Part 9
Cordelia and Angel entered the office to find Spike and Gunn bickering. Fred was sitting at the desk rubbing her temples.
“Shut up, both of you! I have a headache!” Four sets of eyes looked at the usually quiet Texan.
“Fred, sweetie. How’s the hangover?”
“It was much better until those two came in here.”
“Sorry baby. We’ll talk in the lobby.” They left Fred with her head resting on the desk. “Thanks for takin’ my girl out and gettin’ her drunk.”
Cordelia ignored his sarcasm. “You’re welcome. So where is everyone and what case do we have?”
“The watcher left to visit a ‘friend’. Red and the slayer went sightseeing. The whelp and Connor are in the kitchen eating..again. I think chubs has finally met his match.”
“Would it kill you to use their real names?”
“I’m already dead, Peaches. Just like you.”
“If Blondie is done with roll call, I’ll tell y’all about the case. We have another nest to clean out. I met with the guy we rescued from those Secr..Secra..blue demons. He noticed that a condemned building on his block has a lot of activity at night, but noone moves around during the day. He gave me the address so after we left his place Xander, Connor and I checked it out. It looks like about 20 vamps set up shop. We should go tonight.”
“You’ve been busy.”
Gunn eyed the couple holding hands. “You’d be amazed what you get done when you get out of bed in the morning.”
Cordelia blushed. “We had a lot to talk about. I’ll leave the planning to you three manly men. I’m starving.”
Angel watched the sway of her hips as she left the room. He wanted to throw her over his shoulder and take her back upstairs. “Maybe I should go and make her something to eat.”
Gunn blocked his path. “I thought we had a plan to make.”
“I’m the boss. I decide when the meeting’s over.”
“Yeah right. I think we both know the real boss just walked out the door.”
Angel knew he should argue. He should be insulted but what was the point. Fred was right. He would go buy her coffee at noon on the sunniest day of the year if she asked him to. He sighed. “She’s amazing.”
“She is at that, Peaches. How did you ever get a woman like that to love you?”
“I have no idea. I’m just grateful that she is.” He cleared his throat. This was gonna be painful. “Spike, I’m sorry about what I said at dinner last night. You were right and you know how much I hate that.”
Spike stood there completely stunned. *Did Angel just apologize to me?* “That’s okay, Pea..Angel.” He tried to shake off his confusion. “So about this nest?”
“What? It’s a vampire nest. We’ll go tonight. We took out twice that many the other night. Let me know when everyone gets back. We should head out shortly before sundown. We want to catch them at home.” He headed to the kitchen. It already felt like he’d been away from Cordelia for too long.
Gunn watched Angel’s retreating form before he turned to Spike. “That was Angel, right?”
Spike snickered at Gunn’s look of disbelief. “Yeah. What of it, mate?”
“I’ve never seen him so mellow. It’s almost as creepy as the whistling and humming.”
“I bloody love it. He said I was right about something without punching me for it.” He happily followed his grandsire. He was in the mood for one the cheerleader’s concoctions.
***
Cordelia smiled as she noticed the change among the two groups. Giles, Xander, Connor, Gunn and Fred were riding in the van while Buffy, Willow and Spike were riding with her and Angel. They were finally mixing of their own free will. She rested her head on Angel’s shoulder. She saw Spike roll his eyes at her.
Buffy hadn’t been to happy when Spike sat in the front. She’d expected him to sit with her and Willow in the back. Cordelia made a mental note. She’d have to work on the two of them before they went back to Sunnydale. Spike needed to be honest with her, maybe then Buffy wouldn’t hate herself for still having feelings for the vampire who tried to rape her.
How she resisted staking him that night, Cordelia would never know. She glanced at the blond manpire sitting next to her. It still shocked her that a soulless vampire could regret his actions enough to actually seek a soul. The two had had a rather mutually violent relationship, but if Cordelia could forgive Angel for his actions as Angelus and his beige period then perhaps there was still hope for Spike and Buffy.
Buffy’s drunken confession confirmed she still wanted him, having a permanent soul should make things better. Hopefully they could develop a loving and supportive relationship.
When the powers first sent her info on Spike’s unlife, she thought that Angel might be able to face the same challenge and get a permanent soul as well. The only problem with that plan is it would have to be Angelus that faces the trials. She hated to admit it but she didn’t think Angel’s soulless self would do it for her. Buffy was luckier than she knew. She snapped out of her thoughts, when Spike opened his door.
Everyone filed out the vehicles and were struck with a sense of deja vu. The large building looked a lot like the one they’d gone to two nights prior.
“Is anyone else getting the wiggins from this?”
Gunn pulled out his hubcap axe out of the trunk. “It’s just a building.”
Spike held his hand out to the advancing group. “I think everyone should wait out here. I’m gonna take a look around the building.”
Buffy was nervous. Xander wasn’t the only one wigged. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea. We should go in together.”
“Worried out me, Luv? I’m touched. I’m just another vamp to these guys. I don’t have Angel’s poofy reputation. We have no vision to guide us this time. It’s a big building and with your heartbeats, we’d end up being the ones hunted. Let me go in and find out exactly where their hiding. I’ll be fine.” He didn’t wait for a response and disappeared into the building.
His yellow eyes searched every corner of every floor. When he reached the fourth floor, he heard voices. He quietly crept through a rather large storage room to peer into a smaller one. There were about 15 vamps sitting on some boxes. None of them seemed to notice his presence. He listened to them arguing about where to hunt for the night.
***
Buffy had been pacing since Spike went in. She was angry with herself for being worried. It was bad enough that she’d been jealous of his closeness with Cordelia. He’d been avoiding her since he returned to Sunnydale. He always helped when she asked but he tried not to get too close to her. She’d been grateful at first.
The memories of the attack were still fresh in her mind. He’d apologized and told her he’d never try to touch her again. She didn’t understand why but she believed him. Watching him with Dawn and now with Cordelia, she realized he did change. *I can’t believe I miss him touching me! How sick am I?*
Spike suddenly appeared out of the darkness. “There’s about 15 of them of the fourth floor. Their makin’ plans to leave so we better move fast.”
Like the experienced fighters they were, they moved quickly and quietly. The vamps were still arguing when they reached the fourth floor. Buffy, Spike, Angel, Connor and Gunn didn’t hesitate. They started dusting one vamp after another. The room didn’t accomodate too many fighters so Cordelia, Willow, Xander, Fred and Giles remained in the larger outer room.
“Well that was fun.”
Gunn looked over at Angel and Spike. “How long does it take for a new vamp to rise?”
Angel whipped around to look at him. The question made him nervous. “Why?”
“Well, I saw blondie vamp stake our client. I spoke to him this morning. What are the chances this isn’t a trap?”
Angel looked around the room. “Let’s get out of here now.”
Everyone headed toward the stairs. They were halfway there when vampires started pouring out of the stairwell.
“This is bad.” Angel started looking around for another exit. There was a window near them but they were on the fourth floor. Spike, Buffy, Conner and he could make the jump, but the others wouldn’t.
When the flow of vamps finally stopped, there were close to sixty. One half of the large room was filled.
“I won’t let you guys die.” Everyone gasped as Willow’s hair turned black.
Gunn pulled Fred behind him. “What the fuck?”
Giles ignored Gunn’s question. “Willow, no! You have to fight this. We will find another way. You need to stay in control.”
“I’m sorry. We’ll all be killed if I stop. I have to do this. Please forgive me.”
Xander stepped closer to Buffy. He didn’t want to die tonight but he’d rather take his chances with the vamps. He didn’t want to lose his best friend to dark magic. What if they couldn’t get her back this time.
The vampires started to surge forward only to come in contact with a force field.
“A force field. That’s not so bad.” Xander stopped when her now black eyes locked with his.
“You! You made the pain come back. You made me weak!”
Giles approached the angry witch. “Willow, come back to us. You can control your power.”
She started laughing. “This is gonna be fun. You don’t have your borrowed power this time old man.”
Cordelia watched as the events unfolded. She knew she had to stop Willow but first she needed to get rid of the vampires. They’d attack as soon as the shield went down. *When did my life turn into an episode of Star Trek?* “Angel, you have five seconds to get the hell out of this building and take Spike with you.”
Angel was about to argue until he saw she was beginning to glow. He grabbed Spike and threw him out the window. He looked back at his love. “I’m coming right back.” He jumped to the alley below.
“Deadboy just ran away.” He stepped behind Buffy. “What are we gonna do?”
“I don’t..” A bright light flooded the room. When she opened her eyes, all the vampires were gone. “know.”
Giles tried to keep his tone soothing. “We’re safe now Willow. You’ve saved us. Now take back control.”
“You’re all fools if you think you’re not gonna pay. I’m going to finish what I started. You feel up to a rematch slayer?” Her eyes moved from Buffy to Cordelia. “I smell power.” She floated toward the former tormentor. “So you think you can take me?”
“No. I told you I know.” She grabbed Willow’s shoulders with both hands. Willow struggled but couldn’t break free. Her magic was useless. “Shh, Willow. Let it go. Let it all go.”
Giles, Xander, Buffy, Connor, Fred and Gunn watched as Cordelia began to glow. The light seemed to spread to Willow until both women were light up. When it finally faded, Willow slumped bonelessly to the floor. The sight left them all speechless.
“Slayer, are you alright? What happened? The Poof went crazy and threw me out the window.” He looked at their shocked faces.
Angel rushed in. He went straight to Cordelia. He stroked her cheek. “I see you dusted the vamps. That power is pretty handy. Thanks for the warning.” He smiled.
She laid her hand on his. “I’m so glad you’re okay.” She felt so drained. She managed to return his smile before darkness took her.
Angel caught her before she hit the floor. Her steady heartbeat kept him from panicking.
“Wow. I know Barbie took out a hotel full of those slugs, but 60 vamps is impressive.” He looked over at the scoobies. “How come noone told us about Sabrina? She had some scary ass mojo goin’ on.”
Giles carefully picked up Willow’s unconscious form. “Do you mean to tell us Cordelia dusted all those vampires?”
“Yeah. Barbie got some power of her own.”
“Question later. I need to get Cordy home.” Angel left cradling Cordelia with Connor close behind.
Xander was still trying to process what happened. “I never thought I’d say this but I miss the hellmouth.”
***
Angel tossed Gunn his keys. “You drive!” He climbed into the backseat. He gently placed Cordy’s head on his shoulder. Gunn, Fred and Connor squeezed into the front.
“Should we wait for the others?”
“No. I want to get her home. They know the way.”
Gunn started the car and headed for the hotel. “How is she?”
“She’s asleep. She was pretty drained after she..cleansed Connor. Dusting all those vamps and doing whatever she did to Willow wiped her out.”
“That was pretty tight! You had me goin’ for a second. I saw you push Blondie out the window and then you jumped. It isn’t like you to run. I figured it out when I saw the flash and no more vamps. Guess she didn’t want to see y’all dust too. Maybe we should take her out with us more often.”
“Charles, let’s wait to see how Cordy feels before you start planning anymore fights.”
He smacked his fist on the steering wheel. “This was my fault. I should have known the guy was a vamp. He was human before. I didn’t think..”
“It’s not your fault Charles. Neither Connor or Xander suspected anything was wrong.”
“I’m sorry too.”
“No sweetie. I wasn’t saying it was your fault either. It happened. It was nobody’s fault.”
“I’m supposed to be a detective. Maybe I should take a class.” Fred gave his thigh a supportive pat.
“And what the hell happened with the red head? One second I see all those vamps and I’m thinkin’ Oh shit!. The next that chick is scarin’ me more than the vamps. Giles definitely left out a lot of details on poker night. He said she was in control of her powers. Plus, I’d have remembered the part with the hair. That was really creepy.”
***
Cordelia came around as Angel carried her into the hotel. He started taking her upstairs.
“Put me on the couch.”
“Cor, you’re exhausted. You need to rest.”
“I will as soon as I check on Willow.”
“I’m sure she’s fine. Connor was fine after you did the glow thing on him. You can check on her in the morning.”
“Angel, I’m fine. Besides what I did with Willow was a lot different. You should have made sure they made it out of the factory okay.”
“They have Buffy and Spike with them. They’re fine. You’re the one I’m worried about.”
Giles walked in carrying the still unconscious Willow. He was followed by Xander, Buffy and Spike.
“Cordelia, you’re awake! I was concerned.”
“I’m fine, Giles. Just a little drained. How’s Willow?”
“Asleep I think. Her heartbeat is steady, her eyes are normal and her hair is red so I suspect she will be fine.”
“Good”
“Cordy, I know what you told us last night, but I thought it was the tequila talking. I didn’t believe it until I saw it with my own eyes.”
Xander shook his head. “I saw it and I still don’t believe it.”
“Why did you throw me out the window, Peaches and what did your chit do to all the vamps?”
“Angel pushed you ’cause I told him to get out of the building and take you with him. The window was the quickest way out. The vamps, I dusted.”
“I could have left you behind. You too could be a pile of dust.”
“Oh! I guess a thanks would be in order.” He looked at Angel’s expectant face. “I’m not actually gonna say it. Just know it’s in my heart.”
Buffy rolled her eyes at Spike. She stroked Willow’s hair. “So Willow can’t do magic anymore. I hate to say it but a part of me is relieved.”
Cordelia cleared her throat. “Um Buffy. I didn’t bind her powers.”
Buffy snatched her hand away as if she’d been burned. “You didn’t?”
“No. I didn’t feel it was necessary.”
Giles started polishing his glasses. “What exactly did you do then?”
“Maybe we should wait until Willow wakes up to discuss this.”
As if on cue, Willow started to groan. “Did anyone get the license plate of the truck?”
Xander stroked her cheek. “What truck would that be, Will?”
“The one that ran me over.”
“Oh that truck.” He chuckled. “Sorry Will. There was no truck. You were run over by Queen C.”
“Oh Goddess! Did I hurt anyone this time?”
Cordelia got up despite Angel’s protests. “Actually you held the vampires off until I could dust them.” She down next to Willow. “We need to talk.”
“I lost control again.”
“Yeah you did. I had to stop you.”
“I still feel some magic in me. Why didn’t you take it all?”
“You were trying to protect us but the darkness overwhelmed you. You didn’t deserve to have your powers bound.”
“I’m dangerous.”
“No sweetie. Not anymore. How can I explain it?” She ran her fingers through her hair. “Invoking dark magic didn’t make you more powerful. It simply gave you access to your full power.”
“Huh?”
“It wasn’t a coincidence that you were drawn to magic. The power was always there. You simply didn’t have access to it. With study and practice, you would have reached your potential. Invoking dark magic was basically a short cut. You bypassed the study and practice, but doing that is what gives you control.
I chose not to bind your powers. I just reversed what dark magic gave you. I left you with the ability to use only the amount of power you can control. With time, study and practice, you can still reach your full potential. You won’t need to be afraid of your power.”
“Wow. You really are powerful.”
“How much do you want me now?” The two girls started giggling as they hugged.
“This is extraordinary! I have so many questions.”
“After I’ve rested, okay?” He nodded.
“Not bad for the former bitch of Sunnydale High. I can say I dated you before you became supergirl.” He placed a hand on Cordelia’s shoulder. “Seriously though, thank you for helping Willow. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”
She patted his hand. “I know.” She gave him a wink before turning back to Willow. “This is your second chance, Willow. I expect you not to waste it. You might want to look into creating or joining a coven. Other witches can provide balance and stability.”
Willow nodded. “I’m gonna do it the right way this time.”
Cordelia gave her another hug. “I don’t know about you guys but I’m hungry again. Who’s up for Chinese?” Fred started nodding and left to place a large order.
Cordelia got up and walked over to Angel. “Are you hungry?”
He smiled as he pulled her into his lap. He nuzzled her neck. “How about you let me take care of you for a while.”
“Pfft. I let you carry me around before. I’m fine. No lies. No half truths. Taking care of my family makes me feel better.” She kissed his cheek. “Are you hungry?”
He whispered in her ear. “Not for blood. How about we go upstairs for some snuggles?”
She giggled. “Where’s my romance?”
“Cordelia Chase would you do me the honor of going on a date with me tomorrow evening?”
Everyone in the room groaned. “Would that be before or after the apocalypse?”
“Damn. I forgot about that.” He scowled. “Why do demons always try to end the world?”
She snorted. “Gee, I don’t know. Why don’t you tell us.”
He gave the room a sheepish look. “Oh right. Forget I said that.”
Cordelia kissed his forehead. “It’s a good thing your so good looking.” She climbed off his lap. “Spike, are you hungry?”
“I could eat.”
“Any preferences?”
“Surprize me, Luv.”
Angel turned to Gunn after Cordy left the room.
“What do you think she meant by that?”
