Everything About You

Part Two

US History was over and done with for the day and it was finally lunch time. Connor's stomach grumbled in protest as he followed Dawn down the hall. He frowned when she walked passed the cafeteria, the young man stopped in front of the entrance and contemplated on whether or not to leave the girl or follow. The smell of food caught his attention and he turned and stepped in the direction of the lunch room. . .

"You're seriously going to ditch me for food?" Dawn questioned him in amusement, the young girl arched a brow at him, her arms crossed over her chest.

Connor stopped and turned his attention to Dawn. He shrugged and offered her a weak smile. "I'm a growing boy," he offered as an explanation.

Dawn laughed and shook her head at him. She walked towards him and quickly grabbed his hand. She pulled him behind her, "Trust me, you don't want to eat there. Cafeteria food is the worst. Especially in Sunnydale."

He rolled his eyes, "I'm sure that it's not that bad-"

"I'm convinced that the cafeteria lady is trying to poison us," Dawn interrupted.

Connor arched a brow and dug his heels into the ground causing Dawn to stop in front of him, no longer able to pull him along. She looked back at him and rolled her eyes at his incredulous look.

She huffed, "I'm not crazy or paranoid, OK? It's just . .trust me, there are some weird things going on in Sunnydale and crazy lunch lady is one of them."

His sister's text messages came to mind and he wondered just what goes on in Sunnydale. . .especially at night. He thought that he really did have to wait and see. "I'll take your word for it," he sighed and she smiled at him, which he returned. Both resumed their walk down the hall, but instead of Connor being dragged behind her, he walked beside her. . .the young teenagers still holding hands.

"So, where are we going, anyway? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

"My sister is a senior," she explained. "We usually hang out in the library and lately Mr. Giles, he's the librarian, by the way, has taken to ordering pizza or bringing in sandwiches for us. There's usually plenty left over so no one would mind that I've brought you along."

Connor shot her an amused grin, "You tell him about your crazy lunch lady theory?"

Dawn ignored him, but a smile was noticeable on her lips. . .as well as a hint of a blush. He grinned to himself and allowed himself to be pull into the library.

Once inside, Connor surveyed the room. Typical high school library, he thought to himself. What wasn't so typical and was very far from ordinary were the various weapons that lay on one of the tables and, he narrowed his eyes at a blond girl, the wooden stake she held in her hand. He arched a brow when the blond hid the stake behind her.

"Dawn," she started and sent the brunette a questioning glare, "what have I said about bringing strangers into the library?"

A slow and amused grin appeared on Connor's features, "I wasn't aware that you owned the library. I've always thought that it was a public building, at least during school hours."

She turned her glare on him and from the corner of his eye he saw Dawn cover a smile with her hand and bend her head down.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Connor," he introduced himself and finally let go of Dawn's hand. He walked deeper into the library and stopped in front of the table filled with weapons, which were now hidden underneath a pile of backpacks and jackets. He rolled his eyes and pulled off one of the jackets and stared at the assortment of weapons in front of him. . .He also ignored the sputtered comments made by the other boy that stood a few feet off to his side. He picked up a crossbow and aimed it at the row of shelves. . .aimed at a spot where the sun from the windows hadn't touched. His finger was held over the trigger and a breath later he pulled it. . .

A grunt of pain was heard from the shadows and Connor smiled. He set the crossbow back down and watched as the blond glared at him in surprise before she rushed to the back of the library. . .towards the general direction that the cry of pain was heard. Connor turned to face Dawn while the others in the library stared at him in surprise.

He shrugged when he found that Dawn also bore a look of surprise, "Where I come from, I'm used to the weird and supernatural-"

"You could have killed him," came the angry voice of the blond.

Connor turned around and watched her return with her arms around a man's waist. She helped him to a chair and he rolled his eyes at her, "Oh, please. . .I didn't shoot to kill the vampire. I figured that if a Slayer-" and he ignored yet another round of gasps that came when he had mentioned a Slayer "-wasn't too worried about having a vampire in the same room, then I wouldn't be bothered with dusting the thing-"

"Him. He's not a thing. . .and you shouldn't have shot him in the first place, he's a good guy!" the blond argued.

"I couldn't be too sure of that," he replied right back.

"You knew that I was the Slayer-"

"*A* Slayer," Connor corrected. "I knew that you were *a* Slayer. . .but I wasn't sure if you were any good, I figured that there was a chance that you just didn't notice."

Her glare hardened and she was ready to speak, but another voice broke into their argument.

"What do you mean by that. . .when you corrected Buffy and said that you knew that she was 'a Slayer'?"

Connor turned away from the blond girl that he figured was Buffy and turned his attention to the older man that stood just in front of the library counter. He also figured that he was the librarian that Dawn had talked about, Mr. Giles. Connor only shrugged at his question.

Mr. Giles sighed and removed his glasses. He took out a piece of cloth from his pocket and began to wipe the lenses of his glasses. He replaced them on his face and stared at Connor, "Are you aware of another Slayer?"

Connor hesitated a second, but then gave a nod of his head. Down, up, and down again. . .He recalled that his sister wasn't the only one to graduate from Sunnydale High School six years prior. Three of her best friends had done so as well.

"What's your last name?" Mr. Giles asked.

Connor cleared his throat, "Chase."

Mr. Giles's eyebrows shot up and a smile crept onto his lips, "Any relation to a Cordelia Chase, by any chance?"

"She's my sister," he replied almost immediately.

And Connor forced himself to not tense up when he heard the almost inaudible whisper of his sister's name pass through the lips of the vampire that he had just wounded. He forced himself to calm down and show no outward reaction. . .very well aware that the vampire's eyes were glued on him. Connor inwardly seethed with anger. . .He had noticed just who the vampire was the moment he and Buffy had stepped out from his hidden perch.

It was the vampire with a soul known as Angelus.

The same vampire that his mother had sired centuries ago. . .and the very same vampire that had left his pregnant mother, his sister, his friends, and the mission when he fled Los Angeles over three years ago.

Connor only wondered if Cordelia was aware of the fact that they weren't the only ones to make the move from Los Angeles to Sunnydale.

Apparently, Connor's M.I.A father had made the move as well.

"I see. . .so, I'll assume that you know Faith, as well," Mr. Giles's voice broke through Connor's thoughts.

And Connor nodded, "Yes, sir. . .and Gwen and Oz, too. I'm sure that you're wondering about them, as well."

The librarian nodded, his smile more pronounced, "How are they, by the way? I haven't much heard from them these passed few years."

Connor reassured him that they were all OK, the young man not wanting to get into much detail about his family due to the current audience. . .mostly due to Angelus, actually.

"That's wonderful, would you mind letting them know that I would love to hear from them. . .when their schedules permit, of course."

Connor was about to nod, but thought of a better idea. He took his cell phone out from his back pocket and moved closer to the librarian. He grabbed hold of a pencil and tore a piece of paper out of the notepad that was also on the counter. He quickly looked through his cell phone's address book and scribbled down a list of phone numbers, "They usually pick up their cell phones, but if it just so happens to be the rare times that they can't. . .just leave a voicemail and they'll be happy to get back to you when they can."

Giles gave a nod and looked through the list of numbers, his eyes fell to Cordelia's in particular. He looked up at Connor, his expression curious, "Do you think Cordelia would mind if I gave her a call now or should I-"

"Now should be fine," Connor interrupted the older man. He shrugged and checked the time that was displayed on his cell phone, "They're probably still getting the house ready, so you might be able to talk to the others, too."

Giles nodded and excused himself. The librarian then retreated into his office. . .which left Connor to contemplate leaving the library when his stomach growled.

Dawn giggled at the sound and Connor smiled at her sheepishly. She waved her over and he followed her to another table, boxes of pizza scattered over its surface. Connor ignored everyone else and grabbed a slice while Dawn quickly did the same.

After his fourth slice of pizza, Connor wiped his mouth clean of the pizza crumbs and sauce and tossed the napkin into the trash can before he picked his head up and eyed Buffy, Angelus, and the two still unnamed students. They stared right back at him.

Dawn cleared her throat and made the introductions while Giles was heard laughing from inside of his office. She pointed to Buffy first, "That's my sister, Buffy. . .That's Angel, her boyfriend-" Connor filed that little tidbit away and made a mental note to mention it to his sister "-and that's Xander and Willow. They're all seniors. . .except for Angel, of course. . .since he's a vampire and all that."

Connor nodded, the young man had long since decided not to acknowledge that Angelus. . .or Angel, as Dawn had called him. . .was his father. He smirked, "That's an interesting concept. . .a Slayer dating a vampire."

Buffy glared at him, "Angel's different, he-"

"Has a soul, yeah. . .I actually knew that already," Connor rolled his eyes. "But, a soul doesn't necessarily make him good. It just means that he has a choice. Like the rest of us."

Buffy's eyes narrowed in suspicion, "How did you know that he has a soul?"

And Connor actually laughed, "If you're usually this suspicious, it's a wonder why you're dating a vampire of all people. . .I'm from LA, where a lot of bad things happen. . .and Angel has something of a reputation there, heard of him before."

"Right, and, what? Are we all supposed to be glad that a vampire is part of our team?"

Connor arched a brow at Xander, "You don't like him?"

Xander snorted, "Is it that obvious?"

Connor grinned. He turned his attention to Angel and he wasn't surprised that he found the vampire staring at him, a pensive look across his features. He chuckled and returned his attention to Xander, "I don't like him, either. In fact, I should have aimed for his heart."

And Xander grinned at the younger boy, "Welcome to the Hellmouth. You and I will get along just fine."