{"id":2673,"date":"2015-06-27T22:24:02","date_gmt":"2015-06-27T21:24:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/?p=2673"},"modified":"2018-07-13T11:55:37","modified_gmt":"2018-07-13T10:55:37","slug":"40-nights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/2015\/06\/27\/40-nights\/","title":{"rendered":"40 Nights. 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><a><b>Title: 40 Nights \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0<\/b><\/a><b><a href=\"http:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/40-nights.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-29\" src=\"http:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/40-nights-300x273.jpg\" alt=\"40N ficpic\" width=\"300\" height=\"273\" srcset=\"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/40-nights-300x273.jpg 300w, https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/40-nights.jpg 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/b><br \/>\n<b>Author: <\/b>Dock<br \/>\n<b>Posted: <\/b><br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:dock432@yahoo.com\"><b>Email<\/b><\/a><br \/>\n<b>Rating: <\/b>N-17<br \/>\n<b>Category: <\/b>Angst, smut<br \/>\n<b>Content: <\/b>C\/A, W\/C\/G friendship<br \/>\n<b>Summary: <\/b>This is <b>Fiddly&#8217;s Challenge:<\/b>Set after<b> epiphany<\/b> &#8230;<br \/>\n<b>Spoilers: <\/b>ATS S2 up to \u201cDisharmony\u201d<br \/>\n<b>Disclaimer: <\/b>The characters in the Angelverse were created by Joss Whedon &amp; David Greenwalt. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.<br \/>\n<b>Distribution: <\/b>Nothing Fancy, GT and anybody who wants it.<br \/>\n<b>Notes: <\/b>*denotes thoughts* <b>\u201cdenotes remembered dialogue\u201d <\/b><br \/>\n<b>Thanks\/Dedication:<\/b> <b>Feedback: <\/b>You&#8217;re kidding, right? Hell yeah!<br \/>\n<b>Challenge : At bottom of page.<\/b><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Part 1<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Angel sat across from Wesley, his former desk between them. He was trying not to smile. \u201cDon&#8217;t worry, Wes. I&#8217;m going to give it time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cExcellent. I am confident that given time, you and Cordelia will be able to repair your friendship.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI\u2026\u201d He paused when he heard Cordelia on the other side of the door.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWhat is this?\u201d Cordelia opened the door to the office. She carried an armful of clothing. \u201cWhat is this?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Angel couldn&#8217;t hold back his smile any longer. \u201cI just wanted to get you something to say I&#8217;m sorry. I know you were upset that I gave your clothes away.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cSo you bought me about five times as many as you gave away to replace them?\u201d He nodded. \u201cYou bastard!\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWhat? I thought..\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cYou&#8217;d try to buy your way back into my life?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cNo. I just thought..\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cVain, spoiled, selfish Cordelia would forget all about being tossed out like garbage if you spent some money on her?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cNo. I\u2026I..\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">She could feel tears stinging her eyes but she refused to let them fall. \u201cSo that&#8217;s what you think of me? Of course it is. Everyone knows Cordelia Chase is for sale.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Wesley walked around his desk. \u201cAngel, would you excuse us please? I&#8217;d like to speak to Cordelia in private.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cBut..\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI will speak to you later. Right now I think it&#8217;s best if you give us some time alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Angel reluctantly left his former office. He&#8217;d hoped going shopping and buying Cordelia new clothes to replace the ones he&#8217;d given away would help heal some of the hurt. Saying he was wrong was an understatement.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Wesley waited until the door closed. \u201cAre you alright?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cHe bought me clothes, Wesley.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He sighed. \u201cI saw that. They&#8217;re very pretty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThey&#8217;re gorgeous but\u2026you think I&#8217;ve changed, don&#8217;t you?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI know you have. I am amazed and so very proud of the woman you&#8217;ve become. You have had to face some truly horrible things in this world, faced some pretty tough obstacles and you have risen to the occasion every time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThen why did he think he could buy me?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI honestly don&#8217;t think he saw it like that. He was just impatient. It really hurt him when you said you weren&#8217;t friends.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWhat does he expect? He turned his back on us, the mission\u2026me. Now that he&#8217;s decided to give a damn I&#8217;m supposed to rejoin his fan club? I&#8217;m sorry but I don&#8217;t think so. I don&#8217;t trust him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Angel stood outside the door listening. His eyes closed in hopes of pushing the pain away. Her words cut him deep and shamed him as well.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cHe seems to genuinely want to make things better. Sure buying you expensive presents as an apology is somewhat insulting but look at this way. Angel went shopping for you. He pretty much prefers Hell to a shopping mall and that&#8217;s saying a lot since he&#8217;s actually been to Hell. He went to the mall despite his aversion in the hopes of making you happy, making you smile.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI realize that and there was a time that would&#8217;ve been more than enough for me. I haven&#8217;t had new clothes in a long time but I&#8217;ve changed. I&#8217;m not the vain shallow girl I once was. He doesn&#8217;t even know me anymore. I don&#8217;t think I can do this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI know this is difficult for you. It&#8217;s difficult for all of us but we need his help. We would have died at the hands of those Skilosh demons if not for Angel. We need someone of his strength and skill. It&#8217;s not about us. It&#8217;s about the ones we help.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cYou don&#8217;t need to tell me that. I&#8217;m vision girl, remember? I know all about the helpless. I just\u2026. Can&#8217;t we place an ad somewhere? A champion wanted. Maybe Lorne knows someone or maybe there&#8217;s a way we can ask the Powers to assign us a new one. There has to be\u2026\u201d A familiar twinge started in the back of her skull. \u201cNo. No. Argh! Ahhh!\u201d She crumpled to the floor.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Wesley barely managed to prevent her head from connecting with the floor. He was surprised by Angel&#8217;s sudden appearance. Somewhere amidst his thoughts he realized their conversation was very likely overheard. He waited until Cordelia took a few breaths. \u201cWhat did you see?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cA ritual in a cave by the ocean, we have to stop it. There was a demon priest, two demons inside of a circle, three outside the circle and five sacrifices.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWere the sacrifices human?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI don&#8217;t think so but they were innocent. We have to save them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWe will.\u201d Angel couldn&#8217;t quite meet her eyes. \u201cMaybe you should stay here and rest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cYou&#8217;re not the boss of me or the office.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cCordelia, I think Angel may be right in this instance. We can..\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cNo! I&#8217;m going. There was\u2026 I don&#8217;t understand why but\u2026 The vision\u2026 I have to be there. It&#8217;s important.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cVery well but you need to focus on getting the sacrifices to safety. Do we have time to do any research?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cNo. We need to leave now. It looked like your basic slice and dice. They didn&#8217;t look especially strong. We&#8217;ll just have to wing it. Let&#8217;s go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI&#8217;ll page Gunn. He can meet us there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cNo need for that, English. I&#8217;m here. What needs killin&#8217;?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWe&#8217;ll explain on the way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI only need to know if I can use my axe.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cYes you can. Let&#8217;s go.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">***<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Cordelia watched the battle go on around her. Wesley, Gunn and Angel were fighting five of the demons. She had already led the sacrifices to safety. The priest seemed content to watch the battle unfold. He made no motion to flee or fight. Gunn and Wesley worked together. She could see Wes press a hand to his side but he managed to hold his own in the fight. She unknowingly stepped inside the circle to avoid Angel and the two demons he was fighting. He used his opponents&#8217; momentum against them. They stabbed each other and crumpled to the ground just beyond the circle.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Angel glanced around the cave. Gunn had just finished off the last demon, except for the priest who still remained motionless. Angel rushed to Cordelia&#8217;s side to make sure she was fine. He was still worried about what she&#8217;d said to Wesley. He needed her forgiveness but more importantly he needed her friendship. He couldn&#8217;t hope for either if he were replaced.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cAre you alright?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">She avoided his reaching hands. \u201cI&#8217;m fine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The priest smiled at the couple in the circle. His course became clear. He threw a handful of powder into the cauldron in front of him. \u201cPer Aevum!\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Flames shot up from the ground circling the couple then extinguished as quickly as they rose.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThy will be done.\u201d The priest looked up and into a set of angry yellow eyes.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWhat. Did. You. Do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI completed the ritual.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Wesley stepped forward. \u201cBut we freed your sacrifices.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThe ritual requires spilling the blood of five demons.\u201d He pointed around the cave. \u201cYou killed five demons. It also requires two individuals be within the sacred circle.\u201d He pointed at Cordelia and Angel. \u201cThere were two individuals within the circle. My work is done.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWhat do you mean your work is done? What did you raise? What power did you conjure? What plague did you release?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThey did not inform you? How very like them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWho?\u201d Wesley was beginning to get a bad feeling.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThe Powers that Be, they sent you here, did they not?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cHow did you know that? My visions aren&#8217;t exactly big with the details.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cYou&#8217;re a seer?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cYes\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cAnd you&#8217;re human?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cYes\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cInteresting\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cEnough!\u201d Angel raised his sword to the priest&#8217;s throat. \u201cWhat spell did you perform?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cIt wasn&#8217;t a spell. It was a scared ceremony.\u201d He flinched when the sword was pressed hard enough to break the skin. \u201cIt was a marriage ceremony. I believe congratulations are in order.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Cordelia stumbled back a step. \u201cA what?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cA marriage ceremony\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWho got married?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He studied the shocked brunette. \u201cYou and the vampire are now bound. Your souls are forever entwined.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cMy soul is already bound thank you very much. Undo the spell now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cYour soul&#8217;s what?\u201d Cordelia&#8217;s eyes sparked. \u201cSince when and why the hell is this the first we&#8217;re hearing about it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Angel stared into three angry faces. \u201cI don&#8217;t know when or why. Lorne told me it was bound when he read me after my epiphany.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cYou expect us to believe that? Why didn&#8217;t Lorne know sooner? Why then?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI&#8217;m telling you the truth, Wes. Lorne said it was probably because I normally went to him for help with a specific case. I guess this time was different. I was the one who was lost.\u201d He chose to leave out the part about feeling confused after having sex with Darla. He already knew it was no where near perfect happiness but his curse had still very much been on his mind when he sang.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI told you we couldn&#8217;t trust him. Let&#8217;s get out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWhat about your\u2026marriage?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cIt&#8217;ll never hold up in a California court. I say we just forget about it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cMy child, you can try to ignore the bond of marriage I have sealed on this eve but it will not ignore you. Should you choose not to take the final step; time will complete that which you would not.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cExcuse me? I&#8217;m sorry but I don&#8217;t speak fortune cookie. Wes?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cYes of course. What do you mean by that? What will time complete?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cGeez Wes! I could have asked that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cYes but you didn&#8217;t. That&#8217;s why I am in charge. Now please explain yourself before my associate gets angry.\u201d He indicated Gunn rather than Angel.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWhen the moon shines upon us in her full glory four times hence, the bond will be complete.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWhat do you mean by bond?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThey shall be linked for eternity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cBut they are already linked. He&#8217;s her champion. She&#8217;s his seer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cFat lot of good that did me, he still walked away.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Wesley ignored her muttered comment. \u201cPlease explain the nature of the link.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cTheir emotions, their souls, their essences will be linked.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cHe&#8217;ll be able to read my mind?\u201d *oh god*<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cNo. You will be able to feel each other&#8217;s emotions. You will sense each other regardless of distance. You will be able to find one another across time and dimensions. You will never be separated, not even in death. You are bound for eternity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThat could be advantageous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWhat!\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cYou do seem to be in danger rather often. This bond would save us quite a bit of trouble the next time you&#8217;re kidnapped.\u201d Wesley smiled at her.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cJerk.\u201d She pushed Wes aside and approached the priest. \u201cSo that&#8217;s it? We sense each other&#8217;s emotions and presence?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThere is more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cOf course there is. Let me guess. I end up being impregnated, don&#8217;t I?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cDon&#8217;t be silly, child. Vampires cannot have children.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cOK. Well it could be a lot worse. We just need to deal with it. We don&#8217;t need to change our lives.\u201d She abruptly spun around and clutched Wesley&#8217;s coat. \u201cYou need to find a cure. I don&#8217;t want to feel Angel&#8217;s emotions. I don&#8217;t know what&#8217;ll be worse the brooding or the homicidal urges or eww. Do something, Wes. Right now I&#8217;m not even sure I want the bond he and I already have. I definitely don&#8217;t want another one.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWe&#8217;ll figure something out.\u201d He glanced over her shoulder. \u201cYou said there was more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThe marriage requires fidelity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI beg your pardon?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThe bond demands fidelity. Should one of them attempt to have relations with another, they will both become violently ill. It&#8217;s not fatal but it is rather unpleasant. Now if you&#8217;ll excuse me, I have someplace to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Angel, who had backed away from the group, blocked his path. \u201cHow do we undo it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">His voice dropped in volume. \u201cIs that truly what you wish? Are you displeased to be bound to your seer?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cHow do we undo it?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The priest studied the vampire but remained silent.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Angel grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the cave wall. \u201cHow. Do. We. Undo. It?\u201d He loosened his grip slightly.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cShould you not consummate your marriage yet share your bed for forty nights, the bond cannot be sealed. Should you miss even a single night, the count will be reset. You must begin again but time is limited. Tomorrow marks the first full moon.\u201d The priest glanced in Cordelia&#8217;s direction. \u201cI suggest you give your decision some serious thought. Look within your heart, vampire. I do not believe you wish to give up such a precious gift. The unexpected does not always lead to misfortune.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The priest disappeared in a puff of smoke.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWhat the hell? What did he say before he poofed? Can we\u2026annul our marriage?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cYes\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThank goodness. What do we have to do?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cShare a bed for forty nights.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWhat! I don&#8217;t even want to share an office with you. How..\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThen we stay married.\u201d Angel stormed out of the cave. The rest of the priest&#8217;s words plagued him. *What did he mean? I don&#8217;t want to be married to Cordelia. She&#8217;s\u2026* <b>\u201cBut you don&#8217;t. You don&#8217;t know her at all.\u201d <\/b>He didn&#8217;t stop until he reached the Plymouth.<b> \u201cI&#8217;m not the vain, shallow girl I once was. He doesn&#8217;t even know me anymore. I don&#8217;t think I can do this.\u201d<\/b> He slid behind the wheel. <b>\u201cI don&#8217;t trust him.\u201d <\/b>He remained silent when Gunn and Cordelia climbed into the back seat.<b> \u201cRight now I&#8217;m not even sure I want the bond he and I already have. I definitely don&#8217;t want another one.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Wesley cautiously looked at the sullen vampire beside him. The silence during the drive was deafening.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The car stopped in front of Cordelia&#8217;s apartment. Wesley stood and helped her out of the car. \u201cWe&#8217;ll wait while you pack a few things.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cNo. I can&#8217;t deal with this tonight. We&#8217;ll talk about it tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cBut..\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cBack off, Wes.\u201d Gunn hopped out of the back seat. \u201cI&#8217;ll see you tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cYour truck is at the hotel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cIt&#8217;ll still be there tomorrow. It&#8217;s safer there than in my hood. Come on Barbie.\u201d He nudged her with his arm. \u201cBuy me a drink?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">For the first time all night, a smile graced her face. \u201cSure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI&#8217;ll..\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cYou&#8217;ll go back to the hotel and research.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cYes\u2026I was just about to say that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Cordelia smiled at him. \u201cThanks Wes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cGet some rest. Perhaps I&#8217;ll have some good news in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Angel watched the pair walk into her apartment building. His knuckles turned white as his grip on the steering wheel tightened. *That&#8217;s my wife* \u201cAre they\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWhat? Oh you mean\u2026they are friends. He&#8217;s very protective of her as am I. This situation is\u2026 Things were already rather tense. There must be an alternative to sharing a bed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cAnd if there isn&#8217;t?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWell let&#8217;s just cross that bridge when we come to it.\u201d He glanced over at Angel. \u201cIs there any reason we aren&#8217;t moving?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI think you should go check on Cordelia.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cDon&#8217;t worry. Gunn will take care of her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWhy will his truck still be there tomorrow?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cPardon?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cYou said his truck was at the hotel and he said it would still be there tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI believe he plans to spend the night here. Now if you\u2026\u201d He paused when he heard the steering wheel crack. \u201cAngel?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI thought you said they were friends.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThey are.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cFriends don&#8217;t spend the night at each other&#8217;s places.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cReally? I seem to recall hearing a rather humorous story about Cordelia staying with you at your former residence. I know you lived with her after the explosion. I stayed there for a few days as well. Gunn and I both stayed with her after a rather upsetting vision.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cAre you going up there or not?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI can help Cordelia more by researching back at the hotel.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Angel opened his car door.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cYou&#8217;ve been disinvited.\u201d The car shook when the door slammed shut. \u201cDammit man! What part of give her time is so difficult for you to grasp? You cannot buy your way into her good graces. You cannot force your way back in either.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI can&#8217;t lose her.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cPerhaps you should have thought about that sooner.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">Angel sank into his seat. \u201cShe said she wanted to replace me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">He sighed. \u201cI don&#8217;t think she meant it. She never suggested doing that until tonight.\u201d He removed his glasses and began cleaning them. \u201cDid she ever tell you about her parents?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cThey lost their money to the IRS.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cYes but I&#8217;m talking about before that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cShe doesn&#8217;t like to talk about her past.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cHer father used to buy her mother jewelry every time he&#8217;d been caught having an affair, every time he&#8217;d been caught in a lie. Her mother would accept the expensive gift and forgive him. Then the cycle would begin again. She grew up believing that was how men and women should behave. In case you haven&#8217;t noticed, she&#8217;s not that girl anymore. Neither her forgiveness nor her friendship is for sale. Well perhaps for a minor transgression but abandoning her was hardly minor.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI wasn&#8217;t trying to buy her forgiveness. I thought because she couldn&#8217;t stake Harmony that she understood why I couldn&#8217;t\u2026 I just\u2026I thought\u2026 She was so angry that I gave her clothes away.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cOne of the items you donated, a blouse I believe, was the last thing she bought for herself before the IRS seized her family&#8217;s assets. The only reason she hadn&#8217;t lost that was because it had been in her locker at school. It was the only designer original she had left from her days of wealth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cMaybe I could..\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cGunn went and got it back for her. He gave the girl a different shirt.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cOh\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cYou need to be patient. You hurt her deeply. You can&#8217;t expect that to go away the moment you decided you&#8217;re sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI..\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cYou can hardly blame her for being cautious.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cI may have forever but the clock is ticking on our marriage, remember?\u201d He started the car.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWhat else did the priest say?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cWhen he explained how to annul the marriage, I thought I heard him mention something about a gift. It may be a clue to figuring out an alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">\u201cIt was nothing. Just drop it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/2015\/06\/27\/40-nights-2\/\">Part 2<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\">***<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><b>Challenge: &#8211;<\/b> Set after<b> epiphany <\/b>but Cordelia is still really hurt by Angel&#8217;s wrong doing&#8217;s. She doesn&#8217;t just forgive him like she does in the series. *Some how though they accidentally get married (it&#8217;s up to you how that comes about) and they can&#8217;t annul it straight away, there&#8217;s a clause that they have to sleep in the same bed for forty nights running, without having sex, to annul it. If they don&#8217;t sleep in the same bed for even one night they have to start over again. Okay going on just as Angel and Cordelia are agreed that they can do this some guy comes along that Cordy really, really likes and makes Angel re-think his relationship with Cordy. This guy can not be evil in any way, he has to have a genuine interest in Cordelia and she in him.<b>1)<\/b> Obviously has to be set in season two after epiphany. <b>2)<\/b> Has to be real angst, you know stuff you have to work through. <b>3)<\/b> Saying that it can&#8217;t be a sad ending has to be a happy ending. <b>4)<\/b> So it has to be smutty or they don&#8217;t stay married.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Title: 40 Nights \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2673","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-to-be-continued-fic"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2673","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2673"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2673\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2673"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2673"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/goteamfiction.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2673"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}