Chapter 14: Another place.
Connor is in Wolfram and Hart after the hospital and the zombies attack. He's passing his first night into the building.
Once upon a time…… is the way fairy tales often begin. Once upon a time was leaving a queen, she was envied of all others having half of her beauty. Her name was Cordelia, she was terrorizing the blond princess and wanted to take possession of the man with that angelic face. Years gone by soiled by blood and rhythm by hectic adventures as now she was lying there as a sleeping beauty. A shadow passing over face as a hand opening her eyes with a caress. And the tender kiss of the beast awoke that sleeping cruelty……
" " "
Rough tremors shook his body; Connor woke up of his agitated nightmares just to end up in another.
- "Shh! It's me!" Angel said placing a hand on the boy's mouth. Angel turned on the light blinding the youngster's wide eyes. And there he kept watching Angel with a look of terror and sweat glittering on his face. "What? What's the matter?"
Connor jumped down the bed putting distance between him and Angel. He went to the window and looked outside the whole city made of hundred sparkling dots. He turned around and faced Angel with a sad smile.
- "Nothing" he watched through the window again hiding his face from Angel "Since some times, it seems like……everything is……ugly"
Ugly is a word with every meaning of what's dark, tasteless, sad and frightening. Children often use that word to describe many things. And Angel couldn't agree more on that, in this world lots of things were ugly but strangely tonight his world wasn't bigger than this room and everything inside it was beautiful. Angel sat on the bed.
- "Like what?" he asked.
- "Like the people down there" the boy said pointing at the window "like you" he said facing Angel again his eyes shiny, he held up his hands watching them as if they were dirty "like me". Angel stood up.
- "There are pretty things either"
Connor focused his eyes into Angel's and smiled sarcastically "Like what?"
Angel took a step toward Connor "Like the people down there" he took another step "like me" when he was front of Connor he took him in his arms and said affectingly "like you"
After a minute Angel stepped apart smiling reassuringly. "You should get back to sleep"
- "I can't sleep anymore!" Connor shot, all tragedy lost in his tone. He walked to the TV and turned it on. "And Im not just talking about all those zombies earlier call me a baby but there's no way Im sleeping ever again with the things I've seen. Like a minute ago you think its over but there you see that monster with this weird face and……."
- "A weird face?" Angel cut him.
- "Yeah, with a weird forehead and sharp teeth" Connor answered going through the channels "Like Frankenstein or something. Hideous I tell you."
Angel wrapped his arms around himself "You mean more hideous than the zombies?"
Connor faced him "Why does that matter? You think it was real?" the boy asked watching in the room his features tensed.
- "No!" Angel hurried to say. "So you watch TV and I……er…..go there!" he said flying toward the other room. Connor grabbed his arms.
- "You're not staying?" he said with big sad puppy eyes.
Im really exhausted "Sure!" Angel said rewarded by a little smile from his son. Angel joined Connor and sat on his bed next to the boy. Being that close without getting a punch in the face from the boy was something new, something he could get used to. Connor had put on some white and black movie picturing what seem to be a gorgeous vampire hunting and seducing a woman. The vampire was apparently in love with her and saved her from bandits planning on molesting her or whatever. Angel was always bored with that way humans had to picture vampires being able to such a thing. Vampires were evil and there was no way they could love.
- "This is so unbelievable!" Connor said breaking the silence. "Why vampires always fall in love with some girl in those movies?" he sighed.
Angel smiled "yeah, vampires aren't romantic creatures" proud of his knowledge.
- "It's not it. Everybody knows that vampires are so gay!"
Angel snapped his head toward Connor "What?!"
- "Well yeah! It says so in books and stuff"
Angel sighed "Don't you believe in all that crap"
- "Well, I never really did, but that Spike ghost told me so. Seems like he knows what he's talking about"
Angel gnashed his teeth "stay as far away of Spike as possible."
Connor turned his head toward Angel "Why? He said he was some kind of great champion"
Angel was feeling heavy with tiredness and the body leaning against him seemed light compare to the weight his own body felt right now. Like trust is light and lie is heavy. That boy had grown surrounded by lies all his life, and as things were going, it wasn't going to stop anytime soon.
"
" "
All this was so overwhelming that he couldn't remember how it was before. How was it before? He looked around, in that silent space and he felt alone. The only thing answering his pleading was his footsteps on the floor while he was walking toward the exit. He threw a look at Angel's sleeping form one last time trying to find where this feeling deep in his gut was from.
He pushed the button and waited the elevator. The office was as empty as his heart and he thought the building would be also, hell maybe the whole world was going to be. He opened the door and saw all the workers running in every corridor. Warm feeling to know you're not alone being alone. He found himself a little corner in the round where was a bench he could sit on to watch the people walking around each of them having a destination as his was still a blur. He felt the sudden need of someone who would be his everything till he could find his own balance in this new décor.
In his daily travel to the common room for coffee Wesley spotted Connor looking like a wounded bird in the middle of the pavement everybody would look at and avoid delicately but not pick up. A little thing hard to miss in this giant room full of bureaucrats. Wesley approached Connor and from behind put a hand on the boy's shoulder startling him a little.
- "Hi. What are you doing here? Where's Angel?"
Connor watched the man and his face bearing that gentle smile was nothing but reassuring, in fact everybody here seemed really nice. Connor shrugged.
- "I was going take a coffee if you want you can join me, that is if you drink coffee"
- "I do" Connor said to happy to actually get his mind on something else than his brooding.
Wesley smiled again aware of the good his little gesture seemed to have on the boy. He led him to the common room his hand still on Connor's shoulder.
- "What's troubling you?" asked Wesley watching Connor who had been silent fixing the coffee for the past two minutes.
- "I don't know" he answered shrugging "it feels……weird"
Wesley sipped his coffee, how far could he go with that. Wesley frowned his brain sparkling, he grabbed Connor's elbow which was on the table.
- "How many times do we have to kill you for you to stay dead?" Wesley said in a harsh voice far away from the one he used a second ago. Connor stood up with a jump getting his coffee all over his sweater; well he didn't like that sweater anyway!
- "What?!" came his trembling voice. He stepped backward and Wesley stood up at his turn putting his hand front of him trying to calm the boy.
- "Wait, I don't know what……" but before he could finish Connor was out the door with an "I gotta go!"
AN: So here we are again with the apologies :S Well, as people know it was the end of the school year which usually means lotta work, but if that can appease your anger I pass got all the grades high enough :D Now here's summer and all the time needed to write fics and sunbath lol This chapter is just a little back on the horse thing since I kindda lost my ways into this story while studying maths ::shudders:: and for people who follow to know that the story is updated and we'll be from now on…Oh and to avoid future bad surprises Id have to say that even though Connor seems a little boyish and fragile right now its not something that's gonna last, I like badass Connor but I like baby Connor either so Ill mix it up but just for you know Angel/Connor won't be leaving in pinkcity all the time, gotta get real!
Antares: Thanx for the reviews, I can't believe you actually checked my old story! The story isn't bad for a first but the spelling and the grammar, well its just sad lol I didn't finish it coz it was too general and when you don't focus enough on a character, a ship or whatever people get bored (and well for the obvious don't speak English well enough lol) I might rewrite it and finish it but s-l-o-w-l-y lol Just coz I love Connor and I didn't get the time to write him really evil hee……hee……
