(Untitled)

[lornegreen]

I was so nervous on the way back to LA, I had to pull over so Nia could take over driving. She told me i'd end up getting myself killed with all the careening across the highway I was doing. I guess I couldn't blame her. Well, she was already dead, but I didn't particularily want my guts sprayed halfway across the interstate

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[his_firecracker]

Aight, so the gang. Got it. It was still strange to feel like you belonged somewhere. Even if belonging made ya feel sorta like an outcast. I guess in some weird way, we all were. I mean, s'not like we all could fit into everyday normal society.

'Cos let's face it, we are jus' a bunch of freaks. S'like a cult TV show or sommin' wicked cool like tha'.

I needed away time from Cor. The chick still seriously bugged me to no end. This time I had a valid excuse to get the hell away; apocalypse.

Jus' who to tell first? B or the Big Guy?

Unable to decide, I figured I'd tell whoever I ran into first. Too bad it wasn't either of them, but, "Lorne!" The green guy was jus' makin' his way into the lobby doors when I was steppin' out of the side office. "Long time no see. How's it hangin', or singin' in your case?" Damn if I couldn't help but beam. There was somethin' 'bout the demon that jus' made me smile.

[lornegreen]

Well, this is an interesting start to my long forboding journey back into the crazy crazy scheme of things. First familiar face I am greeted with was that of Faith, the so-called 'rogue slayer' whom which I watched over a while back throughout one of our many apocalypses. I didn't get to know her much, what with her being knocked unconscious hopped up on Orpheus and all

[signia]

I followed Lorne into this old lookin' hotel, and nearly gasped when I got into the lobby. Such beautiful architecture. Vast vaulted ceilings, marble columns, emerald green floor. This place was fantastic. And he used to live here? Damn.

First person we're greeted by was this chickola with a certain cockiness to her, the way she carried herself. Looked pretty tough.

I kept my expression neutral. I wouldn't know how to take these people. I stayed close to Lorne and held onto his hand for support. This was going to be hard for him and I wanted to support him.

I only hoped these people wouldn't mind another vampire in the house.

[parting_gifts]

I left the office, head still pounding and relieved that Faith left. Coming into the lobby, I grinned when I saw Lorne. Of course he'd be happy to see me. But the girl he was with .. well that was new.

"Jeez I hope we still have the stuff to make seabreezes with." I said with a grin, waiting to get his attention. God I hadn't seen him in forever and when I actually had .. well I was evil.

Needless to say, not a great time.

"Hey." I said, smiling. "And you've brought a friend with you too. Hi." I said, nodding over to her. This was really like a freakin hotel now. There were more than the what 5 of us staying here again?

[lornegreen]

Turning my head I saw that familiar 1000-watt smile beaming at me and it was almost a total and complete relief.

Cordelia. God I missed her so much. I couldn't believe she was here, infront of me. I wanted to scream out in joy. It was a comfort.

"Oh sweet heavens!" I exclaimed, "It's so good to see you, SugarMuffin!" I told her. And without restraint I folded her up in a gigantic demon hug. I couldn't help it. It was Cordy.

When I let go of her, I stepped back towards Nia and slid my arm around her back, pulling her close beside me. "Cordy, I want you to meet Nia. She's my uh.." I looked down at Nia and got an insistant look in return. "My .. girlfriend."

God that sounded weird coming from me, didn't it?

"Nia, this is Cordelia Chase," I said in ways of introduction. "One of my oldest, dearest friends."

[signia]

I pulled away from Lorne and extended my hand towards this Cordelia girl. "Nice to meet you," I told her, a genuine smile on my face. I looked her up and down. She seemed to me to be the type of chick i'd get along with really well.

"Love that shirt," I said with a grin.

[parting_gifts]

I returned the hug, laughing. Well, at least there were still a few people who were happy to see me up and about. I let go and looked back at Nia. Smiling at her, I extended my hand to her. Shaking it before letting go, I nodded.

"Nice to meet you Nia." I said, still smiling. "Well, the news just gets better and better. I guess I missed a lot while I was out, huh?" I asked, glancing back at Lorne.

Looking down at my shirt, I shrugged.

"Eh. Just something I had. After spending the last .. forever in a mystical coma, you kinda fall behind on the fashion times."

I liked Nia. She genuinely seemed nice and if it was Lorne's girlfriend, well I guess she had to be. But, I was betting she wasn't human. Hm. Half-demon like Doyle? Nah. I was thinking more along the lines of maybe .. vampire. As long as she didn't get hungry in the middle of the night, we'd get along fine.

[lornegreen]

I smiled at Cordy. Her cheerfulness was really making this whole ordeal a lot easier on me. It definately wouldn't be easy in the first place, because deep down inside of me I felt so ashamed for even coming back. What would Angel even think of me when I showed my face? After the big deal I made about never coming back.

Oh well, I guess I'd better suck it up and deal. It was all I could do.

And Cordy missing out on alot would probably have to be one of the biggest understatements ever. "There was definately a lot to be missed," I told her. "And most of it wasn't good. What I wouldn't have given to have been in a coma through it all, myself." I gave her a flat look. "Seriously."

I gave Nia's hand a squeeze. I let myself smile as I looked over at her, and then back at Cordy. I was happy to see the two of them would probably get a long well. I didn't want to have any problems. This was already going to be hard enough.

[signia]

Cordy was giving me this look, I could see it in her eye. While she was friendly enough, and hopefully would continue to be, I knew that she knew I wasn't human. I could tell after she shook my hand. It's a humid California day out there and I've got cold hands. But from what Lorne has told me of his friends, they're so used to being around vampires and demons that it's pretty easy for them to tell right away.

I mean, I didn't really want to come right out and tell everyone what I was, but as long as I didn't go around biting anyone I didn't see the point. I wasn't here to snack, I was here to help.

"Lorne's told me a lot about what happened with you people," I told Cordy. "It's pretty amazing when you think about it. You people seem to live extraordinary lives, and I can only imagine the things you've been through, the people you've helped. I'm really quite in awe of it all. My life's been pretty boring... definately compared to yours."

[parting_gifts]

"Oh. Because mystical coma land was just a big bucket of fun as far as I was concerned." I said, rolling my eyes.

Hands crossed over my chest, I glanced at Nia and smiled. "Trust me. You should be glad you haven't gone through the hell that was Angel Investigations. Well, at least the cases we were on."

Oh! Visions. I had to tell Lorne. And ask him why they were painful.

"Lorne. I think we have a problem." Okay. Understatement of the year much?

"See. Remember the visions? They're back. And I don't think I'm .. half-demony anymore." I said with a frown. "Which would explain why the vision I just got all of 30 minutes ago felt like a brick crashing through my skull."

Okay. So Nia probably thought I was half gone, but well, she was a vampire. She'd heard of worse things. Right?

"Oh. I have a link to the Powers." I said, shrugging as if that explained it all. "It's not pretty, either."

[lornegreen]

I wrinkled my nose at Cordy. "Ooh Honey," I said, "That doesn't sound good at all. When did the visions come back?"

Maybe Cordy lost the demon in her after Jasmine nearly sucked the lifeforce right out of her when she was born. Poor Cordy was left as nothing but a mere shell of her former self. Practically a vegetable.

And now the visions were back? Damn, I didn't want to go through that mess again.

Nia had a confused look on her face.

"Cordy used to get these visions," I explained to her. "Every now and then she'd see an event, or something Angel had to go stop or someome he had to save. It's really how the business started. But the visions were too much for Cordy, because only someone with demon in their blood could bear them. Cordy willingly became half demon so she could continue to have the visions and be Angel's line to the Powers."

But unfortunately, it didn't turn out so well in the end.

[signia]

I gave Cordy an incredulous look. "Wow, that sounds pretty intense," I said. "How'd you manage to end up with those anyways? That's not something you're born with, is it?"

I was curious. I'd never met anyone with visions before. Well, Lorney had visions, but they weren't really you know.. visions.. Lorne was just psychic.

"What was the vision of?" I asked, as if it were any of my business to begin with. Which it wasn't. I hope she didn't think I was being rude.

[parting_gifts]

"Yeah. Just a little intense. It started with a kiss, more or less. Friend of ours sacrificed himself to save myself, Angel, and a group of half-demons. Kissed me before he died and apparently, that passed them on to me. So not born into it."

I sighed and walked over to the couch in the lobby, sitting down and looking back up at them.

"Not demon anymore. At least I used to be half-demon, but apparently, I'm not anymore because I got the vision and it felt like someone was hacking into my brain with an icepick and a brick. It hurt more then it used too.."

"I saw a hellmouth. A new one. And I'm guessing it's not Sunnydale anymore. But the First was in it too, whoever he is." I said, shrugging. I had no clue really. Being out of commission for so long really has a tendency to mess up a girl.

[lornegreen]

I was all smiles and happiness to see Cordelia again until she said the "h" word and I suddenly recoiled inside of myself.

"I'm sorry," I said in a deadpan voice. "I could have sworn you just said Hellmouth. But I must be mistaken because I have been known to be just slightly crazy and all around loopy in the head and sometimes I'm just prone to hearing things that I just don't want to hear.."

I was suddenly yammering like Fred and felt a bit faint. I came back to LA with hopes things would be somewhat normal, but now I'm faced with a Hellmouth? Damn, I think I'm getting more than I bargained for.

Suddenly, I, too, had to sit down. I plopped down on the couch beside Cordy and heaved a sigh. I looked up at Nia and gave her a wistful look. "Well Darlin'," I told her, "You wanted to fight the good fight to get some atonement, I think you've come to the right place."

[signia]

I gave Lorne a slightly wide-eyed look. You know, the whole ix-nay on the atonement-ay look.

I noticed Cordy's eyebrow perk after Lorne's last statement. "He didn't say atonement," I explained. "He actually said 'A breath mint', cos uh...Oh damnit. I'm a vampire."

I gave her a look of total reluctance. "I'm trying my hardest to be good though," I threw in. "I haven't had human blood in over a year and a half. I'm good now, honest."

I smiled. "And I want to help out. If there's anything I can do around here, please. Let me know."

[parting_gifts]

I shrugged as I looked back at Lorne.

"Yeah. I did say the h word. As in hellmouth. Ask Faith. I already told her. It wasn't pretty either."

He looked so wiped out and he was babbling like Fred so I turned my attention back to Nia.

"I could tell. Spending oh .. 8 or so years around them, plus living on the hellmouth, you realize these things. And I don't have a problem with that as long as you don't get the munchies around me. Deal?" I asked, smiling at her.

"And from the looks of my last vision, we're going to need all the help we can get."