How to say Goodbye

[AmusingLove]

I'm sure all this has been talked about numerous times but I've been wondering about 'Your Welcome' and if it had ended differently (as I'm sure everyone has). I've seen where people say that the only way Cordy would have ever left Angel was if she died. Then there are people who say that she would have walked away from him willingly and it would have been plausible.

So my question is.. What would have been a believable way for Cordelia to leave without dying at the end? Being in the mindset that she wouldn't be back at least not until the very end of the series.

Every scenerio that I can conjure in my mind always ends up with her coming back to him or him going after her, but that's just my romantic Cordy/Angel lovin' heart talking...lol.. unless of course "memory loss" was involved.

[psychofilly]

I think the answer is pretty simple. Cordelia would never have worked for Wolfram and Hart. By the end of YW, she may have understood why Angel did what he did, but I don't think she would have played the same game. She was too firmly on the side of "good" when she came back. So, I think she would have left and fought in her own and probably worked against W&H to mitigate some of the bad that they were still doing.

My own scenario would be that Cordelia would have woken from the coma, been hella pissed because the powers duped her, raped her and destroyed her family, said hell no to both sides and struck out on her own after a period of physical and emotional recovery.

In my mind, she would have taken Spike with her and worked to get her friends memories back in a way that wouldn't violate their contracts. She would have probably started her own agency, or worked with Anne. She would have undermined every shady deal that Angel was involved in and used Spike to drive him up the wall. She would have dug into what made W&H tick and been working independantly to take them down, and she'd only reconcile with Angel if he came and told her he wanted him and his people out. Then she would have handed him the intel she had gathered and stood by his side (as a friend) till the end.

She would have been bitter and damaged and angry and still living day to day, but she'd be all right and she'd be out there doing the right thing, and she'd never ever trust Angel completely with her heart again, and she'd always mistrust her friends a little but she'd still love them all because they all fucked up. She let Wesley slide when he needed her and none of them noticed that there was something wrong with her. She was just as blind about all of them.

So, in my mind, if they followed the season four storyline to it's logical end, Cordelia would have had a very bittersweet story and would have been more snarky and guarded, and any romance that bloomed with Angel and Cordy would have been slow and hard and bitter and only maybe worth it in the end.

[DamnSkippy]

I know you are asking for scenarios that would have been believable and worked, and I must agree with Becky on her plot. That would have been a very believable way to handle things.

The other side of the question is would ME have ever gone that route? IMO...pfft. First of all, I don't think they had the creativity to come up with that plot and secondly, IMO they would never have portrayed Cordy as that strong and smart. I think they likely could have had Cordy start an agency and take Spike with her, but the more likely ME version would have had Angel rescuing Cordy from her folly and letting her in on *his* inside scoop and plan to take down W&H. After all, it is all about Angel and they wouldn't have let Cordy be the big hero in the end.

But it would have been very, very cool! Too bad Becky wasn't in charge.

[AmusingLove]

I really like that scenerio.

I always felt too that Cordelia and Spike were two people that would have been able to accomplish great things by working together, not only in driving Angel up a wall, but Cordy wouldn't have taken any of Spike's crap.

It is most logical probably that Cordelia would open her own agency because let's face it she pretty much ran AI anway...lol. Having W&H and her agency at odds would have made for great fireworks, especially if Spike was with her. But keeping in that Codry would still need to leave LA, as to not be shown onscreen, where would she go? And would Spike follow her to play hero? And if she did move and open her own agency with Spike, he could be the go between from where ever she is to W&H, since they'd probably be keeping tabs anyway, that way she can work through her problems and feelings from/about the previous year and still be fighting for good.

While I love 'Your Welcome', I didn't like how no one dealt with any of what happened over the previous year, with the exception of her and Wes' little conversation, cause if I was her I sure as hell woulda be POed, at TPTB and my friends/family.

LOL... I didn't realize at first but this thread could go so many different ways depending on if your looking at it from a shipper view, and then if her character would have stayed or left. I think it could have been successful though as I said above for Cordy to leave at least for a while and start up an agency with Spike kind of going back and forth, maybe spying if you will on the gang, since you know Angel would be watching her like a hawk probably.

I hope I didn't ramble to much and something makes sense..lol.

[Luna]

I think Cordelia could have woken up from the coma, physically and mentally messed up and Angel and her friends have become so heartless that they don´t care about her anymore and don´t even visit her at the hospital. Cordy is very sad and wonders why her friends don´t want to see her.

After some time of recovery, she finds out how badly her friends have changed. Because they don´t want her in their lives anymore, she flees to Sunnydale to the Scoobies, maybe back to Xander. Because BtVS was already over, Cordy would have lived in Sunnydale and not be on screen anymore.

Well, maybe my version is a bit mean, but not as mean as Joss by killing her off.

[tojoson]

i've always thought that if would be great if Cordy were to leave Angel, go back to the hotel, and hook up with the old crew that were helping Wes in season 4, apparently fighting against everything Angel and compaby were doing. but it would come out in the final 2 parter, that Cordy was secretly working WITH Angel, going around and recruiting and training an army of humans and good demons, preparing for the upcoming face-off, and when Angel and company are in the alley for the final fight, around the corner comes Cordy, with a thousand being army, and a rocket launcher for that damn dragon

[psychofilly]

There is another scenario.

Cordelia wakes up and instructs the nurses that no one be informed. She dissapears, Angel doesn't find out till he comes for his weekly/biweekly visit. (Yeah, I know).

Lindsey shows up invisibility sigils and all, pretending to be a go between for someone named "Doyle." He lures Spike into a meeting, we see a shadowy figure which we pretty quickly realize is Cordelia.

We next see Spike show up at W&H all smug, bragging that he has a mission now and that he has his own guide, "Doyle." Angel is pissed, investigates, and eventually finds out that it's a very pissed off Cordelia.

Much infighting ensues. Lorne has been recruited to spy for Cordy. Angel sends Gunn to pretend to want to get back to his roots. He finds that Cordy is working for Anne, recruiting an army.

Lindsey is her "shadow man" working black ops, seeming to play both the good and evil side and in general being the bad-ass oily rattlesnake he was born to play. As Cordy's warrior Spike constantly is butting heads directly with Angel, and they are continually undercutting each other.

Angel seems to cave and go fully evil after the death of Fred (or any other trigger you want). He signs over his shanshu, reconnects to Connor (I liked that part o Season five). Everything looks dire. Cordy may even get captured by Angel.

Wolfram and Hart (And the Black Thorn) think they've won. Angel brings Cordy before the Senior Partners (via the elevator to hell). They get out, Angel drags her kicking and screaming to the main chamber. As they go through the door, a shadow slips out of the elevator and kills the gaurds.

All across the LA, concerted attacks against demons and humans associated with the Circle are being carried out by Cordelia's and Angel's teams. Just as it looks like Angel's going to cut Cordelia's throat, Lindsey runs in and throws her a sword. The three of them kill the Senior partners. Turns out, since Linsey is effectively invisible, Cordy recruited him to be the go-between for her and Angel. He agreed because W&H were hunting him.

They take the elevator back up to be met by Connor, Gunn, Illyria, Wes and Spike. Lindsey smiles at Angel, Angel turns to Cordy and says, "Never play by their rules." (or whatever it was Lindsey said when he left LA).

The guys are all bruised and bloodied, Cordy looks them all over, and someone suggests coffee. They walk away together. Happy ending implied. No one looks like a dumb-ass except the bad guys.

[MissWera]

Originally Posted by psychofilly

There is another scenario.

Cordelia wakes up and instructs the nurses that no one be informed. She dissapears, Angel doesn't find out till he comes for his weekly/biweekly visit. (Yeah, I know).

Lindsey shows up invisibility sigils and all, pretending to be a go between for someone named "Doyle." He lures Spike into a meeting, we see a shadowy figure which we pretty quickly realize is Cordelia.

We next see Spike show up at W&H all smug, bragging that he has a mission now and that he has his own guide, "Doyle." Angel is pissed, investigates, and eventually finds out that it's a very pissed off Cordelia.

Much infighting ensues. Lorne has been recruited to spy for Cordy. Angel sends Gunn to pretend to want to get back to his roots. He finds that Cordy is working for Anne, recruiting an army.

Lindsey is her "shadow man" working black ops, seeming to play both the good and evil side and in general being the bad-ass oily rattlesnake he was born to play. As Cordy's warrior Spike constantly is butting heads directly with Angel, and they are continually undercutting each other.

Angel seems to cave and go fully evil after the death of Fred (or any other trigger you want). He signs over his shanshu, reconnects to Connor (I liked that part o Season five). Everything looks dire. Cordy may even get captured by Angel.

Wolfram and Hart (And the Black Thorn) think they've won. Angel brings Cordy before the Senior Partners (via the elevator to hell). They get out, Angel drags her kicking and screaming to the main chamber. As they go through the door, a shadow slips out of the elevator and kills the gaurds.

All across the LA, concerted attacks against demons and humans associated with the Circle are being carried out by Cordelia's and Angel's teams. Just as it looks like Angel's going to cut Cordelia's throat, Lindsey runs in and throws her a sword. The three of them kill the Senior partners. Turns out, since Linsey is effectively invisible, Cordy recruited him to be the go-between for her and Angel. He agreed because W&H were hunting him.

They take the elevator back up to be met by Connor, Gunn, Illyria, Wes and Spike. Lindsey smiles at Angel, Angel turns to Cordy and says, "Never play by their rules." (or whatever it was Lindsey said when he left LA).

The guys are all bruised and bloodied, Cordy looks them all over, and someone suggests coffee. They walk away together. Happy ending implied. No one looks like a dumb-ass except the bad guys.

I like this scenario....And then they could have done a 6th season...with Cordy of course!

[lismac]

I like both scenarios - they would make great fics.

If I remember Tourniquet ended with plans for a new agency with Spike - right?

I remember another fic where Cordy did start a new agency & Angel didn't know about it (maybe didn't even know she was awake) until they both ended up breaking into the same building looking for intel. I think the tone of the story had Angel being fairly beigy and Cordy had written him off. At the time I thought it was a believable plot line because they were both bitter (and who could blame them) and neither was looking for the other to be the hero/saviour anymore - they had matured past that ideology. But they were still both single-minded in their belief that they were doing good. They just couldn't do it together because each thought the other was wrong. I've seen friendships/relationships end because one person couldn't live with the choices of the other. Sometimes there is a line you can't cross even for someone you love. -( run out of room ) best stop now, Lisa

[psychofilly]

Don't run away, lol. You'll have to link to that fic. It sounds interesting.

Yeah, I wrote something similar in Tourniquet, but the plot for one of the sequels to that was supposed to be that Cordy and Angel are dating and she does the agency thing with Spike, eventually gets her visions back and goes crazy because having Jasmine fundamentally altered her visions (and she kills spike), at which point Angel steps in and tries to change reality again. Wes and Lilah say screw this, and change the plan creating their own better reality. Only Lilah remembers both and may or may not be trying to bring back the crazy Cordy reality (in the WIP Wedding Fic, but I never finished it). So it would have been a bit different.

It was a fic based on a comic in Garfields Nine Lives.

You address what frustrated me the most. Mistakes were made on all sides, but no one ever owned up to their own shortcomings. Cordy got swept under the rug just so they wouldn't have to.

[califi]

PF: Don't run away, lol. You'll have to link to that fic. It sounds interesting.

that sounds very much like Lost & Found by Helen.
The great thing is, she has done a few spin-offs to it too. (They are listed in her Archive).

Also, The Cost of Surrender by Cordelia'sDestiny. A slightly different take on it.

[brownsbros3]

One scenario I came up with was in a fan-fic that I wrote awhile back. It involved her father being released from prison and her mother taking ill. He came to Los Angeles to ask for Cordelia's help in taking care of her mother, and in they as a family starting over with their lives.

I could see her maybe staying for a short time with the rest of the gang at Wolfram and Hart, and going through a "feeling out" process, but I can't imagine that she would agree to it long term.

There was another idea I had where they would name her Chief Financial Officer. She then proceeds to redecorate her office, buy her a new wardrobe, and when Angel would walk into her office she was be getting a manicure, peticure, or even a massage by some burly Fabio-type of guy. I know its season one-ish, but I think they could have done some really funny stuff by giving her unlimited financial resources.

[lismac]

Originally Posted by califi

that sounds very much like Lost & Found by Helen.
The great thing is, she has done a few spin-offs to it too. (They are listed in her Archive).

Also, The Cost of Surrender by Cordelia'sDestiny. A slightly different take on it.

Your right - It does sound very much like these fics!!

Because once I'd REREAD them both it became apparent that I'd combined these exact two fic's (How could you know??). I guess I'll have to blame it on faulty memory, old age or maybe just wishful thinking on my part.

They are each very strong fic's (glad you found them for me again) and imho there are elements from both that compliment each other. But I guess my brain wanted one story line to go here and the other fic characters to be more like...there. Sorry for the mislead on the fic.

Sorry for taking so long to reply - combo of slow reading & real-life interuptions.

Lisa