Alone, Together
by: GylzGyrl
Rated NC-17
Pairing: G/C (no you read it right), G/B (mentioned, see told you it was me)
Timeline/Spoilers: Up through about the first couple eps of season 4 for Buffy and season 1 for Angel.
Author's Notes: Giles and Cordy both just seemed so isolated and unhappy at the beginning of the season that I got it into my head that maybe they could make each other feel better. Plus it seemed like a good way to answer a challenge posted awhile ago of write for a ship you normally don't. I normally write B/G but I think you'll guess that from reading this :) Thanks for the beta Kaz.
Dedication: For Brenda and Ann.
Written: 2000
Cordelia was just finishing up a game of computer hangman when the sound of someone clearing their throat startled her. She looked over to the open door of the office of Angel Investigations and smiled. A very masculine and entirely fine form filled the entryway. Cordelia's eyes swept the figure from the feet up. Black Doc Martens, blue jeans (washed just enough to be slightly tight and faded), a soft-looking gray knit sweater, the more she saw, the more she liked. When she got to the face, she took in the handsome features and sighed. Then her jaw dropped in recognition and she looked again. "Giles?"
He smiled at her sweetly and entered. "It's me Cordelia. How are you? A-am I interrupting?"
"What? N-no!" She quickly closed her game and brought up a budget spreadsheet. "Wow, who's been dressing you? You look...so not-tweed! And no glasses?"
"Well I-I still wear those, I just...didn't. So this is where you're working now?"
"Temporarily. You know, favor for Angel. Just to get him settled." Cordelia didn't miss the slight wince at the mention of Angel's name. "Why are you here? I get the feeling Angel still isn't exactly on your Christmas list so what brings you?"
"Angel called me." He held up the brown leather valise he carried. "Requested one of my volumes for...important research he said."
"For a book? Why didn't you just mail it to him?"
Giles looked indignant. Cordelia tried not to smile. "This volume is over 600 years old Cordelia. Not something to be entrusted to the American postal service if one can avoid it."
"So you schlepped it on a two hour drive from Sunnydale to the office of a man...correction, vampire that you can barely stand the sight of?"
He cleared his throat. "Angel and I have put aside..."
"Oh puh-lease. I'm not Buffy. And I'm not as dense as you think. When I said Angel's name you looked like you were going to hurl for a second."
"Things are...complicated between he and I." He said it with such finality, even Cordelia could tell he considered that the close of the matter. She looked at him thoughtfully and simply nodded, letting it go at that for the moment. She had her own problems.
"I can take you downstairs to his apartment before I go home if you like."
He smiled again. "That would be very helpful, thank you."
"Don't want to be left alone with him really do you?"
"Cordelia."
"Shutting up now. Follow me." She led and he did indeed follow. "I'm right though aren't I?" His long-pained sigh of frustration made her grin. She'd always loved getting under his skin and it hadn't lost any of the pleasure. 'At least some things don't change.'
Cordelia exited the elevator in the dark. She sighed and ran her hand along the wall in search of the lightswitch. "Geez Angel, you'd think you could at least pay the electric bill. It's not like the money is going into paying my check or anything." She found the switch. "Ah, Angel, look who's come to..." She stopped mid-sentence as she spotted Angel stretched between two big demons like some kind of hammock. One of them was holding Angel around his ribcage while the vampire had his legs wrapped around the other's neck.
"Hey Giles," Angel almost pulled off sounding nonchalant as he continued to twist his hips back and forth, hoping to cut off the oxygen to the demon he held in a semi-chokehold. "Cordelia, do me a favor and take Giles to your apartment until I finish with my pals here."
Cordelia's eyes widened. "Uh Angel, I don't think that's such a good ide..." An arm suddenly punched through the back door. It looked very much like the arms trying to end her employer's afterlife. It began to grope for the knob.
"No time to argue. Get the Hell out of here!"
Cordy shoved Giles back into the elevator and pushed the up button. When they reached the floor that contained Angel's offices, they disembarked. "We can take my car," Giles stated.
"Look, I'm sure he's going to finish those things off any minute now. We might as well just wait here."
The sound of breaking glass from somewhere on the level they occupied caused them both to jump. Giles grabbed her arm and began to pull her toward the door. "Come on." Once she began moving with him out the door, Giles' hand slipped down from her upper arm to her hand, which he clasped to keep her close behind.
******
Giles was more than a little surprised at the neighborhood Cordelia had directed him to drive to. He was even more surprised when she told him to pull over near a particularly dilapidated building and pulled out her keys. Cordelia would not meet his gaze, simply exiting the car as soon as it halted. Giles turned off the motor and followed her close behind. To say this looked like a bad neighborhood was a serious understatement. He didn't like the thought of her walking by herself even a few paces ahead, let alone her living here on her own.
They ascended the staircase together, carefully stepping over a sleeping wino, and continued on to her second floor apartment. She unlocked three deadbolts on her door and motioned for him to enter. Once they were both inside, she relocked the deadbolts and also pulled the chain lock. She flipped a switch on the wall and a dim yellow bulb snapped to life across the room. It barely illuminated the small dingy room but Giles supposed the last thing she wanted was to be able to see her accommodations clearly. She still wasn't looking at him. "So, this...this is your apartment?"
Finally Cordelia turned, a sad smile on her face. "Fraid so."
"It's um...very cozy."
"Yeah, like a crypt, but not as snazzy and well-kept."
"It's not that bad Cordelia," he lied.
"Giles?" He looked to her as she turned away, unable to keep the tears out of her voice. "Please don't tell anyone I live like this."
He stood and walked over to her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Of course not. You don't want people to feel sorry for you?"
She laughed weakly. "I could give a shit about them feeling sorry for me. I don't want them throwing parties over it and laughing."
"Cordelia, I'm sure no one would..."
She spun to face him. His hands came to her shoulders again. "You really don't think so? Maybe you're not as smart as I thought you were. There's plenty of people in Sunnydale who would love nothing more than to know that this," she gestured helplessly at her room, "this is my life. Plenty of them who would say that Cordelia Chase bitch got just what she deserved." She moved past him and sat on her sofa. Giles set his valise down and sat next to her. "I just want to know when it ends."
"When what ends Cordelia?"
"The punishment. I mean, I know I deserve it, but it's not like I ever killed anybody. When do I get to stop paying?"
He gently took her hand in his own. "What punishment?"
"Everything fell apart last year. Ever since I first saw Willow and Xander kissing, my whole life fell apart. If I tell you something, do you *swear* to me you'll never tell anyone?"
"Yes."
She took a deep breath. "Xander was the first person...that I ever loved. When I saw him kissing someone else, it was like I couldn't breathe. I was sure I was going to throw up so I ran...and then I fell. And lucky me, I got impaled." Giles squeezed her hand a little tighter. "And I lay there in the hospital and nobody came to visit me, not even my parents because they were in Antigua. I mean, Xander came the day after, but only because he felt guilty."
"I came."
Cordelia looked at him wide-eyed. "You did?"
He nodded. "Yes. That first night when we weren't quite sure you were going to make it through the surgery. I sent Xander home and I waited to make sure you were going to be all right. When you came out of the operating room, they let me go in and hold your hand for a bit while you slept, then they sent me home as well."
"You...you talked to me, didn't you?" He nodded again. "I thought I dreamed that."
She stood and began to pace a bit. "After I got out of the hospital, it was even worse. I'd lost my boyfriend, but I'd also lost all my friends by default. I mean, I couldn't deal with Willow, Oz and Buffy of course went with her, and you go with Buffy. And none of my old gang wanted me back. I was all alone. And then not a week later, my father lost everything. I had to take a crap job with a bitter skank of a boss just to try to scrape enough together for a prom dress. Then I had to study for finals while everything we owned was sold off or repossessed all around me."
Cordelia went to stand by the window, wiping a tear away with the back of her hand. "And then I'm out here less than a week and I almost get eaten by a big rich vampire and have to be rescued by the vampire that had almost killed me the year before. And now, I'm working for him. Not to mention living in this fabulous villa! Casa De Cockroach." Her cheeks were wet as she turned to him once more. "I'd offer you something to eat, but there isn't anything."
Giles sat there staring at her. He was trying to think of anything he could say that would be of comfort and was drawing a total blank. She was right in that some people in Sunnydale would say she deserved it. That they would laugh and be happy in her misery. Giles' heart broke for her.
Cordelia noted his silence. He was probably disgusted with her, she surmised. Disgusted at her surroundings and disgusted with her sob story. She looked into his eyes again, noticing not for the first time how gentle, kind and beautiful they were. He may have been an expert at bottling up his emotions but his eyes always told the story, if anyone bothered to see it. When she looked into his eyes now, all she saw was caring, and compassion.
She cleared her throat. "So how is everyone back in Sunnydale?"
"Oh uh...they're fine."
"Uh huh, and how's Buffy?" He raised an eyebrow and she smiled. "Pretend I care."
"Buffy is um...fine I suppose."
"You suppose? This coming from Mr. Knows Everything About Buffy From Her Shoe Size To Her Monthly Cycle? What's up with that?" She came to sit by him once more.
"Well things have been a bit...strained lately. She's been distant. It's my fault really I think."
"Why? What did you do?"
"I wanted Buffy to be able to stand on her own feet. You know, get used to her independence so she knew she could depend on herself in case...well if I wasn't there some day."
"And?"
"And the first week of school, she was at my house asking for my help and I...gave her a little push away."
"And it didn't work out like you hoped?"
"I'm afraid my little push was interpreted as more of a shove. She's pulled almost completely away now."
Cordelia touched a hand to his hair. "You're still waiting for her aren't you?"
"P-pardon?"
Her face wore a wistful expression. "I met you too late, you know? If I'd have gotten to you before Buffy did, you'd have been mine. Who knows? Maybe we'd have still been together. Maybe we would have been happy."
"I-I don't understand."
"I'd seen you in the halls, glimpses and all. I never really saw you until that stupid Marcy Ross came after me. I saw you and thought, 'Wow!' Do you remember the first thing you did for me?"
He cleared his throat and bowed his head, blushing sweetly. "N-not really I'm afraid."
"You gave me your chair. All I could think of was that story from when I was little about that guy who laid his cloak over the mudpuddle so the lady he loved wouldn't even dirty her shoes. You know the one?"
"I dimly recall." He smiled.
"Well, then we all started discussing the whole invisible Marcy situation and Buffy said something. I don't remember what it was, but it doesn't matter. When I saw the way you looked at her, the happy in your eyes just at the sound of her voice, I knew you were already very taken. You were hers then and she didn't notice. You're still hers now. You always will be. I just hope she realizes it while there's still enough time for it to make a difference." Cordelia stood and crossed to her bed. She sat down and tucked her hair behind her ear.
He looked after her. "You had a crush on me?"
She shrugged. "Why do you think I came on to Angel so hard? You know, before I knew he was," she crooked two fingers and held them before her mouth to simulate fangs. He nodded. "I didn't think it was fair for Buffy to get you both."
Giles shook his head and ran his hand back through his hair. "Why do you think I volunteered for research duty alone with you so often? It sure wasn't for the pure enjoyment of reading." He laughed softly, the sound lightening Cordelia's mood, albeit briefly.
"When I finally got over the eww that was accepting that I had fallen for Xander and got to the nice part, I thought I had found what you and Buffy...well, the thing you would have if she would stop with the Helen Keller. And then..." She sniffed back tears and smiled. "Well, aren't I just the queen of the pity party. I'm sorry. I think this is the whine you came in on."
Giles moved to her side on the bed and took her hands in his. "You can talk to me you know? I miss having people talk to me when it's not life and death." He retucked the stray hair behind her ear when it came loose. His hand lingered and perched on her cheek. "I even miss you Cordelia."
She laughed and it shook loose a tear. "Oh sure."
"I mean it. Who else have I got to aggravate me to the point of putting my fist through a wall?"
Cordy arched her eyebrow. "Xander."
"Yes well..." he searched for the right thing to say to try to take the hurt from her eyes. "It's not the same. He doesn't dress as well as you do."
She looked up into his eyes in surprise. A gentle smile spread across his face. She began to giggle and leaned forward to rest her cheek against his chest. His arms came around her in a loose embrace. She inhaled his scent deeply and slowly circled her arms around his back. For the first time since she left Sunnydale, she felt like she was home. Not home in her hovel, but in Giles' embrace, his spicy smell, the softness of his sweater, his heat. She found herself tightening the hug, nuzzling so close she could hear his heartbeat. She noticed it had begun to speed up.
A lopsided smile spread across her features. She tilted her head up and brushed her lips against his throat. He shivered and pulled her back a little. His eyes had turned smoky with what she recognized as arousal. She smiled at him as he searched her face.
Cordelia leaned toward his mouth ever so slightly. Giles' hands came up and gently caught her head between them, holding her just inches from his lips. "I'm sorry. I-I didn't come here to take advantage of you. I didn't mean to..." His words trailed off as she slowly turned her face into his palm, placing a kiss there. Her hand then came up and took hold of his wrist. She pulled his hand from her cheek and placed her lips on the tip of his finger then slowly took it into her mouth. Again, she felt him shudder.
She slipped the digit from her mouth and kissed the tip. "Giles," she whispered against his skin, "take advantage of me."
Giles began to shake his head when her hand came to cup his chin, one slender finger pressing to his lips. "Everything in this world that's mine is in this sad little room. Just for once, let me have something of somebody else's for awhile?" She moved the finger from his lips and replaced it with her mouth. She kissed his stunned, unmoving mouth then pulled back just enough to whisper, "I promise to have you back before she even knows you're gone." She kissed him again. "Before she ever even knows you were hers to begin with."
The kiss she gave him then was harder, demanding. Cordelia Chase was used to getting her way and felt no small amount of satisfaction when Giles' lips parted to allow her tongue's entrance and his hand came into her chestnut hair. She moved until she knelt on the bed, then grabbed a handful of his sweater and tugged it quickly up over his head.
Her hands were drawn instinctively to the sprinkle of hair on his wonderful chest. She drew them across him in lazy movements, luxuriating in his warmth and softness. He bit his lip, his breath catching at her explorations. Cordelia smiled at him and gave him a slight push back until he was laying on the bed. She crawled across his thighs, straddling him as she continued to massage his bare chest.
She bent forward, her hair tickling him pleasantly as she brought her mouth to his nipple and lavished it with her tongue. He writhed beneath her and it sent a wave of heat straight to her core. His hands came up to caress her back. Cordelia quickly sat up, crossing her arms over her waist, grasping the hem of her tee-shirt and pulling it off of her. She had no more than thrown it across the room when she reached behind and unfastened the black lace bra she wore. It soon joined her tee-shirt, leaving Giles' hungry eyes to feast upon her beauty.
His hands slid up her smooth flat stomach, his dexterous fingers capturing the soft curves of her breasts. He massaged and squeezed them until her breath was coming in gasps and she was arching into his touch. He sat up beneath her and pulled her into a kiss. As they tasted each other, he embraced her tightly and turned, laying her down on the mattress and covering her body with his own. His legs lay cradled in hers as he rubbed his growing hardness against her thigh.
Even through the material of their pants, Cordy could feel his heat. She tore her mouth from his, panting for air. Giles smiled and moved his kisses lower, using his tongue to pull her distended nipple into his hot wet mouth. She gasped out loud, her hands coming into his hair as his hand found her other breast and kneaded it. One of her long legs curled around the backs of his thighs. She used it to pull herself closer to him as she tried to grind against his hip to relieve some of her aching need.
Giles moved away from her, eliciting a disappointed moan that caused him to smile. He sat back on his knees, locking eyes with her own as his hands came to fly of her pants and began to unfasten it. He curled his hands over the waistband of both her pants and underwear, tugging as she lifted her hips to assist him.
He eyed her bareness with an expression she had never seen on his face before, a smoldering mixture of raw lust and deep passion. It made her heart race just to see it. Giles quickly undid his own pants and wriggled out of them.
Her approval of his nakedness was evident in her eyes as he moved to cover her again. He placed sweet kisses on her jaw as his hand softly tangled in the curls between her legs. It was her turn to shiver. She moved her leg to the side so that he could lay between them. He took his time, first slipping his hand farther down to stroke her even closer. She was on fire and so very wet. As his fingers grazed her clit, she tried to arch into the touch. That's when Giles removed his hand and settled between her legs.
Cordy's head thrashed back and forth on the pillow as she grew restless with anticipation. Holding his breath, Giles pushed forward into her molten silkiness. She groaned as he filled her. Sheathed in her delicious heat, it was all he could do to breathe. When he felt her hips lift slightly, he pulled almost all the way out and then pushed back inside. She whimpered and wrapped her shapely legs around him to bring him as deep as possible.
Giles maintained an agonizingly slow rhythm at first, driving her steadily closer to the edge. He was so close himself already. As his control became shaky, he increased his pace. He sent her rocketing to her climax, calling his name. His own orgasm was almost painfully powerful, drowning her out in a guttural moan.
They lay in a sweaty panting tangle, kissing and cuddling as they came down together. Both nearly screamed when someone began banging on Cordelia's door loudly.
"Cordelia? Giles? It's Angel, open up."
"Shit," they said in unison. Reluctant as they were to leave the warmth of each other's embrace, they jumped off the bed and scrambled to get dressed with as little noise as possible.
"Just a minute!" Cordy finished tugging on her jeans just as Giles replaced his sweater, hastily straightened the covers on the bed and ran across the room to sit on the couch.
She ran to the door, unlocked it and let Angel in. "What kept you?"
"The uh... locks. They stick sometimes."
He held her gaze. "You should have told me about that. I could maybe fix it."
She rolled her eyes. "I didn't realize helping the hopeless meant being a locksmith. I'll uh... I'll ask Doyle if he can take a look tomorrow or something."
He nodded, continuing to stare at her a minute more. Cordy shifted her feet in discomfort, wondering if she'd left any conspicuous body parts hanging out to get such intense scrutiny. He turned to look at Giles. "I took care of my friends back at the office. So if you could come back with me, let me look at the book, maybe help me with a few translations, we can get this over with."
"Right." Giles nodded as he stood and retrieved his valise, walking to the door. Angel started down the hall. The Englishman stopped at the doorway. "My car's right outside," he called as Angel halted. "I'll catch you up." Angel stared at him for a minute before moving off out of sight.
Giles shut the door halfway and moved to Cordelia, sweeping her into his arms and kissing her soundly. When they broke the kiss, his hand came to caress her face. His eyes held hers and again she read them. They let her know the depth of his caring about her, that if ever she needed him, he'd be there. She smiled, kissed him sweetly once more, and then he was gone.
Cordelia triple bolted her door and walked to the bed. She lay down and tightly wrapped her arms around a pillow that still smelled of him. A smile played at her mouth as she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
The End