Disclaimer: All characters from ANGEL belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy. If they aren't on the show they belong to me.
Summary: A different turn of events after Season 1 Episode 12 "Expecting". A/C pairing.
CHAPTER 8
"Angel! I don't think you understand what you're doing!" Wesley called after Angel as took his weapons out of the closet and threw them into a bag.
"Oh I do, Wes." Angel replied. "Faith is going to come after us unless I stop her."
"So why not let her come? We will be able to defend ourselves much better if we are prepared." Wesley argued.
"She's a rogue slayer, Wesley. It doesn't get much more dangerous then that. I'm not taking the risk of her getting passed me and in here. I have a family to worry about now." Angel told him.
"Then stay here and protect them." Gunn said as he came down the stairs. "Trust me, you'll want to make sure they're always safe, and right now Cordelia is up there sick over you going after Fate."
"Faith." Angel corrected him. "Cordy's upset?"
"I'd say so." Gunn told him.
Angel nodded and made his way passed Gunn and up the stairs to Cordelia's room.
Gunn turned to Wesley. "Why is he doing this? He's gonna get himself killed. Ain't it the slayers job to be able to kick vampire-ass?"
Wesley nodded. "Basically."
Gunn shook his head angrily. "He's stupid. He's just gonna go out there and leave his family behind. He should be protecting them! If something happens to them he won't be able to live with himself."
Wesley nodded. "I'm in agreement there."
Angel entered Cordelia's room to find her pacing with Jessica held close to her chest.
"Cordy?" He called out.
She turned around to face him with a tear-stained face. "She's been here less then a week, Angel!" Cordelia tilted her head to indicate she was talking about Jess and Angel could see the anger in her eyes as she spoke. "And you're ready to leave her and go get yourself killed!"
"No, Cordy." Angel wrapped his arms around her. "I'm doing this to protect you, both of you. Faith will find us eventually and I am not going to give her the chance to hurt you or Jess." He gently kissed her cheek but she pulled away from him.
"Angel, you go after her and so what, you track her down? You get a few good shots in. She was a fair fight for Buffy, you don't have a chance. She'll stake you and I will be left here all alone with your daughter."
"I'd never leave you alone with-"
Cordelia walked up to him. "Angel, I'm not going to let you go do this. I'm not going to lose you. Not when whatever it is that's happening between us is just starting."
Angel pulled her in for a hug. "Cordy..."
"Please, don't go..." Cordelia pleaded between sobs.
Angel nodded down at her. "I don't have to go right now, I can wait until tomorrow. I'll be in my room if you need me." He kissed her gently and went to walk out of the room.
"No. Angel." Cordelia called after him. "Stay in here tonight. Jess always sleeps better when you come in to watch me at night anyway."
"How did you-" Angel was baffled. How did Cordelia know he had been in her room night after night watching her sleep ever since he had first found out she was going to have to carry through with the pregnancy?
Cordelia smiled. "You really think I was sleeping every single time you came in here?"
Angel laughed and took Jessica from Cordelia's arms and put her in her new crib that Wesley had bought for her. He kissed his daughter on the head and then he and Cordelia climbed into bed. Cordelia buried her head into his chest and he held her like that for a while. Cordelia had fallen asleep, Angel could tell by her heartbeat and Jessica was also out for the night. Angel, however, could not find it in himself to close his eyes. He felt like something wasn't right. Someone was watching him...
Faith stood on the roof of the building across from the hotel she was told Angel Investigations was located. She had been watching for two days straight. She watched Wesley reading from his books. "Typical." She thought. She had watched Angel come and go during the night. "In his great attempt to reach redemption." She reminded herself. She had watched Wesley and a new man, they called Gunn, cleaning weapons and goofing around in the lobby. "New player." She concluded. But what shocked Faith the most was Cordelia.
"Boy, has she changed." Faith said to herself on many occasions. Cordelia no longer seemed to be that snob Faith remembered that hung around the library all day waiting for Wesley. Cordelia seemed to be more aware of things now, more giving, and now Faith could see why. She had seen Cordelia with the baby in the window many times. Feeding it, changing it, playing with it. She had also seen Angel kiss Cordelia on occasion. She didn't understand until now. Now it made sense. Angel was human, he and Cordelia had done the dirty behind Buffy's back, and now they had a child together, Faith concluded as she watched Angel and Cordelia snuggle in bed together.
"And him being human will make it that much better when I kill him..." She grinned and jumped off the building, landing on her feet and making her way back to Lindsey McDonald's office.
Cordelia and Angel were awoken the next morning by Jessica's crying. Cordelia was the first to respond, with her maternal instincts kicking in hugely over the past week. She made her way over to Jessica's crib and scooped her daughter up gently.
"What is she crying about?" Angel asked as he looked at the clock next to Cordelia's bed. "It's only 6:15 AM."
Cordelia smiled. "Tell your daughter that. I'm going to wash her up."
Angel watched as Cordelia made her way into the bathroom with Jessica, whose cries had immediately stopped once she was in her mother's arms. Cordelia had lost a large amount of weight since she had given birth, and her breast had swelled, making the curves of her body more defiant, and her body, if possible even more beautiful, Angel thought. He smiled to himself and layed his head back into the pillow. He loved whatever it was that was happening with him and Cordelia. Were they a couple? He wasn't sure. They acted like one, and kissed like one, and slept in the same bed last night like one. But Angel knew whatever it was couldn't last. He could never give Cordelia a normal life, any more children, or even make love to her. He damned his curse under his breath and rolled back over trying to get more sleep. All thoughts of going after Faith ceased to cross his mind at the moment.
Cordelia sighed as she looked in the mirror. Never in a million years would she have believed someone if this is what they told her she would be like, yet here she was. Cordelia Chase, barely 20 years old, with a baby in her arms and an old man in her bed. Not that Angel looked a day older then 25, and not that they had done anything in her bed. She smiled at the thought of her and Angel. They had a family together, and he wasn't going to go running back to Buffy, at least that's what he told her.
"But he will..." Cordelia told Jess as she cleaned the baby's face with a washcloth. "Once he is human. But even if that happens, I know he will always love you, baby girl. Your Daddy is a good man...pire?" She laughed at herself and watched as Jessica gazed up at her with big eyes. Cordelia couldn't believe how beautiful Jessica's eyes were. She definitely got them from Angel.
"She looks pretty clean to me." Angel said leaning against the frame of the bathroom door with a grin on his face.
"Angel." Cordelia smiled and realized she must have been washing Jessica's face for a few minutes. "Yep, all clean."
"Can I hold her?" Angel asked.
"Of course you can." Cordelia told him. "You are her dad."
Angel smiled and took the baby from Cordelia. "Hey there you." He grinned at his daughter. "So, Jessica, I'm your Daddy, and you and me are going to be hanging out a lot in our immortal lives..." Angel made his way over to the bed still babbling to Jessica about all the good they would do together.
But Angel's last words hurt Cordelia. Her daughter was going to be immortal, and live forever with her father. Cordelia would die long before her daughter, and this thought made Cordelia want to run out of the room crying. But she couldn't worry about that now, she decided. Right now she had to worry about taking care of Jessica. Angel broke her train of thought.
"Cordy?" Angel said handing Jessica back to her mother. "I've got to go. See if I can track, Faith."
"Angel..." Cordelia began.
"I have to, Cordelia."
"It's daylight now. You can't go-"
"I'm taking the sewers. I'll be back in a few hours." He told her.
"You promise?"
"I promise." He leaned in and kissed Cordelia passionately, and then kissed Jessica on her head. "Be good for your mommy, Jess."
"She always is." Cordelia grinned. "Angel, be careful."
Angel nodded and exited.
"And I love you..." She said in almost a whisper.
Angel heard it though. Vampire hearing was good, Cordelia had forgotten that.
"I LOVE YOU TOO, CORDELIA CHASE!" Angel called out as he made his way down the stairs.
Cordelia jumped at the noise, and then laughed when she realized he had heard her. Then she looked down at her daughter with a smile. "Ok, so maybe things with Mommy and Daddy will work out..."
Lindsey paced in his office as Faith sat at his desk playing with one of his pens.
"I thought you were going to take Angel out last night?" Lindsey said impatiently.
"Was." Faith told him. "But when you called me to come out to L.A. and do this for you, you never mentioned Angel was human." She stood and got in Lindsey's face. "And I don't like being lied to, cowboy..."
"That's because he isn't human." Lilah Morgan said as she entered the office.
"Really?" Faith crossed her arms. "Don't you start lying to me too."
"She isn't." Lindsey said, fixing his tie. "And why would you think Angel's human anyway?"
Faith shrugged. "The kid."
"What kid?" Lilah asked curiously.
"The little baby they got over there. I don't know. Cordelia carries it around a lot, and Angel hangs around Cordelia and the baby a lot." Faith explained.
"Cordelia Chase with a baby?" Lindsey asked. "I don't remember her being pregnant."
"She wasn't." Lilah told him. "Unless this was a mystical thing..."
"We need to get people working on it." Lindsey told her.
She nodded and exited and Lindsey turned back to Faith.
"Faith, you take Angel out, and the kid. If word of this gets to the Senior Partners we are going to be in for it." Lindsey explained.
Faith nodded. "Do I get a double pay-check for both Angel and the kid?"
"Whatever you want, just get it done." Lindsey told her.
Angel had been walking in the sewers for about 10 minutes before Gunn caught up with him.
"Gunn, what are you doing here?" Angel asked.
"You think I'd let you come down here and do this alone? You'd get killed bro." Gunn told him. "Plus, Cordy won't be able to deal if you ain't around, so I'm making sure you stay around."
"I won't be able to deal if Cordelia isn't around." Angel pushed Gunn against the wall. "That's why you were supposed to stay there and watch her and Jess."
Gunn struggled free. "Wesley is. And I'm coming with you, whether ya like it or not."
Angel sighed. "Fine, just keep the noise down."
Jessica was exactly like her mother, Wesley decided.
"She certainly wants people to know she has arrived in a room." Wesley laughed as he watched Cordelia come down into the lobby with a screaming Jessica in her arms.
"I don't know what it is with her today." Cordelia told him as she sat down on the couch. "She's been babbling like this all day. I really don't think I can take much more of this." Cordelia sighed.
"Did you feed her?" Wesley asked. "She could be hungry."
"Yes, I fed her, Wes." Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Anyway, this is not her hungry cry."
"Oh." Wesley said. "Maybe she needs to be changed?"
"Did that too...twice actually." Cordelia turned her attention to Jessica. "Come on, baby girl. Mommy is drained. I don't know what you want, give me some help here."
The baby continued to cry and Wesley felt bad for Cordelia. She was trying so hard and still the baby screamed in her face.
"Would you like me to take her, Cordelia?" Wesley offered. "Maybe you can go get some rest?"
"Oh Wesley, would you?" Cordelia looked up.
Wesley nodded. "Of coarse."
"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Cordelia hugged Wesley. "I'm just going to go lie down for a little bit." Cordelia ran up the stairs leaving Wesley with her daughter in his arms.
"Hey there, beautiful." Wesley said to the baby who was almost all cried out. "I'm your Uncle Wesley, and when you get older we are going to read a lot of books together, and I'm going to teach you all about demons and how you can fight them all-"
"Gonna teach her how to fight a slayer, Wes? Because that could come in handy." Faith said as she entered the hotel with an axe in her hand.
"Can you smell Faith down here?" Gunn asked Angel as they made there way through the sewers.
Angel sighed. "No. She was never down here."
"What made you think she would be?" Gunn asked.
"Well, she would try and sneak in the hotel, she wouldn't just walk in the front door..." Angel looked up with a sudden look of fright. "Or maybe she would..."
Gunn nodded and then both he and Angel began running back to the hotel.
Cordelia heard Jessica's cries from all the way upstairs. She scrambled out of bed with a sigh. "I guess Uncle Wes couldn't handle you after all Jess..." She said making her way down the stairs, but when she entered the lobby Cordelia was in utter shock.
Faith, who had Wesley tied to a chair and was walking around him with the flame-thrower, looked up at Cordelia with a smile. "Hey Cor..."
"Faith..." Cordelia searched the room frantically for Jessica. "Where is-"
"The baby?" Faith laughed. "Over there." She pointed to Jessica who was set down on the floor, so far without a scratch on her.
Cordelia rushed over and scooped her daughter up, and then turned back to Faith. "Get out."
"Or what?" Faith made her way over to Cordelia giving Wesley the chance to pass out from his earlier encounter with Faith, the blood rushing from his head. "Did you forget who you're talking to? What I am?" Faith was in Cordelia's face now. "I could snap your neck in two seconds, and kill your kid," Faith ripped Jessica from Cordelia's hands. "A hell of a lot sooner."
"She's just a baby!" Cordelia cried. "Please!" She tried to make a grab for Jessica but Faith gave her a push, throwing her into the wall.
Faith studied the baby's face. "Kinda cute." She said with a half smile. "She'll make a nice display of internal organs in that law firms office, don't you think?"
Cordelia got to her feet, every part of her body aching, and stood face to face with Faith. "Give her back to me!"
Faith slammed Cordelia again. "Damn, Cor, you have changed! No more snobby little rich bitch."
"No." Cordelia told her. "Just a mother, who wants her daughter back."
"Yeah, sorry. Not happening." Faith smiled at Cordelia who was leaning against the wall in pain.
"Really? What if her dad wants her back then?" Angel's voice rang from behind Faith.
Faith smiled and turned to face him. "So she is yours?"
Angel nodded. "Yeah. Isn't she a cutie?" He took a step closer to Faith and motioned for Gunn to untie Wesley. "Now, why don't you hand her over."
"Ain't happening, Angel." Faith told him. "I'm getting a lot of money for bringing you and the kid in."
"In where?" Angel asked.
"Law firm, pretty sweet hook-ups. I kill you and the kid, and I get well...hooked up." Faith told him with a grin.
"Really? Well, how about I hook you up?" Angel grabbed Jessica and threw a punch to Faith's nose, knocking her to the ground. He then made his way over to Cordelia and helped her up and handed Jessica too her. "Cordy, get out of here."
Cordelia nodded and tried to run out, but was cut off by Faith.
"Where you going, Cor?" Faith asked.
"This is between you and me Faith." Angel told her. "Leave Cordelia out of it."
"Love to, but it's kinda between me and all of you, so I can't." Faith said as she picked her axe and put it to Cordelia's neck. "Choices Angel, it's about what we make when we have to."
Cordelia waited for the blow of the blade, or the touch of Angel's hand, but neither came. Instead, Faith fell to her feet. Cordelia spun around to come face to face with a familiar blonde.
"Buffy?" Angel's eyes fell on the women who had given Faith her newfound concussion.
"Angel." Buffy said as she took in her surroundings. Immediately her eyes fell on Cordelia and the child. "Wow, Cordelia with a baby, something I never thought I'd see." She joked as she made her way over to Angel. "We'll probably want to tie up Faith, just incase she comes too." Buffy leaned in and kissed Angel, but was surprised when he didn't kiss her back.
"Jess." Angel moved to Cordelia's side to inspect their child. He looked up into Cordelia's eyes. "Is she ok?"
Cordelia nodded as her eyes filled with tears. "Yeah, we both are. We're ok." She buried her head into Angel's chest.
Buffy was confused. "Uh, Angel?"
Angel spun around. "Thank you, Buffy, for knocking Faith out. I agree, tie her up." He got in Buffy's face. "Then get her the hell out of here. She's not hurting my family again."
"Family?" Now Buffy really was confused. What was Angel talking about? Then she remembered. He called Cordelia and Wesley his family, and Cordelia's baby now too she guessed. She wasn't surprised at the fact that Cordelia had clearly slutted around L.A. and gotten pregnant, what she was surprised about was the fact that Cordelia had kept the child, and that Angel seemed to care so much about the baby.
"Yeah, my family." Angel took Jessica from Cordelia. "My daughter." He took a step closer for Buffy to see the baby.
But Buffy countered his step and took one backwards. "Your...your...daughter?" She was in shock.
Angel shifted uneasily. "Uh...yeah...mine and Cordy's..."
"Cordelia's!" Buffy's mouth dropped. "You and her-you're human!"
"No!" Angel gave Jessica back to Cordelia. "Not human."
"But you and her, you-"
"No, Buffy."
"Then how the hell did you get a daughter?" Buffy crossed her arms.
"Mystical thing." Wesley said from his seat on the couch as he held an ice pack to his head.
"Mystical? So mystical you kept it a secret from me, Angel?" Buffy asked.
"Buf, I...I wanted to call you...I tried, it's...I didn't know how to tell you." Angel stammered.
Cordelia did not like what was going on here. She could see how much Angel still cared for Buffy and she felt like her heart was falling out of her chest. Even with his child, he'd have the slayer over her any day.
"You didn't know how to tell me is right!" Buffy screamed as she grabbed an unconscious Faith. "And you know what? I don't care either, Angel. Now, I've got Faith, she's what I came for. I didn't come to start something with you and I'm not going to. When you figure out how you want to explain this all to me...well you know the number." And with that Buffy walked out of the door, and out of Angel's life.
Angel stood there, hands in his pockets, for a while, then he heard Cordelia's soft cries and he realized she must have gone up to her room. He looked over to see that Gunn had stopped Wesley's bleeding and then he made his way upstairs, prepared to try and put things in perspective with his feelings for Buffy and Cordelia.