Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters here, and most of the dialogue is from the show, though tweaked to my own special brand.
This fic was spawned from a single idea and then spiraled out of control tearing through the Buffy and Angel 'verses with no abandon:
"What if Buffy raised Connor in Quor-Toth instead of Holtz?"
Story takes place on March 4th 2002, at the end of AtS 'Sleep Tight' and right before BtVS 'Hells Bells'.
BtVS/AtS plot rewrites/explanations:
Connor was born on November 19th, 2001. After getting back to the Hyperion and everyone calming down, Fred calls to tell Willow about the bouncing new addition to the LA office. Willow realizes that having a newborn bundle of joy around a vamp with a giant allergic reaction to happiness is a really bad idea, and uses the "Revele" spell to conjure the exact spell she needs to bind Angel's soul.
Willow secretly performs the binding spell while in her little power-trip-because-I-can-mode without telling anyone. ('Revele' is the same spell she uses the next day in the BtVS episode "Smashed" to make Amy's transformation spell) Though she doesn't deem the soul binding important enough to share with anyone but Amy the rat (who was present for the spell and remembers it) she does tell the Scoobies about the miracle birth of Connor, which only sends Buffy further into her Season 6 downward spiral; both for the fact that Angel and Darla have a child together (Instead of she and Angel) and for the fact that Angel didn't care about her enough to tell her himself (This is how a woman sees it) These things, piled on top of the ache of being away from heaven, are the catalyst for Buffy's rampant and abusive sex relationship with Spike-which happens the day after Willow's big news (i.e. Connor being born) in 'Smashed'
Cut to 8 weeks later- March 4th, 2002. After finally calling it quits with Spike, Buffy needs to take a breather from Sunnydale and offers to go LA to pick up the Bridesmaids Dresses for Xander and Anya's Wedding the next day. On the drive back to Sunnydale she comes upon a massive roadblock in the form of Holtz holding Connor hostage while Wolfram & Hart keep them at gunpoint.
Timeline Recap:
-Connor was born on Nov 19th 2001.
-Fred calls and tells Willow that night and Willow binds Angel's soul (without telling anyone but Amy, who was in rat form at the time) then tells the Scooby gang about Angel having a son.
-Buffy and Spike have sex for the first time the very next day.
-Buffy turned 21 on Jan 19th 2002.
-Buffy ends her secret relationship with Spike on Feb 26th at the end of "As You Were,"
-Buffy does some heavy soul searching and Spike-detoxification during the week of February 26th through March 4th, and begins actually healing from all the horrible stuff that's been happening.
-The night before Xander and Anya's wedding (Set to happen on March 5th in BtVS episode 'Hells Bells') Anya realizes that with all the preparations she forgot to pick up the specially made Bridesmaid dresses from the seamstress in LA (The only one in a 500 mile radius that would agree to making the horrible designs Anya came up with)
-Buffy is sent to LA to get the dresses that night as she is the only one without specific Pre-Wedding duties.
-Buffy gets pushed into the dimensional tear with Connor by Holtz, who (once the ex-relationship with Buffy becomes apparent) sees it as the perfect way to torture Angelus; by taking away both his mate and his son.
-Buffy and Connor spend exactly 8 R.T. (Real Time) weeks in Quor-Toth; the equivalent of 14 years in the hell dimension. Buffy is 35, and Connor is 14 by the time they return on April 29th 2002 in the Hyperion lobby.
Now onto the story...