Title: Lost and Found
Author: Helen
Posted: 07-05-2003
Email: hwtaft@yahoo.co.uk
Rating: NC-17
Category: Angst, smut
Content: C/A
Summary: This is set in season 5. A little back history is Cordy woke up and Angel helped her get over what happened to her, but then she took off, now she’s back.
Spoilers: I have included a ‘new’ character that has been spoiled from the show itself, just so I can take pot shots and yes, I’ve described her as ‘blonde’ Hee Hee.
Disclaimer: The characters in the Angelverse were created by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.
Distribution:
Notes:
Feedback: Yes please, this is my 1st so any help is good
Thanks/Dedication:Part 16
ANGEL’S OFFICE (TWO WEEKS LATER- EVENING)
“What the hell do you mean you lost her again” Angel roared at the end of his tether and not caring who else knew it. He got up from his chair and came around the desk to stand nose to nose with the man.
“Sir the only explanation I can think of is she’s had training at avoiding surveillance”, Sam Carstairs, Wolfram & Hart’s Chief of Security tried not to back away from the towering dark figure of the enraged vampire. Was this guy ever in a good mood, not that he blamed him. Carstairs was proud of his work and his team but this woman eluded them time and again, it was infuriating.
“That’s not possible”, what she’d left LA for an intensive counter intelligence training course? He didn’t think so. This was the fourth time this week that they’d lost her. The first week had been fine, she’d spent it moving into the hotel which had at least negated one of his worries, that she would just want to get out of there and away from the memories.
“Do you or your men have any idea where she could have gone”? He asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
“No sir, we lost her in a crowd of people, she was talking to someone on a cell phone and then she was gone”. Carstairs waited for the tirade to continue and almost sagged with relief when there was a knock on the door and Ms Burkle popped her head round.
“What is it Fred”? Snapped out Angel, he was not finished with this and wanted no interruptions.
“Nothing much Boss, just wanted to let you know I’m finishing downstairs and won’t be available for the rest of the night” She was all bright breeziness and he just nodded wanting her gone.
“See you tomorrow then and I’ll say Hi to Cordy for you”, then she ducked out again, he was after her in a flash, nearly tripping over the door in his haste to pass through it.
NIGHTCLUB
The club was absolutely heaving, it was a trendy and popular venue and almost impossible to get into, but they’d managed it and Cordy felt the excitement right down to her toes. All three of them were dressed up and looking gorgeous, even if she did say so herself. She hadn’t had so much fun in ages.
They’d all gotten ready to go out from the hotel, playing with makeup and hair-stuff and trying on clothes, it had been so like high-school the nostalgia had nearly had her in tears. Cathy had grumbled constantly while she and Fred worked on her but it had worked out better than fine, they all looked sexy as hell.
After a lot of soul searching she had made her decision and was putting it into action, she was going to try and have her cake and eat it too, if it didn’t work out, well, she would deal with that if it happened. Angel thought he could bully and frighten her into doing what he thought was best for her, well he was wrong. He might have frightened her at the time but not for long, she knew him too well and it had only taken a few days for her to shake off the loss of confidence and self-esteem he’d caused and decide exactly how he was going to pay for it, in spades, before she was through with him he was going to be begging her for forgiveness.
He knew she was here and the three of them looking like they did was guaranteed to make sure they got a lot of attention from the male of the species. For a moment she worried that he might send a flunky to watch over them. She shook the thought off; no way not after the spectacular lack of success those self-same flunkeys had been having over the last few days. He would come himself, she was almost sure of it.
Angel watched her from his vantage point on the upper level, a spot he’d picked out so that he could see the bar area and most of the downstairs. He was familiar with the layout, these places all seemed the same to him and he’d had no trouble finding what he wanted, a place to see without being seen.
He hadn’t bothered with the main door, there was no way they were going to just let him in and he’d hadn’t had enough notice to arrange anything through the firm, so he’d reverted back to old habits and broken in.
The three of them arrived about a half hour later just when he’d begun to think they’d changed their plans, then he saw them and his insides seemed to squeeze at the sight of her, rapidly followed by his jaw dropping when he got a better look at her and saw exactly what she was wearing, or not wearing.
His jaw came up again in his lips drew into a furious line and he nearly broke the glass he was holding. He’d bought a drink at the bar when he’d arrived, hoping to blend in better, now he tossed the amber liquid down his throat in an effort to relieve the sudden dryness of his mouth. What the hell was she doing going out in public looking like that, if he’d had a blood pressure it would have been sky high by now, even without it he felt as if steam should be coming out of his ears.
A few hours later the three women were still being besieged by groups of men and trying to look interested in talking to them. For the most part through Cordy was just glad to be out on a social occasion, her enjoyment was only lessened by the fact that Angel had yet to make an appearance.
“Dumbass” she muttered and then plastered another smile on her face when the guy she was supposed to have been listening to gave her a startled look.
She was wearing a metallic teal dress with a tight bodice that was entirely back less, no bra and short twirly skirt that flirted with her knees and exposed her golden calves and even some of her thighs when she moved the right way, her dark hair was loose and cascaded down to the middle of her back now it had grown. He should have been here salivating while she remained carefully aloof and enjoying the attention, without encouragement of course, of other men.
“Where the hell is he”? She hissed to Fred, who was blushing at something one of the other guy’s currently crowding round had just said to her. Fred just shrugged and looked apologetic.
Cathy leaned over the table to talk to her, she didn’t really have to but she wanted an excuse to get away from the jerk next to her who was trying to see down her cleavage. “Why don’t we dance”?
The lighting in the club was dark and intimate and people were dancing everywhere, some not even bothering with the dance floor but just finding any spot to enjoy the rapid, pounding beat. “OK” she agreed, anything was better than just standing around waiting for something to happen.
The two women moved away after a quiet word with Fred, they didn’t go far because they didn’t want to leaver her alone, they found a good place near a corner with plenty of space and not too many people so they wouldn’t have to constantly worry about getting bumped.
The music changed to another track, just as heavy and pounding but with an almost primal undertone in its throbbing beat; Cordy started to dance and her eyes drifted shut as she let the music take over. In just a few seconds she started to feel as if her she were weightless and yet there was also a strange pulse inside her body matching the music as it flowed and pulsed intimately through her.
Hardly knowing what she was doing she started to undulate with erotic female grace, her hips swinging enticingly from side to side in an unconsciously provocative imitation of lovemaking, soon she was helplessly caught in a web of pure sensual feeling that encompassed her whole being. She had no awareness of the club, passing time or anything other than an almost primitive need to move in time with the pounding rhythm and appease the throbbing in her body.
The men around her watched, mesmerised by the sight of a beautiful woman caught in the thrall of dancing only for herself and being entirely absorbed in the joy of it; totally unaware of them watching and the effect she was having on them. Angel watched her from above; his hands were clenched around the metal bar that ran around the balcony top, crushing it without even being aware of the pressure he was applying.
He was as mesmerised as the others, his dark eyes watching with helpless fascination each movement of her hips and breasts; he had to swallow hard when with his unnatural eyesight he saw small beads of sweat form between her breasts and start to slowly travel down her body under that damned dress which just by the way it hugged her body should have been illegal. God her face looked like she had when they were making love and he was rock hard just seeing it, she was killing him with lust and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it, except leave, he stayed where he was.
Cathy smiled, enjoying herself too, she loved to dance it was one of the few things she truly loved. Most of the time she hated her empathic abilities and blocked them out, but she had to admit there were times it was a definite advantage, like now. She could feel him watching Cordelia, hard to miss even in this crowd and unlike the ‘seeing’ stuff it didn’t rely on physical connection.
She almost shook her head in rueful amusement, even in a jaded and cynical society like this one, sometimes the old ways were the best. A woman dancing in a nightclub, done right could still turn men’s minds to mush; every bit as much as they’re ancestors had when dancing around a campfire.
OK that was enough she decided when the track changed for the third time, don’t want to over do it. Cordy felt as if she was floating and then blinked confused at the attention she was getting, what the hell had just happened? She shot Cathy a look and met a bland smile, Oh yeah that’s gonna wash. The two women walked back to the table where Fred was watching them with a big smile on her face.
“What did you do”? Asked Cordy before they reached the able; still feeling the effects of the dance.
“Don’t worry about it OK, I simply jacked up your endorphins a little bit, think of it as a free and harmless drug, the effects will soon wear off”
Cordy swallowed and avoided the hot and intent gazes of the men around them; jeez she needed a drink like now. She headed towards the bar over the other side of the club, weaving around tables and between bodies like a pro.
The music was so loud she didn’t hear one of the guy’s she’d been talking to earlier when he shouted at her to gain her attention again. Too drunk to realise she wasn’t just playing hard to get and thinking he had an edge on everyone else as he’d already talked to her. He gave a thumbs up to one of his buddies and set off after her intent on cornering her for a quick grope.
He was just getting close enough for his hand to reach out and cup her ass from behind when he felt himself being grabbed by the collar and lifted in the air. He had no idea who was holding him and if he tried to turn his head the hold on his collar tightened and threatened to choke him, he found himself being carried off to a dark corner away from the crowd.
Angel slammed the puny little shit’s back into the wall and leaned in to say in a low growl “Don’t follow, go near, touch or even look at her again to you understand me”?
The guy just stared, head pressed back against the wall shocked at the suddenness of being threatened by a very large and menacing stranger, when only seconds earlier he’d been enjoying the view provided by one Cordelia Chase and anticipating more.
He said nothing; too drunk to realise the danger he shook his head and then choked in horror when the stranger’s eyes flashed a strange yellow. Later on he would convince himself that it had been a trick of the light, but right then he felt his bowels loosen in terror.
Quickly he nodded, “Yeah, sure I’m going now” He squealed out sliding along the wall a bit to try and get out of the strangers way. “Leave now then” the stranger growled and stood back blocking the club itself but leaving a path open to the exit. He wasted no time and didn’t even try and signal his friends, just left not turning around once.
Angel watched him leave only marginally satisfied; he’d spent hours standing back and watching Cordelia get fawned over by other men. He’d been forced to wage a constant battle with himself not to jump down in the middle of them and simply throw them away from her, toss her over his shoulder and storm off to somewhere private and that dance had stretched his control even more. He turned around to go back to his lookout and continue the torture only to find himself facing three women, all looking at him, two very amused and one not.
Cordelia had seen the guy coming up behind her in the mirror above the bar and was about to turn round and get rid of him when suddenly she saw him being lifted in the air by..nothing, no reflection. She’d whirled round just in time to see Angel carting the terrified man away. She repressed a spurt of satisfaction and signalled to Cathy and Fred to hurry over which they had.
She’d planned this meeting from the start and she was more than ready for it, even so seeing him for the first time since they’d fought was strangely unnerving and for some reason embarrassing. She forced down a blush and placed both of her hands on her hips, coincidentally highlighting her figure to best advantage, one foot started to tap and she fixed a scowl on her face that made it clear she was less then impressed.
He was caught and feeling immensely embarrassed at being found doing what he’d been doing, acting all jealous and protective again when they weren’t even talking to one another. He looked at Cordelia and without even realising it, practically ate her with his dark eyes. Even angry she made his gut ache with need.
He stood still and waited for her to come to him as he knew she would, the last time he’d seen her she would have staked him if she’d had something wooden and pointy available and he didn’t think that time would have lessened her anger. He’d known the risk of what would happen if she saw him and now he couldn’t do anything other than let her have her say. She deserved it and no matter how much it cut, he was going to take it.
Cordy saw his face drop as he ducked it a little in a defensive gesture, he looked nervous and that gave her confidence that she was doing the right thing, here was the Angel she knew and loved; it was time to implement the plan.
“What do you think you’re doing here Angel and why did you just frighten off a guy I was actually starting to find interesting”? She waited a beat and then finished deliberately “which makes a change”.
She felt Cathy giving her a sideways look and remembered her warnings about playing jealousy games, she’d had trouble convincing Cathy it was a good plan and she’d had to promise not to ‘look’ like she was trying to make him jealous. But damn it was difficult not to feel a thrill as his face showed every emotion going through him, got you, she thought with an internal smile. “Even if he was a total jerk,” she said it to both relax him and placate Cathy; it worked on both counts.
Angel did relax a bit, after her deliberate needling had made him tense up with anger despite his best intentions, he could take her insulting him but just the idea of her wanting other men was enough to make him feel more than a little irrational. He wanted to avoid her question though so he asked one of his own, of Fred.
“You told her didn’t you” he said with one of his most intimidating looks, Cordy drew in a long breath and advanced on him then, one hand coming up to poke him hard in the chest. Fred just smiled apologetically at him and he looked down at a furious Cordy.
“Don’t you dare snarl at Fred like that you big dumbass, she’s my friend too and you shouldn’t have tried to make her take sides”, she carried on poking him but he didn’t try and stop her. He must be sick or something but he enjoyed her touching him even when she was trying to poke a hole in his chest.
She must have guessed so she poked harder, he grabbed her finger and growled at her “Cordelia”, she grinned at him and curled her finger into his palm, making him twitch slightly before she tugged it loose.
“So where’s your crack surveillance team then not lost them have you”? She said with obviously feigned concern, her face tilted up to his with a falsely sweet smile and a flutter of lashes. Angel’s contriteness changed at that to a mixture of both irritation and admiration for her, at that moment he couldn’t decide if he wanted to throttle her or kiss that sassy mouth.
Her skin was sheened with a glow made by the heat and the exertion of the dancing and it brought out the scent of her perfume as well as that special smell that was hers alone. His mouth watered and he felt himself harden again, God he wanted her.
“What’s the matter cat got your tongue, or are you just speechless at my fabulous dress”, she lifted up the skirt a bit and sassily swung her hips from side to side, the flimsy material played a hide and seek game with her soft inner thighs, just for his benefit.
Flashes of the other times he’d seen and touched those thighs flitted across his mind and he hardened even more, straining his pants. Thanking god he was wearing a long enough shirt, he finally spoke in what he hoped was a totally relaxed voice, “What game are you playing Cordelia”?
He sounded rusty as hell and Cordy knew just by the hot lights in his eyes that the dress was having the desired effect. Men she knew about and this one the most, even the biggest and meanest could be brought to his knees by the right woman, well she was that women and she had some payback to get. “Game, I’ll tell you shall I”?
She stepped closer to him, her breasts nearly brushed against his wide chest and her hands rested on the hard muscular shoulders under his coat as she leaned in a little, stopping when her face was almost cheek to cheek with his, their eyes meeting in a heated clash of brown and hazel.
“It’s this little game called, ‘its My Life’ you should learn the rules”. Then she softly kissed the corner of his mouth and turned to saunter away with her hips swinging in that maddeningly feminine way.
He watched her gather her strange friend and Fred and then walk towards the exit; she didn’t look back at him. His hands still itched to touch her and his whole body tingled from that kiss.
He’d been expecting to be annihilated by that clever and wicked tongue of hers at the very least, maybe even punched out and instead she’d kissed him. His hand rose up to touch the spot wonderingly.
There was no one else like her in the whole world, she was unique and his. Even if she wouldn’t accept that right now, he wouldn’t give up trying to convince her until she did. He was tired of always feeling unworthy and unloved. He’d done the noble thing before, by stepping aside or leaving. This time around there would be none of that for either of them, she was too important to him.
“Mine”, the word felt strange on his tongue only now he savoured the sound of it; inside him the possessiveness that he tried and often struggled to keep hidden and repressed came loose. The emotion filled him and for the first time since he had gotten his soul back over a century ago, he let it.
HYPERION HOTEL
Back at the hotel Fred looked and Cordelia’s smug and satisfied expression and asked the obvious question, “So you’re happy with the way it went then”?
“Oh yeah this plan is going to work, I can feel it” She was positive.
Fred was doubtful, these things never seemed to go the way they were supposed to but she didn’t say it out loud, at least not directly. “I still don’t get how making him all jealous and possessive is gonna change how things are, I mean isn’t he always like that about you anyway”? She asked.
“The plan isn’t about making him all jealous and possessive; that was just to get him to make a move” Said Cordy shooting another look at Cathy.
“Deliberately playing the jealousy card is great for finding yourself flat on your back real quick, but not so good for the long-term option if you get what I mean, it’s a trust thing”, Cathy frowned at Cordelia for good measure.
“I know, I know”, said Cordy, smiling cheekily “but if I want to change his mind about not interfering in my business. Then we need to make up, but he has to come to me or it won’t work”.
“I can’t believe that you’re so willing to forgive him”? Fred asked the question that was still dumbfounding her, Cordy was a loyal friend but she could be unforgiving about some things.
Cordy had thought about it a lot this past week, not that she’d had much choice with the dreams still coming every time she went to sleep. But it was more than that, she missed him and the thought of cutting him out of her life was a painful one and she was not someone to cut her nose off to spite her face.
“He’s still a dork, but he’s my dork and anyway I know I can turn him around. I just need to make him want me so badly that he’ll be willing to compromise. I made a mistake in letting him make me try it his way”. She was not going to try and explain it more than that, something like her relationship with Angel was just too complicated to be put into simple words.
“Are you sure it’s wise, I mean what if he gets so wound up that…..” Fred tapered off.
“Pfft, if he didn’t hurt me when we were fighting, my just pushing a bit won’t tip him over the edge. All I want him to see is that even when he tries he can’t control what I do and then it’s simply a choice between being with me or without me. Simple”.
KEENE – NEW HAMPSHIRE
He watched the flickering screen with clenched fists, his handsome face was twisted with anger and jealousy and bitterness.
“You chose him over me and now you want me to help you”, he snarled at the beautiful face of Cordelia Chase, frozen on the TV screen. “I will not come, you let me leave and go out into this alien world alone”. This world was truly a hell, unforgiving and cruel and you had to become that way just to survive, so he had.
His fists clenched tighter and tears fell from eyes like blue pools. “You chose him over me and now you can the price”
THE HYPERION HOTEL – TWO DAYS LATER
Cordy was fast asleep in bed, content after another successful day running the surveillance team a merry chase and still managing to accomplish what she wanted. They’d found another case and they were making progress. She was smiling with her hand tucked under her face. Angel stood next to the bed looking down at her, his face strangely tense.
He crouched down next to where she lay and lifted the sheet away and down from her body, she stirred only a small bit before relaxing back into deep sleep. His dark eyes wandered over her, resting briefly on the low vest top and a nipple peaking out over the neckline before travelling down to the bed shorts that had ridden up to expose all of her thighs.
Her scent came to him then gently wafted on the night breeze that stirred the curtains at the window where he’d come in and he inhaled deeply his face relaxing from its previous tension with the confirmation that whatever she was up to it didn’t involve another man.
It had been irrational to think so but not knowing what she was doing was driving him crazy. For last few years he’d known almost every thought that crossed her mind and every time she’d had a date he’d hated it even back before he’d started to fall in love with her.
He was possessive as hell and he knew it but it was a part of him that he couldn’t ignore for long and tonight had been his limit, he’d had to know; though god knows what he would have done if she had found another. Thankfully he didn’t need to find out.
He sat back on his heels and just enjoyed the slight of her all pink and rosy with sleep, her full lips pouting even now. He was hard but then that was pretty much automatic these days when he was around her, so he ignored it. One of his hands came up to run a long, callused and yet gentle finger over one arching brow, over her cheek and down her neck, coming to rest on the slope of her breast, only a small distance from that tempting nipple. Sighing he stood up carefully and turned to leave the way he’d come.
He stopped and turned back to press a soft kiss on her forehead and whisper softly “I love you”, then he did leave.
CATHY
In bed herself, Cathy’s eyes were open and she rolled them and smiled when she heard him leave again after only a few minutes. “What the hell do you need a written invitation”? she sighed this was going to be hard work.
“OK then noble, boring but noble”, she relented her mind working around the possibilities.
ANGEL AND CORDY
It was nearly dawn, Angel had just got into bed and it had been hours since he had been in Cordy’s bedroom. He gave a sigh as he settled down naked into the bed sheet with the covers wrapped around his hips.
About twenty minutes later he groaned and turned on his back deeply asleep, his body twitched and he moved restlessly almost searchingly, his hips rose up and he groaned again
Cordelia turned on her back in her bed, the sheets were twisted around her torso and she pulled them off frowning but still asleep, she squirmed and moaned deep in her throat as she arched helplessly under the lash of some intense sensation.
<i>She was naked and hot, cool hands skimmed her body, drawing ever decreasing circles towards her aching breasts, finally soothing the tight buds of her nipples with pinching little nips from fingers and teeth and lips.
The bed dipped beside her and felt a large heavy body settle next to her, soft hair prickled across the soft silky skin of her ribs as he continued to lean over and suckle on her nipple. She tried to open her eyes but they felt so heavy and the pleasure was so intense that she couldn’t get them to obey her.
The bed dipped on her other side as he shifted to lean over her completely, his muscular hardness pressing her down as his tongue danced around and then inside her mouth. Sharp teeth pulled at her lower lip in a silent demand that she open her lips wider, she did and he slid inside, the intimate invasion was both possessive and giving as his tongue danced with hers, her hips undulated under him and she felt his groan travel through her own body like a growl.
She was driving him crazy and he felt her soft wet warmth press against his thigh and finally his sex as she spread her thighs so that he settled deeper into the apex there, it tempted him too much, he had to taste her and he gave a low growl just before he slid down her body, worshipping every golden inch before he reached his target.
She protested his leaving her and came up of the bed but he pushed her down again, one large hand pressed into her belly while the other lifted her bottom up to bring her to his ravaging mouth, she did arch then but couldn’t move back from the sweet pain and the sharp lashing pleasure of him licking and sucking at her. Her legs were over his impossibly wide shoulders and he would not let her move back but lifted her higher so that he could incite and take every drop of delicious moisture her body could produce.
He was frantic with the need to bury himself inside her but she tasted like heaven and he wanted to make her come and take that too, relentlessly he drove her higher with his darting , thrusting tongue, reaching high inside her body and then circling and nipping at the incredibly sensitive bundle of nerves, lapping her up.
She screamed as she came, bucking in his hands and finally she opened her eyes and saw his dark head still between her thighs and shuddered with the pleasure the sight gave her, her legs felt like leaden weights and she couldn’t have moved even if her life depended on it. It didn’t matter though he wasn’t finished, he looked up and caught and held her gaze with fiery brown eyes, his lips curved in the most sexually predatory smile she had ever seen.
He kissed her deeply, his thrusting tongue almost rough as he forced her to take him, she was more than willing though and arched her hips to take him inside her body with just as much welcome has she did his mouth. His big body settled heavily on her as he entered her with one penetrating thrust that nearly drove her up the bed and into the bed head. She pulled back from the kiss to gasp and moan at the pressure and he moved those wicked lips to her neck, nipping and lathing playfully and then biting just hard enough to make her buck and writhe under him.
He leant up on one side and then bent his head down, still thrusting without faltering into her very depths, the pressure and friction caused by his engorged sex on her inner walls and delicate nerves of her clitoris was almost too much coupled with the strong suckling on her nipples; she cried out his name. His head came up and he looked down into her flushed face, devouring her features and watching as each thrust he gave her made her breathing hitch and eyes slide closed in ecstasy.
It wasn’t enough he wanted more, needed more to satisfy some primitive urge to create an unbreakable bond between them, a bond that she wouldn’t be able to deny afterwards and drive him away again. He sat up and drew her up with him, still joined but with her legs now wrapped around his hips, heels on the bed behind him.
She opened her eyes and looked into his and saw the strange and possessive lights in his eyes, she looked at his full lip and couldn’t resist leaning in to press her open mouth on his smiling lips, dipping her tongue out to trace them and then thrust inside his mouth, angling her lips so that she could match the rhythm he was setting. He set her back from him and she closed her eyes as the angle and depth of his penetration became even more unbearably deep.
His loins tightened and he almost came at the sight of her laid out before him, their bodies joined, her dark curls pressed and mingled with his own as he rocked her back and forth on his thighs. He lifted one hand while still supporting her back with the other, to draw on a breast, squeezing their fullness, cupping and teasing her one at a time, watching her every expression with heavy lidded eyes.
“Open your eyes and look at me” his deep rumbly voice commanded, she opened them and looked at him, his muscular body easily rising her up, muscles bunching and then relaxing in rhythm with is thrusts, his wide shoulders gleamed and his arms held her effortlessly as if she was weightless. The hand at her breast reached up and cupped the back of her neck to pull her in for a demanding kiss, her legs trembled with the threat of orgasm and she tightened her thighs.
“Look at us” he said and bent her head a little until she too saw what had nearly driven him over the edge, his thick sex glistened with moisture from her body, entering her smoothly and then retreating, relentless and so impossibly intimate. Seeing it and feeling it at the same time was too much and she whipped her head back as the spasms from her orgasm started.
He watched her start to come and felt his own tremors begin, he dropped her back on the bed and drove himself as hard as he could into her soft and writhing body, one hand gripping a knee to keep her spread for him as he continued to pound until at last he collapsed from the force of the draining pleasure.</i>
Angel woke up wide eyed and whipped the bed sheet from around his straining sex, cursing in every language he knew. He got up and with trembling legs walked over the bathroom to slam the shower door back and get inside. He rinsed himself of the evidence of his orgasm using one arm still to support his still trembling form.
Cordy relaxed and stilled, still asleep but drained and content at the same time, she turned over and cuddled into the bed, “Angel” she whispered smiling.
KEENE NEW HAMPSHIRE
He was packed and ready to go, he was dry eyed now having changed his mind and decided he would go back to LA, obviously she had made the wrong choice and it was up to him to make sure she knew that.
Part 17
OUT AND ABOUT
It was late evening and Cordy was finishing the day with a quick trip to the bank; having arrived so late she was using the automatic teller to deposit a cheque from a client. She was deep in thought when she heard his voice and nearly jumped out of her skin, she jerking around to find him standing behind her. “Stop with the stalking will you, it’s bad enough with the others you’ve got watching me night and day”, she snapped at him, glowering.
“Why did you ditch them if all you were doing was going to the bank”? He asked enquiringly, one brow raised in mild amusement. In the evening darkness he was just a tall dark figure looming over her, blocking the street light behind him.
She tossed her hair out of her face, wishing she it was even darker to hide the blush that stained her cheeks, images of the dream from the other night filling her mind, it was the first time she’d seen him since.
“I don’t like being watched” She finally got out and then arched a brow of her own, making it clear she didn’t appreciate having to go to the trouble of losing her ‘guards’. He just lifted his chin in acknowledgement and turned to walk with her, calming down she asked him, “How did you find me”?
“I picked up your scent from the where they’d last seen you, care to tell me how you do it”? He asked not really expecting her to answer. She stopped walking and so he stopped too, smiling at her exaggerated ‘grossed out’ expression.
“OK enough with the supernatural sense of smell. Are you telling me I need a bath or just letting me know that I wouldn’t be able to ‘ditch’ you as easily as I did your crack team”? She smiled at him then entranced by the idea of pitting her wits against his and seeing if she could beat the ‘master’ stalker, "don't go there Cordy".
“You smell great and you know it”. Better than great actually, he had to suppress an urge to lean down and nibble, in a good way he hastily assured himself and cursed his photographic memory among other things.
“As for the watching, I want to offer you a compromise” he finished, moving his head to hold her gaze when she would have started walking again.
“Compromise”? That sounded promising but she could hardly concentrate on what he was saying. They were standing so close she had to look up to see his starkly masculine face and her eyes kept get getting caught by his full lips and remembering how they felt kissing their way down her body.
“Yeah, I’ll stop the surveillance if you agree to ring me anytime you take on a dangerous case so that I can, you know help you”. He was completely serious now, face almost stern in the half light. She didn’t say anything straight away, appearing to mull it over.
He didn’t like her hesitation, “It’s either that or I baby-sit you myself and believe me I’ll be all over you like you wouldn’t believe” He warned his jaw set stubbornly, dark eyes fiercely determined.
Thinking about it later she thought she should have objected to being given an ultimatum like that, but right then she was too busy fighting yet another blush and the tingles that raced through her body at the ideas that ‘threat’ gave her overactive imagination, “get a grip” she told herself.
“OK you have a deal”, she didn’t know if it would work but what the hell if it got rid of prying eyes and besides that she wasn’t so stubborn she would refuse some backup if things got rough.
“Promise me” He said stubbornly moving to block her path, wanting to cement the deal and at the same time use it as an excuse to make sure he would see her again soon. She wasn’t too happy with his apparent lack of trust but just gave him an annoyed look as she said “I promise OK”.
He was satisfied with that and walked her back to her car, wincing as she drove off at what he considered to be a dangerous speed. “Women drivers” he muttered and then was glad she couldn’t hear him or his head would have been bitten off at the neck.
THE HYPERION HOTEL
The next morning Cordy was in the basement, practising with a light-weight broadsword, specially designed for women said the store owner, yeah right, it felt like a lead weight, ah well she’d get used to the weight soon enough.
She ignored the footsteps on the stairs coming down, thinking it was just Cathy but it wasn’t it. When she turned around and saw Lilah, she nearly dropped the sword in shock but managed to swing it safely to the side. “What are you doing here” she whispered, remembering their last face to face.
“I’ve come to make you an offer” said Lilah with a broad smile, “Think of it as thanks for killing me before Angelus could do his worst”; she finished with a smirk and a depreciating shake of her head. Lilah watched as Cordelia turned even paler, her hazel eyes wide and yet watchful.
Cordelia recovered her wits and said with brutal frankness “I’m not sorry you’re dead Lilah, I’m just sorry it was me that did it, there are so many other people who deserved the pleasure”, it was just her opinion.
“Don’t you want to hear the offer, it’s a good one” Asked Lilah leaning against the bars of the steel cell that was still taking up a fair amount of floor space. The cell was something Cordy wanted to get rid off; although right then it was looking like it might come in handy.
“Not interested” said Cordy shortly, her face relaxed now, this was familiar territory, sparring with Lilah, one bitch to another.
“How can you know unless you hear me out” Said Lilah with a deep sigh, as if practising patience. She’d known Cordy wouldn’t be interested but then it was only an excuse for being here, not the real reason for the visit.
“Your dead, your evil and you’ve come here for the Senior Partners to make me an offer, oh sure I’ll just sign on with the law firm from hell, gimme a break” Replied Cordy without a moment’s hesitation.
“The others all did, they seem to be enjoying the perks, especially Angel”, Lilah prodded, deliberately.
“Don’t kid yourself Lilah he’d be gone in an instant if you didn’t have a hold over him”, Cordy narrowed her eyes at the dead woman, knowing there was something else that Lilah was waiting to reveal.
“Oh I think I’m not the one kidding myself Cordelia, but that’s another story. So tell me how’s life after the visions; what with there being no messages about people in trouble for you now. How much can you do alone”?
“I do OK and I don’t need any help from you, I can take care of myself just ask Eve”, Said Cordy coldly.
“I would except she’s no longer available for consultation, thanks for that by the way she was getting on my nerves. Nice to know I can still bank on you to get someone killed for me” Smirked Lilah watching for Cordy’s reaction avidly.
“I didn’t kill her”, snapped Cordy
“You might as well have, she’s got a contract out on her and will be dead before morning”.
“Just like you there’s no-one I can think of who deserves it more” replied Cordy with sarcasm.
“No doubt, shame about the young teenage girl who taken too”, said Lilah her face carefully composed into one of mock sorrow.
“What the hell are you talking about” snapped Cordy stalking towards Lilah, the sword raised now.
“Take it easy wonder girl, I’m dead remember. Eve was running for her life and stopped to beg some girl for help. The girl was just in the wrong place at the wrong time and they both got taken”. Lilah shrugged unconcerned.
“Of course that means that’s two to add to your body count but not to worry your still nowhere near your lovers numbers yet, but I have faith in you”, Lilah taunted in a low smiling voice.
Cordy ignored Lilah’s taunting; she knew this was not her fault, but still. She turned away to think, her mind working the angles furiously. She shot a suspicious look at the dead woman “How do I know you’re speaking the truth”?
Lilah took some photographs out of the leather case she been holding and dropped them on the cement floor of the basement. Cordelia leaned down to pick them up, keeping a careful watch on Lilah.
They were taken in a darkened street and by the quality were taken from a CCTV camera or something similar. They showed large unidentifiable cloaked figures attacking Eve and a young teenage girl. The last one showed them both being dragged away, Eve by her hair, the girl by the waist like a sack of potatoes.
“Why show these to me? Eve worked for Wolfram & Hart, so get Angel to rescue the girl”
“The demons work for us; this is Eve getting her comeuppance for failing so miserably; the Senior Partners are touchy about that kind of thing. As for the other girl, well sometimes you just can’t control subcontractors”, she said it in a kind of fatalistic, ‘what the hell’ kind of way making Cordy wanted to slap her.
“Make them release the girl, it’s not fair she’s an innocent”, Cordy said to her, the words slow and carefully pronounced, this was no longer a verbal game of cat and mouse.
“Life is never fair haven’t you realised that yet and anyway I can’t do it, they consider her part of the spoils and so theirs”. Lilah shrugged again.
Cordy studied the pictures again, she found an address on the back of one of them, “What kind of demons are they and ..”? She looked up but Lilah was gone and she was alone again.
WOLFRAM & HART BUILDING
The phone on the desk rang, diverted from Angel’s direct line as he was out of the office. The woman at the desk answered the phone with professional crispness.
“Good morning, Wolfram & Hart, how can I help you”?
“Hi can I speak to Angel please, this is Cordelia Chase” asked Cordy hurriedly, c’mon put me through she wanted to say, life and death stuff here.
“I’m sorry Ms Chase but Mr Angel is not in his office, can anyone else help you”? Still crisp and impersonal but the woman’s eyes had sharpened on hearing who was calling.
“When will he be available it’s an emergency and I need to speak to him now” demanded Cordelia sharply.
“I have no idea Ms Chase, maybe later tonight or early in the morning”.
“Does he still have the same cell phone as before”? Asked Cordy frustrated.
“I’m sorry I don’t know” Said the woman unhelpfully.
Cordelia rang of after insisting that a message be given to him to ring her immediately. Annoyed she picked up the phone again and rang the cell phone number Angel’s used to have from way back.
“What the point of offering help and then not being around to give it you big dumbass”? She waited impatiently for someone to pick up at the other end.
A cell phone started to ring on the woman’s desk, she smiled and ignored it, when it finally stopped ringing she picked it up and then deleted the message Cordelia had left.
CORDY SEARCHING
The address turned out to be an old suburban estate, only the houses were not well kept up and one or two actually looked abandoned, or so she thought. In some cases roof tiles were missing and most had windows yellowed and grained with old dirt, but no matter what, they still looked better than the house whose address she had.
She stood outside it and looked down the path, overgrown with weeds and grass that looked like it had never see a mower since being sown, but that was just the best part. The worst was the fact that the house was a burnt out wreck. Blackened and cracked windows with soot and smoke from a much earlier fire staining the walls on both levels, lovely.
“This can’t be right”? She asked herself, reluctant to even go near in case she breathed too hard and the whole structure came tumbling down.
“Dammit Eve you’ve been a pain in the ass since I got back to LA, don’t stop now will ya”. She said with all the snark she could muster, just to cheer herself up.
She checked her cell phone again, still no signal, what was up with the damn thing she’d bought the best package just to avoid this situation. So no messages from Angel and no chance of getting hold of Cathy or anyone else, she was truly on her own with this one. Was that what Lilah had wanted, her alone and defenceless, maybe but could she really back away now?
She got the photographs out again and studied the young and terrified face of the teenage girl, she was blonde too but the difference from Eve was stark, even in the grainy pictures, she reminded Cordy of a much younger Buffy, only without the super powers. For that reason alone she could not back out of this, she had to try.
“It’s just a house Cor c’mon, get a grip and get inthere”, she told herself forcefully, pep talking herself was not her strong point but regardless she took and deep breathe and started down the path toward the old rickety porch.
ANGEL – WOLFRAM & HART BUILDING
“Are there any messages for me”? Angel asked of the woman who was manning the desk outside of his office, he didn’t think of her as his receptionist because they changed so often, Most were afraid of him and none stayed for long, he tried not to let it bother him.
“No sir” She answered with a sigh, not surprising since he’d asked that question at least once an hour since he’d gotten up. Despondent he walked away and then turned and hurried back.
“Did you find my cell phone”? He asked her, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his black pants. He hated to appear like he was bothering the woman but she just smiled and handed it back to him, he took it off her full of gratitude.
“Yes sir, I found it on the floor of your office” She told him archly.
“Oh I thought I’d checked my office” He said surprised and embarrassed.
“Obviously not very thoroughly Sir” She said without inflection, he looked at her and then walked away again, his shoulders slumping when he saw there were no messages. He missed her small and satisfied smile
EVE
They’d chased her from the bus station where she’d been waiting in the dark and cold of pre dawn. The place had been deserted except for a single teller who had looked at her as if she was crazy. She’d been expecting something to happen, you just can’t do what she had done and expect to live, failure was not an option. When she’d seen the weird cloaked creatures she’d known they were there for her so she’d abandoned her stuff and just run.
But there had been more of them than expected and she nearly ran headlong into more, she’d gotten away that time but still she didn’t get far. She’d come across a girl and begged for help, though god only knows what she’d thought the girl could do, call the cops?
Now they were both here, chained to single metal frame beds, the mattresses had been removed and wooden boards put on top, both of them lay on the hard unyielding surface. The girl was crying, great gulping tears of pain and fear, Eve didn’t cry and had nothing to say that would be of any comfort, they were both going to die, soon.
CORDY
She didn’t bother knocking, hello did she really want to give advance warning that she was here, NOT!
She’d checked out the down stairs windows but couldn’t see much past the several years’ worth of grime and soot. The screen door was surprising silent when she opened it, obviously well oiled and the front door was unlocked, all she had to do was push it open.
“Why am I suddenly reminded of all the horror movies I’ve watched where some idiot woman goes into the monsters den”? Cordy asked herself. She paused before entering, it was noon and hot as hell but she shivered anyway. She pulled her cell phone out again, still no signal, damn.
She walked inside, clutching a small throwing axe in her right hand and slightly behind her back. Her trainers made no sound on the floor and she avoided the more obviously rotten parts of the floor. She’d come dressed to fight in long pants and a t-shirt, nothing too loose or baggy to give an opponent something to hold onto in a fight. She had a feeling she was going to need every advantage she could get.
After ten minutes and finding nothing inside the house to indicate anyone had been there recently and feeling oppressed by the blackened walls and huge gaping holes in the floors, she decided to leave before she fell through a floor somewhere, like that hadn’t happened before. “Been there done that” she thought.
She did a last sweep of downstairs, which looked the safest floor wise and found a door that she’d missed before; it opened easily just like the front doors had. It led to some stairs going down to the basement. Gripping the axe tighter she made her way down them, keeping to the left and making sure her right side was clear to defend and attack. At the bottom she found a light switch and snapped it on.
She’d found them, Eve and the girl were chained to beds in the middle of the room, blinking in the sudden light. OK so far so good, so where were the demons and why the hell had this been so easy. Cordy wasn’t happy with this set-up, because that’s exactly what it felt like, a set-up. She’d found the bait so where was the reel?
“Get us out of here” hissed Eve, suddenly wild with hope, why was the dumb bitch just standing there looking around?
Cordy had to admit Eve was right, why waste time maybe she’d just hit lucky and caught the bad guys napping or something, no use wasting the opportunity. She moved to the beds and checked out the chains, solid but not impossibly thick; glad she’d brought the axe she started to whack away at the chains binding the girl.
She’d just finished with the girl and moved over to free Eve when there was a hissing sound, followed by a thunk. Cordy whipped her head up and around and saw a figure at the bottom of the stairs, blocking the only escape route. She stood up and briefly glanced at Eve, now dead with an arrow sticking grotesquely out of her chest, her mouth open as she’d been about to scream a warning just when it hit her. She looked back at the killer, but still couldn’t tell what it looked like, it wore a concealing cloak.
ANGEL – THE HYPERION HOTEL
She was definitely going to accuse him of stalking now, but he couldn’t shake a bad feeling about her and so here he was. At least this time he had a good excuse, he’d hunted out a case to offer her, not too dangerous and hopefully a good earner.
He felt like an interloper when he walked up the stairs from the basement and then crossed the lobby floor, which was strange considering this had been his home not too long ago.
“Hello, anyone here”? He had raised his voice, just in case.
No answer, he frowned it was the middle of the day and they could be on a case, but the bad feeling increased and made his stomach feel like it was full of knots. Deciding to forget being polite he bounded up the stairs to the upper floor, heading for the rooms and hoping he was just being oversensitive.
He found Cordy’s rooms empty but they looked OK, no signs of trouble and his senses were telling him she’d been there only a few hours ago at most. He walked back out and along the corridor to another room a few doors down, this room had been Fred’s. He knocked and waited, there was no answer and as far as he could detect there was no heartbeat but something made him open the door anyway.
She was lying on the floor, her legs twisted in an awkward angle which have been uncomfortable if she wasn’t already dead, her neck broken by the looks of it. He knelt down beside her and checked for a pulse, nothing. He sat back and looked down at her, if Cordy was right and other week seemed proof enough, she would recover.
He picked her up and laid her on the bed, arranging her limbs and head in natural positions and then turned to leave. He didn’t notice that he’d left behind the wallet containing the details of the ‘case’. His bad feeling had escalated to almost downright panic and he patched through a call to the office as he ran back downstairs.
CORDY – HOUSE
The cloaked figure dropped the old fashioned bow it had used on Eve and drew back the hood of the cloak, its face was oddly human which should have been reassuring but it wasn’t. The head was entirely bald with a high brow and widely spaced entirely back eyes. The skin looked thick and pasty white, the mouth was lipless and the nostrils little more than slits.
“Well hey there handsome, do you come here often” Said Cordy sarcastically, lifting the axe up to her shoulder in an aggressive stance, designed to at least impress on it that she wasn’t going to be intimidated just because it was ugly, I mean weren’t they all?
It obviously didn’t like her response and lack of fear because the next thing it did was open the rest of the cloak to reveal, “Ewwww” an entirely naked, all pasty white body. It bent down and clenched its fists, staring at her and then it opened its mouth and howled.
“Oh gross, yuck and Eww again, you are one disgusting creep do you know that”? Said Cordy truly disgusted, then it charged her and she shrieked, she couldn’t help it. Give her a scaly monster any-day of the week and she’d have preferred that to this thing. She raised the axe and using a two handed grip swung it at the body.
It bounced off the thick skin and she ended up with a sore arm from the rebound. Its hands reached for her and she only just managed to bring a knee up and get it where it hurts, it howled again and backed away. Cordy could only be glad it was similar to humans in being sensitive in that area as well.
Not hesitating she took a step forward and raised the axe as high as she could and then brought it down on its unprotected head, thankfully it sunk in and it collapsed to the floor.
“There that wasn’t so bad”, she said smiling at the girl cowering under cover of the bed she’d been chained to. “There are more of them” the girl whispered back her pale and sweaty face filled with terror and shock.
“There are”? Asked Cordy feeling a lot less cocky. “Well let’s get the hell out of dodge before they come back too”. She grabbed the girls hand and pulled her out, but it was too late; they both heard the door bang shut at the top of the stairs.
Shoving the girl behind her Cordelia assumed a battle ready stance with both feet planted firmly apart for better balance. They both waited in silence as the footsteps came down the stairs and closer to them. When the figure reached the bottom and came into the light it was all Cordy could do to stare in utter confusion, “What the hell are doing here”?
“I’m here to save you” Said the man, stepping closer to reveal the familiar face of the Groosalugg.
ANGEL – WOLFRAM & HART BUILDING
“I hate this” he snarled as he stormed around his office, frustration at being able to do nothing eating at him. “Where the hell is she”?
Lorne was leaning against the desk watching as the vampire paced back and forth like a caged animal, “Wesley and the others are all out looking for her, there’s nothing you can do that they can’t”, then he winced, “except for the supernatural abilities of course, duh”.
“If she hadn’t kept evading the surveillance teams, we might have abetter idea of what she’s been doing”, still with the snarling, in fact that last one was a good imitation of a growl.
“I can’t just wait here. I’m going back to the hotel tell the guys to meet me there unless they come across a lead and then I want to know immediately, clear”?
“Sure thing boss, you want some company for the ride”? Angel didn’t answer but he took it as a yes anyway.
CORDY & GROO
“I can’t believe you found the message I left for Cathy and just turned up, not that I wasn’t glad to see you” Said Cordy with an uncomfortable smile. She just wasn’t sure she wouldn’t have rather just left before he turned up, “stop being a bitch” she told herself.
They’d just dropped the poor shell shocked girl off at home and where on their way to Groo’s motel room. He’d offered to accompany her back to the hotel but for some reason she hadn’t wanted him there and that made her feel bad too.
“I wanted to see you straight away, princess” for some reason his use of the name he’d always called her sounded odd, as if it was purely by rote. Her unease increased, call it women’s intuition, whatever, she just knew that Groo had changed since she’d last seen him and she didn’t think it was for the better.
“Look I appreciate that, really but I’m fine and sooo tired why don’t I see you tomorrow and we can catch up then over a nice mug of latte”? She gave him a bright smile, “please just say OK”.
“I need to talk with you now and then we may see each other tomorrow”, he said insistently. She silenced a deep sigh and turned back to give her attention to the road now that the stop light had changed to green.
His motel was part of a large chain and so she was able to park outside his room as directed. When she would have just said ‘bye’, he reached over and lifted her hand in his, pointing to his room. She looked into his eyes and remembered how much he’d given up for her and how she’d let him down. “OK but just for a few minutes and then I have to go back home”.
“I understand” he said quietly, smiling his gently smile making her wonder why she’d felt such uneasiness about him, he was still her Groo.
Cordy entered the room first and wondered why the curtains were drawn tightly closed. It couldn’t be to keep the heat out as there was air conditioning in each room but then she felt a cloth being pressed over her nose and mouth and understood. She tried to fight him off but his arms were steel bands around her, she lost consciousness within seconds.
THE HYPERION HOTEL
They all gathered in the lobby getting ready for another sweep of the city and Cordy’s known haunts over the last few weeks, Intel gathered from the surveillance, meagre at best was laid out on the desk that had been Angel’s then Wesley’s and was now Cordy’s.
Dusk was only a half hour away and they were all glad of it, Angel was getting past unbearable at being cooped up still and moving location hadn’t helped at all.
“We’ll find her” Said Fred to Angel as he stood broodingly surveying the mess of papers, looking for anything that leapt out as the best place to start.
He didn’t bother to answer her, but cocked his head to one side, listening. They all noticed and looked askance at him, what had he heard? As one they all left the office and followed him out to the lobby. He watched the doors his body tense as sprung wire.
One of the glass doors opened to admit a man they all recognised. Tall, dark and muscular although this time not in animal skins. “Groo”? They chorused in unison.
He stood at the top of the stairs, “Be at ease about Cordelia, she is with me and has agreed to leave with me” he announced to them all, but he was looking at Angel. All five stared at him in shock, and then Angel growled savagely.
“The hell she is”.
Continue on...