Title: Coming Back

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: I own Chloe and that's it. Joss Whedon owns everyone else

Feedback: Plwease!

Author's Note: Thank all for the reviews. They've made me happy in really bad week.

This chapter is very Cordelia centric but there is some Chloe and Spike "bonding"

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This is a story based on a challenge of Elisabeth's from Chocolate Covered Strawberries. Except I changed the couples in the story because I cannot write Angel well and I adore writing Xander with a kid fics.

The Other Woman Challenge. Buffy, after her union with Angel, became pregnant. After hiding it from everyone, she gives the baby to Angel when he leaves Sunnydale. Years later, when she finally thinks it's time to go back for her child. Only, when she does go back to LA, she witnesses something, her child calling someone else "Mom".

Requirements: -Buffy's feelings about seeing this.

Options: -The other woman can be anyone: Faith, Cordy, Fred, Nina, other.

-The child can be almost any age

-The child can be male or female.

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Los Angeles

"Cordelia what's wrong?" Angel asked handing her a broad sword, "Careful!" He exclaimed as she let his favorite sword slide from her hand and clatter to the floor.

"Oh! It's just a sword." She snapped brought her daze by her boss's cries.

"Whatever's bothering you, maybe you should fix it before you go off in a daze during a fight with a demon and get yourself killed." Gunn said from the counter of the Hyperion.

"You guys want to keep it down?" Lorne asked strolling into the lobby, "I just got the little nipper to sleep." The "little nipper" was Connor Angel's son. An adorable sweet little baby. Cordelia finally got to do all the things she never got to do with her daughter. Give Conner his bottle. Take it out the stroller; Cordy was often mistaken for its mother when she took him for a walk (since Angel was unable to). But she wasn't Conner's mother she was Chloe's mother.

Chloe's mother. But I'm not, I didn't bandage her scrapes. A true mother does things like that.

I want her to know, that I'm her mother. She needs to know.

I'm going to Sunnydale, I need to go.

That last sentence stayed in her head all day.

She couldn't go to Sunnydale. She told herself 4 years ago she didn't want the child. Xander had custody. Xander had bandaged the scrapes, helped her with bad dreams. Taken her trick or treating.

"Cordelia." Angel asked watching as she filed the Peterson's poltergeist in rat infestation file.

"What!" She asked angrily. The vampire held up his hands.

"I was just going to say, ever since Conner's been born you've been distant and unresponsive, it's like you don't care well more than usual. "

"It's Chloe." She said simply eyes still glazed over, like her mind was miles away in Sunnydale.

Angel nodded sympathetically. He had walked in on her one day crying in a spare room a tear stained letter in her hand.

"Read it!" She said her hand shaking as she passed him the letter. Scanning the letter quickly Angel blinked before putting his arm around Cordy hugging her close, an unusual gesture from Mr. Emotion-is-for-wusses himself.

"You have a daughter." It was a statement rather than a question.

"Chloe Jessica, I didn't want to raise her I thought I'd be a famous actress and didn't want her holding me back. But Angel..." Cordelia explained, taking a deep breath trying regain control, "I-I miss her."

"I know." Angel murmured into her hair as she used his shirt as a Kleenex, her response was muffled but he swore he heard her say thank you.

"I miss her, I thought when I gave her up to Xander it would be the hardest thing I'd have to do but now... choosing whether to stay away is the hardest. "The sobbing seer said, "Seeing Conner just makes it worse. I hold him and I love him so much but all I can think about is how I shouldn't be able to hold him, be like a mother when I had that chance with Chloe and I blew it."

Reaching in his pocket Angel pulled out a wad of bills, "Go see her, as your boss and your friend I'm telling you. I'll pay for it."

"I can't. I gave up that right along time ago." Cordy said pushing away the bills, a first in her book.

"Go." Angel said firmly, "You're off to Sunnydale."

Sunnydale

"She's a bloody criminal mastermind, a fiend of gargantuan proportions." Spike protested to Buffy who stood arms crossed in the doorway of his crypt. Beside her stood the criminal mastermind Spike had been ranting about, standing 4 feet tall.

"Spike! She's adorable an innocent four year old girl. Besides I need to cover a shift at the Double Meat Palace. Please." She said flashing her green eyes at the chipped vampire.

"All right but I get to tie the hellion up." He grumbled and Chloe sent him an evil grin. "See evil!" He sputtered. But when the slayer looked over, Chloe was smiling sweetly up at her Aunt Buffy. Ignoring the vampire Buffy knelt down to speak to the "hellion".

"We're not going to tell your daddy that I left you with Spike okay?"

"No problem!" She said giving her a thumbs up, "You'll still get your $25 dollar's a day." Her face flushed but Buffy just smiled nervously wanting to know why Xander had told his girl how much she was paid. As if reading her mind Chloe added, "Aunt Anya was informing me about capitalism and it slipped out. She then explained about other things mommy and daddy special things like sex."

"Don't repeat what Aunt Anya says." The slayer said automatically. Smiling adorably showing her tiny teeth Chloe nodded. It was mommy and daddy's favorite rule. "Goodbye sweetie."

"Bye-bye!" She shouted at Buffy's retreating back. "So Uncle Spikey what do you want to do?"

"You, little bit and I are going to watch TV." Spike said grabbing the girl in his arms and carrying her to the couch. "No biting!" He scolded as Chloe went for his hand.

"We're not going to watch Passions are we! That's boring!" She exclaimed glaring at Spike. It was the same glare he noted that Xander sent him. Like father like daughter.

"It is not, Timmy gets his heart today and that blond twit Charity is supposed to die." He mumbled.

"Why is that girl blond?" Chloe asked her voice taunting and Spike tensed up.

"Because she is." He said through gritted teeth.
"Why!" She was getting into the question asking, she said standing on the couch starting to hop up and down. "Why! Why!"

"Will you sit down?"

"I'm merely being curious it's important in child development, that's what Auntie Willow said." The bouncing child said stumbling over some of the words. "Auntie Willow is a witch and Uncle Oz is a werewolf. They're really nice! Auntie Anya said that Oz can't bite Willow during sex or she'll turn into a werewolf."

"I know." The vampire said, he was really getting tired of her questions. "Don't repeat what Aunt Anya says."

"Why?" Chloe said with a grin.

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A/N: So chapter 3 next Cordy goes to see Chloe and finds out Chloe does have a mother. Review please!