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 26
Angel stood next to Cordelia in the lobby of the Hyperion watching as Gunn, Wesley, Connor, Fred, Lorne, and even Cordelia were stationed all around him, absorbing the information he had just given them what was given to him only a short while ago by Darla.
"So, you're not turning into a vampire then?" Gunn finally broke the silence of the room.
Angel shook his head. "No, and Cordy and Connor aren't demons. We are just getting some of our strengths and powers back so we can fight."
"But Cordelia smelled like a demon before." Connor said. "You agreed with me on that."
Angel nodded, inhaling the air surrounding Cordelia. "But she doesn't anymore. It must be a side effect of the vision."
"What? She turns demon only to get a vision?" Fred asked.
Angel shrugged, looking over at Cordelia who was remaining silent. He could tell instantly something was bothering her.
"Some how this is starting to make sense." Wesley said as he wrapped an arm around Fred. "We still have a fight left."
"Nothing new there, sweetcakes." Lorne said, looking at Angel. "Did Darla say where and when this big battle was going to start?"
"It already has." Connor said simply, looking at Angel.
Angel nodded, Connor was right. "All this vampire activity, and demons, and everything is just the start of it. We trace the attacks and phone calls and find the common link between them."
"And that's where this gateway to the old reality is." Wesley concluded.
"It's a theory." Angel said.
"Makes sense." Gunn commented with a sigh. "So I guess that means we get to work."
Angel nodded. "Yeah. Start tracking the vampire attacks and other disturbances."
"Well, that would be easy except the only ones we can track are the ones we happened to fall onto." Fred said. "No one has called us for help."
Angel was silent for a moment. Fred was right, no one had called Angel Investigations to investigate anything really, not in this reality anyway.
"Well, I could head down to the police station." Connor said. "I still have ties there."
Angel nodded, remembering this fact. "Good idea, Connor. You go do that. Lorne and Fred, start checking mapping out all the areas we saw attacks in, and any attacks Connor gets from the police. Cordy, Wesley, Gunn, and I will start patrolling."
Everyone nodded, and was ready to start working, when Cordelia interrupted.
"Actually, I am going to go up to bed. It's been a long day." Cordelia said.
"Cordy, its just passed dinner time." Fred said, motioning outside. "The suns barely set."
Cordelia looked outside, realizing Fred was right. "Well, it seems longer." She looked at Angel, Wesley, and Gunn. "You guys can manage without me." And with that, Cordelia quickly made her way up the stairs.
"Okay, something is bothering Barbie." Gunn said.
Angel nodded. "I'm going to talk to her. You guys can manage without me, right?"
Wesley and Gunn looked at each other, and then back at Angel, both nodding.
"We will be fine." Wesley assured the ex-vampire.
"Okay, good. Everybody get working. Oh and somebody call Giles too." Angel said, watching everyone respond to his words before making his way up the stairs after Cordelia. Something had clearly struck a nerve in her, because he could tell she was upset. He just wished he knew why.
Buffy, Faith, Giles, Spike, and Xander were all sitting around Giles' living room, trying to find anything on why some people had been brought back to his new reality and others hadn't. They had been working on it for hours now and were all getting restless, when Giles' phone rang.
Giles' jumped, racing to the phone in the kitchen.
"Talk about wanting to get away from books." Spike said, tossing the book he was reading on the ground, and leaning back in his chair. "I've never seen Giles run so fast."
"We're all just sick of this." Buffy sighed, rubbing her eyes. "I'm about ready to go patrolling."
"Well, we won't have to wait much longer." Faith motioned outside, where the sun had sunk.
Just then, Giles entered back in the room, a somber look on his face.
"Hey G-man, what happened? You don't look so good." Xander told him.
"That was Wesley on the phone." Giles said, taking a seat on the couch next to Faith.
"Is everything alright? Is Angel okay?" Buffy asked.
"He's fine." Giles said. "He actually just got back from seeing Darla."
"Darla? As in his sire Darla?" Spike asked. "The one who is supposed to be dead?"
"She still is." Giles said. "It seems, Angel managed to find his way to her on her higher plane."
"And…" Buffy pressed.
"It seems that we are back because he have not finished our part in this fight." Giles explained. "That's why only so many of us our back, we are the ones who still have to finish our part in all of this."
So then Anya's part is done?" Xander seemed sad at his fact.
Giles nodded. "She fought her part of this. She gained her reward."
"What reward?" Xander asked.
Giles shrugged. "I am not sure. But Angel seems to think that if we are able to close off the opening to the old reality which will stop the vampires and demons from crossing into this one, then the fight is done, and we get our reward."
"Which is?" Faith asked.
"A normal life." Giles said.
"This is bloody ridiculous." Spike said. "So they bring us back, only to turn us back into demons so we can fight for them?" He looked up at the sky. "I died for you twice already! That wasn't enough?"
"Apparently not." Giles answered Spike, even though the ex-vampires question was not directed toward him. "And your not turning back into a demon either."
"You don't have to lie." Spike said. "I can feel it. I'm cold inside, and stronger then before."
"Only when you need to be." Giles told him. "It seems the Powers That Be are giving you only certain strengths back when you need them. They are not making you a vampire again."
"So you mean, Spike is strong and has a great sense of smell, but he isn't turning into a vampire?" Buffy asked.
Giles nodded. "Correct. The Powers seem to know what they are doing."
"Yeah, they are really good at tampering with people's lives." Spike said under his breath.
"Look, we don't have a choice. We either fight for them and try and save this new reality, and ourselves, or we let it go to hell. Your decision." Giles said.
Buffy, Spike, Xander, and Faith all looked at each other.
After a moment, Buffy responded. "Where do we start this fight?"
Giles smiled, he knew his slayer and he knew Buffy would come around to helping in this fight, and thus so would everyone else. He just hoped that Angel and Wesley were right, and that they had all been brought back to fight this fight.
Angel entered the bedroom he and Cordelia shared to find Cordelia out on the balcony, overlooking the streets of Los Angeles. Angel was sure she had heard him come into the room, but still she did not flinch, her eyes never leaving the city below her.
"Cordelia?" Angel called out, making his way out onto the balcony and next to her.
Cordelia did not look at Angel as she spoke. "L.A. is so bright at night."
Angel nodded, unsure of where she was going with it. He stepped up next to her, looking at her. "Yes it is."
"I wonder…" Cordelia still looked out at the city. "If a light turns off, or if one turns on, do people notice it? Does it really even matter with all these lights?"
"I don't know. I guess someone notices." Angel said honestly. He really had no clue what she was talking about.
Abruptly, Cordelia turned to Angel. "Do you think anyone noticed the bright light on the docks when Doyle died?"
Suddenly, it all clicked for Angel. That was why Cordelia was so upset, because of Doyle. Angel quickly pulled Cordelia in for a hug, kissing her on the forehead. "Is that what this is about, Cordy? Doyle?"
Cordelia nodded, her head resting on Angel's shoulder. "How could he not exist here? How could no one know him?"
"We know him, Cordy." Angel told her. "That's all that matters. We know what he did for us, and we know we would never be here without him." He looked down at Cordelia. "It doesn't matter what the rest of the world remembers or doesn't. Doyle is still a hero."
After a moment, Cordelia nodded, and with a sigh, let go of Angel. "Sorry."
"Don't be." Angel took her hands in his. "When I first heard about Doyle, it upset me too, but I realized as long as we remember him it doesn't matter."
Cordelia nodded in agreement, kissing Angel. "Come on, we should get downstairs."
"Gunn and Wesley already left." Angel got a mischievous smile on his face. "And if we are going to go into some sort of a fight soon, we should get a little workout in. Make sure we are in shape."
Cordelia raised an eyebrow at Angel, knowing exactly where he was going with his comment. "And what do you suggest? We still have swords downstairs." She tried to make her way past him, teasing him with every step.
Angel grabbed her wrist, pulling her back toward him where they kissed passionately. "How about I just bring you over to our bed."
Cordelia allowed Angel to pick her up in his arms as he kissed her neck. "That could work too…" She said as he gently placed her down on the bed they now shared.
Wesley and Gunn rounded a familiar corner in the city of angels. Somehow, on their patrol of Los Angeles, they had ended up right at the steps leading up to the building of Wolfram and Hart. Both Gunn and Wesley looked at the building and then at each other.
"What are the chances we ended up here?" Wesley asked Gunn.
"I was going to ask you the same thing." Gunn said, looking back at the building. "You think they are still a super evil firm in this reality?"
"Hard to say." Wesley said, also looking up at the building. "They could just be a regular law firm here."
"Or they could have a clue as to what the hell is going on…" Gunn said, spotting someone locking the door of the law firm. "And I bet he has a good idea too." He pointed to the man.
Wesley was confused as he saw Gunn take off up the steps toward the man in the suit. "Gunn wait!"
Before Wesley could stop Gunn, however, Gunn had tackled the man to the ground.
"Gunn!" Wesley yanked Gunn off the man, and then went to help the suited man up. "I am so sorry…" His voice trailed off when he realized who Gunn had tackled to the ground. "Lindsey…"
Lindsey looked up, straightening out his tie. "Excuse me?"
"What the hell are you doing here?" Wesley asked him.
"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" Lindsey pointed to Gunn. "I am walking out of my office and he tackles me out of nowhere."
"With good reason." Gunn said, getting off the ground.
"What reason?" Lindsey asked. "I don't even know you."
Gunn went to say something, but Wesley stopped him, piecing everything together. "You don't?"
Lindsey shook his head. "Should I?"
Wesley pulled Gunn toward him, whispering at him. "He might not remember his past. It could be his second chance as well."
Gunn eyed Lindsey up and shook his head, whispering back to Wesley. "Or not."
Wesley raised an eyebrow at Gunn. "What?"
"If you don't know us, why the hell didn't you take off running when I tackled you, or at least fight back?" Gunn asked.
Lindsey looked at him. "Because you came out of nowhere."
"Seemed to me you almost expected it." Gunn told him.
"Listen, I don't know who the hell you are, or why you attacked me but…" Lindsey started.
"But what?" Gunn egged him on. "You're gonna smack me down with some lawyer crap on me or just get the Senior Partner's to punish me?"
Lindsey thought for a minute, and then replied. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"I have a feeling you will, real soon." Gunn said, before surprising Lindsey with a left hook, rendering the lawyer unconscious.
"Gunn! What the hell did you do that for?" Wesley looked down at Lindsey's lifeless body.
"He knows more then he is leading on." Gunn said, picking Lindsey's lifeless body up and throwing it over his shoulder.
"You don't know that…" Wesley pressed.
"I can just tell." Gunn responded.
"Well, what if he doesn't remember? What if he has no recall of his old life and Wolfram and Hart is just a law firm in this reality?" Wesley asked. "Then this is kidnapping."
"It's kidnapping anyway." Gunn reasoned. "But trust me on this, Lindsey knows something."
Wesley thought for a moment and then nodded. "Fine, we take him back to the hotel. We will let Angel deal with him if he does know or with you if we really just did kidnap an innocent man."
"Lindsey was never and will never be an innocent man, no matter what reality we are in." Gunn told him. "Now come on, we will take the sewers so no one sees us." And with that he moved toward the side of the Wolfram and Hart building where he and Wesley could gain access back to the Hyperion Hotel.
Lorne and Fred sat at the counter in the lobby of the Hyperion, mapping out where every vampire sighting they had so far in Los Angeles had occurred. So far all of the sightings had occurred on the outer limits of the city, but there weren't enough sightings for a pattern to really be drawn yet.
Fred sighed, putting her pen down and looking at Lorne. "I guess we can't do much more until we get more information."
Lorne nodded. "I can go make us a drink if you want."
"Actually, that sounds great, Lorne." Fred said, rubbing the sides of her head. It had been a long day, and she felt she definitely deserved a drink.
"Well hold up on those drinks." Connor said as he came into the hotel with a file in his hand. "We've still got some work ahead of us." He held the file up.
"What is that?" Lorne asked, leaning against the counter.
"All the cases that the police have recently gotten on any attacks that seemed like they could have been vampires. I took them off the front desk. I don't think they will miss them." Connor placed the file on the counter so Fred and Lorne could see it. There were at least twenty-five cases in the file. "These all occurred in the past week."
Fred looked at the number of cases. "You're joking right?"
"Wish I were." Connor said. "We should start adding these to the map. Maybe we can figure out the area they are all coming from."
Fred and Lorne nodded at Connor and then all three of them went to work, placing the location of every attack that the police had recorded onto the map in front of them. They were looking for a pattern or a clue, anything to lead them to where the gateway to the old dimension might exist.
Giles, Faith, Buffy, Xander, and Spike sat around Giles' living room, amongst the newspapers from the last few weeks. Giles had a plan. He knew that they needed a starting point if they were going to start this battle and he figured there was no better place to start then were all the activity seemed to be coming from.
"So tell me what in the bloody hell we are doing with these newspapers again?" Spike asked, holding up a newspaper.
"We need to figure out where the vampires are coming from." Giles explained. "We go through the papers and find any indication of any attacks, and then try and pinpoint where they are coming from."
"Great plan, except you forgot one thing." Faith sighed, tossing papers off the couch to take a seat. "This is the hellmouth. There are no pinpoints."
Buffy nodded in agreement. "She is right. Weird stuff always happens in this town."
"And most of it isn't recorded in the paper." Xander added.
Giles thought for a second. The kids did raise a good point. "True but…" He was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"I'll get it." Buffy moved to the door cautiously, ready to attack if anyone or anything dangerous lay on the other side. She slowly opened the door, and to her surprise saw only a familiar redhead on the steps. "Willow?"
Willow nodded, her eyes shifting nervously. "Yeah."
Buffy could immediately tell something was bothering Willow. Whether Willow could remember it or not, she was and always would be Buffy's best friend, and Buffy could still read her like a book, even in the new reality. "Is something wrong, Wil?"
"Can I come in?" Willow asked.
Buffy nodded. "Sure." She stepped aside to allow the ex-witch to enter, closing the door behind her. "What's wrong?"
"You tell me." Willow turned to her. "I am walking down the hall one minute, and then I decide to stop in the library, and as I open the doors it hits me."
"What hits you?" Faith became intrigued, stepping next to Buffy.
Willow looked up at Faith, and then back at Buffy. "Everything?"
Buffy let that word hit her full force before she said anything back to Willow. "You remember?"
Willow nodded, looking around the room at the familiar faces. "Does everyone?"
"Just us." Xander told his best friend, glad to have her back.
Willow looked back at Buffy. "How?"
"Sit down. We'll explain it all." Buffy told her, leading the redhead to the couch in Giles' living room. She was glad to have her best friend back, and more then happy to explain how they had all come to this new reality to Willow. She knew that Willow, of all people, would be the most understanding and accepting of the circumstances, that was just how Willow was.
Gunn, with Lindsey's limp body over his shoulder and Wesley trailing behind him, made his way back into the Hyperion Hotel to find Connor, Fred, and Lorne all hunched over a map of Los Angeles that was sitting on the counter. The three were so wrapped up in their work that they hadn't even noticed Gunn or Wesley enter.
"Well, its good to know you guys are paying attention in case of an attack." Gunn broke the silence of the room, causing Connor, Fred, and Lorne to jump, as he threw Lindsey's limp body onto the couch.
"I heard you." Connor lied, looking at Lindsey's body, lying across the couch. "He's not dead is he?" He pointed to the lawyer.
This comment caused Fred and Lorne to look over at the couch; both shocked to see Lindsey's body.
"What the hell is he doing here?" Lorne asked.
"Relax." Gunn told them. "He's alive, just unconscious."
"Okay, but what is he doing here?" Fred made her way around the counter and over to Wesley, who wrapped his arm around her.
"I was asking the same question while we brought him back here." Wesley commented.
"Look, he knows something." Gunn pointed to Lindsey. "He pretended he didn't so I knocked him out, but he knows."
"How do you know that he knows?" Fred asked.
"I just do." Gunn said. He couldn't really explain it. Gut instinct. "Somebody should get Angel and Cordy down here before the evil lawyer man wakes up."
Connor nodded. "I'll do it." And with that he was up the stairs. He was glad that if any of his strengths were coming back it was his speed. He had enjoyed being able to run after and move quicker then anyone around him.
Connor silently rounded the corner and made his way up to Angel's room, which the ex-vampire now shared with Cordelia. Connor stopped outside the door, hesitating for a minute. Even though there was silence coming from the other side of the door, Connor could tell what his father and Cordelia had been doing only moments before he approached. He attributed that to his vampire senses he seemed to be gaining back.
Connor shuddered at the thought. He didn't like knowing about his father's sex life. He shook the thought away and knocked.
Angel and Cordelia where wrapped in each other's arms when the knock sounded on the door. They looked at each other and then Angel moved out of the bed, throwing on his boxers.
"Who is it?" Angel called to the closed door as he put his pants back on and watched Cordelia slip into the bathroom.
"Me." Connor said simply.
Angel buttoned his pants and then moved to the door, opening it to see Connor standing there. He was a little uncomfortable, but assumed Connor could not have heard him and Cordelia. "What's up?"
"Gunn has Lindsey downstairs." Connor said.
"What?" Angel's mind raced, all thoughts of his hour with Cordelia slipping from his mind. "Lindsey?"
"Yeah. Evil lawyer guy." Connor said. "You know who I am talking about."
"Yeah… He's downstairs?" Angel was shocked.
Connor rolled his eyes. "Yeah. I just said that."
"He's alive?" Angel did not hear the sarcasm in his son's voice.
"Well…unconscious but yeah, he is down there." Connor said, turning from the door.
"Unconscious?" Angel couldn't believe what his son was saying.
Connor nodded, turning back to his father. "You better get downstairs. Tell Cordy to come to."
"Cordy…" Angel stammered. "She isn't…I don't…"
Connor smiled smugly, shaking his head. "Dad, you're a bad liar, and plus, I knew you and Cordelia were getting into in there. Vampire senses, remember?"
Angel just starred at his son, unsure of what to say.
"Next time, try and make it less evident you are having sex." Connor said simply before making his way down the stairs, leaving his ex-vampire of a father standing there shocked.
Angel wasn't sure how long he had stood still, but it had been long enough for Cordelia to rinse in the shower and get dressed because he felt her hands snake along his stomach. He turned to face her.
"Who was that?" Cordelia asked, planting a kiss on Angel's lips.
"Connor…" Angel turned back in to the room, running a hand through his hair.
"Okay…" Cordelia followed Angel over to the bed where they both sat. "And what did he say."
Angel scrunched his nose up, turning to Cordelia. "He said he knew we were having sex."
Cordelia was shocked, raising an eyebrow and looking down at her hands before back up at Angel. "He said that?"
Angel nodded, starring ahead. "Yeah."
Cordelia nodded also looking ahead. "Weird."
Angel continued to nod. "He uh…he also said something else."
"Oh no…" Cordelia jumped up, standing in front of Angel, her hands over his. "He didn't hear me…" She looked over at the bed and then at Angel. "Did he?"
Angel let Cordelia's words register before becoming completely shocked at them. "What? No. I don't know. But that's not what he said."
"Oh, okay." Cordelia stood up. "Good. That's good." She took a deep breath. "So what did he say?"
"He…" Angel stood, not sure how Cordelia was take the news he was about to give her. "He said…Lindsey is here."
"Lindsey…" Cordelia glared at Angel as she spoke the lawyer's name. "Lindsey as in the one who resurrected Darla, helped give me endless painful visions, came back, tried to kill you, and me, and oh yeah…impersonated Doyle."
The last part stung Angel a bit. He had almost forgotten that Lindsey had waltzed around pretending to be Doyle. He would pay for that. "Right…"
"What is he doing here?" Cordelia asked.
"I'm not sure." Angel told her. "But he is unconscious and Gunn and Wesley brought him in."
"Well, we better get downstairs so he can wake up and I can knock him unconscious again." Cordelia said, hastily making her way out of the room, with Angel following her as the ex-vampire buttoned up his black shirt.