for the rest of us death will be a relief

[praevaricatio]

Comments

[extrasauce]

We hope so, but I do have some news for you. I'm sitting here with your friend, Fred.

[The phone is on speaker, so she gestures for Fred to speak, letting Angel know she's really there and not just Jody pulling his leg with something she couldn't have known.]

[redeems]

( "It's real good to hear your voice," she says, leaning forward, a little too loudly, not used to speakerphone. Technology has had some adjustments since the early 2000's.

There's a long pause, as Angel stirs the blood coffee he's poured. He's at a loss for words. )

... You, too.

( She sounds okay. That's something. Is this the Powers? Turning, he signals for Alexander to come over here. Sorry for the snapping. He knows you're kind of in charge, but time is kind of the essence. )

Is she in Sioux Falls?

[extrasauce]

She is. I've got her at the sheriff's station, so I can wait with her here, but if you guys are far, I can take her back to my place and we can wait there.

[Fred is human and Dean has vouched for her so if Fred needs to sleep in her guest room, Jody is fine with that.]

[redeems]

( Out of ear range of the phone, to Alexander )

Is Cordy reachable right now?

( And then back into the phone. )

I'm in Baltimore and I don't -- exactly know where she is. She's fine. That sometimes happens. It's better we don't know if they're - helping someone. But, I'm working on getting in touch with her. In the meantime, Fred, we trust Jody. She works with friends of ours. You'll be safe with her.

( "I trust you, Angel," she says, sitting back again, playing the strings on her hoody. When she has nothing better to do, she fidgets. "If you don't mind," she says, knowing Jody still offered. )

[extrasauce]

Not at all.

[Jody always preferred a full house over an empty one. Claire is out on a hunt and Alex and Paige are flirting with getting their own apartment to share, to try their hand at independence, so she's starting to feel the emptiness of the house these days.

Alexander pulls out his phone and slides a thumb through his text messages. "She's covering something for Annie and Shep, but they're on their way back so she should be back in a couple days? It may be faster if you go get her and Cordy meets you there."]

[redeems]

Can you - what do you call it - get me on an airplane today?

( Back to his phone call. )

I'll send you my uh - fly-in-times. Fred. See you soon.

( "See you soon, Angel!" she says. As she hangs up, Fred catches something from before. "You called Angel Cordelia's better half. Did they finally get their heads out of their you-know-where's?" )

[extrasauce]

[Alexander will get Angel on a plane and will also use his phone to send a text to Jody when Angel is getting in. It's more efficient this way.

In response to Fred's question:]

I called him her other half. I think we both know that Cordy is the better half.

[That being said, she shrugs.]

They've kind of been together as long as I've known them? Maybe not officially but ... I've never really known them any other way.

[splotchy]

Yeah, they kind of danced around each other, for like a year. But, then Cordelia was called up to be a higher power and nothing was ever the same.

( There's also a lot of grossness and then Jasmine. And her coma. )

So, Cordelia's back. And Angel's alive and - if I may say so, out of Hell. Have you heard anything about Wesley Wyndham-Pryce or Charles Gunn?

[extrasauce]

[Jody glances up at her before shaking her head sympathetically.]

I'm not familiar with those names, no. The only other friend of Cordy and Angel's I've met other than you is a guy named Spike.

[And Spike is a character, she doesn't think she needs to qualify that further.]

[splotchy]

Spike?

( He survived? )

Well, he did help where he could when he could actually make physical contact. And he was brought back for a reason. Maybe I was brought back for a reason. I didn't find a giant gaudy necklace near by body, though.

[extrasauce]

In my experience, when it comes to resurrections, there's usually a reason. It isn't always good, but sometimes it works out.

[She's seen both sides of it at different points, so she's not going to immediately condemn this as bad.]

And it seems like you're not alone, either.

[splotchy]

Really?

( She looks around her in the chair and them over Jody's head to see if there's anyone else in the station she missed. )

[extrasauce]

[She shakes her head, before holding up the phone.]

Not here. But it seems friends of mine have found some in Baltimore, and they have reason to believe there may be more.

[Because it's never just a couple with these kinds of things as far as the Winchesters are concerned.]

[splotchy]

And here I was always told I was special.

( But, she's joking. )

But, please, do whatever work you need to do. I'll just occupy myself until it's time to get going.

[extrasauce]

Are you hungry? I have a little bit of paperwork to do, but I can order you something to eat while you wait.

[The local restaurants aren't far, and unfortunately her stack of paperwork is a bit tall.]

[splotchy]

Oh, yes. Actually. Please. Starved, now that I'm thinking about it.

( She hasn't really been able to, and now she feels her belly inside. Yep. She's hungry. )

[extrasauce]

[Jody nods and pulls out her phone, pulling up the online menu for the local diner and extends it out to her.]

Knock yourself out.

[and she will go back to her paperwork, and once they're done with their meal and their work, Jody will take her back to her house and give her a warm place to sleep until their friends arrive.

Cordelia finally checks her messages after Annie calls and says that they'll take it from there, and she immediately books a flight to Sioux Falls. By the time she lands in the airport, she knows that Angel's flight isn't far, and perks up when she catches the sight of a familiar set of broody shoulders.

"Angel! Wait up!"]

[redeems]

( The joke here is that Angel doesn't need to be caught. He's far enough away, but stopped, as he looks up at the big board of destinations, arrivals, departures. It's a lot of words to -- And there's her voice. He turns to see her, having just gotten off her plane.

As they meet in the middle, Angel grumbles like Angel does. )

I was trying to find your gate, but the letters are so small.

[letsbe_clear]

It's fine. We have each other now, and we have a rental car to get us to Jody's.

[Alexander thought it would be prudent, given that they're probably going to have to bring Fred back with them to Baltimore. And he was also wise enough to put it on Cordelia's phone, because if there's anyone who would take to smart technology, it would be Cordelia Chase.

She glances at the sign and then points.]

Cars are that way.

[redeems]

( He read Buffy's messages, remembering vampire Willow in her senior year. He also knows about reality warping. Maybe it's the Powers that Be rewarding them for saving every universe from God himself. He knows better than to think he will ever earn his redemption. He is a fully formed, complicated vampire. He does good. He is also a curmudgeonly old, traditional man. He is a dork. He is a lot of things. But, redeemed?

He nods, his hand finding hers. )

What kind of car'd he get us?

[letsbe_clear]

Just a sedan.

[The Underground is not a flashy group, and everything they do is designed to fly under the radar.]

I know it's not you're usual style, but it's only for one trip.

[redeems]

Better have Apple Play.

( So he can play his songs, at least, when they drive. He is an insufferable old man once he learned Apple Music. But, also, thank you Cordy for helping him with his technology.

He closes the trunk of the car and goes around to the driver's seat. Inside, he sets the phone in the cradle as it asks to pair. )

It wants to pair. Yes. ( And they're cruising out of the airport parking lot to Billy Joel's "River of Dreams." ) Any more theories out there as to why people are suddenly back? I bought Fred something in the airport shop while I was waiting for my flight. I think she'll like it.

[letsbe_clear]

I'm sure she will.

[Cordy settles in her seat and pulls open her phone, starting to scroll through the chat again.]

They're bouncing around theories of some kind of wish spell? But hard to really say for sure.

[She shrugs.]

I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth.

[redeems]

Not like yours.

( Something happens when you ascend, come back, die and then you're brought back for cosmic balance. Things like compulsion and wishes come back. Cordelia didn't give him every detail but he remembers the Willow side of things. And they were... off. )

[letsbe_clear]

[Cordy shakes her head.]

Sam is saying something about a spell ingredient and a witch spell so it might be just ... unforeseen consequences of big magic. We just have to hope there isn't going to be some kind of karmic rebalancing.

[Because Jo isn't wrong that these things usually have consequences.]