Chapter Five

Cordelia rushed into the hospital reception and looked frantically around for any sign of Gunn. She had got his message shortly after she'd got out of the bath and had rushed over as quickly as possible. She walked over to the reception desk and asked for any news on Wesley, she was directed to an open door half way up the corridor and she couldn't help but run a little. As she walked through the doorway, Wesley was sitting up in bed with his fractured arm in a sling and his bruised ribs heavily bandaged, Gunn sat beside his bed in silence.

"What happened?" she sighed as she walked over to the side of the bed.

"Well, Fred broke my arm when she threw me through the hotel window," started Wesley ignoring the look of horror on Cordelia's face. "She kicked me across the room which is when I bruised my ribs and I probably would've died if Gunn hadn't shot at her,"

"What was she doing there?" asked Cordelia abruptly, ignoring the gravity of the situation for the time being.

"She was looking for Angel, she didn't say why. She kept calling him her father and talking about him like she needed to see him urgently,"

"Thank God you were there, Gunn," she sighed, placing a comforting hand on Gunn's shoulder. He nodded in acknowledgement but remained silent; Cordelia was used to his stoicism in moments like this. "What now?"

"I don't know. Angel was out when I got back so he's obviously looking for her, I guess it depends on who finds who first," said Wesley. Cordelia nodded, she was pleased that despite his injuries, Wesley was looking healthy and relatively composed.

"But where can he be? I mean, he couldn't have been out for long, it was only just dusk when you left me at the house," babbled Cordelia. Wesley nodded but had no answers for her; he didn't know where Angel was. All he could do was hope that Fred hadn't found him and played on his weaknesses to take him back to the darker side of his nature.

"Well, this little family reunion just warms my heart. How 'bout a drink for my two favourite vamps?" smiled The Host, grabbing two glasses from behind the bar. Angel nodded and sat down next to Fred, she couldn't stop grinning to herself, finding Angel had been far too easy.

"So, why have you been looking for me?" asked Angel, accepting a glass of whisky from The Host and pushing Fred's glass towards her.

"I would've thought that was obvious. I want us to be together, I mean, if you stay with that pathetic lot at the hotel then who's gonna teach me all the vamp stuff?"

"Looks as though you're doing okay on your own,"

"Yeah, but you know it's much more fun when you got someone to play with," she laughed; Angel smiled and nodded in agreement. He remembered how much fun and laughter he had shared with Darla hundreds of years before. "So I was just thinkin' that me and you should get together and start wreaking havoc like the old days, you know how much you enjoyed all those bad things you did,"

"What makes you think that I would go back to that? I still have a soul, Fred, it's not like I could just ignore the pain and guilt of killing innocent people,"

"Innocent? Have you met half the miscreants that this city has to offer? Evil-doers taste so much better and you know it,"

"Don't you feel anything at all?" asked Angel, downing his glass and motioning to Fred to drink hers. Fred picked it up and downed it, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand and smiling up at her father.

"Is this because I can't feel guilty?" frowned Fred. "I feel better things like excitement and pleasure, isn't that better than fear and remorse?"

Angel remained silent but kept his eyes on Fred, her hand went to her throat and she started to cough. He glanced at The Host who winked at him and handed him a glass of water, Angel pushed it towards Fred.

"Are you kidding me?" coughed Fred. "Have you not got no blood back there?"

The Host opened the fridge and threw a plastic blood bag to Fred; she tore into it with her teeth and emptied it down her throat. She stopped coughing and sighed loudly, still rubbing at her throat.

"Damn, that was a triple shot," she laughed. "So, what was I saying?" Fred tried to smile but a frown crept over her face and she sat in silence, her hand over her heart and a frown etched into her forehead. "God, Angel, do you remember that girl? That little girl that you killed in Spain, Darla had brought her to you but you just left her in that room for hours before you went to her. She thought you were going to let her go but you just drained her, you didn't even play first, you were so angry about… about something that you just went for the kill,"

"How can you know that happened?" asked Angel, his hand over his own heart. "I never told you anything about my past, how do you know?" Angel knew that he had started to shout but Fred just looked up at him, there were tears in her confused eyes. She jumped to her feet and ran from the bar, knocking over stools and drinks as she went.

"I guess that worked," smiled The Host. Angel nodded and breathed hard, he felt as if he had been winded. It always made him smile that despite not needing to draw breath, he could still feel breathless.

"Are you sure that there are no after-effects?" he sighed loudly.

"I'm sure; it's a guaranteed gift, baby-cakes. Now, why don't you have another drink and chill for a while, you're gonna need it," smiled The Host, handing Angel another plastic blood bag.

Cordelia helped Wesley into the car and slammed the door shut. Gunn was standing on the pavement as Cordelia walked around to the driver's side. She looked up at him and asked him if he wanted a ride, he just shook his head and started to walk away. Cordelia watched him, smiling sadly, maybe Angel was right, they would forgive him eventually but he may never forgive himself.

"Are we ready to get back?" asked Cordelia as she clipped her seatbelt in.

"I suppose so. I just hope that Angel is back at the hotel by now, I wouldn't like to face Fred again without him there," sighed Wesley. Cordelia nodded and turned the ignition key, the car grumbled to life and they sped away from the hospital towards the hotel.

Cordelia couldn't help but think of Angel as they drove towards the Hyperion, she wondered if he had been thinking about the kiss they shared as much as she had and she prayed that her vision of Fred and Angel had been a mere warning and not a definite future event. Seeing Evil Angel in Sunnydale had been bad enough but she didn't think she could handle the real thing in Los Angeles, not without Buffy and Giles and the whole team as back-up.

She screeched into the driveway at the back of the hotel and helped Wesley to open the passenger door so he could escape her horrific driving. They walked up the path together and the lights in the hotel announced that Angel was home, Cordelia quickened her pace slightly; she was anxious to see him. She needed to be assured that he was still Angel, still her Angel. She walked through the smashed glass of the French windows and stopped, stunned. Wesley walked in behind her and stopped, looking at the same thing Cordelia was.

Sitting on the circular sofa, curled into a ball and sobbing as if they could never stop was Fred.