"Untouched"

Based on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer Episode "Out of My Mind" Written by Rebecca Rand Kirshner and the Angel Episode "Untouched" Written by Mere Smith

The following story is copyright © 2024 by Mark Moore.

In the graveyard, at night, Buffy crouched on top of a crypt. She stood up, stake in hand, looked around, and leaped to the ground. Buffy ran through the graveyard, pausing, looking around. A pair of arms burst out of a fresh grave, but Buffy staked the vampire before it could finish coming out of the ground. Buffy straightened up and turned as another vampire emerged from another grave. She ducked his swing, threw a few punches, and kicked him in the chest. He did a back-roll and came up to his feet. She kicked the vampire's legs out from under him and threw him aside. The vampire hit a crypt and slid down. Buffy punched the vampire, then staked him. Another vampire emerged from the ground. Buffy spotted him and started forward with a yell, raising her stake. She staked the vampire.

In the hotel lobby, Cordelia and Wesley were having an argument.

"That's so typical of your kind."

"At least, I'm not a sheep like you."

"I am not a sheep!" Wesley yelled.

"You're such a sheep! You've never had an opinion that you didn't read in a book."

"At least, I've opened a book."

"Oh, don't even try with the snooty, wooly boy. I was top ten percent of my class!"

"What class? Advanced bosoms?"

"Oh!"

"Hey!" Angel yelled, walking downstairs. "What the hell is going on here?"

Cordelia looked at him. "We were just discussing whether or not we should offer to pay Gunn."

Angel looked at them for a moment, then shook his head. "No, you weren't."

"Well, our discussions tend to go about three minutes, then it's strictly name calling and hair pulling."

"Ebeneezer here doesn't want to share the wealth."

"I didn't say that. I merely said Gunn might be insulted by the offer. He's a...proud sort of fellow."

"He's been doing for us. He should pull in a check."

"I'll think about asking him, all right?"

Cordelia stared at Angel. "No think. Pay. That's an order."

"Hey! How about we pretend that you work for me?"

"You are really unpleasant when you-"

"Then why don't we pretend that you don't."

"You can't fire me. I'm vision girl." Cordelia stuck her tongue out at him.

Angel stuck his hands into his pockets and tried not to smile. "All right. I'll think about asking him, all right? Maybe...on a case-by-case."

Cordelia gave him a big smile. "My hero."

Wesley looked at her. "I was going to suggest that."

"Uh-huh."

"I-Is there coffee?" Angel asked Cordelia.

"There was...in the morning. It's ten o'clock at night."

"Oh. Huh. Just a little disoriented. I've been sleeping weird."

"Weird how?" Wesley asked.

"I don't know."

"I mean...it's been going on for a bit, hasn't it? You sleep more, you're less rested. Are you dreaming?" Wesley asked.

Cordelia started to pant and lifted a hand to her brow. Angel ran and caught her as she swayed under the impact of an incoming vision.

Cordelia's face scrunched up in pain. "Well, boys, I think we have a customer-"

She got thrown back in Angel's grip and got a blurry image of a girl with long auburn hair screaming and running from someone.

"Okay...a girl, she's in an alley - Hollywood and Wilcox."

Cordelia saw a guy's face and the girl screaming.

"Oh, she's so scared!" Cordelia cried.

Wesley looked at Angel. "Go."

Angel ran out as Wesley took over supporting Cordelia.

"Oh, God, he's gonna be too late."

Cordelia and Wesley were taping up Angel's shoulder.

"I can't get this bandage to...Stop moving!" Cordelia yelled.

"I'm not.

"Then stop flexing your manly boob-muscles or whatever."

Wesley stared at the wound. "That's an ugly-looking wound."

"It doesn't feel pretty either."

"We should definitely approach this girl with caution." Wesley paused. "I guess you already figured that out."

"She's very powerful. We got to find out everything we can about her."

Cordelia buttoned up Angel's shirt. "Like...oh, say, her name?"

"I was impaled at the time."

Cordelia patted his knee. "Of course. Perfectly understandable."

"You know how hard it is to think straight with a rebar through your torso?"

"No address or anything?" Cordelia asked.

"She said she was staying with a friend."

"Well, that narrows it down to people with friends." Cordelia looked at Wesley. "Where do we keep that list?"

"She's not local. Traces of an accent. Northeast - maybe Ohio. And everything about her tells me she is on the run, so-"

Cordelia nodded. "So look into runaways from the northeast."

"And cross-reference it with supernatural occurrences. The way she went off tonight, I doubt she's been able to stay low-profile."

"Angel, you're sure this isn't a demon of some kind?" Wesley asked.

"She's just a girl."

Cordelia sat down at her laptop. "Just a girl that can kill your ass by blinking."

"She needs help. She's out of control. She's just...lost." Angel went to stand next to Wesley. "What do we know about telekinesis?"

"Ah. Yes. The power of moving things with one's mind." Wesley took a deep breath. "That's pretty much it. The power of...moving..." He paused. "I-I'm better with demons, really."

"Time to broaden your horizons."

Gunn walked into the lobby. "You call, I come. Loaded for bear, ready for battle, and something else that starts with B."

"What is that?" Wesley asked.

Gunn held up an ax. "Ah, isn't that thing? Some of the kids at my camp put it together for me. Thought I might get the chance to stick it in something now."

"Men are all alike."

"Fair Cordelia...you still saving my life?"

Cordelia didn't look up from her screen. "Every minute."

"How's that working out?"

Cordelia looked at him. "You're alive, aren't you?"

"So what kind of scaly pus-monster you all want me to slay this time?" Gunn asked.

Angel looked at him. "Actually, we were hoping you could do some leg-work for us."

"Leg-work? That kind of leaves me high and dry with my cool new ax."

"I'm trying to find a girl."

Cordelia slapped his arm and rubbed her fingers together as if she was counting money.

Angel pushed her hand down. "She smashed a couple of would-be rapists with a dumpster."

"Must have been a hefty kind of girl."

"We think she did it psychically."

Wesley nodded. "Telekinesis, the power of moving things with-"

"Yeah, I have heard the word. So what you all need me to do?"

"I'm interested in the guys. They got..." Angel paused.

"Smushed?" Cordelia helped.

"Not far from your neighborhood, around Hollywood and Wilcox. You think you could find out who they are?" Angel asked.

"You got it." Gunn started to leave. "But if I come back here on the end of a spatula, I'm expecting some serious workers' comp!"

Cordelia hit Angel's arm. "See? Workers' comp; he wants to get paid!"

"Cordelia-"

"The poor man can't even afford a real ax!"

"Okay. Okay. I'll bring it up."

Cordelia grinned at him.

Angel walked towards the stairs. "I'm going to bed. It's been a long day."

"You've been up for three hours."

Angel stopped but didn't turn around. "Cordelia...find the girl."

Cordelia and Wesley watched him leave, then looked at each other.

The next day, at the Magic Box, Giles was behind the counter, painting the wall. "It seems the plans worked perfectly."

Jenny lifted the bookcase that she just assembled and set it against a wall. "Yes, instructions, not a bad idea."

"Well, I must say...I'm very impressed."

There was a knock on the door. Giles went to answer it. Tara stood by a small round table, holding a deck of tarot cards.

Jenny moved stuff around on the shelves of another bookcase. "Oh!" She eyed Giles. "Who put the monkey heads near the Styx water? Do we want to pick exploded monkey out of our hair?" She picked up a jar and a monkey head and walked across the room.

Giles opened the door.

Buffy stood there, smiling. "Hey!"

"Hello, come on in."

"Thank you, kind proprietor." Buffy entered.

Tara smiled. "Hey, you."

"Hey!" Buffy looked around. "Oh, wow, this place looks great."

"Right? Oh, I feel like a witch in a magic shop." Tara picked up a jar from a table. "Ooh. Are these real newt eyes?" She looked at Giles.

"No, too...rich for my blood, I'm afraid. No, these are salamander eyes; it's the...cataracts which give them their newt-like appearance." Giles moved past her. "They're really equally effective, though; it's...just a matter of overcoming snobberies."

Buffy looked at him. "I'm telling you, Giles. You gotta set up a blind taste test and prove once and for all that generic amphibian eyeballs are just as good."

"I don't know. If you ask me, the newt name still means something." Tara put down the jar.

"You ready to train?" Giles asked Buffy.

"In a bit." Buffy sat at the round table. "What's up, babe?"

Tara stood beside her. "I just...keep thinking how cool it would be, if we got a real psychic to sit up here and read fortunes and stuff."

"You should do it."

"Not me. But - But I'd love to - to watch and learn. From someone who's really good, you know?"

"You're really good." Buffy held out her hands. "I'll prove it. Here, do me."

Tara nodded and sat, putting down the cards. She took one of Buffy's hands. Buffy watched her study it.

"Hmm."

"What do you see?" Buffy asked her.

"Buffy hand."

They both smiled.

Cordelia was sitting in front of her laptop. Wesley was reading a book.

Angel walked into the lobby, rubbing his eyes, and leaned on the counter, looking at Cordelia. "Well?"

"Top of the middle of the day to you, too. And no, no leads worth mentioning. Of course, we lost a little time during my forty-five minutes of sleep. Good thing I left some clothes here, or you would be smelling me even now."

"Gunn check in?"

"Huh-uh."

Angel looked at Wesley. "How about you? How's it coming?"

"Well, most of my reading suggests that telekinesis is a psychic phenomenon that occurs during periods of extreme emotional stress."

"Well, that tracks." Angel rubbed at his eyes. "We got to find her."

Cordelia noticed the girl from her vision standing in her nightgown and jacket. "Well, I think I may have a lead."

When the guys looked at her, she motioned towards the door.

"Hey. How are you?" Angel asked her.

"Bethany." Bethany took a deep breath. "Bethany Chaulk. You said I couldn't hurt you. That if I needed anything..."

"You're safe here."

Wesley nodded. "We're all...safe people."

"This is, um...Wesley and Cordelia."

Bethany still stood just inside the door. "So it's a family business, huh?"

"Friends. Come on in."

Bethany walked down the stairs with a sigh. Her knees sagged, and Angel caught her. She immediately pushed free. Cordelia looked her up and down.

"Sorry. I'm just...so tired."

"Would you like some tea?" Angel offered.

"Yeah. Please."

Angel left.

Cordelia looked at her. "You shouldn't worry. Angel does this kind of thing all the time."

"Makes tea?"

"Helps people. You know, he helps people with problems."

"So what's wrong with you?"

"Where to begin?" Wesley asked.

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Haha." She looked at Bethany. "C'mon, you can borrow some of my clothes."

In Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California, a thirteen-year-old Filipino American girl named Chloe Vergara-Paras was shopping with her mother in a food market. She followed her mother up one cramped aisle and down another, holding a shopping basket, which her mother occasionally dropped items into.

"Mom, how much longer are we gonna be here?" Chloe asked.

"Patience. You wanna starve?" Maria asked her daughter.

"No, but I also don't want my stomach to burst."

"This isn't all just for you, you know." Maria opened a cooler and got out a package of pork tenderloins. She dropped it in the basket. "Okay, I guess that's it."

They went up to the counter. Chloe unloaded the items onto the counter.

"How are my favorite girls today?" the clerk asked.

Maria smiled. "Good, Hector. Yourself?"

"Good." Hector started ringing up the items.

While that was going on, Chloe thought she saw something in the corner of her eye. She looked to her left and saw what appeared to be a man, but he quickly retreated into an aisle, out of sight. Chloe stared a moment longer.

"Okay, thank you. Come again."

"We will." Maria paused. "Chloe?"

Chloe looked at her. "Huh?"

"Pick up the bags. We're leaving."

"Oh. Okay." Chloe picked up the plastic bags.

Hector smiled. "Have a good night, Chloe."

Chloe smiled. "You, too. TTFN."

Maria pushed open the door. Chloe walked outside, and her mother followed.

By the time that the groceries were in the trunk, Chloe had forgotten about the man.

Cordelia was standing behind the counter, watching Angel and Bethany through the glass doors. "What is she doing?"

Wesley was sitting behind her, reading. "They're talking, yes?"

"There is something. She's got a vibe. I'm getting a vibe. She's vibey."

"I didn't notice a vibe."

"Well, Wes, you're not a woman. Women and sex, it's not like you guys; we see more levels." Cordelia paused. "Are you even listening?"

Angel sat down beside Bethany on the garden bench in the shadow of the hotel's veranda. They continued talking.

Bethany got up off the bench, upset. "It's not a parlor trick! It's - It's a disease!"

"Look. We don't know what it is yet. We're just getting started. I just want to know about you."

"Well, don't start asking me a bunch of stupid questions. Like 'When were you potty trained' and 'Name all your pets'. 'Do you like hide-n-seek?'"

"None of those were on my list."

Wesley stood up and headed for the door.

"You don't even know what I'm going through! I shouldn't even be here!" Bethany yelled.

"I agree."

Bethany spun around as Wesley walked down the steps into the garden court.

"It's clear this girl doesn't want our help. I don't think we should be wasting our time with her."

Angel looked at him. "Wesley-"

"I'm sorry, but there are people out there who need us. People with much more serious problems than impulse-control issues."

Angel stood up. "Look, that's enough."

"Why doesn't she go back to her friend's, toss the furniture about?" Wesley stepped closer to Bethany. "Or maybe we should send you home to your father."

Bethany gasped, and Wesley flew back against the wall. Angel stepped towards her, she saw it, and he went flying back out into the sun of the courtyard. He quickly scrambled back under the protection of the veranda, smoking ever so slightly, and watched Bethany as she looked around at what she just did.

Cordelia folded some ice into a napkin and held it against the back of Wesley's head. "You're sure nothing's broken?"

"I'm sure."

"Nothing at all? Say, your brain?" Cordelia sighed. "What happened to approach her with caution?"

"If I'd given her time to get her defenses up-"

"She wouldn't be crying, you wouldn't be bruised, and Angel wouldn't have had a near-Melba-toast experience! What did you say to her?"

"I mentioned her father."

"Well, who's her father?"

"No, it's..." Wesley paused. "The sort of trauma that can produce this level of psychic power usually involves abuse of some kind - very early on. You'd mentioned a sexual vibe; she made that crack about family business. Statistically speaking, the father was the best guess."

"There's not enough yuck in the world."

Angel walked in.

"How is she?" Cordelia asked him.

"Settling." Angel looked at Wesley. "You're gone."

"You can't fire Wesley. I'll quit, too!" Cordelia reconsidered. "Unless you're firm!"

"I'm not firing anyone."

"I understand. My being here wouldn't exactly help her to feel trusting. I'll be at my flat. Call me if-"

"It helps that we know."

"I hope so." Wesley left.

Angel looked at Cordelia. "You should stay at your own place tonight in case she-"

"Be careful."

"I don't think she'll go off again."

Cordelia kissed Angel on the lips, then left.

That night, in their dorm room, Buffy and Tara lay in bed, side-by-side, naked, in the afterglow of making love. Buffy gave a contented sigh.

Tara smiled. "Yeah."

"Mm, that was relaxing."

"You, uh...wanna relax some more?" Tara snuggled up against her.

"Again? Right away again?"

Tara kissed her bare shoulder. "Maybe you're too tired."

"Hey." Buffy caressed her cheek. "I have the endurance of ten women. You know, it takes a lot to wear me out."

Tara smiled. "Show me."

"Mm." Buffy turned onto her back.

Tara moved on top of her. They kissed passionately.

The next morning, Dawn and Joyce were in the kitchen.

"Well, wouldn't you?" Dawn asked. "Every kid tries to make the substitute cry. It's like a rite of passage."

Joyce was cooking over the stove. "I certainly would not. Being a substitute is an extremely difficult job."

Dawn sat down and pointed to Joyce. "Anyway, I want eggs."

"Alrighty, half an omelette coming up." Joyce scooped the eggs onto two plates.

"Oh, um, with ketchup, if you please?" Dawn requested.

"Mm-hmm." Joyce turned away from the stove, holding the two plates. Suddenly, she stopped and blinked as if dizzy. "Oh, what is the...?" She looked at Dawn. "Who are you?"

Dawn was confused. Suddenly, Joyce collapsed to the floor, the plates shattering. Dawn jumped up in alarm. Joyce lay unconscious on the floor, surrounded by pieces of plates and food. Dawn backed away, panting fearfully, and grabbed the telephone. She dialed 911.

Cordelia, Angel, and Bethany were standing in the lobby.

Bethany frowned. "I feel funny. Sweaty-funny, I think."

Angel was holding a silk scarf. "Just try it. You can stop at any time."

"What if it blows up or something?"

"I'll buy Cordelia a new one."

Bethany took a deep breath. "Okay. Just...drop it on the floor."

Angel dropped the scarf. Bethany's eyes widened. Cordelia, on the phone behind the counter, watched as one end of the scarf rose to slide up Angel's body.

Angel smiled at her. "See?"

She draped the scarf around Angel's neck.

"You can control it."

Bethany gave a short laugh.

Cordelia hung up the phone and walked over to them. "Nice look."

Angel pulled the scarf off.

Cordelia handed him a piece of paper. "That was Gunn. He wants you to meet him at this address."

Angel looked at the paper. "Brentwood?"

"I'll look after Bethany. We can hit the Plaza shops."

Bethany gave her a small smile. "Um, sure. Sounds like fun."

Angel handed Cordelia her scarf while looking at Bethany. "I'll be back soon."

Cordelia held out the scarf as he left. "You're not gonna wear this?"

Buffy burst open the double doors to the emergency room at Sunnydale Memorial Hospital and pushed in past some people, followed by Tara. Down the hall, they saw Dawn sitting on a chair, fiddling with a stethoscope that was hung around her neck.

Buffy rushed up to her. "Hey. How's Mom? Are you okay?" She hugged Dawn.

"I'm okay."

"And your mom's doing just fine." A young, tall woman with long, curly blonde hair and wearing a white coat approached.

Buffy let go of Dawn and stood up.

"This is Gloria. She gave me her stethoscope."

"Lent you her stethoscope. Buffy, right?" Gloria held out her hand. "I'm Gloria; I'm an intern here. I've had the pleasure of hanging out with the renowned Dr. Dawn here while your mom's being tested."

Buffy shook her hand.

"So what's goin' on? What happened?" Tara asked.

"Well, she's doing okay now. The doctors don't really know what caused the collapse. It could've just been a dizzy spell, low blood sugar, that sort of thing."

"But it's nothing bad. I-I mean it's not...serious, right?" Buffy asked her.

"Very unlikely. So your mom doesn't have a...history of fainting?"

"No. I mean...not that I know of. She's usually really healthy."

"Well, I think they'll be running tests for a few more hours, then they'll probably want her to come back for some follow-up tests in a couple weeks, but it really doesn't look like anything too serious."

"Oh, thank God. I was freaking out."

"I think you'll be able to take her home before too long."

Tara smiled. "Well, that is definitely good news."

They looked as a door opened.

Joyce walked out. "Hi."

"Hey. How are you?" Buffy hurried over to hug Joyce.

"Oh...embarrassed, mostly. I'm sorry to put you through this. But...no more tests, so you can take this pincushion home."

Angel broke open the door to a dark apartment.

Gunn walked in. "Knock, knock. See, this works great. You break, and I enter."

"As long as this guy is still alive, I can't enter."

"The guy is on the critical list. Your girl must be pretty scary." Gunn looked around the apartment. "You see what I'm seeing here?"

Angel craned his neck to see as much as he could through the open door. "Doesn't exactly fit the thug-in-the-alley profile."

"No, word on this guy was muscle for hire. Not cheap neither."

"So he was sent after Bethany."

"Somebody wanted her hurt."

"Or wanted to know what would happen if somebody tried." Angel leaned against the invisible barrier. "Hey, look for an address book. You know, checks, statements."

"I'm still dealing with this man's ugly-ass living room set. Some people just shouldn't have money."

"On the subject of money. How would you feel, maybe, you know, on a...case-by-case basis?"

"Are you offering to pay me for helping you?"

"Yeah."

"Cool."

Angel blinked, still leaning against the barrier. Suddenly, the barrier vanished, and Angel landed full-length on the floor of the apartment.

Gunn smiled. "You're a very graceful man; have I ever mentioned that?"

Angel got up. "I guess someone is off the critical list."

"Rapist for hire; see me crying?"

Angel looked through some papers on the desk. He hit the redial button on the speakerphone. After the second ring, it was picked up.

"Wolfram & Hart. How may I direct your call?"

Angel and Gunn looked at each other.

In the living room, Joyce was laying on the sofa, sipping from a mug, with Buffy and Dawn sitting by her.

Tara stood beside the sofa. "What about a crossword?"

"Oh, no, thanks, Tara."

Dawn smiled. "I like chicken fingers with mustard when I'm sick."

Joyce put the mug on the coffee table. "I know you do, sweetie. I can make us some later."

Buffy shook her head. "Oh, uh-uh. You are sitting right here on this couch today."

"I feel silly lying here like a lump!"

Tara smiled. "You could make a game out of it. A-A very quiet game...about being a lump."

"I feel fine." Joyce started to get up.

Buffy glared at her. "If you try to do anything...I'll kick your ass."

That night, Cordelia and Bethany walked past an old-fashioned carousel, holding drinks.

Bethany smiled. "You're right. This is great!"

"It's the vanilla that makes the mocha less latte-y."

"Yeah. Where I'm from, you know, they still just have coffee. Everything else is that L.A. stuff."

"Yeah. Don't fuck my boss." Cordelia sipped her drink.

"What?"

"Angel. He's strictly a no-bone."

"I wasn't-"

Cordelia raised her eyebrows at her.

"Cordelia, I don't wanna sleep with Angel."

"The thing about Angel: he's old-fashioned. Old-fashioned - like the age of chivalry. He sees you as, pretty much, the damsel in distress." Cordelia paused, staring at her. "I think it's a little more complicated than that."

"W-Why are you..." Bethany paused. "I never-"

"I think you're kind of dangerous. I'm not being mean. I like you. I do. But...you come on all helpless, and...I mean...people that have thought that you were helpless before...have died."

"Those men in the alley - that was the only..." Bethany paused. "They were gonna hurt me."

"You could have floated them away...or - or spun them until they puked. I don't know. You squashed them."

Bethany sat down on a little wall. "You don't know how scary it was."

Cordelia sat down beside her. "Yes, I do." She paused. "I had a vision of you. That's how Angel found you. I felt everything. And those guys are better off squashed, I truly think, but...somewhere in that moment of panic, a decision got made, and I don't want something like that to happen to my friends - or, and I can't stress this enough, me. No matter what, sex complicates the equation - even more than you think."

"I get it. You don't have to worry."

"Good."

They got up and started walking again.

"So...are you and Angel...?" Bethany asked.

"It's...complicated. We have a history and...a bit of a present, I guess, but..." Cordelia sipped her drink.

"He is kind of earnest. He always seems to-"

A man pushed between them, injecting something into Bethany's neck as he passed.

"Hey!" Cordelia yelled. "What an asshole!"

Bethany was swaying.

Cordelia rescued her cup of coffee. "You're about to drop your-"

Two men grabbed Bethany's arms and pulled her along between them.

"Hey! Stop! Police!" Cordelia yelled.

As the guys tore back towards her, she threw a cup of coffee into each of their faces. They let go of Bethany, blinded by the hot coffee, and Cordelia caught her around the waist and led her away.

"Stay with me. Stay with me. Oh, God."

They almost got hit by a van as they crossed the street.

"Bethany. Come on!"

The back doors of the van popped open, and men dressed all in white jumped out, pushed Cordelia aside, and dragged Bethany into the van.

"No! Bethany! You can squash those guys!" Cordelia yelled.

The back doors of the van got pulled closed, and the van sped away - just as Angel and Gunn pulled up beside Cordelia in his convertible.

Angel looked at her. "Cordelia."

Cordelia pointed. "Tan van. Fetch!"

Angel sped off in pursuit with Cordelia looking after them. Angel tried to cut the van off, but there were too many cars coming the other direction.

"Take the wheel."

Gunn slid over into the driver's seat while Angel jumped over the windshield, onto the hood of his car.

"Closer!" Angel yelled.

Gunn sped up. Angel jumped onto the back of the van, grabbing ahold of its top rack. He pulled one of the back doors open and reached in. Then Gunn saw two white-clad men being tossed out of the back of the van. Gunn swerved to avoid running them over.

Bethany burst into the ruined upstairs corner room of the hotel, followed by Angel and Cordelia.

"Bethany!" Angel yelled.

"It's not true! It's someone else."

"Bethany, I'm sorry. I know Lilah; she's not what she pretends to be."

"She's my friend!"

The open balcony doors slammed shut.

Cordelia approached Angel. "Angel..."

"It's not her! You're making it up. You're playing with me! Why does everyone wanna play with me?" Bethany huddled down. "I don't wanna play!"

Angel crouched down in front of her. "Bethany, you have to control yourself."

"Don't touch me!"

The door behind Cordelia slammed shut, startling her.

Cordelia looked at Angel. "Maybe she just needs a time-out."

"Bethany..."

"I don't have to listen."

"Bethany, stop. You can control this."

"No!"

"Listen to me! Nobody is controlling you." Angel absently batted a can of paint flying at him away. "You have the power here. You're gonna kill us; you're gonna die?! Then they win. Don't let them. Don't let them touch you."

Bethany slowly stood up and walked past Angel and Cordelia towards the door. Just as she reached it, it opened, revealing her father standing there.

"Hello, rabbit."

All of the windows of the corner suite blew out as the whole building shook for a moment. Angel fell unconscious.

Bethany stood in front of her father. "Daddy."

"God, Bethany, I've been so worried."

Angel stirred a bit.

"I wouldn't have known where to find you except..." The father paused. "Your friend Lilah and I only wanna help you, sweetheart."

Plaster began to rain from the ceiling and walls.

"I know what you can do, Bethany." The father walked around Bethany, into the room. "And I know you don't mean to hurt anyone."

Angel opened his eyes and looked around.

"You're a good girl. I know that."

Bethany stared at him, eyes wide.

"No more worries, all right? You're coming back with me; we're gonna be a family again."

More plaster shook loose, but the father stood untouched.

"Wouldn't you like that? To stop running all the time? To come back to where people know you, love you?"

The walls shook harder.

"I promise it'll be just like it was before. I've missed you so much."

Bethany looked like she might start to cry.

"Shh, rabbit."

Bethany's eyes rolled back in her head for a moment, and everything went quiet.

Angel got up. "Bethany-"

He got pinned against the wall, silenced.

"There you go." The father reached a hand towards her. "Now, why don't we go downstairs? Just you and me."

Bethany's face hardened, and her father slid back from her. Angel came free from the wall. Her father started to float up off the floor.

"Bethany, what are you doing? Stop it. Put me down." He reached for his throat as if he was trying to pull a noose free from around it. "I can't...breathe." He looked at Angel. "Help me. Please. Stop her."

Angel stared at her. "Bethany. You got the power. Use it. Finish it."

The father was still clutching at his throat. "Hurts. Make it stop."

Bethany stared at him. "Goodbye."

The father flew backwards out of the window with a scream. Cordelia and Angel looked towards Bethany's calm face. The father plummeted, slowed, and stopped to hang a few feet above the sidewalk. Cordelia and Angel watched Bethany. The father dropped the rest of the way, and Bethany blinked, shook herself, and looked from Angel over at Cordelia.

Cordelia walked over to Bethany and hugged her. Bethany started crying.

"Shhh, it's okay. You're all right. He has no power over you. Not anymore."

Bethany looked at her, then at Angel. "Can I...Can I stay here? At least until I figure out where I wanna go and what I wanna do?"

Angel shrugged. "Ask Cordy. She owns the hotel."

Bethany looked at Cordelia in surprise. "You do?"

"Technically, yeah. See, legally, Angel doesn't exist. He's a vampire, you know."

Bethany looked at Angel. "Weird."

Cordelia smiled. "Of course, you can stay here, Bethany. I won't even charge you for the room."

Bethany smiled. "Thank you."

Angel made a face.

Cordelia noticed. "Oh, yeah, I decided we're gonna reopen the Hyperion as a hotel. After all, it really is too big for our needs, so we might as well make money off it."

Angel paused in consideration. "Good idea."