Part 19
Cordelia stared dumbfounded at the letter in her hands. Her family had locked her and Angel in a room. In addition to that, they performed a truth spell. The letter was in Wesley’s perfect handwriting. Her voice returned. “Son of a bitch! They…they..”
“They deserve a raise.”
She spun around to face him. “Are you out of your fricken mind?”
“You’re right. We need to save our money for the potion. Maybe we should start charging more.”
“Angel! Were you not paying attention? Wesley locked us in your room and performed a truth spell.” She began pacing. “I am so gonna kick his lily-livered, scrawny, deathly-white ass!”
Angel was shocked by her outburst. “Our plan was to stay in bed anyway and we did promise not to keep any more secrets or lie to each other.”
“What the hell does that have to do with anything?”
“Cor, I…”
“Don’t you get it?”
“Obviously not”
“They trapped us in here in an effort to force us to talk about how we feel about each other. On top of that, they made it so we had no choice but to be completely honest!”
“What’s so bad about that?”
“Do I have to spell it out for you?”
“It would help.”
“Let me tell you what could have happened here. Right now I could be confessing my undying love for you and because of their spell, you wouldn’t be able to be anything but completely honest in your response. You would be prevented from letting me down gently. You would have no choice but to tell me you could never love anyone but Buffy. You might’ve had to tell me you may have staked Darla to save my life, but she was the one you wanted to share your forever with. Or worse, you might have said that while you are over all your blondes, you’re not really interested in me like that. Thanks to our loving family, my heart would be torn from my body and stomped into a sticky paste. Plus I’d be trapped! I couldn’t run away and hide my shame! Now do you get it?”
“Cor, I would never say any of those things. I love you. You’re the only one I want to be with.”
“Duh, but they don’t know that!”
Angel was about to argue until her concerns finally started to sink in. “I might’ve had to listen to you tell me you still want that idiot from Pylea or you could never love a vampire or you could never forgive me for hurting you or you think I’m fat and unattractive! What kind of friends would set a person up for that kind of pain and rejection? Do they think I haven’t suffered enough?”
“Don’t be stupid Angel. That would never happen.”
“But they don’t know that!”
“Pfft. Wesley knows I’m in love with you. Your heart was safe. It’s mine he apparently doesn’t care about.”
“That’s not true. Wes knows I’m in love with you too.”
“What? He knew? Wesley listened to me pour my heart out about you. I shared my fears and he never told me!”
“Well he watched me suffer too and never said anything.”
“Of course he didn’t tell you. He would never betray my confidence like that.”
“But he should have betrayed mine?”
“Duh!”
“What’s that supposed to mean? Why is it okay to betray me but not you?”
“Because first and foremost, Wesley should be loyal to me. When you used to brood down in your batcave, Wes and I bonded. When you used to run off without thinking, Wes and I rescued you from demon gladiator rings…and locked freezers in Gunn’s old hangout. When you used to sleep all the time and were so grouchy, Wes and I worried together. After you fired us, Wes and I kept each other going. We promised not to keep secrets from each other. Why the hell do you think I told him how I feel about you in the first place? ‘Cause secrets are bad. I can’t believe he kept the truth from me!”
Angel tried to ignore his feelings of guilt and jealousy. He needed to focus. “So Wesley broke his promise while you were the picture of honesty and openness? Is that right, my part demon love?”
Her anger deflated immediately. She nibbled on her bottom lip. She realized she might be acting a little unreasonable.
“Wes was trying to be a good friend to both of us. He’s had to silently listen to our confessions of love. Now I know why he kept pushing me to be honest with you. I guess he got tired of waiting for us to stop running scared.”
“Fine. I won’t beat him up but I am going to torture him a little.”
“How?”
“That can wait.” Cordelia studied Angel for a moment. She placed her hands on her hips. “Aren’t you supposed to be naked?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be in my bed?”
“I will be as soon as I shower.”
Angel began stripping. “A shower sounds good to me.”
“You can take one after I’m done.” She kissed his cheek before disappearing into the bathroom.
He started to follow but the sound of a lock clicking stopped him in his tracks.
***
“Are you sure Barbie won’t be kickin’ our asses for doing this?”
“They love each other. They have kyerumption.”
“Kye-whatever. I’m not getting my ass chewed out over this. Don’t worry baby. I won’t sell you out. We can blame Wes. He wrote the note and trapping them in Angel’s suite was his idea.”
“But the truth spell was my idea, Charles.”
“Yeah but Lorne performed it. They don’t need to know we were involved. Unless it works then the whole thing was my..our idea. Right English?”
“This book is fascinating. There is a wealth of knowledge contained in these pages. This text was thought lost for centuries. This truly is a stroke of luck.”
“Don’t tell Cordy that. Girl’s already tootin’ her own horn.”
“In this instance, I’d say it was justified. I shudder to think what might have happened had she not thought to search Dr. Altman’s office. Neither the police nor the other team would have known what to do with it.”
“Does this mean the apocalypse is real?”
“I haven’t gotten to that part yet.”
“Don’t be afraid to skip ahead.”
“Gunn, I thought you hated it when someone spoils the end for you?”
“Very funny”
“Perhaps you shouldn’t be so quick to sell me out?”
***
Angel was pouting when she returned. She lay down next to him. When he made no move to touch her, she edged closer and rested her head on his shoulder. Her fingers began tracing the contours of his chest.
“I hate it when you push me away.”
“I wasn’t trying to.”
“Then why did you lock me out?”
“I didn’t want to be touched until I felt clean.”
“What?”
“Throwing my clothes away wasn’t enough. I needed to scrub every inch of my body.”
“Oh” He wrapped his arms around her. “I’m so sorry. I promised I’d never let another man touch you and I failed.”
“It’s not your fault. That’s hardly a promise you can keep. As gross as the groping was, that was hardly the first time a sleazebag made with the bad touching.”
“What!”
“When I used to go dancing, there was always some guy who thought agreeing to dance was the same as agreeing to be manhandled. Then there are those guys who think a crowded bus is an invitation to cop a feel. Don’t forget those guys who think ‘I’d be perfect for their movie but first they need a private audition’.”
“You are never going dancing or riding the bus again and you already have a job.”
She continued as if he hadn’t spoken. “The worst part was not being able to move or scream. Normally I’d be able to jab with an elbow, stomp a foot or at least throw out a scathing remark. Being forced to lie there and take it was…” She snuggled deeper into Angel’s embrace. “Have I thanked you for coming to rescue me?”
“I thought you rescued me?”
“I didn’t say thanks for rescuing me. I said ‘coming to rescue me’.”
“I see the distinction.”
She lifted her head to meet his eyes. “You know you’re my hero but it felt good to deal with Bob myself. I needed that.”
“I don’t want you to think I expect you not to defend yourself. You are an extremely capable, strong woman. I just…I was really looking forward to fighting Bob.”
“I don’t know if it means anything but I would’ve liked to see that.” She rested her chin on his chest. “Am I a killer?”
“What?”
“Bob was human and I killed him.”
“No. Magic killed him. He did not die at your hands. You aren’t a killer.” Angel stroked her cheek. “Even if you had killed him, it would have been in self defense. He had a knife and he was trying to kill you.”
“I know but..”
“No buts. You will defend your life.”
“I thought my duty was to stave until you arrived?”
“Well you should definitely do that for as long as you can.”
Cordelia’s hand dipped under the covers. “Hey! You’re not naked!” She tugged on his boxers.
“I was mad at you for locking me out.”
“Well I’m back and I’m naked.” She tugged harder. “Don’t make me rip these off you. I would hate to damage the merchandise.”
“That’s good to know.” He slipped his boxers off. “Is that better?”
“Much. Clothing is an unnecessary barrier in the privacy of our room. We need to keep the flow of communication open, remember?”
“If you tell me we can’t have sex, I’m going to take you over my knee.”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
“Just try me.”
“You do know I would have to kick your ass if you tried?”
“Do you think you could take me?”
Cordelia stood erect on her knees. “You asked me that before and if memory serves, you didn’t really like my answer.”
“And as I recall, you did enjoy my reaction to your answer.”
Her eyebrow quirked up. “Are you suggesting that it is was acceptable behavior to launch me across a room?”
“It is when you land on my bed.”
“So you’re okay with being Mr.-Aggressive-Grabby-Hands?”
Angel’s gaze dropped to her arms. The bruises he’d given her had already faded but the guilt remained. He reached out and gently touched the healed flesh. “I’m sorry.”
“Angel, you’re being silly.”
“Grabbing you that hard was wrong. There’s no excuse for my demon popping up so much. You were hurt and I shouldn’t have done those things without your permission either. My frustration and your teasing do not justify my actions.”
“Don’t be so melodramatic. We both knew there’d be consequences. Besides neither you or your demon were ever trying to actually hurt me. You both just wanted some luvin’. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Consequences? What?”
“You know.”
“I know what?”
“It was all in the file.”
“What file? What are you talking about?”
“The file for the case we just finished, you said you read it.”
“I did.”
“Then you read the report about the potion.”
“Oh that. I skipped that part. I knew it protected my soul. The rest could wait until later.”
“You’re kidding, right? You did read that paper?”
“No. I glanced at it. It listed who made it and how to reach them for more. That was hardly a priority at the time. I have a year to figure out the money part and right after I drank it, you couldn’t seem to run from me fast enough.”
“You’re such a man!”
“Umm…thanks.”
“That was so not a compliment.”
“What’s the big deal? It worked. This is me, soul present and accounted for.”
“Would you like to know why you’ve been more aggressive with me since drinking the potion?”
“What? What does one have to do with the other? I’ve always been an aggressive lover.”
Her nose wrinkled. “You’d know there was a connection if you read the file, like you were supposed to.”
“Tell me.”
“The potion doesn’t exactly eliminate the happiness clause. It’s more like it negates the curse.”
“What!”
“No. I mean it…negates how the curse works.”
“Huh?”
“We knew when the gypsy’s cursed you, they gave you your soul to make you suffer. They wanted you to be tormented by guilt and remorse. According to the specialist, in order to accomplish such a goal, the curse created an internal conflict between man and demon. In order for it to be never-ending torment, the curse also created a delicate balance which is why there is a clause. A moment of happiness for the soul would enable the demon to cast it out, since soullessness is a vampire’s natural state. The potion negates the conflict. It allows the man and the demon to blend.”
“What does that mean?”
“Feelings would now be shared. A moment of pure bliss for the man would also be a moment of bliss for the demon, thus preserving the balance.”
“So…”
“So your demon is closer to the surface now, especially when it comes to me.”
Angel started to back away. “That’s…I don’t want…I might hurt you.”
“As long as your soul shares that body, I have nothing to fear. Besides just as your demon shares your happiness, it shares your love, hence Mr.-Extra-Possessive-Manpire. I thought you were aware of all this.”
“I..I..”
“That’s what you get for skipping the required reading.”
“Cor, how can you be so calm about this? My demon is something I try very hard to suppress.”
“That’s part of your problem. I love you. The blending may make you a bit more forceful and caveman-ish, but it’s nothing I can’t handle. You weren’t exactly kittenish before the potion. We’ll be fine.”
“I think now might be a good time to discuss biting.”