Chapter Three—Someone To Watch Over Me

"So, you ready for this, pet?" Spike glanced over at Angel, distractedly scratching at his forearm. Both vampires were reacting to the protection spells that were covering the Slayer safe house, further evidence that their presence wasn't exactly welcomed. Connor had sensed the magic as well, but it wasn't affecting him as badly. He only felt a slight buzz on the air.

Angel rubbed at eyes that were swollen and red. He sighed heavily. "As I'll ever be, I guess."

Spike reached forward and rang the doorbell. They all heard footsteps approaching and collectively held their breaths. A small blonde man that Connor didn't recognize opened the door.

"Benvenuto, i miei amici!" He flew out the door, seizing up a very surprised Spike into a hug. "Oh Spike! I've missed you so!"

Connor shot a puzzled look at his father, who merely shrugged and shook his head.

Spike pushed the boy away angrily and frowned at him. "Jesus, Andrew. Not exactly the welcome I was looking for."

The boy looked deflated but smiled to cover it, turning his attention to Angel. He nodded at him and spoke with enthusiasm. "Buon vederli, il mio amico!"

"Don't remember us being friends." Connor was surprised at the coldness of Angel's tone.

If the boy had caught it he didn't let on, and turned towards Connor, still smiling. "And to you, young…" he tilted his head, regarding Connor curiously, "young…stranger? Identify yourself."

He held out his hand politely. "Connor". Andrew took his wrist instead, and he realized the young man was trying to test whether or not he was a vampire. "I'm human." Andrew gaped at him, still perplexed. "I'm with him." He gestured towards Angel, then remembering Spike, amended. "With them."

Andrew turned towards Angel, narrowing his eyes. "Does Mr. Giles know about this?" Angel remained silent. "Angel, you can't just bring…"

Angel cut him off, his voice hard. "I'll deal with Giles."

Andrew scowled at him, crossing his arms over his chest in an effort to show defiance. He looked ridiculous, pouting up at the tall vampire. "Fine. Be sure to tell him that it wasn't my idea to let some stranger into the safe house."

Angel stared him down. "Fine. Now, can we come in?"

Andrew let out a breath in a huff, trying to show his annoyance. "Yes. Fine. I invite you in." He spread his arms wide in a dramatic display of salutation. He looked over at Spike. "Both of you. I invite you both in."

Angel stepped around the boy and Connor followed, but Spike seemed to wait a moment more before entering behind them. Andrew, obviously aggravated at Angel's lead, shoved the vampire out of the way and stomped up the steps ahead of him.

"What's his deal?" Connor peered over at his father.

"I'll tell you later." Angel's mood was stormy and Connor decided not to push it.

The chattering voices that they had heard from below came to a shuddering halt as the trio emerged at the top of the stairs. The girls seemed to turn as one to stare at the newcomers. They were all shapes and races, and there were probably about twenty or so, sitting in a loose circle on the floor. Connor couldn't believe his luck. Spike must have read his mind and elbowed him in the ribs. "Looks like you got your pick of the 31 flavors, eh, mate?"

Andrew clapped his hands together twice. "Ladies, your attention please." Most groaned and rolled their eyes. "I would like to present to you the vampyres with souls, Spike and Angel."

Spike nodded at the group. "Ta, pets." Angel for his part just shifted uncomfortably, gazing past the girls, clearly searching for someone else.

One of the slightly older looking girls, a brunette, stepped up towards them. She had an air of brashness about her and she tossed her head, speaking to Spike. "Thought you were dead."

He shrugged. "Sorry to disappoint, luv." He itched at his arm again, and Connor saw a large welt had begun to form there. "Kennedy, maybe you could sweet talk Red into tuning down the anti-vampire crap she's got going on here?"

The girl just smirked at him. "Dunno, its kinda funny." Spike just glowered at her. "You don't scare me, blondie." She poked him square in the chest. She walked over to Angel, giving him a quick once over. "So, you're Angel, huh? Aren't you all tall, dark, and moody?" Spike rolled his eyes. She fixed her gaze on Connor. "And, who the hell are you?"

"Connor". She didn't wait for him to hold out his hand, snatching up his wrist to see if he passed the vampire test.

"Huh. Human." She looked over at Andrew, fixing him with a stern scowl. "Giles know he's here?"

"No!" Andrew's voice was petulant, and he shot an accusing glare at Angel. "Which is why I told them…"

"Fine. Take us to see Giles now." Connor could feel the anger roiling off of his father.

Andrew scowled at him for another moment before turning on his heel, leading them away from the girls.

Connor was impressed by the massiveness of the house, as the exterior had revealed nothing of the enormous space within. They passed a very well-equipped training room, replete with punching bags hanging from the ceiling and a padded floor. There was an extraordinary amount of weaponry secured to the walls. "So, where's Buffy, then?" Connor could tell by the forced tone of his voice that Spike was attempting to sound casual.

"She is with Faith, Xander and Willow. They are meeting with some potential Watchers."

Spike let out a low whistle. "Potential Watchers, yeah? You have quite the little operation going on here."

Andrew straightened a little, obvious warming to the subject. "You have no idea. Mr. Giles has acquired the best collection of demon literature on the market."

"Second best," Angel muttered under his breath.

Andrew frowned at him, stopping before a giant door. He knocked and they heard a muted voice from within inviting them in.

The man stood as they entered. Connor guessed he was about 50 or so, and he looked clearly disquieted by their presence. His office was housed in a giant library, and the shelves appeared to be bowing under the weight of so many books. He moved over to the front of his desk, leaning back on the edge. "Angel. Spike." He nodded at both vampires, his tone cold and clipped. He swiveled his gaze at Connor. "Who is this?"

"Um, Connor." He awkwardly held a hand out, wondering how many more times he would have to repeat this little procedure.

"And you are?" Giles crossed his arms across his chest, refusing to take his hand.

"He's with me." Connor could see that Angel was attempting to carefully control his frustration. Spike wandered over to one of the shelves, tipping the books towards him to read the titles.

"Angel, surely you are aware that the only reason I am allowing the two of you to stay here is because of your previous association with the Slayer. I know that you would not bring just anyone in here from the street. There is too much information here that should not be shared with the general public." His voice was starting to raise.

Connor could see a vein jumping on Angel's jaw as he tried to reign in his anger. Andrew began speaking, his voice a defensive whine. "I told him he couldn't just bring anyone in here! But would he listen? Oh no…"

"Andrew, that will be enough." When he just gaped at him, Giles nodded towards the door, indicating the direction that he should leave. He sighed in defeat and walked out of the room. Giles turned his attention back to Angel. "You should well know that your welcome here is probationary. Buffy may have chosen to take you back into her trust, but I have not."

Angel crossed his arms across his chest and closed some of the space between himself and Giles, glaring at him menacingly. "And you should well know that because of your lack of trust in what we were doing in L.A. we lost a dear friend. And, I happen to hold you personally responsible for her death." Spike turned and looked in surprise at Angel. "Do you really think we would be here if we had any other choice?"

Giles stared him down. "What were we supposed to think, Angel? All of a sudden you perform a massive takeover of one of the oldest and well-known evil organizations known to man? How were we supposed to know that you hadn't turned evil yourself?" He sneered at the vampire. "Your turning evil is not without precedent."

"Had a soul. Still do."

"Yes, well. Then, you can understand our doubts. Because what reason would a vampire with a soul have to take over an evil law firm?"

He glowered at Giles for a long minute before speaking. "Not that I feel the need to explain myself to you, but I had my reasons."

"And what, pray tell, were they? Putting your friend's lives in danger? Was it worth it? Because from the preliminary reports on what happened, it appears you took some heavy losses from your little stint there."

"They all knew what they were getting into to. I didn't force any of their hands. The only person who objected was Fred. She was the only true innocent. And, you refused help us to save her." His anger was so thick that Connor could almost feel the heat of it.

Giles shook his head in disbelief. "They couldn't have known the risks, Angel. And, you still haven't answered as to why you joined their ranks in the first place."

Angel looked down, seeming to deliberate something for a long beat before finally replying. He raised his head again, intentionally catching Giles' eyes. "I did it for my son."

Connor's mouth dropped open, stunned, and he could tell Spike was thrown as well by the similar expression he wore on his face.

Giles barked out an incredulous laugh. "Do not toy with me, Angel. I've been a Watcher enough years to know that is impossible."

Angel remained silently impassive. When he didn't move to speak again, Spike chimed in. "Didn'a believe it at first myself, but it's true."

Giles just guffawed at him. "I don't know what games the two of you think you are playing, here, but if you won't give me the truth then I will rescind my offer of invitation without further thought. You are skating on seriously thin ice here as it is."

Angel sighed tiredly and reached down to retrieve something from his duffel. It looked like a very old piece of parchment that had been enclosed inside a plastic sleeve. He held it out to Giles.

Giles took the offered paper and moved around the desk to sit down, angling the banker's lamp to give him better illumination. "Good lord!" He glanced up at Angel, a vague look of horror on his face. "This is the Nyazian Scroll!" Angel simply nodded. "This tells of the beginning of the 'End of Days'. It was thought lost for over a century!" His voice was raised again. "You had it all this time? And you highlighted it in yellow?"

"No, some idiot lawyer did."

"Lindsey?"

"Lilah." He shot a quick look back at Spike. "Before your time." He moved around the desk, leaning over Giles. He pointed at a passage in the text. "Here." Connor moved in closer to get a better look at the scroll.

Giles squinted closely at the writing. "Is this some form of proto-Bantu?"

"Yeah. Wesley did most of the translating, but his notes have been lost. I think this part is about my son."

Giles repositioned his glasses, focusing on the scroll again. "This speaks of a…a Tro-clon?" He began translating shakily, looking back at Angel in question.

"The Tro-Clon is a confluence of events, actually. A bunch of stuff happened right around the same time." Connor saw something unreadable cross Angel's eyes. "An old enemy resurfaced, my child was born and his mother died."

Giles' mouth parted in disbelief, and was about to voice his protest when something else caught his eye. "The Father Shall Kill the Son."

"That's not…" Angel gulped and flicked his eyes up to Connor, his face betraying the obvious anguish that he was feeling. "That's not the true passage." When Giles looked up at him in confusion, he continued. "That was inserted there by a time-traveling demon. He wanted to prevent us from reading the true prophecy. Apparently this phrase formerly said that my son would kill him, and he wanted to avert that."

Connor gasped, the gravity of what Angel had admitted sinking in. He felt his father staring at him searchingly, trying to get a read on him. Connor gave him a weak smile.

Giles had missed the exchange, but Connor knew Spike hadn't by the way he was looking at Angel with noticeable pity. Angel gave the other vampire a quick smile of acknowledgment. Giles ran his fingers over a passage and began speaking again. "This part I believe is about a birth, yes?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"Raised in darkness to bring darkness." He ran a hand through his hair and shook his head in concentration. "New life will be made from death; two demons shall begat a human child." Giles puffed a breath of surprise and turned around towards Angel. "This speaks of your son?"

"Yes." Angel straightened up and shot Connor a tight smile.

"Angel, while I appreciate that this appears to be the original scroll written by Nyazian prophets thousands of years ago, you yourself have admitted that the text has been tampered with. How can you trust this as gospel?"

"Because I was there when all of this stuff happened, Giles!" Connor heard the irritation seeping back into his father's voice. "I saw my son being born, held him in my arms." He began to pace. "Besides, this is just one of a handful of prophecies that speak of his birth."

"Angel, the significance of a human child born to vampire parents would obviously fail to escape the notice of the Watcher's Council. How is it that we had never even heard one word of this?"

Angel stopped and sighed in frustration. He gave Giles a hard look. "Because no one knows about him."

Giles scoffed. "So, why tell me?"

"Because you hate me." Giles didn't move to argue but did seem thrown by the admission. "I need to know if the situation calls that there is one person who won't hesitate to drive a stake through my heart if it means protecting my son."

"Dad…"

"Dad?" Giles sprang to his feet, gaping at Connor in wonder. "He's…this is your son?" He walked around the desk to stand in front of Connor, eyeing him closely. Angel had moved as well, eager to protect him. Giles quirked an eyebrow at Connor. "He's your father?"

Connor squirmed under the close scrutiny. "Yeah."

"What are you…what I mean to say is…do you have any special…ah…" Giles was stumbling, obviously at a loss for words.

"Fights like a vamp, has all the vamp senses minus the allergy to sunlight." Spike gave Connor a smirk. "And, he's not big with the blood drinking, neither." He then moved closer, laying a comforting hand on Connor's shoulder. Connor gave the vampire an embarrassed grin of thanks.

"Extraordinary!" His voice was low and he looked between Angel and Connor. "Who's the mother, then?"

"Darla."

"Darla? Your sire?" Giles' scrunched his eyebrows, clearly mystified. "The same Darla who you killed almost seven years ago?"

"Wolfram and Hart brought her back." Angel sighed deeply, raising his hands to gesture the air around his head. "And there this god who was trying to give birth to herself so she needed to create a mystical birth in order to do that." He shook his head, perplexed. "Honestly, I don't really know. It's a long story. I can fill in the details later."

"When was this, Angel?" He was staring at Connor intensely. "Because this boy looks to be at least 18 years old."

Angel gazed at Connor dejectedly, not speaking for a full minute. "He was born a few years ago, but was taken from me when he was a baby, raised in a hell dimension. When he came back he was…older."

Connor stared back at his father, feeling a wave of conflicting emotions crashing through him. Giles was visibly shocked at Angel's palpable concern for his son. He watched the vampire for a long beat, seeming to come to a decision. When he spoke his voice was filled with awe. "Angel, he is absolutely without precedent."

"Yeah, I know." Angel closed his eyes, steeling himself before continuing. "Look, I know you don't owe me anything, Giles. And trust me, I am loath to be beholden to you for anything." He gave Connor a pointed glance before turning back towards Giles. "But, if something ever happens to me, can I trust that you will watch over him?"

Connor thought Giles was practically bursting with the excitement at the prospect of doing that. "Yes, of course. He will be safe with me." He thought of something else. "But, on one condition. You allow me to examine him, test his abilities."

"I'm not going to let you poke needles into my son, Giles!"

"It is absolutely pivotal that we document everything about him. Think on the enormity of this situation, Angel!"

"There will be no record made. Think of what would happen if that fell into the wrong hands!" He leaned back against the desk and crossed his arms across his chest. "And no one else will know about this, either." He clamped a hard hand on Giles' shoulder. "I am entrusting you with this, Giles. Entrusting you with the most precious thing in the world to me." Angel's voice broke a little, and Connor was grateful for the little squeeze that Spike gave his to shoulder.

Giles just stared at Angel in amazement, clearly surprised at the depth of his emotion. "Yes, of course." He stepped out and away, effectively removing himself from Angel's grasp. "Your secret will remain safe with me."

Angel closed his eyes, his face flooded with relief. "Thank you," he whispered to Giles sincerely.

Suddenly, both Angel and Spike tensed, sensing someone approaching. The door to Giles' office flew open to reveal a small blonde girl whose mouth hung open in shock. Judging from the strong reactions of both vampires Connor instantly knew she had to be Buffy.

Benvenuto, i miei amici!" --Welcome, my friends

Buon vederli, il mio amico.--Good to see you, my friend.