Disclaimer: All characters and things from ANGEL and BUFFY belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. If they aren't on the show they belong to me.

Summary: Takes place after "Waiting In The Wings". What if Angel and Cordelia hadn't been interrupted, and how would the outcomes of that one event change the lives of the Fang Gang forever? A/C pairing

CHAPTER 29

It had been a few days since the hotel incident, and everything in Cordelia's apartment seemed to be going back to normal. The only problem now was that neither Cordelia nor Angelus had a job, and they needed one if they were going to keep the apartment and take care of Liam and Connor.

Cordelia sighed as she folded a few of Angelus' shirts and placed them neatly in stacks on her bed, surrounding Liam who was laying on the bed, trying his best to grab his own feet. Cordelia held up Angel's one and only red shirt. She had bought it for him two Christmases ago, but he told her he didn't want to wear it because it reminded him of Angelus. Angelus had worn a lot of red.

Cordelia found it odd now that Angel had worn the red shirt a few times already. Her thoughts drifted back to the Fang Gang's accusations that Angel was in fact Angelus. Cordelia, however, shook the thoughts away as Liam started giggling.

"What's so funny, hunny?" Cordelia rhymed, bending over Liam and tickling his ribs.

Liam just giggled some more before reaching out and grabbing a piece of Cordelia's hair.

"Baby, let Mommy go." Cordelia tried to pull her hair out of Liam's grasp but found it difficult; it was apparent that Liam was at least part demon. Liam pulled harder and Cordelia let out a yelp. "Ouch!"

"Everything okay?" Angelus seemed to come out of nowhere when he heard Cordelia's cry.

Cordelia finally freed herself from Liam and turned, smiling at Angelus. She studied him, and thought it was ridiculous to even entertain the idea that it was not Angel in front of her. Angelus would have killed her by now, not been concerned if she was okay. She had no idea how wrong she was. "Liam got a piece of my hair."

"Liam bad sometimes." Connor squeezed through Angelus' legs and into the bedroom.

"Connor, don't say that about your brother. He is just a baby. You were the same way." Cordelia said.

"Nah uh." Connor shook his head.

"Yeah huh." Cordelia bent down so she was eye level with Connor, smiling at her oldest son. She knew he was not hers by blood, his blonde hair alone was a reminder of his mother, of Darla, but Cordelia didn't care. Connor was her son now.

"Listen, Cordelia." Angelus said. "I am going to run out for a little. Okay?"

"Where are you going?" Cordelia stood.

"Out." Angelus didn't like being interrogated. He had no patients for it.

"Where?" Cordelia asked again.

Angelus realized now that Angel would just tell Cordelia. He knew he had to do the same if he was going to keep this act up. He especially needed to do it now, since he had almost been exposed by the Fang Gang and Buffy a few days ago, but he couldn't tell Cordelia the truth, so instead he lied. "I am going to look for a job. Something at night, maybe security or something. I have enough money saved up from over the years for now but…"

"Okay." Cordelia smiled, seeming satisfied with the vampire's story. She turned back to her laundry as Connor climbed up onto her bed, sitting next to Liam who was still laying in the middle, and still trying to grab his feet.

"Okay." Angelus hesitated, but then moved forward, kissing Cordelia on the cheek. He did not know why he did things like that, they were too sweet for the soulless vampire, but they weren't too sweet for Angel, and Angelus knew that's where those impulses were coming from, deep down. Angel was trying his best to make his way out. The soul wanted its spot back.

"Good luck." Cordelia said.

"Thanks." Angelus then turned out of the bedroom and out of the apartment. He was glad the sun had set already, that way he could move freely down the street. He was on a mission, and it was not to get a job. He had decided it was time to start taking care of the Fang Gang and Buffy and now he was making his way over to the Hyperion Hotel.

Gunn and Buffy stood by Angel's weapon cabinet, pulling out all the stakes, swords, and other various weapons that they thought the group could handle while Wesley, Fred, and Lorne sat at the counter, over blueprints of Cordelia's apartment complex as well as the hotel. They were going after Angelus, and they were going to try to get Angel back.

"Do we have a plan yet?" Gunn asked.

Wesley looked up from the papers in front of him. "If we go after him at Cordelia's apartment, I have found several ways to cut off any escape he might have. There are only two entrances to the sewer from her complex, so if we attack in the day Angelus will have little options."

"Unless he rips all our throats out…" Fred added with a sigh.

"I've handled him before." Buffy said.

"Yeah, we saw how well that went over…" Lorne shook his head, still angry about how the Slayer had broken the news to him about Angelus and then waited two days to come to the hotel with him.

"Everything will work out." Buffy said.

"You better hope so because if one hair on Cordelia or Liam or Connor's head is missin', I'm gonna kill you myself." Gunn casually pointed a sword in the Slayer's direction, tapping her in the shouler with the end of it.

Buffy just gave Gunn an uneasy stare.

"Anyway…" Wesley cut through the tension of the room. "We could always try and get him to come here. We know this hotel pretty well."

"But so does he." Gun reminded the group. "Angel stayed in this place like fifty years ago, plus he lived here by himself when he threw us out, and he is a vampire with vampire memory. Angelus probably knows this place inside and out."

"Valid point." Lorne tipped the sea breeze in his hand at Gunn.

"So basically we are screwed unless we attack Cordelia's apartment complex…which I am thinking could end up badly for us if people see us fighting in her apartment or chasing someone down with stakes and a sword." Fred ranted.

Lorne tipped his sea breeze to Fred. "Another valid point."

"Well then what do you guys plan on doing? Because I can't sit around here all day…" Buffy interrupted.

"You'll sit around if we tell you to." Gunn told the Slayer. "You took your damn time telling us Cordelia was in danger, and now you're going to take your damn time to fix it."

Buffy just sighed. "Fine, whatever. But we need a plan then."

"We are working on it." Wesley said quickly, tired of Buffy's ranting and complaining. The Slayer was really starting to get on his nerves and under normal circumstances he would have already asked her to leave but he knew he couldn't do that. If they were going to take Angelus down, they needed the strength of a slayer, and as much as she annoyed him, Wesley knew they needed Buffy.

Angelus thought he had been sneaky, making his way over to the Hyperion Hotel, but clearly he had not been sneaky enough. Lilah and Gavin had tracked him from their limo since he had left Cordelia's apartment. Clearly, his mind had been somewhere else though, because the psychopathic killer had not even noticed he was being followed, his vampire senses had never even kicked in to the possibility of it.

Angelus slowed down and so did the limo Gavin and Lilah sat in across the street from the vampire.

"What do you think he is doing?" Gavin asked.

"Look where we are." Lilah motioned out the window.

Gavin looked up to see they were across the street from the Hyperion Hotel. "Why would he stop here?"

Lilah smiled devilishly at Gavin. "To kill every breathing thing inside that place."

Gavin nodded slowly, still seeming a little hesitant to agree with Lilah. "Why would he attack them all at once? It would be easier for him to kill each of them separate."

"But where would the fun in that be?" Lilah asked, looking back out at Angelus who was still standing in front of the hotel. "He wants the others to see him at work, to make them all quiver at watching each other get ripped to pieces."

"You think?" Gavin asked.

"He is practically the world's most vicious vampire." Lilah rolled her eyes at Gavin. "He is a master-mind, sadistic monster. He just wants an audience."

Gavin nodded after a moment. Then he changed the subject somewhat. "If Angelus is here, does that mean he already handled Cordelia and those two brats of hers?"

Lilah looked back at Gavin for a moment, contemplating his question. She answered it with a simple shrug. "Who knows? Who cares? She will be dead soon enough."

Lilah then took another glance out her window at Angelus and could see he was now moving into the courtyard outside of the hotel. She then tapped on the glass that separated her and Gavin from the driver, indicating it was okay that they left now. As far as she was concerned, everyone in that hotel was as good as dead; she did not need to stick around to hear their screams.

Cordelia placed Liam down in his crib, the infant already close to sleep. Liam was a good sleeper, once he was tired that was it, there was no way around him not passing out right then and there. Cordelia was grateful for that. She was much happier with a son who would sleep rather then one who would not. Lucky for her, she got the best of both worlds.

Cordelia turned in the room to find that Connor had weaseled his way out of bed and out the door. He never liked to sleep. She sighed, running a hand through her hair and making her way out into the living room where she found Connor on the floor playing with a few action figures Gunn had bought him before the Fang Gang had been cut off from their family.

"Connor, its bedtime." Cordelia told her son.

"Nooo, Mommy." Connor made the same puppy-dog face Angel would make when he did not want Cordelia made at him. "I not tired."

"It's still bedtime, sweetie." Cordelia bent down next to Connor, putting some of his action figured away.

Connor pouted but knew he had lost the argument with his mother. "Fine."

"Come here." Cordelia picked Connor up the best she could. He was getting closer to two and a half now, and was definitely a growing boy, built exactly like Angel. She knew it wouldn't be too long before she could no longer carry him at all.

Cordelia made her way back into the bedroom Connor and Liam shared, placing Connor down on his bed and tucking him in. She then sat down next to him and ruffled his hair, leaning down and giving him a kiss. "Goodnight, sweetie."

"Good night, Mommy." Connor told her, looking down at his hands.

Cordelia raised an eyebrow, something was bothering Connor. She assumed it had been that she had put him to bed when he wasn't ready, still she was inclined to ask. "What's wrong, honey?"

"Dad left again." Connor said.

"What?" Cordelia was confused. "What do you mean, sweetie?"

"He leaved. He not coming back again." Connor said.

Cordelia gave a small half-smile when she realized what Connor was talking about. "No, sweetie. Daddy just went out to get a job so he could work. You know, like Mommy used to do at the hotel? He will be back later tonight."

"You sure?" Connor questioned Cordelia.

"Of course I am. Trust me, you're daddy is never going to leave you or Liam again." Cordelia promised her son. "Okay?"

"Okay." Connor nodded.

"Good. Now get some sleep." Cordelia stood, making her way to the door.

"Mom?" Connor called out before she left.

Cordelia turned around in the doorframe. "Yeah, sweetie?"

"When Dad come home, is the angel gonna leaves him alone?" Connor asked innocently.

"What?" Cordelia stood there for a moment, dumbfounded. She had no idea what Connor was talking about. "What angel? What are you talking about, Connor?"

"Dad said." Connor said simply.

"What did Dad say?" Cordelia moved back toward Connor, sitting back down on his bed.

"He said the angel keep bothering him. He said right here." Connor touched his own chest, imitating what Angelus had done a few days earlier.

"Well, I am sure the angel will go away then." Cordelia said calmly to Connor, kissing him one more time before standing and leaving his room.

Once outside, Cordelia sank down against the wall; her mind was racing in a million directions. On one hand, her mind kept going back to what the Fang Gang had told her; that Angelus was back. She knew Angelus would complain if he could feel any remains of Angel within him; on the other hand she was trying to be more rational. If it had been Angelus living with her and Connor and Liam right now, he would have killed them all, not offered to go out and get a job to support them. Cordelia sighed, shaking the thoughts from her head as she stood. Angelus couldn't possibly be the vampire sharing an apartment with her and holding the keys to her heart; only Angel had those.

Angelus stood outside the door of the Hyperion Hotel for a moment, gathering himself. He had never found it so hard to waltz in and threaten people before, but now he felt himself weary of it. He blamed that on Angel and the fact that Wolfram and Hart had not removed the soul but instead shoved it deep down instead of him.

He watched out the window for a moment, seeing Buffy, Gunn, Wesley, Fred, and Lorne all gathering a sufficient number of weapons in the middle of the room. He assumed they were planning to use them on him, and that angered the vampire enough that he was ready to go in there and tear out some throats.

Angelus moved swiftly to the door and in one big stride found himself inside of the lobby of the hotel.

"Well, what kind of a party do we have going on in here?" Angelus smirked at the shocked members of Angel Investigations that stood in the middle of the lobby, all staring at him on the landing.

"What are you doing here?" Buffy asked.

"Well, little girl, the world works in crazy ways…but here I am." Angelus threw his arms out and smiled smugly at the Slayer.

"And there you'll stay." Wesley pointed a crossbow at Angelus, indicating the vampire was not welcome another step into the hotel.

"Relax, Wes." Angelus told him. "I'm not going to kill you…yet."

"Then what the hell do you want?" Gunn asked.

"Just here to let you know that if any of you come anywhere near Cordelia or my sons I will rip you to pieces, slowly and steadily. It will be an experience for both of us." Angelus smirked, and then turned nonchalantly to the door. "See you around." He moved out the door.

"What the hell was that about?" Lorne asked.

"We should go after him." Gunn made a move.

"No." Wesley pulled Gunn by the arm, stopping the man. "He didn't attack us."

"And why was that?" Fred ask, seemingly confused. "Why didn't he try to kill us all?"

"Maybe Angel is in there, deep." Lorne suggested.

"Maybe." Wesley nodded.

"But why threaten us about trying to save Cordelia, Connor, and Liam?" Fred asked. "Why not just kill us…or kill them for that matter?"

"Because he is a vampire." Wesley stated.

"Exactly why we should be going after him and killing him." Gunn said.

Wesley shook his head. "He won't hurt Cordelia, or Liam or Connor."

"Say what?" Gunn asked.

"He is a vampire. By his nature he is inclined to protect his own blood." Wesley explained. "And his blood is mixed with Cordelia's through Liam. He won't hurt her or the children."

"I don't believe it." Buffy shook her head. "I know Angelus…"

"And I know vampires." Wesley cut her off. "I've studied them for years. Angelus may be extremely cruel but he is not unpredictable."

"So what are you saying?" Fred asked. "That Cordelia, Connor, and Liam are safe?"

"Heavens no." Wesley said quickly. "Vampires are jealous and brutal by nature. If Angelus was to feel betrayed by Cordelia there is a good chance that he would kill her or his son's. After all, he is the only one under that roof without a soul. I can't guess how long he can manage with that, plus he clearly has Cordelia fooled so how much longer can he keep up the lie that he is Angel?"

"So…Cordy isn't safe?" Gunn was now confused.

"For the time being she is; but its only a matter of time." Wesley concluded.

"So what do we do?" Gunn asked.

"We get Angel back." Wesley stated.

"Wait, what?" Buffy looked at Wesley. "We have no idea where is soul is, or what Wolfram and Hart did to him?"

"But now we know no one is in immediate danger so we have the time to figure it out." Wesley stated, moving swiftly to his office. He then began grabbing any books he knew would possibly help him with re-ensouling someone off the shelves and tossing them into a pile on his desk. He was determined to get Angel back.

Cordelia flopped herself down on the couch, rubbing her temples with both hands as she threw down Connor's small jacket beside her. She had cleaned up the entire living room once she had gotten Liam and Connor to bed, waiting for whom she thought was Angel to return from his "job hunt". She couldn't help it; she felt the need to question him about what Connor had said earlier.

Suddenly, the door to the hotel opened and Angelus strode in. He slowed down when he saw Cordelia on the couch.

"Didn't think you'd be up." Angelus said, admiring the seer. She was beautiful, even when she was tired. He would not argue with Angel on that one.

"How did the job hunt go?" Cordelia leaned back on the couch.

"Uh…" Angelus didn't know what to say, he hadn't exactly found a job. "Well…I'll try again next week."

Cordelia stood, sighing. "You didn't find anything?"

Angelus shrugged his shoulders. "Was harder than I thought it would be."

Cordelia nodded, confused. The vampire in front of her hand been gone for over five hours; how had he not found a job? "Why were you out so long?"

Angelus didn't like playing twenty-one questions with Cordelia, and he was growing annoyed by her interrogation. "Just was."

Cordelia moved past him, scrunching her face up as she inhaled the air around the vampire. "You wreak of smoke and stale beer. Where the hell were you?"

"I went out, okay?" Angelus was now really annoyed. How dare she question him! He had stopped off at a local bar for a few beers after he had dealt with the Fang Gang as a small reward to himself and he didn't like being questioned for it.

Cordelia took in the vampire's voice and shook her head. He wasn't the same; he wasn't the Angel she remembered, not the man she had fallen in love with. "What has happened to you?"

"Nothing." Angelus clenched his jaw, pushing past her and making his way to the bedroom. He did not want to blow a fuse and do something he would regret, like smashing in her skull.

"Angel, talk to me." Cordelia followed after him into the bedroom. "What's bothering you?"

Angelus stopped short, turning around in the doorframe of the bedroom to face Cordelia. "Nothing! Nothing is wrong with me!"

Cordelia remained silent for a moment, watching Angelus turn his back to her. Then she spoke again. "It's him, isn't it?" She asked, her voice almost a whisper.

"Who?" Angelus was somewhat calmer now, and turned back to face Cordelia.

"Angelus." Cordelia said simply. "You can feel him, can't you?"

Angelus raised an eyebrow, unsure of what Cordelia was saying and panicked that she may have figured out that he was in fact Angelus. "What do you mean?"

"Connor…he said something earlier." Cordelia looked down at Connor's jacket from the living room that was in her hands for some reason. "He said you told him you could feel an angel clawing at you deep down. I figured he was confused…that maybe you meant you could feel Angelus?"

Angelus was relieved. It was evident to him that Cordelia, regardless of how many warning signs she had gotten, wanted to believe so badly that he was Angel and not who he actually was. She made up a story and excuse for what he had said to Connor before he could even invent a lie. She just really wanted her Angel back.

Angelus nodded slowly to Cordelia's question. "Sometimes I feel him." And he did; except he felt Angel deep down, the soul burning for its release to the surface; something Angelus could not give in to.

"I figured." Cordelia nodded.

"It's because of all the talk." Angelus continued, formulating a full-proof lie. "Everyone has been talking about Angelus, and accusing me of being him; I think it's getting to me."

Cordelia nodded again. It made sense. "You know I am here…if you need to talk."

Angelus smirked at her, eyeing her up and down. If he had a choice, talking would be the last thing he would do to her. He moved closer to her. "I don't want to talk."

Cordelia looked up at Angelus, and before she could register the lack of the souled-glimmer in his eyes, he had pulled her in for a long, passionate kiss. Angelus knew, as Cordelia's tongue reacted to his, that he was now in complete control.