Disclaimer: I own none, only Casey. I may not even own the plot which may be owned by Ivorycat (read her stories, they're good!). She also may be writing for this, so look out for her input. Joss, the insane god he is, owns the whole cast of characters you see, save again, for Casey, she is mine.

Attention: Look, there will be talk of, if not seen, cases of child abuse from Holtz. This happens because in my time line, Holtz took much of his anger out on Casey, and some out on Connor. But Connor was the favorite child of the two. More about that later. There also may be instance of corporal punishment. I would like to inform people that child abuse and corporal punishment are two different things. Corporal punishment will only happen when there is need for it to happen, and it will always be done in a loving environment.

Author's Note: I am going to try and put my teenage characters though what normal teenagers go through. That may be bad grades, idiot teachers, sexual harassment, drugs, alcohol, and that such. Some may be embellished a little, but guess what? If they are, that's because I have yet to experience them in my high school. Now don't say that I make this some kind of soap opera, because quite frankly, life is one.

Summery: Casey and Cordelia have a nice long talk and Connor comes back to finish what he started.

Chapter Three: What Family Means

Cordelia lounged comfortably on the bed as Casey gingerly took a seat on the floor and that sat in silence for a few minutes as Casey took the room in. "I'm not real you know," Casey said softly.

"That's not true. You're sitting there, breathing. I can touch you, you can touch me. You are real," Cordelia slid off the bed and down to were Casey was sitting.

"That's not what Father said. He said I wasn't real, I wasn't supposed to be," she looked away from the former May Queen's gaze.

"Oh sweetie," Cordelia embraced the younger girl lightly. "Why don't we climb up on my bed and I can brush out your hair and you can tell me all about it."

So the two climbed upon the bed and Cordelia grabbed her brush from the nightstand and started to brush out the girl's hair. Soon the story of Casey's life came pouring out as her hair went from a tangled bird's nest to a silky curtain. By the time everything was done and over with, Casey was in tears as Cordelia gathered her up in her arms. Cordelia held her for a long time, just giving her the emotional support that Casey must have lacked when she was a child.

After a time, the sobbing stopped and Cordelia noticed that Casey had fallen asleep. Laying the girl down she covered her up and turned down the lights. Before leaving the room she took one last look at the broken girl. Her thoughts then turned to the people she once knew at Sunnydale, how they would laugh if they found out what was going on. Walking back downstairs, Cordelia's thoughts kept drifting back to her used-to-be's. Would she ever want to go back to that? Pretending that no body cared, and having all that money. No, she wouldn't go back to that, not when she was happy here.

"How is the little cupcake?" Lorne was the first one to ask as soon as he spotted her.

"She's okay I guess. I guess Holtz wasn't settled with just taking Connor, he took out all his frustrations on the poor girl. She doesn't seem to mind if I touch her, she probably doesn't fear any females. So Gunn, Lorne, you better keep some kind of distance. But then again I'm no expert, maybe she just loves my personality," Cordelia shrugged and went to go file something, she needed to keep her hands busy.

"Honey, I'm home!" Angel called as he and Wesley walked in.

"I knew I shouldn't have let him watch I Love Lucy," Gunn whispered to Fred who just cracked a grin.

"Charles!" she reprimand lightly.

Gunn just shrugged and wrapped an arm around his girlfriend; that's when he noticed Wesley.

"What's he doing here?" he asked, suspicion rising.

"He's welcome back," Angel looked pointedly at Gunn, who just broke out into a grin. If Angel trusted him once more, he was more than happy to gain a friend.

"Welcome back English," Gunn held out his hand and Wesley gripped it firmly.

"It's good to be back friend," Wesley smiled and turned to Lorne. "No hard feelings I hope?"

Lorne shook his head, "None at all, you were worried for Junior then. But he ain't so little anymore."

Just then the doors were kicked in and Connor walked in, "I've come to finish what I started," he said with a sneer that twisted his handsome face into a nasty one.

And then he dove in.

As the battle between Father and Son commenced, Casey came downstairs, awakened by the noise. "Stephen!" she cried and rushed in, not even thinking about what kind of danger she was putting herself into.

As soon as Angel saw her, he stopped fighting, but Connor continued, landing a firm kick to his chest, sending him flying into the wall.

"Stephen stop!" Casey cried, Connor just glared at her.

"Get out of the way," he growled.

"No," she stood her ground.

"I said get out of the way!" he cried, before backhanding her, sending her into tears.

Cordelia looked at the scene that went on in front of her. Obviously Casey had a side that they had yet to see before that moment, she seemed to be a stubborn little thing. But as soon as 'Stephen' had raised his hand, that person melted away, leaving a shell.

Cordelia rushed forward, not really realizing what she was about to do and pulled Connor a step back or two. "You don't treat woman like that," she growled, sounding much like Connor just had.

"Get out of my way," Connor narrowed his eyes, but Cordelia stood her ground. By this time Angel had stood up and took a step closer to the pair.

"No," Cordelia acted just the way Casey had. By this time Angel was right next to Casey and he gently laid a hand upon her shoulder; Casey shied away for a bit before she just simply let it rest on her shoulder.

"I say get out of my way!" Once again Connor raised his hand, but Angel had rushed forward to grab it.

"If you even think about slapping her…" he trailed off, letting his threat hang in the air.

Connor lowered his hand and looked at the people that surrounded him. He smirked the tiniest bit before spitting at Casey's feet, "Traitor," he whispered before once again, running off. But this time, Angel didn't bother to follow him, instead he turned his attentions on Casey.

"Are you okay?" he asked, lifting her hand away from the injured cheek. He hissed when he saw the forming bruise.

"Fred went to get an ice pack," Cordelia said softly.

Soon Fred came back with the aforementioned item and gingerly Casey applied it to her face. Cordelia led he to a chair and sat down next to the teenage girl.

"Why are you doing this?" Casey asked after a moment.

"Why are we doing what?" Cordelia asked.

"Why are you being so kind?" Casey clarified.

Angel looked at her, the small smile he was famous for playing at his lips, "Because we're family, and that's what family does."

Author's Note 2: Yes, I know Connor has a few problems with verbally communicating. But then again, remember when he first came back, he wasn't a chatty guy at all. And with the whole smacking around thing? Well, when his only role model was Holtz, who beat up on Casey, well you can figure out where that led to.