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 53Angel watched Cordelia as she sat on the couch with a baby name book leaning on her huge belly and a bowl of popcorn next to her. She had been released from the Wolfram and Hart hospital a week ago, and since then Angel hadn't taken his eyes off of her. He wanted to make sure she was safe.
Cordelia looked up to see Angel, a smile breaking across her face. "What are you looking at?"
"You." Angel smiled back.
Cordelia rolled her eyes jokingly, and moved the popcorn to the floor, patting the couch next to her. "Well, if you're going to stare at me you might as well help me pick out some baby names."
Angel sat down next to Cordelia, wrapping his arm around her and giving her a kiss on the forehead. He then looked down at the book. "Okay, so what do we have?"
"For a girl I was thinking…Megan or Haylie." Cordelia started.
Angel scrunched up his nose, but said nothing.
"What? You don't like either?" Cordelia raised an eyebrow.
"It's not that I don't like them, just…what about something more powerful?"
"Powerful?"
"Yeah, like…Angela?"
"Because that is a girl version of your name and we are not naming our daughter after you." Cordelia told him. "I love you but it just isn't happening." She gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Fine, then Irish. What about Erin?" Angel asked hopeful.
Cordelia thought about it for a moment and then smiled at him. "Erin if it's a girl."
"Erin Angela." Angel tried.
"No." Cordelia shook her head playfully. "We can worry about middle names later."
Angel nodded. "What about if its a boy?"
Cordelia looked at Angel a smile on her face, but her eyes sad. "I was thinking Doyle if it was a boy."
Angel smiled, pulling Cordelia close to him. "Definitely Doyle if it's a boy."
Cordelia felt the tears in her eyes as they spoke for the first time in years about Doyle. She pulled away from Angel, wiping her eyes. "I'm such a mess with these hormones."
Angel wiped a stray tear on Cordelia's face. "Don't worry about it."
Just then the door to the penthouse swung open and Jessica came busting through with Spike close behind.
"Dad?" Jess seemed almost out of breath.
"What?" Angel asked.
"Me and Spike were in my office and we were talking about the other night with that Lindsey guy and all…" Jess started.
Anger was immediately written on Angel's face at the mention of Lindsey. "And?"
"And there was a smell in that apartment. I don't know what it was, but I'd smelled it before." Jess said. "Someone was there that I knew."
"Well, you knew everyone there except Lindsey." Cordelia said, rubbing her belly and trying to stop the chill that rose up her spin at the thought of the night she and Jessica were kidnapped.
Angel thought for a moment and stood. "No, she's right. There was a familiar smell. Like perfume or shampoo or something."
"Expensive perfume." Jess added, having her mother's sense of style.
Angel nodded. "I've smelt it before. Where?"
"Try your damn office." Spike told the other vampire.
"What?" Angel was confused.
"It was Eve's perfume." Jess stated. "Duh."
"Eve? Are you sure?" Angel asked.
Jess gave Angel a look. "I wanted to make sure so I asked Harmony to ask Eve what kind of perfume she wears and…" The young girl rummaged in her pocket, taking out a bottle and tossing it to Angel. "Dumbass Eve let Harmony borrow it. Take a whiff."
Angel opened the perfume bottle, inhaling the fragrance, and the vampire's eyes immediately went cold. "You're right. This smell was at that apartment too."
"So Eve's our girl then?" Spike asked.
Angel nodded. "She was there."
"She was probably good old grandpa's connection into the firm." Jess concluded.
"You're right." Angel said. "What I don't get is why she would help Lindsey? He walked away from this firm. And why would she go against the Senior Partners, I mean they put us here, and she tries to take us out?"
"Maybe the Senior Partners don't know." Jess said.
"Or maybe it was the Senior Partners." Cordelia stood slowly. "Let's not forget that they tried to kill us for four years prior to us taking this place over."
"She's right." Angel said. "Someone should get Gunn up here, he has a connection with them."
"Or I should just go kick Eve's ass and be done with it." Jess offered.
"See?" Angel turned to his daughter. "You don't ever think. That's not even an option. You do that and I can only imagine what the Senior Partners would do."
"What are you saying?" Jessica asked, seeing that the conversation was about to take a huge turn.
"I'm saying you don't think you just act. You don't worry about consciences you just do and say what you want, and if you expect to be a leader you can't do that." Angel told his daughter.
"So what I'm not a good boss now?" Jess scoffed.
"No. You're not." Angel told her flatly. "Because you're a teenager, and you aren't supposed to be a boss. You don't have the life experience or the patience to do the job your doing."
"I think I'm doing okay." Jess shot back, angry with her father, although he was making some sense.
"And by okay you mean, making out with ghosts so that I have to kill them-" Angel started.
Spike cut the other vampire off. "Hey, I resent that."
"And letting werewolves go without telling me, and killing clients, and letting your staff get bugged and tracked, and oh yeah, allowing your mother to get kidnapped!" Angel snapped.
"Angel!" Cordelia was upset that he had brought the kidnapping into the conversation. Jessica had nothing to do with that.
"No, he's right." Jess glared at Angel. "I saw the knife in grandpa's hand, I just didn't react quickly enough so everything is just my fault, right?"
"Exactly!" Angel barked back.
"Then fine! You want to run this place, that's fine." Jessica clenched her fist until her knuckles turned white. "It's all yours. I'm stepping down. I'll work under you, Daddy. Is that what you want?"
"That's bloody what I want." Spike said.
"You don't even work here!" Jess snapped.
"Yeah, but I see you and how you handle your employees. You're better off just killing things and not trying to negotiate and run things." Spike told her.
"So all I can do is kill things now?" Jess felt attacked.
"It's what your best at." Wesley's voice filled the room as he, Gunn, Fred, and Lorne entered.
"So you all think I should just step down? Is that it?" Jessica asked the group.
No one looked at each other, or at Jessica, and the room was dead silent.
"Guys, if that's what you want, just say it." Jess told them.
Everyone nodded.
"So then it's that easy, my Dad's in charge again." Jess turned to Angel. "If you guys had just told me you wanted this I would have gladly stepped down. I don't want to be in charge of this place anymore then you guys want me to be."
Angel looked confused. "But you were just yelling about it two seconds ago."
"Not because I want to stay in charge, just because I don't like being told I'm only good for killing things." Jess smirked.
"Well, I mean you're good at other things too." Angel tried to correct what he had said earlier.
"There are just a few things I want before I turn this place over to you." Jess said. "I'm keeping my office, and all my weapons, and I want to run the swat team division thingy of this place."
Angel smiled slightly. "You're very demanding…"
"It's in the family." Jess turned and winked at Cordelia before turning back to Angel. "Now, boss, what are we going to do about Eve?"
Angel gave his daughter a grin. He knew just how to handle Eve.
Eve stood in Jessica's office like Harmony had instructed her too. She checked her watch; she had been waiting for ten minutes now. Suddenly, the door swung open behind her and the entire fang gang entered.
"Well, took you long enough to get here." Eve turned to them. "I've been waiting in here forever."
"We had some things to sort out." Angel told her. "Now sit. We need to talk."
"Excuse me?" Eve raised an eyebrow. "I don't take orders from any of you, and if anyone is going to tell me to sit anywhere it would be the boss of this company which you aren't."
"Oh, yeah." Jess flopped down into her own chair, putting her feet up at her desk. "He is."
Eve looked confused.
"Jess handed the company over to me." Angel told Eve.
"She can't. She is the boss." Eve argued.
"And as the boss I gave my Dad a raise and gave myself…a lower? I guess?" Jess shrugged. "I run the swat team division now."
"We already have someone doing that job." Eve told her.
Jess nodded. "Yeah, I fired him."
"So back to you, Eve." Angel smiled at her.
"What are you talking about?" Eve asked.
"We know it was you." Angel told her.
"What was me?" Eve crossed her arms over her chest, feeling a little uncomfortable about everyone in the room moving so close to her.
"You helped Lindsey, you know, kidnap me and my daughter." Cordelia snapped, rubbing her stomach.
"I didn't help Lindsey-" Eve started.
"If you didn't help him, how do you even know his name?" Angel asked, catching Eve off guard.
"I…his files. Everyone knows Lindsey in Wolfram and Hart. He was a great lawyer." Eve covered for herself.
"She's right." Gunn told the room. "His files are everywhere. He was pretty good."
"Yeah…" Angel gave a fake smile. "Until I cut his hand off and made him leave L.A. Yeah, he was a strong willed kind of guy."
"Well, you do have a way with people." Eve shot back at the vampire.
"You're hardly in a position to have smart remarks like that." Wesley said, coming up behind Eve. "Don't you agree?"
"Come on, Eve, we're all…well we aren't killing you yet, so we can't all totally hate you." Jess said, picking up a sword from her cabinet and waving it freely in her hand. "So why don't you just tell us why Lindsey kidnapped us, and where we can find him?"
"I told you, I don't know what you're talking about." Eve lied.
"Right, so I guess Lindsey just happens to wear really expensive perfume." Jess grinned, tossing the bottle of perfume that Eve had given to Harmony earlier that day back at Eve.
Eve looked down at the bottle, her mouth hanging open slightly. "Harmony…"
"That's right." Cordelia flashed a smile at the younger woman. "She may be evil, but she isn't a total ditz."
"Hey!" Harmony's voice came from outside in the hallway. "I heard that! I have vampire hearing!"
"Thank you, Harmony." Angel shouted back out to his blonde vampire secretary. He then turned back to Eve. "Start talking."
"Or what?" Eve glared. "You can't do anything. I'm your connection to the Senior Partners."
"And they won't be mad that your tried to kill off half of the bosses at this firm, right?" Lorne asked.
"If they cared, they would have stopped it from happening." Eve told the demon.
"Or maybe they just didn't know about it." Gunn began pacing in his suit, mimicking the perfect image of a lawyer in a courtroom. "Maybe they need to be informed."
"Good idea, Gunn." Fred smiled at her ex, fake excitement in her voice. "You have connections with them, right? I bet you could talk to them."
"I bet he could too." Angel said, taking a step closer to Eve. "You want to talk yet?"
Eve looked from Angel's angry face, to Cordelia's Queen C glare and then to Jessica who was still swinging the sword around a devilish grin on her face. She sighed. "I don't know why Lindsey wanted to kidnap you guys."
"Wrong answer." Jess took a step forward with the sword, but Angel held his daughter back.
"Want to try again, Eve?" Angel asked. "Because if you give us the wrong answer this time, you won't have to worry about Jessica coming after you with that sword." He quickly threw on his game face, flashing the young woman his teeth, before transforming back to his human side. "You understand?"
"He wants revenge." Eve said quickly.
"Revenge?" Angel was a little confused, remembering his last encounter with Lindsey, prior to the night he kidnapped Cordelia and Jess. "Last time I saw him I saved his life. Darla was going to kill him."
"Wow." Cordelia said sarcastically, hating the mention of Darla. "So you saved Lindsey and then boned Darla? That was awhile ago."
"Cordy…" Angel turned to his wife. "I was at a dark place."
"And I was a single parent. Remember?" Cordelia barked.
Jess rolled her eyes at Spike. "Here we go…"
"What?" Spike asked.
"They got off topic." Gunn said simply. "Angel and Cordy will argue now, and forget why we are all here."
"Oh…" Spike said. "Bugger."
"Big time." Jess said. "I'm in the mood for pizza. Anyone want pizza?"
Fred raised her hand, as did Gunn, Wesley, and Lorne.
"I'll go make a call. I know a good place." Fred said, leading Jessica, Gunn, Wesley, and Lorne out the door of the office.
Spike took one look at Angel and Cordelia who were still bickering, and then one look at Eve who looked confused, and then decided he wasn't staying in the room anymore either, so he quickly followed Fred and the rest of the group out the door.
"Angel, I get it, you went all psycho and needed your space so you kicked us all out." Cordelia said, not sure why she was bringing this particular subject up. She knew it was a soft stop in their relationship and Angel was sorry for it, but she blamed her mood on her hormones.
"Cordy, I told you already, I'm sorry…" Angel tried.
Eve watched the couple. They were clearly wrapped up in their own problems so she quietly made her way out of the office, glad she didn't really have to give up too much information on Lindsey.
"Well, sorry doesn't fix everything sometimes." Cordelia told Angel.
"Why are we even arguing over this? It happened three years ago." Angel asked his wife.
"Because you brought it up." Cordelia told him.
"No I didn't." Angel tried his best to stay calm. "All I said was the last time I helped Lindsey…" Angel looked around the room to see it was empty. "Lindsey."
"Yes, Lindsey, you helped him and fired me, Wes, and Gunn, I was there, I know." Cordelia continued her rant.
"No." Angel gritted his teeth. "I mean, we let Eve go."
"What?" Cordelia looked around also noticing the empty room. "How did that happen?"
Angel shrugged. "Who knows? Come on, we've got to go find everyone." He then took Cordelia's hand and led her out of the office.
Gunn entered Angel and Cordelia's penthouse with four pizza pies in his arms. He laid them down on the floor in the living room where Wesley, Fred, Spike, Jessica and Lorne were on the couch or floor, playing video games.
"Pizza smells good." Gunn said, taking out a piece.
"Damn good." Jess agreed. "Now, Eve probably escaped, right?"
"Right." Wesley agreed, his eyes glued to the game.
"We'll have to track her, right?" Jess asked again.
"Right again, sweetie pie." Lorne told her.
"My dad will be mad we left." Jess said, not sounding to worried as she took a bit of pizza.
"Probably." Fred said.
Jess nodded. "Sounds good."
"You people are bloody mad, do you know that?" Spike asked.
"Just shut up and enjoy the time off." Jess told the vampire.
"You do realize that Eve is still connected to Lindsey? We are still after them?" Spike asked.
"Yeah, we get it." Gunn said. "But Eve and Lindsey can't run forever. Once Angel and Cordelia knock off the fighting they will come up here, tell us to get to work, and we'll find Eve and Lindsey and do what we have to."
"You people are rather relaxed in this type of situation." Spike was appalled.
"Comes with the territory." Lorne told the vampire, grabbing himself a slice of pizza.
Eve rushed into Lindsey's apartment to find Lindsey on the couch reading a book. The ex-lawyer looked up when the young woman ran in.
"What's wrong?" Lindsey asked.
"They know I was connected to the kidnapping." Eve told him.
"What? How?"
"My perfume. They smelled it and recognized it." Eve huffed.
"Damn vampires with their senses…" Lindsey sighed.
"What are we going to do?"
Lindsey gave Eve a quick smile, before showing off his newly tattooed chest. "I have a plan just in case Angel wanted to have another go with me. Trust me, baby." He kissed Eve again.
Angel and Cordelia quickly made their way into the penthouse to find the rest of the group on the floor, eating pizza and playing video games.
Angel shook his head. "Eve gets away and you guys come up here and party?"
"You let Eve get away." Jess told her dad. "We left long before she did."
"Well, we need to find her." Cordelia stated the obvious as she rubbed her swollen belly.
"We figured." Gunn told her.
"Any ideas?" Angel asked.
"You're the boss now." Jess reminded him.
Angel nodded. "We track her."
"We could." Wesley said. "It would take awhile, but we could do it."
"Then that's the plan." Angel said. "Spike, Jess, go grab some weapons. Wesley and Gunn, go pull around a car or two, and Lorne and Fred, stay with Cordelia, keep an eye on her."
"I don't need a babysitter." Cordelia argued. "I'm fine alone."
"Last time I left you alone, you got kidnapped." Angel told his wife.
"Actually, she wasn't alone, I was here with her." Jessica reminded her father.
Angel just glared at Jess and then planted a kiss on Cordelia's head. "Just, stay with Fred and Lorne, okay Cordy?"
Cordelia sighed, nodding her head and taking a seat on the couch in between Fred and Lorne. "At least there is food." She said, trying her best to reach for a slice of pizza with her huge stomach as an obstacle.
"Here." Angel bent down and handed Cordelia the pizza. "Be safe…"
But the vampire spoke to soon as all the lights in the room suddenly went off.
"What the hell?" Jess asked.
Spike pulled out a lighter from his jacket and turned it on, finding two candles in the room and lighting them. He then made his way out into the hallway with the lighter in his hand. "The halls dark too. Looks like the whole damn building is."
Jess looked down at her beeper that had been supplied to her by Wolfram and Hart. "And some alert went out about five minutes ago."
Everyone else checked the beepers they had also been given by Wolfram and Hart to see the same warning on each.
"What's the warning mean?" Angel asked, taking a seat next to Cordelia and wrapping his arm around her protectively.
Gunn studied the number on the beeper and then his eyes grew wide. "It's the code to evacuate the building. Something is up."
Angel nodded. "But what?"
Lindsey smiled at Eve as he held the flashlight up to his face and made his way down a hall of Wolfram and Hart. He had cut the power, and gotten all the workers out. Now, no one could get in or out of the building. He had trapped Angel and the rest of his crew and the souled vampire had no idea that Lindsey and Eve were coming for him.
"Revenge is sweet." Lindsey kissed Eve.
"It will be sweeter when this whole place is ours." Eve kissed him back before following him down the hall.