Becoming
by Pandora

~*~ Cordelia ~*~

I couldn't believe it.

There was just no way. It can't be true.

But it is true.

"I'm sorry, Cordelia." Giles said softly, chewing on the earpiece of his glasses.

I shook my head. "No, you guys are wrong. Faith would never..."

"Cordy, I wish it wasn't true." Buffy said. "I wish that Faith was just some great kid, and still with you. But she's not. She's not that girl any more, Cord. That girl died. Faith's a vamp. And now she wants to send us all to Hell."

I felt tears coming. No, dammit. I can't cry. Not here, with Xander and Willow sitting right there, looking at me. "Can't we do something? I mean, do we really have to..." I choked on my own words.

All around the room people showed with their body language that there was no other way.

Angel and Spike both bowed their heads, afraid to look at me. Willow had tears in her eyes and she gripped Spike's hand tightly for support. Xander stared long and hard at a wall he was angry, feeling the unfairness of this situation. Giles put his glasses back on and looked away. Buffy looked at me with an expression of sorrow, a face that meant she was sorry. Sorry for me.

I shook my head violently. "No, dammit there has to be another way. I know there has to be. Find it."

"Cor..." Xander started to say, but shut up when I glared at him.

"The curse!" Willow cried suddenly.

I looked over at her. "What?"

"T-The curse. We cursed Spike and gave him a soul we can probably give one to Faith." Willow said, positively beaming at me.

I turned to Giles, silently begging for it to be true. He chewed the earpiece of his glasses again, looking thoughtful. "Y-Yes, I suppose we could restore Faith's soul."

"Settled, then." Buffy said firmly, as if to stomp out any arguments anyone might've had. She was giving it her official stamp of approval, changing it from a theory to a plan. I could've hugged her. "Will, Spike, you two go to the magick shop. Xander, you and Giles try to find the curse again. It's in one of these books you found it before, you can do it again. Angel and I will try to find Faith and bring her back here, just so we can make sure she doesn't hurt more people before while we're busy doing this."

"What about me?" I asked, feeling both weary and excited. We were going to bring back my Faith.

Buffy smiled slightly at me. "You go home and rest, Cor you've earned it."

Cor. Faith always called me that. I felt a tinge of the sadness again. But then I reminded myself that we were going to bring her back, and smiled at Buffy.

"Thanks." I said, picking up my purse and heading for the door.

~*~ Giles ~*~

I don't know why I didn't think of it sooner. Restore Faith's soul. It made sense. We'd done it before. Why hadn't it occurred to me that we could and should do it again?

I watched Cordelia and Buffy exchange some hushed words and saw Cordelia smile. It was good to see it. It was the first time I'd seen her smile since Faith died.

Cordelia had blamed herself for Faith's death. She had followed Faith on patrol one night, wanting to make sure she was all right, and then Faith had been attacked. She'd had the situation under control until Cordelia had noticed a vampire behind her, and called to her. In her surprise over discovering Cordelia's presence, Faith had been bitten and quickly drained.

It had been heartbreaking to see how hard Cordelia took it, and just how much she blamed herself. She and Faith had truly been in love.

And now, now there was a chance that we might be able to bring Faith back to her. We'd given her a ray of hope. The thought of yanking it away from her made me ache. After all, if there was a chance to get Jenny back, wouldn't it kill me if it turned out to be a false lead? No, we were going to restore Faith's soul, no matter the difficulties.

I only hoped we could find the curse before it was too late.

~*~ Willow ~*~

"Back again?" The bookstore owner said, smiling warmly at Spike and me.

"What can I say?" Spike said, grinning at her. "There's no place in Sunnydale better than here to purchase aphrodisiacs."

My face turned bright red. I slapped Spike's arm. "That's not what we came here for!"

I walked over to the bookstore owner and handed her the list of materials we needed. I still had most of them left over from last time, but there were a couple that needed replenishing.

She came back from her herb drawers with all the things I needed and put them in a bag for me while Spike looked around the shop. The bookstore owner smiled and leaned over the counter.

"Your boyfriend over there, hold onto him. He's a keeper." She whispered to me.

My eyes widened. "Oh, he's not my boyfriend."

She chuckled and patted my arm. "Give it time, honey." She rang up my total and I paid her quickly, trying to hide the blush in my cheeks.

"We got everything we need, luv?" Spike asked.

I nodded. I couldn't look at him. Spike? My boyfriend? I hadn't even considered him boyfriend material. At least, not really.

He's a vampire, I reminded myself. But then, so is Angel and so is Faith, but Buffy and Cordy still love them.

"Penny for your thoughts, pet?" Spike asked me on the way back to the library.

I gave him a trembling smile and lied, "Wondering if Cordy and Faith will get back together if this works."

"I think they will." Spike replied. "After all, Cordelia really loves Faith. And you know what they say: Love conquers all."

"B-But what about the whole 'I'm-a-vamp-I'm-gonna-live-forever-and-you're-going-to-get-old-and-wrinkly-and-die thing? I mean, doesn't that matter?"

Spike looked thoughtful. "Well, I suppose after a while, it would be a problem. I'd say she should turn her, but then Cordelia wouldn't be the same girl Faith fell for. And that would sort of defeat the purpose of the whole damn thing now, wouldn't it?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it would. Besides, Cordy would probably go crazy without a reflection."

Spike burst up laughing. "That she would, pet."

I smiled. I liked making him laugh. And it was nice that he wasn't laughing over something like my dead body, or making evil schemes to rid the world of Buffy once and for all. Spike with a soul was so sweet. Maybe things could work out after all.

~*~ Faith ~*~

"You're certain?" I asked, not bothering to conceal my irritation. Sure, having lackeys around to do your bidding saves you from having to do unpleasant tasks, but dealing with them is so fucking annoying all you want to do is rip out their intestines, inch by inch, and feed them to them. And, at the moment, the lackey in question was Jared.

He nodded. "Y-Yes, Mistress Faith. The redhead and Mistress Dru's old consort, the blond one with the soul, were buying things at the magick shop. I-I recognize them from my studies. It's things to restore a vampire's soul."

I cracked each of my knuckles, one by one, enjoying the sickening pop sound each one made. I enjoyed the sound because I knew how much it irritated Jared. He often yelled at the other lackeys to make them stop it. Even now, it was obvious how much he hated the noise, but he couldn't very well yell at his mistress, now, could he? Not unless he wanted to be the loser in our next game of "Who's got all their internal organs?"

"Well, we can't have that now, can we?" I said to him in the kind of slow, quiet monotone I used when addressing a child, or Dru. Jared hated that, too, but he still couldn't yell at me for it. Sometimes, being a master vampire was fun.

"N-No, Mistress Faith." Jared stammered, closing his eyes in an attempt to block out the sound of my knuckles cracking.

I picked up my hunting knife. Damn, but I still love killing with this thing. "Round up the others. Head for the school library in about an hour. I'll meet you there." I shoved the knife into my belt. "Looks like I have to pay a visit to an old flame."

~*~ Cordelia ~*~

I brushed my damp hair in my bedroom. I was so tired. So much had happened these past few months to mentally and emotionally overwhelm me.

Falling for Faith had been the oddest thing that ever happened to me. It had all been so confusing. At the time, I was still with Xander. Still Cordelia Chase, the undefeated champion for the Queen Bitch of the Universe award.

But when we first saw each other--my dark eyes meeting her darker ones--something in me just went 'click'. And suddenly, there were all these feelings, these weird feelings, going on inside me that I didn't understand.

The first time Faith kissed me was liking opening up this Pandora's Box of stuff I just totally didn't get. The only thing that made sense to me was Faith: she was so beautiful, and so sweet in her own way, and her kisses gave me the shivers. It was so exciting, it was like touching a bolt of lightning, only not.

And now she was dead. But not dead. She was evil.

I defended her when she killed Miss Calendar, when she killed innocent people, I always came rushing to remind them that it wasn't Faith, but a demon with her face. Sort of like those buttons: "I may look like me, but I'm really my evil twin." Faith turned into her evil twin. A really evil twin.

When word came to us that Faith was trying to open a gate to Hell through some weird rock thing called Acathla, I still defended her. I didn't want to believe it.

And now, because I held in there, we might be bringing her back. It's so scary, thinking that Faith might be able to come back to me and things'll be like they were. Like waking up from a nightmare or something.

I thought of the people she'd killed, the people who would never wake up. They had to stay in the nightmare.

I shook it off. I couldn't think like that once they restored her soul. Not if I wanted to stay with her.

"Getting all settled in for the night, lover?" A voice behind me purred.

I whirled around. "Faith! What are you doing here?"

Faith hopped out of the window sill, then wrapped her arms around my waist. "What, suddenly I need a reason to see you?" She nibbled my ear lobe. "Can't a woman drop in on her lover without being asked why?"

I shoved her away. "What do you want?"

She laughed at me. "Fine, baby, have it your way." She pulled a large hunting knife out of her belt and started running her fingers along the blade almost lovingly. I remembered when she had once run her fingers along me the same way, but blocked it out. This was a soulless demon not my Faith.

"Just wanted to get the truth about a nasty little rumor flying around town." She sliced open one of her fingers, but didn't seem to care. She slowly sucked the blood off that finger then continued: "I got little birdies twittering in my ears."

"And what are they saying?" I asked, hoping my tone sounded as cool and nasty as it used to when I talked to Xander or Willow when we were kids.

"That you and Willow are getting it on." She said. "No, actually, they say you want to restore my soul. Confirm or deny, lover?"

"What difference does it make to you?" I asked, keeping my voice neutral.

Faith came up to me, smiling at me in some cruel parody of the flirty grin she used to send my way when we were supposed to be researching in the library. She forcibly turned me around to face the other way and yanked me against her, pressing her chest against my back. She bent my head the side and kissed my throat. "I'm perfect, lover five by five. But telling me what I want to know makes all the difference to you."

I heard a strange, unidentifiable sound right before I felt twin needles scraping a vein in the side of my neck. I shivered, realizing that she had dropped her human face to reveal the demon visage.

"I could do it," she whispered. "I could bite you right now drink up all your blood and feed it right back to you. Make you like me." She ran her hands over my stomach. I fought back tears, remembering when she used to do that affectionately. But there was no affection in the hands touching me now. Why would there be? This wasn't Faith.

"I'll do it to you, baby. Do it to you right now." She traced the vein in my neck with her tongue, running it back up to my ear. "You wouldn't like it. It hurts bad. Remember how bad it hurt me? Remember how I cried for you, baby? Wanted you to make it stop?" Tears trickled down my cheeks. I couldn't have saved her, I reminded myself. I couldn't have.

"But then, when did what I want matter?" She asked. "You're Cordelia Chase. Everything takes a back seat to you. That's why you followed me that night. That's why I died. I died because you didn't care what I wanted, Cor, baby."

I started to collapse, but Faith held me tighter. She reached up and stroked my cheek with the flat of her knife blade. "Don't restore my soul, baby." She whispered. "If you do, you'll be destroying me again because you didn't give a fuck about what I wanted."

And, just as suddenly as she came, she left. I sank to my bedroom floor and started to cry.

~*~ Angel ~*~

"We didn't find her." Buffy said as we walked into the library.

"She could be preparing for the ritual, or she could know we were looking for her. Either way, she was nowhere to be seen." I told Giles.

"It's okay." Willow said, setting up her materials. "We don't need her for this part."

"G-Man and I found the spell, so we're good to go." Xander said.

I nodded. "Good." I looked over at Spike, who was absent-mindedly playing with Willow's hair. I had to smile at that. He hadn't told her yet, but it was pretty obvious.

Well, obvious to me, anyway. Looking over at Xander, who was eating Oreos, I could tell that the whole thing was going straight over his head.

Willow sprinkled a trail of salt all around the table she was going to use for "sacred space". She went around the table two more times.

"'Cast the circle thrice about, to keep the evil spirits out'?" Buffy asked, grinning.

Willow blushed. I nearly laughed. Buffy could be silly at times, but God, I love her.

Buffy smiled secretively at me, then beckoned me towards the stacks. I followed.

Once we were out of sight, Buffy wrapped her arms around my neck. "I didn't want to kiss you in front of Giles and Xander." She explained. "Well, mostly Xander."

I kissed her forehead. "Are you worried that this won't work?"

She nodded, not even bothering to ask how I knew. She and I just picked up on each other's emotions sometimes we didn't even notice it any more.

"I'm worried about what it'll do to Cordy if it doesn't." She paused. "She loves Faith so much, Angel. And if this doesn't work, she's going to be so hurt."

I nodded, combing the blond strands off her forehead, letting her finish.

"I mean, Angel, imagine how I'd feel if you lost your soul." Buffy continued. "I'd be devastated. You're my life, just like Faith is Cordy's. If you lost your soul somehow, I don't know what I'd do." Her eyes were welling up with tears at the mere thought.

I pulled her close and kissed her gently. "That's never going to happen. I promise."

"All right, guys this is it. Come on." Willow called.

I smiled at Buffy. "Come on let's go get this done."

She nodded. "Okay."

Spike and I took seats beside Willow, and Buffy sat next to me, with Xander and Giles between Buffy and Spike, completing the circle.

Willow began the chants and lighting the herbs like a pro. I'd never realized before exactly how good at this she was getting. I reached over and held Buffy's hand, gently stroking the back of it with my thumb. She smiled over at me as Willow chanted in Rumani, the room filling with magickal energies.

"Cozy?" An evil voice said.

"Faith!" Buffy cried, leaping to her feet.

Before I could react, however, I heard Willow's scream, followed by a thud. Pain shot through my entire body. One of Faith's minions had pushed over a bookshelf, pinning Spike, Willow and I, and apparently one of Xander's arms, too, underneath it.

I struggled to move, my body railing against it. With a sickening lurch, I realized my ribs were broken. I craned my neck to look over at the others. Xander's right forearm, imprisoned under the bookcase, was twisted up in ways that human limbs should never be twisted. Spike was trapped on his side, facing Willow his ribs were probably broken, too. They were both unconcious. I tried to push the bookshelf off of me, clenching my teeth and ignoring the pain. I felt my face twist into the animalistic demon visage as I struggled, but the shelf was too heavy for me to push off by myself.

Faith laughed evilly, coming up close to Buffy. "Hey, B. Miss me?"

"Back off, Faith." Buffy said, taking a fighting stance.

Faith laughed. "Or you'll what? You're going to kill me? Yeah, right." She laughed again. "Look around you, B. All your buddies are beaten. And mine aren't." She spread her arms wide, and vampires began emerging from the shadows.

I counted. There were at least twelve, thirteen counting Faith. Buffy may be strong, and the Slayer, but by herself, against that many? The odds weren't good. I tried again to push the shelf off me.

Suddenly, an arrow came out of nowhere and struck one of the vampires in the chest. He turned to dust.

I craned my neck again to see where it came from.

Giles stood in the doorway to his office, his cross bow aimed straight at Faith's chest.

"Get out of here, Faith." Giles said in a deadly tone. "Now."

Faith burst up laughing. "Oh, please. Go ahead, Giles. Shoot me." She grinned evilly at him, and adjusted her stance so he had an even better chance at her heart. "I dare you."

Giles fired the cross bow. I watched the arrow fly. I watched Faith catch it an inch away from her heart and break it across her knee.

"Nice try." She said, coming close to Giles. He brought up his fist to punch her. Faith caught it, forcibly spread his fingers, then bent them back until I heard the sickening crunch as they were brutally broken. Giles cried out in pain. Faith kicked his shins, sweeping his legs out from under him. He lay on the ground, clutching his hand, crying out in agony.

"You guys just don't get it, do you?" Faith said, her voice echoing in the stillness of the library. She walked up to Buffy, leaned right in her face. "You can't win, B." She smiled. I felt rage twisting my insides. If she touched Buffy, she would have the rest of eternity to wish she hadn't.

"I'm going to go now, and have a sleep-over with my buddy Acathla. Tomorrow at noon, the world ends." She drew a hunting knife from where, I didn't see, but it was huge.

She stroked Buffy's cheek with the flat of the blade. "Too bad you won't be here to see it." She pressed her forehead to Buffy's, then declared, "See you in Hell, B." She jammed the knife right into Buffy's solar plexus.

"No!" Xander cried.

"Buffy!" I shouted in fear.

Faith laughed evilly, then stalked out, her minions following. "Tomorrow at noon, B! Wish you could've seen it." She yelled over her shoulder.

"Spike!" I shouted to my childe. "Spike!"

Spike groaned in pain, signiyfing that he had come to.

"Spike, help me get this shelf off us!" I shouted to him.

Spike groaned. "What the hell happened?"

"Don't worry about that now. Just help me get this shelf off."

Spike turned onto his back, groaning in gut-wrenching pain as he did. "Right. Let's go. Count of three." Spike said.

"One..two...three!" Spike and I pushed the shelf off of us.

It fell over on its other side, spilling the rest of the books.

"God, Will..." Spike whispered in horror, stroking Willow's face.

I didn't care. I got up and ran straight to Buffy and picked her up. I could already feel my broken ribs healing. "Oh, God, Buffy..." My voice cracked. There was blood pouring out of her, dripping down her sides, running down her legs. It was everywhere.

"Angel..." She whispered, fighting to remain concious.

"Oh, God, Buffy," I felt tears flowing down my face as freely as the blood was running down her sides.

Suddenly, Giles was beside me. "Angel, she's going to die."

"No!" I cried in both fear and anger. I could still hear her heartbeat. She probably had about five minutes left before she bled to death.

"There's a way to save her." I heard Spike say.

I must've been in some serious shock, because even Xander caught his meaning before I did. Buffy struggled to breathe.

Giles looked at me. "You'll have to turn her."

"No." I said, shaking my head. But even as I said it, I thought: What other choice is there?

"Angel, I don't like it, either. But dammit all to hell, it's the only chance she's got. And she's the only chance we've got." Giles said angrily.

I looked at Buffy, whimpering in agony, dying slowly in my arms.

"All right." I whispered, laying her down. Giles propped her up so that her back was against his chest, and turned her head to offer me access to her throat.

"God forgive us." Giles said softly as my fangs broke through the skin on her neck.

~*~ Cordelia ~*~

I ran through the hospital doors frantically, looking for a nurse. I ran up to the front desk, and said, "A woman was brought in here, a little redhead, named Willow Rosenberg? What room is she in?" Wonder of wonders my voice actually worked.

The nurse asked, "Are you family?"

"Yes. I'm her stepsister." I lied.

"All right come with me." the nurse said, leading me down a corridor. "She's in critical condition. Apparently, she got pinned under a bookshelf at the school library. She was very lucky to have survived it--"

I tuned her out, looking right and left, wondering which room Willow was in.

The nurse led me into a white hospital room, where Willow was asleep in the bed. Spike was beside her, staring intently, watching her sleep. Xander was in a chair around the other side of the room, with Angel beside him. Buffy was asleep in Angel's arms, but she had a huge bloodstain on the front of her t-shirt. I wondered briefly how they explained that to the doctors, but decided it wasn't important.

"How is she?" I asked.

"Doc says she's in a coma." Xander replied. His arm was in a cast, supported by a sling around his neck. In a quiet voice he added, "They say the longer she's out, the less likely it is she'll wake up."

I felt my eyes burning with tears. "Oh, God." I swallowed hard. "How did it happen?"

Xander looked away, his face darkening with sudden rage.

Angel spoke up. "Faith...came to the library while we were in the middle of the spell. One of her lackeys pushed the bookshelf over on Spike, Willow, Xander and I. That's how Xander's arm was broken, and how Willow ended up in her coma."

A small cry escaped my lips. My Faith had done this. No, not my Faith. Not mine any more.

"Where's Giles?" I asked.

"He's out getting coffee." Angel answered. "Faith broke his fingers pretty bad."

I clenched my fists, looking away. Suddenly, my head snapped up. "What happened to Buffy? Why is she covered in blood? And how did you manage to sneak her in here like that?"

"We told the doctors the reason we were in the library was that we were making an independent horror movie." Angel explained. "We said the blood is fake, and the reason she's unconscious is that one of the heavier books hit her head. The doctor looked, but said it couldn't be too serious, since there wasn't even a bump."

I noticed that he hadn't said how she ended up covered in blood. "How did it happen?"

He bit his lip and looked away before he said, "Faith stabbed her with a hunting knife."

I sat down on the edge of Willow's bed, trying to take it all in. It was all too horrible to comprehend. I looked back over at him. "Why is she still alive? It looks pretty bad, and that's not a good place to be stabbed."

Angel swallowed hard, but couldn't answer this time. I looked to Xander, who was still furiously glaring at the floor. Finally, Spike spoke up.

"Angel turned her, to save her life." The blond vampire explained. "In a few hours, she'll wake up and be one of us."

Angel looked away in shame, guilt washing over him that he'd drank from her.

I realized with a sickening lurch that Buffy wasn't asleep she was dead. She was laying there in Angel's arms, but she wasn't alive. And in a few hours, she'd be what Angel and Spike are. What Faith is.

"Will she be...?" I started to ask, unable to bring myself to say the word.

"No." Angel said. "She was sired by a vampire with a soul she'll keep hers. She's not going to be evil."

I sighed in relief. But I felt sick with sympathy for Buffy, who would now live forever as what she'd been born to destroy.

"You didn't finish cursing Faith, did you?" I asked softly.

Angel looked at me, sorrow written all over his face. He shook his head no.

"So she's still going to destroy the world." I whispered, more to myself than to him.

"At noon today." He confirmed.

I clenched my fists and made a decision. Not if I can help it.

~*~ Spike ~*~

Willow and I were alone, for once. Angel had left Buffy on the row of chairs he and Xander had been sitting in so that he could go add to the blood supply in our fridge. Apparently, he'd decided Buffy was going to live in our apartment until she got the hang of being a vamp.

Xander had gone to get himself some coffee. Giles still hadn't come back from getting his. God only knew where Cordelia went.

So I was the only concious one in the room. I touched Willow's cheek.

"You know, pet, you really ought to wake up soon." I told her. "You'd be so excited to hear that Buffy's moving in with Angel and me. I know how badly you wanted things to work out for them." I pushed the cardinal red strands off her forehead, gently smoothing her hair out.

I tried again. "Come on, luv you gotta wake up. Who the hell's going to smack me upside the head whenever I make a dirty joke, huh?" I swallowed hard. "Who's going to be so beautiful when they blush that I want to pick them up, spin 'em around and kiss the life out of them? Certainly not Buffy or Cordelia." Nothing. God, if only I knew whether or not she could hear me...

"Willow luv, listen to me what's the point of my unlife if you're not around to make it miserable?" I'm not crying. See? I'm strong. "C'mon now, baby. Who else is going to be my little pixie?" I called her that. Out loud. "Dammit, Willow..." I clenched my teeth.

"I love you." I bent down, kissed her lips gently, then looked up at the ceiling, as in prayer.

"Spike...?" A voice mumbled. I looked down at her. Her eyes were open.

"Willow!" I cried softly.

"Where am I?" She asked softly, squinting as if she couldn't focus her eyesight.

But I didn't answer her. I leaned down and kissed her again instead. But this time was much better. She kissed me back. Not only that, but she put a hand on the back of my neck to pull me closer to her. A lot closer to her.

Kissing Willow. It was Heaven. I'd dreamed this so many times, it was perfect. So perfect I didn't even mind when I heard Xander, in the doorway, a few minutes later, mumble to himself, "Spike and Willow? Kissing? Damn. Looks like I owe Buffy some money."

~*~ Xander ~*~

"It's a bad idea." I said.

And I was right. It was a bad idea.

"Xander, we have to try." Willow told me, sitting up in her hospital bed, leaning against Spike. "We owe it to Faith."

"We don't owe shit to Faith." I responded. "Faith put you in a coma. She broke my arm, Giles' fingers, and killed Buffy. She broke Deadboy One and Two's ribs. She killed Miss Calendar. Exactly what do we owe her for?"

"Xander, Cordelia loves Faith." Willow said softly.

Why does everyone keep reminding me that Cordelia loves Faith? I know Cordelia loves Faith. Cordelia loves Faith so much, she dumped me to be with her.

Way to be bitter, Harris, I thought.

"We have to try to curse her again." Willow said.

I opened my mouth to protest again, but Willow cut me off, saying, "Resolve face."

I shook my head. "This is a bad idea."

Spike shot me a look. So did Giles. I took it as my cue to shut up.

"Anyway, Xander, all you have to do is go tell Angel and Cordy we're going to try the curse again and get my supplies. Okay?" Willow asked.

"Fine." I said, still angry inside. We don't owe Faith anything and Cordy deserves better than a psychotic Slayer-turned-vamp. I don't care if Cordy's a lesbian. That's her choice. But she should be a lesbian with someone normal.

I found Cordelia and Angel talking in the hall, Angel glaring at her and saying, "This is a bad idea."

I wondered if he had heard our discussion and shared my sentiments.

"Angel, I have to do this." Cordelia replied. "It's the only way."

"No, Cordelia there has to be something else we can do."

"I don't know if you noticed, but it's eight in the morning. You, Buffy, and Spike aren't going anywhere for another twelve hours. Xander, Willow and Giles are all hurt bad they can't fight. But I can still go. And I still have four hours to find her."

I froze. Cordy wanted to go after Faith? On her own?

"This is a bad idea." Angel repeated.

"Look, I'm going to do this with or without your help. But with your help, I actually have a chance of winning here."

Angel sighed and handed her a set of keys. "Go to my apartment. In the back of the weapons cupboard, there's a sword. It was blessed by the knight who originally slew Acathla. If Faith has completed the ritual by the time you find her, kill her with the sword, and it'll close his mouth. All right?"

Cordelia nodded. "Okay."

I felt my heart aching. Cordelia was willing to go out and kill the woman she loved more than life itself to save the rest of us. I walked over to them.

"Hey, Xander." Angel said.

"Willow's going to try and curse Faith again." I told them.

They gaped at me, making me wonder if I'd said it in English.

"You heard me, right?"

Cordelia nodded. "Yeah. So, um, if you can curse her soon, she'll have her soul back before she has a chance to awaken Acathla?"

I winced. "I have to go back to the library and get the spell. I also have to get Willow some new materials. Between the time that'll take, plus the drive, it'll be about four hours."

"What?" Cordy asked. "Why?"

"The bookstore here in Sunnydale is closed today. I have to leave town to get Willow's materials." I explained. "And if there's traffic..."

Cordy nodded. "I understand."

"I heard your plans." I said softly.

Cordelia bit her lower lip, looking away.

I sighed and gently squeezed her shoulder. "Do what you have to, Cor. I'll help you out however I can."

For the first time in months, Cordelia smiled at me. While they were together, all of her smiles had been for Faith. And ever since Faith had died, Cordy hadn't smiled at all. But now, she was smiling. And it was for me. I was breathlessly proud.

"Angel, go stay with Buffy we've got this covered." Cordelia told him.

Angel nodded and turned to go back to Willow's room.

"Angel..." Cordy called after him. He turned around.

"Thanks." She said softly.

Angel nodded. "Any time." He said softly.

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