Disclaimer: All characters belong to Joss Whedon and Angel the series.
Synopsis: This is the third story in the Soul series I am working on. In order the stories are The Price of a Soul, The Judging of a Soul, and now The Weight of a Soul. The Council is having it's own inner-struggles but have been forced to stop their pursuit of Faith. Just as they are breathing a sigh of relief, once member of Council is killed and sends a package to the team that has caught them all by surprise.
Chapter Eight
There was a kind of silence around the lobby of the Hyperion that seemed almost oppressive. It was like cotton in the ears and the fact that everyone was frozen in some sort of eerie tableau didn't help. Willow had hands to her mouth, eyes as round and wide as they could be while she watched Angel. Spike was a study in still motion. Body stiff and ready to spring at any time towards the other vampire. Lorne was open mouthed leaned back on the couch and his jaw surely had to be aching by now. Faith was torn between anger and confusion while Wesley stood in front of her, arm back to keep her at bay. Cordelia was pale, blood still dripping down her neck as she held onto Angel's arm. Angel, looked distant, staring. This seemed to go on forever, but really only lasted a few seconds. Finally Wesley voiced what they were all so unsure of.
"Angel?"
Just like that everyone dissolved into a more relaxed stance. Willow let her hands slowly fall to her sides. Spike straightened, and Angel blinked confused, then put a hand to his chest.
"Yeah. I, yeah, it's me."
Cordy gave a quiet sigh and smiled, but then slipped towards the floor. Spike rushed forward to grab her, and Angel was there scooping her up.
"Wes! She's bleeding! I, Angelus, no, I, "
Wesley just nodded and Lorne got up to let them use the couch to lay her down on. Angel set her down and his hand went to her neck immediately.
"I'm so sorry, Cor, I'm sorry, please, stay awake."
Cordelia shook her head and looked at him then at Wes.
"Hospital."
Looks were exchanged and Angel quickly scooped her back up to head out to the car. Wesley went to the office to grab keys.
"Faith! Go with him! Willow you too! Spike, Lorne and I will follow!"
Orders given, everyone jumped to obey and headed out, leaving behind the circle, the spell, and the blood on the floor of the lobby.
AA
It was several hours later and the waiting room was full of people. Lorne had a hat, sunglasses, and scarf on, as well as gloves while he sipped at the small hospital cup of coffee. Spike was pacing and Angel had his head in his hands. Faith sat with Wes and Willow was chewing at her lip watching them all. It was so odd to her, to see them all, to see them all together. To know that they all meant so much to each other. She knew if it was Buffy, or even her, then her friends would be looking the same. Her chest contracted at the idea of having to tell Buffy what her visit was really like, that they had all moved on, and none of the Scoobies were a part of their lives anymore. Her head snapped up as a doctor came in. Wes stood up slowly.
"Well, she lost quite a bit of blood. Along with her medical condition and the medications she's on, it's going to take her a while to recover and she may not ever be at full strength again."
Faces fell and Angel did not move from his perch. Wes removed his glasses and adjusted them.
"Are we, able to see her?"
The doctor nodded with a smile.
"She's asking after you all, especially a, Mr. Angel? She's in room 403. However, please don't take too long, she should rest."
"O-of course."
The doctor turned to leave and they all let out a collective sigh before heading down the hall. No one noticed that Willow stayed behind.
AA
Cordelia was sitting up in bed, IV in arm, frowning at the television when the others came in. She immediately grinned.
"Hey guys! Sorry it took so long. Wow Wes, you look like crap, you should head to home."
Spike took in the looks everyone shot each other and closed the door before walking around to the other side of the bed.
"Nice try, pet. Think you got some explainin' t' do, yeah?"
Cordy winced and looked around, then sighed.
"Okay fine. Well, I told you, the PTB gave me a shot. I told you I wasn't getting rid of the visions. They belong to me, and we need them, but, I can't really help anyone in a coma, so. . . . . "
"So?"
Wes tried to push, moving towards the bed, Lorne and Angel staying back. Cordy raised her eyes to Wes then over to Angel.
"So, I had to prove I could do it. That I could be, well, a seer, not just some girl that gets visions. They let me have the chance, as long as I could do it. Which meant, helping Angel. And I did, we did. You passed Angel, and you have your soul."
She smiled, obviously proud but Angel didn't raise his eyes to meet hers and just shook his head.
"I had my soul before, Cordelia. All you accomplished was nearly getting killed."
"No, you had a cursed soul before. And, I, told you it was okay."
Angel's head snapped up and he glared at her. Anger fuming in his eyes to the point that she flinched and tried to get smaller in the bed.
"Okay? So now, not only is it okay that you're dying, but it's okay if I'm the one that kills you! And for what? Some stupid lessons?"
Lorne reached out and put a hand on his shoulder. He could see the tears threatening in Cordelia's eyes and tried to calm Angel down.
"Whoa there Angelcakes. Now I don't know all of what happened in that little mind trip of yours, but I do know one thing. Your soul is anchored now. No curse. Whatever the Princess led you on, you got one hell of a reward."
Mouths dropped open and eyes darted to either Angel or Cordelia. Angel's face fell.
"Cor? Is that true?"
She nodded dumbly and waited. Angel stepped slowly up to the bed. He looked down at her and she tried for a smile.
"You knew, that I would kill you, but I'd get my soul. Permanently, and you, did this anyway?"
"I'm okay Angel. It was worth it, I knew it would be. You don't have to worry about it anymore. It's not a burden it's -"
"You're fired."
Cordelia blinked. She had no words. It took the others a moment to catch up themselves. Spike was the first to say anything.
"You bastard."
Angel just looked up at him. Wesley shook his head.
"Angel, we are all a little emotional right now but, "
Angel shook his head.
"The medical bills will be taken care of, after that, I don't want to see you at the Hyperion again."
With that he turned and left the room. Lorne looked just as confused but held up a hand and ran after Angel.
AA
Nothing that Lorne said had helped and Angel had raced back to the hotel. Wesley and Faith volunteered to stay with Cordelia until she calmed down, which left Spike to follow him back. Without his own set of wheels he had run from the hospital back to the Hyperion and still had enough anger to be in game face when he growled as he stomped off to Angel's room. Slamming the door open he found the man calmly looking through a book.
"What th' hell's your problem, Poof!"
Angel didn't even look up.
"If you have a problem with how I run things you know where the door is Spike."
That wasn't good enough for the blonde vampire and he strode in, grabbing the book from Angel's hand and flinging it across the room.
"Cheerleader almost dies savin' yer poof arse an' you fire her?"
Angel raised his head slowly and what Spike saw then made him almost flinch. His eyes were more like Angelus than Angel.
"She risked her life, for what?"
"For yer soul! You Ponce!"
"So she decided, all on her own, that we would all go through these trials, in order to make sure I don't lose my soul in a moment of pure happiness. Something that wasn't even a threat. Meanwhile, she almost died and there's still no cure for her visions. She's. Still. Dying."
Spike understood then. Or thought he did. It all felt useless if she was still dying. He knew he'd have given up the idea of a soul if it meant healing her instead. Still, he was on a good angry rampage and wasn't going to completely back off. He crossed his arms over his chest and smiled an unpleasant smile.
"So you decide t' fire her. Oh yeah, tha's solvin' it, innit?"
Angel turned away from him and took off his coat, setting it aside on a chair.
"I can't get through to her. She refuses to take any help and wants to play martyr then fine. She can play it somewhere else. I'm not going to stand around and watch her die, Spike."
Spike shook his head and turned to leave.
"No, jus' gonna send 'er off t' die alone."
AA
Over the course of the next week everyone tried to talk Angel out of the firing. Even Willow attempted it before she left. No one could get him to budge. So that by the time Cordelia was getting out of the hospital, she had resigned herself to being jobless, and most probably friendless. Wes, Faith, and even Spike assured her she wasn't alone, but that was exactly how she felt. Wes picked her up, ready to take her home, but she insisted on stopping by the Hyperion first. Just to get the last of her things, she insisted. So he'd called ahead to warn the others and drove to the hotel. The place was empty and so she started emptying her drawers into a box, as the phone rang, she told Wes she was fine and would meet him at the car. So he left her there to go through her things. She couldn't believe so much of her life was this office and yet it took up so little room. It didn't even fill the small box. As she pulled out the drawers she found a framed photo of her, Angel and Doyle and sat down to look at it.
"What are you doing here?"
Her head snapped up to find Angel glowering at her from the door way. With a quick sniffle she wiped at her face and put the photo in the box and stood up with a shaky smile.
"Just getting my things."
He nodded but didn't move, watching her get the last of her things packed up, almost saying something when she went to remove her mug from the stand the coffee pot sat on, but staying silent. Cordelia picked up her box and went to leave, stopping in the door way where he'd turned to the side to let her through. She was effectively pinning him there with the box between them.
"Just answer me one thing Angel. Why?"
His jaw ticked, but he raised his chin in answer.
"You risked your life when you didn't need to. Not for someone else's life, but for something wholly unnecessary."
She quirked an eyebrow.
"Is that what you think? That it was unnecessary?"
"I already had my soul, Cordelia. All you did was make it a little more permanent and nearly got yourself killed in the process. That kind of martyrdom is what will put this team in danger, and I can't have that."
She nodded and slipped through the door, she would have seen a rather relieved look on his face if she'd looked but by the time she turned around again it was clear.
"Two things Angel. First, it had nothing to do with being a martyr. I was stuck in a coma that you put me in unless I could prove myself. That was the task I was given so I did it. Second, this doesn't change a damn thing."
She turned to head out the front and Angel frowned.
"What doesn't it change, Cordelia? That you're dying?"
She shook her head and turned to push the door open with her back. She shot him a sad smile.
"No. It doesn't change that I love you, and even if I knew everything, I'd still risk my life, for your soul every time. Whether you want to believe it or not, you'd do the same. Good bye Angel."
She pushed out into the sunlight, and was gone. Leaving Angel to stare after her and know that she was right. And that watching her die was no punishment, because it meant he got to watch her live, and he'd just given up that right.
AA
Another week later and things had settled into a morose kind of schedule. Faith and Wesley had divided up Cordelia's work and were still working on the filing system. Everyone, but Angel, would visit her if not every day, every other day. Cordelia was mostly keeping to the apartment, she and Dennis watching a list of movies she'd deemed absolutely worth watching before you die and the one vision she had, she'd given to Wes to deal with and as a team they did. Spike had hinted that they should at least thank Cordelia, but Angel ignored him. For the team, things were finding a balance. For Cordelia, she suddenly felt as if shed have plenty of time before that final vision hit. Time seemed to drag on. Until a knock at the door.
AA
Wesley was tired. They didn't have a vision to deal with, but they did have other work to do and all four of them had been out late, until nearly sunrise. Still, there was work to do, so with only a few hours of sleep he stumbled into the office and Faith handed him a cup of coffee. With a grateful smile he took it then went to the answering machine. Frozen halfway to his mouth, the mug began to shake as the message played.
"Wes! Someone! Please, they are going to come through the door! Ahhhh!"
distant banging in the background along with some military like directions
"Please, someone pick up! Someone! Dennis, get the -"
a louder crack and the sound of splintered wood, screaming then a crash and a dial tone
Faith reached for the phone and dialed Cordelia's place.
"Come on, come on, pick up!"
Wes shook his head and reached for his keys. Faith slammed the phone down.
"No answer!"
She raced after Wes out the door.
AA
Hours later and no one had any answers. Spike was pacing and Lorne was even there, sipping at his drink and shaking his head as if he had a headache. Wes stepped out of the office and sighed, running a hand through his hair. Faith looked up from the couch, Angel sitting across from her. Everyone waiting for his answer.
"Well, the police of course want us to wait 24 hours. I couldn't get much out of Dennis and what I did get wasn't entirely helpful. Oddly enough, from what I can discern, Wolfram and Hart is not behind this."
"Bullshit!"
He looked at Spike.
"Who else would be afte' th' cheerleader?"
Angel stood up then.
"Spike is right, it has to be them. We need to go talk to Lilah again."
"Whoa there, poof! Who says you're invited t' this party? Fired her didn't ya? Left her t' die alone?"
Angel took a step towards Spike who looked ready to fight when Lorne stood up and held up a hand.
"If I can interject here? I've been looking over that sketch you had the phantom Dennis take a look at and, I'm afraid Wes is right. This one isn't the lawyers guys."
Wes frowned and crossed his arms.
"What makes you say that?"
Lorne sighed and finished his glass in one big gulp, setting it down before he explained.
"Well my little honey buns, I'm afraid this is tied into how the Princess is going to survive these visions."
Faith stood up and frowned.
"So, that's a good thing right? Someone gonna heal her and bring her back?"
"Not exactly pumpkin. I believe, she's been taken to another dimension. Or, more accurately, to my home hell dimension. See, there's this little prophecy that would sort of need our little Cordylicious to fulfill."
Spike nodded.
"All right then, so you tell us how t' get there, they fix th' visions, an' we bring her home all safe an' sound."
Lorne shook his head and headed for the door.
"Not that easy there Blondie Bear. I promised myself I'd never go back there and finding a way there is almost impossible. You'll have to face facts. Her destiny no longer includes this dimension."
He walked out leaving behind a bunch of confused people. Heads hung as they all took it in. Angel stomped off and headed for his room. Spike snorted and adjusted his jacket.
"Right then. Th' Poof's given up, no surprise there. Me, I plan on findin' out exactly where this place is an' makin' an appearance. Who's wit' me?"
Faith and Wes raised their heads and nodded. The three of them headed out to Wesley's car on a mission to find the Host and make him talk. Meanwhile upstairs Angel was rummaging through books, flipping through pages and muttering to himself. Finally he found what he wanted and set the book down on his bed.
"There it is. Pylea. Looks like I'm going to need some magic."
AA
A/N: Updates are slower I know, I'm having a harder time but I am getting to things! However, the most important thing to note is, this is the end of the story! That's right, that means waiting for the sequel to find out what happens!