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 11
Angel sat silently in the chair of the motel across from the bed Darla was sleeping in. It was almost 4:30 in the morning and he knew if he wanted to make it back to the hotel and not turn into a pile of dust he'd have to leave soon. He just couldn't bring himself to do it. He couldn't leave Darla like this. The truth was he didn't know what he wanted. She had turned him into Angelus and helped him torture and kill hundreds or people. For that, he wanted her dead, but then he realized if she hadn't turned him, he would have died long ago and would have never gotten the chance to even know Cordelia, let alone have a family with her. For giving him that opportunity he wanted to thank Darla.
Angel looked back up at Darla. She was still asleep. He knew he had to get home to Cordelia and Jessica so he decided he's just leave Darla a note and come back later to check on her. He jotted the note down and left it on the dresser before exiting the small room.
Cordelia picked a sleeping Jessica up from her crib. She was exhausted. Gunn and Wesley had helped her pack up all of Jessica's things through the night and had promised to help Cordelia move the rest, less important things, back into her apartment when she and Jess was settled in.
"Got everything?" Gunn asked as he yawned and leaned against the frame of the door.
Cordelia nodded, but said nothing, trying to hold back tears. Wesley saw right through the act. Cordelia had pulled it a million times. She always tired to seem stronger then she was, never wanting people to see her in a vulnerable state. Wesley fixed his glasses and pulled Cordelia in for a hug.
"Just call us if you need anything." Wesley said as he felt Cordelia's tears slip onto his shirt.
"I will." Cordelia said as she pulled away and adjusted Jessica in her arms.
Angel walked into the hotel lobby just before sunrise. He sighed and took a seat on the stairs trying to figure out everything that had just happened and what he was going to tell Cordelia. Before he really had time to think the smell of Cordelia's perfume filled the room. He looked up the stairs to see Cordelia struggling with a suitcase in one hand and Jessica in the other.
"Cordy? What are you doing?" Angel rose to help her.
Cordelia quickly dropped the suitcase and took a step away from Angel. "Don't come any closer to me."
"What? Cordelia?" Angel stepped again.
Cordelia fumbled in the pocket of her jacket until she found what she was looking for. She quickly pulled out the cross and held it up in front of her. "Stay back!"
Angel stood where he was. "What are you doing?"
"Oh, well how do I know you're even Angel?" Cordelia asked. "For all I know you and Buffy could have gotten all lovey-dovey, and I could be starring right at Angelus now."
"Buffy? She and I..." Angel was confused. "I'm not Angelus."
"Really?" Cordelia asked and turned her head to expose her neck. "Are you sure?"
Angel didn't move, he just stood there with a blank look on his face, then Jessica began crying. Angel moved to comfort the baby, but Cordelia held the cross out in front of her again.
"I told you to stay there." Cordelia said.
Angel nodded and stood still as Cordelia comforted Jessica. When Jess was finally asleep again Angel leaned in closer to Cordelia. "What the hell is going on?"
Cordelia whipped her head up and realized that she was really starring Angel in the face, which made what Wesley and Gunn had told her hurt even more. If it had been Angelus then she could have blamed Angel's actions on that, but it wasn't. It was Angel. Her Angel.
"Why don't you tell me?" She asked. "I mean, you were the one with Buffy last night!"
"Buffy?" Angel shook his head. "What are you talking about? I wasn't with Buffy last night. I haven't even spoken to her since the night she came after Faith."
"Don't you lie to me, Angel!" Cordelia said as she tried to hold back her tears. "Gunn and Wesley told me they saw you at some cheap motel last night with some blonde girl!"
Angel swallowed hard. His thoughts began to collide with one another. He didn't know what to tell Cordelia. He could go on and let her believe it was Buffy, but he couldn't hurt her like that. He cared about her too much. Could he tell her about Darla? How could he even explain Darla? He didn't fully understand it himself. Then he looked at Cordelia and saw the hurt in her eyes. He didn't know how to fix it, he didn't know what she wanted to hear, so he said nothing.
Cordelia nodded and picked back up the suitcase she had set down. "I'm taking Jess and we are going back to my apartment. I'll have Wesley make arrangements on when you can see her." She slid past Angel and made her way down the stairs. Cordelia was at the door when Angel finally decided to speak.
"It was Darla." He said, not turning to her.
Cordelia spun around to face him. "What?"
"The girl that Gunn and Wesley saw me with last night. It was Darla." Angel said turning and making his way back down the stairs towards her.
"Yeah." Cordelia snorted. "Like I'm really going to believe that one. News flash Angel, I wasn't born yesterday! Darla's dead, so don't lie to me about who you were with-"
"I'm not." Angel told her as he shoved his hands into his pockets. "I know she was dead. She isn't now. I don't know how to explain it-"
"You know something Angel, I expected you to go run back to Buffy. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep you forever, but I never expected you to lie to me about it!"
"Cordy, I'm not lying to you!"
Cordelia just shook her head. "I'm going."
"Wait, stay! I love it when couples quarrel." Lindsey's voice echoed in the lobby as he walked in from the kitchen.
"Lindsey..." Angel spun around angrily. "How the hell did you get in here?"
"Well, for a champion, you don't check the backdoors of this place a lot..." Lindsey smiled. "Oh, but don't worry, I still had a hard time getting in...with one hand and all." Lindsey spat as he held up his arm that was missing its hand.
"Get out." Angel said. "Or, like I said earlier, your hand missing will be the least of your problems."
"Help her." Lindsey said simply. "You're the only one who can."
Angel shook his head. "No, I can't."
"She's dieing!"
"I know."
"So help her." Lindsey pleaded. "Be the champion. You're supposed to help people in need, well Darla is in need of help."
"I can't help her. There is nothing I can do for her." Angel told him. He lowered his head, but lifted it when he felt a sudden warmth come up next to him. He could see from the corner of his eye that Cordelia had put the suitcase down and was now standing at his side with Jessica in her arms.
"Darla?" Cordelia asked.
Lindsey nodded. "We brought her back."
"Human." Angel said angrily. "How stupid do you lawyers get?"
"We didn't expect things to be this way." Lindsey explained. "We didn't know she would be human or that she wouldn't really want to kill you."
Angel nodded. "So you brought her back to destroy me?"
"At first." Lindsey said. "Now we just need to keep her here."
"Why?" Angel raised an eyebrow at Lindsey and then in the most childish voice the vampire had, he began to mock Lindsey. "Does somebody have a little school yard crush on the big bad ex-vampire?"
"Shut up." Lindsey's eyes shot up.
"So you think if you get me to turn her, then she will love you?" Angel laughed. "She won't have a soul, she won't be able to care for you."
"Fine, if you won't help then at least tell me where she is so I can get her some help." Lindsey said.
"Get out Lindsey." Angel told him. "Or I'll remove you myself."
Lindsey looked down at his arm that had once been attached to a hand, then he silently made his way past Angel and Cordelia.
The next thing Angel felt was the hard slap of Cordelia's hand across his face.
"Ouch, Cordy!" Angel said holding his red cheek. "What was that for?"
"For not telling me about Darla."
"I tried."
"Only when I threatened to leave you." Cordelia said. "You should have told me when you found out, which I know wasn't last night, because now it all makes sense."
"What does?"
"She was what Jess sent you out after, wasn't she?" Cordelia asked as she led Angel to the couch. "She was why you've been acting so distant lately?"
Angel sat down next to Cordelia and ran his fingers through Jessica's hair. "I didn't know how to tell you because I couldn't explain it. I didn't want you to worry."
"Angel, you and me are a team now. You need to tell me when things are bothering you." Cordelia said taking his hand.
"You need to tell us all." Wesley said as he and Gunn made there way down the stairs. "Keeping things from us is no way to run a business."
"We heard what went down in here." Gunn explained. "And damn, do we feel like fools for worrying Cordelia like that."
"You were just looking out for her right?" Angel asked. "I appreciate that."
"Well, what do we do about Darla?" Wesley asked.
"I should go back and check on her." Angel kissed Cordelia and then stood. "I'll be back in a little while. Cordy, try and get all that stuff you packed up back upstairs."
Cordelia laughed. "I will."
Angel knocked on the motel door. "Darla?" He called out as he fidgeted, trying to avoid direct sunlight.
"Come in." Darla said as she swung the door opened. "Before you burst into flames."
Angel smiled sarcastically and entered. "Always a sense of humor..."
"I try." Darla told him as she closed the door behind him. "So...where did you go? I woke up and you weren't here."
"My note, didn't you get it?" Angel asked. "I told you I'd come back later. I had to stop home. Check on Cordelia."
"Cordelia? That bratty want to be princess from Sunnydale who-" Darla raised an eyebrow.
Angel went to speak but the door of the hotel swung open and Cordelia walked in with a bag of groceries in her hand.
Darla's eye's widened as she continued to speak. "Who is now standing right across from me. What are the odds?"
Cordelia scrunched up her nose as she saw the look she was getting from Angel. "Sorry, I know I should have called first, but I was bored back at the hotel. Gunn and Wesley moved everything back into my room and Jess was asleep and so I got around to thinking and," Cordelia held up the bag of groceries. "hey, Darla is human now, she needs to eat right? So, I stopped by the store and, well, here I am."
"Wow." Darla said simply before moving to grab the bag from Cordelia. "I like her."
Cordelia just smiled and kissed Angel slightly on the lips.
Angel broke them apart and then looked back at Darla who was now sitting on the bed eating a box of cookies Cordelia had brought. "Darla, can I talk to Cordy for a second? Would you mind?"
Darla shook her head. "Bathrooms free."
Angel nodded and led Cordelia into the bathroom. Closing the door behind them, he quickly turned back to Cordelia. "What are you doing here?"
"I told you." Cordelia said. "I dropped off some food. I thought she would need it, and we all know you aren't capable of getting it."
"I went food shopping for you plenty when you were pregnant." Angel corrected her.
"Is that really the point?" Cordelia asked him.
Angel smiled with a short sigh. He couldn't even be mad at Cordelia for coming, he couldn't be mad at Cordelia for anything. "No..." He said and then pulled Cordelia closer to him for a longer kiss. When they broke apart he looked down at Cordelia. "Where is Jess?"
"Safe at home with Wesley and Gunn." Cordelia told him and then looked at her watch. "But I should be getting back there, Jessica will be up any minute and she is usually pretty hungry after she sleeps."
Angel smiled at the mention of his daughter and then nodded before leading Cordelia out of the bathroom. Cordelia waved good-bye to Darla and then left.
Cordelia entered the lobby of the Hyperion Hotel to find it completely torn apart. Papers were all over the floor, and the doors of the weapon cabinet were lying in a heap. "Ok, either the boys were cleaning or we have a problem..." She said to herself, and then her face dropped. She could have smacked herself upside the head for being so selfish. She had almost forgotten about Jessica, her own daughter. The fright immediately set in. Cordelia ran up the stairs and straight into her room. She knew what she would find even before she entered. An empty crib. Cordelia gasped and fell back into the wall, leaning for support. Her mind began to race. She couldn't think clearly. What had happened? Where was Jessica? Why was the hotel a mess? Where were Wesley and Gunn? ANGEL.
Lee Mercer made his way into Lilah Morgan's office to find her leaning against her desk with a big smile across her face.
"I got your message, Lilah. What's the good news?" Lee asked.
"The good news is that I don't need you anymore." She told him. "Our little Angel project? Well, I've got it all under control, so I just wanted to let you know that you're off my ship."
"But...I-" Lee started.
"Need to get out." Lilah finished for him.
Lee looked down in defeat and made his way out of her office. Lilah smiled to herself and turned to gather some paperwork up on her desk when she heard Lindsey's voice.
"Well, I caught the end of that little conversation. You and Lee were working on a project involving Angel Investigations? I thought that was you and me." Lindsey told her.
"It is, Lee and I had a different project. Now just I have a different project." Lilah said.
"Involving the child." Lindsey said, biting his lip. "Lilah, I told you to leave the kid alo-"
"She's in the lab." Lilah told him. "Along with that book cracking wise-ass Englishman, and the gangster."
Lindsey nodded coldly and then made his way out of her office. He needed to get down to the lab before they started anything.
Cordelia entered Darla's motel room to find Angel sprawled out on the bed, holding his head and Darla sitting next to him.
"What happened?" Cordelia asked.
"I don't know." Darla said. "He keeps saying vision."
Cordelia rushed and grabbed Angel's hand. "Angel, Angel tell me what you saw."
Angel's eyes were blank as the starred at Cordelia. "They have her. They have Jess, and Gunn, and they have Wesley."
"Who?" Cordelia asked as tears formed.
"Wolfram and Hart." Angel said as he rose.
Lindsey entered the lab to find Wesley and Gunn knocked out in the corner on the floor and Jessica on the exam table. A lab technician came up to Lindsey.
"Mr. McDonald. How can I hel-" The technician fell as Lindsey's good hand met the man's head.
Lindsey then made his way over to Jessica on the table and scooped her up. "Hey there..." He said as the baby began to cry. "Hey, I'm not going to hurt you. I won't let them. I just need to use you and your friends to get something from you're Daddy." He explained as he motioned his head toward Gunn and Wesley. Jessica claimed down and Lindsey sat up on the table with her. "See, you're Daddy took two things from me. My hand." Lindsey showed the child his arm that no longer was attached to a hand. "And a very important woman. Now, I intend on getting one of those things back. I'll just use you as leverage. Are you ok with that?" He smiled as Jessica began to drift off to sleep. "Good." He then hopped of the table and grabbed the rope that held Wesley and Gunn together. He wrapped it around the stub of his one arm and dragged them down to his office, with Jessica carefully balanced in his good hand.