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Part 3
Buffy was silent as she and her mother drove towards the city of Los Angeles. For a day and a half she had been constantly plagued with images and parts of her dream and she could not get it out of her head. Joyce Summers was quiet, knowing something was bothering her daughter.
After seeing her mother safely off, Buffy drove around the city for a while. She had missed L.A., its excitement and obsession with beauty. She drove through her old neighborhood and passed Hemery High, where her life had changed forever. Without even knowing it, she sat in her car in the same place Angel had when she had been called, gazing at the smiling teenagers with a sad smile on her lips. How she wished she could be like them again...
Buffy pulled up to her father's house as the sun began to set and darkness descended on the city. Gathering her bags, she quickly jumped into her father's waiting arms.
"Hi Princess!" he cried as he spun her around. Holding her at arm's length for a moment, he looked at her in wonder. "Is it possible that you've gotten even more beautiful?"
She blushed at her father as he led her inside. "Wow, Dad, you sure have done wonders with this place!" she said sarcastically as she gazed around her father's living room, any doubts that he wasn't a bachelor flying out of her mind. The place was littered with papers and pizza boxes and used plates, soda cans on the coffee table and a beer bottle or two mixed in. He chuckled.
"Well, I knew my wonderful daughter was coming to stay with me so I figured I should clean up the place a bit," Hank Summers said.
"I'll do it for you first thing tomorrow morning," Buffy sighed, pretending to scold him. Hank laughed and kissed her forehead.
"Thanks, Yvonne had the week off. You hungry? We have reservations at a great Italian place down the street at eight."
"Actually, I was hoping I could look up my friend Cordelia. I've been dying to see her," Buffy said. Hank nodded and glanced at the clock.
"Well, it's only five now. Why don't you call her and see if she can come with us?" he asked, gesturing to the phone. Buffy smiled and picked it up.
"Sounds great!" She carefully punched in Cordelia's number, praying she was there and not at the office. She turned her back on her father, indicating she wanted privacy, and listened to it ring several times. Sighing, she hung up and hesitated slightly before dialing the number that had been burned into her mind from the moment Cordy had sent her the business card.
The phone rang twice before Cordelia picked up. "Angel Investigations," she said cheerfully. "We help the helpless."
"Cor? It's me, Buffy," she said, grinning at the sound of her friend's voice.
"Buf--Betty! Wo Buffy frowned.
"Betty?"
"I'm at *work* and my *boss* is right by my *desk*. I can't talk long," she said through slightly clenched teeth. Buffy nodded.
"Oh, I get it. Very smart," Buffy said. Cordelia smiled and quickly averted her gaze from Angel's.
"It's often been said," she quipped. "Now, what can I do for you?"
"First of all, Merry Christmas!"
"Right back at you."
"Second, I'm here. In L.A.," Buffy told her. Cordelia gasped.
"Does he know?" she asked. Buffy shook her head and sat down on the arm of the couch.
"Of course not, it's...too hard," Buffy said softly.
"You visiting your dad?" Cordelia asked as she removed a nail file from her pencil holder and began working on her nails.
"Yeah, which is why I called. Do you want to come to dinner with us?"
Cordelia paused. "Sure! I'd love to come. What time?"
"Eight," Buffy said before giving her the address. Cordelia agreed to get to Buffy's father's house around seven thirty so that the girls could talk before they went to dinner.
After Buffy was finished unpacking and her father's gifts were under the tree, Hank and his daughter sat down to talk. She told him all about college, what courses she was taking and how she had done. She mentioned Riley when he brought it up, but was very brief. Before they knew it, the doorbell rang.
Buffy jumped up and answered it. "Cordy!" she cried, flinging her arms around her friend. Cordelia was a bit taken aback by her, but returned the hug just as fiercely all the same. Buffy stepped back after a few moments to get a good look at the May Queen.
Her hair was longer and she seemed thinner, but besides that Cordelia looked exactly the same. Except for her eyes, which looked haunted by something...
"How've you been?" Buffy asked as she ushered her inside and shut the door.
"Don't you mean how's Angel been?" she teased as they walked into the living room. Cordelia waved to Hank and took a seat next to Buffy on the couch. Buffy shot her a look.
"Angel? Who's Angel?" Hank asked, clasping his hands in front of him.
"An old friend," Buffy said quickly. "How is he?"
Her voice was soft when she asked and Cordelia immediately sensed something was wrong.
"Is he okay? Has he been having...weird dreams lately? Have there been any Mohra guys around lately?" Buffy asked, careful not to give too much away and cautious of her father. Cordelia looked at her in confusion.
"What in the world are you talking about?" Cordelia asked as realization dawned on her face. "Dreams...Buffy, what have your dreams been about?"
Buffy shifted uncomfortably and turned her head so her father wouldn't see. "Angel being human," she mouthed. Cordelia sighed and leaned back into the cushions.
"You're on your own for this one, Buffy. I can't help you," she said in regret. Buffy looked at her closely, knowing she was hiding something.
"Cordy..." Buffy said, her voice slightly warning.
"It's not my place. Go talk to Angel," she said harshly. Buffy's eyes darted around the room as she fought panic down. She couldn't go to Angel, he'd think she was crazy...
"You two realize that you're making no sense, right?" Hank spoke up. The girls looked at him.
"No, Mr. Summers, we make perfect sense. Just not to you," Cordelia said jokingly.
"Well, why don't you go not make sense at the restaurant, hmm? It's almost eight," Hank said as he stood. Cordelia and Buffy followed suit, although Buffy was deep in thought and didn't really know what she was doing. Go talk? To Angel? No...
All throughout dinner Buffy's mind was elsewhere. She answered Cordelia's and her father's questions, but she seemed dazed and it was not lost on them. Several times during the meal she got a faraway look in her eyes that betrayed her, and Cordelia and her father exchanged glances about it.
When the waiter brought them their check, Buffy seemed to snap out of her funk. "Daddy...would you mind if I spent the night at Cordy's?" she asked. Her father pondered it for a moment.
"I suppose it would be okay, as long it is with you, Cordelia," Hank said. Buffy and Cordelia exchanged a look and Cordelia sighed.
"Yeah, sure, it'll be a big old slumber party," she said as they stood and made their way out of the restaurant. Cordelia knew that she and Buffy would be up for the better part of the night talking...
And she wasn't wrong. As soon as Buffy was done gushing over Cordelia's lavish apartment, they got down to business.
"So, how's the gang?" Cordelia asked over a pint of Rocky Road ice cream. The girls were curled up in their pajamas on Cordelia's couch, the Late Late Show blaring in the background.
"Pretty good, I guess. Xander and Anya are as horny as ever--"
"Xander and Anya? Oh, God, I've missed a lot!" Cordelia cried in disgust. Buffy smiled.
"Yeah, you have. You know Oz left, right?" Cordelia nodded.
"You told me in your e-mail," she said.
"Well...Giles has a girlfriend. Her name's Olivia and she's from England, she knew Giles from when he was Rebel Guy," Buffy said. She proceeded to fill Cordelia in on everything else, from their disastrous Thanksgiving to the time when she and Spike had been engaged.
"Hey, where's Doyle? I want to properly meet him this time," Buffy said, gazing at a picture of him on the mantle. Cordelia's eyes moved to the carpet as tears threatened to spill out of them. "Cordy?"
"Doyle's dead," she whispered. "He died saving a bunch of demons. But they were the Casper kind of demon, not the 'I-want-to-cut-out-your-still-beating-heart-and-eat-it-in-front-of-you' type. And we were just starting to get close and it turns out he was a half-demon himself and I still liked him and I think I was falling in love with him and now he'll never know!" she cried in one breath. Buffy placed the ice cream container on the coffee table and gathered Cordelia into her arms.
"Oh, wow, Cordelia I'm sorry. I wish I had known..." Buffy said as she softly stroked her friend's hair. Cordelia sobbed all her grief out, this time to the girl she had always secretly admired. After a time, she pulled away sheepishly and wiped at her tears.
"Sorry about that, I just seem to cry at the worst times," she apologized. Buffy reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Hey, that's what friends are for, right?" Buffy asked. Cordy smiled and nodded. "It must have been hard on Angel," she whispered. The actress nodded.
"I hadn't seen him so upset since I first got here and he was still Brood Guy twenty-four seven. It hit him really hard," she said. Buffy sighed and leaned back into the soft pillows of the couch. She felt sleep beckoning to her but feebly pushed it away, knowing if she succumbed the dreams would come again. She needed to get out, to be active, to kill something.
Buffy quickly stood and went over to her bag. "What are you doing? Do NOT tell me you're going patrolling," Cordelia said with a roll of her eyes. "Angel's out there, he'll get it done."
"I need to get out, Cor," Buffy said as she changed into a pair of flared leggings and a black tank top. Pulling her hair back in a ponytail and placing a few stakes in strategic places, she turned back around to find Cordelia nearly asleep.
"There's a key by the door, you can take it," the cheerleader said sleepily. Buffy nodded.
"Don't wait up."
"Wasn't planning on it," Cordelia said with a grin.
"Oh, and Cordy? Thanks for letting me stay with you tonight," Buffy said as she moved to the door.
"It's no problem, Buffy, you know I miss seeing you," Cordelia told her in a touching manner. Buffy smiled and with a wave vanished into the night. "She and Angel are the only two people I know who can do that..."
Buffy roamed the darkened streets, knowing her way around the city extremely well. She came close to Angel Investigations but felt Angel's presence there and left. That bond that they shared sure came in handy sometimes...
She idly fiddled with her stake as she walked. Despite the noise coming from the different clubs and the traffic, the night was quiet for L.A., almost calm, something she chalked up to the holidays. Buffy was growing antzier by the minute, itching for a fight. A fight would take her mind off of Angel, something she really needed right now...
Up ahead, the sounds of a fight reached her Slayer ears. Cautiously, she flattened herself against the wall and peered around the corner, startled to see Angel fighting another vampire. He obviously had the upper hand and within a minute the vamp was dust. Buffy couldn't help but appreciate how good he looked, deadly and lethal and mysterious all at the same time.
For a moment, he paused, cocking his head to one side slightly in thought. He turned to look at her and Buffy quickly ducked out of view before she could be seen. That was the last thing she needed With a shrug, Angel turned and walked the other way, deeper into the shadows of the alley, his coat swirling at his feet.
When she was sure he was gone, Buffy let out a sigh of relief and quickly began walking the other way. For about an hour she made her way around, not finding any demons to fight, much to her dismay. She returned to Cordelia's at around two in the morning, not at all surprised to see the May Queen asleep in her room. Buffy quickly changed and fell onto the couch. Cordelia's spirit roommate, Dennis, turned out the lights for her and pulled the blanket over her.
Tonight, Buffy welcomed the dreams.
And, of course, they came.