The Way It Should Be

Darla cried out in pain, her eyes tearing from the strain.

"Get it out of me!"

Angel started up the engine of his convertible, placing his foot over the accelerator pedal, waiting impatiently as Gunn took care of a problem area behind the car. Vampires were swarming behind them like a wasp nest and he were tempted to leave the muscle behind to deal with the crazy mob whose mission was to devour his ex's eyeballs and worship his son.

"Gunn, let's go!"

As soon as he had jumped on the bumper and climbed on top of the trunk to stake a vamp about to claw its way in from the side door, Angel slammed his foot on the gas. Darla moaned in the back while Cordy, Fred, Wes and Angel were all crammed in the front seat.

"Um, Angel? I thought we said we couldn't go to a hospital. I mean, wouldn't they kind of notice…"

"We don't really have a choice anymore," he said sharply. "There's nothing we can do for her and I'm pretty sure that while we're in there, they're not going to be checking if chopping off her head turns her into a pile of dust. As long as Darla doesn't act obvious, we'll be fine. And if someone gives us away, I'll threaten to tear off the doctor's legs if he doesn't finish. You might have noticed I'm pretty good at that."

"Tearing off people's legs?"

"Threatening."

"I'm all alone back here," whined a soft voice from the passenger seat.

"Damn it, Darla. I can only do so many things at once," Angel called behind him as they raced down the street, going seventy-five, eighty, eighty-two…and so on.

"Wes, go back and sit with her."

"That's probably not a good idea. What if she gets—"

"She's feeling too much pain to think about blood right now."

A few fingers glided over Wesley's neck and he cried out in surprise.

Darla said, "I wouldn't say that."

Angel looked over his shoulder and swatted her hand away from Wesley's neck. He held out his arm after lifting his sleeve, keeping the other hand gripped tightly on the wheel. He felt her teeth sink into his flesh, puncturing his skin, then his veins, felt as the blood rushed from his body and flowed into her mouth.

"Wow," Cordy said observantly. "Angel's like Madonna, Tom Kristensen and a pointy-toothed Superman—all in one."

Angel gripped the wheel harder and he turned his head to the right.

"Not now, Cordy," he barked through clenched teeth. Darla was biting down hard and his arm muscles were beginning to ache.

Cordy put up her hands, nearly whacking Fred in the face. "Just trying to lighten the mood here."

"I've already got a light enough head as it is."

"Hospital!"

Angel turned the wheel in one quick movement and everyone was shoved to the left side of the car. Teeth ripped out of his arm and the vampire yelled, eyes turning yellow, bumps forming on his forehead and teeth morphing into daggers. He shook his head and his human face returned.

"Have I ever told you how cute you are when you're angry, lover?"

"Shut up, Darla."

She cried out again suddenly, holding her enlarged stomach and cringing.

"I get it! We're almost there!"

"No, NOW!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, eyes shut tight and teeth bared.

Angel pulled sharply into a parking space and jolted the car to a stop. He opened the door, Fred nearly falling out after him. He opened the back door where Darla lay, crunched in a keen-to-stomach position. He carefully picked her up and carried her to the entrance at a run. As the doors burst open, he yelled, "We need some help!"

Two nurses quickly ran their way, a clipboard in one hand.

"She's pregnant?" one asked in a hurried voice.

"What gave it away?" Darla said dazedly.

Angel walked to a wheelchair and set her down gently. As soon as he let go, the other nurse grabbed the handles and began steering it down the hall.

"What are you—"

"Sir, you're going to have to answer a few questions before we take you back with her. First—when was her due date?"

"I—I don't know."

"Are you the father?"

"Yes."

"You're sure?"

"YES!"

"Sir, please calm down."

"I'm calm!" he said testily.

"Her name?"

"Darla."

"Last name?"

The first one that came to his mind was, "Cowells."

"And your name, sir?"

"Angel."

"Come with me, Mr. Cowells."

Fred sat between Gunn and Wesley while Cordelia stood next to one of the pillars. Above her head was a speaker which kept calling out doctor names, numbers and incomprehensible terms.

The creak of the doors opening gave away Angel's stealthy approach and they all stood up as he walked towards them.

"Hey," he said softly.

"How is she?" asked Fred eagerly. "How's the baby?"

"The baby's still…it'll be a little while. Darla's holding out."

"All drugged up and no place to go?" Gunn supplied.

"Angel," Cordy said, putting her hand to rest over the bandage on her neck. "Why aren't you in there? The baby—"

"She's kind of upset. Throwing things, screaming…I think it's best if I just stay out of the way. And I've been around a long time, but I've never seen a woman give birth. I don't plan to."

"Did you explain that they can't do a c-section?" Wes asked, sitting back down in his seat.

"Yeah. It took some convincing."

"You didn't do something being-kicked-out-and-never-welcomed-back worthy, did you?" asked Gunn.

"No."

"What about a heart monitor?" Cordelia reminded.

"And an Epidural? She probably shouldn't have people stickin' her with pointy things the way she's—"

"Fred. Cordy. I took care of it."

Angel sat down in the seat next to Wesley and put his head in his hands, leaning over in the chair.

"Are you alright?"

"Fine," was Angel's muffled reply.

They waited in silence for hours, staring at the emergency room doors. Every so often they would swing open with a loud creak and all five heads perked up. They were getting tired of seeing nurses.

At quarter to twelve, a hysteric nurse burst through the doors, searching frantically about the waiting room. She spotted Angel and ran towards him. He stood up as she said, "Mr. Cowells, your wife is having her baby. She asked for you. Actually, she sort of screamed your name, so I thought—"

Without thinking, Angel ran for the doors and down the hallway, remembering from when the nurse had showed him the way out. He had only just been trying to leave that mess and now he was sprinting to be with Darla when she had their son.

He wasn't even sure why, but he felt like he needed to be there. There was a familiar feeling in his gut telling him Darla needed him there. It was stabbing at him, urging him to move towards her.

He finally got to the room and opened the door, but someone grabbed him by the wrist and handed him a mask. He shoved it aside and went straight for the bed. Darla was gasping in pain; tears were streaking down her cheeks. She looked his way and whispered his name coarsely.

He made his way to the left side of the bed and took her hand, holding it with both of his. She cried out again and the doctor told her to take deep breaths. She complied, even though it wouldn't help.

"Angel, it hurts."

"Darla," he said softly, kissing her hand. "You're gonna make it through this. Right here, this is a miracle. It was never supposed to happen. If you give up now, think of how much you'll lose."

She yelled, crushing Angel's hand and knocking medical supplies off the bedside table to her left. Angel grimaced as her fingernails dug into his palm.

"PUSH!" the doctor yelled.

Beads of sweat were rolling down her face as Darla pushed until she heard a baby crying. Angel bent in shock, unable to realize what was happening in front of him. The doctor appeared from the other end of the bed, holding a blood-covered baby. It wasn't a demon; it didn't have two heads or tentacles instead of legs. It was a human baby with a pure human soul. Angel could hear his tiny heart beating softly from where he stood. It was consistent. It was small. The doctor handed the baby to the nurse who cleaned him and wrapped him in a blanket. She gently laid him into his mother's arms and Darla smiled brightly down at the little infant she had just gifted with life.

Then she looked up at Angel, saying, "Would you like to hold your son?"

He held out his arms while Darla offered the baby up to him. The vampire stared at his son and all his tiny features as he grabbed his father's finger with a strong baby grip. Angel could feel all five of his little fingers wrapped around his one.

"Just the way it should be," he found himself say.

Darla smiled at them and she got up off the bed to stand next to Angel. She bent over to kiss the baby's temple and when she picked her head back up, her face was distorted, that of a vampire's.

"I'm famished, my love, but if you want the first bite…"

Angel backed away slowly with the baby cradled in his arms and Darla followed. He reached into his coat and pulled out a wooden stake. Darla inched closer, her expression unchanged.

"You won't, Angel. Not after all this work. I almost came back with that thing inside me. I loved that baby."

"But you don't anymore."

He stepped forward and drove the stake through her heart. Her eyes widened and her hand flew to her chest, fingering the wood that was her demise and with a cloud of dust, Darla was gone.

Angel lowered his head and tightened his arms around the bundle he was carrying, but he realized that the blanket was empty. Gazing up, Conner stood where Darla had been only seconds before.

"You killed her," he said hoarsely, staring down at the black ashes on the ground. They caught each other's eye. "Are you gonna to kill me, too?"

Angel's eyes opened, tearing at the dryness of the bone-tight skin on his cracked face. He yelled, struggling in his restraints, as he looked out the 15" by 15" piece of glass in front of him into the darkness of the ocean.

A/N: I do not own anything from AtS. The characters, ideas, etc. - it's all Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt. I am but a fan. And if you're confused about the ending, I think deep down, I can help: this fic takes place within episode one of season four as one of Angel's hallucinations.