DISCLAIMER: Not mine. Never will be. Not unless Joss decides to adopt me
and give me the copyright. (Hey if you're gonna dream, might as well dream
big.)
SPOILERS: None. At least not really.
SUMMARY: This story is set in a somewhat AU. Cordy has a secret. There's a reason behind all the things her father gives her. Can Angel save her from her secret before it's too late?
DEDICATION: This one is for Drew and Kitka. Friends. My own personal Angel and Cordelia.
DISTRIBUTION: If you ask, I'll probably say yes.
If anyone else knew what she was going through, she would die of embarrassment. She hid the bruises well. Of course, it helped that he didn't normally leave them where anyone would see them. No one else knew the reason that her daddy gave her so many nice things.
////////////
Cordelia Chase lay in her bed in her posh bedroom. She was awake because she was scared. She didn't want this tonight. But she knew that it would probably happen. Daddy had his friends over tonight and Mom was off at Aunt Trudy's house. She waited to see who the first to come up would be.
When the doorknob turned, she closed her eyes and prayed for it to end quickly.
///////////
"Hey, Cor. You look a little worse for wear today. Didn't sleep well." Xander Harris. The Zeppo. The one person she really didn't want to talk to right now. She didn't even want to be at school today but she knew that she was safer there than at home. Wasn't that ironic? Home was supposed to be the safest place in the world. School was dangerous for everyone else.
What would she do if someone took the school hostage and said that they'd let everyone else go if one person would die for the rest? She'd volunteer. She wanted to die everytime she walked through the door of her home. Home. That was a joke. No one loved her there.
The bruises would heal as would that tender spot down below. But the cuts. The cuts were the worst. He didn't do it often because they took so long to heal.
"Cor, you still here?"
"Actually, Xander, I was thinking about how much fun I'm going to have when we go to St Croix for Christmas this year."
"Really?"
"Duh. God, do you have to act as dumb as you look?" He looked hurt. Good. At least she could hurt someone. She couldn't defend herself against her father and his friends but at least she could lash out at the losers at school.
Turning abruptly, Cordelia's ankle gave out under her and she collapsed unceremoniously into a heap on the floor. Tears filled her eyes. That was the ankle that daddy had tied down last night. He had left her tied to the bed all night and she had sprained the ankle when she tried to get out of bed that morning. Her father had finally untied her when she begged him to let her go to school so that no one would come looking for her. She wanted to protect him at the same time that she wanted to kill him.
Xander picked her up and put her in one of the chairs around the library table. Giles knelt in front of her and looked up into her eyes as if asking permission to take off her boot and look at her ankle. She nodded, forgetting for the moment the fact that there was a mark on that ankle from the rope that daddy had used to tie her to the bed.
Giles saw the mark. "Cordelia, what have you been doing?"
"Nothing. It's nothing."
"This is a rope mark. Who tied you and why?"
"Giles, please. Don't ask questions you really don't want answers to." She knew she was about to cry and didn't want to do it in front of these guys.
"Cordelia, tell me what happened." Giles' voice held a note of finality to it.
"No. I can't. You wouldn't understand." She took her boot from Giles and slipped it back on. Standing, she carefully made her way to the bathroom where she knew that he couldn't follow her.
///////////
"I think it's her father." Xander was the one to break the silence left in the library after she left.
"What?" Giles couldn't believe that.
"Her father. He's beating her. Maybe more. I know the signs. She's trying to protect him but inside she wants to see him hurt. Maybe even dead for what he's doing to her."
"Dear God." Xander had a point. He would definitely know the signs of parental abuse. The way his father treated him.
"What can we do? We have to protect her." Willow was scared. She had never really liked Cordy but she didn't want to see her hurt. She knew that that road could lead to worse things. If Cordy survived it.
"Until she asks for help, there's nothing we can do," Giles said, cleaning his glasses. None of them noticed the shadow disappear back into the stacks.
"Maybe you can't. But I can."
/////////////////////
AN: I know. Not my usual beginning. This is also NOT my usual pairing. Fair warning. I don't know where this is going just yet.
SPOILERS: None. At least not really.
SUMMARY: This story is set in a somewhat AU. Cordy has a secret. There's a reason behind all the things her father gives her. Can Angel save her from her secret before it's too late?
DEDICATION: This one is for Drew and Kitka. Friends. My own personal Angel and Cordelia.
DISTRIBUTION: If you ask, I'll probably say yes.
If anyone else knew what she was going through, she would die of embarrassment. She hid the bruises well. Of course, it helped that he didn't normally leave them where anyone would see them. No one else knew the reason that her daddy gave her so many nice things.
////////////
Cordelia Chase lay in her bed in her posh bedroom. She was awake because she was scared. She didn't want this tonight. But she knew that it would probably happen. Daddy had his friends over tonight and Mom was off at Aunt Trudy's house. She waited to see who the first to come up would be.
When the doorknob turned, she closed her eyes and prayed for it to end quickly.
///////////
"Hey, Cor. You look a little worse for wear today. Didn't sleep well." Xander Harris. The Zeppo. The one person she really didn't want to talk to right now. She didn't even want to be at school today but she knew that she was safer there than at home. Wasn't that ironic? Home was supposed to be the safest place in the world. School was dangerous for everyone else.
What would she do if someone took the school hostage and said that they'd let everyone else go if one person would die for the rest? She'd volunteer. She wanted to die everytime she walked through the door of her home. Home. That was a joke. No one loved her there.
The bruises would heal as would that tender spot down below. But the cuts. The cuts were the worst. He didn't do it often because they took so long to heal.
"Cor, you still here?"
"Actually, Xander, I was thinking about how much fun I'm going to have when we go to St Croix for Christmas this year."
"Really?"
"Duh. God, do you have to act as dumb as you look?" He looked hurt. Good. At least she could hurt someone. She couldn't defend herself against her father and his friends but at least she could lash out at the losers at school.
Turning abruptly, Cordelia's ankle gave out under her and she collapsed unceremoniously into a heap on the floor. Tears filled her eyes. That was the ankle that daddy had tied down last night. He had left her tied to the bed all night and she had sprained the ankle when she tried to get out of bed that morning. Her father had finally untied her when she begged him to let her go to school so that no one would come looking for her. She wanted to protect him at the same time that she wanted to kill him.
Xander picked her up and put her in one of the chairs around the library table. Giles knelt in front of her and looked up into her eyes as if asking permission to take off her boot and look at her ankle. She nodded, forgetting for the moment the fact that there was a mark on that ankle from the rope that daddy had used to tie her to the bed.
Giles saw the mark. "Cordelia, what have you been doing?"
"Nothing. It's nothing."
"This is a rope mark. Who tied you and why?"
"Giles, please. Don't ask questions you really don't want answers to." She knew she was about to cry and didn't want to do it in front of these guys.
"Cordelia, tell me what happened." Giles' voice held a note of finality to it.
"No. I can't. You wouldn't understand." She took her boot from Giles and slipped it back on. Standing, she carefully made her way to the bathroom where she knew that he couldn't follow her.
///////////
"I think it's her father." Xander was the one to break the silence left in the library after she left.
"What?" Giles couldn't believe that.
"Her father. He's beating her. Maybe more. I know the signs. She's trying to protect him but inside she wants to see him hurt. Maybe even dead for what he's doing to her."
"Dear God." Xander had a point. He would definitely know the signs of parental abuse. The way his father treated him.
"What can we do? We have to protect her." Willow was scared. She had never really liked Cordy but she didn't want to see her hurt. She knew that that road could lead to worse things. If Cordy survived it.
"Until she asks for help, there's nothing we can do," Giles said, cleaning his glasses. None of them noticed the shadow disappear back into the stacks.
"Maybe you can't. But I can."
/////////////////////
AN: I know. Not my usual beginning. This is also NOT my usual pairing. Fair warning. I don't know where this is going just yet.