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Author's Chapter Notes:
Thank you so much for the lovely reviews. I got such a laugh out of reading people's predictions for Dawn's love interest. And here I thought it was so obvious.

There is another author's note at the bottom of the chapter. Not something I normally do, but I didn't want to spoil the surprise by putting it here. I really hope you enjoy this one.
Chapter Twenty-Three

“Connor.”

“Yep.”

“Who is Connor?”

“Angel’s son.”

William’s eyebrows made an attempt to disappear into his hair. “Angel had a son?”

“Again with the yep.” She finished her cup cake with an appreciative sigh.

“When did this happen? And how?”

Buffy stood up and began pacing the room, gesticulating wildly with her hands. “Something about a prophecy. I don’t really know the ins and outs to be honest. He wasn’t born that long ago.”

Looking confused, William asked, “So you want to what…age baby Connor so he’ll be a match for Dawn?”

Buffy turned back to him with a mischievous look on her face. “No need. He was a teenager when I left.”

“Huh?” The look on William’s face was every bit as flummoxed as Buffy thought it would be and she couldn’t help but laugh.

She sat on the couch beside him. “Okay, he was a baby when he was kidnapped by some dude and taken to another dimension called Kotot or something. Time moves faster there, so when he came back he was all grown up. A seventeen year old bundle of stud-muffiny goodness.” She shrugged with a little smile. “I saw a picture.”

“Was he a vampire?” William asked, becoming animated with watcher-like interest.

“From what I heard he was human, but he had all the neat vamp advantages like strength and healing abilities and stuff. And that other dimension he grew up in was a hell dimension – really big with the demons and other nasty things. So, he was a really good fighter. He had to be to stay alive.” She thought for a moment. “I guess we can either choose to leave him the way he was, or turn him into a vampire. After all, it’s our book, right?”

“Right.” William laughed at her growing enthusiasm. “Well then,” he exclaimed happily. “I guess we have our hero.”

**********

Connor woke choking on a scream that refused to escape his throat; his sweat-drenched body tense to the point of shaking. Panicked eyes scanned the room, searching the darkness for any signs of danger. The familiarity of his dorm room was all that met his gaze.

With a weary sigh he pushed back the covers and rose from the bed. Making his way to the window he looked out over the college grounds; all lush and green after the summer showers. As he observed the stillness, the calm of the night, he finally began to relax. The tension faded from his body and he stretched to relieve his tired muscles.

Every night had been the same since his parents had told him the truth about where he’d really come from. An anguished sound left his throat at the thought of his parents. Only they weren’t his parents were they. No. In truth he was the unborn spawn of two master vampires. The strength and abilities he had just begun to discover were his unholy inheritance; all he had to show for his true heritage.

He still couldn’t wrap his head around it. Everything he remembered about his life was false – his happy childhood, his friends, the time he’d kissed Sally Davis behind the gym. That was all a lie. His real memories had only started a couple of months ago. So what really happened before that? Before this shiny, happy life?

For a while he had tried to remember his true past. He would sit for hours meditating, trying to bring those hidden memories to the surface. At first nothing had happened, but then, with some practice, he began to feel a sense of great dread wash over him with every attempt, and his mind would instinctively shy away. It was almost like someone else was lurking beneath the shadows of his consciousness. Someone evil.

That’s when the dreams he’d been having became nightmares. Ghoulish visions of demons and bloodshed. In every dream he was fighting for his life, hunted like an animal by monsters so grotesque and deformed that he never could have conjured them with his own limited imagination. Now, instead of seeking the truth, he shunned it. There was so much darkness and death there; he wasn’t sure he even wanted to know. But with the dreams getting worse; he was beginning to think that maybe it was already too late.

So now, with two sets of memories intertwining in his mind – one he remembered clearly, and another shrouded in shadows – the question became: Who was he really?


Buffy looked up from the page in excitement? “You made this stuff up?”

William nodded. “Yeah. I’ve been playing around with it and this is how I’m thinking it could go. When Connor comes back from that hell dimension, Angel decides he’s put the kid through enough and has his true memories replaced with memories of a happy life with a loving family. That family takes care of Connor until something happens that reveals his hidden strengths. Like he’s in some horrific accident but is completely unhurt. Right?”

Buffy nodded, so he continued, full of excitement and enthusiasm. “So when he finds out the truth he starts trying to figure out what his powers actually are. That’s how he crosses paths with Dawn.”

“So, will he ever remember what really happened to him?”

“Yes!” William shouted, practically bursting with energy. “Angel and you were torn apart when he lost his soul. Well, Connor’s regaining of all those traumatic memories, for whatever reason we come up with, can be the thing that tears Connor and Dawn apart. This kid lived in a hell dimension for seventeen years. He’s only been back for one or two years. He’s gonna be a wreck when he remembers it all.

“It gives us a lot to work with. Plus, it still leaves the readers with hope of Dawn and Connor ending up together because they aren’t a hopeless cause. They just have a lot to work through.” He shrugged, a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Kind of like us when you first got back.”

“Oh my God,” Buffy murmured as she got up from the couch. “I’m so hot for you right now.”

William laughed as he grabbed her by the hips. “Hell, I’m so good I’m hot for me right now.”

Smiling, Buffy tossed the papers onto the floor and tackled him to the couch. “I get to have you first.”

[A/N: I took a small detour from the canon of the two shows here. As far as we know Buffy never knew about Connor. Also, Gone was aired in March of 2002 and Connor didn’t return from Quor-toth till May of 2002. I was so disappointed when I found out. But…I loved the idea so much that I used it anyway. Also, William quite conveniently thought of some of the storyline that actually happened in Angel. Wasn’t that insightful of him?]





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