Disclaimer: See previous chapters.

Spoilers: Up to and including season 2.

Chapter Ten

Kathy wandered around for a full hour before she felt calm enough to return to the hotel. Everything that had happened that day – her trip to the conduit, telling Angel and Cordelia the truth about the baby, her run in with the Gypsy woman – had all combined to leave her feeling unhinged. Unsafe.

She replayed her encounter with the old woman again and again in her mind.

"If it means killing you or your entire clan, it's a price I'm more than willing to pay."

It wasn't the fact that she had said the words that frightened her so much. It was the fact that she meant them.

She knew what she was capable of. The magics which she controlled were powerful. She had heard stories of other witches, women and men who had thought themselves to be in control. Thought themselves above the natural order of things. They performed bigger and bigger spells, getting high on the rush. Each and every one of them fell into darkness.

She walked a fine line, just as her brother did, every day. She had the power to help a great number of people. She also had the power to destroy them all. It was not something that an ordinary person should be either burdened or trusted with.

Not for the first time, she questioned if she was really worthy of such power.

She had no time to contemplate such things at length, however. They needed to figure out a way to stop the Kalderash and whatever it was that they were planning. And that meant that she needed to return to the hotel and face Angel.

She dreaded to think what he was going to say to her, but she turned and headed back to the hotel anyway.

Cordelia parked her car and jumped out, feeling giddy despite her exhaustion and the headache that has yet to vacate her skull. Thoughts of kissing Angel still ran through her mind and she chastised herself for acting like a smitten schoolgirl. But she couldn't help herself.

He had feelings for her. Actual feeling-type feelings.

She tried to think back, to remember when she had first started to having feelings of her own for the dorky manpire. But it was strange. They seemed to have always been there, in one form or another, growing and evolving over time, so that now she couldn't imagine him not being in her life. In her heart.

She was still worried – she would have to be a fool not to be. There were still so many complications to overcome, if that were possible. The curse, for one. Her visions. The mission. His past… loves.

She shook her head. Tomorrow was another day and she would wait until then to start worrying about all the many difficulties she and Angel might face, should they decide to… date?

"I don't tan, date or sing in public."

Well, he'd already done one of the three. And now he seemed more than willing to attempt another item on the list. With her, no less.

As she reached into her bag and pulled out the keys to her front door, Cordelia heard a noise behind her. She turned to find an old man, standing on the steps below her.

"Miss Chase?" he said.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I am Enyos," he said. "We must talk."

Angel descended the stairs to the lobby shortly after Cordelia's departure. He found Wesley and Gunn still in the office, both in research mode.

"Hey, how is the translation coming?" Angel asked, glancing at the scroll Wesley was studying.

"Slowly," Wesley said. "But I believe we're making some progress. I have Gunn cross-referencing for me now, which is actually a great help."

Angel looked at Gunn, curious. He usually shied away from doing research, preferring the more physical aspects of their job. Gunn merely shrugged.

"Cordy told me I'd better crack a book and help English or she'd kick my ass," he said. "The lady's scary."

"That she is," Angel replied with a smile. "Where's Kathy?"

"Right here," she said from the door.

"Where were you?"

"I was out. Visiting some old friends of yours, actually."

Angel got her meaning all too well. "Alone! What were you thinking?"

"I was thinking that we needed to be sure it was the Kalderash that were behind all this, so we can figure out a way to stop them," she said. "And it is."

She moved cautiously towards Angel, still unsure of where she stood with him. "Look, what happened earlier. I understand if you don't want me around or –"

"Of course I want you around," he said. "But I want to know everything. Not just what you want to tell me. Okay?"

She hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Okay. But first things first," she said. "They're planning something for Cordelia. Something about a journey into darkness. We need to find out what that is and how to stop it. According to the old woman I spoke to, it has already begun."

"I thought they needed Cordelia to begin the ritual," Wesley said.

"So did I," Kathy said. "I guess we were wrong."

"Gunn, I want you to keep an eye on Cordy's apartment," Angel said. "Make sure no one gets in there. But don't let her see you. No sense in worrying her yet."

"Or making her mad," Gunn said. "On it, boss."

As Gunn made his way out to his truck, Angel turned to Kathy. "Okay, let's talk."

"You and the vampire will destroy each other, Miss Chase," the old man said. "He was not meant to love. He must suffer. Otherwise the curse is invalid. The scourge that is inside him will break free."

"Angelus," Cordelia whispered. "But there are things we can… avoid. We'll make sure he doesn't get too… happy."

"Every day with you, his heart grows lighter. His burden becomes less. He will start to forget and, when he does, the demon will become unleashed."

Cordelia couldn't accept that. "There must be something…"

The old man looked her straight in the eyes, his own cold and harsh. "You must leave him."

"No!"

"You would put your happiness before the lives of hundreds? Thousands? Do you know how many the demon has killed?" He looked at her in disgust.

"Angel is working to atone for that. He –"

" – Will not succeed. There is no atonement for what he did. Only suffering. Only vengeance."

Cordelia drew herself up to her full height, determined that this man would not intimidate her. "You're wrong."

"Am I? Let me make this simpler for you," he said. "You will leave him by sunrise or we will remove that which we gave over a hundred years ago."

No. He couldn't mean…

"We will take back the soul."