Title: The Horror of Amusement
Author: Lilyana_vamp
Posted: 03-10-2003
Email: lilyana_vamp@yahoo.com
Rating: PG
Category:
Content:
Summary:
Spoilers:
Disclaimer: The characters in the Angelverse were created by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt. No infringement is intended, no profit is made. Lyrics to the Mickey Mouse Club theme are property of Walt Disney Company and no infringement is intended.
Distribution: If you want it, take it...just let me know where it went.
Notes: Angel Investigations decide to take a few days off after their ordeal with the First to spend somewhere fun, but the fun doesn’t last long. Sequel to my last fic, formerly titled “Currently Untitled”, now titled “When the Face of Evil is the Face You Love.”
Notes 2: At the suggestion of my wonderful beta, in the previous fic, the AI gang faced off with Angelus as well as the First coming through Cordy’s body. This explains that everything icky that Cordy did wasn’t really her (in my reality *g*) and our favorite couple managed to bring things back to more solid ground.
Notes 3: “Morty” was one of Mickey Mouse’s two nephews, although many mistook them to be his sons. Just an FYI for those of you who might be confuzzled later on!
Feedback: well duh…Part 1: Agreements
He looked at her fingers as they tapped a steady, aggravated rhythm against her hips. “I can’t believe you’re actually saying this to me after everything we’ve been through.”
He chanced a look up at her and was instantly sorry. She had that look in her eyes, the very pissed off look that generally cost him money, and lots of it. “Cordy, it’s not that I don’t want to…it’s just…you know how things are…we can’t…”
“You are so full of crap Angel. You know we could if you really wanted to.”
“But Cordy…”
“No but’s Angel. Connor’s never had a childhood and I want to give him something special and fun.”
“But does it have to be—“
“Yes.”
“But he’s sixteen.”
“You’re never too old. Even you could have fun if you’d let yourself Old Man.”
“Hey!” Angel protested, giving his patented puppy eyes.
“Don’t give me that look. It’s the same look Connor gave me when he asked about it.”
“Oh, so now you’re taking his side?” he smiled but felt that familiar twinge of jealousy.
“What can I say, he takes after his daddy; big soulful eyes and all.”
“So I suppose he got the attitude, conniving, and charm from his mommy,” he grinned at her.
“I never really thought of Darla as…oh, you mean…Hey!!” She playfully hit his arm.
“Okay, okay, I give. We’ll go.”
Cordelia squealed and began jumping up and down, her dainty heels clicking against the floor. Angel couldn’t help but smile at her joy.
“What’s going on?” Fred asked as her and Gunn walked in from the lobby.
“We’re going to Disneyland!” Cordelia squealed again and Fred joined in on the jumping. The noise the two girls were making threatened to shatter Angel’s sensitive eardrums. “Come on, we just have to go shopping!” Cordy and Fred bounced out of the office.
“Dammit. I agreed and it still cost me money,” he groaned and glanced up to see Gunn glaring at him. “What?”
“Yo ass is costing me money too.”
“Sorry. I swear Cordelia can turn anything into a reason to shop. Reminds of me how D…”
“How what?”
“What? Oh, nothing.” He suddenly wished Doyle were there to suggest a drink. The very thought of taking a sixteen year old boy, a young couple, a former watcher, and Cordelia to Disneyland was enough to drive him to the bar. “You wanna drink Gunn?”
Gunn was about to answer when Lorne waltzed through the door. “Yhoo hoo! Did I hear someone say drink? Who wants a SeaBreeze?”
“Actually, I’ll go for something a bit harder…a lot harder,” Angel muttered, rubbing his head.
“What’s the what Angelcakes? You look like Cordelia maxed out your card at…” The demon stopped mid-sentence when Angel looked up at him with a purely terrified look. “What’d I say?”
“Cordelia conned Angel into taking the gang to Disney. Now her and Fred are out shopping for who knows what,” Gunn told Lorne.
“Ahh, so the Princess really is out maxing out your card.”
“Drink. Now. Please,” Angel murmured and pulled the shot of whiskey from Gunn’s hand.
“Disneyland huh? Umm…not to sound like I’m begging, but…can I come?” Lorne asked in a voice that sounded strangely like that of Cordy’s when she wanted something really bad.
Angel sighed. “Why not, although I’m not sure how we’re going to hide your appearance.”
“Don’t you worry your pretty little head Angeleyes. I’ll take care of that,” the demon smiled and walked out of the office, drink still in hand.
“I can’t believe I agreed to this.”
“Neither can I. But I don’t care either. I’m going to Disneyland dammit!” Gunn yelled and made his way out the door, an unnatural spring in his step.
***
Angel was afraid to look when the girls came back to the hotel. He wasn’t entirely sure if he was going to have enough money to take them all to Disneyland after a Cordelia Chase Shopping Spree. “Did you find everything you were looking for?” he asked with a forced smile.
“Oh yeah, and more!” Cordy beamed, holding up the bags for him to see.
“That’s what I was afraid of,” he muttered under his breath and caught a glare from his seer. “Sorry. What did you get?”
“Oh!” she exclaimed, her body shivering with excitement and Fred giggled beside her, carrying just as many bags. Gunn was going to kill him when he saw. “I got some shorts, and some tanks, and the cutest little sundress!”
“Sundress?” Angel gulped. “Doesn’t that imply that there will be sun?”
“Well yeah. This is Disneyland after all,” she answered with a sarcastic look.
“Um, Cordy? Sun, me, flames.”
“Just because you can’t go out in the day means the rest of us have to stay all cooped up in a stuffy hotel room? I think not.”
Angel nodded unsurely. “What else?” he asked, motioning to the other bags.
“I got some new clothes for Connor, and a couple of things for you.”
“Well, at least you spent a little of my money on me. What else?”
“Oh, some new shoes.”
“Cordy, you already have a million pairs of shoes.”
“It’s a woman’s prerogative to have a pair of shoes to match every outfit, not like you men…pires who have one pair of shoes that match every outfit,” she told him matter-of-factly.
“What’s in those ones?” he asked curiously, spying the small pink and white striped bags both of the girls had.
“What ones? Oh, you can’t see what’s in those. It’s a surprise,” she grinned mischievously and gathered up her bags. “Come on Fred, we have to go pack!”
“This is a nightmare…” Angel moaned and banged his head against the wall. “I really must be insane to agree to this.”
“Come on Angel. After all, they say that Disneyland is the happiest place on Earth,” Wesley spoke up as he walked in from the kitchen, an extremely goofy grin on his face.
“Someone please save me. I’ve gone to Hell…again.”
Part 2: The Mickey Mouse Club, Splash Mountain and Other...
Angel looked out his office door and grimaced at the sight that awaited him. The gang was all there, minus Lorne, and there was more luggage than he had ever seen before in his long life. How could four people possibly have so much stuff to take when they were only going to Anaheim?
“Come on Broody! Are you going to stay in here all day?” Cordy asked with a bright smile as she bounced into the office.
“The thought had occurred to me,” he muttered, letting out an un-needed breath before she dragged him out by his arm.
“As soon as Lorne gets here, we’re hitting the road!” Cordy yelled out, the excitement more than evident in her voice.
Well, it’s almost worth it to see her this happy, Angel thought to himself as the front door of the hotel opened. A man walked in dressed in a very colorful Hawaiian shirt, a pair of khaki Dockers and a pair of tennis shoes. On top of his head he wore a floppy straw hat.
Cordy gave Angel a pouty look. “Angel, we can’t take a case now! We’re leaving! Disney, remember?” she whined, her bottom lip sticking out deliciously.
Angel smiled slightly at the sight, wanting nothing more than to suck that lip into his own mouth and take her up to his room, but he managed to push those images from his mind…for the moment. “Cordy, we still have a job, and it’s not exactly the kind of job you take a vacation from.” He looked at her lip starting to quiver slightly and he wondered, when exactly it was that she began to have so much control over him without saying a word. “I’ll tell you what, you help me get the information and then you guys head out. I’ll meet you there when I finish the case. Deal?”
“I suppose,” she sighed and then grabbed him by the front of his sweater. “But you’d better not take your sweet ass time and miss the whole trip or else!”
“Or else what?” he asked, calling her bluff.
“Or else you never get to find out what’s in the little pink and white striped bag,” she threatened and his curiosity heightened. He had never been so determined to get through a case to go to an amusement park in his life. Of course, he’d never needed to be determined to get through a case to get to an amusement park in his life, so that wasn’t a hard task.
“Deal.” He motioned for Cordy to greet the client and take down his information while he gave the keys to Gunn.
“Welcome to Angel Investigations. What may we do to—“ Cordy began with her mega-watt smile and extended hand.
The man took her hand and kissed it as he interrupted her. “Hiya Princess. See Angelcakes, told ya I’d take care of everything.”
“Ahh!” Cordy screeched and jumped back, putting her hands up in front of her defensively.
“Lorne?” Fred asked in shock.
“The one and only! So, are we ready to depart to the magical land of mice, ducks and princesses?” He put an arm around Cordelia reassuringly. “You should be right at home Sweetie,” he winked at her.
She looked at him warily and poked at his face. “That is just too freaky.” She pulled off his hat to reveal his horns. “Ah ha! You still have horns though!”
“Well, there’s not exactly much I could do about those. I’ve got a few people in the make-up business and I put them to work. Think they did a beautiful job myself.”
“I should have known that no one else would wear a shirt that tacky…no offence Lorne,” the seer grinned.
“None taken Princess,” he smiled back. “Now, let’s get this party started.”
Angel, still slightly in shock and definitely stunned into silence, followed the group to the door. Luckily Cordy had it together enough to throw his blanket over him before he stepped out into the sunshine and burst into flames…although that would get him out of going on this trip.
***
“M-I-C,” Cordy sang from the back of the rented mini-van, linking her arm with Angel’s.
“K-E-Y,” Fred continued.
“M-O-U-S-E,” Gunn added from the driver’s seat, his body bouncing back and forth with each letter as he sang.
“Mickey Mouse.”
“Donald Duck.”
“Mickey Mouse.”
“Donald Duck,” Lorne and Wesley bantered back and forth respectively. Connor watched on, laughing uncontrollably at the sight of all these grown-ups acting positively foolish.
“Uhh…does anyone remember what comes next?” Cordy asked, her brow furrowed in confusion.
They all stopped in silence and Angel gave a quiet sigh of relief. “Maybe we’ll remember if we start over!” Lorne suggested gleefully and they all cheered as Angel groaned in protest. His groan was drowned out.
“Oh wait, I remember!” Gunn yelled from the front seat and they all turned to him in shock. “What? Can’t a brother watch the Mickey Mouse Club? Geez.” Gunn shook his head. “Forever let hold our banners high!”
“High! High! High!” the others joined in loudly.
“Come along and sing a song,” Wesley continued with a grin.
“And join the jamboree.” Cordy grabbed Connor’s shoulder as she sang, trying to get him to join in on the fun.
“M-I-C-K-E-Y!” He tried to stop laughing long enough to give it a whirl, but it came out as more of a fit of giggles than the letters it was suppose to.
“M-O-U-S-E,” Fred finished, laughing along with Connor and smiling at his attempt.
“Now’s the time to say goodbye,” they all sang softly together. Angel began to wonder if the insanity was ever going to end.
“To all our company
M-I-C—See ya real soon
K-E-Y—Why? Because we like you!
M-O-U-S-E!!” The entire gang burst into a roar of laughter. Angel couldn’t help but smile, although he was unsure it was because of their joy or because the song was finally over.
“One more time!” Lorne called from in front of him. Angel groaned as they began the song again and tried to cover his ears, but Cordy had a tight hold on his arm.
“How many times can they sing this before we get to the hotel?” he asked himself. “Please don’t let there be traffic…”
***
They had managed to get Angel inside without much trouble, but had received a few looks from guests who thought they were trying to smuggle in a pet underneath the heavy blanket. Gunn shot them a look to tell them to mind their own damn business, they hurried away, and he grinned in triumph.
When they reached their rooms, they silently broke off into pairs. Angel could hear Wesley whining about having to bunk in the same room as Lorne and he grinned. Cordy dropped her bags on the floor of their room with a heavy thud and then began jumping on one of the beds excitedly.
“Okay, if you’re going to break all the springs in it, then that’s your bed,” Angel smiled and heaved himself on the other bed, his sleepiness starting to get the best of him. He opened his eyes to see Cordy staring down at him with a smile.
“Sleepy?”
“Yeah, daytime. Usually sleep time for us vampires,” he pointed out needlessly.
“Yeah, I know. I’ll let you sleep.” She gave him a quick kiss and ran her fingers through his hair. “I’ll come back at sunset to get you.”
“Sounds like a plan,” he agreed, his voice heavy with sleep. “I’ll take you to see the fireworks,” he promised and drifted away.
“Love you.” She kissed him lightly again and covered him up before skipping out of the room.
***
Angel awoke with a start, getting the unmistakable feeling that his Cordy needed him. He jumped to his feet and hoped that night had fallen so he could get to her. Seeing that the sun had set and she hadn’t returned only worsened his fear. He grabbed the door handle and threw open the door to find himself face to face with his seer.
“Ahhh!” she screamed in surprise. “Don’t do that Angel!!”
“Cordy! You’re…okay?” he asked in confusion.
“Umm…yeah. Don’t sound all happy about it or anything,” she told him sarcastically and grabbed him by the arm, pulling him out of the hotel room.
“Sorry, it’s not that I’m not happy. I just had a feeling…”
“Well, you’re going to have the feeling of my foot kicking your ass if you don’t hurry up. I want to go on Splash Mountain!”
***
Angel stood in the line, gripping Cordy’s arm tighter and tighter each time he saw one of the logs full of people come careening down the water slide.
“Ow much,” she glared at him and rubbed her arm tenderly as he released his grip apologetically.
“Do we have to go on this one?” he asked, trying to swallow the lump in his throat.
“Don’t tell me that a 250 year old vampire is afraid of a little roller-coaster,” she teased him, one of her perfect eyebrows arched and a grin on her face. “Because we have to go on Space Mountain too, and that one’s in the dark!”
Angel looked at her pleadingly and saw that she wasn’t giving in. “I knew this was a bad idea.”
***
“And I’ve never heard Cordy scream so loud in my life!” Angel exclaimed with a laugh as they met up with the rest of the gang.
“Shut up Angel,” Cordy growled as she rang the water out of her hair. “I wasn’t screaming that loud,” she defended herself.
“Hey, the Dumbo ride had me a little freaked Barbie,” Gunn supported her with a wink and she looked at him with a disbelieving look.
“He’s not kidding Cordy,” Fred told her friend. “He was all shaky and with sweaty palms.”
“Okay, enough details,” Gunn pleaded with his girlfriend causing everyone to laugh lightly.
“What’s been your favorite so far Connor?” Cordy asked the boy. A smile had been plastered to his face since they had entered the park earlier that day and everyone was relieved to see a genuine happy reaction on the boy.
“I don’t know. There’s just so much!! The Matterhorn Bobsled thing was wild…and the Indiana Jones ride was crazy!” he gushed, his excitement overflowing.
“It’s even crazier when you’ve actually seen the movie,” Gunn pointed out and Connor looked at him in shock.
“There’s a movie?”
“Poor boy is as culturally retarded as his dad,” Cordy joked and caught an elbow from both of them. “OW! I’m being tag teamed!!”
“So where to next kiddos?” Lorne asked, taking a drink of his water.
“I’d like to go on ‘It’s a Small World,’” Fred suggested quietly.
“Then that’s what we’ll go on,” Gunn smiled at his girlfriend and led the group to the ride.
***
Cordy could hear the achingly repetitive song drifting from inside and shuddered.
“What’s wrong?” Angel asked quietly.
“There’s something evil about this ride. Those voices, they just sound like evil little children chanting some evil little spell.”
“Cordy, it’s just a ride. There’s nothing evil about it, just very annoying.”
They climbed into their seats and floated inside the dark building. Cordy touched her head suddenly as they made the first turn. “No Angel, there really is something evil about this ride. Something very, very evil!”
Part 3: It’s All Fun and Games Until Someone Gets Hurt
“Cordy, what do you see?” Angel asked with concern, holding her around her shoulders.
“I don’t see anything. I hear that God awful song,” she snapped, then looked at him apologetically. “I don’t know Angel. I just get a bad feeling about this ride. I mean sure, it’s cute with all the little kids from different parts of the world, but there’s something off here. I’ve never noticed it before. Something’s definitely different.”
“I’ll keep my eye out for anything unusual, okay?” he tried to reassure her to which she smiled. “Let’s try to enjoy the ride.”
“The Tunnel of Love it’s not, but I guess it will do.” Cordy rested her head against Angel’s shoulder, glancing uncertainly at the sights of the ride. Everything appeared to be normal, but it didn’t put her mind at ease. She just felt uneasy.
Angel thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye, but when he turned, there was nothing there but the little animated Hawaiian kids doing the Hula. He opened his mouth to tell Cordelia, but thought better of it. Why put her more on edge when he didn’t know if he even saw anything or not?
As they turned the last corner and were brought to the unloading dock, Gunn looked at his girlfriend and frowned. “I love you Baby, but never, ever make me go on that again, please.”
Fred smiled and wrapped her arms around his waist. “Don’t worry Charles. I only wanted to say that I’d gone on it. I won’t make you suffer any more.”
“What’s the next destination on our roadmap of fun?” Lorne asked, reaching a hand under his floppy hat to scratch his head. Connor smirked as a horn peeked out and Wesley quickly covered it before anyone could notice.
“You must be cautious Lorne. Make sure you’re hat is covering…well, you know…” the Englishman whispered sternly.
“Hats!” Cordelia suddenly exclaimed and grabbed Fred by the arm. The two girls began running down the street, hastily calling back to tell the gang not to go anywhere until they came back.
The guys all looked at each other with expressions of pure confusion and then shook it off. “She’s your girl man,” Gunn grinned.
“Yeah, but she’s dragging your girl along for the ride,” Lorne pointed out and burst into laughter at the look of horror on Gunn’s face.
“Oh god, I’m doomed. More importantly, my wallet is doomed. She’s a Cordelia Chase-trainee.”
“Okay, close your eyes, all of you!” Fred called as the two girls came running back, bags in hand. The guys regretfully obeyed and felt something being placed on their heads. The girls then placed them so that they faced each other. “Okay, open your eyes!”
They all began laughing at how ridiculous the others looked, before realizing they to had been ‘hatted’. Lorne bore a Goofy hat, the only one big enough to conceal his horns, Wesley the Sorcerer’s Apprentice Mickey hat, Gunn the Donald Duck hat, and Angel and Connor sported matching Mickey ears.
The girls laughed as they scurried to look at their reflections in the moonlit fountain. Angel didn’t move, but instead looked intently at Cordelia. “If I look anywhere as stupid as those guys do, you are in so much trouble.”
“I think you look adorable,” she purred and slid a headband with Minnie ears and bow attached through her hair. “And maybe if you’re a good little Mickey, and we can make sure little Morty over there stays with Goofy, Minnie will give you a treat later.”
Angel couldn’t help but smile. He stood up and kissed her deeply, his hands traveling down the expanse of her back and settling at the curve where her spine ended. He explored her mouth with his tongue, letting it dance with hers, and felt her fingers walk up his back. The sensation caused his body to shiver.
“Donald? You made me into Donald Duck?” Gunn asked in disbelief.
“But Charles, you do a perfect Donald Duck impression! And look what I got to match,” Fred laughed and put on her own headband bearing a Daisy Duck bow.
“Oh, well that makes things different,” he laughed with a huge smile.
“Hey hey Love…er…mice! This is a family park!” Lorne called out, causing Angel and Cordy to pull away from each other and untangle themselves. “Sheesh! Maybe you two should go back to your room!”
“Don’t tempt me,” Angel grinned mischievously, resting his forehead against Cordelia’s and she winked back mouthing the word “later” to him.
The group walked happily together down the street and on to the next ride, Space Mountain, at Cordy and Connor’s command.
“So, looking like a moron is supposed to be part of the fun?” Connor asked skeptically.
***
Angel could smell the blood in each and every person and it was close to driving him mad. He needed to get back to the hotel room long enough to get some blood, but he had promised to be back in time to watch the fireworks with Cordelia.
“He’s not gonna make it,” she pouted and stomped her foot slightly.
“He’ll make it Barbie. He’s got two hours,” Gunn pointed out catching a glare from the seer.
“It takes those shuttles forever! He’ll never make it!”
“I’m sure if he doesn’t make it tonight Cordelia, he’ll watch them with you tomorrow night,” Wesley smiled and she sighed.
“Yeah, whatever.” She sat heavily on a bench and then looked around the group. “Where’d Connor go?”
Everyone looked around but no one saw any sign of the boy. “He never said anything about going anywhere,” Fred said with concern.
“I’m sure he just went to take a piss or something. He’ll be right back.” Gunn glanced off toward the nearest restrooms as he spoke, but no one felt any better. They had all experienced enough weirdness to never take anything at face value. If there was a possibility for disaster, it usually happened.
“Okay, we’ll split up,” Wesley finally announced, breaking everyone’s nervous silence. “Fred, you take Fantasyland. Lorne, Adventureland. Gunn, Frontierland. I’ll take Futureland.”
“What do I do?” Cordelia asked angrily.
“You wait here and let Angel know what’s going on.”
“Sure, make me sit around waiting to tell a vampire that his son has gone missing in Disneyland. Sounds like a blast,” she snapped and let out a little growl.
Lorne wondered if the girl hadn’t been spending too much time with Angel what with all the growling.
“Hey, at least English isn’t sending you to Frontierland,” Gunn told Cordy and she looked at him with a questioning _expression. “You try being a black man in the Old West. Sure, it’s just Disney Old West, but still…there’s vibes.”
“Come on Charles,” Fred warned, letting him know this was no time for joking and he apologized. “Okay, we’ll all meet back here in a half an hour. Hopefully one of us has found him by then.”
They all agreed and left Cordy to sit on the bench alone waiting for her vampire to return, freshly fed.
***
“It’s alright Cor. We’ll find him,” Angel comforted Cordy but his own anxiety was almost overwhelming. He was angry, not at his friends or at his son, but at himself for not being there to keep the group together or to find out where Connor was headed.
“The others should be back pretty soon. They’re suppose to meet here after a half hour, and the fact that no one’s come back with Connor yet worries me.”
“Nothing in Frontierland,” Gunn frowned as he sat on the bench next to the couple. One by one the others came back without Connor…all except Fred. She didn’t come back at all.
“Where could Fred be? It’s not like her to be tardy,” Wesley wondered.
“Maybe she couldn’t get Junior off the merry-go-round?” They all shot unamused looks at Gunn and he lowered his head slightly. “Sorry, just trying to keep things a little light. We should all go look in Fantasyland.”
***
They had looked everywhere but there was still no sign of either Connor or Fred. Cordelia insisted that they go to “It’s a Small World” one last time, this time actually going on the ride to see if they might be somewhere inside.
“You guys take the left, Angel and I will take the right,” Cordy ordered as they all got in their little boats. “If we split our attention as we go through, well have a better chance of seeing something.”
Angel noticed her body tense and could sense her quickening heartbeat as they began the ride. “You okay Cor?” he whispered, holding her against him tightly.
“Yeah, just got the creepies is all.”
As they approached the little Hula dancers, Angel could sense something out of the ordinary. Squinting his eyes, he saw something lying on the ground between the swaying figures. His vampire senses immediately told him it was Fred. “There!” he yelled and jumped out of the boat, followed closely by Cordelia.
“I’m betting this will get us kicked out of the ride for sure!” Lorne called out as he leapt out along with Wes and Gunn. The passengers in the other boats could do nothing but stare in shock as they continued on their ride.
“Fred, baby?” Gunn cried out as he scooped up her limp form from the shade of a metal palm tree.
“Don’t tell me she’s…”
“No, Cordy, but she’s burning up. We need to get her some immediate medical attention,” Wesley answered and looked up at Angel. “Any sign of Connor?”
Angel shook his head.
Cordy suddenly gripped her head and then stood up, stalking toward the darkness at an amazingly fast and determined pace.
“Cordy! Where are you going?” Angel called after her but she didn’t turn back. “You guys get her out. I’ll go after Cordy.” He picked his way through the wires and mechanisms, trying to catch up with her. He found her knelt beside Connor, crying freely.
“He’s so hot Angel. He’s burning up, like Fred. What’s happened to them?”
“I don’t know Cordy. Let’s get him out of here.” Angel picked up his son’s feverish body and tried to hold back his tears. He began to follow the path back to the boats when he heard Cordy cry out in pain. He turned quickly to see a dark figure driving something into Cordelia’s abdomen.
She threw the demon off and clutched her stomach tightly as she limped as fast as she could to Angel’s side. “Go!” she screamed at him and he turned, grabbing her gently around the waist. He carried Connor with one arm and supported Cordelia with the other as they caught up with the others at the exit of the ride.
“Everyone get out of here!” Angel warned as he let Wesley take Connor’s form out of his arm. He reached down, scooped up Cordy and heard the demon quickly gaining ground on them. “Run!” He bolted, the Fang Gang close behind him. He heard the crowd’s screams and knew that the demon had left the sanctuary of the dark ride after losing its victims. He knew it was hot on their trail.
“The Haunted Mansion,” Cordelia gasped into his neck.
“What?”
“We can hide in there. It’s dark and full of places to hide.”
Angel nodded and led the group, pushing his way through the long line and inside of the building. They ran through the doorway before it could close and ran along side of the cars full of stunned passengers. Angel vaguely heard the “ghosts” and “goblins” screaming from the walls. They ran down the ramp and Angel leapt over the rail into the Mansion’s ballroom. The holographic ghosts floated around them merrily as the gang huddled in the corner.
“Remind me to get a souvenir for Dennis,” Cordy whispered from Angel’s arms and he smiled down at her.
“This is an emergency! The park is being evacuated! Everyone out!” they heard a voice boom from above and the emergency exits opened. The passengers rushed out the door, none of them giving a second thought to the group of young people running past them. They were all too concerned for their own safety.
Angel looked over at Gunn, silently asking about Fred’s condition. The man shook his head gravely telling Angel it wasn’t good, and the same went for Connor. As he kissed Cordelia’s forehead, he noticed that her skin felt warmer than it normally did to him. “Not you too,” he whispered almost silently.
“You think this is my idea? You promised to take me to the fireworks and I’m stuck hiding with the ghosts, shivering my teeth out of my head!” she whispered sharply and cuddled against him.
“We’ll get out of here,” Wesley assured them all. “As soon as things quiet down out there, we’ll get you three to a hospital. Until then, just rest Cordelia.”
***
Three hours had passed without a sound other than the ghostly tune that hummed from the Mansion. Actually, after three hours, it lost it’s ghostly-ness and got just plan aggravating.
“They’re getting worse,” Gunn whispered shakily and Wesley nodded.
“Let’s try to make it out now. Things should have calmed.”
Angel shook his head wearily. “We can’t move them. It would be too dangerous at this point. They’re too sick.” He looked down at Cordelia as she tossed and turned, whimpering in her restless sleep. He wiped the sweat that rolled down her face. “I’ll go.”
“No Angel. It would be best if you stayed here to protect them in case the demon can track its victims after infection. Lorne and I will go for supplies and bring them back here. We need to determine what kind of demon this is in order to create an antidote to the poison.”
Angel nodded in agreement and watched Wesley and Lorne make their way toward one of the emergency exits. He turned to Gunn who was cradling Fred in his lap, brushing her soaking hair tenderly with his hand. He looked down at Connor and wiped his son’s forehead before doing the same for Cordelia.
He’d never felt so small and helpless before, but he promised himself that he would protect his family with his life if it came down to it. And that meant Fred, Gunn, Wes, and Lorne, comma added as well as Cordy and Connor. They were all his family.
He gently rested Cordelia on the floor and knelt beside Gunn. “I’m going to find the shut off for this place,” he told the distraught man who grunted an acknowledgement. Angel walked through the ride searching for anything that looked like it might stop the noise before it drove him crazy. When he finally found it, he flipped the emergency switch and let out a sigh of relief at the sudden, complete silence. The back-up lights kicked on and the vampire made his way back to his family.
He approached to see Gunn staring at Cordy in shock. “What’s wrong?” Angel asked in panic.
“She…watch!”
Angel watched as his seer randomly floated, glowed with light, and then settled to the floor again. It was like the fever was making her powers go haywire. He grabbed her hand to tell her he was there and was blinded by a familiar light.
He was pulled inside her mind by one of her new powers and was stunned at the scene that awaited him. He saw the two of them on their hotel bed, both completely naked. That wasn’t what shocked him though. It was seeing the handcuffs that bound Cordelia, and the blindfold over her eyes making her completely helpless to him. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from the sight as his inner demon took advantage of her full trust, and sunk his fangs into her slender neck.
“NO!!” he yelled out and was thrown back into reality. Gunn looked at him with confusion but Angel didn’t say anything. All he could do was look down at the woman that had complete trust in him, knowing that, given the chance, he would break it in a heartbeat, whether he meant to or not.
Part 4: Universe
Cordelia had felt the pain shoot through her neck and screamed, only to hear him laugh in satisfaction. She cut her scream short and brought her knee up sharply, causing him to topple over in pain. She could hear him moaning and could feel him rolling on the bed. She knew this was her only chance. She pulled at the bedposts fiercely, trying to free her bound hands and then realized that they were no longer cuffed. She ripped the blindfold off, fully expecting to see Angelus writhing in pain on the bed. Boy, was she wrong…
The Haunted Mansion had the potential to be freaky enough when it was filled with Disney patrons, but now, when it was empty and silent, it was even more wig-worthy. Cordy stood up and looked around cautiously. Connor and Fred lay beside her, but everyone else seemed to be gone. She wondered why they had left the three of them and knelt beside Fred. She rocked her gently. “Fred…”
“Hmm…” the girl moaned and opened her eyes. She looked around confused and then stood up beside her friend. They both walked to Connor’s side and nudged him.
“Connor?” Cordy whispered.
“Where are we?” the boy asked groggily, struggling to his feet.
“The Haunted Mansion. I don’t know where everyone is though. They were here before I blacked out.” Cordy walked to the ramp and glanced up it carefully. She couldn’t imagine that Angel would leave them without a fight; he was a champion after all, always there to save her life. Of course, in order to save her life, he needed to be present. “Angel!” she whispered sharply up into the darkness but received no answer.
“Charles?” Fred called worriedly and grabbed Connor by the arm as he tried to walk deeper into the Mansion. “Oh no you don’t. You are staying right here with Cordy and I young man. We’re not going to have you disappearing on us again.”
“Yeah, why did you run off like that anyways?” Cordy demanded, feeling rather angry with him. “What gives you the right to run off like that and almost get the three of us killed? For all we know, the others might be dead too!”
“I didn’t run off!” Connor defended himself and backed away from Cordelia. “I don’t even remember leaving you guys. The last thing I remember is hanging out after Space Mountain and A …Dad going back to the hotel.”
Cordy’s _expression softened and she gave him a small smile. She wondered how long it would take before he got used to calling Angel ‘Dad’. They had worked so hard, but now Cordy had to wonder if the three of them were the only ones left to see Connor’s transformation completed.
“This isn’t getting us anywhere. We need to go find the others,” Fred interrupted Cordy’s thoughts and motioned toward the darkness at the top of the ramp.
“As long as there are still others…” Cordy muttered and grabbed a six-foot candelabra. “What? You can never be too cautious,” she smirked and led the way into darkness and uncertainty.
***
“There not moving Angel.” Gunn’s voice shook as he spoke. Angel wasn’t sure he’d ever seen the man like this before. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever been like this before. The fear gripped at his unbeating heart like a cold, menacing hand.
“I know. Just …we have to keep them warm.” He draped his long coat across Cordy and Connor’s bodies. Please, you all have to pull through. I won’t lose my family, any of it. I’ve worked too hard to get you all back, I’m NOT losing you again!
***
“Heidi-ho! We come bearing …what is it again that we come bearing Dumpling?” Lorne asked the very exasperated Englishman to his side.
“I’m not taking him with me next time!” Wesley whispered sternly to Angel and dropped a pile of dusty tomes onto the table, sending fake cobwebs floating through the air.
“Aww Cupcake, I’m hurt.”
“Okay, does the demon have an obsession with pastries or what?” Gunn asked from his position at Fred’s side with a pained smile on his face.
“You don’t even know the half of it,” Angel sighed and turned his attention to Wesley. “What did you find?”
“I’m not exactly certain, but I think this poison that they were infected with may have transported their souls into another dimension.”
“What kind of dimension?” Angel asked, the fear clutching at his throat. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if they were trapped in some hell dimension. All three of them had been taken to another dimension once already, but this time it was their souls, a thing that Angel knew first hand was nothing to mess with.
“Oh, Cordy is so going to kick our asses if we don’t get them back here,” Gunn joked half-heartedly.
“How will she accomplish that if we don’t—“ Wes caught the look on Lorne’s face and thought it best to shut up. “Back to the matter at hand. Somehow we need to find out where they are so we can figure out some way of getting them back here.”
***
“Wesley! You need to figure this out! Quick!” Angel yelled while trying to hold onto the body of his floating Seer.
“I’m working as fast as I can Angel. The accommodations aren’t exactly ideal for concocting an antidote.”
Gunn looked at the three unconscious forms, the concern plain on his face. “Are you sure just an antidote is going to take care of this man? I mean, is it going to bring them back from—“
“I don’t know Gunn! I’m doing everything I can!”
“Take it easy English. I’m just trying to be practical here.”
“Why don’t you try being helpful instead?” Wesley bit back, his frustration outweighing his concern.
“You implyin’ something?” Gunn spoke hotly, taking a few steps toward the other man.
Lorne stepped between them and put a hand out to either man. “Whoa, whoa, whoa Sweetie Pies. Let’s not have a match until we get the others where they belong, or Cordelia will be joining in on a few rounds from the nether-realm.”
“Lorne’s right,” Angel said shielding his eyes from another random burst of Cordy’s light. “We need to concentrate on saving them before we come to blows. If you two have issues, put them to the backseat. We need everyone’s full attention now.”
Gunn snorted and backed over toward Fred, his enraged eyes never leaving Wesley’s.
“Things are gonna get nasty Angelcakes,” Lorne whispered to the vampire who merely nodded in acknowledgement.
Wesley had better figure this out for all our sakes, Angel thought to himself as he looked around at his broken family.
***
“Whatever made me think that we could have a nice, normal, fun vacation? Is it so much to ask to have three days and two nights of happiness and enjoyment, all expenses paid?” Cordy rambled as she walked along, using the candelabra as a walking stick.
“Isn’t that thing heavy?” Fred asked.
“Nah. You gotta love the magic of illusion. I think it’s made of plastic or something.”
“You’ll find out if you actually need to use it as a weapon and it breaks on you.”
Cordy shot a look at Connor and stuck her tongue out at him. “It’ll work fine! What? Oh, just let me live in my bubble of denial. God knows I’m right at home in it.”
“Where is everybody?” Fred looked around at the empty amusement park.
“They were all probably evacuated because of the demon.”
“Hey! I didn’t go on that one!” Connor yelled and pointed at a roller coaster in front of them.
“I don’t even remember that one.” Cordy had a very uneasy feeling in the pit of her stomach. She heard Fred call her name and looked over to see the girl collapse on a bench, a Disney map trembling in her hand. “What is it Fred?”
“Look,” she spoke simply and held the paper out.
Cordy snatched it from her friend’s hand and glanced at it. “What about it?”
“Date. Copyright date down in the corner.”
“Copyright The Walt Disney Company two-thousand and … six?” All of the color left Cordy’s face. “How can this be?”
“It’s been three years? Are you going to let me drive now?” Connor asked.
“Lemme think…uh…no! There’s no way it could have possibly been three years! A day maybe, but three years? No way!” She turned to the silent girl on the bench. “Hello Fred! We need an explanation Brain Child!”
“I-I don’t know. Maybe it has to do with the demon?”
Cordy repressed the urge to say ‘duh’ and just sighed. “This is so not good.”
***
“Ah-ha!” Wesley exclaimed, suddenly breaking the silence. Gunn’s head fell off his hand and his forehead bounced off one of the plates secured to the table. He rubbed his head tenderly and glared at Wesley.
“’Ah-ha!’ says the mad scientist!” Lorne announced in joy and Angel rushed to the table.
“What? What did you find? Did you find what dimension they’re in? What kind of dimension is it? Is it a hell dimension?” Angel asked, the words an unbroken, blue streak.
“Now I know you and Cordelicious have been spending too much time together. Broody-buns is babbling and Princess has started growling,” Lorne laughed.
“It’s not so much another dimension as an alternate universe. They’re still here, just not in a universe in which we can contact them.” Wesley continued reading. “Oh dear.”
“No ‘oh dear’s’. We don’t like ‘oh dear’s’,” Gunn said from his side of the table.
“It seems that time passes much more rapidly in this universe. If I’ve calculated everything correctly then it’s been approximately three and a half years.” Angel, Gunn and Lorne stared at Wesley in silence. None of them could comprehend what the Englishman was telling them; their loved ones had already existed three and a half years in another universe.
***
The three lost souls wandered to the park gates, and upon stepping through, found themselves in front of the Hyperion.
“Home!” Cordy screeched and ran through the front doors, Fred and Connor hot on her trail.
Angel looked up from behind the front desk as she burst through the door and frowned. “Where have you been?”
“Oh, it was horrible Angel! We woke up in the Haunted Mansion, and none of you were there, and the date was two-thousand six, and I knew it couldn’t really have been three years, and I was scared I’d never see you again!” Cordy rambled and threw her arms around her beloved vampire’s neck.
Angel didn’t return her embrace. Instead he pushed her away. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, but this isn’t funny Cordelia. Don’t even think you can come in here and act like nothing’s happened after all these years…after what you did with Connor.”
“What I did with…? Oh Angel! You know that wasn’t me! We’ve been over this a million times!” She couldn’t understand what Angel was so angry about.
“Save it Cordelia. I don’t want to hear it.”
Cordy looked at him with confusion and then turned back to where Fred and Connor had been. They were gone. “Where’d they go?”
Angel looked at her with an irritated expression. “You came in alone Cordelia.”
“Nuh-uh! Fred and Connor were with me!”
“Acting crazy isn’t going to get me to pity you and take you back.”
“Oh please! Like I want pity from a delusional vampire who’s stuck in the past.”
“I’d say you were the one who was delusional.”
“Bite me Broody-boy.” Cordy turned on her heels and moved toward the door. Before she could react, Angel had jumped over the counter and grabbed her by the arm. “Let go of me!”
“No. I’m not letting you go. You won’t leave me again…ever.”
Part 5
Cordy tried to pry herself out of Angel’s grip but he held her tighter. “Angel, please, you’re hurting me.”
“What, I’m not allowed to? I think I have every right to hurt you after the way you hurt me.” His words were seething and Cordy looked at him in disbelief. She had never heard Angel talk this way to her before. She didn’t have long to look at him before he began dragging her across the lobby and up the stairs. “You have the nerve to set foot in my hotel after you fucked my son, after you left my life for three and a half years? You think everything’s all shiny and new just because you say it is?” He threw her through the bedroom door and she stumbled across the room, trying to regain her balance.
“I-I just wanted things to be like they were,” she answered, her voice shaking.
“How did you want them Cordelia? You wanted us to be a big happy family? You fucked that up when you and Connor betrayed me.”
Cordy flinched as he came towards her. “It…it wasn’t me…I thought you understood that…I…I love you Angel,” she pleaded, her bottom lip quivering. He shoved her backwards and she cried out as the back of her knees hit the bed causing her to tumble over onto her back. When she opened her eyes, he was over her, glaring down at her with distaste.
“I can still smell him all over you.”
“Angel…”
Before she could realize what he was doing, Angel had ripped her top down the middle with lightening fast speed. She cried out once again, this time in protest and he clamped his hand over her mouth. “You must be rid of that stench. I must rid you of it.” With his free hand, he continued to make piles of useless material with her clothing, shredding it with ease. Cordelia bit down on his hand, causing him to yell out in pain and she scooted out from underneath him. She tried to cover her exposed body from his enraged eyes.
“You stay the hell away from me!” she screamed and ducked away from him as he lunged at her, pinning her to the bed. She could feel his cool, un-needed breath against her skin.
“It’s for your own good Cordelia. You can’t wear him anymore. I won’t allow it,” he told her as he ran his tongue from her shoulder to her earlobe.
She cringed and shuddered. She had wanted Angel for so long, but this was never how she dreamed it. He wasn’t going to make love to her. He was going to rape her, try to rid her of the imaginary scent of what happened years ago. She thought only one person could be this cruel. She opened her eyes and searched his, looking for any trace of Angelus, thinking that if he were soulless, at least then it wouldn’t really be her Angel. But there was no Angelus. There was no monster behind the man. There was only Angel, and this was now a face that terrified her even more.
She fought a useless battle against him, pleading with him to remember how things used to be happy, used to be good, but he ignored her. His mind was set of marking her as his own. He roughly kissed her and dragged his teeth down her neck, leaving angry red scratches on her skin. He grabbed a nipple between his teeth and bit on it fiercely, drawing a tiny bit of blood. Cordy gasped in pain and continued her struggle, only causing him to tighten his hold on her. He brought his face up to meet hers and looked at her with dark, pained eyes.
“This will make you a better person again. Make you clean. You are mine. No one else can have you,” he told her calmly and then drove himself into her harshly. Cordelia screamed in pain, anger, and humiliation as he continued to thrust himself deep into her body. The pain he was causing inside her body was searing and the tears began to form in her eyes. They rolled down her cheeks freely as she felt Angel shoot his seed into the deepest recesses of her form and he brushed them away tenderly.
“It’ll all be okay now Cor. You are mine now. I’ll never let you go.”
***
Angel shook visibly as he pulled his hand away from Cordelia’s body. He couldn’t watch her sob anymore, not after seeing what he had done to her. He told himself that he would never do anything like that to his precious Cordy, but his memory betrayed him. He remembered all the nights he had dreamed of doing just those things after seeing her and Connor. But he had never acted upon them; he’d vowed that he wouldn’t. And he hadn’t.
“What is it Angel?” Wesley asked, his voice heavy with concern. He wondered if sending Angel into Cordelia’s subconscious in order to find out where they were hadn’t been a bad idea. Who knew what he might see in there.
“We have to bring her back,” Angel whispered and turned his eyes away from her unconscious, sobbing body. He couldn’t bear to look at her.
“Where is she?”
“I’m not sure…but the me that’s there…he’s acting on everything I’ve ever thought. We have to get her out of there.”
Gunn looked at Angel coldly. “Is he Angelus?”
Angel shook his head and Wesley understood. “He’s Angel, but he’s the darkest form of Angel without him reverting fully to Angelus, which will do more damage to Cordelia then Angelus could ever dream of.”
Angel jumped to his feet and stalked out of the room. He wandered through the Mansion until he found himself in front of a set of mirrors. He looked at the emptiness staring back at him and crumpled to the ground. He gripped his head in his hands and cursed himself for ever having thought of doing those things to her. He heard Wes approach him, but he didn’t move.
“Angel? I won’t ask you what you witnessed as it seems to be quite disturbing, but I will ask you this: is Cordelia’s life in danger?”
Angel shook his head. “He’d never kill her. If he killed her, then he’d have to let her go again. No, he’s much more concerned with possessing her than killing her.”
Wes nodded and put a comforting hand on Angel’s shoulder. “We’ll find a way to bring her back, to bring all of them back.”
***
When Cordelia opened her eyes, Angel was gone. She began crying all over again at the memory of what had happened and buried her face in the pillow. She wanted to die at that moment; she would have given anything to have had that been Angelus and had him kill her. She knew she would never be able to see Angel again.
She forced herself to stumble to the bathroom, every movement causing the pain to shoot through her body. When she saw herself in the mirror she gasped. The scratches on her neck were welted up and bright red. Her nipple was bruised and still showed signs of being bit open. Her face was streaked with tear tracks and her hair was matted to her head.
She turned on the shower, causing the steam to roll throughout the bathroom, and stepped inside. Her body instantly turned red as the hot water hit her skin. She laid her head against the cold tile and began to cry again. She sobbed openly and slid down the shower wall. She pulled her knees to her chest and let the water pound against her bruised flesh as she cried into her legs.
***
She wasn’t sure how long it had been. The water had been coming out of the shower cold for some time, but she hadn’t really noticed. She had only barely registered a pair of hands pull her to her feet, wrap the towel around her and help her to the bed. The hands removed the towel, placed the covers over her cold skin and then dried her hair. They left the room and came back with a hairbrush and comfortingly brushed her hair, talking to her in a soothing voice.
Cordy drifted off into a deep sleep where she was free of what had happened.
***
Angel had returned to the group only at Wesley’s insistence. The man had said that he might have found a way of bringing the group back and thought Angel should be there for Cordy and Connor when they awoke. The vampire reluctantly agreed.
He now sat in a dark corner, away from the group. He didn’t want to be near Cordelia; he didn’t think he even deserved to see her now. Gunn sat beside him while Wes gathered the necessary items for the spell, all of which were luckily right in the Mansion.
“I don’t know what you saw man, and I really don’t want to, but I have to know, are they okay? I mean, are they hurt at all?”
Angel’s voice caught in his throat as he tried to answer. “I didn’t see Fred or Connor…only…” He couldn’t even bring himself to speak her name.
“We’re ready,” Wesley told them and they both rose to their feet. Angel walked slowly to the others but refused to look at Cordy.
“What do we have to do?” Gunn asked, a glimmer of hope in his voice.
“Gunn, you need to sit with Fred, make sure you’re touching her. You’re going to act as her anchor to this reality. Angel, you do the same for Connor and Cordelia. Hopefully, as their anchors, you’ll be able to pull them back to this universe.”
Angel sat between his son and his seer hesitantly and placed a hand on both of them. He prayed that she wouldn’t suck him back into that world again, to make him see her like that once more.
Wesley and Lorne began to chant simultaneously and both Angel and Gunn felt a pull from inside them. As the chanting increased in intensity, so did the pull and then, as their spell was finished, Lorne smashed the chunk of glass on Wesley’s cue. At the sound of the shattering glass, Connor and Fred bolted upright and looked around. And then Fred screamed.
“Baby, shhh…it’s okay, you’re home,” Gunn tried to soothe her but she pushed his hands away from her face and looked down at her own hands, looking for the hairbrush.
“No! I have to go back! You can’t take me away from her now! She needs me! Cordelia can’t be alone now!”
“But Cordelia’s…still out like a light…”
Angel was torn between tending to his son and worrying about his love. “Connor, are you—“
“Yeah, I’m okay Dad. Why didn’t Cordy wake up?”
Angel looked up to Wesley for the answer to that question and the Englishman shook his head. “The only thing I can think of is that something that happened in that universe to severely damage the link between you two, something horrible. Angel and Fred knew exactly what that was.
***
Cordelia woke up and realized she was alone once again. She could have sworn she’d heard Fred talking to her and felt her brushing her hair, but there was no one. She sat up and looked around, feeling amazingly better than she had before. There was no sign of Angel, or of anyone else for that matter. She knew she had to get out of the Hyperion and as far away as she could from the man she had once loved.
***
“In that place, you are part human Angel. After you helped to defeat the First, the Powers gave you the ability to have a somewhat normal life,” Fred explained to her captive audience. “They left your vampire strengths, but took away the weaknesses. You could still heal quickly, vamp out to scare enemies, and had super strength, but you were no longer a victim of the sun”
“Then why…why did that happen?” he asked quietly.
“You were devastated that you couldn’t share your new found part-humanity with Cordelia. In that reality, you never gave her the chance to explain what had happened with…” she nodded in Connor’s direction. She watched as he hung his head in guilt. “Angel, you don’t need to feel guilty for what the you in that place did. It wasn’t really you, not the you that’s here. It was the you that’s there.”
“But I was there Fred. I saw everything that me did to her. I felt everything and I couldn’t stop it.”
“Angel, it wasn’t you, and he feels guilty now too. He won’t even go on that floor of the Hyperion. I had to go and get clothes out of his room for him everyday because he wouldn’t go near her. We need to get to Cordy. There’s something she doesn’t know yet, she’d been asleep for so long.”
“What doesn’t she know?” Connor asked.
***
Cordy walked to the closet, grabbed one of Angel’s sweaters and a pair of his sweat pants and pulled them on. She wasn’t crazy about wearing his clothing, but what choice did she have. He’d made quick work of hers, reducing them to shreds. She felt something around her midsection shift. She looked down to see the slightest bulge and groaned. “I’d really like to stop waking up like this,” she muttered and looked at her stomach in disbelief. How could she possibly be pregnant?
Part 6: Love Trust, Forgiveness
Cordelia tried to shake the confusion from her mind, but it wasn’t going anywhere. Hadn’t she just fallen asleep? How could she be pregnant…noticeably pregnant? “Oh well, maybe I missed the whole sickness stage,” she muttered hopefully and peeked out the bedroom door. She in no way wanted to run into Angel. She didn’t want to see him, even if she was carrying his second miracle child. “What is it with me always getting the seconds? I get Buffy’s leftovers and then I have to take a backseat to Darla giving birth to his first child.”
She cautiously walked down the hallway, instinctively rubbing her stomach. “I would ask how this could happen, but when does that get me anywhere?”
As she walked through the lobby, she could see Angel sitting in his office, his face resting in his hands. She knew by the position, he was in full-brood mode and for an instant wanted to run and comfort him. She resisted the urge, reminding herself what he had done to her. She turned away from him and prepared to leave everything that she knew and cared about. She heard Angel move in the office and picked up her pace. She had to get out before he stopped her and did who knows what.
“Cordelia?” he asked, his voice full of pain and fear.
Cordy refused to look back at him. She was determined to get away from him once and for all. She knew if she saw his face, that would never be possible. She didn’t say a word as she ran for the door.
Angel ran after her and gently grabbed her arm. “Please Cordy, let me—“
She pulled away from him and he didn’t fight her. He hung his head in guilt as she ran out the doorway and turned back for just a second, long enough for Angel to see the telltale bulge in her stomach. “Cordy?” he asked in shock. Why hadn’t Fred told him? Panic rose in him as she turned and started running from him once again. “Cordy! No! Please! I want to fix things! Cordy!!” he called and ran out the door behind her.
Cordy’s fear gripped at her as she heard him calling after her. He could hear him gaining ground on her as they ran beneath the cover of the trees. Suddenly, a greater fear overcame her and she turned back. “Angel! Stop!” she shrieked, but it was too late. Angel had chased her into the sunlight too far. He couldn’t make it back in time. She screamed in horror as she watched him burst into flames and then reduce to ashes. The last thing she saw was the look of sorrow in his eyes, mixed with the hope and joy of seeing that she was pregnant.
***
Angel screamed out in agony as he gripped Cordelia’s hand. Wesley continued chanting, trying to concentrate despite the obvious pain the vampire was in.
“What’s happening?” Fred asked, her voice shaking as she watched Angel writhe on the floor next to Cordelia.
“He’s being connected to Princess and that world, so therefore he’s experiencing everything that has happened and whatever is happening now; Wes is making him full vamp with soul again so that he’s vulnerable.” Lorne explained quietly, trying not to disturb Wes.
“Poor Angel. Three months of guilt and pain all at once.” the girl whispered and clutched Gunn’s arm tightly.
Wesley finished chanting and waited for any response from either Angel or Cordy. He didn’t have long to wait.
Cordy bolted upright and started screaming. “Angel!! No!! Please no!!”
“Cordy, it’s okay.” Fred ran over and held her friend comfortingly, as she had before. She stroked her hair as Cordelia cried into Fred’s arms.
“I didn’t want him to die,” she sobbed. “I hated him for what he did, but I never wanted him to die.”
“Cordy,” Angel said as he struggled to a sitting position and touched her arm lightly. His heart shattered when he heard her scream and saw the look of terror in her eyes.
“Cordy? You okay?” Connor asked, ready to jump to her defense in a second.
Cordy jumped to her feet and tried to hide in the corner, pressing herself against the wall. As Angel approached her, she began shaking, her tears streaming down her face in rivers. Her eyes were wide with fear. He didn’t want to frighten her, but he couldn’t leave her like this. He had to explain why he had done what he had. But there was no explanation, not a valid one anyways. He’d broken his precious doll and didn’t know if he could ever put her back together again.
Angel dropped to his knees in front of Cordelia and reached for her hands. She pulled away from him and he felt the tears in his own eyes. “Cordy, I know that saying sorry doesn’t even come close to making up for what I did to you, but I am. I’m truly sorry. I never wanted to hurt you.” He watched as her lip quivered and her eyes darted from side to side, looking for any means of escape. “I won’t hurt you again,” he promised and touched her hand. She jumped but didn’t pull away this time. Angel took this as a sign of hope. “What I did is unforgivable. I can’t expect you to take me back, but I just want you to know that I know what I did was horrible. I’m sorry Cordy, and I love you.”
Cordy looked at him, her eyes meeting his for the first time and he thought he might be getting through to her. He wanted nothing more than to make amends for his actions. In an attempt to show her affection, he moved his hands toward her midsection, trying to embrace her while he was still on his knees, but she cried out and pushed him away.
“No! You stay away from my baby!” she warned him and tried to push past him.
Angel held her tight and placed his head against her stomach. “Cordy, I would never hurt our baby.”
The gang looked on in disbelief, all of them finally noticing the small bump that had formed in Cordelia’s body. “How can this be? How can she be pregnant in this reality?” Fred asked and Wes stood on, dumbfounded.
“Let me take care of you, please. Let me try to make things right. Please don’t shut me out of your life, and our baby’s,” Angel pleaded, his tears wetting her shirt as he nuzzled against the fabric that separated him from her soft skin, the skin that held their child.
Cordelia finally broke down, collapsing to her knees in front of Angel. She cried, falling into his open arms and buried her face into his chest. He held her close, feeling her melt into him.
Fred smiled slightly and pulled on Gunn’s arm. She silently told him that they should give Angel and Cordy some time alone. The others caught on and walked to the other end of the large dining room. Connor was reluctant but Lorne didn’t give him much choice as the green demon grabbed the back of the boy’s shirt and pulled him along.
Angel tilted Cordelia’s face up to meet his and pressed his forehead against hers. He held her cheeks in his large hands, locking her eyes with his own. “I love you so much Cor. I’ll understand if you never forgive me. I know I never will, but I need you in my life. I need to be with you, and this baby,” he whispered, placing a hand on her tummy and massaging it in circles.
Cordy opened her mouth to say something, but she was still so scared. She was scared of the man who was kneeling before her, pouring out his heart, begging her to take him back. How would she ever be able to trust him again? How could she trust him with her life like she once had, and with that of their child? Everything in her mind was telling her to run away as fast as she could, but her legs wouldn’t listen. They were only listening to her heart and her heart ached for him so. “I love you too,” she whispered almost silently and Angel smiled through his tears. They were the most beautiful words he had ever heard.
“I promise Cordy, I’ll never let anything happen to you or the baby. I’ll protect you. I just hope some day you can trust me again.”
“Me too.”
Part 7: Homecoming
“Do you think it’s safe yet?” Gunn asked, looking toward the entrance to the ride. Wesley had given the three others the antidote to fight the fever, and they were all starving.
Angel looked over at Cordelia and lowered his eyes as she glanced at him and then quickly glanced away. “Only way to find out is to go out there I guess,” he spoke quickly and began gathering up their things.
“And since Angel was part human, you were able to conceive a child,” Wesley explained to a still frightened Cordy.
“But three months pregnant?”
“Time passed really quickly there for us,” Fred answered. “When you went to sleep after I got you out of the shower, three months passed. It was really weird. Every night that I went to sleep, a few days or a week would pass but Angel acted like nothing was out of the ordinary. I guess I had woken up every day, same as usual, I just don’t remember it.”
“Did I ever wake up?”
Fred shook her head. “Every day I came in and checked on you. I brushed your hair, but you hardly even moved.”
“I feel like I only slept for a day, not three months.”
“Which would probably explain why you didn’t starve. Your body only processed it as one night, whereas the baby, since conceived there, responded to time as it was in that universe.”
Cordelia looked at Wesley with a blank stare. “I’ve time-traveled through almost four years, don’t get all technical on me now.”
“Your baby is on an alternate time line. There’s no telling how it will respond to this universe.”
“So basically you’re saying that I could go all Pop ‘N Fresh overnight?” She looked at Wesley’s confused expression and rolled her eyes. “I could give birth to this baby at any time?”
“Or it could take longer. As I said, there’s no way to tell how it will respond.”
“That’s just what we need; another one of Angel’s kids being Miracle-Gro-ed,” she muttered under her breath, but one in the group heard her.
Angel hung his head slightly at her words, the pain etched deeply into his perfect features. He turned away from the woman he loved, unable to bear the way she thought about him now. “Come on, we need to get out of here.”
***
They walked through the deserted amusement park and Cordelia shuddered despite the heat. “I feel like I’m stuck in a lame horror flick.”
“Don’t say that!” Gunn called ahead urgently. “The brother always gets offed in those movies!”
“I don’t think you have to worry about that Gunn. You are more than capable of protecting yourself,” Cordy smiled and fell back a few steps until she was walking beside him and Fred. “I’d trust you with my life.”
Angel gripped the sword Wesley had brought back from the hotel room even tighter. Cordy’s increasing distance from him did not go un-noticed. He wanted her beside him where he could protect here. “Everyone stick close. No more than an arms-length between us. I don’t want anyone getting lost,” he called out flatly and quickened his pace.
“Hey, you okay Peaches?”
Angel turned on the green demon and held the sword to his throat. “Don’t call me that. And I’m fine. What could be wrong?” He looked over at Cordelia and her expression caused him to want to crawl into the nearest hole and turn to dust. She looked at him with a dark expression, her beautiful eyes burning a hole through his tainted soul.
“Are you okay Lorne?” she asked, her icy glare never leaving Angel.
“Peachy keen Princess,” Lorne laughed nervously and backed away from the vampire. “Broody-Buns here just caught me off guard.”
“Well, he had no right to take his frustration out on you Lorne. If he has a problem, he needs to deal with its source.”
Angel was about to respond when an un-earthly shriek interrupted him. He spun around to see the demon charging them at an incredible speed. He raised his sword and swung it in defense, barely phasing the creature that tackled his son to the ground.
Connor fought with the demon punching and kicking while trying to avoid the small, poisonous blade it wielded.
“Connor!” Fred cried out and rushed to help the men pull the demon off the boy.
Cordy tried to run and help but Lorne held her back. “Let go Lorne! I have to help?”
“How? Do you see a forgotten tentacle or a limb they don’t have covered? Besides, you need to think about the bun in your oven. Connor can fight back Princess; that little sweetie is completely dependent on you.”
She nodded in defeat and watched as the gang succeeded in pulling the creature off of Connor and then throw them all off like flies.
Angel jumped to his feet and lunged at it, striking deep into one of its arms. He pulled out his weapon and struck again, this time severing the limb.
It shrieked again and then looked at Cordelia and the bulge in her tummy. “My babies,” it hissed, sadness in its voice.
“Uh, no, my baby,” she told it and rubbed her stomach protectively.
“You!” The demon turned around and pointed a finger at each of them. “You take my babies!”
“Listen Beasty, we didn’t take no one’s babies,” Gunn said and moved Fred behind him.
Wesley took a step forward and held up his hands to show the demon he meant it no harm. “I can assure you that we did not take your children. What happened?”
“Your kind, come to our home, destroy our home, kill my kind, take my babies. They make this place. Been alone so very long.”
“Why do you kill our children?”
“Not kill. Use to open portal. Use to open door to ancestral home. Want to go home.” The demon lowered its head sadly.
“That doesn’t give you the right to hurt my friend, my family,” Angel growled angrily.
“Actually, when you think about it, how is it much different than what we would do if the tables were turned?” Fred pointed out. “Her babies were stolen when humans decided to build Disneyland. She’s just trying to get back to her own kind.”
“The girl has a point. When old Wally decided to build here…well, she’s trying to get back to her Kansas, Toto,” Lorne told Angel.
“What if we can help you? What if we can open the portal for you without using children?”
“Send me home?”
“Yes, send you home,” Wesley nodded and the creature gave a smile.
***
“Are we sure we sent that thing home?” Cordelia asked, her hand instinctively resting on the small bump in her midsection.
“Relatively sure. We sent it somewhere.”
Cordy looked at Wes and sighed. “That is oh so reassuring.”
Angel listened to the conversation from his office and slumped back against the chair. Since they had gotten home, she had been avoiding him. If he stood too close to her, she’d move away; if they were alone in a room together, she’d run away.
He stood up and walked into the lobby when he heard a mention of Disneyland on the news.
”In a miraculous development, all of the children that have disappeared from the famed amusement park were returned to their homes a few nights ago. Some of them have been missing for years, but not on of them could tell investigators where they’d been. A spokesperson for the LAPD said that at the time, they have no leads but are grateful that the kidnapper finally released the children with no apparent injuries.”
“Ignorant morons,” Cordy groaned and scrunched up her nose when the anchorwoman was shown. “Could she look any trashier? I remember when I was like that.”
“Trashy?” Gunn asked with confusion.
“No! An ignorant moron!”
“Who’s an ignorant moron?” Connor asked when he walked in from the kitchen.
“Cordy,” Gunn answered non-chalantly.
Cordy hit his arm. “I am not!”
“But you just said—“
“ I said I was!”
“I…I think you’re…” Angel trailed off as Cordy looked at him uneasily. He raised his eyes and looked into hers only to see a familiar yet almost forgotten sign. He sprung into action.
Cordy gripped her head and felt the pain tear through her skull. She hadn’t felt the pain in close to a year, but there it was once again. She collapsed and cried out, but Angel caught her gently.
“What did you see?”
She looked up into Angel’s eyes and then scrambled to her feet. “I don’t feel…something’s wrong…I have to go!” She ran out the front door and into the sunshine.
“Cordy!” Angel jumped up and raced to the door.
“Angel, you can’t go out there man!” Gunn grabbed his arm so he would run to his death.
“We have to find her! Something’s wrong with her and the baby!”
“How do you know?” Connor asked.
“Blood. I could smell blood.”
End (TBC in "Children of the Grave")