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 46

Jessica, Cordelia, Angel, Lorne, Gunn, Wesley, and Fred all piled in the Wolfram and Hart elevator. None of them said anything to one another; it had been the same way in the limo ride over. Everyone was still numb from the whole thing with evil-Faith.

The doors of the elevator opened and Angel Investigations entered a huge, beautiful, well-light building. Everything was new and shiny, and expensive, and there were a lot of people in expensive suits and dresses walking around. Jessica was the first one to see Lilah leaning up against a cart with a grin on her face and papers in her hands.

"Lilah…" Jess said making her way over to the dead lawyer, but two men in suits cut her off. Both men smiled at her and waved 'Good morning, Miss Angel' at her. Jessica just starred at them, confused.

"That's what you get for being the boss of this place." Lilah smirked, seeing Jessica's lost look.

"Me?" Jessica pointed to herself.

"I told you, back at the hotel, you signed the papers, you're the boss." Lilah explained again.

"Yeah, but I can't run a business, I can barely do my own laundry." Jess said.

"Which is why Angel is going to be the vice-president of this company." Lilah said.

"I am?" Angel was skeptical.

"You are." Lilah told him, as three men and three women filed out of an office behind Lilah and took their places next to the dead lawyer. "And Eve here." Lilah pointed to one of the woman. "She's going to show you your office, Angel."

"But I…" Angel looked to Cordelia who shrugged.

"Come on, big guy." Eve said, taking Angel's hand and leading him away from the group.

Cordelia's eyes followed Eve and Angel until they made a turn into a room. Eve was about the same age as Cordelia, and rather pretty, plus dressed rather nicely. Cordelia didn't trust the woman for one minute.

"And Lorne, you'll be going with Preston here, he's head of our entertainment division." Lilah explained, pointing to a young man in a nice suit.

"You have an entertainment division?" Lorne was shocked.

"We do." Preston handed Lorne a bunch of files. "And these are your clients."

Lorne's face turned a pale shade of green as he flipped through the papers. "Wow, everyone I've ever dreamed of meeting is in these files…" He smiled up at the rest of Angel Investigations as Preston led him in the opposite direction from where Angel had gone.

Next, Lilah's attention turned to Wesley. "Wes, this is Rutherford Sirk. He'll bring you over to your department, prophecies and what not."

Rutherford stepped forward. He was an older man, much taller then Wesley. "This way Mr. Pryce." He said in a very British accent.

Wesley nodded, following his guide.

Lilah then turned to Gunn. "And for you, Charles is Lacey Shepard." Lilah stepped aside to reveal a beautiful, young, woman in a very short skirt.

"Wow…" Was all Gunn managed out, causing Fred to roll her eyes. Things between him and Fred were pretty much over, though neither one of them would be the first to say it.

"Come on, Charles." Lacey said, taking Gunn's hand.

Just then a young man in a lab coat stepped out from behind Lilah, sticking his hand out to Fred and smiling awkwardly. "I'm sorry, I know Miss Morgan was supposed to introduce me but I'm just such a fan of yours."

"Me?" Fred blushed.

The young man nodded. "I've read a lot of your articles. You're amazing."

"Fred, meet Knox." Lilah said, pointing to the man who was talking to Fred. "He'll show you your science division."

"My science divison?" Fred's eyes grew wide in shock. "I have a lab?"

"A divison of them." Knox said, giddily. "Come on, I'll show you."

Fred smiled, taking Knox's extended hand.

"And now I'm left with the two women who make Angel's heart go thump-thump…metaphorically anyway." Lilah grinned at Cordelia and Jessica.

"What a surprise." Jessica said, dryly.

"Well, pretty soon it will just be me and you, Batgirl." Lilah smirked at Jessica.

"Oh joy." Jessica folded her arms.

"Cordelia…" Lilah started.

"There's nothing here for me." Cordelia said quickly, rubbing her four and a half-month pregnant stomach.

"I wouldn't be too sure of that." Lilah grinned. "We set up a whole department for you with the visions. Easy access to any demon you might see, quickest routes to save the helpless, anything connected to the visions is in your wing. It will help you respond more quickly and efficiently."

"We do fine on our own." Cordelia said.

"Well, we can't forget about the baby…" Lilah said, smiling down at Cordelia's growing stomach. "We killed the last doctor who helped you delivery Jess, and not to mention, you have no idea the abilities of this child inside of you."

"It will be the same as Jess, same DNA." Cordelia argued.

Lilah shook her head. "You're a half-demon now, new DNA for you. Don't you want the best care for you and the baby?"

Cordelia was taken back for a moment, she had forgotten all about her new demon-half. This baby would be much different from Jessica.

"We have the resources here to help you and the baby and keep you both healthy, plus make those visions so much easier to deal with." Lilah said, allowing a woman about Cordelia's age step out.

"I'm Lisa Dorlin." The woman extended her hand to Cordelia. She was a little taller then Cordelia, blonde, tan, and a lot skinner then Cordelia could ever imagine being again. Cordelia wasn't even sure she was that thin in high school. "I'll be showing you both the vision wing and our hospital wing."

Cordelia sighed, rubbing her swollen stomach and following Lisa without another word.

"So now it's just me and you, boss. Come on, let me show your new office." Lilah said, leading Jessica out of the lobby.

Eve led Angel into a rather large office with a big desk right in the middle of it. Behind the desk was a weapons display cabinet and in the corner of the room was two couches. The shades were drawn up, letting the light from outside pour into the room.

"Come on in." Eve grinned at the vampire.

"I can't." Angel pointed to the shades. "Unless you want me to catch on fire."

"Oh right." Eve smiled at the glass. "Except this is special glass, you can stand in the sunlight all you want, trust me."

"Wow, now why do I feel like you're the last person on earth I want to trust?" Angel folded his arms.

"Please, would the Senior Partners really drag you all the way here to set you into a bonfire?"

Angel sighed, stepping into the sunlight. A smile broke across his face as he felt the warm sun on his face. Eve was right, the glass allowed Angel to stand there for as long as he wanted without any smoke rising from him. The smile slowly left Angel's face however and he sighed.

"Worried about Connor?" Eve smiled.

"How do you know who Connor is?" Angel asked.

"Please, I know everything about you, it's my job." Eve sat down on the couch. "You're worried you won't be able to save him. That Faith's death pushed him over the edge."

Angel sighed. "I don't know."

"I'm sure Jess will figure out a way to save the day." Eve said, picking up an envelope and amulet off the couch and handing it to Angel. "Plus, you've got more important things to handle right now."

"What's this?" Angel asked, taking the envelope from Eve. He saw that on the front of the envelope SUNNYDALE was written in big letters.

Eve shrugged. "Not sure, just know I'm supposed to give it to you."

Angel nodded, taking the amulet from Eve's grasp and sitting down at his desk as if it was something he did everyday.

Lorne followed Preston around his office. It was everything the green demon could have wanted. It was painted a bright red color and had beautiful artwork everywhere, not to mention millions of pictures of all his clients. Lorne was in heaven, which was ironic, seeing as how he was standing in the office of Wolfram and Hart.

"This is amazing." Lorne smiled.

"I figured you would like it." Preston told him.

"It's a dream come true." Lorne said. "I can't believe I get to work with all these amazing people."

"Well believe it." Preston said to the demon. "This is your department."

Gunn followed Lacey down a hallway. He would admit, for being evil, she was definitely good looking.

"So where are you taking me?" Gunn asked. "Lilah didn't tell me what department I'd be heading…not that I could do a lot of help in a place like this."

"Now why would you say that?" Lacey asked, as they stepped into an elevator.

Gunn looked around, taking note of his surroundings and the people in them. He did not fit here; he did not graduate from law school or look good in a suit. He had lived on the street and killed demons and vampire for a living. This wasn't him. "Because I don't belong here. Sure, Fred can fit in, she's smart, and Wes with the books and Jess and Angel and Cordy being champions. Hell, even Lorne has his own department."

"And you don't think you have anything to offer?" Lacey asked.

"Not here, not unless you need a head of security or something…" Gunn caught himself. "Is that what I'm going to be?"

"Well, not saying we couldn't use you there, but no, the Senior Partner's have bigger plans for you." Lacey explained as the elevator door opened to a completely white room.

"What is this place?" Gunn asked.

"The White room." Lacey smiled, pushing Gunn out the doors of the elevator.

Before he could get another word in, the elevator and Lacey seemed to vanish, leaving Gunn in the white abyss all alone.

"Well, this couldn't get any worse…" Gunn said to himself, and then realized he had spoken too soon as a large, black, panther approached him. "I take that back…" Gunn then slowly moved away from the cat, only realizing there really was nowhere for him to go.

Suddenly, the panther stopped at Gunn's feet, and looked up at him. Gunn saw it in the cat's eyes; he saw everything he would need to know to work in Wolfram and Hart. Gunn smiled, gently petting the panther on the head.

Jessica followed Lilah into a huge office. There was a large desk in the middle of the room, with a huge chair behind it, and two across from it. Also, there was a wall of windows looking out into the lobby of building, and in one corner of the room a large flat-screen TV and two couches, plus a weapons cabinet, displaying every weapon Jessica could have dreamed of. Off the side of the office was another room with a long table, which looked like a meeting room, and behind the desk were large elevator doors.

"So this is my office?" Jessica asked.

"This is it." Lilah told her. "The Senior Partner's set it up just for you."

"Wow, you know, I'd almost like them, if they weren't evil and all." Jessica folded her arms.

Lilah ignored the comment and instead, pointed to the elevator doors behind Jessica's desk. "That's your own personal elevator, leads up to your penthouse. Well, you're going to have to share it with your parents and siblings but…"

"My what?" Jessica tried to not sound excited.

"I'll show you." Lilah said, leading Jessica to the elevator.

Jessica's penthouse was gorgeous. It had an amazing view of the city, three bedrooms, one for her, her parents and either Connor or the new baby, Jess wasn't sure, a huge bathroom, a small kitchen and a nice living room well equipped with a hi-def TV and Jessica own personal pinball machine. Off of the living room was even a personal workout room for Jessica.

"You like?" Lilah asked.

Jess nodded. "It's pretty sweet."

"Yeah, why don't you check out the TV?" Lilah asked, turning it on.

A news channel came on, and Jessica was in shock at its top story. It was about how a young man held up a local coffee shop and had everyone at gunpoint. The news then showed the shocking footage of the young boy, and it was Connor. Jessica stood there, frozen for a moment.

"He looks familiar to me…" Lilah said slyly, pointing to Connor on the video.

"I need to stop him. I need to save him." Jess said quickly.

"Little late for that…he's on the edge."

"Which is why I need to save him..." Jessica voice trailed off.

"You know you can't." Lilah told her. "But there is one way."

"What do you mean?" Jess asked.

"Connor can't be brought back from the point he's at. You can still save him though."

"How?"

"By giving him a new life. A different life. Something we can give him here with our resources at Wolfram and Hart, boss." Lilah grinned at Jessica.

Wesley followed Rutherford Sirk into a regular size office, with wooden bookshelves on all of the walls, except one that held a window overlooking a side street of L.A. traffic below.

"This is your entire collect of prophecies?" Wesley was not at all impressed.

"It is." Sirk told him. "But it is not what it seems. Look for anything you desire, say it to one of the books and it will appear to you."

Wesley nodded, picking up a book and whispering "Shanshu" to it. In a moment, the entire Shanshu prophecy filled the pages of the book.

"Wow." Wesley was now impressed.

"So you'll be enjoying your stay here then?" Sirk asked.

"We could do a lot of good here." Wesley said, still taking in his new office.

Fred followed Knox into a huge laboratory with many people in white lab coats running around.

"This is amazing…" Fred said giddily, taking the lab in.

"And it's all yours." Knox smiled at her.

"Mine?" Fred's eyes grew wide; she had never seen a lab this big before in all her years as a physicist.

"You run the show down here." Knox said. "And I can't wait to work with you."

Fred smiled back at Knox, and then put on a lab coat, getting ready to see her lab and all of its workers.

Cordelia sighed; rubbing her showing belly and following Lisa down a hallway. They had been walking for a while, and Cordelia's feet where starting to hurt a little. Finally, Lisa stopped in front of a two doors, one on each side.

"This one is your office." Lisa said, opening the door on the left to reveal a room with a chair, desk, and some bookshelves. "On the shelves are books of anything in your visions. Once you have the vision just hold a book and the information will appear. Not rocket science."

Cordelia nodded. "I can tell."

"And this room on your right." Lisa opened the other door to reveal a long white hallway, with a front desk and nurses on one side. "This is our hospital wing. It caters to everyone working here, but the last room on the left has been set up specifically for you and the baby."

Cordelia nodded again, still unsure about the whole situation.

"Do you want to see it?" Lisa asked.

Cordelia shook her head. "It's okay, I believe you."

"You don't think it is right for you to be here?" Lisa asked, reading Cordelia's mind.

"It doesn't matter what I think." Cordelia sighed, rubbing her stomach. "This is the way things are."

Angel had left for Sunnydale the moment after he finished reading the file. He had wanted to tell Jess or Cordelia he was going to help Buffy but he couldn't find either one of them, and by the file case alone, he didn't think he had time to look for them. He needed to get to Buffy.

He had found Buffy in a tomb with a huge red axe in her hand, and something dead on the floor.

"Well, I'm glad you can handle yourself without me around." Angel smiled, leaning against the side of the tomb.

Buffy turned to see the vampire, a smile breaking across her own face. "Angel, what are you doing here?"

Angel held up the file and amulet. "I heard you could use some help."

"What's that?" Buffy asked, pointing to the amulet and file.

"My source of information." Angel shrugged. "I wasn't sure if I could believe it…"

"What's it say?"

"Apocalypse is on its way in Sunnydale."

Buffy nodded. "You can believe it. What's the necklace thingy for?"

Angel sighed. "It's some kind of cleansing power thing. I'm not sure on the specifics but whoever wears it is supposed to be ensouled, and stronger then a human."

"Then I wear it." Buffy said.

Angel shook his head. "I do. It's too powerful and I don't know enough about it to risk you wearing it."

"So it's okay for you to die saving the world, but I can't?" Buffy asked, folding her arms.

"No, you can't." Angel told her.

"Angel, I can't let you do this. You have your whole life ahead of you."

"Buffy, I've been around over 250 years, my life is pretty much lived."

"You know what I meant." Buffy said. "You have your soul now, and Cordy and a family, and the new baby is on the way, I'm not going to let you throw that all away to help me fight my battle here."

"You can't worry about any of that." Angel said, swallowing hard on his own words. He did not want to leave his family behind by any means, but he had to think of the big picture, he had to help Buffy save the world to ensure his families safety.

"Yeah, and then when you're a big pile of ashes and Cordelia comes looking for you, guess what she's going to do? Beat the crap out of me! And with those new demon powers of hers, I think it'd be a good fight." Buffy said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Buffy…"

"What?" The blonde slayer threw her arms out. "You need to go back to LA, to keep her safe."

"Jess can take care of her." Angel said, his heart breaking as the words escaped his lips.

"Jess?"

Angel nodded. "She's back, Willow's spell worked. Faith was the evil one."

"Not a shocker there…" Buffy mumbled.

"Well, it wasn't Faith, something took her over…long story."

"I'll bet." Buffy sighed. "Still…" She grabbed the amulet from Angel. "I'm not going to let you do this."

"Buffy…"

"Angel, no."

"Who else would wear it?"

"I have an idea who…"

It was then that the familiar scent filled Angel's nostrils. How had he not picked up on it before? He knew that smell so well. "Spike?" He asked.

"What?" Buffy looked bewildered.

"I can smell him on you." Angel said. "Spike…evil Spike."

"He's not evil anymore." Buffy said.

"What do you mean he isn't evil anymore?" Angel scoffed.

"He has a soul."

"What?"

"He got his soul back."

Angel snorted. "What a copy-cat."

"What?"

"I had mine first."

"Are you serious?"

"I did."

"I'm not even having this conversation with you." Buffy said, blowing past Angel and up into the cemetery.

Angel caught up with her in a minute. "Are you and him together?"

Buffy grinned. "Would it kill you if I said yes?"

"No, but I would be seriously disturbed."

Buffy laughed. "Angel, go back to LA, go back to your family. Me, Spike, and the rest of the gang will handle this one."

Angel let out a sigh or relief, knowing that all he really wanted to do was get back to Cordelia, back to his family. "You're sure?"

"Well, if the first makes it to L.A. you'll know I was wrong."

Angel smiled, giving Buffy a hug. "Be careful."

"I always am." The Slayer smiled as she watched Angel walk away from her the same way he had so many times before.

Jessica entered the coffee shop Connor was in through the sewers, the front door was blocked by police cars and spectators as well as news crews and she knew she would never be able to get in that way so she didn't even bother.

The coffee shop was filled with scared people of all ages. Jess found Connor sitting in the corner waving the gun he had in his hand at anything that moved. He seemed so lost, so broken. Her heart was breaking for her brother, and knowing what she had to do if she could not convince him that this was not the way.

"Connor…" Jess said softly.

Connor looked up at his sister, tears in his eyes. "You!" He growled, standing quickly.

"Connor, you need to listen to me." Jessica said as calmly as she could.

Connor shook his head. "Why? Why should I listen to you?"

"Because you shouldn't be here, you shouldn't be in this situation, you're better then this Connor."

"I know." Connor said bitterly. "This is all you're fault, you took her away from me!"

"Faith was a lie, Connor." Jess said, as she heard whimpers from the hostages Connor had taken.

Connor nodded with a sad smile on his face. "I know. I could see through her lies. I just wanted to believe them, I wanted to believe some part of my life was real."

"Connor, you're life is real…" Jess started.

Connor shook his head quickly. "No, its just lies! Holtz told me lie after lie, Angel told me lie after lie, Faith told me lie after lie. I knew it was all lies, but the one person I didn't expect to lie to me was you, Jess."

"I never-"

"Don't say it. Don't say you haven't lied to me because that would be the biggest lie of all! You told me everything would work out, everything would be all right! Well it's not alright, is it?" Connor was angry. "Answer me, damn it!"

"No, Connor, it's not alright. The world can be a screwed up place, but look what you're doing!" Jess pointed around at all the people Connor had taken hostage, then at the gun in Connor's hand. "You think you're making it any better of a place to live in by doing this?"

Connor looked down at the gun in his hand. "It doesn't matter. Nothing matters." He raised the gun and pointed it at Jessica. "Nothing except death."

Jess laughed nervously. "That won't kill me. You know it won't."

"But if I miss and hit someone else, I bet it will kill them."

At this words Jessica did the only thing she could think of. There was no way to save Connor, she realized that now. Her brother was lost to her. She jumped at Connor, knocking the gun out of his hand and pinning him to the floor. "Everyone get out!" She yelled to the hostages and watched them all scramble out the door.

"What are you going to do?" Connor asked, chocking under his sister's grip. "Turn me into the police? Get me locked up for the rest of my life?"

Jessica leaned down, kissing her brother on his forehead as tears threatened to escape her eyes. "I love you, Connor. I want you to know that." She then fumbled in her pocket, pulling out a small knife and making one swift motion to Connor's neck, closing her eyes as she swung.

Jessica stumbled back into Wolfram and Hart about the same time as everyone else was getting back from their tours. She found the rest of AI standing around with Lilah in the middle of them.

"Jess, didn't think you'd be back so soon." Lilah smiled, knowing all too well what Jessica had just done.

Jessica just gave her a glare, causing Lilah to turn her attention to the rest of the group.

"So what did everyone think?" The dead lawyer asked.

"Actually, I've got no problem with this place." Gunn said.

Wesley sighed. "Yes, unfortanitly, we can probably use this place. We can do a lot of good here."

"Yeah, I'm loving my department." Lorne added with a smile.

"Then it's settled, we're staying?" Angel asked.

"Sounds like it." Fred said.

"What? No! Wait a minute!" Cordelia busted in. "Lilah, can you excuse us for a second?"

Lilah nodded taking a step away from the group.

"What is it?" Angel asked, wrapping an arm around Cordelia's enlarging waist.

"Um, I don't know where you all went, and what they did to you, but a few hours ago we walked in here like we were digging our own graves. Has everyone forgotten what this company is, what it stands for?" Cordelia asked.

Angel sighed. He knew what Cordelia meant, and he agreed with her on some level, but so far the new Wolfram and Hart had done nothing to trick them. They had given him real information about Sunnydale and the amulet that would possibly save Buffy's life. "Cordy, there's a lot of good here we can do. There are so many resources and materials…"

"Are you listening to yourself?" Cordelia asked.

"He's right." Gunn said. "Trust me."

Cordelia sighed, looking at her daughter, hoping she would agree with her mother. "Jess?"

Jess looked down at the floor. She had signed the contract with Lilah, so she was bounded to Wolfram and Hart anyway, but now she definitely couldn't get out of it. She had allowed the Senior Partners to alter time as well as reality, to save Connor. If she tried to walk away now her brother would die. "I'm staying."

Cordelia huffed, clearly defeated. "Fine. I guess we all are."

"Good." Lilah said, having overheard their entire conversation. "Then I suggest you all go get set up in your offices. Our workers will go over to the hotel and gather you're belongings."

"One quick thing." Jess said to Lilah. "Connor, I need to see him."

Lilah shrugged. "You're the boss. A limo will be around in fifteen minutes to pick you up and take you to him."

Jess nodded, walking away from the group.

Angel scrunched up his noise, confused. "Who's Connor?"

"Who knows." Cordelia said, still upset that they were actually taking Wolfram and Hart over. "Maybe it's one of her new demon friends from the company."

"Or maybe a boyfriend." Gunn joked.

"Jess will have no boyfriends under my roof." Angel said quickly.

"In case you forgot, Angelcakes, you're under her roof now. She's the boss of this place." Lorne reminded him.

Wesley laughed. "Oh boy. Working here will be interesting to say the least."