Chapter 40: Introductions
For a Sunday evening, the Sunnydale High library was busier than most school days. The Scooby Gang had gathered there just over half an hour ago at the request of Rupert Giles to get the details on Angelus and Angel.
Having purposefully held them off most of the day with just the basic facts, he had also demanded they leave Cordelia and the Moirae’s new champion alone.
“So Klotho’s metaphorical pregnancy was just that,” Oz spoke up when the others around the room stared at the Watcher like gaping fish, “the merging of the gathered essence of Liam, Angelus and Angel into a completely new entity.”
Oz paused to look around for other reactions. Finding no other opinions voiced, he added an interested nod, “Cool.”
Now Buffy, Xander and Willow were gaping at him. Apparently ‘cool’ wasn’t the right descriptor for the situation in their minds.
Giles was unsurprised that Oz was the first to understand the application of the theory. Though stoic by nature, the werewolf was extremely intelligent and insightful. “In ways that we will never be able to fully detail, this new vampire is the sum of his parts. A unique being, but one who possesses the traits and memories of both Angelus and Angel. He will know you all, but technically this is his first time meeting you.”
“I can’t believe Angelus is gone,” Willow’s lower lip quivered unhappily. “He was such a sweet vampire.”
Rolling his eyes, Xander couldn’t believe it. “Listen to yourself, Will. You just said that Angelus was sweet. Angelus! The Scourge of Europe sweet? No wonder the Fates got rid of him. What use is a sweet formerly evil vampire when they want a champion?”
“That’s not a nice thing to say, Xander Harris,” gasped Willow. “You take that back.”
“Will not!” Stubbornly crossing his arms, Xander suddenly felt like he was back in kindergarten fighting over crayons.
“Angelus deserved to be their champion,” Willow shrugged off Oz’ arm not wanting any comfort right now. She didn’t care if there were tears flowing down her cheeks again and her eyes were red.
Buffy snapped at the idea. “No way.”
“Way.”
“Maybe Cordelia had Angelus wrapped around her little finger, but he was still a soulless vampire,” Buffy pointed out refusing to think that Angelus might have earned such an honor. “It was Angel who should’ve been their choice.”
“Psycho vamp?” Willow railed at her. “He couldn’t even control his instincts much less act as a champion. Considering…I mean, just look at you…well, you know what I mean when I say that…hello!…vampire bite…gosh, if anyone knows that—”
Squaring off in the middle of the library the petite blonde and redhead parried opinions at a fast pace until Xander and Oz finally stepped in to stop them. Neither had ever seen the two friends at each other’s throats in a verbal battle over anything. Buffy’s sharp quips interspersed Willow’s continuous trail of prattling babble.
Clearing his throat, Giles gained their attention. “Your opinions are no less valid than they were last night. However, the Moirae had different intentions and now they have come to fruition. Cordelia and Angel will be arriving any time now and I expect you all to behave yourselves.”
“W-What did you call him?” Buffy asked in a hushed voice.
“Angel,” repeated Giles realizing that he had purposefully left that out the first time he talked to the Slayer. Tugging at his tie, he followed up with an explanation.
Willow clarified, “So he goes by both names? I can call him Angelus if I want too?”
A groan sounded from Xander’s direction. “You trying to give us nightmares, Will?”
“No. It’ll make me feel better,” Willow commented with a pout wiping at her tear-stained face with the sleeve of her fuzzy sweater. “Like he’s not totally gone, which I suppose he is really still there…sorta…just not himself, ya know…just mixed with part of Angel too and part of Liam…though we didn’t know him as a human except for that…uh…peek at him that Klotho showed us. I wonder what he’s gonna be like.”
Buffy hadn’t said anything else since Giles called the new vampire by the name Angel. It caused her to drift off into her own thoughts where she wondered if this combination of Angel and Angelus might not be closer to her own boyfriend. Former boyfriend. The way he was before the split. Afterward, Angel had taken on a whole different personality and not been himself at all.
Just one of the reasons leading to their breakup. Was it possible things would be better this way? “Giles? If Angelus was Cordelia’s mate, but Angel wasn’t— what does that make the new guy?”
“Single?” Xander snarked before Giles could answer or before his own brain caught up with his mouth. Idiot. What are you trying to do? Give her ideas? Wave a red flag why dontcha!
Catching the look of horrification on Xander’s face, Giles easily reasoned out what was going on in the boy’s head. “Angel’s relationship with Cordelia is complicated. Frankly, it is none of our business, but technically they are both unattached. Cordelia remains part of the Order of Aurelius and subject to the will of the master.”
Snorting, Xander couldn’t stop himself. He wasn’t one for screaming or crying. Most of the time. Especially not over Angelus and Angel. The tension over the whole situation came out in bursts of uncontrollable humor. He could just picture himself hopping around on one leg because his foot was literally stuck in his mouth all day.
“Like Cordelia Chase is subject to anyone’s will,” Xander would believe pigs could fly before that one. “We don’t call her Queen C for nothing. As the former boyfriend, I think I have a handle on that.”
“But that’s just you, Xander,” Willow pointed out thinking that her friend couldn’t bend a flexible straw to his will much less Cordelia.
“Hey!”
Willow shrugged her thin shoulders. “I’m just saying it may be different with Angelus. It may be different than before. We don’t know what he’ll be like.”
“Good point,” Xander’s eyes narrowed as a worrisome thought crept into his head. “This vamp could be dangerous. Angelus was on a leash while he was here. This guy isn’t. He could be just as psycho as Angel for all we know.”
“Angel’s behavior was a temporary aberration,” Giles commented in defense. “A method of madness to provide the soul with certain experiences. The new vampire is certainly not psychotic, but he does possess the potential for both good and evil.”
Oz nodded thinking of his own struggles being a werewolf. “That applies to us all.”
“Agreed,” said Giles with an identical nod of concurrence.
“Most of us aren’t demons,” Xander countered quickly. “Maybe we should keep an eye on New Guy Vamp until we know he’s gonna stick with the game plan, fight the Good Fight and not take up where the old Angelus left off. You know…suck the world into Hell kind of stuff.”
Buffy volunteered faster than the others could blink, “I’ll watch him.”
Frowning, Xander commented, “I meant all of us. Time share the spying duties. Keeping some distance, but carrying a big stake just in case.”
“Okay. You keep your distance,” Buffy ordered. “I’ll carry the stake.”
Rubbing a finger across his furrowed brow, Giles let out a deep sigh. “Stalking Angel is unnecessary at this point. I think we learned our lesson on that one the last time.”
Willow had to admit, “Our stalkage saved Cordelia from being Angel food.”
“I don’t think it was food he had in mind,” Xander gritted his teeth at the memory. “That’s what I’m worried about.”
Giles told him, “You may have a point, Xander, based on the past behavior of Angel when he was influenced by an imbalanced psyche. However, this vampire is not that person nor is he in possession of a split personality or a shared soul. For the first time in his existence as a souled vampire, Angel is a whole entity now cured by the Moirae.”
Giving the Watcher a doubtful look, Xander decided, “I guess I’ll wait and see.”
“Just watch your mouth,” Giles pleaded. “Cordelia may be sensitive to anything we say to the vampire. For all intents and purposes she has just lost her mate even if he is bound together with the others.”
Thinking about it, Xander reluctantly admitted that Cordelia had feelings. That came as a surprise to him having been her boyfriend and seeing evidence of more self-centeredness than open emotion. Until Angelus came along. Cor loved the vamp. He couldn’t deny the fact. She also apparently loved Angel, which was kind of eew now that he thought about some of the things that were said last night.
Xander thought about what he would be like if anything horrible happened to Buffy or Willow. It would not be a pleasant sight, he figured. He’d be a wreck. What would he do if Cordelia came in looking depressed and broken? The teenager wasn’t certain he could handle seeing that.
Just as the thought hit him, the library doors swung open to admit Cordelia and Angel strolling in side by side. Sidebar conversation dropped off to nil as those gathered turned to face the newcomers. Entering with a dramatic flair, the two stopped in the middle of the room as if surveying the response to their presence.
Knowing the group expected the arrival of the weeping widow Cordelia was determined to keep her own feelings private. She had cried her last tear and no one was going to see her fall apart. Not talking about it meant she didn’t have to think about it. Not thinking about it meant she didn’t have to believe it. Not in her heart where she felt she would always see Angelus and Angel as two separate loves. Even with the proof standing by her side.
Back at the mansion, Cordelia had planned this entrance down to its smallest detail. From the time of their arrival right down to the clothes she was wearing. Having waited to see what Angel was going to wear, Cordelia matched her look to his. Angel’s clothing was no different than usual: black leather, a shirt of crimson red and the duster.
Cordelia had spent ten minutes chasing after Angel trying to wrest the duster away from him claiming that it belonged to her vampire. Seeing that activity only as a source for his amusement, she had returned to the bedroom to finish dressing.
Selecting the body-hugging red top, a long skirt of supple black leather and matching boots was no different than choosing her designer wear for school back when the Cordettes were worshipping at her feet. It was a costume for the role she was going to play that day and if it took Queen C to defend herself against the pity and well-meaning smiles of the Scooby Gang that was exactly what she was going to give them.
Fastening the gold choker Angelus had given her around her neck, Cordelia knew that she was also showing the world that she had ties to this new vampire and the Order of Aurelius. She didn’t care if that was the case. Let them think she freely accepted it as a fact. This choker was the only lasting thing Angelus had given to her that she could wear all of the time.
Entering the library, Cordelia stood shoulder to shoulder with Angel as she surveyed the Scoobies gauging their initial reaction. If the jaw-dropping silence was anything to go on, it appeared they made an impression. Placing one hand on Angel’s leather clad shoulder and the other on her hip, she sent the group a cool glare.
“Rude much?” Cordelia snarked at their gaping faces. “Did you forget how to say hello?”
Giles closed his mouth only to open it back up again in order to offer, “Let me introduce you to everyone.”
“I already know them,” Angel reminded the Watcher in a slightly distracted tone. He was too busy focusing on what Cordelia was going to do or say next. From the moment she had come downstairs tonight she had been cool and aloof.
Angel thought about kissing her senseless and melting that icy exterior. Only she looked too perfect to dishevel quite so soon, especially since it was only earlier in the day that she had shown him the most fragile side of her nature. He had a feeling that she wasn’t going to show him that fragility again.
“Perhaps you do know them,” Giles cut through Angel’s thoughts to redirect his attention back to the present, “but they technically do not know you.”
Noting that the others were still frozen in place by the impact of the dramatic entry, Oz stepped forward to greet the vampire. As he looked at the pair, there were no doubts in his mind that Cordelia had fashioned this color-coordinated effort resulting in the effect of them looking very much like a couple. A vampire couple, he edited his thoughts.
“Daniel Osborne,” he held out a hand to the vampire. “I go by Oz.”
Angel’s mouth lifted at one corner, “I know that Oz. The memories of Angelus, Angel and Liam are mine.”
“Giles mentioned it,” Oz nodded. “Just being polite to the new guy in town. Not making assumptions.”
Taking the offered hand, Angel shook it. They gave each other a silent nod of mutual understanding. Then Oz added, “I’m going to speak to Cordelia for a second.”
He wasn’t just stating a fact; the werewolf was asking permission. Those demon instincts just ran deep at times. Angel wasn’t certain that Cordelia wanted to hold a conversation with anyone. Glancing her way, she appeared almost regal in her aloofness. Maybe Cordy needed her cage rattled a little, Angel figured. These were her friends, not a group of total strangers.
“Sure,” Angel responded readily darting a meaningful gaze at the brunette who regarded him with a haughty expression.
While Angel awaited the arrival of the teary-eyed Willow who had been standing close behind her boyfriend, Cordelia and Oz simply stood casting each other stares of defiant silence and quiet concern. Having known Oz during her days of dating Devon, the lead singer of his band, Dingoes Ate My Baby, Cordelia realized he was seeing beyond the figurative mask she had put on tonight.
That knowing stare dug deeper than was comfortable at the moment. An emotional lump formed in the back of her throat forcing Cordelia to swallow it down and for the span of a single moment, her pain showed in the depths of her hazel orbs. Oz knew that it was time to move on.
Giving her the barest smile of encouragement and support, Oz told her, “Friends don’t always need words, Cordelia.”
There was nothing to be said to that, Cordelia decided. Oz was well-meaning, but this was not something she was planning to share in any manner of expression. Turning her attention away, she looked back at Angel who was in the middle of a rather one-sided conversation with Willow.
Cordelia was none too pleased with her friend the witch at the moment. After Angel gave into her demand for answers, he told her about her missing memories of her last night with Angelus. They weren’t really missing. She’d been asleep. Actually asleep! She had slept through her last remaining hours with her mate all thanks to Willow’s pink potion.
Expecting a little anger on Angel’s part considering his claim to the memories of Angelus and Angel, she was surprised to see him grinning like an idiot at the redheaded teenager.
Faced for the first time with the reality of Willow babble rather than the shadow of its memory, Angel couldn’t keep the grin from spreading across his face even if he wanted to.
“Can I call you Angelus? Cos Giles said I could, so I am. That is if you’ll let me or even want me to talk to you. I mean…I know I wasn’t Angel’s favorite person after the interrupting of the Cordy seduction. Though it wasn’t really a seduction was it? He kept threatening to spank me and I don’t think it would be very nice if you remembered that. And Angelus used to be my friend, but last night I really goofed and did something I shouldn’t, but I guess you know that too.”
Willow sucked in a deep breath when she was finished giving Angel an opening to finally respond to her numerous statements. It seemed to boil down to the fact that she wanted to be his friend. She stood staring up at him with wide red-rimmed eyes accentuated by her orange and fuchsia sweater that clashed garishly with them.
“How are the fish, Will?”
All the tension seemed to leave her body in one fell swoop and a bright grin appeared on her elfin face. That acknowledgement was enough for her. She completely understood Giles’ explanation of the emergence of this new vampire as a combination of his three parts. It was enough that she could see the spark of friendship that had existed between herself and Angelus.
“Still swimming,” Willow answered as she spontaneously threw her arms around his waist to hug him.
Cordelia watched the easy acceptance of the vampire by Willow with uneasy disdain. Her thoughts did not play out across her face for she kept them deep and hidden, but the fact that Angelus could be so instantly replaced in the redhead’s affections by this alternate version earned her ire.
As Willow pulled away from the warm embrace, she turned to Cordelia. The bright smile dropped away as she realized she had seen that cold look on Cordelia’s face countless times before. In grade school and junior high, it was more of a snooty princess expression, but this was the full-blown high school version of her very own childhood nemesis.
With a gulp, Willow decided to wait a while before asking Cordelia if she was okay. She didn’t think so considering the cold look in her eyes. Joining Oz back at the table, Willow grabbed his hand and held on tight. Their mutual worried expressions spoke volumes to each other.
Looking toward Buffy and Xander, the vampire wondered which one of them would make the first move toward him. Neither one seemed to budge from their positions at the edge of the table where they stood leaning up against its edge side by side. Taking a step forward, Angel decided he would be the one to take the lead.
The dark haired teen eyed him with a scrutinizing stare as if trying to detect something sinister in Angel’s approach. Xander wasn’t so big with the trust factor considering the past history he had to go on. Naturally wary, he remained curious nonetheless.
Stopping several feet away, Angel met Xander’s unflinching gaze with eyes that spoke of danger, dominance and power. Inwardly, Angel found it amusing, but it was simply the way he found himself reacting to the boy who was so entwined in the lives of the women also in his.
“Harris.”
“Angel,” returned Xander after only a moment’s pause.
Xander had not expected the now traditional greeting. Though he wasn’t certain what he thought would replace it, the exchange came as both a surprise and a relief that the status quo would be maintained. There would be no expected welcome hugs from him nor would he have to become the new vamp’s best friend.
Without a further word, Xander’s eyes shifted over to Cordelia who now stood apart from everyone else. Striking a typical Queen C pose, she looked beautiful and untouchable to a degree he had not seen since before their days of kissage and gropage in random school closets.
A low rumble caught his attention as the vampire moved past him toward Buffy, now standing directly in front of the blond Slayer who hadn’t taken her eyes off him since he first walked into the room. Xander wasn’t certain if the growl was directed at him for simply looking at Cordelia or at Buffy for no particular reason at all.
Buffy felt her heart flutter nervously in her chest as Angel approached her, anticipation of talking to him making her struggle not to follow Willow’s example with the hugging. It would be so good to feel the strength of his arms around her. Straightening up to her full height, Buffy placed herself inches away. Close enough to feel the aura of his strength and far enough away that she could gaze into his eyes.
Moistening her lips, she lifted her hopeful eyes to his and spoke almost shyly, “Hi.”
His memories revealed that Buffy Summers hadn’t been in such a twitter around him since their first year together. Those soft panting breaths and her racing pulse suggested she had forgotten all about her last encounter with her former boyfriend and was willing to explore options with him. That should have surprised him, but Angel knew tragedy often brought as much forgiveness as it did pain. And if not forgiveness, sometimes the convenience of selective memory.
At least from some quarters, he mused wryly.
Buffy reached out a tentative hand, just reassuring herself that he was real and in front of her. It seemed so easy to make the jump from seeing him to thinking of him as her Angel. Curling her hand around his leather clad arm, she stepped even closer as their gazes held fast and all others seemed to fade from the room.
Focused entirely upon him, Buffy felt the tingling sensations deep within her solar plexus spreading warmth throughout her body as every nerve and muscle reacted. Her blue eyes opened wide, first with confusion and then followed instantly by a sharp recognition as she searched the fathomless depths of his eyes.
“Angel,” his name tumbled from her throat on a gasp.
It was followed immediately by the vampire’s acknowledgement that Buffy was correct in determining precisely where things stood between them. Though soft, his voice carried a potent message with a single word of his official greeting.
“Slayer.”
Catching her breath, Buffy took in the intensity of that razor’s edge stare. Her body wasn’t reacting with excitement now, she realized. It had been her Slayer senses all along acting as a warning that she’d been too emotionally overloaded to recognize. They still sounded off tingling madly at the close proximity to her natural enemy, a stranger that possessed the face and body of her lover.
Xander watched the exchange without a clue of what was really going on. All he saw was Buffy and Angel huddled close with the blonde clutching at the vampire’s arm like she did not want to let go. It had taken all of— what? Two seconds for them to start making with the goo-goo eyes? Maybe it was his own stupidity, Xander presumed, but he and Buffy had spent an increasing amount of time together apart from the other Scoobies of late and it had actually occurred to him at one point that it meant something to both of them.
Not.
A burst of jealously flamed hotly as Xander turned his eyes away from the Slayer and the Moirae’s champion. Looking over at Cordelia, he saw nothing to indicate similar feelings on her part. If she was feeling anything, the cheerleader kept it well hidden.
Eyes open, Cor, the advice sounded off in Xander’s head. Then his mouth opened as his own pain twisted into another suggestion, “Looks like someone’s gonna get lucky. Now that you’re single, Cordelia—”
Before he could finish the sentence, Xander’s words were cut off as a large hand clamped down across his throat. Pushed back against the flat of the table, he found himself staring up into the raging ochre eyes of a very pissed off vampire.
Angel hadn’t heard the slight pause in Xander’s voice. It sounded as if the boy suggested that someone would get lucky with Cordelia now that she was…single. If Xander Harris thought by some inkling of a chance that person might be him, he certainly had another thing coming.
“Keep your eyes, hands and intentions off of Cordelia,” snarled Angel viciously. “She’s mine.”
“Let go!” Buffy pulled at Angel only to be pushed down on the floor with a harsh shove.
The vampire snapped at her, “Stay out of this. This business is between the boy and me.”
Xander was gripping Angel’s wrist with both hands trying to loosen his hold, but it was useless. Then Angel’s attention turned back to him making the teenager wonder why he had not armed himself with a stake. A random thought passed through his oxygen deprived brain that his plan to keep an eye on the vampire was certainly justified.
“If anyone is lucky tonight,” Angel morphed back into his human visage and released Xander, “it is indeed you, Harris. Just remember what I said.”
Free from the iron grip, Xander sucked in a gasp of air. “I wasn’t talking about Cordelia,” he clarified with a strained voice. “I was talking to her. Suggesting that she watch out for you and Buffy. Looked like you two were about to— do something. Old habits die hard.”
“Buffy and I understand each other,” Angel told him feeling quite certain that the Slayer realized he was no longer of the same mind when it came to her affections. Literally not of the same mind.
Caught up in her own denial, Cordelia ignored the wracking jealousy that twisted her guts. Even though Angel had certainly made it clear to Xander that she was not on the singles market that did not rule out residual feelings for Buffy Summers.
The idea grated against her heart, but Cordelia kept reminding herself that this wasn’t Angelus. It wasn’t even Angel who might have an excuse.
Petulantly, Cordelia muttered under her breath, “Go for it, Bad Boy.”