Disclaimer: I own nothing from the Whedonverse, just the original characters I come up with.
Side notes: Set at the end of AtS season 3. Angel/Cordy never happened. They only see each other as friends. Angel and Darla never had a son, though Connor exists for a different reason. And Wesley and Angel don't hate each other. All other things have happened.
Angel glanced at the clock before returning to the sketch he was working on. He had to meet Connor by the pier in about an hour. He had a few minutes before he had to leave. Angel looked over the sketch he'd done. The girl in it was young and beautiful. Her hair was shaded dark, her eyes were piercing even if it was only black and white. Angel looked back through the book. The pictures of the girl got younger and younger the further back he went. The first one was of a sleeping infant. No one knew about these sketches of the girl. The young girl he'd been dreaming about for the past three years. They were dreams of an unknown child growing up in a fractured state. He vaguely recalled dreams of him watching her learn to walk, pushing her in a swing, reading her fairytales, watching her grow up into something of a teenager. But the dreams always faded till he barely remembered them. He could never hear their voices speaking. He never heard what she said to him. But he felt he knew her, like he should know her. When he saw her smiling up at him, the secret was in her eyes. Angel looked again at the newest sketch. He knew those eyes from somewhere. If only he could remember. He signed her name in the corner, or what her name was in the dreams. It was the only sound she ever made. He asked her once in a dream her name, and in a child's whisper he heard it. It had still echoed in his head when he woke up. Mina. The dreams had become frighteningly more frequent, and in every one Mina had a look of worry. Angel still couldn't hear her, but he knew from her face she was warning him. He glanced at the clock again and grabbed his coat and car keys. He'd tell Wesley later tonight if he could find him. Maybe he could shed some light on this.
Cordelia heard Angel leave the hotel. Pacing around an empty room in the hotel, she decided to give herself ten minutes before following. Something wasn't right, she could feel it. Cordelia never trusted Connor, but Angel had. This made Connor more dangerous in her eyes. She knew that boy was up to something. But no visions ever came to her to warn her of him. And without proof, no one really listened. Especially Angel, who took the boy happily under his wing. Cordelia's nerves were getting the best of her as she decided she couldn't wait any longer. As she headed for the door a flash of light exploded in front of the door. Cordelia through her hands up in front of her eyes, blinded for a minute by the glare. Lowering them she saw her demon guide standing there.
"Skip, what are you doing here?" she asked irritated.
"Excuse me. No need to get huffy. The Powers That Be have sent me with an important task for you."
"Well, it's gonna have to wait. I need to go right now," she said as she started to walk past him. Skip put up his arm blocking her exit, and showing no signs of letting her leave just yet.
"No, Miss Chase, it cannot wait. You are being called to the higher plane."
"Excuse me, what? A higher plane?" Cordelia asked in surprise.
"Yes. The Powers That Be have determined that it is time for you to join them in the higher plane. Another realm so to speak. You're guidance will be used from there."
"I don't think so. Angel needs my guidance here, on this plane," Cordelia angrily spoke, "Who the hell am I supposed to help sitting on my ass somewhere else?"
Skip started to speak when he was interrupted by a disembodied voice of a young girl.
"Holy hell Skip. Just freakin' let me come through already and I'll explain it. You're doing it all wrong," the voice demanded. Skip sighed in submission and began a low chant. All Cordelia could do was stand there with her mouth agape and wait to see who came through the next set of bright light.
Angel showed up at the deserted beach. The skies were dark from the late hour, but soon they would be lit with the yellow of the sunrise. Angel always knew when the sun would come. It was almost as if he could smell it. Right now, sunrise was still several hours away, leaving him with one less thing to worry about. He saw a dark figure at the end of the lonely pier. Angel strode down the wooden walkway edging nearer to the figure. It was Connor. He knew it was him from the beach. But something wasn't right, Angel could feel something amiss. Like for some reason this was very wrong.
"Hi Angel. For a moment there I didn't think you were going to make it," Connor said evenly, his back still facing the vampire.
"Traffic was hell on the freeway. So, what's this big new I needed to come down here for?"
Connor slowly turned around and faced Angel, a smirk across his face. Suddenly Angel was caught off guard by a kick in the face. Connor had put his full weight into the move and it sent Angel flying onto his back. Not giving the vampire a chance, Connor quickly knocked Angel in the head with a heavy chain and then began using it to restrain him. Angel's head was blurry from the blows. Nothing was making sense. Why had Connor attacked him? Angel began trying to shake off the heavy metal links but Connor produced a syringe and jabbed it into Angel's neck. Angel could no longer move. He looked at Connor questioningly.
"Nice huh? Don't worry, it'll wear off, but by then it won't matter. I bet you're wondering why I'm doing this. Well, it's called revenge. Revenge for killing my father," Connor said in a calm voice. Angel could hear a truck pull up in the distance. He heard doors opening, footsteps approaching. He tried to speak but nothing came out except a small cough. Connor leaned down till he was inches from Angel's face. Smoldering hatred burned in his dark eyes.
"You might remember my father. His name was Holtz. He came back here to finish you off, the way he did your whore Darla. But you got to him first. You have everyone fooled into thinking you're some great hero. You're nothing more then a disgusting animal. I'm not going to kill you. That'd be to easy. I'm going to make you suffer. I'm going to make you wish for death. And I'm going to go back to your home and be the hero, not you."
Connor gave him one last punch in the face, sending Angel into a black sleep. Two hours later, Connor dumped a giant metal box into the Pacific Ocean, with Angel unconscious inside.
Back at the Hyperion, Cordelia tearfully walked into the blinding light leading to her new life with the Powers That Be. A tear slid from her eyes as she whispered a farewell to Angel into the night air.