Title: The Portal
Author: louloucn
Posted:
Rating: R
Email: louloucn@hotmail.com
Content:
Summary: (for this part at least) Cordy comes back from a date with Groo, and later talks to Angel
Spoilers: Post WITW, but knowledge of BtVS would be helpful too.
Disclaimer: The characters in the Angelverse were created by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.
Distribution: Anywhere, just drop me a note so I'll know where to look.
Notes: Note: This is my first fanfic ever so please be kind. As for the end of part 1 to the next part, I thank Dannyblue for inspiring me to actually start writing this fic in the first place and for Angelicgal82, starlet2367 and Love's Bitch for their always enjoyable fanfiction. They are the best.... also, please note that this is kind of like a prologue but I thought it was necessary just for the story. Also, I have no idea what I am doing here... Not used to writing fanfic at all...
Feedback: Yes, please.
Dedication: To schweet and AngelLuver21, who have remained avid followers of this series: your wish is my command.Part 7
“It’s SAT day!” Cordy declared, as she sat down at the kitchen table.
Angel was sitting across from her from the small round table, as he peaked his head out from behind the newspaper that he was reading.
“SATs? God! I’m glad I never had to take them in my very long lifetime.” Angel said.
“Hey, I do well on standardized tests! Even though I know that I did well on them, it’s still kind of exciting to me. I mean, compared to the everyday meaningless high school stuff and the demon killing, this is a good, a great thing.” Cordy exclaimed.
“Hey, are you sure that your parents aren’t worried about you these days? I mean, we’ve been living together this whole time since we got here…”Angel asked.
“My parents are never worried about me.” Cordy assured him. “They are never around to worry or even care. And you wonder why I hightailed out of this place after high school.”
Angel looked as her, as he was sad that she didn’t really have a good relationship with her parents.
“Oh I wish I could cook Angel.” Cordy sighed, as she began to eat her breakfast of Eggos and syrup. “We have your kitchen and all and all I can make are still Eggos from a toaster and nuke blood in the microwave.”
“Do you want some?” Cordy offered, as she tried to convince him. “I know that you’re not a foodie, but I could mix your blood with some maple syrup. I’m sure that will make it extra tasty.” She then held up the mug of blood she made for him.
“Alright. Anything for you.” Angel answered with a smile.
~Anything to see her amazing smile. If I had a heart, it would make my heart melt.
*******************
Willow was completely depressed about her SAT scores. How could she had done so badly?
“740? Verbal?! I'm-I'm... (searches for a word) pathetic! Illiterate! I'm Cletus, the slack-jawed yokel.”she declared, feeling defeated.
“That's right. And the fact that your 740 verbal closely resembles my combined scores in no way compromises your position as the village idiot.” Xander replied, trying very hard to cheer Willow up.
“I just... Where did I go wrong?” Willow sighed in despair, as she sat close to the steps of the school.
Xander sit himself down as well, and puts his arm around her to comfort her.
“You did amazing, Willow. As usual.” Xander softly said, as he stroked her hair.
“You get your scores?” Cordy suddenly asked as both she and Oz approached them.
This time, she had actually saw what had happened, but pretended not to notice.
Xander then jumps up and stands, rushing over to Cordy’s side.
“Cordelia!” Xander exclaimed, as he pointed at Willow. “Willow was very sad by her academic failure. How did you do?” snagging her score sheet from her hands.
“This is not good.” Xander concluded as he read her score.
“What's not good?” Cordy demanded. ~I’ll have you know that’s a good score!
“Well, I'm just worried it may hurt my standing as campus stud when people find out I'm dating a brain.” Xander responded.
“Oh. Thanks.” Cordy replied, as she yanked her score sheet back.
“Well, I can see why you'd be upset.” Oz declared, as he looked at Willow’s scores.
~What? Even Oz thinks I’m dumb! Willow thought, looking completely hurt and even more devastated.
“That was my sarcastic voice.” Oz assured her.
“You know, it sounds a lot like your regular voice.” Xander remarked.
“I've been told that.” Oz replied, as he tried to change the mood by sounding upbeat. “But we should celebrate, do something.”
“Like, the four of us?” Cordy asked, as she knew exactly where this conversation was going.
“A double date! It could have potential.” Xander said excitedly.
The mood changed back to somber as Buffy approached them.
“Buffy!” Willow exclaimed, with a sudden burst of joy. “ Hey! Did you get your SAT scores?”
Buffy nodded weakly.
“By the look on your face, I'm guessing you and I are gonna be manning the drive-through window side by side.” Xander concluded.
“They're just test scores, right?” Buffy answered, as she hand her scores to Willow. “What do they really mean, anyway?”
“1430! Buffy, you kicked ass!” Willow exclaimed, almost jumping up from her seat.
Cordy’s eyes widened, as she had forgotten what Buffy had gotten on the SATs ~It totally slipped my mind about Buffy’s scores. She really did kick ass!
“Okay,” Willow declared, trying to be calm. “ so academic achievement gets me a little excited.”
“Buff, that's amazing.” Xander agreed as Buffy handed him her scores.
“Let me see that.” Cordy asked, as she took Buffy’s scores from Xander’s grasp.
“Yeah. With scores like that, you can apply pretty much anywhere you
want.” Oz added.
“Buffy, this could, like, change your whole future.” Willow concluded.
Cordy tried to hide her sadness as she knew that these scores wouldn’t really change much about Buffy’s future, as Buffy still stayed in Sunnydale and never left her duties as a slayer. ~God, being a slayer totally sucks!
“Well, I think this is great! Now you can leave and never come back!” Cordy declared, trying to pretend to be as Queen C as she possibly could, getting looks from everyone, especially Willow, who knew that she was trying to cover up something.
“Well, I mean that in a positive way. Get out of Sunnydale. That's a good thing. What kind of moron would ever wanna come back here?” Cordy explained. ~Why the hell did I say that… that’s terrible! God I was a bitch in high school!
********************
“Angel? Are you home?” Cordy asked as she walked into Angel’s, their place. She had spent the most of the day in the library with Giles to find the portal, but they just came up empty handed. She was feeling pretty discouraged and tired.
“Angel, how come it’s so dark in here? Why don’t you answer me?” Cordy asked, as she noticed the curtains were completely shut and everything was pitch black that she could hardly see. She then wondered if something had happened to him.
Suddenly, she saw a candle being lit and Angel approaching her as he held the candle.
He then proceeded to light other candles that filled the room. All of sudden, the room lighted up, bathing their bodies under a warm glow. He then placed his candle down, walked closer to her.
“Angel, what is this?” Cordy asked, completely baffled by his intentions.
“Happy SAT day?” Angel replied weakly, and shrugged. Cordy’s face glowed under the light of the candles and it just took his breath away. He smiled.
“Oh come on! I thought you hated SATs.” Cordy answered, “ Now tell me what’s really going on?” as she poked him in the side.
“Well, I thought that since you’ve been suffering this whole week going to school, when I know that you don’t ever want to step into that place again, I thought I should give you a little surprise.” Angel answered, holding her closer to him. “Also, I thought we should celebrate our first week together since we’ve hadn’t had the chance by way of falling through a time portal and almost getting killed by an ex-Watcher and the Glove…it’s been an interesting week, don’t you agree?”
“I’ll say. Well thank you” Cordy replied, as she gave him a big hug. “So what’s my surprise, big guy?” She whispered in his ear. “I so hope that you have Jude Law stashed around here somewhere cuz I wished for him on my birthday, and he still hasn’t arrived.”
“Oh maybe someday, Cordy.” Angel chuckled, “But I hope this will tide you over, until he arrives.” He then proceeded to pull out of his pocket a little box with a ribbon wrapped around it.
“ Oh God, Angel. I was only kidding about presents.” Cordy answered, completely surprised and totally moved by the gesture.
“Open it.” Angel urged.
Cordy slowly unwrapped the box to find a silver necklace with heart-shaped locket.
“Oh, Angel.” Cordy gasped. “When did you find the time to get this?”
“That’s my secret to keep.” Angel answered mysteriously. “Look inside.”
Cordy opened it to find an engaved message inside.
“You make me feel alive.” Cordy recited, as tears filled her eyes.
“Remember what you told me in the dressing room?” Angel reminded her.
Cordy nodded as the words flashed in her mind.
-I’m only alive when you’re inside me.
“I know that we were possessed at the time,” Angel explained, “But, when we got out of the room the first time, they were the only words that I could remember clearly. I know that we can never make love to each other to express the way we feel.” Angel continued, feeling the hurt that they both had because of it. “But I just wanted to say, without any doubt, that just being near you, seeing you every single day, just makes me feel alive, like I’m a man again. And that is more than enough for me.”
“Angel…I…” Cordy stammered, completely at a lack of words.
“ You don’t have to say anything, Cordy.”Angel assured her as he looked into her eyes and wiped away her tears. “I already know what you feel. We’re connected.”
“Angel, I love you.” Cordy declared with all the love that she had to give and slowly eased in to kiss him.
As she broke away, she gave him a smile, and added: “What did I do to deserve you?”
“I was thinking the exact same thing.” Angel answered as he bent his head down to kiss her again.
************************
Cordy was hardly listening to a single word that Xander was saying as she opened her locker to get some books.~Why do I even bother? She asked herself, as she picked up the books from her locker. It’s not like I’m gonna actually use them at all. She just bided her time as Xander continued to chat to her. She was sure that he was trying to tell her something significant, but all she could hear was ‘Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah…’ The thought of Angel and his surprises last night completely took over her thoughts and nothing seemed as important.
“C'mon. It'll be fun!” Xander exclaimed.
“Huh? What would be fun?” Cordy asked as she finally weaned herself from thinking about Angel and actually focused her attention to Xander.
“Bowling. You, me, Oz and Willow. Tomorrow night.” Xander explained, wondering exactly what she was thinking of.
“ You know what? Why not?” Cordy answered. ~Anything is better than the ballet. At least I won’t doze off with that activity… or at least I hope not.
“What?” Xander answered, completely taken aback by her willingness to bowl. “I thought I would have to beg, try to convince you that bowling is classy, and beg some more.”
“Not everything that seems classy is great [think ballet], but I just thought that I should give bowling a chance. It might be fun.” Cordy explained.
“That’s exactly what I was thinking!” Xander replied. “Hey! There's pictures. Of me. In
your locker. I never knew I was locker door material.” As he admired her locker door, clearly shocked and glad of the new developments.
~Oh my God, I had completely forgotten about those pictures! Cordy thought to herself, as she looked at the pictures of them by the pier That was so long ago! I looked so young. And we did look happy.
“Well... just barely.” Cordy replied as she shut her locker.
“Besides, I look really cute in those pictures.” As she flashed him a smile. ~You know, I really did!
“Is this new too?” Xander asked, as he pointed to the locket around her neck.
“Oh… Oh! Yeah, I just got it from my dad.” Cordy rushingly said, trying to hide the fact that she was lying through her teeth. “Well, hey! There’s Oz and Willow.”, as she tried to defer Xander’s attention to something else.
“Hey. So what's the verdict? Do we bowl?” Oz asked.
“We bowl.” Cordy responded.
“Great! Double bowling date. I'm on Oz's team.” Willow declared, as she patted Oz’s chest.
“Yeah? Well, prepare to be crushed.” Xander answered, and then rethought what he just said. “Maybe we should practice.” Looking at Cordy and taking her by the arm.
“Yeah.” Cordy responded, nodding in agreement.
**********************
Willow looked at Cordy and Xander as they walked away. It was definitely weird for her to look at them the same way. Not only because she was still feeling the strange feelings she had for Xander, but knowing that Cordelia had to play act a relationship with Xander when she knew very well that Cordelia’s heart now belonged to Angel. However, Xander didn’t notice a thing, and continued to act like nothing had changed.
All of a sudden, her attentions turned to Oz, who was holding up something wrapped up in newspaper.
“What’s this?” Willow asked.
“It’s a gift.” Oz answered plainly.
“What’s the occasion?” Willow asked naively, as she started to unwrapped the gift.
“Pretty much *you* are.” Oz replied with a smile.
It was a small pez dispenser that was shaped as a witch.
Willow gasped and gave Oz a somewhat hard slap on the chest.
“It's a little, uh, PEZ witch!” Willow said in excitement.
“It's kind of a theme present. Do you like it?” Oz asked.
“I like... I-I *more* than like. Oz, this is probably the sweetest... We have to find a little PEZ werewolf, so little PEZ witch can have a boyfriend.” Willow declared.
“I don't think they make a werewolf PEZ. You might have to settle for a wacky cartoon dog.” Oz answered.
“This is… just so thoughtful” Willow answered, completely moved and filled with emotion.
“Well, I think about you.” Oz replied earnestly.
“Oh... I don't have anything to give you.” Willow suddenly said in realization.
“Yeah you do.”Oz replied, as he smiled at her and walked away.
~No I don’t. Willow sadly thought, her heart wracked with guilt. ~I’ve cheated on you and then you give me this great gift and what do I give in return? Nothing. Absolutely nothing! She was totally angry, afraid and guilt-ridden over what has happened between her and Xander since the homecoming. And as her thoughts traveled to Cordelia and the possibility that she might know, it made her feel even more at fault than ever! And now, they were going BOWLING! What was she going to do?
*********************
“Buffy, this is remarkable.” Giles declared, as he looked over Buffy’s scores.
They were in the library as Buffy told him about her news and he told her some news of his own.
“So is this.” Buffy replied, as she looked at Giles’ stuff. “Where is this retreat thingy,
the Yukon?”
“It's quite nearby, actually.” Giles answered, as he watched Buffy pick up his compass to use as a mirror. “It's, um, it's the clearing at the top of Breaker's Woods. It's the site of some fascinating druidic rituals.”
He had been thinking about taking this retreat for awhile now, but with Cordy and Angel asking for his help, he thought that this was the perfect time to go and research for their portal, without anyone suspecting a thing.
“Okay, but you're just going for a few days, right?” Buffy asked, slightly worried. “I mean, you're not gonna settle there and grow crops or anything.”
“What?” Giles answered, with a feeling of slightly confusion, and then he finally clued in to what she was implying. “Oh, my gear. No, no, this is, this is basic necessities.”
“Giles, you pack like me.” Buffy teased.
He smiled, as he handed her scores back.
“Your mom will want to put this on the refridgerator.” He remarked.
“Yeah. She saw these scores, and her head spun around and exploded.” Buffy pointed out.
“I-I've been on the Hellmouth too long.” Giles sighed, ~I definitely need this retreat! “That was metaphorical, yes?”
“Yes. She was happy.” Buffy answered, reassuring Giles of what she meant.
“You know, with scores like these, Buffy, you could have a first-rate education. I'm, I'm not suggesting that you... ignore your calling, but, um... you need to look to your future.” Giles said as his voice faltered, thinking to Cordy and Angel and their knowledge of the future, and wondering what exactly they knew about Buffy’s future and what laid ahead for her. “And with Faith here,” Giles continued. “i-i-it may be that you can… move on. For a-a time, at least.”
“Wow.” Buffy replied, surprised to say the least.
“Well, let's, um, let's discuss it when I get back. I-in the meantime, um, I'd like you to continue training while I'm, while I'm gone, and, um, please don't do anything rash…” Giles said, in a slightly worried tone.
“'Anything rash', meaning...” Buffy asked, as she was trying to figure out what exactly he was getting at.
“Are you planning on seeing Angel?” Giles spitted out.
“Yes. Actually, I am.” Buffy answered honestly. “Look, but there's
not gonna be any rash.” ~Why did I have to mention rash? “Anywhere. Okay. We're, we're friends. That's all either of us wants. Nothing's gonna happen.”
Giles knew that nothing was going to happen between them. He knew that because of Cordy, but what he was worried about was Buffy. What if she were to walk in on them unexpectedly? She may say that she thinks of them as ‘just friends’, but he knew very well how much she really loved him. He just didn’t know how she would take it if she found out that Angel (at least the Angel from the future) didn’t love her anymore.
**********************
“Something's gonna happen.” Willow concluded to Xander, as they were walking down the hallway.
“Like what?” Xander asked, completely clueless.
“Uh! It's a mistake! It's a terrible, fatal mistake. I see that now.” Willow explained.
“It's just bowling.” Xander remarked.
“It's *bad* bowling. I-it's a double date, with all of us, and they're gonna know! [if they don’t know already]” Willow explained again.
“How are they gonna know?” Xander asked.
“It's a very intimate situation. It's all sexy with the smoke and the sweating and the shoe rental...” Willow said, as her voice trailed, thinking of the smoke, sweating and…Xander.
“You're turned on by rented shoes?” Xander asked, clearly intrigued.
“That's not the issue.” Willow replied, waking up from her daze.
“ Okay, well, let me ask you this: what are they gonna know? That we're friends. Old, old friends. And maybe we've had one or two indiscretions, but that's all past. Look. We're just very good friends who like to hang out, and can I kiss your earlobe?” Xander asked softly.
“No! Well, okay.”Willow answered, and then jerked away. “ No!” Willow holds up the dispenser “PEZ!” ~Think about Oz… think about Cordelia!
“Maybe bowling might be too much to handle. Man!” Xander replied, as he stroked her hair. “I wish I wasn't so attracted to you.I wish we could make it all stop.”
“Any suggestions?” Willow asked softly, as she had no clue on how to fix their problem.
**********************
It was a dark and somber night. Outside of the mansion, it seemed as if everything stood still and all would remain quiet. However, through the trees and beneath the shadows, a dark stranger appeared. The figure moved in a quite clumsy fashion, however remained relatively quiet as he walked closer and closer towards the mansion.
Although the stranger had arrived in town the previous night, no one else had been aware of his presence. He was biding his time, waiting for the right moment to appear. He had big plans. Very big plans indeed. ~I’m going to show all those fools what I’m really made of! He thought to himself, as took another drag at his cigarette before throwing to the ground. Especially to that idiot inside with the nancy boy haircut. I’ll show him a thing or two! And as his face appeared in the moonlight, it was obvious what his intentions were: Spike was back and he was going to get back the woman he loved! And while he was there, he might as well beat the crap out of Angel, the poof bastard.
Continue on...