TITLE: Lover's Charms AUTHOR: Ragna (Obsessive-Compulsive Spike) DISTRIBUTION: Sure, just tell me! DISCLAIMER: Everything except what comes out of my pretty little head belongs to Joss and Mutant Enemy. I do not own the song used, which is "My Lover's Box" by Garbage. RATING: PG SPOILERS: All of the "Angel" series so far, plus a planned charachter death. Plus, a charachter from season 1 "Buffy", and a specific event in "Prophecy Girl" is alluded to. FEEDBACK: Wanted. Needed. SEND IT! AUTHOR'S NOTES: Dedicated to Carolyn. I made her cry *three* times! Damn, I didn't think that was possible...And as I'm HTMLing this particular fic, I'm listening to the song I used. It's weird... ------------------------------------------------------------------------ *** PART 1 *** Cordelia couldn't sleep. It had been a few days since the last time he came, since he held her, since he was there. And she hadn't been able to sleep. It was either a night of tossing and turning, whatever fragile hold in the dream world she had slipping from her grasp, or it was a night full of nightmares, and no one to save her. No one at all... The CD had been on, it's purpose to lull her to sleep with soothing sounds, but Angel had changed it. She knew he had been sleeping outside her room until before dawn, to make sure she was all right. He didn't know about the dreams, about the long visits Doyle spent with her, the talks they had, the closeness they shared... "Come back soon," she said quietly before drifting into another troubled sleep. **My lover's charms are in a box Underneath my bed And piece by piece I'll cherish them until the end** It was her room, only cold. Very, very cold. "Doyle?" she called out tentatively, but got no response. She opened her eyes, and saw nothing but the faint outlines of her furniture. "No, not him." She wasn't expecting to hear that voice, a voice she'd only heard once before. "Aren't you..." "The Master. Yes, I am." **Send me an angel to love I need to feel a little piece of heaven Send me an angel to love I'm afraid I'll never get to heaven** Cordelia pulled the covers up. "Go away." The Master shook his wrinkled head, his long fingers tapping on the windowsill silently. It was an eerie sight, the moonlight silhouetting him ever so faintly, but the hatred in his eyes glowing like hot coals. "I can't...do you want to see your precious lover again?" "No...yes...just go away." "No? Why, Cordelia, I thought you loved him. Do you not love him?" **They burn my hands Scar my face And blind my eyes I'll steal you're breath And throw away what I despise** "Of course I do!" she snapped, a spark of her old self coming back, briefly. "Very well. Then save him. His existence hangs in the balance." "What balance?" "The balance between Heaven and Hell. Where all demons stay." She blanched. "He said he could come back...I want him back." **Send me an angel to love I need to feel a little piece of heaven Send me an angel to love I'm afraid I'll never get to heaven** The Master began to speak when a light began to emanate from outside the window, a pale red light, almost like a candle light. He stopped talking and blanched as the light grew brighter and brighter... "It can't be!" The Master said, his voice changing completely, becoming the most sinister sound Cordelia had ever heard. "There is no way..." "Face it, it's going to happen. I passed the first test. *We* passed the first test." Cordelia smiled as she heard Doyle's voice. The Master, or whatever he really was, slowly shriveled until he vanished. **Between theses walls And darkened halls I've done my time If I should die before I wake Then you'll know why** Cordelia looked around expectantly. "Doyle...where are you?" "I can't see you, not yet. I got worried though. I had to make sure you were okay." She smiled, tears falling quietly. "I'll be fine, Doyle." The light grew dimmer, pulsating a bit. "It'll get harder; your nightmares will become more real. And I won't always be able to help stop them." "So I'm supposed to do this alone?" **Send me an angel to love I need to feel a little piece of heaven Send me an angel to love I'm afraid I'll never get to heaven** "No, never. I want to be there with you, now, but if I am..." "You can't be with me at all ever again, I get it," she said sullenly and sadly. "I wish you could hold me right now." "I wish I could too, but I am able to give you something. When you wake up, look in your jewelry box." **Piece by piece Send me an angel** As the song got louder and came to it's abrupt end, Cordelia woke up and realized it was now early morning. No Angel outside the door, no one there to protect her... She shook her head. Doyle would always protect her...she *had* to believe that. She just had to. Getting up, she redid her daily ritual of putting on the jacket and holding her arms around her waist, wishing they were his. Then she silently went to the jewelry box. There was a ring, not very extravagant, sitting on top of the note. A single garnet was in the shape of a heart. The gold band shone like the newly risen sun, and it was warm to the touch. She slipped it onto her ring finger and stared at it, feeling it grow warm on the spot it rested on. Touching it gently, she prepared to face the day, a smile on her face for the first time in days.