Part Five
Return to Sunnydale
Connor sat on the bus as it pulled out of L.A. towards Sunnydale. It had taken him a while to figure out how to get there but finally he had met a nice woman that had pointed him in the right direction.
He was going to see her. After years of wondering and dreaming he was going to see her again. Part of him was overjoyed at the prospect of seeing her again, while the other half was scared to death. Having him had been hard on her. If nothing else the dreams had shown him that. While he was certain his mother had loved him he was unsure if she would be happy to see him.
He looked out he window and watched the passing city. Even if she was glad to see him Connor wasn't sure what good it would do. Then of course there were the minor matters of him only knowing what city she was in and not having the foggiest idea of what he was going to say.
Some how he didn't think, "hey, I'm your son, nice to see again," was going to cut it. Connor let out as sigh of wariness, so many questions and so few answers. It was all stacking up, Holtz, Angel, his mother, all of it. Plus he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that there were pieces to all this he just didn't have.
Why had so many demons wanted him dead as a child? Why had his mother chosen that solution? Surely there had to have been some place for her to go, some person to turn to? Further more, in all of the memories he was getting from his dreams he didn't once see Angel. Where had he been through all that? Had he abandoned her or was there some other reason? Angel seemed determined to keep Connor as his son. He just couldn't see Angel walking away from his mother if he had known about him. Which led to the question, had Angel ever known he had a son prior to Darla? If he didn't why had his mother kept it from him?
Connor took a deep breath. The only way he was ever going to find out who or what he was, was to ask his mother, Buffy. He sat back and fingered the silver object he kept on his necklace; it was a ring of some sort. Connor was sure it once had had a design on it, but all that was left now was the basic shape of what it had once been. A shape Connor was never able to completely figure out. It had a familiar feeling to it, like it had always been meant for him.
He shook his head. He was being silly, it was just some random thing he found. Connor laid his head down to nap until he reached Sunnydale while he continued to play with the object absentmindedly until slowly he drifted off.
*****
It was like some vision out of hell. Connor screamed because as an infant that was all he could do as he watch a man twice the size he should have been pick up his mother and through her into a tree with such force that the trunk of the tree cracked.
She immediately got back up and ran at the demon. Connor could tell there was something wrong with her. She was moving slow and seemed to be in pain, more pain then she should have been in. It dawned on him that he was seeing further back than he had ever seen before. His mother must have just given birth. No more than a couple of hours ago.
"Why do you fight this, you think what the child is will change because you have him?" said the demon with a laugh. "He is ours, stop fighting us."
"Never. As long as I'm still standing you will not touch him."
At that point what looked to be like Indian warriors came into the wooded area they were in and started attacking the demon. They were clearly fighting a losing battle but still they fought. The leader yelled something that made no sense to Connor but seemed to make sense to his mother because she ran over picked him up and fled.
Connor let out more cries when he felt something powerful coming at them. He could tell what they were but they appeared to be women demons of some sort. One of them came flying at Buffy. He was certain it was going to attack her when it landed a few feet away and led Buffy into a clearing.
Tied to a tree was a large black horse. The demon woman helped Buffy onto in and they were off. They rode for hours literally until the horse would run no more. After Buffy jumped off the horse, she grabbed it by the rains and started leading it in to a wooded area.
Connor was cold, tired, and hungry. As they walked they came upon a watering hole. His mother tied the horse near a tree and allowed it to get some water. His mother set him down and went about gathering things. Soon a fire was going and him mom picked him back up.
"Okay little guy, I've only done this once so forgive if I'm not certain what to do."
But it didn't matter because as soon as he was close enough he latched on to her nipple and started to suckle for all he was worth. After a bit, when he had had his fill he started to drift off and it was then that his mother would do the one thing that would stay with him for years. She started to sing to him.
*****
"Connor, you up here?" called Angel. He'd been home for a good hour and he had yet to see Connor at all.
The first thing Angel noticed when he walked into Connor's room was Connor's absence. The next and far more disturbing thing was the absence of Connor's things.
"Connor," yelled Angel in a panic! "Connor, Connor!"
"What's with the scream fest Angel cakes," said Lorne.
"Connor's gone."
"Gone. What do you mean gone?"
"Gone as in no longer in the building," shouted a very aggravated Angel. He had just gotten him back he couldn't lose him now. He could tell that there was still some distance between them but they were working on it. Angel wasn't certain he could lose his son again.
"What's going on up here," said Gunn as he and Fred walked down the hall towards were Angel and Lorne were standing.
"Connor's missing."
"Missing as in stepped out for some fresh air or missing as in Elvis has left the building."
"Missing as in all his stuff is gone," growled Angel.
While Gunn and Angel were talking Fred slipped into Connor's room to look around. She noticed something on the ground by the window. It was a photograph of a pretty girl Fred had never seen before.
"Maybe he has a girlfriend," said Fred assuming that was whom the picture was of. The girl looked about his age.
"A what," said Angel?
"Now Angel Connor is 18 and is more."
"I know what you're saying Fred, I'm just not sure why you are saying it."
"I found a picture of her," said Fred looking at the image, "she's pretty too. Take a look." Fred handed the image to Angel. He looked at it in bewilderment, not quite grasping what he was seeing. Gunn and Lorne both looked over his shoulder to see whom the mysterious girl was.
Angel was more confused than he was before so he didn't notice Lorne turn another shade of green. Why on earth would Connor have a picture of Buffy? It just didn't make sense.
"Damn, boy has taste."
"She's not his girlfriend. This is an old picture of Buffy."
Gunn snatched the picture from Angel's hand oblivious to the annoyed look Angel shot his way. "This is Buffy," said Gunn after closer inspection.
"Yes," said Angel snatching the photo back.
"Okay then you have taste," said Gunn with a shrug walking over and wrapping his arms around Fred. "Not as good as mine though," he quickly added when he saw the look on her face.
However Angel was no longer listening, "Why in heavens name would Connor have a photo of Buffy in his room?" It was something he never would have guessed.
"Um, I hate to say this, but I can answer that," said Lorne nervously. "And I probably know where he's gone to as well."
"What," said Angel, spinning around to see him, "Lorne what the hell is going on?" Angel was agitated and he wanted answers now.
"Cream Puff came to me earlier tonight with a wild story that included your girl there, funniest thing really," said Lorne with a nervous laugh.
"Lorne?"
"Alright," Lorne nervously cleared his throat, "he said he knew Buffy, had some privileged info about her to. I swear he never said anything about going to find her, he just wanted to know her name."
"Connor couldn't possibly know Buffy, she doesn't even know he exists. And trust me if she did, she would be down here dancing on my ashes for not telling her myself. Did he say how he knew her?"
"Um, well."
"Lorne so help me," growled Angel.
"If he has gone to the hell mouth then for everyone's sake, I think he should be the one to tell you. After all he knows more than I do about all this."
"If you know I want you to tell me."
"I would if I could Angel Cakes but this is between you, Cream Puff, and the girl."
"Buffy has nothing to do with this," yelled Angel as he stalked down the hall towards the lobby followed by Fred, Gunn, and Lorne.
"The boy thinks otherwise."
"Oh this is nuts," said Angel with a defeated sigh. Angel went down the stairs, "Wesley, Cordy."
"What's going on," said Wesley.
"Connor's missing and we think he's headed to Sunnydale to see Buffy of all people."
"What? What on earth gives you that idea?"
"Your guess is as good as mine Cordy, ask Lorne."
"Hey don't shoot the messenger."
Angel grabbed his coat. "I'm going to Sunnydale to get him and do as much damage control as I can, god Buffy's going to kill me. You guys stay here and hold down the fort I should be back in a day or so."
"Um, Angel Cakes, I really think Wesley and Fred should go with you."
"Is that your professional opinion," asked Angel as he stopped at the door, still trying to get Lorne to spill the beans.
"No, my professional opinion is that you take them and Gunn."
"Sweet, fieldtrip," said Gunn walking across the lobby. He was one of only two that was happy about the idea of going to Sunnydale.
"It will be fun. And we can finally meet Buffy," said Fred, the other person happy about this.
"Well, wonderful. It's settled then. You take them and Cordy and I will play house here."
"Fine you guys can come, and you to Lorne," said Angel with an almost Angelus smile.
"Oh no. I really don't think we need to go that far." Lorne really didn't want to go to a place that had once gone by the name of The Mouth of Hell. It just didn't seem like a great idea. Plus there was the fact he was planning to hide in a basement because when Angel found out Buffy could be Connor's mother and when Buffy found out Connor was Angel's son, all hell was going to break loose between them. Lorne didn't want to be anywhere near that nightmare.
"Get in the car Lorne. Cordy are you okay here on your own?"
"Oh I'll be fine, it's you guys I'm worried about. Hurricane Buffy is going to hit California with a vengeance when she finds out you have an eighteen year old son," said Cordy from behind the desk as she watched Fred, Wesley, Gunn, and Lorne filed out the door.
"Don't I know it," muttered Angel.
*****
"That's him?"
"Yes General."
"And Mac?"
"He followed the vampire's son."
"A vampire with a child? I never would have believed it."
"Indeed sure. Furthermore, it is said the boy was kidnapped by one of the vampire enemies and raised in another dimension, which is why he is older now."
"Hmm. And where did you say the vampire's son went?"
"He got on a bus to Boca del Infierno."
"Why would the boy travel to the mouth of hell?"
"The slayer lives there, sir."
"Gather the men. We will follow the vampire. He is probably headed for is son, his son heads for the slayer, and where the slayer is we will find Kristine."
Connor sat on the bus as it pulled out of L.A. towards Sunnydale. It had taken him a while to figure out how to get there but finally he had met a nice woman that had pointed him in the right direction.
He was going to see her. After years of wondering and dreaming he was going to see her again. Part of him was overjoyed at the prospect of seeing her again, while the other half was scared to death. Having him had been hard on her. If nothing else the dreams had shown him that. While he was certain his mother had loved him he was unsure if she would be happy to see him.
He looked out he window and watched the passing city. Even if she was glad to see him Connor wasn't sure what good it would do. Then of course there were the minor matters of him only knowing what city she was in and not having the foggiest idea of what he was going to say.
Some how he didn't think, "hey, I'm your son, nice to see again," was going to cut it. Connor let out as sigh of wariness, so many questions and so few answers. It was all stacking up, Holtz, Angel, his mother, all of it. Plus he couldn't shake the nagging feeling that there were pieces to all this he just didn't have.
Why had so many demons wanted him dead as a child? Why had his mother chosen that solution? Surely there had to have been some place for her to go, some person to turn to? Further more, in all of the memories he was getting from his dreams he didn't once see Angel. Where had he been through all that? Had he abandoned her or was there some other reason? Angel seemed determined to keep Connor as his son. He just couldn't see Angel walking away from his mother if he had known about him. Which led to the question, had Angel ever known he had a son prior to Darla? If he didn't why had his mother kept it from him?
Connor took a deep breath. The only way he was ever going to find out who or what he was, was to ask his mother, Buffy. He sat back and fingered the silver object he kept on his necklace; it was a ring of some sort. Connor was sure it once had had a design on it, but all that was left now was the basic shape of what it had once been. A shape Connor was never able to completely figure out. It had a familiar feeling to it, like it had always been meant for him.
He shook his head. He was being silly, it was just some random thing he found. Connor laid his head down to nap until he reached Sunnydale while he continued to play with the object absentmindedly until slowly he drifted off.
*****
It was like some vision out of hell. Connor screamed because as an infant that was all he could do as he watch a man twice the size he should have been pick up his mother and through her into a tree with such force that the trunk of the tree cracked.
She immediately got back up and ran at the demon. Connor could tell there was something wrong with her. She was moving slow and seemed to be in pain, more pain then she should have been in. It dawned on him that he was seeing further back than he had ever seen before. His mother must have just given birth. No more than a couple of hours ago.
"Why do you fight this, you think what the child is will change because you have him?" said the demon with a laugh. "He is ours, stop fighting us."
"Never. As long as I'm still standing you will not touch him."
At that point what looked to be like Indian warriors came into the wooded area they were in and started attacking the demon. They were clearly fighting a losing battle but still they fought. The leader yelled something that made no sense to Connor but seemed to make sense to his mother because she ran over picked him up and fled.
Connor let out more cries when he felt something powerful coming at them. He could tell what they were but they appeared to be women demons of some sort. One of them came flying at Buffy. He was certain it was going to attack her when it landed a few feet away and led Buffy into a clearing.
Tied to a tree was a large black horse. The demon woman helped Buffy onto in and they were off. They rode for hours literally until the horse would run no more. After Buffy jumped off the horse, she grabbed it by the rains and started leading it in to a wooded area.
Connor was cold, tired, and hungry. As they walked they came upon a watering hole. His mother tied the horse near a tree and allowed it to get some water. His mother set him down and went about gathering things. Soon a fire was going and him mom picked him back up.
"Okay little guy, I've only done this once so forgive if I'm not certain what to do."
But it didn't matter because as soon as he was close enough he latched on to her nipple and started to suckle for all he was worth. After a bit, when he had had his fill he started to drift off and it was then that his mother would do the one thing that would stay with him for years. She started to sing to him.
*****
"Connor, you up here?" called Angel. He'd been home for a good hour and he had yet to see Connor at all.
The first thing Angel noticed when he walked into Connor's room was Connor's absence. The next and far more disturbing thing was the absence of Connor's things.
"Connor," yelled Angel in a panic! "Connor, Connor!"
"What's with the scream fest Angel cakes," said Lorne.
"Connor's gone."
"Gone. What do you mean gone?"
"Gone as in no longer in the building," shouted a very aggravated Angel. He had just gotten him back he couldn't lose him now. He could tell that there was still some distance between them but they were working on it. Angel wasn't certain he could lose his son again.
"What's going on up here," said Gunn as he and Fred walked down the hall towards were Angel and Lorne were standing.
"Connor's missing."
"Missing as in stepped out for some fresh air or missing as in Elvis has left the building."
"Missing as in all his stuff is gone," growled Angel.
While Gunn and Angel were talking Fred slipped into Connor's room to look around. She noticed something on the ground by the window. It was a photograph of a pretty girl Fred had never seen before.
"Maybe he has a girlfriend," said Fred assuming that was whom the picture was of. The girl looked about his age.
"A what," said Angel?
"Now Angel Connor is 18 and is more."
"I know what you're saying Fred, I'm just not sure why you are saying it."
"I found a picture of her," said Fred looking at the image, "she's pretty too. Take a look." Fred handed the image to Angel. He looked at it in bewilderment, not quite grasping what he was seeing. Gunn and Lorne both looked over his shoulder to see whom the mysterious girl was.
Angel was more confused than he was before so he didn't notice Lorne turn another shade of green. Why on earth would Connor have a picture of Buffy? It just didn't make sense.
"Damn, boy has taste."
"She's not his girlfriend. This is an old picture of Buffy."
Gunn snatched the picture from Angel's hand oblivious to the annoyed look Angel shot his way. "This is Buffy," said Gunn after closer inspection.
"Yes," said Angel snatching the photo back.
"Okay then you have taste," said Gunn with a shrug walking over and wrapping his arms around Fred. "Not as good as mine though," he quickly added when he saw the look on her face.
However Angel was no longer listening, "Why in heavens name would Connor have a photo of Buffy in his room?" It was something he never would have guessed.
"Um, I hate to say this, but I can answer that," said Lorne nervously. "And I probably know where he's gone to as well."
"What," said Angel, spinning around to see him, "Lorne what the hell is going on?" Angel was agitated and he wanted answers now.
"Cream Puff came to me earlier tonight with a wild story that included your girl there, funniest thing really," said Lorne with a nervous laugh.
"Lorne?"
"Alright," Lorne nervously cleared his throat, "he said he knew Buffy, had some privileged info about her to. I swear he never said anything about going to find her, he just wanted to know her name."
"Connor couldn't possibly know Buffy, she doesn't even know he exists. And trust me if she did, she would be down here dancing on my ashes for not telling her myself. Did he say how he knew her?"
"Um, well."
"Lorne so help me," growled Angel.
"If he has gone to the hell mouth then for everyone's sake, I think he should be the one to tell you. After all he knows more than I do about all this."
"If you know I want you to tell me."
"I would if I could Angel Cakes but this is between you, Cream Puff, and the girl."
"Buffy has nothing to do with this," yelled Angel as he stalked down the hall towards the lobby followed by Fred, Gunn, and Lorne.
"The boy thinks otherwise."
"Oh this is nuts," said Angel with a defeated sigh. Angel went down the stairs, "Wesley, Cordy."
"What's going on," said Wesley.
"Connor's missing and we think he's headed to Sunnydale to see Buffy of all people."
"What? What on earth gives you that idea?"
"Your guess is as good as mine Cordy, ask Lorne."
"Hey don't shoot the messenger."
Angel grabbed his coat. "I'm going to Sunnydale to get him and do as much damage control as I can, god Buffy's going to kill me. You guys stay here and hold down the fort I should be back in a day or so."
"Um, Angel Cakes, I really think Wesley and Fred should go with you."
"Is that your professional opinion," asked Angel as he stopped at the door, still trying to get Lorne to spill the beans.
"No, my professional opinion is that you take them and Gunn."
"Sweet, fieldtrip," said Gunn walking across the lobby. He was one of only two that was happy about the idea of going to Sunnydale.
"It will be fun. And we can finally meet Buffy," said Fred, the other person happy about this.
"Well, wonderful. It's settled then. You take them and Cordy and I will play house here."
"Fine you guys can come, and you to Lorne," said Angel with an almost Angelus smile.
"Oh no. I really don't think we need to go that far." Lorne really didn't want to go to a place that had once gone by the name of The Mouth of Hell. It just didn't seem like a great idea. Plus there was the fact he was planning to hide in a basement because when Angel found out Buffy could be Connor's mother and when Buffy found out Connor was Angel's son, all hell was going to break loose between them. Lorne didn't want to be anywhere near that nightmare.
"Get in the car Lorne. Cordy are you okay here on your own?"
"Oh I'll be fine, it's you guys I'm worried about. Hurricane Buffy is going to hit California with a vengeance when she finds out you have an eighteen year old son," said Cordy from behind the desk as she watched Fred, Wesley, Gunn, and Lorne filed out the door.
"Don't I know it," muttered Angel.
*****
"That's him?"
"Yes General."
"And Mac?"
"He followed the vampire's son."
"A vampire with a child? I never would have believed it."
"Indeed sure. Furthermore, it is said the boy was kidnapped by one of the vampire enemies and raised in another dimension, which is why he is older now."
"Hmm. And where did you say the vampire's son went?"
"He got on a bus to Boca del Infierno."
"Why would the boy travel to the mouth of hell?"
"The slayer lives there, sir."
"Gather the men. We will follow the vampire. He is probably headed for is son, his son heads for the slayer, and where the slayer is we will find Kristine."