Summary: Cordy has a vision of Buffy's sudden death. Can Cordy save her? Will she get there in time? Set in S1 of Angel and S5 of Buffy.
It was a dark night. Cordelia was on her way home, when a vision hit. She stopped at the bottom of the stairs and closed her eyes, fingers to temples, as images came to her.
"Oh God. Buffy," she said.
She ran out the door towards her car, turned the car on, and hit the gas, putting the peddle to the medal. She sped through traffic all the way towards Buffy's house in Sunnydale. Luckily, she wasn't caught by any cops.
Once she was parked, she ran towards the house and closed the door. She ran up the stairs towards the bathroom, praying and hoping she wasn't too late.
Anya was in the kitchen doing dishes when she heard someone running up the stairs. She dried her hands on a hand towel, set it on the counter, and walked out of the kitchen.
"Dawn, is that you? You home?"
No answer.
She sighed.
She was about ready to finish her job in the kitchen, when she heard a female calling to the Slayer. It was very familiar. She looked out the window to see a car. It was still on which meant something serious. She hadn't even knocked. Just ran in.
The former Vengeance Demon started up the stairs.
Meanwhile, the Seer made her way to the bathroom. She opened the door. When she saw her just lying there on her back unmoving, she left the door open and rushed in.
She knelt at her side.
"Buffy? Buffy, can you hear me?"
She groaned and opened her eyes to see her.
"Cordelia?" she groaned, only half conscious.
"I'm here."
"I don't know what-"
"Shh. Me, neither. I just have the visions. You're going to be okay."
"How do you know?"
"I just do. I'm a Seer."
"Buffy, what happened?" a female asked.
"Anya, ask later. I had a vision. I can explain. Right now, I need you to do me a favor. Despite how much she hates them, she needs a hospital or she'll die."
She heard footsteps as Anya ran downstairs towards the living room telephone.
Afterward, Anya hung up.
She ran back upstairs towards the bathroom.
"Can I do anything?" Anya asked.
"Get me water and Tylenol. I'm a human Seer. You what's going to happen."
"I'll be right back."
Anya went downstairs.
Cordy gently slapped her cheek.
"Stay awake. You have to stay awake. At least until the ambulance gets here."
"I can't go."
"You have to. I can't do what they can do for you. And hey. I'll be there for you every step of the way. I'm sure Anya, Tara, Willow, Xander, and even Spike will be, too. Hell. I'll even ride in with you and have Anya drive my car."
"Really?"
"I keep my word."
"When did you get to being so nice?"
"When I teamed up to started Angel Investigations with Angel and…" she took a deep breath and then exhaled. "D-Doyle."
Anya gave her a bottle of water and a couple pills of Tylenol.
The Drama Queen gladly took them.
A few minutes later, the ambulance drove off with Buffy and Cordelia.
Cordy held her hand.
"Everything will be okay. I promise."
"You keep saying that."
"It's because I have Faith in you. You're a fighter. Stronger than me, even. If I were in your place, I would've been out cold the minute I hit the floor."
The Drama Queen paced in the waiting room, as she waited for somebody to tell her the news.
Just then, her phone vibrated on her. She answered it.
"Hello?"
"Cordelia, have you heard yet?"
"No, Anya. I'm sorry. I haven't. Where are you?"
"I'm on my way. Be prepared. Dawn is with me."
"Okay. Just let me handle her. I used to be a sister. I can try and comfort her. I've gone through this before."
"Can you at least tell me what exactly you saw?"
"I saw Buffy in the bathroom. She was splashing water on her face. When she dried her face and turned the water off, she started to feel dizzy and light headed. Then she fell. Nobody came looking for her until later. By then, she was dead."
"At least you saved us the grief."
"I did. Hey, I gotta go. The doctor is coming."
"We'll be there when we can."
They hung up.
Dr. Gregory walked up to her.
"How is she?" she asked.
"She has some abscess by the left side of her brain. It looks like it has been there for some time."
"Do you know what could've caused it?"
"Anything between too much stress to being exposed to a harmful substance could've triggered it."
"What are the options?"
"We could let her go and she'll die, or we could try a very life threatening, risky surgery."
"Let's do the surgery."
"Are there any parents around?"
"No. It's just her friends and fifteen year old sister."
"I would need a consent of some kind."
"I'll do it."
He gave her the clipboard that had an attached paper on it.
"Just sign and we'll get to work."
So she did. She signed it and then handed it back to him. He thanked her and then left. She felt like she was signing the blonde's life away, but she knew that she wasn't. It was just life. It was so hard for her.
She sat in a chair and put her head in her hands, elbows resting on her legs. She just sat like that and let herself give way to her feelings. The ones she had been hiding since Doyle's death.
She sobbed silently, tears streaming down her face, landing on her lap.
When they saw her, they stopped.
"Doyle," Anya announced.
"What?" Dawn asked.
"She's upset about Doyle I think. She hides her feelings, though. Doyle was a half human and half demon. He was a good guy with visions. He must've passed them down to her before he died. She must miss him terribly. Come on. Let's see if we can cheer her up."
They arrived.
Dawn sat beside her, while Anya knelt in front of her and gently lowered the Seer's hands.
"I miss him," she sobbed.
"I know," Anya gently said.
She wiped the brunette's tears gently away. They then hugged.
When they let go, Cordy felt better. She turned to the Slayer's sister.
"Dawn, I'm sorry about Buffy. I'm sorry for everything you've been through. It's tough. Real tough. Your mom died and you still have to live your life like it's normal. But it's not. It's not normal. And let me just say, big brothers and sisters are hard to live with, but when it comes right down to it, you'll always love and look out for one another. Believe me. I know. My mom died when I was only sixteen years old. She had brain cancer. She was diagnosed when I was only eight years old. And to this day, I still miss her. A lot. I grew up with two brothers. I was the middle child. When I was a junior, I found out that my older brother disappeared because he was a zombie. My younger brother disappeared when Buffy saved me from them. The point is, I know what it's like to be waiting, not knowing if you're loved one is going to die or not. But guess what? There are people working really hard to save her life. We'll be here for a while waiting, but they'll do their best."
She wrapped an arm around Dawn and pulled her close. Dawn rested her head on her shoulder.
After five hours, all three fell asleep. Dawn and Cordy were in the same position, Cordy's head resting on her head, Anya's resting on Cordy's other shoulder.
Xander and Willow walked in, Xander with a box of donuts and a couple fast food cups, Willow with a few more fast food cups.
They walked up to them.
Xander set the box and cups on the floor and sat by his girlfriend.
He gently shook her.
"An, wake up," he whispered.
She sat up.
"You're here."
"Ya."
He picked up a cup.
"Hot chocolate for you."
She took it.
"Thanks."
He stood up and walked over to his ex.
"Time to get up, Cor," he whispered.
She stirred.
"Wakey, wakey, eggs and bacon."
She sat up.
"Xan?"
"Hey, Cor."
Wills gave him a cup, which he handed to his ex.
"Vanilla cappuccino."
"Thanks."
She looked at Dawn.
"Hey Dawnie, wake up. They're here."
Dawn sat up.
Willow gave her a cup of hot chocolate.
Xander passed the box out to them.
Once that ended, they sat down and he set the empty box down. They began to eat and drink.
Finally, at three in the morning, the doctor came out to tell them the news.
"Congratulations. She's going to live. We managed to get most of it. I suggest that a regular doctor sees her once every week to make sure everything is okay until it dissolves completely. I also suggest for her to come in if any headaches and dizziness start to occur. She may need some help, too. The left side is the side that helps you do most things."
"Like what?" Dawnie asked.
"It helps you with speech, coordination, and movement."
"So you're saying that her speech could be damaged or she could develop something like being paralyzed," Cordy summarized.
"Yes. If you'd like, you could even take her home."
"Thanks, doctor. What room?"
"One ten."
They watched him as he left.
Cor got out her phone and dialed.
"Angel, it's me. You're on your own. I'm not coming back. Don't come here. Just stay away from Sunnydale. I'll send for my stuff and then I'm gone. Something happened to Buffy, but she'll be okay. Call me if you need anything. Bye."
She hung up.
It was a dark day at four am., as Cor wheeled the Slayer inside the Summers' residence.
The former Queen moved in with Dawn and Buffy to help take care of the Slayer and Hellmouth.
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