A Distant Angel 9
Author's Note: Probably the last chapter, so here goes nothing! Reviews are most welcome, good or bad.
Buffy sat in the living room with Lorne and Giles as Willow and Xander joined them. 'So what happened?' Buffy asked suddenly, after a long period of silence.
'We had words.' Lorne replied.
'And…?'
'He left after we had words.'
'What did you talk about?' Giles asked.
'Touchy subject, rather not dwell if you don't mind.'
'We need to know, we can't help if you don't tell us everything you know.' Buffy said.
'Don't you think you've helped him enough?' Lorne said. 'I mean, come on, you've nurtured and cared for Angel since you found him, right?'
'Well…' Buffy stuttered.
'After what he did, I think he deserves to be left alone now. He doesn't need you to keep looking over his shoulder. Geez, he's got a couple of centuries on you darling, and you think you know what he needs? Just let him go out and find his son and be done with it. Let him go, leave him and get back to whatever it was you were doing before you came here.'
'Hey, you're out of line.' Willow stepped in.
'Out of line? Well, excuse me. I've been to Hell and back, thankfully not literally, but I've felt the lowest I've ever been these past two years. And who's fault is that? Angel's.'
'Angel has literally been to Hell and back, I know, I sent him there.' Buffy snapped at Lorne. 'Don't you go telling us that you've felt low, because you don't know what low is.'
'Angel killed the only true friends I ever had. They're dead because of him. He got me to kill his enemy, to make it easier on himself.'
'You know that can't be true.' Giles interjected. 'Angel's not like that.'
'You obviously haven't been around him of late, have you?'
'Well, it doesn't matter what he's done, he's healing now. It's taken him this long to finally open up to us and to heal the wounds he has. Emotional wounds, from losing his friends.' Buffy said to Lorne.
'And again, who's fault is it that they're dead? His, it's his fault that he's got no one left…' Lorne froze when he looked over Buffy's shoulder to see a dark figure standing in the hall.
It was Angel. He stepped out into the living room, a cold, hard stare directed at Lorne.
'I told you already Lorne, I'm sorry for what happened. Yeah, I know it's my fault that they're all dead, but they signed up for it. They agreed to be a part of it, so the burden doesn't rest fully on my shoulders, it was their choice. If you didn't want to be a part of it, then you should have said something.'
'Oh come on Angel, do you think it was easy to say yes? It wasn't. There was the pressure of Wes, Gunn and Spike who had all raised their hands to say yes, and I couldn't turn it down. How would that make me look?'
'Image is everything Lorne, isn't that right?'
'Oh, don't start.'
'Lorne, I think it's time that you left.' Angel said sternly.
'Yeah, what on earth would I want to stay for?' Lorne replied coldly. The tension in the room could be cut with a knife, and Buffy, Giles, Xander and Willow could only look on in amazement of what was happening.
Lorne picked up his coat, which was lying on the arm of the couch beside him and put it on. Without saying a word, he moved towards the door.
'Well, it was nice meting you.' Willow said, trying to be polite and make the situation a little lighter.
'You too sweetheart, take care.' Lorne turned to face Angel as he stepped out the door. 'Oh and Angel, Connor's waiting in my van. I'll send him in.'
Angel's expression instantly changed. God, all this time Lorne's hated me for what I did. Still, he found my son, my Connor.
'Thankyou.' Angel said, forgetting everything that had just happened. Lorne nodded as his final goodbye, never to see Angel again. They watched through the door as Lorne walked down the path to the front gate, and hopped into his van. The side door slid open, and Angel instantly recognised the boy who was now walking up to the door.
Connor. Angel stepped forward, walking towards the front door as he watched Connor make his way up. Xander held open the door as Connor stepped inside, and Willow smiled at him as he walked past.
'Hey.' He said back. Then he saw Angel.
'Connor.' Angel whispered. He quickly stepped up to his son and hugged him tightly. He would never usually do this in front of people, especially Buffy, but things were different. He was different, and he was so glad to finally see his son.
'Hi Angel. How'd the apocalypse go?' Connor said to Angel, smiling.
'How do you think?' Angel pulled back out of the hug. 'Nice to see you son.' He hugged Connor again before stepping back.
'You too dad.'
'So how have you been?'
'Busy. I've been back to College now that the city is almost in order again. I passed with a B+.' Angel smiled proudly.
'I knew you were a smart one.' Angel rubbed his hair purposely the wrong way.
'Dad!' Connor complained.
'Sorry.' The two laughed off their silly little father-son antics just as Angel saw Lorne driving away. He looked over Connor's shoulder to see Lorne wave a simple goodbye to them. He probably didn't think they saw.
'You must be tired. Do you want a place to rest?' Angel offered.
'Yeah, if it's not too much trouble with your friends. Hi.' He said to the crowd of on-lookers gawking at him in the living room.
'It's not too much trouble.' Giles said quickly.
'This is Connor?' Buffy asked.
'Hi.' Connor said again.
'How have you been since I last saw you?' Willow asked.
'Good. Mostly I've been at College, but I've been spending time with my family too .' Connor replied.
'Angel?' Xander asked.
'No, my other family.' Angel hung his head in embarrassment.
'You don't have to worry about them anymore. I'll tell them that your father is taking you home now. We can get a nice place together, somewhere in the hills where there's lots of trees to shelter from the sun.' Angel suggested.
'Sounds nice dad. I'd like that. As long as we get a pool.' Connor agreed, laughing. Angel laughed too. Angel placed a hand on Connor's back and led him down the hall to his room.
He looked back over his shoulder as Connor entered his room, and smiled at his friends. They smiled back, and Angel disappeared into his room with his son.
Author's Note: It's done, it's finished, and it's over! Do you like? Tell me what you think; did I resolve all the issues?