The Ends of the Earth

Title: The Ends of the Earth (3/?): 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.

The Ends of the Earth (Part Three)

Cordelia stared at her answering machine. The little red button was flashing furiously, demanding attention. With a weary sigh, she hit play.

"You have 8 messages," the electronic voice informed her.

"Oh, goody," she said, rolling her eyes.

Beep. "Cordelia, this is Buffy." Cordelia raised an eyebrow, surprised. "Look, I'm really sorry about what I said when you were here. I was way out of line and I'm sorry. I just wanted to call and tell you that."

Beep. "Cordelia, this is Liz. I hadn't talked to you in awhile and I just wanted to say hi."

Beep. "Cordy, it's Xander. Calling to see how you were. Uh...I'll call back later. Bye."

Beep. "Hey, Cor. It's Aura. I was just calling to tell you that you should have seen what Lily MacEnzie was wearing to Ben's party last night! You wouldn't believe it. Call me!"

Beep. "Cordelia, dear. It's your mother. I thought I'd let you know that your father and I are spending Christmas with your aunt and uncle in Europe. It's going to be so wonderful! If I'm not too busy I'll try to call back. Happy holidays, darling."

"Yeah, Merry Christmas to you, too, Mom," she muttered, closing her eyes and rubbing her forehead.

Beep. "Cordy, it's Xander again. Are you *ever* home?"

She smiled despite herself.

Beep. "Cordelia, it's Liz. I sent you an email, but I'm not sure if you got it. Anyway, I'm having a New Year's Eve party at the Crashdown. I know you probably can't come because of work and everything, but I wanted to invite you guys anyway. Talk to you later."

Beep. "Cordy, are you there?" It was Xander yet again. "Is everything okay? Look, I'm getting worried. Call me when you get this message okay?"

"End of messages."

Cordelia picked up her telephone receiver and dialed the new phone number he'd given her when he was in L.A. a few weeks ago.

He picked up on the second ring. "Xander's House of Horrors. How may I assist you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Nice greeting, Xander."

"Cordy! Hey, is everything okay? Cause I tried to call you like a million times." His voice was concerned.

Cordelia was tempted to tell him what was going on but she resisted. There wasn't anything he could do anyway. "I know. I got your messages. Everything's fine. What's up?"

"Well, I was kind of wondering about your holiday plans."

"Ask her!" she heard Willow whisper in the background.

"Because we were all going to get together on Christmas Eve and hang out. We were wondering if you could come," Xander finished.

"It's nice of you to offer, but--"

"I'll be doing the Snoopy dance."

She smiled. "I can't. There's stuff here going on and I don't think it's a good time to leave town."

"It's not the end of the world again, is it?"

"No, nothing like that," Cordelia assured him.

"I wanna say hi!"

"Okay, hang on. Dawn's here and she wants to talk to you," Xander informed her.

"Hi, Cordy!"

"Hi, Dawn. How are you?"

"I'm fine. So you really can't come?" The girl sounded disappointed.

"I wish I could, but it's just not possible right now."

"That sucks. Well, Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas, Dawn."

The phone was handed over to Xander again. His voice was lowered when he spoke this time. "So are you really okay? You sound kind of tired."

"I'm all right. Thanks for the invitation."

"Sure. I wish you could come, though. Do, uh, you and Angel and Wesley have plans?"

Cordelia felt tears sting her eyes. "Yeah. We're having this whole big dinner party thing with some of our friends here," she lied.

"Oh. Well, that sounds like fun."

"Yeah," she answered vaguely. "It'll be great. Hey, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure."

"Tell Buffy I got her message and it's okay."

"Will do," he promised.

"I have to go, Xander. Talk to you soon?" She was on the verge of crying.

"Yeah, definitely. Cordelia, are you sure you're all right?"

She squeezed her eyes shut, willing away the tears. "Yep. Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas to you, too."

Cordelia hung up the phone and buried her face in her hands.

Angel had been taking a nap, and after only two hours, he woke up feeling refreshed and energized for the first time in weeks. He had heard her talking on the telephone in the kitchen and although he hadn't really meant to eavesdrop, he couldn't help himself. He leaned against the doorframe and stared at her. She didn't notice him, too caught up in her conversation with Xander.

"I'm all right. Thanks for the invitation," Cordelia said, her voice a bit unsteady as her fingers traced invisible patterns on the kitchen table. He wondered what invitation she'd just received. "Yeah. We're having this whole big dinner party thing with some of our friends here," she said. That's when he saw the tears start to form in her eyes.

He swallowed hard. She was pale, still visibly drained from their confrontation the previous night, and from the stress of the past few weeks.

"It'll be great. Hey, can you do me a favor? Tell Buffy I got her message and it's okay."

Angel frowned, wondering what that was about.

"I have to go, Xander. Talk to you soon?" He watched as she closed her eyes and tried to keep her voice steady. "Yep. Merry Christmas." She hung up the phone and buried her face in her hands.

For a long moment, he debated about what to do. She obviously had no idea he was standing there and he wasn't sure if she was in the mood for company. She had been fairly silent at breakfast earlier, though she had thanked him for the pancakes and bacon he'd fixed for her. He decided to take a chance.

"Hey," he said quietly as he stepped forward into the room.

Cordelia quickly wiped her eyes and turned to look at him. "Hey."

Angel sat down at the table across from her. "Xander?"

She nodded. "He invited me to a Christmas party."

So that's what the invitation was for. "That was nice."

"Yeah."

There was an awkward silence. He looked at her, but she refused to meet his eyes. "Cordelia?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you want to go back to Sunnydale for Christmas?" Angel hoped she said no, then felt badly for being selfish.

"No. I'm not really in the Christmas spirit. I'd just bring everyone else down." Cordelia stood up. "I think I'm going to take a nap. I'm kind of tired again." She left the kitchen and a moment later he heard her bedroom door close.

Angel sighed. He certainly wasn't making much progress with getting their friendship back on track. He stared at the blinking red light on the answering machine. Before he could stop himself, he reached out and hit play.

Beep. "Cordelia, this is Buffy." He leaned forward to listen closely. "Look, I'm really sorry about what I said when you were here. I was way out of line and I'm sorry. I just wanted to call and tell you that."

He frowned, wondering what had happened.

Beep. "Cordelia, this is Liz. I hadn't talked to you in awhile and I just wanted to say hi."

Beep. "Cordy, it's Xander. Calling to see how you were. Uh...I'll call back later. Bye."

Beep. "Hey, Cor. It's Aura. I was just calling to tell you that you should have seen what Lily MacEnzie was wearing to Ben's party last night! You wouldn't believe it. Call me!"

He glared at the machine in disgust.

Beep. "Cordy, it's Xander again. Are you *ever* home?"

Angel smiled. He wondered how Liz and Max and everyone were doing.

Beep. "Cordy, are you there?" It was Xander yet again. "Is everything okay? Look, I'm getting worried. Call me when you get this message okay?"

"End of messages."

He thought for a moment. Then he picked up the telephone and dialed a number.

"Crashdown Cafe. This is Maria. How can I help you?"

"Maria, this is Angel."

"Hi! What's up?"

"I'm at Cordy's...is Liz there?"

"Yeah, hang on." A second later, he heard her yell in a muffled voice, "Liz! It's Angel!"

"Angel?"

"Hi."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, it's fine, sort of. Uh, so you're having a New Year's Eve party?"

"Yep. Can you guys make it?"

"I think so. Cordelia's been kind of...stressed out lately, and I'm hoping that it might cheer her up."

"Is she okay?" Liz asked, obviously concerned.

"I don't know. And...I'm not going to tell her until Christmas, so if you talk to her--"

"Not a word from me. No problem," she agreed quickly.

Angel smiled. "Thanks, Liz."

"You're welcome. You probably won't need directions. There's not many businesses in Roswell."

"That's fine. We'll find it."

"Great! Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas."

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