"Angel." Buffy said and threw her arms around her long time lover. "Gods, I have missed you so much." The two of them stood there, hugging and trembling, until Conner cleared his throat, a poignant reminder that he was still on the porch with them. Buffy stepped back from Angel, a blush rising on her cheeks, "And you must be Conner." She stated and pulled him into a hug as well, "I am so glad that I finally get to meet you." Leading them into the living room, she announced, "Look who's here, everyone."

The rest of the group greeted the newcomers and sat down for a quick catch up before moving on to more serious issues.

"So like I said, Cordy had a vision that something bad was going to happen but was kind of hazy on the details, just that I needed to be here." Angel said, "She saw more than that but I couldn't get her to tell me exactly what she saw, other than we all face a crossroads. Something either really bad or really good is supposed to happen and not even The Powers that Be can decipher which apparently."

Xander smiled slightly and reached for Anya's hand, "Something really bad or really good. Yup, sounds completely normal for Sunnydale. You two," he shot both Angel and Buffy that look, "Make sure you don't get around to having perfect happiness. Not that I don't love you but I so don't want to repeat another apocalypse thing."

"We won't, Xander." Angel stated. "Personally, I have no desire to become Angelus again. I don't like him and I don't think he likes me either. Scratch that, I know for a fact that he hates my guts." The others stared at Angel for a long moment, it seemed that the broody man had actually developed a sense of humor, something most of them found exceedingly hard to fathom. Finally, Buffy started to laugh and was joined in by the others.

"Something has changed." Willow said, coming awake with a start.

Spike rolled over to cuddle Willow by his side, "What do you mean love?"

"I wish that I could tell you. This has suddenly become a lot more important than simple revenge. It seems," Willow paused to stare meaningfully at Spike, "That The Powers That Be are taking a vested interest in the Slayer again. So much so that the universe shall be rebalanced in the end." She sighed and let her eyes unfocus, "More than that is shadowed and I can't see past the shadows. But one thing is certain, the final battle between good and evil is coming."

"The final conflict, eh?" Spike asked, "Well that is either going to be really bad for the Slayer or really bad for us and it's time for the bad guys to win for a change." He got out of bed, lighting a cigarette and moving to stand by the window of their new home. "So what do you say, shall we go find the little bit."

Willow dragged herself out of bed and put her head in her hands, seeing more visions, "Dawn is no longer the weakest link in the mix." She said as she dragged her hands through her hair, "She is not the one that we need to pursue. Conner, on the other hand, is weak and he is Angel's son. Killing him will drive them all crazy and will maybe bring Angelus out to play again." Spike growled as Willow mentioned Angelus, he had already lost two girls to that bastard, he wasn't about to lose another one. Willow looked at him, smiling, "You won't lose me to Angelus, Spike. I love only you. I promise you that."

"Then let's go get Conner." Spike said.

Against all orders and his own common sense, Conner was outside of the Summer's house, breathing in the night air, getting away from all the people in the house, if only for a little while. He was thinking about Buffy, whom he knew was the love of Angel's life even more so than his love for Darla, and about Dawn. Something about Dawn was utterly compelling to him. Maybe it was that "I need protection" aura that she projected but, in any case, he could not help thinking about how pretty she was and how much she made him feel comfortable to be around her. He wasn't all that comfortable with females his own age as of yet but he could get to like it if Dawn was the one he had to learn on. While thinking about Dawn, he started to wander around the house, not really paying attention to where his feet were taking him. Finally, he snapped out of his reverie, glancing around to see a part of Sunnydale that he had never seen before. Quelling the rising panic, he turned to retrace his steps, only to realize that he had no memory of how he came to be here, or how he was going to get back.

Willow smiled as she watched though her scrying crystal the spell that she was using to take over Conner's feet take effect. Finally, she put down the crystal and nodded to Spike, both of them stepping out of the shadows of the alleyway into the street that Conner was standing on. "You look lost, sweetheart." Willow purred as she advanced closer, "Can we help you find your way?"

Conner went instantly on alert as the two stepped out of the alley. The woman was mesmerizing to look at, red hair, beautiful expressive eyes, tight body encased in skin tight leather, and he was having a hard time maintaining his alertness around her, lust roaring in his ears. "No thanks." He managed to strangle out, "I can find my own way."

"Now that's not very civil of you." Spike said menacingly, "Here is my pet offering to help you find your way and you tell us to bugger off. For all you know, we could be guardian angels or some such rot and yet you still shun us." Turning his head to one side, he remarked to Willow, "I like this one, he either has courage or he is too stupid to be afraid."

"But I like it when they are afraid," Willow said, pouting, "It's like meat tenderizer for humans."

*It's like meat tenderizer for humans.* Willow's words pounded themselves into Conner's brain and he took off running as fast as he could down the street. *Just my luck, run into a couple of vampires that want to eat me. Dad is going to kill me.*

Spike and Willow smiled at each other as they watched Conner run down the street, leaving a trail of fear a mile wide for them to track. Slowly, Spike started to walk after the fleeing figure before turning to look at Willow, "You know, love, I don't really feel like chasing him. Would you just magic him here, please?" Willow's eyes turned black as she cast the spell and Spike caught Conner as she dropped the power and Conner to the ground. She also put him to sleep on his way back to them so that he would not fight her spell. Hefting Conner over his shoulder, Spike nodded to Willow and said, "And that is why I love you. Good work, pet."

"What do you mean, Conner is gone?" Buffy asked Dawn, voice rising slightly in agitation.

Dawn gave her sister the "shush, we don't want Angel to notice" look and said, "Exactly what I said. He told me that he wanted to go outside for some fresh air and to be alone for a minute. To, you know, regroup and stuff. I told him to stay on the porch but when I went out there to check on him, he was gone without a trace."

Angel came into the room, worry already apparent on his face. He announced, "Conner is gone."

The two Summer's women looked at him with "duh" expressions and Buffy asked, "How did you know that?"

"I can sense it. How did you two find out?" Angel sighed and closed his eyes, "Never mind, dumb question." He closed his eyes, the better to focus on the bond between him and his son, tracing it to Conner's location, "Ok, he isn't dead but he is asleep or unconscious. Until he wakes up, I can't track him with the bond. Guess we have to look for him the old fashioned way."

Buffy stared at Angel, so much that she had no clue of when it came to him but she was still surprised with what he told her, "Right. I'm on it. Let me get the gang and some weapons and we will go hunting."

Anemone - Chapter 13 - Let the Games Begin