A/N: Okay, This is Insane1. A while back Barb and I were discussing
Fanfiction and she mentioned that she wanted to give it a try, but thought
she would suck. Well, knowing the feeling, I told her to go for it 'cos she
couldn't be THAT bad..or bad at all really. She just needed to draw up the
confidence for it, and then she'd be fine. I even offered to beta read her
writing before publication..then somewhere along the lines we were tossing
random ideas around and this popped up. This fic is Barb's plotline and
stuff..and about 90percent of it is her writing..I've just played around
with some of the sentences and stuff..Added descriptions here and
there.etcetera etcetera. So when she tries to say that this is a two-author
collaboration, I still want to emphasise that this is her story (her FIRST
story) and I have had the privilege to help her get it out there. There is
more of this written, but we're waiting on feedback first, so be nice and
post a review. Thanks. ^_^
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Angel walked into the lobby of his hotel. He looked around and smiled when he saw Cordelia. She was holding Connor and humming a little lullabye. The vampire walked up behind his seer quietly, careful not to disrupt the scene.
"I know you're there." Cordy said, without turning around.
Angel almost jumped out of his skin. "How did you....I mean....I'm stealthy..Or at least I used to be.."
Cordelia smiled at his ranting, and turned to look at him. "You spend enough time working for a guy you can tell when he enters a room." She paused and shrugged. "That and these demon powers have really given me a boost with the senses."
Angel smiled. "Oh..okay."
Cordelia continued to grin at him, then looked at the clock on the wall. "Damnit..." She cursed, handing Connor over to her boss. "I've gotta go....I have this audition..."
Angel took his son in his arms and watched as she ran towards the door. "Cordy..Wait!" He heard himself call after her.
She stopped and looked at him. "Yeah?" She asked.
He strode up to her and placed a small, chaste kiss on her cheek. They were both a little surprised at his action. He pulled away from her and smiled a little sheepishly. "For good luck."
Then there was silence. They stood in the centre of the lobby floor, looking at each other for what seemed an eternity. Finally, Cordelia cleared her throat. "I..uh....Gotta go.."
She turned and walked out the hotel's double doors, all the while thinking 'Did Angel just kiss me?'
Angel remained frozen. He couldn't believe he'd actually kissed her....at all. It was one thing for her to peck him on the cheek when he bought her clothes....But for him to kiss her? What had he been thinking? Or was it the fact he wasn't thinking? God he was confused.
Connor's yawn brought him out of his thoughts. "Hey little guy..." He whispered. "Daddy's just done something really stupid. Yes he has...Yes he has..." The baby looked up at him and yawned again. Angel sighed. Oh well...as long as he wasn't gonna start crying again..Wait. Shouldn't have thought that. As Fred would say, he'd jinxed himself for sure. Angel cringed as his son began to whimper. "No....it's okay..Really." He muttered, shifting Connor from one arm to the other. When that didn't have any effect he started to hum 'hush little baby'. Needless to say, Connor wasn't impressed by that. Angel stopped humming when he realized it was getting him nowhere. Then he saw Lorne.
"Angelcakes..." The green guy said, noticing that he'd been caught. "How's my favourite warrior today?"
Angel rolled his eyes. "How many times have I told you not to read me?"
Lorne just grinned at his friend. "Angelpie....Honestly....How do you expect me not to? You're practically oozing the need for guidance."
"I am not." Angel glared.
"Oh yes you are. And take it from me a kiss on the cheek is nothing to get all riled up about." The demon smirked.
"What if she thinks I lost it or I've gone all Angelus or something? I mean, I don't usually go around kissing my colleagues.." The vampire kinda whined.
Lorne patted him on the back supportively. "Muffinfeatures, it's okay. She probably thought of it as a good luck kiss."
"Yeah.." Angel nodded, trying to absorb the soul-reader's logical reasoning. "You're probably right.."
Lorne nodded. "I always am, Sweetcheeks."
All of a sudden gunn came running into the lobby, preventing Angel from complaining about Lorne's nicknames. " Yo!" He cried at them. "Angel we got major problems."
Angel handed his son over to the big green guy and looked at Gunn, concern etched across his features. "What's wrong? Nobody's coming after Connor again are they?"
The young black man shook his head and headed towards the weaponry. "No man. No-one's coming after the kid. It's just a nasty ass demon kickin' the crap out of my crew." He said.
Fred came hopping down the steps after hearing all the commotion. "Charles!" She called, rushing into his embrace. "What's wrong? Why are you in the weapon cabinet?" She looked up at her beau, wide eyed. "Oh my god! Did Cordy have another vision?"
"No baby," Gunn smiled down reassuringly. "It's okay. It's just a big ugly demon making trouble downtown. We'll be okay." He said, kissing her on the forehead. Then he looked around. "Where's English?"
Fred tilted her head to the side. It took her a moment to work out what her boyfriend was asking. "Oh! Wesley is on a date." She replied with a big smile on her face.
"Gunn, forget Wes, let's go!" Angel yelled form the doorway. He looked back at Fred. "Leave a message on Cordy's phone." He instructed the young woman. "Tell her that we had to go fight some kind of demon and we might need her to patch us up when we get back."
With that, Angel and Gunn ran out into the night. Fred shrugged and went to pick up the phone to call Cordelia. However, before she had the chance to dial any numbers, the seer in question came running into the hotel lobby.
"Fred!" Cordy called, eyes scanning the lobby. "Where's angel? Is he alright? He didn't go out to fight any demons did he? "
The other woman nodded slowly. "He went out to help Charles fight some ugly demon was attacking Charles' friends." She explained.
Cordelia threw her hands into the air. "I knew I shouldn't have left him! I had such a bad feeling right before I left!" She cried.
"What happened?" Fred asked, panic edging its way into her voice. "Did you have a vision or-"
"No." Cordy cut her off. "I just.. I had this gut feeling when Angel kissed me on the cheek that something bad was gonna happen.. so I skipped my audition and ran like the wind to get back here."
Fred let out a sigh of relief. "Cordelia...." She reasoned, smiling confidently. "Charles and Angel will be fine. They always are and-" She paused and furrowed her brow. "Wait..Angel kissed you on the cheek?."
Cordelia avoided Fred's imploring gaze, her cheeks reddening slightly. "It was just for good luck.."
* Angel and Gunn pulled up just in time to see some of Gunn's crew run from the alley. Gunn watched as his friends fled past and looked at Angel. "You ready?" He asked.
Angel smirked and shifted his battleaxe from hand to hand. "As I'll ever be."
They hopped out of the car and ran into the dark alley.
The two men stopped in their tracks when they saw it. The demon loomed above them, at least 10 feet tall, its big, slimy blue tentacles waving around furiously.
"Oh my god, Angel! That thing is *huge*!" Gunn yelled and pointed his axe towards the demon.
Angel rolled his eyes at the younger man. "And *There's* the understatement of the century."
"Ah.. guys a little help here would be nice!" One of the remaining crew members called.
Gunn and Angel nodded and split up, each man taking a different approach to the demon. Gunn ducked and weaved near what he supposed was the thing's mouth, while Angel slashed at it's tentacles, noticing the tiny purple barbs that lined them. "Gunn!" He cried, not taking his attention from the creature. "Don't let the thing touch you!"
"Oh! Now here I was wantin' to make out with it and everything!" Came the sarcastic reply.
Angel would have laughed, had he not been so preoccupied with staying in one piece. "Gunn....I mean it! Look at the spikes on its tentacles!"
"Ok man, I get it." Gunn responded as he cut off one of the monster's tentacles. The thing howled in pain and seemed to become stronger. "Oh....That can't be good." He muttered.
Angel went to help another of Gunn's friends. As he ran towards the other man, a tentacle hit him in the back and sent him flying backwards, the force of the blow knocking him out.
Gunn never noticed his friend go down. He was still too busy trying to slay the damn beast. Half an hour and one decapitated demon later, he looked around the alleyway. "Angel!" He called, worry inching its way into his tone. "Yo Angel! Where'd you go?"
Gunn heard a slight moan on the other side of the alley. He ran towards the direction of the sound and there he found the vampire unconscious. He cursed and leant down to inspect Angel's wounds. The vamp had numerous punctures in his back and they seemed to be taking forever to heal. That couldn't be right. Angel was a VAMPIRE. He healed super fast. Something was definitely wrong here. Gunn reached down for his cell and called the hotel.
Fred's voice finally answered. "Angel Investigations we-" . "-Fred!" Gunn said, cutting her spiel short. "It's me. There's something very wrong with Angel.."
"What's wrong with him?" She asked on the other end of the line, starting to panic again. "Oh God..He didn't turn evil did he?"
Gunn frowned, although knowing that she couldn't see him. "No....He's hurt pretty bad though.. And the sun's comin' up soon....Look..I'll bring him to you guys. Call Wes and tell him to get there ASAP." With that he hung up and studied the still unconscious vamp. He tried in vain to wake Angel, even though he knew deep down it wouldn't be as easy as that. But he wasn't able to pick the vampire up either.
In the end, Gunn opted to drag the unconscious vamp back to the car, muttering things about diets and whatnot. When he finally got the car, he pulled angel into the backseat as fast as he could because the sun would be up soon and he still had to get the vampire inside the hotel in one piece..not in a pile of dust. * Cordelia paced around the lobby nervously, clutching a screaming Connor to her chest. She'd given up on trying to quieten the child, but pacing the lobby with him was all she could do to stop herself from bursting into tears as well.
Fred and Wes watched as the stressed seer wandered the lobby aimlessly. They dared not disturb her, or even offer to take the baby from her arms. Instead they tried to make polite conversation with each other..not that they were able to maintain it. Truth be told, they were just as stressed as Cordelia, and wanted nothing more than to see Gunn and Angel walk through the hotel's double doors safe and sound.
Finally they heard a car screech to a stop out front of the hotel. The group ran out to find Gunn struggling with an unconscious vampire in the back seat of the car.
"Oh my god! Angel!" Cordelia gasped.
"Uh, guys, I think we need to get him inside before he turns to dust." Gunn said, pointing to the false sunlight.
Wesley nodded and moved to help bring the vampire inside.
Fred went into the office to find some books about the demon that Gunn was busy describing. "Wes man there's something really wrong with him..I've never seen anything take out a vamp like that before.."
Wesley nodded and smiled gratefully as Fred emerged with a stack of relevant books. Gunn cleared his throat to get his attention once more.
"Should we leave him down here so we don't mess anything up or should we drag him upstairs?" The younger man questioned, pointing towards Angel, and dreading the response. Angel was heavier than he looked.
"Gunn, I think you and Wes should take him up to his room because we can't have him laying down here if a client walks in." Cordelia answered, before turning her attention towards humming to Connor once more.
Wesley and Gunn complied and slowly made their way up the stairs to the vampire's room. Cordelia decided to follow them as well, to make sure that everything was in order. She had also discovered that Connor calmed down considerably around his father- even if the man..pire was unconscious. So logic told her to keep the two close together.
Once they got up to Angel's room Wes and Gunn put him on the bed, while Cordy placed the now sleeping baby in the crib. She turned to Wesley. " Wes," She whispered, so not to wake the child, "What do you think's wrong with him?"
"Angel said something about the spikes possibly being poisoned, but he didn't say what happens if you are poisoned.." Gunn pondered aloud.
The ex-watcher removed and rubbed at his glasses, proceeding to walk back out of the room. "Well, it seems I have some research to do then." He stated, pausing at the doorway and looking at Cordelia. "Do call if he wakes up."
At that very moment, Fred came running into the room. " I.. I found out what.. what the poison effects.." She panted, trying to catch her breath.
"What does it do?" The others prompted in unison.
"Well.. If the demon was a Trantella demon, as I suspect it was, the barbs on its tentacles are intended to paralyse the victims from the shoulders down. See, it makes it easier for them to eat their victims.." Fred summarized.
"Now *that's* disgusting.." Cordelia sighed.
Meanwhile Wesley and Gunn beamed happily. "Good work Fred." The Englishman said.
"I knew I loved you for something.." Gunn added playfully as he kissed her on the forehead.
"Okay, you two lovebirds and Wes should get out of here so I can bandage Angel up and then let him get some rest." Cordelia instructed, ushering the others out of the room. Then she turned and sighed, taking in Angel's horrible state. "You've gotta make it out of this Angel.." She murmured. Unfortunately he didn't respond. Forcing her tears away, Cordelia started to get to work.
She was about finished when Angel finally moaned as she turned him on his side. "Hey!" She brightened, hope fuelling her emotions. "Are you wake?" However all she got in response was a couple of words in what she thought was another language. Still, it was something. He was waking up.
Cordelia started to leave to tell Wes that Angel was making progress, but before she had even made it to the door she heard an extremely low "Cordy.." come from Angel. She quickly turned and walked over, sitting on his bed next to him and held his hand. He opened his eyes and looked at her. " Cordy.. I..I cant feel anything... What happened?" Angel strained.
"Shhh.." She pressed a finger to his lips. "Don't speak..Try to conserve your strength, okay?"
He nodded, but pushed the issue anyway. "What happened?"
Cordelia sighed. "Well.. I don't really know what happened.. but somewhere along the lines you got hit with a poisoned spike from the demon that you were fighting which paralysed you from shoulder down.." When she stopped explaining and looked down, she found an unconscious vampire again.
After kissing him on the forehead lightly, she snuck out of the room to tell the others that Angel had woken up. When Cordelia finally reached the lobby, she saw Gunn and Fred Cuddling on the couch.
Fred looked up at her hopefully. "Hi Cordy! Is Angel gonna be ok?" She asked.
"Well all I can say is that he isn't dust. I think he has a bad concussion too.."
Fred gasped. "Oh that's bad.."
"It's okay baby," Gunn told her, squeezing her tightly. "He'll get better. He always does.."
"Yeah, well, I'm gonna go talk to Wes.." Cordelia told them, walking into Wesley's office.
Fred snuggled closer into Gunn's embrace. After a few moment's silence, she looked up at him. "Charles?"
"Yeah baby?"
"Do you think Angel's really hurt this time?" She asked, her eyes pleading with him. She really didn't need to be told the obvious, but hearing it from someone else would make it seem more real. "I mean, like worst than his usual super-vamp healing hurt?"
Gunn looked back at her, nodding sadly. "Yeah, I do Fred." He stopped when he saw her lip quiver slightly. "But I *know* he's gonna get better.. It's just gonna take a little longer than usual." Fred nodded her understanding and snuggled back into Gunn's chest.
Cordy slipped into Wesley's office in time to see the ex-watcher cover his mouth and muffle a 'Good Lord'. That couldn't be a good sign. She rushed towards him. "What? What's wrong?" She asked, only barely containing her panic.
Wesley looked up at her and pointed towards the seat in front of his desk. "Well Cordelia, I suggest you take a seat."
She complied and leant forward. " What the hell is wrong with him Wes? Other than the concussion?"
"Well.." Wes began, "it seems that the poison that the Trantella carries inside its tentacles isn't just intended to affect him momentarily.." The Brit paused and looked into the seer's eyes sadly. "It actually paralyses its victims permanently, as the creatures tend to 'store' their meals alive for a few days. It's really quite interesting as-"
Cordelia held up a hand to silence him. "Are you telling me that his back is bad like 'Christopher Reeves' bad or bad like 'got hit by a car so he just can't move till his spine heals' bad?" She asked, her tone wavering and beginning to show her emotions.
"Uh.." Wesley considered her question for a second. "Considering his supernatural ability to heal..I suppose it's more or less like 'got hit by an enormous truck and struck by lightning and can't move till his spine heals' bad, which I can assure you wont be fun..For any of us. It wont be like when he gets a paper cut and it heals without him even knowing it was there. I'm afraid it's going to be a fair bit more on the painful side." He stopped and thought for a second. "So I suspect we might even require your services when fighting demons and so forth..much like after we came back from Pylea and he, uh, had to leave for a time.."
"I can't just leave him here, Wes." Cordelia argued. "It's more complicated than when Buffy died and he went all soul-searching on us. There's Connor to look after now as well..Plus, Angel's gonna need some serious medical attention. I think I need to stay and help Fred out. She cant take care of Angel and Connor alone. And, believe me, when Angel is hurt he's harder to handle than the fussing, screaming baby." She thought about past experience with Angel and trying to patch him up and laughed.
Wes hid his smirk and looked at her in all seriousness. "Well, we can't call Gunn's crew to help, as they are busy with their own thing." He paused, not knowing exactly how to phrase his next thought. "It, uh, looks as if we are going to have to borrow Buffy and a couple of her friends from the hell mouth for a short amount of time."
Surprisingly enough, Cordelia nodded. She didn't want to argue with him. Well then, if that was possible, then maybe pigs could fly after all. "Fine," The brunette conceded. "We can have her stay here in the hotel for the time being and I will even be nice to her for Angel's sake." She glared at him and crossed her arms, "But if you think for one second that *I* will be the one to call her, you have another thing coming buster."
Wes rolled his eyes. "It's alright Cordelia, I will call Buffy."
"Fine, you do that." Cordy shot back at him, not really understanding why she was getting so upset. She shrugged, supposing that bringing Buffy into the equation just seemed like a calling card for trouble. "I'm gonna go check on Connor." With that, Cordy turned and gracefully stomped out in true Queen C style. She huffed and puffed her way up the stairs, mumbling something about this probably being the last time Angel's son would be able to spend time with her in such a close way, due to the fact the second Buffy arrived it would be 'Bye bye Aunt Cordy' and 'Hello Mommy'.
Watching the seer storm off, Wes could only roll his eyes and think how annoying it was that Cordelia was so oblivious to Angel's obvious feelings and even more obvious advances. He walked into the lobby and found a new reason to roll his eyes.
He approached the smooch-fest that was Fred and Gunn and cleared his throat. "If you two lovebirds could find a few moments to tear apart, I thought I should warn you that we are going to have a couple of guests for a spell while Angel recovers."
Fred brightened immediately and jumped up. "Oh! That's great! I love guests!" The physicist stopped and thought for a second. "Wait..Shouldn't we avoid havin' guests 'cos Angel's hurt pretty bad."
"Well we *really* need this guest as she will act like as the champion until Angel gets well.."
Before the ex-watcher could finish his sentence, Gunn interrupted. "The slayer's comin' to town, isn't she? That Buffy chick right? Angel's ex?"
Wesley nodded. "Yes, but she is only going to be staying here until Angel recovers. Once he can walk, talk and brood again, she will return to SunnyDale. And now, if you will excuse me, I must make a phone call.." He turned and walked back into his office, closing the door behind him. * Cordy walked up to Connor's crib, picked him up and walked over to the rocking chair with him. "Hey sweetie," She cooed, "I guess this will pretty much be our last time together because as soon as your daddy gets better he'll probably take you straight to your new mommy and out of reach of your beautiful, talented, intelligent Aunt Cordy."
That was it. Her voice cracked and tears started flowing from her eyes. She didn't want to lose this. Not Angel's son..Not Angel. Nothing. It wasn't fair. She'd worked too damn hard to make Angel more social and human-like to see him go straight back to Buffy. The stupid blonde didn't deserve him. Come to think of it, nobody really seemed to. But did she? Oh why was she thinking like this? Angel thought of her as family..a little sister. He could never..WOULD NEVER have those types of feelings for her. And she could accept that. Just as long as he stayed here, in LA, with Connor..and her.
Cordelia tried in vain to control her sobs, knowing that Angel was only asleep, not unconscious anymore, and that he needed his rest. Besides, Connor was half asleep..and it wouldn't be good to wake him up. Not with the tension and pain in this room. For the most time, she was able to keep her sobs hushed, pretty much silent. But then the baby in her arms let out an adorable yawn and she lost it again, her wails disturbing the child from his sleep.
It was a domino effect from there. Connor began to wail, louder and louder with every attempt Cordelia made to quieten him, which inevitably woke Angel up. Now everyone in the room was awake.
"Cordy.." Angel moaned from his position on the bed. "Do you have Connor?"
Cordelia nodded, even though he couldn't see her, and tried extremely hard to cover up the fact that she was crying long enough to reply, but it didn't work. She couldn't put on her Queen C act this time. And she called herself an actress! Pfft. She ought to be ashamed of herself. It was another 20 minutes or so before Connor finally settled down and went back to sleep.
Once his wails had subsided, Angel tried again. "Cordelia.." His voice was less strained. Which was good in a way because it meant he was healing, but bad because it meant he would be leaving her sooner. "Can you please come here? 'cos, well, I still can't get up."
She sat still for few more seconds, fighting the newest onslaught of tears and trying to dry the remnants of the last round, before she stood and walked over to the bed. She had actually gotten her sudden attack of crying under control, but the second she took Angel's paralysed form in, she lost it again. Only this time the hushed cries weren't so hushed anymore.
"Cordelia come sit with me please?" Angel asked as gently as possible. Cordy complied and sat on the side of the bed. "Whats wrong?" He pleaded, hating the fact she was so upset. She never cried. Not that he knew of anyway. This was just disturbing. What did she know that he didn't? "Cordelia, please tell me why you're crying."
She tried to choke back a few sobs. "Well, Buffy's coming here to help us with the big bads while you get all healed up.. and when you get all better.... you're gonna leave with Connor to go to SunnyHell so you can be with B.B.Buffy." At this point, the seer lost it completely and started to wail. "A-and then you'll take Connor and...and..and I will never will see him again or you. I..I...I don't want that."
"Oh god!" Angel gasped. How could she even think that? "Cordelia, listen to me. I would never leave to be with Buffy. We're over. More than over. She died and I kept living..I had a son with her arch nemesis. I think that that proves my case. Cordy. I swear you don't ever have to worry about that. Do you hear me?" He gave her a lopsided smile. "Besides, why would I take Connor away from his mom?"
Cordelia started to smile. Angel wouldn't leave and he considered her as Connor's mother. Sniffling, she leant forward and kissed the manpire on the forehead. "Oh god, Angel. I love you so much." In her mind she really truly meant it. She loved him more then a friend, but she figured he'd only take it as friend thing. Or a little sister thing. Still, she loved him, and he obviously cared for her. She didn't care *how* at the moment, just that she was vaguely important to him.
In Angel's mind he wished so much that she meant her statement more than just as a friend. " I love you too." Angel really meant it too. Not just as a friend. Or as a big brother. Or as a colleague. He *loved* her, and it drove him crazy that she didn't reciprocate the same feeling.
Cordelia smiled back at him and started to get up. Angel called out to her and she turned. He gazed up at her, his big brown puppy-dog orbs in full deploy. "Can you stay in here tonight? For Connor's sake? I can't exactly get up and I'm that tired I doubt I'll even be able to wake up."
She hesitated. See, she had this pesky habit of sleep talking and lately a certain manpire had plagued her dreams..But those big brown eyes of his just couldn't be fought. However, she could still play coy. "Uh, sure. I can stay here. What room do you want me to stay in?"
"Well.." Angel looked down. "I was kinda hoping you'd stay in here with me..I mean, him. I like to listen to his heartbeat. It calms me down. I like to know he's okay when I fall asleep and since you don't have super hearing I was wondering if you could stay beside me ..maybe hold him between us?" He asked sheepishly.
"Sure Angel. No problem. I mean, it isn't like I haven't slept in your bed before." She replied with a smirk as she walked out the door. It wasn't long before her head popped back around the corner. "And get some sleep!"
*
Wesley took a deep breath and dialled an all-too-familiar phone number." Hello, Buffy?"
***************************
Angel walked into the lobby of his hotel. He looked around and smiled when he saw Cordelia. She was holding Connor and humming a little lullabye. The vampire walked up behind his seer quietly, careful not to disrupt the scene.
"I know you're there." Cordy said, without turning around.
Angel almost jumped out of his skin. "How did you....I mean....I'm stealthy..Or at least I used to be.."
Cordelia smiled at his ranting, and turned to look at him. "You spend enough time working for a guy you can tell when he enters a room." She paused and shrugged. "That and these demon powers have really given me a boost with the senses."
Angel smiled. "Oh..okay."
Cordelia continued to grin at him, then looked at the clock on the wall. "Damnit..." She cursed, handing Connor over to her boss. "I've gotta go....I have this audition..."
Angel took his son in his arms and watched as she ran towards the door. "Cordy..Wait!" He heard himself call after her.
She stopped and looked at him. "Yeah?" She asked.
He strode up to her and placed a small, chaste kiss on her cheek. They were both a little surprised at his action. He pulled away from her and smiled a little sheepishly. "For good luck."
Then there was silence. They stood in the centre of the lobby floor, looking at each other for what seemed an eternity. Finally, Cordelia cleared her throat. "I..uh....Gotta go.."
She turned and walked out the hotel's double doors, all the while thinking 'Did Angel just kiss me?'
Angel remained frozen. He couldn't believe he'd actually kissed her....at all. It was one thing for her to peck him on the cheek when he bought her clothes....But for him to kiss her? What had he been thinking? Or was it the fact he wasn't thinking? God he was confused.
Connor's yawn brought him out of his thoughts. "Hey little guy..." He whispered. "Daddy's just done something really stupid. Yes he has...Yes he has..." The baby looked up at him and yawned again. Angel sighed. Oh well...as long as he wasn't gonna start crying again..Wait. Shouldn't have thought that. As Fred would say, he'd jinxed himself for sure. Angel cringed as his son began to whimper. "No....it's okay..Really." He muttered, shifting Connor from one arm to the other. When that didn't have any effect he started to hum 'hush little baby'. Needless to say, Connor wasn't impressed by that. Angel stopped humming when he realized it was getting him nowhere. Then he saw Lorne.
"Angelcakes..." The green guy said, noticing that he'd been caught. "How's my favourite warrior today?"
Angel rolled his eyes. "How many times have I told you not to read me?"
Lorne just grinned at his friend. "Angelpie....Honestly....How do you expect me not to? You're practically oozing the need for guidance."
"I am not." Angel glared.
"Oh yes you are. And take it from me a kiss on the cheek is nothing to get all riled up about." The demon smirked.
"What if she thinks I lost it or I've gone all Angelus or something? I mean, I don't usually go around kissing my colleagues.." The vampire kinda whined.
Lorne patted him on the back supportively. "Muffinfeatures, it's okay. She probably thought of it as a good luck kiss."
"Yeah.." Angel nodded, trying to absorb the soul-reader's logical reasoning. "You're probably right.."
Lorne nodded. "I always am, Sweetcheeks."
All of a sudden gunn came running into the lobby, preventing Angel from complaining about Lorne's nicknames. " Yo!" He cried at them. "Angel we got major problems."
Angel handed his son over to the big green guy and looked at Gunn, concern etched across his features. "What's wrong? Nobody's coming after Connor again are they?"
The young black man shook his head and headed towards the weaponry. "No man. No-one's coming after the kid. It's just a nasty ass demon kickin' the crap out of my crew." He said.
Fred came hopping down the steps after hearing all the commotion. "Charles!" She called, rushing into his embrace. "What's wrong? Why are you in the weapon cabinet?" She looked up at her beau, wide eyed. "Oh my god! Did Cordy have another vision?"
"No baby," Gunn smiled down reassuringly. "It's okay. It's just a big ugly demon making trouble downtown. We'll be okay." He said, kissing her on the forehead. Then he looked around. "Where's English?"
Fred tilted her head to the side. It took her a moment to work out what her boyfriend was asking. "Oh! Wesley is on a date." She replied with a big smile on her face.
"Gunn, forget Wes, let's go!" Angel yelled form the doorway. He looked back at Fred. "Leave a message on Cordy's phone." He instructed the young woman. "Tell her that we had to go fight some kind of demon and we might need her to patch us up when we get back."
With that, Angel and Gunn ran out into the night. Fred shrugged and went to pick up the phone to call Cordelia. However, before she had the chance to dial any numbers, the seer in question came running into the hotel lobby.
"Fred!" Cordy called, eyes scanning the lobby. "Where's angel? Is he alright? He didn't go out to fight any demons did he? "
The other woman nodded slowly. "He went out to help Charles fight some ugly demon was attacking Charles' friends." She explained.
Cordelia threw her hands into the air. "I knew I shouldn't have left him! I had such a bad feeling right before I left!" She cried.
"What happened?" Fred asked, panic edging its way into her voice. "Did you have a vision or-"
"No." Cordy cut her off. "I just.. I had this gut feeling when Angel kissed me on the cheek that something bad was gonna happen.. so I skipped my audition and ran like the wind to get back here."
Fred let out a sigh of relief. "Cordelia...." She reasoned, smiling confidently. "Charles and Angel will be fine. They always are and-" She paused and furrowed her brow. "Wait..Angel kissed you on the cheek?."
Cordelia avoided Fred's imploring gaze, her cheeks reddening slightly. "It was just for good luck.."
* Angel and Gunn pulled up just in time to see some of Gunn's crew run from the alley. Gunn watched as his friends fled past and looked at Angel. "You ready?" He asked.
Angel smirked and shifted his battleaxe from hand to hand. "As I'll ever be."
They hopped out of the car and ran into the dark alley.
The two men stopped in their tracks when they saw it. The demon loomed above them, at least 10 feet tall, its big, slimy blue tentacles waving around furiously.
"Oh my god, Angel! That thing is *huge*!" Gunn yelled and pointed his axe towards the demon.
Angel rolled his eyes at the younger man. "And *There's* the understatement of the century."
"Ah.. guys a little help here would be nice!" One of the remaining crew members called.
Gunn and Angel nodded and split up, each man taking a different approach to the demon. Gunn ducked and weaved near what he supposed was the thing's mouth, while Angel slashed at it's tentacles, noticing the tiny purple barbs that lined them. "Gunn!" He cried, not taking his attention from the creature. "Don't let the thing touch you!"
"Oh! Now here I was wantin' to make out with it and everything!" Came the sarcastic reply.
Angel would have laughed, had he not been so preoccupied with staying in one piece. "Gunn....I mean it! Look at the spikes on its tentacles!"
"Ok man, I get it." Gunn responded as he cut off one of the monster's tentacles. The thing howled in pain and seemed to become stronger. "Oh....That can't be good." He muttered.
Angel went to help another of Gunn's friends. As he ran towards the other man, a tentacle hit him in the back and sent him flying backwards, the force of the blow knocking him out.
Gunn never noticed his friend go down. He was still too busy trying to slay the damn beast. Half an hour and one decapitated demon later, he looked around the alleyway. "Angel!" He called, worry inching its way into his tone. "Yo Angel! Where'd you go?"
Gunn heard a slight moan on the other side of the alley. He ran towards the direction of the sound and there he found the vampire unconscious. He cursed and leant down to inspect Angel's wounds. The vamp had numerous punctures in his back and they seemed to be taking forever to heal. That couldn't be right. Angel was a VAMPIRE. He healed super fast. Something was definitely wrong here. Gunn reached down for his cell and called the hotel.
Fred's voice finally answered. "Angel Investigations we-" . "-Fred!" Gunn said, cutting her spiel short. "It's me. There's something very wrong with Angel.."
"What's wrong with him?" She asked on the other end of the line, starting to panic again. "Oh God..He didn't turn evil did he?"
Gunn frowned, although knowing that she couldn't see him. "No....He's hurt pretty bad though.. And the sun's comin' up soon....Look..I'll bring him to you guys. Call Wes and tell him to get there ASAP." With that he hung up and studied the still unconscious vamp. He tried in vain to wake Angel, even though he knew deep down it wouldn't be as easy as that. But he wasn't able to pick the vampire up either.
In the end, Gunn opted to drag the unconscious vamp back to the car, muttering things about diets and whatnot. When he finally got the car, he pulled angel into the backseat as fast as he could because the sun would be up soon and he still had to get the vampire inside the hotel in one piece..not in a pile of dust. * Cordelia paced around the lobby nervously, clutching a screaming Connor to her chest. She'd given up on trying to quieten the child, but pacing the lobby with him was all she could do to stop herself from bursting into tears as well.
Fred and Wes watched as the stressed seer wandered the lobby aimlessly. They dared not disturb her, or even offer to take the baby from her arms. Instead they tried to make polite conversation with each other..not that they were able to maintain it. Truth be told, they were just as stressed as Cordelia, and wanted nothing more than to see Gunn and Angel walk through the hotel's double doors safe and sound.
Finally they heard a car screech to a stop out front of the hotel. The group ran out to find Gunn struggling with an unconscious vampire in the back seat of the car.
"Oh my god! Angel!" Cordelia gasped.
"Uh, guys, I think we need to get him inside before he turns to dust." Gunn said, pointing to the false sunlight.
Wesley nodded and moved to help bring the vampire inside.
Fred went into the office to find some books about the demon that Gunn was busy describing. "Wes man there's something really wrong with him..I've never seen anything take out a vamp like that before.."
Wesley nodded and smiled gratefully as Fred emerged with a stack of relevant books. Gunn cleared his throat to get his attention once more.
"Should we leave him down here so we don't mess anything up or should we drag him upstairs?" The younger man questioned, pointing towards Angel, and dreading the response. Angel was heavier than he looked.
"Gunn, I think you and Wes should take him up to his room because we can't have him laying down here if a client walks in." Cordelia answered, before turning her attention towards humming to Connor once more.
Wesley and Gunn complied and slowly made their way up the stairs to the vampire's room. Cordelia decided to follow them as well, to make sure that everything was in order. She had also discovered that Connor calmed down considerably around his father- even if the man..pire was unconscious. So logic told her to keep the two close together.
Once they got up to Angel's room Wes and Gunn put him on the bed, while Cordy placed the now sleeping baby in the crib. She turned to Wesley. " Wes," She whispered, so not to wake the child, "What do you think's wrong with him?"
"Angel said something about the spikes possibly being poisoned, but he didn't say what happens if you are poisoned.." Gunn pondered aloud.
The ex-watcher removed and rubbed at his glasses, proceeding to walk back out of the room. "Well, it seems I have some research to do then." He stated, pausing at the doorway and looking at Cordelia. "Do call if he wakes up."
At that very moment, Fred came running into the room. " I.. I found out what.. what the poison effects.." She panted, trying to catch her breath.
"What does it do?" The others prompted in unison.
"Well.. If the demon was a Trantella demon, as I suspect it was, the barbs on its tentacles are intended to paralyse the victims from the shoulders down. See, it makes it easier for them to eat their victims.." Fred summarized.
"Now *that's* disgusting.." Cordelia sighed.
Meanwhile Wesley and Gunn beamed happily. "Good work Fred." The Englishman said.
"I knew I loved you for something.." Gunn added playfully as he kissed her on the forehead.
"Okay, you two lovebirds and Wes should get out of here so I can bandage Angel up and then let him get some rest." Cordelia instructed, ushering the others out of the room. Then she turned and sighed, taking in Angel's horrible state. "You've gotta make it out of this Angel.." She murmured. Unfortunately he didn't respond. Forcing her tears away, Cordelia started to get to work.
She was about finished when Angel finally moaned as she turned him on his side. "Hey!" She brightened, hope fuelling her emotions. "Are you wake?" However all she got in response was a couple of words in what she thought was another language. Still, it was something. He was waking up.
Cordelia started to leave to tell Wes that Angel was making progress, but before she had even made it to the door she heard an extremely low "Cordy.." come from Angel. She quickly turned and walked over, sitting on his bed next to him and held his hand. He opened his eyes and looked at her. " Cordy.. I..I cant feel anything... What happened?" Angel strained.
"Shhh.." She pressed a finger to his lips. "Don't speak..Try to conserve your strength, okay?"
He nodded, but pushed the issue anyway. "What happened?"
Cordelia sighed. "Well.. I don't really know what happened.. but somewhere along the lines you got hit with a poisoned spike from the demon that you were fighting which paralysed you from shoulder down.." When she stopped explaining and looked down, she found an unconscious vampire again.
After kissing him on the forehead lightly, she snuck out of the room to tell the others that Angel had woken up. When Cordelia finally reached the lobby, she saw Gunn and Fred Cuddling on the couch.
Fred looked up at her hopefully. "Hi Cordy! Is Angel gonna be ok?" She asked.
"Well all I can say is that he isn't dust. I think he has a bad concussion too.."
Fred gasped. "Oh that's bad.."
"It's okay baby," Gunn told her, squeezing her tightly. "He'll get better. He always does.."
"Yeah, well, I'm gonna go talk to Wes.." Cordelia told them, walking into Wesley's office.
Fred snuggled closer into Gunn's embrace. After a few moment's silence, she looked up at him. "Charles?"
"Yeah baby?"
"Do you think Angel's really hurt this time?" She asked, her eyes pleading with him. She really didn't need to be told the obvious, but hearing it from someone else would make it seem more real. "I mean, like worst than his usual super-vamp healing hurt?"
Gunn looked back at her, nodding sadly. "Yeah, I do Fred." He stopped when he saw her lip quiver slightly. "But I *know* he's gonna get better.. It's just gonna take a little longer than usual." Fred nodded her understanding and snuggled back into Gunn's chest.
Cordy slipped into Wesley's office in time to see the ex-watcher cover his mouth and muffle a 'Good Lord'. That couldn't be a good sign. She rushed towards him. "What? What's wrong?" She asked, only barely containing her panic.
Wesley looked up at her and pointed towards the seat in front of his desk. "Well Cordelia, I suggest you take a seat."
She complied and leant forward. " What the hell is wrong with him Wes? Other than the concussion?"
"Well.." Wes began, "it seems that the poison that the Trantella carries inside its tentacles isn't just intended to affect him momentarily.." The Brit paused and looked into the seer's eyes sadly. "It actually paralyses its victims permanently, as the creatures tend to 'store' their meals alive for a few days. It's really quite interesting as-"
Cordelia held up a hand to silence him. "Are you telling me that his back is bad like 'Christopher Reeves' bad or bad like 'got hit by a car so he just can't move till his spine heals' bad?" She asked, her tone wavering and beginning to show her emotions.
"Uh.." Wesley considered her question for a second. "Considering his supernatural ability to heal..I suppose it's more or less like 'got hit by an enormous truck and struck by lightning and can't move till his spine heals' bad, which I can assure you wont be fun..For any of us. It wont be like when he gets a paper cut and it heals without him even knowing it was there. I'm afraid it's going to be a fair bit more on the painful side." He stopped and thought for a second. "So I suspect we might even require your services when fighting demons and so forth..much like after we came back from Pylea and he, uh, had to leave for a time.."
"I can't just leave him here, Wes." Cordelia argued. "It's more complicated than when Buffy died and he went all soul-searching on us. There's Connor to look after now as well..Plus, Angel's gonna need some serious medical attention. I think I need to stay and help Fred out. She cant take care of Angel and Connor alone. And, believe me, when Angel is hurt he's harder to handle than the fussing, screaming baby." She thought about past experience with Angel and trying to patch him up and laughed.
Wes hid his smirk and looked at her in all seriousness. "Well, we can't call Gunn's crew to help, as they are busy with their own thing." He paused, not knowing exactly how to phrase his next thought. "It, uh, looks as if we are going to have to borrow Buffy and a couple of her friends from the hell mouth for a short amount of time."
Surprisingly enough, Cordelia nodded. She didn't want to argue with him. Well then, if that was possible, then maybe pigs could fly after all. "Fine," The brunette conceded. "We can have her stay here in the hotel for the time being and I will even be nice to her for Angel's sake." She glared at him and crossed her arms, "But if you think for one second that *I* will be the one to call her, you have another thing coming buster."
Wes rolled his eyes. "It's alright Cordelia, I will call Buffy."
"Fine, you do that." Cordy shot back at him, not really understanding why she was getting so upset. She shrugged, supposing that bringing Buffy into the equation just seemed like a calling card for trouble. "I'm gonna go check on Connor." With that, Cordy turned and gracefully stomped out in true Queen C style. She huffed and puffed her way up the stairs, mumbling something about this probably being the last time Angel's son would be able to spend time with her in such a close way, due to the fact the second Buffy arrived it would be 'Bye bye Aunt Cordy' and 'Hello Mommy'.
Watching the seer storm off, Wes could only roll his eyes and think how annoying it was that Cordelia was so oblivious to Angel's obvious feelings and even more obvious advances. He walked into the lobby and found a new reason to roll his eyes.
He approached the smooch-fest that was Fred and Gunn and cleared his throat. "If you two lovebirds could find a few moments to tear apart, I thought I should warn you that we are going to have a couple of guests for a spell while Angel recovers."
Fred brightened immediately and jumped up. "Oh! That's great! I love guests!" The physicist stopped and thought for a second. "Wait..Shouldn't we avoid havin' guests 'cos Angel's hurt pretty bad."
"Well we *really* need this guest as she will act like as the champion until Angel gets well.."
Before the ex-watcher could finish his sentence, Gunn interrupted. "The slayer's comin' to town, isn't she? That Buffy chick right? Angel's ex?"
Wesley nodded. "Yes, but she is only going to be staying here until Angel recovers. Once he can walk, talk and brood again, she will return to SunnyDale. And now, if you will excuse me, I must make a phone call.." He turned and walked back into his office, closing the door behind him. * Cordy walked up to Connor's crib, picked him up and walked over to the rocking chair with him. "Hey sweetie," She cooed, "I guess this will pretty much be our last time together because as soon as your daddy gets better he'll probably take you straight to your new mommy and out of reach of your beautiful, talented, intelligent Aunt Cordy."
That was it. Her voice cracked and tears started flowing from her eyes. She didn't want to lose this. Not Angel's son..Not Angel. Nothing. It wasn't fair. She'd worked too damn hard to make Angel more social and human-like to see him go straight back to Buffy. The stupid blonde didn't deserve him. Come to think of it, nobody really seemed to. But did she? Oh why was she thinking like this? Angel thought of her as family..a little sister. He could never..WOULD NEVER have those types of feelings for her. And she could accept that. Just as long as he stayed here, in LA, with Connor..and her.
Cordelia tried in vain to control her sobs, knowing that Angel was only asleep, not unconscious anymore, and that he needed his rest. Besides, Connor was half asleep..and it wouldn't be good to wake him up. Not with the tension and pain in this room. For the most time, she was able to keep her sobs hushed, pretty much silent. But then the baby in her arms let out an adorable yawn and she lost it again, her wails disturbing the child from his sleep.
It was a domino effect from there. Connor began to wail, louder and louder with every attempt Cordelia made to quieten him, which inevitably woke Angel up. Now everyone in the room was awake.
"Cordy.." Angel moaned from his position on the bed. "Do you have Connor?"
Cordelia nodded, even though he couldn't see her, and tried extremely hard to cover up the fact that she was crying long enough to reply, but it didn't work. She couldn't put on her Queen C act this time. And she called herself an actress! Pfft. She ought to be ashamed of herself. It was another 20 minutes or so before Connor finally settled down and went back to sleep.
Once his wails had subsided, Angel tried again. "Cordelia.." His voice was less strained. Which was good in a way because it meant he was healing, but bad because it meant he would be leaving her sooner. "Can you please come here? 'cos, well, I still can't get up."
She sat still for few more seconds, fighting the newest onslaught of tears and trying to dry the remnants of the last round, before she stood and walked over to the bed. She had actually gotten her sudden attack of crying under control, but the second she took Angel's paralysed form in, she lost it again. Only this time the hushed cries weren't so hushed anymore.
"Cordelia come sit with me please?" Angel asked as gently as possible. Cordy complied and sat on the side of the bed. "Whats wrong?" He pleaded, hating the fact she was so upset. She never cried. Not that he knew of anyway. This was just disturbing. What did she know that he didn't? "Cordelia, please tell me why you're crying."
She tried to choke back a few sobs. "Well, Buffy's coming here to help us with the big bads while you get all healed up.. and when you get all better.... you're gonna leave with Connor to go to SunnyHell so you can be with B.B.Buffy." At this point, the seer lost it completely and started to wail. "A-and then you'll take Connor and...and..and I will never will see him again or you. I..I...I don't want that."
"Oh god!" Angel gasped. How could she even think that? "Cordelia, listen to me. I would never leave to be with Buffy. We're over. More than over. She died and I kept living..I had a son with her arch nemesis. I think that that proves my case. Cordy. I swear you don't ever have to worry about that. Do you hear me?" He gave her a lopsided smile. "Besides, why would I take Connor away from his mom?"
Cordelia started to smile. Angel wouldn't leave and he considered her as Connor's mother. Sniffling, she leant forward and kissed the manpire on the forehead. "Oh god, Angel. I love you so much." In her mind she really truly meant it. She loved him more then a friend, but she figured he'd only take it as friend thing. Or a little sister thing. Still, she loved him, and he obviously cared for her. She didn't care *how* at the moment, just that she was vaguely important to him.
In Angel's mind he wished so much that she meant her statement more than just as a friend. " I love you too." Angel really meant it too. Not just as a friend. Or as a big brother. Or as a colleague. He *loved* her, and it drove him crazy that she didn't reciprocate the same feeling.
Cordelia smiled back at him and started to get up. Angel called out to her and she turned. He gazed up at her, his big brown puppy-dog orbs in full deploy. "Can you stay in here tonight? For Connor's sake? I can't exactly get up and I'm that tired I doubt I'll even be able to wake up."
She hesitated. See, she had this pesky habit of sleep talking and lately a certain manpire had plagued her dreams..But those big brown eyes of his just couldn't be fought. However, she could still play coy. "Uh, sure. I can stay here. What room do you want me to stay in?"
"Well.." Angel looked down. "I was kinda hoping you'd stay in here with me..I mean, him. I like to listen to his heartbeat. It calms me down. I like to know he's okay when I fall asleep and since you don't have super hearing I was wondering if you could stay beside me ..maybe hold him between us?" He asked sheepishly.
"Sure Angel. No problem. I mean, it isn't like I haven't slept in your bed before." She replied with a smirk as she walked out the door. It wasn't long before her head popped back around the corner. "And get some sleep!"
*
Wesley took a deep breath and dialled an all-too-familiar phone number." Hello, Buffy?"
***************************