<Angel driving one car, Cordy following him, for some plot reason>

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Angel's brow furrowed.

Pulling over onto the grass verge, within seconds he was out of the car and running.

He arrived just as the truck driver's fist closed around Cordelia's wrist, and she gasped in pain, struggling to free herself. Angel's jaw set, the tension of barely controlled violence coming off him in waves.

"Let her go."

"J----- H. Ch----! Where the f--- did you come from?"

Angel took a step closer, forcing his gaze from where the trucker's thick fingers bit into Cordelia's wrist, to the man's face.

"Ohhh you're sooo in trouble now, you'd better listen to him!"

Her words were brave but Angel only heard the undercurrent of fear in her voice and growled with the effort of not ripping this guy apart. But he could do nothing while the truck driver held Cordy in a vice grip that could snap her wrist in a second.

"Let her go."

"Not that it's any of your effing business, but this little bitch nearly ran me off the road, I'm gonna-"

The rest of his sentence was choked by Angel's hand at his throat.

"Your going to let her go. Now."

Suddenly the trucker shoved Cordy hard against the barrier at the side of the road. She cried out as she fell, and it was enough to distract Angel's attention for an instant, during which the truck driver slammed his fist into Angel's face, and ducked out of his grasp.

Angel barely spared the fleeing man a glance. Kneeling down he reached out to steady Cordelia as she struggled to get up, at the same time giving her a once over for signs of injury.

"Cordy? Did he hurt you, are you-"

"I'm okay, I guess- OW!"

Her face twisted in pain and she began to fall back again. Moving quickly, Angel caught Cordy before she hit the ground.

"Easy...'sokay, I got you...just take it slow..."

Cordelia grimaced in pain as Angel helped her up, one arm around her waist, the other hand cupping her elbow.

"So how come there was never a nasty-mean-trucker section of Driver's Ed, huh? I took that class twice, how could I have miss- ANGEL!!"

At the shrill panic in her voice as she screamed his name, Angel reflexively tightened his hold, drawing her against his body even as he turned to see the blinding lights of the huge semi bearing down on them, horn blaring.

Without time to think, Angel swept Cordelia up into his arms and in two strides had leapt over the barrier, dropping into the darkness beyond.

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Together they slammed into the ground. The impact could have broken bones, but the steep gradient meant that they started rolling immediately.

There was no time to think, powerless to slow their fall it was all Angel could do to hold onto Cordy, enclosing her frame within his own, one hand holding her head tucked in to his chest, his other arm wrapped tightly around her waist as they careened helplessly down the hillside.

After what felt like forever they came to rest at the foot of a redwood. Angel instantly rolled on top of Cordelia and curled into a protective shell as dirt and debris showered down the slope onto where they lay.

Then there was silence.

"Cordy?"

"Cordelia?"

A muffled groan answered his worried tone, and Angel tried to relax his tense muscles and release his iron grip, afraid that he was crushing her. As he pulled back the moonlight revealed a pale and trembling Cordelia. She blinked and her lips parted slightly. Angel held a metaphorical breath, but she didn't speak, just looked up at him with wide, frightened eyes.

"It's ok now... you're gonna be alright, everything's ok."

He lifted his hand and carefully brushed a lock of hair from her forehead then gently touched his fingertips to her cheek.

"A..Ange-"

A sudden rumble behind them signaled a second cascade of rocks and Cordy's words were lost in Angel's chest as he grabbed her to him, engulfing her once more to shelter her from the falling debris.

The shale subsided, the quiet which followed was punctuated by a small whimper.

"C-can't breathe...Angel...let me go?"

Her voice sounded so small and far away. Angel pressed his mouth to her ear.

"Hold on Cordy, there's too much dust..."

Moments later he began pull back. His heart sank when he saw Cordy's face, ghostly white and on the verge of tears. She pressed her palms weakly against his torso, trying to unfurl, but her body was shaking too much too respond.

"No more...'kay?"

"No more. Please Cordy...please don't cry...I've got you, it's alright."

Cordelia sniffed, but she didn't cry. She tried again to disentangle, collapsing against him with a tearful sigh.

"Where does it hurt?"

"Everything hurts!"

At the familiar indignation in her voice something inside Angel was finally able to unwind, and he breathed again. Indignant Cordy he could handle. Frightened Cordy stopped him thinking, stopped him breathing.

"It's going to be ok. Relax, try to take a few deep breaths...okay?"

Her dark eyes, magnified against her pale complexion, answered him with a hint of reproach, but the shaking had subsided a little.

"Kinda hard to do the breathing thing with 200 pounds of Angel-the-wonder-vamp on top of me."

He found himself smiling, and fighting to keep from acting on a sudden impulse to kiss her, he was so relieved she was alright. Cordelia grabbed for his shirt as he lifted his body from hers. He paused, hovering above her.

"I mean- it's not that I'm not grateful...that was all kinda, well, my fault, I shouldn't have-"

He dropped a finger across her lips.

"Shhh, maybe you pulled in front of a truck Cordy, it didn't give that guy the right to...- nobody has the right to hurt you Cordelia, and as long as I'm around, no-one's gonna get the chance to even try. Okay?"

In answer she moved her fingertips to his brow, and smoothed away the creases there.

"Okay." she whispered.

Slowly extricating himself from the tangle of limbs, twigs and grass, Angel sat back against the tree. Ignoring his protesting muscles he half-dragged, half-lifted a dazed Cordelia into his lap.

She shivered suddenly and he wrapped his arms tightly around her.

"We'll just sit for a while, get our breath back, okay?"

She nodded against his chest, and they remained there, huddled under the tree.

----o0o----