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Angel burst into the room, just the sprinklers finally died down. He looked towards the bed, seeing a moderately dry Cordelia sitting up in bed, a baby wrapped in a pink blanket nestled in her arms. Everyone else was soaked, while Connor was wearing his father's coat. Stunned at what he was seeing, Angel found himself by the bed, as Cordelia smiled at him, before handing their daughter over to him. Angel smiled, cradling his small daughter against his chest. Then he realized what was going and instantly snapped to action

"We have to leave, now"

"Angel, what's going on?" Wesley asked

"An old enemy of mine, Holtz, he's here to kill me. He's dangerous and we need to leave, like right now"

"But, Angelwings, Cordelia just gave birth," Lorne said, "It'll be hard to move her"

"Here, take her," Angel said, handing his daughter to Wesley, "Take her out to the car. I'll meet you guys there"

Wesley nodded and left, as Gunn picked Connor and followed after him with Fred and Lorne close behind him. Holtz turned the corner and saw them running off, before entering the room, just as Angel gently picked Cordelia up, one arm slung around his neck as he cradled her close to him. Holtz aimed the crossbow at him. They were at a standoff. Holtz could see how weak Cordelia was and how gently Angel was holding her. His finger itched to pull the trigger, but for some reason, he couldn't

"Do it now," came Sahjahn's voice, "Do it. Kill him!"

Holtz lowered his crossbow. He could see the pain in Cordelia's eyes. She needed care and the only person who could give it to her was Angel. The vampire gave Holtz the barest of perceivable nods and left the room, as Holtz watched him go

"You can't let him, not like that," Sahjahn raged, "Not after you swore to me!"

"I said I would show no mercy," Holtz said emotionlessly, "And I won't"

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Angel and the others arrived back at the Hyperion, as the vampire quickly raced upstairs, gently placing Cordelia on their bed. She smiled weakly at him and kissed him on the cheek, as he settled himself beside her. Wesley arrived about a minute later, handing the baby girl over to her father, before leaving the room to give the new parents a moment together with their child

"She looks like you," Cordelia smiled

"No, I'd say you looks like you," Angel said, "She has your eyes"

The bedroom door opened, as Connor came in and climbed onto the bed

"Hey, buddy, say hi to your sister," Angel said, pulling his son in close

"Okay, you know what, I've got an idea," Cordelia said, "Before we continue with this, we all need to take showers and get changed. We're all wet"

She headed for the bathroom, as Angel, his daughter and Connor headed back downstairs – where Wesley and Gunn were waiting with grim looks on their faces

"I don't want to know," Angel said

"Fraid you do," Gunn said, "We've got demons waiting for us outside. Luckily, Lorne's on the case, getting the Furies to put a shield up around the hotel"

Angel headed to the hotel door, seeing the mass of demons standing on the streets, held back by the quick protection spell Lorne had the Furies conjure up for them

"Cordy is going to hate this," he muttered

Just then, Cordelia came downstairs and took her daughter from Angel's arms, heading over into the office to give themselves some privacy and luckily didn't notice the tension surrounding the occupants. Fred took Connor upstairs for his bath, as Angel, Wesley and Gunn huddled together, trying to come up with a plan. And it fell to Angel to tell Cordelia about their situation. Grimacing, he entered the office, as Cordelia looked up from her baby girl

"Uh, we have a problem," he said

Ten minutes later and Angel had his daughter wrapped up in his arms, leaving through the basement to his car. As he took off in the Plymouth, the demons, as well as Wolfram and Hart operatives, took off after him in their own vehicles

"I seriously don't like this," Angel muttered, hanging a hard left turn, "Oh, your mother is so gonna kill me for this"

Angel kept driving, pursued by the demons that wanted the 'miracle child' for their own needs. Angel couldn't understand why they were coming after his daughter and yet never made an attempt for Connor. Then he rationalised it was because Connor was completely human, while Angel's daughter was a half-vampire and as such, her birth should have been impossible due to her nature. Hell, even her conception wasn't supposed to happen. Not that Angel really cared. He now had two children, something he thought was impossible and yet it wasn't. But right now, he was trying to protect his newborn daughter

Angel kept driving out of town, before coming to an abandoned mine. He hurriedly got out of the car and ran down into the mine, keeping his daughter shielded as he ran towards the door barring the mines, but couldn't open in time when the demons and operatives arrived, blocking off his exit

"Hand over the baby," the operative leader ordered

"Okay, sure, take her"

Angel tossed the baby to the operative, before swiftly leaving the area, using a rope and pulley to get him out of the mine, as the demons were busy tearing the blanket away, revealing a teddy bear. And attached to the teddy bear was nothing more than a timer attached to the small explosives

KA-BOOM!!

Angel smiled to himself as he got back into the Plymouth, spinning the wheels, before racing off into the night, heading back into Los Angeles

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"I'm happy to report you have a healthy baby girl," the doctor said

"Thank you very much," Cordelia smiled, taking her daughter back

"Well, her height and weight are in the ninety percentile. We gave her her vitamin K and her PKU and she's doing very well. We don't seem to have her - what's her name?"

"Ashleigh Chloe Chase," Angel said, coming into the room

"Well, congratulations, Mr Angel," said the doctor, "Ashleigh Chloe Chase-Angel"

He smiled and left the room, as Angel and Cordelia huddled around their daughter. Wesley picked Connor up so he could get a better look at his sister, as Gunn arrived in the room, pushing a stroller along. Angel smiled as he placed his daughter into the stroller. Cordelia took hold of his hand, Connor sitting on her hip, as the gang left the room, heading back to the hotel as a family

"So, are we safe?" Cordelia asked later that night after putting their children to bed

"Yeah, we're safe for now," Angel replied, kissing her, "No one will be coming after Ashleigh or Connor for that matter"

"What about Holtz?"

"I'll deal with him when the time comes. For now, I'd say he's laying low"

††††††††††

The next night...

Holtz watched from the shadow of a tree as the young, orange-haired woman clad in a leather jacket battled against the vampire. He was impressed to see that she was able to hold her own, but since she was under the influence of alcohol, she was losing the battle, getting thrown onto her back as the vampire descended. Holtz intervened at the last minute, staking the vampire through the heart and helping her to her feet

"What do you want?" Justine Cooper demanded

"I need your help," Holtz replied, "In destroying a vampire"

"So? Go kill him yourself then. Why do you need me for?"

"This vampire is no ordinary vampire. He is a very powerful vampire. Look, Justine, I know what its like to lose someone very close to you. Trust me, I know"

"You know nothing, apart from my name" Justine said, "So leave me alone"

"The police report was inconclusive, wasn't it? How did it feel not to have justice for the death of your twin sister? You spend your days sleeping and drinking and your nights killing vampires"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Justine asked, whirling around

"I'm here to offer you a choice," Holtz said, "I'm here to give your life purpose"

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