Chapter Three
Connor sat on the sofa outside Angel's office with his head in his hands and his heart in his mouth. He had successfully avoided taking Allie out on night watch for three nights in a row but it was time and he was dreading the thought of it. He had never confided in his father before but Connor knew that he would be the only one to understand his reasoning. He stood up and walked in without knocking and collapsed into the chair opposite his father, sighing loudly. Angel was pretending to read through the mounds of paper scattered across his desk but Connor noticed the glazed look of boredom, maybe Fred and Wesley were the only ones who enjoyed the research.
"What are you up to?" asked Angel.
"Nothing," shrugged Connor. "I'm taking Allie out with me tonight, first kill and all that,"
"Sounds good, Wes said that she was ready, she sounds quite excited about it," said Angel, Connor sighed and leaned back in his chair. "So, why aren't you excited for her?"
"I'm just being stupid…"
"Try me,"
"I don't want her out there. I took her away from that world and now I'm letting it back into her life. I didn't want that to happen to her, I just want her to be safe and live a normal life,"
"Connor, her father is a demon; she's probably got a million of questions about where she came from. Her boyfriend is officially a year old and she lives with a vampire and a bunch of demon-hunters; you can't give her a normal life,"
"Okay, fine," conceded Connor, smiling at the picture Angel had painted of their lives. It was all true, that was what made it so funny. "But why does she have to be involved? I mean, we could let her know about her heritage and stuff but that doesn't mean she has to kill anything. Gunn and Lorne bought her an axe; not a bunch of flowers or something, a goddamn axe,"
"I know, I heard. I thought it was a nice gesture myself but… Look, Connor, you need to let her be her own person. She's part demon, that means that she has powers she doesn't know about yet, she's a lot stronger than you give her credit for,"
"I just thought I could make things right," he sighed.
"You have, you got her away from a bad situation and she's settled in with us. You did the best thing for her but now you have to let her live a little, you can't protect her forever. She's your girlfriend, not your child,"
"I know," sighed Connor, pouting slightly at the fact that Angel was right. He had to let Allie live her own life; he couldn't hold her back because he was worried about her. He stood up and walked across to the door, Angel was about to go back to the paperwork when Connor turned to face him. "Thanks Dad,"
"It's okay," smiled Angel, Connor nodded and walked out.
Allie walked slightly behind Connor as they entered the dark alleyway, her fingers were playing with the handle of her axe but she knew she couldn't draw it out yet. She couldn't stop smiling, after weeks of training she was finally out in the killing fields and she couldn't wait. Connor was quieter than normal, his attuned sense of smell was leading them in the direction they needed to go but Allie was worried that something else was bothering him. She didn't want to ask about it now; she knew he would only get exasperated that she was bringing their personal life to work.
"You ready?" he whispered, Allie nodded and smiled at him. "It's vamps, only a few. You can use your axe if you want but just a simple beating and staking will be fine too,"
"I'm ready," said Allie, taking a wooden stake from her jeans pocket. Connor nodded and ran around the corner; Allie followed him and found herself surrounded by vamps. Connor was already punching and kicking his way through the crowds, dust was flying everywhere but Allie felt overwhelmed. One of the vampires ran towards her, knocking her off balance but she jumped up almost immediately, her adrenaline kicking in as she punched the vampire in the face and the stomach before driving the stake hard into his chest and grinning as he disappeared into a cloud of dust. Soon enough, Connor and Allie stood alone both out of breath and smiling.
"You're a natural," said Connor, kissing her on the cheek.
"Thanks," she smiled.
They headed out into the city and somehow found more vampires than usual, even Connor was surprised, especially with his lack of action the last few times he had been out hunting. His worries about Allie had softened though; she was highly competent when it came to vampires. He had no worries with leaving her behind him when he attacked the leader of the group, she could more than hold her own amongst the demons. It was towards the end of the night that Connor began to pick up on a strange scent that he couldn't place, it worried him but it was nearly sunlight so he and Allie headed back for the hotel. Less than a block away, Connor was just rounding a corner when he began to smell it again; it was almost like Chinese spices mixed with the faint smell of death. His concentration was distracted by Allie's screams; he spun around to see her surrounded by five monk-like figures; each was dressed in brown robes and holding her back as one moved towards Connor.
He flew at the monk; attacking with his fists and feet but nothing worked, the monk was far too fast and Connor found himself on the floor. He looked up at Allie as she withdrew her axe and began to attack the others but there were too many surrounding her, all with lightning speed reflexes. It wasn't long before Allie was attacked by all five monks who kicked and punched her to the ground. Connor was breathless with exertion and pain but he knew he had to get up and help Allie, she was lying still but the monks weren't leaving her side.
"Allie?" he said softly as he stood up to the tall robed figure, she groaned in response and it was all the ammunition he needed. He deftly kicked the monk and swung around him, grabbing Allie and dragging her up before running away from the alley and towards the hotel as fast as he could go.
Angel was still up and reading over his paperwork when Connor burst through the double doors carrying Allie in his arms; she was bleeding badly from a cut in her side but she was still conscious and it didn't look fatal. Connor lowered her gently onto the circular sofa and rushed the doors, checking if they had been followed. Angel rushed to Allie's side to ensure that she was okay before joining Connor at the door.
"What happened?" he asked the concern evident in his voice.
"I don't know, we were jumped by these weird monk-looking guys," explained Connor, returning to Allie who was wincing at the pain running up and down her body. "They attacked from nowhere; they were really strong and really fast. I couldn't see their faces but they smelt like demons; they were wearing long brown robes and didn't speak,"
"They sound familiar," said Wesley, appearing from the unlit corridor. He was unshaven and still fully dressed; Connor doubted he had even attempted to sleep.
"I agree," said Angel. "They sound like the Mishu,"
"Who are they?" asked Allie.
"Ancient priests of the highest order; destined to kill the impossible," said Wesley. "Which would explain why they attacked you,"
"What?" said Connor.
"You are the son of two vampires, you shouldn't be here. Your existence is a biological impossibility. It sounds as if they were there for you, Connor,"
