Chapter 1
Author: Ellen
Rating: NC-17 (overall story)
Spoilers: Up Through "She"
Summary: A retelling of the episode "She" as it might have happened in the Power of Three universe.
Disclaimer: We don't own any of these characters, or the basic plot of the episode "She," written by David Greenwalt and Marti Noxon, from which this story is adapted. Angel, Doyle, Cordelia, Wesley et al. are the property of Joss Whedon's Mutant Enemy Productions, 20th Century Fox and/or The WB.
Thoughts between Angel, Doyle and Cordelia are marked //like this.//
"I've had this party at my apartment planned for months," Cordelia was saying. "Little did I know..."
"That you'd have something to celebrate, yeah?"
"Yeah." She smiled brilliantly at me.
I wasn't quite accustomed yet to this new ability the three of us had, to read each other's thoughts and finish each other's sentences. It felt good but it was a bit frightening too.
Cordelia caught the thought and nodded. "Same here but..."
"You wouldn't trade it for anything. Neither would I," said Angel, looking from her face to mine. His thoughts made us both blush.
"Here's to a celebration, then," I said.
The first guests began to arrive. Cordelia had even invited that ex-Watcher friend of hers, Wesley, who had recently moved to L.A. I watched with amusement as he tried awkwardly to dance.
In the days before our bond, I would have been jealous. Now, having seen the memory of a disastrous kiss with Wesley in Cordelia's mind, I could simply sit back and enjoy watching Wesley make a spectacular fool of himself.
Angel and I spent much of the party sitting in the kitchen, enjoying a quiet, companionable drink or two or three, just the two of us and phantom Dennis. I had a new appreciation for Dennis these days, having been dead for awhile myself. Of course, Angel had been there longer than I had.
"Not the same," he said aloud.
"I had it easier," I answered quietly, seeing the memories of hell in his mind.
Trying to distract me, he pointed out, "You know, not even Buffy was ever able to do that. This shouldn't be possible."
"But it is." I raised a glass in his direction. "Thank you."
Through the glass, he smiled at me. "I thank you. It's as much my life given back as yours."
"And mine," Cordelia said from the doorway. She stepped in for just a moment, putting one hand on my shoulder and the other on Angel's. "Couldn't help hearing you guys."
"What, with all that noise?"
"Nothing in this world loud enough to keep you two out of my head," she laughed.
Swiftly, she kissed me and then Angel, then headed out of the kitchen and back to the party. To a casual observer, it would have looked like a sisterly kiss.
Angel and I both knew better.
Finally, the last of the guests left. Flushed and weary, Cordelia closed the door and came back into the kitchen.
"Score a big one tonight for the up-and-coming Cordelia Chase," I greeted her. "Looks like we can count this party a success, eh?"
"Big success," she agreed, grinning. "Everybody wants to know about my gay friends in the kitchen. I told them hands off."
"We have all we need right here," Angel concurred.
Cordelia mussed his hair affectionately and he protested, "Hey, leave it!"
"Never happen. You know I can't stand having anybody around with prettier hair than mine."
"We both know, princess," I whispered, reaching out to her where she stood, just out of reach. I remembered what it had been like when she was really out of reach, when her mind was closed to me.
With one of her hands entwined in Angel's, Cordelia bent down and kissed me fiercely. Within my mind she answered, "That will never happen again."
Angel joined us in a tight embrace and the three of us moved toward the bedroom. Dennis, ever the gentleman, closed the door behind us.
The next morning, at the office, Cordelia frowned in annoyance at the bag of coffee.
"Whole bean. Ugghh. Thought I ordered the ground. Hey, Angel!"
Seeing the image in her mind of Angel crushing coffee beans with his bare hands, I laughed out loud.
"Here's the electric coffee grinder, sweetheart," I pointed out, coming up behind her. She scowled at me for a moment, then relaxed and leaned against me, as I enjoyed the excuse to stand behind her. "Would have been fun to see him try," she muttered.
I shared with her the picture in my mind of a torn bag and coffee beans flying across the floor. "Now, if we could only get that Wesley idiot to come on in here and trip on 'em..."
She tried hard not to laugh at the image but failed. Giggling, she pushed me away. "So grind the coffee already, Mister Expert."
"Your wish is my command."
"Thanks for sparing me the herculean task of smashing coffee beans," Angel said wryly, walking into the room.
"All in a day's work, boss."
Cordelia poked me in the ribs with an elbow. "Stop gloating. Start grinding."
"Grinding. Yeah." I allowed her to see another image brought to mind by the word.
A knock and a cough interrupted us just as I was about to kiss her again. Sure enough, it was that annoying Wesley at the door.
"Good morning!" he chirped. "That was quite a soiree last night, Cordelia."
"Mmmmhhhmmm," I concurred, stepping reluctantly away from the enticing nearness of Cordelia to plug in the coffee grinder.
"A gala event," Wesley proclaimed. "In particular the tiny Reubens and the shrimp puffs. I don't suppose that there are any leftovers laying about the office? Any – abandoned shrimp puffs?"
Angel looked hard at Wesley and I could see the realization forming in his mind.
"You're broke, aren't you?"
Wesley looked at me and at Cordelia, embarrassed. "A man's finances are his own business, Angel."
Angel turned toward us. For Wesley's benefit, he spoke aloud but Cordelia and I could already see the question in his mind.
"Do you two think we could use a little extra help around here?"
Cordelia and I exchanged a quick glance and in those few seconds, Cordelia showed me a quick replay of some of her recollections of Wesley in Sunnydale. Arrogant and insufferable, yes but he had been knowledgeable, too. Looking at her memories, I nodded slightly.
"Why not?"
"Doyle and I don't have to take a pay cut, do we?" Cordelia asked facetiously, already knowing the answer. She waited only a moment for Angel to shake his head for Wesley's benefit. "Well, then, welcome to the team!"
Wesley's lip quivered as his eyes moved from Angel's face to Cordelia's, avoiding mine. "You won't be disappointed," he promised.
Inside my mind, Cordelia hissed, //So, shake hands with him already.//
//Whatever — //
I was about to step toward Wesley and offer a handshake, when Cordelia and I both felt it at the same moment: the oncoming wave of a vision.
"Hold me," she said aloud.
Immediately, we clasped hands and sat down on the couch to ride it out. Cordelia and I had discovered that sharing the pain of the visions made them far more bearable but they were still far from pleasant for either one of us, or for Angel, who now had access to the images in our minds.
It was much easier now than it had been trying to explain the visions to Angel but I still regretted that he and Cordelia were now forced to share the pain with me.
Cordelia moaned aloud. I managed not to make any noise but nausea slammed through me. Dimly, I was aware that Wesley was staring at us but it didn't matter at the moment.
"Ice factory," Cordelia said.
"On Fifth, downtown," I added.
"What did you see?" Wesley asked us.
"We don't just see, we feel," Cordelia complained. "A guy... Ewww... burnt to death from the inside... Exploding eyeballs."
"You're looking for a corpse," I told Wesley. Angel, of course, already knew and was ready to leave.
"After you, sir," said Wesley and they took off.
Cordelia and I didn't move. We couldn't. With our hands still clasped together, both of us concentrated on getting our breathing under control and not losing breakfast.
Unlike pain, nausea tends to get worse, not better, when you share it.
Cordelia saw the guilt in my mind and weakly put her arms around me. "It's okay. It hurt a lot more when you were dead, believe me."
I nodded slightly, unable to speak. Luckily, words weren't necessary any more.
With my eyes closed, I held her and felt her fingers tremble as she lightly stroked my face. The mixture of emotions coming from her mind was still a wonder to me.
"That's what it felt like for you," she whispered, seeing it in my memories. "Burning... from the inside out. Oh, God..."
"Shhh, it's all right. I'm back now, thanks to you and Angel."
Tears in her eyes, she pressed my hand to her lips and I felt my own tears forming, too.
"Don't ever die on us again, damn it. I won't survive it twice and neither will he."
"I know."
