Title: Walking In My Shoes
Author: Kelly and Mike (collaborative writing team)
Email: Click Here
Posted: 7/12/06 - 7/19/06
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 Eighteen - Continued

---One week later----

Angel leapt over the wall that surrounded the grounds that was Cyvus Vail's estate. He paused a moment, trying to sense anything that might be around. He was determined he was going to help Cordy, Wes, and the others to find out who it is that is heading this group targeting the school and the slayers. The vampire started moving towards the old mansion.

The symbol in the sewer he'd found matched one he had seen on Wes’ desk. He was going to find out what it meant and when he did, then he'd find the group. But he needed something first and the old wizard he knew could help, if the old git was so inclined.

Angel had come close to spending eternity someplace he really didn't wish to vacation in, Hell dimensions. He'd been there, done that already. But the team had shown up and saved him. He hadn't expected that. He decided he owed them now and he was going to pay his debt.

With the wall breached, the first round of guards came at Angel. They were coming at Angel with guns drawn. It seemed that Wolfram and Hart wasn't the only evil in this dimension that preferred firearms. Most of these guards were human, some vampire though. Angel was going to be in for a fight if he wanted to see Cyvus Vail.

Angel paused on seeing the threat. He assessed his situation. "I knocked but nobody answered," he said, not making a threatening move yet.

"Master Vail has been waiting for you, sir." One of the guards replied, standing stiffly next to his other counterparts. They were military trained but not by any military of this world. The guards waited in a defensive arch around Angel to see how he would react.

Angel looked at each of them in turn then to the one that spoke. "Then let's not keep the old fella waiting any longer."

Turning on his heel, one of the guards broke away from the group. Once Angel started moving, they all fell into a formation around him, surrounding him. They had very strict orders on how to deal with the vampire. The guard that had spoken opened the door while one in the behind Angel muttered to himself. "He ain't so tough. Don't know why we all had to be here. There was a game on tonight."

Angel heard this but he just kept walking. He'd been here before several times in his own dimension and it seemed it was still the same here as there. He could smell the old wizard. His medicines both mystical and medical keeping him going, his decaying body. As always there he was in his large parlor, so like a throne room.

Cyvus Vail sat in his large, elegant throne, alone in the empty room save for his IV stand and oxygen tank. He was the same here as any other dimension, red skinned with straggly, thin white hairs covering his head. He was wheezing, even though he had yet to speak. He raised his hand feebly, the guards parting into a U-shape to allow Angel to step forward. The one behind Angel muttered to his companion again. "Maybe we can kill him when he leaves."

Just as the one guard finished his outspoken, wishful thought he found a stake in his heart and just the bare glimpse of the vampire with a soul holding it. The guard exploded into a cloud of dust. Angel turned away and back to the old wizard. He stepped towards him. "Vail," he said keeping his eyes on the wizard almost like nothing had just occurred.

The rest of the guards grabbed their weapons and stayed in formation around Angel. The old demon kept his eyes on Angel's before he dismissed the guards with a wave of his hand. When he spoke, he wheezed his words out. "I was wondering...when you would arrive. I am pleased to see you only killed one of my guards in this world." He hinted that he had the knowledge of what had occurred in Angel's home dimension.

"The night is still young," Angel said. "Besides, I didn't come here to fight." He glanced around a moment then back to Vail. "Seems some things don't change no matter where one goes...Well, except that you're still alive."

Vail rasped out a chuckle with Angel's assessment of the situation. "I may still yet be alive in your world too. There are always...measures in place...my dear boy."

"How about we keep the checks and balances going then," the vampire stepped over and picked up a very unassuming little capped vase. "How goes it with Sahjhan here since, well, Connor hasn't took care of him for you?" He looked back over to Vail. He was trying to test the waters to see what bargaining chips he had.

It was a good thing that little vase was not the one that housed Sahjhan. It was too small. However, Vail understood what the vampire was getting at. He reached over to adjust a knob on his IV. "You must want something then. And you know my price. Shall we skip formalities?"

"Probably," he agreed. "Well, there's that problem and the pesky one of me knowing all about the Circle...And for some reason, somebody is still wanting me alive. This leads me to believe, now that I've thought, there's a bigger forest here."

Vail struggled to get up from his throne. His whole body shook as he tried to rise. "To make the same mistakes you did in your world. There is more to lose here, though." Vail lifted his hand, his palm laid flat and open. "I can show you, what has happened because you wanted to go on a suicide mission."

"Actually I'm sure there's more use to the information of the who's who of evil society then the threat of my killing you all," Angel said. "Otherwise why all the secret enclave stuff. I mean, why not just be a Mason then?" When Vail put out that hand he looked at it, ancient and gnarled. He wasn't quite ready to trust Vail until they had boundries laid down. It would be his luck he'd turn his back and Cyvus would throw some Hellfire at him.

"I told you once before. I am not the sort of man you want as an enemy. You have so much more to lose here." Vail moved slowly across the room, pulling his IV stand with him. Each of his breaths was labored, wheezing as he moved with a great degree of difficulty. "Now why do you want in exchange for your...son helping me take care of my little problem?"

Angel moved just a step behind Vail. It was a good thing vampires didn't have to breathe. When was the last time this old fart ever showered? "I want the memories of the Angel from this dimension," he said.

Vail turned to regard Angel now. "That is quite a feat you are asking. Building memories is one thing." Vail paused. It wouldn't be hard considering how powerful he was. He knew also now that Angel had undergone the little spell to merge demon and soul forever. He was weighing the risks with the rewards.

"I've studied up on it a bit, Vail," the vampire said. "The mechanics isn't that difficult, especially since they come from an identical me."

"You bring me the boy and he takes care of that nasty cur and you will have your memories." Vail replied.

"That's not going to be easy," Angel admitted. "Right now, he'd just as soon stake me as to look at me." He was trying to think what he could do to convince Connor to come to the old wizard.

"That isn't my problem." The old demon wheezed out once more. He had forgotten why he got up in the first place so he made his way slowly back to his chair.

Angel started for the door to leave. "I didn't say I couldn't get him here, just its going to be hard." He got to thinking that maybe this Connor would accept the challenge openly to kill Sahjhan. He hated prophecies. He'd gladly taken on the demon himself.

Vail lowered himself back into that throne-like chair once he got to it. "And within the week if you could." Vail gave another wheezing chuckle as Angel departed from his estate.

Angel didn't pause as he found his way out of the house. He was heading for the same section of wall where he had come over. Why not? The GTX was parked closer there. He was trying to think how he could approach Connor about this so that the young man would listen.

----Near dawn----

Fred sat in the little diner all alone. If the gang knew that she had been communicating with Angel, they weren't going to like it. The general consensus was to let him rot. Or rather, the most vocal consensus was that. Cordelia and Connor had made their feelings perfectly clear. Fred had a feeling that Wesley was waffling though. She smiled at the thought of him. She could sway him yet if she could just get enough evidence. She could win him over with logic. She looked down into her coffee, wondering why she even bothered to order it. She was too nervous to eat or drink. With Fred, that meant she was really nervous.

The vampire was there at her table looking down at her. He cleared his throat. Fred was a good soul. Kind and well, as corny as it sounded, an old soul. It was nice seeing her still alive and, well, not blue.

Fred jumped when he was upon her and clearing his throat. He could be a sneaky one, that was for sure. She looked up at him. "Angel, gosh, scared me. Need to go about announcing yourself a little better. I almost spilled my coffee all over." Fred pointed down to the full mug and the spill over from her jolting that was now on the table. She reached for the napkins so she could clean the mess up.

"Sorry," he said as he slipped into the seat across from her. It was the very early morning, not many in the place. It was littered with bums that had just enough for the price of a cup of coffee or truck drivers waiting for the dispatcher to call, typical creatures of the night that weren't necessarily of the supernatural kind.

Fred started to clean up the little mess that her jolting had made. "Its okay. It’s just coffee. And they have free refills here. I can spill all I want all over the table and they will just keep filling it up. Though, don't think they would much like people pouring coffee all over the tables." She looked thoughtful for the moment, as if she was contemplating that.

"No, probably not," he said as he folded his hands on the table and looked down at them. The waitress came over with a cup of coffee and placed it down in front of him. When she asked if he wanted to order, he looked up and shook his head. "No thanks. Coffee is fine." He looked to Fred to see if she wanted anything.

Fred had to admit she was pretty hungry. She was less nervous now that Angel had arrived. She ordered some pancakes and bacon for now. She would probably put away the three pancakes that came and order yet another stack. For a girl so small, it was amazing where she put all that food. She waited for the waitress to leave before she spoke again. "Thanks for meeting me here. I am sure you have your own thing going on now." Fred reached into a bag in the seat next to her. She was rummaging around for something.

"I've always got time," he said. "One of the advantages to being immortal." He just gave a sad bit of a smile. He picked up the cup of coffee and took a drink of the hot, steaming liquid. Coffee was one of the few normal things he could taste. Maybe it was the acid or something, who knows.

Fred came back out with a small photo book. She knew that he was lonely. If it were up to her, she would have welcomed him right back with open arms. They had lost their own Angel but here was another one. It wasn't the same, no and it never would be but still, it could be good. "I thought maybe you could use some pictures to put up where you are staying. Since you came here with nothing but the clothes on your back. I brought you some clothes too! Had to wait for everyone to be gone so I could sneak up and get them."

Angel took the photos then started looking at them. Sometimes he wondered if letting so many people in his life or unlife had been a good thing. "Fred...thanks," He didn't know what else to say.

Fred watched him for a moment. She saw the expression on his face. What she said next was blurted out in a typical fashion. "Charles doesn't believe the files. I heard him talking to Faith about it at the school. He thinks this is...well...he said bullshit. He and Faith don't see why you can't just come and help." She had to do it. She had to give him that hope. He looked so utterly crushed and it was killing her.

"I have been," he said to her. "I've just been in the shadows. Those vamps last night...There were twice as many as you guys could see."

"I think Faith knows you have been shadowing her when she takes the Slayerettes out." Fred smiled. "That is what we call them, the Slayerettes. Most of them are in their twenties though so doesn't really fit. And it’s always sad when the Council assigns them someplace else after they graduate. Faith is so good with them, like their big sister. Maybe...maybe you should go talk to Charles and Faith. Charles is still upset about his truck though so I don't know if that is a good idea."

Angel shook his head. "I can't, Fred," he said. "I can't as long as Connor and Cordelia.... What happened happened because of emotions running crazy and..." He took another drink. "But...I do know a way I can help."

Fred sighed because Angel really could be stubborn sometimes. She grabbed the bag up and put it on the table between them. She brought him enough clothes for a week. "I put their address in there. They don't live at the hotel. They have a nice place near the Academy. Gwen's gone to Japan for the rest of the month but she isn't around much anyway. I think it would be good if you just talked to them. You aren't going to get anybody besides me on your side if you wait around for Connor and Cordy."

"Look," Angel shifted in his seat, "I need to talk to Wes. I know once I've explained things to him he'll understand. I don't know if Gunn could reason with Connor on what we need the way Wes could." The vampire looked to the bag. He pulled it over and sat it down from the table. It was so strange...they were his clothes but they weren't. And it hadn't slipped him that the hotel could easily be his and he would no longer have to live in the sewers...but Angel would never put them out.

"Charles won't be able to reason with Connor but Wes isn't going to listen to you unless someone besides me talks to him about it. Right now, it’s two against one in that hotel. I don't want to gang up on Cordy cause she is hurting. A lot. Nobody wants to say anything to her about it. But it would be lot easier for me to get Wes to talk to you if I could get some of the others behind him. I am doing this alone." She was too. She seemed to be the only one defending him outright. If only he had any idea of the emotional plea she gave to them after Cordy's vision.

"Okay, I'll talk to Faith," he said giving in. He knew what Fred was doing. She wanted her family back together. If she was anything like his Fred, if something in the misfit family went wrong she was all about fixing it to keep the constant in her life after leaving Pylea.

"Might want to think about getting Charles some new headlights too." She gave Angel a bit of a grin. She was happy that he was at least going to try. He was right. Their Angel might be gone and it did break her heart. But after all her calculations, all the experiments she had been doing, this Angel was here for a reason. She just seemed to be the only one who could see that.

"I'm lucky I don't have to replace the whole truck," he replied to that. Angelus could have done so much more but the evil vampire always considered himself an artist at what he did and sometimes just a little damage delivered a better message then total destruction.

"Don't know how your Charles was but that truck...If he had to pick between that truck and his women, he would be sleeping in the truck." Fred laughed as she made a joke. It was a shame that the joke was the truth. Her pancakes arrived, as she was mid-laugh so it was cut short so she could eat.

"Yeah, well, it’s a guy thing," Angel intoned. Well, who was he to say different to how Gunn felt about his truck? That GTX...But the car sat over in the hotel garage. He felt if he tried to take it, Cordelia would have staked him on site.

Fred was too busy stuffing her mouth with pancakes to speak anymore. She finally swallowed a big bite and looked at him. "If you want to see the kids, I take them some nights to watch them. Used to be a lot more but if Cordy wants to go out and fight, someone has to watch them so we always alternate. I can tell her I want to take them to give her some time to herself."

"I'd like that, but I don't want to get you in the middle of all this." He finished his coffee and picked up the bill the waitress had left.

"I am already in the middle of it. I made my choice. There is a reason we can't send you back and there was a reason that you were sent here. I was doing the calculations, figuring it all out. You came here the instant that our Angel...died." Fred still had a hard time saying it. It would always hurt her.

Angel looked over at her. "I know," he said in a hushed tone. "The Powers have reasons they do things. I doubt those files Wolfram & Hart turned over were the whole truth. Just enough truth to make it all seem possible. I did get side tracked but Cordelia was sent back to me to put me back to what I needed to do and that was to take down Evil, Inc. from the inside, which I did."

He didn't have to convince her. Fred knew that Angel could never do anything as bad as those files said. She trusted him here and in any other dimension. He had saved her after all. "I should go before Wes wonders where I got off to. I told him I was going to pick up some new physics books from a friend of mine. Now I just got to find some physics books." Fred giggled softly.

Getting a napkin, he wrote down an address and handed it to her. "Tell Elijah I sent you," he said. "Retired magician and now runs a new and used book store."

She took the napkin from him with that trademark Fred smile. "I will call you when I can get the twins so you can see them." Fred slipped out of the booth and made her way quickly out of the diner.

---Several days later----

Faith sat next to Gunn in the small house that they shared. It was a good location. It was right near the Academy and it gave them enough room to just chill out. With Gwen's substantial fortune to help them out, they always had the latest and greatest when it came to toys. Right now, they were busy playing a game system that had yet to be released on the domestic market. Gwen had picked it up during one of her trips to Japan. Faith nudged Gunn, not too hard, but just enough to get him to screw up so his racing car would spin off the track and into a group of spectators. "Ha! Beat you again. You suck at this, admit it."

Gunn purposely moved too far to the side with the nudge so that he would go off the track. Faith was competitive. She wasn't that bad with the racing games but he knew better than to go winning any shooters any time soon. "I let you win, girl. You want to go another round or you ready to order that pizza?"

"No... Not hungry for pizza." Faith grinned at him and tossed the controller aside. She moved on the couch so that she was straddling him now. "I don't have to share you, you don't have to share me. How about we just enjoy our alone time?" Faith leaned down so that she could capture Gunn's lips in a kiss. Something about winning these video games always put her in a mood for sex. It was just like slaying. She either wanted to have sex or put an All You Can buffet out of business.

Angel stood at the front door. Fred had said she'd talked to Gunn and that she thought he would be open to any ideas, especially to end the attacks on the slayers and the school. He rang the doorbell.

Faith paused when she heard the doorbell. She groaned as she started to move off Gunn's lap. "So much for a hot time in the old city tonight." She reached down to grab the controller up again and playfully pushed Gunn in the side to go get the door.

Gunn groaned too as Faith left his lap. He was going to need a couple of seconds to recover from her attack on his mouth. Only girl he knew that could get him from zero to rock in three seconds flat. He called out, "Give us a minute. We're naked up in here."

"Really more information then I needed," Angel said. That vampire hearing sometimes not so much a plus, or the other senses. The smell of sex was light but then when Faith was around there was always that lingering in the air.

Gunn was halfway through getting up from the couch when he heard the voice. He glanced to Faith, who merely shrugged her shoulders before going back to her game. She wasn't going to be any help in this. She was too much like Fred in regards to Angel. He saved her and so she thought that maybe they needed to save him too. Gunn made it to the door finally and pulled it open. "Hey..." He gave Angel a nod of his head, not sure what else to do.

"Hey," he said thinking how awkward this was. "Fred wanted me to come by and talk to you and Faith. But if this isn't a good time..."

"Fred told me." Gunn stopped as he looked back over at Faith. She was pretty much involved in her game now so it was as good at time as any. He looked back to Angel. "What you need?" He wasn't about the invite the vampire in. He leaned against the frame of the door, arms crossed, as he looked at Angel.

"I need your help with Connor if you want to beat this group attacking the school and slayers." Angel said.

"Thing about that is, can't really go anywhere and help with anything cause someone busted out my headlights." It was going to take a lot more than Angel showing up and telling them he needed their help if he wanted to get it.

"I'm sorry," the vampire said. He could go into the argument that that wasn't him but what would be the point. His Gunn always knew to separate Angelus from Angel though he knew it was hard for the human to do it. "I'll get you some new headlights."

Well, like Angel always said, atonement is a bitch. He was atoning for Angelus' other crimes, why not some property damage too? "She could use a wash and a wax too. Right, Faith?" He turned so that he could look at his woman.

Faith knew what Gunn was up to. She put the controller on the couch and got up. She sauntered over to the door, standing a bit behind Gunn. "Wash and wax sounds good. I also lost my favorite crossbow rifle waiting on Angelus in that alley."

"Gunn, since when did you start waxing that truck," he asked. He'd never seen The Girl all shiny and slick. Then, he understood and he nodded. "Okay, wash and wax," he said and now Faith was in on it. Two headlights that would normally cost about $20 was turning into something nearing over $500.

Gunn grinned. "Never did until now. But I think she deserves to feel beautiful after what happened." Gunn slung his arm over Faith, still looking at Angel. "And either finding Faith's crossbow, which would be prefer cause we got superstitions with it or getting her a new one."

Faith leaned into Gunn when he threw his arm over her. She was grinning right on back to Angel. "Yeah, old man. I killed a master vampire with that thing. Took him down, right in the heart. Never missed a shot with it since. It’s got...sentimental value."

"Okay, I'll see if I can find it," the old man replied. "Shouldn't be that hard." He was starting to get the feeling that even with all this, these two were enjoying what they were doing here. How often did they get to see Angel give in to demands and plead to them for help?

Gunn glanced to Faith for a moment, reading something in her eyes. They both stepped aside. "You coming in or what?" Gunn asked. He wasn't sure if that was a good enough invitation or what. The intention was there and that seemed to work in the past. "You want a beer or something? Faith always keeps some in the fridge."

Angel stepped on in. "Beer sounds good," he said as he waited for them to show him to wherever they want to talk.

Faith went back to the living room, pulling up some couch while Gunn went off to the kitchen to get a beer. Faith called out to Angel, "We aren't paying for air conditioning for the whole outside, Angel. Shut the door."

Closing the door, he then followed Faith in. He found a chair and sat. He was a bit nervous here. He knew he was on thin ice around these people that were once his friends. The only real friends he'd ever had in his life or unlife. He glanced around at the place then looked to Faith. "Nice place." And yes, he took note of the weapons on the wall. Most of them designed to kill vampires. Sort of made him as nervous as a long tailed cat in a room full on rocking chairs. "Homey feeling."

Faith watched him look around and she saw that his eyes settled on the weapons. She laid out on the couch, watching him. "You can chill out. If we wanted you dead, we wouldn't have saved your ass. Or you know, would have staked you as soon as Gunn opened the door. Only ones you got to worry about killing you are the Three Stooges back at the hotel."

Angel nodded. Normally the weapons wouldn't have had the affect on him, but with what had happened lately, who knows what could take place. "I'm hoping I can sort of change their minds about that."

"Hey, Wes can forgive me for torturing the hell out of him and almost killing him, think he can do it for you to. Can't speak for the kid or Cordy though. Connor seems to be hating everyone but the blonde he shacked up with right now."

Gunn came back out with three beers in hand. He handed the first to Faith and then one to Angel. He moved around the couch, lifting Faith's legs up. He sat down and then put her legs in his lap. "Never thought the kid would turn on Barbie but looks like he has. Think everyone is feeling a bit of the blame but her the most."

He looked at the bottle handed him a moment. "I'm hoping with what I want to do all this blaming can stop and a focus on what needs to be done can get done. As long as things are like they are its not going to happen."

Gunn just shrugged his shoulders. Good luck with getting Cordelia to stop blaming herself. Gunn knew that Hell would freeze over first. He took a pull from the beer bottle and brought it down, resting it on the arm of the couch. "So what do you need us for?"

"Are there still the prophecies here," Angel said after he took a drink. "In my dimension there was a passage in them that told of the son of two vampires will vanquish the mighty one called Sahjhan."

Faith just chuckled at that. "You are asking the wrong people about prophecies. That is Wes' department." Faith chugged down her beer and put the empty bottle on the table.

"I know Sahjhan does exist here and Cyvus Vail is damn scared of him," Angel said. "Those prophecies are what caused the fight with Wes and the rest of the team. He tried to kidnap Connor to protect him because Sahjhan altered the prophecies to read like I was going to kill my son."

"Same thing happened here. Wes did kidnap Connor or did you fail to notice that he is grown up here?" Gunn raised a brow. If Angel was going to talk to them like they didn't know what was what, then he was going to find himself out the door, headlights or not.

"I know," he nodded. "I just wasn't sure that the same prophecies were what did it...well, until I talked to Cyvus earlier this week." He waited to see their reaction to him going to see the old wizard.

Gunn looked at Faith and then Faith looked at Angel. "Uh...are we suppose to know who this guy is?" It was clear by the expressions on their faces that neither of them had any clue who this Cyvus Vail was. In their world, Connor was never attacked with his fake family, thus sending them to Wolfram and Hart, thus sending Angel to Cyvus.

Looking from one to the other, he took another drink. Swallowing, he answered. "Vail is a very powerful old warlock," Angel said. "The only thing he feared was the demon Sahjhan. Right now Sahjhan is contained in a special urn in Vail's possession. The old buzzard is afraid the demon will find a way out and according to the correct prophecy only Connor can kill Sahjhan.

Another look passed between the couple. "What is the problem then?" Faith said as she looked back to Angel. "Just give us the address, we will send Connor over there to kill them both. No big deal."

"I don't want Vail killed," he told them. "I'm certain that your Angel knew quite a bit about your attackers...possibly more then he told any of you. Vail can give me those memories in exchange for Connor killing Sahjhan."

Gunn held his hand up, still holding his beer, holding up one finger along with it. "Wait, so you are telling me that you are going to trust some warlock to go playing around in your head. Your version stupider than our version or something?"

"Cyvus is a lot of things, evil being at the top," Angel agreed. "But he also has honor. When he makes a deal and receives payment for that deal he goes by it unless he's double crossed."

Faith sat up a little bit now, looking at Angel. "You are going to have to count me out. Making deals with evil isn't exactly on my list. And I don't really like the idea of you having the memories of our Angel." Faith swung her legs off Gunn's lap. She leaned over to kiss him quickly. "I got to hit the head. That beer went right through me and I need to break the seal."

He watched Faith leave then he looked to Gunn. "Gunn, how many more attacks? How many more of the girls are going to die if this isn't stopped?" He was hoping that would hit home with Gunn. "There are other reasons not to take out Vail. What happened to my dimension is an example."

Gunn leaned forward once Faith left, resting his elbows against his knees. "You are never going to get Faith to agree to go along with this. Hell, I can't get her to agree to go along with this. And she is right about the memories thing. That is just straight up weird. You getting all the memories?"

"I know its weird," he agreed. "From what I know it has to be all or none, especially since it’s after death thing. If I could think of any other way, Gunn.... But with them knowing they took The Champion out, they aren't going to be sitting on their thumbs waiting for anybody to go through all the investigating again. They've probably closed the information net your Angel used to get what he had on them." He meant closed as in killing the sources.

"This ain't exactly going to help you with Cordy. She isn't going to like it that some dude is running around with her husband and best friend's memories. I sure as hell wouldn't want the Faith from your world coming here, trying to replace my girl. I am just putting it all out there for you. And you really think you are going to be able to live with the memories of another man's life all up in your head?"

"I've always had another man's memories in my head," Angel said referring to Angelus. "I'm looking at the greater need here. More girls dying and probably the academy itself is being destroyed. That is a small price to pay when you put the outcome on the scales with it."

Gunn looked long and hard at Angel. "You tell me the truth, straight up now. And I will know if you are lying to me...its not just for the girls or the Academy, is it?"

The vampire gave Gunn that expressionless look of his. "I will admit other thoughts did cross my mind, Gunn. But I'm also not lying that first and foremost in this is the slayers and the Academy."

"There is nothing wrong in saying that you want a happy life. Or that you want to remember a happy life. Just uh...be prepared is all I am saying. Angel...after Wes took care of the curse, Angel changed." Gunn wasn't sure exactly how to put it. Especially since he was sitting here, talking to Angel.

"I think I know that," he said as he looked back at that beer bottle. "It’s a finer line to walk now that my soul is anchored. It’s actually more so then before." He remembers when he took care of the vampire lookouts for the gang the other night. His demon took full charge of it and when done he had to have some serious downtime to be able to put the demon back.

"I don't know how you were but here, Angel got kind of waffley sometimes when it came to things. But man, after that, it was like he knew what to do, wasn't afraid of anything. And well..." Gunn voice trailed and he just gave Angel a look. "Let's just say don't go eating off any surfaces in the hotel without bleaching them down first. Got me?"

"I, yeah, its call vampire sex drive," Angel commented. Oh, that he knew all too well and now that he could have happy moments without worry...his dreams when he slept were about Cordelia. Probably a good thing he was living in concrete cubicle that was basically sound proof.

Gunn paused and then called back to Faith. "Babygirl, you okay in there or did you fall in?" He shook his head and then looked back at Angel. "Did you already talk to Wes and Connor?"

Shaking his head he replied, "No. I probably can't get within ten feet of Connor without him trying to stake me. Wesley...I don't know how he'd take this."

Gunn got up from the couch when he didn't hear a response from Faith. "She probably fell asleep in the tub or something. I will talk to them for you. You got a phone or anything?"

"No. Just leave word with Fred," he told Gunn. "She...well, she knows how to get in touch with me." He stood up also. "Thanks for the beer. Probably best if I get along. I'm sure you and Faith want to get some sleep."

"Yeah...sleep." Gunn chuckled when Angel said that. He should know Faith better than that. Gunn started to head back towards the bathroom, where he knew he would find Faith waiting for him. Angel could see himself out.

The vampire turned and headed on out the door. He had several hours before dawn so might as well put them to good use keeping the streets safe for the people of LA.

---

Chapter Nineteen

Fred had managed to talk to Cordy and convinced her that she needed a night off from the kids. After taking them to see a Disney cartoon, they were now in the park, enjoying an ice cream cone each. Kat sat slightly off by herself on the swings while Ian was trying to see if he could climb the spider bars and keep his ice cream in his hand. Fred sat on a nearby bench, an eye on the two but also keeping an eye out for a certain vampire.

Angel came out of the shadows, doing that vampire thing of now-you-see-him-now-you-don't. It was such second nature now so he forgot now and then. "They look happy," he said as he sat down next to her.

Fred jumped just a little and she almost spilled her ice cream all over. "Angel, I thought I warned you about that. You can't come sneaking up on me. Especially not when I have a double scoop of Rocky Road Delight. I remember one time Charles scared me so bad that I dumped a whole ice cream cone on my shirt. I tried to get it out the normal way but it stained so I made a paste of acid and a low pH base to put on it to eat through the stain but it ended up eating right through my shirt!" Fred grinned at him before tilting her head to eat the dripping ice cream.

"Sorry," the vampire said as he sat down by her. "Its like breathing for you, I guess. Do it without thinking. So, Haagen Daas?" He says because he remembered him and Fred always used to go. She always insisted that he get an ice cream too, though he couldn't taste it and he'd have to rid himself of it later since he didn't digest.

She shook her head. "No. Connor found this little place that is right near the Slayer Academy. They know us all by name now. You should see the girls after a fight, all they want to do is eat. They closed down restaurants before but if they do well on a training mission, ice cream for everyone. Which, if you stop to think about, really makes them seem kind of like dogs. Which I don't think is a good thing. But maybe it is because we are training them and all."

"Everything responds to rewards for good jobs," he said as she sat back on the bench. "I used to cook breakfast for everyone when we completed a good night's work." He watched the kids play. It felt weird to think they were his but yet they weren't.

Kat was ever observant. She watched as Other-Daddy went to Aunt Fred and sat down next to her. She wasn’t sure how she felt about this. Her mother told them that he was not Daddy but Other-Daddy and to make sure they were not alone with him or went anywhere with him. But he was sitting with Aunt Fred so she wasn’t sure what to do.

She caught Angel's eye as he watched herself and her brother at play. Her face mirrored her own confusion. She was having a debate with herself to either go over there or stay at her swing. In the end, the curious part of her nature won out. She walked with cautious steps away from the swing, approaching Angel and Fred.

Fred was trying to keep an eye on the kids but at the same time, she wanted to talk to Angel too. She was about to launch into some little tangent about chefs on the Food Network when she saw Kat start to approach them slowly. "Hey Kat, did you have fun on the swings? When I was a little girl, I used to try to go over the bar. Thought if I did, I could bend space and time to travel to another world. Then I found out that you really can do that but not by going over the bar on the swings."

Angel leaned forward as Kat approached. He leaned on his elbows on his knees. "Hey, Shortstack," he said with a slight smile.

Kat raised her chin. She wasn't one that enjoyed the nicknames. She had made that clear at their first meeting. "Its Katharine or Katy or Kat." She said with the same defiant tone that her mother had. It wasn't disrespectful, she was just telling the adult how things were going to be.

"Kat..." Fred spoke up. Sometimes the kids were so spoiled by their parents, that they completely forgot their manners. "You should ask people please to call you Katharine, Katy, or Kat. Its not nice to just tell people. You don't want to be mean, do you? Especially not to Angel. Not to anyone."

"Sorry," Angel said. "Everything that has gone on I guess I forgot." He reached into his pocket as he spoke to Fred. "Its okay. She told me before but I just forgot." He pulled a small box out and handed it to Katy. "I wanted to give you a little something."

Kat kept a little distance between herself and Angel. Her eyes, however, were on the small box. She wanted to take it. She looked to Aunt Fred first, who, for a change, didn't say a thing. Fred merely nodded her head. She took the box from Angel, sitting in the grass in front of the two adults. She put her ice cream down into the grass, the vanilla ice cream going right down into the green and dirt.

Angel watched her as she opened it. Inside was a locket on a chain and in the locket was a four-leave clover on one side and a picture of her mother on the other. "I've carried both of those for a long time in my wallet. I saw that locket and decided I knew a girl that it would look pretty on."

She had gotten jewelry before from her Daddy. This was Other-Daddy though. So much like her mother, at times a present was all that was needed to turn the tide. She lifted the locket out, gingerly touching it as if it might break. "Thank you, Other-Daddy."

"Welcome. Want me to help you put it on," he asked her. He had no idea what Cordy would say if and when she saw the necklace. If she'd let Katy keep it or what. He was hoping she would. He'd carried that four leaf since he bought the hotel. He'd found it out in the old garden and it just seemed like a sign.

Kat was about to say something but the force of nature that was her brother Ian interrupted her. He came running at Angel full tilt, arms spread, and sticky fingers flexing. "OTHER-DADDY!" He screamed as he launched himself off the grass and at Angel. He knew, somehow, that he could be caught safely in Angel's arms.

Angel caught the boy in his arms. He chuckled at the bundle of energy. "Oh, man, you're getting strong," he said as he felt the boy's arms around his neck. It was a good thing he didn't breath.

Fred watched as Ian tackled Angel. She figured that it would be okay to give them some alone time. She got up from the bench to give Angel a wide smile. "I better go get some cleaning supplies out of Wes' SUV. You two are looking sticky. And you know how Uncle Wes gets when you get his car all sticky. Don't think you want to miss Saturday morning cartoons to clean the car." Fred didn't wait for Angel's protest, though she knew it wasn't going to come.

Ian's hands were sticky as they clung to Angel's neck. He pulled back after the hug to look at Angel with a big smile. "I got Tutti Frutti ice cream and it had gum!" Ian pulled the piece out of his mouth so that he could show Other-Daddy. He had already chewed whatever elasticity the gum had so now it was just a hard little ball. "You want some? I will share!" Before even getting an answer from Angel, Ian started to break the gum into two pieces.

"No, Ian, its okay," he said to the boy. "But I do have something for you." Sticky of this kind wasn't a bother for him. It would shower off. From his pocket again, he pulled out a box. It was just a little bigger then Kat's box.

“Yes! You should share my gum. Kat doesn't like gum." He turned enough so that he could stick his tongue out at his sister. He turned back to Angel and pressed the half of gum against his lips. "I give you a present, you give me one. That is how it works."

Kat just watched as her brother approached Other Daddy with the same enthusiasm that he approached everything with. She was skilled enough that she could put the necklace on by herself. She put the charm to the back of her neck and fastened the clasp in the front before she moved it around. She frowned as she watched Aunt Fred go, turning towards her. "Mom said we aren't to be alone with Other-Daddy. Or go anyplace with him!" She spoke up to Fred

Fred looked back to Kat, halfway on her way to the parking lot. "I am not leaving you alone. I am going to be right there at Uncle Wes' car. I can see you from there. See." Fred pointed as if to emphasize her point. She waited for the little girl to relax her posture before she started off for the SUV.

Angel had the gum in his mouth regardless of if he wanted it or not. When Ian opened the box, inside was a watch. But it was also a compass and told the moon cycles. It told military time as well as regular time. He had spent a good deal on it but he didn’t bat an eye because it was for Ian.

Ian took the box from Other-Daddy and he gave it a good shake. He always shook his presents. That was why he always got things that couldn’t easily break. He brought it back down and sat in Angel's lap so he could open it up. He pulled the watch out, holding it up. Rather than use it for what it was intended, he started to move it through the air, making airplane noises. "It’s an alieum spacecraft. Take us to your leader!"

The vampire chuckled as he watched Ian. "Let me see your wrist," he said. He put the watch on Ian’s wrist. He pulled up his own wrist. "See, it’s like mine and the time is set just the same."

Ian frowned as Angel put the watch on his wrist. He struggled to get it off. "That is no fun. It don't do nothing." The young boy didn't understand what all the bells and whistles were for. He knew how to tell time but what was the point? When its dark, its night. When its light, its day. That is all he needed to know.

"Now just a minute," he told Ian. "Its really important to know what time it is. All superheroes and monster hunters have good watches to tell them when its time to save the world or take a nap."

Kat wasn't looking at her brother and Other-Daddy. She was sitting silently in the grass. She was watching intently as a group of ants came to claim her forgotten ice cream cone. There was enough light in the park that she could see the line and how they swarmed around it, leaving just little patches of white vanilla here and there.

Ian spoke up as he finally figured out how to unsnap the watch from around his wrist. "I know how to tell what time it is. Its night time now." He was just as stubborn as his father, that same look to his face. He brought the watch up close to his face, inspecting it.

"But it has a hidden secret," he whispered to Ian. "Now that nobody is looking you want to see it?" He glanced around again like this was going to be super secret stuff for two champions.

Ian was still convinced that if there wasn't a laser beam in this watch, he was going to pretend it was Dr. Ookalook's secret doomsday device. "What?" He sounded very skeptical about the entire thing.

"Press the button there," Angel said, pointing to the one on the upper right side. He waited for Ian to do so. When the boy did there was a beeping sound but it wasn't from Ian's watch.

Ian did as he was told, pressing the button. He frowned when it beeped but not from the watch. He brought the watch up to his ear and he shook it again. "It’s broken." He frowned. He shook the watch again, as if it would make it work correctly.

"No, it’s not broken." Angel held up his wrist and his watch was the one beeping. "If you are ever in trouble you, your sister, or your mother are in trouble you push that. It will beep my watch. I'll be there as soon as I can."

Now this was something that Ian could get behind. He reached for Angel's wrist, grabbing it with those sticky fingers, smudging the face of the watch as he pulled it closer to himself. "Coooool..." He drew the word out as he brought Angel's wrist up to his ear to hear it.

"But now you have to promise, Ian," Angel said, "For emergencies only. Champion's honor?" He held up his hand to get the boy to high five.

Ian still held Angel's wrist against his ear but he reached out with one hand to give Angel a gummy high five. He pulled the wrist away with a grin. "How is your gum? Mine is all gone. I swallowed it!" He sounded so proud of that fact. He opened his mouth, putting it near Angel's face to show him proof.

Kat was used to being ignored in favor of her brother. She had developed a quiet, thoughtful personality, able to escape into her own world when her brother's larger than life personality demanded the attentions of all those around him. She had found herself a stick, taking a glob of ant covered ice cream and moving it several feet away from the original. She was curious as to what the ants would do once they were separated from the group.

"Ian, you're not supposed to swallow gum," he told him. Angel was keeping one eye on Katy as she played.

"That is why I do it!" He laughed, clasping his hands over his mouth like it was the funniest thing in the world. He leaned back in Angel's lap. He was threatening to spill off it. He pulled himself back up. "Other-Daddy! Wanna race me to the top of the spider bars?"

"What about your sister? We going to leave her out," he asked. He wanted so just to be able to pick the two up and carry them home, back to the hotel. He knew that soon Fred was going to come and take the twins on back home.

"She doesna like to race. Let's race, Other-Daddy. I wanna race." He was near bouncing in Angel's lap at this point now until he bounced down onto the path in front of the bench. "Are you ready? You ready?"

"Oh, and you think you can beat me, huh?" he raised a brow at Ian. "You really think you can do it?"

"Yes! GO!" The little boy shouted the command and started off for the spider bars. He was too it in an instant, moving faster than your average kid. He was climbing up them like he was part monkey.

Angel sat there for a few minutes then looked down at Katy. "Want to help me win?" he asked her as he watched Ian start to climb.

Kat looked up at him. She studied him with those dark eyes. "No, thank you." Her eyes went back down her ant experiment. She was separating them into groups of blobs of ice cream further and further apart to see if the ants could find their way home.

"What are you doing with the ants," he said, still watching the boy giving him that lead. Katy was a bit of an enigma. But yet he saw a lot of his little sister in the girl. She was quiet and studious.

"I want to see if they can find their way home. Ants make trails. That way they can go home. I am moving them away from the trail." Kat was quiet because she learned long ago that she could, in no way, compete with her brother. She also felt the world around her differently than he did.

Angel saw that Ian was just about at the top. He got there and went up the other side. He was looking eye to eye with Ian, waiting for the boy's next move. He grinned at him. Now Ian, he understood. Ian was a lot like he was as a boy before his father decided it was time to shove him into that family mold.

Kat frowned as she was once more left alone in favor of her brother. She had tried the crying for attention thing but that had only gotten her scolded. She frowned deeper now as she watched the ants’ struggle. She started to feel bad for them so she carefully picked each wayward one up and put them back on their path.

Ian grinned right back at Angel at the top of the spider bars. "I was king of the mountain first. I win!" Ian locked his legs around the bars and then threw his arms up in a triumphant pose.

"Man, I just knew I was going to win," Angel said. He was tempted to stand on the top and pick up Ian. He wanted to put him on his shoulders but then thought better of it since he didn't want the boy to try standing on them himself. Climbing back down, he looked back up at Ian before walking back to Katy. "How's the experiment?" He so wanted some way to break through her reserved manner.

"I felt bad for the ants so I am moving them back to their family." She was delicate as she picked each ant up with her small fingers. She didn't seem to flinch or wince as they sometimes bit her. "You let Ian win."

"Why don't you make a trail with the ice cream for them to follow back?" He sat on the grass next to her and looked at her when she said that about her brother. "Yeah, this time," he said. "Not exactly fair for me to really race him, I'm sure you know that."

Ian watched as Angel walked away from him to talk to Katy again. He tried to stand on the bars, yelling out. "Other-Daddy! Watch me...watch what I can do!" Ian squatted down and slipped his legs around one of the bars. He hung upside inside of the spider bars and then dropped. He turned in mid-air, coming to land on his feet like a cat. He stood up, grinning wildly. "Did you see it? Did you see it? Did you see what I could do?"



Angel looked up as Ian called. "I saw, but you better be careful." All he'd need was for the boy to get hurt and Cordy find out he was here when it happened.

"My daddy used to let me win at checkers." Kat sat up on her knees and used her stick to make a river of ice cream from the small piles she made back to the larger pile and cone. "He was teaching me the game with the horseys and little men. Mommy doesn't know that one." Kat cringed when she heard her brother's voice, screaming for attention. "You should watch him or he will cry."

"Chess," he said with a nod. "Tell you what, if Aunt Fred says its okay maybe next time I'll bring a chess set and I'll teach you. Chess really helps you think." Yes, he could do that with her. One thing he found in common now.

"Watch me again!" Ian yelled out once more. He started to climb the inside of the dome now so that he ended up upside down on the inside. He saw Fred by the SUV and yelled to her, momentarily distracted from Angel "Aunt Fred! Watch me! Imma do a flip!"

"My daddy said that too. We were reading a book together but now..." Kat's lower lip quivered just a bit but she kept her eyes on the ants. She usually wasn't prone to crying unless she had some crippling emotional pain building up inside of her. She stabbed the stick into the ground, as a means of dealing with what she was feeling.

Angel picked up on this from her. He stood, took the stick from her and picked her up. "Its okay, sweetheart, its okay," he said in a hushed tone. "Crying is sometimes good. It helps us deal with things."

This was the second time that he held her while she cried. She turned her face against his shoulder but she was quiet. Her tears were silent as they slipped out of her eyes and wet his shirt. She clung tightly to him, as if she could bring her father back if she did so.

He got up and sat on the bench holding her to him. His gaze went for a minute to Fred, hoping she'd realize this was a moment that Ian didn't need to upstage. Katy was finally releasing her feelings, in her own way, and it was needed. He started to softly hum to her ‘Sweet Molly Malone’ as he rocked her a little.

Fred did see it and she moved over to Ian at the spider bars. She leaned on them, smiling at him. "Ian, how about a race around the park? We can stop at the exercise stations. I bet I can beat you on the chin ups."

Ian came out from the spider bars dome and he was off before Fred could even finish the sentence about beating him on the chin-ups. The kid had too much energy. Fred jogged after him, keeping him in sight though. This place was a little too public, too many people around, for Wolfram and Hart to do anything. But there was always the danger of humans who weren't all quite there.

"I miss my daddy." She said softly to him, her little voice hiccuping as she cried. It was mostly muffled as she kept her face against his shoulder. Truth be told, Kat was an enigma to most everyone at the hotel. Not even Wes or Fred, who were suppose to be the brains, could understand the little girl at times.

"I know, Katy," Angel whispered to her. "I know and it’s hard. It’s hard to understand why things happen like they do."

"Mom said he was in heaven and we should talk to him everyday..." She shook her head against his shoulder, starting to cry anew. "I want him here. Who will read to me?"

"Do you have a book in Uncle Wes' car?" he said as he stood. "I'd love to read to you here at the park." He wanted to be able to take her home and read to her after tucking her in. He really hated The Powers right now for all of this.

She nodded her head against his shoulder once more but she didn't move her face. She had plenty of books in the little book bag that she carried with her when she left the hotel. She put Ian's drawing supplies in it too. She could count on him to be quiet for a bit if she gave him his crayons and his pad.

Angel carried her back to the Cherokee. He opened the back door seeing the book bag. "What one do you want," he asked as he reached for it. "We could get in the back and you can lay down by me while I read."

"Don't wanna let go." She said softly. Inside the bag was a collection of books that no five-year-old should have. They were dusty volumes from Angel's own collection: Dickens, Shakespeare, Tolstoy. But the inside covers were littered with stickers and Katharine's name in her own handwriting under her father's name, newly written. A project done together as they picked out the books to read together, decorating each one so everyone knew that they belonged to them.

Angel pulled out Dickens. He recognized the book from his own library. He'd had a vast collection of the old classics. He'd always loved his books, even as Angelus. Good poetry reading tended to sex a girl up back in the day. He opened the cover and saw the names and the stickers. Normally he wouldn't have liked seeing his books all defaced like this but this put a lump in the back of his throat and he swallowed looking at it.

Kat turned her head just enough so that she could see which one he had picked out. "I like that one. I like Pip." She turned her cheek and rested it against Angel's shoulder but she didn't let go of him. She was worried if she let go, then he was going to leave. She didn't want to lose another daddy, even if this was Other-Daddy.

"Okay, so Pip it is," he said as he turned the page to start reading to her.

It was at least a half-hour before Kat was asleep, her arms still held tightly around Angel. The adventures of Pip, Miss Havisham, and Estella were a little too much for her to concentrate on after her emotional upheaval. Like her mother, she snored softly, using Angel for a pillow.

Closing the book, the vampire sat it aside on the seat. He sat there holding Katy while Fred was off with Ian. He heard her little heart beat calm down as she drifted off to sleep. She seemed calm now, peaceful and content. He looked down at her and then gently kissed the top of her head. He could sit here like this for as long as it took to comfort Katy.

Fred came back with Ian in tow. He was looking a little more worn out, as Fred had to help him get to the car. She opened the door, glad to find Angel there with Kat. She had no doubt that he would be here but admittedly, when she didn't see them by the bench she got a little worried. She breathed a sigh of relief as she helped Ian into the car. "I need to get them back now, Angel. I shouldn't have kept them out this long. I am expecting an angry phone call any minute. I don't know how they are going to go to school tomorrow. Might have to take a day off to recover." Fred was chattering away, not noticing that Katy was dead asleep in Angel's arms. Not that it would have mattered anyway.

Angel slid out of the car still holding the girl then he started to put her in the seat. "I understand, Fred," he replied. But when he tried to put Katy down it was proving to be more difficult then it should have been.

Kat let out a little bit of a moan as she struggled to stay held onto Angel. "Don't wanna let go." She said again, half in sleep and half awake. She had the mumbled, tired voice of a child who just needed five more minutes.

He looked at Fred. "It won't hurt for me to ride back. I mean I can leave through the sewer down in the garage and Cordy doesn't need to know I was there." He gave Fred those eyes, the puppy looking ones.

Fred was already pressing her luck since Cordy would know from the gifts that the kids had seen Angel. She wasn't very good at making with the lies. Fred just sighed. "Angel, you really owe me for this. We are even now for you getting me out of Pylea. Then again, we were even on that when I figured out how you could have kids. But don't be asking me for any more favors until you save me from another dimension again." Fred got into the driver's seat and waited for Angel to get back into the back seat before she started the car. Ian still had a bit of energy left him in so he immediately reached for the radio dials to find something to listen to.

Angel got in and settled with Katy clung to him. He was just as good at any seatbelt if something happened. He'd use his own body to shield Katy. "It’s okay, just a little longer, okay," he spoke to the sleeping girl. He looked up to Fred as she drove. "She broke down, Fred. She's not handling her loss like she should."

The hotel wasn't that far from the park so this wouldn't be a long drive. Fred pulled out of the park, taking the SUV onto the street. She wasn't sure what to say to that but she glanced back at Angel in the rear view mirror, even if she couldn’t see him. It was so he could see her eyes so he knew she was talking to him. "Everybody is handling in it in their own way. I don't know if there is a right way or a wrong way to handle this sort of thing. None of us has ever really had a member of this family die." Fred looked back to the road, hands tightening slightly on the wheel. She was dealing with it by desperately trying to replace Angel and get her family back together.

"Cordy and I have," he said to her. "Doyle." With that, he stopped talking and started humming softly again for Katy. It seemed to comfort her before to have her ear to his chest and hear the humming...if only she could hear a heart beat also.

Ian let the adults talk because he was ready to have some fun. He had the glove compartment open and was digging through the various items there. He pulled out a large dagger, staring at it. “Coooool!” he said.

"Ian...settle down. It’s only a five minute car ride." Fred had no idea how his parents put up with it. She reached over to close the glove compartment to keep the child out of it. She sat back up and glanced in the rear view again. She could use a little bit of help here, even if Angel did have Kat clinging on to him for dear life.

He caught the look. Reaching with a free hand, he tapped Ian on the head. "Listen to your Aunt Fred," he said. "You're in her car and you follow her rules just like you do when you go to somebody else's house."

Ian reached up and put his hands on the top of his head. "Oww..." It wasn't a hard tap but he felt it was enough to warrant an ‘ow’ sound out of him. He put on an apologetic look and the puppy dog eyes. "I'm sorry Aunt Fred."

Knowing she couldn't see him in that mirror, only Katy, Angel spoke. "Boys are a bundle of energy. Just need reminding now and then."

Fred pulled the SUV into the underground parking of the hotel. Ian was already out of the car before she even put it in park. He was rushing upstairs to the lobby, calling out in his loudest voice. "MOOOOOOOOOOOOM!"

Fred got out of the SUV and then moved around the back to open the backseat door. She looked in at Angel. "We better get her off you fast before Cordy comes down. Should have told Ian to play the graveyard game. That is the one where he has to lay down and be as quiet as possible. If he makes a sound, he loses and has to start over. Something Cordy came up with to keep him quiet for a couple of minutes a day."

Angel nodded and got out. He again tried to disentangle himself from Katy and it was proving just as unsuccessful as earlier.

Fred moved over and tried to pry the young girl's hands from around Angel's neck. She just wasn't going to budge. She frowned at the situation "I don't think some WD-40 would work in this situation. What about some lotion or butter or carmex or something? I used to use that Vaseline lip therapy sometimes to grease gear parts."

"I think we're going to have to just fess up on this, Fred," Angel said. "Cordy isn't going to start anything with the kids and I'll take full blame. Tell her I saw you in the park."

The only thing was that Fred knew that Cordy wouldn't believe that. She nodded her head. "You don't mind if I just...get back in the car and drive back home and don't stick around for the fallout, do you? I could lie and said I had some big experiment cooking but I just really am in enough trouble as it is."

"I'll tell her I told you to go," he replied. "I'll tell her if there is any fall out it is on me, nobody else. These children are hurting and if my being around helps them then she's going to have to understand."

Fred just nodded her head and she hoped that Cordy could understand that. She waited for Angel to move around from the car before she got back inside. She pulled out slowly, checking back on him every few seconds before she was gone.

Angel took the stairs up, walking softly. Times like this vampire stealth was a good thing. He finally entered the lobby knowing Cordy was there. Ian's announcing their return took care of that. He only hoped that Cordy would see how Katy was and just hold off on anything until he got her settled down.

Cordy was kneeling in front of the front desk with a handiwipe in her hand. She was cleaning up around Ian's mouth and his face, which were sticky messes. "I don't know how you get so gross. Its like I have to pre-wash you before you take a bath!" Cordelia had yet to sense Angel there thanks to his stealth. But she wasn't looking well herself. Her tan had faded, leaving her looking pale and mottled in parts. Dark circles had taken up residence under her eyes, which were looking duller by the day. She had lost at least fifteen pounds, pushing her into the emaciated supermodel category of women. She was doing her best to be strong, like always. Anyone that knew her though, one look, they could tell that she was destroyed.

Continue on...