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 12
"Angel, where are you going?" Cordelia asked frantically as she chased him down the dark street outside of Darla's motel.
"To Wolfram and Hart." He turned to her. "To get Jessica!"
Cordelia caught up to him and put a hand on his arm so he was forced to face her. "And you think they are just going to let you walk right in there and take Jessica?"
Angel shrugged. "I don't care."
"Well I do." Cordelia told him. "I'm not losing you both. Now, we are going to get a plan together and then go and get Jessica back."
"Cordy, we don't have time for that!" Angel said. "Jessica sent me that vision because she needs help. I need to help her!"
"You'll get killed in the process if you go in there like you plan on doing now. Then I'll lose you both! I'm not going to let that happen!" Cordelia told him.
"Maybe I can help." Darla said as she made her way down the street. "I'm sure I can get Lindsey to give me some information."
"And I'm sure Lindsey is behind this." Angel bit his lip. "When I get him his hand won't be the only thing missing."
"I'm sure I can help." Darla told him.
"I'm not risking it." Angel's eyes darted between Darla and Cordelia. "Both of you, just stay here. Stay out of this." Angel then turned to walk down the street.
"Angel..." Cordelia pleaded as she grabbed his arm.
Angel whipped around. "Cordelia, stay here." He saw the worried look in Cordelia's eyes, and knew she wouldn't take that as an answer. "I'll get Jessica back, it will all be alright." He then kissed Cordelia on the head and jumped up onto the motel roof before she could say another word.
Gunn slowly woke up to find himself tied up and that his one eye was swollen shut and that out of the other, he was starring directly at Lindsey McDonald.
"You son of a bitch-" Gunn started.
"Ah, you're up." Lindsey said as he rose from his seat. "Good. Now if we could only get your friend up..." Lindsey pointed at Wesley who was still in a heap next to Gunn.
"What did you do?" Gunn asked and then remembered the previous morning. "Where's Jess?"
"Is that her name?" Lindsey asked and then, with his good hand, picked up a pink bundle from a car seat on a chair in the corner. "I was wondering what a vampire would name his daughter."
"If you hurt her-" Gunn clenched his jaw.
"Relax, she's fine." Lindsey said as he brought Jessica closer to Gunn to show him that he hadn't harmed her. "I just changed her. She's actually kind of cute."
Jessica cooed at Gunn before waving her fist in the air. When Gunn was convinced the child was ok he nodded and Lindsey put her back in her car seat.
"So, what do you want?" Gunn asked as he relaxed a little.
"Me?" Lindsey asked. "Well, I want a lot. First off, I want my hand back. I'd also like a promotion, a pent house in New York, a-"
"Why did you send your big crew to the hotel?" Gunn asked, getting annoyed.
"I didn't." Was Lindsey's response. "That was Lilah's doing."
"So why are we in here then?"
"Angel has some information I need." Lindsey told him. "I'm going to get that information when he comes to save you and his daughter."
"And you think Angel's just going to give it up to you?" Gunn asked.
"Oh, I know he will."
"And then what? You expect me to believe that you're just going to let me and Wesley and the kid go?"
Lindsey nodded. "Yeah. That's my plan."
Cordelia and Darla sat on opposite sides of Darla's motel room. Neither said much to each other, not that they had a lot to talk about. Cordelia was clearly upset and for some reason Darla felt sorry for the young girl sitting across from her.
The pain she felt for Cordelia startled Darla. She hadn't felt like this in centuries. She actually wanted to try and comfort Cordelia. She laughed quietly to herself. "Part of being human I guess."
"What?" Cordelia looked up at Darla with tear-stricken eyes.
Darla shook her head. "Nothing."
Cordelia looked back down and Darla studied her company. She couldn't believe how Angel had ever fallen for Cordelia. Darla understood why he had liked Buffy. Buffy had so many similar features to Darla that Darla just assumed Angel was trying to replace what he had lost, but Cordelia? Cordelia was nothing like Darla. Cordelia was nothing like Buffy. Darla didn't understand why Angel cared so much about Cordelia, but he did, and because of that, the soul Darla had lost so long ago cared about Cordelia as well.
"It's going to be ok, you know?" Darla told Cordelia. "Angel will find your daughter."
"His daughter." Cordelia said, clearly not in the mood for small talk.
"What?" Darla was confused.
"Long story, it started with a demon getting me pregnant and then Angel's blood mixing with the baby's, but Jessica is mine and Angel's daughter." Cordelia explained as she leaned back into her chair.
Darla nodded. "Well, weirder things have happened. Look at me. Undead and soulless for centuries and now here I am, alive and caring."
Cordelia gave Darla a half smile. "Thank you."
"For what?" Darla asked. She really hadn't done anything for Cordelia. If anything, she had probably been the cause for the mess Cordelia's life was becoming.
Cordelia sighed. "For taking my mind off of this for half a second."
Angel stood outside of Wolfram and Hart. He knew what he had to do; he took a deep, unneeded breath, and made his way towards the door. He knew it was stupid, that he would be found right away. He was counting on that.
There was a knock on the door of Lindsey's office.
"Come on in." Lindsey said as he rose from his desk. Jessica was still in her car seat, playing with a small teddy bear, and Gunn and Wesley were still tied up in the corner, only now Wesley had finally woken up.
The door swung open and four security guards rushed in holding Angel, who had his hands in cuffs.
"You said when he came in to bring him directly here." One of the guards said.
Lindsey nodded and thanked the guards before closing the door behind them. He then turned his attention to the vampire in the middle of the room and with a big smile, kicked Angel in the stomach until he doubled over.
"Are you done?" Angel asked as he tilted his head up, daring Lindsey to kick him again.
"Yeah." Lindsey smiled. "I feel better now."
"Good." Angel growled. "Now, where's Jessica?"
"Well now, I don't think you're really in the position to be using that tone of voice with me." Lindsey said, pointing to Angel's handcuffs.
"I'll kill you." Angel threatened.
"No you won't." Lindsey smirked. "You'll make a deal with me."
"A deal?"
Lindsey held up Jessica and pointed to Gunn and Wesley in the corner. "They're all yours. Hell, I'll let you out of the cuffs and all. I just need something from you."
"Like hell. You came into my house and took my family-" Angel started.
"No, I didn't." Lindsey told him. "That was Lilah."
"He's right." Wesley choked from the corner of the room.
Angel's eyes widened at Wesley's words. "Lilah?"
Gunn and Wesley nodded and then Angel looked back to Lindsey. "Let me out of these and we will talk about a deal."
"Fine." Lindsey shrugged and placed Jessica back in her car seat. He then scrambled in his pocket with his only hand until he grabbed a set of keys. He walked behind Angel and quickly undid the cuffs.
Angel quickly rose to his feet and made his way over to Jessica. He gently picked his daughter up and examined her. She cooed at him and tried to grab a piece of his hair that had fallen down. He laughed at his daughter's actions, and was so wrapped up in her playfulness he almost forgot where he was.
"Angel?" Gunn called out from the corner.
"Oh, right." Angel quickly moved over to Wesley and Gunn and untied their ropes, then he turned back to Lindsey. "Ok, so what's the deal?"
"Where is she?" Lindsey asked.
Angel swallowed hard. He knew what Lindsey had wanted even before he had entered the office. He contemplated what he was going to do. Then Jessica made a small whack at his chest with her little fist. He looked down at her and she was smiling back up at him. He knew what he had to do.
"Ok, Lindsey. Just promise me you won't hurt Cordelia." Angel began.
Lindsey nodded with a smile.
Cordelia and Darla were sitting on the bed of the motel, nervously watching TV when there was a knock on the door.
Cordelia practically jumped out of her skin. "It must be Angel." She said with a smile as she ran to open the door, but before she grabbed the knob the door swung open and Cordelia was thrown aside. She watched, helplessly from the corner, as a huge team of Wolfram and Hart soldiers grabbed Darla and held her down. One then made his way over to Cordelia and grabbed her by her hair. She saw him pull the knife out and she shut her eyes, waiting for the blow, but then she heard a familiar voice over all the commotion.
"Not her." Lindsey told the man who was holding Cordelia, as he entered the doorway. "Just let her go."
The man did as he was told and threw Cordelia out onto the street. She gathered herself and was ready to go back in to save Darla when Lindsey stuck his head out of the door.
"Cordelia, Jessica is at home with Angel. She looks like she needs her mommy." Lindsey sneered. "You better get going. Oh, and make sure Angel knows I kept my end of the deal."
"Deal?" Cordelia asked.
"Well, you're still alive, aren't you?" Lindsey asked and then closed the door on Cordelia.
Cordelia stood outside of the motel door until Darla's screams had silenced.
"Ouch! Damn, don't do that!" Gunn yelled at Angel as he attempted to put the icepack over Gunn's swollen eye.
"Keep it on there. And sit." Angel ordered as tried to balance both Jessica and Wesley's ice bags in his hands.
Gunn and Welsey did as they were told and sat down on the couches of the hotel. Both men were badly beaten, but neither had broken anything. Angel was thankful for that.
Angel then placed Jessica down on her play mat on the floor and shook a rattle over her. The baby giggled and tried to grab the rattle from her father.
"You are a smart baby, my Jess. Yes you are!" Angel cooed at his daughter.
Just then the lobby door swung open and a clearly frantic Cordelia entered.
"Angel!" Cordelia called out with a sigh of relief as she saw him on the floor with Jessica. "She's ok!" Cordelia rushed over and scooped up her daughter and held her to her chest as tears fell down her face.
"Cordy, the kid ain't like her father. She needs to breath." Gunn said from his seat on the couch.
Cordelia whipped around to see Gunn and Wesley. "Oh God guys, what happened?"
Welsey shrugged. "We're fine. It doesn't matter. As long as everyone's ok."
"Yeah." Angel agreed as he wrapped his arms around Cordelia.
"But we aren't!" Cordelia told them as she turned to face Angel. "Darla! She-"
"I know." Angel could not bring himself to look Cordelia in the eye.
"You know?" Cordelia asked him. "Lindsey said-"
"Did he hurt you?" Angel's voice filled with anger.
"No." Cordelia shook her head and looked down at Jessica. "He said to tell you he kept his end of the deal."
Angel nodded. "Well, if you're safe, then he did." He then leaned in and kissed Cordelia gently. "I was just worried about you."
"But Darla-" Cordelia started.
"I know." Angel told her. "I told Lindsey where she was. I had to. It was the only way to keep everyone safe."
"So you're just going to let them do whatever it is they wanted to do to Darla?" Cordelia asked.
"They'll turn her, Cordy." Angel explained. "And then I'll kill her before she has the chance to even rise."
"Angel..." Cordelia's voice filled with despair.
"Hey." Angel lifted her head up. "I did what I had to do. As long as we're safe, that's all that matters to me. You and Jessica. My family. That's it." Angel pulled her in for a hug. "Why doesn't everyone get some sleep? It's been a long day."
"Amen to that!" Gunn said as he stood and made his way up the stairs and to his room.
Wesley nodded in agreement. "See you all in the morning." Then he too, slowly made his way up the stairs.
Cordelia grabbed Angel's shirt and led him to the couch. He lay down and pulled Cordelia and Jessica up closer to him.
"Angel..." Cordelia starred down at Jessica. "You tried to save Darla, why did you just suddenly give that up tonight?"
"Family means more." He told her. "I killed Darla once, I can do it again. I just wish I had gotten the chance to thank her."
"For?" Cordelia raised an eyebrow.
"For turning me into what I am, actually. Otherwise, I'd have never met you." He smiled down at her and kissed their lips met. Then Jessica started crying.
Cordelia looked down at her daughter with a smile. "I guess she feels left out." Cordelia said as she sat up.
"Well, she shouldn't." Angel sat up as well and kissed Jessica gently on her head. "But you should get her upstairs. It's late." Angel stood. "And I...well...I've got to go..."
"Darla." Cordelia finished his sentence and stood up next to him. "Be careful. And, I'm sorry, Angel, for what you're going to have to do."
Angel nodded and kissed Cordelia again before watching her ascend the stairs with Jessica in her arms.
Angel slowly entered the same crypt he had the last time Darla rose. This time he knew what he had to do, what he was fighting against, what he was fighting for, and he was ready. He stood over Darla's corpse with a stake raise high over her chest. Slowly she rose.
"I'm sorry..." He whispered to her as he went to plunge the stake into her heart, but he was hit in the back of the head with something and fell to his feet.
Drusilla stood behind Angel with a rock resting in her hands.
"Dru..." Darla smiled as she climbed out of her grave and looked down at an unconscious Angel who was sprawled out on the floor. "Thanks."
"Of coarse." Drusilla smiled back and took Darla by the hand. "Time to be bad girls."
Darla grinned widely. "It is..."
And with that Drusilla and Darla made their way out of the crypt.