Part 9
It was a nice night once again in California. A few stars sparkled here and there, a couple of wispy clouds provided a pretty sight, and the smell of death was in the air. Slightly damp grass crunched under feet and low hanging branches were swiped out of the way. Graves that were so familiar, yet not, were walked past and glanced at by the vampiress, who subconsciously thought of her home cemetery.
“See?” Cordelia threw an arm around Buffy and Angel, hugging them both closer to her. “Problem solved. Cordelia gets to cheer and stays in the safe compounds of Sunnydale High while I be bait.”
Yes, Buffy thought, problem solved. She looked behind to see Xander following with Willow. A smile she wouldn’t admit to flickered at her lips. Xander had been keeping a lengthy distance from the vampiress all night. If it wasn’t for the terror that crossed the boy’s face every time he saw her, it would be amusing.
Angel’s eyes fluttered as he felt Cordelia’s breasts, yet again, brush up against him. His teeth ground down and he responded to the slayer’s questioning stare.
“I gotta admit, I thought this patrol thing would be more exciting ya know? Full of demons and fiends and vampires. So far there are only two vampires and one fiend.” She cheekily grinned and her eyes darted over her shoulder at Xander, who blanched and looked away.
An irritated Buffy shrugged off the arm, a breath slowly blown out between clenched teeth. “There might be more if you actually did your job.”
“What am I supposed to do again?” They’d told her and sure she remembered, but it was just so fun to annoy Buffy. She was so easy.
The slayer rubbed a temple with a stake holding hand. “Walk away from us and look like prey.”
Prey? The vampiress paused in mock thought. “That would be acting like a human, right? All vulnerable and open to attack? Like what Cordelia would be if she was here.” That still got her. It was a good thing she arrived when she did or who knew what the other her would be made to do for these people.
If only Angelus was here. There’d be none of this at all.
What she said got to Angel more than he cared to admit. “That sounds about right.”
Cordelia slowly nodded. “Oke doke, here I go. Demons of the Hellmouth prepare to say hello to me!” She let her arm fall from the vampire’s shoulder and began to lazily stroll ahead of them, singing tunelessly. “Food, glorious food. Hot humans and kitties…” So she was doing it on purpose, but someone had to make them see how wrong it was to use Cordelia like this.
Angel ignored the point being made. It was bad enough being part of the group who allowed the cheerleader to do something so dangerous. A lot of things could go wrong. He shouldn’t allow it, he knew this, but didn’t know how to say it.
It’s simple you moron, a side of him said, Cordelia’s not doing it. How hard is that?
Yes it was true Willow and Xander accompanied Buffy on a regular basis, but neither actually advertised themselves as bait. As food. An easy meal that came with the delicious taste of innocence and beauty, one that wouldn’t be able to fight back too much.
You went for her. Shouldn’t that tell you something? He felt sick.
Angel watched the vampiress continue walking and singing words that churned his stomach. He stopped, just staring at the hypnotic sway of curved hips for a second then dragged himself away from seeing his Cordelia doing that.
“Angel.”
A deceptively fragile hand clasped his arm firm enough to get his attention. He looked down into unsure eyes as Buffy nervously shifted her feet in the dirt.
“It’s wrong,” Angel muttered. Now may not be the best time to speak his thoughts, but when would there be a best time?
“I know.” Buffy glanced away to stare off into the distance. “It’s just…” She took a deep breath, arms came up to hold herself against the night’s chill. “When Xander first said Cordelia was dead, I couldn’t help but realise how short life is. Especially around here.”
Wasn’t that the truth. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”
The blonde looked over to where Willow was respectfully averting her eyes to give them what privacy the graveyard afforded them. “No, we shouldn’t, but what else can we do?” Patrol was really all they had.
What?
Off his confused look, “I was talking about us, Angel.”
“Oh.” What else could he say? Was there a them anymore? He wasn’t sure there was. Not knowing what to say had the vampire remaining silent.
“I miss you.”
Angel’s jaw twitched. “I really don’t think this is the right time.” He couldn’t see the vampiress and all he thought of was what if it was Cordelia baiting the trap? Anything could have happened to her.
Buffy’s frown was a sure sign she didn’t agree. “Then when is the right time? We don’t get to spend any time alone lately. Not since she arrived. You’re always at Giles’ place with her. I think this is a good a time as any.”
“She needs to get home, Buffy. I want to help her.” He needed to help her. More importantly, he needed her away from him. It was getting harder not to wallow in the scent of Angelus mingling so sweetly with hers. The temptation to do something stupid was almost irresistible.
“Yeah, get her home. To Angelus.” The slayer’s face became unreadable as the name left a bitter taste in her mouth. “She won’t talk about that. Says it’s none of my business.”
Angel was inclined to agree with the vampiress. “It isn’t.”
Ice burned his flesh as she gave a harsh glare. “He’s with her. Angelus is with Cordelia, and you say it’s not my business.”
“Her world is different. There’s no slayer in her Sunnydale, no-one to protect her from…” From who? Him? There was a slayer in this world and she still hadn’t been able to prevent him from affecting Cordelia. Angel looked down at Buffy in serious confusion. What was she more upset about?
Cordelia being with Angelus, or the fact Cordelia was dead?
That didn’t comfort Buffy in the least. “Why her? What’s so special about her that Angelus couldn’t resist?” She didn’t want to admit it, but the thought of them together, in even another world, cut her to the quick.
“I don’t know.” If that wasn’t a lie, he didn’t know what was. “I really don’t think we should be discussing this right now.” Or ever.
Yeah well, tough. She wanted to talk. She wanted to understand what Cordelia had that she didn’t. Angelus made her life a misery, and yet the vampiress acted as though he was the world’s most perfect boyfriend. Why hadn’t Angelus loved her?
Angel saw what was coming and was quick to stop it. He outright refused to indulge her need for an unrealistic fantasy that if there had been a Buffy in Cordelia’s world, that he would be with her.
“This isn’t our business, Buffy.” End of story.
She thought differently, but she didn’t get a chance to say that as one moment Angel was standing in front of her, and the next he was gone.
***
The vampiress heard every word of the slayer’s conversation with Angel and shook her head in disgust. They were enough to make her stomach churn. Thank God Angelus wasn’t here to see himself behaving like that. Was Angel a vampire or a flipping mouse?
She was starting to have second thoughts about getting Cordelia together with him, sure the cheerleader deserved better than some guy who was too scared to speak his own mind. It was really sickening to see what a soul had done to him. Besides, wasn’t he supposed to be protecting her?
Cordelia blocked out the rest of the conversation, concentrating on attracting a demon or a vampire. Maybe if she waved her arms around. “Hello! Evils of Sunnydale, hear I am! Come get me!” She did a little jig and still got nothing.
“Oh come on. There has be someone out there willing to eat me.” She rolled her eyes and sighed. Damn. She was getting nowhere fast. “I’m a young hottie whose main goal in life is to be swept off my dainty feet by anything evil.”
This had to be one of the most boring things she’d ever done. How the hell had Cordelia kept her sanity? The vampiress had new found respect for herself.
Ooh! “I spy with my little eye something with big and slimy, and bonus! Wicked looking claws that could probably do some serious damage.”
Cordelia’s eyes darkened to a deep bronze as she began to tail the demon.
Now. There was only one way to get a demon to attack a vampire, and that was if the vampire attacked the demon first. She sighed. They hadn’t even taken her vampirism into account. Stupid, really, especially for a bunch of supernatural experts.
A smirk to make Angelus proud appeared as she slipped into predatory mode, tracking the demon easily without being noticed. It was easy to understand why her man sometimes went after demons. They were much harder, therefore much more fun, to play with. She just may have found a new hobby.
Cordelia stepped out from behind a tree and put herself directly in its path. “My God. I’ve seen some ugly things in my time, but you?” She let out a low whistle. “Yikes.”
That was all it took to get the attention she wanted. It stared at her with hunger in it’s eyes as globs of sticky slime pooled at what passed for feet, a screech pierced the air and she winced at the shrill noise, then she went into action using every dirty trick in the book.
Her fist collided with the demon and it barely staggered. She grabbed the neck, dragging it close enough to land a solid head butt right between its eyes.
“Fuck!” Did it have rocks for brains? The vampiress blinked back tears caused by the sudden stinging shooting through her skull. Her knee went up and it doubled over. “Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about…”
There was a pressure in her stomach and a taste, strangely familiar to her own blood, began to fill her mouth. Okay, something wasn’t right here. Cordelia glanced down to see one of those nasty claws slicing into her. “Aw man. I was doing so well, too.”
The demon twisted it’s arm, lifting her off the ground, and causing her to scream out the agony now burning every nerve in her body.
She met the demon with her own. A deep growl escaped her throat and her face changed. “Now you’ve done it. I am so fucking pissed.” Her hand snapped out and fingers curled around its throat, she gripped and dug her nails right into it’s skin. A sickly green goo caked her skin, yet the scent of blood overpowered her disgust.
Cordelia’s eyes fluttered in twisted delight as she heard the sound of bone crunching and flesh tearing; a second later her feet hit the earth. Ignoring the pain now ripping through her body, the vampiress righted herself, and delivered a swift kick to its head. It went splat, but that wasn’t enough. Nowhere near enough to sate the need for violence.
She yanked the dying demon off the floor and threw it hard against a tree, where she happily listened to the spine cracking under the force. “Love that.” Power exuded in every step it took to reach the animal. She stood over it, gloating, and relishing in victory, completely numb to her own state.
“Not dead yet? Let’s see what we can do about that.” Once again, the demon was dragged up off the floor, but this time she didn’t throw it or hit it or kick it. Cordelia held it close enough so she could the life disappearing from its cataract white eyes and she could feel the stinky breath come in shorter, harsher pants.
She squeezed it’s shoulders until it’s parting puff of air came out on a squeal of sheer torment. She dropped it like it was yesterday’s news.
The vampiress turned round to see the stares of not only Angel and the slayer, but Willow and Xander. They were all looking at her as though she were a strange animal. “What?” Cordelia snapped, fucked off because they hadn’t done their job. “Never seen a vampire before?”
She didn’t wait to hear a reply, she merely walked away from the corpse and purposely past Angel, smearing blood and goo down his face as she went. “Good thing I’m already dead, isn’t it?” Whoa, now that the adrenalin was wearing off, she was really starting to feel some serious pain.
The watcher man better have something stronger than tea up his sleeve.
Angel was too shocked at seeing a hole through Cordelia’s stomach, and subsequently her back, that he couldn’t move to follow right away. He simply stood and stared, watching her pace get slower and slower.
Blood. He had blood on his face. Cordelia’s blood.
It wreaked of death and disgust and something he didn’t want to name. The demon’s scent was there, too, but it didn’t beat the coppery tang of failure which came from her.
“Angel…” Buffy’s quiet voice filtered through the haze surrounding the vampire’s senses.
“Shut up, Buffy. Just… Shut up.”
***
Giles was immensely proud of himself. He’d found the spell needed to return the vampiress home and truly couldn’t wait to tell her. He also couldn’t wait to tell Angel, who he knew, would probably buy him a bottle of scotch as a thank you.
The watcher was about to start writing the list of ingredients needed when the disturbing sound of a hand sliding down the door caught his attention. He frowned and rose, speeding up when the noise came again, this time accompanied with a weak plea for help.
What Giles first saw was Cordelia laying flat on her back, seemingly staring at nothing, then he saw the dark stain of dried blood on her top, and then he noticed the sheen of sweat shining on her face.
“Good Lord.” He didn’t hesitate in picking her up off the floor, cringing at the wet feel of her clothes. What on Earth happened?
Gently placing the injured vampiress on his couch and moving dirty strands of hair out of her face, he looked down at the face of a demon and saw Cordelia Chase. What if it had been Cordelia laying on his sofa with large hole in her stomach?
The thought was almost enough to make him sick.
“Angelus?” Cordelia slurred like she was drunk on her own blood. God, she was so dizzy, she could hardly concentrate. “Didn’t mean to be so long.”
“No, no.” Giles murmured, too busy on seeing the injury to care much about what she was saying. He raised her top and his breath froze in a thick lump in his throat. Her sun kissed skin was bright red, the edges of the wound were inflamed and angry, with what appeared to be acid burns.
He touched the surrounding flesh and a small wave of nausea rose up as pus seeped out of the wound. The smell was rancid, reminding him of rotten fruit, and it wasn’t hard to guess it was poison. Luckily, she was a vampire and probably wouldn’t suffer more than a fever and a bit of delirium. Did he clean her up, or wait until she could do it herself?
Giles face scrunched up as he thought of having his hands on Cordelia’s body and knew for certain he couldn’t do it. It would be a different matter of it was Cordelia, but this seemed wrong somehow.
Angel practically broke down the door, causing Giles to glance up from his place by the vampiress. One look was all it took for the watcher to see the guilt spitting from brown eyes.
“Is she alright?”
“Aside from being slightly delirious, yes.” The Englishman stood, warm blue eyes darted back down to where Cordelia was now drifting off into a healing sleep.
Angel quietly closed the door, sure Buffy hadn’t followed. Why would she follow only to see disappointment directed at her? “I don’t know what to tell you.”
Giles felt like a drink would be needed for the coming conversation, and so the bottle of scotch he’d been saving for twenty some years would finally have it’s time in the light. He figured asking Angel was unnecessary if the expression on his face was anything to go by. A couple of glasses and decanter was taken from the cabinet, then he went to fetch the full bottle from its hiding place under the sink.
Under the sink might be a strange place to keep alcohol, but years of watcher’s academy training had taught him to be cautious and overprotective of his stuff. That place was worse than school cloakrooms for things going walkabout.
Angel pretty much fell into a chair and let his head fall back against the smooth wood, smelling the delicious scent of sanity saving alcohol permeate the air. Unfortunately it wasn’t strong enough to get rid of the sick smell of blood and goo still pasted over his face. He didn’t dare think about what could have happened if Cordelia wasn’t a vampire.
It was too much. “Got distracted.” It was partially the truth.
“Care to tell me how and more importantly, which one of you got distracted?” Giles wasn’t a stupid man by far and he certainly wasn’t blind to his slayer’s faults, contrary to popular belief.
Angel smiled his gratitude when the glass was put in front of him. He spun it around, watching the way the amber liquid moved in time. “Buffy,” he said as though he was afraid to lay blame where it belonged. “She wanted to talk.”
“Careless of her.” Giles took a deep swallow and relished in the burn only a decent scotch could give. “Perhaps you two patrolling together isn’t a good idea.” He knew what would come next.
“She says it’s the only time we get to spend together.” Angel couldn’t look at the watcher as he said this, knowing what the other man was thinking.
“Then why not tell her it’s over? It isn’t fair to allow her to believe in something that isn’t there.”
Wise words from a wise man. “You know what she’ll do.” The vampire didn’t need to add the rest.
Giles smirked as he downed the rest of his drink. “Ah yes. She does get a bee in her bonnet when something doesn’t go her way. It’s still no excuse. In any case, it’s none of my business. You’re both free to make your own mistakes, I just hope you’ll learn from them.” Anyway, there were more important things to discuss.
“How did Cordelia come to be in such a state?” It seemed a tad off for a one year old vampire, sired by the Master, to get so injured. Something didn’t sit right with him about that.
“As I said. Got distracted.”
Glasses were removed and a shirt hem used to clean dust off the lenses. “So I was right to assume duty was ignored in favour of a romance that can never work.” It wasn’t a question. “What if it had been our Cordelia?”
Again, Angel remained quiet. He honestly didn’t have an answer to that.
“I want you to tell me what would have happened if that had been our Cordelia.” Giles refused to let this go unanswered.
The vampire ground his teeth together. “She would be dead.” Cordelia, who put her trust and faith in him and Buffy would be the one laying dead on a sofa, surrounded by people who would be crying out of guilt instead of grief. His stomach turned as he looked over at the vampiress out cold.
He covered his face with both hands, forcing himself to picture it. Brain fluid leaking from her nose, blood from her mouth, heat slowly ebbing away, breath lasting long enough to let her hear the gurgling sound of her own death. Her eyes…
Glassy, lifeless, dull. Not focusing on anything, no longer able to cry.
“I think we’ve all learned something from this.” Giles sighed and glanced at Angel, who had finally removed his head from his hands. “Except, of course, why Buffy and you go in circles.”
“Because, Rupert, they can’t live without tragedy. Buffy is a certifiable drama queen and his balls haven’t dropped far enough to make him man enough to be a man.” A harsh, stinging cough signalled the end of Cordelia’s tirade, and both men looked at her.
Angel stood for some reason and refused himself the luxury of looking away from accusations shooting at him from golden eyes. He deserved everything she could throw at him.
Giles was the only to speak. “You seem to be perking up rapidly.” He wouldn’t admit to the relief flowing through him.
The vampiress tiredly smiled and scrubbed a shaking hand down her vamped face, grimacing at the dampness on her skin. “You shoulda heard them. Really. I almost lost the will to live.” She attempted to sit up, but an agonising ache from her gut put a stop to that. “Feeling better. Though a little blood wouldn’t hurt.”
Cordelia’s gaze immediately focused on the throbbing beat of Giles pulse, her tongue darting out to moisten hungry lips. “I won’t take much and you won’t feel a thing. Promise.” If she had the strength to cross her heart, she would.
“As flattered as I am by your offer, I’m afraid I have to decline. Perhaps you would like to clean up?”
She looked down at her bloody, gooey self, and groaned. “Cordy’s gonna kill me for ruining her top. I’d kill me for ruining my top.” She frowned. “Is it me or am I starting to refer to myself in the third person? I’m so getting help when I get home.”
Giles smiled in sheer pride. “Ah yes, I believe I have something of interest. I found a spell that opens a gate of sorts between worlds.”
Cordelia clammed right up and fangs nibbled her lower lip. “You’re not yanking my chain, right? You’ve found a way to send me home? I won’t end up in the ninth circle of hell or anything, will I?”
The watcher was silent as he chose his words carefully. He didn’t want to get her hopes up. “I don’t know if it will work, but there’s no harm in trying. First thing tomorrow, I will make arrangements to get what is needed.”
She squealed like a little girl, happiness pouring off her invisible waves. “You, my shiny human friend, are the best! When I can get up, you bet your lily white ass I’m gonna kiss you!” The vampiress looked to Angel and even the good news couldn’t stop her from feeling resentment towards him for being such a dickless moron.
A hazy pink hue stained Giles cheeks. “That won’t be necessary. It’s the thought that counts.”
The vampiress breathed out a huge sigh of relief. “I thought I was gonna be stuck in this supernatural version of the Waltons forever.” She caught the look the watcher was giving and smiled sheepishly. “Which is very nice.”
“I’ll take your word for it. I suggest a bath before bed.”
“Great, then I’ll smell like a man, not slimy demon.” Cordelia’s lips pursed in and out a few times expectantly. When Giles didn’t appear to understand, “A little help here cus walking? Not really my strong point at the moment.”
Oh, right. “Of course.” Giles glanced to a still silent Angel. “Would you do the honours while I fetch some towels and prepare some first aid?”
Cordelia cleared her throat and waited until she got full attention. “He touches me, I’ll kill him.” Her eyes darkened and took on a form of twisted humour that neither man liked in the least. “Ya know, just to return the favour.”
Angel met her smirking face dead on. “I’ll go get you some blood.” Give her time to cool off and to get out of the way while she bathed.
“Why?” An eyebrow rose and he really hated what it said. “You gonna get distracted while someone dumps a load of poison in it?”
Giles, quick to stop anything starting, jumped into the line of fire with no thought to his own safety. “Yes, perhaps it would be best if Angel left for a while and no doubt you need something to eat.” Before he looked too good for her to resist.
***
Once the door closed behind him, Angel’s knees weakened to the point where he wasn’t sure if he could stand anymore. Tonight could have been so much worse. Sickness welled up inside and all he could see was the body of Cordelia Chase, laying on a cold hard ground, looking the same yet completely different.
It would have been his fault. His and Buffy’s.
He wasn’t sure what hurt the most, that the vampiress had been right, or the fact he hadn’t been firmer in what he said. He’d let Buffy’s need to unload overwhelm their job of protecting Cordelia.
They were lucky tonight, very lucky, but what about tomorrow night and the night after that? Would they make the same mistake with the human Cordelia? It was a chance that couldn’t be taken.
It wouldn’t be taken and frankly he didn’t care about what Buffy’s opinion on the subject of using bait. Besides, what the hell was a slayer and a vampire doing using bait anyway? Wasn’t like they needed someone to find the evil when it usually found them. All things considered, it was pretty stupid and incredibly dangerous.
Angel pushed all the what if’s away to a place where he kept his every sin. He had to get Cordelia some blood.
Maybe he’d stop by the house of his Cordelia after his errand, just to see how she was doing.