PART FOUR

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
WOLFRAM & HART, ATTORNEYS AT LAW
SCIENCE DIVISION - WINIFRED BURKLE'S OFFICE

Fred rolled around in her chair gathering the specimens for study while Knox and his crew were out in the lab running the tests. Wesley entered her office quietly and came up behind her chair.
"Having fun?"
"Of course. But as much fun as last night." She said, rolling around and kissing him passionately. "So what brings you down here to my laboratory?"
"Just checking up on my sweetheart." He twirled her back around for her to continue work on her specimens. "Any chance you might want to run tests on me in this laboratory?"
"Wesley." Fred answered with a slight rouge emerging on her fair skin.
"It was only a suggestion." Wesley said crossing over and his eyes landing on her bookshelves. Fred got up from her chair and came to hug him from behind.
"Who says I won't?" She joked. "So, have we heard anything apart from Paige being here yesterday?"
"Paige was here yesterday?" Wesley turned around but didn't let go of her.
"Yeah, I thought you knew." Fred said, watching Wes shaking his head.
"That's alright. But, no, we haven't heard anything." Wesley paused. "So, I guess we should just be patient."
"Yea." Fred pressed her nose to his. "Now, how about those tests?" She giggled.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
CORDELIA CHASE'S APARTMENT

It was late morning when Cordelia woke up, feeling all refreshed and alive. She rotated on her bed and looked over to her side, relieved not to find Angel there. But the sheets sure were messed up. Rolling back over, she took an extra pillow and put it under her head, closing her eyes again. She heard the bathroom door open and opened one eye to catch a view. Angel stood there, half naked and towel drying his hair. He looked over at her and smiled, not realizing that she wasn't still sleeping. Sitting down on the bed, he reached to touch her bare back. She moved around, facing him and held the sheets to her body.
"Morning." He said with a smile.
"Angel? You're still Angel right?"
"Yeah."
"Not Angelus?"
"No."
"Then I didn't give you that perfect happiness then?"
"Cordelia..."
"What, wasn't I good?"
"Cordelia, we didn't do anything. You slept under the covers and I slept on top."
"So, we didn't..."
"No." He smiled up at her. "But you know if I could, we would." He leaned in and brushed his lips against hers, wanting more. She broke the kiss off before it could go any further.
"Angel, I..." She started looking for something to say. "I need to take a shower."

Fifteen minutes later, Cordelia emerged from her bedroom to find Angel warming up his blood in the microwave and making a pot of coffee for her. Her hair had begun to dry and she walked over to the kitchen and sat down at the table. He handed her a cup of coffee while he waited for his blood to warm.
"So what do you want to do today?"
"Well, I have to stop by the office and then it's over to the Manor."
"What for?"
"I was volunteered for babysitting duty while the girls and Leo went to a reunion of some kind. You feel up to it?"
"Babysitting? I think I can handle that."
Cordelia smiled as he retrieved his mug and shook a few sprinkles of cinnamon into it.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
THE HALLIWELL MANOR

Cordelia and Angel showed up right on time with Phoebe bouncing off the walls with Wyatt.
"I see we're just in time." She said, watching Phoebe levitate and Wyatt mocking her. Piper let them in and invited Angel in as expected.
"Oh yeah. If Phoebe gets anymore hyper I'm going to freeze her for good."
"That bad, eh?"
"You have no idea." Piper said, continuing back to the kitchen where Paige and Leo were. Cordelia and Angel made their way back to the kitchen as well. Paige was dressed from head to toe in jewels and looked ravishing. Leo, in his tux, was just as handsome as the night he married Piper.
"Wow, don't we look all James Bond-ish. So where are you guys going again?" Cordelia asked as Leo smiled at her for the comment.
"A party for Phoebe's news column. She's going national."
"For good this time?"
"Oh yea. That's why she's so hyper. And we still need her to get dressed!" Piper yelled over the kitchen and into the conservatory where she knew Phoebe could hear her. Piper was dressed in a long red dress, hugging her womanly curves at every angle. They all heard Phoebe run up the stairs to change and Piper started to go towards the conservatory when Angel stopped her.
"Can I?" He asked, politely.
"Sure. But be careful, he likes to orb a lot." Piper warned as Angel went towards the conservatory. Cordelia watched as his face lighted up to the sight of a little boy. He had lost that chance to raise his own son, something that none of them had wanted. Of course, her and Angel were the only ones to know about Connor now.
"So, how's it going with him?" Paige asked, slipping on her heels.
"Not bad. There are still times I want to smack him for everything and sometimes I just want to kiss him."
"I'm just glad that you're dealing with this." Leo added, helping his lovely wife clasp her necklace that she was trying to put on herself. "It shows how strong you really are."
"I wasn't strong last night." Cordelia paused and grabbed a drink from the fridge, sitting back down at the table. "You know we came home to my place and well, you know how I am when I get tired, I plop down on the couch and stay there. Well of course Angel was there this time, massaging my feet and..."
"Oh no, we all know where that leads you." Paige said, remembering her first fling in San Francisco with Brett Hyberton, one of San Francisco's leading bachelors.
"Don't start on Brett, Paige. That was over a long time ago. Plus, this is Angel. I can't exactly jump into the sack with him."
"Why not?" Piper asked, not knowing the full story of Angel's soul.
"Well, he has a curse. A gypsy curse, which if he experiences perfect happiness he goes all evil and we don't want that. I thought I told you that." Cordelia was saved from talking anymore when Phoebe graced them with her presence. "Wow."
"Yes, wow."
"You look amazing Phoebe." Leo commented, looking up at down at her dress. Phoebe twirled around and flashed them a smile. Her elegant a-line royal blue dress looked dazzling on her.
"You think?"
"We know. Girl, you look spectacular." Cordelia got up from the table and circled around Phoebe, checking out her dress. "You are going to knock them dead. But oh, not literally."
"Thanks." She said, checking her image in the mirror by the doorway. Cordelia heard the laughs from the other room. Wyatt was laughing and at Angel no less.
"I'll be right back. I hope he's not doing his vamp face." She said and walked to the conservatory. Thankfully he wasn't. He was on the floor with Wyatt building a very high block skyscraper. She leaned against the post and watched him play with the little boy. It was sweet really; reminiscent of the days that Angel was deprived of. Paige and Piper walked up behind her, watching Angel play like he was 3 years old as well.
"He has a knack for that, doesn't he?" Paige asked.
"Yea, he does. I'll tell you the whole story later. But you all need to get out of here." Cordelia turned around and started to push the sisters out of the house. Piper grabbed her purse and snuck over to the conservatory to give Wyatt a kiss.
"Okay, Chris is upstairs sleeping, Wyatt's in there. The phone numbers are on the fridge and we'll be home around two."
"Okay, I got it. Now go have a good time." Cordelia pushed them out and shut the door.

Three hours had passed since the Halliwell's had gone. Angel was on the couch with Wyatt asleep in his arms and Cordelia was in the chair, reading the book that Piper had lent her. She looked up over at him and smiled, seeing how comfortable Wyatt was with the vampire.
"You look like a dad." She said as he looked up at her.
"Why thank you, Cordelia. Because only you know that I am."
"True, but you with Wyatt, it's...it's sweet." She said when the baby monitor sounded off and they could hear baby Chris' sweet cry. She got up and went towards the stairs. Walking up to the baby, she didn't hear Angel follow her with Wyatt on his shoulder. She hovered over Chris' crib and started to make her baby faces.
"Is this where Wyatt sleeps too?" Angel asked behind her. She turned around and shook her head yes. Angel watched Cordelia pick up the infant, cradling him in her arms.
"You look like a mom." He said.
"What?" She asked, rocking the baby back and forth, hoping he would go back to sleep.
"You look like a mom." She looked up then, wondering what he meant by that comment. "It's not a bad thing. It's good."
"Oh, well, thanks." She grabbed the pacifier on the side table and inserted it into Chris' mouth, the baby taking the item and sucking on it. She knew he wasn't hungry. She had just fed him his bottle not long ago. She hummed a little tune to put him back to sleep in an instant. Setting him back in his crib, she placed the baby blanket over him and left the room, taking the baby monitor with her.

Two more hours passed when the sisters and Leo came home.
"So, did you two have fun?" Phoebe asked, wanting to know details.
"Of course." Cordelia said, putting away the milk and stuffing the leftover pizza into a container for Piper. "He had a great time playing house."
"House?" Leo raised his eyebrows.
"Piper will explain it to you later." Cordelia patted him on the back and crossed over to the other side of the island beside Angel. "Wyatt and Chris are sound asleep upstairs."
"Were they good?"
"They were angels. I think Wyatt made a new friend." She nudged Angel in the stomach.
"He's a sweet boy, although he likes to use his shield a lot."
"Yeah, we've been trying to make him stop that. Still needs some work." Piper said, letting the clasp of her barrette to let her brunette hair scale down her back. "But thanks for doing this."
"No problem. Any time you need me, I'm here." Cordelia said.
"You coming tomorrow?"
"Yea, we'll be there."
"Where?"
"P3, my club downtown. We're having another party for Phoebe." Piper said, leaning against Leo. She was exhausted and everyone knew it.
"We'll be there. We're going to get going now." Cordelia walked towards the foyer and grabbed her purse and jacket. Angel got the door and waited for her while she said goodbye to the sisters. Closing the door behind them, Leo walked back over to the sisters.
"Curse?"

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
WOLFRAM & HART, ATTORNEYS AT LAW
WESLEY WYNDAM-PRYCE'S OFFICE

It was early morning when Harmony came into Wesley's office. He had stayed there all night again. Wiping his sleepy eyes, he looked up at her and waited for the daily report.
"Okay, meetings are cleared until noon and at one o'clock you have a meeting with the board of directors."
"Board of Directors? For what?" Wesley took the files out of Harmony's hands and took a big drink of the coffee she had set on his desk.
"The whereabouts of Angel, CEO of Wolfram & Hart." She informed.
"Oh, that." Wesley said, putting the papers down on his desk and running his hands through his bed-head hair. "Thank you Harmony. Could you get the gang in here?"
"Sure thing, boss." Harmony left his office and over to her desk to page the others. Charles Gunn was the first in his office.
"What's up, English?" Gunn took a seat in front of Wesley's desk. Fred and Lorne entered the office right when Wesley started to explain.
"We need to come up with an excuse for Angel."
"An excuse?"
"We have a meeting with the Board of Directors to explain our boss' whereabouts." Wesley explained to the gang.
"What are we supposed to tell them?" Lorne asked, when Spike entered the room.
"Hey, you got any whiskey?" Spike asked going to Wesley's personal armoire and took out the bottle of whiskey. Opening it up and taking a swig of it, Spike put it back and came over to the desk. "Guess what?"
"Had another vision?"
"Oh yeah. Cordelia never said that they would hurt this bad." Spike threw a couple of pain killers down his throat and swallowed. Fred put her hand on his head and rubbed his temple, hoping to relieve his headache.
"Well, they actually shouldn't. Maybe Fred could help you with that." Lorne said, as Fred looked to Spike and smiled.
"What did you see Spike?"
"Big nasty smelly demon over in a housing project later tonight. Gonna cause some major mayhem."
"Okay, we'll do that tonight, but right now we have to tell something to the Board." Wesley said when the orbs came. The all looked over at the four beings who came on a mission. "Well, hello."
"Hi. Did you forget to tell us something?" Phoebe came forward with her hands on her hips.
"About what?" Lorne asked. Paige waved to Gunn and smiled when Phoebe went off.
"A curse?!? He has a curse?"
"Phoebe, calm down." Piper said, pulling her sister back from the desk. "Mr. Wyndam-Pryce, we were unaware of this curse that Angel has. Could you please explain?"
"Well, back in..."
"Oh no, you are not gonna recite this thing again." Gunn got up from the chair and stopped Wesley. "You see, Angel's got a curse from a gypsy tribe when he killed one of them. So if he experiences perfect happiness in any way, shape, or form, he goes evil. And we don't like evil Angel." Gunn said, walking over and standing by Paige. He looked over at Lorne who was eyeing Fred and ignored them. He did like her and didn't really care about their opinions.
"So, you're saying if he gets all bony with Cordelia, he'll go evil?" Paige asked, looking up at Gunn.
"Yeah, and it's not pretty." Fred added.
"Hey if he went all Angelus on us that would mean that I would be the hero, right? I kind of like that idea." Spike said, smirking at the idea.
"Spike!"

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
CLUB P3

The music blared in the background and Angel watched as Cordelia, Paige and Phoebe danced their hearts out. She was beautiful; absolutely beautiful. Her smile lighted up the room as the lights ricocheted off of her body, highlighting her brunette hair and her light bronze skin. Piper watched the back of Angel's head as he stared at Cordelia dancing about in the middle of the floor with her sisters. Knowing he was smiling, she smiled herself. Leo came up by the bar and took a seat next to him, raising his eyebrows at Piper.
"How's it going Angel?" Leo asked, grabbing the beer that Piper handed him.
"Not bad. Things could be better."
"How so?"
"Well, I could be human by now, Cordelia would be by my side, my son would know who I am and I could actually be happy for once in my two century year old life." Angel turned on the stool and set his drink back up on the counter. Leo's face turned blank. "Sorry you asked?"
"Just a little."
"Do you love her?" Piper asked.

"Hmmm?"
"Do you love her? Cordelia...you know that sassy brunette out there on the dance floor with my sisters who likes to speak her mind?"
"Yes, I do. More than she knows."
"Well, I hope you know that she still thinks you're waiting on some girl named Betty or Betsy or something like that."
"Buffy?"
"Yea, that's it."
"Why on God's green earth would she think that? I'm not waiting on Buffy. Sure, she was my first love but it was ill-fated from the start." Angel took another drink of his beer and went on to explain his relationship with Buffy to Piper and Leo. "Cordelia is the reason. The whole reason why I'm still standing here. Why I'm still undead."
"Maybe you should tell her that then." Piper said. "I mean, she loves you. She may not admit it to your face, but she does. She tells us everything."
"And she does mean everything." Leo said, remembering Cordelia's lecture on getting involved with your boss and his son, which by her account was a total mistake by all means and the time when she was explaining what when on with her during the month after Brett. Something Leo did not want to go through again. Angel laughed at Leo's expression as the girls came back up to the bar. Cordelia jumped onto Angel's back and tugged him close.
"Having fun?" Piper asked, smiling at Cordelia and her sisters.
"Oh yeah. You should've seen this guy out there. He was doing these moves that reminded me of Angel." Cordelia said.
"Hey! I can dance."
"Hardly." Cordelia said, grabbing his beer and taking a sip of it. The band started to play a slower song and Piper got her chance.
"Hey, prove her wrong." Piper nodded towards the dance floor and the couples forming. Leo smiled and giggled a bit when his wife looked at him. "You too. Prove me wrong." Piper came out from behind the bar and took her husband out onto the dance floor. Angel took a hold of Cordelia's hand and led her as well. Hugging her close, her head dipped to his shoulder and they danced. Piper looked over at the couple and smiled, seeing them sway back and forth. Leo leaned down and kissed her, diverting her attention to him instead of the budding lovebirds to their right.

Angel looked down at Cordelia's head, leaning on his shoulder and smiled. This was perfect. This was how he imagined it. His perfect life with her in it. She looked up and smiled into his eyes.
"So, you can dance."
"I try."
"Well, it's certainly better than your singing."
"Do I have to comment on yours?" He joked.
"Don't you dare! You will find yourself in a dimension that you won't be able to get out of." She threatened, laughing while she did. His face lit up and he took the opportunity to act on his instincts. He leaned down and kissed her. Kissing her had never felt so good or right. It was meant to be. Her. Him. Together.

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA
CORDELIA CHASE'S APARTMENT

Cordelia leaned against her door outside, trying to find her keys through her purse while Angel was kissing her. It was hard, very hard to think of anything else. He leaned on top of her and she dropped her purse to the ground and lifted her arms around his neck, pulling him closer and causing his tongue to go deeper into her throat. His kisses didn't stop there. His mouth traveled down her neck and rested on the top of her breasts. She pushed him back before anything else started in the hallway. Grabbing her purse off the ground she got out her keys and shoved through her apartment. She started to take her jewelry off when Angel got her from behind. Running his hands down her legs and back up all she could feel was a sensation that she didn't want to get rid of. Turning around, she pulled him back in for a kiss. They toppled over each other and were down on the floor in an instant. Her dress came off and went flying into the kitchen. His pants and shirt were flung into the foyer as Angel kept kissing her. His lips moved down her body slowly and the sensation lasted longer with each touch to her body.
"Angel..." She moaned.
"Sssh..." He told her not wanting to ruin this for the both of them.