Disclaimer: I don't own Angel: the series or any of its characters, as always. I do own, however, the characters of Cathy Lucy Angel and Nicholas Wood.

Rating: PG- 13 or TV-14. (Same as the series, no better, no worse.)

Pairings: Angel/Cordy, Wesley/Fred, Gunn/OC, and Faith/Robin (but they're on a honeymoon)

Note: My sister, when reading my stories, constantly complains that they are all angst and romance, no conflict or problems, except funny ones what so ever. It's taken some time, but I've put in a conflict (an EVIL one) that will finally solve my Connor problem. Also please just go with the flow, there is a section that doesn't  correspond with the time period I've selected in my stories, but just accept it. It makes the story more exciting.


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Fast Forward

By: Sensue

January 3, 2004

Chapter 4: Dinner from H-E- double hockey stick.

Hyperion Hotel (Cordy's bedroom) ~1:00 pm

"Oh, God. Why today? Why now? You know what; I wish for my parents to go away and never come back." Cordy took a moment to look around, "Hey, I said I wish for my parents to go away and never come back! God! Where's a Vengeance Demon when you need one? I'm sorry a 'Justice' Demon. Please, I promise I'll never wish for anything else. Damn." She paced around in her and her husband's bedroom.

She took a breath, "Oh. God, what the hell am I going to wear? I don't know what to wear, or say for that matter. Uhh. Ok Cordy. Just breath, it can't be that bad. Oh yeah right, It's going to be the night from HELL! Uhh." Cordy rummaged through her extensive closet, throwing out items that she thought she might wear. Soon clothes were everywhere.

A knock at the door jarred her from her destruction. A voice called out, "Cordy, do you need any help? 'Cause Angel and Spike kicked me out of the kitchen and told me to see if you needed anything. Also, did you want me and the others to stay during dinner? 'Cause if you want us to leave you with your family, we could."

"Fred, of course, I want you all to stay. You're my family. Not them. I haven't even talked to them in ten years. TEN YEARS, Fred! God, I don't know what to say to them. What do we talk about?"

"Umm.  Well start off introducing them to everyone; this time including the kids. Then we could have dinner and talk about…I got it, the economy. 'Cause your parents are rich and like to talk about money. Then after we eat, we could talk about the nice weather we're having. Then we could talk about the horrible things happening in other countries. 'Cause we don't want to tell them about the horrible things happening in LA. Then we could talk about golf, cause boys like that stuff. And then…"


"Ok, Fred. I get it. Small talk them until they leave. I can do that. Not a problem there. In all honesty, I'm worried about the children. I mean, they've never even thought about grandparents and, completely out of the blue, they show up and want to meet them. I know my father, what if he can't get over my marriage and says something to hurt their feelings or rejects them. Oh, boy. I don't think that they could stand to be rejected. They've never met anyone like my parents. They are so selfish and shallow. They only care about themselves. God. I'm describing myself in high school. This has got to be some kind of payback for my Bitchy days. What about Angel? I love him. I won't have them say anything about him. He's the man-pire I want. The one I want to spend the rest of my life with. And what about my mother, she's an alcoholic. I know how bad that she can get. I mean, I never let anyone into my house in case she was completely bonkers. She actually seems better today, but who knows what'll happen when they reach the hotel mini-bar. She could come to dinner drunk. She gets mean when she drinks. She gets jealous. Always jealous. One time she tried to cut my hair off because she thought it looked better than hers. My father came home finding her chasing me with scissors and stopped her. I mean I had to tell everyone that she had chronic fatigue syndrome or something stupid like that. And on the days she wasn't drunk, she acted like she was dying of a terminal illness in front of guests. Like she's frail and weak. God, is she anything but. She can go berserk, like throw end tables across the room on a bad trip…" She stopped talking abruptly.

"Boy, princess. If I were you, I would've just killed them and be done with it back in the day. Not even bother with the nice-nice. They don't deserve it if they've upset you that much." Spike was leaning against the bedroom doorway and eavesdropping on Cordy's ranting and raving. "I don't know how you turned out so well. First they dump you by yourself in Sunny-hell, they stop you from going to Harvard Medical, they leave you to fend for yourself in LA, and on top of that don't bother to call you in over ten years. If they were my parents, I wouldn't even let them in the front door. But you're giving them a second chance. I hope that they deserve it, luv."

"William, I'm just stressing. They're not that bad. They could be worse. You must think I'm a spoiled Cry-Buffy. Crying over my poor, poor life. I'm not, I swear, I've never been happier. They only thing that would make my life perfect would be that my parents respect my choices and accept my family. All of you. Including the two of you. I just don't think that they'll be ready to meet Lorne just yet."

"Oh. Don't worry. I've already got that covered, Cordy. I called Lorne at Caritas and told him to make himself sparse for the next couple of days. I explained the situation to him and he understands completely. Not to worry. Nothing is going to go wrong tonight."

"FRED! You just jinxed us. Tonight is doomed for sure."

"That's just superstition. You can't get jinxed. There is no scientific evidence other than psychological that a jinx is real."

"Fred, luv. We've lived in Sunnyhell. Trust me when I tell you, yes you can be jinxed. It has happened so many times, I can't even count them." Spike explained, all the while shaking his head at the foolishness of youth.

"OK. I've got to get dressed now. Which one of these outfits do you both like better?" Cordy held out three dresses.

Wolfram and Hart Law Offices (1:37 pm)

"Now, Mr. Chase. Do you understand what the deal is? If you don't accomplish your end of the deal, then the deal is cancelled. And so are you. But I know that you're a smart businessman who understands the important work that we do here at Wolfram and Hart. How the kind of business that we do can make or break a reputation. So, do we have a deal?" Lindsay McDonald reached out his prosthetic hand.

The hand that grasped his hand was strong and firm; at least that's what Lindsay assumed. "Yes. We have a deal. My wife will be very happy with this deal. We both want only what's best for my little girl. And marriage to that slime-bag is not one of them. Well do what you asked, but only if you guarantee that my daughter will forget all about her love to 'Angel.' What the hell kind of name is that anyway? Is he Hispanic? God, an immigrant. That's just what the Chase family needs in the family tree. What the hell was she thinking marrying that man; she could've married a politician or someone with power. Instead, she throws it all away for 'love'. I could strangle her. I told her more than once to get her head out of the sky. She's a woman; not that women can't do the work a man can, but she's not made for that. She's a pretty girl who can control any man with sex. Why would she waste that on a Private investigator? Well, she's not going to be in a happy little family anymore. She'll understand some day." Morgan Chase finalized the deal. Signing his name on the documents placed in front of him.

It was funny though, this law firm. It was the first law office that he'd ever entered that required a blood draw to drug test its clients before they made any deals. The lawyers themselves were very professional. This Lindsay McDonald seemed the kind of young man destined for success. Already he made junior partner in less than five years. One day he could even be a senior partner. THIS was the kind of man that he wanted his Cordy to marry. This was the kind of man that he could trust. If only he wasn't a Handicap.

He thought of all this as he signed the documents with the pen Mr. McDonald offered him. At first he signed a letter, then stopped midway. "Lindsay, this pen has red ink. Do you have another?"

"Oh. No Mr. Chase. We have all of our clients sign in red ink. It's sort of a Wolfram and Hart signiture. We can always tell which documents belong to our company if everyone signs in red ink. It makes the paperwork a little easier to sort and it definitely binds our clients to us for life. Haha. You know, it helps people remember us."

"Well, your company better be as good as I've heard. Or I'll be one upset man. I'm risking a lot for this deal and I expect a great return in the future."

"I understand Mr. Chase, the future will definitely be changed, for the better, if the deal goes through as planned. You don't have to worry about anything but having a wonderful dinner at your daughter's tonight. Oh. Do me a favor, after the plan goes down, call Angel on the way back to Wolfram and Hart, and tell him I said 'hello'. Trust me, he'll get a kick out of it. Since we're such good friends and all. Oh, and one last thing, the little girl, Cathy, I think that's her name. You and your wife shouldn't touch her. That's the ONLY rule that can't be broken," Morgan Chase looked as he would object, "No there is no discussion to this matter. Do NOT touch her, or your daughter for that matter, tonight, or the entire plan will fall apart before it is started."

Morgan had a puzzled look on his face, unable to understand why he shouldn't touch his daughter or granddaughter. But he accepted it, "Well, alright. A deal's a deal. I'll go get my wife. Where is she by the way? Still talking to that Lila Morgan woman? God, those women can gab. Have a good night. My wife and I will be back later tonight. Thank you for all of your help, Mr. McDonald. I can only hope that my daughter will meet someone as accomplished as you in your young age."

As Morgan Chase exited his office, Lindsay smiled, looking at his prosthetic arm, "Hope you enjoy your warm family dinner tonight, Angel. It'll be your last."

Back at the Hyperion (2:30 pm)

While Angel and Wesley cluttered around in the kitchen making dinner, the door flung open to the Hyperion allowing entrance to Nicholas Wood, Connor Angel, and Cathy Lucy Angel. The children ran down the small steps and into the 'work area' of the hotel to find their mother. They looked behind the counter at Cordy's desk; nope, mom wasn't back there.

Connor took in a large deep breath, all the better to scream 'MOM' with, and just as he was starting to speak; got cut off by Gunn walking through the door as well. "ANGEL! WES! I'm back!" Gunn shouted, "where are 'ya? Have I got a story to tell 'ya or what."

"We're back here," was the return shout by Wesley, "making dinner."

As Gunn walked past the large circle couch in the middle of the lobby, he spotted the kids. " Hey, squirts. How was school? Learned lots of cool stuff today?"

Cathy quickly jumped in, as the talkative one, describing every second of her day in school, all the while excited to tell her parents too. They'd be so happy to learn that she now was the jump-rope champion of the class. Why she even got a metal to put up. Nicky and Connor smiled at her, already having heard her stories on the bus and knowing that they'll hear them at least twice more throughout the day, but hey, they loved their sister.

As she talked, they all went into the kitchen with the two men "slaving over a hot stove for hours," as Wesley and Angel complained. Gunn was also excited to tell about his news. He couldn't believe that HE, Charles Gunn, was going to go out with that gorgeous woman. The only problem seemed that he wouldn't get to tell anyone about it tonight. Everyone had their own stories to tell.

"What'cha makin' for dinner, Uncle Angel and Uncle Wes? Is it hamburgers? I love hamburgers and French fries," as Nicky's eyes shown with hope for his favorite meal.

"Sorry, Nicky. We're having roast beef, mashed potatoes, yams, homemade chicken vegetable soup, and apple pie for desert though. Doesn't that sound good?" Angel kneeled down to ask his favorite nephew.

"It sounds good, but hamburgers are definitely a winner in this house." Nicky said very seriously.

The adults had smiles on their faces. The children were definitely cute. "Nicky, Cathy, Connor, let's sit down for a second. I have some news to tell you all."

Connor jumped in, "Oh, no. We're going to have another baby, aren't we? This is the same as the 'We're going to give you a little brother or sister' speech, isn't it?"

"What? No, we're no going to have a baby. You get to meet someone that you've never met before. This morning your mom's parents stopped by to see your mom. They didn't even know that they had grandkids and now that they do; they really want to meet you all. What do you kids say about that? Do you want to meet your grandma and grandpa?" Angel asked, hoping that they wouldn't have a problem accepting it.

"They're mommy's mommy and daddy?" Cathy asked. She looked worried. They all knew she was worried because she was playing with her hair. "What if they don't like us? What if they don't like me? Where's mommy? I want mommy."

Angel went over to her and picked her up. He pulled up a chair and sat in it, pulling his five year old daughter in his lap, then waved Nicky and Connor over so that they could also snuggle. Nicky chose to sit on Angel's other lap, while Connor pulled the other chair across from Angel's so that their knees could touch. They put their heads together in the old family secret tradition. "Mommy is upstairs in our room making herself look really pretty for tonight. I don't want you to worry, any of you. Your grandparents will LOVE you. They'll take one look at you and fall in love. You're wonderful kids; if your grandparents don't see that then they're really blind. Anyway, tonight all we are going to do is have a delicious dinner and talk to them. If you don't like them or get bored listening to us talk, just look at me and point to the stairs. If I nod, then you can excuse yourselves and go play in your rooms, but only if I say okay. Okay?"

The three heads nodded. "Okay, Daddy. Okay, Uncle Angel."

"Okay. Now run upstairs and put on your NICE clothes for dinner. If you need help, mommy is in her room. She'll help you. Me, Uncle Wes, and Uncle Charles will be down here getting the table ready for dinner. Uncle Spike and Aunt Fred are with your mom. Okay?"

"'kay." They shouted as the elephant herd stampeded up the stairs and to their respective rooms to change for dinner. On the way up they ran into Mommy, Uncle Will and Aunt Fred coming out of mommy and daddy's room. Cordy gave each child a kiss on the head as they ran past. William gave them a pat on the head and Fred a warm smile.

"Well, I guess Angel told them the news. Well, as a famous actress said one day, 'hang on this is going to be a bumpy flight' or 'ride', I can't remember which, but you know what I mean. This is the day from HELL!"

"At least you picked out a pretty dress, Cordy. That's one thing you don't have to worry about," Fred encouraged, "But there's really no reason to worry. Your parents are going to love the children and they'll learn to love Angel. Everything will be perfect tonight."

"I hope that you're right, Fred."

Cordy let Fred and William past her. She lingered for a minute, taking in a deep breath; she closed her eyes, and then reopened them, giving a silent prayer to the Powers in hope that it was truly going to be alight. She didn't know why, but the whole night was putting her on edge. She just knew something was going to go wrong. She just didn't know what it was. No visions, no flashes, no glowy power, absolutely nothing to indicate what was to come. Just a stupid feeling of impending doom.

Later that evening, after dinner was over and the chaos and panic began, did she realize her feelings had come to be. In the worst possible way, it was the day from hell.

Hyperion Hotel (~5:00 pm or dinner time…)

At precisely 5:00 pm, the Hyperion doors opened and Morgan and Victoria Chase walked through, almost regally. Victoria had a small smile on her face, eagerly looking around until she found what she was looking for. The small smile widened at the sight of the children standing in front of their father. The oldest, she assumed, was standing slightly in front of the other two. The little girl was standing on the other side of her father, her little hands holding on to his pant leg. She looked nervous. The other little boy seemed shy, for he was almost hiding behind Angelo's legs, occasionally peeking his head out to look at the newcomers. She looked at the man, thinking, "What was that man's name? Angelo? Or was it Diego? Or some other Hispanic name? Oh, I'll ask my daughter in private. And I thought that Cordelia said she had two children. There are three here. Oh, I'm so confused. "  

Cordelia's father on the other hand, did not smile. There was no outward sign of emotion on the man's face. After a minute of uncomfortable silence, Cordy jumped in to welcome her parents. "Mother, Daddy, come in. We were just putting on the final touches on dinner, when you arrived. Oh, where're my manners, allow me to introduce you to my friends. You met some of them this morning, but a refresher wouldn't hurt, right? Okay, Mom, Dad, this is Winifred Burkle," she pointed them out as she said their names, "but we call her Fred. This is Wesley Wyndham Pryce, Charles Gunn, and William… Spike. Of course, this handsome man is my husband, Angel—."

She was intrupted, "I thought your last name was Angel?"

Fred quickly jumped in, "Oh, it is. It's just we all call him Angel because he doesn't like his first name. And with a first name like Liam, you can't really blame him." Angel let out an unneeded breath, he really thought that Fred was going to tell Cordy's parents the 'Geraldo Angel' story that she told the doctors at the hospital where Connor was taken after he was born. Fred smiled at him, a glint in her eyes that said, 'I know what you were thinking.'

Cordy continued, "And these are my children, Connor and Cathy. The one hiding over there is my godson, Nicky Wood. His parents just got married this weekend, so they are currently on their Hawaii honeymoon. I hope that you'll come to visit later and get a chance to meet them." The children just looked at them, the younger ones looking towards their older brother for a cue to what to do or say. "Come on kids, say hello to your grandparents."

"Hello, Grandma. Hello, Grandpa." They quietly said. Angel pushed Connor and Cathy forward in effort to jar them into motion. Connor came forward and, as taught by his parents, held out his hand for a handshake. His grandmother held it with a weak grasp, but held it for a moment longer than he thought.

His grandfather on the other hand let his hand go the moment that they touched as if he had dirty hands. He didn't because mommy made him wash it, twice, before dinner time. Cathy came up from behind him and held out her hand to her grandfather as well. He didn't make a move to shake it. Instead ignoring her and taking off his jacket. Then he motioned for his wife to take hers off as well. Her face fell at that, but hid it quickly before mommy or daddy saw. She didn't want them to be mad on mommy's special day.

The jackets were then handed to Gunn, who looked slightly surprised since Cordy was standing right next to her parents. He shook it off mumbling something only Angel and Spike could hear and put the jackets away in the office closet. Angel motioned them all to come in and follow him to the dinning room, since dinner table was set and the dinner was nice and warm. They all took their seats and passed around the food to serve. Menial conversation was discussed as to not upset their guests.

Mr. Chase seemed deep in thought most of the evening, not contributing to the conversation unless directly asked a question. He kept staring at the children, almost as if he couldn't believe that they were there. Nicky seemed to wilt under the gaze, almost to the point of crying at the dinner table. The poor child was not used to the cold personality of his new "grandfather." Cordy, mommy senses tingling, noticed that he was having a hard time and picked him up out of the chair and excused herself to the separate kitchen.

Once alone with the person that he thought of as his second mother, the emotions that he tried to keep hidden, let themselves free as he cried on Cordy's shoulder. The crying became hard sobs as she sat down and rubbed his back, all the while telling him that it was okay, she was here, she loved him. After five minutes, the sobs died down to sniffles and gasps. He turned himself around so that he was sitting on her lap instead of kneeling on it, and rearranged himself comfortably so that he could rest himself on her chest and shoulder. After Cordy judged the storm had passed, she gently questioned, "Nicky, what's wrong? I know that my father was looking at you, but why did you get so upset?"

"I don't know, Mommy Cordy. He feels bad. I mean, he feels mean and, I don't know…," he started sniffling more again, the tears welling up in his eyes. She patted his head and shoulder, then slowed it to a rub to comfort him.

"It's okay, Nicky. You don't have to like him right now.  It'll take some time, once you get to know each other--"

"But Mom, he doesn't want to know ME, he just wants to know Connor."

"Well, I told him that you were my god-son, so maybe he doesn't know that we are really a family, just yet. Maybe he wants to meet your brother first since he thinks he's my only son. See my dad doesn't understand that you're my little boy too, even though you have another mommy and daddy. He doesn't know what a real family is. He just thinks that family is who you are related to by blood. But we know better, Nicky. Family are the people that you love and love you back, not the people related to you genetically," Cordy tried her best to let him know, with her hugs, that she loved him, and what her father thought about him wasn't important, but also tried to get him to understand that her father was important to her. "Do you think that you can go finish your dinner now?"

"Okay, mommy Cordy, I will. I'll be good, I promise. But you don't understand. He just wants Connor. Not me or Cathy. I can feel it."

"Oh, Nicky, I told you. Right now, he thinks that Connor is his only grandson. He's always wanted a little boy. He'll get to know you and Cathy soon. You're all his grandchildren. You don't have to be jealous."

"But, Mommy…"

"Alright, that it's it. No buts, except you marching your butt in the dining room, right now, young man. That's it, march!"

He smiled through the sadness. Mommy Cordy really doesn't understand, he thought, he really wants Connor.

This was all soon forgotten as dinner was finished, coffee was passed around, and desert dished out. Cordy was surprise to see that her father had lighted up throughout dinner and was actually smiling and being friendly to everyone. Her mother was charming. Actually charming, and sort of flirting with Wesley. God…she forgot that her mother was a big flirt. She also talked with the kids, asking them about school, friends, and hobbies that they liked.

After dinner, the children, not wanting apple pie, begged their parents for ice cream instead. Angel grimanced, "Sorry, honey. But we don't have any ice cream. You guys ate it all two days ago. I forgot to ask Mommy to get some yesterday when she went shopping. I'll buy some later tonight, so that you can have some tomorrow, okay?"

The whinning began, "but Dad, Uncle Angel…"

Morgan Chase, stood up rather unexpectedly, a bright glowing smile on his face, "Why don't you children get your coats? You too Victoria…Your Grandma and Grandpa can get you some ice cream. That's if it's okay with your parents?"

"Oh, daddy. The kids don't need ice cream now. It's okay. Angel will pick some up later. Really, it's okay."

"Sweetheart, isn't it a grandparent's job to spoil their grandkids? I want to take them out for ice cream. It'll give us some quality time to get to know them. We'll just be on that ice cream parlor /coffee shop place down the street. I forgot what the name of it was, but we passed it along the way. We'll be fifteen minutes. Alright?"

The children, already in their coats with their shoes on, gave all of them pleading looks. Angel looked at Cordy, then at the clock, indicating that it was almost bed time, then looked back at his wife, giving her the final decision. "I suppose it'll be alright. But, only fifteen minutes. Mom, Dad, please don't buy a lot of ice cream, they do have to sleep soon. They have to go to school tomorrow and need their 'beauty sleep', okay?"

The new grandparents were holding the door open for the kids, and waved to their parents. "That'll be fine. We'll be back in fifteen minutes. With ice cream. Okay. Say goodbye to your parents."

The "bye's" echoed in the front hall of the hotel. Angel looked at Cordy. "That was a weird turn of events. I didn't think that your father liked the children all that much."

"I don't know Angel. Maybe, he wants to speak to them alone. In any case, we'll be getting some ice cream."

William, who was incredibly quiet the entire evening, spoke up, "Princess, don't take this the wrong way, but I think that he's up to something. I don't know what it is, but it's just a feeling I'm picking up on him. Like his friendly, 'I'm a grandpa' expressions are an act."

"I know. I was picking up something like that as well. But I'm mostly worried about Nicky. He was crying earlier because he thought my dad liked Connor better than him. I hope that he's not having any dependency issues with his parents not being here."

"I think that he'll be okay. If he spends enough time with your father, he'll get used to him. Nicky always needs time to adjust to new people and situations. He'll be alright," Wesley told everyone, "I used to be the same way. He just needs love and understanding. Not public ridicule and anger. Not to be yelled at in the middle of the house and being grounded with no dinner for a week…" Wesley looked up, "I mean, hypothetically."

"Right, English. Hypothetically…" Gunn looked at his friend, wondering about the man's childhood. He seemed to have a lot of parental abandonment issues with his father. He always wondered about Wesley's father. The Watcher who wanted to mold his son in his image, then punishing him when things weren't perfect. Damn, no wonder Wesley didn't have any self-esteem when he first met him. Well, that'll gonna stop. He wasn't going to let his friend put himself down.

Fred, in her uppity optimistic way, pointed out that, "Hey, at least dinner went perfectly. It was very yummy. Good job everybody. We did it. And hopefully, we won't have to see them for another ten years. Oh. Sorry, Cordy. I know that they're your parents, but I was getting annoyed with your mother thinking that Charles was her personal slave. Did you see the way she asked him to get her things. Gosh, I don't know how you kept your cool, Charles. If she was doing that to me, I would've yelled at her or something."

Cordy seemed to understand, smiling sympathetically at everyone, "I'm sorry. They act like they're royalty. They can't help themselves. It's inbreed or something. Hey, at least I don't act like that anymore."

Brring…Brrring…

The phone rang. "I'll get the phone. Can you all start cleaning up the dinner table for me, please." Everyone when back to the kitchen to perform their cleanup duties as Cordelia asked. They were after all a family. They helped each other, even with chores. The others started putting dishes in the washer, cleaning pots and pans, and cleaning off the dinning room table, when they hear a shriek from the front hall.

"What? What do you mean? NO! NO! This is not happening. NO! Where are they? I want to talk to them. NOW!" Cordy was screaming into the phone as they all walked back into the hall. "Cathy, honey, are you okay? Is Nicky, okay? Okay, you're both okay. Where are you? Okay…what do you mean, Grandpa and Grandma took Connor? Where did they take him? No, Mommy and Daddy are coming, so are the aunts and uncles. Do not leave the ice cream parlor. Okay? Wait for us. I love you."

She didn't even have to say anything. The gang rounded up weapons and jumped into their cars to the ice cream parlor. They arrived to find Cathy and Nicky hugging each other crying for their big brother.

Through all of the chaos, they seemed get what had happened out of the children. Her parents had taken the children to the ice cream parlor, then called someone named Lidsey or Lesley on the phone. Then five minutes later, they were told that they had to leave to go home. All of a sudden, these black cars showed up and these people in suits got out and started chanting. A portal with a monster opened and took Connor away. The monster said that the prophecy wouldn't come true now, since Connor was in 'quar-thoot'.  The people in the suits then got in their cars and left. One of the men had a plastic hand. He gave Grandpa and grandma something in a yellow envelope and they all got into his car and left them there. But Connor was gone. They didn't know where he was. A monster got him.

Angel, now in full vamp face, growled, "LINDSAY…I'm going to kill him. This time I'm going to enjoy it. I'll make it slow and then right before his last breath has finished, he'll tell me WHERE MY SON IS."

"God, Angel. Where's Connor? Where's my son? God, I can't believe this. Where is he? Why didn't I see it coming? Why? WHY? WHY???" Cordy was screaming and crying hysterically. Fred and Wesley comforting her.

"This time…Lindsay McDonald is going to pay." Angel pointedly looked at Spike and Gunn. "I'm going to get my son back. You are going to help me. I'll be back, with Connor, or I'm going to destroy Wolfram and Hart. This time, it's war. One that I'm going to win. And at the end of the day, they'll all be dead."

To be continued. Chapter5: Deal with the Devil (coming soon)

How did you like it? Lindsay McDonald has kidnapped Connor. Yes. He still has his plastic hand. No Evil Hand. Just go with it.

Yes…Connor is coming back as a teenager. Problem solved. (Now I can have stories when he's a little boy and a teenager and they'll make sense. Sort of…)