 |
 Author’s appreciation corner: Pixy – Spike IS cute! Anyway… I’m glad you think that
Spike having the visions isn’t stupid. I was worried about how that would
go over with some people. As for Cordy’s body… you’ll just have to wait
and see! And thanks for being such a wonderful repeat reviewer.
It’s nice to know I have a regular… (“Cheers” theme music plays) :) Imzadi – Hmmmm… Lindsey with a love interest…
Interesting. I may have to play around with that for a while. As
for Kate… I’ll have to apologize for not being her biggest fan. She may
show up, but I really won’t miss her if she doesn’t. Sorry. Tvfan – THANK YOU! Kimmers – Where’s Cordy’s body? I’d like to know
too!! :P Lexie – I’m sorry I confused you! It breaks my heart
when that happens and I apologize profusely! The timeline I’m on is
post-season 4… Season 5 is my own timeline with a few of the tidbits from the
shows I’ve seen thrown in for fun. So, unfortunately, those season 4
episodes did occur in my story. I guess you can call it my way of trying
to explain everything that happened away. I totally agree that the
Connor/Cordy fling was unwarranted. They certainly could have explained
Charisma’s pregnancy in a less stomach turning way. And Groo being the
father would have been a soap opera-like twist. Would have made for some
great drama and vampire brooding… :) Part V ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ “What the hell happened, Wesley? Why wasn’t I alerted immediately!?”
Angel yelled as he paced in front of the seated Englishman. Wesley rubbed
his temples, the beginnings of a headache starting to make their presence
known. “Angel, I don’t know. It’s a useless waste of time for you to continue
to ask me these questions. I was not alerted either. I suggest you
go pick apart the surveillance team. We’ve had guards posted on her wing
since the moment we got here,” the ex-watcher pointed out tiredly. He had
just gotten through a futile conversation with Spike and now he was having yet
another pointless conversation with Angel. At least the conversation with
Spike gave him something to really think about. It was an interesting
theory that the Powers’ visions could be transferred to Spike. The fact
that Spike had even mentioned it had Wesley’s mind turning down different
alleys. “Wes? Are you even listening to me?” Angel’s voice broke into Wes’
train of thought. “Oh… yes. I’m listening,” he said. “Good… then we’ll get the teams going in a ten block radius…” Angel said,
pacing. Wes frowned as he thought over Angel’s words. “Teams? Ten blocks?” he asked. Then it hit him.
Cordelia. “Angel, we are all concerned about the whereabouts of Cordelia,
but we can’t…” Wesley trailed off as Angel turned to look at him. The
panic on the vampire’s face was more emotion anyone in the office had seen on
him in a long time. “Wesley. We can’t not look for her!” he said, leaning on Wes’
desk. Wesley nodded. “I know, Angel, but we have to think clearly in this. We need to
reason through why anyone would take her,” Wes said as he tried to put some
pieces of the puzzle together. A thought came to him that caused him to
panic. “Angel – where is Spike?” he asked quickly, standing up and leaning forward
on his desk. Angel shrugged his shoulders. “Does it look like I care where he is?” he asked. Wesley shook his
head as he came out from behind his desk. “Angel, it is imperative that we find him. He may have some answers
that can help us find Cordy. He came to me earlier asking about the
visions,” he said emphatically. Angel processed this thought as quickly
as he could and came to the same conclusion that Wesley had just moments
before. “Let’s find him,” Angel said before he rushed out the door. Wesley
followed at a slightly slower pace. As he followed Angel, he met Gunn in
the hallway. “Whoa! Where’s the fire?” he asked, trying to keep pace with Wesley. “We need to find Spike, Gunn. He may have pertinent information
concerning Cordelia,” the Englishman related. Gunn’s eyes went wide. “Time to save Barbie?” he asked. He clapped his hands together once as
he kept pace. “About damn time!” *************************************** The entire gang was gathered in Angel’s office, each trying to locate their
ghostly companion in their own way. All action came to a stop when a
confused looking Spike appeared in the doorway. “What’s the bloody problem, mates?” he asked. Wesley rushed forward
and stopped a few feet from him. “Cordelia… she’s missing,” he said quickly. Spike looked out of the
corner of his eye to where a worried looking Cordelia was standing. “I know,” the ghost replied. “Well, then you realize that I’m going to have some questions for you,
concerning our earlier conversation,” Wes stated. Spike rolled his eyes
before entering the room completely. “Fire away, Watcher,” he said as he found the nearest chair. Wes
cleared his throat and then nodded. “Okay… umm… you had questions concerning the Powers transferring the visions
to you. Have you actually had a vision?” Wes asked, waving a hand at the
collective gasp in the room. Spike looked around the room at the waiting
faces. When he looked at Cordelia, she nodded her head. “Actually… I have,” he said. Wesley nodded as he pushed his glasses up
on his nose a little further. “Was it the demon cult?” Spike nodded. Gunn frowned. “You told me it was a surveillance report!” he said. Spike nodded. “I know, tough boy. I just didn’t want all the bloody questions when I
didn’t know any answers,” Spike explained himself. “And do you have any answers now?” Wes asked. Spike shot up from the
chair. “Bloody hell, no!” he yelled. “That’s why I came to you, Wesley!”
“Calm down, Spike!” Cordelia admonished. At her words, Lorne’s eyes
widened, which the brunette noticed and calmed herself quickly. Instead
of calming Lorne, it only made his eyes go wider. “Ummm, excuse me. I think I need a drink. You can handle all of
this hubbub without me,” he said quickly before exiting the room.
Cordelia looked panicked. The green man was on to her. “Spike, I need to… well… follow him,” Cordelia said as she rushed after the
demon. Spike didn’t even acknowledge her as she left, he was too busy
pacing. “What can you tell us, Spike,” Angel urged his grandchilde on.
Spike sighed. “All I know is that if I get the visions, I’m going to help save the bloody
world - again. If I don’t take them, I’m going to Hell. I suppose I
should be asking you where all the hot spots are, Peaches. You vacationed
there… did you bring back any brochures?” he asked sarcastically. “Spike…” Angel said, trying to be patient. “… if you take the visions…
did the Powers say anything about what would happen to Cordelia?” Spike
looked at Angel. It was the one thing that he couldn’t get straight from
Cordy. Damn chit! Left me to field these questions all by my
lonesome. “No, the Powers haven’t told me anything,” Spike said. At least it was
the truth. “Do you think that the reason they are transferring them is so that Cordy
will die?” Fred asked, looking around the room for denials – her gaze finally
resting on Spike. The blond man didn’t know how to answer that, because
he didn’t know the answer. “I don’t know, luv,” Spike answered honestly again. The disappointment
on all of their faces made Spike want to know the answers. Bloody
hell! *************************************** Cordelia rushed after her friend as he ran towards the nearest wet
bar. He poured himself a quick shot of tequila to take the edge off… then
proceeded to make himself a nice sea breeze, at a slightly slower pace and with
more concentration. As he prepared to take a drink, he looked to where Cordelia
was standing. His eyes widened only slightly before he closed his eyes,
turned away and took a calming drink. “I’m going crazy… that’s the only explanation for all of this,” he muttered
to himself as he poured more alcohol into his drink. “Lorne,” Cordelia said. The demon jumped with a shriek, his glass
shattering on the floor. “Who the hell are you?” the demon asked, looking around the room. “Lorne… it’s me,” Cordelia said, letting her concentration go. The
demon’s eyes widened in surprise as he caught a slight glimpse of her form
through her shining soul. “Princess?” he asked. Tears formed in the corner of her eyes when
Cordelia saw the happiness come over her friend’s face. “Yeah, Lorne, it’s me,” she said, wanting more than anything to hug. “Holy Powers, sugarmuffin. The big guy is going to be so happy to hear
your voice! We all thought you were gone for good!” Lorne said, clapping
his hands in excitement. “No, Lorne! You can’t tell anyone! Not yet, okay?” Cordelia
begged. Lorne looked at her in confusion. “What not Cordelicious?” he asked. Cordelia sighed as she motioned to
a bar stool. “You’d better sit, Lorne… it’s going to be a long explanation,” she said
heavily. Lorne, now completely interested, sat without arguing. “Oh, Princess, do tell…” he said as he reached for another glass and filled
it. *************************************** Everyone, minus Lorne, still sat in Angel’s office trying to brain their way
through the current problem. Wesley was buried up to his neck in
textbooks strewn across the floor. Fred was parked at the computer, Gunn
standing studiously behind her. Angel was broodingly staring at a text he
was supposed to be reading, and Spike was pacing in front of him. No one
was getting anywhere when Lorne finally joined them. “You can all put your things down and relax. You don’t need to worry
about anything,” he said as he sat down with happy flourish. Wesley
looked up from his current reading. “What do you mean?” he asked. Lorne smirked. “I have it on high authority that the Princess is just fine. No harm
done to her,” he said. Angel stood up suddenly. “What are you talking about? What high authority?” he asked
menacingly. There was a brief look of trepidation in the demon’s eyes at
Angel’s growl, but it was quickly replaced with one of confidence. “You can sit back and relax – well, as much as you can in an evil law
firm. Anyways, it has been revealed to me that nothing is amiss.
Blondie Bear here can take the visions and no one will die in exchange,” Lorne
explained. Wesley stood up. “Does this mean you know where Cordelia’s body was taken?” he asked. “Well,” Lorne said, looking regretful. “No. I don’t.” He
held his hands up in defense as he heard Angel let out another growl. “Then what the hell do you know then?” the vampire demanded.
Lorne stood up and straightened his suit, casting a look to where Spike was
standing – Cordelia next to him. “All I know, kiddies, is that this doesn’t involve hell dimensions, higher
planes or heaven and hell. At least not yet,” Lorne said. “Right
now, only the human psyche is concerned. That, and the coming
apocalypse.” There was silence from the group as they processed the news. “At least we there isn’t going to be any swirly hole jumping,” Wesley said
finally, Fred and Lorne nodding in vehement agreement. Gunn shrugged his
shoulders. “I thought that was kinda fun,” he commented, causing his three friends to
look at him strangely. “What? It was!” ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ ** A/N & apology – Well, well, well, it’s time for a
semi-short rant. I finally stepped on someone’s toes and paid the review
price for it. Not that I mind, of course – it keeps me humble,
right? It just saddens me that someone has to come pick apart my work
(which they apparently didn’t read all of) and tell me it’s stupid because they
don’t like my OPINION on something. Again, I will apologize for whatever
it is people are offended by. As I stated before, I am entitled to my
opinion… just like everyone else is. I may not like someone else’s
opinion, but I can accept it as something that I don’t have the right to
begrudge them or to try and change. This is a fiction, folks. If
you don’t like it, don’t read it! I can’t say that enough, just like I
can’t force you to read it (nor do I want to). I respect people who have
dissenting opinions to mine and politely acknowledge the differences. If
anyone cares to discuss my reasoning for doing, saying, or writing what I do,
e-mail me. It’s available and I’d be glad to discuss things in private so
that valuable writing space and reading time isn’t wasted at times like
these. Anonymous hate mail does not do a bit of good in me taking you
very seriously. I’m sorry The Truth, that your
sensibilities were poked and prodded and that you were displeased with my
OPINION. Safe to say we agree to completely disagree. We have an
accord in that. For all of the wonderful readers that don’t agree with me
yet have grudgingly read to this point, I say a hearty thank you for having a
civil, respectful bone in your body and that CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is
completely welcome. I’m off my soapbox now, and I really want to thank
everyone that reads it, enjoys it, and reviews. It makes a snotty review
seem insignificant. THANK YOU! ** |
