The Vision
At first I didn't know what I was looking at exactly... I didn't know if what I was seeing was part of a dream, part of reality or a vision of some sort. It didn't feel like any of those things, really, but only at first. My mouth felt dry, my body felt... just icky all around, like, I needed a good long, long bath, and my hair- I didn't know
( Read more... )
Finally, I simply sat down on the bed and tried to relax. Tried to tell myself that everything was going to be okay, that somehow or another, things would work out, they always did, right? I mean, we were Angel Investigations still, right? And we helped people...we helped the helpless. We always pulled through somehow... right? But the magnitude of the vision was just too great, too horrible and too real to not get half a heart attack.
"Cordy, what is it?"
The voice startled me out the panic and there he was- tall dark and broody, face full of concerned as ever. I tried to smile but the vision came back to me and I began to get the strangest feeling... as if time was running out way too fast, or it had already run out.
"Angel..." I said, and hugged him.
"Angel, I had a vision. A strong vision that woke me out of whatever vegetative state I was in," I took a deep breath and tried to collect my thoughts so I could tell him what I had seen.
"There was an explosion, somewhere far... and Willow was there and Giles, and Xander and Dawn, and a whole bunch of other people-- girls, in this big, house, building maybe? And everything happened so fast. At first, I don't know, at first I thought, that- maybe I was dreaming, but hello? The last thing I remembered before the vision was giving birth to a god with crazy world peace plans, so- yeah... not really a dream. And- and everyone was dead... and I tried calling Willow and Buffy and Xander, but I couldn't get through to anyone..."
I finally stopped. Took a deep breath. "We need to do something Angel, we need to go back to the Hyperion and do something, get the gang involved, find out where everyone is and warn them of what I saw in my vision before it's too late." I said, then looked down at my gown. "Oh and, we really need to get me some clothes. Hospital gowns were never really in fashion."
This time, I did smile... then suddenly I felt a real horrible feeling at the pit of my stomach. Something I had only felt once before. Maybe it was just all the emotions getting to me, and I wanted to be wrong. I really did... desperately. But I couldn’t ignore what I was feeling... it almost felt like we were already too late. It almost felt like, it had been too late even before I woke up.
Reply
She was so rushed, so panicked. I could sense it before I got in here. I hated seeing it. A vision had taken her from the coma, but something obviously was very wrong and my heart went out to her. She didn't deserve this right now. Let alone that there was something terribly wrong, and there always had to be that.
"There was an explosion, somewhere far... and Willow was there and Giles, and Xander and Dawn, and a whole bunch of other people-- girls, in this big, house, building maybe? And everything happened so fast. At first, I don't know, at first I thought, that- maybe I was dreaming, but hello? The last thing I remembered before the vision was giving birth to a god with crazy world peace plans, so- yeah... not really a dream. And- and everyone was dead... and I tried calling Willow and Buffy and Xander, but I couldn't get through to anyone..."
Part of me was hoping that this was all a nightmare that she had experinced before waking up. But, I knew better and I knew Cordy better. I wanted to hug her more then I already had, and as I held her, I couldn't help but think that this was as awful as anything that I had ever heard, and I knew, I knew that she wasn't wrong. She had seen these people. She had seen Giles and Willow and Xander and wouldn't mistake them for anything else. I knew that we had to act now, and I knew that I might upset her with my next question, but suddenly I was worried about somebody else being in that building.
"We need to do something Angel, we need to go back to the Hyperion and do something, get the gang involved, find out where everyone is and warn them of what I saw in my vision before it's too late."
I pulled away from her, looking at her and ripped the phone out of my jacket pocket. Now wasn't the time to tell her about the Hyperion. I had Giles' number and I knew that he wasn't thrilled with us. I also knew where he was.
I dialed his number and the phone was dead. I flipped through the phone, found Willow's number and dialed it. It too was dead.
She mentioned her hospital gown, but I didn't notice. Something was very wrong. Now was the time to show her something that would anger her. I dialed the office. "Harmony! I want you to get our London office on the phone and get some people over to the Council near Trafalgar Square. Use the bomb squad, and tell them to be quick about..."
Before I could finish, Harmony was already telling me that there had been a massive explosion in London, and that the Council had been the building that had just blown. My face turned ashened, thinking about all of the possibilites and mainly one other.
"The building...the building is gone, Cordelia. It's gone." Shock painted my face and I couldn't even get around to asking if Buffy was in the building too."
The fact that I had spoken to Harmony might come up. It might not. Wolfram and Hart might come up, it might not. I was too in shock to care and too worried about Buffy. "Cordy, you didn't see Buffy in there, did you?"
If my heart was able to beat, the skipping would have been enormous.
Reply
If I had woken up from this god forsaken coma earlier, maybe none of this would have happened. Maybe if...
My head was spinning. We were too late.
This was just too much... too much all at once. This is not how one should wake up from a coma. I wanted to get mad at the PTB's for showing me something like this- why would they show me something like this when there was nothing we could do? What was the point in it? Was this some type of cruel joke or something?
"The building...the building is gone, Cordelia. It's gone."
I looked up at Angel, and I could feel the tears rising. I didn't want to cry. In fact, I wasn't gonna. I was better than this, stronger than this. "I already know," I said in a hushed tone.
"Cordy, you didn't see Buffy in there, did you?"
I sighed. Of course he would ask about her. Why would he not? I had been gone for who knows how long, and maybe he had taken some comfort in her. Then again, maybe I was just thinking about everything too much.
I stepped back and sat at the edge of the bed and tried looked back into my own vision, trying hard to make sense of everything that I had seen before, trying hard to see if I Buffy had been there. But it was hard to tell. There was nothing left. Nothing at all.
"Angel, I don't know. There were many girls there, slayers- all of them. But everything happened so fast. I was only able to catch a glimpse and then the whole place just exploded..." I said trying to fight the tears. "There's nothing left. I can't make anyone out, there's nothing left of them."
Finally I broke down. Feeling like somehow, things were my fault. How could I see something like this and not be able to stop it? Maybe this was punishment for bringing that thing into the world. Maybe, it was just another mistake from the PTB's, or maybe my powers were failing me and I was losing the gift.
Reply
I tried to read her. She relieved what had happened and my already cold body went to freezer temperature. The reality of all of this had sunk in, and I tried to gauge her reaction. I didn't know Cordy to be one to display a ton of tact, but when it came to me asking about the health of Buffy, she might be willing to try to comfort me as opposed to being honest with me. She had just awakened from a coma that I thought she would never wake from, so I didn't believe that she would come out lying to me, and I sensed right away that she was telling me the truth.
It didn't help matters, though and there were no words. The Council, it seemed, had been blown up, and friends were already gone, but if Buffy was amongst them, I didn't know what I would do. I had been through this before, and it occurred to me, as I looked at her, shaken, shocked, exhausted from being asleep for so long, and with tears forming at the corner of her eyes, that it was her, and not the retreat that I had taken, that had enabled me to come to terms with Buffy being gone last time.
It also occurred to me, even though every resource that Wolfram and Hart had, would be on this to figure out who the son of a bitch was that was responsible for this was caught, tortured and tortured some more, that I hadn't showed her how happy that I was that she was awake again. This might not be the best time for it, but it was the hand that was dealt, and I had to let her know that I was ecstatic that she was back, even if this horrible vision was what brought her back.
With her tears, nearly came my own, and I found myself hugging her, praying that Buffy was okay, mourning Giles and Willow and whoever else was involved. I had loved her before Jasmine invaded her, and I still did, and I found myself needing her again. For a minute or more, I hugged her and caressed her back, savoring the friendships and possible love that hadn't been taken away by a bomb.
I kissed her neck and then pulled away, trying to compose what I was trying to say. On top of everything else, now I felt as though I had immediately hurt her by asking if Buffy had been in that building.
"Cor...Cordy, I have to get on this and find the son of a bitch who did this, but I don't mean to show that I'm not...not beyond words that you are awake and alive. It's...it's just the timimg...it's just, I can't lose Buffy again and not have any say in helping her..."
I still wasn't making this any better. I decided to leave the love scenarios out of it all. "Cordy, I hate to ask, but these were our friends. Did you see anything else? I know that it happened fast, but I know that you can go back in to your visions. Was there anyone there, maybe outside, that saw it? We have to have something to go on before we pursue this."
Reply
Leave a comment