Part 3
2002-2008
In the image of the Angel Investigations detective agency
December, 2004
He stood by his car, leaning on it, waiting for the big iron gates to open, a cold winter wind blowing outside, snow beginning to fall slowly. He liked it, the frozen snow flakes landing gently on his shoulders and on his face, not melting as they would on any other being. No, it didn't melt, for he was already cold. A small smile crossed his lips as he looked up at the clouded sky. Another reason he liked it; it was day and he could walk free.
He had driven a long way to get to this prison. Faith had been moved in the fall of 2003 when the prison back in LA had some major damage to recover from, in part, thanks to him and Faith, since they had stopped a half-demon shaman from feeding on the youth and violence of the inmates. It had been quite a battle, and though she'd had more than one chance to escape, Faith went back freely, cause she had to serve her time, as she put it. And now, after 4 years from her incarceration, she was paroled to the city of Los Angeles, under the custody of Kate Lockley, freshly returned to the forces, after almost two years of wondering.
Suddenly, with a loud screech, the iron gates opened and, between the foot-high snow banks, Faith, rogue slayer, vicious killer, stepped out, seeming, surprisingly, the purest she had ever been in her existence. She stopped two feet away from him and closed her eyes.
"Can you feel it?" she asked, her eyes still closed.
"What?" Angel asked, standing up from the car.
"Freedom" Faith smiled and opened her eyes, the snow flakes falling gently in a delirious dance around her.
"Yeah" Angel gave her a small smile. He wanted to put the hood up.
"Don't," Faith said, touching his hand.
"Okay." He opened the door to the front seat and let her get in. He got in too, and began driving down the highway, the snow flakes floating around them.
"God, I still can't believe it! I'm free! I'm still waiting for this to be a dream, and soon someone's gonna shake me out of it!" Faith said, smiling.
"It's not a dream, I froze my ass off waiting for you!" Angel said, happy she was feeling good.
"Thought vampires can't feel cold, since they're already dead and everything."
"Okay, so I lied," Angel said, and Faith smiled again.
"Can't wait to get back to the chase. You know, demons, vampires, just throw 'em my way. Only evil evil things included," Faith assured him. "Promise. Slayer's honor."
"I don't know if that counts anymore, since they fired you," Angel reminded her.
"Yeah, I don't work for them anymore, but nothing can take these powers away from me!" Faith said. "I'm still a slayer waiting for action. But this time I'm the good slayer." She stopped for a moment before asking: "How's B?"
"She's good, she died three years ago. And then she came back. Willow found this resurrection spell." Angel gave a few details.
"Just like her, to come back, even after she's dead." Faith shrugged. There was a moment of silence. "You didn't hear from her in a long time, right?"
"Yeah, we have different lives now," Angel told her.
"It's funny, it's like I've been the one man audience of the Buffy/Angel show from when I first arrived. It's just seeing it all change so radically, it's weird. And I wasn't even there for the half of it. Wonder how Cordelia dealt with it," Faith said, deciding to end the subject. "So, is this hotel big?"
"Huge. 100 rooms." Angel gave her a weary smile. "Yours is on the first floor, next to mine."
"Really? So who else is livin' there?" she asked.
"Gunn has a place, sometimes, but mostly it'll be you and me. And Fred," Angel remembered.
"Uh, is he cute?" Faith asked, joking.
"Yes, she is," Angel said and Faith laughed. "She disappeared into another dimension for five years, and when we got her back, she didn't have a place to live."
"So you offered a room. That is so like you," Faith said. "So you like her?"
"We're just good friends, she works with us," Angel assured her.
"Oh" Faith simply said, and she closed her eyes again, letting the wind blow in her face, and the snow flakes mix in her long messy black hair. She was, finally, free.
4 months later
The front door shut behind them, leaving them alone in the hotel. It had been a long, hard battle to fight, but they had fought it and won. Now, tired and dirty, smudged with blood and mud, they breathed easily, while the rain fell down over Los Angeles, cleaning its streets, the people unaware of how close their world had come to destruction that very night. Angel put down his ax and sat down, numb.
He still couldn't believe they had won and saved the world. They had been way too many, and for once he'd thought they were going to lose, and die, but no, things had gone differently... They were all wounded, but nothing serious; a broken arm for Wesley, a broken leg and a bad cold for Fred, who was currently in the hospital, a few broken ribs for Gunn, and a dislocated shoulder for Faith who had taken care of it herself.
Only he and Cordelia were left untouched, except for a few cuts and bruises, but only because Angel was a vampire of course, and in stead of falling off the platform like everyone else, Cordelia floated off. The big, powerful demon was dead, over with, turned into a big mass of green flesh that was washed out into the sewers by the rain.
"I can't believe we did it!" Faith gave voice to his thoughts.
"Yeah, I was already seeing tombstones," Angel admitted as he threw his duster onto a chair and threw himself into the armchair.
"I know what you mean," Faith said, and suddenly she began laughing, relived they had made it out of it alive. "I still can't believe it!"
"When he was up there, with the knife at Fred's throat, I thought that was it, we have to give up, but then she...she just jumped off the platform... and..." the hysterical laughter caught him too.
"Yeah, it's just fucking amazing," Faith said, sitting down on the arm of the armchair.
"If I was human, I'd be getting seriously drunk right now," Angel told her.
"Yeah, me too, but it's one of the things I decided to skip in my new happy existence," she said. "But you know, living like a nun, it hasn't paid off... Look who I'm talking to about this. I think you are the only person, who I know, who hasn't had sex in a long, long, long, time..."
"Longer than Cordelia?" Angel asked.
"What exactly do you think she's up to with Gunn at this hour? And if we are talking about them, cute how they discovered their attraction when we were about to die. Besides, that drama guy, she totally did him."
"Really? I'm sure I would've smelled it," Angel said.
"Don't freak me out with that stuff!" Faith told him before he could continue.
"Wesley?" Angel tried.
"Pharmacist. And I think the librarian..." Faith thought about it for a moment.
"No, not yet. Fred?" Angel continued.
"Harvard graduate. Just two months ago," she reminded him of a lawyer that had helped them out on an important case.
"Oh, I know. Kate" Angel said.
"Sorry, there's a new sergeant and they were all over each other last time I saw her," Faith told him. "See. I told you so."
"You?" Angel tried one last time, knowing he was going to win.
"What, you mean that one time when you were human? Cordy told me about that. But that was before I even woke up from the coma," Faith reminded him.
"I didn't mean that time," Angel said, laughing. "You see turns out I lose my soul only if I love the woman I'm having sex with."
"What's that suppose to mean?" Faith asked, confused.
"Cordy didn't say anything? There's a big surprise," Angel said. "Hmmm... must've been too upset by it. I thought she'd bitch about it forever though."
"So are ya' gonna keep me in suspense forever?" Faith asked, smiling, curious.
"You know, when Darla came back? After she turned, I slept with her, that's how I had my epiphany. Actually, it was mostly because of a dead lawyer, but anyway," Angel said, and Faith began laughing.
"You did it, didn't you? You really did it! You slept..." He put his finger on her lips when she was about to yell it out loud.
"Don't say it… I think I heard that yelled one too many times," he whispered, his hand caressing her cheek. "Don't say it," he repeated, his thumb caressing her lower lip, tracing it. His gaze concentrated on her full red lips, now lipstick free. Faith watched him, her lips parting a bit, then, caught in the magic of the moment, she leaned over and kissed him, a simple touch of their lips. When she realized what she was doing she pulled away and looked down, embarrassed.
"I'm sorry," she whispered. She didn't expect Angel to pull her back in for another kiss, this time a long, deep, sensual one. "We shouldn't..." she pulled away for a moment, breathing hard.
"I won't lose my soul," he reminded her.
"I want this. I want you," Faith said, looking him in the eye. She moved into his lap, kissing him. He pulled her shirt over her head, leaving her half-naked above him. He pulled away for a moment, to look at her. "What's wrong?" she asked, fearing he had changed his mind and she was making a fool of herself.
"Nothing, I was just looking at you. You're beautiful," he said before he kissed her again, pulling her body flush against his. She blushed, she'd never gotten a compliment like that from a guy. His hands pressed against the lower part of her back, pressing her harder into him, as he continued to kiss her, her hands losing themselves in his black hair.
When she woke up, naked in his bed, still numb and a tingling feeling running through her body, Angel wasn't there anymore. She could remember falling asleep in his arms, while his gentle hands caressed her, but she didn't recall when he left.
Frankly, she didn't care; she knew this was a one timer, but she was happy she had done it, it felt good and right. He had done for her what no other guy had; he had made love to her. She stretched out in the big bed, feeling good, so good, that she was alive after last night's battle. The sun shone behind the heavy curtains; it was a good day. She got up, holding the sheet to her body as she made her way to the kitchen, humming a song. She opened the freezer and found nothing very good, just some orange juice. She poured herself a glass before noticing the box full of donuts on the table.
"Mmmm, breakfast" she said smiling and pulling a donut from the box, while she put the glass of orange juice on the table. She was facing away from the kitchen door. She didn't expect to hear the high pitched scream that came from there, startling her so much she almost dropped the sheet from her body, the donut managing to slip from her fingers and to land first on the sheet, smudging it with chocolate, then on the kitchen floor. She turned around to see Wesley and Cordelia staring at her.
"Tell me you just didn't do what I think you did" Cordy said, touching her forehead.
"Oh, no, you know I just love to run around naked," Faith said, realizing that she actually did, remembering her hot nights spent back in New Orleans.
"Geez, Faith! Don't you care about anything? Like our lives?" Cordy asked her.
"Of course I do. Nothing's gonna happen cause..." she said.
"Because his curse's going to magically reappear in its place," Wesley was also pissed that she had been thinking only of herself, not about everyone she jeopardized with her actions.
"He's good, okay? Just trust me for once," Faith told them, getting a little pissed herself. How dare they threat her like that? She would never do anything that would hurt them or Angel, not after they'd been so good to her for the last few months.
"Oh, yeah? Then where is he?" Cordy asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"He's..." she stopped, realizing she didn't know where he was.
"God, Faith!" Wesley let out.
"Geez, he can get to any of us," Cordy realized.
"Yeah, probably," Angel said, walking into the kitchen. Cordy froze, her back turned towards him. "But you know, I was thinking. Maybe the LA night life is much more... tasteful than any of you," he said. Cordy could feel his lips an inch away from her neck, and she could almost feel the words forming on his lips. "But then again I said heck, it's tradition," a grin formed on his lips as he looked up at Faith, who was looking desperate. "Have I mentioned how grateful I am? Honey, you're the best!" he told her, blocking the frying pan Wesley tried to hit him with. "I thought hell, she won't do, and soulboy's just gonna get some. Again!" He stressed that word looking over at Cordelia for a moment. "And that's that, but the funniest thing is..." he chuckled. "How the most wretched people turn out to be useful after all. Promise to kill you fast, after a few hours of torture, of course. That's necessary, you know."
Then, before he could block it, Cordelia grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed him in the shoulder. Before she could hit him again, he turned around violently, his game face on, raising her off the ground and then throwing her into the opposite wall, while Wesley desperately tried to free her from his grasp. Faith was frozen into place, what she had done, her actions, destroying her from inside out.
Angelus grabbed Wesley by the collar of his shirt, throwing him into the window, his shirt shredded under his strength. Glass fell onto the floor with a crashing sound as Wesley's body hit it. He tried to rise, but he fell back, numb, while Cordelia stood up, her body shaking. Angelus looked at them.
"Tsk, tsk..." he sighed. "Well, this was fun, but we'll have to reschedule our little reunion. I'm feeling a little peckish," Angelus sent Faith a butterfly kiss from his fingers before waltzing out, humming a song. Faith tried to stood up, absolutely shocked, before she collapsed to the floor, crying.
"I... I... I...didn't...I didn't know," Faith said, sobbing violently as she crouched next to the wall, holding her knees under her chin, rocking her body forward.
Cordy managed to walk over to Wesley, sustaining herself on the wall. She pulled him inside. He had cuts all over his body from the glass, but luckily nothing very serious. He held up his palm, a glass piece sticking out of it. Cordy looked desperately at it for a moment before pulling it out. Wesley let out a gasp. He and Cordy shared a worried look before turning their heads towards Faith, who was still crying.
Wesley stood up, supported by Cordy, and they walked towards her, sitting down by her side.
"Angel. Sex. Two words that don't belong in the same sentence," Cordy said, in a softer, gentler voice.
"No...no...you don't get it...he..." Faith tried to speak through the sobs.
"What are you talking about?" Wesley asked.
"He...doesn't lose his...soul...unless, unless..." Faith tried to gather herself. "Unless he...loves..."
"Like he loved Buffy" Cordy said, realizing what Faith meant. "The lousy son of a bitch!" Cordy exploded, suddenly angry. "Now he just uses women for sex? I so thought he was different from any other guy, you know, not being a pig!"
"Hey," Wesley managed to let out a small protest. "But surely he didn't…"
"He probably did," Cordy said sighing.
"What are you talking about?" Faith looked up, her face red because of the tears she'd shed.
"Angel told you about Darla, right?" Cordy asked and Faith gave her a small nod. "I never said anything to you about the whole Darla incident so you wouldn't get the wrong idea, which you did… Darla was meant to be and…," Cordy said.
"Darla was meant to be?" Faith asked.
"She got pregnant. Had a son. There was this whole seed of evil prophecy and… we don't really like to mention it… it was a tough call" Cordy explained.
"That's who Connor is," Faith understood now. She had heard the name Connor spoken a couple of times and the name brought with it only arguing and silence.
"Yeah," Cordy admitted, she would've eventually find out anyway. "It's okay, it's not your fault. We don't even know how that curse of his works," Cordy stopped to hug her.
"What does it all mean?" Wesley asked while Faith crushed Cordelia's body in her arms.
"I can't breathe?" Cordy said her voice choking.
"What?" Wesley looked at her, not understanding.
"I can't breathe!" Cordy managed to let out.
"Uh, sorry." Faith let go of her, wiping away her tears with the back of her hand, while Cordy drew in a big breath of air.
"It's okay" Cordy whispered.
"So, again, what does it all mean?" Wesley asked again.
"We all need to get our apartments and the hotel, vampire invitation free?" Cordy suggested. "Wait, does this mean Angel loves you?" she turned towards Faith.
"No, I don't know, I don't think so..." Faith said thinking about last night and the morning's events.
"If he does, he has a disturbingly kinky taste for slayers. He might actually enjoy the pain," Cordy said, making Faith smile.
"Wait." Faith suddenly remembered. "It wasn't love, it just felt right."
"Felt right, does that count as a happy?" Cordy looked at Wesley.
"Well I suppose..." Wesley started, but was cut off by Faith.
"No, you don't get it. The fight...it just made things so clear for once! How easy the world can just go to hell in an instant and the next minute everything can be back to normal. Just makes you wonder what you'd miss if that moment came again, unexpected, killing you for good this time. It just felt so right, like if I'd die, I'd regret never even trying to kiss him or love him. We always had this thing, but since he saved my soul, we never actually talked about it. It felt right," she repeated.
"I think I sorta know what you mean," Cordy said, thinking of her sudden awareness of Gunn.
"Oh, god, we forgot about the others!" Wesley suddenly remembered about Fred, who was defenseless in the hospital, under drugs, Kate and Gunn who had no protection from Angelus.
"Gunn!" Cordy suddenly said. "Gunn. I left him at my apartment."
"And what was he doing at your apartment?" Wesley asked, stopping, even now, to tease her. Faith hit him with her elbow, playfully. "Ow!"
"Oh, sorry! Geez!" Faith noticed the long, deep cut in his palm, still bleeding.
She ripped off a part of the sheet covering her, and carefully bandaged his wound. "He won't be using them any time soon." She gestured towards the sheets.
"Thanks." Wesley gave her a small smile.
"You are so going to the hospital," Cordy told him.
"No, I'm fine, really!" Wesley tried to assure them, but as soon as he moved, he winced in pain.
"You're going to the hospital. You can look over Fred too. Tell her what's going on, if she's awake. I'll go get Gunn and you go talk to Kate. Then we'll find that spell thing and get us, at least, inside, safe, okay?" Cordy asked.
"Yes, can you get me in a cab?" Wesley asked weakly.
"Yeah, sure...Faith..." she turned towards the slayer, who wasn't looking so good. "You okay?"
"Yeah, excuse me, I need to go vomit. Must've swallowed some demon goo when it exploded," Faith said, standing up and dragging the sheets behind her in the bathroom. Cordy and Wesley could hear the gagging sounds from outside.
1 month later
"At least I got out of it with a lousy little bite, thanks to you guys," Cordy told Wes, Fred and Gunn, as she analyzed the two holes on her neck.
"You said it, one more minute and hello, vampy Cordelia!" Fred said, laughing nervously, while holding on to her crutches. Her leg wasn't quite healed yet, mainly thanks to a little bit of Angelus's torture.
"We were beyond lucky," Wes said while he took another sip of coffee. He was wearing a patch over his eye, a little gift from Angelus, the wound in his palm being only a big scar now.
"I should've just got out of town like Kate, from the start," Cordy said, knowing she could've never done it. "But, you know, I love you guys and this is our mess."
"I second that," Gunn said, smiling, and the rest agreed by nodding. The front door opened and Faith came in, looking disturbed.
"Hey, girl, you okay?" Gunn asked, seeing how pale she was.
"What did the doctor say?" Fred asked, worried.
"It's not some kind of terminal disease, is it?" Cordy asked. They all knew what troubles she had been going through for the last month, always vomiting, feeling sick all the time.
"Is it Angelus? Did he do something?" Wesley asked, trying to get a word out of her.
Faith didn't answer. She just sat down, still silent, on a chair.
"Faith, what's wrong?" Cordy asked again. The slayer seemed mesmerized.
"I'm... I'm pregnant." Faith barely let it out. They were all shocked.
"So...uhm...who's the father?" Wesley asked, breaking the silence.
"Angel," Faith said, and they all stared at her.
"Angel can't..." Cordy started. "What's the point of even saying it?" she shook her head.
"But he's still a vampire! Vampires can't have babies. And besides it only happened once… Okay twice, if we count this time too," Fred reminded them.
"Yeah, I think Darla's still fresh in everyone's memories," Gunn asked bringing back a rather uncomfortable subject, not even speaking the name of Angel's first son.
"That was different. Two vampires. One prophecy. People knew about that baby before Angel even existed," Wesley reminded him.
"And this is like a pop-out surprise," Cordy said sighing. "Are you sure it's him?"
"Yeah. I didn't screw around with anyone else. And I'm around one month pregnant and that's when we had sex," Faith finished. She was as stunned as them.
"Geez!" Gunn let out, adding after a moment: "Is this like a congratulations occasion?"
"Oh, yeah, the father of my baby is a psycho killer, congrats!" Faith said, giving him a glare. She was close to breaking down, but something inside her stopped her, a simple thought, 'what about the baby?'
"Guess not," Gunn said, regretting his words.
"Oh, no, sorry..." Faith didn't want to upset him. "I'm just moody."
"At least you have an excuse," Cordy said, trying to make her smile.
"I think I'm going to keep this baby," Faith announced.
"It's your choice, Faith, and only yours," Wesley told her, comforting her.
"I know Angel would love it, if he wouldn't be his charming evil self momentarily," Fred told her.
"But first things first, I wanna know why I can have this baby, and I wanna be sure it's his," Faith told them and they understood, already moving into research mode.
"Found it. Kautaris Powizer," Cordy pointed towards a paragraph of the book she was reading. It was close to dawn. They were tired. The research hadn't gone too well until now. They tried looking for vampire resurrection, prophecies that included half-human/half-demon or vampire children, but they didn't find any clue, so eventually they returned to the demon they had fought that night. They didn't find a name for it back then, everything moving too fast, so they didn't even have time for research. "Well this explains everything. It was something like a fertility/war god, demon thingy. In plain English, he could make anyone in a ten block radius have babies just by hanging around for five minutes. Imagine what happens if it's five hours... Also the process is quicker in the beginning, probably why you were throwing up the morning after," Cordy explained.
"Does this mean my baby's growing faster?" Faith asked.
"No, just the initial process is installed faster," Cordy said.
"Okay, so my baby's normal? It's Angel's?" Faith asked.
"Yeah," Cordy assured her.
"Thank god! For a moment there I thought you were the mother of the second coming!" Wesley said, joking.
"I'm gonna have a baby! I'm gonna be a mother!" It seemed to only hit Faith now. "Ahhh!"
"We're gonna have a baby. This is gonna change us radically!" Cordy said and added an enthusiastic: "Again!"
"One thing I don't get," Fred said. "You and Gunn were getting off too, how come, no baby?"
"We used protection," Gunn said.
"Which you wouldn't be thinking of, if you're sleeping with a dead person, a.k.a. a vampire," Cordy said.
"Oh, right," Fred remembered.
"What about Angelus?" Wesley asked, reducing everyone to silence.
"Recursing might be an option," Cordy said, stating the obvious. "Anyone think we should call Sunnydale?
"You think we should?" Faith asked hesitantly. She didn't want Buffy to know what had happened, she knew she would blame her for what she did, even if it wasn't all her fault.
"I guess. We can't not…" Fred said, sensing her feelings. She knew pretty much everything about the blond slayer, her history with Angel and Faith.
"But we don't necessarily have to tell them," Cordy said and everyone looked at her. "Watch." She picked up the phone and dialed Willow's phone number.
"Hi, this is the Rosenbergs." The friendly voice of the redhead was heard.
"Hi, Will. It's Cordy," she said, responding with the same cheerful voice. "So what's new in Sunnydale?"
"Nothing and everything" Willow said, surprised she had called. "Is something wrong?"
"No! We were just thinking and we realized we don't even have Angel's curse. Which would be a seriously stupid thing. You know, just in case. You use to have it around, right?"
"Oh, god, haven't thought about it in ages..." Willow said thinking back to where exactly it might be. "I know I had a copy somewhere, I printed it for the spell, but I think it burned when the library exploded. I put it inside a book. There was the diskette. I have to have it around here…" she moved around her room, looking through the drawers and the stacks of old diskettes. "Somewhere..." she let out while she looked at each diskette. Finally, she found it, the word 'curse' written with black on it and underlined. "Got it!"
"Great!" Cordy smiled, covering the phone so Willow wouldn't hear for a moment. "She found it!" Everyone was relieved.
"Cordy, Cordy, are you still there?" she heard Willow's voice.
"Yeah, still here" Cordy said uncovering the phone.
"I think it's damaged" Willow said, looking at the file on her computer. It had blanks and scrambled words.
"Could you fix it?" Cordy asked, the hope floating in the room suddenly disappearing.
"I don't know. I don't think so, it's very old, it has to be around 6 years old, even more. It's unlikely it'll recover, maybe it'll become even more damaged, but I'll give it a try," Willow said while she looked over the file again.
"Thanks. Bye!" Cordy said, her cheerful voice fading.
"Bye..." Willow said before hanging up.
"It's no good, the diskette, it's damaged," Cordy told them.
"So what now? We can't kill him," Gunn said. "You all know we can't."
"I can find the curse, I'm sure I can. And...and I'll translate it. It's going to be hard, but I'll do my best!" Wesley said.
"We know you will," Fred said, smiling at him.
"Great, now all we have to do is stay alive long enough!" Cordy said and everyone agreed.
2 months later
Wesley seemed possessed. He would sit in front of the computer 24 hours/day, not ungluing himself, not even to eat. He would've starved himself to death, as Cordy put it, if they didn't bring him food. They all greatly appreciated his efforts, while they themselves tried, meanwhile, to deal with Angelus, who always found a new way to torture them. He was very inventive in that department.
It was late, past midnight, a hard rain falling down over Los Angeles. The front door opened and Cordelia came in, followed closely by Gunn, both soaked to the bone. Wesley was talking on the phone with someone.
"He has her," Cordy said, throwing herself in a chair.
"Who?" Wesley stopped his conversation on the phone for a second.
"Faith!" Gunn let out. "Angelus and his fang gang attacked us when we were coming back from the store. We managed to dust half, but it was all a distraction so he could take her."
"Oh, lord" Wesley closed his eyes for a moment. "No, no, not you!" he told the man on the phone. "Yes, I still...of course, yes, yes, I'll do that...Send it, please. No, right now, it's an emergency. Thank you, I'm in your debt for life. Yes, I'll stand by," he said and put the phone down. Wesley sat down, sighing.
"We have to get her back," Cordy said, staring blankly at the ceiling. There was a loud beep, before the fax machine started to print in the silence of the room.
"We have the curse. Translated," Wesley stated, satisfied with himself.
"Could this be a better moment?" Cordy seemed to be relieved. "We recurse him before he gets to kill her. Wes, you're the man!" Cordy hugged him.
"How'd you do it?" Gunn asked, curious.
"Let's just say we owe a considerable amount of money to a gypsy in Romania," Wesley told them as he pulled the sheet of paper containing the precious curse from the fax. "We have to work fast."
"We'll hit the magic shop, we just need a list" Gunn said, while Wesley began to write down the ingredients.
"Let's go!" Cordy took the list from Wesley's hand and headed for the door.
"You know, I've always thought about this... Not very inventive, actually old fashioned, but what the heck I'm an old fashioned guy. Besides, I always pictured you like this," Angelus told Faith. She was chained to a wall in the sewers. He picked up a small knife in his hand. "Any words before we start?
"I..." Faith tried to speak.
"Well, so much about that. And might I add, most beautiful speech I ever heard. Bravo!" Angelus said, a grin playing on his lips. "Now, how do you like it, small little cuts, or big nasty wounds? I'm for the little cuts, hurts a hell of a lot more..."
"I'm pregnant," Faith managed to mutter.
"Well, well, hasn't someone been busy!" Angelus said, taken a bit by surprise. "So who's the lucky guy? You know, just for the record, who do I tell about taking his baby apart, piece by piece?"
"You leave my baby out of this!" Faith yelled, looking into his cold brown eyes.
"Now, how am I supposed to do that? Wait nine months?" Angelus smiled. "Is it the ex-watcher?"
"You idiot, it's you!" Faith yelled and Angelus laughed.
"Yes, because I can have kids. Look at me, the regular baby farm!" Angelus laughed. "Let me fill you in on something, one of the perks of being dead, no babies."
"Oh, yeah, smart guy, what about Darla?" Faith asked and he stopped for a moment, thinking, tapping the knife on his lips.
"Ancient prophecy, slutty slayer. I really don't see it," he said after a moment. "But that reminds me…I have a disobedient little brat I have to track down and teach a little lesson about his daddy. Now where were we?"
"Listen, that thing we killed, it was a fertility... Why am I telling you this?" Faith asked, tired.
"Your inner need to bore me to death?" Angelus asked, coming closer to her, pressing the blade of the knife to her cheek. "You use to be a fun girl, Faith, we could've eviscerated people together, wreak a little havoc, before I got bored and threw you out a window...but what the hell right? I'll just show everyone your insides, probably your baby too. Always wanted to see how one looked, still in the womb," he said, taking the knife lower to her stomach. "I can hear a heartbeat, it's so tiny and small," he taunted her, making a cross across her stomach, preparing to stab her, to take the life of her baby.
"No!" Faith yelled desperately, trying to pull away from him.
"C'mon, Faith, you really thought you could be a good mother? Geez, you're not even a good enough lay... You know who that makes me think of? Buff, but she was like an innocent little twit. But you know what the difference between you and her is? Besides the 5 inches, black hair, moral standards and the fact that you're a vicious killer and she's the angel of mercy? The fact that she turns me on. All she had to do was flip her hair in that cute way she did and I'd be halfway coming. And she didn't even try. I would've fucked her half way to hell, but you… I wouldn't even try again... Talking about Buffy..." he took a step back. "I think I should pay her a visit. Nothing big, you know, kill a few friends, drive her insane, maybe track down a few old boyfriends, hang them in her back yard. That's gonna be so much fun! I'm just sorry you and the yuppie group aren't going to be around to enjoy it," He neared her again, making a long cut along her left cheek, then licking the blood that was dripping from the open wound.
Suddenly a sharp pain coursed through his body and he fell to his knees in front of her, clutching the knife in his hand. A yellow glow filled his eyes as he looked up at Faith, bloody red tears falling down his face. "Faith?" he muttered, not remembering anything he had said or done for the last months, it was like a mist had enveloped his mind, a mist that would clear real soon. He closed his eyes, realizing what had happened. He was crying when Faith managed to break free from her chains. "I'm sorry," he managed to say, while she looked down at him, on his knees in front of her, in the dirt.
"It's okay," she whispered, as his hands surrounded her and he pressed his head to her stomach, her hands caressing his soft hair. "It's okay."
He suddenly realized what he was hearing: a small, oh, so small, sweet heartbeat inside her. "Faith?"
"Yeah," she said as he rose to his feet and hugged her close, before they both started walking out of the sewers.
Faith was looking out the window, unconsciously touching her womb. She didn't hear Angel enter the room. He had recovered his soul only a week ago and he couldn't stop himself from trying to make it up to each of them. It had cost him, an expensive shopping session with Cordelia, a night at the Opera with Fred, a rare book collection for Wesley, a serious repair on Gunn's old beaten car. He just couldn't think of anything that could make up for what he had said and done to Faith, but he had to try.
"Hey," he smiled when she turned around.
"Hey" she said turning back towards the window.
"I'm sorry for everything I...he said to you" Angel said, gently hugging her from behind.
"It's okay, it wasn't your fault," Faith said, leaning back into his arms.
"In a strange way it was; maybe we should've never..."
"No, I think it was right." Faith cut him off.
"You were amazing, I never got to tell you that. And never believe what he says, he knows what makes you hurt," Angel said, feeling awkward talking about himself as a third person.
"So do you," she said, biting her lower lip.
"Yes, I guess I do. And don't ever believe you won't be a good mother. I know you will. This is my baby too, and I promise I'll be there for you, the both of you."
"Thank you," she whispered.
"There's nothing to thank me for. Not yet, anyway. I have a surprise," he told her.
"What?" she asked, curious.
"Follow me." He grabbed her hand and pulled her out of her room and into the hallway. He stopped in front of a door, opened it and pulled Faith inside.
"Hmmm, your apartment," Faith said, not understanding what he was doing.
"No, not yet." He covered her eyes as he led her to another room. Faith heard a door open, and then he took his hands off her eyes. She stared in surprise. "Well? You like it? If you don't we can..."
"I love it!" She smiled, looking at the baby room, filled with toys and clothes. She hugged him tight.
"Cordy fixed it up, I just..." Angel said while Faith looked at every little thing in the room, taking the little clothes in her hands; they were so small. "You can still buy things, you can go with Cordy, she sorta knows the shops inside out by now."
"But why is it in your apartment?" Faith asked.
"I thought we should at least...uhm...live together. For the baby," Angel said, hoping she didn't think he was out of line. They both knew there wasn't going to be anything more between them than friendship.
"Oh, okay," Faith said; there was no harm in that.
Around 6 months later
Faith ran down the hallways of the abandoned hospital. She wasn't as fast as usual, thanks to her pregnancy. The demons weren't very far behind her, she could feel it. She closed one of the doors and pulled a table in front of it. Then she remembered that hospital doors opened both ways, especially those in the hallways. "Damn!" she let out before starting to run again. She was already breathing hard and she feared her water would break any moment. She was wearing a hospital gown that one of the demons had probably put her in. She was still a little woozy from the drugs, the image getting blurry from time to time as she ran. She slid around the corner, almost falling on the cold marble, as she was in her bare feet. She got herself together and leaned on the wall.
She heard sounds from behind her and desperate, she hid inside an operation room. Suddenly her water broke. "Oh, shit!" she let out as she moved to a dark corner of the room and crouched down. "You are not coming out right now!" she told her baby, but the contractions had already started and all she could do was wince in pain. She heard the sounds of struggle outside and she held her breath for a moment. Then she realized they were fighting someone. The door to the room opened and Wesley rushed in, holding an ax in his hands, smudged with blood.
"Faith?" he asked in the darkness.
"Here" she managed to say before another contraction coursed through her body.
"Are you okay?" he asked, coming to her side. "We have to get you out of here."
"We can't. My water broke," Faith said, another contraction hitting her body.
"Oh god!" Wesley didn't know what to do.
"How'd you find me, anyway?" she asked, trying to distract herself from the pain. "Tell me," she said through her teeth.
"Uhm...Hold my hand," Wesley said, fearing she'd crush it. "And breathe." Faith began to do her Lamaze breathing. "Jonah's vampires took you, so Cordy looked up all his proprieties and we checked out the most likely and eventually got here and ...ahhhhh!" he screamed when Faith almost broke his hand.
"Sorry, I'll just hold on to this," she said grabbing the iron leg of an operation table.
"I should...we should...you should lay on your back," he said, standing up and looking for anything resembling material; nothing. "Maybe you should get on the table." He helped her up and onto the table. She leaned down. "I saw this on TV, I know I can do this. Why did I volunteer to come? I should've let...Bend your knees," he eventually said. "Spread your legs."
"Never thought I'd hear that from you," Faith said, and Wes gave her a glare. "Okay, okay!" She spread her legs.
"Try not to bend the leg of the table, okay?" Wesley cautioned her; he knew slayers and their strength. Someone was thrown into the wall outside the room, making Wesley turn his head momentarily.
"Hello, back to me!" Faith groaned.
"Oh, sorry!" Wesley turned back to her. He took his jacket off and put it under her. "Okay, now push...It's going to be a long night!" he said, looking back at the door and back at Faith.
"One more push, and you're done. C'mon!" Wesley encouraged an exhausted Faith. Angel had flown in at a certain point, holding a bloody axe in his hand. All he managed to say was a short 'hi' and a sweet smile towards Faith, before he got up and went out again. Now, sweaty and tired, Faith gave one final push and closed her eyes when she heard the screams of her baby.
"It's a boy," Wesley said, holding the blood smudged child in his hands. He cut the child's connection to his mother before laying him in his jacket and bringing him to Faith's awaiting arms.
"Congratulations" he said, smiling at them.
"He's so tiny!" Faith said, feeling such a sweet bliss inside her, unknown to her till now. "It's my baby," she said kissing the little boy on the forehead. The next minute the commotion outside stopped and Angel came in, followed by Gunn, Cordy and Fred, all spent from the long battle. Angel moved to Faith, kneeling by her side. "It's our baby, our son" she told him and he enveloped her and his son in his arms, smiling.
"He's beautiful," he told her, pressing a soft kiss on her forehead and one on his son's small cheek. "Like you," he added. Faith snuggled to his chest, still holding the baby to hers.
"Congrats, you guys!" Cordy told them, smiling.
"Thought of a name?" Gunn asked.
"I always liked Wesley. Sounds distinctive," Faith said, and Wesley was flattered.
"Really you shouldn't..." Wesley started.
"No, I want to, really, I always loved the name," Faith said. "If it's okay with you?" She looked up at Angel.
"Yeah, I like it," Angel said while the little boy encircled his finger with his tiny ones. "Let's get you out of here." He took Faith in his arms. She leaned her head on his shoulder and she held the baby to her chest, close to her heart.
"Can babies have four godparents?" Faith asked as they left the white room, the slaughtered demons and the abandoned hospital behind them.
Around 3 years later
"And who might you be?" the teacher looked strangely at Gunn, who was standing in her kindergarten, looking for little Wesley.
"I'm Gunn, I'm Wesley's godfather," he said, full of confidence. "And if you don't mind, we're sorta in a hurry. We're missing from the godmother's play. And we promised his daddy we'll be there."
"You're not his godfather. I've met his godfather, a young British gentleman," she said, looking at him.
"Yeah, Wesley senior. Listen, lady, I don't have time on my hands. That Wesley," he pointed towards the little boy playing in the background, "has four godparents, okay? And one of 'em's gonna be very pissed if I don't catch this play. Wesley!"
"Guuuuuuuuuuuunn!" the boy came running into his arms.
"Now if you'll excuse us, we have a play to catch. We're going to go see aunt Cordy, right, Wes?" he looked at the boy in his arms.
"Aunt Coudy!" Wesley said cheerfully.
"Cor-dy," Gunn corrected him.
"Cordy" Wesley repeated.
"Very good!" Gunn said. "Good-bye," he told the teacher before going out.
"So sorry for being late" Cordy said, putting down her bag. She sighed as she looked at her watch. "I don't have much time, so talk."
"Yes..." the teacher looked at her, puzzled.
"What's wrong?" Cordy asked, looking at herself, for a stain or something wrong. Everything was perfect.
"Where's Wesley's mother?" the teacher asked.
"She couldn't make it. I'm one of the godmothers, Cordelia Chase. Faith's fi...uhm...visiting some old friends, a funeral, she couldn't not go," Cordy said a big smile on her lips.
"Oh, I'm sorry. And you didn't know this recently departed friend?" the teacher asked.
"No, Faith's old friends..." Cordy said.
"From prison?" the teacher asked, surprising Cordy.
"No," Cordy said, her smile fading.
"You do know she went to prison for murder, don't you?" the teacher asked.
"Yeah, but that's water under the bridge. And she turned herself in," Cordy told her, not liking where everything was going.
"I have to be honest with you, miss Chase, it's miss, no?" Cordy nodded. "I'm worried about little Wesley's health. Living around someone with a..." she read from a file. "Psychotic behavior. Unpredictable actions, violent outbreaks."
"Well, you seem to have documented yourself," Cordy said, sensing she would have a violent outbreak if the woman continued.
"We care for the children that frequent our school, miss Chase. Just yesterday Wesley came here with a very ugly bruise on his hand..."
"That had nothing to do with Faith!" Cordy yelled. She knew where that bruise came from, a very unfortunate demon who wanted to use Wesley as a shield to escape the hotel with a rare book. The idiot was now shredded into a million pieces and probably food for the rats somewhere in the sewers. If there was one thing that drove both Angel and Faith, and all of them, insane, it was someone trying to harm little Wes. Luckily demons started to learn.
"Prove me wrong," Mrs. Hatmer said, putting her glasses down. "You know what he told me? He told me a demon grabbed him by the arm and dragged him to a dark room. But then his daddy saved him."
"That's what happened...sorta...we work a detective agency, Mrs. Hatmer, sometimes people aren't happy about it and they try to hurt us. Two days ago a man broke in and wanted to steal some...photos we took of him. When we caught him, he threatened Wesley. End of story."
"Then this is too much of a dangerous..."
"We're capable of defending ourselves and Wesley, Mrs. Hatmer. You take care of him while he's in your care. Good-bye." Cordy stood up and walked out, a victorious smile on her lips.
The music was hit high, while Cordy danced her way over to the bucket, her hair wrapped in a scarf, wearing old jeans and shirt. They were cleaning up after the restoring of the hotel. It had been repainted, the floors polished, rugs cleaned, the works. Gunn was up on a ladder trying to put the chandelier back in place. Wesley was rearranging the books in the bookcases. Fred was cleaning the windows, Angel and Lorne were desperately trying to manage with the carpets in the hallways and Faith had uncovered the front desk and was now cleaning the paint stains that had accidentally appeared. It was their home now, all except Lorne's; he was just helping out. Little Wesley was perched up on the front desk, watching everyone work.
"Listen to that music!" Lorne said, coming into the lobby, dancing. "You like it, don't you?" he asked little Wesley and the boy nodded happily. Lorne never scared him. The demon took the little boy in his arms and started spinning and dancing, to the child's delight.
Mrs. Hatmer chose this moment to enter. She stared at them, especially at Lorne. Cordy turned down the music and the demon sensed something was wrong, so he stopped his dancing, still holding Wesley to his chest.
"Can we help you?" Gunn asked from the ladder.
"What is that thing?" Mrs. Hatmer pointed towards Lorne.
"Hello, I'm Lorne. This is a mask," the demon said, already use to this explanation.
"And you wear that around a small child? It might give him nightmares!" the woman said, seeming exasperated.
"Hey, Wes, do I scare you?" Lorne asked the little boy.
"No, uncle Lorne" the little boy said shaking his head. "Lorne's our friend!" he told the teacher.
"I see," Mrs. Hatmer said. "I really think this isn't the kind of environment and people a boy Wesley's age should be living with," she told Angel.
"What makes you think that?" Angel asked.
"One thing, your wife..." Mrs. Hatmer gestured towards Faith.
"She's not my wife," Angel said and the woman seemed shocked.
"But..." she started.
"We were never married and never gave you the impression that we were," Faith told her.
The woman sighed. "Then it would be easier... I fear his mother might be a bad influence. Violence is not a good factor in the growth of a child, neither is the presence of such an environment and circle of people. For one thing, someone who had been missing for five years," she looked at Fred, "doing god knows what. Someone who had been living on the streets," she looked at Gunn. "An immigrant," she looked at Wesley, "who probably isn't even legally here. A self-centered conceited 'actress'" she looked at Cordy. "A freak in the real sense!" she looked at Lorne. "And with all this a murderer." She looked at Faith. They all stared at her for a moment. "You have to understand your mistakes, sir."
"Well, we're changing kindergartens," Faith said.
"Heard the one two blocks down is excellent," Angel agreed with her.
"Oh, and they have this extra art class," Fred said, grabbing her cloth again.
"The boy does love to draw," Gunn said.
"Just like his daddy" Faith said proudly.
"I could actually pick him up on my way back from my acting classes," Cordy said, smiling.
"And they do have that huge playground," Wesley agreed.
Mrs. Hatmer looked at them, shocked.
"Room for him to play, right, kiddo?" Lorne said and little Wesley clapped his hands, liking the idea.
"I can call Social Security!" Mrs. Hatmer said, and they suddenly stopped talking.
"You just try that, lady," Faith said. "Nothing's going to take my baby away from me. From us all."
"We'll just find another town. Another country if you're willing to go that far, but no one's taking him away from us," Angel said.
"And you know what? We might be a bunch of freaks, but we're all the family he has and we love him. And if you think that's bad for him, you're the one who's insane here!" Faith told the woman.
"You're all mad!" Mrs. Hatmer said. "You don't know what this child needs..."
"No. You don't know what I need," little Wesley suddenly said. Mrs. Hatmer stared at the boy for a moment then at all of them, before leaving.
"Well so much for that," Wesley said.
"Are we ever going to find a kindergarten that doesn't butt in?" Faith asked, sighing.
"We'll just have to find out. I'll pick up an application on Monday for the one two blocks from here," Angel told her, as Cordy turned up the music and Lorne starting to dance with Wesley in his arms again. Everyone got back to their cleaning.
"I see no problem here. We have a few gifted children of our own," the woman said, smiling.
What they could've never guessed was that there was actually a kindergarten for 'special' children, usually half-demons, abandoned by their demonic next of kin into the arms of the human ones.
"Cool!" Faith could only say. "And you don't mind that I...uhm…was in prison?"
"Oh, we don't judge anyone. You seem a perfectly normal person. And believe me, I've seen my take of big weirdoes," the young woman said. "And you're not one of them." She stopped for a moment before continuing. "When you see someone turn to dust in front of you, when you're 12, it sorta gets you somewhere. For me it was stranger, cause all I could do is think of all the babies that were in the way of the 'big battle'. I think it had something to do with the murder of this really young girl, the one who did the dusting. I just wanted to explain myself, so you don't become suspicious of me," she told them.
"It's all right with us. You have no idea how much trouble we had with the kindergartens. They just couldn't stay out of our lives," Faith said.
"I understand. One thing though, I care about my kids, and if I find out that you or anyone befriended with you hurts your son, I'll have to take the necessary steps," the woman said.
"Social Security?" Angel asked calmly, and the woman let out a small laugh.
"Oh, no, they do squat, I have my own way of taking care of things," she said, hinting towards something including a lot of pain.
"We have absolutely no problem with that," Faith said, determined.
"Good. Just sign here." She handed Faith a form. Faith and Angel signed it.
"Thank you. You can bring Wesley starting tomorrow," the woman said, smiling. "Anything wrong, don't hesitate to call." She handed Angel a calling card.
2 days ago
Cordy hurried through the park; she had 10 minutes to get to her acting class. She was determined to become a good actress, not a commercial one. She had taken a short cut through the park. As she speeded up, she accidentally bumped into a girl carrying books in her arms. The girl's books scattered all over the ground.
"Oh, god, I'm so sorry!" Cordy immediately said, helping her gather her books. She looked up at the girl; she seemed so familiar. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"
The girl looked up only then and was shocked to see Cordelia.
"Cordy? It's Dawn!" the girl said, smiling.
"Dawn? Little Dawnie?" Cordy asked, surprised.
"Not so little anymore," she said, smiling. Cordy hugged her.
"God, I can't believe it. What are you doing in LA anyway?" Cordy said, breaking away from her.
"College. I'm at the UCLA" Dawn said.
"That's great. Congratulations!" Cordy smiled, and then looked at her watch. "Oh, god, I have to go, but..." she opened her bag looking for something. She pulled a card out. "Here, look us up some time, I'd love to chat some more."
"I'll do that, it was great seeing you again," Dawn said as she took the card. "Bye."
"Bye." Cordy walked away fast. Dawn stood there for a moment, looking over the books at the small white card.
"Angel Investigations. We help the helpless." She read the card, a smile on her lips. She put the card in her bag and walked away.
End Part 3