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Hyperion Hotel,
Los Angeles,
19:30.



Fred was alone in the hotel, given that the others had gone out to either look for Connor or patrol the area, and was actually enjoying the silence. While she would be the first to admit that living in a cave by herself for the best part of five years was not the most healthy of situations, Fred had enjoyed the quiet that came with it, and found herself missing it ever now and then since she'd returned to Earth.



She loved Charles dearly, but over the last few months they had rarely done anything without the other, and Fred had found herself starting to miss having time to herself, but hadn't been able to think of a way to say anything that didn't sound like she didn't want him around.



Their relationship was going strong, the almost undivided attention they could give to one another helping a great deal, but Fred sometimes thought that the foundations weren't quite as strong as they should. Neither one really brought up issues that might agitate the other, something she knew wouldn't last forever, and she was starting to think that once they did, the closeness they have would disappear into nothingness. She just hoped it was her insecurities and inexperience in relationships that fuelled her thoughts and not something more substantial.



Another advantage of being alone was that she could think about what Connor had done, without hearing the viewpoints of the others. Charles'pride was colouring his judgement, Angel was subtly defending his son as any father would, and Wesley was trying not to rub it in that, after all they had done to him, he had come through and saved the 'man' that had wanted to kill him. That didn't exactly present Fred with an unbiased environment to understand everything that happened.



When they had all sat down last night after sedating Connor last night, Wesley had told them what he'd gotten out of Justine during their 'discussion'. She told him how Holtz had asked her to kill him with an ice pick in order make it look like a vampire had drained him, or more specifically that Angel had drained him. She also explained her role in ensuring that helped Connor not only came to the wrong but desired conclusion, but also to exact his revenge, keeping quiet about the truth behind Holtz's death and ensuring that he didn't start to show compassion for his father.



In that respect, knowing the reason why Connor had done what he'd done, Fred wasn't sure she could blame him; she didn't, however, condone the way he went about it.



While Angel might be Connor's biological father, Holtz was his dad. Holtz had raised Connor as if he were his own, and by all accounts raised him well. Quortoth didn't exactly look like the ideal place for children to grow up, and yet Connor was a polite young man, sometimes bordering on shy, and that must have been due to Holtz, whether they liked to admit it or not.



The whole situation was a prime example that nothing in life was ever black & white, only shades of grey.



Connor had believed, and no doubt still does believe, that Angel had murdered his dad and therefore in his eyes acted accordingly, something that many would understand and even agree with, even Angel himself. After all, Angel had tried to kill Wesley in his hospital bed for his part in Connor's disappearance, despite knowing the reasons why. When it had happened, Fred had been shocked to see Angel acting so out of character, but hadn't blamed him for feeling that way. She'd even agreed that Wesley should keep away from the rest of the group, albeit more to ensure both his and Angel's safety than because she thought he should be ostracised. She wasn't the type to hold different people to different standards, and she wasn't about to start now.



What she did have a problem with, however, was that Connor had been lying and deceiving them all this time, making them believe he had wanted to find Angel as much as they did and had no idea where he was. Night after night they would go out in search of clues about what happened to Angel, and every time they thought they'd discovered something that would bring them one step closer to the answer, Connor would always find a way to ruin it, mainly by killing the demon they were to question and state it was self-defence.



Looking back on it, she and Charles should have realised something was amiss, but with both Angel and Cordelia vanishing on the same night, and Wesley having nothing to do with them, they were probably desperate to keep the remnants of their group together, and overlooked the sometimes transparent excuses the young hunter would provide for why their leads went up in smoke, sometimes literally.



Something Fred was certain of was that Connor wasn't athreat to her or the others, with the obvious exception of Angel. Dozens of opportunities to kill them had presented themselves to the young man over the last few months and he hadn't taken them; in fact, he had saved both her and Charles on more than one occasion when he could have just stood back and let them die.



She knew that Charles and Wesley thought otherwise and wanted him out of the hotel, and if possible out of their lives also, but despite what he'd done to Angel, Connor had been nothing but nice to her the entire time she had known him, and had no reason to think that would change.



How they would deal with everything was uncertain, but before they could decide anything Connor had to be found first. Fred just hoped he was okay.



The shrill sound of the telephone startled Fred out of her thoughts, and she quickly grabbed the receiver before it finished the first ring.



"Angel Investigations, we help the helpless," she said, unknowingly imitating the way Cordelia always answered the phone.



"Um, hi, er, is Angel there?"



The young female voice on the other end of the line surprised Fred, and it took her a moment to respond. "I'm sorry, he's not here at the moment; can I take a message?"



"I kinda need to speak to him urgently," the voice replied. "It's to do with Buffy."



"Buffy Summers?" Fred asked, although she didn't think there would be that many people called Buffy in the world.



"Yeah, I'm her sister Dawn. I really need to speak with him," she said, the urgency in her voice clear.



"He's out looking for his son at the moment," Fred told her apologetically. "Can I help?"



There was a pause before Dawn answered, and when she did it sounded like she was repeating something she'd been told to say. "His son is in Sunnydale; he's just kidnapped Buffy and threatened to kill her at sunrise unless he can find her." There's another pause and this time Fred could hear Dawn speaking to someone on the other end of the line. "Xander says to either meet him at the Welcome Sign at 10:30 tonight or don't come at all."



Fred couldn't place the name Xander, but she could tell by the tone they had used when relaying the information to Dawn that they were serious. "I'll contact Angel to let him know, and we'll be there as soon as we can."



"Okay," Dawn replied, sounding relieved. "Bye."



"Bye."



~*~



Alibi Room,
Sunnydale,
20:00.



Xander walked into the demon bar exuding danger and confidence, something that every occupant in the place could sense. He'd come to kill two birds with one stone; put the word out about Buffy's abduction, and to let off some steam before he met Angel and the others, something he was extremely unhappy about.



That, and Xander always got a thrill out of making Willy squirm as much as possible whilst using as little physical contact as possible.



Unbeknownst to Buffy and the others, Xander had become afrequent visitor to the joint the past year or so; it ensured that he kept abreast of which demons were doing what things in town and, in his darker moments, it allowed him to drown his sorrows where no one who knew him, or cared, would see.



He'd made himself a reputation among the demon community of being firm but fair, a man not to be messed with. His almost supernatural ability to tell whether he was being lied to was almost legendary, as well as what happened to those who lied to him.



The fact that he was, apart from the whole demon-fighting thing, completely human only added to his reputation, as not many people lasted long in their world without the aid of mystical enhancements.



The showdown with Willow, where Xander had stood in front of a blast of power that was meant to be the catalyst to ending the world and survived, not once but twice, only helped to further cement his standing; he knew he was considered, at least in local circles, as one of the few 'normal'humans that demons should legitimately fear.



Everyone in town knew not to antagonise him unnecessarily, especially when he came here, as he never came though the door in a good mood.



"What are you doing on our turf, bloodbag?" a vampire asked.



Of course, there was always one that was either out of the loop or just too dumb to care.



Xander looked at the vampire that spoke up, a fledgling by the looks of it, as though it were something he stepped in. His steely gaze pinned the demon to the spot, giving him the opportunity to remove the vamp's hand from his shoulder where it had grabbed him so he couldn't walk past.



"Dusting you," he replied simply.



Before the vamp had a clue what was going on, there was astake though its heart. Xander once again began walking up to the bar, this time through the vamp's billowing remains. The patrons started moving around him like water, to ensure they didn't become victim number two.



Xander slapped his hands down forcefully on the bar once he reached it, which caused the nearby glasses to wobble, doing so just to ensure he had everyone's, and Willy's in particular, attention.



"Willy, you have a problem," he said eventually, his voice loud enough for it to carry throughout the bar, but low enough to ensure they had to pay attention to hear him.



"What's that, kid?" Willy replied nervously.



Willy knew something was seriously wrong, as the kid never came into the bar in his full hunting gear unless there was big trouble. It was something the other patrons knew also, hence their reluctance to be in his field of vision at the moment.



On the whole the kid was a descent bloke, never starting anything with his regulars for no reason, but when he got that look in his eyes, like he had right now, Willy wanted to be wherever the kid wasn't.



"Someone hurt Dawn," he informed the bartender, his tone indicating his displeasure.



Willy's reaction was immediate, his eyes widened in fear and beads of sweat appeared on his brow. "W-W-Why is that my problem?"



"They also kidnapped Buffy."



The silence that enveloped the bar at Xander's second declaration was absolute. A pin drop would have sounded like an atom bomb detonating the silence was so complete. They all knew, however, that it was just the calm before the storm.



Everyone knew the Summers girls were Xander's Achilles heel, although no one was stupid enough to actually do anything about it because it was a double edged sword. While having one or both of them in danger made Xander vulnerable, it also made him as angry as hell, something the locals tried to prevent whenever possible.



The irony was that only Buffy or Dawn had any chance of keeping Xander's temper under control, and given that they'd either witnessed or heard about examples of what happened when he was unleashed, no one really wanted to do anything that prevented them from doing just that.



One example of when that happened was the previous summer during Buffy's absence due to her second death. Dawn had been attacked by an overzealous T'Pau demon one night coming back from a friend's house, and Xander's retaliation had been both swift and brutal in the extreme.



Not only did Xander destroy the one that hurt her, he destroyed the entire clan, ensuring that not a single T'Pau demon was alive within the town's limits by the time the sun began to rise the following morning.



That night was one of the few occasions when Xander and Spike had worked together willingly, their fondness for the young girl causing them to forge a temporary alliance, and they were a devastating team. The efficient and unrelenting way in which they despatched the clan was almost poetic, and the demon community were glad they hadn't collaborated more often.



Xander was less vicious when it came to Buffy, mainly because he didn't have to be; he knew she could look after herself, and her own formidable reputation ensured that there were no sneak attacks made on her. She was, after all, the Slayer that not even death could defeat.



That's not to say Xander didn't dole out his own brand of justice if Buffy did get injured and the guilty party survived the encounter, it was just that he was more business like about it; once found, he would kill them quickly and cleanly, and did not derive as much pleasure from it than he otherwise would have done had it been Dawn that was injured.



For something to happen to both of them meant one thing and one thing only; no one was safe until the Slayer was found and the culprit punished, preferably by being eviscerated with something blunt. Willy knew that, if Xander thought it would get the desired result, he'd firebomb the entire town without batting an eye.



Everyone knew it had been Xander that had gotten the rocket launcher that took out The Judge a few years ago, and that he had built the bomb that blew up Mayor Wilkins and the old High School, and didn't want him to try and outdo himself on just how much property damage he could cause to get the job done.



"I don't know anything about it, kid; I swear on everything I hold dear. But, if I do get any information, I'll call you right away," Willy stammered eventually.



Xander broke off the glare he had been sending Willy's way, the distinctive smell of urine telling him he'd got his point across with the mostly human bartender, and took a step back from the bar before turning round so he could have a word with the customers, as he wanted to ensure they all understood the ramifications of what had taken place.



"Alright," he began, his tone firm but not harsh, "I'll get right to the point. Your sole reason for being right now is to find out where Buffy is and get that info to me ASAP." His gaze hardened and the room suddenly felt a few degrees colder, and several shades darker. "A word of warning; if I find out any locals knew something and didn't tell me, or were actually in on this, before you've dealt with them in house, it'll be open season on all demons, no matter what agreements we'd made previously. The clock's ticking."



Satisfied that his message had gotten across, Xander began walking towards the exit. Halfway there, he whipped his hand out and thrust a stake into the recently dusted vamp's sire, who had thought it had lucked out and been missed by the construction worker for not teaching its Childe the rules.



"Tick tock." With his final statement made, Xander walked out.



~*~



Sunnydale Welcome Sign,
Sunnydale,
22:30.



Xander leant against the Welcome sign as he waited for Angel to arrive, trying to maintain both his patience and his composure. It hadn't been his decision to call him; Dawn had insisted on it after reading the note and rung herself to ensure it was done.



If it had been up to him, Xander would have left Deadboy out of it completely, at least until he went to deliver what was left of his'son' to him in a plastic bag, but Dawn had wanted him to help and, under the circumstances, Xander had gone along with it.



It wouldn't be so bad if it weren't for the fact Xander hated Angel's guts.



Xander had taken an instant dislike to the guy the moment he'd met Angel, although it had more to do with Buffy's obvious attraction to him than anything else, but at the time it had been enough. Xander had soon found more legitimate reasons to hate the guy once he'd found out he was avampire, and that hatred had increased after the discovery that he'd been turned by the same bitch that killed his best friend Jesse.



Angel's ambivalence to anyone not called Buffy Summers was another factor, as his unwillingness to put himself out to help no doubt cost people their lives. He had ensured that Xander would never like him when he had been reluctant to help him the night of Buffy's first death, unwilling to put his life on the line for the girl he supposedly loved.



There were other things that had helped cement Xander's feelings; Angel's desire to continue his relationship with Buffy after he returned from Hell, despite knowing it couldn't end well; knocking him out and leaving him in the middle of the street when he was undercover; almost draining Buffy when he'd been poisoned and a Slayer's blood being the only cure.



Of course, Xander knew rationally that the last one was as much Buffy's fault as it was Angel's, but at the end of the day Angel's desire to live had once again been greater than his love for Buffy, and had ultimately put her life at risk.



What Xander hated the most about Angel was the way he had eventually ended his relationship with Buffy. He'd finally grown enough brain cells to realise that a relationship wouldn't work between them, but he hadn't made it a clean break; because of that, Buffy had never been able to get the closure she needed to move on with her life. The fact Angel would keep reminding Buffy that he loved her, his altercation with Riley a shining example, only made things worse for her, and had stopped her from ever committing fully to anyone else.



In his darker moments, it was something Xander was worried about if he and Buffy ever got together romantically, that she would never allow him fully into her heart because of her unresolved feelings for Angel, and he dreaded what would happen if they got together and Angel came back into her life permanently.



A black Cadillac appeared in the distance, and Xander put all thoughts to the back of his consciousness and readied himself for anything as it drew closer. They hadn't had much contact with the LA gang the last couple of years, beyond the occasional visit from the sullen one himself, and if Deadboy truly did have a son, there was the chance that it would be Angelus exiting the vehicle and not his brooding alter-ego, having had his soul screwed out of him once more.



The woman Dawn had spoken to on the phone, Fred if he remembered correctly, had confirmed Angel had a kid, stating that he was out looking for him. That had, in Xander's mind, made the odds of the curse being broken much shorter, and with it came the opportunity to finally put Angelus back into Hell where he belonged.



When it came to the PTB's Champion, Xander found it better to think of Angel and Angelus as separate personalities as opposed to with soul/sans soul; he had first hand experience that a soul had no bearing on whether someone or something had a conscience.



He was one of the few people in their group that fully realised that Angelus and Angel were separate from each other, although not many people realised this was because he hated them both in equal amounts, albeit for different reasons.



The Cadillac finally pulled alongside him and Angel stepped out, along with Wesley and two others he had never met before. He was surprised to see that Cordelia wasn't with them, and made a mental note to ask why once the 'pleasantries' were over.



"Angel."



"Xander."



They looked at each other with equal disdain; it was clear to the others that neither one was happy being in the presence of the other and didn't care who knew it, especially as the one that they cared for the most wasn't present.



"Wow, I'm just feeling the love."



Xander looked over at the new guy who'd made the comment and smirked at him humourlessly, uncharacteristically not in the mood for wisecracks. His usual wit was missing and wouldn't return until Buffy did as well.



"Charles! Hush," the woman standing next to him berated, albeit lovingly. She then came over and smiled at Xander, offering her hand in greeting. "Hi, I'm Winifred Burkle, but you can call me Fred."



Not wanting to antagonise someone who reminded him alittle of Willow before the veins and destruction, not to mention his self-taught manners not allowing him to be rude without justification, Xander smiled warmly and took her hand. "Xander Harris, nice to meet you, Fred." He turned back to Angel. "No Cordy?" he asked, his tone returning to its previous sub-zero temperature.



Xander would have needed to be blind to miss the way all four of them flinched at the mention of his former girlfriend, or the way they all had trouble looking him in the eye for a moment, and it made him wonder about Cordelia's absence more than before, as he'd thought it was to do with her not wanting to set foot in Sunnydale again and not anything more serious.



"She's... unavailable at the moment," Wesley replied, Xander noting the raspy tone in the former Watcher's voice, probably connected with the scar he now adorned on his throat. He hated to admit it, but Xander was a little impressed by how Wesley had turned out after leaving Sunnydale, his demeanour now more like it should have been when he first arrived.



Wesley's unconvincing attempt to cover what was truly going on concerning the wannabe actress/seer for the PTB would have been laughable, had it not triggered within Xander a slowly growing concern for her.



Despite their less than stellar end to their relationship, Xander still held a soft spot for his ex-girlfriend, and would not want anything bad to happen to her. However, while he was pained to admit it, he had to put such concerns aside for the moment, as far more pressing things needed to be taken care of first. Of course the moment they'd dealt with that...



"Right," Xander replied eventually, his tone making it clear to the LA gang that his bullshit detector was fully functioning. "So, Angel, while I couldn't care less how it happened, you've somehow got a son who's taken up kidnapping and assault as hobbies. You must be so proud," he taunted.



"Don't start with me, boy," Angel growled, unwilling to be spoken to in such a way, especially not by Xander Harris, who seemed to have a natural ability to get on his very last nerve by simply being in sight.



Angel was surprised to find a crossbow aimed at his heart a moment later, not having seen the weapon in Xander's hand before now, nor its movement into position. He'd have to watch himself; Xander had gotten better since the last time they'd met, and he didn't have Buffy around to stop the boy from acting on his feelings.



"Dawn's hurt, Buffy's missing, and as far as I'm concerned you're as much at fault as Stephen is, so don't think I won't pull this trigger and dust your sorry ass if you piss me off, Deadboy," Xander growled, half tempted to pull the trigger anyway.



Angel suppressed the flinch the mention of the name Holtz gave his son, knowing it was Connor's way of further distancing himself from him. Xander's smirk a moment later proved that he hadn't suppressed it enough, although he was sure the boy didn't know why, and he growled menacingly at him once again.



He really didn't like the boy standing before him, one of the few things he and Angelus were in agreement with, and with everything he'd gone through the last few months he was in no mood to hold back from breaking some bones. He'd kill him outright if it weren't for the fact Buffy would return the favour in kind. Her attachment to Xander only made him dislike the boy more.



"Let's cool the animosity shall we?" Wesley said, stepping between the two. "Right now we have more important things to deal with, namely finding Connor and Buffy."



Xander and Angel stared at each other for a few more moments before Xander lowered the crossbow, which caused the self titled Rogue Demon Hunter to breathe a sigh of relief as he realised he'd placed himself in it's path.



Wesley knew that Xander had as little respect for him as he did Angel, not that he could really blame him given the way he had acted during his time in Sunnydale, and with the way Xander had been acting since their arrival, he was uncertain as to whether he'd shoot him or not. The fact that Xander had drawn the crossbow in the first place had quite frankly shocked him, as he couldn't recall the young man being so outwardly aggressive before.



"I've put the feelers out among the demon circles,"Xander told them, deciding to get the ball rolling, "so if anyone knows anything I'll be called. So, any ideas on where the kid'll take her?" he asked.



"No," Angel replied, "but he's unfamiliar with the territory so there are a few obvious places he'd use."



"Right, let's get back to Dawn and then we'll start looking."



Not wasting further time in conversing with the new arrivals, and knowing his patience had already been stretched beyond breaking point, Xander turned and made his way to his car, and drove off moments without waiting to see if they were going to follow.



"Man, that dude needs to learn how to lighten up," Gunn commented as they watched Xander peel away.



"I have to say that I always remember Xander as being the happiest of the bunch," Wesley noted, surprised by the younger man's attitude. "I don't remember him being quite as... intimidating either."



"You saw what he wanted you to see, Wes," Angel told him, familiar with the Xander they'd just conversed with, "the man that just left is the Xander behind the mask."



"You have some strange friends, Angel."



"Xander isn't my friend, Gunn; I'd doubt he'd piss on me if I were on fire. Even in the most extreme circumstances he'd barely consider me an ally, and even then only because of Buffy. I have no doubt that he would have pulled the trigger had I pushed him any further, or if you three weren't here to witness it. Hell, he still might if anything happens to Buffy, or if he finds out who Connor's mother is." Not giving the time to comment on his last sentence, he turned and got back into the car. "We better get going; Iwant to get a good start on tracking Connor before sun up."



The others joined him in the Cadillac and they made their way over to Revello Drive.



~*~



Pier 3,
Sunnydale Docks,
11:25.



Buffy awoke to a massive headache and the humiliation of being beaten in her own home. She could use the fact that he'd surprised her in her defence, but the result remained the same.



By the smell of things she was in or near the docks, but as she tried to move she found she'd been securely bound in such a way that left her no leverage. She hadn't been blindfolded, which was a plus, but the position she was in made it difficult for her to survey her surroundings.



"You're awake at last."



The voice came from behind her, and was presumably the one who'd taken her. He hadn't talked during their fight, but the voice was young and male which fit the description of her attacker. She couldn't sense him, which meant that he wasn't a demon, but his strength and speed were definitely beyond that of a normal human, especially one of his size and build.



"Who are you? What do you want? Where's Dawn?" she asked/demanded.



"Who I am and what I want is none of your concern. As for your sister, I had no use for her, so I left her behind. I do not believe she will enjoy the headache she will have when she awakens, although she should be happy to wake up at all."



His voice sounded further away and to her right. She was glad that he hadn't taken Dawn too, but was worried that she might be seriously hurt. As soon as she's free of her bonds, she'd make him pay for hurting her, if it's the last thing she did.



"I'd say the fact you've abducted me from my home gives me the right to know why you did," Buffy said after a moment. "If this is your idea of a come on, you leave a lot to be desired; I'm not into the rough stuff anymore."



"I do not know what he sees in you."



Now his voice was to her left. It was disconcerting to her that, despite her enhanced hearing and the fact that wherever she was being held was silent apart from their conversation, Buffy was unable to hear him move. She'd heard the venom he used when he said 'he', making her think that he might be doing this to get at someone else, but who?



"Who?"



"My father," he hissed.



His breath on her ear startled her, not to mention it freaked her out that he could get that close without her knowing. She was going to ask more, like whom his father was, but a sudden blow to the back of her head forced her back into unconsciousness.



Connor looked at Buffy's slumped form and snorted derisively, unimpressed by the woman that meant so much to Angel. He'd heard of Vampire Slayers from his dad, young women imbued with supernatural strength, speed and stamina, charged with eradicating vampires and other demons from the face of the earth. He'd always imagined them to be mighty warriors in stature, like the Amazons he saw in one of the books Fred had given him to look at.



This 'Buffy' was nothing like that, and while she had been formidable in their fight, she had not lived up to his expectations. She had not fought him like it were life or death, which had worked in his favour and enabled him to come away victorious. While he was certain he would have prevailed in either case, had she fought as he did the battle may have gone on longer. He always fought to the death, as he'd had no other option growing up.



None of that really made a difference with what he was to do, in fact made it that much easier. Had she been a more worthy opponent, he might have had reservations on his present course of action, but now he had met her, he just hoped that the next Slayer to be Chosen was more worthy of the title.