Chapter 4

The group gathered at the Sixth Street Bridge as soon as the sun set. They had decided that if the portal could be opened, Angel, Gunn and the Grooselug would be the ones to go through and attempt to find Holtz and Connor. It had been about twenty-four hours since Connor had disappeared into the open maw of the portal, and there was no way of knowing how much time had passed in the other dimension, or indeed if any time had passed at all. Groo was wearing his Pylean skins, as he felt more comfortable fighting in them then in Angel's clothing. He, Angel and Gunn were heavily armed with swords and knives. Angel had warned them that it was more than possible that the weapons would not pass through the portal, but they might as well prepare for the best, while expecting the worst.

Angel could not be talked out of going, even though he had no way of knowing if he would be leaping into daylight or some other vampire hostile environment. In Pylea it had only been dumb luck that the sun hadn't been lethal, but who knew what lay beyond this portal. Gunn and Groo were also aware of the risks, as the environment might not only be hostile to vampires. They were heading into the total unknown.

Fred clung to Gunn, begging him to be careful. He promised her and kissed her goodbye, as though he might never see her again. The Grooselug was a bit more stoical, as he felt befitted a warrior. He kissed Cordelia lightly and strode towards the jump-off point. Angel took one look at Cordy and Groo and shot a glance at Lorne who rolled his eyes. At the last moment, Cordy ran up to Angel.

"Hey! You be careful, okay?" she said and kissed him quickly on the lips, "You will get Connor back. I know you will!" she said and stepped back. Angel looked after her intently for a moment and then turned away.

Not wanting to use Angel's car this time, they decided to keep in constant contact so as not to get separated in transit. They gripped hands tightly and Angel spoke the words that Sahjhan had used; " Lekko Najine Forkahdio!"

They waited, looking up into the starry sky.

"Lekko Najine Forkahdio!" Angel shouted again.

Nothing happened. Lorne stepped up to the three warriors and shouted the words in a loud voice, but there was no result, except to cause a few passersby to look at the strange ensemble with curiosity. However, since this was Los Angeles, the sight of a bizarre group of people shouting unintelligible words into the sky was hardly worth noticing.

After several attempts by each member of the group, it was obvious that either there was no portal there, or they lacked the wherewithal to open it. Defeated and discouraged, and with a sense of anti-climax, they climbed back into Angel's car and headed back to the hotel.

"Well, we gave it a good shot," said Lorne, patting Angel on the shoulder as they walked into the hotel.

"We failed."

"I'm sure I got the right words. But there must be more to opening the portal than that."

Angel pounded his fist angrily on the back of a chair. "Sahjhan has power! He leaps through time and dimensions like they were subway stops. That's why he can open the portal and we can't. For all we know, that incantation only meant something like, 'Ha ha you suckers!'"

"Ha Ha you suckers. Not quite, but close." Said an amused voice from the reception desk.

Everybody turned around to see Sahjhan himself sitting on the counter. At least he appeared to do so since his body was not corporeal in this dimension. He surveyed the crowd calmly.

"This is Sahjhan," said Angel to the gang by way of introduction.

"Yeah, we pretty much figured that one out," replied Gunn.

The Grooselug raised his sword threateningly. "Is this the being who stole your child?"

"Down boy, "said Angel to Groo, "Your sword can't hurt him. He didn't steal Connor. He is impotent in this dimension which is why he has to recruit others to do his dirty work. He is obviously just here to gloat."

"How is Connor? Is he even still alive? Do you know?" asked Cordelia imploringly, looking in vain for some sign of compassion in the scarred face.

"And would I tell you if I did?" countered Sahjhan, "What kind of revenge would that be?"

Cordelia went over to Angel and put her hand on his shoulder. "I think he is still alive." She said.

"And what makes you so sure?" Sahjhan bristled.

"Well, it would certainly make better revenge to tell us he was dead, then to tell us that you're not going to tell us."

"Oh. Good point." Sahjhan studied Cordelia for a moment and turned to Angel. "Now I see why that lawyer didn't interest you. She was a bitch, anyway. Too bad, though. I couldn't help but notice that this one is involved…elsewhere."

"Look, Sahjhan," Angel burst out, "Was there a point to this little visit? If you're not going to help us find Holtz and get Connor back then get out!"

"Oh, but this is the best part, watching you fume impotently!"

Angel turned on him suddenly, eyes blazing, "For God's sake, what did I do to you? I don't remember! But whatever I did, it must have been over a century ago. I know how evil I was then. But I have changed. I have a soul now. I've spent many, many years trying to make reparations. I know I can't undo the wrong I've done, but I will be happy to make any amends to you that I can. Just tell me!"

"So, you have a soul, hmmm?" Sahjhan didn't even flinch when Angel advanced upon him.

"He does, "spoke up Cordelia, "and he has been helping people and fighting evil for years now. He isn't the monster he was back then."

"So a soul makes all the difference then, does it?" asked Sahjhan.

"Yes, it does," answered Cordelia staunchly.

"Well," said Sahjhan, " Then you might be interested to know that what Angel did to me…he did with a soul." And with an ironic salute Sahjhan was gone.

There was a stunned silence.

Gunn was the first to break it. "Funny…he didn't look like a lawyer."

Angel glared at him. Fred quickly went over and put her arm around him, protectively. Gunn continued, undaunted, "Just sayin'….he could've been involved with Wolfram and Hart in some way."

"Or any of the demons we've killed over the past three years." added Cordelia.

"I don't remember him or anyone like him at Wolfram and Hart. And all those demons we killed were hurting people, more or less. We fought them for a reason. Why would he hold a grudge about something like that? We were just doing our job."

"Maybe it's something from back in Ireland when you were a young man, before you were changed," This was Lorne.

"Well, I may not have been a sterling human being, but aside from knocking up a couple of parlor maids, I don't know that I did anything unforgivable."

Cordelia raised her eyebrows at the parlor maids remark, but said nothing.

"I think that we're wastin' precious time, trying to solve this mystery," said Fred, "We should be figurin' how to get Connor back."

"That's my girl," said Gunn, "She's right. Whatever you did to him is done. All we can do now, is deal with it."

"Maybe we'd better hit the books...see if there is some kind of magic skeleton key that will open portals into different dimensions. I sure wish W…" Fred stopped speaking abruptly before mentioning Wesley's name, but everybody knew what she meant.

"Skeleton key, " Angel muttered thoughtfully. Suddenly he looked at Cordelia. "Cordy, do you remember Buffy's sister Dawn?"

Cordelia rolled her eyes. "Scrawny Dawny? I sure do. She had this giant crush on Xander, who was my boyfriend by the way, and she used to follow us around all the time, trying to be part of that stupid Scooby gang of ours. Of theirs." She looked at Fred, "But she did have great hair, I'll give her that." She turned back to Angel," What about her?"

"Is that all you remember about her?"

"Oh, but wait..." Cordy shook her head, looking confused, "None of that was real, right? All that stuff I remember. " She looked at the others, "All those memories were implanted by monks or something like that," she finished lamely.

"That's right, "explained Angel to his somewhat confused friends, "As Willow explained it to me, Dawn was only made into human form about a year and a half ago. Then memories about her were implanted into everybody who knew Buffy or her family. But in her original form she was some kind of…"

"Dimensional key," finished Lorne. "You told me about this once."

"A key?" asked Gunn.

"Between dimensions? " continued Fred, and "Then she should be able to open the portal, right?"

"Wait a minute," said Cordelia, "I hate to burst everybody's bubble here, but didn't Buffy die to prevent her sister being bled to death by some crazy bitch Hellgoddess who wanted to use her as a key? Hello. I don't think so."

"Well, I certainly wasn't about to suggest bleeding Dawn. If she has power, perhaps she could open the portal just by saying the incantation. But it doesn't matter. I'm not going to ask her anyway."

Cordelia stared at Angel who was suddenly looking extremely uncomfortable, "Why not? Sunnydale is only a couple of hours away. I'm sure Buffy wouldn't mind having Dawn at least try this for you. As long as no bleeding is involved."

"Sure, "said Gunn. " She was your girlfriend, right? And you two are still on friendly terms, aren't you? You did hightail it down there to see her when she came back from the dead."

"I…I know ..But she's probably got a lot on her mind, is all. She doesn't need to come all the way down here to help me get, uh, my son back. We can solve this on our own. Let's hit the books!"

"Angel!" Cordelia was looking him in the eye. "She doesn't know, does she?"

"Look, Cordy, I don't want to talk about it."

Cordelia grabbed Angel's hand and turned to the gang, "Excuse us for a moment."

The Grooselug, who had been too confused to comment during the entire discussion, stood up to protest, but Cordy signaled him to sit back down, which he did. She pulled Angel into Wesley's office and closed the door.

"She doesn't know about you and Darla and the baby, does she?"

"Well, um, no, actually. I didn't know about it, about the baby that is, when I went to see her, and I didn't see any reason to make a big announcement about it afterwards."

Cordelia shook her head sadly, "You're still afraid of her aren't you? The almighty wrath of Buffy. I've seen it. Hell, I've experienced it! Just try running against her for homecoming queen! You just didn't want to tell her that you risked your soul having sex with Darla and now have a son to show for it. Coward!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not. Listen, Cordy. I saw her after she came back. You didn't. She was…shell shocked is the best term I can think of. "

"But that was months ago. I'm sure she's fine now. She bounces back. She's a great…bouncer."

"Well, I didn't want to add to her problems, is all."

"Uh huh. And the fact that you left her because you couldn't offer her a normal life with a picket fence and children, and then you come here and suddenly poof…you're Mr. Family Man. That has nothing to do with it, I suppose."

"I don't want to hurt her."

"Angel. You've been gone for, what, three years now? We know that she's had at least one serious boyfriend since then. Maybe more. Do you think she's still pining away for you, waiting for you to change your mind and come back?"

"No, you're right."

"And what's more, do you think that she expects you to be living the life of a monk all these years?"

"Well, actually yes."

"Hmmm. Point taken. Listen, Angel. This is too important to let this stuff stand in the way. You do want Connor back don't you?"

Angel gripped Cordelia's shoulders, "Yes, more than anything. You're right. It is stupid to worry about how Buffy is going to react when we have a chance to save him."

"Listen, Angel. Would you like me to call her? Woman to woman? I can make it easier for you."

Angel's face lit up, "Would you Cordy?"

Cordelia smiled at Angel. "You are so funny. You will gladly walk into the fire for your son, or for any of us. But ask you to call an old girlfriend and you turn into mush. No problem, Angel."

"Thanks, Cordelia, you're a real friend."

Together they walked back into the lobby.

TBC