Title: A Night at the Beach (or Beach Party)
Author: Elektra
Posted: 03-29-2001
Spoilers: Reprise and Epiphany
Disclaimer: Joss and company owns all rights and everything. I own nothing and accept nothing except the wonder of feedback
Okay, everything was packed. Ready to go. Sandals on. Cute little bikini. Shades. Set and ready. To go.
To the beach.
In the middle of the night.
She frowned and, putting her hands on her hips, tried to suppress on sigh. Pinching the bridge of her nose didn't help either, nothing helped. She was going to the beach in the middle of the night with her vampire boss. A sojourn to the beach, a place of warmth, sand and sun. Operative word – Sun. A cascade of resignation ran down her and she sank onto the sofa awaiting his return.
Glancing at her watch, she pursed her lips and estimated the probability that he would be late. Her vision did take the boys half way across town to fight some horrible ugly arising in the middle of an amusement park. Yeah, big amusement. Hey kids come look at the Gory demon, but no don't get too close ‘cause it will suck your eyes out. The world was a helluva lot more dangerous and nasty than most people knew or understood. It occurred to her as she twisted the rope bracelet that she wore, how lucky she was to be apart of Angel Investigations. How much safer she was in someways. In someways. And the thought always brought her back to him, to Angel. She felt comfortable even in such a hazardous job because of his presence. Her chest tightened, the air constricted as she recalled the moment he'd fired them. How she wanted to cry out and scream. How frightening that moment truly was for her.
She looked at her watch again, vanquishing those images as she always did with memories that inflicted pain. Where were they? It was getting late. It would take an hour to get to the nice little beach, the greatest little cove that she picked out. Where were they?
As if on cue, they stumbled through the doors in a crash. Gunn clutched onto Wesley's shoulder as they hooted and hollered to her.
"My fair Cordelia, how are you this late evening. Or is it morning?" Gunn giggled and swayed as Wesley guided him to the sofa.
Jumping up, she glared at Wesley then at Gunn. "What happened? And why does Gunn look like he's a little too happy?"
"Happy, who's happy? I ain't got nothing to be happy about." He rubbed a hand down his face and laying his head back continued, "I live in the hood. Nothing to be happy about there. My kids don't respect me. Nothing to be happy about there. My girl's in love with a vampire and she don't even know it. Nothing to be happy about there."
Cordelia looked from Gunn to Wesley and then back again. Over Gunn's chuckling, she asked, "What girl? What's he talking about? What is going on?"
Wesley gripped her arm and said, "Now don't get upset but we had a little trouble. An accident."
"Accident?" She studied him and realized the missing element. "Where's Angel? You killed him! You killed Angel by accident!"
"No one killed anyone," he paused then corrected, "Except the demon of course."
"The demon killed Angel?"
"No, no." He waved her off. "No, we killed the demon and Gunn fell, hit his head, you see. Fairly hard on the circular thingy. We had to take him to the hospital and now I have to observe him to make sure he's okay.."
"Thingy?"
"Merry-go-round. Whoever said it was a merry thing to go round? Round and round. Hell just makes me wanna puke." He pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes. "Feel like I might upchuck."
"The merry-go-round? Gunn hit his head on the merry-go-round?" She scowled. None of this made sense and that still didn't explain Angel's absence. He was skipping out on her. They all were.
"No, the carousel. The Gory demon spinning around on it." Wesley proceeded to illustrate the motion with his arms while Gunn moaned.
"It's coming. I'm going." He leapt to his feet and raced to the bathroom.
"Well the final upshot is that he hit his head and I will have to stay with him tonight." Shrugging, he added, "I'm afraid we won't be going to the beach with you tonight."
Folding her arms across her chest, she huffed. "I knew it. I knew you would try to get out of it!"
"Get out of what?" Angel asked from the entrance of the hotel.
"The beach." She kicked her bag and lotion fell out. Like she needed it anyway considering they were going to the beach in the middle of the night. When darkness ensued.
"We're still going." Angel opened the door, waiting for her. "Are we going or what?"
"Going? We're going?" She eyed Wesley for some clue, some reason – logical reason –why she shouldn't be alone with her vampire boss at the beach. At night. In barely any clothes at all.
He remained mute.
"Okay, alrighty then." She scooped up the bag, leaving the lotion behind and joined Angel.
"Watch over Gunn and call if there's a problem," Angel said and they left.
The drive would be well over an hour. She unfolded the map and followed the route with her finger. Periodically, she directed him and he drove the car without objection. Settling back in his Plymouth convertible, she let the wind hit her face and relaxed. The headache from the vision was nearly gone and some fresh ocean air — the salt, the moisture, the wind would do her good.
She peered at Angel, but he kept his eyes on the road and they continued on in silence. Why would she go to the beach with a vampire? It was the look on his face when she first mentioned wanting to go to the shore. Like that sweetly goofy grin, he'd given her after he rescued them from the Skilosh demons. But his overzealous attitude to impression upon all three of them his devotion to them irked her. She wanted the old Angel back. Brooding (not over the D word), but brooding about life or unlife and those soft heart to hearts only they had. No one listened to her like Angel did. He actually came to her for consolation and for counseling. He made her feel significant.
The thought astounded her. She'd never formulated it into an actual thought, but it was true. He took her seriously and significantly. As the warmth spread over her, she realized she was no longer dreading the beach.
When they arrived he guided the car into a secure parking place near a pier. She slung the bag on her back and waited for him to get his gear. He only strode up beside her and waited.
"What no towel?"
He offered her his empty hands. "I don't normally go to the beach."
"But you do take showers and understand that water will make you wet." She sighed. "Well I have an extra. Here, carry this." She handed him the overstuffed bag and they made their way to the cove. Her secret cove.
She found it last summer when Angel and Wesley camped out at her place. They'd made her apartment their base of operations and she needed peace and isolation. Several times she stole Angel's keys during the middle of the day while he slept in her bed and she made her way to this place. She never thought she would share its location with anyone. But knew now Angel was the one person (person?) she would.
They stopped just short of the water's edge and she pulled off her cover up. The cool wind made her shiver as she stood on the sand in her bikini and she dug through the bag to find her blanket and towels. She tossed the towels out and started to make a nice lounging area. Glancing up, she watched as Angel undressed without regard to her.
"Hey, hey!" She was jumping to her feet and backing away as she pointed. "Don't you have any swim trunks!"
He glanced down at his naked form and then back at her. "Oh, I'm. No I don't. I'll put my boxers back on."
She kept her back turned though the impulse to peek at him crawled up her spine. She skipped about in the sand to relieve the tension. "You decent?"
"Decent."
Clearing her throat and holding her head up in regal fashion, she face him and said, "Let's check out the water."
He agreed and they went to the ocean. She touched her toe into the lapping water and hissed. "Little cold."
"Cold," he agreed and offered her his hand.
She hesitated but took it and they wadded into the water together. She didn't look at him, but up at the glistening of the stars, the moon as it glinted on the waves. The sparkle, the light glowed and she asked in low tones, "Does it look the same?"
"Umm?"
"Does the world look the same? You know the water, the moon. Everything."
He paused and she released him as she started to float in the depths. Considering, he trailed his hands into the water and said, "It's different but the same. The light is different. As I remember the hues are more vibrant to me at night. I recall when I was first made, after I rose – the sheer iridescences of night stunned me. Things look different." And then he looked directly at her and said, "More beautiful than I could possibly imagine."
His gaze made her shiver and she sank into the water to hide her reaction. Throwing herself into the waves, she stroked against the tide and pushed away from him. What was she doing? Asking him questions about being a vampire. He was self-conscious enough about it. Then it dawned on to her, he answered. Unaware and unencumbered by his reticence on this subject, he replied and opened to her. As he always had, disclosing his inner fears, thoughts and memories to her.
She stopped but continued to kick to remain afloat. In the dim light she barely saw his image as he walked through the water. Didn't he swim? She raised her hand and called out to him, splashing the water as she did.
Like a bolt of lightening it hit her, struck her with such force she thrashed in the water, sank into and under the water's surface. The flashes, the images seared through her brain and she gasped for air but breathed in water. The vision overcame her, became her last memories as the water filled her lungs and she couldn't remember how to breath at all.
"Cordelia, Cordelia?" He was pounding her on the back, pumping the water out of her.
Deliberately, she saw him inhale and lean down to fill her starved lungs with air. "Come on, come back." His voice tore at her, ripped her heart out and he labored over her.
She coughed, spitting up the last of the vile water. "Angel? Angel?"
"Cordelia." He embraced her, his arms around her as they crouched together on the sands. "You're all right? Tell me you're all right?"
A fit of coughing grasped her then and the seizure claimed her. He held her, supported her as the water cleared out of her lungs and her eyes began to tear. It passed and she quieted as he gripped her close to him. Pulling her away but still clutching her, he looked into her eyes. "You're okay, right? Tell me you're okay?" He kissed her forehead, her cheeks. "Tell me you're okay."
In a hoarse voice she answered, "Okay, I'm okay."
The tension left him and he pressed his lips upon her mouth. And she felt the quaking of her body fill his own. He trembled in response as he enveloped her in his kiss. Whispering, he murmured, "Don't scare me like that again. I can't lose you. I can never lose you. Promise me, promise." He leaned his forehead against hers as his hands cupped her face.
"I promise," she vowed and his embrace answered her. She curled up in his arms, snuggled against his chest, feeling the warmth there.
The warmth.
She opened her eyes and looked over his shoulder. The sun. Dawn. Over the edge of the beach toward the city, she saw the first touches of color in the sky.
"Dawn, it's dawn." She scrambled to her feet and raced for the blanket. Even as she returned she detected the faintest reddening of his skin as the sky brightened. "Come on, let's get out of here. Maybe going to the beach wasn't such a good idea after all."
She ushered him to the car and though he protested put the top up by herself. Covering him became her first priority before they started back. "You okay in there?"
He only grumbled a reply from beneath the blanket and towels.
"Tell me your okay, no burns or anything?" She would kill herself if he was burned because she wanted to go to the stupid beach.
"No burns. I'm fine."
She started the car. They had to get back. The vision still beat at the back of her brain and the spreading of dawn infected the world around her. How was it, she loved the night so much more now?
"Cordelia?" he said from underneath the blanket.
"Yeah?"
"It was a good idea." He shuffled in his seat. "The beach. It was a good idea."
And she knew he gave her one of those sweetly goofy grins. She reached over and grasped his hand under the blanket. "We'll do it again."
"Soon."
The end!