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Angel arrived back at the office, finding a middle-aged man sporting a bruise on his jaw. The vampire had just killed the nests three occupants and was now back to collect his payment, wanting to get back home to Cordelia

"Where's Harlen Elster?"

"I'm Harlen Elster"

"Then, who was the other guy? He gave me this," Angel said, showing the cheque

"Sam Ryan? Well, he gave me this. At least mine's real. I fired the guy about six months ago. His friend died. Sam believes it was 'vampires'"

"Right then," Angel said, tearing up the cheque and turning away

"He believed they had a nest downtown with hidden treasure," Harlen said

"Wait. Hidden treasure?"

††††††††††

Fred smiled as she slid the last piece of the puzzle into place, watching as it glowed brightly. The Nahdrahs clicked and applauded, before lifting Fred to her feet

"Oh, are we going somewhere? Have you seen my friend? Green skin, red horns. He's not feeling well. I'm starting to worry"

Fred was taken into another room, seeing Lorne lying bound on the floor

"Really worrying now," she said

The Nahdrahs placed Fred into a chair, locking her wrists and neck in place, as she then saw the Nahdrah prince and she gulped. He was unmasked and hideous looking. Fred gulped again when she saw a photo off her head placed over the top of the prince's head. She knew what was coming next, especially when she saw the sword

"Now, I'm worrying greatly," Fred said

"Ahem"

The Nahdrahs turned around to face Cordelia, who was holding a briefcase in one hand, while gently rocking Ashleigh with the other. Connor was partially standing behind her, one hand gripping the hem of her shirt

"I believe there is a mistake," Cordelia said, "Because, we need Fred. All of Fred, completely intact and preferably alive. Let's do an exchange. Money for Fred"

Lorne translated to the demons, as they growled and stepped forth menacingly

"Uh, what did you tell them?" Cordelia asked worriedly

"I told them that we are surrounded by warriors who will kick their asses if they don't release Fred right now"

"We can't-"

"Angel, Wes and Gunn can handle these guys. Where are they?"

"Out making money," Cordelia replied, starting to back away from the demons

"Oh. We're screwed," Lorne said

"You think?" Fred asked

††††††††††

Sam Ryan was going through the small pieces of jewellery and other belongings, when someone suddenly trapped his arm behind his back, while taking a watch from him at the same time

"Hey, give that back"

"So, a Timex," Angel said, "What does it do? Open a portal to the armies of hell?"

"Glows in the dark. About all it can do now"

"Probably worth around ten grand. Recompensation"

"Look, man, I'm sorry about what I did, but I had to. These things killed my friend. I had no one else to turn to for help"

"So you lied to me," Angel said, "I've got two kids, alright and the missus isn't gonna be pleased about this at all"

"I'll make it up to you, I swear"

Suddenly, growling could be heard, as Angel quickly slammed the door and leaned against it, just as the first of the vampires slammed against it

"I'm sure we can work something out. Car?"

"Bank took it. I don't think I've got anything else I can give you," Sam replied, before leaning against the door with Angel

Angel let out an annoyed sigh, before walking away from the door

"Hey, I can't hold this on my own"

"You do a job, you expect to get paid," Angel said, snapping off a piece of wood

He pushed Sam aside and opened the door, staking the first vampire that entered. His friend moved around the dust and aimed a kick at Angel's head, but he ducked and swept, staking the vampire swiftly, before rising up and punching the last two vampires, venting his annoyance out on them. He finally staked them both, before storming out of the nest, as his phone started ringing

"Thanks, man. I owe you" Sam called

"Yeah, yeah. Hello? Hello? Stupid thing, hello?"

"I think that's your voice message"

"Damn"

††††††††††

Cordelia continued backing away, before stepping forth and kicking one of the Nahdrahs in the groin – pain shooting up her shin. The Nahdrah simply stared at her, as she backed away, shielding Connor with her body. But at that moment, Wesley and Gunn burst into the room, brandishing their weapons. Having taken care of the stalking zombie, they had gotten Cordelia's voice message and raced over as fast as they could. Now, they were battling against the Nahdrahs, holding their own against the masked demons. One of the demons had had enough and raised his sword towards Fred's neck, as she let out a scream

"Fred!" the two men cried at once

Wesley grabbed the briefcase containing the fifty thousand dollars and threw it, cleanly knocking the prince's head off his shoulders. The followers simply looked at the head, before looking back at the men

"You cut the head off the snake," Wesley said

"You piss the other snakes off," Gunn finished

The Nahdrahs stepped menacingly towards the men, when the skylight shattered and Angel came falling into the room. As soon as he landed on his feet, Angel was dishing out blows left, right and centre. Nahdrahs fell around him, as Wesley and Gunn joined in, taking the rest of the demons out. Once the demons were down, Wesley and Gunn released Fred from the chair, as Angel untied Lorne and helped him up, before taking Ashleigh into his arms, as Cordelia kissed him on the cheek

"Guys, can I say something? Money's important…but it isn't everything. I got... I got carried away. I just never had a life that was totally dependent on me before, especially two little lives. But that's no excuse. Where was I?" Angel said

"Money's not the most important," Cordelia started

"No, it's not. What's important is family ... and the mission"

The group stared at the pile of money lying before them. Fifty thousand dollars

"They tried to cut Fred's head off," Cordelia said, "We earned every penny"

"Hold the baby," Angel said

Cordelia took her daughter back, as her son stood beside her. Everyone else fell upon the money, stashing them in their pockets. At one point, Gunn even sniffed the bills and let out a small contended sigh, before stashing more of the cash

††††††††††

Later that night…

Angel, Cordelia, Connor and Ashleigh were all lying on the queen bed, the parents on the outside of the bed with the children between them. Angel had his arm lying across Connor's sleeping body, his hand holding Ashleigh's foot as she sucked on her bottle next to Cordelia, who was slowly drifting off to sleep

"Okay…college fund…and a boat"

"What am I gonna do with a boat?" Angel asked, just as sleepily

"Moonlight sails. Gotta have some fun in our lives"

"We have enough fun as it is"

"Okay then…college fund for two…and rent a ski condo in Aspen"

"Hmm, I'd like a ski condo"

"Chipmunk robots on ice"

"Chipmunk robots…on ice?"

Angel opened his eyes slightly to continue with the absurdity of that comment, but he smiled when he saw that Cordelia had fallen asleep and Ashleigh's eyes were starting to droop now she had finished her bottle. With the smile still in place and his son snuggling up against his chest, Angel closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep

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