Chapter 3

Historical Note: By now, the story takes place in the end of the fifth season of Buffy, and the fourth season of Angel.

Author's Note: Ok, in advance, It may be a little longer posting new parts. It's true, a few chapters on this one have been pre-written as well, but I still have to go through and edit, and sometimes make a few changes. Plus, Mid-terms are coming up, so I may be kinda busy, but I'll try my best!! Please come back every few days and see if I've posted more tho! I just got another opinion, thanks soo much! But that only brings me up to 2 opinions about the Cordy/Connor thing. One says yes cause it'd be interesting, one says no cause it was gross to see the first time around. I need people's advice here. I'm begging you, I mean, on my knees! Lol. PLEASE e-mail me and met me know!

Author's Note/Historical Note: This part takes place three months after where the second one left off. Angel is still missing, leaving Buffy to deal with the Hyperion Hotel, and to raise Connor. Cordelia has also gone missing, and the crew is searching for her as well. Also, Joyce gets terminally ill, forcing Buffy to go back to Sunnydale and take care of things for awhile not knowing she'd end up doing it permanently.

Buffy, Gunn and Fred arrived back at the hotel a little while later without Connor. Buffy sighs as she unloaded a few of her extra stakes.

"Buffy, are you ok?" Fred asked as she walked over to Buffy and put her hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm fine. We just need to keep looking for them," she said. Gunn walked past them and disappeared somewhere in the building.

"Why don't you call Lorne, and see if any of his leads turned up anything?" Buffy suggested. Fred nodded.

"Alright," she said before walking over to the phone. Buffy walked into Angel's office and sat down at his desk as she rubbed her head. "Where are you?" she asked herself aloud as she tried to think once more to what might have happened to him. She was also worried about Cordy at the same time, but her focus seemed to always go back to just Angel.

A few minutes later, while deep in thought, Fred knocked on the opened door.

"Anything?" Buffy asked as she looked up. Fred shook her head.

"He said all his leads turned up as dead as ours; on both Angel and Cordy," she explained. Buffy sighed.

"I can't believe we can't find them," she said frustrated. All of a sudden, the two heard the front door slam shut.

"Connor?" Buffy asked as she got up from the chair and walked out to the lobby. "Connor, are you alright?" Buffy asked concerned. Connor nodded.

"Yeah. I just went for a walk," he explained.

"Yeah, well next time you decide to take a little walk, you may want to let one of us know before jumping off a building," Gunn said from the stairs as he walked down towards Connor.

"Charles," Fred began.

"No. He can't keep running off like that. We've got two people missing. And we have no idea where they are or what happened to them. We don't need to be worrying about him too," he said. Just then, the phone rang.

"Um, I'll get it," Fred offered as she walked over to the phone and picked it up.

"You know what, your not my father. I don't have to listen to this," Connor told Gunn before running up the stairs.

"We really need to get a leash for that boy," Gunn said as they heard the door slam.

"Gunn, he's right; you're not his father. You can't keep yelling at him like that," Buffy told him.

"Someone needs to be yellin' at him. That boy doesn't listen to anything anyone says," he told her. Fred walked back over to the two of them with a shocked expression.

"What's wrong?" Buffy asked.

"That was Wesley. They found Angel," she told them. Buffy was overwhelmed with happiness and relief as soon as she heard what Fred had said.

"Is he ok? How did he find him?" Buffy asked quickly.

"That's the other part," she said. Buffy looked at her confused.

"What do you mean? What's wrong?" she asked as she slowly began towards Fred. Fred looked at Gunn, then back at Buffy.

"Wesley found Angel at the bottom of the ocean, in a metal box," she told her. Buffy looked at her shocked.

"Oh my god," Buffy whispered in disbelief. Her thoughts quickly shifted to what might have happened to him while he was down there and the condition it had left him in. She couldn't believe what had been done to Angel.

"That's not the worst part," Fred told her. "Wesley also found out who put him there," she said.

"Who? We'll go out right now and find them," she said with a new wave of anger in her voice.

"He, he's already here," she said.

"Who-" she began.

"Connor did it. He and one of Holtz's minions; I think Wesley said her name was Justine; anyway, he and Justine are on a boat right now, and on their way back to shore...and presumably here," she explained. Buffy stood there silent for a moment taking in the news that her own son was behind Angel's disappearance.

"There must be some mistake. Connor wouldn't…" she began. "Oh god, no," she said as she backed away from the group.

"Buffy?" Gunn asked as he walked towards her and put a hand on her shoulder. Buffy looked up at him. Her mind was spinning.

"Buffy? I know you're confused right now, but we need to figure out what to do with Connor," he reminded her.

"Right. You're right. We need to deal with Connor," Buffy said as she snapped out of her shocked state.

"What are we going to do?" Fred asked. Buffy looked up to the area where Connor had disappeared a little while ago.

"Don't worry about it. I'll take care of it," she told them as she headed to the kitchen.

A few minutes later, she came back out with a sandwich. Both Fred and Gunn watch as Buffy put the plate down on the front desk and grabbed a stun gun from the weapons cabinet. Gunn frowned in confusion.

"So you're going to give him a sandwich and threaten him with a stun gun?" Gunn asked. Buffy put the stun gun in her back pocket, then pulled her shirt over it to cover it up.

"I thought I'd try something a little more affective. We all know Connor's just as stubborn as Angel," she reminded him as she picked up the plate and walked towards the stairs.

"Wish me luck," she said over her shoulder as she climbed up the stairs.

"Good luck," Gunn said. "She's gonna need it," he told Fred as Buffy disappeared upstairs.

"Boy, here we go," Gunn said under his breath.

* * *

Buffy knocked on Connor's door lightly and waited a few seconds for a reply.

"Who is it?" he asked from the other side of the door. Buffy hated what she had to do. She couldn't believe Connor could betray both her and Angel like that.

"It's me," she called back as she swallowed down her emotions. She waited a second before she heard the lock, then the door opened.

"Hey," Connor said as he walked back towards his bed. Buffy walked in.

"Hey. Thought I'd bring you up a sandwich," Buffy explained as she held out the sandwich. Connor took it and put it on his nightstand.

"Thanks," he said.

"You must have had a rough life growing up in a Hell dimension," Buffy guessed. Her gaze and voice then turned serious. "It's not nearly as much as you're going to hurt for what you did for your father," she told him as she pulled out the stun gun. As soon as she zapped him, he was instantly knocked out. She looked at her un-conscience son and felt hurt for what she had done, but also for what he had done.

"I'm so sorry Connor," she told him. She then put the stun gun back in her back pocket and walked over to Connor. She had no idea how long he'd be out for, but she guessed it wouldn't be too long. She then dragged him out of the room, to the top of the staircase as carefully as she could.

"Gunn, give me a hand here!" Buffy called out. Gunn quickly ran over to her and grabbed Connor's feet, and helped her get Connor down the stairs.

"Now what are we going to do?" Fred asked worriedly.

"Get a chair and some rope," she said. "Hurry, I don't know how long he'll be out," she added.

"Right," Fred said as she ran out of the room to find a sturdy chair and some rope.

"Buffy, are you alright?" Gunn asked. Buffy looked at him and nodded.

"I'm ok," she told him. A few minutes later, Fred came back into the room with a chair and some rope.

"Here," she said as she set the chair down. Buffy and Gunn wasted no time, and quickly lifted Connor up onto the chair. Gunn held Connor up as Buffy tied him up to the chair. She made sure to tie him up so that he couldn't break the rope. He was stronger than most of the kids his age because of Buffy and Angel.

"Ok. I think that will hold him," she said as she stepped back and looked at Connor, who was now tied up.

"So what do we do now?" Fred asked.

"We wait," she answered as she walked over to the couch and sat down.

"Wait for what?" Gunn asked. Buffy looked up at him.

"We wait for him wake up, or for Angel to arrive. Whichever happens first," she explained. Fred walked over to the couch and plopped down beside Buffy while Gunn remained standing beside Connor.

"Yeah, easier said then done," he said.

* * *

The three waited around the lobby for Connor to wake up. A little while later, he did, and as soon as he opened his eyes, he tried to free his hands.

"Mom, what are you doing?" he asked as he continued to try and get his hands loose.

"Cut the act, we know about Angel," Gunn told him as he paced back in fourth in front of him.

"What are you talking about?" Connor asked; pretending he didn't know what Gunn was talking about. Buffy stood up and walked over to him.

"We know about what you and Justine did with Angel," she told him. "She filled Wesley in on your little plan. He should be here anytime with your father," she said. The room fell silent.

"He's alive you know. You failed," she told him. Connor looked up at her.

"I meant for him to live forever in that box, not to kill him," he told her. Buffy looked at him.

"Why? Why would you do that?" Buffy asked. She needed to know why Connor would trap Angel in a steel box and send him to the bottom of the ocean. Before Connor could answer, Wesley walked into the hotel, helping Angel walk.

"Angel!" Buffy said as she quickly ran over to the other side of Angel and wrapped his arm over her neck as she helped Wesley get him inside. He was conscience, but he was weak, and seemed dazed.

"Let's set him on the couch," Buffy said as she began towards the couch. Buffy helped Angel down on the couch.

"Buffy?" Angel asked weakly as he put his hand on hers. Buffy felt relieved that he knew who she was. Buffy nodded.

"Yeah, I'm here," she told him as she smiled. Three months had gone by with her not knowing where, or what happened to him, but now he was home.

"Wes, why didn't you tell us sooner about junior here?" Gunn asked Wesley angrily.

"I knew Connor wouldn't hurt a human being. You were safer not knowing," he explained. He then turned to leave knowing the group had everything under control. Although Connor being taken by Holtz wasn't his fault, he still felt guilty so he didn't like to stay at the Hyperion for very long. He felt as if the group blamed him.

"Oh and he's going to need more blood," he told them over his shoulder before leaving. While on the boat, Wesley had fed him some pig blood, but it wasn't enough. He had then rolled up his sleeve and let Angel feed off of him, but not enough to threaten Wesley's life.