"Waiting in the Wings"
Based on the Angel Episode Written by Joss Whedon
The following story is copyright © 2025 by Mark Moore.
Kate was sitting in front of a book open to a woodcut of a demon.
Cordelia was sitting in front of Kate's desk and writing on a notepad. "Sorialus the Ravager." She looked down at the book. "Yeah, she's the one from my vision."
"Coming to destroy the humans that killed her mate."
"But not for another month or so. I'll file her under 'pending'."
Kate closed the book.
Cordelia looked at Kate and smiled. "So...you and Fred fuck yet?"
Kate nearly blushed. "Not that it's any of your fucking business - see what I did there? - but no."
Cordelia sighed. "Just like to hear about others' love lives every now and then. I was the ditziest bitch in Sunnydale, could have had any man I wanted. Now, I'm all superhero-y and with a guy that I can't fuck without dire consequences, and the best action I can get is an invisible ghost that's good with the loofah."
Kate made a face, embarrassed.
"Who's doing what with the loofah?" Angel asked, walking into Kate's office.
Cordelia looked at Angel. "So...you went with the dark clothes today."
"Ask me why I'm smiling."
"I will, because it's scaring me."
Angel pulled some tickets out of his back pocket and held them up. "We...are stepping out."
"What are those?" Kate asked.
"Well, I got to the ticket place and-"
Fred walked into the office. "Morning."
Kate smiled. "Hi, sweetie."
Fred put her hands on Kate's desk, leaned forward, and kissed Kate on the lips, putting Cordelia in an awkward situation.
Angel smiled. "Anyway. Blinnikov World Ballet Tour. Tonight only!"
The ladies stared blankly at him.
"This is the Blinnikov World Ballet Corps."
Cordelia frowned. "He's saying that like it has meaning."
"This is one of the premier companies in the world. And they're doing Giselle! It's their signature piece."
Kate thought for a moment. "I think I've heard of them. Very ahead of their time."
"Oh, yeah. Yeah. I saw their production of Giselle in 1890. I cried like a baby. And I was evil!"
Fred smiled. "I-I think it sounds exciting!"
Kate nodded. "Yeah."
"Do we get dressed up?" Cordelia asked Angel.
"Of course."
"I'm in."
"Guys, seeing real ballet live, it's..." Angel sighed. "It's like another world."
Cordelia stood up. "Come on, guys. Working day, cases to solve."
Cordelia and Fred were in a fancy clothing store.
"Are you certain this is the place for us?" Fred asked.
"Well, we could always get our outfits at Cavegirl's House of Burlap, but that's just so last season. Angel and Kate are renting tuxes. We gotta step up."
"But aren't we...you know...poor?"
"There is a custom among my people. It's called 'buying a dress, wearing it once, and returning it the next day'. It's all about hiding the tags while it's on."
Fred smiled. "Oh. Okay. I'm very excited about tonight. I love the ballet! I mean I haven't seen that much, but my family used to go to The Nutcracker every Christmas, and I had my first sexual dream about the Mouse King."
Cordelia gave Fred a look and half-nodded before holding up a dress. "Face me."
Fred did.
Cordelia held the dress up against Fred, then shook her head and put it back on the rack. "We find the right outfit for tonight, Kate won't wait to get you home and peel it off."
Fred blushed. "And then we have to find a dress for you. Something that will make Angel crazy."
Cordelia smiled. "Fred, sweetie. Angel is crazy."
"Well, I know he's gonna wanna look his best for you."
"That's right. The world's champion is gonna spend all day worrying about his outfit!"
Cordelia approached Angel's bedroom and heard him talking.
"Damn it, what's she gonna think? Cordelia, she's-"
"She's what?" Cordelia stood in the doorway, showing off her dress. She saw Angel was alone and realized he must have been talking to himself.
Angel turned to look at her and paused. "I-I was just saying that you're not much of an ballet fan. You - You look like-"
"Like a ballet fan?" Cordelia swayed into the room. "An aficionado? A devotee in fact?" She reached up to adjust Angel's bow tie. "Tonight, I've decided we don't have to be our incredibly dreary selves." She smiled at Angel. "Tonight, we're just a couple of young sophisticates enjoying an evening of classical dance. How does that sound?"
Angel smiled. "Sounds just right."
Kate was in her office. Fred was in the lobby.
"You got to promise not to laugh."
"I promise."
"It's gotta come from the heart."
"Will you stop being such a little girl?" Fred asked. "I said I promise."
Kate opened the door, stepped out into Fred's view, and spread her arms, so she could get a look at her tuxedo. Fred's eyes went wide. After a moment, she burst out laughing.
"This is what your promises are worth?" Kate asked, embarrassed. "I'm having a lot of trust issues at this time in my life."
"It's just...my God, you're so pretty."
Kate smiled. "So are you."
"Tonight feels...I don't know...kind of magical. Is that stupid?" Fred asked.
Kate walked up, picked up Fred's stole, and draped it over Fred's shoulders. "Not at all." She smiled. "You're an absolute vision."
Cordelia walked down the steps on Angel's arm. "Thank you, but no thank you. There will be no visions tonight."
"How can you be sure?" Angel asked her.
"I had a vision."
Angel grabbed Cordelia's jacket and draped it over her shoulders.
"Thank you."
They all walked out of the lobby.
In Homosassa, Florida, Eve and Maxine were sparring in the kitchen. Eve's mother was standing at the stove, cooking dinner.
Eve dodged a punch to the head from Maxine, and then she moved to do a leg sweep, but she lost her balance and fell to the floor. "Ow!"
Maxine crouched over Eve and made as if she was going to bite her neck. "And you're dead."
Eve rubbed her sore ass. "I'm fine, thanks."
"Vampires don't care if you're fine." Maxine stared at Eve with lust in her eyes. "They just want to feed." She bared her teeth, showing off her nonexistent fangs.
Eve scooted away from her and stood up. "Mom, your girlfriend wants to fuck me. That's okay, right?"
"Eve, please set the table." Amanda brought the pan over to the table, then glanced at Maxine. "You don't bite me with that much enthusiasm."
Eve made a gagging gesture, then took off her protective gear and set it on the sink's counter. She opened the cabinet above the counter and took out three plates. She closed the cabinet, opened the top drawer built into the counter, took out three forks, and closed the drawer. She brought the items over to the table and set them down. Amanda put a chicken thigh on each plate. Maxine, her protective gear removed, sat down at the table, and so did Eve. Amanda put the pan in the sink, then went to the stove and got the pot of mashed potatoes and bowl of gravy.
"Who wants yummy stuff?" Amanda asked, walking over to the table.
Maxine smiled. "Mmm, I'll have some."
Amanda bent over and kissed Maxine on the lips.
Eve rolled her eyes. "Get a room, you two - preferably out of earshot."
Fred looked around the theater lobby with a big smile on her face. The gang settled into their seats. Fred and Kate were sitting together in one row. Angel and Cordelia had seats in the row just behind them.
Angel frowned. "Sorry they're not closer. Getting four seats together-"
Kate smiled. "Don't be silly. Best place. We get the whole panorama from here."
"Back in the day, I'd always get box seats. Or I'd just eat the people who had 'em."
Cordelia frowned. "Don't let's reminisce. We're here. Enjoy."
They looked down to the stage as the curtain opened.
Later in the performance, Fred heard Cordelia snoring in her seat, so she turned and looked behind her. Cordelia jerked and moved without waking, so her head was now laying against Angel's shoulder, still quietly snoring away.
Kate glanced at Fred, then leaned forward, intent on the stage, a smile on her face. Fred looked over at Kate and smiled.
The act came to an end, and people began to applaud.
Cordelia jerked upright. "I loved it."
Angel looked at her. "It's just intermission."
Cordelia wiped at her face. "Oh." She looked at Angel's jacket, where her head was resting. "That isn't drool, is it?"
"It's okay. Matches the back."
The group was walking into the lobby.
Kate smiled. "They certainly live up to their reputation. Has the choreography changed much since-"
"No. Nothing's changed."
Kate looked at Angel. "Well, it's wonderful that they're able to-"
"No. I mean...nothing's changed. These are the same dancers I saw before."
"That's impossible. We're watching the exact same troupe that you saw in 1990?" Fred asked.
Kate looked at her. "I think he said 1890."
"Oh. Okay, that's much more impossible."
"So...somebody wanna tell me how we're watching a show starring people who should have died sixty years ago?" Angel asked.
The gang exchanged looks, but no one volunteered any ideas.
"Well, it's a puzzler. Are there snacks?" Cordelia asked.
"So what are we thinking? Vampires?" Kate asked.
Cordelia considered. "Well, they're not a deeply-tanned bunch."
"That would explain the precision and the athleticism."
"Dancing vampires. Who's not scared?" Cordelia asked.
Angel shook his head. "Not it. I'd know. I'd sense it."
"Even all of the way back there...with the...panoramic view?" Kate asked him.
"We should check it out."
"Maybe, after the show, we should head backstage?" Fred suggested.
"I was thinking now. You guys should go back. I'll snoop."
Cordelia looked at him. "I'm with Snoopy. The magic of the ballet, not really getting to me."
"How will the dancers keep time without your rhythmic snoring?" Kate asked, smiling.
Cordelia looked at Kate and stuck out her tongue. "Too bad Dawn ain't here. She'd love this shit."
The lights flickered, and a soft chiming sounded, to indicate the end of the intermission.
Angel looked at the others. "Go."
Kate nodded. "Hurry."
Cordelia and Angel were descending some stairs and spotted a big security guard standing in front of the door at the bottom.
"Check out the zeppelin."
"Awful lot of muscle for a ballet company."
"You want I should distract him? Make with the nice-nice while you slip by?" Cordelia suggested.
"Don't be stupid. I'm that guy, and the most beautiful girl I've ever seen is making eyes at me? It's either bachelor party or a scam."
"What did you just call me?"
"I'm sorry. You're not stupid." Angel paused. "I think I'll just have to go with my patented sudden burst of violence."
"Hey, hold on. I think I might have an approach that is a little more subtle." Cordelia looked at the guard. "Hey! Do you like bribes?"
The guard smiled. "Do I ever."
Cordelia held up some money. "Well, we really wanna go backstage."
The guard took the money. "Yeah, okay, but this isn't so much a bribe as it is a tip. And since I'm not parking your car, there's really no way that-"
The guard was handing the bill back to Cordelia when he was knocked out by a sudden cross from Angel.
"Okay. That's how we do it."
They walked through the door.
"Okay. You saw the building as we drove by. Do you remember it going on forever?" Cordelia asked, glancing down a corridor that stretched on without an end in sight.
"It's clearly a spell or a time flux or something. I don't think we wanna be rushing in here."
"Well, let's get the others and talk options."
They turned back to the door that they just came through, but instead there was just another corridor, stretching on forever.
"Works in theory."
Cordelia and Angel walked down the corridor. Angel opened one of the doors, and they entered.
"This is her dressing room."
"The prima ballerina."
"It's unchanged."
Cordelia sat down at the dressing table and picked up a little chain with a cross on it. "She would wait for him here."
"It's warm. It's very warm."
Cordelia turned to look at him. "I feel it."
"Something happened here."
Cordelia stood up. "Angel?"
"Yeah?"
"I want you...to undress me."
"You what?"
"It's just another costume. I want you to see who I really am. You're the only one that can."
Angel shook his head slightly. "I...This isn't us." He licked his lips. "Cordelia, we're acting this out. Someone is-"
"Whoa! Did - Did I actually just ask you to undress me?"
Angel stepped closer. "Is that what you want?"
"Please...I-"
"You want me to make love to you right here?"
"You know I do."
Angel caressed her cheek and leaned in closer. "But you're afraid."
"What if he finds us?"
"I'm not afraid. I'm not afraid of anything."
Cordelia sighed. "I'm only alive when you're inside me."
Cordelia and Angel started kissing passionately. Suddenly, there was a hissing sound.
Angel jerked away, putting one hand up against the side of his mouth and cheek. "Ah! Cordelia."
"Yes?"
"I'm sorry."
"No. We so need to be out of here."
"Yes."
They were both breathing rather fast as they moved back together.
Cordelia was not trying to get away. "This isn't out of here."
"I know. Right."
Remaining on the verge of another kiss, they moved across the room.
Cordelia turned, so that her back was to Angel, snaking one of her arms up behind his neck, breathless. "Open the damn door."
"Kinda hard."
"Kinda noticed."
Never losing touch with Cordelia's body, Angel reached around and twisted the door handle. Breaking apart, they hurried through the open door, and Angel slammed it shut behind them.
"Whoa!" Cordelia exclaimed.
Angel leaned with his back against the door. "That's a fair assessment."
Cordelia pointed at the door. "What the hell is that place?"
"There's spirits in there. Energy trapped in time. It took us over."
"Yee, not again. Scary. Well, it's a good thing that it wears off right away."
Cordelia laughed as both of them looked down.
Angel took off his tuxedo jacket and folded it over his arm, strategically positioned in front of his penis. "Yeah. Good thing."
Later, Cordelia and Angel were wandering down a hallway.
"Are you sure this is the way?" Cordelia asked.
"I'm sure it's a way. Place is a maze. I'm just hoping there's another room. We can just go-"
"Damn it!" Cordelia exclaimed.
"What?"
"I said something. Back in that room. Something important. Do you remember?"
"Um...you-you're only alive when I-I'm-"
"Not that."
"No. Of course. I-I was just...Oh. Hey! I said you were afraid."
"And I said...'What if he finds us?'"
"She had a secret lover."
"They were afraid of someone. And I'll bet your ass that that someone is the reason why we're stuck here!" Cordelia realized. "We left too soon."
"We...Who? The room?"
"It's a clue! Those spirits or - or energy or - or whatever are still in there. So we can figure out what happened. We have to go back in!"
"I'm marveling at the wrongness of that idea."
"You wanna wander around backstage like Spinal Tap for the next...ever?" Cordelia asked him.
"I'm sure there are other rooms that-"
"All that we have to do is play the scene. Get in, get out. No one gets happy."
"What if there is...no more talking in that scene? Look, we've been possessed by the spirits of old lovers before. Never goes well."
Cordelia pulled out the necklace with the cross and held it up. "Well, I've got my little cross if things get out of hand."
Angel wouldn't look at her.
"Hey...it's awkward, but, as long as nothing is removed or...inserted, it's all good."
Up in the theater, Fred was watching the ballerina and the lead dance. Kate's hand slowly moved towards Fred, resting on her knee.
"Angel!" Fred whispered.
Kate jerked her hand back. "Huh?"
"And Cordy. They've been gone way too long."
"You're right. Come on."
They got up.
Cordelia and Angel were back in the dressing room of the ballerina, standing a few feet apart.
"Anything coming?" Angel asked.
"Um..." Cordelia paced in a little circle, then turned to face Angel. "Okay. Let's take it from the middle. I want you to undress me."
"You want me to have sex now with you here."
"Yes, but I'm scared."
"But you're afraid."
"And afraid. What if we - he...finds us?"
Angel awkwardly took a hold of Cordelia's shoulders and pulled her closer. "Well, I'm not afraid of anything."
"Only good inside, blah, blah, blah..." Cordelia squinted her eyes closed and leaned in to give Angel a quick smooch.
Then they both looked around the room.
"Maybe it only works the one time. You know, when the energy-"
Cordelia pulled Angel into a passionate kiss. The cross necklace dropped from her fingers, behind Angel's back.
Fred and Kate came across the unconscious security guard.
Kate smiled. "At least, Angel left us a trail."
They heard mixed laughter and crying. Fred and Kate stepped over the downed guard and through the door.
Angel was laying Cordelia back on the lounge in the ballerina's dressing room, covering her neck with kisses.
"This is wrong."
"Hush."
"You don't know him. He has power."
"The power to do this?" Angel lifted up Cordelia's dress, put his hand underneath, pulled down her panties, and shoved his index and middle fingers into her pussy.
Cordelia gasped and took a deep breath - and another. "Stephan, his power is unnatural. He could-"
"What? Kill us?"
"Worse."
"Kurskov owns the company. He doesn't own you."
"He doesn't know that. He thinks I'm his." Cordelia sat up. "That I dance for him. He is nothing but a deluded fan. He thinks I love him."
"Come away with me. Now. Tonight. We'll disappear. Even he won't find us."
"I...Stephan, everything I worked for is here."
"You can still dance."
"Can I? I don't...Not yet. Maybe when we're-"
"Don't. Don't make promises."
"Help me. Help me be not afraid."
Cordelia sank back onto the lounge, and Angel went back to kissing her neck.
Fred and Kate were walking down a corridor.
"This is very not right."
They could hear low moaning.
"Do you hear it?" Fred asked.
"Someone's in pain."
"Either that, or someone's in fun."
Angel was between Cordelia's legs, ferociously eating her pussy.
Cordelia moaned. "Oh, no." Suddenly, her eyes widened, and she sat up. "Oh, no!"
Angel straightened up just in time to get knocked to the floor by someone. Cordelia peeked over the back of the lounge and watched as the attacker, wearing a gray Thalia mask, hit Angel across the chin with a hard right punch.
"Oh, thank God!" Cordelia exclaimed.
Angel hit back, knocking the figure to the floor.
Cordelia put her dress back on. "Okay. So. Good. They were probably interrupted by this Count Kurskov or his lackeys, right? So we're done with the-"
Cordelia threw up her hands to shield herself as Angel charged at her. Cordelia let out a scream as Angel launched himself over her, tackling the figure set to attack Cordelia from behind.
The others out in the corridor followed the sounds of the fight.
Fred frowned. "Now, that sounds less like fun."
Someone wearing a gray Melpomene mask came up behind Kate.
Fred spun around. "Kate!"
Kate spun around and jumped back. "Fred, stay behind me."
Fred picked up a prop and walloped Melpomene. "Kate!" She tossed the sword to her.
Kate caught it. "Can you handle the other?" She glanced back to see Fred continuing to wallop on the sobbing Melpomene, then turned back to face her own foe. "Well, then. Just us."
Cordelia was throwing cushions and whatever else came to hand at a laughing Thalia while Angel had a Melpomene on the floor, choking it. Thalia slashed at Cordelia with its sword.
Cordelia picked up a short stick, decorated with swaths of ribbons, looked at it as she dodged another swing, then looked over towards Angel. "A little help!"
Melpomene pulled out a stiletto and stabbed Angel through the heart with it.
"Thank you." Angel pulled out the stiletto, knocked Melpomene across the chin, then stabbed it through the heart with its own sword, at the same time throwing the stiletto to skewer Thalia through the throat.
Cordelia watched Thalia drop to the floor, then hurried over to Angel.
"You all right?" Angel asked her.
"Yeah. We gotta move."
Angel looked from one minion to the other. "You think they're not dead?"
"Better not take a chance. We don't know what we're dealing with."
They jumped up and ran out the room, taking the swords with them.
Kate was fencing with the Thalia out in the corridor. It was laughing the whole time.
After some fancy sword and curtain work, Kate managed to run it through with her blade. "Who's laughing now?"
It let out a weak laugh.
"Well, you. But I still win."
Fred walked over to her. Kate reached out and pulled Fred against her. Kate looked at her lips, then slowly leaned forward. They kissed softly. Cordelia and Angel walked up a branch of the corridor.
"You guys all right?" Angel looked at the dead beings. "The same guys that attacked us."
"Cordy...your tag's showing." Fred tucked the tag back away.
"Any idea where we are or what the fuck?" Kate asked.
Angel shifted on his feet. "Yeah. Cordy and I hit kind of a mystical hotspot back in one of the dressing rooms."
Cordelia nodded. "Well, it seems the prima ballerina had a lover back in the day. And there was this Count Kurskov, who owned the company, and I guess he had a thing for the girl, and...they were mightily afraid of him."
Angel nodded. "He had powers of some kind. He was a wizard. He was obsessed with the girl. When he found her with the other man, he went insane with jealous rage, pulled her out of time, out of any reality beyond his theater, his company. He swore she would dance for him forever."
"And now we're stuck here?" Kate asked.
Fred thought for a moment. "Well, uh, this kind of temporal shift can't just exist. It has to be maintained. That requires power and concentration. If we can overload him somehow, we might be able to slip back to the real world."
"Great. So how do we overload him?" Angel asked.
Fred pointed. "Well, I'd imagine that requires some energy."
The others turned to look at what Fred was indicating. One of the creatures was slowly rising, began to shake, then split in two, one wearing a Melpomene mask and sobbing, the other wearing a Thalia mask and laughing. Angel grabbed them both in a headlock under each arm and broke both of their necks. As soon as they hit the floor, they started shivering and splitting, each into a new pair of theater minions.
Fred shook her head. "The more that we kill, the more that he makes."
Cordelia pointed. "Look!"
For a moment, the wall of the corridor wavered, revealing another reality behind it.
"And that is draining his energy." Kate looked at Angel. "Angel, try to find a way to the stage. The count will be watching. Find his power center and destroy it. We'll try to loosen his hold."
Angel started to walk away. A minion came up the corridor, and Angel spin-kicked it, breaking its neck before heading past it.
Cordelia pointed. "Back here. They can't surround us."
They all moved into the corner that Cordelia indicated. Cordelia picked up one of the minion's swords, handing its stiletto to Fred as she and Kate walked past her.
Kate put a hand on Fred's arm. "Stay close. I'll take point."
Cordelia walked up beside Kate. "I hope you're in a killing mood."
"I should do all right."
After they defeated a bunch of minions, Cordelia, Kate, and Fred looked for a way out of the corridor maze. The wall next to them flickered, and, after a second's hesitation, Cordelia leaped at it - and landed in the wings off the stage. She saw Angel approaching the ballerina, who was standing there, watching from just off stage, waiting; at the same time, the ballerina also came dancing off the stage, her image shivering and dissolving as she passed from the view of the theater audience. Cordelia approached Angel and the ballerina. At the same time, Kate and Fred followed Cordelia out of the maze.
"Hello?" Angel asked.
The ballerina's head whipped around, and she stared at Angel and Cordelia. "Who are you? There's no one..." She paused. "You're new."
"I'm pretty old, actually." Angel slowly walked closer. "I've seen you dance."
The ballerina looked out on the stage. "Everyone sees me."
"It was Giselle then as well."
"Always."
Angel looked past the ballerina and saw Kurskov up in his box. "I know what's happening. Count Kurskov, he's punishing you."
"He made me. He owns me. And when I dance, it is only for him."
Beside them, the air shivered as a row of dancers materialized and passed out onto the stage.
"Do you believe that?" Angel asked.
"It really doesn't matter. I'll dance. I'll wait here. And then I'll dance again. That's all."
"A hundred years...doing the same piece...every night. Is that enough? What about Stephan?" Cordelia asked.
The ballerina took a deep breath. "I waited too long. I should have gone when he asked me, should have disappeared, but..." She swallowed hard. "...I wanted this. This dance, this...I hesitated, and...I lost everything that mattered. Now, all I do is wait."
"You dance."
"There is a section in the first act, during the courtship dance, where...my foot slips. My ankle's turned, and - and I don't quite hold...every time." The ballerina glanced at the box. "He doesn't notice. He doesn't even know ballet that well. But always, at that same moment, I slip. It isn't just the same ballet." She looked at Cordelia and Angel. "It's the same performance. I don't dance." She returned to watching the stage. "I echo." After a moment, she turned back to Cordelia and Angel. "Please...can you make it stop?"
Angel reached out his hand towards the stage, and it vanished from view in mid-air.
"We can help you. But you have to do something."
"What?"
"Change the ending. Dance something new."
"I can't."
"He doesn't control all this. He's losing it."
The 1890 backstage dissolved for a moment into the present-day stage.
"But you have to take the stage. It's not too late. You can change things."
The ballerina looked from Angel to the stage. She slowly stepped towards the stage, looking back at Angel once, then went out and began to dance around the lead dancer, laying stretched out in the middle of the stage as the rest of the company left the stage. She raised her head from bowing down over the fallen body to look towards Cordelia and Angel, waiting in the wings, then stepped back and struck a different pose.
Up in his box, Kurskov jumped up out of his chair. "No!"
As the ballerina began to dance again, the body of the lead dancer shivered and dissolved. The ballerina stopped, holding a pose, and looked up defiantly at Kurskov's box. Cordelia and Angel ran out onto the stage and, with two great leaps, landed in Kurskov's box.
Angel grabbed him by the lapels and pulled him close. "Hey, where is your power center?"
"How dare you?"
"I'll guess." Angel smashed the jewel in the center of the Russian cross-shaped medal hanging around Kurskov's neck.
A wave of blue light raced out, washing over the ballerina on the stage.
On the stage, the ballerina looked up at Angel. Angel gave her a slight nod, and she sunk down, folding her body on top of her outstretched leg, in something like a deep bow, before dissolving away.
Kurskov glared at Angel. "You have no right."
"Save it."
Out in the audience, people began to applaud.
"She...was my love. She danced only for me!"
"Yeah. You love her that much?" Cordelia hauled back and punched Kurskov on the chin, dropping him to the floor. "Start a website."
Angel smiled at her.
Cordelia brushed at her dress. "Do you think I can still return it? Because otherwise we're gonna have to take on a lot more cases."