Angel Investigations:

The Next Generation

Prologue: The ending of Redemption.

As Connor was watching the 11 o'clock news he was surprised to see a news report on what happened at the Hyperion.

Reporter: "Today at 3:30 P.M. right after the owners of Angel Investigations renewed their wedding vows Angel Martin and his wife Cordelia Martin , of eighteen years, were killed while greeting their wedding guests and receiving their congratulations. Mr. Martin is a well known and respected Investigator and business man in Los Angeles. Although the murderer was captured before he could leave the Hotel where they had the ceremony they were unable to question him as to why he killed Mr. and Mrs. Martin since he was killed as he was being taken down to the precinct for questioning. The assailant is unknown.

Mr. and Mrs. Martin leave behind a family of 4 children. Connor Martin, Mr. Martins son from a previous marriage, is a former police officer with the L.A.P.D., a daughter, 16 year old Kathleen Martin and two twelve year old twin boys, Nicky and Mike Martin. We have been told that the son Connor Martin will be taking over the running of Angel Investigations. Funeral arrangements have not been made yet, but we were able to find out that Mr. and Mrs. Martin will be buried at the ancestral cemetery in Ireland. Our hearts and prayers go with the Martin children and friends. The family has asked if we would put up the name of the email address that they can be contacted at if you would like to attend the funeral."

In Kathleen's room Sean stood watch over his future bride. He had given her a tranquilizer so that she could sleep a deep, restful sleep that would be void of dreams. At 4 A.M. he woke up with a jerk when he almost fell off of the chair. He got up and kicked off his shoes and lay beside Kathleen and pulled her into his arms. She started talking in her sleep and said "Daddy I missed you where have you been?"

"Kathleen I am with your mother and we are with your two Grandmothers and your Aunt Kathleen. They are just like I remember them. When your Mother and I woke up we saw them waiting for us. Best of all Kathleen, Jesus was waiting for us with open arms. It was just like in the picture that Grandma gave us and is hanging from the 2nd floor balcony. I felt so much love coming from Him Kathleen. It made everything that I went through worth while. He hugged me for a long time and I had a feeling of such peace that I no longer worried about you, your brothers and the rest. Tell everyone that I want them to be at the supper table tonight and that is all that I can tell you for now. Tell Sean that I will be with him always so that I can guide him and teach him but it is up to him to listen to me and learn. Goodbye my princes." "Goodbye Daddy." Kathleen was silent then and her breathing told Sean that she had slipped into a deeper sleep.

She didn't wake up again until 8 o'clock that morning. She could hear everyone else getting up also. Best of all she could smell breakfast. She had been surprised to see Sean by her side and with his arms around her when she opened her eyes. For some reason Kathleen felt happy this morning so she took a chance and reached up and kissed him. He opened his eyes and kissed her back. Your mighty happy today, did Angel come to see you last night?" "Yes he did and he said that they are very happy because my two Grandmothers and Aunt Kathleen came to get them when they woke up after dieing. He said that Jesus greeted him just like in the picture that hangs from the 2nd story balcony. I am going to take a shower and get dressed so that I can tell Connor and the rest what Daddy said. You better go to your room before people start talking." She gave him a kiss then ran into the bathroom.

Everyone was more cheerful as they greeted each other in the hallway and in the dinning room. Through mutual consent they left Angel's and Cordelia's chair empty. Connie had placed small bouquets of flowers in their plates. When it came time for Giles to sit down he found that his chair had been removed and his place setting was missing.

"Okay where am I supposed to sit?" "I think it's time now for you to take Dr. Martin's chair Giles." Wesley said as he stood and held the chair out for him. Giles hesitated at first then he sat down in the offered chair. Wesley sat down again.

Kathleen tapped her glass in order to get everyone's attention for the morning breakfast prayer. When everyone was quiet she started. "Dear Heavenly Father we want to thank you for this food that we are about to eat. Thank you for giving Connie the talent to make such delicious food but most of all Father we want to thank you for taking Daddy and Momma so quickly so that their suffering was so short. Amen." Everyone echoed her Amen then they started to eat their breakfast. When Kathleen could see that everyone was almost done she tapped her glass again.

"I have a message for everyone from Daddy." That got everyone's attention. When she saw everyone looking at her she said "Daddy came to visit me last night. He told me how happy they were and that Grandma Martin and Dr. Martin along with Aunt Kathleen where there when they woke up after leaving us. He told me how Jesus hugged him for a long time and how he felt so peaceful. He said all worry for us left his heart. He wanted me to tell everyone that they are to be here tonight for Supper and that is all he said, then he left me."

"You seem more cheerful this morning." Wesley said. "Yes, when I woke up I felt much better. I wasn't so sad anymore, I know that I can talk to Momma and Daddy whenever I want to and that they will hear me. When he left me he seemed to take away the sadness with him. That all consuming grief that I was feeling was gone."

"He came to me also and told me pretty much the same thing and like Kathleen I felt a lot better when he left." Connor said. Everyone else held up their hands and said "me too."

"Did anyone see Cordelia?" Fred asked. "I did." Both Nicky and Mike answered at the same time. "I did also. I mean Angel didn't come to me but Cordelia did. She told me the same thing that Angel told you Kathleen. She also told me that Angel and her were so happy that they both died together so that they wouldn't have to be apart for even a few days." Fred said. Wesley pulled her over to him when she started to cry a happy cry.

"Both Angel and Cordelia would shed a few tears whenever they would think of this time. The very thought of being separated for perhaps years would always make them cry. We are all going to miss them terribly, but at the same time we should be happy for them that they are together and that they are both in paradise with Jesus and the other half of Angel's family." Wesley said as he comforted Fred.

"Connor, Kathleen, Nicky and Mike I want you to know that I have arranged for your father and mother to be cremated already as your father requested. Bishop O'Connel will stay for the funeral mass then he will travel with us to Ireland so that we can have a private ceremony at the grave site. The funeral will take place at the church on Saturday at 6 p.m., I have it for this coming Saturday because I am getting a lot of e-mail from not only the Los Angeles area but from around the world. The date of the funeral will give everyone time to arrive in L.A.

Connor I need for you to come with me to my office so that we can establish a link between you and the Law firms that have been handling your father's money. Your father placed the care of all of his finances into my hands but he could give instructions to the Lawyers if he wanted something special done as he did before their wedding. Gunn, Angel wanted you to know that even after his death that you could continue to come to me at any time if you should need money to take care of your kids. He also wants you to know that he would send your son through college since he is destined to help the people of Angel Investigations. Nicky and Mike, Connor has been made your legal guardian. This means that you will answer to him for any trouble that you may get into either here, on the streets, or in school. Do you understand what I have told you?" "Yes Uncle Wesley." They both answered. "Since we all know what a softy your brother is when it comes to dealing with you two your sister Kathleen will have responsibility for you also and I think you remember how she is." Wesley said with a grin.

"Wesley has asked me to make the reservations to Ireland. So who is going besides Connor, Lou, Kathleen and the boys? I am pretty sure that Wesley and Fred are going but I didn't know about the children." Willow asked.

"I think that the children, except of course for Nicky and Mike, should stay here. It's a long flight and we won't be staying that long. Does everyone agree?" Wesley asked.

"I won't be going Connor and Wesley so I think that the kids will be safe here. I think that Sean and I can take care of anything that comes up besides Cylindia doesn't want to leave our son alone just yet." Gunn said.

"Can I have a show of hands then as to who is going so I can just count you?" Willow asked. Everyone but the Sanchez family, Gunn and his family, and Sean wanted to go. "That makes 10. I'll be going so that makes 11."

"Junior, could you come with us? You're like a brother to me since we grew up together and I would really like having you with me since Sean isn't going." Kathleen asked. Junior looked to his parents and Grandmother. Connie and Joaquin gave their okay along with his Grandmother. "I'll be coming also Willow." Junior said. "Okay then I'll let you know as soon as I can make the reservations. I suggest that everyone make sure that their Passports are in order." Everyone got up then and went to there own rooms or took care of the normal day to day business.

Fred and Kathleen went up to Cordelia and Angel's room to get all of their laundry that had to be cleaned. They didn't say anything as they stripped the bed of all of the sheets and took the towels down to the basement to be cleaned. As they separated the clothes Fred stopped as she stared at Cordelia's nightgown that she was going to wear last night. She had picked it up by mistake. She slowly sank to the floor and cried into the nightgown. Kathleen sat on the floor beside her as she started crying also. "She didn't even get a chance to wear it Kathleen. I went with her when she went shopping for this. She wanted a new one because she said that their wedding night would be the first as two humans. We went to Victoria Secrets to find a sexy pair of panties and bra for last night." Fred was crying so hard for her friend that she was missing already that her tiny frame shook with every sob. "Oh Kathleen, they didn't get to spend even one night together as a normal husband and wife." For thirty minutes they just sat on the floor and held each other as they cried. It wasn't so much as a cry for the death of Angel and Cordelia but that they would never see them again in a normal state. They cried for all of the good times that will no longer be possible.

Willow and Wesley were looking for Kathleen and were just starting to go upstairs when they heard Fred and her talking and crying. Willow stopped Wesley from going any further and turned and pushed him back downstairs. As they reached the Lobby he asked her why she stopped him from going to them. "Wesley they need to be able to cry over the loss of their friend and mother. Just leave them alone so that they can lean on each other and talk about Cordelia. From now on Kathleen will look to Fred for everything that she would have normally looked to Cordelia for." "I guess your right. I'll be in my office checking on everyone's passports. I am going to call Morgan to see if any of them are going to go to Ireland with us. There aren't enough rooms at the house so I have to make reservations for everyone. I'll see you later." Wesley went into his office and closed the doors. He stayed in there for the rest of the afternoon and came out only to get some hot tea to take back into his office. Connie made sandwiches for the boys and anyone else that came to the dinning room for lunch.

That evening she made a light supper of rice, chili beans, salad for anyone that wanted it and as usual plenty of tortillas. Everyone showed up as Angel asked. As they all sat back in there chairs drinking tea or coffee they felt a light breeze go through the dinning room. Connie, Joaquin and Grandma Lucinda came into the dining room when they felt the breeze. When they heard familiar footsteps coming down the stairs they all turned towards the lobby. Just as though nothing had happened Angel and Cordelia came walking towards the dinning room just as though they were coming down for Supper. Kathleen went running to her father and mother. Angel and Cordelia both raised their hands and told her to stop. "You cannot touch us because we are no longer alive and what you are seeing is more or less our spirits or souls." Kathleen sat down again next to Sean and he held onto her.

"We came to tell you how happy we are and to tell you not to be so sad over our death. God granted each of our prayers and allowed us to die together. Although we died a violent death neither one of us suffered since he shot us directly into our hearts." Angel said as he stood by Cordelia holding her hand all of the time.

"I didn't know what hit me because the blood supply to my brain was cut off so quickly. If I had continued to live though, I would have been in a lot of pain from a heart attack that I was having."

"Giles, Dr. Martin told me to tell you that she will see you soon but that Tom is to be sent to England so that he can learn about the Watchers Council. One day Tom you will take over from Giles and Wesley and head the Watchers Council. Wesley I have to tell you that your Father was killed by Wolfram & Hart last year because he failed in the mission that they hired him for, which was to kill me. He is paying now for the way that he treated you and your mother. He will not be punished for doing what he did when he came here and tried to kill Kathleen and I the first time because he was already starting to become unbalanced." While Angel was talking Cordelia had gone to her daughter and whispered something in her ear that was apparently very private.

Angel called Nicky to follow him over to the Lobby so that they could be alone. When Nicky came back he told Connor that their father wanted him to go and be with him for a few moments.

Connor went into Angel's office and sat down next to him on the couch. "This is your office now son, make it your own. I have complete faith in you that you will take care of everyone and your brothers. I wanted to talk to you because I believe your brother Nicky will give you a lot of problems as he grows up. I know this because he is just like me when I was young. My mother reminded me of all of the things that I did when I was young and compared them to what Nicky does now. The only advice that I can give you in handling him is to spare the rod, so to speak, because he doesn't respond well to scolding. Remember what Grandma said so often?" "Yes she said that you don't respond well to scolding and that she had to reprimand you differently." "Yes and she was right. At first when she would scold me it would remind me of when my father used to yell at me and I would automatically shut her out. But when she spoke to me with a calm voice I heard every word she said. Don't forget this Connor because you'll go a lot further with Nicky if you use Grandma's tactics. Let's go back now." Connor and Angel rejoined the others and Angel called Cordelia to his side.

"We have to go now, Wesley I know that you will take care of the family. We will count the days for you and Fred to join us. I can't begin to describe how happy we are here. I think Buffy has an idea as to what it is like. She had a small glimpse of it when she died. I'll be with you always Sean, take care of my princes. Goodbye everyone. Don't cry anymore just remember that we are very happy and be happy for us."

Everyone was light hearted when they left. As Angel and Cordelia asked there weren't anymore tears. Kathleen got up and started picking up plates. The rest of the women did the same while the men went outside to the garden area. Toby, Vicky and Angus followed them. Even the dogs felt like playing now. They had been quiet ever since Angel and Cordelia had been killed. The men all took seats outside. Connor went over to Angel's desk and pulled out the Jack Daniels then returned to the rest of the men. For the first time since Connor first got drunk and swore off drinking, he took a long swallow from the bottle and passed it on to Wesley. By the time they all had a drink the bottle was empty.

"I tell you one thing, Angel is dead but he still continues to pull rabbits out of his hat. I am going to miss him but I am envious of his happiness. He even gets to have the love of his life with him, the lucky bastard." Wesley said. They all started laughing then and talking about things that they all did together or individual experiences with him.

"Tomorrow Wesley I am going to ask Kathleen if she would like to go riding tomorrow. We haven't been riding for a long time plus I have to make arrangements for Santana to be cremated. Vince called me this morning to let me know that he died of an apparent heart attack during the night. I think that since Angel died Santana followed him." "How is Aunt Bee?" Wesley asked. "He said that she is okay and seems to have accepted Santana's death without any problem."

Kathleen came running to the back with a piece of paper in her hand. "I guess the PTB doesn't intend for us to get rusty. They sent me a vision and here is the address." Connor and everyone else except Wesley and Giles jumped up and ran to the weapons cabinet. Both Toby and Angus jumped into the van also. Angus had been watching Toby to see how he killed the Vampires and he was starting to do the same thing. Vicky of course stayed home with Fred when Kathleen told her to stay.

By the time they returned they all felt better. They had been able to take out all of their anger on the Vampires that they encountered. None of them realized it before but they had all been angry about not being able to do anything about the man that had killed Angel and Cordelia. They all slept more peacefully that night.

For the next several days Kathleen had them busy with her visions. It seemed that everyone was having a try at taking over L.A. since Angel was gone but Connor and the rest of the team were setting the record straight.

On the fifth day since Angel's and Cordelia's death Wesley was called and told that their ashes were ready. The funeral Mass was to take place the next day so Wesley and Connor went to pick them up. When they brought them home they were placed on the Alter of their private chapel until the Mass and then to Ireland and their finale resting place.

Chapter 1

When everyone returned home they found a tired looking group of men. Sean, Gunn, Tom and Junior along with two of Morgan's guards were sitting around the table having coffee. They all stood up as the Martin and Price family came in through the front.

Kathleen went to Sean. He kissed her on the forehead and hugged her. Sean didn't dare do anything else in front of Connor and Wesley. Wesley and Fred said hello to everyone then went upstairs to see their boys. It was after midnight so they were in bed but when they heard every one coming in they ran downstairs and met their parents halfway up the stairs. Even though the boys were teenagers now and stood almost as tall as Wesley and Fred they still gave them both hugs and kisses.

Toby, Vicky and Angus ran down the stairs and greeted Connor and Kathleen. Connor was knocked over by the weight of both Toby and Angus. Vicky had been taught not to jump up on Kathleen. Instead Kathleen kneeled on the floor and hugged her and let her lick her face. Toby and Angus went to Kathleen then and Vicky went to greet Connor.

"I think it's time for us to go to bed now so I'll say goodnight to everyone. I'll talk to you about what's been going on tomorrow Gunn. Goodnight everyone." Connor said as he picked up Lou's and his luggage and made his way to the elevator.

"Connor, stop for a minute please." Joaquin and Connie came over to him and Lou. "Is everything okay?" Connor asked.

"Connor, first my mother wants me to ask you if you would like us to call you Connor or Mr. Martin now that you are head of Angel Investigation?" Joaquin asked.

"Call me Connor, my father was Mr. Martin." Connor smiled at them as he answered him.

"Okay Connor, I have to tell you then that Mr. Martin told Sean that we were to move your families things down into the bedroom that your father and Cordelia used since you were now the head of the family and you needed to vacate your old room so that Kathleen could have it." Connor looked at Lou. He hesitated; he felt that this move would be like he was in a rush to kick his father out of the hotel.

Wesley and Gunn came over and each took one piece of luggage. Wesley put his arm around Connor's shoulders. Connor looked at Gunn then at Wesley. "It's okay Connor. Trust your father's judgment on this." Wesley said. Wesley, Connor, Gunn, Lou, Connie, Joaquin and Kathleen went up to his new suite of rooms. Gunn opened the door and turned the light on then the rest followed him into the rooms.

Connor and Kathleen looked around the room and saw that all of Lou's and Connors things had been brought down and all of Angels and Cordelia's things had been removed.

"Where are their things?" Kathleen asked. "We've boxed everything and it is waiting downstairs in the basement for you to go through." Connie answered.

Everyone's eyes rested on the private portrait that Angel had painted for just him and Cordelia to see all of the time.

"Kathleen, since Dad painted this portrait for Cordelia I think you should keep it in your room. We can hang it up tomorrow." Connor said as he looked at his sister with tears in his eyes. Kathleen went to him and they hugged for a long time. She kissed him then said "Thank you Connor. I guess we should all go now so that you and Lou can go to bed." She gave Lou a kiss then left. Everyone followed her out and Joaquin closed the door behind him. It was late and everyone was tired so they went to bed. Toby and Angus were the only ones to stay with the new owners of Angel Investigation.