ALL THINGS NEW - PART 9
Part IX: Sunnydale, May 7 2002
Two years later Cordelia Chase was very nervous, as she headed for 1630 Revello Drive to talk to Willow Rosenberg. In fact she was at her wit’s end, and needed to talk to somebody for advice on what to do now – even if it was a somebody the former cheerleader hadn’t seen personally since high school.
As she arrived at the residence though, she found the blonde Slayer in the front yard. “Buffy! Hi!”
“Cordelia! I didn’t know you were back in town...”
“Just got here, actually. Um, Willow and Oz are staying here with you, Angel and Dawn now, right?”
“Yeah, just temporarily till their own place is ready. Saves 'em a bit on college dorm costs.”
The woman who would now never be part-demon nodded. “I see. Oh, how’s the baby?”
Buffy smiled, “Connor’s great, he’s walking and talking. I just wish...” she then choked, and broke off.
Cordy understood. “I heard about Joyce. I’m sorry she died, your mother was a great person...”
Buffy wiped her eyes. “Thanks. It’s just that she loved him so much...well, at least Mom got to spend a few months with Connor before she...”
The other woman decided to change the subject. “How’s Angel?”
The Slayer started to smile again. “He’s good. He took over the gallery after Mom died, remember? He’s been busy too, looking after that place and training with Giles to be able to patrol...”
“Yeah. Hey, what about Dawn, how’s she doing?”
The blonde woman sighed. “Losing Mom was so rough on her. As well as finding out that...”
At that point, Buffy explained about the Key and everything, much to Cordelia’s amazement. “See, Glory was this hellgod, who wanted to use Dawn to destroy the world...”
“Same old, same old?”
“Well, kinda. Anyway Spike, Faith, and me were fighting her this one time? We injured the hellbitch enough that she turned back into this medical intern I knew, Ben. She was hiding in his body, but no one remembered it if they saw it, because of this magic stuff she had going. Fortunately, the mojo didn’t affect Spike...”
“So what happened next?”
“He had his shotgun, and, uh, took care of the problem.”
Cordy was horrified. “He killed a guy? I thought Spike couldn’t do that anymore!”
Buffy grimaced. “Neither did we. He was out for two days from the pain – but lucky for him Faith insisted we get his side of the story, before I introduced him to Mr. Pointy.”
The conversation then moved onto other things, such as Cordelia’s career and TV show appearances. Buffy said laughingly, “Dawn had this thing about getting a puppy, after we saw the dog licking your face that one episode...”
Cordy brushed that aside. “Buffy? Thanks, but let’s face it – I basically don’t have an acting career anymore. The series was cancelled after less than one season, and I’ve done what? One or two commercials since then? God, things are so different now...”
The Slayer gave her a sly smile. “I know. Willow reads the gossip and society columns; we learned last year, that you and Xander started dating again?”
The brunette looked down, and didn’t answer.
The Chosen One said in concern, “Cordy...is there something wrong? Maybe I can help...”
Her companion looked unsure. “I came here to talk to Willow about it.”
Buffy gestured dismissively, “Oh, she and Oz are probably busy with the make-up sex, I’m sure they’ll be ages yet...”
Cordelia couldn’t believe it. “Those two broke up and got back together again!? What are they, the Ross and Rachel of the Hellmouth?”
The blonde woman sighed. “We were talking about you and Xander?”
The former actress looked away. “How much do you know of what he’s been up to, the last two years?”
Buffy Summers shrugged, “Not that much. I do know Xand eventually got that detective job with Wesley of all people, it was mentioned in that rag...”
Cordelia stared at the other woman, then turned around to leave. “This is a waste of time. You don’t know, you don’t even have a clue...”
The mother of the young child named Connor stopped her. “Please. Xander’s my friend – so you gotta tell me what’s going on!”
~~~~~~
A few moments later, Cordelia sighed and began to tell her story, after both women sat down on the grass.
“The first night Xander and I arrived in L.A., we were attacked by a bunch of vamps. And believe it or not, a demon saved us! His name’s Lorne – he said he’d had a vision of us getting killed, and that he had to stop it...”
She sighed again. “He offered Xand a job as a bartender at his Karaoke bar, till he got on his feet – and that’s how he met Wesley again, and got involved in all that craziness.”
“Wesley? Craziness?” Buffy was confused. “I don’t get what...”
Cordelia interrupted, “Look – Wesley’s changed a LOT, Buffy. The uptight Watcher guy you remember? He’s dead and gone. You probably wouldn’t even recognize Wes, if you saw him now.”
“He’s changed in what way exactly?”
The brunette briefly closed her eyes. “I met this girl Virginia Bryce, at some society thing? Xander and Wesley were there one time we met up, and I introduce them; bang, she and Wes become an item. Her father, Magnus Bryce – this secret hotshot wizard? He hires Wes and Xander to watch out for his daughter, close to his 50th birthday.”
“So?”
“So, it was all a big con. The guy tried to sacrifice his own kid to a demon, for power or riches or whatever. And when it didn’t work, the asshole stabbed Wes and shot Virginia! Luckily Xander called the cops and they busted him, but it was too late. Wes survived, Virginia didn’t. Wesley hasn’t been the same, ever since; he doesn’t trust hardly anyone now, and the way he kills things? Majorly scary.”
Buffy was shocked. “And Xander works for this guy? You let him...”
Cordy shrugged. “I can’t tell Xander how to live his life. And hell, Wes did save my life once too...”
The young woman went on to explain about her demonic pregnancy thanks to the man named Wilson Christopher, who’d been working for something called a Hacksaw Beast in return for money and power. “Lorne had a vision about it, and got this bright idea how to kill the demon and save my life...and Wes disintegrated it into like a million pieces.”
Cordy paused for a moment. “But it’s different with Xander,” she said slowly. “Three days ago, I decided to surprise him – you know, cook a nice romantic dinner...”
The Slayer was surprised. “You cook now?”
The ex-Queen C was annoyed at that crack. “All right, so I had the meal delivered to his apartment. It’s the thought that counts! Besides, I did set up the table placings and all...”
She paused, again. “I wait and I wait and I wait. Just as I’m thinking I may as well go home, Xander arrives.”
Buffy asked, “And...?"
“It took me about a second, before I had to run for the bathroom and heave.”
The blonde guardian of the Hellmouth was concerned. “Why...”
Cordelia answered bluntly, “He was covered head to toe, in like demon gore and blood. Some of it was green, but a lot of it was red – whether it was his or not, I didn’t know...”
The brunette woman was in tears now. “The demon fighting thing? Xander’s going to become addicted to it Buffy, if he hasn’t already! And do you have any idea what the average lifespan of a demon hunter in L.A. is? I try not to listen when he and Wes talk details, but I can’t help knowing that the city’s crawling with evil things – like icky bloodsuckers! He’s gonna get himself killed – and I don’t know what to do about it!”
The other woman’s eyes went wide. “You guys aren’t just dating now, are you?” she asked quietly. “It’s a lot more serious...”
Cordy nodded silently. Buffy looked her former classmate in the eye, “Do you love him?”
Again the teary nod. “Yeah.”
The Slayer continued hesitantly, “Cordy, uh, I gotta ask – do you see a future with Xander? I mean like, marriage and kids – the whole nine yards sort of thing?”
The 21-year-old former TV star was silent for a long time. Then she said, “Xander Harris was the first guy to ever see the real me, Buffy. I mean I loved him, then I hated him, then I forgot about him – and then we found each other again. Every other eligible bachelor I can think of, if he saw a demon he’d just run like a weasel...and don’t laugh, it actually happened once! Not him though...I know Xander would die to protect me. Okay, I guess, yeah – he’s the one I’d want to spend the rest of my life with...”
Buffy got up, and started to pace slowly. “I remember when Angel first became human,” the blonde said, seemingly lost in the memories. “Acting like he was still a vamp, taking stupid risks and often getting hurt. We had these huge arguments about it...”
Confused by the change in subjects, Cordelia simply asked, “So how’d you get him to stop?”
The Chosen One smiled. “I didn’t, I ended up pregnant with Connor. When Angel realized what he had to live for...he calmed down a lot, and we kinda reached a compromise.”
Cordy’s eyes went wide, as the penny dropped. “Are you seriously suggesting that I-?”
Her companion interrupted her, “Hey, I’m not suggesting anything – I’m just telling you what happened with me, way back when. I don’t really have any advice for you, sorry – I’m no Yoda here.”
Cordelia got up, and nodded. “I’ll think about what you said.”
“Cordy...” But it was too late, and she was gone.
Buffy sighed, and went back to checking her garden for more surveillance cameras that might have been placed there by the maniac known as Warren Mears. A man who, along with his two loser friends, had been the so-called Big Bad that year.
Warren soon showed up, brandishing a gun just like he had in the other timeline. But since Xander was gone and Buffy was alone, she easily dodged the bullets – and then the Slayer caught the robot maker, and gleefully knocked him out cold.
The blonde woman subsequently heard Willow screaming, as she started tying up the would-be slayer of the Slayer. Then she saw the redhead come out of the house, covered in blood and ready to butcher Warren, as soon as she saw him and realized who was responsible for murdering Oz.
“I’m gonna kill him!!” the former magic addict screamed.
Fortunately Buffy stopped her from doing so, and just as things looked like they were gonna get ugly – Oz showed up.
“Hey,” the werewolf said in that calm, unflustered way. “Guess that bullet wasn’t made of silver...”
Willow just screamed for joy as she threw herself into his arms, and a grinning Buffy lugged an unconscious Warren off to jail. “Time for you to join your buddies...”
~~~~~~
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