You Sick, Sick Man (1/5)

by

LaLa247

Angel ran into the offices, grinning with glee. "HA!!" The A.I. team ignored him. Cordelia Chase sat at Angel's desk, playing a computer game. Fred sat across from her, and Wesley sat on the other side of the room. Angel blinked. "I said, HA!!" Wesley turned the page of his newspaper.

Fred looked up from her book, smiling. "Hi!"

Angel frowned in confusion. "N-No...not 'hi', HA!" He looked from Wesley to Cordelia, waiting for a reply. "Cord-"

Gunn walked in from the bathroom. "What the hell are you Ha-ing about??" Angel hopped in glee. Cordelia made the notorious 'crazy' motion with her left hand. Gunn bit back a smile. "Yo!"

Angel brought out the object from behind his back. Fred screamed and ran behind Gunn. Wesley's mouth dropped. Cordelia sat stunned. "HA!!" He grinned wildly. "I got it!" He shook it in front of them.

Wesley gawked, standing up. "Y-You bloody psycho!!"

Angel frowned. "What?"

Cordelia stood up and walked across the room, carefully avoiding Angel. "Angel!" She stared at him.

Angel stared at Cordelia, then looked down at the object. "What?"

Cordelia threw her hands up, pointing. "Angel! That's Lindsey's HAND!!!"

Angel chuckled. "Not exactly...it's the fake one...I found it at his apartment...wanted to see how the place was holding up- decide to take this as a trophy..."

"You sick, sick little man." Gunn muttered, comforting Fred.

Angel set the hand to his side. "Hey. It's just a hand! A fake one at that!" He slowly began to brood. "No one thinks it's funny?!" He set the hand on the desk and motioned towards it. "C'mon, this is comedy right here!!!" He was promptly ignored. "'Kay..." He awkwardly made his exit.

The rest stared at the empty space in shock. "Um, that was...peculiar..." Wesley offered.

Gunn sat down. "He's been kinda off lately. Fred, chill." Fred sat quickly.

Cordelia watched Angel walking away. "He has been acting weird..."
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Cordelia walked into the lobby and sighed. Angel sat in his favorite chair, doing what he did best. Brood. She sauntered to the vampire and stood in front of him. He stared as though she wasn't there. "Hey-" He ignored her. Cordelia nudged his leg. "Brood Boy!" He sighed. "Angel- stop acting-"

"What?" Angel suddenly spoke up. Cordelia jumped. "Weird? Creepy? You think I'm a freak."

Cordelia gaped at him, and slowly sat across from him. "Angel...no...it's just- don't bring a freakin' hand into the
hotel!!"

"It's NOT a real hand!" Angel shot back.

"It doesn't matter! You scared Fred! A-And it's creepy! It just sits there. Gunn slid it across the table, and I coulda sworn it hissed. I heard it! It said 'Cordy'..."

Angel raised an eyebrow. "And I'm the weird one??"

Cordelia touched his knee gently. Angel quickly moved his leg away. "Angel, this is happening alot. Y-You're creeping everyone out. Gunn has a freakin' stake in the freezer."

"Hey!" Gunn shouted from the office.

Cordelia cringed. "Sorry!" She turned back to Angel. "You're too- too happy-"

Angel's mouth dropped. "What- I can't be happy?! What kind of crap is that?!"

"No- Angel! Calm down and listen! Look- you're doing alot of weird things- well, weird for you. You've become this big movie buff. You've seen Omega Man like 300 times and no, I'm still not gonna watch it with you. Y-You're collecting weird things like that hand! You play pranks! And you're just really happy...not that it's a bad thing! But with the Angelus thing and all-"

Angel glowered. "You're not making any sense. I'm just being...me! I can't be me?"

Cordelia touched his arm and gripped it tightly. Angel made a vain attempt to move away. She had gotten strong.

"Angel, I want you to go visit Lorne." Angel opened his mouth in protest. "Uh, bu-but! No excuses! Please. For us. Just so we know you're okay...please? For me?" She gave him a million watt smile.

Angel slowly nodded. "Okay. For you." Cordelia squealed. Angel slowly smiled. "Okay."
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Angel walked into Caritas and looked around. "Okay...no one here-"

"Angelcakes!"

"Crap." Angel muttered. "Hey, Lorne."

The Host walked up to the vampire and hit his arm. "What brings you here? Wait- don't tell me- Browneyes!"

Angel furrowed his brow. "Browney- oh, you mean Cordelia." Lorne nodded. "Yeah, she thinks I'm slowly going insane. So she wants me to get read. I hate her."

Lorne laughed. "Then go on."

Angel blinked in surprise. "Huh?" Lorne pushed him. "Wait- no- I-"

Lorne shoved him onto the stage. "No Mandy. Sing something else- you wore out my tape."

Angel glared. "Okay okay..." He grabbed the mike and cleared his throat. He sniffed in his nervousness. "Okay, um, Al Green?"

Lorne grinned. "Going with the classics, huh?"

Angel gave him the finger. "Hurry up." He hissed. Lorne put the song on. Angel started to sing, ignoring the eyes on him. His voice shook and broke several times. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he was finished. "I-I'm so, so sorry..." He muttered and ran off the stage. He ran up to Lorne. "So what is it?"

Lorne sipped his Seabreeze and smiled knowingly. "You're crazy."

Angel blinked in surprise. "W-What? No I'm not! Please, I've went crazy, and I KNOW when I go crazy!!"

Lorne shook his head. "No no honey, you misunderstood. I said you're crazy, not going crazy." He looked at Angel. "You're a crazy man doing crazy things...it's kinda like a John Cusack movie..."

Angel rubbed the back of his neck. "No riddles, Lorne..."

Lorne became miffed. "Okay. You got it bad for Queenie." Angel's eyes widened. "Oh like you didn't know! How else can I, or you; explain this radical behavior? You're doing this wacky stuff to get your mind off the obvious. You're trying to escape your thoughts- ALL of which involve your gal Friday. Now all you have to do is take charge
of your situation."

Angel swallowed hard. "I-I think you're right..."

Lorne shrugged. "I know I am."

Angel nodded. "I- have to go..."

Lorne watched Angel walk away. "Oh, Angel?" Angel spun around. "Honestly now, the hand?" Angel rolled his eyes and ran out.
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The door slammed in the Hyperion. "Hi, Angel." Cordelia called from the kitchen.

Angel stared at the Seer. "Hey." He took off his jacket. "Where's everyone?"

Cordelia wiped the counter with a towel. "Wesley's at some bar with Gunn, and Fred's sleeping. How'd it go?"

Angel walked to the kitchen, grabbing a cup of coffee. "Good. I'm not crazy. Or sick. Just weird."

Cordelia smiled. "I knew that."

Angel smiled back. "I know. I knew the rest though..."

"Which was?"

Angel smiled mysteriously. "I'm not telling...my reading..."

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Whatever-" Her eyes lit up. "Hey! Guess who e-mailed me?!" Angel looked at her. "Donny Rae! God- I haven't talked to him in years- he saw my picture in some newspaper...one of my old acting jobs...he wants to see me- sent a pic...he's hot!"

Angel nearly spit out his coffee. "Uh- huh?! Y-You're not gonna....see him, are you??"

Cordelia grinned. "Actually..." She brought out a piece of paper. "Here's his number! I'm gonna call tomorrow morning." She smiled at Angel and walked into the office.

Angel stared at the paper resting on the counter. He bit his lip. Finally, he snatched the paper up and headed toward the phone. "Take charge, huh?" He muttered, grabbing the phone. He dialed the number, poking his head out for Cordelia. "Hi!" He said when a man picked up. "Is this Donny? Donny Rae?" He smiled to himself. This was going
to be fun. Almost as fun as stealing Lindsey's hand.

TBC...