A/N: Ok, once again the spacing is messed up....don't know whats up with that but bare with me. Thanks for the reviews! Hopefully you decide to review more!!! Ok well on to the story hope you like it!
Chapter 2: Memories
Katherine sat outside the entrance of the Hyperion. Her heart was pounding and she clutched the phone as tightly as possible without breaking it. The events of the last few days kept playing over in her head. A part of her let them come and she closed her eyes and watched, as her mind became a television screen. The most recent memory her mind had showed her was the one of a couple days ago. The events of the last few days and of that day being all but mind blowing, Katherine had decided to go for a walk. It wasn’t everyday that you watched someone get visions that almost turned them into a demon, or that there was a women hating freak on the loose that your own father let out because he was saving a close friend. Nor was it everyday that your father switches bodies with an old guy. Her head was spinning. She was just about to walk into the Hyperion when she heard sounds off to her left. It sounded like Fred and her father. She didn’t mean to intrude, but she knew that ever since her father had saved Fred from Pylea Fred had developed a little crush. And it showed today, especially when Marcus, the old guy who had switched bodies with Angel, hurt Fred, emotionally that is. So when Katherine heard them talking, she kind of wanted to see if Fred was ok.
"Fred, I've been meaning to talk to you about something."
“Okay.”
"Is this about how you're not like other men - what with that curse and all... and how you're really fond of me, but that's as far at it goes?"
There was a pause and Katherine waited. “Umm…yeah,” her father’s replied.
Fred giggled and then said “Cordelia explained it to me. She said you’d probably just screw it up.”
“Oh she did, did she? And she’s probably right,” Angel said and Katherine peeked and saw them sitting on a bench. Fred sighed and looked down at her feet.
“What?” Angel asked.
“It's like something out of Fitzgerald: The man who can have everything but love. Well, maybe in some ways you're better off, because love is... Well, in a way, it's everything. But it's also heartache and disappointment. And those are good things to avoid," Fred said, and Katherine totally agreed. Especially since she knew what had just happened to the one woman Angel had loved, and once again Katherine felt that pain of the reminder of her mother’s death.
Just then Cordy came hurrying toward them and Katherine wasn’t sure what the look on her face meant. Angel and Fred looked up at her. A little breathless she said, “Angel, Willow's on the phone... She's alive! Buffy's alive!"
Katherine’s heart stopped and she felt like she was going to pass out. Angel leaped up and went to follow Cordelia, who hurried into the other room. Katherine ran after them, just as she heard Fred ask in a confused voice. “Buffy?”
So that was the event of that day. It was so…so surprising. Katherine was still reeling from it. Her mother was alive! Well…here at least. Not where Katherine came from, but she was happy anyway. There was a future with her in it…hopefully. Angel had gone to meet Buffy somewhere in-between Sunnydale and L.A. and Katherine couldn’t help but try to find out what had happened. But Angel wouldn’t tell her squat. It was really annoying. So she had focused on other interesting events that occurred. Like Darla coming to town and showing rather than telling her father that they were going to have a child together. That was surprising, and in ways also upsetting. Oh great, now she was reliving that too. She felt like she was going through those whole reliving-your-worst-memories again. Only this time it was a mix of the good and the bad.
Katherine had been lying on the couch in the lobby of the hotel, pooped out from everything that had been going on, especially since she had been avoiding Grey, when the doors opened. Katherine didn’t bother to open her eyes; it was probably Lorne. She just put her hands behind her head and sighed. She only opened her eyes when she heard a voice. An unknown voice that Katherine knew was definitely not Lorne. She got up and went to go see whom the newcomer was. A blonde-haired woman faced Angel and the rest of the gang and everyone wore shocked faces.
“Darla?” Angel asked.
“Darla!” Wesley said.
“Darla?” Cordelia asked.
“Who’s Darla?” Fred asked. She glanced at everyone.
“Angel’s old flame from way back,” Gunn answered with a sneer.
“You mean the one that died but then came back?” Fred asked confused.
“Hell no! Not my mother!” Katherine exclaimed.
Angel gave her a quick look and she shrugged. He nodded and then turned to Darla.
“How did this happen?” He asked, nodding toward her enlarged stomach.
“You know,” Darla, told him, and Angel’s eyes widened.
“You slept with her?! You lied to me!” Cordelia exclaimed.
Katherine’s mouth hung open. This was…freaky.
“How?” Angel asked. “Vampires can’t-”
“I know we can’t - I can’t - but we did.”
“This is impossible, this can’t happen.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Wes?” Angel asked desperately.
“You’re right, this is impossible,” he said, obviously as freaked out as everyone else.
“What did you do to me?” Darla asked. Then she hit Angel and he stumbled back.
“Stop that!” Cordelia told them getting in between them.
“It’s okay, I’m fine,” Angel said.
“You’ll hurt her! Haven’t you done enough?” She turned to Darla. “Here why don’t you sit down?” She sat Darla on the couch Katherine was just on and then turned to Fred. “Can we get her some water?”
Fred turned around and went to get it. Angel turned to Cordelia. “Cordy that’s Darla…maybe you don’t want to-”
Cordelia turned around and faced him. “Did you or did you not tell me you did nothing with her!?”
Darla snorted. “He lied? What a surprise.”
“Hi…I’m Fred. Do you want water or do you want blood?” She asked as Darla took the glass, but then Wesley gently pushed her away.
Darla’s head snapped up toward Katherine. “Who are you?”
“Uhh…” Katherine said as she heard Cordelia and Angel talking…or arguing. What should she say? She heard about Darla from Spike but she didn’t hear that much. Spike never really got into details, he probably didn’t want to and Katherine didn’t bother to press for them. She didn’t think it would matter, until now.
“No one,” Angel said, obviously wanting to protect Katherine and get out of the conversation with Cordelia. Or was it Darla he wanted to protect?
“She doesn’t smell like a no one,” Darla told him. Her eyebrows rose as she said. “She’s yours, anyone could she that.” She stopped and studied Katherine again. “And she’s the Slayer's.” Angel winced and nodded. “You’re not from around here, though, are you?” Darla asked Katherine.
“No,” Katherine replied. “The future.”
Darla cocked her head and then reached out to stroke Katherine’s cheek. “You’re strong. There is so much I can teach you.”
Katherine nodded. She had no clue what that meant. Didn’t Darla hate her mother? Wasn’t Darla evil?
Angel was about to say something when Lorne walked in.
“Hey everyone! Caritas is being re-vamped. Ha! Get it re-vamp- What’s going on here?”
“Angel boned Darla,” Cordelia said. “Is Angel going to sing?” Fred asked as they went into Caritas.
“Oh, God I hope not!” Gunn said to Fred.
"I suppose he has to.” Wesley answered.
“But she’s the one carrying the baby!” Cordelia pointed out.
Darla grabbed Lorne by the collar and in a desperate move started to sing. “Oh, Danny boy…what the hell’s inside me?”
“Excellent question,” Katherine muttered.
“We are way past singing here. Definitely. This is way beyond me. If it’s alive…”
“It’s alive!” Darla said. “And kicking!”
“It could be anything.” Lorne pointed out. “A child born of two vampires…”
“The shaman I went to said it wasn’t supposed to happen.” Darla told them.
“Maybe it’s a hysterical pregnancy,” Angel mused.
“Do you want to feel it kick?” Darla asked him.
“It kicks?” Kat asked.
“Like crazy,” Darla told her.
“Maybe it’s an uber-vamp,” Gunn suggested.
"The Nyazian prophecies mention a Tro-clan,” Wesley said.
“It’s supposed to be here about now,” Fred pointed out.
"Born out of darkness to bring darkness," Lorne said with a shudder.
“So you’re saying that my child is the scourge of mankind?” Angel asked.
Darla moaned. “You guys are upsetting her!” Katherine told them.
Cordy nodded and turned to Lorne. “She needs to lie down.”
“We should call a doctor,” Katherine told them but Darla shook her head.
“It’ll pass. I just have to...let it.”
“We’ll stay with her.” Cordelia said to the men and Fred and Katherine nodded in agreement.
“If you need anything, just holler,” Lorne told them and they nodded.
The men and Fred were talking about the Shanshu prophecy outside, whatever that was and Katherine and Cordelia stayed by Darla’s bedside.
“How are you feeling?” Katherine asked her.
“Just crazy,” Darla replied.
“What?” Cordelia asked.
“I’m hungry all the time!” Darla told her.
“Uh oh… this is not going to be good,” Katherine said and went to open the door. But Darla stopped her. She went to bite down on Katherine’s neck but hesitated as she felt something tugging her. Darla swatted Cordelia away and almost bit down into Kat’s neck, not deep, but she bit her. Angel then swung the door open and pushed Darla away.
“Get away from her!”
Katherine grabbed at her neck and Cordelia sat on the bed. “Ouch!” They both said at the same time. Cordelia’s nose was bleeding and Katherine’s neck was bleeding. Angel got a cloth for Katherine and then handed one to Cordy. He helped both of them and said, “You guys are going to be all right. I’ll kill her for this.”
“You’re going to have to find her first,” Cordelia answered.
After that nothing much happened. Or at least that Katherine could remember. She had fallen asleep almost instantly and only woke up to see Angel sitting by her bedside. He'd said that the baby had a soul, and for that, he couldn’t kill Darla. Cordelia had been resting and he'd said that Cordy was still mad at him, but she was okay. Now all they'd had to do was wait till the baby was born. Oh, yeah and a demon had just come to town, according to Fred’s calculations.
The next day was as interesting as the last. It was funny, too. Some vamp cult had wanted the baby. And Angel went to go get the Nyazian scrolls, and he was one-and-a-half minutes late, because in five minutes they were supposed to leave. But then Darla’s water broke.
“She’s going to pop right here,” Gunn said over Darla’s screams.
"The contractions, they're coming more frequently now," Wesley told them.
“You think?” Cordelia said sarcastically.
"Angel's not back with the scrolls yet. I'd feel a lot better if we had the ancient prophecies to guide us."
"Please! Women have been giving birth without ancient prophecies for years!"
Darla let out another scream that drowned out whatever Gunn was saying.
"I don't think she's ready to deliver yet, but she's moved into the active stage of her labor," Fred said, and Wesley nodded.
“We should go, Angel’s not back yet and we can’t stay here. It’s too exposed,” Wesley told them.
"Now it's up to us to protect Angel's unborn child. Darla, we're trying to take you out of here. Relax. The trick is to breathe. Something like this: Heh, heh, hoh, heh, heh, hoh...”
“I! Don’t!” Darla screamed as she pushed them all away and went into vamp face. “Breathe!”
Katherine got up after she had flown through the air. Cordy was standing over Wesley. “Wake up!”
Wesley moaned. “That hurt.”
“Well, you know what they say. Birth can be painful,” Katherine told him.
“Yes, but for the mother,” Wesley told her. They all looked at Darla, who was gesturing toward herself, talking and sobbing.
“Yep, she’s been doing that,” Katherine told them.
Gunn nodded. “Hormones.”
“Are you alright to travel?” Wesley asked Darla and she nodded. Everyone hopped in the front seat, which was more than a little squashed, but no one wanted to sit in the back, either.
“Doesn’t anyone want to sit in the back with me?” Darla asked.
“No, we’re fine,” Gunn, told her.
“You don’t trust me?” Darla asked. “I promise that I won’t throw you out of the car again…at least not when it’s moving.”
"It's not that we don't trust you. I mean we don't trust you. But the fact is, your water broke all over the back seat."
“Oh.”
"What? What are you waiting for?" Cordy said to Wesley.
"I presume we have a tire iron in the trunk?"
"Yeah, why? We got a flat?" Gunn asked him.
"And how about a hurling ax, or some sort of heavy mallet?"
They all turned to see what Wes was looking at: Grapplar demons stepping out of the shadows in front of the car.
Then the gang fought the demons, only to see Angel coming their way. Katherine started the car and they all hopped in. They slowed down the car for Angel and then Darla hopped out, only no one noticed until it was too late.
“I have to find her,” Angel said searching the area.
“We need to find her before Holtz does,” Wesley agreed.
“I can find her a lot faster on my own. If you guys could just find some place safe for her to have this baby, we'll come to you."
“We can do that,” Gunn said.
Angel turned to go but Katherine stopped him. “I’m going with you.”
“No.”.
She looked deep into his eyes and he recognized something there. Buffy’s stubbornness. “Fine.” He said and they turned to go.
“Hey!” Cordy said. “Be careful!”
“We will!” Katherine said and they hurried off to find Darla. They found her on top of a building. Her hands were cradling her belly. “You always did like a view,” Angel said, taking her out of her reverie.
"Look at it. Listen to it. Can you smell it? This world. This horrible world. Why would anyone want to bring a baby into it?" Darla asked in anguish.
"To make it better, maybe?" Angel answered.
"Or to destroy it, finally."
"Why is it everyone insists on planning my son's future before he's even born?" Angel asked.
"All right then, how's this? It doesn't have a future. Not with me," Darla told him, walking up to where Katherine and Angel stood.
“Darla…”
“Angel…I can’t have this baby.”
“What?”
"I can't let it out. I-I can't."
"Okay, not sure you have a lot of choice in the matter,” Katherine said.
"Look, I know. It wants to come out. I can feel it. It's ready. It's just - I can't let it. I can't let because... because..." She trailed off.
“You love it.” Angel finished for her.
"Completely. I love it completely. I-I-I don't think I've ever loved anything as much as this life that's inside of me," Darla said, her voice cracking.
"Well, you've never loved anything, Darla," Angel reminded her.
"That's true. Four hundred years and I never did - till now. I don't know what to do."
"Well, you-you'll do the only thing that you can do: You'll have it. You'll have it and then..."
"What? We'll raise it?" Darla asked with a snort.
"Why not?"
"It's impossible."
"This whole thing is impossible, Darla, but it's happening."
"What do I have to offer a child, a human child, besides ugly death?"
Through this all Katherine kept thinking. What happens if they do raise it? Will I be born? She shuddered. Did this happen in the future? Or did this only happen by my coming here? They were talking and Darla had started to cry. Katherine closed her eyes and wondered what her birth had been like…probably hell.
Angel pulled Darla to her. He closed his eyes as she cried.
"You won't let me hurt it, will you? You'll protect it, right? From me, I mean." Darla asked him.
Angel’s cell rang and he picked it up. Katherine went over to help Darla.
“Hey Darla. We should get going. I feel a storm coming. You okay? Another contraction?” He said.
“No.” Darla said leaning against Katherine. “It’s something else.” Kat and Angel lead her to Caritas and helped her to a chair.
"She's in a lot of pain," Katherine told them.
"How frequent are the contractions?" Wesley said.
"It's been... I don't know, maybe an hour?" Angel answered.
Darla moaned and then fell over.
“Darla!” Angel said rushing to her.
“Angel,” Darla whispered.
"Let's get her into my bedroom. Come on," Lorne said.
They got her to the bedroom. Katherine happened to glance toward the chair Darla had previously been sitting in, and saw a pool of blood there.
Angel and Darla and the rest of them spoke and Katherine waited outside. She only went in when Cordy and the others came out. No one stopped her, and she didn’t even know why she went in.
"Then don't let it. You have to fight for this. Please," Angel said when she walked in.
“Oh God,” Katherine muttered.
“"I don't know how. My boy. My darling boy. I told you I had nothing to offer this kid. Some mother, can't even offer it life." There were tears in her eyes as she stroked her belly.
They were interrupted as everyone ran in. “What’s going on?” Katherine asked.
“We’re being attacked,” Wesley answered grimly.
“Oh great! I thought you had double protection spells on this place!” Katherine asked Lorne.
“I do…but there’s a problem with the door or the stairs…never mind!” Lorne said.
“What’s behind the bed?” Katherine asked.
“A door.”
“What’s behind that?” Katherine asked as Darla and Angel talked about a guy named Holtz.
“An alley.”
Her eyes met Angel. He had the same thought she had. “Let’s go.” Angel said.
Angel carried Darla through the door and Kat followed, with everyone else in tow.
“Go!” Angel told them as he lowered Darla to the ground. They went and Katherine stayed. This time, he didn’t ask her to leave.
"You're going to be okay," Angel told her. He draped his jacket over Katherine’s shoulder.
"No. No, I don't think so. Once he's gone, I won't be okay. I won't be okay at all. I don't know what I'll be. Angel... our baby is going to die right here in this alley. ...You died in an alley, remember?"
"I remember."
"I want to say I'm sorry. I want to say it and mean it, but - I can't. Aren't you going to tell me it's okay?" Darla said.
"No."
"No? It's really not, is it? We did so many terrible things together. So much destruction, so much pain. We can't make up for any of it. You know that, don't you?”
"Yeah."
"This child - Angel, it's the one good thing we ever did together." Angel lifted her hand to his mouth and then kissed it. “The only good thing,” she repeated. “You make sure you tell him that,” Darla said, tears running down her cheeks. She turned to Katherine. “Take care of your brother and…” she trailed off and choked out a sob, “your father.”
Katherine nodded and then Darla reached up and buried a splinter of wood in her chest, turning to dust. Katherine gasped as she saw a naked human baby lying where Darla had been. Angel scooped it up and they moved without a word out of the alley.
Angel’s car pulled up and Angel wrapped the baby up in the jacket he'd given to Katherine.
They got in and drive back to the hotel.
Katherine clutched the phone harder. After all that had happened, she had a strong urge to call her own mother. She wouldn’t talk; just listen to Buffy say hello. Oh God, she missed her mom so much. She wiped her eyes as she saw Grey standing in front of her.
“Didn’t see you there.”
“I haven’t been standing here long. Just long enough to know that if you clutch that phone any harder it’s going to explode.”
“Yeah…well a lot of things have been happening over the past few days.”
“So you take it out on the phone?” Grey asked and she gave a weak smile. “You’ve been avoiding me,” he said. “I called a couple of times and Fred said that you were busy.”
“I’ve been busy…I got a brother and Cordelia’s visions almost turned her into a demon…” she trailed off as he put a finger to her lip.
“We have to talk.”
Katherine groaned.
“Not now…but...we kissed,” he reminded her.
“I know,” Katherine said. “And we should talk…but not now. So much is going on.”
“I know.”
There was a pause and he nodded toward the phone. “Who were you going to call?”
“My mother,” she answered. She took a deep breath. “Oh God.” She turned to him as he stroked her hair. “This probably can’t ever…”
“I know…why don’t you get some rest?” Grey said, and she nodded. He smiled at her and gave her a soft kiss on the cheek. He walked away and she walked toward the door. She sighed and smiled and went in to see her new baby brother.
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