Got Yourself A Gunn

Author's Note: Don't own any of this but if you made it this far you can take the time to read to the end.

Chapter 21- Got Yourself A Gunn (Epilouge)

One Year and a few months later- Cordelia's Apartment

"Angel, your sneer is genetic." Cordelia joked as she tried to feed Connor in the highchair. The now 18 month year old was trying everything he could not to eat the food and was making a fuss about it as he did. Angel just took the spoon from her with a slight grin.

"Thank you for pointing that out Cordelia. When's Gunn supposed to get back?" He asked as Connor continued to fuss around the spoon. Cordelia shrugged.

"You know Gunn. It's always something. He just told me he would be back around eightish." Looking back towards the clock, Cordelia saw that it was getting close to 8:00. Where in the world were Wesley and Fred?

"You think he caught on?" Angel asked as he pulled on the balloon string floating past his head. Cordelia snorted.

"Pfft! Gunn's about as dense as a sack of coal. He won't suspect a thing. Now, If Wesley doesn't hurry up with that birthday cake it's going to be Clash of the Titans up in here." Angel turned his head upward towards her and grinned to himself. She had definitely been hanging around Gunn too long and her speech patterns now proved it.

10 minutes later Wesley and Fred were knocking on Cordelia's door and were rushing to get inside. Wesley was holding the cake and Fred was holding the present. She hugged Cordelia as she stepped in.

"Sorry we're late. We had to wait for them to finish the cake. And hide the car. Is he here yet?" She asked as she followed Wesley into the den. Cordelia had gone all out with the decorations and everything. Of course, she didn't go it alone. Angel had been forced to help out while Wesley and Fred were on cake and present duty respectfully. Gunn had told Cordelia once that he had never had a birthday party because he didn't feel like it was anything worth celebrating. Well tough luck for him because she thought different. He was getting one rather he liked it or not.

"No, Rondell and guys said they would keep him busy for a few hours. You know how that goes. Did you get his present finished, I want to see it." Fred was about to blab but Wesley put a finger to her lips and shushed her.

"Fred, it's a gift. Cordelia can wait until Gunn opens it." Cordelia was about to tell Wesley he where he could shove his gifts but the sound of the blowhorn behind her ear startled her.

"Dennis! What was that for?" She screeched. Dennis pointed the horn towards the window. Looking out she saw Gunn getting out of his truck and making his way towards the apartment.

"Oh Shit. He's coming. Everybody go hide. Dennis, turn off the lights. Angel, get the baby." As Cordelia barked out orders to everyone, she straightened up her hair and waited until Gunn unlocked the door. Of course he had a key, they had been together for over a year now. This was his second home.

"My Fair Cordelia, your man has arrived." Gunn bellowed as he stepped into the foyer and put his bag down on the floor. Cordelia immediately walked up to greet him with a hug and kiss. She had come with the intention of stalling him but this part was real. She really did miss him. She chuckled slightly.

"Always a good thing. You enjoyed hanging out with the boys for your birthday?" She asked. Gunn smirked.

"If you mean enjoyed as in having to fight off some hobo demons moving into the neighborhood and grabbing a few beers then yeah I did. You know how I feel about birthdays Cordelia. It's just another day. So now I'm a quarter of a century, big whoop."

"Well, it's a big whoop to me." She told him trying to stress the importance of his day of birth to him. Gunn looked over her head as if smelling something cooking.

"What do you have going on in the kitchen? Smells like something from a restaurant but if you cooked, it's gotta be take-out." Gunn said in all seriousness. Cordelia slapped him hard on the chest.

"You ass! I cooked. Go on and see for yourself." She said as she pointed in the direction of the den. Gunn threw her a look before starting towards the den. As soon as he stepped in, Dennis threw on the lights and Gunn was greeted to the sight of balloons, streamers, a banner, the whole nine. Not to mention Angel holding Connor, and Wesley and Fred jumping out from behind the wall.

"Surprise!" was all he heard as he tried to comprehend what just happened. Turning around he was greeted by the sight of his beaming girlfriend.

"Happy Birthday Gunn." She told him as he hugged him. Angel, Wesley, and Fred soon came closer to hug him as well. Gunn didn't know what to think. But he should have known. Rondell asking him to hang out with the crew. That was odd. They usually only called him if there was trouble or something to do with Anne but this time it was out of the blue. Ironically trouble found them but that was irrelevant right now. Cordelia had gone and thrown his ass a surprise birthday part. All he could was stand there dumbfounded.

"I don't know what to say. Ya'll didn't have to do all of this for me." Angel just shook his head.

"We wanted to. Cordelia said you never had one before. You're family. This is what we do." Gunn looked back at him and nodded, respecting the vampire just a little bit more. It was true, they were family. And he had to admit, they had put a lot of effort into this.

"Thanks." Looking over the food and all on the table Gunn came across the birthday cake and smiled. It was simple. Happy 25th Birthday Gunn.

"Who bought the cake?"

"I did. Cordelia offered to bake it herself but I suggested otherwise." Wesley told him jokingly. Cordelia pouted at him.

"Shut up Lame Bond. Come on let's eat. I made your favorite. Steak and Potatoes." At that Gunn's mouth began to water. Fred suddenly grabbed a box from the table and thrust it in front of him.

"Here Charles, open it." She encouraged with a cheesy smile. Not knowing what else to do, he proceeded to open it. He almost dropped it as he held out the picture. It was a picture of him and Alonna when they were younger and staying at the shelter. She had just lost her 2 front teeth and was smiling as if she didn't have a care in the world. He didn't even remember this picture being taken. Fred had gone and had the picture put in a nice frame. Gunn was speechless.

"How? Where did you get this?" He asked dumbfounded. Cordelia put her hands on his shoulder and looked over smiling.

"I asked Anne if there were any old photos of Alonna she may have had and she found this one of you and her. She doesn't know who snapped the picture but she said that she wanted you to have it. Wesley and Fred came up with the idea to have it framed. Now, you'll never have trouble remembering her as she was." Gunn just stared at the picture. It was so candid and real. He couldn't remember what the hell they were smiling about. They were just being kids. He remembered that he used to smile a lot more back then before the streets hardened him. It was nice to see that a piece of his past was still there.

"You did all this for me? Man, let's eat something before I end up like English over here." Gunn joked pointing over to Wesley before he hugged Cordelia once more.

"I was not crying!" Wesley said indignantly as he quickly wiped his eyes. Fred just gave him a knowing look and pecked him on the cheek quickly.

"Yes, you were." With that Angel offered to put the picture somewhere safe as Wesley and Fred went to fix their plates. Cordelia pulled away from Gunn.

"I'll fix your plate. Sit down and rest." She told him as she went to fix his food. He did just that. He looked over to see Angel rocking Connor to sleep. Angel met his gaze and the look in his eyes said it all. He respected Gunn, and more importantly, Gunn respected him. Despite their differences and beefs, Angel was his friend. Family. Gunn called out to him.

"Angel Jr. trying to walk now I hear?" Angel smiled back.

"Yeah, I'll have him on a sword in no time."

"Can't wait to see the first time he gets called to the principal's office. Cordelia's going to show her ass." Gunn joked back. This was cool. It wasn't too often that the two of them could sit around and joke. Cordelia came back a few minutes later with his plate as did Wesley and Fred. The crew of Angel Investigations continued on with their mission and ate.

After eating and cutting the cake, everyone just sat around and talked about the past year and a half and how much they had been through. Cordelia's vision's weren't as severe and she was often able to get the pain under control in a matter of minutes. Wesley and Fred had hit it off and at first it looked like she was going to move in with him. But she didn't want to leave Angel and Connor alone in the hotel and decided to just stay there until Connor was a bit older. Angel focused all of his attentions on raising Connor and continuing to help the helpless. Gunn had a lot to be thankful for.

It wasn't until almost 1:00 in the morning that everyone left and it was just Gunn and Cordelia left. They has cleaned up the den and were now washing and drying dishes.

"I gotta say, I'm definitely digging the Susie Homemaker look." He joked as he pulled on her scrunchee. Cordelia rolled her eyes.

"Don't expect to get used to this. It's your birthday so I'm taking it upon myself."

"Guess that means you're not bored with me yet?"

"Guess not. Are you?" She shot back. Gunn just grinned in reply.

"Never. With the life we live, how can I be. Remember when we went to Vegas a few months back, you asked me the same thing when we went to see Lorne." Cordelia put down the dish she was washing and turned to face him.

"Yeah. And after that we had sex in his dressing room. Good times." She replied smiling fondly about it. Lorne had informed them months ago that he had started a gig in Vegas and to come see him the next time they were in town. On their vacation Gunn and Cordelia had done so. Gunn had been horny time they had gotten there and was anxious to get back to the hotel. Lorne had to do a show and left them in the dressing room. Next thing she knew, Gunn was going to town on her on top of Lorne's dresser and she was pretty sure the security guard outside was getting off to the whole thing. He had to cover her mouth several times to keep her from screaming bloody murder that night. The way here hair kept getting in her face, the way Gunn grunted harder with each thrust. She was getting horny as fuck just thinking about it. It didn't take Lorne long to figure out what had happened.

"My thoughts exactly. We sure have come a long way." He said beside her softly.

"Yep. Sure have. Did I tell you what your crew calls me now?" Gunn shook his head. Cordelia had a bad habit of jumping from subject to subject without warning and this seemed to be one of those times.

"Ms. Gunn! As if I didn't have a first name. And last time I check, my last name was Chase." Gunn chuckled.

"Does that really sound so bad?" She just narrowed her eyes at him before raising her hand up at him.

"I see no engagement ring on this finger. And I don't think I will for atleast another couple of years."

"Damn straight. I'm still getting over the dating you for a year part. Ain't trying to go there just yet, Ms. Chase. Gunn." He added jokingly at the last second. Cordelia snorted loudly.

"You wuss. I suppose I'll be waiting forever then."She said before pausing.

" I've got a man and his name is Gunn." She joked as she danced in front of him while laughing and let the water out of the sink. She knew that he would bring it up eventually someday. They had decided to just let life take them where it was going to and not plan any major future events. But the one thing that they did admit was that they were happy just being together. For such a complicated life, Cordelia made Gunn's life simple and vice versa. Like Alonna was before her, she was now his reason. The reason that he kept going on, living his life. Just for the chance to be able to enjoy it, the good, the bad, and the ugly, with her by his side.

"Dennis catch the lights. I've got a woman that needs some attention." Gunn called outloud as he picked her up suddenly and hoisting her up. She wrapped her legs around him and smiled cheekily as he held her close. He leaned up to meet her gaze.

"You know I love you right?" She told him softly as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He smiled to himself. It was obvious she meant it in the love sense. That alone made his day.

"Trust me, I know. The feeling's mutual." Kissing her softly he proceeded towards the bedroom and used his backfoot to kick the door closed. Dennis cut the lights off behind them.

Author's Note. That's it. I have officially finished the longest story I ever wrote and I loved it. It just took a mind of its own. I know for all intents and purposes this section of is about dead but I expected as much being as the series is about 10 or 11 years old. Still, I love the characters and wanted to let them shine. I wanted to keep it feeling as much like the show as possible and I hope it came out that way. In the case of Gunn in particular, I had to show that he has just as much depth as any other character besides funny lines and hitting people. On another note, I've already started on a sequel to this story called Group Therapy because I am seriously not finished with writing them. It might seem kind of cliché plotwise at first but I'm trying to keep it fresh and original. If you read this whole story in its entirety then I'm sure you won't mind give it a try. Anyway thanks to everyone who check it out and a special thanks to everyone that took the time to leave a review and let me know that there are still fans out there for this seriously neglected unconventional couple. And a very very special thanks to MBB for being so detailed in your reviews, I hope that it was worth following from the beginning to now. Until next time Hell Yeah!