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 52Angel entered Fred's lab in a hurry to find everyone still in there.
"Where's the fire?" Lorne joked.
"Cordelia and Jess are gone." Angel told them.
"What?" Fred asked.
"Mr. Chase…I don't know what he did but I went back up there and Cordelia and Jess and the Chase's were gone." Angel said.
"And you're sure her father had something to do with this?" Wesley asked.
Angel nodded. "I could smell Cordy's fear and tears in the room. Plus…" He held up the cap to the tranquilizer. "I'm pretty sure someone shoved this into Jessica."
"So we need to find them, and save them." Spike stated the obvious. "Do you know where they went?"
"Their scent led to the garage, but I can't even be sure." Angel said.
"Surveillance cameras!" Fred squealed. "They're all over this place, I'm sure one of them picked something up."
"Brilliant, Fred." Wesley smiled at the girl.
"Good." Angel told them. "Pull up those tapes, Lorne I want you to get Harmony and you two work the phones, anyone who calls, maybe a trace or something."
"Got you, boss." Lorne patted Angel on the back before making his way upstairs.
"Fred and Wes, analyze the tapes." Angel ordered. It felt good to be in charge again. Although he loved his daughter dearly, he was getting sick of taking orders from Jessica.
"Will do." Fred moved with Wesley behind her out of the lab.
"Gunn, Spike, get the weapons ready." Angel said.
"Weapons?" Gunn asked.
"We're going after them once we find where they took Cordy and Jess." Angel told them.
"We can't just barge in." Gunn said. "Maybe we can cut a deal."
"No deals!" Angel barked. "Not with my family on the line. We do things the old fashion way."
"Which means blood and guts all over." Spike grinned, ready to fight.
"Exactly." Angel told the other vampire.
Gunn shook his head. "There are other ways we can handle this…"
"No, Gunn, there aren't!" Angel snapped. "You don't want to help that is just fine, but I'm going to save my family so either come and help or stay here and don't. I don't care anymore."
Gunn shook his head. "I want to help, but I might be able to do it better from here."
"Bloody how?" Spike asked.
"I have connections, contacts…" Gunn reminded them.
Angel nodded. "Get on the phone with them. See if they know anything about Mr. Chase or why he took Cordelia and Jessica."
Gunn nodded. "Will do."
Jess woke up with a grunt, feeling bruised and beaten. She looked around to find herself in a rather nice apartment, small, with no windows. She tried to stand; when she realized her hands were chained to a wall. She pulled on the chains with all her strength, but it was no use, they were not budging.
"Don't bother. They don't move." Cordelia's voice came out horse.
Jess looked over to see her mother a few feet away from her, slumped on the floor, her hands chained as well. "Mom, are you okay?"
Cordelia let out a soft cry, looking down at her huge stomach. "I'm not dead yet if that's what you mean."
"Where are we?" Jess looked around again. "And what the hell happened?"
Cordelia shook her head. "I'm not exactly sure. You're grandpa threw us in here though."
"And you didn't even try to fight back?" Jess was appalled.
"Oh gee, Jessica! Great plan! The seven-month pregnant woman will fight the man with a knife to her throat. God, why didn't I think of that?" Cordelia snapped.
"Sorry…" Jess realized how stupid she had just sounded. "I just…DAMN IT!" She yanked hard on the chains, but still they wouldn't budge. "What the hell is going on in here?"
"Oh stop the screaming and yelling." The voice that was all too familiar to Cordelia filled the room.
"Lindsey?" Cordelia's eyes shot up to see the ex-lawyer standing in front of her with a grin on his face.
"Cordelia. Good to see you again." Lindsey said. "It seems like its been forever."
"I thought you left L.A." Cordelia shot back.
"I did. I got bored though, decided to come back and pay Angel a visit." Lindsey smiled, and then turned to Jessica. "Didn't know the baby would be such a knock-out by the time I got back here."
"Who the hell are you?" Jess shot at Lindsey.
"Lindsey McDonald. I used to work for Wolfram and Hart." Lindsey told her. "I knew you when you were a little baby, I saved your life once."
"In return for Darla's." Cordelia reminded Lindsey.
"And now Darla's dead." Lindsey smiled at Cordelia. "And I still don't like Angel. I mean, lets face it; that vampire has taken so much from me. My job, my hand, my girl, my life…"
"Get over it." Cordelia told him.
"I don't think so." Lindsey said. "I want to get even. Take back from the big bad vampire. Starting with his little family. I mean, granted I'm a little upset, I heard Angel had a son too, but what can I do."
Panic ran across Jessica's face. How did Lindsey know about Connor? Was everyone getting their memories back?
"Well, no son." Cordelia said, looking down at her belly. "Unless this one is a boy."
"Well, to bad you will probably never find out." Lindsey smirked. "You're father did me a favor, Cordelia, brought you all in for me to deal with. Now, I'm going to pay the man, and then be back. Don't move." Lindsey laughed, and then exited.
"Not like we could, jackass!" Jess yelled at the door Lindsey had shut, and then slumped back down, clearly defeated.
"Jess, there's nothing we can do. We just have to sit tight and…" Cordelia started.
"And what? Wait for them to kill us?" Jess asked. "Because that's exactly what's going to happen."
"Your father…"
"Dad won't know where to find us. If anything he could track us out of the building, but other then that there is no way." Jess shook her head.
Cordelia felt the tears rising in her eyes. What Jessica had just said made sense, how could Angel find them? She looked down as she felt the baby inside of her kick, and then she looked back up at Jessica to see her daughter with her arms hanging from the wall, anger plastered on her face.
Angel paced his office angrily as Spike sat in a chair watching him.
"Would you knock it off already? You're making me sick to my stomach with all that pacing." Spike said.
Angel glared at Spike, but said nothing, just continued pacing.
"Okay, I get it. You're stressed." Spike stood. "But everyone is doing the best they can."
"We need to do better." Angel sighed. "I mean how long does it take to go over some tapes?"
Just then Fred and Wesley came busting in the door.
"Not long." Wesley said.
"You were right, they went down to the garage." Fred said, handing Angel a piece of paper. "Here's the license plate of the car that took Jess and Cordelia."
"How did Jess and Cordy look? On the tapes?" Angel was worried.
"Cordelia looked scared, Jess…she was unconscious." Wesley told him.
"We need to move fast." Angel said. "Does anyone know if Lorne got any calls?"
As if on cue, Lorne, Gunn, and Harmony entered.
"No calls yet." Lorne said. "But me and Harmony are going to stay by the lines. If we hear anything we will let you know."
"Yup." Harmony told Angel. "I'm all about saving Cordelia."
"Good." Angel said, and then turned to Gunn. "What about you?"
"Nothing." Gunn sighed. "Pretty much anyone who was tied to Mr. Chase is either dead or no longer talking to him."
"What about Eve? Does she know anything?" Angel asked.
Gunn shrugged. "Haven't seen her all day."
"So now what?" Spike asked. "We've got the license plate but we don't have a clue where to go from there."
Angel suddenly vamped out, knocking all of his paperwork right off his desk. "Damn it! When I find whoever has done this I swear I'll kill them!"
Lindsey entered a small room off of the one that Cordelia and Jessica were being held in to find Mr. and Mrs. Chase sitting at a table. Mr. Chase had his arms folded, but Mrs. Chase looked a mess.
"So, where is the money?" Mr. Chase asked. "I brought you the vampire's offspring, I want my money."
"You'll get your damn money, just relax." Lindsey told the older man.
"This is wrong." Mrs. Chase shook her head. "That's my daughter and granddaughter in there, this wrong."
"This is life!" Mr. Chase snapped at his wife. "We needed the money and this is how things had to go." Mr. Chase stood. "Now where is my money?"
"Right here, grumpy." Eve entered with a bag in her hand. "Took me awhile to collect it all, but it should be there."
Mr. Chase took the bag from Eve. "Nice doing business with you." He then swiftly made his way out of the room, followed by his wife.
"So everything is going according to plan?" Lindsey asked, kissing Eve.
Eve nodded. "No one over at the law firm knows what happened to Cordelia or Jessica. Even if they could link it here, which they can't, it will be too late."
Lindsey nodded. "Angel's going to pay for everything he's ever done to me."
Jessica pulled on her chains again, still they wouldn't move. She sighed in defeat, as she felt the heat in the room kick on.
"You'll just wear yourself out." Cordelia said, her voice lacking emotion that had been there only a few hours ago. "Don't bother. These chains won't break."
"So, we just give up? Is that it?" Jess asked. "Let them kill us? You're going to let them kill us?"
Cordelia turned to face her daughter, her own face tearstained. "My own family kidnapped us, and Lindsey is about to take my family from me." Her eyes fell to her protruding stomach. "I can scream and cry, but it won't matter."
"We're getting out of here." Jess told her mother. "I won't let you or the new baby die like this. Hell, I'm selfish, I won't let me die like this."
Cordelia let out a soft cry. "I'm trying to be strong here, Jess, I am, but I just don't know if I can be anymore. I'm just so tired of having to be strong all the time."
Jessica's heart broke for her mother and the young girl didn't know what to say to comfort the pregnant woman, so she said nothing, she just slumped back against the wall.
Mrs. Chase sat next to her husband in their car as it silently made it's way to a stop at a red light. Neither had said anything since they had left the apartment with Cordelia and Jessica locked inside.
Mrs. Chase had taken a lot from her husband over the years. She had never gone against anything he had done or said, it had just been easier, but for some reason, she felt the need to speak up this time. This time things felt horribly wrong.
"We shouldn't have left them there like that." Mrs. Chase said. "Cordelia's pregnant and we left her there to die."
"So?" Mr. Chase looked at his wife. "Is that my problem?"
"She's your daughter."
"She's a disgrace. Married to a vampire…" Mr. Chase snorted. "Please."
"He treats her good."
"He's not even human."
"Sometimes I wonder if you are." And with that Mrs. Chase got out of the car before the light turned green. She looked up at the street sign, and knew she had to run a few blocks east before she would make it to her destination.
Angel pulled every weapon out of the cabinet he had, scaring the rest of the group who stood behind him, watching the vampire with unsure eyes.
"Angel…" Fred said softly.
"No!" Angel snapped. "I'm not going to sit around here and wait. I'm going to find my family even if it takes all night. Someone in this damn city knows where they are and I'll find them and get them to tell me!" He held up a long sword.
"You're not thinking rationally…" Wesley tried.
"Don't care, Wes." Angel said, tossing Spike an axe. "You ready?"
"Bloody hell I am." Spike grinned, he had been dieing for a fight all day.
"Let's move." Angel said.
"Angel, this makes no sense, you won't find them like this and you know it." Gunn tried.
"Gunn, they're my family. I have to do this." Angel turned back to the door and suddenly ran into an older blonde woman that he recognized. "Mrs. Chase?" There was confusion and rage in the dark haired vampire's voice.
"Angel, you need to listen to me." Mrs. Chase motioned Angel back into his office.
"Where is Cordelia and Jess?" Angel asked the woman.
"Not safe. Mr. Chase kidnapped them, he forced me to help." Mrs. Chase had tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry."
"Where are they?" Angel asked, placing his hands on the older woman's shoulders to steady her.
"An apartment. Here." Mrs. Chase handed Angel the address.
"What are they doing there?" Angel asked.
"Some man wanted them dead, I don't know. He paid my husband a lot of money to kidnap them and bring them there." Mrs. Chase said.
"Are they okay?" Angel panicked, images of Cordelia and Jessica running through his head.
"They're alive." Mrs. Chase told him. "But you need to hurry."
Angel nodded. "Spike, come on. Fred, calm Mrs. Chase down."
Fred nodded, helping Mrs. Chase take a seat while Angel and Spike made their way down to the garage.
Lindsey entered back into the room to find Cordelia and Jessica still slumped up against the wall. The room was hot, and Cordelia look tired and swore. The seer was breathing heavily, and seemed to be on the verge of consciousness. Jessica on the other hand sat there, anger on her face.
"It's like two hundred degrees in here, can we cut the heat?" Jess asked, sweat pouring from her forehead. "Maybe a drink or two?"
"Why would I do that?" Lindsey chuckled.
Jessica looked over to her pregnant mother, seeing that the heat in the room and the stress from all that was happening could not be good for Cordelia. "She needs a drink or something."
Lindsey looked over at Cordelia and nodded. "That she does. She looks like hell."
"Shut up." Cordelia managed out.
"Well, she is coherent enough to be rude, so I'm not really thinking she need a drink." Lindsey turned back to Jess. "What do you think?"
"I think that when I get out of here, I'm going to kick your ass." Jess grinned.
"I doubt it." Lindsey said. "You aren't going to live through this."
"Well, then my dad will kick your ass." Jess said.
"I doubt that one too, kid." Lindsey grinned back.
"Really? Because I don't." Angel's voice filled the room, causing Lindsey to turn and see the dark haired vampire enter the room, followed by Spike. "Long time no see, Lindsey." Angel said, giving Lindsey a good right hook across the face. "How are you doing?"
Lindsey staggered up, wiping the blood from his nose. "How did you…how…"
"Did we what? Find you, cowboy?" Spike asked.
"Had a little help from my in-laws." Angel grinned picking Lindsey up by the collar and throwing him against the wall. "Well, really just my mother-in-law but hell, can't say I totally hate family."
"Uh…Spike? Little help her?" Jess asked the blonde vampire.
Spike chuckled, seeing Jessica chained to the wall. "Say please…"
"Spike…" Jessica glared at him. "I'll stake you I swear it!"
"Now that's not the way to get my help." Spike grinned.
"Spike!" Angel barked, as he threw some more punches at Lindsey who was now on the floor. "Get Jess and Cordelia out of those chains, damn it!"
"Fine…fine." Spike said, cutting Jessica's chains with one swift thrust of the axe.
Jess scrambled to her feet, rushing to her mother's side. "Mom? Mom? You okay?"
Cordelia's eyes opened weakly. "I'm okay."
"She's not okay." Jess told Spike who quickly undid Cordelia's chains. "Dad! Mom's not okay!"
For the first time since he had entered the room Angel took a long hard look at Cordelia, and realized his pregnant wife was, in fact, not okay. Angel took another look back at Lindsey. "I'm going to kill you for this, I just don't have time right now." He then quickly moved and gently picked up Cordelia.
"Right…" Lindsey said, chuckling to himself as he wiped the blood from his mouth. "I'm sure you will."
"He will." Jess said, giving Lindsey a good punch to the gut and causing the ex-lawyer to double over again.
Angel sat next to Cordelia's hospital bed, holding her hand between his own. He cursed himself for what had happened to her, and he swore he would never let anything like that happen to his family again. He had let things get out of hand. They should have never come to Wolfram and Hart and he was realizing that now.
He sighed, leaning back and watching Cordelia sleep. The doctor said that everything was fine with both Cordelia and the baby, just stress, shock and a little dehydration.
Angel rested his hand on Cordelia's large belly, feeling the baby inside kick. A small smile fell across the vampire's face as he felt his child's strength. He then listened carefully and heard both Cordelia's and the baby's heartbeats, as strong as they always had been.
"Hey…" Cordelia's voice came out weakly and broke the silence of the room.
Angel's eyes shot up to meet Cordelia's hazel ones. Her famous smile was slowly making its way across her face.
"Hey…" Angel said back.
"Is everything okay?" Cordelia asked, concern filling her voice suddenly as her eyes fell to the hump of her stomach.
Angel nodded. "Everything's fine. The doctor said you and the baby are fine."
"And Jess?"
"Bruised up a little, but she's okay." Angel assured her.
"And Lindsey?" Cordelia asked, her eyes narrowing as she said the ex-lawyers name.
The smile faded from Angel's face. "He's dead, I haven't found him yet, but he's dead when I do find him. Like hell is he going to get away with what he did to you and Jess."
"What about my parents?"
"Your mom's outside." Angel told her. "She wanted to see you. Your dad…I don't know."
Cordelia nodded slowly.
"Do you want to see your mom?"
Cordelia locked eyes with Angel. "Let her come in."
Angel nodded, kissing Cordelia and then her belly before making his way out into the hall to get Mrs. Chase.
Spike entered Jessica's office to find the young woman leaning against the couch, looking out at the city below.
"Jess?" Spike asked.
Jess shook her head, turning to the vampire. "I should have known."
"Known what?"
"I saw the knife in his hand." Jess said. "I saw it and I knew he was going to go after my mom with it, and I just…I didn't stop him. I didn't react quickly enough."
"That's not your fault."
"It is…" Jess told him. "I should have protected her."
"But you can't save everyone all the time. Your father found you…"
"If he hadn't come when he did me and my mom would have died." Jess sighed. "It's just this place…I just don't think I can take it anymore."
"So then leave." Spike told her. "It's that simple."
"It isn't."
"Why not?"
"I took this job for many reasons." Jess sighed, thinking of her brother. Connor was the only reason that came to her mind now.
"Like…"
Jess locked eyes with the blonde vampire. "If I tell you, it doesn't leave this room, do you understand me?"
Spike nodded.
Jess looked down at her hands, unbelieving that she was actually going to tell Spike about Connor. "I…I have a brother."
"The new baby is a boy?" Spike asked.
"No. I have a brother. My dad has a nineteen year old son."
"I've known your dad for awhile now Jess and I'm pretty sure he doesn't."
"He does." Jess insisted. "Look, it's a long story…"
"I've got time." Spike sat down.
Angel made his way into the hallway of the hospital wing at Wolfram and Hart. He found Mrs. Chase sitting in a seat next to Fred and Lorne. Gunn and Wesley were both leaning against the wall.
"Cordelia wants to see you, Mrs. Chase." Angel informed his mother-in-law.
Mrs. Chase nodded, making her way past Angel and into Cordelia's room.
"How's Cordy?" Fred asked.
Angel sighed. "She seems fine. Tired, but okay."
"Good." Wesley said. "We've decided to keep an eye on Lindsey."
"Well there's a plan." Angel said sarcastically.
"Angel, we're trying." Wesley said.
"We're going to look after Mr. Chase too." Gunn added.
Angel shook his head. "It's not good enough. We shouldn't even be here. This place is wrong for us."
"But we're here." Fred told him. "And it's for the long run."
"Why? Why can't we just get out?" Angel asked, already knowing his question sounded stupid.
"Because, Angelcakes, you're a champion, and this place needs a champion. Your daughter is doing the best she can, but she isn't you. We need you." Lorne told him.
Angel knew it was true. They needed to stay at Wolfram and Hart because people needed them, but things were going to have to change around the law firm if they were going to work.
Mrs. Chase entered Cordelia's hospital room to find her daughter lying in bed, both hands rubbing circles on her enormous stomach. Cordelia gave her mother a weak smile and motioned for her to sit down in the chair next to her bed.
"How are you feeling?" Mrs. Chase asked.
"For someone who was held hostage all afternoon, not bad." Cordelia sighed. "Just so you know, the doctor said me and the baby are both fine."
"Honey, I…" Mrs. Chase started.
"You know what Mom? Save it." Cordelia said, rubbing her belly to keep the kicking baby calm. "I was doing fine without you and daddy. For a long time I thought you were going to come back, see me, save me, but then I realized I didn't need you to, because I saved myself. I came to LA to leave my Sunnydale reputation behind, to become someone I wasn't, and guess what? I did. I might not be the actress I wanted to be, but I became so much more. I have a family who loves and cares about me through everything, and friends who would give their lives for me and I couldn't ask for more."
"Sweetie, I see you've changed…" Mrs. Chase tried again.
"But you don't get it." Cordelia felt the tears rising in her eyes and tried her best to hold them back. "When you and daddy showed up here today I thought that maybe, just maybe, you had come to see how I had made out. That maybe you actually cared about your own daughter. But I should have known it was just business. I was just another check in dad's wallet, wasn't I? It didn't matter that my family or my own life was put in danger it was all about the money in the end. That's all it's ever about with you and dad. I could kick you both for raising me to believe money is the most important thing in the world because you want to know something? Angel showed me different. Angel showed me there is so much more to life then how much money you make or what kind of car you drive or how big your house is. I don't need you, and I don't need dad, and I don't ever want either of you near me, my husband, or my children again. Understand?"
Mrs. Chase stood, clearly taken back by Cordelia's speech. "I understand."
Cordelia nodded. "On your way out send Angel back in?"
Mrs. Chase nodded and made her way out the door and out of Cordelia's life.
Spike stood in the middle of Jessica's office, his mouth hanging open wide. He had just listened to Jessica's entire story about Darla and Angel and Connor and Holtz and Quortoth. None of it made much sense to the blonde vampire. How could Angel have a son? How could Jessica erase everyone's memories? How could Jess make up a story like that even if she wanted to?
"So, Angel and Darla…" Spike started.
Jess nodded. "Yes, Angel and Darla have a son, my brother. Connor."
"And Holtz…"
"Along with Wolfram and Hart tricked my dad and Holtz took us to another dimension and raised us."
"And Connor went…"
"Crazy and tried to kill people. I did what I had to do to save his life."
"And you're sure you're not crazy?" Spike raised an eyebrow.
Jess rolled her eyes. "Yes, I'm sure. Here. Look." She moved around her desk and into the top drawer, taking out a picture of Connor, Cordelia, Angel, and Jess on Angel and Cordelia's wedding night. "See? That's Connor."
Spike studied the young man's face in the picture. The boy did look like a cross between Darla and Angel. "So this isn't a joke?"
Jessica shook her head, putting the picture back in its drawer. "Not a joke. I really gave my brother up."
"To save him." Spike added quickly.
"My parents don't even remember him." Jess sighed. "But that's why I can't leave Wolfram and Hart. If I do…"
"Then everyone remembers Connor, and Connor remembers you all, and that could just be bad."
Jess nodded. "Yeah, it could."
"And I'm the only bloody person who knows about Connor?" Spike asked.
"Besides Eve. Yeah."
"Eve? Why her?"
"I don't know." Jess shrugged. "She just does." Jess took Spike's hand. "But you have to promise me you won't tell a damn soul about Connor, do you understand?"
Spike nodded. "I got you, love. I promise I won't tell anyone."
"Thanks." Jessica gave the vampire a half smile.
Angel shuffled back into Cordelia's hospital room to find his wife fighting back tears.
"Cordy? What's wrong?" Angel asked.
Cordelia shook her head, saying nothing.
Angel moved closer to her, sitting on the edge of her bed, and placing his hands over hers that laid on her large stomach. "Cordy? What is it?"
Cordelia let out a sob. "My mom…"
"She left." Angel searched Cordelia's face.
Cordelia nodded. "I know. I told her to."
"Cordy, I don't understand…"
"I kicked her out of my life, Angel. For good."
Angel nodded, pulling Cordelia close to him. "Cordy, you're a strong woman, the strongest I've probably ever known. Whatever you did, I'm sure it was for the right reason."
Cordelia nodded into Angel's chest, and then pulled away, wiping her eyes and giving him her famous smile. "I guess it's just been a long day."
Angel nodded, in total agreement with his wife. "You should rest."
"Stay with me?" Cordelia pleaded as she softly sank back into the hospital pillow.
"Of course." Angel said, taking the seat next to Cordelia's bed. As he watched Cordelia close her eyes and drift to sleep he couldn't stop thinking about how he had almost lost his whole family tonight, and how Lindsey was going to pay for what he had done.