A/N: Part three! Part three! Finally, part three! If you are reading this without reading the two before, (Taking Chances and Treacherous Prophecies) then you might get lost reading this without the facts in the other two. Read them first, then come back and enjoy the conclusion of the three part series.

Also, sorry for the long absence. Between a computer virus, work, and my intense music study for Piano teaching; I literally haven't the time to just sit and write like I want to. I hope this last installment of the 'Taking Chances' series pleases you great reviewers and readers as much as it did me writing it.

Setting: Season 3. The episodes of Loyalty and Sleeptight.

Disclaimer: I... Do... Not... Own... Or... Make... Any... Money... For... This... Ficiton. Understand? Joss, ANGEL and all the main characters are yours, David Greenwalt's (I think), and if I'm correct, Mutant Enemy. I hope you leave them to me in your will.

Traitor Or Friend?

Part 3

Chapter 1: Right As Rain

Hyperion Hotel

Cordelia had to admit sleeping at her apartment had done her some good. Of course, she knew a great deal of her happier mood was because of her friendly, best-dead-friend-ghost, Dennis. Gotta give credit to where credit was due.

After Angel had given her the details of his conversation with Wes and his advice, she wasn't a happy camper. But not wanting to appear as a clingy girlfriend, she reluctantly agreed. In the end, telling someone all her fears and details of the nightmare without the fear of being judged or causing a major guilt trip, felt like being at an emotional spa. Dennis was definitely a good friend for listening to her. Not to mention the comfort food he brought her or how he suffered willingly through all her favorite chick flicks.

Now, as she gazed at the entrance doors to the Hyperion, she didn't feel so frightened or panicky... Okay, maybe she does feel queasy and a little unsettled about the whole Angelus thing, but since she had an Angelus dream free night, things with Angel and she wasn't so scary in the light of day. Today was a new day, and nothing was going to ruin her good mood. Not even if it suddenly rained tiny, petite, power house blonds.

"Morning' everyone. There better be a chocolate donut left."

"I saved some for ya!" Fred said eagerly, picking up one chocolate glazed donut and presenting it to her friend with the eagerness of a puppy.

"Aww! Thanks Fred. At least someone is thoughtful enough to save me some."

"You know the rules, Barbie. You snooze, you lose."

"Those rules don't apply to me."

Cordeila smirked as she took a bite from the donut goodness. She closed her eyes, thankful for the simple pleasures in life.

"Here you go! Coffee made and prepared just the way you like it."

Cordy looked at the coffee mug in Fred's hands. And it was made just the way she preferred it. A couple of tablespoons of hot cocoa mix, some regular creamer, a couple of packs of sweeten low and some whip cream topping the hot steaming liquid with chocolate sprinkles and a cherry on top for added affect. The good feeling she had was now leaving.

"Crap! Who died? Was it Buffy again? Another apocalypse popping up to doom us all to hell?"

"What? No! Cordy, it's just coffee... Made the way you like it."

The sinking feeling of dread had lifted as Mr. Sunshine reappeared. "This was just you being you; all nice and thoughtful?"

Fred's brown eyes shifted around as a blush faintly touched the apples of her cheeks. "You don't have to drink it or-"

"No. No, I'll take it... Mmmm, perfect."

Fred grinned.

"But honestly, I still think this was spurred on by something."

Cordy sighed as the young woman fidgeted. "Maybe because of my freaky actions yesterday and the night before last?"

"You're gonna be alright, right? 'Cause you're the heart and when something's wrong with the heart, everything else suffers and dies. Then the body and organs goes through different stages of decomposition and eaten by bacteria and maggots and other little critters."

The Texan really was sweet, but she obviously has been hanging around Angel a little too much. Or maybe the Pylean suns had scarred a certain part of the sanity section of her brain. Her morbid metaphors were proof of that.

"Don't worry, I'm better. None of you have to worry about me having any more episodes... No, you're gonna have to worry about my boyfriend whose currently on his way down to show you guys some things he bought. Don't wig out when he flashes his goofy grin and jumps around and squeals like a girl. He's just excited about Connor's things."

Gunn, who was sitting on the counter playing his game boy, chuckled. "What, you psychic now?"

"Hey, I want you guys to see what I got for Connor!"

Gunn and Fred looked up at the vampire running down the stairs, carrying the large, brown box that was delivered two days ago. Cordy grinned as she sat down in her office chair, nibbling on her donut and sipping her coffee.

"Well, I am vision girl with new demon powers. Skip did say that the demon side would be showing up here and there unexpectedly."

Gunn's eyes widened to Cordy's amusement. "I may even be able to turn certain people into something unnatural with my glowy powers... for always hogging the chocolate donuts."

Her smile was hidden behind the cup when Gunn leaned over and asked his girlfriend if she could really do that.

Angel's smile sobered when he settled the box on the counter, his eyes caressing Cordelia's face. Being the sole object of his focus was more than nice, despite the fact that he was only searching for any signs of distress or lack of sleep. She grinned, setting her donut aside to go greet her worried lover. Her soft kiss lingered a second or so longer, her hands playing with the spiky gelled hairs. When she pulled away, his hands reached for her face and pulled her for another, more heated kiss.

"You do know you have an audience, right?"

Gunn's question remained ignored to his horror. Thankfully, the boss left his dark office, holding the sleeping Connor with an awkward look. The couple broke apart at the clearing of his throat.

"Don't be such a mood killer, Wes. We're not going to rip each other's clothes off and have sex on the counter. It was just a kiss... Or two."

Wes did his sigh thing, handing over the baby to Cordy's eager hands. "Still, we can't be too careful... How were your dreams?"

"Normal. I dreamed of little blue boxes from Tiffany's and a free shopping spree for Gucci shoes. No Angelus hijacking my dream world like some reject 'Nightmare on Elm Street' sequel."

Wesley nodded. "Good. I'll be researching deeper into the matter."

Cordy nodded, barely paying attention as she resumed walking around, enjoying the baby in her arms.

"What's in here?"

Angel grinned at his curious friend, opening the box. "Stuff that I ordered from the internet that's going to go perfect for the theme in Connor's room."

What really puzzled Charles was how he ordered these items? The old vamp didn't have any credentials to allow him to have a credit card, let alone to show that he was an American citizen. He looked at Fred, as if she would hold all the answers to his questions.

"I wanna know how he does it. No last name, no bank account," Gunn's nose crinkled as he then turned his questions back to the grinning subject matter. "How are you ordering stuff off the web?"

"It's not that hard, really. All you have to do is hack into the shipping database, find someone who is ordering what you want, then substitute your information."

Fred noticed the looks from Angel, Gunn and Cordelia.

"Except that would just be high-tech robbery."

"It's always the quiet ones," Cordy said thoughtfully.

Fred blushed as Cordy winked playfully at her.

"Actually, he just memorized my credit card numbers."

"Oh. Low-tech robbery."

Gunn watched as the eager vampire pulled out two tiny hockey sticks. Taking them from his friend, his brow wrinkled with concentration as he held them out for further study.

"Some kind of boomerang vamp stake?"

Angel frowned. "No! They're itty-bitty hockey sticks!"

Angel pulled one from his unimpressed friend's hands to demonstrate, then set it aside as he pulled out the Grey and green hockey jersey he showed Cordy just two days ago. "Check this out! How cute is this? Huh? Seriously."

Fred leaned against her boyfriend's legs, and smiled.

"Seriously, I think you got way too much time on your hands."

"Well, you're half right. But now, he's got me to fill in the time slots between brooding and boredom," Cordy said cheekily, setting the baby in his bassinet. "Admit it; you would do the same if there was a Charles Jr."

Gunn snorted. Fred pinched his thigh. "Now Charles, she's right. You think it's adorable."

He chuckled. "Well, yeah, but at least I'm manly enough to deny it. Ask my man, Wes."

Gunn smiled at the quiet Englishman, expecting some back up. But like the past few days, his nose was stuck in a book, completely deaf to the rest of the world.

"Wes?" Gunn complained. Wesley jerked forward from his place on the couch.

"Pardon?"

"Man, forget it."

Cordy rolled her eyes as she joined the boss on the couch. She peeked at his notes, which he quickly covered with more unreadable notes from her curious gaze.

The babble of the others seemed to blur in the background as she leaned over and whispered, "Don't be so secretive. Makes you look suspicious."

She tilted her head and smiled as she seated herself closer beside him. He tried to return the favor, but failed miserably at it.

"I'm sorry, Wes."

"For what?"

"For adding to your already huge pile of research."

He shook his head at her apology. "Angelus shouldn't ever be taken lightly, Cordy. Even in dream form, it's serious business."

"That's what Angel said," she replied, looking at her handsome lover as he chatted with the others with ease. "It's not like I'm trying to pretend it didn't happen. Though I still would like to act it was just a dream. So much easier to handle, you know?"

His haunted eyes glazed over as he slowly nodded to that. "Yes, I know all too well."

"I don't think I could ever live with myself if Angel ever reverted back to his evil self. To lose all of you because I was too selfish to face the reality of the complications of being in a less, platonic relationship with him. I promised myself that I wouldn't be another tragic, smitten, girl who pretends that Angelus isn't part of the package that's Angel. In a sense, I'm not. I love everything that's Angel."

She smiled as Angel's face looked as dreamy as he spoke of watching Connor grow up. It was so hard to remember that this father could become their worst nightmare.

"Yet, I forget that it could take one slip up, and I'm not just talking about the amazing, steamy, animal sex."

"It's all of us," Wesley murmured, intentionally blocking out the unwanted description of their sex life. He was watching the vampire as well. "We forget, or rather, we don't truly know how lonely he really was before he joined the good fight. How accustomed he became to a life without a purpose. Even with Buffy, he still was in the background. Helping her with what fate has called her to do. But it was her mission, her fight. He found what she had, here, in a city filled with others like him. The mission, friends, a son... Everything that has brought him here and now, it's given him the one thing he lacked all his long, miserable existence."

"Family," Cordy replied. Wes shook his head, tarring his gaze away from the chattering vampire.

"Purpose."

The sound of shattering glass interrupted the moment. Angel and Gunn were looking sheepish at the broken glass around the left glass back door. Cordy scowled at the two juvenile delinquents. Noticing the Cordy glare, Gunn pointed at Angel with the miniature hockey stick. The vampire glared at his friend while trying to hide the hockey stick he had behind his back.

"Great. Another thing to add to our list of bills," Cordy grumbled, trying her best not to dwell on how cute he looked when acting like an eight year old.

"Gunn will fix it."

"What? I ain't the one who broke the door, fangs."

"You started it!"

Cordy looked at Wes with an amused grin. But the boss was too engrossed with his book (not to mention having some things on his mind that weighed like a ton of bricks) to notice it.

"Alright, boys. Let's just agree that there won't be any more playing sports or demon fighting in the hotel. Lord knows that we're still paying for the damages of the grenade damage in Act 4 of 'Angel's Blast from the Past' episode."

Angel pouted at his lover's annoyed tone. "If I hadn't used the grenade, you three would have come home to find a pile of dust instead of scorch marks and the ruined elevator."

"Dust is easier to clean up, man," Gunn teased, setting the hockey stick back in the box.

Angel snorted, walking over and grabbing him some blood to heat up in the microwave. His nostrils twitched as the coppery aroma that only a vampire could appreciatively smell. It's copper, salty scent tickled his instincts to hunt. As the thick substance slowly heated to the temperature he liked, his tongue unconsciously caressed blunt teeth that itched to morph into deadly fangs and incisors. The juices in his mouth threatened to spill over as he took the large mug out. Eyes fluttered shut as he inhaled the aroma. This batch of pig's blood smelled so... tasty.

"Hey, big guy. Somebody's awake and wanting to see how his daddy is."

Angel grinned as he turned, taking Connor in one hand while drinking from his hot mug with the other. He leaned down and smelled his son, the smile showing a hint of the predator. Licking his lips, he quickly downed the rest of his blood with eagerness.

Cordy's back was turned to the disturbing display, busy grabbing a bottle of formula to go warm in the kitchen. Wesley though on the other hand, hadn't missed the subtle difference in Angel's attitude. But, due to guilt and confusion, he tried to push it off as his imagination. Holtz and Loa were the ones who caused the weed of doubt to grow. Or at least, that's what he told himself all night long.

After a little time had passed, Cordy reemerged to hand over the warm bottle. Angel refused as he looked at the mini fridge with longing.

"Here, I need to grab me some lunch."

Wesley watched the exchange, looking more worried than puzzled.

"Angel, you just had something."

Angel paused, looking slightly confused. "I did?... Well, I'm still hungry."

Cordy rolled her eyes as she took Connor back as Angel went and grabbed him some more blood. She looked down at the blue eyed baby, looking amused.

"Yeah, now we know who you got the ferocious appetite from."

Wesley shivered from those innocent yet too chilling words.

A/N: Very short, but to the point. Besides, there can't be lots of fluff when secrets are hidden and fake prophecies hang above their heads.