Part 3 (of ?)

“Ok, Licia, should I wear this dress?” Cordelia smiled broadly as she held up a red tiered mini with matching red pantyhose, “Or this one?” After putting down her first choice, she then held up a silver miniskirt with turquoise top.

“The second one, definitely! And don’t forget the silver thigh high boots and hat.” Felicia grinned back as she held up her choice for the evening, a lavender mini with matching vest and long sleeve multi-colored print shirt. “What do you think about this one?”

“With the beret and boots, you’re gonna look really groovy!” Cordelia, reverting to years as the fashion queen of Sunnydale High, smiled, approving of her roommate’s choice.

“Outta sight!” Felicia grinned back. “Well, I better go and get changed—catch ya in a few!” Before closing her door, the strawberry blonde called back, “How’s about some tunes?”

“Sounds good!” Cordelia agreed. “Anything you wanna hear?”

“Doesn’t matter.” Felicia’s cheerful voice answered back. “You pick.”

“’Kay” Cordy chuckled as she looked through her roommate’s album collection. “If you could only see this, Giles . . .” The time traveling seer said in a gentle voice as she thumbed through lps and singles by The Animals, Byrds, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Yardbirds, Tom Jones, and a host of others. “Ok . . .” Cordelia said softly as she made her choice, “Beatles should be safe.” Looking at the old fashioned phonograph, Cordelia cringed. “I can do this now . . .” Taking a deep breath, she took the album out of its jacket and placed it on the turntable. “Ok . . . let’s see . . . I remember watching Licia do this . . . turn the phonograph on . . .” Flipping the switch, the young brunette grinned as the album began to spin. “Now comes the hard part . . . pick up the needle and drop it on the edge, and easy now . . . easy . . .” As the needle dropped gently on the edge, Cordy flashed a triumphant grin. “I did it!” She beamed as ‘Hard Day’s Night’ began to play.

“Cool choice, Cordy!” Felicia called back from her room. “Just the song to get me groovin’”

“Far out!” Cordelia answered back, grinning at how easily she was picking up on 60s slang. “I’m gonna get changed myself. I’ll seeya in a few.”

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As the train’s wheels squealed to a stop, Angel, standing up, lurched forward as the locomotive came to a final rest. Zipping up his jacket, the ensouled vampire, after first checking to make sure that it was dark and that no one was waiting outside the car, cracked the side door open and then slipped out unnoticed and into the shadows that had, for over two hundred years, served as his natural home.

**********************************

As they approached the Bronze, Cordelia shook her head in amazement at how it was both the same, yet different from the teen hangout that she had frequented in her Sunnydale days. The couples kissing on the outside, the bouncer at the door taking the cover charge, and the sounds of laughter and music all reminded her of happier times, before Buffy and the Master, when she and almost everyone else had lived in ignorance of the evil that lay beneath the small town exterior of the city built on a Hellmouth.

“Licia, baby!” The man approaching with his long dark hair styled in a Regency wave and wearing dark purple velvet Regency coat, white pants, and silk shirt with frilled lace cravat quickly reminded the seer that while she might be in Sunnydale, she really wasn’t home. “Who’s your new friend?” He asked, giving Cordelia a broad smile as he checked her out.

‘Hmmm...not bad…’ Cordelia thought to herself as she returned the stranger’s inspection with one of her own. ‘I better not get any ideas though, no matter how…anxious…I am right now. Just my luck, he’ll end up being my junior English teacher.’

“Donny!” Felicia grinned as she kissed the attractive young man on the cheek, “This is Cordy, my new roomie.” Turning to the lovely brunette standing next to her, the lovely strawberry blonde continued her introductions, “Cordy, this is Donny.”

“Oh . . .Hi, Donny.” Cordelia replied with a start, her face reddening as she realized that she had been caught giving the young man the eye, managed a smile as she held out her hand.

“Groovy.” Donny flashed a wicked grin as he bent down to kiss the time traveling seer’s hand. Then, moving in between the two ladies, and slipping an arm around each of their waists, he chuckled, “You babes wanna go in now? Everyone else is already here and the scene’s happening, man.”

As the trio walked into the nightclub laughing and joking with each other, one of them, a certain time traveling champion, began to make plans. There was much to do—she needed to find someone who could muster the resources that she needed in order to identify who would be the most likely suspects to awaken the master, but first, she needed to find Angel as soon as possible.

****************************************

Ironically, the ensouled vampire who Cordelia sought had already found her. He stood watching, hugging the shadows, looking longingly at the three youths standing, talking, and laughing together. As the man dressed as a dandy slipped in between the two women, his heart sank as he remembered that he had once done the same in his youth some two hundred years earlier…before he had met Darla…before he became a creature of darkness. Pressing himself further against the wall as they drew closer to the corner behind which he skulked, Angel gritted his teeth as his loneliness threatened to consume him. The tormented vampire then caught their scents…the warm blood coursing through their bodies tempting the demon within him as the soul that the gypsies had returned to him called forth images of the many whose lives he had cut short—of whole families tortured…of his own family, dead by his hand.

But, as the lithe brunette wearing the silver skirt passed him, he caught a different scent—a whiff of something not human…of something demonic. Curious, he decided to stay and watch.

***************************************
Hot town, summer in the city
Back of my neck getting dirty and gritty
Been down, isn't it a pity
Doesn't seem to be a shadow in the city

All around, people looking half dead
Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head

As she entered the Bronze with her new friends, the music from the Lovin’ Spoonful filled the ears of the young seer. Smiling broadly as she recognized the song, she gasped in amazement at how her old nightclub had changed. Wrinkling her nose, the first thing she noticed was the sharp, acrid smell of cigarette smoke. ‘I’ll never get the smell out!’ She thought in disgust. ‘Ok, one bad thing about the sixties—no Clean Air Act!’

At least the dance floor was still there, as was the stage, and so were four go-go cages with dancers wearing fringed bikini tops and bottoms and miniskirts, their bodies gaily painted with all the colors of the rainbow, and the people—lots of people—dancing and laughing together.

But at night it's a different world
Go out and find a girl
Come-on come-on and dance all night
Despite the heat it'll be alright

Seeing Donny motion towards where the people were dancing and Licia enthusiastically nodding her head, Cordelia, with a slight smile and shrug of her shoulders, allowed her handsome escort to lead her to the dance floor. Once on the floor, surrounded by young men and women her age all dressed as wildly as she, the time traveling seer permitted herself a brief moment’s escape as she allowed the music to control her body.

And babe, don't you know it's a pity
That the days can't be like the nights
In the summer, in the city
In the summer, in the city

Cool town, evening in the city
Dressing so fine and looking so pretty
Cool cat, looking for a kitty
Gonna look in every corner of the city
Till I'm wheezing like a bus stop
Running up the stairs, gonna meet you on the rooftop

But at night it's a different world
Go out and find a girl
Come-on come-on and dance all night
Despite the heat it'll be alright

And babe, don't you know it's a pity
That the days can't be like the nights
In the summer, in the city
In the summer, in the city

“Thanks, Donny!” Cordelia, laughing merrily, kissed her escort on the cheek as the couple made their way to a table where Felicia and another couple were already seated.

“You two look like you were really groovin’.” Felicia smirked as she sipped her drink.

“Yeah, both of you were like, outta sight.” The man sitting next to Felicia, sporting a Beatles style mop top and wearing a white Nehru jacket with a large, silver dollar sized gold medallion hanging from a gold chain, said as he adjusted his Ben Franklin specs.

“Cordy…this is Lenny…” Felicia smiled as she introduced her new roommate to her friends, “And this…” She then motioned to an African-American woman, her hair styled straight and wearing a paisley halter top and hip hugger jeans, “Is Edie.”

“Hi.” The time traveling seer smiled as she took her seat next to Donny.

“Peace, baby.” Lenny said with a slight smile.

“Hey.” Edie then said with a nervous grin.

Seeing the questioning look on her roommate’s face, Felicia explained in a low voice. “Lenny and Edie are dating—they got hassled by the Harris brothers cause they’re…you know. Donny and a couple of other guys came along and pulled ‘em out.”

“Yeah, it was a real bummer.” Donny said, shaking his head. “I mean…I can’t understand how some cats can get their kicks doin’ stuff like that.”

“I know what you mean.” Cordelia nodded her head sympathetically. Then, feeling the urge to dance coming upon her once again as she saw Edie and Lenny make their way to the dance floor, she grabbed Donny’s hand as the notes of “Good Lovin’” from the Young Rascals filled the nightclub. “Come on, Donny…I wanna dance!” Once on the floor, she let the music once again take over her body, her short hair flying wildly as she gyrated her hips, Cordelia laughed gaily as it struck her that, for the first time in a long time, she was genuinely having fun. Then the vision hit her…a young teenager, two vampires eyeing him hungrily, a back alley next to the Bronze. Stopping quickly, she put hand to head.

“You ok, babe?” Donny, concern dripping from his voice, asked. “You look kinda pale…did you do some bad acid or something?”

“No…I’m ok…” Cordelia answered back, managing a weak smile. “I just need to get a little air.”

“Ok…I’ll come with you.” The handsome youth replied with a smile.

“That’s ok…” Cordelia grinned back. “You can’t go where I gotta go…” She then motioned with her eyes towards the ladies room. “Well…you could…” She chuckled, “But I don’t think the other girls’ll like it.”

“Cool, I’ll let Licia know.” The young man laughed as he kissed the lovely time traveler on her cheek.

“Thanks.” Cordy smiled as she quickly made her way first to the ladies room, and then to the back exit where she slipped out into the night. Looking around, she spotted a piece of jagged wood. “Perfect.” She smiled as she strode confidently towards the alley in her vision.

Reaching the alley, she could still hear the music coming from the Bronze, now Nancy Sinatra singing “These Boots Were Made For Walking.” Gathering up her courage, her eyes now fully adapted to the dark, she entered the dark passage. Once inside, she saw what she expected to see—two vampires with their game faces on, both men, one wearing a leather jacket, the other, a Sunnydale letterman’s jacket, growling as they looked down upon a slender teenage boy wearing a white dress shirt and black slacks. “What…you boys lost your way to the Demon Discount Hut or something?” She quipped in what she thought was a pretty good imitation of Buffy’s punning style.

You keep saying you got something for me
Something you call love but confess
You've been a'messin' where you shouldn't 've been a'messin'
And now someone else is getting all your best
Well, these boots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do
One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you

“Go away, half-breed.” The vamp in the leather jacket sneered. “We’re just about to eat us some dinner and demons ain’t invited.”

“Yeah.” Letterman quipped. “Who do you think you are, the Slayer?”

“Nah…I’ve got way more fashion sense than her!” Cordelia grinned. Then, remembering what Angel had taught her, she threw her stake at Letterman vamp. The vampire, taken by surprise by her sudden move, remained frozen in place as the jagged wood penetrated his heart.

You keep lyin' when you oughta be truthin'
You keep losing when you oughta not bet
You keep samin' when you oughta be a'changin'
What's right is right but you ain't been right yet
These boots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do
One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you

Seeing his partner disappear into a pile of ash, the other vampire growled his rage as he rushed the time traveling seer, yelling, “Your blood’s too rotten to drink, but I bet your neck snaps pretty.”

Dodging his attack, Cordelia countered with another move that Angel had taught her. Striking with a snap kick, she hit her opponent in the small of his back, buying her enough time to put herself between him and the boy. Then, grabbing the stake that she had concealed in her thigh high boot, she flashed as confident a grin as she could muster through her fear.

Moving quickly, the vampire connected with a punch to Cordy’s stomach, knocking her to the ground. “Should’ve left, baby.” He smirked triumphantly as he bared his fangs and leaped upon his supposedly helpless victim.

“And you should’ve stuck with rats.” Cordelia smirked in return as she drove her stake into the vampire’s heart.

You keep playing where you shouldn't be playing
And you keep thinking that you'll never get burnt (HAH)
Well, I've just found me a brand new box of matches (YEAH)
And what he knows you ain't had time to learn
These boots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do
One of these days these boots are gonna walk all over you

Scrambling to her feet, the triumphant seer looked about, searching for the teenage boy. Finding him hiding behind some garbage cans, she smiled encouragingly, “It’s ok, you can come out now.”

“Thanks.” He replied in a nervous voice as he carefully emerged from his hiding place.

“What’s your name?” Cordelia asked, trying to put the youth at ease.

“Ira, Ma’am.” He answered back politely, “Ira Rosenberg. I was on my way back home when those people…I guess they were potheads or something…attacked me.”

“Well…” Cordelia chuckled softly as she saw that Sunnydale Amnesia Syndrome was once again manifesting itself. “You know it’s dangerous to be out walking alone at night. Why don’t you come with me…my friends and I’ll get you home safe.”

It was only as the two were walking back to the Bronze that it finally dawned on the young seer whom she had just rescued—Willow’s father. Smiling triumphantly as she strode down the street, she then joined Nancy Sinatra in the final words of her song,

Are you ready, boots?
Start walkin'

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There was one other who had also watched Cordelia’s battle with the vampires. Once he had recognized what the young woman was about to do, the cursed vampire wasn’t sure what to do—a part of him wanted to immediately come to her aid, but the other part, the cautious mistrustful part, forced him to stand back, to not get involved, to let her pay the consequences for her rash action. Then, watching her fight, his face registered surprise as he recognized her using combat moves that were his and his alone. Now, both curious and intrigued, Angel, keeping to the cover of the shadows as much as possible, followed this strange and exotic woman towards the bright lights.

TBC...