** Author’s appreciation corner:

Imzadi … Thanks, and you may… :)

Haley … I throw many thank you kisses in your direction… :P

Athlantis … Well, I SOOOO did leave it like that! :P  You’ll see what the choice is and what her ‘punishment’ is for coming up in the next few parts.  Thanks for such a lively review!

The 2nd Evil … I’m happy that you are enjoying this!  As for Connor… eh… I’m not sure if I’m going to do much with him.  I liked him up until that hateful… er fateful Rain of Fire shit… er bit…  Although, I did enjoy his’ tortured son’ bit in the season 4 finale…  As I said, we’ll see if I want him to make an appearance. *Muse growls menacingly at me*  If I do, I must tame the beast within… *bad muse*   :)

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Aura Cordy eyed the solid Cordy with a suspicious eye.  She looked the same as she had before she was taken.  For a second, Cordelia closed her eyes.  There were too many pronouns floating in her head.  It was a little confusing.

“Okay, so now that I’ve sufficiently been creeped out in this Twilight Zone-esque crap, could you fill me in on what exactly I’m supposed to be choosing?” Cordelia asked with a frown.

“You know the choice in which you must make,” a voice behind her said.  Cordelia turned, only to shriek again when she saw a gold-skinned, Oracle looking being.  With a hand over her heart, Cordelia let out a breath.

“My God… what is it with people and the silent approach - let’s scare the crap out of Cordy routine, huh?  Bells, people, bells… has anyone heard of them?” she said crankily.  The gold face remained impassive as it watched her.

“Your choice,” the being prompted.  Cordelia shook her head.

“I don’t have one… I need some time to think…” she said.  The being nodded.

“Very well.  You will have a short moment to contemplate…” it said before disappearing, leaving Cordelia alone.

“ ‘You will have a short moment to contemplate’…” Cordelia whiningly mocked as she sat herself down where she had stood.  “God, what do I do?” she asked, putting her head in her hands.  The Powers were giving her three choices.  One… she could simply die.  Go on to wherever it is she was destined to go.  Two… she could become a higher power.  Three… go back.  Become human.  Each one had their drawbacks, Cordelia thought with a frown.  If she died, she wouldn’t be able to help her family.  If she became a higher power, she would have no clue what she would be needed to do or if she’d be able to even see her family.  It was a little undefined.  But if she became human… well, she’d have her family.  Only she wouldn’t have her visions… her purpose.  Cordelia sighed.  She was being selfish, and she knew it.  She should be ecstatic that she was even being given the choice.  Hadn’t she learned her lesson already?  Being selfish is what got her into this mess in the first place.  Cordelia knew that having the best of each world wasn’t an option.  And Cordelia wasn’t stupid… she knew what kind of world she’d go back to if she so chose.  Knowing that her decision was pretty much a no-brainer, she could only ask herself one more question.  Was it worth it?  A voice broke through her thoughts.

“It is time for the choice…”  Cordelia stood, her choice made.  Please don’t let me be making a mistake…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The room had emptied out quickly, which Wesley was thankful for.  He’d watched both Spike and Lorne closely, but neither one of them had said anything after their strange behavior.  They’d both left, each yelling at each other about things that the rest of them had no knowledge of.  Angel, frustrated beyond comprehension, had stalked out after them.  Gunn and Fred, wary of what the vampire would do, had swiftly followed after him.  What a strange night, Wesley thought to himself as he exited his demon friend’s apartments and made his way towards his own.  After a walk down the hallway, he let himself into his dark apartment.  The stress of the past few months were starting to take their toll on him even though he tried his hardest to hide it.  His normally straight, stiff, English-proud shoulders were slouching tiredly more often than not these days.  He averaged about three or four hours of sleep a night… and not because of their unusual schedules.  Wes wasn’t sure if it was a simple bout of insomnia or his weighted, guilty conscience that kept him staring at the ceiling at night.  The insomnia he could deal with… a guilty conscience… not so much.  With a sigh, he flipped the light switch allowing light to flood the apartment.  The apartment was a drastic opposite to what Wes actually preferred.  But then again, so was Wolfram & Hart.  He let out another sigh as he sat on the black leather couch in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows.  It had been fear, guilt, and desperation that had led the gang to accept their positions in the law firm.  To be completely honest with himself, Wes had no clue what really led any of them there.  It was true that Cordelia – or what was left of her – was in a grave situation that none of them could begin to understand.  The resources of the firm would be able to assist her better than any one of them could.  But she wouldn’t have wanted them there.  And every time Wes tried to delve into his own reasoning it always felt like there was something missing.  Like there was a large black spot in his mind…

“A penny for your thoughts…” a voice said suddenly.  Wesley turned to look at the door.  He sucked in a quick breath and his eyes widened before he rose to his feet.  All he could do was stand and stare.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Are you saying that all this time, she’s been able to communicate with everyone, but instead has been hiding her presence?” Lorne asked a pacing ghost.  Spike’s hand sat thoughtfully on his chin.

“I don’t know what I’m saying, mate.  She hid her aura from you, and only when she was unable to control it were you able to see it.  She also said something back at the warehouse when you all were fighting those demons… Fred had heard her…  And now, everyone else as well…” he said.  Lorne’s eyes widened.

“It was her, wasn’t it?” he asked.  Spike looked over in confusion.

“What the bloody hell are you talking about?” he asked.  Lorne waved his hands around.

“With the flashy thing!  It was her!  She was there and was able to use her powers in order to help us!  I should have know…” the green demon said, smacking a hand to his forehead.  “By the Powers, I can be sooooo blind sometimes…”  Spike shook his head.

“I should have known something was up… she’s been weird,” the blond man said.  Lorne frowned.

“Weird, how?” he asked.

“I keep asking her what’s going to happen to her and she avoids the question like the plague.  She says that she’s being punished… but she won’t say for what or how,” Spike commented, a worried look coming over his face.  Lorne smiled.

“Has the tin man grown a heart?” he asked, purely astonished at the ghost’s concern.  Spike glared over at him.

“She’s kept me from Hell.  I figure I owe her one, mate.  If there’s a way I can help, I’m going to bloody find it,” he said.  Lorne shook his head.

“The princess may not want our help,” he said.  Neither Lorne or Spike noticed the third presence in the room until it made itself known.

“Why wouldn’t Cordelia want our help?” Angel’s voice asked, causing Lorne to spin around to look at him.

“You know, Cordelia always said something about you humming a little tune… would it kill you to just try it once, big guy?” the demon asked.  Angel glared as he crossed his arms in front of him.

“I don’t hum,” he said.  Lorne rolled his eyes.

“But you can mutilate poor Mandy…” he commented, causing another glare from the vampire.

“I believe I asked you a question,” Angel pointed out.  Spike just chuckled.

“A fat lot of help you’ve been Peaches… Frankly, I wouldn’t ask for your help either if I were her,” the ghost said.  Angel looked between the two.

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.  Lorne looked at Angel sympathetically, knowing what Spike was digging at.

“Never mind that, Angel.  Cordy may not want our help because she may not need it,” Lorne hedged a little.  “Her aura is troubled, Angel.  There are things she’s going to need to work through.  And no pushing from us is going to make it go any quicker.”  Angel didn’t want to accept that he couldn’t help his Cordy, but he resisted the urge to argue with his friend.  He knew that Lorne knew what was going on but nothing, save torture, was going to get the green demon to say anything.  Angel was about to verbally relent when a security guard came rushing through the office door.

“What?” Angel asked menacingly to the uninvited presence.

“Sir… security reports an intruder up in the apartment levels,” he said.  Angel frowned.

“How did someone or something get all the way up there?” he growled.  The guard, frightened beyond speech at Angel’s look, could only shrug slightly.

“I… I… I don’t know sir.  But the sensors say it’s human,” he said before escaping through the door.
 “Let’s go,” Angel said.  Lorne held up a finger to protest, but swiftly put it down.

“Coming,” he said miserably as he followed the vampire out the door.

“Angel!” Fred’s voice called as he emerged from the office.  Lorne, Spike and Angel all turned to see Gunn and Fred running towards them.

“Yo, dog… we heard there was a breach in the apartments and we…” Gunn started, but stopped as his eyes widened.  Both he and Fred came to a complete stop, their gazes locked on something behind the other three.  Gunn’s turned into one of caution while Fred’s held uncertainty and confusion.  Angel turned to see what they were looking at and he stood up straight as he recognized the gait, the eyes and the smirk as their owner stalked closer.

“Well, well, well… Look who got promoted… I guess that means Hell has finally frozen over,” a voice said in a jovial timbre.  Angel’s face was impassive.

“I didn’t think we’d ever see you again,” Angel said.  Lindsey McDonald put his hands in his pockets casually as he stepped within arms reach of the vampire.

“Well, what can I say?  I couldn’t resist seeing the changing of the guard at Wolfram & Hart…” the ex-lawyer said.  A rushing sound of footsteps caused Angel to look up.  Wesley came running towards them, crossbow in hand.

“I heard that there was a breach down here…” Wesley panted before he focused on the new addition.  “… Lindsey…” 

“Hey, the gang’s all here…” Lindsey said, his eyes falling on Fred. “… minus one and plus one, of course.  One brunette for another…”  Angel frowned, but turned back to Wesley.

“Is everything alright upstairs?” he asked.  “We heard there was a breach up there…”  Wesley frowned.

“The only alert I received was for down here…  Maybe they got things mixed up…” the Englishman said, his eyes darting over everyone only to find Lorne staring avidly back.  Angel nodded at Wesley’s explanation and turned back to Lindsey.

“How’s the hand-thing working out for you?” he asked conversationally.  Lindsey removed the hand in question from his pocket and lifted in front of him, wiggling the fingers.

“Oh, I think I’ve got the hang of things,” he said before reaching the hand out to Lorne.  “Good to see you again, my friend…”  Lorne watched Lindsey closely as he gripped the other man’s hand.  This one was shifty…

“And you as well.  You’ve graced us with your presence, may I be presumptuous enough to say you’ve graced us with your voice?” the demon asked, wiggling his eyebrow.  Lindsey laughed softly.

“We’ll see.  Is that good enough?” he asked.  Lorne grinned.

“It’ll have to be,” he answered as Lindsey turned to Fred and shook her hand.

“And you are?” he asked charmingly.  She smiled.

“Winifred Burkle,” she answered.  “Everyone calls me Fred…”  Lindsey thought for a second.

“Burkle… where have I heard… oh yes!  You’re the physicist… the firm had been watching you for some time before your unfortunate… disappearance…” Lindsey said.  Gunn took Fred’s arm and pushed her slightly behind him.

“Oh relax, I’m not here out of some sort of nefarious plot,” Lindsey said.

“Then why don’t you inform us of why you are here then,” Wesley said.  Lindsey looked to the vampire.

“Actually, I need to discuss something with Angel…” he said.  Angel nodded and indicated for Lindsey to enter the recently vacated office.  The rest of the gang watched cluelessly as the door shut behind the two sometimes-enemies.

“Well, then… back to the language hunt…” Fred said.  Wesley looked over at her.

“How’s that coming, by the way?” he asked.  Fred let out a frustrated breath.

“Not well at all.  I’ve tried everything and I can’t find anything that even so much as mentions the book… not that I know what the title is or anything… but not even a description,” she said.  Lorne didn’t say anything but continued to watch Wesley, which didn’t escape the other man’s notice.  Gunn shrugged his shoulders.

“Don’t worry girl… we’ll get it.  We always do.  Since we’re going to have our hands attached to either a computer or a book all night, what do you say to ordering a pizza?” he asked.  Fred’s eyes lit up.

“That sounds good… Let’s get a taco pizza,” she said.  Gunn rolled his eyes.

“You’ve got to branch out, girl,” he said with a shake of his head at Lorne, Spike, and Wes.  The two then turned and started chatting amiably as they went to continue their research.

“Well, all the excitement of the evening seems to be over with… I’m off to the little ghost’s room,” Spike said.  Lorne made to say something but Spike stopped his forthcoming mocking remark.  “Sod off, Greeny…” he said before he disappeared.  The demon then turned his red eyes to the ex-Watcher.  Wesley frowned, but squirmed at bit under the intense gaze.

“Could you possibly cease gawking at me like that?” he asked.  Lorne shook his head.

“No, no, no, no… secrets aren’t good, sugarmuffin,” he said.

“Secrets?  What secrets?” Wes asked.  Lorne pointed to himself.

“Look who you’re talking to, okay?  Your aura is all murky… and that means you are hiding something…  I could say ‘tell me’, but I’m not going to.  You have your reasons, but I’m going to warn you.  Nothing good can come from it,” Lorne warned.  Didn’t we learn our lesson the last time?  Lorne frowned at his internal thought.  What would have made him say that?  What last time? 

“Kindly stop reading my aura, Lorne,” Wes said, breaking into the demon’s internal argument.  Lorne threw up his hands.

“Fine.  I’m so sick of auras anyways… one of these days, I’m going to gouge out my own eyes… see where you all will be then, huh… you will all come crying to me.  ‘Read my aura Lorne’, ‘Tell me what to do, Lorne’, ‘I need your help, Lorne’…” he said with a twist of his lips and a scolding shake a finger.  “You will all rue the day that Krevlornswath of the Deathwok clan packs up his aura reading bags and kicks it out of this metropolitan hell…”  With that, the demon spun on his heel and marched away in a huff.  Wes, fiddling with the crossbow he held in his hand, looked to the ground.  A conflicted look crossed his face before he, too, turned and made his way slowly down the hall.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

** Author’s note:  So, that’s this part… what did ya’ll think?  This story has taken quite a twist from what I originally planned, but *laughs maniacally* I am enjoying the way the new story is going to go SO much better!!  I hope you will enjoy as much as I have coming up with it…  I promise, it will be intriguing.  So, tell me what you think of this part!!!!!  

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