Title: Waking Up From the Past
Author: Hollywood Phoenix
Posted: 04-30-2002
Email: hollywoodphoenix@yahoo.com
Archive: fanfiction.com
Disclaimer: I don't own Angel but do love writing stories about him and co. Please don't sue because I'm just a fan!
Notes: If you'd like to post this story after reading it, please ask me for permission first by emailing hollywoodphoenix@yahoo.com. Also, I love reviews, especially encouraging/constructive feedback! Please tell me if you think I've hit something right on the nail or I need to work on something. These somethings could be characterization, plot development, conversations, creativity, and of course, keeping reader attention. (c) February 21, 2002, updated March 16, 2002 and April 29, 2002.
Story Plot: Angel and Cordy switch places with their 3rd season Btvs selves & together with the present Fang Gang & past Scoobies, figure out a way to switch back. Set after Atvs ep 'Provider' and just before Btvs ep 'Lover's Walk'.

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Chapter 1: Early Morning (Prologue)

A faint ray of sunlight streamed into a room in the early hours of the morning. On the other side, tucked away from the sun's reach, was a bed. And on the bed were three figures, slumbering peacefully.

Suddenly, one of the figures stirred. Confused at his position on the bed, he looked to his side and realized that he hadn't been sleeping alone. At the far end, a beautiful, short-haired brunette was sprawled on her stomach, one hand resting above her head, as if reaching for the equally tranquil baby beside her. His baby.

Looking at the scene in front of him, it was all he could do to keep breathing normally. Not that he needed to, he wryly reminded himself. But this was an exception; watching his child and the woman who'd become his best friend resting so comfortably on his bed evoked emotions in him he never thought he could feel. He chuckled to himself, a concept that had been so foreign to him just two years ago. It was just that he couldn't help it; being around the two people who meant the most to him at this moment made him feel warm and fuzzy inside, like a pleasant euphoria which started from his toes and traveled all the way up to the top of his head.

Musing at the strangeness of it all, he could hardly believe how his unnatural life had turned out. For an almost 250 year old, he'd seen and felt a lot of things and none had ever remotely come close to making him feel as if he was part of a loving, normal family before. Or feel like holding his hand over his heart and melting into a puddle of goo. Breathing in the scent lingering on the bed covers, of the three of them in such close quarters, a heady giddiness overcame him. He let the memory of the moment flutter over him and settle in almost pure bliss.

A warning flashed in his head and he moved forward to put his son back in his crib. As he lifted the baby off the bed, the woman murmured, as if in soft protest. He paused, hovering over her before swiftly descending and placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. The lady sighed and smiled, as if in acquiescence and nestled closer into the covers she was lying on. With one strong arm firmly holding his son, he retrieved a blanket lying nearby and covered her softly breathing body. With a brief backwards glance at the lone figure still on the bed, he walked out of the room with his son to start the new day.

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Chapter 2: Waking Up

The Hyperion Hotel, January 22, 2002

Cordelia was dreaming pleasant thoughts.

She was following a notion, masquerading as a bright firefly. It was heading up a snowy slope towards a bright light. While she made her trek up the slope, she noticed the evergreen trees along the side. She didn't look back because she didn't want to. Or maybe she was afraid to, but she knew she left clear footprints in her path.

As she got closer, to wherever it was she trying to reach, she could hear the faint strains of a heavenly melody. She paused and squinted at the bright light. A form was developing in her eyes; what was it? A dark shadow towered above her, scraping the endless light blue sky. It was... a castle. She trudged on, the fluffy white snow gradually getting icier as the slope got steeper.

As her path gradually got harder to tread, she started feeling a greater urgency to get to the castle and its encompassing angelic music. Just as she approached the haven offered by the castle, she suddenly slipped and unable to keep her footing, began sliding. As she slid, a myriad of images bombarded her. A sunny day at Sunnydale High. Legions of faceless Cordettes at cheerleading practice. Giles holding council with the Scooby gang in the library. Spike driving in a classic 1958 Dodge Desoto FireFlite. Harmony throwing pitying looks at her and Xander. Xander and Willow locking lips. Buffy...

And that's when she woke up with a gasp.

Disoriented, she opened her eyes, rolled over and immediately realized that she wasn't in her own bed, or even her own home. A little startled, but not frightened, she sat up and looked around at her surroundings. When she saw that she was on Angel's bed, she breathed a sigh of relief and flopped down on her back again.

Gazing at the ceiling in the dim room, she tried to remember why she'd fallen asleep there. Last night, she had been feeding Connor and they had been lying in bed with Angel. She vaguely recalled a slightly incoherent and disjoint discussion with Angel about Connor's college fund. And a yacht. As her face scrunched in concentration, she remembered saying something about... did she really talk about chipmunk robots on ice? She must have been really out of it to say something as nonsensical as that; maybe she could blame it on too much hanging around with Fred.

Cordelia wrinkled her forehead; there had been something else. Her mind was a fog but she could almost swear she'd been climbing an icy slope to get to some castle, all aglow. Sitting up again, she grasped her head with both hands and winced. She was quickly developing a migraine to kill all migraines. For some reason, her brain felt like it was being ripped right out of her skull, as it had on her birthday.

She paused, trying to clear her head and frowned. The visions weren't supposed to hurt anymore because she was a demon now. Or, had someone forgotten? But, oh yeah, she hadn't had a vision; it had only been a dream.

Only, it had been more like a freakish horror story. Of what, she couldn't remember at all. If her current mood was any indication, she'd just experienced one doozy of a nightmare. Deciding that she needed to dig out some of the old pain medication, she stumbled towards the door. As she stepped into the hallway, she collided with something large and not very soft. Sprawling on the floor, she started mustering a half-hearted, indignant complaint but stopped quickly when she felt a more agonizing throbbing in her head.

"Whoa there, sweet-face," said a slightly lyrical male voice. Cordelia felt something lift her from underneath her arms. The disembodied voice continued, "Sweet-pea?" A brief pause ensued, followed by a less certain, "Cordelia?"

Cordelia swayed a bit and focused on the body the voice seemed to belong to. "Lor-Lorne?" she asked, tilting her head and peering at him with one eye closed.

The green, horned ex-Host smiled, but it was a grim smile. "Whooo, you gotta lay off the booze, hun." Then, a little more gently, he said, "Come on now. Let's get you to lie down in bed and rest those brain cells." Cordelia gratefully leaned on his profferred arm and headed back into the room. Lorne moved slowly and soothingly said, "Now, if you wait here, we'll just get Angel to come up..."

"No!" the force of her own exclamation startled her, but she was glad to see that it was shaking herself of the mind fog. "No," she repeated more calmly. "Angel doesn't need to know about this. Lorne, I mean it." she said firmly as she saw the demon open his mouth to protest.

"Don't you think Angel would want to know?" Lorne asked gently. "Of course he would. You know that you and the little tyke mean the world to him. If something's bothering you, he would need to know. You shouldn't keep the hurt from him anymore."

"I said no," Cordelia cut in, determinedly. "I saw how worried Angel was on my birthday. I know the lengths that Angel went to take away the pain. But I'm fixed now. The Powers that Be demonized and fixed me. I'm okay. I can do this. Besides, " Cordelia pointed out rationally, "Connor should be his number one concern now. He shouldn't have to worry about the rest of us. Least of all, his Seer." She smiled widely, thought not convincingly, for Lorne's benefit. "See, I'm all better."

Lorne sighed, feeling like a redundant counselor. So much for keeping the lines of communication wide open. This whole recurring theme was getting pretty tiresome but obviously no one was listening. He would never understand these strange creatures he was spending so much time with. "Okay. But you're getting this checked out by real professionals, alright?" he said sternly. Or as sternly as Lorne could make it sound.

Cordelia took a deep breath and nodded. Then she cautiously went downstairs into the lobby. No one was around so she headed for the hotel doors. Just as she was about to escape, Angel entered the lobby, carrying Connor.

"Good morning, sunshine!" he called out to her, cheerfully. Cordelia turned, too preoccupied with maintaining her calm facade to be shocked by the carefree greeting from a normally broody Angel. Focusing her attention, her mind registered that she should be even more surprised that Angel had foregone his usual black attire for a beige shirt and an equally light pair of beige pants.

Without prompting from her.

"And still looking really hot." she added in her mind. She would have reflected on that thought a bit more if it wasn't for intense hammering to her brain. All she could really think of at that moment was getting out before Angel noticed her rapidly slipping composure.

"So, you gonna eat breakfast with us or what?" he asked casually, as he sat on the sofa and set Connor down on one knee.

Before Cordelia could even consider using an excuse, Wesley walked in. Taking advantage of the distraction, she smiled brightly and quickly said, "Uh, actually I feel kinda grubby. So I think I'll call in a bath date with my trusty ghost and loofah." Dismayed at the words that came out and the expression on Wesley's face, she stuttered, giggling slightly, "Oh...uh...I think that came out wrong." With a hasty goodbye, she turned on her heel and nearly tripped out of the hotel.

Wesley stared at her with a puzzled look. He swiveled back, saying, "I don't think I've ever seen Cordy so...wrinkly... or wear the same clothes twice in a r-" and then stopped, upon seeing Angel's pained look. The English man grimaced in sympathy, his mouth rounding into a silent "oh." Deciding not to comment on Angel's light attire, as the vampire seemed, otherwise, his usual self, Wesley silently proceeded towards the sanctity of his office.

Angel continued to stare at the double doors of the Hyperion. He felt frustrated. Rejected. Connor started fussing, so he absentmindedly lifted his son to his chest as he replayed the last few minutes when Cordy had practically run out the door. What had he done wrong this time? She had never before seemed more anxious to leave his presence. It almost certainly had something to do with their having fallen asleep together and spending the night sleeping in his bed. He looked down at his outfit, feeling faintly ridiculous, and felt the urge to fall back on his old habits; to lock himself in his room and muse in the dark over the past several hours. With sudden insight, he growled, recalling her pale, drawn face and the dark shadows circling underneath her eyes. She hadn't looked like that since her visions had stopped hurting her. With a glower, he spoke aloud, to no one in particular, "She's hiding it from me again."


A Diner, January 22, 2002

At a local diner, not far from the Hyperion, Fred and Gunn sat opposite each other, enjoying a satisfying, if not healthy, breakfast. The tall vampire hunter watched, immensely amused, as his brown-haired companion wolfed down her second plate of pancakes.

"Say, girl, you trying for thirds?" he asked teasingly, as she finished the last bite. She lifted her head at him, her doe brown eyes wide and quizzical. Then she looked down and saw that his first plate was still heaping with scrambled eggs and sausages.

"Oh, I think I might be done." she replied shyly, ducking her head sideways.

The embarrassment appparent on her face suddenly reminded Gunn of the innocence his sister had possessed when she'd been younger. Before the whole vampire hunting and killing had started; when she had still been alive. He pushed the depressing memories out of his head and returned his attention to the young woman sitting opposite him.

"Hey," he said, patting her slender hand. "I was just teasing, you know. 'Sides, I like seeing a girl with a healthy appetite like yours. Most girls, they'd be pecking their food like they're birds or something. It's refreshing to see a girl enjoying a fine meal... Not that you need to worry about nothing." he added, acknowledging her candle-slim frame.

"Actually, I think it's cuz my metabolism is super efficient so everything I eat just burns away. When I was younger, I used to calculate the calories I burned and figured how much I needed to eat to keep my energy up. I have to eat a lot or I get really lethargic and -," Fred broke off, as she saw Gunn shaking his head and grinning from ear-to-ear. "I'm babbling again, aren't I? I can't seem to stop talking sometimes..." She trailed off, nervously looking down.

"Hey," Gunn said again, this time more soothingly. "I like hearing you talk. You're not like most girls who just obsess about the way they look. You think about more important things, smart stuff." He paused as he observed a big smile creep up on Fred's face. "You're one of a kind, Fred." He said softly. "And I think that's real cool."

Fred blushed at the compliment and focused on his plate again. "Are you gonna finish that?" she blurted out. When she realized what she just said, she shut her mouth quickly. Why had she said that? She hadn't known what to say so she just said the first thing that came to mind. Why couldn't it have been a simple 'Thank you'? She had never been a connoisseur at social and conversational skills, and five years away from human civilization hadn't helped. However, she thought she had been improving as of late, since she had emerged from her timid shell. Instead, she was scaring off perfectly nice guys. Mentally scolding herself, she squirmed in her seat and started chewing on her lower lip. He would probably never want to eat with her again.

Only, he surprised her by pushing the plate to the center of the table between them. "Yeah," he replied, with a twinkle in his eyes, "But only if you help me." She looked up again and marveled at the fact that she hadn't frightened him away. They exchanged grins and ate in companionable silence.

That is, until a loud commotion startled them. Gunn craned his neck towards the noise while Fred turned and peered over the back of her seat. A red-haired waitress with her back to them was gesticulating wildly and pointing to the diner's door. She moved to the side, revealing a blonde woman sitting on a barstool with crossed arms and an unhappy pout. When the door of the diner opened, the blonde woman flipped her hair over the shoulder of her leather jacket and said a cross word to the waitress. With a glare and the wave of her fist, the waitress left her to serve the new customers. Gunn got up out of the booth.

"Kate?" he exclaimed, striding over to her. Fred quickly got up and followed. The tall man walked around to face the woman on the stool. "What are you doing here?"

The blonde woman looked up at him coolly and seeing the look of recognition on his face, asked, "Do I know you?"

Fred watched a flinch momentarily pass over Gunn's usually calm face as she smelled the alcohol on the woman's breath. 'Who was she?' Fred wondered and placed a hand on his arm. "Charles?" she queried quietly, "Are you alright?"

At that moment, the waitress returned with a frown, demanding, "What are you still doing here? I told you to get out!"

The blonde regarded them carefully, then smirked. "So, if you know me so well, aren't you going to get me out of here?"

By the expression on Gunn's face, Fred realized that he didn't like her very much. He pursed his lips slightly before tossing a few bills on the counter and pulling Kate out of the diner.

Fred scrambled after them, taking one last glance at their unfinished breakfast.


Cordelia's place, January 22, 2002

Back in the comfort of her own home and after swallowing a few painkillers from leftover prescription bottles, Cordelia let out a serene sigh. Languidly leaning back in her bath tub, she swiped at the bath bubbles that were practically spilling over the sides. While she relaxed, two cucumber slices floated over to her and were deposited on her eyes.

"Thanks, Dennis." Cordelia sighed again blissfully, grateful that the pain of her massive migraine had finally subsided. She'd been slightly worried about taking her old medication again, but now that she felt more like her normal self, she let the worries slide away. She felt a breeze leave the bathroom and heard the door close shut, signalling that the ghost had left the bathroom.

All alone to reflect on what she'd been avoiding to think about, she lifted both arms to the sides of the tub. She breathed deeply, inhaling the smell of lavender and roses surrounding her. Unbidden, memories of the previous night surfaced in her mind. She thought about feeding Connor and consciously decided that it was a safe topic to dwell on.

Smiling, she recalled how much he had grown and how he had the ability to twist everyone, including her, around his little finger, without so much as a gurgle. How strange it was that caring for him, "mothering" him, came so naturally for her. Sometimes, she would spend hours with him, watching his tiny mouth forming in little pouts as he slept, melting in response when his eyes widened with delight when she paid attention to him, and feeling his tiny hand tightly grasping her fingers whenever she held him. She couldn't help wishing, painfully, that he really belonged to her; that she was his real mother. But that opened up so many issues that she didn't want to think about at that moment.

Nope, not going there, she reprimanded herself.

Unwittingly, she started to think about when she'd gotten impregnated with a rapidly growing demon spawn. Granted, she wouldn't have lived, had she "given birth." Despite her relief over not having to deal with those consequences, she caught herself considering it. As well as how far off her life had taken her from the naive little plans she'd made when she had been in Sunnydale. What had she been thinking, 'home, hotel, hotel, husband'? Cordelia winced, unsettled by the turn of her reverie.

Alright, she said to herself, steer away from the depressing thoughts. Think happy ones. Think about Connor again. And her mind happily went back to thinking about her precious baby. He was going to grow up to be such a handsome little demon, so charming and strong. So like his father. Her thoughts drifted lazily to Angel and the previous night.

Okay, that was so NOT a safe topic. Perturbed again, she ordered herself to stop brooding about her "just-a-friend" and to ponder about other things. But it was too late. Like many times before, her mind refused to obey her bidding.

Maybe he was rubbing off on her.

Wrinkling her forehead slightly, she gave in and let herself remember how close she'd felt to him. And she had only slept beside him. It had been so long since she'd felt this close to anyone. Who was she trying to fool? It was the first time she had ever felt that close to anyone, period. She had never had real friends before, at least none who truly cared for her well-being. And she had certainly never been friends, not to mention, best friends, with a man before. Especially not one as perfect for her as Angel.

There. In the privacy of her own head, she could admit that even if she couldn't act on it. And wouldn't.

For the first time in her life, she had someone who didn't objectify, but respected her; who cared about and protected her. Who let her be the mother figure for his child. And who maybe even loved her in a very platonic, "forever-best-pals" sort of way.

Or was it more?

Shaking her head, she told herself to end the wishful dreaming. He was her confidante, and to think of him as anything but a big brother type would jeopardize their current relationship. Plus, he couldn't and wouldn't ever think of her in that way. The temperamental situation with his soul was obviously the biggest roadblock to that ever happening, not to mention the fact that he was not boyfriend, much less husband, material. Regardless, she knew she'd stick by him until he experienced his shanshu because she had promised him.

Only, he had never made the promise to stay with her. Especially not after he regained his humanity. Nor would she ever expect him to. She was well aware of where his heart lay. Where it would always remain. Without a doubt, as soon as he got the green light for a permanent soul, he would cash in a one-way ticket back to Sunnydale. And probably without even a backwards glance at his life here in L.A. with the team. With her.

Cordelia's lurched at the thought. It must have been the painkillers, she reasoned. She really shouldn't have taken the full dosage, since her body obviously wasn't coping well with it. What else could it be? Of course she didn't care whether Angel would stay with her or not. She understood his feelings very well. Ever since they had started working together in L.A. she always knew what he was feeling. It was always a given that he would return to the one great love of his life.

And the idea of that was almost more than she wanted to bear. The reality of it would mean that she would be by herself again, with no one to turn to. She would feel empty again, as she had for 17 long years. She stared at the bubbles in front of her, realizing her fatal mistake. Angrily wondering how it all went wrong.

But that didn't mean she couldn't let a naughty, unreasonable little corner of her brain pretend that it wasn't all that wrong. That the tiny glimmer of an impossible dream could happen.

Cordelia let the illusions roll over her. Why shouldn't she indulge a bit and delude herself that it could be real? That she could have him. That someone as wonderful as him would want her. She could imagine that his heart would do a funny flip-flop every time he rested those deep, soulful eyes on hers. That he would live and die and breathe for only her. Or that, the Powers That Be forbid, he could and would be in love with her.

Entranced, the minty fragrance of lavender travelled up her arms, stroking her gently. She felt it swirl around her neck, entangling in her hair. The scent of roses hit her senses and she envisioned rose petals falling on her shoulders, caressing her arms and her breasts, kissing the hollow of her throat. As they lightly brushed her lips, she felt the soft kisses and involuntarily moved eagerly to respond.

Her arm slipped from the side of the tub and splashed in the water. The cucumber slices fell from her face, uncovering her eyes.

The air was cold. The bubbles were gone. And she was alone again.

---

Chapter 3 Floating a Nuisance Call

The Hyperion Hotel, January 22, 2002

Wesley Wyndham-Pryce sat at his desk in his office at Angel Investigations. Scattered around him on the desk were masses of books and papers; there were so many, the desk's surface was completely obscured. Despite his seemingly fussy demeanor, he was exceedingly untidy. He knew that he should really clean up his mess, but at the moment, he had more important things to consider.

Holding his hand over the phone, he paused. Most likely he would get shot down. After all, he always did. Maybe it was time to forego the whole experience; avoid the hurt and confusion which would ensue.

Out of self-disgust, Wesley stiffened his upper lip. This would not do. Almost a year as the head honcho and he still couldn't manage a simple phone call. Determinedly, he gripped the phone and picked it up. The next second, it was back on the hook.

Sometimes he loathed his lack of backbone.

"Sometimes I hate it too." a voice broke in smoothly. Wesley looked up and saw Lorne leaning against the doorjamb, one leg crossed over the other. Half embarrassed, the other half peeved, Wesley looked away.

"If you don't try calling the girl, you'll never know." Lorne said, "We have a saying back in Pylea..."

"Well, we're not in bloody Pylea, are we?" Wesley broke in, impatiently.

"Keep up an attitude like yours, and you'll never get her." Lorne smirked. "She spent five years there. So most of it was spent in a cave fearing for her life. Some of her time there must have meant something."

Wesley sighed, slouching in his chair. He looked up and almost laughed at the irony. Almost. "I was trying to call my father."

"Yeah, sure." Lorne shrugged and turned away. "Whatever makes you feel good about yourself."


Cordelia's place, January 22, 2002

Cordelia walked around her apartment, a towel wrapped around her head, another one around her body. The clock in bedroom read 2:05 but she was in no mood to return to the Hyperion Hotel any time soon.

Dennis floated a few items of clothing in front of her as she walked into the kitchen. A red silky shirt. A black chiffon blouse. A slinky purple top. Ignoring him, she headed to her cupboard and pulled out a box of crackers.

Leaning against the counter, she opened the box, took out a cracker and started munching in thoughtful silence. Giving up, the clothes floated back towards her bedroom. When Dennis returned, Cordelia was still lost in her thoughts.

The unseen phantom was having a hard time determining exactly what was putting her in such a funk. Since her visions had stopped hurting her, she would usually return from a long day or night of work, tired and dirty, grab a quick shower and then head right back out again, looking for the next adventure.

But if he had to put an invisible finger on it, he would guess it had to do with a certain unnaturally broody vampire.

Not that he minded. Dennis knew the realities of his situation. Sure, he would be eternally grateful that Cordelia was willing to share her humble abode with him, pun intended. She was his ideal companion; funny, smart and an adept one-person conversationalist, she also knew the art of getting him to do things for her without making it seem like a chore. It didn't hurt that she was a real looker either. But she was alive. And very solid.

It wasn't as if he disliked the vampire. Hell, if he could choose to come back as someone else, he'd come back as the dark Angel, cursed soul or not. After all, it would be the only way to ensure that Cordelia would really stick around.

Those living solids were so thick sometimes.

A loud crunch caught the ghost's attention. Cordelia was chewing more furiously now, still not focusing on him or her surroundings. She frowned, put her box of crackers down, and then padded back out into her living room.

Suddenly, she stiffened. Dennis sensed her distress and moved towards her, not knowing what he could do to help.

Cordy threw back her head slightly as a barrage of new images bombarded her mind. Her SAT scores. The blinding sun. Spike, in his game face, cornering a lady in a shop. Willow being taken with Xander. Spike mocking Buffy and Angel.

She opened her eyes again and saw the ceiling, realizing that she had actually closed them when her latest vision hit. Her head wasn't hurting, and she sighed with relief. Then, her eyes widened when she realized that she wasn't standing anymore.

She was in fact floating 3 feet off the ground.

Almost delirious with delight, she reveled in this new sensation. This had happened right after she had been demonized, but not after that. For a while, she had consciously tried to float off the ground again but the more she concentrated, the more frustrated she became. She gave up, attributing it to a one-time fluke.

But now it was happening again!

Analyzing this new situation, she noticed that she was in a different position than last time. This time, she was floating length-wise parallel to the ground. When a breeze flew past her, she giggled. "Dennis," she shouted between giggles. "Will you stop your pacing, already? This is fantastic!"

As she felt the air around her warm up again, the initial fascination wore off and she started thinking about how she should get back to the ground. She couldn't really remember that last time since she hadn't been thinking too clearly. However, if she wasn't mistaken, one minute she had been floating and the next, she was back on solid ground again.

She closed her eyes and mid-air, clicked her heels three times. She opened her eyes again and looked around. No luck. "Silly... you tried that before. That never works." she chided herself.
The minutes kept ticking away. Cordelia was getting bored. Lifting her arms, she tried waving them around, hoping to swim mid-air or at least move somewhere. Still, she didn't budge an inch. A little peeved, she flapped her arms more vigorously. The towel around her head fell to the ground.

"Think," she ordered herself. "There's got to be a way around this." But she couldn't think of anything.

She giggled again, a little more hysterically this time. "This is so ridiculous," she sighed. "I'm feeling so stupid just floating here and I can't think of a single way to get out of this. To make things worse, I look a mess."

She paused, then spoke to the air, "But, you're not telling anyone, right Dennis?" In response, the phone went off the hook. Cordy shook her head.

"Dennis, this is my problem. I'm going to fix this" she said determinedly.

The phone was replaced on the hook again, and she breathed an inward sigh of relief. But remembering that she was still stuck in limbo, the feeling didn't last long. She stared at the ceiling and started counting invisible cracks.


The Hyperion Hotel, January 22, 2002

Gunn and Fred entered the Hyperion Hotel together, having just dropped Kate off outside her apartment building. Fred had been silent during the drive to Kate's apartment, much to Gunn's chagrin and discomfort. However, as soon as Kate had gotten out of his truck, her natural demeanor returned and pretty quickly, she had started prattling again.

Gunn had tried to remain engaged in their conversation, but he couldn't help feeling a smidgeon guilty over running away from Kate like that. True, he didn't particularly like her, since she had never bothered to say so much as a hello to him when she had hung out with the gang. And he couldn't imagine her batting one of her pretty eyelashes to get him out of a jam. Besides, she hadn't asked him to help her with anything other than getting her out of the diner. Which he had. If there was one thing Charles Gunn knew and lived by, it was to keep his nose clean and out of other people's troubles when it wasn't called for.

But, remembering the smell of alcohol lingering on her clothes and breath, the tough exterior she put up to cover her underlying confusion, and the fact that she couldn't remember her address until she looked in her wallet, the guilty feeling refused to go away.

He felt a light touch on his arm. Fred was looking up at him expectantly, a worried frown marring her delicate face. He automatically smiled at her reassuringly and gently covered the hand on his arm with his own. She searched his face a second longer, and then brightly smiled back at him. It was a lopsided smile, but it was so refreshingly her that he remained rooted on the spot, knowing he probably looked like a moron.

For the first time in his life, Gunn didn't care about how he looked to others.

The sound of footsteps behind him caused Gunn to turn around. Wesley was coming out of his office, reading a musty book with yellowed pages and softly muttering to himself. Fred's hand fell from his arm as he felt her step away from him. Gunn looked back to where Fred had been standing and noticed her shuffling towards the stairs. He silently watched her as she skipped up the stairs, her hand sliding lightly over the staircase rail. When he heard Wesley give a startled, "Oh, hello there," he held his breath for a moment.

The slendar girl paused at the voice and looked out into the lobby at Wesley. For a second longer, Gunn would not breathe in as he silently drew her eyes to him. As if sensing his silent plea, her eyes moved from the ex-Watcher's face to his. An unreadable expression appeared on her lovely face as he gazed up at her, as if she were on a balcony. Then another moment later, it was gone as she gave them both a shy smile before continuing up the stairs.


Cordelia's place, January 22, 2002

Cordelia had never been more bored in her life.

She didn't know how long she had been just floating in her living room but she didn't care. She had tried everything she could think of, including getting Dennis to douse water on her but nothing had gotten her back on the ground again.

She had run out of options.

Turning her head towards her window, she noticed that the sun was just about to fade into sunset. Feeling Dennis' disapproval around her, she said one word, "No."

Silence was his response.

She restated for the fifth time that day, "I'm not calling for help."

A cold breeze whizzed past. In only her bath towel, she shivered. "Angel would be here in a second." the breeze seemed to say.

It's not a choice, she reminded herself.

She looked around the room, trying to focus on something to keep her mind occupied. Outside her apartment, she heard laughing voices and immediately recognized one of them as belonging to her new blond neighbour, Dave. He was cute, funny, helpful when Angel wasn't loitering around her place, and attended classes at the nearby college three days a week.

An all-round yummy prospect for her, if she was so inclined for a treat. But for some reason, she wasn't. She settled on envying him.

Every time she ran into him, he told her amusing anecdotes about his nutty professors, his blustering classmates, and the college life. With a pang, she realized that she was missing out on an important milestone. She had gotten amazing SAT scores and been accepted to her choice schools. Plus, she had always liked school.

'Alright,' she admitted, 'I lorded over Sunnydale Hell high, but making the most of my academic experience was my right!' Likewise, she reasoned, partaking in a good education was her right from day one. Just like her looks, Queen C status, and family money, she had taken them for granted and used them well.

But with the exception of her looks, they'd been whisked away.

'Then again,' she mused wryly as she ran her hand through her now dry, very uncombed hair, 'Maybe that's gone too. What happened to my perpetually good hair days?' Absentmindedly patting her hair, she sunk into mild depression.

'Snap out of it,' she reprimanded herself. 'Quit with the broody and think of pleasant things.'

Her mind, however, wasn't listening and promptly wandered back to her high SAT scores. She remembered being very pleased with them, as well as the look of surprise that had crossed Xander's face when he had snatched her score out of her hands and taken a peek at them. He had made a joke, in his adorable Xander-like manner, to praise her and as usual, put himself down. An unmistakeable look of pride had shone in his eyes.

Cordy probed her memory deeper, remembering that Willow and Buffy had also been there. As she recalled, Buffy had gotten a pretty high score as well, not that she cared to remember. Willow, on the other hand, had been in bad spirits because she didn't score perfectly. Suddenly she remembered Xander comforting Willow when she stumbled upon them and the nervous way that Xander and Willow had fluttered around each other.

On second thought, he hadn't been all that adorable. The signs were so clear that the two-timing skunk had already been hung up over that red-headed fashion nightmare.

Cordy sighed, 'So much for thinking happy thoughts.' She shrugged, chalking it up to one weird day. She'd woken up with a massive hangover-like headache and ended up floating in the middle of her living room for practically the entire day. And all that without even the help of a little magic spell or flying carpet.

A thought was niggling her brain. There had been something else... she'd also had a vision. Only, the setting of her vision was incredibly confusing. Her visions were only supposed to show her possible future events, not the past. 'And,' she huffed to herself, 'Buffy and Angel being in the same room, much less the same city, is very much in the past.'

That's when she felt herself falling.

The next minute, she was sprawled on the floor, the towel amazingly still wrapped tightly around her body. Stunned at her new position, she gaped at the ceiling in the middle of her floor.

It was then that the phone went off its hook and a familiar number was dialed.


The Hyperion Hotel, January 22, 2002

The sun had just set outside the Hyperion. Curtains in a room upstairs billowed from the gentle breeze filtering through an open window. Angel paced, agitated. One look and it was clear that he had a lot on his mind. As ever, he was clueless as to how to express it all. Eventually he stopped his nervous fidgeting and opened his mouth.

"Cordy, look. I'm just going to come right out and say it." He began, placing his hands on his hips. "We've been friends for a long time. We've learned to work together. Or so I thought. I can't understand why you keep shutting me out like this. We all want you to be a functioning part of the Angel Investigations team. If you keep doing this, you're not working with us, but against us." He turned, facing his audience. "Am I making myself clear?"

The only response he got was Connor's wide-eyed stare looking back at him.
Angel let out some pent-up air, which resulted in a half-sigh, half-growl. "Okay, change tactic." He started his pacing again. "Cordy, over the last few years, I've gotten closer to you, and in ways I've never drea-, uh, just never before. So you'll understand that we're concerned about you. We want to help you, even if we have to tear through every post office or shopping mall to find The Powers That Be and get them to take back the visions. Because no way are we letting them hurt you, much less kill you." He turned back to Connor's silent observing look. "How's that?"

Clapping broke the silence and Angel immediately knew who'd been listening. "Lorne," he said, annoyed. "This was a private discussion."

"Sure it was," the green demon grinned, humouring him. "But I give you a 9 on takeoff for the barely restrained passion and 2 for what's going to be your sorry carcass on the landing." He put his hands up and braced himself as Angel growled loudly and started towards him. "Okay, okay, how about a 10+ for the passion and no comments on what Cordelia will do to your hiney?"

Angel opened his mouth to respond, when his cell phone rang insistently. He flipped it open and started to say a greeting, when he heard an irate female voice on the other end.

"Dennis!" it shrieked, "how could you?" Then he heard a crash and the dull ring of the dial tone.

---

Chapter 4: There's No Place Like

Cordelia's place, January 22, 2002

She figured it would take him five minutes to get to her door. Knowing the lengths he would go to break every natural and man-created law to arrive just in time, she had it estimated to the second. After all, traffic officers seemed to magically not exist when emergency situations called for a little hero zipping around town.

Only, she was wrong.

It took him less than three.

Sprawled on the floor still, but in a different position directly in front of the phone, Cordelia heard his car drive up in front of her building. She imagined him not bothering with the car door and leaping over the passenger seat. Then, she listened to the increasingly loud and frantic sounds of his footfalls pounding on the pavement and finally, the insistent banging on the door.

She didn't know whether she should be highly amused that she had him pegged so well or highly annoyed for the exact same reason.

She decided to be pissed off.

Before she could un-invite his unwelcome body, the door was flung open by the invisible hand she was no longer speaking to. Immediately, her dark angel was at her side, disentangling her legs from the phone cord and lifting her easily in his arms.

"What happened?" Angel asked, obviously relieved that she wasn't being maimed or mauled by some evil demon.

She glared at him first, and then at the air. "Nothing, " she replied bitingly. "The phone and I just weren't agreeing with each other."

Taking in her messy hair, puffy eyes, and the fact that her towel was barely covering her thighs, he decided not to comment. He gently deposited her upright on the floor and averted his eyes.

But not before the towel started to fall.

She made a grab for it, under his startled gaze and hanging jaw, nearly sobbing a laugh out loud. How on earth had it managed to stay wrapped for hours when it didn't matter and then suddenly unravel when it did?

This just wasn't her day.

Suddenly very cold and holding one hand tightly on the edges of the towel in front of her, she shoved him towards the door with the other.

"Get out!" she ordered impetuously.

Seeing her angrier than she had ever been, he almost complied. Then, remembering his practiced lecture and fears, he stiffened his resolve and crossed his arms, not saying anything.

She stared up at his stubborn face, saw the concern plastered on it, and almost forgave him for everything she was feeling. Almost.

Huffing, she turned on her heel, headed into her bedroom, and slammed the door so hard, the walls jarred.

Angel looked up into the air and grinned. "Rough night, huh?"

A light flickered in response.


The Hyperion Hotel, January 23, 2002

Fred was tip-toeing around the hotel lobby, balancing a book on top of her head. Under her breath, she started reciting physics formulas from memory. Gunn, with one eye on Fred, was playing with one of the sabres they had acquired from a warrior demon earlier that week. Wesley was still walking around with his open book, occasionally popping in and out of his office, researching about demons they had yet to encounter. Every few minutes, he stared at Gunn and shook his head. Clearly, he didn't understand why no one else was taking this preparation time between cases seriously.

When a tall blonde women pushed her way into the hotel in the dead of night, they were all too preoccupied to pay any attention to her. When she said a loud and very annoyed "Hello", they finally looked up.

"Kate." all three of them said at once. All with different tones in their voices.

Wesley was the first to come around to greet her. "How are you?" he greeted cordially, as Gunn stared at the weapon in his hand with fascination and Fred took everything in. He gestured to the seat in the middle of the lobby. "Have a seat, why don't you?"

Kate didn't move from her position at the counter. "I'm fine standing," she replied curtly. Shifting one foot uncomfortably, she stuck her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket. "I take it you know me as well."

Wesley was taken aback for a moment. "Why, yes," he responded, frowning. He turned and looked questioningly at Gunn. "Gunn and I both do." Turning towards Fred, he added with a forced enthusiasm, "But you haven't met Fred here. Or the other newest additions to Angel Inves-".

"So you guys investigate weird happenings, right?" Kate cut in. "I found a card in your truck," she explained, looking at Gunn, "and kept it." Gunn didn't know whether to be greatly annoyed at having someone swipe something from his truck or display admiration for her forward thinking. He decided not to judge her as she continued, "I've been asking around... Apparently you guys deal with all sorts of strange stuff. Things that can't be explained." Everyone heard the underlying panic in her voice.

"Of course," Wesley reassured her, steering her towards the center lobby seat. Her back still stiff, she sat down on the sofa and he sat beside her. For a long moment, the four remained silent. Fred kept peeking at him under her lashes, unsure of what to say about their afternoon run-in. Wanting to clear his conscience, Gunn broke in.

"Wes," he started, "Fred and I saw her earlier today." Wesley looked up at him curiously and frowned a bit. Gunn looked at Kate and continued, "She didn't seem to remember things about her life. Like who I am, who Angel and Cordy or you are, not even where she lived."

"Is that true?" Wesley asked the blonde ex-cop gently. Kate was staring straight ahead, not focusing on anything.

She took a deep breath and nodded. "Last night, I was on the trail of a serial killer in Vegas. All of a sudden, there was this wave and I woke up in the dead of night in a park in L.A. When I got back home, I found myself unable to unlock my front door and get into my apartment."

Kate paused to take a deep breath. The three other people waited patiently until she continued.
"I went back to the precinct, thinking that I must have caught the guy or something. Only, I find that I'm not a cop anymore. My old friends don't want to talk to me and worse, my dad's dead." Her voice sounded thick. "That was when I found out what day, what year it was."

She hesitated again, "This is going to sound crazy," she said shakily. Wesley nodded encouragingly for her to continue.

"The last date that I remember is November 18, 1998." She stopped, but when she saw that they were all still listening intently, she went on. "I thought I was going crazy, so I went a bit overboard and got a little drunk, thinking I'd just wake up. It didn't help so I thought I'd grab some coffee to sober up. That's when I saw you guys," she finished, nodding towards Fred and Gunn. Wesley glanced at Fred first and then at Gunn. Kate leaned forward a bit and covered her face with her hands, "I don't remember anything that happened since November 18, 1998. I'm not just missing a day or a few months. I'm missing years." She broke off, a rarely seen scared expression on her face. "What's happening here? What's happened to me?"

Fred's heart went out to her while she listened to Kate's story. It was triggering memories of when she had first arrived in Pylea, and how frightened and alone she felt. And she could relate to missing out on several years of her life. She watched as Gunn and Wesley exchanged silent glances. Seeing that they didn't have any idea how to begin helping her, much less comfort her, she pushed forward and sat down on the other side of the blonde woman. "We don't know yet." she said softly. Then jutting her chin out, she finished confidently, "But we're going to help you find out."


Cordelia's place, January 22, 2002

An hour and a half later, Cordy still hadn't emerged from her room.

Angel sprang up from her sofa and started pacing around the living room impatiently. He hadn't heard a peep from her since she had slammed the door of her room in his face but he could hear the normal beating of her heart so he figured she was still alright. Besides, he didn't exactly look forward to ticking her off again. He knew that if he tried knocking on her door, he would do just that. He knew that she was just waiting for him to leave her alone, but that was not an option for him.

He would just have to figure out another way to pass the time.

"Dennis," he called out nonchalently. "How've you been?"

Silence ensued.

Angel let his shoulders fall. "I know, probably not the best entrance to make tonight. But I heard the crash. How did I know you guys were just fighting for the phone?"

The light flickered. Angel took it as a sign of progression.

"I know her visions are hurting her again. Is she back on the medication?" he asked. The lights flickered once in response.

Dennis picked up a pen and piece of paper and started writing a message.

"Her visions are making her float." Angel read, as the words were formed. He looked up. "You mean, floating in mid-air?" The lights flickered once.

Suddenly the door opened, and Cordy appeared in the doorway. Judging from the expression on her face, she was still displeased. Her hair was pushed back into a short ponytail, with wisps dangling on the back of her neck, and she was wearing a baggy sweatshirt and jeans. Lately, this was becoming her costume of choice.

"Cordy," he said, getting up. He went for the firm approach. "You're coming with me and staying at the Hyperion for the next while."

She looked at him and glared. If looks could kill, he'd be dust. "I'm not going with you." she said stubbornly. "Besides I'm not even packed yet."

A fully stuffed overnight bag floated in front of her nose and dropped to the floor with a thud. Angel grinned as the annoyance and slight betrayal flittered across Cordy's face.

"Argh!" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up. "Why do I even bother?" Stomping, she retrieved her coat as Angel picked up her bag. He held the door for her on the way out. She sailed out of her apartment without saying goodbye to her roommate.

Angel glanced back at the air and smiled, "Thanks, Dennis. Trust me, I'll take care of her."

As the door closed behind him, he could have sworn that he heard, "I know," answered back.


The Hyperion Hotel, January 22, 2002

When they got back to the hotel, the first thing that Cordelia did was stomp upstairs, lugging her bag with her. Angel followed her into the hotel silently. No one was in the lobby except Gunn.

Gunn opened his mouth first. "Bro, see you're losing your coolness in your old age," he snickered a bit.

Angel gritted his teeth in frustration, "I don't think anyone can be cool around her."

Gunn snickered again, but this time with sympathy. Angel looked around, noticing Fred and Wesley poring over books in his office. He detected another heartbeat. "Who's here? What's everyone doing?"

"We got a case." Gunn replied.

"With?" he asked the vampire hunter curiously.

"Kate." Gunn answered him.

At the sound of her name, Kate appeared in the lobby. Hearing their voices, Fred and Wesley had come out of the office as well. When he noticed the blonde woman, Angel gave a quick smile and walked closer to her. She made no effort to move closer to him.

"So, you know me too." she said. Angel noticed the peculiar way she was looking at him, plus the way she didn't ask it, but just stated it. Giving him an unguarded, appraising look, she continued, "You seem vaguely familiar, like someone I might have met in a club. Did we...?"

Three heads swiveled his way in curiosity. Angel fought the urge to squirm under the uncomfortable microscope. He opened his mouth to answer, but a faint scent of lavender made him turn around. Cordelia had come down the stairs and had apparently heard that last question.

With a sinking feeling in his stomach, Angel recognized the look on her face. He had only seen it one other time when Darla told them that he'd spawned a miracle.

"No!" he exclaimed, desperately trying to wipe the look off his Seer's face. He turned back to Kate and said a little more calmly. "We're just friends."

Kate shrugged and crossed her arms. "So I really am alone. Tell me what kind of nightmare do I live in?" she muttered under her breath. Cordy smirked and rolled her eyes.

"Well I guess it's time we let you in on the case details," Wesley stepped in. He relayed to Cordelia and Angel what Kate had mentioned earlier. "Fred and I have gone over the books and we figure that her consciousness from three years ago must have swapped with the one from now. Luckily, we discovered a spell for this quite easily, so all we have to do is perform it on her." he concluded, holding up a thick book.

"How come everything can be solved with a magic spell?" Cordelia suddenly complained, with a little disbelief. Kate looked at her, alarmed.

"So you don't think it'll work?" she questioned. "Look, I don't believe in these things, like magic and demon spells, whatever. Maybe you should keep looking for another way." She turned to Gunn, "What do you think?"

Surprised, Gunn gave a tiny shrug, "Don't look at me. I'm the action man. Magic mumbo-jumbo's not my usual department." At Wesley's clenched jaw, he added quickly, "But I believe what I see. And I've seen enough of this to make me a true believer." Gunn whirled around towards Fred. She gave him a sympathetic smile.

Wesley let out an exasperated sigh, as everyone else remained mute. "Kate, this is the only way. Trust me, we've had a lot of practice solving these types of problems before." He said reassuringly, while sending Cordelia a glare.

"I didn't mean that it wouldn't work." Cordelia sniffed, defensively. "I just meant that we always resolve problems with magic spells. Or a whoosh-whoosh-kill, now the demon's dead? Nothing seems to be all that difficult or long. Don't get me wrong, I have a hard enough time figuring out or even listening to these solutions but it always seems like there's an obvious and simple explanation to everything and it's all wrapped up neatly."

"Like with a little red bow?" Fred offered helpfully. "Or with those pretty little ribbons that you curl? I always wondered the same thing."

Seeing the look of bewilderment on the three male faces, Cordelia backpedaled. "But, not to say that it's a bad thing. I mean, great, solve everything with a little twirl of your hand and some funny words. Okay, my bad. Next?"

"Well, we're going to have to bring Kate back to the same spot she was in when she first arrived in this time period." Wesley said, clearing his throat. "She described it to us earlier while you two were still out; it's the one on Baker Street ---."

"Really?" Cordelia broke in, with a half smile. "I'm having a vision right now... we have to save two kids from these demons in that same park."

"Well, if that's not a sign..." Wesley said triumphantly, shooting a pointed look at Kate. Kate was staring at Cordelia with an "are you insane?" look on her face.

"What are the demons like?" Angel asked Cordy quietly.

"There are two of them. They're big and furry..." she said to him, squinting her eyes a bit in concentration. "... and probably haven't bathed in years. And they're doing some weird ritual?" Suddenly she grimaced in horror, "Oh, yuck, I think they're doing some mating thing. I can't believe I had to see that." She put both hands on her head, "Well what are you guys waiting for? Chop chop, or that's what those kids are going to look like if you don't hurry."

In response, Fred, Gunn, Wesley and Kate started to head out of the hotel. Cordelia noticed Angel's concerned face. "They're not going to be able to handle these demons without you. So go."

Angel took hold of her elbow. "You're coming too."

She moved her arm loose, "I'm not the one in danger. So you can go."

Angel shook his head vehemently, "If you think I'm going to leave you alone, knowing that these visions are giving you trouble, hurting you..."

Cordelia got a sinking feeling. How did he find out about that? "But this one wasn't trouble. I'm not hurt now." she insisted.

"Maybe not, but I don't want to risk you getting another one that does and me not being there to help you." Angel said to her.

"Look, I'm not some spoiled rich kid who's just playing games here." she snapped at him. He stared at her, startled.

"What? Where did that come from?" he questioned her fiercely.

She looked up and saw the hurt on his face. Sighing, she gave up the fight and started walking towards the door. "Never mind." she muttered. "Let's just go help the others."

Angel gaped at her for a brief moment before following her to join the others.


The park on Baker Street, January 23, 2002

When they got to the park, the others had already located the two teenage kids and had their hands full with getting rid of the demons. The creatures were just as Cordelia had described, and judging from their smell, her assessment about their bathing habits was probably right. All this made it all the more difficult to defeat them. But with the addition of Angel and his battle-axe, one of the demons was soon lying motionless on the ground.

As soon as the other demon realized its mate was dead, it took off.

Wesley gave the others a cocky grin. "This one's mine." And he sped away in pursuit of the runaway demon.

Cordy put her hands on her hips and shook her head towards the remaining two men, "He's been spending too much with you two."

Fred looked at the two kids, huddled at the base of a tree. "I guess we can take the kids home." Fred said, looking at Gunn. He nodded and together, they prodded the kids to leave with them.

"Well," Angel said, as he dropped his axe and picked up the thick book Wesley had brought with him. "I guess this means that I'll do the spell." He turned to Kate. "We probably need you to stand in the exact same spot you were in when you first came to in this time period."

Kate looked around, furrowing her brows. "There." she said, pointing between a clump of willowy trees. The remaining three headed towards the clump.

Cordy stood to one side, as Kate took her position. Angel read the incantation. Nothing happened.

Kate looked at Angel. "Maybe I read it wrong." he said with a frown. He repeated it. Still nothing happened.

Kate gave a sigh of frustration. "I should have known!" she exclaimed. "I can't believe I resorted to something like this." She stepped towards Cordelia. "Forget this. I'm finding some other, more sane approach."

It was at that moment the demon that got away leaped towards them.

With fangs baring, it landed right in front of Angel and knocked him over. The book went flying out of his hands. As Cordy watched in horror, it started ripping at his jacket.

"Hey!" a voice said behind her. Cordy looked up to see Kate wielding the axe. As the demon got up to face her, Kate quickly charged it. She lifted the axe and swung at the demon. As it sliced through its arm, the demon gave a pained screech. Surprised at the sudden high-pitched noise, Kate let the axe drop. The demon took its chance and with its good arm, slashed at her.

Suddenly, Cordelia saw Angel hugging her in a cemetery in Sunnydale. She watched as she fought him and ran away. Then she saw Faith straddling Angel, with a stake in her hand. She realized that she was bombarded with a new vision, and this time, her head was pounding again.

"No!" Cordelia screamed in terror. As her consciousness faded into oblivion, she saw one last image. It was that of Kate falling lifeless to the ground.

---

Chapter 5: Waking Nightmares

A park on Baker Street, January 23, 2002

When Cordelia regained consciousness, she found Angel staring down at Kate's lifeless body. Other than a pained expression on his face, he seemed otherwise alright. Relieved that he and she were both intact, she jumped up quickly and ran towards him. Feeling him give a start and shrink from her touch, she gave him a puzzled look. However, noticing the obvious hurt written all over him, she caved into her feelings and opened her arms to wrap around him.

And was still incredibly confused when he placed his hands on her shoulders and gracefully sidestepped her.

As he backed away to escape her grasp, she gaped at him, her stomach in her throat. What was going on? "Angel? Are you okay?"

He looked at her with a blank expression. "I'm fine." he replied slowly. "But what am I doing here, Cordelia?" And did that thing kill her?" he gestured towards the dead creature and Kate, lying beside each other.

"Uhhhh, yeah." she replied. She scrunched her face in confusion. "Did that thing hit you on the head or something?" He shook his head.

"I don't know what you're talking about. When I saw it, it was already dead." he replied in a low voice.

Cordy narrowed her eyes at him. Angel was acting strange. Instead of being comfortable with his surroundings, he had his head ducked and he was speaking in a hushed, conspiratorial voice. When he noticed her peering at him closely, he shuffled his feet nervously and started gravitating behind the shadow of a tree.

Suddenly, he spoke up, "Cordelia, you're probably not used to me being back."

"Back?" she repeated, not comprehending his train of thought.

"Look, I don't know what Buffy told you guys about me coming back from the hell dimension, but..." he looked around pensively, then asked, "Cordelia, where am I?"

Cordy's stomach fell with a thud. He had called her Cordelia with an unfamiliar tone in his voice three times now. He didn't know where he was, not to mention that he had spoken the B-word in her presence. Worse, he had said it in that longing, sacred way she hadn't heard for a long time. Gazing at the perplexed and impassive way he was regarding her, she felt herself stop breathing. For the first time since she could remember, she felt tears welling up in her eyes, threatening to fall.

Straightening up, she took a deep breath. Before he could dance away from her again, she grabbed his arm and yanked him towards the black car she fondly dubbed the Angel-mobile. "Come on," she told him through her blurred vision, "We have to find Wesley... now!"


A park on an unknown street, November 18, 1998 (Third season Buffy!)

Angel whirled around, having just dispatched the demon. All of a sudden, blue waves surrounded him and his eyesight became unfocused. When he got his bearings again, he didn't immediately recognize his surroundings. Ignoring the white spots he was seeing in his sight, his thoughts swept to Cordelia, but he couldn't see her anywhere. Looking around, he noticed that he was in another part of the park, and there was no sight of his Seer, Kate or the demon he had just killed.

His ears picked up the click of expensive heels on a sidewalk. His hopes up, he sought the source of the sound and to his immense relief, saw Cordy walking, looking very tense. He headed towards her and saying, "Cordy," enveloped her in a crushing hug.

For a second, he didn't realize that her back was incredibly stiff and she wasn't hugging him back.

He released her and peered down. She looked different. Her hair was no longer swept up in a casual ponytail; it was now in a bun. Plus, she wasn't wearing casual clothing anymore either. She had on a knee-length skirt and matching jacket. Looking up, he looked into her round hazel eyes.

With a sinking dismay, he saw a mix of confusion, anger and immense fear reflected back.

She glared at him for a long moment before asking, in her former trademark head cheerleader voice, "What do you think you're doing?"

Angel opened his mouth to say, "Hugging you," when he heard a loud yell from her and felt something soft connect with his jaw. Caught off guard, he felt slim hands push his chest back and suddenly he was sprawled on the ground.

He shook his head, staring after her quickly retreating figure. With a little admiration, he fought down a chuckle. That was unexpected. Where did she learn to pack such a punch! Without thinking, he called out to her, "Cordelia! Wait! I can explain!"

Pausing, she stopped running and turned, 20 metres from where he lay on the ground. Hesitation was apparent as she watched him stagger back up into a standing position. He should have recognized that there was the earlier youthfulness that Cordy had when she was still in high school, before the visions had taken its toll on her. An unmistakeable softness and look of uncertainty crossed her face as she considered his plea. This was the Cordy he knew and understood. He made a mental note to remind her that he appreciated her sticking with him for all these years. That is, when he got the chance.

He didn't have more time to think about this, because suddenly he felt a figure tackle him to the ground again. He looked up and saw a vicious looking Faith above him, straddling his stomach.

"I knew you were trouble!" she hissed at him. Licking her lips maliciously, Angel watched, horrified, as she raised a mighty stake to plunge into his chest.


A park on Baker Street, January 23, 2002

Wesley made his way back to the park, his head slightly drooping, his weapon trailing behind him. He had lost track of the demon several blocks into his chase, and refusing to give up, he had scoured the neighbourhood. Forty five minutes later, he realized that he had lost it and made his way back to the group.

Mentally, he chastised himself. How was he going to explain this one?

"Story of my life." he huffed under his breath. "Wesley Wyndham-Price, hero-wannabe extraordinaire, the scourge of failed demon hunters." He shook his head blindly. "How did I ever delude myself into thinking I could be anything else?"

He gave himself a bitter chuckle. "But Father always knew what a disappointment I would turn out. Yes, Father always did know best."

He paused by a park bench and slumped down on it. He should accept his failures and own up to the fact that he would never be the great leader he had always wanted to be.

The leader his father had always told him he never would be.

"Yes, well I finally proved him right. That will make him plenty happy when I try calling him next time." he stared at the clean and shiny weapon in his hand.

A distorted, blurry reflection of him stared right back.

A cool breeze floated by him and a putrid smell assaulted his senses. Looking to his far right, he faintly noticed a blonde woman lying motionless on the ground.

Getting closer to her, he saw that it was Kate.

"God, " he said, bringing his hand to his mouth. The monster that had gotten away was lying face forward, Angel's battle-axe jutting out of its back. But where was everyone else?

Assessing the environment, he saw his book lying facing up on the ground. Picking it up, he noticed that it was opened to the spell he had marked, the one that was supposed to have restored Kate's consciousness to the proper time period.

What had happened here?

Frantic, Wesley turned towards the street. Miraculously, a cab was creeping up the street. Hailing it down, he jumped in and told the driver to floor it back to the Hyperion hotel.


The Hyperion hotel, January 23, 2002

When a very confused Angel entered the hotel with a short-haired Cordelia, the first thing he noticed was how very large and majestic the lobby was. The ceiling was at least 50 feet high and there was a large, circular red sofa in the center. Floor to ceiling, the walls gleamed, and there were black iron railings running along the wide staircase.

In awe, he asked her in his hushed voice, "I live here?"

She nodded, a note a pride in the smile she shone at him. "And this is the base of our operations." She headed towards the large marble counter.

Right. Angel Investigations. To quote Cordelia, it was 'a private investigative organization that helped the hopeless, specializing in vanquishing nasty demons and strange evil things.' Unable to keep his astonishment hidden, Angel turned around slowly, raising his eyes towards the large chandelier above him. Keeping this place so well lighted, alone, must cost him a fortune.

When Cordelia made it back to him, she was frowning. "Wesley's not in the office yet. Maybe he went upstairs." And with that, she quickly sprinted up the red carpeted staircase. Angel glanced up at the second floor. It didn't seem all that well lighted.

Not wanting to be left alone in the light, he silently followed her up the stairs. As he walked along the dimly lighted hallway, he tried each of the closed doors, quickly. They all seemed to be locked. Hearing Cordelia's voice floating towards him from an open room up ahead, he drifted towards it.

What he saw in front of him made his eyes go wide and jaw drop.

In front of him was a baby crib. Beside it was Cordelia taking a tiny baby out of the hands of a large green demon with red horns and eyes. The demon was wearing a yellow jacket and equally yellow pair of pants. Judging from the way they were interacting with each other, Cordelia wasn't afraid of it.

Or the baby.

"Hey!" a cheerful voice called out. The green demon was talking to him. "Here's the proud papa, back from a grueling night of slaying."

Angel did a double-take and almost looked behind him. Knowing that there was no one behind him, he stood rooted at his spot. There was no way he could be a father, he thought. Watching Cordelia coo and rock the baby in her arms gently, his eyes widened again. What nightmare had he waken up into...?

Finding his motor movements, he tentatively moved towards Cordelia. "Is this really...?"

"Yeah," she answered, without waiting for him to finish. "This is Connor, your son." Swiveling the baby's face towards him, she cooed, impishly. "Looks just like his father, doesn't he?"

Still not touching him, Angel swallowed hard. "And you're... his mother?"

Cordelia turned back at him quickly, obviously fighting the urge to laugh. "Lord, no! His mother is Darla." she exclaimed. Then, much more softly, she nuzzled the baby's forehead and said, "Of course I would never hold that against him." Placing a kiss on the baby's nose, she smiled tenderly, "It doesn't mean I love him any less."

Angel shook his head, blinking several times. Nothing was making sense to him. The male demon broke in again.

"Don't worry, Angel-cakes." he assured him, a look of amusement plastered on his face. "It'll sink in one of these days."

He stepped away from the green demon. "Who are you?"

"Oh, sorry, I should have introduced you to him." Cordy said. "This is Lorne. He reads people's auras... he's especially good at reading them when you sing." At the questioning look that Lorne gave her, she said, "I know Angel's acting a little strange now. You remember what he was like before Connor came into his world, don't you? And before we got to be friends, he was pretty lost."

Angel kept backing his way out of the room. A son and he was friends with Cordelia. He thought he had escaped suffering his eternity of torture. The only thing he could think of was to get out of the suffocating madness of this hotel and head back into the sanity of the sewers.

Suddenly, Cordelia headed towards the door too. "Oh my gosh. We can't waste another minute. We need to find Wesley, pronto." Holding the baby on her hips, she reached out to grasp Angel's arm. "Let's go back downstairs. I gotta think of a way to get to Wesley."

For a minute, he felt like twisting himself out of her grasp and running out the door, out of this surreal reality. But he didn't. Other than the fact that he hadn't a clue what was going on, he wasn't in any immediate danger. Reasoning that he didn't want to push her out of his way and take the chance of hurting Cordelia or the baby, he silently complied. That didn't stop the frantic churnings of his head.

As he followed Cordelia down the stairs, he stared at the innocent face blowing bubbles and giggling at him. He wasn't going to run out the door, he decided. At least, not until he got some answers.

---

Chapter 6: The Hell That Is Sunnydale

The Hyperion Hotel, January 23, 2002

Hastily paying the cab fare as it pulled up to the hotel, Wesley jumped out and sprinted to the front entrance. Spotting Gunn opening the door for Fred as they were entering, Wesley blurted out, "Thank goodness you two are all right!"

Gunn exchanged a puzzled look with the lithe former Masters student. "Why wouldn't we be? Where ya been, Wes?"

Wesley gave them a confused look. "You mean you didn't kill the second demon? The one that I assume killed Kate?"

Fred exclaimed, "Kate's dead?" as Gunn replied, "I thought you were looking after that one."

Wesley stared at them for a brief moment, a feeling of dread creeping in again, "I lost track of it." He pushed past the other two to enter the hotel. "We have to find Cordelia and Angel."

A slightly peeved voice in front of him piped up. Wesley turned to look in the lobby and saw Cordelia with one hand around Connor, the other on her hip. "Well, it's about time you showed up."


A park on an unknown street, November 18, 1998

As Faith was about to stake him, Angel started kicking his legs up to throw her off him. Before he could do so, a slim yet strong arm suddenly flew in and knocked Faith to his side. He looked at his savior and to his astonishment, watched a defensive Buffy tackle Faith on the ground and wrestle for the wooden stake.

Having taken Faith by surprise, Buffy was able to pin the brunette slayer to the ground after a short scuffle. "What are you doing?" the blonde slayer demanded.

Faith smirked at Buffy, "Doing the slayer's job." she spit out. She gestured her head towards Angel, "Like I keep telling you, he's a vampire, I'm the slayer. I'm just doing what I gotta do."

When Faith tried pushing her off, Buffy tightened her grip and slammed her to the ground again. "And I'm telling you that he's good again. He helped us out with the Glove tonight, didn't he? And you were wrong in thinking that he was attacking Gwendolyn Post."

Angel's thoughts flew back to that evening, over three years ago. So this was right after they had defeated Gwendolyn Post, the ex-watcher who had tried to wield the great power of the Glove of Myhnegon. Looking down at his body, he realized that he was wearing the same clothes that he had worn that night, and chances were, the rest of him looked the same as well. With sinking dread, he realized that he would have to figure out a way to get his consciousness back to his rightful time by himself. But first, he needed to focus on the situation at hand.

Faith snarled at the blonde girl, "You may think you were right to stop me earlier because that Post chick was a psycho, but I just stopped your vampire boy-toy from making mince-meat out of Miss Sunny-frigging-cheerleader over here."

Buffy turned her head towards Cordelia for the first time that evening. A brief moment of uncertainty flickered across her face. "That's not true," she said firmly. "I know Angel wouldn't do that now." She was almost pleading with the brunette who had watched the entire scene in silence. "Tell Faith she's wrong."

Angel saw the mix of emotions tugging across Cordelia's face. Fear, anger, amusement, and lots of confusion.

"When I saw him, he scared me half to death. I thought he might have been attacking me." she started saying slowly. In dismay, Angel saw Faith shooting a triumphant glare at the blonde girl who was still holding her down. "But I don't think he was trying to maul me anymore. I just didn't expect him, I guess." Cordelia concluded, stepping closer to Angel. Both Angel and Buffy stared at her in surprise.

Faith let out a frustrated noise. "Should have known you'd be a cop-out, dating a loser like Xander." Cordelia immediately sent her daggers with her eyes. Faith's body relaxed a bit, losing some of her tight tension. "Fine, I'm not going to stake him. Let me up."

Buffy's eyes wavered as she searched the other slayer's face. "You promise, now?"

Faith pursed her ruby red lips, "What, you want it in blood or something? Yeah, I promise! Let me up now!" Buffy released her reluctantly, but observed her with a hawk-like stance as Faith got up off the ground and dusted herself off.

Angel turned to Faith, in an attempt to pacify her brewing distrust and anger, "I'm sorry we went through that. You'll find out that I'm really not the bad guy you think I am." he told her softly.

"Yeah, whatever." Faith shrugged back, obviously not convinced. She gave Buffy a disgusted look. "Seeing that we're not going to be vampire slayers tonight, I'm jetting out of here." As she turned to leave, she threw a comment towards Cordelia, "Next time, I'll let him suck you dry first and then stake him. Should have done that in the first place." With that, Faith sprinted out of the park as Cordelia crossed her arms and fumed silently.

After watching Faith run off into the darkness, Buffy went up to Angel, not quite close enough to touch him. "Look, everyone just found out about you being back again. It's going to take some time." she said, her emotionless voice repressing her underlying affection. Angel saw the intense way she was gazing at him and remembered that they were trying not to act on their feelings around each other at this point. He gave an inaudible sigh of relief, realizing that this would make it easier for him to act as if nothing was wrong with him around her.

"I know. I understand that... I can wait." he reassured her. As long as he stuck to the original set of events, and found a way to get himself back to 2002, it would all work out. No one would be the wiser. However, he hadn't counted on Cordelia Chase complicating matters again.

"Well, I don't understand it. Will someone explain to me why you just hugged me?" Cordelia's shrill voice rang out into the night air.

Angel gawked at the impeccably attired brunette as Buffy stared at them both incredulously. His throat closed up, as his mind started panicking. How was he going to get out of this one?


The park on Baker Street, January 23, 2002

Having assessed that Angel's consciousness had suffered the same fate as Kate's, Wesley told them that Angel would have to try the spell again. When the gang, with the exception of Lorne and Connor, returned to the park, the bodies of the monsters and Kate's were still lying there. Fred paused in front of them in awe, seemingly disregarding the smell given off by the rotting corpses.

"How are we going to dispose of them?" she asked, curiously.

Wesley looked at her, startled by the question. "What do you mean?"

"We can't just leave them there." she questioned, persistently. "What if someone finds them?"

Wesley shook his head. "We don't do anything about them. Wolfram and Hart, the Initiate, or some form of animal control will likely take the demons away and the police will handle Kate's death."

"So we just leave them out here until they're found?" Fred queried. "Isn't that... wrong?"

Wesley grimaced, "We don't have the means to dispose of them, unfortunately. With vampires, usually nothing's left of them because they turn to dust. But with these monsters..." Wesley shrugged and gently said to her. "We can't think of that now."

Gunn strode up to Fred, placing reassuring hands on her shoulders, "So let me get this straight," he said, turning to Wesley. "Angel over here," nodding to the dark vampire following swiftly behind them, "is not really the Angel we know. 'Cause this is Angel from 1998 and the Angel we know switched minds with him?" He paused, "Did I get that right?"

"Yes, quite right." Wesley replied, in his crisp English accent.

Fred looked at the way Angel stayed on the fringes of the group and tended to walk in darker lit areas of the park. "This Angel doesn't seem very comfortable with us. Maybe we should call Buffy --"

Looking over her shoulder, Cordy sharply retorted, "No. We're not calling the B-word."

Fred was taken aback, but then she remembered that Cordy was always a little touchy when the blonde vampire slayer Fred had never met was mentioned. She peered at Angel. He may not have been comfortable with the group but when Cordy had snapped at Fred for suggesting to call Buffy, his expression seemed less anxious. Tentatively, she went up to him, "Is that a smile I'm seeing on your face?"

Angel looked at her, surprised. He raised his shoulders slightly, then responded in his soft voice, "This is the Cordelia I remember. She and Buffy never did get along."

Fred hid a quick smile under her ducked head. Leave it to Cordy to get a smile out of Angel, regardless of the time period or means.

Wesley nodded his head, agreeing with Cordy, "We don't know what the impact of this transfer of consciousness on the timeline will be. My recommendation would be to ensure that as few people know about this as possible. And that we resolve this as quickly as possible."

Pinching the bridge of her nose at the smell of the demons, Cordy called to them urgently, "Then hurry up, guys! We have to save Angel from the hell that is Sunnydale right now."

Wesley opened the spell book in his hands and handed it to Angel, who was hidden under a large, shadowy tree. "Kate might have died first, but Angel made the mistake in reading the spell for her. That's why his consciousness was transferred and hers likely remained. Just say this spell once and you should be back in 1998, back in Sunnydale."

Cordy cut in, "Angel was standing where Kate is, I mean was, when that thing killed her, when Angel, I mean our Angel, read the spell the other time." Her brown locks swished around her cheeks as she shook her head in consternation. Pointing towards the bodies, she said to Angel. "Just go over there and read the spell."

Angel floated to the blonde woman's body and started reading the spell in his hushed voice. Fred continued to observe him closely, unused to seeing Angel so quiet, pensive and almost shy. She couldn't understand why everyone else seemed to be accepting it so casually. When Angel had finished reading the spell, he looked up with the same look of expectation that Kate had the first time the spell was read.

Cordy immediately recognized the look, "Oh, great, it didn't work." Slightly panicked, she asked the people milling around Angel, "But everyone knows everyone else and where they are, right?" As the others nodded their heads, she breathed a sigh. Then she blinked angrily at Wesley, "So, what now, oh leader?"

Wesley's mind churned as he stared at the book in Angel's hands dumbfoundedly. "It should have worked." he said, seemingly to himself. Hanging his head slightly, he looked at Cordy, "I honestly don't know."

Continue on...