Author's Note: Whoo! Three reviews! Tuesday morning's obviously the time to update…so why I'm doing it on a Sunday night is beyond me.

Name: messege.

Anme: messege.

Name: messege.

Previously on Angel: AI discovered that Cordelia has been turned evil and was behind the rise of the Beast. An attempt to stop her was thwarted by Connor, and the pair escaped together.

Jasmine: Inside Out

Timing's a bit off in this chapter; sorry. It just wouldn't straighten out for me!

Connor was gone when she reached his room; she wandered down to the lobby and settled on the couch there, waiting. When the others dragged in she handed Fred an icepack without speaking and vacated the couch, settling on the stairs instead. Gunn came in soon after, messing with his phone.

"Just got your message. Being around Electric Gwen can really mess with the…" he trailed off, looking around. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Cordy's evil." Fred told him. "Nice suit." she added.

"It's not Cordy." Angel muttered from behind the desk.

"We don't know that for certain." Wes said.

"Whoa. Back it up for the new guy." Gunn asked. "You're saying Pop and Momma threw you a beating?"

"Kid Vicious did the heavy lifting. Cordy just m'wu-ha-ha'd at us." Lorne lifted his drink.

"Why?" Gunn asked.

"Beastmaster." Angel said simply.

"You think Cordy's working for him?"

"She is the Master." Fred said.

Gunn took a deep breath and sat down. "Guy steps out for a few hours, half the place goes super villain."

"Connor's not part of this." Angel said quietly.

"Evidence upside my head to the contrary." Lorne said pointedly.

"He's just…confused. Again." Angel said. Deirbhile shifted slightly where she was sitting, but she didn't say anything.

"Now we know what she's been doing with him all this time." Fred said suddenly. "She's been…grooming him."

"As her Champion." Wes said. Lorne turned to look at Deirbhile, who still didn't say anything.

Deirbhile was thinking hard. She tuned out the rest of what they were saying; they were rehashing the events of the last few weeks, trying to pin down when Cordelia had changed. She, on the other hand, was trying to figure why Connor was so wrapped up in this, and how she'd missed it.

After a little while they split up. Deirbhile stayed where she was, barely blinking when Gunn stepped over her on his way upstairs.

Some time passed; she wasn't paying enough attention to say how much. She was vaguely aware that Angel had gone away and come back with a demon, and that the group was threatening the demon to make him talk. Since she knew most of what he was talking about, she didn't bother listening. Lorne and Wesley went away to do a spell to find Cordelia; Angel went to brood somewhere; Fred and Gunn stayed to guard the demon. No one paid any attention to her, so she continued ignoring them. She was busy anyway.

Eventually Lorne and Wes came back with a map, which Angel took. While he studied it and talked quietly to Wes, Lorne settled beside her, finishing off his drink. "You haven't told them."

"No, I haven't."

"Are you planning to?"

"Looks like I might not have a choice." She bit her lip, thinking.

"Why haven't you?"

"Because it should be his to tell, not mine."

"Has it ever occurred to you that he may not want to be yours? That he may not want to be anybody's?"

"In that case, Lorne, he'd better stay mine. Because I'm not asking anything of him." She shifted on her step so she could look straight at him. "The Powers keep their Champions busy. Like…remember a couple years ago when you came to ask Angel for help? That grad student was going to freeze time. Remember?"

"Sure I remember. That was just after…" he hesitated, then, more slowly, "just after the mess with Darla."

"Right. Angel was within a hairs' breadth of giving up on the whole thing right then. So they used you to draw him back in." She laced her fingers together, studying them carefully. "Buffy's been pulled in so many directions the last few years I'm surprised she even knows which way is up…the Powers do not let go of their Champions. I do. Well, more or less."

"More or less? You lost me, kiddo."

"I always see him. I always know where he is and what he's doing…but I don't influence him. What I want is for him to be happy and for that, he needs to choose his own path."

"Not in favor of the 'cruel to be kind' theory, huh?"

"Oh, no, I follow that theory. Usually. Stephen is a special case."

"You do? When?" Deirbhile took a deep breath.

"When I was in Turtle Cove, two of our group were blinded temporarily. And while everyone else was comforting them and telling them not to worry, I was yelling and telling them they had to fight anyway."

"Did it work?"

"It worked. Alyssa didn't talk to me for a while, but it worked. They won, and they got their vision back."

"So it worked out."

"Yeah. See, since I don't usually hang around, I don't need to worry about what people think of me. But Alyssa was really hurt, and that hurt." She shook her head sharply. "This is totally off-topic. Stephen's mine."

"But what does he think?" Lorne asked gently.

"He was starting to come around. And then Cordelia started whispering in his ear…you know what she did? She used his resentment of Angel against him. 'Oh, Connor, I thought you'd be a better father than yours was to you, Connor, I need your help, Connor, they'll kill the baby, Connor…' Pfff. Higher powers, what do they know."

Lorne went very still. "This…thing's a higher power?"

"Probably not. I can't really tell. Whatever it is, it has Stephen pretty damn confused."

"Can you help?"

Deirbhile rose to her feet, suddenly towering over him. "You haven't been listening. I'm not going to try, because he has to make his own decisions."

"You can help." Angel said from behind her. "I just don't get why you're not."

"No, of course you don't." Deirbhile stepped down into the lobby. The others came back, sensing…something. "Of course you don't."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Have you actually looked at Stephen recently?"

"His name," Angel said through gritted teeth, "is Connor."

"So you're not paying attention then. I wondered." She glanced briefly at Lorne. "He told me I could call him Stephen if I wanted, Angel." She paused politely; when Angel didn't say anything, she went on, "Have you looked at him lately? Your son's drowning, you know."

"That's because Cordelia…"

"No it's not. Your son's been drowning for months. You just haven't been watching. For gods' sake, Angel, you threw him out of the hotel."

"He threw me into the ocean!" Angel reminded her angrily.

"Yeah. Yeah he did. Tell me something. When he first arrived here. If you hadn't known who he was, if he just arrived out of a portal and started attacking…you'd have killed him."

"No!" Angel growled.

"Yes." Deirbhile said relentlessly. "If he'd been just a random evil, attacking for no reason you could figure…poof. Dead."

"Is there a point to this?" Wes asked. Deirbhile nodded.

"There is. You were raised as a Watcher, more or less, weren't you?"

"More or less." Wes agreed.

"So if you came across a vampire that said 'don't kill me, I'm a good vampire'…would you have believed it?"

"No." Wes said quietly.

"No more did Stephen."

"Connor." Angel muttered.

"He pretended to. But he didn't. He was raised to think you were the foulest, most evil thing ever. He's the Destroyer and he destroyed. Because he didn't know any better. And then, when he was starting to think hey, this family stuff's not so bad, you came back and said no, I didn't kill Holtz, and he started to think wait…maybe I was wrong. And then you threw him away."

"He needed…" Angel started.

"What? A time out? To think about what he'd done? Three months hadn't done that, a few more weeks wasn't gonna make a difference, Angel."

Angel raised his face; he was very close to attacking her right then, and they both knew it. "Why do you care so much?"

"You still don't get it, do you, Angel?" Deirbhile's eyes were hard and cold. "You belong to the Powers. Cordelia, Buffy, Doyle…they all belong to the Powers. Connor belongs to me." Angel, who had frowned at Buffy's name and scowled at Doyle's, blinked in surprise at that.

"Connor…is your Champion?"

"Since when?" Gunn asked in surprise.

"Since always. Connor's always been mine."

"Doesn't…Connor belong to the Powers, too?" Fred asked.

"No. If Angel had been the first thing to hold him, then yeah. But Darla dusted herself and the first thing Connor touched was the ground." She looked back at Angel. "He's mine."

"Then why won't you help him?" Angel demanded. "Cordelia's got him…brainwashed, and all you can do is stand there and tell us he's yours?"

"I'm not going to tell him what to do. People have done that all his life. Holtz told him to kill you. You told him Holtz was evil. Everyone else expected him to be Mini-You. Connor has no idea who Connor is and I'm not going to stop him trying to find out."

"But Cordelia's evil." Gunn pointed out.

"It doesn't matter. Connor knows I'm not going to tell him what to do; that was one of the first things I explained, when he found out he's my Champion. If I start trying now he'll never trust me again."

"I thought you loved him." Fred said softly. "He's going to be hurt."

"I do love him. That's not the point. He's going to be hurt no matter what, everything's gone too far now. There's nothing I can do about that." She looked at Angel again. "He's had nothing constant, Angel. Holtz died, you died, and now Cordelia…I am going to be his constant. And for that, I can't start telling him what to do."

"When did I die?" Angel asked, confused.

"In a cage in the basement." She gestured downwards. "You made him sit there and watch while you died, and someone else took over your body."

"That's not fair." Fred protested.

"Oh? He didn't make you watch, or Lorne, and he tried to send Cordelia away. But Connor had to stay."

"I needed Connor there in case something went wrong." Angel said quietly. "Because I knew he'd kill me."

"Wesley would have killed you. Gunn would have killed you. Hell, Cordelia would've, if she'd been in her right mind. You wanted Connor there because you wanted to prove to him that you and Angelus are separate people. Well, you did that all right."

"You're not being fair." Wes said quietly.

"I'm being perfectly fair. Angel loves Connor, we all know that. He wanted to prove that he isn't what Connor was raised to think he is." She shrugged. "Didn't work, but hey. We all have bad days."

"Are you trying to delay us?" Wesley asked.

"Yes. How's it working?"

"You're going to be late too."

"No I'm not. I have other means of transportation. Much faster than yours. Particularly since every road and sewer tunnel leading away from this hotel has mysteriously been blocked. Gosh darn it."

Angel took a step forward, looming over her, and she raised her chin defiantly. "I wouldn't, Angel, but you go right ahead if it'll make you feel better."

"We're only trying to help Connor." Fred said softly.

"No, you're trying to stop Cordelia. There's a difference. And besides, Connor has help right now." She looked around the group. "Well, I have to go. Bye." She took a step forward and stopped, glaring at Angel who hadn't moved out of her way. "Get out of the way, Angel."

"Make me."

"Oh, I will if I have to. Try me." Angel stared at her for a long moment before moving…barely…to one side. Deirbhile bowed mockingly and slipped past him.

"Someone's going to die there, Thariin." Lorne called after her.

"I know." She didn't turn to look at him. "But it's not going to be him. I won't let him."

"You can't control everything."

"I don't need to control everything. Just this thing." She took a step, hesitated, turned back. "Look…I know you're the good guys here. I don't want to be fighting you. But right now, all I care about is Connor."

"Connor?" Wes repeated sharply. "Or Stephen?"

"That's…" she took a breath. "Between him and me. I need him. I need him alive and I want him happy."

"What for?" Wes asked.

"I don't have time for this…Earth is dying. Too many people, too much pollution, for too long a time. My Champions are rising and Stephen is my best and brightest. I need him, and if getting him means you end up hating me…" she shrugged. "That's the price I'm going to have to pay."

"We really do want to help him." Angel said softly.

"If you find them, and Cordelia's about to give birth, you'll kill her without even stopping to think." Deirbhile said just as softly. "You have to. You're the Powers' Champion. But that'll really screw Stephen up…he's halfway to being hers. I can't stop her for the same reason and if I let you kill her, he'll never come back to me."

"If this thing in Cordelia is born…"

"The world will come to an end. I know that!" Deirbhile snarled. "Without Stephen it's gonna happen anyway. And if the world does come to an end? At least I'll know that I tried to help your poor, screwed-up son. Now. I have to go." And with that she was gone.

"Well. That was…interesting." Lorne said thoughtfully.

"She has a point." Wes spoke quietly, knowing it was likely Angel would turn on him for even mentioning it. "If you kill Cordelia now…"

"I know." Angel said very clearly. "I'll lose both of them. I know, all right? I don't have a choice here."

Connor didn't look surprised to see her; that was possibly because the spirit of his mother was still floating around.

"Are you going to ask me to stop too? That seems to be the theme of the day." he asked bitterly.

"No."

"No? Then what are you doing here?"

"Keeping Angel and the others away. And something else."

"What else?" he demanded.

"Watching."

Connor caught her arm, pulling her away from Darla and from the girl on the floor. "What do you mean, watching?"

"No one's ever stayed, have they? I'm going to. I'm going to watch you. And no matter what, Stephen, no matter what you decide tonight, I will still be with you. I'm not leaving."

"I don't want you to be here."

"I don't care. You need me to be here."

"Go away."

"No. You know what? You can't make me. I'm going to stay here. Nothing you can do will make me turn my back on you. You go ahead and do whatever you think you have to."

"You're not going to tell me what to do?"

"No. I think you've had enough of that from…oh…everyone in your life. I'm not going to tell you what to do, I trust you to do what's right for you." Slowly, making sure he could see her, she reached for the dagger that had been sheathed at her waist since Angel had given it back to her. She pulled it out of the sheath and flipped it, holding it by the blade and offering the handle to Connor.

"What is it?" Connor asked, making no move to take it.

"One of our greatest leaders made it for me, for a battle during the war. It was part of a pair, originally. I kept them for…" she shook her head. "Years. Thousands of years. I let one go, a long time ago, but I've always had the other. And then, not sixty years ago, I was…incapacitated. And when I was rational and coherent again, the dagger was gone. Angel took this one from a demon a few years ago; I don't know where the second one is, but I'm going to find it."

"But…" She didn't let him go on; she hadn't even heard him.

"Angel's demon said there was power in the blade. I lied to him. I told him there was no power in it. There is; it's just not power he can use."

"But you can." She heard that; refocusing with an effort, she nodded, proffering the blade again.

"You and me, Stephen."

"Whatever it is, I don't want it."

"Then don't use it. But take it, Stephen. Take it and know that I'm always with you, no matter what. Always."

Shaking, he took the dagger and stared at it for a minute, peripherally aware that Deirbhile was doing something else. After a moment she held out the sheath for it, and he took it, almost reluctantly sheathing the blade and attaching it to his belt.

"Cordelia won't like you being here."

"Let her." Deirbhile said airily. "She can't stop me. If she can even see me. I'm not sure about that."

"You don't lie to me." Connor said suddenly.

"Never, Stephen."

"Is that…" he swallowed, hesitating. "Is she really my mother?"

"Your mother's dead, Stephen. But the person out there has all her memories, and all her feelings…and personally, I think that's what makes a person. Memories." For a moment her gaze went distant; then she shook it off and looked back at him. "She's not here for anyone else. If that helps."

"She said the Powers sent her." he murmured.

"They did."

"But you…I thought I…"

"The Powers and I have an understanding. Don't worry about that. What I mean is, she's not from Cordelia. She's not from Angel, or any of his group. And the Powers have no power over you, so she's not here for them. She's just trying to help you."

"What do you think I should do?" Connor asked, searching her face.

"Personally? I think you should run like hell. But that's just my opinion."

"You always were so helpful." Deirbhile smiled faintly.

"Do what you think is right, Stephen. You can't really go wrong then, can you?"

"And if I think it's right to kill her?" Connor demanded, gesturing at the girl.

"Then you should do it." Deirbhile's gaze was steady on his.

"You don't really believe that."

"Hell I don't. Stephen, from my point of view she's gonna die any second anyway. If you think you should kill her, go ahead and kill her. You're not going to drive me away."

"Don't listen to her, Connor." Darla spoke up from behind them. "Don't kill her."

"We need her." Connor protested, not sure any more who he was arguing with. "For our baby. To protect it."

"By anointing it in the blood of an innocent?" Darla asked. "Do you really think safety can be plucked from the arms of an evil deed?"

"Good. Evil, they're just words." Connor said dully.

"Important words, though." Deirbhile commented.

"Still just words."

"Don't let this happen, Connor." Darla pleaded. "Don't let my death mean nothing."

"They hate us. Because we're special." Connor protested.

"I don't hate you. Please." The girl on the floor was crying constantly now; she could see neither Darla nor Deirbhile, so from her point of view Connor was talking to himself.

"They're scared." Darla said. "Because of what you've done. Not because of what you are."

"They wanted to kill me when I was still inside of you."

"But that changed when they saw you. Held you in their arms. Felt the warmth of your skin…"

"And it will happen again when they hold my child!" Connor said forcefully. He stopped pacing, looking at the girl on the floor for a moment before finishing quietly, "It's the only way."

"You have a choice, Connor. That is something more precious then you'll ever know."

"What choice? They're hunting us like animals!"

"Because you're acting like one! As a vampire I killed without mercy or remorse because I didn't have a soul. What's your excuse?"

"You think I wanna do this?"

"Then don't."

"I have to." Connor said softly. Deirbhile looked up but said nothing.

"Why? Because she told you?" Darla glanced at the other room before continuing. "There are things happening, Connor, things that I can't…it has to be your choice. You can stop this."

Deirbhile came to stand directly in front of Connor, who all but ignored her; he was wrapped so deeply in his misery it was surprising he even heard Darla.

"Her blood for our baby's…it's fair, isn't it?" Connor asked, almost begging.

"Please…" the girl wept. "I wanna go home…"

"Shut up!" Connor yelled.

"This isn't you, Connor." Darla said gently.

"You've been gone a long time, Mom." Connor said bitterly. "How would you know?"

"Because we shared a soul. I feel the hurt, the anger, the pain like it were my own." She moved in front of Connor; Deirbhile backed away, and he suddenly realized Darla couldn't see her either. "But most of all? I feel the good in you. And no matter how much you're beaten, or twisted, or lied to…it's still there. In your heart." She reached out gently and laid her hand on his chest. "I know it. And deep down, you know it too."

Connor stared at her for a long minute before moving away and kneeling next to the girl. She cringed away from him, terrified.

"Shhh. It's OK." He started to untie her.

"You're all right now." Darla said quietly. "Everything's going to be all…"

"What are you doing?" Cordelia asked from behind them.

"Nothing." Connor blurted, turning awkwardly to look at her. "I, uh…"

"It's time. Take her in the other room."

Connor hesitated, looking back at the girl.

"Listen to your heart." Darla urged him.

"She didn't do anything. We should let her go." Connor said slowly.

"No we shouldn't. We need her, Connor. Our baby…"

"Shouldn't be anointed with innocent blood."

Cordelia raised an eyebrow. "Anointed? Who's been filling your head with big, confusing words?"

Connor turned, looking at Darla but not focusing on her. "I've just been thinking about it."

"Or maybe," Cordeila said thoughtfully, "a little birdie's been pecking at you behind my back."

"She'll lie to you." Darla said warningly. Connor almost turned to look at her, but caught himself in time.

"You know how much they love to use the magic, Connor." Cordelia was wandering almost lazily around the room. "A spell for this, a spell for that…"

"Close her out, baby." Darla urged him.

"Whatever you're hearing, whatever you think you're seeing, it's a trick."

"Don't let her in."

Connor was literally being pulled in two directions; he focused on Deirbhile, who was leaning against a wall in front of him.

"It's Angel."

"No!"

"Trying to turn you against me. With a cheap vision of…" Cordelia hesitated for a moment, staring straight at Darla.

"…Darla."

Connor stared from one to the other. "You can see her?"

"I see the lies." Cordelia answered.

"Connor, listen to me." Darla begged.

"It's not her." Cordelia told him.

"You have to let her go."

"It's your father." Cordelia strode up to him. "This is how much he hates you."

"I love you. Please…"

"Torturing you with this sad imitation of your dead mother."

"Don't let her do this."

"Are you going to let them do this to us? Are you going to let them kill our baby?" Cordelia demanded.

Connor squeezed his eyes shut, searching, trying to find something, anything to show him the way.

The house in Turtle Cove flashed before his eyes and he grabbed it, summoning it and concentrating until he could feel the heat of the sun.

Deirbhile was watching him curiously.

"Some reason we're here?"

"I don't…" He shut his eyes again. "They're both…I don't know what to do, I can't…" He looked up again. "Is one of them lying?"

"Yes."

"Which one?"

Deirbhile shook her head slowly. "It doesn't work like that, Stephen. I don't know. All I know is, someone's lying there."

"You're not…"

"Connor." Hearing her say that name shocked him into silence, and she continued quickly, "We've talked about this. You just need to do what you think is right. You can't go wrong that way. I promise. Do what you think you should, and everything will work out fine."

Connor nodded slowly, and closed his eyes,

and opened them to glare at Darla. "You are not my mother!"

He caught the girl by the hands, dragging her into the other room and dropping her on the floor there. She lifted her head, crying, and Darla looked up at him. "Please. Don't do this, Connor. Don't…"

Behind her, Cordelia lifted the cleaver.

Blood spattered across Connor's face. He didn't react as the girl fell to the floor.

"There. That wasn't so hard, was it?" Cordelia asked.

Connor was still staring at the body a few minutes later when Cordelia called him. "We have to do this…while it's fresh."

Reluctantly, Connor knelt and laid his hand in the pool of blood next to the body. Rising, he crossed and knelt again next to Cordelia, who was muttering in a language he didn't recognize. "Do it, Connor. Do it now. Do it now…"

He pressed his hand against her stomach, leaving a bloody handprint that was quickly absorbed into her skin.

The ground rumbled under them, and Cordelia cried out.

"Cordy!" Connor fumbled for her hand. "Something's wrong. We have to stop it."

"No. It's coming…it's coming. The beginning of a new world…"

He turned and saw Angel standing behind him, sword in hand.

"She lied to you, Connor."

"Don't listen." Cordelia gasped.

"To all of us. It's not Cordelia."

"Leave us alone!" Connor charged his father. Deirbhile skipped quickly out of the way, aware that since Angel couldn't see her and Connor was in no state to see anything she could be caught up in the fight by accident.

The pair fought back and forth, spurred on by Cordelia's cries of "Kill him!" Finally Angel gained the upper hand, clubbing his son to the floor.

"You think I want to do this?" As Connor regained his feet, Angel tossed him into the wall. "I don't have a choice!" He stalked over to Cordelia and raised his sword high. "I'm so sorry…"

Connor got to his feet and charged at his father.

Cordelia screamed one more time.

Deirbhile shuddered, suddenly realizing what was happening…

A brilliant light burst from Cordelia, forcing Connor and Angel back. Neither could look at it as it writhed, forming different shapes before settling on that of a woman.

Angel lifted his sword and charged at her, ready to strike…and then stopped, dropping the sword and falling to his knees. Across the room, Connor followed suit, while Deirbhile determinedly looked away.

"Oh, my God…" Angel breathed. "You're beautiful…"

The woman smiled gently. "Angel."