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 67It had been a week since the fang gang had moved back into the Hyperion Hotel and they were still cleaning the place out. The eight months they had spent away from the Hyperion had taken a toll on the old building, and the place was covered in cobwebs and dust. Cordelia had ordered the entire place be cleaned until it shined, and what Cordelia said went as far as anyone in Angel Investigations was concerned.
Angel and Jess were busying finishing cleaning up the lobby. Jess was glad it was just her and her father, considering everyone else, besides her parents and Spike, had been giving her the cold shoulder since they had arrived home. She had a feeling they were still angry with her. Fred, Wesley and Lorne were a little friendlier then Gunn, but she could still feel the tension coming off all of them when she entered a room. Suddenly, both the vampire and his daughter looked up as they heard footsteps to see Cordelia making her way down the stairs with a giggling Erin in her arms.
"Look who woke up from her nap." Cordelia cooed at Erin as she made her way into the lobby.
Angel smiled to see his three-month-old daughter and wife enter the room. "Hey." He kissed Cordelia and ran his hand over Erin's straight, black hair.
"How's the cleaning going?" Cordelia asked.
"It's lovely." Jess said sarcastically, throwing herself on the couch. "I think my muscles are actually sore from it." She scrunched up her nose. "I'm never sore."
Cordelia laughed at her oldest daughter. "Where's Wesley and Fred, I thought they were supposed to be helping you?"
"They ran out to get more cleaning stuff." Angel said, taking Erin from Cordelia. Erin immediately found comfort in her father's broad chest, and nuzzled close to him.
"Well, why don't you two take a break?" Cordelia asked Jess and Angel. "I'll make you something to eat."
"Sounds good to me." Jess smiled at her mom, stretching out on the couch. She was tired from all the cleaning she had done.
"Well, you watch Erin." Angel handed his youngest daughter to his oldest. "And I'll help your mom in the kitchen."
"What?" Jessica shot up off the couch as Angel handed Erin to her. "No. I didn't sign up for babysitting duty."
"Well, that's what happens when you have a little sister." Angel told her.
"No way. I didn't ask for one." Jess joked back. "She just happened. I'm not dealing with the repercussions of your actions." Jess raised an eyebrow at Angel and Cordelia.
"Just watch her." Angel told his daughter.
"Fine, fine." Jess sighed, smiling down at her little sister. "I'll tell you Erin, if you weren't so cute, forget about it. There would be no compromising for me to watch you."
Cordelia smiled as she watched her oldest daughter with her youngest daughter. She was sure they had made the right decision about leaving Wolfram and Hart, no matter what Eve and Lindsey had threatened.
Angel quickly scooted Cordelia into the kitchen, closing the door behind them, and wrapping his arms around her, kissing her neck softly.
"Well, hello to you too." Cordelia giggled as Angel ran kisses up and down her neck. "Angel, what are you doing?"
"Well, we are supposed to be making a snack..." Angel looked up at his wife with a sly grin, before continuing to kiss her.
Not that Cordelia didn't like the attention Angel was giving her, but she had to wonder…"What's gotten into you today?"
Angel looked back up at Cordelia with innocent eyes. "I can't just be happy to be around you?"
Suddenly, a smile crept across Cordelia's face. She knew exactly what Angel was doing. "You don't want to clean anymore. You think if you butter me up enough I'll forget all about it, and you won't have to keep scrubbing the lobby down."
"What?" Angel was shocked. Cordelia knew him so well. "No. That's not it."
"That's exactly it." Cordelia smiled, turning away from him and making her way over to the refrigerator to grab a pint of blood for Jessica and Angel. "And guess what, buddy, you're still cleaning."
Angel sighed. "Cordy, its just, we've been cleaning all week and I have barely gone out on a case and I think Jess is ready to stake me or Spike or maybe herself. And Fred is grumpy, and since she's grumpy Wesley's grumpy and then Gunn starts in on how Wesley and Fred are grumpy, and cleaning turns into a rumble." Angel explained what had been going on the past week at the Hyperion Hotel.
"All of that is happening because of cleaning?" Cordelia raised an eyebrow.
Angel nodded. "Yeah."
"Well, you're almost done with it, anyway." Cordelia gave him a grin before carrying a cup of blood out to Jessica, but she didn't quite make it to the door, as she felt Angel's arm snake around her waist and pull her back into a long kiss.
Gunn sighed as he took a break from sweeping the basement floor. He and Spike had been assigned to clean it out by Cordelia. He stood, watching Spike taking out some of the weapons Angel had put down there before they moved out because he either didn't use them anymore and they were taking space up in the weapon's closet, or they were too old to use anymore.
"He's got a bloody arsenal down here." Spike said, taking out an old crossbow of Angel's.
Gunn nodded. "We used to need them all."
"All these weapons?" Spike was surprised.
"Yeah. Back when Angel Investigations was at its peak we needed all those weapons for our cases." Gunn told him.
"Really?" Spike was impressed.
Gunn nodded. "Yeah. Me, Angel, Wesley, Jess, Connor…" Gunn's voice trailed off. "Well, it will be hard to get the business up and running like it was."
"Why?" Spike was suddenly curious to hear Gunn's response.
"I just mean we're a super strong person down." Gunn said.
"You mean Connor?" Spike seemed to know what Gunn was talking about.
"Well…yeah." Gunn said. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I get why Jess did what she did. She wanted to protect him. I get that."
"Really?" Spike asked. "Because you didn't seem to understand before."
"Look, I know what I said, but that wasn't me talking, not all of it. It was that stupid brain upgrade Wolfram and Hart gave me. I mean, I was mad Jess tampered with my memories, but she did it to save her family, and I know how much family can mean to a person."
"Well, you still hurt her." Spike said.
"Like you never have." Gunn mumbled as he went back to sweeping the floor.
"Excuse me?"
"All I said was, you've hurt Jess too." Gunn turned to face Spike. "So don't act like I'm the only person who's hurt her."
Spike shook his head. "I made a few mistakes, but she understood them. Besides, when you all were ready to throw her out on the street, I was there for her."
"You think you should get brownie points for that?" Gunn snapped. "I was there for that kid since the damn day she popped out of her mother. I love Jess like she was my own!"
"Then treat her like it every so damn often!" Spike told him. "No one except her damn parents and me have been letting things get back to normal around her. You, Wesley, Fred, Lorne…you've all been prancing around her like she is the damn enemy since we came back to this hotel. She lost Connor, don't push her out any farther then she already is, because I've known girls like her, and when they snap, it's not pretty for anyone involved."
"What do you mean snap?" Gunn raised an eyebrow.
"I mean, she is exactly like the slayer, except Jess has a temper on her." Spike told him. "Once Buffy feels like you've push her away, she's done with you. She might not say it, might not let you know, but she'll never let you back in. Something big is coming. I can feel it, Angel can feel it, and Jess can feel it. I bet even you can feel it. I don't think this is the time to be having a civil war under our own damn roof, when there is a war against evil out on the bloody streets, are you following me?"
Gunn nodded, realizing Spike was probably right. The group, as a whole, had been pushing away from Jessica, distancing themselves from the young girl since they had arrived back to the hotel, but what else could be expected? She had betrayed them. That wasn't something they were just going to forget about.
"Maybe I should try and talk to her a little bit." Gunn said.
"Yeah. Maybe." Spike turned back to the weapons, and began arranging them.
Gunn realized that was the end of his conversation with Spike so he too went back to work, sweeping the basement floor.
Fred and Wesley entered the lobby with bags of cleaning products in their hands to find Jessica fast asleep on the couch with a sleeping Erin on her stomach. The baby had one thumb in her mouth, and the other little hand tightly gripped to her older sisters navy blue long sleeve shirt.
"They look adorable." Fred whispered to Wesley. Sure, she was still a little hesitant around Jess, but she did not dislike the girl one bite. In fact, she loved Jessica like she was her niece. She was just disappointed in the choices the teenager had made over the past few months.
Wesley nodded. "Come on, let's go find Angel and give him these." He nodded down to the bags in his hands.
Fred nodded, tiptoeing through the lobby with Wesley behind her so that they wouldn't wake up Jessica or Erin. They both made their way into the kitchen to find Angel and Cordelia in the middle of a passionate kiss. Angel's hands were working at the bottom of Cordelia's shirt, fumbling to pull it off of her.
"Wow, sorry." Fred turned, bumping into Wesley who in turn dropped the cleaning supplies.
Cordelia and Angel quickly broke apart, both embarrassed. Cordelia's cheeks turned a bright shade of red as she fixed her shirt and if Angel could blush, he would have.
"You guys are back." Angel stated the obvious.
"Yeah." Wesley said, picking up the cleaning supplies. "We got everything you asked for."
"Thanks." Angel said as he watched Cordelia pick back up the cup of blood she had been bringing Jessica twenty minutes ago.
"I'm just going to go give this to Jess." Cordelia said.
"She's asleep." Wesley told the mother.
"She's supposed to be watching Erin." Angel said quickly, annoyed that Jess wasn't doing what he had asked her to do.
"She's sleeping too." Fred smiled, turning to Cordelia. "Aw, Cordy, they are absolutely adorable out there together. Go look!"
Cordelia laughed at Fred's enthusiasm, nodding. "Okay." She walked outside into the lobby and felt her heartbreak in complete joy as she saw her two daughters fast asleep on the couch. "Angel, come look."
Angel was at her side in a moments notice, and couldn't help the smile that formed on his face as he took in the sight of his two daughters. It was adorable. It was perfect. Suddenly the smile faded from his face. It wasn't perfect. Connor should be there.
"Angel, I don't want to wake them." Cordelia whispered to her husband, snapping him out of his train of thought.
"It's been a long day." Angel said. "We should just let them sleep."
"Well, if you guys don't mind." Fred whispered. "Me and Wes were going to go out to dinner."
"Oh, yeah, go." Cordelia smiled. "You guys deserve it for all the cleaning you've been doing."
"Alright, see you later then." Wesley waved to the group as he led Fred to the door.
Cordelia sighed, picking Erin gently off of Jessica, so she would not wake either of her daughters. "Angel, get Jess up to her room, she's tired."
Angel nodded, gathering Jessica carefully in his arms, and carrying her upstairs behind Cordelia who was carrying Erin to her own room.
Gunn and Spike were still in the basement when they heard the phone ring upstairs. They both looked at each other, but neither moved, both assuming someone upstairs would answer it. By the third ring, Gunn sighed, dropping his broom.
"Why isn't anyone answering it?" Gunn asked.
Spike shrugged. "Maybe no ones up there."
Gunn nodded, making his way up to the lobby with Spike behind him. They entered just in time to see Angel running down the stairs and over to the phone, with Cordelia casually walking down behind her husband.
"Angel Investigations." Angel said into the phone. He then grabbed a note pad and began writing things down. "Yes…yes…no we can take care of that…okay…yeah…got it…okay we'll be there in an hour." He then hung up the phone.
"Who was that?" Cordelia asked.
Angel smiled. "Our first client since we are back here."
"Really?" Gunn was excited. He couldn't wait to get out of the hotel and do some damage back on the streets. He was sick of being inside. "What's the case?"
"Book store down on the college campus. Some big thing laid its eggs in the basement. They had to close the place down." Angel explained.
"Some thing?" Cordelia raised an eyebrow.
"I'm guessing its some kind of demon that needs a dark place for its young to be born." Angel said.
"Dark and quiet." Spike added. "A book store, that's always quiet."
"Could be a coincidence." Gunn offered.
"Or Spike could be right." Angel said. "We should check into it."
"Well, get Wes on the books, and get Jess down here, and we can go kill some demon and its babies." Gunn was anxious to leave.
"Wes is out with Fred." Cordelia said.
"So? Tell him to come home." Gunn said.
"They went to dinner. I'm not going to call him and tell them to cut it short. They deserve a night out." Cordelia told him.
"Fine, fine. Then let's just go kill it." Gunn said.
"Sounds like a plan." Angel looked outside to see the sun was almost set. "We can get moving now."
"Where's Jess?" Spike asked. He knew the young girl would want to be included on their first case where they could actually use a decent amount of force and violence. He could tell she was the type to use action over words any day.
"She's asleep." Cordelia told him. "And we are not waking her up. You guys can handle this. It's just demons eggs."
Angel nodded. "She's right."
"Of coarse I am." Cordelia smiled, fixing the black collar of Angel's shirt. "You guys be careful."
"We will." Angel kissed Cordelia and then pulled her close, whispering in her ear. "And tonight, I want us to spend some alone time."
"Well, we will see what kind of a shape you're in when you get back here, buddy." Cordelia swatted playfully at his arm. "Now get going you guys."
Cordelia sighed as she watched Angel, Spike, and Gunn leave the lobby. She then began picking up all the cleaning supplies Angel and Jess had used on the lobby earlier that day. She wasn't used to the quietness of the lobby now that no one was in there with her. She hadn't had silence like this since Jessica was born. She now realized just how loud her family was.
Suddenly, a loud whistle filled the quiet lobby causing Cordelia to practically jump out of her skin. She whipped around to see Lorne at the bottom of the stairs.
"Sorry, princess." Lorne apologized. "I didn't mean to scare you."
"It's okay." Cordelia said, holding her heart. "I guess it's good I'm immortal. I can't have heart attacks this way."
"Very true." Lorne smiled at her, grabbing his bright yellow jacket that matched his pants.
"Where are you heading?" Cordelia asked.
"I have a meeting with a client." Lorne told her. "Seems the word is back out that I'm doing readings again."
Cordelia nodded with a small smile. "Well, good luck."
"Thanks, sugar. Don't count me in for dinner, I probably won't be back in time." Lorne said as he left.
Cordelia sighed, flopping down on the couch. Lorne's comment had just been a slap in the face to Cordelia. He told her not to count him in for dinner, like she was his mother or something. She wasn't sure when, but at some point, she had gone from vision girl with a baby to the mother hen of the group, and she was sick of it. She remembered when Jessica was still a baby and she was still able to be vision girl, and help with cases, and take care of Jessica. Now, it seemed like all she did was housekeeping. She was determined to change that.
Just then, Cordelia heard Erin's cries fill the lobby. The immortal mother ran a hand through her dark curls and bounced up the stairs, hoping Erin's cries wouldn't wake Jess up.
Angel, Gunn, and Spike made their way toward the bookstore on the college campus. They were supposed to meet the man who called the case into Angel Investigations there, but none of them saw anyone in sight as they approached the building.
"I thought you said our client was meeting us here?" Gunn asked Angel.
"He said he would." Angel told him.
"Well then where in the bloody hell is he?" Spike asked. "It's not like we've got all damn night to kill the demon."
"Dude, let's just go in." Gunn motioned to the bookstore. "So we don't get a pay check? Big deal. I'm in the mood to swing this axe around." Gunn held up the axe he had brought with him
Angel nodded. "Alright, let's go." He then led Spike and Gunn into the basement of the bookstore where they encountered a large demon with horns surrounded by a bunch of eggs, which looked like they were starting to hatch.
"Alright, Angel, you take the momma, me and Spike got the babies." Gunn said as he swung his axe and cracked about a dozen eggs.
"Okay." Angel jumped up at the demon, swinging his sword above his head, only to be knocked back to his feet.
The demon lunged at Angel, but was knocked into a wall, smashing a large pile of its own eggs, by Spike. Angel took the opportunity Spike had given him and in a few quick swings, the demon was dead.
"That was damn easy." Spike said.
"Yeah." Gunn nodded. "I'm pretty sure that anyone who knew enough to call us about that demon could have killed it themselves."
Angel ran a hand through his hair, fixing his spikes. "Yeah. That's weird."
"It's also weird that whoever called us didn't meet us." Gunn added.
Angel nodded. "It's just a weird day, I guess. Come on, let's get back to the hotel."
Cordelia entered Erin's room to find the baby hysterical in her crib. Cordelia made her way over and picked up the crying baby, pulling her daughter close to her chest and then making her way over to the rocking chair in the corner, bouncing the baby in her arms.
"Shh…Erin…Mommy's here…no more crying…we don't want to wake your sister…shh." Cordelia soothed the child in her arms.
After a moment Erin's cries stopped and Cordelia continued rocking the baby, afraid that if she stopped Erin would start crying again. Erin was now calm and decided to grab at Cordelia's necklace, yanking hard, and catching Cordelia off guard and forcing Cordelia's head to jerk.
"Erin Doyle Angel." Cordelia said sternly to the baby. "You let go of Mommy's necklace right now."
Erin seemed to know exactly what she was doing as she yanked on Cordelia's necklace harder.
"Erin." Cordelia warned, trying to get her necklace free from the child's grasp, but it was no use, Erin was strong.
"Whoa there, babe." Jess said, entering the room as she saw what was going on. She quickly grabbed Erin's chubby little hand, and forced the baby to let go of her mother's necklace.
Erin seemed a little disappointed, but quickly found an interest on the small button on her pink tee shirt.
"Thanks." Cordelia smiled up at Jess. "Did Erin wake you?"
Jess shrugged. "It's not a big deal. I shouldn't have fallen asleep anyway."
"You were tired." Cordelia said as she watched Jess take a seat on the floor in front of her.
"So, where is everybody else?" Jess questioned as she stretched out on the floor.
"They went out on a case." Cordelia said as she gently tried to pat Erin's black, sticking up hair, down. So far Cordelia's efforts had been unsuccessful. Erin's hair was exactly like Angel's, except Erin didn't need gel to keep it up.
"Without me?" Jess sounded disappointed.
"We thought it was best if we just let you sleep." Cordelia told her.
"Yeah, or maybe nobody else wanted me to go." Jess mumbled.
"What?" Cordelia asked.
"Just, everybody's been so weird around me. I don't think any of them trust me anymore." Jess told her mother.
"Jess, that's not true." Cordelia tried to comfort her oldest daughter, although she could definitely sense the tension that filled the room every time Jess entered it. Wesley, Fred, Lorne, and Gunn all seemed on edge around her daughter, like they didn't forgive her. Cordelia was unsure why. Jess had taken her and Angel's son from them, and they had both forgiven their daughter. Sure, the pain of losing Connor would never go away, but Cordelia would not blame Jessica for it. Not when she had eternity to spend with Jess and Angel, and hopefully Erin because of the immortal blood she had received from both Cordelia and Angel.
"You know it is, mom." Jess said as she sat up. "But whatever. I don't care anymore. They want to be like that it's fine. I don't need them."
"Jess…" Cordelia started, but was cut off by the doorbell.
"Client?" Jess raised an eyebrow, wondering who would ring the doorbell instead of just walking into the hotel.
"I'm not sure." Cordelia stood, shifting Erin, who was now done playing with her button and had moved on to the bottom of her small shirt. "Let's go see."
Jess nodded, following her mother down the stairs. When they got to the bottom, Cordelia moved to the door, opening it, only to find no one on the other side.
"No one's here." Cordelia said, balancing Erin in one arm, and taking a better look outside to ensure no one was there.
"Weird." Jess said, taking a seat on the counter.
Cordelia nodded in agreement, moving to the couch and taking a seat, preparing to feed Erin.
Suddenly, Jess felt as though someone was watching them. She hopped off the counter, looking out the window. "Whoever was there didn't leave yet."
"What?" Cordelia asked, quickly covering her breast and moving Erin closer to her chest.
"Someone's out there." Jess motioned outside.
Cordelia stood, cautiously, a few feet behind her oldest daughter as Jess made her way closer to the door, grabbing a small sword from the side of the weapons cabinet as she inched her way along.
"Jess, be careful." Cordelia warned.
Jess nodded, slowly sliding up next to the door. "Mom, get the hell outta here if something big and nasty comes through this door."
"I'm part demon." Cordelia reminded her daughter.
"I know, but just make sure Erin's safe." Jess said, and before her mother could answer, she lunged out the door, grabbing someone out of the dark and pulling them into the lobby.
Whoever Jess had grabbed struggled for a moment in her grasp, and Jess could tell the person was strong, no the man was strong. She knew it was a man. They would have given Jess a fair fight, had she not been ready for him. Jess quickly jerked the man into the lobby, watching him fly up against the wall and collapse. She then took a step forward.
"What the hell is your deal? What are you doing here? And give me three good reasons why I shouldn't be kicking your ass into that wall." Jess approached the person, ready to take a swing.
But as the man lifted his head, he didn't even need to give Jess one reason not to touch him again. His face alone gave her a thousand reasons.
Jess staggered back, away from him, barely able to breathe his name out. "Connor…"