FIC: A New World (11?)

"I..it makes sense."

Angel stared at Dawn. The young woman hadn't spoken since they'd left the church and walked the seven streets to the nearest hotel, a less than impressive establishment, its only apparent attribute being its seclusion. "What makes sense Dawn?" he softly prompted.

The teen glanced up at him, the lost look in her pool-like eyes heartbreaking. "I…I hadn't thought of this before, but the vampires weren't invited into our apartment, they just burst in. The Immortal owned the building, he must have invited them."

He felt Angelus roar from within him as Dawn collapsed into his arms, huge sobs wracking her lithe body. Angel glanced over the girl's slender shoulders to see Connor staring on, an uncomfortable look on his face, and Illyira staring back with her usual superior expression. Taking an unneeded breath, he leaned down and muttered empty words of comfort into the brunette's ear. Eventually the Californian's sobs subsided and she pulled away. "S..sorry."

He smiled down at Dawn. "It's okay," he took the girl by her elbow and sat her down on the side of the bed. Taking Dawn's hands in his, he crouched down in front of her. "Dawn," he hesitated before deciding to start with some good news. "I got a phone call from Xander, he and Giles should be here tomorrow." He hid a wince at Dawn's wan smile, hating to have to crush her burgeoning optimism. "The Watchers' Keep was hit by a rocket." Dawn's mouth dropped open and she let out a strangled gasp. "Xander, Giles, Faith, and two other Slayers were outside at the time. But," he licked his lips, his demon laughing inside, "everybody else was killed."

"No," Dawn whispered.

Angel swallowed before continuing. "Xander hasn't been able to contact Willow," Dawn's eyes widened in horror. "I'm afraid we think she's been killed too."

"NOO!" the teen fell forward, tears streaming down her face. He held her, unable to say anything to ease the pain.


Connor looked around the busy airport, his nerves jangling, his father having sent him there to meet Faith and her companions. Connor scowled, he understood that the legendary vampire couldn't very well leave their hotel during the blazing hot Italian day. What he didn't like was Angel deciding he needed a baby-sitter and sending Illyria to accompany him.

Just looking at the former Winifred Burkle set his teeth on edge. He remembered how the shy Texan had mothered him the summer he'd betrayed Angel. It wasn't right the way she'd been possessed by a god. And the way she barked out orders was even worse.

His mood brightened when he spotted Faith striding through the crowded airport like she owned it, flanked by a pair of girls who moved like warriors. But her male companions, Connor resisted the urge to shake his head as he moved towards the Bostonian, an old man and a Pillsbury Dough Boy. Hardly what they needed. Now more than ever he missed Wes and Gunn.

"Hi Faith." Forcing a smile he offered the curvy brunette his hand.

"Hiya Memory-Boy," the Slayer's friendly wink and throaty tone caused him to redden slightly. "Your pa, copasetic?" Too flustered to speak, he simply nodded. "How ya doing Texas?"

"Why I'm just peachy keen Faith." It was creepy the way Illyria could transform back to Fred. It was really handy, allowing her pass as unnoticed as it was possible for a beautiful woman to do so in public, but it still made his skin crawl.

"Wicked, Connor. This is Xander," the east coast native nodded towards the fat man who answered with a friendly smile. "The oldster's Giles, the red-head babe's Vi, and the dread-locked honey's Rona. Guys, this is Connor, Angel's son, and that's Fred, a regular little brainiac who worked for Angel." The sultry Bostonian raised an eyebrow. "We heading to the hotel now?"

"Yesh," Connor nodded. "Follow me."

He inwardly bristled as he over-heard Xander's comment to Faith. "You know Deadboy the Younger fancies the pants off you?"

Faith chuckled. "Course I do. He's a male ain't he?"


"I don't see what use Xander and Giles can be!" Connor exclaimed. "Xander's a fat ass buffoon and Giles is a stuffy old man."

Angel resisted the urge to groan. Clearly his son had been saving this outburst the half hour it had taken him to drive back from picking the newcomers up. "You shouldn't be so quick to judge," he wearily rubbed his forehead. How did Xander manage to rub so many people up the wrong way so quickly? Oh yeah, by breathing. "Xander's been a pain in the arse ever since I've known him. But you know the most irritating thing about him?" Seeing his son's mouth open, he waved him to silence. "He was right. He was right to distrust me, my motives, right for thinking the only reason I was there was for Buffy, that I otherwise didn't care." It was different now, Cordy, Doyle, and the others had changed him, but he somehow doubted Xander would ever see it that way. And that saddened him more than he'd imagined. "As for his jackass exterior, yeah it's true. But you hurt or threaten one of his friends and, let's just say an extended stay in Quor'Toth is preferable to having Xander come after you."

"As for Giles," Angel paused as unwanted memories flooded over him. "There was a time I respected him more than any man I've ever met. He's tough, smart, but also the sort of father I'd also hoped I'd be." As opposed to the tyrannical bastard who'd raised him. "But then Angelus rose and he killed the love of Giles' life. In retaliation, Giles, alone mind, walked into my base and faced me, Spike, and Drusilla." Connor's eyes widened. "Giles is not a man to cross, he's a lot like Holtz in that respect. Give them a chance."


"Your hair looks good Dawnie," Xander began for want of anything to say.

The brunette began to shake. "They killed her."

"I know Dawnie, I know." Xander was helpless to do anything but hold the trembling girl in his arms. He kissed her on the forehead. "We'll look after you."

"God," the brunette choked back a sob. "When she was here she was such a pain. But now," the girl's cheers began to freely flow. "Now, I miss her so much."

"Hey, hey," he gently rocked the teen he regarded as his little sister from side to side. "That's right. Let it out," he prompted softly.

After a couple of minutes, Dawn looked up at him, a wan smile on her face. "Seems all I do these days is cry."

"Hey," he stroked the young woman's newly-short hair. "That's okay."

"No," Dawn shook her head, a familiar determined look entering her bloodshot eyes. "I've cried enough. Now we've got to concentrate on getting even. Grieve later."

Xander smiled and nodded. That pretty much mirrored his own thoughts. Losing Buffy, but especially Willow, hurt like hell, but at least this time he had an enemy to focus on, take away the immediacy of his pain. Unlike with Anya. "Good girl." He started to stand.

"X…Xander," he looked down to the suddenly pensive-looking former key. "After this is all over, c…can I live with y…you?"

Xander's remaining eye widened, his mind filling with a ton of conflicting arguments. On the one hand, he'd already offered to be Faith's Watcher. On the other, it would be what Buffy would want. But Dawn loathed Faith with the sort of fiery passion that was reserved for a fallen idol. And it wasn't like Giles wouldn't give Dawn a good home. But she wanted to be with him, he couldn't just reject her. "I'd like that a lot but," he nervously licked his lips. "I've already promised to be Faith's Watcher after all this is over."

"Oh," Dawn stared at him. "I….I could help. I'm good at the languages and research."

"That's be great," Xander hesitated. "But Buffy wouldn't want -."

"I don't care," Dawn shook her head. "I just want to help people like she did."

"Okay," Xander nodded even as he groaned inwardly. Oh boy, as if his life wasn't complicated enough. Faith had reformed – right?


Angel stared at the girl he regarded as his younger sister, struggling for the words to comfort her. In the end he settled for the blandly sincere. "I'm sorry for your loss."

He raised his arms offering a hug only for the Bostonian to smile weakly and wave him away. "No thanks Fang, don't wanna risk that damn happiness clause of yours by having a mega-babe in your arms. God knows it was a pain in the ass putting your soul back in the last-," Faith shook her head. "Oh crap I forgot about Re-," Faith looked down at the ground, "me and my big mouth."

"It's okay," Angel soothed as he inspected the brunette, noting the paleness of her complexion and the strain of her face. "How are you feeling?"

Faith's cupid-shaped bottom lip quivered momentarily and the woman took a rattling breath. "Like my heart's been torn out. Ya know?"

"I know," he nodded. And the hell of it was that he did. When Buffy had died for the second time, or Cordelia after her coma, he'd been destroyed. But at least he'd had his friends to cushion the blow. Faith believed she didn't have anything and despite her carefully-constructed armour he guessed she was slowly falling apart. "When this is over, there's a place on my team."

"Thanks Fang." He was surprised when the sultry beauty shook her head. "But X has kinda offered to be my Watcher. And I'm sorta thinking of maybe taking him up on the offer, take a chance to get to know him."

"Good."

Faith blinked. "Good? But you hate him!"

"We don't get on," he admitted with a shrug. Although hate, at least on his side, was a little strong. "But if he thinks of you as a friend he'll crawl over broken glass. You couldn't do much better."

"Yeah," Faith nodded and stared at him for a second before continuing, a flinty look entering her chocolate-brown eyes. "So this Immortal, you got a plan for dealing with this fucker?"


"Fascinating." Connor shuffled on the spot, uncomfortable at the way the former librarian was staring at him like he was a scientist examining an especially intriguing experiment or lab specimen. "The son of two vampires, I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes."

"Uh, yeah." Well this was embarrassing, especially with the two giggling Slayer stood behind the grey-haired Watcher.

"And how does your heritage manifest itself?"

"Uh?" he might be a college student but he was starting to think you needed a decoder ring to understand the middle-aged man.

"He asked how are you different from normals?" translated the dread-locked girl, he seemed to remember her name was Rona.

"Oh, well... I guess I kinda got some standard vampire traits. You know, enhanced senses, faster reactions, far stronger than normal humans, quicker healing... the usual I guess. Though I'm not quite as strong as a Master vampire... well, my da-,. Angel anyway. " He glanced at the two Slayers and hurriedly added. "But completely human other than that. Pulse, heartbeat, require oxygen... the whole works."

"Astounding, I'm given to understand that technically you're not quite three yet?"

"Can't wait until he's full grown, yummy."

Although Connor felt his cheeks flame, it as if his interrogator hadn't heard Vi's whisper. "I was kidnapped by Daniel Holtz when I was just a few weeks old and raised by him in Quor'Toth."

Now Giles' scholarly expression was replaced by one of astonishment. "Daniel Holtz, the legendary 18th century vampire hunter upon which Stoker based much of his mythos?" he nodded. "Amazing. And have you yourself slain any major demons?"

"One, Sarjhan."

"The time-shifting demon?" he nodded again, he seemed to be doing a lot of that. The Englishman beamed. "Most impressive. Now how exactly did you slay him?"

Connor sighed. This was going to take a long time.