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 51Cordelia rolled over in bed to find Angel's spot was empty. She sat up, looking at the clock, and realizing it was already ten o'clock in the morning. Everyone was already down at their office's working. She sighed, struggling to sit up and slowly making her way to the bathroom to get ready for the day.
She slipped on a brown long sleeve shirt and then struggled to pull up her black maternity pants. She looked down at her waistline and sighed.
"You are making Mommy bigger and bigger each day, do you know that?" She asked her unborn child with a smile on her face.
Cordelia then moved to the elevator that led to Jessica's office. She entered Jessica's office to find Jessica laying on the couch, tossing a basketball in the air while Angel, Wesley, and Gunn stood over her, all with angry looks on their faces.
"What's going on in here?" Cordelia asked.
Jess rolled her eyes. "The boys are made that I took care of a client alone last night."
"An evil client." Angel stressed.
"Yeah, not to mention a client who's got money and investments in this company probably longer then Angel's been alive." Gunn added.
"Oh please!" Jess snorted. "He was going to attack the homeless shelter a few blocks over, eat the people, and then turn it into a restaurant. What was I supposed to do? Let him get away with it?"
"There are other ways of handling these things." Wesley told her.
"Plus, what I don't get is that you can kill a client no problem, but when I did awhile back I got bugged and tracked for it." Angel remembered Jimmy.
"Yeah well…" Jess stood. "I'm the boss."
"How could we forget?" Angel mumbled.
"What was that?" Jess turned to her father.
"Nothing." Angel sighed. "We should all probably just get back to work."
Wesley nodded. "Agreed. Just next time any of us decide to take care of a client can we please discuss it first?"
Jess sighed. "Fine. Next time I'll run it passed you guys first."
"See? That's all we ask." Gunn smiled.
"Yeah, yeah, get to work." Jess said, shoeing Gunn and Wesley out of her office. She then turned back to Angel and Cordelia. "Dad, I'm sorry if you're pissed I handled the client on my own…"
"I'm not pissed." Angel told her. "It was just dangerous, and I wish you wouldn't run off and do things without thinking."
"Who said I wasn't thinking? I thought about it before I did it." Jess told her father.
"Right, and that's why you're wearing a long sleeve bloody shirt to cover up that disgusting gash on your arm." Spike grinned widely as he entered Jessica's office.
Jess rolled her eyes, still a little hurt about Spike being ready to run off to Buffy, and then deciding the slayer was too good for him so he returned. Jess wasn't sure what she felt for the blonde vampire, and she didn't have time to sort her feelings out for him. "Spike, get out."
"You have a gash on your arm?" Cordelia asked, worriedly, moving to Jessica and lifting her daughter's sleeve to expose a large wound stretching from her elbow to wrist. "What happened?"
Jess pulled her arm away from her mother, fixing her sleeve. "The client had a knife on him is all. I'm fine." She then turned to Spike. "And how the hell did you know about that anyway? What did you do, stalk me?"
"Someone needs to watch your back, love." Spike told her.
"I don't need anyone watching my back, and I'm not your love!" Jess snapped at the blonde vampire. "Now get out!"
"Fine. Fine." Spike put his hands up in defense before exiting Jessica's office.
"Well, now do you believe me that he's annoying?" Angel asked his daughter.
Jess just gave her father a look before moving to her desk. A minute later her office door swung open and Harmony stood there, a huge smile plastered to her face.
"Cordy! Oh my God! You aren't going to believe this!" Harmony smiled.
"I doubt I will." Cordelia said tiredly, taking a seat on Jessica's couch. This baby was beating her up. She was tired all the time.
"Look who's here!" Harmony grinned, moving aside to allow an older woman with blonde hair and an older man with gray hair to enter. Both were dressed rather lavishly, and had bronzed skin.
Cordelia looked at the older couple and her mouth dropped. "Mom? Dad?"
"Cordelia! Sweetheart!" Mrs. Chase moved around to give her daughter a hug, but stopped short when she saw Cordelia's protruding belly. "My God! Look at you! You're…you're…"
"Pregnant." Cordelia stood slowly, finishing her mother's sentence. "Almost seven months."
"Well, this is a…surprise." Mr. Chase stepped forward.
"Likewise." Cordelia tried her best to smile, but was totally confused about her parents sudden visit. "What are you guys doing here?"
"Well, we'd been traveling around, and we ended up back in California so we decided to come and find you." Mrs. Chase said. "We looked you up, and well, here we are."
There was a moment of awkward silence in the room, and then Cordelia broke it.
"Not to be rude, but it's just…you're both here." Cordelia said to her parents. "And I mean, I haven't heard from you in years."
"We were…sorting ourselves out." Mr. Chase spoke up. "But now everything is better. We've gained everything back."
"The money?" Cordelia was shocked.
Her father nodded. "That's part of the reason we are here actually. We are going to get you out of here."
"Out of here?" Cordelia looked at Angel, and then back at her parents. "What are you talking about?"
"Please, a Chase working in a law firm." Mr. Chase laughed. "Cordelia, you could barely answer the house phone without the help of a maid, I can't imagine you taking calls in a law firm."
"Well, probably because she doesn't take calls." Jessica defended her mother. Jess had only known her grandfather for about ten minutes, and already, she didn't like the guy. "She has her own department here."
"I'm sure she does, squirt." Mr. Chase turned to Jessica. "Don't you belong in school or something?"
"Kind of like you belong in jail or something?" Jess shot back, knowing all to well about her mother's parents.
"You little…" Mr. Chase started.
"Mom, Dad…" Cordelia butted in, standing in front of Jessica. "I'd like you to meet my husband, Angel."
Angel moved forward, shaking both Mr. and Mrs. Chase's hands. Mrs. Chase seemed nice enough, a little phony, but nice. Angel, however, didn't care much for Cordelia's father. "Nice to meet you."
"Wow, Cordelia married." Mrs. Chase smiled at Angel. "And you're rather cute."
If Angel could have, he would have blushed. "Uh, thanks…"
"And this is our daughter." Cordelia moved aside to show her parents Jessica. "Jessica Lynn."
"Your…your daughter?" Mrs. Chase was confused.
Cordelia nodded. "Mine and Angel's."
"Nice to meet you." Jess gave Mr. Chase a look.
"Impossible." Mr. Chase snorted, but did not seem surprised to see Jessica. "She's a teenager. You're not even twenty-five yet, Cordelia."
Cordelia nodded. "Well, you both do remember how weird things went on in Sunnydale, right?"
Both Mr. and Mrs. Chase nodded.
"Well, this could be considered one of those weird things." Cordelia explained. "But she is your granddaughter."
"And on that note, your granddaughter needs to head out." Jess said, checking her watch. "Dad, we have that meeting to get to."
Angel nodded, remembering that he and Jessica were supposed to meet with a clan of demons. "Yeah, we should go. It was nice meeting you both." He waved to Cordelia's parents, and then kissed Cordelia before following Jessica out of her office.
"Well…" Mrs. Chase smiled at her daughter. "It looks like you've done okay for yourself."
"I've managed." Cordelia said, rubbing small circles on her stomach. "Hasn't been easy."
Mrs. Chase nodded. "And here we thought we were going to come in and save you from whatever lifestyle you've acquired since we last spoke. Doesn't look like you need our help."
"Not so much." Cordelia was still a little bitter about her parents leaving her like they did in Sunnydale. Sure, they had their reasons, and she really didn't blame her mother. She did what she had to; she did however, resent her father for it very much.
"Sweetie…" Mrs. Chase started. "We're sorry for what happened, but everything is going to get back on track soon enough. If I'd have known you were pregnant or married to a man with a child I would have…"
"I told you. Jess is my daughter." Cordelia said.
"Honey, it isn't possible." Mrs. Chase told her.
"Trust me. It is." Cordelia gave a half smile.
"You want to try and explain it then?" Mrs. Chase asked.
"Do you have a few hours?" Cordelia asked. "Or did you just stop by to say hi?"
Mrs. Chase looked to her husband who rolled his eyes, and then back at Cordelia. "We have some time, sweetheart."
Cordelia nodded. "Come on upstairs then. I've got a lot to explain."
Mrs. Chase nodded and followed Cordelia to the elevator. Mr. Chase on the other hand, took a long, hard look around the office before following his wife and daughter.
Angel and Jess crouched outside of Jessica's office, watching Mr. and Mrs. Chase follow Cordelia to the elevator.
Jess sighed. "That was weird. They just showed up out of no where."
"Really weird." Angel agreed.
"I don't trust them." Jess told her father.
"I don't trust him." Angel said. "You're grandma seems okay."
Jess nodded. "But grandpa seems suspicious."
"Big time. Let's get to that meeting, and then let the rest of the gang know what's going on." Angel said, standing and straightening out his jacket.
Jess nodded, following her father down the hallway.
Fred, Lorne, Gunn, Wesley, and Spike all trailed into Angel's office to find the vampire sitting at his desk, and Jess leaning against it.
"What's the big emergency that you pulled us all out of our daily routines?" Gunn asked.
"Close the door." Angel told him.
Gunn did as he was told and closed the door.
"What in the bloody hell is going on?" Spike asked.
"Shut up, Spike." Angel told him. "If we didn't think we needed you we wouldn't have even bothered calling you in."
"What is going on?" Fred asked, concerned. "Is everyone okay?"
"Well…" Jess started. "We've had some visitors stop by."
"Who?" Wesley asked.
"Cordelia's parents." Angel told them.
"The princess' parent!" Lorne smiled. "Well she must be happy! I haven't seen them in…well…"
"Never." Angel told them. "You've never met them."
"Didn't they leave Cordelia or something back in Sunnydale?" Gunn asked.
"Before graduation they lost everything. They had a lot of money but something with taxes…" Angel explained. "They left her to fend for herself…" The vampire seemed a little agitated now.
"How's Barbie taking it?" Gunn asked.
"Fine. I guess." Angel told them. "She seemed okay anyway."
"So, what's the damn problem anyway?" Spike asked.
"We don't trust them." Jess said.
"Cordelia's parents?" Fred asked.
"No, just really her dad." Angel explained. "Something doesn't seem right with him, I can't put my finger on it."
"So, what are we supposed to do then?" Wesley asked. "Keep an eye on him?"
"Exactly." Angel said. "Me and Jess are going to go upstairs, and see how they are up there, but I want everyone on alert. Get whatever information you can."
The group nodded as Jessica and Angel made their way out of Angel's office.
"Well, he seems a little overprotective." Lorne said, motioning to where Angel had been.
"Cordelia's his wife, and he was there to see the mess her parents left. He loves her very much, and at the beginning things were hard for Cordelia." Wesley explained. "He probably just doesn't want them to hurt her again."
Cordelia poured her father another cup of coffee before sitting down at the small kitchen table in the penthouse with her parents.
"Well, this place is fabulous, sweetie." Mrs. Chase said, looking around the penthouse. "You've done so well for yourself."
"Well, it was mostly Angel." Cordelia said.
"What the hell kind of name is that anyway?" Mr. Chase snapped. "Angel? Sounds like a girl."
Cordelia just gave a half smile, looking down at her hands. Cordelia took crap from no one, but yet, her father always had a way of making her feel smaller then she was.
"He's a nice man." Mrs. Chase took Cordelia's hand and winked at her as she spoke of Angel. "He's taken good care of you."
Cordelia nodded, not knowing where she would be without Angel.
"So, want to explain the teenage brat downstairs that you claim is your daughter?" Mr. Chase scoffed.
"Sure, daddy." Cordelia gave her best fake smile. "It happened about four years ago. I got pregnant, and had Jess, and well like I said weird things…"
"Don't tell me she grew up in some other dimension?" Mr. Chase said, without any emotion.
Cordelia's mouth dropped. "What…how…"
"She did?" Mr. Chase shook his head.
"How do you even know about that stuff?" Cordelia asked.
"We lived in Sunnydale, I was rich as hell, you honestly can't tell me you never thought I associated with other worldly things." Mr. Chase said, matter-of-factly.
"I…uh…" Cordelia looked down at her huge stomach.
"Angel's a vampire, right sweetie?" Mrs. Chase asked.
Cordelia's head shot up. "What?"
"We know all about him." Mr. Chase told his daughter. "Vampire with a soul, looking for redemption…blah blah…"
Cordelia stood, taking a deep breath. This was all too much for the pregnant seer to take in. "I…"
"The kid's half his too, right? All three of them?" Mr. Chase asked.
"Jess and this one." Cordelia put a hand on her stomach.
"I thought he had three kids…" Mr. Chase said, thinking for a moment. "Never mind."
Just then the door to the penthouse opened and Jessica and Angel came barging into the kitchen.
"Hey." Angel waved to his company, one eye on Mr. Chase, as he wrapped his arm around Cordelia's growing waist. "How's everybody?"
"Fine…" Cordelia smiled at Angel, but he could tell something was bothering her. "Everyone hungry?"
"Starving!" Jess grinned. "Unless you're cooking…" She looked at Cordelia.
Cordelia gave her daughter a smile. "I'm cooking, but you can drink if you prefer."
"Uh…Cordy?" Angel asked, shooting an eye at her parents. Did she forget that Jess just couldn't whip out blood and drink it down with humans around?
"Its fine, Angel." Mrs. Chase stood. "We know all about you being a vampire, and Jess…well…"
"We don't know what I am." Jess stated.
"You know?" Angel asked.
"Evidently my father made deals with demons and such." Cordelia gave Angel a look that let him know she was not happy.
"Well, I'll help you cook, sweetie." Mrs. Chase moved to Cordelia's side.
"Thanks, Mom." Cordelia said.
"I'm going to jump in the shower." Jess told them, moving to her bedroom.
"I should probably go check on everyone downstairs, let them know I'm calling it an early night." Angel said, exiting the kitchen.
"Can I use your phone?" Mr. Chase asked Cordelia.
Cordelia nodded. "There's one in the living room."
Mr. Chase shot a look at Mrs. Chase and then moved out of the kitchen.
Spike sat up on Fred's lab table with Lorne next to him, Fred in a chair, Wesley standing over her, and Gunn leaning against the wall, paperwork in his hand. Angel entered to find the whole AI group, plus Spike.
"Find anything?" Angel asked.
Gunn nodded, holding up a file. "Seems Cordelia's dad has had ties with Wolfram and Hart for about thirty years."
"What?" Angel was shocked.
"He's gotten his hands dirty in almost every part of this law firm." Gunn said, handing Angel Mr. Chase's file.
"What do you think he's doing here now, then?" Fred asked.
Angel shook his head, reading over the file. "I don't know. It looks like he has done everything though. Kidnapping, fraud, robbery…"
"We need to know why he suddenly showed up." Wesley said. "Are you sure Mrs. Chase has nothing to do with this?"
Angel nodded. "Almost positive. She isn't sending off a vibe."
"And you just know people's vibes so well." Spike said.
"Trust me, she isn't involved, and if she is, it isn't by freewill." Angel told the other vampire.
"Maybe we can get him to sing? I could read him." Lorne offered.
"I don't know if Cordelia will go for that." Angel said. "I'd have to talk to her first."
"It's a good plan though, Angel." Wesley said.
Angel nodded. "I'll go talk to Cordy."
Mr. Chase picked up the phone in the penthouse and dialed the familiar number quickly. After a moment a deep, husky, voice picked up on the other end.
"Hello?" The voice asked.
"Lindsey?" Mr. Chase asked.
"Mr. Chase." Lindsey McDonald grinned on the other side of the line. "Are you in the law firm?"
"I am." Mr. Chase said. "And you were right, Cordelia's pregnant, and there is already a daughter."
"And a son." Lindsey said.
"No son." Mr. Chase told him. "Cordelia said it's just the daughter, Jess, and this new baby."
"I know there was another one!" Lindsey snapped. "I floated in and out of dimensions for years after I left L.A., and I know Angel has a son."
"There is no son." Mr. Chase told Lindsey. "Do you still want me to carry out the plan?"
"Yeah." Lindsey sighed into the phone. "Get Cordelia, and Jessica. Angel took my job, my life, my hand, and now I'm going to take the one thing he lives for, his family."
"And the money?" Mr. Chase asked.
"You'll get paid, don't worry about it." Lindsey assured the man. "Just get Cordelia and Jess."
Mr. Chase nodded, and hung up the phone, making his way back into the kitchen where he found Cordelia and her mother cooking and Jess sitting at the kitchen table, watching them. The young girl had changed out of her professional wear, and now looked more like a teenager, sitting there in a black tank top and jeans.
"Did you find the phone, daddy?" Cordelia asked.
Mr. Chase nodded, but said nothing. Jessica was the one who noticed the small knife in his hand, but she didn't react quickly enough. She had lost her touch since they had taken over Wolfram and Hart.
In a moments notice, Mr. Chase held the knife to Cordelia's throat, pulling her to the door.
"Mom!" Jess stood, game face on.
"Don't move a muscle." Mr. Chase said, and then looked over at Mrs. Chase who had a sad look in her eyes. "Do it." He told his wife.
"I can't." Mrs. Chase said.
"Do it or I'll kill Cordelia!" Mr. Chase barked.
Mrs. Chase sighed weakly, rummaging in her pocket for something.
"Mom…" Cordelia said, almost in tears, looking at her mother.
"I'm sorry, sweetie." Mrs. Chase could not even bring herself to look at Cordelia as she drove the tranquilizer into Jessica's back.
"Jess!" Cordelia yelled as she watched her daughter collapse to the floor.
"Now listen, sweetheart." Mr. Chase mocked into Cordelia's ear. "If you or your children want to live you do exactly what I say, hear me?"
Cordelia nodded in her father's grasp.
"Good. Now move it down to the garage and don't make it look like I'm forcing you, understand?" Mr. Chase said, throwing Cordelia at her mother and picking up Jessica's limp body.
"Where are we going?" Cordelia asked her mother, trying her hardest not to cry.
"I'm sorry sweetie, I really am." Mrs. Chase told her daughter.
Angel got to his penthouse two seconds too late, but he could already tell something was wrong. He could still smell Cordelia's fear in the room, mixed in with the smell of salt; the smell of tears. And he saw the cap to the tranquilizer that was used on Jessica. He knew Mr. Chase had something to do with whatever happened to Jessica and Cordelia.
Angel quickly threw on his black leather coat, making his way down to the offices below. If the rest of the gang wanted to help him, fine, if not, too bad. He was going to save is family. No more playing by the rules of Wolfram and Hart. No more waiting around to see Mr. Chase's next move. Mr. Chase had taken his family for a reason and Angel didn't care what it was, he just wanted them back. He was done working with evil, and negotiating with it.
The champion was back, and ready to fight the good fight all the way without any reservation.