Part 3<\/b><\/p>\n
The Past\u2026<\/p>\n
Cordelia couldn\u2019t move. Couldn\u2019t breathe.<\/p>\n
Angel held her tight. So tight. The power in the arms wrapped around her chest and waist made her bones ache. If he held her any tighter, she would shatter.<\/p>\n
She shivered. His body, pressed so hard against her back, was so cold. Colder than the chilled breeze that fluttered through the open window.<\/p>\n
She was too scared to wonder why the cold embrace felt vaguely familiar.<\/p>\n
\u201cI almost can\u2019t bare to think about it.\u201d Angel shook his head. \u201cHow I\u2019ve underestimated you. Neglected you. If I\u2019d just been paying more attention, I would have realized how\u2026interesting you are way before now.\u201d Lowering his voice, he whispered in her ear. \u201cI know all kinds of ways we can make up for lost time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The hint of menace in his voice, the dark promise, snapped her out of her paralysis. She started to struggle. Her lungs filled with air. She opened her mouth to scream.<\/p>\n
Abruptly, she was released. The vampire spun her around until she faced him. One hand wrapped around the back of her neck. With the other hand, he pressed a finger to her lips.<\/p>\n
It all happened in an instant. Cordelia, was so startled, the scream froze in her throat.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you really want to do that?\u201d Angel asked, sounding truly curious. \u201cScream? I mean, you parents are bound to want to know why their daughter is screaming the house down. Like they did last night. And I *hate* interruptions.\u201d Hand still pressed to her lips, he rested his forehead against hers. \u201cDo you really want to see what I\u2019d do to them if they came in here now?\u201d<\/p>\n
Cordelia swallowed. The scream was still there, begging for release. Clawing at the back of her throat. She had to grit her teeth to keep it from escaping.<\/p>\n
Because she realized he was right. Her parents couldn\u2019t help her. If she screamed, if they came to see why, they would die. He\u2019d make her watch\u2026because he always had more fun when there was someone to watch. Or so the stuff she\u2019d read said.<\/p>\n
Her parents would die. And it would be her fault.<\/p>\n
For the first time in a long time, she wished her parents weren\u2019t at home. That her father was away on another business trip. That her mother had taken off on another one of her frequent, spur of the moment vacations.<\/p>\n
At least he couldn\u2019t hurt Marta. The housekeeper couldn\u2019t have picked a better time to go visit her sister.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust promise me you\u2019ll be a good girl.\u201d She saw him smirk in the dim glow of the moonlight. \u201cAnd I\u2019ll leave Mommy and Daddy alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cordelia started to tremble. Her breaths came in short, jerky gasps. Frantically, her mind ran through all of her options. Only to find she didn\u2019t have any.<\/p>\n
She was almost surprised to hear herself speak.<\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t scream,\u201d she said against the finger still pressed to her lips. Her voice dry and raspy.<\/p>\n
Angel seemed to give it some consideration. Then, abruptly, he let her go.<\/p>\n
Unprepared for her sudden release, Cordelia staggered away from him. Her body, realizing she was free, strained towards the door. Her fight or flight instinct kicked in and, knowing she couldn\u2019t fight him, all she wanted to do was run.<\/p>\n
But she also knew she wouldn\u2019t get far.<\/p>\n
Angel watched her, waited to see what she would do. In the dark, in the moonlight, he was just a shadow in a room full of shadows. But, with his vampire senses, she knew he could see her far better than she could see him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWait,\u201d she gasped, suddenly realizing what he\u2019d said. Her eyes grew wide. \u201cLast night?\u201d she whispered. \u201cYou were here last\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, yeah,\u201d he said, almost casually. He nodded towards the window. \u201cRight out there. And, let me say, you put on quite a show.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her heart clenching into a fist, Cordelia stopped breathing.<\/p>\n
\u201cA seer,\u201d Angel said, taking a step forward. \u201cI\u2019ve got a thing for seers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cordelia backed away from him. Stopping when the backs of her legs bumped up against the bed.<\/p>\n
Angel continued his advance.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t,\u201d Cordelia gasped. And hated the plea she heard in her voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t what?\u201d Angel said, stopping inches from her. \u201cKill you?\u201d With a gentle hand, he pushed her hair behind her left shoulder. Cold fingers brushed against the side of her neck. \u201cDon\u2019t worry, Cordelia. You won\u2019t be gone long.\u201d<\/p>\n
He struck with the speed of a snake. Grabbing her shoulders,he shoved her backwards.<\/p>\n
Cordelia fell back with a yelp. She hit the bed so hard the wind was knocked out of her lungs.<\/p>\n
Before she could even begin to catch her breath, he was on top of her. His body crushed hers into the mattress.<\/p>\n
((Oh God!)) chanted a voice in her head. Because she couldn\u2019t think anything else. ((Oh, God! Oh, God!))<\/p>\n
She started to struggle, hands pushing futiley against his powerful chest. But her efforts had no effect. In fact, they were so weak in the face of his superior strength, he didn\u2019t even bother to try to subdue her.<\/p>\n
Angel hovered above her. Hungry eyes traveled across her face. Over her body.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere to start, hmmm? Here?\u201d His fingers brushed against her breast. \u201cOr here?\u201d His hand traveled down her rib cage, down her hip, settled on her upper thigh. \u201cOr maybe we\u2019ll start with a classic.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cordelia whimpered as he grabbed a handful of her hair, wrenched her head to the side. The feral visage of the demon flickering over his handsome features, he buried his fangs in her throat.<\/p>\n
Cordelia gasped, body tensing against the shock of the pain. Then\u2026<\/p>\n
Images filled her mind.<\/p>\n
Angel smiling. But not the cold, malicious smirk. A smile filled with warmth and humor.<\/p>\n
Angel fighting a demon.<\/p>\n
Angel reading a book. Her sitting beside him, with her head on his shoulder.<\/p>\n
Angel, begging her to do what he told her for once.<\/p>\n
Angel, holding her pain wracked body in his arms. He looked so worried. Even a little scared.<\/p>\n
They were all there, one after another. Hundreds and hundreds of images. Filled with sight and sound and color. Laughter and caring.<\/p>\n
Hundreds of beautiful images followed her into the darkness.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Angelus ripped his fangs away from Cordelia Chase\u2019s throat. Realizing, somewhere in the back of his mind, that he\u2019d taken more blood more quickly than he\u2019d intended. He hadn\u2019t wanted to turn her right away. He\u2019d wanted to play.<\/p>\n
But the images\u2026<\/p>\n
Angelus pushed himself off of her unconscious body. Standing, he stumbled away from the bed.<\/p>\n
Putting his hands to his head, the vampire tried to shake away the images that filled his mind. They were like memories.<\/p>\n
Memories of things he knew had happened. Filling him with feelings he hadn\u2019t experienced since his soul was ripped away.<\/p>\n
There were hundreds of images, flitting through his mind so fast, he couldn\u2019t catch them. But he knew they all had one thing in common.<\/p>\n
Angelus growled. He had to get away. From the images. The feelings they caused. The girl\u2026<\/p>\n
With one final glare towards the bed, Angelus climbed through the window and jumped to the ground below.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Cordelia sat hunched in the middle of her bed. A stake in one hand. A large, wooden cross in the other.<\/p>\n
Her room was ablaze. Every light, every lamp on. And her eyes flittered from the now locked window, to her bedroom door.<\/p>\n
She had been unconscious for a long time. Hours. When she woke, she felt nauseous and woozy. The blood on her skin dry and crusted.<\/p>\n
Even now, the wound on the side of her neck burned like a brand.<\/p>\n
And she couldn\u2019t stop shaking.<\/p>\n
She knew she should do something. Call someone. Go somewhere.<\/p>\n
But she was frozen, afraid to move. So she sat in her bed, clutched her cross and stake. Wondered why she was still alive. And waited for dawn to come.<\/p>\n
And the images kept coming. Of an Angel unlike the one she\u2019d known before he lost his soul. Certainly different from the evil vampire who had taken so much joy from the thought of killing her.<\/p>\n
Every image filled her with warmth, and happiness. Felt safe and familiar. And broke her heart.<\/p>\n
Cordelia felt her eyes fill with tears. They were images of an Angel who didn\u2019t exist.<\/p>\n
And she missed him. So much.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Rupert Giles opened the doors of the Sunnydale High School library. Early, as usual. When there was pressing Slayer business to attend to, Buffy and her friends would arrive an hour or so before school began, to talk and strategize. It had happened so often, coming in early had become a habit for the Watcher.<\/p>\n
Carrying the new texts that had been delivered to his apartment yesterday, Giles started towards his office.<\/p>\n
When he heard the doors open, the librarian turned around.<\/p>\n
At first, he didn\u2019t recognize the young woman standing there. Then\u2026<\/p>\n
Giles gasped with disbelief as he realized who it was. He\u2019d never seen Cordelia Chase this way before. She wore jeans and a wrinkled sweatshirt. Her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail. Her face bare of make-up.<\/p>\n
And she looked ill. Drained.<\/p>\n
Pale.<\/p>\n
Putting his books aside, he started towards her. \u201cCordelia?\u201d Giles began.<\/p>\n
It was like hearing her name broke something loose inside her. Because, much to the Watcher\u2019s horror, the usually strong, usually confident young woman started to cry.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
\u201cAngel gets his soul back?\u201d Buffy gasped.<\/p>\n
Her disbelief flew through the library. Like a tangible, living thing.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, he does,\u201d Cordelia said with certainty. She sat slumped in a chair, and barely seemed able to hold her head up. \u201cI don\u2019t know when. But he does.\u201d<\/p>\n
Buffy\u2019s heart started to pound with\u2026hope. It was what she had been dreaming of. Praying for. Ever since that night\u2026<\/p>\n
But, with every evil, vicious, monstrous thing he did, the possibility had seemed further away. In fact, she\u2019d begun to wonder if it was even what she wanted. Because, after he killed Miss Calender, the hate in her heart had slowly started to overshadow the love. She had finally reached a point where she not only *could* but *wanted* to kill him.<\/p>\n
But this? These visions Cordelia had had? They changed everything.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo!\u201d Xander exclaimed. Standing behind Cordelia\u2019s, he glared at Buffy. \u201cNo! And *hell* no!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cXander,\u201d Willow began in a soft, warning voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d Buffy said, glaring back at Xander. What was his problem?<\/p>\n
\u201cI can see it!\u201d the teen exclaimed, voice harsh and angry. \u201cYou\u2019re eyes lighting up at the thought that you might get your honey back. Who gives a *fuck* that he tried to *kill* my girlfriend?\u201d<\/p>\n
Abashed, Buffy lowered her eyes, looking down at the floor. She\u2019d been upset about what happened to Cordelia too. She had. Seeing the bandage on Cordelia\u2019s throat\u2026<\/p>\n
Well, if her ex had been there at the moment, Buffy knew she would have had no trouble killing him.<\/p>\n
And the fact that he\u2019d been stalking Cordelia, and had seen her have the vision was also cause for alarm.<\/p>\n
But when the other girl told them about Angel\u2019s soul\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cXander, think about it,\u201d Willow said, giving him an imploring look. She took Oz\u2019s hand, almost like she needed the contact to give her courage. \u201cIf Angel got his soul back, he\u2019d stop doing all of these horrible things. And he\u2019d stop trying to hurt Buffy. And us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd what? We welcome him back with open arms? \u2018Hey, buddy. So you were an evil, psycho bastard for a few months. All\u2019s forgiven.\u2019 Right!\u201d<\/p>\n
Giles hardly seemed thrilled with that prospect. But Buffy could tell that her Watcher was trying to think logically. As usual.<\/p>\n
\u201cCordelia,\u201d Giles said. \u201cCould you describe your visions in more detail?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was kind of like flipping through TV channels really fast. And with the sound off. And this was different from that first vision. It didn\u2019t hurt or anything. It was kind of, like, a rush of memories. Or whatever.\u201d Sighing, she closed her eyes. \u201cI see Angel fighting demons. And saving people. A lot of people.\u201d She pressed her hand to her temple. \u201cAnd joking around with these two guys. And holding a\u2026a baby.\u201d She frowned. As if even she couldn\u2019t believe that one.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, \u2018cause *that\u2019s* who you want for a nanny,\u201d Xander said sarcastically.<\/p>\n
Silence fell over the room as they waited for Cordelia to go on. When she didn\u2019t, Giles took a step towards her.<\/p>\n
\u201cCordelia?\u201d the Watcher prompted.<\/p>\n
Cordelia opened her eyes. She cast a hesitant glance around the room. \u201cA lot of what I saw was\u2026me and Angel. Together.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTogether?\u201d Buffy frowned. What was that supposed to mean?<\/p>\n
Xander gave his girlfriend a suspicious glance. \u201cTogether? Together how?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d Cordelia shrugged. \u201cJust\u2026doing stuff. Watching a movie. Or talking. Eating breakfast. Me patching him up when he\u2019s hurt. Him sitting by my bed when I\u2019m sick.\u201d A slight smile curved her lips. \u201cI actually think that\u2019s happened more than once.\u201d Looking at some distant point, she frowned. \u201cAnd I think Angel\u2019s teaching me how to fight.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was a silence as everyone tried to absorb what Cordelia was saying. Buffy wondered if anyone else noticed she was talking in the present tense. Like this was stuff that had already happened, rather than stuff she\u2019d seen in a vision, happening in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think he\u2026*we* are in Sunnydale anymore. I mean, it looks more like LA. And I didn\u2019t see any of you in the images. Just a lot of people I don\u2019t recognize. But they feel like\u2026like friends. Family, even.\u201d<\/p>\n
Buffy was shaking her head even before the other girl stopped talking.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, what are you saying?\u201d Buffy demanded, folding her arms. \u201cYour visions are telling you that, in the future, Angel will leave Sunnydale\u201d\u2014Leave me, she thought\u2014\u201cand move to LA, where you and he will become bestest buds.\u201d She shook her head. \u201cI don\u2019t buy it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d Cordelia exclaimed. She gave Buffy an incredulous look.<\/p>\n
\u201cBuffy,\u201d Willow began.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo!\u201d the Slayer said. \u201cIt\u2019s obvious Cordelia was having a dream or something. Maybe it was the trauma of being attacked\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBuffy,\u201d Giles interrupted. He gave her a quelling look. \u201cWe already know Cordelia has developed some kind of precognitive ability. An ability you yourself proved to be valid. There\u2019s every reason to believe the vision she had last night is also valid.\u201d There was a pregnant pause. \u201cIf not, we also have to discount Cordelia\u2019s belief that Angel\u2019s soul will be restored.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll buy that,\u201d Xander said, raising his hand. His lips pressed together so tight, there was a white line around them.<\/p>\n
Buffy shook her head. No. She didn\u2019t want to discount the part about Angel\u2019s soul being restored. That was the only part she liked.<\/p>\n
But wasn\u2019t it possible that part had been the actual vision, and the rest was a figment of Cordelia\u2019s imagination. It was possible. Right?<\/p>\n
And, if Angel\u2019s soul was restored, why on Earth would he leave Sunnydale?<\/p>\n
((Leave me?))<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you know how his soul gets restored?\u201d Willow asked Cordelia. \u201cMaybe we could\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d Cordelia shook her head. \u201cI didn\u2019t get that part.\u201d<\/p>\n
Giles sighed. \u201cWell, until you do, there\u2019s nothing we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s one thing we *have* to do,\u201d Cordelia said. \u201cWe have to do that un-invite thingy on my house. Nobody\u2019s home to notice the weirdness. My dad\u2019s working late. And my mom\u2019s leaving on a weekend spa retreat this afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll take care of it after school,\u201d Willow said. \u201cI still have everything we need.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks.\u201d She touched the bandage on the side of her neck. \u201cI still don\u2019t know who invited him in in the first place.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s neither here nor there,\u201d the Watcher said. \u201cWhat matters is that we prevent him from getting in again?\u201d He looked at the clock. \u201cNow, I think it was time you were all getting to class.\u201d<\/p>\n
Buffy didn\u2019t want to leave. She wanted to get this vision thing straightened out. But a look from Giles prompted her to move towards the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cCordelia,\u201d the Watcher began. \u201cI don\u2019t think you\u2019re in any condition to sit through classes today. Why don\u2019t you go home and\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d She shook her head. \u201cI don\u2019t want to be alone. Or with people who don\u2019t know one end of a stake from another. Can I just stay in here? Sleep on your couch, maybe?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019ll be in to check on you,\u201d Xander said. \u201cEvery hour on the hour.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks,\u201d Cordelia said, giving him a faint smile. Pushing wearily to her feet, Cordelia staggered into the librarian\u2019s office.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Once his charges had left, Giles slumped into a chair at one of the library\u2019s tables.<\/p>\n
The truth was, he wasn\u2019t any happier about Angel\u2019s soul being restored than Xander was. After what had happened to Jenny\u2014the perverse pleasure the vampire took in arranging her body for Giles to find\u2014the only thing that kept him going was the thought that Angel would pay. That Giles would kill him, with his own bare hands. In the most painful way he could devise.<\/p>\n
Somehow, killing an Angel *without* a soul was a much easier prospect to contemplate.<\/p>\n
But Willow was correct. If Angel\u2019s soul was restored, he would stop tormenting Buffy. Stop hurting her friends. Stop being a danger to them all.<\/p>\n
Sighing, standing, Giles turned\u2026to find Cordelia standing in the doorway of his office.<\/p>\n
\u201cCordelia,\u201d the Watcher said with a startled gasp.<\/p>\n
\u201cGiles,\u201d the girl said, coming into the library proper. \u201cI just remembered something. It\u2019s the only thing I heard in that vision.\u201d<\/p>\n
Giles waited for his heart to stop pounding before speaking. \u201cWhat was it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was a word.\u201d She frowned, as if trying to recall correctly. \u201cBizente.\u201d<\/p>\n
* * *<\/p>\n
Angelus sat in a chair, glowering at nothing.<\/p>\n
Drucilla flitted around the master bedroom, like a black butterfly, unable to find a place to land.<\/p>\n
Angelus could feel Spike, sitting outside in his wheelchair, glaring at the door. Had been since Angelus got home last night and dragged Dru into his room.<\/p>\n
Too bad he wasn\u2019t in the mood to enjoy Spike\u2019s jealous anger.<\/p>\n
Too bad a night with Dru hadn\u2019t eased his tension. His frustration.<\/p>\n
He licked his lips, still able to taste the girl\u2019s warm, rich blood on his tongue.<\/p>\n
He wanted more. So much more.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can see her,\u201d Drucilla said. She paused in her flittering to stand in front of him. \u201cSmell her, all around you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angelus glared at his childe. He wasn\u2019t in the mood for her insane babbling. Not today. \u201cGo away, Dru. Go play with Miss Edith. Or something.\u201d<\/p>\n
The demented vampiress didn\u2019t listen. Instead, she knelt down between his legs. A familiar, vacant look on her face, she pressed her hand to his heart. \u201cShe lives here,\u201d she said in a soft, whispery voice. Then, quick as mercury, anger clouded her face. \u201cFirst, you love the Slayer. Now *her*.\u201d<\/p>\n
Growling, Angelus grabbed her arm. He pushed her away from him, so that she lay sprawled on the floor. \u201cI don\u2019t love her!\u201d he snarled. Standing, he began to pace.<\/p>\n
Dru watched him with eyes both mad and knowing. \u201cYou will *then*. So you do *now*.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angelus barely heard her cryptic ramblings. Instead, he stalked from one corner of the room to another.<\/p>\n
He barely remembered the images that filled his mind when he\u2019d bit Cordelia Chase. Similar things had happened to him before. Sometimes, when he bit into a victim, he could almost see their life flash before his eyes. All the possibilities. All the potential. Their futures. Dead at his hands.<\/p>\n
But this was different. He\u2019d never felt anything like the feelings these images had evoked. Feelings so strong, he ran away from them like a frightened fledgling.<\/p>\n
Feelings that consumed his mind and raced through his borrowed blood. Made his mouth water at the thought of tasting one girl. At the thought of burying himself inside her warmth. Again. And again.<\/p>\n
Angelus scowled. Why had he let her go? She was there, in his grasp. There for him to do whatever he wanted to and with her. And he just\u2026ran away.<\/p>\n
Now, they would be warned. Ready. Her precious friends and their precious Slayer would do whatever they could to protect her. From him.<\/p>\n
((They\u2019ll fail,)) he thought. And a ruthless sparkle lit his eye.<\/p>\n
\u201cOoooh,\u201d Dru suddenly giggled. A look of innocent, insane joy spread across her face as she clapped her hands. \u201cI\u2019m going to have a sister!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes you are, Dru,\u201d Angelus promised. His hands balled into fists so tight, the knuckles cracked. \u201cSoon.\u201d<\/p>\n