Part 21<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m sorry about Angel earlier.\u201d Cordelia faced Duncan. \u201cHe didn\u2019t mean anything by it. Even under the best circumstances he isn\u2019t the most social guy and, well,\u201d she shrugged, \u201che just got back. And you have understand he just got back and the reason he went was horrible and he was hurting and now with everything else.\u201d Cordelia smiled apologetically.<\/p>\n
\u201cCordy, you don\u2019t have to apologize for the vampire.\u201d Duncan gently caressed her shoulder. \u201cAre you sure you want to go down into that dark basement? It\u2019s a beautiful day and I know how you like the sun.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMacLeod\u2019s right. Don\u2019t apologize for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen you do it and STOP sneaking.\u201d Cordelia jumped.<\/p>\n
\u201cReady.\u201d Angel headed for the basement.<\/p>\n
Cordelia rolled her eyes. \u201cIgnore him, I knew he woke up too early. His pig cocktail soothing effects mustn\u2019t have kicked in.\u201d Cordelia moved after the vampire.<\/p>\n
\u201cCordy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSee ya, later Duncan. Take advantage of not having to waste your morning with me.\u201d Cordelia smiled.<\/p>\n
Duncan sighed knowing that his practice time Cordelia was never was a waste.<\/p>\n
Part 22<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are you being such a jerk?\u201d Cordelia stomped down the stairs of the basement.<\/p>\n
Angel turned his sword in his hand. \u201cI can\u2019t go outside.\u201d<\/p>\n
Okay that caused her to stop in her tracks. Angel not being able to go outside couldn\u2019t be the cause of his jerkdom, otherwise he\u2019d be a jerk every minute of every day from sunrise to sunset, and he wasn\u2019t.<\/p>\n
Sometimes, he was actually very wonderful, when not broody, socially inept or a dumbass and even then he wasn\u2019t jerk- not counting a good portion of last year but that had nothing to do with going outside just a dead, human, dead whining blonde. Cordelia scrunched her face at the pacing vampire.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could put more lights up. There are those sun ones, you\u2019d be okay with that, right?\u201d Angel looked up to the ceiling imagining hanging bright lights manufacturing sunlight for Cordelia.<\/p>\n
Cordelia blinked, her tongue wetting her suddenly dry lips. Her vampire was being wonderful again and stupid.<\/p>\n
\u201cSure, why not. It\u2019s pretty dark down here. Get the sun lamps and we might even be able to grow real ones of these.\u201d Cordelia fingered a bright plastic flower.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere\u2019d those come from?\u201d Angel stared at the fake plant and all the others ones placed around the basement.<\/p>\n
\u201cSurprise.\u201d Cordelia smiled. \u201cI thought bringing some life, well some semblance of life, would brighten the dank atmosphere.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2018ve been practicing down here?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot for me, silly, for you when you got back- Viola, you\u2019re back.\u201d Her grin widened. \u201cDo you like?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2026\u201d Angel just stared. \u201cCordy, I can\u2019t\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGo outside. Duh, did you just figure that out. Are we going to do it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo it?\u201d Angel\u2019s eyes jerked up from the plastic flowers to Cordy\u2019s hazel ones.<\/p>\n
\u201cPractice. Geez.\u201d Cordelia swung up her sword.<\/p>\n
Angel blinked incomprehensibly at the weapon in her hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cSword fighting,\u201d waving the blade in the air.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight,\u201d Angel nodded. \u201cI just thought,\u201d he looked around the dark room.<\/p>\n
\u201cLights could work.\u201d Cordelia followed his gesture. \u201cBut, Angel, I don\u2019t need the sun to swing a sword.\u201d She patted him gently on the arm.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou do like the sunlight.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSure when it\u2019s on a beach and I\u2019m laying there in my itty-bitty bikini soaking in the rays with a pretty drink and next to a hot guy, well, we only got two out of three here, so no need for sun.\u201d She shrugged.<\/p>\n
It took Angel a minute to tick off her sun requirements. No pretty drink and no bikini. Though, Angel wasn\u2019t so sure Cordelia\u2019s spandex works out pants and midriff t-shirt could leave any more to the imagination than an itty-bitty bikini. Angel\u2019s eyes traveled up and down Cordelia\u2019s form. How itty-bitty was itty-bitty? Wait. That was two. Did Cordy just say he was a hot guy?<\/p>\n
\u201cAngel?\u201d Cordelia bit her lip and kicked at the dirt.<\/p>\n
Angel cocked his head at her sudden nervousness. He thought that was limited to him. \u201cCordy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTell me about your trip. Are you really okay? You\u2019ve been acting weird. Is that why? I know it can\u2019t have been easy. Will you talk to me now? Please.\u201d Cordelia blinked up at the vampire.<\/p>\n
\u201cNevermind.\u201d Cordelia looked back at her feet. It wasn\u2019t fair. She told Angel about her fear about being a killer. Cordelia sighed. Who was she kidding? When was life ever fair?<\/p>\n
The vampire was the perfect example. He had tried so hard so many times and life just kept kicking him. How could she ever thing that she could help him through Buffy\u2019s death. Buffy wasn\u2019t just some woman that he loved, she had been his hope. Cordelia had figured that out even back in Sunnydale.<\/p>\n
Angel reached out and gently took Cordelia\u2019s hand. He lead her too the bench along the wall. \u201cI told you about the monk demons, so I guess you figured out it wasn\u2019t completely peaceful.\u201d He said lightly.<\/p>\n
Cordelia looked up at the vampire. She squeezed her smile in. She stayed quiet as she intertwined her fingers with Angel\u2019s. He was going to talk.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut in between that \u2018fun\u2019, I had a chance to think, really think\u2026It\u2019s amazing how conducive a dark ship hold is for thinking,\u201d he tried a soft smile in Cordelia\u2019s direction. \u201cI am okay, it\u2019s just that\u2026. I feel guilty\u2026surprise, uh.\u201d Angel\u2019s smile got bigger.<\/p>\n
\u201cGuilty?\u201d Cordelia blinked and drew her hand back. \u201cGuilty because you weren\u2019t there to save her. I wish\u2026I\u2026\u201d Cordelia\u2019s head fell.<\/p>\n
Angel re-gripped her hand, pulling her face back to his with his other hand. \u201cI went to Pylea because I had to, I had to save you. YOU have nothing to feel guilty about and that\u2019s not why I feel guilty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cordelia blinked at the tears that were suddenly forming. For a dense ass vampire, Angel could know exactly what she was thinking. \u201cAngel, if you had been here\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen it would\u2019ve been one day too long before you were home and Buffy would\u2019ve still died. You heard Willow, they didn\u2019t call\u2026and I would\u2019ve never left you in a hell-dimension.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, Angel\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t Cordy, I did what I had to do, what I would do it again, no matter what. I\u2026I need you Cordy so you see you can\u2019t leave.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLeave?\u201d Cordelia had long forgotten her earlier dilemma.<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard Fred\u2019s babble about France before Gunn shushed her up. You aren\u2019t going with MacLeod.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not your seer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t care. The visions aren\u2019t who you are or why I need you. They\u2019re just after products like\u2026..\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you just compare me to a car?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA very nice one.\u201d Angel gently smiled.<\/p>\n
Cordelia hmmphed with less than her usual indignation.<\/p>\n
Angel held her hand tightly as the room became silent.<\/p>\n
Cordelia looked up. \u201cYou still haven\u2019t explained why you feel guilty, other than that\u2019s a normal feeling for your brood-self.\u201d She said softly.<\/p>\n
Angel leaned back against the wall, keeping Cordelia\u2019s hand gripped in his. \u201cI loved Buffy, I hadn\u2019t cared for anyone as much as her and then she was gone. It hurt and I also realized that I could still live. How was that possible? I didn\u2019t know so I left hoping to figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAngel,\u201d Cordelia turned cupping his face. \u201cOf course, you loved her, she was your dream of the future, but, Angel, she wouldn\u2019t want you to go back into the broody sewer pathetic mode. She would want you to go on with your life, your mission. That\u2019s honoring her, living is honoring her not betraying her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI figured that out.\u201d Angel smiled softly.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh.\u201d Cordelia squirmed a bit at her show of emotion.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also figured out that I moved on and that did make me feel guilty. I hadn\u2019t believed that would happen, but it did. Her death hurt but it wasn\u2019t has devastating as I thought.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAngel, it\u2019s all right. You\u2019re allowed to move on.\u201d Cordelia kept the surprise out of her voice. Angel had moved on from Buffy? When did that happen? Why was she the last to know?<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels wrong somehow.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAngel.\u201d Cordelia turned to the vampire.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, I also know its right. It\u2019s just hard to forget.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAngel, don\u2019t forget, you can\u2019t, never do that- that would be a betrayal. Buffy wasn\u2019t my best friend, in the most generous stretch of the imagination, but you loved her and she was a major hero on the world scale barometer, even in my high school bitchy days I was able to pick up on that little fact. Buffy needs to be remembered, her life needs to be honored and I can\u2019t think of a better way than to continue on with your mission. Granted, at first glance you seemed to be polar opposites- vampire- slayer- but you are on the same side. You can\u2019t give up.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn\u2019t planning to.\u201d Angel decided not to explain his major insight to the young woman that was the subject of the insight. Cordelia\u2019s eyes pleaded with him to agree. Angel sat still realizing that his particular insight kept changing and expanding every time he was in Cordelia\u2019s presence. It had gone from recognizing a need, to seeing her amazing attractiveness to just the necessity of knowing Cordelia would always remain in his line of senses at all time.<\/p>\n
\u201cYoa, Angel, Cordy.\u201d Gunn bellowed from top of the stairs.<\/p>\n
Angel kept hold of Cordelia\u2019s hand as he went to the foot of the stops. \u201cYeah, what? We\u2019re busy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRight, got that, but hey new case, thought you\u2019d be interested, was it \u2018my bad?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d Cordelia shouted up the stairs. \u201cWe\u2019ll be up.\u201d Cordelia bit her lip. \u201cNo time like the present to get back with life, business and the whole shebang. The sword stuff will have to wait till later.\u201d\u2019<\/p>\n
Angel looked to the sword. \u201cI meant it when I said that I would be training you from now on.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAngel,\u201d Cordelia leaned up caressing his stern expression. \u201cIt\u2019s okay to live. So, let\u2019s go live, we can do the sword thingy later. Clients are a major start. It\u2019s a living.\u201d She tilted her head.<\/p>\n
Angel nodded refusing to let go of her fingers.<\/p>\n
Part 23<\/b><\/p>\n
Angel paused at the bottom of the steps giving a slight tug to Cordelia\u2019s hand. The young woman turned in her ascent her brow raised in question.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean it, Cordy. You\u2019re not training with MacLeod anymore.\u201d Despite Angel\u2019s contentment at sharing a preciously close moment with Cordelia, Angel wasn\u2019t sidetracked from his earlier objective. Angel had to make sure that Cordelia understood that his intentions to train her weren\u2019t for that particular day only.<\/p>\n
He had thought he made it clear the night before, but obviously not if she had been about to practice with the Immortal before Angel interrupted Duncan\u2019s attempt to take Cordy away into the sunlit garden. A growl threatened to break free from his chest at the thought of Duncan\u2019s ability to give Cordelia the sun and his certain willingness to take advantage of Angel\u2019s vulnerability to the bright ball\u2019s rays.<\/p>\n
Cordelia\u2019s other elegant brow rose to match its mate. \u201cExcuse me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean it.\u201d Angel repeated firmly.<\/p>\n
Cordelia took a step down, her body inches from Angel\u2019s. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, did I understand you correctly?\u201d The warm glow that had flowered while talking to Angel really talking to him began to wilt quickly. \u201cYou didn\u2019t just forbid me from training with Duncan, did you? \u201d Cordelia\u2019s calm question belied her growing annoyance.<\/p>\n
Angel wasn\u2019t fooled but he wasn\u2019t about to back down either. There was no way he would allow another near training session between Cordy and the other Immortal.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, guys.\u201d Gunn\u2019s voice traveled down the stairs.<\/p>\n
\u201cNOT NOW.\u201d Both Angel and Cordelia yelled.<\/p>\n
\u201cOkaaay.\u201d Gunn\u2019s voice retreated.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
\u201cAre Angel and Cordy coming?\u201d Fred pushed at her glasses.<\/p>\n
\u201cBusy,\u201d Gunn shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re still training? I want to see.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gunn gently caught the young woman. \u201cGirl, they don\u2019t need the audience.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGunn?\u201d Wesley stuck his head out of his office. \u201cAngel and Cordy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Gunn shook his head.<\/p>\n
Wesley gave a small encouraging smile over his shoulder to the strange couple sitting around his desk. \u201cExcuse me.\u201d He shot out of the office closing the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs something wrong?\u201d Wesley hurried over to his friend.<\/p>\n
Gunn shrugged. \u201cOne minute they were on they\u2019re way up. The next- they\u2019re not and a whole lot of tension was swirling up the stairs. Something happened. What, don\u2019t know. Don\u2019t want to know. I\u2019m not getting in the middle of one of their arguments. It\u2019s safer up here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wesley frowned towards the basement door. \u201cYes, that is never advisable. I do hope they keep it quiet.\u201d He glanced through the window at the clients sitting at his desk. \u201cI told the Baxters that Angel Investigations was a well-oiled machine. Two associates yelling and slamming things would not do well to foster that impression.” Wesley wiped at his glasses.<\/p>\n
“Fortunately, I don\u2019t believe their presence will be necessary. We can handle the Baxters\u2019 problem. Fred, please join us and take notes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMe?\u201d Fred squeaked. \u201cThat\u2019s Cordy\u2019s job. She always talks to the clients and gets the information.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGirl, you can do it, hey, you\u2019ve been answering the phone, taking information, and researching like a pro. Come on.\u201d Gunn looped his arm around the woman\u2019s slight shoulders leading her into the office.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, not face to face. That\u2019s Cordy\u2019s job. She\u2019s so much better with people. She talks to them and everything.\u201d Fred stuttered.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course you can do it.\u201d Wesley smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey, what\u2019s the gig, again?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRidding the Baxters of their poltergeist.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gunn nodded to the young woman. \u201cGot to be you. Barbie gets a little freaky around folks that want to zap a ghost away. She starts lecturing about ghost\u2019s rights. Her pet ghost is filling her head with all sorts of weird shit. Since, when do the incorporeal dead have rights?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPhantom Dennis isn\u2019t a pet. He\u2019s her friend. She said so. I like him. I would hate to see him exorcised. He\u2019s sweet. He made us tea last week after Cordy took me shopping.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhoa, girl. Never say the \u201cE\u201d word and Dennis is the same sentence. That doesn\u2019t get her freaky just pissed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGunn, please.\u201d Wesley couldn\u2019t stop his nervous glances around the room half expecting Cordy to suddenly appear with a finger high waving wildly in offended anger.<\/p>\n
Fred peeked up from her glasses as her mind switched gears mid thought. \u201cAngel and Cordelia are arguing? They don\u2019t argue. They really like each other.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wesley cleared his throat. \u201cYes, but even close friends have an occasion to argue.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou haven\u2019t been around them both in the same room long enough. Those two- the closer they get the more loud and arguing they get or god forbid that icy silence that could kill any that are unfortunate to be in the way of the eye fu\u2026daggers,\u201d Gunn corrected for the young woman\u2019s benefit, \u201cshooting across the room. It just ain\u2019t safe when they get all obstinate with each other. They need to just accept it and move on.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cReally? I can\u2019t believe they fight.\u201d Fred\u2019s head jerked around. \u201cAccept what?\u201d<\/p>\n
Gunn rolled his eyes biting down his chuckle as he continued to push the young woman after Wesley. “What that loud tension is really all about.”<\/p>\n
“Gunn.” Wesley clucked disapprovingly.<\/p>\n
“What? Like you didn\u2019t know or are you as blind as them?”<\/p>\n
Wesley sighed. He knew exactly what Gunn meant. And it was becoming more and more apparent. Angel’s attitude towards Duncan had been cold at best to put it politely. Wesley had been right to worry.<\/p>\n
Wesley realized that Angel\u2019s trip away had been spurned on by his grief over Buffy\u2019s death, but he had hoped that the vampire took some of that time to examine is true feelings for Cordelia. Just as he hoped the time apart would help Cordelia acknowledge her feelings.<\/p>\n
However, it seemed both were still in major denial and their denial and stubbornness was erupting in arguments and tension again. Wesley sighed. If it weren’t for the risk of Angelus, Wesley would smack his dim-witted blind friend\u2019s heads together, lock them in a bedroom, and order, beg them to use the tension as it was properly meant to be used and be done with it and give the rest of them some peace.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
Methos barely looked up from his book as Duncan sat down next to him on the lobby couch. \u201cLet\u2019s hope they don\u2019t want us to go on their ghost hunt.\u201d Methos turned the page.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are you still so interested in the text of Baba Yaga?\u201d<\/p>\n
Methos shrugged, his eyes still on the book. \u201cWhy are you so interested in what\u2019s going on down there?\u201d He cocked his head towards the basement.<\/p>\n
Duncan\u2019s eyes jerked back to the other Immortal. \u201cHow can we be sure that the vampire actually knows how to teach Cordy how to fight?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe? I\u2019m okay with it.\u201d Methos finally looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a vampire. Vampires aren\u2019t known for their skill with a sword, more like biting. He seemed more proud of his boasted ability to rip my head off rather than any weapon skills. Not a talent that would be helpful for Cordelia. And Gunn implied that they were arguing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t go down there and don\u2019t go there. Cordy can handle herself. Anyway, vampire or not, he\u2019s also a warrior for the Powers, can\u2019t imagine he bites that much or rips heads off of the good guys anymore.”<\/p>\n
\u201cHow do we know that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStop with the \u2018we\u2019, this is all you.\u201d Methos closed the book. \u201cLet it go, Duncan. She trusts him.\u201d<\/p>\n
Duncan looked again at the book, not satisfied at all at Methos\u2019 comments, but curious at the other Immortal\u2019s preoccupation with the book Cassandra asked him to retrieve. \u201cYou haven\u2019t once in the last few days griped about not leaving.\u201d<\/p>\n
Methos shot his head up. \u201cDoes that mean you\u2019re considering it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, I\u2019m just wondering why you\u2019ve stopped badgering me. Does it have anything to do with that book?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you heard from Joe?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEvasion, Methos?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJust interest.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s going on in that head of yours?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know. I can\u2019t put my finger on it. I wish I could.\u201d Methos looked back at the book in his hands.<\/p>\n