Title:
Love Conquers All
Author: no1buffy_angelfan
Email: [email protected]
Summary: It’s basically what I’d want to happen in season 5 of Angel if SMG
were to make
guest appearances, or become a semi-regular.
Distribution: Ask and you shall receive.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: S1-7 BtVS, S1-4 Angel
Disclaimer: As if!
Feedback: Please! No flames though, if you don’t mind.
Dedication: To the people who lost a loved one in 9/11.
Author’s Note: Hope you like!
Chapter 1 – New Beginnings
“What are we gonna do now?” Dawn asks. With the sun
glinting in her eyes, Buffy Summers smiled, and
looked on at what used to be the town of
* * *
That had been over a month ago. After they had surveyed what was left, or
rather what wasn’t, Buffy, Xander,
Just
as they were about to reach LA, they all booked into a motel. When they all
woke up the next morning, Buffy
was gone. She had left them all notes, saying
that she needed to get away for a bit, that she had bought a plane
ticket online in the motel the previous night, not
to worry and to take care of each other. Only
she had gone to, as Buffy had accidentally woke
her up just before she left. She told her, but made her promise
that she would not
tell anyone unless Buffy told her to, and
pestered her for the first two weeks that they had
been at Angel’s, she still kept quiet. Eventually he had stopped
asking. But she could still tell he wanted to
know, and told Buffy whenever she phoned her with news, or emailed
her. But I told her to not tell anyone, and she
didn’t, thought Buffy, as she looked out over
been in
powerful one at that. She had the ability to
teleport from one place to another, near and far, to read minds and
much more. But she
reminded Buffy of herself in a few ways; she was quite petite, had quite an
attitude, and
wasn’t the type to give up on something easily.
Then she found her thoughts drifting to Angel, how she felt she
had given him the brush-off just before he
left. He probably thought that she was interested in Spike. She was
so lost in her own thoughts that she didn’t notice someone
come up behind her.
“Morning,” Cathy said. “Buffy?” She waved a hand in front of Buffy’s face.
Finally Buffy noticed her.
“What? Oh. Morning,” Buffy replied.
“You know, you can use the phone if you really miss him that much,” Cathy said
to her, with a knowing smile.
“Miss who?” Buffy asked.
“You know who I’m on about,” Cathy teased. “And from what I’ve heard from
So
is everyone else. Don’t you think you should go back to LA now?”
“Why?” Buffy answered, teasing her back. “You wanna get rid of me?”
“No!” Cathy laughed. She went back inside the mansion that her family owned,
leaving Buffy alone again with
her thoughts. Maybe she’s right, she thought. I
miss all of them … even Faith! I wonder what they’re doing now
… She checked her watch. It was just after
call, she thought, and headed back into the
mansion, to the phone.
* * *
Meanwhile, in LA
the eyes, and said
“Sleep well?”
made a quick exit to her room on the first
floor. Whats wrong with me!
even a few days gone to her new slayer position
in
maybe I’m going straight again, she thought.
Maybe he feels the same … she was jolted out of her thoughts
by her phone ringing.
“Hello?”
“Hey,” Buffy answered.
“Oh! Hi Buffy!”
“All of you?” Buffy questioned.
“Yes, Angel misses you,”
“Ok. I’ll come home. But not for another day or two”, said Buffy. “I’ve to go,
Will. Bye.” When
out of her room, she
was surprised to see Angel waiting outside her room.
“Was that Buffy on the phone?” he asked her. She nodded. “Will, where is she?”
not to tell him where
she was, and then remembered that Buffy had not said not to tell anyone where
she
was like she normally did when she rang or
emailed her. So she told him. He had to sit down with shock.
“What
is she doing in
“Well …”
* * *
They were both sweating. They had just taken out a nest of vampires. As they were
walking back to the house,
they were silent. Finally Cathy broke the
silence.
“Um … I’m not exactly sure how to say this without getting your hopes up …”
With that, Buffy looked her in the eyes.
“What is it? Just tell me.” So she did. Cathy had been researching spells on
the net, when she came across this site,
and if the spell worked, Angel’s soul would be
permanent. Cathy looked at Buffy, who was silent for a moment, then
squealed and hugged Cathy.
“Are
you serious?” she asked her, her voice filled with excitement.
“Yeah,” she said. Buffy hugged her again.
“Except, I’ll need to go over to LA with you so I can meet up with Angel, and
I’ll need help from
“That’s fine”, replied Buffy, almost singing. Two days later, they were flying
over the
up outside the Wolfram & Hart building that Angel
Investigations had taken over.
“Go inside,”
left herself in the enormous front door, and
turned, only to find Angel, with his back to her, leaning over some
papers on a large wooden desk.
“We’re closed,” Angel said, without turning around. He turned around to face
her as he said, “I said, we’re-”
The
words died in his throat. He just stared at Buffy just a few feet from him.
She
smiled faintly, and said, “Hey.”
****
Chapter
2 – Reunions
“Hey,” she said. She looked as good as ever. That had been over several minutes
ago. They were now
seated opposite each other in Angel’s spacious
office, he looking at the carpet, she at her nails. Finally he
interrupted what seemed like an awkward silence.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were in
both felt an instant rush of warmth.
“How did you …” she began.
“
“
“Why did you go?” he prodded.
“To
she trailed off. “Plus,” she added, with
mischievous glint shining in her now emerald green eyes, “I wanted to get away
from
it all for a while, to
become cookies …” He gulped, and took in an unnecessary breath.
“And did you?” he asked cautiously.
“Yes, and I discovered what I want,” she replied, looking deep into his
chocolate brown eyes.
“What … what do you want?” he asked, not knowing if he wanted to find out.
“You,” she replied. He looked at her, not daring to believe what he had heard.
* * *
She looked at him, waiting for him to say something, but he didn’t, he just
looked at her. Then, simultaneously,
they leaned in for a kiss, but before their lips
could crash together, the heavy Oak doors to the office burst open,
and in strode Cathy,
quickly followed by
“We
think we may have found a way for the spell to work, and for you also to be
able to have children!” began Cathy,
then stopped at the look of utter confusion
spread across Angel’s face. “Oops! Did we interrupt anything?” she said with a
grin
appearing on her tanned face. Buffy rolled her eyes
at her, but Angel still looked confused, especially walked over to him
and introduced herself.
“Hi. I’m Cathy, the Vampire Slayer. You must be Angel. I’ve heard a lot of
things about you,” she giggled, with a wink
at her sister Slayer.
“Cathy,” Buffy threatened.
“Good or bad?” Angel asked teasingly.
“Good,” Cathy promised. “Anyway,” she continued, in one big breath, “the spell.
It’s doable. But there’s a catch,
but, if it’s done properly, you’ll both be
normal human beings with supernatural strength and healing abilities, and
you didn’t tell him, did you?”
“No,” Buffy admitted. “I’ll tell him when you leave.”
“Okay,”
to explain the spell to Angel, how it could make the curse
permanent, and now possibly leave him human.
He
was overjoyed.
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“Well, those two seem pretty sure, and they’re both powerful witches,” Buffy
answered. They got up then, and
went downstairs to the waiting car.
* * *
The next morning, they all sat in the lobby of the Hyperion hotel where the
original branch of Angel Investigations
was situated,
were sprawled on the
floor or standing. Finally, Cathy emerged from upstairs.
“Okay,” she started. “I suppose you all know at this point what
it’s like this. We
attempt the spell, which should it go according to plan, bind Angel’s soul, and
possibly leave him human with
supernatural healing abilities and strength … a male
Slayer you could say. But there is a catch …” she trailed off, and motioned for
“Well?” Buffy demanded. The immensely powerful witches exchanged worried
glances.
“The only way it can work,”
“Make love,” Cathy said filling in for her.
“Um … why?” Angel implored. “I’ll just lose my soul.”
“We need to re-enact the first time you lost your soul, but the time when you
were changed into a vamp,” Cathy replied. “But that’s
not really the catch
…”
“Well, what is?” Buffy asked sounding hysterical.
“The spell will work, but … we’re not sure when it will work,”
she trailed off yet
again.
“What?” Angel said, growing impatient. “We’ll be what?”
“You’ll be …” Cathy said, picking up from
****
Title:
Love Conquers All
Author: no1buffy_angelfan
Email: [email protected]
Summary: It’s basically what I’d like to happen in season 5 of Angel if SMG
were to make guest appearances, or
become a
semi-regular.
Distribution: Ask and you shall receive.
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: S1-7 BtVS, S1-4 Angel
Disclaimer: As if!
Feedback: Please! No flames though, if you don’t mind.
Dedication: To the people who lost a loved one in 9/11.
Author’s Note: Thanks to my reviewers, and my beta reader.
Chapter 3 – Look Who’s Back
“So let me get this straight,” Buffy started. “We’ll both be evil if the spell
doesn’t work because?”
“Well, all the humanity, a.k.a. the goodness,
will be sucked out of both of you, even though Buffy’s human, but she’d still
be alive,”
“And we will have a protective ward around the rooms when the spell’s taking
place. Okay?”
“Yeah,” Angel said, looking at Buffy, who nodded in agreement.
“Okay,” said Buffy, with a sigh. They were silent for a minute. Then, Angel
asked,
“When will the spell have to take place?” They all looked at the younger
Goddess-to-be.
“Umm … we’re not really sure,” Cathy said, her eyes on
some papers in her hand. “I think the best possible time is the next full moon,
which is tomorrow night …” she trailed off,
glancing at the couple. “Is that okay with you two?”
“Yes,” they answered in unison.
* * *
That night, just after sunset, Buffy and Angel set out for patrol, leaving the
experienced witches to prepare for the following night.
They
were silent as they walked, comforted by each other’s presence. They reached
the harbour. Buffy inhaled the sea air, and
was hit with a wave of sadness. She realized
she actually missed
deeply, and her train
of thought was interrupted by Angel.
“Buffy,” he whispered into her ear. She made a barely audible sound in
acknowledgement. “Buffy,” he whispered a little louder
into her ear.
“What?” she whispered back.
“Vampires,” he replied. He pointed to a group of vampires just ahead of them.
The two crept up, and within minutes, the cool
night breeze was picking up small piles of dust
on the ground surrounding the pair. After an hour or two of patrolling
streets, Angel said,
“Come on. We’ve done enough patrolling for tonight.” They started walking in
the direction of the hotel. After a few minutes of
silence, Angel asked, “So … how was
“It was pretty cool,” Buffy answered. “Not exactly a place to go on holidays if
you want hot weather, thought! But I decided I had
to come back. I
missed everyone back here … especially a certain souled
vampire …” Angel grinned, then stopped walking.
“You are talking about me, right?” he asked, and Buffy giggled.
“Of course I mean you!” she said.
“I missed you too,” he murmured. She smiled, and then reached into the pocket
of the warm black coat she’d bought in
Out
came her hand, and with it two rings. Angel inspected it closer, and realized
they were …
“Yes, they’re Claddagh rings,” Buffy explained,
reading his mind. “I was out shopping one day with Cathy, and there is this
great
street called
a jewellers.”
She took a deep breath, and continued. “On its wall was a picture of a Claddagh ring, and there was something like
a poem about it
underneath it. I slipped into the jewellers, and
bought two when Cathy was browsing through another store.”
“There … beautiful,” Angel said, his voice husky. Then, he looked down, then
back into her bright green eyes that reminded him
of the lush green
fields of
Buffy
looked at him in confusion, he explained. “When I returned from hell, I found
your ring on the floor of the mansion.” He
looked down, but a
warm hand on his cheek made him look up. To his relief, she was smiling, but
unshed tears graced her eyes.
She took his hand, and they began walking
again. They were silent on the way back to the hotel. They stopped just outside
the
hotel, and stood,
content in looking deep into each other’s eyes. Then, they shared a passionate
kiss, and only pulled away from
lack of air. They
smiled at one another once more, and walked hand in hand outside. Once inside,
they noticed everyone was
sitting down and
looking tense and uncomfortable.
“Something wrong?” Buffy asked.
“Hello, Slayer,” said an English voice from the stairs. Buffy and Angel looked
in the direction of the voice, and
couldn’t believe their eyes.
*************
Chapter
4 – Rejected
“Spike?” Buffy whispered, her voice containing shock and disbelief. She looked
up at Angel, who looked as shocked as she felt,
and back at the figure standing before their
very eyes.
“You actually remember me? I’m touched,” Spike said, his voice dripping with
sarcasm. “I thought you would have been so wrapped
in lover boy,” he continued, gesturing at Angel, “that you
wouldn’t have had time to think about me.”
“But … how?” Angel asked warily. Spike looked at him as if noticing him for the
first time.
“The amulet,” he answered his former grand-sire. “From Wolfram & Hart, I
presume? Which you own now … but anyway, they had the
power to resurrect me, just like they did with
Darla.” They were silent as they took this in. Then, gleefully, Spike added,
“And guess
what? I’m alive!” and they finally noticed the
rosy colour in his cheeks that had replaced the
former dead white.
* * *
Buffy was relaxing in her lavender bubble bath in the bathroom adjoining her
hotel room at the Hyperion, when she heard someone
softly knock on the door of the bedroom.
“Come in!” she yelled, and heard the door open and close quietly.
“Buffy?” she heard Angel say aloud, and shouted out,
“In here.” A moment later, the bathroom door opened to reveal Angel. When he
saw Buffy in a bath of bubbles, if he had been alive,
he would have been breathless. He immediately swallowed
hard and averted his gaze to the marble floor.
“Sorry,” he muttered, and went to exit the room.
“Angel!” she almost shouted, and he turned to face her.
“It’s alright, you can come in,” she assured him. He slowly made his way to sit
on the side of the enormous bathtub, while Buffy joked,
“It’s
not as if you’ve never seen me in less.” When he looked at her, she quickly
apologized. “Sorry. But anyway, did you come to talk
or to wash my back?” He blinked.
“Oh. Yeah. Um, I wanted to see if you were okay after that … ordeal … with
Spike.” He said the name with distaste.
“Spike.” She hesitated. “Yes … I don’t know. I mean,
it was a huge shock seeing him, especially when we found out he’s human,” she
paused when Angel winced, and then continued, “But
if you’re asking me am I going to go back to him, or whatever I had with him,
or
something like that …” She paused for breath, then
continued again. “I mean, I just got you back again, and I’m not planning on
losing
you all over again. So no, on
that. Angel, I love you,” she saw him relax slightly, and he said softly
to her,
“And I love you.” She smiled, and finished.
“As I said, I love you, Angel, I always have, and
always will. It’s always been you. Not Spike, not Riley,” he visibly stiffened
at the last
name, and Buffy
remembered how she’d said to him that she’d loved Riley, “even though when I
tracked Faith in LA, and I said that
loved him, it was a
lie, to see if you still loved me,” she finished in a small voice, looking
ashamed.
“I’ve loved you since I first saw you outside your high school in LA, and I
always will,” Angel said to her, and she raised her head to
look at him. “There’s
no denying how much that hurt when you said that to me, and I meant every word
when I said that it tore me
up inside when I saw
you …” he trailed off. Buffy smiled at him, and then he stood to leave.
“Where are you going?” she asked him in a playful tone, as he reached the door.
“Well, I’ve said what I’ve wanted to say,” he said to her.
“But, since I have listened to you, now you have got to do something for me,”
she said in a teasing tone.
“Oh yeah?” he said, walking slowly to her, a smirk on his handsome face.
“What’s that?” She pondered for a moment, then
said with a nod,
“
“That’s all?” he said, raising his eyebrows. “Well, if that’s what the lady
wants. Hey!” he shouted, as she pulled him fully
clothed into the
bathtub.
“What?” she asked innocently. “It’s not as if that’s all the clothes that you
own …” She shrieked as he tickled her.
* * *
“God,” Spike muttered, as he heard shrieks come from upstairs. “You would think
they would keep it down.”
“You’re just jealous,” Faith said from her place opposite him on the other
sofa. He glared at her.
“Of Peaches?” he said scornfully. “I don’t think so!”
“So,” Willow said, as she finished flirting with Wesley, and plopped down
beside Spike on the plush sofa, wanting to keep the
peace, “How do you
find life as a human?” Spike shrugged.
“It’s alright, I guess,” he said softly. “I still have to get used to the sun.
I got sunburned yesterday.” Dawn, who had been listening
from her seat on the
stairs, giggled at this remark. “What?” he said, turning to face the teenager. “It’s not a funny thing, sunburn.
Bloody well hurts like hell.” He rethought
what he had just said, and added, “Well, maybe not as sore as hell itself, but
still …” Just
then, Spike noticed
that the shrieking had subsided and he breathed a sigh of relief. Even though
Faith didn’t know him that well,
she could still read
him like an open book. Any of them could when it came to Buffy. Except himself. But, he knew that he was as
jealous of his grand-sire just as much as most
vampires despise Slayers. He sighed deeply, a sigh of defeat and regret. Why
did
he have to act like a
hero, and take that amulet? Oh, yeah. Because of her.
Just then, he heard giggling, and a moment later, as
he turned his head to
accuse Dawn, saw the radiant couple coming down the stairs, hand-in-hand, he
noticed with envy and anger.
Then,
he noticed him.
“Spike,” Buffy said quietly. “We need to talk.” She motioned to Angel’s old
office, and he got up to follow her. He sat on an
expensive-looking black leather armchair. Buffy paced
the length of the room several times, before she sat down opposite
him in an identical chair. Then she got up, and
paced again.
“Just spit it out,” Spike said impatiently.
“Alright,” she said, sighing. She leaned against a pale wall, and said quietly,
“Spike, it’s not that I’m not glad that you’re back-”
“But you’re back with the big poof, Spike cut in. She looked at him.
“It’s not like that,” she murmured.
“Is it not?” he said angrily. “You said you loved me!”
“And you said that I didn’t, and you were right,” she shot back. He looked at
her in shock. “In a way, I never really left Angel,
and he never really
left me,” she said softly, a small smile playing on her face. When Spike looked
at her for an explanation,
she gave it to him.
“When he left me, I never really got over him. And he was the same. I could
never give my love or my
heart fully to
another because, even though he wasn’t with me anymore in being, he was with me
in my heart, and he could
never leave it. Or
she thought, there
was nothing she could do about her feelings. She needed to be with the person
she loved. She needed her
soulmate.
She needed Angel. She sighed, stood and said in a tired voice, “I’m sorry, I
really am. But I’ve been denying my true
feelings ever since
Angel left, and now that I’ve a chance at having him back again, I’m not
letting it go
****
Chapter
5 – Flirting
Buffy quietly shut the door behind, and leaned against, drained. She noticed
everyone had retreated from the hotel lobby.
Sighing,
she went in search of someone, anyone. She went into the kitchen, and was
greeted with Angel’s presence before
cool, muscular arms snaked their way around her
slender waist. She leaned back against his hard chest, while he planted
feather-like kisses along her neck, until he reached her
scar, his mark on her. His mouth hovered over it for a moment,
and then he kissed it. She moaned as he spun
her around to face him.
“How did it go?” he asked quietly, not wanting to know the answer, and yet at
the same time, wanting to know.
“It was … difficult, I guess you could say,” she admitted slowly. Then she looked
down at her feet, and mumbled, “He got
kind
of worked up about it, even though I’d say he already it was coming,” she
looked up into understanding eyes, “but
then he started going on about how I said that I
loved him just before the Hellmouth closed, but he
did say to me that I
didn’t, but I did, and still do, but not in the
way he wants.” She sniffed. “I love him like a brother, Angel.” She was silent
for a moment, then said with a small smile, “Or
like Xander.” Angel chuckled, then quickly grew serious.
“It’s alright, Buffy, in due time, he will understand. If he truly loves you
like he says he does, then he will want you to be
happy …” he trailed off, then finished with a
grin, “and if it happens that you’re happy with me, then I guess it’s my luck
…”
She smacked his arm lightly, but there was a
cheeky smile appearing on her face.
“Want to go work out?” A similar smile graced his face, and together, they
headed to the hotel’s training room.
* * *
“Morning,” Wesley sleepily greeted the witch.
“Morning!”
“I thought you and Cathy were going shopping for supplies for the spell this
morning,” Wesley said to her. She looked at him
from her place where
she was cooking breakfast.
“I was …”she answered shyly,” but she insisted, practically forced me to stay
here. She said, ‘I’m a big girl,
care of myself’.” Wesley laughed at
breakfast?” she inquired, turning her back to him to
check on the meal she was cooking. She didn’t realise
that Wesley had
moved until he peered over her shoulder to look
at the contents of the enormous pan.
“What ever it is, it smells pretty good,” Wesley admitted.
“It’s an Irish Breakfast,” she started, turning to face him, but she never
continued, as her breath caught in her throat at his
nearness. And then his lips were on hers. It was
tender, and as soon as it begun, it was over, but somehow it left
wobbly knees and
wanting more.
“I’m sorry,” Wesley said, hanging his head in shame.
“Don’t be,” she said aloud, surprising them both. As if it was the most natural
thing in the world, they both leaned in for
another kiss, but just as their lips were about to
crash together and leave them breathless, Buffy and Angel appeared at
the doorway, both giggling at some private
secret. Immediately,
some files from the countertop and excused
himself.
“Mmm … what are you making, Will?” Buffy said,
sniffing the air.
“Irish Breakfast,”
plates, and left them on the table in front of the
confused couple. “You can have it,” she said as she exited the kitchen.
Angel
looked at her retreating figure, then at the woman beside him as if she had an
explanation. Buffy shrugged.
“Don’t ask me. I’m as puzzled as you are. But,” she said, leaning into to grab
one of the plates, “her loss is our gain …”
* * *
slid the door shut
with a click. She turned to face him, only to find him standing outside in the
balcony. Slowly, she
approached him, and tapped him lightly on the
shoulder. He turned, surprise evident on his face at
the visitor.
“
“Hi.”
“Look, about what happened in the kitchen,-”
“You don’t have to apologize,” she assured him. “I … I liked it.” The surprise
didn’t leave him, then he flashed a smile her way.
“I did too,” he admitted.
“So,”
****
Chapter
6 – Memories
Cathy was on her way back to the Hyperion hotel, arms overloaded with bags. She
really should have brought
thought to herself. She was so engross in her
thoughts that she didn’t see a teenage boy coming. He accidentally bumped
into her, and knocked her bags to the ground,
with the contents. She bent to pick them, and he did the same. She stood,
and got a good look at him. He seemed familiar
…
“I’m so sorry,” he apologized.
“Oh! It’s okay!” she said with a dazzling smile. “I get knocked to the
ground all the time.” At his look, she hurriedly added,
“I’m
joking! He smiled. Then she asked, “Have we met?”
“No. Why are you asking?”
“It’s just, you seem familiar,” she replied, as she tried to access his
memories from his brain, but the guard surrounding
them was very strong. “Can you do me an
itsy-bitsy favour?”
“It’s the least I can do,” he said with a nod.
“Okay, this may sound weird, but could you relax, and let your guard down?” At
the confused and slightly suspicious look on
his face, she chuckled. “I’m not going to harm
you.”
“Okay ...”
“Cathy.”
“Cathy,” he said with a slight smile. “I like it.”
“So do I,” she said, grinning. “Now, how about putting
that favour into action for me?” He agreed, and did
as he was asked.
Suddenly,
she was taking a walk down his memory lane, but then she got the feeling that
something wasn’t right. She dug
further
into his mind, and was hit with wave after wave of memories from another life,
but with him in it, and …
“What’s your name?” she asked quietly, dreading the answer.
“Connor.”
***
Chapter 7 – More Memories
Cathy entered the hotel, and headed to Angel’s office. Without bothering to
knock, she barged straight in, only to find a couple making out. Buffy was
sitting on Angel’s lap on the large sofa, and she looked up, surprised to see
her sister Slayer.
“Umm … hate to be rude and all, but do you mind?” she said to her. Cathy
ignored her, and focused on the vampire.
“I need to talk to Angel,” she said simply.
“So? Talk,” Buffy said.
“I’d say he would want to hear this alone first.” Buffy got the message, pushed
herself off Angel’s lap, and left the office,
shutting the door behind her.
“So? Talk,” Angel repeated the words Buffy had used only moments before. Cathy
looked at him, and said to him,
“I’m going to ask to you a question that I think I already know the answer to,
but I still need you to confirm my suspicions,
and you have to answer truthfully. Okay?”
“Okay. Ask away.”
“Who’s Connor?”
* * *
Angel’s jaw dropped, and if it was possible, his eyes would have probably
popped out of his head.
“How-how do you-”
“Know?” she finished for him. He nodded, unable to speak for the moment. “Well,
I was on my way back here from
shopping, and I wasn’t really paying attention
to my surroundings, and some guy bumped into me, and I got a sense
of familiarity, so I searched his mind
and found some hidden memories, and then he said his name was Connor.” He
nodded, processing
all she had just told him.
“Wow.”
“Yeah.”
“How, how is he?” Angel asked her. She smiled a knowing smile, and
leaned forward.
“Do you want to know a little secret?”
“I don’t know,” he said dryly. “Do I?”
“I think you do.”
“Okay, then shoot.”
“You want to know how he is, yes?” she said, and he immediately nodded. “Why
don’t you ask him yourself?”
“How-”, he sputtered.
“He helped me bring back my many bags. He should still be out in the lobby.”
Angel rose, and was just about to open
the door, when Cathy’s voice stopped him.
“Angel?” He turned to face her once more. “Just to warn you, since I saw his
hidden memories, he may have too. Just
keep that in mind.” He nodded.
“Thanks,” he said gratefully, and left to talk to the person who used to be his
son.
* * *
Connor sat on a comfortable red sofa in a hotel lobby, confused. He didn’t know
why he had let that girl convince him to
come back to this place. He had only come
here to help her with her bags, and he had intended to leave straight away,
but she had such a hard-to-resist pout,
so he reluctantly agreed to stay for a few minutes. He sighed. It was the
longest
few minutes he’d ever known. Suddenly, he
heard a door opening and shutting behind him. Thinking it was his new friend,
he got up, plastered what he hoped was a
welcoming smile on his face, and got ready to greet her. The words froze in his
throat as a tall,
dark man came into his line of sight. He seemed eerily familiar for some
reason, but Connor couldn’t put
his finger on it.
“Where’s Cathy?” he calmly asked the new arrival, although inside he was far
from calm as he searched his brain for a clue
to how this guy seemed to know him.
“She … she’s busy at the moment,” the man told him as he approached. “She sent
me out.”
“Why?” Angel panicked, and tried to think of something to say. Then, Cathy
whispered something to him in his mind, and he
quickly repeated it to the suspicious boy.
“To keep you company.” He saw Cathy on the balcony overlooking the lobby, and
mouthed a thank you to her. Connor looked
up to see what he was looking at, but
she had vanished. He then turned his attention back to the nameless man.
“The only company I need right now is Cathy’s,” he said, then
felt ashamed when he saw hurt enter the man’s eyes. “Sorry,”
he hurriedly added,
joking, “but I don’t even know your name.” The man’s head shot up, and he
smiled.
“It’s Angel.” At that precise moment, a thousand images flew through Connor’s
mind, and he collapsed to the ground, not being
able to control them
as more and more unlocked from hidden areas and poured into his mind. “Cathy!”
Angel shouted, panicking.
Instantly, Cathy magically appeared a few feet
from him, with Buffy in a headlock.
“Do you mind,” she started, “but I was in the middle of kicking your
girlfriend’s ass, and-”
“Connor!” Immediately her eyes landed on the helpless form of the boy, who was
clutching his head, and uttering,
“Make it stop! Make it stop!”
“Omigod,” she breathed, and rushed to his shaking
figure. “Connor?” she warily asked. He looked at her, then shouted,
“Make it stop!” Her eyes went white for a split second, and she muttered,
“You’re the boss.” Then she proceeded to knock him out with her fist. Angel,
who had been watching in horror, came up to her,
and angrily asked,
“What did you do that for?” She rolled her eyes.
“Were you not listening? He wanted it to stop. So it did.”
“But you knocked him unconscious! He’s defenceless
compared to you!”
“I know that!” she said, starting to get frustrated. “But I didn’t want to
cause him any more pain or harm.”
“Pain?” Buffy said, coming to stand beside Angel,
“you, as in a person who has supernatural strength, just hit him!” Rage lit up
the younger girl’s
eyes.
“He was already in pain,” she explained slowly.
“And how was already in pain?” Angel asked. “I didn’t do anything!” Cathy
swiftly turned her head to face him.
“Didn’t you?” He looked down. She sighed. “When you gave him a chance at a
normal life, all his real memories were hidden
and locked up safely away in the back of
his mind. But, if the key fits …” she paused, then
continued while looking Angel in
the eyes. “You don’t
get it, do you?” They both looked at her.
“You’re the key.”
Chapter 8 – Revealed
The first thing Connor focused on was the image of a worried girl who was
quickly burrowing her way into his heart. Great,
Cathy thought,
why do I have to be able to read minds?
“Oh no,” Cathy quickly said, “so not going there!”
“Going where?” Connor asked her, and she realised she
said that comment aloud.
“Umm, I thought you were looking at the door behind me,” she covered her
mistake, and he noticed his surroundings. He was
in a spaciously dimly lit room, with
himself situated in a large bed, with Cathy seated in an armchair beside it. As
if she had
read his mind, she asked,
“Do you want a little more light?”
“No. It’s alright. Where am I?” He saw her hesitate.
“You’re in one of the hotel suites,” she started slowly. “You … collapsed. We
didn’t know what to do-”
“You hit me,” he remembered, rubbing his throbbing cheek. She smiled
sheepishly.
“Guess I did.” Then, he remembered something.
“Angel. Who, who is he?” Again, she hesitated. Then, she called the said person
into the room. He sat down on the bed.
“Connor, I want you to lie back in the bed, and close your eyes,” Cathy said to
him.
“Nothing good ever comes after a “close your eyes,” sentence,” he replied.
“You got that right,” Angel muttered. Cathy glared at him, then whispered a
spell that neither male could make out the
words to. Suddenly, Connor sat upright in
bed, and stared at Angel.
“You … you’re my father!”
* * *
“Darla was my mother,” he continued slowly, as if in a trance. “But you let me
have a normal life, so you’re no longer one
of my parents. Is that right?” He looked
at Angel for confirmation.
“Yes.”
“Angel, we need to talk in private,” Cathy said, dragging him outside into the
corridor.
“Again?”
“Angel!”
“Okay. I’m sorry! So, what are we going to do?”
“We are not going to do anything. You are going to do something.”
“Oh.” Angel was silent for a moment. “What?”
“Permanently remove all those memories. Can you do that?” He was silent for a
minute.
“If it’s best for Connor.”
“You know it is,” she answered softly, pitying him. Where was Buffy when
Angel needed comforting, she thought. He sighed.
“What do I have to do?”
* * *
“Hi, Connor.”
“Hey … dad.”
“Not for much longer,” Angel said under his breath.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He sighed. He couldn’t believe he was going
to have to do this all over again. But, this time, not even
he would remember him.
“Connor,” he started, before he could change his mind, “Forget.”
* * *
Angel walked out into the hotel with a swollen-lipped Buffy beside him.
“Bye!” they heard Cathy say.
“Who was that?” Buffy inquired.
“Oh, just some fella who helped me bring
my bags home,” Cathy answered with a twinkle in her eyes. Buffy groaned.
“You know, it’s bad enough you charm the guys back in
voice from the stairs.
“Hey Dawn,” Cathy greeted her friend, then added with a dangerous look in
Buffy’s direction, “who mentioned me being a flirt?”
“Who do you think?” Dawn cheekily answered.
“Hey, Cathy,”
and her jaw dropped, as she realised why he was flushed.
“
“What?” she asked, a guilty look covering her features.
“Umm … we need to go over the spell!” Together, they headed to a less crowded
area.
“What was that about?” Dawn asked, as Wesley quickly exited the lobby. The
other two shrugged.