Title: 12th Day of Christmas. A gift to all Oasions.
Author: Califi
Posted:
Rating: PG-13
Content: C/A
Category: Anyway you want to read it.
Summary: Cordy comes back from the Higher Realms- but how?
Spoilers: S5 [not that I've watched it, though, so bear with me?]
Disclaimer: Whedon & David Greenwalt. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.
Distribution:
Notes: This is probably crap, but it had to come out onto paper – so I decided to post it anyhoo for all you lovely guys, okay? Hope you like it…and, more importantly, understand my ramblings.
Thanks/Dedication:
Feedback: Yes please.
Well, I finally made it. Have to say it was a hell of a lot easier than I thought; should I be relieved or hurt that no one really noticed my absence in the first place?
After God knows how long in that holding cell – fair enough, it wasn't dank and dark; but it was still a punishment! Not only am I stuck upstairs in all that glowyness, they eventually took away my view of the world too.
Ah, now you are all thinking "Yes! Our dear Cordy was still in the HR since she went up with Skip…" Ding ding – Wrong!
I never left the HR from the day of my birthday.
I didn't accept any of the choices they offered- and boy, were they pissed! No new life, no Demonizing-
"Come on, people! You lot can do anything, so don't tell me you can't fix my head without resorting to putting another thing in there!" I demanded. They were impressed…except for the Power called Jasmine, that is.
Unknowingly, I had thwarted her nefarious plans, and she wasn't a happy bunny, let me tell you! But she found a way round it; don't these baddies always find other ways to ruin everyone's life? Tell me about it!
Anyway, the PTB decided, for the time being, that I should take up residence on high whilst they decided what to do with me; even let me keep an eye on my friends…. and that's when the fun began.
I watched my doppelganger switch with me – easy enough; Jasmine simply waited for Angel to fall asleep and replace my empty body with a copy – personally, I still believe that bitch added a few pounds to that frame as a punishment for not playing into her hands.
I observed the lot – Groo, and my first show of Un-Cordyness by turning into some kind of nymphomaniac – and since when did I ignore my vampire's pain? Hello? Angel, I though you knew me? Oh, well…. can somebody love someone [that was a shock, I can tell ya!] and yet not know them at all? Buffy comes to mind, so maybe they can.
The vacation away with a guy I didn't really know that well topped it for me. Angel well and truly didn't know me at all.
Maybe I was right to stay where I was, after all [not that I had much of a choice!].
In the line of work we are in, and all the horrible things that had happened to me in the past, could anyone really see me running off with a virtual stranger? Go figure – but not even a twinge touched any of them.
Then came Wes…. poor Wes; and things started to make a little sense. Why are you letting this happen, I asked, but they simply shook their heads and droned on that it had to happen? Then 'I' came back – blonde? [And no fashion sense!] Come on, guys, use those brains of yours! Wes became a shadow of himself, and to hear his thoughts of how I hadn't even bothered to confront him to rail…. he seemed to know me better than the lot of 'em put together!
So, it played out – and we won't alphabetise the whole sorry mess, cos, hey, you lot already went through that WTF?
On The First Day of Christmas… they have a sense of humour after all! Angel & the rest of AI strangely enough, decided to visit that shell they lavished so much attention on. [By 'they', I meant W & H – not my
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry, as their stunned eyes grew wider by the second as that shell just disintegrated in front of them! Crying won out when the mind wipe disintegrated too. Poor Angel; suddenly all attention was on him.
Let's jump to the 8th day, cos the ones in between were too messed up and painful to go over – except to say that this time, Angel and Connor met up again and sorted their differences out blow by blow- they both still carry the bruises. But at least the urge to kill is now directed at the baddies; lucky for his father. That boy is stronger than everyone thought.
Wes left and sodded off to England – Wiley bastard finally managed to finagle Lilah's contract, and she went with him.
Gunn grabbed a rifle and went 'White Hunter' – that kitty sure had a great xmas box, I can tell ya. After that, Gunn left too, back to the streets and back to his roots.
Somehow, what his crew had done that night in Caritas paled in comparison to the crap he'd seen and endured since.
Connor decided to join Gunn and his crew and work on his own redemption. Like father like son, eh?
Spike, no longer tied to either Angel or W & H, trotted off to a welcoming Slayer [he finally rang her, and was overjoyed by her joy!] never to be seen again – apparently, they have their own 'show' now! heh. Angel took it surprisingly well, much to Spike's chagrin; offering him a bag of choc chips for the journey – loved that!
Fred…poor Fred; she packed her bags [leaving the panty-showing skirts behind] and followed Angel back to the Hyperion. Fred forgives everyone eventually – unless your name happens to start with a 'G'.
Another good thing that came out of it is they finally found out [at last!] that that 'thing' wasn't me. Lorne, sweet Lorne, finally got his mojo back – and along with a message from moi, also found out just how long the real McCoy had been missing off planet Earth. That was a doozey!
We had quite a chat.
Caritas is getting the Demon place to be already. We missed you, Green Guy.
Angel's umming and ahhing about whether or not to try to see me himself – but that little relic disappeared along with electro girl, where ever she may be. Colour me not that interested.
Did I ever tell you that guilt and brooding really suit my vampire? His hotness scale suddenly rose, as did my gradually depleting feelings for him. Well, I never learn when it comes to Angel; always a sucker for those puppy dog eyes…
Cos, believe me, hard to love someone who not only knew you so little – but seemed to be laying on the smoochies for almost everything in skirts- [not forgetting stake-holding powerhouses too!] like I said, I never learn.
So, here I was – they let me go…home? Hmmm, still debating that. Am I home?
I stood there, looking around the lobby from my bird's eye view – and I'm impressed! Fred actually managed to make it festive for Christmas Day…
The tree is huge, the baubles shining along with the many, many twinkling lights that seem to cover every surface. Presents Fred, then Angel sneaked down lie nestled under those rich smelling pines, and I'm glad I could see that.
All we needed now were people. Granted, it' was only a few minutes after midnight, but if I could make it…
Talk of the devils; Gunn strode in – and the bag he held in those well-muscled arms, were overflowing with gifts. From my …sorta hiding place on that delicious tree, I watched as he noiselessly approached.
Connor trailed in behind him, and I'm chuffed to see he also came bearing gifts.
As they turned to leave, they are brought up abruptly by the entrance of a man in a tweed suit, [blech!] and a brunette with last year's Jimmy Choos on her elegant feet. More gifts – wow! Wonders never cease!
The faced each other stiltedly, then thawed enough to wish each other well. As they did so, the door creaked again – Lorne; knew he'd be the only one to glance up – sweetie or what! His red lips quirked and a small wink came my way.
Jeez! Fred still squeals and my little heart nearly popped out of my brightly painted mouth. A blur of flannelette PJ's and fluffy slippers. The cuteness factor is back, and I'm pretty glad to see it.
Finally! Hugs abound and speech flowed, dissipating the tense silence within seconds. My senses tingled, and if I could, I would have turned to look across to the landing…my vampire hovered, wearing his usual ensemble of black on black – and my little heart ached.
"Merry Christmas, sweetcheeks" Lorne lifted the glass that seemingly appeared out of nowhere – SeaBreeze always at the ready.
After several seconds, I saw 'him' walk slowly down the stairs. God, he looked good! I felt a shiver along my porcelain skin. He reached the bottom, and father and son faced each other awkwardly.
"Merry Christmas" Angel jumped when a pale hand reached out. After a second of looking into the cool eyes opposite, he lifted his own and shook firmly.
"Merry Christmas, Con-Steven" Angel stuttered in that totally cute way he does. The coolness melted somewhat as the boy smiled a tiny smile.
"Connor will do" he said softly; then released his father's hand and turned to the others.
"Angel, where did you find that Angel?" Uh-oh. This was gonna be fun.
Angel looked over to Little Miss Sharp Eyes, and then followed her rapt gaze. Even from here I could see his pupils dilate, and was not really surprised when he immediately reached up and plucked me from the tree. His cool fingers that brushed my features had a fine tremor, and the hand that helds me carefully in his palm trembled even more.
"Dear Lord"
"Freaky or what?"
"Oh, my!"
"I'd heard you were obsessive – but that takes the prize!" Lilah's comment drew all pairs of eyes away briefly – except for one, whose soft brown irises melted under the haze of moisture.
Hell, what can I say? The PTB do have a sense of humour; after everything that's gone down the past year or so, being a Christmas Angel is the least kooky – careful, Grr Guy, you're gonna rub away that rosy flush painted on my fragile cheeks.
As he continued to hold me silently, I wondered if he'd give into the urge to check out the matching undies under that taffeta gold dress I'm wearing.
Perv! Proved me right yet again, heh.
"Since when did a christmas angel wear a thong?" he murmured softly; a small gasp leaving his mouth when he could have sworn the porcelain face staring back at him rolled her eyes even as his fingers smoothed down the material to cover my porcelain legs from other prying eyes.
"Make a wish, brown eyes, and I'm sure she'll tell you herself." Lorne took a sip of his drink and grinned. The hand-sized doll wrapped by long pale fingers was the perfect likeness to a certain Seer, and he couldn't help but let out a chortle.
*Lorne, you are so gonna get it!*
Strangely enough, those pale fingers felt warm against my spray-tanned china body, and I found myself praying my very own Angel would take Lorne's advice – cos he'd stopped doing that for, like, ever!
After pinning the Host with a long, fathomless look, my vampire retreated up the stairs, leaving the others to reminisce- or not, which would be a better idea given the circumstances, and took me to the privacy of his room.
By the look in his beautiful eyes as they continually fell on me on the way there, I kinda knew he'd finally bought a clue.
And as the door closed behind us, I wondered also, if this gold taffeta dress would still fit when he made his wish.
-Not that I'd complain [and he definitely wouldn't – I hope!]
All in 12 days...not a Season, but who cares? Happy endings beat anything else.
Merry Christmas to one and all.End
Leave a comment
(used for general site comments/queries also)