took him away and something happened. Then I remembered."
Spike nodded "Well, I should head downstairs and keep Buffy company. You make that phone call." Cordelia's answer wasn't exactly what he was looking and Cordelia could tell.
"Spike?" Cordelia called out before she dialed Lorne's number.
Spike turned back to her. "Yeah?"
"If there is a way to get Buffy's memory back, I know we will find it." Cordelia told him.
"How did you know?" Spike was confused. How was Cordelia able to tell he was thinking about that?
"Hey. I'm a seer." Cordelia gave him a small grin. "Plus you vampires, or ex-vampires, or whatever you are. You're all the same. Your body language is so easy to read. I know Angel like the back of my hand."
Spike smiled to himself as he watched her move to the phone and he moved out the door. He could see why Angel had fallen for Cordelia. She definitely had a way about her and Spike could see her keeping Angel on his toes for a long time to come.
Wesley and Fred had been sitting over the police files on Angel for over three hours now, and their eyes were about ready to fall out of their head. Connor and Gunn weren't having much luck on the computer either, and Lorne had given up a long time ago, putting himself on lunch duty and making everyone sandwiches. So far they had all come to the same conclusion. Without Cordelia's word and a group of people to believe Cordelia there was no way Angel would walk away from the situation.
Just then the phone in the Hyperion Hotel began ringing. Wesley moved to grab it. "Hello?"
"Hello, this is Rupert Giles." Giles voice rang on the other end of the line. "I'd like to speak with Wesley Wyndam-Pryce, please?"
"This is Wesley." Wesley answered.
"Very well. I am calling because I am a friend of Angel's from Sunnydale. Actually, I am his librarian, or his old one." Giles explained.
"Rupert Giles?" Wesley was curious. "Are you by chance the watcher of the Slayer in Sunnydale."
"Yes. I am." Giles was surprised Wesley knew about slayers. "How did you know?"
"I am also on the council. It is an honor to be speaking with you, sir." Wesley stammered into the phone.
"Well thank you." Giles could not help the feeling he was getting. He felt like he had met Wesley before or at least heard his voice. "Have we ever spoken before this?"
"No." Wesley answered, shifting the phone to his other ear and taking a seat at the desk. "I don't believe so."
"Well, at any rate." Giles continued into the phone. "I was wondering if you had figured anything out that might help get Angel out of jail?"
"We have come to the conclusion that it is really up to Cordelia. She needs to explain what happened and she needs to explain it to someone who will listen to her and believe her." Wesley said.
"Very well. I will work on that then." Giles said. "Thank you for your help, and if you get anything else, please give me a call. My number is…"
"It came up on the caller i.d." Wesley told him. "And I'll call you if we figure anything out at all, sir."
"Thank you." Giles hung up.
Wesley too hung up and then looked up to see everyone in the Hyperion Hotel looking at him for an explanation of who was on the phone. "That was Mr. Giles, a friend of Angel's from Sunnydale. He wanted to know if we knew anything that could help get Angel out of jail."
Everyone nodded, understanding. Just then, Lorne's phone started to ring.
"What? Do we all get calls at once?" Gunn asked.
"Maybe it's good." Fred said. "I could use the break."
Connor nodded. "Yeah. I hear you."
Lorne looked at the number on his cell phone and made a face. He had no idea who it was, and he rarely gave his number out to anyone. He looked up at the rest of the group. "I'm going to go take this in the office."
"Go for it." Gunn told him.
Lorne nodded, moving into what had once been Angel's office, and then Wesley's, and then Angel's again. He flipped open his cell phone. "Hello?"
"Lorne?" Cordelia's voice rang into the phone.
Lorne was confused. He didn't understand why Cordelia was calling him or how she had gotten his number. After all, she didn't remember him. "Cordelia?"
"Yeah. It's me." Cordelia answered.
"Can I help you with something?" Lorne asked, remembering Cordelia did not remember her past with him, and he did not want to say anything to confuse her.
"Lorne, it's me. It's really me." Cordelia told him.
"What?" Lorne was confused.
"If I have to sing I will, but I'd rather not." Cordelia answered. "We all know I'm not the greatest. Not to mention last time I sang for you, Wolfram and Hart came and sucked your brains out."
In that instant Lorne realized that he was no longer talking to the shadow of the seer he once knew, he was talking to the real deal. "Cordelia? Oh honey, is it really you?"
"Yes, Lorne. It's really me." Cordelia smiled as she twisted the phone cord around her finger.
"How? How can you remember?" Lorne asked, unable to hide his smile, not that Cordelia could see it anyway through the phone.
"When Angel and I…" Cordelia started. "Well, we…"
"You too hopped in bed like bunnies." Lorne finished her sentence; able to tell she was struggling to get it out. He knew he had caused her to blush on the other end of the phone.
Cordelia blushed. "Uh, yeah. Well, then the police came and I don't know. I didn't want to lose him and I kissed him and I just felt it. Everything fit and then everything came rushing back. I don't know why or how, it just happened."
"It happened because Angel gave a little piece of himself to you." Lorne smiled. "You two belong together. You share a powerful connection. Stronger then even the Powers clearly suspected."
"Well, now that bond is the reason I need to get him back." Cordelia said. "He told me you and Spike remembered."
"Have you spoken to Spike?" Lorne asked.
"Yeah." Cordelia answered into the phone. "He's actually downstairs with Buffy."
"Well, Wesley, Fred, Gunn, Connor, and myself have been working all morning to figure out a way to get Angel out." Lorne said.
"And?" Cordelia pressed.
"And it's up to you. You're word is what counts in this, princess." Lorne answered. "But with everyone in Sunnydale…"
"I know. I know. Everyone talks for me, and when I open my mouth no one listens." Cordelia finished Lorne's thought. "But that was the old Cordelia that these people think they are dealing with. Trust me, they don't know the Cordelia Chase they are messing with now."
Lorne smiled, knowing what Cordelia was saying was exactly correct. No one in this reality had any clue what an amazing woman Cordelia Chase truly was. No one except himself and Angel, and Spike, not that Spike knew the Cordelia of the old reality well either. "Oh sweetie, I believe you."
"I've got to go, Lorne." Cordelia told him. "It was good talking to you. I'll call you later."
"It was good talking to you too." Lorne told her, and heard her end of the phone hang up. He sighed, putting his phone back in his pocket. He was unable to wipe the smile off his face however. He was so glad that Cordelia was back, and not just because it would be good for Angel. He had missed the seer just as much as any of them had. She had always been a good friend to him and he felt like her death was immoral and unjust. She deserved so much more then the Powers That Be had given her. He hoped that, once they got Angel out of jail, she and the former champion could have the life they deserved together.
The sun had risen in Angel's jail cell a few hours ago, and to his relief, he did not turn to dust. He was glad he was not a vampire again, not yet anyway. He could deal with having his strength back, but he wasn't sure if he could deal with everything else. After walking in the sun for a few weeks he didn't think he could go back to living in the dark. Not when he had seen how beautiful Cordelia looked with the sun shinning down on her.
Just then Officer Mack banged on Angel's bar. "You've got a visitor, kid."
Angel stood, unsure of who was there to see him. "Okay."
Officer Mack nodded, motioning for someone to walk down the hall, and then he walked away. A minute later an older man with dark hair and an older woman with blonde hair entered into Angel's view. Angel did not recognize either of them.
"Liam Angel?" The man asked.
Angel nodded. "Yeah?"
"Do you have any idea who I am?" The man asked.
"No sir." Angel said respectfully.
"Well, remember my face. Remember my wife's face, because you'll remember us every single day as you rot away in that jail cell." The man said.
Angel was confused. "I'm sorry. I don't follow."
"We're Cordelia's parents." Mrs. Chase answered him.
Angel nodded, realizing that both the man and woman did resemble Cordelia somewhat. He had never met them before, but he disliked Mr. and Mrs. Chase. After all, he had seen the mess they had left Cordelia in when she moved to L.A. in the old reality, and he would not forgive them for that.
"That's it? You have nothing to say for yourself?" Mr. Chase asked.
"I don't know what you want me to say, sir." Angel replied. "Except that I did not and would not ever hurt your daughter. She means too much to me."
"Please." Mrs. Chase snorted. "Cut the crap."
"Talk to Cordelia. If you would listen to her, you would know I didn't do anything to her." Angel told them.
"We talk to our daughter." Mr. Chase replied.
"No." Angel countered. "You talk for her. You don't listen to her; you don't let her speak for herself. She's smart, regardless of what you two think about her, and one day you're going to be sorry you never really got to know her."
"And you're going to be sorry you said any of this." Mr. Chase snapped back. "I will hire the best lawyers there are to make sure you don't ever make it out of this place, young man."
Angel remained silent as he watched Mr. and Mrs. Chase walk away from his cell and down the hall. Mr. Chase's threats meant nothing to Angel. He knew that if worse came to worse he would have to figure his own way out of the Sunnydale jail and he would have to just start running, hopefully with Cordelia at his side.
Spike entered the living room of the Chase mansion to find Buffy sitting on one couch while Xander sat across from her. The room was silent. Xander had a car magazine in his hand, and Buffy had her eyes on every move that Xander made.
"It's good to see you two are on good terms." Spike said, taking a seat next to Buffy.
"Well, I'm sorry that I don't appreciate people barging in when my girlfriend is upstairs trying to recover from a dramatic episode." Xander said tauntingly.
"She isn't you're girlfriend." Buffy said. "And the dramatic episode Cordelia endured started when the police barged in and took Angel from her."
Xander stood. "It's not my fault that he took her."
"He didn't, you blockhead." Spike stood also, getting aggravated with Xander. "All he did was take her from you."
"Well now, it doesn't really matter if he took her or didn't, does it? He's going to sit in that jail from now until the end of days and there is nothing any of you can do about it." Xander smirked, looking at Buffy.
"That's where you're wrong." Buffy told him. "Angel will get out of there, and if he's smart he'll come and kick your ass afterwards."
Xander stepped toward Buffy. "Why don't you shut you're stupid little mouth?"
"Why don't you back away from her?" Spike took a step toward Xander.
Xander turned to Spike. "You're slut of a girlfriend like's to run her mouth. It's not my problem."
Spike couldn't believe Xander would talk about Buffy like that. Xander had never been so cruel in the old reality and Spike couldn't grasp why he was in the new one. He didn't care though. He felt a rush of power in his wrist, one he hadn't felt in a few weeks. The power of a vampire; and before Spike knew it, he had punched Xander so hard in the face that Xander toppled down onto the glass table, knocked out cold.
Spike looked at his hand in amazement. "Bloody hell…"
"Well, its good to know I'm not the only one with the super strength coming back." Cordelia smiled as she entered her living room.
"What the hell just happened?" Buffy asked.
"Doesn't matter." Cordelia said. "We've got bigger things to deal with right now." She moved into the room. "So, I suggest we start with making sure Xander can't follow us when he wakes up and then we move our ass' and go get Angel!"
"Alright then." Spike was shocked at Cordelia's change of voice as she began to speak about saving Angel. "I say we locked Xander in the basement."
"And lock all the windows down there." Buffy added. "Or maybe, block them up so he can't get out."
"Good idea." Cordelia stood there, waiting for Buffy and Spike to start moving; when neither of them did she clapped her hands together. "Okay people, let's get moving here. We don't have all the time in the world."
Buffy and Spike both nodded quickly, moving at Cordelia's request to get Xander in her basement. They left him on the floor, blocking the window's up with the biggest and heaviest things they could find. It was no problem for Spike, not anymore. He could not figure it out, but somehow he had gotten his demon strength back.
Once the basement was secure, Cordelia locked the door. "Alright, let's get down to that jail." She led Buffy and Spike out to her car. She was determined to save Angel, no matter what the cost might be. She had just gotten her memory back, and with that she had also gotten Angel back. Losing him when she died was one time to many and she was not about to lose him all over again.