~*-*~
Restless. That was the only word to describe Connor's disposition. He was restless. Day Three in Operation Vampire Recovery, and still no success. Every day Connor felt worse. It can be said that guilt is its own punishment. Connor felt that. He'd work on his speech to his father, so he knew exactly how to say just how sorry he was for what he did. He'd work himself up, only to be disappointed with no sign of his father or Spike. And that just left another day of apprehension. Connor's mind moved a mile a minute.
What happens if he rejects me? What happens if he doesn't forgive me? What happens if he never wants me? What happens?
The deck was beginning to wear out from the frantic pacing. But it wasn't Connor's feet doing the damage. No, Connor had been on edge for too long that he'd worn himself out. He just remained tense, sitting down in an ocean of his own guilt. If one didn't know any better, one would almost say he was brooding.
"Charles, maybe you should sit down."
"I can't sit."
"Well at least stop pacing up and down! You're making me ill."
Fred was sitting down next to Connor and watched her partner walk continuously around the deck. Gunn had been at it for nearly an hour. It was dark by now, and it was fair to say that he was losing hope and fast.
"This is crazy Fred! Here were are, still waiting for some sign of those vampires."
"And they'll turn up. Don't worry."
"I can't help not worrying! I don't think you realise this, but we've been here for three days already."
"It's a large..."
"Don't give me that 'it's a large ocean' crap!"
Fred just stared, shocked at her boyfriend's outburst. What was going on? Was it 'Yell At Fred' week and she had been misinformed?
"Look Fred, I'm sorry, but it's true. Spike should have found him by now."
"Everything's okay. I'm sure of it."
"No, don't you see? Everything's not okay. We've been waiting for three days, and so far we've got nothing. Let's face it. We've lost Angel."
This shook Connor out of his inner monologue. He stood up and spoke with a firm resolve.
"I'll go."
Fred and Gunn just looked at him.
"What?"
"I said I'll go. I'll go underwater and try and find my father myself."
An English voice spoke out from near the main cabin.
"No, you're not Connor."
"Please Wes, I can go down and find him. He's my father. And since I put him there, it's only right for me to go and save him."
"Connor, you can't. Who's to say that you won't get lost down there? Ignoring the practicalities of having no diving equipment, we can't afford to lose you too. We're already one man down."
He smiled a smile of reassurance as he spoke, but that smile was soon to fade.
"Not the right man down if you ask me."
Wes turned to look at Gunn, first of all confirming that his hearing did not fail him.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You know what I mean English. Cause as far as I'm concerned, I'm blaming you."
"And how exactly do you get to that conclusion?"
"I'm pretty certain that it's all your fault. If it weren't for you, I'm pretty certain that Connor here wouldn't have suffered in an alternate hell dimension. I'm pretty certain that Angel wouldn't be stuck in the ocean. And I'm pretty certain that if it weren't for you, we wouldn't be stuck here waiting for God knows what to happen. So yeah, it's your fault."
Fred had decided to sit this argument out. She'd played witness to the many times the two men had bumped heads, and was rather tired of the constant bickering and little digs here and there. Maybe if they got to truly fight it all out without interruption, they could get it over with. Connor however, still kept himself involved in the conversation.
"Gunn, it's not Wes' fault."
"Stay out of this Sparky, you're just a kid. You don't know better."
"Listen, if you're angry at me then be angry at me. Don't take it out on Connor."
Gunn scoffed as he stared at his ex-friend. He couldn't believe what he was hearing, and he shook his head in disbelief.
"Look at you. Playing the daddy to Angel's son. Don't think Angel'll be too happy about that when he gets back. Or should I say if he gets back. It's funny, considering a couple of months ago you were trying to get the boy killed."
"Trying? You don't have a clue do you? I was trying to protect him! I took him away so I could save his life!"
"Well, none of this would have happened if you had just come to us instead of trying to play hero by yourself."
"Do you know what the prophecy said? It said that Angel was going to kill Connor. I could hardly tell him where I was going, because if he turned bad he'd be able to find us. And it's not like I could have taken Connor easily. Angel would have never parted with Connor and you know it!"
"That isn't a good enough excuse. You still should have come to us. Now here we are on a boat somewhere off the coast of California on some wild goose chase!"
"How can you call this a wild goose chase? We know where Angel is, we've got someone going to get him."
"Yeah, except we don't know who this someone is."
Now Wesley was truly puzzled.
"What?"
"This Spike guy. Who's to say he is what he says he is? He shows up, claims he's got a soul, and we believe him. He says he needs Angel, we give Angel to him on a silver platter."
"Look, I know who he is."
"As far as your Watcher training goes, sure. These are the same guys who double crossed you and fired you. Do you honestly trust anything those guys taught you? What's to say this Spike character ain't even a vampire? He shows up, we don't cross check with crosses or nothing. Who knows what kind of demon he is? He could be going down there to find Angel and to kill him."
Connor had been listening in on all this and was getting more worried by the minute. Gunn did have a point. And of course, Connor was growing more and more sceptical as the days went by. Everyday he'd find out something new, another situation where he'd been lied to and manipulated. Placing trust in Spike might have just been another mistake.
"Maybe Gunn, but Spike was nice to me. He told me things. I don't think he'd try to kill Angel."
"Connor, even if Spike is who he says he is, what if those Wolfram & Hart lawyers got to him first? What if they're paying him to take Angel out? Ever thought of that?"
"But why would Wolfram & Hart be interested in Spike?"
"Wolfram & Hart are interested in everything."
By this point, Wesley was almost as tired as Fred was, who by this time was writing something down, completely oblivious to the argument around her.
"Gunn, listen to me. Spike's going to find Angel. He's going to bring him back. And when Angel gets here, I don't think he'll appreciate us bickering non-stop. Can we at least call a truce, and focus on the problem at hand?"
Wesley held his hand out in anticipation. Gunn looked at it first before answering.
"Let me make a few things clear. I don't trust you. I don't trust Spike. Don't think I've forgiven you for betraying us. That's not what this is about. I'm in this truce for Angel's sake. And that's it. Deal?"
"Deal."
And so they shook on it, ready to deal with the issue of the missing vampires. Gunn began the first attempt to be polite.
"So, what's the first plan of action?"
"I think the first plan of action is to..."
He trailed off, as he caught sight of Connor almost tipping over the edge of the deck.
"Connor, what are you doing? I thought we agreed we'd find another way."
Connor didn't say a word. He just gestured with his head to the water. Wes and Gunn moved to the side of the boat and looked over at the same spot. The movement shook Fred out of her work and she too came to the side to look out.
"What's going on?"
Fred kept looking at everyone else trying to figure out what they were looking at. Then she heard the splashes from the water below. A body had emerged from the ocean. A completely soaked body with platinum blonde hair. The four people on the side of the boat all watched with apprehension, careful not to bring their hopes up too quickly. It didn't matter though, because they'd finally got what they wanted. It was Spike.
"All right people?"
Spike spoke with a constant smirk on his face.
"Check out what the vampire dragged in!"
With that, a second body appeared from the waters next to Spike.
"Angel?"
"Dad?!"
Angel looked up at all the faces.
"Err... Hey guys."
And nobody knew how to react. The two groups just stared at each other, not knowing quite what to do. It had been three days. That kind of waiting made the excitement kind of hard since both parties had spent so much time just feeling numb. Nobody moved, nobody said a word. There was silence. Or at least there was silence until Spike commented with his usual comic timing.
"So... Been waiting long?"
~*-*~
Author's Note: Dear Lord. Thank you all so much for your input! Every review I get makes me skip around in glee. Granted, I've been annoying my friends by being so happy I've been yodelling too (don't ask) but still. You make me so happy!
I'm also unbelievably happy because I'm updating regularly. I finally have enough material to update regularly! I'm so proud. In fact, I've almost finished this fic. Sigh. Sad to end it, it really is.
(PenguinsEvilPawn: I should imagine I do punch like a girl. I am one. And I agree, Angel *is* funny when he's mad. It's all too tempting to have him as Mr Broody Brooderson, and completely forget about Mr "He Started It!" of The Yoko Factor or "He's my lead! He's my lead!" of Dead End. If you ask me, Angel is often just an immortal teenager. It's a side of Angel people sometimes forget.)
