“You poor dumb bastard,” Angelus snickered, his back to the fireplace. “You’re going to try to take me alive. You’ll be lucky if that cute family of yours makes it through the week.”
“You’ll be lucky if my fourteen year old sister doesn’t stake you,” Connor replied coldly.
“Fourteen,” Angelus said ecstatically. “Young enough to be innocent, but old enough to want me to take that innocence. Nice.”
“We’ll see,” Connor grinned. “It’s not as if my family is prepared for the poss-” Amid sentence, Connor threw a hard punch, catching Angelus off guard. Connor followed the punch with a kick. Angelus caught Connor’s right foot. Instead of pulling his leg back, Connor immediately dug his caught foot into Angelus’ hand. He used the foothold as leverage, lifting his free left leg up and over Angelus. He jumped over Angelus then pulling loose on the other side.
Connor spun to face Angelus, blindly pulling a metal poker from its holder beside the fireplace. By now, Emily and Nina had left the room.
Angelus laughed when he saw Connor was now armed. “Have to admit, I underestimated you, kid.”
“Thanks?” Connor said, unsure of what to say.
“Man . . . it’s going to be fun turning you. Angelus and son. Has a kind of ring to it.”
“I’ll die first.”
“No. Your family will die first. You’ll live to experience the torment.”
Connor shook his head. “We’ll-”
Stealing a page from Connor’s book, Angelus kicked Connor hard, knocking him into the fire. Connor quickly pulled away, rolling on the floor to put his clothes out. Angelus pounced on top of him.
“I can still smell that little piece of meat you brought home to daddy,” Angelus sneered. “Mmmm . . . can’t wait to try her on for size. She smells like-”
“Like she’s still in the house?” Emily interrupted. Angelus looked back and Emily immediately lassoed him with an electrical extension chord. She pulled hard, dragging him off Connor.
Angelus grabbed the chord and pulled it, pulling Emily to the ground. He stood, preparing to attack her when a shot of pepper spray hit him in the eye. Angelus smelled Nina. Another kick caught him in the gut. None of these whelps was a match for him, but two wolf girls and Connor was becoming too much to handle at once.
“I’m out of practice,” Angelus said. He blindly backhanded Nina to the ground and sprinted to the garage.
Connor jumped up and looked at Emily. “Are you okay?”
Emily nodded.
“We have to get out of here,” Connor said frantically.
“Where are we going?” Emily asked.
“You and your family are going into hiding with Nina’s. I’m going to get Angel. I mean Angelus.”
“I’m not leaving you!” Emily shouted.
“The girl said wait!” Nina said, getting up and rubbing her jaw.
“What girl?” Connor asked.
“I don’t know,” Nina said irritably. “Angel’s contact. The one he said to call in case of an emergency.”
“Buffy?” Connor said incredulously. “She’s in Rome.” He shook his head. “I don’t have time for this. Get the car, call your family and Nina’s, tell them to look out.”
“Just like your dad,” Nina groaned. “Always sending people away to save them. Did it ever occur to you that she’d be safest, and happiest, with you?”
“I’m going to catch Angelus. That means I’ll be near him. That means not safe.”
Connor looked in the garage. “Shit. He slashed your tires. Follow me.”
Connor ran into the street and up to a stop sign. He pulled open the door of a car stopped there. “Sorry?” he said to the man driving. “We need it more than you do.”
“You’re car jacking me?” the fairly well built man said to the skinny boy that just yanked his door open.
Connor bit his lip nervously. “Well . . . yeah. But . . . but politely.”
**
Dawn slammed the phone down. “Willow! Emergency! Big emergency.”
Dawn threw open the door to Willow and Kennedy’s room. They both frowned. She and Willow were in the middle of another one of their talks. They’d been having a lot of them lately. Dawn could still see the faint remains of tears in both their eyes.
“Dawnie, what is it?” Kennedy asked.
“Angelus. In New York. Buffy’s on her way from Rome now.”
“Connor-” Willow began.
“He’s there,” Dawn said. “I don’t have the details.”
“Better break out the stakes,” Kennedy said. “That’s s-t-a-k-e-s, stakes. Not the kind you eat.”
“Kennedy, we can’t kill him,” Willow said sadly.
“Why not, Willow? Why not? The guy turns evil every two years. Let’s just end this shit!”
Willow stormed form the room.
Dawn looked back at Kennedy. “He’s . . . you’re right. I can’t tell Buffy that. And I can’t tell Willow. But you’re right.” She glanced down the hall to see Willow picking up the phone. “Maybe we . . . maybe we should make a plan.”
***
“What do you mean danger?” Laurence asked.
“Danger, dad,” Connor said. “How many meanings of the word are there?”
“From your birth father?” Laurence asked, still confused.
“Laurence, give me the phone,” Colleen said, snatching the phone from her husband.
“Don’t grab the phone from me,” Laurence snapped.
“Connor, honey, what is it?”
“Long story. But Angel, my biological father-”
“Yes, I know who Angel is. What’s the danger?”
“He is . . . it’s hard to explain but he’s . . .he’s kind of possessed. He’s a vampire. I need you to-”
“Listen, Connor,” Colleen interrupted. “I need you to really think about this. Is Angel more dangerous than me spending a week with your father’s sister? I mean, I love your Aunt Vicky, but in small doses, you know?”
“Mom, this is no time to be joking!”
“Connor, any time is a good time to be joking,” Colleen said with disappointment clear in her voice. “Have I taught you nothing? Look, I have to go pack.”
Colleen hung up and turned to her husband. “Get our stuff packed and call out of work for the week. I’ll get Erin from Maggy’s house.”
Laurence began protesting. “But-”
“Don’t but me. You’re the one who was so proud of our son who couldn’t walk away from this crap. Now you pay the price. And the price is packing and spending a week with your sister.”
****
“According to Connor, Angelus has threatened his family directly,” Willow said. “Do you think that’s his plan or is it a smokescreen?”
Buffy sighed as she spoke into the phone. Her plane was still over the Atlantic and she wouldn’t be able to book another flight to California for hours. She hated not being in control. “Smoke screen. Angelus liked to brag about what he was going to do. He wanted people to know. But he also lashed out at the people closest to him. Why would he want to hurt Connor?”
Willow looked at Dawn. Buffy was on speakerphone. Dawn mouthed the words, “Tell her.”
“Buffy, Angelus would be interested in hurting Connor,” Willow said. “I can’t go into details.”
“What? Wait . . . ohhhh. Oh my god!”
Willow rolled her eyes. Always with the homophobia Willow thought. “Yeah, um, so . . . I’m thinking we should maybe try to use this.”
Buffy tapped her fingers absent-mindedly as she thought. “Find out what flights Angelus could have gotten to California.”
“Okay,” Dawn said.
Willow began to speak. “Did you get-”
“No worries, Will,” Buffy said. “I have the Orb of Thessela.”
“Good. Now I have another favor to ask. I need you to find Spike.”
Buffy looked down. “The last time we spoke, Spike made it clear he didn’t want me finding him. Besides, I don’t know what he can do that we-”
“It’s for Angel. Dawn and I are working on something to help him that we need Spike for.”
“Spike definitely doesn’t want me to find him if it has to do with helping Angel.”
“Buffy, it’s important. Now can we do it or not?”
“Call Giles. Maybe he can help you find Spike. Right now, my job is finding Angelus.”
*****
“I need a ticket to SFO,” Connor said into the phone as he sped along I-678.
“He needs two tickets!” Emily shouted in the background.
“Hang up,” Nina said as she hung up her own phone.
“I’m ordering tick-”
“I just got the three of us on the next flight from JFK to SFO,” Nina said, hanging up her phone. “Can you get us to the airport in twenty minutes?”
Connor pressed down on the gas. “It’s ten o’clock at night. Of course I can.”
Suddenly the car was hit and went into a spin. It missed the other cars but ended up with the rear driver side tire on the curb.
Nina looked up, bleeding and clearly dazed. “What the-”
“Angelus,” Emily said, her head buried in the airbag.
“I am so sick of getting into car accidents,” Connor groaned. He popped the trunk and jumped from the car. He got to the trunk just as Angelus leapt onto the roof of the car.
“Whatcha got in the trunk, son? Crowbar?”
“You,” Connor said, kicking the side of the car hard. The tire popped off the curb, causing Angelus to lose his balance and fall from the roof. Connor jumped the car and landed with a drop kick on Angelus’ head. He grabbed Angelus by the head and slammed him backward into the trunk, then slammed it shut.
Angelus kicked up hard, knocking the trunk back open. He jumped form his feet and landed near Connor, careful to keep his right arm behind his back.
“Knew that was too easy,” Connor said.
“But it was a good plan for such short notice,” Angel granted.
“Thanks.”
Angelus quickly swung his right arm, now holding a tire iron, and hammered Connor in the head. Connor stumbled, but managed to get his right hand down for balance before he fell over.
Angelus pressed his advantage, but Connor pushed backward into a one-armed hand stand and came down a couple feet back. As he came up, he threw his right hand out. Angelus backed up, expecting a punch. Instead, Connor merely opened his hand, flinging dirt, asphalt chips, and pieces of glass into Angelus’ eyes.
Angelus put his hand to his eye, duping Connor into thinking he was injured worse than he was. Connor charged and, going solely on scent and sound, Angelus swung the crowbar, slamming Connor in the head again.
Angelus caught the scent of blood in the air. Emily and Nina smelled sweet. Angelus pondered all the things he could do to them, perhaps making Connor watch. Clearly Connor had other plans. He barreled into Angelus, tackling him off the highway overpass. They fell twenty feet and slammed into 135th Street.
Angelus sprung to his feet and charged his son. Connor pushed up into a handstand and flipped backward. A car slammed into Connor at about forty miles per hour. He tumbled to the ground but rolled back to his feet in a fighting stance.
Angelus laughed. “I’m a little disappointed.”
“Thought you’d be doing better?”
“Thought you’d be smarter. You think I just happened to run into you up there?”
Connor looked around. Vampires were getting out of the car that’d hit him. Others were walking toward him from all directions, surrounding him. “Emily,” he said.
“Shit!” Angelus responded, realizing he gave too much away. He’d expected Connor to think it was a trap for him. He’d hoped the boy would try to prove his manhood by fighting off a dozen vamps at once. Angelus knew he could do it. During the sun-out in L.A., Connor had frequently patrolled alone. The plan was that Angelus would be long gone with Nina and Emily by the time Connor dusted Angelus’ crew.
Connor jumped up as hard as he could, landing back on the freeway. Vamps were pulling Emily and Nina from the car. He quickly grabbed the tire iron Angelus had dropped.
Angelus leapt up less than a second after Connor. Vampire speed made that a huge lead. As Angelus came down, he saw Connor facing the car and hoped the boy wasn’t ready. But when Angelus’ feet were about to hit the ground again, Connor swung his arm backward. Without even looking and nailed Angelus in the head before the vampire managed to land. Angelus was knocked backward and fell back to the street below.
Connor walked toward the car at a casual pace, hoping not to alert the vamps he was a threat. As he neared, the vamp holding Nina looked up at him with his game face on. Connor was sure the vamp would have said something terribly witty and intimidating, but it never got the chance. Connor placed his hand on the vamp’s chest. The second he had, the stake mounted up his sleeve sprung forward, dusting it.
The vamp pulling Emily from the car looked up, realizing his friend was dead. Emily took advantage of the distraction and punched him in the nuts. The vamp stumbled back in pain.
Emily scrambled back into the car. The vamp thought she was retreating and reached in for her. But Emily wasn’t retreating. She pressed her back against the driver side door and, with all her might, kicked with both feet, knocking the vamp back into Connor’s waiting stake.
“Can you drive?” Connor asked Emily frantically as he climbed in the passenger side and slammed the door. Angelus had again leapt back up onto the highway. Other vamps were pulling onto the highway in the cars.
Emily didn’t answer with words, but by turning the key and slamming her foot on the gas. Nina pulled the rear door closed just as the car jetted away.
“How’d he get a fang gang so goddamn fast?!” Connor lamented.
Emily was bleeding and probably had a concussion, but knew there was no time to lick her wounds. She sped down the road at about 80.
Through the rear window, she watched the scene behind her. One of the vamps slowed down enough to allow Angelus to jump on the roof. The vehicle then jetted away in pursuit.
Connor looked back. “Emily, I think we need you to drive drive!”
Emily glanced in the rearview to see a sports car with a man on the roof flying toward them. She pressed the gas as far as it would go. Red and blue lights lit up behind them as a police car started chasing both Angelus’ and Emily’s cars.
“Shit!” Connor yelled. “This is a stolen car!”
“Not exactly our biggest problem,” Emily said testily as she weaved through traffic.
“Pull over!” the cop car called over its loud speaker.
“Barricade ahead!” Connor yelled as police cruisers pulled onto the highway perpendicular to the lanes, effectively blocking the road.
“Hang on!” Emily yelled. She swerved over three lanes and knocked orange cones out of the way as she cut onto the exit ramp at the last minute. The car sideswiped the cement side of the ramp before righting itself and heading for the street below. She sped down the ramps and slowed, preparing to merge with the traffic of the side streets.
Suddenly, the car was jolted by an impact from behind. Angelus’ car had rear ended theirs and was pushing it down the ramp. Instead of hitting the breaks, Emily hit the gas and prayed no vehicles were coming. She shot into the intersection against a red light and was immediately t-boned by another car.
A helicopter could be heard beneath the screeching of police sirens. A large light shined on the car.
“Nina, can you walk?” Connor asked, looking back. The airbags had deployed with the last crash and Emiy hadn’t fared well. He’d be carrying her and prayed Nina could get away on her own.
“I’m good.” Nina pushed the door open and staggering to her feet.
Connor pulled Emily onto his back and looked at Nina. “Good. Run.”
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