[Disclaimer] Blah blah blah, not mine. Let's not rub it in.
[Feedback] Love it, love it, love it.
[Pairing] A/C...kinda
[A/N] Sort of a Buffy X-over

Despite the dark, cloudy skies, Cordelia found herself in a very happy mood. Her shopping bag swung by her side, and she hummed nonsense music as she walked down the sidewalk. Soon, the clouds opened, just a little, and rain drizzled down on the streets of L.A. Cordelia found it soothing. Like all of L.A.'s past secrets and sins were being washed away. The rhythmic patter of raindrops did wonders for her frazzled nerves. She tightened her leather trench coat around her waist and turned her head skyward and let the rain fall onto her face. The past few days had been hectic. But things were looking good now. She lowered her head and turned her attention to the world ahead of her. That's when she saw him. Angel stood in the rain, looking at her. His hair was wet and plastered to his head, and he stood, his hands in the pockets of his leather duster. Never faltering, she walked up to him and looked her boss in the eye.

"Cordelia." He said, tonelessly.

Cordelia stared at him for a moment, then: "Angel."

The pair turned and started walking in the direction Cordelia had been headed.

"You cold?" Angel asked.

"Nope." Cordelia said simply. "A bit hungry, though."

"Then eat."

Cordelia shot Angel a look, then noticed a young man loading pizzas into a car, with the name DOMINO'S printed on the side. She smiled, then looked at Angel again. "I intend to." She said before walking towards the pizza man.

"Hi." She said, then turned her attention to his nametag, "Steven. I'm Cordelia." She stuck her hand out, and Steven took it, grateful of the attention the pretty lady was giving him.

Angel rolled his eyes. She always did things the hard way.

"Anyways," Cordelia continued, "I was wondering if you could point me to your workplace." She patted her stomach, "Getting kinda grumbly."
Steven smiled and turned around. "Just down the road." He said, then turned back to her. But the pretty lady was gone, and in her place stood a female vamp, looking really hungry.

*****

"Oh my..." Willow said into the phone, "You're sure? I'm sure I could find it. Just give me some time. Well, I know time is short but... she's what? When did that happen? Ok, I'm sure I could find something for her, too.... Bye." Willow hung up the phone and sighed.

"Who was that, Will?" Buffy asked.

"It was Wesley. He said Angelus is back."

Buffy and Giles exchanged worried glances. "Are you positive?" Giles asked.

"Yes."

"Ah," Spike said, "So my *favorite* sire is back."

"So, if Angelus is back..." Buffy said, "That means he and Cordelia..."

"Oh!" Willow said quickly, "No, no. Wes said it had something to do with Wolfram and Hart. I don't know what that means. He said something about a spell."

"Well, then it should be easy to remove, you can reverse spells."

"Well... yes." Willow swallowed hard, "Angel isn't the only one."

"What? What do you mean?"

"I mean... Angelus turned Cordelia."

*****

Steven ran as fast as he could, but he felt his legs losing strength. He looked over his shoulder and realized the vampire was gone. When he turned around to face forward again, he ran into the chest of a tall man. He looked up at this dark stranger, clad in leather pants and jacket, despite the weather. "You've gotta help me." Steven panted, "That woman back there... she's a vampire. She's trying to kill me."

Angelus smirked as he morphed into vamp face. "You don't say."

*****

"The doors are done." Fred said as she walked into the lobby of the Hyperion.

Wes nodded his approval, "The crib?"

"Consider it done." Gunn said.

"I just got off the phone with Willow." Wesley said, "She's going to try and find the spell to give Angel his soul back. As for Cordelia... we can only hope it works for her."

Gunn hopped onto the counter. "What the hell is all this about? I mean how did this happen? One minute Angel's laughing and joking with us, and the next we're decorating our doorknobs with crosses and putting garlic in the baby bassinet. He and Cordelia didn't get all happy, did they?"

"No. Apparently," Wesley began, "Wolfram and Hart got a hold of a spell. One in which Angel's soul is removed. But before we knew what he was, he waltzed into Cordelia's home, and now we have two vampires on our hands. We can only hope that we remain safe until Willow's spell kicks in. That means, NO leaving the hotel, for ANY reason. If Angelus finds we're trying to return his soul, we may as well call the funeral home and make reservations."

"What about Wolfram and Hart?" Fred asked.

"I'm not a very big fan of Angelus, but I'm proud to say, he'll give them what's coming to them."

*****

Angelus leaned against the brick wall, licking the last bit of blood of his hands. "Are you done, yet?" He asked.

Cordelia let go of Steven the pizza man and gave an exasperated sigh. "How am I supposed to eat with you complaining over my shoulder."

"Just hurry up."

"Mmm." Cordelia licked the last bit of blood off her fangs before morphing back to human face, "O pos, my fave. Let's get out of here. The storms clearing up and the sun should be out soon."

Angelus stepped over Steven and began walking away. "We have to go to Sunnydale, you know." He said.

Cordelia caught up with him and made a disapproving face. "Why?"

"Because the English idiot is going to call the witch and have her put my soul back... and we don't want that, do we?" He slipped his arm around Cordelia's waist as they continued their walk down the street. "We need to make a stop to Wolfram and Hart. Thank those lawyers from bringing me back to my old self. What would we do without them?"

"You and your vengeance, Angelus, don't you know how to have fun?"

Angelus chuckled, "You sound like Darla."

Cordelia let out a low growl. "Darla wishes she could be like me."

"Cordelia, you're still an amateur at this. Darla has 400 years of practice, you shouldn't worry if you're not as go-"

Cordelia pushed Angelus' arm away and turned to him, game face on. "You ass." She growled as she pushed him away from her.

Angelus smirked at her, "I love it when you get rough."

Cordelia looked at the sky, which was rapidly growing brighter. "Let's get out of here." She muttered.

Angelus leaned down and grabbed the iron cover off the manhole, leading to the sewers underneath.

Cordelia shot him an angered look before climbing down. "What a gentleman."

*****

Gunn huffed as he flopped down on the couch in the lobby. He looked over to Fred, who was reading a huge book, and then to Wes, trying desperately to stay awake. Under house arrest, in a home that wasn't even his. There was nothing he wanted more than to go to his apartment and crash. Connor began to whine in his playpen, and the trio exchanged glances. Most of the time, they didn't hold him unless Cordelia or Angel weren't around.

Fred stood up and picked up the whining baby. "Hey there, little guy." She cooed, "Your daddy had to go out for a little while...he'll be back soon." Connor was not amused. His whines became cries. Loud ones at that. Fred started to hum and swung the child in her arms.

"Why won't he shut up?" Gunn asked.

Wes looked up and met Gunn with sad eyes. "He knows."

*****

"Smart little watcher." Angelus whispered as he investigated the crosses on the doorknobs.

"It's just a cross, Angelus." Cordelia said, "Open it."

"No."

"Afraid of a little burn?"

"I like using my right hand."

"Then use your left. I want to see the baby."

Angelus shot her a look. "Fine. We'll find another way in, love. Nothing to it."

Cordelia stared at the doorknob for a moment, then perked her head up at the sound of Connor crying. "Hurry, Angelus." She said, a smile playing on the corners of her mouth, "I think he misses us."

*****

"Go to sleep, and goodnight..." Fred sang softly, trying to keep her eyes open. Gunn was asleep on the couch and Wes was reading the book she once had. They had decided to do shifts, not wanting to be asleep at once.

"I think I found something!" Wes said excitedly, "It says here-"

"Honey, I'm home." Angelus smiled evilly as he stepped into the lobby. "Nice touch, Wes. Crosses on the doorknob."

Cordelia stepped out from behind him. "Have you ever heard the story of the woman who lifted a car? Her baby was stuck underneath." Angelus took her hand and gingerly kissed her palm, where burns from the crosses were. Cordelia stepped forward and Fred whimpered and took a step back. Gunn's eyes fluttered open and he sat up, already on the defensive. "Don't worry, Fred." Cordelia smiled, "I don't want you." She eventually had Fred cornered, and she reached out and took Connor. Immediately, his cries stopped. Cordelia smiled down at him and placed a kiss on his head. She walked back to where Angelus stood, then turned to face the rest of the group, "Don't worry." She said, "We're not after you." Angelus smiled once more and playfully nibbled on Cordelia's neck. "We've got... bigger things to worry about."

Angelus lifted his head from the crook of Cordelia's neck. "C'mon, Cordelia," He said, and led her out of the lobby. Just before he closed the door, he winked at them. "See you around."

*****

"Why the hell didn't we stop them?" Gunn demanded as he stood up.

"Go after one of the most deadly vampires, with one cross, and one stake?" Wes said, hotly.

"We should have been more prepared!"

"I didn't think they would come here, what with the crosses and all."

"We need to start expecting the unexpected. Cordelia's pretty and all, but I do not want her sucking on my neck!"

Wes looked towards the corner and saw Fred, shaking, obviously frightened. "Fred." He said, and walked to her, "Fred it's going to be ok."

"I've never been so scared." Fred started to cry, Texan accent extremely audible now, "Cordelia was so nice to me. Probably my best friend here. Like, in highschool, where you have a girlfriend you can tell everything to."

"You had a girlfriend?" Gunn asked. Wes shot him a look and Gunn caught on. "Oh. A GIRL friend."

"Now shes gone." Fred continued, "And Angel. I've heard stories, but I never thought I'd have to meet him."

Wes pulled Fred into a reassuring hug, "It's ok." He soothed, "We'll get them back."

"But Cordelia... her life is ruined. Even if we do give her soul, she can never go shopping, or take Connor to the doctors, or..." Fred started crying harder and gave up talking.

From the office, the phone rang. Gunn stood to get it and a moment later, stepped back into the lobby. "That was Willow. She has the spell."

*****
To Be Continued