Title: Walking In My Shoes
Author: Kelly and Mike (collaborative writing team)
Email: Click Here
Posted: 7/1/06 - 7/12/06
Rating: Chapters range from PG-15 to NC-17
Content: Romance, Angst, Smut.
Summary: Written for a challenge proposed on the Stranger Things message board. Challenge By rousedower. An AU/TT Challenge: Angel goes to another dimension, hence AU, somehow. And in this dimension he is married to Cordy and they have kids. But something happened to the other Angel (he's missing or dead), so there's mad tension and what not between this Angel and AU!Cordy. She knows he's not her Angel, but the kids (a boy and girl) are pretty young and think he's their father. I imagine a scene where their little daughter asks him to read her a bedtime story/tuck her in with Cordy trying to explain to her that he's not her father (really), and he does it.
Disclaimer: The characters in the Angelverse were created by Joss Whedon & David Greenwalt. No infringement is intended, no profit is made.
Notes: Cast List: Kelly writes for Cordelia, Gunn, Lorne, Lillian, Kat, Ian, Illyria/Fred, Lilah, Eve, Faith, Gwen. Mike writes for Angel(us), Connor, Wes, random filler chars.
Feedback: Yes, please. Tell us how we are doing!

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Chapter Seventeen - Continued

----The Afternoon After----

The twins had only recently arrived home. After a day of playing paintball with Uncle Xander and stuffing himself full of ice cream sandwiches, Ian had slept not only the entire night but on the car ride back. Mom had told him not to go in the basement again but that made him want to go there even more. Slipping away from his mom was easy because she was thinking big thoughts right now. She was distracted. He climbed the stairs down to the basement, holding onto the railing as he made his way down. He hoped there was a werewolf in the cage. That is why he couldn't come down here last summer. He got his best ‘grr’ face ready to face whatever was down here.

Sitting on the cot Wes had set up, Angel was nursing what could only be described as a hangover. He heard the boy come down the stairs and he looked up.

Ian stopped at the bottom of the stairs though. It didn't make sense that dad was in the cage. Unless, he was evil. He squatted down, two little hands grabbing the railing bars so he could look through them at Angel. "Are you evil?'

Angel shook his head. "No, Ian. Not anymore," he replied giving the boy a slight smile.

"How come you are in the cage?" He didn't understand it. He looked at the man he thought was his father. "Did you make mom mad again?"

He stood and moved to the side of the cage closest to where Ian was. He leaned on the bars with his right shoulder and looked down. How do you explain to a child? "I...I was bad but it is all fixed," Angel said. "I just think your mom wants to make sure it stays fixed." He wasn’t sure what Cordelia had told the kids.

"If it’s fixed, I will let you out. And we can play Dark Avengers!" Ian grinned as he got up from his perch on the stairs. He knew the keys were up high on the wall so he would need a chair. He saw one, moving to it to try to drag it over.

"Ian...wait," he said. "Please. Let it be your mother's decision. She knows best." Angel hoped the boy would stop. Again, what do you tell the boy about this type of thing? He was sure if Cordy wanted him to know that much, she would have told him.

The little boy shoved the chair against the wall and started to climb up on it. He stood there, looking over at Angel. He didn't understand and the confusion was written all over his face. "Don't you want to come out and play?"

"I'd like that," Angel replied as he knelt down. "Come here." He indicated for Ian to come over to the cage bars.

Ian's grin widened. "Let me get the keys." He turned back to the wall. He stretched up as high as he could go. His small fingers barely brushed the bottom of the keys. He stood on his tiptoes, tongue poking out the side of his mouth as he tried desperately to get the keys.

"No. No... This is going to be a game and I have to stay in here for it," Angel told the boy. "I mean you being the Dark Avenger and all."

Ian lowered his little body down. He never played this one. It sounded fun. He jumped down off the chair and went to his dad. He had no fear, which would no doubt get him into a lot of trouble as he got older. "How do we play?"

"Yeah, well, I'm like the bad monster," he said, "so I have to stay in here. And well, I can't get out because the Princess has to come take away the bad monster in me so I can be...good again. Your job is to bring the Princess down here.... And well, maybe something for the monster to eat would be nice too."

"Which Princess?" In this hotel, there were a lot of Princesses that needed rescuing: Princess Mom, Princess Aunt Fred, Princess Aunt Faith. He could go on.

"The most important one. The one that has control of the chocolate ice cream and cookies." He winked at Ian when he said this. "The most mystical and powerful of the princesses."

Ian nodded his head. He wanted mom to come save him. "She is in a bad mood, Da. I don't think she wants to play. She is still hurting, Katty said so. She hurts real bad."

Angel sat down on the floor, his head leaned to the bars. "I know Ian," he told the child, "and I'm to blame for part of it. I was trying to be something I'm not."

Ian moved his head so that it was resting against his dad's in between the bars. "How come?"

"Because I tried hard to fit in where I didn't belong," he said. "You ever have a dream and when you first wake up you have a hard time telling what is real and what isn't?

He nodded his head. Ian could understand that. "I have dreams about the demons and I wake up and I still fight them. Then Katty yells at me cause I am hitting her."

Angel sat and thought for a moment. "Well, something happened to my mind while I was gone and some things seemed real to me and others didn't. And it wound up hurting a lot of people, including your mommy."

Ian was done with talking. He wanted something fun. He could go upstairs and play with his video games or find Connor to play Monsters with. He was getting that distracted look as he played with the bars of the cage.

Angel noted this. "Go on," he told the boy. "You need to go up and play. I bet its pretty out in the garden today."

Ian grinned. "It is sunny and warm. Yesterday, Uncle Xander took us out to his paintball range and even though he has the pirate eye, he is still good. He shot me three times. Want to see?" Before Angel could respond, he was lifting his shirt up proudly to show off the faint red marks. Its not abuse, its a badge of honor. "I got him good, Da. I hit him in the no-no place by accident. And he cried."

Angel looked, then he stood. "No-no place, huh?"

He pulled his shirt down and nodded quickly with a big grin. "Katty got him in the tushy too. That was an accident too. She never plays paintball."

He nodded. "Okay. Run on and go play. I'm sure I won't be here long."

"Can I have a hug through the bars?" He slipped his little arms through the bars, holding them out, as he waited for Angel to kneel down once more so he could hug him.

The vampire did just that. He knelt down and let the boy hug him. He let one arm slip through the bars and he hugged him back.

Ian stiffened suddenly though as he heard something. Angel's vampire hearing could no doubt hear it as well. It was Cordelia, calling for him. He pulled away from the cage and looked towards the basement door. He was going to be in trouble if she found him down here.

"Ian," Angel whispered. He pointed to the laundry elevator. It was big enough for the boy to crawl in. "Push the button for it to go up to the second floor then get out. You can come down the stairs then."

Ian nodded his head. He rushed to the laundry elevator. He had a time crawling into it, little legs kicking against the wall as he pulled himself up. He waved to his dad before pressing the button to go upstairs.

Cordelia opened the basement door just seconds after Ian's escape. She frowned because he shouldn't be down here. She told him not to come down here. "Ian?" She called out. She didn't care if the imposter was awake or not or if she woke him up. She started to come down the stairs because if Ian were here, he would be hiding.

Angel watched the boy and then the small utility elevator take him up. He heard Cordelia at the door above and looked up to it. "He's not down here," he said as he moved back to the cot.

Angel was awake. She stopped halfway on the stairs. "You aren't exactly the poster boy for honesty this year." She continued down the stairs. She'd do a quick sweep for Ian and then check back upstairs.

"Don't get mad at the boy," Angel said. "He was here. I sort of...well, he's back upstairs." He stopped then looked back at her. "I think...I think I was honest. I had said none of this was what I remembered."

She stopped at the bottom of the stairs. He had said the entirely wrong thing to her. "You talk to or even look at my kids again, I will stake you before you can say 'please, don't'. I don't care what Wes says, I will kill you." She moved away from the bottom of the stairs. Wes put a cot in there and had unlocked him from his chains. That didn't go towards improving her mood. She was debating even feeding him at this moment.

"Cordelia," he said as he stood in the center of the cage. "I just think we both wanted to believe in something that...that wasn't. For me, this...you, the kids...is a dream. One that I could never have. My memories are my memories." He paused then continued, "My world is a dark, ugly place. My friends all gone or dead and I come here to this...I don't know how I got here but my reality took a major right turn."

"Your friends are all gone or dead because of what you did. Wes brought back files, CEO of Wolfram and Hart. Sounds like you were really helping the helpless." She opened the small fridge down there and pulled out some blood. It was probably old but she didn't care. She wasn't going to heat it for him either. She moved to the cage, holding it out for him to take. "From what I have read, you are a cold, calculating, manipulative bastard. You destroyed your world so you came here to destroy ours."

Angel stepped over to the bars and took the jar. He frowned as she said this. "Yeah, I was CEO of Wolfram & Hart for a year and in that year I took out the Senior Partners' connections here in L.A." He opened it and looked at it. It was old but not yet gone bad. He was really hungry so he took a drink. "I took Wolfram & Hart to use it for the good with all its resources. I thought...but I found out they gave it to me to distract me from what they were doing. The Apocalypse had started."

"I should believe you why?" She stepped back away from the cage. She just looked at him. "What I see is an agent of evil who saw a great opportunity and slipped right in. If I didn't know different, I would have bet you killed my husband too."

"Give me a truth potion," he told her. "I'll even sing for Lorne."

"Except that I know that Lorne is wrong sometimes and truth potions don't always work. You knew you were cursed and you..." She couldn't even bring herself to say it. She blamed herself so much for this whole situation. "Nothing good can come out of evil. And Wolfram and Hart is the biggest evil there is, in this world or any other.”

"I knew and... I wasn't sure," he said. "I was thinking maybe my mind was swiss cheesed." He looked down at the jar in his hands. "I thought I had you back, that none of what took you from me happened. That Jasmine never happened because you and Connor never..." His voice trailed at the memory of this. "You were used by an insane Power that highjacked your body so it could be born."

"No. I wasn't. Your Cordelia was. And you let her die. You worked for Wolfram and Hart with all of their spells and their powers. Never once did you bother to see if you could cure a mystical coma. No. Too busy chasing fuzzy werewolves and Buffy. Then again, if you weren't always thinking with what is in your pants, Angelus wouldn't have gotten loose here and maybe, back in your world, you could have noticed that one of your employees was acting a bit off.”

"I was told that everything was being done for you...I mean her...that could be done. I'm not a doctor..." Then out of anger at himself, at everything, he threw that almost empty jar at the wall. "I was blinded and I lost...I thought I could change things...." He sank down on the cot and sat there, holding his head.

The sound of the jar breaking was enough to send her jumping back, away from the cage. She didn't trust this Angel, not after everything that she had read. Part of her was screaming to unlock the door, to try to comfort him, that this was all a big mistake. Another larger, louder part of her was reminding her that this creature was evil. He was just as manipulative as Angelus. He helped to bring an Apocalypse down on his world. She didn't say a word though as she stood there, watching him.

Angel looked up and a tear was running down his cheek. "Gunn...I held him dying in my arms. Wesley died...Fred...my family. I signed away my Shanshu so I could insert myself into the Circle of the Black Thorn to destroy them..." He didn't look at her.

"That isn't what your files say." Again, she had that war roaring within her. She could rationalize that it was just the grief over losing her Angel. All she had to do was remember that he pretended to be someone he wasn't and it was enough for her to overcome the urge to let him out. "Wes will be back before sunset to figure out how to send you back. You should sleep while the sun is still up." Her voice was flat, as if she was giving him instructions on how to program his TiVo.

However, she kept telling him his memories had been screwed with and when this perfect life was here before him, it was easy to start believing. He only nodded.

Cordelia did blame herself for that. She wanted so badly to believe that Angel was alive, that he had returned to her, that she convinced herself that all her niggling feelings were nothing. Deep down, she knew Angel was dead. She just refused to acknowledge it. She climbed the stairs back up the lobby slowly. She wasn't sure which side of her to trust.

Fred watched as Cordelia came up from seeing the other dimension Angel. Her heart went out for the woman. They were all missing Angel and to have this doppelganger running around wasn't easy on any of them, especially after what he did as Angelus. Fred had gathered up some clothes and warmed some blood up for the vampire but she waited until she saw Cordelia go into Wes' office with him that she slipped downstairs. She tried to be as quiet as possible because she knew that Cordelia wouldn't like it if they started treating him like a guest. Fred, unafraid but really just curious, went right up to the cage bars. "I brought you some clean clothes and some blood. Figured you might want to get out of those leather pants. Never did like them, you, I mean, you here. I don't know what you there or you, like."

He stood when he heard the door open, though he knew she was coming. He didn't approach the bars at first. He waited to see what Fred wanted to do. If she just wanted to place the blood and the clothes on the service cart that was fine. "Thanks," Angel said. He looked down a moment at his clothes. "Actually, well, before I became CEO of Wolfram & Hart I...I did wear them now and them. Not just an Angelus thing." He was quiet for a long moment then looked up at her. "I'm sorry. I know its not good enough. I know...I just..."

Fred passed the small pile through the bars, holding it out for him to take. Her faith in Wes and his abilities was unshakeable. He had told her that the spell went perfectly. There was no reason to be afraid. "Like I said, here, the Angel here didn't like them. Too much of a reminder of an old life I guess. Or old sins. We never really talked about it. They just weren't. Wes told me about you being part of Wolfram and Hart. He got a bunch of files. I didn't read them. Kind of weird to think that there is another one of me running around. I kept asking myself, "does she like quantum mechanics as much as I do?" or "does she like tacos as much as I do?" or "does she really hate it when you are trying to come up with a new stain remover for T'moch blood and you can't get the chemical composition just right so you end up burning a hole in your shirt?" Fred shook her head. "Too many questions."

Angel stepped forward and took the bundle from her. "Yes to them all," he said. "My Fred was all of that." Angel looked down when he said that. He turned and put the clothes down and looked at the glass of blood. "She was special to us all."

She had caught something in his voice, his expression, and then the very words that he said. "Why do you say 'was'?" She had a pretty good feeling that she knew the answer to that question. She hadn't been told much about the life that this Angel had aside from the fact that he had help run Wolfram and Hart. Fred knew though, in her heart, there had to be an explanation for that.

"Fred...Fred was killed," he said. "Her body was taken over by an Old One. I could have saved her but...But it would have meant the lives of thousands of innocent people if I had." He couldn't look at this Fred as he said it. "I knew she wouldn't have wanted that." Angel sat the blood down. This wasn't a conversation to have while eating.

"I guess that is kind of strange too. Come to find out that I am dead in another world. Or taken over. What about everyone else? Can't be all bad, right? Though, the Wolfram and Hart thing..." She trailed off and then laughed nervously. "I mean, here they tried to kidnap Connor, tried to kill him, tried to blow Cordy up, erased your memory and played with your head more times than I can count. Oh, and put the works on Wesley once so he thought he was a cannibalistic demon. He kept trying to gnaw my arm clean off."

"Everyone...I think," Angel replied. "Gunn, died in my arms in the battle. Wes died fighting Cyvus Vail, a powerful wizard. Cordy..." he leaned on the bars, "Cordy died a couple months before the Apocalypse. She'd already been in a coma. We fought Wolfram & Hart for years and they were finally took down by The Beast. We destroyed the Beast...or rather Angelus destroyed the Beast. Didn't like the competition. But he was caught and my soul restored. When we defeated a fallen power, Wolfram & Hart gave us the L.A. branch to do with as we wanted." The vampire recounted what he could that brought him here to this dimension. "I was beginning to believe Wolfram & Hart had messed with my mind and that his was...home."

Fred was never one to be quiet. "I am sure glad that our Angel didn't make the same mistakes you did. What I mean is, all of us are alive and pretty happy. Sure, we got this crazy demon group attacking the school and Wolfram and Hart is still after all of us but at least we are alive and we got each other. I know what Cordy would say if Wolfram and Hart offered us the LA branch and none of that would be pretty. Her and Lilah got into a couple of throwdowns when they tried to take Cordy when she was pregnant. Never seen a woman use a belly like a weapon before."

"Yeah, well, I did it to give Connor a life he never had," he said. "For a time he had that family life he so wanted, but the Senior Partners didn't take his abilities...he was still the child of two vampires."

"But did it help? End of the day, he still is what he is. Can't hide that from him. He was going to find out sooner or later, as soon as he got into a fight or something. Can't judge though, you did what you thought was best. Is he still alive there or did he die too?" It seemed to Fred that just about everyone that this Angel associated with wound up dead. She wondered if he had a different curse on him. Maybe between Wes and herself, they could come up with a magical detection spell to see if everything he touched died or something.

"I don't know," Angel answered truthfully. "I sent him home just before the battle. I hope he made it. I told him as long as he lived, no matter what, they couldn't harm me."

So much like Fred, she just blurted the following out without thinking it through. "We can't send you back. Wesley spent all night on it and there is no way we can do it. We went to Pylea once but the power that brought you here, we can't match it. Not with what we have here. He was going to try Willow but she is really hard to get a hold of. She could be in some jungle and no one will hear from her for months."

"I really don't have much to go back to," he said as he started to unbutton his shirt to change it since it was rather torn. "But maybe I have even less here." He pulled off the tattered shirt and tossed it on the cot then picked up the fresh shirt and put it on.

"Can really blame us. You lied to everyone and then Angelus got loose and we are having to deal with the fact the Angel we knew is dead. And you come here with the Wolfram and Hart connections and you can't expect everybody to just trust you. I can't even imagine what Cordy is going through because I am getting a little weirded out here too. You look like Angel we know, talk like him, sometimes act like him but you aren't." Fred’s tone was calm though as she was just trying to explain things to him.

"Fred," he looked at her and stepped to the bars, "I...I tried to tell Cordelia...I told her I didn't remember any of this. She was convinced my head had been messed with and I started to believe it too. I never lied to anyone...but myself."

Fred was still bursting with questions as she tried to work out conclusions in her own mind. "Why though? Why didn't you just wait for Wesley to get back? He always fixed it before when someone messed with your head. Cordy had to tell you that. Then again, Wes and I were watching Angel get killed so maybe it would have been solved a whole lot sooner and people would still be alive. Then again, you might have been spending a lot more time in this cage."

He glanced at Fred and then looked up. "I didn't go grr when.... When Cordelia and... The first time and I started believing what she said. I wanted to believe. To have...to have this dream life I could never have before."

"Do you love her? I mean, there, did you love Cordelia there? Because I have only met Buffy once but I know the history. Since things were different, did you marry Buffy there, where you are if your Cordy was in a coma?" Fred was trying to understand. This Angel was like a puzzle to her. With each question, each answer, she got another piece to fit in.

"I loved Cordy," he said looking down at his hand as he ran a finger on the bar. "We got to tell each other just before she died." Angel swallowed hard. His lips drew in a tight line and his voice cracked there at the last.

"Then I guess no one can blame you for what you did. Not sure if you were as baby crazy there as you were here. So you got Cordy, you got kids, and here, Wolfram and Hart has messed with your head before. No one could blame you." He had, for the moment, at least one person on his side. Then again, Fred wanted to trust him. She wanted to believe this was real. They had lost the Angel they all knew and loved. She knew that coincidences don't happen. Things happen for a reason, the universe balances out. Nature abhors a vacuum.

"I don't know," the vampire spoke quietly. "Maybe...maybe the powers sent me here for a reason." He was thinking with the Champion here murdered and the way Illyria’s powers were messed up, he got pulled right where he might be needed.

"If there was some kind of void here..." Fred crouched down on the floor. There was enough dust here that she could write in it. She started speaking to herself. "A void that caused a tear in the veil between dimensions and then enough of a power to push through the veil but close it at the same time while in the other reality..." Her voice trailed off now as she hurriedly scribbled in the dust of the floor.

Angel turned to watch her as she did what she did. He couldn't begin to even pretend to understand what she was going on about. He remained quiet as she worked.

Fred shook her head and sat back so that she could look at the calculations she had drawn in the dust. She needed more room and something more lasting than dust on the basement floor. She stood up, looking at Angel. "I should go. Upstairs, they are probably looking for me. And I want to get some paper so I can write all of this down. Maybe if I can figure out where the distortion occurred, then we could have a chance of sending you back where you came from or figuring out how you got here to begin with."

"Fred," he said as she started to leave. "Fred, maybe I can help with these demons or whatever is terrorizing the school. I mean a fresh mind and eyes might be just what's needed...especially a vampire's."

Fred paused as she was making her way back to the stairs. She just looked at him. She might have been on his side in this but this was something else entirely. "I don't think that would be a good idea. You...you are Angel but you aren't OUR Angel. Not a part of this team. It would just make everyone upset if you tried to be an Angel substitute. Angel Lite. Like the Diet Coke of Angels. Not to say you are any less but you are less than our Angel, the Angel we knew and loved. It’s...its not good for his memory." With that, she hurried up the stairs. She only hoped that he could understand where she was coming from.

Angel watched her leave. He picked up the blood and took a drink. It had aged but blood did that quickly. But he still drank it. When done he sat the glass down and started to change his pants but then stopped and looked up at the camera. The light was on and he could hear the faint electronics. "A little privacy, please?"

Angel's pleas to the camera fell on deaf ears. Fred had gone upstairs to check on the twins and Cordelia was in the office with Wesley. She sat there, silent after he had told her that they couldn't send this imposter Angel back. "I don't get it, Wes. If he got here, why can't you send him back? I don't want him here. I don't want him around."

Wesley pulled off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. He'd been at this for hours and it showed on his features. "There could be several reasons," he said as he lowered his hands from his face. "One of which his world is destroyed so it would stand to reason the portal would be closed. The power allocations could be another factor. It is easier to open a portal to another dimension then it is to a co-existing reality. They are completely different."

"There has to be something. Some book, or some spell. Can we call Willow?" She was fairly serious about this. She didn't want this Angel around, especially not after everything he had done. Not only was he a reminder of her husband, he was a reminder of her own failure.

"Cordelia," he said as he leaned back in his seat, "I'm sorry. If we could open a portal to his dimension it would take more power then we could muster. Not even Willow could and I'm afraid if she tried the darkness would suck her in so deep we'd never get her back."

That was something that she didn't really want. They didn't need Dark Willow trying to destroy the world again. She slumped down in her seat. "So what are we suppose to do? Ask him to join the team? Get him an embroidered jacket?"

"Did you consider, maybe...Maybe this was destined by the Powers? His world was lost and our Champion is lost." He paused a moment. "The Powers don't take our personal feelings into consideration in these matters. They look at the greater picture. I'm not suggesting we take him in with open arms, I'm far from ready to do that."

"Don't even go riding that train of thought, Wes. Why would the Powers send us an Angel that worked for Wolfram & Hart? One that led his friends and family to the slaughter? He isn't a Champion. He is a selfish monster with no brain and no heart." She hesitated in suggesting that they just kill him. The only one who would be able to do that would be Connor and that would cause more damage to the young man than Cordelia would wish on her worst enemy.

"I will play the Devil's Advocate here for a moment," the Englishman said. Wes was one to always take an analytical view of everything. "We got those files from Wolfram & Hart. Maybe we should ask Angel about them without him reading them?"

"I did ask him about it and he was full of excuses. So typical of him. Ian wandered down there already today so I went down to feed him and talk to him. He is smooth, I will give him that. 'I was working with Wolfram & Hart to take them down from the inside.' Anyone with two brain cells to rub together can see how that is the stupidest plan ever. Why would anyone do that?" Cordelia countered.

"What led up to that decision? Maybe he really believed he could," Wesley said.

"Wes...he has to be the stupidest Angel in any dimension if he believed that. Maybe the Angel here got all the brains. He told me that there, Cordelia got body-jacked. And he didn't notice. This from the vampire who used to be able to tell the haircolor of the girls you had sex with. He didn't notice something that big? He has to be retarded. That is the only explanation I can think of."

Wesley cleared his throat at that remark. It was a surprise that day when Angel did that and worse, Cordy was standing right behind him when the vampire announced his activities from the night before. "Then what would you like done, Cordelia?"

"I want him sent back to where ever he is from. I want to be able to grieve for my husband. I want my kids to grow up without a guy with their daddy's face being locked in a cage downstairs. I know we can't keep him there forever."

"No. We can't," Wes nodded. "He does have his soul back and it is anchored for good now."

"Wes..." She just looked at him. She wanted his advice. She needed his advice, both as a friend and as an equal. He was one of the few that could be objective in this situation and do what would be best for everyone. She knew she was too clouded with emotion.

"We could release him," he nodded. "But legally, we can't turn him out. The hotel is his, none the less. Or the authorities would see it as such. You two were never legally married but you could sue for support for the kids."

"You have to be kidding me. He ISN'T Angel. Next, you are going to tell me that just because I married an Angel here, I have to give marital privileges to any Angel that falls out of a portal." She gets up from where she was sitting, visible upset by this. "How the hell was I suppose to get legally married to a man that doesn't exist? A man that should have died 230 years ago if he had stayed human?"

"I'm not saying you have to acknowledge him in any of those ways of marriage," Wes said as he stood. "But are you going to tell the authorities that Angel is dead and yet here he is? Tell them he is from an alternate universe?"

"I've already lost my husband, Wes. I am not going to lose my home because some helmet-wearing short-bus riding version of Angel kicks me out. This is MY home. I have nothing. We sunk all our money into this place. Where am I suppose to go with two small kids? I can't exactly shack up with you and Fred or with the three's company situation Gunn has going. What about Connor? This is his home too. But some...asshole from a world he destroyed could destroy ours too?"

"Cordelia, you are jumping in totally other directions then what I was stating." He moved around and sat back on the desk. "I wasn't suggesting we turn it over or anybody move out. I was just pointing out that we can't force him out either."

"This is bullshit. I don't want him here. I don't want him hanging around my kids. You have to do something because now, if I see him, I will stake him." She was serious. She would go that far to protect her children. To her, this new Angel was a threat in that he could take away their home.

"I was only pointing out the worse case scenarios, Cordy," he said, crossing his arms over his chest.

"In case you haven't noticed, we ARE in the worst case scenario, Wes. Angel is dead. The Angel we got comes from a world that was destroyed. We have a group of demons killing our girls at the school. And we have Angelus fallout to deal with. Welcome to the worst case."

"I doubt he will put you or the kids out," he said with a sigh. "If he was as you said he was with the children, I really do not see it happening. I'm just stating that you can't put him out either.”

She shook her head. She couldn't believe this. It was honestly just beyond her comprehension. "I don't want him here, Wes. I am serious when I say that. I don't feel safe and its going to come down to him or me. So you let him go and you let him know. If I see him around here or around my kids, he is dust. Me or him."

Wesley nodded. "Fair enough. I'm sure that Connor wouldn't hesitate. I shall point out that it is probably better if he made himself scarce around here." Wesley had no problem with this at all.

"Good. Give him Buffy's address. From those files, seems he had a habit of running after her. Maybe he will leave us all alone if he has his Slayer." She was quite serious about that. From reading those files, she didn't even know this Angel. It seemed as if her Angel was able to make the decisions, take the steps, that this other Angel couldn't. It was as if her husband could stand up for things and it had given him a happy life. But the one downstairs was a wishy-washy mess of a man. What had it gotten him? He got his family killed and his world destroyed.

Wesley grabbed the keys for the cage. "I'll do it now, unless you want to talk to him first. Are you still wanting that?"

"I already talked to him. All I found out is that I can't trust a word that comes out of his mouth. Give me a half-hour before you let him out. I am going to get ready and go take the kids to the park."

Wesley nodded to her. "That will give me time for a cup of tea."

She paused for a moment to look at him. "Wes...thanks again. I don't know if I could get through this without you. Without everyone." She didn't just mean the situation with the Angel downstairs. She meant coping with Angel's death. "I...I went and got his ashes. I thought it might be good for all of us if we had a memorial service before Lorne had to leave."

"That might be what we all need," he gave her a smile, that slight smile he had "Perhaps you would like to make a place in the garden for him. In the corner where the sun always hits during the day."

She nodded her head, trying to keep the tears out of her eyes. She had done enough crying in private, she didn't need to start in front of Wes. "I need to go now." It was more so that she didn't break down in front of him than it was anything else. She pulled the office door open and exited quickly. She headed upstairs, leaving Wes to the task of releasing this Angel.

Wesley made his way down the stairs into the basement where the caged vampire was. He waited a moment as he noted Angel was just finishing changing. He knew Angel would realize he was there, the vampire senses and all.

Angel turned while pulling down the hem of his fresh shirt. Seeing Wesley, he nodded. "Fred said none of you like the leather thing," he said quietly.

Wesley stepped on toward the cage and spoke in that soft tone of his, "No, we don’t. Angelus seemed to favor them and it’s just a reminder."

Angel nodded again. "I can understand," he replied, "I now realize how my Wesley felt when…"

"Yes," the ex-watcher interrupted. "Yes, I know the feeling also."

Angel didn’t reply, he just looked down at the concrete floor.

"Cordelia feels you posed as our Angel," Wesley said breaking the silence.

Angel raised his gaze to the ceiling of the basement. "Wes, in the beginning I tried telling her this wasn’t right. I told her what my memories were. I tried to resist but it became so easy for me to believe that, yes, Wolfram & Hart screwed with my mind. Not like they have in the past even in my dimension. I see this life and its what I so wanted, save for the part of still being a vampire. Cordy wanted it and, yes, I did too. I have no other excuse."

The Englishman looked down at the keys in his hand. "Speaking of Wolfram & Hart, how is it you managed to take it over?" He had read those files but he wanted to hear it from Angel.

Angel recounted the story about what had happened in his dimension, the events that led up to the surrender of the firm to Team Angel. He then told Wesley what had happened after, how he’d lost his mission in the big drowning mess of running the L.A. branch and how Cordy came to put him back on track…and how Cordy died. He told him about the taking out of that inner circle and how afterward that pissed off the Senior Partners so badly that they brought on the final battle.

Wesley had remained silent through all of this and when Angel had finished he put the key in the lock of the cage then opened it. He looked at Angel. "My advice to you is to leave here without a word and don’t look back. Understood?"

Angel just looked at Wes as he stepped out of the cage and then swallowed hard. Saying nothing, he turned to the sewer access. He knelt down and opened it. He looked back to Wesley on more time then dropped down into the dark maw of underground Los Angeles.

---

Chapter Eighteen

Angel had left the hotel. He didn't even take a thing. After he and Wesley talked, he turned to the sewer access and left. He'd been holding up on Merl's old place. He'd taken out a couple nests while down here then he finally decided he couldn't do this. He found himself coming up in the garage level of Wolfram & Hart.

He made his way up, still having the charm. He was using Wolfram & Hart's own mojo against them. He paused before he stepped off the elevator. Glancing around, he saw Eve. She was back from the dead. Good ol' W&H did like to keep those employees. He walked on, heading for Lilah's office, not stopping to ask Eve a thing.

Eve saw Angel though and it was enough to send her into a panic. She had to wait for W&H to grow her a new eye so for now, she had on a rather stylish eye patch. She got up from her desk, backing away. For the rest of her existence, she would also bear a mark around her neck, fingerprints against her skin that had crushed her windpipe. She hit the button for the intercom, frantic now as she tried to contact Lilah.

Angel stopped and turned to Eve. "I'm sorry."

"Ms. Morgan...Ms. Morgan...Angelus...he's..." She barely got that out before he turned and spoke to her. She was so low on the ladder, no one bothered to tell her that Angel had his soul restored. She backed herself up against the wall. "Just please, leave me alone. You don't know what you have to go through for them to bring you back!"

"Eve," he said, stepping towards her, "Angelus is gone now. He's locked away. What happened to you...that's what Wolfram & Hart has been wanting to release for so long."

She reached into her desk drawer and she held up a cross. She kept it in front of her. She had no depth perception now so it was hard to tell how close he was to her. She held it out though. "Don't come near me." She shook the cross at him.

That cross caused him to stop and look away from her. Soul or not, the sight still pained the demon in him. "I need to talk to Lilah."

"She's...She's in her office." Eve stammered. She wasn't sure if this was some kind of trick or not. But Lilah could deal with him. Eve was taking her break starting now. She started to inch away from him, moving along the wall. She already had one eye patch because of him, she didn't want two.

He turned from her and headed on to the office. When there he entered. Did he knock? Nope. He never did before, why should he start now?

Lilah had gotten the heads up from the frantic intercom message from Eve. She was waiting for Angel to show up. Its not as if she didn't have oodles of reports about what he had been up to for the past week. Given that she was no longer completely human, all the damage from Angelus had been healed. Her office looked like nothing was wrong at all, except for the missing Orbs. "How is sewer life treating you, Angel? Kind of a change from being family man for a day?"

"Open the portal and send me back," he said to her, eyes not blinking. His expression was one chiseled from stone.

"What's wrong? You don't like it here?" Lilah sat back in her chair. There was a small part of her that hoped it would come down to this. She hadn't actually believed Angel was going to do it though.

"This isn't where I belong," he told her. "I belong back in my own world to suffer whatever fate that offers." He moved closer to her desk. "I would have thought this is what you'd want. Angel here dead and well, me gone since Angelus didn't work out too well for you."

Lilah turned back to her computer. Watching Angel in pain was like every birthday, Christmas, Kwanzaa, and Hanukkah rolled into one. She typed on her computer, sending out emails so it could be done. "You might be surprised what I want, Angel." She glanced up at him and then went back to typing. She was going to save this and goad him to the very edge. "Not sleeping to well I take it? What's wrong? You reach for her and she isn't there?"

"Don't push me, Lilah," he warned her. "Don't mistake on this side like your counter did that I won't kill a human...especially when she's not totally human. And yes, I know they'll bring you back but you could have some badly mangled parts to go along with the deal."

"Did you not see the title on the door? I won't end up like Eve if you decide to start removing body parts. You also must think I got stupider since the last time you were here. I have new...precautions." She was speaking to her computer though as she typed. "Why the change of heart?"

"I don't know," Angel said as he moved to look out the window of the office, "maybe because someone gave Wes some super edited files of my life as it was. They were more of a Reader's Digest version and sprinkling in a few things of Wolfram & Hart's own so that no one would believe me."

"Those were your choices. Can't blame us because they were the wrong ones. You think you are the only Angel to have gone that route? Granted, most of the time it doesn't end in Apocalypse but we are gaining the edge." She turned in her chair to look at him. She had expected him to fight, not just roll over and die. Then again, she only knew this Angel from his files. "How does next Tuesday sound?"

"I'm sure Wolfram & Hart didn't even want what happened," the vampire spoke still looking out at the city. "We did take out The Circle of the Black Thorn." He was silent for a long moment then turned and looked at her. "If that's my only choice."

She chuckled. He really was far stupider than the Angel that was here. "And you think there isn't another group of evil just waiting to take their place? Other groups in other cities? You think too small, that is your problem. As far as choices..." She shrugged her shoulders. "Ball is really in your court. Technically, you are still an employee of Wolfram and Hart. Our services are available to you. Oooh, I know, how about altering reality again? That seemed to go so well before."

"Oh, I know," he agreed. "But the mere fact they were taken out so easily by a group that was so far beneath their power and status."

"You are amazing at rationalization." She merely shook her head. Even after Jasmine, he didn't realize that no matter what, he was just a puppet in his own world. He was so easy to manipulate. "Everything you touch gets destroyed. My advice, leave here before you end up putting your special brand of tinge on the people here."

Angel just glared at Lilah. He finally turned on his heels and headed for the door. He didn't want to even look at her any longer. She'd take anything he would say or any part of his history and twist it.

"Don't you want the address and time?" She just grinned. She got him so annoyed that he turned and left. That was definitely rewarding after what Angelus had done to her.

He stopped at the door and said over his shoulder, "I would have figured it could find me."

She wrote something down on the back of her business card and handed it to him. "This isn't like going to Magic Mountain. It takes time, preparation, and a whole lot of magic." She waited for him to take the card, looking up at him. "Truth hurts, doesn't it, Angel?"

Taking the card, he said no more. He just went on out to make his way back down to the sewers. Maybe this dimension would be better off without him and just maybe back in his own he could pick up the fight, even if he had to do it by himself.

----Next Tuesday----

Lilah waited patiently near the bridge for Angel. Lined on one side were three dark SUVs. She had brought back up in case Angel decided that he wanted to play around. Standing next to her was a Kobash demon, large and assuming as he hulked near her. She was on her cellphone, making sure that everything was set up. The scene should be all too familiar to Angel. She had picked it on purpose, the site where he lost Connor. Then again, mystical veils and rips in them were easier to find and use again in the same locations. She only hoped in the days that had elapsed between their meeting and now, he hadn't changed his mind.

She started to pace a bit as she spoke on her phone. Something wasn't right here and she knew it. He seemed to be too stupid to realize it wasn't this easy. Would he be smart enough to figure out that she had set him up? She wasn't sending him back to his dimension. He had brought forth Hell on Earth and the Senior Partners couldn't be more pleased. Angel was a thorn in Wolfram and Hart's side in any and all dimensions. She had her orders. Either send him to the surface of the sun or to a Hell dimension. She opted for the Hell dimension. An eternity of torture seemed far more gratifying than an instant death.

Angel came walking up that street after coming up from the sewer just a block away. As he walked his duster stirred in the wake of the breeze. He knew the place all to well. He stopped seeing the vehicles and what looked like a small army. He glanced from side to side as the security noted him and they leveled their weapons. They were still thinking firearms would stop him. He only shook his head at them as he stepped up to where Lilah stood.

Lilah hung the phone up when she saw Angel and slipped it back into her jacket pocket. "Just a little protection. Makes our contacts feel a little better when they are dealing with vampires." If the armed men shot him enough, he lost enough blood, wouldn't be too hard to get in to stake him. "This is one of our Shamans. Kobash demon. I am sure you know all about them. Shall we?" She was eager for this. Sending Angel to a Hell dimension made her tingle, in all the right places.

Angel looked over at the demon and said nothing. In fact, he said nothing to anybody. He just stepped past Lilah to the same spot that he had laid on the ground mourning the loss of his son. He was ready to go back to his world and face what had been wrought, good or bad.

Lilah tried to hide her grin and it came out as a small looking smile. She stood off to the side, watching this with a suppressed glee. At long last the Senior Partners were finally allowing a more hands on approach to Angel. She could not be happier about it.

The Kobash demon raised its huge tree like arms, chanting low to open the portal. His fingers moved through the air, manipulating the very fabric of reality. Slowly, a small portal began to form, like a whirlpool in the air. As it began to grow, the air around the demon, portal, and Angel stirred.

Concealed in the shadows and behind the SUVs of Wolfram and Hart, the Angel Investigations Team was crouched and ready for attack. They must have gone over the plan a thousand times. The armed guards would be left to Gunn, Faith, Gwen, and the Slayerettes. Connor would take care of the Kobash demon. Wes would close the portal. And Cordelia, as much as she hated this plan, would be charged with getting Angel out of the way so he wasn't sucked into the portal. Cordelia's hand flexed around her short sword. She hated it when they brought guns. It was just so...wrong. But they would be no match against the sneak attack of the team. The Slayers against a group of humans, even with guns, the humans were toast.

Angel stared at the opening portal. His coat tails whipped around him. A slight frown crossed his features. Something was out of place. Something...or things...that shouldn't be here. Then he started seeing what was on the other side of the portal.... And it wasn't Earth in any incarnation. He quickly looked at Lilah realizing what was going on. He had been betrayed. His features changed. His brows became thick, as well as cheekbones and his eyes turned yellow. His nose broadened and his teeth became lethal, sharp fangs.

Kobash opened the portal wider, stepping back and allowing the pull of the portal to drag Angel towards it. He had a job to do and ridding the world of a vampire was one he was more than happy to do.

Cordelia watched as the portal opened more. Her eyes were kept on Angel. She turned her head towards Wes, waiting for his signal. As soon as he started chanting to close it, that is when the entire group would come out. It was a shame Wes couldn't find a spell that would just close it. No, it had to expand it first before it contracted on itself. So that meant she still had to get Angel out of the damn way.

Wesley knelt and placed the crystal down in front of him. He looked at the portal trying to judge when it would be at its apex.

Angel's yellow eyes locked on Lilah. He let out a roar not unlike that of an angry tiger. He went to lunge for her but he felt like something had him and was pulling at him.

Cordelia saw that Wesley had started. She nodded to Gunn so that he and the girls could move around the SUVs to take care of the armed guards. She waited a moment more before gesturing to Connor next. She moved around behind Wes, giving him an encouraging pat on the back. She waited in the shadows for Wes to give the final signal so she could tackle Angel out of the way.

Connor moved as close as he could to the demon. He would just as soon let that bastard that was trying to be his father have his fate but he'd miss out on a good fight, one like he'd not had in a while. Running the school took up a lot of his demon killing time. Now the girls were going to see their headmaster in action first hand.

Angel reached out to grab Lilah. He felt, by god, if he was going to be sucked into this he wasn't going alone, but his fingers barely brushed her jacket. He was being drug backwards still by unseen hands.

Wesley pulled a small pouch that held bone dust. He started the chant and as he did he started making a triangle with the crystal in the center and the point of it pointed at the portal.

"Wes..." Cordelia's voice was barely a whisper. "How is that spell coming?" She could see how anxious Connor was. She could see how anxious the girls were. Nobody wanted anyone sucked into a portal though. The timing was everything with this and after so many years of working together, this team had it down.

Wesley held up a finger and kept chanting. The crystal started to glow yellow and shake. He kept up the chanting and then suddenly the crystal shot for the portal and at the same time he pointed at Cordelia.

Cordelia ran when he pointed at her, not taking the time to notice that at the same time, the group of Slayers and their leaders had busted out from behind their cover to fight the armed guards. She was just glad that she bought some new running shoes for this. She had the advantage with the element of surprise, tackling Angel to the dusty ground and away from the ever-expanding portal. "Stay down!" She yelled at him, just in case he tried to fight her.

Connor sprung at the Kobash. His foot made contact with the back of the demon's head just at the neck. It had been way too long since he had a party like this, playing the soft spoken school administrator wasn't fun, but it served a purpose.

Angel was knocked to the ground but it didn't stop him being drug towards the portal. His fingers dug for a hold to stop him. Cordelia tried holding him but in her effort, she too was being pulled. He caught hold on a small bush and his arm went protectively around Cordy. He held with all his vampiric strength.

Cordelia could feel herself moving as Angel was drug closer to the portal. Wes had warned her about this. The pull was less on the ground though than it would have been if Angel were standing up, buying them more time. Her head turned, she kept her eyes on Wes to make sure that portal was getting closed. She didn't really want to spend the best years of her life in a Hell dimension with a manpire she hated.

The crystal shot into the heart of the portal and then a rumble sounded from within. What sounded like a scream erupted and then the portal started closing in on itself, getting smaller and smaller.

The Slayers had their hands full as they fought off the armed guards. Lilah watched the scene for about a half second before she realized that it was a lost cause. She gestured with her chin towards two of the guards before she slipped back into one of the SUVs. She gave a final glance to the fight erupting before the SUV sped off into the night, leaving the other Wolfram and Hart employees to fend for themselves against the Angel Investigations Team.

The demon hurdled forward when Connor kicked it. It growled and turned around. Bringing one large arm up, it smacked the young man across the face and sent him flying towards the rows of vehicles. It turned back in time to see the portal starting to close. It growled deeply, raising its arm to try to force the portal open again.

Connor hit the fender of the closest SUV but came up. That one was going to need bodywork. He pulled out the crossbow pistol and fired for the base of the demon's head where the neck and skull meet in the back.

The demon turned and knocked away the crossbow bolt before it could connect with its neck. He roared and stalked towards Connor. Grabbing the grill from one of the SUVs, he yanked it off and swung it at the young man.

Angel pulled Cordelia up toward the shrub. "What the hell are you doing," he said to her over the roar of the portal.

When Wesley heard the sound of the crystal starting the implosion he stood, shouted on last phrase in a long dead demonic tongue. The portal swirled, clouded in the center. It actually gave off a sound that sounded like a dying beast and finally in one big light show it vanished. Wes looked at the place where it was. This particular portal would never open again. The crystal sealed it forever. This had been the major argument he gave to help Angel.

Cordelia kept her eyes on Wesley and the portal, going back and forth. She finally looked down at Angel. "I had a vision." That is all she said in matter of conversation. It had been a huge fight about it but at the end, it came down to keeping the mission, as Fred had pointed out. This Angel was helpless against being sucked into a Hell dimension. Plus, a fight with Wolfram and Hart was always welcome.

When the pull of the portal stopped Angel was pissed now. He got up and saw the demon advancing on Connor. Head on confrontation with a Kobash wasn't a good idea. He let out a growl then leaped for the creature landing on its back, grabbing its head to give it a twist to break his neck. This was Connor...it didn't matter what dimension he was still his son.

Connor fired another bolt just as Angel jumped the Kobash. It was one freaking' ugly thing as well as stank. This was one time he wished he had the thing of not having to breathe like a vampire.

Cordelia got up when Angel did and she watched him go for the demon. Connor was going to be pissed. That was his demon to kill. Most of the armed guards were taken care of and the Slayers were finishing with the few who had stayed to fight instead of running. She looked over to Wes with a frown. All of her inner thoughts were reflected with that one disapproving expression. "I told you this was a bad idea."

The demon felt the vampire land on its back. It turned its head to keep Angel from breaking its neck, making sure he didn't have a good hold. It stumbled back as the crossbow bolt hit it in the shoulder, causing it to drop the grill it was using as a weapon.

Angel hoped this Connor was as observant as the one he knew. That armored plating of the demon's stomach wasn't going to let a bolt get through. But Angel still had hold of the thing with all his strength and his knee went to the middle of its back forcing it to arch and exposing the tender flesh between the plating.

The demon did so as the vampire put a knee to its back. With no choice, it arched back. It pulled the crossbow bolt from its shoulder and reached back to stab Angel in the back, just below his shoulder blade.

Connor saw this and took aim. His bolt shooting for that soft flesh. Connor had never fought a Kobash and so little was written about them he hadn't found how to kill one.

Wesley looked to Cordy. "Maybe not," he told her. "We did succeed in closing the portal on one hell dimension."

Hidden under that plating was a small round spot, about the size of a quarter. It was almost like a target, white against the Kobash's gray skin. With Connor's aim, it hit directly. It was a power source. The demon crumpled, falling to its knees and then forward. But at least it had gotten one good blow in with the crossbow bolt to Angel's shoulder.

Angel clenched his fanged teeth when the bolt struck but he kept his hold. When he felt the demon crumple he let go and stumbled back. He looked down at the bolt that had been put through him. It had almost got its target, his heart. The tip of it was out his chest.

Cordelia moved to Wes, knowing that Connor could take care of the demon. She hadn't intended to tackle Angel that hard and it had made her hurt enough that she didn't want to fight. The Slayers were gathering around as well as the Kobash demon died. They were trading stories of the fight, different versions, and patching each other up. Cordelia watched the scene briefly before looking back to Wes. "You okay?"

Wesley looked at Cordy and nodded. "Tired. Takes a lot out of me when I do a spell of this magnitude." He looked it. His eyes showed bags under them and he leaned back on the nearest SUV.

Cordelia glanced at the scene from the corner of her eye. She saw Angel stumbling back, the bolt sticking out of his back. There was a part of her that wanted to go to him, pull the bolt out, and heal him. Her heart hurt because he did look like her dead husband. It only brought back all the pain and loss she felt. She looked back to Wes. "I'll drive you back home."

Connor looked up at the vampire. There was no emotion on his face. He did approach him. He stepped around and pulled hard taking that bolt out but not being gentle about it either. He tossed it aside then he walked off calling to the slayers.

Cordelia's concern was for Connor. She had seen him tossed into that SUV. She reached out to touch his shoulder when he finally came back over to the group. "Didn't get too banged up, did you?" She gave him a smile. "You still have to take the girls out to that demon bar tomorrow to teach them how to get information."

Connor stopped and looked at Cordelia. "I'm fine," he said. "I still don't see why we can't dust his ass." He looked back to Angel who now stood alone over what was left of the body of the Kobash as it liquified into what looked like an oil puddle.

"You know why, Connor. We already talked about this." Her voice was low. The suggestion had come up along with the one of just letting this Angel rot in the Hell dimension. They had all run options until they were blue in the face. For some reason, The Powers wanted him saved so they saved him. She looked to the girls, who were too excited from their fight to settle down for a bit. She looked back to Connor. "How about we swing by, get Lillian and the twins, and everyone can out for breakfast? Chicken and waffles?" She bumped her hip gently against Connor's. This was a success, they deserved breakfast. "We have to drop old man Wyndam-Pryce off though. He can't keep up with us big dogs anymore."

"Old," Wesley spoke up. "I am not old. The fact that it takes so much energy to direct magic such as this..." He paused looking at Cordelia and Connor's face. Connor had managed a slight smirk.

"Are you saying that you are up for some Roscoe's with the rest of us then? Maybe some of that sludge they call coffee would do you good. Fred can meet us there. We can have a little victory party for once again kicking Wolfram and Hart's ass." Cordelia cupped her hands around her mouth, shouting towards Gunn, Faith, and the gathered Slayers. "Roscoe's! Victory celebration!" She lowered her hands just in time to see Gunn nod his head and Faith start to eagerly load the girls into the van. Faith was like a horse with a carrot sometimes. They could motivate her to do anything with the promise of food.

Wesley looked to Angel now then back to Cordy and Connor. "What about him," he asked.

Connor headed for his vehicle. "Leave him. I'll meet you guys there."

Wesley looked to Cordelia. "You know we might not have killed that Kobash had it not been for him. We've never faced one and it seems that in his dimension he has."

Cordelia looked at Angel for a moment and then back to Wesley with a frown. "I am not inviting him out to our victory celebration..." She looked back to Angel again. She didn't approach him though, but merely called out. "Hey..." She didn't want to say his name. Angel was a name reserved for her husband, not this imposter.

Angel looked up when he realized that somebody directed their voice to him and not about him. Either they forgot, as often they did in his dimension, about his vampire hearing or they just didn't care.

"Uh...thanks for helping with the demon." Cordelia looked back to Wes, a questioning expression on her features. Was that going to be good enough for Wes? She said thanks so could they please leave now?

"You're welcome," Angel replied. "Just, well, Kobash demons are not really common and I didn't know if any of you had faced one before." He didn't want to have Wes speak up now to invite him to this breakfast so he added. "I'm going to wait here at least until close to dawn, make sure he doesn't pull himself back together. They can sometimes do that. But he was expending a lot of his energy on that portal so he probably is done for. But just to be safe."

Cordelia frowned. He could have said anything at that moment and she would have frowned. She didn't hear the one thing she wanted and that was a thank you from him for saving his ass. She just looked to Wes, her tone flat and cold as ice. "Let's go. I don't need a demonology lesson." She started walking for her own vehicle, waiting for Wes to follow.

Wesley frowned slightly also. "We just also saved you from a Hell dimension. You might wish to show a little more gratitude." With that he turned and followed Cordelia back to his Cherokee.



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