CHAPTER 8
The thick book-cover whacked him over the head, catching him off-guard and sending him bending forward. A gasp escaped his throat before he swallowed back an impulsive growl.
"What are you, insane?!" Lilah shouted at the top of her lungs, glaring at him.
"I prefer the use of the word efficient, but if you choose to see it that way…" Groo glared at her with darkened features. "We got the book back, my lady." He affirmed in an emotionless tone.
Lilah let an annoyed sigh escaped her throat before she threw her hands in the air and exclaimed.
"You blew up the building!!!" she emphasized through her teeth as if trying to explain a mistake to a child.
"Yes, and we retrieved the book." He repeated, obviously not listening to a word that Lilah was throwing at him.
"And what good is this book going to be to us if you just go and kill the kid?!" she yelled at him, leaning on the table in front of him. "We need Angel's son, and we need him alive. You may just have destroyed all our chances to…"
"The kid is not dead." Groo then stated, determinedly.
"How do you know?"
"They are alive. Angel, his son and his crew are very much alive, but also slightly distracted at the moment. Isn't that working in our favor? We have the book, now all of this will keep them occupied long enough for us to get this ritual under way and retrieve the child from Angel and Cordelia…" Groo informed Lilah, his voice growing darker at the mention of the seer's name.
Lilah noticed, and somehow managed to repress the urge to ask why he was so hell-bent on destroying them.
"So, they're alive?" As lame as it was, it was all she found to say.
--
The door to Cordelia's apartment came flying open, bouncing back on the wall behind it, revealing a sight that made even Dennis shiver. Loud voices filled the room…panicked voices.
Cordelia, carrying an agitated Connor, was the first one to barge into the apartment as if she was running for her life. Following her were Angel (covered in a blanket) and Alessia, who struggled to help a wounded Lorne through the threshold. The green demon seemed to mutter all kinds of whining, warning and disapproval over the impromptu plan that had been hatched on the way over there.
Thankfully, they had managed to escape the explosions and fire just in time – barely making it out of the hotel alive. They had escaped through the sewers, and in a blind panic, a plan that seemed doomed from the beginning was hatched. They needed to hurry up.
Cordelia held Connor closer to her chest, making sure the baby wasn't hurt. His cries filled the apartment, while Angel and Alessia dropped Lorne safely onto the couch.
"Call Wesley's cell phone and tell him we're alive…" Angel said, not even bothering to finish his thought.
Reluctantly, Lorne looked up into Angel's fearful eyes and didn't bother to argue. His reluctance wasn't aimed at letting Wesley, Gunn and Fred know that they had escaped from the hotel; it was mostly aimed at the escape that had yet to happen. One, which he didn't seem too keen on.
"Angel, I've got some of Connor's stuff in the kitchen!" Cordelia quickly informed him as he rushed through the apartment in direction of her kitchen.
Meanwhile, Cordy nearly ran to her bedroom, where she safely placed Connor on the bed. She faintly heard Alessia's voice in the background as she argued with Lorne to stop whining. She faintly heard the sound of Connor's cries anymore under her heavy breathing and her pounding heart. She threw herself on her knees and reached under her bed for a small backpack and then hurried to the closet where she blindly grabbed some clothes – some of hers and some of Connors that Angel had forgotten at her place – and she proceeded to shove them into the bag.
"It's okay…It's okay…" she desperately tried to reassure the little boy as he screamed and cried on her bed while she tried her best to hurry up.
She heard the crashing sounds of utensils in the kitchen, but didn't even bother to think what Angel was doing. In his hurry, he was probably doing the same thing she was. Cordy stopped long enough to try to console the crying child on the bed, whispering sweet and soft nothings to him. She knew she was failing miserably at it, but she still tried to hide the fear that crept into her voice.
In the background, she could make out some of what Lorne was saying to Wesley on the phone. She glanced at the door just in time to see Alessia heading to the kitchen to help Angel with some of Connor's things and then she turned her attention back to the baby.
"It's alright…I'm here…everything's going to be alright…" Cordy let out, out of breath, as she quickly searched the room with her eyes.
Running like that wasn't the greatest idea, granted. She knew that. Angel knew that. Heck, Lorne knew that and made no excuse of letting them know that he disapproved. But at this point, it was the best option they could think of.
"Dennis!?" Cordelia spoke, looking upward. "A little help here…" she sighed as a warm blanket flew in the air and came around the little agitated child, wrapping him up to keep him warm.
Cordelia then got up on her feet again and spun around, and gasped. A tiny, stunned noise escaped her throat as she came face to face with a dangerously serious Skip. His eyes held a warning, and his posture held a menace that momentarily frightened her.
"You can't do this." He spoke, his voice determined, dangerous and dark.
He stood between her and the door, preventing her from walking out of the bedroom.
"Skip…" Cordelia began, almost pleading with her eyes.
"You cannot do this." He warned through his teeth again.
Cordelia paused before glaring at the metallic demon against her will.
"Skip," she ventured again, her voice lower this time around. "Get out of my way." She added in a slightly threatening tone.
Just as the words left her mouth, Angel and Alessia came barging into the room. Angel was carrying a plastic bag with various things of Connor's that he would need while Alessia simply followed. The two of them walked in and then froze at the sight of Skip's threatening pose.
Connor's loud cries were the only thing that broke the intense silence shared by the four of them. Whether the boy's cries resulted from the panic and fear that emanated from all the people around them or not had yet to be determined, but something was troubling the little guy. Something wasn't right.
"You can't do this. You can't run like that." He said, now addressing all of them.
"I will not stand here and let them harm my son! They got the book back…and I will not let them get their hands on Connor." Angel said through his teeth as he glared at the demon from the future.
"This is not the solution!" Skip exclaimed, desperately trying to stay empty of emotion.
"They can run!" Alessia's voice filled the room as she took a few steps towards Skip. "They can take him and just run. They can go as far away from here as possible, and protect Connor!" she said, her eyes begging Skip to tell her she was right. "If they just take him and get the hell out of here and as far away from Wolfram and Hart as possible then the ritual won't happen…They can just…" she went on and on but Skip stopped her with his loud, dominating growl.
"No they can't!" he shouted.
Angel and Cordelia were almost startled by the harshness in Skip's tone. So far, all they had seen was tenderness, fondness and protectiveness from the demon when it came to Alessia. All of a sudden, there seemed to appear a deep darkness between the two of them.
"They can!" Alessia argued, but Skip didn't let her go on.
"Alessia Chase," Skip began, as his voice grew more and more threatening. Her full name. Not a good sign, they all thought respectively. "You know as well as I do that running away is not going to change anything." He added, taking a few steps towards her. "They cannot run from this!" he roared.
"You said that it's Connor's participation in the ritual that set a chain reaction and destroyed everything…" Cordelia gritted, taking a few steps towards Alessia, but staring at Skip. "If we take him away from…"
"It won't change anything!" He threw back at her in a loud crushing tone. "If you run, you may by yourselves some time, but not a future." He warned all of them and then looked back at a misty-eyed Alessia. "They will catch up with you. They will take your son. And they will kill each and every one of you…is that what you want?" he asked, glaring at Angel.
"Skip…" the girl whispered in a pleading voice. "There has to be a way…"
He hated to do this. He hated himself for bringing this void in her, but he had to do it. He had to make her see.
Skip took a deep breath and then grabbed Alessia's arm violently, jerking her away from the door and towards the bed.
"Hey!!" Angel and Cordelia both shouted as they witnessed the gesture.
Skip threw Alessia on her knees in front of the bed.
"Look at him Alessia!" he ordered her, but Alessia bent her head down, unable to look at the little boy restlessly lying on the bed. "Look at him!!!" he yelled at her, pressing her but she simply closed her eyes, tears rolling down her face.
"Get your hands off of her!" Angel yelled, grabbing Skip from behind.
Skip barely spun around, a bright light emanating from his hand as he threw Angel across the room, sending him crashing against the closet door. Cordelia rushed to him, making sure he was okay and they both looked up to see Skip forcefully grab Alessia's head with both hands and forcing her to look at Connor.
"I said look at him!!" he forced her. She tried to fight him, but she couldn't. He held her head firmly in his hands and forced her to look at the bawling baby. "Take a long hard look at him Alessia!" he warned through his teeth as the girl watched, in tears.
"Shut up!" She threw back, desperately trying to move her head.
"Look at him and tell me what you see!" he savagely ordered her.
"Stop it…" she pleaded, but he didn't.
Skip jerked her even closer to the bed and forced her to look down at Connor's little body and tearful face.
"Running away will not change his fate!" Skip shouted in her ears, while Angel and Cordelia got up and stood still on the sideline, watching with fearful eyes the scene that took place a few feet away from them. "Look at him Alessia…Do you see the man he will become? Do you see him?!"
"Please stop…" Alessia quietly cried.
"The man who screamed in pain as you watched, helpless….The man who made you promise that you would make this right…" Skip said, his voice shaking against his will. "The man who bled to death in your arms…"
At the sound of those words, Alessia jerked away from his grasp and turned to look at him with a tear-aged face.
"You can stop it now…" she said in a barely audible voice, staring back at him in silent pain.
"If you run, he will become that man. Isn't that what you came here to prevent?" he asked, trying to get his point across.
"What the hell is wrong with you!?!" Cordelia shouted, throwing herself at Skip and shoving him against the wall.
What Skip had just done to Alessia had taken her and Angel by surprise, and most of all, it had confused them.
"Don't you ever touch her again…" Angel warned in a low voice as he stepped between Skip and Cordelia.
Skip stayed silent as the two unlikely parents glared at him, stunned and confused. Skip's undead heart took a beating as he met Alessia's eyes once again. It killed him that he had to be so forceful and so blunt, but he knew that's what needed to be done. And the look in Alessia's eyes told him that she knew he was right. His eyes reverted back to Angel and Cordelia and he stayed silent.
"What is wrong with you…God!" Cordelia repeated, almost disgusted now. "You say that you care about her?! I thought you were on the same side…Why are you doing this?!" Cordelia's stare begged him for answers.
A small tear rolled down Cordy's face as she and Angel stayed facing Skip.
Skip lowered his eyes and then moved away from the spot in which the vampire and the seer had frozen him. He took a few careful steps towards a completely silent Alessia and then look at her.
"Don't you think I know how hard this is?" he asked as the three people in the room just stayed silent. Skip then turned to look at an angry Angel and Cordelia. "She hasn't seen you in years." He spoke, his voice trembling and less dark. "And I know that she came here to do the right thing, and to save you…and to help the Powers That Be. I know that's part of why she's here. But I also that a part of her wanted to come back here because of you." He said, looking back and forth between Alessia and Cordelia. "Because here you are…she can see you, and she can hear your voices…and reach out to you." He said and then turned back to Alessia. "Ally…I know how tempting it is to want to stay here forever. I know how tempting it is to want to just run away with them, but you and I both know that that wouldn't help." He whispered, touching the young woman's cheek. "I know it's difficult to erase the bad, because it also means erasing the good. But you know what you have to do." He whispered again.
Angel once again saw the caring, loving side of Skip as he watched him with Alessia. If he had a heart, it would have stopped beating by then. Angel felt his eyes fill with invisible tears as he stared at Alessia's painful face.
"So what are you saying?" Angel asked, finally founding his voice. "That there's nothing we can do? That we won't change the future?"
"That's not what I said." Skip answered, turning around and walking towards Angel. "Only the PTB can stop the ritual, and that is by destroying the book. The only way to do that is by staying here and fighting." He paused and then looked at the calmer baby in Angel's arms. "You can run away for so long before the past catches up with you…you of all people should know that." He quietly spoke.
"What if we can't prevent the ritual? Then what?" Angel asked, fearing the answer to that.
"Just pray that you do." Skip replied, lowering his eyes.
Cordelia then moved passed Skip, almost elbowing him out of the way as she rushed to Alessia's side. The young girl was silently looking down at the floor as tears rolled down her face. Cordy stopped, not exactly knowing what to do, but before she could even form a thought, Alessia looked up, unable to control her tears now.
Angel watched, holding Connor to his chest, and swallowed back his tears. His hand still clutched one of their bags, and Skip noticed.
"So what is it going to be?" Skip quietly asked, leaving it all up to Angel.
Angel looked down at his son, and then back to Alessia and Cordelia, holding one another in front of the bed, and he closed his eyes.
The bag slipped from his fingers and fell onto the floor.
It's all or nothing.
"I'm sorry…" she cried, holding her breath. "I'm so sorry…"
Cordy felt her heart break as tears sprung from her eyes as well. Without thinking or hesitating, Cordelia wrapped her arms around her daughter as they both sunk to their knees on the floor.
Right then, the front door flew open, allowing Wesley, Fred and Gunn to frantically run in. They had rushed here as soon as they had gotten Lorne's phone call, reassuring them that they were all alive and safe. Or as safe as it was possible to be in a situation like this one. They stood there, speechless, unable to move, as they watched Alessia break down in Cordelia's arms.
--
The night was dark and the sky had lost its stars. The moonlight came in through the living room window, casting dancing shadows on the wall. Not a sound was heard.
Gunn and Fred sat on the floor, Fred's head resting on his shoulder as they slept. Fred's hands rested on a stake while Gunn held a sword in his sleep. On one of the small couches, Lorne recuperated, his eyes closed, a weapon of his own resting on the small table beside him. In a tiny wooden chair, Wesley sat sound asleep as well.
On the larger couch, Alessia laid down, clutching a crossbow to her chest as if her life depended on it. How she had ever fallen asleep was a mystery, but Skip, who stood in the doorway, wide-awake, thanked God that she did.
A tiny whimper was heard from Cordelia's bedroom. There, the young seer sat on her bed, finishing changing Connor, while Angel sat beside her. They seemed to have been pulled into a deep silence for over an hour now. Cordelia took a deep breath and finally allowed herself to speak in a bare whisper.
"You know…maybe…someday…this could be her." She said as Angel looked at her tenderly.
"Maybe…" he whispered back, knowing whom she was referring to.
"Do you think she can feel it?"
"What?"
"The future, beginning to change…" Cordy whispered, turning to look into his deep comforting eyes. "I mean, they just blew up the place where she was supposed to be born and…" her voice trailed off, unable to finish that sentence.
Right at that moment, Angel felt his undead heart sink. In that instant, something inside of him just wanted to take her in his arms and tell her the whole truth. As he looked into Cordy's calm eyes, he got lost into her beauty, into her comfort and her warmth.
"Cordy…" Angel began, taking her hand into his, sitting in front of her. "There's something I need to tell you…" he ventured and then paused, pondering his words. "There's something you need to know about Alessia…her father…"
"Angel…" Cordy said, lowering her eyes for a moment.
"Cordelia, I need to tell you…" he began but she abruptly stopped him, placing a few fingers on his lips.
"Angel, wait! Don't…" she scrunched up her face, as if she wasn't even sure why she was interrupting him. "I mean…" she began but stopped, staring intensely into his dark eyes.
"Don't you want to know?" he asked in a tiny, hesitant whisper.
"Yes!" she exclaimed but quickly changed her mind. "I mean no…yes…I do…but…"
"But you're afraid…" he whispered.
"What if knowing makes it not happen?" She asked him, her eyes boring into his with such intensity as they both paused and stared at one another. "To tell you the truth, I'm a bit scared of who it would turn out to be…but more of who it would turn out not to be." She added in a bare whisper, as she avoided his eyes.
"Cordelia…about last night…" He tried to broach the subject of the kiss but she stopped him once again.
"Let's not…" she quietly spoke. "Not now…" her tone was soft, caring, and evidently tired, and Angel knew that right now was probably not the best time to analyze their midnight kiss.
He nodded and Cordelia carefully lied down beside Connor, watching him sleep. Angel sat there, looking at the two of them for a little while, before beginning to stand up. Suddenly, Cordy's hand gently grabbed his arm, preventing him from standing up.
"Don't go…" she whispered, looking up to him.
Angel took an unnecessary deep breath and sat back down onto the bed. The touch of Cordelia's hand was so warm and so tender that he felt himself relax immediately. Without saying a word, she gently tugged on his arm, and Angel lay down on the bed beside her. Never letting go of his hand, she brought his arm around her and held his hand to her chest as he held her, hugging her back against his chest.
Clutching his hand to her, she closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. A crossbow safely rested on the nightstand, just in case.
It couldn't' hurt to be prepared.
And as Connor finally drifted to sleep, so did Angel and Cordy, still holding one another.
The thick book-cover whacked him over the head, catching him off-guard and sending him bending forward. A gasp escaped his throat before he swallowed back an impulsive growl.
"What are you, insane?!" Lilah shouted at the top of her lungs, glaring at him.
"I prefer the use of the word efficient, but if you choose to see it that way…" Groo glared at her with darkened features. "We got the book back, my lady." He affirmed in an emotionless tone.
Lilah let an annoyed sigh escaped her throat before she threw her hands in the air and exclaimed.
"You blew up the building!!!" she emphasized through her teeth as if trying to explain a mistake to a child.
"Yes, and we retrieved the book." He repeated, obviously not listening to a word that Lilah was throwing at him.
"And what good is this book going to be to us if you just go and kill the kid?!" she yelled at him, leaning on the table in front of him. "We need Angel's son, and we need him alive. You may just have destroyed all our chances to…"
"The kid is not dead." Groo then stated, determinedly.
"How do you know?"
"They are alive. Angel, his son and his crew are very much alive, but also slightly distracted at the moment. Isn't that working in our favor? We have the book, now all of this will keep them occupied long enough for us to get this ritual under way and retrieve the child from Angel and Cordelia…" Groo informed Lilah, his voice growing darker at the mention of the seer's name.
Lilah noticed, and somehow managed to repress the urge to ask why he was so hell-bent on destroying them.
"So, they're alive?" As lame as it was, it was all she found to say.
--
The door to Cordelia's apartment came flying open, bouncing back on the wall behind it, revealing a sight that made even Dennis shiver. Loud voices filled the room…panicked voices.
Cordelia, carrying an agitated Connor, was the first one to barge into the apartment as if she was running for her life. Following her were Angel (covered in a blanket) and Alessia, who struggled to help a wounded Lorne through the threshold. The green demon seemed to mutter all kinds of whining, warning and disapproval over the impromptu plan that had been hatched on the way over there.
Thankfully, they had managed to escape the explosions and fire just in time – barely making it out of the hotel alive. They had escaped through the sewers, and in a blind panic, a plan that seemed doomed from the beginning was hatched. They needed to hurry up.
Cordelia held Connor closer to her chest, making sure the baby wasn't hurt. His cries filled the apartment, while Angel and Alessia dropped Lorne safely onto the couch.
"Call Wesley's cell phone and tell him we're alive…" Angel said, not even bothering to finish his thought.
Reluctantly, Lorne looked up into Angel's fearful eyes and didn't bother to argue. His reluctance wasn't aimed at letting Wesley, Gunn and Fred know that they had escaped from the hotel; it was mostly aimed at the escape that had yet to happen. One, which he didn't seem too keen on.
"Angel, I've got some of Connor's stuff in the kitchen!" Cordelia quickly informed him as he rushed through the apartment in direction of her kitchen.
Meanwhile, Cordy nearly ran to her bedroom, where she safely placed Connor on the bed. She faintly heard Alessia's voice in the background as she argued with Lorne to stop whining. She faintly heard the sound of Connor's cries anymore under her heavy breathing and her pounding heart. She threw herself on her knees and reached under her bed for a small backpack and then hurried to the closet where she blindly grabbed some clothes – some of hers and some of Connors that Angel had forgotten at her place – and she proceeded to shove them into the bag.
"It's okay…It's okay…" she desperately tried to reassure the little boy as he screamed and cried on her bed while she tried her best to hurry up.
She heard the crashing sounds of utensils in the kitchen, but didn't even bother to think what Angel was doing. In his hurry, he was probably doing the same thing she was. Cordy stopped long enough to try to console the crying child on the bed, whispering sweet and soft nothings to him. She knew she was failing miserably at it, but she still tried to hide the fear that crept into her voice.
In the background, she could make out some of what Lorne was saying to Wesley on the phone. She glanced at the door just in time to see Alessia heading to the kitchen to help Angel with some of Connor's things and then she turned her attention back to the baby.
"It's alright…I'm here…everything's going to be alright…" Cordy let out, out of breath, as she quickly searched the room with her eyes.
Running like that wasn't the greatest idea, granted. She knew that. Angel knew that. Heck, Lorne knew that and made no excuse of letting them know that he disapproved. But at this point, it was the best option they could think of.
"Dennis!?" Cordelia spoke, looking upward. "A little help here…" she sighed as a warm blanket flew in the air and came around the little agitated child, wrapping him up to keep him warm.
Cordelia then got up on her feet again and spun around, and gasped. A tiny, stunned noise escaped her throat as she came face to face with a dangerously serious Skip. His eyes held a warning, and his posture held a menace that momentarily frightened her.
"You can't do this." He spoke, his voice determined, dangerous and dark.
He stood between her and the door, preventing her from walking out of the bedroom.
"Skip…" Cordelia began, almost pleading with her eyes.
"You cannot do this." He warned through his teeth again.
Cordelia paused before glaring at the metallic demon against her will.
"Skip," she ventured again, her voice lower this time around. "Get out of my way." She added in a slightly threatening tone.
Just as the words left her mouth, Angel and Alessia came barging into the room. Angel was carrying a plastic bag with various things of Connor's that he would need while Alessia simply followed. The two of them walked in and then froze at the sight of Skip's threatening pose.
Connor's loud cries were the only thing that broke the intense silence shared by the four of them. Whether the boy's cries resulted from the panic and fear that emanated from all the people around them or not had yet to be determined, but something was troubling the little guy. Something wasn't right.
"You can't do this. You can't run like that." He said, now addressing all of them.
"I will not stand here and let them harm my son! They got the book back…and I will not let them get their hands on Connor." Angel said through his teeth as he glared at the demon from the future.
"This is not the solution!" Skip exclaimed, desperately trying to stay empty of emotion.
"They can run!" Alessia's voice filled the room as she took a few steps towards Skip. "They can take him and just run. They can go as far away from here as possible, and protect Connor!" she said, her eyes begging Skip to tell her she was right. "If they just take him and get the hell out of here and as far away from Wolfram and Hart as possible then the ritual won't happen…They can just…" she went on and on but Skip stopped her with his loud, dominating growl.
"No they can't!" he shouted.
Angel and Cordelia were almost startled by the harshness in Skip's tone. So far, all they had seen was tenderness, fondness and protectiveness from the demon when it came to Alessia. All of a sudden, there seemed to appear a deep darkness between the two of them.
"They can!" Alessia argued, but Skip didn't let her go on.
"Alessia Chase," Skip began, as his voice grew more and more threatening. Her full name. Not a good sign, they all thought respectively. "You know as well as I do that running away is not going to change anything." He added, taking a few steps towards her. "They cannot run from this!" he roared.
"You said that it's Connor's participation in the ritual that set a chain reaction and destroyed everything…" Cordelia gritted, taking a few steps towards Alessia, but staring at Skip. "If we take him away from…"
"It won't change anything!" He threw back at her in a loud crushing tone. "If you run, you may by yourselves some time, but not a future." He warned all of them and then looked back at a misty-eyed Alessia. "They will catch up with you. They will take your son. And they will kill each and every one of you…is that what you want?" he asked, glaring at Angel.
"Skip…" the girl whispered in a pleading voice. "There has to be a way…"
He hated to do this. He hated himself for bringing this void in her, but he had to do it. He had to make her see.
Skip took a deep breath and then grabbed Alessia's arm violently, jerking her away from the door and towards the bed.
"Hey!!" Angel and Cordelia both shouted as they witnessed the gesture.
Skip threw Alessia on her knees in front of the bed.
"Look at him Alessia!" he ordered her, but Alessia bent her head down, unable to look at the little boy restlessly lying on the bed. "Look at him!!!" he yelled at her, pressing her but she simply closed her eyes, tears rolling down her face.
"Get your hands off of her!" Angel yelled, grabbing Skip from behind.
Skip barely spun around, a bright light emanating from his hand as he threw Angel across the room, sending him crashing against the closet door. Cordelia rushed to him, making sure he was okay and they both looked up to see Skip forcefully grab Alessia's head with both hands and forcing her to look at Connor.
"I said look at him!!" he forced her. She tried to fight him, but she couldn't. He held her head firmly in his hands and forced her to look at the bawling baby. "Take a long hard look at him Alessia!" he warned through his teeth as the girl watched, in tears.
"Shut up!" She threw back, desperately trying to move her head.
"Look at him and tell me what you see!" he savagely ordered her.
"Stop it…" she pleaded, but he didn't.
Skip jerked her even closer to the bed and forced her to look down at Connor's little body and tearful face.
"Running away will not change his fate!" Skip shouted in her ears, while Angel and Cordelia got up and stood still on the sideline, watching with fearful eyes the scene that took place a few feet away from them. "Look at him Alessia…Do you see the man he will become? Do you see him?!"
"Please stop…" Alessia quietly cried.
"The man who screamed in pain as you watched, helpless….The man who made you promise that you would make this right…" Skip said, his voice shaking against his will. "The man who bled to death in your arms…"
At the sound of those words, Alessia jerked away from his grasp and turned to look at him with a tear-aged face.
"You can stop it now…" she said in a barely audible voice, staring back at him in silent pain.
"If you run, he will become that man. Isn't that what you came here to prevent?" he asked, trying to get his point across.
"What the hell is wrong with you!?!" Cordelia shouted, throwing herself at Skip and shoving him against the wall.
What Skip had just done to Alessia had taken her and Angel by surprise, and most of all, it had confused them.
"Don't you ever touch her again…" Angel warned in a low voice as he stepped between Skip and Cordelia.
Skip stayed silent as the two unlikely parents glared at him, stunned and confused. Skip's undead heart took a beating as he met Alessia's eyes once again. It killed him that he had to be so forceful and so blunt, but he knew that's what needed to be done. And the look in Alessia's eyes told him that she knew he was right. His eyes reverted back to Angel and Cordelia and he stayed silent.
"What is wrong with you…God!" Cordelia repeated, almost disgusted now. "You say that you care about her?! I thought you were on the same side…Why are you doing this?!" Cordelia's stare begged him for answers.
A small tear rolled down Cordy's face as she and Angel stayed facing Skip.
Skip lowered his eyes and then moved away from the spot in which the vampire and the seer had frozen him. He took a few careful steps towards a completely silent Alessia and then look at her.
"Don't you think I know how hard this is?" he asked as the three people in the room just stayed silent. Skip then turned to look at an angry Angel and Cordelia. "She hasn't seen you in years." He spoke, his voice trembling and less dark. "And I know that she came here to do the right thing, and to save you…and to help the Powers That Be. I know that's part of why she's here. But I also that a part of her wanted to come back here because of you." He said, looking back and forth between Alessia and Cordelia. "Because here you are…she can see you, and she can hear your voices…and reach out to you." He said and then turned back to Alessia. "Ally…I know how tempting it is to want to stay here forever. I know how tempting it is to want to just run away with them, but you and I both know that that wouldn't help." He whispered, touching the young woman's cheek. "I know it's difficult to erase the bad, because it also means erasing the good. But you know what you have to do." He whispered again.
Angel once again saw the caring, loving side of Skip as he watched him with Alessia. If he had a heart, it would have stopped beating by then. Angel felt his eyes fill with invisible tears as he stared at Alessia's painful face.
"So what are you saying?" Angel asked, finally founding his voice. "That there's nothing we can do? That we won't change the future?"
"That's not what I said." Skip answered, turning around and walking towards Angel. "Only the PTB can stop the ritual, and that is by destroying the book. The only way to do that is by staying here and fighting." He paused and then looked at the calmer baby in Angel's arms. "You can run away for so long before the past catches up with you…you of all people should know that." He quietly spoke.
"What if we can't prevent the ritual? Then what?" Angel asked, fearing the answer to that.
"Just pray that you do." Skip replied, lowering his eyes.
Cordelia then moved passed Skip, almost elbowing him out of the way as she rushed to Alessia's side. The young girl was silently looking down at the floor as tears rolled down her face. Cordy stopped, not exactly knowing what to do, but before she could even form a thought, Alessia looked up, unable to control her tears now.
Angel watched, holding Connor to his chest, and swallowed back his tears. His hand still clutched one of their bags, and Skip noticed.
"So what is it going to be?" Skip quietly asked, leaving it all up to Angel.
Angel looked down at his son, and then back to Alessia and Cordelia, holding one another in front of the bed, and he closed his eyes.
The bag slipped from his fingers and fell onto the floor.
It's all or nothing.
"I'm sorry…" she cried, holding her breath. "I'm so sorry…"
Cordy felt her heart break as tears sprung from her eyes as well. Without thinking or hesitating, Cordelia wrapped her arms around her daughter as they both sunk to their knees on the floor.
Right then, the front door flew open, allowing Wesley, Fred and Gunn to frantically run in. They had rushed here as soon as they had gotten Lorne's phone call, reassuring them that they were all alive and safe. Or as safe as it was possible to be in a situation like this one. They stood there, speechless, unable to move, as they watched Alessia break down in Cordelia's arms.
--
The night was dark and the sky had lost its stars. The moonlight came in through the living room window, casting dancing shadows on the wall. Not a sound was heard.
Gunn and Fred sat on the floor, Fred's head resting on his shoulder as they slept. Fred's hands rested on a stake while Gunn held a sword in his sleep. On one of the small couches, Lorne recuperated, his eyes closed, a weapon of his own resting on the small table beside him. In a tiny wooden chair, Wesley sat sound asleep as well.
On the larger couch, Alessia laid down, clutching a crossbow to her chest as if her life depended on it. How she had ever fallen asleep was a mystery, but Skip, who stood in the doorway, wide-awake, thanked God that she did.
A tiny whimper was heard from Cordelia's bedroom. There, the young seer sat on her bed, finishing changing Connor, while Angel sat beside her. They seemed to have been pulled into a deep silence for over an hour now. Cordelia took a deep breath and finally allowed herself to speak in a bare whisper.
"You know…maybe…someday…this could be her." She said as Angel looked at her tenderly.
"Maybe…" he whispered back, knowing whom she was referring to.
"Do you think she can feel it?"
"What?"
"The future, beginning to change…" Cordy whispered, turning to look into his deep comforting eyes. "I mean, they just blew up the place where she was supposed to be born and…" her voice trailed off, unable to finish that sentence.
Right at that moment, Angel felt his undead heart sink. In that instant, something inside of him just wanted to take her in his arms and tell her the whole truth. As he looked into Cordy's calm eyes, he got lost into her beauty, into her comfort and her warmth.
"Cordy…" Angel began, taking her hand into his, sitting in front of her. "There's something I need to tell you…" he ventured and then paused, pondering his words. "There's something you need to know about Alessia…her father…"
"Angel…" Cordy said, lowering her eyes for a moment.
"Cordelia, I need to tell you…" he began but she abruptly stopped him, placing a few fingers on his lips.
"Angel, wait! Don't…" she scrunched up her face, as if she wasn't even sure why she was interrupting him. "I mean…" she began but stopped, staring intensely into his dark eyes.
"Don't you want to know?" he asked in a tiny, hesitant whisper.
"Yes!" she exclaimed but quickly changed her mind. "I mean no…yes…I do…but…"
"But you're afraid…" he whispered.
"What if knowing makes it not happen?" She asked him, her eyes boring into his with such intensity as they both paused and stared at one another. "To tell you the truth, I'm a bit scared of who it would turn out to be…but more of who it would turn out not to be." She added in a bare whisper, as she avoided his eyes.
"Cordelia…about last night…" He tried to broach the subject of the kiss but she stopped him once again.
"Let's not…" she quietly spoke. "Not now…" her tone was soft, caring, and evidently tired, and Angel knew that right now was probably not the best time to analyze their midnight kiss.
He nodded and Cordelia carefully lied down beside Connor, watching him sleep. Angel sat there, looking at the two of them for a little while, before beginning to stand up. Suddenly, Cordy's hand gently grabbed his arm, preventing him from standing up.
"Don't go…" she whispered, looking up to him.
Angel took an unnecessary deep breath and sat back down onto the bed. The touch of Cordelia's hand was so warm and so tender that he felt himself relax immediately. Without saying a word, she gently tugged on his arm, and Angel lay down on the bed beside her. Never letting go of his hand, she brought his arm around her and held his hand to her chest as he held her, hugging her back against his chest.
Clutching his hand to her, she closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. A crossbow safely rested on the nightstand, just in case.
It couldn't' hurt to be prepared.
And as Connor finally drifted to sleep, so did Angel and Cordy, still holding one another.