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“No!” Angel yelled. Doyle punched him and Angel went flying over the railing.
“Who knows,” Doyle said, turning to Cordelia. “If this is a face you could learn to love.” He kissed her and to his surprise she kissed him back. When he broke away, his face shifted and she saw the Brachen demon face that he had always been so desperate to hide. Without hesitation, Doyle ran and leapt on the killing device.
Cordelia was horror-struck that Doyle was sacrificing himself to save them all, and it seemed to not be a damn thing she could do about it, or could she? “Climb on top and reach down from the corner, less light exposure!”
He listened immediately, knowing his princess wouldn’t steer him wrong. He got a better grip on the cable and pulled with all of his enhanced strength. The light was still burning him and seeming to roast him alive. With one final effort, Doyle pulled the power cord and the momentum knocked him askew and off the machine. Angel was quick on his feet and caught his friend before he crashed to the deck.
“Oh, thank God,” Cordelia gasped. She urged Angel to come up so they could leave the ship. Cordelia took out her phone and dialed a very familiar number. “Xander! Listen, are you close to Giles?”
“Um, not presently. Hello to you too Cordy,” Xander replied glibly. “Why do you need the G man?”
“My friend got really hurt, and he’s part demon,” Cordelia said quickly. “I need to see if there are any precautions or tips to treating him, he may be dying.”
“Jesus,” Xander breathed. “I’ll run there now and call you back. Promise.”
“Thanks.”
They hotwired a car and drove it close to Cordy’s apartment. Once he was settled on towels on her bed, Angel left to deal with the car. Cordelia got out all her first aid supplies and got them ready when her phone started ringing. “Giles?”
“Cordelia, can you fill me in? Xander hasn’t passed on much.”
“I didn’t tell him much,” Cordelia replied. “Angel’s back, so I’ll put you on speaker now. Angel can describe what happened, but look up Brachen demon. Green skin, blue spikes all over his body, red eyes.”
Angel told Giles what happened. The man was in full research mode, yelling for Xander to get a particular volume of text.
“Is he in his human visage now?”
“Yes, and what looks like third degree burns,” Cordelia said. “Am I allowed to use silverdine burn cream or will that make it worse?”
“Silver is fine, nothing with gold or mercury,” Giles muttered. “Now, you need to debride the wound – peel off all the flaky and damaged skin.”
“Not much, kinda melted on,” she murmured.
“Okay, you need to expose some fresh skin,” Giles instructed. “Angel, help her out.”
“She’s got this covered,” Angel said in awe. She was taking her now sterilized scalpel and gloves on, and began scraping at Doyle’s face. “You all don’t give her enough credit.”
“And that is one of my regrets,” Giles informed him. “I’m packing up what I’ve got and we’re coming down. Be there in a few hours. After you’ve exposed fresh flesh, apply the burn salve and cover with clean bandages, dampen the bandages with sterile water.”
“I’ll go boil some, see you soon,” Angel said.
0o0
It took the better part of three hours for them to work on Doyle until Giles and Xander knocked on her door. Angel answered it and he called Cordelia out to the living room. She looked purely exhausted. “Thank you,” she expressed sincerely and hugged Giles. He chuckled and hugged back. When he let her go, Cordelia actually hugged Xander – once he put down the large chest of supplies. “Come on back.”
Cordelia led them through the apartment and back to her bedroom. Dennis opened the door and adjusted the curtains while they shuffled in.
“Oh, that’s just Dennis, he’s my ghost,” she said affectionately when she noticed their confused looks. “He came with the apartment, but we’ve quickly become besties. Dennis, this is Giles and Xander.”
“A ghost bestie, vampire employer, and someone I suspect is more than just a friend, who is a half Brachen demon,” Xander quipped. “You can take the girl out of Sunnydale, but you can’t take the Sunnydale out of the girl.”
“Rivaling your experiences,” Cordelia exchanged pithily. “Inca mummy girl, praying mantis teacher, ginger wicca, and a former vengeance demon?”
“You’re all crazy,” Doyle mumbled from the bed.
“Doyle?” Cordelia questioned, moving immediately to his side, carefully brushing over his hair. “How are you feeling? And be honest.”
“Fine, Princess,” he murmured. “I feel like my whole body is prickling.”
“Pain level, one to ten?” she prompted.
“Nine,” he said tilting his head. Doyle glimpsed the new comers. “You bringing in the replacement already?”
“You’re the replacement buddy,” Xander replied. “Upgrade from what I’ve heard.”
“Thanks,” Doyle replied. “Now care to explain?”
“You weren’t conscious to explain if I wanted to treat you with would really hurt you,” Cordelia explained. “So, I called Giles. Now they’re here to monitor your recovery.”
“Give me like three days. I’ll be good as new,” he insisted. “Can I sit up?”
“Slowly,” Giles advised. Angel got one side and Cordelia got the other and they eased his body up into a sitting position. Xander scooted around everyone and got her pillows stacked up behind him to help him stay in a seated position.
“I’m going to wait until you’re healed, but know that you’re getting a smack in the future,” Cordelia warned him. “What the hell were you thinking?!”
“I’m the expendable one,” Doyle argued.
“Like hell you are,” she argued right back. “Don’t you ever do that again!”
“I’m sure you will be around to prevent me from doing stupid shit like that again,” Doyle said.
“And it’s a face I could love,” she said quietly. “Why did you hide it from me?”
“Didn’t know what you’d think,” Doyle shrugged slightly.
“Clearly you haven’t really seen what she’s capable of yet,” Xander quipped.
“I think I might be getting an idea,” Doyle said, looking Cordelia in the eye. She carefully picked up his burned hand and held it firmly but gently.
“Giles, Xander, we can set you up in my apartment or on the couch here,” Angel offered. “It’s a pull-out couch.”
“If Cordelia is up for it, here might be best, since it’s closest,” Giles said. “I would like to talk to Mr. Doyle here, get a better feel for his physiology.”
“Just Doyle man,” Doyle insisted.
“Doyle then,” Giles amended. “Cordelia said you’re half Brachen demon.”
“Yeah, my father’s side,” Doyle agrees. “I’d show you, but then I’d mess up all the lovely bandages my Princess put on me.”
“You better not,” Cordelia warned.
“That can wait until your next bandage change, in a few more hours. Ideally, you change the bandages every eight to twelve hours,” Giles said. “But when we take them off, if you’d be able to shift, I’d be curious to see how quickly you heal in your secondary state.”
“Secondary state, I like that,” Doyle said, grinning. This man seems like he would be some fun to be around, especially making him feel all special.
0o0
Doyle called it, three days later, the final bandages were removed and his skin was back to looking fairly normal – bad sunburn like. Doyle had bonded with the two men from Sunnydale and was enjoying the attention from Cordelia – as well as seeing her relax with the three men from her past. He was seeing her in a new light, and is made him fall that much more in love with her. Deep down, he knew that things had changed intrinsically between them, and he was excited to see what the future was going to bring them.