A/N: Okay, guys! Lemme just say that I. Am. Excited.

Very Excited.

I had tons of fun with this chapter. Frankly, I've never had so much fun writing Cordy. Oh, did I surprise you with that? Yes. Cordelia Chase is what makes this chapter so awesome (to me at least). Honestly, I think she's just golden in this chapter. Talk about being blunt...

Anywho, now that I've got you all confuzzled, let's get on with the chapter! I'm sure all of you are just dyin' to know if I maybe, just maybe, quite possibly brought to life a very, very important character... :D

Oh, and thank you to everyone who reviewed. :D They were all lovely and I can't believe I'm already in the 50s for this fic! Wow! And I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to reply to reviews. I was busier than I expected to be this weekened. I actually went to two, yes, that's right, two social events this weekend (a record for me). BTW: The Devil Inside is a crappy movie. I laughed the entire time, only cringing at one part because people are not supposed to bend that way. I don't care if they're supposed to be possessed. And then I went to a birthday party and played Disney's Scene It. That was fun.

Anywho, you guys probably didn't care at all about that, so we'll just get to the chapter, right?

Random Disclaimer: (I don't own Buffy).

Me: (To Buffy in a sing-song voice) I know something you don't know! (Skips away merrily)

Buffy: Um...that was different.

Cordelia: (nods) You should be nervous.

Buffy: (frowns) Actually, now that I think about it...I'm really feelin' kinda sick...

(In the distance my manic fit of giggles can be heard)

That Vision Thing Part One

Buffy sat on the cold, tile floor by the toilet in Cordelia's bathroom, her eyes closed as she fruitlessly fought against the nausea that gripped her. It had started a few days before and Buffy had hoped it was just a passing bug, nothing to worry about. Even the Slayer could catch something every now and then…

The queasiness in her stomach roiled to a whole new level and Buffy spun, emptying the remaining contents of her stomach into the toilet. With a groan, Buffy flushed and grabbed the wet washcloth that was floating beside her and wiped her mouth.

"Thanks, Dennis," Buffy said softly.

All of her symptoms aside, Buffy could only come to one conclusion.

She had the flu.

At least she was starting to feel better after throwing up for what seemed like the millionth time. Buffy grabbed her toothbrush and smothered it in minty toothpaste, determined to banish the acidic taste from her mouth.

"Buffy?" Cordelia called through the door as Buffy rinsed out her mouth. "Seriously, let me in."

Buffy unlocked the door and was met with a frustrated Cordelia Chase. "Sorry, Cordy."

"Uh huh, what's wrong?" Cordelia wasn't going to mess around.

"Nothing," Buffy shook her head. "Sorry I took so long."

"Really? Nothing's wrong?" Cordelia asked, raising her eyebrows disbelievingly. "Cause I just heard the unmistakable sound of puking your guts out."

Buffy grimaced. "It's just the flu. Give me a few days and I'll be fit as a fiddle," she said as she moved past Cordelia.

Buffy had come down to L.A. early this week due to the fact that Cordelia had demanded a girl's night out/sleepover. Having just done the same thing with Dawn, Willow, Tara, and Anya…Buffy had been just a little wary of more girl-bonding time.

Of course, to ensure her cooperation, Cordelia had thrown in that Fred would also participate in the activities, and that had been enough of a reason to spur Buffy into sleepover action as Cordelia had known that it would. Both Buffy and Cordelia had been trying to get Fred to come out of her shell a little bit, and a little girl bonding time seemed to hold some promise to doing the trick.

"Where's Fred?" Buffy asked as they moved down the hallway out into the living room where mountains of blankets and pillows were piled on the floor.

"Eating all my peanut butter," Cordelia shrugged.

"Has she tried it with celery?" Buffy asked and suddenly she just had to have peanut butter. "Seriously, where is that peanut butter? Do you have crunchy?" she asked in quick succession as she immediately invaded the kitchen and saw Fred sitting under the table, the jar of peanut butter in her clutches.

"Hey Fred, what kind of peanutty goodness is that?" Buffy asked as she peeked under the table to look at her friend.

"Oh, um," Fred looked at the jar. "Crunchy. Don't you just love crunchy? Smooth is just, so, smooth…I wonder which most people prefer? The crunchiness adds texture, but there's just something classy about smooth—"

"You done with that?" Buffy asked, taking it before she got an answer. "Thanks."

"Sure," Fred shrugged. "You're welcome."

"Buffy!" Cordelia whispered chidingly. "You can't just take a girl's peanut butter!"

"Yes I can, and you can't stop me," Buffy said as she rifled through the refrigerator. "There you are," Buffy muttered as she grabbed the celery. "Come to momma."

Buffy's words, combined with her actions, brought a ridiculous, and yet a seemingly miraculously plausible idea to Cordelia's mind. "Oh my God."

"What?" Buffy asked as she scooped a large dollop of peanut butter onto a celery stick.

"Oh my God."

"What?" Buffy repeated exasperatedly before biting off a huge piece of peanut-butter-covered celery goodness.

"Oh my God."

"Wha—," Buffy began but quickly covered her mouth and ran for the bathroom.

"Oh my God," Cordelia continued to murmur as she seemed to follow Buffy in a trance, Fred following curiously behind her.

"Why do you keep repeating yourself?" Fred asked. "I often think people find comfort in it. Or maybe they just don't know what to say, so they repeat something over and over. Sometimes they're just in shock I think…"

"Yeah, Fred, I think I'm in shock," Cordelia murmured as Buffy threw up into the toilet.

"Oh, that's not good," Fred said as she took in the scene.

"Depending on how you look at it," Cordelia said as Buffy flushed and stood. "Oh my God."

"Can you stop saying that?" Buffy demanded, though it was more of a whine.

"Buffy, when was your last period?" Cordelia asked bluntly, causing Buffy to look at her like she was crazy.

"You know, Cordy, best friends are entitled a lot of information," Buffy said warily as she moved past Fred and Cordy. "But my girly processes are not part of that."

"I'm totally being serious, Buffy." Cordelia and Fred both followed Buffy into the kitchen where Buffy got some saltine crackers and a glass of water instead of going back to the peanut butter.

"Which is exactly my point," Buffy replied, but now that Cordelia had brought it up, Buffy couldn't help but start to do the math in her head. "But if you just have to know, I've skipped a month…" Buffy frowned before adding, "or two."

"Oh my God," Cordelia muttered wide-eyed.

"If you say that one more time, so help me I will not be responsible for my actions," Buffy threatened irritatedly, causing Fred to retreat behind Cordelia for a moment. Seeing the movement, Buffy immediately calmed herself. "Sorry, Fred, I didn't mean to scare you. It's okay."

"Oh, no problem," Fred said quickly. "But I must point out that if you've skipped two periods that would make you about eight weeks pregnant."

Buffy laughed. "That's funny. Now can we stop talking about this? Please? Thanks."

"…combined with your symptoms, I'd say it's highly likely," Fred continued, and Buffy began to pale.

There were a lot of things that Buffy believed in. Fate was one. Everything about herself and Angel had Fate written all over it. After going through and experiencing all that she had, Buffy no longer thought that anything was impossible.

Instincts were something that Buffy also believed in. They'd never failed her in the past, and they weren't failing her now. Now that Cordelia had said Buffy was pregnant and it was really beginning to sink in, the blonde Slayer couldn't bring herself to disagree. It just sounded right. It felt right. Buffy remembered the dream she'd had only two weeks ago. She'd been pregnant. It'd been a boy. It couldn't have been a Slayer dream…

Could it?

No.

Because it was impossible.

But it was.

Because she was pregnant.

And it made absolutely no sense because there was only one candidate for the father...Angel.

Oh, God. Angel.

Buffy felt panic begin to rise in her chest.

"The nausea can easily be attributed to morning sickness," Fred babbled on, "And you were very intent with the peanut butter. Cravings are very common in pregnancy."

"Now, do you see the reason for the 'oh my Gods'?" Cordelia asked as Buffy paused.

"Oh my God," Buffy whispered as she set down on the couch, trying to fight off the panic.

"Yeah, now you agree with me," Cordelia said as she took a seat beside her friend.

"It's impossible."

"Totally."

"It can't happen."

"Nope."

"I'm pregnant."

"Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner," Cordelia sing-songed.

"Winner, winner, chicken dinner!" Fred smiled happy she'd gotten it right.

"What do I do?" Buffy whispered, losing the battle of staving off the panic that had been fighting inside her as her thoughts came to her in a rush, hardly giving her enough time to process them all before they spewed from her mouth so quickly Fred and Cordelia could barely follow. "Angel will never believe me. I can't be pregnant, but I am…I just know it, now. It all makes sense. What do I do? What do I do? What do I do? I can't have a baby!" Buffy got up off the couch and began to pace. "It's too dangerous! And—and I just…I can't!"

"Buffy, calm down," Cordelia entreated, getting up to place her hands on her friend's shoulders, halting her pacing. "First, we need to see that we're not just freaking out and jumping to wild, crazy conclusions."

Cordelia left for a moment, and brought back a small, rectangular box. "I keep one just for emergencies," she said quickly. "I suggest you pee on this and see what happens," she said in her usual blunt way as she set the pregnancy test in Buffy's trembling hands.

Minutes later, Buffy came out of the bathroom clutching the test in her right hand. She didn't have to go to the living room to find Cordelia and Fred. They were sitting in the hallway right outside the bathroom door, waiting.

"Baby?" Fred asked excitedly.

"Baby," Buffy whispered in answer.

"Oh, baby," Cordelia blew out a stream of air. "Who wants to tell Daddy?"

Buffy, Cordelia, and Fred walked through the doors of the Hyperion, all of them banded together in their little secret. Fred was practically bouncing with excitement, as Cordelia said that she would be an aunt. She'd always wanted to be an aunt.

Cordelia was a tad more serious, knowing that she might have to don a raincoat and weather Hurricane Buffy. And for once, it wouldn't be Buffy's fault (completely anyway), and Cordelia wouldn't hold it against her.

Buffy was terrified and excited at the same time, but at the moment she was leaning more towards terrified. She couldn't help but think that Angel wouldn't believe her. That he'd think she was lying. Buffy didn't know if she could take that. Just the thought was crushing enough on its own.

Just their luck, Angel wasn't even in the lobby when they entered. Wes and Gunn sat around the table, eating Chinese take-out, the smell of which had Buffy fighting a wave of nausea. Buffy tried to ignore it, to not smell what she would have once considered heavenly, but she couldn't. Seeing Buffy's grimace, Cordelia pointedly looked towards the bathroom, and Buffy didn't hesitate to run to what was quickly becoming her most hated place.

Wes and Gunn followed Buffy's fleeing figure with curiosity. "What's with Buffy?" Gunn asked as Cordelia and Fred approached them.

"Oh, it's a riot, let me tell you," Cordelia said as she promptly took away all the food cartons and dumped them in the trash.

"Hey, we weren't done with that!" Gunn protested, though Wesley was content to pout.

"Well you are now," Cordelia replied and Gunn would have argued further but he noticed a figure behind the Seer. Gunn's suddenly serious look caused Cordelia to turn around.

"Excuse me," the man said to get their attention, as if he didn't already have it.

"Oh, hi, I'm sorry," Cordelia said with faux sincerity. "I didn't hear you sneak up on us," she said as she looked him up and down, her eyes settling on his shoes. "Must be those tastefully expensive Gucci loafers," she sighed. "Totally our fault…"

"He's not a client," Wesley said cautiously as he rose from the table. "He's Gavin Park, an attorney with Wolfram and Hart."

"Pleased to meet you," Park offered politely as he gaze settled on Fred. "New player?"

Not liking Park's assessing look at Fred, Wesley stepped in between them, effectively blocking Fred from view. "Well, now that we've had this lovely reintroduction—I suggest you piss off."

"Is there a problem?" Angel asked as he walked in just in time to hear Wesley's remark.

"No, no problem." Wesley shook his head. "Mr. Park was just leaving."

Gavin Park smiled slightly. "No, actually I just arrived," he corrected as he reached into his briefcase and withdrew some papers. "This is a list of fifty-seven city code violations for your hotel, including earthquake proofing, asbestos, and termites," he explained as he tossed the papers onto a chair. "Be advised that I filed a complaint with the city planning office."

"Gee, fifty-seven," Angel said sarcastically. "Is that a lot?"

Park's eyes narrowed ever so slightly before saying, "I'll be in touch."

"Yeah, okay minion of darkness!" Cordelia called to Park's retreating back. "Satan's toady!" she added, before turning to the others. "But that is a nice suit? Did you see that suit?"

"We saw the suit, Cordy." Angel shook his head before looking around. "Where's Buffy?"

"Present," Buffy smiled, trying to hide the fact that she'd just puked her guts out again.

Angel's eyes grew concerned. "Are you okay? You look a little pale."

"Me? Oh, I'm fine," Buffy said quickly. "Just dandy. Mighty fine, nothing's wrong. Healthy as a horse."

It was silent for a moment, and Buffy waited for Angel's reply, hoping he couldn't tell she was lying. "Uh huh," Angel finally said dubiously, before his eyebrows furrowed. "Does anyone hear that?" he asked.

"Hear what?" Gunn asked confused.

"That fluttering noise," Angel explained, looking around, trying to place the sound.

Understand lit Fred's face. "Oh, you might be hearing—" she began but was interrupted by Cordelia's scream.

All thoughts of mysterious fluttering noises forgotten, Angel caught Cordelia before she could fall to the ground.

"Are you alright?" Angel asked worriedly, upset by the excessive pain Cordelia seemed to be in. "Talk to me."

"There's a coin and, um, two clawed things," she gasped. "It's in Chinatown, I think—an herbalist's shop."

Wesley and Gunn immediately went for the books while Angel and Buffy helped Cordelia up. However, when Angel touched her shoulder, Cordelia gasped and pulled away from him, causing Angel to frown.

"Sorry," Cordelia apologized breathlessly, with a tight smile. "Just unexpected," she lied. "I'm okay. I'm fine. Go find this coin," she said as she began to walk away. "It has a hole in it."

Angel followed Cordelia's retreating figure worriedly, before glancing down at Buffy. "Make sure she's alright," he said before moving to help research.

Glad to be away from Angel, Buffy practically ran to the bathroom. It wasn't as though she was scared of Angel. No, she had never been nor would she ever be scared of Angel. Buffy was terrified of the thought that Angel might discover she was pregnant before she had a chance to tell him. She'd been frozen in the lobby when he'd mentioned hearing a fluttering. Her terror had risen exponentially when Fred had opened her mouth to explain.

The fluttering Angel was hearing was his baby's heartbeat. Fred had gone into great detail about all that being eight weeks pregnant entailed. This was usually the time when she had her first doctor's appointment, and they could do an ultrasound to hear the baby's heartbeat.

"Cordy?" Buffy called softly as she knocked on the door. "Cordy, let me in."

Buffy heard the lock click, and she opened the door and then shut it behind her. When she turned around, she gasped. "Cordy!"

"Ssh," Cordelia hushed her friend. "They'll hear you!"

There was another knock on the door then. "Cordy?" Wesley called from the other side of the door.

"Yes?" Cordelia asked, glancing at Buffy.

"Cordelia, that beast you saw—did it have four or five claws?" Wesley asked.

"Five," Cordelia answered immediately.

"Are you certain?" Wesley pursued.

Both Cordelia and Buffy looked at the former's bare stomach, seeing the five, bloody scratches that stretched across her torso. "Pretty certain," Cordelia replied grimly.

Buffy and Cordelia waited until they were sure that Wesley was away from the door, before immediately speaking at the same time.

"We have to tell Angel."

"We can't tell Angel."

"Why do we always disagree on this?" Buffy asked tensely as this new situation only added to the stress she was already feeling. "Cordy this is serious. You have a vision of a claw-y beast and you get clawed? What if this happens for your other visions? This is dangerous, Cordy."

"But if Angel finds out, he'll try to make the visions go away," Cordelia argued teary-eyed, repeating her arguement from a few weeks before. "If I don't have visions, then you guys won't need me."

"Of course we'd need you!" Buffy replied reassuringly. "Cordy, we don't want you here because you have visions. We want you here because you're our friend and we love you. The visions are just kinda like a perk."

"Please don't tell Buffy," Cordelia pleaded. "It might have been just this once. I'm keeping your secret!"

Buffy's eyes narrowed. "Not the same thing."

"Well, no, not exactly, but it's the same concept!" Cordelia admitted reluctantly, but quickly pierced Buffy with a hopeful gaze. "Please, Buffy. If it happens again, I'll tell, but until then…can't it just be our little secret?"

Buffy sighed and unconsciously placed a hand on her still flat stomach. "Sure," she replied dully after a moment, although it poorly masked the growing anxiety she felt. "What's one more?"

"Got anything yet?" Buffy asked as she entered Angel's office, looking expectantly at Wesley.

"According to Fred, there are five herb shops in Chinatown," Wesley replied, looking Buffy over with narrowed, but concerned eyes. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Oh, me? I'm fine." Buffy waved off his concern. "Just a bug, I think."

Wesley nodded, seeming to accept her lie. "Well, I wrote down the addresses. Gunn is pulling the car around, and I think Angel just went to talk Cordy into going home. He asked Fred to stay with her."

"Good," Buffy sighed relieved. "Cordy's too stubborn for her own good sometimes."

Wesley's lips quirked up in an agreeable smile, and he rose from the chair. "I bet Gunn and Angel are waiting for us."

Buffy hesitated as Wesley passed her. "Buffy, are you coming?" he asked when he noticed that the Slayer had yet to follow.

There was a second's pause before Buffy answered. "Yep," she quickly decided.

She wasn't doing anything stupid. She could take care of herself. Just because she was pregnant didn't mean she was suddenly made of glass.

Buffy turned and caught up with Wesley, leaving the hotel and climbing into the Plymouth that was waiting out front, Angel driving and Gunn riding shotgun. Buffy slid into the backseat with Wes, and then they were off.

It was a silent ride for the most part except for the occasional curse by Gunn when they struck out with an herb shop on their list. The first was a bust. The second was a bust. The third shop had held promise, but none of their coins had matched. The fourth had just been hopeless.

"Five shops in Chinatown and we've been to four," Gunn muttered as they drove to their final destination. "How come whatever we're searching for is always the last place we look?"

"I suppose it's one of the unwritten laws of being a dick," Wesley said conversationally, causing everyone in the car to look at him, and Wesley quickly explained, offering different words. "Um, a sleuth…a gumshoe…Sherlock…"

Gunn raised his eyebrows. "All I know is that if you use the word 'dick' again, we're going to have a problem."

"I second that," Buffy spoke up, before deciding that a change in topic was needed. "So what's the place we're looking for?" she asked Wesley.

"Van Hoa Dong," Wesley answered. "It should be on your left," he told Angel helpfully before looking at Buffy. "How was Cordelia when you saw her?"

"She says she's fine," Buffy shrugged, glancing out the window for a moment, wishing she was a better liar. "I'll keep an eye on her though."

"You don't believe her?" Angel spoke up as he parked along the curb in front of the herb shop.

"Alright, here we go," Gunn interrupted before Buffy could answer, and Buffy was grateful. She hated lying to Angel, and she already felt guilty enough as it was keeping her secret from him—even if she'd only just figured out there was a secret to keep.

"Your kind not welcome here!" an elderly woman said as they entered.

Gunn frowned. "Since when can't a brother buy some ginseng tea?" he complained dramatically.

"Not you!" the man said as he came to stand beside his wife. "Vampire not welcome here!"

"This is a public building and any being can enter," Wesley pointed out easily. "We're looking for an ancient coin."

The elderly couple both looked at each other for a moment before screaming and flipping over the counter, landing in a fighting stance.

"Oh, so you think some fancy flipping and a little hollering can intimidate guys like us?" Gunn asked disbelievingly.

Suddenly, the man and woman's hands morphed into razor-sharp claws.

"Okay, that's creepy," Buffy said, knowing she'd never be able to look at an elderly person the same way again.

"You two take grandma," Angel told Wesley and Gunn. "Buffy and I'll deal with grandpa."

They both split up then, fighting their respective opponents. Buffy and Angel attacked the old man without preamble, both of them dodging or deflecting the old man's clawed attacks. Buffy kicked the old man in the chest, sending him stumbling back, and Angel didn't give him time to recover, punching him in the face, sending him sprawling on the ground.

However, faster than Buffy would have thought possible, the old man flipped up to his feet, ready to fight anew. Angel attacked first, sending a quick one-two combination that the old man defended against. Buffy decided to be a little bit more fancy and spun, dealing a roundhouse kick to the man's jaw. Buffy moved a little closer to capitalize, but she got too close to the claws. The old man swiped at her, but the stinging pain Buffy knew she should feel never came. Instead, she saw Angel's broad form in front of her. The clawed attack meant for her had caught Angel on the shoulder, but it looked fairly inconsequential—a glancing blow. Angel grabbed the old man's scarf that hung around his waist, and yanked it hard, causing the man to spin into the shelves behind him and fall to the floor unconscious due to the impact.

"You alright?" Angel asked immediately, looking over her with a practiced eye.

"Thanks to you," Buffy smiled slightly before gently touching his shoulder. "You need to—"

"I'll be fine," Angel interrupted, shrugging. "Just a scratch."

"Damn," Gunn panted. "Grandma and grandpa got game."

"Yeah," Wesley agreed, looking at his torn shirt for a moment before glancing around the room. "Now we just have to find the coin before they come to."

Buffy thought for a moment. If she had something really important, she'd always keep it with her. Buffy looked down at the unconscious forms of the old couple, and her eyes caught a necklace-like pouch around the man's neck.

"Ha, found it," Buffy declared as she stooped down to take the necklace from around the man's neck, taking the coin out of the pouch, and then holding it up to the light for everyone to see. "Huh…I would have thought it'd be just a little prettier."

You guys really didn't think Angel would find out this chapter, did you? Why would I let things be that easy? :D

But wasn't Cordy just golden this chapter? She and Fred both did it for me and I think that the beginning scenes of this chapter are the favorite of the girls that I've written as of yet. I was grinning like an idiot as I pictured Cordelia, blank-faced, repeating "Oh my God" over and over. Ah, well, we'll get some angst next chapter (of course). Honestly, if any situation called for angst...this is it, don't ya think?

Don't worry. This angst has nothing on EOTB, so chillax. :D

Reviews give you peanut butter and celery (ultimate healthy/unhealthy snack),

ArthursCamelot

P.S. If, by chance, you do not like peanut butter and celery, you can just have cookies. Everyone likes cookies. :D