Title: Chained to Fate
Chapter: 3 - Darkening Days
Author: Minnie-May
Distribution: Archive permission granted to: Unnatural, WNW, Bookish, Gifted, Only Death and Destiny, Shippers United. All others please ask.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Angel (not even Wesley ;_;) they are all owned by Joss Whedon and the fine folks of Mutant Enemy…..lucky….
Summary: A dangerous prophecy is unveiled that seems to center around Connor, who is getting…mean? Sequel of sorts to Cruise Control (D/C, W/F, possibly C/A)
Rating: PG-13
Feedback: Yes please! Send to: sweet_senshi@hotmail.com
Spoilers: Buffy S6 and Angel S3 and parts of S4, since this is slightly AU
Notes: Ok this takes place directly after the events in Cruise Control. You don't have to read that fic to understand this one but they're in the same future time frame so you might wanna give it a read. And review…..^_~

A/N: Well at least this chapter was out sooner than the last one ^_^. Please leave me feedback so I know I'm not just writing this story for myself.

Chained to Fate

Chapter Three- Darkening Days

"With all the prophecies that Wesley translates you'd think he'd be a little faster at it" Connor put in irritably, continuing to pace back and forth in front of where Dawn was sprawled out on one of the sofas in the lobby. His girlfriend only gave him a placating look and shrugged her thin shoulders. Obviously she wasn't going to be able to speed up the process any.

"You should see how long Giles takes" Dawn put in helpfully, stretching out cat-like on the sofa and giving him an odd look. "He would spend days looking at these really old, musty pieces of paper. And occasionally he would go 'hmm' or 'aha' like he knew what it meant. But he didn't because he wouldn't figure out what it meant until like days afterward. I always thought he was milking it a little bit" Dawn commented, rolling her eyes.

Connor paled considerably during this monologue and was staring at her now in total horror.

"Days? This could take days?" he asked, taking a step towards her and abandoning the track he'd worn in the floor.

"Hey, don't look at me," Dawn replied in supplication.

Silence followed this exchange; Connor backed up to the opposite side of the room and kept a close watch on the door to Wesley's office. Dawn couldn't help but feel like she had said entirely the wrong thing. It seemed like she'd been doing that a lot lately tonight. She was beginning to hate the magical mood-changy cuff that was turning her boyfriend into an uptight crazy person.

Connor was standing far from Dawn across the lobby looking at the hotel that had become his home. He had so many memories in these walls it was hard to dwell on just one. There were plenty of bad memories, that was for sure. Getting half-electrocuted by Fred definitely wasn't a memory he looked at with a rosy glow. But there were other memories as well. The first time his father had given him a fighting lesson. Fred's tomato sandwiches, still a huge favorite. His unlikely friendship with Cordelia and his first crush. Finally forgiving his father and working things out. Meeting the girl that he loved.

This last memory made him glance over at Dawn out of the corner of his eye. She was staring down at her hands with a forlorn expression on her face that he was suddenly aware he had caused. He'd been so cagey lately, so ready to pounce. Connor knew that he should go over to her and try to make it right, make it better, but he just couldn't. Something within himself was holding him back from walking over to her and apologizing for being such an ass.

Dawn, however, was never one to wait when there was a matter that needed to be addressed.

"Hey" she said quietly, getting up from the sofa and crossing the room to stand beside Connor. For some reason the room seemed to be several degrees colder over here and Dawn wrapped her arms around herself to keep from shivering. Weird, she thought to herself, Connor doesn't even look cold.

"Hey" he said back, and in one motion had wrapped his arms around her small body. Dawn could no longer feel how cold it was as Connor dropped his head into her hair and half shut his eyes.

"Dawn, I'm really-" Connor began, trying to formulate the right way to apologize in his head. He had never been very good at saying I'm sorry, a trait Cordelia assured him he had inherited straight from his father.

"It's ok, I understand," Dawn cut in before Connor could fumble over an apology. He was god awful at apologizing, after their first fight he had strutted on for fifteen minutes before Dawn finally figured out that he was trying to say he was sorry. "It's been weird for everyone, but especially for you. I mean you have no idea what that thing around your wrist is, or what it can do. I understand about being scared of yourself, believe me I do. How would you like to find out you're some mystical key to a hell dimension? "

"Probably not on the top of my fun-things-to-find-out list" Connor conceded.

"Even after Glory-"Dawn had to stop here and take a big gulp of air. No matter how much time had passed since everything that had happened with Glory she still sometimes woke up screaming and crying from a nightmare about that tower. She didn't think she'd ever really be over what had happened there. Connor ran his hand through her hair soothingly and after an unsteady minute Dawn continued.

"Even after what happened…happened, I was always afraid. I would cut myself in the kitchen making dinner and I would always look over my shoulder, afraid of some portal opening up. I know what it's like to be afraid of yourself Connor but I also know that you can't shut yourself off from everything and everyone that you care about, because that just makes it worse" Dawn said softly, hoping that some of her words would get through to Connor.

Connor spun Dawn around so that they were now face to face in each other's arms, their noses only inches apart.

As they kissed Connor couldn't help but feel something horrible at the edges of his conscience-ness, something dark. Something that was telling him this might be their last kiss.

***

"So how many vampire cults do you think are livin' it up in LA?" Gunn asked, staring at the map that Angel had spread over the hood of his car. The two men were standing outside of the Hyperion and preparing to find out as much information about this vampire cult as they could. Unfortunately, neither knew where to begin looking.

"Are we talking about the whole city or just the downtown section?" Angel asked in resignation, folding up the map.

"I don't know, vamps just don't seem that organized to me" Gunn put in, then added off Angel's look, "well normal ones anyway."

"I think we should just check out the demon bars, you know the seedy underbelly of the city" Angel replied, opening one of his car doors and pulling himself behind the wheel. He turned and motioned for Gunn to follow suit but the young black man was already edging towards his car.

"Actually, why don't you check out the belly, I think I might have an idea of someone who might know the score" Gunn replied, opening his door suddenly anxious to leave.

"Well ok, if you think you know something why don't I go with you?" Angel said reasonably, opening the driver's side door to his car and beginning to hoist himself out of the vehicle.

"No!" Gunn said in alarm, a little too forcefully and suddenly. Angel was so surprised that he lost his balance half way out of the car and fell back into the driver's seat. Gunn winced and realized that he was probably acting a little more than crazy at the moment.

"I don't think it would be a good idea to bring a vamp where I'm planning to go if you know what I mean" Gunn said, leveling with Angel. He was glad that Angel knew what his crew was like, it made it easier for him to lie and get away with it.

"Well…yea" Angel hesitated, "I guess you're right. Leave your beepy thing on so I can contact you if I find anything."

"My beeper?" Gunn asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Isn't that what I just said?" Angel asked in annoyance. Gunn opened his mouth to correct the vampire but instead just shook his head. There was no way that Gunn was going into a long explanation of beepers when he could be…elsewhere.

A few moments later both men had gotten into their cars and were heading in opposite directions in search of information. Gunn felt a knife in his stomach about lying to Angel, it was something he hadn't done in a long time and it didn't come with the same ease it used to. Still, he really hadn't felt like having Angel play tag-along, it would have just made things awkward.

Gunn turned his old truck down a dark street that was only illuminated by a few frittering streetlights that looked like they were on the verge of dying. This wasn't a good neighborhood; the houses around where Gunn parked his car were in shambles and several sets of eyes peered out at him from dark corners. None of this bothered Gunn in the least though; he was used to streets like this. This was where he had grown up and getting out of the car he felt strangely at home.

Gunn glanced at the paper in his hand and could barely read his own handwriting by the weak glow of the streetlights. He walked passed two row houses and stopped at the third. It was plain and nondescript like all of the houses on this block; white facing, red shutters, and crumbling front steps, which he ascended to the door. For a long moment Gunn just stood there, face to face with the door and the house number without doing a thing. Once he had gathered all his courage he reached out with his fist to knock…

Just as Gwen swung open the door and appeared before him in a glittery light blue tube top and black pants. She gave him a doubtful look before crossing her arms over her chest.

"There was nothing wrong with those prints I gave you, which begs the question why are you here?" Gwen asked, not stepping back from the door and not bothering to invite him in. Gunn was beginning to think that this just wasn't one of his better ideas.

"Why am I….Well there's this…." Gunn stuttered insensibly.

"Spit it out would you?" Gwen snapped irritably.

"You startled me! Opening the door before I even knocked like one of the Adams family" Gunn snapped back, feeling himself slip into defensive mode.

"Hey, I'm not the one who works for the living undead, I don't think I'd be talking" Gwen said, a small smile pulling up the corner of her mouth. Gunn grinned back and then motioned with his head to the door she still held part way open.

"You gonna invite me in or should I make myself comfortable out here?" Gunn asked and tried to contain his grin when Gwen pulled the door all the way open and stepped aside.

The outside of the house was definitely a foil for what was within. The banister to the stairs caught the light that glittered from a crystal chandelier in the foyer and the rug looked thick enough to sleep on. Set up around the room were all kinds of expensive looking knick knacks and paintings. Gunn glanced outside and then looked back within and couldn't help but feel like he had just stepped into some kind of portal.

"Nice place you have here" Gunn commented as he walked around the room inspecting the place. Gwen followed his movements with a watchful eye as if she half expected him to try to bolt out with something valuable. It was the way store clerks used to look at him when he was seventeen.

"Wow" Gunn commented, stopping in front of one of the paintings that was hung on the walls and staring at it. "This is amazing."

"You like it?" Gwen said, stopping to pull on some long light blue gloves before walking over to stand next to him. "It's a Rembrandt."

"Like the toothpaste?"

"No, like the painter."

Gunn felt himself blush furiously, for the second time since they had begun talking only minutes before he had embarrassed himself. What would his gang say if they saw this sad state of affairs? They'd probably kick his ass for being such a pansy. Gunn blinked at his internal dialogue. When had he started using the word pansy? 'I have to stop talking to Wes', Gunn thought to himself.

"Well if you're not here about the blueprints than what are you here about?" Gwen asked, leaning slightly against a side table and crossing her arms over her chest. Gunn was prepared for this question now and was determined not to act like an idiot.

"I came here to see if you had any information from the streets about a vampire cult, possibly one that has a big interest in Angel's son" Gunn replied, stepping away from the painting and towards the pretty and dangerous brunette.

"Superboy junior's in trouble?" Gwen asked, something like concern crossing her features before it was replaced by careful disdain. "And what am I supposed to do?"

"Well if you knew anything about a local vampire cult that might help the situation a lot" Gunn replied, surprised to see she had let her guard down for a moment.

"How local are we talkin? 'Cuse I know there's a wicked cult down by Hollywood that's always sacrificing virgins and shit" Gwen said, taking a step closer to Gunn.

"Local like they attacked Dawn and Connor the other night and left them with a present" Gunn said. He was surprised to see that this time Gwen didn't even try to hide her concern.

"Are they ok?"

"Yea, they're ok. I meant that present thing literally though," at Gwen's mystified look Gunn continued, "one of those vamps slapped some sort of bracelet on Connor. Wes still isn't sure what it is or what it does but we're all pretty sure that it's not good, especially since the thing just won't come off" Gunn explained, feeling his own worry begin to come back.

"Weird. I don't know anything about the vamp cult your looking for though. I'll ask some of my contacts, maybe someone will know something" Gwen said and the two once more lapsed into silence. With business out of the way Gunn no longer had a reason to be there, standing in Gwen's overly decorated house.

"Actually that's not the only reason I'm here" Gunn said quickly, taking a step away from Gwen and scanning the room nervously.

"Really?" Gwen said, raising a brow and giving Gunn an interested look.

"Well you've helped us out a lot lately…with demons and…would you like to go out sometime?" Gunn blurted out the last part. He shook his head in amazement; to think he used to be cool before he started working for Angel. He was surprised when Gwen smirked and took a step forward, so close that her glove brushed against his arm and her hair nearly brushed his face.

"Wow you still want to go out with me even after I nearly killed you? Brave man" she said grinning as she edged closer to him.

"Well I do fight evil, kinda comes with the job" Gunn mumbled, wondering idly if kissing Gwen would stop his heart. This was going to be a very interesting relationship, he thought to himself.

A loud beep interrupted the moment and Gunn cursed as he retrieved the beeper from deep within his pocket. He pushed a few buttons and a message from Angel appeared on the screen. It was an address down in the docking district and the word hurry. Gunn sighed and replaced his beeper, giving Gwen an apologetic look. It seemed Angel had been luckier than he on finding information.

"I'm so-" Gunn began but Gwen was already pushing him towards the door.

"Go, fight the good fight. Call me if a gigantic demon hasn't ripped you to pieces and we'll see about dinner."

And Gunn was out on the stoop in front of Gwen's door, back outside on that dark street. Well, Gunn thought to himself as he headed towards his car, that was confusing…but the good kind.

***

Connor didn't know why he was angry. Just that he was. Very, very angry. Unfortunately for her Dawn chose this moment to try to strike up a conversation with him. The tension in the room was thick and she was obviously trying to relieve it and so far all of her efforts had been in vain. Connor was getting more and more uptight by the moment. Gone was the Connor that had held her and told her that he was sorry, he had been replaced by a very strange pseudo-Connor who paced around the room like some kind of wild animal.

"So does walking around the room somehow increase your broody factor? Because right now I'll admit it's through the roof" Dawn said, feeling the edge that had crept into her voice.

"Would you shut up?" Connor snapped, turning to face Dawn as she rose off the couch.

"You know what? I'm so tried of this prima donna act Connor. So you have some stupid piece of metal around you wrist, whoop de friggin do! You grew up in a hell dimension and you're telling me this is the worst thing that's happened to you?" Dawn snapped, glaring at him. Dawn had been very patient so far with Connor; she had taken all of his weird and standoffish behavior as semi-normal considering the circumstances. But she really couldn't take anymore of this and she was not going to have Connor tell her to shut up.

"You have no idea what I'm going through so why don't you go to someone else and whine about how hard it is to be you, because I don't feel like hearing it" Connor bit off. Dawn's expression showed clearly that she was hurt but she wasn't about to let Connor off that easily.

"Oh and you make it so easy to know what's going on with you, 'cuse, God knows you're just a sharer!" Dawn snapped back, her voice raising a pitch in spite of the fact that she didn't want to yell.

"Why should I tell you anything, you wouldn't understand anyway!" now Connor was yelling as well, his fists balling up at his sides.

"Well I understand that you're a complete asshole" Dawn bit off bitterly. "I guess Holtz didn't teach you any matters in that hell dimension."

"Don't you talk about my father" Connor said in a dangerous voice. He wasn't even aware that he had called Holtz his father until he saw the shocked look on Dawn's face. But why shouldn't he still consider Holtz his father, he was the man that raised him after all.

"You mean the maniac that kidnapped you when you were a baby and jumped into a hell dimension just to piss off Angel? Because, you're right, I'm sure he was a swell guy" Dawn said angrily.

White hot rage shot through Connor's body and his hand shot up before he could even think. Dawn flinched, her eyes closing in spite of all her best efforts. When, after a few seconds nothing happened, she peeled open one eye to see Wesley standing directly behind Connor, holding his raised arm.

"Connor," Wesley said in a dangerous voice that made Dawn's eyes open wide, "I think we need to talk. Now." Without another word Wesley dragged Connor into Angel's office, never taking his hand off the young boy's arm and slammed the door shut.

As soon as the door closed Dawn felt a burning in her eyes and a weakness in her knees. Connor was going to hit her, and he would have if Wes hadn't been there.

"What's happening to you?" Dawn whispered quietly as she crumpled to the ground and buried her head in her hands, sobbing.

***

Silence filled the office as Connor collapsed into a chair and dropped his head into his hands. Neither said a word for a few long seconds as Connor took one deep gulp of air after another, as if he had been drowning and was just brought to the surface.

"I--I-don't know what happened in there" Connor said finally, in a voice so quiet that Wesley had to strain to hear it. When Connor looked up the boy's eyes were tired and bloodshot, as if he had stayed up for a week straight. The desperate look in his eyes made Wes shiver.

"I'm so sorry" Connor said quietly, his eyes tracing the foot of the chair instead of looking into the older man's eyes. He didn't want to have to deal with what he had almost just done, what he didn't even know he was capable of.

"I'm not the one to accept your apology" Wesley said reasonably. Connor blanched at this, which had not been Wesley's intent at all.

"Oh God, Dawn" Connor said, moving to get up out of the chair. Wes put his hand down on Connor's shoulder strongly, a sign that Connor should stay put. Wesley knew how Connor felt, better than the boy would even know. He knew the heartache of hurting the one you loved best, but there was nothing that he could say to make it better.

"Yes, Dawn will be fine" Wesley said in what he hoped would be a comforting tone. It looked almost as if the boy was beginning to go into some form of shock. "You, however, may not be fine."

Connor looked up at this, unshed tears at the corners of his eyes. Connor had always been such a strong young man, someone truly dependable. Wes couldn't help but think that this was probably the only time he had seen the boy truly terrified.

"What's wrong with me?" Connor asked in a meek voice.

"That, is a harder question than you know" Wesley began, perching on the edge of his old desk, now the desk he often shared with Angel though it was the vampire's in name. "I managed to translate most of the prophesy concerning that cuff you wear around your wrist. As it happens it seems that cuff, among other things, is an ornament of great evil. It can turn even the most pure hearted men into complete monsters" Wesley said this last part slowly, staring directly at Connor to see the boy's response. There was none.

"I'm evil?" Connor asked.

"No, you're not evil. It's that cuff, it brings out the dark side of people. Connor, it's bringing out your dark side, and it will unless you fight it" Wesley said, putting a hand on Connor's arm.

"Fight it?" Connor asked dully.

"Yes, don't let the evil get into your heart. When you feel as if you might be about to do something terrible think about all the good things in your life, everything that you would be giving up. Think about your father and about Cordelia, Fred, Gunn…" here Wesley trailed off and let his gaze roam to the door to the office before continuing. "Think about Dawn. I need you to fight this thing while we try to get a handle on how to get it off of you. Can you do that?" Wesley asked gently.

Connor nodded simply, without saying a word.

"Good….good" Wesley said. He removed his hand from Connor's arm and straightened up. "You might want to relay what I just told you to Dawn" Wesley prodded him.

Connor gave him a numb look and then nodded. He didn't say another word, just rose from the chair and left the office, closing the door behind him. Wesley let out a long breath when Connor was safely out of the office and glanced over to his desk. He picked up the pad of paper on which he had been translating some of the text and read it over again to make sure that his eyes weren't deceiving him, that he wasn't reliving a nightmare.

Written out in his plain, proper handwriting was the following:

The Darkening days will come

The Son

Will kill

The Father

***

Angel stood outside an old building in the docking district waiting for Gunn to show. The sea breeze cooled his already cold skin and made his leather jacket flap in the wind. His face was a mask, not an emotion showing, but inside the thought of anything befalling his son was eating him up with worry. Where the hell was Gunn?

The headlights of a large car washed over Angel and Gunn stepped out of the driver's seat, giving Angel a weary grin as he walked over. Angel noted that Gunn seemed oddly happy to be out in the boon docks trying to bust a vampire cult. What some people thought was fun….

"Hey there Angel, we got stuff to kill?" Gunn asked brandishing his hubcap ax.

"One of my contacts said that this was the place. Lot of vamps, keeping a pretty low profile and just moved in recently" Angel said, nodding towards the building as he pulled a long sword out of the back seat of the car.

"Well enough standing around talking why don't we get to the dusting?" Gunn said, practically skipping over to the building so that he missed Angel's incredulous look.

The two crept around the side of the building, sneaking peeks inside when they got to a window. It was too dark to see anything, however so they finally stopped at the one and only door to the whole warehouse. Angel looked over at Gunn and counted to three in a quiet voice, whereby both men kicked the door sending it crashing into the room and splintering the frame. What they found in the room ahead was truly more shocking.

The place was trashed; it looked as if an epic battle had been fought in this warehouse not two hours before and the vampire cult was the obvious victim. Piles of dust littered the floor as if the place hadn't been dusted in thousands of years, laying among piles of broken wood and pieces of furniture.

"Looks like someone beat us too it" Gunn muttered quietly as the two combed the place over. Angel grunted in frustration and hit a pole nearby with all his might, causing the wood to rupture and the pole to break apart. A piece of plaster on the ceiling broke off and toppled to the ground with a smash. Gunn looked over at Angel and looked as if he was about to say something when a low groan issued from their right.

Both swiveled around so fast that they were just blurs to the injured vampire's bleary eyes. It was lying under a pile of rubble, which was probably why it was sparred from the force that massacred it's friends. Angel was over to the vamp's side in a minute and had him pulled from the rubble in faster than that. Gunn joined him and they both stared down at the vampire.

"W-Who are you?" the vampire asked, the fear evident in it's voice. Angel was giving him a very menacing glare that would make anyone feel rather uncomfortable.

"Angel. I believe you know my son" Angel said, his voice like ice. The vampire paled, if it was possible, and feebly tried to struggle out of Angel's grasp. Angel slammed him back against the rumble and the vampire groaned in protest.

"What do you want?" the vampire asked meekly. Gunn grinned and looked over at Angel.

"Wow, we hardly had to torture this one. I wish they were all this easy to get talkin" Gunn said happily before turning his attention back to the vampire.

"What do you want with my son?" Angel said darkly, then got closer to the vampire to grind out the next part. "And you only have one shot at answering this one, I'm not patient."

"Your son," the vamp gasped out through the obvious pain that he was in, "is the Miracle child. His coming has been prophesied by my people for many generations. It was looked forward to with great delight."

"Why?" Angel demanded, pushing the vampire harder against the wall until he groaned in pain.

"Because the Miracle Child will usher in the Darkening Days" the vampire said with a victorious glint in his eyes.

"What do you mean by that?" Angel demanded.

"Who took out all the vamps around here?" Gunn asked when the vampire didn't seem very forthcoming with the answer Angel wanted. The vampire's eyes opened wide in fear, as if he was reliving the experience.

"It was Wolf-" the vampire began before a whizzing sound cut through the air and the vampire Angel was holding turned to dust. Angel stared for a shocked moment at the crossbow bolt on the ground before turning to look over his shoulder at the broken skylight in the roof.

"Wolfram and Hart" Angel said with quiet trepidation.

***

Lilah Morgan stood in the wide expanse of the roof of the building and replaced the crossbow into her expensive brief case. She gave herself a self-satisfied smirk; she hadn't been sure she would be able to make that shot. Lilah retrieved a small cell phone from the depths of her briefcase and hit one of the speed dial numbers, waiting patiently for the other party to pick up the phone.

"Yes….this is Lilah. Phase one is complete. No, I don't think there are any problems. Phase two is ready?" she asked in slight surprise even though she knew she shouldn't be. The senior partners were always prepared.

"Good" Lilah said with a smirk, turning and strutting across the building. "Very Good."

TBC

A/N: Please review, it encourages me soo much and I would love you forever!