Part Nine
It was a beautiful California day - too beautiful to waste by sitting
inside and moping. Ron was in school and Lindsey was meeting with his
agent. Willow hadn't enjoyed a California day in years so she decided
to go for a walk. She walked through the park that was close to their
house and watched the younger children play under the eagle eyes of
their mothers and babysitters. It was nice to finally have a permanent
home and friends. She and Cordelia had gone shopping a few times and
she and Ron had stopped by the Hyperion to visit with her, Angel, and
Connor without Lindsey. She had spoken to Xander on the phone every
night since their impromptu reunion and he and Anya would be bringing
their kids to L. A. for a visit the next weekend. Things were going
great with two exceptions - she hadn't talked to Buffy again and she
hadn't heard from Dawn at all. Willow sighed. Now she was moping in
the sunshine. She turned back toward home. If anything she could get
some work done on a neural net security program she was working on. It
was for more unconventional businesses and incorporated several spells
to protect a user from psychic hackers or demons that would use the net
to possess people. She hoped to test it out at Angel Investigations,
but hadn't asked yet.
"Willow!" a happy, excited female voice yelled as Willow neared her
house. Sitting on her front step was Buffy and a lovely young woman
who could only be Dawn. The fourteen year old girl in Willow's memory
suddenly became a twenty-five year old woman in seconds. "Willow!"
Dawn called again. She stood up and waved before running down the walk
and engulfing Willow in a hard hug. "I missed you so much."
"I missed you too, Dawnie." Willow hugged her back. She looked over
Dawn's shoulder at Buffy. She wasn't wearing her wary Slayer look, but
rather simply a guarded, closed expression that showed very little
emotion. Willow wasn't certain why Buffy had turned up on her doorstep
after she had made it clear that she was disgusted by her and her son
and didn't trust her. Willow stepped away from Dawn. "I'm so sorry
for what I did to you and I'm sorry if you spent all these years afraid
of me. I was young and stupid and in way over my head, but I've
learned how to control myself and my magic. I don't want to hurt you."
"Then don't leave again." Dawn smiled brilliantly. She wiped at her
tears. "I'm sorry you felt like you had to leave in the first place.
I wasn't really mad at you, not really. Don't do it again, okay?"
"Okay." Willow felt tears prickle at her eyes and blinked them back.
She hugged Dawn again. "You're all grown up."
"Yeah. I'm getting married." Dawn broke the embrace this time to
show Willow her engagement ring. "I can't wait to meet your husband
and son and for you to meet Andy. We'll have to come back to the city
and have lunch some time. Right now I have to go meet Andy's mother
and talk wedding plans." Another quick hug and then Dawn sprinted to
her car. "Bye, Willow. Buffy, I'll pick you up in a couple of hours."
She drove off with a wave much to her older sister's apparent shock.
An uncomfortable silence settled between the former best friends.
Willow stepped up to her front door to unlock it as Buffy stood up
awkwardly. "Shouldn't you have gone with her to help plan the
wedding?" Willow stepped into her house. She didn't invite Buffy in
nor did she close the door.
"I was supposed to, but I guess Dawn had other plans." Buffy stood on
the front step. She still didn't know what to say to Willow and could
curse her younger sister for interfering. "I'm sorry you felt you had
to leave too. No matter what was going on, I would have protected you
and your son."
"I wasn't so sure about that, Buffy. Maybe I would have been if my
friends had believed in me in the first place." Willow felt sour
bitterness rise up in the back of her throat with her words. Her fists
clenched. She wasn't a shy, uncertain girl eager to please anymore.
"One mistake. I made one mistake and you wrote me off as evil. You
gave Faith more chances than that."
"It was more than once." Buffy hung her head. She didn't want to do
this. It would be so much easier to not do this. "I was in Heaven.
Heaven, Willow. I had done my duty and I was at peace. You pulled me
back into this mess because you were scared."
"I was afraid you were in Hell. You jumped into that vortex without
telling any of us what you were going to do. We didn't have time to
research. All we knew was that Glory was a Hell Goddess and that was
her ride home. I'm sorry, Buffy, I'm sorry I took you out of Heaven,
but I didn't know!"
"I know. It's just...I had finally fulfilled my duty as the Slayer.
I thought that maybe I would be given a normal life as a reward, but
I didn't get that chance because I had to claw my way out of my own
grave. A part of me hated you for that and an even bigger part of me
hated myself for feeling that way. When Rack said you were addicted
to black magic and turning evil, it justified my feelings and I didn't
hate myself so much anymore."
"I'm so glad for you." Willow glared. She stopped herself from
slamming the door in Buffy's face. Things wouldn't get resolved that
way and they needed a resolution - for better or worse. "I wish there
was something that could help me forgive myself for what I did. Do
you think that I just walked away from that unscathed? That I didn't
care about what I had done to my best friend? God, Buffy, do you think
that you're the only person who has feelings? You wouldn't talk about
it. I knew that you hated me, but you wouldn't talk about it. You
just kept saying that everything was fine, but it wasn't fine. You
didn't want to be alive."
"I'm sorry. We should have talked. Maybe if we had then you wouldn't
have turned to Amy for company and then you wouldn't have even met
Rack."
"What I got from Rack had nothing to do with you, Buffy. He made me
feel powerful and special and confident. When I was doing a spell,
a really powerful spell, it was like no one could touch me and the
magic that Rack gave me was ten times stronger. It was better than the
power that surged through me when I did your resurrection spell. Tara
was right about me having to learn not to be dependant on magic, but
the answer wasn't to give it up entirely. I had to learn to like
myself for who I am and then magic just became a part of me and my
life instead of being my life."
"Good. I always knew you were special. I'm sorry I was such a bitch
the other day. I was afraid that you had come back to hurt us. If you
were evil, I couldn't kill you, Willow. I love you." Buffy sighed.
"Is this over now? Can we stop saying nasty things to each other and
be friends again?" Buffy looked hopefully at Willow. The anger and
resentment that she had felt for years toward her best friend was gone
and in its place was only relief that she was okay and happy. There
was still a lot that they had to talk about, but Buffy needed to know
that Willow was going to be her friend at the end of it.
"I hope so. I love you too, Buffy." Willow let her tears fall and
from the sound of Buffy's sniffles, she was doing the same. She
reached out and they hugged and cried on each other's shoulder. Willow
felt the last missing piece of her life restored like the final color
on a paint-by-numbers as her friendship with Buffy started to mend.
She smiled through her tears. "Come in, let's have some coffee and
catch up. I can't believe little Dawn is getting married."
"Me either. He's a nice guy, though. Took the whole vampire slayer
sister/key to the universe thing well." Buffy followed Willow into
the kitchen. On the way she noticed pictures of Ron at various ages
and pictures of Willow with her husband as well as family pictures of
the three of them. She had missed so much of her best friend's life.
"Spike hates him, but we don't pay attention to that - he's just
overprotective."
"He always was. So, are you and Spike...together?" Willow wasn't sure
if it was her place to ask that question, but there was so much that
she didn't know about Buffy's life. She thought she had picked up a
vibe between the two of them at Angel's and Spike had been in love with
Buffy when she had left.
"He has a soul." Buffy settled herself at the kitchen table. She just
realized that she had been dying to talk to Willow about Spike and Dawn
and so many things. And there was so much that she wanted to know
about - Lindsey, Ron, and how Willow had felt when she had seen Tara
again. It was going to be a nice, long chat. One long overdue.
*****
If you looked at it just on the surface, it wasn't that scary. Just a
long table with high partitions that gave an illusion of privacy. It
was like a bank of payphones or study cubicles at the university
library. That's what Phoebe told herself as she nervously settled
herself down into the metal chair the prison guard had directed her
to. She didn't have to wait long before another guard on the other
side of the bullet proof glass brought Cole in. She picked up the
phone and watched as Cole did the same.
"Hi." Phoebe quickly scanned over as much as Cole as she could see.
He had refused to see her and had spent the last four days in jail. He
looked okay - tired, sad, unshaven, and a bit thinner - but okay.
"Hi." Cole ran a hand through his hair and smiled sheepishly. "I'm
going to be in a here a while longer. I couldn't tell you before, but
I'm involved in an investigation of the judge who put me in here. I
can't apologize to the bastard even if I wanted to."
"So, you didn't think to warn me about this before you did it? I
thought that you would rather stay in jail then come home with me.
That you didn't want to see me. Have things gotten that bad between
us?"
"No. Yes." Cole sighed. He hated the horrible sadness in Phoebe's
eyes. He hated that he was the cause of it. It was his past as a
demon that had her so wary of committing to him. He wished he could be
happy with what they had, but he wanted what Piper and Leo had. He
wanted a wife and children. "I think we need the time apart. I love
you, Phoebe, and I know what I want...."
"I want to marry you," Phoebe interrupted. "I love you and you're
right, we should take the next step. I've been stupid and paranoid
all these years."
"Phoebe, I'm not staying in jail to blackmail you into accepting my
marriage proposal."
"I know." Phoebe leaned closer to the glass separating them. "I'm
just giving you advance warning. When you do get out of here, buster,
I expect one hell of a romantic proposal. After all, you should have
plenty of time to plan."
"You're right about that." Cole grinned. He reached out, but his
fingers bumped up against the glass. "Tell Pandora I'm sorry that I'll
miss her first parent/teacher night. Is she nervous?"
"Yes, but like everything else in her life, not for the normal
reasons." Phoebe took a deep breath. She didn't want to worry Cole,
especially since he couldn't do anything from his jail cell, but she
also didn't want to lie. "She and her friends suspect her teacher of
either being a demon or working for demons. It seems that Pan's new
friends have something in common with her. They think the teacher
might want to hurt Connor Chase. Apparently his father is a vampire
with a soul who works for the Powers That Be. At the parent/teacher
night I'm going to see if I can get a premonition from Ms. Foster."
"Wow. So, Pan knows Angelus' son. How tightly wound is Piper these
days?"
"Actually, she took the news quite calmly and is acting rationally
about it. Paige and I are worried about her." Phoebe frowned. "You
know this vampire? Leo said the Elders had no information about a
vampire with a soul."
"No, they wouldn't. He would have been beneath their notice - not
enough power - but was quite a legend in the Underworld." Cole smiled
wistfully. "In fact, he was kind of my inspiration. The Scourge of
Europe giving up his evil ways because he regained his soul. I have a
soul, I just didn't know how to use it until I met you and fell in
love."
"Ah, my fiancee-to-be, the sweet-talking jailbird." Phoebe leaned
forward, but stopped a few inches from the glass and kissed the air.
This was a prison and despite its clarity, who knew what was on that
glass. "Keep singing, stoolie. What else do you know about Angelus
the vampire? Did he regain his soul by falling in love with an
irresistible witch?"
"No. He killed a favorite daughter of a Romany gypsy clan and they
cursed him with a soul as revenge. The Source was furious, he was
considering making Angelus a higher level demon. Last I heard he was
in love with a Vampire Slayer. Is she the mother of his kid?"
"No, Pan said she was a vampire too and apparently not a good one. I
don't know what happened to her, Connor is being raised by his father
and a half-demon Seer stepmother."
Cole raised his eyebrows. "How the hell did two vampires have a
child?"
"I don't think even they know." Phoebe shrugged. She raised her eyes
to the ceiling. "They probably have plans for Angelus too now that
he's on our side."
"So, we're sure he's on our side?" Cole frowned. He didn't like being
in here now - not when Phoebe and his family were in danger - but if he
left he risked blowing the investigation of Judge Carlson. He had
heard about the things the vampire Angelus had done. They were
horrific enough to earn the esteem of the Source.
"Only Connor knows that we're witches right now. We'll tell his father
once we meet him at the parent/teacher night and let him know what I
get from Ms. Foster, if I get anything." Phoebe smiled reassuringly.
"If it helps, Pan seems to think that Connor is good. In fact, I'm
pretty sure she thinks he's great."
"Great. My niece's first crush and it's on the son of the Scourge of
Europe. Looks like she's a Halliwell in more ways than just magic."
"Excuse me, but not all Halliwells are attracted to former bad boys.
Look at Piper - Leo is an angel and a pacifist."
"We'll see about that when Pan turns sixteen." Cole grinned. "You be
careful and take care of yourself. I love you, Phoebe."
"I love you too."
*****
Paige stood at the front door of the Hyperion, uncertain as to whether
she should knock or just go in. It was a place of business, but it was
also a home. She looked down at Pandora who just shrugged in response.
Paige straightened her shoulders and gave the door a quick rap before
ushering her niece inside. "Hello," she called out.
"Hey," Gunn greeted them with a smile as he entered the lobby. "Uh,
Angel and Cordelia left for the parent/teacher thing already."
"Oh, yeah, I know. Piper and Leo should be there too." Paige smoothed
her hair before tossing it over her shoulder. Her sisters had teased
her mercilessly, but Paige still thought it was a good idea for her to
stay with Gunn and the kids just in case something happened while
everyone else was occupied at the parent/teacher night. And if nothing
happened then she still got to spend the evening with a very hot guy.
"I thought you might need some help with the kids."
Gunn's grin broadened. "Sure, that's great. Connor and Ron are in the
kitchen. We were making popcorn for the movie."
"Sounds like fun. Right, Pan?" Paige smiled at Gunn.
"Yeah, lot's of fun." Pandora gave her aunt and Gunn a weak smile
and followed them into the kitchen. She couldn't stop thinking about
her parents, Aunt Phoebe, and Ms. Foster. She wasn't sure if she
wanted her aunt to get a premonition from the teacher or not. If she
did, then Ms. Foster was evil and planning on hurting Connor. If she
didn't, then this bad feeling that Pan had been getting for the past
couple of weeks came from someone else who wanted to hurt her friend -
someone unknown.
*****
For someone who had once claimed to know only two ways of dealing with
people - bite and avoid - Angel was enjoying himself in a room full of
them. It was just amazing to him to be around other parents and be
accepted as one of them. There had been a brief introduction where the
teacher, Ms. Foster, had talked generally about the class and the
progress of the students. She had then invited them to enjoy the
refreshments and get to know one another or approach her with any
specific questions or concerns about their children. Angel sipped his
punch and grinned. He hadn't talked to Connor's teacher yet. He
wasn't exactly sure what to ask. It would probably be strange to
enquire if any demons or evil lawyers had visited the classroom.
Willow laughed softly beside him. "This is surreal," she commented.
"I never thought that I would be attending a parent/teacher night with
you of all people."
"Neither did I, but it's nice." Angel glanced over to Lindsey and
Cordelia who were lingering at the refreshment table. "So, how are
things?"
"Great." Willow beamed. "Buffy and I made up. We still have a lot of
things to work out, but we're talking and being friendly. She and
Dawn are coming in to the city next weekend and they asked me to have
lunch with them and help with some wedding shopping. Cordy's coming
too."
"I know, she told me. It is great." Angel smiled in return. He was
glad that Willow and Buffy were straightening things out and were on
the road to becoming friends again. Willow was going to need all of
her friends at her side when Wolfram and Hart decided it was time to
lure Lindsey back into the fold or when Rack returned for his son.
Angel's gaze flickered back to Lindsey and Cordelia. He hoped that the
Powers would see fit to warn them if Lindsey switched teams again.
"Your vampire keeps staring at me," Lindsey hissed at Cordelia.
"He's not mine, Angel and I have raised Connor as friends. And he
doesn't trust you." Cordelia nibbled on a shortbread cookie covered in
orange icing. She was nervous. She knew how to work the room as the
most popular girl in school, as a cheerleader at a football game, or as
an aspiring actress. She had no idea how to socialize as a parent.
She and Angel had been more or less alone - save their friends - as
parents. There had been no PTA meetings or play dates where they had
discussed Connor's development with other parents. Given the fact that
he was the child of two vampires, Connor's development had been odd at
times and it was doubtful that any other parents would understand some
of the problems they had encountered anyway. Cordelia just didn't want
to say the wrong thing - like mention the time that Connor had decided
to make his mommy a really pretty present when he was four and had
broken Angel's favorite broadsword and twisted the hilt into the shape
of a crude heart. "Do you think they know? Do you think the other
parents think we're strange or sense that we're different?"
"I doubt it." Lindsey shrugged. He eyed Angel, who was bending down
slightly to hear something Willow was saying to him. He would rather
the vampire stared at him then listen so attentively to his wife. "We
all look perfectly normal, so everyone will assume that we are
perfectly normal."
"Good. Let's go rejoin Angel and Willow. Then he can stare at you up
close and personal." Cordelia smirked over her shoulder at Lindsey as
she moved toward her friends.
Lindsey took a hold of Cordelia's arm and stopped her. "What's his
deal? I know he hates that Willow is my wife and I would understand
the level of his animosity if I had married the Slayer, but he barely
knew Willow. She was just his ex's best friend."
Actually it was a question that Cordelia had asked herself. She had
noticed Angel's long, unexplained absences and had surmised that he was
in protective stalker mode, but was confused as to why he thought
Lindsey was so bad for Willow. They obviously had a very happy
marriage and it did look like Lindsey's evil past was behind him, but
Cordelia wasn't about to tell Lindsey that and take his side. "Look,
ex-evil flunky, they may not have gossiped over the phone every week
about their favorite soap opera after he left Sunnydale, but Angel and
Willow are friends. He cares about her. Willow restored his soul and
when you worked for Wolfram and Hart, you did everything in your power
to take it away. Angel doesn't believe that you love Willow and I
don't blame him. Just know this, if you hurt her, he will kill you."
It was a beautiful California day - too beautiful to waste by sitting
inside and moping. Ron was in school and Lindsey was meeting with his
agent. Willow hadn't enjoyed a California day in years so she decided
to go for a walk. She walked through the park that was close to their
house and watched the younger children play under the eagle eyes of
their mothers and babysitters. It was nice to finally have a permanent
home and friends. She and Cordelia had gone shopping a few times and
she and Ron had stopped by the Hyperion to visit with her, Angel, and
Connor without Lindsey. She had spoken to Xander on the phone every
night since their impromptu reunion and he and Anya would be bringing
their kids to L. A. for a visit the next weekend. Things were going
great with two exceptions - she hadn't talked to Buffy again and she
hadn't heard from Dawn at all. Willow sighed. Now she was moping in
the sunshine. She turned back toward home. If anything she could get
some work done on a neural net security program she was working on. It
was for more unconventional businesses and incorporated several spells
to protect a user from psychic hackers or demons that would use the net
to possess people. She hoped to test it out at Angel Investigations,
but hadn't asked yet.
"Willow!" a happy, excited female voice yelled as Willow neared her
house. Sitting on her front step was Buffy and a lovely young woman
who could only be Dawn. The fourteen year old girl in Willow's memory
suddenly became a twenty-five year old woman in seconds. "Willow!"
Dawn called again. She stood up and waved before running down the walk
and engulfing Willow in a hard hug. "I missed you so much."
"I missed you too, Dawnie." Willow hugged her back. She looked over
Dawn's shoulder at Buffy. She wasn't wearing her wary Slayer look, but
rather simply a guarded, closed expression that showed very little
emotion. Willow wasn't certain why Buffy had turned up on her doorstep
after she had made it clear that she was disgusted by her and her son
and didn't trust her. Willow stepped away from Dawn. "I'm so sorry
for what I did to you and I'm sorry if you spent all these years afraid
of me. I was young and stupid and in way over my head, but I've
learned how to control myself and my magic. I don't want to hurt you."
"Then don't leave again." Dawn smiled brilliantly. She wiped at her
tears. "I'm sorry you felt like you had to leave in the first place.
I wasn't really mad at you, not really. Don't do it again, okay?"
"Okay." Willow felt tears prickle at her eyes and blinked them back.
She hugged Dawn again. "You're all grown up."
"Yeah. I'm getting married." Dawn broke the embrace this time to
show Willow her engagement ring. "I can't wait to meet your husband
and son and for you to meet Andy. We'll have to come back to the city
and have lunch some time. Right now I have to go meet Andy's mother
and talk wedding plans." Another quick hug and then Dawn sprinted to
her car. "Bye, Willow. Buffy, I'll pick you up in a couple of hours."
She drove off with a wave much to her older sister's apparent shock.
An uncomfortable silence settled between the former best friends.
Willow stepped up to her front door to unlock it as Buffy stood up
awkwardly. "Shouldn't you have gone with her to help plan the
wedding?" Willow stepped into her house. She didn't invite Buffy in
nor did she close the door.
"I was supposed to, but I guess Dawn had other plans." Buffy stood on
the front step. She still didn't know what to say to Willow and could
curse her younger sister for interfering. "I'm sorry you felt you had
to leave too. No matter what was going on, I would have protected you
and your son."
"I wasn't so sure about that, Buffy. Maybe I would have been if my
friends had believed in me in the first place." Willow felt sour
bitterness rise up in the back of her throat with her words. Her fists
clenched. She wasn't a shy, uncertain girl eager to please anymore.
"One mistake. I made one mistake and you wrote me off as evil. You
gave Faith more chances than that."
"It was more than once." Buffy hung her head. She didn't want to do
this. It would be so much easier to not do this. "I was in Heaven.
Heaven, Willow. I had done my duty and I was at peace. You pulled me
back into this mess because you were scared."
"I was afraid you were in Hell. You jumped into that vortex without
telling any of us what you were going to do. We didn't have time to
research. All we knew was that Glory was a Hell Goddess and that was
her ride home. I'm sorry, Buffy, I'm sorry I took you out of Heaven,
but I didn't know!"
"I know. It's just...I had finally fulfilled my duty as the Slayer.
I thought that maybe I would be given a normal life as a reward, but
I didn't get that chance because I had to claw my way out of my own
grave. A part of me hated you for that and an even bigger part of me
hated myself for feeling that way. When Rack said you were addicted
to black magic and turning evil, it justified my feelings and I didn't
hate myself so much anymore."
"I'm so glad for you." Willow glared. She stopped herself from
slamming the door in Buffy's face. Things wouldn't get resolved that
way and they needed a resolution - for better or worse. "I wish there
was something that could help me forgive myself for what I did. Do
you think that I just walked away from that unscathed? That I didn't
care about what I had done to my best friend? God, Buffy, do you think
that you're the only person who has feelings? You wouldn't talk about
it. I knew that you hated me, but you wouldn't talk about it. You
just kept saying that everything was fine, but it wasn't fine. You
didn't want to be alive."
"I'm sorry. We should have talked. Maybe if we had then you wouldn't
have turned to Amy for company and then you wouldn't have even met
Rack."
"What I got from Rack had nothing to do with you, Buffy. He made me
feel powerful and special and confident. When I was doing a spell,
a really powerful spell, it was like no one could touch me and the
magic that Rack gave me was ten times stronger. It was better than the
power that surged through me when I did your resurrection spell. Tara
was right about me having to learn not to be dependant on magic, but
the answer wasn't to give it up entirely. I had to learn to like
myself for who I am and then magic just became a part of me and my
life instead of being my life."
"Good. I always knew you were special. I'm sorry I was such a bitch
the other day. I was afraid that you had come back to hurt us. If you
were evil, I couldn't kill you, Willow. I love you." Buffy sighed.
"Is this over now? Can we stop saying nasty things to each other and
be friends again?" Buffy looked hopefully at Willow. The anger and
resentment that she had felt for years toward her best friend was gone
and in its place was only relief that she was okay and happy. There
was still a lot that they had to talk about, but Buffy needed to know
that Willow was going to be her friend at the end of it.
"I hope so. I love you too, Buffy." Willow let her tears fall and
from the sound of Buffy's sniffles, she was doing the same. She
reached out and they hugged and cried on each other's shoulder. Willow
felt the last missing piece of her life restored like the final color
on a paint-by-numbers as her friendship with Buffy started to mend.
She smiled through her tears. "Come in, let's have some coffee and
catch up. I can't believe little Dawn is getting married."
"Me either. He's a nice guy, though. Took the whole vampire slayer
sister/key to the universe thing well." Buffy followed Willow into
the kitchen. On the way she noticed pictures of Ron at various ages
and pictures of Willow with her husband as well as family pictures of
the three of them. She had missed so much of her best friend's life.
"Spike hates him, but we don't pay attention to that - he's just
overprotective."
"He always was. So, are you and Spike...together?" Willow wasn't sure
if it was her place to ask that question, but there was so much that
she didn't know about Buffy's life. She thought she had picked up a
vibe between the two of them at Angel's and Spike had been in love with
Buffy when she had left.
"He has a soul." Buffy settled herself at the kitchen table. She just
realized that she had been dying to talk to Willow about Spike and Dawn
and so many things. And there was so much that she wanted to know
about - Lindsey, Ron, and how Willow had felt when she had seen Tara
again. It was going to be a nice, long chat. One long overdue.
*****
If you looked at it just on the surface, it wasn't that scary. Just a
long table with high partitions that gave an illusion of privacy. It
was like a bank of payphones or study cubicles at the university
library. That's what Phoebe told herself as she nervously settled
herself down into the metal chair the prison guard had directed her
to. She didn't have to wait long before another guard on the other
side of the bullet proof glass brought Cole in. She picked up the
phone and watched as Cole did the same.
"Hi." Phoebe quickly scanned over as much as Cole as she could see.
He had refused to see her and had spent the last four days in jail. He
looked okay - tired, sad, unshaven, and a bit thinner - but okay.
"Hi." Cole ran a hand through his hair and smiled sheepishly. "I'm
going to be in a here a while longer. I couldn't tell you before, but
I'm involved in an investigation of the judge who put me in here. I
can't apologize to the bastard even if I wanted to."
"So, you didn't think to warn me about this before you did it? I
thought that you would rather stay in jail then come home with me.
That you didn't want to see me. Have things gotten that bad between
us?"
"No. Yes." Cole sighed. He hated the horrible sadness in Phoebe's
eyes. He hated that he was the cause of it. It was his past as a
demon that had her so wary of committing to him. He wished he could be
happy with what they had, but he wanted what Piper and Leo had. He
wanted a wife and children. "I think we need the time apart. I love
you, Phoebe, and I know what I want...."
"I want to marry you," Phoebe interrupted. "I love you and you're
right, we should take the next step. I've been stupid and paranoid
all these years."
"Phoebe, I'm not staying in jail to blackmail you into accepting my
marriage proposal."
"I know." Phoebe leaned closer to the glass separating them. "I'm
just giving you advance warning. When you do get out of here, buster,
I expect one hell of a romantic proposal. After all, you should have
plenty of time to plan."
"You're right about that." Cole grinned. He reached out, but his
fingers bumped up against the glass. "Tell Pandora I'm sorry that I'll
miss her first parent/teacher night. Is she nervous?"
"Yes, but like everything else in her life, not for the normal
reasons." Phoebe took a deep breath. She didn't want to worry Cole,
especially since he couldn't do anything from his jail cell, but she
also didn't want to lie. "She and her friends suspect her teacher of
either being a demon or working for demons. It seems that Pan's new
friends have something in common with her. They think the teacher
might want to hurt Connor Chase. Apparently his father is a vampire
with a soul who works for the Powers That Be. At the parent/teacher
night I'm going to see if I can get a premonition from Ms. Foster."
"Wow. So, Pan knows Angelus' son. How tightly wound is Piper these
days?"
"Actually, she took the news quite calmly and is acting rationally
about it. Paige and I are worried about her." Phoebe frowned. "You
know this vampire? Leo said the Elders had no information about a
vampire with a soul."
"No, they wouldn't. He would have been beneath their notice - not
enough power - but was quite a legend in the Underworld." Cole smiled
wistfully. "In fact, he was kind of my inspiration. The Scourge of
Europe giving up his evil ways because he regained his soul. I have a
soul, I just didn't know how to use it until I met you and fell in
love."
"Ah, my fiancee-to-be, the sweet-talking jailbird." Phoebe leaned
forward, but stopped a few inches from the glass and kissed the air.
This was a prison and despite its clarity, who knew what was on that
glass. "Keep singing, stoolie. What else do you know about Angelus
the vampire? Did he regain his soul by falling in love with an
irresistible witch?"
"No. He killed a favorite daughter of a Romany gypsy clan and they
cursed him with a soul as revenge. The Source was furious, he was
considering making Angelus a higher level demon. Last I heard he was
in love with a Vampire Slayer. Is she the mother of his kid?"
"No, Pan said she was a vampire too and apparently not a good one. I
don't know what happened to her, Connor is being raised by his father
and a half-demon Seer stepmother."
Cole raised his eyebrows. "How the hell did two vampires have a
child?"
"I don't think even they know." Phoebe shrugged. She raised her eyes
to the ceiling. "They probably have plans for Angelus too now that
he's on our side."
"So, we're sure he's on our side?" Cole frowned. He didn't like being
in here now - not when Phoebe and his family were in danger - but if he
left he risked blowing the investigation of Judge Carlson. He had
heard about the things the vampire Angelus had done. They were
horrific enough to earn the esteem of the Source.
"Only Connor knows that we're witches right now. We'll tell his father
once we meet him at the parent/teacher night and let him know what I
get from Ms. Foster, if I get anything." Phoebe smiled reassuringly.
"If it helps, Pan seems to think that Connor is good. In fact, I'm
pretty sure she thinks he's great."
"Great. My niece's first crush and it's on the son of the Scourge of
Europe. Looks like she's a Halliwell in more ways than just magic."
"Excuse me, but not all Halliwells are attracted to former bad boys.
Look at Piper - Leo is an angel and a pacifist."
"We'll see about that when Pan turns sixteen." Cole grinned. "You be
careful and take care of yourself. I love you, Phoebe."
"I love you too."
*****
Paige stood at the front door of the Hyperion, uncertain as to whether
she should knock or just go in. It was a place of business, but it was
also a home. She looked down at Pandora who just shrugged in response.
Paige straightened her shoulders and gave the door a quick rap before
ushering her niece inside. "Hello," she called out.
"Hey," Gunn greeted them with a smile as he entered the lobby. "Uh,
Angel and Cordelia left for the parent/teacher thing already."
"Oh, yeah, I know. Piper and Leo should be there too." Paige smoothed
her hair before tossing it over her shoulder. Her sisters had teased
her mercilessly, but Paige still thought it was a good idea for her to
stay with Gunn and the kids just in case something happened while
everyone else was occupied at the parent/teacher night. And if nothing
happened then she still got to spend the evening with a very hot guy.
"I thought you might need some help with the kids."
Gunn's grin broadened. "Sure, that's great. Connor and Ron are in the
kitchen. We were making popcorn for the movie."
"Sounds like fun. Right, Pan?" Paige smiled at Gunn.
"Yeah, lot's of fun." Pandora gave her aunt and Gunn a weak smile
and followed them into the kitchen. She couldn't stop thinking about
her parents, Aunt Phoebe, and Ms. Foster. She wasn't sure if she
wanted her aunt to get a premonition from the teacher or not. If she
did, then Ms. Foster was evil and planning on hurting Connor. If she
didn't, then this bad feeling that Pan had been getting for the past
couple of weeks came from someone else who wanted to hurt her friend -
someone unknown.
*****
For someone who had once claimed to know only two ways of dealing with
people - bite and avoid - Angel was enjoying himself in a room full of
them. It was just amazing to him to be around other parents and be
accepted as one of them. There had been a brief introduction where the
teacher, Ms. Foster, had talked generally about the class and the
progress of the students. She had then invited them to enjoy the
refreshments and get to know one another or approach her with any
specific questions or concerns about their children. Angel sipped his
punch and grinned. He hadn't talked to Connor's teacher yet. He
wasn't exactly sure what to ask. It would probably be strange to
enquire if any demons or evil lawyers had visited the classroom.
Willow laughed softly beside him. "This is surreal," she commented.
"I never thought that I would be attending a parent/teacher night with
you of all people."
"Neither did I, but it's nice." Angel glanced over to Lindsey and
Cordelia who were lingering at the refreshment table. "So, how are
things?"
"Great." Willow beamed. "Buffy and I made up. We still have a lot of
things to work out, but we're talking and being friendly. She and
Dawn are coming in to the city next weekend and they asked me to have
lunch with them and help with some wedding shopping. Cordy's coming
too."
"I know, she told me. It is great." Angel smiled in return. He was
glad that Willow and Buffy were straightening things out and were on
the road to becoming friends again. Willow was going to need all of
her friends at her side when Wolfram and Hart decided it was time to
lure Lindsey back into the fold or when Rack returned for his son.
Angel's gaze flickered back to Lindsey and Cordelia. He hoped that the
Powers would see fit to warn them if Lindsey switched teams again.
"Your vampire keeps staring at me," Lindsey hissed at Cordelia.
"He's not mine, Angel and I have raised Connor as friends. And he
doesn't trust you." Cordelia nibbled on a shortbread cookie covered in
orange icing. She was nervous. She knew how to work the room as the
most popular girl in school, as a cheerleader at a football game, or as
an aspiring actress. She had no idea how to socialize as a parent.
She and Angel had been more or less alone - save their friends - as
parents. There had been no PTA meetings or play dates where they had
discussed Connor's development with other parents. Given the fact that
he was the child of two vampires, Connor's development had been odd at
times and it was doubtful that any other parents would understand some
of the problems they had encountered anyway. Cordelia just didn't want
to say the wrong thing - like mention the time that Connor had decided
to make his mommy a really pretty present when he was four and had
broken Angel's favorite broadsword and twisted the hilt into the shape
of a crude heart. "Do you think they know? Do you think the other
parents think we're strange or sense that we're different?"
"I doubt it." Lindsey shrugged. He eyed Angel, who was bending down
slightly to hear something Willow was saying to him. He would rather
the vampire stared at him then listen so attentively to his wife. "We
all look perfectly normal, so everyone will assume that we are
perfectly normal."
"Good. Let's go rejoin Angel and Willow. Then he can stare at you up
close and personal." Cordelia smirked over her shoulder at Lindsey as
she moved toward her friends.
Lindsey took a hold of Cordelia's arm and stopped her. "What's his
deal? I know he hates that Willow is my wife and I would understand
the level of his animosity if I had married the Slayer, but he barely
knew Willow. She was just his ex's best friend."
Actually it was a question that Cordelia had asked herself. She had
noticed Angel's long, unexplained absences and had surmised that he was
in protective stalker mode, but was confused as to why he thought
Lindsey was so bad for Willow. They obviously had a very happy
marriage and it did look like Lindsey's evil past was behind him, but
Cordelia wasn't about to tell Lindsey that and take his side. "Look,
ex-evil flunky, they may not have gossiped over the phone every week
about their favorite soap opera after he left Sunnydale, but Angel and
Willow are friends. He cares about her. Willow restored his soul and
when you worked for Wolfram and Hart, you did everything in your power
to take it away. Angel doesn't believe that you love Willow and I
don't blame him. Just know this, if you hurt her, he will kill you."