Chapter 22
Fred walked up to the rest of the gang waiting in the middle of the Hyperion's lobby. "Still no answer on his cell phone."
"That could mean something if he actually knew how to use it." Cordy said.
"Maybe we should head back out, start where we last saw him, see if we can pick up the trail." Gunn suggested.
"A wise plan. I will assist with tracking." Gru said.
"No." Cordy said.
"But if something did come out of the portal, and if it is looking for Conner, and if Buffy and Angel did find him..." Fred started.
"They did."
The lobby doors opened and Buffy came in holding up a limping Angel.
"Angel." Gru said.
"Oh my god." Cordy said.
"Bro, you're hurt." Gunn said.
"I'm okay." Angel told them, Buffy helping him to sit down.
"You found him?" Cordy asked.
"Yeah." Buffy said.
"And?"
"And, we talked."
"Looks to me like he likes to talk with his hands."
"Oh, he didn't do this to me. Not most of it, any way." Angel said.
"So, is it for sure then? That kid really was Conner?" Gunn asked.
"Steven. His name is Steven now. He's still our son." Buffy said, a little sadly.
"So where is he?" Fred asked.
"Not sure. But he knows where we are. He'll be fine."
"Actually he might not be."
"What do you mean?"
"Something may have escaped from Quor-toth before we had time to close the portal." Cordy said.
"Lorne's dimensional magic expert was picking up some seriously bad vibes." Gunn put in.
"So nobody actually saw anything else come out?" Angel asked.
"Well, not exactly." Fred answered.
"And if our son was the last thing that came through..."
"Right." Gunn said.
"But what if it was some vengeance-y else thing that's after Conner?" Fred asked.
"He survived Quor-toth this long. He can take care of himself." Buffy said.
"Okay. So he survived and unspeakable hell dimension. Who hasn't? You, you can't just leave him alone in the streets of Los Angeles!"
"He's got to come back on his own. And he will. Just as soon as he realizes what he needs."
"And what's that?" Gunn asked.
"A mother and a father."
Steven walked out of the motel office carrying a newspaper. He saw a man take a bag of candy out of the vending machine standing against the side of the motel, and bite into it as he walked away.
Steven walked over to the machine and started to push the buttons. When no food came out he rattled the machine, then picked the whole thing up and slammed it down.
Steven entered the motel room 204 carrying the newspaper and an armful of junk food. He closed the door and dropped the stuff on the table. "I found food in a big metal box outside. Dad?"
Holtz came out of the bathroom. "Oh, good boy. You got it." Steven handed him the paper. "Now. Let's have a look at the date." Holtz stared at the paper then dropped down on the end of one of the beds. "Days. We've been gone only days."
"I don't like this place. So many people. It's not like home."
"Quor-toth was never our home, son. It was our prison. I should have known that one day you'd find a way out."
"The cracks were there already. I just made the sluks show me. That's all."
Holtz got up. "Frightened rats, forced to flee to daylight." He patted Steven on the cheek. "My boy's smart."
"You shouldn't have followed me here."
Holtz sat down on a chair. "How could I not?"
Steven crouched down in front of him, putting a hand on Holtz' knee. "I would have come back to you, after I killed him." He straightened up and turned away. "I'm sorry I couldn't."
"Of course you couldn't. It's not in you, son."
"I've killed lots!"
"Only when you had to, only to survive." Holtz got up. "And that's not the real reason why you worked so hard to get here. You wanted to see him. And her."
"No." Steven walked past Holtz and sat down on the end of the bed.
"It's alright son. There is no shame in it. I knew this day would come. That's why I never lied to you. I've always told you the truth about what you're parents were," Holtz crouched down in front of Steven, "how you and I came to be together."
"God gave me to you."
"Yes. God delivered me to you, that I'd keep you safe and lavish upon you all the love that I could never give my first children."
"Because he took them from you."
"That's right."
"I wish I had killed him."
"If you had, then you wouldn't be the boy I raised, or the man I know you'll be one day. There's more for you to learn, Steven, much more."
"And I want to."
"Good." Holtz stood up. "Then you must go to them."
"What?"
"Walk in his world, learn all you can." Holtz put a hand on Steven's shoulder. "Discover what of Angelus is in you that you might fight against it. But be on your guard. Remember what I've taught you. The devil will show you bright things, many colors."
"Dad, why did you never tell me much of my mother?"
"I never really knew her."
"But you knew what she was."
"Yes. She is the vampire slayer."
"Then why does she not kill Angel, I mean Angelus? Why is she in love with him?"
"I could not tell you son."
"She is beautiful."
"That she is. I have seen her smile, and you have the very same one."
"I do?"
"Yes. Don't harm her."
"I would never."
"She will try to protect Angelus."
"Of course she will. The way I saw her look at Angelus, I can tell she loved him. But." Steven trailed off.
"But what?"
"The way she looked at me and treated me. She was so. loving. A part of me wants."
"To be with her. It's natural. She is your mother. If you can convince her, maybe she will stay with you."
"In a heartbeat. I could see it in her eyes."
"She does love you. I remember the hurt in her eyes when she told me to take you and keep you safe. Now go to them."
Lorne turned a crystal shimmering with many colors in his hand as he held it out to Fred. "I would have been here sooner, but I had to stop and get it enchanted. Cedrian Crystals don't actually come that way."
"Will it work?" Gunn asked.
"It should. Cedrian crystals are said to contain millennia of stored mystical energy and it's about the size of a "D" battery." Fred said.
Cordy and Gru walked in.
"That's gorgeous." Cordy said.
"And priceless." Fred put in.
"Though in this instance priceless meaning 'without price' as in free. A six-horned Lach-Nie owed me a favor. Don't ask." Lorne said.
Cordy pointed at the contraption on the desk in front of Fred. "I meant that."
"Oh. Standard issue army surplus Geiger counter." Fred said.
"We picked it up at a yard sale." Gunn said with a smile.
"Shiny." Cordy smiled back.
"What is it's purpose?" Gru asked.
"We're gonna use it to see if scary monsters came through the portal." Gunn said.
"Anything that came out of Quor-toth should have left behind a kind of para- plasmic radioactivity. Of course, I'm working on the principal that everything in nature seeks a relaxed and stable state." Fred said.
"I know I do." Lorne said.
Cordy looked to Gunn. "Hey. So, how are they?"
Gunn looked towards the stairs. "Well, still being all mature."
"Really. Where?"
"Upstairs."
"I'm gonna go talk to them."
Buffy and Angel were in his apartment sparring against each other half- heartedly.
"Hey. I guess Fred is working on a way to determine if anything else came out of the portal." Cordy said.
Angel knocked a soft blow at Buffy then steadied her when she turned into his arms, but didn't turn to face Cordy. "That's good." Angel went back to practicing.
"So, maybe if we're very, very lucky, later today we'll be able to kill something. You guys would like that, wouldn't you?"
"Sure." Buffy said.
"Okay. Well, I just wanted to check in and let you both know that I was on the clock and tell you guys that you're doing the right thing."
Buffy and Angel stopped punching at each other, but didn't turn around. After a beat Cordy started to leave.
"What if he doesn't come back?" Angel asked.
Cordy stopped and turned to look at Buffy and Angel. They headed towards Cordy and sat down at the table.
"He feels further away from us now than when he was first taken. All that time I don't think I ever really believed that we'd lost him, not really. Then he shows up again and I knew we had." Angel said.
"It's only temporary." Cordy said.
"Yeah. Everything's temporary. There's just so much I thought we'd be able to do together before he, you know..."
"Grew up?"
"Hated me."
"Angel, he doesn't hate you. He doesn't even know us. But he will. He's gonna come back, Angel." Buffy said.
"How do you know?"
"Because he has to. Because he's family."
Cordy, Buffy, and Angel walked downstairs to find Fred walking around the Hyperion with her modified Geiger counter, the others following behind her.
"Getting a good, strong reading here." Fred said.
"Should we be wearing lead? 'Cause I actually have something." Lorne said.
"Okay. This is approximately where the portal was, so it makes sense that I'd be getting a reading here. Uh, mark that." Gunn marked the floor with a piece of chalk, as Fred moved on, eyes on the readout of the Geiger counter. "Okay, looks like something might have come in here." She kept moving forward not looking where she was going. "Or here." The clicking of the Geiger counter increased as she turned to the side. "Wait a minute. Wow. Something here is pretty" Fred looked up see Steven standing in front of her, "hot. Buffy and Angel's son! Hi. I didn't mean to click at you." She turned the instrument off, throwing a glance back at the others then hurried to stand next to Gunn while Buffy and Angel stepped closer to Steven.
"Hey." Buffy said.
"Hey. I ah, I thought I'd come by like you said." Steven said.
"I'm glad you did." Buffy turned. "Everyone, ah, this is ah, this is Steven. Steven this is Fred, Gunn, Cordelia and that's Lorne. You'll get to meet your aunt Dawn and the others later."
"Hello, young man." Lorne said.
Angel turned to the group. "So, are we about done here?"
"Oh! Yeah. I, I think we've covered everything." Fred said.
"Maybe we could take this outside." Gunn suggested.
"Yes. We should do a perimeter search then recalibrate for some wider areas."
"That would be a good idea." Buffy said.
"It was very nice to meet you, Steven." Fred said as she and Gunn left.
"Um, yeah, I, I have a thing." Lorne said as he walked past Steven and upstairs.
"Yes, so, um, I'll just be sure to hold all your calls. You just, you guys take your time." Cordy said.
"Thanks." Buffy smiled.
Cordy walked towards Angel's office and Buffy and Angel turned back to face Steven. Angel and Steven folded their arms in perfect unison while not even looking at each other, while both shifted from foot to foot. Buffy just smiled.
"So... You hungry?" Angel asked.
"What do you have?" Steven asked.
"We can go out."
"What!? Where?!" Cordy yelled behind them.
Buffy and Angel turned to see Cordy coming towards them, one hand cupped behind her ear.
"Cordy?" Buffy asked.
"Buffy! Angel! It's a bar! Vampires. A gang of them!"
"Cordy..."
"Guys, can you hear me!? I can see her. A woman. She's all alone. She doesn't see them. You have to hurry!"
"Slow down." Angel said.
Cordy looked around for a moment. "There is a woman at a bar. There is a gang of vampires that are after her. You have to help her."
"So much for holding my call, huh?" Angel said.
"Sorry."
Angel looked at Steven. "Listen, um, I, we, ah, have to go out for a while. Your mom and I" Steven backed towards the door. "It's okay."
"It's kind of our job."
"Yeah. Whatever."
"It could be kind of dangerous. There's a lot of killing and violence. You wanna come?" Buffy asked.
Steven stopped and looked back at Buffy and Angel over his shoulder.
They arrived at the club and were making their way through the crowd on the dance floor. "Well, you wanted to kill a vampire. This might be your chance. Here take this. Just make sure that when you use that thing go straight for..." Buffy started.
"...the heart. I know. My father taught me." Steven said.
"Yeah, I'm sure he did. Look, there are a lot of innocent people in here. Just don't go nailing anybody until they show their game face, okay?" Angel said.
"Will it look like yours did?"
"Yeah." Angel spotted Justine drinking at the bar.
"So why do you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Why kill them if they're like you?"
Justine spotted Buffy and Angel and got of her barstool.
"They're not like me, Conner."
"I'm not Conner."
Bartender looked to Justine. "Ready for another?"
Angel turned to Steven. "Just stay right there with your mom."
"No, I'm done." Justine said. The bartender and the two guys sitting on either side of her vamped out.
The bartender grabbed a hold of her arm. "You're not wrong."
"She thinks she's a Slayer." Said a vamp.
"She's about to learn different."
"Yeah, cause the real slayer's right here!" Buffy called, throwing Angel a stake. "Don't worry, I won't leave you," she said to Steven.
The bartender pulled Justine up onto the bar even as she turned and kicked one of the vamps away and straight onto Angel's stake. Steven watched as the vamp turned to dust.
The bartender threw Justine into the shelves of bottles behind the bar. A vamp caught Angel's right hand as the stake descended towards his heart, but Angel simply staked him with the one in his left.
Three other vamps attacked Angel in the small space that had cleared around Angel as Wes watched from the balcony.
Justine screamed as the bartender took a hold of her. Steven and Buffy ran forward, jumping to land in the clear space next to Angel in perfect unison.
"Nice... Ah, take the one on the..." Angel started, but Steven ran past to attack the vamp holding Justine.
"Well, yeah. That, that makes more sense."
Angel got tackled by one of the vamps and turned his attention back to the fight. Buffy was grappling with three vamps that were having trouble keeping up with her. She was grinning because Steven was at her side pulling moves that were similar to ones that Angel had taught her a while ago. Then Steven broke away to help Justine again.
Steven helped Justine up and the two of them stared at each other for a beat before he led her around the bar. Justine stopped to stare again, but Angel pulled Steven away.
Angel yelled at Justine, "Go. Get out of here. Go!"
After one last look at Steven, Justine ran off, while Buffy, Angel, and Steven turned back to back to fight off the remaining vampires. There was short lull in the fight and they glanced at each other, a small smile appearing on all of their faces, before they returned their attention to the vamps. One of the vampires turned to run and Buffy and Steven took off after him. No more vampires attacked, and Angel moved to follow Buffy and Steven.
Steven slowly moved out of the backdoor of the bar into a dark and deserted alley, stake at the ready, with Buffy at his side.
Suddenly he spun, slamming the stake home, only to have his wrist caught in Angel's hand before the stake could penetrate his heart. They remained frozen in that position for a moment, Steven breathing hard. Then Angel turned the hand holding the stake and hauled back to hit Steven's arms, causing him to spin around and dust the vampire standing behind him.
Steven slowly turned back around, looking everywhere but at Angel. He looked at his mom, Buffy, and smiled at her. She smiled back and Steven knew what Holtz had meant. He could see his same smile in her face.
"They don't need to breathe or make any sound. You gotta be careful. You know you were, you were good in there. I mean, normally I'd take you to a ballgame, or a museum, or something. But it's, it's good to know that you can handle yourself in a fight." Angel said behind him. Steven turned and Angel mock-attacked Steven. Steven jumped back, then smiled.
"It's good to know you can do that, too."
Steven threw a fake punch at Angel.
Angel smiled. "Whoa."
Laughing and smiling, the two of them started dancing around each other, throwing fake punches, jumping up on the trash containers, sitting along the wall of the alley, horsing around. Buffy jumped up on the garbage container and sat down to watch father and son bond. She swung her legs and smiled. Steven called her down by her name, Mom. She beamed even brighter and flipped down to land behind Steven.
"Wow! Can you teach me how to do that?" he asked.
"Of course!" Buffy smiled. She threw a couple of punches that Steven blocked almost easily. "You know, you're my son and I let you go fight vampires. I would never let Dawn do that."
"Dawn?" Steven, Angel, and Buffy stopped.
"Yeah, you're aunt Dawn. You'll meet her and everyone else in Sunnydale later."
"Come on son, it's getting late." Angel said.
"Oh, I'm going to go. stay at the place that I've been staying. I'll be in touch." Steven said, backing away a little.
"Oh." Buffy and Angel said together.
"I'll come back."
"Good." Buffy said. "I would hate to have to track you down and play fight with you again."
Steven smiled and started to walk away, but to Buffy's, and Angel's, surprise, Steven turned back around and hugged Buffy. She hugged back and smiled. When they broke apart Steven ran off. Buffy looked at Angel with tears in her eyes.
"He." She said.
"I know. Come on. Let's get home. We have to call everyone in Sunnydale and let them know what happened." Angel said, slipping his arm around Buffy's shoulder.
Holtz stood on the roof of a nearby building and watched them walk away. He knew now where Steven should be.
Fred walked up to the rest of the gang waiting in the middle of the Hyperion's lobby. "Still no answer on his cell phone."
"That could mean something if he actually knew how to use it." Cordy said.
"Maybe we should head back out, start where we last saw him, see if we can pick up the trail." Gunn suggested.
"A wise plan. I will assist with tracking." Gru said.
"No." Cordy said.
"But if something did come out of the portal, and if it is looking for Conner, and if Buffy and Angel did find him..." Fred started.
"They did."
The lobby doors opened and Buffy came in holding up a limping Angel.
"Angel." Gru said.
"Oh my god." Cordy said.
"Bro, you're hurt." Gunn said.
"I'm okay." Angel told them, Buffy helping him to sit down.
"You found him?" Cordy asked.
"Yeah." Buffy said.
"And?"
"And, we talked."
"Looks to me like he likes to talk with his hands."
"Oh, he didn't do this to me. Not most of it, any way." Angel said.
"So, is it for sure then? That kid really was Conner?" Gunn asked.
"Steven. His name is Steven now. He's still our son." Buffy said, a little sadly.
"So where is he?" Fred asked.
"Not sure. But he knows where we are. He'll be fine."
"Actually he might not be."
"What do you mean?"
"Something may have escaped from Quor-toth before we had time to close the portal." Cordy said.
"Lorne's dimensional magic expert was picking up some seriously bad vibes." Gunn put in.
"So nobody actually saw anything else come out?" Angel asked.
"Well, not exactly." Fred answered.
"And if our son was the last thing that came through..."
"Right." Gunn said.
"But what if it was some vengeance-y else thing that's after Conner?" Fred asked.
"He survived Quor-toth this long. He can take care of himself." Buffy said.
"Okay. So he survived and unspeakable hell dimension. Who hasn't? You, you can't just leave him alone in the streets of Los Angeles!"
"He's got to come back on his own. And he will. Just as soon as he realizes what he needs."
"And what's that?" Gunn asked.
"A mother and a father."
Steven walked out of the motel office carrying a newspaper. He saw a man take a bag of candy out of the vending machine standing against the side of the motel, and bite into it as he walked away.
Steven walked over to the machine and started to push the buttons. When no food came out he rattled the machine, then picked the whole thing up and slammed it down.
Steven entered the motel room 204 carrying the newspaper and an armful of junk food. He closed the door and dropped the stuff on the table. "I found food in a big metal box outside. Dad?"
Holtz came out of the bathroom. "Oh, good boy. You got it." Steven handed him the paper. "Now. Let's have a look at the date." Holtz stared at the paper then dropped down on the end of one of the beds. "Days. We've been gone only days."
"I don't like this place. So many people. It's not like home."
"Quor-toth was never our home, son. It was our prison. I should have known that one day you'd find a way out."
"The cracks were there already. I just made the sluks show me. That's all."
Holtz got up. "Frightened rats, forced to flee to daylight." He patted Steven on the cheek. "My boy's smart."
"You shouldn't have followed me here."
Holtz sat down on a chair. "How could I not?"
Steven crouched down in front of him, putting a hand on Holtz' knee. "I would have come back to you, after I killed him." He straightened up and turned away. "I'm sorry I couldn't."
"Of course you couldn't. It's not in you, son."
"I've killed lots!"
"Only when you had to, only to survive." Holtz got up. "And that's not the real reason why you worked so hard to get here. You wanted to see him. And her."
"No." Steven walked past Holtz and sat down on the end of the bed.
"It's alright son. There is no shame in it. I knew this day would come. That's why I never lied to you. I've always told you the truth about what you're parents were," Holtz crouched down in front of Steven, "how you and I came to be together."
"God gave me to you."
"Yes. God delivered me to you, that I'd keep you safe and lavish upon you all the love that I could never give my first children."
"Because he took them from you."
"That's right."
"I wish I had killed him."
"If you had, then you wouldn't be the boy I raised, or the man I know you'll be one day. There's more for you to learn, Steven, much more."
"And I want to."
"Good." Holtz stood up. "Then you must go to them."
"What?"
"Walk in his world, learn all you can." Holtz put a hand on Steven's shoulder. "Discover what of Angelus is in you that you might fight against it. But be on your guard. Remember what I've taught you. The devil will show you bright things, many colors."
"Dad, why did you never tell me much of my mother?"
"I never really knew her."
"But you knew what she was."
"Yes. She is the vampire slayer."
"Then why does she not kill Angel, I mean Angelus? Why is she in love with him?"
"I could not tell you son."
"She is beautiful."
"That she is. I have seen her smile, and you have the very same one."
"I do?"
"Yes. Don't harm her."
"I would never."
"She will try to protect Angelus."
"Of course she will. The way I saw her look at Angelus, I can tell she loved him. But." Steven trailed off.
"But what?"
"The way she looked at me and treated me. She was so. loving. A part of me wants."
"To be with her. It's natural. She is your mother. If you can convince her, maybe she will stay with you."
"In a heartbeat. I could see it in her eyes."
"She does love you. I remember the hurt in her eyes when she told me to take you and keep you safe. Now go to them."
Lorne turned a crystal shimmering with many colors in his hand as he held it out to Fred. "I would have been here sooner, but I had to stop and get it enchanted. Cedrian Crystals don't actually come that way."
"Will it work?" Gunn asked.
"It should. Cedrian crystals are said to contain millennia of stored mystical energy and it's about the size of a "D" battery." Fred said.
Cordy and Gru walked in.
"That's gorgeous." Cordy said.
"And priceless." Fred put in.
"Though in this instance priceless meaning 'without price' as in free. A six-horned Lach-Nie owed me a favor. Don't ask." Lorne said.
Cordy pointed at the contraption on the desk in front of Fred. "I meant that."
"Oh. Standard issue army surplus Geiger counter." Fred said.
"We picked it up at a yard sale." Gunn said with a smile.
"Shiny." Cordy smiled back.
"What is it's purpose?" Gru asked.
"We're gonna use it to see if scary monsters came through the portal." Gunn said.
"Anything that came out of Quor-toth should have left behind a kind of para- plasmic radioactivity. Of course, I'm working on the principal that everything in nature seeks a relaxed and stable state." Fred said.
"I know I do." Lorne said.
Cordy looked to Gunn. "Hey. So, how are they?"
Gunn looked towards the stairs. "Well, still being all mature."
"Really. Where?"
"Upstairs."
"I'm gonna go talk to them."
Buffy and Angel were in his apartment sparring against each other half- heartedly.
"Hey. I guess Fred is working on a way to determine if anything else came out of the portal." Cordy said.
Angel knocked a soft blow at Buffy then steadied her when she turned into his arms, but didn't turn to face Cordy. "That's good." Angel went back to practicing.
"So, maybe if we're very, very lucky, later today we'll be able to kill something. You guys would like that, wouldn't you?"
"Sure." Buffy said.
"Okay. Well, I just wanted to check in and let you both know that I was on the clock and tell you guys that you're doing the right thing."
Buffy and Angel stopped punching at each other, but didn't turn around. After a beat Cordy started to leave.
"What if he doesn't come back?" Angel asked.
Cordy stopped and turned to look at Buffy and Angel. They headed towards Cordy and sat down at the table.
"He feels further away from us now than when he was first taken. All that time I don't think I ever really believed that we'd lost him, not really. Then he shows up again and I knew we had." Angel said.
"It's only temporary." Cordy said.
"Yeah. Everything's temporary. There's just so much I thought we'd be able to do together before he, you know..."
"Grew up?"
"Hated me."
"Angel, he doesn't hate you. He doesn't even know us. But he will. He's gonna come back, Angel." Buffy said.
"How do you know?"
"Because he has to. Because he's family."
Cordy, Buffy, and Angel walked downstairs to find Fred walking around the Hyperion with her modified Geiger counter, the others following behind her.
"Getting a good, strong reading here." Fred said.
"Should we be wearing lead? 'Cause I actually have something." Lorne said.
"Okay. This is approximately where the portal was, so it makes sense that I'd be getting a reading here. Uh, mark that." Gunn marked the floor with a piece of chalk, as Fred moved on, eyes on the readout of the Geiger counter. "Okay, looks like something might have come in here." She kept moving forward not looking where she was going. "Or here." The clicking of the Geiger counter increased as she turned to the side. "Wait a minute. Wow. Something here is pretty" Fred looked up see Steven standing in front of her, "hot. Buffy and Angel's son! Hi. I didn't mean to click at you." She turned the instrument off, throwing a glance back at the others then hurried to stand next to Gunn while Buffy and Angel stepped closer to Steven.
"Hey." Buffy said.
"Hey. I ah, I thought I'd come by like you said." Steven said.
"I'm glad you did." Buffy turned. "Everyone, ah, this is ah, this is Steven. Steven this is Fred, Gunn, Cordelia and that's Lorne. You'll get to meet your aunt Dawn and the others later."
"Hello, young man." Lorne said.
Angel turned to the group. "So, are we about done here?"
"Oh! Yeah. I, I think we've covered everything." Fred said.
"Maybe we could take this outside." Gunn suggested.
"Yes. We should do a perimeter search then recalibrate for some wider areas."
"That would be a good idea." Buffy said.
"It was very nice to meet you, Steven." Fred said as she and Gunn left.
"Um, yeah, I, I have a thing." Lorne said as he walked past Steven and upstairs.
"Yes, so, um, I'll just be sure to hold all your calls. You just, you guys take your time." Cordy said.
"Thanks." Buffy smiled.
Cordy walked towards Angel's office and Buffy and Angel turned back to face Steven. Angel and Steven folded their arms in perfect unison while not even looking at each other, while both shifted from foot to foot. Buffy just smiled.
"So... You hungry?" Angel asked.
"What do you have?" Steven asked.
"We can go out."
"What!? Where?!" Cordy yelled behind them.
Buffy and Angel turned to see Cordy coming towards them, one hand cupped behind her ear.
"Cordy?" Buffy asked.
"Buffy! Angel! It's a bar! Vampires. A gang of them!"
"Cordy..."
"Guys, can you hear me!? I can see her. A woman. She's all alone. She doesn't see them. You have to hurry!"
"Slow down." Angel said.
Cordy looked around for a moment. "There is a woman at a bar. There is a gang of vampires that are after her. You have to help her."
"So much for holding my call, huh?" Angel said.
"Sorry."
Angel looked at Steven. "Listen, um, I, we, ah, have to go out for a while. Your mom and I" Steven backed towards the door. "It's okay."
"It's kind of our job."
"Yeah. Whatever."
"It could be kind of dangerous. There's a lot of killing and violence. You wanna come?" Buffy asked.
Steven stopped and looked back at Buffy and Angel over his shoulder.
They arrived at the club and were making their way through the crowd on the dance floor. "Well, you wanted to kill a vampire. This might be your chance. Here take this. Just make sure that when you use that thing go straight for..." Buffy started.
"...the heart. I know. My father taught me." Steven said.
"Yeah, I'm sure he did. Look, there are a lot of innocent people in here. Just don't go nailing anybody until they show their game face, okay?" Angel said.
"Will it look like yours did?"
"Yeah." Angel spotted Justine drinking at the bar.
"So why do you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Why kill them if they're like you?"
Justine spotted Buffy and Angel and got of her barstool.
"They're not like me, Conner."
"I'm not Conner."
Bartender looked to Justine. "Ready for another?"
Angel turned to Steven. "Just stay right there with your mom."
"No, I'm done." Justine said. The bartender and the two guys sitting on either side of her vamped out.
The bartender grabbed a hold of her arm. "You're not wrong."
"She thinks she's a Slayer." Said a vamp.
"She's about to learn different."
"Yeah, cause the real slayer's right here!" Buffy called, throwing Angel a stake. "Don't worry, I won't leave you," she said to Steven.
The bartender pulled Justine up onto the bar even as she turned and kicked one of the vamps away and straight onto Angel's stake. Steven watched as the vamp turned to dust.
The bartender threw Justine into the shelves of bottles behind the bar. A vamp caught Angel's right hand as the stake descended towards his heart, but Angel simply staked him with the one in his left.
Three other vamps attacked Angel in the small space that had cleared around Angel as Wes watched from the balcony.
Justine screamed as the bartender took a hold of her. Steven and Buffy ran forward, jumping to land in the clear space next to Angel in perfect unison.
"Nice... Ah, take the one on the..." Angel started, but Steven ran past to attack the vamp holding Justine.
"Well, yeah. That, that makes more sense."
Angel got tackled by one of the vamps and turned his attention back to the fight. Buffy was grappling with three vamps that were having trouble keeping up with her. She was grinning because Steven was at her side pulling moves that were similar to ones that Angel had taught her a while ago. Then Steven broke away to help Justine again.
Steven helped Justine up and the two of them stared at each other for a beat before he led her around the bar. Justine stopped to stare again, but Angel pulled Steven away.
Angel yelled at Justine, "Go. Get out of here. Go!"
After one last look at Steven, Justine ran off, while Buffy, Angel, and Steven turned back to back to fight off the remaining vampires. There was short lull in the fight and they glanced at each other, a small smile appearing on all of their faces, before they returned their attention to the vamps. One of the vampires turned to run and Buffy and Steven took off after him. No more vampires attacked, and Angel moved to follow Buffy and Steven.
Steven slowly moved out of the backdoor of the bar into a dark and deserted alley, stake at the ready, with Buffy at his side.
Suddenly he spun, slamming the stake home, only to have his wrist caught in Angel's hand before the stake could penetrate his heart. They remained frozen in that position for a moment, Steven breathing hard. Then Angel turned the hand holding the stake and hauled back to hit Steven's arms, causing him to spin around and dust the vampire standing behind him.
Steven slowly turned back around, looking everywhere but at Angel. He looked at his mom, Buffy, and smiled at her. She smiled back and Steven knew what Holtz had meant. He could see his same smile in her face.
"They don't need to breathe or make any sound. You gotta be careful. You know you were, you were good in there. I mean, normally I'd take you to a ballgame, or a museum, or something. But it's, it's good to know that you can handle yourself in a fight." Angel said behind him. Steven turned and Angel mock-attacked Steven. Steven jumped back, then smiled.
"It's good to know you can do that, too."
Steven threw a fake punch at Angel.
Angel smiled. "Whoa."
Laughing and smiling, the two of them started dancing around each other, throwing fake punches, jumping up on the trash containers, sitting along the wall of the alley, horsing around. Buffy jumped up on the garbage container and sat down to watch father and son bond. She swung her legs and smiled. Steven called her down by her name, Mom. She beamed even brighter and flipped down to land behind Steven.
"Wow! Can you teach me how to do that?" he asked.
"Of course!" Buffy smiled. She threw a couple of punches that Steven blocked almost easily. "You know, you're my son and I let you go fight vampires. I would never let Dawn do that."
"Dawn?" Steven, Angel, and Buffy stopped.
"Yeah, you're aunt Dawn. You'll meet her and everyone else in Sunnydale later."
"Come on son, it's getting late." Angel said.
"Oh, I'm going to go. stay at the place that I've been staying. I'll be in touch." Steven said, backing away a little.
"Oh." Buffy and Angel said together.
"I'll come back."
"Good." Buffy said. "I would hate to have to track you down and play fight with you again."
Steven smiled and started to walk away, but to Buffy's, and Angel's, surprise, Steven turned back around and hugged Buffy. She hugged back and smiled. When they broke apart Steven ran off. Buffy looked at Angel with tears in her eyes.
"He." She said.
"I know. Come on. Let's get home. We have to call everyone in Sunnydale and let them know what happened." Angel said, slipping his arm around Buffy's shoulder.
Holtz stood on the roof of a nearby building and watched them walk away. He knew now where Steven should be.