A/N - Hola, all. So sorry I haven't updates in ages. It took me awhile to come up with this chapter, although it seems like it's very short. I'll try to update sooner. Got lots of stuff to do. Sorry about that. We are getting closer and closer to all the characters being reunited. I hope you enjoy :)
Angel sat on one of the circular green chairs in the lobby of the Hyperion Hotel waiting for the gang to arrive whilst thinking up a plan that would get Rose out of trouble without harming her. He had called them not too long ago and was impatient at the speed it took to get them there. He would have just gone by himself, but he knew that this was not the time for rash actions. He needed a plan, and Wesley was just the man to help him with that. They would need a decoy. Fred had lots of little widgets that she had build when she first came here. And most of all, he would need more muscle, and that was where Gunn came in. Angel knew that the bastards at Wolfram & Hart assumed Rose to be Cordelia, which meant that they would have no problem torturing her if it was necessary. Angel growled quietly. Why did she always seem to get in trouble? She hadn't even been there for a full 24 hours, and she had almost gotten herself killed, and now she had gotten herself kidnapped. No, this wasn't her fault. Not Cordelia, not the monsters and not Wolfram & Hart. She was just… a magnet for trouble, and in this city being a magnet for trouble will end up getting you dead. He shuddered at the thought of what Lilah would be doing to her now. But wait… she was not Cordelia. It was obvious - the blonde hair for starters, adding that to the fact that she looked nothing like her. Lilah would know this the minute she took a look at her. So why did she still take her? What were they doing to her? Was it a trap? Did they have the real Cordelia?
Angel was stirred from his deep concentration by the doors opening in front of him signalling the entrance of Gunn, Fred and Wesley, all looking dishevelled and tired, but alert.
"Angel," said Wesley in a cautious tone as he surveyed the mess from Rose's kidnapping, "I was thinking as we were in the car that we shouldn't go rushing into Wolfram & Hart without a plan. Lilah's bound to know that it's not Cordelia the minute she sees her, and she may use her as a tool to get to you."
Angel pondered that for a moment. Rose didn't really know him from any other vampire in LA, or the world for that matter. What was to stop her from telling them where the real Cordelia was, if she knew? What if they were in this together from the beginning? Steal Cordelia, and then be kidnapped to make it look as if she didn't do it, luring him into a trap.
"Yo, Angel. What are we gonna do?" asked Gunn "Cos, I aint about to walk into a trap." He said, as if he had read Angel's mind.
Angel decided to go with his original conclusions about the situation, that Rose was innocent and they had to save her.
"Fred, do you still have little weird thing you built that threw spikes at unsuspecting passers by?" asked Angel. Fred nodded. "Cos we're gonna need it."
-X-
The TARDIS gave an almighty jolt and threw both the Doctor and Cordelia to the floor – face first.
"God! What is wrong with you?" Cordelia exclaimed as she got up, rubbing her now bruised arm, and hoping to god that her nose wasn't broken.
"Sorry," said the Doctor, gingerly getting up off the floor and stretching, "bit of a bumpy landing, I know."
"A bit?" Cordelia challenged, stretching her neck, "That was not 'a bit of a bumpy landing.'" She said air quoting him. "That was a damn bone-breaking landing!"
"Ow!" she winced as she clicked her neck and a shock went through her body.
"Are you alright?" The Doctor asked, walking up to her to examine her yet again. She stopped him with her hand before he could get too close.
"No, I'm not. I wanna see Angel. Are we here? Are we back on Earth?" She felt weird even having to say something like that. How had she gotten herself into this mess?
The Doctor ran to the TARDIS doors, opened then a little, and took a peek. He turned back to his companion and grinned. He opened one of the doors wider and beckoned Cordelia.
"You wanna take a look?"
Cordelia contemplated that for a second, and then ran to the doors and threw them open. She gasped. She could believe it. She was home! The Hyperion hotel stood across the street, and she could see Angel's black car – it was driving away! Gunn and Fred sat in the back whilst Wesley, and Angel sat in the front. Angel was driving of course. She couldn't believe it. She ran out of the TARDIS, the Doctor was hot on her heels, and shouted out to the car that was getting further and further away, hoping that Angel's vamp ears would hear her. The car kept on driving.
Cordelia was pissed. How could they go anywhere without her? Where were they going anyway? Without a seer, what were they doing? Sure they could've had a client, but at this time of night? The chances were pretty slim.
The Doctor stood beside her, equally as eager to find Rose, as she was to get to Angel.
"Right!" He said loudly, snapping her out of her daze, "The city of Angels isn't it? Well you go find your Angel and tell him to bring my Rose"
"Hello? Did you not see him drive away?"
"No. When?"
"Just now." Cordelia sighed, "Well, we don't know where they are going so we might as well just wait." She said starting to head towards the hotel. The Doctor grabbed her shoulder, stopping her, but then quickly let go under her burning glare.
"Nonsense we'll just follow them!" He said, striding back to the TARDIS and gesturing her to follow.
"Uh, how?" Cordelia asked, following him back to the TARDIS. They stepped back through the double doors, and the Doctor danced around the console switching this and that to get the TARDIS up and running.
"Tracker!" He exclaimed. "Quick, give me your boyfriends' number."
"He's not my – oh whatever," Cordelia complied and gave the Doctor Angel's cell phone number. "He's not gonna pick up, he doesn't know how to use the blasted thing."
"Don't need him to answer. Just need the GPS. Wait… he doesn't know how to use a phone?" The Doctor asked, whilst typing in the information.
"He's a little… old fashioned"
"I'll say. Right!" he exclaimed before she could say anything else, "Let's go"
He flicked a switch and the TARDIS lurched, causing them both to hold on to the seats.
"Do you even know how to work this thing?"
"'Course I do," The Doctor said, as he brought his mallet down on the TARDIS console shouting, "Behave!"
The TARDIS lurched again and then stopped moving. The Doctor ran to the doors and threw them open. They stepped out of the TARDIS onto a carpeted floor. It was clear that they were inside a building of some kind. The hallway they were on was light and airy. There were papers on the floor that had clearly been in a neat pile before and Cordelia picked one up to examine it, whilst the Doctor walked forward to examine the hallway more, commenting that it looked like they were in an office.
Cordelia gasped as she looked at the paper. At the top of the piece of paper was the logo W&H. She cursed.
"Not… good."