Title: The Ends of the Earth (2/?): Story 15 in the "Who
I Am, What I'll Become" Series
Author: X_tremeroswellian
Email: X_tremeroswellian@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Cordelia, Angel, Wesley, Gunn, Kate, Oz, Doyle,
David, Dennis, Lindsey, Xander, Willow, Buffy, Dawn, Giles, and
Spike all belong to Joss Whedon. Liz, Maria, Alex, Max, Michael,
Isabel, Tess, Kyle and Nasedo all belong to Melinda Metz and
Jason Katims. Clayton is mine. Please don't sue. I'm not making
any money.
Rating: PG-13 for language and content
Spoilers: Up through "Are You Now or Have You Ever
Been" for Angel, and "Destiny" for Roswell and the
first 14 stories in this series, especially the first one,
"Illusions."
Timeline: The morning/afternoon/evening after the events that
took place in story 14, "Things Fall Apart."
Summary: The Angel Investigations gang begins to rebuild
itself while Angel looks for a way to make things up to Cordelia
and pull her out of her depressed state.
Distribution: Anyone with previous permission to archive the
series may take it without asking. Anyone else, just let me know
the link. For those of you looking for previous parts, the whole
series thus far is being archived at www.geocities.com/angel_roswell/whoiam.html.
Category: Story/semi-crossover with Roswell and Buffy the Vampire
Slayer.
Subcategories: Angst/friendship
Keywords: For Angel: None yet, but if you haven't guessed by now,
the series has a lot of Cordelia/Angel stuff; a Wesley/Kate
pairing is possible but not certain. For Buffy: All the current
Buffy couples (though they don't appear that much): Buffy/Riley,
Willow/Tara, Xander/Anya. For Roswell: Max/Liz, Michael/Maria,
Isabel/Alex and it's very probable that in the future there will
be a Tess/Kyle pairing.
Feedback: Is always appreciated.
Dedication: For Barbara. Hope you like it! :)
Author's Note: Okay, some of the bumps are behind us, but the
road ahead is still long and winding. Cordelia and Angel are
still just friends at this point, and will remain so for awhile.
I like to take my time with these delicate matters of the heart.
Author's Note II: This part is short. Had to get some things out of the way. The rest of it will be heavy A/C stuff, I promise. :)
The Ends of the Earth (Part Two)
Kate Lockley stretched her arms above her head as she walked down the stairs of the Hyperion and into the lobby. She smiled slightly as she saw Wesley sitting at the front desk studying the files again. "Good morning."
He looked up. "Good morning. Sleep well?"
"Actually, yeah," she admitted. She had been averaging two to three hours sleep a night for the past week and last night Gunn had convinced her that she needed to rest. And she had. She'd gotten a full eight hours of sleep and was now brimming with energy. "How about you? Did you get any sleep?"
Wesley sighed and rubbed his eyes wearily. "I dozed a couple of times in the lobby of Cordelia's apartment building."
"How is she?"
"She was still sleeping when I spoke with Angel earlier."
"Then I assume that they talked?"
He nodded. "Apparently. He didn't go into much detail. He's feeling very guilty."
"Then he knows about--?"
"Yes. He knows all of it, thank God," Wesley murmured. He blinked and shook his head. "I'm sorry. Would you like some coffee?"
Kate nodded. "Coffee would be great." She watched as he poured her a cup and then handed it to her. "Thanks."
"You're welcome." He took a deep breath. "The killer may not be our only problem."
She raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening."
"Angel said he's been feeling very, well...drained of energy since he moved in here. Which explains why he's been sleeping so much."
Kate stared at him and waited for him to continue.
"I think that perhaps there may be some kind of demon residing here that's been feeding off his energy."
Adrenaline immediately surged through her veins. "Has this been happening to anyone else?"
"Not that I'm aware of."
"But why would a demon only feed off Angel when there's all these other people staying here?" she asked, confused. "I mean, demons don't tend to discriminate against who they kill."
"Maybe it's not trying to kill him," Wesley said quietly, frowning. "Maybe it's targeted him for a specific reason. At any rate, he's going to be staying at Cordelia's for awhile. As long as no one else has problems, our first priority must be to find this serial killer."
Kate nodded in agreement, then hesitated. "What if it tries following Angel?"
"Then our priorities will shift." Their eyes met and she settled down at the desk next to him, working side-by-side.
Lindsey McDonald stared out across the city from his office window. "I knew this would happen," he said, barely able to contain the anger he was feeling.
"Calm down, Lindsey," Holland said with a smile.
"Calm down? Darla can't reach Angel when he's staying at the girl's apartment. There's no access!"
In her corner of the room, hidden in the shadows, Darla smiled. "There doesn't need to be."
He turned to face her. "You can't go in unless she invites you."
"I'm aware of that, Lindsey," she said softly. "Haven't you ever heard the expression that patience is a virtue?"
Lindsey stared at her for a long moment.
"We can wait...I'm not going anywhere and neither is Angel. Let him have his human holiday with his new family. It will be his last." Darla smiled knowingly.
And though it was against his better instincts, he believed her. Lindsey smiled back.