For those who have been following this story, I split off a thread that I want to devote quite a bit of time too off by itself. It is called Sanctuary and many of you have already found it.
So, as it stands, Angel, who is badly hurt, and Connor are being hunted, while Gunn, Illyria. Spike, and Giles' group is also hunting Angel, but for different reasons.
I have received several comment as to my interaction between Giles and Spike and they really have been dead on, however…Spike is not Angel. In my mind, Spike looks at Giles as a link to Buffy and also some help in their current situation. Again, Spike is not Angel, so we will have to see what his reaction is concerning the Watcher. Just my take, which right or wrong, is mine.
Now back to the story….
Connor looked out the window leading back from where they had just come. He had been able to lose their pursuers; but for how long? He was still getting a feel for what he was capable to do and had surprised himself by putting considerable distance between himself and the demons following them while having his father in tow. Connor had been quite the bookworm while in high school, yet seeing what he could do now, he sort of wished he had played football or maybe track.
A moan from behind him drew his attention from back down the street, to his father who he had laid on a sofa of the now abandoned coffee shop.
Memories of the time that he had captured his father, put him in an iron tomb, and sunk him to the bottom of the ocean tickled the back of his mind. His father had been in bad shape when Wesley had finally released him, but how he was now made that look like a Sunday walk in the park.
The most glaring injury was Angel's left arm; it was gone. Yet, beyond that, glass, metal, and wooden shard pierced him through like a pincushion. One long one had pierced through one of his eyes and out the side of his face. Connor knew that vampires could take a lot of damage without dying, but this seemed absurd. Everywhere Connor looked there was a gaping hole in his father.
Connor wanted to help, but he was unsure of what to do or even where to start. When he had taken CPR last summer they had never covered anything like this.
Reaching down, Connor started to dislodge several of the smaller debris fragment that were in Angel, which seemed to start any bleeding that had stopped all over again. Angel grunted as Connor touched what looked to be a shaft of rebar that was lodged in his chest right next to his heart.
Good thing it didn't hit his heart. Or does it need to be wood?
That tickling came back into his head again telling him that the key was the wood, not the piercing.
As Connor pulled his hand away, Angel spoke, "Pull it out…I need you to pull them all out…I'm sorry Connor…I need…"
"Dad?" Connor said, as Angel drifted back out again. "Angel? I don't know if I can. I mean, I can, but I'm not sure if I should. You have lost a lot of blood already and if I pull them out…"
Opening his left eye, which was nearly completely swollen shut, Angel caught Connor's gaze. "Can't heal with them in…have to do it."
"Okay." Connor said hesitantly, as he reached out and wrapped his hands around the shaft sticking out of Angel's chest. "I sorry. This is going to hurt."
Angel nodded slightly and, almost impossibly, gave Connor a slight smile.
With tears in his eyes, Connor pulled the first one out.