Disclaimer: Buffy, the Vampire Slayer and Angel are not mine, I'm just playing with them.

Chapter 13: Memory Lane

Buffy looked to Spike for an answer to her unspoken question. He sniffed the air, and shook his head.

"This must be as far as the Poof got too." Spike told her, looking very upset. If anything happened to Dawn...He didn't finish the thought. He was too angry. Buffy sighed, fingering the edge of the bandage on her stomach through her shirt. Spike noticed and grabbed her hand to stop her. "Don't Love." He said, his tone gentle. She looked up at him, clearly irritated.

"It itches." She replied, sounding very childlike.

"That means it's healing. You don't want to risk opening it up again." He warned. "Mine itches too, you know." He said after a pause, briefly bringing a smile to her lips. She sighed abruptly. Spike sniffed the air again, and a slow grin settled over his face.

"That's my 'bit." He spoke aloud, before heading in the direction Dawn's scent was leading him down.

*

Dawn felt something wet hit her face, and a voice urging her to wake up. She struggled to reach consciousness, unsure of what was going on.

"Dawn, Please wake up!" Connor nearly shouted, cradling the girl's head in his lap. She wasn't supposed to be here. He had no idea what had gone wrong. All he knew was that they were in an alley, it was raining, and he couldn't wake her up.

Connor's voice penetrated the fog in her brain, and for a moment Dawn thought he was crying. It took a few more seconds for her to realize it was raining, and they were getting soaked.

"Connor?" She croaked, blinking her eyes rapidly against the rain.

"Dawn!" He exclaimed. "Thank God." Connor said, hugging her to him.

"Keep this up, and I might start to think you like having me around." She said, trying not to blush. Connor was less successful. She tactfully ignored his reaction as he helped her up. She glanced around before meeting his gaze. "Any clue where we are?" Dawn asked.

"Not one." Connor answered, looking around for the billionth time since he'd woken up beside her.

"Well, it's your brain." Dawn muttered. Seconds later a large explosion rocked the alleyway. Connor threw Dawn to the ground, covering her as best he could from the flying debris. Once it stopped flying, he helped her to her feet for the second time in minutes. Before they could exit the alley for safer ground, they caught sight of a scene playing out before them. Dawn figured this must be the start of the trip down memory lane for Connor, so she grabbed his hand and inched closer to get a good look. She gasped as she recognized Angel and Fred.

"Look, Connor. It's Angel and Fred...and that very pregnant blonde woman is your Mom." Dawn nearly exclaimed.

"Darla." Connor sneered, looking at the scene. "I don't understand what's going on." He went on.

Darla cried out in pain once more before looking up at Angel. One hand rested on her stomach. They watched as Darla reached for a piece of wood and took one last glance at Angel.

"This baby is the one good thing we did together. You make sure he knows that." Darla gasped out, before plunging the stake into her heart. In the midst of her dust, a tiny baby lay bawling in the rain. Dawn and Connor watched with rapt attention as Angel scooped the baby in his arms and wrapped him in a jacket. When Angel turned and looked right at them, Dawn considered that maybe things had gone wrong, and Angel could see them standing there. Connor yanked on her hand, and she turned in his direction. He pointed to a man standing behind the, pointing a crossbow at Angel, Fred, and the baby. For whatever reason, the man didn't fire. Angel and Fred disappeared into the night.

Dawn tried to make sense out of what she'd just witnessed.

"Connor...." She started to say. "I think that baby was you." Dawn whispered. A flash surrounded them, leaving behind an empty alley.

*

When Dawn and Connor were oriented enough to look around them, the scene that met their eyes resembled a war zone. There were S.W.A.T looking people aiming guns at Angel, and the crossbow guy from the previous memory. There was also a gigantic rift in the sky, held open by a creepy looking demon, and looking at it raised goose bumps on Dawn's arms. They moved closer so they could hear what was being said. Dawn turned to Connor.

"I think we're about to get some answers." She said. They watched as the rest of the scene played out, with the horrible creature threatening to bleed the dimension Quor-thoth onto Earth. They were both completely shocked, when the man from the previous memory jumped through the portal, baby Connor in his arms. Neither of them could move as they watched Angel howl in agony. As suddenly as they'd appeared, Dawn and Connor vanished in a flash of light.

*

Lindsey was pacing. He didn't like this situation, not one bit. Connor had explained to him what was going on, and it was only his previous dealings with Wolfram and Hart that made him believe Connor. Now his cousin and that girl were in the other room doing some kind of spell to return Connor's lost memories. He could hardly believe that his cousin, the one he used to baby-sit when they were kids, was not his cousin at all, but the son of his once mortal enemy. Hell, if Angel saw him today, Lindsey figured that it would only be a matter of time before the vampire killed him. He chuckled at the irony. How like Wolfram and Hart to play this kind of joke on him. He left them in the dust, and in a lurch, and suddenly his cousin isn't who he's supposed to be.

Lindsey sighed, ran his hands through his hair, and resisted the temptation to see what how his cousin and that girl, Dawn, were doing. How the hell had he ended up in this situation? It might have something to do with the fact that he couldn't deny his cousin anything, he thought, shaking his head ruefully. A knock on his front door startled him, and with one more glance towards the room housing his cousin and his friend, Lindsey headed over to open it.

He opened the door to two blondes he'd never met.

"Can I help you?" He drawled, leaning on the door frame.

"Yeah." Said the blonde female, who sounding very angry. "Who the hell are you, and what have you done with my sister?"