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 69Cordelia, Jess, and Connor rounded the corner to find themselves staring up at the building of Wolfram and Hart. Jess looked around to see that very few lights inside the building were on. She looked at her watched to see that it was close to four in the morning. She remembered most of the employees, when she ran the law firm, leaving at around six o'clock at night for dinner and what not. She knew very few people were working in the building at this hour, and she assumed that the ones who were a threat to her, Cordelia, and Connor would be keeping a watchful eye on Angel, Spike, Gunn and Wesley.
"So, what is the plan?" Jess turned to her mother.
Cordelia looked up at the building and then back at her children. "I'm not really sure."
"Well, what are we dealing with here?" Connor asked. "Maybe we will have a better idea of what to do if we know what we are looking at."
Cordelia sighed, thinking about her vision, and what was going to happen to Angel, Wesley, Gunn, and Spike if they couldn't figure out a way to save them. She decided it would be better not to tell her children what they were dealing with, she was afraid it would scare them. "I think we better just focus on getting in there."
"That bad, huh?" Jess seemed to know her mother too well.
"We should just get in there." Cordelia ignored Jessica's direct question.
"And fast." Connor added, pointing to the broken glass all over the steps up to the building from the window Spike had dropped.
"What is that?" Jessica approached the glass.
"It's broken glass." Connor said.
"Jess, be careful!" Cordelia warned her daughter as she watched the young girl approach the shatter glass.
"What a mom…" Jess mumbled to herself as she bent down next to the broken glass. "Where did this come from?"
"Up there." Connor pointed to the opening in the side of the building that the window should have been in.
Jessica's eyes grew wide as she stared up at the building. "That's Gunn's office." She turned back to her mother and brother. "This looks like it could be bad."
"So we need a plan." Connor said.
"Yeah, and here it is." Jess told them. "We go in there, and we start busting heads until someone tells us where everyone is."
"Jess, that's exactly the kind of thinking that got your father into this situation in the first place." Cordelia said to her daughter. "Except the thing with you and your father is that neither one of you do think, you just do."
"So what?" Jess asked. "Do you have a better plan?"
Cordelia sighed, thinking hard. She didn't really have a better plan, all she knew was they had to get to Angel and the rest of the fang gang. "No…"
"Then it's settled, my plan wins. Let's go." Jess said, moving up the steps swiftly with Connor and Cordelia following her.
Eve and Lindsey led the way down to the basement of Wolfram and Hart as the guards dragged Angel, Wesley, Gunn, and Spike down the hall. They had tied up the four members of Angel Investigations and two guard held stakes to Angel and Spikes hearts while two others held guns to Wesley and Gunn's chest. When they made it down to the basement the guards chained the four men to the wall, and moved to all the doors, guarding them against anyone who wanted to enter or exit the basement.
Eve and Lindsey then stepped forward, smiling evilly at Angel, Spike, Gunn, and Wesley.
"So, boys." Eve spoke up. "We figured you'd drop by sooner or later."
"We were actually expecting later to be honest. Didn't think you'd be so quick to forget our threat on your lives." Lindsey added.
"We didn't forget." Angel growled at him. "We just don't really see you as much of a problem for us."
"I'll bet." Lindsey said as he decked Angel across the face, causing Angel to vamp out for a second.
When Angel's face relaxed again he clenched his jaw. "Remember, Lindsey, the minute I get out of here, I'm a hell of a lot stronger then you are."
"Yes, except for the fact that you won't be get out of here." Lindsey told him with a slight chuckle.
"Like no ones going to come look for us." Gunn said. "Do you really believe that?"
"No. I believe they will come look for you." Lindsey told him, as he pulled a long sword out of one of the guard's holsters. "And when they do, they are dead."
"You'll be the dead one, mate." Spike threatened him. "Jess will rip your throat out."
"We'll see about that. Actually, no I'll see about that. You won't be alive to see anything." Lindsey ran the blade of the sword gently across Angel's chest, slicing open his black button up shirt, and cutting Angel's chest a little. He then did the same to Spike and stopped at Wesley and Gunn. "I wonder who bleeds more, vampires…" He glanced over at Spike and Angel. "Or humans." His eyes feel back on Wesley and Gunn.
"We should find out." Eve smirked.
"Yeah, we should." Lindsey agreed as he sliced both Gunn and Wesley's chest, watching them both wince in pain.
"Wow." Wesley said, trying to mask his pain. "I'm so glad you are able to hurt us when we can't fight back. Makes you a real man."
"Shut up." Lindsey barked at the Englishman.
"What do you want with us, Lindsey?" Angel asked.
"Well, I want you dead, but as I researched you over the years, Angel." Lindsey said smugly. "I ran across information on Angelus. It seems you were the master of torture back in your day. I thought maybe we could try some of your own tactics against you." Lindsey smiled, and looked over to Eve. "What do you think, Eve?"
"I think it sounds good." Eve smiled as she handed Lindsey a hot poker that she had heated in the furnace on the far end of the basement.
Jessica, Cordelia, and Connor made their way up the elevator of Wolfram and Hart and into the main lobby of the building to find it empty, except for one familiar blonde vampire who was sitting at her desk.
"Harmony." Jess growled, moving closer to Harmony's desk.
Harmony looked up, a confused look on her face. "Jess?"
"You've got five seconds to tell us where my Dad and Spike and Wes and Gunn are." Jess threatened her, grabbing a stake out of her mother's bag.
"I don't work for you anymore." Harmony stuck her tongue out at Jessica. "You can't boss me around."
"No. But I can stake you." Jess said, waving the stake in the air. "Duh."
Connor looked over at Jess with a look of confusion. "Just stake her already."
Jess shrugged. "Fine." She turned to see Harmony's eyes grow wide in fear.
"Hold on." Cordelia grabbed the stake from Jessica's hand. "If you stake her, she can't tell us where everyone is."
"Yeah." Harmony agreed with Cordelia nervously. "You need me."
"Not if you don't tell us what we need to know." Jess rolled her eyes as she stepped closer to Harmony.
Again, Cordelia grabbed Jessica's arm. "Harmony, just tell us what we need to know or I will let Jess stake you."
"No need for that." Harmony put her hands up in defense. "But if I tell you, you can't tell Lindsey or Eve I did. I so need to keep this job."
"Fine, deal." Cordelia said to her former friend.
"What? No deal. Kill her." Connor said.
"Yeah." Jess agreed. "Let me kill her."
"Kids." Cordelia warned, and watched as both her children immediately shut up. She then turned back to Harmony. "Harmony, where is Angel and everyone?"
"Basement." Harmony said. "Lindsey and Eve were going to torture them or something. I'm not really sure."
"Okay then." Jess clapped her hands together, worried about her father, and Spike, as well as Gunn and Wesley. "Let's move."
Cordelia nodded, as she and Connor followed Jessica to the basement door.
Fred and Lorne sat in the lobby watching Erin in the portable crib Cordelia kept set up in the lobby so she could keep an eye on Erin during the day. The child was sound asleep, sucking her thumb, while her other hand laid on top of her little stomach.
Fred sighed, leaning back into the couch. "Erin looks a lot like Jessica used to when she sleeps."
Lorne nodded. "Except for the fact that Erin has hair as straight as a ruler, and Jessica has those amazing curls from Cordelia."
"Yeah." Fred agreed. "It will be weird when they all get back here, and everything gets back to normal."
"Who?" Lorne was confused.
"Everyone." Fred shrugged.
"You mean when Connor gets back here." Lorne knew exactly what Fred had meant before the Texan had even said it.
"It's just weird he showed up like that." Fred said truthfully. "Out of nowhere he gets his memory back."
Lorne nodded in agreement. "Well, hopefully Angel will get back here in one piece and with that contract so we will all understand why Connor is back with us."
"Yeah." Fred sighed, her eyes again falling on Erin, but her thoughts drifting back to Wesley. She hoped he was safe and that Cordelia, Connor, and Jess would get to Angel, Spike, Gunn, and Wesley in time to save them. "Hopefully they will all get back."
Lindsey watched the expressions on Spike's, Wesley's, and Gunn's faces as he scorched Angel's bare chest with the hot poker. He looked up at Angel, to see that the dark haired vampire had a glaring stare at him, but did not wince in pain at all.
"Well, Angel, I'm impressed. You're not even moving a muscle." Lindsey said.
"Doesn't even hurt." Angel told him, although he was lying. He was in pain, real pain, but he wouldn't let Lindsey know that, not if he planned on getting out of there, and he did plan on that.
"Well, that's too bad." Eve sighed, looking over at Lindsey. "Maybe we should make it hotter?"
Lindsey nodded, moving to the fire to heat the poker more.
"I can't wait to get out of these bloody chains and rattle your damn necks!" Spike threatened Lindsey and Eve.
"You won't get out of them." Eve told him smugly.
"You do realize the rest of my damn family is looking for us, right?" Angel asked.
"It doesn't matter." Lindsey said, returning with the hot poker. "Because they won't be able to find you. Not until it's too late anyway."
"Let's rethink that." Jessica's voice filled the basement, as she swiftly took out two guards, with Cordelia and Connor filing in behind her.
"Take care of them." Lindsey motioned the rest of the guards over to Jessica, Cordelia, and Connor.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Angel's eyes narrowed at Cordelia. He didn't want to see her get hurt, and he was afraid that's what was going to happen to her. He also didn't understand why Jessica would allow Cordelia to come with her to their rescue. Once he got out of there, he and Jessica were definitely having a discussion about allowing Cordelia to go out and fight.
"Saving your butt, buddy." Cordelia told her husband, as she pulled out her crossbow and shot it at an oncoming guard.
Seeing the one guard Cordelia shot go down, two other guards quickly ran at Cordelia, prepared to knock her down. Jessica, however, deflected the two guards by throwing her entire body at them, knocking them into a wall. Connor turned and quickly kicked a guard coming up behind them, as Cordelia struggled to get one of the guards off of Jessica.
"Just kill them!" Eve barked at the guards struggling under Jess, Connor, and Cordelia's grasps.
"Please." Jess growled, as her face transformed into her vampire visage. She quickly bit into one of the guards who had tackled her as the other one struggled against Cordelia.
Connor moved swiftly, just like Angel moved, across the room to Cordelia's side, knocking the guard away from her and onto the floor, he then gave the guard a good kick across the face, watching the Wolfram and Hart employee fall unconsciously to the floor.
"Well, can't say that was hard." Jess said, transforming her face back to its human form, only to see the disapproval and disgust in all of her family member's eyes at how she had bitten into the guard. They did not like when she used her vampire features to beat the enemy, and that was clearly seen in the glances they shot at her.
"I didn't expect them to be able to put up much of a fight against you." Lindsey shrugged at the bodies of the guards that were all over the floor.
"Let us go you bloody idiot!" Spike barked from his spot as he pulled at his chains.
Lindsey looked at Eve who seemed to look a little worried. He sighed, tossing Jessica the keys to the chains that bounded Angel, Wesley, Spike, and Gunn to the wall. "Here. Just let us walk out of here."
Jessica's eyes seemed to glow yellow for a minute, and Angel noticed.
"Jess, let them go." Angel told his daughter. The last thing he wanted to do was put his family in any more danger then they were in, and he had a feeling that if he didn't let Lindsey and Eve leave, something bad would happen to his family.
Jess went to argue, but was cut off by Connor.
"Jess, just let's get everyone out of here safe." Connor tried to reason with his sister, causing everyone in the room to raise an eyebrow. The Connor they remembered coming back from Quortoth never reasoned with others or cared much about anything but fighting, it was all he had known. Now Connor was the sensible one out of the two Angel children.
Jess nodded, giving Cordelia the keys to unlock Angel and Wesley, giving Connor the key to unlock Gunn, and keeping the key used to unlock Spike. She moved toward the blonde vampire, and went to unlock his chains, her back to Lindsey and Eve.
It was the perfect opportunity for Lindsey. He needed to make the first move against Angel Investigations if the Senior Partner's expected to wage war on their enemy. Jessica's back was to him, and no one else would be able to see what he was doing, or stop him in time, even if they could see him. Jess wouldn't even be able to defend herself.
Lindsey quickly picked up one of the swords from a fallen Wolfram and Hart guard and before anyone in the room realized what was going on, he ran Jessica through with it.
"Jess!" Angel managed out as he watched his daughter stare down at the end of the sword that was sticking through her abandoned. He had seen Lindsey pick the sword up; he just hadn't been able to react fast enough.
Jess smiled up weakly at her father, as she examined the blood that was on her hand as she placed it over the wound in her stomach, she then fell to her knees weakly.
"Jessica!" Cordelia rushed forward, gathering Jessica up in her arms, and holding her daughter up in a sitting position, so she would not be able to fall down onto the sword and cause any more damage to herself.
Connor took in the scene in front of him, his mother cradling his mortally wounded sister in her arms. He saw the tears streaming down Cordelia's face as she rocked Jessica in her arms as if the teenage girl were just a small child. He watched as Angel rushed forward, gathering both Jessica and Cordelia in his strong arms, and Connor saw Wesley, Gunn, and Spike all looked over at Lindsey, rage in their eyes.
Connor suddenly felt rage rip through his body. He turned to Lindsey, ready to kill the man who had hurt his sister. "You're dead."
Lindsey smiled smugly. "No, I'm not."
And before anyone could stop him, Lindsey had grabbed Eve's hand and taken off up the stairs, Connor went to follow him, but Angel's voice stopped him.
"Connor, not now." Angel told his son, as he slowly examined the sword lodged in Jessica's stomach.
"Get us out of here." Wesley instructed Connor as he referred to the chains that were still bounding him, Spike, and Gunn to the wall.
Connor found himself nodding numbly as he moved and unlocked Wesley, Spike, and Gunn's chains, his eyes then fell back on Jessica, Cordelia, and Angel. "Is she going to be okay?"
"I'm…fine…" Jessica managed out, through a clenched jaw.
"You gotta get that sword out of her, Angel." Gunn told him.
Angel nodded. "I know. I know." He looked over at Cordelia. "Hold her steady, Cordy."
Cordelia looked blankly at Angel. "What?"
"Hold Jess." Angel told her, as he clamped his hands around the sword that was sticking through Jessica. "Jess, I'm going to pull this out, okay?"
Jess nodded, weakly, closing her eyes.
"It'll hurt for a second." Angel warned her.
"Do it!" Jess said with all her strength.
Angel nodded, yanking the sword out of Jessica in one swift, painful, pull.
Jess immediately collapsed into Cordelia, her blood spilling all over her and her mother.
"She's bleeding." Connor's eyes grew wide as he stated the obvious.
"Too much." Wesley commented, moving toward Jessica, and applying pressure to her stomach wound. "We've got to get her out of here."
"And to a hospital." Spike said.
"No hospital." Angel told him, pulling Jessica up and into his arms.
"What? Angel, we have to!" Cordelia panicked, tears in her eyes as she took in the shape of her first-born child, bleeding to death in her husbands arms.
"She's part demon." Angel told them. "Her blood isn't normal. Any hospital will be able to see that. We take her to one, we might never get her back."
Spike nodded, understanding. "We need to get her back to the hotel, patch her up, and get some damn blood into her."
Angel nodded.
"Well move it, or she might not make it back there!" Cordelia's voice was filled with worry and panic as she watched the color slowly drain from Jessica's cheeks.
Angel nodded again, swiftly moving up the steps, with Jessica in his arms and everyone else behind him. He looked down at his blood soaked shirt, but it wasn't his blood on it, it was Jessica's. His own injuries were nothing compared to the massive hole in his daughter's stomach.
As he watched Jessica's blood continue to seep through her shirt and onto his own, Angel promised her silently, whether she made it or not, that he would kill Lindsey for what he had done to her. He would kill everyone and everything associated with Wolfram and Hart.