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 18
Cordelia led Spike and Buffy into the Sunnydale Police station. She was not sure how, but one way or another she was going to walk back out with Angel, even if it meant having to break him out of the cell he was in.
Right before Cordelia reached the front desk, she felt a hand on her arm. She turned to face Buffy.
"Cordelia, do you have a plan or are you just rushing in there?" Buffy asked.
Cordelia thought for a moment and then smiled at the Slayer. "Actually, I'm just going to wing this."
Buffy nodded with a sigh. "That's what I thought."
Cordelia approached the front desk of the Sunnydale Police station and was about to talk to the receptionist when she saw two very familiar faces on the other side of the door leading into the lobby of the station.
"Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?" Cordelia pushed open the door, disregarding the receptionists orders to not and quickly walked forward to her parents, with Buffy and Spike trailing behind her.
"Cordelia, honey, you should be back in bed." Mr. Chase told his daughter.
"Why?" Cordelia asked. "I'm not sick. Nothing is wrong with me. I'm perfectly fine."
"Miss Chase." Officer Mac smiled at the young woman in front of him, as he leaned against the desk he and Cordelia's parents stood next to. "You've had a traumatic experience. You're father is right, you should rest." He placed a hand on her shoulder.
Spike didn't like Officer Mac's gesture and quickly moved to Cordelia's side. "Back off, buddy."
"Not a smart move, young man." Mr. Chase told Spike. "I'd tell you to be more respectful, but I guess you wouldn't know better, seeing as how your best friend is locked in a cell down there." Mr. Chase pointed to where Angel's cell was.
"He's not my best friend." Spike told Mr. Chase. Sure, he and Angel got along, but in all the years they had known each other they had never really been friends, just dealt with each other, knowing that they could basically depend on the other through anything, knowing that they were both champions.
"And he won't be down there long." Buffy added quickly.
Mrs. Chase rolled her eyes. "Alright enough. We are going home." She grabbed Cordelia. "Let's go dear."
"No." Cordelia shrugged her mother's hand away to Mrs. Chase's surprise. "I came down here for a reason." She turned to officer Mac. "You need to let Angel go."
"Miss Chase…" Officer Mac started.
"He's innocent." Cordelia said. "I want that on record. He did not kidnap me or rape me. I went with him on my own." She turned to the receptionist when she got no response from Officer Mac or her parents. "Can I get that on record?"
"Uh sure…" The receptionist was a young female police officer who quickly moved to take down Cordelia's statement.
"Honey, you don't want that on record." Mr. Chase told Cordelia. "You don't know what you're saying."
"No, you're not listening to me!" Cordelia snapped at her father. "I'm talking, but you're not following and that's fine, but Angel is innocent and I won't let him sit in jail."
"Cordelia…" Mrs. Chase tried.
"Save it, Mom." Cordelia told her mother.
"Cordelia, stop causing a scene." Mr. Chase pressed.
"Don't worry about it, Dad." Cordelia turned to her father. "After Angel gets out, I am leaving with him, and I won't cause another scene or disgrace your perfect name or imagine again, got it?"
"Cordelia…" Mr. Chase tried.
"You heard the young lady, sir." Spike smiled at Mr. Chase.
Just then the Chief of Police entered with the receptionist.
"Chief, hi." Cordelia smiled at the older, chubby man.
"I hear you want to give a statement on Mr. Liam Angel?" The Chief asked Cordelia. He had been on the force for over thirty years and rarely played politics. He didn't care who Cordelia or her parents were, he just tried to do right by the people, which was rather odd considering the rest of his staff was nothing like that.
"I do." Cordelia nodded.
"Cordelia…" Mr. Chase warned again.
"Dad, I can and I am going to do this." Cordelia shot her father a look, before turning back to the chief. "I want you to let Angel go. He did not kidnap or rape me. I went with him willingly because I have feelings for him. I want all charges dropped against him."
"Alright." The Chief took the statement and then looked up at Cordelia. "Is that all?"
"Are you going to let him out?" Cordelia raised an eyebrow.
The Chief nodded, to Mr. and Mrs. Chase disappointment. "Sure." He moved around the counter.
"Can I come with you?" Cordelia asked.
The chief nodded again, and began walking down the hall.
Cordelia turned back to Buffy and Spike. "Keep my parents company, will you?" She grinned and then followed the chief down the hall.
"Not a problem." Buffy gave a slight grin to Cordelia's parents.
"Yup." Spike also smiled, crossing his arms over his chest as if he had just gained a huge victory over the Chases.
Mr. Chase took a deep breath, rolling his eyes at both Buffy and Spike while Mrs. Chase just shook her head. Clearly the Chases did not approve of any actions Cordelia had just taken, but it was not as though they could control her. They never really had been able to, and Cordelia was especially not going to let them now. Not after she remembered what they had done to her in the old reality. She had learned to live without them and she was not about to let them control her life now.
Lorne sighed as he took a sip of his sea breeze and stretched out on the couch of the Hyperion Hotel. Fred, Wesley, Gunn, and Connor had been working on Angel's situation from earlier that morning and had finally crashed, even though the sun was just setting. Lorne watched as Wesley fell asleep in the chair in his old office and Fred sprawled herself out on the couch across from Wesley in the office. Gunn and Connor had both fallen asleep in the main lobby. Connor was on the couch across from Lorne, and Gunn had fallen asleep at the counter, his head resting amongst a pile of papers on the tabletop.
When Lorne had gotten Cordelia's phone call he was tempted to tell everyone in the hotel that she was going to give her statement and that he expected Angel to be out of jail later that night, but when he walked back into the lobby he saw how hard Wesley, Fred, Gunn, and Connor were working, and how they were doing it together. He knew it was selfish, but he had missed everyone being together like that and was not about to break it up, even if none of them remembered the times they had sat and worked together in the past.
Connor stirred in his sleep, mumbling to himself. At first, Lorne could not understand what the young man was saying, but then Connor's words became much clearer, much louder.
"Angelus…" Connor mumbled, turning over in his sleep.
Lorne perked up, alarmed by the word that had just come out of Connor's mouth. He edged over, carefully listening to Connor.
"Angelus…" Connor's brow furrowed in his sleep as if he were struggling through a dream.
"Connor?" Lorne called out softly, trying to ease the young man out of sleep.
Suddenly, Connor's face relaxed. "Angel…" The young man seemed to whisper.
Lorne took that as a good sign, and relaxed back into the couch, thoughts raced through his head. He did not understand how Connor knew about Angelus or why he would be speaking of him. After all, Angel's son was not supposed to remember his past, no one was. The only reason that he and Cordelia remembered was because, somehow, a part of them had connected to Angel. Angel hadn't even been in Connor's company more then a few hours so Lorne knew that couldn't be the reason the young man on the couch across from him was speaking of the demon had had once dwelled in his father. Lorne shook his head at that fact; Connor had beaten the memory-erasing trick once before, when Wolfram and Hart erased his memory. Who was to say that the young man didn't have the willpower to do it again?
Angel heard the footsteps coming down the hall long before anyone else in the cell would have. Along with the return of his strength, Angel could tell his senses had heightened as well. He had a majority of his vampire hearing back, and he figured that in a few days he would gain it all back. At the rate he was going, by the end of the week he might be a full vampire again.
Angel moved to the bars of his cell, trying to catch a glimpse of who was coming down the hall, and then the familiar scent of a certain shampoo and perfumed mixed together just right hit him. He knew Cordelia was there before she had the chance to show herself.
"Cordy?" Angel called out from the cell, still unable to see her.
"Angel!" Cordelia called out, rushing down the hall and toward the direction of his voice. She was so excited to see him that initially she ran right passed his cell.
"Cordelia! Back here!" Angel stuck his arm out of his cell.
Cordelia turned quickly, rushing back to his cell. She smiled her famous smile when she saw him and grabbed his hand, clutching it tight within her own. "Hey."
"What are you doing here?" Angel was beyond happy to see her, but confused by her presence. He didn't think she would have been allowed to see him.
"Getting you the hell out of here." Cordelia flashed him a smile before turning to the chief of police who kindly unlocked Angel's cell, allowing the ex-vampire to move into the hall, Cordelia jumping into his arms, kissing him square on the lips.
When the kiss ended Angel smiled at the chief of the Sunnydale Police department. "Not that I'm not grateful, but why am I being let out?"
"Because the chief actually listened to my story." Cordelia gave Angel a quick kiss on the check, and then turned to the Chief. "Thank you so much, sir."
The Chief nodded. "No problem." He then swung his key chain around and made his way back down the hall to the lobby he and Cordelia had come from.
Angel quickly turned to Cordelia, pulling her in for a hug. "You got me out."
"Hello? Like I would let you waste away in here." Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Not when so much crazy crap is going on!"
Angel nodded. "I know, my powers, they're coming back."
"What?" Cordelia raised an eyebrow.
"My strength and my senses. They are like they were when I was a vampire." Angel told her.
Cordelia looked Angel over. "But you're not…"
"No. Not a vampire." Angel assured her. "Not yet anyway…"
"What the hell does that mean?" Cordelia asked.
Angel shook his head. "I don't know."
"What I don't know is how you let Darla talk you into coming to this reality." Cordelia told him.
Angel looked up at her, wondering how she knew about Darla. "Spike?"
"He told me everything." Cordelia told him.
Angel nodded. "Okay."
"And speaking of strength. Spike seems to have gotten his back too." Cordelia remembered.
"He did?" Angel asked.
Cordelia nodded. "And my demony strength is back too, and from what Spike said, things in this world are getting crazier then they already are."
Angel nodded. "The vampires and the shift of balance…"
"And how no one remembers anything!" Cordelia added. "That is probably the biggest problem! If no one can remember who they are then there is no way we can fight the vampires or whatever else is going to come. If something big and bad is coming, Angel, we are going to need the whole gang on board."
Angel nodded in agreement, realizing there was only one thing to do. "We have to go back to L.A."
"Way ahead of you there, buddy." Cordelia smiled at him. "The L.A.P.D. brought my car back, and it's got a full tank of gas. We are walking out of this police station and out of this town."
"Well, I've already done that a few times before now." Angel said. "Once in this reality, and the one significant time back in our old lives. Shouldn't be any harder this time."
"Well, even counting those times, we have yet to leave this town together." Cordelia took his hand. "And this time we are going to."
Angel smiled and allowed her to walk him down the hallway. He expected to see Buffy and Spike outside waiting for him, but he didn't expect to see both of Cordelia's parents in the lobby of the police station.
When Cordelia and Angel entered the lobby, Mr. Chase immediately moved toward his daughter.
"Cordelia, you can't seriously be leaving with him!" Mr. Chase followed his daughter out of the station with Mrs. Chase, Buffy, and Spike trailing behind him. So far, Cordelia had not even acknowledged her father's presence, but instead had picked up her pace, her hand still attached to Angel's.
"Cordelia! Listen to your father!" Mrs. Chase warned.
Cordelia didn't listen; instead, she got into her car, sliding over, and allowing Angel into the driver's seat.
"Cordelia! I am warning you. If you leave right now, don't even think about coming back!" Mr. Chase threatened.
Cordelia snorted at her father. "Don't worry. I won't. I'll be fine on my own."
"You don't know the first thing about living on your own!" Mr. Chase was angry. "I've given you everything!"
Cordelia's anger matched her fathers. He had given her nothing. He had left her to fend for herself when she was in high school. She didn't need him when she moved to L.A. the first time, and she certainly didn't need him now. "You don't even know what you're talking about!"
"And you're a humiliation!" Mr. Chase told her, moving swiftly to the car, and grabbing Angel by the shirt. "And I will not let you take her from me, young man! I'll kill you before you disgrace my family like this!" He shook Angel.
Angel did not fight back; he was too shocked by Mr. Chase's anger and felt pity on Cordelia's father. He had no idea what an amazing woman his daughter was, and he never would, not even with this second chance.
Spike reacted to Mr. Chase however, grabbing him and pulling him off of Angel. "Buffy, come on!" Spike called out and then jumped in the back of Cordelia's car, sliding over so Buffy could get in with him.
"Angel, go!" Spike told the ex-vampire in the driver's seat. "Before Cordelia's Daddy-dearest slits the tires or something!"
"He's right, Angel!" Cordelia looked back at her mother and father for the last time. "Go!"
"I'm going! I'm going!" Angel turned Cordelia's car on and sped off, toward L.A.
"We'll stay with you until you get to the city limits." Buffy said. "Then me and Spike will get out and double back to Giles' place."
"Good idea." Angel nodded, looking in his rearview mirror at Buffy.
"We'll deal with Xander and Cordelia's parents." Spike told Angel and Cordelia. "Don't worry about them. You two have bigger things to focus on."
Both Cordelia and Angel looked at each other, knowing Spike was talking about all of the problems the reality was facing with the shift in balance.
"That we do." Angel sighed, pushing harder on the gas pedal.
Silence fell over the car until Angel reached the sign that informed anyone on the road that they were leaving Sunnydale. He then slowed the car down to allow Buffy and Spike to exit.
"Be safe." Buffy told Angel and Cordelia.
"And if you figure anything out, let us know." Spike told them, and then leaned over the seat so Buffy could not hear him. "And if there is a way to get the Slayer's memory back…"
"I told you. We will find it." Cordelia smiled gently at Spike.
Spike nodded, smiling back and closing the door.
Angel took a deep breath, and then looked over at Cordelia. "Ready to get back home?"
Cordelia nodded, flashing him a smile. "Can't wait, actually. Not that L.A. is any less hectic then here."
Angel nodded in agreement. "I wish I could tell you different."
"Just get driving, dork. The faster we can get back to the Hyperion and everyone, the better." Cordelia told him.
Angel agreed with Cordelia there. They needed to get back to L.A. if they were going to figure out what was happening to the shift in balance, why Cordelia had gotten her memory back, and how he and Spike were slowly gaining back their vampire traits.
Xander woke up to find himself sprawled out on the floor of the Chase's basement. He felt his forehead, realizing he had a nice size lump right above his eye. He shook his head, standing slowly. Spike, Cordelia, and Buffy would pay for what they had done to him.
Xander moved up the stairs, only to realize the door to the basement was locked from the other side. He could not get out. He sat angrily on the stairs, flipping open his cell phone, glad to get a signal. He quickly dialed the familiar number. A minute later, Faith picked up her phone.
"Faith, it's Xander." Xander said.
"Hey." Faith said casually back into her receiver. "I thought you said you weren't going to call for awhile. Until things blew over with Cordelia."
"Yeah well, that was before Cordelia locked me in her basement." Xander said.
"What?"
"Yeah. Spike, Buffy, and Cordelia locked me in Cordelia's basement. I'm stuck here."
"Where did they go?"
"Probably down to the jail." Xander rolled his eyes as he shifted his cell phone from one ear to the other. "I need you to come get me out of here so I can deal with Cordelia."
"Sure." Faith said. "But what are you going to do to her?"
"Just come and get me out and I'll fill you in."
"Alright." Faith agreed. "I'll be there in five." She quickly hung up.
Xander hung his phone up as well and then placed it back in his pocket. He sighed, running his hands over his face. He knew that if Cordelia had gotten Angel out of jail then she would have left with him, and Xander wasn't about to lose her. It was like an obsession, and his feelings contradicted each other. He knew that Cordelia did not belong with him, in fact, he didn't even know if he really loved her anymore. He just couldn't lose her, he wouldn't lose her. It was a feeling in the pit of his stomach; like he had lost her or someone else he cared about before. And he decided that if he didn't have her, no one would.
Spike and Buffy made their way up to Giles' front door. Buffy knocked loudly, and a minute later, Giles appeared, quickly motioning both Buffy and Spike into his house. He then looked outside and hastily locked the door behind the slayer and ex-vampire.
"Did you two visit Angel or Cordelia?" Giles asked.
Both Spike and Buffy nodded.
"Yeah. First we went by Cordelia'a, and then we threw Xander in the basement, and then we went down and got Angel out of jail." Buffy said. "Oh yeah, and then he went back to L.A. with Cordelia."
Giles furrowed his brow, scratching his head. "All that happened in a couple of hours?"
"It's been a bloody long day." Spike sighed, collapsing onto Giles' couch.
"I'd imagine." Giles said. "I made that phone call to L.A. I talked to a Wesley?"
Spike nodded. "Wesley."
"He sounded familiar." Giles said. "He worked for the Council as well."
"Have you met him before?" Buffy asked, not knowing that she and Giles had both met Wesley in the past.
Giles shrugged. "I don't think I could have. I felt like I have though."
"Weird." Buffy said.
"Yeah…" Spike's thoughts drifted away. He smiled up at Buffy, and she smiled back at him, but it wasn't her smile. Not the Buffy he had loved. Her smile was young and innocent. It was too much for Spike to take in. "I've got to get some air." He stood. "Buffy, let Giles know about Xander and Cordelia's parents and all."
Buffy nodded, moving into the kitchen with Giles while Spike made his way out of Giles' house, taking a seat on the front steps. He sighed, burying his head in his hands, his thoughts racing.
From the minute Spike had realized Cordelia had gotten her memory back, he was so jealous of Angel. Angel had gotten his girl back, and Spike was still left with the shadow of the Buffy he had gotten a soul for.
Up until he had seen Cordelia, Spike was not sure that things would be so bad if Buffy never got her memory back at all, but when he saw Angel and Cordelia interact, he knew he needed Buffy back.
Spike had his reasons for wanting Buffy to get her memory back. Part of it was the simple fact that he missed her, but now, with the vampires back, he was also concerned with her safety. The Buffy in the new reality did not move, she did not react, she did not fight like she had in the old reality, and Spike knew there was no way she could go up against more then a couple of vampires without being killed.
Spike sighed. He knew now that his soul mission was to get Buffy's memory back. She seemed so much happier in the new reality then he had ever seen her in the old reality, that was true, but she was also so much simpler. There was no fire in her eyes, no pain in her heart, she seemed hollow. This Buffy had never been hurt, and Spike was positive that all the heartbreak his Buffy had endured had made her the woman he had fallen in love with. She had learned to see both the good and the bad in people and everything she had gone through as the Slayer had built her character so well. Spike needed that woman now, more then ever. The world needed that woman.
Angel and Cordelia turned the dark street corner of Los Angeles and pulled around the back of the Hyperion Hotel. Both were glad to be back and ready to take on whatever challenges laid in their path as the balance of the new reality realigned itself or threw itself off completely.
Angel turned to Cordelia and smiled slightly. "You ready?"
Cordelia nodded, but then grabbed Angel's arm as he went to get out of her car, pulling him back in. "Wait."
"What?" Angel asked, studying Cordelia's facial expression hard. He could tell she was thinking about something.
Cordelia took a deep breath looking at her hands, and then back at Angel. "We have to figure out what is going on here before we go in there."
"We know what's going on. Things are going to hell, I might be turning back into a vampire, realities are colliding and no one except me, you, Lorne, and Spike remember. And now, we need to figure out a way to get everyone's memories back so we can fix this shift in balance before things go completely crazy." Angel said.
"I didn't mean that." Cordelia told him. "I meant, well Angel…we all died."
Angel sighed, nodding. "I know."
"I mean, we are supposed to be dead." Cordelia said.
"No we're not." Angel said. "This is our second chance."
"At what? Dying again?" Cordelia asked. "Angel, I don't think the Powers sent you and Spike here for a second chance. I think they sent you here because they knew this reality was going to hell. I think this is just another suicide mission they threw at you. Hell, they threw it at all of us. Even when no one remembered each other, we all still came together. Here, in L.A. because this is where we belong, with each other. We're meant to fight, together. I think the Powers knew that even before they made you and Spike come here."
"What are you saying, Cordelia?" Angel asked.
"I'm saying that I don't think this fight is over yet, Angel." Cordelia said. "I think the Powers have more plans for us yet."
Angel looked out the window, and then smiled slightly, a faint spark in his eye. He turned back to Cordelia and took her hand in his. "I'm kind of counting on that."