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 41After two days of searching and calling people, Wesley and Jessica entered the lobby to find Fred, Lilah and Lorne on one couch and Angel with his hand wrapped around Cordelia's waist on the other.
"Where's Faith?" Wesley asked.
"She went to help Connor and Gunn with the cage." Fred told him.
Wesley nodded, looking down at a piece of paper in his hand. "Well, I couldn't actually get anyone to come here to the hotel to take Angelus out of Angel, because, I guess, of permanent darkness, but I did manage to get the spell I need."
"You're going to do this?" Angel asked, reluctant.
"Oh dad, relax." Jess said, throwing a clear, glass jar up in the air and catching it.
"Don't throw that Jess." Wesley said about the jar. "You'll break it."
"What is it?" Cordelia asked.
"What we are going to hold Jessica's soul in." Wesley told her. "I did the ritual over that so it will work, now all we need is that cage done and we can start this."
Just then Gunn, Connor, and Faith entered from the basement.
"Cage is all done." Gunn told them, his eyes falling on Fred. Since the apocalypse had started they had barely talked and it was tearing him up inside.
"Good." Wesley said, moving to the basement. "Let's go."
Everyone filed in behind Wesley and made their way into the basement, except Cordelia who grab Jessica to hang back for a moment.
"Jess, you don't have to do this." Cordelia told her daughter.
Jess nodded. "Yes, I do. If Angelus can help us then we need to get him here."
"We could find another way." Cordelia said. "There's always another way."
Jess shook her head. "Mom, I'm supposed to have a little brother or sister in a few months, do you really want them born into a world run by the Beast? This could be the only way to secure their safety. Give them a normal childhood, like me and Connor never had."
Cordelia sighed, running a hand over her stomach. The hump of the baby inside of her was starting to form now, but only she could really notice it. "Okay." She said, kissing her daughter on the head.
Jess nodded and led her mom down into the basement.
The cage was rather big; it would give Angelus more then enough room to get comfortable, especially since he was going to be in Jessica's body. She was less then half of Angel's size, although she packed a mighty punch.
Jessica entered the cage, feeling the bars. "You're sure this thing is secure?"
Connor nodded. "It'll hold you."
"I'm not worried about it holding me, I'm worried about it holding Angelus." Jess said.
"It will be fine." Gunn assured her.
Jess nodded. "Okay, then I guess this is it. Lock me in."
Angel went to lock the door of the cage, but Cordelia slide in it before he could.
"Jess, are you sure?" Cordelia moved a stray strand of hair from her daughter's face. "You can still back out of this."
Angel nodded from behind Cordelia. "Yeah, you can."
Jess just smiled at her parents, and pulled her mother in for a hug. "I'll be fine."
Cordelia nodded, and exited the cage so Angel could lock it.
"Just do me a favor." Jess said. "If Angelus breaks out promise me you'll kill him."
"Jess…" Cordelia began.
"Promise me." Jess said.
No one looked at each other. No one was ready to promise Jessica that.
After a beat, Angel looked his daughter in the eye. "How do we kill you?"
"To kill both the human and vampire in me you need to put a stake and a bullet through my heart." Jess said.
"It will kill every part of her." Connor added, not looking up.
Angel nodded. "I promise I will."
"Thanks." Jessica smiled her sly grin at her father, and then turned to Wesley. "Alright, let's get this show on the road."
Wesley nodded, placing the jar that Jessica's soul was going to go into on the table, and taking the piece of paper with the spell on it out of his pocket. He looked up at Jessica. "Last chance, you're sure about this?"
"Bring on the big bag vampire." Jess grinned, trying to hide her nervousness.
Wesley began reciting the spell, and Cordelia gripped Angel's hand tightly as they watched Jessica fall to her knees. Faith stood next to a horrified Connor, but seemed to be enjoying the show. Gunn stood next to Wesley as Jessica's soul came flying from her body, and Fred and Lilah stood at the bottom of the stairs next to Lorne who winced as Jessica collapsed to the floor.
Jessica slowly stood, brushing herself off. But it wasn't Jessica, and everyone in the room could see it when her eyes met their own. Those were the eyes of a monster. They were the eyes of Angelus.
"Well." Angelus smirked, looking down at the body he was in. "Can't say I love the choice you made on what body I would go into, I mean, I am a guy and all." He looked down his black tank top to check out Jessica's chest. "But these are pretty nice." He looked back up at Angel. "She definitely takes after her mother in the boob department."
"Pervert." Angel stepped forward.
"Me?" Angelus snickered. "You're the one who let me take over your daughter's body." Angelus leaned onto the bars. "Who's the pervert now?"
"Shut up." Wesley said, as he picked Jessica's soul up. "We brought you back for a reason, if you do not cooperate we will simply put Jessica back in her body."
Angelus laughed, pointing at the white fluffy thing floating around the jar in Wesley's hand. "That's the kid's soul?" Angelus squeezed the fists of Jessica's body, feeling the strength and power each hand held. "I would think it would be a lot bigger. This kid is powerful. Way more power in her then soul boy over there."
Angel looked up. "Good to know." He turned to the rest of the group. "Why don't we all get upstairs?"
"Yeah, why don't you?" Angelus smirked again. "Wouldn't want to leave the little mother-to-be down here with the bad guy, would you?" Angelus' eyes fell on Cordelia.
"Leave her out of this." Angel said.
"It's fine." Cordelia assured her husband, taking a step forward. "Listen up, you're lucky you're even here. If it was up to me Jess would have never even been given a choice in allowing you to take over her body."
"Oh please, I know." Angelus' tapped on his head, well Jessica's head. "All in here, I know everything Jessica does and did. I heard the little speech you gave her before coming down here."
"Let's get the soul somewhere safe." Angel said, ignoring Angelus.
Wesley nodded as he led the group back up the stairs.
"Get me some blood while you're up there too." Angelus hollered after them.
Wesley locked Jessica's soul in the safe, and turned to the group, all sitting around the lobby extremely quiet.
"That just felt so wrong." Cordelia said, starring out at nothing. "It was Jessica's voice, Jessica's body…but…"
"It wasn't Jess." Connor finished his mother's thought, clearly as distraught as she was.
Angel wrapped an arm around Cordelia. "We should get what we can out of him…or her…what would we call it?"
Cordelia slapped him in the arm. "That 'it' is our daughter!"
"But it's Angelus." Angel said. "Just in her body. So is it a he or a her?"
"That is a good question." Gunn said.
"Is that really important right now?" Cordelia asked, resting a hand on her stomach.
"No." Angel comforted her. "We should just focus on getting information out of him."
"Okay, maybe it's just me, but I'm wondering, did we actually think this through all the way?" Fred looked up. "What if Angelus doesn't want to tell us anything?"
"Then we put Jess back, right?" Connor asked, sitting next to Faith.
"Right." Angel stood. "I'll go talk to Angelus right now. See what we can get from him."
"I'll come." Wesley said.
Angel nodded. "Everyone else, try and get some sleep. Cordy, show Lilah where she can stay."
Cordelia nodded and led Lilah up the stairs as everyone else went to their bedrooms for the night, or day, no one knew. It was still dark out all the time and the group had been under so much stress lately that no one knew what time or what day it was anymore.
Connor took his shoes off and climbed into bed next to Faith. No one in the house had even noticed the two were sleeping together. Not like it was a big deal, right now things that were way more important then Connor's sex life were going on.
Connor lay awake for a while, thinking about what had happened. Phony-Faith could tell he was still up, so she rolled over to face him.
"What's wrong?" She asked Connor.
"What happened down there, with Jess and Angelus…" Connor sighed.
"You're worried it might not work?" Faith asked
Connor nodded. "What if we can't Jessica's soul back in there?"
"We'll deal with it when we have too." Faith then kissed him. "Try and get some sleep."
Angel and Wesley entered the basement to see Jessica's body sitting in the corner of the cage. It was weird for Angel to know that, yes that was his daughter's frame sitting there, but no, she wasn't in there. Angelus was.
Angelus sprung up. "So the boys came back for a visit…"
"We want answers." Wesley said, as he and Angel pulled two chairs up to the cage.
"And I want a drink." Angelus squinted. "It's the least you could do for me."
Just then the basement door swung open and Cordelia entered, carrying a glass of blood.
"Cordy, go back upstairs." Angel told her.
"No Cordy." Angelus mimicked Angel. "Stay."
"I am." Cordelia said, sliding the glass of blood on the floor in the direction of the cage, then taking a seat on Angel's lap. "I couldn't sleep."
Angel looked at her, but knew he wasn't going to win any argument he started with her so he just let her stay. "We want answers, Angelus. You're going to give them to us."
Angelus smirked. "Why would I do that?"
"Because I will put Jess back if you don't and we will have no more information then we did when we started. Angel's soul is permanent. This will be the last time you ever see this world, do you understand?" Wesley asked.
"Once I tell you, you'll put me back anyway." Angelus said.
"Or maybe I'll just release you into some other vampire. Let you walk away from this." Wesley said.
"You'd be a fool to." Angelus chuckled.
"You help us, we help you." Wesley said.
Angelus thought about it for a moment. "You're lying."
Angel looked to Wesley and then Angelus. "No he's not. Tell us what we need to know, and you're as good as free."
"You can't promise me that. I know you. All of you. You'd go back on your word in a second." Angelus said.
Cordelia stood, looking Angelus in the eye. "You've been in Angel's body long enough to know when I look at him and tell the truth. You give us what we need to know and we will let you go. Look at me, and now try and even tell me that I'm lying."
Angelus knew she wasn't lying. He saw it in her eyes. He remembered every time she told Angel something she wanted him desperately to believe her eyes got as big as silver coins, and they were even bigger as she spoke to him now. "Fine. I'll talk."
Cordelia seemed satisfied as she sat back down on Angel's lap.
"Alright." Wesley said. "We want everything you know on the Beast."
Angelus shook his head with a smirk. "The big rock? I never liked him much."
"But you knew him?" Wesley asked.
Angelus nodded. "I did, back in the day. He was big on destroying everything in his sight. Wanted me to join him."
"And?" Cordelia questioned.
Angelus rolled his eyes. "I like to work alone. Even if I was looking for a partner, he wasn't the sharpest rock in the ground. All that muscle, but still nothing but marbles in the head."
"So he's not that smart?" Angel asked.
"Not smart enough to pull off all the crap you people think he is." Angelus smirked.
"So what are you saying?" Cordelia was sick of all the riddles Angelus was throwing at them. She wanted the answers and she wanted them now.
Angelus shrugged with a sinister grin on his face. "I don't know…"
"You think the Beast is working for someone?" Wesley stood.
Angelus pointed at Wesley. "Bingo! We have a winner!"
"Impossible. If there was something worse then the Beast we would know about it." Cordelia folded her arms over the small bump in her stomach. "The Powers wouldn't leave me in the dark about this."
"Are you sure about that?" Angelus asked.
Everyone entered the lobby extremely tired. Those who had gone to bed had gotten two hours of sleep at the most and were rather annoyed when Wesley, Cordelia, and Angel woke them up.
"What's going on?" Lorne asked, rubbing his eyes.
"Angelus thinks the Beast is working for someone." Wesley said.
"Why would he think that?" Fred questioned.
"Because he said the Beast was dumb before, and that there's no way he could pull all this permanent darkness and stuff off." Cordelia said, leaning into Angel.
"Makes sense." Lilah said.
"Only if the Beast-master is you." Gunn shot at her.
"If it was me why would I bring you the books with the info on him, you moron?" Lilah narrowed her eyes at Gunn.
"I don't know." Gunn stood up taller. "Maybe because you're crazy?"
"Hey…guys come on." Connor tried to butt in but Gunn just lightly pushed Connor aside, so the boy knew to stay out of his way.
"Alright, Charles, that's enough." Fred put a hand on his chest to calm him down. It was the first time she had touched him in weeks.
"This is exactly what Angelus wants us to do. He wants us to fight with each other, so don't let him win." Cordelia said, also trying to calm Gunn down.
"Doesn't matter what Angelus wants, because he is gone. We got what we needed from him so lets get Jess back." Angel turned to Wesley.
Wesley nodded and opened the safe, after a minute, he turned to face the group, complete shock on his face.
"What?" Cordelia asked.
"Jessica's soul…" Wesley moved out of the way so the group could see the empty safe. "It's gone."
Angel looked around at everyone in the room trying to see who would have broken in to take his daughter's soul. His eyes immediately fell on Lilah, but then he noticed something. Someone was missing. "Where's Faith?"
Faith stood in an abandoned warehouse with Jessica's soul in her hand, and the Beast at her right side.
"Well, I guess all of this wasn't a total waste." Phony-Faith said. "I mean, Angelus is now on the loose, kind of, and no one can put Jessica back in there because I have it." Faith held up the jar containing Jessica's soul.
"So then your plan has worked." The Beast bowed at Faith.
"Kind of. We need to free Angelus. That's where you come in."
"Would you like me to do it now?"
"Yeah, go get him, kill anyone who gets in your way."
The Beast nodded and exited the warehouse, leaving Phony-Faith to smirk at the soul in the jar.
Connor punched the wall of the lobby. "This doesn't make sense. Faith would never have taken Jessica's soul!"
"Connor…" Angel started.
"She wouldn't have! I know her." Connor said.
"So do I." Cordelia said from her spot on the couch. "I could see her doing this."
"Yea. Girl's definitely not stable." Gunn said.
"Yes she is!" Connor growled.
"Connor, we understand you're hurt. She betrayed you, she betrayed us all, but no one else could have taken the soul." Wesley said. "It had to be Faith."
"Or maybe someone else did take it and Faith went to find them." Connor tried to reason.
"Connor…" Angel started again.
But Connor was already at the front door. "Faith didn't take Jessica's soul, and I'm going to find her and prove that to you."
"Connor, wait!" Cordelia tried, but her son was already out the door.
"Let him go, Princess. He's hurting." Lorne said.
"We have more pressing matters anyway." Wesley said. "Like Angelus."
"What are we going to do with him?" Fred asked.
Lilah stood from her spot at on the couch. "I don't know, but whatever it is, it better be quick."
"Why?" Angel asked, following Lilah's stare to the front door.
"Because of that!" Lilah pointed as the Beast knocked down the door.
Angel immediately ran to the weapon cabinet. "Get the girls back."
Wesley and Gunn pulled Cordelia, Fred, and Lilah behind the counter. Then the two men sprinted behind Angel, grabbing weapons as well.
"Angelus no longer dwells in you, does he?" The Beast asked Angel.
"Okay rock boy, how did you know that?" Angel asked.
"A source more powerful then you." The Beast hissed before ripping the sword out of Angel's hand and forcing it back through the vampire's gut. Angel doubled over in pain, as the Beast knocked both Wesley and Gunn into the walls like dolls. He then took a huge stride toward the basement and made his way down the stairs.
"Everyone, get out." Angel said, pulling the sword from his stomach. "We have to get out of here now. Before…"
"Before what? He lets me out?" Angelus stood in Jessica's body at the door to the basement, the Beast behind him. "Little late, don't you think?"
Angel immediately charged at the body of his daughter, but Angelus was much faster then he was, especially in Jessica's body.
Angelus quickly picked Cordelia up, grabbing her by the throat. "Come on now, Angel. You love this woman, I know you do. Come save her."
"Angel, don't move." Wesley cautioned. "You go near Angelus he'll kill her, and you."
Angelus sighed. "Yeah, you're probably right, Wes. But hey, what if I just, oh I don't know…stab her?" Angelus then pulled a knife out of Jessica's pocket and slid it through Cordelia's leg.
Cordelia collapsed onto the floor, screaming in pain as Angelus grabbed all the information Lilah had brought off the counter.
Angelus then turned to the Beast. "Thanks for letting me out, rock head, but this just isn't going to work out." Angelus then gave the Beast a good kick to the face before jumping up onto the balcony and out the window.
The Beast looked around at the rest of Angel Investigations. He had caused enough damage here, and he had failed in releasing Angelus the way is master wanted him too. He had to find his master and explain it all, so he quickly left the lobby, knocking Angel down again, just for fun, on the way out.
Angel gathered himself up and rushed to Cordelia's side. He pulled the knife out her leg, and then pulled her body close to his. "Cordy, you're going to be alright, okay?" He kissed her head.
"Angel, it hurts." Cordelia winced in pain, looking at the blood spilling from her leg.
Angel nodded. "I know, but we are going to fix it. You're going to be alright."
Fred was at Angel's side with the med kit as fast as she could be. "We have to patch her up."
"Stitches?" Cordelia winced again. The last time she had stitches was when her had the rebar go through her stomach. Suddenly her eyes grew wide and her hands flew to her stomach. "The baby!"
"Is fine." Angel assured her. "We just need to stop the bleeding. He stretched her wounded leg out and she cried out in pain. Gunn and Wesley were at her side, holding her hands, and Lorne helped prop her head up.
Fred examined the wound. "Looks like stitches."
Angel's eyes darted from each person, frantically. "Stitches? I can't stitch, can anyone stitch?"
Cordelia cried out in pain again, causing Angel to swallow hard.
"Move." Lilah pushed Angel out of the way. "I've done this before." She quickly picked up anything from the med kit she could use to close Cordelia's wound.
"I'll kill Angelus for this." Angel's eyes held no emotion when he said these words. Right now, he wasn't worried about the Beast or its master, or the sun being gone, or Jessica's soul missing, or even the fact that Angelus was in Jessica's body. Right now, all Angel cared about was his wife, and unborn child, and how Angelus had almost killed them both.