Morning arrived and Angel stirred awake. He was surprised, mostly; to realize that he actually got a good amount of sleep in the night. And then, once the surprise wore off, he felt guilty. Because he did this to himself, to the world—he chose for so many people die, so he shouldn't be able to actually fall asleep without any consequences. He had nightmares before, sure, and he should keep having them. That was, at the very least, what he deserved, right? Or was it unfair for him to have nightmares because of Connor and what was happening to him?
He threw off the covers and managed to climb out of bed. He made his way to the shower, like he did every morning. He followed his same morning routine despite knowing that things were far from normal.
When Angel was finished, dressed and everything, he went to his elevator and up to his office. He knew he should go check in on Connor. Deep inside, though, he wasn't ready for that yet. Not yet. Later he would, of course, but now, right now, he wasn't ready. It was too early to have to deal with whatever problems there were.
Angel sat at his desk, wondering if there was anything he could do while waiting until he was ready.
He glanced at his phone. Buffy still hadn't called him back. She said she'd call him back whenever she had the time and they would talk about what went on over here to cause so many people to die. How long ago was that? It felt like a million years ago, when in reality it was just a couple of days.
Should he call her? No, he didn't want to bother her. She'd be fine and she'd call when she was ready.
Anne was also just waking up at the sun rose and stayed high in the sky. She didn't move, though. Instead she stayed there, in bed, watching the empty streets outside of the guest room in her friend's apartment.
Why should she get out of bed? What, exactly, was the point? She heard; she knew that everyone—or almost everyone, at least—in part of the world was dead. Some of L.A. was safe, and some of it was gone. Some of L.A. Did that mean what she thought it meant? She really should've asked Gunn when he was here.
Her kids, all of them, were probably in the shelter. Was the shelter hit? Were they all…?
Anne closed her eyes to block the tears. She didn't want to think about this. She couldn't. She loved every single one of those teens more than anything, and bearing the thought that they might not have survived… She wouldn't do it. They were alive. They had to be. If they weren't, everything in her life that lead up to this had no point. All the events in her life led her to become this woman who ran the shelter and saved teens, because she wished someone had saved her as a teen. She tried to help, tried to do good, and for what? So they could all die?
No, she wasn't just going to sit back and pretend her kids were dead, because they had to be alive. They had to be.
But even Anne had her doubts. What if they weren't? She shouldn't think that way, she knew she shouldn't. She couldn't help herself.
As she laid in bed thinking about her kids and how much they all meant to her and how much she wished them to be alive, the tears she held back before were now streaming down her face and on to the pillow beneath her head.
The teleportation spell sure took a lot longer than she expected it would. It seemed like she was just standing there in the living room and the next thing she knew she blacked out, and every time she woke up there was just more black and darkness. She wasn't sure how teleportation spells worked, so she wasn't sure if this was how they were supposed to work out.
Willow said it might take a while for her to arrive in Los Angeles, given the huge distance between Rome and L.A. Still, Faith never expected it to take this long, and for her to float in and out of consciousness for this amount of time. It was a teleportation spell, and she expected it to be quick and then she'd be in L.A. Apparently, that's not how they worked.
In all honesty, she never expected Willow to say that she should go. Surely Willow would've preferred if her great friend Buffy went to L.A. to talk to Angel, but maybe not, seeing as she chose Faith. Faith did know that Red cared for Angel, though, and had helped him gain his soul back many times. Faith supposed that meant Willow wanted her to go so that if Angel really was Angelus, she wouldn't just run up and stake him, she'd fight for him and attempt to get his soul back. Buffy, on the other hand…well, they weren't too sure about where she stood in all of this, whereas with Faith it was clear.
That was the plan. Faith had all of twenty-four hours to find Angel and talk to him. At that point, Willow would do another spell whether Faith was ready or not that brought her back to Rome.
There was just one problem that emerged when Faith arrived in L.A.
Where she arrived was nowhere near the Wolfram & Hart building. In fact, she had no idea where she was, because why would she? Most of her time in L.A. she spent in prison or in the Hyperion. So where should she go? She had no idea where.
Faith made out a plan to find the Hyperion Hotel and work her way from there.
Buffy sat down on the couch, exhausted. She hadn't really slept too much in the past couple of days, either, especially now with everything with Faith and Angel going on. Faith got to go to L.A. while Buffy had to stay here and deal with all the angry Slayers, including Kennedy. It just sucked, Buffy concluded. Everything was going fine and then it was just so suddenly that the world changed and all the people Buffy looked after were angry and looking for answers and someone to blame. She understood they wanted someone to blame, but why did it have to be Angel? Why did they want to jump right in and attack without even finding out if it was truly Angel who had something to do with all this?
Willow walked into the living room. Buffy wasn't angry at Willow for choosing Faith. Actually, she kind of expected it.
"Hey," Willow said as she sat down next to Buffy.
"Hi," Buffy said back.
"Look, I'm sorry. I just thought that, you know, Angel and Faith just have this history. I mean, so do you and Angel, but-"
"Don't worry, Will. I understand. I think you made the right choice. I really shouldn't leave this place anyway, with all the Slayers angry and everything. Trust me; I'm not mad at you."
"Thanks, Buffy. I just wanted to make sure."
"Well, you did," Buffy said and then placed her hand over her mouth to cover a yawn.
"You're tired?" Willow questioned. "You should get some sleep."
"Will, I-"
"Buffy, I am perfectly capable of taking care of things for a while if you go lie down. And if there's some type of emergency you know I'll wake you up."
She sighed. "Thanks. I think you're right. I'm gonna go lie down. Thanks for being here, Willow."
"Like I have anywhere else to be?" Willow joked.
Buffy laughed. "That's true. I'll see you later, Will."
"Goodnight, Buffy."
Minutes after Buffy left to go lay down and Willow made some tea, there was a knock at the door. It was a quite knock, barely audible enough for Willow to even hear, but it was definitely there.
She set her tea down and went to answer the door, almost feeling déjà vu. The last time there was a knock at the door she opened it to find Faith. Who would she find this time?
Willow opened the door, almost dreading whoever could be on the other side, ready to start some controversy. It could be Giles looking for Faith, Xander because he had joked about coming here before—hadn't he?—and it could also be Spike because apparently he was alive or it could be-
It couldn't be who was really there.
"Oh," she said weakly, surprised.
"Willow," Oz spoke slowly, clearly finding his own surprise in finding that Willow was the one to answer the door.
They both stared at each other, neither sure which should speak first.
A little bit after Wes woke up, he realized that he had nothing to do. He believed the only real reason any of them were here, at Wolfram & Hart, was because not too many people wanted to go home and be alone in the empty silence that now was L.A. They wanted to stay here, where there were people, so they wouldn't have to suffer alone. Wes had to admit that he didn't want to go home either, especially since Fred was staying here and he wanted to be there for her.
But anyway, there was nothing to do, and soon Wes was bored, lost. There were no clients and nobody paying anybody. What would be the point of deciphering old texts now, when no one seemed to care? There were no immediate apocalypses that he or anyone knew of. There was only Connor, who, by all means, was something entirely new to everyone.
So what should he do? Decipher those old texts anyway? Sure, maybe, but for how long? He couldn't just sit in this office forever and translate texts. There had to be something more.
With the amount of people left in this part of the world, what could he really do, though? In fact, what should the remaining people in L.A. do? Just stay and eventually die? No, that wouldn't make any sense. The more he thought about it, the only option he saw was everybody moving. Everybody left on this part of the world should just leave, go to the part that was safe and live among people again. That seemed like some sort of a solution, in a way. Although, they couldn't just abandon this part of the world, could they? That would be wrong, for some reason. So many people died in their homes, and it would seem wrong if they were to just get up and leave. And even if they were to just leave and go to the other remaining countries, they'd have to wait until they figured out everything about Connor and if he was a threat, a danger to the world.
The future was looming over them, all of them, though, and they needed to figure out some kind of plan. At least, that's what Wesley thought.
Fred was also awake, and she was not thinking about the impending future, like Wesley. She was thinking all about Connor. How and why would a part of Illyria be broken inside of him? Was there a way to save him? She could tell that what was happening to Connor was really affecting Angel in negative ways, and she wanted to help with that. How could they help if they just looked through books all day, searching for anything that could be remotely useful? The only way to find out was to get close to Connor, to test him… Maybe that was just the physicist in her wanting to experiment, but it made sense. They would never be able to figure out what was wrong with Connor and if there was a cure until they actually tested it.
"Wesley," Fred began, forming a plan in her mind and getting ready to fulfill it.
"Yes?"
"I want to go see Connor. I can't just sit around all day, hoping something good may come out of nothing. It's unfair what's happening to this boy, and we should try to help. I think if I get a blood sample I could test it and see how affected it is and maybe search for some kind of cure, or anything."
"I was just thinking that we can't sit around all day, too," Wes said. "That sounds like a good plan. We'd have to talk to Angel about it, though. You know how defensive he got about Connor before."
"I know. I think he'll understand, though."
"Probably. I'll come with you."
"Wesley," Fred smiled, "I don't need you to come with me everywhere. I'll be fine."
"Well, I still want to be there. Connor is clearly…not fully aware of what he is doing, and I couldn't bear the thought of him hurting you."
"He's chained up."
He shrugged. "Still. Now, should we go?"
Fred rolled her eyes in a joking way. "Okay, let's go."
"You jerk!" Harmony yelled at Spike. "You just used me and then left me all by myself? Who do you think you are? What if someone came in there wanting to stake me?! I could be dead right now, Spike! And I mean dead for good."
Harmony found Spike walking around in the lobby after last night. When she woke up earlier, realizing he was gone, she freaked out. Why would Spike do that to her?
"Relax, Harm, nobody wants to stake you."
"Um, do you not remember the incident with that bitch Tamika who tried to kill me?"
Spike rolled his eyes. He really made a mistake last night, didn't he? Harmony was always way too clingy and annoying. In his defense, though, he didn't lead her on to thinking he wanted a relationship or anything. It was just one night.
"Answer me, Blondie Bear, or I swear I will-"
"Harmonica, Harmonica, why are you yelling?" Lorne asked, walking up to them. "I wouldn't be surprised if the whole building could hear you."
Harmony scoffed. "Do you know what he did to me?" she pointed at Spike.
"I didn't do anything, love. I'm outta here." Spike left without allowing Harmony another chance to speak.
"Oh, Harm," Lorne said. "When are you going to learn to get a better taste in guys? You know you shouldn't do anything with Spike. You've been down this road before, I do believe."
"I know. It's just that he's, like, so hard to resist and say no to. He does not quit. I try to tell him no and he just doesn't give up."
"Stay strong," Lorne advised. "That's all I can really tell you."
"Yeah," Harmony moaned. It was just so hard for her to stay strong and composed around Spike. Usually she was great and in control, but not around Spike. Why was it like that, anyway? Why did she have such a weakness when it came to Spike?
Fred grabbed a needle she could use to draw blood and then she and Wes made their way to Angel's office. Angel was just sitting at his desk, sort of staring off into space.
"How'd you sleep?" Fred asked immediately once she walked in.
Angel looked up at her and Wes. "Okay, actually," he answered truthfully. "A few nightmares, but then after it was smooth-sailing."
"You know, I've been thinking," Wes started, "if you want to sleep without the nightmares I'm sure there's something we could do for you, like give you herbs or medicine or something that would put you to sleep without the dreams."
"Yeah," Angel frowned, unsure. "I'll think about it. For now I just…I feel like I need them. At one point I'll consider sleeping without them, but for now…"
"I understand."
"So listen," Fred started off. "Wes and I have been thinking. There's no easy way to say this really, Angel. I think you should let Wes and I go down to see Connor."
"No," Angel answered instantly, not even having to think about it. He couldn't let them go see Connor, not when there was a chance the Illyria inside of him could tell them about the past and what really happened.
"Angel, I-"
"Fred, I said no. I just don't think it's safe."
"Angel, in all due respect, we can handle ourselves," Wesley told him. "We've been through a lot, we all have. Plus, Connor's chained up. We'll be fine."
"Yeah, I know, but what if…" Angel trailed off. How could he convince them? "Connor's saying things, crazy things, you know that. I just don't want him to say something crazy to you guys and for you guys to take it personally."
"We won't," Fred reassured Angel. "We'll go in, get a blood sample, and then get out."
"Blood sample?"
"I want to test it."
"Fred, are you sure that's a good idea? Is that what you really want?"
"Yes," she said definitely.
Angel wanted to keep arguing, to tell them they couldn't go. But, really, who was he to say they shouldn't? They were perfectly capable of handling themselves, like Wes said, and they promised him they wouldn't take anything Connor said too literally. That should make it okay for them to go down, right? And besides, all in all, maybe a blood test would help. The chances of that helping were slim, sure, but still, Angel had to try everything, and this was something.
"Okay," Angel told Fred and Wesley. "If you want to, go ahead."
"Thanks, Angel. Don't worry about us at all. We'll be okay."
Angel nodded. "I know."
Wes and Fred turned around and left the office.
Connor had strategically placed the chains around him and blocked the view of his arms and the handcuffs so that it looked like he was still all tied up. If someone were to look close enough, they would see he wasn't all tied up, but he hoped no one would be looking closely. In reality, Connor could have left this place last night and gotten away before anyone knew he was gone. He didn't want to do that, though. Now that he was free and hidden, he'd have an opportunity for when Angel came back.
Inside his head, the actual Connor was still trying to fight. For the most part, it wasn't working, because the actual Connor was breaking through less and less, and the Illyria inside of him almost always had control over him.
He heard the door to where the cells were open.
Connor stiffened and tried the best he could to look natural, to make it look like he was still tied up. He made a wide grin and made sure his eyes were open pure and wide so Angel would see how blue they were. Instead of Angel coming to visit him, though, he recognized two of his friends, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce and Winifred Burkle, otherwise known as Wes and Fred. Illyria went through Connor's head to remember all about these two he could—both extremely smart with an attraction towards one another and both extremely loyal to Angel. Wes had, at one time, stolen Connor from Angel and, in result, gotten his throat slit and was abandoned by everybody. Neither Wes nor Fred even remembered Connor, though.
Well, this should be fun.
"Where's Angel?" Connor asked. "I thought he'd want to see his son again. Or is he too weak to face what I am?"
Fred neared the cell and Wes stayed behind. She had a needle that she was trying to extend forward and reach Connor with.
Connor wasn't going to let it go that easy. He pretended to struggle. He shook as slightly as he could so he wouldn't make the chains move too much. He moved his neck back and forth as wildly as he could so she couldn't get the needle in without harming him. Eventually, she backed away.
"I don't want to hurt you. I just want some of your blood," she told him.
"Oh, why, are you a vampire now? Did Daddy turn you? Or are you trying to do something to me? If so, I wouldn't recommend it, in case you want Angel to hate you and attempt to kill you. Isn't that right, Wesley?"
"What are you talking about?" Fred asked. "Why do you keep referring to Angel as your father?"
"Why shouldn't I? He is my father, remember? Oh, wait, you don't. Good-old memory spells hiding the truth. Nope, don't remember Connor, because he's a crazy mess. I, on the other hand, am so much worse. That's why I'm simply mystified Angel would let you two come down here."
"Look, I don't want to hurt you, Connor," Fred began.
"It's Illyria. Connor's gone. Or almost gone. Hopefully he'll fade away after a while."
"I just want some of your blood," she continued. "Please."
"Why should I allow that? You're trying to help Connor."
"Connor," Wesley spoke, "if you can hear us fight Illyria. If you can come up long enough for Fred to take your blood, we can help you."
Just for a second, Connor's eyes turned brown, but a mere second later they were blue again.
"Sorry," Connor/Illyria fake apologized.
"Listen, Illyria, why are you fighting this?" Fred tried to talk to him reasonably. "You must know we won't find anything. So why does it bother you? You being like this just shows us that there's a weakness inside of you."
He shook his head. "I have nothing to hide. I am powerful, more powerful than anyone could ever wish to be."
"Really?"
He sighed. "Fine. You can take some blood. But not with him here. Only if you're down here alone, Fred."
Fred looked back at Wes. Clearly she was signaling for him to leave, but he was staying put with a look on his face that said "I'm not leaving". Fred pleaded for him to go. It took some convincing, but finally Wes agreed to leave.
"I'll be outside," he told her. He didn't want to leave, but apparently he had no choice. He started to walk away, and then he was gone.
"Goody, goody, we're all alone," Connor taunted. "Now come on, Doctor. I'm ready to have my blood drawn."
Angel shook his head. This was a mistake, wasn't it? They shouldn't be down there right now with such a dangerous thing like Connor. He stood up and left his office, getting ready to make his way down the building to the main lobby and then to the basement where the cells were. On the way, he happened to run into Gunn.
"Hey, Angel, I need to talk to you."
"Walk with me," Angel told him and they went into an elevator. "What's up?"
"Look, I just want to tell you some good news we haven't exactly talked about yet. Lorne and I, well, we found someone. Anne, you know, we found her. She's alive. She's not dead."
Angel turned to look Gunn. "Anne's alive? What about all the kids?"
"They weren't so lucky. But still, that's some good news, isn't it? An innocent woman could've died but she's alive."
"Millions of other innocent people still died."
Gunn sighed angrily. "So that's it? We don't look at the positive, we look at the negative? Well, if that's how you wanna do it then-"
The elevator doors opened, interrupting Gunn. Angel walked out and Gunn followed, still wanting to talk with Angel. They found Wes standing in the middle, looking nervously to the door to the basement.
"Wes? What's going on?" the vampire questioned his friend.
"Fred's in there."
"Alone?" Angel exploded. "Wes, I specifically said that-"
"Connor wanted her alone," Wes stated.
"That's even worse!" Angel responded.
"Angel, I'm sure it's fine," Gunn tried to coax. It wasn't working.
"We have to go get her out of there," Angel said and started walking towards the door.
Fred neared the cell and put both her arms through it, reaching for Connor. She shook slightly, but managed to cut it out so she didn't appear too nervous. She knew that would give Connor/Illyria some kind of satisfaction.
Right as Fred was close to Connor, all hell seemed to break lose.
Out of nowhere Connor jumped up and all the chains surrounding his body fell off in loud clanks that hurt Fred's ears. She didn't have time to pull away as he leaped forward and grabbed her arms, making her drop the needle. She yelped as he pulled her forward so her face was pushed up against the cell bars.
With one hand, Connor reached over and easily yanked one of the bars away, giving him enough room to walk out of the cell. He still held on to Fred, and now he was behind her, grabbing her like a shield. She cried out, but he put his hand over her mouth to make her be quiet. Connor walked forward, towards the door to get out of this basement with these cells. After a few steps, he ordered Fred to open the door. She listened, knowing she would have no chance if she attempted to fight against Connor.
The door swung open and Connor stepped out with Fred still in front of him. They both saw Angel, Wes, and Gunn in front of them, and they each stopped and stared when they saw what was going on.
"Fred!" Wes called out and attempted to step forward, but Angel stopped him. He wanted to rescue Fred, of course, but he knew they would have no luck to go against Connor right now. He didn't even know how he managed to escape.
"Hello, father. Hello, Wes, nice to see you again. And Gunn, I don't think you've officially met me yet. Then again, technically you have."
"Let her go," Angel commanded Connor.
"Do you think I'll listen to you? No? Well good, because I won't. Here's how this is going to go down. I'm going to walk out of here with Fred as hostage, and if any of you even try to attack I will snap her neck. So I suggest you get out of my way."
Wes was breathing heavily. He couldn't do this; he couldn't just stand here and let this monster take her! There had to be something he could do, some way to save her. If Connor were to take her, who knew what he could do to her. Wes couldn't allow that to happen, and he was willing to do anything to save Fred—like Angel was days before when he allowed so many people to die—and before he knew what he was really thinking he called out and everyone turned to him.
"Take me instead!" he yelled.
"Wesley," Angel tried to fight against it, but shut up when he saw how serious Wes was.
"Leave her alone," he told Connor/Illyria. "Trade her for me. You can still walk out of here with a hostage if you just take me instead of her."
Connor/Illyria was actually quite stunned, so stunned he dropped his hand from Fred's mouth, although he still held on to her so she wouldn't run away.
"Wesley, no!" she screamed.
"Interesting," Connor said slowly, thinking. "I should've seen this coming. Why didn't I?"
"Please," Wes begged. "Just take me instead. Then you can walk right out of here."
Both Angel and Gunn wanted to tell Wes he didn't have to do that. If they did, though, then Fred would be taken and neither wanted her to be taken. They didn't want Wes taken either, of course. What could they do? How could they stop this? Was there even a way to? Angel was even desperate enough to be hoping that Spike came down and managed to distract Connor long enough for them to rescue Fred.
Spike didn't come, though.
"Fine," Connor concluded after thinking. "I agree. A trade."
Wesley slowly stepped forward. When he was in front of Connor, he threw Fred aside and grabbed on to Wes the same way he grabbed on to Fred before he could move. Angel ran over to the side and checked on Fred to make sure she was really okay.
"Now I'm going to leave," he told Angel, Gunn, and Fred. "Like I said, no attacks, or Wesley here will die. I don't think any of you want him to die, so that wouldn't be good."
Without any more words, he made his way towards the door, ready to leave the building. Nobody moved to stop him, although Fred watched them leave with tears streaming down her face, wishing, hoping that Wes would be okay and the Illyria inside Connor wouldn't hurt him.
Before they knew it, Wes was gone, and so was Connor/Illyria. It pained Fred to watch them leave through the door, Wes a violent, unnecessary hostage, only there because he saved Fred.
"Wesley," she whimpered and Angel hugged her, trying to send her a sign that everything would be okay.
"We'll go after him," he told her. "We'll go after him."
Lorne, Spike, and Harmony soon heard what happened. They each had their own separate reactions.
Lorne left and went into his office and let a few tears fall. Why was this happening to them? Could they save Wesley?
Harmony attempted to be helpful and full of support, but it wasn't working and Angel got mad at her and sent her away.
Spike was angry he wasn't there to do something to help Fred; or Wesley, for that matter. So angry, in fact, that he walked up to a wall and punched it, creating a hole. He then walked off, silently and alone, wondering if there was a way to save Wes.
Angel, Gunn, and Fred gathered in Angel's office.
"We need to think of a plan," Gunn stated the obvious. "We have to rescue Wes from that monster."
"How?" Fred cried out. She was still crying. "He could go anywhere with Wesley, Charles."
"That doesn't mean we should just give up."
"I'm not saying we give up, I'm asking what we can do. We need to save him. We…I need him. I can't live without him. I love him."
"Guys," Angel stopped them. "We need to think. Illyria wouldn't just bring him anywhere. She doesn't know anything about L.A. or about this world. She only knows what Connor knows, and he doesn't know that much. We just have to think about where he may go."
"No," Gunn argued. "Illyria would realize that would be too predictable, and she has to be smarter than that."
"Then where will he bring Wesley?" Fred raised the question.
Nobody had an answer.
What everybody overlooked was that somewhere predictable was exactly where Illyria wanted to go with Wes. She knew that Angel and his friends wouldn't think of going back to the Hyperion because of how obvious it was to bring him there, the only true place Connor ever really knew. And even if they did realize where Wes would be, Illyria wanted that to happen. Illyria wanted Angel and Fred and everybody to find Wes whenever she in Connor's body was done with him.
It took forever to drag Wes to the Hyperion, mainly because he was being difficult and resisting. Because of this, it almost took Connor/Illyria hours to find the Hyperion and bring Wes inside.
Unfortunately for Connor/Illyria, he didn't see as the Slayer named Faith neared and saw somebody practically dragging someone else into the Hyperion Hotel.
To be continued…