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 80Angel stepped toward Lindsey and Eve with Jessica a stride behind him. Both father and daughter had the same pitch-black eyes, and intense expression on their face, and it shook Lindsey and Eve to the bone as they took a step backwards, bumping into the railing of the balcony, and realizing they had nowhere to go.
"Angel, please…" Lindsey began to beg as the sweat dripped from his brow. This was not how he was supposed to die. Angel was supposed to die today, not him.
"Please what?" Angel asked, his voice low and eerie. "Please let you go? Please allow you to live? Please don't destroy your life. What about my life, Lindsey? What about my family, and everything I stand for? Did you think about that when you decided to wage war on me?"
"Angel, maybe I was wrong, but it's too late. Now we both know you can't kill us and still make it down there to fight this apocalypse. It's either saving the world or killing us. You can't do both, there's no time." Lindsey told him.
Angel said nothing as he took another step forward, but then the building started shaking, halting the vampire. Angel looked around to realize that not only the building was shaking, but L.A. as well. Something was coming.
Lindsey grinned. "See, the Senior Partner's army is almost here. There's no time for this, Angel. You know where you have to be, and that's along side your family that is about to be killed in the alley below us."
"No." Angel said. "My place is right here."
Jess reached out, grabbing Angel's arm. "Dad, he's right. We don't have time. We need to get to Spike and Connor and Wesley and Gunn."
Angel shrugged Jessica's hand away. "You go, Jess." Angel never took his eyes off Lindsey. "I'll be down in a second."
"Dad…" Jess knew how much her father wanted Lindsey and Eve to pay for what they had done, but this wasn't the time for it anymore. She needed him to come with her if they had any hope of defeating the army of demons.
"Jess. Go." Angel's eyes were still locked on Lindsey. The vampire had almost forgotten Eve was there…until Eve picked up a planter and smashed Angel in the side of the head with it.
Angel went down like a rock, falling to the side. Jess watched in horror, and Lindsey and Eve took the moment to flee, but they didn't get far. Jessica grabbed Eve by the throat as the woman ran past her, holding the lawyer up in the air.
Eve choked for air as Lindsey tried to rip Jessica's hand away from his girlfriend. Not that he had much of a chance against the half-vampire. Jessica was ten times stronger then Lindsey would ever be.
"Let her go!" Lindsey screamed as rain began to fall on his face.
"It's not nice to hit people." Jess said, moving Eve over the side of the balcony, dangling her over the street that was eighteen floors below them. "Especially someone I care about."
"Jess…" Angel stood; rubbing his head in the spot Eve had hit him. "Let her go." Angel did not want Jessica to have Eve's blood on her hands. She had done enough damage in her short life already, and she did not need to add anything else to her list of things she needed to redeem herself from.
The ground trembled again, and the heat in the city increased.
"It's over, Dad." Jess said as the rain pelted her face. "And if this is it, then this is it."
"Jess…" Angel warned again.
Jess grinned at Eve, holding her out for another moment before whipping her back over the balcony and into the wall. Eve collapsed, gasping for air.
"You son of a bitch." Lindsey surprised Jessica by charging full force at her, and before either one of them knew it the railing had given way and Jessica and Lindsey plummeted eighteen floors to the concrete below.
Angel and Eve both rushed forward, looking over the edge to see Lindsey and Jessica on the concrete. It was clear, even from eighteen stories up, that Lindsey was dead. His blood was splattered everywhere on the sidewalk.
Eve staggered backwards, crying and collapsing. Lindsey was dead.
Angel continued to look over the edge, waiting for a sign that Jessica hadn't joined Lindsey, praying she was strong enough to survive the fall. She was, he realized, as she began to slowly push herself up on her hands. Relief flowed through his body as the rain trickled down his face. His daughter was alive.
Angel turned back to Eve, to find her cowering in the corner, hysterical. He felt sorry for her, and that was the last emotion he thought he would ever experience toward her. He had wanted her and Lindsey to pay for all they had done. And Lindsey had. Angel looked back over the railing at Lindsey's body, thinking it would give him some sense of relief, some sense of satisfaction, but it didn't. It made Angel sick to his stomach. He might have hated Lindsey but he would never have wished this upon the young lawyer. Sure, he had come there to kill Lindsey and Eve, but now he realized by doing that he had only lowered himself to their level. He turned back to Eve.
"Just do it!" Eve cried. "Kill me too! Just do it!"
Angel crouched down in front of Eve, running a hand through his now wet hair. "Get out of here, Eve. Get out of L.A. while you can."
Eve looked at Angel, confused and clearly suffering. "What?"
"What happened to Lindsey just now…what he just did." Angel didn't know what to say. "You need to leave L.A."
"You're letting me go?" Eve was so lost. "You wanted us dead! And Lindsey already is!"
"Because of choices he made." Angel told her. "Don't you make the same ones." And with that, Angel stood, making his way out of the penthouse, and rushing down to the street to make sure Jessica was okay.
Cordelia was thankful that everyone had cleared out of the Los Angeles area and that there was no one on the road besides her, because she was sure she would have either gotten in an accident or been pulled over for the way she was driving. Since she had gotten the vision, over an hour ago, she had sped back to L.A. with Fred and Erin. They were making rather good time, and she hoped she would be back in the city within the next two hours. She was praying that wasn't too late.
"Cordy, you might want to slow down just a little bit." Fred said as she held onto her seatbelt until her knuckles turned blue. She knew Cordelia was in a rush to get back to L.A., she was too, but she didn't think that Cordelia driving like a racecar driver, and almost getting them killed, was going to help matters.
"The faster we get there, the less chance of my vision coming true." Cordelia said, never taking her eyes off the road, and never removing her foot from the accelerator.
"If we go any faster the chances of us even making it back to L.A. are going to get slimmer." Fred said under her breath.
"I heard that, and we are going to get there just fine." Cordelia said, looking back in her rearview mirror to see Erin staring tensely out the window, as if they child knew exactly what was going on.
"Cordy, lets just focus on getting back there in one piece, okay?" Fred asked.
"I'm driving fine, Fred. You didn't see what I saw in my vision so don't act like you know what is coming! We don't get back to L.A. and it's all over." Cordelia said, clearly ending the conversation between her and Fred. The immortal seer knew what they were facing and she didn't have the time to explain it all to Fred, or slow the car down. She needed to get back to L.A. and it needed to happen fast.
Spike and Wesley stood side-by-side as the rain poured down their faces; ready to fight anything that came in their direction. So far, nothing had bothered them. It seemed even the evil creatures lurking on the sunless streets of L.A. were staying away from the side alley of Wolfram and Hart. It was as though they could feel the Senior Partner's army rising and even they were scared.
Spike didn't like the idea that the evil things of L.A. were too scared to be anywhere near where the Senior Partner's army was rising, but he counted it as a blessing right now, considering both Connor and Gunn were hurt and bruised badly, both sitting on empty boxes leaning against the back fence of the alley.
"How are you guys holding up?" Spike asked Connor and Gunn, over his shoulder.
"We're alright." Gunn said, almost out of breath. But they weren't all right. Both Connor and Gunn had taken a beating, and needed to rest, but they both knew rest was the last thing they would be getting for awhile.
"Well, take it easy until we need you." Wesley told them.
"Why do you think we are sitting down?" Gunn asked slyly.
Wesley shook his head, trying to hide his smile. Even in the direst of circumstances, Gunn always found a way to make the situation seem brighter.
"Any sign of my dad or sister yet?" Connor asked.
Spike shook his head, wiping the rainwater off of his face. "Not yet."
Suddenly the ground began to shift and rumble.
"That's the third time that's happened." Gunn said.
"Well, I think its safe to say something bad is coming then." Spike said, as the ground settled underneath him.
"I wish my dad and sister would get here soon." Connor said. "We could definitely use them."
"They'll be here as soon as they can be." Wesley said.
"I hope so." Connor looked down as the rain dripped from his hair. He was worried about Angel and Jessica. He didn't think it should have taken them this long to get to the alley. He hoped nothing had happened to either one of them and that they were both okay.
Angel rushed down out the doors of Wolfram and Hart to find Jessica curled up in a ball on the sidewalk surrounded by shattered glass. Next to his bloody and cut up daughter, Angel could see Lindsey's body, sprawled out in a weird form. If the air didn't already reek of death Angel was sure he would have been able to tell there was no life left in Lindsey from a mile away.
Jessica, however, was another story. She was alive. Angel could feel it; he could hear her shallow and slow, but steady heartbeat ringing in his ears.
"Jess?" Angel moved closer to his oldest daughter.
Jess grumbled when she heard her name, slowly lifting her head to reveal a blood-spattered face. The rainwater washed the blood away from her eyes, and she managed to give Angel a small grin. "Well, falling eighteen stories is not something I would want to do again."
"Can you move?" Angel asked her, offering his hand.
Jess nodded, wincing as she stood with her father's help. "I'm okay."
Angel looked Jess up and down, and could see she was not okay. She was cut, and bruised, and beaten, and bloody. The fall had taken a lot out of her. "You should get back to the hotel."
Jess wiped the mix of rain and blood from the corner of her mouth. "Yeah, and leave you and Connor and Wesley and Gunn and Spike to die out here. I don't think so."
"You can't help us if you're hurt." Angel told her.
"Yeah? And you won't need my help if you're dead." Jess told him. "Which will happen if I don't help."
"Jess…" Angel went to argue with her, but was cut off as the ground beneath them began shaking again.
"We don't have time to argue, and we don't have time to stand here either." Jess said as the rain pelted her face. "We've got to get to the alley." And before Angel could say another word, Jess had taken off as fast as her wounded legs would let her in the direction of the alley they were supposed to meet Connor, Wesley, Spike, and Gunn in.
Angel stood for a moment, looking back at Lindsey's body. He watched as the rain continued to hit Lindsey's now cold skin, washing away the blood that had poured from his veins. Angel sighed, knowing he had to get to the alley that his family was in soon, but also knowing he couldn't just leave Lindsey's body there. Even though he had hated Lindsey, Angel had a deep respect for the dead, maybe because he was himself the living dead, or maybe because the dead had always gotten the one thing he had longed for. They got to rest.
Angel picked Lindsey's body up, moving it back inside Wolfram and Hart's lobby, laying it gently on the floor. He was sure Eve would make her way down there eventually, and he knew she would want to give Lindsey some sort of tribute. Angel then made his way back out of the building and onto the rainy, sunless streets of L.A., quickly turning in the direction of the alley he was supposed to meet the remainder of Angel Investigations in.
Cordelia could feel the relief pumping through her veins as L.A.'s sunless skyline came into her view for two reasons. One, it meant they were almost back in the city, and two it meant the city was still standing which meant there was a very good chance Angel, Jess, Connor, Wesley, Gunn, Lorne, and Spike were still alive.
"Cordy, we're almost there, can we slow down a little?" Fred asked as her fingernails dug into her seat. She had been on edge in the car for over two hours now, fearing that if Cordelia tapped the accelerator anymore the car would go out of control.
But Cordelia knew her driving skills, and had kept the car in her power. "I'll slow down when we get into the city." Cordelia said.
A few minutes later Cordelia drove Angel's car into the dark city, slowing down and taking each turn with caution. She looked around to find that most of the streets were now empty, even from vampires and demons. Clearly, even the bad things in L.A. had gone into hiding. Cordelia now knew just how important her vision had been.
"This place looks deserted." Fred said, and then fear crept into her voice. "Do you think we are too late?"
Cordelia shook her head. "No. I would know if we were."
Fred let out a sigh of relief. "So Wesley and everyone are safe, still alive?"
Cordelia looked in her rearview mirror to see Erin starring directly back at her, with a serious look on her face. The child's brow was hunched over, and it made her look like a miniature Angel. Cordelia could tell, from Erin's expression alone, that the baby had some kind of connection to the Powers That Be and knew something bad was going on around her.
"Well, they are alive." Cordelia said sadly. "But I don't know how safe they are."
Fred let Cordelia's words register in her mind, and then remained silent as Cordelia slowly turned down the street that would lead them back to the Hyperion Hotel, and hopefully back to their family.
Jess rounded the corner of the alley to find Spike and Wesley standing with swords in their hands, and Connor and Gunn sitting on crates behind the blonde vampire and ex-watcher. She could smell Connor and Gunn's blood the moment she had entered the alley, but the rain was making it hard for her to see what had happened to her brother or Gunn.
"Jess!" Spike was relieved to see her, rushing up to her and pulling her in for a hug, only to find her gasping and pulling away from him. He looked down, studying her, and realizing she had some serious injuries. "What in the bloody hell happened to you?"
Jess winced, trying to smile up at Spike. "I fell."
"Fell?" Spike raised an eyebrow.
"I'm alright." Jess grinned, and gave Spike a quick kiss. "Are you okay?"
Spike nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine."
"Jess? Where's dad?" Connor's voice was muffled by the rain.
Jess moved forward, toward her brother, as the ground again began to shake, this time more rapidly then before. "He's coming. What happened to you?"
"We got attacked." Gunn spoke up for himself and Connor. "Vampires."
"You're hurt." Connor motioned to Jessica as he got off the crate.
"So are you." Jess tried to push him back into his seat, but the ground again shook, even more violently then before.
"I think that means something bad is coming." Gunn said, as he also stood up.
"Good assumption." Wesley said as he and Spike began backing up toward Jess, Connor, and Gunn.
Suddenly, about five hundred feet in front of them, the ground broke open, and rocks flew everywhere. Stem rose from the enormous hole in the ground, and the heat was unbearable. It even turned the icy rain into tepid water.
"Ok, that's not good." Gunn pointed to the opening in the ground.
"No crap." Jess said.
"Where's Angel when we bloody need him?" Spike asked.
"Right here." Angel's voice came from above them, as he dropped down from the roof of the nearest building, landing in the alleyway. "I would have followed Jess, but that crack blew open and I couldn't get through."
"Yeah, well, about that crack…" Connor started.
All of a sudden, a loud grumbling noise came from underneath them, and the massive hole in the middle of L.A. grew larger, and then, huge demons began emerging from the opening.
"Well, I guess that was the signal for this battle to really get going." Jess said, raising her sword as she, Angel, Connor, Spike, Wesley, and Gunn watched even more demons crawl out of the opening, the opening that led into the deepest and darkest pits of any dimension; The opening that was allowing the Senior Partner's army to move into L.A.
Lorne sat at the front desk of the Hyperion Hotel, starring down at the phone, and then back up at the clock. He was getting nervous. Drewer should have called hours ago to let him know that Cordelia, Fred, and Erin had arrived in Vegas safely, unless of coarse, they hadn't arrived safely.
Lorne tried to shake the notion from his head, but he couldn't. More then anything, he wanted to believe Cordelia, Fred, and Erin were safe and secure somewhere far away from L.A., but for some reason he couldn't trust in that. He didn't know why.
The demon's train of thought was broken abruptly when the front door of the hotel swung open, and Cordelia quickly entered, soaking wet from the rain, with Erin bundled up tightly in her arms.
"Cordelia?" Lorne stood, confused and relieved all at once to see the immortal mother.
"And me!" Fred's voice filled the lobby as she entered in behind Cordelia.
"Oh, sweet mother!" Lorne quickly made his way over to Cordelia and Fred, taking Erin from Cordelia's arms to allow the immortal seer to get her wet jacket off. "What are you guys doing back here?"
"I had a vision." Cordelia said as she took Erin back from Lorne, and began removing the baby's raincoat.
"Well, why didn't you just call and tell me about it?" Lorne asked. "I could have gotten the message back to Angel when he got back in."
"Because if I did that, Angel would never get it." Cordelia said.
"Cordelia." Lorne was hurt. "I'm responsible. I would have told Angel about whatever you saw, not that I understand how important it could be. I mean, there's an apocalypse going on and now the Powers decide to send you a vision about who knows what, I mean where are their priorities? How can Angel help the helpless when they don't care enough about him to let him know that this huge apocalypse was going to fall down on us?"
Lorne was going off on a tangent; clearly the demon did not understand what Cordelia had meant when she had first spoken of her vision. He thought she meant he would never tell Angel, that he would forget, he had no idea the vision was of Angel and the rest of Angel Investigations.
"Lorne, I didn't mean you wouldn't get him the information, I meant that he wouldn't be alive to get it." Cordelia explained as she shifted Erin in her arms.
"What?" Lorne was still confused.
"My vision was of Angel and Jess and everyone fighting for their lives. And, Angel, he died in it." Cordelia held back tears as she thought of the scenes that had played in her head.
"He died?" Lorne seemed shocked.
"Well, I'm pretty sure it was him. I couldn't see a face, just some guy in a leather duster tried to save Jess, and he died." Cordelia told the demon as she tried to wipe up the tears that were about to fall from her eyes.
"Sweetie, its okay." Lorne pulled Cordelia in for a hug, and she broke down in his arms. Tears flowed down her cheeks, and onto Erin's face and Lorne's jacket.
"I can't lose them, Lorne." Cordelia cried. "Angel, Jess, Connor…they are my life."
"I know, princess. I know." Lorne patted her back, looking over at Fred for some help, but all Fred could do was shrug, trying to hold back her own tears.
After a few minutes, Cordelia pulled away from her green friend, wiping up her eyes, and smiling up at him. "Sorry. It's been a long day."
"You don't have to apologize, sugar." Lorne told her, as he tickled Erin's stomach, trying to get the five-month-old to smile. "You are entitled to your tears."
"Well, not right now I'm not." Cordelia moved toward the weapons cabinet. "Because right now, we need a plan."
Lorne and Fred looked at each other, and then back at Cordelia, who was busy balancing Erin in one hand, and one of Angel's swords in the other. Both Lorne and Fred realized what Cordelia was about to do, and rushed forward.
"Cordelia! We can't just go out there, and try and find Angel and everyone else!" Fred said.
"Why the hell not?" Cordelia asked.
"Because if things out there are half as bad as you say they are…" Lorne started. "Well, then we can't just be rushing out there into the fight."
"We don't have a choice." Cordelia chucked Fred a crossbow, and Lorne two stakes. "If we don't go out there, and try and save them, then they'll die. Angel at least needs to know what I saw."
"So call him." Lorne suggested.
Cordelia gave Lorne her Queen C glare and the demon did not say another word as he cringed under the seer's stare.
Fred rolled her eyes, stepping forward. "Cordelia, you can't just go out there! Its dangerous, and risky, and probably one of the stupidest ideas you've ever had."
"Why?" Cordelia asked, getting frustrated with both Fred and Lorne. "Because I want to try and save my family? My kids and my husband are out there!" She pointed out the window. "And they are going to die unless I warn them! At least let me do that!"
"Cordelia, our family is out there too!" Fred tried to stay calm. She understood where Cordelia was coming from, and why it was so important for the seer to get to Angel and her children, but Fred knew it was a suicidal move. If Cordelia's vision was half as bad as she had describe it, then they had no chance of making it to Angel, Wesley, Jess, Connor, Spike, or Gunn. They would be killed the minute they stepped out the door.
"Then understand why I have to do this!" Cordelia was starting to scream out of anger now.
"We can't go out there, Cordy." Lorne said as peacefully as he could.
"Fine." Cordelia huffed. "Don't. You don't want to help, that's just fine! But I am going to find my husband and kids."
"And what about the demons that are out on the streets? What about the battle that Angel and everyone is in right now?" Lorne asked.
"I'm part demon. I can fight." Cordelia reminded them. "Believe me, I can take care of myself."
"Yeah…" Lorne nodded. "And while your fighting for your life, what about her?" Lorne pointed down to Erin, in Cordelia's arms, who was quietly starring up at her mother.
Cordelia sighed, in all of her worry she had forgotten about Erin.
"You can't take her with you, Cordelia." Fred spoke softly of Erin. "So, you need to stay here, and we will think of a better plan."
Cordelia glared at Fred, realizing the physicists was wrong. She knew Fred was trying to help her, and trying to protect her and Erin, but Cordelia's mind was made up. She was going to save her husband and kids, and if she couldn't save them, she wanted them to spend their last minutes together as a family.
"No." Cordelia backed up, toward the door, and away from Lorne and Fred.
"Cordelia…" Lorne moved toward the upset mother slowly.
"I have to go. I have to try and save them." Cordelia said.
"Don't do this." Fred begged. "Erin's just a baby."
Cordelia looked down at the child in her arms, sadly. "I know." She then grabbed Erin's raincoat, draping it over the child, and then turning swiftly on her heel, and running out the Hyperion Hotel. She needed to get to Angel, Jess, Connor, Gunn, Spike, and Wesley, and she needed to get to them fast. She was not about to let any of her family members die meaningless deaths when she knew there was a chance she could stop them. She had to at least try to save the people she loved with all of her heart.