Disclaimer: All characters and things from ANGEL and BUFFY 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 38
True to his word, Lorne showed up at the hotel the next day. Everyone was sitting around in the lobby, waiting for him.
"Hey sugar dolls." Lorne smiled. "I'm here."
"Good." Angel stood up from his seat next to Cordelia. "And you have a plan?"
"I do." Lorne held up a bottle filled with pink liquid. "One little swig of this, a little singing, and Faith will be back to herself."
"Wait, this has to do with magic?" Connor was appalled. He had been taught by Holtz to never dabble in magic, it was never good.
"Well how else do you think we'd get it back?" Lorne asked.
"I don't know. A hospital maybe?" Connor said.
"Connor…" Cordelia tried to calm her son down.
"What? Magic never leads to anything good!" Connor shot back.
"Hey, relax." Jessica told her brother, and then turned to Lorne. "When are you going to do this?"
"I was thinking tonight. It will take some time to set everything up." Lorne said. "If Faith wants that."
"Oh, I do. Whatever it takes." Faith said.
"Great. Connor can come with me then, I got a call about some noise coming from some ladies furnace, she thinks its demons." Jessica told them.
"I don't want to-" Connor started.
"Connor, you should go." Faith told him. "It's your job."
Connor nodded with a sigh. "Okay."
It took Lorne and Wesley all afternoon to set everything up for the spell. By the time they were ready, the sun was just beginning to set and everyone had come back into the lobby.
"So you guys ready to do this?" Jessica asked, as she threw on her long, black coat, matching the one Angel always wore over her gray tank top.
"Ready isn't even the word." Faith told her.
"Well, good luck." Jess said.
"Be safe." Cordelia told her daughter as she kissed her on the forehead.
"I'll be fine." Jess insisted. "Come on, Connor."
Connor filed in behind his sister, never taking his eyes off Faith. He didn't want to leave her like this, but reluctantly he stepped out the door.
"Okay, let's get this mojo working." Gunn smiled, taking Fred's hand.
"Alright." Lorne said. "Everyone ready?"
The group nodded and Lorne began to chant as Faith took a sip of the pink potion. Suddenly the room filled with light, and everyone was thrown backwards into opposite directions. Lorne was unfortunately thrown over the counter, and bumped his head, keeping him unconscious and out of sight, but everyone else stood, gathering themselves up. Little did they know, the affects the spell had put on them all.
Cordelia looked around the room, and was appalled. "What the hell is going on here?"
"Shut up, Cordelia." Faith told her.
"Don't tell me to shut up, psycho slayer." Cordelia snapped back.
"Both of you, can you relax?" Wesley said in a wimpy voice as he looked around, he then lowered his voice to a whisper. "I think something's wrong."
"Really, I got the same feeling." Angel said, as he sat down on the couch, looking around the hotel.
"Great!" Cordelia snorted. "I'm stuck with psycho slayer and psycho vampire!" She then moved over to Wesley, seeking protection. "Where are we?"
"I…uh…I…" Wesley began to turn red as Cordelia nuzzled closer to him.
"I want to know the same damn thing!" Gunn said angrily, causing everyone to jump.
"Who are you?" Cordelia asked.
"Name's Gunn." Gunn folded his arms. "Charles Gunn. Who the hell are you?"
"I'm Cordelia Chase." Cordelia said slyly. "And if you brought us here to kill us, well you've got another thing coming-"
"Kill you?" Gunn laughed. "Man, why would I want to kill a loud mouth rich girl like you?"
Cordelia gave him her famous Queen C glare.
"I'm Fred." Fred said shyly. "I'm from Texas. Who are y'all? Besides you two." She pointed to Gunn and Cordelia who had already introduced themselves.
"Wesley Wyndam-Pryce." Wesley smiled. "I'm from England, but came to Sunnydale for work."
"Faith." Faith raised her hand.
"I'm Angel." Angel told her, still examining the place. "Does anyone know where we are, or why we are here?"
"Probably something your girlfriend did to us." Cordelia told him. "Buffy's got to be around here somewhere."
"You think it's a trap?" Wesley questioned.
Angel shrugged. "We should find Buffy."
"I bet it is." Cordelia said. "Every single time I hang out with you people you get me almost killed."
"And every single time I hang out with you I get a headache." Fait shot back.
"Just out of curiosity, are y'all in high school?" Fred asked.
"I'm a senior." Cordelia told her. "At Sunnydale High."
"I dropped out." Faith told her.
"Me too." Gunn said.
"This doesn't make any sense." Angel said. "We are in some place with people we don't know and I've never seen…I've been here before!"
"You have?" Wesley was shocked as his eyes opened wide.
Angel nodded. "Awhile back."
They then heard groaning from behind the counter as Lorne stood. He looked at everyone and they all looked at him.
Cordelia was the first to let out a blood-curling scream. "I told you this was a trap!"
"A demon!" Wesley and Gunn said at the same time, and then looked at each other.
"A what?" Fred asked.
"Demon." Faith jumped over the counter, taking Lorne and knocking him to the floor, out cold again.
"Kill it!" Cordelia screamed again.
"Don't!" Angel ordered. "He didn't try to attack us. Maybe he can help."
"Yeah, please, how many demons do you know who are good…" Cordelia trailed off as she realized her words applied to Angel, but then she added. "And don't go all evil and try to kill everyone until their girl friend sends them to hell?"
Angel just shook his head at the May Queen's comment. "We should find Buffy."
"We should stay here." Cordelia said. "Buffy will find us."
"No, we should look for B." Faith said.
"I'd rather stay here, with everyone, where there are too many people for you to kill us all." Cordelia shot at the slayer.
"I made a mistake." Faith sighed. "Watchers Council cleared me."
"Whatever." Cordelia rolled her eyes.
"This is not the way, ladies…" Wesley said, patting Cordelia on the shoulder.
"This is the government!" Fred squeaked.
"Say what?" Gunn looked at the Texas girl like she was crazy.
"It's a conspiracy!" Fred said, pointing to Lorne.
"It's a demon." Faith corrected her.
"You mean to tell me they are real?" Fred said.
"Very much so." Wesley smiled at her.
Cordelia didn't like that Wesley was being so nice to this Fred girl. He was supposed to be attracted to her, and she wasn't going to lose him. She had only just gotten over Xander. She pulled Wesley closer to her. "Let's go find the rest of the scoobies."
"The who?" Gunn asked.
"Our friends." Angel told him.
"Well not my friends." Cordelia smiled nervously.
Suddenly Jessica and Connor came busting in the door, causing the group in the middle of the room to jump.
"Sorry." Jess gave them a grin. "How'd everything go…" Her voice trailed off as she saw Lorne on the floor. "Damn! What happened to him? Connor help me get him to the couch."
Connor nodded and helped his sister move Lorne to the couch.
"You know him?" Gunn asked.
Jessica narrowed her eyes. "Just like you do."
"I do?" Gunn asked, shocked.
Jessica nodded her head slowly, and then turned to Cordelia. "Mom, is Gunn okay?"
Cordelia didn't respond for a moment, and then saw Jessica starring at her. "Are you talking to me?"
"Yeah, you would be mom." Jess said.
"Me?" Cordelia was stunned. "Excuse me, I'm an eighteen year old girl, not your mother."
"You're a what?" Jessica raised her eyebrow and then looked over at Lorne, then to her brother. "I'm going to say the spell didn't work."
"Let's see." Connor turned to Faith, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Who are you?"
"Faith." Faith clenched her jaw and moved Connor's hand off of her shoulder. "And if you don't watch it I'll break your fist."
"Yeah, well at least she knows who she is." Jessica said sarcastically, as Connor moved closer to her.
"You said something about a spell?" Angel asked.
"Yeah." Jess nodded. "Faith lost her memory so Lorne over there on the couch said he had a plan to get it back. I'm going to go with it backfired."
"What do you mean?" Wesley asked.
"Well, okay…" Jessica began by pointing at Connor. "Me and him are brother and sister, and you and you are our parents." She pointed to Angel and Cordelia.
"We are what?" Cordelia was shocked.
"Well, you're my mom and Angel over there is my dad. Connor's mom is Darla, but you helped raise him, well until we got sucked into a hell dimension and grew up really fast there." Jessica explained.
"Uh huh…" Cordelia raised an eyebrow. "Me and Angel?"
Connor nodded. "You two."
"Can't happen. I can't have kids." Angel said with a nervous laugh.
"Oh, but you can." Jessica told him.
"What about B?" Faith asked.
"Buffy?" Jessica questioned.
"Yeah." Faith said.
"Out of the picture." Jessica looked at Angel.
Just then Cordelia let out a scream. "My hair!" She felt her short, blonde hair. "What happened?"
"You cut it…" Jessica told her. "Right after you had me."
Cordelia shuck her head, furiously. "I couldn't have. I wouldn't have!"
"You did." Jessica told her.
"Well, now that we understand her hair, can we get back to what we are doing here?" Gunn asked.
Jessica nodded. "You work here. All of you. It's a detective agency called Angel Investigations. We deal in supernatural things."
"Where is here?" Fred asked.
"L.A." Connor told her.
Cordelia sighed, sitting on the couch. "I'm so confused."
"Well, once Lorne gets up I'm sure it will be alright." Jessica told her mother.
"Well green man ain't getting up any time soon." Gunn said. "Not that I like the fact we are leaving him alive, but why don't we go check this place out?"
"Sure." Faith said.
"I'll take you." Connor offered.
"Nah, it's cool. I'll take baldy." Faith smiled at Gunn. "Let's go."
Gunn nodded and followed Faith down one of the halls.
"I would like to go too." Fred smiled, and turned to Connor. "You want to show me around?"
Connor shrugged. "I guess."
"I'll come." Wesley said. "Cordelia?"
Cordelia sat; still shocked at all she had just heard. "No. I'm fine."
Wesley nodded. "Angel?"
Angel looked at Cordelia, and then at Jessica. "No. I'll stay here. Incase that demon decides to wake up and is actually evil."
"He's not." Jess told him.
"In case." Angel said through a nervous smile, and then looked back at Wesley. "Go ahead Wesley."
Wesley nodded as he and Fred followed Connor up the stairs.
"So let me get this straight." Cordelia said as she sat down. "I'm a mother and me and Angel…"
"Are married." Jessica said, pointing to the ring on Cordelia's finger.
"What?" Angel was shocked. He thought it was always going to be him and Buffy forever. "But I'm a vampire, and Buffy…"
"Your soul is secure, and Buffy and you are just friends." Jess told him. "You really do love my mom."
"This is so much to take in." Cordelia said. "I'm not famous?"
"What?" Jessica was confused.
"Me. I was supposed to be a famous actress, not a mother and wife in some detective crazy agency." Cordelia vented.
"It can't be that bad, Cordelia." Angel said as he pointed to a picture of Angel, Cordelia, and baby Jessica on the counter. "We look happy."
Cordelia got up and took the picture in her hands, they did look happy, and Jessica was absolutely adorable. "Aw is that you?" She pointed to the baby.
"That's me almost two years ago." Jessica smiled.
"And now you're sixteen?" Cordelia asked.
"Technically, eighteen, but I'm really am like sixteen because I'm immortal like you two so age…not really mattering." Jessica grinned.
"Immortal?" Cordelia raised any eyebrow.
"Long story." Jessica said.
Angel looked over at Lorne, who was still asleep on the couch. "Looks like we've got time."
Jessica nodded, and led her parents over to the couch.
Connor walked down the hallway with Fred and Wesley close behind. The two of them got alone so well it almost made Connor sick. They were both smart, and nerdy, and giddy. Connor could see how much they both had changed from the people they were four years ago. They were both still nerdy, and smart, but Wesley had gotten a lot tougher and didn't back down as easily anymore. Fred had also grown a lot stronger, and was more aware of her surroundings.
"This place is so big." Fred was amazed. "It's like…well I don't know. It's huge."
"It's a hotel." Connor told her.
"Yeah, but still, its just the biggest thing I've ever been in. Back in Texas we have these little hotels with nothing but a few rooms, but since it's by my house I don't ever stay in them…" Fred rambled.
Connor nodded. "Right…"
Fred shrugged at Wesley as they continued following Connor.
Wesley and Faith made their way down into the basement.
"This place is creepy." Gunn said. "Probably rats down here."
"Why? Are you scared of them?" Faith teased.
"Damn right I am." Gunn said. "Creep me out."
Faith smiled at Gunn. "I would have never guessed."
Gunn looked down at his feet. "Yeah, well, everyone's got their fears."
"Well." Faith wrapped her arms around his neck. "I can protect you." She then went in for the kiss, and Gunn embraced her.
Lorne come to just as Jessica was finishing up explaining the whole Quortoth situation to Cordelia and Angel who both looked completely shocked.
"You're up." Jessica smiled at Lorne.
Lorne nodded slowly, feeling the bump on his head. "What happened?"
"Your spell screwed up, Faith hit you." Jessica told him with a sly smile.
"Did Faith at least get her memory back?" Lorne asked.
"Oh yeah…" Jessica said. "They also all think its 1999."
"You two too?" Lorne asked Cordelia and Angel who looked at each other and then quickly nodded their heads.
"Let me make a phone call." Lorne said.
Lorne came back into the lobby ten minutes later with a look of relief on his face and what appeared to be another potion in his hand.
"Figure out how to reverse this?" Angel asked.
Lorne nodded. "Sure did, we just need to get the rest of the group here and we will be good to go."
Just then Connor, Fred, and Wesley entered back into the lobby.
"This place is huge!" Fred squealed. "I'm talking enormous!"
"We figured out how to get our memories back." Angel told them.
Lorne nodded. "Someone just go find Faith and Gunn and we will be good to go."
"I can do that." Fred said.
"I think they went into the basement." Jessica told her.
Fred followed Jessica's directions and went into the basement and found the surprise of her life. Faith and Gunn were in a full make out session at the base of the stairs.
"Oh jeez!" Fred said, causing Gunn and Faith to break apart. "I'm sorry to interrupt. It's just the demon woke up and we can get our memories back now."
Gunn and Faith both stood up awkwardly and followed Fred back to the lobby.
Twenty minutes later everyone except Faith had gotten their memories back, and they all stood as they watched Faith take a drink from the new potion. Everyone held their breath as she slowly opened her eyes and looked around. Then she quickly darted down the hall.
Angel followed Faith with Cordelia at his side as Fred went down another hall with Gunn trailing behind her.
"Fred!" Gunn called out.
Fred turned around, tears in her eyes. "I saw you. You kissed her."
Gunn nodded. "I know, but I thought…I didn't know you. I didn't know about us."
"But I was there, you weren't attracted. You kissed Faith!" Fred said, as more tears formed.
"What do you want me to say?" Gunn asked with a bit of anger in his voice. "That I'm sorry for what I would have done if I was in this situation four years ago?"
"Yeah, that's exactly what I want you to say!" Fred spat and made her way quickly down the hall, slamming their bedroom door in Gunn's face.
Angel and Cordelia followed Faith down one of the hallways. Angel forgot how fast a slayer could move when she wanted to.
"Faith!" Angel called out. "Faith wait!"
Faith turned around quickly. "What?"
"You remember?" Cordelia asked.
Faith nodded. "Yeah. I do. I just want to sleep now."
Angel nodded. "Sure of coarse."
Cordelia leaned into Angel and he kissed her forehead as they watched Faith walk down the hall. Little did either of them know what they had actually unleashed into their world. Neither knew the monster that was lurking so close to them now.