Part 12
Cordelia stood next to Angel, her wide eyes now focused on the space where the vampiress was only a moment ago. She’d only blinked the once and her twin had all but disappeared. That was pretty fast, if she did say so herself. “Where did she go?”
Good question.
Giles stared at the direction he assumed the vampiress had gone and sighed. A lead wave of failure weighed heavily on his shoulders. He hated to break a promise to anyone, including a vampire. He looked to Angel, but the slayer spoke up before he had a chance to speak.
“An angry vampire loose on the streets of Sunnydale,” Buffy muttered loud enough for everyone to hear. “I guess this is my cue to go do some damage control.”
“You thought she was angry?” Cordelia glared at the petite blonde, stunned the other girl was so focused on herself and what she thought she had to do that she missed the tears glazing the eyes of the vampiress.
“I’ll go look for her.” Angel stated in a calming tone of voice. “Probably be best if the rest of you went home.”
The cheerleader scoffed. “Yeah, like that’s gonna happen. I’m coming with you.”
Buffy’s lips formed a thin line as she tightened her grip on Mr. Pointy. “It’d be better if you went home. I’ll go with Angel.”
Cordelia shook her head, denying the slayer’s subtle order. “So you can stake-on-sight? One look at you and she’ll either make a break for it, or get pissed off. I’m going with the latter.”
“And she trusts you?”
“More than you. It’s pointless you telling me no, cus you know I’ll go anyway. What would you rather have?” The brunette pleaded her case to Giles, who was silent with his thoughts. “Vulnerable, human me traipsing around the Hellmouth, or Angel keeping an eye on me?”
Buffy threw up a hand when she saw signs her watcher was going to agree with the cheerleader. “Hello. Vampire. Don’t tell me you didn’t learn anything from patrol the other night.” It was a low blow, she knew that, but she really didn’t like the idea of Cordelia being alone with Angel.
A flare of anger rose up in Angel and faced the slayer with a black look. “She’s right.”
“With all due respect, Buffy. I’m inclined to agree with him.” Giles removed his glasses long enough to squeeze the bridge of his nose. He glanced at Cordelia. “Be careful. Angel…” He didn’t have to finish.
The vampire gave a brief nod. “I’ll take care of her.” Of them both, he mentally added.
Xander made a move towards Cordelia, but she just gave him a weak smile, and let the vampire guide her through the darkened cemetery.
***
The first stop for Angel and Cordelia was where every demon and vampire went for a pick-me-up. The neon sign above the door was broken, the garish pink light flickered on and off, while only a few of the letters worked, spelling out Wills.
He held the door open for the cheerleader and kept his hand on the base of her spine, signalling the human was under his protection. One glance at her face was all it took for a tiny smile to appear. Her eyes were almost saucer size as she looked around the smoky bar and saw all the demons, the awe was so adorably childlike that he struggled not to comment.
“Angel, that demon’s horns are oozing.” The awe was fast replaced with disgust.
“It’s a chaos demon,” he informed and fought to get rid of the increasing smile. It wouldn’t do to come in here, looking for information with a stupid grin on his face. He’d be laughed out of town.
“Oh.” Cordelia nodded and tried her hardest not to stare. She’d seen her share of demons and vampires, but never so many in one place. Huh. The evils of Sunnydale peacefully getting drunk. The thought amused her.
A gentle push on her spine had her following Angel towards the bar and a man who paled at the sight of them. “Hey Willie, how’s it going?”
Cordelia’s brows touched her hairline. She’d never heard him talk that way before. It reminded her of the good cop, bad cop thing on TV. Cool. She could work with this. Getting into it, she went to lean on the bar top, but stopped short. There was cigarette ash engraved into the wood, beer stains, and other marks which she didn’t care to know about. “Do you ever clean in here?”
Willie frowned. “She’s not from the Department of Health, is she?”
Angel poked the cheerleader in the back, hoping to get the shut up message across. “We’re here looking for someone. Vampire. A female vampire…”
“Looks like me.” Cordelia jumped in with a sly tone to her voice. “Tell us what you know, and I just might overlook your less than perfect hygiene.”
The vampire resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
Willie’s gaze went from her to him and back again, all the while staying silent.
She moved closer to the bartender, an evil gleam in her eye. “You know who this is, right?” Cordelia nudged her head to Angel and didn’t wait for an answer. “Then I don’t have to tell you what happens when things don’t go his way. Now. Tell me, have you seen a vampiress who looks exactly like me?”
She got nothing so she tried again. “Lemme see if I can get that cat off your tongue…”
Angel was about to shatter her game, but he just didn’t have the heart. She seemed so excited to be playing a female Kojack. “You’re not ignoring the lady, are you Will?” His tone was light, almost calm, but held a sliver of violence that made Cordelia shiver.
The bartender shook his head. For the life of him, he couldn’t find it in himself to speak. The only human female to grace his door was the slayer, but she didn’t have the assets this one did. He checked the faces of his patrons. Obviously, he wasn’t the only to notice the pretty brunette.
Cordelia made a point of impatiently sighing as she slowly unzipped her purse and took out her cellphone. “One word from me and this place will be shut down like that.” She snapped her fingers.
“Answer the question, Will.” Angel commanded, not admitting to the miniscule enjoyment he was getting out of this.
“No,” Willie finally got over the fact he had a tasty bit of totty in his bar. “Haven’t seen her.”
He was telling the truth. If the blank look on Willie’s face wasn’t testimony enough, then the increasing scent of fear was. Unfortunately, Angel wasn’t fast enough to stop Cordelia before she took it upon herself to go from being Kojack, to being a very bad cop.
“See, this is me not believing.” The cheerleader shook her head and feigned sympathy. Threatening, “Do you want him to lose it?”
Angel rubbed a hand over his face, shaking his head for a second. “Cordelia, he’s telling the truth. She hasn’t been in here.” Come to think of it, why would the vampiress go to the first place they’d look? Stupid, really. “Come on.”
“But…” The bad cop act fell as he dragged her away with a finger still pointed in Willie’s direction. “He was cracking. I just know it.” She could feel it in her bones.
Half the patrons watched the scene in amusement, then quickly forgot about them in favour of more drink. After all, seeing Angelus with a loony brunette was nothing new.
***
The two walked, almost arm in arm, down the street, each of them looking through different windows of the shops and buildings they passed in the hope of finding the run away vampiress. They’d checked out some of the other better known demon friendly bars in town and had so far found squat.
Cordelia divided her time between window shopping and vampire hunting, while Angel spent half his time scowling. Whether she knew it or not, the brunette had been subjected to lecherous stares, her breasts had been the focus of comments, and one guy had been inches away from stealing a grope of her ass.
Angel gave said guy a look and had probably gone to change his pants. Funny. He never thought looking like a vampire was all that scary. Oh well.
In all the time he’d spent with Buffy, she’d never been the object of this form of attention, but then Buffy was a slayer and was more than capable of dealing with a human male. Cordelia wasn’t and that just made him scowl all the more. Without warning, images of her being assaulted, in many ways, entered his head.
He heard her muffled screams, saw her being held down, being made to do things she didn’t want to do. He imagined her clothes torn, her bleeding from places that shouldn’t unnaturally bleed. It was all too easy to see her being made a victim. It wasn’t nice and he knew those images wouldn’t leave him for a long time to come.
As much as he’d like to, he couldn’t protect her 24/7. The vampiress taught him that. “What self defence do you know?” Angel suddenly asked, purposely keeping his eyes to the floor for fear she’d see what lay behind them.
Confused, “Huh?”
“Karate, judo. You know any?”
Cordelia looked at him. “If I did, I’d feel a lot better about going out at night. Why?”
Decision made. “After school tomorrow night, stop by the mansion.” He paused. “Bring sweats.”
She searched his face for some sign of what he was thinking, but found nothing. Replying, “Sure.” She would ask why, but her gut feeling told her not to ask. “Listen, I’ve been thinking.”
That could only mean trouble. “Oh?”
“The spell to get Cordy home. It doesn’t work from our world, right?” Angel nodded. “Well, what if it only goes one way?”
“What do you mean?”
She stopped, placing her hand on his arm to ensure she had his full attention. “What if it only works one way? Like a one way street.”
Angel thought about it and slowly nodded. “Makes sense, considering both attempts to get her home have failed.” If it was a case of it being a one way street, then the vampiress was here until someone from her world crossed over to get her.
“You think that could be it?” Cordelia asked with a worried look. She didn’t want to get the vampiress hopes up, only to destroy them again.
“It’s worth researching.” He smiled at her and covered her hands with his so she knew he was being sincere. “Good thinking.”
The cheerleader beamed and stood a little straighter, a move which made him want to smile. “Why thank you, Robin.” The moment was broken when she voiced his very thoughts. “Wouldn’t that mean somebody from her Sunnydale would need to come get her?”
“Yes.”
Silence followed and the brunette averted her gaze. “That somebody would be Angelus, right?” She didn’t fancy having Angelus running round Sunnydale again.
Angel avoided her gaze, not wanting to see the horror that would certainly be in her eyes. Eventually saying, “I don’t know.”
Cordelia frowned. “He would come for her, right? He wouldn’t just let her go without a fight?” It seemed to her that if something belonged to Angelus, then he’d go out of his way to protect it. If Angelus didn’t come for the vampiress, then her views on him were wrong. Very wrong indeed.
“He might. I’m not too comfortable…”
Like she cared. “Would you let her go without a fight? I mean, if I wanna know what Angelus would do, then who better to ask then the man… pire himself?”
When his gaze returned to the brunette’s face, his brown eyes were lit up with something she couldn’t name, and a smirk on his face she didn’t understand. It didn’t go a long way to making her feel cosy being with him. “Angel?” He wasn’t scaring her as much as he was putting her on edge.
The intensity had her hands coming up to warm her arms against the icy burn creeping over her skin and she was reminded of who, what, lay under the angelic facade. Angel backed the cheerleader up into the closest ally, kept moving until she felt the rough scrape of bricks against her shoulders.
A finger under her chin ensured she had no choice but to look up into his tiger’s eyes as he spoke. “Cordelia may not be his childe, but she’s his. If anyone is gonna hurt her, it’s him. He’ll either come for her or he’ll destroy the world.”
Lines wrinkled her forehead as she tried to see past the act. “Like you did with Buffy? You couldn’t have her, so you tried to suck the world into hell?” That thought made her sick. Was that really the kind of vampire he was? One who got so bent out of shape because of woman that he’d rather die than not have her?
Her reasoning floored Angel, even if she was wrong about his motives. “Seemed like a good idea at the time.”
“I don’t understand.” Her frown deepened and he wanted to smooth the crinkles out of her skin, so he did. Cordelia froze as she felt calloused fingertips lightly brush over her forehead. She refused to let him distract her. “You love her, yet you tried to suck the world into hell because it seemed like a good idea?”
Strands of silky brown hair went from side to side as she shook her head. “I don’t believe you. You must have had a better reason than that.”
“Why is it so hard to believe I had no reason to open up Acathla?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. You don’t strike me as the kind of manpire who’d waste his time by doing something without cause, and I think it’s because you wanted her attention.”
Angel tapped the head that was working overtime. “And why do you think that?”
Hazel eyes rolled in exasperation. “Duh. You’d had a soul forever and suddenly the leash was gone, leaving you free to do whatever you wanted. You could be you again. Punishment over. Maybe it wasn’t just Buffy’s attention you wanted, maybe you wanted everybody to know you were back and ready to rock.”
“So what you’re saying is…” She broke in.
“That without a soul, you’re an attention seeking big bully who tore my Donna Karen. You still haven’t fully answered my question. Will Angelus come for her?”
“If she really means as much to him as she says, then yes. He’d move heaven and earth to get her back.”
“You walked through hell to get back to Buffy.” It was same thing. Sort of.
Angel chuckled. He couldn’t help it. “I was in hell for a hundred years.”
The confusion in her frown gave way to sympathy as a wave of feeling caused her heart to hurt for him. What he must have gone through. “A hundred years is a long time.”
“You, Giles, Buffy. All ghosts.”
“We were dead to you.” Cordelia reached up to stroke his cheek in an effort to soothe him. She followed the lines on his forehead down to his cheeks and jaw. Without thinking, she rose up on tiptoes to press a soft, warm smooch on the corner of his mouth.
He never got a chance to ask why she did that. “Seemed like a good idea at the time.”
She grinned at him and ducked under the arm holding her against the wall, sliding past him in a graceful move that reminded him of dancers. Angel had one question for the brunette. “You don’t separate me from Angelus. Why is that?”
“You’re still a vampire, Angel.”
He got the wrong idea. “A monster.”
Cordelia flinched at the description. “I wouldn’t call you a monster, not even sans soul. Sure, you maybe what nightmares are made of at times, but come on. You’re a vampire. It’s in your nature to be nightmarish.”
Angel sort of understood what she was saying and he was helpless to the flickering of his lips. “So what you’re saying is I’m a noble monster.” Her grin was answer enough. “Oh. Thanks.”
She whacked his shoulder. “Anytime,” and waltzed out of the alley, leaving him to touch the spot where she kissed.
“Nice,” he muttered with a forming smile.
***
It took them three solid hours to find the vampiress, and when they did, she was holed up in a dingy bar downtown. She was also well on her merry way to being stinking drunk.
Though Cordelia didn’t have an enhanced sense of smell, she still recoiled from the overpowering scent of Tequila. “Urgh.”
Angel noticed the belligerent glimmer in the vampiress gaze and moved Cordelia to the side. He didn’t think the vampiress would really hurt her, but he wasn’t about to take the chance. The one in question stared at him and he couldn’t think of anything to say which would make this better for her.
The vampiress knocked back a shot, and immediately followed with another. Not once did she flinch.
Cordelia watched in awe. “Wow. Who taught you to drink?” Her eyes involuntarily travelled to Angel, fully expecting the vampiress to say Angelus.
In turn, Angel shot her a defensive look.
“Darla,” the vampiress replied. “She said since I died young, I had to live fast. Here.” She poured her twin a glass and shoved it into her hand.
Cordelia grinned, looking like an eager puppy as she wasted no time in going for it. It was a shock to feel her lips touch emptiness. “Hey! That’s mine.”
Angel didn’t care. He wasn’t about to let her drink Tequila. Keeping her attention, he gave a tiny sarcastic smile before downing it.
Cordelia’s glare never faltered. “You let me drink wine.”
“A couple of glasses of wine is a bit different to this. This,” he shook the empty glass at the cheerleader. “Is liquid evil.”
“The perfect substance for Mister Morality here.”
They stood there, in a down trodden hole, engaging in a game of stare out. It would have continued for a while longer if a snort of disgust broke the tension.
“Get a room.”
The cheerleader blushed and averted her gaze. He cleared his throat. “We should get you to a room.”
The vampiress smirked. “Angelus always did have a thing for twins.”
Angel’s blank expression did nothing to keep Cordelia out. She offered a smile and touched his arm, earning herself a nod of gratitude for the fact she let the remark go.
“That’s right,” the vampiress slurred. “Nuthin to see here.” Despite her heavily intoxicated state, she still managed to fill the line of shot glasses and drink them, all without spilling a drop.
Even Angel found it impressive, and when he saw the bartender glance towards two empty bottles, he definitely became impressed.
“You’re certainly not letting the side down.” Cordelia tugged on Angel’s sleeve. “Darla’s good.”
Yeah. So good she got herself dusted. Staking her had been the right thing to do, but it still stung. Darla was his sire. She taught him everything she knew.
He changed the subject and rephrased. “Let’s get you back to Giles. You can sleep it off and deal with tomorrow with a clear head.”
The vampiress rolled dilated eyes. Scoffing, “Like a clear head is needed to be a stray.”
Cordelia took her hand off his arm and placed it on a shoulder identical to her own. “You’re not a stray.”
“Oh no? Let’s look at the facts.” The vampiress bypassed the glasses altogether, choosing to drink straight from the bottle instead. A long, slow drink was had before she continued. “I have no home, no companion, no sire or family. What am I, if not a stray?”
There was so much more she wanted to say, but she was too passed out to say it. Shame really. She was making good headway in practicing to be a drunken bum.
***
“You found her, I see.” Giles commented with a smile as he looked at the snoring brunette in Angel’s arms. He was about to walk over and take the vampiress, but the stale stench of Tequila stopped him short. “Ah. Understandable, given the circumstances.”
Cordelia grinned at the watcher. “You should see her drink. She’s like a one woman 18-30’s.”
“I’ll put her to bed, then walk you home.” Angel adjusted his grip on the vampiress so he could look at the cheerleader while he talked to her. “Unless you have your car.”
She shook her head. “I left my car at the cemetery, so no transportation for Cordy.”
“I’ll take you there. Or if you want to go straight home, I can pick up your car on the way back to the mansion.”
“The cemetery is fine. I’ll need it for tomorrow night, remember?”
Angel smiled, feeling a tiny amount of pride that she was the one to bring it up. He nodded, but didn’t get a chance to say anything.
Giles watched the interaction between vampire and cheerleader. It wasn’t friendly, but nor was it enemies. It was something in the middle and it worried him. Especially with what Buffy was saying earlier. Quizzing, “Tomorrow night?”
“Yeah,” Cordelia replied with a smile. “Angel’s going to teach me self defence. I’m gonna kick ass, Giles. Hiya!” Her fists clumsily punched the air as she jumped on the spot. “How cool will that be?”
The watcher was cut off when she glanced at Angel. “Are you gonna show me how to use weapons and stuff? Cus daddy said I’ve got a great aim with a gun.”
Both Angel and Giles looked at each other with identical expressions of disbelief and shock. Only one of them had the power to speak. “Your father encourages you to use a gun?”
“Uh-huh. My parents are away a lot on business and daddy said I should know how to defend myself, you know? So he enrolled me in the Sunnydale gun club.” The smile on her face was brighter than the sun. “I’m the proud owner of a Colt Double Eagle.”
Yes, well. “We’ll stick to the basics for now.” Angel said slowly as he tried to process the latest bit of information. The thought of her packing a sweet piece like that would probably keep him up. Or have him sleeping with one eye open. He made a mental note not to piss her off.
“Oh, okay.” She was disappointed, but, “I’ll trust your judgement, Obi Wan.”
The sound of dry lips smacking together disrupted the calm atmosphere and all looked at the vampiress in time to see her thumb go into her mouth, her lips sucking gently. “Night night,” she mumbled around her digit.
Unconsciously, Angel and Giles glanced to Cordelia. One appeared quizzical and the other severely amused. She was quick to stop their thoughts. “I don’t do that.”
“Of course not.” The watcher gravely nodded in agreement.
“I never thought that.” Angel looked entirely too innocent for his own good.
“I don’t!” Cordelia defended. “Really. Giles, tell him I don’t suck my thumb.”
As much as it would be to stand there and tease her mercilessly, the vampiress was heavier than he thought. “I’ll just put her to bed and we’ll go.” Angel left the room to the rhythmic beat of the cheerleader’s loud protests that she did not suck her thumb.
He opened the guest room door with his back and turned so the door handle didn’t bounce off her head, which definitely wouldn’t need the extra pounding in the morning. A second later saw the vampiress laid down on the bed, with Angel standing over her, moving hair out of her face. The salty scent of tears had gone unnoticed for most of the night, but not now.
Not when there was nothing else to distract him.
The vampire sighed helplessly, knowing there was nothing he could do. If Cordelia’s theory was right, then her happiness fell on the shoulders of Angelus, or someone else from her world. Angel hoped to God her Angelus thought as much of her as she claimed. If not…
Well, he didn’t want to think about that scenario yet.
He took one last look at sleeping beauty, offered a smile, and left to walk the other one back to her car.
***
The atmosphere between Angel and Cordelia was comfortable. Though they weren’t talking, they shared the occasional smile and the odd brush of arms and hands. The silence lasted most of the way to her car, which was parked near the main gates to Restfield, and then the quiet time was over.
“You want a ride home?” Cordelia asked as she stifled a yawn.
“Nah. It’s not too far from here.”
“If not too far means being a solid fifteen minute walk.”
Angel shrugged. “I could do with the exercise.”
Hazel eyes rolled in amusement. “And weight loss is something you have to worry about. Look, you were nice enough to walk me here, so the least I can do is give you a ride.”
Again, he said no. “I was actually going to do a quick sweep.”
She frowned. Was that his way of saying he didn’t want her company anymore? “Okay, if you say so. I’ll see you tomorrow night, if it’s still on?”
He frowned. “Of course. That is, if you still want to learn.” The comfortable ambience appeared to be getting shot to hell and for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out why.
“Sure.”
They stood there, Angel had his eyes on the spot over her left shoulder, and Cordelia had hers on his shoes. He shoved his hands into his pockets and her shoulders began to twist back and forth. His lips pursed outwards while hers copied the motions of her shoulders, sliding to and fro, causing dimples to appear at the corners of her mouth.
“Guess I’ll go home, then. Good night.” Cordelia fished around in her bag for the car keys, all the while firmly and forcibly keeping her gaze off of Angel.
First lesson in self defence came sooner than she thought when he tilted her chin and made her look at him. “Never take your eyes off the vampire, Cordelia. We’re sly, opportunistic creatures.”
That brought a flickering smile to her face. “So, if I close my eyes, you’ll run off with my purse and credit cards?”
Angel was helpless to the responding flickering of his own lips. “You could try it. See what happens.”
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him. “Go on. Close your eyes.” When she showed no signs of doing that, he sighed unnecessarily.
“Alright! Alright!” It was mainly out of defiance that Cordelia closed her eyes, and not curiousity. “Promise not to peek.”
Angel looked at her standing in front of his with her eyes closed and head tilted up. The moon highlighted her tan with silver and thread platinum through chestnut hair, while long lashes cast spidery shadows under almond shaped eyes. She had a little beauty mark on her right cheek that added to the soft features.
He leaned down, inhaling her fruity perfume, and gently placed his lips on her cheek, his hands cupping the nape of her neck. Her eyes flew open in shock just as he pulled back. “Seemed like a good idea at the time. Goodnight Cordelia. Sleep tight.”
The cheerleader barely managed a nod as he handed her both keys and purse. “All your credit cards and cash are in there. You can check.”
He didn’t wait around to either see her off or hear what she had to say, he simply shot her a quirky smirk and disappeared from sight.
Cordelia blinked once, twice, thrice, and brought a hand up to where his kiss lingered. “Nice.”
While she was getting into her car, Angel was hid behind a tree and toying with a delicate gold chain, wondering how long it’d be before she realised he’d pilfered her necklace. He held it up to look at the charm, a little gold star with a centre diamond, and smirked. Sly and opportunistic indeed.
The yelling he knew he’d get would be well worth it to see the look on her face when he gave it back to her. Tonight, he thought as he fixed it around his throat, he’d keep it for the good luck when he took down the clan of demons with the large claws.
The less of them there were, the less chance Cordelia, all two of them, had of being skewered. Sunnydale would be made a much safer place for them tonight.