Group Therapy
Author's Note: Alright, here is the next part of my pseudo-epic story lol. I'm toying around with an idea in this chapter and I'm in the process of trying to see where I can develop it down the line. For those who are continuing to follow thanks and enjoy. I don't own Angel or anything related but I will use the characters at my leisure.
Chapter 4- We'll Ask the Questions
Lilah only flinched for a second as she noticed the door to her office nearly come of the hinge and slam closed just as quickly. She was face to face with the same man she'd been trying to get to go evil for the past seven years. You'd think the Senior Partners would kick the plan into overdrive to make Angel join the dark side. Not so much. Overlooking the trio she smirked as she bit on the cap of her pen.
"You know Angel, at this point in our relationship you can come through the front door and no one will stop you I assure you." She acknowledged knowing good and well that it was one'o clock in the afternoon and it was scorching hot outside with the sun. She was on lunch to be exact. Angel grinned tight lipped at her despite her obvious quip causing Wesley and Gunn to raise eyebrows. Exactly how many times had Angel come to see Lilah on or off hours?
"Thanks for the offer. You know why we're here."
"Yeah, you beat the hell out of one of my paralegals last week who just so happens to collect human organs on the side. So you're trying to get some info on the new players in town? What's with the two do-boys?" Gunn had to keep himself from slapping this broad. As hot as she was, she just gave off an aura that screamed heartless bitch. And Lilah's apparently seemed to be a little too used to Angel the way she was just pouring out useful information without a catch. Wow that was suspicious? Wesley apparently felt the same by the look on his face. But neither of them would dare try to call Angel on it.
"Infiltrating Wolfram and Hart, never hurts to have some back up. Enough games Lilah, who are these new players and what's their interest in Los Angeles? I got more demons coming to me with disappearance and protection cases than I do humans right now. Something's up and there's a 99% chance it's got something to do with you."Lilah smiled that evil empty smile she always did.
"You really are as dumb as they say aren't you? These guys aren't new players, they've been here for atleast 90 years. If you did your homework you'd know that they have been underground. Ever since you white hats managed to take out the Fell Brethren last year, there hasn't been much in the way of competition."
"The Fell Brethren were major catalyst in the recent resurgence in Demonic extremism, with the support of your resources no doubt." Wesley interjected. Lilah smiled at him.
"No wonder they call you Head Boy. Always to the point." Gunn just rolled his eyes as did Wesley who had shot her a pissed off glance. Lilah smirked before she continued.
"Wolfram and Hart just supplies the cash and the legalese to keep operations running smooth. It's not a primary interest to us, more like an investment we'd like to see some promising returns from. What better way to erode hope in humanity than to start with the hopeless? You wanna go take these new guys down, have fun. I could care less one way or the other. Besides, the liaison to the Senior Partners just got incinerated last week and we're waiting on the replacement so no major apocalypse plans for us in the near future. Sorry."
"Fair enough, but we did come for info. You can give us a name." Angel threatened getting back into his usual stride. Lilah didn't flinch.
"We know how this dance is going to end so let's skip the foreplay Angel." She said as she shot him a look that screamed "I hate you so much I'm practically soaking myself just thinking about you screwing me". Gunn and Wesley looked at each other. Huh? Did they miss something? Exactly when did the sexual tension get so thick it was smothering them? Angel had been harassing the bitch for years and as far as they knew they hated each other with a passion.
'Guess you can hate the ground a person stands on and still want to bang the living daylights out of them', Gunn though to himself. Angel and Lilah gave off that vibe. The real question was...were they actually doing just that?
"They don't have a name. It's just known as the Syndicate. Headed by a demon named Salum and his family. Big into extracting souls and willpower on the side. They've got contracts from here to Vegas. Sounds like it's right up your might wanna look into it." She offered. Angel continued to give her a threatening stare before relenting. That was all he was going to get from her. Apparently Wolfram and Hart were not heavily involved at the moment so that meant back to the drawing board and to the streets.
"Wes, Gunn we're done here. We got what we came for." Wesley nodded.
"Agreed." With that Gunn and Wesley headed for the door as Angel headed there as well.
"And Angel?" Lilah called from behind him before crossing her legs towards him in her chair.
"Close the door on your way out." She said with a sly look of seduction and smugness worn across her face. Angel had seen the look time and time again. Hell the scent of lust and warmness she gave off was blatantly obvious. It was also obvious that she knew he was attracted to it ironically. Doing the dance around it for years and years, Angel had picked up on her game. Lilah didn't want Angel dead or for the apocalypse or even Angelus for that matter. Wolfram and Hart did. Lilah wanted Angel, for her own personal reasons; most likely to exert complete control over him for once like he had done to her so many times. It was quite the conundrum, two mortal enemies with a strong sexual attraction to one another. Strangely enough, even after she tried to kill him, his friends, and even his son at one point, he still had some sick attraction to the woman and quite frankly he felt kind of ashamed to admit it. He knew full well any show of weakness and she'd exploit him like he'd done her so many times and that's what Wolfram and Hart wanted. A moment of weakness. Not even wanting to explore the possibility of that idea he slammed the door behind him.
On the Way Back to the Hyperion
"And back to square one we are. Atleast the body count was low and we still managed to get some helpful information." Wesley started as he looked out of the passenger side window. Angel practically snorted, a habit he had picked up from Cordelia no doubt.
"Well Lilah can be very giving."
"Hmm. Onto other matters." Wesley finished after a pause. "I'll have to check my references and research the history of this Salum and his story here in Los Angeles. If he's been here for almost a century he must have his roots planted firmly in the underground crime scene as well as the black market. Perhaps we can use some of our sources to trace potential members of this syndicate?" Gunn clasped his hands together finally glad to get some action. He missed hitting the streets and now he was about to jump back in.
"I could get with Rondell and the crew and do some recon around the neighborhood, see if anyone's talking. I'm betting that a whole gang of demons would be pretty obvious so they gotta be recruiting people." Angel nodded.
"Look into recent disappearances and homicides too. See if we can find a pattern. Syndicates usually knock off those who threaten the organization and if these guys have taken control, the bodies should start turning up pretty soon."
"Man what a week." Gunn muttered outloud. Wesley turned to him with a grin.
"Yes it has been. On that note, Cordelia and I had quite the conversation earlier this morning. She's taking the news a little better now I see."
"Yeah she's coming around. We even went and picked up a couple of baby books last night. She almost ripped some poor chick's hair out in the bookstore though." Gunn said with a laugh. Angel and Wesley turned back to him now intrigued as to what had set her off.
"Some chick was being relentless and trying to hit on me. I even told her I was there with Cordy and she still tried to give me her number." Angel chuckled slightly.
"I'm guessing Cordelia didn't take that too well."
"You damn right she didn't! I thought she was going to turn green and go all Hulk Smash on her ass! You should have seen it. Like 2 minutes later she was back to normal forcing me to buy her a latte. I swear it was like she was bipolar."
"Well, from what I know about pregnancy, the rapid swing in mood is quite normal. And being that Cordelia is somewhat unpredictable sometimes anyway, quite frankly it would suck to be you right now." Wesley offered as comforting as he could without laughing in his friends face. Not many men could survive the wrath of Cordelia Chase's tongue-lashing even on a good day so Wesley had to give him some credit. Gunn had been doing it nonstop for three years and counting.
"Whatever English. Anyway, Cordy's got an appointment with the doctor on Friday, I'm nervous as hell. All kinds of bad could happen."
"I'm sure she and the baby will be fine." Angel supplied helpfully from the driver's seat. Gunn nodded.
"I hope so. I'm still trying to wrap my head around it. I'm gonna be a father man." Angel couldn't help smile at his friend. He knew how it felt, it was overwhelming. Of course his own case was unique but still Gunn hadn't expected to live long enough to see his now 27 years let alone have a child. The outcast youth he had first met all of those years ago had finally gotten the chance to live for himself again rather than living to die. In a sense it made Angel proud. Wesley too noticed the euphoric look flash across Gunn's features. He hadn't seen Gunn so taken by something since he first started dating Cordelia. It was definitely a nice sight to see. Saying nothing else the trio of men rode back to the Hyperion in silence each of them lost in their own thoughts.
Back at the Hyperion
Cordy wanted Mexican. Gone to lunch. Took Connor. Be back soon. –Fred
"Well looks like we've been duped once again. How come the girls always wait til we're all gone before they get some real food?" Gunn complained as he plopped down on the couch. Angel walked past him with a cup of pig's blood a few moments later making Gunn narrow his eyes at him. That wasn't right. Wesley stepped out of his office soon after and tossed a book into Gunn's lap.
"China King? Why the hell not? You want the moo-shu?" Wesley gave him look. The answer was yes of course. Gunn already knew this.
"Gotcha. Wonder if they got a lunch special on the chicken wings?" With that he started to search through the old dusty yellow pages in search of the afternoon lunch. Wesley returned to researching and Angel kicked back to finish enjoy his liquid diet. The sound of the door and Cordelia running pass the men and into the bathroom forced Gunn to look up. Angel glanced for second before going back to sipping his blood. He'd seen Cordelia run to the bathroom so much this past week it was pretty much common place now. Fred and Connor followed in soon after. Connor ran to jump into Angel's lap and show him the water gun Fred had bought for him. Walking toward the counter, Wesley stopped what he was doing to help her.
"Thank you Wesley. Me and Cordy got ya'll something." At that Gunn threw down the phone book and jumped up. Wasn't that nice of them? It'd give him a break on Chinese. Wesley smiled as he noticed Gunn make his way over.
"You're welcome. I'm glad you thought of us. Gunn was rather upset." Wesley teased.
"Hey, I'm just saying, it wouldn't hurt to wait for us before you get some food every once in a while. Especially Mexican. Did Cordy get..," Gunn started before the woman in question's voice rang from the other side of the lobby.
"Quesadillas? Yeah yeah I got them. So how was the big shakedown?" She asked as she went to sit at her desk. Gunn grabbed his plate and walked over to sit on the side of it.
"Same old shit. Angel and Lilah exchanged a little verbal foreplay before issuing threats and such. Apparent these new players in town ain't all that new." Gunn managed to get out around bites into his food. Angel shot Gunn a look before returning his attention to Cordelia.
"Salum. He's a soul-extractor. Head of a demon crime family that just so happens to be expanding its ranks. That explains the uptick in demon related disappearances and homicide cases recently. Might want to start looking at police reports for patterns of gang activity as well as drug busts and where they are concentrated."
"How do I know that it's just not the usual human variety doing all of this stuff?" Cordelia asked as she booted up her Macbook and tied her hair into a ponytail. She glanced up at Gunn who was so into his food Cordelia swore he was going to lick the plate clean. She smirked to herself at the thought.
"Because since there's no more heavy competition left. It's either be killed or join them. Lilah said that this family has been working the streets of Los Angeles for almost a century behind the scenes but never had the chance to evolve until now. And it's partly our fault because we took out their main competitor, the Fell Brethern. This is a serious matter. It's only a matter of time before their influence spreads. And with Wolfram and Hart backing them up you can expect the city to be overrun within a few months. Once people lose hope, they become desperate and usually irrational. Compound that with unrest with the demon population. Perfect elixir for the set up of the next apocalypse and Wolfram and Hart can benefit without having to supply all of the handywork. It would be more cost-effective." Wesley clarified as he returned back to his book. Fred was looking intently at the passage. Wesley had already began highlighting and making references. Uh oh, looks like it was that time again. Taking that as a sign to cue them out Gunn focused his attention back on his girlfriend.
"I saw you run in here like a bat outta hell. The morning sickness getting worse?" He asked as he took another bite. Cordelia nodded.
"It shouldn't be called morning sickness. I have nausea almost the whole day. I just know I was craving some Mexican and Connor was hungry so…"
"And you paid for it by blowing chunks for like the second time today." Gunn finished for her causing her to give him a sarcastic look.
"Well aren't we perfecting our obvious statement technique today? Anyway, these guys Angel and Wesley were talking about; are they the next big bad?"
"Looks that way. Now that I think of it, Rondell said that some guys were setting up shop in Venice Heights. He asked if I wanted to check it out with them." Cordelia caught on the tone of his voice and prodded him to continue.
"And you're not going to? Might be a lead."
"Might be. But we barely get to spend alone time with each other now. I told him just to keep me informed. And now that we're expecting some company, I can't just jump at every opportunity to mix it up with some baddies anymore." Gunn told her as he rubbed his hand across her belly. Cordelia smiled slighty as she looked on. It may have been subtle but every since she found out about the baby, it had been slowly changing Gunn's perspective on life. Soon it would be about all about that child. It was slowly changing her too. Even though it had been a little less than a week, just the idea of even having a child of her own was amazing to her. Hell, she and Fred were more like mother figures to Connor than aunts and it showed. She couldn't imagine what it would be like raising one of her own along with him.
"So what's the score tonight?" Gunn asked as put his plate down. Cordelia smirked at him.
"You mean score as in what are we doing?" She replied before flashing him a full fledged smile.
"Yeah. Looks like you could use away from these guys." He teased as he gestured to his friends on the other side of the lobby. Angel was playing with Connor in vamp face which for some reason Connor loved, Wes and Fred were engaged in research mode and taking about something Gunn couldn't even be to understand and here he was messing with his girlfriend. What else was new?
"I suppose. What do you suggest?"
"Let's see where the night takes us."
"Let's not and you figure something out."
"Ball-buster."
"Only yours."
At that Gunn had to laugh. Getting up to stand behind her, he put his hands on her shoulders and gave them a squeeze. The squeeze turned into a massage and Cordelia eventually stopped whatever it was she was doing and sighed contently.
"I got an idea." She said so quietly Gunn almost missed it.
"What?"
"Put-put." Gunn shook his head.
"Oh no -a Vamp. Last time we did that you almost knocked Angel out with that club."
"Oh shut up! That was an accident."
"It didn't feel like one." Angel said loudly from the other side of the lobby.
"You can too Angel!." She spat back. Turning her attentions back to her boyfriend she caught his amused look.
"What? You change your mind now because you look like it."
"As long as I give you about 30 feet that'll give me time to dodge the club when you toss it."
"I swear one time…" she began before Gunn squeezed her shoulder once more and walked off before she could get started on her tirade again.
"Angel you wanna have a friendly sparring match?" Friendly as in he was going to give the vampire a run for his money. Angel caught on fairly quickly.
"Sure. Connor you want to see Daddy beat up Gunn?"
"Like Gunn kicked that demon's ass!" Angel turned about 3 shades paler before turning red and turning directly to Gunn who just shrugged.
"Must've have been watching something he shouldn't have been watching." He told him with a chuckle before grabbing his axe. Angel rolled his eyes. Cordelia wanted to correct the boy but along with Wes and Fred she was too busy laughing at Angel's face to get the words out.
"Don't say that word Connor. Or anything else that comes out of Gunn's mouth." Connor looked at him blankly before smiling and sticking his tongue out at him and running down to the basement to follow Gunn. Angel grabbed his broadsword and followed, intent on giving Gunn a few tips on daddy advice. As that scene played out Cordelia logged off from her computer and pulled out her coveted Entertainment Weekly.
"Oh my God, they let her go out in public like that?" She said to herself as she overlooked the picture. Well with the exception of being pregnant and all kinds of bad heading their way it was just a normal day at the office. She was pretty sure that wasn't going to last too long. But at least she and Gunn were finally getting some well deserved alone time. Maybe that'd work out alittle better.