Seconds passed, minutes were wasted, days went too fast, and years came and went. Life moved on for everyone at Angel Investigations. There were good times and there were bad times. When things were good they were very good and when things got bad they had their family and friends whom they considered family to help them get through it.
Over the years more and more vamps and demons still managed to find their way to Los Angeles and the staff of Angel Investigations continued killing them. The older they got the harder it got; a person can only be thrown against a wall so many times before it finally takes a toll on the human body so they eventually started hiring more people to help with the fighting. They had even snagged a couple of slayers from Giles's training camp.
Lorne had finally found his one true love one night at his club. A demon that looked human was up singing karaoke and Lorne was reading her and he saw himself in her future as her husband. His friends were there when it happened. His normally green skin visibly lightened his form of turning pale. He was thrilled beyond words but was like a tongue-tied highschooler. He couldn't talk. Once he was finally able to tell his friends what he saw they took it upon themselves to get this romance started and six months later they were all standing in the lobby of the Hyperion as Lorne and Anna exchanged vows.
During a routine vampire attack Justine was killed. It was the first time that they had lost one of their own besides when Angel died, but this time everyone knew that Justine wouldn't be coming back. Gunn understandably took his wife's death hard and he decided to leave Angel Investigations, much like Cordy did. Their daughter Ali, was ten at the time of her mother's death and Gunn knew that he had to protect his daughter from losing another parent and to do that he had to protect himself. Using the law information that was planted in his brain and the forged law degree that Wolfram & Hart provided for him he began to work for the public defender's office, so in his own way, he was still helping people. Although he was no longer employed at AI he still spent lots of time with his family.
Fred and Wesley added a daughter, Abigail to their family. As the years went on they both continued to love their job. All of their children were incredibly smart and no one was surprised considering how smart Wes and Fred were. Fred invented and patented a computer program that no one understood but very smart people but it made her a lot of money that she shared with her family and friends. Unlike the early days of Angel Investigations, no one wanted for money.
Ciara gave birth to a set of twin boys two years after Angel returned from the dead. She and Connor named their boys Liam and Allan. Liam was named after his grandfather, of course and Allan was named after the uncle he would never know. Ciara relished in motherhood. It was like Angel had said; she was put on this earth to be a mother. Angel was so proud of the father that his son had become. He was gentle with them, firm with them when he needed to be, and he spent all kinds of quality time with each of his children. Angela had her father and grandfather wrapped around her precious little finger. She could talk either one of them into anything and she knew it. Like his father had done with him Connor took his children to baseball games. Whenever it was a night game Angel and Chase joined them. It became a tradition that all of them had come to love.
Cordy and Angel tried to live life and raise their children as any normal family but of course that wasn't always possible considering that they weren't normal. Cordy continued to work on the soap opera and pass her visions on to Angel and Wesley. Occasionally when her help was needed she would go out and help fight but not very often because she didn't want to take the chance of dying and leaving her children. Angel continued working at his company but he was more of a family man now, and he tried to be home every night for dinner. The kids flourished in school and were in involved in sports. Catherine, like her mother was a cheerleader and Cordy attended all of her games and Angel showed up as soon as the sun went down. Because of his strength Chase would have been an excellent football player but he was afraid of unintentionally hurting someone so he focused of basketball because he inherited his father's height, Chase was one of the best players on the team and since all of the games were indoors so Angel could attend all of those. Their parents were very proud of them.
Over the years there were multiple attempts on Catherine and Chase's life but they trained with their father and brother and they were always able to defend themselves. During the few times that something actually thought that they could kidnap them they quickly killed whatever it was that had them before their parents got to them but that never stopped their parents from worrying about them.
Once the children graduated from high school they were finally allowed to come work for Angel Investigations but not a minute before. It was a given that Catherine and Chase would work for the family business. Two of Wes and Fred's children, Matthew and Abigail stayed but James went on to college and became a physicist, like his mother had planned many years ago. Unfortunately for Ciara, all four of her children stayed in the family business. She was always a worrier and she, like any mother didn't want her children putting their lives at risk but she accepted their decision and supported them. It did help ease her mind that all four of their children inherited part of their father's strength so they were able to defend themselves. Because Ali was so young when Gunn left his job she wasn't exposed to a life of demons and vampires on a daily basis so she followed in her father's footsteps and became a lawyer.
Over the years that they had all known each other, they always referred to each other as family. Well thanks to their children they all legally became family. Ciara, Connor, Wesley and Fred's children ended up marrying each other. Angela and Matthew fell madly in love, as did Patrick and Abigail. Chase and Ali were always the best of friends and that friendship blossomed into love and then marriage. The rest of the children found their happiness outside of their world but each of them ended up with someone who understood that there was a world of people who needed their help to protect them from demons and vampires.
Cordelia and Angel's marriage was happy one, but as the years went on she discovered the one major downfall of being married to an eternal creature of the night. He never aged. She has always known that he would never age but it never bothered her when she looked younger or the same age as her husband. It started to affect her when she began to look older than him, when she would introduce her younger looking husband and people would give her a look. She hated it. She took it really hard when she went through menopause. She cried for days and locked herself in their bedroom, making Angel sleep in the guest room for a week. After she finally let him back in their room, she wouldn't let him see her naked or let him make love to her for months because she was convinced that once he saw her old naked body he wouldn't love her anymore. It broke Angel's heart (figuratively of course) to see the most beautiful woman that he had ever laid eyes on struggle with aging while he didn't. After a lot of talking he finally convinced that she would always be beautiful to him.
45 years in the future
"Hey sweetheart, are you feeling any better?" Angel asked. Cordy had been sick for the past week, coughing, fever, sore throat.
She shook her head. "I feel worse."
"I'm making you a doctor's appointment." He waited for an argument but he got none and he knew right then that she must really be sick. He had been trying for the last two days to get her to the doctor's but she had adamantly refused. "Go back to bed and I'll wake you when it's time to go." She nodded weakly and shuffled back to bed.
An hour later Chase and Angel went in to wake Cordy. Since it was the middle of the day he needed his son's help to get his mom to the car. The sight they saw when they opened the door caused them to panic. Cordy was lying on the bed struggling to breathe and her color was blue. Both men quickly responded. Angel scooped his wife up in his arms, blankets and all and carried her to the car where Chase was waiting.
"Hospital." Angel ordered as he held on to Cordy. Chase nodded and drove like a maniac to the hospital. Thankfully the patient entrance was in the shade so Chase pulled up and Angel climbed out holding his wife tightly in his arms.
"I'll be right in dad." Angel nodded and he carried her into the hospital. A nurse rushed right over to them ordering a gurney.
"Sir what happened?"
"My…my…having trouble breathing….blue." He whispered.
"You need to lay her down." He held her tighter. "Sir we can't help her unless you let us." He reluctantly placed her on the gurney. She looked up at him with terrified eyes.
"I love you." He said as she was wheeled away. He attempted to follow but was ordered to wait in the waiting room. He sat heavily on a chair and placed his head in his arms. He refused to cry because he knew that she would be fine but he was scared to death. He only lifted his head when he felt Chase's hand on his back.
"Where's mom?"
"They took her back."
"She'll be okay."
"She was so scared." Angel whispered tearfully.
"She'll be okay." Chase repeated.
"Call Catherine. She needs to be here."
"I can't use my phone in here. Will you be okay if I go outside?" Angel nodded and Chase reluctantly left his father to go call his wife and sister.
As soon as he got outside before he could dial the number Catherine was calling him.
"Cath?"
"Where the hell are you guys? I came over to check on mom and the house is empty."
"The hospital. Mom was having trouble breathing."
"I'm on my way."
"Cath, I scared. She looked really bad." He admitted to his big sister what he refused to admit to his dad because his dad needed him to be strong.
"Be strong Chase, I'm on my way." After hanging up with Catherine he called Ali to let her know what was going on. She offered to bring the kids up and wait with them but he told her that he would call her when he had news.
"Any news?" Chase asked as he rejoined his dad in the waiting room and Angel simply shook his head. Chase reached over and took his father's hand and held it tightly.
"I can't lose her Chase. I just can't." Angel whispered. These last seven years have been hard on Angel. When he lost Connor and Ciara in a car accident it almost broke him and it probably would have if Cordy had not been there to bring him back from the darkness that was surrounding him. They were both in their late sixties but Angel thought they were both so young. When Connor died he felt like he lost his best friend and he now knew first hand what his victims families went through when killed one of it's members. Four years after he lost his son and daughter in law Wesley died of a heart attack and sadly he knew that there wasn't much more time for Fred and Gunn. They all were getting old and when you are human getting old and dying was just a part of the circle of life. He always refused to entertain the possibility of losing Cordy. He always knew deep down that she would die and leave him but in his mind if he didn't think about it, then it would never happen but right now he was being forced to think about it.
"Daddy?" Angel looked up at the sound of his daughter's voice. Without a word she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.
"Where are Ali, David and the kids?" He asked
"They are going to wait until we have some news." Chase explained.
"Yeah, that makes sense." They waited another hour before a doctor came out.
"Family of Cordelia Angel?" The three of them stood up. "You are family?"
"Yes, I am her daughter, these are my siblings and I have her Power of Attorney." When Cordy started to look older then Angel they all agreed that he would referred to as her son in public and Catherine's name would on her Power of Attorney for legal purposes but Angel would ultimately make any decision regarding her health if she was unable to.
"Please follow me." They did as asked and they were led to a small private room. "I'm Dr. Haslett and I have been treating your mother.
"How is she?" Chase asked.
"I'm afraid that I have some bad news. She has a very severe case of pneumonia, one of the worst that I have ever seen. There is not one spot on either of her lungs that isn't covered with pneumonia."
"Well that's not so bad, Pneumonia is treatable." Catherine stated.
"I have started your mother on antibiotics but unfortunately she has progressed to respiratory failure so the medication won't do much good at this point."
"She wasn't this bad yesterday."
"We tried to get her to go to the doctor but she refused, saying that she wasn't that bad." Catherine and Chase said at the same time.
"This type of pneumonia progresses very quickly so she could have okay."
"So what do we do about this respiratory failure?" Chase asked.
"Unfortunately there is nothing I can do to reserve its progress. I have her on oxygen and pain medication to make her comfortable."
"No this cannot be happening." Catherine whispered.
"How much time?" Chase choked out with tears falling down his cheeks.
"A day, maybe two at most. I would suggest that you gather your family so you can say your goodbyes. She is in room 2114 in the ICU. She can have two visitors at a time." Catherine and Chase embraced each other sobbing and Angel sat stiffly staring at the wall. "I'm very sorry. I wish that I could have done more."
As soon as the doctor left them alone Angel jumped up and strode out of the hospital with Catherine and Chase on his heels.
"Dad." Chase shouted as he grabbed his arm but Angel roughly shook him off.
"Daddy, where are you going?" Catherine yelled.
"I'm going to stop this. I am not going to let your mother die."
"Daddy please don't do this to yourself, to us, to her. There is nothing that can be done." Catherine begged.
"Bull shit. There is always something to do." He stormed away from them.
"Stubborn son of a bitch." Catherine muttered through her tears as Angel stalked off. "He's just making it worse for himself.
"Cath…it can't hurt to try."
"She needs him."
"He'll be here. He always is." Chase said as he wrapped his arm around his sister and they walked solemnly back into the hospital.
--
Angel said the chant, lit a match and he was transported in to the Conduwnet cave.
"I need to talk to you NOW." He roared into the empty room.
"You seek to save her."
"You know why I am here?" It was a statement more than a question.
"Yes and you are wasting precious time that you could be spending with your wife. There is nothing that we can do for her."
"Bullshit. You can save her. You have to save her."
"What is done cannot be undone. Her time on earth has come to an end."
"She has worked for you guys for fifty years. She deserves to be saved."
"There is nothing we can do."
"Please" He begged.
"I'm sorry vampire. Now go and be with her. There is not much time left."
"NOOOOOOOO." He screamed as he was transported back to the room he started out in. "No." He repeated as he sank to the floor and sobbed.
When his sobs finally subsided he slowly pulled himself to his feet and began the walk back to the hospital. The Condiwent said there wasn't much time and he needed to spend every possible minute with her. During his walk back to the hospital he thought back to his life with Cordy. He loved her more than he ever thought possible and the thought of living the rest of his life never seeing her beautiful smile, never hearing her laugh, never running his fingers through her soft hair, never touching her, never kissing her, never making love to her again, made him want to die right along with her.
Once he returned to the hospital he made his way to the ICU. He saw his son and daughter in law sleeping in the waiting room surrounded by his sleeping grandchildren and great grandchildren. He found Cordy's room and he stood outside and watched his wife and children. They were all sleeping, Cordy in the bed in the middle of the room and Catherine and Chase were on either on side of her, clutching her hands, their heads resting on the bed.
"Sir, you can go in." A nurse said.
"But the doctor said that only two people can be with her at a time."
"The doctor made an exception so you could all be together."
"Thank you." Angel went into her room; shut the blinds to give them more privacy.
"Daddy?" Angel walked over to his daughter and kissed her head. Chase also began to stir.
"Hey dad." He mumbled.
"How is she?" He whispered as he walked next to his frail and pale wife who laying motionless on the bed, her gray hair fanning out around her, and an oxygen mask covering her beautiful face.
"Been sleeping pretty much since you left." Chase said
"Did you tell her where I went?"
"We didn't have to. She knows you too well."
"Yes she does." He whispered. He leaned down and gently pressed his lips to her forehead. Her eyes fluttered, focused on him and smiled through her mask. "Hey sleepy head." She moved her mask away from her face.
"Catherine, Chase?"
"We are right here mom." Catherine whispered.
"Cor, put the mask back on." She shook her head.
"I need to….tell them." She allowed Angel to return her mask.
"Mommy, we know. Save your strength." Catherine begged but of course she didn't listen.
"My baby girl. I was never supposed to have you as long as I was with your father. You were my miracle. Catherine, you have made me so proud. You are a wonderful woman and mother." Cordy took a break and replaced her oxygen mask.
"I've had a wonderful example to follow."
"You are so much like your father. Baby girl, my heart swells with pride every time I look at you. You are my hero sweetheart. It has been a true honor to be your mom. Promise me that you will take care of our boys okay?" Catherine nodded. "They are going to need my strong girl, especially your dad. He will be lost without me." She winked at Angel who couldn't of agreed with her more.
"I love you mommy." Catherine sobbed.
"I love you too baby girl." Trying to hold herself together she leaned forward and kissed her mother and then went and buried her head in her father's chest. He held her tightly as her body shook with silent sobs.
"Chase honey?" Cordy rasped.
"I'm right here mama."
"My boy. You are so precious to me. Every time I look at you it's like looking in a mirror except you have your father's eyes. You are sweet, kind, and you put everyone else's needs before your own. You are an amazing father and husband, just like yours. As with your sister, it has been an honor to be your mother. I love you Chase."
"I love you mama." Chase kissed his mother and joined his sister in father's arms.
Cordy had fallen back asleep, her conversation with her children took a lot of her strength. Angel held Catherine and Chase tightly in his arms, trying to take away their pain but no matter how hard he squeezed they were all still in pain.
"Come on Chase, let's go get some coffee." Catherine sniffed. She knew that their parents need some time alone. He nodded and allowed himself to be led out of the room. "We'll be back soon."
Angel slowly walked over to Cordy's beside, pulled up a chair, picked up her frail hand and brought it to her lips and kissed all of her fingers.
"Are they gone?" Angel's head shot up in surprise.
"You need to keep this on." He gently replaced her mask but she stubbornly pulled it back off. "Cordelia, please."
"Kiss me once more for the road."
"Cor don't talk like that."
"Angel, I know I'm dying." He placed the mask back over her face.
"No sweetheart. You're going to be fine."
"You could never lie to me."
"You just have to fight. Fight to live Cordelia."
"I don't want to die baby, but I don't have any fight left in me. I'm so tired."
"I don't want to lose you. I can't."
"We had a wonderful life together but our time has come to an end."
"No…we have so much more left to do."
"Angel you saved me from myself. You changed my life when we ran into each other at that party. I was so self absorbed in myself and in making money, you changed all of that." She took a break for more oxygen. "You gave me a family that I never had. Without you I wouldn't of had Catherine and Chase, I never would have been half the mother that I was without you." Another oxygen break. "I love you so much. You have made me so happy and I wouldn't change one thing about our love and life together."
"I love you too Cordy, that's why you have to stay." She lifted a frail hand to his face.
"We will meet again one day." He vehemently shook his head.
"We won't hon. Once you leave me I'll never see you again. You'll be in heaven and I can't go there."
"I promise, we will meet again."
"Cor…"
"Kiss me Angel." He slowly leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers. He kissed her gently and softly. He didn't kiss her for long because she needed the oxygen.
"I love you Cordelia Angel." She nodded and closed her eyes. Catherine and Chase returned a few minutes later and they all gathered around her bed.
"I love you all so much." She looked at each of her children, smiled her famous 100-watt smile and closed her eyes. She knew that they would be okay without her. Minutes later her heart stopped beating and she slipped quietly out of the world.
--
During the two years after Cordy's death Angel just went through the motions of life but he wasn't the man or vampire that he once was. Around his kids, who wouldn't leave him alone, grandkids, and great grandkids he put on a happy face but everyone knew it was a façade. Everyone knew he was miserable without Cordy in his life. Every night regardless of the weather he spent it in the cemetery, next to Cordy's headstone talking to her or sleeping. During the day when he couldn't be out in the sun he immersed himself in old photo albums or he drew sketches of her. If there was a demon or vamp killing that needed his assistance he did what had to be done then he retreated back into himself.
"Chase, we need to talk." Catherine said as she walked into her mother's old office, which has been Chase's office for the last ten years. When Cordy officially retired from acting Angel quit coming into work so he could spend more time with her, so Catherine took his office.
"Dad?" He questioned. They both had been extremely worried about him, especially over the past year when Fred and Gunn died within months of each other. He seemed to become more depressed.
"Yeah." She said softly. "I don't know how to say this but I want him to die."
"Cath…"
"He is miserable Chase. He spends his nights at a cemetery talking to her for Christ's sake."
"He feels like he is still with her at the cemetery. If he dies and goes to hell then any link of her will be gone."
"I had a vision. He won't go hell Chase." After Cordy died Catherine had inherited her visions.
"Are you saying…?" She nodded. "Let's go."
Twenty minutes later, they were walking into their childhood home. They found their father is his chair staring at the wall with sketches of their mother all over the floor. Sadly, this wasn't a surprise to them because this is how they always found him.
"Daddy." He lifted his eyes to meet Catherine's.
"Hey chipmunk." Tears filled Catherine's eyes.
"Daddy, you haven't called me that in a long time."
"When was the last time you ate?" Chase asked as he walked to the fridge.
"Yesterday."
"So why the hell is the same amount of blood in the fridge when I was here last week?" Chase tossed him a bag of blood. "You need to eat Dad." Angel drank the blood without question.
"We need to talk dad." Catherine began and he looked at her expectantly. "I got a vision."
"Don't you have people to take of that for you?"
"Dad, just listen." Chase snapped.
"Daddy, I had a vision of you and mom, together with Connor, Ciara, and everyone else."
"Sounds like it was a past vision."
"No it wasn't. It was a future vision. You were all together in heaven."
"Catherine, it's wrong. You interpreted it wrong."
"No I didn't. The Powers are never wrong. Do you know what this means?" Angel didn't respond.
"It means that when you die you will be together with mom again in heaven." Chase explained softly.
"No, I'm not going to heaven. I can't. I'm a monster."
"You do deserve heaven daddy and you will get that."
"Great, so if I ever managed to get staked, maybe in another two hundred years, I'll see her again."
"You don't have to wait that long dad."
"What the hell are you saying Chase?"
"You can walk out into the sun any time that you want to." Chase responded in a choked voice.
"I can't leave you guys."
"Daddy, we are both adults. You and mom taught us how to take care of ourselves and besides, you haven't really been here as much as you used to be since mom died."
"Dad we love you and we want you to be happy again and we know the only way that will happen again is if you are with mom."
"Do you guys really want me to leave?"
"Of course not but as Chase said we want you to be happy again."
"I'm so sorry I've been distant. I'm just so lost without her. I don't know how to function anymore."
"Then you need to find your back to her." Catherine whispered softly.
--
One week later Angel was sitting on the beach right before the sun rose with Catherine and Chase on either side of him each clutching one of his hands. He had spent the last week of his life on earth saying goodbye to his family. He was torn; he didn't want to leave as much as he wanted to leave. Catherine and Chase continued to support him,
"I'm going to miss you daddy." She whispered tearfully.
"I don't have to do this."
"Yes you do dad." Chase said.
"You two have given me so much joy. I'm a vampire and I was never supposed to have children and I ended up with three, two of which I was able to raise from birth until adulthood. I am so proud of both of you. I love you both so damn much."
"We love you too daddy." The three of them stood. Angel embraced Catherine first.
"Goodbye my beautiful daughter." He whispered as the tears rolled down his face.
"Hug everyone for me." Angel nodded and Chase was next.
"Goodbye son. Take care of your sister for me."
"I will dad. Kiss mom for me."
"I love you." They all said together.
Catherine and Chase linked hands as Angel walked into the ocean. As the sun rose Angel began to burn but this time he didn't feel the pain. Catherine and Chase stood back on the beach as they watched their father catch on fire. Within seconds he was gone. Catherine and Chase both burst into tears and sank to the sand. Their dad was really gone. They knew that it would be hard to be without him, but they knew that he was happy once again.
Angel was confused. He was standing in the lobby of The Hyperion. How could he not be dead? Who stepped in and saved him again?
"Hello salty goodness." Angel turned around and came face to face with his Cordy. She wrapped her arms around his neck and they kissed passionately. When they broke apart Connor, Ciara, Wes, Fred, Gunn, Justine, Lorne, Anna, and Doyle surrounded him. His family.
"Welcome home." His one true love whispered. "I've really missed you."
Angel smiled and looked around. After three hundred and some odd years he had finally found his way home with those he loved.
"It's good to be home."