Title: Saving Connor
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.
Author's Note: I just wanted to let everyone who read this when the first two chapters were posted in the wrong order know; it's not supposed to be like that. That was the first time I'd posted more than one chapter, and I was still figuring it out. Hopefully, now that I am a veteran new-chapter- poster with one crisis under my belt, I will be able to get this one up where it's supposed to be the first time. ::fingers crossed:: Just in case- this is chapter 3.
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.
*******************************************************************
Angel had finally decided how he was going to deal with the indignity of being chained up in a warehouse instead of being allowed to die peacefully, alone with his misery. He was going to sulk. Although he had thought of a good comeback for Faith's parting quip almost as soon as the door closed behind her, he was not going to use it. His misery-numbed brain had latched onto the age-old hope that if he ignored her, maybe she would go away. He could probably die of starvation after a while. Or maybe a meteor would come crashing through the ceiling and crush him. Or maybe there would be a fire. Or maybe… his melancholy would be interrupted by an annoyingly cheerful Slayer. He refused to look up when he heard her come in.
"Hi, honey, I'm home!" Faith sang out. "And I brought you a present."
Angel refused to be bribed into acknowledging her presence. He stared determinedly at a crack in the floor, ignoring her as she bated him. He wouldn't give in. She was trying to make him look up, but he wouldn't let her have that satisfaction. She had no control over him.
"Angel!" Faith was right beside him now. "Look at me!"
'No, never!' Angel thought gleefully, almost childishly. 'You can't make me. You have no control!' He was dimly aware of Faith talking to him, but he was sliding rapidly away into his misery, humiliation, and determination to wrest some vestige of power from his captor.
****************************************
Faith finally lost her temper. She had left Buffy in the cab, figuring it would be better for both former lovers if they were brought together with full knowledge of the other's presence. And when one of them didn't have to be chained to a beam. But first she had to get Angel to listen to her long enough to tell him Buffy was here. And she was out of things to say. So she stopped talking. She calmly took off her cross and laid it on the back of Angel's neck.
****************************************
Buffy moved for the first time since climbing, in a zombie-like daze, into the cab. She had been as preoccupied as she was on the bus all the way to the warehouse, and hadn't given any indication that she heard when Faith said she was going to get Angel. Now, in a matter of seconds, she was out of the cab, across the alley, and tearing open the door to the warehouse, all before Tara had a chance to recover from the soul-rending cry of pain that had pierced both the air and her mental shields.
****************************************
Angel thrashed like a furious animal as the cross burned his skin. Resolve not to look up forgotten, indeed, most of his thoughts and memories forgotten as his battered and weary human soul yielded control to the demon within, he growled at the girl who dared pile added hurts on top of the pain of losing Connor.
****************************************
Faith stepped back out of range as Angel lunged at her, wild-eyed and snarling. She smiled sardonically as she refastened her cross around her neck. Well, she'd wanted him to look at her. He was certainly looking at her now. Good thing he was chained; she had never seen Angelus, but this was certainly not Angel. Not even at his most moody and snappish. Well, whoever he was, she had his full attention. Hopefully Angel wasn't buried too deeply to comprehend what she was telling him.
She had gotten only a few words out before the wildness died and he was obviously Angel again, his pain filled face looking up at her. His mouth worked, and eventually he managed to form a single word. "Buffy."
****************************************
She appeared in the doorway, searching frantically for him in the darkness of the warehouse with eyes that had not had time to adjust to the gloom. Angel came back to himself with a start, and immediately wished to be able to distance himself again. This was too much. There was no need for the Powers to torture him like this. He had been their faithful servant for years, jumping when they said "jump," going where they asked him to go, doing what they asked him to do. Then they took his son from him. Then they refused to let him burn and end the sorrow. Then they brought in an apparition of his love to torment him. That was just too much. But the apparition had seen him at last and was running towards him.
****************************************
Tara made it to the warehouse just in time to see Buffy launch herself at Faith. She quickly gestured and a wall of energy sprang up between the two. "Teilung!" Buffy hit the barrier, which gave to absorb the energy of her charge, and bounced softly off onto the ground. Faith, who had turned at Tara's shout, had been too stunned by the suddenness of Buffy's attack to do more than gape at the approaching girl. Buffy, her momentum broken, seemed pretty stunned herself.
****************************************
The first thing that had penetrated Buffy's numb brain since she had answered the phone and heard Faith's voice on the other end, telling her Angel needed her, was the sight of him, in chains. With Faith standing calmly talking to him. Add that to the scream that had tugged at her soul, and she had just reacted. Now, as she lay on the cold concrete floor of the warehouse, other memories began to drift back. Faith saying he'd been waiting for the sunrise when she found him. That she'd had to chain him up to keep him alive. Buffy hazily conceded that she should probably apologize. But with the realization that her attack on Faith was unwarranted had come another realization. She rolled over and climbed wearily to her feet.
The whole world seemed to move in slow motion as she turned to face him. Angel's eyes held disbelief, the look of one who has been through so much pain, he can no longer hope that anything he wants to be real is not just one more cruel trick of the gods. Her heart broke for him; she wanted to go to him, to hold him and soothe away his pain. But she couldn't seem to move. And as she stared into his lost, hopeless eyes, they began to change. Some of the fierceness faded, and she could see her Angel there now, not just a wild, desperate man with nothing left to cling to. She could be his anchor now. Her beloved's lips moved, sounded her name, barely audible even to her. And then the crucial moment was past and she could move, and he was in her arms, sobbing. She knew there were things he hadn't told her, things she could hardly believe he'd done, and she pushed aside the rage that rose in her at the thought. Anger could come later. Right now, her soul's other half was in unbearable pain. She would help him through it. And she would HURT the bastards who had done this to him!
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.
Author's Note: I just wanted to let everyone who read this when the first two chapters were posted in the wrong order know; it's not supposed to be like that. That was the first time I'd posted more than one chapter, and I was still figuring it out. Hopefully, now that I am a veteran new-chapter- poster with one crisis under my belt, I will be able to get this one up where it's supposed to be the first time. ::fingers crossed:: Just in case- this is chapter 3.
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.
*******************************************************************
Angel had finally decided how he was going to deal with the indignity of being chained up in a warehouse instead of being allowed to die peacefully, alone with his misery. He was going to sulk. Although he had thought of a good comeback for Faith's parting quip almost as soon as the door closed behind her, he was not going to use it. His misery-numbed brain had latched onto the age-old hope that if he ignored her, maybe she would go away. He could probably die of starvation after a while. Or maybe a meteor would come crashing through the ceiling and crush him. Or maybe there would be a fire. Or maybe… his melancholy would be interrupted by an annoyingly cheerful Slayer. He refused to look up when he heard her come in.
"Hi, honey, I'm home!" Faith sang out. "And I brought you a present."
Angel refused to be bribed into acknowledging her presence. He stared determinedly at a crack in the floor, ignoring her as she bated him. He wouldn't give in. She was trying to make him look up, but he wouldn't let her have that satisfaction. She had no control over him.
"Angel!" Faith was right beside him now. "Look at me!"
'No, never!' Angel thought gleefully, almost childishly. 'You can't make me. You have no control!' He was dimly aware of Faith talking to him, but he was sliding rapidly away into his misery, humiliation, and determination to wrest some vestige of power from his captor.
****************************************
Faith finally lost her temper. She had left Buffy in the cab, figuring it would be better for both former lovers if they were brought together with full knowledge of the other's presence. And when one of them didn't have to be chained to a beam. But first she had to get Angel to listen to her long enough to tell him Buffy was here. And she was out of things to say. So she stopped talking. She calmly took off her cross and laid it on the back of Angel's neck.
****************************************
Buffy moved for the first time since climbing, in a zombie-like daze, into the cab. She had been as preoccupied as she was on the bus all the way to the warehouse, and hadn't given any indication that she heard when Faith said she was going to get Angel. Now, in a matter of seconds, she was out of the cab, across the alley, and tearing open the door to the warehouse, all before Tara had a chance to recover from the soul-rending cry of pain that had pierced both the air and her mental shields.
****************************************
Angel thrashed like a furious animal as the cross burned his skin. Resolve not to look up forgotten, indeed, most of his thoughts and memories forgotten as his battered and weary human soul yielded control to the demon within, he growled at the girl who dared pile added hurts on top of the pain of losing Connor.
****************************************
Faith stepped back out of range as Angel lunged at her, wild-eyed and snarling. She smiled sardonically as she refastened her cross around her neck. Well, she'd wanted him to look at her. He was certainly looking at her now. Good thing he was chained; she had never seen Angelus, but this was certainly not Angel. Not even at his most moody and snappish. Well, whoever he was, she had his full attention. Hopefully Angel wasn't buried too deeply to comprehend what she was telling him.
She had gotten only a few words out before the wildness died and he was obviously Angel again, his pain filled face looking up at her. His mouth worked, and eventually he managed to form a single word. "Buffy."
****************************************
She appeared in the doorway, searching frantically for him in the darkness of the warehouse with eyes that had not had time to adjust to the gloom. Angel came back to himself with a start, and immediately wished to be able to distance himself again. This was too much. There was no need for the Powers to torture him like this. He had been their faithful servant for years, jumping when they said "jump," going where they asked him to go, doing what they asked him to do. Then they took his son from him. Then they refused to let him burn and end the sorrow. Then they brought in an apparition of his love to torment him. That was just too much. But the apparition had seen him at last and was running towards him.
****************************************
Tara made it to the warehouse just in time to see Buffy launch herself at Faith. She quickly gestured and a wall of energy sprang up between the two. "Teilung!" Buffy hit the barrier, which gave to absorb the energy of her charge, and bounced softly off onto the ground. Faith, who had turned at Tara's shout, had been too stunned by the suddenness of Buffy's attack to do more than gape at the approaching girl. Buffy, her momentum broken, seemed pretty stunned herself.
****************************************
The first thing that had penetrated Buffy's numb brain since she had answered the phone and heard Faith's voice on the other end, telling her Angel needed her, was the sight of him, in chains. With Faith standing calmly talking to him. Add that to the scream that had tugged at her soul, and she had just reacted. Now, as she lay on the cold concrete floor of the warehouse, other memories began to drift back. Faith saying he'd been waiting for the sunrise when she found him. That she'd had to chain him up to keep him alive. Buffy hazily conceded that she should probably apologize. But with the realization that her attack on Faith was unwarranted had come another realization. She rolled over and climbed wearily to her feet.
The whole world seemed to move in slow motion as she turned to face him. Angel's eyes held disbelief, the look of one who has been through so much pain, he can no longer hope that anything he wants to be real is not just one more cruel trick of the gods. Her heart broke for him; she wanted to go to him, to hold him and soothe away his pain. But she couldn't seem to move. And as she stared into his lost, hopeless eyes, they began to change. Some of the fierceness faded, and she could see her Angel there now, not just a wild, desperate man with nothing left to cling to. She could be his anchor now. Her beloved's lips moved, sounded her name, barely audible even to her. And then the crucial moment was past and she could move, and he was in her arms, sobbing. She knew there were things he hadn't told her, things she could hardly believe he'd done, and she pushed aside the rage that rose in her at the thought. Anger could come later. Right now, her soul's other half was in unbearable pain. She would help him through it. And she would HURT the bastards who had done this to him!