Chapter 7
THE NEW LOCK
Angel came in through the front door of the Hotel after a Taxi dropped him off. Everyone had just been having lunch when he came in. Cordelia looked up when she heard the front doors open and close. When she saw that it was Angel she stood up so fast that she knocked her chair over. She ran to him and jumped into his arms. Cordelia showered him with kisses and Angel responded in the same way. It was a few minutes before they decided to let the others greet him. He immediately went to his mother and gave her a kiss. He saw that the Sunnydale gang was here. He said hello to everyone and as he walked down the table to his own chair he stopped by Richards chair and put his hand on his shoulders. "Thank you for coming." Richard put his hand on Angels. It was kind of weird seeing the two together when you knew that they were father and son because Richard was the son and Angel the father when they looked as though it was the other way around. As Angel sat down he asked Spike when they had arrived.
"We got here last night. It took us a little longer though since Buffy had to stop every 30 minutes to pee." "Isn't it affecting you also?" Angel asked. "Yes it is. She's due to pop any day now so she is suffering quiet a bit with her back hurting her." "Where is she?" "Like I said her back is hurting her so she is laying down. I told her I would bring her a sandwich later. You should see her Angel. With Buffy being so small she looks like she swallowed a basketball. She's all stomach." Spike laughed as he described his poor wife.
Angel gave all of his attention to his daughter who had been calling him over and over. He pulled her out of the highchair and kissed and hugged her. "Daddy missed his little girl so much. Give Daddy a big hug and kiss." Everybody went "Awww isn't that cute." Then Kathleen did something that surprised everyone. She put her little hands on each side of Angels face and said. "Daddy gone. Daddy back?" Kathleen said as she pointed to her head.
Angel hugged her and gave her a kiss again. "No baby, not yet. Soon I hope Daddy will be able to be with you again but not yet." "Why Daddy, why? I miss Daddy." Everyone's eyes started to mist up.
"Daddy is sick and I don't want you to get sick also." "Okay Daddy." She gave him a big kiss then and Angel put her back into her high chair. He looked to Cordelia, who was bringing him an extra large glass of warmed blood. "I am starving. Thank you for sending the blood over to the church."
While they were all at the Dinning room table Hunter and Mike walked in along with Fr. Barris who had arrived shortly after they did. Everyone greeted them and Cordelia brought some more coffee cups while everyone made room for them at the table.
"I want to thank everyone for coming tonight. Wesley is everything ready for tonight?" "Yes Angel Gunn and I just finished it today. I think you had better go down and check though." "Okay let's go and do that now." Angel said as he got up. Angel made sure that he kept his right hand in his pocket. Angelus was causing him so much trouble that his nerves were almost shot. His neck was hurting and he kept trying to massage it. He went directly to the basement and then waited for Wesley and Gunn to go before him so that they could show him what they had done.
When they got to the bottom of the stairs Wesley and Gunn went to the back of the basement where normally they had supplies. This back section had a new steel beam going through it that went from one side of the basement, under the stairs, and through to another boxed area. They had put 4 of these new steel beams in to support the building above. Gunn and Wesley used two holes that already existed in the steel beam and had welded two of the loops from the chain through one hole and two through the other hole about 10 feet away. The other ends of the chains had padded handcuffs. Two other chains were attached to the floor in the same way except they were attached to two steel loops in the cement. Angel went to them and picked up each end. He could barely keep hold of both ends. His arm started to shake so much that he made the chains start to clink together. He dropped the chain and held onto the other one and more or less leaned on it. After a few minutes Angel looked up at Gunn and Wesley. "Let's go back up stairs." Gunn came over and gave Angel his hand. Angel held onto Gunn's hand and arm until they got to the top of the stairs. He let go then and started walking on his own.
As Wesley walked by Angel reached out his hand and grabbed Wesley's arm. "Can you stay here for a minute? I have something to give you." Wesley came back and stood in front of Angel while he leaned against the wall. Angel pulled out a large legal size envelope from his inside pocket and handed it to Wesley. "What's this?" Wesley asked. "Open it." Angel told him. Wesley looked at the printing on the envelope. He read it out loud but low enough so that only Angel could hear it. "Pasadena Life Sperm Bank." Wesley looked at Angel. "I take it you made a deposit incase something happens tonight and you aren't around to put in your personal request for two more children." "Yes, please don't tell anyone unless I don't make it." "You'll make it Angel, I just have a feeling deep down that you will make it. Do you need help to get back to the table?" "No I want to talk to Hunter for a second. Would you ask her to come over here please?" Wesley left then and told Hunter that Angel wanted to talk to her.
Hunter came to Angel and they walked a little further apart. "Hunter I wanted to tell you that everyone might see what Angelus really looks like tonight. I thought you might want to tell Mike to go upstairs to be with Buffy and Fred." Hunter thought about it for a while. "Angel I think it would be best if Mike knew the truth about all of me which includes my demon and what it looks like." "Good, I was hoping that you would say that. Gunn, Wesley and Fred have seen my demon but not Cordelia." Angel gave her a kiss and hug then they went back to the dinning room table.
"Are you ready to take care of Angelus Mom?" "Yes Angel. It's 9 P.M. now and we can go ahead."
"I am going to explain to you all now what is going on. Two weeks ago I was given a gift from God. That gift was the ability to go out into the sun without burning up. At the same time though Angelus started putting more pressure on me and has found a way to take over control of my body while I am sleeping. Several days ago Angelus took over control of my body while I was still sleeping. He attempted to have sex with Cordelia. If it hadn't been for Cordelia calling out to me to stop I think he would have seriously hurt her. At that point I was already tired from listening to him constantly so I left and went to the Church where Fr. Barris lives. I guess you could say that he gave me sanctuary. They keep a small room on the side of the church where people can go in and pray before the Blessed Sacrament. Fr. Barris let me stay in this room for the last 48 hours. I found that if I held it to my chest Angelus would shut up. So I was finally able to sleep a deep sound sleep without having to worry about Angelus taking over."
Angel stopped talking for a moment. He used his left hand to rub at the side of his head. He seemed to be concentrating on keeping control. When he put his hand down again he looked around the table and saw Connor. "Connor, would you please take Kathleen and Toby upstairs? Spike and Wesley I think it would be a good idea if Buffy and Fred went to stay at a Hotel. I'll leave that up to you though. They can take Kathleen with them if they go. It's a precaution against the possibility that Angelus should get loose. If you decide to do it don't say where in front of me. What I know Angelus knows. To continue with what I was saying, I can't sleep without Angelus taking over. The worst part of this new thing that he is doing is that he can control the physical movements of my body now. He couldn't do that before. Angelus is panicking now because he sees my ability to go out into the sun now as a threat to him. He sees this as the beginning of the end for him. I am hoping and praying that Mom will be able to help me through this also as she has helped me through every thing else. Gunn and Wesley have set up chains downstairs that will be used to constrain me. They did this at my request. Angelus is many times stronger than me when he is in his normal form. When we were in Pylea rescuing Fred Angelus took over and showed his true form when I tried to let only my face change as you've seen many times before. Gunn, Wesley, and Fred saw him but Cordelia hasn't.
"Let's get this over with. Willow I'll need some of your sleeping powder to make me sleep after the men chain me. I know that you know what has to be done if Angelus should get loose. Don't hesitate because it's me. Just remember that you will be saving me from years of torture as he kills all of you." Angel looked directly at Gunn and Gunn just nodded his reply. Angel stood up and he looked at Cordelia. She went to him. The look that they gave each other spoke volumes. Angel bent down and kissed her then left to go down stairs. Wesley, Gunn and Spike followed him down. Willow went upstairs to her room and got the powder to make Angel sleep. When she came out of her room Connor was coming out of Angel and Cordelia's room.
"How are they doing?" Willow asked. "I explained to them what was going on and both Buffy and Fred said that they wanted to stay. Kathleen is sleeping in her crib and Toby is by her. Buffy asked me to tell either you or Tara to put a spell on the room so that no one could enter." "I can do that now." Willow took a moment to say a few words in Latin then she joined Connor and they went to the basement.
In the basement everyone was watching as Gunn and Wesley helped Angel take off his jacket, shirt, T-shirt and shoes. Angel had explained that Angelus was bigger in his normal form and he didn't want to ruin his clothes because Cordelia was always complaining about how many shirts and T-shirts she was always having to buy him. When they were done removing most of his clothes they chained his wrists and legs up. They had a hard time chaining his right wrist because the chains were short enough so that Angel would actually hang several inches off of the ground. Spike came over and helped to hold his body up so that they could put the right chain on his wrist. They then chained his feet. These chains also pulled his legs apart tightly. As the men stepped back Angel visibly started to relax and stopped fighting Angelus.
Willow approached him then and held out her hand with the powder in it. Before casting the sleeping spell she told Angel "Good luck." "Thanks I'll need all I can get." Willow said something in Latin over the powder then blew it in Angels face. She stepped back quickly and went to stand with Tara. Angel closed his eyes and went to sleep.
Every one was quiet while they waited for Angelus to make an appearance. Dr. Martin was watching Cordelia. She was usually the first one to feel his presence. She didn't have long to wait. Cordelia sat up straight. "Hello Angelus." She said. "Hi Baby. I almost nailed you the other day. It's too bad you called out to Angel you would have had the highest orgasm of your short life."
"Oh please, spare me the bravado. You're all talk Angelus. Angel is so good at making love to me that I almost panicked when he borrowed Hunters ring and was able to go out into the light while we were in Ireland. I showed him that I wasn't making idle threats when I warned him about having a wandering eye. He was singing soprano the rest of the day." Cordelia was so tired of hearing Angelus singing his own praises.
Everyone knew that she had hit the right cord with Angelus when he gave his return remark. "Like I said Cordelia, the twins go first." "Yea, yea, yea you've used that threat for so long it doesn't even demand my attention. While you are stuck in Angels head you will have plenty of time to think of something new so let's get on with it before I leave out of boredom from this conversation."
It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. Then they saw Angelus starting to pull at the chains and you could hear the links in the chain starting to make noises as they rubbed against each other. He couldn't break them so he let up for now. Cordelia had made him so mad that Angelus was actually breathing hard and sweating with the effort to break loose.
"Are we done with the usual formalities?" Dr. Martin asked.
"Yes we are. He hasn't come up with anything new so it isn't any fun anymore." Cordelia said with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Okay then what is going on Angelus? Does Christ have to have words with you again or can we get you to stop what you are doing without His intervention, which would be a lot easier on you." Dr. Martin said as she sat down at a chair and small table that had been placed in front of Angel.
"You already know what I am doing and why. Why don't you make it easier on yourselves and just let me go." "Why do you ask me these stupid questions Angelus? You know that it will never happen."
Angelus was getting ticked off at being told no all of the time. "And I am getting tired of being told what I can do and what I can't by a slut like you." Giles started to move but Hunter held him back. Their eyes met and Giles got the message. "Stay still he's baiting you."
Dr. Martin got up from the chair and walked slowly over to Angelus. She was wearing her usual long black skirt with a long sleeved white blouse. Her hair was neatly tied up in a bun on the back of her head. She stopped when she arrived at the front of the table and just leaned against it.
"Alright Angelus this is how I see it. Your getting scared because Angel is your last, shall we say 'Gig' I believe is the word, when he dies you have no where to go but oblivion. If you can gain control of Angels body then you can still have years of existence ahead of you. Am I not correct?" "You got it sweetheart. All the time that he thought I was just leaving him alone while he played with his family I was busily searching for a way to gain control of his body again."
While Angelus was talking Dr. Martin had unbuttoned the top two buttons of her blouse and was running her hand over her throat as though she was hot. "Let me guess, you couldn't find a way by yourself could you." "No, I put out the word in the demon world that I was looking for a way to gain control of my resident body."
All the time that Angelus and Dr. Martin were talking Dr. Martin was unbuttoning her blouse more. Each time that he seemed to be loosing interest she unbuttoned another button. By the third button she decided she needed to show more in order to keep his interest. She put her arms up and joined her hands as though she was stretching. This of course had the desired affect on Angelus. He looked at the curves of her breasts under the blouse and at how they moved as she moved her arms as though she was trying to get the kinks out of her muscles.
"How many bites did you get?" "One." "Who was the one?" "My boss." "You mean the one that St. Michael fought? The bad Angel?" "Yes." "What did he promise you?" "He said he would give me the way to gain control of Angel's body. He said I would have human blood to drink until the end of the world if I managed to last that long. With Angel's body and good looks I would be able to take as many women as I wanted. The fear that I could instill in them would be intoxicating." "What did he want in return?" "What do you mean in return?" "In return, he never gives anything for free." "I don't remember him asking for anything in return." Angelus looked down. He didn't want to look her in the eyes. Something about this woman made him want to tell her the truth.
Dr. Martin started to pull her blouse out of her skirt and unbuttoned the rest of the buttons. She had her back to the rest so no one could see exactly what she was doing all of the time. She had a bra on that was meant to be worn when a low cut gown was worn. It was one of the things she had bought when she had gone to speak to Fr. Barris the previous day. As she pulled the blouse out of her skirt she supposedly, accidentally let one breast come out of the top of the bra. She sensed Angelus's eyes on her so she acted like she didn't notice it right away. "That feels much better. Now where were we, oh yes you said that you didn't remember your boss asking for anything in return. Now you know as well as I do that he always gets something in return."
"He said that when Angels body finally dies then I would go to him, but that won't be for thousands of years to come. Until then the world is my playground." Angelus's eyes where constantly on Dr. Martin which meant his mind wasn't 100 on what he was saying which in turn made his tongue more free. Angelus knew women but Dr. Martin knew men even better.
"You know as well as I do that he never makes good on his word. He always has a built in loop hole that he can pull you through. I tell you what Angelus I want to play a little game with you. If I win then you will be released into oblivion immediately."
"And if I win what do I get?" "You won't receive your winnings until Angel goes to his final reward. How you behave and how you treat Angel throughout the rest of his life will tell you what your winning will give you. I give you my word though that you will continue."
"The way you have it set up will make Angel the winner no matter who wins and that isn't fair. I lose either way."
"My, my but it does look that way doesn't it?" By now Dr. Martin had let her hair down and was playing with it.
"You are correct though, the difference is the degree of your reward. Your way, you go with what your boss is promising you, which we all know is as good as the smoke it's written on."
"How can you have the power to say what will happen? You're nothing but a human bitch." "That's true, but I am the human bitch that has been given the power to decide how I was going to handle you and this current problem that you have created. So you see my word is law. If I say it will be done then it will be done. I have St. Michaels word on it and he has Christ's support and we all know that He never goes back on His word."
Angelus was quiet while he thought about her offer. "Okay let's see your game."
Dr. Martin turned to Fr. Barris and asked him to bring the hosts over to the table. Fr. Barris brought three small containers over to the table. All looked exactly alike.
"In each of these containers is a communion host. One of them was blessed during Mass. You will choose one of these hosts to consume. If you choose the one that was blessed during Mass then you will immediately go into oblivion and Angel and I win. If you choose one of the regular hosts then you win and you stay with Angel under the rules that I have laid down. If you choose not to play the game then you take your chances with your master or stay with Angel under the same rules that I gave you."
Angelus took a long time to weigh his options. He knew that the best way to go would be to continue with Angel and take his chances as to who he would get when Angel finally died. Before he gave in he was going to give himself the option of getting loose one more time. He had already tried once as Angelus and was unsuccessful. His only hope was to let himself go into his true form which he hated. Angelus didn't want to admit it, even to himself, but he thought of Angels looks as his own and had become proud of his looks. His own true form was monstrous looking but he had to let that form come through so that he could use all of his strength.
All eyes were on Angelus as he closed his eyes and let his true form come through. Dr. Martin saw what was happening and she quickly picked up the three containers and backed up. Connor, Wesley, Gunn, Spike, Giles, Richards and Hunter all stepped forward.
Angelus was now completely changed into his true form. They watched in horror as the once familiar form of Angel changed into a powerful looking monster. His arms and shoulders were now twice their normal size. His skin had become a sickly looking, dark gray color. The texture of his skin was now leathery looking with patches of hair all over his body. His feet took on a rough lizard like appearance with long claws that could gouge out enemies internal organs with one swipe. His leg muscles were now thick cords that could give him what ever power he needed to run fast or jump great distances. His face no longer had even a trace of Angel on it. Only his eyes showed the sadness of the soul that was trapped inside this monstrosity. His mouth showed the elongated sharp eye teeth of the Vampire as saliva constantly dripped from the corners of his mouth.
Angelus started to use all of the power contained in his muscles. He pulled at the chains with his powerful shoulder and arm muscles. Connor and Gunn went to one side and watched for any weakness in the chain links. Spike and Hunter went to the other side and did the same. Everyone could hear the links start to rub against each other. They could hear the stress that was being put onto the thick steel chain links. Since there was no way that Angelus's feet could push against anything he couldn't get the full benefit of his leg and arm muscles. All he could do is pull his arms forward. He roared in frustration. Angel and his friends had once again outsmarted him. If he had been allowed to touch the floor he would have been able to break the chains, but since he was several inches off of the floor his leg muscles were impotent.
For the next hour Angelus strained at the chains. The cuffs that were on his wrists were preventing him from harming himself but in turn they made it a little easier to pull at the chains. Dr. Martin finally came forward.
"Are you done?" Angelus was breathing hard and sweat from his body was falling on the floor below him. "Yes, I'm done." "Are you ready to play the game?" "No, I will do as you say and obey Angel's Master." Angelus said as he hung limply from the chains. As he spoke he slowly changed back into Angel again and his head hung low as he refused to look at Dr. Martin and admit even further to his defeat.
"Why don't you want to play the game Angelus?" Dr. Martin asked as she took her place at the table again. She had re-buttoned her blouse again and tucked it in but she left her hair hanging.
"I didn't want to take my chances with my Master. With you at least I know that I will continue. I know that you won't ever give me the chance to control anyone ever again as I did Angel but I believe you will let me continue in some capacity."
"I want you to understand Angelus that if you should ever try to go back on your word I will still have the blessed host. Don't try to destroy it because it is easy to get another one. Angelus I want you to understand that you cannot continue to torture Angel as you have been doing lately. His mind won't take it. If you do it too much his mind will break and you will be stuck in the body of a vegetable. Do you understand?" "Yes, I'll let up on him. I must ask for one thing in return though."
"If it's in my power to give it then I will." "I can't take him going into the sun for to long of a time. I will burn and it will show up on his skin as you saw when he first went into the sun. I cannot change this as it is a part of my nature. He can continue to expose his skin to the sun a little at a time but he will eventually reach a time where he can't go any further."
"Okay Angelus I hope that this will be the last time that I have to do this. I assure you that I will be very displeased with you if you should make life hard on Angel again." Dr. Martin carefully picked up each of the containers holding the small circular pieces of bread. She turned back toward Angelus again.
"Good bye Angelus." Angelus closed his eyes then and was silent.
"Can you sense his presence any longer Cordelia?" Dr. Martin asked.
Cordelia stood up and went to Angel. She put her hands on his face and kissed him. When she pulled back she said "Angelus is gone. He is back in his cage where he belongs."
"Gunn and Spike you can let Angel down now." Dr. Martin said as she turned back to Fr. Barris and gave him the three small containers to hold. She looked up at him and could see that his skin was as white as a ghosts.
"Fr. Barris are you alright?" She could see his hand shaking as she gave him the containers. "YYYesss, I'm alright. I don't think that I have ever been so scared in all my life. If you don't mind Sister I think I will go upstairs and sit down for awhile." "Go ahead Father; I think the coffee maker is ready to be started. Why don't you just flip the start switch and we will be up in a few minutes. Fr. Barris, if you would like something stronger Angel keeps a bottle of Jack Daniels in the left bottom drawer of his desk." Everyone watched him go up the stairs. Dr. Martin laughed when she heard the basement door close again. "He was so unnerved that he called me Sister. Poor Fr. Barris."
The men started to take down Angel as he started to wake up. As he went down on the floor and his arms were allowed to go down to his sides he cried out in pain.
"Ahhhh! My arm, my arm." Hunter went to him and kneeled on the floor while she checked his arm. "It came out of the socket when Angelus tried to break loose. Let me reset it before you do anything else." She pulled at it this way then that way and before Angel knew it his arm went back into place. "How does it feel now?" Hunter asked. The color was starting to come back into Angels face. "Better thank you. If someone would take these chains off I'll be able to get up with some assistance."
Gunn and Spike undid the chains on his arms and legs then helped him to stand up. As soon as he tried standing on his own he went down. Everyone came over and looked at him and he looked up at everyone. "I think I'll sleep right here tonight." Dr. Martin came over to him. "Don't you think your going to get rather cold lying on that cold cement?"
"Not if the guys bring me a mattress. Besides I think we need to be careful. Mom, I wish there was a way that we could test Angelus to see if he was lying." "There is no way Angel that I can think of right now. But I do have an idea for a stronger lock on the door of the cage that he is in." Dr. Martin reached into her deep pocket and pulled out a small box. She opened it and pulled out a silver Cross. In the middle was a tiny glass ball. She unclasped the necklace and put it around Angel's neck. When she was done he looked at it. "What's in the glass ball?" "It's a tiny piece of The Blessed Sacrament. It's the new lock that goes on the gate that keeps Angelus locked in his cage. St. Michael himself told me to have this made." "I guess that's just as good as having Christ standing guard." Angel said as he put his hand around it.
Angel reached up for someone to help him. Spike pulled him up and Gunn pulled Angels left arm around his neck and then put his arm around his waist. They all made their way up the stairs then and to their bedrooms. Willow took the spell off of Angel and Cordelia's room. Wesley and Spike went in to get their wives.
Angel greeted the girls then he sat down on the edge of the bed next to Buffy. He looked at her stomach. "It's true what Spike said, you do look like you swallowed a basketball." "Is everything with Angelus finished?" "Yes he is back in his cage under a new lock and key." Angel pulled his cross out to show her. "See, Mom gave this to me. In the middle is a tiny glass ball and inside is a tiny piece of The Blessed Sacrament. St. Michael told her to have it made. It's the new lock on the gate of the cage where Angelus is enclosed in." Buffy looked real close at the crucifix. "How is your back feeling?" Angel asked. "It's a little better now that I've had time to rest it. I think it's time that Fred and I gave you back your bed so that you can get some well earned sleep." Buffy threw the covers off and Angel helped her up. Wesley went over to the other side of the bed and helped Fred up.
Everyone else had gone to their own rooms already. When they were all out Cordelia closed the door and went into the bathroom. Angel took the rest of his clothes off and went to check on Kathleen. He bent over the crib rail and just stared at her. "My beautiful baby girl, sometimes you pull so hard on my heart strings that it hurts. Angel put his hand on his daughters head. He closed his eyes and concentrated. When he opened them again and pulled his hand away he could feel the bound in place once again. Without opening her eyes, in her mind Kathleen said "Hi Daddy, I missed you." Kathleen started to suck on her fingers again. "Hi my beautiful Kathleen I missed you too." Angel stood up again he could hear Cordelia starting the bath water. He turned the kitchen light off and left the bed night stand on then went to join Cordelia.
He knocked on the door. "Are you ready for me to join you?" "Yes come on in." Angel opened the door and left it open so they could listen for Kathleen. "Is it nice and warm?" "It's just right. Get in so I can help you bath I know you must be sore all over. Does you arm still hurt?" "No I can barely feel it now." Angel got into the whirlpool bath slowly. He could feel temperature variations more and more now. The warm water felt so good on his sore muscles. He dunked his head under the water so that Cordelia could wash his hair. Dr. Martin had given Cordelia a box of rubber gloves to wear on her bandaged hand. She had added a rubber band at her wrist to keep the water from going in.When he came up she put a small amount of shampoo on his hair and proceeded to wash it. When she was done helping him to bathe himself she got in and sat between his legs. Her hair was so long now that it hung below her shoulders. After she dunked her head below the water he put some of her shampoo on her and carefully washed her hair. After he was done she finished bathing herself then she turned on the whirlpool and they just sat and let the jets of water go over them.
After 20 minutes Cordelia heard Angel snoring so she shut off the whirlpool jets and got out of the water and dried herself off. "Angel, Angel, wake up." Angel jerked awake and got out of the whirlpool. Cordelia dried him off then let the whirlpool empty. Angel was already walking to the bed. He sat down on his side of the bed. He was so tired that he was sleeping sitting up. Cordelia came over to him and woke him up again. "Angel, stand up so I can pull the covers down." He woke up just long enough to stand up. As soon as Cordelia pulled the covers down he laid down and pulled his legs under the covers while she covered him again. She checked on her daughter then went to bed herself. It had been a long day and she went to sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
The next morning Angel woke up and looked around the room as though he wasn't sure where he was. He turned his head and saw Cordelia. He stared at her for a long time. Angel did something then that he would repeat over a million times before he died. He reached for his crucifix and held onto it for a moment. He searched his mind to make sure that Angelus was still in his cage. He saw him still there and he let go of the crucifix. He felt safe in doing what he wanted to do now. He reached over and kissed his wife to wake her up. "Wake up my lovely wife." Cordelia opened her eyes and started to reach for him. Angel put his hand up and stopped her. "Be still for just a moment." Cordelia did as he said. Angel put his hand on the side of her head. He closed his eyes and concentrated. When he was done he said "Reach out for me with your mind Cordelia." Cordelia closed her eyes and reached out for him. In her mind she saw his face and carefully reached out to him and touched him. This time he didn't pull away he just smiled. She tried to see if she could find Kathleen also. She called to her and Kathleen came to her also. In Cordelia, Angel, and Kathleen's mind they touched each other. Cordelia opened her eyes. The tears were flowing freely.
They didn't say anything to each other. Cordelia just hugged him as tight as she could. She reached for the Kleenex to blow her nose and wipe the tears away. "Let me get up for a second Angel. I have to go to the bathroom." She rolled off of the bed and ran to the bathroom. After a few minutes she came out and went to the crib to get Kathleen. "Good morning my precious." Kathleen smiled at her mother and reached for her. Cordelia quickly cleaned her up and brought her to the bed. Kathleen had a smile for everyone today. Her Daddy was back with her and her world was complete again.
Kathleen crawled over to Angel and got up on her knees. She put her hands on his face and gave him a big kiss. "Daddy back now." "Yes, Daddy is back in Kathleen's head again." Cordelia picked her daughter off of her Daddies chest where she was sitting. "Come here my little one. Mommy didn't nurse you last night and her two milk jugs are full and hurting." Cordelia put her to her left breast and Kathleen started nursing eagerly. Angel put his mouth to her right breast to see what Kathleen would do. She was so happy to have her Daddy back with her that she didn't push him away which is what she usually did. As Angel continued to suckle Kathleen just reached out and played with his hair.
When Kathleen was done Cordelia gave her to Angel to burp. Kathleen was wide awake and wanted to play. Angel put her on the floor and she started to crawl towards the door. Cordelia quickly wrote a note and taped it to her back. She put her robe on then opened the door. "Go see Grandma Kathleen, go see Grandma." Kathleen made tracks for Grandma and Grandpa's door. When she got there she hit the door repeatedly. "Gama, Gama, Gama." Kathleen hit the door again. Cordelia saw the door open and Giles picked her up. He stepped out into the hallway to see if someone was watching her. When he saw Cordelia he smiled and whispered a good morning. She told him to look at her back. Giles turned Kathleen around and saw the note. 'Keep her with you for awhile so her Daddy and I can have some time for each other.' Giles looked back at her and gave her a thumbs up. He stepped back into his room and closed the door. Cordelia closed the door and removed her robe then went back to Angel.
She went to his side of the bed and started kissing him. She took his arms from around her and pushed them up and over his head. "Leave them there and don't move no matter what happens." "Yes dear, whatever you say dear." Cordelia and Angel reconfirmed their love for each other over the next hour. They had been apart for the first time for more than 24 hours so they took their time in reconfirming their possession of each other. When they were done they fell asleep in each others arms.
After an hours sleep they heard a soft pounding at the door towards the bottom. Angel smelled the air to see who it was. It was Kathleen. He got up and put his bath robe on. He got on the floor and said "Who's there." Then he heard a soft reply of "Me." "Who's Me?" "Me, Kateen." Angel couldn't help but laugh. He reached up and opened the door just a little so that his face could be seen. "Who is Kateen?" "Daddy it's me." She reached up and grabbed her Daddy's nose. Her little fingernails dug into his nose. "Oww, you hurt Daddy." Angel stood up and opened the door all of the way and reached down and picked up his daughter.
While rubbing his nose he went back to the bed and sat down. Since the door was still open a little Toby pushed his nose in and opened it wider then came galloping in to see what happened to his playmate. Cordelia took Kathleen from her Daddy. "Did you hurt Daddies nose?" "No." "But Daddy said you did." Kathleen put her head down and started crying. "Why are you crying?" "I hurt Daddy now he won't love me." "That's okay baby it's not that bad and Daddy will always love you no matter what you do. Daddy was just pretending, see Daddy's nose is all better." He showed her his nose. "Why don't you kiss it to make it better like Mommy does your hurts?" Cordelia told her as she wiped away the very real tears. Kathleen reached for Angels face and kissed his nose. "All better Daddy. I sorry." "And Daddy is sorry for teasing you." Angel kissed her nose also. He picked her up then and put her down on the floor.
"Your Mommy tells me you can walk now." In response Kathleen grabbed onto Toby and pulled herself up. Toby started to walk slowly and Kathleen walked next to him. True it was an awkward walk but a walk none the less.
Angel stood up all of a sudden. "Come on Cordelia lets get dressed. Spike and Buffy need us." Angel closed the door and threw on some clothes while Cordelia did the same. Cordelia picked Kathleen up and they all went running to Spike and Buffy's room. Angel knocked on the door. Spike called out. "Come in Angel." Angel opened the door. He could see that Buffy was in the middle of a contraction. "Don't hold her hands she'll break yours." Spike showed him his black and blue hand. Spike started to pick up on Buffy's contraction and he fell to the floor as he doubled over in pain. When it was over he laid on the floor breathing heavily.
"How far apart are the contractions Buffy?" Cordelia asked as she put Kathleen on the bed. Angel helped Spike to get up and guided him over to the bed. When she got her breathing under control Buffy answered her. "That's only the second one. The first was at 7:15." "I don't think that was the first Pet. I think you had the first one at 3 o'clock." "How do you know when I don't?" "Because I had my arm around you and I woke up when you started to squeeze my hand. You were still sleeping when you were done with it. You were breathing hard but you just rolled over and mumbled something about a demon you just killed. I asked you if the demon hurt you and you said yes that he had kicked you in the stomach but you were okay now." "Is that when I hurt your hand?" "Yeah." Buffy reached for his hand and kissed it. "I'm sorry sweetheart." Kathleen crawled over to Spike and kissed his hand too. "All better now?" Kathleen asked. "Sure is. Look I can move it now." Spike moved his hand a little to show that it was all better even though it was throbbing.
"Has Mom seen you yet?" "No would you get her. Isn't Mike here though? Would you get him instead please?" Cordelia left and went to Hunter and Mike's room and knocked on the door. She didn't receive an answer so she knocked again. When she didn't receive an answer she opened the door carefully. The bed was already made and she didn't hear anything in the bathroom so she closed the door and made her way downstairs. She found everyone downstairs having breakfast. She called Mike from the stairs. "Mike Buffy has started her labor. The contractions are 2 hours apart but I think she is advancing pretty fast." "Tell Spike to bring her down to the clinic." Cordelia ran back upstairs while Mike ate the last of his breakfast and grabbed his coffee cup and went over to the clinic.
Cordelia told Angel to bring Buffy downstairs. Angel picked Buffy up and she put her arms around his neck as he carried her downstairs. Cordelia picked up Kathleen and followed Angel and Spike downstairs. Instead of going to the clinic though she went to the kitchen to make breakfast for her little family. Angel came out and over to the kitchen to help his wife make breakfast for them. "It looks like someone made pancakes for everyone. Does that sound good to you or would you like some meat and eggs? I am hungry so how about a rare piece of meat and I'll make some toast for myself. How about you?"
"I think I'll have a couple of soft boiled eggs and toast. I'll take care of your meat and the soft boiled eggs if you get the coffee and toast." "What about Kathleen?" "I'll make a scrambled egg for her and take some of your meat and grind it up so that she can eat it. She can put some of those teeth she has been using to chew on me into chewing some food. By the end of this week, come hell or high water, she is going to be weaned." Angel laughed to himself. He was thinking of where he could get the T-shirt made that he said he was going to get when she weaned Kathleen.
They were done making their breakfast so they went over to the dinning room. Angel pulled over Kathleen's highchair to the table. Cordelia put her plate of food in front of Kathleen. "Angel, see if you can teach her how to feed herself?" Angel picked up the little baby spoon and put it into his daughters hand and closed her fingers around the handle. He showed her how to pick up the food and put it into her mouth. Then he started to eat his own food. All the time he was doing this he was talking to her, both by words and giving her pictures in her mind. Then he started eating his own food again. Kathleen looked at her Daddy and Mommy feeding themselves. She looked at the spoon and food and looked at Daddy's plate and glass of what she knew was blood. She pointed to his plate. "Kateen wants some of Daddies." "What do you want? Do you want this?" Angel pointed to his glass of blood. "No Daddy." "Take some of the juice from the meat and pour it onto her meat and see if that's what she wants." Angel did as Cordelia said. He took his spoon and pressed down on the meat to make more juice come out then he spooned some of it on Kathleen's meat. Then they both watched to see what she would do. Angel put the picture in her mind again of picking up the spoon and feeding herself.
Kathleen awkwardly put the spoon into the food and scooped some up. She opened her mouth as wide as she could and put the food in her mouth. She didn't have much more than a trace of food on the spoon but it was a start. She continued to struggle with her new found skill. Cordelia gave her, her baby cup that had milk in it. At first she held it for her then Kathleen grabbed it and pushed her mother's hands away. "Well, Independence Day is approaching fast." Cordelia said.
As they were finishing their breakfast everyone started coming out of the clinic. Buffy came walking out while holding onto Spikes arm. They noticed that his hand was bandaged now.
"So when can we expect the new addition to make her first appearance?" Angel asked as he too a sip at his coffee. Dr. Martin, Hunter and Mike joined them at the table and Cordelia brought in a carafe of fresh coffee and put it at there end of the table.
"She has a ways to go. She's only open about 2 centimeters. I have a few patients to see today so I am going to be leaving in a few minutes. My last patient is at 1 this afternoon and I'll be back after I'm done with her. Spike, if her contractions start getting closer check her in 3 hours to see how she is doing and I'll call you."
All of a sudden everyone's attention went to Kathleen. "What in heavens name happened to your daughter?" Dr. Martin asked. Kathleen had food all over herself, on the highchair and if they could have seen it before they would have seen it on the floor also. "We tried an experiment to see if the Princes could feed herself." Cordelia answered. "Did she get any inside of her?" "Not much but I helped with every other spoonful." Angel said.
"Here she is not even one year old and she is starting to walk, talk, and feed herself. We're going to have to test her intelligence level as soon as possible. It may not be only your interference in her mind Angel your daughter could have a very high IQ." Dr. Martin said as she went down to the other end of the table and picked up her grand daughter. "How about coming down to sit with Grandma and Grandpa while your Mommy cleans up the disaster area?" Kathleen reached up for her Grandmother when she reached for her.
Wesley and Fred came down in the elevator at that time and came over to the table. When Fred saw Dr. Martin and Dr. Thompson looking at her she said "I'm just getting up for 30 minutes. I'm going to forget how to walk if I don't get up once in awhile." Neither Doctor said anything then.
"What else did you do today to show that you're a miracle baby?" "Daddy back." Kathleen said as she pointed to her head. "He is? When did that happen?" "I woke up and Daddy was back." She pointed to her head again. "Well what did you do then?" Dr. Martin was testing Kathleen. "Mommy gave me milk." Kathleen pointed to her grandmothers left breast. "And Mommy gave Daddy milk here." She pointed to her grandmother's right breast. "Kateen was a good girl cause I shared with Daddy." All eyes turned towards Angel while his face turned red and he put his head down on the table to hide his embarrassment. "Did you do that because you love your Daddy and because he was back in here?" Dr. Martin pointed to her head and Kathleen nodded her head. "Yes Kateen love Daddy."
Angel looked at Cordelia. "I think we are going to have to be more careful when our daughter is around. She'll be telling everyone what we do all of the time. Who knows what she will say when she starts noticing the difference between Mommy and Daddy."
"I really don't think that well have to worry about that for a while yet." Cordelia patted his hand as she sat down after cleaning up the last of the food from the high chair.
"Do you read to her at all?" Dr. Martin asked Angel and Cordelia. "No not yet. I guess we better start though after all we do have all of those children's books that I bought." "Well I think that it's time for our little possible genius to go upstairs and take a nap." Cordelia picked her up from her Grandmother and started walking to the stairs when she noticed Buffy and Spike on the couch. Spike was sitting and had Buffy's head in his lap.
"How are you two doing, any more contractions?" Cordelia asked as she sat on the coffee table in front of them. "We are doing okay for now and I haven't had another contraction." "Has your water broken yet?" "No not yet." Buffy answered.
"Aunt Buffy sick Mommy?" "No sweetheart, Aunt Buffy's baby wants to come out now." Kathleen started to yawn and rub her eyes then. She wasn't interested anymore so she laid her head down on her mothers shoulder. "Well I guess that's that for attention span." Cordelia stood up then and took her daughter to her crib for her nap. She was getting pretty good at doing just about everything with her hand all bandaged up but when it came to cleaning her daughter after nuclear waste had been expelled she had to call on someone else. She went to the stairs and called Angel. "Angel, come and help me please." As he passed by his mother she reached out for his arm. When he stopped and looked at her she asked him "Has Angelus been quiet and keeping to his promise?" Angel reached up and put his hand around his cross and bent down. "Yes, he has calmed down a lot. Thank you." He kissed his mother then went upstairs.
Dr. Thompson excused himself then to go to the office. He gave Hunter a kiss on the cheek and left. "How has he been since last night Hunter?" "You mean since he saw what Angelus really looks like." "Yes, has he touched you at all since last night?" "No." "Do you mind if I talk to him about it?" "No please don't say anything. I want to give him some more time to digest what he saw." Hunter said as she bent her head down and covered her face with one hand. Dr. Martin got up and went over to Hunter and took her hand. Hunter got up and followed Mary into Angel's office. When they were inside Dr. Martin closed the door and shade then went to Hunter and held her as she cried her eyes out. After about 15 minutes her crying slowed down.
"I don't know what to do Mary. I love him so much that I wanted to grow old with him and finally die. I'm so tired of living Mary. I'm tired of being lonely; I'm tired of loving someone then having to leave them when they find out what I am. I never asked for this Mary when I was young all I wanted was to marry, have a family, and take care of my husband. I was hoping and praying that Mike would be the one that I could be with. Mary please help me I am so lost now that I don't want to take my next breath. Help me God, please God help me." Hunter was crying again so hard that her whole body was shaking and for a moment Mary thought she was having convulsions. She rocked Hunter back and forth as she held onto her. She couldn't do anything for her, but she could hold her while her heart broke.
Unknown to Dr. Martin and Hunter Angel was outside of the door and listening. He was leaning against the door frame with his hands on each side. Cordelia came up behind him after Kathleen had fallen asleep. She left her daughter in her crib with Toby laying in front of it and guarding his playmate.
"What's happening?" "Mom is in there with Hunter. She's crying her eyes out. Apparently Mike didn't like what he saw when Angelus showed his true form and hasn't shown her any affection since. She thinks she's lost him now." Angel looked past Cordelia and saw that Buffy and Spike were sleeping. He took her hand and pulled her into Wesley's office and closed the door when they were both in.
"Cordelia I never asked you how you felt about what Angelus really looks like in his true form. How do you feel about the fact that this is the true form of the demon that I carry with me?"
Cordelia looked deep into Angels eyes and she put her hands on each side of his face and gave him a gentle kiss. "Oh Angel, my dear sweet Angel I never see you and Angelus as one in the same. You are two entirely different beings. I don't know how to explain it but when Angelus takes over it's like what they say of Elvis. 'ANGEL HAS LEFT THE BUILDING'. It was the same thing last night. My beautiful, handsome, sweet husband I think I showed you how much I love you this morning. What do you want me to do, take it all back just so I could give it to you again?" Angel grabbed her and they lay back on the couch. "Yes I want you to take it all back and give it to me again then take it back and give it again." He kissed her passionately. When they finally parted he said "I am going to build a chapel in one of the rooms upstairs just so that I can go in there every day and give thanks to God that he gave you to me." "And I am going to build a shrine to you and I am going to call it "Angel, the best lover in the world." I'm going to charge $20 dollars to anyone that wants to come in and pray to you to make their husbands the second best lovers in the world. The line will be so long that it will go through out Los Angeles and we will be rich beyond our wildest dreams." "What an imagination." Angel said as he kissed her on the nose. They heard Spike call out for Dr. Martin so they jumped up and went out to see what was wrong.
"What's wrong?" Cordelia asked. "It's Buffy her water broke." Cordelia went to Buffy. "I'm sorry Cordelia I made a mess of your couch and rug." Buffy stood up with Spikes help. "You better go up stairs and clean up Buffy. This will be the last chance you get before you deliver. Don't worry about this I'll clean it up." Dr. Martin came out alone a few minutes later. Angel and Cordelia could see that her eyes were all red and puffy from crying.
"How is she?" Angel asked. "You heard her?" "Yeah. It made me think of asking Cordelia how she felt." "I'm sure she gave you a positive reply. Cordelia would you do me a big favor and go to Mikes office it's almost 12:30 and I would like you to talk to him about how he feels about Hunter now. Explain to him how you feel about Angel and how you perceive Angelus and Angel. Hunter is sleeping right now but she is feeling really down. She is talking about nothing but her desire to die. Mike hasn't physically touched her, and I don't mean sexually, ever since he saw Angelus' true form. We need to keep an eye on her Angel. Once Buffy gets going I'll be able to keep Hunter busy."
"I'll leave now and go and see Mike. I'm going to pick up a playpen for Kathleen also, if Buffy is coming along fast I'll be coming back right away." Cordelia gave Angel a kiss and left.
Dr. Martin and Angel finished cleaning up the couch and floor where Buffy's water had broke. They both stayed in the Lobby where they could keep an eye on Hunter. Two hours after they had gone up stairs they heard Spike coming down the elevator with Buffy. She was holding onto him as she walked.
"How is our soon to be Momma doing?" Dr. Martin asked Spike. "Her contractions have stepped up a little. We've been using one of Connor's baseball bats for her to hold onto but she just broke it with the last one. We're going to need a hard pipe or something for her to hold onto Angel." Spike said as he guided Buffy over to the clinic.
"I think we have something downstairs that we can use. I'll be back in a second." Angel ran down to the basement and grabbed an appropriate socket and wrench. He pulled over a ladder and placed it under the wood beam that held the pipe they used to do pull ups when they were exercising. He had the pipe down in a few minutes then ran back upstairs. He made it just in time for Buffy's next contraction. "Try this Spike." Spike took the pipe from Angel and gave it to Buffy to hold onto while he hung onto it at the same time.
"How far apart are her contractions now?" Dr. Martin asked after the contraction was done for both. Like Angel did Spike would experience the contraction a few seconds after Buffy would start having one. Spike looked at his watch and said "There coming every 45 minutes now." Spike was still breathing hard as he answered. Angel brought a chair over for him. He noticed how Spike seemed to be whiter than usual so he went over to the kitchen to warm up some blood for him. When it was done he took it back to the clinic and gave it to Spike. Spike was too tired to come up with the usual jibes so he just took the glass and said "Thanks, I need this."
"How about you Buffy, would you like something to drink?" Angel asked. "How about a regular Pepsi?" "Sure, I think I can find one in Moms secret stash in her drug refrigerator." "That isn't my secret stash. I just keep a few cans in there for Fred and I when were working. Why don't you keep yourself out of trouble and go and get your daughter. Maybe you can leave her with Wesley and Fred for today." Angel left to go upstairs and said "Yes Mother." She threw a wash rag at him that she was using to wipe down Buffy's face. "Get out of here Brat." She laughed as she threw it at him.
"He used to make me so mad when he would do things like that." Buffy said. "What do you mean?" Dr. Martin asked as she pulled over a chair. "He used to come into my bedroom by jumping up to the porch roof. If I wasn't there he would look around my room. I guess it was the Investigator in him coming out, but I told him he was nosy. Anyway he would find things like a bag of potato chips or an empty container of ice cream. When my mother would ask me about it I couldn't blame it on Dawn because he would look at me and smile. You know that smirk kind of smile he can give you. I was forced to tell the truth then. I would always get back at him though." Buffy smiled a wicked little smile. Dr. Martin gave an involuntary shutter.
"How would you get back at him?" Buffy smiled at Dr. Martin again and signaled for her to come closer. She whispered into her ear. "The next time we would practice fighting I would kind of accidentally kick him in the gonads. Not very hard mind you, just hard enough." "I heard that." Spike said. "What a wicked little girl you were." Spike laughed when he said that. "I guess that's why I fell in love with you."
Spike was putting a rubber glove on to check Buffy to see if her cervix had opened any further as Mike had told him. "Put your feet in the stirrups Buffy so I can check you." Spike helped her to put her feet in the stirrups then checked to see if she had opened any further.
"What's the verdict Doc?" Dr. Martin asked when Spike was done. "She's about 4 cm. now. Not quite 4 but close. If Mike calls let him know okay. If you keep this up Buffy we should have her here by midnight at least." Spike took her feet out of the stirrups and put the stirrups down. He went to the head of the bed and pulled Buffy up so that she would be more comfortable. "Would you like to get down and walk around a little?" Dr. Martin asked Buffy. "Yeah, I think that would be a good idea." Buffy answered.
"Wait a minute Buffy while I take this off." Spike started to unravel the bandage on his hand that Buffy had broken earlier. As he took everything off he carefully flexed his fingers then he reached for Buffy and helped her get down off of the bed.
"It's all healed already?" Dr. Martin asked. "Yeah it's good as new." "Poor Angel, he'll never heal that fast again unless he is going into a fight." Dr. Martin said. While Spike walked with Buffy around the lobby Dr. Martin cleaned up the area then went upstairs to check on Wesley and Fred.
The door was open so she went in. "How are we doing up here?" "I was just getting Kathleen settled in with them." Angel said. He looked at Wesley "No wonder women need so many bags when they travel. They start practicing when they're babies." Angel looked around at all of the stuff Fred had told him to bring over from his suite.
"Do you need anything from the kitchen Fred?" "No not right now anyway. How is Buffy doing?" "She is now at almost 4 centimeters so she is coming along pretty fast." Dr. Martin put her hand to her mouth all of a sudden. "Oh my goodness, I forgot about Hunter. I'll see you two later." Both Dr. Martin and Angel went running down stairs. Angel got their first of course. He stopped at the door and listened. He could hear Hunters heart still beating. He had to listen for a long time since she was sleeping but he got lucky and happened to start listening just as it beat. He couldn't sense anything as being wrong.
Angel turned around and saw his mother waiting for a report. He came over to her. "She is still sleeping." Dr. Martin let out a loud breath. "We're terrible babysitters." She smiled as she said this. Angel put his arm around his mother. "She'll be okay Mom. Have a little faith. Cordelia is going to talk to Mike and any minute now they are going to be walking through that door." He gave her a kiss then went out to the patio in the back. When she turned around to look for Spike and Buffy she couldn't see them. She went into the clinic and found Buffy on the bed again and Spike on the floor. He had blood slowly dripping from his nose and one ear. Buffy was breathing hard after going through another contraction. Dr. Martin went to Angel's office and gently shook Hunter's shoulder. "Hunter wake up, I need your help." Hunter rubbed her eyes and followed Dr. Martin.
Angel heard the commotion and went back into the hotel and the clinic.
When Hunter and Dr. Martin went into the clinic Hunter saw Spike on the floor so she went to him first. When Angel came in he saw Hunter with Spike on the floor and Dr. Martin on the phone. She hung up then called another number. When she was done with the second call she came over to Spike. He was still unconscious.
"Angel, would you put him on the other table please?" Angel picked Spike up and put him on the operating table. He backed up then and let Hunter check him. Angel closed his eyes and called out to Spike through the link they shared. Spike started to open his eyes. He looked around and sat up a little too fast. He laid back down when his head started pounding.
"Spike you have to break the link you have with Buffy or your going to end up a vegetable." Spike looked at Hunter then remembered what she had told everyone when Angel had gone through the same thing. He finally nodded at her. He closed his eyes and concentrated and severed the link with Buffy. Hunter helped him to sit up and she checked him for his neurological condition and gave an okay. "Is your head hurting?" Hunter asked. "Yeah, in fact it's pounding." Hunter went over to the locked medicine cabinet and took out some regular aspirin and a can of Pepsi out of the refrigerator then gave them to Spike.
"I want you to sit here for at least 5 minutes okay?" "Okay." Spike answered. Hunter went over to Buffy then. "How are we doing Buffy?" "Not too good. Every time I have a contraction I feel as if I am hurting my baby. I am worried that my strength as a slayer is killing my baby. I am worried that when I have to push that I'll kill her when I have to push her out." Buffy started crying then. Hunter picked her up so that she could sit up and hugged her. "That won't happen Buffy. Mike, Dr. Martin and I won't let that happen. Do you believe me?" Buffy looked at her and Dr. Martin. Then she looked back at Hunter. She nodded. "Yes I believe you." "Okay I want you to lie down and close your eyes and rest while you can." Hunter pushed the hair out of Buffy's eyes and continued to gently run her finger back and forth over her forehead. It only took a few minutes before she was sleeping.
Hunter turned to Dr. Martin when she saw that Buffy was sleeping. "Have you called Giles and Mike?" "Yes they're on their way. What do you think? Do you think what she is afraid of happening could happen?" Hunter walked back and forth in the clinic with her hand to her head. She stopped in front of Dr. Martin. "I don't know Mary. I suppose that it's possible but I don't know for sure. I've never taken care of a Slayer. We just have to wait for Mike to get here. I think though that we had better be prepared for a Cesarean. I am going to go upstairs and ask Wesley if there is anything on record of a Slayer having a baby. I know that there is one but I need to know if there are any records on her delivery or if she had any problems associated with her being a Slayer." Hunter left then to go and talk to Wesley.
When Hunter left Spike went to Dr. Martin. "Dr. Martin I want you to tell me, in your heart, do you feel that everything will be okay and that Buffy and our baby, this baby, will survive?" Dr. Martin looked at Spike and Angel. "Yes Spike I do believe that everything will be okay and Buffy and this baby will survive. I have been told that there will be no deaths in our family for the next twenty years. Their will be a lot of injuries and some will come very close to death but no one will die. I have St. Michaels word on this." Spike hugged her then and wiped the solitary blood red tear away. He then went to Buffy and brought a chair over so that he could sit and hold her hand.
Hunter came back and told everyone that Wesley said that there are no records of a Slayer delivering a baby. "He said that the Chronicles tell of a Slayer having a baby but there are no references to the medical records concerning her delivery."
"Well I guess all we can do is wait for Mike to come back since he is the expert. I have all of the instruments sterilizing right now just in case we have to perform an emergency Caesarian."
Mike and Cordelia came through the clinic doors 30 minutes later. Mike came over to Dr. Martin and Hunter. "How is she doing?" "We've run into a possible complication. Buffy is afraid that because of her Slayer strength she might hurt or even kill her baby when we tell her to push. Because of this, and only if you decide to go this way, I've started to sterilize my instruments for an emergency Caesarian." Dr. Martin said. Mike wouldn't look directly at Hunter. "
Buffy started tightening up again. Spike grabbed the pipe that Angel had given him. Cordelia came over and talked them through it just as Buffy had done for her when she had Kathleen. Buffy was so much stronger than Spike though that she almost pulled him over her. "Were going to have to change things around here guys. Angel the next time that Buffy starts with another contraction you need to hold onto the pipe with her since you're stronger than her." He answered with an okay.
"When was the last one?" Mike asked. Spike looked at his watch. "Still at 45 minutes." "Okay then we have some time Mickey would you come with me please?" Hunter looked at Dr. Martin then followed Mike.
Mike went into Angel's office and closed the door after Hunter came in. He gestured for her to sit down on the couch. When she was seated Mike came closer and got down on one knee. He pulled out a small, black, velvet covered box opened it and showed it to her. When he did he said "Meckalub Hunter will you do me the honor of consenting to be my wife?" Hunter stared at the ring. She looked up at him and said "I thought that you didn't want anything to do with me after seeing what Angel's demon really looked like. I thought you were too disgusted now that you know what my demon may look like and that I could possibly change into something like Angelus." Mike stood up and sat on the couch next to Hunter. He took her small hands in his.
"Meckalub I must tell you that it's true, I was thinking like you said. In fact I couldn't bring myself to even touch you except for a quick kiss on your cheek. A couple of hours ago though Cordelia came to my office and explained to me how she views Angel and Angelus as two entirely different people. She said that they act and look so different that they couldn't possibly be the same person. She said that somehow deep within her soul she gets this signal that tells her that Angel has left and Angelus is standing in his place and all love for the body that is Angel is gone. More than anything else it's the absence of love that signals her. When she told me this I realized that my deep, all consuming love for you will tell me the same thing. When I left your side this morning I actually felt a physical pain Mickey. I don't want to ever feel that pain again. I am going to ask you one more time. Meckalub Hunter will you do me the honor of consenting to be my wife?"
Hunter looked at the ring and pulled it out of the box and gave it to Mike. She extended her hand for him to put the ring on her finger. As he put it on her finger she said "Yes Mike Thompson I will be your wife. To have and to hold until death we two shall part." Mike kissed her then with a long lingering kiss. He stood up then and pulled Hunter into his arms. He held her tightly. "I am sorry for being such a jerk this morning. Please forgive me." "I forgive you. I love you too much not to forgive you. I have to go and tell Dr. Martin the good news." "Why just her, we'll tell everyone the good news."
"Because she is the one that held me as I cried myself to sleep when I thought I had lost you and you owe her a thank you since she is the one that sent Cordelia to talk to you." Mike gave her one last kiss and they went back to the clinic.
Hunter went running to Dr. Martin. She hugged her and whispered in her ear. "Thank you for being with me when I was so down. I might have killed myself if you hadn't been there for me." Hunter pulled away then showed her, her engagement ring. Dr. Martin hugged her and congratulated her then went to Mike and congratulated him with a kiss.
"Thank you Mary for sending Cordelia to me." Mike hugged Cordelia and thanked her again. All the excitement was interrupted by Spikes voice calling out to Angel and Hunter. "Sorry to interrupt you guys but we're trying to have a baby here. We need some assistance." Angel came over to help Buffy with the contraction while Cordelia talked her through it.
"Your daughter doesn't seem to want to wait. That one was 20 minutes since the last one. Let me check you Buffy." Dr. Thompson said. He was checking to see if her cervix had opened more when Giles, Willow, and Tara came in. They waited until Dr. Thompson was done and had put the sheet down over Buffy's legs.
Giles came forward and greeted his wife with a kiss. "How is she doing?" "She's coming along pretty fast. Rupert she is afraid that she might hurt or kill her baby when she is told to push. To your knowledge is a Slayer capable of controlling her internal organs as she does with her external." "No they can't. The extra strength comes from the extra adrenaline that is produced when they need it. The extra adrenaline affects their thought processes and the muscles in their legs and arms only. We know that their power doesn't affect their internal organs because if they did then we wouldn't have to put them through so much exercising. In the beginning when they are fighting demons and Vampires they tend to be very tired afterward. Some beginner Slayers have collapsed from exhaustion. After training has begun they don't have that problem anymore. We train them in aerobic exercises to keep their heart and lungs in top condition so that they will give the muscles in their arms and legs every bit of energy that they need. The extra adrenaline and everything else associated with a Slayer, I guess you could say comes from the magic of a Slayer."
"Thank you Rupert that helps us a lot." Dr. Martin said. She went over to Hunter and Dr. Thompson then and told them everything that Giles had told her.
"That's good to know at least we know now that Buffy won't have to have the Cesarean. She is open about 5 centimeters and she will probably start having the contractions closer now." Mike went over to where everyone else was standing. "Well it looks like she should be delivering within the next two to three hours. She is coming along pretty fast so that time guess is just a guess. Usually women are in labor a lot longer with their first baby but it looks like this one wants out faster. Since I'm not needed right now I think I'll go and get something to eat. I haven't had a chance to have lunch and I'm starving." Dr. Thompson went to the sink and washed his hands then went to the kitchen.
Hunter had gone with him. Angel and Cordelia had gone into the kitchen as well. "How about making me a sandwich too Mike." "Sure Angel. Do you want my Dagwood special or something simple?" Mike asked. "That sounds good. Hunter could I ask a special favor of you?" Angel asked. "That depends on what the favor is. I'm an engaged woman now you know and I have to be careful with my favors now." "Well that's why I'm asking in front of Mike. My muscles have been killing me ever since Angelus took his true form. Can you give me one of your special massages? I thought Cordelia could watch so that she could learn to do it also." "Sure Angel. We can do that tonight after we put Buffy and her new baby to bed for the night. Do you mind Mike?" Hunter asked her new fiancé. "No I don't mind. That is if you don't mind if I watch?" "I guess that's a date then." Angel said. Mike was done with the sandwiches and Hunter and Cordelia were through with theirs. Angel had made a glass of warmed blood for himself, Hunter, and Spike. He took Spikes into him then returned.
They all sat down and started eating their sandwiches before Buffy could have another contraction and Cordelia and Angel would have to leave. "Angel I've noticed how you and Spike take care of each other even though he is constantly trying to get your goat and you act as though he is a pain in your side. Why is that?" Mike smiled as he said this.
"Over the years our relationship has developed into an older and younger brother relationship. Just like regular siblings the older brother takes care of the younger brother but yet finds the younger brother to be a pain in the neck on occasion. The younger brother is always causing problems for the older one just to get his attention so that he'll talk to him and play with him. No matter how much a pain in the ass the younger brother is they still love each other and would go to hell and back for each other. That's the way it is with Spike and me. That relationship has only developed over the last hundred years though. It developed more into what it is now when we lost Darla and Drusilla."
"Yeah, I had something like that with my brother. I haven't seen him though in almost 20 years." "What happened that caused that separation?" Hunter asked. "One of the pranks that he was playing on me got out of hand and I said some things and he said some things and that was it, we haven't seen each other since."
Dr. Martin called out for Angel after a few minutes. He jumped up and went running into the clinic and to Buffy. Cordelia followed him a few seconds later. She could tell that Buffy was fighting the pain instead of working with it. When it was over she was breathing hard and perspiring profusely.
"Would you like some ice Buffy?" Spike asked her as he wiped her face down with a wet cloth. "Yes please. My lips feel so dry." Spike picked up an ice cube and gently ran it over her lips to coat them with the cool water. Then he gave it to her to chew on.
"Has Daddy come back yet?" Buffy asked. "You mean Giles?" "Yes, he's been more of a father to me than my own biological father." Buffy started to get up. "Daddy, where are you?" Dr. Martin came over to the bed. "Buffy he went upstairs to get the camera; he said he wanted to make sure he got the birth of his granddaughter on film. He'll be back in a few minutes. You know us old people don't move as fast as we used to."
Giles returned in a few minutes with the camera. "Giles Buffy has been calling for you." Spike told him. Giles came over to her right away. "I'm here Buffy." Buffy sat up and put her arms around his neck. "It hurts Daddy, it hurts." She started crying then. She lay back down again as another contraction came on. Angel and Spike forced her to let go of Giles before she broke his neck. "I can feel her coming." Buffy said as the contraction stopped. Dr. Thompson went to the other end of the bed and put her feet in the stirrups while Hunter and Dr. Martin put monitors on her to check Buffy's heart rate and blood pressure. They put more tabs on her stomach to monitor the baby's heart rate as well. Dr. Thompson put his hand on Buffy's stomach to see if he could feel where the baby was.
"Scoot down Buffy because you're going to have this baby in the next few minutes." Spike and Angel helped her to slide down the bed a little. "I feel like I need to push." Buffy screamed then. Dr. Martin looked at Angel and Spike, both of them had tears in there eyes.
"Okay Buffy, when you start the next contraction I want you to push." The next one started and Buffy bore down. When it was done she lay back down and was breathing hard. "Give me a good push Buffy with the next one." "I'll try." "I don't want you to try Buffy, I want you to do it."
The next contraction came on and once again Buffy bore down. "I can see the head Buffy your doing great. Buffy didn't get a chance for a breather before the next one came on. "Spike, get over here so you can see your daughter come into the world." Dr. Martin said. The next contraction came on and Spike let go of Buffy so he could see his daughter come into the world. Angel stayed at the other end of the bed with Buffy. As the contraction hit he helped her to sit up while she pushed. "Her heads out Buffy, give me one more good push and we'll get the shoulders out." Dr. Thompson looked at Spike. Come here Spike and help your daughter into the world. Spike sat down at the vacated chair and put his hands on his daughters head. As Buffy gave another push he helped her to get her shoulder out and she easily slipped out the rest of the way. Spike quickly cleared her nose and mouth and his daughter gave a loud cry. Hunter clipped the umbilical cord close to her stomach then handed Spike a pair of scissors. "Here you are Daddy." Spike took the scissors from her and cut the cord. Then he put her on Buffy's stomach so she could see her daughter. "Does she have all of her fingers and toes and in the right place?" "She's perfect Buffy, just like her Mother." Spike said. Dr. Martin came and picked up the baby. "I'll bring her right back right after we clean her up some more and weigh and measure her."
Spike was busy with the rest of the clean up and the afterbirth. When he was done he washed his hands and arms then went back to Buffy. Dr. Martin brought the baby over to the new parents. She placed her in Buffy's arms. Spike kissed his wife and new daughter. Then as Cordelia had done Buffy looked at Spike and handed her daughter over to her father. "Spike I present to you your daughter Joyce Willow Summers. Joyce Willow Summers this is your Daddy." Spike took her from Buffy carefully. He held her in his arms and gave his daughter a kiss then he looked at everyone standing around and held his daughter up for everyone to see. "Everyone, I would like to introduce the newest member of the Scooby side of the family. I give you our daughter Joyce Willow Summers."
TBC………………..