Redemption

by kinoa

This is the final book in the The PTB'S Boss Sends Help trilogy. Angel will become human a little at a time. He is being given time to adjust. The families will increase. Who will die first Angel or Cordelia?

19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Connor ran back into the hotel and to the clinic where everyone seemed to be gathered. As he entered the clinic he saw all of the Doctors surrounding the bed where Angel was laying. He stood to the side along with Wesley.

Connor had filled out quiet a bit since being enrolled in school to study for Law Enforcement. His shoulders were more broad and muscular and his stomach showed a six pack. He kept his hair short like his fathers. On more than one occasion Cordelia and Dr. Martin caught Lou practically drooling when she was watching him without him knowing it. "Down girl down. You're going to become dehydrated if you don't stop drooling over him." Cordelia said. "I know but I just can't help it. I loved him from the moment I saw him but now, my God, he's magnificent looking. Hold me back ladies I think I'm going to lose control any minute now and jump his bones." They all had a good laugh but Cordelia knew how she felt. She had gone through the same thing before Angel and she started sleeping together.

As Connor stood to the side with Wesley they listened to the Doctors talking about Angel. They had stopped the flow of blood and cleaned the wound on his head. His skull had been hit so hard and so many times that each time his skull was struck it drove pieces of bone further into his brain. Mike, Hunter and Spike were all looking to Dr. Martin as to what to do. She was a surgeon they were not.

"Angel needs surgery to get those pieces of bone out of his brain. I am going to contact Dr. Weinstein to see if he can operate and whether he can come out here or if we have to take Angel over there." Dr. Martin told everyone.

"Why can't you do it?" Wesley asked. Dr. Martin came over to Wesley. "Wesley I'm getting to old to perform surgery that takes as long as this one will take. I'm over 60 years old now. My eye sight isn't as good as it used to be and for this type of surgery it just comes down to endurance. It's going to take quiet a few hours to complete." She patted his hand then and went to her desk to make the call.

"Let's go Connor we can't do anything here. We need to find Cordelia and the kids." Hunter overheard them talking and she came over. "I think it was a well planned kidnapping Wesley. Joaquin and I found that the bars on the patio had been sawed through before and the bars put back into place. Angel and I hadn't been gone very long before he returned. So they didn't have enough time to do it then. This whole thing was planned and they knew exactly what was going on in the room when they took the opportunity of Angel's absence. They must have been monitoring the hotel from across the way again. I think I'll buy that property and tear the building down it's been used to monitor this place too often." Hunter told them.

"I'm going to call Mr. Morgan and tell him what happened. I'm hoping that they can help us. This is going to take some planning Wesley." Connor said. "Your thinking this was done by Wolfram & Hart again?" Wesley asked. "Yes, when I went upstairs I picked up the scent of someone that was guarding us when Angel and I were being held by them. Plus remember that Lilah had told him that they were just waiting for the boys to be born. They must have taken Cordelia and Kathleen just because they were there." Connor went to Angel's office and called David's house. David told him that they would be ready by the time they arrived.

Spike and Hunter accompanied the rest to David Morgan's house. A stranger to everyone else but Connor also met them at the gate to David's house. When he drove up to the gate he told the guard at the gate that the other car was with them. They both drove up to the house and Connor waited to introduce the other man until they were asked in.

David and Marissa greeted them. "Mr. Morgan this is Jack Cooper he's an L.A. Police Officer and a friend of mine. Jack and some other men will be helping us." David showed them all to the Dinning room where they could all sit while they decided as to what to do. Connor told Jack to sit by him and when David joined them Connor stood up. "Everyone I would like to introduce Jack Cooper. Jack is a Los Angeles Police Officer. Jack knows all about me and Angel Investigations. He leads a special group of officers that fight the same things that we do. This group is not officially associated with the Police Department but the L.A.P.D. is unofficially aware of them and often supplies them with whatever they need to fight the underworld of demons and vampires that infest Los Angeles.

Jack's group is well aware of Wolfram & Hart and what they really do. We were introduced to each other through Professor Brandon. I've taught this group a few things and they've taught me a few things. I thought it would be a good idea to have them work with us on our current problem because they know what the law will permit and what it won't. I felt that this was important since we will be dealing with one of the biggest law firms in California. I don't want them to have a foot to stand on if they try using the law to get back at us. I have apprised Jack of our situation and he has offered his groups assistance. I've told him all about all of us so he knows everyone by name." Connor introduced each person so that Jack would be able to attach faces with names. Wesley was surprised when Connor referred to Cordelia as his step mother.

When Connor was done introducing everyone Jack brought his attention back to Hunter. He found it hard to believe that such a small, beautiful woman could possibly be so old and have so much power. Most of all Jack thought of the special vampire sex she gave her husband and how lucky he was. Connor saw how Jack was looking at Hunter. Apparently they were good friends because Connor hit Jack on the back of his head. "Owe, what did you do that for?" "She's married." Connor said. "Hey I can still dream can't I?" "Just make sure that it doesn't go any further." Connor sat down again.

"I'm opening it now to any suggestions as to how we can go about retrieving my family." Connor said.

"How do we know for sure that your family is being kept at the downtown main office of Wolfram & Hart?" Jack asked.

"When I went to my father's room I picked up the scent of one of the men that was guarding my father and me when we were being held against our will in the lower levels of the building. My sister is also talking to me by giving me pictures of where they are being kept. She showed me the elevator that took them down and the number on the door where they are being kept."

Can you ask her if her mother and brothers are alright?" Wesley asked.

"No not unless I am right by the building. Kathleen's mind is more powerful then mine is in that respect and that is why she can reach me but I can't reach her."

Connor looked to David Morgan. "David, do you or any of your men have any suggestions as to how we can handle our problem?"

David looked at his men. They all shrugged their shoulders. "We've never dealt with anything like this before. Needless to say Wolfram & Hart is protected from top to bottom with spells, guards and demons that can sense the approach of any Vampire or demon that aren't supposed to be there. I was hoping that Willow or Tara could come up with something."

"Anything that we could do would have to happen fast in order to get past the sentinels." Willow told them. "When we perform magic it gives out a loud noise that every other witch, warlock, vampire or demon can hear."

Everyone was quiet while they were thinking about the problem. While there was a lull in the meeting the servants brought in refreshments and sandwiches. When they all sat down again Wesley spoke up.

"You know we have all been thinking of just forcing our way into the building. Why don't we try taking Dr. Martins approach to the problem?"

"What was that?" Jack asked.

"When they kidnapped Angel, Connor and Kathleen Dr. Martin and her husband just drove over there during the day and asked for Kathleen back. She told Lilah that she couldn't possibly do anything for her and to her surprise Lilah gave her back without any problem. We may find that they really don't want the boys but just wanted to show Angel that they could take his family any time they wanted to."

"You used to have a personal relationship with her didn't you Wesley?" David asked.

"Yes but I don't think that will help any. Lilah knows I'm married to Fred now. I loved Fred even back when I was seeing Lilah and she was very jealous of her."

"Well as I am sure Dr. Martin would say 'It doesn't hurt to try'."

"Okay then first thing tomorrow morning I'll go and ask for them. I have to tell you though that I might have to leave right after. Dr. Martin was trying to talk to the surgeon that operated on Angel before to see if he could come out here or if we had to take Angel over to New Hampshire for him to operate on him." Wesley said.

"Okay then if Lilah doesn't return my family or you're unable to be here to ask for them then we will have to consider taking them forcibly. We can't all go in through the front so I suggest that Jack and his group go through the front as police officers, David's group could come in through the back as delivery men. The Angel Investigation team could come in through the underground tunnel. We'll do this all at night when they have the least amount of guards active." Connor looked at everyone to see if there were any objections or if someone had a better plan. No one said anything so he continued.

"Okay then David can you get a couple of large delivery trucks like a UPS truck and uniforms?" "I don't think that will be a problem."

"As soon as we hear from Wesley I'll let you all know what we are doing."

"What will I say to the receptionist when we go in? I can't say this is a raid." Jack asked.

"Ask for Lilah and tell her the truth. Tell her you've tracked kidnappers of the Martin family to this location." Connor said.

"It would be better if we had a search warrant Connor. We have a judge that works with us. It may take as much as 48 hours to get it though."

"Why so long?" Wesley asked.

"I'm not sure but I think he was going to be taking some time off sometime this week. If he is working well get it tomorrow, if not it may take 48 hours."

Connor looked at everyone at the table. Then he looked directly at Wesley.

"I've talked about this with Dad Wesley. This is one of the reasons I took up law enforcement. I want Angel Investigations to start working within the law whenever possible. I think you would agree that it's the best way to proceed when working with Wolfram & Hart. Apparently Dad's Boss, as he refers to Him, agrees with me and that's why we are going to put someone through law school. Like I said though if we can't get my family back this way then we'll go about it the tried and true way."

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"Mommy, when are we going home?" Kathleen asked her mother as she laid on the king size bed with her and her brothers. "I don't know baby. I know though that your Daddy and brother won't stop trying to get us back."

"I've been talking to Connor Mommy." "You have? What did you tell him and what did he tell you?" "I didn't say anything to him I showed him pictures of the elevator we came down in and the door of our room. I don't think he can talk to me because he hasn't said anything or given me pictures. I think I'll go to sleep now, goodnight Mommy." "Goodnight Kathleen." Cordelia said as she tried to go to sleep herself. After a few minutes Kathleen said "Mommy?" "Yes baby." "Mommy I can't feel Daddy anymore." "I know baby I can't either. Go to sleep now and maybe things will be better tomorrow." Cordelia was scared. She knew that something must have happened to Angel because he would have been here already. The worst thing though was that, like Kathleen, she couldn't sense him. It was as if he was dead. The tears started falling then and she finally cried herself to sleep.

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Dr. Martin had finally been able to contact Dr. Weinstein. He had a full schedule and would be unable to come to California. He said he could do the surgery on Friday if they could get him to the Sisters Hospital. Fred had got onto the computer and looked for a flight that would go straight through to New Hampshire. There was none this close to Friday that would have the seats they needed.

"Okay Fred see if you can schedule a private jet to take us all the way to Manchester New Hampshire. Schedule it for tomorrow morning. You have my credit card number if they need one. It will just be Wesley, Rupert and I accompanying Angel. I am going to go and get some sleep." Dr. Martin left then to go and take a shower and get some sleep. She checked on Angel before leaving. They had him on a hospital bed so she felt safe in leaving him alone. She put the rails up on each side then removed the empty bag of blood they had going into his stomach. She checked his eyes again and still didn't find any response. She knew Angel was in a coma. She picked up his hand and kissed it. "You don't get to die yet my boy so just consider this a little rest." She turned then and left to go upstairs.

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When the meeting broke up Wesley, Gunn, Connor and the rest returned to the Hyperion. Fred was just finishing scheduling a jet for Dr. Martin when everyone came in to check on Angel. Wesley and Fred greeted each other then they went to Angel's bed.

"Dr. Martin just went to bed about 30 minutes ago. She finally got a hold of Dr. Weinstein. He is to busy to come out here but he can make some time to take care of Angel on Friday morning if we can get him there on time. It's too late for me to get the amount of seats we would need for Angel to be lying down and then for the rest. So Dr. Martin told me to hire a jet to take them to Manchester New Hampshire. I was just finishing with the arrangements when you all came in. We have to have Angel and Dr. Martin at the Airport by 10:30 A.M. I've scheduled an ambulance to pick him up and take him to the airport. They will be here at 9 A.M. Dr. Martin has already talked to Mother Superior at the hospital and she will take care of scheduling the operating room for Friday. Let's go to bed everyone we can't do anything else right now and I'm sure they are taking good care of Cordelia and the children. I'm just going to let Dr. Martin know what time the ambulance will be here." She gave Wesley a kiss then went upstairs.

Wesley approached Angel's bed and stood beside Connor.

"You did very well tonight Connor. Your father would be proud of you." "You know Wesley all I can think about, as I'm looking down at him, is all of the hatred I used to have for him when I first came back. I used to feel so guilty about what I did to him. Now though I think that God let Holtz take me to the other dimension so that I would be a lot older and able to take over from Dad when he needed me to. If I had grown up in this dimension I would have still been way too young to even help.

It's a good thing that I'm between semesters right now. At least I don't have to worry about missing any classes. Well I guess I better go and check on Toby. I'll see you in the morning." Connor bent down and kissed his fathers forehead. "Goodnight Dad, I hope we have everyone back with us by this time tomorrow." Wesley just held onto Angel's hand, squeezed it then let go and left with Connor.

Connor went to his room and called the emergency vet. "Airport Emergency Vet may I help you." The receptionist answered. "Hi this is Connor Martin, earlier in the evening I sent Joaquin Sanchez over there with my German Shepard Toby. He had been hit on the head by a robber that broke into our home. I am just calling to check on his condition." "Yes Mr. Martin, Toby is doing okay. Dr. Hendrix took X-rays of Toby's head and didn't find any damage to his skull. So it looks like he just suffered a concussion. We are going to keep him for a couple of days so we can keep him under observation. Dr. Hendrix feels that he will be okay though because he is awake now and has taken some water and food. You can pick him up the day after tomorrow." "Thank you very much. This conversation has taken a load off of my mind. I'll see you on Friday then." He hung up the phone then and just lay back on his bed. He was exhausted and just fell to sleep as soon as his head hit the pillow.

The next morning every one was up by 6 A.M. in order to get ready for the days activities. Connie had been up since 5 so that she could fix breakfast for everyone. Giles made Dr. Martin sit down and have some scrambled eggs and toast. She had wanted to start getting Angel ready for the trip and skip her breakfast. She reluctantly did as her husband said and started to eat her breakfast quickly. "Mary slow down, you'll make yourself sick." Giles told her. "Yes dear." Dr. Martin knew he was right but she had so many things going through her head at the moment that it was hard to make herself slow down. When he told her to slow down she leaned back in her chair and took a deep breath and a sip of her coffee. "That's better, now Cylinda is already in there getting Angel ready for the trip and packing everything that you may need to take care of him." Dr. Martin took her time eating her breakfast as her husband had said. When she was done she looked at him. "May I be excused 'now'; I've eaten all of my breakfast?" Dr. Martin said with a smile. Giles got up also and pulled out her chair. As she got up and started for the clinic Giles gave her a good swat on her behind as she passed by him. "Owe, what did you do that for?" "Because you were being a little brat." Giles said as he followed her to the clinic. As they left they could hear Joyce and Junior laughing.

"What are you laughing at?" Spike asked his daughter. "Grandpa gave Grandma a spanking." "It just goes to show you that even Grandma's can be bad girls huh?"

"Where is Kateen Daddy?" "Kathleen is still with her Mommy and they are away visiting a friend." "When is she coming home Daddy?" "I'm not sure Babe but soon I hope."

When the kids where done they went outside to play. Both Lou and Tom went outside to keep watch over them. Lou had to get down and play with them and invent games to play since Kathleen was usually the originator of the games they played.

Dr. Martin was inside the clinic helping Cylinda to get Angel ready to travel. They had changed the bandage on his head and put extra padding over the wound. They then put a supporting brace under his neck so that his head wouldn't be lying against the surface he was on. She knew that Angel's body was acting more human now and he had told her that he was having a bowel movement every 4 or 5 days now and urinating several times a day. Because of that information she put a catheter in him and extra padding under him. By the time the ambulance arrived they had him bundled up and ready to go along with bags of blood to feed him through a tube Dr. Martin had put into his abdomen earlier. As the ambulance drivers came in with their bed to transport him Wesley and Connor helped to lift Angel on it. Both Wesley and Giles had already put their suitcases into his SUV.

Before Dr. Martin got into the back of the ambulance she turned to Connor. "When we come home again I am pretty sure that he will be awake again. In what condition though I don't know. Those pieces of bone that were driven into his brain have done a lot of damage. When we do bring him home I'll be expecting to see our family here and waiting for him." "I'll get them back Grandma even if we have to go in and take them forcibly. We have everything under control and we should have them back, one way or the other, tonight." He gave her a kiss and hug then helped her inside of the ambulance.

Connor shook Giles and Wesley's hand. "Good luck Connor." Wesley said as he pulled Connor into his arms. The ambulance was leaving so Wesley and Giles got into his SUV and followed them.

Connor went back inside along with the rest. Lucinda came out with the phone. "Connor you have a phone call." He took the phone from Lucinda and said hello. "Connor this is Jack, the judge was still here and once I explained to him what has happened he gave us the Search Warrant. He told me that we would have to come up with something more concrete though to support our reason to search the premises." "Okay Jack I'll be there as soon as I can. We can put our heads together and come up with something." He hung up then and went inside. He hadn't eaten yet so he grabbed a couple of large tortillas that Connie made fresh everyday along with chopped up meat, lettuce, onions and such so that anyone that was hungry could just throw together a burrito and pop it in the microwave. As he was making his breakfast he felt someone tugging at his shirt. When he looked down he saw Junior.

"Connor?" "Yes Junior." "Connor where is Toby?" "Toby had to go to the hospital Junior. The bad men that came here last night hit him on the head and knocked him out. I called the hospital last night and they said he was alright and was awake. The nurse said that the Doctor wanted to keep him there for two nights to make sure that he was okay. Tomorrow morning if everything is okay I'll be bringing him home." "Good because Joyce and I missed having him to play with. Do you think I could go with you to pick him up from the hospital?" "Well see Junior, if everything is working like I want them to then you will be the first one I come to get to go with me okay?" "Okay Connor." Junior ran to the elevator then to go and play in his room.

When Junior left Connor turned to Connie. "I forgot to ask you if it was alright if he goes with me to pick Toby up." "No problem. If he isn't safe with you or your father then he isn't going to be safe with anyone." "Thanks Connie. Has anyone told you what is going to be going on today?" "No, I just know about your father." "We are going to be attempting to rescue Cordelia and my sister and brothers. You might want to have food ready that people can just come in and get when they are hungry. If for some reason I am going to have a lot of people here I'll try to let you know ahead of time. I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause." "Don't worry about it Connor. I can prepare things that are delicious and nutritious and can be thrown together real easy." "Thanks Connie, by the way where is Joaquin?" "He went to the stables to exercise Santana, Aunt Bee, and your horse Opie." "Good it's been a long time since my Dad or I have been able to go riding. Connor grabbed his burritos, a can of Pepsi and left for his van.

Lucinda walked in from where she was working downstairs. Lucinda had been cleaning the bed sheets and towels from all of the rooms. She had asked Tom to bring up the basket load of sheets and towels so that Connie could help her fold them. They had heard Connor talking to Connie and had waited until he left.

"It's as if he has changed into a man overnight." Connie said when they came next to her and watched Connor leave. "Yes I think that he will do just fine when he takes over Angel Investigations." Lucinda said.

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Jack was waiting for Connor in the Collages football stadium. They shook hands as Connor approached the group of men. Most of them had their police uniforms on since they were on duty.

"We have had some tremendous luck dropped into our laps Connor. Someone is truly watching over your family. One of the men that works for Wolfram & Hart and was assigned the task of spying on your family has come to our rescue. It turns out that this guy used to be one of the poor people that Charles Gunn's group helped to feed and clothe. To pay him back for his kindness he dropped this off at our police headquarters." Jack gave Connor a large envelope. Inside he found a thin wallet with the owner's drivers' license and ID card for Wolfram & Hart. There was also a note that stated 'This wallet belongs to one of the men that kidnapped the Martin family. Handle it carefully and you should be able to lift fingerprints off of it and compare them to the ones in the apartment. I saw him take off his gloves and put his hand on the bassinet and table where all of the baby things are kept. He was the only one to do this. You will find my fingerprints on his wallet as well. I had to use my bare hands to lift his wallet. Don't try to trace me, I have no police record. Tell Gunn that this is in thanks for what he did for me when I was young, out on the streets, and hungry. Please burn this letter when you get through reading it. My life may depend on this letter being completely destroyed.'

"Have you been able to lift the fingerprints?" "Yes we have. We need for you to take one of my more experienced guys over to your home so they can look for fingerprints." Connor pulled out his cell phone and called home. Fred answered the phone with the usual greeting. "Fred this is Connor." "Hi Connor what's up." "Has anyone gone into Dad's room since last night?" "As far as I know no one has touched it." "Okay I need for you to put a sign on it so that no one will go in there. Ask Connie and Grandma Sanchez if they went in there at all. I'll be over there shortly to look for fingerprints." He hung up without saying anything else.

"What time are you planning on going into Wolfram & Hart?" Connor asked. "Tonight at 8 P.M." "How long do you think it will take for you to search the place?" "About 2 hours or slightly more since it's so big. Here is your uniform, hat, and glasses. I don't want you to say anything while your there. Stay in the back of the group. Several guys are going to surround you. Try to keep your head slightly down while you're in there. The only reason for you joining us is to search for your sister's mind. If you come across them do not try to do anything. We discussed this with Morgan and his men and have decided it would be better to locate the room they are in and to extricate them later by force. This way they will be able to deny that they were ever there and we can apologize about our intrusion and that we had bad information from someone that was probably trying to make trouble for them. Everyone is happy and we get your family back."

Connor picked up the uniform along with the hat, reflective glasses and the belt that is loaded down with police equipment. "Okay Jack I'll let the rest know the way it is going down and well get those fingerprints back as fast as possible." "How is your father doing?" Jack asked. "They had to take him to New Hampshire where the surgeon is that will be operating on him. My grandmother chartered a private jet to take them there this morning. As for my Dad we won't know how he will be until he wakes up because right now he is in a coma." "I thought their demons were always able to heal them fast." "Remember when I said that there were some things that I couldn't tell you about because it would be dangerous for my Dad if people knew too much about him?" Jack nodded a yes. "Well this is one of them." Connor got up and one of the other officers got up also and followed him.

When they arrived at the Hyperion they quickly lifted the fingerprints from both the bars surrounding the patio and several unexpected places that apparently the informant had been unable to see from his view point. Apparently the same person that had touched the bars had also been the one to fill a bag full of diapers, blankets and everything else that he thought would be needed to take care of the boys. While doing this he frequently touched doors, drawers, and cabinets. They were able to lift the best fingerprints on those areas.

After the officer left Connor went to Fred's room and knocked on the door. Fred opened the door. "Connor, come in." Fred stepped back to let him in. "I just wanted to check with you to make sure you were okay." "We're doing just fine. The boys are asking were Daddy is but other then that I'm just keeping myself busy and my mind off of what is going on." "I wanted to let you know that I am going to leave Lou and Tom here to take care of everyone. Buffy, Spike, and Hunter will be coming with us. If you want Fred we can take you over to the Morgan's house. Mr. Morgan will still have guards watching over his family and home." "No I think we'll be okay. Willow said that she was going to put a protective spell over the hotel before she leaves." "Okay then I'm going to go and get some rest before I have to leave. I'm going to go with the rest of the police officers and search Wolfram & Hart. I'll stop by so you can take some pictures of me in my police uniform and mirrored glasses." Connor smiled. He left then to get some rest, but before he lay down he called the Veterinary hospital to check on Toby. He felt a lot better after he heard the receptionist say that he was doing fine.

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Wesley and Giles waited in the reception area of the hospital while Dr. Martin was getting Angel situated. Dr. Weinstein was scheduled to perform the surgery at 8 A.M. tomorrow morning. The nurses wanted to shave Angels head tonight but Dr. Martin explained that it had to be done just one or two hours before the surgery because his hair would grow back unusually fast. When all of the nurses were gone Dr. Martin pulled a chair over to the bed.

"Angelus I want to talk to you." Dr. Martin said. Angel's eyes opened but he didn't turn his head or speak. Dr. Martin knew that it was because of the injury to Angel's brain. If Angel couldn't speak or move when he was in control then of course Angelus couldn't speak or move, but she didn't need for him to do anything but listen.

"Angelus I want you to understand what is going to happen tomorrow and what I need for you to do or rather not do. I don't want you to attempt to heal Angel at all until the surgery is over. Dr. Weinstein isn't fully aware of who or what Angel is. I don't know in what kind of condition Angel will wake up to afterward, or if he will wake up at all. The surgery Angelus will remove the pieces of bone from Angel's brain, but he needs you to help him to heal. He is going to have a hard time getting better." Dr. Martin closed her eyes and put her head down on the bed and tried to think of what she should say in order to get Angelus to do what she wanted.

"The time is coming Angelus for you to be given your 24 hours but Angel may not be able to move when it comes time for you to control his body unless you cooperate with us in helping him to recover. Go back to sleep now Angelus." Dr. Martin put the chair away and turned the lights down then she reached for his hand and kissed it and put it under the blanket. "Goodnight my son."

Dr. Martin went to the reception area where she went to Rupert who opened his arms to her. He held her as she cried. Giles knew that her tears were partly from her exhaustion as well as her fears for Angel. "It's getting late Mary. One of the Sisters said that they took some sandwiches down to the guest house for us. Let's go and have our supper so you can go to bed and be rested enough for Angel's big day tomorrow." Dr. Martin put her arm thru her husbands arm then reached out for Wesley. He offered his arm and they all walked back to the guest house.

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It had been two days now since they had been kidnapped. Yesterday a man dressed in a white coat had come in and taken some blood from the boys and Kathleen. Later in the day they had come and taken Kathleen. She screamed when they took her away and Cordelia had done her best to fight them off. She was able to rake her fingernails across the face of the one that pulled Kathleen away from her. The man that had pulled her off of the technician hit her and knocked her out. When she came to she immediately went to the boys. They were alright though and hadn't been touched. Cordelia went into the bathroom and straightened herself up. She knew she had to get control of her emotions or the boys would pick up on it. Worst yet was that if she didn't control herself she could stop producing milk which had started just yesterday.

She tried to get control of her emotions by going about taking care of the boys. It wasn't until late in the day before they brought Kathleen back. When they did bring her back one of the guards was holding her in his arms. She didn't look like she was in a natural sleep. Cordelia screamed when she saw how pale her daughter looked. Lilah came in after the guard.

"She's alright Cordelia; they just gave her something to make her sleep. It seems that your little girl has developed quiet a few gifts since we last saw her. She tried all kinds of things to get away from the Doctors." The guard put Kathleen on the bed and Lilah took a chair at the table that was in the room.

"Let me tell you all of the things your daughter did. First she turned one of the technicians into a mouse then she turned one of the guards into a cat which proceeded to chase the mouse. If it wasn't for our resident Warlock we would have lost a perfectly good technician. We are still looking for the guard though. It seems that he ran out of the door as soon as someone opened it. Your daughter then turned herself into a young wolf and was almost able to get out of the building before we caught her. She didn't change back to her human form until we threatened to take her brothers away permanently. By the time we caught her it seems that she had left pee all over the floor. Since her urine is clear you don't find the puddle until someone screams as they slip on it."

Cordelia had her head turned away from Lilah so she couldn't see her laughing. She didn't say anything to her to let her know that she knew about her daughters talents.

"What did you do to her?" "In order to make sure that she didn't do anything else we gave her a tranquilizer. The technicians did one test on her to see how powerful she was but couldn't get anything. Tomorrow we'll be calling in a more powerful Warlock that can read her to see what she can do. We won't be doing anything more with your boys. Our experience with your daughter has shown us that your children need to grow a little before their powers are evident. Goodnight Cordelia." "Lilah I would be very careful if I were you. Kathleen is the apple of her Daddy's eye. If you should harm her in anyway you'll live to regret it." Lilah just smiled at her and left and Cordelia turned back to her daughter.

"It seems my little princes that you don't need the words to do things, just the thought alone seems to be sufficient for you. It's a good thing you're a good little girl and mind your Mommy and Daddy."

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At 6 o'clock Connor woke up. He could hear everyone else getting ready to go to their respective groups. As they all met downstairs before leaving Connor stopped to talk to Gunn quietly.

"Gunn I wanted to tell you that information that was given to us to help in giving us an excuse to search the Wolfram & Hart building was given by someone that you and your kids helped a long time ago. It seems that one of the workers that have been watching us was on the streets, poor, and hungry when they were young and found help from your group. This person wanted to make sure that you understood that it was directly because of what your group did for him that he is helping us."

Gunn was all smiles. "Thanks for letting me know Connor. I'll pass that on to my kids when this is all over."

Everyone else except Lou, Tom, Fred and the Sanchez family left the Hotel and Willow put a protective spell on the building. She gave Fred the words to say to bring down the spell. Everyone understood that they had to call her before they returned so that she could bring the protective spell down. Mike Thompson was the only one that was outside of the protective blanket of the spell. He was staying at his own home so that he could be free to go to the hospital if he was called.

At 8 o'clock 4 L.A.P.D police cars came to a stop in front of Wolfram & Hart. Everyone unloaded and went into the building and to the receptionist.

"Can I help you?" The receptionist asked as though it was a common thing to see 16 police officers come into the building all at once.

"I am Officer Jack Cooper with the Los Angeles Police Department. We have a Warrant to search the premises for Mrs. Cordelia Chase-Martin and her 3 children. We have evidence that they were kidnapped by at least one of your people." "One moment please while I see if our CEO is still in." The receptionist called upstairs to Lilah's office. "Lilah Morgan." "Ms. Morgan we have a group of Police officers down at the reception desk with a warrant to search the premises for a Cordelia Chase-Martin and her children." "I'll be there in a few minutes." Before going downstairs Lilah called the supervisor of the guards. "Bill here." "Bill this is Lilah Morgan. I want you to bring down the fake wall that goes over the entrance to the cell you're guarding. We have police officers that are performing a search." She didn't need to say anything more because Bill had performed the same task many times before. He flipped a switch on his console that would lower the fake wall. The men guarding the cell knew when that happened they were to return to Bill's office for further instructions. The room was sound proof and no further action needed to be taken. Inside the room Cordelia heard something coming down and covering the door. The lights went out, except for a small night light that they had installed, when the wall came down. She thanked God she had asked for the night light.

When Lilah came downstairs the receptionist introduced Officer Cooper to her and he gave the same statement to Lilah that he had given the receptionist.

"May I ask what this evidence is that is accusing us of kidnapping these people?" Lilah asked. "Everything is stated in the Warrant Ms. Morgan but what it comes down to is that we were called in on a kidnapping that had taken place at the Hyperion Hotel which is the home of Angel Investigation. When examining the crime scene we were able to lift the finger prints of one of the men that was involved in the kidnapping. We found that he works for Wolfram & Hart." "May I ask for this man's name?" "I was instructed by the D.A.'s office not to divulge the name since valuable witnesses or participants in the crime seem to mysteriously disappear if Wolfram & Hart is involved."

Lilah smiled then looked more closely at the Warrant. "Okay officer this seems to be in order. You can proceed."

"Thank you Mam." Jack said then signaled to his men to start the search. Connor had done as Jack had instructed and kept his head down. He didn't take off his glasses until he went past Lilah. Connor kept with the group that had been ordered to start from the underground parking lot and work their way up. As he arrived on the floor that was 2nd from the bottom he immediately started to pick up Kathleen's scent. He also picked up something else which he thought was peculiar. He smelled wolf, and a young one at that. He continued to act like he was searching each room while he was following the scent. He was so intent on following the scent that he didn't notice one of his sister's messages. Before he knew it his feet went flying into the air while he landed on his behind and his head just barely missed the corner of the wall. One of the custodians that were trying to clean up all of Kathleen's pee helped him up.

"I'm awfully sorry officer. One of the workers was carrying some samples and didn't realize he was spilling it. I've been trying to find all of the spills but it looks like you found one first." Connor got up and thanked the man and continued following the scent. As he continued to look into each room he came to the area where his family was located. Their scent was strongest here. He leaned against the fake wall and pretended to clean his shoe off. His mind was working on contacting his sister though. Unfortunately Kathleen was still sleeping. He went into the room across from there prison cell and pretended to search the room while his mind was working on entering Kathleen's sleep to tell her to get ready because they were going to be coming home pretty soon. As soon as he knew she had received the message he continued on with his fake search. After everyone spent 2 hours of searching they all met up at the lobby again. Lilah was there waiting for them.

"Ms. Morgan we apologize for this intrusion. I'm sure that you'll be happy to know we didn't find anything. The kidnapper has apparently already moved the victims. Thank you for your cooperation and good night." "Goodnight officer." Lilah turned and left. The supervisor of the guards walked with her back to the elevator.

"Do you think they found anything?" "Yes they most definitely did. That was Connor, Angel's son that was among the officers. I want Cordelia and the children moved to our alternate site in Santa Barbara immediately. Call me once they are there. Kathleen is too big of a prize to let her go."

When Connor got into the car he called David and Gunn and let them know where his family was located and they were to make their move now before they could move them.

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Kathleen got off of the bed and went around to the other side where her mother was. She pulled at her mother's clothes and said "Mommy, Mommy wake up." "What's wrong sweetheart?" "Mommy Connor was here. He said that they are coming to get us now so we have to get ready to go." "When did he tell you this?" "I was sleeping and he woke me up and told me to get ready." "Okay, Mommy has to go potty. You had better go also then well get Nicky and Mike ready okay." "Okay Mommy but he said to hurry." Cordelia went into the bathroom and relieved herself and made sure that Kathleen did also. She threw some water on her face then went to change the boys and bundled them up again. She threw all of their things into their baby bags and sat down and waited for their rescue.

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David and his men made their move as they pretended to deliver boxes to the back. More of his men were in another van that was parked out of sight of the guards shed. Buffy and Spike headed the way into the building from their position. They made their way to the floor just above the basement parking lot where they kept the limousines and the executive's personal vehicles. They were met with all kinds of opposition from the guards but because of the many vampires he had among his guards they had no problem. They had a lot of men to fight because of the move they were about to make.

The Angel Investigation crew was running into opposition as well but it was of a different type. Several Warlocks and demons were using magic to prevent them from getting too close to the room where the Martin family was being kept. The fake wall had been raised and they were just getting ready to take them. Everyone stayed behind Willow and Tara who were fighting them. One of the guards on the other side opened the door to the cell and went in. He didn't come out though. Another guard went in along with a demon. "Don't try anything my dear or we'll take your brothers away and you'll never see them again." He could see that Kathleen was about to do something but she quickly lowered her hand when the demon threatened her brothers. Cordelia held her daughter close to her. Just as they were about to take them out of the room Connor came in behind the demon, grabbed his head and gave it a quick twist. He heard a satisfying crack and the demon dropped to the floor. The two other guards that had come in with the demon backed off. While Connors back was turned he heard more guards come in and he turned around. The guards this time had guns. Connor quickly stepped in front of Kathleen and Cordelia and shielded his family with his own body. He heard the guns go off and that was the last thing he remembered. Buffy and Spike came in and quickly dispatched the guards as their attention was on Connor. Spike went to Connor and threw him over his shoulder while Buffy and Hunter each grabbed one of the boys and pushed Cordelia and Kathleen in front of them as they exited their prison cell.

They all made for the parking lot below them where David's group and the L.A.P.D. group were fighting the guards. Spike put Connor down and helped to push the guards to a corner of the parking lot. Someone had pushed all of the fake boxes out of the back of the delivery truck and they started to load everyone up. After they had loaded up Angels family Spike picked up Connor again and jumped into the back of the delivery truck. Jack followed Spike and as soon as everyone was in the drivers took off.

As soon as it took off Jack went over to where Spike was checking Connor. He pulled his shirt open. They all let out air they had been holding in when they saw the bullet proof vest Connor had on. Spike continued to check him over. He knew Connor must have been hit someplace because he could smell blood on him. He took the vest off of him so that he could get a better look. He finally found two bullets holes in his left shoulder. Spike pulled out his handkerchief and wiped the blood off. "He'll be alright the bullets went in and came out through the front."

"Will Connor be all better Uncle Spike?" "Yes sweetheart he sure will. In fact look you can see him healing already." Kathleen and everyone else looked at Connor and they could see the holes in his shoulder start to close. New skin was covering the bullet holes by the time they arrived at the Hotel. Connor was awake now. He got up and jumped out of the back of the truck with Spikes help. Cordelia and Kathleen came out next and they both went to Connor and hugged him. He hugged them back and kissed them both. Connor picked up his little sister then and hugged her some more.

"Did I do good Connor?" "Yes my little sister you did real good, except for when I came across one of your little puddles and fell on my behind. Daddy is going to be real proud of you when we tell him what you did to help me find you."

"Where is Angel Connor?" Connor postponed his answer by turning to all of the men in both trucks. "Thank you everyone for helping us get my family back. If you should ever need our help please don't hesitate to ask. Thank you." Connor led his family back into the Hyperion.

When they were inside Fred came running to Cordelia and they both cried as they hugged each other. "We'll put the boys to bed Cordelia. Come with us Kathleen it's time for all princes to be in bed." Kathleen took Buffy's hand. "But I want to see my Daddy first. I want to tell him how I turned the bad people into a cat and mouse and how I almost got away by turning into a wolf puppy." "Your Mommy will talk to you tomorrow when you wake up. Let's get you to bed for now okay?" "Okay Aunt Buffy. Where is Joyce?" "Joyce is going to sleep with us tonight but tomorrow night you, Joyce and Junior can all sleep in your own beds okay?" "Okay." Hunter was already upstairs and changing Nicky when Buffy came in with Kathleen. Buffy took care of Mike and they put them both in the bassinet.

"I think I'll stay in here tonight. Mike is at home and I don't feel like driving all the way over there tonight. Besides I don't think Cordelia should be left alone tonight she'll need someone to talk to." Hunter said.

Downstairs Connor, Fred, Gunn, Willow, Tara, and Spike were sitting and explaining to Cordelia what happened to Angel and where he was right now.

"No wonder I couldn't sense him. Spike could you give me something so that I can sleep, something that won't get into my milk and affect the boys. I'm so tired and I can't handle anything more right now."

Spike went into the clinic and pulled out a mild tranquilizer. He knew that it wouldn't take much to put Cordelia to sleep. She didn't look like she got more than a couple of hours of sleep during the past 2 days. When he came back to the dinning room table he found Connor taking her up to bed. "She fell asleep as soon as you walked away. I think I'll go to bed now also. Lou is sleeping on your bed with Joyce. Good night Spike." Fred told him. "Okay goodnight Fred." Gunn went around checking all of the doors. He put the security alarm on and Willow replaced the protective spell again. They weren't taking any chances tonight.

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Early the next morning Dr. Martin got up so that she could go to mass with the Sisters. They were all going to be praying for the surgery to go well today. Dr. Weinstein would be here at 8 and he was scheduled to begin at 9. Dr. Martin had paid for a special scope that Dr. Weinstein would need for the surgery. They had delivered it yesterday and a technician was sent from the company that manufactured it to set it up. Everything had been cleaned and made sterile in preparation for the surgery.

After Mass, Wesley and Giles had joined Mother Superior and Dr. Martin in the dinning room for breakfast. It was now 8 o'clock and Dr. Weinstein had joined them for some coffee before he went in to scrub for the surgery.

"You're not going to assist me for the surgery Dr. Martin?" "No, not today it's going to take too long for me. Ever since my stroke I don't seem to have the stamina to go through a long surgery so I'll just wait with everyone else in the waiting room. If you should need me send someone out to get me and I'll come in."

"Any estimate as to how long it will take Dr. Weinstein?" Wesley asked.

"No you can never tell with these things. I myself never know until I actually finish because I never know what I'll find." He got up then to go to the hospital.

"Who is going to assist him Mother?" "Sister Diana is our new chief of surgery and she will be assisting. Plus they have a sister that is an experienced surgical nurse for brain surgery. We had to order some special instruments for the surgery and Sister Martha went to the surgical supply house in Boston to pick them out. John took her and another sister down to Boston in his helicopter. Both of the sisters were so excited when he landed on the front lawn. At least I think they were excited, it could be that they were scared out of their wits."

Dr. Martin reached for Mother Superiors hand. "I am so happy that I got to see you again. When we left last time Angel said that I would see you again but I said 'no I won't see her again'. I'm glad to see that he was right and I was wrong."

"By the way John and Bishop O'Connel will be here later today. John said that he wanted to meet the man that stole you away from him." She had a smile when she said it so Dr. Martin took it as a joke.

"I think I smell Cinnamon Buns baking so I think I'll go and try to sweet talk Sr. Pauline out of one when they come out of the oven. Does anyone else want one? She makes the lightest Cinnamon Buns I've ever tasted." "I'll have one." Both Wesley and Giles answered. "I'll meet you in the waiting room." Dr. Martin put her head up and smelled the air. "I believe I should be there in 30 minutes." She left then to go to the kitchen.

Mother Superior was laughing as Dr. Martin left. "She always could smell the odor coming from the kitchen and guess almost exactly how much longer it would take for the buns before they were ready." Mother Superior got up then. "Let's go gentlemen; I'll take you over to the hospital. They have set up a camera in surgery so that we can watch on a television at the nurse's station."

Dr. Martin had a whole tray of buns when she joined them at the nurse's station. "Look what I have." All the sisters came running to get one. Dr. Martin had brought enough paper plates for everyone. She took 3 of the buns over to the waiting room for Giles and Wesley. "Do you want to come over and watch the surgery with us?" Before she finished saying it both men said "Eww NO!" They looked at each other and laughed.

"Well I have to in case Dr. Weinstein needs me. I suggest that you two go to a couple of movies because this is going to take awhile." Before the men left they took a chance and went to look at the monitor. Dr. Weinstein was starting to cut away at the surrounding area of the broken skull bones. "What part of his brain are the broken pieces of bone in." Wesley asked. "The cerebrum mostly but it looks like some of it might have gone into the cerebellum. They had to have hit him pretty hard to make it spread out like that." Dr. Martin said. "Okay that's enough for me. We're going to take your advice Mary and do some sight seeing." Giles said as he grabbed Wesley's arm and pulled him toward the door.

As soon as they got into the car that Wesley had rented Giles said "Let's find a library. I want to find out what kind of damages to expect."

Wesley headed for the local library after asking for directions. They quickly found a medical book on the brain as soon as they were given the location of all books related to anatomy by the librarian. Wesley and Giles had their heads together as they read the explanation for what the Cerebellum and Cerebrum controlled.

They both sat back as they digested the information they just read.

The Cerebrum controlled the higher functions such as speech, thought, vision and memory where as the Cerebellum controlled motor functions such as walking, vision and such.

"My God Giles, this is going to be so hard on him, and poor Cordelia. With two new baby boys to take care of we're going to be lucky if she doesn't have a complete breakdown by the end of the 1st month." Wesley put his hands over his eyes. He didn't want Giles to see him crying for his friend. Giles put his hand on Wesley's arm. He'll be okay Wesley. I don't know how he will do it but somehow Angel will come through it all in one piece just as he always does and when he trips and falls we'll be there to catch him and encourage him to continue. And Cordelia, what can I say about Cordelia except that she is a strong woman. When Mary and Spike where working on Angel after he was crucified I crumbled when I saw his back and how much damage there was to his skin but Cordelia just took a few moments to cry then she took a deep breath and continued to help them fix him."

After a while he heard Wesley laughing. "What's so funny? First you were crying and now you're laughing."

"When you said the word fix I was remembering what Angel and I were talking about when we were going to Las Vegas. I was telling him that Dr. Martin had told me that I needed to have a vasectomy because it would be too dangerous for Fred to have anymore children. She said that it wouldn't be fair to Fred to continue to take birth control pills which can cause all sorts of problems when it would be so easy for me to just have a vasectomy. I told him how reluctant I was to have it done. I know it's completely illogical but just the thought of having anything cut; tied, or removed where my boys are concerned is very disturbing. Angel told me what he thought about it and that he was going to have it done also because he and Cordelia didn't want anymore children and he didn't want her to continue to have to take birth control pills because of what they did but that he was going to wait to have it done until Cordelia was able to show her appreciation for him making such a sacrifice." They both started laughing and everyone around them shushed them. Wesley got up to put the book away and they left as quickly as they could.

Wesley and Giles stood outside watching the people go by. All of a sudden it started getting cold so they got back into the car. "Wow that got cold fast." Giles said as he put his gloves on. "Yeah they said on the radio that a cold front would reach us around noon. That was like a rolling wall though. Look there is the local theater do you want to go?" "It doesn't look very interesting. I think the movies are more geared toward teenagers. You can go if you like and I'll wait for you at the coffee shop." "No, I'm younger then you old boy but I'm not that much younger. Let's go to the book store then we can go back." Wesley said. "That sounds good to me." Giles said.

Wesley and Giles spent several hours at the book store then returned to the waiting room and checked in at the nurse's desk. "Where is Dr. Martin?" "Dr. Weinstein finished removing the pieces of bone out of the patients brain then called Dr. Martin in to help him. He is putting a new type of plastic plate in his head right now to cover the area where the skull used to be. He had called her in to ask her what kind of plate she wanted him to use and after she called someone in Los Angeles she told him a plastic plate." "Okay we'll wait for her over here." Wesley and Giles took a seat and started reading the books they had bought.

Two hours later Dr. Martin and Dr. Weinstein came over to them. "How did it go?" Wesley was the first to ask as they all sat down.

"I believe I was able to get all of the pieces of bone out of his brain. We took another X-ray while I still had him open and we couldn't see any bone left so we closed him up. If he is going to wake up then he should wake up by tomorrow morning. Well I have to go and check on some patients. I'll call and check up on Mr. Martin tomorrow morning. I left some instructions with the nurses as to what to watch out for and to call me if certain symptoms should occur." Wesley and Giles stood up. They shook his hand and thanked him for all he had done. Dr. Weinstein left then and returned to town.

"Can we see Angel now Dr. Martin?" Wesley asked. "He's still in a coma Wesley and the nurses are getting him settled right now. We'll only be in the way. Why don't we go back to the Guest House for now I can do with a rest. After supper we can go and see him. Besides I want to call home and check in with Cordelia. I got a message on my pager that they were able to rescue her and the children last night." Since Wesley and Giles had been out they still had the car in the front of the hospital so they drove back to the Guest House. Dr. Martin was tired so she went right to their room to take a nap.

Later in the evening after supper they all went to visit Angel. She checked the records that the nurses kept. They gave the beats per minute along with the length of time that they felt his pulse. Dr. Martin was especially interested in his temperature since it always went up when he was healing. She went out to the nurse's station and returned in a few minutes with straps to hold Angel down. Wesley and Giles helped her put them on his wrists and ankles. She had two more that she put further up his arm so that he wouldn't pull out any of the needles in his arm. Wesley and Giles put the last one around his waist. A nurse came in with another rather unusual strap. The nurse and Dr. Martin put this one on. They put extra pillows under his head then placed the strap over his forehead and chin. It was clear that Dr. Martin was trying to make sure that Angels head moved as little as possible.

"Angelus, this is Dr. Martin." They could see Angel's eyes moving under his eyelids. Just when they thought that he wasn't able to make Angel open his eyes, they popped open and he looked straight forward. Wesley and Giles came closer to the bed.

"Angelus the surgery has been completed but Angel is still in a coma. I want you to start to heal him now. We have his body strapped down so that he can't injure his head or pull any of the needles out." Angelus closed his eyes again. It took a few minutes but they finally saw that Angel's temperature was going up. Perspiration started to appear on his face. Dr. Martin took his temperature. It was 101. They all took seats while they waited for the inevitable to start.

After 20 minutes Angels hands and legs started to shake. They were strapped down pretty good so he could just barely move. Dr. Martin was still worried about the back of his head though so she got up and held onto his head while the nurse did the same on the other side. They did this just in time as his head started to move up and down. Angel went through the seizure for another 10 minutes then suddenly stopped. Dr. Martin checked his temperature again. It was down to 98 and continuing to go down. She took the head strap off and started to take off the bandages. The nurse was astonished that the skin showed no signs that he had just come out of surgery four hours before. Dr. Martin covered his head again. While she was doing that Giles and Wesley took the other straps off.

Dr. Martin called out to her son. "Angel, Angel wake up sweetheart. It's time to open your eyes now." Nothing happened so she tried the one thing that seemed to be so ingrained in his memory that he always answered to it.

"Angel me boy, your Da is waiting for you to help him with the milking. Wake up now before he comes after you." Angel's eyes started to move under his eyelids. She tried again but called out louder this time. "Angel me darling boy get your behind out of that bed before I come up with some cold water." "Angel finally opened his eyes and looked at her but said nothing."

"Angel, do you know who I am?" Dr. Martin asked. Angel tried to talk but nothing but meaningless sound came out. Dr. Martin used her handkerchief to wipe up the saliva that was coming out of the corner of his mouth. Wesley and Rupert were standing at the end of the bed. Wesley couldn't stand to watch his friend go through this so he covered his eyes and turned away. He went to the window and appeared to be looking out. Rupert could hear him crying for his friends suffering.

"Angel, can you understand what I am saying?" Once again he tried to say something but nothing but meaningless sound came out. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate but all he could produce was the meaningless sound. He was starting to get scared and the blood red tears started to fall.

"Angel if you can understand what I am saying I want you to blink your eyes twice." When she said this she nodded her head up and down and pointed to her eyes and blinked them twice.

"Angel, do you know who I am?" She asked once again. This time Angel blinked his eyes twice. "Okay that's good. Do you remember being hit on the back of your head when you went back into your room?" He took a minute to think about it then blinked his eyes twice.

"When you were hit on the back of the head they did it so many times that they drove parts of your skull into your brain. We had to bring you over to my old hospital for Dr. Weinstein to operate on you. That was at 9 this morning and you were in surgery for 6 hours. Before you went into surgery I talked to Angelus and told him not to make any attempt at healing you since Dr. Weinstein doesn't know the whole truth about you. About 40 minutes ago we came in and strapped you down, including your head. I then told Angelus he could go ahead and try to heal you. You went thru the seizure for about 10 minutes. He has been able to replace the skin over the surgical area but we still have you bandaged in order to protect the area. Your skull was so broken up that Dr. Weinstein couldn't piece it back together so you have a special piece of plastic that is making up the rest of your skull and protecting your brain. I had them put in the plastic at Hunters suggestion. Do you understand all that I have told you?" Dr. Martin once again wiped Angel's mouth and the blood red tears that were still falling. He blinked twice then closed his eyes.

"You're inability to speak is to be expected Angel. At supper tonight we will be speaking to a speech and physical therapist that will tell us how to help you regain your ability to speak and walk and become your old self again. I want you to go back to sleep now and rest. We will be going home tomorrow and I am going to give you something to make you sleep because you'll get to tired if I don't. Go to sleep now." She gave him a kiss on his forehead then turned the lights off again and they all left.

Dr. Martin walked out of the room and to the nurse's station. She wrote something down on his chart and told the nurse to hook him up to a pint of blood to feed him and that he was to be given another pint at 12 midnight.

"Let's go its supper time and I'm starving." They walked over to the convent in silence, each deep in their own thoughts. When they entered the convent Dr. Martin asked Sr. Cecil if she would let Mother Superior know that they were here and ask her if they could have the Speech and Physical Therapist join them for supper. Dr. Martin led Giles and Wesley over to the waiting room. "I'm going to go into the chapel for a while Rupert. I'll be back when I hear the call for supper." Giles put his arms around her and gave her a kiss on her forehead. "He'll be alright Mary. Angel always pulls through. He suffers a lot and sometimes it takes a while but he always pulls through." "I know Rupert. It's just that I need to renew my strength right now." She left to go into the Chapel then and Giles sat back down on the couch.

Wesley turned the television on to listen for tomorrow's weather. After 20 minutes they heard the bell calling the sisters to supper. Dr. Martin returned along with Mother Superior and two men. Wesley recognized them as Bishop Jack O'Connel and John Williams. They all shook hands as the men were introduced.

The inevitable came just as they sat down. "So Rupert you're the man that stole my Mary from me." John said point blank. "From what Mary has told me John she considered you as a close friend……….and that is all. When Mary and I, shall we say connected, your name never came up."

"John you told me that you were going to behave yourself if I let you come with me." Bishop O'Connel said.

"I know and I apologize. I promise that I'll be good from now on." The tension in the room just cooled down. Bishop O'Connel looked at Mother Superior. She had a big smile on her face. "Do you find this amusing Mother?" "As a matter of fact Your Grace I am actually having fun. Ever since Mary left and married Rupert I knew this was going to happen sooner or later. I didn't think I would ever get a chance to see this again. Two men fighting over one woman, it's always nice to know you still have what it takes to attract 2 men at the same time isn't it Mary?" "Mother Superior shame on you." Dr. Martin said as she started to laugh at the whole situation. Fortunately for John the two sisters that Dr. Martin had invited arrived.

Dr. Martin stood up and introduced everyone. "Sr. Lucy is a physical therapist here at the hospital and Sr. Diana is a speech therapist here. Because of the injuries to Angel's brain I asked Mother Superior if the sisters could come and talked to us and let us know what to expect from Angel at the beginning and what we can do to help him recover.

For the next hour the two Sisters told Dr. Martin, Wesley and Giles what to expect at first and how to help Angel relearn the skills he needed to lead a normal life. Sr. Lucy said that she would give them a list of machines that they could get that would help them to help Angel. Sr. Diana also gave them ways to help Angel regain his ability to speak correctly. "Don't be afraid to push him to the point that he gets mad. Get used to it because it happens frequently." She gave them a list of children's toys that she uses to get them to recognize things and put names to them. "If Angel doesn't show significant improvement within the first six months then he most likely will never return to his regular self." Both therapists agreed on this.

"If we're all done here I would like to go and see Angel before I leave. When are you returning to L.A. with him Dr. Martin?" Bishop O'Connel asked. "Tomorrow afternoon. The same jet that brought us here will be taking us back. I have an ambulance due to pick us up at 10 A.M. and we should be ready to take off by 12 noon." Mother Superior thanked the sisters for their time. Everyone got up then and walked over to the hospital and Angel's room. Dr. Martin had called ahead to make sure that he didn't have any bags of blood hanging that he was being fed.

The room was almost completely dark when they arrived. Dr. Martin walked in first and turned on a light that was over Angel's bed. She turned the television down that she had ordered to be kept on at all times.

"Angel, Angel wake up baby." She gently shook his shoulder but didn't get a response. She checked his eyes to see if he had slipped back into a coma but she found him to be in a normal deep sleep. She called out louder this time. "Angel Liam Martin, wake up." Very slowly Angel opened his eyes and tried to look at his surroundings. His eyes weren't cooperating though. They wanted to move around a lot and it took all of his concentration to make them look in the direction he wanted them too. His eyes fell on Dr. Martin at last and he just stared at her.

"Do you know who I am Angel?" He continued to stare at her. He frowned then and tried to say something but he was only able to produce unintelligible sound that meant absolutely nothing.

"Angel I want you to blink your eyes twice for yes and once for no. Do you understand?" He blinked twice. Dr. Martin picked up the phone and called the nurses desk and told her to send everyone in. She brought her attention back to Angel and noticed that he had saliva coming out of his mouth and down the side. She looked at the bed table and saw some Kleenex which she used to wipe his mouth. When everyone came in she asked Wesley and Giles to come closer. She put her hand on Giles shoulder.

"Do you know who this is?" Angel stared at Giles. "Is this Fred?" Angel blinked once and smiled. That simple smile told Dr. Martin that he knew who Fred and Giles were. "Is this Giles?" Angel blinked twice. "Do you know who I am Angel?" He blinked twice. Wesley stepped forward and held Angels hand. "Angel, it's me, Wesley. Do you remember me?" Angel looked at him. He concentrated real hard on how to speak. He made an attempt to speak but it didn't come out right. He tried again. Angel stared at Wesley he tried to say his name again. Finally, as though a locked door finally blew open he said it. "Wesey."

Wesley grabbed him and hugged him. "Yes, yes it's me Wesey." Angel couldn't grab onto Wesley but he didn't have to because Wesley was hugging him so tightly that it was enough for both. Both men cried tears of joy. There wasn't a dry eye in the room.

Bishop O'Connel asked "Wesey? I thought your name was Wesley." Wesley put Angel back down on the bed. "It is but Wesey is what his daughter, Kathleen, called me when she was first learning to speak." Angel tried to reach for Wesley's jacket to tug at it but his arm didn't cooperate. "I think he is trying to get your attention." Bishop O'Connel told Wesley. Wesley turned back to Angel. "Your….turn…..care…..me." "Yes I will help to take care of you, and I am going to be just as mean to you as you were to me when I didn't want to exercise." They smiled at each other then Wesley stepped back.

Dr. Martin signaled to the Bishop to come over and talk to Angel. She didn't want the visit to continue too much longer because she could see Angel was getting tired.

"Jack….friend." Angel said slowly. "Yes I am Jack and a friend. I think that you are going to be okay Angel. I think it's going to take longer than what you are used to but be patient and remember that it would take perhaps years for a human with the same injuries to heal. Can I give you a special blessing Angel?" Angel just blinked his eyes twice he was to tired to try to talk. He closed his eyes then and Bishop Jack O'Connel gave him the blessing and made the sign of the cross over him.

When he was done he said "I really don't know why I'm giving you my blessing because with your connections I should be asking you to give me your blessing." Angel gave him a weak smile then closed his eyes.

"Let's go everyone he's gone back to sleep. I'm afraid we've tired him out." As they left Dr. Martin stopped at the nurse's station and left some instructions for tomorrow.

When Dr. Martin joined them they continued walking to the front of the hospital and out to Jack's Limousine. Jack said goodbye then and got into his Limo and left while Dr. Martin, Giles and Wesley returned to the guest house. They were all tired and went to bed as soon as they could.

The next morning Dr. Martin called Hunter. She knew they would probably still be in bed but she was too tired to call her last night.

"Hello, Hunter Thompson here." "Hunter, this is Dr. Martin." "Hello Mary how is everything going?" "Angel had surgery yesterday as you know and I was able to wake him up in the afternoon. I called Hunter to let you know when we should be arriving and to ask if the hospital bed has been set up in Cordelia's room." "Yes Mary the men set it up yesterday. I have all of the supplies that we'll need for him." "How is Cordelia doing?" "You know Cordelia she's been thru this with Angel so many times." "This is going to be different Hunter. Angel has to be taken cared of now as any human would. He will have to be hooked up with a catheter until he learns to walk again and I'm afraid he'll have to be cleaned up when he has his rare bowel movements. He's pretty helpless Hunter and he tires easily right now. We just took the feeding tube out of him this morning but I don't think he'll be able to eat solids for awhile." Mary took a moment to blow her nose and wipe her tears. By the sounds she heard over the phone Hunter had a good idea as to what was happening.

"It's terribly depressing to see such a man become so dependent on everyone around him. I know it's going to be very humiliating for him to have to be taken cared of for all of his personal needs." "It's something that just can't be helped Mary. I've had to take care of many patients like that. I try not to think of it in a personnel way and never say anything that would make them feel even more humiliated." "I know Hunter, and I've taken care of many patients like that also, but Hunter you never realize how humiliating it is until you have to go through it yourself as I did when I was raped and then my stroke." There was a pause for awhile while she got control of herself. "The ambulance I scheduled should arrive by 3 o'clock. Let everyone know okay?" "Okay Mary I'll take care of it. Goodbye." It was still 3:30 in the morning so Hunter decided to delay telling Cordelia what Dr. Martin had said until later in the morning.

At the hospital they were getting Angel ready for his trip home. They gave him a glass of blood to drink to see if he could take it okay. Someone had to hold the glass for him but otherwise he did okay in keeping it down. They took the tube out of his stomach that was being used to feed him since he was now able to eat. After Mass and their breakfast Dr. Martin went to the hospital to check on Angel.

She found him just starting to doze off again. "Angel its Mom." Dr. Martin said as she sat down on the edge of the bed. When he opened his eyes again she continued. "Are you ready to go home now?" Angel nodded a yes. "I didn't heeeaaaarrrr you." Dr. Martin said with a smile. Angel looked at her. She could see him struggling to say something.

"Angel, don't try so hard. Just say it." He thought about what he wanted to say.

"Yes." He said with an explosive breath. "That's better. I remember someone else doing the exact same thing to me. If only I could remember who it was." Dr. Martin folded her arms under her breasts and tapped her chin. "If only I could remember. Oh well sooner or later I'll remember." She gave a wicked little laugh then. That got a laugh out of him.

"Okay Angel play time is over. The ambulance is going to be here to pick you up soon so I am going to send you to La La Land as Spike calls it. You should sleep all through the trip home." Dr. Martin gave him the shot in his arm since the nurses had taken all of the needles out of him. She waited with him until he fell asleep then bundled him up again and put the brace under his neck.

Giles and Wesley put the luggage into the back of the car and drove over to the hospital to wait for the ambulance. They approached Angel's room quietly and caught Dr. Martin sleeping while leaning on Angel's bed and holding his hand. Instead of waking her up they just left and went to the waiting room until the ambulance came.

Thirty minutes later one of the nurses came and told them that the ambulance was here and had come in to get Angel. Mother Superior was there to say goodbye. Dr. Martin and Mother Superior hugged before she got into the ambulance to travel to the airport with Angel.

By 12 noon they were on their way to Los Angeles.

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By 9 o'clock Connor was having breakfast with everyone else. He had helped Fred bring David and Robert down stairs. More accurately though he brought the boys downstairs since each one had grabbed onto one of his legs and Connor walked to the elevator with them sitting on his feet. Connor seemed to be just one of those men that children loved. He never became impatient with their stories or conversations although some of the children would become impatient with him because he would make them speak more clearly. He would often tell them 'I don't understand you; you have to speak more clearly'. Best of all though he was Toby's master and he would let Toby play with them all of the time.

Today Connor was going to pick up Toby from the Veterinary Hospital. The children were at their table eating while David and Robert were in their highchairs by Fred. The Price boys were just starting to learn to feed themselves. Cordelia had the bassinet with her boys all bundled up inside.

With so many people gone Cordelia had invited the Sanchez family to come and sit with them.

"I'm going to go and pick up Toby today Joaquin is it okay if Junior comes with me?" "Yes that would be alright. I want you to be on your best behavior Junior." "I will Papa. Is it time to go now Connor?" "Not yet, let me have my last cup of coffee okay?" "Okay." Connor was about to learn his first lesson about dealing with more than one child at a time.

Kathleen and Joyce were hearing about this trip for the first time. "Can we come too?" "Boys only this trip girls." Connor said.

"That's okay honey we can go to the store with Buffy and buy a homecoming present for Daddy okay?" Cordelia said. "Can we buy a present for Toby also because he's coming home from the hospital too?" Kathleen asked. "Sure I don't think well have a problem doing that. Connie can I leave the boys with you for one or two hours, they've been fed and changed already and are just sleeping?" "Yes, I'll be in the kitchen most of the day making Mr. Martins favorite foods." "Connie I'm sorry I didn't tell you, it didn't occur to me that you might be cooking something for Angel but he isn't eating any solids yet." "That's okay I should have thought of that myself. I'll be happy to take care of the boys though." "Thank you Connie. We shouldn't be to long. Buffy and Joyce are going with us."

Cordelia and Buffy took the girls shopping for balloons and flowers to put in the room while Connor and Junior went to the vet to pickup Toby. Before going to the Veterinary Hospital Connor stopped at a local butcher and picked up some fresh blood for Angel and asked for a 3 lb. 2" steak for Toby's home coming along with the largest leg bone that they had. When Toby saw Connor the assistant couldn't hold on to his leash so he just let go. Toby ran and jumped into Connors arms and he fell over. Toby started licking him all over his face. He was so happy to see him that, like a puppy, he peed all over the floor while Junior clapped his hands and laughed. Toby stopped long enough to go and lick Juniors face all over. Then he made for the door. He made it quiet clear that he wanted out of this place. Connor was still laughing as he put Toby's choke chain on along with his leash.

Everyone was back home by 12 noon. Both Joyce and Kathleen went running into the hotel to see Toby. Before the women knew it the children were on the floor with their faces being licked from ear to ear and giggles could be heard all the way upstairs to the 3rd floor.

The rest of the afternoon for the adults was spent getting the bedroom ready for Angels arrival along with monitors to watch him if no one was in the room with him. After lunch the children had gone upstairs with Toby to play for a while then take their naps.

At exactly 3 P.M. The ambulance pulled up at the back of the hotel and Wesley pulled up behind it in his SUV that he had left at the airport. Connor and Gunn were waiting with the clinics bed. Giles helped his wife get out of the back of the ambulance. The ambulance attendants came to the back and pulled out the bed from the back. They could see that Angel was still sleeping when they pulled him out so they all spoke softly when Connor and Gunn helped to transfer him from the ambulance bed to the clinic bed. After Dr. Martin signed the papers that the driver gave her they left.

They took Angel up to his bedroom and placed him in the hospital bed. They cleared out for a few minutes while Hunter and Cylinda got him settled in. When they were done Hunter opened the door and they all came in but he was still sleeping. After going to the bathroom to freshen up and let her hair down Dr. Martin came to her son's bedroom.

"He's still sleeping Dr. Martin and we didn't want to wake him up until you said it was alright." Cylinda said.

She went to the side of the bed and called out to him. "Angel, Angel wake up son." Angel's eyes began to move under his eyelids. He opened his eyes and appeared to be looking around. His senses told him who was in his bedroom.

"Angel everyone is here to welcome you home. Just to let everyone know he can't see very well yet but as you know he can sense you. He tires easily so I am going to ask you all to leave for now and you can come in later or tomorrow to welcome him home. Right now I think he would like to have some time with his immediate family. Spike, can you stay please?" Everyone else left except Spike and Angel's family.

"Cordy?" For the first time since Angel was brought in Cordelia stepped forward and to his bed. Angel struggled to lift his arms to her but could just barely move them at all. Cordelia couldn't hold herself back anymore though and she jumped on the bed and hugged him, kissed him all over his face and hugged him again. He couldn't do anything but receive her kisses. They both were crying. After a while Cordelia just rested her head against his chest and listened to his heart. She finally looked at everyone looking at her. Connor was holding Kathleen who had previously tried to get away from him so she could go to her Daddy.

Cordelia slid off of the bed and took Kathleen from her brother. "Come and say hello to your Daddy Kathleen." She put her on the bed and told her to stay on his side. As soon as her mother let her go she reached for her Daddy's neck and just hugged him for awhile. Angel wanted to put his arms around her so bad that the tears just quietly ran down the side of his face.

"Where were you Daddy? Those bad people came and took Mommy, Nicky, and Mike and me away and they hurt Toby when he tried to help us. But Connor came and rescued us Daddy." Connor came closer to the bed. "I rescued you but I wouldn't have been able to if you hadn't left me signs to tell me where you where." Kathleen put her finger to her lips and said "Shhhhhh. Don't tell him, Grandma told me not to do it unless Tara or Willow was with me. He'll get mad at me." "I don't think he will this time, but it's just for this one time okay." "Okay then I guess you can tell him." "Kathleen changed one of the technicians into a mouse when he tried to perform a medical test on her. Then she turned one of the guards into a cat who then chased the mouse. When they tried to grab Kathleen she turned herself into a wolf and was able to worm her way out of their grasp and out the door. While she was running all over the place she was peeing all over the floor. If it wasn't for that it would have taken me longer to find her. They had pulled a false wall over the room they were keeping them in. In fact she had left so much in front of the wall that I found it when I slipped in one of her little puddles." Kathleen and her Daddy were laughing. Cordelia and Spike had heard it many times already.

"Your son is a natural leader Angel. As soon as you were found on the floor he took over as though it was something that he did every day. You won't have anything to worry about while you are recuperating. Which I believe will start tomorrow?" Spike looked at Dr. Martin with the question.

"Yes I think it will be time. Every day that you wait Angel will be another day that you add on to your time for recuperation. Tonight for supper I want you to come down stairs."

"No." Angel said out of the blue. "What was that?" Dr. Martin said. She was a bit surprised that he had said no.

"No, here ….only." "Why not?" Dr. Martin asked. Angel looked at Cordelia then Dr. Martin again. ….me."

"I think he is trying to say that he doesn't want to go downstairs because he doesn't have control over his body functions yet."

"Angel do you trust me?" Dr. Martin asked as she sat on the edge of the bed. "Yes." "Then trust me when I say that you need to start moving around just like I did the day after my stroke. And you Mister are to start moving around by going down stairs for supper tonight. Every one will love seeing you again and it will help you to exert yourself a little bit. Well have you fixed up so that no one will know that you are having a problem."

"No." Angel said again.

Spike, Connor and Cordelia looked at each other in surprise. Angel had never said no to his mother. He had never defied her authority over him as a mother would automatically have over her child.

Kathleen started to say something to defend her Daddy. Cordelia picked her up off of the bed and walked to the door and stepped out for a second.

"Don't interfere Kathleen, this is between your Daddy and Grandma. Go play with Joyce and Junior now." Her daughter took off then to find her companions and Cordelia went back inside. As she walked back in she heard Dr. Martin say "Angel Liam Martin you will do as I say. And we all know that I always get my way one way or another and believe me you will be downstairs for supper tonight."

Cordelia, Spike and Connor all looked at Angel to see what he would do or say.

"No."

"Let's go Spike and Connor so Angel can rest. Cordelia give your husband a 12 oz. glass of blood please so that he will have the strength he needs for tonight." Dr. Martin said as she walked out of the room. Spike and Connor followed her as instructed. They didn't dare look at Angel as they walked out. Cordelia followed them to the door. When they were all in the hallway Dr. Martin turned around when Spike put his hand on her shoulder.

"What are you going to do?" Dr. Martin just looked at them and raised her eyebrows a couple of times then turned and left to go upstairs and get some rest. Spike and Connor went downstairs to tell everyone what happened.

"Before lying down Dr. Martin called the local hospital and asked to be connected to the supervisor of Nurses Aids.

TBC……………………………………………………………