Title: Another Girl
Author: Luckylyn
Posted: 04-30-2004
Email:
Rating: R
Category: Time Travel, Cross-over
Content:
Summary: A spell goes wrong and the Fang Gang must deal with the consequences. This begins at the end of Provider.
Spoilers: Season 3 Buffy and Season 3 Angel
Disclaimer: The characters in the Angelverse were created by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.
Distribution: Stranger Things and Angel Oasis
Notes: I know I haven’t finished “Somebody To Love” yet but I couldn’t concentrate on that story when I got the idea for this one. I have an outline in my head for how STL should end. It’s just a matter of appeasing my muse with this fic so I can get some focus and go back to writing STL.
Feedback: Hell Yeah
Thanks/Dedication:Part 6
(A/N: It seems I messed up the BTVS timeline a bit. February 1998 took place during the Angelus arch. This fic is supposed to take place in Season three. So the btvs stuff is should be set during February 1999 before the episode Bad Girls. Which means the date of Anna’s death according to the article Fred found should be February 7, 1999.)
February 4, 2002
The tension in the Lobby could be felt even from the top of the stairs where Anna stood. She rubbed her temples and silently cursed herself by not taking Lorne’s advise. He’s warned her to be careful not to drink too much and now she had a killer hangover.
“Why haven’t we found a way yet?” Angel demanded.
Wesley made no reply. He was afraid he say something he’d regret. He just silently glared at Angel who had been pushing them all too hard to find the key to reversing Anna’s spell.
“It’s not like we’ve been sitting around doing nothing,” Gunn said getting up from his place on the couch. “We’ve done nothing but try and find a way to save her since we found out.”
“‘Fighting with each other is not the way to fix this you guys,” Fred said. “We just need to take a break. None of us has slept in nearly two days.”
Angel looked at Fred as if she’d betrayed him, “We don’t have time for breaks.”
“We’re no good to Cordy dead on our feet, Angel,” Wesley said in a tone that would not accept any disagreement.
Before Angel could respond, Connor’s cry could be heard on the baby monitor.
“Keep working,” Angel said without emotion as he walked up the stairs passed Anna.
“You guys wouldn’t have any aspirin around would you?’ Anna asked awkwardly, as she wondered where Lorne was. He was the only one she felt comfortable with.
“There’s some in the bathroom,” Fred said getting up to get the bottle for her.
“Lorne said you were pretty out of it last night,” Gunn said with an amused smile.
“He shouldn’t have let you drink so much,” Wesley said.
“He tried to stop me,” Anna said. “Where is he?”
Fred smiled at Anna as she handed her the aspirin and a glass of water, “Out visiting a client.”
“Oh,” Anna said disappointed.
“He might be able to find some information to help Cordy if these books don’t work,” Wesley explained.
“I could help with the research,” Anna offered. “If one or a couple of you wanted to take a nap or something.”
Wesley nodded, “Fred, Gunn, why don’t you get some sleep?”
“Thanks, Anna,” Fred said as she passed by her.
Anna swallowed the pills as Fred and Gunn went upstairs to their rooms. What Anna really wanted to do was crawl into bed and stay there until her head stopped pounding. But instead she sat down next to Wesley.
“What can I do?” Anna asked him.
“Does this look familiar?” Wesley asked handing her a heavy book. He pointed to a passage in it.
“No,” Anna said.
“It’s a spell of transference,” Wesley explained. “It seemed similar to the spell you told me about. I haven’t been able to locate the text you used and since you don’t remember the exact wording of the spell we just have to find it in one of these texts.”
He gestured to the piles of books stacked all over the lobby floor.
“I wish I could remember,” Anna said staring at all the books. “It’s just that the spell was in Latin, and I just read it out of the book.”
“We just have to keep looking,” Wesley said handing her some books.
“Does it have to be the same exact spell?” Anna asked. “Couldn’t we just use a different spell that may do the same thing?”
Wesley nodded, “I’ve considered that but since the first spell worked out wrong I’m concerned that using another spell could make things worse.”
“It’s too bad we can’t do a spell to just transport us back in time,” Anna said. “Then you could just take the spell book from my bedroom and reverse the spell.”
Wesley made no reply, but his mind was busy because Anna had just given him an idea.
***
February 4, 1999
Cordy smiled suddenly as she realized that in a week Wesley would be joining the group as Buffy’s new watcher. She remembered it clearly because he arrived before Valentine’s day and she’d been full of a dozen foolish romantic notions about Wesley at the time. She was looking forward to seeing him even if it wasn’t the Wesley who was her friend. At least she knew it’d be fun to tease him again. Then she suddenly wasn’t looking forward to it. She didn’t want to hang around and reminisce. She wanted her family. She was suddenly taken out of her daydream by Buffy tapping her shoulder.
“So are you coming?” Buffy asked.
“Where?” Cordy replied confused.
“Patrolling,” Buffy said. “You haven’t heard a word I’ve said have you?”
“Do you have a sword I could borrow?” Cordy said suddenly looking forward to being out in the world and fighting the good fight again. She hadn’t left Buffy’s house since she arrived two days before.
“Sword?” Buffy asked suspiciously. None of them knew if they could trust Cordy. Giles had insisted they all be cautious.
“I’m not great with the hand to hand combat stuff, but I can kick all kinds of ass with a sword,” Cordy said with a proud smile and then frowned. She missed her training sessions with Angel.
“I figured you could be bait girl for me and Faith,” Buffy said.
“Bait girl never gets to have any of the fun,” Cordy said and then something occurred to her. “I thought it was important for me to stay put?”
“I figured you were getting cabin fever,” Buffy said with a shrug.
“You figured?” Cordy replied.
“My mom figured,” Buffy admitted. “Besides, Angel isn’t available to guard you tonight and Faith and I have to patrol.”
Cordy smiled because she realized she’d succeeded in browbeating him into taking a night off from guarding her. She knew he needed to go home for a while, feed, and get some rest. And going on patrol gave her an opportunity to bond with Faith.
Cordy knew the path lying ahead for Faith, and she wondered if she should try to stop it. Giles kept harping on how she shouldn’t mess with the past for fear of ruining the future. But Cordy knew in a week Faith would accidently kill an innocent man leading her down a darker path. She would cause so much pain and destruction for herself and the others around her. Cordy didn’t know if she could sit on the sidelines and let it all happen again. Cordy’s mission was to save people. Faith could be saved.
Cordy shrugged, “Fine, I’ll be bait girl. I’ll leave all the fighty stuff to the slayers.”
Cordy figured she might not be battle ready anyway. She was still recovering from Anna’s injuries. Plus she still wasn’t used to being in Anna’s body which was kind of a relief to Cordy. She didn’t want to get comfortable. She wanted to go home.
***
Angel felt a little guilty and foolish sitting by himself in the mansion. Cordy had somehow managed to convince him to go home and take care of himself. One minute they were bickering the next he was out the door. He knew Buffy was surprised when he told her he was going home for a few hours. He knew she expected him to go on patrol with her leaving Cordy with Faith and the other scoobies. Somehow Cordy had picked up on his need to retreat to himself for a while. He planned to rest up a bit and then catch up with them as they patrolled.
Thinking of Faith and Cordy made Angel worry. He knew Faith made Cordy uncomfortable. After Buffy introduced them, he’d caught Cordy frowning at Faith when she thought no one was paying attention. He knew something concerning Faith weighed on Cordy’s mind. He had to get her to talk about it. Despite Giles’ concerns about revealing the future, Angel did not like being ignorant of information that could prevent bad things from happening in the future. Angel considered ways of gaining Cordy’s confidence as he grabbed his coat and headed to find her.
Angel was horrified by the scene he found when he reached the cemetery. Faith was thrown in his direction and fell unconscious at his feet. He noted quickly that she was alive and then he saw the others. Buffy was standing in front of Cordy in a protective position.
“I don’t want to go with you,” Cordy exclaimed at the man standing in front of her and Buffy.
She and Buffy were both shocked that Jacob had been able to effortlessly take down Faith.
“What you want does not concern me,” Jacob Smith said with finality. Anna never used to talk back to him. He was going to have to teach her a lesson. He stepped forward.
Buffy and Angel simultaneously stepped into action each attempting to tackle Jacob to the ground. Jacob just shoved Buffy to the side. When Angel tried to punch Jacob in the face, Jacob dodged and hit Angel in the side instantly breaking his ribs and knocking the breath out of him. Jacob then stood over Buffy who was attempting to get up from the ground. Before he could attack her Cordy jumped behind him and then quickly head him over the head with a large brick she’d found. It was a shock to Cordy that Jacob actually fell to the ground in the fetal position blooding gushing from his head. He attempted to get up but was having trouble.
“Run!” Cordy yelled.
Buffy got up quickly and went to check on an unconscious Faith. Angel bent down to pick her up and winced at the pain in his side.
“Can you even left her?” Buffy asked.
“I have to,” Angel side picking her up.
They all ran out of the cemetery together. Later at Buffy’s house they all gathered. Faith had woken up and was sitting on the couch next to Angel as Cordy bandaged his side. Cordelia was surprised at how Cordy took charge and started tending to everyone’s wounds.
“I guess I’ll to the bandaging thing a lot in the future,” Cordelia asked herself.
“Yeah,” Cordy replied finishing up with Angel and helping button his shirt. “It sorta goes with the job.”
“This guy was stronger than anything we’ve ever seen,” Buffy said.
“I don’t get it,” Cordy said with irritation. “He throws you guys around like tissue paper, but I could take him down with a brick?”
“Maybe concrete is like his kryptonite,” Xander suggested.
Cordy shook her head, “ The first night I was here I fought with him. He was strong but not invincible. I was able to stab him with some glass and make a run for it.”
“Perhaps it wasn’t the brick but who used it,” Giles suggested.
“So he can’t hurt Anna?” Willow asked.
“Oh he can hurt her alright,” Cordy said lifting up her shirt to show them all Anna’s bruises.
“How did he even know we were in the cemetery?” Faith asked.
“There is too much happening here that we don’t understand,” Giles said with an angry frown.
“So I’m guess more research, right?” Cordy said.
Before anyone could reply the house suddenly filled with smoke.
“My mom’s upstairs!” Buffy said running out of the living room with Angel following behind.
The others all ran out on to the front lawn. Xander and Willow ran across the street to the neighbors to call the fire department. Cordy, Giles, Cordelia, and Faith stood outside waiting for Angel, Buffy, and Joyce to evacuate. They all sighed with relief when they finally emerged. It was chaos on the front lawn. There was smoke and tons of noise from the fire trunk. They were all so focused on the fire figthers that no one noticed when Cordy suddenly dissappeared.
Jacob had his hand over her mouth and said, “Don’t fight me or I’ll kill them all. You know I can.”
Part 7
February 4, 1999
Cordy didn’t doubt for a second that Jacob could kill all her friends and that they could do nothing to stop him. Cordy also didn’t doubt that she had to be the one to save them all.
Jacob took his hand from her mouth after Cordy nodded her assent to behave. She forced her body to go limp in his arms. He stepped away from her and shoved her forward towards his car. Cordy pretended to lose her balance and dropped to the ground. Then she turned about quickly and kicked him in the groin. He took her to the ground with him knocking the breath out of her.
Jacob’s grip on Cordy’s left leg was painful. Cordy kicked him in the face with her right foot. He immediately let her go because she’d broken his nose.
That’s when she got up to run. The timing was perfect because she saw Giles’ car approaching. She stood in the middle of the street forcing him to stop quickly before hitting her. She got in the car and yelled. “Drive and don’t stop.”
“What happened?” Buffy asked looking at Cordy covered in blood.
“It’s not my blood,” Cordy said. “He grabbed me when we were distracted. Where are the others?”
“We separated in order to find you,” Giles said. “I’ll take you to my house to get cleaned up.”
“Don’t stop driving!” Cordy panicked. “If we stop he’ll find me.”
***
February 5, 2002
“Eureka!” Wesley exclaimed running out of his office.
Angel quickly walked towards him, “What have you got?”
“We can take a portal to the past,” Wesley said.
“Portal?” Fred repeated sounding nervous.
“There’s a spell we could use,” Wesley said. “We go back, find Anna’s spell book, reverse the spell, and save both Cordy and Anna.”
“That sounds simple enough,” Lorne said.
“Let’s go,” Angel said. “Read the spell.”
“We can’t just drop everything and go,” Gunn pointing out. “There’s Holtz.”
Angel nodded acknowledging that, “We have to take Connor someplace safe before we go after Cordy.”
“I’m sensing a road trip is in order,” Lorne said and then he nudged Anna who had fallen asleep her head resting on a stack of books.
Anna jumped up and back reeling in fear. For a second she thought she was back home and her father was waking her.
“Anna?” Lorne asked.
“I’m fine,” Anna said. “I guess I fell asleep.”
“We’re going to Sunnydale,” Angel announced. “Get everything in order. We leave at sunset.”
***
February 5, 1999
Angel knew she hadn’t slept the night before. He could hear her pacing and could smell her fear. But more than anything else he could sense her anger. He waited for her in the kitchen in the morning. She stopped in her tracks as she entered the kitchen to find Angel had already made her breakfast.
“Thank you,” She said with a smile. It was the first moment she felt relaxed since the night before.
“He won’t find you here,” Angel said trying to reassure her.
“I hope so,” Cordy said hoping Giles spell which was supposed to hide her from magic worked.
“If he knew where you were he would have been here by now,” Angel said.
“Well,” Cordy said sitting in front of a plate filled with eggs and pancakes. “Next time he comes I’ll be prepared.”
“We’ll be prepared,” Angel corrected.
“No I will be,” Cordy corrected stubbornly. “All you and the others can do is get pummelled by him. I’m the one who has to face him. I won’t hide forever. The next time Jacob Smith and I meet will be the last time.”
Angel looked at Cordy intently and said, “I believe you.”
Cordy nodded and began to eat her breakfast.
***
February 5, 2002
It had been decided that Fred and Gunn would stay behind in LA looking after things while Anna, Lorne, Wesley, Angel and Connor would go to Sunnydale. They were about to walk out the door when Groo entered the hotel. He went straight to Anna, picked her up, and swung her around.
“Hello my princess,” Groo said.
Anna slapped him and ran to hide behind Angel who said, “She’s not your princess.”
Part 8
February 5, 2002
Lorne was in the middle of explaining the situation to Groo.
“Our princess is stuck back in time,” Lorne said.
“But she is right there, Can you not see her?” Groo said walking towards Anna who continued to stand behind Angel.
“We don’t have time for this,” Angel said turning to Fred and Gunn. “Explain it to him.”
Angel turned to Lorne and said, “Let’s go.”
And so Lorne, Wesley who was holding Connor, Anna, and Angel walked out of the hotel while Fred asked Groo to stay behind so she could explain things.
Angel drove the car and Wesley who was sitting beside him said, “How much did you tell Buffy on the phone?”
“I spoke with Willow since Buffy was at work,” Angel said. “I filled her in on the Cordy situation and that I needed them to protect someone.”
“But you didn’t mention the little dumpling?” Lorne, who sat in the backseat with Anna and Connor, asked.
“I didn’t want to tell them about Connor over the phone,” Angel explained. “I have to tell her in person.”
***
February 5, 1999
Buffy entered the mansion with a bag of clothes for Cordy. There was no one upstairs or downstairs so Buffy went into Angel’s basement. She was shocked by what she saw. Cordy stood over Angel who was lying on the floor. She held a sword to Angel’s throat. Meanwhile the teen Cordelia was sitting on the sidelines laughing.
“Okay you win,” Angel said.
Cordy smiled and withdrew the sword, “Hey Buffy.”
“What happened?” Buffy asked.
“We’re training,” Angel explained.
“Training? Pftt,” Cordelia repeated. “She was kicking your ass.”
“Angel was trying to take it easy on me since I’m just a weak little female,” Cordy said batting her eyes at him.
Angel smiled in spite of himself and Buffy frowned.
“I won’t underestimate you next time,” Angel promised.
Cordy smiled confidentially, “I know.”
“That was so worth cutting last period,” Cordelia said grabbing the sword from Cordy. “You’ve got to show me how you did that.”
“Sure,” Cordy said. “But first I’m going to grab some goodies from the kitchen.”
Cordy and Cordelia walked up the stairs towards the kitchen arm and arm leaving Angel and Buffy alone in the basement.
“You trust her with a sword?” Buffy asked.
“She needed to train and prepare for her next fight with Smith,” Angel replied placing the swords in his weapons cabinet.
“You can’t expect Cordelia to be the one to face him,” Buffy said. “We’re supposed to be protecting her.”
“And so far our protection has amounted to letting Smith beat us up while Cordy jumps in to save us,” Angel said. “We’re defenseless against him.”
“Giles and the others are in the library working a way around that as we speak,” Buffy said. “We can’t let Cordy face that guy. He’d kill her.”
“That’s not going to happen,” Angel said stubbornly and walked upstairs to the kitchen.
“Did you teach her that sword move?” Buffy asked him before they entered the kitchen.
“Yes and No,” Angel replied. “I think I teach her that move in the future.”
“She told you that,” Buffy said surprised.
“No, but fight techniques can be like a signature. She’s put her own touch on it, but I can tell it’s my technique,” Angel said.
“I guess we get around to training Xander, Will, and Cordelia how to fight in the future,” Buffy said with a shrug as they entered the kitchen.
Cordy surprised both Angel and Buffy when she handed him a mug filled with blood.
“Uh...Thanks,” Angel said uncertain and then he left the room to drink in private.
Cordy frowned, “You don’t have to run away Angel.”
Cordelia joined in, “It’s not a secret you’re a vamp.”
“If he’s uncomfortable, don’t push him,” Buffy said relieved that he wouldn’t drink blood in front of them.
***
2002
Buffy walked into the Summer’s house and called out, “I'm home! Who wants to help scrape the grease off my...
Buffy stops in her tracks when she spots Xander and Dawn dancing in the living room while Willow and Anya sit on the couch watching.
“Are we singing again?” Buffy asked horrified that another demon had come back to make them all sing, dance, and give up secrets.
“No just dancing,” Xander said.
“We’re teaching Dawn perfectly synchronized steps for the wedding reception,” Anya said.
Xander shows off by spinning Dawn around and then dipping her as she laughs.
Xander turns to Buffy and asks, “Wanna go for a spin, Buff?”
Going to sit on the couch Bufffy replies, “I think I’m heading more towards ungainly collapse.”
“Rough Day?” Willow wondered, concerned.
“Kinda,” Buffy said not going in to details. She’d started her day falling in to bed with Spike. And she finally told Tara her worries about coming back from the dead wrong. She just wanted to shake it all off but she couldn’t.
“Well it’s about to get worse,” Xander said unhappy.
“What?” Buffy asked. “New Demon in town?”
“Old Demon,” Xander muttered.
“Angel’s coming?” Willow said. “It’s not an apocalypse. They just need us to protect someone while they save Cordy.”
“When is he coming?” Buffy asked torn between panic and relief at the news.
“Sometime tonight,” Willow said.
“We were going to the Bronze but now we have to wait around for Buffy’s boyfriend,” Anya said disappointed.
“I’m going to take a shower,” Buffy said running upstairs to get some time alone.
***
1999
Angel sat in the living room watching to two Cordelias talk and laugh. Cordelia was constantly trying to push Cordy into giving up information about the future and Cordy kept sidestepping her.
“Why not give me just one little detail?” Cordelia demanded. “Like how rich are my future boyfriends.”
Cordy shook her head and smiled, “I’m not telling you anything.”
“Angel, help me here,” Cordelia insisted.
Angel shook his head and refused to join in the argument.
“This is one time when I love your strong broody silence,” Cordy said.
“The strong broody silence thing can be good,” Cordelia replied. “Too bad about the no bone thing.”
“Yeah,” Cordy agreed.
He had planned on just sitting in his room reading until it was time to take Cordy over to the library to research with the others but the Cordies wouldn’t let him do that. He found their attention disturbing but was enjoying it despite himself.
“Let’s not talk about me,” Angel said.
“Yeah, let’s talk about me,” Cordelia said. “So do I at least get use my sword fighting technique against Xander in the future?”
“I’d actually like to see that,” Angel said.
Cordy just smiled at them.
***
2002
Angel held Connor in his arms at he stood on Buffy’s porch. His friends stood behind him waiting for him to work up the nerve to ring the doorbell.
“Okay,” he muttered to himself and then knocked on the door.
Part 9
February 5, 2002
Dawn answered the door, “Hey Angel.” She said then turned towards the baby. “He’s cute, Can I hold him?”
“Uh...Sure,” Angel said handing Connor to her.
“Hi Angel,” Buffy said going to Angel to hug him.
They held on to each other awkwardly but then they both relaxed. They remembered their last meeting with each other. It had been uncomfortable and almost painful how unconnected they felt. They both hoped this time would be different.
“Hi,” Willow said, taking her turn to hug Angel and then Wesley.
“So is the kid some sort of golden child we have to protect?” Xander asked gesturing to the baby in Dawn’s arms..
“He’s my son,” Angel said his eyes focused on Buffy.
“Son?” Buffy repeated.
“Did you like adopt him?” Dawn asked.
“No,” Angel said. “He’s mine.”
“How?” Xander asked.
“Vampires can’t have children,” Willow said.
“It’s complicated,” Angel replied. “Darla’s his mother.”
“Darla’s dead,” Buffy said. They way she just stood there looking at him but not seeming to him disturbed Angel.
“This law firm brought her back as a way to hurt me,” Angel said. “She died giving birth to him.”
“I can’t handle this right now,” Buffy said walking towards the kitchen so she could escape through the back door. Xander followed behind her.
Angel didn’t go after her. There was no time for long explanations. What needed to be said had to wait until after Angel had saved Cordy.
“What about the curse?” Willow asked frowning.
That’s when Lorne coughed.
“This is Lorne,” Wesley introduced. “And that’s Anna.”
“So you’re not Cordy?” Anya said. “That’s good cause I don’t want Cordy near my fiancee.”
“Look, I need you and the others to protect Connor while Wes and I go back to get Cordy,” Angel said taking his son from Dawn.
“Anna and I are going to help you look after junior Angel Cakes,” Lorne said.
“We need to get going,” Wesley said walking out the door.
“I’ll be back, son,” Angel whispered to Connor. “And I’m bringing your mother with me.”
Handing the baby to Lorne, “Take care of him.”
“That goes without saying,” Lorne said.
“Good Luck,” Anna said nervously.
Angel looked at Anna and said, “We’ll save you both.”
Angel walked out the door without waiting for a response from Anna. Anna relaxed slightly choosing to believe Angel and Wesley would succeed. She had to trust that Angel would not just abandon her to her father once Cordy was safe.
***
Fred and Gunn sat side by side on the Lobby counter in the Hyperion watching Groo practice his sword fighting. Fred checked her watch.
“They should be there by now,” Fred said.
“It’ll be okay,” Gunn said worrying over whether he should have gone with them but someone had to stay in LA and keep an eye on Holtz. And Gunn realized he didn’t want to leave Fred behind.
The phone rang and Gunn answered, “Angel Investigations. We help the helpless.”
“Hey Gunn, it’s Ann.”
“Hey, what’s up?” Gunn replied.
“There are rumors of a vampire nest near the shelter,” Ann said.
“We’ll check it out,” Gunn said. “See you soon.”
“Are we going on a quest now?” Groo asked Gunn.
“Yeah,” Gunn replied turning to Fred. “Ann who ran that shelter we told you about needs some help. I’ll take He-Man with me.”
Fred smiled at the He-man remark, “I’ll hold down the fort.”
“Are you going to be okay on your own?” Gunn asked. Fred really ever was alone in the hotel. One or all of the others were usually around.
“I’m fine,” Fred said. “I’ll probably watch a movie or something. You can head home after seeing Ann if you want.”
“I’m staying here until the others come home,” Gunn said and then smiled at Fred. “We can watch a movie together when I get back? Don’t eat all the popcorn.”
“I can’t make any promises,” Fred said watching Gunn and Groo leave.
It suddenly struck her that she and Gunn watching a movie together alone in the hotel might be a date. Her smile brightened and then clouded.
“Oh my God it might be a date,” Fred said suddenly nervous.
***
Angel and Wesley sat in Angel’s car in front of the Sunnydale cemetery.
“The hotspot should be straight ahead,” Wesley said.
Angel began to read the spell and the portal opened.
“I should warn you that Fred’s calculations and this spell could be wrong. We could end up years earlier or later than we should,” Wesley said. “I just had to say that.”
Angel nodded and said, “You don’t have to come.”
“Drive,” Wesley said.
And they drove through the portal.
***
February 5, 1999
Cordelia pulled up in front of Sunnydale High in her car. Cordy had been sitting beside her in the front seat and Angel sat in the back. In spite of himself, Angel had enjoyed his afternoon spent with both the Cordelias. They exasperated him but amused him at the same time. But he was relieved they would be joining the others, and he would no longer be a focus of their attention.
They got out of the car and started walking towards the school doors. Angel started walking in the opposite direction.
“Angel?” Cordelia said.
“I’m going to check something out,” Angel said. “I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
Angel wanted to check around the school and make sure things were safe. He didn’t want Jacob to make another surprise attack.
Cordy looked at him with concern, “Do me a favor? If you see Jacob, just run. You can’t play hero this time around.”
He and Cordy shared a look before he walked away. Cordy continued to watch him go until Cordelia patted her arm.
“He’ll be okay,” Cordelia said. “Let’s join the research party.”
Cordy made no reply and just walked into the school with Cordelia.
“So you and Angel are close in the future?” Cordelia asked. After spending an afternoon with her, Cordelia realized that Cordy knew Angel pretty well. She even knew how Angel liked his blood. “How exactly does that happen?”
“No details about the future, remember,” Cordy said.
“You’re being no fun at all,” Cordelia complained.
“I’m not the only one who’s going to wonder,” Cordelia warned Cordy.
Cordy assumed she was referring to Angel and Buffy. Cordy already knew that Angel had a dozen questions he was refusing to ask her which she was grateful for. She wasn’t certain of Buffy or the other Scoobies.
Cordy sighed, “I wish I was home.”
“We’ll get you there,” Cordelia said pausing at the door. “I’ve never really had a home. There’s the house where I live, but you know that’s not home. It’s nice to know that in the future I’ll find a home.”
Cordy wanted to tell her everything then. That life didn’t turn out at all as she expected it would but that it was better than she imagined. Cordelia Chase would grow up, find a mission, and a family to share it with.
Cordy gave Cordelia a quick hug and said, “Let’s go meet with the others.”
They walked into the library and joined The rest of the scoobies.
“Where’s Angel?” Buffy asked.
“Checking the perimeter,” Cordy replied going to sit by Willow at the table.
***
Jacob punched a hole in his wall. His efforts to track Anna had failed. Something was hiding her from his sight. He’d never thought she would ever escape him. But now she had help.
Jacob smiled realizing Anna’s new strength didn’t matter now that he knew her weakness. He’d go after her new friends. They were where she was most vulnerable.
***
He burst through the library doors with purpose. His eyes rested on Cordy who immediately got out of her seat and ran in to his arms.
“Cordy?” Angel said holding her tighter.
“Yeah, it’s me,” she said relaxing in to his arms.
Wesley who walked in with Angel just stood on the sidelines and watched smiling. The Scoobies all watched in shock. Angel and Cordy were hugging and both of them were smiling.
“What’s going on?” Buffy asked.
And then another Angel walked through the library doors and stopped when he saw himself holding Cordy.
“Well Broody Boy,” Cordy said turning to the surprised Angel standing in the doorway. “Come and meet your future.”
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