“Drink this,” Connor said, handing his father the glass of water.
“Pig’s blood,” Angel rasped. “I’m weak.”
“Drink this,” Connor repeated.
Angel sat up and drained the glass without regard for his lungs. He quickly spit the water up and began choking.
“Don’t breathe when you’re swallowing,” Connor said as he patted Angel’s back.
“I don’t breathe.”
“Then why are you coughing?” Connor smiled. “Take another drink. It’s counterintuitive, but it’ll help with the coughing.”
Angel swallowed the water more carefully this time. His head ached more horribly than he could imagine and the pain interrupted his already confused thoughts. He felt cold. That was new. His throat was dry, but the water was helping. And he was very, very hungry. It was a new kind of hunger. One he hadn’t felt for over 200 years.
“Now dad,” Connor began cautiously. “I need you to keep breathing. Okay?”
“I don’t breathe,” Angel said between deep gasps.
“Is he really that clueless?” Dawn asked. “I mean, when I became human, I barely even noticed.”
“Dawn,” Buffy said in a reproachful tone.
“Human?” Angel asked, looking up at Connor. “I . . . what?”
“We wanted to put your soul back permanently this time,” Connor said. He looked at Dawn and smiled. “But it looks like you got the full package.”
“Connor?” Angel said.
“Yeah?”
“I need food.”
**
The end of the winter break was an odd time. Emily returned to campus. Nina came to see Angel and met Buffy. The physical similarities between the two women was noticed by everyone, especially Emily who also looked quite a bit like the two loves of Angel’s unlife.
“Let me guess,” Emily said, turning to Connor. “You got some kind of oedipal thing going on.”
“You have no idea.”
Angel looked across the room at Emily and Connor whispering. “I can hear them. If I’m human, why can I hear them?”
“Dawn?” Buffy asked, looking at her sister.
“Well, here’s the thing . . . the spell I worked was a reverse lineage attribute endowment. Like, if I’d done it with Angel and Dru, I could give Angel visions of the future. When I did it with Connor . . .” She glanced at Emily and Connor and blushed.
“When I did the spell with Connor,” Dawn started before pausing again. “No. No. That still sounds dirty.”
“Dawn,” Buffy said impatiently.
“I was trying to copy the attribute of Connor having a soul back to Angel. Connor’s very unique form of humanity apparently tagged along for the ride.” Dawn smiled widely. “I am so badass!”
Angel looked down and shook his head in a vain attempt to clear the confusion. “Is this . . . this can’t be. There was a prophecy, but this isn’t it. This isn’t right.”
“Dad!” Connor said impatiently. “You’re not a cursed vampire anymore. Happiness will not destroy your soul. Quit looking for reasons to be upset!”
“He’s right, Angel,” Nina said. “This is a good thing.”
“Magic always has a price,” Angel said bitterly. “God knows I know- magic always has a price.”
Dawn frowned, angry that her most awesome of spells was now being called into question.
“He’s right, Dawn,” Buffy said. “I’m half surprised Connor didn’t start trying to chow down on our necks when the spell was done.”
“Well I didn’t,” Connor said angrily. He looked at his watch. “Shit. Today’s Thursday, isn’t it? I have a track meet in an hour. Coach is going to kill me for missing practice yesterday.”
“Just tell him you had to hunt down and capture your evil father,” Buffy said. “But everything’s okay now.”
“Speaking of my evil father.” Connor looked at Angel. “You wanna come or are you still hell bent on lurking in the shadows?”
Angel looked at his son. “Whatever the price of this spell, it’ll be worth it to see you run.”
Connor kissed Emily on the cheek. “How ‘bout you?”
“I’m there,” she said. “But try not to move so effeminately when you run this time.”
“It’s called being graceful,” Connor said with a smile.
***
Christian Davis finished first, Terry second, and Connor third. Stanford took the top three spots and dominated the top ten at a five-school track meet. Partying ensued.
“Stay close to me,” Connor whispered to Emily. “These guys can be assholes.”
“Aren’t they your friends?”
“One at a time, they’re my friends. But when they get together in a group, they act really obnoxious. And copious amounts of beer will not be helping that situation.”
“Damn!” Christian called when Connor and Emily entered the house he and his friends rented. “How come no one told me Reilly was dating a hottie?”
“See?” Connor said.
“How’s calling me a hottie obnoxious?” Emily laughed playfully.
“Oh, that’s just the start. In five minutes, he’ll be dragging you off to impregnate you.”
“If you don’t trust him, you can at least trust me.”
“Damn, you smell fine!” Christian laughed as he sniffed Emily’s neck. Both Connor and Em were surprised how quickly he’d made his way across the room.
“Perfume,” Em said. “I forget the brand. My mother gave it to me.”
“She has good taste. Almost as good as Reilly here. So, babe, why don’t you dump Mister Third Place and hang out with a gold medal winner for the night?”
“She’s with me,” Connor said, clearly annoyed.
“I can speak for myself, Connor,” Emily said.
Chris smiled contemptuously at Connor.
Emily turned back to Christian. “I’m with Connor,” she said, smiling slightly as Chris’s cocky grin faded.
“What if I said I had a waterbed?”
“I’d say it’d be neat to make out with Connor on a waterbed,” Emily said flirtatiously. Even though her words made her seem averse to Christian, he thought her tone seemed to imply otherwise.
“What if I said the only way you’re getting on the bed was if you were under me?”
“I’d say I’m with Connor.”
Almost ignoring Connor, Christian moved extremely close to Emily and looked down at her with his six foot three frame. “What if I said the way you look, the way you smell, the way you move when the music’s playing, it’s too much for me. I have to have you.”
“I’d say take a cold shower, ass hole. I’m still with Connor.”
Christian laughed. Emily followed suit.
“Sorry,” Chris said. “If my man is dating you, I need to be sure you’re good people, right?”
“Yeah,” Connor said, clearly not seeing the humor in any of this. “Right.”
Terry walked up and pulled Chris back a few steps. “Will you take it easy?” he whispered. “First with that run today, now with this. People are going to . . .” Terry looked up to see Connor was watching them talk. But he had to be too far away to hear them. He looked back to Chris. “You should have held back more today. And you definitely need to back off now.”
“Lay off, T,” Chris said. “I came in first. You could’ve. But I did. This is my night!”
Suddenly, the stereo began playing a familiar tune and Chris broke away. “I love this song!”
I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand.
Emily started dancing, but Connor moved away from her and toward Terry.
Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain.
“Hey,” Connor said. “What’s up?”
He was looking for a place called Lee Ho Fook's.
“Nothing,” Terry said. “Just telling him to back off and not slobber on your chick, man.”
Going to get himself a big dish of beef chow mein.
“Thanks,” Connor said. “But the race today . . . how’d Chris suddenly get so fast? He was never faster than us?”
At this point, talking became impossible as half the track team backed up Warren Zevon by shouting, “Howwwwwwwwwwl! Werewolves of London. Howwwwwwww!”
“Come here,” Emily said, grabbing Connor and pulling him away. “I want to be with you.”
“Okay. Sorry. I’m a crappy dancer, though.”
“No,” Emily said. “I need to be with you.” She kissed his neck. “I don’t know if it was watching you run.” She kissed his ear. “Or being here dancing with you.” She kissed his mouth and slid her tongue between his lips. “But I need you now.”
****
Connor spent the night in Emily’s bed. Dawn had stayed with Willow and Buffy, so halfway through the night Emily had moved to the open bed. She slept in a sleeping bag on top of the covers. Sleeping in Dawn’s bed somehow seemed wrong.
Connor’s eyes opened. He looked up to see Emily typing on the computer. “Hey,” he said. Between the race and Emily’s insatiable desires the night before, Connor was seriously tired and even a little sore.
“Just checking me e-mail.”
Connor’s acute vision quickly focused in on the name attached to a read e-mail in Em’s inbox. “Chris e-mailed you?”
“Who?”
“Christian Davis. The guy who hit on you last night.”
“He was hitting on me, he was flirting,” Em said.
“What’d he want?”
“What?”
“In the e-mail. What’d Christian say in his e-mail?”
“He was hoping I’d tutor him in Biology.”
“What?!” Connor shouted as he jumped to his feet, oblivious of the fact he was wearing only his boxers. “That’s bull shit!”
“Why?” Emily asked angrily. “You think I’m not smart enough or what?”
“I think he’s trying to get you alone so he can have sex with you. Why else would a junior need a freshman to tutor him?”
“Because he’s taking Hum Bio to fulfill a GER. And even if he wants to be with me, I’m not interested. Or don’t you trust me?”
Connor sat on the bed. “I feel like I’m going to be sick. The way . . . never mind.”
“No. What?”
“Last night, it seemed like you were flirting with him.”
“I said I was with you.”
“But your tone was . . .” Connor shrugged. “I don’t know. But it’s not you, Em. I don’t trust him.”
Emily looked at the clock. “You have track practice in fifteen minutes,” she said angrily. “If you have a problem, take it up with him.”
*****
Connor was stiff, sore, and still wearing the clothes from last night. He sat next to Chris and started stretching. He was late and had missed the coach’s pep talk about not resting on their laurels.
“I don’t know what you’re trying to pull,” he said angrily. “But stay the hell away from my girlfriend.”
Terry looked up and glared at Christian. Chris glared back. “You taking sides against me?”
“I’m just saying take it east,” Terry said.
Chris looked at Connor with a shit-eating grin. “I’m not going to bullshit you, Connor. I’m going to fuck your girlfriend.”
Connor took a swing at Chris, but Terry grabbed him. “Take it easy, Conn.”
“I’m the alpha male, here,” Christian said. “And sooner or later she’s going to see that. And then she’ll beg me to show her what a real man can do.”
“Alpha male?” Connor said angrily. “Because you finished first once? I’ve blown you away in more races than you can count.”
“Tell you what,” Christian laughed. “You outrun me this practice, I’ll leave Em alone.”
“Christian,” Terry said angrily.
Chris waved dismissively. “I win, you tell her to tutor me.”
“I’m not racing you for my girlfriend,” Connor protested.
“Pussy,” Christian laughed. “Besides, I’m not saying you two break up if you lose. She just tutors me.”
“Reilly! Davis!” the coach called angrily. Coach didn’t like seeing them squaring off confrontationally. “You two have so much energy, why don’t you two start us off with the 400?”
Connor grinned. He’d always held back in races as to not be conspicuous. But this was just a practice. “You know what? You’re on. Racing for a girl is stupid. But in the interest of putting this shit to rest, I’ll do it.”
“Side by side,” Chris said. “No drafting.
Connor laughed derisively. “I’ll be so far ahead of you, you won’t be able to draft.”
“We’ll see,” Chris scoffed.
“Chris,” Terry said angrily. “Take it easy!”
Connor and Chris took their marks. The gun fired and both took off. Connor was holding back as usual, but he was still running pretty hard. Chris was right next to him. Chris pulled ahead and Connor took it up a notch to pull even with him. Chris put in that much more to pull ahead again.
Connor gritted his teeth angrily as he pulled even again. Chris immediately sped up and took the lead yet again. The finish line was right there. In a burst of anger, Connor shot forward moving inhumanly fast. Chris took it up a notch as well, but Connor, with his preternatural speed, shot past him and crossed the line. Chris came across after him.
Connor squatted down and acted like he was out of breath. He was used to doing this after races. Christian just stood over him, glaring down, unsure of how Connor had beaten him.
“What the hell is wrong with you two?!” Terry shouted as he came up to them.
Connor looked up and saw the coach storming toward them angrily. He looked up at the giant board that showed their running times.
“Shit!” Connor said.
“What’s your problem?” Chris snapped.
“I ran a 40.64 and you ran a 42.24,” Connor said, looking down, not knowing how he’d explain this to the coach.
“Those times are awesome,” Chris shrugged. “So what’s the big fucking deal?”
“You two!” Coach Hamilton shouted.
Connor looked up at Chris and shook his head. “The big fucking deal is that the world fucking record is 43.18.”
“You two come with me!” the coach shouted.
A minute later, Hamilton slammed the door to his office as Connor and Chris dropped into chairs.
“To say I am disgusted and disappointed and ashamed is an understatement!” Hamilton shouted. He shook his head and looked at Chris. “No wonder you suddenly shot from a fifth place runner to first.” He glared at Connor. “And you! You’re a consistent first or second place runner. You finish third once and you give into peer pressure.”
Connor sighed and looked down. He suppressed a smile, knowing it would infuriate the coach. But he was happy he wouldn’t have to come up with an explanation. Coach Hamilton already had his own. And bad as it was, it was better than people finding out about him.
“I’m sorry, coach,” Connor said. “I was dumb, I know. I just wanted to try it out at practice, that’s all.”
Hamilton sat on his desk. “Connor, I know you’re a competitive kid. That’s why I like you. That’s why you’re such a great runner. But this is bad. Really, seriously bad.”
“I know,” Connor said, looking down with his best bad puppy look.
“You want an edge,” Hamilton continued. “You practice longer. You hit the weights harder. But steroids are never the answer.”
“I know,” Connor said again.
“What?” Christian said. “Steroids?”
“Don’t act all innocent!” Hamilton yelled. “You’re the one who actually used the junk during a meet. No wonder Reilly felt so much pressure.”
“I never used steroids!” Chris shouted angrily.
“You want to stay on this team,” Hamilton said. “You better come clean with me. Until yesterday, you were a pretty mediocre runner. Now you’re breaking the world record for the 400 meter.”
Hamilton looked at Connor. “Where’d you get it?”
“I don’t know,” Connor said, his brain quickly searching for an answer. “There was this guy at the party last night. He has a UCSC sweatshirt on.”
Hamilton scowled. “Connor, you better--”
“Coach, I’m telling you everything. I’d do anything to stay on the team. Anything”
“You bought drugs from a guy you don’t even know,” Hamilton said disappointedly as he shook his head. “And from another school, to boot. How dumb can you get? He could’ve been selling rat poison. He could be giving you the stuff to set you up and get you disqualified.” Hamilton shook his head again. “You two get out. I need a day to figure out what to do with you.”
******
“Since you did your shit on steroids and I did mine clean, the deal’s off,” Christian said as they walked back toward main campus.
“Connor didn’t use steroids, moron” Terry said angrily as he appeared suddenly behind them. “It was just easier then explaining the truth.”
Several other track players surrounded the two of them. Terry glared at both of them. “Looks like Connor gets off the hook twice in one day. He quote-unquote came clean with the coach, and that’s going to save his ass from getting kicked off the track team. And yeah, he was as big a dumb ass as you, running his ass off like that. But then he covered for us. And that’s why he’s not about to get his ass beaten.”
Connor’s blood ran cold and everything made sense. Christian’s suddenly aggressive behavior and increased speed. Terry and the others being able to hear what was said in the coach’s office. Chris being so drawn to Emily. And the song at the party. The fucking song alone should have tipped him off.
“Because I covered for you,” Connor said.
“Right,” Terry said.
“Because you didn’t know about me,” Connor added.
“Right.”
“And even though I didn’t know about you . . . I still covered. For the pack.”
Terry grinned widely and nodded. “Right.”
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