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 78Cordelia awoke to the familiar sound of Erin's cries. She sighed, moving her head off of Angel's bare chest, and gently getting out of bed, scrambling to find her cloths that Angel had taken off of her last night. Once she had thrown her tee shirt on, and Angel's boxers, she looked over at Angel, still asleep in bed.
Cordelia smiled softly, taking in the sight of Angel and hoping it wouldn't be her last morning to wake up in his arms. She moved to the door, quietly, not wanting to disturb her sleeping husband, but her plan failed. Angel had vampire hearing.
"Where are you going?" Angel called out softly.
"Erin's crying." Cordelia replied.
"Bring her back in here, I want to see her." Angel smiled at Cordelia.
"Put some pants on first." Cordelia smiled back at the vampire she loved, before making her way down the hall to Erin's room.
Cordelia entered Erin's room to find her youngest daughter squirming and crying softly in her crib. Cordelia's heart broke to hear her child sob. She quickly made her way over to Erin's crib, scooping the baby up in her arms.
"Erin, don't cry, Mommy's here." Cordelia said as she wiped up the tears from the five-month-old's face.
Erin buried her head into Cordelia's chest, and Cordelia wanted to join her daughter in her tear session, as the reality of the moment hit Cordelia. If Angel, Jess, and Connor didn't make it through the apocalypse they would face later that day, Cordelia was holding the only family she would have left. Her and Erin, alone.
"This could be my life…" Cordelia mumbled slowly as she gazed down at Erin. "Erin, this could be it, you and me."
The baby seemed to understand her mother's words, as Erin gripped onto Cordelia's tee shirt, burying her head deeper into Cordelia's chest.
"Cordy?" Angel called out as he came into the room, running a hand through his hair, and trying to flatten down his bed head. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah." Cordelia plastered on a fake smile as she faced her husband. "Why?"
Angel shrugged. "You were down here for awhile."
"Just getting Erin." Cordelia said, not wanting to worry Angel anymore then he had to be, and not wanting to think about the possible chance that her life would not have Angel or her two oldest children in it.
"How is she?" Angel moved toward Cordelia, running his hand over Erin's head.
"She calmed down." Cordelia said.
Angel nodded. "We should take her back to our room, while you get everything ready to go. Its still early, but you, Fred, and Erin will have to be out of here within the next two hours." Angel felt the words cut his tongue as he spoke them. He didn't want Cordelia and Erin to leave. He didn't want to believe there was a chance he wouldn't get to see them again.
Cordelia smiled sadly at Angel, nodding slowly, indicating she did not want to leave him either. She just didn't have a choice. "Come on." She took Angel by the hand, and led him back down to their bedroom, Erin still in her arms.
Jess grumbled to herself as she felt something hard collide with her head. She opened her eyes slowly, to see Spike's elbow in her face. She lifted her head off her pillow, allowing her eyes to adjust to the darkness of her bedroom. After a few seconds, she realized she was in her bed with Spike lying next to her, and that the night before had not been a dream, it had actually happened.
Jess looked around the room for some of her clothes to put back on. When she realized everything was on the other side of the room, she ripped the sheet off the bed, and Spike, and wrapped it around her slender, yet muscular figure, tightening it around the large breast she had inherited from Cordelia. She then made her way across the room to her closet, pulling out a pair of jeans and a black tank top.
"Come now, covering yourself up this morning?" Spike's voice filled the room.
Jess turned to see the blonde vampire sitting in her bed, unclothed, and with a small smirk on his face. Jess said nothing as she went back to getting her clothes.
"You weren't covered up last night." Spike continued.
"Spike!" Jess warned, as she turned back to the blonde vampire.
Spike looked at her confused. She seemed annoyed with him now, when last night, she had told him she had feelings for him. What was going on?
Jess saw the confusion on Spike's face and sighed. "I just don't want anyone to hear us. If my dad walked in here, do you know what he'd do to you?"
"Send a stake through my heart?" Spike said as more of a statement then a guess.
"Exactly." Jess said as she moved to her bathroom. "So get dressed, and go back to your room, and then take a shower."
"And you?" Spike asked, understanding why he should leave her bedroom. Even if they were in the middle of an apocalypse, Angel wouldn't think twice about staking Spike if he ever found out that Spike had slept with his daughter.
"I'm gonna jump in the shower, too." Jess said.
Spike nodded, slipping back on his boxers. "Alright."
"See you downstairs." Jess said.
Spike nodded, making his way to the door.
"Spike, wait!" Jess called out after a moment.
Spike turned back to Jessica, to find his lips attached to hers. When their kiss ended, Jess smiled up at the blonde vampire.
"Well, that's a much better start to my morning then a cold shower." Spike smiled back.
"You're still taking the cold shower." Jess grinned as she shooed him out of her room, closing the door behind him, and then making her way back into her bathroom, and into her own shower.
Fred and Wesley were the first ones down to the lobby of the Hyperion Hotel. They sat on the couch, side by side, and Wesley wrapped his arm around Fred's slender shoulder, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. He didn't want her to leave, because he knew there was a chance he would never see her again.
Fred knew it too.
"Everything is going to be okay." Fred turned to Wesley, smiling sorrowfully at him.
"You'll be safe. That's all that matters." Wesley responded.
"We'll all be safe." Fred corrected him. Although she knew their situation was dire, she did not want Wesley giving up hope before the battle even started. That would only hurt him in a fight.
Wesley looked at Fred, his eyes full of regret. "Fred, promise me something."
"What?" Fred asked.
"That if things don't…well if they don't go the way we want them too…if you and Cordelia and Erin make it out of here, and the rest of us don't…" Wesley looked at his hands, before looking back up at Fred. "Just take care of yourself. Make sure you're always happy."
"Wesley, the only way I will ever be completely happy is with you." Fred told him. "And that should be more then enough incentive for you to make it through this damn apocalypse." Fred smiled at him.
Wesley smiled back at her. "It is."
"Good." Fred gave Wesley a kiss.
"What's good?" Gunn's voice bellowed through the lobby, as he descended the stairs.
"Good morning, Gunn." Wesley said as Gunn flopped on the couch across from him and Fred.
"Well, I don't know if its good…or morning." Gunn pointed out the window to the darkness that had spread over L.A. the past few days.
"It's morning." Fred assured him.
Gunn nodded. "Are you ready to get going, Fred?"
"Well, I'm packed and all, but I'm not ready to leave." Fred said. "I don't think I'll ever be ready."
"Everything will work out." Gunn said, as he saw Connor and Lorne enter the lobby. The demon and half-breed were talking about something important, Gunn could tell by their facial expressions. "Hey guys."
Lorne and Connor looked up, noticing that Wesley, Fred, and Gunn were in the room.
"Hey." Connor said.
"What are you two talking about?" Wesley asked.
"What I'm going to be doing while you guys fight the good fight." Lorne said. "I told Angel I'd stick around, but I can't go into battle with him. I'd never make it."
Wesley, Fred, and Gunn all nodded, understanding where Lorne was coming from. They all knew he had never been a fighter.
"Well, I'm sure Angel has a plan for you." Fred said. "He always does."
Lorne nodded, knowing Fred was right about Angel. He then looked around the room. "Speaking of the brooding boy himself, where is Angel?"
"Not down here yet." Gunn said.
"He's probably upstairs with the princess." Lorne nodded toward the upper floor as he spoke of Angel and Cordelia. "They deserve as much time as they can get together."
"It will never be enough." Wesley said sadly as he looked at Fred.
"They know that." Lorne continued to speak of the dark haired vampire, and immortal seer. "But they give me some hope."
"For what?" Connor asked.
"If anyone deserves a happy ending at the end of all of this, its your mother and father." Lorne told Connor, and he meant it. He had watched Angel and Cordelia fight for the world day in and day out, constantly putting themselves second to other people. They deserved to win in the end; they deserved to have happiness with each other. They deserved to be able to live their lives out together, with their children and family safe.
Angel sat on his and Cordelia's bed, holding Erin, while Cordelia finished packing up her last bag of clothes. She had still left a decent amount of things in her closet, saying she wasn't leaving forever, but both she and Angel knew there was a good chance she wouldn't be back for the rest of her stuff. Not if Angel, Jessica, Connor, Spike, Wesley, and Gunn lost the battle against Wolfram and Hart.
"So, you all packed?" Angel asked, as Cordelia closed her suitcase.
Cordelia nodded, moving toward the bed and taking a seat next to Angel who was bouncing a very awake Erin in his arms. "I've got everything I need."
"Are you sure you don't want to take more?" Angel motioned to Cordelia's still full closet.
Cordelia shook her head. "I'll need them when I come back."
"Cordy…" Angel looked at her. "I don't want you coming back here unless it's safe. I don't even want you to think about it until I call you. That's the whole point of you getting out of L.A., to be safe."
"I know, I know." Cordelia said softly, as she stroked Erin's cheek. "But you will call, and then I'll come back." She looked at Angel waiting for him to agree with her. She needed that. She needed to hear him say he would be alive in the end.
"Right." Angel turned and gave her a small, sad smile. He then checked his watch, handing Erin to Cordelia, and getting up from the bed. "We should get downstairs. You, Erin, and Fred have to leave soon." He then picked up Cordelia's suitcase, and made his way out of the bedroom he shared with her.
Cordelia sighed, looking around her bedroom, possibly for the last time ever. Her eyes welled up with tears. That room held so many memories. It was where Gunn and Wesley had set her up when they first moved to the hotel; it was where she had given birth to Jessica, and where she and Angel had first made love. She looked around the room one last time, as she stood up from her seat on the bed. Her eyes then fell on Erin, as she realized her tears were falling on the baby in her arms.
Erin didn't seem to mind. The child had a very serious look on her face, as if she understood all the pain and confusion Cordelia was going through.
Cordelia wiped her eyes, smiling gently at Erin. "Come on, baby girl. We've got to get going soon." She then moved to the door, exiting the bedroom, but taking one last look in before she closed the door.
Jess jumped out of the shower, throwing her long wet hair over her shoulder. She looked over at the clock next to her bed to see that it was already eight in the morning. Her mother would be leaving soon along with her little sister and Fred. She had to hurry up and get downstairs if she was going to say goodbye.
As she moved toward the door, it swung open, and Spike was standing on the other side. He smiled at her. "I thought I'd walk you downstairs."
Jess smiled back at him, taking his extended hand. "I could use a friend right now."
Spike nodded, understanding. Jess was worried about the apocalypse, and what would happen to her mother and sister if she, her father, and her brother did not make it through. "Everything will work out. I know it."
Jess took a deep breath. "I hope so." She then made her way out into the hallway, and down the stairs of the Hyperion, her hand still entwined with Spike's.
Eve entered Lindsey's office to find him staring out the window to the sunless sky of L.A. He was wearing a navy blue shirt that seemed to make him blend into the dark background of the window, as if he was part of the sinister backdrop over Los Angeles.
"Lindsey?" Eve called out, causing Lindsey to turn around.
Lindsey smiled at her. "Hey."
"Everything is moving along on schedule." Eve said as she made her way over to Lindsey, wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a quick kiss. "The Senior Partners are getting ready to move their army into L.A."
Lindsey grinned widely. "How long until that happens?"
"Three maybe four hours, at the most." Eve told him. "The city can feel it. The heat is rising, it's only a matter of time now before this place falls beneath us." Eve grinned. "In a few hours Angel Investigations will be crying your name out for mercy."
Lindsey smiled, kissing Eve on the head. "And what a sweet cry it will be." He then turned back to the window, wrapping his arm around Eve, and waiting for the final stage of his plan to destroy Angel and everything the vampire stood for to begin.
Jess and Spike made their way down into the lobby to find Cordelia, with Erin in her arms standing next to Angel on the steps by the backdoor of the Hyperion Hotel, and Fred and Wesley standing next to the immortal seer and vampire. Gunn, Lorne, and Connor were all standing off to the corner of the room, also by the backdoor.
When Jess and Spike entered the lobby, the other members of Angel Investigations turned to them.
"We were just going to call you down." Angel said, noting that Jessica's hand was entwined with Spike's.
Jess seemed to notice her father's gaze on her hand, because she immediately pulled it away from Spike's. "Yeah." She looked at her mother. "You're leaving."
Cordelia nodded at her oldest daughter, with a sad smile on her face. "Yeah." Erin squirmed in her arms, and Cordelia quickly adjusted the child, not wanting Erin to be crying for the last few minutes they had left as a family, at least for a little while.
"So, uh, when are you guys going?" Jess tried to ask casually, as she pointed to Cordelia and Fred.
Cordelia looked to Angel for an answer to her daughter's question. She wanted to hear Angel say they weren't leaving, that he decided they should all stay together, but she knew she would never hear that.
Angel shifted his weight from one foot to the other, digging his hands into his pockets. "They've got a few minutes before they need to go."
"Oh, already?" Jess thought she would have a little longer then a few minutes to say goodbye to her mother and baby sister, possibly forever.
"Yeah." Angel said, his voice seeming soft and sad.
"Well." Jess threw her arms out, trying to cover up her oncoming tears with her famous grin. "I guess I won't be seeing you for a few days, Mom." Jessica took a step forward, toward Cordelia.
Cordelia nodded, shifting Erin in her arms, and trying her best not to cry. "Yeah." She then looked over to Angel. "Angel…could you…" She nodded down to Erin.
Angel nodded, understanding that Cordelia wanted him to take Erin so she could say her goodbyes. So he took his youngest daughter from her arms.
Once Cordelia was no longer holding Erin, her arms flung around Jessica, pulling her oldest daughter in for a big hug. "Be careful, okay Jess?" Cordelia said, not hiding her tears anymore as they slipped onto Jessica's shoulder.
"Am I ever careful?" Jess laughed, as tears formed in her eyes, though she fought them back. She would not cry, she knew it would only make her mother worry more then Cordelia would have to.
Cordelia laughed as well, looking down at Jessica. "Just don't be stupid. I don't want to have to stitch you up the next time I see you."
Jess shrugged, smiling at her mother. "You know I can't promise you that."
Cordelia pulled Jessica closer to her, whispering in her ear. "Promise me you will make sure your father and brother are okay."
Jess nodded, feeling the tears rise in her eyes again. "I will."
"Good." Cordelia kissed Jessica softly on the forehead. "I love you."
"I love you too." Jess said to her mother for the first time ever. Since Jessica had come back from Quortoth she had never said directly to either one of her parents that she loved them. It wasn't that she didn't love them, or that they didn't know she loved them, they did know. It was just the simple fact of the words. Jess rarely told anyone she loved them, because when she said those three little words…I love you… she felt like the hard shell she had built up around herself over the years collapsed and she was vulnerable, and Jessica hated being vulnerable.
Cordelia knew it was a rare moment when she daughter said she loved someone, so Cordelia did not even bother to wipe up the extra tears that rolled down her cheeks as she made her way over to Connor, pulling him in for a hug as well.
"I'll be okay, Mom." Connor said into Cordelia's ear. "You don't have to worry."
"That's part of my job." Cordelia smiled at the boy she called her son, and he was in every single way. It didn't matter that she hadn't given birth to him, and it didn't matter that he had been conceived because Angel had wanted an escape from the world when he had slept with Darla. In all the dark and horrible things Darla and Angel's past together held, Connor had been the light, the one greater thing that Cordelia could not take away from Angel or Darla's time together, and she would never try. But she couldn't help the feeling she got that her helping Angel raise Connor had something to do with the boy becoming the man standing in front of her.
"I know." Connor gave Cordelia the same soft smile she got out of Angel on occasion. "Take care of yourself, and Erin."
"Don't worry about me." Cordelia told him.
"It's part of my job." Connor smiled, teasing his mother with her own words.
Cordelia gave him a playful slap before moving onto Lorne, and giving the green demon a hug.
"Be careful, princess." Lorne said to the immortal seer.
"You too." Cordelia smiled at him. "And hold the fort down while I'm away." She motioned to the hotel, and the rest of Angel Investigations.
"Honey, these guys don't take orders from anyone but you, so I have no chance." Lorne joked.
"Alright, stop hogging Barbie." Gunn smiled at Lorne. "She's got to go and we all wanna give her a hug before she is outta here."
Cordelia giggled, moving to Gunn and wrapping her arms around him. "You better take care of yourself. I'm not gonna be around to clean up all your cuts and bruises for a few days."
Gunn smiled at Cordelia. "You know me, girl. I'm a big boy, I can take care of myself."
"You've been saying that for years, Gunn." Cordelia smiled before making over to Wesley.
Wesley stepped forward, taking Cordelia in his arms. "Cordelia, promise me you'll be careful."
Cordelia nodded, smiling sadly at Wesley. "Only if you promise me the same thing."
Wesley nodded, but kept a serious look on his face. "Make sure Fred is safe, please."
"I will." Cordelia told him. "Only until you can get back to her."
Wesley nodded, giving Cordelia a quick, friendly kiss on the cheek.
The last person Cordelia had to say goodbye to was someone she wasn't sure what to say to. "Spike." She smiled at the blonde vampire.
"Take care of yourself, cheerleader." Spike told her. "And the little tike." He pointed to Erin who was wiggling around in Angel's arms. "She's a hell of a baby."
Cordelia nodded. "You take care of yourself too."
Spike nodded.
"Cordy, we should get everything out into the car." Angel said. "And let Fred say goodbye to everyone."
Cordelia nodded, giving the rest of Angel Investigations another wave goodbye, before taking Erin back into her arms, and following Angel, who was carrying her suitcase, out into the parking garage of the Hyperion Hotel, where Angel's car was waiting for her, Erin, and Fred, all packed.
Cordelia and Angel walked silently through the parking garage, and over to Angel's convertible. Angel opened the trunk, piling in Cordelia's suitcase along with everything else that had already been packed up for Cordelia, Erin, and Fred. He then closed the trunk, and made his way to the side of the car, where Cordelia was getting ready to put Erin in her car seat.
"Let me." Angel offered, taking Erin out of Cordelia's arms, and moving his youngest daughter to her car seat.
Erin giggled at Angel, swatting at his hands as he tried to get her buckled in.
"Keep laughing baby." Angel smiled at Erin. "I don't know how many more times you'll get to laugh at how bad your daddy is with modern baby gear." He joked as he struggled to get Erin buckled. "I might not get to do this again."
"For a few days." Cordelia added quickly, hearing what Angel had said to Erin.
Angel looked ahead of him, swallowing hard before moving out of the car to face Cordelia. "Cordy…"
"Angel, stop acting like you aren't going to make it out of this, you are." Cordelia told him. "And I don't want you telling our daughter you might not see her again."
"Who? Erin?" Angel asked. "She can't even understand me, Cordelia. And since when is telling my daughter the truth a bad thing?"
"Since when is it true that you are going to die in this apocalypse?" Cordelia snapped back at him. She hated that they were arguing, especially now. She didn't want to waste the few minutes they had left with each other fighting, but she was not about to let Angel think he was going to die.
"Cordelia, you know how bad this thing is." Angel said. "Look outside. Darkness, demons, vampires, death, its all outside of our windows. I'm supposed to fight the things that caused all of that. I'm supposed to fight an unstoppable force."
"Wolfram and Hart is not unstoppable." Cordelia told him.
"No, you're right. They aren't." Angel said. "But evil is. It's something that has always been in this world, and no matter how much good you put on earth, it's just to keep a balance. And now the scales have been tipped, and there is a hell of a lot more bad things in this city then good things right now."
"So? You'll change that, and you'll win because the Powers need you to." Cordelia said.
"Why? Because I'm their champion?" Angel snorted. "Because I am supposed to be some superhero in a black leather jacket?"
"No." Cordelia pulled him closer to her, tears in her eyes. "Because you're good. Angel, you're good. And good has to win in the end."
"But that's just it, Cordy." Angel seemed sad. "This isn't the end. This apocalypse will come and go like all the others, and good and evil will continue to clash. But it doesn't mean that I am going to be around to see it. It just means that another champion will be around." He looked over at Erin, who was practically asleep in her car seat, despite all the yelling that her parents were doing right outside the car.
"Angel…" Cordelia moved forward, cupping his cheek in her hand, and forcing him to look her in the eye. "I need you to believe you will make it through this. I need you to tell me that."
"Cordy, I don't want to lie to you, and the truth is, I'm not sure if I'll make it through. I don't know that any of us who stay behind will." Angel said truthfully.
"Well, then lie to me." Cordelia seemed to beg him between her tears. "Tell me everything is going to be okay."
At that point, Angel felt tears form in his own eyes as he nodded at Cordelia. "Everything is going to be okay."
Cordelia smiled up at him, pulling him for one more passionate kiss. "Thank you, I needed that." She said when they broke apart.
Angel smiled back at his seer, his wife, his confidant, his love, his existence. Cordelia was everything to him; she had given him everything he had ever wanted, a home, a lover, children, and a life. He didn't want to lose her, not now. Not ever.
"Cordy, are you ready?" Fred's voice filled the quiet garage as she and Wesley entered, hand and hand, both looking as sad as Angel and Cordelia did.
Cordelia looked at Fred, nodding slowly. "Yeah."
"Say goodbye to everyone, Fred?" Angel asked, as he followed Cordelia around to the driving door side of his car.
Fred nodded. "Yeah."
Angel nodded also, as he opened the door for Cordelia, watching Wesley do the same for Fred. Angel also saw Wesley mumble some words to Fred, and then Fred smile at him the best she could, with the tears in her eyes. They kissed, and Wesley closed the door, looking over the car at Angel. It was the vampire's turn.
Angel bent down, moving his head toward Cordelia's. He kissed her gently on the cheek. "Drive safe. Okay?"
Cordelia nodded. "I'll call you when we are out of L.A."
"Don't." Angel told her. "Incase your call gets intercepted somehow. I don't want Wolfram and Hart knowing you're out of the city."
Cordelia nodded, understanding. "Okay."
"Do you remember where you're going?" Angel asked her. He had gone over the plan with her a million times, but he wanted to make sure.
"Take the back roads out L.A. Don't stop for anyone or anything, and then get out of California, straight through Nevada, stopping right outside of Los Vegas where I'm supposed to meet…" Cordelia trailed off, forgetting the name of the person she was supposed to be meeting.
"His name is Drewer. He's one of Lorne's friends from Los Vegas. He said he'd help move you to a safe place if things get worse here." Angel reminded her. "He is going to give Lorne a call when you get there."
Cordelia nodded, remembering. "Okay."
"Be safe." Angel told her, and then waved over her seat at Erin who had woken up again. "Bye baby girl. Be good for your mommy."
Erin giggled, waving her chubby little hand back at her father.
"That's my girl." Angel cooed at the baby, before focusing his attention back on Cordelia. "I love you. Always remember that"
"I know. How could I forget?" Cordelia smiled sadly. "Be careful, take care of everyone."
Angel nodded, leaning in, and kissing Cordelia one last time on the lips. When they broke apart, Cordelia's eyes were full of tears, and Angel fought to keep his own tears back as he closed her car door.
Cordelia started the car, and looked back in her rearview mirror at Angel and Wesley standing side by side with the same heartbreaking look on their faces, before she drove the car out of the Hyperion garage.
When Angel's car was out of site for Angel and Wesley, the two men turned to each other.
"We should get back inside." Wesley said, though his eyes kept venturing out to the dark street Cordelia, Fred, and Erin had just driven down.
Angel nodded, digging his hands deeper into his pockets. "Yeah, we've got a lot of work to do." The vampire's voice held no emotion as he turned and made his way back into the hotel with Wesley trailing behind him.