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: Angel and Spike get a chance to get back the people that meant the most to them after the battle against Wolfram and Hart. But can they keep the real past a secret from the only people they want to share it with? A/C S/B
CHAPTER 23
Buffy and Spike toppled down to the floor of the Hyperion Hotel, shocking the former members of the Fang Gang. Spike had tackled Xander, and Buffy had taken Faith down with her.
"Buffy?" Angel was shocked to see the Slayer, and shocked that she had moved so quickly. He had no idea she had regained her memory.
Buffy looked up at her ex-flame, a smile dancing on the Slayer's lips as she struggled to keep Faith down. "Well, looks like you and Spike got us all in one hell of a situation, Angel."
Angel looked at Buffy, then Cordelia, then back at Buffy. He raised an eyebrow. "Buffy?"
Buffy nodded. "I remember, and Spike explained it all."
Spike also nodded, letting Angel know that Buffy had indeed gotten her memory back.
"Well then…" Cordelia was the first to react to this sudden news. "Why doesn't Buffy and Spike let Xander and Faith up-"
"What?" Spike looked up at Cordelia as if she had twenty heads. "These two are here to kill you, cheerleader." Spike motioned to Xander and Faith. "Maybe you didn't catch that part when we came flying in here and tackled them."
"I caught it, Spike." Cordelia glared at him, causing Spike to swallow loudly. "So, like I said, let them up and then you, I, Angel, Buffy, Xander, Faith, Wesley, and Lorne can have a nice catch outside." She had named everyone she was sure had their memory's back because she wanted them all to discuss what was really going on.
Lorne realized what Cordelia was doing and smiled. "Great idea, doll face, except why doesn't Gunn join us?"
"Gunn?" Angel turned to Lorne and then looked at Gunn.
Gunn nodded feverishly, letting Angel know that he too had regained his memory. "Yeah."
"Alright." Angel agreed with Cordelia's idea, motioning for Buffy and Spike to let Faith and Xander up. The Slayer and ex-vampire did so reluctantly.
"And Connor and Fred?" Cordelia did not want to make the only two who had not gotten their memories back suspicious of the group's actions. "Please go look up the vampire attacks? We are going to have to start investigating them soon, I think."
"What?" Connor looked at her. "But what about Xander and Faith?"
"We'll deal with them." Angel told his son. "You and Fred get to work."
Fred smiled, nodding. "Sure thing." She then grabbed Connor by the arm and led him behind the desk before he could argue anymore.
Both Connor and Fred watched the rest of the group make their way out into the garden before they started talking again.
"Okay, something weird is going on." Fred stated the obvious.
"You think?" Connor asked her sarcastically as he looked out into the garden to see Angel, Cordelia, Spike, Buffy, Wesley, Gunn, Lorne, Faith, and Xander sitting or standing. "Something is definitely off."
"You mean besides the fact that Xander and Faith came here to kill Angel and Cordelia and then all the sudden those other two come barging in and everyone is friends?" Fred jabbered.
Connor looked over at Fred after she finished her speech. "Right. Like that." He leaned against the counter. "And the way all of the sudden Wesley knew Faith so well, and the way Cordelia knew about Xander's other woman and everything…just doesn't make sense."
Fred nodded in agreement. "Maybe it's this place." She looked around the hotel and shivered slightly.
"This place?" Connor raised an eyebrow.
Fred nodded.
"What do you mean?" Connor asked.
"Well, I mean this place. It's kind of creepy." Fred voice seemed to come out as a whisper as she glanced around the hotel.
Connor felt a tingle in this spin. The Hyperion was a little eerie. He immediately tried to rationalize the feeling. "It's just old."
"Old in the sense that I know this place." Fred took a step around the counter and into the main lobby, looking up at the stairs and the walkway above. She then looked back at Connor who was still behind the desk. "I've been here before."
Connor nodded. "I know. We both have. We've been in and out of here the past few weeks."
"No, not like that." Fred told him.
"Then what are you talking about?" Connor raised an eyebrow.
The look Connor had given her had caused Fred to shiver once more. She had seen that look before, earlier in the day, but not on Connor's face. She had seen it on Angel's face. She pondered this thought for a moment, but was shaken from it when Connor spoke again.
"Have you been here before the past few weeks?" Connor asked.
Fred shook her head. "No." She said quickly, and then sighed. "I don't think so. I mean I know for a fact that I haven't, but I feel like I have."
Connor nodded, he kind of felt the same way.
"And this place reminds me of demons and vampires." Fred said.
"Well, probably because we research them here." Connor was rationalizing again.
"Exactly, and why do we do that?" Fred asked.
Connor pondered her question. "What do you mean?"
"Why do we come here everyday and research those things?" Fred asked. "Why do we help? We don't know Angel or Cordelia at all or anyone else in this place, so why do we keep coming back?"
Connor thought for a moment. It was a good question. Why did they keep coming back? "Because it feels right." He finally said. "We're doing the right thing."
"How do we know that?" Fred asked. "How can we honestly say we know Angel's fight is the right one?"
"We can't." Connor said.
"It just feels like it's the right thing to do though." Fred looked at her hands.
"Yeah." Connor shoved his hands in his pocket, feeling a little uncomfortable about the topic of conversation. He didn't like not knowing why he was showing up there, and why it felt like the right thing to do.
"So like I said earlier, maybe it is this place." Fred continued.
"What?"
"Maybe they used some kind of magic that draws us here. Maybe we are under some kind of spell."
Connor raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"I bet you anything that if we took a look around this place we would find something that would show us whatever it is we seem to be missing." Fred said.
After a moment, Connor nodded. Maybe they could find something. "Yeah, maybe."
"Alright then." Fred smiled, seeming satisfied with Connor's answer. "Let's go look."
Connor nodded and allowed Fred to lead him up the stairs of the Hyperion Hotel, careful to slip past the window so no one in the garden would see the two of them as they searched the hotel for something, anything. Connor wasn't sure what they were really looking for, but he had a feeling they would find it.
Angel, Cordelia, Buffy, Spike, Faith, Xander, Wesley, Lorne, and Gunn quickly shuffled out of the Hyperion Hotel and the garden located behind the hotel. They all stood in a silent circle for a long minute, searching each other's faces for answers. Then Spike spoke.
"What in the bloody hell is going on?" Spike asked. "Buffy and me come all this damn way to save you two." He pointed to Angel and Cordelia. "And then you yell at us for tackling the people after you." He pointed to Faith and Xander.
"They got their memories back." Angel defended Faith and Xander.
"Yeah." Faith nodded, and then looked at Angel. "Now explain to me why the hell we didn't have them before?"
"Long story…" Angel mumbled.
"Not too long." Buffy corrected Angel. "It seems that the world ended before and we all died so Angel and Spike struck a deal with Darla and we all came back to a world with no vampires and without our memories."
"There was no deal striking." Angel said. "It wasn't like we were given a choice. They just kind of sent us back."
"As humans?" Gunn raised an eyebrow. "Is this your Shanshu or something?"
"No." Angel shook his head. "Just a different path reality could have taken. No vampires, no demons, just us with normal lives."
"Except things are changing." Cordelia added. "Because the vampires are back."
"And our strengths." Buffy agreed.
Faith felt her arm muscle and nodded. "Yeah, I am definitely stronger."
"And my vampire senses are coming back." Spike said, looking at Angel.
"Mine too." Angel nodded.
"What about you, Cordelia?" Wesley asked. "Are your visions…"
"Not yet." Cordelia told him. "But I have a feeling it is only a matter of time before I get one."
"So, we all got our memories back and your getting your strengths back…" Gunn was taking everything in. "How did we get our memories back."
"Something you cared deeply about, or reminded you of our past triggered it." Lorne explained. "I got mine back when I read Angel a while back."
Gunn nodded, realizing that was why Lorne and Angel had gone off by themselves that night. Angel had to explain everything. "Makes sense."
"So everyone is back?" Faith asked. "I mean, Cordelia, you were dead…"
Angel wrapped his arm around Cordelia. "We were all dead. We all died. Now we are back. It's our second chance I guess you could say."
"We aren't all back." Xander spoke up for the first time. "Anya…she…"
"Why is that?" Buffy asked. "Why isn't Anya back?"
"Anya lived a long life." Angel explained. "Maybe it was just her time…"
"You lived a damn long life too!" Xander snapped. "You and Spike! So why didn't you just die too?"
"Wasn't our time yet, mate." Spike told Xander.
"Why the hell not?" Xander wasn't angry with Angel and Spike for being alive, he was upset that Anya was dead.
"We have a feeling the Powers aren't done using us as their chess pieces yet." Cordelia rolled her eyes.
"That's a fair assumption." Gunn agreed, and then looked back at the hotel, then back at the group. "What about Connor and Fred?"
"They don't remember yet." Angel said.
"But they will." Cordelia added, looking over at Wesley. "We just need to…" She was cut off by Buffy's phone ringing.
Buffy pulled her cell phone out. "Sorry…" She apologized, looking at the number. "It's Giles." She flipped open her phone. "Hello…"
The group watched as Buffy's facial expression went blank as she listened to Giles talk. After a moment, she spoke into the phone. "Okay Giles…okay. We will be right back with Faith and Xander. Yes, they are okay. Bye."
She hung up the phone, looking up at the group in shock.
"What is it?" Spike asked her.
"Giles." Buffy said softly. "He remembers."
"That's great." Angel smiled. "We could use his help."
Spike nodded, but did not seem as happy. "So he listened to me?"
Buffy nodded. "He looked up Angelus and Angelus existed here."
"What?" Angel's eyes grew wide.
"That's not possible. Angel is human." Cordelia defended him quickly.
"It's completely possible." Wesley realized what was going on. "Our past reality is completely colliding with the present."
"What the hell does that mean?" Faith asked.
"It means things are going bad fast." Spike said.
"Yeah." Buffy nodded in agreement. "And we have to get back to Sunnydale, fast."
"Yeah, you should go." Angel agreed.
Buffy nodded. "We'll be in touch."
Angel also nodded as he and the rest of the fang gang stood in the garden, watching Buffy, Spike, Xander, and Faith leave. The Fang Gang then looked at each other, silence stifling around them. They knew they had a lot of work to do.
Fred and Connor made their way up the stairs and to the first floor of rooms in the Hyperion Hotel. They walked around, realizing that there were quite a few rooms they could choose to begin their search. They walked down one wing of the hotel and then Connor stopped in front of what he thought was a random door. For some reason, however, he felt like he needed to enter it.
"This one." Connor pointed to the door.
"Why?" Fred asked.
Connor shrugged. "Feels right."
Fred took that as enough reason to open the door and nodded. "Okay."
Connor nodded back and opened the door to find that it led to the room Angel and Cordelia shared. Connor had no idea it had belonged to his father in the first reality he had existed in.
Fred seemed embarrassed by Connor's choice of the room. She did not feel it was right, snooping through Angel and Cordelia's things. "Well, this is awkward. We can probably just close this door and they will have no idea we were even in here."
"No." Connor said quickly. "We want answers, and if anyone is going to give them to us I have a feeling it's Angel or Cordelia."
"We can't just go through their stuff!" Fred reasoned.
"Why not? We want answers right?"
"Yeah…but what if they come up here while we are going through everything?"
Connor sighed. "For some reason, I am willing to take that chance." He then moved to the dresser beside the bed, ripping the top drawer open.
"This is so wrong." Fred said, walking into the adjoining room, and picking up a pile of papers on a chair.
"Yet you seem to have jumped right in." Connor joked, finding a stack of pictures in the top drawer. He flipped through the first few. They were pictures of Angel and Cordelia, one of the two of them sparring in what appeared to be a basement. Connor raised an eye at the swords in their hand but then shrugged, they were both skilled fighters when it came to vampires so he wasn't surprised they had practiced. He looked up at Fred. "Find anything?"
"I'm not sure." Fred said honestly. "Did you ever hear of Wolfram and Hart?"
Connor nodded. "It's a law firm downtown. Why?"
"Well, it says here Angel used to run it." Fred raised an eyebrow. "Didn't he just get out of high school?"
"Supposedly." Connor was seriously starting to doubt that fact though.
"Weird." Fred flipped through the pages, and suddenly got a blank look on her face.
Connor noticed the look. "What?"
Fred shook her head, smiling up awkwardly at Connor. "Nothing." But it wasn't nothing. Her eyes went back to the page. There was her name, typed at the top. It said she had run the lab at Wolfram and Hart. Suddenly images of a lab flashed before her eyes. She continued reading and that's when she saw it. One word. One simple word that sent chills up her spin, and brought pain to her heart. ILLYRIA. Suddenly everything hit Fred. She remembered it all up until the point that Illyria took over her body. She then looked up at Connor, her eyes glistening with tears, but when she looked at him, she just saw a weird smile on his face.
"Did you know Angel and Cordelia have a son?" He held up a picture of Angel, Cordelia, and the baby version of himself, although he did not know that, on Cordelia's birthday. He then read the back of the picture. "It says his name is Connor too." He smiled at his fact.
Fred just smiled back at him, fighting back the tears that glazed her eyes. "Really?"
"Yeah." Connor shrugged, putting the picture in his back pocket. He didn't know why, but for some reason he felt the need to take it. "Come on, there's nothing in here."
Fred nodded and allowed Connor to lead her out of Angel and Cordelia's room and back down to the lobby of the Hyperion Hotel. She had no idea what had happened to her or why she was back. All she knew was she needed answers, and she knew that Angel, Cordelia, and the rest of the Fang Gang were the people to give them to her. More importantly, however, she knew she needed Wesley.
Angel, Cordelia, Wesley, Lorne, and Gunn stood in a circle out in the garden of the Hyperion Hotel. Silence filled the air and every once in a while, one member of the circle stole a glance at another, but none of them were about to be the first to talk After a few minutes, however, Cordelia rolled her eyes sighing and putting a hand on her hip. Leave it to her boys to keep their mouths shut when there was so much to say.
"Okay, so clearly we need to decide a few things." Cordelia finally broke the silence. "Starting with Fred and Connor."
"Yes." Wesley agreed immediately, they needed to get Connor and Fred back, especially Fred. It had been so long since he had held her, so long since Illyria had taken her over. Now she was back, and all Wesley wanted was to be with her.
"How though?" Gunn asked.
"We need to find what makes them tick." Angel said, wrapping an arm around Cordelia's waste. "Cordy got her memory back when she almost lost me." He smiled at her.
Cordelia snorted, rolling her eyes at Angel's comment, but the smile on her lips told the ex-vampire the thoughts in her head were much different then the attitude she portrayed. He loved when she teased him.
"And mine was brought back when I…" Wesley swallowed hard and then looked up at Angel uneasily. "I never got to truly apologize for how much I screwed up that prophecy."
Angel nodded. He was not about to tell Wesley he was forgiven for stealing Connor from him, because, the truth was, Angel could never completely forgive Wesley for that. "Well, I knew that would stir up something inside of you."
Wesley nodded. "How do we get Fred's back?"
"I'm thinking either physics or Wesley will bring it back." Lorne said. "I'm not sure what else meant a lot to her."
"Doesn't need to mean a lot." Gunn said. "I just heard Angelus' name and I remembered."
"Maybe it's getting easier to break through the memories." Cordelia suggested. "You know, since this reality seems to be getting so messed up with the last."
"That's true." Wesley nodded in agreement.
"Yeah." Angel also thought Cordelia could be right. "Connor will be harder to break." He looked at his feet. "None of us really knew him."
"I did." Cordelia said softly, causing Angel to look up at her. She immediately felt the need to explain. "Well, Jasmine did. She got through to him, and I was there the whole time…" She looked down. "I just…I couldn't stop her."
Angel nodded, Cordelia hadn't apologized but if she had he would have accepted it in a heartbeat. She had done nothing wrong. He smiled gently at her, moving his hand from her back to her hand, squeezing it. "Maybe you can get through to him."
"Well, we should go inside and figure it out." Gunn said. "We've still got the vampires and reality collision to deal with here."
"He's right." Wesley nodded.
Angel agreed, and then took Cordelia by the hand, leading her back into the Hyperion Hotel with Gunn, Wesley, and Lorne following the two lovers. None of them knew what they were going to say or do to Fred and Connor when they got back inside, but all of them had a feeling that it wouldn't be much longer before the entire fang gang was together again.
Buffy, Spike, Faith, and Xander made their way up Giles' driveway. They had all rushed back from L.A., Buffy and Spike on Spike's bike and Faith and Xander in Xander's car. The group as a whole had not had a lot of time to talk after they had left the Hyperion.
Spike, Buffy, Faith and Xander stood on Giles' doorstep as the sun crept down beyond the horizon, about to knock when suddenly the door swung open and Giles lunged out, pulling Buffy in tightly for a hug.
"What has happened to us?" Giles asked when he finally released Buffy.
"We'll explain it all." Spike said. "Inside."
Giles nodded and moved, leading Buffy, Spike, Faith, and Xander into his living room. They all took seats on the couches and a silence followed them.
"Okay…" Xander smiled uneasily. "Awkward much?"
"Yeah." Buffy smiled back, and then sat up straight. "Okay, so I'm sure there are a lot of questions…"
"Lets start with one." Giles said, fixing his glasses. "What happened?"
"We died." Spike said simply. "We all died. Our reality ended."
Giles, Faith, and Xander nodded slowly, they remembered.
"And now we are back." Faith stated, remembering what was said early at the Hyperion.
"We aren't back, exactly." Spike said. "This was supposedly our second chance at it all, in a reality where vampires and demons don't exist."
"Well they didn't." Buffy sighed. "But now they seem too."
"Angelus…" Giles looked over at his pile of books, suddenly.
"Yeah." Spike nodded, understanding where Giles was going. "It seems like the realities are colliding because Angelus shouldn't exist here since Angel is human."
"Right." Giles nodded. "Yet I have books on him."
"And Angel is getting some of his strength back." Faith mentioned.
"We all seem to be getting it back." Spike said.
"Yeah." Buffy agreed.
"Okay, so our strength comes back with our memories?" Giles asked.
"Not sure about that." Spike said. "Your memories were erased for a reason. Guess they didn't want you to feel any of the bloody pain you did the first time around."
"Who is 'they'?" Giles asked
"The Powers That Be." Spike said matter-of-factly.
"Makes sense." Xander sat back with a sigh. "They've screwed with us before."
"We don't know if they are really trying to mess with us on purpose. All we know is everyone got their memory back, some of us our getting our super power things back, and the vampires and demons are back." Buffy said.
"Right…" Giles said slowly, putting it all together. "And I don't think any of those things are good. There must be a reason they are happening."
"Angel and company seem to think the same thing." Spike said.
Giles nodded. "We need to look into it."
Just then a man was thrown through Giles window, landing right on his coffee table.
"What the hell?" Xander's eyes grew wide.
Buffy and Faith immediately moved to the man's side, as if it was part of their nature. They checked him over, and Faith turned his head, revealing two pinholes in his neck.
"Vampire." Faith looked up at the group. "A vampire got him."
"A vampire with a message." Spike pointed to the man's stomach, which was exposed, his shirt having been ripped in two. On his stomach, smeared in blood was one simple word. SLAYER.
Angel, Cordelia, Gunn, Wesley, and Lorne entered back into the lobby of the Hyperion Hotel from the garden. Angel led the way, holding Cordelia by the hand and the rest of the group filed in behind the couple. They found Connor sitting on one couch, and Fred behind the counter. Immediately the group could tell something was different about Fred. It was written all over her face.
"Fred? Are you okay?" Cordelia asked.
Cordelia looked up at the group, and they all realized why she seemed so different then she had before they had gone outside. She remembered.
"Fred?" Wesley couldn't help the smile that broke out on his face.
Wesley's smile was matched by one that slowly crept onto Fred's face. She nodded at him, but before she could say anything, Connor spoke up.
"So…" Connor stood, causing everyone to direct their attention to him. "Quick question for Angel and Cordelia…"
Angel and Cordelia looked at each other, unsure if Connor remembered as well.
"What is it?" Angel asked softly, trying hard not to get too excited. He still wasn't sure if his son remembered him.
"How come you two never told us you had a kid?" Connor asked.
Angel and Cordelia were taken back by this question and looked at each other, before looking back at Connor.
"What?" Cordelia finally asked.
Connor went in his pocket and pulled out the picture he had taken from Angel and Cordelia's room of Angel, Cordelia, and baby Connor, showing Angel and Cordelia's who's faces immediately went blank. Connor then repeated his question. "How come you never told us that you two had a son?"