Disclaimer: I don't Angel. It belongs to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. Spoilers for the Series Finale of Angel are mentioned. I hope you enjoy this.

A Mother's Love
By David Knight

Prologue: A Tear in History

Years.

It had to be years. At least that what she thought. How many she couldn't tell nor did it matter to her. The pain she felt in her heart... it would not stop.

Emotion... If anyone were to say I would have emotions I would have disemboweled them very slowly and then begin to kill them. Illyria, the only Old One left 'alive' on earth, thought to herself. At the moment, her face was in the dirt.

She wondered if it was even worth it to get up. She was a shell of her former greatness. ... I believe I made a pun or is it a joke... too bad there is no one left to tell me if it is funny... all gone.

Wesley. Lover to Winifred Burkle, the shell that she wore. A human that was her true guide in the modern world of humans; someone much better than her supposed Qwa'ha Xahn. He died in her arms in the battle against the Black Thorn. She killed the Demon Sorcerer that murdered him without remorse.

Gunn. Fred's first love. A human whose appearance did not offend her eyes. She watched him fight valiantly until his end in that dark, water and blood drenched alley. His death was gruesome but honorable.

Spike. The most arrogant half-breed she ever had the fortune to know. Dead or alive she did not know any more. He had gone to help the Slayer and her lot yet never returned.

Angel. Another half-breed and yet she knew no god that even held a fraction of the bravery and dedication he held. More than that, he transcended his limits to reach near god like power... but in the end even that had not saved him from the trap the senior partners had prepared for him and her.

They should have known it was an ambush, yet they did not. The Wolf, Ram and Hart had prepared well for this one. They wanted them gone, wanted to end their resistance, wipe them from existence for their 'crime': setting all of their plans back by at least ten millenniums.

At least.

They toyed with me like a human. Brought their creatures to hold me back. Allowed me to watch them work upon Angel... until they finally decided to turn him to dust. Illyria replied in her mind the most recent events in her existence. But death was not my punishment. Eternal hell they said was mine, for siding with the humans.

She only opened her eyes for a moment before closing them again. "Quor-toth. How ironic. Here I banished several who opposed me and now here I am banished." Though she felt no point to it, Illyria pulled herself off the blood soaked ground and sat down on it. "I wonder how long it will be before some one tries to kill me."

As if on cue, a wild vortex appeared in front of her, yet Illyria made no move to go through it, knowing it was only allowing something inside the hell dimension.

Yet what came out was not demon. Rather it was a man in his late fifties, wearing brown leather garments and holding in his arms a human baby in a white blanket. The man looked around, and his eyes widened when he saw Illyria, "... you?"

"Do as you wish. I have no purpose to..." Illyria trailed off as her senses picked up on the emotions and scent of demon blood, vampire blood... coming from the baby. Slowly Illyria got up, staring at the man in the eyes. The memories that she possessed from Winifred Burkle coming to the surface. "... Holtz. You are Holtz."

"What are you going on about?" Holtz asked, "And how did you come here? You were on earth and you did not look at all like this."

"The child... is Connor. Angel's son." Illyria stated, looking at the baby for a moment before looking at Holtz, "You will raise him to hate Angel and he will trap Angel in a steal box that will rest at the bottom of the ocean. Your actions will cause humans to worship for a time a woman made of bugs."

"What are you babbling about," Holtz snapped, clearly irritated. "I have no time to waste in this prison. Now get out of my..."

That was all he got to say before Illyria put her left hand around Holtz's neck, squeezing the life out of him, while with her right hand she took the baby from him. "I have no time to waste either. I had thought the sorcerer's spell would have simply sent me to the Quor-toth of my time, yet for some unknown reason it has brought me here to this particular moment in history."

"History?" Holtz gasped for air.

"You have no idea how much could be changed by this one single moment. The moment you stole Angel's son and filled him with hate," Illyria said, holding the baby tight to her chest, keeping the child from seeing Holtz at all... as she leapt up and delivered a kick to the hunter's head with so much force that it was torn from his body and sailed away until it could not be seen any more. "Now you never will."

The baby suddenly began to cry in Illyria's arms and the former Demon Goddess was at a total loss as to what to do. "Please stop making that sound. It is offending to my ears." The crying continued. "I command you to stop making that sound!" The crying became louder.

For a moment Illyria considered killing the child, knowing that Connor never existing would affect history. But what of Wesley... would Angel now no longer have a reason not to kill...

The crying interrupted Illyria's thoughts, wondering what she would do to make the baby stop crying. It was then she thought perhaps her appearance was scaring the child. So she changed now, changed into the lie that she could be come, where she could experience and feel more human emotions then she could in her human true form.

She became Winifred Burkle, looking as human as a human could be. Staring at the baby in her arms, a memory of Fred's came alive and before she knew it, she was rocking the baby in her arms singing a lullaby. "Hush little baby don't say a word, momma's going to buy you a mocking bird..." she paused there. "... am I singing?... hmm?"

Illyria looked down at the baby, who had now stopped crying and was looking at her with a look that she had never seen before. And yet this look was... very pleasant to her. She enjoyed it but did not understand why.

As she held on to the child in her arms, rocking it back and forth in the barren landscape of the hell dimension, she felt something she had never experienced before. What is this that you bring out of me little hybrid of human and vampire? she looked up at the violet-red sky, her face looking serious. We shall be here for some time now. I have killed Holtz, he who would have raised you to hate your father. Purpose soon started to fill her essence. I shall raise you now. Raise you to not only bring out your true potential... but perhaps give us all a second chance.

A laugh escaped her lips, "Who would have ever thought I'd ever become a creature like this? Eh little one?" the baby just cooed, bringing a small laugh from Illyria's lips. "Let us go find a place to live. This will be our home for some time."

To Be Continued...