Hey, this is my first fic, and I hope it's not too bad. I'm not much of a writer, and I know this is really short, but I'm hoping it will get longer as it gets better. I hope to get the next chapter done in the next couple weeks. Well, please review and tell me what you think, I can probably use all the help I can get. :P

Disclaimer: I don't own Angel or any of the characters in this fic. They all belong to the WB and the brilliant Joss Whedon.

Timeline: This takes place sometime in season four, which hasn't started yet, so spoilers up to the end of season 3. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Angel stalked across the foyer of the hotel, broadsword in hand. "We've gotta hurry. These things work fast, so our best shot is to catch them while they're eating." He yanked open the door and went out into the night, without waiting to see if Gunn and Fred were behind him.

Gunn grabbed a sword for himself out of the weapons cabinet and tossed a crossbow to Fred. Then they hurried after Angel. They had gotten a lucky break when someone had called in with an anonymous tip about the Gart'ok demons they had been trying to track for the past few weeks. Things had been pretty hard since. well, they had only gotten worse since Connor had first been taken.

First they lost Wesley, and then Lorne had left for Vegas. The Grusalug was gone, and Cordy had mysteriously disappeared. They'd spent a lot of time looking for her, but after a while it had become painfully apparent that, wherever she was, they weren't going to find her. Now it was just the three of them. Angel had never quite recovered after the betrayal of his son, who was also gone. That coupled with Cordelia's disappearance had destroyed him. He was still there, still alive (well, not technically, of course), but he seemed to have lost any hope for happiness that he had once possessed.

A week later they were all sitting around a table in a new club that had just opened up down the street from the hotel. Fred thought it might be nice if they all went out to do something together, thought maybe it would give Angel and chance to loosen up a bit. Things were not exactly going as planned. Gunn and Fred were trying to be cheerful, whereas Angel was sitting in the corner brooding, his eyes dancing around furtively as if at any moment the ceiling might cave in. Fred sighed, "It's getting pretty late. You guys wanna go home?"

"Yeah. Late. We should go." Angel said distractedly as he rose from his chair. They walked back into the hotel in sullen silence. Fred took a deep breath and walked up next to Angel. She'd been waiting for a good time to bring this up, but now would have to do.

"Angel, I've been thinking. Maybe we should hire someone, you know, to help out around the office. I mean, there's just the three of us now, and it's a lot of work. Plus. Cordy and Wes. they used to take care of most of the money stuff, and.. well, it's a lot of work for the three of us." She watched his face for. she wasn't sure what for. Anger. Sadness. Joy. Anything. Something. But she got nothing. He just looked at her blankly. She was worried for minute he hadn't heard her.

The he nodded slowly. "Ok, if you think that's what's best. We'll talk about it more in the morning if you want." He gave her a weak smile and opened the door for her. She smiled back at him and walked into the hotel, then stopped dead. Angel looked past her into the foyer, and everything stopped. For a moment he felt like he couldn't breathe, and then realized that he didn't need to anyway. There, not 10 feet in front of him, stood a miracle. There before him was the only good thing he'd ever done, the only thing that even began to make up for all the pain he'd brought upon the world. And a gift which he would never be worth of; his son. Connor had come home.