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 14
Cordelia sighed as she was woken by Jessica's screams. She fumbled out of bed, not bothering to turn the light on, and made her way over to her child's crib.
"Come on, sweetie." Cordelia begged tiredly as she picked up Jess. "Mommy's really sleepy."
It had been over a week since Angel had fired Cordelia, Wesley, and Gunn, and Jessica was still not used to her new surroundings. Cordelia, however, was thankful that they had been able to get her apartment back with the money that they had. Angel had given them all their final paychecks in envelopes he had left by the door so we didn't have to see them before they left. Cordelia, of course, had been given a little more money to support Jessica, but still all their money combined would barely cover rent anywhere. That's where Dennis came in.
It seemed that after Cordelia's original lease was up her apartment had been rented out to another couple. However, Dennis was still waiting for Cordelia to come back so he had scared the couple out. The realtor had trouble renting the apartment out after that, and was so happy when Cordelia wanted it back that she offered it to Cordelia, Gunn, and Wesley for half the price of Cordelia's original rent.
Jessica's screams continued. She had been crying like this for the past few days and Cordelia was at her end with it.
"Jess...please." Cordelia pleaded as she sank onto her bed with her daughter in her arms. "Please baby..."
The child's cries continued, and Cordelia was unable to handle it. Soon, she joined her daughter as the tears flew freely from her eyes. Cordelia was tired, scared, and lonely. Tired because she hadn't been able to get any sleep in the past few because of Jessica's constant crying. Scared because she didn't know how she was going to be able to be a single parent. Lonely because she really did miss Angel. She didn't know when it happened but sometime over the past few months Cordelia had completely fallen for the vampire with a soul. Now he was gone. He had left her and his child telling her he didn't care about either of them. That made Cordelia angry, and anger was the only thing that had kept the young woman going the past few days. Now, all the anger was gone and all that was left was a scared mother with her child.
Then, just as soon as Jessica's cries had started, they stopped. Cordelia thanked God silently for the cries not waking up Wesley and Gunn. She then slowly moved Jessica back into her crib and then went back to her own bed, crying herself to sleep silently.
"Damn it." Angel said, holding his head as he sat at his desk. Jessica had sent him another vision. It had been the third that day. Clearly the Powers wanted to contact their champion.
But Angel never answered the calls. He just waited until the vision past and then went back to his real work. He needed to find Darla and it needed to happen soon. He missed his family and wanted everything to just go back to Cordelia and tell her how much he really loved her and Jessica and how much he didn't want to be apart from them, but he couldn't. That would put them in danger, and that was something he definitely did not want.
Angel gathered himself and rose. He had been out most of the night looking for Darla and needed some sleep. He would get another chance tomorrow night.
"You don't look so hot, Barbie." Gunn said as Cordelia walked into the kitchen holding Jessica.
"Gee, thanks." Cordelia said sarcastically. "Next time you stay up all night with a screaming three month old and tell me how it goes."
"She's almost four months old." Wesley corrected the irritated mother from his seat at the table.
"Shut up, Wesley!" Cordelia snapped.
Gunn and Wesley were both taken back by Cordelia's harshness.
"I'm sorry..." Cordelia's mood swung again as tears formed and she put Jessica in her highchair. "I just haven't been getting any sleep lately and I'm just under a lot of stress right now and-"
"Shh...Cordelia." Wesley said as he rose and hugged her tightly. "We're here for you. We are all going to get through this."
"Yeah." Gunn agreed. "Everything's gonna be alright."
But it wasn't as Jessica had another screaming attack.
Angel jolted up from bed. He had been having a dream when the vision hit him.
"Damn it!" He pounded at his pillows. "Don't you get it you crappy Powers? I'm not your champion anymore!"
Jessica's cries continued and the next thing Cordelia knew she was standing in a white room.
"What the hell..." Cordelia looked around.
"Don't be-" A voice came from behind Cordelia.
"What the hell!" Cordelia whipped around and found herself face to face with a huge demon.
"Sorry." The demon told her. "I know you probably weren't expecting this."
"Damn right." Cordelia told him. "Who the hell are you?"
"I'm Skip." The demon said. "I was sent by the Powers That Be to help you."
"Help me?" Cordelia asked.
"Well, help Jess." Skip told her. "See, Angel is no longer answering the visions, and innocent people are dyeing because of it."
"That's why Jessica's been such a mess lately." It finally clicked for Cordelia. "She's been having visions."
Skip nodded. "And no one is answering them."
"So what do we do?"
"Make you the seer again." Skip told her. "If you want."
"I can't...the visions would kill me. The Powers already told me that."
"Well, they'd kill you if you were human."
"What are you saying?" Cordelia raised an eyebrow.
"I can make you part demon. Enough to handle the visions so that the innocent can be saved and so that your daughter can sleep at night." Skip saw the hesitation on Cordelia's face. "Oh, and the Powers knew you weren't going to be wild about this so they threw something in for you."
"What?" Cordelia asked.
"They knew you were upset about Angel and Jess both being immortal. I make you demon and you can join them. At least until Angel Shanshu's, then you would kind of too, and you both could grow old together." Skip explained.
"Me and Angel..." Cordelia's voice trailed off as the thought of what had happened to her and Angel crossed her mind.
Skip nodded. "We know. But destiny will work it's way through. This isn't about that right now anyway. It's about Jess and the visions."
Cordelia thought for a moment. "Well, demonize me then."
Skip nodded and the next thing Cordelia knew she was floating above the kitchen floor having a vision.
"Two girls, downtown. Big vampire nest." Cordelia said as she saw the look of confusion on Gunn and Wesley's face. "Come on! Vision girl is back! We need to save those girls!"
Angel sighed as he stood in what was once Cordelia's room. He closed his eyes and could visualize it. Where Jessica's crib had been put. What flowers were arranged where. Where Cordelia would hang her favorite jacket. He opened his eyes and saw none of this. Just empty walls of an empty room. The faint smell of Cordelia's perfume and Jessica's baby powder still lingered in the room. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at the floor. He couldn't believe she had left. He couldn't believed he had made her leave.
"You did it to protect her." He told himself bitterly. But knowing the reason behind his actions didn't make them hurt any less. He took one last look at the room and then closed the door behind him.
Cordelia paced her apartment as she played with her short hair. "What are you looking at, babe?" She asked Jessica playfully.
Jessica just giggled back at her mother and waved her little fists in the air. Cordelia smiled down at her daughter and scooped her up from her baby-seat.
"Mommy's just worried about your Uncles." Cordelia told Jess. And she was. Wesley and Gunn had left almost six hours ago to save those girls and were still not back. Cordelia, of course, could not go with them because of Jess, but now, as the sun began to set, Cordelia wondered if she should have just sucked it up and went along with them. Her and Jessica were both part demon now, they could have handled it.
Just then the door swung open and Wesley and Gunn staggered in.
"You're back!" Cordelia jumped up at the two men. "How'd it go?"
"It went." Wesley said. "We killed the vampires."
"And those girls gave us cookies!" Gunn smiled widely as he held up a tin to Cordelia.
"Well boys, cookies aren't the only thing we'll be making soon." Cordelia told them slyly as she held Jessica's head to her shoulder.
"What do you mean?" Wesley asked.
"Well, I was thinking, since Angel is now longer answering the visions, then Angel Investigations is pretty much over, unless we decide to take it over." Cordelia explained. "We could use the name, keep the cliental and maybe get new ones."
"Brilliant!" Wesley smiled.
"I knew you'd like it." Cordelia told them. "So, while you were out, I took the liberty of calling all of our old clients. We have two cases tomorrow."
"Awesome." Gunn told her as he took a bit of cookie. "Now, I'm gonna go jump in the shower."
Wesley nodded. "And I should go unpack. I'm still not truly finished."
Both men exited leaving Cordelia and Jessica alone. Jessica squirmed and Cordelia sat down on the couch with her daughter. Suddenly, both the mother and child tensed up. Someone was watching them, Cordelia could feel it. She slowly turned to look out the window, only to see nothing. She sighed and looked down at Jessica who was starring at her mother tensely. Still feeling uneasy, Cordelia stood and made her way into her bedroom.
Angel let out an unneeded breath as he stood in the bushes outside of Cordelia's apartment. That had been a close one. The past few nights he had checked in on Cordelia and Jessica, just to make sure they were ok. But this time he was almost caught. He cursed himself for his own stupidity and then made his way down the street. He was ready to begin his search for Darla.
Drusilla's trail was the first one Angel caught, which was surprising because usually Darla and Dru's trails were mixed together. Angel was hesitant, but having no other options, followed Drusilla's scent. It led him down to the river, and Angel sighed when the trail suddenly stopped. He looked around for a moment before he felt his face hit the ground.
"Nice to see you again, lover." Darla hissed in his ear as he rolled over to face her.
"Get off of me." Angel said as he shoved her off and rose to his feet.
"He doesn't want to play." Drusilla pouted as she made her way from behind Darla. "That's no fun."
"A set-up." Angel snorted. "I should have known."
"Well, kind of." Darla told him. "We just wanted to see you."
"Well, here I am." Angel held out his arms.
"We miss you, Angelus." Darla said. "I miss you."
Angel sneered. "Really? Well, let me show you what I think of the two of you." Angel whipped out a stake and threw it into an unsuspecting Drusilla. He watched as she turned to dust, not even having time to scream. He looked back to see Darla, only to find no one there. She had taken off, yet again. He was sick of chasing her. He quickly picked up her scent and followed it.
Angel felt the lump form in his throat as the scenery around him began to become familiar. He had been tracking Darla for a good hour and she was close by now. He looked around again, taking in the stores and street signs he had passed almost every night for a week. Darla knew exactly where to hit him. As his thoughts began to race, Angel found himself running toward the apartment complex he knew too well.
Cordelia had just finished changing Jessica when the doorbell rang.
"Boy, they just don't leave us alone, do they?" Cordelia smiled down at Jessica as she picked up her child. "Come on, let's go see who it is..."
The doorbell rang again.
"I'm coming!" Cordelia called as she made her way to the door. She opened it slowly, trying to balance Jessica in one arm. When she looked up to see who it was, she found herself face to face with one of her worst nightmares.
"Hey there, Malibu Barbie! Where's Ken?" Darla sneered at Cordelia from her position at the door, then she focused on Jessica. "Oh, that's right, Ken left after Barbie pushed out the brat."
Suddenly realizing Darla had been referring to Angel when she said Ken, Cordelia immediately tensed up. "Go away, Darla."
"What? You're not going to invite me in?" Darla pouted. "But we were best friends back in the beat up motel."
Cordelia rolled her eyes and attempted to close the door, but to both her and Darla's surprise Darla pushed forward and was able to enter the apartment, uninvited.
"What the..." Cordelia stood in amazement at the vampire who was standing before her. "But I didn't invite you in..."
Darla gave an evil smile. "Well, then someone who's living her must be a demon..."
Cordelia felt her heart almost stop beating at Darla's last words. Of course Darla was able to enter, Cordelia had turned herself half demon not even twenty-four hours ago to save the world.
Cordelia countered every step Darla took toward her and Jessica. She was going to keep her baby safe, no matter what the cost. When she had backed into the wall, Darla laughed.
"Nowhere else to run." Darla vamped out. "Now let's taste what Angel loves so much about you..."
But before Darla could sink her teeth into Cordelia's neck she was flat on the floor, unconscious.
Angel looked down at the Darla he had tackled and then back to Cordelia. "Why the hell did you invite her in here!"
"I didn't!" Cordelia shot back as she pulled Jessica close to her. The pain of seeing Angel put her stomach in knots.
"Then how the hell did she get in?" Angel asked.
"I'm half-demon now." Cordelia said simply.
"You're what?" Angel was baffled.
"I'm half-demon." Cordelia repeated herself. "The Powers made a deal so I could get the visions again."
"Why?" Angel asked. He couldn't believe that after all Cordelia had gone through to get rid of the visions she would want them back.
"To save the world." Gunn said from behind Cordelia. He was clearly pissed off to see Angel. "Because your ass wouldn't do it anymore."
Wesley came up along side of Gunn. "Now, why don't you take you're vampire and leave?" Wesley motioned to Darla who was still on the floor. "I certainly don't want you here, and I don't believe Cordelia does either."
Angel's eyes pleaded with Cordelia's. He fought all urges to just pull her close and apologize. Hold her and their child forever. That was all he wanted.
"Go." Cordelia said coldly, unable to look Angel in the eye. She was afraid if she did the tears would come. She missed him.
Angel nodded silently and then grabbed Darla by the wrist and dragged her out, closing the door behind him.
"You ok?" Gunn asked, placing a hand on Cordelia's shoulder.
But Cordelia did not answer him. She just shrugged his hand off of her and made her way into her bedroom with her daughter in her arms.
Wesley and Gunn heard Cordelia's door lock and then her distant sobs that lasted through the night.