Cordelia In A Coma

Angel stood overlooking L.A. from his office at the top of the Wolfram and Hart building like a king surveying his kingdom, but he wasn't paying attention to the busy streets below or the skyline. He was deep in thought and had been since receiving word from the doctors taking care of Cordelia that her case was not improved. For months, she has been in a coma, hell she had been in a sort of vegetative state since the thing that was Jasmine began taking over her body since Cordelia made the deal with Skip to save him.

Angel remembered the first time he ever seen her at the Bronze. She had been standing with her friends as he walked past to meet Buffy and he had heard every word she had said when she had told the Cordette's to call 911 because he was going to need oxygen. He had ignored her.

His next clear memory of her was the Halloween when Buffy had lost her memory, before that he was supposed to meet Buffy at the Bronze, he hadn't found her, but he had found Cordelia and even though he would never have admitted it at the time she had known how to talk to him and had been able to draw him out of his shell and even made him laugh, something Buffy had not been able to do. After that Buffy, had put on the enchanted costumes floated around Sunny Dale compliments of Ethan Raines and Cordelia had actually tried to help the girl she called a freak and claimed to hate. He could still remember that she had referred to him as a Care Bear with fangs not knowing he really was. Vampire.

But, once she found out the truth her school girl crush was over and truth be told his vanity had missed it. Through all her high school years despite how unwanted she had been by the Scoobies' Cordelia had helped anyway and usually was the one to support Buffy when her best friends, Willow and Xander, would doubt her. Back then, Angel hadn't appreciated her loyalty or her contribution to Buffy or the group. He didn't learn to appreciate Cordelia or her friendship until he had almost lost her to Maude Pierson.

He remembered when he had run into her that first time in L.A. at that party. It had been nice to see a familiar; looking back on it now her asking him if he was " still grrr" curling her fingers like claws and the little face she had made and the big smile after asking had actually been cute and very Cordelia. She had been penniless and living in a roach motel, but being Cordelia she had acted like everything was great. If Angel wouldn't have been Russel down because of Tina, chances are Cordelia would not have survived that night even though she had always been resourceful.

She, with the help of a smitten Doyle had talked her way into a job and ultimately his life. There were times in those early days when he had to fight and urge to murder her. Like when she left the roach motel and invaded his bat cave as she liked to call it. In just the day she was with him he thought he was going to lose his mind, from peanut butter on his sheets that she tried to blame on him, too wet towels on his leather chair to cutting his linoleum to see if wood floors were u underneath. He had been so ready for her to leave he hadn't even bothered to check out her apartment until, the next day and the angry ghost of Maude Pierson revealed herself.

He and Cordelia had been through a lot together that first year alone he had almost lost her too many times. After losing Doyle he became even more protective of her and Wolfram & Hart soon realized she was his weakness more than even Buffy and they exploited that weakness too many times to count, Angel can still feel the fear from a few years back when they targeted her with the Vocah and endless visions that almost killed.

He had felt so helpless watching her mumbling incoherently, the drugs they had given her not strong enough to stop the visions for even a moments rest. He had finally managed to find what he needed to end the curse, but it had been too late to stop the lawyers from reviving Darla which ultimately caused a whole other mess that was partially responsible for the current situation they were in now, him and the rest of the team running the literal evil law firm, and Cordelia's Coma, but it was her trying to save him that made a false prophecy possible.