Queen D

NOTE: I wish these sweet, wonderful, and oh, so fun Angel characters were mine, but they belong to that Joss guy, who I'd love to slap.

A/N: This is a big, hopping AU. At the end of Hero, when Doyle kissed Cordelia, instead of him just passing his power along to her he impregnated her. The storyline stays the same from there. Wesley shows up, Gunn joins the team, they move into the hotel, Darla and Angel do the big nasty, AI rescues Fred, Darla comes back pregnant, Cordy becomes a demon, but Connor was never kidnapped. Want to find out more? Well, read on.

CHAPTER 5

          Fred and Gunn stepped out of their cab, which they had taken since Gunn's truck was back at their apartment. The state fair's grounds had quickly emptied, leaving only a few distant people. Before the two of them could get a quick look around, a man in a tired old coat with heavy amounts of fuzz on his face approached them.

          "Can you spare a few?" he asked, holding out his hand.

          "Can you promise not to buy booze with it?" Gunn countered.

          "Hey, pal, I don't make promises I can't keep." The man turned and started to walk away. "Geez, first I nearly get trampled by that crazy knife lady, now this."

          "Wait," Fred called after him, causing the man to jump. "Oh, sorry. You saw someone with a knife?"

          "Yeah." The man turned back around and faced them. "She was hovering over some kid then somebody shot at her and she turned yellow."

          "Did you get a look at her?" Gunn wanted to know.

          "I can only tell you if I get a good look at that booze money." Gunn sighed deeply with annoyance and reached into his pocket, pulling out a ten dollar bill then handed it to the man. "Thanks. She looked like an Amazon girl," the homeless man said, going back to what he had previously been speaking of. "Short black hair, thin, got a scar or something over one of her eyes."

          "Let me guess. Girl didn't right down her phone number and tell you to call her in the morning?" said Gunn.

          "Don't be ridiculous," said the man. "Like I own a phone." He walked off again.

          "Well, at least we have a start," said Fred then she thought for a moment. "How many demons have scars?"

          Xander sat on a stool bench outside of a dressing room in Gap Kids, his cell phone pressed against his ear. "No, Buff, nothing new here. I swear I'll let you know when there's a change. Just consider me Private Harris, messenger extraordinaire."

          His ears perked at the sound of a moaning Danielle saying, "Mom, that's ugly. I don't wanna try it on."

          "Gotta go, Buffy," Xander said then hung up, going to see what the fuss was all about.

          "Danny, this dress would go so great with those new shoes I got you," Cordelia insisted. She held a light blue sundress, which was covered in white flowers.

          "I don't like dresses. They're dumb," Danielle stated, folding her arms. "And I don't like those shoes, either."

          "Young lady, those are designer shoes, which I bought with the scant salary your Uncle Angel decides to give me every week, so don't give me lip about the shoes," Cordelia reproached.

          "Hey, what's the fuss about, ladies?" Xander asked, coming up on them.

          "My extremely ungrateful daughter seems to dislike my taste in clothing," said Cordelia.

          "It's ugly and I don't wanna wear it," Danielle said crossly.

          "Hey, easy," Xander stepped in before Cordelia could say anything. "Can we neutral corner ourselves?"

          "Who asked you?" Danielle suddenly snapped at him.

          "Danielle," Cordelia chided. "He was just trying to help."

          "I don't care," Danielle said, going to take a seat on the bench Xander had been on.

          "I'm sorry about that, Xander," Cordelia apologized on behalf of her daughter.

          "Hey, I've heard worse," Xander said. "But maybe you could lighten up on the clothes thing."

          "Look, Xander, thanks, but I don't exactly need parenting tips from single bachelor guy," Cordelia said, nearly as cross as Danielle had been. She walked off in search of more outfits.

          "Oh, yeah," said Xander to himself. "I can really feel the love in this mall."

          As the day turned to late afternoon, Wesley stayed in the office, rereading Connor's enemies list for what was probably the millionth time. He had also been checking for any websites that still offered a reward for Connor's capture, but he'd had the fortune of finding none. The former watcher glanced up from his work at the sound of tiny feet outside the door.

          "Connor, is that you?" Wesley asked.

          "No," the little boy's voice sounded.

          Wesley smiled to himself and said, "Come in here you little terror."

          Connor entered the office timidly, going up to the desk. "Dad made me go to my room, but I got bored. You won't tell, right?"

          "Just this once," Wesley agreed then gestured for Connor to come to him. He picked the brown haired child up and sat him in his lap, feeling the boy's weight. "One night with Gunn and you're ready for a nice weight loss program."

          Connor smiled a little then sat his tiny hand on the list that was on top of the desk. "What's this? It's got my name on it."

          "Never mind," Wesley said. "It's nothing, just some research."

          "Is this 'cause I ran out in the street today?" Connor asked him. "I did something bad, didn't I?"

          "We all make mistakes, Connor," Wesley said. "It's all about what we learn from them."

          Connor thought for a minute. "What'd I learn?"

          Wesley chucked lightly. "I'm afraid you're going to have to figure that out on your own, lad."

          "Can I help?" Connor asked, obviously meaning with the research.

          "You don't want to tire yourself over some tedious research," Wesley said.  "Why don't you go play?"

          "Uncle Wes, what's tedious?"

          The British man chuckled again. "It means boring, Connor."

          "No, it's not boring," Connor said. "Let me help, please?"

          "All right," Wesley agreed, giving in. "Would you like to read with me?"

          Connor nodded and rested against Wesley, ready to read.

          Angel, who had just entered the lobby, watched them from where he sat behind the main desk. Connor just seemed like any other six-year-old boy, but still seemed so different at time. Angel often pitied the child for having a more unusual family than most other kids, even though he could tell Connor was happy. If nothing else,  he was happy.

          "Looks like the little nipper doesn't like the cooped up in his room thing," Lorne said, walking in.

          "I'll let him by this time," Angel said.

          "Angel, I'm sensing some Papa Bear vibes," said Lorne. "Of course, when it comes to you and Connor, what else is new?"

          "It's just…" Angel glanced over into the glass window of the office to get another look at his son. "Who would want to hurt something so innocent?"

          "Sadly enough, it's usually the guilty that get off scot free," Lorne told him. "Just don't worry. We'll find whatever this thing is and send it packing."

          Angel let off what he hoped was a warm smile, showing that he agreed, but that the worry wouldn't leave him any time soon.

A/N: Short, I know, but I didn't have much time to write tonight. Don't worry. There's more to come. Please review!