ATS: The Seduction of Cordelia Chase Pt7
Title: The Seduction of Cordelia Chase
Author: Psychofilly
Parts: 7
Rating: PG - NC17
Disclaimer: All belongs to the Joss-god.
Summary: This was a loose collection of short fics, that evolved. Angel knows what he wants, now he just has to convince the other party. Buffy makes a seemingly inconsequential appearance and the gang finds themselves thrown into the middle of rather uncomfortable circumstances.
The Art of Seduction
Gavin Park was a fan of irony. He remembered that as the bright florescent lights whizzed through his limited field of vision. One of these days he was going to have to write a book...assuming he got out of the hospital alive. See, irony...If his injury's didn't kill him, Wolfram and Hart surely would. Another bitter ironic pill went down with the other meds that were being pumped through his body. Gavin's day had started off really good.
Why? Lilah Morgan was out on a case, something annoyingly unimportant, something that reminded Lilah just how far out of the loop she was falling. A case she couldn't refuse, because Linwood insisted she give it her *personal* attention. It had been all he could do to contain the urge to break out into a happy dance when no one was looking. It had left him all morning to tear her down just a little more in their bosses eyes. Get a few digs in at her expense without her acid tongue rising to challenge him...
Lilah thought him a small minded man, laughing at his lack of vision. He didn't lack...his vision had been perfectly clear, it was just different. For Gavin the devil was in the details...he'd literally driven people mad with his 'small minded' schemes, enough to be confident of his place at good ole W&H, no matter what insults fell from Lilah's blistering tongue. He'd show that bitch...eventually.
NOW (or at least now, then...because now, now he was in the hospital) was the time for him to give his undivided attention to his eleven o'clock. Another coup, a real hottie that had requested an emergency meeting with Lilah. Gavin smoothed his hair, straitened his tie, squared his shoulders and put on his professional mask as he rounded the corner. With a nod to his assistant he strode confidently into his office.
She was standing by the window admiring the view...not the best the building offered, but a view fit for an up-and-commer. He was proud of that view. He studied the young woman carefully. Her face was pale and drawn, brows pinched slightly above her eyes. He wondered what kind of worries would have put such a look on the petite beauty's face. What could possibly be the cause...did she want to put a rival out of business, kill a cheating husband?? He hoped to be able to give the matter *his* personal attention.
She brushed a thick strand of golden, honey brown hair behind her ear as she turned to face him. She smiled and Gavin couldn't help but be a little smitten.
"Mrs. Summers I presume?" He drew beside her and held out his hand, which she took. He absently noted the hidden strength in her slim pretty fingers, but he was to lost in her eyes...the kind that could go from clear grey to Irish green, but hovered somewhere in the blue's. They stood for a moment staring, sizing each other up. Gavin shook himself out of her gaze and motioned to a chair as he took his seat and pulled her hastily assembled file off his desk.
So, Mrs...Anne...Summers, what can I do for you?" He steepled his fingers resting his chin on the tips and once again studied the woman in front of him. She leaned forward, a cold smirk twisting her pretty mouth as she rested her elbows on her knees, hands dangling comfortably between her legs. A cold shiver ran up his spine. There was something predatory in this womans eyes that made the temperature of the room seem to plummet. Gavin liked it.
She seemed to give his question careful consideration. "You see...Gavin." Her smirk widened into a grin, her body relaxed yet ready, coiled...feral. "It's more like what I can do *to* you, if you don't help me."
Gavin frowned, the oily feeling in his gut giving way to the premonition that he'd already used up all the good in his day. Still he wasn't intimidated yet. "I'm sorry Mrs. Summers. I don't think I understand your point." He leaned back, forcing his body to relax.
She simply stood and cracked her knuckles, and this time the chilly shivers running through his body had absolutely nothing to do with lust. He wasn't panicked, but his voice held a tiny hint of a waver. "Mrs. Summers...Anne...I don't think..."
"Actually my friends call me Buffy." She interrupted, "But you..." She shook her head ruefully as she slowly walked around the desk, one finger trailing almost seductively accross the smooth polished oak. "...You won't be able to call me *anything* unless you give me what I want."
So here he was. Ironic? Certainly, he'd been so happy that Lilah had been banished from the offices for the day and in the end he'd ended up her whipping boy. He hoped that whatever information the Slayer had obtained was worth it, because if he did survive she would not...That was Gavin Parks last thought as he slipped into a coma.
The nurse smiled, and mentally began spending the rather large sum that was currently being wired into her bank account.
Somewhere in a windowless office a grey haired man was smiling...Greed, what a wonderful thing.
************
Cordelia found Buffy sitting in the courtyard. Despite the numerous revelations she had been hit with as soon as she walked into the hotel, her arrival had been surprisingly trouble free. Of course with the rush to set Cordelia's plan into action there just hadn't been time for old rivalries to bubble to the surface. Now in Cordelia's mind at least, there was no reason...Buffy had come through for Angel. Her old nemisis, and biggest source of insecurity was sitting on a sunny bench staring forlornely at her hands. Cordelia searched her heart, but the old hurts had faded, and all she could feel at the moment was simple gratitude.
She dropped gingerly down next to Buffy. "Hey."
Buffy's eyes flicked to hers and then back down at her hands. "Hey yourself."
Cordelia fought a rising sense of deja vu. As heroic figures went she supposed Buffy and Angel were cut from the same cloth...as she followed her gaze she noticed there was dried blood crusted under Buffy's fingernails. She opened her mouth to speak, sighed instead. Nothing she could say was going to erase the actions that put that blood there, or take that wide horrified look out of Buffy's eyes.
Despite the similarities, Buffy wasn't Angel, she didn't think like a killer first, wasn't completely innured to the violence she could inflict. She didn't try to make it better, didn't try to cover her own vunerability to this woman under cutting remarks. Her voice was hesitant, but open. "I...I just wanted to say...you know...thank you. The information that we got from Lilah's files was exactly what we needed."
Buffy nodded, but didn't look up. "That Fred girl is really amazing."
Cordy smiled warmly. "Yeah, once Gavin gave you the passwords Fred was able to hack in and get what we needed. She planted a worm that will destroy the files next time someone tries to access them." Cordy chuckled. "She and Willow really ought to meet."
Buffy tensed as if the very mention of Willow's name caused her pain. "Willow's not not into computers so much anymore..."
"Buffy are you OK?" Cordy reached out as if to touch her arm then hesitated. She sent a confused look into the shadows of the patio, but the blonde vampire watching them just shrugged as he lit up a cigarrette.
"I tortured a man today." Buffy turned to the woman next to her, pain etched in raw lines across her face. She shook her head in disbelief. "After everything...I just don't understand anymore. The line used to be so clear cut, you know?" Buffy's eyes pleaded with Cordelia's.
Cordy shivered under the pained weight of Buffy's stare. She wasn't a priest. She couldn't offer absolution for anyones sins...but she could give Buffy her opinion. It was what she did best.
"Buffy...Gavin will live. Right?" Cordy waited for Buffy's nod. "I'm not exactly the best one to judge the right and wrongs in this situation, but I do know what you did isn't the same as what Willow did." Cordelia was still reeling from the story that Spike had told her and Wes while waiting for Buffy's return. By unspoken agreement Spike's presence had been kept from Angel, but Wes didn't exactly trust him enough to let him wander so they had passed the time together.
Cordy didn't trust Spike for an entirely different reason. She'd sensed it when they first arrived. Something there that she'd only seen behind one other vampires eyes. Something that, for her, shone from the very fiber of Angel's being. She'd asked him about it, but he'd litterally begged her to keep his newly souled status a secret.
Life was just a kick in the nuts all round these days.
Buffy sniffed and let out a dry chuckle, bringing Cordy back into the present. "God...look at us. When did life get this complicated."
Cordy had to laugh at that one. "For me? I think it was about the time that I woke up and realized the monsters under the beds and in the closets were real...which, ironically enough was about the time you moved to Sunnydale."
She heard a snort from the shadows. Buffy looked over her shoulder and smiled. "I don't know Cordelia." She let out a heavy breath. "It always seemed pretty simple to me. Monster + kill = problem solved. Now I can't even tell black from white, up from down..."
"Black and white? Geeze Buffy, simplistic much?" Cordelia waved her arm expansively, drawing attention to the garden and the street beyond. "The world has *always* been full of greys. We just had to grow up a bit to see 'em." Cordelia leaned back and squinted into the cloudless blue of the sky. She thought for a moment then rotated her head to squint at the slayer. "Life has always been complicated, Buffy. It just didn't get *hard* untill we started to fall for the monsters."
Buffy frowned as she mulled over Cordy's words. She met the other woman's eyes. "So...you and Angel, huh?"
"Yep." Cordy shrugged. "Not that I'm asking your permission or anything, because I wouldn't...but are you ok with it..us?"
"Surprisingly, yeah." Buffy narrowed her eyes speculatively. The changes that Buffy had noticed that day weeks ago were again evident in the woman sitting beside her. She'd grown up Buffy realized, in a way that had absolutely nothing to do with her physical age. At some point they had gone from protector and protectee to equals of a sort. It was unnerving to see the strength behind those hazel eyes that she had always dismissed as vacuous and unworthy. It meant that she had never known just who Cordelia Chase really was. "It took a lot for you to call *me* in for help didn't it?"
Cordelia sighed. She'd hoped that Buffy wouldn't rub her face in the dirt over this, but she was prepared to take it, and *not* be a bitch about it. "Angel was in trouble, Buffy and time was running out. Pride didn't even enter into the equation."
A smile crept across Buffy's face. "*That's* why I am ok with it." She patted Cordelia on the arm and scooted close. "I have a bit of a confession to make."
Surprised, Cordelia stared at the blonde and waited. She wasn't sure if she could talk anyway. "A few weeks ago, after Spike left, I came here to the hotel." Cordelia's eyebrows shot up, but she let Buffy speak uninterrupted. "I'm not really sure why I came...I sort of had the vague idea of getting back together with Angel." A cough floated from the peanut gallery. They both ignored him.
"After everything that happened with Willow, and not knowing if Spike would ever be back...I just didn't want to deal. I mean, I was *happy* about life for the first time since I was brought back, but..." She saw Cordy wince at the mention of her resurection, and shook her head. She didn't want to hear the 'sorry's'. The point is, I saw you...all of you. I was going to come in, but ended up watching from out here. I realized that *none* of us were the same people anymore." Her hands nervously gripped the sides of the bench...hard.
"Beleive me, I wanted to blame you. It would have been so easy to label you a selfish bitch, but I could see...and then when you called I just knew." Buffy paused, praying that the other woman could make some sense of her nervous ramblings. The look of pure and utter shock on her face was priceless, as was the huge smile that was slowly dawning across her features.
"Wow, Buffy...I, uh...wow."
"Don't tell me I've rendered Cordelia Chase, queen of the comeback...speechless?" Buffy teased. "Go...me."
"That you did. I...I think I want to hug you." was Cordelia's breathless reply.
Buffy rolled her eyes. "You're going soft Queen C ." She received the business end of an arched brow.
"It's Princess now."
"Whatever...gimme a hug." She pulled Cordy to her and whispered. "Take care of him."
"Always."
It was enough.
Two women sat contentedly in the golden haze of the late afternoon. If their hug was short and a bit awkward, neither were complaining. Both suddenly felt a little freer, as understanding and friendship offered warmed the parts of them that the famed California sun could not.
"You want to see him?" Cordelia asked finally breaking the silence.
Buffy gave her a smug look. "Not that I'm asking permision, or anything, because I'm not...but are you OK with that?"
Cordelia stood and stretched, looking down on the slayer. She yawned a little. "Surprisingly...yeah." With a smile she pulled Buffy to her feet. Come on *little-Miss-likes-to-fight* I have some erands to run, but I'll show you up."
Buffy playfully hit Cordelia on the arm. "Hey! Just because I'm petite and...like to fight..." She mock scowled. "Don't think I'm not offended by that!"
"Can't think of a good comeback, can you?"
"Shut up Cordelia."
Cordy snorted. "Do you want me to start on the wardrobe, because I can..."
"Well I can...Punch you in the nose!"
"Oh, I'm shaking, you know for a slayer...you're not that scary."
* * *
Buffy found herself alone, in front of a door marked 217. She stared at the numbers, willing herself to just open the damn door and get it over with...it took a while.
Angel was beyond that door, not the quiet shy man that had loved her from the shadows. This Angel was a complete mystery to her. He had friends, a son, a life she knew absolutely nothing about. And couldn't the same thing be said about herself? Could Angel really know who she had become the way *her* friends and family could? She would have been lying to herself if she'd have said she hadn't felt jealousy and a touch of bitterness when she had seen Angel kiss Cordy. It was a seeming cruel twist of fate that had given Angel all of the things that he'd never dreamed he could provide for her. So why wasn't she angry?
She took a deep breath and opened the door....and stepped into the Twilite Zone.
Buffy stood in the doorway, unnoticed for the moment. Her eyes swept around the room, taking in the muted purple walls, the comfortable furnishings, and the cozy 'lived in' look of the entire apartment. Again she felt a sense of compete alieness. She couldn't help but make comparrisons to his spartan accomodations in Sunnydale. There had been an almost Zen-like quality to his rooms at the mansion.
And there was *never* a time when she would have been able to imagine her and the scoobies sprawled comfortably around his room as his current friends were.
Fred, the fresh faced Texan was propped comfortably on Angel's bed surrounded by copious notes, books, and a few odd looking devices that Buffy didn't even try to fathom. Wesley sat on a faded red chair beside her, his feet propped up on the side of the bed, his nose stuck into what had to be the biggest mustiest book she had ever seen...and given her background, that was saying something. The green demon, Lorne sat on the other side of the room close to a crib, bouncing Angel's baby on his knee.
Buffy had only met the two of them this morning. At the time most of her attention had been focused on Cordelia, trying not to dwell too much on the bandage covering what she knew would be a bite mark on her shoulder, as Cordy had outlined the specifics of her plan. Processing that the fact that the little bundle of spit and poop gurgling happily in Lorne's arms was actually *Angel's son* was still beyond her.
Her attention shifted to the middle of the room. Instinctively her body tensed. She had been told Angel was acting more agressive, and right now he was currently staring down the tall black man across from him. They were both standing, posture tense as they leaned over a small table. Gunn's back obscured her view of whatever was getting them both so upset.
Angel was bristling with menace, but it was clear that the younger man was not going to back down. Buffy felt for her stake. Gunn finally threw his hands up in defeat. "Calm *down* Irish, you know what Cordy said...'sides it was just..."
"You son of a bitch." Angel all but growled. "You sank my battleship!"
Buffy heard a snort from the general direction of the bed. Fred had her hand clamped over her mouth and Wesley's shoulders were silently shaking.
Angel's voice was deceptively soft. "Something you care to add Winnifred?"
A round of giggles erupted from the young womans mouth as she shook her head. "It's just...is there a game you *haven't* lost?"
Gunn crossed his arms and smirked at the irate vampire. "Maybe he's up for another round of poker?"
"Hardly!" Wes scoffed. "The wanker already owes me 150 bucks."
"Angel!" Fred shrieked, slapping at the bed for emphasis. "Cordy's gonna kill you...deader...than you already are." She trailed of, and gave him an not so appologetic smile.
"She's right." Wes carefully closed the book he had been reading. "Unless you'd be willing to play 52 pick up, then I think games are *officially* out."
All eyes turned towards the doorway as Buffy suddenly began to laugh. She doubled over, her entire body shaking as she collapsed against the frame, but she couldn't stop. She'd put a man in the hospital today, because Angel's soul hung in the balance...and he had been playing board games.
"Sorry." She gasped. "Give. Me. A. Minute."
Wes stood and helped Fred off the bed. "It's ok, Buffy." He nodded to Gunn. "Take your time."
Lorne stood. "I'll put the creampuff down in my room." He stared hard at Angel. "Behave yourself Crumbcake." This only produced a fresh round of laughter from the slayer.
Angel watched with a growing sense of panic as the room emptied and he was left abandoned...with Buffy, who was wiping tears from her eyes while trying to get her giggles under control. First Cordy, now Buffy...What was it about him that they found so damn funny? She pushed away from the door and came towards him. He noticed how her eyes seemed to take in every detail of his room, of *him* at once.
They stood for a moment, simply studying each other. He hadn't seen her since she had arrived...She looked good. The last time he had seen her she had been pale, drawn, with eyes like open wounds. There had been so little spark left in her then. Time, the simple act of living...something, or possibly someone Had worked a sort of magic on the slayer. Her old fire, the strength, confidence, and *obviously*, good humor were back. She had put on a little weight and there was color in her cheeks.
"Love the hair."
She grinned. "Thanks...cute kid." The smile that lit up Angel's face almost made her gasp.
He gestured to the seat that Wes had vacated. She sat and he seated himself on the edge of the bed, facing her. He looked like he was going to speak, then hesitated. Opened his mouth, then snapped it shut.
Buffy could empathize. "This *is* kind of awkward, isn't it?"
Angel leaned forward, face intensely focused on hers. He took her hands and held them lightly between his own. "Thank you."
"Angel, you don't.."
"No." He interrupted. "What you did for me, after everything..." He swallowed hard. "It means a lot."
"Then, you're welcome." She shrugged, pulling her hands from his. "I know that you'd be there if I called." She deadpanned. "It's what friends are for."
"Can we?"
She cocked her head. "Can we what?"
"Be friends."
"I don't know, " She hedged. "You've changed...I've changed. I think we'd have to get to know each other all over again." She faked a serious look but her voice was light.
"I could live with that." He smiled softly.
"What about Cordelia?"
Angel shrugged, his face hardening. "What about her? She is a big part of the *changed* me, and I'm not going to appologize or feel guilty for loving her." His voice turned cool. "I've got too many legitimate reasons to feel guilt without adding uneccesarily to the load."
Buffy blinked. "Wow...I can see where she rubbed off. I.., I'm not trying to make you feel defensive. I mean, I think I'm actually starting to...like her."
"Then *what* about Cordelia?"
Buffy scowled. "Look, you have to understand this is hard for me."
Angel simply waited for her to continue.
She sighed. "I talked with Cordy earlier and we sort of reached an...understanding, but there was still this tiny selfish part of me that hated her for taking you."
"Buffy, she didn't..."
She held up her hand. "I *know* but walking in here, seeing her with *your* baby, knowing she was yours now. It felt like she had been given the one thing that I always wanted...a normal life. I felt like screaming, calling her names, to ask how in the hell a bitch like her could end up with all the things I thought *I* deserved."
She heard a rumbling growl deep in Angel's chest, saw the deepset anger in his eyes and once again, she laughed. "Of course..." she murmured with a self depracating smile. "That was before I found out that she is part demon, made that way because she almost died helping *you*. That was before I knew how many people were trying to kill your son and destroy you...then seeing you with your friends, your family...I realized something."
Angel's voice was low, tight with restraint. "And what was that?"
"*Normal* for you is just as insane as it is for me. I've got a sister that's really an interdimensional key, and a best friend that tried to destroy the world. Xander and Anya are having issues with her going all vengance demony again, Giles is all mopey and Spike..."
Angel's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Spike!?!"
Buffy bit her lip, silently cursing her slip-up. "Ummm, yeah. There is Spike...forget Spike, that's not the point. They are my family, *my* people. When I am with them, not matter what we're going through, I'm home. You didn't *give* Cordelia a normal life, she took what she was given and *made* it normal."
She searched his face, waiting for her words to sink in. "I don't envy her for loving you, I know how hard it is." She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, hugging him briefly. Her eyes were glittering with unshed tears when she pulled away, but deep in her heart, she realized that she had finally made peace with their past.
Angel cupped her face and kissed her forehead. "Buffy Summers you are an extraordinary woman." He then scowled. "Spike?"
"Get your mind out of the sewer, were..."
"Where's Cordy?"
Buffy blinked. "Okaay. She said she had some things to take care of."
Angel's good humor instantly vanished. "Did she say what or where?" He stood and stalked towards the door. She didn't check in before she left. She always lets me know where she's going."
"Chill Angel, geeze...don't go into stalker mode. Maybe Sak's is having a sale or something." Buffy shrugged and followed him towards the door.
Angel gave her a pretty good approximation of Cordelia's death glare. "On what I pay her?" He scoffed. "She's lucky to be able to afford The Gap."
Buffy was drawing a blank. "Where would she go?"
Angel paused in the hallway, his face paled...he rounded on her, eyes narrowed. "What *exactly* did you find out today?"
Buffy shivered. She saw a flash of Gavin breaking, begging her to stop. "I just got passwords. Fred used them to hack into the files Lilah kept on you. Ummm...She found some secret files detailing her research on the spell and all that. From Gavin's reactions and what Fred uncovered Lilah was acting on her own little outside...Oh my god! Do you really think she'd go after her?"
Angel was already halfway down the hall, his face grim. "Yeah, I think she really would."
Buffy followed Angel down the stairs, watching warily as he spoke to his friends then pulled a sword from his weapons cabinent. He threw on his coat and crossed the lobby to where she stood.
"Were you planning on leaving soon?"
She nodded, confused. "We were."
He pulled her into a tight hug. "Ok, we'll talk soon."
"But..."
He cut her off. "No, this is personal. Wes is going to go ahead and do the spell now, and I'll take care of Cordelia."
"Are you sure you won't need backup? What if something happens or the spell goes wrong, because, you know...it's not like *that* ever happens." She followed him down the steps to the basement. "Wes said the counterspell will make your soul permanent. Do you really want to be running around town while he's preforming magic on you?"
Angel paused at the entrance of the sewer. He looked over his shoulder and grinned. "He said it would be fine, and besides that's just one more reason for you not to be here when I get back."
"Why?"
Angel wiggled his eyebrows. "Cordy's loud."
"What? OH!" She grimaced. "Eww."
Angel's laughter echoed through the air as he dissapeared into the sewers. Nope, Buffy thought, she didn't know Angel at all anymore. She shook her head and smiled as she ascended the stairs.
* * *
Lilah had definately had better days than this.
Linwood, that annoying little prick, had been toying with her, sending her out on a case that was completely beneath her abilities. Of course that little rat Gavin had most likely used the opportunity to insinuate his brown nose even further up Linwoods ass than it already was.
She had been ecstatic to hear about the security breach and Gavin's subsequent torture earlier in the day...that is until she tried to acess her files. It had suddenly become crystal clear who had been the ultimate target and blame was rapidly shifting her way. Linwood had already asked some very uncomfortable questions about the contents of her hard drive, and she didn't have very good answers.
Lilah Morgan had never been very good at bull shitting and if she didn't come up with something to cover her ass soon...Linwood would see it roasted. And at Wolfram and Hart that could very well be taken in it's most literal sense. She straitened her shoulders and lifted her chin as the elevator to the parking garage dinged. With a practiced air of confidence she made her way to her car.
Before she could reach it's relative security a figure stepped from the shadows. Lilah jumped, gasping and clutching her chest. She relaxed slightly when she saw who it was. "Oh, it's just you." She sneered.
An arch of an elegant eyebrow was the other woman's only response. They stood a few feet apart, warily appraising each other. Lilah becoming slowly unnerved by the young woman's stony silence.
Exasperated, she huffed. "Come on Cordelia, whatever you want I don't have all day."
Cordelia simply narrowed her golden-brown eyes.
Lilah threw her hands up and moved to walk around Cordelia, but before she could get half a step she found herself staring down the business end of a crossbow. Lilah just smiled. "Oh, scary."
Cordelia's features remained hard, but a soft smile graced her lips. When she spoke her tone was conversational, almost friendly and that made Lilah afraid, not of the weapon pointed at her face, but the woman behind it.
"Angel told me about Billy...about what you did...and well, we've had this conversation before haven't we?"
Lilah yawned.
Cordelia continued. " We never talked about what he said to you though, about what would happen if you came at him through me again...you remember?"
Lilah was picking at her nails, looking extremely bored. She was barely managing not to tremble. "He said he'd kill me...not like he hasn't said it before, but look." She turned in a circle and grinned at the other woman. "I'm still here. Personally, I don't think he has the stones...but you would know wouldn't you? Angel ought to invest in a gag for that mouth of yours."
Lilah had to admit, she was good. There was a noticeable wobble to the crossbow that she didn't think had anything to do with fatigue. Cordelia was rapidly blinking back tears.
"You're no better..." She murmured. "No different than the rest..."
Lilah leaned forward. "What's that honey?" She laughed derisively. "Is this the part where you give me one of your little woman to woman pep talks on how being evil is bad and then label me a," she air quoted, "Vicious Bitch."
Time slowed down for Lilah as she noticed something in Cordelia's eyes harden. She became aware of the humming of the florescents above her head, and the stale gasoline scented air, She heard a dull thud as something sharp broke through her sternum and a overwhelming pain pierced her heart, quickly spreading to her lungs. She looked down, surprised at the bolt sticking through her chest, then back up to the angry woman in front of her.
"No Lilah, this is where I take the title back."
"But." She dropped to her knees, vision growing hazy. Cordelia seemed to have suddenly grown so tall, a terrible giant from her childhood nightmares looming over her.
"You tried to take Angel's soul. You don't think I'd let you hurt him like that do you? You tried to steal what makes Angel good, what makes him alive...You're no better than the vampires we kill." She spat. "So you can die like one."
The last thing Lilah saw as she collapsed onto the grimy grease stained cement were Cordelia's Manuolo Blahnik shoes (last seasons) as she turned on her heel and walked away.
* * *
Angel understood the line between good and evil better than a lot of beings. He'd walked that line far longer than most. He understood that lines were not crossed with giant strides but small steps, until one day you looked around in wonder to discover just how far over the line you had come.
The spell Wesley preformed took effect when he was about half way to Wolfram and hart. Tension he didn't even know he had been carrying drained from his body as he felt the darkness in his soul recede. The controlling force over his demon nature snapped tight as strength flooded through his soul. He felt the difference, he didn't know how or why but he could sense it. There was no doubt in his mind that his soul was now bound. It felt strange, liberating, and terrifying. Thank you Wes.
He wished he could stop, savor the moment, and let this new feeling sink in. He only drove faster. He burst through the entrance to the underground parking, tires squealing as he hit the brakes, feet pounding concrete as he ran towards the fresh smell of blood. He rounded the corner and slowed, cautiously approaching the body.
He was too late. Lilah lay sprawled on the cold concrete, eyes staring blankly at the florescent lights above. He poked the body with the toe of his boot. She was definitely dead, only just...but dead all the same.
Cordelia had killed for him...He wasn't sure how to feel about that, and certainly he didn't like the surge of pride and lust that seemed to be his instinctual reaction. He swallowed hard, checking the area, but there was no one. Lilah's blood was still warm...his mouth began to water. He knelt beside her, reaching forward and dragging her eyelids closed. He fished two quarters out of his pocket, wiped them clean and laid them over her eyes. The sight brought a smile to his lips. He leaned down and daubed a little blood onto his finger and brought it to his mouth.
She tasted exquisite, like a fine single malt scotch. He smirked, "Lindsey always was the smarter one...he got out when he finally realized he was living on borrowed time. You should have took the hint after Dru and Darla ate your friends." He grasped the bolt and, with a grunt yanked it from her chest. "You always were a stupid bitch."
Angel rose to his feet, turned and walked away without looking back. He slipped the bloody bolt into his pocket and licked his fingers clean. He had no excuse for his actions save that bound soul or not, he was a vampire. He certainly felt no remorse that Lilah was dead. Angel started his car and drove into the night with the intention of finding Cordelia, and then...he wasn't sure...He didn't expect her to be waiting for him just outside the building. He stopped the car and waited for her to get in.
"Cor."
"Just drive Angel, just drive."
Angel reached over drew Cordelia close, and headed towards the coast with no clear destination in mind.
***********
Lilah Morgan knew she had a one way ticket to hell when she died. She had tried not to think of it to much when she was alive, but there were times when she wondered. Never in her wildest dreams had she expected this...
"Holland?"
"Ah, Lilah, I've been expecting you. Please, sit."
She walked to the leather chair taking in the windowless yet comfortable office as she sat down. Holland Manners was staring at her with coolly detached eyes. He smiled. "Were you expecting fire and brimstone?"
"Something like that" Lilah said wryly. "A little death and mayhem at the very least."
Holland nodded. "Oh it's here Lilah, all around us. The Senior Partners have decided to spare you that for the time being."
Lilah didn't know what to say so she waited.
"That was quite the coup you pulled up there. We are all very impressed."
"Coup?" Lilah laughed in spite of the situation. "I failed to take Angel's soul, and that BITCH Cordelia killed me." She fingered the wet hole in the middle of her chest. "Forgive me if I don't see how that's impressive. Not that I want to fry in hell...I just don't understand."
Holland sat back in his chair, fingers steepled. "It's about balance, Lilah. Where you failed in one avenue you have succeeded brilliantly in another." He cocked his head and smiled indulgently. "The corruption of a soul is a delicate business."
"I failed." She countered.
"Did you?" Off her frown he continued. "We have tried for years to exploit the darkness inherent in Angel and failed. He has friends, family, people he loves and who love him in return. They pull him from the brink, time and again. The Partners decided it was time for a change of focus."
Lilah's mind began to race through the possibilities.
"Sure on the surface Angel and his seer have won the day, but at what cost? Her soul has the taint of murder now."
"But I'm a law..."
"It still counts, however marginally."
"Cordelia is Angel's guide, his link to humanity and the powers."
Holland nodded. "How well do you think she she can guide him through the dark times ahead if her own light starts to fade. Besides Angel having a permanent soul may end up being more trouble than either of them bargained for."
Lilah gave him a perplexed look.
"What do you think is going to happen when Angel has no reason to keep his emotions in check? Sure he can know happiness, love...but there is always a flip side, how will he react when those walls he's spent a century erecting to restrain the beast within come crashing down?"
"So what happens now?" Lilah asked. Her interest piqued. "Seduce Cordelia to the dark side? Surely the Powers will step in to try and counteract your efforts."
"They will try, but if they fail, Angel will fall. His love for the girl blinds him. He would not leave her, even if it were for his own good."
"Linwood told me once that this is a war we cannot win." Lilah murmured. Holland Manners stood and ushered her towards a door on the far side of the room.
"From now on you will be working for me, I've been needing a personal assistant." He took her hand, smiling benignly but there was a blankness in his eyes. He opened the door to another windowless office, this one much smaller than his. She stepped inside and turned back to Holland, uncertain.
He stepped back outside pulling the door closed, he hesitated then leaned his head back in to Lilah's new office. "Lilah...maybe we can't *win* but we can't loose either. The balance when the apocalypse comes will affect the world born from the ashes afterward. The question is do you want the meek to inherit the earth, or..."
A smirk twisted across Lilah's features. "I get it sir."
End.
Author: Psychofilly
Parts: 7
Rating: PG - NC17
Disclaimer: All belongs to the Joss-god.
Summary: This was a loose collection of short fics, that evolved. Angel knows what he wants, now he just has to convince the other party. Buffy makes a seemingly inconsequential appearance and the gang finds themselves thrown into the middle of rather uncomfortable circumstances.
The Art of Seduction
Gavin Park was a fan of irony. He remembered that as the bright florescent lights whizzed through his limited field of vision. One of these days he was going to have to write a book...assuming he got out of the hospital alive. See, irony...If his injury's didn't kill him, Wolfram and Hart surely would. Another bitter ironic pill went down with the other meds that were being pumped through his body. Gavin's day had started off really good.
Why? Lilah Morgan was out on a case, something annoyingly unimportant, something that reminded Lilah just how far out of the loop she was falling. A case she couldn't refuse, because Linwood insisted she give it her *personal* attention. It had been all he could do to contain the urge to break out into a happy dance when no one was looking. It had left him all morning to tear her down just a little more in their bosses eyes. Get a few digs in at her expense without her acid tongue rising to challenge him...
Lilah thought him a small minded man, laughing at his lack of vision. He didn't lack...his vision had been perfectly clear, it was just different. For Gavin the devil was in the details...he'd literally driven people mad with his 'small minded' schemes, enough to be confident of his place at good ole W&H, no matter what insults fell from Lilah's blistering tongue. He'd show that bitch...eventually.
NOW (or at least now, then...because now, now he was in the hospital) was the time for him to give his undivided attention to his eleven o'clock. Another coup, a real hottie that had requested an emergency meeting with Lilah. Gavin smoothed his hair, straitened his tie, squared his shoulders and put on his professional mask as he rounded the corner. With a nod to his assistant he strode confidently into his office.
She was standing by the window admiring the view...not the best the building offered, but a view fit for an up-and-commer. He was proud of that view. He studied the young woman carefully. Her face was pale and drawn, brows pinched slightly above her eyes. He wondered what kind of worries would have put such a look on the petite beauty's face. What could possibly be the cause...did she want to put a rival out of business, kill a cheating husband?? He hoped to be able to give the matter *his* personal attention.
She brushed a thick strand of golden, honey brown hair behind her ear as she turned to face him. She smiled and Gavin couldn't help but be a little smitten.
"Mrs. Summers I presume?" He drew beside her and held out his hand, which she took. He absently noted the hidden strength in her slim pretty fingers, but he was to lost in her eyes...the kind that could go from clear grey to Irish green, but hovered somewhere in the blue's. They stood for a moment staring, sizing each other up. Gavin shook himself out of her gaze and motioned to a chair as he took his seat and pulled her hastily assembled file off his desk.
So, Mrs...Anne...Summers, what can I do for you?" He steepled his fingers resting his chin on the tips and once again studied the woman in front of him. She leaned forward, a cold smirk twisting her pretty mouth as she rested her elbows on her knees, hands dangling comfortably between her legs. A cold shiver ran up his spine. There was something predatory in this womans eyes that made the temperature of the room seem to plummet. Gavin liked it.
She seemed to give his question careful consideration. "You see...Gavin." Her smirk widened into a grin, her body relaxed yet ready, coiled...feral. "It's more like what I can do *to* you, if you don't help me."
Gavin frowned, the oily feeling in his gut giving way to the premonition that he'd already used up all the good in his day. Still he wasn't intimidated yet. "I'm sorry Mrs. Summers. I don't think I understand your point." He leaned back, forcing his body to relax.
She simply stood and cracked her knuckles, and this time the chilly shivers running through his body had absolutely nothing to do with lust. He wasn't panicked, but his voice held a tiny hint of a waver. "Mrs. Summers...Anne...I don't think..."
"Actually my friends call me Buffy." She interrupted, "But you..." She shook her head ruefully as she slowly walked around the desk, one finger trailing almost seductively accross the smooth polished oak. "...You won't be able to call me *anything* unless you give me what I want."
So here he was. Ironic? Certainly, he'd been so happy that Lilah had been banished from the offices for the day and in the end he'd ended up her whipping boy. He hoped that whatever information the Slayer had obtained was worth it, because if he did survive she would not...That was Gavin Parks last thought as he slipped into a coma.
The nurse smiled, and mentally began spending the rather large sum that was currently being wired into her bank account.
Somewhere in a windowless office a grey haired man was smiling...Greed, what a wonderful thing.
************
Cordelia found Buffy sitting in the courtyard. Despite the numerous revelations she had been hit with as soon as she walked into the hotel, her arrival had been surprisingly trouble free. Of course with the rush to set Cordelia's plan into action there just hadn't been time for old rivalries to bubble to the surface. Now in Cordelia's mind at least, there was no reason...Buffy had come through for Angel. Her old nemisis, and biggest source of insecurity was sitting on a sunny bench staring forlornely at her hands. Cordelia searched her heart, but the old hurts had faded, and all she could feel at the moment was simple gratitude.
She dropped gingerly down next to Buffy. "Hey."
Buffy's eyes flicked to hers and then back down at her hands. "Hey yourself."
Cordelia fought a rising sense of deja vu. As heroic figures went she supposed Buffy and Angel were cut from the same cloth...as she followed her gaze she noticed there was dried blood crusted under Buffy's fingernails. She opened her mouth to speak, sighed instead. Nothing she could say was going to erase the actions that put that blood there, or take that wide horrified look out of Buffy's eyes.
Despite the similarities, Buffy wasn't Angel, she didn't think like a killer first, wasn't completely innured to the violence she could inflict. She didn't try to make it better, didn't try to cover her own vunerability to this woman under cutting remarks. Her voice was hesitant, but open. "I...I just wanted to say...you know...thank you. The information that we got from Lilah's files was exactly what we needed."
Buffy nodded, but didn't look up. "That Fred girl is really amazing."
Cordy smiled warmly. "Yeah, once Gavin gave you the passwords Fred was able to hack in and get what we needed. She planted a worm that will destroy the files next time someone tries to access them." Cordy chuckled. "She and Willow really ought to meet."
Buffy tensed as if the very mention of Willow's name caused her pain. "Willow's not not into computers so much anymore..."
"Buffy are you OK?" Cordy reached out as if to touch her arm then hesitated. She sent a confused look into the shadows of the patio, but the blonde vampire watching them just shrugged as he lit up a cigarrette.
"I tortured a man today." Buffy turned to the woman next to her, pain etched in raw lines across her face. She shook her head in disbelief. "After everything...I just don't understand anymore. The line used to be so clear cut, you know?" Buffy's eyes pleaded with Cordelia's.
Cordy shivered under the pained weight of Buffy's stare. She wasn't a priest. She couldn't offer absolution for anyones sins...but she could give Buffy her opinion. It was what she did best.
"Buffy...Gavin will live. Right?" Cordy waited for Buffy's nod. "I'm not exactly the best one to judge the right and wrongs in this situation, but I do know what you did isn't the same as what Willow did." Cordelia was still reeling from the story that Spike had told her and Wes while waiting for Buffy's return. By unspoken agreement Spike's presence had been kept from Angel, but Wes didn't exactly trust him enough to let him wander so they had passed the time together.
Cordy didn't trust Spike for an entirely different reason. She'd sensed it when they first arrived. Something there that she'd only seen behind one other vampires eyes. Something that, for her, shone from the very fiber of Angel's being. She'd asked him about it, but he'd litterally begged her to keep his newly souled status a secret.
Life was just a kick in the nuts all round these days.
Buffy sniffed and let out a dry chuckle, bringing Cordy back into the present. "God...look at us. When did life get this complicated."
Cordy had to laugh at that one. "For me? I think it was about the time that I woke up and realized the monsters under the beds and in the closets were real...which, ironically enough was about the time you moved to Sunnydale."
She heard a snort from the shadows. Buffy looked over her shoulder and smiled. "I don't know Cordelia." She let out a heavy breath. "It always seemed pretty simple to me. Monster + kill = problem solved. Now I can't even tell black from white, up from down..."
"Black and white? Geeze Buffy, simplistic much?" Cordelia waved her arm expansively, drawing attention to the garden and the street beyond. "The world has *always* been full of greys. We just had to grow up a bit to see 'em." Cordelia leaned back and squinted into the cloudless blue of the sky. She thought for a moment then rotated her head to squint at the slayer. "Life has always been complicated, Buffy. It just didn't get *hard* untill we started to fall for the monsters."
Buffy frowned as she mulled over Cordy's words. She met the other woman's eyes. "So...you and Angel, huh?"
"Yep." Cordy shrugged. "Not that I'm asking your permission or anything, because I wouldn't...but are you ok with it..us?"
"Surprisingly, yeah." Buffy narrowed her eyes speculatively. The changes that Buffy had noticed that day weeks ago were again evident in the woman sitting beside her. She'd grown up Buffy realized, in a way that had absolutely nothing to do with her physical age. At some point they had gone from protector and protectee to equals of a sort. It was unnerving to see the strength behind those hazel eyes that she had always dismissed as vacuous and unworthy. It meant that she had never known just who Cordelia Chase really was. "It took a lot for you to call *me* in for help didn't it?"
Cordelia sighed. She'd hoped that Buffy wouldn't rub her face in the dirt over this, but she was prepared to take it, and *not* be a bitch about it. "Angel was in trouble, Buffy and time was running out. Pride didn't even enter into the equation."
A smile crept across Buffy's face. "*That's* why I am ok with it." She patted Cordelia on the arm and scooted close. "I have a bit of a confession to make."
Surprised, Cordelia stared at the blonde and waited. She wasn't sure if she could talk anyway. "A few weeks ago, after Spike left, I came here to the hotel." Cordelia's eyebrows shot up, but she let Buffy speak uninterrupted. "I'm not really sure why I came...I sort of had the vague idea of getting back together with Angel." A cough floated from the peanut gallery. They both ignored him.
"After everything that happened with Willow, and not knowing if Spike would ever be back...I just didn't want to deal. I mean, I was *happy* about life for the first time since I was brought back, but..." She saw Cordy wince at the mention of her resurection, and shook her head. She didn't want to hear the 'sorry's'. The point is, I saw you...all of you. I was going to come in, but ended up watching from out here. I realized that *none* of us were the same people anymore." Her hands nervously gripped the sides of the bench...hard.
"Beleive me, I wanted to blame you. It would have been so easy to label you a selfish bitch, but I could see...and then when you called I just knew." Buffy paused, praying that the other woman could make some sense of her nervous ramblings. The look of pure and utter shock on her face was priceless, as was the huge smile that was slowly dawning across her features.
"Wow, Buffy...I, uh...wow."
"Don't tell me I've rendered Cordelia Chase, queen of the comeback...speechless?" Buffy teased. "Go...me."
"That you did. I...I think I want to hug you." was Cordelia's breathless reply.
Buffy rolled her eyes. "You're going soft Queen C ." She received the business end of an arched brow.
"It's Princess now."
"Whatever...gimme a hug." She pulled Cordy to her and whispered. "Take care of him."
"Always."
It was enough.
Two women sat contentedly in the golden haze of the late afternoon. If their hug was short and a bit awkward, neither were complaining. Both suddenly felt a little freer, as understanding and friendship offered warmed the parts of them that the famed California sun could not.
"You want to see him?" Cordelia asked finally breaking the silence.
Buffy gave her a smug look. "Not that I'm asking permision, or anything, because I'm not...but are you OK with that?"
Cordelia stood and stretched, looking down on the slayer. She yawned a little. "Surprisingly...yeah." With a smile she pulled Buffy to her feet. Come on *little-Miss-likes-to-fight* I have some erands to run, but I'll show you up."
Buffy playfully hit Cordelia on the arm. "Hey! Just because I'm petite and...like to fight..." She mock scowled. "Don't think I'm not offended by that!"
"Can't think of a good comeback, can you?"
"Shut up Cordelia."
Cordy snorted. "Do you want me to start on the wardrobe, because I can..."
"Well I can...Punch you in the nose!"
"Oh, I'm shaking, you know for a slayer...you're not that scary."
* * *
Buffy found herself alone, in front of a door marked 217. She stared at the numbers, willing herself to just open the damn door and get it over with...it took a while.
Angel was beyond that door, not the quiet shy man that had loved her from the shadows. This Angel was a complete mystery to her. He had friends, a son, a life she knew absolutely nothing about. And couldn't the same thing be said about herself? Could Angel really know who she had become the way *her* friends and family could? She would have been lying to herself if she'd have said she hadn't felt jealousy and a touch of bitterness when she had seen Angel kiss Cordy. It was a seeming cruel twist of fate that had given Angel all of the things that he'd never dreamed he could provide for her. So why wasn't she angry?
She took a deep breath and opened the door....and stepped into the Twilite Zone.
Buffy stood in the doorway, unnoticed for the moment. Her eyes swept around the room, taking in the muted purple walls, the comfortable furnishings, and the cozy 'lived in' look of the entire apartment. Again she felt a sense of compete alieness. She couldn't help but make comparrisons to his spartan accomodations in Sunnydale. There had been an almost Zen-like quality to his rooms at the mansion.
And there was *never* a time when she would have been able to imagine her and the scoobies sprawled comfortably around his room as his current friends were.
Fred, the fresh faced Texan was propped comfortably on Angel's bed surrounded by copious notes, books, and a few odd looking devices that Buffy didn't even try to fathom. Wesley sat on a faded red chair beside her, his feet propped up on the side of the bed, his nose stuck into what had to be the biggest mustiest book she had ever seen...and given her background, that was saying something. The green demon, Lorne sat on the other side of the room close to a crib, bouncing Angel's baby on his knee.
Buffy had only met the two of them this morning. At the time most of her attention had been focused on Cordelia, trying not to dwell too much on the bandage covering what she knew would be a bite mark on her shoulder, as Cordy had outlined the specifics of her plan. Processing that the fact that the little bundle of spit and poop gurgling happily in Lorne's arms was actually *Angel's son* was still beyond her.
Her attention shifted to the middle of the room. Instinctively her body tensed. She had been told Angel was acting more agressive, and right now he was currently staring down the tall black man across from him. They were both standing, posture tense as they leaned over a small table. Gunn's back obscured her view of whatever was getting them both so upset.
Angel was bristling with menace, but it was clear that the younger man was not going to back down. Buffy felt for her stake. Gunn finally threw his hands up in defeat. "Calm *down* Irish, you know what Cordy said...'sides it was just..."
"You son of a bitch." Angel all but growled. "You sank my battleship!"
Buffy heard a snort from the general direction of the bed. Fred had her hand clamped over her mouth and Wesley's shoulders were silently shaking.
Angel's voice was deceptively soft. "Something you care to add Winnifred?"
A round of giggles erupted from the young womans mouth as she shook her head. "It's just...is there a game you *haven't* lost?"
Gunn crossed his arms and smirked at the irate vampire. "Maybe he's up for another round of poker?"
"Hardly!" Wes scoffed. "The wanker already owes me 150 bucks."
"Angel!" Fred shrieked, slapping at the bed for emphasis. "Cordy's gonna kill you...deader...than you already are." She trailed of, and gave him an not so appologetic smile.
"She's right." Wes carefully closed the book he had been reading. "Unless you'd be willing to play 52 pick up, then I think games are *officially* out."
All eyes turned towards the doorway as Buffy suddenly began to laugh. She doubled over, her entire body shaking as she collapsed against the frame, but she couldn't stop. She'd put a man in the hospital today, because Angel's soul hung in the balance...and he had been playing board games.
"Sorry." She gasped. "Give. Me. A. Minute."
Wes stood and helped Fred off the bed. "It's ok, Buffy." He nodded to Gunn. "Take your time."
Lorne stood. "I'll put the creampuff down in my room." He stared hard at Angel. "Behave yourself Crumbcake." This only produced a fresh round of laughter from the slayer.
Angel watched with a growing sense of panic as the room emptied and he was left abandoned...with Buffy, who was wiping tears from her eyes while trying to get her giggles under control. First Cordy, now Buffy...What was it about him that they found so damn funny? She pushed away from the door and came towards him. He noticed how her eyes seemed to take in every detail of his room, of *him* at once.
They stood for a moment, simply studying each other. He hadn't seen her since she had arrived...She looked good. The last time he had seen her she had been pale, drawn, with eyes like open wounds. There had been so little spark left in her then. Time, the simple act of living...something, or possibly someone Had worked a sort of magic on the slayer. Her old fire, the strength, confidence, and *obviously*, good humor were back. She had put on a little weight and there was color in her cheeks.
"Love the hair."
She grinned. "Thanks...cute kid." The smile that lit up Angel's face almost made her gasp.
He gestured to the seat that Wes had vacated. She sat and he seated himself on the edge of the bed, facing her. He looked like he was going to speak, then hesitated. Opened his mouth, then snapped it shut.
Buffy could empathize. "This *is* kind of awkward, isn't it?"
Angel leaned forward, face intensely focused on hers. He took her hands and held them lightly between his own. "Thank you."
"Angel, you don't.."
"No." He interrupted. "What you did for me, after everything..." He swallowed hard. "It means a lot."
"Then, you're welcome." She shrugged, pulling her hands from his. "I know that you'd be there if I called." She deadpanned. "It's what friends are for."
"Can we?"
She cocked her head. "Can we what?"
"Be friends."
"I don't know, " She hedged. "You've changed...I've changed. I think we'd have to get to know each other all over again." She faked a serious look but her voice was light.
"I could live with that." He smiled softly.
"What about Cordelia?"
Angel shrugged, his face hardening. "What about her? She is a big part of the *changed* me, and I'm not going to appologize or feel guilty for loving her." His voice turned cool. "I've got too many legitimate reasons to feel guilt without adding uneccesarily to the load."
Buffy blinked. "Wow...I can see where she rubbed off. I.., I'm not trying to make you feel defensive. I mean, I think I'm actually starting to...like her."
"Then *what* about Cordelia?"
Buffy scowled. "Look, you have to understand this is hard for me."
Angel simply waited for her to continue.
She sighed. "I talked with Cordy earlier and we sort of reached an...understanding, but there was still this tiny selfish part of me that hated her for taking you."
"Buffy, she didn't..."
She held up her hand. "I *know* but walking in here, seeing her with *your* baby, knowing she was yours now. It felt like she had been given the one thing that I always wanted...a normal life. I felt like screaming, calling her names, to ask how in the hell a bitch like her could end up with all the things I thought *I* deserved."
She heard a rumbling growl deep in Angel's chest, saw the deepset anger in his eyes and once again, she laughed. "Of course..." she murmured with a self depracating smile. "That was before I found out that she is part demon, made that way because she almost died helping *you*. That was before I knew how many people were trying to kill your son and destroy you...then seeing you with your friends, your family...I realized something."
Angel's voice was low, tight with restraint. "And what was that?"
"*Normal* for you is just as insane as it is for me. I've got a sister that's really an interdimensional key, and a best friend that tried to destroy the world. Xander and Anya are having issues with her going all vengance demony again, Giles is all mopey and Spike..."
Angel's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Spike!?!"
Buffy bit her lip, silently cursing her slip-up. "Ummm, yeah. There is Spike...forget Spike, that's not the point. They are my family, *my* people. When I am with them, not matter what we're going through, I'm home. You didn't *give* Cordelia a normal life, she took what she was given and *made* it normal."
She searched his face, waiting for her words to sink in. "I don't envy her for loving you, I know how hard it is." She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek, hugging him briefly. Her eyes were glittering with unshed tears when she pulled away, but deep in her heart, she realized that she had finally made peace with their past.
Angel cupped her face and kissed her forehead. "Buffy Summers you are an extraordinary woman." He then scowled. "Spike?"
"Get your mind out of the sewer, were..."
"Where's Cordy?"
Buffy blinked. "Okaay. She said she had some things to take care of."
Angel's good humor instantly vanished. "Did she say what or where?" He stood and stalked towards the door. She didn't check in before she left. She always lets me know where she's going."
"Chill Angel, geeze...don't go into stalker mode. Maybe Sak's is having a sale or something." Buffy shrugged and followed him towards the door.
Angel gave her a pretty good approximation of Cordelia's death glare. "On what I pay her?" He scoffed. "She's lucky to be able to afford The Gap."
Buffy was drawing a blank. "Where would she go?"
Angel paused in the hallway, his face paled...he rounded on her, eyes narrowed. "What *exactly* did you find out today?"
Buffy shivered. She saw a flash of Gavin breaking, begging her to stop. "I just got passwords. Fred used them to hack into the files Lilah kept on you. Ummm...She found some secret files detailing her research on the spell and all that. From Gavin's reactions and what Fred uncovered Lilah was acting on her own little outside...Oh my god! Do you really think she'd go after her?"
Angel was already halfway down the hall, his face grim. "Yeah, I think she really would."
Buffy followed Angel down the stairs, watching warily as he spoke to his friends then pulled a sword from his weapons cabinent. He threw on his coat and crossed the lobby to where she stood.
"Were you planning on leaving soon?"
She nodded, confused. "We were."
He pulled her into a tight hug. "Ok, we'll talk soon."
"But..."
He cut her off. "No, this is personal. Wes is going to go ahead and do the spell now, and I'll take care of Cordelia."
"Are you sure you won't need backup? What if something happens or the spell goes wrong, because, you know...it's not like *that* ever happens." She followed him down the steps to the basement. "Wes said the counterspell will make your soul permanent. Do you really want to be running around town while he's preforming magic on you?"
Angel paused at the entrance of the sewer. He looked over his shoulder and grinned. "He said it would be fine, and besides that's just one more reason for you not to be here when I get back."
"Why?"
Angel wiggled his eyebrows. "Cordy's loud."
"What? OH!" She grimaced. "Eww."
Angel's laughter echoed through the air as he dissapeared into the sewers. Nope, Buffy thought, she didn't know Angel at all anymore. She shook her head and smiled as she ascended the stairs.
* * *
Lilah had definately had better days than this.
Linwood, that annoying little prick, had been toying with her, sending her out on a case that was completely beneath her abilities. Of course that little rat Gavin had most likely used the opportunity to insinuate his brown nose even further up Linwoods ass than it already was.
She had been ecstatic to hear about the security breach and Gavin's subsequent torture earlier in the day...that is until she tried to acess her files. It had suddenly become crystal clear who had been the ultimate target and blame was rapidly shifting her way. Linwood had already asked some very uncomfortable questions about the contents of her hard drive, and she didn't have very good answers.
Lilah Morgan had never been very good at bull shitting and if she didn't come up with something to cover her ass soon...Linwood would see it roasted. And at Wolfram and Hart that could very well be taken in it's most literal sense. She straitened her shoulders and lifted her chin as the elevator to the parking garage dinged. With a practiced air of confidence she made her way to her car.
Before she could reach it's relative security a figure stepped from the shadows. Lilah jumped, gasping and clutching her chest. She relaxed slightly when she saw who it was. "Oh, it's just you." She sneered.
An arch of an elegant eyebrow was the other woman's only response. They stood a few feet apart, warily appraising each other. Lilah becoming slowly unnerved by the young woman's stony silence.
Exasperated, she huffed. "Come on Cordelia, whatever you want I don't have all day."
Cordelia simply narrowed her golden-brown eyes.
Lilah threw her hands up and moved to walk around Cordelia, but before she could get half a step she found herself staring down the business end of a crossbow. Lilah just smiled. "Oh, scary."
Cordelia's features remained hard, but a soft smile graced her lips. When she spoke her tone was conversational, almost friendly and that made Lilah afraid, not of the weapon pointed at her face, but the woman behind it.
"Angel told me about Billy...about what you did...and well, we've had this conversation before haven't we?"
Lilah yawned.
Cordelia continued. " We never talked about what he said to you though, about what would happen if you came at him through me again...you remember?"
Lilah was picking at her nails, looking extremely bored. She was barely managing not to tremble. "He said he'd kill me...not like he hasn't said it before, but look." She turned in a circle and grinned at the other woman. "I'm still here. Personally, I don't think he has the stones...but you would know wouldn't you? Angel ought to invest in a gag for that mouth of yours."
Lilah had to admit, she was good. There was a noticeable wobble to the crossbow that she didn't think had anything to do with fatigue. Cordelia was rapidly blinking back tears.
"You're no better..." She murmured. "No different than the rest..."
Lilah leaned forward. "What's that honey?" She laughed derisively. "Is this the part where you give me one of your little woman to woman pep talks on how being evil is bad and then label me a," she air quoted, "Vicious Bitch."
Time slowed down for Lilah as she noticed something in Cordelia's eyes harden. She became aware of the humming of the florescents above her head, and the stale gasoline scented air, She heard a dull thud as something sharp broke through her sternum and a overwhelming pain pierced her heart, quickly spreading to her lungs. She looked down, surprised at the bolt sticking through her chest, then back up to the angry woman in front of her.
"No Lilah, this is where I take the title back."
"But." She dropped to her knees, vision growing hazy. Cordelia seemed to have suddenly grown so tall, a terrible giant from her childhood nightmares looming over her.
"You tried to take Angel's soul. You don't think I'd let you hurt him like that do you? You tried to steal what makes Angel good, what makes him alive...You're no better than the vampires we kill." She spat. "So you can die like one."
The last thing Lilah saw as she collapsed onto the grimy grease stained cement were Cordelia's Manuolo Blahnik shoes (last seasons) as she turned on her heel and walked away.
* * *
Angel understood the line between good and evil better than a lot of beings. He'd walked that line far longer than most. He understood that lines were not crossed with giant strides but small steps, until one day you looked around in wonder to discover just how far over the line you had come.
The spell Wesley preformed took effect when he was about half way to Wolfram and hart. Tension he didn't even know he had been carrying drained from his body as he felt the darkness in his soul recede. The controlling force over his demon nature snapped tight as strength flooded through his soul. He felt the difference, he didn't know how or why but he could sense it. There was no doubt in his mind that his soul was now bound. It felt strange, liberating, and terrifying. Thank you Wes.
He wished he could stop, savor the moment, and let this new feeling sink in. He only drove faster. He burst through the entrance to the underground parking, tires squealing as he hit the brakes, feet pounding concrete as he ran towards the fresh smell of blood. He rounded the corner and slowed, cautiously approaching the body.
He was too late. Lilah lay sprawled on the cold concrete, eyes staring blankly at the florescent lights above. He poked the body with the toe of his boot. She was definitely dead, only just...but dead all the same.
Cordelia had killed for him...He wasn't sure how to feel about that, and certainly he didn't like the surge of pride and lust that seemed to be his instinctual reaction. He swallowed hard, checking the area, but there was no one. Lilah's blood was still warm...his mouth began to water. He knelt beside her, reaching forward and dragging her eyelids closed. He fished two quarters out of his pocket, wiped them clean and laid them over her eyes. The sight brought a smile to his lips. He leaned down and daubed a little blood onto his finger and brought it to his mouth.
She tasted exquisite, like a fine single malt scotch. He smirked, "Lindsey always was the smarter one...he got out when he finally realized he was living on borrowed time. You should have took the hint after Dru and Darla ate your friends." He grasped the bolt and, with a grunt yanked it from her chest. "You always were a stupid bitch."
Angel rose to his feet, turned and walked away without looking back. He slipped the bloody bolt into his pocket and licked his fingers clean. He had no excuse for his actions save that bound soul or not, he was a vampire. He certainly felt no remorse that Lilah was dead. Angel started his car and drove into the night with the intention of finding Cordelia, and then...he wasn't sure...He didn't expect her to be waiting for him just outside the building. He stopped the car and waited for her to get in.
"Cor."
"Just drive Angel, just drive."
Angel reached over drew Cordelia close, and headed towards the coast with no clear destination in mind.
***********
Lilah Morgan knew she had a one way ticket to hell when she died. She had tried not to think of it to much when she was alive, but there were times when she wondered. Never in her wildest dreams had she expected this...
"Holland?"
"Ah, Lilah, I've been expecting you. Please, sit."
She walked to the leather chair taking in the windowless yet comfortable office as she sat down. Holland Manners was staring at her with coolly detached eyes. He smiled. "Were you expecting fire and brimstone?"
"Something like that" Lilah said wryly. "A little death and mayhem at the very least."
Holland nodded. "Oh it's here Lilah, all around us. The Senior Partners have decided to spare you that for the time being."
Lilah didn't know what to say so she waited.
"That was quite the coup you pulled up there. We are all very impressed."
"Coup?" Lilah laughed in spite of the situation. "I failed to take Angel's soul, and that BITCH Cordelia killed me." She fingered the wet hole in the middle of her chest. "Forgive me if I don't see how that's impressive. Not that I want to fry in hell...I just don't understand."
Holland sat back in his chair, fingers steepled. "It's about balance, Lilah. Where you failed in one avenue you have succeeded brilliantly in another." He cocked his head and smiled indulgently. "The corruption of a soul is a delicate business."
"I failed." She countered.
"Did you?" Off her frown he continued. "We have tried for years to exploit the darkness inherent in Angel and failed. He has friends, family, people he loves and who love him in return. They pull him from the brink, time and again. The Partners decided it was time for a change of focus."
Lilah's mind began to race through the possibilities.
"Sure on the surface Angel and his seer have won the day, but at what cost? Her soul has the taint of murder now."
"But I'm a law..."
"It still counts, however marginally."
"Cordelia is Angel's guide, his link to humanity and the powers."
Holland nodded. "How well do you think she she can guide him through the dark times ahead if her own light starts to fade. Besides Angel having a permanent soul may end up being more trouble than either of them bargained for."
Lilah gave him a perplexed look.
"What do you think is going to happen when Angel has no reason to keep his emotions in check? Sure he can know happiness, love...but there is always a flip side, how will he react when those walls he's spent a century erecting to restrain the beast within come crashing down?"
"So what happens now?" Lilah asked. Her interest piqued. "Seduce Cordelia to the dark side? Surely the Powers will step in to try and counteract your efforts."
"They will try, but if they fail, Angel will fall. His love for the girl blinds him. He would not leave her, even if it were for his own good."
"Linwood told me once that this is a war we cannot win." Lilah murmured. Holland Manners stood and ushered her towards a door on the far side of the room.
"From now on you will be working for me, I've been needing a personal assistant." He took her hand, smiling benignly but there was a blankness in his eyes. He opened the door to another windowless office, this one much smaller than his. She stepped inside and turned back to Holland, uncertain.
He stepped back outside pulling the door closed, he hesitated then leaned his head back in to Lilah's new office. "Lilah...maybe we can't *win* but we can't loose either. The balance when the apocalypse comes will affect the world born from the ashes afterward. The question is do you want the meek to inherit the earth, or..."
A smirk twisted across Lilah's features. "I get it sir."
End.