Part 10<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cDo you?\u201d Fred asked.<\/p>\n
Angel nodded slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt wasn\u2019t a car accident, it Angelus wasn\u2019t it?\u201d Gunn asked.<\/p>\n
Angel nodded again.<\/p>\n
\u201cTold you,\u201d Gunn shot a look at Wesley.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, Angel, you, well not you, said\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat Angelus had wanted to turn the dark haired woman filled with beauty, spirit and fire, the one that he had marked, the one that he remembered in flitting images but never her identity or face over the years, just a lasting impression of want. And that Angelus, if he ever came across that woman again, would want to finish what he had started in 1898.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d Wesley took off his glasses. \u201cNot with so much detail though, but yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never had that conversation with you, I wouldn\u2019t have, it\u2019s a conservation I wouldn\u2019t ever want to have to admit, not with my soul in my being, but it is true and Angelus would never change his mind.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo he fucked up. What was Angel doing during all this? Cordelia was safe when she wrote that letter. Angel went to Sunnydale on the day she wrote the letter. He wouldn\u2019t have left her alone to get caught by Angelus. He wouldn\u2019t have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel took a deep breath. \u201cYou all keep talking about past Angelus and other Angel\u2019s. There was only one Angelus in Sunnydale in 1998 and that was me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe other one got her, fuck. That still doesn\u2019t explain what Angel was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel stared at the black man, he seemed angrier at an absent Angel rather than the vampire right in front of him that brutalized his friend.<\/p>\n
Wesley shook his head. \u201cOf course. I was being stupid.\u201d He studied Angel. \u201cYou aren\u2019t the Angelus that was present when Angelus from 1898 and Angel and Cordelia were in 1998\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhoa, Wes, are you now saying there were three of them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, it worked. We know that Angelus of 1898 was returned. Angel was successful, I imagine he had Cordy\u2019s soul safely in the orb and left the teenage Cordelia in what he believed to be in a safe environment from Angelus of that times\u2019 notice\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWesley, he already noticed her, Cordelia said so in her letter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, but that Angelus would have no memory of the period during the time anomaly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201dAngel remembered Cordelia from 1898.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes only after he went back to save Cordy. Angel only connected the dots when we returned, and then he had a face to go with a vague memory, one that we couldn\u2019t prevent because Angelus had already bitten Cordelia. But Angelus hadn\u2019t remembered any of the specifics of the Portal or the fight with Angel.<\/p>\n
No, no matter if Angelus of 1998 did notice, he would\u2019ve forgotten once Angelus of the past was gone and Angel and Cordelia were gone. Things should\u2019ve have been as they were. Angelus still having the dream, that couldn\u2019t be helped but not realizing that the teenage Cordelia was the girl, because of Angel\u2019s love for Buffy and Angelus obsession with the slayer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWesley, Angel and Cordelia weren\u2019t successful.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think they were or least they thought they were. Something must have happened, something not obvious to them or they would\u2019ve never left the teenage Cordelia, but something did happen that changed the course of Angelus\u2019 interaction with the teenage Cordelia. The question is what? That\u2019s what we have to find and prevent from happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThis time crap gives me a headache.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wesley nodded. \u201cAngel, in 1998, what happened between you and Cordelia?\u201d He faced the vampire.<\/p>\n
Angel stared, and then looked away.<\/p>\n
\u201cAngel, we have to know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel closed his eyes hearing Cordelia Chase\u2019s screams flowing around him as her blood warmed him, as he tore into her digging further and further into the fire. Needing the heat for as long as possible before taking it away from her forever, leaving him with his vampire mate.<\/p>\n
Content as the blood drained away, tasting slowly savoring every tantalizing drop. Finally ready, the bloody incision on his chest where his heart would never beat bleeding, pulling the broken body close, growling as he prepared for her to drink.<\/p>\n
Jumping, dropping the body as Buffy broke the door down. Angel fought the slayer with a rage so furious, as the moronic boy followed the slayer, taking Angelus\u2019 desire away in his arms.<\/p>\n
Angelus would\u2019ve killed the slayer that day, but Buffy didn\u2019t wait around for the finish, she had jumped out the window leaving sunlight in her wake. After that day, Buffy had always been more than willing to kill Angelus. The vampire just never gave her the chance. Settling on the best way he could to make her live a living hell, promising one day that he would kill her for his loss.<\/p>\n
\u201cAngel, please.\u201d Wesley urged.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne night I saw her at the bronze with Buffy, Xander, Willow and the werewolf, and I knew. I started that night to follow her, to send her \u2018gifts\u2019. I wanted to give her the moron boy\u2019s head on a platter; instead I gave her parents\u2019 heads\u2026\u201d he stopped at Fred\u2019s small choked gasp and Gunn\u2019s curse.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, Angel, perhaps you misunderstood me, we do not need to hear or want to know the details of the atrocities I\u2019m sure that Angelus did commit to Cordy, it is enough to know the result -she\u2019s in a coma. What we need to know is specifically what triggered Angelus notice. You said, one night at the Bronze. Tell us about that night. What had happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel nodded, his eyes shifting from Fred’s green expression and Gunn’s murderous glare. \u201cI was in Bronze, looking for Buffy trying to figure out a new way to spook her. They were sitting at a table and I remember hearing Cordelia\u2019s voice over the others. She was bitching and complaining, blaming Buffy about something. I didn\u2019t understand at first. But, then Cordy, took off the scarf she was wearing around her neck and pointed to the vampire bite marks on her neck. She was blaming Buffy for somehow getting her bitten.<\/p>\n
Her argument didn\u2019t make much sense. For that matter Buffy\u2019s retorts didn\u2019t either. She told Cordelia that it wasn\u2019t her fault if an imaginary vampire bit her. Cordelia was back to yelling about the bite, yelling that they weren\u2019t imaginary. She didn\u2019t even remember getting bit. Buffy wondered how the hell that was her fault. Cordelia argued back that Buffy was a slayer she needed to be out there hunting down rabid dead guys, not wasting time pouting over me and my lost soul\u201d Angel gave a ghost of a smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, she was a lot more colorful in her choice of words. Then the whole table joined in trying to calm them both down. I was intrigued. Cordelia had apparently been bitten by a vampire and lived, but didn\u2019t remember it, none of them knew how it happened. So, when Cordelia left to go to the bathroom I followed. I came up from behind, grabbing her sensing the bites. That\u2019s when I knew.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t understand, I still don\u2019t really, but there was no denying that the wounds weren\u2019t placed there by a vampire having a snack. My scent was deep in the wounds. I had marked her, more than once, the smell of her blood intermingled with my scent. I saw her, really saw her then. How could\u2019ve I forgotten those eyes. She was the dark-haired beauty from my dreams. I didn\u2019t understand, but I did know. I was stunned, she screamed, Buffy and the rest ran up before I had a chance to take her out of the Bronze.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat doesn\u2019t make any sense.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI realize that but that\u2019s what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not disputing you, but the marks you describe weren\u2019t ever on a 17 year old Cordelia. Cordelia was twenty when Wolfram & Hart kidnapped her and tossed into 19th century that\u2019s the body that Angelus bit. And Angel\u2019s marks\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAngel\u2019s what,\u2026\u201d the vampire asked in surprise.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, well Angel did, well mark her\u2026I can only say that was a tense moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTense? I wanted to stake his ass when I saw the fresh wounds, I would\u2019ve killed him too, if Cordy hadn\u2019t started yelling at the top of her lungs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wesley nodded. \u201cCordy explained that while it was none of our business, she and Angel agreed that Angel would mark her to remove that taint of Angelus. Of course, Angel never said anything, but he wasn\u2019t real happy with her telling us even that, though how he thought we wouldn\u2019t have noticed is beyond me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGuys, he wasn\u2019t trying to keep it a secret and it wasn’t any of our business. It was personal between them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot our business that he was snacking on Cordy.\u201d Gunn shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wasn\u2019t snacking. Cordelia explained it more to me later when we were out shopping. She said that when they got back from London, Angel had been mad her. You remember how he was.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was because she tried to sacrifice herself to Angelus so Angel and I could get away. It was stupid.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWesley, she didn\u2019t know about the prophecy or rather that it meant her and not Buffy. But, Cordy said that wasn\u2019t really what made Angel mad. He had been angry that she let Angelus mark her. Which if you ask me wasn\u2019t really fair, Cordy told me that the only reason she did it was because Angelus lied to her and told her that he wouldn\u2019t kill that other woman and he didn\u2019t tell her it was mark, just that he wanted to bite her.<\/p>\n
Of course, he killed the girl anyway, Molly, I think that\u2019s the name Cordy said. Anyway, Cordy told me that having Angel redo the marks was the only way she could think to make sure that the memory of what Angelus had done, what she had done, wouldn\u2019t come between them. Cordy said that she wasn\u2019t Angelus\u2019 didn\u2019t want to be Angelus\u2019 and she wouldn\u2019t never be his, just Angel\u2019s, isn\u2019t that sweet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d Gunn shook his head. \u201cIt\u2019s \u2026NO. And he still does it. You telling me the issue of Angelus comes up after friggin time they have sex.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCharles,\u201d Wesley said sharply. \u201cWe agreed that Cordy and Angel\u2019s intimate moments were not open for discussion or censure. They are consenting adults in love.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d agree if they kept it in the bedroom, but you can\u2019t even go in the basement anymore. And you have to knock on every friggin closed door just in case you walk in on them.<\/p>\n
\u201cCharles, the hotel is their home.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s OUR office and I didn\u2019t see you so damn calm when you saw them on your desk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wesley winced. \u201cDon\u2019t\u2026I\u2019ve been trying to forget that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so sweet, they love each other so much.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDamn\u2019t girl, you think everything they do is sweet, even them splitting our ear drums when they decide to see who is the loudest when they get to arguing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKyerumption and Moira, it\u2019s so romantic.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGirl\u201d Gunn threw up his hands.<\/p>\n
Angel was still gaping when the human\u2019s finally fell silent. He gulped. \u201cCordy and I are lovers? MY soul?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, yes. Your soul was bound when\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Fred squeaked. \u201cDon\u2019t.\u201d holding her hands to her head. \u201cI don\u2019t want to hear about Darla sex.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho does?\u201d Gunn rolled his eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cDarla is dead.\u201d Angel said completely confused.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo shit Sherlock, she\u2019s a vampire.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s dust.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, The lawyers- they brought her back to mind fuck with you. It worked pretty well until you had some epiphany while boinking the ex.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCharles, I said I didn\u2019t want to hear it, I heard it once already today, I don\u2019t want to hear it again. It\u2019s disturbing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFred, Angel and Cordy hadn\u2019t even realized that they loved each then. He wasn\u2019t cheating on Cordy, okay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStill, it\u2019s disturbing.\u201d Fred glared and crossed her arms.<\/p>\n
Angel flinched a bit that was the first time the young woman actually glared at him. \u201cI didn\u2019t do it,\u201d he defended.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, right.\u201d Fred smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t get it, you can go all gooey eyes at Angel snacking on Cordy, but you can\u2019t handle\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fred held up her hand. \u201cCharles, I mean it.\u201d She glared at the black man.<\/p>\n
\u201cDamn, girl, you\u2019ve been hanging around Cordy too long.\u201d Gunn looked at his shoes.<\/p>\n
\u201cCordy, Cordy, Cordelia.\u201d Wesley shouted.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d the room jumped, even the vampire.<\/p>\n
\u201cCordelia, not her sex life with Angel, is our concern. We\u2019ve digressed into the gutter. Now let\u2019s take our self out and continue with our problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel frowned. He wanted to hear more about his sex life with Cordy. Angel couldn\u2019t believe the teenager that his demon wanted, still wanted, ever loved him and let him mark her, repeatedly and that he complied with what seemed to be very little guilt.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t make any sense, but the idea was intriguing and a balm to his memories.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs I was trying to explain, Cordelia hadn\u2019t been marked when she was 17. Damn. Angelus must have marked her before Angel and Cordelia returned home. But, Angel must have realized that would leave the teenage Cordy vulnerable.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe he just had to get the hell out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wesley shrugged. \u201cBringing back Cordy was of course his priority, but so would keeping the teenage girl safe, after all she would become the woman that Angel loved. But, that has to be it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel interrupted. \u201cYou talk as if the future Cordelia and the 17 year old Cordelia are the same but obviously not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wesley puzzled.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou keep harping on the 17 year old body, but say nothing about the 20 year old one as least not in regards to 1998.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, yes, well, this time Wolfram & Hart didn\u2019t kidnap Cordy and toss her through a portal. They transported her soul, I imagine it was to delay us from figuring out the entire plan, we wasted a lot of time trying to understand why our Cordy fell into a coma. We couldn\u2019t be sure if it was medical or mystical. Lorne read her and told us that her soul was gone. When Angel left, Cordelia- her body rather, was with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re no longer a rogue demon hunter are you?\u201d Angel asked the man.<\/p>\n
\u201cActually, I\u2019m the boss of Angel\u2019s Investigations.\u201d Wesley nodded at the subtle complement from the vampire.<\/p>\n
Angel raised his brows.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, we agree what we need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gunn wrinkled his brow. \u201cWe decided something? I get that the marks were what sets Angelus off, but what else have we decided.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf Fred is finished with the spell, I will go through the portal and warn Angel.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gunn shook his head. \u201cThat we haven\u2019t decided. What are you planning to warn him about- Hey, Angel don\u2019t let Angelus bite Cordy. I\u2019m guessing the vamp already knows that one.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut not the importance.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you really think knowing will make him what- more protective of Cordy. I\u2019m saying changing history is the last of his concerns. He\u2019s got be on high alert as it is. Telling him isn’t going to change that or make him more protective. We\u2019re talking about Angel and Cordy here. When has the vamp ever not risked anything, his soul, us, portals to save her?\u201d<\/p>\n
Wesley grumbled his agreement. \u201cI will stay and help him make sure that it doesn\u2019t happen. As concentrated as Angel may be, bad things do happen. Cordy was put in danger.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why can\u2019t I go? You got to go to 19th century.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI lived in Sunnydale, I’m familiar with the town.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we\u2019ll both go I\u2019ll follow your Boy Scout preparations. \u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWesley,\u201d Angel interrupted.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAngel, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s wise. If you go, there will be four of you running around Sunnydale, it could get very confusing. And the possible time mishaps are mind-boggling.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWesley, I\u2019m going. It\u2019s my present you\u2019re screwing with, it\u2019s my past you\u2019re changing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo the spell.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere may be a problem with Angel and Cordy trusting you.\u201d<\/p>\n
Angel shook his head. \u201cGunn is right. Angel is on high alert, but if one of the Angelus marked Cordelia, it was because he failed to protect her. Who is in the best position to make sure that he doesn\u2019t do it again? Angel stared.<\/p>\n
Wesley considered. \u201cOkay, but don\u2019t mention anything to Angel about Cordy being in a coma by your hands, I think that is information that would not be beneficial to a trusting relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n
“Ya think?\u201d Gunn rolled his eyes.<\/p>\n
Fred cleared her throat. “What if Cordy was bitten before Angel got there?”<\/p>\n
“Fred?”<\/p>\n
“She did say in her letter that her plan to stay unnoticed didn’t work. Being bitten, well, that would mean the plan didn’t work.”<\/p>\n
“She didn’t say that in her letter.”<\/p>\n
“That doesn’t mean it didn’t happen though. Cordy wouldn’t write that in her letter. That would be something she would’ve waited to tell Angel in person. She would’ve known how that would’ve upset him.”<\/p>\n
“What are you suggesting, Fred?” knowing that the young woman had more on her mind.<\/p>\n
“That we send Angel back a few days before Cordelia’s letter was written. That way well….”<\/p>\n
“Yes, I see,” Wesley took off his glasses, turning to the vampire. “We will send you before Angel arrives. You can protect her until then, though; I would caution you about approaching her unless there is an immediate threat. But otherwise, you will need to stay out of sight. We can’t be sure what your presence may do to the timeline. We’re sending you to fix it, not make it worse.”<\/p>\n
Angel nodded. There was no denying that he needed to see a healthy beautiful teenager, one that would have existed had he not destroyed her, he wanted to know the Cordy that her family loved and that loved a vampire with a soul.<\/p>\n
Yet, he was also frightened that if he did approach her that somehow she would know and hate him for what he had done.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
Wesley, Fred, and Gunn sat around the office, all quiet in their contemplation. Fred broke the silence. “I hope this works.”<\/p>\n
Wesley nodded. “If not,” he handed out the wafers to his friends. “We’ll know.”<\/p>\n