Welcome to my first fanfic! I write for a living, but not fiction, so this is new for me. I hope you enjoy. I always thought Connor and Dawn would be an awesome couple, as both were raised by demon fighters, and both of their childhoods were conjured by monks. Also, both have shiny, shiny hair.
Note: I own nothing in the Jossverse, but feel privileged to play there. Thanks!
Connor couldn't believe he was hiding in a bathroom—not from vampires, demon, evil law firms or some combination thereof. No, he was hiding from the party: the heat, the noise, the unrelenting cheerfulness, and the smell of a hundred lusty dancing college students. Normal, human Connor had agreed to come to the party. Now, Connor was brooding in the bathroom. Normal Connor hadn't though about how the party might effect Stephen-Connor's extreme senses or battle training. Stephen-Connor didn't like being surrounded by people. Stephen-Connor always chose a seat where he could see all exits and sit with his back to the wall.
He knew it was crazy to think of himself as two separate people. If he ever told a psychiatrist, they'd diagnose him with schizophrenia. But it was the best way he'd figured out to deal with the dual memories. In the first set of memories, Connor had grown up in a happy, loving family in sunny California. In the second set, he started off as Stephen, fighting for his life in a hell dimension. Then he and his first father, Holtz, had come to this one. At first, he thought his second father, Angel, was evil and had killed Holtz. In time, Stephen discovered that wasn't true and became Connor. He'd come to love Angel, but it wasn't enough. Not after what happened to Cordelia. Not after they took Jasmine away. But one day, a stupid container was smashed, and Normal Connor knew he was Stephen-Connor, too.
He was trying to learn to be both at once, but it was hard. Sometimes, he could be Normal Connor for days, even weeks, before he thought about his "real" self, and the nightmare world he'd lived in. But then he'd see an animal of prey dart by in the park and find himself longing to spear the rabbit, or someone would throw a punch at a party, and his fists would ache to pummel flesh until blood spurted. Hence, he was hiding in a bathroom. He splashed his face with cold water until he felt normal. When he turned off the tap, he could hear only one small person breathing in the next room. Yep, he thought, hearing a person breathing in the next room isn't at all weird. He decided to open the door, as he'd have to sooner or later. As he did, a phone rang in the other room. A young woman answered in a girlish voice.
"Hey, Xan. I'm having a party—kind of…Mmm-hmm. Yeah, I know: 'beer bad.'" She giggled, and Connor's chest fluttered in a way neither of the Connors had experienced before. He didn't like it. "Sure, put her on," the girl continued. Connor had decided to sneak out while she was engrossed in conversation. The girl was flopped down on the bed, one arm draped over her eyes. Her long, brown hair was very shiny. "Look, Buffy, just because you and Cordelia were dumb enough to nearly get eaten by some frat house snake demon doesn't mean…"
Connor had managed to stalk across the room and silently ease open the door when her words halted him: Buffy, Cordelia, demon. His sudden jolt somehow drew the woman's attention, and she jerked upright, squinting at the light as her arm fell from her eyes.