Disclaimer: I do not own BtVS, AtS or the characters.

Chapter 1

Connor had to run away from the hotel, he just couldn't look at Angel's face anymore it was horrible, his father just looked at him with hurt in his eyes and the rest of the gang was no better. He didn't want to stay in L.A either where "dad" could find him, he had heard his dad and the others discussing something called the hellmouth, it was in a place called Sunnydale, he could stay there if only for a little while then he could find a place for himself somewhere. He had enough money to get there at least.

As he got onto the bus he realized he might never see L.A again and that suited him fine he thought.

At the same moment that Connor left, Xander was looking at his new apartment, he had just gotten it but Anya decided to dump him, the rest of the gang thought it was his fault for her leaving, all except for Tara and now it felt so empty, he wondered what he would do now. He had a good paying job and, hell. He could support himself finally and at least he was away from what was laughingly called his parents but he was just a bit lonely.

He had to hire some new people for the crew and that was a chore in its self.

When he went to bed he thought, 'maybe tomorrow would be better.'

Connor hopped off the bus and let Sunnydale's smell hit him.

'It was awful' he thought; it smelt like brimstone and sulphur,' and he couldn't be happier. He was far enough from Angel that the vampire couldn't find him easily; he was free to do what he wanted and now he had to find some place to sleep but that wouldn't be hard, he could find a nest of vamps, take them down and use their nest until he could find a place more suitable for him. He wanted to make sure that if he had to stay here for awhile he wanted to better situated than he was at the moment.

'This alley looked safe enough,' He thought, I can't see or hear any vampires.'

The next day Xander got up, brushed his teeth and got ready for work. As he left the apartment and started his walk towards work he heard shuffling, he saw a young man trying to sleep.

His first thought was, 'vampire?'

He slowly walked towards the younger man and he saw the kid's chest move up and down, he realized, 'human.'

He reached out his hand and said, "hey there, do you need help?"

Conner looked at the man looking down at him and heard the words "did you need help?" his first thought was to run away and hide but he was tired and looking into the mans eyes they said, 'trust me.'

He reached out and grabbed the other man's hand and he heard the words, "I am Xander, who are you?"

"My name is Connor," he said as he was pulled up by this guy, he sighed as he was already being helped.

'I don't need anyone,' he thought.

"Thanks for your help Xander but I don't need help from anyone, I am better off on my own."

Xander sighed, 'one of those lone wolf types,' he thought

"Come on, everyone needs help every now and then you know, I could help you find a job or something like that, how does that sound?"

Connor was thinking, 'a job that also might help me find a place to live that wasn't formerly used by the undead, it might be a good thing. Wait, do I have any skills that an employer could use,' he thought?

Connor said, "I really don't have many skills sir,"

'Which was the truth,' he thought, 'growing up in a hell dimension does that for your education.'

"Well Xander said, "I am sure we can find a place for you to work and then maybe a place for you to live."

"Why would you help me? I am a total stranger and you really don't know me, it really doesn't make sense to me," Connor said.

"Well what kind of guy would I be if I didn't help you when you look like you needed help right?" Xander asked.

Connor looked at Xander and realized he wasn't going to go away, sighed, "Okay, but I will pay you back for your kindness."

"Well, don't worry about that," he said, "its just that this town is never a safe place for the homeless and I feel its my duty to help you get off the streets," Xander smiled,

"So," Xander asked, "how old are you?"

"I am 18 years old years old," Connor replied.

"Ah cool," Xander said as he and Connor finally got to the construction site, "this is where I work, I am the foreman here," he waved to the crew and he decided to see what Connor could do. As he tried Connor out on all of the different jobs he found that Connor was best able to work with the guys on the cement mixing group.

At quitting time he saw Xander come up to him, "hey Connor, its quitting time, since you don't have anyplace to go you can come stay with me for now okay?"

Connor nodded.

They got back to Xander's apartment; Connor looked around and felt the smells assault him: he could smell the unique scent that was Xander, a girl and many other things. Xander went somewhere and got a blanket and pillow.

"Here you Connor, you can have the couch, its more comfortable than it looks," he grinned.

They spent the night talking and Connor went to sleep on the couch,

'It was good here,' he thought, 'the hellmouth felt more like home than the hotel did.'

Several weeks later

Xander and Connor fell into a routine and Xander had finally went back to the Scooby gang when he heard from Buffy that Angel and his people were going crazy looking for some kid, apparently he had a son.

Xander looked at Buffy and said, "Angel has a son?"

"Apparently," she said with just a bit of bitterness in her voice, "well he is around 18 now apparently, though he was born only a little while ago."

"How does that work then does the child of two vampires mature at the speed of light?" Xander asked.

"No, apparently his son was taken by an old enemy of Angel's and was taken to another dimension, it was one of the more unpleasant places and raised his son who returned hating Angel with a vengeance," Giles said.

"And when his son was back Angel tried everything to win his son back but when he was going to the beach to meet Cordelia, his son trapped him and locked him in a steel crate which lay for 3 months until Wesley found him and brought him back, then he ran off and that was almost a month and a half ago. They thought he would come back within a couple of days," Willow said adding her two cents in,

"So, does the kid have a name?" Xander asked.

"Yes," Tara said, "he does, it's Connor."

"So, uh, do they know he went? Afterwards I mean. L.A is a big place so he could be anywhere," Xander asked.

"No," Buffy said, "they want us to go down and help Angel look for them and I said we would, we are going there tomorrow," she added.

"Well I can't go Buffy, I have a job now and I can't just quit to go looking for Angel's kid," Xander said.

Buffy said, "I meant us: me, Giles, Spike, Willow and Tara. Angel said he really didn't want you down there, said he couldn't deal with you right now."

"Ookay," Xander said, "like I care what deadboy wants thought."

Buffy looked at him and said, "Look its just that you two rub each other the wrong way and he doesn't want you down there making the situation worse, if it was any other time," she said, "I would bring you down."

Tara spoke up, "A-a-actually, I can't go either," she looked sheepishly at the gang who looked at her with surprise, "first I have some tests that I have to study for and also I have never liked Los Angeles and then," she added, "Willow is a better tracker then I am and someone has to help Xander keep the nightlife down here."

Buffy considered Tara's words, "that's true, hey Xander you don't mind if she stays here with you to help out with Vamps and what have you?"

"No problems with me," Xander said, "I welcome the company of such a fine witch, but hey I got to get going."

He rushed back to the apartment and saw Connor there watching T.V, "hey Connor, I gotta ask you something, are you the son of Angel? And please tell me the truth."

Connor looked down at his feet and thought, 'how did he know the name of my father?'

He decided; Xander treated him with such kindness, he decided to tell him the truth he deserved,

"Yeah I am his son," Connor said, "how did you know my father?" he asked

"Long story is what happened between you and him true? Did you really lock him a steel box for 3 months in the ocean?" Xander asked

"Yes, I was raised to hate him," Connor said, "and I didn't know it at the time but he had one of his underlings kill him and frame Angel for it. I just couldn't stand seeing the hurt look in his eyes anymore and I ran away, I remembered him mentioning this town so I had some money which I got from killing vamps and ran away to this place. So what are you going to do now Xander, turn me in so he can come for me?"

"No I am not. its your choice if you want to go to him or not, I have never really cared for Angel since I met him back in high school so consider my place a safe haven until your ready to either see him or go somewhere else," Xander said.

Tara had followed Xander home and knocked on the door, Xander went to answer the door and saw Tara there.

She smiled and asked, "Can I come in?"

She walked in and saw Connor on the couch, she looked at Xander and surprised both of them and said, "So that is Angel's son, it's nice to meet you, how long has he been here?"

Xander stood there with a stunned look on his face and said, "its been about a month and a half, I found him in a alley on my way to work and I decided to help him out, he is also the reason I haven't been to some of the Scooby meetings cause I was making sure he kept out of trouble."

Tara smiled softly she went up to Xander and said, "Does he want to go back to L.A?"

Connor looked at her and said, "No I want to stay here, and I like it better here."

Xander grinned and said, "Congratulations, that's the first time I have ever heard anyone say that ever about Sunnydale, this place is literally the mouth of hell," he said.

They both looked at Tara, she said, "well, it is his choice but maybe we should tell someone in L.A, from what I was hearing, Angel misses Connor badly."

Connor sighed, "I don't know, I am actually happy here with Xander, I love my job here and Angel would just want me to go back to live with him and I am not sure that's the best idea."

She said, "It's your choice Connor but from what Angel had told Buffy, you are mature enough to make your own decisions and if their estimations of your age are true, you are a legal adult. So I am not sure but Xander I gotta go help Willow pack," she said giving him a hug

The next evening they saw the other Scoobies off and went back to Xander's apartment, they stopped to rent some movies to help Connor relax, he had been so stressed that Xander or Tara would tell Buffy and Angel would be pounding on Xander's door looking for Connor. They picked out a couple that they thought he would like and some that they would like,

They came back and saw Connor trying his best to look relaxed

"Hey Connor, we got some movies for us to watch tonight," Xander said with a grin, "also, I got a pizza coming so its going to be a night just for us and maybe something to do tomorrow,"

Connor looked at the movies closely and said, holding up one, "I want to see this one."

Xander grinned, "okay, your the boss tonight Connor," as they popped the DVD into the player.

Meanwhile Angel was pacing, it had been a month and a half since Connor had run away like that and he was worried sick. Now at least Buffy and her friends could help, though he was glad Xander wasn't coming along he could not deal with the boy right now.

TBC

Please rate and review

Question: How do you think Angel will react to Connor wanting to stay with Xander instead of Daddy? And also that he feels safer in Sunnydale?