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CHAPTER 3

Cordy woke feeling better than she had in a long time. It was early, so she showered and dressed and made her way down to the kitchen. The coffee was already on, so she knew someone was up. She poured a mug for herself and walked out to the lobby. Yup, there was someone up, all right. It was Angel.

“Angel! Why......? I mean, hi!” Cordelia winced, still the boss - remember, even if he didn't live here anymore. “Is something wrong? I, uh, I mean, it’s just that it has been a few days……since, you know, since we have heard from you and...”

“Cordy,” he said softly, “how are you?”

“I’m great!” She grinned a little too brightly at him “Practically back to myself, who ever that was.”

“That’s great! I mean, I’m glad you are feeling better. It’s nice to see you up and around.” He looked wistful. “I’ve missed you.”

Cordelia now knew something was up. Angel brooding was whatever passed for normal in her experience. This was more like someone had taken his favorite toy away. “Something IS wrong. You are giving me the wiggens here. Is it Wolfram and Hart? Has something happened?”

Angel looked startled. “No, nothing is wrong. I was just out all night trying to get information about the new threat and the sun was going to catch me, so I thought I would stop by here for the day. That’s all right, isn’t it?”

There was that look on his face again. Cordelia sighed, “Of course it’s all right - hello? this is your hotel! I’ll get your room ready.”

“That’s OK - I got it. I’ll be off to bed.” He looked intently at her then smiled and said softly “I have missed you, you know.”

Cordy looked steadily at him. “Me too. Now go off with you and I’ll talk to you later when you have had some rest. Sleep well, Angel.” She watched him tread wearily up the stairs. Something is definitely up with him. For the zillionth time since she learned about the world lurking just beyond the shadows, she made note that crises never came just one at a time! The why escapes her, but the certainty of that piece of knowledge could not be denied.

She hurried back to the kitchen, quickly got together two more coffees and the makings of a simple breakfast. She piled everything in the dumbwaiter, set the control and sent it up to the third floor. She lightly ran upstairs, slid the tray out on to the waiting trolley, and pushed it down to the end of the hall.

She rapped quietly on the first of the two doors at the end of the hall, then moved on to the second. Before she could raise her hand to knock, the first door opened. Sp....Will, she corrected herself, stood in the doorway regarding her silently. She felt a little thrill of fear run through her. “I brought coffee.” she said brightly, “and cereal…. You do eat cereal, don’t you? I mean if there is something else you want…I mean to eat....I mean for breakfast….. like…. eggs! Eggs or….. toast?….. or…..?” She laughed nervously, get a hold of yourself, Cordelia, he is NOTdangerous. Jonathon said. He’s a champion. THE Champion. Jonathon SAID. Oh, boy, that's not very convincing. I mean, just because he's human, doesn't mean that he can't hurt people - ME even. People hurt people all the time......I'll just go.........

Cordelia started edging around the trolley, poised to run but, oops, he was between her and the staircase. Lovely bit of planning that was, Cordy. She could feel the panic bubbling up inside her; she tensed to push the trolley at him so she could run when suddenly, he smiled, a sweet open smile. Her mouth gaped.

His smile was gentle and guileless. His eyes were soft, innocent even. He nodded his head politely and said “Thank you. This will be fine and much appreciated. But we must wake my friend. He has had a difficult time lately. There wasn’t much food, you see.”

Cordelia gave herself a mental shake. Well, at least he still sounds English!

************************************************

She left her guests to their breakfasts and returned to the kitchen to finish her coffee. As she entered the room, a startled Fred spun to face her.

“Oh, Cordelia” she laughed “you are up. I thought you were. There’s coffee made.”

“ ‘morning, Fred. Actually, Angel made it. He is upstairs, sleeping now. I didn’t hear you come in last night. Anything interesting happen?”

“No, not really. Everything is laying pretty low. Well, actually, we did learn a little. We talked to a few of the demons around. They’re pretty skittish - what with the killing and all. ‘cept, no one seems to know what this demon is. It got to town fairly recently, we think. It’s fast and strong and maybe black but beyond that, we have no more of a clue than before we went out. Oh, we did find out what the name means. It is in an obscure demon tongue, and it means “White Devil”. Funny, being black you'd think that it would be the Black Devil, or the Dark Devil or....”

Cordelia narrowed her eyes. There was a thought bouncing around in her head, pieces coming together. She pretended calm and took a sip of her coffee, her mind spinning. “What else did you hear, Fred?”

Fred fluttered her hands. “Oh, you know," she laughed nervously "this and that. But one really interesting thing came out. You know how we have been hearing that demons are being killed? They are, but so far no one who is peaceful has been hurt, and Jraedg, remember Jraedg? Wesley’s snitch? The one that, remember, gave us the address of that vamp nest that wasn't? What a waste of time that was. He told us, well not that we just accept his word, cause, you know, not reliable, but he said someone saw the Toh!rylojam protecting a Grellning demon, who was probably drunk, you know how they are, no sense at all, always fun, fun, fun and then the next thing....."

"Fred? The point?""

"Sorry, I do go on...Anyway it kept the Grellning from getting run over! Pretty much risked it's life! I mean how can that be? Some supposed mad dog killer is out there and it helps tipsy demons across the street!? I mean it would serve them right, always going off and ......."

Fred prattled on - a comforting and familiar sound - and Cordy mulled over the last bit of information. LA had a new player, and the new player was a hero of sorts. The Hyperion has a new guest and he's The Champion.

LA's new hero just might be The Champion.

Huh. Now what?



End of Chapter 3





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