Chapter Nine

Gunn awakened that night to find himself relatively alone in the room. Illyria was sitting on the porch, and he could see her face through the open door. She appeared to be listening to something far away, and her brow was furrowed with concentration. Spike had vanished, and Layla, too, was nowhere to be found.

He sat up slowly, and rubbed his neck. His head felt all foggy, but at least the headache of information overload was gone. Illyria turned her head, and looked at him. Satisfied, she turned back to her view outside.

"Did I wake you?" she asked.

Gunn shook his head, "No. Where's everybody?"

"Spike had to 'go out,' as he put it. Layla has been gone since this morning."

Gunn raised an eyebrow at that. "Gone? Gone where?"

Illyria looked at him. "I do not know. I would have told you if I did."

Gunn frowned, then he caught the slight smile on the edge of her lips. "Did you just make a joke?"

Illyria's eyes widened, and a in a mock haughty voice said, "Of course not Charles."

Gunn chuckled.

Then the phone rang.

The rest of Connor's morning went actually rather normally. His father had gone back inside, and made good on his threat to call the police. They were expected to come by in the afternoon to take statements. Connor had followed him in and, after explaining in lengthy terms to his mother that everything was all right, gone up stairs and taken a well-deserved shower. When he came back down for breakfast, he saw his parents were both completely unconvinced still that everything was under control.

"Maybe we should call Angel," his mother said after pancakes. Connor's head snapped up. "Well, you and he got along so well, Dear. Maybe he can find out who that man really is."

Connor looked down at his plate. "We can't call him, Mom."

His father looked at him surprised, "Why not?"

Connor took a long gulp of orange juice, and tried to keep it from coming back up. "Because he's dead."

His mother dropped her fork. "Dead? Are you sure?"

Connor nodded. He couldn't look at them. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"How did you find out?" his father asked him, concern was thick in his voice.

Connor took a deep breath, and tried to push the agony out of his voice. "I ran into some of his friends. There was an...earthquake...or something. Wolfram and Hart was destroyed. I guess Angel was caught in it." 'Ok, so I am now blatantly lying to my parents,' he thought to himself. 'But what am I supposed to tell them? Angel brought on an apocalypse, and was killed in the fight? Yeah, that will go over real well.'

Connor's parents looked at each other for a moment. Then his mother said, "Well perhaps we can call them then? Honestly, Connor, I don't know how far the police are going to get."

Connor sighed, but inwardly agreed with his mom. "They are staying at the Sunset Ridge Motel. I think it's number 3D. But well...um...one of them has a sun allergy, so I don't think they'll get here till tonight."

Connor's dad seemed to accept this. "Fine, we'll call them this evening. Maybe they can come for dinner?"

Connor groaned inwardly. 'Oh this should be fun,' he thought to himself.
That afternoon, after Connor had managed to escape his younger sister's incessant questions on the morning event, he sat in the garden contemplating well...everything. The police had arrived as promised. They had taken a cast of the tire tracks, taken their statements, and promised to look into it right away. Connor's parents had looked hopeful, but he knew they would find nothing. 'These guys are too well organized,' he thought to himself. Inwardly, he knew they were long gone.

He felt someone sit down beside him. He looked up, and was startled to see Layla there. She did not look at him, but instead looked into the trees surrounding the house.

"How did you get here?" he asked quietly.

She looked at him now. No, Connor thought, looked through him. "Does that matter?" she asked him in response.

"Yes...and no." He looked back at her. 'Wow, she's really pretty,' he thought to himself. There was something very serene, yet otherworldly about her, and she smelt like lilacs. "You're not human are you?" he asked.

She smiled, and looked into the trees again. "Not yet," she responded.

"Are you here about the thing this morning?" he said sighing.

She shook her head sadly. "No... I am here for you." She frowned, and shook her head. "That did not come out right. I mean...I am here to help you."

Connor looked at her baffled. "Help me? How?"

She continued looking at the trees for a moment, then reached down and plucked a dandelion off the ground and looked at it with wonder.

"You have a choice to make, Connor. You're life has reached a vertex...a crossroads. You need to decide how you want to live it. Do you continue as you are now? Or do you start a new path? It's not an easy choice, but no one can make it for you."

"So what are you my guardian angel?" he asked with a smirk.

"Yes...and no. I am merely a guide. I can point the question out to you. Maybe make it clearer. But only you can solve it. It's your life, Connor. You have been blessed with the second chance you received. Angel gave you the biggest gift a father can make. What you do with it is your decision." She stretched her legs, and stood up. She turned and looked at him, "But I do know this. Hiding from who and what you are, will only bring you more pain. Have faith, Connor. Trust your heart." She offered him her hand. He took it, and she pulled him to his feet. She was stronger than she looked, he noted.

He heard a truck pull into the driveway. "I think your friends are here," he said. Layla smiled.

Just a brief note: Now it has been asked if I will be using Lindsey in my Heros line. As it stands now, no I will not. Characters that have died, for the most part will not be returning. That means no Cordy, Doyle, Lindsey, etc., unless I have a very specific reason for doing so. Also, because I like Lindsey as much as the next person, Lindsey was a great foil for Angel. I am trying to move away from that and address these characters as they are now, and frankly Lindsey just doesn't fit.

Hope that answers some questions.

-Aeryn