Part 2
Angel and Cordelia stood next to one another, elbows touching tentatively as they hovered near Wesley. He was on the phone, waiting for Sunnydale to answer, and all three of them were anxious. They’d pinned all their hopes on the possibility that Giles would know what to do. Giles always knew what to do!
Cordelia had only been awake for ten minutes or so, but in that short period she’d felt an amazing change in her body. She’d always felt relatively healthy, except for the sometimes debilitating vision pain, but right at this moment, she felt as if her good health had been multiplied by a factor of ten thousand! Her entire body buzzed. She felt every little thing in the room, every breath, every movement, and every sound. She sensed Angel’s presence as a vampire like she never had before. It was true that she had developed a knack for knowing when he entered a room, but that was more of a sixth sense. This, on the other hand, was pure gut certainty that Angel was, without a doubt, a vampire and her senses literally tingled with his close proximity.
As was evidenced by her little Xena display in the lobby a few minutes ago, her strength was at a premium. She felt like she had stamina that would last her for days, like she could slay twenty vampires and not break a sweat. The feeling was heady, intoxicating. She was dying to go patrol with Angel and test out her new abilities.
Wait just a goddamn minute. Patrol with Angel? Slaying vampires? What the freakin’ hell was going on here???
“Giles! Hello.” Wesley’s words broke into Cordelia’s near epiphany.
Angel stepped closer, able to hear Giles’s words and wanting to make sure he didn’t miss a thing.
“Wesley,” Giles voice rang through the phone. “We were just about to call you. Something very strange has happened and I wanted to know if you’re behind it.”
“Funny you should mention that. Something weird is going on here, too, and I have a feeling they may be linked. I received an orb in the mail with a return address from Sunnydale. Any chance you’ve received something similar in the mail recently?”
“Ah, yes. I had assumed it was from you; the return address said Los Angeles. The orb has had a rather . . . interesting affect on Buffy,” Giles said.
Angel could just imagine the Englishman rubbing the bridge of his nose as he talked, his glasses dangling from his fingers by the earpiece.
Now we’re getting somewhere, Wesley thought. “Did she happen to twist the sphere, become enveloped in a white light, and then pass out?”
There was a pause from Giles. Then, “Yes, exactly that. How did you know?”
“The same thing happened to Cordelia.”
“Oh, I see,” Giles paused again, the wheels turning in his head almost audible.
“There’s more,” Wesley continued, wanting to give the older man as much information as possible to make an informed hypothesis. “Cordelia’s strength has increased considerably. She was able to kick Angel halfway across the room with almost no effort.”
Angel frowned, annoyed at how weak that made him sound.
“And I feel all tingly and stuff, too,” Cordelia added. When Wesley didn’t convey her words, she added, “Hey!” and motioned to the phone, frowning.
Wesley sighed long-sufferingly. “And she feels all tingly and stuff, too,” he said, drawing the words out and mimicking her tone.
There was a minor scuffle on the other end of the phone, and Giles came back on the line sounding harried. “I’ll have to call you back, Wesley. Buffy’s had some sort of episode and she’s in a lot of pain.”
“Very well, Giles. We’ll continue to research here.”
Giles hung up quickly and Wesley set the phone back in its place, then looked up at Angel and Cordelia.
“That wasn’t very helpful,” Cordelia huffed, sitting down in a chair and crossing her arms. “He didn’t tell us anything. I could be a freak like this forever. But, oh, wait. Working for a broody vampire guy with a soul that won’t stay put and getting smelly 3-D visions of demons and violence. Yep, already a freak. This just makes it that much WORSE!!”
Wesley fought the urge to roll his eyes at her. “Calm down, Cordelia.”
“Calm down. Calm down?!? I’m becoming a carbon copy of Little Miss Slay Happy and you want me to CALM DOWN?!?” She jumped back out of the chair and began pacing in front of the desk.
Angel gaped at her. “Wait, what did you just say?”
Cordelia glared at him. “You know, you’d think with that super vamp hearing you wouldn’t need me to repeat myself.”
“No, I mean about Buffy.”
Cordelia ignored the twinge in her heart at his seeming defense of his ex and reverted back to what she knew best. Snarking. She rolled her eyes dramatically. “Oh, please, Angel. Look, we all know that you still have a thing for her, and we all know that I think she’s a complete freak. I criticize her, but you don’t have to get all huffy about it now. Geez, I’ve said worse things before.”
Angel shook his head rapidly. “No, that’s not it. You said you were turning into her.”
She looked at him like he was insane. “Duh, yeah! I’m like, super chick now. I can kick your ass all the way across the room.” She smiled at that, then punched the air with her fists. “Maybe that Tae Bo I did will actually come in handy. That and the training you gave me. Hey!” She whirled around and faced him, a huge smile on her face. “I could actually kick some demon ass! I rock!”
Her turnabout made Wesley’s head spin. After it cleared, he had a sudden idea. “Wait, Giles said that Buffy had the same thing happen to her, and then she had an ‘episode.’”
“An episode? Am I going to start having episodes? What if they make me convulse or something and I bite my tongue off. I need my tongue!”
The men stared at her as she swerved yet again from excitement back to hysteria.
“What the hell is an ‘episode’?” Angel asked. He’d decided to ignore Cordelia’s mood swings and Wesley was apparently doing the same.
Wesley shrugged. “I have absolutely no idea. I guess we’ll just have to wait until Giles calls us back to confirm it, but I do have a theory.” He paused dramatically.
“Well spill it already, Wesley. I could be dying here.” Cordelia gasped, “Or worse! This strength might give me massive muscles like one of those gross female body builders who don’t look like women except for the bikini and the big hair, and—”
“Thank you, Cordelia, for that lovely image,” Wesley interrupted, his stern glare making her shut up momentarily. “As I was saying, I think that Cordelia may have exchanged her seer abilities for Buffy’s slayer ones.”
“I’m a SLAYER?” Cordelia’s eyes popped wide open and her jaw dropped. “Slayers have a life span of like, 20 years, max. I’m going to die.” She whirled to face Angel. “Do something!”
“Cordelia . . .” Angel paused, walking closer towards her. He placed his hands on her shoulders and squeezed them gently. “You’re not going to die. You’re going to be fine. You already know the basics of fighting, and the Slayer strength, if that’s what you have, will make up for the rest. We can test it out, if you want.”
“Test it out? Like how? I am so not going to go looking for vampires to slay just so I can test this. Wesley’s been wrong before, you know. Maybe that’s not it. Maybe it’s just temporary, or something.”
Wesley jumped back into the conversation, determined to put a lid on Cordelia’s hysterical behavior. “Testing it would be a good idea. You can fight Angel while we wait for Giles to call. It’s not like you haven’t sparred with him before.”
“Yeah, but that was when I was weak. Now I could like, kill him or something. I’m scared of myself, Wesley.”
Even though she’d spoken to Wesley, Angel answered her. Before she could protest, he moved his hands from her shoulders and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her against him in a tight hug. He kissed her forehead gently.
“Don’t be scared, Cordy. I’ll take care of you.”
She pulled back from him and looked at him strangely; he’d comforted her before, but something was different about this time. Lately, he’d put more distance between them than he usually did, and this sudden gesture seemed out of character.
“What’s up with you, Angel?”
***
The “episode” that Buffy had had before Giles picked up the phone had only gotten worse while he was conversing with Wesley. The images had stopped after the initial seizure, but the pain was steadily increasing. Buffy had tried to hold back any audible complaints, but when Giles’s conversation had gone on longer than she thought it would, Buffy couldn’t help but moan loudly. He’d looked at her with concern and hung up hastily.
Giles moved to her side, kneeling in front of the chair in which she was sitting. “Xander,” he said without looking at him, “go get the bottle of pills in the drawer next to the cash register. The prescription bottle.”
Buffy looked at him warily. “What are you giving me?”
“Just some codeine, Buffy. My dentist gave me some when I had some work done earlier this year, and I think it might help your pain.”
A few minutes later, Xander returned with two white pills and a glass of water. Buffy drank them down gratefully, praying that the medicine would work quickly.
“Did you have some sort of premonition, Buffy?” Giles asked gently. He didn’t want to rush her, but time might be important here.
“Yeah,” she sighed. “I don’t know what it was for sure. It was like I could see what would happen late tonight. I knew what time it was, what the address was, who was there and what would happen if we didn’t stop it.” She’d been staring down at the now-empty water glass as she spoke, but now she turned her eyes up to Giles and the sadness in them was unmistakable.
“It was Cordelia, Giles.” Everyone gasped at her words, Willow exchanging a meaningful look with Xander.
“She was being bitten by a vampire. There were others around her, preventing anyone from rescuing her.” Buffy set the glass on the table behind her, her frustration clearly evident. “It was like I could tell that Angel and Wesley were there, but I couldn’t see them. All I could see was Cordelia with her neck exposed, the vampire’s fangs out and closing in on her, and all I wanted to do was stake him, but I couldn’t reach her. I could only watch helplessly.”
She turned to Giles and grabbed his shoulders, grasping them firmly. “We have to help her, Giles. I may not like Cordelia all that much, but she doesn’t deserve to die like that. I won’t have that on my conscience.”
“We’ll help her, Buffy,” Giles said, extracting her fingers from his arms and placing her hands in his own. He squeezed them gently as he continued. “You said you knew the time and location?”
“Yes. It’s in . . . Oh, god! Two hours, Giles, that’s all! We have to leave. NOW.”
He nodded swiftly and stood up, the rest of the group scrambling in his wake.
“The books, Giles?” Willow asked, not knowing what to take and what to leave.
“I’ll grab the ones I think we need. Wesley will have almost all of them, anyway,” he answered. “Xander, get Buffy into the car. Let’s get out of here as quickly as possible.”
The pain medication had worked quickly and Buffy was able to stand without feeling lightheaded. Her thoughts turned immediately to those not present. “Dawn and Spike?” she asked Giles softly, grabbing his arm to get his attention.
“Dawn can stay at her friend’s house. Spike will—“
“I’ll what?” the vampire’s voice cut into their conversation. Before Giles could answer, he noticed Buffy standing slightly behind her watcher, partially hidden from view. He immediately went over to her and cupped her chin in his hand, tilting her gaze up to his.
“How’re you feeling, luv?” His eyes were blue depths of concern, and it warmed Buffy to the core to see him so worried about her.
Buffy smiled softly at him, the small amount of pain left in her head making her unable to dredge up the mask she usually donned around him. “I’m fine, Spike. Xander will tell you about it on the way.”
“You’re coming with us,” Giles said, his tone not allowing any room for argument. “Go get your car. You can take Xander and Anya with you. Willow and Buffy will ride with me.”
“Wait just a minute here, Watcher. Buffy looks like she’s in pain. She’s in no condition to go anywhere, except to bed.”
Xander pinned a scathing look on him and answered for Giles. “How Buffy feels is none of your business, Spike. How many times do we have to tell you that? You’re not good enough for her. Stop drooling after her like a sorry lost puppy. She’s never going to be with you.”
Spike’s eyes narrowed, but he forbore to reply, counting to ten to bring his rage to a manageable level. He decided just to ignore Xander’s uniformed but well-intentioned comments, and addressed Giles again.
“She’s not going anywhere.”
Buffy reached for his arm and grasped it, the touch causing him to look back down at her. “I have to go, Spike. Cordelia will die if I don’t. There’s no other choice.”
Spike’s shoulder’s slumped visibly when he heard Cordelia’s name. “Great. My wonderful, loving sire. Can’t wait to see that soul-having poof again.” He sucked it up when he saw Buffy’s frown. “I don’t have anything against the cheerleader, luv, I just don’t want to see Angel. He gets on my nerves.”
“I realize that, but I need you there to help us fight.”
“Let’s go, people. We don’t have much time,” Giles’s anxious voice broke into their conversation.
“Aren’t you going to call Wesley and warn him?” Willow said, her practicality coming to the fore.
“Of course.” Giles looked insulted. “Pack up and wait for me in the car.”
The entire group exited as Giles picked up the phone and dialed the LA number. It rang a few times, then the line went dead. Giles tried to call again, but all he got was a busy signal.
“Damn,” he muttered, glancing at the clock. He didn’t have time to sit here and figure out what happened. He didn’t have cell phone numbers for any of the LA people, either; they would just have to drive as fast as they could and try to get there ahead of the impending disaster. He hoped that they weren’t going to be too late.
***
Gunn walked out of the kitchen carrying the cordless phone in his hand, Fred trailing behind him.
“Make sure they get extra pepperoni on the pizza. Ooo, and extra cheese.” Fred poked him in the side when he didn’t acknowledge her.
“Ow!! Yeah, girl, okay. Geez. I’m on hold here. Be cool!”
Fred just rolled her eyes at him and preceded him into the lobby. She stopped in her tracks when she saw what was in front of her.
Cordelia had Angel pinned up against one of the walls, her hand resting on his chest, her short sword at his throat. Her smile was wickedly proud as she dropped the weapon and backed away.
“Yeah, baby. Now who’s the bad ass fighter?” She raised her hands in a call for cheers. “Me! I’m the queen!”
Angel pushed himself away from the wall, straightening his collar as if it had just recently become too tight. “I was going easy on you,” he said, trying to save face. “I wasn’t sure exactly how strong you were now.”
Cordelia gave him a withering look. “That’s beneath you, Angel. You were so not going easy on me. I won, fair and square. I could kick your broody butt clear into next Tuesday,” she gloated, her smirk returning.
Angel was loving how sexy she looked when she was gloating. Her face was shining with the pleasure of her victory, and even if he felt like a total wuss for losing, he wasn’t going to try to take that joy away from her. He’d just make sure he smacked down her cute ass during the next fight.
His face slowly took on a predatory look as he walked closer, the power in his stance meant to intimidate. He stopped mere inches from her and got right up into her face.
“Oh, really. Next Tuesday, huh?” he asked nonchalantly.
“Oh, yeah. Bring it on, big guy.” Her tone was challenging, but Cordelia felt like her insides had turned into a whole flock of butterflies. Angel’s close proximity was doing a number on her, turning her into a mass of sizzling nerves. Her new, sharp senses made her whole body come alive at his nearness, and that, combined with the heady feeling of post-battle adrenaline made her want to jump him, knock him to the floor, and . . . well, she couldn’t let herself think about that just now.
Angel noticed her heightened arousal and it turned him on like nothing ever had before. Without thinking about it, he put an arm around her waist and drew her closer to him until their bodies touched, then leaned his lips down toward hers. Cordelia’s breath caught in her throat as she saw the smoldering intention in his eyes and her heartbeat quickened in anticipation. Her mouth opened slightly and she held her breath, sliding her eyes shut as she waited for Angel’s lips to make contact with hers.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?!?”
Wesley’s angry voice penetrated the sexually charged haze surrounding vampire and seer/slayer and they jumped apart guiltily. They looked over at Wesley, only to see him reach up and grab the cordless phone from Gunn’s hand and disconnect the call.
“Hey!” Fred cried. “He was ordering pizza!”
There might as well have been steam coming out of Wesley’s ears. “While you two were cavorting around the hotel this afternoon, we’ve had a major crisis. In case you didn’t notice, Cordelia just beat Angel in a fight. That doesn’t just happen on its own!!”
“Geez, English. Chill. You look like you’re about to blow a gasket. What’s this got to do with pizza?”
“Sunnydale is involved and I’m waiting for a call from Giles.”
Fred’s irritation vanished at Wesley’s explanation. “Oh. Well, I’m sorry, Wesley, but we didn’t know.”
Cordelia poked Angel in the ribs. “I told you we should’ve gotten call waiting. Cheapskate.”
“Hey, I’m not the boss anymore. Don’t look at me.” They all turned to look at Wesley, but he ignored them; he was calling Sunnydale.
After several rings, Wesley forcefully pushed the off button and slammed the phone down on the table. “Damn. They’re not answering.”
Angel shrugged. “What can we do? Cordelia’s obviously got strength equal to Buffy’s. I think we should just keep researching and go from there. You’re feeling okay, Cordy?”
“Yup. Just fine. Except for all the tinglies.”
Angel nodded, satisfied. He turned to Fred. “Connor?” he asked simply.
“Sound asleep,” Fred answered. “So what happened to Cordelia?”
Angel filled her and Gunn in on what had transpired so far.
“Damn,” Gunn said, his colorful economy of words summing up the tone of the situation.
“You can say that again,” Cordelia commented wryly.
