Part 6
“Is it classified as cheating if, technically, I took the exams already and remember some of the questions?” Cordelia mused, sucking lightly on the end of her pencil.
Two sets of eyes were drawn towards her. One immediately to the pencil, head flooded with impure thoughts that made certain areas of his anatomy rather uncomfortable – and the other, as would a gentleman, to the pair of eyes that seemed to be mulling the question.
“Cheating?” Asked Giles, giving a smile. “I wouldn’t say so…”
“I can honestly say I want to be her in six weeks time…” Xander frowned, getting over the pencil-suckage. That mouth, those lips – weren’t his to be dreaming over, even if he did have God-given right as the ex-boyfriend. His gaze drifted forlornly to the books in front of him, “Exams. Tests. Gummed paper. This gives me the wiggins.”
“You live on a Hellmouth and a test gives you the wiggins?” Cordelia laughed, “Suddenly remembering how dorkishly oafish you actually were… Are… Uhm…”
Okay, so she was getting slightly better with the lingo – not great, but that was to be expected. She’d been here for a total of five days now – adjusting to life ‘back in the ‘Dale’ as Xander had so aptly put it a few moments ago. (hee!)
Now, she was studying for her SAT’s. At first, Cordelia had been inclined not to study. What was the point when all her efforts in searching for a way to clear her parents for tax fraud had served, so far, fruitless.
She was no closer to clearing them than she was to seeing Harrison Ford dance down her street naked.
Shaking herself back to the thoughts of exams, Cordelia looked at Giles. “Y’know, I thought coming back here and getting with the study program again would’ve been the most difficult thing in the world. Turns out it’s not as difficult as I thought… Besides,” She added, “I seem to remember getting pretty good marks without even trying.”
“Bitch…” Xander coughed under his hand, shaking his head.
Giles shot him a glare then turned back to Cordelia, “Then perhaps with the right amount of studying…”His voice tailed off,
making Cordelia smile, “I get it Giles, study good, slacking bad. There’s also the point of not having done this in so long that math with Mr. Beech seems like confusion fest ’99…”
“Welcome to my world, Cordelia Chase.” Xander grinned.
Cordelia laughed, amicably, liking the fact that sitting here with Xander could be so… Normal? Definitely not something she was used to. If she remembered rightly, most of their relationship before this had been filled with fights – and the kind of tension that had led to many meetings in the janitor’s closet.
The library doors burst open then, a limping, bruised and battered Buffy moving through the door.
Giles stood immediately, chair scraping against the floor. “Buffy, aren’t you…”
“Supposed to be enjoying a night of teenage normalcy? Yeah,” She nodded, “That was the plan anyway. Until I was ambushed.”
“Ambushed? By who?”
“Or what?” Xander added helpfully, getting up and going to help Buffy into a seat as Cordelia went to get the first aid kit. “What is a perfectly plausible reason on a Hellmouth. You’d think Book Guy would know that.”
Giles frowned, ignoring Xander’s comments and glancing upwards as Cordelia returned, placing bandages and salve on the desk. “Where’s Angel?” He questioned, as Cordelia set about gently cleaning Buffy’s face.
No one questioned her new-found (or possibly, old-found) ability to tend to Buffy’s wounds. No-one even questioned the frown that had slipped onto her face at the mention of Angel and Buffy’s reverent pause.
“We got separated. There were too many for me to take alone, so I ran…” Buffy said quietly, hating to admit that she had run.
“You just left him there?”
“Cordelia.” Said Giles, sharply. “I’m sure that under the circumstances Buffy did the best she could…” He gave his slayer a sympathetic smile, before changing tacks. “You say they just ambushed you? No explanation, nothing?”
“Too busy being pounded into to actually notice if they offered one.” Buffy answered snipply. Then, “Ow!” She yelped, wincing as the salve Cordelia was dabbing onto her lip stung. “That hurts!”
“Oh, don’t be such a wimp!” Cordelia laughed, “It’s only antiseptic cream.”
Buffy bristled, frowned and gave Cordy a look that, if looks could kill, would have sent the brunette six feet under. “When did you get so good with this stuff anyway?”
“Lots of practice,” Cordelia smiled, “When your boss gets impaled every other week you kinda strike up a kinship with the first aid box and the bandages.”
“Well that’s good to know…” Said a tired voice from behind them.
Buffy was off her chair faster than anyone could blink, helping an equally battered and bruised Angel into the library. “I couldn’t find you,” She murmured, settling him into the chair she’d just been sitting in. “There were too many for me to fight so… I came back here.”
It was Cordelia’s look that drew a response from Angel. The worried, tentative gaze that felt familiar, even though Angel had never seen it before. “I’m okay,” He offered, “You should see the other guy.”
Resuming her role without needing to be asked, Cordelia got a clean bandage, dabbing it in the antiseptic. “Any idea why they ambushed you?
”
Angel watched her a moment, before remembering there were other people in the room. “They had a box, kinda spirited it away before I could… What?” Cordelia had stopped tending to his wounds. Something, Angel realised, he’d noticed all too suddenly.
Cordelia frowned, hand faltering and falling to her side, “Kinda old? As far as boxes go, anyway?”
Nodding slowly, Angel threw a worried glance to Giles before glancing back at Cordelia. “What is it?”
“Cordelia,” Immediately, Giles stepped forward. “I’m not so sure that discussing this is the best form of attack we have. We don’t know for certain that what happened is connected with whatever it is you’re thinking.”
“Right now, I’m thinking that this is defence,” Cordelia frowned, “Not attack.” If this was what she thought it was, then they were in for very big trouble. It was around this time that Angel and Buffy had done the horizontal waltz, whisking away Angel’s soul for a good few months, while he proceeded to torture all her friends.Not fun.
“The thing in that box, it’s… It’s pieces. Right now, they’re pretty harmless…”
“Cordelia, I really don’t think…”
“Giles, for once, you have to stop being all logical and ‘something’s-going-to-happen-to-me’ guy. For once you’ve just gotta listen and not talk back. This is serious…”
He didn’t doubt that for a moment, not judging by the look on her face or the tone of her voice. He was still concerned for her welfare however.
“Drusilla and Spike, they’re going to try to raise the Judge.”
“I take it we’re not talking Judy here…” Xander offered.
“It’s a legend.” Said Angel quietly, ignoring Xander, “Way before my time. Of a demon sent to rid the world of the plague of humanity… Separate the righteous from the wicked and to burn the righteous down. They call him…”
“The Judge.” Cordelia finished. “No weapon forged can kill him.”
“No weapon forged, but that means…” Buffy frowned. Oh, this was so much fun. A night of teenage normalcy for her had turned into what could only be described as the end of the world, again. “Y’know sometimes I wonder if the Council have a union. Oh for a night off…”
“Does this mean what I think it means?” Asked Xander. “Giles has that face.”
“What face?”
“That one, there.” Xander pointed, nodding. “The, ‘we’re all going to die horribly unless we stop this’ face.”
Rolling his eyes, Giles glanced away from Xander, “So what do we do then?”
“Last time around we used a monster weapon, dismembered all the parts and buried them separate around Sunnydale but… Well, not wanting to state the obvious here? Prevention is better than cure. If we can stop the boxes before they get to Spike and Drusilla, that means no fighting this thing.”
“How do we know they don’t have all the boxes? If this thing is here already…”
“What date is it?”
“What today? January 18th…”
“And it’s your birthday…?”
“Tomorrow.” Buffy frowned, “This goes down on my birthday? Geez…”
“In that case, we still have a day to hit the docks and the airport,” Said Cordelia, “We need to move on this and we need to move fast. If the Judge gets put together we’re looking at Xander and his skanky ho date taking a drive to look at weapons of mass destruction.”
“Huh?” Xander’s ears perked up then, “Skanky ho? Oh, you? Like that’s any different from a Friday night?”
“Well it is for you,” She retorted, “At least the ‘skanky ho’ would be on your arm instead of in your mind as you do what it is you do every Friday night. Alone.”
Xander gawped. Angel bit back a chuckle. Buffy stared and Giles coughed uncomfortably as Xander flushed a deep red colour.
“U-uhm Buffy, I-I believe the best thing would be for you and Angel to patrol. Strength in numbers and… What?” He’d noticed the frown as he’d begun talking.
“Tomorrow…” Cordelia fairly squeaked. Okay, so it wasn’t really what she wanted to be saying in the middle of the library in front of Xander but… This was the reason she’d come back. This was the reason that she’d been sent back, to change Angel’s past. What good was she if she let the same things happen all over again?
“Tomorrow what?” Asked Buffy, tiredly. Her body was aching for a long slow hot bath and Cordelia’s comments weren’t exactly the most confidence instilling. Just once, she’d like to have a normal birthday. Just once.
“Well that’s the day… That you two… I mean, you… Y’know got… Get… Groiny.”
A faint pink colour crawled up Buffy’s cheeks, eyes darting to an ink stain on the edge of the table. “Oh…”
“Yeah.” Cordelia nodded, “Oh…”
Thinking for a moment, Giles watched the teenagers in front of him shifting nervously. Sometimes it struck him just how young and vulnerable these people were – how they’d been thrown into a fight they should never have got involved with. “Perhaps you and I can patrol tomorrow night, Buffy? Then at least you won’t be alone…”
“Hello, slayer, sacred duty… Yadda, yadda… You know the story better than anyone Giles, not needing backup here.”
“Pfffft…” Came the response from beside her.
Buffy turned, arching an eyebrow at Cordelia, “Why the ‘pffft’?”
“Because,” Cordelia said shortly, “Even in the future, the pair of you are all ‘oh, I can do this alone’ and ‘I’ll be fine’ and when you look closer, lawyers are dead and hey, you’re not fine.”
“Dead lawyers?” Cordelia’s eyes widened slightly, mouth bumbling over some sort of excuse and not actually coming up with any.
“So, patrol, tonight. Looking for… Okay, are we talking actual parts, inside this box?” Asked Buffy, “Because I’m thinking ewww…”
“Actual parts,” Cordelia nodded, thankful that her comment about Dead Lawyers had been forgotten about. “Try not to open it though. These things have a way of animating themselves and choking the hell out of you.”
It was strange listening to Cordelia. Or at the very least, this new knowledgeable Cordelia. Previous conversations with the brunette had brought scathing comments and put downs that were enough to make the most sarcastic of people wince, but now, Cordelia held more cards in her hand to play than Giles had ever had. And to Buffy, that held a certain amount of freakiness.
Giles was knowledge guy! Cordelia was, to put it bluntly, a bitch. And things were changing quicker than she’d ever contemplated.
“What about me? I want to help…” Said Cordelia, glancing at Giles.
“Of course,” He nodded, “You can stay here and help Willow and Xander with research.”
“Research?” Cordelia frowned, “Giles, no offense, I know that you’re role-giver and all tonight but… Research.”
“What are you suggesting? That we let you go on patrol with Buffy or… or Angel?”
“Let me? I wasn’t aware I was on a leash. You can use me. I mightn’t be a slayer but I’m pretty handy with the fighting these days.”
“Uhm, you?” Buffy asked, raising an eyebrow, “Cordy, it’s nice that you want to help really, but I don’t know that that’s such a good idea.”
“Don’t patronise me, Buffy.” She snapped, “And if my fighting skills are that lacking, ask your boyfriend what it feels like to be on the receiving end of one of my kicks. Mightn’t be slayer style, but it’s still just as effective.”
Almost as if on cue, Angel reached up and touched the spot she’d kicked him the other night. Okay, so he’d been caught off guard – and by Cordelia Chase, no less – but it’d still hurt. Off guard or not. Fighting a smile, Angel looked at her, “You have a point. But I still don’t think it’s safe out there, Cordelia. Giles is right. You should stay here and help with research…”
Xander, gloating and loving it, looked at Cordelia, “Looks like you’re stuck here.”
“Looks like.” Cordelia acquiesced, though if anyone even knew her at all in this place, they’d have realised that she had no intentions of staying and doing research. Maybe she had been a reluctant part of the fighting team once upon a time, but Cordelia knew from working with Angel that getting your hands dirty was an essential part of the job – one she wasn’t going to miss out on…
***
My clothes are just not practical for the job at hand. Thought Cordelia with a touch of sarcasm as she walked the streets of Sunnydale. She wasn’t stupid, she’d stolen a couple of weapons from the library that afternoon when no one had been paying any attention to her. She was armed with stakes, a bottle of holy water and a couple of crosses, all in the small but obviously stylish satchel that she had.
Of course, in this time, she hadn’t needed practical demon fighting clothes. Any involvement she’d had had been purely reluctant. Her joining the team but not really wanting to. She’d been research gal, or tentative research gal… But things changed. She’d changed. She was no longer that naive person she’d been three years ago.
She’d seen things no one else ever had or would, a privilege only bestowed on her because of the visions. Cordelia had changed, just like Angel had – in her future anyway.
Shaking her head from those thoughts, Cordelia became more focused, eyes trained ahead of her, looking for something… What, weird? Out of the ordinary? She was used to seeing those things, but LA was different. For a start, they had a demon karaoke bar. They had contacts in there that could help them find what they wanted, no muss, no fuss – and if that failed, there was always Lorne to give a reading.
Feeling a short, sharp pang at the thought of another friend she might never have again, Cordelia paused. That was it… Lorne… Bar… Willy’s. If anyone knew something, it’d be him. Maybe he could tell her where the next pick up point was for one of the boxes.
Buzzing with a renewed sense of purpose, Cordelia shouldered her satchel and started walking faster, down to the decidedly bad side of town. It wasn’t practical to be out alone at this time of night but Cordelia held enough confidence in both herself, her fighting skills, and her ability to scream to think she could make a difference.
Not going to die, not going to die, not going to die… She kept repeating to herself, hands clenching and unclenching nervously. A second later, when she heard the first squeal of brakes, Cordelia ducked down out of sight in a nearby alley behind a crate and watching as a couple of vampires jumped down from the truck, just a block and a half away from Willy’s Place.
She frowned, watching as they talked for a while. There were three of them in all – talking furtively about something she couldn’t quite hear. Cordelia was good maybe, but there was no way she could take on three vampires alone no matter how many weapons she had.
Her eyes followed them carefully, a bubble of panic rising up inside her as she realised they had another of the boxes. If all the boxes were put together, the Judge would be raised which, without a doubt, equalled bad. About to make her move, Cordelia stood to go forward, do something, when an iron grip locked round her waist, a hand slipping over her mouth to stop her from screaming.
The panic from earlier grew into full on hysteria and in the brief second before her assailant spoke, Cordelia struggled to get free.
“Turn round.” Angel’s voice was harsh, quick – easily recognisable to her. She did it without question, suddenly finding herself pressed up against the wall.
“Angel, what the hell–“
He growled then, buried his mouth in her throat, ridges of his forehead resting against her cheek. Thinking he was actually about to bite her, Cordelia struggled against him, hands pushing upwards and against his chest. “No, Angel, you–“
“Stay back or they’ll kill you…”
The fear on her face was no act. Her heart threatening to burst through her chest, Cordelia trembled beneath him, eyes following the two other vampires as they strolled past them in the alley.
Had it been a different night, they might have stopped – toyed with the vampire and his victim. Tonight, they had a purpose, a reason for being out here. They were here to make sure the exchange went smoothly and so, ignored the pair in the alley. Served the girl right for being such an idiot like all the residents of Sunnydale…
When finally they were round the corner and talking with the delivery guys, Angel pulled back, searching Cordelia’s face. “Are you okay?”
“I didn’t… I’m… Yeah.”
“I followed them here.” He gestured upwards, where he’d been scaling the rooftops. Earlier on in the night he’d hung round the cemetery, waiting for Spike’s lackeys to make a move – when they had, Angel had followed. “I found you first.”
“Remind me to thank you later,” Said Cordelia, though she was still shaking. “Look.”
The exchange had happened.
The two vampires that had passed in the alley were making their way back now, both looking round nervously. “C’mon man, pick it up. Spike said if we didn’t get back soon…”
“Oh yeah, Spike’s intimidating…” Cordelia whispered, rolling her eyes as she cut across the vampires’ conversation. “What do we do, Angel? If they get away with that…”
“There’s two of them. You think you can fight?”
“Well enough not to get killed.”
“I seem to remember you being better than that,” Angel offered, reaching up again to rub at his jaw. “I’ll go to the left you take the one on the right.”
“Got it.”
The pair glided apart, both stepping into the light and effectively startling the vampires. The girl they’d just passed looking very worse for wear was apparently better and, judging from the heartbeat, still alive.
“What the… Who the hell are you?” Asked the first vampire, clutching the box he held to his chest tighter.
“Y’know, even in the future Spike’s still not the planning man-pire,” Cordelia frowned, “You’d think he’d have warned his lackey’s against the one threat to his little plan.”
“Didn’t he say the slayer was blonde?” The other vampire scratched his head, watching the girl closely. “You’re not blonde…”
Cordelia didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at what Spike had hired in the form of minions. Could they really be that stupid?
“Enough of the chit-chat. As nice as it is catching up with a slayer’s sidekicks–” At least one of them knew a little about bluffing. “–We really have to go, party to attend, world to end. You know how it is.”
“Wow, that’s original. Two more steps and you would have been right at the ‘we’re going to kill you’ part… Charge! Look, are you going to give me the box or not?”
“I’d say… No.”
Cordelia sighed. “I had a feeling you were going to say that. Angel?”
Angel attacked then, diverting the attention of both vampires away from her as he entered the fight with a snap-kick that drove the one holding the box backwards and into the wall. He was quick, but not quick enough – his follow up driving short as Angel’s fist collided with brickwork.
There was a brief flash of pain, all but forgotten about as he realised that the other vampire had ran, up the alley and away from his friend holding the box.
“Now that’s loyalty,” Said Cordelia, watching as the remaining Minion stood, fairly shaking.
They’d done this a thousand times before, patrolled, fought together – this time, it was different. This time, for Angel, it was new. And in a sense, it was new for her too. She could tell herself a thousand and one times that because he looked like her Angel, he was her Angel – but even Cordelia knew when denial on her part was turning into stupidity. This wasn’t her Angel.
This was the first time they’d patrolled to her as well simply because this was the actual first time they’d patrolled – and for the first time, Cordelia realised that what she was doing, really was changing Angel’s past.
“Here, take it…” The vampire thrust the box out with both hands, pushing it on Cordelia. He looked at Angel, eyes wide and reverant – he knew who the vampire was. All he had to do was run. Sure, if Spike caught up with him, his life wouldn’t be worth living – but his friend had seen fit to run and save himself, why the hell shouldn’t he? When the girl finally took it, the vampire took off in the other direction – running as fast as his legs could carry him.
“I… I thought that would take longer.” Said Cordelia puzzled, looking down at the box. Okay, so the Minions were stupid but… Hello, hadn’t they heard of loyalty? What happened to protecting something with your life? What happened to Boss-Employee relations? Shaking her head, she looked at Angel and grinned, “Hey. We got it! C’mon broody, let’s go back to the library, Giles is going to flip!”
As it happened, Giles did flip. But not in a good way. So very much not in a good way…
“You intentionally disregarded the very thing I told you not to do and… And went ahead and did it anyway!”
“But Giles–“
“No, Cordelia. Not only did you endanger your own life, you endangered the lives of those around you. I won’t tolerate you putting yourself in danger like this.”
“Why not? Giles, every day back home I was in some danger or other. I’m not saying I’m up to slayer speed. I’m not even saying that… God, I’m not even saying that I’m up to fighting on my own but you can use me, damnit! And not for research, either or this whole undercover Skank stuff with Xander.
We got the box. We got the arm or the leg or whatever appendage is in there and we did it because I was stupid enough – I’ll give you that – to go out there and do something about this. Buffy’s good, Giles – but she can’t be everywhere at once. You can use me…”
“I…” Giles heaved a sigh, eyeing Cordelia and the group of people sitting in the library. It was then he regretted his choice. Berating Cordelia in front of the others, no matter how angry he was, wasn’t a wise move.
Not once during the whole conversation, had he reminded himself that Cordelia was no longer a child. She was used to making her own decisions, no matter how rash – and yelling at her over those decisions hadn’t been a wise move on his part.
“Train me up,” Cordelia was clutching at straws now. “Teach me to fight better. Giles, I’m already a part in this – whether you like it or not, I’m part of the Scoobies now, moreso than I ever was before. If you don’t want me to put myself in danger, if you want me to stop getting myself involved, then you’re asking me to be somebody I’m not. I am involved in this. The whole reason I was brought back here was so I could give Angel something…”
Her voice fell a little then, “So I could make sure that what happened in my future, doesn’t happen in his. I didn’t do that so he could fall back into the trap of getting groiny with Buffy and…”
“All right!” Giles yelled, then let his voice return to normal, tempering some of the anger he felt. “All right…” He paused then, taking his glasses off and wiping them with his handkerchief.
“Arrangements have been made for the box to be taken out of Sunnydale. Kendra will be coming by on the next flight to California to… Pick up the package. It turns out that her watcher had sent her on instruction here anyway, she should be arriving early tomorrow night. Until then, Angel’s going to take it out of Sunnydale. By the time Spike realises it’s not in Sunnydale, Kendra should be a quarter-way across the world. The Council have agreed to fund the trip and any other expenses needed, that just leaves…”
He threw an arm out, gesturing to the box. So far, they hadn’t dared to open it – not wanting to go against Cordelia’s warning.
“What is it?” Asked Willow, from where she’d previously been silent. It was weird seeing Cordelia as someone who wanted in on the good fight, rather than someone who said ‘eww’ at every other turning point.
“What is it?”
“She means are you an arm or a leg guy,” Explained Xander, meeting Angel’s eyes, “I tried to explain you were more of a neck man, but my warnings fell on deaf ears.”
As did that comment.
Buffy rolled her eyes and looked at Angel, “I’m going with you.”
“You can’t,” Said Jenny, voice of what she hoped was reason from next to Giles, “What, you’re just going to skip school? Buffy, if something should happen, if Kendra… If for some reason, she doesn’t get this box to the other side of nowhere and fast, it’s down to you. We need you here, should something go wrong.”
Buffy was about to protest, say that it was her birthday, shouldn’t she get at least a little happy… When the old Mantra kicked in. The ‘don’t be so selfish, sacred duty, blah-blah-bliddy-blah’ mantra. Sighing, she laced her fingers through Angel’s, resting her head against his arm.
Tonight, she was sick of sacred duty. She’d had Giles bleating in her ear all night about Cordelia, about the sacrifices she was making. What about the sacrifices she’d made? Hello, she’d died, if that wasn’t a sacrifice, then what was?
In the end, she’d told Giles that she needed quiet to patrol – that lately, she’d been off her game and silence was good. Giles had backed that up with the most infuriating nods of his head that Buffy had ever seen and a few words that meant yes, he’d noticed that too – and Buffy had been pissed. More than pissed actually.
Off her game? There was no one more ON her game than her!
Sure, she’d died but that wasn’t her fault! And she’d still defeated the Master!
A little petulantly, Buffy looked at Giles, “Spending the rest of the night with him isn’t too much to ask, is it? Or is there something else I have to do?”
One thing Giles knew was when his slayer was tired. He acquiesced with a nod of his head and looked at Angel, “If you’re sure your ‘safe’ house is nowhere Spike will find you and a place where Buffy can return in time for school tomorrow, I see no reason why…”
“I see reason!” Cordelia interjected, frowning. “Groiny! Remember?”
“I thought that wasn’t until tomorrow night?”
“Oh and like it couldn’t happen tonight? Please, look at her… She’s doing the petulant pout thing already. I know that pout. I mastered that pout… That pout can work wonders on any guy.”
“I’m not… Hey! What does that mean?”
“Angel’s not any guy and besides, I’m not… We’re not…” Buffy was blushing furiously, “Giles, can we go?”
Giles nodded, “Just… Be careful, Buffy.”
“Hello, Giles! Are you listening to…”
“I’m listening. You said you wanted to be trained up, fine. We’ll begin tomorrow. Buffy and Angel deserve some time alone together, I believe they’ve taken heed of your warnings, there’s nothing to worry about.”
“But…”
“But nothing, Cordelia. You asked to be more involved and you will be. We start at 7am, tomorrow.”
Cordelia groaned, risking a look at Buffy before she went out the door. “I remember him being less of a slave-driver.”
Buffy smiled, “Welcome to my world.”
****
“And you thought what, you’d just run?” Spike’s voice was low, dangerous. He just knew he should have gone to make sure this went without hitch. Stupid God-damn…
“I thought you’d want to know. Who… It was Angel, and the slayer…” He lied. “They…”
“The bloody slayer!” Angrily, Spike swiped his arm out in a circle, knocking some of Dru’s party decorations to the floor.
From the corner of the room, she whimpered, watching Spike as he got angry. “No,” She whispered, “Not the slayer…
”
Wheeling himself around, Spike let out a growl. “Not the slayer? Then who the hell…”
“Pretty eyes.” Drusilla began to laugh, throwing her eyes skyward and twirling round. “Oh, it’s so pretty, Spike…
”
“Pretty? Dru, that wanker spoiled your party, he…”
“No luv, he only made it longer.” Drusilla giggled, twirling her skirt around her legs. The girl, the one the Angel-Beast had been with… She was special, different. She’d make the slayer hurt… Oh, Drusilla liked this.
Her gaze switched back to Spike and she smiled, “We’re going to have another party, my pet… A party for pretty eyes. All in her honour… The Angel beast is going to find out just how special she is…”
Spike watched her, his Dark Goddess, twirling around the room. He thought she’d have been unhappy but somehow, she seemed to like this idea more. A small part of Spike even felt sorry for Cordelia. A really tiny, miniscule part.
It would have been quicker for the bint if Drusilla was pissed – at least her death would be over soon. Now though, it looked like Drusilla was hellbent on showing Peaches just how ‘special’ his girl was.
And that did not bode well for Cordelia…