Part 12
Cordelia managed to scramble to her feet despite the way the room was spinning. “They will come for us.”
“That’s another reason I separated you two. C’mon C. We both know they’ll come for Willow. I mean I’m sure they would have rescued you too if you were together.”
“They’re coming for both of us.”
“Do you really think that’s true? That’s just sad. Even if they were, and that’s a big if, there’s no way they can get to both of you. Do you have any idea how many guys the Mayor has here? Plus he has me. Buffy is their only muscle. Angel is still too weak to be much help. They’re gonna have to choose. Do they fight their way to you or do they fight their way to Willow with Oz’s nose leading the way? Hmmm. Let’s think about this. It’s a tough call.”
Faith clutched her sides as she doubled over in laughter.
“Angel won’t leave me here.”
“Won’t he? Hmm I find it interesting you didn’t say Xander wouldn’t leave you behind. He is your boyfriend, isn’t he? Makes a girl feel all tingly knowing your boyfriend would leave you to the wolves while he rescues another girl.”
“Shut up.”
“Aww I didn’t mean to hurt the ice princess’s feelings. You know maybe if you had unlocked those knees, Xander might have come rushing in to save you. It’s pretty pathetic. The May Queen, the wet dream of so many high school boys, doesn’t even finish second with her own guy. Buffy and Willow share his heart…and fill his fantasies.”
“…”
“I guess you’re not even going to pretend I’m wrong.” Faith circled her prey. “Do they know about you and Angel? I doubt B’s gonna be too eager to rescue a poacher.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I have to say I’m a little curious how you managed to turn his head. I figured the vamp only went for the saintly pure types like B. You hardly qualify for that. According to my very private conversation with Xander in my room, you don’t sleep around. He whined about that little surprise. He had spent all those years thinking you were loose only to discover you don’t put out. Kissing and groping can only keep a teenage boy happy for so long. You can just imagine his impatience. He was practically begging me take pity on him and rescue him from his virginity. So I’ll grant you the pure part but you’re shit out of luck in the saint department. A selfish bitch is better description. So what was your trick with Angel?”
“There was no trick. Angel and I are friends.”
“I tried that route. I went to him with my sob story but B showed up. Now I know it might have worked.”
“You’re delusional, Faith.”
“I’m delusional? That’s rich coming from you. If you think they’re your friends, you’re stupider than I thought. You have no idea what they say about you behind your back. I know. I was there. I listened to what Red and B said about you. So did Xander and do you know what he said in your defense? He said and I quote, “Guys, she’s my girlfriend,” end quote. That was how he stood up for his woman. I don’t know about you but I get goose bumps just thinking about it.”
Cordelia blinked back her tears. She glanced hopefully at the door.
“You’d never make it.” She leaned against the conference room table. “You still think the vamp’s gonna come racing to your rescue, don’t you? Tsk tsk tsk. Wake up Cordelia! Buffy rules that roost. Even if Angel did want to save you, in the end he’s gonna do what she tells him to do. He’s gonna stick with the gang and rescue Willow. You have to know he’ll choose Buffy over you every time.” She smiled at Cordelia’s flinch.
“Maybe there is some Angelus left in the old boy. He’s got his tasty piece of ass on the side and when he’s done with you, he’ll toss you out like yesterday’s trash. Hell, he and Buffy will probably laugh about it someday.”
“Shut up!”
“Yeah he’ll be holding her naked sweaty body and he’ll tell her all about how stupid he was for ever looking at you. He’s probably got his speech already worked out. He’s just waiting until he finally gets to fuck you before he runs back to the love of his life. I hope for your sake you haven’t given it up yet, ‘cuz if you did, you can kiss your slim chances of being rescued good bye.”
She slapped her knee. “Hey! Having those locked knees might actually help to save you. He’s put in all that time and he might not want to walk away until he’s gotten his payoff.”
“You’re truly disturbed.” She hoped her words would come out in a strong voice, but she couldn’t keep the tremble out of them.
“That’s true but at least I was smart enough to cut my losses. You’re still stickin’ around where you know you’re not wanted. The only reason Xander keeps you around is for your tits. Which I gotta admit, you do have a great rack.”
Cordelia folded her arms in front of her chest. “You’re not my type.”
“That hurts C. I know you wore your best fuck me clothes for me, right?” Faith pulled out her knife, her eyes admired the serrated blade. “I was so looking forward to fucking you with this. I can just picture you riding this baby.”
Cordelia stumbled back a step. “I think I’ll take a rain check. Thanks anyway.”
“Don’t be like that. I forgive you. I know you want me.” She smiled as she stepped closer. “I guarantee you’ll feel me sliding into you.”
“Are you two girls playing nice?”
“Yeah Boss. The real fun was just about to start.”
Mayor Wilkins walked up to Cordelia. “I just had the most interesting phone call. It seems your friends have decided to return my box in exchange for you and Miss Rosenberg.”
Cordelia felt a rush of air escape her lungs in relief.
“I bet they’d make the exchange for just Willow. I say we keep the cheerleader. No one will miss her.” Faith continued to advance on the girl in question.
“They said both of us.” Cordelia stepped behind the Mayor and peeked over his shoulder. “I suggest you stick to the deal unless you want to get your asses kicked.”
“Over you? I don’t think so. They’ll be too busy celebrating Willow’s safe return to notice you’re not there. The only time they notice you is when you’re making some bitchy comment or Xander has his tongue shoved down your throat.”
“Faith, I have already agreed to the deal. Now how would it look if I went back on my word? I’ll tell you how. I would be just like all those other politicians. Now they’re truly evil.”
“But..”
“Miss Rosenberg is missing. She’s somewhere in the building. Go find her.” He glanced over his shoulder at Cordelia.
“Can’t I..”
“Faith, don’t make me repeat myself.”
“Fine. I’ll go play hide and seek with Red.” She turned to leave.
Cordelia leaned forward to whisper in the Mayor’s ear. “The deal was for both of us. They won’t trade for just me.” Her throat constricted at the truth in her words.
“Faith. Don’t hurt the girl. I want my box.”
“Sure thing Boss. One redhead intact coming right up.” She slammed the door behind her.
Cordelia looked down at her hands resting on the Mayor’s shoulders. *Leave it to me to hide from a homicidal maniac by standing behind a megalomaniac.* She stepped back, a sheepish look on her face.
“So Miss Chase, why don’t we have a nice chat while we wait? Have a seat.” He picked up one of the overturned chairs. “Sorry for the mess. I just had this room renovated before your friends decided to drop in uninvited. It’s such a shame.”
She sat down and tried to remain calm. “So when is the exchange supposed to take place?”
“At midnight, we have some time. I hope my Faith didn’t frighten you too much. She can be a little rambunctious.”
“I think psychotic is a better description but that’s just me.” She glanced around the room. “So you’re ascending, huh? What is that exactly? I’m still a little hazy about what that means. Are you going away somewhere ‘cause that doesn’t sound very scary?”
“Are you asking me to spill the details of my nefarious plan?”
“Yup. You said we had time and you wanted to chat. So let’s chat.”
“You’re quite audacious, bordering on impudent I’d say.”
“That’s true. Now about this ascension…”
***
“OK. They’re secure. Only one way out and doesn’t that just fill me with a sense of dread.”
“Only one way out means only one way in. I want to see them coming. They should be here any minute.” Buffy nervously scanned the room when the lights suddenly went out. “Great.”
“I can see just fine. Here they come.”
Faith walked in with Willow in front of her, a knife at her throat. She was followed by three vampires.
Angel kept his eyes glued to the door. He could hear Cordelia’s heartbeat just outside the door. It was racing but not wildly so.
“Wow!” The Mayor walked into the cafeteria holding Cordelia’s hand. “Meeting under the cover of darkness at midnight. I feel like I should be wearing a trench coat.” He patted her trapped hand. “Isn’t this exciting?”
Cordelia shrugged. “You be surprised how often something like this happens to me.”
He smiled at her glib answer. “She’s so spunky.” He glanced over at Faith. “Don’t you think she’s spunky?” He didn’t wait for a response as he stepped closer to Buffy. “So you’re the slayer that’s been causing me all sorts of trouble. She’s cute, Angel.”
“Pfft.”
“Still I can’t understand why things couldn’t work out with you and my Faith.”
Angel’s eyes continued to scan Cordelia’s form for any signs of injury. “What can I say? I like my women sane.”
“This from the vampire who created Druscilla.” He enjoyed the way Angel and Buffy both flinched. “I must say I find it humorous that someone who once tried to have the world sucked into hell can stand before me and act morally superior.”
“…”
“Maybe it’s not a knee-slapping kind of funny but funny nevertheless.” He turned to face Cordelia. “These young people are so full of life.” He looked over at Buffy.
“Guys like us Angel, can’t be what they need. They won’t like growing old alone. My late wife didn’t. She died cursing me for my youth, my beauty. It will happen to you too. She’ll grow to resent you. I mean you can’t even offer her a leisurely walk in the park on a bright sunny day. All you have is darkness. Is that really fair? You call yourself a good guy yet you rob your young lady of her dreams. It sounds kind of selfish to me. Wouldn’t you agree Miss Chase?”
“Isn’t everyone a little selfish when they’re in love? Wanting your special someone all to yourself goes with the territory. As for Angel, who is nothing like you, I think it’s up to the girl, whoever she may be, to decide if the price is worth it. She should be the one to decide what she deserves. Not all of us like to have men do our thinking for us.”
“Wow. Well said. Don’t I feel sheepish?” He stepped back dragging Cordelia with him. “Make the trade, Faith.”
Faith pushed Willow forward. Once she reached the table the box rested on, she shoved the redhead in Oz and Xander’s direction. She put her knife away and grabbed the box then moved to stand beside the Mayor and Cordelia.
Cordelia watched Xander and Buffy visibly relax the moment Willow was safe. She closed her eyes as the pain washed over her.
Faith leaned in and whispered, “I told you they would have chosen Willow.”
Angel growled as his features shifted. “You have your box. Now let Cordelia go.”
“We did make a deal for both girls, didn’t we?” He raised their still joined hands. “It would be wrong of me to break my word.”
“I don’t know boss. It seems to me they already got what they wanted. I say we keep this one.”
“We were having a lovely time together.” He noticed Angel advancing. “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” He glanced around the room. “Raise your hand if you’re invulnerable.”
His gaze returned to Cordelia. “What do you say, Miss Chase? Do you really want to stay with them? Why don’t you return with us?”
“That’s sweet of you to offer but I think I’ll stay here.”
“Suit yourself. Choosing the side that will die soon doesn’t seem smart to me but I am a man of my word.” He released her hand. “Let’s go Faith.”
“But..”
“I said let’s go.”
Faith followed the Mayor and his lackeys out the door.
Oz, Willow, Xander and Buffy formed one giant hug.
Angel quickly moved toward Cordelia but she took a step back.
“I’m fine.” She smiled as Giles and Wesley approached.
Giles enveloped her in a hug. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
She briefly returned the embrace. “I’m fine. Faith was pretty scary but, and I never thought I’d say this, Mayor Wilkins came to my rescue.” *Which is more than any of you did.*
Wesley masked his happiness under proper British decorum. “I suggest we move our pleasantries to the library. You can give us the details of your ordeal there.”
Angel held Cordelia back as the others left. “I wanted to rescue you but I knew I’d probably end up getting you both killed. Trading the box was our best hope of getting you both back safely.”
“They traded it for Willow.”
“That’s not true.”
“Were you not here tonight? They gave him the freaking box and got Willow in exchange! I was still over here holding hands with the maniac! Don’t bullshit me, Angel. Let’s just go to the library. I want to get this over with so I can go home and soak in a hot bath and hopefully forget I ever met any of you.”
“NO!” He cradled her face in his hands. “I would have given them anything to get you back.” He wiped away a tear before it could fall. “And for the record, Wesley made the final decision to trade. A watcher chose to make a deal with the devil. He did it for you because I reminded him you are his friend and what Faith would do to you if we didn’t get you out. Wesley smashed the ceremonial pot and everything. You would have been so proud.”
He rested his forehead against hers. “There is no way I would have left you there and there is no way I would have allowed you to leave here with them.” His lips firmly took possession of hers before she could protest. He took advantage of her surprised squeak to deepen the kiss. He wanted to explore every inch of her mouth. He needed to savor her flavor.
He needed to prove to himself she was there and she was safe. His hands tangled in her hair, keeping her in place as he devoured her. Somewhere in the back of his brain a small voice reminded him of her need to breathe.
“What was…?”
“That was me changing everything.”
“Angel, we can’t..”
“Yes we can. Let’s go home.”
“They’re waiting for us.”
“Who cares?”
“You do, Angel.”
“Not anymore. Let’s just go home. A bath sounds like a good idea.”
*Did I miss something?* “I want to get the interrogation over with.” She turned to leave.
“Wait!” His eyes scanned for injuries again. “Did..did they…do anything to you?” Memories of Faith’s thoughts ran through his mind.
“Faith threatened to and she probably would have if the Mayor hadn’t showed up. He sent her to find Willow, who I guess somehow got out of her storage closet.”
“Did he…did he..”
“No.”
“Why was he holding your hand?”
“You may find this hard to believe…He told me that if he and his late wife had been blessed with a daughter, he thought she’d be a lot like me. Apparently the guy actually does think of Faith as a daughter. He told me she takes after him and I take after his wife. I told him you were nothing like him. He’s not into cradle robbing.” She grinned at his offended look. “I’m just teasing.”
“So he didn’t…”
“Faith was the one…it doesn’t matter now. Daddy dearest showed up before she could make good on her threats. Come on. Let’s get this over with so we can go home.”
“Where we can take a bath?” He walked down the hallway beside her.
Faith’s words still rang in her ears. “Let’s just take things one step at a time.”
***
“You mean you actually had your hands on the books of ascension?”
“Yup and it was way overwritten if you ask me.”
Giles rolled his eyes. “Did you find anything of importance?”
“There were a few pages that seemed important but I didn’t get a chance to read them fully.”
“Oh”
“See what you can make of them?”
Giles eagerly snatched the pages from her hand.
“Wow Will. Tonight was your night for suave. You should get captured more often.”
“Oooh no.”
Buffy’s eyes narrowed when Cordelia and Angel walked into the library. She hopped off the counter. “So Cordy, Willow managed to steal a few pages from the books of ascension. What did you find out?”
“Well the Mayor and I had a pleasant chat. We talked about Faith, the weather, interior design and what ascending means.”
Giles froze in his doorway. He turned. “What was that last one?”
“I asked him about his ascension ‘cause frankly I was still a little hazy on the definition.”
Wesley took a step forward, his eyes wide. “What did he say? Surely he didn’t actually answer you.”
“The guy totally loves the sound of his own voice.”
Giles moved closer. “What did he say?”
“According to him, we’ve never seen a demon.”
“God Cordy, how gullible can you be? I’m the slayer. I kill demons all the time.”
Cordelia bristled at her tone. She folded her arms. “Actually the demons you’ve killed and all the other ones that walk the earth are tainted, like vampires.” She glanced at Angel over her shoulder. “No offense.”
“What do you mean by tainted?”
She shrugged. “With human..ness or whatever. The Mayor is going to ascend…into a pure demon.”
Giles pinched the bridge of his nose. He knew he was repeating himself but Cordelia’s defensive posture and nonchalant attitude required it. “What do you mean by pure demon? What is the difference?”
“Well…they’re bigger.”
“How much bigger?”
“He didn’t draw me a picture, Giles. I got the impression a rocket launcher isn’t going to get the job done this time.”
“And he just told you all of this? Why would he do that? He had to be lying. He was just playing you.” Buffy looked to Giles for confirmation.
Cordelia rolled her eyes at the annoying blond. “I can’t be sure but I think he was telling the truth. I realize it seems strange that he’d talk to me. Maybe you guys didn’t notice from his behavior tonight but the guy seriously isn’t afraid of us. He claims to be invulnerable until his ascension.”
“Until you say? Perhaps that means once he changes, he can be killed.”
“He can.”
“How can you be sure?”
“Because look around, the world’s still here.”
Wesley stared at the brunette. “I’m sorry. I don’t quite follow.”
She huffed. “Do you really think he is the first demon ever to reach ascension? And if he was, how would he know all this? You can only learn so much from books. Plus he did mention something about the Ural Mountains and 800 years ago.”
“And you’re just mentioning this now because?”
“Hey! I’ve been through a lot so back off. Raise your hand if you were captured and threatened tonight.” She smiled at Willow, who’d raised her hand. “It sounded like he was talking about someone else’s ascension then he changed the subject to the trashed conference room. He said kids today have no respect for authority figures. I tried to get him to tell me more but we ran out of time. He did mutter something about a low tech demon.”
She shot a glare at Buffy. “Happy now? Was I a productive enough prisoner for you?”
Giles spoke up before Buffy could respond. “You handled yourself remarkably well. I’m very proud of you and Willow. You both kept cool heads under enormous pressure. If you’re not too tired, could you step into my office? I have a few more questions.”
“Sure.” She followed Wesley and Giles into the office.
Angel had listened to Cordelia’s revelations until Willow’s raised hand caught his attention. He watched Xander pull the redhead aside. Thanks to his enhanced hearing he heard every word. If he had felt any guilt towards the boy regarding Cordelia, it was officially gone.
Listening to Xander tell Willow how worried he’d been about her and how relieved he was once Faith released her infuriated him. The loser had yet to even acknowledge Cordelia, his supposed girlfriend. Angel listened to Xander ask Willow if they could hang out just the two of them once the meeting broke up.
He saw the boy’s disappointment when she told him Oz wanted some alone time with her. Saying Xander didn’t deserve Cordelia didn’t even begin to cover how he felt.
“Hey deadboy.”
“What?”
“You need to find alternate transportation tonight. Better yet find somewhere else to sleep. I want to spend some alone time with my girlfriend.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah so you need to make some other plans. Hey Buff!”
“What?”
“I want to be alone with Cordy tonight. Can you vampsit?”
Buffy pulled Xander across the room. “Can’t you wait? I need to go hunt down that other demon so Giles can make Angel’s cure.”
“Take the vamp with you.”
“Once he’s cured, you and Cordelia can go do whatever you want. I was even thinking about staying at the mansion with Angel.”
“What about your mom?”
“I was going to tell her it was slayer related. Someone needs to protect him from Faith.”
“Can’t you just tell him not to look at you while you guys track the demon?”
Angel was startled out of his eavesdropping mode by a warm hand touching his arm.
“I’m done here. Are you ready to go home?”
“I am beyond ready.” Angel placed his hand on the small of Cordelia’s back as they walked out of the library together.
“OK. I’ll do it but you owe me big time, Xander.” Buffy turned around.
“Angel, would you…where did he go?”
