CHAPTER 8

Historical Note: This Trilogy takes place in the fifth season of Buffy, and the third season of Angel.

Author's Note: By now in the show, Dawn has joined the Summers' family, but the arrival of Glory will be postponed due to my stories perspective; which is about Buffy, Angel, and Connor. Also, you'll notice that some of the plots from both of the shows later episodes are happening sooner since I've altered a lot of both shows story lines.

Angel walked into the hotel slowly and painfully as he made his way to the couch; the back of his shirt now covered in blood.

"Oh my god, Angel are you alright?" Fred asked as Angel painfully took off his black shirt.

"Buffy!" Fred called out as she walked over to help Angel. A few seconds later, Buffy came running down the stairs.

"Angel! What happened?" Buffy asked as she noticed the back of his shirt covered with blood. Fred moved out of the way as Buffy ran over towards him.

"I'm ok." he assured her as he pulled up a chair and sat in it backwards, making it an easier access for Buffy to pull out the bullets. "Just get the bullets out," he pleaded.

"Yeah," she said as she knelt down and waited for Fred. A few seconds later, Fred came back with a pair of tweezers, peroxide, and a towel.

"Here." she said as she quickly handed the equipment to Buffy.

"Thanks Fred," Buffy said as she grabbed the tweezers and began to work on Angel. Gunn and Lorne then walked in.

"Holy hell demons! Angel, what happened to you?" Lorne asked as they walked over to them.

"Was it Connor?" Buffy asked. She bit her lip as she began to work on pulling the bullet out of Angel's back, and waiting for an answer. She hoped it wasn't.

Angel growled in pain as Buffy pulled one of the bullets out of his back.

"Sorry." she said.

"It's ok, and no, it wasn't Connor. I found him in an old run down motel," he explained in between clenched teeth as Buffy pulled out another bullet.

"Got it!" Buffy announced as she pulled out the last bullet. "Was he ok?" she asked.

"Yeah, but his friend died of an overdose. I found her in the bathroom." he told them.

"God, poor Connor," Buffy said feeling even worse for him. "But that still doesn't explain the bullet's in your back." Buffy pointed out.

"It seems that Connor has already made some enemies; gang members; but don't worry. The cops came and took them away; shooting me in the process, but.." he explained as Buffy began to bandage the wounds on his back.

"He didn't try to kick the crap out of you or anything?" Gunn asked surprised. Angel shook his head.

"We talked afterwards, and we came to a truce- I think," Angel told him as Buffy finished bandaging him up.

"Angel, I'm worried. Shouldn't we be out there, bringing him home?" she asked as Angel stood up.

"Buffy, I want him back as much as you do but we can't force him to come back with us," he told her.

"But what are we supposed to do, just wait until our son decides to return on his own?" Buffy asked.

Angel walked over to Buffy and hugged her careful so that he wouldn't hurt his wounds; knowing this was hard on her, but he also knew that their son could take care of himself; especially after surviving in a hell-dimension.

"He'll be ok Buffy," he promised.

* * *

"Hey Fred, have your seen Angel?" Cordy asked as she walked over to the desk where Fred was looking for information on the computer. She looked up and smiled brightly at Cordy.

"He's in the basement… or well, training room; I think," she explained.

"Thanks," Cordy said as she headed down to the basement, which had become a training room. She shut the door behind her and walked over to Angel, who was beating on a punching bag.

"Angel, are you ok?" Cordy asked.

"Why do you ask that?" he asked as he continued to punch the bag.

"I don't know; you've been down here since you woke up, and now since it's nighttime… you see where I'm going with this?" she asked. "I was just making sure you were alright with seeing Connor," Cordy explained.

"Yeah, I'm ok," he told her. He then stopped and turned towards Cordy.

"It's just; I know that there's a possibility that Connor may not return," he told her.

"But Angel, he's-" she began.

"I know he's back, but he may not come back to me; to us. Too much time has passed, and I have a feeling we really did loose him," Angel explained just before Buffy walked in.

"Hey guys, am I interrupting something?" she asked.

"No, we were just talking about...fighting tactics," Cordy lied. "But, I've gotta get back to helping Fred and Wes with the research," Cordy said before she left.

"What's up?" Angel asked after Cordy shut the door.

"Nothing. I just wanted to train down here with you; if that's ok?" Buffy explained as she walked over to Angel. He smiled at her.

"Sure, of coarse," he told her.

* * *

Fred looked up from the computer screen a few hours later. She had been looking up some information Wes had asked her to research. She jumped in surprise to see Connor walk in the hotel.

"Connor?" Fred asked, not sure whether or not he was going to attack or not.

"Hey," Connor said casually, his hands in his pockets as his eyes gazed around the lobby. Just then, Angel walked out of the training room with a towel draped over his shoulder. He instantly noticed Connor as well and stopped in his tracks as he pulled the towel off from his shoulder and patted his arm.

"Connor; hey, what brings you by?" Angel asked, happy to see Connor again. He then realized that Fred had seen Connor before, but they hadn't really been introduced.

"Oh, Fred, this is Connor; Connor, Fred," Angel said introducing them. Connor nodded towards them.

"Hi," he said before looking back at Angel. "I had nothing else to do, so I decided I'd just stop by; is that ok?" he asks quickly.

"Yeah. Of coarse," he assures his son.

"Angel are you still taking a break? I need you back down there," Buffy said unaware of Connor being there, as she walked out from the training room slightly out of breath. As she walked into the room, she realized there was company. She gasped as she realized who was there.

"It's…" she said as she walks over towards Angel not taking her eyes off of Connor.

"Yeah, Buffy, it's Connor," Angel told her as she slowly walked towards him. He knew she had been waiting for this moment for a long time. He also knew that with her being the mother, she'd react differently through this whole thing than he would.

"Ah, hey," Connor said not knowing how to react. Buffy then hugged him tightly.

"Buffy, I think you're um, cutting off his air supply," Angel said. Buffy pulled away with tears in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. It's just..." Buffy said as she wiped the tears from her eyes. Connor smiled.

"That's ok," he said just as Cordy got a vision. Connor looked over at Cordy confused.

"Is she ok?" Connor asked as he pointed to her. Angel turned around to see Cordy receiving a vision. Ever since she had chosen to become part demon, her visions no longer came so painfully to her.

"That?" Angel asked as he turned back around towards Connor. "That was, uh…" he began trying to think of where to begin.

"Cordy having a vision," Buffy explained as she began to walk over towards her. "What'd you see?" Buffy asked.

"Uh, there's a woman at a bar, with a gang of vampires after her," Cordy explained.

"I guess I'd better get a move on," Angel said as he grabbed his coat. He looked back over to Buffy; who wasn't making a move to leave. "Buffy, is something wrong?" he asked as he walked back over to her.

"No, I'd better um, stay here," she told him. Angel looked at her confused, but he didn't have time to figure out why she was acting weird.

"Alright, I'll go then," he said. He then looked over at Connor who was looking at everyone weird.

"That's Cordy. She gets visions from..." Angel began. "Long story, but then I go and..." Angel tried again to explain his 'Job'. He sighed, knowing even if he told his son, it wouldn't make since.

"Tell you what. Why don't you come with me? I could use back up since Buffy isn't coming along," he said. Connor nodded.

"Sure. Sounds like fun," he told Angel. "Besides, I've never been in a bar," Connor told them. Buffy shot a look at Angel saying 'Don't get any ideas!' Angel smiled at her before walking over to Connor.

"Come on," he said motioning him to the door. Buffy sighed as she watched them leave.

"Ok, I'm officially confused," Cordy said looking at Buffy. "Why didn't you go with them?" she asked. Buffy sighed.

"I don't know. It's just weird seeing my son as a teenager, who barely knows me," she explained.

"Buffy, he grew up in a hell dimension. You've gotta give him time to adjust to all of this. He probably feels the same way you do about all this," Cordy told her.

Buffy continued to look at the direction where Angel and Connor had left only moments ago.

"I'll be downstairs blowing off steam," she told her before disappearing.