Chapter Four
Hearing the unmistakable sounds of a fight, Riley rounded a corner and saw vampires in front of a darkened bodega surrounding a scrawny young man. Counting on his body armor to help protect him against the skewed odds, Riley tried to sneak up behind one of the vampires. To his surprise, the young man grabbed one of the creatures and snapped its neck, seemingly effortlessly.
As two vampires rushed the boy, he whipped around, coming up with a stake in either hand. He dusted the pair with an ease the soldier had only seen in Slayers. Feeling almost useless, Riley dusted the last vampire after felling it with a taser.
He walked over to the young man. "You really shouldn't be out here alone. It's not safe," Riley said by rote, knowing it was a joke. Only then did he see a smudge of blood on the young man's shirt.
The boy put a hand over that area, sucking in a deep breath to hide his pain. "I guess I'm lucky you came along then. I might have broken a sweat otherwise."
The sarcasm clicked in Riley's mind. "Let me guess, Angel's teenaged son."
Connor smirked. "Name's Connor. Given Dad's dead on description, you must be Riley."
"That good of a description? Should I worry your Dad's astutely studying his prey?" Riley smirked back.
"I am not." Angel leaped off the top of a near by building. "Connor, care to explain why I'm busy chasing you through the streets at night again?"
"Because you're a pain in the ass worrywart?" Connor rolled his eyes at his father.
"And you're bleeding and that means you're going home now," Angel said, taking his son's arm.
Connor yanked free, muttering, "But I can help out here." He started walking away from Angel.
"Your blood is setting off a beacon and you know it. What you don't know is your blood is extra tasty, like Slayer's blood," Angel explained impatiently, pulling Connor to a halt.
"Was that as creepy as it sounded to me?" Connor asked Riley with a shudder.
"Very," Riley replied. "If you two are going to stand around bickering, I'm heading back to base. Dawn and Giles should be there soon."
"What?" Angel growled, his eyes flashing gold.
As Connor raised an eyebrow, curious, Riley took a step back from the obvious rage emanating from the vampire. "Didn't Buffy tell you?" he asked hesitantly, realizing he had spilled the beans.
"Buffy doesn't tell me anything, apparently," Angel snarled, slamming a fist against the side of his leg. "We'll go back with you."
"Dad, can you stop making decisions for me," Connor moaned, dragging a hand through his hair.
"You're hurt. You're going back home," Angel said, his lips tight.
Connor's jaw set stubbornly. "I'm nineteen. I'll do what I want."
"Fine." Angel poked Connor on the chest right over the wound. The boy doubled up. Angel grabbed his arm, propelling him towards a car a few blocks away. "He got impaled," Angel said to Riley. "And buried alive. I'm sure the rubble inflicted brain damage."
"I'm the same as always," Connor protested, a peeved expression on his face. "The brain damage is genetic."
Angel looked over at Riley. "Don't blink. Before you know it, your daughter will be a know-it-all teen, too."
Riley shook his head, hoping Angel didn't see the vague amusement on his face over this. "I'm pretending it'll never happen. She'll always be a little angel."
Angel snorted and gestured at Connor. "Mine grew horns and a tail."
"I'm half demon. What were you expecting?" Connor asked and Angel gave him a look. "Oh, right, a little angel." Connor grinned. "I am a little angel. I'm so like you it's not funny."
Riley bit his lip to keep from snickering.
"Laugh and you'll meet with a tragic death, Finn," Angel warned, stabbing a finger against Riley's bulletproof vest.
"Not laughing," Riley said, his body quaking as he snickered behind his hand.
Angel just growled and waited for the younger men to climb into the nondescript beater of a car. The ride home was punctuated with snide comments from Connor and barely contained laughter from Riley. Both ceased as the trio went into the warehouse as if the younger men sensed Angel's increasingly foul mood.
Most of the warehouse was empty, the Slayers out scouring the city except for the few who had been on the day shift and were asleep on their cots. Connor's sister was curled up on a cot, not sleeping. Angel wished he knew where Illyria was. The vampire saw Spike hovering around the office door at the back of the warehouse. He was surprised the blond vampire hadn't just broken in, instead of eavesdropping. Angel had no such reservations. He banged on the door then threw it open, dragging Connor inside with him.
"Excuse me," Angel said as pleasantly as he could. The two Slayers looked annoyed at his interruption. Giles went pale. Dawn just gazed at him curiously. "Connor, sit and take off your shirt. I need the med-kit."
Faith handed it to him wordlessly. Buffy moved closer to Giles as if expecting Angel to simply kill him. Connor glanced worriedly at Dawn then back to Angel.
"Dawn's Buffy's sister. She doesn't care if you're shirtless," Angel said dismissively then caught a wide-eyed look on Giles' usually composed face. He had never seen Giles look like that. "What is it, Giles?" Angel could barely swallow back his anger at the other man.
"It can't be," Giles said, then broke off, glancing away.
"Any reason why no one told me Giles and Dawn were coming?" Angel asked, yanking Connor's shirt off over his head when his son showed no signs of doing it himself.
"Ow, Dad, leave my nose on my face!" Connor whined, rubbing the offended appendage then covered the bloody bandage on his chest as if to hide the damage from his father.
"It didn't concern you, Angel. Giles has information on something big starting that the Slayers need to look into," Buffy said, folding her arms across her chest. Her stance said she was trying to regain control of the room .
"Funny, I thought maybe it was because you knew that we were angry because Rupert told us to go piss up a rope when we asked for help," Spike said, leaning on the door frame.
Buffy's lips pulled into a thin line. "Spike, we've told you before Giles didn't…."
"I did," Giles said so soft it was barely audible.
"What?" Buffy and Faith asked in one voice. They couldn't look more surprised.
"I didn't know…had no idea it would be like this." Giles rubbed a hand over his mouth.
"How could you do this?" Dawn stood up abruptly. "If they asked for help..." She waved a hand at the vampires. "It's back to them being evil again right? I never believed it but hey, I'm just the kid sister with bad judgment." Dawn flung her hair back in a move characteristically like her older sister's. "Which okay, I can see your point since I've made a lot of bone head moves but at least I didn't take Andrew's word on anything. That nitwit tried to kill me with a sword when I was risking my life to save him from Willow. Would it have killed any of you to have called and talked to Angel and Spike? Giles, you should have known better. Faith, I guess you were too busy trying to prove you belonged with the group to be bothered checking with Angel. After, all, what did he ever do for you? And you Buffy, you're too busy trying to pretend you never knew them in the first place." Dawn's voice had gone shrill by the time her tirade was over. Her chest heaved, her body shaking.
"Done now?" Buffy asked, her face blank as she tried to bury her pain and anger. Giles simply looked defeated and Faith's head drooped like a wilting flower.
Dawn bobbed her head and everyone stood in awkward silence. Angel just kept changing the dressing on his son's wounds. Riley looked like he wanted to escape since this didn't actually involve him.
"We didn't do well," Buffy said softly, putting her hands over her mouth.
"It's my fault, all of this," Giles said in a broken voice. The Watcher looked ready to collapse.
Angel stopped what he was doing and turned to face the Watcher and his Slayers. "Why did you all just assume that five of us had gone bad at once? Was it simply that we worked for Wolfram and Hart?"
Giles shook his head, leaning against the wall, looking old. "I had the Los Angeles Slayers keeping an eye on you because of your involvement with the law firm. It was the recording that convinced me you had crossed over."
"What?" Angel asked and saw the confusion in the ladies' eyes as well.
"We received a DVD of you fighting and killing…him." Giles pointed at Connor. "I was deceived."
"Dad did kill me," Connor said, very non-chalantly. "Then had me brought back and remade kinda…I sort of forced him into the killing." He shrugged, wincing as it pulled on his wound. "I wanted it all to end."
Angel taped off the gauze then put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Giles, didn't you see me saving all those people in the mall or see the bomb Connor had around his waist?"
Giles looked utterly lost. Buffy took his arm and sat him down in the chair Dawn had vacated. Giles scrubbed a hand over his face, nearly losing his glasses. "There was no bomb or other people, just you killing a teenager in an empty store. The note that came with it said 'see what Angelus is up to lately'."
"Someone set us all up," Spike growled. "Let me guess, they altered the bloody recording, right?"
"I thought all of the accounts of Connor's mental break down had been destroyed," Angel said, his fingers digging into his son's shoulder. "The Senior Partners probably had Eve send that to you, Giles. They knew it would be too dangerous for me to have ties to the Slayers. We might have stopped them from doing…this."
"I'm totally confused," Faith said, clenching her fists, frustrated. "You killed your son? And you, kid, what's with the bomb?"
"It's another of those long stories. In a nutshell, I had to kill my daughter, lost my marbles, took hostages and gave Dad a choice, kill me or I kill them," Connor said, pulling on his shirt.
"People keep doing that to you, don't they Angel?" Faith asked, a wry smile tugging her lips. "I did something similar," she added for Connor's sake. "It's how I ended up in prison."
"What I don't understand is why didn't you tell us, Giles?" Buffy's voice was tight, her body equally tense.
Giles put a hand on her arm. "Because you've been so distant ever since you came back from…" His eyes squeezed shut briefly. "I understand why, of course. This hard shell of yours must hide the fragility inside. I didn't think you could withstand learning it was very possible Angelus was back and Spike had joined with him. I set the local Slayers to keep an eye on them and it was rather puzzling that they didn't do anything that one would have suspected them to do if they were evil."
"You should have told me," Buffy insisted, her lips pinching tight. "You shouldn't have kept it to yourself."
"You're not one to talk, Buffy," Riley said and everyone looked at him as if surprised he was still around. "Your team has never been one for talking. Communication, or the lack of it, has always been a problem. Spike nearly destroyed us soon after the Initiative lost control of him by using the fact that we never communicate with each other."
"Soldier Boy has a point," Spike said, looking a little proud of himself.
"And we can't change what happened," Angel said, heading off the explosions of wounded pride Riley's bare truth was likely to cause. "You just need to look outside to see the ruin this has caused. We can't dwell on the past, not when the future is so tenuous." Angel sounded more magnanimous than he felt. He didn't want them to know how defeated he felt or how empty or how ridiculous it was for him to talk about not dwelling on the past. Dwelling and not communicating were his best skills. Part of him wanted to rage against the people around him and all the destruction their own egos and fears – his included – had wrought. If offering an olive branch helped, he was willing to do so.
"Maybe you ought to tell us what's happening that was so urgent you came all the way here, Giles," Riley suggested. "If me and my men can help, we will."
Giles shook his head. "I think maybe you would be best to remain here in Los Angeles, Riley. I have reports of instances that point to certain passages laid out in the Reichs prophecy."
"End of the word stuff?" Spike asked, checking his nails, trying to look bored. Angel knew he was anything but uninterested.
Giles nodded. "The prophecy was vague, of course." His lips pulled into a cynical line. "It mentioned the coming of age of an unnamed ancient cult and there was something about the son of Quor-Toth playing a role but we don't know what that role is or what he might be. Given that it's Quor-Toth, it can't be good. Our seers pointed to activity in Cleveland, London, Savannah, Vegas, and Montreal. There is some possible connection in New York City but that looks to be negligible, very possibly a diversion. I need to divide up and deploy at least a few of my Slayers to those cities to investigate or what happened in L.A. could happen to them. Willow, Kennedy, and Xander are in Sydney Australia checking out occurrences there."
"You have that many cities involved and very few well seasoned Slayers and you don't think that you need me and Peaches?" Spike huffed. "Oh right, we're evil."
Giles glared at him. "I have plenty enough Slayers to handle the problem. Faith's already been working the Cleveland Hellmouth with Rona. They can go back home. The coven and I can deal with London. Buffy, Montreal looks to be in more trouble than Vegas or Savannah. I'd like for you to head there."
Buffy nodded. "I will as soon as we've cleaned up the biggest messes here. I thought maybe we were getting things under control in the city."
"I'd agree. I think we're at a level my men and I can handle even without Slayer help," Riley said, looking relieved to be able to help.
"I'll go to New York City," Angel said, startling them all.
"Angel, this really doesn't concern you." Giles said, but even he didn't sound convinced.
"Since when have you known me not to help?" Angel asked sharply, his fragile patience fraying.
"And we're involved. You just don't know it. Two to one, I'm the son of Quor-Toth and I'd like to know how this involves me," Connor said and the surprised looks turned his way.
"I wouldn't be surprised that being the son of two vampires doesn't attract all kind of arcane attention to you, son, something I didn't really consider when I had the spell cast," Angel said, apologetically.
"I suppose me getting ran over by a van was a big clue to that oversight," Connor replied sardonically, getting to his feet.
"We're going to New York," Angel repeated, giving his son a 'shut up' look. "I told Lorne I needed a change. If Riley thinks his men can handle L.A. then I'll make arrangements to move. Accept the offer of help or don't. It won't change what I do."
"Don't forget Kathy. I need to make sure that she wants to go. I have to take care of her. I'm the only family she has left," Connor said, his voice suddenly thick with pain.
Angel nodded. "Of course."
Faith went over to Angel, stopping just shy of touching him. "Thanks, Angel. I'm glad for the help and I'm sorry…for everything."
Angel smiled faintly. "Thanks, Faith, I appreciate it. Giles, I'll ask Lorne if he's willing to head back to Vegas. Even if things didn't go so well for him there last time, he still has connections."
Giles just nodded as if facing the inevitable and deciding not to get in its way.
"I can go to Savannah for you, Rupert," Spike said. "I'll take Big Blue with me. She needs a keeper. Can't let her go to the Rotten Apple with these two. I think someone's uncontrolled lust makes her nervous." Spike's eyes settled on Connor.
The boy blushed. "So what? I have a thing for older women in leather. It's hot. Anyone got a problem with that?"
"Yes," Angel said strongly. "I have to be insane taking you to New York City. You need to go somewhere else to live."
Connor's lips skinned back. "Oh, like where?"
"Lancaster, Pennsylvania. I'm betting a nice Amish family would like you," Angel retorted.
"I broke three fathers already and you want me to go to Amish country? Not that I don't already know how to make my own clothes and do my own blacksmithing because hey, been there, done that, even grew up with that whole religious ethics going on but don't you think perhaps I might be a little much for them?" Connor asked, rolling his eyes.
"I'd wager you're a little much for most people, yobbo," Spike said and Connor sneered at him.
"He looks like Angelus when he does that," Buffy said quietly.
"So Willow's told me," Connor replied and Buffy looked shocked that he knew the witch.
"Giles, if you run into words like the Destroyer, the Bringer of Anguish, Torment and Death, and maybe references to the Tro-Clan or the cult of the great potentate Ul-Thar just know they all refer to Connor. I suspect you can see why," Angel said wearily.
"Sounds like something Buffy would say about me," Dawn said wryly and Buffy rolled her eyes.
"Don't make me torment you, Dad." Connor grinned.
Angel grinned back. "No, of course not. You'd enjoy that too much. Couldn't have that."
Connor snorted.
"I'll keep you apprised of things as I learn them," Giles said, looking relieved that there was someone to burden this new threat besides him and his young ladies. There was just a hint of old times in the room now, trying to push through the tension. "I suppose we should try to set up a communications system since we'll be spread out in three countries at the very least. Riley did have a good point about that particular weakness of ours."
Angel nodded. "Sounds good. Son, why don't you go talk to your sister. The rest of us can start planning."
Connor nodded and headed into the warehouse to find Kathy. The rest of them settled down for a long night of planning.