Part 2
“Angel Investigations. We..”
“Wesley! Are you alright?”
“Cordelia? Thank goodness. Where are you? Angelus in on the loose.”
“I know. I’m in a hotel suite. I’m pretty sure I’m still in LA.”
“Where is Angelus? Do you see any means to escape?”
“Actually he’s standing in front of me.”
“Dear lord! Cordelia..”
“Calm down. Have you called Sunnydale yet?”
Wesley was confused by her lack of fear. “I left a message. I tried all the numbers in your rolodex.”
“Okay. Whenever they call, ask Willow to try the curse. I doubt it will work. Wolfram and Hart wouldn’t have gone through with their plan if it was just a matter of recursing him.”
“You’re probably right. Speaking of Wolfram and Hart..”
“Don’t even get me started. That evil bitch you were screwing ordered my capture and dissection.”
“What?!”
“Yeah. She wanted to make sure I felt it too.”
“By the time we got there, the place was crawling with police. They were carting off quite a few bodies. We feared the worst.”
“I warned Lilah she hadn’t seen Angel’s bad side yet. They had no clue what they were doing.”
“Cordelia, umm..what exactly is Angelus doing right now?”
“Pacing. He’s waiting for me to hang up. One last thing, I don’t want Connor coming home. I don’t care what you have to do. Make sure he stays where he is.” Angelus snatched the phone away. “Hey! I wasn’t finished!”
“I think I’ve been more than patient. You keep forgetting who you’re dealing with.”
“Pfft. I haven’t forgotten anything.” She giggled when she saw Angelus start to undress. “What are you doing?”
“Getting undressed. What does it look like?”
“Not that I’m not enjoying the show or anything but why?”
“I let you call Watcherboy. I even let you talk about recursing me which we both know won’t work. Now we’re gonna have sex.”
She arched a brow. “Oh really? I believe I told you not until I’m ready and right now I’m hungry.”
In a flash he was on the bed. He grabbed her by the hair and twisted exposing her neck to him. He leaned in to whisper. “I think you need to start taking me seriously, little girl.” She placed a hand on his chest. He could feel his flesh start to sizzle.
“I could say the same about you. Forcing me to do anything I don’t want to do is NOT an option.”
“You won’t kill me.”
“Your soul would never forgive me if I let you hurt me. You couldn’t handle the guilt later.” Her stomach growled. “See. We were on our way to dinner when I was kidnapped.” Her bottom lip poked out in a pout. “I’m hungry.”
Angelus looked down at his burnt chest. “Fine. I’ll order room service.”
“No. I was kidnapped, nearly mutilated and my boyfriend’s soul was stolen. I’ve had a really bad day and you know what that means?”
“Small ham and pineapple pizza from Sal’s.”
“Don’t forget the ice cream.”
He gave her his best tortured face. “What flavor?”
“The special of the day is fine. Ben & Jerry’s doesn’t have a bad flavor.”
“You expect me to pay?”
“Duh! What did you think? I was gonna sit here and watch you drain the delivery guy.”
“Woman, you are..”
“I know but it’s part of the reason you love me so much. Now order.”
“You’re just lucky Gavin keeps so much cash in his wallet and I still have that nice full feeling.”
“Eww and you stole his wallet?”
“Yeah. It’s not like he’ll be needin’ it. He’s paying for the suite too. He’s a pretty generous guy.”
“Lilah the psycho bitch you let go but you kill Mr-I’m-going-to-bury-you-in-paperwork! What did he ever do to you?”
“He took you.”
“What?”
“You don’t think Lilah did the dirty work herself, did you?”
“That bastard!”
“Exactly. So who cares if Wolfram and Hart is down a few lawyers and some security guards. Don’t you feel better knowing I didn’t kill any innocent people to feed. I think that deserves a reward of the naked variety.”
“Pfft. Don’t you have a call to make?” He flipped his cell phone open and called. She could hear him mumbling into the phone but couldn’t make out what hotel they were in. “Where are we?”
“In a hotel somewhere in Los Angeles.”
“That helped.”
Angelus jumped onto the bed and laid down next to her. “Whatever will we do to pass the time?”
“We can talk.” She ignored his growl. “When did you fall in love with me?”
“I’m an evil vampire. I refuse to lie here and talk about my feelings.”
She rolled over to rest her head on his shoulder. Her hand stroked his bare chest. “Please. I know Angel’s answer. He doesn’t like to talk about his demon.” She smiled as he began to purr. “I love it when you do that.”
“I love it when you make me do it.” Her hand brushed his burn. He winced.
“I’m sorry.” She kissed her scorched hand print. “Better?”
“Don’t stop.”
Her kisses turned to licks. “Answer my question. When did you fall in love with me?”
His purr grew louder. “I don’t know when. I just know I do.”
She gave one of his nipples a lick. “How long have you wanted me?”
He groaned when her tongue was replaced with her teeth. “When we first ran into each other here in LA.”
Her head popped up. “Really?”
He pulled her head back down to his chest. “It was just lust back then.”
“So you didn’t notice me in Sunnydale either?”
“I noticed you but you came on so strong. I’ve had enough whores in my time. I like a challenge. OWW! What the fuck was that for?”
She sat up. “I’m not a whore!”
He grabbed her before she could leave. He threw a leg over her lower half and wrapped an arm around her chest. “I know you’re not a whore. I didn’t back then. Now, I know it was just an act.” He planted a kiss behind her ear.
“You looked so hot at the party. Soulboy was so happy to see a familiar face. You totally blew me off. I wanted to take you right there but the soul wouldn’t cooperate. He needed to protect that dumb bitch Tina. Didn’t do a very good job though.”
“So you just wanted me because I wasn’t interested?”
“I told you. I like a challenge. You’ve definitely been that. I’ll never forget the day you showed up on my doorstep with your suitcases. I was standing there in nothing but a towel and you didn’t even seem to notice. Your obliviousness to my charms didn’t end there. I blame the soul. He stood back and let other men touch you.”
He nuzzled her neck. “I plan to make you forget everyone of them.”
“How?”
He answered by capturing her lips in a searing kiss. Her moan was echoed by his.
“Delivery for room 607.”
Angelus growled. “Are you sure I can’t kill him?”
She giggled and pushed him away. “Answer the door and be good.”
“I’m evil.”
“Then be less evil. Don’t make me fry your ass. I have other plans for it.”
He caught her lips with a growl. “I’m gonna hold you to that.” Angelus grabbed Gavin’s wallet on his way to the door. “Give me the pizza.”
“Sure thing, Angelus.”
Cordelia screamed when the delivery guy pulled out a gun and fired it at Angelus. She watched him collapse mid lunge. She raced to his side. “What did you do to him?”
The man took a step back when Cordelia began to glow.
“Cordy, are you okay?”
“Wesley?”
“Thank goodness we got to you in time.”
“How..What did he do to him?”
“He’s only unconscious. Willow is sending a witch from her coven to perform the spell. Giles’ assured me she’s quite powerful. Willow doesn’t feel strong enough to work with such ancient magics.”
“How’s Connor?”
“Not happy which is to be expected under the circumstances. He wanted to return home. I finally convinced him to stay put. I told him there was a chance Angelus might go after Buffy and her loved ones. He agreed to stay and protect Dawn. He warned me he wouldn’t attempt to take him alive.”
“I understand. It was good thinking but just so you know. Angelus wasn’t planning on going to Sunnydale.”
“I didn’t think he would. At least not until we were all dead.”
“He could have killed you before but he didn’t.”
“We’ll talk about it after we get him back to the hotel and chained up.”
“Where’s Gunn?”
“He’s waiting with the car.” He continued at her raised brow. “Let’s just say Connor isn’t the only one with the stake first attitude.”
***
“Cordy, I’m so glad you’re alright. You are alright? He didn’t hurt you, did he? Wesley said he was Angelus now. I don’t know how he could have had his moment of perfect happiness ’cause you and he would never..I mean you and he didn’t..”
“I’m fine Fred. He didn’t hurt me and no. Angel and I didn’t. Wolfram and Hart used a spell to remove his soul.”
“Angelus is chained to his bed. He won’t be going anywhere. Angel had the chains enchanted a while back. Just in case.”
“He did?”
Wesley cleared his throat. “He told me about them when I returned. So Wolfram and Hart used a spell?”
Cordelia decided to let the chains drop. “Apparently. The plan was to leave Angelus in the alley and just take me.”
“Why did Lilah only want you? Wesley said she was planning to dissect you. Why would she do that? I mean..”
“Angelus said Wolfram and Hart wanted me because I’m a higher being living on this plane. Lilah wanted me alive because Wesley chose me over her.”
“Cordelia, I’m..”
“Don’t even think of apologizing for what that bitch tried to do to me. She’s gonna have to answer to the Senior Partners. They’re not going to be too happy with her right now. Since Gavin’s already dead, the blame will fall on her shoulders. It couldn’t happen to a nicer girl. I don’t plan on worrying about them. So when is Willow’s friend supposed to get here?”
“In an hour or two.”
“Okay. I don’t expect the spell to work so we need to research other ways to return his soul. Get Lorne to check his contacts. Wes, I want you to hit the books. Fred, I want you to take the laptop to my apartment. There’s a box in my closet. Dennis can help you find it. It has everything you need to perform the un-invite spell. You can research from there.”
“Why do I..”
“Fred sweetie, I don’t want you anywhere near Angelus. Gunn, why don’t you go with her. Once the spell is done you can meet up with Lorne and help him.”
“I think I should stay and watch Angelus.”
“Don’t worry. Wes and I will be here. The chains are enchanted so he isn’t getting loose. Besides Spike should be here soon.”
“Did you want him to come? You didn’t mention anything. I’m afraid I didn’t ask for his help.”
“Don’t worry Wes. He’s on his way. Actually you couldn’t keep him away if you tried. Trust me.”
“Speaking of blondie vamp, why can’t we do the same thing for Angel?”
“We can’t. What Spike did isn’t something we can do for Angel. Only Angelus can face the trials and be rewarded with his soul.”
“Damn! No way is evil vamp gonna do it.”
“I know. You guys have your assignments so get going.”
Wesley polished his glasses. “What are you going to do?”
“Keep an eye on Angelus. He may be chained but he’s nothing if not resourceful.”
“Maybe Gunn should..”
“No. I’ll be fine. In fact, I don’t want anyone but Wes, Spike and I to go in there.”
“Why? I..”
“Gunn, I know you’re an important member of this team..family, but the whole Angel/Angelus thing is hard enough for you as it is. Spending time with Angelus is going to make it that much harder once we get Angel back.”
“What about me?”
“Sweetie, I think Angel would rather you not meet his soulless half.”
“I faced him in Pylea.”
“Not exactly. That was the demon’s purest form. Angelus can be just as hurtful with his words as he is with his hands. Wes and I know him and so does Spike. I really think it’s for the best if you and Gunn don’t see him like this.”
“Okay. I guess I can understand that but aren’t you the one he wants to hurt the most?”
“He won’t hurt me physically and I can handle what he has to say.”
“Cordelia, I think you might be..”
“Look Wes. I know what I’m talking about. I know who and what he is. I know if Angelus was to walk down those stairs right now and saw how close you were standing, your hand on my shoulder, he would snap your neck before you could blink.” Wes snatched his hand away like he’d been burned. All three took a step back.
“Just like I know I would dust him if he tried. Let me remind all of you. I have the ability to dust him up in his room from right here. I’m not a doe eyed teenager trying to justify why I can’t kill my boyfriend even though he’s killing people.
Okay so I’m not exactly broken up over the dead lawyers but let them try to dissect you and see how sympathetic you are. Angelus is going to remain chained. I am going to do whatever it takes to get him his soul back. I don’t plan on losing the man I love because some evil lawyers thought Angelus would join their team if they released him.”
“Don’t yell at me but why didn’t the evil vamp join them?”
“Partly because they made the mistake of taking me.”
“So?”
“He loves me.”
“I thought the soulless one wasn’t capable of love.”
“You thought wrong. Now guys we need to start working. The world’s champion needs our help.”
Fred grabbed the laptop. “I’m ready. We’ll find a way.”
“Yes. Let’s try to be positive. Perhaps the curse will work. Wolfram and Hart may have been counting on Angelus killing us before we could try to recurse him.”
“Yeah English. Way to be positive.”
“C’mon Charles.”
“Okay. Let’s go.”
“I’ll call Lorne.”
“I’ll check on Angelus.”
“Everyone should check in on an hourly basis. We must remain on alert. Angelus is subdued but Wolfram and Hart may still have plans. Lilah might try something to salvage the situation. Watch your backs.”