Chapter 15: Storms
“…Sleep with one ear close to the ground/and wake up screaming/When we lay our cold weapons down/we’ll wake up dreaming/Obsessions with self-preservation/faded when I threw my fear away/It’s not a thing you can imagine/You either lose your fear/or spend your life with one foot in the grave/Is God the last romantic?…” ~Over the Rhine, “Spark”
Wesley and Spike were going over the week’s schedule, determining who would be taking care of what. Normally, the women were there to offer their opinions, but they had all gone out on a shopping expedition with Dawn. The girl was leaving in a couple of days, and Buffy had wanted to make the most of their time together.
“Hello?”
The tentative call had them both looking up. “Can we help you?” Wesley asked, straightening.
The young man standing in the lobby was looking at them nervously. “I hope so.”
Spike frowned. There was something about the boy that was off. He could smell the grief and fear on him. “Why don’t you have a seat, lad?” he suggested, waving a hand towards the empty office.
The boy moved forward as though in a daze. “I, uh, something happened. Something bad, and I don’t know how to fix it.”
“Sit.” Wesley echoed Spike’s order. “Can we get you something to drink? Or eat?”
He shook his head. “No, it’s—” Connor glanced from one to the other. “You believe in demons, right? And vampires and stuff?”
Spike and Wesley exchanged a look. “I am a vampire,” Spike said, completely deadpan.
“That’s good.” He looked completely lost. “Because I think there are demons after me.”
Connor was stumbling over his words as he introduced himself and explained what had happened. His parents had taken him to Wolfram and Hart, ostensibly to set up a trust fund, but really because he’d been run over by a van and had emerged completely unscathed. The CEO had refused to help them, and they had left to go to dinner when they were attacked in the parking lot of the restaurant.
Both Spike and Wesley suddenly wished that they weren’t the only ones in the hotel, since the poor kid really looked like he could use some mothering. “They—they just came out of nowhere. I don’t even know what they were. They tried—” He held out one arm in explanation, and they could see a nasty gash running down the underside of his forearm.
“What happened next?” Wesley asked quietly, passing him a glass of water.
Connor shook his head. “I tried—there were too many of them, and my folks…”
Spike didn’t like where this was going. “Where are your parents now?”
The boy shook his head. “They’re both in the hospital, in the ICU. The doctors said—they don’t know if—” Connor took a deep breath and looked up at them. “I think it has something to do with me. I think something is after me.”
Wesley kept his voice as gentle as possible. “That may be so, but what happened was not your fault. I promise we’ll do everything we can to discover who is behind this.”
“You got a place to stay?” Spike asked
Connor shrugged. “I’ve been staying mostly at the hospital. I’m supposed to be going back to school soon, but my—my professors have been really understanding about—everything.”
Wesley nodded, saying firmly, “We’ll be making your case our top priority. If you need a place to stay, you’re more than welcome to stay here. We’ve plenty of room.”
“I can’t pay you,” Connor said. “Not until—I mean, my parents—”
“Forget it,” Spike said gruffly. He couldn’t explain to the boy that he was family. It wasn’t like Connor would believe him anyway. “This is what we do. You’d be amazed how rarely we do get paid for it.”
Connor stood. “I should get back to the hospital. I need to—”
“Of course you do,” Wesley replied, getting to his feet. “We’ll begin work on your problem. If you would like to come back here tonight…” He trailed off, leaving the invitation open.
Connor nodded slowly. “Yeah, sure. And, thanks.”
They watched him go. “If I hadn’t known, I’m not sure I would have seen the resemblance,” Wesley murmured.
Spike shook his head. “I could tell. He looks a bit like his mum too.”
Wesley had forgotten that Spike had known Darla as well. “What do you think we should do?”
“I think we need to figure out how to give the kid his memories back,” Spike replied quietly. “From what Cordelia told us, he was as good a fighter as Angel, if not better. If he’d known how to fight, those demons never would have gotten past his guard.”
Wesley wasn’t sure he liked that solution much. “What about his parents? If we give Connor back his memories, but not his parents—”
“Kid’s in college now, isn’t he?” Spike asked. “I don’t see how it’ll matter. He has his own life. We wouldn’t have to break the spell or whatever with anyone but him.”
“No.” Wesley was surprisingly adamant. “If we break the spell, it’s going to be all or nothing, Spike. I want—”
“The memories are yours,” Spike agreed. “You got a right to them.”
“I think I know of something that will break the spell, but—”
“Until then the kid is going to need protection,” Spike finished for him. “And I’m the muscle.”
“You’re more than muscle, Spike,” Wesley replied with a wry smile. “But I think you and Buffy will be needed.”
~~~~~
Buffy felt Cordelia tense up next to her as the young man hurried past them. Dawn was watching him go by as well, but the Slayer was fairly certain that their reasons were completely different.
“What is it?” Buffy asked, as they walked up to the front doors of the hotel.
Cordelia looked over her shoulder at the boy’s rapidly diminishing form. “That was Connor.”
“Who’s Connor?” Dawn asked, definitely intrigued by what she’d seen.
“Angel’s son,” Cordelia mumbled, pushing through the front doors. “Wes! Was that— “
“That was Connor, and he came to request our help,” Wesley said, answering her unfinished question. “It appears that there may be something after him.”
“We should call Angel.” Cordelia was reaching for the phone when Wesley’s hand came down gently over hers.
“Cordy, Angel already knows. He sent Connor away.” Still holding her hand, he tugged her towards the office. “Why don’t you let me explain?”
Knowing when a discussion needed to be private, the others stayed in the lobby. “Connor was here?” Fred asked. Like Wesley, she wasn’t nearly as upset about Connor’s appearance, since she had no memory of him. Buffy and Dawn were also rather detached from the situation.
Spike shrugged. “Seems the kid and his parents were attacked the other night. Angel wouldn’t help them, so he thought we might.”
“Angel wouldn’t help his own son?” Fred echoed. “But that was the whole reason he’s at Wolfram and Hart!”
“He might have thought it was safer for him not to be involved,” Buffy pointed out. “If Angel was willing to give Connor up for his own good, he might have thought it would be better if he stayed gone.”
Dawn was still confused. “Wait. Angel has a kid? Why didn’t I know about this?”
Spike shrugged. “We just found out a little while ago ourselves, Bit, and it didn’t seem important enough to mention.”
“Until now,” Fred inserted wryly. “What are we going to do?”
“The Slayer and I are going to make sure no more nasties get to Connor, while the Watcher cooks up something to give all of you your memories back, including Connor.” Spike shook his head, pitying the boy. “If he remembers how to fight, he can protect himself.”
Fred got an alarmed expression on her face. “But won’t that be bad? I thought Cordy said Connor went a little crazy?”
“Spike and I should be able to control him between the two of us,” Buffy replied, sighing. She could tell by the expression on Spike’s face that the idea of inflicting more damage on Connor wasn’t at all appealing. It seemed like this was their only course of action, though. As Spike had been known to point out, magic had consequences. It looked like they were running into one of them.
Dawn was still frowning. “Okay, I’m still lost. Angel has a kid, but he doesn’t remember who he is? What’s wrong with this picture?”
~~~~~
“No, Wesley, this is insane.”
“We’ve talked about this,” Wesley replied. “You remember everything, Cordelia. The rest of us do not, and I—I need to know.”
Cordelia didn’t bother trying to argue with him. She’d seen Wesley like this on a few occasions in the past, and when he got stubborn, he would not be budged. “What’s the plan?”
“There’s a spell,” Wesley said slowly. “It can disrupt the memory spell that was placed on all of us, including Connor.”
Cordelia shook her head. “Are you going to tell Connor about this before you use him as your guinea pig?”
“I don’t know that I can do the spell,” Wesley admitted. “It requires some power, as the warlock who performed the memory spell is extremely powerful. As he was bound by contract to complete the spell, I doubt he would willingly undo it.”
“Not to mention the fact that a powerful warlock working for Wolfram and Hart is probably on the side of evil,” Cordelia said wryly. “Then how are you going to get it done?”
Wesley sighed. “That’s where Buffy comes in.”
“You’re going to ask for Willow ‘s help.”
“I think it’s necessary.” Wesley grimaced. “Although she may not agree.”
“Who may not agree?” Buffy asked from the doorway.
Wesley glanced up at her. ” Willow . We need her help when we remove the memory spell.”
Buffy shrugged. ” Willow ‘s usually up for beating up on nasty old magicians. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. I’ll call her tonight.”
“Are you heading out?” Wesley asked, catching the look of anticipation on her face.
“Spike and I are going to go keep an eye on Connor,” she replied. “Unless you’ve got something else you’d rather us be doing.”
Wesley shook his head. “Connor is our top priority at the moment, so no.”
“We’ll see you later, then.”
Buffy turned and left the office, and Wesley met Cordelia’s eyes. “Are you in?”
“We’re a team, Wes. Of course I’m in.” Cordy shook her head. “It never gets any easier, does it?” It was a rhetorical question, and so Wesley maintained his silence. “You’re right, though. This was the deal that Angel made that got him into Wolfram and Hart in the first place. If we can help Connor, maybe Angel will be more willing to leave.”
Wesley didn’t have the heart to tell her that he thought that Angel was beyond their help at this point. According to Cordelia’s memories, he owed Connor for what he’d done, for the mistakes he’d made. Perhaps Wesley owed Angel as well, but there hadn’t been a chance to repay the vampire as of yet.
Maybe there never would be, but Wesley wouldn’t allow that to stop him from trying.
~~~~~
“This isn’t familiar,” Buffy muttered. They had taken the sewers to get to the hospital where Connor’s parents were receiving treatment. Neither of them knew Connor well, and so they were both unsure of whether or not they ought to approach him as he stood vigil.
Spike gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. They were still discussing whether or not to go in. “I imagine being here brings back bad memories.”
“You can say that again.” Buffy glanced over his shoulder, looking for her sister. “Why isn’t Dawn back yet?”
“Probably because we both gave her enough money to clear out the vending machines,” Spike replied with a smirk. “It’ll be fine.”
Dawn popped up behind them. “I think you guys should let me handle this.”
They hadn’t planned on bringing the younger Summers with them, but since Dawn was going to be leaving soon, she hadn’t wanted to miss out on the excitement.
“And just how are you planning on ‘handling this,’ Bit?” Spike asked with some amusement.
Dawn just batted her eyelashes at him. “Watch a master at work.” She strolled up to where Connor was sitting slumped in one of the plastic chairs in the ICU waiting room and plopped herself next to him.
Connor spared her a glance, but no more.
“I’m Dawn Summers.”
That piece of cheek got her a startled glance. Connor was surprised enough to return the favor. “Connor Reilly. Do I know you?”
“My sister works at the detective agency you were at today. She’s around here somewhere with Spike, trying to protect you.” Dawn gave him a smile, suitably subdued in response to the circumstances.
“What are you doing here?”
Since he sounded more bewildered than antagonistic, Dawn answered him honestly. “I’m supposed to go back to school soon, and I wanted to spend as much time with them as possible.”
“You’re in college?” Connor seemed to perk up a little at that.
Dawn made a face. “Not yet. Next year is my last year of high school.”
“Oh.” Connor thought she looked older. “Do you know about—” He motioned the the doors of the ICU.
Dawn nodded. “Yeah. I’m really sorry. My mom was in the hospital for a while, and it really wasn’t much fun.”
“No, not really,” Connor agreed.
Dawn touched his arm winningly. “So are you coming back to the hotel with us tonight? It really is a pretty cool place.”
“Maybe. I guess.” He was still trying to appear nonchalant, but it was because he wanted to obscure his nervousness around Dawn. Connor still wasn’t quite as smooth with the ladies as he might wish. “Are you staying there?”
Buffy, watching from just around the doorway, grinned when she heard his question. “Hook, line, and sinker,” she murmured.
Spike was shaking his head. “That little heartbreaker. I guess our night just got a whole lot easier.”
“Don’t say things like that!” Buffy hissed in alarm. “You’ll jinx us.”
Spike grinned, raising an eyebrow. “I mean our sleeping arrangements. Have you ever tried to sleep on these chairs? Damn near impossible.”
“I know someone else who’s impossible,” Buffy snorted in reply, but she didn’t try to remove his arm when Spike slipped it over her shoulders. “That poor kid.”
“No kidding. Hard to believe I’m related to him, yeah?”
Buffy started to shake her head until she realized that Spike was right. They were related in a very odd sort of way. “I know,” she replied. “He’s a lot prettier than you are.” She walked out into the waiting room, leaving Spike behind.
Spike was already planning how he was going to get even with her for that comment.