SCRIBES OF ANGEL
FanFic
________________________________
Title: A Start
Author: Christie - TINAMISHI@YAHOO.COM
Pairing: Angel/Cordelia (somewhat
angsty)
Summary: Cordelia has a vision of Angel
and is forced to go see him.
Takes place sometime after Reunion. Sort
of reminiscent of First
Impressions.
Spoilers: Reunion.
Distribution: List archives, Stranger
Things, CAS Alliance sites
Disclaimer: The characters in the
Angelverse were created by Joss Whedon
and David Greenwalt. All rights are
reserved by Twentieth Century Fox.
No copyright infringement intended.
Dedicated to the A/C loyalists - keep on
hangin' on.
~
There was nothing Cordelia wanted to do
*less* than go and see Angel. It
had been almost two weeks since he fired
them, and still no word. But
Wesley and Gunn were giving her no
choice; combined, their nagging was
unbearable. She'd had a vision. And it
was of Angel.
Her hand shook as she grasped the handle
of the large, heavy doors
leading into the Hyperion Hotel. She had
to admit, part of her was scared.
Angel had blurred the line between good
and evil and treaded dangerously
close to the edge. For all Cordelia
knew, by now he'd fallen - deep into
the chasm of darkness where it was
simpler. He'd said it before: evil was
pure. Easy. Lucid. And Cordelia had no
idea if he'd found that effortless
place once again.
Taking a breath, she pulled the door
open, the creak of the hinges
sounding like thunder in her ears. The
lobby was dark and silent as she
stepped in, her footsteps echoing
against the old tile. She shivered
involuntarily as she ascended the steps
to the second floor.
His concentration didn't falter as
Cordelia opened the door to his suite.
He was in sweats and a tank top, poised
in tai chi form. For someone so
imperious, Cordelia knew how graceful he
was, and couldn't stop herself
from staring as he pulled one arm back,
muscles tense and flexed,
extending the other forward, palm facing
skyward. He appeared calm, but
Cordelia knew the intense concentration
behind the effortless expression.
Angel completed his form and relaxed his
muscles, turning toward the
door. His gaze swept over his former
Seer and Cordelia trembled, lifting
one hand to brace herself against the
door frame. She opened her mouth to
speak, but couldn't decide what to say
and closed it quickly.
The vampire's voice was flat when he
said, "what are you doing here,
Cordelia?"
Even without emotion in his voice, it
kicked Cordelia into motion and
she strode through the door with
purpose. Throwing her purse on the bed,
she perched on the edge of it, crossing
her legs and smoothing out her
long purple skirt.
"I don't want to be here any more
than you want me here, Angel," she
began. It was a lie, of course, but it
sounded dramatic enough and if
she was going to get through this, her
acting would have to be in full
swing.
He seemed to see right through her, and
lifted one eyebrow in the
slightest of gestures. "Something
wrong?"
Cordelia raised her eyes to his, an
incredulous expression spreading
over her face. "Other than being
fired by the person I considered my
best friend and cut off from his life
completely without explanation, no,
everything's peachy!"
As soon as the words were out, she
snapped her mouth shut, wishing she
could take them back. The thought
flitted through her mind that maybe,
perhaps, she hadn't said it out loud,
but it was a fruitless hope, and
she knew it as soon as Angel turned his
back to her and began picking up
weapons and restoring them in the
weapons cabinet.
The girl sighed. She shifted on the bed,
then stood. "Look, Angel, I - "
She stopped herself. No, she wouldn't
apologize. What she'd blurted was
the truth, and if anyone should be
apologizing it should be Angel. She
tipped up her chin. "I had a vision
of you."
He froze for the tiniest of
milliseconds, then resumed his task.
Cordelia stared hard at his back,
willing him to turn around. He didn't,
and she allowed annoyance to wash over
her, standing and clutching her
purse. "You're in trouble, Angel.
The Powers That Be, they sent me a
vision."
"Darla and Dru?" His voice was
low, barely audible, and it took Cordelia
a few moments to discern what he'd said.
She shook her head. "No. You."
Her voice was firm. New resolve that she
*could* get through to him flooded her.
She remained standing, but threw
her purse back on the bed.
Angel picked up the last weapon, a
squat, thick wooden handled ax, and
stored it away. He took an unusually
long time closing and locking the
cabinet. Finally, he turned, hands
sliding down his hips, as if looking
for nonexistent pockets in his sweats.
"I meant, am I in trouble from
Darla and Dru," he asked patiently.
Cordelia raised her eyebrows at the
condescending tone, but decided
against calling him on it. Instead, she
took on her own tone and said,
"No, you're in trouble from
yourself." She dropped the attitude and
blinked up at him, eyes pleading.
"Angel, please talk to me. Give me
something - anything."
Angel blinked, looked away. "I
don't know what you want from me, Cordy."
Cordy. It was a start. Smiling slightly,
the girl plunged ahead. "I'm
your friend, Angel, and I love you. I
don't want to lecture you but
you're headed down the wrong path. You
know it, and you're doing it
anyway. I guess - " She faltered,
squared her shoulders and took a step
closer to him. "I don't want to see
you do it. I couldn't handle it if
you turned back into Angelus."
In response to her step forward, Angel
took a step back, turning once
again and picking a towel off a nearby
chair. He wrapped it around his
shoulders, hands balled into fists,
gripping each end. "I'm not going
to turn into Angelus," he said
flatly.
Cordelia sniffed, watching the muscles
in his shoulder blades tense and
tighten under the tanktop. Just the top
left corner of his tattoo could
be seen peeking out from behind the
white fabric.
"Fine. But who you are right now?
It's not Angel. Angel helps the
helpless. Angel is my friend. Angel is
working hard for redemption.
You're not any of those things right
now."
The vampire shook his head, eyes remaining
trained on the floor.
"Cordelia, I can't get into this
with you."
A hand reached out, and Cordelia touched
the vampire's forearm. "Why?
Why not? I won't judge you, I
promise."
Angel turned and flinched back from the
touch, but a small smile inched
it's way across his lips. It disappeared
quickly, but it was there, and
Cordelia's heart soared.
"It's not about judging me,
Cordelia. It's not about you at all."
She frowned. "Then why fire me? Why
leave me with these visions and no
one to report them to? They're meant for
you, you know. Not Wesley and
Gunn."
"Just ignore them, then."
Irritation washed over her. "I
can't. You know that. And you shouldn't
be able to either."
Angel paused, then released a long,
arduous sigh. "Cordelia, I'm sorry,
but I can't come back and act like
nothing's wrong. I have to be
alone - I have to concentrate and I
can't do that with you guys around."
It was the most explanation he'd ever
given. Still, she wasn't buying
it. "Look at me, Angel." Tears
glittered in her eyes, and her voice
cracked slightly, but she stood her
ground. "Look at me."
He tilted his head; meant to raise it to
her eyes but couldn't. His
gaze flittered back to the floor.
"Why won't you look at me? You owe
me at least that much."
"Yeah, I owe you." The
vampire's voice hardened. "I owe everyone for
what Angelus - what I did. I can't live
up to that, Cordelia. I can't
atone for what I did for a hundred and
fifty years. It's impossible. I
could save ten lives a night for a
century and not even begin to make up
for the pain I caused. So why
bother?"
Cordelia blinked. She hadn't seen this
much emotion from him since
Buffy. Hazel eyes traveled across his
face, trying desperately to read
him. It was near impossible, as it
always was, and he kept his eyes
averted to the floor.
"Angel - some of us happen to think
you've already made up for it. A
hundred times over. Some of us happen to
think you're the best thing
this city has. Some of us happen to love
you, Angel. And you're shutting
us out."
"I'm never going to be exactly what
you want me to be, Cordy." He, once
again, sounded flat and emotionless. The
voice of a person resigned.
Cordelia pushed her breath out. "So?
That's the beauty of it. It's
called unconditional love. It's what
being a family is all about."
She waited. No reaction. She let forth a
slight, self-depreciating
chuckle. "I'm never going to be
exactly what you want me to be, either.
And so what? Doesn't mean you don't care
about me, right? Doesn't mean
you don't consider me family. Doesn't
mean you wouldn't lay your life on
the line. Cause I know you would. Even
now."
Still, silence from her counterpart.
Cordelia plowed ahead. "You can
pretend you don't care, hell, you might
even believe you don't care, but
I know you, Angel. And I know you do.
Somewhere, deep down," she pushed
a finger against his silent heart,
"in there, you do."
It was a long silence that followed.
Angel seemed unsure what to do
with himself. His fists tightened on the
towel around his neck, and
pulled it to one side, then the other,
before finally pulling it off of
himself completely. He unfolded it, then
folded it into a neat square,
and placed it on the arm of the chair
he'd gotten it from.
Cordelia remained standing firm,
watching his every move. She didn't
budge, didn't speak, waited as he
absorbed what she'd said - or kicked
her out - whichever came first. She
began counting the ticks on the old
grandfather clock that stood in one
corner of his suite.
She was up to 312 when he finally spoke.
"So what now?"
Still, eyes positioned on his feet.
Cordelia couldn't help but laugh.
"Just look at me, damn it."
Angel sighed. "I don't think -
"
He looked up. She met his eyes, choked
back a sob. She threw herself
into his arms, not caring if he threw
her right back out, just needing
to be closer to him than she was. He
accepted the hug, slowly wrapping
his arms around her as she squeezed him
tightly, small whimpers coming
from where her face was buried in his
neck.
Cordelia was grateful that he let her
cry, just held her there not
telling her to stop, not telling her it
would be okay, because as nice as
it would be to hear, she knew it would
be a lie. Truth was, Angel had no
more a clue than she did as to how
things would turn out once this was
all over.
Or if it would ever end.
When she finally pulled back, her
mascara had run on his tank top and
part of his shoulder. She sniffled and
laughed slightly, reaching for
the towel he had just folded in attempt
to wipe it away.
"It's okay," he told her,
taking the towel from her and tossing it aside.
He kept his gaze on her, tilting his
head slightly downward to look into
her eyes.
"I was so busy being mad at you I
didn't realize how sad I was," she
explained, rummaging through the depths
of her purse for a compact.
"I'm sorry I - "
Angel reached out his hand, placing it
on hers, effectively stopping
her search. "I apologize for
hurting you, Cordy. But I can't go back
right now. I need to be alone."
Cordelia nodded resolutely. "Fine.
You can be alone. But I'm gonna call
you. Okay? And if you need me, you're
gonna call me." She stared up at
him. "Okay?"
He shrugged. "Yeah." Started
to turn away.
Her hand on his arm stopped him.
"No, Angel. I don't mean fashion advice.
I mean, if you find yourself going into
a dark place, darker than usual,
you call me." She raised her
eyebrows and gave a small smile. "We'll hang
out. Do pizza and blood. Okay?"
He nodded. "Okay."
Cordelia studied him, frowning.
"Okay. You're still brooding. And you've
got that intense eyebrow thing
going." She watched him, but still, he
scowled. Brightening, she acquisced.
"But this was good. It's a start."
End.