See Part One for disclaimer and details. Hello all, and welcome to the latest instalment of the story. Big thanks as always to everyone who's been reading and/or reviewing the fic, and telling us what they think of it. Okay, this chapter is the beginning of a two-parter that will deal with everything that has come to pass so far, as we slowly begin to set up for the finale. So we hope you enjoy...
Part Ten: Reunion, Part One
Angel Investigations, Los Angeles
June 18th, 2004
Pain.
The first thing Xander Harris noticed was the pain from a headache that slowly dissipated. The second thing the young man noticed was that he was awake, and therefore his time in the coma was over.
{ Did it work? Is Cordelia alive? } was the first coherent thought that went through his semi-functioning brain.
Things began to get a little less fuzzy, and Harris finally managed to focus. Groaning and feeling a little stiff (but luckily not suffering from complete muscular atrophy, thanks to a special kind of magic) Xander yanked out the wires that had been implanted six months ago, as he slowly heaved his legs up and placed his feet on the floor. { Okay, first things first... }
Then he blinked his eyes. As in, plural. Not the one remaining eye he'd had, upon entering Dreamland. { Whoa! How the hell did that happen?! }
At that moment, the duty nurse came into the room. Her mouth dropped open, and her lower jaw nearly hit the floor before Melissa hit the emergency button on her belt to page her boss. She then said to Xander, "Oh my God! You're awake!"
"Yeah, guess so. What's the date, how long have I been out of it?" Xander asked her croakily.
"It's been nearly six months, Xander," the young woman told him, rushing over to his side.
At the casual use of his first name, Harris blinked and looked up at her. "Ah, do I know you from somewhere?"
The woman smiled, showing her dimples. "Sort of. I'm Melissa. I've been your personal nurse, from the first day I was hired to look after you."
"Really?" Xander asked.
"Yep, sponge baths and all," she said with a grin.
"Sponge baths..." Harris snorted, briefly reminded of Anya – before he put away such thoughts. Because she was gone; had been for over a year, now, if the nurse was right about how long he'd been in a coma. So after saying a final farewell to her in his thoughts, Xander focused and asked Melissa, "Huh. Did you at least treat me to dinner first?"
"Of course, what kind of girl do you take me for?" the nurse replied, looking amused.
"Actually, we took turns giving you the sponge baths."
Nurse and patient looked over to the door to see a smiling Cordelia Chase. "Cordy!" Xander exclaimed, struggling to stand up at once. "You're okay!"
"Thanks to you, yeah!" she told him, as the brunette came over and gave Harris a big hug that he returned whole-heartedly. "I can't tell you how good it is to finally see you awake, you big dweeb!"
"Same here, Queen C," Xander said, as Melissa put her arm out to steady him – before the nurse firmly pushed Harris down to sit on the bed again. He added, "So, what's the what? I mean, did I miss out on much over the last six months?"
"You could say that," Cordelia said, losing her grin for the moment.
UCLA student bookstore, Los Angeles
A short while later
"No...no...no..." Dawn Summers said, as she looked through the books for the right edition. "I need...the sixth!" she said triumphantly, as the young woman pulled the last book off the shelf.
It was somewhat odd how, after graduating high school in England, the eighteen-year-old girl was already preparing for her freshman year of college here in L.A. after summer break. Still, maybe it wasn't all that odd; Dawn was determined to maintain a good GPA, thanks in part to the work ethic her teachers at that exclusive London school had managed to drill into her. Moments later, she was getting her book purchase rung up.
The cashier said, "Uh, that'll be a hundred and forty-six dollars. Big ouchie on the old budget, huh?"
"It's okay," Dawn told him with a shrug. "Not like I'm paying for it."
"At least not for a few years, sure," the guy mused, processing the purchase. "Good old student loans..."
"Yep, that's right," Dawn replied. After all – she couldn't really tell this guy that the Council was footing the bill for all this, now, could she? And considering how much some demonology books cost, this was nothing in comparison.
The Summers woman was halfway towards her car when she got a text message on her cell phone. Dawn took the phone off its clip, looked at it casually and then froze. "Holy shit!"
Because the code phrase on the screen from Andrew (who was now working for Wesley as a tech-support guy, in charge of all the equipment David Nabbit had given to him and Cordelia) was something that, by now, Dawn had almost given up hope of ever seeing.
'Captain Kirk has boldly returned from where no man has gone before.'
Dawn must have set a land speed record getting to her car, and onto the infamous freeways of L.A.
Angel Investigations, Los Angeles
The same time
"Hey, where the hell are we?"
"Home," Cordelia told Harris simply, as the Chase woman pushed his wheelchair from behind. "This was going to be the new Paradise Hills Hotel...but then stuff happened, and the owners decided to just cut their losses. Giles sent me and Wesley some Council funds to buy it, and help finish it off."
"Huh," Harris said simply, as he looked around at the lavish setup. It wasn't the Hyperion Hotel, to Cordelia's everlasting regret; but this place was almost as good. "Looks nice."
"Hate to admit it, but in some ways it's actually better than Angel's old hotel – well, before it got burned down," Cordelia said honestly, as she hit a button on the door and it opened to let her push the wheelchair in.
"Burned down?" Xander asked inquisitively. "You mean, arson?"
"Try fire-breathing dragon, which also crashed down on top of it!"
"Huh." Harris honestly didn't know how to respond to that. But a few moments later, they exited the elevator and Xander took in the large lobby, looking at all the polished woodwork and glass panels. He asked his companion, "You actually live here?"
"And work," Cordelia told him. She pointed to an elegant sign behind what had once been the check-in counter. It had her old drawing of an angel, with the words 'Angel Investigations' under it.
Xander just raised an eyebrow. "You still work for Dead Boy, then?"
"Big 'NO!' there!" Cordelia said, in a tone that surprised Xander.
"Cor?" he asked curiously.
"After you forced the Powers to wake me up, a lot of things were found out. Stuff that made everyone in the old gang leave their jobs at Wolfram & Hart," Cordelia said, as she pushed Xander over to a large couch. She then sat down so she could be at eye-level with him.
Xander asked for details, and Cordelia told him that Wes had been the first to desert the sinking ship. And that Fred, Lorne and Gunn hadn't taken long in following him, either. "Angel was the only one to stay...well, Spike, too," Cordy said.
"They did?" Xander asked, interested; especially after what that witch doctor had mentioned to him back in Africa.
"Angel had to, for Connor's sake. I guess Spike had nowhere else to go, or maybe he just liked annoying Angel too much. But even so, they've helped us make life a little more difficult for the Senior Partners." She suddenly gave him a classic megawatt Cordelia Chase smile, which made the guy remember a time when he had seen that smile every day during high school.
Cordy took careful note of Xander's instinctive response to her charms, thinking gleefully to herself, { Oh yeah, I've still got it! It's only a matter of time before we get back together, I'm sure... }
"Us?" Harris asked, interrupting her thought processes.
"Huh?" Cordy asked in confusion. { Oh, God, did I just say that out loud?! }
Xander tilted his head to the sign. "Us?" he repeated himself.
"Oh!" Cordelia said, relieved as she finally understood his question. "Yeah, Wesley and Andrew and me. Gunn went back to his old gang after deciding to quit Wolfram & Hart, and Fred eventually decided to give the university thing another try. She got an excellent offer from the theoretical physics department at Caltech, actually, and we don't see her much anymore. Ditto, Lorne – he headed off to Las Vegas again, less than a week after he learned about the memory-alteration spell. But Angel's still around, I took him in after he ended up human; well, on the strict understanding that he doesn't try to give me, or anyone else, orders any longer. And sure, him and Wes didn't get along at first..."
In response to Xander's "Why?", Cordelia explained, briefly, and Harris snorted derisively. Then he said, "Guess that's not exactly surprising, then. Still, Angel Investigations?"
"I kept the name, since the agency developed a lot of street cred during those first four years. I thought to myself, why let that go to waste? Sure, initially most of our clients thought Angel was in charge – but nowadays, not anymore. Huh, never would have guessed two years ago that I'd go from secretary and seer to head honcho of the outfit!" Cordelia smiled.
"You're the Big Boss around here?" Xander asked, a little startled.
"Hey, no need to sound so surprised!" the brunette said, with a light smack on his arm. "And yeah, half-demon with my own superpowers now, so I'm the one who gives the orders...and if you're going to work for me, then you better get that through your head right now, Harris!"
"Well, I didn't mean..." Xander started to say, before his brain caught up with his mouth. "Whoa – wait a minute, back up. Me work for you?"
"That's the plan!" Cordelia told him firmly, even if she was suddenly worried that her ex-boyfriend would now tell her to go to hell. They had a lot of history together – and the sad fact was that most of it wasn't good, unfortunately. Even if he had sacrificed six months of his life for her, and she wanted him to stay, that was no guarantee that Harris would feel the same way –
"Heck, you've already been our unofficial mascot for ages!" the Seer added, trying out her megawatt Pepsodent commercial smile again.
"Cordy, I am in no way anyone's mascot!" Xander said, unable to help smiling back at her. Cordelia's Smiley Face was even better at pushing his buttons than Willow's Resolve Face, back during elementary school; and here and now, it was also an unalloyed pleasure to enjoy seeing.
"Oh, come on! You made such a cute mascot," Cordelia said with a laugh, happy that Harris hadn't categorically told her to take the job offer and shove it up where the sun didn't shine. "Even if you tended to drool a little too much..."
Xander abruptly lost the smile, making Cordelia worry that maybe she'd gone too far. But he just said, "What were you thinking that I'd do around here, if I decided to stay?"
"What? You've got somewhere else you'd rather be?" Cordelia demanded.
"Maybe," Harris replied noncommittally, much to her dismay. "Look, don't get me wrong – I am kinda curious to find out what you've been planning for me, while I was sleeping. But I'm done taking orders from powerful women who treat me like I'm fragile as glass, or more often like I'm semi-retarded. Besides, you don't owe me a damn thing-"
"How can you say that?!" Cordelia demanded, cutting him off at once. "I'd be dead right now, if it wasn't for you!"
"Well, there is that, yeah. But..." Harris trailed off, scratching the back of his neck.
"What?" Cordy demanded, after he was silent for too long.
"Well, that witch doctor who told me you were gonna die, he showed me a lot of different possible futures. And there's one in particular that I'll never forget – if we'd never kissed in Buffy's basement that day? You'd have had a long and happy life and died filthy rich, if you hadn't ever gotten involved with me that way."
{ Yeah, but Jesse and Joyce would never have been born. And you're okay with that? } Cordelia briefly paled at thinking such thoughts, but Xander seemed to just brush her reaction aside.
"Anyway, getting back to what you were saying before. What exactly were you planning for me to do around here? To answer the phones or something? Sorry, but I don't do that sort of crap," Harris told her in no uncertain terms.
"No, nothing like that! Well, obviously, you'd be on light duty for a while, 'til you're one hundred percent again," Cordelia said almost pleadingly. She decided not to tell him that, nowadays, it was part of Angel's job to answer the phones; Harris would probably fall out of the wheelchair, laughing his ass off over the ex-vampire doing such monotonous and low-level work. She then added, "But after that, I thought you might want to help Wesley with the Slayer contingent around here. Unlike Buffy, I do value field experience!"
"Slayer contingent?!" Xander asked, shocked. He started looking around, more than half-expecting the old Scooby Gang to show up and start chastising him for his actions six months ago. "You have Slayers here...this is Council territory as well?"
"They're a silent overseas partner, more or less," Cordelia admitted. "We're kind of like a Slayer safehouse, with Wesley in charge of that part of our operations; it was part of the deal with Giles for coming up with the cash to finish off the building's construction. We've got the facilities for them here – all of it state of the art, and there's plenty of room for everyone. And I know for a fact that Wes needs someone competent to help with the whole Research Boy thing!"
"I thought you said Andrew was working here, though?"
"Tech geek," Cordelia said succinctly. "That's all he's good for, well – apart from his cooking skills, of course. Oh, wait, did I mention Spike comes here semi-regularly as well? After him and Andrew started turning the girls around here into gambling addicts with their kitten poker games, I told them to knock it off and not go anywhere near the Slayers again, or else!"
"How many of the Chosen crowd hangs out here?" Xander wanted to know, chuckling briefly despite himself.
"Roughly fifty," Cordelia told him. "And nowadays, there's around 750 of the original 1800 new Slayers that have joined up with the new Council."
"That many?" Xander asked in amazement, recalling all the problems associated with Willow activating the non-Sunnydale Potentials without their informed consent. "Huh. And they actually listen when Wes lays down the law to them? No offense, but I've noticed how Slayers these days..." He reconsidered. "Well, during the latter half of 2003 anyway. Major problem seeing us ordinary humans, as any kind of authority figure."
Cordelia stared at him, somewhat surprised at his biting tone. "Yeah, but the ones around here, they listen if Wes and I have something to say. Trust me; that lesson was learned the hard way, after we destroyed a black market operation some Wainakay demons had set up. Because those creeps were dealing in Slayer blood and body parts..."
Upon seeing Xander's grimace, the Seer decided to make a little joke to lighten up the atmosphere. "And you know, with that hungry and horny thing all the Slayers develop after a fight...you could end up a very busy guy around here!"
Xander immediately shot her a very annoyed look. It instantly reminded Cordelia of the Harris subconscious, some of the looks Soldier Xander had sent her within that black mindscape. "Come on, I was just kidding! Most have their own boyfriends or girlfriends," she admitted.
"Whatever. Don't do that again," Xander told her icily.
"Well, I do recall a time when you wouldn't have minded becoming the love slave of a Slayer or two. Are you saying you don't?"
Xander shrugged, calming down. "No; I'm saying that I'm not stupid, Cordelia. Not like I was in high school, anyway. Took me long enough to get it, but nowadays I know that I'll never get anywhere with a Slayer...that's one headache that I definitely don't need."
"Oooh. Good to know," Cordy said with a naughty wink.
{ Is she flirting with me? } Harris wondered uneasily. { Huh. Well. I suppose I shouldn't actually be surprised – Cordelia's half-demon now, so obviously my track record with that type is still intact... }
"XANDER!"
Cordelia laughed again and stepped aside as Dawn tore into the lobby and jumped onto her friend and former crush, nearly tipping over his chair. "Xander! Xander! I knew it, I knew it! Oh, I just knew you'd wake up eventually! God, but I've got so much to tell you about everything!"
Private nightclub, Rome
The same time
"What's wrong, tesoro?"
Buffy looked up from staring at her drink, as her boyfriend called her 'my love' in Italian. "I'm sorry, guess I'm being a real mondo drag tonight," she told the Immortal. "It's just, I'm feeling kinda – rattled."
"It has to do with your carpenter friend, does it not?" the dark-haired man in the never-wrinkled suit asked, as he moved closer to her. "I do not understand. You just wish to make sure your friend wakes up from his coma, si?"
"Exactly!" Buffy said heatedly. "I mean, geez – I know that Xander and I didn't part under the best of circumstances, but..."
"Fear not. It will all be alright in the end, tesoro," the Immortal told her calmly. "In my experience, these things have a way of eventually working themselves out."
Buffy shrugged, her attention returning to her drink. She wished she could she could share her boyfriend's confidence, but she didn't. Ever since her sister had graduated high school and gone back to California, the alpha Slayer had come to realize just how alone she truly was nowadays.
Oh, sure, she didn't lack for company – her job saw to that, as the head of European operations Buffy had had to mingle with Slayers and Watchers alike, and after moving to Rome, she had become part of the high society scene as well. But –
But there was no central group of friends to support her, and for her to simply be Buffy Anne Summers, instead of the oldest Slayer. Tara and Anya were both dead now; Giles was based in England; Willow was constantly travelling around the continent; Xander was in a freaking coma, and Dawn wasn't going out of her way to maintain contact. Faith...okay, with their history, she didn't really count, but the second oldest Slayer was still someone Buffy felt she had totally lost contact with –
Dagnabit. Even Andrew, annoying adjunct to the Scooby Gang that he'd once been, wasn't around any longer!
{ Scooby Gang? Huh. I haven't thought of Xander's old nickname for the group for a long time now, } Buffy mused to herself unhappily. { Damn it, may as well face it – I miss him. I miss the way things used to be between us. I wish I could get the chance to make things right... }
Someone Up There must have been listening, because the next moment, her cell phone rang. Buffy picked up and said, "Hello? Andrew? Hey, I was just thinking about you. Uh, sorta. What's up?"
A few seconds later, the Slayer looked amazed at the news Wells had imparted to her, and muttered a quick and apologetic goodbye to her significant other – before heading back to the apartment residence she now called home, to start packing some of her stuff. There were things that she and Giles and Willow had scheduled that couldn't be put off, Council business in London, but once that was over with – Buffy had decided she was going home to the good ol' U.S. of A, now that Xander had woken up.
In her view, it was long past time to fix the tattered mess that used to be their friendship.
The Immortal just sighed in disgust once he was alone, and cursing Americans in general, wondered what new avenues he could pursue to learn all the secrets that the enigmatic Buffy Summers possessed.
Dawn's room, Angel Investigations
Later that day
"You got drunk at a frat party, and had sex with some guy who was still in high school?!"
Xander's voice echoed angrily throughout her unofficial room here at the hotel, so Dawn said defensively, "Well, it's not like I knew how old Tim was at the time! And it was a college party, y'know; everyone there was drinking and having fun. Well, before the demon gatecrashers showed up..."
Dawn's story reminded Xander of a certain incident back in his junior year of high school, where Cordy and Buffy had almost been sacrificed to the demon known as Machida and he'd suffered one of the worst humiliations of his life. Not to mention another incident involving ghosts, Buffy and Riley, during the Slayer's freshman year of college.
{ Yeah, guess it must be a Summers family tradition or something. Wonder if it's genetic, and Joyce ever got up to anything like that? Buffy did mention something once about a college party, where her mom first met her dad... }
"So you helped kill the bad guys after getting laid, huh? Okay, what did your big sister have to say about that?" Harris demanded, as he pulled himself together and focused on his teenage companion again.
"Buffy was kinda angry with me about it, especially after she found out it was too late for her to give me the Talk – because Anya had already done that, like, ages ago," Dawn admitted, causing Xander to recall that old conversation within Angel's hotel. She then added, "And just between us, I guess I could've handled that videoconference call a bit better, because at the time? I was still kinda horny from everything Tim had done to me, the previous night..."
"Too much information!" Xander said firmly, abruptly wishing he was anywhere but here.
"God, you're acting just like Giles when he found out that I wasn't a virgin anymore," Dawn looked annoyed. "Come on, Xander, look at me! I mean, really look at me. I'm eighteen years old, and I'm a legal adult able to make my own decisions. I'm not that eleven-year-old kid you and Cordelia used to babysit anymore! I mean, when you were my age, you were having sex all the time-"
"That's different," Xander interrupted firmly.
"Why, 'cause you're a guy?" Dawn asked scornfully.
"No – because after high school, I was in a serious relationship with Anya. The woman that I started contemplating spending the rest of my life with! With this Tim person you met at that frat party, did you feel the same way?" Harris asked forcefully.
Dawn scowled at him; she hated how Xander was making her feel like a schoolgirl who had been caught smoking in the bathroom between classes, or something. { Urrrgh! Sure, bring that up! }
Luckily for her, Vi came into the room at that moment. "Hey, um, Dawn? Have you seen Shannon anywhere around? Wesley was looking for her."
Dawn snorted, "Oh, please, tonight of all nights? She and Rona took off ages ago; I mean, I'm sure you remember their conversation about that new movie starring Ryan Gosling!"
"Oh. Okay. Hey, you saw that doctor who came around earlier, right Xander?" Vi asked the former carpenter, deciding to change the topic. She found it kinda weird that her old Sunnydale acquaintance was now awake, after all these months of being in a coma, but she was nonetheless glad that Harris was now back to normal. "What did he say, anyway?"
"The doc said I'm lucky how most of my muscles are still okay, and this whole Professor X look is just temporary – only for a few days or so," Xander replied. "I'll be fine, soon enough."
"Okay, good. Well, I-I gotta get going. I'll see you two later!" Vi gave them a quick wave before scooting out the door, wanting to fill Wesley in on the Slayer situation.
"So. Are you gonna tell me why you didn't confide in me, after you found out the truth about Cordelia?" Dawn abruptly asked Xander, who turned to face her in surprise. "That she was in a coma, I mean? Because after I had a chance to think about it, I got kinda annoyed with you about that. That you didn't trust me enough to help you wake her up!"
"It wasn't about not trusting you, Dawn – please, don't think that," Xander shook his head. "Truth is, I didn't say anything because it would have put you in an impossible situation between me and Buffy, not to mention everyone else. Besides, you had to focus on school in order to get your diploma. Saving Cordelia's life was a job for someone expendable – namely, me."
"Hey! You aren't expendable!" Dawn shouted fiercely at him.
"Yeah, maybe – but at the time, I sure as hell felt like it," Xander told her with far too much honesty. "Look, Dawn, what happened back then doesn't really matter anymore as far as I'm concerned, all right? It's done, it's over, and I want to put it all behind me and just move on. So no more secrets between us, okay? Like, right now, I just want to get started on my physical therapy as soon as possible. So, wanna take a walk with me to the room Cordy set up for that earlier today? I could do with some Dawn Summers level of encouragement on this."
Dawn unleashed a Cordelia-esque megawatt smile, one she'd no doubt developed thanks to her former role model's demonstrations lately. "It'd be my pleasure."
Later on in the therapy room, after a very satisfactory workout, Xander gave the wheels of the chair a firm spin as he headed for the door. Dawn and Melissa had left barely a few moments previously, and now the young man wanted nothing more than to have a quick bath and change of clothes. { Can't wait to get out of this wheelchair, I swear...it's annoying as hell! }
But then Harris went still, as the chair rolled to a stop. "Well, well, well. Look who's here."
Angel walked silently into the room. His expression was unreadable, as he looked at Xander; and at that hazel-colored eye that did notbelong on any face except Cordelia's. Then the former vampire said emotionlessly, "So. You're finally awake."
"And you're finally human now," Xander replied, looking his former rival up and down. "I suppose congratulations are in order?"
Angel kept his face expressionless, even if on the inside he was seething with barely-restrained anger. The problem was that, even after becoming human, despite all of his efforts to convince Cordelia for them to enter into a romantic relationship – he had failed. She had constantly rejected him. Gently, granted, but the new boss of Angel Investigations had still said 'no' every time he'd brought up the subject.
And over the past month or so, the real reason why had penetrated into his skull, so right now Angel couldn't help blaming Harris for everything. { What the hell does Cordelia even see in you? }
"I wouldn't expect you to congratulate me on anything, let alone that. And I can't help asking myself, why the hell did Cordy keep you around all these months? Because we both know you of all people don't deserve her," Angel told the competition stonily.
"And you do? The guy who let all of his friends' minds get violated that way, just because you decided it was necessary?" Xander asked, noting Angel's reaction to his words. "And you wanna play that game, Live Boy, well – do I have to remind ya that Cordelia would've died, if I'd left her to your care? Looks to me that you're conveniently forgetting that. Exactly the same way you're conveniently ignoring all the bodies you've left behind you, during your two hundred-plus years as a vampire. That sound to you like the kind of guy who deserves Cordelia?"
Infuriated, Angel glared openly at his old rival. { Don't push me, Harris! If you weren't in that wheelchair right now, I'd... }
At that moment, Spike sauntered into the therapy room. "Hullo, Droopy Boy. Been a while, innit? All happy to be out of Dreamland, then?"
Xander stared at him in annoyance. "In reverse order: yeah, Spike. It hasn't been long enough, and hello to you, too. Cordy mentioned that you were around; just my luck how that stupid amulet didn't do a good enough job of keeping you safely locked up for the rest of eternity."
"Now, now," William the Bloody smirked, looking unfazed. "Sticks 'n stones, and all that."
"Oh, trust me, Bleach Boy; words can hurt you. Remember all those jokes and insults, after the Initiative jammed that electronic leash inside your skull? In case you've forgotten, I drove you to the point of trying to commit suicide back then," Xander said, which quickly made Spike's smirk vanish. "But then the Powers didn't want that, did they? They knew you'd be necessary, for when Glory showed up and we needed to leave town..."
"What was it like?" Angel asked, curiosity winning over anger for the moment. "Meeting with the Powers, I mean. Because I remember what it was like going up against the Conduit, but the actual Powers themselves must have been a whole new ball game..."
Silently, Xander contemplated how to best answer the question. It was very hard to do so; because it was an encounter that had been literally out of this world.
In order to arrive within the Powers' realm, his mortal shell had been left behind in the Conduit's chamber; only Xander's soul had been permitted to make the journey to the highest dimension imaginable, before eventually returning. And Harris knew it was fortunate for him that the PTBs had become completely unused to dealing directly with raw human emotions, or else he might never have achieved his goal.
Things like pain, anger and fierce determination had been forgotten by those super-people long ago, the peace and tranquility of their plane had left them completely out of touch with the lower beings like him. Everything Xander was, it had been like a wild and destructive hurricane that had appeared out of nowhere in a sunny tropical paradise. And with the element of surprise on his side, Harris had succeeded in doing something no one that knew him would have thought possible he could achieve.
"I can't describe it properly, not with words," Xander finally replied to Angel's question. "Bottom line, though, I ended up having to argue with a bunch of empowered assholes who were so focused on their 'big picture' that they didn't care who had to be sacrificed – in order to make sure the planet's still here, a few centuries from now."
"But, but-" Angel started to protest, unable to believe that about the higher beings he had served for so long.
"Why are you here?" Xander interrupted, before glancing over at Spike. "Both of you. 'Cause I'm finding it pretty hard to believe it's just for saying hello to an old friend, and believe me – I'm using that word very loosely here."
"Meself, it's just 'cuz I was bored. But as for the Magnificent Poof, reckon he was hoping to intimidate you into backing off from the Cheerleader," Spike said helpfully.
"Shut up, Spike!" Angel automatically growled at him.
"Oh, really? Hmm. You jealous, Angie? Why? It can't possibly be due to thinking that Cordelia might actually prefer me to you, could it?" Xander asked, with a perfectly straight face. "It can't also be the fact that you'd have never even gotten involved with her after high school, if that Skip guy hadn't interfered in our lives?"
"Yeah, I heard that theory. Didn't buy it then, still don't buy it now," Angel retorted.
"Of course. Because you can't ever be wrong about something, can you?" Xander asked in a rhetorical tone of voice. "Huh. As I recall, you once told Buffy that she deserved better than the freak show that was you two's relationship – just before you broke her heart in a sewer, or some place like that. I'm guessing you don't think that was a mistake, either?"
"Gotta admit, Peaches, the whelp does 'ave a point fer once. Way I heard, took Buffy ages to get over that," Spike nodded, ignoring Angel's infuriated look. Then he looked ill. "Not ta mention, you left her all vulnerable for Captain Cardboard to swoop in 'n make his play fer her..."
"Buffy? Vulnerable?" Xander laughed, ignoring the reference to Riley. "C'mon, Spike; she's one of the strongest women we know. I mean, despite personal feelings Slay-gal was still able to send Angel here to Hell that day, remember?"
Cursing silently, Angel turned around and left the room after the obligatory staring contest was over. Spike followed him. The former class clown watched them leave, and then started chuckling. There was little humor in that laughter, though –
Cordelia wandered into the therapy room, looking intrigued. "What happened in here? I just saw Angel and Spike leave, in kind of a big hurry..."
"Nothing important," Xander said dismissively, ceasing to snicker. "And as for the second part – you think I really care about what those two get up to?"
Outside Xander's room, Angel Investigations
June 19th, 2004
{ I really hate my life sometimes, } Cordelia thought angrily to herself, before knocking on the door and entering Xander's room. The brunette had had a rather bad day today, so far.
First off, one of the detective agency's clients had blatantly refused to pay for services rendered, so she'd had to talk to a lawyer about available options. And that variety of bloodsucker had the nerve to charge extra for doing business on a Saturday! Ugh. Maybe she should threaten to feed him to Spike –
Later, some of the Slayers had gotten into an argument over who had first use of the pool that afternoon, and Cordy had had to settle the dispute after Andrew had failed to do so. It had taken threatening not to let any of the teenage brats use the facilities to make them calm down, and see reason –
Then the female boss of the detective agency had walked in on Gunn and Faith having sex in the Slayer's office, a short while later –
And that had served to remind Cordelia that the last man she'd been with was Connor, even if the only memory she had of said liaison was Whistler's repulsive little episode of 'show and tell'. And in Cordy's view, it was a good thing for her sanity how she was unable to remember anything that had happened whilst she'd been possessed by Jasmine. The stories she'd heard were bad enough, and there wasn't enough 'ewww' in the world to express her revulsion with regard to all that!
"Something wrong, Cor?" Xander asked, wheeling his chair around and seeing her expression.
"Well, yeah, but never mind all that. We need to talk," Cordelia said firmly, figuring that enough time had passed since he'd woken up for them to have a very important and long-overdue conversation.
"Yeah? About what?"
"About 'us', you big dummy!"
"Huh?" Xander looked terminally clueless about what his ex meant by that.
"Us! As in, you and me, and where we go from here. In terms of our relationship..." Trailing off upon seeing his expression, Cordelia then added, "What? All the stuff I learned when I accidentally went inside your head, six months ago? You thought I'd forgotten about that? Well, I haven't! At least, not entirely..."
Xander shook his head slowly. "Uh, sorry, Cor; but totally clueless am I. What, uh, what are you talkin' about?"
"Oh my God, seriously?! You don't remember? Auuuggghhhh! Well, that's just great; I remember all that, and you don't!" Cordelia groaned. "Damn it, doof – look, that Ethan Rayne guy from back in junior year, he-"
"Ethan Rayne?" Harris interrupted, a spark of memory igniting. "Wait – I remember having a dream where his name was mentioned, just before I woke up!"
"What dream?"
Xander frowned. "Some people I know – well, we were in this dark place with a table and a couple of chairs, and they talked to me about some stuff. Something about Chaos, and a big battle that's coming up – I dunno, at the time it all seemed very important..."
"Yeah, well, we can get back to that later. Now listen to me, lameass – thanks to that Ethan guy trying to wake you up from your coma, in order to send me back into mine-"
"WHAT?!"
"Oh, relax, I stopped him no problem – but in the process I accidentally ended up inside your mind, like I said before," Cordelia said impatiently, not bothering to mention that Ethan had simply disappeared back then.
"You really went inside my mind?" Xander asked, staring at her.
"Yeah, and while I was there, I talked with your subconscious. It was kinda weird, how part of the time it looked like you – and part of the time it looked like Dawn, or that Anya woman!"
Xander blinked. "Huh?"
Cordelia nodded, quickly telling him everything. Including her encounters with Fish Monster Xander, Hyena Xander, Rennfield Bug-eating Xander and Vampire Xander. She even mentioned that bit about the Han Solo and Princess Leia slave girl outfits. After seeing the expression on her ex-boyfriend's face, the young woman said, "Okay, I know it sounds kinda unbelievable-"
"Kinda?" Xander interrupted, giving her a Look. "Cordy, are you even listening to yourself? You're making me sound like a, a Hellmouth-y version of that Nineties TV show, Herman's Head!"
"More like Max Headroom, dumbass – 'cause that describes the inside of your skull perfectly!" The Seer then took a deep breath. "Anyway, after I talked with your subconscious, that's sorta how I got access to your personal memories. Like the trials you went through for me, with that butler guy – Jeeves, or whatever his name was!"
"What? You remember that? Oh, good Godfrey Cambridge, I wish you didn't," Xander said, looking concerned.
"Whatever, and hey! Don't use the w-word like that, you goofhead! Now, where was I? Oh, yeah! While I was talking with your subconscious and we went on that ridiculously long hike inside your head, I learned that your original destiny had been torn apart. And after I demanded to know details, I-"
"Stop right there," Xander interrupted for the third time. "I mean it, Cordy. Because I'm pretty sure I can guess where this is going, and quite honestly, I don't wanna talk about it. Not now. Maybe not ever."
"What? You don't want to talk about our children? About the life we could and should have had together, if it hadn't been for Skip and that evil bitch he worked for?" Cordelia asked incredulously.
"Like I said, not now," Xander shook his head slowly, his face now an expressionless mask. "Because that Xander Harris and Cordelia Chase, who got married after high school and who were together for nearly eighty years? Well, truth is – we're not them, and they're not us. Hell, far as I'm concerned? They're two totally different people, who never had to deal with everything that we've had to in our lives. Like the rebar, Wesley, Anya, Angel, the coma – yours and mine – not to mention everything else."
"So, what are you saying? I mean, you sacrificed six months of your life for me!" Cordelia said hotly. "You tracked down that shaman, you underwent those trials, you faced down the Powers; you saved my life, you idiot! Come on – you can't tell me that you did all that just 'cause you were bored, or whatever?"
"Look, Cordy – after I learned the truth about you, and found the answers I was looking for in Zanzibar? Everything I did, it wasn't to score points against Angel, or get back together with you," Harris explained slowly. "I did what I did because I was in a very bad place back then, and I just wanted to do something with my life that was worth the pain and sacrifice – preventing you from needlessly dying that way. That's all."
Cordelia felt like her heart was breaking all over again, just like back in high school. It was only the fact that she was Cordelia Chase, and she did not give up on fighting for something she wanted that easily, which allowed her to say, "So what are you going to do now, then?"
Xander shrugged. "Not sure. Probably prepare for that big battle that's coming, somehow, and afterwards get myself a normal life somewhere. If I'm still around, once the dust settles."
"You really think that's an option, Harris?" Cordelia asked, her half-lidded eyes boring directly into his mismatched brown and hazel ones. Her voice bitter and acidic, she added, "Because I don't. No matter where you go or what you do, you'll attract the weirdness straight to you like a magnet. And that's not just a pissed-off ex-girlfriend talking; it's someone who knows you well enough to be absolutely sure of that!"
With another small shrug of his shoulders, Xander had to admit – the odds were that Cordelia was completely right about that particular prediction.
TBC...