Only two more chapters to go following this chapter
††††††††††
"How's it going with the scrolls, Wes?" Cordelia asked, rubbing her stomach
"Having some trouble with this word here," Wesley replied, "But from what I can tell, it has something to do with a vampire with a soul"
"Like Angel?"
She looked over at Angel, who was sitting at his desk, reading a book
"So, what else can you work out?" Cordelia asked
"Cordelia, I can only work so fast. This is not in English and most of these words are very ancient. I have to do a lot of cross-referencing to find out their meanings"
"Well, step on it. I wanna know if there's anything in there about me"
Wesley rolled his eyes as he continued translating. Cordelia sat down on Angel's lap, wrapping her arms around him, as he continued reading, one arm around her waist
"I think he wants to come out," Cordelia said, "Only a few more days now"
"Hmm," was all that Angel replied with
"Do pretend that you're interested. This is your son too"
"Hmm"
"Give me that book"
She snatched the book out of his hands and threw it onto the desk, as Angel sighed
"Okay, I'm interested now"
"Good"
"Oh, this can't be good," Wesley said
"What is it?" Cordelia asked
"I'm been cross-referencing this word, 'shanshu' and all I've been getting is death. So it says here that the vampire with a soul will die"
"Well, that's not good," Cordelia said, "Right?" she said to Angel
"Hmm"
"Well, I don't mean right now or tomorrow," Wesley said, "But sometime in the future, Angel will die"
"Uh-huh. Fascinating," Angel deadpanned, "Anything else or is that all?"
"Um…no, nothing more yet"
"You seem awfully calm about this," Cordelia said
"Look, it's not a big deal-" he started
"Yes it is a big deal," Cordelia interrupted, "That scroll there says you're gonna die"
"But not for a while," Wesley interjected, "Probably not for years"
"I'm not worried about it," Angel said, "Now, let's leave it at that"
He got up from his desk and headed downstairs as Cordelia and Wesley watched him go
"Oh boy, he's gonna be in so much trouble when I get hold of him," Cordelia said, "What the hell is he thinking? 'It's no big deal'. Ooh, he makes me angry"
"Well, Angel faces death all the time," Wesley tried to reason, "He has no fear of death, seeing as he's died before. Therefore, he's not really caring about it"
"Oh, I'm gonna make him care about it"
††††††††††
"What are you doing here?" asked the female Oracle
"You do not belong here," added the male Oracle, "How did you get in here?"
"Dark beings cannot get past the gate"
"I had a key," Vocah said, "You are the ones that help my foe"
"That is not of your concern," said the male Oracle
"Oh, it's of my concern alright. To bring destruction to the Champion, one must take away those he consider salvation"
"Leave now," said the female Oracle
"Cut the bonds and he shall fall," Vocah continued
He put his hand behind his back, as a scythe appeared in his hand
††††††††††
Cordelia was out in the markets, enjoying the sunlight and the calm air. In a couple of days, she was due to give birth to her first child. Angel's child. It made her smile thinking about it. She may be only nineteen, but she was sure she could be a good mother. At first she was worried, but over the last few months, she came to be confident about parenthood. She loved Angel and she knew he loved her back. She smiled to herself, imaging the Scourge of Europe singing the softest lullaby to their son. But right now, she was in the markets to help make Angel care about his future
"Can I help you?" asked the shopkeeper
"Yeah, I'm interested in these art Pascals," Cordelia said, "See, my boyfriend is a little unhappy and I'm trying to cheer him up. Our first child is due in a few days"
"Well, first off, congratulations. And secondly, I think art would be the best way to express his feelings. Does he get depressed a lot?"
"He wears a lot of black"
"Well, get him one of these and before you know it, he'll be happy again"
"Hopefully not too happy," Cordelia said under her breath
She purchased the art set and continued on her way, looking at a few clothes stalls, as Vocah appeared amongst the crowd, weaving his way towards her and gently brushing her hand. Cordelia turned around, but couldn't see anything out of the ordinary. Shrugging it off, she continued on, but seized up suddenly when a vision hit her. However, this was not like other visions. As soon as it finished, another hit her, followed by another, until they were all hitting her at once
Cordelia screamed in pain, multiple visions washing over her, as she collapsed to the ground, pain continuously striking her again and again, as the art shopkeeper rushed to her side and called for help
††††††††††
Angel was at home, reading the Nyazian scrolls that Wesley was translating. He put the scroll into his weapons cabinet, as the phone rang. When he went to answer it, Vocah appeared, opening the weapons cabinet and removing the scroll, before placing something inside. He disappeared by the time Angel got off the phone, grabbing his coat and car keys in a rush, before leaving the apartment
††††††††††
Angel arrived at the hospital, fear etched on his face as he headed into the neurology department, spurred on Cordelia's screams as he entered the ward where he found Cordelia in bed, screaming in pain, as the orderlies tried to restrain her
"Who are you?" asked an orderly
"I'm the boyfriend, what's going on?" Angel asked
"We have no idea. She collapsed earlier today in a market, screaming and screaming about people in agony, demons, monsters and angels. Complete nonsense"
"Will she be okay?"
"Don't know. Oh crap, she's going in labour. We're gonna need more people here. She's in labour, move, move, move. Sir, you're gonna have to leave"
Angel reluctantly left the ward, still hearing Cordelia's screams as he silently left the hospital, her screams ringing in his head
††††††††††
Wesley headed downstairs, searching for the scrolls. He assumed Angel had been reading them, possibly trying to find a different meaning for Shanshu. Which was something that Wesley had been doing all day, having gone to the occult stores and searching for different meanings of Shanshu. He thought it was a shame that Angel was fated to die
Opening the weapons cabinet, Wesley frowned when he saw that the scrolls weren't there. After all, that's where Angel would have placed it if he left the office. However, he then saw the object that Vocah left behind and quickly dashed for the door
††††††††††
Angel arrived back at the building, pulling up and getting out. He was thinking about what could have happened to Cordelia, when he suddenly remembered what the orderly had said before he left: that Cordelia had gone into labour
"Damn," Angel muttered
How could he have missed that? Spying Wesley's motorcycle across the road, Angel started to head back to his car when an explosion tore through the building, destroying all the lower levels apartment, including Angel's office. Angel himself was thrown through the air by the explosion, looking at his destroyed office, before realizing that Wesley was still inside
††††††††††
Next chapter: Angel and Vocah showdown