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 40

Gunn, and Wesley entered the hotel followed by Angel who was carrying Jessica. All four of them were bruised and battered, when Fred and Cordelia rushed in from the office to see who had entered the hotel.

"You're back!" Cordelia was relieved, and then her eyes fell on her daughter. "Oh God, what happened to her?"

"Wes shot her. Three times I think." Angel placed Jessica gently on the couch.

"What?" Cordelia was confused as she turned to Wesley.

"No on purpose." Wesley said.

"She lost a lot of blood, we need to get these bullets out of her and some blood in her." Angel told his wife.

Cordelia nodded, moving to grab the first aid kit.

"I'll go grab some blood." Fred said.

Cordelia immediately began removing the bullets from Jessica's wounds. All thoughts of her being pregnant left her mind, right now the only thing she was worried about as saving her daughter. Not like she could even explain how she was pregnant. The only person she had been with was Angel, and vampires can't have children. She laughed at herself for even thinking that. Vampires can't, but Angel seems to be able to. Two children later, it was a safe bet he was different then any other vampire.

"Here." Fred handed a pint of blood to Angel. "Will that be enough?"

"I don't know." Angel said, moving to Cordelia's side, and propping Jessica's head up, so he could make her drink.

At first, Jess wouldn't take any of the blood, then she slowly began taking sips.

"That's it, Jess." Angel told his daughter.

Jessica's eyes slowly opened and she sat up, with Cordelia's help. "What happened?"

"Wes shot you." Gunn said, sitting at the counter with ice on his head, next to Wesley and Fred.

"Not purposely." Wesley repeated what he had said earlier.

"What happened out there?" Fred asked. "Where's Faith and Connor?"

"Not sure." Angel said, noticing the rain of fire had stopped. "They're probably okay. We should hit the books. Cordy, stay out here with Jess?"

Jess tried to stand, wincing in pain. "I'm fine."

"You took three bullets. You're not fine." Angel said.

"I am." Jess tried to stand again.

"Jess, just relax." Cordelia said, making her daughter lye down again. "If they need you they can walk out of the office, it's only a few feet."

"Yeah." Angel said, leading the group into the office.

Faith and Connor awoke wrapped up in each other. Connor smiled, kissing Faith's shoulder gently.

"We survived." Connor said, noticing the sun was out. "Everything looks okay out there."

Faith nodded, kissing Connor. "We should probably head back to the hotel, so no one starts to worry about us." She then stood and put her shirt on.

Connor agreed as he began sliding his pants back on.

Lorne entered the hotel later that morning. He looked like he had a rough night; his tie didn't even match his suit. He smiled when he saw Cordelia sitting next to the couch Jess was stretched out on.

"Well, its good to see everyone's alive." Lorne looked at a wounded Jessica. "Or just barely."

"I'm fine." Jessica told the demon. "Just a few bullets."

"You're a strong one, kiddo." Lorne told her, and then he looked at Cordelia. "How are you, princess?"

Cordelia nodded. "Okay." But she wasn't. She had almost lost her family the night before, her daughter was sitting here shot, and she was supposed to bring another life that she couldn't even explain into the world that seemed to be in ruins right now. She wasn't okay.

"Did you read anything off anyone?" Jess asked Lorne.

Lorne shrugged. "A little. Once the fire came my clients took off. Where is Angel? I want to tell him what I did get before I forget."

"Office." Cordelia told him.

Angel, Fred, Wesley, and Gunn were hunched over books when Lorne entered the office.

"What's going on in here?" Lorne asked.

"Nothing." Fred sighed. "Some big hell beast rose last night, and the books have nothing on it."

"It might as well not even exist." Wesley threw the book he had been reading on the floor.

"Did you get anything?" Angel asked Lorne.

Lorne nodded. "A little, but trust me, I don't think you want to hear it."

"I don't think we have a choice." Angel told him.

Lorne nodded. "All I got gather was that this thing is big and bad, and it wants us all dead."

"We knew that." Gunn sighed.

"No one knows much about this thing." Lorne said. "I'm lucky I could even get that."

Wesley nodded. "The books don't have it, the other demons don't know it…"

"This is going to be a mess." Angel sighed.

Just then the office door swung open and Connor and Faith entered. Both looked relatively good, considering how the world had almost ended the night before.

"Cor said you guys were in here." Faith told them.

"Did you guys get anything, last night?" Gunn asked.

Connor shook his head. "Nothing. Once that fire started coming, we went for shelter."

"Well, at least your safe." Angel told his son.

"Yeah, now all we need to do is find that Beast." Gunn said.

Cordelia sat next to Jessica, running her hand over the cuts on her daughters face like she used to do when Jess was a baby. Without realizing it, her other hand rested on her stomach. Suddenly she began to float off the couch. Another vision.

Jess woke up as Angel and the rest of the gang in the office entered the lobby just in time to catch Cordelia as she fell to the ground.

"Cordy, what did you see?" Angel asked.

"The Beast…he's a monster." Cordelia's eyes searched the few who had encountered the Beast the night before.

"Yeah he is." Jessica sat up.

"He's going to destroy Wolfram and Hart." Cordelia told them.

"Don't really see a problem there." Gunn said.

"Why would he go after them?" Connor asked. "Wouldn't they be on the same side?"

"Competition." Faith said quickly, and then backtracked when she saw the looks the group gave her. "I mean, why not? Right? They would be…um…competition?"

"We need to get over there." Jessica looked up at Angel. "We can't let him destroy that place."

"Why?" Fred asked. "They don't help us…ever."

"The Beast doesn't look like competition would bother him." Jess stood slowly. "The only reason he would eliminate them is if they had something on him."

"What?" Faith asked, her eyes wide. "No. I think we should just let him destroy-"

"Of course!" Wesley smiled at Jessica. "Wolfram and Hart has books and prophecies and connections in all different dimensions, not just this one."

"Exactly." Jess said. "Which means, if they do have anything on how to destroy this Beast he would want to get rid of it fast."

Angel patted Jessica on the back. "You're a smart kid."

"Oh, I know." Jessica gave a sly grin as she picked up a sword.

"Wait, you're not coming." Angel took the sword from his daughter.

"Yeah I am." Jess grabbed the sword back.

"You're hurt." Angel tried to reach for the sword again.

"I heal fast." Jess pulled the sword out of her father's reach. "Now, let's move."

"Fine." Angel said. "Faith and Connor, you guys come with me and Jess. Everyone else hang here. I'm sure a lot of people are going to be calling in after last night."

Gunn nodded. "Will do."

Angel, Connor, Faith, and Jessica entered Wolfram and Hart to find bodies piled everywhere they turned. They were too late.

"Looks like the Beast beat us here." Jess said.

Angel nodded. "We should look for survivors. These are still people, evil or not."

"Yeah." Faith said. "I'll go this left, Connor, you go that right."

"Me and Jess will go upstairs." Angel said.

Faith nodded. "Sounds good."

The group then dispersed into different directions.

Jessica knew where her father was going even before they made it half way up the stairs. "Why are you going to her office? She tried to kill me and Connor, remember?"

Angel nodded. "I know. I also know that if anyone in this whole place would have something on the Beast in their office it would be Lilah."

"Fine." Jess said as she pushed open the door to Lilah's office.

To both Jessica and Angel's surprise, Lilah sat slumped over her desk, breathing, but bleeding. Jessica and Angel could smell the blood.

"Lilah?" Angel asked.

Lilah looked up, giving a half smile. "And I thought Batman and Robin weren't going to show."

"Better late then never, right?" Jessica smirked.

"What happened to you, Lilah?" Angel asked.

Lilah stood to expose the wound on her stomach. "The Beast got a nice jab at me."

"Why didn't he kill you?" Jess asked.

"Because I didn't give him enough time to. I took off after he got a shot at me, and he seemed too preoccupied with the rest of the employees to actually chase me." Lilah said.

Angel nodded. "Yeah, I know. I saw Gavin's body outside."

"Gavin…" Lilah nodded.

"So, do you have anything on this hell beast?" Jess asked.

Lilah held up a book and some papers.

"Good." Angel said. "We need to get you out of here."

Faith stood at the end of the hallway as the Beast approached her. The Beast bowed at Faith who had her arms crossed.

"Well, this plan was a waste of my time!" Faith shot at the Beast.

"I'm sorry, master." The Beast said. "I could not find anything that you were looking for in here."

"Well, let's just hope the rest of Angel Investigations doesn't find anything either." Faith said to the beast. But it wasn't Faith. It had never been Faith. The last time Faith, the real Faith, had walked the earth was the night of her ascension.

Connor and phony-Faith entered the hotel followed by Angel and Jessica who had Lilah propped up between them. Everyone was in the lobby and stood as the group returned

"What the hell is evil bitch lawyer doing here?" Gunn asked.

"She's hurt." Angel said.

"And she's got info on the beast." Jess added.

Lilah tossed the book with the papers stuffed in it to Wesley. "I got this stuff from another dimension. Everything that was destroyed in this dimension about the Beast is in that book."

"I'll get on it." Wesley said. "Fred, can you help?"

Fred nodded. "Sure." She followed Wesley into the office.

"Someone should be patrolling." Connor said. "At least around the hotel. Incase the Beast shows up."

Angel nodded. "You, Gunn, and Faith go."

Connor and Gunn nodded, but Faith seemed reluctant to leave the lobby, or rather the books Lilah had brought. Finally, she did as she was told and followed Connor and Gunn outside.

"I'll go get some bandages." Cordelia said, examining Lilah's wound. "They're upstairs."

Angel nodded, as he helped Lilah to the couch. Jess took the opportunity to follow Cordelia upstairs.

Cordelia stood in the closet for a while, deciding what size bandages she should use on Lilah. She was so wrapped up in looking, that she didn't hear Jessica approach from behind her.

"Mom?" Jess asked.

Cordelia jumped, holding her heart and turning to face her daughter. "You scared me."

"Sorry." Jess said. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

"What?" Cordelia asked.

"You need to tell dad." Jess said.

"Tell dad what?" Cordelia questioned.

"About the baby."

"What baby?"

"The baby inside of you." Jess said, resting a hand on her mother's stomach.

Cordelia's eyes searched her daughter's face, as tears formed in them eyes, and she placed her hand over her daughters that rested on her belly. "How did you know?"

"I heard it." Jessica told her. "This morning, while you were patching me up. I heard two heartbeats coming from you. Dad might not be listening hard enough right now, but it's only a matter of time before he hears it too."

Cordelia began to cry softly. "I can't tell him."

"Why?"

"Because, I don't even know how this baby got here, and the world right now, everything going on, its just not a good time." Cordelia cried.

Jessica hugged her mother. "You need to tell him. It'll be okay."

Cordelia nodded, after a moment, and made her way back down the stairs and into the lobby to see Angel holding his hand to Lilah's wound, trying to stop the bleeding.

"Did you get the bandage?" Angel asked.

"Here." Jess tossed it to him, and watched as her father placed it on the evil lawyer.

"Angel?" Cordelia asked, her body shaking.

"What?" Angel looked up again, realizing Cordelia looked upset. "What is it?"

Jess placed a hand on her mother's back, reassuring her.

"Angel, the doctor called back." Cordelia told him.

Whatever color Angel had in his face to begin with, drained. "And?" He was worried.

"I'm pregnant." Cordelia said, flatly.

"You're what?" Lorne asked from his seat across from Lilah.

"Exactly." Angel crossed his arms.

Cordelia shrugged. "I'm pregnant."

"Whose is it?" Angel asked as his temper began to rise.

"Yours!" Cordelia said angrily. "Whose would it be?"

Angel shrugged. "I'm a vampire, so explain that one."

"Um, hello?" Jess threw her arms out. "I'm here, and Connor!"

"Your births were both mystical." Angel said.

"So is this one." Lorne told them, placing a hand on Cordelia's stomach. The demon smiled. "I'm getting some serious mojo coming from this kid. This baby is a gift from the Powers, Angel."

"A gift?" Cordelia was relieved.

Lorne nodded. "A baby created out of your love." He smiled at Cordelia and then Angel. "A gift for all the good you two have done."

Angel smiled, kissing Cordelia three times. "I'm sorry I said…a baby! Another baby!"

Cordelia kissed him back once more. "You're okay with this?"

"Okay with it?" Angel smiled. "Of coarse I am! A baby, Cordy, our baby!"

"Well that's peachy." Lilah said from the couch. "But can we get back to the apocalypse?"

Just then, Cordelia's eyes went white and she had another vision. When it was over, she staggered back from Angel. Everyone in the office had seen Cordelia have the vision, so they all came into the lobby, and Faith, Gunn, and Connor entered from outside as well, after hearing all the commotion in the lobby.

"What happened?" Wesley asked.

"Cordy and I are having a baby!" Angel beamed.

No one was surprised by Angel's word, anything was possible.

"I mean, the vision." Wesley said.

Cordelia took another step back from Angel. "It was of you. You and the Beast."

"Me and the Beast?" Angel asked.

Cordelia nodded. "In a field." She took another step backwards. "You knew him."

"Cordy, I didn't-" Angel took a step forward, but was cut off by Jessica.

"Don't move." Jess said to her father. "You come near her and I'll stake you so fast-"

"I didn't know him." Angel told them.

"Visions don't lie." Faith said quickly, trying to hid a smirk. Angelus was a big part of phony-Faith's plan.

"I didn't." Angel argued. "I never met that thing."

"Not you." Cordelia said, stepping forward. "The vision was of Angelus and the Beast."

"So Angelus knew him, but you didn't?" Fred asked.

"I would remember." Angel said.

Wesley shook his head. "No. Not if your memories of the Beast were erased, just like the books."

"Well then what did that vision do for us?" Connor asked.

"We need Angelus." Faith said, trying to hid a smile. "He's the only one who knows."

"What?" Angel's eyes grew wide. "No."

"She's right, Angel." Wesley said. "If your memories of the Beast were erased that means Angelus' weren't because he was dormant in you when the erase happened."

"No, we are not getting him here. Not now." Angel said.

Just then, the sun disappeared from the sky.

"What was that?" Fred asked, looking out the window, into darkness.

"Oh, that's right." Lilah snapped her fingers. "The Beast wanted to pull off a permanent midnight deal. I kind of forgot to mention it."

"Yeah you did." Jess folded her arms at the lawyer.

"We need Angelus." Wesley looked at Angel.

"He would just cause damage." Angel argued, wrapping an arm around Cordelia's abdomen, and then it occurred to him. "Plus, my soul is secure, you can't just take it out anymore."

"He's right." Cordelia said.

"He's wrong." Wesley said. "We can extract Angelus, still. All we would need to do is find another body that does not have a secure soul, and place Angelus in it."

"Yeah, and where would we find one of them?" Gunn asked.

"I could do it." Jess offered, as she watched all heads turn to her for an explanation. "I'm just as much Angelus' daughter as I am Angel's which means-"

"You're soul isn't secure." Wesley concluded.

Jess nodded in agreement. "Right. I mean, I don't go all evil every time I jump in the sack, but yeah, my soul isn't secure."

"What sack-" Angel started, squinting his eyes at his daughter, but he was cut of by Wesley.

"Then it will work." Wesley said. "I just need to find someone who could actually remove Angelus. I'll get on that. Gunn and Connor, we will need a cage downstairs to hold Angelus."

Gunn and Connor nodded, moving to the basement.

"Wait!" Angel said, turning to Jessica. "I am not going to let you do this."

"We don't have a choice." Jessica told her father. "Angelus might be our only hope in defeating this thing."

"It's dangerous, Jess." Cordelia agreed with Angel.

"So? I'm a champion right?" Jess asked. "Sometimes we have to do things that are dangerous or that we don't like." She then gave her mother a quick hug. "I'll be fine."

Angel and Cordelia both sighed as they watched Jessica follow Wesley into the office.