Disclaimer: I don't Angel. It belongs to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. This story takes place right at the end Season 3 episode, the Price. Everything else is straightforward. I hope you enjoy this.
A Mother's Love
By David Knight
Chapter 1: Hi Dad. Meet Mom.
How much bad luck can one person get? Angel asked himself as he along with the rest of his team saw static discharges occurring in the air above the pentagram that had been made sometime ago to make Sahjhan corporeal. They had just finished dealing with the parasites that had been starting to infest the hotel only for this to occur. And if Fred is right the Destroyer is due to appear...
"RAHHHHHHHHH!!!" was an inhuman scream as a nine-foot tall demon emerged from the disturbance. It definitely was one ugly mother.
"Right about now," Angel muttered, his face becoming grim as he prepared himself for the demon that now charged him.
He was not however prepared to see a gleaming flash of silver come from above and then behead the demon.
"... okay. That's new." Lorne mouthed.
All eyes turned toward the being, or rather person that just killed the demon; a male human teenager with short brown hair, dressed in a red and black leather outfit. A gleaming silver sword was in his hand and a black leather bag of some sort over his shoulder.
But when his eyes locked with Angel's, they widened and he lost his grip on his sword. Then came from his mouth words no one ever expected. "... Father?"
"Wha..." Angel sputtered, staring at the teenager, looking into his eyes and finding something he never expected to see ever again: the eyes of his son. "... Connor?"
Before anyone could say anything else, another demon, even worse than the last came out from the disturbance. It suddenly struck at both Angel and Connor, sending them flying against the wall.
"AT LAST! I HAVE YOU BOY!!!" the demon roared.
"Cykis," Connor groaned, getting to his feet. "You are such a pest you know that."
"Friend of yours?" Angel asked, back up on his feet as well.
"Hardly." Connor replied.
"YOU FILITHY HYBRID!!!" the giant demon bellowed, "YOU ARE AN INSULT TO DEMON LIFE EVERYWHERE! I WILL---"
SLICE!!
The demon, as well as everyone else, stared as they saw a glowing green blade shaped like a scythe now sticking out of his chest.
"Now you die." A voice spoke and in one swift motion the demon was sliced in half right down the middle.
Yet the voice puzzled everyone, most of all Fred, because it was her own. Yet the voice was cold and harsh. When they looked to where the second demon had been, they saw the portal closing up but there was a being that they didn't expect to see.
"Oh my god..." Fred muttered... as she saw herself holding a scythe that looked like it was made entirely of green energy. However there were differences in this other her. Such as her hair, eyes, and the edges of her face were royal blue and a gray cloak was worn over a red-black leather outfit that covered every part of her save her head. The face showed no warmth, only coldness.
But that changed a bit when she looked at Connor. "Connor. Did I not say we would leave together so to ensure the holes would be fixed, not so to create new ones?" she asked, lowering her arms and as she did her scythe vanished from sight.
Connor looked down, "Sorry... I just..."
A slight smile came over the other 'Fred's face, "I know. This was nothing compared to what we have been through, but remember to always think first before acting. I have yet to fully instill that lesson into your mortal mind."
Connor just gave her a smirk, "I think your jokes are getting better Mother."
Angel just stared back and forth between his son and the other Fred for moment before asking, "...Mother?"
"Mother?" Cordelia repeated.
The other Fred just looked across from the room. "... Angel." she started to walk towards Connor, her eyes looking everywhere. "... is this... is this really the time that happened?"
"Ooookay..." Gunn muttered, "Is anyone else majorly weirded out about all this?"
"Should we attack the blue haired one?" Groo asked.
"Touch my mother and you'll regret it." Connor snapped, fixing Groo with a glare that could melt through steel.
"The time that happened?" Fred asked. "The time what happened?"
The other Fred turned to face Fred, looking at her in the eyes. "Winifred Burkle... then this is where it happened."
Angel by now was back on his feet, looking at the blue haired woman. She smelt human but that was just an after image, there was something demonic about her. "Okay. I want some answers. Who are you and what have you done with my son?"
The other Fred turned to look back at Angel, "You are as I remember you, yet your eyes are not as haunted as I remember them."
"We've ... met?" Angel asked, "I mean you aren't Fred. You look like her but.."
"In a way, I am Winifred Burkle," the strange woman said, looking around the room. "I believe it would be best if discussed things further, alone."
"Can, Um, I come?" Fred asked, hesitantly.
The other Fred just stared back at her. "No. This is ... seeing you here... it makes me feel peculiar."
"How about elaborating a bit more on that?" Gunn suggested. "Cause I don't trust you right now, who ever you are." He started to walk over to her but Connor blocked his way.
"She's my mother," the young boy started to say, "She's the only mother I've had for the last seventeen years inside of Quor-toth. Try anything..."
"Seven... seventeen years..." Angel gasped, "But... its only been a few weeks..."
"Time flows differently in Quor-toth." Connor said, looking at the ensouled vampire. "... Father please. Just listen to her."
Angel looked the face of his son, into his eyes and saw he was being truthful. He then turned to the other Fred. "... okay. One thing first."
"Yes?"
"You got a name we can call you by?" Angel asked. "Or is it Fred?"
"... No. I am Illyria."
Fred half-instinctively turned to find Wesley, only to remember he wasn't there. She caught Angel's eye and nodded. "Well, if you don't want me," she said, and started for the former Watcher's former office.
"Alright... let's go into my office." Angel said. Illyria said nothing, following Angel into what was his office. The door closed and Connor stood by there up against it as if being the guard.
"... I'll say it again. This is bizarre even for us." Gunn said aloud. "Few weeks ago Holtz grabbed Connor and went into that hell dimension. Now Connor comes out a teenager with a violent version of Fred?"
"Violent or violet?" Lorne asked rhetorically. "I'm going to help Fred with research." He then left to do just that.
"Do you believe it was wise to have left Angel alone with that blue demon?" Groo asked.
"Are you people really this distrustful, though maybe you got just cause in this case," Connor muttered, though getting stares from the people all the way from the other side of the hotel, "Yes, I can hear you from over here you know."
"Angel can take care of himself. Usually," Cordelia said, and stepped closer to Connor. "So... you're Connor."
"Yeah." Connor replied, though his eyes kept darting for a while before looking back at Cordelia. "Is it always this quiet?"
"Quiet?" Cordelia asked.
"It's just..." Connor scratched the back of his head shyly, "I'm kind of half expecting to get attacked by a Balor or a Frackis or some other demon nut that happens to hate me for being able to survive so long even though I'm half human."
"The only demon...." she paused, then smiled brightly and resumed. "The only demon you'll find around here is Lorne." She gestured to where the green-skinned demon had followed Fred into the other office.
Connor looked at him from where he was for a moment. "Hmm. Looks pretty non violent. Though not all demons were bad. I mean, alliances mom made with some demon families over the years..."
"Alliances?" Gunn asked. "With demons? Demon families?"
"I do not think its possible for a human to be able to do such a thing," Groo stated.
Connor gave a smirk, "Mom... isn't exactly human. She's a lot older than she looks."
"Yeah, I guessed that," Cordelia said. "Still... Can I get you anything? Like a drink of water? Something that doesn't scream 'hunter'?"
"Water's good." Connor said.
"So um what happened to Holtz?" Gunn asked.
Connor blinked for a moment before asking, "Who's Holtz?"
"Holtz. The guy who stole you from us. Well, through Wesley, but he did." Cordelia paused again, then shrugged. "I guess that answers it - he didn't survive. I'll be right back."
"One who stole me... " Connor muttered before remembering, "Oh him! The guy that would have helped bring about two apocalypses by raising me to hate my father and try to kill him!"
"Uh, yeah, I guess. Him," Cordelia said before disappearing into the kitchen.
"... say what?!" Gunn asked.
Connor just looked a bit embarrassed. "...I wasn't supposed to say that."
"What is going on? Just who is that woman in there that looks like Fred!" Gunn demanded to know. "I'm really getting very frustrated with all of this. Now I want answers. And if you can't..."
"What I can tell you, what Mom said I could say if we ever came back to this spot in time," Connor started to say as Cordelia came back with a glass of water. "Is that everything past this point has happened for her... happened in a way that is the end of the world way... she doesn't like to talk much about it with me. She doesn't even know why she was given a second chance." Connor took the glass and took a drink before speaking. "I'm just glad she killed the man that stole me from my father and raised me to think for myself instead of being filled with hate like he would have done to me."
"Hear, hear," Cordelia said, sitting down on the bench. "Hate is not a good emotion. You really need a new outfit," she added without taking a breath.
"Why?" Connor asked. "Mom made this for me from the hide of an adult fire dragon."
"That is the skin of a fire dragon?" Groo said in awe, looking at Connor's clothes.
Gunn was still weirded out, though decided to look inside of Connor's bag. "... whoa!" What he found was an arsenal of many bladed weapons, all of various shapes and designs. A bag he couldn't even lift. "How much does this thing weigh?"
"Nearly five hundred pounds. Give or take fifty." Connor said causally.
Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Hang the skin or stuff it," she said. "But you can't go out looking like that. And no unrelieved black, either. So boring!"
"Yeah and you definitely need to get outside even if its just to see things." Gunn added, taking Connor by his arm and taking him to the door.
"Hey let go of me! What do you think you..." Connor was angry, yet his anger faded right away as his face was in absolute awe. "... its... beautiful..." he just started walking outside, taking in everything. "The sky is as blue as water and the sun... the sun isn't purple."
Cordelia choked. "Purple?"
"Yes and the sky... it changed so many times. Once violet red, then green blue, some times it looked like it was black and white." Connor said absently, looking down at the dirt. He put his hands through it. "The ground... it's clean. Absent of the blood that was always soaked in it every where we went."
Cordelia shook her head, but didn't try to speak.
Connor was about to keep moving but then stopped when saw a car rush right by him. "A demon?"
"What? You think a car is a demon?" Gunn asked.
"A... car?" Connor blinked.
Gunn laughed slightly, "Kid you really are going to have to learn a lot if you want to survive in LA."
"LA? I thought this was earth." Connor said.
"LA - Los Angeles - is a city on earth," Cordelia started, then stopped. "You know, I already explained this once. Groo, you want to try it?"
-----
Illyria watched out the window of Angel's office, looking at Connor first watching the door and then his interaction with the others. "This world will prove to be as much a puzzle to my son as it was for me."
"Look at me." She heard Angel's cold voice and knew that the champion of the Powers That Be was not in a playful mood at all. "I may not know what has gone on, but Connor is my son."
Illyria fixed her own eyes on Angel, matching the stare he was giving her. A stare that only those that had children could possess. "And he has been my son, my life, and my purpose ever since entering Quor-toth. Do not presume to think because I look like Winifred Burkle that I can be handled as if I were her."
"I wouldn't think of that for a second. Fred doesn't have any bit of demon in her; you do." Angel returned. Both 'parents' stared at each other for a while longer before Angel broke it off. "We could do this until the end of time but there isn't any point in it."
"No there is not." Illyria agreed.
"You said you wanted to talk in private, so let's talk." Angel suggested, deciding to ask the first question that was firmly in his mind. "What happened to Holtz?"
"I severed his head from his worthless body." Illyria said causally.
"... oh."
"It was better than the alternative. Allowing him to raise Connor to hate you, hate you enough to want to kill you." Illyria stated.
Angel studied Illyria's face and her voice, wanting to be surer of his suspicions before posing it, "You're from the future?"
Illyria looked at the vampire, her head titled to the left, "Surprise comes off of you in waves, yet I feel that there is an anchor among that surprise... have you gone back in time yourself?"
"Once or twice." Angel admitted. "How far are you from?"
"I do not know. Years meant nothing to me when I came into being on this world in the original timeline." Illyria stated.
"That really doesn't help me much," Angel sighed, "Quite the weapon you were using before. That scythe that you had earlier. It looks like was made of energy."
"It was. That scythe is a manifestation of my will and power." Illyria returned, "A technique I learned from a Demon Lord during my stay in Quor-toth."
"And then you killed him?"
"Actually no." Illyria shook her head, "Vergran was actually one of the few Demon Lords that were among our friends and allies in the hell dimension. He also played chess."
A demon lord that plays chess? Angel mused before looking back at Illyria, "Speaking of Quor-toth, let's move on to another related topic. My son." Angel saw Illyria's eyes lock with his own as he asked, "What was it like raising him?"
Illyria had a smile form on her lips, "I didn't just raise him. He also raised me. That first week, it was very difficult for me, especially with feeding him."
"How did you do that?" Angel asked. "I'm just curious. I mean no bottles, no milk..."
"I gave him milk, but not of a cow." Illyria stated.
Angel stared at her for a moment before realizing what she meant. "...Oh. And how. I don't exactly see how you take that outfit off."
"I don't. Not when I look like this." Illyria started to say, pausing to think of her words, "What I have to say and what you will see with disturb you perhaps. But I ask that you do not jump to conclusions until after I have finished what I have to say to you in its entirety."
Angel said nothing for a while, just contemplating what to do before finally speaking, "Alright. I'll wait. Now, time for show and tell Illyria."
"Indeed," Illyria agreed, as before Angel's own eyes changed her appearance to the real Fred. "The handsome man who saved me from the monsters." She said, speaking in Fred's voice, saying something only Fred could know.
Angel was utterly beside himself, "Wha... wha... what are you? Where's the real Fred?"
The demeanor of Fred's face changed from gentle to cold. "Winifred Burkle died in my time. Her body became my shell that I exist in this world."
"You killed Fred." Angel rasped.
"Not by choice," Illyria returned, still looking like Fred.
"Change back. Now." Angel ordered and Illyria did so. "What do you mean not by choice?"
"I am an Old One. I once ruled this world and then I was killed, but Old Ones do not die like lesser demons." Illyria explained. "My essence was trapped in a sarcophagus within the Deeper Well, where the rest of the sleeping Old Ones are. I had however developed a plan to escape from that well, my sarcophagus to be teleported back here to LA."
"And then what happened? You got loose and infected Fred?" Angel asked, his tone showing his own animosity.
"It is not exactly as you put it." Illyria countered. "One of your servants at Wolfram and Hart..."
"Excuse me. 'One of my servants at Wolfram and Hart'?" Angel interrupted, "Are you out of your mind? They are the bad guys! I would never work for them...never!"
"Not even for your own son?" Illyria asked.
"My son is fine thanks to you..." Angel snapped, then faltered as he realized what he said. "Because of... you..." He fell back into his chair, feeling very weak now. He looked back at Illyria, looking into her eyes, trying to find any sign of deceit or trickery in them or in her own voice.
There was nothing but sincerity.
"...why?" Angel asked.
"In the original timeline, Holtz raised Connor to hate you. That hate brought him down the path that he nearly killed you several times, allow him to be manipulated by a higher power which used him in order to create a vessel so that it could exist here on earth," Illyria explained, "It brought peace but robbed everyone of free will and killed people to bring that peace. You broke the illusion and Connor killed the being... but it drove him over the edge. He held innocent people hostage including Cordelia, who was in a coma."
"I couldn't do anything?" Angel asked.
"You did... by agreeing to run Wolfram and Hart's LA office. They altered everyone's memories save your own, to give Connor a new life but forget everything else." Illyria replied, "And from that point on, your entire team worked for Wolfram and Hart. After a while, one of your employees, who had been one of my followers, got my sarcophagus into the science lab where Winifred Burkle worked. She opened it..."
"And you infected her." Angel finished.
"As I said, it was not by choice, anyone could have been my host." Illyria stated, looking at her own reflection in the mirror. "... but I do not wish it any different."
"So you intend to infest Fred twice?"
Illyria turned back to Angel, glaring at him, "Understand this Angel. When I murdered Holtz I thought I would have simply faded out of existence as normal temporal logistics decree. However it has not happened nor will it happen. My time line is gone yet I remain. I have no intention of allowing history to repeat itself. Not as long as I have the opportunity to change it."
"You show emotion," Angel observed, "I thought Old Ones would have despised emotion."
"You made me more like this, when you had a good amount of my powers taken from me." Illyria replied, "Over time I have regained some. I will never be as powerful as I once was... but that no longer matters to me. What matters to me is my son, to make sure he is safe and can live a good life, a life that is of his own choosing."
Silence passed through the room. Illyria knew Angel was wondering what to do next. Truth be told this is what she was expecting. A warrior is a warrior forever more.
Finally Angel broke the silence, "You raised my son. He thinks of you as his mother. I'll let you stay..." he then fixed Illyria a look at the meant he was serious, "... but I want to know what you know about the future. Enough to work on stopping these apocalypses you are saying will happen."
"I won't tell you everything at once. That would take too long." Illyria stated.
"Fine. Give me the highlights. We'll work from there."
"The highlights?" Illyria questioned.
"The key moments or players I should be aware of." Angel said.
"Oh."
-----
An hour later...
"Are they still talking?" Cordelia asked.
"Yes they are." Groo observed.
"Well at least no one has gone through the glass window yet." Cordy sighed.
"You done sport?" Gunn asked. "How long does it take you to change?"
"How can you people wear such clothing? It serves no protection," Connor's voice came from the other room.
"I learned here not everyday is a battle... and you would look silly and attract too much attention in battle armor," Groo replied.
Connor came out, dressed in one of Wes's left over clothes, a red button down shirt and black pants. "... I feel so vulnerable to attack."
"Not the best," Cordelia said, almost flippantly, "but it'll do until you get some real clothes."
"Real clothes. Wonder what those are made of, even lighter than what I am wearing now?" Connor asked.
Gunn gave a sigh before seeing Fred and Lorne come out of the office, "Hey. Any luck on finding anything about Ill... thing that's with Angel."
"She's not a thing. She's my mother." Connor snapped.
"Your mother is..." Cordelia paused. "Please say that Ill... whatever is better than Darla?"
"My biological mother? Mom didn't know much about her. Except that she remembers that she told my father I was the one good thing that they ever did together, the only thing... and then she killed herself to give birth to me." Connor said softly, looking over at Cordelia, "And if you want to refer to my mother as something else, do it by her name. Illyria."
"If I can remember," Cordelia said with a nod in his direction.
Fred blinked. "She told you that?" She still looked a little spooked, and there was a glint in her eye that made Gunn think she'd discovered something dangerous. Whatever they'd found, though, they'd decided to keep it to themselves for whatever reason - even Lorne was keeping quiet.
Suddenly the door to Angel's office opened and both he and Illyria walked out. Gunn was the first to speak. "So what's the deal boss?"
"Illyria stays with us," Angel said firmly and before anyone could anything he continued on to say, "There is no discussion, no debate, no nothing. She stays. As does my son. Anyone who doesn't like that, there's the door."
Fred stared at him. "Did she tell you who - what - she is?" she asked, almost in protest.
"Would you like to speak with them alone yourself now?" Illyria suggested. Seeing Angel's nod she looked at Connor. "Come son. Let's look around this place, find proper rooms..." her head cocked slightly looking at the clothes he wore.
"Cordelia gave them to me. Said my clothes weren't right here," Connor said.
"They are Wesley's." Illyria noted, with a touch of warmth in her voice. "They look good on you. Now come."
"Sure mom." Connor said as he walked up stairs with Illyria.
When they were out of sight did Angel look back to his team. "Anyone has any problems, voice them but my decision stands."
Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Of course, boss," she said sarcastically.
"Did she tell you?" Fred asked with an earnestness that he'd thought charming. "Because even though we couldn't find anything on her, she just doesn't feel like your average demon."
"And no explanation why she mirrors Fred, here," Lorne added. He looked nervous, which was strange for him.
Angel looked at them all for a while, wondering exactly how much to tell. He wasn't sure he trusted Illyria, but she raised his son, brought him back alive. More importantly he trusted her more than he trusted Wolfram and Hart. "... what I am about to tell you does not leave this room."
"Angel, what's with the doom and gloom tone?" Gunn asked.
"What if I told you everything here has already happened. What if the first time around Connor came back without Illyria, except that time he had a stake launcher and tried to kill me and Holtz had raised him to hate me?"
Fred paused. "Doesn't sound particularly good," she said.
"I can help you with the trust issues," Lorne offered.
"What are you saying? That's she's a time jumper or something." Gunn scoffed. "As if time travel..."
"I've had my days reset more than once." Angel interrupted.
"... oh." Gunn said deflated.
"So, that happened, and she came back to fix it? That means Holtz is dead?" Cordelia asked, looking cheered by the thought.
"Illyria didn't expect this to happen to her. To be given a second chance." Angel said. "Where she came from in the future, things didn't turn out well."
"Connor said something about end of the world bad." Gunn replied. "Didn't elaborate. Are you going to?"
"... what Holtz did to Connor, it paved a path..." Angel said slowly, looking at Cordelia. "One that ended up getting just about all of us ending up dead. One by one."
"Ah. So, in other words, that won't happen here?"
Fred shook her head. "Is less likely to," she said. "And did she explained about what she is and why she looks like, well looks like me?"
"Part of it has been stopped, the rest still needs to be stopped." Angel explained, before looking into Fred's eyes. "And yes. She did tell me what she is. She's an Old One."
"Say what?!" Lorne exclaimed. "She's an Old One?!"
"An Old One?" Fred blinked.
"Something tells me that doesn't sound good." Gunn muttered.
"It is not." Groo said, his tone deadly serious. "The Old Ones have not been seen back on Pylea for ages, yet they put even the most fiercest of demons to shame."
"As in Hellgod bad?" Cordy asked.
"The Old Ones were the things that normal demons both feared and revered. It was only after they were all gone that vampires came into being," Angel explained.
"Not to mention they are supposed to have god like powers themselves," Lorne added.
"So what do we do about the Old One that looks like Fred?" Groo asked.
"Like I said, we do nothing. Illyria stays here, at the hotel with us." Angel repeated.
"Angel," Fred started to say, "Why does she look like me?"
Angel sighed, knowing that this had to be answered, though it would be hard on everyone and he had no idea of how things would play out after he said it. "Fred she looks like you, because she came to exist within your body."
"Excuse me?" Fred blinked.
"Angel what are you saying?" Gunn asked.
"There's no easy way to say this, so I'll just say it as simply as can be," Angel said, "Illyria's essence, it filled your body, Fred... and when you died, your body became hers."
Fred blinked, started to sit down, and realized that there wasn't a chair behind her. She dropped to the floor. "I died?"
"How do we stop that?" Gunn demanded.
"It's already been stopped." Angel stated. "Some things have been stoped by what Illyria has done while others haven't. And we're probably going to have to deal with the fallout as well."
"Fallout?" Groo asked.
"I think what our fearless leader is saying, is that you don't just go mucking around with history without expecting a backlash." Lorne said.
"With every change, something new can happen. Good or bad." Angel said calmly, "Right now, we need to keep this in house. I don't want Wolfram and Hart hearing about any of this for as long as possible."
"What about Illyria?" Gunn asked.
"What part of she stays here isn't clear?" Angel questioned. "I am not saying I trust her completely, but I am not losing my son over this."
"Keep your friends close and your enemies even closer?" Cordelia quipped.
Angel let out a sigh, "I trust all of you. I'm asking you to trust me with this. Please."
Silence filled the hotel for a while. Then finally, one by one, they agreed with Angel's decision. That didn't make any of them feel any better about Illyria.
Especially Fred.
-----
Elsewhere, Illyria had found a room she thought proper for Connor. Connor himself was leaning against a wall. "They don't trust you at all."
"Angel trusts me, enough to allow me to stay here with you." Illyria replied, looking at her son, "And they have good reason to be distrustful. Especially Winifred Burkle."
Connor could only nod. His mother had explained to him when he was eleven that she had once been a demon goddess that had ruled the earth and in modern times her essence had filled out the body of a mortal woman. A kind, gentle woman whose face was the only human face he had known for the last seventeen years of life. The face of the person he called mother.
To see his mother in both forms at the same time was a bit surprising to him. "Do you think they'll ever trust you? Because if they don't, then we can just go back--"
Illyria put her hands on Connor's shoulders, stopping him from completing that sentence. "Quor-toth was never our home, Connor. This is. This is where we belong. We must have patience, for if we do not, the past will repeat itself."
"I don't want it either," Connor shook his head, as he put his arms around Illyria's body in a hug. "I just don't want to lose you mom."
Illyria slowly put her arms around Connor, one arm around his back while the other stroking his head. "You will never lose me, my son. I promise." As she held her son in her arms, Illyria's thoughts turned to the future.
And to a man she longed to see once more.
To Be Continued...