*******************The next day*****************
Isobel pushed the door of the hotel open and looked around. She wasn't even sure what she was doing here or of who she was looking for. 'Hello?' Fred came out of the office 'Can I help you?' 'I don't know...I guess I'm looking for Angel.' Isobel answered, looking Ben's mother up and down. She was younger than she thought she'd be. 'I'm sorry, he's gone out. Can I help?' she asked smiling. 'No, I just...can you ask him if he'll call me to talk about Cordelia? I'll leave you my number.' Isobel pulled a pen out of her pocket. 'What do you want to know about her? She hasn't been here in years. She left when times got hard.' Fred stared at Isobel. 'I'm her daughter. Angel said that he knew her and I wanted to find out more about her. That's all' Isobel answered. 'I can tell you anything you need to know. I knew her very well.' Fred answered defensively. 'I just wanted to know what she was like, what she did for fun. That sort of stuff, my dad doesn't know anything really... my adoptive dad I mean.' Isobel began to write her number on a piece of paper. 'She never told me she was pregnant. She didn't tell any of us. We were her friends, her family for all intents and purposes and she never told us. She just left one day, a curt note telling us not to come after her.' Fred sat down, looking defeated as the memories rushed back to her. 'And then I found out I was pregnant and I couldn't tell her, the guys tried to understand but sometimes a girl needs her best friend.' 'What was she like?' Isobel sat down beside Fred. 'She was lovely, impulsive, a total clothes horse and incredibly kind. She didn't judge you. And she took care of everyone. She forced me to shop, heated Angel's blood every morning, topped up the mini bar for Lorne, stopped Gunn from being too gung hoe and prevented Wes from becoming a hermit. She was so open about everything....but I guess not when it came down to the line.' Fred sighed and looked at Isobel. 'You have her eyes and her grace but your colouring must have come from Darla.' 'Who's Darla?' asked Isobel. 'Your grandmother, she was a vampire as well. I presume that your Conor's daughter.' Fred said looking at Isobel again. 'Yes, I am but I know even less about him then I do about Cordelia.' Isobel admitted. 'Why don't I take you up to her room? The day she left Angel was so mad he locked the door and we never went in their again.' Fred stood and began to walk up the stairs.
********************************************************** Angel stood outside the door of Cordelia's room, listening. 'Oh my god these are vintage Jimmy Choo's! do you know how rare these are? She had great taste.' Isobel exclaimed. 'Cordy loved to shop, I remember her telling me one time when Angel upset her he made it up to her by spending about $3000 on clothes and shoes for her.' Fred laughed. 'I'm sorry everything is so dusty in here'. 'It's okay. I wonder if I can find her diary or anything, maybe it would tell me what she was thinking when she left, why she killed herself.' Isobel began to search through the drawers. Fred wandered around and found a picture of Cordelia. 'Here why don't you have this picture. It was taken when we were going to the opera one night. That's Cordelia and Angel and the baby is your dad.' 'How much of a cradle snatcher was she? I knew that my dad was younger but this is just plain wrong!' Isobel took the picture from Fred. 'Conor was taken to another dimension where time passed faster so when he came back he was eighteen' Fred explained. 'That picture was taken just a few weeks before it happened.' 'Why isn't anything in my life normal or even simple. I could settle with being a slayer and my dad being a vampire but why does everything have to be so complicated?' Isobel sat down on the bed. 'Oh Conor wasn't a vampire.' Fred started to explain. 'I mean my adoptive parents' Isobel interjected. 'My dad is Spike, the other vampire with a soul and my mother was Buffy. She was a slayer as well.' 'Angel's ex-girlfriend raised you?' Fred was in shock. 'My mom dated Angel, my grandfather. How fucked up is that?' Isobel sighed. 'Anymore surprises to tell me? My grandfather dated my mother, my birth mother changed my birth father's nappies and my grandparents were vampires.' 'I probably shouldn't tell you this but.. You'll find out eventually anyway. Angel was in love with Cordelia and she was in love with him.' Fred sighed 'That's why he got so mad, and probably why she left.' 'But if she was in love with Angel than why did she sleep with his son? And it still doesn't explain why she killed herself.' Isobel stood and began to pace the room. 'I need a break is it okay if I come back tomorrow and look around some more?' Isobel asked. 'Sure it is. You're welcome here anytime.' Fred stood 'I'll walk you out.'
Angel had already melted away into the shadows of the hotel by the time they exited the room.
***********************************************************
'Dad I'm back' Isobel yelled as she walked into the apartment. She looked around and found him napping on the sofa. She pulled a blanket around him and headed to her room to read Cordelia's diary. She had found two of them but didn't want to read them in front of Fred. Diaries were private, even if the author was dead.
*********************************************************** Angel sang to himself as he cooked dinner. It was discovered a long time ago that he was the only one with any culinary talent. He was working on auto-drive, making fajitas, Ben's favourites. He was thinking about Cordelia and Isobel. At long last he had a family again and he still didn't know how to act about it. When Cordelia left it had been soul destroying, then Conor died trying to kill the beast and Wes died trying to save him. It had been the worst year, things eventually cheered up a bit when Ben was born. And now he was the only person in the hotel who was happy, truly happy any of the time. He didn't know how he felt. Cordelia had promised to stay with him until the end and she broke that promise. He probably would have been able to forgive her for sleeping with Conor. Given time he could have forgiven her anything. But she didn't trust him enough to give him a chance. Instead she left him and allowed his grand daughter to be raised by Spike of all people and Buffy. She trusted them to care for Isobel and she couldn't even trust him to know she existed. He felt betrayed. ***********************************************************
Isobel pushed the door of the hotel open and looked around. She wasn't even sure what she was doing here or of who she was looking for. 'Hello?' Fred came out of the office 'Can I help you?' 'I don't know...I guess I'm looking for Angel.' Isobel answered, looking Ben's mother up and down. She was younger than she thought she'd be. 'I'm sorry, he's gone out. Can I help?' she asked smiling. 'No, I just...can you ask him if he'll call me to talk about Cordelia? I'll leave you my number.' Isobel pulled a pen out of her pocket. 'What do you want to know about her? She hasn't been here in years. She left when times got hard.' Fred stared at Isobel. 'I'm her daughter. Angel said that he knew her and I wanted to find out more about her. That's all' Isobel answered. 'I can tell you anything you need to know. I knew her very well.' Fred answered defensively. 'I just wanted to know what she was like, what she did for fun. That sort of stuff, my dad doesn't know anything really... my adoptive dad I mean.' Isobel began to write her number on a piece of paper. 'She never told me she was pregnant. She didn't tell any of us. We were her friends, her family for all intents and purposes and she never told us. She just left one day, a curt note telling us not to come after her.' Fred sat down, looking defeated as the memories rushed back to her. 'And then I found out I was pregnant and I couldn't tell her, the guys tried to understand but sometimes a girl needs her best friend.' 'What was she like?' Isobel sat down beside Fred. 'She was lovely, impulsive, a total clothes horse and incredibly kind. She didn't judge you. And she took care of everyone. She forced me to shop, heated Angel's blood every morning, topped up the mini bar for Lorne, stopped Gunn from being too gung hoe and prevented Wes from becoming a hermit. She was so open about everything....but I guess not when it came down to the line.' Fred sighed and looked at Isobel. 'You have her eyes and her grace but your colouring must have come from Darla.' 'Who's Darla?' asked Isobel. 'Your grandmother, she was a vampire as well. I presume that your Conor's daughter.' Fred said looking at Isobel again. 'Yes, I am but I know even less about him then I do about Cordelia.' Isobel admitted. 'Why don't I take you up to her room? The day she left Angel was so mad he locked the door and we never went in their again.' Fred stood and began to walk up the stairs.
********************************************************** Angel stood outside the door of Cordelia's room, listening. 'Oh my god these are vintage Jimmy Choo's! do you know how rare these are? She had great taste.' Isobel exclaimed. 'Cordy loved to shop, I remember her telling me one time when Angel upset her he made it up to her by spending about $3000 on clothes and shoes for her.' Fred laughed. 'I'm sorry everything is so dusty in here'. 'It's okay. I wonder if I can find her diary or anything, maybe it would tell me what she was thinking when she left, why she killed herself.' Isobel began to search through the drawers. Fred wandered around and found a picture of Cordelia. 'Here why don't you have this picture. It was taken when we were going to the opera one night. That's Cordelia and Angel and the baby is your dad.' 'How much of a cradle snatcher was she? I knew that my dad was younger but this is just plain wrong!' Isobel took the picture from Fred. 'Conor was taken to another dimension where time passed faster so when he came back he was eighteen' Fred explained. 'That picture was taken just a few weeks before it happened.' 'Why isn't anything in my life normal or even simple. I could settle with being a slayer and my dad being a vampire but why does everything have to be so complicated?' Isobel sat down on the bed. 'Oh Conor wasn't a vampire.' Fred started to explain. 'I mean my adoptive parents' Isobel interjected. 'My dad is Spike, the other vampire with a soul and my mother was Buffy. She was a slayer as well.' 'Angel's ex-girlfriend raised you?' Fred was in shock. 'My mom dated Angel, my grandfather. How fucked up is that?' Isobel sighed. 'Anymore surprises to tell me? My grandfather dated my mother, my birth mother changed my birth father's nappies and my grandparents were vampires.' 'I probably shouldn't tell you this but.. You'll find out eventually anyway. Angel was in love with Cordelia and she was in love with him.' Fred sighed 'That's why he got so mad, and probably why she left.' 'But if she was in love with Angel than why did she sleep with his son? And it still doesn't explain why she killed herself.' Isobel stood and began to pace the room. 'I need a break is it okay if I come back tomorrow and look around some more?' Isobel asked. 'Sure it is. You're welcome here anytime.' Fred stood 'I'll walk you out.'
Angel had already melted away into the shadows of the hotel by the time they exited the room.
***********************************************************
'Dad I'm back' Isobel yelled as she walked into the apartment. She looked around and found him napping on the sofa. She pulled a blanket around him and headed to her room to read Cordelia's diary. She had found two of them but didn't want to read them in front of Fred. Diaries were private, even if the author was dead.
*********************************************************** Angel sang to himself as he cooked dinner. It was discovered a long time ago that he was the only one with any culinary talent. He was working on auto-drive, making fajitas, Ben's favourites. He was thinking about Cordelia and Isobel. At long last he had a family again and he still didn't know how to act about it. When Cordelia left it had been soul destroying, then Conor died trying to kill the beast and Wes died trying to save him. It had been the worst year, things eventually cheered up a bit when Ben was born. And now he was the only person in the hotel who was happy, truly happy any of the time. He didn't know how he felt. Cordelia had promised to stay with him until the end and she broke that promise. He probably would have been able to forgive her for sleeping with Conor. Given time he could have forgiven her anything. But she didn't trust him enough to give him a chance. Instead she left him and allowed his grand daughter to be raised by Spike of all people and Buffy. She trusted them to care for Isobel and she couldn't even trust him to know she existed. He felt betrayed. ***********************************************************
