Title: Sometimes You Must Go Back (2/3) 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 permanent 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 2)
Cordelia hated sewers.
And she hated rats even more. So when one scuttled over her
shoes, she barely managed to suppress a scream. She shuddered in
revulsion and picked up her speed.
What she wouldn't give right now to be curled up in bed asleep,
warm and safe from demons and vampires and other creepy-crawlies.
Why hadn't she tried to talk Spike into coming along? Granted, he
was a souless vampire, but he had some kind of chip in his head
that wouldn't allow him to hurt humans. And he had saved her from
that demon back there.
Of course, that didn't mean he'd do it again. Maybe he'd just
been feeling charitable, or…violent. And besides that, he
was the same vampire who had kidnapped and tortured Angel just a
year ago.
She frowned deeply at the memory. A sudden whimpering sound in
the tunnel to her left made her freeze. She heard a distant male
voice, then the whimpering again.
Cordelia moved silently down the tunnel until she was standing at
the mouth of the underground cavern she'd seen in her vision. She
spotted Dawn almost immediately. Her arms were chained to the
wall above her head and she was whimpering as a vampire hovered
in front of her. The blond woman from her vision was nowhere in
sight, and neither were Buffy, Willow or Xander.
Cordelia gripped the stake in her hand more tightly as she
crossed the cavern without a noise.
"She said not to kill you. But that doesn't mean I can't
have a little taste," the vampire informed Dawn, snarling.
He bared his fangs and Dawn struggled as he grabbed her hair and
moved his mouth toward her neck.
Before he had a chance to bite, Cordelia plunged the stake into
his back. "Have a nice trip to hell," she said grimly
as he exploded into dust.
Dawn stared at her wide-eyed. "Cordy!"
Cordelia smiled at her. "Hey, Dawn. Hold on a sec and I'll
get you out of here." She reached into her dufflebag and
pulled out her battle ax.
She took a deep breath and swung it at the chains above Dawn's
hands. It only took three strikes before the metal gave way and
split. Dawn threw her arms around Cordelia's waist and hugged her
tightly.
"When did you get back? Are you here for good?"
"I got back awhile ago, but I'm not staying. Come on, we
have to get you out of here." Cordelia grabbed her hand and
started pulling her towards the exit.
At that moment their path was blocked by three huge vampires. She
instantly backed up and handed Dawn the duffle bag. "There's
a cross and some Holy water in there. Hurry!"
Cordelia gripped her ax and glared at the approaching vamps.
"Okay. Who wants to see a nice beheading today?" she
demanded.
One of them grinned at her. "Love to. Yours, of
course."
"Not a chance," Dawn informed them, pulling out the
cross and moving to Cordelia's side, holding it out towards them.
They snarled but didn't come any closer.
"Looks like we have a stand off. Why don't you move out of
the way before I turn you into a big pile of dust?" Cordelia
suggested.
Before the vamps could respond, a voice screamed,
"Dawn!"
Without thinking, Dawn turned to see Buffy, Xander and Willow a
few feet away, and when she turned, she automatically lowered the
cross.
That was all it took. Two of the vampires tackled Cordelia while
the third one grabbed Dawn.
Cordelia hit the ground so hard the wind was knocked out of her,
and the ax slipped out of her hand. One of the vampires snarled
and leaned in to bite her neck while the other held her hands
pinned above her head.
"Two against one. That's a little unfair, don't you
think?" she heard Xander say, and one of the vampires was
thrown off of her.
She struggled for breath, brought her knees up to her chest and
then managed to slam her feet hard enough against the other
vampire's chest to send him flying back into the wall.
She quickly scrambled off the ground and looked around her. Four
more vampires had come in and were waiting for a turn at the
Slayer. Willow and Xander were both fighting with the vampire
he'd pulled of Cordelia. Dawn was cowered in the corner, watching
with wide eyes.
Cordelia grabbed her ax off the floor and turned just in time to
behead the vampire rushing towards her. Then she ran over to Dawn
and grabbed her hand. "Come on," she urged.
"We can't just leave them!" Dawn said fearfully.
"Listen to me. Buffy is the Slayer. She can handle this. We
have to get you out of here." Cordelia pulled her towards
the tunnel she'd came in through. She hoped she was right and
that the others would be okay. Her vision hadn't shown them
dying, just Dawn. Getting her out safely had to be Cordelia's
first priority.
They were halfway down the tunnel and out of sight from the
cavern when a high-pitched voice shrieked, "Where is my
prisoner?"
The shrill cry sent a chill down Cordelia's spine. "Who is
that?"
"Buffy said her name is Glory. We don't know anything about
her," Dawn said, a tear running down her cheek.
Cordelia bit her lip and turned to look behind her. To her
horror, there was a bright blue light illuminating back from the
cavern. That couldn't be a good thing.
"Dawn, I need you to listen to me very carefully. I want you
to take this cross and this bottle of Holy water and run down
this tunnel. Then turn right and keep running until you reach the
stairs. They'll take you up until you reach the crypt. Spike's up
there. Stay with him and tell him if he doesn't protect you I'll
send Angel after him, okay?"
"What about you? And the others?'
"I'm going back to help them. Run, Dawn. Now!" Cordelia
watched as Buffy's sister turned and ran away as fast as she
could.
Then with a deep breath, Cordelia turned and headed back for the
cavern.
Xander swallowed hard and stared as Glory began glowing blue.
This was weird. He'd seen a lot of things since learning Buffy
Summers was a vampire slayer, but this certainly fell under a new
category of weirdness.
He could feel his heart reverberating in his chest as he stood
perfectly still. Buffy and Glory stared at one another, both
unflinching and deadly still. And if that wasn't scary enough on
its own right, all the vampires suddenly fled.
"Slayer, where's my prisoner?" Glory demanded shrilly
again.
Xander ventured a glance around the room and then nudged Willow.
"Where is Dawn?"
She shook her head slightly. "She must have gotten away with
that girl that was helping her."
"Silence!" Glory screamed, turning to look at them,
pure rage in her eyes.
Xander and Willow instantly shut up, paralyzed by a sudden
onslaught of fear.
Buffy moved forward. "Can we fight now?"
Glory threw her head back and laughed, a strange, high-pitched
sound the vaguely resembled a hyena. And Xander would know.
"You think you can take me alone, you pitiful girl?"
"Hey," Xander said, insulted. He found himself unable
to move again as Glory stared directly at him.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" another voice said
suddenly.
Xander's eyes widened. It couldn't be.
But when Glory looked away from him, he found he was able to move
again and he turned to see the person who had spoken.
Sure enough, Cordelia Chase stood not twenty feet away from him.
And she was pissed.