WARNING: Violence in this chapter.

Brought Back Home Chapter 4

It had taken hours of looking through phone books, asking people, and looking in different places to find Wesley, but he wanted Justine NOW.

Connor knew that probably wasn't possible of course, but anger burned in him. Unlike with Wesley, he wasn't sure how he would find Justine. He hadn't seen her in awhile. It was like she'd simply disappeared. Well he would search for as long as it took. He WOULD find her.

It didn't take long.

He was walking by an alley when he heard a cough. He stopped and looked into it and there she was, Justine. She was drinking beer from a can and she looked like a wreck. He slowly walked up to her.

"So here is where I find you, on the verge of becoming drunk. Where have you been?"

Justine looked up at him, her eyes rather blood shot. "Got kidnapped by Wesley, held in some sort of cell for awhile till he managed to find Angel, then he finally let me go." She snorted a laugh.

"No less than you deserved. After what you did." He reached down and yanked her up to her feet. She swayed slightly. "I know a lot Justine. I know you were involved in making me want revenge on Angel, I know that you're the one who killed Holtz. Now I want to know more."

She looked at him spitefully. "Why should I tell you anything?"

He whipped out the dagger and held it to her throat. Her eyes widened a little. "Because if you don't I will kill you slowly and painfully. If you do, I just might let you live."

Angel and Lorne were searching for Connor as one team, Fred and Gunn were searching for him as another.

"I should have kept a better eye on him Lorne."

"Don't worry. We'll find him." They walked on, Angel worrying the whole time.

Connor had taken Justine back to his old place, which wasn't much more than a shack. He'd tied her hands behind her back, warning her that if she tried to escape that she'd feel a blade in her back. Once he tied her up he shoved her down against a wall where she looked at him hatefully.

"So why did you get involved in this Justine?"

"Because all vampires are demons who deserve to die!" she snapped angrily.

"My fath- Holtz wasn't a vampire."

"It was a part of the new plan."

"What was the plan Justine? Tell me. All of it." Justine narrowed her eyes and didn't answer. Connor came over to her and sliced her leg with the dagger, she gasped a little. He cut her several times on each leg before she gave in.

"All right I'll tell you!" He stopped and leaned back, watching her. "Angel killed his family you know, years and years ago. Angel and Darla both. They killed his wife and baby and turned his daughter into a vampire. She was just a little girl. So Holtz made a deal with a demon that he'd be able to return in the future to get his revenge on them. He went after them."

The dagger Connor held shook a little. Angel had said he and Darla had killed his family but hadn't given him any details about it. "Go on."

"A vampire killed my sister. I learned about them. They have no souls. They're demons. They just want to kill and feed and hurt. I met Holtz. I learned of his plan of revenge. He gathered others and I was one of them. The others deserted later, the cowards. He had the plan to take you away from Angel. Angel took his family so he would take his. He planned to kill them both at first, but Darla died then you were born, and he decided that this plan was better. When Wesley found some prophecy it was perfect. We used that."

Connor fiddled with the dagger, wiping off the blood, keeping his face expressionless. She watched him warily but kept going.

"Holtz beat me up some so that Wesley would feel sorry for me. I made him think that I was planning on deserting Holtz. When he got you I took him by surprise and got you away from him. He said that we would be a family. He would marry me and we'd raise you like you were our own son. We'd continue to fight and kill vampires together…"

"You tried to kill Wesley. He wasn't a vampire."

"He was in the way. He was trying to protect one. He deserves what he got."

"I wonder if you'd survive it if I cut your throat the way you did his."

She froze for a moment then looked at him coolly. He looked back at her just as coolly.

"Angel and a few others followed us in the car after I got to him. We were trapped by all these vans. We got out and I tried to jump Angel but he threw me aside. Holtz had grabbed you. There were lots of people. They wanted you for some reason. This demon showed up wanting to kill you. He opened up a portal threatening to make it swallow all of us. Holtz jumped in and the demon made it shut."

"And after we came back?"

"Holtz looked so much older. He knew he couldn't carry out the rest of the plan unless I helped him. He asked me to kill him that way. He wanted me to."

"So that I would think Angel did it. So I would want revenge on him."

"Yes. Really I don't see why you'd be upset. Better to be raised by Holtz then a vampire, some demon."

"He has a soul now. He didn't then. He's not really a demon anymore…"

"Oh he'd just like people to THINK he's not. He deserved everything we did to him. Listen to me Connor. We can still kill him, or do other things to him. We can still work as a team."

Connor backhanded her across the face and her head hit the wall so hard it knocked her out. He got some more rope and then picked her up carrying her towards the ocean. Once there he tied her securely to nearly the top of a post holding up a pier, then he stood there waiting.

When Justine woke up she looked about in confusion. There was a bump on the back of her head and a bruise starting to spread along the right side of her face. "What's going on? What are you doing?"

"You messed with my life Justine, so now I'm messing with yours. You're nearly at the top of the pier so if you're lucky the tide may not reach you. Maybe someone will even find you, who knows? If they don't you may end up drowning, or dying of hunger, or maybe some ocean creature will find you a good meal. No telling really. I bet the salt water won't feel very good on those cuts either."

Justine squirmed as the ocean spray hit her legs, it stung painfully, and the tide was starting to come in. "Connor, we worked together, we were a team. I mean come on, you aren't really going to do this…"

He turned and walked away, feeling a measure of grim satisfaction, still hearing Justine's shrieks.

"Connor? You're not really going to just leave me here! Connor come back! Connor wait! CONNOR!"

To Be Continued…