Chapter 16:
Lorne sighed, "so, let me get this straight, I come downstairs this morning and found a monk tied up on the
kitchen table because..?"
Fred frowned, "what do you care? A monk on the kitchen table isn't weirdest thing that's ever happened
here. I mean, I, the girl who was sent to a hell dimension by her jealous math teacher, am after all having a
conversation with a bright green demon with horns in the living room of a hotel owned by a vampire, with
a soul…." She paused, "I could go on.* ahem * Angel, vampire with a soul, who is the father of the
destroyer, aka Connor, the miracle child of two vampires.."
Lorne frowned, "hmm. You have a point."
Fred smiled, " hey! This fun! You try the next one."
Lorne flexed his fingers, "Okay! Connor, the Destroyer, who happens to be 'getting some' , to quote Gunn,
with the Key, also know as Dawnie who is being stalked by the kitchen-table monks, and who happens to
be the little sister of Buffy, The vampire Slayer, who dated Angel, resulting in his loosing his soul, only to
be sent to hell with his soul back, for 100 years…"
Connor paused by the door way on his way to speak to his father, Angel went to a hell dimension for 100
years!?!? How come he never told me that? (AN:in this story connor doesn't know.. I can't remember if he does on the show..)
Fred cut in "ooooo!! The story of which appears in issue 25 of the Angel comic books!!"
Lorne nodded, "the next issue of which will feature the monk on the kitchen table! There! Full circle!"
The door opened and Angel appeared. He stopped and turned back to the door.
"Come one Cordy! You look great!"
Cordelia's voice floated in from the next room, "no, I look like I escaped from a primary school nativity
play."
Angel paused, "okay, the outfits a little dated, but it suits you!"
"No.. I look like a.."
Gunn's voice could now be heard from behind her, "wow mary, where's the donkey?.. Oww!!! That hurt!"
Angel smirked, "smooth Gunn."
"Shuddup you… " Cordy suddenly pushed into the living room.
She was wearing a long white robe, complete with sandals.
Fred's eyes went wide. "so… is anyone going to explain why cordy looks like she's on her way to trick or
treating?"
Cordy crossed her arms, "I'll let that pass because I like Fred, anyone else mock the robe, they get a sandal
embedded up their…"
Angel put a hand on her shoulder, "no no. no-ones gonna mock the dress, right guys??"
"……"
Connor walked in from the other door, where he'd been standing for the last 5 minutes, "well, I think you
look beautiful Cordy."
Cordy beamed. "Thank you Connor! You always know the right thing to say."
Angel sighed in relief and did the thumbs up at Connor from behind Cordelia's back, "Yes, you do look
beautiful Cordy."
She sighed, "yes, but *you* say I look beautiful in anything, personally I think it's cause you think you'll
get me out of what I'm wearing quickest!"
Connor sniggered.
Angel changed the subject quickly, "Cordy's dressed like this because she's got this big holy stamp on her,
from being a higher being and all, and the monk can sense that. So we're gonna try and convince him
Cordy's some kind of Angel or something."
Fred shrugged, "hey, it's worth a try. Good luck cordy."
She nodded, "thanks fred. Now! I'm headed for the kitchen…"
Lorne stood, "Wait, I know what might help." He dashed upstairs and returned with a little glass vial which
he passed to Cordy, "here, it's an illumination spell. One of my clients gave it to me years ago.. Just open it
before you go in and you'll go and glowy and high and mighty looking."
She nodded and headed out the door.
******
Connor looked across the living room at his father, remembering what he'd overheard between Lorne and Fred,
he went to hell for *100 years*?!? Why didn't he tell me?
"dad."
Angel looked up, it still surprised him when Connor called him 'dad'. "yes?"
His son frowned, "Why didn't you tell me you were sent to a hell dimension for a 100 years?"
Angel's eyes widened, "well… I um… I don't really like to think about that to tell you the truth."
Fred and gunn exchanged glances then crept from the room. Lorne stood and followed.
Connor didn't look impressed with his father's reply, "well, I can imagine you wouldn't want to think
about it. But it would have made it a lot easier when I first got here to know that you, my father, knew what
it was like in Quar-toth."
"well, it wasn't that particular hell dimension."
"How did buffy send you to hell?"
Angel's eyes widened, he went straight to the point "she had help from her friends."
Connor frowned, "okay. But *why* did she do it, Dawn told me Buffy loved you."
Angel sat on a couch, "she did."
Connor waited for him to add to this.
Angel sighed, "she is the slayer, I was evil. I was killing innocents. She did what she had too."
Connor crossed his arms, "explain."
"Well, Buffy and I were in love. Then, I experienced a moment of true happiness.. with her… and the curse
that gave me my soul was broken. It became void if I started enjoying my punishment so to speak. So I was
Angeleus again. Spike, Drusilla (she was my Childe) and I started generally being evil, killing people,
blowing things up. The usual. So Buffy and her friends try to give me back my soul. Next thing I know I'm
standing in front of a portal to hell and suddenly I'm me again. Angeleus is gone. Buffy's in front of me
pointing a great big sword at me. She thinks the spell failed and I'm still Angeleus, so she stabs me and
pushes me into hell."
Connor walked across the room and sat by his father. "so.. a woman you loved sent you to hell… and you
weren't even Angeleus when it happened?"
Angel nodded, "I felt sorry for her when I first arrived, I knew how guilty she'd feel when willow told her
about the spell. But, after a few years, I went insane. When I came back I was, almost completely. It's a
miracle in itself I ever got back to normal. That's why, when they took you… I was so worried they'd
break you and when I found you you'd be in little pieces. But instead, you came out…good."
He gave Connor the briefest of brief one armed hugs and took a deep breath, "but that's all ancient history."
(AN: ahhhh the extent of connor/angel bonding..how sweet!) (… ps.. I can't spell angeleus.. as u may have noticed..)
Connor just looked across at his father in awe, how could my father have survived something like that and
still be willing to help others, how can he lead this life with that hanging over his head?..
If I ever turned on the people I love.. if I tried to hurt Dawn and forced her to kill me, I don't think I'd be
able to bear knowing the pain I caused her...
Angel stood, "Let's go and see how Cordy's doing!"
At that moment Cordy appeared in the doorway, a faint golden glow radiating from her very skin. She
looked every inch a higher being. The monk was screaming out after her, "Please! You must free me so I
can finish our lord's work! Please I beg of you O lady of the light! Please! I am but your humble servant!"
Cordy rolled her eyes and shut the door.
"Well! I couldn't get the guy to shut up!"
Connor stood, "so, did you get a location!??!"
Conrdy nodded, "yep! That abandoned church near that new ugle bridge over on there.." she motioned tyo
her right. "saint catherine's."
Angel frowned , "wait! I remember driving past that. Come on Connor, let's go."
He and Connor went over to the weapons cabinet and started picking up axes and sword's.
Gunn and fred appeared.
"Ohhh we going !??!"
Gunn grabbed his favorite I-look-like-half-a-hub-cap-Axe and fred picked up her cross bow.
Cordy rolled her eyes, "hello!? I am brimming over with useful info right now! Wait a minute and I can fill
you in on details!"
Angel turned back to his girlfriend, "Yes Cordy, and we Do want to hear those details, but the sooner we
get to this hide out place the better, you tell us their master plan tonight." He leant over and kissed her
forehead, "And thank you."
She sighed and watched them go.
"morons."
Lorne appeared, "Oh love muffin! How did it go?"
Cordy sat down, "wanna hear the plans these monks have for Dawn? Cause the other's didn't seem
interested."
Lorne sat down next to her, "oh I'm interested."
Cordy cleared her throat, "well, it turns out 'the giver' has the ability to give out certain magical powers.
Also, according to their books, the stronger the giver is the stronger the powers he can 'give'. They reckon
he will give their head monk-dude this big buzz of magical energy if they get him before any one else does,
send him to a hell dimension and toughen him up, then sacrifice him."
Lorne rolled is eyes, "typical, they're always to lazy to go to the gym."
"Here's where it gets interesting." Cordy paused, " I don't know if we should tell the others but.. Dawn's
his mother."
Lorne gasped, "My god! That means… oh.. my..oh darn…"
Cordy raised an eyebrow, "oh darn?"
lorne looked around the room, "well, I kinda took pity on little Dawnie and Connor's teenage angst thing
and… ikindaputaspellonher."
"..WHAT..?!"
Lorne sighed, "I put an astral projection spell on Dawnie.. Lets just say I have reason to believe she might
already be pregnant."
Cordy's mouth hung open and her eyebrows shot up, "TO CONNOR!?!?!?"
"well.. yeah… they probably think they were dreaming though…"
Cordy started hyperventilating, "You idiot!! What are you going to tell Angel!? Not to mention Buffy.. oh
my god.. they'll kill us… Buffy will blame me and Angel because we're Connor's parents, then she and
spike will try and kill us…oh god… spike will seriously try and kill Connor…"
She looked up at the green demon next to her, "look, we can't tell anyone about this. We'll just say that
dawn will lead them to the giver or something, then *IF* dawn is pregnant, we'll deal with then. I mean,
chances are she's not meant to give birth to the giver for a few years.. I hope.."
******
Angel led Connor, Fred and Gunn through the door of the old church.
There was a foul smell around the place, like rotting flesh.
Fred covered her nose, "ew!"
Gunn coughed, "that is bad!"
The church was empty. The floor were covered in dust, the pews tipped on their sides and the walls
covered in grafitti.
Angel glanced around, "looks empty."
Connor pointed at a track of clean ground, "Look, people have been walking up the alter recently."
He led the way up the aisle and towards the solid marble altar.
Angel stopped beside him and inspected the thing. Then he pulled the top of, throwing it to the floor with a
smash as the thick marble cracked. The altar was hollow and exposed a flight of stairs.
Connor climbed in and started down the steps.
Fred grimaced, "oh boy, it smells even worse down there."
Connor figured since his father had announced their arrival with the crash of marble upstairs, there
was no point trying to sneak downstairs, so he boldly walked down the steps and into the crypt beneath.
The smell was overpowering. It reminded Connor of the burial pits where the dead where thrown and left
exposed and rotting in the open on Quar-toth.
His eyes instantly adjusted to the gloom. There were a dozen dead monks nailed into the stone walls,
thankfully covered by their long brown robes.
Apart from that, the room was empty, save another altar.
Gunn appeared at the bottom of the stairs, stopped, looked around then turned, saying that he didn't think
Fred's assistance would be needed.
Fred could be heard on the stair way, "Huh? We leaving already ?"
"yeah baby, it's bad down there, but no evil monks, so we're gonna watch up top."
Angel nodded then went to inspect the altar.
Connor followed. "it's empty."
Angel nodded again, "I thought it might be. Buffy told me that she thinks they just followed Dawn here.
They're probably back in Sunnydale."
Connor frowned. Dawn might be in danger there then!
Angel continued inspecting the altar. "These monks were each sacrificed on this, I can smell their blood."
"Yes, so can I. But, why sacrifice their own followers?"
Angel shrugged, "I smell something else here."
Connor focused on he scents in the room. "You're right. It smells like a demon."
Angel nodded, "yes. I'd say these little idiots are following a demon." He sighed, "I see so many of these
cults spring up around weak demons. Hopefully that's all we're dealing with."
"And if we're not?"
Angel shrugged, "well, I'm sure Cordy has all the details, let's go find out then."
