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![]() SECOND SOLDIER DOWN By
Angel’s Kuuipo “Thank you.” She’s gone. I don’t want to believe it, but I know it’s
true. She’ll always be in my heart, in
the back of my mind kicking me in the ass when I start to stray from the path. I know that’s why she came back. I’ll never really be alone again. How do I tell the others? Show up at the Cat ‘n’ Fiddle and say, “Hey
guys, sorry but Cordy’s actually dead and won’t be
joining us for drinks.” I don’t think
so. Besides, that isn’t something you
tell your family in the middle of a crowded pub. I need to start making the funeral
arrangements. Oh, wait,
it’s the middle of the night. What the
hell am I going to do? “Angel?” “Wes.” “We waited for you for over
an hour. Where’s Cordelia?” “Get the others back here
okay? I’ll explain it to all of you
together.” “Is something wrong?” “Yes…no…just get them
here.” “Sure.” Wes went to phone the others, while I tried
to get myself together. “They’ll be here
momentarily.” “Yeah.” Silence reigned while we waited. Wes kept shooting me surreptitious looks that
I ignored. I couldn’t make small talk. Fred, Gunn and Lorne walked
in about ten minutes later. As Lorne
walked into the office he looked around and said in a soft voice, “She’s
gone.” None of us noticed that Harmony
and Spike had also come in. I looked at him and almost
lost it. The others looked at him
confused. I said, “Yes, she’s gone. The doctor called about an hour ago. She never woke up from the coma and passed
away peacefully.” “But, that’s
impossible. We all saw her, hugged
her…,” Fred wasn’t taking this
well. Can’t blame her. I’m not taking it well. I think numb is where I’m at right now. “Yes we did. Her spirit had one final mission before she
could truly rest. She came to get me, us
back on track. You know I was, am
lost. The Powers let her get me
back. She told me they owed her one and
that she didn’t waste it. I remember who
I am now and what it is that we’re doing.
We beat the bad guys. We are
going to make this work. But this whole
“gray area” thing is really not working for me.
We’ll figure out something.” I
finally noticed Spike lurking in the doorway. “Spike. Maybe having you on the streets is a good
thing. I go out and wind up with a
publicity squad on my tail. I cannot
believe I’m about to say this, but perhaps we can work together?” Everyone looked at me like
I had lost my mind. Again, can’t blame
them. I mean come this is
Spike I’m talking about. But now that I
think about it, he’s not going to go away.
He seems determined to be a pain in our collective ass, he might as well
be useful. Spike looked at me
thoughtfully for a moment then smirked as he opened his mouth to reply. Have I mentioned how much I hate that smirk?
“Yeah, mate. I think we could give it a
shot. But I refuse to call you boss.” “Right. We’ll work it out later. Would you and Harmony mind leaving us
now? I need to talk with the other
alone.” The both nodded as closed the
door quietly behind them. “Are you all alright?” The four of them looked at
each other then at me. All of them had
tears in their eyes and I knew the ones I had been holding back were about to
spill. Without a word we all came together
in a hug. “She’s not really
gone. She may not be here physically, but
she will always be in our hearts. I can
feel her in the back of my mind telling me I’ll be okay.” I said as we held each other. As we all came to some sort
of peace with Cordelia being gone, we went our
separate ways. In my apartment I set up
a picture of her next to one I had of Doyle.
“Second soldier down.” As I looked at my fallen
friends I felt sadness, but also a sense of peace. I really am where I’m supposed to be and I do
know who I am again. What was it Doyle
said to me after I took out Russell Winters, “Are you game?” Yeah, I’m game. I’m Angel and I beat the bad guys. |