I\u2019ve angsted over this part for a week and it\u2019s doing my HEAD in. Literally. I tried to include Doyle\/Groo, it did my head in that way. It didn\u2019t have much Cordelia, it did my head in that way. Finally, I just thought, “right, sod it, I have to post it or I\u2019m going to be bald by next week…” So, here ya go. Just be thankful I like my hair.<\/i><\/p>\n
Part 6<\/b><\/p>\n
Three Years Ago…<\/b><\/p>\n
A bead of moisture began its slow trickle down the half-demon\u2019s forehead, its eyes bulging as the sword pressed against its neck.<\/i><\/p>\n
The demon \u2013 known as Doyle by his friends and a variety of names by the other people he came into contact with or owed money to \u2013 looked up at his captor, realising that no small amount of Irish charm would get him out of this one.<\/p>\n
“Woah, woah man,\u201d he held up his hands, “I\u2019m… I come in peace?” He muttered, wondering what the hell he was supposed to say to his \u2018champion\u2019. The Powers hadn\u2019t exactly been forthcoming with the vision – just a flash of a place, a name and a sensation that Doyle still wasn\u2019t getting used to.<\/p>\n
“I do not understand these words,” said his Champion, darkly, “And you have a different smell to these other cows.” He gestured to the small crowd that had gathered across the street and looked at Doyle again.<\/p>\n
“Yeah, well, first off? Not a cow.” Doyle huffed, rolling his eyes skyward, “Human, most of the time. With a little demon in me.”<\/p>\n
“Demon?” The pressure of the sword increased, “I\u2019ll kill you where you stand, filthy–“<\/p>\n
“Hey, hey, less of the filthy,\u201d said Doyle, indignantly, \u201cAnd, for the thousandth time? Not all demons are dedicated to the destruction of the world, ya know?” Doyle paused, still holding up his hand, “The name\u2019s Doyle. Pleased to make your acquaintance… Groo, is it?”<\/p>\n
Groo\u2019s eyes narrowed, “Speak, demon. How do you know my name?”<\/p>\n
“I get visions from the Powers That Be. They told me you were comin\u2019 here tonight, an\u2019 that I was supposed to meet you so you could… Help. Welcome to LA, big guy… We got work to do.”<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
I am SO dead,<\/i> thought Cordelia, glancing around the room as she struggled against the bonds that tied her to the chair, SO so dead.<\/i> If this had been Sunnydale and she\u2019d been trussed up like a turkey, she\u2019d have a moderately high chance of getting out of there – considering Little Ms. Likes To Fight had this uncanny knack of turning up at just the right time, give or take a few minutes.<\/p>\n
As it were? This wasn\u2019t Sunnydale.<\/p>\n
Cordelia had left that little dump behind for pastures greener – Los Angeles, to be precise, the call of fame and fortune too loud to ignore.<\/p>\n
It had been hard at first. She wasn\u2019t destitute per-se<\/i>, but yeah, some months she felt a little light-headed from the whole not eating thing. Then this acting gig had come along and… It had been like Cordelia\u2019s dream come true. A national, no less, sponsored by some of the most richest and influential guys in LA.<\/p>\n
Cordelia Chase, big fish of little pond ala Sunnydale, was three weeks away from hitting the big time.<\/p>\n
Her first acting gig, she\u2019d see her face plastered all over billboards and TV\u2019s and… Now, Cordelia was realising that her face would be all over those for the wrong reasons.<\/p>\n
“Y\u2019know, I knew you were evil,” She growled, looking up as one of her, *airquote*, \u2018co-stars\u2019 walked into the room, “You were entirely too hot to be normal.”<\/p>\n
He barely spared her a second glance, heading across the room to the head cheese, the one who looked like the kind of guy you\u2019d see hiring a gimp costume in a sex shop.<\/p>\n
“Don\u2019t make me gag you, Cordelia,” he growled over his shoulder, “I want to hear that mouth of yours do something better<\/i> than talking.”<\/p>\n
She muttered an expletive under her breath, looking at the others in the room she recognised as extras, one of her other co-stars, all trussed up, just like her. Most of them, however, had stopped struggling. They were sitting there, looking pretty docile, making Cordelia wonder if they\u2019d been drugged.<\/p>\n
“Hello, anyone home?”<\/p>\n
Nobody looked up.<\/p>\n
This is just my luck,<\/i> she thought belatedly, Something good actually happens in my life and, despite the lack of certain slayer\u2019s who shall remain nameless, it still sucks beyond belief! What is it, karma?<\/i><\/p>\n
She was NOT that bad. At least not so bad that everything in her life was leading up to this point and, hello, first big break since she\u2019d fell on a rebar!<\/p>\n
Seething, Cordelia watched as they made preparations – for what, she didn\u2019t know, but she\u2019d lived in Sunnydale long enough to realise that this was some multiple sacrifice thingy. Possibly a cult, which she SO didn\u2019t get.<\/p>\n
Her eyes flitted across the room. One entrance, one exit. Which meant that if she was ever going to get out of here– Who was she kidding? She was never getting out of here. There gimp boy stood, sharpening his knives, and in a word? Cordelia was screwed. She yanked at the bonds that tied her to the chair again, pulled this way and that to try and get free.<\/p>\n
Nothing. Nada. Zip.<\/p>\n
“You won\u2019t get away with this, y\u2019know,” said Cordelia, addressing her co-star again, “I have… I have friends! Friends in high places! And they will be SO pissed when they find out I\u2019m not where I\u2019m supposed to be right now.”<\/p>\n
“And where\u2019s that?” David, co-star extraordinaire, looked over at her, smiling cruelly. He didn\u2019t even give her chance to lie. “Haven\u2019t you worked it out, Cordelia? We didn\u2019t pick you for your acting skills – what little their were anyway–” Cheap shot.<\/i> “–We picked you because you, like so many in this city, were alone. We sensed something in you. Vulnerability… Solitude. You don\u2019t have any friends.”<\/p>\n
Cordelia\u2019s anger flared. “I have plenty of friends, as it happens! I was May Queen! And I was almost Prom Queen by, like, two girls, I–“<\/p>\n
“Shut her up.”<\/p>\n
Gimp boy crossed the room at that one simple order and a burst of pain spread across Cordelia\u2019s face. Her cheekbone cracked under the weight of the punch and the brunette groaned, slumping sideward in the chair.<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
“I was sent,” Groo repeated, “To lessen the burden.”<\/p>\n
For what felt like the fiftieth time, Doyle tried to explain. “Listen, man… I\u2019m… I\u2019m not… I don\u2019t need you to lessen the burden. Really.<\/i> I\u2019m good with the burden.”<\/p>\n
What he was proposin\u2019 was against all laws of God and man. Well, God and man according to Doyle anyway… He had no problems with guys doing as Groo had suggested but him? Definitely not… Well, gay.<\/p>\n
“But didn\u2019t you say that I should help?” Asked Groo, confusion flitting across his face, “I am the Groosalugg, my purpose here is to comshuk with the visionary. That\u2019s–“<\/p>\n
“Not ME.” Doyle asserted, shaking his head. How come he always got the dense ones? “Look, we\u2019re gonna be there soon. And we gotta figure out a plan of attack so that you\u2019re not rushin\u2019 in there all hot-headed and–“<\/p>\n
“I will kill the filthy beasts!”<\/p>\n
Doyle groaned. This was going to be a long<\/i> night.<\/p>\n
—<\/p>\n
When Cordelia woke again, she was no longer in her chair. Now the centrepiece of what looked like a grand human buffet, she lay tied to a table with restraints that looked suspiciously like they\u2019d come from the nut ward of a hospital, keeping her in place.<\/p>\n
She went to say something, bark her disapproval, but found her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth, her throat dry. All she managed was a groan and the answering smile she received from her kidnapper only got her pissed.<\/p>\n
How long had she been out? And why was it that she had a serious case of tunnel vision going on?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t keep us here,\u201d said a voice from across the room, pitifully.<\/p>\n
Cordelia sighed. They choose now to speak up? What happened to earlier when I was the one doing all the talking?<\/i><\/p>\n
The girl said something again and though Cordelia couldn\u2019t quite make out what it was, she rolled her eyes. She\u2019d been through enough in Sunnydale to know that the petty whining got you nowhere. Fast.<\/p>\n
She pushed against the restraints again, each muscle willing the other to work and just break free\u2026 But that was the thing about Nut Job restraints. They were meant to keep the nut jobs down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have family,\u201d one bleated, \u201cThey\u2019re going to miss me.\u201d<\/p>\n
But it was then Cordelia realised\u2026 One of the voices, she\u2019d recognised. He\u2019d been in the same situation as her. New in town, semi-hot but not enough to make it huge, looking for his big break in acting\u2026 He had no family here, just like her.<\/p>\n
They were alone here. They didn\u2019t have anyone\u2026<\/p>\n
Despair flooded in quickly. She wasn\u2019t in Sunnydale any more, there was no Buffy to potentially ruin her life and save her from the big ick monster all at the same time. Cordelia had walked into this one all by herself and there was no-one who even knew she was here, never mind cared enough to rush in and save her.<\/p>\n
The tears slipping down her cheeks were compounded by the knife she felt sliding into her flesh. She tried to scream but it caught in her throat, the smell of her blood assaulting her senses.<\/p>\n
Somebody else screamed.<\/p>\n
For the first time in her life, Cordelia found herself wishing she was back in Sunnydale. Back with people who knew her, people who\u2019d miss her \u2013 people who\u2019d know she was gone.<\/p>\n
She felt helpless, groggy. She was bleeding out from wounds on that table she wasn\u2019t aware she had and her head was starting to pound.<\/p>\n
Gimp Boy appeared over her, smiling, the knife in his hand dripping blood \u2013 probably hers.<\/p>\n
David was nowhere to be seen but Cordelia had always figured that he wouldn\u2019t get his hands dirty for anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsshole,\u201d she murmured, but it came out raspy and the word itself wasn\u2019t enough to get her meaning across. Gimp Boy smiled again and she vowed that if she ever got out of here? She\u2019d wipe that smile clean off his face.<\/p>\n
Pain exploded through her left side and Cordelia managed to shriek this time, bringing the entire room down around her\u2014No, wait, that wasn\u2019t her.<\/p>\n
The last thing Cordelia remembered before losing her battle with the darkness was a weird-smelling guy standing over her, telling her everything was going to be okay.<\/p>\n
Present Day\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n
He arrived at the hotel fifteen minutes after the phone call from Fred. Driving hell for leather through the streets of LA, Angel\u2019s knuckles were still white when he got in the hotel, having gripped the steering wheel so hard.<\/p>\n
He listened in silence as Fred filled him in on the events of the day. Cordelia\u2019s visions, Wesley\u2019s visit to the evil law firm across town, his involvement in all of this.<\/p>\n
The lawyer had some front, he knew, dragging Cordelia into something he had no idea he\u2019d even been part of, giving her visions so powerful and potent that they\u2019d grown into physical manifestations of themselves.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere is she?\u201d He asked, once Fred had explained again, \u201cIs she\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay?\u201d Fred shook her head, \u201cNot even. Four visions, Angel, each worse than the last\u2026 And the pain doesn\u2019t seem to be lettin\u2019 up. That\u2019s not even mentionin\u2019 the whole\u2026 Boil and burn thing. She looks awful.\u201d<\/p>\n
He noticed the flush of her cheeks, as if saying that she didn\u2019t look good was betraying Cordelia. Proud to a fault, Angel knew that, Cordelia had been the same back in Sunnydale. \u201cI want to see her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure that\u2019s such a good idea,\u201d said Wesley from behind him, \u201cSeeing you might confuse Cordelia\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWesley–\u201d Angel\u2019s jaw tensed as he turned towards the former watcher, his eyes narrowing, \u201cI want to see her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wesley sighed, \u201cVery well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel took the stairs three at a time. He didn\u2019t know what room she was in \u2013 assured Wesley that he hadn\u2019t paid that much attention during his almost illicit visits with Cordelia \u2013 yet he could hear her heart beat, could hear the soft murmurs as she slept, the cries as she dreamt.<\/p>\n
When he got to her room, Angel pushed open her door, his heart splintering as he saw her lying there on the bed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t my idea to call you,\u201d Wesley told him as he got to his side, his gaze raking over Cordelia\u2019s too small form, \u201cI didn\u2019t even know about your visits before this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel sighed. \u201cWesley\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not berating you.\u201d He said, stopping as abruptly as he\u2019d started.<\/p>\n
The silence hung thick and heavy between them. The only sound in the room at that point was Cordelia\u2019s breathing \u2013 slow and laboured. She was hurting and all Angel wanted, all he knew Wesley wanted, was to make that stop.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t agree with the way you\u2019ve gone about it.\u201d He murmured, \u201cInserting yourself into her life like you did, making yourself part of it\u2026 You shouldn\u2019t have done that, Angel, but I understand that I didn\u2019t give you much choice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cordelia shifted suddenly, crying out as part of her burned skin scraped against bed clothes that were soft but brought no comfort. Wesley winced, watching Cordelia as sleep claimed her again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI blame myself for what happened,\u201d he held up a hand to ward off any argument, shook his head, \u201cI\u2019m not looking for absolution, Angel, I\u2019m simply telling you so that you understand. Fred said something to me downstairs, told me that we didn\u2019t just lose Cordelia the day of her accident\u2026<\/p>\n
We lost something else too. We used to be a team, you see. Chase Investigations \u2013 no case too big or small,\u201d the corners of his mouth lifted in a wistful smile, \u201cWe could handle it. And yet after Cordelia\u2019s accident, we stopped being a team.\u201d<\/p>\n
This time, when Wesley spoke his gaze drifted to Angel\u2019s. \u201cI\u2019ve made decisions these past few months that I\u2019m not proud of. I\u2019ve looked after Cordelia for so long now that it\u2019s become second nature and when something threatened to rock the boat\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand,\u201d said Angel.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you?\u201d Wesley asked, \u201cBecause I\u2019m not sure I do and I\u2019m the one trying to explain it. Cordelia is my best friend, Angel, has been for a long time. Ever since Doyle and Groo\u2026 All I\u2019ve ever wanted is to look out for her, to make sure she\u2019s safe and when you came along, you seemed to be able to put all that in jeopardy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel looked at him, puzzled, \u201cBy being her friend?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBy making us realise that there was more to Cordelia\u2019s life than we could give.\u201d He sighed. \u201cI\u2019d have figured it out, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n
By the grim determination on his face, Angel knew he probably would have, but he let him continue anyway, watching Cordelia for any signs of waking.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d noticed something was different a couple of weeks ago. She seemed happier almost\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel\u2019s spirits lifted at the simplest of statements. She seemed happier\u2026<\/i> Had he done that?<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd now this,\u201d Wesley continued, \u201cLilah\u2014She works for Wolfram and Hart. She\u2019s vindictive, Angel, will stop at nothing to get what she wants and even if that means destroying Cordelia, she\u2019ll do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel\u2019s spirits had dropped again, the mere mention of Wolfram and Hart enough to put a dampener on what Wesley had said, \u201cWhat does she want?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou,\u201d said Wesley, \u201cShe has\u2026 She has a mission for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA mission?\u201d Angel took a look at Cordelia, confusion evident on his face, \u201cWhat does that have to do with Cordelia?\u201d<\/p>\n
Wesley sighed, \u201cApparently they have their fingers on more buttons than even I knew about. They\u2019re going through Cordelia to get to you and unless you do what they want\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
They let the rest of the sentence hang between them, the implication clear. She\u2019d stop at nothing, she\u2019d go through Cordelia\u2026 Angel\u2019s eyes glittered angrily, his composure stretched to the limit as he tried to keep his demon from coming to the fore.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s this mission?\u201d<\/p>\n
Wesley sighed, \u201cIt\u2019s Wolfram and Hart. I can only assume that it\u2019s something bad, Angel\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
He nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd since past involvement with Wolfram and Hart has ended rather badly, I can only tell you of what a risk you\u2019re taking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel nodded again, \u201cI know that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood. Then I don\u2019t have to convince you to let me come with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel nodded, \u201cRight\u2014\u201d then, \u201c\u2014No, Wesley. I need you to stay here in case something goes wrong.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wesley frowned, \u201cBut it\u2019s Cordelia.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel knew that. He knew that Wesley would do anything to keep her safe but if something went wrong and Wesley didn\u2019t come back, he wasn\u2019t sure how Fred and Gunn would begin explaining it. \u201cI know that,\u201d he sighed, \u201cBut\u2026 If something happens, if this mission goes wrong\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Another sentence left hanging. Something else that they both didn\u2019t want to say.<\/p>\n
Sighing, Wesley shot a glance back at Cordelia. \u201cYou know where their offices are?\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel nodded. \u201cI\u2019ve run into them once or twice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Once or twice was an understatement and, unwittingly, Angel had brought Cordelia into the war between himself and Wolfram and Hart. They\u2019d dogged his every move since he\u2019d got to LA, capturing him during a street brawl with another vampire and trying to bribe him into becoming part of their payroll.<\/p>\n
Angel, as they\u2019d expected, had declined.<\/p>\n
Now, by seeing Cordelia, he\u2019d given them ammunition, a way to hurt him. And that didn\u2019t sit well with him. That didn\u2019t sit well with him at all.<\/p>\n
\u201cCare to elaborate?\u201d Wesley asked, gazing openly at the look on the vampires chiselled features.<\/p>\n
\u201cI should go,\u201d said Angel, his face clouding as he turned towards the door, \u201cIf Cordelia wakes up, tell her\u2026 Tell her it\u2019s being taken care of.\u201d<\/p>\n
To Be Continued\u2026 Yadda, yadda.<\/b><\/p>\n