Summary: A certain brunette comes back to Sunnydale after getting word about Willow. Can she save the day? Based on "Seeing Red" and further on after Willow turned Dark Willow. Set in S6 of Buffy and S5 of Angel. Cordy never went into a coma.
It was a beautiful day. Willow and Tara were talking.
Just then, Warren came into the yard and shot Buffy.
"Buffy!" Xander yelled out.
Warren continued to shoot, as Xander knelt by the Slayer.
"Buffy. Oh, God."
Warren left the yard and Xander called an ambulance, at the same moment that Tara fell to the floor shot dead.
Willow called upon Osiris, kneeling beside her lover.
"Osiris, I command you! Come forward! I call upon you!"
He came forth.
"Bring her back!"
"It cannot be done. She died a mortal death."
Her eyes turned black and she screamed at him in rage and pain. It was mixed with the sound of wind.
She walked out and towards the Magik Shoppe.
When she entered, she went to each book and touched it, which made her hair, eyes, and clothes turn back. All knowledge of all magic went to her mind and sunk in. She then left.
As soon as Anya and Xander saw her, they realized she had changed a whole lot. She was very powerful now. The most powerful witch ever.
That night, she killed Warren and then looked at Xander and Anya.
She was about ready to release her magic, when someone came between them. A brunette.
"Glad you could make it," Anya told her.
Cordelia Chase stood facing the witch.
They did a stare down that Xander always hated. It was the Queen C glare. The boss of all glares.
"You know what I hate? My friends turning evil and coming after me and the rest of us. But I'll make an exception. You wanna hurt them? You gotta go through me first. You know it. Don't hold back. I'm gonna die from my visions anyway. Why not die a hero? Buffy did. She always does. And me? I'm just a different kind of hero. I'm a Seer. I take pain and suffering personally."
"What's she doing, An?"
"She's taunting her to save us."
"You called her?"
"Ya. I did."
"Come on, Willow. Remember high school? All through school I was mostly to you. I know you still feel that pain, anger, and hatred towards me. Give it your best shot. Try to hurt me. Try to kill me. I know you want it."
Willow through all the dark magic at her that she had, but Cordelia kept ducking from her magic, too quick to be hit.
Realizing she wouldn't be very easy to get at, she disappeared in a cloud of smoke.
"Where'd she go?" Cordelia asked.
"Probably to jail. She wants Jonathan and Andrew dead. You guys hurry. I'll teleport there and wait for you."
With a flash, Anyanka was gone.
The two didn't hesitate to run towards the Seer's car and get in.
A few minutes later, they walked in to see Willow throw Anya practically through a wall and it caved in on her.
Cordelia stepped forward.
"Xan, get the guys out of here. I'll do the rest."
She faced the witch.
"PTB, here my call! Help me! Give me Power to face her! Help your Seer!"
Electricity surged through the Drama Queen, as Power was given to her.
"Now where were we?" Cordy said.
Willow through magic at her.
Cordy did the same. It was weakening both of them, but Cordy kept on, still standing. It was worst for Wills. Wills was the one that drew back first. Cordy did likewise. She watched the witch disappear in a cloud of smoke.
Despite her loss of strength, the Drama Queen ran towards the fallen wall and quickly unburied the Vengeance Demon. She saw that she was hurt. There was a wound right on her abdomen, extending towards her left side. Also, there was blood down both sides of her head.
"Anya?"
The Vengeance Demon tried to lift her head, but she couldn't. She was in so much pain that she could barely move.
Andrew came up behind her.
"Is she okay?"
"She's hurt."
"How bad?"
"She's bleeding from her abdomen, side, and head. It's bad. I need a first-aid kit. I can't help her without it." She looked up. "I need you to carry her to the backseat of the car."
She stood up.
He picked Anyanka gently up and carried her, Cordelia behind him.
"Anya," Xander said, seeing them come out.
He got out of the car. When he did, his Secret Eyes through the keys at him.
"Buffy's house. Now. We need safety and I need a first-aid kit so I can take care of her."
Xander immediately got in and started the engine.
Cor opened the door to the backseat.
"Jonathan, I need you to please go to the front."
He scrambled out to obey her.
She shook her head.
She spoke to Andrew.
"Lay her down. I'll get in on that side and you get in on this side. Agreed?"
"Yes."
"Good."
He obeyed her and they got in. Cor put her head in her lap and Andrew set her legs on his lap.
As the Zeppo drove, Cor felt her left wrist.
"Anya, if you can hear me, you're going to be okay. I'll take care of you and get Willow back on the good side."
Ten minutes later, Xander got her in and on the couch gently.
Cor stood by her head.
She looked down at her and gently stroked her hair.
"Xan, get the kit. Everyone else, stay in here," she ordered, still looking down at her.
Xander came back with it.
"Hold it while I take care of her."
He did as he was told, while the guys stood by the TV and watched.
"You do this often?" her ex asked.
"Ya. I do. But it's normally a vampire or human. Not a Vengeance Demon," she replied as she stopped her abdomen from bleeding with a piece of gauze. She did the same with her side.
"What's happening?"
"I think her wounds are healing," she answered her ex.
"Vengeance Demons heal?"
"Ya."
"Why wasn't I informed before now?"
"Maybe she thought she would never get this injured," she answered him, as she stopped her head from bleeding.
After a minute, her head healed.
"She should be waking up now, right?" he questioned.
"Xan, I don't know much about how Vengeance Demons die or anything like that. It depends on if there was any head trauma inside," she informed him.
Anyanka woke up at that moment.
"Welcome back," Cordy greeted.
"Thanks."
Anyanka got up and hugged Cor, whom hugged right back.
After letting go, Anyanka and Xan hugged.
"Cor?" Xander said, seeing her walk towards the door.
The couple let go.
Willow walked in.
"Oh my God," Jonathan said.
"She's gonna kill us," Andrew said.
"Not with Queen C around," Xander assured them with a smile.
The former Queen C faced her opponent.
"Wills, please stop this. You're hurting. The pain and grief is too much. I understand that. But to give in to the dark, evil magic...this isn't like you. Somewhere inside you're still in there."
Suddenly, Willow fell to her knees and cried. Cordelia knelt by her and hugged her in comfort. Willow's eyes, hair, and clothes were back to normal.
As she cried and they hugged, the former Cordette spoke soothing words that from a distance, the four onlookers couldn't hear.
The next day, they all attended Buffy and Tara's funeral. As they covered Buffy's casket, Cor hugged Dawn in comfort, her own eyes filling with tears.
At the end of the funeral, she left to go back to LA. She looked back at them before she left, and then she drove home.