1999
Cordelia sat with Giles in his office while Xander stood in the doorway. Xander hadn't wanted to miss Cordelia's reaction to a visit from her future self.
"Is he joking?" Cordelia asked Xander after Giles finished explaining there was a version of her in Sunnydale.
"When does Giles joke about anything?" Xander replied.
Cordelia nodded, "Good point."
Giles ignored the comments and continued, "We need you to meet with this person to verify if she truly is you. She would have to know things that only you could know."
Cordelia smiled suddenly, "I wonder what my future holds."
--
"What?" Angel said finally. Cordy had been staring at him.
Cordy couldn't help looking at Angel. He wasn't the Angel she knew, but he was still Angel. For a second when he walked through the door she'd been so happy to see him she had to fight the urge to hug him. It had been awkward.
Now she and Angel sat alone in Buffy's living room. Buffy had gone to school and Joyce to work. So Angel got stuck with the babysitting duty in case Anna's father managed to track Cordy down. Or at least that's what they told Cordy. She suspected Angel's real purpose was to keep an eye on her because they weren't sure they believed she was from the future. It was frustrating to know what the truth was and have everyone look at you as if you may be crazy.
"I'm homesick," Cordy said explained; suddenly having a image of Angel holding Connor come in to her mind. Then she thought of Lorne and Fred bickering over who could get baby snuggles first. Then she thought of Wes and Gunn playing hockey in the Hyperion lobby. She smiled sadly.
"And I remind you of home?" Angel asked incredulously.
"Kind of," Cordy said and then sighed. "But you aren't the Angel I know."
Cordy got out of her chair and left him alone in the living room. Leaving Angel to wonder how well Cordy knew him in the future. She returned carrying a notepad and some pencils. She handed them to Angel.
"You've got to be bored just sitting here with me staring and no fun demons to kill," Cordy said and then she pointed to the coffee table. "There's a bowl of fruit there just dying to be drawn."
Angel stared at her in shock. His sketching was something private. Something no one knew about.
"Go ahead, Broody Boy," Cordy said with a smile. "You know you want to."
Angel locked eyes with Cordy feeling uncomfortable with the knowing look he saw there. She was a stranger. She didn't even look like Cordelia. But the look in her eyes beamed with her presence. He recognized it. He'd seen it in the Cordelia he now barely knew. But the look was different. There was a wisdom there he had never seen and a determination. Cordy looked away first and just opened the book she'd found to read. There were questions he wanted to ask her about the future, but he was afraid of the answers. Angel began to sketch but not the bowl of fruit. It wasn't Anna's image he drew, but Cordelia with that knowing look. He could imagine it almost perfectly.
--
2002
Lorne and Anna sat in the kitchen drinking coffee. No one in the hotel besides Connor had, had any rest. Everyone else was in the lobby researching a way to save Cordy and Anna. Lorne had asked her to have a cup a coffee with him and had tried to talk her into eating something. Coffee was all Anna could handle at the moment. She was still trying to catch up with everything she'd learned. She was in the future and in Cordelia Chase's body. Cordy was a partner in some demon detective agency, and Anna had lost her virginity to a vampire who would never forgive her for her lies and had to power to save or condemn her. And the brightest spot in Anna's life now was Lorne who was a demon and so far the nicest guy she'd ever met.
Anna smiled at him with surprise, "You're so nice."
"I can't help being my charming self," Lorne replied.
"It's just the others act so strangely around me," Anna said. "They resent that I'm not Cordelia."
"Our darling Pixy Cat has some mighty large shoes to fill," Lorne said thinking of Cordelia with affection. "We're all missing her and worrying over how to fix this."
"I can understand the hatred," Anna said staring into her coffee
"You made a mistake," Lorne said. "You weren't thinking of the consequences."
"I wasn't talking about the spell," Anna said hesitantly. "I did something really horrible to Angel and to Cordy."
"I know, Kiddo," Lorne said with all seriousness.
Anna stopped staring at her coffee and looked Lorne in the eye, "Angel told you."
"He didn't have to. Your aura is screaming with the truth," Lorne said.
"I don't know how to make it up to him or to her," Anna said. "I just wasn't thinking of anything but myself."
"Desperation makes people do terrible things," Lorne said patting her hand. "It doesn't excuse what you did, but I do understand. I see it in you now. You're so certain you won't survive."
"You read Fred's printout. In a few days, I'll be dead," Anna said tears falling from her eyes. She wiped them away angrily.
"Stop mourning. You aren't dead yet," Lorne said. "Nothing is certain. You have to fight until you breathe that last breath."
Anna nodded and looked Lorne in the eye, "Okay, no more tears."
"You know what we really need?" Lorne said getting up from his sit next to Anna.
"A surefire plan to save me and Cordy?" Anna suggested.
"That and some whiskey for the coffee," Lorne said looking through the cabinets.
Anna smiled and tried to hope even though she wasn't sure how.
--
1999
"You can't be so dense you don't see how this could be possible," Cordy said frustrated. "This is the hellmouth after all."
Cordy was angry about having to explain herself once again to the Scoobies who seemed intent on doubting her even after her past self confirmed that she was indeed Cordelia Chase.
"I believe we should listen to her," Giles said and Cordy smiled at him gratefully.
"So what happens in the future?" Willow asked.
Cordy opened her mouth to speak but Giles interrupted, "No details, Cordelia. It could change things in unimaginable ways."
"Okay," she agreed. "No details."
"Come on, some lotto numbers wouldn't be too much to ask," Xander said.
"Stock tips?" Cordelia suggested. "Or some juicy personal details would be nice."
"So you have any ideas on why this happened?" Buffy asked ignoring Xander and Cordelia.
"I think it might have been some sort of distraction set for my friends," Cordy said. "They'll be so busy trying to find me that they'd be vulnerable."
"Well your body may still be in the future," Giles said.
"So I'll be in a coma?" Cordy said thinking it over.
"Where is Anna then?" Willow asked.
"Most likely in your body," Giles suggested looking at Cordy.
Cordy was silenced over the idea of a stranger who had her face waking up in bed with Angel and Connor. A stranger could be with her family right now.
"Do you think Anna did this?" Cordy asked Giles.
Giles nodded, "Possibly a spell gone wrong."
"Like she was wishing to be me but got the wrong version," Cordelia suggested.
"What can we do to fix this?" Willow asked Giles.
"That's what we need to research," Giles said.
"Research party, Woo Hoo," Xander said with fake enthusiasm.
Cordy sat down suddenly feeling tired. She was afraid she wouldn't be able to go home. She wondered if Anna might be a threat to the people she loved. Angel watched her silently recognizing the fear and worry.
Jacob had patience. He knew where Anna was. It was enough for now. He would retrieve her when it suited him. He didn't fear the others who surrounded her. They could not harm him, but Jacob had secrets to protect. He had to get Anna alone and vulnerable.
