Fast Forward

Chapter 3

By: Sensue

Timeline: Ok. It continues from Chapters 1-2, Faith's Wedding was on Saturday, so cleanup was all day on Sunday. After the reception, Faith and Robin left for their two week honeymoon in Hawaii. They left their son, Nicky with his (god) Mommy Cordy and Uncle Angel to baby-sit until they got back. It is now Monday morning. It's a new work week at Angel Investigations.

Chapter 3: Meet the Parents.

Well, it was a long, but fun weekend. On Saturday, Faith's wedding was a hit. Everything was perfect, no demons or vampires, except those who were invited, crashed the wedding. It was truly a special day that no one would forget. Sunday, however on the other hand, was extremely exhausting. No one could believe the mess that the guests made. There was food everywhere, even in places that you would never expect to find it, like in a pillow case. Clean up was hard, since they were down Faith and Robin, who now were on their wonderful two week honeymoon in the warm and beautiful state of Hawaii.

Everyone pitched in though, even the children. Nicky, Connor, and Cathy helped clean up the waste baskets, the dusting, and picking up the trash that littered the floor. Gunn and Fred had to go to the supermarket to buy extra strength cleansers, sprays, and soap along with the extra cloths, mops, and brooms. Lorne, unfortunately, had to go to his club; He needed to write the schedule for the next week, and pass out the employees' checks.

Angel fixed them all a good and hearty breakfast, and then they all got started on the cleaning "fun". Cordy mopped the floors. Fred scrubbed the counters. Gunn vacuumed the staircase, hallways, and bedrooms. They had no idea how the guests got to the bedrooms while the reception was still roaring, but they sure didn't want to know what they were doing in there. Wesley opted to doing the laundry; including taking their tuxedos back to the shop, dry cleaning the ladies dresses, and folding and ironing over seven loads of laundry that had accumulated during the week. Angel took care of the kitchen claiming that if they tried to help him, he would never find out where they put anything.

Spike spent Saturday night driving the "Scooby Gang" back to the airport and waiting for their, of course delayed, flight to arrive. After he had wished everyone a safe journey, and kissed Buffy goodbye, he had made his way back to the hotel. He didn't want to sleep like the others because he was still awake from the excitement of the day and, in all honestly, was a little depressed over Buffy's departure, so he spent the night patrolling the areas around the hotel to see if anyone had needed any help. He arrived back to the hotel about twenty minutes before sunrise; then he decided to take a short nap before the others and the children awoke.

By the time he woke, the majority of the cleaning was underway. He ended up taking care of the children and "helping" them with their chores. After they had cleaned up what they were assigned to, they decided that they would make Faith and Robin a 'Welcome Home' banner for when they came home. They set up the kitchen counter with poster-board and paints. Spike helped write the outlined letters that the children would fill in with finger paints. Their project was a fun one that the other adults wanted to help with. Soon glitter pens, magic markers, balls of yarn, and construction paper made their way down to the counter for the children to use.

Cordy had left the hotel around 5:00 pm for a self-appointed "cleaning break." She came back about an hour later with bags of food for lunch time. She ordered all to the dinning area, because the kitchen was already taken over by the poster makers, for a not-so-healthy dinner. Hey, it was okay to splurge sometimes and they had been working awful hard all day. She had brought all kinds of food: tacos, burgers, salads, Chinese food, blood for Spike and Angel, subs of all different varieties, and even a blooming onion.

They all chose their favorite foods to fill up on and then took a coffee/tea break for an hour. They were almost done cleaning the hotel, there were only small areas that needed a little more work.

Soon, the sun had gone down and it was time for the kids to sleep. So, Cordy took the little bits up to their rooms. Cathy had her own room, next to her brother's, of course. Her bedroom was practically a shrine to the Disney™ Princesses. Everything in the room was pink and had crowns of the various princesses. Her daughter's favorite princesses were Belle, from Beauty and the Beast, and Ariel, from the Little Mermaid, so the pictures, figurines, and dolls of those characters were plentiful. Cordy had even gone so far to purchase the entire set of mini-snow globes of the princesses at the local Disney Store for Cathy on her sixth birthday. So Cathy was put in her pink princess bed and sung to sleep while the boys played for a little while in Connor's room.

Cordy then crossed the hall to Connor's room. She gently knocked on the door, and then opened it to find Connor and Nicky playing with Connor's extensive collection of Hot Wheels™ cars. The boys, all of the boys, seemed to love those cars. Every week, if Connor was good, of course, a new car would show up magically on his desk. Last Christmas, Santa just knew that Connor wanted the race track and battery powered garage set. Connor loved playing with his cars just as much as he loved playing hockey outside after dinner with his dad, Nicky, and Uncle Charlie (Gunn).

Nicky had his room on the other side of the hotel on a different floor with his parents. Since his parents weren't home, though, it was decided that the boys would have a 'sleep over' until they got back. It was safer that way. Nicky loved playing with his cousin's cars, but didn't really want to keep them. He's an active boy, like Connor, but wasn't as interested in cars, sports, and violence as other boys his age though. In a way, Nicky was closer to his Uncle Wesley than any of the other Uncles in his family. He loved to climb on his uncle's lap while he was read stories about magic, witches, and demons. He started reading before any of the other children, even in his class. By the time he was four, he could read a second grade book. If it was a choice between a really cool book or a toy, Nicky would 100% choose the book. His room had a large bookshelf that contained all of his favorite books. He also love dinosaurs and astronomy. He had a toy chest full of every type of dinosaur figurine that existed. His dad would always find a new one to buy him. His mom, though, she really surprised him on his birthday last year. While he was in kindergarten class one day, he came home from school to find his room covered with glow-in-the-dark stars, in the actual shape of constellations. He was so happy that his mom, with the help of his Uncle Angel, had spent so much time getting it perfect.

The boys looked up from making car noises to see Mommy Cordy pointing at the bed and sleeping bag. "Okay, boys, time to go to bed. You've all got school tomorrow morning. And I don't want to hear any complaints in the morning. If you're all good tomorrow, after school, I'll take you to the park. Okay?"

"The park…Yay. Thank you, Mommy Cordy," Nicky cheered.

While the 'little bits' slept, the rest of the work was finished. Fortunately, it was just in time because a client walked through the door asking for help. A young lady, who was in tattered clothes, came in practically in tears, complaining that there was some sort of a demon that was following her, trying to kill her. Fred consoled the woman, bringing her a blanket and a warm drink, while Wesley wrote down the description of the demon that was following her. He looked in a few reference books and was able to find out that it was a Horkle Demon. That race of demons was notorious for stalking their victims until they killed them. Angel asked her some questions about why she thought the demon was after her and then promised that they would do their best to stop it.

Gunn was asked to escort her home and stay there in case she was attacked. Spike was assigned to ask around and see if any of their informants knew anything about the Horkle. Wesley was to stay and research everything about its weaknesses so that Angel Investigations could stop it. The others called it a night and went to bed.

The next morning, Cordy and Fred woke up early to get the children ready for school. Fred packed their lunches and Cordy brushed their hair and picked out their clothes. The three were indeed grumbling about having to get up and go to school, but neither woman was listening. They were all dressed, feed, and then taken outside to wait for the bus to pick them up. About ten minutes later, the bus pulled away and the children were happily talking to their friends on the bus on the way to school.

Cordy yawned as she walked back into the hotel. "Fred, I'm so exhausted from cleaning yesterday. I'm so sore that I can't even move my arms to scratch my nose. I think I'm going to go back to bed. Could you do me a favor and just check up on Wesley? You know, see if he needs any coffee or help with anything. Also remind him that he needs to sleep sometime. Okay?"

"Sure, Cordy. I'm pretty much awake now. I might as well help Wesley with his research. I could probably speed things up too, by looking it up online. Well, good night, Cordy. Hope you feel better."

Cordy walked up the stairs with a smile on her face. Yup, she still had it. She'd get those two together faster than she'd expected.

"Good morning, Wesley. How's the research going?"

"Oh. Fred, I hadn't noticed the time. How'd you sleep? Well, I hope."

"I slept great. Thank you. Did you need any coffee or anything? I was going to get a cup before I started helping you."

"Sure, a cup of coffee sounds like heaven right now. I did find a little information on the demon but nothing to help us hunt it down, I'm afraid. I wonder how Charles is doing at Miss Gregg's home. I haven't heard from him yet, oh well, it's still early. I'll give him another half hour then call his cell phone." Wesley was getting into his leadership role very well. He was gaining confidence and self-esteem that his decisions were correct and that the others trusted them. Angel, again, was appointed the leader of their group, with Cordelia as his second and Wesley, the leader after them. But Cordy didn't often want to take that role, instead allowing Wesley to be the second, only stepping in as leader when absolutely necessary. This allowed some her some flexibility with being a mother, wife, secretary, self appointed accountant, and PTBs seer.

Fred came back into the room, handing Wesley his cup of coffee, accidentally brushing their hands. Wesley looked into her eyes; She stared back at him. Soon they were leaning towards each other…

Ding. Ding.

They quickly pulled back, both turning a shade of red. "Well, I guess we have some clients," Fred prattled.

"Yes. I'll go see if we can help them. If you don't mind, could you please just move the books off the desk and chairs so that I could bring them into the office? Also, if you could make some more coffee, please?"

"Sure, Wes. I can do that." Fred ran off.

Wesley took a deep breath. He walked out of the office to see a wealthy looking couple by the main counter. Wesley offered his hand, "Hello. Welcome to Angel Investigations. My name is Wesley Wyndham-Pryce. Is there anything that I can help you folks with today?"

The man shook his hand. "Yes. Actually Mr. Pryce. My wife and I are actually looking for our daughter. We haven't seen her in…how many years has it been, dear?"

The woman's hand near her head in concentration, "It has to be at least ten years. My poor baby. We didn't even know where she moved. We thought that she'd still be living back home. My husband and I had moved to Switzerland and left my daughter at her grandmother's. We actually stopped by my mother's house, thinking that she was still living there, but my mother hasn't even seen her in ten years either. She told me that she said that she was moving to L.A. Well, this was such a shock. I had no idea."

"Ok. Well, why don't you step into my office? Then, you can tell me about your daughter and the last time you saw her." Wesley pointed the way into his office. Fred was just coming back from the kitchen, coffee tray in hand. "This is my associate, Winifred Burkle, she's going to be helping us with the case."

"Hello, would you like some coffee?"

"That would be wonderful dear. Thank you." The woman was very polite and gave off a fragile poise or aura, yet her eyes denied all weakness.  

"Well, then what can you tell us about your daughter?" Wesley asked, his notebook ready to record down the details.

"Well, she was head of the cheerleading squad in high school. She also wanted to be an actress. Wasn't she Queen of the Prom or something, dear? Oh. No matter, umm, she's a brunette, she has curly hair, and she's as tall as my wife."

As the man described his daughter, Wesley thought. This man obviously doesn't know a thing about her. How are we going to find an actress wannabe in LA? While he was thinking this, he heard footsteps down the stairs indicating that Angel and Cordy were up and ready to work. He knew that Angel had no doubt heard the entire conversation with his "super hearing" that everyone made fun of from time to time.

"Oh. Well, that was helpful…what about her name?" Angel peaked his head through the doorway and nodded at Wesley. He stood at the door frame listening in.

"Her name is Cordelia Chase."

Angel slipped off the doorframe and fell to the ground. The other had shocked expressions on their faces. Cordy had gone to the kitchen for some coffee and was walking back to see the clients when she saw her husband on the ground.

She yelled, "Angel. Oh my god. Are you okay?" She ran by his side thinking that the clients were evil or something or trying to kill her husband. She looked up to see if Wesley and Fred were okay, she saw their expressions then looked over at the last people she ever expected to see again. Her parents.

"Cordelia. Oh, My. You're here. We were just going to hire this nice man to find you. How are you, my darling?" Cordelia's mom kissed her on the cheek.

"Mother, Daddy. What are you doing here? I mean, how did you find me? I mean, how are you?" Cordy sounded confused.

"Hello, sweetheart. How's my little girl? We just wanted to visit to see how you were doing. You didn't tell us you were moving to LA. We thought that you were still at your grandmother's. So what are you doing here? At a detective agency?"

"Well, I work here."

"What? You work here? Do you need money, sweetheart? There's no need to do menial labor. You're a Chase." Her father seemed offended.

"Um. Actually, she's n…" Fred tried to interject, but was stopped with a hand over her mouth by Wesley.

"Daddy, Mother, I work here because I love it here. It's my job. I love helping people…" they didn't even let her finish.

"But, Cordelia, it's public servitude. How can you like that? Oh, dear…I think that I need to lie down now. I'm getting faint."

"Mrs. Chase, let me help you," Angel got off of the floor to help Cordelia's mother to a chair. "I know this is a little unexpected. My name is Angel."

"Oh. I'm Victoria Chase and this is my husband Morgan."

Angel looked at his wife for a clue as to how to react. She looked back and then nodded once. Yes. I'll tell them.

"Ok. Daddy, why don't you sit next to mother? I have something I want to tell you. First of all, I want you to know that I've never been happier in my life then right now, with my friends and family. No, please don't interrupt me," she held up a hand, "This is my family. I've lived in LA for ten years. I'm not the same person that you remember. Things have happened that have changed my life."

"We understand, sweetheart. You've met someone, right? You're going to marry a nice rich man, aren't you? You're just playing the 'I'm a poor secretary' line, aren't you?" Victoria Chase seemed to like her ideas. She smiled, knowing her daughter would never like to live like a middle class peasant.

"Mother, please. Would you just listen?" Just as Cordy was getting ready to announce her marriage and children to her parents, the back door opened and Spike came in, with the head of a Horkle.

"Hello, luvs. Guess what I bagged? It was a hard fight, but the bloody bastard had it coming scaring that girl like that." He walked over then saw that they had company. "Oh. Have we got a new case? I'm in the mood to kick demon arse. So is it tough? Scary? A Big Bad? What?"

Fred grabbed Spike's arm and pulled him over by Cordy's desk. Then she whispered something in his ear. He straightened up, "Oh. You can just forget what I just said. I was just joking. Really, I didn't mean demon like a monster or anything. I meant Demon Gang…there's a bloody gang in LA called the Demons. That right. A bloody street gang."

"Well, this seems like such a dangerous city. Cordelia, why did you leave Sunnydale? You were perfectly safe living there with your grandmother." Spike snorted. Fred elbowed him in the side. "I just don't understand you anymore. What happened to my sensible girl?" Morgan Chase lectured.

"Ok. That's enough. Father, I moved here to find a purpose in life. And I did. My purpose, my reason for existence is here. Now. I want to introduce you to my family, if you'd give me a chance." Cordy took a deep breath, "ok. First of all, the one in the leather jacket who was joking with you earlier is Spike, you've already met Fred and Wesley, and this is Angel. Angel is my husband. We've been married for five years. We also have two children. You have grandchildren. A boy and a girl. Connor and Cathy."

Morgan Chase looked as if he would have an aneurysm right then and there. It only took the word grandchildren for her mother to faint dead away. Her mother was always dramatic. She had the universe convinced that she had chronic fatigue syndrome. Cordelia knew though that the only problem her mother had was an alcohol problem. In high school, her mother could have beat Xander Harris's entire family hands down in a drinking contest. She always blamed it on stress. Her mother was always stressed; over everything, including cooking, cleaning, watching her daughter, the tax problem, and anything else she could complain about. Anything that she could use as an excuse to drink. Cordy always felt bad about her mother's drinking, at first blaming herself for her disease, then realizing that it was her mother's problem, not hers. There was nothing to be done to stop it if her mother didn't want to. Her father didn't care. He thought that it was normal to have a wife that did nothing but drink and pass out all the time.

Her father took in a breath that usually signaled that the bellowing was about to begin. She was right. "What the hell is wrong with you? You got married to a PI? You could've been the wife of a senator, of a CEO, of anyone else in the world, but a public servant! You could've married the Englishman, I wouldn't have complained. At least he's dignified. Not only did you marry 'Angel', you have children. How do you expect to get a clean divorce, if you have children?" (Poor Wesley turned beat red.)

"Daddy, I don't want a divorce. I'm happily married. I love my husband and my children and if you have a problem with it you can just leave. I won't talk to you ever again. If you can accept my decisions and my family, then, ONLY then, will I allow you to see my children. I won't have you yelling at them or upsetting my family. Make your decision, NOW! Or Leave!"

"Well, I can see that there is no talking any sense into you. I'll accept your decision, but I don't have to be happy that you've ruined your life with this man. He's not anything. He's not influential, powerful, or rich. I just can't believe that you'd settle for a nobody who lives in an abandoned hotel."

"He's not a nobody. He's a hero, he saves lives for a living. He's wonderful and he loves me. And this is our home. I don't want to hear any more. So you can stop the name calling."

Her mother, a hand over her face, breathed, "Oh dear. I had no idea that your life had changed this much. I want to meet my grandchildren, so you can ignore your father; He'll get over it soon. Where are the little babies?"

"Mother, they aren't babies anymore. They're five years old, they're in school. They'll come home around three o'clock. I would be happy for you to meet them."

Her parents looked at each other. "Okay, darling. We could do that. Your father and I are going to go to our hotel so that I can rest, then we'll come back later tonight. Perhaps in time for dinner?"

"That'll be fine mother. We'll see you tonight."

The others watched them leave the hotel. Cordy looked at her family. "Shit. This is not going to go well. I'm screwed. They are never going to understand. They don't even know about demons. What am I going to say, oh…guess what I'm Angel's link to the Powers that Be, oh. Yah, by the way, I'm part demon now. Oh. How about my husband is a Vampire, but don't worry he's got a soul."

Angel just looked at her and hugged her. "What am I going to wear?"

"What? I've just told you that my parents are going to freak out and you ask me 'what am I going to wear?' Are you nuts? What about the children? What about Lorne? What about Spike? God, we're screwed. Oh. My God. What about dinner?"

Angel smiled, "I know just what to do. Don't worry. Everything will be just fine. You just concentrate on dressing for dinner and picking something out for the kids to wear. I'll take care of dinner and the rest. Trust me, What's the worst that can happen?"

"Oh. Boy. You just did it now, peaches. You've bloody cursed yourself, for sure. It's going to be a disaster now."

Spike shook his head at his grandsire. "Don't worry Spike. You're going to help. You all are going to help. This is going to be the best dinner we've ever had. And you know why? Because I'll kill anything and anyone that ruins it. Got it? Good. Now let's get started."

Chapter 4: Dinner from H-E- double hockey stick. (coming soon)

Don't worry it's just getting good. I'm not going to stop now.