Title: Losing Everyone
Author:
Aaronlisa Rating: FR13
Pairing/Characters: Angelus/Cordelia, mention of Xander
Disclaimer: The Buffyverse belongs to Joss Whedon and company.
Prompts:
btvsats_love - pairing & fireplace,
15_flames - #9 (waiting),
50_darkfics - #94 (lick),
100moods - #98 (vulnerable)
Notes: Set during an AU Season Three of ATS/Season Six of BTVS
Summary: It takes losing almost everyone for Cordelia to break free.
She had been waiting for so long for Angel to look at her and for him to finally stop waiting for Buffy. She had been in love with Angel for so long so that when Angelus had walked into her apartment she had been vulnerable. And like the psychopath that he was, Angelus had carefully manipulated her vulnerability, which explained how she had ended up in Sunnydale. As Cordelia stared into the flames in the fireplace, she wondered how she could have wanted someone to love her so much that she’d willingly turn away as Angelus slowly killed off every one of her friends.
Now as she stared into the flames of the fire that she had built to ward off the numbing cold that she felt, Cordelia refused to look into the eyes of Angelus’ intended victim. She knew that if she looked into Xander’s brown eyes, she would be forced to admit that all she had done had made a mockery of love. In her heart she knew that if she were forced to admit that she had done terrible things, she would start to fall apart to piece. And it was too late in the game for that to happen as far as she was concerned.
“Waiting for me darlin’?” Angelus purred as he licked the smooth column of her neck.
“Yes, of course.”
“Are you finally ready?”
”Yes,” Cordelia calmly answered, even though her heartbeat was racing too fast.
“Good, you know what to do,” Angelus said as he placed a knife on her lap.
“I do,” Cordelia flatly said as she finally looked at Xander, “I do know what to do.”
She gracefully stood up and her hand gripped at the handle of the sharp knife. The flames of the fire didn’t seem to warm as she mouthed a single word of apology at her former boyfriend. Before she turned to face Angelus, Cordelia briefly wondered if she would ever feel warm again. Angelus raised an eyebrow at her in question. Instead of turning back to face Xander, Cordelia moved towards the vampire as she dropped the dagger to the floor.
”I thought that you said you were ready to end all of this,” Angelus angrily asked.
”I am ready,” Cordelia stated before she thrust the stake from her pocket into his undead heart.
As the vampire exploded into a cloud of ash and dust, Cordelia finally started to cry as all the carefully built illusions she had possessed came falling down. She had finally found the courage to do the right thing but it had come far too late.
**END**