Part Four

Angel lay on the bed beside Darla, holding her in his arms - when the others, headed up by Lorne, came bursting through the door. 'What's going on?' the vampire asked. He was annoyed - these quiet moments with Darla were important, they needed this time… and here his friends were, butting in. But his annoyance became alarm when Wesley, gasping for breath after his sprint, informed him they were being attacked.

'Attacked?' he turned an accusatory stare on the anagogic green demon, 'I thought you had double protection sanctorium spells?'

'I do!' Lorne protested, 'it's a thing with the door, and the stairs and the world and the thing. Never mind!'

'Apparently, you can be outside and shove stuff in,' Gunn said. Lorne looked even more annoyed, 'I just said that!'

'I guess maybe we couldda done with knowin' that before we decided to keep the pregnant vampire and her miracle child in L.A,' Doyle said.

'Hey - I'm not the one that invited you in here - I never suggested you use Caritas as your maternity ward!' The Host defended himself.

'Guys… now's really not the ti…' but Cordelia was cut off by a burning beam crashing through the ceiling and landing beside the two vampires. Darla screamed, Cordelia flinched - and Doyle pulled his girlfriend further away from the burning strut, trying to shield her with his body.

'It's Holtz,' Angel realised.

'You reckon?' Doyle's voice was sarcastic. But Darla was looking confused. Ignoring the half demon, she honed in on Angel's words, 'what?' she asked, her voice drenched in disbelief. That name… she hadn't heard of that name … thought of that name in over 200 years. One minute the vampire hunter was chasing her and her boy across the entire western world, never slowing - always finding them; no matter how hard they tried to shake him. Implacable. Unstoppable. And then - he had simply vanished off the face of the earth… and for over a hundred years, she and Angelus were free to roam the world at will - without a care; causing destruction; cutting a bloody swath through continents and leaving devastation in their wake.

How could that name belong here and now? In this moment of death? 'How is this possible?' she asked.

'We need to move the bed,' Lorne said, glancing backwards towards the door - out to his club, where the fire still raged; threatening to reach them. Angel helped Darla off the bed and the others all shoved it to the side. Darla still stared into Angel's face, 'what do you mean?' she asked.

'He's here,' her boy replied. 'I would have mentioned it before, but I didn't think it was the right time.'

'No,' she sank into a chair, her face expressing her desperation and defeat. Her voice was quiet - thoughtful. 'No, it's the perfect time.'

...

'What's behind the bed?' Gunn asked, as they dragged it away from the wall.

'An old loading dock door,' Lorne told him, 'I had the whole place converted.' He had told them before how he had built Caritas on the very spot he landed on this earth in. When he had first arrived from Pylea, this building had been an old, abandoned warehouse - and he had built his temple to music on that very spot, as thanks for his deliverance.

'What's on the other side?' Wesley asked.

'An alley.'

'A blind alley?' Cordelia checked, 'because he might be chasing us there on purpose.'

'No no - it's open both ends, he can't block us in.'

'As long as he's alone,' Fred pointed out.

'Wait - y'think maybe those demons we fought by the car were sent by him?' the Irishman asked her.

'I think we got a lot of people attacking us right now,' Fred replied. 'We need to be cautious.' They all stopped and stared at each other. And then another burning beam fell through the ceiling and crashed onto the floor. Wesley shook his head, 'demons we can fight - whatever's out there, doesn't matter. Getting out of here is all that counts - we need to break through the plaster and get out of this door.'

...

'The things we did to him,' Darla said softly. She stared into the blaze created by the burning beams, her eyes glazed over as her mind took her back two centuries. It had all been a game to them, back then. They had nothing to fear - except death - and they had delighted in baiting the vampire hunter, in goading him… so much so that they overplayed their hand - and made his vendetta personal. And none of it had mattered. Without a soul - it had just been a game. And when he was gone - she had forgotten all about him, and what she had done to him. Until now… and now, this tiny life - which slipped from her moment by moment - allowed her to feel the shade of the horror she had caused. She looked up at her boy, tears in her eyes, 'Angel!'

'I know,' he replied, his face grim.

...

'You got a hammer, or an axe?' Gunn asked - looking at the wall that stood between them and freedom. 'Buddha head,' Wesley replied, holding the ornament up and handing it across to the street fighter.

'A rhino,' Cordelia offered. Picking up a heavy ornamental, rhinoceros and handing it to Wesley. The watcher used the horn end to start bashing against the wall, trying to break through to the door, and Gunn did likewise with the ornamental head.

'Doyle, here!' Fred picked up a hefty statue of an Indian Elephant and threw it at the half demon. He caught it, morphed into his spikes for extra strength, and then joined the other men battering down the wall. The two women hung back, out of the way. Getting through that wall, quick enough to escape the flames, would require a brute strength that they simply could not supply. But, as the three men worked away, it seemed like even they may not be enough to allow them to escape.

...

'That's why this is happening,' Darla whispered. She was back to staring at the flames - realising that the time had come when she would have to pay for all the evil she had done. But the price of her evil was the life of her child. Karmic, in the face of all she had done to Holtz - and to countless others over the centuries, but so unfair for the tiny unborn child inside of her. 'His family,' she gasped. She placed a hand on her belly, 'his children. What must that have been like for him?' She glanced back up at Angel, 'doesn't seem so funny now, does it?'

'Darla?'

...

The smoke in the room grew thicker, and the living members of the group were forced to pull their sweaters over their noses and mouths in order to keep breathing. 'We're not gonna make it,' Doyle yelled, keeping his own face protected with the left sleeve of his leather jacket.

'Angel, we could use some vampire strength, here!' Wesley yelled over his shoulder. Cordelia and Fred took the vampire's place, next to Darla, and Angel joined the men at the wall. Morphing into vamp face, he began to punch at the wall with his bare fist - pounding away until brick dust and plaster flew through the already smoke thickened air. Wes, Gunn and Doyle all fell back, to give him more room and - using his fists and feet - Angel crashed through the wall to the doorway beneath.

Holtz entered the club and walked slowly through the wreckage. Fires still blazed all around him, and the debris caused by the destruction of the grenade littered the floor. But he noted, there were no human - or demon - remains. Those that chose to help and protect Angelus, his enemies by virtue of their allegiance to the creature of the night, must have survived. He was able to find a path through to the back of Caritas, and he headed towards Lorne's bedroom door.

The alley was quiet, deserted, and lit by Chinese lanterns. There was the distant sound of talk radio coming from inside one of the other buildings along the street. But other than that - nothing. It was completely still save for the relentless, driving rain which battered the ground. The utter stillness was suddenly broken - when the blocked up wooden loading door - at the back of Caritas - suddenly exploded outwards. Shards of wood flew through the air and scattered onto the ground. And then the team stumbled through the hole - Cordelia and Doyle leading the way, followed by the rest - and finally Angel, supporting Darla, finished out the group.

They began to head towards the end of the alley, moving towards the car. But Darla, even half carried by her boy as she was, could not go any further. She was weak and exhausted - and she could not take another step. She collapsed against him and he tried to pick her up completely, but she protested and let herself sink to the soaking floor. 'No, No,' she said. Everyone came to a halt. 'Go on,' she told them, 'I can't. It doesn't matter anyway.'

'I'm not leaving you,' Angel told her, kneeling down beside her. The rain continued to fall on them, soaking them all to the skin and slicking their hair against their heads. The vampire fished in his pocket and took out his keys. 'Here,' he threw them at Wesley, 'go get my car, it's out front.'

The team turned to leave but, after a few steps, Fred stopped and turned to look back. 'C'mon Fred,' Doyle said as he passed her, 'we need to … leave them to it.' But Fred looked unsure and that made Cordelia glance back, as well. Darla was lying on the ground now - even though it was so wet - and Angel was beside her, gripping her hand.

'Go on Fred,' She said, 'go get in the car - I'll go to him.' She disentangled herself from her boyfriend's arm and hurried back down the alleyway. 'Cordelia!' Doyle called after her, but she didn't turn back to look. Fred and Doyle glanced at each other, 'go with Wes,' he told her, 'I'll…' he trailed off and stayed where he was, staring back at where Cordelia was approaching the two vampires. Fred nodded - and followed after Gunn and Wesley and Lorne.

Cordelia knelt beside Angel, he glanced at her. 'What are you doing?' he asked, 'go with the others.'

'I'm not leaving you,' Cordelia said, softly, she glanced down at Darla, 'or her.' Angel looked like he was going to argue and then, after a moment, he took off his coat and slung it around Cordelia's shoulders. She pulled it over her head, to protect herself from the rain and - from the distance that Doyle watched her at - it gave her the air of someone playing the Virgin Mary in a nativity scene. Although it was Darla who carried the miracle child …

'You're gonna be OK,' Angel said to his sire. But she shook her head - no, she really didn't think she was going to be. 'Once my baby is gone,' she gasped, 'I won't be OK. I won't be OK at all - I don't know what I'll be.'

Angel was crying - and so was she - but their tears mingled with the raindrops, indistinguishable - their grief simply running down the road and swirling into the gutters. 'Angel - our baby is gonna die right here in this alley.' She suddenly gripped his hand tighter, and looked into his face, 'you died in an alley, remember?'

'I remember,' he kissed her hand.

'I want to say I'm sorry,' she told him, 'I wanna say it - and mean it. But I can't.' He said nothing, 'aren't you gonna tell me it's gonna be OK?' she asked.

'No.'

'No - It's really not, is it? We did so many terrible things together. So much destruction - so much pain. We can't make up for any of it. You know that, don't you?'

Beside him, Cordelia inhaled sharply at Darla's words and Angel glanced at her, and then looked back at his sire. 'Yeah,' he replied, after a long moment. And Cordelia hung her head, closing her eyes, as she realised Angel believed his mission was hopeless.

'This child,' Darla said, 'this child is the one good thing we ever did together.' Angel raised her hand to his lips again. 'The only good thing,' she told him. He buried his head against his hand and her own, resting his forehead on the place where they were joined. He squeezed his eyes closed, to try and contain his grief - and so did not notice her spare hand creep across the sodden floor. Her fingers closed around one of the splinters of wood that had blown out of the door. 'You make sure you tell them that,' she said to her boy - before driving her makeshift stake deep into her heart.

He felt her hand collapse beneath his and looked up - to see the last of his sire disintegrate to dust. Where Darla had been, a tiny, naked infant lay on the wet floor - crying.

Holtz stepped into Lorne's bedroom - his crossbow raised - and looked around.

Doyle watched from a distance, as Angel carefully gathered up his tiny, living child - and held it close to his chest. The half demon's heart hammered thunderously inside his own chest, as he witnessed the impossible happen. A child - born of two vampires - born alive, and human. Angel was a father now. To a human child. That could not be - could never be… and yet… The universe would always conspire to create miracles for Angel - because he was a champion, a warrior - the laws that governed the dimension itself would break themselves for him. A lowly messenger could never hope for such similar treatment. The impossible would always be impossible for him. He could never have what Angel had right now.

Holtz stepped through the hole in the wall - out into the alleyway. The vampire was there, his back turned - and the man pointed his crossbow at him.

Angel and Cordelia slowly got to their feet. Still at a distance - Doyle watched, as his girlfriend removed the coat that had been protecting her and handed it back to Angel; who wrapped his newborn child up in it. Once more, Doyle was forcibly reminded of a scene from the nativity. Of the father, holding the newborn miracle child. Turned away from the inn, that was meant to bring safety and shelter - the babe was swaddled in anything his parents could find to protect him. Darla - the real mother - was dead now. Her ashes washing away in the river of rain that swept down the streets - as if she had never been there at all. And now all that was left was Angel, and his child … and Cordelia. The three of them stood in the pouring rain, a little family huddled together for shelter. And Doyle stood watching them - alone.

...

Slowly, Angel turned around, sensing someone behind him. Holtz stared at him over the top of his crossbow. For a long moment, they both just looked at each other. Then a Grapplar demon joined his leader - helping to block the exit. Behind them, the car pulled up - and Wesley got out.

Angel and Holtz still stared at each other - and then, slowly, the vampire hunter lowered his crossbow.

And, after a moment, Angel - still clutching his child to his chest - began to walk towards the car. Cordelia clutched his arm, as they passed the demons - but the demons stood back and let them go. Further down the alley - Doyle watched the little family leave together, headed for the safety of the car… and then he turned, himself, and walked out of the alley the other way - choosing not to rejoin his friends.

...

Holtz also watched the little trio leave. Sahjahn appeared beside him. 'Do it!' he urged, 'now's your chance! Do it! Finish it whilst you still can. You can't just let him walk away! Not now! Not after what you swore to me.'

Holtz watched as the vampire, his woman, and his child reached the car and got in. 'I swore that I would show no mercy,' he told Sahjahn. The car drove away. 'And I won't.'

A/N the next episode will be 'Dad'.