Work Text:
What We Face We Face Together
by Pirate Turner
He waited there, in the dark that was such an old and comforting friend to him, listening intently. He knew they had not gone, not even moved one single inch from the table. All three still sat in the same spot that they had when he had fired them. He growled softly, allowing his frustration and anger to show with the sound so soft that it could only be heard by his advanced hearing and with a flash of his deadly fangs. He couldn't figure them out. Why didn't they leave? Were they in shock? In shock that he had dared to fire the three people that stood in his way of success?
His ears pricked. He sniffed the air. She was coming this way! Quickly, he started to flee, but even his superhuman speed was not enough to make his escape in time as a light was suddenly switched on, forcing his darkness to flee. He turned to her, morphing as he did into his full Vampire state, hoping to scare her away. "I thought I told you to leave!" he growled.
She stood in the doorway, looking calmly to him. He wondered why he did not scare her. Although she had been through a lot and had turned into a brave and beautiful young warrioress, he knew she still tended to be spooked rather easily. Had he lost his touch? Had he truly gone soft? She nodded curtly, and he violently shoved aside the thought of how beautiful her hair was and how he longed to be allowed to run his fingers through it and to smell her delicious shampoo once more. "You did," she admitted in a soft, calm voice.
"Then why didn't you?" he demanded, flashing his fangs in what he hoped she would take to be a warning.
Her eyes flashed darkly. How could he be so ignorant?! How could he think so little of her?! Was she really that meaningless in his life? Could she truly be that insignificant to him? Her emotions threatened to give her away as she remembered the way he had acted when she had had that vision that evening and had needed his help, when the innocent had needed his help and he had tried so determinedly to refuse that aid, but she refused to let him see her tears. She proudly raised her head and looked to him, her eyes a hard and cold mask once more, as she demanded, a note of a strange mixture of emotions to her voice, "Did you really think we would?" She took a step closer to him as she added, "Did you truly think you could get rid of us that easily, Angel?"
The dark flash in her gorgeous eyes had not gone unnoticed by him, and he had to force a smile. Cordelia Chase had always been beautiful and her looks, spirit, and very essence improved as she grew older, but she had always been most beautiful when she was her angriest. Then, something had changed in her eyes, even though it had only lasted there for a second. What was that he had seen in her eyes? {Please Gods,} he found himself thinking, much to his complete surprise, {don't let it be tears.} He couldn't stand hurting her, but he knew he had to do what he had to do. Her words then took him by even more surprise, and he stood, silent, unsure of what to respond with, feeling oddly helpless as he watched her cross the room to stand right before him. "I'm the boss," he growled, knowing all the time it was a lame excuse.
Her hands went instinctively to her hips as she glared up at him. She nodded again. "Yes, you're the boss, even though you rarely pay us anything. Do you really think we hang around here for the money, Angel? When, and again I stress this, you rarely pay us? NO! Of course not! We aren't going anywhere, and you can't make us."
Her eyes seemed to dare him to try. The palms of his hands itched, but not to hit her. With a dangerous flash of his sharp, deadly fangs, Angel growled, "You'll do as you're told. If I have to make you leave, I will! I want all three of you gone by the time I return!" He turned on his heel, his long, black trench coat flying around him as he did so, and started to stalk out the room.
But she followed him. If he thought she was going to let him escape that easily and go all Mister Dark and Broody again, by himself nonetheless, he really needed to check in with a psychiatrist, because there was simply no way that was going to happen. She wouldn't let it. Not even over her own dead body. But she knew that would never happen. He would never hurt her. Quickly, she reached out and grabbed his shoulder. "Angel," she started but never got the chance to finish.
He whirled around at her touch, his fist flying around with him as he did so. She did not even flinch, and his hand stopped short, ending in cupping her cheek instead. Why in the hell hadn't he scared her? Was she as insane as he was?
His gentle touch sent a shiver down her spine. She turned her mouth slightly and allowed her lips to brush gently against the palm of his hand. When she looked back to him, she couldn't help but notice the confusion shining in his black eyes. "I'm not scared of you, Angel. I never could be. But don't get me wrong. It's not because you're not scary, 'cause you sure as heck are. You just don't scare me." She smiled up at him, flashing him one of her very best. "I trust you. So do the others. We're not going to leave you. I don't know what you're thinking in trying to send us away except maybe to keep us safe, but it's not going to work. We're more than just a detective agency and a damn good team. We're a family, Angel, and what we face, we face together."
"But you can't handle Darla or Dru! I'll get you hurt! Killed even!" he protested, starting to pull back away from her.
Her hands moved fast to catch his retreating hand. "No, you won't."
"Yes, I will, Cordy. You, of all people, should know the dangers, especially the dangers with Dru. She's insane, deadly and insane, and Darla's even worse right now. I couldn't save Darla." Tears flooded his eyes, and she ached to be able to reach out to him. "I've taken so many lives and failed so many others." He shook his head slowly and sadly from side to side. "I can't bare the thought of anything happening to any of you, least of all you. You have to leave! All of you! NOW!" He bellowed the last, jerking away from her and turning his back to her.
She let out a slow breath, knowing she had to have patience with him. Reaching out, she gently touched his shoulder and tried to turn him around to face her. "I'm not going anywhere, Angel, and neither are the others. You aren't going to get rid of us. Wherever you go, we'll be there. I know how bad Dru is, and I can only imagine how terrible you feel. But that won't happen to us, and just look at all the lives you've saved!" Tears welled in her own eyes. "I think I know what you're trying to pull off here, Angel, and it's not going to work. You're trying to get us out of the way, not only to protect us but also so that there'll be no one left to keep you from changing. I'll be damned before I let Angelus out!"
He dared to turn to look at her. She was so beautiful, and as her anger built, she grew even more beautiful! However, he could also see the tears welling in her eyes, and he hated himself for having put them there. Unable to deny the truth of her words, Angel just stood there, watching her in silence.
Feeling a little more optimistic now that she knew she had his full attention, Cordelia continued, her eyes flashing with each new sentence. "You may think unleashing Angelus is the only answer to bringing down Darla and Dru, but you're wrong, Angel! Angelus isn't you, but a Demon within you! We all have our Demons, and we all have to fight them, at both the best and worst times of our lives. Yours just happens to be able to be made flesh. But it's our friends and family that help us to fight those Demons. You can walk out that door right now. You can walk out and never come back. Or you can fight us, try to make us leave. Either way, I promise you, Angel, you won't win. Not this. If you fight us, we'll have to protect ourselves if it gets too bad, but I believe in you, Angel, and I know that you would never intentionally do anything to harm any of us. If you leave, we'll hunt you down. You're not the only one able to track, you know. But either way, we will find you, and we will not let you down. We will be there for you, no matter what you do, when you need us as you do now. You can't get rid of us, Angel, and Angelus is going to stay down in there! He's not coming out!"
Her tears were now flowing freely down her face. Oh, how he wished he could just kiss them all away! "Cordy..." his voice came out in a whisper. His hands ached to hold her, to comfort her; his own eyes filled with tears.
Her body was shaking with the intense feelings roaring within her blood. "By God, Angel, I love you, and I don't give a damn what I have to do, but I won't let anything bad happen to you!"
At those words, he couldn't control himself any longer. He had not even realized when he had returned to his human form, but he still moved too fast for her to be able to stop him even if she had wanted to. Angel pulled her trembling form into his strong yet gentle arms, softly tilted her head to look up at him, and lowered his own, pressing his lips against hers in a kiss that spoke to her and promised her undying love if only she would have him. He expected her to pull away, but to his utter and complete surprise and even more to his delight, Cordelia wrapped her arms around him, leaning her body to his, and kissed him back with equal passion.
He forced himself to part the kiss. "Cordy..."
As if sensing what he had in mind, she reached up and placed a fingertip softly on his lips. "Don't, Angel. I really do love you."
Her statement, simple as it was though with such enormous meaning and a wondrous blessing behind it, made his knees go weak. Reaching an almost trembling hand up to gently stroke her face, he reached out with his other arm to pull her even closer to him, their bodies pressing heatedly together. "I love you too, Cordy." And with that, he kissed her again, this time with even more passion than before.
The End