"1999, no way, this can't be happening," Cordelia's voice broke through the silence that had descended on both her and Angel. "I'm sorry, the PTB may be stupid but I'm sure they don't have a collective death wish."

At the sound of Cordelia's voice Angel was snapped out of his silent denial. He stood suddenly and stalked off further down the alleyway. Cordelia's concerned expression followed him, wondering what the vampire was thinking. What was he doing? Her question was answered moments later when she saw him stoop to pick up a bunch of newspapers. He was trying to find some more evidence that they were in fact back in 1999.

Angel flicked through the papers, some newer than other's. He checked the dates carefully on each paper, finding that they just confirmed what the flyer had told them. The newer newspapers were all from 1999, the older ones from mid to late 1998. He turned back to face Cordelia, the paper's clutched tightly in his hands. He really didn't want to tell her what they said, but he knew he had to. Taking an unneeded breath he moved back to where Cordelia was sitting up against the wall. He said nothing as he thrust the paper's at her. Cordelia looked up at him, then at the papers and slowly lifted her hand to take them from him.

Cordelia was silent for a few minutes, leafing through the papers with pursed lips. Angel waited patiently as she read the dates and let all the information sink in. Then she snapped...

"Goddamn stupid Powers That Be! If I ever see those bastards I'll kill them with my bare hands!" She all but yelled as she flung the papers to the ground. "How the hell could they do this Angel? They sent us back in time; it wasn't good enough to send us back to Sunnydale? Nooooo that wouldn't make us miserable enough would it??? Why? Why would they..."

Cordelia trailed off. After Angel got over his gratitude that the yelling had stopped he noticed that Cordy was slowly beginning to look terrified. He stepped closer to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. Her face swung slowly towards him and he saw that she had silent tears running down her face. He reached up to begin to wipe away the tears but at that moment she began to talk.

"Angel, you remember 1999 right?" She asked him. He was a bit stunned, how could he not remember, that was the year he left Sunnydale for L.A, that was the year he let go of Buffy, right after one of the biggest battles that he had taken part of, right after...Oh god he thought as he suddenly remembered what else had happened.

Cordelia saw the look of comprehension on his face. He knew what she was talking about, somehow he always did. They had been sent back to the time right before the Mayor's Ascension, just one month before Sunnydale High had been burned to the ground. But why? They had been able to stop the Mayor; the proof was the pile of rubble that littered the ground where the high school used to be, well in her time maybe. Right now, Sunnydale High was still in one piece, and students would be gearing up to graduate and then get the hell away from Sunnydale.

"So the Power's sent us back to just before the Ascension. Ok so, why? I don't get it," Angel said to her, as his hand drifted down her arm to link with hers.

"I was just thinking that, I mean we managed to put a stop to the Mayor's Ascension so that must mean that we were sent here for some other reason. What it is, I have no idea. Maybe the PTB will send me vision and give us a clue. That would be really nice." She said sarcastically, feeling much better now that she could feel the cool pressure on Angel's hand in hers. He could always manage to make her feel better just with a touch. And she really needed to feel better right now.

"Well that's great, so we'll just wait around for the PTB to get their arses into gear and tell us what the hell is going on," Angel sighed in exasperation. He would very much like to kill something right at the moment but one look at Cordelia told him that that would have to wait. She was trying to hide a yawn behind her free hand, he could have slapped himself. They had had a very long day, first the shopping expedition, then this. She needed to rest, and he needed to get inside before the sun came up. He squeezed her hand gently and began to pull her towards the entrance of the alley.

"Come on Cordy, we can think about it later, you need to sleep, and I need to not burn to crisp if that's ok with you?" He asked, trying to lighten the situation a little.

"Yes I would mind, don't think you'll get rid of me that easily mister," she replied, smiling up at him, silently thanking him for taking care of her. "Are we still going to go back to your old place?"

"Yeah s'pose so. I mean we really can't go back to the mansion because, past me, or whatever would be there, and I'm not sure how we'd explain that one really," he said, pulling her against his side and wrapping an arm around her. He bega leading her towards his old apartment, silently thanking whoever was listening that he had a vampire memory and could still remember the way.

"You know, we really shouldn't walk around like this, someone could see us and how would we explain that?" She told him, secretly hoping he wouldn't let go of her, she felt safe and unnaturally warm considering the fact that she was up against someone who didn't have body heat. It felt so good to be in his arms and she didn't want to leave, even if that meant being found out and having to answer a million questions that they didn't even have the answers to yet.

"Yeah but you know I do have vampire senses and I swear if I hear someone coming we'll pretend like we don't even know each other," he said, tossing her a small smile, knowing that would never happen. She just smiled back, laid her head on his shoulder and kept walking.

By the time they reached the building that held Angel's apartment the sun was beginning to peak over the horizon. Angel let out a sigh of relief as they made their way down the stairs to the basement. He always felt uncomfortable and a little apprehensive being outside in the hours leading up to sunrise, but now that he was sheltered from the harmful rays he felt much better. He led Cordelia down the stairs and to his door, hoping that it wasn't locked. Turning the knob he was relieved to find that it wasn't. He pushed open the door and let her walk past him into the room.

Cordelia came to a halt in the middle of the room and slowly turned in a circle to get a feeling for the apartment. It pretty much screamed Angel, well not so much her Angel, but the broody, dark and silent Angel from her Sunnydale years. Her eyes came to rest on the vampire as he moved around the room turning on lamps, trying to cast some light into the darkness that was his apartment.

He had liked the darkness, not so long he had revelled in the darkness, he was a creature of the night, he was forced to live in the darkness. The dark was safe, in the dark he could pretend he wasn't who he had been, hadn't done the things he had done in the past. But now he realised he didn't like the dark at all, sure he was forced to live in it still but it didn't seem to be so bad anymore. He had Cordelia, she was the sun he could never have, she was all the light he needed, she made him feel warm, and loved, not cold and lonely. She made him feel like a man rather than a monster, and he would be forever grateful for that.

"So want the grand tour?" He asked her as he came up behind her wrapping his arms around her waist, feeling her nod he pointed at one corner of the room. "That's the kitchen." Then he pointed at the corner with the bed. "That's the bedroom, and the bathrooms through that door there," he said pointing to a door in between the 'bedroom' and the 'kitchen'.

"Hmmm, homely. Have I ever mentioned how glad I am that you now live in that nice spacious hotel of yours, that is semi well lit?" She teased as she begun to move towards the bed. When she got to it she sat and began to bend to take of her shoes. Angel came across the room and knelt to take one foot.

"I'm not disabled you know, I can take my shoes off by myself," she protested half heartedly, silently glad that she wouldn't have to waste anymore of her dwindling energy.

Angel just smiled and carried on with unlacing the surprisingly sensible shoes that Cordy was wearing. She had probably gotten sick of him teasing her about her choice of footwear. Why she always chose to wear completely inappropriate shoes everywhere, especially with the work that they did. He finally laid the second shoe next to the first at the side of the bed and helped Cordy get under the blankets of his bed. When she was comfortable he quickly removed his own shoes and climbed into the bed behind her, pulling her back up against his front, wrapping his arms around her, his hands coming to rest on her stomach. He could feel the slight curve of her body where his child, their child was growing and felt a smile spread across his face. Angel closed his eyes and buried his nose in Cordy's hair.

"So, we'll just wait to see if the PTB send me a vision and give us a clue about what's going on huh?" Cordelia's sleepy voice broke the silence.

"Yeah, but more importantly, right now we get some sleep. We'll just figure out what we're gonna do later, after we've recharged," he said snuggling closer to her warm body.

"Sounds good to me," she replied. Before long, her soft snores informed her that she had finally fallen asleep, and whispering goodnight to his unborn child joined her in slumber.

TBC

Authors Note: Hey guys had to put this down here coz stupid word is doing something stupid to my document every time I try to type something. Thanks heaps for all your wonderful feedback! I had chapters two and three already typed up by the time I'd posted chapter one so I hope you guys can be patient for the next chapters!!! Well anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter and look forward to hearing from you again!!! P.S. Jeez Nikka you ask too many questions! ( Just wait and see and you'll find out some answers!!! I will tell you that this is set after "The Wish" but that's all I'm givin ya!!