Chapter 6
Daddy Gone
At exactly 5:30 P.M. Cordelia had the requested vision. She wrote everything down on a piece of paper and gave it to Angel. He had already called everyone downstairs as soon as he saw her leaning forward with her hands on her head.
Spike was the first down the stairs. "Wow those guys are really on the ball. We're taking your car Angel?" "Yeah it's dark enough now and we can put the top down. We have to go all the way out to San Bernardino by the race track. Let's go." Angel told everyone as they grabbed their favorite weapons. Connor grabbed a bag of wooden spikes that he had been working on when he was in Sunnydale.
Connor jumped in the back of Gunn's truck and called to Toby. With ease Toby jumped up into the back even though it was higher then most.
Spike saw Toby get into the back of the truck with Connor. "He's taking Toby with us Angel. Do you think he is ready?" Angel thought about it. "Since he is Connors dog he should know what he can do or if he'll just get in the way. Let's hope that it's all for the good."
It took them almost 45 minutes to get out to the race track. When they arrived it all looked deserted and dark. They parked at the entrance to the race track and got out of the vehicles. They just stood there looking and listening. Cordelia's instructions had said it was at the front of the race track where the racing fans entered the track.
They could all hear people that were going through the dry riverbed in their dune buggies near by. A few minutes later they all heard Toby give a low growl and when they looked at him they could see his hair was raised on his back. Angel looked at Connor. Connor looked at Toby then back at Angel and said, "He's never wrong Dad." They turned their attention back to the entrance.
"Do you see or smell anything Spike?" Angel asked. "I smell something strange that I've never smelled before." "Yeah me to."
In the next few minutes they saw at least 9 non humans and 12 vampires pulling and half dragging 3 women. In the back of the group were 4 human males that were being carried on wooden poles. They were bound, gagged and tied to the wooden poles as though they were going to be barbequed.
The AI team stepped forward. "Is this a closed party or can anyone join in?" Angel asked no one in particular.
One big, one eyed, smelly giant of a demon stepped forward. He came right up to Angel and stood at least 12 inches taller then him. The giant looked down at Angel. "I believe you are Angelus. Am I not correct?" Angel backed up and looked at Spike. "I believe I've found the source of that strange odor you smelled." Angel looked back at the giant. "I see you've heard of my demon and I."
The demon grew a big, nasty, multi-toothed grin. "I've heard of your fighting for your redemption." The demon turned away and spit on the ground as though the words left a nasty taste in his mouth. "Lets get this over with then I can add your humans to our barbeque. Then we will feast." The other demons and Vampires that were holding onto the women threw her and the poles with the men, on the ground. They attacked the AI team.
The giant yelled out that Angelus was his. Angel had his hands full with just the giant while Connor was taking on 4 demons at the same time. The rest of the demons and Vampires were being handled by Gunn and Spike while Toby stood on the side next to the bag of spikes. Spike had already killed 6 of the demons while Gunn was killing Vampires. All of the time that this was going on Toby was sniffing the air and cataloging a list of who was who. The young German Shepard got up and put his nose into the bag of spikes. He pushed spikes around until he found what he was looking for. It was a ' T ' shaped spike that Connor had make especially for him. He chose his target which was a Vampire that was about to come up behind Spike while the others distracted him. Toby took a running leap and put the spike right through the Vampires heart. As the Vampire turned to dust Toby fell forward and immediately went to the next Vampire.
"You like playing with Mythos, yes?" The giant said as he tried to hold onto Angels head. "Not particularly." Angel managed to get out of the giants grasp when someone else demanded his attention. When Angel landed on the ground again he saw that it was Connor and Toby that had come to his rescue. Connor had put his arm around the giant's neck and was trying to break his neck while Toby had a hold onto his left cheek, and I don't mean a face cheek.
Angel jumped onto the giant and helped Connor to twist his neck and break it. Both Connor and Angel fell down with the giant. Connor landed on the ground first, and then the giant landed on him and Angel on the giant. Toby was the only smart one that had moved away from him when he felt him die.
"Uh, Dad do you think you could get off of this guy and help me out from underneath him?" Angel rolled off of him and pulled Connor out. When they looked for Gunn and Spike they saw them untying the onetime menu items.
"Thanks for the assist Connor." "No problem, thanks for helping me to break his neck. That guy's neck was the size of a tree." When Spike and Gunn had released the victims they stood up and looked at the demons on the ground then turned and ran as though the demons were still chasing them.
"Lets load them up into the back of your truck Gunn and we can dump them in the dessert." Gunn went to get his truck and backed up to the giant. He turned off the motor and got out of the truck to help. It took all four of them to pick the giant up and put him into the back. Toby stood by and watched what they were doing. When they were ready Spike and Connor jumped into Angel's car. Connor called Toby who jumped into the back seat.
They drove further out into the desert and dumped the bodies were nature's garbage collectors would dispose of the bodies. Spike, Connor and Toby jumped into Angels car.
Both Spike and Connor were wondering why Angel didn't take off and follow Gunn back to L.A. "Let's go Pops." Spike said sarcastically. Angel didn't say anything nor did he start the car. Spike and Connor looked at Angel. "What's wrong Dad?" Angel didn't say anything he just got out of the car and walked forward into the night. When Gunn noticed that Angel hadn't followed him he turned back and stopped by the car. He got out of his truck and joined the rest. Connor, Spike, and Gunn followed Angel out into the desert night.
"Do you see something out there?" Gunn asked Angel.
"I see the dirt road that they dragged me on, behind the truck." Angel said as he continued to look out into the darkness. There was no moon tonight so Gunn couldn't see anything. "When were you drug behind a truck?"
"The night they crucified me." Angel said almost in a whisper. "Yeah, we found half of the road in and on you. It's part of the reason why it took us so long to patch you up, because we had to get all of the dirt and rocks off of you first. Come on Angel. It's not good for you to stand here and dwell on what happened." Spike pulled at Angels arm and after a few moments Angel turned and followed. Angel threw the keys to Connor and went over to the car and got in the back with Toby. He didn't say anything to anyone he just got into the back. Toby sensed his mood and just lied down and put his head in his lap. Connor and Spike got in and left for L.A. and home.
They didn't get back to the Hotel until after eight o'clock. Spike went running up stairs to clean up. He was anxious to get on the road to what he now called home. When he came down the stairs again the others were coming down also after cleaning up. No one mentioned the incident in the desert.
"Don't you want to have some blood before you leave Spike?" Angel asked. "No but I do want to see Toby before I leave." "What do you want Toby for?" Connor asked as he called his dog over to him. Toby came and stood in front of Connor and looked up at him.
"I want to thank him for helping us. Come here Toby." Toby looked up at Connor to see what he wanted him to do. Connor gave him the signal that he could go to Spike. Spike kneeled down so that he would be closer to Toby. Everyone was watching what was going on.
"Toby I want to shake your paw." Spike held out his hand and Toby put his paw in his hand.
"Thank you for helping me Toby. You killed the Vampire when he was about to kill me." Spike shook Toby's paw and patted him. "Any time you need my help you just call on me buddy." Spike stood up then he saw everyone looking at him. "Didn't you see this guy and how he was killing Vampires? Show them his spike Connor. I presume you made it for him." Connor went to the bag of spikes in the weapons cabinet and pulled out Toby's spike. Everyone looked at it. It was just a simple piece of wood that had been carved into a T shape. "I made the spike into a T shape so that he would be able to securely bite onto the spike. In the beginning he would watch me in Sunnydale kill Vampires with a spike and putting it into their heart. One day, without any training or coaching of any kind from me, I saw him take a spike out of the bag and drive it into the heart of a Vampire that had just knocked me down with a kick to my chest. When we went back home Tara noticed that he had blood dripping from his mouth. I checked it and found a large splinter sticking out of his tongue. I pulled it out and he was fine. I believe what happened when he was biting down on the spike was that he had to bite down so hard that as he forced it into the chest of the Vampire that he broke some of it off and that's how I think he got the splinter jammed into his tongue. Of course Tara and Willow babied him the rest of the night and he just soaked it all up. I tell you he has Tara and Willow wrapped around his paw."
"Well let's give him a rip, roaring wolf howl since he is now one of the pack." Angel said. He pulled back his head and gave a long wolf howl. Spike, Connor and Gunn joined in as well. Then Toby joined in also. When they stopped they all took turns petting Toby and he in turn licked everyone's face.
Spike stood up then and looked for Buffy. "Let's go Luv. Goodbye everyone." Spike waved to Wesley who was sitting on the couch with Fred at his side. Buffy ran to Cordelia and gave her a hug and kiss. She had already said goodbye to Fred and Dr. Martin. She went over to Spike then and they left through the back doors. Giles wasn't there to say goodbye because he had gone out with Lorne to scout out some small stores that he could buy and turn into Magic Shop II.
"Well guys I have to get to bed since my first class starts at 8 A.M. tomorrow morning. Is Kathleen sleeping Cordelia? Toby and I wanted to see her before we go to bed. I don't think I'll see her again until tomorrow night. If you hear me open the door tomorrow morning it will just be me letting Toby in." Connor said as he made his way up the stairs. "Sorry Connor but she's sleeping." "Is it okay if I just look in on her?" "Sure just do it quietly." Cordelia answered.
Angel turned to the two on the couch. "How are Dr. Martins newest patients?"
"I think that I am ready to go to bed now and Fred is already half asleep. The twins are growing fast and she gets tired easily now. I don't think it will be to long before Dr. Thompson orders her to have complete bed rest. Could you carry her up to our room for me Angel?"
"Sure Wesley, no problem." Angel picked Fred up carefully while Wesley slowly followed behind. He was still experiencing some pain from where they had spread his ribs and the wire was holding them together. He rubbed at his chest as he walked up the stairs. When he arrived at his room he found that Angel had already put Fred on her bed.
"Do you want us to take out the hospital bed tomorrow?" Angel asked Wesley. "Yes I think it's about time." Wesley still had to sleep on the hospital bed though since Fred was using a twin size bed. He went over to the hospital bed and lay down. "Angel, would you get Dr. Martin for me please?" "Are you in pain?" Angel asked worriedly. "Yes, but I think it's just the wires holding my ribs together though."
Angel went to Dr. Martin's door and knocked on it softly. Giles came to the door. "Is their something wrong Angel?" "Yes Wesley seems to be experiencing some pain in his chest. He wants Mom." "She's in the bathroom right now taking a shower, we'll be their as soon as she gets out." "Thanks Giles." Angel went back to Wesley's room. Through the link he shared with Cordelia he called to her to come to Fred's room. Angel told her he could smell blood when he was around Fred.
After a few minutes Dr. Martin and Giles came in with Cordelia coming in right after them. Dr. Martin went over to Wesley. "How are you doing?" "I'm experiencing a lot of pain in my chest. It seems like it's from the wires that are holding my ribs together." "Well, let me take a look." Dr. Martin said. She unbuttoned Wesley's shirt and examined him. After 10 minutes she buttoned his shirt up again.
"Everything looks okay Wesley. The only thing that I can suggest is that I make an appointment with the heart specialist and he can take a look at you but from my standpoint as your surgeon everything looks okay. I noticed that you rub your chest a lot and I believe you are irritating the tissue right over the wires. Just to make sure though, I am going to make an appointment for you with the heart specialist that I called in for a consultation before I operated on you a second time. Is that okay with you?" "Yes I think that would be a good idea. Do you think we could get rid of this hospital bed so we can put my regular bed in here?" "Yes I think that would be alright. Do you need help to get undressed?" "No I can make it thank you."
Dr. Martin turned around to see how Fred was doing. She didn't see either Fred or Cordelia but she saw a light on in the bathroom so she went over to the door and knocked at it. "Fred are you in there?" "Yes Dr. Martin, Cordelia is with me and we'll be out in a minute." Dr. Martin went over to Fred's bed and sat down while she waited for them to come out.
"Are you okay here?" Angel asked his Mother. She noticed Angels arm shaking. "Yes I am just going to check on Fred. You and Giles can go now I'll send Cordelia back as soon as we put these two to bed. Thank you Angel." "Good night Mom. Good night Da." Angel smiled as he said that to Giles. Giles just gave him a smile back. "I think Giles or Rupert will suffice Angel." Angel turned back to Dr. Martin and got on his knees and put one arm around her. "Mom how come Giles won't let me call him Da? That's what we call our Fathers in Ireland. Doesn't he love me Momma?" Angel was able to make it sound like his feelings had really been hurt.
Dr. Martin stood up and hugged Angels head to her chest. "My poor baby has Giles hurt your feelings?" "Yes Momma he has. I don't want you to sleep with that bad man Momma. Give him a pillow and blanket and banish him from your bed and tell him to sleep on the couch tonight. That will teach him to hurt your little boy's feelings." Angel stuck his tongue out at Giles and Dr. Martin hugged him. Giles just looked at him. His expression was neutral so Angel couldn't tell what he was thinking.
"Go to bed Angel and we will talk about it tomorrow." Dr. Martin said as she did her best to keep herself from laughing. Angel got up then and gave her a kiss and returned to his room and Kathleen.
Fred and Cordelia came out. Fred was dressed in her nightgown and went straight to her bed. Cordelia covered her up and gave her an extra blanket. "Goodnight Fred." "Goodnight Cordelia and thank you. Goodnight Mary." "Goodnight Fred." Cordelia picked up Fred's clothes and walked out of the room with Dr. Martin. As they exited the room Cordelia pulled her into her room. "What's wrong Cordelia?" "Mom Fred was bleeding sometime during the evening." She showed Dr. Martin Fred's clothes. The blood that was on her underwear wasn't a bright red so that you could tell that it was old blood. "She told me that she feels real tired all of the time now. I told her that I would talk to you about it and that you would probably want her to go in to see Dr. Thompson tomorrow." "Yes I'll call Mike tomorrow morning. Most likely he is going to tell her that she has to be in bed from now until she delivers. I'll see you in the morning Cordelia. Goodnight." "Goodnight Mom."
Cordelia took Fred's clothes downstairs and put them in the sink with water for the night.
The next morning Dr. Martin called Dr. Thompson and told him what was going on with Fred. Mike told her to bring Fred in at 5 P.M. that night. "I won't be able to come with her Mike, I was able to get Wesley in to see the heart specialist that I consulted with before I operated on him and I just received a call from his nurse. She said they had a cancellation and he can see Wesley at 4 P.M. tonight instead of tomorrow." "Be careful Mary, you know he has a free clinic and he does favors for other Doctors and then asks that we work at his clinic as a repayment." "Yes I know he already has me booked for one surgery, I don't mind though Mike. Even poor people need our help you know and without these free clinics they would have no where to turn to they would just have to suffer. In fact next week Wednesday I have volunteered to work at the clinic all day why don't you move your patients around and come with me. I am sure that they will have plenty of women for you to see." Mike was silent on the other end for awhile.
"I suppose if I don't go you are going to make life difficult for me?" "Now Mike you know I would never do that to you." "Yes you would. It's like I heard you say one time, and I quote 'I would use whatever it takes to do Gods work.' I'll meet you at the Hotel next Wednesday. I think I'll get Mickey to join us also. I'll call you sometime tonight." Dr. Martin hung up the phone. She turned around and walked out of her room whistling all the way down to the dinning room.
When she arrived at the dinning room she saw Angel feeding his daughter and Cordelia bringing over their breakfast. Gunn and Cylindia had made their own breakfast and were eating. Cylindia was no longer needed to take care of Wesley but she was staying at the Hotel occasionally with Gunn. She guessed that Connor had already left for his first day at College since Toby was laying on the floor right underneath Kathleen's highchair. He knew that there were always lots of tidbits that would fall within his reach sooner or later.
"Okay my dears this is what we are going to do today. Angel and Cordelia, please take Fred to see Dr. Thompson at 5 tonight? The reason why Wesley can't go with you Fred is that he has a 4 o'clock appointment with his heart specialist. The appointment was a last minute cancellation so unless we wanted to wait until tomorrow. Any questions?" No one said anything.
After breakfast Angel and Gunn were busy with a case that had just come in that morning. It took them the rest of the day to do the research on the demon that they suspected was the prime culprit. After dinner they planned to go and look for the little pest. Connor had come back from his classes at 3 in the afternoon and was currently upstairs doing his homework.
At 4:15 Angel and Cordelia left with Fred to go to Dr. Thompson's while Dr. Martin and Wesley had already left for his heart specialist at 3:30. Gunn told Cordelia that he would make tacos for dinner tonight along with Cylindia and Connor. The girls knew that what Gunn meant was that Connor and Cylindia would help him pick up all of the food from their favorite local Mexican fast food stand.
By 7 o'clock everyone was back. Gunn, Cylindia, and Connor walked into the Hotel just as Angel came in carrying Fred. Cordelia came in a few minutes later after parking her van.
Fred asked Angel to put her down so she could use the bathroom. "Your very wish is my command my lady." Angel said as he took her to the bathroom and put her down. Fred curtsied as best she could and went into the bathroom. Wesley met her as she came out and walked her over to the dinning room table and their chairs.
"Well what was Dr.Thompson's verdict Fred?" Dr. Martin asked. "The verdict is that I have been commanded to spend the next 4 months in bed and I can only come down stairs if someone carries me or I use a wheel chair. He said that he wanted us to get a better wheel chair that has better wheels so that the ride won't be so hard on me and that I am not to be in a sitting position for more than two hours each day. He also wanted me to tell you Dr. Martin that he will be over tomorrow to talk to you." Fred started to eat her taco so that they couldn't ask her anymore questions for awhile.
"Now that we've heard about Fred, what's the verdict on Wesley?" Angel asked.
"You want to answer that question Wesley?" Dr. Martin asked him with a grin.
"He said that I was healing just fine and that I could start some mild exercising next week and light work." "What about the wires holding your ribs together?" Angel asked as he rubbed his own chest. Even though his had been separated so Dr. Martin could make repairs his ribs went back into their correct position right away, courtesy of Angelus.
"He said either I could learn to live with it or Dr. Martin could remove them and see if they stayed in the correct position but if they didn't that meant another operation to put the wire back on. I wasn't too happy about looking forward to possibly 2 more operations so I said I would try to live with them." Wesley just hung his head down.
"Besides that Wesley you get to look forward to the next 4 months in dry dock." Gunn added in. Angel laughed when Gunn said that. Wesley turned to Fred and Fred put her arm around him. "My poor baby, but just think Wesley, we only have a short 4 months to suffer then well have two beautiful baby boys."
"Well now that you're done Fred I think it's time for you to go upstairs." Dr. Martin said. "At least you two get to sleep in the same bed tonight. By the way everybody I talked to Fr. Barris today and explained our problem of Cordelia and Fred being to busy with making the next generation of AI to be cleaning the Hotel also. He said he knew of a few couples that need a place to live and have worked in homes before. He is going to be sending them over for an interview tomorrow around noon so try to make your selves available. After interviewing them you can discuss whether you want to accept these people into the Hotel or not." Dr. Martin said. As she rose from the table she asked if anyone else wanted something from the kitchen. No one said anything so she went in and got another can of Cherry Cola and returned to her seat.
"How was your first day of school Connor?" Angel asked as he pulled Kathleen out of her highchair.
"It was very interesting. I met a lot of interesting people. We had one guy in my math class that was as old as you guys. He said he was brushing up on his math skills so he could teach it at the high school he works at. He said it had been a long time since he taught it and he wanted to make sure he could still do something beside Algebra." "Did they give you a lot of homework to do already?" Wesley asked.
"Yeah but I finished most of it already. I need someone to help me with a report for one of my classes that has to be about why I want to be a police officer because I obviously can't tell the truth."
"I can help you with that. When is it due?" "Next week Monday." "Okay we have time then for you to think about what you want to say, write it, then you and I can go over it and see how to translate it into an acceptable report." Wesley told Connor. Fred had been watching Wesley she could tell that he was going to be having fun working with and helping Connor.
"When do you start working with Toby at school?" Cordelia asked. She was getting to like having him around. She felt a little more secure having Toby around to guard Kathleen.
"I didn't schedule the class for him until the next semester. I wanted him to have some more time to mature. From all that I've heard the classes with the dogs is pretty demanding of the dogs."
Cordelia got up from her chair and started to pick up the dishes. "Wesley get yourself and your wife upstairs and to bed. Everyone else can help me clean up."
"It looks like Cordelia is back in charge. You two better get going before the Queen C demon makes an appearance." Angel said as he picked up dishes also. Unfortunately for him as he turned to go into the kitchen he almost ran into Cordelia. She gave him her best Queen C look then moved aside as he sheepishly smiled at her and took the dishes into the kitchen.
"By the way Wesley I have been meaning to talk to you about a particular demon that you told Connor about. I think I'll wait though until you are completely 100 A OK. Just incase I slip up and my demon comes out you understand." Cordelia turned and caught Dr. Martin's eye. She gave her a smile and winked.
"Let's go Fred before I get in anymore trouble." "What is this all about? Who is this Queen C she was talking about? I mean, I know who Queen C is but I thought they called Cordelia that because of the way she used to act when they were in High School." "I'll explain when we get into our own rooms and I feel safer." Wesley walked as quickly as he could, with Fred, to the elevator.
Dr. Martin and Giles laughed at Wesley as they left. Everyone helped clean the table off and put away any food that was left over. The nights were getting cooler now so Dr. Martin and Giles went outside to sit in the garden for awhile. The Santa Ana winds were keeping the Los Angeles basin and valleys clear of smog these days so they were able to see the stars easily. After awhile Cordelia, Angel, and Connor came out to join them. Connor was holding his little sister while Toby took care of business.
"I sure did miss you Kathleen. Where you a good girl today or did you give your Mommy and Daddy a hard time?" Kathleen just laughed at Connor as he gave her a ride on his leg and held onto her hands. He was careful not to bounce her too much he didn't want her dinner to end up on his new jeans.
"How have you been doing on your suntan Angel?" Dr. Martin asked. "I'm up to ten minutes with no problem." "Good, by the end of the month maybe you will start showing a suntan." "I'll be happy with just being able to go out into the sun without catching fire." "Is Angelus giving you any problem when you go out into the sun?" "Funny you should ask that because he practically starts howling like a dog when I walk out in it."
"I heard you came across the road in the desert that they dragged you on before you were crucified. Would you like to talk about it?" Angel didn't respond right away. He just hung his head down and stared at a snail that was making its way over to a Hibiscus plant.
"Cordelia would you and Connor leave us alone for awhile please, I would like to talk to Mom for a while." "Sure Angel, I'll see you upstairs. Good night Mom and Giles." Cordelia went to get Kathleen from Connor. "I'll carry her upstairs if that's okay with you?" "Sure lets go, come on Toby it's time for all of Gods children to go to bed." Cordelia reached out her hand to Toby and he came running up to her and followed them into the Hotel.
Giles started to get up also when Angel spoke up. "You can stay Giles. Normally I would talk to Wesley about this also but since he isn't up to speed yet I would like you to know what is happening to me." Angel waited a little longer until Connor was out of ear shot.
"So what is going on Angel?" Dr. Martin asked.
"I've been going upstairs to the roof each day at the same time to work on my tan. Angelus has been doing everything he can to keep me from going into the sunlight. Today he was even able to make my skin start burning. When we were rescuing the teenagers out at the racetrack in San Bernardino we dumped the demons bodies out in the desert. It just so happened that we were by the road that the young vampires tortured me by dragging me behind the truck. Of course Angelus used the opportunity to remind me of everything that happened. Even now I can almost feel the nails in the palms of my hands." Angel started to rub the palm of his left hand with his right thumb. He was doing the same thing that he had done when Dr. Martin was first treating him.
"Angel, why do you think he is doing this to you all of a sudden?" Dr. Martin said as she put her hand on his. Angel stopped rubbing his hand and looked up at her. She could see the tears threatening to spill over.
"I kind of got used to him not talking to me all of the time and reminding me of everything that we did. Now it's as though he has pulled out all of the plugs. Mom he is constantly talking to me with all of the usual stuff except now he is including what he is going to do to Cordelia and Kathleen if he ever gets control. I can feel him constantly testing me. He's like a caged animal that is constantly testing the perimeter of the fence. He's looking for any weakness in that fence. When I carried Fred upstairs I could smell blood on her and that's why I called Cordelia to come and help her. Mom I found myself, for a split second, looking at her as a meal. That's why I started teasing you Giles. I wanted to get my mind off of the wrong track. I don't trust myself to be around everyone, especially Cordelia and Kathleen." Angel had gotten up from his chair and was walking back and forth in front of the patio.
"What do you think we should do about this Angel? Do you think he is doing this because he doesn't want you to go out into the sun?" Dr. Martin sat in a relaxed position with her legs crossed. Giles was thinking that she didn't think that what Angel was going through was such a big deal.
"I want you to talk to Angelus and find out why he is doing this." Angel turned towards Dr. Martin and Giles when he made his request.
"Angel you already know why he is doing this don't you?" Angel sat down again. He leaned forward with his elbows resting on his long legs. He finally looked at Dr. Martin and said, "He knows that this is the beginning of the end. He knows that he has to do what ever he can to get me to let him take over again. Since he can't rely on the curse anymore his only recourse will be to drive me insane or to make a mistake like I did in Ireland."
"Yes I believe that is what he is doing also. Does he still keep quiet when Cordelia is with you?" "No, he doesn't seem to be afraid of her anymore." Angel looked at the woman he called Mom. As he began to speak the tears did start to spill over.
"Momma he doesn't even leave me alone when we are having sex. I almost hurt Cordelia the other day. I was able to stop myself just before….." He didn't finish what he was going to tell her. Angel just covered his eyes with one hand. Dr. Martin rose from her chair and went to him and put her arm around his head and hugged him. "Together Angel we will beat Angelus at his own game just like we did before. Tomorrow morning I will call Mother General and tell her what has been happening to you and ask the sisters to pray for you more. Hopefully Sr. Margaret will visit me tonight and tell me why this is happening to you. Remember to always look to Saint Michael to help you. I am going to go to bed now Angel. I want you to remember just one thing Angel when things seem to be at their darkest and you can't see anyway out of the dark look to out Lord Jesus Christ, nothing is impossible for him." Dr. Martin gave Angel her blessing then left with Giles following her. Angel continued to sit on the patio for awhile and was deep in thought when he felt a cold nose touch his hand. Toby had come out to take care of his business before going to bed with Connor. When he saw Angel sitting out in the dark he felt that he needed a companion for awhile.
At midnight Angel finally got up and went inside. Toby followed him in and when Angel got to his bedroom door he stopped and got down on one knee. "Thanks for keeping me company Toby." Angel rubbed his head and turned and opened the door to his bedroom and Toby went to his bedroom that he shared with Connor.
Angel removed his clothes, before crawling into bed he checked on his daughter. Cordelia had her dressed in the yellow sleeper that he liked so much. He pulled the blanket over her again that she had kicked off. He went over to the bed then and crawled in next to Cordelia. Cordelia turned towards him when she felt him get in bed and reached for him. Angel pulled her close to him and did his best to dismiss Angelus.
The next morning Cordelia woke up first. She had her hand on Angel's chest. She was enjoying the feel of his chest moving rhythmically up and down as he breathed. At first he breathed the slow even breaths of a sleeper. For anyone else this would not be anything unusual but for Angel it was a new sensation. He had started breathing more frequently when he slept on the same day that he was able to go into the sunlight. She wanted to let him sleep for now though so she carefully got up and checked on her daughter then went into the bathroom to take a shower.
Cordelia got into the shower and turned the water on and just let it run over her body for awhile. As she stood in the water she heard the shower door open and felt Angel's hands on her. She started to turn to face him but she felt one of his hands roughly grab her hair and with the other around her waist he forced her to bend over so that he could enter her from behind. He took what he wanted while continuing to hold onto her hair. When she tried to turn her head to look at him he pulled at her hair and forced her to bend her head back as far as it would go without breaking it. Angel continued to force himself on her but he was doing it so hard that he was hurting her.
"Angel stop it your hurting me." Cordelia said in a loud voice. She felt his hand immediately let go of her hair and he pulled out of her. When he let her go she turned toward him. Angel was on the floor of the shower. He was rubbing his eyes as though he had just woke up. He looked up at her. "What happened?" "Angel you were having sex with me so roughly that you were hurting me. Why did you do that?" Angel looked down at himself and saw blood on his penis. Then he looked at the area between Cordelia's legs and he could see blood running down her legs as she cleaned herself. "Did I hurt you inside?" "No I started my period yesterday. I've told you before that I don't like having sex when I'm on my period because I am so tender for the first couple of days. I usually don't have to tell you because you can smell it. Why were you being so rough with me?"
"I'm sorry Cordelia I don't know why I did it. All I can say is that I wasn't fully in control." "What do you mean you weren't fully in control? Were you sleep walking?" "Let's talk about it later I want to bathe and get out of here." Cordelia was through so she got out and Angel quickly bathed and got out. He quickly dressed and left the room. Cordelia looked at him as he practically ran out of the door. She went to the bed and closed her eyes and concentrated on touching his mind through the link. She felt his mind for only a second when he quickly cut her off. "Angel what is wrong? Together we can get through whatever is bothering you but you have to let me in." She felt nothing; he had blocked her off completely. She quickly checked on Kathleen. She was still sleeping peacefully. Cordelia suddenly realized that he had closed down the link he shared with Kathleen also. Now she was really scared.
Cordelia went down to Dr. Martin's bedroom and knocked on the door. "Mom, are you in there?" She knocked on the door again. "Mom." "I'm coming Cordelia, I'm coming." A minute later the door opened. "What's wrong?" "Mom something is wrong with Angel. He……." Cordelia stopped before she said anything more. "Can I talk to you alone for a few minutes?" "It's okay Cordelia, Rupert went down stairs a few minutes ago, come in and sit down." Cordelia went in and sat on the bed.
"Now tell me what is wrong." Dr. Martin said as she got back into the bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. Cordelia just then realized how cold it was in the room so she crawled in under the covers also. "Why is it so cold in here?" "Rupert likes to have fresh air so we sleep with the window open no matter how cold it gets and just pile on the blankets. He usually turns the heater on when he gets up in the morning but I guess he forgot since he was still warm from the after glow if you know what I mean." Cordelia smiled at her. It was weird hearing someone talk about Giles like that. Giles always seemed to be so proper with never even a hair out of place.
"Your making me forget about why I needed to talk to you. There is something wrong with Angel Mom. This morning he followed me into the shower. Usually when I'm on my period we don't have sex but this morning Angel didn't start kissing me or even touch me except to grab my hair and forcefully pull my head back. He made me bend over and entered me from behind. He was rough Mom, he was being so rough he was hurting me and I had to yell at him to stop because he was hurting me. When I turned around and looked at him he was acting as though he just woke up and was rubbing his eyes. He didn't seem to know what had just happened and I had to tell him. He saw the blood on his penis and what was going down my legs and on to the floor of the shower. He thought he had hurt me. I had to actually tell him that I was on my period and that was why there was blood all over him and me. Mom I almost never have to tell him because he can smell it but this time he didn't seem to know. When I was through cleaning myself I got out of the shower and dressed. A few minutes later Angel came out and quickly got dressed and went out of the room. Mom I can't feel him anymore, I can't sense his well being. I tried talking to him through the link and I could feel him for only a moment before he shut me out. When I went to take care of Kathleen I found her to be sleeping peacefully. Mom he has even broken the link with Kathleen."
Dr. Martin put her arm around Cordelia. "Cordelia I think he cut off the link with Kathleen because he doesn't want Angelus to hurt her in anyway. Last night when he asked you and Connor to leave us he told us that Angelus has been attacking him a lot more than usual. He said Angelus started concentrating on him more when he was first able to go into the sunlight. It seems that Angelus sees this as the beginning of the end for him and he isn't going down without a fight. Remember that Angel told us that Angelus is usually quiet when you're with him, but now Angelus attacks him at anytime. Angel is afraid that Angelus will make him hurt you or Kathleen. Cordelia, Angel feels like he is going to crack under Angelus onslaught and I believe he has cut the link between you and Kathleen because he doesn't want to take either one of you with him if he does go down."
Cordelia was quiet for awhile then she looked at Dr. Martin. "Can we help him at all or does he have to go through this by himself?" "I don't know if I can help him but I am going to try. Let's go and find him." Dr. Martin jumped out of bed. She had already taken a shower and was already half dressed so all she had to do was pull her blouse, skirt, and shoes on. While she finished dressing Cordelia made her bed up to keep busy.
As soon as Dr. Martin was dressed they started checking the hotel when they checked all of the usual places they met back at the dinning room table where Giles was sitting with a cup of coffee and the morning newspaper. He still hadn't found the appropriate store to buy for his second Magic Shop so he was looking at the real estate section.
"What in heavens name are you two women looking for?" "We're looking for Angel, have you seen him?" Cordelia asked. "No but if you can't find him check to see if his car is gone and if it is here then check the 5th floor room that we men like to hide in but don't tell him I told you were to look or he might do me bodily harm."
"I saw that his car is here so let's go upstairs." Dr. Martin told Cordelia. They took the elevator to the 5th floor and Cordelia made for the room that she had found Angel in before. She had her hand on Dr. Martins hand and pulled her in as she entered the room and closed the door behind them. Dr. Martin started to say something but Cordelia quickly silenced her. "He knows we're here and if he wanted us to find him he would say something. Let's just stand here and let our eyes adjust to the darkness." Cordelia had to put her mouth right against Dr. Martin's ear and whisper as low as possible so that Angel couldn't hear her.
After a few minutes Cordelia's eyes where able to start making out shapes. She carefully looked around the room. Somehow, and she wasn't sure how, she knew he was in here.
"Angel I know you're in here so you might as well speak up and stop acting like a child that is hiding from his mother." Cordelia said in a soft, non scolding voice.
"Go away Cordelia, I need time by myself right now." "Angel, why did you cut the link between yourself and your wife and daughter?" Dr. Martin asked.
"Mom Angelus is doing something new and he is gaining control while I am sleeping. I'm afraid he will make me hurt them. Mom he is taking everything away from me that God has given me." "Yes I know Angel and St. Michaels aware of all of this. Remember last night I told you that I was hoping that either St. Michael or Sr. Margaret would help me to help you?" "Yes, did they tell you what we can do?" "Not really but they did tell me to make you sleep so that I could talk to Angelus." "No you can't. I know Cordelia must have told you what happened this morning. When I sleep he takes over. The next time I sleep he may kill someone. I cut the link with Cordelia and Kathleen because I didn't want him to know where they were all of the time. Mom he is going to hurt and possibly kill them with my body. If that should happen I won't want to live anymore."
"Angel come over to us and let's go downstairs." "Mom have you forgotten what you told us he did to you in Ireland? Which, I think, you didn't quiet tell us the complete truth."
Dr. Martin was getting angry now. "Angel Liam Martin I am going to say this once and only once. I am leaving to go downstairs and I am taking Cordelia with me. You will come down stairs in approximately 10 minutes. If you don't I can assure you that you will be sorry." Dr. Martin opened the door and grabbed Cordelia's hand and went out of the door. Dr. Martin quickly dragged Cordelia to the elevator and down to the 2nd floor. At the 2nd floor she let her hand go so she could get Kathleen. "I'll wait for you here Cordelia. Do not go back upstairs to him, let him come to us." When Cordelia exited the elevator Dr. Martin waited like she said. As soon as she returned Dr. Martin hit the button for the first floor. She went over to the kitchen and unfortunately for Giles he was still sitting at the dinning room table. She walked over to him and just stood their. "What's wrong?" He asked. Dr. Martin was so angry she couldn't think of anything to say so she just raised her hands and said "MEN." Then she went into the kitchen and started making breakfast for everyone.
After Cordelia put Kathleen in her highchair she dragged it over to Giles. "Since her Daddy seems to be having a problem and isn't available you get to keep the princes company." "That sounds good to me. Grandpa never gets to play with her since her Daddy is constantly playing with her and won't let anyone else have a chance to play with the princes." Giles tickled her tummy and Kathleen gave him a giggle in return.
After helping to get the breakfast going Cordelia brought Kathleen's breakfast over to her.
"Mommy?" "Mommy's getting your breakfast as fast as I can sweetheart." Cordelia dipped the tiny spoon into the cereal and raised it to her lips, but Kathleen turned away. "Mommy, Daddy?" "Daddy is busy upstairs honey." Cordelia explained to her daughter. She tried to get her to eat the spoonful of cereal again but once again Kathleen turned her head away. "Mommy, Daddy gone." Kathleen pointed to her head and looked at her questioningly.
Dr. Martin had come up behind Cordelia with a cup of coffee for herself, Cordelia and Rupert. She watched her granddaughter question her mother as to why she couldn't feel her Daddy inside of her mind anymore.
"Daddy isn't here either I don't know where he is. Do you want to go and find Daddy?" Cordelia pointed to her own head as she said this. Kathleen gave her a very clear YES when she answered her mother. Cordelia pulled her daughter out of her highchair and then looked on the floor for Toby. He wasn't at his usual station which was under the highchair so that he could catch anything that missed Kathleen's mouth. She called for him and he came running in from outside. Cordelia didn't have to say anything to him because Kathleen quickly said "Toby find Daddy." Toby went up the stairs. Cordelia, Dr. Martin, and Giles just stared at her. "It has to be Angels influence on her mind, their can be no other explanation." Dr. Martin said in answer to what they were all thinking.
They could hear Toby running all over the Hotel, but he came back without finding Angel. Kathleen looked at Toby standing by Cordelia. "Toby said no Daddy Mommy." "Maybe Daddy will come back later. Are you hungry now?" "No, I want Daddy, find Daddy Mommy." "Okay Grandma and Mommy will go and find Daddy if you eat your breakfast, okay?" "Okay." Kathleen said with such a sad look to her young face that it almost broke Cordelia's heart. Cordelia handed her over to her Grandpa and she went upstairs with Dr. Martin. Cordelia headed for Wesley and Fred's room. She knocked on the door. "Come in." Fred said.
They went into the room and Cordelia and Dr. Martin explained what had been happening to Angel. "Where do you think he might have gone Wesley?" Cordelia asked.
Wesley and Fred had been sitting at their kitchen table having a breakfast that Wesley had made and brought up from the main kitchen. As he took a sip of his coffee he leaned back in his chair and thought about the problem Angel was having. He got up and went to the night stand by the bed and took out the phone book. He found the number he was looking for and punched the numbers in on the phone. They couldn't hear him as he talked on the phone so they just waited. Twenty minutes later Wesley hung up and went back to the table but brought the phone with him.
"I called Father Barris and asked him to check in the church to see if Angel was in there. He said he's there and that he will call me back after he talks to him." "How did you guess that he was there?" Cordelia asked.
"Well I asked myself who is the only other person, besides Dr. Martin, that has helped Angel and never failed him. He always comes through with his promises and has given Angel everything that he ever wanted in this world." Wesley just looked at the women and sipped at his coffee and took a bite out of his toast. "God." Dr. Martin said. "Right that was my answer to the question of the
whereabouts of my dear brother in arms. All we have to do now is wait for Fr. Barris's call."
It was 10:30 when Wesley had called Fr. Barris. He finally called back at 2 in the afternoon. "Wesley this is Fr. Barris I had a long talk with Angel. Why don't you and only you come to the rectory. Angel doesn't want to speak to anyone else right now." "Okay Father I'll be there soon." Before Wesley could hang up Dr. Martin grabbed the phone from him. "Fr. Barris I want to speak to Angel." Fortunately Fr. Barris had already hung up. "Let's go Wesley and Cordelia. We are going to go and bring Kathleen's Daddy back."
"Dr. Martin please stop. Fr. Barris said that Angel wanted to talk to only me right now. Giles told me that Angel had a similar problem once before. I am sure that you understand that what Angel needs right now is rest. I think he went to the church because that is the only place that he can go to where Angelus will stop torturing him and his mind can get the peace and quiet that it so desperately needs. If you want to you and Cordelia can come with me but you are to stay in the van until I can speak to Angel." Dr. Martin looked at Cordelia then turned back to Wesley. "We'll go and stay in the van until you talk to Angel." "You promise?" "Yes I promise." Dr. Martin answered. Wesley turned to Cordelia. "Do you promise to do as I say Cordelia?" "Yes I promise I'll be good." Wesley stared at her as though he was trying to see through her. Next to Angel Wesley new her best which meant he knew all of her tricks. "Cordelia show me your hands." Cordelia wouldn't show him her hands. "Cordelia I know that you believe that if you cross your fingers that anything you say doesn't have to be true. Now stop being a child and put your hands in mine and promise me that you will do as I say." "Oh alright I promise to do as you say." Cordelia put her hands in Wesley's and promised to be good.
"I want you two to stay here while I change." Wesley gathered up his clothes and started for the bathroom but thought twice. He turned and looked at the two women. "I don't want either one of you to move until I come out understand?" "Yes Wesley I understand." Both of the women answered in unison. It only took Wesley 5 minutes and he was out of the bathroom. "Okay ladies lets go." Wesley gave Fred a kiss then left to go downstairs. Cordelia and Dr. Martin both looked at Fred and winked then left. Fred just laughed to herself. "Men, sometimes it's just easier to humor them then to argue with them."
Everyone grabbed their coats and left for the church in Wesley's SUV. After Wesley pulled up to the rectory he got out and knocked on the door. Fr. Barris came to the door with his coat and they left for the church. It used to be that the church doors were always left open so that people could come into spend time with Christ whenever they wanted. Now days though it was necessary to keep the doors locked because some people had no problem with coming in and stealing anything that wasn't nailed down.
Fr. Barris unlocked the side door and let Wesley in then locked it behind them. He then led Wesley over to a door that was to the right side of the alter. Before opening the door he whispered to Wesley. "He is in here Wesley. The lights are out and there are only two candles illuminating the room. Angel is lying on the floor in front of a table where we have the Blessed Sacrament on display. He is holding the Blessed Sacrament to his chest. He says that it is the only way that he can get a few moments of peace. Angelus is afraid to say anything while Angel holds Christ so close to him. I'll be waiting out here."
Wesley went inside. He found Angel where Fr. Barris said he would be. He walked carefully over to Angel and called to him. "Angel, its Wesley." Angel stirred a little then he opened his eyes. He looked around the room as though he couldn't quiet see clearly. He rubbed his eyes then looked around again and stared at Wesley. He got up from the floor and put the Blessed Sacrament back on the table then turned around and came and sat next to Wesley. Wesley didn't say anything he just waited for Angel to say something first.
Angel regularly gave an involuntary jerk of his head as Wesley waited for him to get his thoughts together. "It's getting dangerous for me to be at the hotel now Wesley. This morning Angelus took over control of my body while I was still sleeping and forced himself on Cordelia. He hurt her Wesley. If it wasn't for her calling out to me to stop because I was hurting her I never would have awakened to stop him. Because of what happened I broke the link with Cordelia and Kathleen. I am afraid that he will hurt them somehow through that link."
"Did you know that Kathleen was missing you being in her head? I guess you're kind of like Angelus for her except you're a good Daddy demon. This morning when Cordelia tried to get her to eat her breakfast she wouldn't eat and just pointed to her head and said 'Daddy gone'." Angel had a big smile on his face that was created by the pride he had in his daughter.
"She did? What else did she say?" "They said when Cordelia called Toby to help her and your daughter find you Kathleen gave Toby the order to find you. She said 'Toby find Daddy', and Toby took off looking all over the place for you." Angel was beaming with pride in his daughter.
"Dr. Martin thinks it's because of the link that you share with her that she is learning so fast and that is also why she is acting in a manner that is way beyond her years." Wesley saw the look on Angels face turn from pride to anguish.
"I miss them Wesley. I feel like a part of my heart has been cut away. Tell Mom that I am trying to do what she taught me but I have to give my mind the rest that it needs and I can't do that at home." Angel turned and looked at Wesley. "Wesley Angelus has found a way to take over my body while I am sleeping. Except for last night I haven't been able to sleep for 3 nights. Last night I was so exhausted that I fell into a deep sleep and Angelus took over and forced himself on Cordelia. I can't allow him to do that again Wesley. When I am here then I can sleep while I am holding the Blessed Sacrament to my chest. As soon as I touch it Angelus shuts up. Give me at least 48 hours to rest then I'll be home. While I am gone I want you to set up chains that will hold me while I am unconscious. I think it would be best if you attached them to that new steel beam that is holding the Hotel up, but I'll leave that up to you. My only advice to you is to be very careful because I think Angelus will be many times stronger than I am. He looks at this as being his last chance to take over before he is bound forever until he is exorcised out of my body and becomes none existent. You better go now I can barely keep my eyes open now. Tell my girls that I love them and they are to do as you say or they will have to answer to me when this is finally over." Angel stood up and gave Wesley a hug then got back down on the floor again and pulled the Blessed Sacrament into his arms again.
Within minutes Wesley saw Angels breathing slow down until he couldn't see his chest rise and fall. He took the two blankets that Fr. Barris had left for Angel and covered him then left and quietly shut the door behind him. Fr. Barris got up from where he was sitting and locked the door again so that no one would go in and disturb Angel. Wesley was quiet as they left the Church and returned to the van.
Dr. Martin and Cordelia were still in the van as promised. As soon as they saw Wesley coming towards the van Dr. Martin opened the side door and came out. "Let's go into the rectory ladies it's getting a little cold out here." Dr. Martin and Cordelia followed Fr. Barris and Wesley into the rectory.
They all went into the dinning room where they could all sit and have some coffee and talk. Fr. Barris went into the kitchen and brought out some cups, spoons, cream and sugar. When the coffee was done brewing he brought it out and poured everyone a cup then sat down.
"Well Mr. Price tell us what happened." Dr. Martin said.
"Angel wants to handle his current problem in the manner that you have taught him but he has to deal with a whole new problem that Angelus is giving him. He said that Angelus is constantly talking to him with the same old accusations and worst of all is that he no longer stops when Cordelia is near him. Angelus creates so much noise in his head that Angel hasn't been able to sleep for the previous 3 nights. Last night when he was able to sleep it was only from pure exhaustion. This morning Cordelia when he became physically violent with you in the shower he was not in control. Angels mind was still sleeping and Angelus is the one that went into your shower this morning."
"But Wesley I didn't notice any difference and I've always been able to tell when it was Angelus and not Angel that was in control." Wesley didn't say anything he just looked at Cordelia. Cordelia looked at Dr. Martin and put her hand on hers. "That means that Angelus is playing a whole new ballgame." "Exactly." Wesley said.
"So what does Angel want to do?" Dr. Martin asked as she held onto Cordelia's hand.
"He said that right now he needs at least 48 hours of sleep. He is here because Angelus is quiet and won't try anything while he is in the Church. He is also holding onto the Blessed Sacrament while he sleeps. Angel said that Angelus is constantly checking the perimeter of his cage and looking for weak points where he can break out and take control of his body again. That is why he is afraid to sleep while he is in the Hotel. Dr. Martin he told me that he wanted me to set up chains that would hold him when he comes back. He doesn't trust himself to be in the Hotel and free to do whatever he wants. Whatever you have planned it has to be done while he is chained like this. He has warned me, he believes that Angelus will slip into his true form and he is many times stronger when he is like this. At that time he will try to escape and gain control.
"When Angel comes home you need to be ready to do whatever you have in mind. Gunn and I will be ready also. When we get home I will be calling Spike to come and help us. I will want you to tell me what you are going to be doing to help Angel Dr. Martin. I need to know what to expect." "Okay Wesley. I will respect Angel's wishes and leave him alone. Fr. Barris I need to discuss a few things with you tomorrow can you give me some time tomorrow?" "Sure Mary I'll give you a call tomorrow with the time that you can come over."
"Let's go Wesley it's time for me to get back to Kathleen. I haven't nursed her today yet and my breasts are full of milk and hurting." Cordelia got up and started for the door. "Thank you for everything Fr. Barris. I'll send some blood tomorrow for Angel to drink when he wakes up. Let's go Wesley, NOW." Wesley and Dr. Martin jumped up. They all waved good bye and ran out the door.
With Cordelia constantly encouraging Wesley to hurry they made it to the Hotel in less than 30 minutes. Wesley came to a screeching halt in the back of the Hotel and Cordelia went running in. He looked at Dr. Martin. "Does it hurt that bad?" "Yes it does. Remember how the cow in the next farm was crying so loud one night?" "Yes that poor thing sounded like she was in so much pain. I remember Angel and Connor finally went over there to take care of her. Did we ever find out why she had been left like that?" "Yes the next day the owner came over and thanked them for taking care of her. It turns out that his wife was having their first baby that night. Like most fathers the man had only one thing on his mind."
They sat at the patio tree for a while just watching the night sky. "You know Wesley Fred probably won't be able to have anymore children after these." "Why, is this pregnancy going to do something to her that will prevent her from having anymore?" "No what I am saying is that Fred just wasn't made for having babies that is why she is having so many problems. I am sure that you have noticed how Cordelia is shaped. That girl was made for having babies. She could have one each year without any problem. Her pelvis was made exactly to spec's. But Fred, Fred is delicate, small boned and her pelvis is narrow. We already know that she will have to have a cesarean." Wesley listened to Dr. Martin. At first he was rather sad that they couldn't have anymore but then he thought 2 boys was more than enough to keep them busy. Then it dawned on him why Dr. Martin was telling him all of this.
"Wait a minute, am I correct in that you are telling me that I should have a vasectomy so that we won't put Fred in danger again?" Dr. Martin looked at Wesley with a twinkle in her eye. She held up two of her fingers and made a motion like a scissors. "Snip, snip Wesley. It's a very simple operation and you won't notice a thing. The only difference is that Fred won't have to take birth control pills for the rest of her child bearing years. You'll be praised by all of the women for being a mature, responsible husband that puts his wife before himself." Dr. Martin got up then and patted Wesley on the shoulder. "You have a long time to think about it Wesley but I know you love Fred and you'll do the right thing. I'm getting hungry so I am going to see if the men made anything."
Dr. Martin left Wesley to think about all that he had on his plate right now. In some ways Wesley's work was just as important, if not more at times, then Angels. She went back in and checked on the kitchen. Before starting anything she thought she would check on Cordelia and Rupert first.
Dr. Martin stopped at Cordelia's room and knocked on the door. "Come in." Cordelia answered. When Dr. Martin entered she found Cordelia exactly where she thought she would be, in the rocking chair with Kathleen contentedly nursing.
"How are you feeling now?" "Oh much better, much better. I was really hurting on the trip home. You know Mom I was just thinking of Marissa Morgan. I think she should be due any day now. I'll have to call her tomorrow and I think I'll suggest to Wesley that we ask Morgan if we can borrow Richard while Angel is busy dealing with Angelus. He should be able to help Gunn in handling Angelus if he needs it.
"Well I came to see if you were hungry. I was going to make a sandwich for myself, how does that sound to you?" "That sounds good to me. We were there later than I thought." "Okay then I'm going to check on Rupert then I'll go and make our sandwiches and bring them up here." Dr. Martin left then to go and check on Rupert and the rest. As she past Fred's room she noticed that the door was open so she stopped and knocked on the door. She looked around the door. "Come in Mary." Fred said. "Come and join us." She found Connor, Gunn, Cylindia, and Rupert playing poker with Fred. They had moved her twin bed over so that the table could be lifted up and over the bed.
"Well if Cordelia, Wesley and I join in there won't be enough room for all of us." "No problem, we can go downstairs." Gunn said as he stood up. "Wait a minute guys how long have you been playing?" "Two hours." Gunn answered. He sounded like a kid that knows with his answer he is going to be in trouble.
"I think that is enough then. We can't keep Fred sitting up any longer so why don't you men bring the regular bed in here and then you can take out the twin. When you are done I want to see everyone down in the lobby. Someone can carry Fred down to the Lobby and put her on the couch where she can be laying down." Dr. Martin left then to go downstairs and set up for the class that she was going to teach.
"Thirty minutes later everyone came downstairs. Cordelia had come downstairs when Dr. Martin didn't show up with their dinner. While they were waiting for the rest to come downstairs Dr. Martin and Cordelia made up sandwiches for themselves and Wesley. When Wesley saw Connor coming down with Fred he picked up his sandwich and drink and went to the couch so that Fred could lay her head in his lap. "Put her right here Connor." He patted the couch seat next to him. Connor put Fred down and Fred thanked him.
After everyone was seated Dr. Martin pulled over a white board with some pictures on it showing the internal view of a woman, her uterus and a baby. For the next 45 minutes they were all lectured on what normally happened in a pregnancy, what was happening to Fred, and what could happen if she didn't follow directions to the letter. By the end of the lecture it was clear that Dr. Martin was angry with Fred.
"I'm sorry Dr. Martin. It's just that I get so bored and lonely when Wesley isn't with me." Dr. Martin was walking back and forth in front of everyone. They could all see that she was very angry with Fred and she was just barely able to contain that anger.
Cylindia stood up and came over by Fred and Wesley. "Dr. Martin it's my fault, I should have known better then to let her sit up for so long." Dr. Martin turned and looked at Cylindia. "Yes Cylindia you should have known better. The one that I am most disappointed in is you Fred. I expect something like this from Cordelia but not you." "Hey! I'm right here." Cordelia said loudly. "I'm sorry Cordelia but it's true. I knew what to expect from you so I was always ready but with Fred I didn't expect her to forget about her babies and put herself first." Fred started crying when Dr. Martin said that.
Dr. Martin knelt in front of Fred. "I'm sorry I had to put it like that Fred but I have to make you understand how important it is for you to follow Doctors orders to the letter. Fred if you don't bring these babies to term you most likely won't have any children unless someone else carries the babies for you." "I promise Dr. Martin that I will be good from now on and I will give my babies their turn at a good life." "That's good Fred and that is all that Dr. Thompson and I are asking. Connor, would you take Fred up stairs now please?" Connor came and picked up Fred. Wesley followed them upstairs. Dr. Martin put the white wall board back by the A.I. offices. She went to help Cordelia clean the kitchen up then they went to bed.
Dr. Martin took a shower before getting into bed. It had been a long day and she was dead tired. She still had to talk to Fr. Barris tomorrow and she also had to talk to Wesley to see how he was going to set up the chains that they would use to restrain Angelus. Even though she was dead tired she was unable to fall asleep so she did what she used to do when she was in the convent. For some reason it always seemed to work. Since Rupert was already sleeping she opened the drawer of the nightstand next to the bed and pulled out her Rosary. Just as she started to pray she heard a soft knocking on the door. She got out of bed as quietly as she could and went to the door and opened it. It was Cordelia.
"What's wrong Cordelia?" "I can't sleep without Angel on the other side of the bed. Can you come and sleep with me?" "Sure baby I'll be there in a few minutes." "Thank you Mom and tell Giles I said thank you." Cordelia left to go back to her room and Dr. Martin closed the door then went to the bed and shook Giles gently.
"Rupert wake up." "Huh what's wrong?" "Nothing is wrong I just wanted to tell you that I am going to spend the night with Cordelia. She can't sleep without Angel in the bed so she came and asked me if I would sleep with her tonight." "Okay, do you want me to come also I could sleep on the couch." "No I think she'll be alright with just me there. Besides you might wake Kathleen up with your snoring." "I beg your pardon Madam I do not snore." Dr. Martin gave her husband a kiss. "Yes dear, whatever you say. Goodnight." Dr. Martin left then and went down to Cordelia's room and knocked on the door. "Come in Mom." Cordelia said. Dr. Martin opened the door and went in. Cordelia was in bed and had Kathleen sleeping next to her. At the foot of the bed she also found Toby. "It's a good thing this is a king size bed. Are you sure there is room for me?" Cordelia laughed and pulled back the covers for her. "Come on Mom there is more than enough room. Connor brought him over and said that Toby would be our protector tonight." Dr. Martin turned the light off, removed her robe and crawled into bed. They were both sound asleep within a few minutes.
The next morning Rupert came to check on the women. When no one answered the door he carefully opened the door and looked in. What he saw made him go running back to his bedroom and get his camera. As he came out of his bedroom Wesley was coming out of his. "You want to see something funny?" "What's going on?" Giles just motioned to Wesley to follow him. He opened the door again and started taking pictures. Unfortunately Toby heard them and his tail started wagging which made a thump, thump noise on the bed which woke Cordelia and Dr. Martin. When the women looked at them they just lay back down and pulled the covers over their heads. Kathleen sat up and looked at Giles. "Wesey, Grampa." That of course got a grin out of the men.
"Why don't you be a good Grandpa and change her and take her downstairs with you so Cordelia and I can get some more sleep." Dr. Martin said as she looked at Giles with one eye open. "I think I can do that." Giles said as he came in and picked up Kathleen. He changed her diaper with only a little difficulty. The last time he had ever changed a diaper was when they used safety pins to keep the cloth diaper together. Eventually he had her all cleaned up and ready to go down stairs.
"Come on Toby lets leave the ladies alone. Some people need more time to get their beauty sleep." Both Dr. Martin and Cordelia threw a pillow at the closing door then pulled the covers over their heads and went back to sleep.
Wesley had already made coffee and left a bowl of pancake batter on the counter. Giles put Kathleen in her highchair and proceeded to make some pancakes. By the time he was through feeding Kathleen and himself he was tired and ready to take a nap. "You know Kathleen I now have a new respect for your mother. She is able to take care of you, make breakfast for everyone and take care of Toby and a husband that is like a big kid also. It's going to take me another hour just to clean up after you." Giles looked down at all of the food on the floor then noticed that Toby was cleaning up all of the food. "Well I guess I don't have to clean the floor so let's go outside for a few minutes." Giles pulled her out of the highchair and put her on the floor while he held onto both of her hands. Kathleen started walking. First one foot then the other as they got to the steps Giles lifted her up the steps one at a time. She was concentrating on each step that she took. After a few minutes she tried to pull her hands away from Giles but he didn't want to let go of her while she was on a hard cement surface. He guided her over to a small patch of grass and dirt. Once again she tried to pull away from Giles and this time he let go but kept his hands close to her incase she started to fall. Just as he thought would happen did happen, WHAM, she fell backwards on her well padded behind. Giles went to assist her but she pushed him away.
"Toby come." Kathleen called out to her playmate. Toby came running over to her and laid down next to her. Kathleen grabbed onto his hair and pulled herself up. When she did this Toby stood up slowly so that he wouldn't cause her to lose her grip and fall. Very slowly Toby took two steps forward and Kathleen took two steps. Giles thought that she must be hurting Toby as she held on so tightly to his hair but he didn't seem to mind. Giles heard a noise behind him and turned to see Cordelia and his wife taking movie pictures of what was happening. Cordelia went down to the patio and called for Kathleen to come to her. Toby slowly turned around and guided Kathleen to her mother.
"You are such a smart little girl. I wish your Daddy had been here to see it. Let's go and see Daddy." Cordelia started to walk back into the Hotel. "Cordelia you shouldn't do that. He told us that he would be back in 2 days." Dr. Martin said. Cordelia sat down on the steps leading up to the doors. "Mom I miss him too much. I'm afraid that I am going to lose him this time." "Cordelia Chase Martin I want you to listen to me for a minute. We have to give this time to Angel so that he can be rested enough so that he will have the strength to endure what is going to happen. Remember what I told you to do when you were pregnant and having to deal with depression?" "Yes, you said to keep myself busy." "Well that's what I want you to do. I noticed that our supplies are getting low so why don't you and Gunn go shopping today. That should keep you busy all day. Tomorrow everyone is going to help you to clean this place from top to bottom. We also have to work on preparing a suite of rooms for the couple that is going to work and live here with us. Now let's leave Kathleen with Rupert and let's have some breakfast." Cordelia looked at Dr. Martin then decided to do what she said without a fight. Dr. Martin took Cordelia's arm and directed her back to the doors and breakfast.
During the next two days they did just as Dr. Martin had said. While Cordelia and Gunn were gone Dr. Martin went to see Fr. Barris and discuss the directions that she had been given by Sr. Margaret as to how to help Angel.
"So how are we going to help Angel?" "I wasn't given any orders. Sr. Margaret said that I had to handle this myself and that St. Michael had faith in me that I would know the right thing to say at the right time. So what I am going to do is play it by ear. What I need for you to do is come over to the Hotel tomorrow night with some Hosts that have already been blessed. I also want you to bring some Hosts that have not been blessed. Gods Champion in this world will be in my hands tomorrow night Father. Pray for me as much as you possibly can. I have contacted Mother General and at 9 p.m., our time, the Sisters will be gathered in the chapel and praying the Rosary continuously until I call them to let them know that it's over. You know at times like this I wish I could get drunk so that I wouldn't have to think about anything for at least a few hours. My brain is hurting from thinking about it so much." Dr. Martin put her head on the table for awhile. Fr. Barris looked at her eyes. He could see that she had been thinking about this for too long. Her eyes were bloodshot and she had bags under her eyes and neither one of these were normal for her.
"Why don't you go and lay down next to Angel for awhile. The Blessed Sacrament will guard and watch over both of you while you rest." "That sounds like a good idea. Would you come and get me if I don't come over by 4:30. Angel has given strict orders that we women are to be back at the Hotel by 5 o'clock at night unless we have one of the men with us." "Yes I will make sure."
Fr. Barris gave Dr. Martin the key to the room where Angel was. She left then and went through a side door of the Church. She had to wait a moment while her eyes adjusted to the low light. The room that Angel was in was on the right side of the alter. As she crossed in front of the alter and Blessed Sacrament she kneeled and made the sign of the cross out of respect for Christ. She carefully put the key into the lock and turned it. As she opened the door she could see the table with the ever present light that came from a candle that must remain lit while the Blessed Sacrament is present. In front of the table she could see Angel on the floor clutching the Blessed Sacrament to his chest. She watched him for a while until she could see him take a breath then she put down the pillow that Fr. Barris had given her and laid down next to him and wrapped her arm around him. After a few minutes Angel turned over and pulled the blanket that Fr. Barris had placed on him, over on his mother also. Without letting go of the Blessed Sacrament he put his head on her chest and went back into a solid sleep again. Finally Dr. Martin was able to rest her mind and she fell into a peaceful sleep also.
Next chapter: Why does Dr. Martin want one host that has been blessed and one that hasn't been blessed? Angel can't receive communion because Christ cannot exist in the same place as a demon and this would destroy Angelus. And what of Kathleen? She needs her Daddy to be with her so that she can advance as fast as she needs to.
TBC……………….