Chapter 3
Author: Ellen
Rating: NC-17 (overall story)
Spoilers: Season 1
Summary: A retelling of the episode "She" as it might have happened in the Power of Three universe.
Disclaimer: We don't own any of these characters, or the basic plot of the episode "She," written by David Greenwalt and Marti Noxon, from which this story is adapted. Angel, Doyle and Cordelia all belong to Joss, who is secretly a demon and a member of 'The Scourge'. It's the only thing that makes sense, damnit.
Thoughts between Angel, Doyle and Cordelia are marked //like this.//
This magic smelled like death.
Ever since his first vision, this had been Doyle's worst nightmare, far worse than dying had been. To be trapped in an unending vision, like a drowning person held under water, struggling desperately for the surface, for breath but denied any escape from the pain...
Cordelia was living that nightmare now. The closer he approached her through the link, the stronger the smell of magic became.
It was an old, dark magic. It smelled like decay and corruption. She had been marked by that magic and it was holding her down, trapping her inside the visions, forbidding her release.
He had to find some way to block it, some way to defeat it, or it would destroy Cordelia. He wasn't going to let that happen.
There had to be a way to fight it but he couldn't draw on Angel's strength, not now. Angel was out there in the real world, trying to find a way to reverse what had been done to Cordelia.
Angel had told him so many times that he was far stronger than he knew. He had to be strong enough, for Cordelia's sake, to help her on his own.
Fighting to think clearly, despite the intense pain he was getting from Cordelia, Doyle focused on the bond between them. He tried to visualize it as a thread of light connecting them, something to hold against the dark magic that had marked her.
//Hold on to this,// he sent urgently to Cordelia, hoping that something could get through to her despite the agony. He sent her the image of a shimmering rope extending between them and an image of her hands grasping it. //Touch this, hold this.//
Faintly, she responded. She sent back the image of her hand reaching for the shining cord and then the projection of her hand fell back, unable to grasp it, blocked by the mark.
//We're stronger than that,// Doyle assured her. //I know it hurts, I know but you're stronger than that. Fight it. Hold on.//
//It hurts too much. I can't, I can't.//
//You want to let it win, princess?// he goaded her deliberately. //Are you going to let it kill you?//
//It hurts so bad... can't hold on...//
//Are you going to give up then? Are you going to let us both die? That's not the Cordelia I love. That's not the Cordelia who cheated death for me.//
//Doyle...//
He could feel that he was starting to get through to her. //Fight it, darlin'. Don't let anyone take away what you fought so hard for. Don't let go. If it hurts too much to fight it for yourself, then fight it for me.//
//Doyle... if I die...//
The thought was cut off by another wave of agony.
//If you die, I die. Fight it, dammit! Don't let them win. Fight back. I know you can.//
Again he projected the image of the glowing rope to her, with the strength of desperation. She reached out for it again and this time, the mental image of her hand managed to touch it, before the other magic forced her away.
//You almost had it, darlin'. Try again. I know it hurts. Keep trying.//
//Doyle, don't leave me.// He could feel her fighting now, trying to throw off the pain, trying to hold on to the link between them. //Don't leave me.//
//I'll never leave you. On this side or the other, I'm with you.//
//I don't want to die. I don't want you to die. Oh god, it hurts so much. Help me!//
//I'm doing all I can. I'm here. Hold on.//
With a scream of mixed fury and pain, she finally caught hold of the image of the bond and held it tight. The projection glowed brighter, shining more fiercely as her anger gave it power.
//That's it, darlin'. Keep hold of it. I'm still here.//
//Doyle!// Cordelia twisted the rope in her hands as it seemed to catch fire, blood-red, blazing through her and running through the bond. Doyle felt the heat of agony racing through their link, from her to him and wanted to flinch away from it.
Somehow, he resisted. He was done with running. He stood to meet the wave and it crashed over him.
The flame engulfed him and it was like the first time he had died.
It was so hard... it hurt so much and it would be so much easier to just let go...
It would be so easy for both of them to die, together, right now and end the pain.
//No!// This time it was Cordelia's thought, as anger overwhelmed everything else. //You will not die. Not again. I won't allow it. No!//
//Help me... fight it...//
//I will.// His pain reached her in a way that her own had not. The fire leaped higher but it seemed to have changed color now, changed shape. It burned a brilliant gold, as Cordelia's mind, now relieved of some of its crushing burden, reached out toward his.
//We're stronger than you think! We're going to live!// Cordelia shouted at the unknown force. //I'm not a victim! I'm not going to let him die again! Take that!//
The image of the ring on Doyle's finger and the image of the ring on her own, began to glow with a white-hot intensity as Cordelia twisted the burning rope in her hands. //We are one! We are not dying!//
//Yes...// Doyle felt what she was doing and found that he was able to join her, as she turned the power that was being used against them back against itself.
//We will live! Take that!//
Somewhere else, Vocah swayed for a moment and then caught himself. Something was starting to go wrong.
Somewhere else, Angel picked up a scythe.
