Chapter Two



I



Connor glared up at the sky. He had never seen a place where it rained so much. The trip from L.A. had been exhausting. He traveled most of the way by jumping trains. Sometimes when he was lucky, he'd catch a ride. When he was unlucky, he walked. He didn't have any destination in mind, just away from Angel and L.A. Now he was in this miserable city on the Great Lakes.

The chill rain soaked him to the skin. The thin jacket he had stolen from somebody's clothesline didn't help at all. He huddled closer to the grimy brick wall. It, at least it cut off a little bit on the wind that snatched and caught at him. Never before had he been so miserable. Even when he had lived in Quor-toth he had at least had a sense of being in his own element. Holtz had trained him very well to survive in that demon dimension. Holtz had been the closest thing he had known to a father. Now he was dead. Connor still could not believe that Justine had killed him.

Having nowhere to go after Holtz's death, Connor had grudgingly gone to live with Angel, even though he refused to acknowledge him as his true father. Now he didn't even have that doubtful refuge. He was all alone for the first time of his short life. Squeezing his eyes shut, Connor sank miserably to the wet ground.

Despite himself he could feel hot tears fill his eyes. He never had a mother. No one who had loved him as a mother. His mother had killed herself so that he could be born. Why did he have to be born? "Mother . . . " he half-sobbed, half-whispered.

"You okay?" came a soft voice as a slender hand grasped his shoulder.

Connor started at the touch. A pretty girl was looking down at him. She was dressed in a leather-look jacket that was far too large for her thin frame. Her hands were buried in the long sleeves of the jacket. Short hair curled damply around her ears and down the back of her neck to the collar of the jacket. She smiled encouragingly. "You need some help?" she asked shyly.

Connor shook his head. "Nobody can help me."

"Maybe I can."

He shook his head again. "No, you can't help me. Nobody can."

"I can try. Give me a chance."

"No. I'm hopeless. I'm a monster."

She gave a short laugh. "You don't look like a monster. In fact, I think you're kinda cute."

Connor turned his head away from her. "You don't know what you're dealing with," he gritted through his teeth.

The girl touched his shoulder again, "C'mon, it can't be that bad."

"No, it's worse," Connor shot back at her forcefully, turning back at her, his eyes flashing yellow in the dim light, exposing his fangs.

The girl reared back startled. "Oh my god," she whispered.

"See," he shouted at her as he rose to his feet, "This is the real me. I'm a horrible monster. Run away before I hurt you."

The girl stepped cautiously up to him. "Do you really want to hurt me?" she asked.

Suddenly deflated, Connor hung his head. "No," he said barely above a whisper.

The girl walked up to him. She pressed a warm, dry hand against his face, caressing it. "I've seen worse monsters than you," she said wistfully.

Connor glanced into her eyes.

She gave him a soft, sad smile, "Not all monsters are ugly on the outside. Take my father, for instance, he was a lot worse than you."

At Connor's confused look, she said, "Come with me, and I'll tell you all about it."

II



Angel glared over Fred's shoulder as she scrolled through the police files on her computer. "Have you turned up anything yet?"

"Nope," she replied, "I wish we had Wesley helping. Maybe he could find something."

"Don't even mention his name," Angel angrily snapped.

"Sorry," Fred said meekly.

The closing of the front door and the sound of footsteps caught Angel's attention. He ran to the front door. "Connor," he said hopefully.

"Oh, it's you," he said disappointedly, seeing the green-skinned demon nattily dressed in a purple suit standing in the hotel's lobby.

"Well, great, that's the way to greet a long lost friend who has some information you might need. But if that's the way you're going to act, I'll leave right now," Loren said as he turned back towards the door.

"Hold it right there, Loren," Angel bit out, "What the hell are you talking about?"

Loren shrugged. "I just thought you might be in interested in some information about your little lost lamb."

"Tell me. Now."

Loren again shrugged, "It's just that there's this guy who's been wanting to see you. I thought you might be interested."

"About Connor?"

"So he tells me."

"Where is he?"

"Just out the door."

"Then let him in," Angel said sharply through a forced smile.

Loren opened the door, "It's cool, man, c'mon in."

A slender dread-locked black man slouched into the hotel's lobby. He glanced at Angel, making a peace sign. "Peace to the world, mon," he said in a heavy Jamaican accent. He removed his dark sunglasses and looked around the lobby with an approving nod. "Nice digs, mon," he said turning to face Angel with a broad white-toothed grin.

Angel was startled to find that the man's eyes were totally black. Looking into his eyes was like falling into eternity.

"Uh, Angel, sweetheart, I think you better come back to us, now," echoed Loren's voice, pulling Angel away from the bottomless well of the Jamaican's eyes.

"Yeah, right," Angel finally said after a few more brief moments.

"This here's Jimmy Sears. He's been asking around for you."

Jimmy replaced his sunglasses, then extended his hand. "Nice to meet you, mon. I hear good things about you. Some people call you the Champion."

"Thanks. Loren says you've been looking for me?"

"That I have. I hear your son has disappeared."

"He has. Do you know where he is?"

"Yeah, I think he's up near around Detroit City. There's a bad scene happening around there."

"What do you mean?"

Jimmy made himself comfortable on the large circular couch in the middle of the lobby. "Have you ever wondered why there aren't demons and vampires all over the world? After all there's only one Slayer. Why hasn't the world been taken over by all these nasty types?" Jimmy leaned back, warming to his tale. "I'll tell you why. It's like there's this kind of magical magnet. Demons and stuff are attracted to certain places where there's lots of this mystical energy. In these places the barriers between the dimensions are very thin. You know, like L.A., Sunnydale. Some places have a lot, most places don't. That's good. Problem is, things change. Your boy is at the center of a really big change that's a comin'. It can be for good, or it can be for bad. It all depends on him."

"So what do I need to do?" Angel asked.

"Well, there's one more thing you gotta know. In this here city there's a hero. He goes by the name of Green Hornet. Most people think he's some kind of criminal. He ain't though. So you gotta work with him to save your kid. 'Cause if you don't, there's this vampire chick who's quite fond of the idea of a second hell mouth in the good ol' USA. And your boy's gonna be one who's gonna open it. That is if he turns to the dark side. You know like that Darth Vader dude."

"So I have to go to Detroit and find this Green Hornet guy."

"That's about right, mon," Jimmy said rising to his feet and heading for the door.

"But how will I find him?"

Removing his sunglasses, Jimmy turned to face Angel, with a broad delighted grin, he said, "Don't worry, mon. He'll find you."