CHAPTER 3<\/b><\/p>\n
Cordelia sat on the flush watching Giles secure the last of the chains on the vampire as he was tied into the bathtub. \u201cIs this a popular theme with you, Giles? The bathtub I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
The watcher sighed. \u201cThere aren\u2019t any other chairs or tables in the house Cordelia if you recall. Besides, this is the only room without windows considering you don\u2019t have curtains.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh right. I\u2019m broke. Kinda forget that every time.\u201d Rupert Giles straightened before he looked down at the slumping brunette sitting on the closed toilet seat.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened? Where are your parents?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWallowing in Barbados from what I\u2019m told. See that little bit of information I found out at six in the morning when those tax and debt collectors started playing with my doorbell.\u201d<\/p>\n
She waved an indifferent hand, her mind a blur with images. \u201cWoke up to accusations, threats and demands. Not the perfect way to start a day I tell you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Noticing the startling clarity in her hazel eyes despite the amount of alcohol this girl has consumed, Giles was filled with panic and concern. \u201cThey left you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPfft!\u201d The brunette snorted bitterly. \u201cNo they\u2019d left long before. They just never came back.\u201d<\/p>\n
The older man allowed himself a moment of fury at the prospect of her parents sitting under a beach umbrella while their teenage daughter was dragged into the gutter, but the girl had been through enough tonight.<\/p>\n
\u201cCordelia, why don\u2019t you take a shower? And then maybe I\u2019ll see if I can find something for you to eat. It\u2019ll give us something to do until Angelus wakes up.\u201d<\/p>\n
A yawn caught Cordelia off guard before she frowned, as she regarded the dead man in their guest bedroom bathtub.<\/p>\n
He lay there, like a marble statue, lifeless and not breathing. But already she could tell the wounds were healing at the expense of her very expensive Doberman.<\/p>\n
In Angelus\u2019 drunken stupor and between his growling at her medical skills he\u2019d managed to piece together his entire experience with this Initiative group.<\/p>\n
The starvation, the torture, and the experiments. She felt a certain amount of incredulity that she could feel sympathy for this monster. But then sympathy was all she had left.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho are these people Giles? I\u2019m not in the slayer\u2019s loop, not that I ever wanted to be, but he was supposed to be the strongest; master vampire and blah blah; right?\u201d She blinked up at the watcher. \u00a0\u201cJust makes me wonder, if they can do this to Angelus; I hope they\u2019re on our side.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo do I Cordelia.\u201d Putting a gentle hand on her shoulder, he tried a reassuring smile. \u201cYou should get cleaned up.\u201d<\/p>\n
She ran her gaze once over the sleeping vampire before standing and stretching. \u201cVamp-sitting shift is officially changing.\u201d She offered him a rather wobbly smile. \u201cI better take that shower, before the water goes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was almost out of the room when Giles called out, \u201cCordelia?\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking over her shoulder she met curious brown eyes behind the glistening spectacles.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did you save him?\u201d<\/p>\n
And she\u2019d been asking herself that exact same question all night. \u201cI don\u2019t know. Seemed like the only option at the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
She frowned slightly, more to herself. \u201cWeird, huh?\u201d<\/p>\n
The watcher looked back at the silent vampire as Cordelia left. \u201cMost definitely.\u201d From previous experience, he knew Cordelia Chase was never the kind of girl who put her life on the line for a lot of people.<\/p>\n
In one night, she\u2019d managed to rescue a crazed vampire, drag him to cover before dawn, administered first aid and managed to keep herself alive in the process. This wasn\u2019t the girl he\u2019d seen walk out of her last Scooby meeting.<\/p>\n
What had changed between then and now?<\/p>\n
Rupert Giles liked answers and so far, he was only accumulating questions. Picking up a bag of blood he\u2019d purchased on his way over, he held the vampire\u2019s chin and poured it down his throat.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
It was almost afternoon when Cordelia finally made it downstairs into the study. She felt stronger and more in control; the pep talk she\u2019d given herself in the shower still echoing in her head. She didn\u2019t need anyone.<\/p>\n
She was Cordelia Chase.<\/p>\n
From the suitcase she\u2019d packed of the belongs she could call her own, Cordelia had picked out her white tennis shorts and a soft gray t-shirt and brushed her damp hair straight and away from her face.<\/p>\n
What she wouldn\u2019t do for a hairdryer right now. She blinked at Giles sitting on the white bathroom floor, his head against the wall as he snored.<\/p>\n
Hiding a smile she perched back on the toilet seat and noticed the four empty bags of blood. So now he was also fed. Suddenly they\u2019d gone from fighting these creeplings to nursing them; all because she\u2019d managed to get one home.<\/p>\n
Now that she was cleaned and slightly sober, she wondered what the hell had she been thinking.<\/p>\n
But then there was something about the desolate loss in his gold rimmed eyes that had matched her own. Like losing your life. Or worse. Your religion.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave a nice bath?\u201d<\/p>\n
She nodded as Giles\u2019 weary question before asking hers. \u201cYou called the slayer?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI left her a message on her voicemail I believe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCall her back.\u201d<\/p>\n
The watcher blinked. \u201cPardon?\u201d<\/p>\n
She turned to him with icy hazel eyes. \u201cCall her back Giles and tell her not to come here. I don\u2019t want her to see me this way. None of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCordelia\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
She raised her hand before looking away. \u201cPity, I don\u2019t want. I had this planned. I was supposed to be on a bus to LA as we speak, on my way to an acting career and new life of fame and fortune. He was never a part of it, but I bet God is laughing his ass off now at the joke that is my life. Well God has another thing coming.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked back with resolve etched across her beautiful face.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo catastrophic life altering plan is keeping me here Giles and no one follows me. That was the plan. I go without notice and never look back. Well, maybe to brag once in a while to people that shall remain unnamed for trying to break Cordelia Chase. Besides that,\u201d she stood purposefully,<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m gone.\u201d There was the reference again.<\/p>\n
His eyes narrowed behind his glasses. Something had happened. Something he was not aware of. \u201cWhere will you go?\u201d<\/p>\n
She shrugged. \u201cThere\u2019s bound to be an acting agent out there looking for a beautiful fresh face.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow will you find one?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have yellow pages; don\u2019t they?\u201d<\/p>\n
The man sighed before standing. \u201cCordelia, there are reasons for everything that happens in your life.\u201d<\/p>\n
The brunette looked up with a frown. \u201cOh please don\u2019t.\u201d She held up a hand and rolled her eyes. \u201cDon\u2019t lecture me. I\u2019ve done it alone all this time Librarian-man; believe me I can do this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou didn\u2019t catch that bus for a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOne who calls himself Angelus; yeah. I know. I was there,\u201d she shot back the acidic retort before letting out an exasperated breath. \u201cLook, just call the slayer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBuffy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhatever!\u201d She snapped, her anger getting the best of her as she glared at him. \u201cCall her and tell her not to come just yet. I\u2019ll be packed and out of here in an hour. Then you can go save the world or whatever.\u201d<\/p>\n
When soft compelling hands caught her shoulders, it was almost hell not to wrench away or throw herself into his arms, but he was one of them. They\u2019d only laugh.<\/p>\n
He hadn\u2019t; but it was a matter of time. \u201cLet me go Giles.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCordelia.\u201d She finally met his eyes, only to blink at the understanding in the place of the pity she was expecting.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll call her back, but only to tell her to meet us at my house. You cannot just get up and go to LA like that and alone no less.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCordelia be reasonable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Crossing her arms she stood there, with the stubborn line of her body and her eyes not meeting his. \u201cSorry, but sense and reason left when I lost my life Giles. Now all I have is me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou aren\u2019t alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes I am.\u201d<\/p>\n
Giles resisted the urge to reach out and physically shake the woman out of her mulish state.\u00a0If she was worried about breaking, shutting herself away wasn\u2019t going to help. And the lack of emotional response on the woman worried him more than her need to distance herself from her previous life.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo you aren\u2019t!\u201d When her brow and spine stiffened at his sharp rebuttal he softened his tone.<\/p>\n
\u201cCome home with me. I have a friend in LA. He has contacts. Let me at the least help you settle down and give you a few names. You can\u2019t just pack up and take a bus to a new life Cordelia; these things take time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCharity\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIT is NOT charity!\u201d He held her firmly, without letting her avert her gaze.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are my student. You have been someone who I care for as much as I care for all my other students. I will not let you put yourself in harms way and I will, at the same time, not be in your way. Just take a little time and let\u2019s plan this properly.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every notion and defense she\u2019d made in her head seemed to crumble slowly and steadily as the man held her in place. She\u2019d convinced herself that she could make it. She\u2019d do it on her own. She\u2019d find a way. She was Cordelia Chase.<\/p>\n
Now here he was standing there telling her she wasn\u2019t alone and she was supposed to just shut up and take it like a good little girl.<\/p>\n
Why did they always seem to dictate life to everything in Sunnydale? Slutty Buffy, cheating Xander and opportunist little Willow! Now they had the watcher telling her what to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not telling anyone I\u2019m penniless Giles. I\u2019ve had enough traumas to last me a lifetime.\u201d The line of her shoulder was still distrustful.<\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t say a word.\u201d Stepping away he gave enough personal space to reassure her that he wasn\u2019t pushing her into any decision, but he just couldn\u2019t bear the thought of letting the young woman lose herself in the dirty little alleyways of LA.<\/p>\n
She might not have been the greatest Scooby, but she was a part of them for a while and she was as innocent as the rest.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll tell them your parents sold the estate to buy a place in LA and when you have an agent, a place to go and a job to support you; you can leave and no one has to know.\u201d<\/p>\n
No. The word whispered through the young woman\u2019s head until she grit her teeth and averted her gaze. Looking at the helpless vampire, who couldn\u2019t feed himself anymore.<\/p>\n
The fangless, defenseless creature needed them and by some sick twist of fate, she was still here in Sunnyhell between people who took her life from her to begin with. Looking up she regarded the silent man for a moment before letting out a sigh and rolling her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cFine. I\u2019ll shack over at your place until I\u2019ve caught my bearing.\u201d At the visible relief on his face she pointed her finger at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cRemember this is temporary Giles. You aren\u2019t keeping me. And I\u2019m only saying that so you can\u2019t say I didn\u2019t warn you. I\u2019m very likable. Don\u2019t get attached.\u201d<\/p>\n
He smiled. \u201cI shall practice restraint.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just because she accepted help didn\u2019t mean she trusted him or anyone else. If she was offered free room and board until she had her path clear, who was she to argue?<\/p>\n
At least that\u2019s what she told herself.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
It had been a slow progression from her house to the car with one wrapped dead body between two people, one of which was still worried about her nails.<\/p>\n
And from across the hood of Giles car Cordelia had let her eyes run over the white pillars of the house she\u2019d been born into, the safe walls that kept the monsters out, the garden she\u2019s played in as a child and the driveway where she\u2019d backed up her mother\u2019s Jag into a tree when she was eleven.<\/p>\n
The memories, the moments and the security hadn\u2019t been wrenched away until that moment when she stood outside the huge wrought iron gates that were closed to her forever. Along with the sanctity of calling some place her home.<\/p>\n
And even in the old man\u2019s company, Cordelia felt like she was the loneliest person alive. Or dead.<\/p>\n
Now she stood there while Giles dragged the wrapped vampire across the living room and into the bathroom as she placed her suitcase at the foot of his stairs and surveyed the little den with listless interest.<\/p>\n
Couch. TV. Books. That was all there was to Giles\u2019s most lived-in room.<\/p>\n
He walked up to her dusting his hands and wincing at the pulled muscle in his back. \u201cI\u2019m too old for this.\u201d His smile was accommodating and Cordelia tried not to think it was \u2018too\u2019 accommodating.<\/p>\n
He had invited her into his home. She couldn\u2019t trust him, but she didn\u2019t have to hate him. \u201cWould you like something to eat?\u201d When a yawn caught her by surprise he smiled. \u201cOr you could catch up on some sleep.\u201d<\/p>\n
Flopping into the couch the girl took a deep breath. \u201cMind if I hog your couch?\u201d<\/p>\n
He shook his head before pulling off his coat. \u201cMi casa es su casa.\u201d He hung it up in the hall closet. \u201cI\u2019ll put on some tea and rest for a bit. You sure you\u2019ll be alright on the sofa?\u201d<\/p>\n
But the girl was already sprawled across its length her head on her folded arms and her mouth open as she lay there.<\/p>\n
Asleep.<\/p>\n