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?

25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

Cordelia, Angel, and Giles were the only ones that traveled to Ireland to bury Mary's ashes in the family cemetery. Wesley had Angel's family moved to a new location on the family farm so that they were now all together as Angel had requested. The grave site was now enclosed by a white picket fence that surrounded half an acre. New marble gravestones now headed each grave. Wesley had called ahead and ordered a marble gravestone for Dr. Martin which had been delivered and placed just below Angele's mother's grave. When Giles joined her his ashes would be placed to his wife's left.

The morning after they arrived, Giles carried Mary's ashes in his arms to the grave site. Angel brought a small shovel with him to fill in the hole that Mr. Jenkins had dug for him just in front of the gravestone. Angel got on his knees in order to lower his mothers ashes into the ground. Both Cordelia and Giles got on their knees also. "Giles let me have the urn for a minute please." Cordelia opened the urn and pulled out a small bag from her coat pocket. First she pulled out a butter knife then two crosses with a tiny glass globe in the middle. She carefully opened up the globe of each cross and placed a tiny amount of Mary's ashes into each one then placed a tiny drop of glue by the latch and closed each one. She replaced the lid and gave the urn to Angel who then placed it in a small rope net and lowered it into the grave. Both Angel and Giles pushed the dirt into the hole and patted the dirt down. They all stood up then and brushed the dirt and grass off of there clothes.

"Giles give me the chain that you wear with the Sacred Heart medal that Mom gave you." Giles pulled his chain off and gave it to her. Cordelia proceeded to place the cross, with Mary's ashes in it, onto the chain. "Angel, pull out the chain with the cross that you wear." Angel did as she said and Cordelia attached the new cross onto his chain as well. She placed Giles chain around his neck also and gave him a kiss and hug.

As she stood in front of the men she patted the crosses. "Mom came to me last week and told me where to find these crosses. She also gave me instructions as to what I was to do with them. She wanted for each of you to always have a part of her with you. Now don't stay out here too long boys because I think it's going to rain soon." Cordelia turned and left. Angel called out to her. "Wait and I'll walk back with you." He ran over to her side and put his arm around her shoulders. As Giles watched them walk away he felt Mary's hand brush his. For the next two hours he sat on the ground, leaning against his wife's gravestone, and talking to her. When it started to rain she told him to go in before he caught pneumonia.

At the end of one week they packed to return to the states. At the airport in Dublin Giles turned to Angel and Cordelia and said "Angel I want you to tell everyone that I will be staying in England for awhile. I need to keep my mind busy and the business of the Watchers Council will fulfill that need. Tell Dennis at the store to take care of it and that I give him full authority in whatever it takes to take care of the store." Cordelia went to him and hugged him. "Don't forget Giles that you still have a family in L.A. and that we all love you. The children will especially miss you. Take care of yourself Giles and don't work to hard." Cordelia backed away and let Angel approach Giles. Angel shook Giles hand then pulled him into his arms. They parted after a few minutes. Angel and Cordelia left then without turning back again.

The return flight home was a quiet one. Both Cordelia and Angel kept their thoughts to themselves until they crossed over Texas. Angel gave a slight squeeze to Cordelia's hand; she turned and looked at him.

"Cordy I think that it's time for me to give up leadership of Angel Investigation to Connor. I also think that you should start teaching Kathleen about the visions in preparation for her to receive them from you." "But Mom said that she thought that Kathleen was too young yet to take on the psychological aspects of the visions." "I know but I think she can handle it. Cordelia I believe my time in this world will be coming to an end soon and I want Kathleen to be ready. When I was being held at Wolfram & Hart a man called Vincent Delgado came in and said that the Senior Partners had changed their plans for me. I asked him where Lilah was. He said that she was practicing law else where now. Cordy, I think they killed her because she was seeing Mom about leaving Wolfram & Hart and Mom was helping her to know God again."

Cordelia just looked at him. "Do you think that they are going to try to kill you and not just turn you over to there side?" "Yes and I think they would have done it then but they didn't know how inventive our daughter is." They were quiet for awhile as the stewardess offered them something to drink. As usual Angel asked for a Southern Comfort on ice. Cordelia asked for a glass of wine. After a few minutes she heard Angel trying to contain his laughter.

"What's so funny?" "I was remembering the sight of all of the guards jumping up and down and trying to brush off the imaginary ants. I would never have thought of something so simple working as well as it did." It took them a while to get their laughing under control. "Cordelia, I think that Kathleen will do just fine. When we get home try to keep her close to you during the evening hours. When you start to have a vision hold her hands and let her see the vision with you. I am going to tell Connor that I want him to take over Angel Investigations as soon as he can leave the police force." Cordelia just held her husbands hand and said "Okay". They were quiet the rest of the trip and each of them was able to grab an hour of sleep before landing in L.A.

Wesley and Fred met them at the airport. After greeting each other Wesley noticed that Giles was missing. "Where is Giles?" "He told me to tell everyone that he is going to stay in England for a while and work with the Watchers Council. He said he needed to keep his mind busy for now and that we were to tell Dennis at the store that he has full control of everything." "How is Giles doing?" Fred asked Cordelia. "About as well as can be expected, under the circumstances. I sent an e-mail to his secretary and asked her to let me know if he should start to become too despondent. She promised me to take care of him like he was her own son. I found that Peggy tends to mother him sometimes and I know she will take good care of him."

When Connor came downstairs for Supper Angel asked him to step inside of his office for a minute. Angel was sitting on his couch when Connor went into the office. "What's up?" He asked, Angel patted the couch next to him and Connor sat down.

"Connor I would like for you to take over control of Angel Investigation as soon as possible." "Why, is there something wrong?" "No but I have to tell you that while we were being kept at Wolfram & Hart I was told by my jailer that the Senior Partners have changed their plans for me. They want me to be disposed of as soon as possible. They have finally given up I guess on turning me towards their side. Even though I've killed Vincent Delgado, my jailer, it won't be long before he is replaced." "Let's hit them then before they can hit us again." "We can't do that yet. Cordelia is going to start getting Kathleen used to the Visions that will guide you. We need to give your sister time to mature a little more. Grandma told us that your sister is the one that will bring down Wolfram & Hart but you know as well as I do that she needs time to grow up a little more. Right now the whole thing is a game to her. She hasn't seen what they can do."

"Okay Dad I'll start working with you more and working only part time with the Police Department but the change will have to wait for six months. We're short handed right now so I don't want to put the guys in anymore danger by pulling out right now. We have another class of new recruits that will be graduating in another six months and then it will take another three to six months to break them in. In one year I'll go to part time and 6 months after that I'll quit. Is that okay with you?" "Yes I think that will be okay. Connor I'm sorry that I'm asking you to take over so soon. I know how you love working with the police department." Connor stood up and patted his father on the back. "That's okay Dad I've noticed how you get tired after going after one of Cordelia's visions now days. I knew it was only a matter of time." Angel grabbed at his son's legs in order to pull him down but Connor was already out the door. He just looked at the vacant space where his son had been. "Yeah, I'm getting slower also."

Instead of going to supper he went upstairs to Giles and Mary's room. He looked around for something that still had her scent on it. Her clothes were still in the drawers but they had all been cleaned, neatly folded, and placed back into the drawers. All of the room had been cleaned along with all of her clothes so he left and went to room 412. Since the room rarely had anyone sleeping in it, it hadn't been cleaned where it wiped out her scent. Angel went into the bathroom and checked the back of the door. Here, at last, he found her scent. On the back of the door was her terry cloth bathrobe she wore sometimes when she was cold. His mothers scent permeated the robe.

Angel took the robe and went to the bed and lay down. He hugged the robe to his chest and breathed in deeply the scent of his mother. After a few minutes he couldn't hold back his tears anymore. Angel cried for his adopted mother that night. He cried until he had a headache and he was exhausted. It was the first time that he had allowed himself the luxury of crying for her. He hadn't allowed himself this luxury because he felt that he had to remain strong for the rest of the family and especially for Giles. He felt that he could afford himself the luxury of giving into the tremendous grief that he felt squeezing his heart now. After giving into his grief for more than 30 minutes he fell asleep.

"Where's Daddy Mommy?" Mike asked his mother. "Your Daddy needs to be left alone for awhile Mike and Nicky. He's very tired and is sleeping right now." Cordelia had read the grief that her husband was dealing with right now. She looked at Kathleen and saw how sad she looked and knew that she had read her fathers mind also.

When Kathleen was done with her supper she looked around at everyone. Let's go have some fun Connor. Grandma wouldn't want us to be grieving so much for her. Let's go riding. I haven't taken Vicky out in a long time and I think she's going stir crazy." Connor looked at his sister. "Yes I think it's time also, anyone else want to go?" Lou's hand was the first one to go up then Toms, Fred, Junior and finally Cordelia's hand went up.

"Can we come to Mommy?" Mike and Nicky asked. "No not tonight. It's too dark now and I might loose you out in the dark. Daddy and I can take you out on Sunday when we come back from Church, okay?" "Okay Mommy. Can we be excused now?" Nicky and Mike asked. David and Robert asked if they could be excused also. "Yes you may be excused. I'll be up in a little while and you can show me how to play your X Box games while Mommy goes riding with the rest." Wesley told the boys. Like a heard of horses the boys went running upstairs. They were all having a growth spurt and Cordelia and Fred were having a hard time keeping them in clothes that fit.

"It looks like we'll have to go shopping for clothes for them again Fred." Cordelia said. "Yes they seem to try to purposely defeat our efforts to keep them clothed properly. Since tomorrow is Saturday maybe we can go to the mall and make a day of it." They all went to their rooms to change into jeans and flannel shirts since it was a little cool out tonight.

When they arrived at the stables there were so many horses to saddle that they each had to do their own. Aunt Bee and Santana had presented to Kathleen a pure black foal 3 years ago. Although he wasn't quit as tall as Santana, Duke, as she had named him, still grew up to be a magnificent looking Stallion. She kept his mane long and she would ask someone to bring her out to the stables on the weekends so she could tend to him herself. Poor Santana didn't understand why Angel wasn't there to take him out also and he looked longingly at the rest as they left the stables.

Everyone was saddled and they took off down the street that led to the trails. As they all left the stables Angel pulled into the parking lot for the stables which wasn't more than a barren dirt area. He had awakened when he heard the boys going upstairs and heard them talking about going riding. As soon as they all left he went to his room and dressed to go riding. He reached the stables just before they left on the horses. Santana whinnied to him as he caught his scent.

"You're happy to see me I see. Hold still so that I can get the saddle on you." Angel quickly saddled Santana and mounted him. They jumped the fence separating the river bed and the stable and Angel gave him his head which told Santana he could give a good stretch to his legs. As they arrived at the river where they usually crossed he stopped and listened for the rest of his family. They were making a lot of noise as they let their horses trot to the riverbed. Angel quickly crossed the river and waited on the other side which was a little higher then the side where he crossed.

Angel and Santana waited until he was sure that the rest could see him. In the next minute they came within eye sight. He was wearing a hat so he took it off and waved and made Santana rear and kick at the air with his front legs. He gave a loud cowboy yell as Santana reared up again then he gave him the command to run.

"It's Daddy Connor and he's daring us to catch him. Let's go." Kathleen and Connor kicked their mounts and took off. Both Connor and Kathleen were exceptional riders and rode their horses as though they were attached to them. Cordelia, Lou and Fred were right behind them. No one really thought of how Toby and Vicky were doing. Normally they would have done just fine at keeping up with the horses but tonight Toby smelled love in the air. He followed Vicky who had walked a little off the trail and waited for Toby. Tonight Vicky became Toby's life long companion as they mated. Cordelia had told Connor and Kathleen to keep them apart for Vicky's first two heats. She told them that Vicky needed time to grow and become more mature other wise having puppies too early would drain her body too much.

While the dogs were busy creating their babies Connor and Kathleen caught up with Angel. Connor reached for his dad and pushed him off of Santana as he threw himself at him. Kathleen pulled up Duke and jumped down and piled on top of the men also. Junior and Tom were already on the ground and helping Connor. The rest arrived shortly after and did the same. Connor had Angel by the neck and Tom and Junior each had an arm. Kathleen held one leg while Lou and Fred held the other leg down. Cordelia was busy taking his shoe off and tickling his feet. Angel called out to Santana for him to come and help him but Santana came over and instead of helping him he gave a horse laugh which made everyone start laughing so hard that they couldn't hold Angel anymore.

Angel sat up and just looked at Santana. "Some friend you are, you're supposed to come over and scare them away." Santana came over and pushed him with his head then nibbled at his hair. "Okay I forgive you but don't let it happen again. At least Toby would have helped me by pulling at their legs. Where is Toby and Vicky?" Angel asked as he pulled his sock and shoe on.

Connor and Kathleen just looked at each other. Kathleen's face turned red but since it was dark no one could see her face. They both knew what the dogs were doing. "Toby has officially made Vicky his wife and they are busy making their first litter of puppies." Connor informed everyone.

"Well I guess we had better make it a slow ride back so we don't disturb them." Cordelia said. Angel had stood up and reached out for her hand to help her up. Lou helped Fred up then they all mounted their horses. Lou encouraged her horse to move up by Angel and Connor. "Dad, do you think we could go up to our cabin sometime soon so we could run through the mountains. I suddenly became very homesick for them when we started playing. I was remembering how Tom and I used to do the same thing to our father." "Sure, we can do that any time you want but if Connor wants to go, which I'm sure he does, you'll have to ask him when he can join us." Angel said. "Tomorrow when I go into work I'll check to see when I can take a few days off." Connor told them.

They were coming up to the place where the dogs had stopped. Toby heard them and could smell Connor's scent. He nosed Vicky, who was sleeping, and they both went running to them and barking all of the way. "Here are the newlyweds." Connor jumped off of Opie and braced himself for Toby to greet him. Both dogs jumped all over him and licked his face as he got down on one knee. Kathleen came over also and they jumped all over her as well. After they were done Connor and Kathleen mounted again and they took off. As they came to the fork in the trail that went behind the stables or to the street Angel told Cordelia that he was going up behind the stables. Angel, Connor and Kathleen took the trail that led behind the stables and the rest took the street.

As Angel, Connor and Kathleen pushed their horses into a gallop they could all sense someone nearby that was watching them. Kathleen maneuvered Duke so that he was between Connor and her father.

"Daddy someone is trying to get into my mind." "Do you have the walls up to protect yourself?" "Yes, their not very strong and I can hold them off easily. Should I do something to them?" "Yes but lets all do it. Just ahead at the bridge there is usually a group of bats. Let's try to get them to go after our guests." They all closed their eyes and concentrated on the bats and their watchers. After a few minutes you could hear the flutter of what sounded like more than 100 bats as they went to the other side of the river and attacked their watchers. You could hear the men screaming as they tried to brush them away from their heads and running back to their vehicles. Angel, Connor and Kathleen kicked their horses in the sides and they started back for the stables at a run.

The next morning at Wolfram & Hart the leader of the men that had been assigned the task of eliminating Angel was standing in front of the new man that had been assigned the task of exterminating him. The man was clearly English and his mannerisms told them that he thought of them as being less than the dirt he walked on.

"Why is Angel still alive?" "He had his daughter with him Sir." "Are you telling me that you're afraid of a little girl?" "This little girl, yes we are. She is a very powerful Witch Sir. We tried to read her mind to see what they were doing and she easily blocked our attempts to do so. She is the same one that made the guards think they had ants crawling all over them so that her father and mother could escape with her. She can control many people at one time sir and we will need our own witches or warlocks to combat her the next time we attempt to kill her father."

The new man was quiet for a few minutes as he paced back and forth behind his desk. "Alright I'll get you what you want. If you fail next time you had better have a very good excuse. Just as a warning I won't accept anything less then your funeral as an excuse. Now get out of here."

As the weeks passed everything returned to a more normal life. At least they weren't constantly thinking of the fact that Dr. Martin was no longer with them. Once in a while someone would say something like 'we can ask Grandma if that's true'. They would all become quiet for awhile then continue on.

After five weeks they could easily tell that Vicky was pregnant. Kathleen had been brushing her when she felt the puppies moving. She was so excited that she went running to the hallway and called down "Momma, come here." Angel and Cordelia came running up the stairs to her room.

"What's wrong?" Cordelia asked excitedly. "Put your hand on Vicky's stomach and you can feel the puppies moving around." Cordelia and Angel just looked at each other then got on the floor so they could feel the puppies. You could easily see the puppies moving around. "It won't be long now Kathleen. The puppies are starting to get crowded in there. I think she has 2 or three weeks to go and then we'll have our next generation of Angel Investigation dogs." Kathleen gave Vicky a kiss on her nose and hugged her. Kathleen started taking care of her so well that she was practically feeding her with a spoon.

As Vicky got closer to her delivery date she developed a problem that called for adjustments to the doggie door. They had all just finished their supper when they heard Vicky whimpering by the doggie door. Kathleen went to the door and opened it. Vicky quickly went outside to go potty then came right back in. As Kathleen sat down at the table again she said, "It looks like we have to enlarge the doggie door. Toby's wife is getting to big to use the regular door." "I'll ask Mr. Sanchez to do that tomorrow or else you'll be up all night letting her out until she delivers. You had your Momma and me getting up at least 3 times each night just before you were born." Angel told his daughter.

"Why did you have to pee all of the time Daddy when Momma was the one that was carrying me?" "You've heard your Momma and I talk about the link that we share?" "Yes, but you and I can talk to each other and you don't have to go to the bathroom every time I do." "That's true but the link your Momma and I share is much closer. The link we share is so powerful that when your Momma would get morning sickness I would get it also. When she would get depressed I would too and the day you were born I felt the same pain she felt." "Will my husband go through the same thing Momma?" "No Sweetheart, your Daddy is special and only people like your Daddy and Uncle Spike can have that kind of link with their wives." "You mean because Daddy and Uncle Spike are Vampires." "Yes that's it exactly."

"I wonder if Connor is going to go through the same thing when Lou and him have there first baby." Kathleen was never one to pass up the opportunity to tease her brother. "Just think Connor since your mother was a Vampire and both of Lou's parents were Vampires maybe you'll feel the same thing that she does when she is pregnant. I can just see it now, all of a sudden in the middle of the night Lou will jump out of bed and run to the bathroom." Kathleen got up and did a little dance around the dinning room table and stopped every few steps to cross her legs. "Hurry up Lou I have to pee too. Or worse yet, oh my goodness, MORNING SICKNESS! I can just see it, Lou jumps out of bed to run to the bathroom to throw up then you run to the kitchen sink to throw up." Kathleen made sounds like she was vomiting. She barely had time to get out of his reach as her brother jumped over the table and landed right by her. She made a bee line for the stairs laughing all of the way. He caught her as she ran to the other end of the hallway that went behind the elevator and back to the first floor and basement.

Connor picked her up and held on tightly to her ankles as he dangled her over the balcony. As she started screaming and laughing at the same time she yelled at her brother "Connor stop it you're making me pee in my pants." "Are you going to tease me about that anymore?" "I don't know what you're talking about." "Yes you do now promise you won't tease me about what may or may not happen or I just may start thinking about all of that pain and faint. Then you'll fall down head first and break the floor." "Daddy, make him stop." Kathleen yelled. "Daddy make him stop, Daddy make him stop." Connor teased Kathleen.

"I'm going to ask you one more time, are you going to stop teasing me about what may or may not happen when Lou becomes pregnant?" Kathleen didn't say anything for a few minutes. "Well, I'm waiting." "I'm thinking if a bump on the head is worth it just so that I can continue to tease you." Connor made out like he was going to drop her. She let out a scream.

Everyone was watching them and laughing. Nicky, Mike, David and Robert were all standing under the balcony and yelling "Do it Connor, drop her, she won't feel a thing." "I'm going to get you guys when I get loose. Alright Connor I promise that I won't tease you about what may or may not happen when Lou gets pregnant." Connor pulled her up and helped her to stand up. He held out a hand to her. "Peace?" Connor asked. "Peace." Kathleen said as they shook hands. Connor went back to the table to finish his coffee and his sister went after the boys.

"You two are as bad as Spike and your father." Wesley said. "They're irritating but it is fun isn't it?" Connor said as he looked at his father. "Yes but don't ever tell Spike what I admitted to."

Cordelia was walking to the stairs when she started to have a vision. As she sat down on the stairs she called out to Kathleen. Her daughter was by her side in seconds and sitting down by her mother's side. They held each others hand as the vision started to run through her mind. Kathleen jerked back a little as the vision started. When it was over they both went over to the Lobby counter and Cordelia let Kathleen write down the directions. Connor, Angel, Lou and Tom were at the counter. Connor held his hand out for the directions. "Give me the directions Kathleen and tell me what's happening." "No I'm going too." Kathleen said as she held the paper to her chest. Connor looked at Angel and Cordelia. Angel nodded his okay. "I guess there has to be a first time for everything." Cordelia told them.

"Okay Kathleen but stay to the side. If you see that we need help then use your magic and not your fists, understand?" "I understand." She gave the paper to her brother then and they all grabbed a weapon from the weapons cabinet then ran to Connors van. Wesley put his arm around Cordelia's shoulder. "She'll be okay Cordelia, she has more power in her little finger than the rest of them put together." "I know Wesley but she has never seen all of the killing, all of the blood and gore that goes along with killing. She thinks that we only kill Vampires and Demons. She doesn't know that sometimes humans that work with the Vampires are sometimes killed also."

"She knows more than you think Cordelia. Dr. Martin and I talked about her several times. She was worried about the psychological affects on Kathleen but I think I finally convinced her that we all have a first time and that your daughter will do just fine. Willow and Tara have told me about some of the training that they put Kathleen through. It's because of that training I believe that she will do a lot better than most of us did our first time." Wesley gave her a kiss on her forehead then went back upstairs. He looked back as he reached the top of the stairs. Cordelia was just sitting there and waiting for her family to come home.

Four hours later they came through the back doors. Kathleen was covered in some kind of blue Vaseline like substance while her beautiful red hair was a crimson red now. Connors was covered in the same stuff. Cordelia had fallen asleep while she waited so Kathleen went over to her mother and put her face close to hers. "Momma, wake up Momma were back." Cordelia opened her eyes and when she was able to focus in on her daughters face she let out a scream. "What happened to you? Are you hurt?" "No Momma it's all Connors fault. When the fight was over he came and rubbed himself all over me along with the blood from a deep cut he had on his arm. Before he could stop bleeding he had rubbed it all over my hair. He even squeezed his arm more so that he could get more blood out of it. I wanted to turn him into a toad but Daddy wouldn't let me." Kathleen was smiling all the time as she told her mother about what had happened.

Cordelia got up and looked her over carefully. "Why don't you all go and get cleaned up then go to bed. You can tell me all about what happened tomorrow morning." She started to kiss her daughter goodnight but then thought twice about it as she wrinkled her nose at the smell as she got closer, instead she just shooed her upstairs.

Later that night as Angel and Cordelia lay in bed Cordelia asked "How did she really do Angel?" "She was fine, where as Connor and I were wrecks because we were trying to fight and keep an eye on her at the same time. It didn't seem to bother her at all when we killed the bad guys. She still seems to see it as a game. Unfortunately I don't think that she will take this seriously until she sees one of us get hurt. It's just too easy for her to perform magic."

The next day Cordelia was looking for Kathleen so that she could help her with the laundry. It was Saturday and Kathleen had one more day of classes except this class took place in the hotel and the teacher was her mother. Cordelia was going around and picking up the various towels and such that needed to be cleaned once each month when she came into the chapel to pickup the altar cloth. Inside the chapel she found her daughter and, to her surprise, Fr. Barris. They were sitting together and engaging in quiet conversation. Cordelia quietly exited and went down to the basement with her load of laundry. One hour later Kathleen joined her mother in the basement.

"I'm sorry I didn't come right away Momma but I was talking to Fr. Barris in the chapel." "I know I saw you when I started to go in to get the altar cloth." They were quiet for a while as they separated the clothes. Kathleen put all of the sheets into the large commercial size washing machine and Cordelia started the regular washer with a load of clothes for Mike, Nicky and Angel. She usually washed their clothes separate since they tended to get dirtier and their clothes were usually of a heavier material. She had already washed the towels and was busy folding them. When Kathleen started to help her fold the towels Cordelia could sense that her daughter had a question for her.

"I know you want to ask me something Kathleen so just ask it." "I was talking to Fr. Barris about why there is so much evil in the world and why Daddy and Connor have to risk their lives all of the time fighting them. He said it's because too many people love themselves first. There hearts are smaller than most people's hearts. They have no respect or love for anyone else. There own comfort and happiness is the most important things in their lives and they will do anything that they have to in order to give themselves what they want. Those kinds of people can only get what they want by working for Satan."

"Yes that's what grandma taught us also. She also taught us that some people are just plain mean and will walk over anyone in order to have what they want. Both types of people are the type that Connor fights during the day and then at night he fights them with your father. People, Demons, and Vampires they all seem to act the same as if they have their own agenda. Christ said to love one another as he does. The bad people, Demons, and Vampires that love only themselves have no problem with hurting others. God created our family so that we can combat those people. When your Daddy and Gunn stop fighting the good fight then Connor, Lou, Tom, you and whoever else joins us will take over and continue the good fight. Does that answer your question?"

"Yes and it's also the same thing that Grandma told me. When do you think that Grandpa will come home? I miss him."

"Why don't you call him and ask him." "Can I call him now or should I wait for tonight?" "Check to see what the time difference is then figure out what time you have to call him in order to reach him at night after he has had a chance to have his supper and rest a little. By that time he will be more open to suggestion."

Kathleen looked at her mother and smiled. "It's like Grandma used to tell me

'Kathleen you are learning how to handle men from a master manipulator, your mother'." They took the clean laundry up stairs while laughing all the way. Angel was in his office and he heard the women going upstairs and laughing. He gave an involuntary shudder. "Poor Connor and whoever she sets her sights on. That girl is learning from the Master."

Later that night Kathleen called her grandfather. After telling him all about what had been going on at home and about Vicky having puppies she asked him the main reason for her calling. "When are you coming home Grandpa I miss you and Nicky and Mike miss you also. They are always asking when you're coming home." "I miss you also but I can't come home yet. I have a few things to finish up here and then I'll be home." "When will that be Grandpa?" "In two months I'll be done and will come home at the end of the month okay?" "Okay Grandpa. Is that a promise?" "Yes I promise. You better go to bed now." "Goodbye Grandpa." "Goodbye Kathleen." Kathleen hung up and went running downstairs to her parent's room so she could tell them when Giles was coming home.

The next morning as Giles walked into his office Peggy greeted him "Good morning Rupert." "Good morning Peggy." "Donald Tryst called this morning. (Donald Tryst was the Councils resident psychologist). He said that it was extremely important that you call him immediately upon coming in." "Thank you Peggy, would you get him on the phone for me please?"

Giles went into his office after making himself a cup of coffee. As he sat down his phone rang. It was Donald Tryst. "Rupert, this is Donald Tryst, as you know Roger Price has been seeing me ever since he came back from America and his nervous breakdown." "Yes, I remember, how is he doing?" "Not well Rupert he hasn't improved at all. He still has a very negative attitude towards Angel and his children. He thinks that his son has been placed under a spell to keep him working with Angel. Rupert, I consider him to be a danger to both Angel and his children and also to his son. I think that he will do whatever it takes to remove Angel and his children and to get Wesley to come back to England." "I thought you said he was doing better?" "He was when he first came back but within the last few months he seemed to have a relapse." Giles paused for awhile in order to organize his thoughts. "What do you think we should do with him?" "He needs to be confined somehow; right now though we have a bigger problem Rupert because Roger is missing. He had told me that he was going with his wife to spend some time with some friends in Paris and that he would be back two days. When he didn't show up for an appointment with me yesterday I called his home. Rupert, I talked to his wife, Felicity, and she said that he had left to visit some friends in Paris over a month ago. I asked her if she could give me a number where I could talk to him. I called the number and they said they hadn't heard from Roger since last year."

"Do you think he has gone to America?" "Yes and I think you should warn Angel and his son. I believe he is dangerous Rupert and may attempt to hurt or kill Angel." "Thank you Donald I'll let you know as soon as we find him." As soon as Giles hung up the phone he gathered some papers he was working on and called Peggy into his office. She came in ready to take notes. "I will be leaving and returning to the United States sooner than I expected. Please let the heads of all departments know and call for a first class ticket to Los Angeles California." "Yes sir." She left right away and started placing the calls.

The first and only flight that Peggy could get for Giles was at 6 A.M. the next morning. He purposely did not call home to let them know he was coming and he also gave Peggy strict instructions not to call anyone at the Hyperion. "Yes sir, I promise not to call Mrs. Martin or anyone else at the Hotel." After Giles hung up Peggy called California. To herself she said "I promised not to call anyone at the Hotel but he didn't say anything about The Slayer." She innocently whistled a little tune as she waited for the call to go through.

Just as everyone was sitting down to lunch the phone rang at the Lobby desk. "Angel Investigations we help the helpless." Cordelia greeted. "Cordelia this is Buffy can I speak to Wesley if he's there?" "Sure Buffy I'll get him. Wesley the call is for you. It's Buffy."

After 15 minutes on the phone Wesley joined everyone at the table. He didn't say anything about the call he thought he would let everyone have a peaceful lunch first then he would tell them about the call from Buffy.

While they were eating lunch Kathleen noticed Vicky wasn't eating her lunch, which was just 2 biscuits, instead she was walking around the Lobby and smelling the floor. She came back and looked at Kathleen. "What's the matter Vicky, aren't you hungry for your biscuits?" Vicky just looked at her, wagged her tale and whimpered. Toby came over to her and licked her face. "Maybe she needs to go outside?" Cordelia said. Kathleen got up and let both of the dogs out. She watched them for a few minutes then went back to her lunch.

"She just went outside and started checking out the back just as though she had never been back there before." Kathleen reported to no one in particular.

Mrs. Sanchez came over to the dining room and spoke in Spanish to Kathleen. "I think that Vicky is going to have her puppies today. She is looking for a place to bring her babies into the world." "Oh Momma, Grandma Sanchez said she thinks Vicky is looking for a place to have her babies." "When you're finished with your lunch you can take her up to your room and make her lay down in the birthing box that Connor made. Make her stay in it as much as possible so that she will understand that this where she is to have her puppies." Kathleen quickly finished her lunch then did as her mother told her.

Two nights later Kathleen woke up when she heard Vicky whimpering. When she turned the light on she could see that Vicky had her first puppy already. By 6 A.M. the next morning she had delivered five puppies that were now lying next to their mother as she continued to lick them and clean them. Kathleen picked each one up and checked their sex. We have three males and two females. She praised Vicky and gave each puppy a kiss before she put them back with their mother. Before getting dressed she gave Vicky something to eat. Today was a school day so she had to hurry to get ready. Before leaving she knocked on the door to her Mother and Fathers room. "Come in Kathleen." Angel called out. "Daddy I wanted to tell Momma that Vicky had her puppies last night, three boys and two girls. I already gave her something to eat and left the door open so she could go outside when she wants to. Oh and she should have one more puppy. Bye!" Kathleen closed the door and went running out of the hotel. "That kid makes me tired just watching her." Cordelia said as she turned over and looked at Angel.

"Shall we go and check on the 5 new additions to Angel Investigations?" Cordelia asked. "Sure let's go." Angel called Connor first and told him about the new additions then followed Cordelia upstairs after pulling his pants on.

In Kathleen's room they found 5 puppies cuddled up next to their mother. Vicky's tail started to wag vigorously as Angel and Cordelia came in and a few minutes later Connor, Lou and Toby. Toby approached the birthing box carefully. After smelling Vicky and her new puppies he sat down and they could have all sworn that he was smiling. Connor got down on his knees and praised Vicky for doing such a good job. As they watched her tending to her puppies she started to have contractions again.

"It looks like she isn't done yet." Cordelia said. Within a few minutes she pushed out what they hoped was the last one. To every ones surprise the last one was all white. Vicky quickly started to clean the puppy and chew off the umbilical cord. As she continued to clean it up it became whiter and they could see that it was an albino.

"This is a very unusual puppy. White German Shepherds are rare. I think this one will be special." Connor said. He turned it over so he could see the sex. "It's a boy." He looked at Toby and took his front paw and shook it. "Congratulations Toby you and Vicky did a good job." Toby licked his face then went to Vicky and licked her face also then sniffed at the new puppy.

"I guess we better leave the new family alone now. Vicky looks like she is pretty tired." Cordelia said. They all followed her out of the room and left Toby and Vicky with their new family.

Connor went back to bed since he didn't get in until just a couple of hours ago. Lou followed him into the room but went into the bathroom to take a shower and get dressed. Before getting into the shower she took a moment to open a pregnancy test package she had bought just yesterday. She was two weeks late. She quickly used the test then jumped into the shower and took a quick bath. By the time she got out of the shower the test was ready. She checked the box and reread it several times before she allowed herself to smile and be happy. She decided to wait to tell Connor and everyone else at Supper.

While all of this was going on Giles had arrived in California and taken a room at a nearby hotel. The first thing he did was call Buffy and let her know what was going on. Buffy didn't let on that Peggy had already contacted her and she had talked to Wesley. She told Giles that they would leave for L.A. as soon as they could.

At supper that evening at the Hyperion everyone was seated at the table for once. These days someone was almost always missing as they went about taking care of their own responsibilities. Wesley and Fred were almost always there since they were holding classes for the boys while Kathleen and the other girls were going to public school. Curfew for Kathleen was 5 p.m. unless her father, brother or Tom was with her.

Today was the first time that Kathleen had broken that rule by 1 hour. Angel had started pacing the floor at the front doors by 5:15. Everyone stayed out of his way and Cordelia could sense his anger through the link they shared. At 5:30 Kathleen called home and her mother answered the phone. "Momma its Kathleen." "Where are you? Your father is having a melt down little girl." "I'm at school, I missed the bus and I need someone to pick me up." "Alright Kathleen I'll ask Connor to pick you up."

Angel had been standing on the other side of the Lobby counter and was listening to the conversation. Cordelia saw his eyes actually turn red. "I'll pick her up." Angel said. Cordelia ran after him as he headed for the back. "Angel, be careful. You're very angry right now. Don't say or do anything that you'll regret later. I think that since she is the first of the children to try this then we should set an example for the rest and hold court just like she did for Nicky." Angel stopped and took a deep breath. He turned to Cordelia and nodded after thinking about her suggestion for a moment. "Okay we'll do as you suggested." He turned then and left to pick his wayward daughter up.

With all of this going on with Kathleen Lou had decided to wait to break the news to Connor.

As Angel pulled up to the school he could see his daughter sitting on the ground under a large tree and reading a book. Other kids were around but most were paired up or talking in groups. His daughter was the youngest among all of the kids in the front of the school and he could see how she was shunned by the others. Angel knew how women of all ages saw him and he decided that he would use his looks to benefit his daughters standing at the school. He pulled the car up to the side walk so that it was right by a group of girls dressed in cheerleader outfits. He did his best to literally ooze testosterone all over the place so that the girls immediately took notice of him.

"Hi ladies can you tell me if you have seen Kathleen Martin. She said she would be out in the front of the school?" It took a moment for them too recover from the affect that he was having on them. "Yes sir I believe that she is over by the front of the school and under the tree." The girl pointed Kathleen out. "Thank you." Angel said with the brightest smile he could muster. He left and walked towards his daughter who had seen the whole show. She gathered her things and walked towards her father who had lost the smile. Angel gave her a kiss and held her hand as they walked back to the car. He didn't say anything to her all of the way home. Kathleen knew she was in trouble.

At the same time Giles had taken a cab to Wolfram & Hart. At the receptionist station he asked if he could see Mr. Robert Price. The receptionist looked up the name and couldn't find any such name. After trying several different names that the receptionist couldn't find either Giles asked for the man in charge. After making another call the receptionist told Giles to have a seat and someone would be down shortly to talk to him. While Giles was waiting Buffy, Spike, Willow and Tara came in and joined him.

"What are all of you doing here? I asked you to go to the Hyperion." Giles said as they all came and sat down around him. It didn't escape him that they were all dressed in their best business like clothes instead of the casual clothing they usually wore.

"We just thought you could use our support. After all it never hurts to have the Slayer at your back." Spike said. Giles looked him over and noticed that Spike's hair was its normal color now and he had put on some weight and wasn't so thin anymore. For Spike, Buffy's 'Got to Have It Cravings' during her pregnancy that gave him the extra weight made him look more handsome since he continued to work out a lot.

Giles sat down again after looking at all of them. They all just looked back at him with a smile. This told him that no matter what he said they weren't going anyplace.

A well dressed, gray haired gentleman came over to Giles. "Mr. Giles I am Mr. Duncan and I will take you upstairs to see Mr. Price." Giles stood up and shook Mr. Duncan's offered hand. Everyone else stood up also. "I'm sorry but I was given instructions to take up only Mr. Giles." "He will be okay Buffy, I'll know where he is at all times and of his well being. We won't have any problem finding him if something should happen." Willow told her. Buffy and Spike sat down again and Giles and Mr. Duncan went to the elevators.

Giles was taken to a 3rd floor office. Mr. Duncan knocked at the door and they heard Mr. Price tell them to enter. As soon as they walked in Robert told Mr. Duncan he could leave.

"Have a seat Rupert." Giles sat down at a chair in front of a large desk. Mr. Price brought over two cups of tea for himself and Giles of which he waved off.

"What are you doing here Robert?" "They needed someone that knew all about Angel Investigations and I want Angel dead and his progeny along with him. Since both Wolfram & Hart and I want the same thing they contacted me and offered me the job. As you can see I took it." "Robert you need help. Do you know that Felicity is worried sick about you?" "Felicity is doing just fine and since she feels as you do she doesn't really need me. When I am finally successful you will all be released from Angels control and influence and you will be able to see how ridiculous your association with him was. I am giving you fair warning Rupert, leave the United States and return to England or you may get caught up in what is going to happen. I have all the resources of Wolfram & Hart to back me up and make sure that I am successful." "What you have just said proves to me how sick you are Robert. You will not win because we have a higher power behind us. I'll do my best to make sure that you are not hurt and are returned to England where you can be helped. It is I that's warning you Robert stop what you are doing and return to the Watchers Council where you can be helped and Felicity is waiting for you." Giles turned then and left. When he got back to the Lobby he walked over to the group and said "Let's go to the Hyperion so that I can let Wesley and Angel know what is going on." Everyone followed him out and to Buffy's van.

Supper was over and Angel hadn't said much of anything to Kathleen. When people started to get up Angel cleared his throat. "Would everyone please take their chairs over to the Lobby. Kathleen broke her curfew this afternoon and we shall hold court to decide her innocence or guilt and decide her punishment." Just as he said this Giles and the Sunnydale group came in.

Cordelia went to Giles and gave him a kiss and hug. Kathleen and the other children did the same.

"I would like to talk with you for a while Giles but we were just about to hold court to decide Kathleen's innocence or guilt in her breaking of her curfew. I would like for you to stand as the judge since I believe you will be impartial since you just returned."

"Of course I will be happy to serve as the judge." Giles said as he put his coat to the side and took his handkerchief out to clean his glasses. A table and chair was brought over for Giles use. Angel brought over a judges gavel that he had bought after the first trial. Angel and Wesley took seats at another table that would serve as the prosecutors table. Kathleen had asked her mother to sit with her since she often had the same problem. Buffy volunteered to sit on Kathleen's left also.

For the next 30 minutes Kathleen was questioned on why she was late getting home after her curfew. After hearing Kathleen's excuse and listening to why she had been given such an early curfew Angel addressed the court after talking to Connor who had come in during Kathleen's time on the stand.

"I would like to call a witness to the stand who has just given me some important information." Giles nodded his okay. "Connor would you take the stand please?" After Connor sat down at the chair by Giles Angel asked him "Would you please tell the court Connor what you just told me?" "Around 12 noon my partner and I were patrolling the area around the local mall. In the entrance to the food court we happened to see a group of teenagers getting off of the bus and entering the mall. In the middle of the group I saw Kathleen. I told my partner that I was hungry and suggested that we stop for lunch. By doing this I was able to keep an eye on Kathleen. When we had to leave because of a robbery that was in progress I asked the mall guard to keep an eye on her and to let me know when they left the mall. Later on he called me and let me know that they left at 4:30.

Angel thanked Connor and asked Kathleen to take the stand again. She was already starting to cry as she walked up to the stand. Cordelia stood up. "Your honor I would like to question the accused first." Angel nodded his okay and returned to his chair as Giles told her to proceed.

"Kathleen can you tell us why you went to the mall, with the girls, and paid for their lunch?" Cordelia asked her daughter.

"None of the girls wanted anything to do with me because I was so much younger than the rest of them so I thought that maybe they would let me into their group if I treated them to lunch. Unfortunately they wanted to stay longer than just lunch and we ended up missing the last two classes of the day and when I finally got back to school I started studying for a test that we are having tomorrow in my calculus class and I just lost track of time." Cordelia sat down again and let Angel question his daughter.

"So not only did you stay out later then your curfew but you also lied to us as to why you were late and the fact that you skipped two of your classes." Kathleen just looked at her father with tears pouring down her cheeks. "Yes sir." Cordelia looked at Giles and Angel. She knew that Kathleen's tears were very real but she didn't think that the men thought they were. Cordelia understood why Kathleen had done what she did. Angel could never understand the pressure teenagers were under to be a part of the in crowd.

Giles pulled his handkerchief out and gave it to his granddaughter. Kathleen finally looked up at her father. "Daddy, I'm sorry Daddy. I promise that I'll never do it again. Please don't be angry with me for disobeying you. I just wanted to be friends with them." Kathleen got up and went to her father and kneeled in front of his chair and put her hands on his. He refused to look at her. He knew he would cave in if he did.

"Please Daddy look at me and say you forgive me." Kathleen was crying heavily now. Everyone was watching them and there wasn't a dry eye in the room. Giles hit the table with the gavel to call the court back to order. Cordelia came to get her daughter and take her back to her chair. She took the handkerchief from her daughter and wiped her tears away then let her blow her nose.

"It is the decision of this court that as your punishment you will write an essay as to why it is so important that you observe the curfew. The essay is to be at least 1,000 words long. Now I know that what I am going to give you will have more of an affect on you then the essay or anything else that the court could give you. Kathleen you can no longer learn from your father the Martial Arts, from now on you will take a class from someone of either your fathers or Connors choosing. At the end of the school year you will be tested by Buffy to see how you are doing." Giles struck the table again with the gavel and said "Court dismissed."

Everyone was quiet and you could have heard a pin drop. After a few minutes of silence Angel got up from his chair and went outside to the back. No one followed him. They knew that this was harder on him then it was on Kathleen. Giles and Wesley went into his office and were in there for the next two hours discussing the problem that Wesley's father now presented.

As Angel sat outside by himself and his own thoughts Wesley approached him. "Angel, can you come into my office so Giles and I can talk to you about something." "Sure Wesley." They both got up and went into Wesley's office. Giles proceeded then to tell him what was going on with Mr. Price. "I think we had better talk to everyone about this Wesley. From now on I also want to include Kathleen in everything. Maybe she'll start taking everything more seriously if she is included in all of the problems that we are dealing with."

During the next 5 months they tried to live their lives normally. They added nightly guards of someone on the roof of the Hotel. Kathleen took the first 2 hours of 7 to 9 in the evening. Wesley took the next 2 hours and the rest took 2 hours each also. On the days that Kathleen had to attend her Martial Arts classes she had to switch with someone. By doing this Angel was teaching her responsibility for the whole family and not just herself or the younger children.

These nightly guards were the only outward signs that Angel Investigations knew anything about Mr. Price's intentions of killing Angel and his children.

Unfortunately for the men that Wolfram & Hart sent to try and kidnap Kathleen one weekend she was experiencing her first period and all of the crazy hormones that are more commonly known as PMS. It was on a Friday and Kathleen was on the roof top and crying. She had changed places with Wesley so she could attend her Martial Arts class. His usual time for standing guard was 9 to 11 since he usually had to be up early to help teach the younger children. Kathleen was usually home by 8 so this worked out perfectly for her. It gave her time to either work on her homework or have dinner. Usually though she liked to take a sandwich and a glass of milk up to the roof with her. Tonight though, she wasn't hungry. Tonight she felt lonely, unloved, hated, and shunned by the older children at school, friendless, used and whatever else she could think up. Connor came up stairs to check on his little sister and spend some time with her. Before he opened the door to the roof he stopped and listened as usual. He could hear his sister crying softly. He smelled the midnight air and suddenly understood why she was crying. Toby, who usually stood watch with him, was giving a low growl, deep, in his throat. Connor smelled the air again. This time he picked up the same scent that Toby smelled.

He carefully opened the door all of the way and stepped onto the roof. He noticed Kathleen was wiping her face and blowing her nose then she stood up. "It's alright Connor. I have them over here." She pointed to the back of the hotel and walked over to the edge of the roof. Connor followed her. Hanging below he could see 7 men tied with what looked like huge rubber bands. The more they struggled to get free the more they bounced up and down. Occasionally they would bounce high enough so that they would hit their heads and would be quiet for awhile. Connor looked at them and laughed. "You come up with the weirdest ways to handle things. I'll be back with some help to take care of these misfortunate yoyos." Connor took off downstairs to wake up the rest of the men to help him. He also told Cordelia that his sister needed another woman right now. "Why? What's wrong with her?" Cordelia asked as she pulled her robe on and ran after Angel. "I think the kidnappers had the misfortune to be here on her first experience with PMS. Poor, unfortunate brutes." Connor laughed as he ran to get the other men.

Angel and Cordelia ran upstairs to the roof. They looked around for Kathleen. Then they heard her and looked towards the sound. They found her leaning over the side of the roof and laughing. As they looked over the side they found their daughter had removed the shoes and socks of the men and butterflies were fluttering all around their feet. As the butterflies tickled their feet the men started moving around too much as they tried to shoo them away, this of course caused them to bounce too much. Instead of hitting the ground though, Kathleen had now put containers of honey below the men and each time they bounced hard enough to reach the ground they dunked their heads, and only the top of their head, in the honey. Angel and Cordelia just looked at each other as they watched their daughter laughing at the men as the butterflies tickled their feet. Angel left and joined the other men down in the patio. Kathleen let the men down one by one. She ran downstairs then and went to the patio.

Angel and the other men made the Wolfram & Hart men sit at the patio tree. When Angel saw his daughter come downstairs he asked her "Well Kathleen what shall we do with them now?" Kathleen walked around the men and stopped in front of one.

"I remember you; you came after me the last time didn't you?" The man didn't say anything. "When did they come after you before?" Angel asked. "The first night I was up here by myself. There were only three of them so I took care of them by myself and sent them on their way. Apparently I didn't punish them enough when I let them go. It's apparent that they aren't intelligent enough to comprehend how lucky they were to have dealt with just me." Kathleen walked back and forth in front of the men and played with the tip of her pony tail.

"I have it; I have the most perfect punishment for them." Kathleen jumped up and down as the idea came to her. She went to each man and put one hand on their stomachs. When she was done she turned to her father. "You can let them go now Daddy they won't bother us for at least one month. She turned back to the men sitting under the tree. I won't be so gentle with you next time gentlemen. I'm having a lot of mood swings right now and lucky for you I am making a decision about how to take care of you during one of my upbeat mood swings. If I were you I would quit Wolfram & Hart and seek residence in another city or else this is what might happen next time." Each man shrieked in terror at what she showed them then they quickly left.

Connor and the rest gathered around the young girl. "What did you do to them?" Connor asked. "I gave them gas. Right now their stomachs and intestines are churning away and by tomorrow morning when they go in to give their report they are going to be firing off the most noisy, skunky smell, with each fart that they will be either told to go home or just thrown out the window. Unfortunately for whomever they give the report to the smell will stick to their clothes and skin and it won't clean away." Kathleen told everyone with a big smile on her face.

Kathleen turned to her father. "Daddy you don't ever have to worry about me doing something that's against the rules. Grandma taught me everything that I need to know about what God will allow and what he won't. It's the reason why I do so many things that seem childish to the rest of you. What I do to them has the same results as though you had taken care of them. Mama you can give me the visions any time you want to, don't worry about the affect that they could have on me because unlike you I was made to have these visions and they won't hurt me. I want you and Daddy to go and have some time with each other and forget everything here. You know that I can handle Nicky and Mike and I think that I have proven that I can take care of myself." Kathleen went to Connor and held his hand. "Connor and I can take care of things here and if Wesley and Fred choose to go with you then we'll consider this as our spring break." Kathleen went to her mother. She put her hands on her mothers shoulders and was able to look directly into her eyes since they were now the same height. "Give me the visions now Mama."

Cordelia looked up at Angel and he nodded an okay. She put her hands on her daughter's shoulders then kissed her. As they drew apart you could see what looked like a wisp of a bluish white smoke pass between them. Kathleen hugged her mother then her father. Angel held her tightly and picked her up in the air. "I love you Daddy. Please try not to worry about me. Grandma and Jesus walk with me and guide me. You had God that guided you and taught you right from wrong but I have his son. When the time comes for me to destroy Wolfram & Hart He will guide me in what and when to do it." She gave her father a hug and kiss again and Angel put her down. Kathleen went to Connor and pulled him with her over to the other side of the roof so they could talk in private. After a few minutes Kathleen went downstairs to her room and Connor returned to the group.

"Why did you think that she needed me Connor?" Cordelia asked. "When I came up here I found her crying and I could smell a different odor around her. I've learned to recognize that smell and I usually find an excuse not to be around Lou when she is giving off the same odor. I believe it's what they call PMS, although I haven't smelled that odor lately. I knew it was the first time for her and I thought speaking to a woman would help her to open up more. She just told me though that I didn't have to worry about her when she starts crying for what seems like no reason. She said that I should learn to go and hide when Lou and she are going through it at the same time. She said that Dawn has told her that Spike usually goes and hides in his old crypt when all of the women are going through PMS at the same time otherwise they make him suffer terribly." Angel laughed at his last remark. "Well it looks like you will have two women looking after you also. I had Grandma and Cordelia and you'll have Lou and Kathleen." Connor reached for the stake in his back pocket and pretended to stake himself and then fall on the ground. Cordelia just said "Ha, ha, very funny. You two don't know how good you got it." She stepped over him and went to join her daughter. She left all of the men behind her laughing their heads off. She was thinking about what Connor said and went to see Lou first.

The door to Lou's room was open and she saw her in bed crying. Cordelia went in and sat on the bed next to Lou and pulled her into her arms. While she was holding her she whispered in her ear. "Have you seen Dr. Thompson yet?" "No." Lou said as she pulled away and blew her nose. "Promise you'll talk to either Hunter or Mike tomorrow okay?" "Okay, Grandma." Both women laughed. Cordelia got up then. "You should talk to Connor Lou. Don't hold the news back too long okay?" "I promise. Goodnight Cordelia and thank you." Cordelia kissed her on her forehead then returned to her own room. The news about Lou made her forget about Kathleen.

The next day Lou talked to Dr. Thompson. Even though he was retired now he still took care of the women in the two groups. After running a few tests on her blood and examining her he was able to confirm her home pregnancy test. Connor was at work so she wasn't able to tell him until the next morning. He had worked two shifts the previous day and night and he was so tired that he didn't even take a bath before going to bed. The next morning though while Connor was soaking in the whirlpool bath Lou was looking at herself in the mirror. She rolled up a towel and put it underneath her nightgown over her stomach.

"Do you think you'll get turned on Connor when you look at me 6 months from now like your Dad did when Cordelia was pregnant with her baby's?" It took Connor a while to realize what Lou had said. He lowered himself into the water and when he came back up he wiped his face with his hand and said "Did you just say what I think you said?" "I don't know it all depends on what you think I said." Lou said as she added another towel and looked at herself in the mirror.

Connor got out of the bath and kneeled in front of his wife. He put his ear to her stomach. At first he couldn't hear anything. "How far along are you?" "We have been pregnant for 3 months now." Connor put his ear to her stomach again. Then he heard it. It was very faint but he did hear it. He drew back and kissed her stomach then he stood up and gave her a kiss. "Can I break the news to everyone?" "Yes my great big stud muffin." After kissing her again he put his arm under her legs and picked her up and put her on the bed. He pulled out her clothes and helped her get dressed then with his accelerated speed he quickly dressed himself. It was like watching a cartoon as Lou watched him get dressed. Especially when he tried to put his shorts on and his feet got caught on the band and he fell over. She was laughing so hard she started having the hiccups.

When they opened the door he could hear everyone downstairs. So he pulled Lou over to the balcony and proceeded to beat his chest and give out a loud Tarzan yell. He picked Lou up then and jumped down to the first floor with her in his arms. After putting her down he beat his chest again like a big gorilla and gave another Tarzan yell.

"What's all the noise about boy?" Angel asked.

"Tarzan not call Boy, Boy anymore. Because Boy's woman has just told him that she is great with child." Connor gave out a great Tarzan yell again. He picked Lou up again and swung her around in a circle until she told him to stop before she threw up all over him. Angel came over and congratulated Connor and Lou. Tom came and gave his sister a kiss and hug. "Come on guys, come and sit down and have your breakfast before it gets cold." Cordelia told everyone. For the next six months Connor treated Lou like she was a queen.

Two months later summer break started so Wesley and Fred were free to go with Angel and Cordelia to Fred's parents in Texas. Wesley paid Vince to drive the horses in a new truck and trailer all the way to Texas so that they would be at Fred's parents home when they arrived.

Junior was spending more time with the boys in Gunn's group these days and was completely committed to learning Martial Arts. He had started to take part in Martial Arts competition already and was even able to give classes to Gunn's boys and girls. When they went out on one of Kathleen's visions he went with them and was more than capable of defending himself.

As expected, they didn't hear anything from Wolfram & Hart for a long time. Giles said that he was almost 100 sure that Robert Price was the person that the kidnappers had reported to and he was probably spending his time soaking in baths of tomato juice trying to get rid of the skunk odor.

Giles kept himself busy with Buffy's daughter, Joyce. Since it was summer time Buffy and Spike let her come to spend the summer with Kathleen. Willow and Tara also spent 2 to 3 days a week in L.A. working with Kathleen. They were part time teachers for Kathleen but most of the time they put their heads together with her to try and find ways to send Wesley's father back to England.

All in all everyone had adjusted to Dr. Martin's death. Hunter took over as their family doctor and psychiatrist. The only difference was that when Angel was having a problem he went to Wesley and Giles more. His Mom frequently visited him in his dreams and Cordelia was often awakened by Angel talking in his sleep. In the morning he would tell her about his mom's visit. When they were in Texas they all went on a long trip by horseback into the hills surrounding the ranch. Mr. Burkle had asked them to look for mares with their new foals. "The foals should be old enough now to be branded. Just do what Fred tells you and you'll do just fine. She's an old pro at round ups."

They all said goodbye and road off to the northern hills surrounding the ranch. They had two horses loaded down with supplies for them. The only thing they didn't bring was blood for Angel. He had assured her that he could find what he needed on the trail. By the second day he was starting to get a little weak and almost fell off of Santana as he made a fast side step when a rabbit ran in front of him. Wesley came up beside him and grabbed on to his arm. "Angel, are you alright? You almost fell off of your horse." "Yes, yes I'm okay. I'm just starting to get a little weak from lack of blood. I'm going to have to go hunting tonight. I wish Connor and Kathleen were here, it would be easier for me to hunt with other wolves around to help catch something." Fred had pulled up along side of Wesley and heard what Angel had said. "Well Angel I can't turn into a Wolf to help you hunt but I can help you catch a steer or deer for you to drink from. I used to help catch the calves by roping them so they could be branded." Fred told him. Angel looked at her in surprise. "Well I guess were going shopping tonight Cordelia."

They stopped early that evening and the rest had the last of the sandwiches that Mrs. Burkle had made for them. When the rest were done Angel went into the tent, disrobed and changed into a large gray wolf. When he came out to say goodbye to Cordelia she gave him a hug. "Be careful Angel. You're not a young pup anymore." Wesley came and sat on the log next to Cordelia while they watched the unusual sight of a large wolf running along side of a woman on horseback and another horse running along side of the wolf.

Fred and Angel had to travel into the hills in order to find some game for him to drink from. As the wolf walked along the trail created by deer going to a water source he suddenly lifted his head and followed a scent that only he could smell. Within the hour they spotted a young buck grazing in a small valley. Fred got her rope out and prepared to lasso the hind feet. The deer had started to grow his antlers and would make it harder to throw a rope around his neck. The wolf looked at Santana and Fred could tell that some kind of communication passed between them because Santana stayed when Fred and Angel took off. As they chased the deer Angel ran in front of the deer and kept it from swerving to the right while Fred came from the rear and to the left. With one attempt Fred had roped the deer's hind legs and it went down hard. The wolf immediately grabbed it by the throat and she saw him drinking deeply. When he was done Fred came over and put a tube in the buck's vein and filled a couple of large thermoses. When she was done Angel completed the kill. He had picked up the scent of other wolves in the area so he thought he would leave a gift for them. When the buck was dead he sat back and howled a call to the other wolves. Fred went back to where they had left Santana and waited for Angel. He continued to howl until the other wolves showed up. When they saw him he withdrew and joined Fred and Santana. They watched for a moment while the wolves had their fill. Fred thought of the saying from The Lion King. She watched as the wolves devoured the buck and the saying The Circle of Life kept going through her head. After a while they left and returned to the camp site.

That night Wesley and Fred could hear Angel and Cordelia having sex. Like Fred had said before it was like smelling popcorn.

Angel gave Cordelia the best sex she had had in a long time. Since it was only Wesley and Fred in the next tent he didn't bother to keep her quiet when she climaxed. The next morning Fred couldn't keep quiet about it anymore.

"What does it feel like Cordelia that he causes you to scream so loudly?" Fred asked her when the men walked off by themselves for awhile.

"Fred it's mind blowing. It's so powerful that it's almost painful when he bites down on my neck, but it's a good pain. I can only describe it as when you're in labor and that last instant before the baby slides out and you think your going to die with the pain but instead it results in a beautiful baby."

Cordelia became quiet for a while. "He won't be able to do that for me much longer. I told him that Mom came to me two weeks ago and told me that when we celebrate our 18th Anniversary we are to say our wedding vows again during Mass at the Hyperion. During that Mass Angel is to receive Communion at which time Angelus would be forced to leave him and Angel will become completely human." Fred put her arm around her friend. They both knew what this would mean. Angels days were numbered and that number was small.

The men walked away by themselves and Angel was telling Wesley about his mothers visit to Cordelia. Their 18th Anniversary would be in 3 years and even though it was 3 years away they started to feel that they needed to return home so that the family could be together as much as possible. Angel wanted to spend time with his sons.

When they returned to the ranch they decided that they would drive the horses back to El Monte themselves. The truck they had bought was large enough to carry all of them in comfort and it would give them some more time together. Instead of the main highways they took a lot of back roads so they could give the horses a break once in a while. The trailer carrying the horses was made for 6 so they had two stalls empty. When they needed to stop for the night to get some sleep the two couples used these stalls. Every other night they would look for a motel that had stables nearby where they could let the horses have more room to move round. What should have taken only 2 days to travel ended up taking a whole week. By the time they returned they were glad to be home and to be able to sleep in their own beds.

Connie made a large meal for their home coming. Starting tomorrow her family was taking their two week vacation so she was going all out. Everyone could pick what they wanted. At the end of the meal the men were unbuttoning the top of their pants and giving a sigh of relief as they did it. Since the Sanchez family was leaving the next morning Cordelia had invited them to sit and have supper with them.

"So where are you all going for your vacation, if you don't mind my asking Joaquin?" Angel asked.

"Next weekend they are having a big Martial Arts competition in Mexico city and Junior is entering. While we are there we will be visiting my sister and her family." "Oooh! You didn't tell me you were going Junior." Kathleen told him. "I didn't know until just today that I had been accepted." "Can we go Daddy?" "If nothing is happening well be there." Angel answered. "I'll make a banner and we'll be your cheering group." Kathleen said.

All of a sudden they heard a bunch of little feet come running through the lobby and out to the back. Toby and Vicky came running back in and as Vicky cleared the doggie door Toby pushed the lock into place. Then they both just lay down as though they were thinking, 'Finally some peace and quiet'.

"I guess it's time to find homes for Toby's family or they're going to wear Toby and Vicky out. Didn't Spike and Buffy want one Kathleen?" Connor asked. "Yes he's been waiting for them to be ready to leave their mother. I'll give them a call and tell them to make their choice this weekend if possible. What are you going to do about the white puppy?" Angel asked.

Connor was quiet for awhile. "I am going to keep him and put him through the same training that I put Toby through. Has anyone stopped to think of how old he is now?"

"Wasn't Kathleen about six months old when we gave him to you?" "Yes, and since Kathleen just made 13, that would make him about 12 years old. That is old for a dog. I think that Toby is, just like we always thought, a gift from God because the Vet says that he has the body of a 6 year old. Since it will take 1 ½ to 2 years to train him I'm sure Toby will be ready to retire by then or he will at least have to slow down a bit.

"Well I have the midnight shift tonight so I am going to go and try and get some sleep. Goodnight everyone." Connor said as he got up, gave Lou a kiss and went upstairs. "Come on Toby you're going to work with me tonight so you need to get some sleep also." Toby jumped up and went running after Connor.

The rest of the night they were all talking about the Martial Arts competition. Joaquin gave Angel all of the information he would need to get to the competition, he turned around and gave the information to Cordelia and asked her to make reservations for anyone that wanted to go. Kathleen was being kept busy with all of the puppies. With so many puppies and adult dogs she had to pick up all of the poop that they left all over the garden. By 10 p.m. the hotel was quiet with everyone in bed. Even the puppies were cuddled up with Vicky. Connor got up at 11:30 to get ready for work. He took a shower and got dressed then ran a brush through Toby's coat a few times before they went running to his van. When they left the hotel was quiet again.

At 4:15 A.M. Kathleen was awakened by a vision. She saw Connor being attacked by almost a dozen men dressed in black. Toby had been knocked out and was laying on the ground next to the car. His partner Jack Cooper was doing his best to fight off the men as well but was soon overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Kathleen jumped out of bed and pulled some clothes on then went running down to her mother and fathers bedroom. She knocked on the door then opened it. "Daddy get up, I just had a vision of Connor being attacked. I'll go and get the rest up while you get dressed." She closed the door then went to wake up the rest. Within 15 minutes they were all downstairs and heading for the back. Kathleen gave each of the drivers the location they were to head for.

As they reached the location they saw more than half a dozen men standing around someone on the ground. As the Angel Investigation people gathered around one man stepped forward. Three more people dressed in long robes stepped out of their vehicle that was in the alley on the other side when they saw that Kathleen was with them. She could feel their minds trying to control her but it wasn't very hard for her to block them.

"I'm happy that you have come to rescue your son Angelus." "It's Angel, what is this all about?" "As usual Angel it's about you. We are better equipped to handle you now so your daughter might as well come forward also." Kathleen came forward to stand by her father. She didn't say anything she just walked up to stand by him. She was bursting with pride that she was able to do this. She could feel the warlocks trying to enter her mind. She came up with an idea to control them instead of them controlling her. She stepped forward a little. "Would you tell the warlocks to come forward please, I don't think you want the cars messed up."

They could see the warlocks hesitate for a moment. Kathleen knew they were afraid. She told her father this through the link they shared. As the warlocks came forward another man that was standing near by came forward and stood over Connor. He had a large crossbow in his hand and he pointed it right at Connors heart.

"If you try anything little girl your brother will be dead before you can do anything for him." Within the next second the screws holding the crossbow together started to come out. The tension on the arrow lessened with each screw until it fell on the ground. "Did you say something sir?" Kathleen said with a slight grin. Her father sent her a warning. "Be very careful Kathleen."

"Why did you beat up my son?" Angel asked. "To get you here of course and since we knew that you would bring your daughter along we wanted our warlocks here as well. We know that she is capable of little childish tricks but we also know that she is able to control others minds. You know that the Senior partners want to make sure that you will cease to exist, but information has recently come to us that tells us it won't be very long before you will be given your redemption and will cease to be a vampire. You are no longer of any use to us but your son is. All of your children are of use to us now. Even though you are no longer of any use to us we have been given orders to kill you so that Angel Investigations will be disbanded and everyone will go their own way. It occurred to us that Connor was just as dangerous to us as you have been."

The leader didn't turn and look at the Warlocks he just gave an order. "Control the girl." The Warlocks started saying something in Latin while Angel tried to pull Connor away from the leader. The rest started fighting with the other Wolfram & Hart men that were dressed in black. From the top of the surrounding buildings a rain of arrows was sent down on Angel and Connor. Before Kathleen could help her father and brother she had to take care of the Warlocks. Fortunately Kathleen only had to think of her defense where the Warlocks had to say the spells in Latin. An opening into the bowls of hell started to open beneath her. She quickly pulled each Warlock into the opening and sealed it after the last one. In the mean time arrows had already found their mark in Angels back while Connor was hit by a dozen arrows. Kathleen quickly took care of the marksmen on the rooftops after closing the hell mouth. She saw the blood starting to pool around her father and brother and for the first time started to be frightened. Anger quickly replaced her fear.

Kathleen went to the head man and tossed him into the wall of a building, head first. When the others saw what happened they backed away and returned to their vehicles.

This single encounter with Wolfram & Hart established Mary Kathleen Martin as a powerful Witch to be reckoned with and had to be approached carefully and with a lot of backup. They now saw her as an equal to her father and brother. They would have to look far and wide for someone that would equal her, after all they had lost 3 of their Warlocks to her and they couldn't afford to lose anymore.

After Wolfram & Hart left Wesley and Gunn went to Angel and Connor. The rest helped them to carry them to Connors Van. Kathleen went in first and took her brother into her lap. She knew that her father couldn't die from his injuries but her brother could and no matter how much they teased each other or argued they both knew that they loved each other.

Kathleen held her brothers head in her lap and brushed his hair out of his eyes. "Uncle Wesley hurry, Connor's starting to feel cold. I told Mama to be ready because both Connor and Daddy are hurt real bad and have lost a lot of blood." I'm going as fast as I can Kathleen. Does anyone know where Jack is? We could sure use his assistance in getting to the Hotel faster." Just as he said that he saw Jack pull in front of him with his police car and the lights on as he lead the way to the Hotel.

As he pulled up to the back Hunter and Mike both had gurneys that the men put Angel and Connor on. They took them into the clinic as fast as possible. Hunter worked on Angel while Mike took care of Connor. "I wish Spike were here." Mike said.

"He's on his way. As soon as Kathleen told me what happened I gave him a call. I also called Morgan and asked him to send his helicopter to pick him up. They should be here soon." Mike and Hunter worked on Angel and Connor for an hour. They pulled one of the arrow heads out of Angel and were immediately assaulted by an unusual odor. When they checked the wound they could see it wide open and bleeding profusely. Hunter got on the phone and ordered 15 pints of O Positive which Wesley would pick up. She tried everything she could think of to make the bleeding stop in the one wound. She dare not take out any of the other arrows until she was able to figure out why he wouldn't stop bleeding.

Spike came running in a few minutes later. "How are they doing?" "I took one of the arrows out but I can't get the wound to stop bleeding and heal." Hunter showed him the arrow that she had pulled out of Angel. Spike picked it up and could see a slightly blue tint on the arrow head. He smelled it carefully. "I've smelled that someplace before a long time ago." Spike took a moment to try and remember. He was trying to remember when he looked at Hunters finger nails that were polished red. He suddenly remembered where he had smelled the odor before.

Spike went out to the Lobby and called Kathleen to come in and help him. When she came in and was standing next to Spike and between the two beds he told everyone where he remembered smelling the odor from.

"When I was with Drusilla she used to take care of her fingernails very carefully and would spend hours working on them. One night she was mixing up a new blend of fingernail coloring. The odor that it put out was exactly the same as what is on this arrow. Drusilla, in her own way, was a genius at chemicals. When I asked her about it she said she had found some flowers in the cave entrance we had stayed in the previous night. She said the flowers will make a person bleed once you scratch them with it and the scratches would never heal. The poison on these arrows is the same poison that Drusilla made and put on her nails.

Kathleen we need for you to see if you can remove the arrows without letting the poison get into the surrounding tissue. If you can do that then we'll be able to save Connor."

"I don't know how to do that Uncle Spike. I have to have something that I can imagine doing first. Let me go and talk to the others and see if someone has an idea." Kathleen left then to talk to the other women and see if they had any ideas of doing something that was similar to what Spike wanted her to do. The women thought for awhile after she explained what Spike wanted. Connie stood up after a while, "I have an idea Kathleen. Remember one day you came into my room and you saw me with my hand in this container full of warm wax? You asked me what I was doing and I told you that my hands would get chapped from being in water so much and when I dipped my hand into the warm wax and pulled it out it would be like a glove that fit my hand perfectly and made the skin soft. Couldn't you pretend you were doing the same thing with the arrow heads?" Kathleen thought about it and tried to imagine creating the wax on her hand. As she concentrated wax appeared on her hand and covered it like a glove. She looked at Connie and said "Yes I think I can do that." She went back into the clinic then.

She looked at her father and brother and decided it was more important to take care of Connor first since he could die normally. "Okay Uncle Spike this is what I'm going to do." She explained about the melted wax that Connie used to make her hands soft.

"Okay Kathleen but you realize that you must be careful to not make any part of the flesh around the arrow part of the wax." Spike told her. "I'll be as careful as I possibly can. Can you show me one arrow that isn't too far in so I can kind of practice?" "Sure, here is one that is only halfway in." Spike showed her an arrow that was half way up his thigh.

Kathleen closed her eyes for a moment then reached her fingers in around the arrow, formed the wax around her fingers then pulled the arrow out. She gave it to Spike who checked it carefully for blood and any flesh that might have come away with the wax. Hunter and Mike came over and checked it. "It looks good Kathleen. Go ahead and try one deeper." Spike showed her one that was in Connors lower left side of his abdomen. Once again Kathleen closed her eyes for a moment then reached her fingers into the wound and around the arrow. Once again she handed it over to Spike who checked it. It came out clean just as the other one did. "Okay Kathleen it looks good you can go ahead and pull them all out."

It took Kathleen over two hours to pull all of the arrows out of both her brother and father. When she was done she almost collapsed next to the table. Spike picked her up and took her out to Cordelia. "She's just tired Cordelia. She got all of the arrows out of both Connor and Angel. You can see the wounds healing already and we're starting to put back the blood they lost now. Junior can you take her up to her bedroom where she can rest?" "No take her up to my room for now where I can keep an eye on her." Junior did as she asked. Connie went upstairs with him and pulled the covers down before he put her down. She pulled her shoes off then they covered her and left after turning the light off and closing the door.

After Junior took her daughter upstairs Cordelia went in to check on Angel. She found Spike working on Angel and Hunter and Mike were both working on Connor.

"How is he doing?" Cordelia asked as she approached Angel and Spike. "He's doing a lot better then he was an hour ago. I have a new respect for Kathleen. You should have seen her Cordelia. That young girl put her hands into her own brother and father just as though she was a veteran surgeon. She didn't say yuck or eww even once. She had nothing but concentration on her face all of the time she was pulling out all of those arrows." After changing an empty bag of blood for a new one for Angel Spike turned back to Cordelia. "If it wasn't for Kathleen Angel would be out of it and Connor would be dead. The poison that was on those arrows prevented their bodies from healing so she had to form the wax she created so that it would go around the poison, the arrow, and her hand and that's all. She couldn't pull at any of the flesh around the arrow or she might have taken something out that was needed."

They both went over to Connor's bed when they heard him moaning. Cordelia went over to the door and called Lou. As they approached the bed Lou could hear Connor calling for her. "I'm right here Connor." She went to him and kissed him all over his face. When she started crying he put his free arm around her waist. "I'm okay baby, as soon as I get some rest I'll be up again." "No you won't kiddo. You're going to stay in bed for at least 24 hours. You came very close to dieing with all of those arrows in you. You also have some broken ribs along with a broken leg. Those will take at least 24 hours to heal. Now as soon as we put this last pint of blood in you we'll take you upstairs to your own bed and if we have to well chain you to the bed. Understood?" Hunter said. Even though she was a tiny woman her word carried a lot of weight. "Yes Mam, I'll be good." Connor said with a grin. "Well see, I've heard the same words come out of your Father's mouth and he never stayed put either." Hunter went over to check on Angel when she was done with Connor.

"Angel can you hear me?" "Yes but I'm not ready to open my eyes yet." "Why not?" "I don't want to see the clinic where I think I am. I'm hoping I died and you're going to be a beautiful Angel with huge white wings." "Sorry it's just your basic 4,000 year old Vampire with a soul. Hold still while I check your head. They tell me you hit the back of your head when you went down." Hunter felt the back of his head where the plastic plate was. When she pressed on it she was happy to see that it didn't give way.

"Okay Angel as far as I can tell everything is okay. See if you can sit up, but do it slowly." Angel sat up slowly as Hunter said. He felt dizzy but it cleared after awhile. Hunter brought the wheel chair over to the gurney where Angel was. She helped him to get down and into the chair. "Okay Cordelia you can take him upstairs. Ask one of the men to help you put him to bed." Hunter pulled Angel's chin up so that he had to look at her. "You are to stay in bed for at least 24 hours. You need more time to heal now Angel and I want to give your body the chance to do just that. Are we clear on this?" "Yes Mam." Angel answered with a grin.

"Cordelia, where is Kathleen?" "She's resting Angel. The arrows that they shot into you and Connor had a poison on them. Kathleen is the one that had to take them out. The poison that was on the arrows wouldn't allow your bodies to heal. Connor almost died from losing all of his blood." Cordelia pushed the wheelchair out to the Lobby where Gunn came and helped her.

"Where is Jack and Toby? I saw Toby go down after he attacked one of the men and they threw him against the car." If it wasn't for Lou Connor would have been off the bed and flat on the floor from falling. "Connor be still, Jack is okay and he took Toby to the Vet after he guided Wesley to the Hotel. He called just a few minutes ago to let us know that Toby is okay but he does have a broken leg and the Vet is going to keep him overnight. He asked how you were doing then he said he had to go to the precinct and fill out a report. The kind that he said you were familiar with." Connor laughed at the last part. "Yeah whenever we have encounters like this that the chief won't accept we make up something. We're getting pretty good at it. I could almost write a book based on our reports."

Hunter came over and took down the last bag of blood. "Well as soon as we can get the wheelchair back we'll be able to take you to your own bed. I think I'll go upstairs and check on Angel and bring the wheel chair back. I should be back in a few minutes." She patted Connors arm then left.

She met Gunn on his way back with the chair. "Oh good, I was just coming up to get it. How is Angel doing?" "He's sleeping. Kathleen is still sleeping also and Cordelia is keeping watch over them." Gunn said as he wheeled the chair into the clinic. "Okay Connor, park your keister over here." Gunn patted the wheel chair before he went to help him get down. "Hey, is that anyway to talk to your future boss?" "If I don't hesitate to tease Angel what makes you think you're going to get away scot free sonny." "I just thought I'd try. As the saying goes it doesn't hurt to try." "Nope it doesn't hurt to try…..and fail." Gunn answered with a laugh as he pushed the wheel chair to the elevator. He helped Lou get her husband to bed then left. It was 7 in the morning now and Lou was tired also so she got undressed and slipped in beside Connor. The younger children were just getting up but were told to keep the noise down to a low roar.

Since the Sanchez family was leaving this morning Connie put out boxes of cereal out so they could make their own breakfast. The Price boys were more then old enough to take care of themselves and clean up afterward. Mike and Nicky took care of themselves also. Even though they had the Sanchez family to clean up after them neither Cordelia or Fred allowed the children to treat them as servants. When Cordelia told them to clean up after themselves one day they asked "How come we have to clean up after ourselves? Isn't that what Connie is for?" That was the last thing Nicky remembers saying on a Saturday morning when he didn't have anything to do.

Kathleen woke up next to her father. She put her arm around his chest and gave him a kiss then got up as carefully as she could and went over to her mother. "Mama, Mama wake up." Kathleen said as she gently shook her shoulder. Cordelia looked at her daughter. "How are you feeling?" "Rested, I'm going to go and take a shower and get something to eat. Would you like me to bring something up for you and Daddy?" "That's okay sweetheart I'm going to warm up some blood for your Daddy then I think I'll lay down with him." Kathleen gave her mother a kiss then left to go to her room.

After last night no one questioned Kathleen's ability to take care of herself and the rest of them. Angel was up and walking around in 24 hours while Connor needed a little more time for his ribs and leg to heal. As soon as he could he went to pick up Toby who now had a cast on his leg. Everyone was treating him like a baby. He had his food put right in front of him without having to share it with his pups. The pups were kept away from him most of the time so that he could rest and since he couldn't crawl through the pet door someone opened the door for him each time he wanted to go outside. He had everyone wrapped around his paw. Lou could swear she saw him smile when the food Connor gave him wasn't to his liking and he gave a poor me look to his master and he immediately got some people food.

"You're spoiling him so bad that by the time that cast comes off your going to be feeding him with a fork and cutting up his steak for him. Do you think Angel will mind when he finds you warming up his blood so you can pour it on top of his majesty's steaks." Lou asked. "Heck no, Toby has Dad wrapped around his paw also. I caught him giving Toby some expensive candy the other day. When I asked him about it he just grinned and said 'Anything for our hero'. He even asked me to pick up a bag of those expensive doggie cookies at the pet bakery."

"I bet you didn't even notice that some of the puppies are gone?" Lou asked as she cleaned the plate and silver ware that Connor had used to feed Toby. "I know Buffy and Spike took one for Joyce and Morgan took one for Stacy. That makes two, I'm keeping the white one and that makes 3, right?" "Like Kathleen says you're not as dumb as you look." "Jack told me he wanted one and I heard that Bobby wanted one for his daughter. That should take care of all but one."

Lou let Toby out and went back to Connor. "You've proven that your mind is working okay so let's test the rest of you to see if everything is working okay." "Mmmmm. I've heard about women in your condition and how they become little nymphomaniacs. Dad told me how Cordelia wanted sex all of the time when we were in Ireland. She even wanted to do it out in the open on the top of a hill during the daylight." Lou pulled her clothes off then helped Connor to take his off. She started kissing him all over and took only a moment to tell him "You better take it whenever you can sweetheart because it won't be very long before you're in dry dock for 4 or 5 months." Connor ran his hands over Lou's body and lingered at her belly while he ran his fingers around her growing stomach. He forced her to lie on the bed while he was above her. He played with her growing breasts and spent an extended period of time playing with them and suckling at each one until they were warm and moist with his saliva. He slowly ran his hands up and down her body followed by warm wet kisses. As he reached between her legs Lou let out a cry of ecstasy. Connor had discovered, on his own, how he could have the same effect on his sexual partner as a full Vampire did. The first time he tried it he had to put his hand over Lou's mouth to prevent her from screaming to loud. Fortunately for Connor Lou was able to do the same thing to him. When she tried it for the first time he actually checked himself to make sure he was still intact. They spent the rest of the day in there bedroom making love and Toby was left on his own and out in the hallway. Anyone seeing Toby out in the hallway knew why. He was just as good as a sign that said DO NOT DISTURB.

In Scotland 3 years later a tall, light haired man crawled his way out of a cave where he had spent the last 5 years sleeping. He had preferred to spend the years in a deep sleep that only vampires could survive rather then suffer the guilt that he felt when he killed someone for their blood. He had been a Vampire for 235 years now and for some reason, 100 years ago, he started feeling guilty every time he took a life. So he had come up to the hills of his birthplace and found the cave he used to play in when he was a child. He put himself into a deep sleep in the very furthest corner of the cave and waited for time to pass. When he crawled his way out of the cave where the ceiling became high enough so he could sit up he found a pint of warm blood waiting for him. He was hungry and wasn't going to ask any questions. As his eyes cleared and he felt his strength start to return he sensed the presence of someone else along with the scent of more blood and solid food. As he made his way to the entrance of the cave he saw a little man sitting next to a fire that had two pots sitting on the hot coals. By the scent he knew that one was blood and the other smelled like something that he recognized as Irish stew. "What in the world is Irish stew doing in the highlands of Scotland?"

The Vampire crawled forward until he could stand up then slowly approached the little man.

"It's about time you got up. I've had to put water in the stew twice." The little man poured some more blood into a tall mug and dished up some of the stew. The Vampire didn't hesitate to sit down and start drinking and eating. When he was finally full he sat back and took an offered cigar from the little man. He lit up the cigar and took a few puffs before he said anything.

"So who are you anyway?" "My name is Henry and I've been sent by the PTB's to offer you a "LIFE" so to speak. You've been having problems when you kill someone for their blood for the last 100 years, am I not correct?" "How did you know that and who the hell is the PTB's?" "The PTB's work for God and God has chosen you to join a group that has a very important job to perform. The leader of this group is Angel; he's a Vampire with a soul. Does that ring a bell?" "Yes, I've heard of him. Isn't his demons name Angelus, and isn't he a Master Vampire?" "Yes on all counts. The reason why I am here is to offer you the job of joining Angel Investigation. Angel's time in this world is coming to an end. He has been fighting for his redemption for the past 20 years or so.

Angel has been given all that he has dreamed of for the past 100 or more years. He has a loving wife that he could only have dreamed of at one time. He has a daughter that has him wrapped around her little finger and he loves it. He has a son that is going to take over the leadership of Angel Investigations and two younger sons, one of which is a carbon copy of him. His wife is human, his daughter and two younger sons are half Vampire and half human. The oldest son is a product of both Angel and his Sire Darla. Mystical powers enabled Darla to carry their baby to term. The mystical powers that did the enabling have already been taken care of. As it often happens God has taken a bad thing and turned it into something good. After a rough start in life Connor, Angels son, has agreed to take over the leadership of Angel Investigation. Now Connor has inherited almost all of Angel's and Darla's powers but he can't do everything and he isn't quite as powerful or as fast as they are. God wants you there to replace Angel in the strength department. In return he is offering you the same thing that Angel has or will soon be given but he wants me to warn you that it hasn't been easy for Angel and it won't be easy for you either." "But why me, I know that there are other Vampires in the world so why am I being offered the job." "You have been offered the job because God has looked into your heart and you have a specific talent that they are in great need of right now." "And what is that?" "You're a Surgeon. The person that filled that need died three years ago. They have two other doctors in the group but one is becoming too old to be performing his specialty which is OB/GYN. I believe you have done some work in that area also during your long years in the medical profession. The other doctor is the only 4,000 year old Vampire in existence. She has asked God for a family and the end of her existence and it has been granted to her."

The vampire poured himself another mug of blood then got up and walked around a little while he was thinking about the offer. As the sun started to come up he stopped and asked the little man. "Can Angel walk out into the sun light now?" "Yes he can." The Vampire turned then to Henry and gave him his hand. "Hi Henry my name is Shawn McConnell and I accept the offer." Henry shook Shawn's offered hand and led him over to a van that he had nearby. They got in and traveled for a few hours to the closest Hotel they could find.

For the next month Shawn worked on reestablishing himself as a Doctor and former resident of Scotland. Like so many Vampires Shawn had a considerable amount of money that he could dig into to finance his move. He notified a lawyer that handled his money for him that he was moving to the States and he would call him again when he reached his destination. By the end of the second month, since he woke up, he was on his way to Los Angelis California.

Kathleen had graduated from High School a few months ago. Her fellow graduates were all several years older then her and as things go she never did develop any friendships among her fellow classmates. After graduating she went with Giles, Willow, and Tara to England to study with the Witches Coven that worked for the Watchers Council. Their goal was to learn how to increase or channel their power through Kathleen. They spent long hours meditating and then Willow and Tara would try to funnel their power through Kathleen, thus increasing the strength of her will on an object. When they tried it the first time they made an old fashioned outhouse blow up. Their goal though was to make a building implode and fall into another dimension. After one month though both Willow and Tara had to call a halt to the attempts because of the affect that it would have on their mind's. They would both complain of tremendous headaches that would put them to bed for the next 24 hours. Kathleen of course wasn't affected at all. After a couple more attempts that resulted in the same medical problem they gave up and returned to California where they could get some rest.

Angel and Cordelia's 18th Anniversary was in six months and she had already started to plan the festivities. Her biggest problem right now was Father Barris who was now 75 years old and had Alzheimer's.

"Angel do you think your friend Monsignor Jack O'Connel would come out here to perform the ceremony for us?" Cordelia asked. "I can call him and ask. As the saying goes 'it never hurts to ask'." Angel answered as he finished doing some sit ups as Cordelia sat on his legs. He laid down on the floor as he worked on normalizing his breathing. "Why don't we go and see how Fr. Barris is doing?" Angel asked as he sat up. "He's in New Hampshire now. Mother Superior at Mom's former convent called me to let us know that he had been sent over to them as instructed by Mom in her will. She said that Mom had recognized the early stages of Alzheimer starting with him back when we first got married. At that time she made arrangements for him to be taken cared of by the sisters when the time came that he needed 24 hour care." Angel saw the tears pouring down her face. "Don't cry Cordelia, he doesn't know what's happening to him." "I know Angel it's just that he helped us so much that I hate to see him like this." She wiped her eyes and face with her sleeve then got up and helped Angel up.

"Let me take a shower then we'll go and see what our grandson is doing." Angel gave his wife a quick kiss on the cheek and went to take a shower. When he came out he found her ready to go and just waiting for him. Angel quickly dressed then pulled her up from the bed. "Come on Grandma." Cordelia gave him a light punch in the stomach. "Okay 'Grandpa'." She ran out of the room and up the stairs to Connor and Lou's suite. They had moved their things back up to Lou's old suite when they found out that they were expecting.

After their son Daniel, who they named after Lou's father, was born they all decided that it was time that the boys all were given their own room. The boys didn't get expanded rooms though. Both Fred and Cordelia agreed that the boys most likely wouldn't keep a suite of rooms clean since they were barely able to keep a room that they shared clean.

Cordelia knocked on Connor's door. "Come in Gama." Daniel said as he ran to the door. Cordelia swept up her little grandson in her arms. Toby and his son, Angus, came running over to them also. The white Shepard had been given the name Angus because he didn't eat any kind of beef unless it was Angus meat. How he could tell they couldn't figure out. They tried tricking him when he was a pup but he would just leave it in the bowl no matter how hungry he got. They finally gave up and started feeding him Angus meat which they had to go to a special meat market for.

"We came to see if Daniel could come and play with us in the gym. Grandpa said he was going to teach him how to swim." "I did?" Angel asked Cordelia. "Yes I heard you say it just a little while ago, I'm bored Grandma lets go see if Daniel can come and play in the gym." "I did?" Cordelia grabbed a pillow from the couch and threw it at Angel. "Yes you did." He looked at Connor. "See what you have to look forward to, after a while they just tell you what you said and if you are intelligent you'll just say, 'I guess I did'." "Help me get Grandpa Daniel he's making fun of Grandma." Daniel jumped on his Grandpa along with his Grandma. Instead of just tickling him like his grandmother did Daniel bit his Grandpa's hand. Fortunately he didn't break the skin and Angel calmly told him to let go. Cordelia carefully inspected his hand, there was no blood. They all gave a sigh of relief.

Connor picked up his son and put him on his lap. "Why did you bite Grandpa when Mommy and Daddy have told you not to do that? Remember we talked about it when you bit Toby and you made him cry out in pain?" His son looked down and played with his jumper button. "I was playing and I forgot." Connor thought about it for a moment. "I want you to go to Grandpa and tell him you're sorry and that you won't be able to play today because you are going to be punished for biting Grandpa when we told you not to." Connor put his son down on the floor and he went to his Grandfather.

"I'm sorry I hurt you Gampa." Daniel picked his Grandfathers hand up and kissed it where he had bit it. "Is that better now?" "Yes its all better, see there isn't even a mark anymore. You give good 'all better' kisses. Are you still going to go swimming with Grandma and Grandpa?" Daniel looked down and said "No Gampa Daddy said I can't play today because he is going to punish me for biting you when he told me not to." Angel picked up his Grandson and gave him a hug. "That's okay, even Grandpa has been bad and I was punished. When it's all over though you'll feel a lot better about yourself and you will never do the bad thing again." He put him down then and after Cordelia gave her grandson a kiss they said goodbye and left. As soon as they left Connor gave his son 3 spankings then put him in his rocking chair in the corner of the room. Daniel never cried out though and he didn't ask to get up from the chair.

"Cordelia says that Daniel is just like Dad. She said when she first started working with him he would spend a lot of time by himself just thinking. When Grandma started working with him she told him she called it meditating and that she used it to keep her thoughts in order while helping a patient. Dad found out later when he started to interact with people that he actually needed that special time to himself. He told Cordelia that it helped him to think about what Grandma was teaching him and he was better able to apply it to his everyday life." Lou said as she made some coffee for herself and Connor. When she sat down she put her hand over Connors hand. She knew that he always felt bad whenever he had to punish Daniel.

When Angel and Cordelia went down stairs Angel saw a man that he hadn't seen in over 25 years. "Henry, long time no see. What brings you into our part of the concrete jungle?" "You know me Angel; I'm always on a mission from the PTB." Henry turned around and motioned to the man that was standing by the door. Both Shawn and Angel stared at each other for a moment.

"Angel this is Shawn McConnell. The PTB has directed me to offer him a job and a life here with Angel Investigation. Since Dr. Martin passed away you haven't had a resident Doctor here. Shawn here is a Surgeon just like Dr. Martin was." "Yes but he is also a Vampire without a soul. You know I can't let him stay here because of that." Angel said as he stepped in between Cordelia and Shawn.

Shawn stepped forward and spoke for the first time. "Angel, could we go somewhere and talk in private?" Angel looked at Shawn and heard a voice inside his head tell him 'It's alright Angel Shawn has been sent by God and you are to help him to regain his love for his fellow man. You Angel will now be Shawn's teacher just as Mary Martin was yours'. Angel nodded toward Shawn and pointed to his office. For the rest of the day they were in his office talking. Cordelia offered Henry something to eat and drink while they waited. At 5 o'clock, since the Sanchez family was still on vacation, Cordelia took him into the kitchen where she started to prepare the evening meal. Everyone else was busy elsewhere so she was alone to do the work.

"Can I help you Mrs. Martin?" Henry asked. "Please call me Cordelia and yes you can help me cut up some potatoes for a stew." They continued to talk and prepare the evening meal together while Angel and Shawn were in his office. At 7 that evening everyone started to return. Gunn and Cylinda had been working with his kids. Cylinda was now 6 months pregnant and had quite her job at the hospital. Most of her time was spent taking care of the small children that had older sisters or brothers that had come to Gunn's group so Cylinda and Gunn were the first to come in through the back. Connor had been out working on a client's problem and came in right after Gunn and Cylinda. Everyone else had been up in their rooms. Hunter and Mike were now living at the Hyperion so they came down also along with their son Jeff. When everyone was down Cordelia knocked on the door to Angel's office. "We'll be their in a few minutes Cordy." "Okay everyone is waiting." Cordelia said then she went back to the kitchen and brought in several mugs of warm blood. Everyone saw the third mug and asked if Spike was here. "We have another guest that has been talking to Angel all afternoon. He'll introduce him as soon as he comes out."

A few minutes later Angel came out with Shawn following him. "Everyone I would like to introduce someone to you. This is Shawn McConnell he is going to join our group and this gentleman here is Henry. Henry works for the PTB and he is the one that talked me into working for the PTB and leaving the gutters of Los Angeles where I was living on the blood of rats and stray animals. He also pointed me in the direction of Sunnydale and Buffy. Shawn, please take the chair over here next to my daughter Kathleen." Shawn walked over to the empty chair and sat down. He turned then towards Kathleen. He stared at her as though he looked at a portrait of a beautiful young woman. Kathleen unashamedly stared back. Everyone heard a loud thunderclap then they all heard Henry say 'DONE' then disappeared.

Angel and Cordelia looked at each other then at their daughter who was still staring at Shawn.

"Kathleen, would you say grace please?" Angel told his daughter. "Uh, Momma would you say it tonight, I don't seem to be able to think of what to say?" Everyone had seen how Shawn and Kathleen were looking at each other and understood why she couldn't think. Cordelia just smiled and said grace. When everyone was done Angel explained who Shawn was and why he had excepted him by himself.

"When are you going to call Willow to perform the spell?" Wesley asked. "I called the Sunnydale group to come over here tonight. They all need to meet Shawn and since I don't know how Shawn will react once his soul is returned I want Spike here to help me. I've also called Morgan and explained things to him and Marissa. Since Shawn will be taking care of the women I thought Marissa might want to meet him. I think Bobbie and Tina will probably be coming also. Everyone should be here by 9 o'clock tonight."

Angel didn't eat too much at supper and drank mostly his blood. He noticed that Shawn did the same. "How did you like your drink Shawn?" Cordelia asked as she cleared the table along with Fred and Kathleen who was finally able to tear her eyes away from Shawn. "It was very good. I tasted something else in it though." "I add a little chili powder and a touch of Worsteshire Sauce in the evening and in the morning a pinch of cinnamon. It gives all of the Vampire's something different to look forward too instead of the same old taste every day and night."

After supper Cordelia showed Shawn his suite of rooms and explained how everything was set up. She gave him Dr. Martin and Giles old room so that they could keep an eye on him until he could settle in, so to speak. She told him where all of the extra supplies were and especially where the blood supply was kept. "I buy fresh blood every other day since that is the only thing that my husband insists be as fresh as possible. If you need anything at all don't hesitate to ask anyone. Everyone has to take care of their own rooms so everyone knows where all of the cleaning supplies are. I keep one vacuum on each floor so that we don't have to try to share just one." Cordelia sat down at the kitchen table and invited Shawn to do the same. He noticed how serious she looked.

"Shawn it is apparent to Angel and I that you have been chosen by God to be with my daughter. I'm not going to say anything other then ask that you wait to have sex until she is at least 18. Did Angel explain to you that he will be giving your soul back to you?" "Yes that was almost the first thing that he told me. He said that he couldn't have a Vampire without a soul running loose in the hotel." "Depending on how bad your demon is Shawn it may or may not be very hard on you. If he starts giving you too much trouble and you get depressed to the point of suicide I want you to tell one of us. In the basement we have chains that we can put on you if we have to. Someone will be with you all of the time if you need it. I think though that that someone will be Kathleen." Cordelia left Shawn alone then so that he could get himself settled in. When he was done putting his things away it was getting dark enough for him to go and sit out on the balcony and watch the planes taking off and landing at L.A. International. As he sat there in the dark he felt like he had finally found his home. Somehow it just felt right. His mind traveled to the last time he laid eyes on Kathleen and he felt a warm feeling fill his chest.

"Whoa boy, rain in those horses. Do you actually think that we are going to stay here in this cozy little hotel? As soon as you can get some time with the little missy you can drink her dry then were off. Get your ass in gear now and let's go and find a snack because I'm hungry." Shawn started to get up and grab his long, gray overcoat. Just as he was about to take his first step on the stairs he felt as though he ran into a wall that was invisible to him. As it hit he felt a pain in his gut that felt like a sword had just been put through it. He clutched his stomach and fell down the steps. Kathleen and Connor went running over to the bottom of the stairs and picked him up. Shawn was as tall as Angel but Connor easily picked him up and placed him on the couch.

Angel came running over along with Willow who had performed the spell while Kathleen was watching. After making sure that he was alright they just took seats around the couch until he could wake up. In the mean time Wesley and Giles came over to report on who Shawn McConnell was.

"According to his Watchers, Shawn McConnell is a rather mild demon that kills only for his food. He does it swiftly and doesn't torture his victims but he will remove all money from their person. That's all they have on him other then ever since he went to medical school he has stopped killing for his food and now pays for it." "Thanks Wesley and Giles. For Kathleen's sake I am glad that it won't be too hard on him." Kathleen and her father waited by Shawn while he slept. Kathleen pulled out her Rosary and asked her Father to pray for Shawn with her.

After they were done Kathleen pulled her feet up underneath her and put her head on her Fathers shoulder.

"All that I have hoped for has come to pass and I feel ready to go now St. Michael. Kathleen has someone to take care of her and love her. Shawn will now take my place in her life. Connor is doing a good job of running Angel Investigation and I know that he will take care of his brothers. My only regret is that I will leave Cordelia behind. I know I shouldn't ask this but please let her come with me." Angel cried silent tears as he thought of the time that he and his wife would be separated. After awhile he went to sleep. His heart was heavy with sadness and St. Michael made him sleep.

In the morning Cordelia awoke with a heavy feeling in her chest. She felt as though Daniel was sitting on her chest and trying to wake his grandmother up. "Okay you little rug rat, get off of Grandma's chest you're making it hurt." The pain continued so she opened her eyes. She was alone in the room. After a few minutes more she was able to get up and go to the bathroom to get some aspirin. She felt better after awhile, the pain was gone so she made her way back to her bed and lay down again. "I'm glad most of the work for the wedding is over now. It was a lot easier when I was younger." Cordelia said out loud. She closed her eyes then and went back to sleep. Just before falling asleep she felt the touch of a soft, cool hand brush her hair back and then she felt lips kiss her forehead.

By 7 A.M. Shawn was waking up. Kathleen and Angel woke up also.

"How are you feeling?" Angel asked. "I don't know why but I feel like I could eat a whole cow by myself." Angel just slapped his head with his hand. "You too, first Spike has an easy time of it now you. I just can't win." Angel got up and went up stairs to take a shower. He found Cordelia still in bed so he went to the bed and took his clothes off before crawling into bed with her. He listened to her heart beat and found it to be beating slowly as it would be when she was sleeping.

Since Shawn was awake and hungry Kathleen took him over to the dinning room and told him to just sit while she made a large mug of warm blood for him. He took a sip of it then drank it greedily. "Can I have another one?" He gave her the mug back and she took it and filled it again and warmed it up. This time she brought a plate of blueberry pancakes along with a side plate of 3 eggs and a half dozen sausages. He was halfway through when everyone else started coming downstairs. All of the men stood at the table and just said "Where's ours?" Kathleen just pointed to the side board. The men just sighed and went to get their breakfast. When they sat down at the table Connor started to say something but Lou kicked his shin under the table. She gave him a dirty look and he shut his mouth again. When Kathleen and Shawn left Connor yelled. "Why did you kick me?" "Leave Kathleen alone she's caught a fish and is reeling him in."

For the next 3 months Shawn suffered bouts of depression at night where he had to be chained up in the basement. Angel wasn't exactly happy but he wasn't exactly sad either. Kathleen, to say the least, stayed by Shawn's side almost constantly. In order to get her to take a break Cordelia would promise to sit with him. One of the days when Shawn was resting he woke up to find Cordelia sitting by him. He didn't say anything as he watched her sitting in a chair and going over her list of things that she wanted done for the wedding which was in two weeks. He didn't only watch her though, he listened to her heart. He heard it beating irregularly and he saw her rub her chest.

He sat up quietly. "Cordelia?" He said as softly as he could. She turned and looked at him. "Did you need something Shawn?" "Yes can I have a Pepsi please?" Cordelia got up and went to the chest full of ice and different kinds of cold drinks. As she gave it to him he opened it and took a long drink.

"Cordelia you need to see a heart specialist. I can hear your heart beating irregularly as though you have had a heart attack or you are getting ready to have one. Have you had a lot of pain in you chest lately?" "Yes but I think it's just because of the stress of getting ready for the wedding." "It isn't just that, it's something else also because I am hearing an odd sound to your heartbeat. Promise me that you'll see a specialist as soon as possible." "I'll make an appointment for after the wedding okay?" "I think you should do it now and if you don't do it now then I am going to tell Angel." "Okay, okay I'll call him as soon as Kathleen gets back. Are you sure you're not related to the Martin family?" "Yes I'm sure, Martin is Irish and McConnell is Scottish." He said with a smile. As she had promised as soon as Kathleen came back she went into Wesley's office and looked up his heart specialist that he saw once each year and called for an appointment. The next time she saw Shawn he just looked at her and asked 'Well?' "Yes I made the appointment. He couldn't see me though until next month."

Later in the day Shawn, when he was feeling better, went up to his room and took a bath. He called Wesley and asked for his heart Specialists name under the pretense that he wanted to make some connections with a heart doctor so he could get some referrals. He called Dr. Fernando up and explained to him why he thought he should see Mrs. Cordelia Chase-Martin as soon as possible. Dr. Fernando talked to his nurse while he was still on the phone and a few minutes later he gave Shawn a new appointment date. The date and time was for tomorrow afternoon at 2 p.m.

The next time Shawn saw Cordelia he slipped her a note with the new date and time. She took one look at it. She had a million things to do tomorrow but she would squeeze in the appointment somehow.

The next day Cordelia told Angel that she and Fred would be out all day wrapping up some last minute details for the wedding and she promised to be back by 5. Angel could sense that something was wrong but he just chalked it up to what she was going thru to make sure that the wedding was perfect.

Someone else was working to make sure that things went perfectly 'after' the wedding. He didn't figure on disappearing one day like the previous leaders on this one specific project. The Senior Partners accepted just so many failures and then you disappeared. He had the warlocks that he needed to distract Angel's powerful daughter but now he was looking for the right man to do the actual killing. Today he was going to be traveling to Germany to check out a man that was being recommended. With only a week left before the wedding Frank Panzer didn't have the luxury of time anymore. If the man in Germany didn't fulfill his needs then he would have to do the job himself. He had been a hit man himself and had been noticed by the Senior Partners when they saw that every target that he was assigned never got up again. Franks favorite weapon was a bow and arrow.

Cordelia had spent most of the afternoon with Dr. Fernando and then at the hospital where he sent her to take some tests. His nurse had called her cell phone as she had requested and told her that Dr. Fernando wanted to see her first thing in the morning.

So here she was along with Hunter to be told her test results. "I don't care what he tells me Hunter I won't do anything until after the wedding which is now less than one week away. I've worked to hard to let anything ruin it."

Dr. Fernando came in with an x-ray that he put in the small viewer that was right by his desk. Cordelia introduced Hunter to Dr. Fernando. She told him that she had brought Hunter with her for moral support.

"Okay Cordelia what I thought was wrong with you has been proven by the tests that you had yesterday. You have 75 blockage in two of your arteries leading to your heart. We need to take care of this right away." "After the wedding but not right now." "Cordelia I don't think that you understand the seriousness of your condition. You could have a heart attack and die at any time now." "No, not until after the wedding." "Dr. Fernando could I talk to Cordelia for a moment in private?"

Cordelia stood up and said "That won't be necessary. Schedule the surgery for next Monday Dr. Fernando and I'll be there." Hunter and Dr. Fernando just looked at each other. "When she gets like this Doctor it's impossible to change her mind. I'll keep an eye on her."

As they left the office Cordelia turned to Hunter. "Promise me Hunter that you won't say anything to Angel. I don't want to ruin what is going to happen. I want our wedding day to be perfect. He will be made fully human again and we won't ever have to worry about Angelus again or listen to him. For the first time since he received his soul back it will be quiet in his mind." "Okay Cordelia, for Angel I'll be quiet."

The evening before the big day they sat on their balcony just watching the planes coming and going. The hotel was quiet now. Bishop O'Connell had arrived just today and was staying at a nearby hotel. Tomorrow he would come to the Hyperion to say Mass and perform the ceremony.

"Are you nervous about tomorrow?" Cordelia asked Angel as they sat on the balcony with a quilt wrapped around both of them. "Yes and no. Yes because I don't know what will happen when Angelus is expelled from my body and no because I know that you will be there along with the rest of our family. I told Spike that I didn't know what would happen when Angelus left me. I will sever the link tomorrow morning that I have with you, Connor and our children because I don't know what will happen if I keep it until Angelus leaves me."

"I think that will be the only part that I will miss. I will no longer be able to talk to you whenever I want and know that you are well. Let's go to bed Angel, we have a big day tomorrow and I am very tired." For the last time, Angel picked up his wife with ease and placed her on their bed. He covered her with the sheet and blanket then crawled in beside her. As he cradled his wife in his arm he said "This will be the last night that we spend as woman and Vampire are you sure that there is only one thing that you will miss?" "Yes I am sure."

As he held her in his arms it occurred to him that she had been tired a lot lately. A terrible thought came to his mind. He remembered how his mother was always tired just before she was told that she had cancer.

"Cordelia has Hunter checked you lately, as to why your so tired all of the time I mean?" "No, why are you asking?" He pushed himself up so that he could lean on one elbow and look down into her face. "Cordelia your heart sounds different and you always seem to be tired. I thought it was because of the wedding at first but now since I've actually taken the time to really listen to you I noticed that your heart sounds different. Cordelia Chase-Martin your not keeping anything from me are you?"

She was being quiet for too long. She knew she was scaring him because she could see the vein in his neck starting to move with each beat of his heart.

"Angel, last week I went to see Dr. Fernando." "Wesley's doctor?" "Yes, he sent me to the hospital to run some tests and he said that I have 75 blockage in 2 of my arteries. He wanted to put me into the hospital for a bypass but I refused to go. I told him that I didn't want anything to spoil the renewal of our wedding vows. I told him that I would go into the hospital on Monday but not before then. So he gave me some pills and told me to take an aspirin every day and that is also why I haven't wanted to have sex. No one but Shawn and Hunter know about this and I don't want them to know. We've waited to long for this day and I won't let anything delay it. Please, don't demand that I go in now because I won't do it. Now the sooner we go to sleep the sooner tomorrow will be here." She put her fingers to his lips when he started to protest. When he closed his mouth again she replaced her fingers with her lips and kissed him gently then went to sleep.

The next morning Cordelia was up early and taking a shower while Angel was still in bed. As she stood in front of the mirror she felt a slight pain in her chest. She took some aspirin and went out to the kitchen to get a slice of bread and some milk to drink with the pills. As she sat at the table the pain slowly subsided and it became a source of discomfort rather then a source of a sharp pain.

As she sat at the table she could hear everyone else's alarm clocks going off and people getting up to start the day. Angel was waking up also. He sleepily walked over to her and gave her a kiss good morning then went to the bathroom to take a shower.

After breakfast, and before everyone could start on their assigned tasks for the day Angel called Mike and Nicky over to him.

"Yes Dad." They each said as they stood in front of their father.

"I know that you know your mother and I are going to renew our wedding vows but what you don't know is that for the first time I am going to receive communion with everyone else. When I take the Body and Blood of Christ Angelus will be forced to leave me and I will no longer be a Vampire. I will be just like Wesley or Gunn. I won't have any of the powers I do now, I won't be able to talk to you in your head, I won't be able to turn into a wolf anymore and I won't be as strong as I am now, and I won't need to drink blood anymore. What I have to do now is break the link that I have with each of my children and with your mother." "Will we still be able to do the things we do or will that be taken away also?" Nicky asked. "No you are what you are because I fathered you while I was a Vampire and somehow that changed my, what they call DNA. You will be as you are now until the day you die and join your Mama and I. Come here now and let me break the link with each of you." Angel placed his hands on either side of his son's faces and broke the link with them. The boys went back to there seats then. Nicky had a smile on his face which Angel noticed.

"Don't think that you can get away with all kinds of things now boys. Connor still has a link with you and I have my Daddy link which can't be broken." Nicky's grin suddenly disappeared. Cordelia looked at him and laughed. She knew that Angel was just guessing at what they were thinking but apparently it was an accurate guess.

Angel looked at Kathleen. He could see the tears threatening to spill over.

"Kathleen, come over here please?" She came over and sat on her fathers lap. Angel saw the look on his daughters face and he was afraid that she would try to keep the link with him. "Kathleen I want you to promise me that you won't do anything to keep the link between us. I don't know what will happen when I lose the ability to maintain the link." She didn't say anything and just played with his shirt like she used to do when she had been caught doing something wrong. "Kathleen, promise me." Angel said more forcefully.

Kathleen looked down and wiped the tears from her eyes. "I promise." Angel put his hands to either side of her face and broke the link. Kathleen kept her promise and just kissed and hugged her Daddy just like she did when she was little. She returned to her chair then. Shawn put his hand on Kathleen's and gave it a slight squeeze. He reached out for her mind and tried to comfort her. She gave him a slight smile to let him know that she received him.

Connor was the next one that he broke the link with. The link that he shared with Connor was a weaker link that Angel had established when Connor and Lou got married. They were only able to sense each others wellness through the link which was fine with Connor.

"Now my beautiful wife it's your turn." Cordelia spoke to him through the link for the last time. 'I love you Angel. That is the link that binds us together and no one can ever take it away. That link is stronger then the links in the chain that we used each time to restrain you and Angelus." Everyone knew that they were speaking to each other in their minds because they could see tears coming from each of them. "Thank you my Beloved." Cordelia put her head down close to Angel then. He gently placed his hands on either side of her face and broke the link. He lowered himself to his knees then and kissed and hugged his wife.

By the time they pulled apart there wasn't a dry eye in the group.

"Let's get going everyone, the wedding is at 2 and we have a lot to do." Cordelia told everyone as she got up from the table. "You Missy are going to go and lay down so that you can be well rested for this afternoon." Cordelia started to protest. "No arguments I am sure that everyone knows what has to be done." He picked her up then and carried her to their bedroom and put her on the bed.

While everyone was working on the Hotel an uninvited guest was planning his own special invitation. He would just walk into the Hotel with a group that was going in and mingle as though he was an old friend of the family. He would, unfortunately, have to sit through the whole ceremony before he made his move. Angel would be human than and he could be killed as a human. The uninvited guest smiled to himself as the thought went through his mind 'Today won't be the last for just Angelus'. He had heard the recordings from last night and heard someone say that a table would be put at the front entrance to the hotel where any gifts could be left. He continued to wrap his weapon up in the box so that the trigger on the crossbow would be hidden by a lot of ribbons. Very carefully he placed the box on the table. Even though he had a safety latch on the trigger he didn't want to take any chances. He then proceeded to get ready for the wedding.

Guests started arriving at the hotel by 12:30. Bishop O'Connell was upstairs having a drink with Angel as they talked. Cordelia was in 412 getting dressed. She had just taken a shower and was having her hair and makeup done. Her wedding gown hung in the corner. She had chosen a soft blue, white and light green dress this time. Most of the dress was a soft blue and white, but from the back of the gown a large light green ribbon of silk extended outward from a large bow and down to the 5 foot length of the train. The dress was styled as a 1920's gown so it was covered in lace and went half way up her neck.

At 1:45 Cordelia was dressed. She stood waiting at the door for Wesley, who would walk her down the stairs to Angel.

Angel stood with Connor by his side in front of the makeshift alter. He had requested that he stand by him because Angelus was doing his best to get him to leave. This was the last hour that Angelus would exist with Angel, after that he didn't know what would happen and he was scared. Jack saw how Angel was perspiring as he fought with Angelus. He came over and put his hand on his shoulder. "Let's pray for St. Michaels help Angel." Angel nodded yes then he closed his eyes. After a few minutes Angel started to relax. He put his hand on Jacks and said "Thank you, he's quiet now." Jack just smiled at him and went to the other side of the table again.

At exactly 2 p.m. Lorne started the song that both Angel and Cordelia had chosen for her to enter the Lobby. It was their favorite one to dance to in the middle of the night. Patsy Clines 'True Love' rang out from Lorne's piano. As Wesley walked Cordelia down to Angel you could hear a collective 'Awwww' when they saw her walk down the steps. Angel was making so much noise with his sniffling that Connor had to hand Angel his handkerchief to blow his nose and wipe his face. When he handed the handkerchief back he smiled at him and said 'Thanks'.

Wesley put Cordelia's hand in Angels then stepped back to join Fred. Since they were renewing their vows Cordelia had chosen to have only Kathleen standing with her. Daniel, Connor and Lou's son was the ring bearer while Mike and Nicky stood beside Connor.

Jack started the mass. When it came time for the communion, Spike and Richard came up to stand behind Angel just in case anything happened. To their surprise though nothing did. Jack gave Cordelia her communion then gave Angel his. Nothing happened. He then gave them each a sip of the wine. Nothing happened.

Angel bowed his head and gave his prayer of thanks. As he bowed his head everyone could see a soft white mist encircle Angel and Cordelia. When he raised his head he saw everyone looking at him. He looked at Cordelia and simply said "I am free." Cordelia put her hand to his cheek and showed him his tear. It was clear as anyone's tears would be. He smiled at her and kissed her hand. "Rein in your horses their sonny it's not time for that yet." They just looked up at him and smiled. Spike and Richard went back to their seats and the ceremony continued. At the end Angel and Cordelia turned to the rest and Jack said "I give to you, for the second time, Mr. and Mrs. Angel Liam Martin and Cordelia Chase-Martin."

They remained at the front while everyone filed by and congratulated them. Kathleen stood close to her mother. Cordelia knew that she must be able to see her aura that must tell her that something was wrong. She was very tired and she started to feel a pain in her chest. "Get Shawn for me Kathleen." "Okay Momma."

In that split second the uninvited guest came up to Angel with the large box in front of him. He had insisted on giving it to Angel personally so he wasn't stopped by the guards. With his hand on the trigger of the crossbow he fired one arrow into Angel's heart and the second one into Cordelia's. The arrow that hit Angel went into his heart and came out of the other side. The second arrow that he shot at Cordelia hit her with such force that it literally sliced her heart in two and she was dead within seconds. The blood came pouring out of the wound and quickly ran all over her dress and to the floor. In the last moments of his life Angel reached out for his wife and held her.

In death, as it would now be through out eternity, their blood mingled together as it fell to the floor.

Kathleen had been so shocked by what had happened so fast that all she could do was scream. She reached out with her mind for her mother and father and found them to be silent. She couldn't stand the shock of what just happened and she fainted. Mike and Nicky came running to their parents. Shawn and Hunter had immediately gone to Angel and Cordelia but could find no pulse. They noticed that even their blood had now stopped flowing. Connor and Spike had run after the man that had shot them. He was caught before he even made it to the door. Connors friends took him into custody and had him handcuffed.

For the next hour the Angel Investigation and Scooby family just stared at Angel and Cordelia and cried. The boys held on to their father and mother and at first wouldn't let anyone come near them. Connor and Wesley finally pulled them away so that Bishop O'Connell could give them the Last Rites.

Kathleen still hadn't regained consciousness and Shawn was getting worried. He picked her up and took her to her bedroom and placed her on her bed. He ran to the bathroom then and grabbed a wash rag that he could wipe her face with after he wet it. It was almost 15 more minutes before she finally came around. When she woke up she looked into Shawn's eyes. Without warning she jumped up from the bed and went to the hallway. Without even thinking about it she jumped down to the first floor and ran over to her mother and father. Connor saw her and went to her.

"I thought I had dreamt it Connor, but its true isn't it. My Daddy and Momma are dead aren't they? Connor hugged his little sister to his chest. She tried to get away from him. "I'll bring them back Connor, I can do it. I made a deer come back to life once after Daddy and I saw a truck hit it. Let me go Connor, let me go." But Connor held onto his sister. "You know that you can't do that Kathleen. Dad wouldn't want that nor would Cordelia. He was tired Kathleen. He was tired of living and he wanted to go home to see both his biological mother and Grandma. Best of all Kathleen he has Cordelia with him. We should be happy for them."

Kathleen couldn't stand anymore so Connor sat on the floor with her and just rocked her back and forth while she cried her eyes out. Nicky and Mike came over to them then and they all hugged each other. Kathleen turned to the boys and took them both in her arms. They were almost as tall as her and Connor now.

Two hours after the shooting the hotel was cleared of all of the guests and the Coroners office was here to take Angel and Cordelia's bodies. Connor had been strong for his sister and brothers throughout the whole ordeal and he had made them go to their rooms so they wouldn't see their mother and fathers bodies being taken away. Wesley, Gunn and Giles stood with him as they drove away. As he watched the Coroners van driving away in the distance Connor couldn't hold it back anymore and he fell to his knees and cried. Giles held him and let him cry. Gunn and Wesley had gone to different sides of the drive way and released their own pent up sorrow at the passing of their friends. Fred and Cylindia had cried themselves to sleep an hour ago and were upstairs in their bedroom. Most of the people in the group had gone to their rooms and cried themselves to sleep.

Spike and Buffy were the only ones that cried for only a short time. They sat on the couch in their room. Buffy had changed and was lying on the couch with her head in Spikes lap. "How are you doing Luv?" Buffy sat up and looked at Spike. "I feel strangely calm Spike. I guess it's because Angel has finally received all that he has ever wanted and best of all Spike he has Cordelia with him. We had talked about it many times before. Cordelia was afraid of the time that Angel died and she would be left with such an empty space in her heart. So I am happy for both of them. God gave them the gift of taking them together so that they wouldn't have to suffer such a tremendous loss." Buffy kissed Spike and wrapped her arms around him. "I know that I am going to go first Spike and I am sorry that I will be leaving you behind." "Let's not think about that now Buffy." Spike picked up his wife and took her to the bed where they just laid together and went to sleep. It had been an emotionally draining day and they were both tired.

Connie and Joaquin were quietly cleaning up the blood from the floor so that when everyone came downstairs for supper, if they did come down, they wouldn't have to see the blood.

Shawn had taken Kathleen back up to her bedroom and lay beside her as she cried herself to sleep. Just as Angel had done so many times before, Shawn now held Kathleen to his chest. Although her heart was heavy she now felt safe and secure as she did when her Daddy held her.

The Epilog that I will write next will be the end of the story. It will be comparatively short.

I am sorry that it has taken me so long to finish this chapter but I've been very busy. I moved from Florida up to Georgia and I was having a problem finding the cords to my computer. Thanks to some prayers from a friend to St. Jude I found them within 3 days.

I hope that you approve of the ending and that you use up at least one box of Kleenex as I did.