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 56Angel woke up and rolled over to find Cordelia's spot in bed empty. Immediately the vampire sat up, scanning the room quickly for his wife. He then heard Cordelia's moans and groans coming from the bathroom and quickly jumped out of bed, practically taking off the bathroom door's hinges as he opened it.
A sigh of relief escaped Angel's lips as he found Cordelia struggling to get out of the bathtub.
"Angel!" Cordelia held her chest as the door busted open. Clearly she had not expected him to storm in like that.
"Sorry…" Angel helped her up and handed her a towel. "I just heard you in here, I thought…you sounded like you were in pain."
"Angel." Cordelia ran her hand over his cheekbone. "Not every sound I make means I'm in labor."
"It's just…" Angel looked down at Cordelia's ridiculously swollen belly. "The baby was due a week ago."
Cordelia nodded. "So?" She asked, making her way out of the bathroom.
"So, you should be in bed." Angel told her. "Not up and moving around. I should be keeping an eye on you…"
"Angel." Cordelia raised an eyebrow as a smiled crossed over her face. "It's not a big deal. So the baby is a week late? Who cares? One of my aunts had my little cousin a month late."
"A month?" Angel chocked on the words. He did not think he could deal with Cordelia being pregnant for another month.
Cordelia laughed at Angel's expression as she got dressed. "Relax big guy. I doubt this baby wants to stay in there another month." She looked down at her stomach with almost a look of disgust. "I don't think there's anymore room in there."
Angel placed his hand on her belly. "You look beautiful."
"Dad!" Jessica's voice broke Angel's trance.
"What?" Angel asked.
"Can I come in?" Jess was outside the bedroom door.
"One second." Angel said, throwing on sweatpants over his boxers. He then made his way to the door and opened it, allowing his daughter in the room.
Jessica stepped in, noticing Cordelia on the bed, brushing her hair. "Mom didn't pop yet?"
Cordelia glared at her daughter. "No, I didn't pop yet."
"Good to know." Jess then turned to Angel. "I just got a call from the hospital psychiatric ward, actually."
"What? Why?" Angel was confused.
"Some girl in there, she's really strong, really fast, and drawing a lot of pictures of dead things…I'm not really sure." Jess explained. "They thought we could be of some sort of assistance."
"Why us?" Angel was confused.
"Because of the fact that the girl is so strong and…" Jess sighed.
"They think she is some sort of demon." Angel understood now.
"They don't know. They asked us to come check it out." Jess told him.
"Can't you and Spike just go?" Angel turned back to look at Cordelia. "I don't want to leave you're mom here alone."
"Well, we were all going, expect Fred and Lorne. They can keep an eye on her." Jess told him.
"Angel, I'll be fine." Cordelia assured him. "You should go work on this case."
"Are you sure?" Angel asked.
Cordelia nodded. "Go get dressed."
Angel moved and kissed Cordelia on the head reluctantly before making his way into the bathroom to get ready.
Cordelia then turned to her daughter, noticing that she was in a pair of jeans and a black long sleeve shirt. "You're working dressed like that?"
Jess shrugged. "It didn't seem like the kind of case I needed to get dressed up for."
Cordelia shook her head, a smile on her face. "Keep an eye on your dad for me today."
Jess nodded. "Keep that baby inside of you until we get back."
Cordelia laughed, rubbing her belly as she felt the baby kick. "I'll do what I can. But I have a feeling this kid has a mind of his or her own."
Jess smiled with a nod. "Well, tell dad we'll all be waiting for him in his office." She then exited, leaving her mother in there to finish getting ready for the day.
Angel made his way into his office about ten minutes after Jessica had told him about the case to find Spike, Gunn, Jess, and Wesley all standing around waiting for him.
"So, are we ready to go?" Angel asked.
"Been ready." Spike told him.
"We should run through the facts first." Gunn suggested.
Angel nodded. "Okay."
Gunn looked down at the file in his hand. "Okay, the girl's name is Dana. She's in a psychiatric ward down at the hospital. She was kidnapped, drove insane a few years back. So far the doctors said she used to be kind of out of it, I guess. Hardly moved, never spoke, slept most of the time. Sometime within the past few months she became violent and aggressive. They locked her down in her own room but…"
"The girl broke out." Jess finished Gunn's sentences. "From the police report and the hospital staff's accounts, she took about four guards down with her."
"With the flick of her wrists." Wesley added.
"So we are looking at some type of demon." Angel said. "Maybe possession?"
"Could be either." Wesley told him. "We'd have to get down to the hospital, check things out."
"Alright, let's move." Angel told them, and then turned back to Jess. "Uh, Jess, your mom?"
"Fred and Lorne are going to keep an eye on her today." Jess replied, knowing her dad was worried about Cordelia.
Cordelia sighed as she made herself comfortable on her couch. Her feet were swollen and she had aches and pains everywhere. Once she got situated, she turned on the TV only to have it interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Figures…" Cordelia grumbled, looking down at her huge stomach. "It's opened!" She yelled to the door, realizing it would take her a few minutes just to get up from the couch.
The door opened and Fred and Lorne entered with huge smiles on their faces. Lorne was even carrying a pizza.
"Hey!" Lorne grinned. "Just thought we'd stop by, see how you were."
"We even brought some pizza!" Fred pointed to the pie.
Cordelia laughed at Fred's fake enthusiasm. "Angel told you guys to check on me, didn't he?"
"Actually Jess did." Fred said, taking a seat next to Cordelia. "But the orders came from Angel."
"I see." Cordelia nodded, taking the pizza from Lorne and grabbing a piece.
"How are you feeling?" Fred asked as she watched Lorne take a seat.
Cordelia shrugged. "Tired, swollen, fat…the usual."
"Well, won't be much longer for you. That baby's got to come out soon." Lorne told her.
"This one's already a week late." Cordelia said, rubbing her belly. "Who knows how long it wants to stay in there?"
"Probably not much longer." Lorne told her. "You don't have much more room."
"Thanks Lorne!" Cordelia snorted. "Why don't you just say I'm as big as a house and get it over with?"
"I didn't mean it like that, cupcake." Lorne tried to backtrack.
Cordelia shook her head. "I know. I'm just on edge right now."
"Maybe you should get some rest." Fred said. "We'll come back and check on you later."
Cordelia nodded as she felt a sharp pain rip through her stomach. "Ouch!"
"What is it?" Fred panicked. "The baby? Is it coming?"
Cordelia laughed. "Fred, relax. I'm pretty sure it was just a kick."
"Oh…" Fred sound relieved as she stood. "Well, then, we'll see you later, Cordy."
"Okay." Cordelia said as she watched Lorne and Fred exit the room. She then looked down at her stomach. That pain was no kick, unless the baby had grown super strong. She sighed, rubbing her belly. "Listen, baby, I don't know what kind of plans you've got but save them until your dad gets home."
Cordelia sat there for a few more minutes and no more pain had crossed her stomach. She let out a sigh, deciding it must have just been a really strong kick.
Angel entered the hospital with Jess, Spike, Gunn, and Wesley all in tow. He quickly made his way to the front desk and stopped to find a short, chubby nurse behind it.
"Sorry, sir, this wing is closed." She motioned to the psychiatric ward.
"I'm actually here because of what happened earlier." Angel handed her a business card. "You guys gave my office a call?"
"Mr. Angel." The nurse read the business card. "The doctor said to let you go right down. It is the last room in the hallway."
"Will the doctor be there?" Angel asked.
The nurse shook her head. "No sir, he's down at the police station, but he said no one should bother you and to do what you have to."
"Thanks." Angel nodded, before leading the group down the hallway.
The group passed by police tap, body outlines chalked up on the ground, and a broken gate, before making their way to the end room that's door was lying on the ground in front of the room.
Angel examined the door on the floor, noticing the way the hinges were bent back. "It took a lot of power to move this door."
Spike nodded, also looking at the hinges. "That it bloody did."
Jess took a step into the room, noticing all the drawing hanging from the walls. There were pictures of hairy monsters, and huge demons, and what appeared to be vampires. Tons upon tons of pictures of vampires. "Guys, you might want to check this out."
The rest of the group entered the room, taking in the sight of it.
"What the hell are these?" Gunn asked, ripping a drawing off the wall and examining it.
"This girl definitely has some sort of association with demons and vampires." Wesley said. "Do you think she is one, herself?"
Angel studied the drawings. "It's hard to say. If she is, I don't understand how she ended up here, or why she would be drawing these pictures. I mean, you said she was kidnapped, right? Demons would be able to get out of that, no problem."
Gunn nodded. "I see your point."
"So what do you think we are dealing with?" Wesley asked.
"Well, whatever it is, I have a feeling we are going to find out real soon." Jess said, looking toward the doorframe.
"Why?" Spike asked, following her gaze to see a young woman in a hospital gown with dark straggly hair and a devilish grin on her face making her way down the hall. "Is that the girl we are looking for?"
"I'd take a wild guess and say yeah." Angel told him, watching the girl continue to approach the group.
Cordelia was making her way into the kitchen when the same pain she had gotten earlier that day stuck her again. She grasped onto her stomach, until it passed, and then looked up at the clock. The last wave of pain she had experienced was over a half hour ago.
She sighed, waddling over to the sink to wash some dishes. "You're not in labor." She said out loud, trying to calm herself down. "You're just freaking out because Angel isn't home."
Cordelia rubbed her lower back; feeling small amounts of pain shoot across it ever so often. She then looked down at her huge belly and spoke to the child inside. "Listen, I don't know what kind of plans you have, but you are staying inside of me until your father comes home, understand?"
After a few moments, and less pain, she sighed again as she went back to washing the dishes.
Angel, Jess, Spike, Gunn, and Wesley all stood painfully still as they watched the girl who they assumed to be Dana approach them with a set grin on her face. No one moved, no one spoke, no one had any idea what to do.
Angel broke that though. "Don't hurt her. We don't know what she is yet."
"So we let her kill us?" Spike had snapped out of the trance as well.
"We don't know if she is actually going to hurt us." Angel reminded Spike as the girl approached the door. "Dana?"
The girl's head snapped up at Angel, her eyes locking with his. Angel had seen the fire dancing in those eyes before, he just couldn't remember where.
Dana didn't give him a chance to remember, however, as she quickly threw herself at Angel, knocking the vampire down before he could even blink. Angel countered, however, kicking Dana right into Spike and Jessica's grasp.
"She's bloody strong!" Spike said, struggling to keep Dana steady.
"Tranq her." Angel told Wesley.
Wesley nodded, pulling a dart out and approaching Dana. Dana saw the tranquilizer and squirmed out of Jess and Spike's grasp, knocking them both aside, before knocking the tranquilizer out of Wesley's hand.
Dana then looked up at Angel. "Angelus…evil…most evil of all."
Angel was confused. How did she know who he was?
Dana turned to Spike. "You killed so many. So many dead because of you. You kill my kind, I kill your kind."
"Not happening!" Jessica slammed Dana into the wall, but the girl was strong, even for Jessica. And Jess soon found herself on the floor, Dana towering over her.
Dana studied Jessica's face for a moment. First, she seemed curious, then her curiosity turned to rage as she looked Jessica in the eye. "You killed her."
"Who?" Jess was confused.
"The one who was called but was not meant to be." Dana said.
"Not meant to be? Called?" Jess was so lost.
"I'll kill you." Dana told Jess.
This time, Angel knocked Dana down, so hard and so fast that when the girl got back up to her feet she took off down the hall.
"We need to go after her." Gunn said.
"We need to figure out what just happened here first." Angel told the lawyer.
"Yeah, what the hell was she talking about? Who did I kill? And who did Spike kill? And how did she know you were Angelus?" Jessica asked.
Angel shook his head. "I don't know."
"Didn't she say something about Jess killing the one who was called but not meant to be?" Wesley asked.
Jess nodded. "Yeah."
"Faith." Wesley said shortly.
"Faith?" Spike raised an eyebrow. "What about her?"
"I killed her." Jess said. "Well, not her, but that thing that took her over."
"Oh, right." Spike recalled hearing about this story. "But what does Faith have to do with Dana?"
"Faith's who she was talking about." Wesley pieced Dana's words together. "Jessica killed Faith, and Faith was the one who was called after the one who was called when Buffy died the first time, but Faith wasn't really needed since Buffy was alive again."
"So she's talking about slayers?" Gunn was now confused.
Angel nodded, realizing Wesley was right. "Yeah, she was. Jess killed Faith, which explains what Dana said to Jess. And Spike killed a lot of slayers, which explains what she said to him, and she knew about Angelus because all slayers learn about him, right Wesley?"
"That's correct." Wesley responded.
"Okay, so we know what she was talking about, but why was she saying it?" Gunn asked. "And how the hell did she get so strong?"
"She's a slayer." Spike realized.
"What?" Angel was confused. "No, Buffy's still alive."
"Buffy also had Willow cast a spell so we could close the Hellmouth." Spike explained. "All of the potentials became active slayers. We used some of them to help fight the battle. I guess none of us thought one of them would be in Dana's situation."
"Well that explains the girl's ridiculous strength, not to mention the pictures…" Jess said.
"And how she knew all about me, Jess, and Spike." Angel added. "She was having those slayer vision things."
Wesley nodded. "It all makes sense."
"Great, now the question is, how do we stop her?" Gunn asked.
Cordelia was finishing up the dishes at the sink when another wave of pain made its way across her enormous stomach. She clenched her jaw, one hand on her belly, and the other tightly gripping the dish in her hand. When the pain passed she looked up at the clock. It had been exactly twenty-five minutes since the last pain she had experienced. If she had been in labor that would have been her third contraction but…
"I'm not in labor!" She told herself, and then looked down at her stomach. "Do you understand me, kid? You want to be born that's just fine, but it isn't happening tonight. Tomorrow works out great, but your father isn't home tonight and I refuse to have you without him here, understand me yet?"
Cordelia sighed, turning away from the sink and making her way back into the living room. She might not have been in labor according to herself, but she wouldn't mind getting off her feet for a little while.
Angel led Jess, Spike, Wesley, and Gunn out of the hospital building. They had been in the hospital all day, trying to figure out what to do and understand everything they possibly could about Dana. The sun was just starting to set as they made their way to Angel's car.
"So what's the game plan?" Spike asked Angel.
"The plan is for me and you to go track Dana and get her back to Wolfram and Hart. We'll deal with her once we get her there." Angel told the other vampire.
"Great plan!" Jess said sarcastically. "Except where do me, Wesley, and Gunn fit into it?"
"You don't." Angel told her. "It's to dangerous."
"Dangerous?" Jess snorted. "In case you forgot I'm probably the strongest one here."
"And yet you still were no match for her." Wesley told the girl.
"Exactly." Angel agreed.
"Which means none of us our any match for her, Angel." Wesley continued. "We should call the office. Get back up."
"We don't have time." Angel argued. "And I don't want the firm involved in this. There are to many people there I still don't trust."
"Well, then it's settled." Jessica said, climbing into the car. "We're all going."
"What?" Angel watched as his daughter closed the door to the car, ignoring him completely. "No."
Gunn shrugged, opening the back door to the car. "Face it Angel, Jessica takes after Cordelia, you won't win the argument."
Angel sighed, juggling the keys to the car in his hand before shaking his head and nodding for Spike and Wesley to also get in the car. Gunn was right, Jess was like her mother, and Angel wouldn't ever be able to win an argument with Cordelia or Jess if his life depended on it.
Cordelia was breathing heavily as another wave of pain hit her. She looked down at the stopwatch in her hand. It had been twenty-minutes between contractions. She was now thinking that there was a strong possibility she was in labor.
She let out a breath of relief when the pain left her body for a moment and sunk back into the couch, wiping the little droplets of sweat that had formed on her forehead.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the front door. Cordelia looked over to the door, and then rolled her eyes. This was probably not a good time for visitors.
"What?" She called out, trying to hide her pain.
"It's us, Cordy." Fred's cheery voice filtered through the door.
"I'm fine!" Cordelia called out again.
"Which means you aren't." Lorne's voice now filled the room as he quickly opened the door with Fred right behind him.
"Cordelia!" Fred panicked, rushing over to the pregnant seer. "You're in labor."
"No, I'm not." Cordelia told her.
"I'd beg to differ." Lorne said, taking in the condition Cordelia was in right now.
"How far apart our your contractions?" Fred asked.
"I'm not in labor." Cordelia said, fighting back tears. She couldn't be. Angel wasn't here.
"Yes you are, Cordelia." Fred told her.
"I can't be." Cordelia whispered.
"Why not?" Fred asked, sensing the confusion and fear in Cordelia's voice.
"Angel…" Cordelia managed out.
"He'll be back soon, Princess, but now we've got to get you down to the hospital wing." Lorne said, trying to get Cordelia up.
"No!" Cordelia pushed Lorne's hand away. "I'm not in labor! I told you." She slowly stood. "See? I'm fine! I'm not…"
Cordelia's voice faded as she felt water trickle down her leg.
Fred looked at the floor under Cordelia and then back up at the seer. "You're water just broke, Cordelia. I think its safe to say you're in labor."
Cordelia nodded, grabbing Lorne's shoulder. "Okay, maybe I am having this baby."
"Hospital wing then?" Lorne asked, placing his arm behind Cordelia's back, to offer her extra support.
"Yeah." Cordelia huffed as Lorne and Fred helped her to the door.