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 7
Loud, indistinct conversations could be heard at a bar in LA, mostly men complaining about the wife, or the job, or something else they took lightly in their lives. A young woman entered the bar then, walking gracefully up to the counter. She took a seat on a bench, facing the bar tender, flipping her long, brown hair over her right shoulder.
"Give me a gin and tonic," the woman told the bar keep.
"Kind of a rough drink for a lady like you," he said.
The woman shrugged. "What makes you think I'm much of a lady?"
The bar tender smiled at her, going to get her drink.
"Vera Holden I presume."
The brown haired woman looked up and asked, "Who wants to know?"
Another woman joined her; slim framed with short hair. "My name is Jhiera."
"Cool title. Not from around here I'm guessing," Vera shrugged as her drink was sat down in front of her. "Anyway, mind telling me just how you know me?"
"I have my resources," Jhiera replied simply. "I also know that I am in need of your assistance."
Vera smiled smugly. "And what makes you think I want to offer you my assistance?"
"I can provide you with what you want or, rather, who."
"What are you talking about?" Vera asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
"Francis Doyle's daughter."
"Doyle," Vera echoed the man's name seriously. "Wait. How the hell do you even know Doyle? And what daughter?"
"Do we have an understanding?" Jhiera asked, holding her hand out.
Vera stared at her hand for moment then shook it with her own. "Fine. I'll humor you."
Over at the hotel everyone had arrived early and all were occupying the lobby, minus Angel. The entire morning had consisted of nothing, but research and the later afternoon was becoming that way as well. Connor and Danielle sat on top of the stairs, watching the adults go at it.
"This is boring," Danielle said to Connor. "I like it better when Mom gets the visions."
"Danny? You think they'll find the bad guys today?" Connor asked.
"Probably," Danny shrugged. "Is Uncle Angel still mad at you?"
Connor shook his head no. "I thought he was this morning when I saw his firm face," he said, naming the face Angel used when Connor just knew for a fact he was in trouble. "But that was his broody face."
"Oh," Danielle nodded. "Look. Here he comes."
Angel had just stepped out of the office when Danny spotted him. "Guys?" The other members of the gang glanced up at him. "Meeting, now." Cordelia, Gunn, Fred, and Lorne all stood, heading for the office, leaving Xander behind with a text he was reading. "Xander?" Angel addressed.
"Yeah?" Xander responded, not looking up.
"You, too," Angel said.
Xander looked up. "Oh, right. I knew that." He got up and followed after the others into the office.
Danielle and Connor popped up from where they sat and scrambled down the stairs, pressing the ears against the ajar office door. Inside, Angel sat at his desk, Fred sat in a chair near him, Cordelia lay cross legged across a leather chair, and the guys, including Wesley who was already in the office, stood leaning against the walls.
"We have new information on the clown demons that attacked Fred and Gunn at the fair," Wesley said. "They're a class of demons that work as henchmen."
"So, someone sent them after us?" Fred asked. "Was it the woman that's after Connor?"
"Yes, we believe so," Wesley replied. "The thing is, though, from what I can tell, the clown demons, or the Claudus as they are known as, are lower demons. So low in fact that they can be taken down by the humblest of warriors."
"Hold up," said Gunn. "The things we saw didn't look like they had any trouble holding their own. You sure you got the right guys?"
"Positive," Wesley assured him.
"But that doesn't make any sense," said Fred. "Why was it so hard for us to take them down at first?"
"This a picture perfect puzzle," Lorne chimed in, putting his martini glass up to his lips.
"So here's what we do," said Angel. "Fred and Gunn, you hit the streets. Check the demon bars, Gunn's sources, whatever you can find. I want to know who these clowns' boss is."
"You got it," Fred replied.
"Lorne, you and Wesley try to reach some of your connections," Angel said to the green demon.
"Not a problem, Angelkins," Lorne said.
"Xand, you and I can stick around and bury ourselves in some more book work," said Cordelia.
"Sounds like a plan," Xander said. "Wow, throw in an apocalypse or two and I think I was in Sunnydale."
"Great." Angel stood from his desk. "And I'll head for the sewers and… punch anyone who won't talk to me really hard in the face."
"He always gets the good job," Gunn commented.
Danielle turned to Connor, as the two of them still stood outside the door. "Looks like they're gonna go look for the bad guys," Danielle informed the younger child. "Too bad we're gonna be stuck here with more boring books."
"They never let us go," Connor said with a small pout. "I wish I could. It's about me, right?"
Before Danielle could say anything the door of the office came open and the two kids had to jump back to avoid getting hit in the face.
"What are you doing?" Cordelia asked her daughter.
"Um, dancing?" Danielle smiled.
Angel went up to Connor while the others got ready to go. "Hey, champ, be good for Aunt Cordy and Xander, OK?" Angel told the boy. "The others and I are going to be gone for a little while."
Connor nodded and Angel messed his hair playfully.
Xander and Cordelia both went around the main desk as the hotel began to clear out. "Big, whopping research party," said Xander. "Just like the old days, huh?"
"Old days?" Cordy repeated with a slight laugh. "Try the now days, buddy. But you got a point." She looked at him. "This is fun in a dullish kind of way."
"Well, you know what they say," said Xander. "Gonna be dullish, don't do it alone."
Danielle glanced over to see her mother giggle. Xander had made yet another one of his jokes. Danielle narrowed her eyes at Xander menacingly, as if she was a hunter and he was a gigantically annoying moose.
A/N: Thanks for the tips on Doyle, guys. I pretty much just picture the guy's voice in my head and imagine the Irish-y things he might say. I wish he had been on for more than nine episodes, which was totally bogus on Joss's part. Please review!