Los Angeles. Parts of it were quite beautiful. But those areas could have just as well been on the other side of the earth for the people here. A dozen languages, none of them English, were spoken on the street. Even if it weren’t raining, the place would still be depressing. The colors were a faded mixture of black and gray. The buildings were grimy, the streets filled with litter, and the sidewalks cracked. And on this cracked sidewalk, Connor made his way toward what he considered the best free food in town.
Connor moved quickly from beneath one awning to beneath the next, trying to doge the rain. He cut into the alley and saw with sadness that the garbage truck had just collected from this dumpster. Connor realized the trash pickup schedule must have changed since the last time he was in L.A.
He stood behind Kim’s China Express. Food not finished by patrons was thrown into trash bags that eventually made its way to the dumpster. Connor was starving, not having eaten since his last meal at Area 51 two days ago. He knew that if the garbage truck had hit this dumpster, it’d probably emptied all the nearby ones as well. He wasn’t in the mood to scrounge any further.
He jumped into the nearly empty trash container and began scooping up the rice and noodles that’d leaked out of some of the bags. This was how he’d survived for the months he was banished from the Hyperion. Quar’toth had trained him well. He knew to find food where he could.
“What you doing in here?” a man with a thick Chinese accent shouted in broken English. Connor looked up to see a man with a garbage bag looking into the dumpster. He wore a nametag that read “Bert.”
“You don’t use this food anyway,” Connor said defensively. He was annoyed at himself for having allowed someone to sneak up on him. But he was so hungry all his senses were overcome by the scent of fried food.
“This not clean. This where trash go. Chemicals in here! You want eat chemicals?”
“I want to eat anything.”
“Come inside,” the man said as he tossed the trash bad into the corner of the dumpster opposite Connor. “I get you food.”
“I don’t have any money.”
“For you, okay. Don’t bring friends for free food. But for you okay.”
Connor climbed out of the dumpster cautiously. Was this a trap? Did this man work for Mason? He could be a spy luring Connor into a room full of soldiers. Connor listened for any telltale sound; guns cocking, army boots walking, even the frantic waves that soldiers make while moving into position. There was nothing.
Connor crept cautiously through the backdoor into the kitchen. Eleven people who looked like they belonged to four different generations sat around a table. The man who got Connor out of the dumpster was talking to a twelve year old girl in Chinese. The girl looked at Connor and nodded.
The man looked at Connor and nodded to a plate of food at the table. Connor sat and began greedily eating up the rice and noodles with chicken and vegetables.
“Eat slow or you get sick,” the man said.
Connor nodded and slowed eating slightly. “Why . . . why are you being nice to me?”
The man nodded toward the twelve year old girl. “You know her?”
Connor glanced at her and nodded. “She had a problem one night.”
“You save her. Neighborhood not so safe after you leave. Never so safe anyway. Less safe when you not here.”
Connor nodded slightly and looked down, slightly embarrassed. “It’s not like . . . I’m not a good person.”
“Maybe you think not. To us, you are.”
“Not to other people.” Connor looked down and tried not to remember. He tried not to see the girl’s face or to hear her pleas for mercy. “I’ve hurt people. Innocent people.”
“Why?”
“I thought I had to.”
“Not fair, you know. That you so young and have to think like that. Where you parents?’
“One’s dead. The other doesn’t want me. He looked after me. Made sure I stayed alive. But he never wanted me around.”
“Being father is more than keeping child alive.” The man sat next to Connor and looked the boy in the eye. “If you had hurt my daughter, I never forgive you. But you not hurt. You save her. Maybe you need to remember the people you save, not the ones you hurt. Maybe you remember people you save, you repeat actions that saved them instead of actions that hurt other people.”
Connor nodded and tried to suppress tears. He didn’t want to seem weak or stupid to this man. The man had given Connor more guidance in one breath than anyone had since Holtz.
“Thanks,” Connor said.
“Eat food or it get cold. Taste like sewer rat’s ass when cold.”
*
“Get out of my alley!” Angel shouted.
“I didn’t realize it was your alley,” Buffy said. “You should put a welcome mat up by the sidewalk if that’s the case.”
“I don’t want to see you. I don’t want to even think about you.”
“Fine. Then I’ll make this quick. Connor’s in trouble. He’s alive, but needs help. He was kidnapped by the military and they’re probably hunting him right now. Your son seems pretty resilient. Pretty self reliant. But I doubt he can avoid Wolfram & Hart and whoever the army will send after him by himself. Giles, Willow, and Dawn are doing their best to figure out how to track him down, but they’re not getting anywhere. I thought you’d want to know.”
Angel stared at Buffy with his mouth hanging open. Her starting by saying Connor was in trouble had been a nice move. If she’d started by saying Connor was alive, she’d probably be facing Angelus in the alley at that moment. Angel caught the scent of others in the area. Apparently Buffy worried that even if Connor were in trouble, Angel would be a bit too happy about his son’s survival. He was glad she’d brought precautions.
“How do you know this?”
“Riley told me a military training facility got a new recruit right after Connor supposedly died. We went to try to break him out, but, like with Wolfram & Hart, he was a step ahead of us.”
“Connor will head to familiar ground. Los Angeles. Maybe the Hyperion. Maybe Chinatown.”
“Do you want to handle this alone? We’ll do whatever you want.”
Angel grabbed Buffy and hugged her tightly. Despite the fact he hadn’t bathed in a week and he’d been feeding on vermin, Buffy was relieved beyond words that Angel was hugging her.
“Thank you,” he whispered. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
*
Connor sat up and looked around. The apartment, located on the second highest floor of a condemned tenement, was still. Maybe he wasn’t used to the sounds of the city after so much time away. How long have I been gone? he wondered. Then he remembered what woke him. A helicopter had landed in the area. Maybe it was Mason. Maybe Wolfram & Hart. Who it was made a difference.
The military would expect Connor to use his training; get low and hit the street. They’d be coming from the basement up. Wolfram & Hart would expect him to play to his strengths. They’d anticipate him taking to the rooftops and hopping roof to roof until he could get a good distance away. There was only one way to stymie both of them.
Connor opened the window that looked over the street. He walked to the wall opposite the window. Then, with all his speed, he ran across the apartment and jumped through the window.
Connor shot across the street and crashed through a third story window of the apartment building opposite his. No sooner had he hit the ground than automatic weapons fire began tearing the apartment apart. The shots were coming from the roof of the tenement. Connor smirked as he charged through the apartment. Rooftop entry plus disregard for innocent bystanders easily calculated to mean Wolfram & Hart had found him.
A bald man with a shotgun stepped out of the apartment’s main bedroom.
“Sorry,” Connor said as he punched the man in the throat and ripped the shotgun from his hand. The man hit the floor, struggling to catch his breath after having the wind knocked from him.
Connor ripped open the apartment door and glanced into the hallway. Wolfram & Hart’s team hadn’t secured it yet. Connor walked to a door across the hall. He pressed his ear to it. He could hear the sounds of people moving, but they weren’t in the main part of the apartment yet. He took aim at the doorknob and fired.
Connor kicked the shotgun-blasted door in and cocked his weapon. He immediately went to the window and glanced out. W&H’s team was taking position in the alley, hoping to surround the building. Connor immediately crashed through the window and dropped to the street below. He landed on one assault team member, knocking him unconscious. He put his shotgun against the helmet of another man in SWAT gear and pulled the trigged. The helmet caved in under the blast from the shotgun and the guard fell dead.
The four other men in the alley began frantically calling into their radios as they opened fire on Connor’s position. Connor snagged the automatic rifle and two-way radio from the man he’d killed and took cover behind a dumpster. He glanced behind him to ensure his route of egress was somewhat clear, then began creeping back from his position.
“Where is he?” one of the SWAT team shouted.
“Behind the dumpster.”
“Smith and Perez, cover me. Thompson, you’re with me.”
Two men began creeping toward the dumpster. Connor knew time wasn’t on his side. The longer he waited, the more troops would get there. Connor began firing with the automatic rifle as he charged across the alley. He took one bullet in the arm before crashing through his third window of the night into a deli. He ran through the deli and out the back door, immediately cutting toward the street.
Connor ran through the traffic, setting off a series of car swerves and horn blasts. The W&H team was hot on his trail. He ran into another abandoned tenement. The ground floor of this one was filled with homeless people and runaway kids who needed shelter for the night. Few stirred as Connor entered. But when he aimed his shotgun at the ground and fired, pandemonium broke out.
The W&H troopers who were heading for Connor’s position were suddenly overcome by a frantic crowd of homeless people. Police sirens blared in the background, finally responding to the 911 calls made at the first sound of gunfire. Amid the scurrying throng of frightened runaways, Connor was indistinguishable.
“Fall back,” the W&H team commander radioed. “We need to split before the cops get here. But patrol the area in civvies. The kid was probably hurt crashing through those windows. He’ll probably be looking to bust into a pharmacy or supermarket for supplies.”
“I’ll head back to the Hyperion and see if he shows up there.”
“Richardson, check for any blood trails. If he was injured in the fall, he’s probably bleeding.”
Connor kept low as he ran with the crowd from the building. He heldd the radio to his ear and listen to the SWAT teams communications. He’d have to find another place to stay.
*
“I’m sorry,” Giles said. “She’s certainly proven to be an asset, but the council has made its decision. In my opinion, it’s the wrong decision. But the sway my opinion holds with your sister has steadily decreased over the last few years. If you want, I can speak-”
“No,” Dawn said, looking out the office window into the main room of their San Francisco headquarters. “I’ll tell her.”
Dawn opened the door and headed over to Janice’s workstation. She was collating data Riley had provided about Connor’s probable training against information on his personality.
“Hey,” Dawn said. “We have to talk.”
“I’m fired, aren’t I?” Janice said without looking up.
“I wouldn’t put it like that. Every other person on the face of the planet would, but not me.”
Janice smiled. “I thought I was doing okay.”
“Giles thought you were dong great. It’s just my sister. She still remembers all the trouble we used to get into. She still thinks of you as that girl. Willow and Xander don’t know you, so they went along with her.”
“So what do I do? Finish collating or just go?”
“It’s up to you,” Dawn said.
Janice looked at the database in front of her. “I’m almost done here. I’ll finish up and then take off.”
“I’ll tell the others you said goodbye,” Dawn said.
“Tell Giles I said goodbye. Tell the others they’re a bunch of assholes.”
“Done and done,” Dawn smiled. The smile faded. “Janice, I’m-”
“Don’t be. You did what you could for me and I’ll always remember that. Even when I wind up with an even cooler demon fighting organization.”
Dawn laughed. She heard Janice sniffle as she walked away. Turning back, she saw the back of Janice’s head as Janice wiped a tear away. Sometimes Dawn really hated her sister.
*
“How the hell could this happen?” Eve threw the report across the room.
Myers, the head of the assault team, stood perfectly still. “Ma’am, there wasn’t anything we could do. The boy was more prepared than we expected. His profile would’ve indicated-”
“How could you not notice that one of your men’s headsets was missing?”
“With all due respect, his profile indicated he wouldn’t know how to make effective use of technology. His behavior was completely out of sync with the information in his profile.”
“What do you suggest we do now? Every time I get you a lead, you blow it. I figure you should know the frustration of having months of research and planning squandered.”
Myers nodded, doing his best to pretend he didn’t notice the insults and subtexts contained in Eve’s comments. “For starters, we need to update his profile. The boy’s received additional training somewhere. We weren’t close enough for him to hear or smell us when he began his escape attempt.”
“Escape,” Eve interrupted. “It’s only an attempt if it fails. He succeeded. It was an escape.”
“Right you are, ma’am. Still, his use of firearms, technology, and diversionary tactics indicate a definite departure form his historical modus operandi. He was using the standard tactics of insurgents and covert operatives.”
“Where the hell would he get covert military training?”
“We lost track of him for two months. He could have acquired the training from any number of organizations. I believe a review of his actions tonight will help us narrow down who specifically provided the training.”
*
Mason jumped out of the black SUV before it’d even come to a complete stop. “Detective Madsen,” he said flashing his badge. “I’m Special Agent Mason with DoD. I need you to pull your men out of the area. We’re taking over this investigation.”
“Excuse me?” Madsen said. “This is an LAPD matter.”
“Not any more. It’s now a matter of National Security. Your watch commander should be calling in an order to pull your men.”
“Why not just keep my men? They could help out.”
“I don’t want military secrets becoming cop gossip at the local Dunkin’ Donuts,” Mason said coldly. “In fact, I’m kind of pissed at myself for even giving you my name. Now pull your men.”
*
“That’s her,” Myers said as the van crept along the road at night.
“Which one?”
“The one that’s a girl,” Myers said in a condescending voice.
The van pulled up beside her, but before Myers could open the door to grab her, Janice dropped her books and ran. Myers jumped out of the van and took off after her. Janice cut across campus so the van couldn’t follow. She hooked a left after the library and headed for her old dorm room.
Janice saw movement on the rooftop of the building beside her. She began to veer away, but the figure leapt from the roof toward her. Janice ducked and the figure sailed past her and dropkicked a W&H assault team member who’d been moving to flank Janice.
Connor jumped off the downed guard and turned to take out Myers, but another dark figure knocked Myers to the ground first.
Janice froze, not knowing what to do. She wanted to get away from what was sure to be a personal moment. But if Wolfram & Hart had any other guys around, she wanted to be near these two.
“Angel!” Connor said in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m applying for college,” Angel quipped as he threw a punch and knocked out another guard. “It’s never too late to get an education. And I hear this place has a lot of night classes.”
Connor turned to leave, but Angel grabbed his shoulder. Connor turned back to his father and cocked his fist.
“Don’t,” Angel said. “Don’t leave and don’t hit me.”
“Then don’t touch me.”
Angel held his palms out to Connor to show he wouldn’t try anything. “I came here to find you, Connor.”
“Why? So you can take me home then throw me out again?”
“I won’t do that, Connor. I know I hurt you. I know throwing you out was stupid. Besides, I don’t imagine you’ll be sleeping with any other love interest of mine.”
“I don’t know. That blonde slayer you used to date is pretty cute.”
“Buffy?” Janice said, unable to suppress the pang of bitterness and jealousy. “I don’t think you want to hook up with her. She’s been around the block so many times that even Paris Hilton’s like, ‘Whoah! Chill out, Buffy. Nobody’s that slutty.’”
Angel gave Janice a reproachful look.
“I’m just saying,” Janice shrugged as she backed away.
“Connor, I’m your father and I love you.”
“That’s what you said when I sunk you into the ocean. Didn’t keep you from kicking me out as soon as you got back. I should have killed you when I had the chance.”
Angel stepped toward Connor. “You don’t mean that.”
Connor pulled a dagger from his jacket and glared at Angel. Slowly, his muscles eased. “You’re right. I don’t mean it. But I still don’t want you near me. I know to the world you’re a hero. A champion. The world needs you. But I don’t need you. You’re not a hero to me. Or a champion. Or a father. You’re nothing to me.”
“You don’t mean that either,” Angel said desperately, but he saw the answer in Connor’s cold eyes.
“No,” Connor said in a soft but resolute tone. “I do mean that.”
Connor turned and walked away. Angel was frozen to the spot. He’d experienced pain before; physical and emotional. Connor had caused his share of both. But nothing had ever hurt Angel so painfully as what Connor had just said.
Janice took a step toward Angel, but he turned and walked away from her. She headed back toward her dorm, following the path Connor took. But he was nowhere to be seen. She wondered if Wolfram & Hart had taken him, but the muffled sound of sobbing alerted her that he’d stopped walking and was not sitting on a bench under a tree.
“Connor,” she said quietly.
The sobbing stopped. Connor turned his head away.
Janice didn’t know what to say or do. She thought back to the crash course in being a watcher she got from Giles. “We need to get off the street and find a place to hide.”
*
Angel climbed into the back of the van and slumped on the floor.
“He didn’t mean it,” Buffy said.
“You weren’t there. And you don’t know him. He meant it.”
“He won’t mean it for long,” Buffy said. “I hated my father so much when he left. And even more when my mom died. But even now I want to see him so badly.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Angel said, trying to ignore the fact that it mattered to him more than anything in the world. “At least he’s safe. And he’s not alone.”
Buffy smiled. “And as long as Janice is with him and our tracking device is in place, we’ll know where Connor is, too.”
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