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Twisting it Round

By Rach

SUMMARY: Sequel to "Different Point of View" - Fred and Wesley are living in LA and go out for a meal.
DISCLAIMER: When is a door not a door? When it's ajar. When is a table leg not a table leg? ... when it's detached from the table and I'm flinging it around to frighten student teachers. When is stealing not stealing? When I'm borrowing this characters for fun ...
DISTRIBUTION: If you've already got my stuff, go ahead and take it! If you haven't, just ask. I don't bite. (Hard)
DEDICATION: I guess this is mainly for MB, Jacquin and Meg, 'cause they're the ones that asked for a sequel in the first place. So if it sucks, blame them three!

****

Wesley sat in his car, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel. He glanced in his mirror anxiously, aware that it would soon be dark, and wished Fred would hurry up. He leant over and fiddled impatiently with the dial on the radio, coming up with a mixture of dead air and terrible music. Sighing, he pushed a tape into the machine, and sat back, looking up into the mirror again.

He smiled as Fred came into view, dressed simply in a short pale blue dress and black sandals. He stepped out of the car and walked round the front, holding the door open for her as she approached him.

"You look amazing," he breathed, and she blushed as he leant down to kiss her lightly on the cheek.

Staring at Wesley's blue shirt and black trousers, she grinned. "So do you."

He closed the door as she sat down in the car, and headed back round to the passenger side. Thinking back over the last six months, he realised his world had turned on it's head in a way that should have been scary, but with Fred there he'd hardly even noticed.

He always made her laugh, even though sometimes it was unintentional. Since the Watchers Council had fired him, he'd been working in a library, and Fred had taken a part time job there too. Being around books was perfect for her, something she loved, and it gave her more chance to spend time with Wesley. She hadn't seen enough of him lately, her studies were taking up a lot of her time, and she'd been working less and less hours. Which was why he'd made her promise to take this one night off, so that they could have some fun, with no distractions.

As they pulled up outside the restaurant, Fred thought she caught a glimpse of someone familiar, but by the time her mind registered it and she looked back, the girl was gone. Shrugging, she smiled as Wesley offered his arm, and they walked up the steps as they entered the building.

****

Cordelia wondered if she looked as bored as she felt. At least it would give her a chance to act - she didn't exactly get to stretch herself at work.

"See, you have to study weather trends in order to make a good play in the agricultural market. Once you do, you'll never look at soybeans the same way." He looked up and laughed slightly. "God, listen to me! I'm not boring you, am I?"

Cordelia dragged her mind back onto the topic. What was he talking about anyway? All she knew was, it had something to do with money - and Pierce had a lot of it. Which was a good enough reason to try and look interested.

"I don't mind." She smiled the sickly sweet smile that used to get her the new cell phone, or another new outfit, and hoped she still had it. Who was she kidding - of course she still had it. Besides, Pierce had already carried on talking - she had the feeling that talking to his reflection would keep him entertained for hours.

"Like today, there *was* some heavy trading - lean hog options. The spread dropped about 1700 points. I mean in November they were trading at 6 cents. So, you know what I did? I sold at 6 and 1/8 of a cent! 6 and 1/8. Can you imagine anything more exciting then that?"

Her eyes wandered across the room, dancing over the other patrons, as she imagined a lot of things more exciting than that. None of them seemed interesting enough to waste time watching. She glanced back at Pierce, who wasn't even bothering to look at her any more. She was just about to feign a headache and leave, when her gaze fell on a familiar face. She smiled with relief, and excused herself, winding her way through the tables and chairs until she reached the friendly face.

"Wesley! Oh my God, it is you! What are you doing here? Oh and Fred! This is so amazing!"

Wesley looked around in surprise at the sound of Cordelia's voice. "Cordelia, nice to see you." He shuffled in his seat and glanced over at Fred, who looked delighted to see Cordelia. They'd been hoping for a quiet night in, but now he expected they'd want to catch up.

"We're almost finished here, Cordelia …" he sighed, conceding the night wasn't going to be quite what he'd planned.

"Excellent! You can give me a ride back to the office."

"The office?"

"Yeah. Angel Investigations."

"You work for Angel?"

"I work *with* Angel."

Fred had been looking over in the direction Cordelia came from. She nodded her head towards Pierce. "Is that guy your date?"

Cordelia followed Fred's gaze. "Yeah."

"Won't he give you a ride?"

Wesley nodded. "He can drop you back at the office, and we'll stop by tomorrow."

"How will you know where to go?"

Wesley sighed. "Okay." He couldn't tell whether Fred wanted to catch up with Cordelia or not. "We're not quite finished here, why don't the two of you go out to the car, and Fred and I will follow you back to the office in my car."

Cordelia realised Wesley wanted some time with Fred, and as much as she wanted to get away from Pierce, she didn't have the heart to get in the way. Plus, she didn't exactly want to play gooseberry.

"I'll see you out there then." Taking a deep breath, she stuck the fake smile back on her face and headed over towards Pierce.

****

Pierce brought his Mercedes to a halt outside the Angel Investigations office. "I'm sorry you're not feeling well. I was hoping we could make a night of it."

Cordelia smiled again, happy that this night was almost over. What had happened to her that she couldn't even distinguish the guys from the dorks anymore? "Me, too. I really wanted to hear the end of the story about the pigs and beans." She yawned.

Pierce frowned, as if suddenly realizing where they were. "Don't you want me to take you home?" Cordy stepped out of the car, eager to get away as quickly as possible. "My car is here."

Pierce jumped out of the car and took her arm. "Wait, let me walk you. I'm - I'm not really sure about this neighborhood."

Cordelia winced. 'That's just asking for trouble round here,' she thought. Suddenly she squealed as someone jumped out at her. It took seconds to realize it was a vampire.

"You're right, - it's crappy!" The vampire lunged at Cordelia, and Pierce screamed, jumping back into his car as the vampire wrapped its arm around Cordelia's neck. The tires screeched as he drove away, seconds before Wesley pulled up outside the building. He was out of the car before he realized what was going on, and quickly leant back in to the car.

"Fred!" he hissed. "Stake!" She reached under her seat for the stake she new he kept there for protection. Cordelia spotted Wesley, and screamed at him before biting the vampire's arm, making him release her for a second. Before she had chance to get away, he grabbed her by the hair. As Wesley stood back up, reading to do battle, he noticed someone else at the other side of Cordelia, brandishing a crossbow. With the weapon aimed at the vampire and Cordelia, Wesley realized he couldn't shoot yet, in case he caught Cordelia instead.

"Hey!" The stranger yelled. "I'm the one you followed here. It's me you want." Wesley noticed the Irish accent, before pulling his mind back to the situation. He glanced back at Fred, who was still sitting in the car, watching what happened before she jumped into the fray.

"Doyle!" Cordelia yelled.

The vampire growled at Doyle. "Stay close. You'll get your turn."

Wesley ran forward and pulled the vampire from Cordelia. After a struggle, he managed to hold him in a position that Doyle could shoot at, and Wesley fell on his back as the vampire exploded into dust. Standing up, he brushed dust off his ripped shirt.

Doyle walked over to Cordelia, helping her up.

"Are you okay?"

Cordelia frowned slightly. "I'm fine. That was... You were both so - brave."

"You think you could say that again without so much shock in your voice? You're stepping on my moment of manliness here." Doyle smiled slightly as he spoke, but Cordelia could tell he meant it.

"I'm sorry. I'm just..."

"Surprised?"

Cordelia smiled. "Grateful." She turned round to Wesley. "Grateful to both of you. Doyle - this is Wesley, Wesley, Doyle. And in the car there?" she pointed over to where Fred was stepping out of the car. "That's Fred. We went to high school together for a while." She turned back to Wesley. "Doyle works with Angel and me."

Wesley smiled at Doyle as they shook hands. "Nice to meet you."

Doyle nodded. "Likewise. Now, shall we be getting inside? It's not exactly warm out here."

*****

Cordelia handed Fred a mug of coffee as they sat down on the couch.

"So, there I was with Mr. Armani, who could keep me in blue boxes for the rest of my life, and the whole night I was bored silly. All I could think about was: if this wimp ever saw a monster he'd probably throw a shoe at it and run like a weasel. Turns out the shoe part was giving him to much credit." Cordelia sighed. She'd thought life in Sunnydale was complicated - this was so much worse. At least then nobody blamed her if she didn't help. Here she was actually needed.

Fred shrugged. "Most people would run. I would have, if I'd never seen a vampire before. It's just human nature."

"Yeah, - but all of a sudden rich and handsome isn't enough for me. Now I expect a guy to be all brave and interesting."

Fred laughed, realising what Cordelia was getting at. "Is that such a bad thing?"

"It's disastrous." Cordelia grimaced. "And as if I wasn't confused enough, then Doyle comes along and rescues me like some - badly dressed superhero." She sighed. "He was really beat up - but you know the first thing he asked? 'Are you okay?' I mean, that's like - substance, right?" She looked through into the office where Doyle sat with Angel and Wesley, and then looked back at Fred, sighing again. "So, I've got to kill myself. I swore when I went that road with Xander Harris, I'd rather be dead then date a fixer-upper again."

"Cordelia, I know I've only just met Doyle, but he doesn't seem all that bad to me."

"Says the girl who's dating Wesley. Could your life get any better?!"

"I'm pretty lucky," Fred agreed, laughing. "But maybe you should give Doyle another chance. Maybe he does have hidden depths. Let him take you out for coffee or something - how long have you been working with him?"

"About six months, I guess."

"How much do you know about him, really?" She paused, and Cordelia stayed silent. "I'm guessing there's a lot he'd love to tell you, if you give him a chance. He saved your life - tell him how grateful you are."

Cordy smiled. "So, tell me all about you and Wes. Have you two ... y'know ... yet?"

"Cordelia!" Fred squealed. "I can't believe you asked me that!" She looked at Cordy, who was grinning cheekily, biting her tongue to hold back a laugh. "Actually, on second thoughts, I can definitely believe you asked me that."

"Well?!"

Fred took a breath. "Not yet. I'm not ready, and I think he gets that."

"How long have you been seeing each other?"

"Since graduation ... enough with the questions!"

Suddenly the guys erupted with laughter, and Fred jumped up from her chair. "I'm going to check on them. Because I know Wesley has no end of embarrassing stories he could be telling about me, and I want to be there to defend myself!" Cordelia laughed, and stood up to wash out the mugs they'd been drinking from.

Fred knocked lightly on the office door, and pushed it open. "Uh, Doyle? I think Cordelia wants to talk to you."

Doyle looked surprised, and he headed out into the foyer. Fred moved further into the room and sat down next to Wesley on the desk.

"It's nice to see you again, Angel." Fred smiled.

"And you. Glad you both made it out of Sunnydale alive ... it's not an easy thing to accomplish." Voices floated into the office, and Angel wandered out, curiously, Fred and Wesley following.

"Uhm, - where've you been?" Doyle was talking to a woman Fred didn't recognise, and by the look on Cordelia's face, evidently she didn't either.

"Around. Uhm -Kiribati - Togo - Uzbekistan - a few spots that were a - little less touristy."

"Who's Francis?" Cordelia interrupted, and Doyle glanced over at her, as if just remembering she were there.

"That would be me. - Alan Francis Doyle. - Cordelia, this is Harry - my wife." Cordelia's puzzled look was replaced by one of shock, and Fred took Wesley by the wrist, tugging him towards the door.

"Look at the time! We'd better be going, I have classes in the morning." Fred hugged Cordelia, and opened the door. "Nice to see you again, guys, we'll drop by sometime."

"Yeah," Cordelia replied, clearly stunned. "You do that."



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