Thank you to the two people who reviewed, it means a lot to me. ;-)
Balance chp 3: Together at last
Connor had been pacing impatiently for about ten minutes now, the other five were watching him like he was a tennis ball being hit back and forth.
"Kiddo, if you don't stop we're gonna end up with a hole that goes all the way to hell in the hotel, and that doesn't attract customers!" said Lorne shaking his head, he was getting dizzy from watching Connor's movements, about half an hour ago the kid had gotten very impatient, he began to fidget then he started to move from chair to chair as if each wasn't comfy enough then he began to openly pace around the lobby. He stopped now and looked at the ground as if trying to see what Lorne was talking about then started again.
"Connor!" called Angel slowly almost cautiously as if Connor might bolt if he was too loud or something. His son looked at him, "Is there something bothering you?" dumb question but it worked. Connor shook his head but didn't answer. He sighed and sat on the steps his back to the door.
"How much longer?" he whined
"They should be here any moment why?"
"Because I want to get the whole Cordelia thing explained as quickly as possible!" Angel winced, he had forgotten that this would be really awkward for Connor since he was the one who had inadvertently gotten Cordy pregnant. 'Oh boy this will be uncomfortable!' the thought had barely registered when he saw someone who made his soul sing! A petite blond woman, one who was stronger then any other woman he had ever met, his soul mate, Buffy Summers! She was here, at last! And any confusion he had had about his feelings for Cordelia disappeared out the window. She was followed by her dearest friends, and really Angel's first friends since he reclaimed his soul, Willow, Xander, and Giles. Then there was Dawn, god she had grown, Faith, Anya, a black man that Angel didn't recognize and Spike? What was he doing here? Behind Spike was a huge group of girls, they must be the potential slayers. Buffy opened the door causing the rest to look at the door.
"Buffy!" said Wesley happily
Buffy stared at him in shock,
"Wesley? Is that you under that amazingly handsome exterior?" she asked. Wesley went a little red and smiled as he came up to her and shook her hand warmly, "But no lack of British manners I see." she commented wryly
"Of course not, can't have the British being seen as nothing more then rude inconsiderate Americans!" retorted Wesley with his accent in full strength. Buffy laughed lightly and then turned to Fred who instantly began to babble
"Hi, wow so you're Buffy the Vampire Slayer? I'm Fred! Gosh it's so cool to finally meet you I mean I've heard so much about you!"
"Whoa Fred slow down I can't process language that fast!" exclaimed Buffy holding up her hands submissively with another laugh. Fred quickly calmed down
"Pryce? My god you look tested!" said Giles shaking Wesley's hand
"In more ways then one my friend." As the two watchers reacquainted Buffy's eyes fell on Angel and her heart stopped for one second and then started to hum.
Angel!
Her Angel, her blood and soul mate, in front of her looking at her in shock and delight,
"Angel?" she murmured quietly
"Buffy!" he whispered back. The electricity between them was broken by Dawn waving at Angel and saying
"Angel great to see you again!" Angel looked at her and said
"Dawn, god you've grown so much, becoming such a beautiful young woman!" Dawn smiled warmly
"Thanks, you look as good as always!" Angel smiled warmly.
"Angel, always a pleasure!" said Willow
"Willow, great to see you again and always will be."
"S'up Angel!" greeted Faith nodding her head. Angel nodded back
"How you feeling?"
"Pretty good, slayer healing is a great plus!"
"Angel is this the Scooby gang?" asked Gunn.
"Well, actually, due to contract infringements, we go by that crazy group of teenagers with that dog solving mysteries in a van." quipped Xander, "Or at least we would if we had a dog. And a van. And if we were all, you know, teenagers!" he waited for someone to say something but when Gunn just gave him a strange look he said, "Hey, I'm Xander Harris!" and held out his hand, Gunn shook it
"Charles Gunn! And this is Fred Burkle, Angel and Cordy mentioned you."
"Really did they mention my handiness in battle, my woman skills and my sharp wit?"
"No they said you babbled and did dumb things in a fight." Xander shot a glare at Angel who just smirked at Wesley who chuckled back.
"About Cordelia-" began Buffy
"She's evil!"
"We know!"
"How?" asked Angel
"We have a source who knows a huge amount!"
"And who would that be?" At that moment Calista stepped out of the throng of girls and walked down the steps slowly, looking around. Angel's eyes went bugged when he noticed her stomach, as did the others and they tensed up. Buffy looked at Angel questioningly and when Calista had her back to them Angel extended his arm in front of his stomach and pointed at the teen girl. Buffy rolled her eyes and shrugged 'so'. Angel mouthed
"Cordelia is…" and he nodded to the girl.
"You do realise it's quite rude to whisper or mouth!" said Calista turning to look at Angel stepping closer. As she did Angel felt a wash of calm engulf him.
"Calista?" called a voice softly over the silence, sounding awed. Connor stepped out of the shadows causing the Scoobies, who hadn't noticed him, to jump. She looked at him and her face broke into a delighted smile
"Steven!" Angel snapped back to attention at the mention of Connor's old name. Connor smiled gently staring at her, she giggled happily and extended her arms to her sides as if presenting herself, "Well how do I look since the last time you saw me?"
"Beautiful!" murmured Connor stepping closer, she blushed and giggled again.
"Always know how to make me blush don't you?" she teased, "Even in that stink hole of a dimension!" Connor nodded, by now he was in front of her and his arms wrapped around her waist regardless of her bulging stomach. She hugged him gently, resting her head on his shoulder
"I missed you!" whispered Connor into her ear
"Me too!"
"Connor?" called Angel warily. Connor looked up from her and looked at his dad quizzically, "What's going on?" Calista pulled away and, ignoring Angel took Connor's hand and placed it on her stomach. Connor's smiled broadened
"I forgot what it was like to feel that."
"Well it has been six months Steven!" she answered, with a giggle. Connor shook his head, amazed
"Feels longer."
"Ugh! Tell me about it!"
"I'm glad your ok." he said seriously
"Same here!" she replied with a soft smile, their hands entwining unconsciously.
"So is this the daddy?" asked Dawn eagerly, Connor and Calista shared a look and nodded. Angel felt like he was going to be sick! No way was this happening! But of course it was.
"But how, I mean Connor's only been here six months?" asked Fred, confused. Calista looked at Connor and murmured
"You didn't tell them?"
"When did I have the chance exactly?" answered Connor, "When Daniel died, when I sank dad to the bottom of the ocean, the three months I spent covering my tracks or the time when I had been made forget about you through magic?"
"Good point!"
"What is going on?" asked Gunn, frustrated.
"Maybe we should sort out the rooms for our friends and then discuss it as I have a feeling this is a long story." said Wesley quickly.
"Right there are over a hundred rooms in this hotel so take your pick!" said Fred smiling at the potentials. They beamed at the prospect of actually sleeping in a proper bed! They followed Fred upstairs and Angel then said to the Scoobies who had remained
"What the hell is Spike doing here?" Spike opened his mouth to retort but then he looked at the smirking Calista and said with forced calmness
"I'm here Angel to help, since I got meself a pretty little soul!" Angel felt his jaw drop. Spike? A soul?
"What did you say?"
"I said I got me a shiny new soul!" yelled Spike cupping his hands around his mouth.
"How? Did Willow curse you?" asked Angel as loudly
"Nope I went through some trials endured a load of pain and had a soul at the end!" shouted Spike
"You guys aren't on opposite sides of a football pitch!" said Buffy, "Although that might be the only distance that you two could be at with out arguing." she muttered to herself.
"Oh right!" muttered Angel quieting. There was an awkward silence broken by the strange black man, who said to Angel
"Sorry I didn't catch your name, Angel was it?" Angel shook his hand and said
"Yeah, I'm Angel and this is my crew. And you are?"
"Robin Wood, principal of Sunnydale high school."
"Oh so they finally rebuilt that place." commented Angel
"Yeah, word is you had a hand in blowing it up, as a principal I should be disapproving but honestly I think what you did was really cool!" smiled Robin. Angel chuckled and nodded in thanks for the compliment. Suddenly Anya said
"Why is there a horned green demon from Pylea here?" Lorne looked surprised at how she knew where he was from.
"Don't worry Anya, Lorne's a good guy." said Willow smiling at the empathic.
"Like Clem?" asked Buffy her brow wrinkling
"Yeah but Lorne's braver. Plus his singing is amazing!"
"You sing?"
"Well not to toot my own horn," chuckled Lorne, "But I could knock your socks off with my Motown! But my real gift is reading people when they sing. I can see their future, tell if they're good or bad, whether they are lying or not, among other things."
"And yet you didn't see that Cordelia was evil?"
"Uh well when I read her I saw something really bad was gonna happen but at the time I didn't realise what it meant. Then I had the information literally sucked out of my coconut and let me tell you I have never had such a bad hangover before!"
"You had your brain sucked out?" asked Buffy wide eyed
"Yeah, but please don't ask!" said Lorne rubbing his forehead.
"So this thing is inside Cordelia, now Calista said she was pregnant, so who's the father?" asked Willow putting on her thoughtful face, which she had perfected over the years. For some strange reason all the A.I.'s looked extremely uncomfortable. Before Angel could say anything though Andrew said,
"Where did Calista and that guy she was with go?"
"You can stay in my room if you want." said Connor opening the door for her. She smiled and stepped inside
"It's beautiful, better then anywhere I've been staying at any rate."
"Where have you been staying?" he asked leaning on the doorframe.
"Around, I decided to keep moving, see as much as I could, learn as much as I could."
"And what have you learned?"
"That teenage pregnant girls are frowned upon. The number of dirty looks I got or rather my stomach got was too high for me to count." Connor sighed
"This world is strange isn't it." Calista sat on the edge of the bed leaning back on one arm and placing her other hand protectively on her stomach.
"Not at all like Daniel described it really, at least how people live, some live in huge homes with tons of fortune, and care for no one but themselves, while some live on the street and care for all but themselves." She sighed; it was a strange sigh, mixed with sadness, wistfulness, contentment and joy. Connor stepped into the room and closed the door. He went and crouched before her.
"Do you know about…"
"Cordelia?"
"About her being pregnant with… my child?" she reached forward and stroked his face
"Yes I know, but it's alright, it's all down to manipulation." A beat. "Do you love her?" she asked suddenly. Connor hesitated unsure of his answer, "Do you love me?"
"Yes!" he said instantly and smiled, she always knew how to make him feel better even after- no he wasn't going to go there, at least not now.
"Now do you trust me?"
"Of course, how can I not?"
"Well I haven't exactly been great to you recently." she murmured looking away guiltily.
"You mean the six months you've been gone to protect our child from the demon Angelus?" asked Connor with a smirk. She shrugged
"When I couldn't reach you I got scared, I thought maybe you were…" tears formed in her eyes. Connor took her hand and pressed it to his lips. "And then I didn't return to find out for sure! I just stayed away because-"
"Because you were afraid!" cut in Connor gently, "Afraid that something might be waiting for you to come back so it could hurt you and the baby."
"Babies actually!" she said quietly not looking at him. Connor face went from calm to shocked
"W-what?" he asked his voice shaking. She pulled his hand onto her stomach and whispered
"Close your eyes!" He complied. There was an almost eerie silence then suddenly sounds faded into Connor's hearing. Giggles, babbles, whispers of nonsense. Connor opened his eyes and met her beautiful sea blue ones with awe
"Two!" he breathed, "Two children! I can hear them!"
"Of course you can, you're their father, and they love you as much as I do." she whispered softly. Connor slowly rose and sat beside her his hand still on her stomach. He stared at her face and slowly placed a kiss on her lips. She responded happily. They kissed softly like this for many moments, when Lorne opened the door and poked his head in. They pulled apart and Connor said reproachfully
"Haven't you ever heard of knocking?"
"Sorry kiddo but you and the sweetie here had better get down and explain things." Connor mentally slapped himself for forgetting about that.
"We're coming!" smiled Calista as Connor helped her up and took her hand. They followed Lorne back down to the lobby where Angel, Gunn, Fred, Wesley, Giles, Buffy, Xander, Willow, Anya, Spike and Faith were gathered filling each other in on what was happening, they stopped when they saw the trio.
"I really hate it when they do that!" muttered Connor into Calista's ear. By the looks he was getting from the newcomers he guessed they had been told about Cordelia and him.
"So how do you two know each other?" asked Fred. Calista and Connor shared an amused look, that question kind of understated their relationship. But before they could answer Buffy asked
"Who are you?" to Connor. Connor looked at Angel in surprise and hurt.
"Uh Buffy, Connor is my son!" said Angel delicately
"Your what?" shouted the Scoobies,
"How?" asked Giles
"When!" asked Xander
"Who?" asked Spike
"Would you like to know where and what?" asked Connor sarcastically. They looked from him to Angel and back again.
"I can see what, 's a bloody boy!" said Spike his eyes wide.
"When did this happen?" asked Giles
"About a year ago now."
"Well don't you think he's a bit too old looking for a one year old?" said Anya
"Well there's this whole thing with me growing up in a hell dimension for seventeen years." said Connor casually
"Hell dimension?" asked Buffy, her eyes wide.
"Yep good old Qour-Toth!" smiled Calista, Giles' eyes lit up with recognition at the name
"Qour-Toth, the worst hell dimension there is, but nobody's supposed to return from there."
"Well I did!" smirked Connor
"And he earned the name Destroyer in the place!" said Calista proudly, Giles eyes bugged out in shock.
"How do you know all this?" asked Gunn suspiciously
"Because I was there for all of it. Daniel came to Qour-Toth with Steven and found me in a cave, as a baby no older then Steven was. He knew that I was special like Steven and he knew we were soul mates." Connor smiled softly and rested his forehead on the side of her head, ignoring the completely shocked looks on his friend's and father's faces.
"Pardon me but if you two grew up in Qour-Toth together, then where were you when Connor and Holtz came back." asked Wesley Calista smiled as she remembered
(Flashback)
Calista and Daniel Holtz were standing by the tear in reality; Daniel was smiling proudly at Steven's genius
"So this tear leads to the world that you've told us about before we went to sleep?" murmured Calista with child-like awe. Daniel nodded
"Yes now all we have to do is jump and there we'll be."
"Well as they say age before beauty!" smirked Calista, Holtz chuckled and with a great leap he jumped through, she quickly followed. Holtz landed not quiet as gracefully as Steven had and Calista did land as gracefully. She extended a hand to help steady Daniel and he took it gratefully. Calista noticed the two unconscious people on the ground.
"Who are they?" Holtz looked at the woman and the man, and answered
"They work with the demon, but only because he's tricked them into thinking they are fight on the side of light." She bent down and touched the woman's face; she was so pretty, with brown skin and many colours of brown and blond in her hair.
"Should we take them with us?" she asked turning to Daniel.
"No they wouldn't understand, and besides the demon maybe able to follow their scents." She nodded and looked through the glass of the door, she walked as if in a trance and opened the doors to enter into the garden. She drew in a breath at the beauty of the place. Daniel watched happily as she gently touched the plants and looked up into the sky in complete awe.
"Calista!" he called softly. She turned to him an excited smile on her young face. He approached her with a smile, when she gasped and placed a hand on her stomach, which only had a slight bulge to it, being only three months pregnant. Daniel quickly came up to her with a concerned face and asked what was wrong. She shook her head and said
"I don't know." He placed a hand on her stomach and waited. He smiled as he felt it,
"The child is kicking!"
"Kicking?"
"It's their way of saying they're happy!"
"Then they must know where we are." Her face was delighted and child like. Daniel laughed.
"Come we had better buy you some clothes, what you're wearing isn't quite the fashion."
(End Flashback)
"That clothes shopping thing was pretty strange, especially since I was treated like a fool." she finished with a smile.
"Ok so that's how you got here, now where did you go?" asked Angel
"I can fill that one." Connor smiled
(Flashback)
Steven made his way down an empty street following the scent he had picked up on the street where he had left Angel. He came to a stop and Daniel stepped out of the shadows
"Hello son!"
"Hi dad!" Calista stepped out from behind Daniel and hugged him tightly. Steven wrapped his arms around her waist and whispered
"Nice outfit!" she giggled softly and replied
"Back at you!" Suddenly she pulled away and placed his hand on her stomach. Steven gasped as he felt a movement.
"The baby is kicking, their way of saying hello to their father!" Calista chuckled, Steven smiled but then his eyes widened
"No! You shouldn't be here, either of you!"
"Why not?"
"Because I didn't kill Angelus yet! It's not safe for you, especially you Calista, he might come after you and hurt both you and the baby." Calista looked at Daniel in fear, he had never said that there was a chance that might happen. Daniel clearly hadn't thought of that by the worried look on his face.
"What do we do?" she asked
"Hmm, I don't know, perhaps… no I couldn't ask of it." murmured Daniel pacing slightly
"Ask what?" he sighed sadly and said
"Maybe the best plan is for Calista to leave the city until the child is to be born and Steven and I say it's alright to return or we come to you." Both teens looked horrified at the though of separating but they trusted Daniel and he rarely was wrong. They looked at each other, and Calista whispered
"It'll only be six months, and that's a small amount of time for a lifetime." Steven nodded swallowing, he didn't like the idea of her being alone in the world. She hugged him again tightly and then hugged Daniel who gave her some things and the bags that held her new clothes. She then turned and left.
(End Flashback)
"And I haven't seen her till now." ended Connor wrapping his arms around her waist and over her stomach. She placed her own arms on his and leaned against his chest.
"I need to sit down!" said Angel falling onto the couch.
"So where does the whole you forgetting to mention her bit come into play?" asked Xander a bit of sarcasm coming into his voice.
"When Cordelia did that thing with the glowing when Steven attacked her the thing inside her added a memory suppressant that blocked out all memory of me and but didn't change who he was or anything major like that!" said Calista.
"Um Calista?" muttered Connor
"Yes?" he whispered something in her ear, "Oh!" she murmured, "Ok! I actually knew that but… habits you know." He nodded and gave her a small hug of comfort.
"Uh, Lorne, maybe you should read her, just to be on the safe side." said Fred carefully choosing her words. But of course Connor wasn't happy, because he could smell the rat.
"Why?" he asked quietly and suspiciously, tightening his grip on her.
"Just so we have the all clear. Connor it's really for the best, besides if something is meant to happen in her future, then knowing what it is may be a help." Connor opened his mouth to answer when Calista turned in his arms and whispered in his ear. His face softened and he nodded, Calista smiled and then stepped out of his embrace to face Lorne, placing her hands on her hips, with a business-like face.
"So what should I sing?"
"Anything buttercup." said Lorne smiling, he could feel nothing but good vibes from her, "Just a few bars is all I need."
"Um ok." She suddenly looked embarrassed as she timidly began to sing, but her voice grew louder and more confident as she sang
/ Well I couldn't tell you
Why she felt that way
She felt it everyday
I couldn't help her
I just watched her make the same mistakes again
What's wrong what's wrong now?
Too many too many problems
Don't know where she belongs
Where she belongs/
There was silence as they waited for Lorne's verdict. He stood up and walked over and hugged Calista. She looked more then a little freaked out.
"You poor little thing!" said Lorne sadly.
"Lorne?" asked Angel warily, the empath's sudden behaviour was unnerving.
"Sorry Angelcakes but the sweetie's aura was screaming for a hug!" Lorne explained hugging a near terrified Calista even tighter.
"Um as much as I love affection I kinda need to breath!" she gasped out, Lorne quickly let go and said
"Sorry sweet-pea, like I said you needed a hug."
She nodded slowly and said
"Right." and then quickly hurried over to Connor as if afraid someone else might try to hug her like Lorne did. Connor decided to take her hand as if he wrapped his arms around her it might be seen as a bit hypocritical. Why he thought that he had no idea.
"So we're sure she's on our side?" said Gunn still wary.
"Oh, yes most definitely!" assured Lorne, "We have never seen such a pure sweet goodness like our girl here."
"Basically yes she is on our side!" said Connor his jaw was set, his eyes daring anyone to say they disagreed. Calista placed her hand on his shoulder, he looked at her and relaxed, a small smile crossing his face. Only she could have that effect on him. Angel didn't know whether to cry or laugh or yell at Connor, this was all over whelming for him. He wanted to cry because he knew it was because of him she had left L.A., if she hadn't then for sure Cordelia wouldn't be pregnant at least not with Connor's child. Laugh at the craziness of the situation or yell at Connor for not telling him about Calista. Then again as Angel pictured how Connor should have told him, that really didn't work. He just shook his head and asked Buffy,
"How trained are your potentials?"
"Pretty good but they could be a lot better." she admitted
"Well we can start training tomorrow."
"Oh for the love of Pete!" said Skip unable to keep his mouth shut, "When will you people get it? It doesn't matter how hard you train, or how much magic you wield this is something you can't fight! Something you'll lose to in the end."
"Shut up Skip!" growled Angel threateningly, "No evil is invincible, they all have a weakness, we just have to find it!"
"Well I got news for you buddy this evil hasn't got a weakness."
"Yes it does!" murmured Connor glaring at the demon, everyone looked at the teenage boy, "In the package plant, when Calista shattered the spell that hid my memories of her, well lets just say I got pretty pissed, Cordelia seemed afraid of me then, I'd say it's weakness is the fact it's dependent on Cordelia and anything that happens to her happens to it." Angel felt proud of his son's quick detective work,
"That's true but there is another weakness." said Calista stepping around Connor to face the bigger demon smiling sweetly, "Me!" Skip looked her up and down and then began to chuckle then it quickly became a loud mocking laugh. Calista didn't lose her smile and she waited patiently for Skip to stop.
"You!" chortled Skip, "A pregnant teen human? Please!" Calista cocked her head to the side slightly and the smile became smug.
"Human? I'm not human! I am like Connor, a child of vampires!" Skip suddenly looked terrified of her as he shook his head in denial
"No, no, no! This isn't happening, there is no chance that the one thing that could stop it is- oh crap!" he realised he'd said too much. Calista smiled even more and turned to the Scoobies and A.I.'s who were shell-shocked.
"Yo-you a-are a ch-child of two vampires?" asked Angel stammering
"Well that's what we think, more because, I'm as fast as Connor, as strong, and my senses are as sharp, among other things."
"That can't be! No vampires have ever had children before Angel and Darla and besides we would have heard if another vampire had had a child."
"Not if she was from another dimension!" said Connor quietly.
"Well I suppose that's possible." said Giles working the idea over in his head.
"Well now that's clear, how about we discuss how to stop this apocalypse?" Calista said brightly clapping her hands. They all looked at her a little incredulous
"You're new at this aren't you?" said Buffy
Night's Darkness
