Angel didn’t need to check the peephole before he opened the door to his room at the to see who it was on the other side. Besides from his extra senses, he just knew that Fred had been the one to knock. Facing her was going to have to come eventually, and it was never easy to face anyone after Angelus had made a grand appearance. But this was Fred, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to avoid her for long now that she was back from LA.
Opening the door, he saw her standing there, and he realized that he actually didn’t think he’d ever see her again. At least, he wouldn’t ever see her again like this. Living, breathing, and with a heartbeat he could recognize within moments. Timelines were strange here, and he felt like he’d lived within several of them over the last couple of weeks, but in his own timeline back home, Fred was gone. In her place was a ancient demon that only gave the appearance of Winifred Burkle. She’d been the best of all of them.
“Angel,” Fred said with a smile and stepped into the room. Just one look at him, and she knew this was Angel and not Angelus. Sometimes the two could be hard to tell apart, but Angelus would never be able to wear that look as Angel was wearing it now. Her smile turned into a grin, and she launched herself into his arms and hugged him fiercely. She’d missed him so much since she’d been here.
Angel patted her back and returned the hug, smiling when she pulled away. “Hey, Fred.” He started to say something else, but she cut him off with a point of her finger.
“Nope. Don’t you do it. He’s gone, and we’re not going to talk about him. You’re here, and that’s what matters.” Fred hugged him again, briefly, and stepped a bit more into the room. “This wasn’t your fault, so don’t go beating yourself up about it. I mean, I know you already are and you will for weeks, months, and years to come just like you always do, but don’t act like you had any choice in what happened. From what I understand from before I was here, this isn’t’ the first time these guys have found a way to bring out a perfectly good person’s ugly side.”
No matter what Angel thought, he knew better than to argue with her, so he just nodded. “I’ll do my best.”
“Damn right you will,” she said with a grin then took a brief look around the room. “Please tell me you haven’t locked yourself up in here since the spell. Have you gone out since?”
“Once?” He said sheepishly. “But as a matter of fact, I’m about to head out now.” Angel paused. “To meet your daughter.”
Fred’s face brightened. “In that case, I’ll walk with you.” She’d wanted to introduce her daughter to Angel and her other friends ever since she’d met her but hadn’t thought it to be possible. The last thing she ever expected, though, was for Lorna’s first introduction to her friends from home to be Angelus of all people.
They were out the door in a manner of a couple minutes, and Angel walked next to Fred along the street. “So, did you tell Lorne that you named your kid after him when you were in LA?” Angel asked her. He wanted to welcome her to being a part of the parent club, but he wasn’t sure if Fred was at a point where she remembered Connor or not.
“No, I didn’t want to freak him out anymore than everything already did,” she replied. She wished she could have introduced Lorna to her namesake, especially because of their related abilities, but she somehow doubted that Lorne would ever show up in Atlantis. “It’s weird though, right? Me having a grown daughter? One that I don’t even remember raising.”
“Yeah,” Angel said and glanced over to her. “She seems like a good kid. Strong and smart like her mother.” Even Angelus had been able to tell that during their brief encounter.
Fred bumped his arm with hers but then linked her arm in his as they walked. “She really is. Strong and smart, I mean. She comes from a future in Atlantis where we lost the war here, so I know she’s seen and been through more than even I realize.”
It was hard for him to imagine that they’d lose the war, but he supposed if the agents kept on using tactics like they had with Angelus, sometimes they might end up getting ahead and gaining ground.
“You’ll make sure that doesn’t happen,” he said to her and she gave him a nod. Turning a corner, they came up on the spot where he and Lorna were supposed to meet. It didn’t take long to spot her on the other side of the crosswalk.
Fred smiled and hugged her daughter as they approached. “Look who I found wandering around,” she teased. She didn’t plan to intrude on their time for long, and would leave them to it soon, but she was glad to be able to see the two people here that she loved meet face-to-face. Well, face-to-face when neither of them were evil. “Angel, this is Lorna,” she said. “Lorna, Angel.” Meeting Angelus didn’t count.
She felt her mother before she saw her. It was pretty normal with people she knew well or was really connected to. She smiled as she watched her and Angel approach. The feelings coming from Angel were intense, a lot different from the endless hole she felt before from him.
Hugging her mom tightly she laughed slightly before pulling back. Lorna almost offered her hand to Angel but instead decided he needed a hug so she opened her arms and didn’t give him an option to get away from a hello hug. She didn’t let it last nearly as long as her hug with her Mom she didn’t want to make it too uncomfortable.
“It’s very nice to meet you,” she said nodding towards the place they’d picked. Lorna was always hungry and she wouldn’t mind getting something massive to eat, maybe some fries or something else.
“So, who is ready to eat?” She clapped her hands together with a smile.
“Um, I’m always ready to eat,” Fred said with a grin. It was no secret that she could woof down pretty much anything and probably eat way more than men twice her size without gaining a pound. There was very little that she didn’t like, and she was happy to have discovered that her daughter had inherited that trait.
Angel gave a nod. He didn’t technically need the food, but he still enjoyed the practice of it sometimes. Flavors didn’t have nearly the same taste as they did to humans, but he could still get some enjoyment out of eating normal food. He could still remember the brief yet blissful day when he’d been turned into a human and had eaten everything in sight.
“For a guy who drinks blood, Angel is actually a really good cook,” Fred said.
“I guess I’ve had enough practice over the years,” he said and smiled a little. He’d also eaten several cooks over the centuries but he doubted that he had absorbed cooking skills through their blood. “Do they assign you to missions often” He asked Lorna after a moment.
Lorna laughed softly at her mother's comment about Angel being able to cook, she imagined with a lot of friends around who were human it was probably a very useful skill. Especially given she knew how much her mom could eat, it was an important skill.
As they took a seat she looked over at Angel with a small smile. "About once a month. Sometimes they skip one or a couple of things happen in the same month, but it seems to be a monthly thing. I'm not really sure how they always pick the missions but in this case, it made a lot of sense." She didn't elaborate anymore. "Who knows where we are going to end up next time, or if I'll even go."
Looking down at the menu she smiled. "So, three or four orders of fries?" The question was directed to her mom.
Fred didn't say anything, but she silently hoped that Lorna wouldn't be sent away on another mission quite so soon. She knew she could handle herself, but that would never stop Fred from worrying. Instead, she smiled and picked up her menu. “Three. We'll get extra dessert instead,” she said with a wink.
Angel smiled and shook his head as he listened to mother and daughter. They were plenty of similarities but enough differences to make them their own individuals.
As much as he wished he hadn't been brought here as Angelus, he supposed the silver lining was that now he could meet Lorna and also see Fred again. Not that he was going to mention that to Fred.
“What was it that made you decide to stay?” He asked them both. From what he understood, some of the kids had come from their own futures here. He was trying to make that decision himself now.
"Yes, maybe that caramel cake they had, if they still have it," Lorna was still getting used to all the many different kinds of foods one could get here in Atlantis and found a few things she really loved. There wasn't much that she didn't like.
It was a fair question, one she'd thought about a lot. She paused as a waiter came out and ordered letting her Mom and Angel add anything they might want as well before turning her attention back to him.
"We have a chance to stop that future from happening here, and I know with the infinite world theory it is bound to happen, and there are a lot of different situations and worlds where it probably has happened, but once I got here, I couldn't imagine not taking part in the fight here. I know what they truly are capable and what they've done to people. The world is stuck in dull, and I guess here I have a better chance of making sure we do stop them." She shrugged. "I guess if I was just thinking from the infinite world theory perspective me doing something here doesn't really make that big of a difference but I'm here now and this is my world so gotta put it all on the line."
Angel listened carefully to what she had to say about her reasons for staying on in this timeline. He knew she’d come from a time when the war had been lost, so he could understand her reasons more than a lot of others. They had a much better chance in changing the world so that her future didn’t happen when someone was around from that future and knew what happened.
“That makes sense,” he said. “From what I understand, it’s easy to go back but it’s not always as easy to come back here.” He had been brought here under different circumstances, but most others had been brought by picking up a coin.
Fred shrugged. “It helps to know that no time will have passed if and when we decide to go back,” she said. “And that no one from home realizes that we’re gone because of that.”
Angel agreed with all of that, but it was hard for him. He had such a purpose, a mission of his own, back in Los Angeles that he still felt called to do. He could still do that if he decided to stay and then go back, but he just wasn’t sure yet which was right for him.
After a few more moments, the food arrived, and Angel smiled as he watched the girls start eating. “I guess it’s as good as it looks?”
“Exactly,” Lorna nodded. “It’s not easy to get back here which makes it all the more complicated.” She thought it was cool that Bianca had made it back and decided to stay but she knew the likelihood of someone coming back was going to happen.
“It does help, it’s weird knowing but good knowing too. I know it’s sad we probably won’t remember our time here but I guess I kind of hope if I ever end back in the future I remember.” She knew it was a longshot but she could hope.
“Are you kidding me?” She looked at Angel. “It’s better than it looks.”
Fred nodded in agreement. “Much better than it looks,” she said and picked up a few more fries. The food here was always excellent even if it might not have had the comfort of some of her favorite places at home. She definitely couldn’t argue with the taste. After a moment, she lightly touched Angel on the arm. “Whatever you decide, staying or leaving, it’s your decision and only you can make it.”
Angel knew she was right, but he was still torn. He knew that he could stay here, help, and return without losing any time at home. That still didn’t make it any easier to not be back in LA helping the people there. He’d stay on here a few more days and see how things go before making a final decision .
Fred took a sip of water after finishing most of her meal and started on her dessert. “I’m going to need to head back to work soon, but you should take Angel over to see the Pegasuses. Pegasi?” She shook her head. “The flying horses. They’re a lot of fun.”
“Mom’s right, and whatever you decide, it’ll be the right choice for you and that’s what really matters.” Lorna fully believed that. Sure she sort of hoped he’d stick around so she’d be able to get to know him better but she knew the choice wasn’t always easy for everyone. Heck, it wasn’t easy for her but she choice the path that made the most sense for her.
Laughing she nodded. “Pegasi, I think, and they’re amazing. You can even ride them, if you’re up for the challenge.” She looked over at Angel after sticking a few more fries into her mouth wondering if he would want to ride one or not. She loved it, but she had a thing for animals as it was.
Angel nodded. He knew they were both right, but the decision seemed harder than maybe it should. He wanted to stay on so that he could help and also get to know the others, but he worried that he would also always feel drawn back to Los Angeles and the mission that he had there. Pushing that to the back of his mind for now, he smiled a bit between the two girls. “Flying horses…. well, I guess when in Rome, right?” Angel knew how to ride a horse, but flying horses sounded a little more adventurous. Slay demons and become a champion? No problem. Ride a flying horse? He was kind of nervous about that.
Fred smiled and patted his arm. “You’ll be alright.” She checked her watch and sighed. “Well, I’d better be getting back to the lab. I’ll check in with you both afterwards.” She stood up and gave Lorna a hug and then did the same to Angel. She’d missed him so much, and even if he left shortly after this, she would still be glad he was able to see him again while he was here.
After she was gone, Angel looked at Lorna. “I never thought I’d say this in all my lifetimes, but let’s go ride a flying horse.”
“Let’s get to it!” Lorna said with a grin as she popped the last of the fries into her mouth and made sure they paid before heading to the stables.