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 66Jess shuffled back into the penthouse, still in shock from what had happened in Gunn's office. She made her way around all the boxes on the floor and down the hall to her parent's bedroom, where she found Cordelia in the bathroom, bathing Erin.
"Jess?" Cordelia turned to her daughter. "You're back already."
Jess nodded, leaning against the wall. "I'm back."
"Everything all taken care of?" Cordelia asked as she gently picked up Erin and dried off the squirming baby.
"No. Not everything." Jess sighed.
"What do you mean?" Cordelia asked, as she smiled down at Erin.
"Gunn. He wouldn't sign it." Jess told her.
"What?" Cordelia was shocked.
"He wouldn't sign it." Jess repeated.
"Who wouldn't sign what?" Angel asked, entering the bathroom. He still had the marker behind his ear, and looked tired.
"Gunn wouldn't sign the release." Jess told her father. "He said he believes in what we are doing here. That it's right or something. He won't budge."
"Well, we aren't leaving here without him." Angel said.
"I know that." Jess sighed. "I just don't know how we are going to convince him that leaving this place is the right thing to do."
"We don't have to convince him, we just have to get him to sign it. I can deal with him not liking it, as long as his signature is on this paper." Angel said. "Come on." He motioned for Jess to follow him.
"Where are you going?" Cordelia called after her husband and daughter.
"To get Gunn to sign this." Angel told her.
"Dad, wait." Jess said.
Angel turned around to notice Jess wasn't following him. "What?"
"When I talked to Gunn earlier he was…upset, to say the very least. I don't think barging in on him and forcing him to sign that is a good idea right now." Jess said. "I don't really know if him seeing me again right now is such a good idea…"
"Why?" Angel asked. "Did he say something to you Jess? Something about Connor? Because if he did I swear-"
"No." Jess quickly shook her head, deciding not to tell her parents what Gunn had actually said to her. "No, he didn't say anything."
"Maybe she is right though, Angel." Cordelia said gently as Erin grabbed at her mother's brown, shoulder length locks. "Maybe we shouldn't just rush in on Gunn."
"Fine. We'll get everyone together, and we'll talk to him." Angel said. "But if he doesn't want to talk, then we barge and force and do whatever it takes to get him to sign that paper. I'm not leaving her without him. We came as a group and we leave as one."
"Sounds like a plan." Jess agreed as she and Cordelia followed Angel out of the penthouse.
Wesley, Fred, and Lorne made their way into Angel's office to find Angel leaning on the desk, Cordelia sitting in a chair, rocking Erin who was fighting to keep her eyes opened, and Jess leaning on the arm of Cordelia's chair.
"So, is it official?" Lorne smiled. "Are we out of this nightmare known as the workplace from hell?"
"Not exactly." Angel told them.
"What do you mean?" Lorne pouted as he pointed to Jessica. "Your spawn said she had our ticket out of here!"
"I'm not his spawn, first of all." Jess rolled her eyes.
"Of course you aren't, buttercup." Lorne said, not meaning to offend Jessica with the first nickname he had given her.
"I'm not butter…or a cup, either." Jess scrunched up her nose.
"Anyway…" Fred cut in with a smile. "What's going on, Angel?"
"It's Gunn." Angel told them. "He wouldn't sign the paper."
"The paper that gets us out of here?" Wesley asked.
Angel nodded.
"He said he believed in what we were doing here." Jess told them.
"That doesn't sound like Gunn." Fred sighed.
"Not our Gunn." Cordelia said, rocking Erin gently as she ran her fingers over the baby's soft cheeks. "But it does sound like the Gunn that got the Wolfram and Hart-lawyer-brain-upgrade."
"Maybe that's why he doesn't want to leave here." Wesley suggested
"Well, we should find out, because I want to get out of here." Lorne said.
"And we aren't unless we are all leaving together. We've lost one to many members of this family as it is." Angel said, and then immediately regretted it as he looked at Jessica who was studying her hands, trying to ignore her father's last comment. Angel knew he shouldn't have said it, he knew everyone in the room knew immediately the one member they had lost was Connor, and Angel didn't completely blame Connor being gone on Jess, but he did hold her partially accountable for it, regardless of what he said.
"We should go find Gunn then." Wesley said, breaking the awkward silence of the room.
"Maybe you guys should all go." Jess stood. "He didn't respond great to me last time I talked to him." She gave Angel the paper that Gunn had to sign.
"Jess, come with us." Cordelia looked up at her daughter.
"It's alright. You guys go." Jess said quickly, not wanting another encounter with Gunn. "I've got some…last minute things to do."
"Alright…" Cordelia nodded as she watched Jess leave the room.
"Why wouldn't Jess want to come with us?" Fred asked.
"Maybe Gunn said something to her?" Lorne suggested. "I mean, he was still a little bitter about Jessica erasing parts of his memory."
"No." Angel shook his head. "Jess told me he didn't."'
Lorne shrugged. "Just a thought."
"Well, we should go talk to Gunn." Wesley said.
"Right." Angel helped Cordelia out of her seat as Erin slept in her arms, and then followed the rest of the fang gang out of his office.
Jess walked down the hallways of Wolfram and Hart absentmindedly. She didn't have anything to do, any place to be, she just knew she couldn't be anywhere near Gunn. She somehow found herself in front of the small office closet Spike had cleared out and named his own a few months ago.
Jess sighed, knocking on the door. "Spike? It's me."
"Come on in, luv!" Spike called out from the other side of the door.
Jess rolled her eyes, she wouldn't deny it, she loved when he called her "luv." His British accent and the way the word rolled off his tongue sent chills up her arms. But at the same time she hated it when Spike called her "luv" because the truth was, she would never be his love. Buffy was the only one Spike would ever love. Jess had accepted that, or at least, she lied to herself enough that she was starting to believe she accepted that. Besides, she had Kyle now. Maybe.
Jess shook all thoughts of Kyle, and of Spike calling her "luv" from her mind as she entered the small room. She was taken back to find Spike cramming all of his black tee shirts into a box.
"What are you doing?" Jess asked.
"Didn't you parents tell you?" Spike asked. "I'm coming with you when we leave this hellhole."
"Back to the hotel?" Jess was surprised her father had allowed that.
Spike nodded. "At least until you guys don't need my help, and it seems you do right now."
Jess had to agree there. Connor was gone, and Cordelia couldn't fight like she used to because of Erin. They could definitely use the extra strength Spike would provide. "Yeah. Makes sense."
Spike nodded. "So, how are you holding up?" He asked, taking a seat on a box.
"Holding up." Jess sighed, leaning against the wall. "Just barely."
"You'll get through it." Spike told her. "Your parents seem better about the whole situation. I think they realize you did what was best for Connor."
"Maybe." Jess shrugged. "Maybe they are just to scared to tell me how they really feel."
"Well, your father, maybe. He's got a thing about letting people know how he feels. He doesn't do it often, but you're mother was never a shy one when it came to…well…anything. If she had something to say to you, she'd say it." Spike told her. "No questions asked there."
Jess smiled, knowing every word Spike spoke about her mother was true. "I guess you're right about that."
"Yeah." Spike nodded. "Now, help me fold all of these shirts and get them into the boxes?"
"Sure." Jess stood, moving some shirts around.
Spike studied Jessica for a long time before folding his own pile of shirts. She seemed so tired, so old. Much older then he remembered her ever being. Sure, she didn't look a day over seventeen, but her eyes seemed to have seen a lifetime already. Spike felt sorry for the young girl. She was a puppet for the Powers That Be, just like they all were, and Spike knew she would never get a day to rest from it all. Her life was not meant for the weak or caring at heart. Her life was built upon bloodshed and heroism, just like her fathers. Spike hoped Jess would live through half the struggles Angel had. He hoped.
Angel, Fred, Wesley, Lorne, and Cordelia with Erin in her arms, made their way into Gunn's office to find the young lawyer leaning against the wall, staring out the window. He didn't seem to budge when they came into the room, it was as if he was expected them.
"Gunn?" Angel called out.
"I thought you guys would have showed up a lot quicker then you did." Gunn sighed, turning and facing the group with a sad grin. "You're losing your touch, Angel."
"Well, I'm about to get it back." Angel told him, placing the paper that Gunn needed to sign on his desk. "You're going to sign this, Gunn."
"No, I'm not." Gunn said. "I believe in what we stand for here, I'm not leaving."
"Yes, you are." Angel told him. He was getting fed up with Gunn's attitude.
"You don't get it." Gunn shook his head. "This place has given me more of a chance to make something of myself then I've ever been given in my life."
"But what are you making yourself into, Gunn?" Cordelia asked. "Sure, you're a great lawyer, in every paper I pick up, you always win your cases, but you're making negations with creatures that a few years ago you wouldn't have given a chance to blink."
"We've all changed now haven't we, Cordelia?" Gunn asked slyly. "You're one to talk. From what I understand, you went from self-appointed bitch, to ungrateful seer, to overbearing mother, to wife of the undead, and now what are you? You're no one. You sit around here all day, cleaning the house and taking care of your precious little family while they are out, erasing each other from everyone's memories."
Before Gunn could get another word out, Angel had him pinned up against the wall. "You have anything else to add to that?" He jerked Gunn.
"That's enough." Wesley said, moving forward, and separating Gunn and Angel.
Fred moved to Cordelia who was starring down at Erin, clearly hurt by Gunn's words, patting the immortal seer on her back. "It's okay, Cordy."
"No! It's not!" Angel said, turning back to Gunn. "Look what this place has done to you! It's turned you against us all."
"You don't understand." Gunn said.
"We understand you'll die if we don't get you out of here." Lorne told Gunn.
"I'm not signing that paper." Gunn said, pointing to the one Angel had placed on his desk. "You can't make me."
"Want to bet?" Angel asked, grabbing Gunn's arm quickly and jerking him until the young lawyers face was planted on the desk, next to the paper.
"Angel!" Cordelia moved forward, afraid Angel would hurt Gunn.
"Give me a pen." Angel looked around the room.
"Here." Wesley handed Angel a pen he pulled out of his pocket.
Angel forced the pen into Gunn's hand. "Sign it."
"No." Gunn said, as he felt Angel press his head against the desk harder.
"Sign it." Angel growled.
"No." Gunn repeated.
Suddenly Gunn felt Angel's fangs slide gently around his neck.
"You think you know me so well? You know my family?" Angel hissed in Gunn's ear. "I can make you a hell of a lot closer to a vampire then you would like to think."
"Are you threatening to turn me?" Gunn said, with a small grin on his face.
"No." Angel said coldly. "I'm threatening to kill you. Plan and simple. If you're not with us, you're against us. I won't fight against you if you stay here. You'll be out of the picture."
Gunn was quiet for a moment.
"Come on, Gunn. You know me. I'll do it. I'll do whatever it takes to protect my family." Angel said. "Even if it means losing another member."
Gunn sighed, jerking the pen in his hand, and signing his name on the line. When Angel released him, he stood quickly, fixing his tie, and handing the paper back to Angel.
"Just because I signed it, doesn't mean we will ever be alright from this." Gunn told the vampire.
"I can live with that." Angel said, and then swiftly exited the room, followed by Cordelia.
"Smooth, Charles." Fred snapped.
"What?" Gunn threw his arms out.
"What do you mean, what?" Wesley asked. "Who do you think you are saying all you said?"
"Everything I said was true." Gunn told him. "You all are just to blind to see it anymore."
Before another word could be said to him, Gunn had exited his office.
"That's not like him." Fred said, starring at the door Gunn had left through. "Charles is never like that."
"I'm telling you, that brain upgrade he let Wolfram and Hart give him is having some serious side effects." Lorne sighed.
"It will all be better in a few hours. He won't have that information in his head, and maybe he'll be back to normal." Wesley said.
"You think Angel and him will ever be okay after this?" Fred asked.
"I don't know." Wesley told her truthfully as he wrapped an arm around her. "They are both strong, proud, stubborn men. I don't think either will say they were wrong."
"And they both were wrong." Lorne added. "I've never seen Angel threaten someone like that before. Not someone he considered a brother anyway."
"It's just the situation. It has everyone on edge." Wesley said. "The faster we get out of here, the better off we are."
Fred nodded, understanding. Things between the fang gang had certainly gotten stretched thin over the past few days. She wondered if they would ever be close to the way they were before they had arrived at Wolfram and Hart.
Angel and Cordelia entered their penthouse, side by side, but quiet. Neither wanting to say the first words, neither wanting to set off the other. Cordelia moved past Angel to the small portable crib in their master bedroom that had once belonged to Jessica, but they were now using as Erin's bed, since Angel had already taken apart her nursery.
Cordelia placed the sleeping baby down, and sighed, running her hands over Erin's face, and thinking about all Gunn had said. Maybe she was right, maybe she was just some stay-at-home mother who didn't help anyone anymore. Even with the visions she couldn't seem to help anyone. The last one she had was of Connor, and what had that gotten them, except a restored memory, and a family torn apart by one little secret.
Cordelia suddenly felt tears form in her eyes and she picked up Erin, cradling the child close to her, never wanting to let her youngest daughter go, not like she had let Jess and Connor go.
"I love you, baby." Cordelia kissed Erin on the head. "I'm so sorry you're coming into his family while it is such a mess."
Suddenly, Cordelia felt a strong surge of heat radiate from Erin. She looked down at the baby in her arms and watched as Erin began to glow. The child had a determined look on her face as if she was concentrating on something.
"Angel?" Cordelia called out as she felt the heat from Erin run through her body.
Angel came into the room, just in time to witness what Erin was doing. He stood there, his mouth opened wide, until suddenly Erin stopped glowing, and Cordelia let out a breath of relief, sliding down onto the bed.
"Cordy?" Angel panicked. "Are you okay?"
Cordelia nodded, starring down at Erin. The baby now seemed to be smiling slightly at her mother.
"What happened?" Angel asked, taking a seat next to Cordelia and looking down at Erin.
"I guess Erin's got a few powers of her own." Cordelia smiled at her daughter. "Don't you, baby girl?"
"What did she do?" Angel asked.
"She calmed me down." Cordelia said. "It was like, she could tell how upset and stressed I was, and she just calmed me down. She just, she made everything seem okay."
"Like a mental message?" Angel asked.
"I guess." Cordelia sighed. "It's hard to explain. It's like she healed me."
"Maybe she did." Angel offered. "Maybe that's what she's meant to do. To heal the pain out of this world."
Cordelia nodded, snuggling up to Angel as he wrapped an arm around both her and Erin. "Maybe."
"We'll find out all we can about Erin's powers once we get out of here." Angel kissed Cordelia's head. "I promise"
"Sounds good." Cordelia said as she continued to stare down at the baby in her arms. She couldn't believe what Erin had just done. She couldn't believe the power her daughter had. Cordelia now had no doubt in her mind that leaving Wolfram and Hart was the best possible thing for her family.
"Cordy…" Angel started. "About what Gunn said earlier…"
"Angel, I don't want to talk about it." Cordelia said.
"It wasn't true." Angel said quickly.
"Yes, it was." Cordelia nodded slowly, fighting back tears. "It was true. Every word he said about me was true. But I'm going to change that. Once we get out of here, I'm going to prove him wrong. We're leaving this place, and we are going to help the helpless again. That's what we are supposed to do. That's what our destiny's are calling for us to do."
Angel smiled at Cordelia, kissing her gently. "I'm pretty sure, I married the smartest woman I've ever known. And that's saying a lot, considering I've lived over two centuries."
"Or it's not saying enough, considering you spent those centuries with woman like Darla and Buffy." Cordelia smiled back at Angel.
"That one hurt." Angel joked, kissing Cordelia. "You hurt my feelings."
"Really?" Cordelia tried not to giggle as she felt Angel tickle her side. "I'm sorry, Mr. Emotional Vampire."
"It's okay, Queen of My Heart." Angel kissed her.
"Hey, my nickname wasn't nice for you. Yours was nice for me." Cordelia smiled at him.
"What can I say?" Angel asked. "I'm a nice guy." He stood, helping Cordelia up. "Now come on, we should find Jess."
Cordelia nodded, following Angel out of the bedroom, as she shifted Erin in her arms.
Jess and Spike had folded all of his shirts in silence, and were finishing closing up the last of the boxes when there was a knock on the door. Both of them immediately looked at the door, then each other.
"Come in." Spike yelled to the door after a beat.
"It's just me." Harmony smiled, opening the door.
Jess rolled her eyes at the sight of the blonde vampire. It wasn't that she didn't like Harmony; it was just that she couldn't stand how ditzy Harmony could be sometimes. "What can we do for you, Harmony?"
"Eve came in. She's in your office, bossy." Harmony told Jess.
"Why?" Jess raised an eyebrow.
"She said she needed to make arrangements with you." Harmony shrugged. "I'm not really sure. She just said to get everyone down to your office, so now I need to go get your parents."
Jess nodded. "Thanks Harmony."
"Sure thing." Harmony smiled again, closing the door behind her.
"What was that about?" Spike asked.
"Eve said she would know when we all signed the paper to release us." Jess said.
"That means everyone signed it." Spike nodded. "Including Gunn."
"I guess so." Jess agreed. "Come on, we should get to my office."
Spike nodded, following Jessica out of the room.
Jess and Spike entered Jessica's office to find Angel, Wesley, Lorne, Fred, and Cordelia with Erin in her arms all on one side of the room. A quick scan of the room allowed Jess to see that realize Gunn was there as well, although he was sitting on the opposite side of the room from the rest of the fang gang. At Jessica's desk sat Eve with Lindsey standing behind her.
"Nice of you to finally show up." Eve smiled at Jess and Spike.
"Thanks." Spike gave her a mocking grin back.
"So, lets get this done." Jess moved forward.
"Yes, lets." Eve smiled again. "Angel? Do you have the paper?"
"Here." Angel handed her the document she had given Jessica for everyone to sign.
Eve and Lindsey reviewed the signatures on the paper, nodding to each other.
"Everyone signed it." Lindsey looked up at Jess. "And you're still alive. Can't say I was expecting that."
"We're all full of surprises, Lindsey." Jess smirked.
Lindsey nodded. "I see that."
"So, now what happens?" Cordelia asked as she rocked Erin in her arms. She was anxious to get out of Wolfram and Hart.
"Now." Lindsey smiled at the young mother. "You leave."
"It's that simple?" Angel raised an eyebrow.
Lindsey nodded. "It's that simple."
"No it's not." Jess shook her head. "The Senior Partner's had nothing to say about this? They are just going to let us walk away?"
"Well, they had a lot to say about it, actually." Eve told her. "Mostly how you all know too much now. You can't be trusted."
"We never were trusted." Wesley spoke the truth. Wolfram and Hart had never cared for the fang gang or completely trusted any of them.
"We're letting you walk out of this before they reign down on you." Lindsey told them. "They will eventually find you, and they want you dead. You know too much about this company and how we work. Understand what is now going to happen. You are now our biggest problem."
"So, why not kill us?" Jess asked.
"Because you did me and Eve a favor by leaving this place, so we are going to do you a favor and let you walk away." Lindsey told her.
"But not far." Gunn spoke for the first time since he had entered the room. The brain upgrade given to him by Wolfram and Hart was wearing off each second he sat there. He could feel it, and he was beginning to realize how stupid he had been acting the past few months because of it.
"That's right." Lindsey told him. "Not far."
"So basically you're wedging war on us right now?" Jess asked.
"We're letting you know we will not exist in a world with you. Wolfram and Hart won't allow it." Eve told them.
"We're not friends." Lindsey said.
"We never were." Wesley said.
"And never will be." Fred added.
"Well, as long as you understand that." Lindsey told them with a smile. "We'll be seeing you around, it's safe to say."
"Yeah." Angel said. "Just know something. You can't threaten us. We'll win in the end because we're here for the right reasons."
"You'll lose in the end because you're weak." Lindsey sneered at him.
"We'll just have to see about that, won't we?" Lorne asked.
"Can we leave now?" Cordelia stood. She didn't care if Wolfram and Hart was threatening them or not at this point. She just wanted to get out of the office; they could deal with Wolfram and Hart once they were settled back into the Hyperion.
"You're free to go." Eve told her.
"Then, let's go. We're done here." Cordelia grabbed Angel by the hand and led him out of the office before he could say another word.
"I guess we are all going then." Wesley said to the room.
Gunn stood, making eye contact with Jess for the first time since he had yelled at her. "Yeah, we should get going. Don't want Angel and Cordy making it back to the hotel before the rest of us. I can only imagine where Cordelia will throw all of our stuff if we ain't there to get it ourselves."
Jess laughed, smiling back at Gunn, and letting him know things between them were going to be okay. She wasn't angry that he had yelled at her earlier. Maybe she deserved it.
"Come on then." Fred motioned. "Let's go home."
Everyone smiled and followed Fred of the room, except for Spike and Jess who hung behind the group. Once Fred, Wesley, Gunn, and Lorne were out the door, both Spike and Jess turned back to Eve and Lindsey.
"Understand something." Jess said simply. "You come after my family, I'll kill you. You go after Connor, you're dead. You even think about carrying out the threats you made in this room against us and your blood is mine."
"You have no room to negotiate or threaten us." Lindsey replied. "You're done here."
"And I give you about three months tops before you're bloody dead." Spike smirked, looping his arm in Jessica's and smiling down at the girl. "Come on, luv, we've got a hotel to get to."
Jess smiled back, allowing Spike to lead her out of the room, and into the hallway where the rest of the fang gang was waiting for them. None of them seemed too concerned with Wolfram and Hart threats at this point. They would deal with Wolfram and Hart when the time came. They just wanted to get out of there. They were finally going home, and Jessica was thrilled, although, they weren't all there. Connor was missing. Connor would always be the missing piece in Jessica's life from now on. He was the reason she fought, the reason she cared, and the reason she would never give up. She would keep him safe, even if he had no idea who she was. She promised herself that as Angel led the group out of the building.