p r o p i t i a t i n g . s a i n t . c o r d e l i a

Propitiating Saint Cordelia
[by victoria p.]

Rating: G

Summary: Cordelia and Faith, post-NFA

Notes: inspired by comments in Pearl-o's LJ

Date: June 2, 2005

"I'd have thought they'd learned their lesson," Faith said, "but I guess not."

The glance Cordelia shot her was scathing. She hadn't lost that, then. Faith wasn't sure if she was glad or not.

"Are you sure I'm really me?" Cordelia demanded, one hand splayed over her chest. "Apparently, I became a demon baby machine again and spawned an evil goddess?"

Faith reached out to touch her soft dark hair and Cordelia flinched away. Faith tried not to flinch in response. "Yeah, I think you are. At least, I'm not getting any evil demony vibes or anything."

Cordelia looked skeptical. "Excuse me if I'm not exactly ready to jump on the 'trust in Faith' bandwagon." She absently brushed her fingers over her cheek, and Faith remembered elbowing her in the head to escape. It seemed so long ago, but maybe not to Cordelia. She was the type to hold a grudge.

"Well, the fact that you still seem to hate me is pretty good confirmation. Although I gotta say, you didn't think too much of me when you were evil, either."

"It's nice to know some things never change."

Cordelia rose unsteadily, still a little shaky after being brought back from the dead. Everyone else was gone -- out patrolling, or dead, or trying to pretend they hadn't broken the most basic law again to avert an apocalypse that had turned out to be a whimper instead of a bang. And it wasn't even like they'd been trying for Cordelia, but she was the one who'd appeared in the circle once the spell was cast. The Powers That Be had a fucking odd sense of humor.

Faith wasn't sure how she'd gotten stuck with babysitting duty, but Xander had been spooked (and not a little angry, though Xander had always been angry; he'd just gotten better at hiding it) and Buffy was still punishing her for, well, existing, basically. Andrew, who had toughened up just enough to not be useless, had reverted back into a quivering mass of geekitude when Cordelia appeared. The funny part about that was that Cordelia didn't even know who he was; she seemed to think he was terrified because she was back from the dead, not because of who she'd been during her life in Sunnydale.

Cordelia's legs seemed to stretch endlessly beneath the frayed cuffs of the jean shorts Faith had lent her and which she'd taken only because they were the least offensive of available clothing options. Faith was reminded of Bambi for a moment, except Bambi had never said any of the curses Cordelia was muttering under her breath.

"Was it this hard for Buffy?" she demanded, holding onto the entertainment center with one elegant hand to get her balance.

Faith shook her head. "I wasn't around for B's resurrection. But probably not. Slayer strength and all."

Cordy nodded. "At least I didn't get stuck with that," she muttered.

"Yeah, seems like the kind of thing the Powers would find funny."

Cordelia gave a reluctant huff of laughter at that. "It so does."

"Look, I--"

"Let's not, all right? I don't want to be step whatever on your road to redemption."

Faith flicked a hand dismissively. "Whatever. If your highness is okay staying here alone, I'm gonna go get some food."

"I've already died once. It's not like anything can scare me now," she said, moving gingerly around the room, as if she had that pins and needles feeling in her feet. She'd been back for two days now, and this was the first time she'd been up and about.

"You sure?"

"I'm fine," Cordelia replied, though she sank down onto the sofa and pushed a hand through her hair. Her skin glistened with the low sheen of perspiration. "Be even better once you're gone."

Faith grimaced, but let it pass. Coming back from the dead had to be wicked hard. She'd only woken out of an almost year-long coma, and that'd been pretty miserable.

When she came back from Bob's Big Boy, Cordelia was curled up on the couch in front of the television, watching some asstastic Lifetime movie starring Valerie Bertinelli.

Faith set the food down on the coffee table and pushed one bag toward Cordelia, an unspoken peace offering.

Cordelia didn't smile, but she took it, and Faith figured that was a start.

end

~*~

Back to BtVS/Angel Stories Index

Back to Main Stories Index

~*~

Disclaimer: All Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel characters belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, David Greenwalt, Greenwolf Productions, Sand Dollar, and the Kuzuis. I do not own them and do not intend any infringement on any copyrights.