CHAPTER FIVE

"How did it happen?" Spike asked after dashing into the house under the cover of a blanket. He had ridden to Angel's home cramped in the back of his lover's mini-Cooper. Cordelia beat out the licks of smoke from sunlight that managed to filter through the wool.

"Through the window," Connor said in a dead voice that chilled Angel to the bone. "They hit me with the magic from outside, cut the screen and came in and were gone quickly. They're shielded. I heard him tell Eve that."

"Eve?" Spike snarled. "Can we-"

"Eat her? Yes, if you want something that nasty stuck in your teeth," Angel said, meaning it. No one gainsayed him. Angel knew no one would stop him if he punished Eve for this.

"Why did they leave any witnesses alive?" Willow glanced at Connor. "No offense."

"They heard Wes coming up the stairs and panicked." Connor paced the living room.

"There's a Sanctuary spell on the house. They couldn't have killed Connor," Wes put in. "Not that they knew that."

"They took my baby." Connor's body shook.

Angel caught up to Connor, putting his hands on his son's shoulders, pulling him to a stop. "I know. We'll get her back." Angel couldn't help flashing back to when his son was a baby. He prayed that Connor would be able to keep it together. He could almost feel Connor's tenuous hold on reality fraying and he didn't know if his son could have more medication or not. He didn't want to just ask Buffy like Connor wasn't standing there.

"Why would anyone do this?" Cordelia gave Connor a hug.

Angel wanted to push her away from his son. He didn't know if she was helping or making it worse. He had no idea if Connor still had feelings for her or if he hated her at this point for how things had turned out with Jasmine. Angel was so out of touch he was practically useless.

"To hurt me," Buffy said. "Or Angel or maybe just to have someone with that much power. Sorcha's a child. She can be molded and when she grows up, she'll be dangerous."

"That could very well be why Eve wanted her. The Senior Partners have pulled out of the L.A. branch of Wolfram and Hart but they're in Seattle and Las Vegas in the west and there's a dozen more branches in this country alone. I never knew they were that big when I took over. They could want her for any number of reasons for themselves or for someone else," Angel said.

Buffy tore her gaze away from father and son to face her friends. "Willow, do you have what you need to do the finding spell?"

"Wes and I are almost ready," Willow said. "But if Connor's right about them being shielded, this won't work."

"We're going to try it any how," Buffy said then looked up at Angel as he touched her elbow.

He led her aside. "There was something in the room, Buffy, a familiar scent but I can't place it. Did Connor see Ethan in England?"

She shook her head, her golden curls falling over her shoulders. "No, he didn't, none of us actually saw him. You think Ethan was the man with Eve?"

"It's possible. We know they've worked together in the past. It would explained the vaguely familiar scent. Can you have Giles send a picture of Ethan so Connor can see it?" Angel asked.

"I'll call him immediately. See if you can get Connor to lie down." Buffy shifted nervously. "I don't like that look in his eye. He seems crazed and he's topped out on his meds. The only other one we can give him is Haldol and that'll zone him for hours."

"I'll try but he won't do it, trust me. Are you sure about that expression? I know he has to be barely hanging on but that's his normal look, at least the one he always used on me," Angel replied ruefully.

Disbelief gleamed in Buffy's eyes. "Just try." She went to make her call.

Angel put his hand on Connor's shoulder. "Son, you might want to take a break."

"No." Connor's jaw set. "You know I can't."

"What I know is you can't handle too much stress." Angel's fingers tightened, feeling his son's shoulder bones too close to the skin. "You told me that yourself."

"Did you stop for a break when I was taken?" Connor shrugged out of his father's grip.

"That was different," Angel said, thinking he hadn't been insane but maybe at that point when he realized where Holtz had taken Connor, he had been.

"No, it's not and you can't help me. Neither can Spike." Connor gestured at the window. "It's daylight out there. I'm the only one who can track Sorcha before the scent gets too faint. It can't wait until dark."

"You can actually do that?" Willow seemed curious as she poured an aromatic oil in a bowl.

"I can."

"We're ready for the finding spell," Wes said, plunging a pendulum into the oil.

Willow chanted. The oil heated, bubbling furiously then the pendulum stone exploded. Wes jumped back a bit. Willow pouted.

"I'm taking that as they are shielded and it just ate your magic," Angel said.

Willow bobbed her head. "Sorry. We'll try something else. Connor and Buffy could get on out there now while the rest of us do the book thing."

"I'm ready," Connor said.

Buffy set the phone down. "Willow, Giles will be emailing you a picture shortly. Come on, Connor, let's do this."

Buffy felt guiltier than she could remember being in a long time. Not since she had been sneaking around with Spike had remorse hit her so hard. If she and Angel hadn't been at the Hyperion, this wouldn't have happened. Now there was little more she could do other than watch Connor's nostrils flaring as he followed the scent. "You really can do this."

"Father made sure I was good at it," he said and by the formality of it Buffy knew he meant Holtz and not Angel. He jogged to the end of the drive. "They got in a car here."

"Then that's it." Buffy couldn't keep her disappointment out of her voice. This was useless. She knew they had to have driven away.

"Not yet. Get the car," Connor said.

Buffy ran back inside and took Angel's keys. She saw the consternation in his eyes and his wish she could take Wes' SUV but they might need the extra room while she and Connor needed the speed. Of course, she was a lousy driver and had no idea how to handle a stick shift. Cordy ran out and tossed her the keys to her Cooper after hearing the engine in the Super Bee protesting.

"Problems?" Connor asked as he slid inside the tiny car.

"Couldn't drive your dad's car."

"Take a right," he said, rolling down his window.

He hung his head out like a dog. Buffy just hoped he didn't have a break down. If he could track his daughter like he said he could, he might be the only chance they had. If he wigged out, Buffy didn't know what she'd do. "How do you train to be good at this?" Buffy asked, not really wanting to know but if she let silence fill the car, Sorcha's disappearance would overwhelm her, take away the strength she needed.

"Take a left." Connor took a deep breath in. "Father would tie me up and leave me to free myself and find him. It was a good game."

"He did this in the middle of hell?" Buffy truly regretted asking. It wasn't the answer she had been expecting. She couldn't even imagine a parent doing something like that to his child. Worse, Connor seemed to think it was all right. "Weren't you scared?"

"Needed to be strong. Go straight."

"How old were you?"

"Just a few years older than Sorcha. It was scary at first. Hang a right. But later it was one of my favorite games. Not as good as trophy gathering to prove my kills but close." Connor scowled as she stopped for a red light.

"You know, Connor, that wasn't right to do." She had images of him tying Sorcha to a tree and running off.

"Why not? You're training Sorcha to fight," Connor said, shoving his nose back into the breeze.

"I wouldn't abandoned her in hell," Buffy replied, wondering what Connor would do once they had Sorcha back. Buffy didn't let herself even consider that they might not get her back.

"Didn't have any place else to train me," Connor replied, still obviously missing the point. "Left."

Buffy let it drop. The last thing she needed was to be arguing with him. She would only end up exciting him too much and then they'd be lost. Connor never seemed in doubt as he led her through the city and in the end, Buffy didn't doubt his ability either. He led the way to the airport, right up to the ticket counter to Northwest. Given all the restrictions and fears surrounding flying, Buffy didn't expect to be able to get any information about someone traveling with a little girl. She tried to ask, was summarily told that it was against policy and knew from the look in the agent's eye security would be called, no questions asked. They couldn't even get to a gate because they didn't have a ticket. Buffy didn't doubt that Connor could have taken them right to the gate. The best they could do to follow them now would be to have Cordy and Willow do a computer search on all flights on Northwest between the time of the kidnaping and when she and Connor got to the airport. On the way home she made Connor call and tell Willow that.

"I'm sorry, Connor," Buffy said.

"We did our best," he replied, flatly. The tone frightened her.

"I didn't mean about this. I meant, I should have been home. Angel and I shouldn't have been..." She trailed off. She knew Connor would know exactly what they had been doing. He could smell it.

He shook his head. "Not your fault. If you had been home, it still would have happened. The spell didn't hurt me. It wasn't stopped by the Sanctuary spell. They could have captured us all like that. They would probably have a use for a Slayer. Better you weren't there. We're all together, working. We'll find her. If we all had been here, she might not have anyone in the position to rescue her."

"I know you're right, Connor but still I can't help feel it's my fault."

"If it's anyone's fault it's mine. I was in the damn room with her and they still surprised me. Fucking pills, they make me sleep too hard," he moaned.

Buffy took one hand off the wheel and rubbed his arm. "It's not your fault, Connor. You don't have any magic. Neither do I. They could have caught either of us with that spell, especially casting it from outside, not even confronting you. We're going to get her back."

"I know. I can be a very determined man." His eyes were so intense Buffy felt them burning her.

She knew he wasn't lying. He had been determined enough once to punch his way through dimensions. Nothing would stop him from finding his daughter. "It'll be all right," she said as much for herself as for him.

"I know and Buffy, I'm not mad at you for not being home last night. You needed to be where you were. You love him. I might not understand why, but you do and that's important, too."

"Thanks." She meant that. She didn't expect understanding from him. She knew how he felt about Angel. She was used to her friends, Xander especially, getting down on her for being with Angel. She expected Connor to be furious, as angry as she was at herself. Hearing his words took some of the burden off of her.

When they returned home, Willow greeted them, smelling of sulphur. "We kinda crapped out on the locator spells but we did narrow their destinations down to Seattle, Juneau or Denver."

"Provided they didn't get on another plane," Cordelia added.

Buffy frowned. The last thing she needed was someone dampening her hope.

"Son, here. Giles sent this," Angel said, handing Connor a print out from the computer.

Connor rattled the paper. "This is the guy. He was with Eve last night."

"Ethan?" Buffy asked.

"Ethan," Angel replied grimly.

Connor stared at them in horror. "The one who killed Dawn?"

Buffy nodded. "That's him. I'm going to talk to Giles, get the low down on all Ethan's weaknesses."

"Already done, Slayer," Spike said, holding up a few sheaves of paper.

"We also talked to Gunn. He has a plane at our disposal. It's necro-tempered so Spike and I can go with you. We're trying to figure out how to narrow down the possibilities, trying to see if there's a money trail we can follow," Angel said.

"Only we don't know what names they're using," Cordelia said. "But Juneau is probably too expensive at the last minute. Eve's cheap and Ethan's cheaper."

"In the mean time, Buffy, you and Connor need to sit down and eat even if you don't feel like it," Wes said. "You won't have the reserves otherwise."

Buffy nodded. "I know. But there has to be something more I can do."

"Eat," Angel said.

"We even have the police looking for Eve and Sorcha," Willow said. "We should call them with Ethan's description. They already have an Amber alert in effect."

"Thanks," Buffy mumbled shocked at how much they had accomplished and how little had come of it.

Someone knocked at the front door. The friends looked at each other, trying to figure out who it could be. Wes went to answer it, pausing to pick up a hefty knife. The man at the door didn't even flinch at the weapon, sidling past it. His hair was mussed and his clothing looked slept in. Buffy didn't know him but from the way Angel flew across the room and pinned the small stranger to the wall, she figured he did.

"Get off me, Angel." The man shoved at the vampire ineffectually.

"You have a lot of nerve coming here after last time," Angel snarled, going to vamp face.

"Well, this time, I'm here to help," the man said.

"Angel, let him go." Buffy laid a hand on Angel's tense arm.

Angel knocked the man into the wall once more but stepped back. "Help with what, Lindsey?"

"I have an idea what Eve did and I might know where she's heading."