Connor prowls the dark streets of Sunnydale, feeling like a stranger in a strange town. He could not kill Spike because Buffy was protecting him, and he could not kill Buffy without the element of surprise, which he had squandered by letting her live the previous night. Where to go now? What to do? Surely he couldn't slouch back to Los Angeles in defeat. Maybe he could enlist the help of Robin Wood. Maybe he could kill the vampires Spike made. Surely they were also prowling the streets. Perhaps even hunting him. Connor stops, sensing he is being followed. He takes out his stake, turns around and prepares to stake . . . "Dad!?" Angel quickly backs up.

"Connor."

"What are you doing here?," Connor angrily asks.

"What am I doing here? What am I doing here?" Connor was the obvious odd man out.

"It's okay, Connor," Cordy says, catching up with Angel.

"Why are you with HIM?"

"You shouldn't be here," Cordy tells him. "You're involved in stuff you don't understand."

You know he's only here for Buffy," Connor tells Cordy.

"I came here to protect you."

"I can protect myself."

"Who hurt you? Who gave you those bruises? Was it Spike?" Connor laughs ruefully.

"It was the succubi."

"I told you Buffy would attack him," Cordy says to Angel. She kinda likes the new nickname for Buffy.

"Why were you fighting Buffy?," Angel asks.

"She was protecting Spike." This Angel did not expect. "He's killed like a dozen people. I tried to put a stop to it. I was going to stake him. That's when Buffy attacked me. She fought me to save that murderer." This was certainly disconcerting for Angel.

"She must have her reasons," Angel offers dejectedly.

"He's got something she wants. Take a guess what that is." Angel looks stunned. Cordy looks nauseous. She never thought much of Buffy, but she thought enough of her to assume she'd never stoop that low.

"What are you basing this on?," Angel pointedly inquires.

"Spike told me."

"As if he's trustworthy."

"He said they do it next to dumpsters, on her front lawn, in the cemeteries, in abandoned houses, underneath abandoned houses - "

"Stop," Angel orders. "Why were you talking to Spike?"

"He's a vampire. He has a soul. He liked having me around." The implication, of course, is that Angel doesn't. How cruel for Connor to accuse Angel of driving him into the arms of Spike.

"I said you're welcome at the hotel anytime."

"After throwing me out and making me sleep on the ground."

"You tried to imprison me for all of eternity!!"

"Do you love me or do you hate me? Make up your damn mind, dad!"

"So you thought Spike was a good guy?," Cordy asks, trying to bring them back on topic. Connor has had trouble in the past figuring out who the good guys were.

"I thought he was good and Buffy was bad."

"Why would you think that?," Angel asks, utterly perplexed.

"She hates Cordy. That's all I needed to know."

"I wouldn't say Buffy hates me. Hate is a strong word. "

"She doesn't like you."

"There's a lot of ground in between. Connor, life's not black-and-white."

"But now you know Spike lied to you," Angel points out. "He's evil. He tried to use you."

"I know. They're both evil." Angel's at his wit's end.

"If they're allies, why did he turn you against her?"

"If they're not allies, why did she protect him?"

"He's got a point," Cordy notes, upsetting Angel. "You both do."

"They're completely contradictory," Angel tells her. "We can't both be right." Angel begins to wonder about Connor's sources. "How do you know Spike's been killing?"

"Go ask him. Ask Buffy." Connor takes a small cross out of his pocket and tosses it in Angel's face. Angel whacks it away and grimaces, giving Connor a second or two head start, which is all he needs to disappear. Cordy grabs Angel to hold him back.

"No."

"I'm not letting him get away again."

"You can track him down later."

"Later? He's the reason we came here!"

"Things change. I think you need to have a talk with Buffy." Cordy, of course, has her own reasons for this. The further Angel feels from Buffy, the closer her feels to Cordy. And Spike looks like the perfect blonde wedge to do the trick. For his part, Angel can't let Connor's vicious allegations go unanswered, especially because, if they are true, Buffy has clearly lost her mind.

At the Summers residence, Anya, Xander and Willow sit along the long end of the wooden table with their backs to the kitchen. Dawn stands at the far end with her arms folded. Buffy stands across from her friends and in front of the door leading to the hallway and living room. In the living room, Spike sits in a chair, bundled up in a blanket, facing the fireplace. "Buffy, I'm all for moving the murderer out of my apartment," Xander concedes. "But moving him into your house?"

"I have to keep an eye on him."

"And possibly a ball-and-chain."

"He kills my friends, and he gets to live here?"

"Dawny we don't know if Spike's responsible for that. We don't even know if Kit and Janice are dead."

"So you're sure you didn't stake them?"

"Pretty sure. I didn't recognize anyone I staked."

"That's good to know," Dawn replies angrily before ducking into the kitchen, from where she sneaks into the living room behind Buffy's back.

"I have a bad feeling about all this," Willow confesses.

"Spike was much less dangerous when he was soulless," Anya blurts out, to no response. "Apparently I'm the only one who can see the irony in that."

"Hello Spike." He keeps looking straight ahead. Dawn reaches her right hand into his left front pants pocket, pulling out his lighter. "Remember what I said to you before?" She flicks the lighter on and waves the flame in front of Spike's face. Buffy hears Dawn's voice, turns around, and races into the the living room.

"Dawn, what are you doing!?"

"Nothing." She closes the lighter, puts her hands behind her back and backs up towards the couch. "Just having a friendly conversation."

"I know you're upset, I know you're hurting, but we need Spike."

"And I don't need friends?"

"I'm sorry. But nothing you can do is going to bring them back."

"And if it were Xander, you'd be saying the same thing?"

"Dawn, that's not the point."

"Answer me! Would you invite Spike into your home if he killed Xander? Go ahead. Tell Xander he's expendable. Just like my best friend."

"Dawn, you're not helping," Xander pleads. Dawn stalks out of the room and walks up the first stair in the hallway when there's a knock at the door. She turns around. "Oh, I wonder who that could be? More killers looking to be coddled?" She opens the door. "Angel?" Buffy darts over. Her jaw drops.

"Hi Buffy," Cordy says with a smile. "And you at you, Dawn. All grown up. And real!"

"What are you doing here?," Buffy asks.

"It's been a while. Nice to see you, too."

"That's why I asked. You're not in the habit of paying me surprise visits. Not lately, anyway."

"Can I come in?"

"You've already been invited," she replies. Angel enters, followed by Cordelia. Xander, Willow and Anya stand at the edge of the living room in shock.

"Is Spike here?," Cordy asks.

"Why?," Dawn asks. "You wanna help me set him on fire?"

"Dawn, that's a horrible idea," Angel declares. "It could burn down the whole house. There are less messy ways to kill a vampire."

"No one is killing anyone in here," Buffy vows. Dawn runs up to her room.

"It must be fun having a vampire around who isn't Cursed," Cordy taunts. Buffy slaps her face with her right hand. Angel hits Buffy with the back of his right hand. Buffy angrily glares at him. Cordy smiles as she touches her face with her left hand.

"Feels like that one really hit home." Cordy switches to looking depressed. "Buffy, how could you sink so low?" She backs up behind Angel in anticipation of another attack.

"I'm not here to talk about that," Angel promises. "If there is a that, I'd rather not know about it." Spike starts chuckling. Angel can hear him.

"I'm not sleeping with Spike," Buffy assures him in the present tense.

"But you're letting him kill?"

"Spike is my problem. You have no say in what happens with him. You want to make yourself useful? Take care of that vampire you sired who attacked me last night."

"Vampire?" Angel takes a long pause and gulps. "What was this vampire's' name?"

"Connor. Ring a bell?"

"You're mistaking humans for vampires?," Cordy asks, astonished by Buffy's mistake. "Shouldn't a Slayer know better? Especially one with your experience?"

"That thing that attacked me was not human." Angel's getting very nervous, but he's unable to put a stop to the conversation before it gets really explosive.

"For your information, Connor is Angel's son," Cordy explains. Buffy looks at Cordelia as if she's damaged.

"Vampires can't have children," she replies condescendingly. "Besides, I don't remember mommy' mentioning a pre-teen son before Angel staked her."

"He wus born last year," Spike says, rocking up and down and not turning around to look at the people he's talking to. "Darla wus brought back and revamped by Dru she was. Boy grew up in Quor Toth. Grew up fast, he did. Such fiery memories seared into their heads. None of it real. They don't know. But I do."

"That's insane," Anya declares.

"You're right," Cordy responds. "He's real."

"A real human, growing in Quor Toth? Even demons are afraid of that place. The only way he could have survived is of he was raised by demons. Which would be too ridiculous even for fake memories."

"Good point," Buffy says. "If he's so real, who raised him?" Angel takes a few seconds to respond.

"My time-traveling arch-nemesis from two centuries ago." Xander laughs.

"You people believed all this? You didn't think that, maybe, just maybe, it was, umm, a little unbelievable?"

"Look who's talking," Cordy retorts. "You raised Buffy from the dead like, five months after she died. Talk about unbelievable."

"You believe this?," Buffy asks Angel.

"Believe it? It's my life."

"What about your Curse? How could you have sex? WHY would you have sex with an evil vampire you killed?"

"Does she have parental rights?," Willow wonders. "I'm just asking."

"Vampires can't give birth," Cordy replies. "Everyone knows that." Everyone also knows they can't get pregnant.

"She staked herself so he could be born," Angel explains.

"Killing her off when her job was done," Anya notes. "How convenient."

"Why would someone send you an evil son?," Xander asks. "Can he destroy the world?"

"Connor is not evil. And he was born. Not invented. I'm sorry he attacked you."

"Did he hurt you?," Cordy enquires. "Because you seem pretty pissed. Which probably means he did."

"He blindsided me, tied me up for several hours, hit me, threatened to kill me, and made me listen to his inane rants."

"You were at his mercy?," Cordy asks, trying to conceal her smile. "How many people, or even demons, can say they did that to you?"

"Why didn't he kill you?," Angel asks. "If Connor was evil, wouldn't he have killed you?"

"The truly twisted psychos like to take their time."

"My son is not psychotic." Hearing him say "my son" is surreal for Buffy. She keeps telling herself he's not real. "He's never killed anyone. Now Spike, from what I've heard, has the blood of dead girls still warm in his belly."

"That's not your concern."

"It wasn't, until two nights ago, when Spike came to Los Angeles and tried to kill my friends." Buffy turns around. Spike's gone. She didn't hear the back door close, so she rushes to the basement, where she sees him on the floor.

"Here she is, Miss America," he slowly sings in a hushed voice.

"Why did you go after Angel?"

"I went to talk. Things weren't like I expected. Angel was Liam. Everyone was dodgy. Except for the man in green." She goes upstairs, deciding that Spike's incoherent.

"Did he hurt anyone?," she asks Angel.

"Thankfully, no."

"Did he try?"

"Actually, no," Cordy responds. "But he didn't try to stop Angel from killing me." Everyone looks confused. "Don't ask."

"Then you have no business with Spike. While you're here, you may wanna round up your son' and make sure he doesn't come back. Because if he does, I may have to kill him."

"Nobody's killing Connor," Angel replies, not indicating if he means Connor will never come back, Connor will never attack Buffy, Angel will prevent Buffy from killing Connor even if he does attack her, or Angel doubts Buffy has the strength or the will to kill something non-demon. Angel and Cordy walk to the door. When he reaches it, Angel looks back. "If it makes you feel any better, he's tried to kill me. Multiple times." They leave.

"At least he has some redeeming qualities," Xander jokes. Willow and Buffy do not look amused. "What? Only Anya gets to make inappropriate funnies?"

"I think you should speak to Dawn," Willow suggests to Buffy. "Spike's hurt her more than any of us." Buffy decides Willow is right and heads upstairs. A few seconds later, she runs downstairs.

"Dawn's not in her room."

Now that Spike was in, Dawn had to get out. It was such an insult to her dignity and her feelings, neither of which seemed to matter to her older sister. Dawn heads by default to the Bronze. But three blocks away, she's met by Kit. "Hey girlfriend."

"Kit. Y-y-you're here."

"Where else should I be?"