The Wheel
Book One: The Hanged One
by Cynamin

"I'm going to kill him!" Cordelia yelled as she stormed back into the office.

Wesley looked at her in confusion. "Who? Not Angel, surely…."

"Not him," Cordelia replied testily, rummaging through her desk. "Giles!"

Now Wesley was really confused. "Um, Giles? I don't understand. Did you see the Oracles? What did they tell you?"

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Yes, I saw them," she said, dialing the phone as she spoke. "As for what they said…." She paused and waited for the phone to connect. Wesley jumped when she spoke again. "Don't you people know how to use a phone?!" she yelled at whoever answered.

Wesley was so glad this anger wasn't directed at him.

Cordelia looked beyond annoyed. "I'm putting you on the speaker phone so I can yell at you properly," she said, then viciously pressed the button on the phone.

"-delia," came Giles' weary voice. "What is this all about? This is really…"

"Not a good time?" Cordelia demanded. "You too busy with the funeral you didn't bother to tell us about?"

Wesley paled. "Funeral?" he gasped. "Who…?"

"Hmm?" Cordelia said. "Are you going to tell him?" No answer, or at least not a coherent one. "Fine, I'll do it. It's Buffy. She *is* dead, right Giles?"

A long moment of silence. "Yes. How…?"

"When?" asked Wesley.

"No, don't answer that." Cordelia was glaring at the telephone. "Let's say…last Friday night? About 9:15 pm?" When Giles didn't respond, she continued angrily. "Why didn't you tell us, huh? Didn't think we'd care? Or are we a disgrace to have around? Not *appropriate* to have a vampire at the Slayer's funeral no matter what the circumstances are, is that it?"

Giles sounded decidedly flustered. "I…I'm sorry."

"Do you hear that?" Cordelia asked Wesley sarcastically. "He's sorry. Sorry for what, Giles?"

"Cordelia, please!" Giles interrupted wearily. "I am sorry. Sorry…that I did not think to inform you of what had happened. I should have. The truth is…since Buffy died…it's been hard. We've been too busy…."

"With what?!" Cordelia yelled, obviously not caring. "Vampires, demons, the end of the world? What else is new?!"

"Well, yes," Giles agreed. There was another long silence. "The end of the world," he said in a whisper. Then, stronger but hesitant, "I hate to ask you this, but, with Buffy…gone, we need your help."

"Don't you mean Angel's help?" Cordelia said softly, only her eyes showing her anger now.

"Well, yes."

"Sorry, but he's unable to come to the phone right now," Cordelia said, her voice eerily calm.

"Cordelia!" Giles replied in stern annoyance.

"No!" Cordelia yelled back. "You listen here, Giles! Friday night…about 9:15 pm…we were out demon hunting when Angel collapsed. Actually, to be more correct, he screamed and *then* he collapsed - and I can go a long time without hearing a scream like that again. But the point is this - Angel hasn't spoken a word since then. He lies in bed, not seeing anything, not hearing anything…. So, no Giles, we won't help you. We can't even help him. God help us all if the world comes to an end because of this."

"Good lord," Giles said in shock.

That only made Cordelia angrier. "Do you know how hard it is to force feed a vampire?!" she yelled. "Not to mention disgusting."

"I…I'm sorry," Giles sputtered.

"You're going to have to do better than that," Cordelia said back coldly. "Angel's the one you should really be apologizing to, and he won't hear a word you say. And you know what? Neither will I."

It didn't matter who hung up the phone first. There was nothing else to be said anyway.

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