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 72Jessica grumbled as she tried to bury her head in her pillow. Erin's screams had filled the hallway and were now making their way into Jessica's bedroom. Jess looked at her clock to see it was only six in the morning. She sighed, flopping onto her stomach, and hoping someone would pick Erin up soon so the baby would stop crying.
A minute later Erin's cries did not stop, and Jessica heard her bedroom door creek open. She lifted her head off her pillow to see her father standing in her doorframe with a clearly distressed Erin in his arms. Jess looked her father over for a minute, as Erin continued to cry. Angel was standing there in a pair of shorts and his hair was flat, except for a few pieces sticking straight up in the back of his head. Jess had never seen her father with bed head before and she found it to be quite a funny sight.
"What's up?" Jess asked her father, still half asleep.
"Your mom's sleeping. I don't want to wake her." Angel said. "Erin won't be quiet."
"So? What do you want me to do?" Jess asked, flopping back down into her pillow.
"Well, you're a girl." Angel said, closing Jessica's bedroom door quickly so Erin's cries did not wake up anyone else in the hotel.
"So?" Jess asked, yawning and trying to ignore her screaming little sister.
"So, I thought maybe she would be quiet for you." Angel told his oldest daughter as he took a seat on the edge of her bed.
Jess sighed, sitting up next to her father. "I see less of her then you do." Jess motioned to Erin. "If she isn't quiet for you, she sure ain't gonna be quiet for me."
"Well, it's early." Angel reasoned. "You kind of look like your mom, maybe the resemblance will be enough to keep her quiet until your mom does wake up."
"Yeah, that would work…if Erin was blind." Jess snorted.
Angel sighed, looking down at Erin as tears fell down her cheeks. He hated to see any of his children upset, but he hated it even more when he couldn't comfort them. "Erin, please stop crying for Daddy…" Angel asked the screaming baby in his arms.
Erin squirmed in her father's grasp, her cries never fading.
"Well, she's got a set of lungs on her, that's fore sure." Jess said, getting out of her bed, and grabbing a white tank top and a pair of jeans from her closet, and then making her way into her bathroom.
Angel sighed, as he heard the shower running from Jessica's bathroom. He looked down at Erin to see she had calmed down a little bit. "That's it, Erin, no more crying. Especially since your sister just blew off helping me with you to take a shower." He stood. "Well, we don't need her, do we? Come on, Daddy will take you downstairs and show you his new sword, how's that sound?"
Erin swatted at her father's arm and then put her thumb in her mouth, visibly over her entire screaming fest.
Jess let the cold water from the shower run down her back. For a normal person the water would have chilled them to the bone, but not Jessica. She was like her father in more then just the dark eyes and brooding personality departments, since her body didn't give off heat, she didn't need heat, so she didn't understand why she would run hot water when she could just as easily run cold. It woke her up better anyway.
Jessica turned the water off, and moved to grab a towel, when suddenly someone outside of the shower handed her one. She took the towel, and quickly wrapped it around her, opening the shower door to find Spike standing there, a smirk on his face.
"Spike! What the hell are you doing in here?" Jessica tried to keep her voice low. It had been a week since she and Spike had kissed in the kitchen, and she was trying to avoid him and their kiss at all costs. It was just awkward, but not as awkward as him being in her bathroom while she was standing there in a towel.
"We need to talk, pet." Spike smiled at her.
"Now?" Jessica seemed annoyed.
"Well, I'd prefer you to be dressed, otherwise we might not actually ever get to talking." Spike eyed Jessica up. She definitely looked hot standing there in her towel.
Jessica glared at Spike. "Let me get dressed." She then pushed the blonde vampire out of her bathroom, and swiftly shut the door once he was out of the room. She sighed, quickly getting dressed, semi-annoyed that Spike had come into her bathroom while she was taking a shower, and sort of happy to see him. Her feelings for the blonde vampire were getting more complicated as each day passed, and part of her wished she could be with him, and another part of her, the smarter part, told her to forget about Spike and call Kyle. She hadn't talked to Nina's nephew in months, but she wouldn't lie. She would love to see the werewolf's nephew again.
Cordelia woke up to a small shred of sunlight that was making its way into her and Angel's bedroom. At first, she smiled to feel the sun's rays on her face, and then, she panicked, tossing over in bed to make sure the sunlight wouldn't hit Angel, only to find that Angel wasn't there.
Cordelia sat up, looking around the room to make sure she didn't find a pile of dust that was her husband. When she noticed her bedroom door was partially opened, she relaxed, realizing Angel must have been up already. She looked over at the clock to see it was already eight o'clock. She quickly got out of bed, and made her way down the hall to Erin's room to find the baby's crib empty.
"Well, I guess Daddy got you up this morning, Erin." Cordelia sighed at the empty crib, and turned out of the room, accidentally bumping into Connor who was making his way down the hall.
"Sorry, Mom." Connor said, as he bumped off Cordelia. "I didn't see you."
"It's fine." Cordelia smiled at her son, noticing he was already dressed for the day. "Were you up early?"
Connor shrugged. "Well, I heard Erin wake up around six, so I just got up and got ready. I figured I'd head down to my dorm room today and clean it out."
"Clean it out?" Cordelia raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
"Because, being a part of this business and family is more important then college." Connor looked down at his hands.
"Connor, you're father and I don't want you quitting school because you suddenly remember us." Cordelia told her son. "You should finish college up."
"Well, we don't really have the money right now…" Connor started.
"Screw the money." Cordelia told him. "If you want to stay in college we will figure it out. We'll make it work."
"It's fine, Mom." Connor told her. "Really. I don't know how much I really like it anymore, anyway."
"Connor…" Cordelia started, but was cut off by Erin's cries coming from downstairs. Cordelia sighed, looking down at the stairs, and then back at Connor.
"You better go get her." Connor spoke of Erin.
Cordelia nodded. "Connor, we will talk about this whole quitting college thing later on, okay?"
Connor nodded. "Okay." He then watched his mother quickly make her way down the stairs and into the lobby.
Gunn, Lorne, Wesley, and Fred walked into the garden of the Hyperion Hotel to hear Erin's screams coming from inside. The four of them had decided to go out to breakfast since Angel was having a hard time keeping Erin quiet that particular morning.
"That kid is still crying." Gunn shook his head, laughing slightly. "I can't believe that."
"Well, she did inherit a big mouth from Cordelia." Lorne joked, only to be socked in the stomach by Fred.
"Lorne, that's not funny." Fred glared at Lorne.
"I was just joking." Lorne said.
"Besides, Cordy does have a big mouth sometimes." Gunn agreed with Lorne. "I mean, I love her to death but…"
"Alright, enough with the Cordelia bashing." Wesley defended the ex-cheerleader.
"We aren't bashing." Gunn defended himself and Lorne. "We are just stating some facts here. When Cordelia opens her mouth, everyone hears her. No one said that was a bad thing."
Fred just sighed, stopping short of the hotel doors, and listening to Erin's screams coming from inside. She then turned back to the group. "Do we really want to go in there right now with a screaming baby?"
"You were just defending that baby's mouth." Gunn pointed out.
"No. I was defending Cordelia because you all said she had a big mouth and I said that's not a nice thing to say, I didn't say that Cordelia couldn't scream." Fred said, and then turned looked at Wesley. "Or her daughter for that matter."
"Okay." Wesley grabbed Fred by the hand. "Why don't we all just go out? Somewhere, anywhere? Anywhere away from the screaming baby inside that hotel." He pointed to the Hyperion.
"Sounds good to me." Lorne said.
"Me too." Gunn nodded in agreement as he led the other three members of Angel Investigations out of the garden.
Jess made her way out of her bathroom to find Spike sitting comfortably on her bed, a smile on his face.
"Okay." Jess sighed, leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom. "What do you want to talk about?'
"Well, first off, the past week, you've been avoiding me." Spike started.
"No, I haven't."
"Yes, you have."
"No."
"Yes."
"Fine. Maybe a little."
"Why?"
"Because it's totally weird."
"Weird?" Spike raised an eyebrow. "How is it bloody weird?"
"You and I kissed." Jess reminded him. "Remember?"
Spike nodded. "Yeah, I remember."
"So, it's not weird for you?" Jess asked.
Spike shrugged. "It's not like we haven't kissed before." The truth was, it was weird for Spike. He still completely had feelings for Buffy, but for some reason, he had a feeling he might not ever get the chance to be with Buffy again. Maybe he should just move on. But he wasn't sure if he was attracted to Jessica because of who she was, or because of the fact that she reminded him so much of Buffy.
"Okay, so that's it?" Jess asked. "We just pretend it didn't happen?" She was a little hurt that Spike wanted to act like their kiss had meant nothing, but then again, she wasn't sure if it had meant anything at all.
"Works for me." Spike lied.
"Me too." Jess also lied.
"Second thing." Spike moved on. "We haven't heard anything from Wolfram and Hart, have we?"
"No." Jess told him. "Why?"
"Because me and your father beat the hell out of Lindsey. Well, mostly your father."
"So?"
"So, don't you think they'd be pissed? Come after us?" Spike asked.
"Maybe they just finally realized to just stay away from us." Jess seemed to laugh at her own words.
"You honestly believe that?" Spike raised an eyebrow.
After a moment, Jessica took a deep breath. "No."
"Me neither." Spike told her. "Not to mention the fact that I keep getting this nagging feeling that something big is about to happen."
"I know. I've got it too." Jess sighed. "I wish I knew why."
"You think something is coming?" Spike asked.
Jess nodded. "I do."
"So, what's the plan then?" Spike asked.
"We should talk to my dad." Jess said as she moved to the door.
"Great…" Spike mumbled to himself as he stood and followed Jessica out of her bedroom.
Cordelia made her way into the lobby to find Angel sitting on the couch with a rather upset Erin in his arms. She looked at Angel, and then back at her crying daughter, and realized Angel looked worse then the baby. Apparently, her husband had a long morning.
"Who is so upset down here?" Cordelia's voice was soft as she spoke.
Erin immediately calmed down once she heard her mother's voice.
"She's been crying on and off all morning." Angel said as he handed Erin to Cordelia.
"Have you, baby girl?" Cordelia smiled down at Erin, who snuggled close to her mother. Cordelia ran her hand over Erin's face, gently trying to wipe up the baby's tears.
"I don't know why." Angel looked at his hands. He felt helpless. He couldn't even get his own daughter to stop crying. When had he lost his parenting skills? He used to be the only one who could stop Jess from crying, and he had gotten pretty good with stopping Connor's screams, but Erin, he just couldn't stop her tears.
Cordelia could see that Angel was upset, so she took a seat next to her husband, wrapping one arm around him while balancing Erin in the other. She gently kissed his shoulder. "She just cries sometimes. I don't know why either."
"She stops once you come in here." Angel looked like a wounded puppy as he spoke.
Cordelia tried not to laugh at Angel's facial expression. It was the cutest thing she had ever seen. "Look, its only because I spend so much time with her, and that's not your fault. You've been busy."
"I used to be able to help you with Jess and Connor." Angel pointed out.
"And you still do." Cordelia told him. "Believe me, if you didn't keep an eye on those two there is no way I could give Erin so much time."
"Still…" Angel looked over at Erin who seemed to see that her father was hurting.
Out of nowhere, Erin stretched her little arm out the best she could, grasping her small fingers around Angel's thumb. She smiled up at her father, and Angel was sure that if his heart beat it would have stopped right there.
"See." Cordelia smiled at Erin and then at Angel. "Erin loves her Daddy very much."
"And her Daddy loves her." Angel tickled Erin's stomach and the baby squirmed with laughter.
"Dad?" Jessica's voice filled the lobby.
"What's up?" Angel looked up to see his oldest daughter and Spike enter the room.
"We need to talk." Jess told him.
Lindsey had finally left the hospital two days ago, and was now living with Eve in Jessica's old penthouse. His arm was in a sling, and he would be lucky if he ever got full rotation back in it.
He sat at the table, struggling to open a bag of chips, when Eve walked in with a big smile on her face.
"Here, I'll get that." Eve moved and opened the bag for Lindsey.
"Thanks." Lindsey grumbled. He was beyond angry at Angel. This was the second injury the lawyer had sustained from the vampire. Years ago, it had been the loss of his hand, which he had gotten back, and now it was his shoulder. He wanted nothing more then to stake Angel for what he had done.
"How are you feeling?" Eve asked.
"I've been better." Lindsey told her.
"Well, I have some news that could make your day a little better." Eve kissed Lindsey.
Lindsey smiled up at Eve. "What?"
"We're ready for the first attack." Eve whispered in his ear.
Lindsey smile lit up, he turned to face Eve. "You mean…"
"The Senior Partner's are ready to start the apocalypse that will tear Angel Investigations apart, and change this world as we know it." Eve grinned. "This is the beginning of Angel and his family's end."
Lindsey smiled, pulling Eve close to him with his good arm and giving her a long, hard kiss. This was it. The Senior Partners were ready to exterminate Angel Investigations for good. After years of fighting the vampire with a soul and the close group of people who he called his family, Wolfram and Hart had had enough. The world would finally be rid of its champions, seer, and good doers, and L.A. would once again belong to Wolfram and Hart. Lindsey couldn't wait.
Angel raised an eyebrow as he watched Jessica and Spike take a seat across from him and Cordelia, who was bouncing Erin in her arms. He could tell something was going on between them, he just wasn't sure if it was because something actually was going on, or because Spike just had a way of making people feel awkward. Angel decided that if anything was going on between Spike and his daughter, then he would just stake Spike and that would be that.
"So, what's up?" Cordelia broke Angel's train of thought as she spoke to Jess and Spike.
Jess and Spike looked at each other, and then back at Cordelia and Angel.
"Well…it's just…we've been thinking…" Jess started.
"And we think that something is coming." Spike finished Jessica's sentence.
"What do you mean?" Angel raised an eyebrow.
"Just a gut feeling." Jess said. "I've had it for awhile." She looked at her parents. "You guys can't tell me you can't feel it. I know you can."
Angel sighed. Jess was right, he had the same feeling his daughter and Spike did, but as far as he was concerned, that was all it was, just a feeling. "Maybe, but its still just a feeling."
"Okay, fine, maybe something isn't coming." Jess offered. "Still, we've got the problem of Wolfram and Hart."
"What problem with them?" Cordelia asked. "They've been leaving us alone."
"How long do you think that will keep up?" Jess asked her mother.
"Who cares?" Cordelia asked. "They aren't bothering us now, so why do we have to bother them? What is with this family and always wanting to start fights with people?" Cordelia's temper seemed to be rising.
"Cordy…" Angel wrapped an arm around his wife's shoulders, trying to calm her down.
"No, Angel." Cordelia shrugged his arm away from her. "I'm serious. No one in this house is content unless they are fighting with someone or something or swinging a weapon around." Cordelia stood, moving Erin up to her shoulder. "Why can't we for once be content with just having some normal family time?" She then turned toward the stairs.
"Cordy, we…I…" Angel tried, but it was too late. Cordelia was already up the stairs, and a moment later, everyone in the lobby heard Erin's bedroom door slam shut.
"Great." Angel shook his head. "Now she's angry."
"She'll get over it." Jess told her father. "Right now, we need to seriously focus on Wolfram and Hart and this feeling we are all having."
"No." Angel stood. "You're mother's right, Wolfram and Hart is leaving us alone right now, so why should we stir things up? And about that feeling, like I said before, it's just that. A feeling. We can't do anything about it until something actually happens."
"Dad…" Jess started, as Angel made his way to the stairs
"Look." Angel turned to face his daughter and Spike. "Why don't you two go find something to do? Clean the weapons or something? Right now, I need to go talk to your mother."
Jess sighed, as she watched Angel make his way out of the lobby. She then turned to Spike. "Well, I guess it's just you and me then." She stood.
"Where are you going?" Spike asked.
"We are going to take the sewers over to Wolfram and Hart." Jess said.
"What?" Spike was confused, but he followed Jessica down the basement stairs anyway.
"If something is coming, and they have anything to do with it, I want to know." Jess said.
"Last time we went in there, they practically killed us all." Spike reminded her.
"I know." Jess nodded. "That's why we are both going, hopefully one of us will make it back."
Spike was at a loss of words as Jessica began to make her way through the sewers. Had she actually just said that one of them might not make it back from this trip? Spike wasn't sure, but he had a feeling that Jessica's instincts about whatever was coming were a lot sharper then his. Maybe something worse then he could imagine was really on its way.
As Angel made his way down the hall to Erin's room he passed Connor, who was making his way to the lobby.
"Where you headed to?" Angel asked his son.
"Just out." Connor shrugged. "I got some stuff to do, and I figured it was such a nice day out." Connor motioned to the window at the opposite end of the hallway where sunlight was pouring in.
"Yeah…" Angel dug his hands into his pockets as he gazed at the sun, the sun he would never be able to walk in until he reached his Shanshu; if he reached it.
"Well, I'll see you later." Connor said as he made his way past his father.
"Right. Just be home for dinner." Angel said.
"I will." Connor assured his father.
Angel watched his son walk down the stairs, and then continued on his way to Erin's room to talk to Cordelia.
Lindsey and Eve stood by a window in their penthouse, watching the afternoon sunlight shine over the streets below them. They watched the scene for a few more minutes, and then Eve checked her watch, smiling up at Lindsey.
"It's almost two o'clock." Eve told Lindsey, as she checked her watch. It was 1:56 PM.
Lindsey grinned back at her. "And at two the world will remember the darkness that Beast caused over a year ago."
Eve nodded. "And the show will really begin."
"Angel Investigations won't know what hit them." Lindsey agreed with Eve. "First, the sun goes out, then the demons who live here in this lovely city will crawl out, and then, when Angel and his little team who like to pretend to be superheroes are trying to deal with all of that, the Senior Partners release their army."
"Angel won't stand a chance." Eve smiled.
"Against Wolfram and Hart's army?" Lindsey kissed Eve on her head. "Not a chance. An army of demons who crawled straight out of hell, that's what the Senior Partner's are releasing on this city. Every evil creature going straight after Angel Investigations. I'd like to see Angel and his little family try and fight their way out of this."
Eve nodded, cuddling close to Lindsey, as they watched the clock strike two o'clock. They then both looked up at the sun, watching its light fade away and darkness fall over the land. This was it.