Title: Reunion
Author: T. C.
Rating: R
Pairing: Angel/Cordelia
Summary: Sequel to 'Family.' Angel has to deal with Cordelia's death
and reconnecting with his lost son.
Disclaimer: The characters of Angel belong to Joss Whedon, Twentieth
Century Fox and the WB.
Spoilers: This season of Angel is spoiled up to the current episodes
and I've also used some of the rumors floating around as to
what is going to happen in the future eps and the season
finale.
***********************************************************************

Part One

Time was irrelevant. Angel had no idea how long he had sat on the
floor holding Cordelia and Connor in his arms. Minutes. Hours. Days.
It could have been a moment. It could have been forever. The only
sound was Connor's hitching cries and broken pleas for forgiveness.
Angel's tears were silent. He couldn't do this, he couldn't deal with
this much pain. His heart wasn't broken, it had disintegrated - turned
to ash as surely as if the stake had been driven through it and not his
love.

"Angel, Cordelia, we're back," Fred's sang out from the lobby. Fred
had a pleasant lilting voice, but right then it hurt Angel's ears. He
knew Gunn would be with her and he wished they would just leave. Leave
him alone with Cordelia and Connor. They could stay like this, wrapped
in each other's arms and Angel could pretend that Cordelia had just
fallen asleep if only he could block out the smell of her blood. They
had fallen asleep with Connor between them a lot of times when he had
been a baby. Other people would only make this real. They would make
him let her go. "Angel?" Fred's voice was above him, wary and
uncertain. "What's wrong with Cordelia?"

No, no, no, no. They had to leave. One of them was going to say it
out loud and make it real. They had to leave. A soft warning growl
rumbled in Angel's chest.

"Charles?" Fred whispered softly. She looked up at her boyfriend
with wide, scared eyes. She needed him to tell her everything was
okay and that this wasn't what it looked like. He put his arm around
her and squeezed her shoulder instead.

"What happened, man?" Gunn grimaced as he stared at Cordelia's open
blank eyes. He had seen that emptiness in the eyes of many of his
comrades who had fallen in their fight against demons and vampires.
But this was Cordelia. It could be another freaky half-demon side
effect or a vision coma. This was Cordelia, she didn't have to be....

"She's dead." Lorne made the pronouncement no one wanted to even
think about. He and Groo had shown up without any of them noticing.
He had known it right away. The waves of grief coming off Angel and
the kid were palatable and from Cordelia there was...nothing.

"Princess!" Groo pushed past Lorne, Gunn and Fred and rushed toward
Cordelia and Angel. He was met with the blazing yellow eyes and
an enraged snarl, but not just from Angel. The kid growled too and
although his eyes didn't turn yellow and he didn't fang out, he was
still impressively intimidating given his age.

Gunn caught Groo and held him back. "That doesn't look like a good
idea."

"But, my Princess..."

"Is gone, Groo." Lorne shook his head sadly. "There's nothing you can
do and I doubt very much that Angel is going to give her up anytime
soon. You might as well go back to her apartment."

"No." Groo's usually placid face hardened. "I will not mope about. I
will honor my Princess. I shall go back to Pylea and reclaim it in
her name." Groo tore away from Gunn and ran from the building.

Angel curled himself back up around Cordelia and Connor. His ridges
melted away now that the threat of being separated from her was gone.
He wanted them to all go away. He wanted them to close the door
behind them and forget that he was even here because his life was
over.

"Angel." Fred started forward, but Gunn and Lorne stopped her.

"He's not ready, Sweetpea. I think it's best that we leave them
alone." Lorne shepherded Gunn and Fred out of the office and closed
the door. "He and Connor need time to grieve in their own little
family unit. Tomorrow we, the extended family, will take over."

"Connor? You mean the little guy Cordy found is Connor?" Gunn jabbed
his thumb at the closed office door. "How do you know?"

"Same basic aura, it's darker, but considering who his parents are and
where he's been...." Lorne shrugged. "I thought we should let them
sort things out alone. I didn't think things would turn out like
this. Poor Cordelia."

"What do you mean? What happened in there?" Gunn frowned angrily. He
didn't understand and he didn't like it. All he knew was that someone
he loved was dead and there was nothing present for him to kill.

"Connor did it." Fred's voice was sad and filled with soft conviction.
Tears welled up in her eyes when Lorne didn't correct her. "Time must
have moved differently in the Hell dimension Holtz took him to. What
was weeks to us was years to him and Holtz...he poisoned his mind
against Angel." Fred turned quickly and buried her face in Charles'
chest to muffle her violent sobs.

"I could feel the hate coming off the lad, but I thought that Cordy
would be able to talk some sense into him. He liked her." Lorne
covered his eyes with his hand. Other people's pain he could deal
with, but his own... "Look, kiddies, I can't do this now. No use
doing any random speculation, we'll get the whole story tomorrow. Take
Freddie home, Gunn."

Gunn nodded and he led Fred out of the hotel. Lorne glanced back at
the closed office door. He grabbed a jacket from the coat rack and
went out the back door. He could find some place else to be for the
night.

*****

It was night time, the sun had set hours ago. Angel had sensed it in
the back of his mind out of habit. It didn't matter, he had no where
to go. Connor had fallen asleep at some point. His deep even
breathing was occasionally broken by a snuffling sob or plaintive
whine. His son still hated him. Angel knew that the same way he had
known when Connor had been hungry or cranky as a baby. The only reason
the child let him hold him now was because he was in shock over the
death of his mother and agonizing about his role in it.

"Look after your son, Angel." Those were Cordelia's last words to him.
She was dying and still she had thought of him - gave him a reason not
to walk out into the sun. The question was whether or not Connor would
let his father take care of him. What had Holtz told him? Probably a
lot of the truth, but hadn't tempered it with any knowledge about
demons and souls and being a warrior for the Powers That Be. Things
that Angel should have told him. Things he would have told him if he
had been given a chance. Connor had been gone for a month, but it was
obvious that Angel had missed at least ten years of his son's life. He
wouldn't see his first steps or hear his first word. Cordy had said it
would be 'Da Da,' but only because that was every child's first word
and he shouldn't let it go to his head when it happened or anything.
She had smiled when she had said it and then grabbed Connor away from
him. She had held the baby close and bounced around the room cooing,
"Cordy, say Cordy, Connor." Angel wanted him to call her 'Mommy.' He
didn't say it though.

There had been so many things Angel hadn't said to Cordelia. So many
unvoiced thoughts. "I didn't know you when we lived in Sunnydale. I
knew that there had to be more to you than the pampered princess you
presented to the world or else you would have left town instead of
staying and joining Buffy and her friends. I was just too wrapped up
in Buffy to care about getting to know you or any of her friends really
well." Angel felt Connor shift beneath him and he eased his hold on
them. He opened his eyes and watched his son sleeping with his head
pillowed on top of Cordelia's breasts. He couldn't see the stake that
had ripped through her. He could almost pretend that she was just
sleeping too. That she would wake up and blink sleepily at him, a soft
smile gracing her lips. Only he couldn't because her eyes were open.
Angel caressed her cheek before passing his hand over her eyelids and
closing them. "When I first saw you at that party, it was nice to see
a familiar face, but I really didn't want to see you again and I was
reluctant to hire you. I thought having you around would be a constant
reminder of Buffy. Doyle played on my old-fashioned chivalrous nature
and emphasized how much you needed a job and to tell you the truth, I
didn't think you would stick around. He was right about one thing
though, you did have a humanizing influence. You brought me life,
Cordelia, and a family. I feel alive because of you."

Angel continued to talk. He told her everything. Every thought or
feeling he had over the years was said out loud. It was too late, but
he had to tell her before he could let go.

*****

"This isn't a good idea." Gunn shook his head. He stopped Fred before
she could knock on the door.

"Wesley is Cordelia's friend. He has a right to know what happened."
Fred pulled her hand out of Gunn's grasp and rapped on the door before
he could stop her again. "He would want to know."

"He doesn't want anything to do with us."

The door opened and Fred gasped at the person who stood there. She
barely recognized him. Wesley was unshaven and the ragged scar was
red and anger across his neck. He glared at them and Fred took a step
back. "W..Wesley."

"Whatever it is, I won't help you." Wesley started to shut the door.

"Cordelia's dead," Fred blurted out and was relieved when he opened the
door again. He wasn't completely lost to them. He still cared or else
he would have shut it. "Connor came back somehow. Cordelia found him
on the street, none of us knew who he was except Lorne. We left them
alone and when we got back Cordelia was dead."

"How?" Wesley's eyes looked through them. It was spooky, but he was
talking to them and he was asking about Cordelia.

"A stake. It was driven through her chest."

Wesley nodded. "Thank you for telling me." He closed the door.

"I told you this was a bad idea." Gunn brushed the tears from Fred's
cheeks. He tangled his fingers with hers and squeezed her hand. And
he hated Wesley a little more for hurting her.

To be continued....