~*-*~

Angel had a son. How in the hell did that work? Connor. Irish. Typical. Did this make him my uncle? No matter, I still had more than a century on him. This was taking a while to register. Angel, MY Angel, had a son. A real son. That wasn't me. Connor was human, I could hear his pulse and smell his blood, and was Angel's son. What exactly was going on here? My only thoughts were that Angel was no longer a vampire... and that besides - who was the mother? I'm sure this is something Buffy would not like to know about. Oh bugger it. So many questions.

The silence was deafening. They were all looking at me like I would go insane with the information. Start ripping stuff apart and screaming like a lunatic. I'll show them.

"That's something isn't it? Forgive me for this... but how exactly does that work? I mean, we don't, vampires don't, we can't..."

Or at least I hope we can't, otherwise my recent sex capades should have been done using protection of some sort...

"It wasn't really all too natural. A prophecy."

Well of course. A prophecy. "The one with the excess hair gel will father a son that is insane and tries to stake people without thinking". Sounds about right. It's not like the powers ever made ANY sense.

"Please explain further, I can't get my head round this. Wait a minute. Who's the mother?" A quick glance around confirmed my thoughts. "I don't want to know do I?"

"Darla."

"Darla?!"

"Darla."

Now my head was most definitely spinning. This was making less and less sense.

"So Angel and Grandmum made with the screwage, Angel didn't lose his soul, she got pregnant and gave birth to a 16 year old human boy? Forgive me if it makes no sense."

"You're not the only one who thinks it makes no sense."

Fred was on to something there. She clearly didn't understand it but she lived with it. Something I was going to have to do too.

"Well, to clarify it in simplistic terms. Angel got Darla pregnant. Darla couldn't give birth cause she was a vampire..."

"But could clearly get impregnated..."

"Let me finish. So she staked herself."

Darla? Dust? Again? I know she never really tolerated me, but I never wanted that to happen to her. I mean, somewhere in my heart I knew I wanted us all to be back together again. The happy foursome. Darla, Angelus, Drusilla and I. We spent a happy 20 odd years wandering Europe killing as we pleased. I don't appreciate the killing anymore, but I miss the togetherness. The sense of belonging. Sure, I'm a regular Fangs For Hire back in Sunnydale, but I don't fit in with them. They use me when they need me and throw me out again. I miss the 80's. The 1880's that is.

"Connor was born. There was this whole issue with this guy trying to kill Angel, and he took Connor away, with my help."

"It wasn't your fault Wesley, you know that. False prophecy, remember?

The looks that were being exchanged around the room only helped to alleviate my feelings of "I should never have asked". But if I was going to get my hands on Angel any time soon, I would have to put up with these people. Besides, I needed to know more about Connor. This whole thing was nuts.

"Sorry, but can you explain this to me further? I'm still confused."

"Understandable. Well, this guy, Holtz..."

"Holtz?! Bloody hell!"

"You know him?"

"Know him? Goodness no, I'm not that old. But I was raised on that kind of stuff. When I was sired, I went after people who mocked me in early life. Angelus told me it was pathetic. How what I'd done didn't punish them at all. Torture was best, and then he would brag about his handiwork, Darla would call him on it. Killing whole families was Angel's trademark, but Darla never liked it. What did he always say? "There's no torture like losing the ones you love". Dru was the last person he did that to. Darla wasn't happy and Angelus never did it again. Never stopped him bragging about it though. What?"

Oh my god, the faces. They didn't know. They had no idea just how evil we were back then. They were disgusted and shocked and upset and much more. I shouldn't have talked about it. I'd opened wounds. I'll assume they weren't meant to know. After all, Angel would have told them otherwise. I needed to get off this topic.

"So, Holtz then! He did what exactly?"

"He abducted Connor, with my help, and got sent to Quortoth."

"With your help? Quortoth?"

"I'll fill in this part. There was a false prophecy that Angel would revert to Angelus and kill the baby and Wesley fell for it. So Wesley took Connor away, only to be ambushed, robbed of Connor and left for dead."

"Thanks for that Gunn."

"Left for dead?"

"Slashed throat."

"Ouch."

"Anyways. Quortoth is a hell dimension and Holtz and Connor ended up there. 16 years later, Quortoth time, Connor punches his way back into this dimension. Meets up with us. There's friction at first, and then everything's alright."

"Well... that's a lot of information to process. But hey! I have a new family member. We're getting off the point here. Where's Angel? I really need to talk to him and why are you looking like that?"

"We don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? Where is he?"

"He disappeared about 2 months ago, and we haven't seen him since. We've looked everywhere and he's nowhere to be found."

There's an alternate dimension somewhere in which I'm being smacked round the head repeatedly with an iron, and it doesn't hurt as much as this. Angel's lost? It's strange. He was always around when I really needed him. Needed him for help, advice, draining him to heal Drusilla... okay, there's a memory I'm not bringing up with him. Might not have forgiven me...

"As much as we hate this, we think he's dead. As in gone dead."

I didn't want to hear this. I did in no way whatsoever want this information. I'm suffering, in pain. There's only one other person who's lived through this and I need him now. Wesley continued.

"Angel would never abandon us without warning. And not for as long as he has. He could leave for a week maybe, but two months? Never. He hasn't lost his soul, otherwise he'd be back to kill us all. We've tried to locate him, but he doesn't leave tracks. We don't have a clue."

It was whilst Fred was talking I noticed that both Connor and Gunn were silent. Wesley being silent, I could wholly understand, he felt guilty... but my senses pricked up. They knew something the rest of us didn't. Connor even more so. I'm going to have a word with him. After all, fists can talk.

"He's not dust. I'd know if he was."

"How?"

"Physical connection. If it were ruptured, I'd feel it in my veins. He's still as undead as ever."

At this point I was about to realise why Warrior seemed quiet. He was weary of me.

"William, we've told you a lot of stuff about what's going on here. Wesley seems to know you, but I sure as hell don't. I don't trust you for half an instant. You've known Angel forever and you're a killer. That's all we know. Who are you?"

They'd explained themselves to me, only fair I explained myself to them. Buckle up children, it's story-telling time!

~*-*~


Author's Note: Soz that it took so long to upload this next section... but I've already started on the next one so that should be up in a short while!