The Gift
Chapter 12
If you want to have him work with us Angel I suggest that we do it on a trial bases first. Let us get to know him first then we can meet together and decide if we want him to join us. Okay?" "Okay Wesley. Since we will be living with him I guess that's only fair." Angel said. Then he pulled a pamphlet out of his jacket pocket and laid it down in front of Wesley.
"What's this?" Wesley asked as he picked up the pamphlet.
"I need you to help me choose a Mini Van for Cordelia."
"So you've decided that you want her to have her own car."
"Yes. I rented one in New Hampshire and then another one in Ireland. They're nice Wesley. Best of all I had enough room for my legs and I don't have them sticking out on either side of the steering wheel."
"Do you know what make of Mini Van you want?" Wesley asked after looking at the pamphlet.
"I haven't been able to decide that's why I want you to help me." Angel was so happy that he could finally do this. He had been thinking about it ever since Ireland.
"Well what we could do is start checking the Consumer Report magazine for their annual report on each type of Mini Van. I'll go to the book store and pick up their book that lists all the vans and shows any problem that they're known to have." Wesley said as he headed for the door.
"Is their anything you want me to do while your gone?" It was so unusual to hear Angel talk like that, that Wesley stopped in his tracks. It kind of shocked his brain into stopping. When it started again he realized Angel was asking again if their was anything he could do.
"Oh, I'm sorry Angel I kind of spaced out for a second. I'm not used to you asking if you can do anything. Why don't we all go to the Mall and make a day of it?"
"That sounds good. I'll call Buffy and Spike and see if they want to join us." Angel said as he followed Wesley inside.
Wesley found Cordelia, Fred and Dr. Martin in the kitchen cleaning up.
"Angel and I are going to the mall would you ladies like to join us?" He was answered with a chorus of YES from the ladies.
"Good, Angel and I thought we could make a day of it. He's calling Buffy and Spike to see if they want to join us. I am going to see if Connor and Gunn want to go. We can leave in 20 minutes okay?" "That's fine we should be done by then." Cordelia said.
Forty minutes later they were all at the mall. Buffy and Spike joined them at the underground entrance from the parking garage. Before the ladies took off in their own direction Angel told Cordelia to take Dr. Martin to get a complete wardrobe. "Tell her that if she says no then it will hurt my feelings. Get her a few evening gowns also. Don't purchase the gowns though. Tell her to pick what she wants then I will come to see how they look on her. Get her hair done if she wants, but tell her that her son will be very sad if she should cut it."
Cordelia joined the other women and Angel joined the men. Wesley headed for the book store with Angel and Gunn, Spike, and Connor headed for the electronic game store. Since both Angel and Wesley loved books they spent the next three hours in the Walden Books store. By the time they were done Angel had spent over a thousand dollars on books, the bulk of which was children's books. But they walked out with only two which was the Consumer Report. The rest would be sent to the Hyperion from a Waldon book store in Los Angeles.
From the book store they headed for the food court to get something to drink and sat down to check over the Consumer Report Books.
"So what do you think Wesley? Dodge, Toyota, Chrysler or Honda?" Angel asked. He was like a little kid looking at all of the toy cars in a Toys R Us catalogue.
"Well Angel after studying this book and all the information that it gives I would say your best bet is the Toyota Sienna. My second choice would be the Dodge Caravan." Wesley said.
"I agree. All we have to do now is look for what we want. We have to go find the ladies now. I hear Cordelia calling me."
Angel and Wesley left then and went to the store that the ladies were at. As soon as you walked in you could tell that they catered to a higher class of clientele. Which was another word for people with money that didn't have to ask how much before purchasing an item. As soon as they walked through the doors they were greeted by a well dressed woman.
"May I help you?" "Yes I am looking for my wife, she said she would be here. Her name is Mrs. Cordelia Chase-Martin." Wesley noticed that Angel acted as though he came into places like this all of the time.
"Yes Mr. Martin please follow me. "The sales woman guided them to a back room with double doors. She opened the doors and stepped back. The women were all sitting in a semi circle around a stage. Both Angel and Wesley immediately went to their wives and kissed them in greeting. Two of the sales women brought two more chairs over and fresh coffee and tea.
"Where is Dr. Martin?" Angel asked while pouring himself some coffee and tea for Wesley.
"She's in the back putting on her first gown." Cordelia answered. Just as Angel sat back down Dr. Martin came in and stepped up to the small stage. The gown she wore was white with a green sash that hung down the back. All of the gowns that Dr. Martin had chosen were for the most part solid colors. Except for the white one they all had high collars and long sleeves. The skirts were full, and made of a light material so that they flowed when she walked.
"Perfect, now I know where I get my good taste in clothes from. I always thought Darla taught me how to judge clothes but I see now that it's inherited. Pack them up and we will pick them up later after dinner.
As soon as Dr. Martin was ready and Cordelia had paid for them they all went to gather up the rest of the men. "Where does everyone want to go for dinner?" Angel asked everyone.
After several minutes of discussion they all agreed to have dinner at the food court. Cordelia was craving pizza, Fred went, of course, to the taco stand, Dr. Martin and Wesley went to the vegetarian stand and the rest went for the hamburgers. They all met back at tables that they had pushed together. Even though Cordelia had bought a pizza she ended up eating most of Angels french fries and half of his hamburger and Angel ate half of her pizza.
"Wesley and I are going to go and take care of some business when we leave here Cordy. I'm going to ride with him so you can take the car home okay?" Angel told her. He was hoping that she would take it at that and not ask any questions because he had a hard time lying to her. She was an expert at getting him to squirm and tell her the truth.
"Okay Angel I'm pretty tired anyway, I think I'll be going right to bed." They all got up then and Angel and Wesley gave their wives a kiss then left. The rest went to their cars and left to return home. Cordelia was dead tired and went right to bed without taking a shower. The rest of the women knew she was tired because she didn't even bother to talk to them about what Angel was up to.
Angel and Wesley went to the only Toyota dealer in Sunnydale. Angel was to excited to talk to the salesman so he let Wesley ask the questions. He went walking around to all of the Sienna Mini Vans and spotted one that was a candy apple red. Angel whistled for Wesley and the salesman to come over to him.
Wesley and the salesman came over. When they were by his side Angel just pointed at the candy apple red van. He whispered to Wesley "I want this one." Wesley went over to the sticker that listed all that the van had. Angel had chosen one that was fully loaded and with the sticker price shock to go along with it. Wesley went over to Angel and said "Angel do you realize how much they are asking for the van. Don't you want to, shall we say, discuss the price with the salesman first?"
"Wesley that is why I wanted you to come with me. You know how I love my cars. When I find what I want my brains practically fall out. I can't negotiate a reasonable price. You would be shocked if you knew how much I paid for my convertible. The salesman that I bought it from saw a big Sucker standing in front of him when I saw that car. So I am leaving everything up to you. I am just going to continue to walk around and check out the sports cars." As Angel started to walk away he patted Wesley on the back then turned and left.
The salesman had gone to get the key for the van and was returning as Angel walked away.
"Doesn't Mr. Martin want to test drive the van?" "No he has driven one before and he knows how they work. Let's talk about a more reasonable price for this van because what you are asking for it is outrageous." Wesley put his arm around the salesman's shoulder and they walked back to his office. It took Wesley an hour to get the salesman to come down by $10,000. The dealer had been asking for an outrageous amount because of all of the additions that had been put on but Wesley had been very thorough in his research on the van and he knew exactly how much it had cost the dealer. Wesley had them call Angel on the speaker to return to the office so that he could sign the papers. Since Angel was putting all of it on his credit card their was very few papers that needed to be signed.
When they were done the salesman, whose name was Bob Reed, offered Angel the keys.
"Bob I want you to do a little more for me. If you would take care of this personally I would greatly appreciate it. I need you to bring the van over to my address tomorrow morning at 10. We will leave the gate open and I want you drive it into our driveway and right to the front door. I want you to have the biggest bow that you can find sitting on top of that van. I also want you to have three dozen of the best long stemmed red roses sitting in the drivers seat. Leave the keys in the van. Come up to the front door and knock on the door then leave before anyone answers."
Angel put $1,000 dollars in Bobs pocket. "Can you do that for me?" "Yes Mr. Martin that will not be a problem." Bob's eyes became as big as saucers and his smile went from ear to ear." Thank you, thank you very much for your business and if I can help you with anything else just give me a call."
Angel and Wesley got into Wesley's SUV and left to go back to the mansion. By the time they returned to the Mansion it was 11 P.M. and both were rather tired. "Thanks for all of your help Wesley. Have you talked to Xander lately?" Angel asked as Wesley parked his SUV on the side so that Bob could pull in with the van.
"Yes I talked to him last week. He said they would be done by next week Friday so I let Fred know and we are going to go and check it out on Saturday. We'll be back on Sunday afternoon."
"Good. This coming Friday will be our last Lamaze class." "How has that been going anyway? Is it making you or Cordelia apprehensive?"
"Most of it was okay. We already knew what to expect from Dr. Martin, but last week I thought I was going to embarrass myself in front of everyone." "What happened?" Wesley asked. They had taken a few minutes to stand outside and take in the night air.
"They showed a film on the delivery of a baby. It went from the first contraction to the baby's head actually crowning. They showed how much pain the mother was in because she did it without any drugs. That's when I almost fainted. If it wasn't for Cordelia being right there I think I would have scared the teacher by passing out. Fortunately one of the other men passed out instead. Sometimes I think of all that we are going to go through and it scares the shit out of me. When I saw that film I was paying more attention to the mother and how much pain she was in when the baby actually was passing thru the birth canal and then the shoulders came out." Angel started to sway and Wesley made him sit on the front steps and told him to put his head between his legs. "Take a few deep breaths Angel." Wesley was sitting next to him and rubbing his back so that he would calm down.
"I think about what is going to happen Wesley and I actually start sweating. I can't figure it out. I've been in battles with demons where they almost tore me limb from limb. I've been paralyzed, blinded, crucified and sent to hell and back. I can't begin to tell you how many bullets I've had taken out of me, some of which I've had to take out myself. But Wesley I've never been more afraid of anything then I am of what Cordelia and I are going to go through to bring Kathleen into the world."
"Angel are you sure that your going to be able to go through this and support Cordelia at the same time?" "I don't know Wesley but I am going to do my best to try and stick it out with her till Kathleen joins us on the outside. I am hoping and praying that Mom will be able to pull a rabbit out of her hat and give me something that will ease what I am feeling and then I can pass it onto Cordy. But if she can't then I am going to have to go thru with it along with Cordy. You'll be there through the whole thing won't you Wesley?"
"We'll be there Angel, from beginning to end, I give you my word." "Thanks Wesley cause I am going to need all of you. I'm going to bed now. My legs feel weak just thinking about it. Good night Wesley and thank you again for all of your help."
"Good night Angel."
The next morning Angel got up early and went to Dr. Martins room and knocked on it softly until he heard her get up. "What is it Angel, is something wrong?" "No, no I just wanted to let you know that I bought a Mini Van for Cordelia and I am going to surprise her with it at 10 which is in about 30 minutes. I don't want anyone but her to answer the door so I am going to wake everyone up and let them know." "Okay what do you want us to do. Hide up here or on the patio?" "Your rooms I guess." Angel went onto the next room until he notified everyone then ran downstairs to start breakfast. At exactly 10 A.M. he heard Bob driving the Mini Van to the front.
Angel went to his bedroom door and opened it to check on Cordelia to see if she was up yet. He stuck his head in the door "Get up sleepy head I need some help out here." She was just coming out of the bathroom and had already dressed. "I'm coming, I'm coming keep your shorts on." Angel went back to the kitchen and continued to stir the pancake mix. Bob timed it just right. Cordelia was just coming around the corner when the door bell rang.
"Now who in the world could that be at this time in the morning?" Cordelia went to the door and opened it. There was no one their so she stepped further out to look both ways for someone that might be out there. Everyone else that was upstairs came running down the stairs when they heard her let out a loud scream. Angel was at the door within the next second.
Cordelia hadn't noticed the van until she was about to close the door. She opened the door again when it dawned on her that there was a van in front and the van had a big red bow on it.
That is when the inevitable scream was heard all over. Cordelia ran to the drivers side of the van and opened the door. On the seat were three dozen long stemmed roses with keys attached, ownership papers, and a card that just said
'To Cordelia with all my love. Angel.'
Cordelia ran back into the house and into Angels arms. She gave him kisses in between the thank you's then ran back to the van as she held onto her stomach. She had to adjust the steering wheel and the seat so that she could accommodate Kathleen.
"Come on girls lets go for a test ride." Dr. Martin ran out to the van and jumped into the front passenger seat. Fred didn't follow though.
"Come on Fred lets go." Dr. Martin called to her.
"Not right now I have work to do. I'll ride back to L.A. with you when we go home." Fred said then turned around to go back in.
"Connor go with them please." Angel told Connor. He didn't want the women going out by themselves. Connor went running out to the van and got into the middle of the van. As soon as he put his seatbelt on and Cordelia closed the door she took off.
Angel was whistling as he went back to his cooking. Wesley followed him into the kitchen and made some hot tea for himself. Gunn followed them in also and poured himself some coffee.
"Can we help Angel?" Wesley asked. "Yeah why don't you set the table. By the time they get back the food should be ready." Gunn and Wesley were smiling at Angel as he cooked and whistled.
Cordelia had taken off down the road and headed for Buffy's house to show them her new van. She didn't notice a large green and white van following her. As she approached the next intersection another van pulled in front of her.
"Mom, get the phone from my purse and call Angel. I think we are in trouble here. Tell him that we are in front of the Sunnydale High School and I think they are going to force us to stop here." Before Dr. Martin could get through the two vans forced Cordelia over to the side. Five men jumped out of the green and white van and pulled the doors open. Connor jumped out and attacked the man grabbing for Cordelia, but when another man grabbed her and he saw a gun being held against Cordelia's head he stopped.
"Your asking for more trouble then you can handle mister. I would leave her alone if I were you." Connor said it as a threat.
"Be a good boy and go home to your Daddy. You tell him we will contact him in one hour. Nothing will happen to his women as long as he does what my boss wants." They then took Cordelia and Dr. Martin to the green van and left. Connor got into the van and returned home. He made sure that he kept to the speed limit. He didn't want to get stopped because he didn't have a drivers licence yet.
He pulled up in front of the Mansion and came to a screeching halt. Just as Angel came running to the door Connor came bursting through them. "Dad someone forced Cordelia to pull over by the High School and took her and Grandma. They said they would contact you in an hour and that the women wouldn't be harmed if you do what your told. I couldn't do anything because the guy holding Cordelia had a gun to her head. "
Wesley immediately got on the phone and called David Morgan and let him know what was going on. When he was done with Morgan he called Buffy and told her to get everyone together and bring them over to the Mansion. He explained that Cordelia and Dr. Martin had been kidnaped. As he was talking to Buffy he noticed Angel just sat down at the table. He was holding onto his arm and trying to keep it from shaking. Why it continued to do it Dr. Martin couldn't say. She said that they would have to wait to get home and then they would try to find out why this was continuing to happen.
Wesley went into the kitchen and made a cup of blood for Angel. Then he put it on the table in front of Angel but he made no move to take it.
"Angel you had better drink it because you know your going to need your strength." Angel looked at him. Wesley saw no reaction on Angels face, no emotion at all, just a blank stare. Angel then picked up the glass of blood and drank it in one gulp. He just wiped his mouth with the back of his hand then just sat there without saying anything.
One hour later Spike, Buffy and the rest of the Scubby gang came in. Buffy went to Angel and hugged him. He didn't respond. He seemed to be concentrating on something and he couldn't devote even a moment to respond to external input.
Spike called Buffy over to where he was standing with Wesley, Gunn, and Giles. She backed away from Angel slowly and joined them. Angel just continued to stare out into space and holding onto his arm.
"What's wrong with him Wesley?" Buffy asked. "I think he is searching for Cordelia's mind, but he has told me before that she can't talk to him as easily as he talks to her. Her voice comes to him more and more faintly with increasing distance. When he was taken back in L.A. we used Cordelia to find him and Dr. Martin. She was able to hear him quiet easily and was able to tell us exactly where he was. We used her again to find him when he went to get Dawn."
The phone rang and Wesley answered it. "This is Wesley." "Wesley this is David Peterson. I was Stephan Johnson's partner." "Yes I remember Angel speaking of you." "Put him on the phone then." Wesley turned to Angel. "It's David Peterson Angel, he wants to speak to you." Wesley handed Angel the phone.
"This is Angel." "Angel this is David Peterson and as you might have guessed we have your wife and Dr. Martin. Stand outside of your front door and a van will come up to get you. I think your smart enough to know not to try anything." Peterson hung up then without saying anything more.
Angel turned to Spike. "Spike come with me for a minute." Angel walked into his bedroom and Spike followed.
When Spike entered the bedroom Angel closed both doors. "Spike I need to strengthen the link between us so that you can hear me over greater distances. Do you know what I have to do in order to accomplish this?" "Yes but I can't take it from your neck or they'll be able to see it. Roll your sleeve up and I'll take your blood from there." Spike ran to the door and told Wesley to warm up a container of blood for Angel. He then closed the door and went back to Angel. Angel grabbed Spike by the shoulders and put his game face on and bit into his neck. He drank a large amount of blood from him, more then he really needed, but he wanted to make sure that this worked and he wasn't sure how much they had to take from each other. Spike's knees started to buckle and Angel released him. Spike put his game face on and bit into Angels offered arm. He was so weak though that Angel took him to the bed so they could sit down. Spike drank from Angels arm greedily until Angel started to push him away. "Stop Spike I'm getting to weak." Spike withdrew his mouth and began to lick the wounds. Angel had already done the marks on Spikes neck and they had stopped bleeding.
"You alright?" Spike asked Angel. "Yeah. I have to leave, they're waiting for me to come out to the front doors." Angel got up from the bed and would have fallen if Spike wasn't there to catch him. "Wesley bring that container of blood in here." Spike yelled out to him.
Wesley came in with the container and gave it to Angel. He drank it all in several gulps. Spike helped him to stand up again and took him to the front door. "You feeling okay now?" "Yeah. Wish me luck." Spike and Angel looked at each other then Angel turned and walked through the front doors then closed them and waited to be picked up. The others in the Mansion watched him until the van came to pick him up.
Spike could hear Angel more clearly now. He knew that he would be able to find him once they knew it was safe to follow.
The van went a long way. Angel couldn't see where they were because they put a bag over his head, but his senses told him that they were out of the city. Thirty minutes later they came to a stop. Angel still couldn't hear Cordelia but he could smell her and Dr. Martin. They pulled him out of the van and lead him over to an office. There were 15 men in the room. Angel looked at all of them carefully. He took in their scents but he didn't recognize any of them except for Peterson.
"Didn't you have enough Peterson. Do you think that just because you have a different prisoner that you'll have a better chance of forcing me to do what you want." The guard holding onto Angels arm forced him into a leather chair that was in the middle of the room.
"We aren't from around here Mr. Martin, we are from Chicago. I guess you could say that we are what's more commonly known as the Mob. We don't play games like Johnson did and we don't threaten. We get things done Mr. Martin. Now we have been investigating what is known as the underworld of Vampires, Witches and demons. We know that you are a Master Vampire and in fact that you are the only Master Vampire in the United States and the only one through out the history of Vampires that has a soul. Fortunately for us you also have a family of sorts in your Angel Investigation crew and most especially a wife that is pregnant. You know what we want Mr. Martin and we aim to get what we want before we return to Chicago. We have a volunteer here that has agreed to become a Vampire. Get it done Angel and then well let your wife and the woman that you call Mom go." Peterson signaled to someone outside of the office.
Two men walked in. One was carrying an unconscious Cordelia and the other walked Dr. Martin in. A table was brought in and Cordelia was placed on it. Angel searched for Cordelia's mind, but he found nothing which meant she had been put into a deep sleep.
"Are you both alright?" Angel asked Dr. Martin. "Yes Angel Cordelia is in a deep sleep I don't know about Kathleen though. If you would allow it Angel can check his daughter to see if she is okay. When you gave Cordelia the drug to put her into a deep sleep it also affected her baby. Either I need to check for the babies heart beat or Angel can do it."
"I wouldn't worry about Mrs. Martin and her baby right now. Unless Angel does what we want that won't be an issue within the next 10 minutes." Peterson said. He then signaled to one of his men to bring the volunteer in.
A short, rather thin young man, with sunken cheeks was brought into the room. He didn't really walk into the room, he more or less swaggered in. Angel guessed that normally this young man was at the bottom of the totem pole and rarely if ever was in the limelight. When his boss asked for a volunteer the young man saw an opportunity that would probably never come his way again.
"This is Doug Miller, he is our volunteer. This is the young man that I want you to turn into a vampire. When this is done then we will give the two women back to you. That is all you have to do. I assure you that we have done our research and we know what his immediate needs will be. If you give us any problems then we will give you more of an incentive to do as we ask." Peterson signaled for another person to come in. This time it was a man in a white coat that was pulling a tray full of surgical equipment. He pulled Cordelia's blouse up and pulled the top of her skirt down a little. The man didn't identify himself.
"Since your wife is almost at the end of her pregnancy she is quite large with her growing baby inside of her. Which means the skin over her belly is stretched tight. All this man has to do is take a very sharp surgical knife and just slice the very top layer of skin and that first layer will split. Now I promise you Angel that if you don't do what we want within the next 10 minutes that man standing over your wife with an ultra sharp surgical knife will make his first incision. He won't wait for my signal to go ahead he will just do it." Peterson signaled for his men to step back. The 2 men standing on either side of Angel stepped back and aimed their guns at him.
Angel stood up. He approached Doug Miller but stopped and looked around. He looked at Cordelia on the table. The man standing over her put the knife in position to make his first stroke across her belly. He was calculating his chances to stop him.
Angel was remembering the time Cordelia was raped and he could do nothing to save her. Now he had failed her again. He was thinking of his promises to uphold the laws set by his Boss. Angel was Gods champion in this world. He could kill any demon, or vampire that he had to, to save someone but he could not kill a human. All of this went through Angels mind over and over again and the stress was making his arm shake almost uncontrollably.
Angel was brought out of his thoughts when Peterson said he had only one minute left to decide. He grabbed onto Doug Miller's shoulders and put his game face on so that his eye teeth would grow and enable him to bite into his neck. He put his mouth on his neck, but as he did this his eyes caught Dr. Martins eyes. She looked at him and shook her head almost imperceptibly. He saw her close her eyes then and her lips started to move. He knew she was praying to give him strength not to do as they asked. She knew he was being tested to see if he would obey the primary rule for himself, Spike, Buffy and Faith. That primary rule that said they could not kill any human. To make matters worse though Angel was being enticed by the sweet smell of the young mans blood. In his mind he could already taste the thick warm liquid going down his throat. He thought of his first kill and how sweet it tasted. Then his thoughts went to his sister Kathleen and his memories of that night helped him to do the right thing.
Angel withdrew his teeth and returned his face to it's normal visage. He turned away from the young man. "I can't do it. No matter what you do or threaten to do I can't do it."
The man standing over Cordelia made an incision that was about 4 inches in length. He did it with such a light hand that it was more like a paper cut then an incision. But it had the desired affect on Angel. He tried to stop him but was too late. They fired a shotgun into him twice. He fell to the floor but didn't lose consciousness. Two of the men picked him up by his arms and stood him up in front of Peterson.
"I am going to give you another chance Angel. Except this time you will only have 5 minutes." Peterson told Angel.
"I won't do it Peterson no matter what you do." Angel said. He was just barely conscious and would have fallen if Peterson's men hadn't been holding him up. "Don't you care what happens to your wife and child. I thought you had a soul now and you loved your wife and child." "It's because I love them that I won't do it. I won't cause someone else to live in the hell that I have lived in since I was turned. Besides my Boss wouldn't like it and might take everything away that he has given me. I have faith that He won't let her and our child die."
"Who is he talking about. I thought he was the top man?" Peterson asked no one in particular.
"His Boss is God." Dr. Martins low voice came from in back of the men that were guarding Angel. Everyone was quiet after she said this. Peterson had second thoughts about going against the top Guy. 'Aw hell why bother even thinking about it I'm going to hell anyway so why bother.' Peterson thought to himself.
The two men holding Angel had let him fall to the floor. Angel had now worked his way up to his knees in front of Peterson's desk. You could see the pain in his eyes. It wasn't from physical pain but the pain that resulted from his struggle to do what was right and to have the energy to say no. He had almost failed in his promises to God and his Son. When he saw the look on Dr. Martins face and her shaking her head and telling him no he knew what he had to do and somehow she gave him the strength to do it.
Peterson saw the look of resignation on Angels face and he knew that anything he did would be useless, he stood up then. "Kill them all. Kill his wife and the other woman first before you kill him. I want him to know what happens when anyone refuses orders from me."
The man standing over Cordelia started to make a second, much deeper and much longer cut. He intended to leave her to bleed out which would kill her and her baby. A second man went over to Dr. Martin and pulled her head back and put a knife to her throat.
Before either man could start to make their knife stroke David Morgan's men came through the doors. Bobby was at the head of the group and he went for Peterson while firing a machine gun into the air for several seconds. Morgan came in after almost half of his men had already come in. Two of his men helped Angel and Dr. Martin out of the door. A third man picked up Cordelia from the table and took her outside. Wesley, Spike, Gunn and Connor were outside waiting. The third man gave Cordelia to Spike who had stepped forward. Morgan didn't want them involved any further so he had told them to stay outside. "Mr. Morgan told me to tell you to go home and take care of Mrs. Martin. These men won't ever bother you again." The third man was Richards. "Richards did you get my message that Angel wanted to see you?" "Yes, I did. Tell him that I will see him in Los Angeles in two weeks." Richards turned then and went back into the warehouse. Wesley and Gunn had put Angel in the back of his SUV along with Dr. Martin. They put Cordelia in the back with them as soon as Richards turned her over.
In the warehouse Bobby was standing by Peterson and had a gun pointed at his heart. Morgan approached Peterson. "Why are you trying to force Angel into turning one of your men? Why haven't you people come directly to me?" Morgan said as he walked slowly into the office.
"You guard yourself and your wife too well. It was easier to go after Angel's people. Besides he was the one on the tape and not you." Peterson was scared and looking for a way to get out. Morgan could smell the fear coursing through Peterson's body.
"I want you to call your bosses in Chicago Peterson. I want you to tell them that I, Morgan will give them what they want. I want you to tell them that in return for this favor they are never to bother Angel and his people again?"
Peterson hesitated for a moment then picked up the phone and dialed Chicago. When he had his boss on the phone Morgan took it from Peterson. "This is Morgan, I am going to give you people what you want. I wanted Peterson to give you a call because I wanted you to hear what is going to happen."
Morgan looked at Bobby and nodded. Bobby put his game face on and bite into Peterson's neck hard. He held onto him tightly. Peterson was bigger then Bobby but with his Vampire strength it wasn't a problem for him to hold onto Peterson as he struggled to get away and then as he started to slump to the floor.
Morgan reached out his hand and touched Bobby's shoulder. "That's enough Bobby, let him feed now." Bobby withdrew his mouth from Peterson then reached for his arm and used one of his fangs to cut into his own wrist. Then he raised it to Peterson and forced him to drink his blood. At first Peterson tried to turn away but Bobby grabbed his head by his hair and forced him to drink his blood. When Peterson tasted the blood he sucked at the blood hard. When Bobby started to feel dizzy he pushed Peterson away and he fell to the floor. Morgan picked up the phone again.
"You have your Vampire now." Morgan hung up the phone then and walked away. "Make sure that he has something to drink when he wakes up in another day or 2. If I were you I would put him in a cage before he wakes up. There are only 4 ways to kill a vampire. Fire, taking his head off, stake through the heart or sunlight. Protect yourself gentlemen because you don't know what kind of demon will take up residence in his body. Angels demon is the worst one that anyone has ever come across. My advice to you is not to piss him off anymore because he just may pay you a visit and end it all. There are a lot more hideous ways to make a human suffer without killing them and I have often heard that Angelus knows them all. Lets go."
David Morgan turned then, put on his protective gear and left. Wesley and the rest had already left. Morgan told the driver to go to the Mansion. As they approached the gates they found that the car couldn't go any further then the driveway in front of the gates. The driver pressed the horn several times. Wesley came to stand at the front and he recognized the vehicle that Morgan was in. Willow had put a protective spell on the Mansion and Wesley asked her to take it down. When she was done he pressed the button that would open the gates. Morgan's driver drove up to the front door and Morgan and Bobby got out. Wesley went to Morgan and shook his hand.
"I can't thank you enough for helping us David." "I should be apologizing to all of you Wesley. This was all my fault once again. I came to see how Angel and Cordelia are."
"Dr. Martin is working on Cordelia right now. She is okay the man that sliced her went just far enough to draw some blood. Dr. Martin is just putting a light bandage on her. Spike took the bullets out of Angel and he is sleeping right now." Wesley reported.
"Good, let him know that we gave Peterson what he wanted. Except that it was Peterson that got the gift. I've told their bosses in Chicago that they were to deal with me and they were to leave Angel and the rest of you alone. I am going to leave 5 of my guards to stay with you until you get back to Los Angeles. Do you have room for them?" "Yes we have several rooms that aren't being used. I presume that they are Vampires?" "Two of them will be and the other 3 will be human." "Make them all human David. I don't think Angel would like having Vampires guarding the family." "Okay Wesley that shouldn't be a problem." David turned to Bobby then and told him to pick 5 non vampire guards to help protect Angels family. Goodbye Wesley and like I said be careful." "Goodbye David and thank you for everything."
Bobby came in with 5 guards and David gave them their orders then left. The guards took positions around the outside of the Mansion and then Willow put up the spell again. The guards had been briefed before they went out as to the parameter of the spell.
Wesley went in to check on Cordelia and Angel. Both of them had been put to bed. Dr. Martin was checking on the heart beat of the baby. When Wesley came in Dr. Martin looked at him and put her finger to her lips, signaling him to be quiet. She got up and signaled him to follow her.
"How are they?" "All three are doing fine. The slice that was made on Cordelia was superficial. I was worried more about what kind of drug they had given her to make her sleep for so long. She is sleeping normally right now and Angel is sleeping also. When can we go back home Wesley?" "We can leave as soon as they are ready to travel." "Good, lets see how they are tomorrow morning. I would say though that we can leave tomorrow night." Dr. Martin went to the kitchen then to get something to eat. She hadn't had anything since the previous day and it was late in the day already.
"Let me make something for you Dr. Martin. Would you like a breakfast or lunch?" Fred asked her as she started making some coffee.
"How about a sandwich. Ham if you have it." While you are making it I am going to clean up so give me 30 minutes okay Fred?" "Sure Dr. Martin." "Call me Mary, Fred. Since were family now I think we can drop the formalities." "Okay Mary." Fred gave her a big smile and turned to start the sandwich.
Later in the evening around 9 P.M. Cordelia woke up. When she opened her eyes she saw Dr. Martin. "Mom, how did I get here?" Dr. Martin explained what happened to her and when she tried to turn over to check on Angel she felt the bandage. "Try not to move to much yet Cordelia, it will hurt for awhile. Just turn your head and you'll be able to see him." Cordelia did as Dr. Martin said and reached out her hand for Angels. When he felt her touch he woke up and looked at her.
"Hi, how are you feeling?" Cordelia asked. "A lot better now that I know your okay."
"Angel could you try to check on Kathleen and see if you can tell how she is. I am concerned about the drug they used on Cordelia to make her sleep. If she doesn't respond to her try calling to her to wake her up."
Angel put his hand on Cordelia's stomach and closed his eyes and searched for Kathleen's mind. Dr. Martin saw Kathleen moving around inside of Cordelia and positioning herself where she could rub his hand with her head. Cordelia put her hand on top of Angels and they both communicated with their daughter. They pulled their hands away then and Kathleen repositioned herself and was still. "She's fine Mom." Angel said.
"Good. Are you two hungry?" They both said at the same time "Yes!" "I'll bring you something in a few minutes. Angel, Wesley wanted me to tell you that David left five of his guards to help guard us. Willow also has a protection spell surrounding the parameter of the Mansion grounds. David said that he had Bobby turn Peterson and David told the Chicago people that they were to deal with him only and leave us alone. He also wanted me to tell you that Richards was with David's group." "Okay, thank you for telling me." Dr. Martin got up and left then to prepare them something to eat.
She made a ham sandwich for Cordelia and filled a large glass with milk. She carefully warmed up a large mug of blood for Angel and gave him two slices of toast with butter and jelly.
She put everything on a tray and took it into their bedroom and put it on the dresser while she helped Cordelia to sit up. Angel sat up against the head board also while Dr. Martin went back to the dresser to get the tray. She put it over Cordelia's lap then took a seat while they ate. It didn't take them very long to finish their meal since they were so hungry. Cordelia put the tray over onto Angels lap then asked Dr. Martin to help her get up so that she could go to the bathroom. While she was gone Angel was quiet. Then he looked at her.
"Thank you for helping me to make the right decision Mom." "Your welcome Angel." "I would have turned him if you hadn't been there you know. I would have done anything to stop them from killing Cordelia and Kathleen." "I know Angel. God was aware of your weakness and that is why he sent me as well. But you passed your test Angel. You could have given Peterson what he wanted but you didn't. You remembered the laws that you have to live by. You remembered your promise to Him. You passed the test."
"You keep on saying that this was a test. What makes you think that it was a test?" "Did you ever see the movie The Bible?" "Yes." "Do you remember when Abraham was told by God to take his son, that he had waited so long for, into the mountains and sacrifice him. Abraham was very reluctant at first but eventually relented and made everything ready to sacrifice his son to God. But then at the last minute God stopped him and said that he was testing him but that now he knew how dedicated he was to Him. You have been tested Angel and God is pleased with your devotion to him and the rules that he has set down for you."
"How do you know all of these things?" "St. Michael has made this known to me and that's all that I can say. I can't say how he did it or when. You'll just have to take me at my word." Dr. Martin got up then and took the tray from Angel after giving him a kiss on his forehead. "I want you and Cordelia to get some rest now because tomorrow night we'll be going home. If you two have a problem sleeping just start thinking about how much sleep you will be losing when Kathleen makes her appearance in less then a month.
The next morning Angel got up first and helped Cordelia get up. She was so big now that she practically had to roll out of bed. After she relieved herself she called Angel in and they took a shower together. The warm water felt good on her back that was hurting a lot. As Kathleen got bigger she started pulling at her back which made her back hurt more when she stood for even a short amount of time.
"Angel help me to the bed again. Then call Mom." Angel helped her to lay down then pulled the covers over her. "I'll be back in a minute." Angel went out into the living room and sat down for a minute. He was starting to feel her back pains now and he had to rest for a minute.
"Angel, what's wrong?" He hadn't even noticed that Dr. Martin was sitting at the dinning room table with the rest.
"Cordelia's back is hurting her. I think she wants to know if you can do anything for her. We took a shower and she couldn't even get dressed she's hurting so much, so she just got back into bed."
"Okay lets see." They both went back into the bedroom.
"Angel tells me your back is hurting young lady." Cordelia laughed at what she said. "Young lady? Yeah well I can tell you right now that I don't feel like a young lady. I feel like I'm a hundred years old. Present company excluded. My back is hurting so much Mom that I can't stand up for long. I couldn't even get dressed. Can't you give me something for it, please?" Cordelia pleaded with Dr. Martin even though she knew she was going to say no.
"The only thing I can do Cordelia is call Dr. Thompson and ask him if there is anything new on the market that is safe to give you, okay?" "Okay Mom. Can you show Angel how to rub my back for me? Please?"
Dr. Martin went around to the other side of the bed and laid down on the other side. "Okay lay down on your side with your back to me. Come over here Angel and watch how I do this. As her back starts to feel better then yours will to." She started to massage Cordelia's back and you could hear her moan as Dr. Martin started the massage. She got up from the bed and let Angel lay down and try it. Since his hands were bigger and stronger Cordelia started to feel even better which in turn made Angel feel better.
Dr. Martin went out and called Dr. Thompson, as she thought though he didn't want her to have anything but a couple of aspirin and no more. It was just to close to her delivery date and they didn't want her blood to be to thin or she would bleed to death. "Okay Mike I'll tell her I checked with you. We'll be going home tonight and I think she has an appointment with you next week. I also want to meet with you and your partner later this week so give me a call when you two can meet me or come over to the Hotel. Okay Mike bye." Dr. Martin hung up and went to fix Cordelia and Angel some breakfast. When she was done she called Angel and Cordelia to come to the dinning room. It took them awhile but 15 minutes later Angel came in with Cordelia hanging onto his arm. He sat her down then took his own seat.
"Here you are Cordelia. Take these after you eat. I talked to Mike and he said all you could have was 2 aspirin and that is it. He doesn't want you taking it all of the time either. If you take it too much you could start to bleed faster then we can put it back in. When your done here you can go back to bed until we get ready to leave tonight. Don't be afraid either if you see strange men walking around. They belong to David Morgan. He left them here to help guard us until we go back to Los Angeles tonight.
"How are you feeling now?" Angel asked as he drank his blood.
"Better, you give good back massages." Cordelia said as she finished the last of her breakfast and took the two aspirin.
"I'm going to go and talk to Wesley. I'll be back in a little bit. We can turn the X-Box on and play a game." "Okay I'll talk to Fred for awhile also." Angel took her hand and kissed it then left.
Angel found Wesley in the carport looking over Cordelia's Van along with Fred. "How do you like it Fred?" Angel asked as he approached them. The carport was big enough to protect him from the sunlight so he felt comfortable walking over to them.
"It's beautiful Angel. It must be very comfortable to drive. Cordelia will have plenty of room for the baby and all of the things she needs for her. When are you going to get a dog for the baby?"
"A dog. Who said we had to have a dog?" Angel said rather loudly so that the guard near by overheard them.
"You always have to have a dog for the baby to grow up with. The dog is a companion and a play mate for the baby. If your lucky they will also guard them with their life. I had one when I was a little girl. He was a German Shepard that I called Billy. My Daddy always likes telling the story of when I was 3 years old and my cousin and Aunt were visiting us. My cousin was about the same age as I was. While my Aunt and Mother were visiting in the house we were playing in the back yard along with Billy. My Daddy said that they all heard my cousin scream and everyone came running to the back. At first they thought that Billy had attacked me because he was standing over me and growling. My Daddy said that he ran into the house to get his shot gun to kill Billy but when he got closer he saw that there was a big rattle snake that was all curled up and ready to strike. That was when he realized the Billy had saved me by knocking me down and standing over me to prevent me from getting up and the snake biting me. Daddy shot that snakes head off just in time because it was just getting ready to strike at Billy. That night Billy got the biggest steak my Daddy could find. He said it was Billy's reward for saving his little girl."
"I don't know Fred. Animals usually don't like Vampires. They can sense the demon inside of us." Angel said. They didn't notice it but one of the guards was close enough to hear everything they were saying.
"Excuse me Mr. Martin my names George, I happened to overhear your conversation. We have 6 dogs that help to guard Mr. Morgans property. Three Dobermans and 3 German Shepherds. Before Mr. Morgan was given his soul back the dogs would always bark at him, were afraid of him, and kept their distance. When you arranged for his soul to be given back to him the dogs attitude towards him changed. We were all shocked when we saw him one night throwing frisbees for them. He can do it fast enough so that all 6 of the dogs can go for their own frisbees. I'm sorry for interrupting but I thought you would like to know."
"Thank you for the information George. I appreciate it." Angel said. In his head though he was thinking 'Thanks a lot George now I'm going to have to get a dog for Connor and for Kathleen since I don't have that excuse anymore."
Angel turned around to see Wesley laughing. "Your goose is cooked now. Cordelia and Connor aren't going to let you rest until you get one for at least Connor." "Yeah laugh it up, now your going to have to get one for your kids. Ha! Ha!" Angel gave a returning laugh to Wesley.
"I came out here originally to ask you when we are going to leave tonight." "As soon as the sun starts to go down which is about 6:30 now." Wesley answered as he took Fred's hand and started for the door. "Okay Cordelia and I will be in bed most of the time. Her back is hurting her a lot which means mine is. If you need any help just come and get me." Angel went in then and joined Cordelia who had made it back to their bedroom. They spent the rest of the day in bed playing games on the TV and cards. At 5 o'clock Angel started packing their things then helped Cordelia to get dressed. He stripped the bed then and put all of the towels and sheets on the floor in a pile so that when the cleaning woman came she wouldn't have to gather everything up. By the time he was done it was 6:15 so he took the luggage out to the van. Fred was going to drive his car home along with Connor and he was going to drive the van while Dr. Martin kept Cordelia company in the back where she could lay down.
Wesley and Fred had their things in his SUV by the time Angel came out with Cordelia and Dr. Martin. Connor had his luggage in the back of Angels car and was ready to go. They were all anxious to go home. Problems encountered away from home always seemed to be worse and even though the thought wasn't logical it just seemed to be easier to handle when your at home. Gunn was waiting outside with them so that he could say good bye. One of the guards was going to ride with Angel, Fred, and Wesley. The other two were going to drive their own SUV.
The Scooby gang was their to send them off as well. The women were all talking to Fred for awhile. Angel saw them and knew from experience that they were cooking up something. Most likely a baby shower for Cordelia. When the women went back to Spike and Giles Angel signaled to Wesley and they all got into their respective cars and started back for L.A.
TBC..........................
Next chapter will bring Kathleen into the light. Thank you for the reviews. You make my day.