Title: Saving Connor (ok, not especially creative, but I couldn't think of
anything better)
Author: Kat
Distribution: Go ahead, I guess. Just ask first, please.
Feedback: No feedback, no more chapters. Ok, that's a lie, cause I'd keep writing anyway, but it makes me happy. Just don't be nasty, or I'll cry.
Summery: This is what I think happens after 'Sleep Tight', when Holtz takes Connor through a portal to the Quortoth, the darkest of the dark worlds. Can't tell you anything else, I don't want to spoil anything. *G*
Disclaimer: Not mine. Joss created them And then he messed with their lives and separated soul-mates and tortured them and hurt them and we hate him for what he's done to our beloved characters… Ok, done ranting. For now. Anyway, they're Joss's to hurt if he wants to. And then I write fic to make it all better.
Dedication: For everyone who was traumatized by 'Sleep Tight', who has "May the Powers That Be protect little Connor" written on their IM away messages and scribbled on their notebooks, or who just thinks Angel's been through too much and deserves a little happiness.
*******************************************************************
Wesley, bleeding; dying. Angel, moaning in an alley, surrounded by fire. And Connor… she couldn't feel Connor. Oh, God, she couldn't feel Connor. She'd never noticed that she could always sense him before, but now that she couldn't, it was like a gaping hole. "Gru, we have to get back. NOW!"
****************************************
Angel rolled over, debating the merits of getting out of the sun. He had been watching it rise for some time now. Funny, it'd been so long since he saw a sunrise; he didn't remember them taking this long. The sun had crept up over the top of the warehouse, exposing first his foot, then his leg, then his other foot to it's burning rays. Soon it would reach his hands, and they would start to burn. He was surprised his feet weren't burning already. They had been in the sun for what felt like hours. They were beginning to hurt, but were a far cry from crispy, and that bothered him. For the millionth time, he snarled at the little voice in his head that told him to get out of the sun, his son needed him. 'Connor's gone!' he told the voice. 'I can't help him now.' The sun was moving too damn slow. He thought of speeding the process, but couldn't quite summon the will to move further out of the shadow in which he had been laying since he watched his world collapse around him the night before. 'I should have done something' he told the annoying voice in his head. He had been arguing with it all night. He idly wondered if this meant he was crazy. Probably. He didn't care. Not that it mattered one way or another. No one would ever have a chance to find out if he was still in his right mind or not, since he would be nothing more than a pile of ash in a few minutes. Or a few decades, the way the sun was currently moving. Did shadows always move so slowly?
No, apparently not, since one had just moved rather rapidly to cover his feet. He looked up in annoyance, game face on. "You're blocking my light!" he snarled at… "Faith?"
The slayer smiled. "You know, I seem to remember you don't tan well, regardless."
Angel growled. "Go away. I don't even care why you're here, just go away."
Faith looked thoughtful. "You know, I could do that. And you'd just lay there until the sun came up, and you'd be a hunk of burning love for a couple of seconds, and then I'd have to tell Buffy I watched her boyfriend die. What's behind door number 2?"
"There is no door number 2. If you don't move, I will." He started to get up, and collapsed as Faith kicked him in the temple. She grimaced as she dragged him into the warehouse. "I'll move."
****************************************
Gru was worried. The last coherent thing his princess had said to him was that they had to get back to LA. He managed to get her back to the bus station they had stopped at when they arrived, but he wasn't sure what to do after that. Cordelia wasn't much help. All she would do was stare into space and mutter about somebody being gone. Gru wasn't even sure she knew he was there.
****************************************
When Angel woke up, he was chained to a support beam. No way was he going anywhere anytime soon. He roared his displeasure to the Powers That Be. How could they allow this to happen? Why hadn't he been allowed to die for his son? Why couldn't he have saved him? Connor was a miracle; he never should have existed. How could the Powers allow him to be born, and then let him die? Was it a cruel, twisted cosmic joke at his expense? Give him a son, let him love him, then take him away. Angel's tears ran hot and fast as he sobbed, still in game face. A vampire crying; surely not a common sight, but he was in too much pain to shift to human form, and in too much pain to hold back the tears.
Faith ached for him, as she watched from the shadows. Tears in those golden eyes, eyes that were somehow even more soulful than his human brown; what in hell could have caused this? He'd waited for sunrise once before, but even then, she didn't think he had wanted it this much, only felt that it was right. This time, he had wanted to burn. And she burned too, burned with the desire to beat whomever had done this to him to a bloody living pulp. She shuddered as the desire to hurt rose within her, a desire she had thought conquered forever. And she knew. She couldn't help him. Much as she wanted to, there was nothing more she could do but watch him and hope Buffy came soon.
****************************************
Tara sat on the bus beside Buffy, wanting to ask, but unsure whether that would set her friend off again. She had answered the phone to hear only silence at the other end, and then only his name, over and over and over… She was still sitting on the floor next to the receiver she'd eventually dropped when Tara got to her house and let herself in. She'd been stunned by the pain and fear in Buffy's face. It warred with the emptiness Tara could sense inside, the shock that had driven everything else away. After an hour of soothing incense and coaxing, Buffy had calmed down enough to explain what had happened. Briefly. Faith called. Angel needed her. The next bus to LA was in half an hour (by that time, they had missed it and had to wait another hour). And she wanted Tara to come along.
Tara wasn't sure why she was wanted, but the pleading look in Buffy's half-wild eyes made her decision for her. She had to go, if only to look after Buffy. The Slayer who was always so strong was teetering on the brink of collapse, and, although she seemed to be more in control now, Tara dreaded the horrible emptiness that had consumed her friend when she had first arrived. So, she called Willow to let her know what was going on, threw a couple of Buffy's things as well as her own in a suitcase, and took Buffy to the bus stop. She didn't know what could possibly have happened to leave Buffy so… blank. Yes, that was it. It was like there was nothing there to feel the emotions Tara knew were trying to overwhelm her. What she felt when she walked in the door; it was almost as if Buffy wasn't there at all. As if her soul had gone elsewhere, fleeing the pain and fear. Whatever it was, Tara was almost glad she didn't know about it. Someone had to be functional, and if whatever had happened had brought Buffy to this… Tara wasn't sure she could handle knowing.
Author: Kat
Distribution: Go ahead, I guess. Just ask first, please.
Feedback: No feedback, no more chapters. Ok, that's a lie, cause I'd keep writing anyway, but it makes me happy. Just don't be nasty, or I'll cry.
Summery: This is what I think happens after 'Sleep Tight', when Holtz takes Connor through a portal to the Quortoth, the darkest of the dark worlds. Can't tell you anything else, I don't want to spoil anything. *G*
Disclaimer: Not mine. Joss created them And then he messed with their lives and separated soul-mates and tortured them and hurt them and we hate him for what he's done to our beloved characters… Ok, done ranting. For now. Anyway, they're Joss's to hurt if he wants to. And then I write fic to make it all better.
Dedication: For everyone who was traumatized by 'Sleep Tight', who has "May the Powers That Be protect little Connor" written on their IM away messages and scribbled on their notebooks, or who just thinks Angel's been through too much and deserves a little happiness.
*******************************************************************
Wesley, bleeding; dying. Angel, moaning in an alley, surrounded by fire. And Connor… she couldn't feel Connor. Oh, God, she couldn't feel Connor. She'd never noticed that she could always sense him before, but now that she couldn't, it was like a gaping hole. "Gru, we have to get back. NOW!"
****************************************
Angel rolled over, debating the merits of getting out of the sun. He had been watching it rise for some time now. Funny, it'd been so long since he saw a sunrise; he didn't remember them taking this long. The sun had crept up over the top of the warehouse, exposing first his foot, then his leg, then his other foot to it's burning rays. Soon it would reach his hands, and they would start to burn. He was surprised his feet weren't burning already. They had been in the sun for what felt like hours. They were beginning to hurt, but were a far cry from crispy, and that bothered him. For the millionth time, he snarled at the little voice in his head that told him to get out of the sun, his son needed him. 'Connor's gone!' he told the voice. 'I can't help him now.' The sun was moving too damn slow. He thought of speeding the process, but couldn't quite summon the will to move further out of the shadow in which he had been laying since he watched his world collapse around him the night before. 'I should have done something' he told the annoying voice in his head. He had been arguing with it all night. He idly wondered if this meant he was crazy. Probably. He didn't care. Not that it mattered one way or another. No one would ever have a chance to find out if he was still in his right mind or not, since he would be nothing more than a pile of ash in a few minutes. Or a few decades, the way the sun was currently moving. Did shadows always move so slowly?
No, apparently not, since one had just moved rather rapidly to cover his feet. He looked up in annoyance, game face on. "You're blocking my light!" he snarled at… "Faith?"
The slayer smiled. "You know, I seem to remember you don't tan well, regardless."
Angel growled. "Go away. I don't even care why you're here, just go away."
Faith looked thoughtful. "You know, I could do that. And you'd just lay there until the sun came up, and you'd be a hunk of burning love for a couple of seconds, and then I'd have to tell Buffy I watched her boyfriend die. What's behind door number 2?"
"There is no door number 2. If you don't move, I will." He started to get up, and collapsed as Faith kicked him in the temple. She grimaced as she dragged him into the warehouse. "I'll move."
****************************************
Gru was worried. The last coherent thing his princess had said to him was that they had to get back to LA. He managed to get her back to the bus station they had stopped at when they arrived, but he wasn't sure what to do after that. Cordelia wasn't much help. All she would do was stare into space and mutter about somebody being gone. Gru wasn't even sure she knew he was there.
****************************************
When Angel woke up, he was chained to a support beam. No way was he going anywhere anytime soon. He roared his displeasure to the Powers That Be. How could they allow this to happen? Why hadn't he been allowed to die for his son? Why couldn't he have saved him? Connor was a miracle; he never should have existed. How could the Powers allow him to be born, and then let him die? Was it a cruel, twisted cosmic joke at his expense? Give him a son, let him love him, then take him away. Angel's tears ran hot and fast as he sobbed, still in game face. A vampire crying; surely not a common sight, but he was in too much pain to shift to human form, and in too much pain to hold back the tears.
Faith ached for him, as she watched from the shadows. Tears in those golden eyes, eyes that were somehow even more soulful than his human brown; what in hell could have caused this? He'd waited for sunrise once before, but even then, she didn't think he had wanted it this much, only felt that it was right. This time, he had wanted to burn. And she burned too, burned with the desire to beat whomever had done this to him to a bloody living pulp. She shuddered as the desire to hurt rose within her, a desire she had thought conquered forever. And she knew. She couldn't help him. Much as she wanted to, there was nothing more she could do but watch him and hope Buffy came soon.
****************************************
Tara sat on the bus beside Buffy, wanting to ask, but unsure whether that would set her friend off again. She had answered the phone to hear only silence at the other end, and then only his name, over and over and over… She was still sitting on the floor next to the receiver she'd eventually dropped when Tara got to her house and let herself in. She'd been stunned by the pain and fear in Buffy's face. It warred with the emptiness Tara could sense inside, the shock that had driven everything else away. After an hour of soothing incense and coaxing, Buffy had calmed down enough to explain what had happened. Briefly. Faith called. Angel needed her. The next bus to LA was in half an hour (by that time, they had missed it and had to wait another hour). And she wanted Tara to come along.
Tara wasn't sure why she was wanted, but the pleading look in Buffy's half-wild eyes made her decision for her. She had to go, if only to look after Buffy. The Slayer who was always so strong was teetering on the brink of collapse, and, although she seemed to be more in control now, Tara dreaded the horrible emptiness that had consumed her friend when she had first arrived. So, she called Willow to let her know what was going on, threw a couple of Buffy's things as well as her own in a suitcase, and took Buffy to the bus stop. She didn't know what could possibly have happened to leave Buffy so… blank. Yes, that was it. It was like there was nothing there to feel the emotions Tara knew were trying to overwhelm her. What she felt when she walked in the door; it was almost as if Buffy wasn't there at all. As if her soul had gone elsewhere, fleeing the pain and fear. Whatever it was, Tara was almost glad she didn't know about it. Someone had to be functional, and if whatever had happened had brought Buffy to this… Tara wasn't sure she could handle knowing.