Part 4
Fred sat with her chin on her knees, silently watching the demon sleeping next to her. Five years in a land where the only things that made sense were the dirt between her fingers and the writing on the wall had taught the young Texan the art of not being seen. Hide behind a tree, in a cave, under a table. Watch over your shoulder and try not to trip while running for your life.
Five years.
In the grand scheme of things it didn’t seem that long, but it was. Everyday terrified of the things you were forgetting, not trusting the things you remembered. Five years of a promising life hidden in a cave with only numbers and nothing but your own voice to keep you company. She’d speak to her reflection and laugh at her own stupidity, stifle the giggles with her hand because if they found her there’d be no more equations and theories, just a collar that made it difficult to breath.
It amazed her that she wasn’t scared of Lorne, a face reminiscent of the nightmares that still occasionally plagued her. Red eyes, green skin, beat you down until you believe that you’re were nothing but a slave, no better than the muck they make you shovel. But that wasn’t Lorne. He hadn’t thrown her against the wall of a barn and burnt her skin until it blistered.
Lorne was her friend and she occasionally came out from beneath the table.
She was proud of that.
A smile slipped across her lips when a particularly loud rumble echoed from Lorne’s chest, for a someone with such a sweet voice it was a truly dreadful noise. Moving her hand with a stealth that had kept her alive for five years Fred pinched her fingers over his nose, the devil dancing in her eyes.
“Snrugph!” Lorne bolted awake when his breathing was impeded by a small hand.
“Hey sleepyhead.” Fred grinned at him, her glasses slipping perilously down her nose.
“How long have I been asleep?” He blinked the world back into focus, grimacing at the crick in his neck.
“Couple hours. Did you know you snore?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I do not snore.”
“Yeah ya do. Great big bear snores. And you were drooling. See, there on your suit. Drool.” Fred poked the lapel of his suit.
“You girl, are a menace.” Lorne chuckled as he straightened Fred’s lopsided glasses for her, making the young physicist blush prettily. “Where’s the rest of clan Angel?”
“Charles is still hiding upstairs for some reason, Wes is in his office talking to himself and Cordy and Angel-” Fred shifted around in her seat to peek over the top of the couch. “-are over there. Whispering ’bout something.” She narrowed her eyes as she watched the quiet conversation going on between the vampire and the seer at Cordelia’s desk.
“So they’re talking now?” Lorne said as he took in their relaxed body language.
“Yep. Do you know what all that was about earlier?”
“Fredikins, if I told ya, I’d have’ta kill ya.”
“Well now I really wanna know.” She frowned and rested her chin on the back of the couch, her eyes glued to the pair on the other side of the lobby.
“Honey, you know what curiosity did to the kitty.”
“Did it get her sucked into a hell dimension?”
“Something like that.”
“I wish I could lip read.” Fred sighed wistfully as she watched Angel drag a hand through his hair while Cordelia probably rolled her eyes at him. That’s the reaction the vampire usually elicited from her.
“With those two sweetie, it’s not what they say, it’s what they do.”
***
“I’m just saying, there are other words you could have used rather than nice.” Angel muttered quietly he sat on the edge of Cordelia’s desk.
“Angel you really need to let it go.” The brunette said evenly without looking away from her computer screen, her fingers tapping on the keyboard in an uneven rhythm.
“I can’t, you said nice and now it’s all I can think about.”
“For the love of…” Cordelia sighed with exasperation and pulled her gaze away from the screen. “It was amazing, mind blowing, transcendent, you rocked my world. How’s that for your man-go?” She arched an eyebrow at him in amusement.
“My mango? I don’t have a….What’s fruit got to do with this?” Angel frowned in confusion.
“No, dumbass. Man-go. Like a regular ego but with more testosterone.”
“Oh. Huh?”
“Please go away.” Cordelia said with saccharine sweetness.
“But I’m bored.” Angel huffed and scuffed the toe of his boot against the floor like a petulant child.
“How the hell did you instil fear into Europe for a hundred years? How?” The corners of her mouth tugged up into an affectionate smile as she surveyed the once stoic and morose creature of the night.
“It had a lot to do with the clothes.” He shrugged.
“And the hair. I’ve seen drawings, what were you thinking? Don’t answer that, just go bother someone else. In fact why don’t you go tell the nosy twins over there to stop staring.” Cordelia nodded her head in the direction of Lorne and Fred, two pairs of eyes peeking over the top of the couch.
“They’re making me nervous.” She said from between a full smile that didn’t reach her eyes as she waved at the curious pair who in turn waved back.
“Lorne said he wouldn’t say anything.” The vampire said from behind his own nervous smile as he wiggled his fingers in greeting at their audience. His friends reciprocated with their own finger wiggle.
“Lorne also said your singing was getting better.” Cordelia muttered under her breath.
“Isn’t it?” His head whipped around back to his best friend.
“Oh, sure. It’s very…nice.” Her eyes shone with mischief as patted him patronisingly on the thigh, barely thinking about the fact that just yesterday she’d seen that thigh so very naked.
“I really hate that word.” Angel growled even as a smile quirked the corners of his mouth.
“Go away, I’m gonna go talk to Wes.” Cordelia said as she stood up with determination, it would be easy to sit and make fun of Angel for the rest of the day but the nagging thought that there was something very wrong brewing with the ex watcher wouldn’t leave her alone.
“If it’s the end of the world again, tell me.” The vampire said as he reluctantly backed out of the office.
“Of course, now shoo.” She planted her hands on his chest and pushed him unceremoniously into the lobby, turning on her heel and waltzing into their bosses office without knocking. Angel stood looking at his best friends desk with a smile on his face that he didn’t even know was there. Cordelia had that effect on them all, Wesley might have be the brains of the operation but Cordelia Chase was really the one in charge, they all knew that apart from the brunette herself. Hopefully one of these days she’d figure that out.
***
“Cordelia, now really isn’t a good time.” Wesley said crisply without looking at the young woman that had just sat down opposite him.
“We’ve known each other a long time haven’t we Wes?” She crossed her legs and drummed her fingernails in a stucco beat on the wooden armrest of the chair.
“Cordelia-”
“Yep. A looong time. We danced at prom, survived the Mayor turning into a snake, we’ve been shot at, blown up, fired, tortured and sucked into a hell dimension. Quite the résumé wouldn’t you say?” Cordelia quirked an eyebrow at him and the Englishman knew what was to come and there wasn’t a thing he could do about it.
“Cor-”
“Uh huh, through thick and thin, we’ve always been there for each other. Broken hearts, broken limbs, the occasional homicidal vampire and evil lawyer. Yep, we’ve seen it all.” The brunette said wistfully as though she were reminiscing about summers spent at the beach, Wesley felt a pang of sadness that this beautiful woman’s life was one of homicidal vampires and evil lawyers and not sunlight and tan lines.
“Will you be getting to a point at any time in the near future?” He smiled ruefully at her as he took off his glasses and leant back in his seat.
“Not to mention demonic pregnancies.” Cordelia ignored him. “Yeah, that wasn’t fun.” She wrinkled her nose in remembrance.
“They rarely are.”
“But you and Angel were there for me because you’re my friends and you love me.”
“Cordelia-”
“Just like we’re your friends and we love you.”
“I-.”
“So are you gonna stop being a big British idiot and tell me what the hell has you looking like Grizzly Adams’ gruff looking brother? You’ve been walking around for days now with your nose in the same book and you’ve barely said hello to anyone. You’re worrying me and you know that’s not a good look on me. So spill before you make me get wrinkles.” Cordelia looked at him pointedly, fully expecting an answer that Wesley wasn’t sure he could give her.
“There’s nothing wrong.” He jerked his glasses back on and crossed his arms over his chest.
“Uh huh, and I’m the sugar plum fairy, please excuse me while I go have dinner with my lepricorn friends in the lost city of Atlantis.”
“A simple ‘I don’t believe you’ would have sufficed.”
“Where’s the fun in that? C’mon Wes, you’re scaring me with all this. Please tell me what’s going on, we’re friends, we don’t keep secrets from each other.” Cordelia implored him, well aware of the hypocrisy of her words.
Wesley looked at his concerned friend before him, her innocence and naiveté long gone, replaced by a calm knowing air that permeated their home. The Englishman didn’t know how she could see the worst of the world in her mind and still light up the room with a smile, if it were he who’d received Angel’s visions Wesley was sure he would have given up long ago, not only from the pain but from the hopelessness he was sure he would feel, no matter how many people they helped, how many apocalypses they averted, there would always be another around the corner.
Well that’s a maudlin thought. Wesley rubbed his hand over his face, week old stubble grazing his palm and reminding him that he’d been barely existing ever since he’d read a passage of made no sense and yet still filled him with bone deep dread.
“Wes?” Cordelia said softly, her hand reaching out across the desk and covering his. “What is it?”
“I don’t know.” He sighed. “A prophecy…maybe.”
“Maybe?”
“My translations are…sketchy.” Wesley shot the brunette a look that warned her not to bring up the Shanshu mistake.
“Not saying a word.” Cordelia made a zipping gesture across her lips.
“That’s a first.”
“So what do your sketchy translations say?” Cordelia ignored his sarcasm heavy tone.
“Nothing that makes sense, it appears to be just a series of random phrases and words. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.” Wesley tried to sound convincing but his words even sounded forced to his ears.
“Maybe it’s a supernatural shopping list? Something completely non end of the worldy.” She said hopefully.
“That would be nice.” The ex watcher smiled faintly, the corners of his eyes creasing with lines, a road map of worries and laughter that spoke of a life spent fighting for good.
“Does it have an apocalypse feel to it?”
“Not really.” He said truthfully, yet a flicker of doubt whispered in the corner of his brain telling him that there was more to what he’d read then met the eye.
“Well then, close the books Watcher man and take a break for a day or two. The dusty tomes aren’t going anywhere.”
“But-”
“Nu huh.” Cordelia tutted as she went about closing the books that were littered over his desk. “Go home, have a shave, eat something that isn’t caffeine based and get some sleep. I’m sure we’ll survive a few hours without your leadership.”
“I guess….” The Englishman said not at all convinced.
“So what else is causing the rough and manly appearance?” She continued to needle.
“There’s concern and then there’s nosy, Cordelia.”
“It’s Gunn related isn’t it?”
“It’s complicated.” Wesley sighed, not wanting to talk about it.
“Isn’t everything?” Cordelia arched an eyebrow at him and Wesley was reminded why this woman was the heart of their bizarre little family.
“I think-”
And that’s when Cordelia screamed.
***
Blood. Too much blood. A sticky puddle on the pavement that mixed with cigarette butts and rain, coating heavy boots that kicked with glee. So young, so young. A sweet blonde with flowers on her dress and terror in her eyes. Pain. So much pain. A cry in the night that no one heard, help me! Oh please God some one help me! Black eyes, the stench of decay on their breath, claws ripping at pink skin, ribbons of blood. Too much blood.
“Cordelia?”
Cold cement, a blinking neon light, teeth tearing at innocent flesh. Twelve years old. A child with stuffed animals on her bed and posters on her walls, why is she out alone at this hour? Mama’s gonna start to worry if I don’t get home, please let me go. No one. No one. No one.
“Cordy, can you hear me?”
The crash of a hand against a once dimpled cheek, torn lip, broken jaw. Scraped knees, bound wrists. There’ll be scars if she lives to see morning. She won’t. Hands on small ankles, dirt on clean socks, dragging, pulling, tearing. No one. Adolescent elbows pebbled with grazes. We’re gonna have some fun with you….
“NO!” Cordelia screamed as the vision ended, her eyes wide at the horror that had bombarded every single sense. Her arms flailed impotently in front of her for a moment until they were caught by strong cool hands, anchoring her back to reality.
“Cordelia, what did you see?” Wesley asked her softly, ignoring the sharp look Angel shot at him.
“Oh god….” She whispered hoarsely, her throat dry from another persons screams.
“What-”
“Dammit Wesley, give her a minute.” Angel growled at the Englishman as he held his best friends shaking hands in his own. He helped her to her feet then sat her down into the seat that her vision had thrown her from. Angel could hear Cordelia’s heart drumming wildly in her chest, her breathing ragged and uneven, a trickle of blood sliding down her chin from where she’d bitten her lip while the Powers forced hell into her head.
“Here.” Fred handed Angel a tissue, a glass of water and painkillers in her other hand.
They all knew the drill, they’d done it time and time again, but it never got easier to see Cordelia like this. The moments after a vision struck when her eyes saw nothing but flashes of pain and evil, shrinking away from any soothing touch because her skin ached with invisible bruises. It was in those few minutes that all her secrets were revealed, the fear, the hurt, the desperation that suffused her bones but then Cordelia would swallow it down, give them the details they needed and silently pray that they would get there in time. Her friends would stay none the wiser to the shards of brittle pain lancing her brain, the bitter taste of blood in her mouth, the churning of her sick stomach. For months she’d kept it to herself…but now Angel knew.
Cordelia blinked away the dull haze that had taken over her sight as she slowly came back to the now, her eyes filled with the sight of her best friend leaning over her as he pressed something soft against her bottom lip.
“You bit your lip.” Angel frowned as he dabbed away the feint traces of red that stained her lip gloss.
“She’s so young.” Cordelia said when she meant to say thank you.
“She’ll be OK.” The vampire tried to reassure her even though he had no idea who the she was.
“Do you promise?” Her eyes were wide with a vulnerability her friends rarely saw.
“I promise.” Angel tucked her hair behind her ear
“Cordy?” Fred said from the peripheries, her hand outstretched offering her the water she knew she’d want.
“Thanks.” She croaked roughly, squeezing her eyes shut trying to remove the images that would now be forever burnt into her retina. Cordelia downed the drink and painkillers that would do nothing for her and took a deep breath.
“There’s a girl, not very old, she has long blonde hair and flowers on her dress.” She said as she scribbled down the address where the attack was going to take place. “You have time, but not much.” Cordelia handed the scrap of paper to Wesley, the drumming in her head echoing in her ears as her stomach threatened to expel it’s acrid content.
“There’s four of them, big, smell like…death.” Her voice was stilted as she spoke to her friends, Angel’s large hand gripping hers life a life line. “They’re going to….” She trailed off, unable to say it. She didn’t need to, her silence spoke volumes.
“They ain’t gonna do nothin’ Cordy, they ain’t gonna get the chance.” Gunn patted her knee then stood up, making his way to the weapons cabinet.
“Is there anything else we should know?” Wesley asked as he shrugged on his jacket.
“No…just…just get to the girl….” Cordelia rubbed her fingers over her forehead as she witnessed a child’s life being ripped apart again and again.
“We’ll get there before anything happens.” The Englishman said with determination as he strode from the office.
“You gonna be OK?” Angel asked her gently.
“I will be.” Cordelia tried to smile but failed, until the soul in her vision was safe nothing else in the world mattered to her, not the way her head ached, the way her skin felt raw, nothing. Just a little girl lost and alone about to be torn apart by bloody hands. “You need to go.” She pried her hand out from under his, her eyes telling him not to argue with her. “Be careful. These things…they’re stronger than they look.” Cordelia warned him.
“I’ll be back soon.” The vampire nodded then strode out of the room, snagging a broad sword and axe on his way.
When the front door closing signalled their departure Cordelia stood up on shaky knees and silently walked to the bathroom without saying a word to Fred and Lorne who stood uselessly next to each other.
“They’re getting worse.” Fred murmured, there was no witty come back from Lorne, just a reassuring squeeze of a green hand over a her own.
***
Time slowed down to an unbearable degree for those left behind in a fight, the seconds turned into minutes, the minutes turned into hours, floors were paced and nails were chewed because three of their own were out there fighting a war that would never be won. They knew Angel Wes and Gunn were more than capable of killing a few demons, they’d fought worse before, but that didn’t stop the remaining members of Angel Investigations from worrying. It’s what families do, sit silently in a hotel that had more rooms than they would ever need and worry about whether this fight would be the last for one of them. It was a hellish time, far easier when they were all involved but Fred wasn’t much of a fighter, nor was Lorne and while Cordelia had been in her fair share of missions and killed as many hell beasts as Wesley the fact that she couldn’t stand up without the room spinning put her at a disadvantage.
Cordelia looked at the clock again, nine thirty five blinked back at her in a fuzzy blur. Half an hour, they’d only been gone half an hour but it felt so much longer. The piercing pain in her head had ebbed to a throbbing ache that made her want to dig the heals of her palms into her eyes to ease the discomfort, but it did nothing but made her vision dance in technicolor behind her eyelids. The brunette dragged herself from the softness of Angel’s bed and made her way to the bathroom, Lorne had offered to take her home but she had politely declined, he’d smiled at her softly believing that she wanted to remain here to wait for her love. Cordelia didn’t have the energy to put him straight on that one, what would she say anyway? No Lorne, I’m not in love with Angel and Angel isn’t in love with me. We just have sex so I don’t die. It’s a thing.
Maybe not.
With a hands that wouldn’t stop trembling Cordelia splashed her face with water and looked in the mirror above the sink. All she could see was the frightened face of the child in her vision, smeared with blood, eyes wide with terror and disbelief. Claws that pawed viciously, a sneer that revealed teeth with the promise of pain. Alone. No one. Cordelia gripped the side of the basin as she swayed dizzily, she refused to shut her eyes because then the vision would overwhelm her completely.
She squinted at her watch. Nine thirty six. Cordelia needed to think about something else, she knew hiding up here in Angel’s room with nothing to do but replay the horrors of her vision wasn’t smart but as much as she loved Fred and Lorne the thought of sitting in the lobby playing Scrabble until their warriors returned made Cordelia want to tear her hair out and scream. That was another side effect of the vision that had been gradually getting worse, her level of irritability. She knew she snapped at her friends when they were only trying to help her but Cordelia couldn’t help it, when they tried to comfort her with a gentle touch her skin felt as though it were on fire, a reassuring kiss on the top of her head felt like a hammer to her brain, she just wanted to be left alone in a cool dark room until the innocent was saved and she could slip into a sleep that she’d sometimes wished she would never wake up from.
But things were different now, Cordelia had given up giving up.
With the flick of her wrist she turned off the tap and dried her face on a towel that smelt of fresh laundry, it was a comforting aroma, like just baked bread and air after it rained, full of memories that helped ease her anxieties for a moment before the throb made itself known behind her closed eyes. Cordelia padded bare footed back to the vampire’s bed and laid down, not caring that her dress would be creased from sleeping in it. One more look at the clock. Nine thirty eight. She pulled the comforter over her body and continued to wait, worry and pray.
***
Across town, unbeknownst to Cordelia, Gunn drummed his fingers against the steering wheel of his truck, the adrenaline rush from the fight was beginning to wan, leaving him aching and tired but with that wonderful feeling in his chest that only fighting the good fight could cause. The fight was short but hard, Cordelia being right of course, the demons were stronger than they appeared to be. They found the girl long before the demons had a chance to do whatever horrifying atrocity the young woman had seen in her vision. But even that bone deep sense of good wasn’t enough to fill the silence that permeated Charles Gunn’s truck, the cab was stifling even though outside it was cool, unspoken words hung heavily in the air and settled thickly on his skin. Gunn didn’t know how exactly it was he’d found himself in this situation, in this tense silence that threatened to consume the world in one gulp. He watched Wesley out of the corner of his eye as the Englishman stared tiredly out of the windscreen, too many nights without sleep had etched their presence on his face.
“You OK?” Gunn broke the loaded silence.
“Hmm? Oh, yes, I was just…thinking. You?” Wesley smiled weakly for a moment before it the muscles in his face began to ache.
“Yeah.” Gunn said as he pressed the makeshift bandage to the cut on his arm, wincing at the small sting that prickled his sting.
“You should have gone to the emergency room and had that looked at.” The former watcher muttered like an old woman and reached for the black man’s wounded arm.
“It’s fine, I’ve had worse.” Gunn insisted, the Englishman ignored his protests and investigated the depth of the wound, it had stopped bleeding and that was enough of indicator that it was fatal, more of a scratch really, but Wesley couldn’t shake the image of the demon lashing out at Gunn from his vision, he saw it over and over again and it turned his stomach every time. If Angel hadn’t….
It was an if that would probably be the cause of another sleepless night for the former watcher.
“You’ll live.” Wesley patted his arm, his hand lingering on the other man for longer than could be construed as sheer concern.
“Yeah.” Gunn frowned, his mouth suddenly dry from words which wasn’t exactly a knew feeling for him of late.
“Do you want to come in?” The Englishman asked tentatively.
“I don’t think so.”
“Charles-”
“Wes, I’m tired. I just wanna get some sleep.” Gunn told him wearily.
“Well you know where I am if you need me.”
“Yeah.”
“Night.” The former Watcher nodded his goodbye as though they were strangers.
“Wait” Gunn said quickly, grasping his arm before Wesley had the chance to exit the truck. After the battle they’d just fought Gunn couldn’t let Wesley go with just a ‘night’ and stoic nod, they needed to talk, but now wasn’t the time. For now there was nothing more than this, the gentle press of Gunn’s lips against Wesley’s in a dimly lit truck that smelt faintly of sweat and old take out. So much in their lives was fucked up and this was the only thing that seemed to make sense, they’d saved the girl and had the comfort of a lovers lips to forget in for a little while.
It wasn’t a kiss of great passion, hands grasping and breath panting, they were both too tired for that, had been too tired and distant all week for that. But the gentle caress of his lover’s lips against his own meant more to Wesley than the great passion they had experienced that night so many nights ago when the line between friendship and more had been leapt across with both feet flying, he could still remember the argument, the fear in Gunn’s eyes as they fought over broken loyalties and fractured promises. Wesley reluctantly pulled away from the sweet kiss, wanting more but weary of another rebuke. He leant his forehead against Gunn’s and with their eyes closed they sat in the musty smelling truck and wondered how much longer they could go on like this.
***
Hot, she felt so hot. Blood fizzing in her veins, nerves on fire with every touch, his lips were an elixir that she wanted to drown in. Strong and gentle, he claimed her mouth with the air of a predator long denied. He tugged her hair and she bared her throat, a slender column of smooth amber for his lips to learn and worship. A cool hand on the inside of her thigh, cool fingers tracing circles across her skin that tickled and teased in all the right places. How did he know how what places drove her wild, what made her toes curl and her heart beat loudly beneath her breast?
“Don’t tease….” She whispered.
“Tell me what do you want?” He murmured darkly as he nipped at the soft flesh of her earlobe.
“You know what I want….” Her words were breathless as knowing fingers traced an intricate dance over her body, always just out of reach from where she needed them most. She hungered for him, for his lips and chest, thighs and back. His soft lines and hard thickness. Above her, beneath her, crashing together against the rocks until their devotion was screamed loudly, she had to have it, had to have him. Now.
“Tell me….” Gruff words that demanded her compliance were coated in his adoration, he could taste her desire on the air, sweet and thick, it painted his naked skin like molasses. “Tell me.” He whispered again, her heated flesh burning his long before he’d even touched her.
“I-.” She panted, with lips swollen she moaned deeply as his hand neared it’s goal, so close, so close, oh god don’t stop….
“Who do you want?” He asked her hoarsely, tongue capturing the bead of sweat that snaked it’s way down the valley of her breasts. “Tell me who you want.” Fingers skirting through the downy curls that he wanted to bury his face in and breathe her scent in to his useless lungs.
“You…” She never begged for anything in her life, too proud, too regal, her hand slid down the hard expanse of his chest, fingers tickling through the soft trail of hair over his abdomen before she grasped his desire roughly in her hand. The deep rumble of a growl ripped through him, eyes darkening dangerously as she touched him with wanton confidence, no tentative strokes or nervous fumbling here, she knew what he liked, how he touched himself when he was alone in the shadows of his room. A surprise gasp slipped from her crimson lips when he grasped her wrists and pinned them above her head, eyes flashing with defiance and much more.
“Say it.” He grunted, hard and aching, hips rocking against her thigh because he wanted it as much as she did, to be swallowed by her tight heat, slick and burning his flesh until it breathed with her life.
“Make me.” She licked his bottom lip, her breath mixing with his until they were the same person.
“Say. It.” Growled deeply, close to the edge, two bodies slick with sweat and desire as they danced towards the inevitable and relished every second of the journey. Her eyes slammed shut with pleasure as teasing fingers dipped into her heat, a whimper of satisfaction, the firm press of a thumb over her clit, thick fingers buried inside her, hips rocking towards her first oblivion. “Who do you want?”
A groan that felt like it bubbled up from the earth’s core filled the room as he thrust two fingers inside her, hips bucking off the bed violently when he found her swollen nub, he sucked her bottom lip and watched the emotions dance across her beautiful face, naked and wanton, no longer caring if anyone heard her shouts and cries as he moulded her flesh into pure liquid need.
“You…” She moaned, her thighs shaking from hours of teasing, desperate, harder, more, now, oh god, oh god, yes, don’t stop, need you inside me, oh god, a litany of words falling from her lips and swallowed by his soul. “You Angel, I want you….”
“Cordy?”
“Mmmmm.”
“Cordy, wake up”
“Huh?” Cordelia blinked her eyes open quickly and came face to face with her best friend who was just….
“You OK? You look kinda….” Angel frowned, her face was flushed and her heart was hammering.
“I had a dream.” Cordelia said hoarsely as she sat up, running her hands through her hair she tried to shake the very vivid images of her dream from her head.
“Nightmare?” He asked with a best friends concern.
“Not really.” Cordelia muttered and shifted awkwardly on the bed, unable to meet Angel’s gaze.
“Not really?”
“It was…” The young woman trailed off unsure of what she was going to say, it was the same thing that she’d seen in her vision the day before, herself and Angel making love in a way that could never be described as just nice. “…Interesting.” Cordelia decided that was a safe enough word that wouldn’t give too much away.
“Interesting?…Oh.” Understanding dawned quickly on the vampire. “OK.” Angel said wondering who it was that she’d been dreaming about, who it was that had caused her skin to flush pink and fill the room with the scent of her desire.
“Yeah.” She continued to fiddle distractedly with her hair.
“OK.” The vampire said again because he didn’t know what else to say and he certainly wasn’t stuck for words because the scent of her arousal was doing…interesting things to his body. Nope. Not at all.
“Er…how long have you been standing there?” She said as the dreadful thought struck her that maybe she’d said something in her sleep and that was making Angel even more laconic that usual.
“Not long, I just got home. Why?” He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously.
“No reason.” Cordelia said quickly.
“OK.” Angel decided if he said that one more time he was going to stake himself.
“How did it go?” The brunette finally asked him, her dream and the sudden appearance of the man she’d been dreaming about had distracted her from the reason she was sleeping on Angel’s bed. She didn’t understand why she was having yesterday’s vision replayed in her dreams, it was disconcerting as hell but she refused to think about it too much. Pretend it never happened. Yeah, ‘cos that works.
“Four dead demons and one unharmed obnoxious little girl safe and sound with her Mom.” Angel said as he sat down on the bed to take off his boots, grimacing at the ache in his side.
“Thank god.” Cordelia breathed a sigh of relief. “Obnoxious?”
“She had issues with us killing the demons that were trying to kill her, Wesley’s foot suffered most of her anger. Twelve is such a special age, or so her mother said.” He smiled wryly at her over his shoulder..
“Poor Wes.” She chuckled for a moment before wincing at the stab of throb that shot hummed inside her skull.
“How do you feel?” Angel asked when her soft laughter died too quickly.
“Not great.” Cordelia sighed and rubbed her hand over her face, the sleep had helped somewhat, the fleet of jackhammers in her head had reduced itself to only a couple but it was still enough to make the room spin a little whenever she moved. “No serious fight injuries then?” She changed the subject.
“Gunn got clawed, but he’s fine.” The vampire shrugged off his leather jacket and slung it over the side of the chair next to the bed, frowning again as the bruise pulled annoyingly. “At some point I think I got hit with a crowbar.”
“Ouch.” Cordelia winced.
“Yeah, that’s what I said.” Angel shifted around on the bed and settled down with a pained grunt.
“Let me have a look.” She knelt next to him tugging up the bottom of his shirt before he could argue.
“Ow!” He hissed when she pressed her warm fingers against the purple bruise.
“Oh don’t be such a baby.” She rolled her eyes at him. “It’s just a little bruise, it’ll be healed in a couple hours. Quit complaining.”
“Your concern for me is heart warming.” He said dryly.
“Do you want me to poke it again?” Cordelia threatened, her hand hovering above the already vanishing injury, the pain in her head forgotten as it always was when she spent time with her best friend.
“I’m pretty sure I don’t.”
“Then stop whining.” She arched an eyebrow at him.
“Yes Ma’am.” Angel saluted her.
“You’re an idiot, you know that right?” Cordelia chuckled shaking her head. “Oh, I shouldn’t shake my head.” She muttered when her best friend the shooting pain lanced across her brain.
“It was pretty bad, wasn’t it?” Angel asked her quietly, his light mood vanishing at the sight of Cordelia rubbing a tired hand over her forehead.
“Yeah.” She said truthfully. “The girl…she was so scared, I couldn’t…” Cordelia trailed off with a bone shuddering breath. “It was pretty bad.”
“Vision hangover?”
“Quite the doozy.” Cordelia squeezed her eyes shut.
“We better do something about that then, huh?” Angel said with more confidence than he felt. It was why she was here, why she’d stayed in his room when before she would have shuffled home, why she was asleep on his bed.
Waiting for him.
They might not have discussed it before Angel had left for the fight but they both knew what would be happening afterwards, a little girl needed to be saved and that was the most important thing then. But now the innocent was safe and Cordelia needed to save herself….
“If you even think of saying the ‘n’ word…”
“For crapsake Angel, let it go already.”
“It’s you’re fault I can’t stop thinking about it.”
“Nice isn’t a bad thing.”
“It’s hardly an ego boost either.”
“You’re whining again.”
“I’m not whining, I’m muttering.”
“For the love of God will you just let it go!“
….that is if they ever stopped bickering.