Three in the morning and Buffy was having some serious insomnia. Not knowing what happened to Angel, and the Wolfram and Hart threat hurt. Her hands were blistered and calloused from how much Slaying she'd done these past months. And her appetite knew no bounds. The kitchen couldn't stay stocked as evident by nothing quick being available. Stale saltines in hand, Buffy headed back to her room. When she made it to the lobby, nothing prepared her for finding a naked and shaking woman standing there.

"Cordelia?"

She nodded, "Trans-dimensional travel from the higher plane sucks, like super sucks. Clothes please?"

Buffy tossed the crackers on the counter and rushed for the blanket in the office. "Let's get you upstairs to your room. Fred and Gunn brought all your things here when we couldn't afford to pay the rent for an empty apartment anymore."

Blanket secure around her, Cordelia felt the chill ebb. "Poor Denis. He's got to be so worried about me. I need to talk to him."

"Someone else already rented it." Buffy felt terrible for dropping that on her, but she didn't want Cordelia to stop by her old place and get surprised by the new occupants.

They hadn't gotten up two steps when the door crashed open by Wesley half-carrying an emaciated Angel. "He needs blood. I'm fresh out." Red seeping through the gauze around Wesley's forearm.

Buffy took Angel and sat him on the round couch while Cordelia and Wesley held each other's gaze. "Hello Wesley."

"Cordelia." He handed her a business card before leaving.

The card had a phone number scrawled on it with the words 'Useable for 3 days' printed in a simple typeface. "Interesting."

"Can you sit with him while I get fresh blood from the butcher?" Buffy asked as she considered her bank account. Could she afford enough blood to help him?

"It's three thirty in the morning and he looks like he'll need more than animal blood." Without pause, Cordelia grabbed a letter opener off the counter and slashed her forearm. Angel reacted and bit down.

"I almost died last time I did that."

"If we take turns that won't happen." Cordelia pulled her arm away from Angel. "You're up."

Buffy grumbled but followed in Cordy's footsteps. They watched as Angel went from near skeletal to human looking again.

"Angel?" Buffy asked as she pushed his wet hair back. "Angel, what happened to you?"

"Connor." Angel hadn't come out of his starvation induced insanity yet, but he knew it was Buffy holding him, and he saw Cordelia over Buffy's shoulder. Cordelia looked so young it took a moment for him to register it was her.

"Your son did this to you?" Buffy hugged him. "I'm so sorry."

Cordelia watched on unsurprised.

When Wesley showed up at the warehouse, Willow knew something was wrong. She handed Spike the blood she'd just heated for him and then focused on Wes. "What happened?"

"Cordelia's back."

Connor's head shot up from the book he was reading. "Cordy?"

"Yes. She looked younger and paler than I remember, but it was her." Wesley set his keys on the counter and disappeared into his office. Through the window the others could see him selecting books.

"I need to pray to the goddess. Connor? Watch over Spike." Willow didn't wait for an answer before walking off toward her sacred space.

"Whatever." Connor shot a glare at Spike and then went back to his book.

Spike smacked his lips as the microwaved human blood cleansed his palette and restored his body. When the earthquake hit, Spike laughed and sang, "That's great, it starts with an earthquake. Birds and snakes, an aeroplane, and Lenny Bruce is not afraid. Eye of a hurricane, listen to yourself churn. World serves its own needs, don't misserve your own needs. Feed it up a knock, speed, grunt, no, strength. The ladder starts to clatter with a fear of height, down, height Wire in a fire, represent the seven games. And a government for hire and a combat site. Left her, wasn't coming in a hurry with the Furies breathing down your neck."

Wesley and Willow returned and pushed Spike and Connor into the doorframe of the office. "This isn't good."

"What's wrong, Willow?" Wesley asked.

"Last couple major earthquakes were harbingers of end of the world hijinks."

As the world stilled, Wesley sighed. "Then let's both see what we can find in the books."

"Agreed."

The entire group at the Hyperion sat silent and disturbed after hearing Angel tell them what happened. No one cared about the earthquake that passed half an hour ago. Angel sat in the office chair wrapped in a blanket and almost dry and the sensation made his skin crawl with its unfamiliarity. He ran through everything since surfacing through a filter, trying to piece together why Connor helped rescue him. Something about what vampire bites really look like or something. He'd still been hallucinating when they were talking to him about that. But Connor's face stood out in his mind. He looked so haunted.

Angel got up and left the office, heading for his room. A shower and a change of clothes were what he needed right now.

Cordelia watched him leave, worried about him as always. For the champion of the group he had a delicate mind. The thoughts of his son had to be crazing him with memories of his son sending him to the bottom of the ocean and then pulling him back up. With the help of the man in part responsible for Connor's upbringing in Quor'toth, no less.

She followed him, giving him enough warning that she was on her way by tromping on the stairs. His door was open, and she leaned in the threshold. "How are you really doing?"

His back was to her while he stared out the balcony doors shower and changing forgotten. "I don't know. Still trying to get used to not hallucinating."

"Then keep absorbing the sanity. You deserve a break. I wish you could have one." She walked fully into his room, closing the door behind her. It didn't stay closed because Buffy barged in. "Hey Buffy, I need to talk to Angel alone for a minute. Could you give us some privacy?"

Buffy opened her mouth but Angel spoke, "Why didn't you show up?"

Cordelia sighed. "I got called to be a power for a little while. Just long enough to find out what the real mission needs to be."

"Are we in love?" Angel ignored Buffy's shocked expression.

"We are, but I don't know that it's good for either of us, and right now we need to focus. There's a multidimensional multi-verse out there that needs us right now. We don't have time for personal lives." Cordelia wished she could just kiss Angel the way people do for their first kiss.

"What's the mission?" Buffy asked, serious and putting aside personal issues.

"You two might want to sit down. This will take some explaining."

"How long have the three of them been up there?" Fred asked. "It's awful quiet. You don't think they killed each other do you?"

"Why would they?" Gunn asked as he polished his axe.

"Oh, I don't know, because Buffy was the love of his life before LA and Cordelia was the love of his life here, and now the three of them are all in one room with no chaperones to keep the peace." Fred pushed her glasses up her nose.

"Perhaps we should check on them?" Giles said as he looked at his watch. "They've been up there for hours."

"I'll go!" Dawn said as she popped up. She didn't get far when Angel came down the stairs.

"Angel!" Fred's enthusiasm dimmed when she saw that he had his 'I'm on a mission' face going. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I need to talk to my son."

"We don't know where he and Wesley and Willow are staying though." Dawn was trying to be helpful, but Angel glowered at her.

"I'll find them." Angel stalked out the door and into the predawn hours.

When Buffy showed up in the lobby, Dawn pounced. "What happened up there?"

"What? Oh, nothing. Cordelia and I just tried to keep Angel from popping his top." Buffy sighed. "I need to work off some energy or I'll never get any sleep." And Buffy disappeared down to the basement.

Cordelia sat in Angel's room hoping that the seed she'd planted would yield the fruit she hoped it would.