Only Hope

By Gidgetgirl

Chapter Three

“Angel,” Cordy said, running her hand down his chest. “I need a favor.”

“Sure,” Angel said, purposefully not noticing that Cordy had him saying yes to a blind favor, something that was never a good thing to do, especially not with Cordelia.

“Can you watch Hopie this afternoon? I have to be elsewhere.”

“And by elsewhere you mean…”

“Hair appointment and manicure.” Cordelia gave Angel a look that clearly said do-not-underestimate-the-power-of-the-hair-appointment. Angel wisely took the advice.

“Where’s Connor?” he asked, thinking that his son wouldn’t mind hanging out with Hopie for the afternoon.

“No,” Cordelia said firmly. “Connor needs some away time from the four year old wonder. You, on the other hand, need some away time from your broody looking-at-books-sucks-too-bad-we-hate-Wesley time. Hence, you should play with Hopie this afternoon.” Angel quickly agreed without bothering to remind Cordelia that Hopie was the reason he was going research crazy in the first place. He hated to take time away from finding out what Cordelia’s vision of Connor and Hopie had meant, but he saw that he clearly had no choice. It wasn’t as if he didn’t like spending time with the kid. She was adorable and loved him almost as much as she loved Connor, but not quite. Hopie would have quite willingly jumped off a tall building for Connor.

Moments later, Cordelia was out the door, and Angel was left alone with a groggy four year old who was mere minutes away from transitioning from sleepy head to energy marvel. “Breakfast?” he asked Hopie, well aware that whatever their day’s activities were, they would have to be indoors.

She shook her head. “I’m not hungry, Uncle Angel,” she said. He nodded. Hopie rarely ate breakfast unless Cordelia forced her to. Hopie was slowly learning that Cordelia in mother-mode was a force to be reckoned with. Angel agreed with her.

“You don’t have to eat breakfast as long as we don’t tell Cordy,” he said, wanting to avoid the wrath of the mother bear. Hopie nodded. It was a game that they often played when Uncle Angel watched her. “What do you want to do today?” he asked. She shrugged, looking at him with wondering eyes.

“What do the books say?” she asked quietly. Angel looked at her, surprised. For a four year old, she had an incredible attention span.

“Nothing so far,” Angel replied, trying for the millionth time to remember what it was about Hopie that seemed familiar. Of course, she looked like Cordelia a bit, and she was picking up her mannerisms, but there was something very different about Hopie. Something he had seen somewhere before. Unfortunately, having lived two hundred and fifty years, he was having trouble narrowing it down.

“Hide and seek?” Angel asked, knowing that Hopie loved the game. She nodded and immediately closed her eyes and started counting. Angel crept stealthily away and tucked himself into the bathroom Cordy had designated as Hopie’s. It felt almost like having a family to have a child with the woman he loved. Almost, but not quite. Angel crouched behind the shower curtain, feeling a little ridiculous. At least she hadn’t asked to paint his nails this time (Cordelia’s suggestion, of courses. Darn her.)

She found him almost immediately, and Angel felt silly like he always did that he hadn’t picked a better hiding place. “My turn now,” she declared, tickling him in the ribs. He giggled (yes giggled) and hoped that the kid remembered that any giggling was top secret and not to be repeated in story form.

He counted, again feeling a little bit with the ridiculous with his hands over his eyes. “You look ridiculous,” a voice said from behind him. He turned around slowly. Lilah Morgan was standing in his hotel. In his little girl’s bathroom for that matter. Angel struggled to keep off his game face.

“What do you want?” he asked her. “And you better hope that it’s a good answer.”

“Coincidentally enough, Hope is exactly what I’m here to talk about,” she replied, and Angel paled, quite an achievement for a vampire.

“You stay away from her,” he said in a low, dangerous voice.

“Isn’t it funny that Lindsey was so very obliging to help you and didn’t even mention to you that we had been looking for the child for some time?” Angel put his hand around Lilah’s throat. Now it was her turn to pale slightly.

“Easy, violence-boy. I’m not looking for the fight or to take the girl from you. Yet. Lindsey did a surprisingly good job with that little cover up of his. Ironically, the girl does belong to your little Miss Look-At-My-Body. I’m surprised he didn’t let you know that to begin with. Then again, Lindsey never really liked you. Something about too much brooding and hair gel.”

“What do you mean Hopie belongs to Cordelia?” Angel wanted answers. Lilah shrugged.

“It really is too bad you tried to kill Wesley,” Lilah said glibly. “He can be very helpful with the research, you know. Among other things.” Angel growled, trying to ignore the Wesley scent he could smell all over Lilah’s body. Lilah screeched. Angel looked to see Hopie standing behind her, holding her at sword point. He smirked. Lilah didn’t know it was a plastic sword, dumb lawyer.

“I don’t think that’s very nice,” Hopie said quietly. Lilah tried to move, but stopped at a look from Angel and some more prodding from Hopie’s sword.

“Hopie,” Angel said patiently, “could you please leave Lilah and me alone to talk.” Hopie shook her head.

“I don’t want you to get all grrr on her,” she explained. “And I don’t think Aunt Cordy would want her here. She feels wrong.” Lilah took that statement as a compliment.

“Hope,” she said “would you like to come with me?” Dumb question, Angel thought.

“No,” Hopie said, sounding for all of the world like an adult. “I never will, you know.” Lilah groaned. She needed the child’s permission. She couldn’t take her unless she was willing. It was part of her gift, and the fear the demons had managed to instill in the child was long gone, blocking that path to her compliance.

All of a sudden, the three of them heard crashing from downstairs. “Your boys?” Angel asked Lilah. She shook her head. Unfortunately, all of the artillery in the world would do them no good in trying to take Hopie unless the child was willing to come. Downstairs, Angel heard Fred scream. He ran down the stairs, pulling Lilah after him. Hopie followed.

Twelve Gathrynic demons had Gunn, Fred, and Connor cornered, though Connor was doing a good job holding five of them off and Gunn and Fred each had two under control. Angel grabbed a battle axe from the cabinet and went to work. Lilah grabbed a weapon as well, though she was hopeless at using it. Angel had just beheaded a demon when he noticed a demon going for Hopie.

“Hopie, run!” Angel yelled to her. She shook her head. “Now,” he roared in anger, swearing to kill the child once he got her out of this alive. She seriously needed to learn how to listen. Connor, noticing Hopie, finished off his last demon and headed for hers.

By the time he got there, the demon was dead, Hopie’s sword, which Angel was stunned to see wasn’t her plastic sword after all, thrust through his heart located just below his fourth stomach. The little on turned and grabbed a cross bow from the weapons cabinet and killed one of the demons that was attacking Fred. Everyone, including Cordelia who had just walked through the door, stared at the child. Connor glared at her.

“What did I tell you about these weapons, Hopie?” He asked her angrily.

“Not to let Uncle Angel and Aunt Cordy know that you were teaching me?” she asked. Cordelia and Angel both looked at Connor, surprised.

“And…” Connor prompted.

“Never to use them unless you tell me I can and to do what Uncle Angel tells me even if I want to use them.” Hopie dug her foot into the ground, looking very much so like a scolded four year old as opposed to the pint sized warrior they had just witnessed.

“Give me the crossbow,” Connor said. Hopie complied. “And next time, grab a weapon in each hand so you don’t have to reload as often.” Hopie nodded, seriously.

“Ice cream?” she asked him. He nodded, a sucker for the cute little girl look.

“Sure,” he said, picking her up and leaving the room with the child in his arms. The others stayed put, shocked out of motion. Lilah was the first to recover. She laughed. She would have a lot to report to the partners. The child’s physical powers were as expected and coming along quickly, and she knew Hopie’s weak spot. Connor.

“You said she was part Cordy,” Angel said, stopping Lilah from leaving. Lilah nodded. “I’ve never seen Cordy do that, no offense Cordy.”

“Cordy’s not the only one who has a stake in that little one,” Lilah replied. “I’m surprised you don’t recognize the others. Miss Lovesick over there is only the most recent.”

“Connor,” Angel replied. “And me.” He paused.

“And?” Fred asked.

“And Buffy,” Angel replied, knowing that he had refused to see the signs of the slayer in the four year old. The defiant tilt of the chin, the way she held the crossbow, the way she had known right away that he wasn’t human. She had parts of each of them, but how? And why? If the child was truly part of each of them, it was quite possible that the most powerful being that had ever lived was currently eating ice cream with his son, and, knowing Hopie, making a mess of it.

Lilah left, Angel put his arm around Cordelia, and after kissing her, he went to make the phone call that Cordelia had somehow known was a long way in coming. Cordelia went in to check on Connor and Hopie.

They were in the midst of a food fight. Cordy cleared her throat. They looked at her sheepishly, the four year old and the teenager. Everything seemed so normal. Connor nudged Hopie.

“I’m sorry about the cross bow and the sword,” she mumbled quickly. “Is Uncle Angel mad at me?” Hopie’s big brown eyes looked so innocent and sad that Cordelia knew that she couldn’t stay mad at the child, who was, most of all, still a little girl. She mentally cursed herself for having taught the child to make those innocent eyes. She felt a pull of possession looking at the child and knowing that she really was hers. She had never had anyone that was part of her before, and she knew deep down that Hopie was hers, that Lilah had been telling the truth.

It stung more than anyone could know that she had to share the daughter of her heart and her essence with the one person with whom she already shared Angel’s heart, his history. She heard Angel hang up the phone. The slayer was on her way to L.A.

Continue