Title: Family: Forward to LA

Author: victoriamartynne

Rating: R

Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Spoilers: None, I think!

Summary: Imagine if Connor had never been taken by Wesley, Xander and Anya had never split up and Angel had told Cordelia how he felt. Sequel to Family: Back to Sunnydale. The Scoobies visit the Fang Gang.

"When are you leaving?" Cordelia asked Buffy bluntly that night.

The slayer looked up to meet the seer's eyes. "Day after tomorrow. Giles wants to go to this rare book shop tomorrow and get a few things. We'll leave after that." Cordelia nodded, satisfied with her answer.

"Angel, honey, can you get me Connor's bottle?" Cordelia asked Angel, who was sat on the counter looking very hot in his leather pants.

"Sure." He hopped off the counter obediently to get it.

"Can you say wrapped around your little finger?" Buffy muttered under her breath but Cordelia heard.

"Can you say jealous much?" She snapped.

"Oh come on Cordelia give me a break! You say jump and he asks how high." The slayer said angrily.

"Yeah, and?"

"It isn't right."

"For who?" Cordelia asked pointedly.

Buffy faltered. "For him. He's like a dog, house trained. You teach him tricks and he performs."

"Oh, he performs just fine, all night in fact!" Cordelia smirked and watched the anger grow in the slayer's eyes. "But while you're busy bitching at me then why don't you realise that there is a vampire in this hotel who is head over heels in love with you. It just isn't Angel. Maybe when you get your head out of the past then you will realise that."

"I died!" Buffy screamed and stood up.

The sound of her shouting brought Angel out of the kitchen with a bottle in his hand and Wes and Giles out of the office where they were studying an ancient text.

"And it must have been hard! But you're alive and there are people that need you and love you and need to be saved by you. It isn't fair to hurt them because you need to have other people feeling hurt as well as yourself. You can't travel back in time, you have to travel forwards. Now stop bitching at me because I have happiness and go and make you happy." She smirked. "Or get someone else to do it."

Buffy swung back her arm to punch Cordelia but she caught it before it hit her. Her hand started to glow and it started to travel up her arm across her body, until all of her was glowing brightly. Giles looked startled but Wes and Angel knew what was happening and just hid their eyes from the bright light.

Cordelia could feel what Buffy felt when she was pulled out of heaven. Tears started to trickle from both women's eyes as they were at one with the feelings Buffy had experienced. Gradually Cordelia felt the tension and hurt draining from Buffy and she started to lose the bright light. Buffy fell to the floor taking Cordelia with her. The slayer began to sob horribly in Cordelia's arms.

Giles, Wes and Angel looked on quietly. Connor started to crawl towards Cordelia but Angel caught him and picked him up.

Cordelia muttered soothing words and brushed Buffy's hair away from her eyes while she cried. Xander and Spike appeared from the basement. Concern appeared on their faces as they saw Buffy crying but then they saw whose arms she was in and just grew confused.

Cordelia looked over Buffy's shoulder and waved Spike over. He came across slowly and knelt down on the floor next to them. His hand touched her shoulder and she instantly flung her arms around his neck, releasing Cordelia.

She stood up wearily and went over to where Angel, Xander, Wes and Giles were stood. "Maybe we should leave them to it." She whispered and nodded her head in the direction of the office.

They nodded and followed her. "Cordelia, what on earth just happened?"

"My demon powers enable me to sort of cleanse people. Buffy's soul was confused and troubled. She had a lot of tension in her aura. I got rid of that for her." She sat down heavily in one of the chairs in Wes's office. "Plus, it's a really good night light." Wes and Angel smiled. "So, you can take away tension?" Xander said. "'Cause I got some major stress going on right now with the wedding." His words were cut off by an icy glare by Angel. "Okay, that's fine." He said and held out his hands in peace.

Angel gave Connor to Wes and went to kneel in front of Cordelia. "Are you okay?"

She nodded and smiled. "A little tired but no more than usual. I did something good."

He kissed her cheek. "Yeah, you did."

Buffy and Spike went out in the courtyard to talk so Cordelia and Angel could go back into the lobby. Cordelia fed Ashleigh while Angel kept Connor company, while he tried to totter up the stairs. Cordelia laughed all of a sudden, causing him to look up.

"What?" She asked and looked at him.

"You laughed."

She laughed again. "Oh, I didn't realise."

"What were you laughing at?" He asked and settled himself on one of the couches with Connor stood in between his knees.

"I was just thinking how weird this is. I mean, here we are, a vampire and a seer and we have two children. It's like domestic bliss magnified!" She exclaimed. "It's so weird!"

He smiled. "I would never have thought this would have happened back in Sunnydale."

"Of course, you were only into slayers then weren't you? Cheerleaders with incredible good looks and great legs didn't appeal to you." She teased.

She heard someone cough behind her. "Excuse me Cordelia." Wesley said. "If I could interrupt your self loving for a minute to talk to you both, I would like to tell you about the text I have been interpreting for the past few days. But if I can't stop you then." He let the words die away.

Cordelia shot him a dirty look. "If I remember right, you were the one that wanted the incredible good looks and great legs, if I remember right."

Wes blushed. "That is not the point." He said primly which caused Angel to smirk. "I have been translating this ancient text and it seems to indicate that danger is coming."

"To who?" Angel asked.

"To you two. And Ashleigh." Wes said grimly. "It appears that you were able to conceive because the powers let you. It appears that Ashleigh will be a major player in a future apocalypse, when both of you aren't around to protect her. She was sent to you because of your combined strength. You have the ability to protect her."

Cordelia shook her head. "This isn't happening. Not again, I can't cope with this again."

Angel picked Connor up and went to sit next to her. "We'll protect her."

"Actually, you might not be able to." Wes interrupted, earning him dark looks.

"Wesley, would you please give us all the bad news at once and not keep doling it out for dramatic effect!" Cordelia snapped.

"Okay, a group of vampires, called the Minknah, will be coming for her to kill her in the next couple of days, at night of course, unless they use the sewers. Ashleigh is in line to become a future slayer." Wes said and paused.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Cordelia shouted. "Then you'll just have to find a way to make her not a slayer, because no daughter of mine is going to have powers and fight evil!"

"Cordelia, it's not that simple." Wes said patiently and went to sit on the other side of her from Angel. "It is destined to be. You cannot stop it, your job is to keep her alive and make sure she fulfils her destiny."

"She's my baby Wesley." Cordelia said emotionally. "She's not a superhero to me, she's my baby. I should have to worry about her getting pregnant or going to college, not about whether or not she'll live to see her first birthday."

"I know it's hard, but think, we've got a slayer, a witch, an ex demon, two vampires, a seer and other people who will help you protect her."

Angel nodded. "How many can we expect?"

"About two hundred."

"Can we run?" Cordelia asked and looked at him desperately. "If we run we could be as far away from here as possible before they even realise it, they wouldn't find us, she could be happy and alive and."

"Cordy, you can't!" Wes said firmly. "They'll find you. We need to stay and fight. We'll need Lorne here to look after Connor and Ashleigh. We'll put him in one of the rooms on the fourth floor and barricade the door. He'll be completely locked in so no-one can get in." Wes said, already formulating a plan. "Giles had some good ideas earlier; I'll get him and let him explain."

He hurried off leaving Angel and Cordelia sitting in silence until he returned with Giles and Fred, who had been helping him research the text but had only just been told, hastily, what it had revealed.

"Cordelia, Angel, I believe we can formulate a plan that will enable us to protect Ashleigh." Giles began and cleaned his glasses. "The fist thing we need to do is block up the sewer access, we cannot have them sneaking up on us when we're not expecting it in the daytime. We'll need some major firepower, as many stakes, crossbows and arrows as you can get. As many people that you can get, also. We may not be enough. We need to keep watch on the main doors as well as any other doors you have in this place. Also balconies on the first floor, vampires can jump quite high. I'll inform Buffy and Spike and the others. I suggest that you call someone to look after the children. This attack may happen tonight but it may not be while tomorrow. Either way we need to be prepared."

Cordelia nodded mutely and got up to put Ashleigh in her bassinet. "I'll call him." Angel stood up. "I'll go and get Gunn, get him to get the weapons, maybe a few of his old crew could help, that is if they have a more open view on vampires with a soul now that they did a couple of years ago."

Fred shuddered as she remembered the night she'd first gone out after being rescued from Pylea. Scary.

She put her hand on Cordelia's arm as she went past. "It'll be okay honey. We'll keep her safe."

Cordelia nodded but said nothing.