Title: Sometimes You Must Go Back (1/3) Story #7 of the "Who I Am, What I'll Become" Series
Author: X_tremeroswellian
Email: X_tremeroswellian@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Um, not mine. They're Joss Whedon's.
Rating: PG-13 for language, content and violence
Spoilers: The whole Glory plot on Buffy, and the first 6 stories of this series I'm working on.
Summary: Cordelia returns to Sunnydale to help save Buffy's sister Dawn.
Distribution: Let me know the link. Otherwise, its permenant home is at the "Who I Am" site: www.geocities.com/angel_roswell/whoiam.html . All previous stories can be found there.
Category: Story/Crossover with Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Feedback: Is motivational and appreciated.
Sometimes You Must Go Back (Part 1)
They say going back is never easy. That it should be avoided--let the past stay in the past and forge ahead with the future. You can't turn back time, so why waste more of it trying?
People say a lot of things. But most people didn't grow up on a Hellmouth. Most people don't spend all their lives fighting the forces of darkness. In fact, most people spend their lives denying that those forces even exist.
So when people say that you can't go home again, they're wrong. Because what applies to most people...almost never applies to everyone.
***
Cordelia clutched the steering wheel tightly and stared at the road in front of her. The sun was nearly set, which meant she should be arriving in Sunnydale just in time for all the vampires to have a shot at making her an all-you-can-eat-smorgasbord. As if they hadn't had enough chances when she was in high school.
She tried to push aside the growing amount of dread she felt in her stomach. She wished she'd been able to get a hold of Wesley or Angel so she didn't have to do this alone.
Wouldn't it be ironic if she had managed to escape the Hellmouth once, just to return in order to save someone else and wind up getting killed?
Yeah, that would be hilarious, she thought sourly, then she shoved that thought aside.
She had never intended on going back to Sunnydale once she'd left. There was nothing and no one there for her to go back to. Her parents had left town to avoid a prison sentence for cheating on their taxes. And while she and Willow occasionally chatted on the phone or via emial, it was mostly about demons and prophecies, not personal stuff. So it wasn't like she had a lot of friends there. Or any.
And then there was the Xander factor.
Not going there, either, Cordelia thought with a grimace.
She drew in a deep breath as she spotted the all-too-familiar sign up ahead.
Welcome to Sunnydale.
She was home.
Xander Harris looked around the dark sewer tunnels. "Buffy, I kind of have a feeling that Glory isn't a sewers-type-of-girl."
Willow Rosenburg sighed. "I told you I should have cast that locating spell."
"Will, the spell would have taken thirty minutes. Dawn is missing now. There's no time to lose." Buffy walked ahead of them, determined.
Xander and Willow exchanged a look and followed close behind, both clutching a stake in one hand and a cross in the other.
"So what's the plan?" Xander asked cautiously.
"We find Dawn. I kill Glory," Buffy replied without hesitation.
"That didn't work the last time, remember?" Xander reminded her.
"Yeah, Buffy, we don't know what she is. How are you going to kill her? If Tara's right and she's been around for thousands of years...we don't know anything about her, I mean, the research hasn't turned up anything," Willow said worriedly.
"Guys, just focus on getting Dawn. Leave Glory to me."
"That'd be great if we knew where she was," he said quietly to Willow.
Cordelia gripped a stake in her right hand and slung her duffle bag over her shoulder as she climbed out of Angel's car. Her heart was pounding double-time and she rolled her eyes in disgust. Okay, granted. She didn't want to be here. But Cordelia Chase was *not* going to allow her fear of seeing the Scooby Gang prevent her from doing what she came here to do.
She straightened her shoulders and walked confidently towards the cemetary, tilting her chin up slightly, as though daring something to attack her. She spotted the old crypt immediately and started the short trek towards it. It was the nearest and easiest entrance to the sewer tunnels that wound beneath the town.
"I'll be damned. Look who it is."
Cordelia paused mid-step and then turned to see Spike smirking at her, puffing on a cigarette. "Spike," she said cautiously.
"Where's Peaches? He in town?"
"Nope." She turned to go.
"What are you doing here? Back to see the Slayer's other little lapdog?"
Cordelia's eyes narrowed but she didn't give him the satisfaction of a look. "No. I'm not here to see Xander. And with any luck I won't."
"That's good. He's dating an ex-demon these days. Still panting after Buffy, though." He fell into step with her.
She was surprised at the stab of pain she felt at his words, but she quickly buried it. "Good for him. Bye."
"What? Doesn't that piss you off? No bitchy comeback? What happened to you?" Spike demanded, frowning.
She stopped and faced him. "Look, I'm not here on a social call. I'm here because Buffy's sister is in trouble. Some blond woman's going to kill her if I don't get there first."
"Dawn's in trouble? How would you bloody know?"
"I had a vision. It's a long story." Cordelia reached for the crypt handle and let out a startled cry as she was suddenly thrown to the ground, pinned down by a very ugly demon with sharp teeth.
Less than a second later, Spike grabbed it and slammed it up against the side of the crypt. Cordelia scrambled to her feet and reached for her duffle bag to pull out her axe, but before she even had a chance to grasp it, Spike had snapped the thing's neck.
Cordelia stared at him.
"What?" he asked defensively.
"Thank you."
He stared at her for a moment, confused. "Uh...yeah. Sure." Spike followed her into the crypt.
"You coming?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.
"No. Staying here to keep watch." He sat down on the concrete tomb.
"All right, Spike. See ya."
"Don't get killed," he called after her as she walked into the sewers. She couldn't help the smile that crept onto her lips as she headed off to the dark underground.