Faith and Spike jumped apart when Connor entered. He smiled knowingly and made a curious expression. "Strip poker?" he said.
"No!" Spike said in an affronted voice.
"Then, um . . . put your sock back on. Your feet stink." Connor returned to his seat.
"Oh yeah," Spike said, sniffing the air. "Well, you smell like . . ." Spike clenched his teeth and glared at Connor.
"It's just, you know. Helping her back to the room and all."
Faith grinned, realization dawning on her. "Oh. My. God."
"Stop it," Connor said. "There's . . .I mean, I wish. You know?"
"I'm going to kick your ass!" Spike said, jumping to his feet.
"You are so not kissing me again," Faith groaned at Spike's jealous reaction.
"Hey," Connor said, jumping to his feet. "I just said nothing happened. I mean, like, I tried to kiss her and she told me to take a hike. But nothing happened. Do you need me to say it in Spanish or something? Nada sucedi. Comprende?"
"Dude, um . . ." Faith pointed to his shirt. "What's with the change of shirts?"
"I spilled beer on the other one," Connor said resolutely.
Spike smirked and sat down. "Buffy'd never go for a poof like you.”
"Well, I wouldn't say never, just . . . just not tonight."
Faith smiled. "Now that that's settled and now that William the Bloody has officially blown his only chance of getting into my pants, we're playing Texas Hold 'Em." She looked at Spike. "For money, not clothing." She smiled at Connor. "You in?"
"Dude," Connor said, sitting down. "You already owe me money and clothing from that outfit you're wearing right now."
Spike smirked. "It's not like we could let her run around in her prison blues." He looked at Faith. "I picked that little number out. He wanted to get you some frilly, girly dress like he wears."
"Only when your mother asks me to," Connor said as he dealt the cards. "She's kinky that way."
"Mate, if you're playing dress up with my mum, that's more your problem than mine."
Connor and Faith laughed. He looked down at the cards. He had dealt himself two Jacks. He was feeling good.
**
"Here," Connor said, placing a glass of water in front of Buffy. "Drink this."
Buffy let out a groan. "I am not drinking anything again. Ever."
"One of the reasons you're hung over is because you're dehydrated. The water will help."
"You're a regular Martha Stewart," Spike said, drinking a glass of pig's blood with corn flakes floating in it.
"Yeah. She knows all about hangovers. Faith up?"
"I'm sitting in the same room you are," Spike said. "So how the hell would I know?"
"Keep it up and I'm opening the shades," Connor said.
Buffy tenuously took the glass of water Connor had handed her and sipped it. Part of her reticence was due not to her current disdain for all liquids, but the fact that she didn't want Connor to get used to taking care of her. She didn't want to lead him on. "Connor, I'm going to need to talk to you about our trip to LA.”
"No problem. I already got us a couple of bus tickets."
Shit, Buffy thought. This is exactly what I was worried about.
"Spike," she said. "Why don't you go get Faith?"
Spike looked at her incredulously. "Um. Because it's daytime. I'll burn to a crisp."
Connor tossed Buffy a pair of sunglasses. "Let's go for a walk.”
Buffy walked about a block form the hotel. She wanted to be sure that Spike couldn't overhear and Faith wouldn't bump in to them right after the word 'orgasm' had come up.
"Look, Connor, you're a really great guy," Buffy said.
Connor looked at her with confusion. "Thanks?" he said, unsure what to say.
"It's just, you and I . . ."
"Look, Buffy," Connor said with a slight grin. "I can take a hint. And asking me to leave right after I orgasmed . . ."
There it is, she thought.
" . . . that was pretty clear hint. So, you know . . . I get it. You're leaving soon. You don't want to get tied down. Whatever. I get it."
Buffy nodded. "Good.”
"But we can still have sex in LA, right?"
Buffy sighed and looked down. "Connor . . ."
"I'm kidding!" he said with a smile. "Look, last night, those two kinda caught wise. Now, I put them off the track, but we probably should get back before they start talking."
Buffy smiled. "Thank you” She quickly kissed him on the cheek.
“You wicked, wicked tease,” Connor joked.
Buffy started walking back with him. "You really are a great guy.”
Connor gave Buffy a cocky smile. “Yeah. I know.”
***
Spike sat alone in his room. Buffy and Connor had already left for LA. Faith said she was taking a day long shower. That left Spike alone to plan how he and Faith would track the Risen One. And a few other things. It was still daytime, so what else could he do?
Spike picked up the phone and pulled out a business card. Dialing quickly, he listened as the phone rang.
"Need to talk to Eve McNicol.”
"Spike, I don't have a secretary. Why are you calling?"
"Some things I need help with. Used to have Wolfram & Hart. Now I have you."
Eve laughed. "So, you trust me to help the white hats now?"
"Not really. But you're all I got."
"If my information works out, I'd appreciate you mentioning my help to Angel and friends."
"Will do. Here's the deal. Andre and Vladimir Morkovic just did a deal for some demon called the Risen One."
"That's original," Eve laughed.
"Well, that's the problem. Name's so bland that Giles and company got no plan how to find him. But you'd know how to find Vladimir, now wouldn't you?"
"The Markovic brothers are vampire mercenaries Spike. Which means they're probably not even still working with this Risen One."
"It also means they got paid. Cash changing hands like that, you ought to be able to track that, right?"
Eve was silent for a moment. "I think I could, yeah. Give me a number where I can call you."
"I'll call you."
"Give me in four hours and I'll update you."
"Right. One more thing."
"Yeah," Eve said cautiously.
"Connor."
Again, Eve was quiet a moment. "What about him?"
"You know about him. I want to know about him, too. Specifically, what's Wolfram & Hart got to do with him?"
Eve swallowed hard. "Nothing. Nothing at all. Look, let me get to work on this Markovic thing. When I have something, we should meet."
Spike was about to protest, but stopped. Eve was afraid. He could hear it in her voice. But she immediately suggested meeting in person. Whatever it was, Eve didn't want to talk about it on the phone. "Tonight then," Spike said.
Faith walked into the room, freshly showered, but wearing the previous day's clothes. "Who's that?"
"Tonight," Eve said on the other line and hung up.
Spike hung up the phone. "That runt Connor," Spike answered Faith. "I thought they should be in LA by now."
"Spike, they just left like ten minutes ago."
"Well," Spike said. "That’s what he said. Tonight. They’ll get there tonight. But the tele's out and you wouldn't let me take a shower with you, so what's a guy to do?"
****
After the long night, Buffy was sleeping on the bus. Her head was nestled comfortably on Connor's right shoulder. Connor heard the quiet ringing of the cell phone in his pocket. He struggled to pull it out without waking the sleeping slayer.
"Hello?" Connor answered softly.
"Is this that Connor chap again?" Giles asked.
"Yeah.”
"For someone who's supposedly not that kind of friend, you certainly answer her phone quite a bit."
"Buffy's asleep.”
"And this disproves my point how?" Giles snickered.
"We're on a bus to LA," Connor answered.
"That's fortuitous. I've just received word from Willow. Dana is in fact in Los Angeles. We don't have an exact location, but Nigel McHenry, Dana's watcher, will be flying in from Phoenix tonight."
Connor nodded. "We'll be at the Hyperion.” He hung up and placed the phone in his left pocket. Ironically, this motion on the opposite side of Connor's body stirred Buffy from her slumber.
Buffy inhaled quickly, then blushed slightly as she saw where her head was.
"We're still an hour out," Connor said softly. "Go back to sleep."
"That's okay. In fact, you should have woken me."
"Why? Because Giles called?"
"Giles called?"
"Yeah. We're meeting this McHenry guy at the Hyperion. Giles got awfully suspicious when I answered your phone again. I thought about starting some rumors, but . . . "
"Connor," Buffy said seriously.
"I'm kidding!"
"You're flirting.”
"So then I'm flirting. So what? I'm flirtatious. I flirt with Faith and she's had more truckers in her than a rest stop."
Buffy smiled at Connor's dig at Faith. She hated that he could be this charming. "Flirting can lead to other things. Especially when the two people have, you know."
"Oh, I know alright!" Connor said grinning widely and nodding exaggeratedly.
"Stop it," Buffy said sternly. "And don't let me sleep on your shoulder anymore."
"Buffy," Connor said quietly in a conciliatory tone. "Flirting, joking, sleeping on each other's shoulders; that's all okay. You don't want to cross certain lines and I respect that. I won't cross those lines."
"That's the thing Connor. Sometimes you don't cross lines. You inch up to them, you stand on top of them, and then, without knowing how you got there, you're suddenly on the other side. And once you’ve been to that other side, it gets a lot easier to just keep crossing that line. That’s why it was so important that Faith stopped you with Ethan back in Sunnydale.”
Connor went quiet at Buffy's mention of that. "I have more experience flirting with people than fighting with them. Actually . . . actually that's not true. It's just, I haven't fought in a while. Guess I'm out of practice throwing on the brakes when it comes to the hand-to-hand."
Buffy looked at Connor oddly. "Out of practice? You haven't been alive long enough to out of practice. I mean, how old are you?"
Connor sat back with a satisfied grin on his face. "Like I said," he smiled. "I'm old enough."
Buffy stood up. "That's it," she said, half frustrated and half amused. "I'm sitting in the back."
"Careful you don't put your head on some strange guy's shoulder," Connor called with a laugh.
*****
It was dark at last. Spike moved through the alley, careful not to be followed. He'd run zigzagged paths and cut through buildings and sewer pipes to ensure he wasn't followed. He approached the back door to the bar where he agreed to meet Eve. He prepared to open the door and enter through the back. He wanted to meet her like this. Dingy bar. Completely alone.
"So's this the place?"
"Bloody Hell!" Spike yelled, jumping with fright at the female voice. Spike turned to see Faith. "I told you to wait in the car! My source is kind of shy."
"You mean Eve?" Faith asked. Seeing Spikes surprised expression, Faith rolled her eyes. "I star 69'd her. How stupid do you think I am? You talking to Connor and not ending the conversation by saying 'sod off' or 'poof'? Come on."
"She said alone. So hang out in front. I'll bring you a beer."
Faith rolled her eyes again. "Something light. I'm trying to watch my figure."
"Know what you mean," Spike said. "I'm always trying to watch your figure, too."
Spike entered the bar and sat next to Eve. "So what do you have?"
Eve slid Spike a sheet of paper. "That's the name and address of a bank in Los Angeles. They handled the transfer out. There was a middle man in Chicago who wired the Caymans. We lost track of the money trail there."
"No problem. We're looking for the cash's origin, not its destination. If I need to find Markovic, I know where to look." Spike tapped his fingers nervously, not sure whether to cross into the territory of suspicion and spying. "And the other?" he said, deciding he needed to know.
Eve slid Spike a file. "Connor Reilly is, to Wolfram & Hart, a person of highest interest. They want him. They'd give almost anything to have him."
"Thus giving me reason to keep him away. Why are they interested? And s'that why they turned his parents into vamps."
"No one turned his parents.”
"Sorry, luv, I got the vampire hearing. Heard your little chat in the bathroom. You said child of two vampires. Connor tells me Wolfram & Hart offed his parents. So I figure you turned them into vamps so they would bring him to you. How close am I?"
Eve smiled. "Oh, I'd say you have the whole story.”
"What is he? What is he that they want him so bad?"
"He is . . . unprecedented." Eve had to think on her feet. "He experienced a burst of strength and speed right after Sunnydale collapsed. My guess? The spell to call all potentials may have released the world's first male slayer."
"Or," Spike said, relishing the moment. "Little runt's really a chick, just like I always thought." Spike threw some cash on the counter. "I'll be sure to tell everyone how helpful you were."
Eve was suddenly filled with dread, but kept it in check. "Spike, do yourself a favor. Don't tell Angel you were asking about Connor. He won't take it well."
"No worries, luv. Your secret's safe with me." Spike turned and walked to the door, laughing that Eve would think she could sucker him into thinking she gave a shit what Angel thought about Spike. She was, as always, looking to cover her own hide. Suddenly, Spike cursed his own stupidity. Why not tell Angel? Why did Angel care?
Spike spun quickly. Eve's chair was empty. He scanned the bar and saw her nowhere. And since he was standing next to the women's room, he knew she wasn't there. Shit Spike thought. Right through his fingers. He'd of course call her again tomorrow. But something told him Eve would be long gone until she felt like being found again.
******
“This place looks like shit,” Connor said as he entered the Hyperion.
“What?” Buffy said. It was now completely dark inside. Not even the moonlight penetrated the hotel. “It’s pitch black in here. How can you see anything?”
“I eat my carrots,” Connor said, trying the lights. “I think the power’s out. No one paying the bills for about three months. Maybe longer. I’m going to check the fuse box in the basement, just in case.”
Connor headed down into the basement. Though it was dark, Connor could still see fairly well. He played with the fuse box, but nothing came of it. Connor walked back up the stairs.
“Electricity’s shut down. We’ll have to call City Power and Water in the morning. In the meantime, there’s flashlights and candles behind the counter to your right.”
Buffy reached out and groped for the counter. “Wow. So, you can either see through solid objects as well as see in the dark, or you know this place pretty well.”
Connor ran a hand through his hair. This was becoming difficult. His life in Quar’toth and the Hyperion continued to grow clearer while his happy family faded. He supposed it was natural. What was in fact fantasy was becoming fantasy to him. And what was reality was becoming his reality. Still, he had difficulty explaining these things to others. His only hope was to try to throw Buffy off track with more flirtation.
“Looks like it’s you and me by candle light,” he said. “I can probably find some romantic music on the radio.”
“I thought we settled that on the bus.”
“I thought you said I was a really great guy.”
Buffy rolled her eyes. “You are. It's just a shame you're not . . ."
"Cuter?" Connor offered.
"Older," Buffy said, giving him a reproachful look.
"Older?!" Connor said, somewhat upset. "Hello hypocrisy."
"Hypocrisy?" Buffy said, taking offense.
"Yeah. You're saying a chick can date an older guy. And when I say 'older', I mean, like 200 years older. But a guy can't date a girl who's only like ten years older."
“Ten,” Buffy took umbrage. “That’s how old you think I am.”
“Five years, then.”
"It's an important five years, Connor.”
“And you were how old when you and Angel hooked up?”
“I was none-of-your-business years old.”
“Also known as seventeen,” Connor shot back. “Provided my math’s correct. And since I was a Chem E major at Stanford, I’m pretty sure I can handle the subtraction.”
“Connor, I really don’t want to have this conversation with you. But I will say this. Me and Angel was a mistake. At that time, I wasn’t ready. And I . . .”
“Be quiet,” Connor said, turning away.
Buffy fumed. “What did you say to me?”
“Be quiet,” Connor repeated. But both times, his voice was calm.
Though it was dark, Buffy could tell from the sound and echo of his voice that Connor wasn’t looking at her anymore. There seemed to be almost silence all around.
“There’s a weapons cabinet in the left corner behind you,” Connor said. “Go get . . . shit.”
By now, Buffy heard it. The frantic scrambling of many legs drawing closer.
Buffy turned to run toward the cabinet Connor explained, but immediately flinched as a sword almost hit her in the head. Connor was already at the cabinet. Buffy did a double take, wondering how he’d gotten there before her. Now able to make out vague shapes, she saw he was holding a sword and an axe.
The scrambling was now jetting down the stairs. “Axe,” Connor said, tossing her an axe and grabbing another for himself.
“You stole her,” a deep hiss came. “You destroyed her.” It was moving toward Connor.
“Try to hack at the legs,” Connor yelled, diving out of the way.
Buffy moved toward the many-legged creature. A claw swung at her, Buffy swung back with the axe and hacked at it. She heard the clashing of steel and claw where Connor fought.
Buffy slashed with the sword, but the creature’s claws snapped at it, breaking it in half. Buffy hauled up the axe and prepared to hack at its head when she heard a loud yell from across the creature’s body. Buffy saw the shadowy form of Connor lifted into the air, then dropped. He slumped to the ground, clutching his side.
Having gored Connor with its claw, the creature turned its full attention top Buffy. Quickly, it swatted the axe from her hand and across the room. Buffy ducked another swing and rolled under its claw to Connor’s side. One of the creature’s sharp legs ripped through Buffy’s leg as she rolled past.
“I’m fine,” Connor groaned, though even Buffy could smell his blood in the air.
“I know,” she said, grabbing his axe. “But I need your weapon.”
The creature charged forward, slamming Buffy back and pinning her to the wall. Connor rolled to his stomach and began trying to crawl to his sword. One of the monster’s many sharp, crablike legs slammed down on Connor’s arm, piercing his hand and pinning him to the floor.
The crablike claw raised to Buffy’s neck, preparing to snap her head off. Suddenly, it was the creature’s head, not Buffy’s, that broke off and rolled to the ground. Buffy pulled free of the beast to see the shadow of a disheveled female form holding an axe behind where the monster had stood.
Buffy stared intently at the girl for a moment. “D . . . Dana.”
“He won’t hurt you now. He won’t hurt you.”
Connor struggled to stand.
Dana turned ferociously toward Connor. She raised the axe and lunged toward him. Buffy grabbed at the axe and knocked it from Dana’s hand. Dana turned, throwing a hard punch.
“I have to kill him! I have to keep killing Walter or he’ll never stop coming back!”
Buffy didn’t punch Dana back, but slammed her against the wall and held her there. Feeling a sting, Buffy glanced down to see her leg was still bleeding.
“That’s not him, Dana. It’s not him.”
Behind Buffy, a small girl started screaming. Connor looked up to see a girl holding a doll in the doorway. The girl began to run toward Buffy, but was quickly restrained.
“Don’t go in there,” a refined British voice said. “Dangerous. You wait here now.”
Buffy had to throw all her weight into Dana to keep her pinned as the younger slayer renewed her struggle to get free.
“Miss Summers?” the voice said. “Good heavens. Mr. Giles was right about you. Quite efficient. Less than a day on the job, and already you have her.”
Connor had now managed to get to his feet and limped to a chair.
“I’m Nigel McHenry. Pleased to make your acquaintance. I suppose I should take Dana back to Phoenix now.”
Dana stopped struggling, but turned to Buffy. The fight went out of her, but the desperation in her eyes intensified. “Please,” she whimpered. “Please don’t let McHenry take me. Please don’t let him hurt me.”
Connor looked up from his bleeding side. “Who? Who hurt you, Dana?”
“No one hurt her, child,” McHenry said. “She’s insane. Thinks every man she sees is her tormentor.”’
“Who hurt you?” Connor said again.
“Please,” Dana whimpered again, still gazing into Buffy’s eyes. “Don’t give me back to McHenry.”
Connor glared at McHenry. “What did you do to her?” Connor said in a viciously, animal voice.
“He didn’t do anything, Connor,” Buffy grunted as Dana began renewing her struggle. “Five seconds ago, she thought you were Walter Kendall. He’s the one who hurt her.” Buffy pulled back and slammed Dana hard into the wall, trying to put the fight out of her.
“That’s my point. If she wants to kill me because she thinks I’m some Walter guy, why’s she asking you not to give her back to McHenry?”
Dana shuddered as Connor spoke McHenry’s name.
“Connor, you’re hurt, just sit down,” Buffy said.
“What are you, daft, boy?” McHenry said. “Miss Summers just explained. She thinks I’m Walter Kendall.”
“No she doesn’t,” Connor said to McHenry, ignoring Buffy’s comment. “That’s my point. She said, ‘Don’t give me back to McHenry.’”
“Don’t give me back to McHenry,” Dana pleaded again, echoing Connor.
“She doesn’t think you’re this Kendall guy,” Connor said, slowly approaching McHenry. “She knows exactly who you are.”
“Don’t give me back to McHenry!” Dana’s sobs soon became echoed by young Lisa in the doorway.
“I want my mommy,” Lisa cried.
Connor suddenly had Buffy’s attention. She was still pushing Dana against the wall, but her eyes were now turned to Connor. Buffy looked back to Dana and gently stroked her cheek.
“Shhhh,” Buffy whispered. “Tell me Dana. Tell me what McHenry did to you.”
“Oh, this is ridiculous,” McHenry said. “I haven’t done-”
Connor quickly reached down and grabbed his sword, swinging it up to McHenry’s neck. “Shut up,” Connor said through clenched teeth. “I’ll tell you when you get to talk.”
“Easy, Connor,” Buffy said. “Dana, please. Dana, tell me what he did.”
“He stabbed me with needles. He’d take me to my room and lay on me. He’d . . . he’d . . .” Dana started crying hard.
“The girl’s delusional,” McHenry said.
“Fine,” Connor said. “Then we’ll take her into to County General. Have them do a rape kit. And then we’ll know.”
Connor didn’t need to wait for the man’s response. He could see the answer in McHenry’s eyes. He could see the fear there. He could smell the fear.
McHenry turned and tried to run for the door. Connor dropped the sword and quickly grabbed him. Without looking back, McHenry jerked his elbow back, nailing Connor in his bloody ribs. Dana began screaming and fighting. Lisa began crying again.
Connor hit the floor and looked up at Buffy. He wondered how she could restrain Dana and catch McHenry at the same time. Then he saw it in the anger on Buffy’s face. He saw her solution. He tried to scream not to do it, but it was too late. Buffy dropped her arms and stepped back.
Dana sprinted for McHenry as he sprinted for the door. Connor tried to reach out and catch her foot, but couldn’t. Lisa ran after Dana, but Buffy ran forward and grabbed the girl, pulling her up and covering her ears.
“No sweetie,” Buffy said. “Leave her be. We’ll get you home.”
Buffy and Lisa cried together as Connor tried to climb to his feet again. McHenry could be heard screaming in pain outside. Connor tried to make it to the door, but Buffy finally put Lisa down and ran past him.
By the time Buffy reached the door, the screaming was over and Dana was gone.
*******
Connor sat bandaged in the hospital bed. One of the unpleasant side effects of his physiology was a reduced susceptibility to painkillers and anesthesia. Right now, he wanted a lot more morphine than the hospital (or the AMA) would allow.
Buffy walked in and sat in a chair next to the bed. “Lisa’s with the police. She should be back with her dad soon. How about you? You okay?”
Connor nodded awkwardly. “I probably didn’t really need stitches, but explaining that to the doctors . . . I don’t know.”
“How is it you heal so fast? And while we’re on the subject, run so fast and fight so well.”
Connor smiled. “We’ll need a few more dates before I can get into that.”
Buffy wanted to reproach him for his flirtatious comment, but she could tell he was just saying it so things would seem normal. His cute smile, his raised eyebrows, the playful tone of his voice; all of these things were missing. And god how Buffy missed them. She’d gotten used to Connor adoring her. Or at the very least, flirting with her and pretending to adore her.
“Dana,” he said. “We know where she is?”
“She’ll be easier to find than McHenry would have been,” Buffy said, answering Connor’s real question. He wasn’t sure whether the question was ‘Why’d you let her go’ or ‘Do you see now how you screwed up.’ But Buffy was sure Connor knew damn well that they hadn’t found Dana.
Connor shook his head. “You knew what she would do. You let her.”
“Yes.” They sat silently a moment. “Killing people. The reason I don’t want our side crossing that line . . . it’s like I said earlier. I don’t care what happens to the scum that gets killed. I care what happens to the person who does the killing. That line gets easier and easier to cross every time. But Dana crossed a different line long ago. And she’s not coming back.”
“I used to feel like that. Like Dana.”
Buffy was taken aback by Connor’s statement. She shook her head, wanting to tell him that he couldn’t possibly know what Dana felt. It was a completely different level of torment and horror than this suburbanite could have even imagined, let alone experienced. But something in Connor’s demeanor told her he was telling the truth. She could tell that wasn’t easy for him to do.
Connor went on. “That utter lack of, of hope, of joy, of anything to live for but destruction. There was guy, this guy. He was . . . I don’t know. In a way, he gave up on me. But in another way he didn’t.” Connor shook his head. Tears filled his eyes, but he choked them back. “When you give up on someone, that’s a hell of a thing to do to them. I think . . . I think that’s the line I’m not willing to cross.”
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