It was three hours and a lot of research later before anyone noticed that the answer machine was blinking at them. It was Willow who noticed, trying to find the source of the irritating clicking noise that only she could hear. After finding the answer machine, she pressed play and Angel's voice, her voice, filled the room.

"Guys? It's Angel. You're probably not going to believe this, but I'm trapped inside Willow. Call me as soon as you get this message. I'm at Buffy's."

During the message the entire group had congregated around the answer machine and Willow. Now that it was over, they all looked at her as she stood, still awkward in an unfamiliar body, with her head down, looking at the floor.

Willow looked up and met their gaze, her eyes, Angel's eyes, haunted. "Oh my God." she half-whispered, horrified beyond belief.

"What?" Wesley was curious.

"Do I really sound like that?"

"'Fraid so." Gunn informed her.

Willow picked up the phone and dialled Buffy's number.

"Are you calling Angel?" Fred asked.

Willow nodded. "Dawn, hi. Is Buffy there? It's important." she asked, not knowing how much or who Angel might have told.

"Oh hi Willow." Dawn replied, scotching Willow's idea that Angel might not have told her. "Buffy isn't here, but Angel is if you want to talk to him instead?"

"That would be great, thanks Dawn."

"No problem."

"Willow?" Angel was on the line.

"Angel!" Willow almost burst into tears again. She briefly wondered what was going on, as she wasn't normally so emotional. Then she remembered that she was dealing with extenuating circumstances and was having to cope with a hormonal change as well. All in all, she figured that she was lucky she hadn't tried to blow up the hotel yet. "Angel, I'm stuck inside your body and everything's different, and I don't know how I got here or why you're in my body and there's a voice inside my head that wants me to kill everyone and I need to pee!" she almost howled, finally giving into the urge to cry. "And I'm crying blood!" She wailed as she caught sight of a red teardrop. Cordelia handed her a box of tissues and she accepted it gratefully, mopping up her tears and blowing her her nose.

"Willow, it's okay." Angel tried to appease her.

"It's not okay!" Willow sobbed. "How can you say that it's okay?"

Wesley placed a cup of tea in front of her and she curved a hand around the cup, craving the heat that it provided.

"Then it's not okay, but we'll fix it. Willow, please don't cry. We'll fix things, I promise." Angel almost sounded as though he was pleading with her, Willow reflected and hiccuped in surprise, drying the last of her tears.

"Willow, are you still there? Willow, talk to me. I'm sorry, we'll fix this, I promise. Willow?"

Willow hiccuped again. "I'm here."

"Good." Angel sighed miserably, hating the fact that she was upset and he couldn't do anything to help because they were miles away from each other. "Look, I'm heading out to LA. I should be with you in a couple of hours."

"Okay."

"Are you gonna be all right until then?"

"Yeah." Willow looked up and jumped out of her seat as she registered the fact that a green demon was standing in front of her. "Green demon! Green demon!" she shrieked down the phoneline.

"Willow, calm down! Does the demon have red horns?"

"Yes!"

"Is it wearing a dodgy lounge suit?"

"Yes!"

"It's okay, it's just Lorne. He lives at the hotel."

"Are you sure he's good?" Willow asked in a hushed voice.

Angel laughed.

Willow realised with a sickening lurch that she had never heard him laugh before.

"I'm sure." He assured her, with a smile in his voice.

"Why is he holding a baby out to me?"

"That's Connor, my son." Angel informed her, with more than a slight note of pride in his voice.

"You're a father!" Willow was flabbergasted. "Since when?"

"It's a long story. Get someone to tell you the story and I'll finish it off when I get there. Put him on."

"Who, Lorne?"

"No, Connor. I want to talk to him."

Willow held out her arms and with a dubious look, Lorne placed the baby tiny baby in them.

Willow promptly fell in love. "He's gorgeous." she breathed down the phone.

"Put him on."

Willow juggled baby and earpiece for a while and then settled them both down. She tried hard not to listen to what Angel was saying to his son - his son - but with her enhanced vampiric hearing it was difficult. To distract her attention from the burbling baby, she turned to Lorne.

"Hi." She smiled at Lorne... who looked even more wary. "How's it going?" Willow asked before her wandering attention was caught by Angel calling her name. She juggled a bit again and then stuck the phone next to her ear.

"Yeah?"

"I'm gonna go now." Angel hesitated. "Can you do me a favour? Sing for Lorne."

"Sing?" Willow was confused.

"Sing. It's the fastest way to explain everything to him."

"Okay. Talk to you soon."

"Willow?"

"You know, I'm just gonna hang up on you."

"Go to the bathroom, Willow. See you soon."

"Bye."

Angel hung up. Willow replaced the receiver and cooed over Connor for a while before looking up at Lorne.

"This is embarrassing." She told him. "I have to sing."

Lorne nodded. "Go ahead Angelcakes."

Willow composed herself and opened her mouth to sing. She closed it again when she realised that her mind was a blank and she didn't have a clue what to sing. Looking around for inspiration, her gaze fell on Connor, fussing quietly in her arms.

Willow's muse slapped her around the face with a dead parrot. Blinking, she removed the stuffed toy from Connor's grasp and began to sing softly to the little child.

"Somewhere over the rainbow

Way up high

There's a land that I've dreamed of

Once in a lullaby."

Lorne staggered back and half fell into a chair. He held up his hands. "Enough, I get the message!"

Willow bit her lip nervously. "Are you okay?"

Lorne cradled his head in his hands. "I'll be fine." He looked up suddenly. "Do you know how powerful you are?"

"I'm not good with the singing." Willow told him.

"I'm not talking about singing, Angelcakes, I'm talking about the waves of energy that roll off of you. Do you know how powerful that could make you?"

Willow squirmed. "I don't want power."

Lorne stood up and moved closer. "Then what do you want?" He asked, already knowing the answer.

Willow looked him directly in the eye, daring him to call her a liar. "I just want my friends to be happy." She said and thrust Connor at him. "He needs his nappy changing."

"Do I look like Mary Poppins!" Lorne asked, outraged.

Willow smiled evilly.