Silence fell upon the office like a veil, enclosing all in darkness. It was Angel who found his voice first, "What did you say?" He asked softly. Nia turned to him and glared. If looks could kill, he would have been a pile of ash right then.

But she composed herself and waved one hand in a dismissive gesture. "You know, Doyle. A bit of a cutie, had dark hair, blue eyes, about ye high." She moved her hand near her head. "A bit of a heavy drinker though. Bet a lot, Irish, like me." She shrugged, then added as though it were an afterthought . "Oh yeah, he had these killer headaches that were actually visions that were sent by some higher 'powers'" Nia placed emphasis on the last word by crooking her fingers in makeshift quotations marks.

"What do you know about Doyle?" Cordelia asked quietly, a slight tremor in her voice.

Nia threw her an icy glance. "I know that he was a terrific half-man. His heart was purely innocent and he was too good for you."

"Excuse me?" Cordelia demanded. The strength was beginning to enter back into her words.

"You heard me, you little wretch." She did not yell, but the even tone of Nia's voice had far more impact.

"You can't speak to her like that." Wesley interrupted angrily.

Nia addressed him without even bothering to look at him. "Stay the hell out of this, Brit Boy. You are the last person to have any say in this manner." Then she continued before he could speak further.

"Doyle was far too worthy a person to be sent to others who held absolutely no respect for him." She pointed first to Cordelia and then to Angel. "He gave you everything he had: his friendship, his love, and the knowledge that was given to him. And yet it just wasn't good enough for you was it? Nothing he ever did was mighty enough for superhero guy over there. And you, Little Miss Priss, were too busy looking at his tacky clothes to see the wonderful man beneath."

Now it was Angel who was outraged. "I think you've long worn out your welcome. It's best if you leave." His tone was not louder than a whisper, but its meaning came across just perfectly.

Nia raised an eyebrow, smirking. "What's this? Even after two hundred years, you still can't handle the brutal truth? Because you know that's what it is, don't you? And it crushes that still heart of yours to realize that I'm right and that Doyle was nothing more than a simple go between for you and the PTB."

Angel did not reply, but Cordelia answered for him. "You self-righteous, conniving, evil bitch." She said slowly.

"Stick and stones may break my bones, but words from a little twit mean nothing." Nia simply mocked.

Cordelia shook her head, trying to keep herself from losing control. "What makes you think you're any better than us? We treated Doyle like family, he meant the world to us." She pointed Angel, who was still staring, motionless at the stranger. "We fought beside him and helped him through some of the rough times. Hell, I've even taking up being resident seer around here thanks to him."

This time, Nia did smile though it was a coy one. She looked like a hungry tiger, knowing that it had caught its prey. "Ah, the visions. The ones that he passed to you on that fateful day."

Cordelia nodded, anger slowly subsiding as she attempted to keep her voice calm, "Yeah, the ones that help Angel slay all those majorally yucky, sometimes slimy, things."

"And the ones that you abuse every second you can."

Cordelia's head snapped up. "What?"

"You know, how you wish you've never got them. How you tried to rid yourself of them by kissing every male thing that walked, no matter how disgusting," Nia threw Wesley a sidelong glance. "And how you've even attempted to fake visions, just so that you can satisfy your petty goals."

She stepped up to Cordelia, so that their faces were just inches apart and whispered so that only the brunette would hear her. "You don't deserve these visions and you didn't deserve Doyle."

Nia stepped back, crossing her arms over her chest and staring hard at Cordelia. The latter held her hands over her mouth, trying to hold back the sobs and quickly spun around, heading towards Angel's apartment without another word.

Part 5
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