Part 3
A Time to Act
As Connor walked away from Lorne's apartment he kept thinking, "she's alive, she's alive." He couldn't believe it. Somewhere deep inside he hoped she was still alive but he also had never really believed it.
Connor hardly noticed where he was going until he was at the top of the staircase. He was about to go down when he heard the clatter of the doors opening and then voices, "Could you believe how big that thing was?" Came Gunn's enthusiastic voice.
"It was very big," came the not so enthusiastic voice of Fred.
"All I know is it will take forever to get all this gunk off me."
"Oh lighten up Cordelia it was fun."
"If that's what you call fun Gunn then you really need a life and fast."
"Oh for heavens sake please do shut up."
"Sorry Wesley how's your head?"
"Not bad at all Cordelia, I was only thrown threw a cement wall."
"Well sorrryyy."
And on and on it went. Connor didn't want to go down there. He didn't want to have anything to do with them. Lately both Angel and Holtz were stepping up the pressure. Angel wanted Connor to be, well his son, and Holtz was getting impatient. He was no closer to figuring out which one to listen to.
Connor looked down at the photo in his hand and immediately decided what to do. He needed help and she was the only one he trusted without question. Quickly and quietly, Connor sprinted up to his room to start packing what little he could call his own. After he realized there were some things at the motel he needed as well.
He knew he couldn't go out the front so he decided to go out the window. Putting the overnight bag on over his shoulder, Connor began to climb out onto the ledge. He was so busy concentrating on what he was doing he didn't notice he had dropped the picture. It fluttered to the floor of his room face up.
Hitting the sidewalk, Connor headed straight to the motel where he was going to have to talk to Holtz. But what to say that wouldn't rouse suspicion? So he didn't notice the shadows on the corner of the opposite street in front of the hotel.
"Are you sure it's him boss."
"Positive."
"But how can you be sure. He was a baby when he disappeared and isn't he to big to be the one."
The larger man, that appeared to anyone looking, like a normal man. He grabbed his partner around the neck and slammed him against the wall. Only then, now that they had moved into the light, would anyone realize he was not what he seemed; he had a large scar starting at his hairline, running down through his eye, and down to his chin. The man was very large, larger than a normal man. He had all the same parts and looked normal except everything was about twice as big as it was supposed to be. His partner on the other hand looked hardly human. He had ugly orange skin and almost neon yellow eyes.
The smaller man began to cower and whimper, "Because my friend," said the bigger man in a tone that suggested anything but friendship, "the woman was smart and cunning. I never expected to find a baby."
The man gave a cruel smile as he looked down the street at Connor's retreating form. "And besides, the boy looks like his mother."
*****
As Connor walked up to the motel he stopped and looked up at the room he and 'his father' shared. Holtz knew most everything about Connor and he wasn't sure exactly how he was going to fool him. As of late he had been dancing around the subject, that coupled with the fact he was so distracted over his mother Holtz really didn't have a chance to question him about Angel.
He didn't want his father asking questions, almost as much as he wanted him nowhere near Buffy. He feared Holtz's desire for revenge against Angel would turn into revenge against all people connected to Angel, or had been in his mother's case. There was no love lost between Angel's friends and Holtz that was for sure, and everything he could remember about his mother suggested that she had been very in love with Angel.
At that thought Connor had a horrible revelation. What if Holtz had been the thing chasing his mother? Connor had to admit; there was only so much he knew about Holtz. That was it. Connor made the decision right there that he was leaving this place forever. To hell with both of them.
Connor took a deep breath trying to calm his nerves. The best way to do this was to play as close to the truth as he could while making sure Holtz thought Connor hated Angel.
Considering all this Connor walked up the stairs, stopped at the door, took several cleansing breaths, and opened the door. Holtz sat at the table reading the paper, which he set down the moment Connor walked through the door.
"Hello son how's the enemy?"
Connor moved around the apartment garbing a set of his knives in a leather pouch, "He's being his normal asshole self. I hate him."
Calculating, Holtz eyed his enemy's kid, wondering if he was forgetting to mention something to him. "What's wrong Steven?"
"Nothing Dad just pissed at having to play the charade."
"You won't for much longer," Holtz intoned softly, his voice quiet and serious, his eyes watching Steven's every move. The boy never even twitched. I taught him well...
Packing up a black sapphire encrusted dagger, Connor hesitated and bent over to stick it in his sock, wrapping his denim pant leg over it. Glancing up from his foot he saw something under the rickety table, and leaned over to get it before standing and placing it in his bag.
"You're packing a lot of your stuff."
"He knows I have it, if I bring it to the hotel, he'll think I'm really considering living with him and his gang."
"He is a fool."
Looking over his shoulder Connor smiled, maliciousness creeping into his eyes as he thought back to his dreams, "That the vampire surely is."
Walking around the room, Connor grew frustrated when he couldn't find his beaded necklace. To him it was special, each new link from something he had killed. He felt weird leaving it behind, but before it had felt weirder to leave it off of his neck. Not to mention dressing in this world's clothes. He liked his skins, and if he had to blend in and leave everything else behind he would take his jacket and his necklace.
Now though, he still couldn't find it. Connor had looked everywhere for them, and now his frustration was clearly showing on his face. Stopping to rake hair out of his eyes, Connor kicked the box near him and grumbled under his breath.
When he turned, Connor noticed Holtz there holding both of his valuable things and motioning for him to take them. Tossing the bag over his shoulder, Connor walked over to the man that had played his father for 17 years.
17 years was a long time to get to know someone and to trust them. It was a shame human character could take less then 17 seconds to lose such a deep trust between them.
Now Connor had to leave, leave and never come back to this wretched city. He didn't want Holtz to drag him to the end of this revenge mission and he didn't want to stay with his alleged dad. He only wanted to find Buffy... his true mother.
Halfway out of the dimly light hotel room, Holtz detained Connor with a firm hand settling onto his shoulders.
Stepping up behind him, Holtz spoke softly, "Where is it you are off to in such a hurry? The fires of hell are no longer chasing at your feet. We no longer have to stay in the shadows... we're ready to move into the final stage of my plan to rid the world of Angelus."
Connor's head fell forward in defeat; he wasn't getting out of here without a conversation with the bastard who he believed to be the thing Buffy had been running from. Revenge never sounded so cruel and horrible to him. It did now thinking of what must have happened to her... bile lodged in his throat as Connor turned to face his closest and greatest nemesis.
"I have to get back to the hotel. Angelus doesn't know I am gone, he might be suspicious and then where would we be? He needs to be ignorant until the final moment before his death and the death of his friends. Our hatred will finally come to its conclusion at the sight of his comprehending pain. Don't worry father, everything will go according to plan."
Nodding once Holtz removed his hand and backed away as Connor walked out the door with all his belongings. Something was up, and Holtz was going to find out. Shrewd eyes followed every move of the figure walking out into the shadows... the curtain flapped quietly against the windowpane as Holtz returned to the rest of his work. Nothing was going to stop him, nothing. Not even his son.
As Connor walked away from Lorne's apartment he kept thinking, "she's alive, she's alive." He couldn't believe it. Somewhere deep inside he hoped she was still alive but he also had never really believed it.
Connor hardly noticed where he was going until he was at the top of the staircase. He was about to go down when he heard the clatter of the doors opening and then voices, "Could you believe how big that thing was?" Came Gunn's enthusiastic voice.
"It was very big," came the not so enthusiastic voice of Fred.
"All I know is it will take forever to get all this gunk off me."
"Oh lighten up Cordelia it was fun."
"If that's what you call fun Gunn then you really need a life and fast."
"Oh for heavens sake please do shut up."
"Sorry Wesley how's your head?"
"Not bad at all Cordelia, I was only thrown threw a cement wall."
"Well sorrryyy."
And on and on it went. Connor didn't want to go down there. He didn't want to have anything to do with them. Lately both Angel and Holtz were stepping up the pressure. Angel wanted Connor to be, well his son, and Holtz was getting impatient. He was no closer to figuring out which one to listen to.
Connor looked down at the photo in his hand and immediately decided what to do. He needed help and she was the only one he trusted without question. Quickly and quietly, Connor sprinted up to his room to start packing what little he could call his own. After he realized there were some things at the motel he needed as well.
He knew he couldn't go out the front so he decided to go out the window. Putting the overnight bag on over his shoulder, Connor began to climb out onto the ledge. He was so busy concentrating on what he was doing he didn't notice he had dropped the picture. It fluttered to the floor of his room face up.
Hitting the sidewalk, Connor headed straight to the motel where he was going to have to talk to Holtz. But what to say that wouldn't rouse suspicion? So he didn't notice the shadows on the corner of the opposite street in front of the hotel.
"Are you sure it's him boss."
"Positive."
"But how can you be sure. He was a baby when he disappeared and isn't he to big to be the one."
The larger man, that appeared to anyone looking, like a normal man. He grabbed his partner around the neck and slammed him against the wall. Only then, now that they had moved into the light, would anyone realize he was not what he seemed; he had a large scar starting at his hairline, running down through his eye, and down to his chin. The man was very large, larger than a normal man. He had all the same parts and looked normal except everything was about twice as big as it was supposed to be. His partner on the other hand looked hardly human. He had ugly orange skin and almost neon yellow eyes.
The smaller man began to cower and whimper, "Because my friend," said the bigger man in a tone that suggested anything but friendship, "the woman was smart and cunning. I never expected to find a baby."
The man gave a cruel smile as he looked down the street at Connor's retreating form. "And besides, the boy looks like his mother."
*****
As Connor walked up to the motel he stopped and looked up at the room he and 'his father' shared. Holtz knew most everything about Connor and he wasn't sure exactly how he was going to fool him. As of late he had been dancing around the subject, that coupled with the fact he was so distracted over his mother Holtz really didn't have a chance to question him about Angel.
He didn't want his father asking questions, almost as much as he wanted him nowhere near Buffy. He feared Holtz's desire for revenge against Angel would turn into revenge against all people connected to Angel, or had been in his mother's case. There was no love lost between Angel's friends and Holtz that was for sure, and everything he could remember about his mother suggested that she had been very in love with Angel.
At that thought Connor had a horrible revelation. What if Holtz had been the thing chasing his mother? Connor had to admit; there was only so much he knew about Holtz. That was it. Connor made the decision right there that he was leaving this place forever. To hell with both of them.
Connor took a deep breath trying to calm his nerves. The best way to do this was to play as close to the truth as he could while making sure Holtz thought Connor hated Angel.
Considering all this Connor walked up the stairs, stopped at the door, took several cleansing breaths, and opened the door. Holtz sat at the table reading the paper, which he set down the moment Connor walked through the door.
"Hello son how's the enemy?"
Connor moved around the apartment garbing a set of his knives in a leather pouch, "He's being his normal asshole self. I hate him."
Calculating, Holtz eyed his enemy's kid, wondering if he was forgetting to mention something to him. "What's wrong Steven?"
"Nothing Dad just pissed at having to play the charade."
"You won't for much longer," Holtz intoned softly, his voice quiet and serious, his eyes watching Steven's every move. The boy never even twitched. I taught him well...
Packing up a black sapphire encrusted dagger, Connor hesitated and bent over to stick it in his sock, wrapping his denim pant leg over it. Glancing up from his foot he saw something under the rickety table, and leaned over to get it before standing and placing it in his bag.
"You're packing a lot of your stuff."
"He knows I have it, if I bring it to the hotel, he'll think I'm really considering living with him and his gang."
"He is a fool."
Looking over his shoulder Connor smiled, maliciousness creeping into his eyes as he thought back to his dreams, "That the vampire surely is."
Walking around the room, Connor grew frustrated when he couldn't find his beaded necklace. To him it was special, each new link from something he had killed. He felt weird leaving it behind, but before it had felt weirder to leave it off of his neck. Not to mention dressing in this world's clothes. He liked his skins, and if he had to blend in and leave everything else behind he would take his jacket and his necklace.
Now though, he still couldn't find it. Connor had looked everywhere for them, and now his frustration was clearly showing on his face. Stopping to rake hair out of his eyes, Connor kicked the box near him and grumbled under his breath.
When he turned, Connor noticed Holtz there holding both of his valuable things and motioning for him to take them. Tossing the bag over his shoulder, Connor walked over to the man that had played his father for 17 years.
17 years was a long time to get to know someone and to trust them. It was a shame human character could take less then 17 seconds to lose such a deep trust between them.
Now Connor had to leave, leave and never come back to this wretched city. He didn't want Holtz to drag him to the end of this revenge mission and he didn't want to stay with his alleged dad. He only wanted to find Buffy... his true mother.
Halfway out of the dimly light hotel room, Holtz detained Connor with a firm hand settling onto his shoulders.
Stepping up behind him, Holtz spoke softly, "Where is it you are off to in such a hurry? The fires of hell are no longer chasing at your feet. We no longer have to stay in the shadows... we're ready to move into the final stage of my plan to rid the world of Angelus."
Connor's head fell forward in defeat; he wasn't getting out of here without a conversation with the bastard who he believed to be the thing Buffy had been running from. Revenge never sounded so cruel and horrible to him. It did now thinking of what must have happened to her... bile lodged in his throat as Connor turned to face his closest and greatest nemesis.
"I have to get back to the hotel. Angelus doesn't know I am gone, he might be suspicious and then where would we be? He needs to be ignorant until the final moment before his death and the death of his friends. Our hatred will finally come to its conclusion at the sight of his comprehending pain. Don't worry father, everything will go according to plan."
Nodding once Holtz removed his hand and backed away as Connor walked out the door with all his belongings. Something was up, and Holtz was going to find out. Shrewd eyes followed every move of the figure walking out into the shadows... the curtain flapped quietly against the windowpane as Holtz returned to the rest of his work. Nothing was going to stop him, nothing. Not even his son.