Title: An Apocalypse of Monster Proportions

Name: Kristen

Email: aurora-d@moose-mail.com

Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters on Angel or Buffy. Nor, do I own any of the characters from Monster Inc. Only this humble plot belongs to me.

Rating: pg-13

Pairings: Dawn/Connor, Angel/Cordy, Fred/Gunn, Buffy/Xander

Spoilers: Season 3 of Angel. Season 6 of Buffy. This is AU so I’m picking and choosing what I’ll use from the shows. Everything should be explained in the story, but if you have questions feel free to email me.

Summary: Angel/Buffy/Monsters Inc. crossover. This is based on a challenge found at Your Mission. Mike and Sully go to Cordy, who they knew as Boo, when there’s trouble that reaches from Monstropolis to LA and the rest of the world.

Distribution: Your Mission. Anywhere else? If you want it, just ask.

Feedback: Is much appreciated.

AN: There were certain things I wanted to change from canon and I was just going to put them in the AN's but it would have been too long for just an author's note so I've written the changes into the part. I’m setting this after the season 3 finale of Angel and the season 6 finale of Buffy. I’m not including the whole conversation between Angel and Connor in this part because others have done it far better than I could. You should also know that Lorne never left for Vegas, Cordy was never a higher being, and Anya is still alive but not around. Some lines in this part are borrowed from the Buffy episode Same Time Same Place.




An Apocalypse of Monster Proportions
by Kristen


Finally, after I was beginning to think I’d have to break the door down, he answers. The door flies open and the man standing there looks as if he’d like to blast me straight to hell. “Wesley?”

The moment I say his name, I can see him struggle to remember how I know him past the booze clouding his brain. “Do I know you?”

“I know where my Dad is and we have to go get him.” Well that seemed to sober him up.

“Could you repeat yourself?”

I roll my eyes. I have no patience for this. Now that my conscience has finally won the battle I want to get this over with as fast as possible. I push rudely past him and he has to struggle to stay upright. The bottles lying everywhere prove that Wesley has consumed enough alcohol to float a ship. Which is good because one of us needs to know how to drive one later. Or maybe it’s steer. I’m still not familiar enough with this world to know the difference. During my only boating experience I was more concerned with revenge than how to move a boat.

Wes recovers enough to close the door. He manages to make his way to the couch without falling which is a miracle considering empty bottles and take out boxes are strewn everywhere. Three more bottles join the rest on the floor before Wesley collapses on the couch. He runs a hand over his face, which looks like it hasn’t been shaved in weeks. “I’m too drunk for this.”

I’ve got no sympathy. “Then you’d better do something about it, shouldn’t you?” It’s probably a good idea anyway. I saw a commercial on the TV yesterday that extolled the dangers of drinking while boating. Apparently they don’t mix. Not that I care much. If the boat capsizes I can still get out of retrieving Angel. Immediately after that thought my conscience pipes up again. Who knew the unnatural child of two vampires could have one? Father would be surprised. No. Not Father. Holtz. It’s hard to realize that the man who raised you was wrong and deceitful. And if there’s anything I’ve learned from staying at the Hyperion it’s the truth. It hurts that the truth wasn’t what I thought it was. That to Fa-Holtz I was nothing but a pawn in his battle of wills with An- I mean Dad. I hate realizing that I was seen as nothing more than a dark weapon that Holtz lowered himself to using in his holy war. No more though. I am no longer like a pawn in that game that Fred called chess. Interesting game that. I can think for myself now. And all that thinking has led me here. To the apartment of a man that looks like he hasn’t cleaned his apartment in weeks much less cared about personal hygiene.

Connor headed into the kitchen and looked around for the coffeemaker. Lorne had assured him after a night of what he called heavy schmoozing that coffee was an essential part of the hangover cure if you wanted to function with your head on. Lorne had mentioned that not everyone could survive without their head attached to their shoulders. Gunn had then added that just because Lorne could still live without his head didn’t mean that he was still capable of doing much without it. Lorne had conceded that point and then proceeded to teach him how to make coffee while telling him all about the time his head was cut off in Pylea.

Connor started the coffee and waited impatiently for it to brew. He searched the cupboards for a clean mug and Tylenol. Why do people keep that stuff in the kitchen anyhow? Humans had strange ideas. He soon realized that all the mugs Wesley owned were currently taking up residence in the sink and would have to be washed. He let out a frustrated sigh. Every delay meant one more minute in which Angel was buried beneath the ocean. By the time the mug was washed, the coffee was done, and the Tylenol found Connor was vibrating with barely restrained energy.

He shoved the mug and the drugs rather rudely at Wesley, but he couldn’t bring himself to care much. He was on a mission and eager to see it done. He couldn’t bring himself to think about what would come after. What Angel would say. What Fred, Cordelia, Gunn, and Lorne would say when they found out. He would have to leave. They wouldn’t want him there after what he had done. Look at how they had treated Wesley, a man they were good friends with and had known a lot longer than Connor. Fred had said that Wesley used to be considered family. If this was how they treated family, how much more would they treat Connor? He was only Angel’s son with a soulless vampire. Connor had not just betrayed Angel and everyone else like Wesley had. He had sentenced Angel to a slow death and exiled him from his family below the sea. Connor wasn’t expecting any of the same treatment he had enjoyed before. Hanging around with Gunn like a little brother, letting Cordelia and Fred fuss over him, and Lorne teach him about the wonders of this dimension, even alcohol when Fred wasn’t looking. Connor would be lucky if they just threw him out like they had Wesley. Having a conscience blows.

*

Later after Wesley had sobered up, things began to go fast enough to suit Connor. He had quickly explained who he was and what he had done. Connor had held himself tense waiting for Wesley’s words of recrimination and disgust. They hadn’t come. Instead Wesley had said that he understood that Connor was trying to do what he thought was the right thing. He didn’t know Angel. He had spent years trapped in a hell dimension under Holtz’s evil tutelage and knew no different. He was nothing but the product of Wesley’s good intentions. Sometimes you make terrible mistakes when trying to do the right thing. Good intentions often pave the road to hell. Wesley had no stones to throw when he had done the same. It was a relief to know that after this was over at least one person wouldn’t be wishing he were dead. He felt like they stood on common ground now.

Connor had come to Wes’ apartment with a slightly Angel Investigations colored view of him. Lorne and Fred had slowly filled him in on what happened when Gunn wasn’t around. However, he had known Wes was the best person to help him and was probably the only one who might be willing. So Connor had snuck onto the computer Fred taught him how to operate and found Wesley’s address.

So things were progressing. Connor knew how to find Angel once he got out onto sea. Much as vampire Sires and Childre knew when each other was near or where they were, so did Connor know exactly where Angel was. The problem was getting there. Neither Wes nor Connor happened to own a boat capable of hauling Angel back up. Connor couldn’t use the same one he and Justine had. That one belonged to a friend of hers who wouldn’t be too happy to retrieve the vampire he had happily buried. In the end they settled for Wesley using some of his money and contacts to ensure the use of one. It was set. The rescue would happen tomorrow night. Connor would stay with Wes until it was time to go. Unfortunately that left them the rest of the night and all of tomorrow to think of what Angel would do afterwards.

*

The ride out to Angel was silent. Connor and Wesley were both lost in their own thoughts. Wesley was preparing himself to face Angel again after the volatile reaction Angel had shown him the last time they saw each other. Connor was wondering where he would go after this. He couldn’t help comparing this to his last boat ride. He knew Angel wouldn’t want him to come home with him. Neither had Justine, the woman Holtz had said would have been his mother. He couldn’t go back to Cordelia, Fred, Gunn, and Lorne like he had last time. Connor was going to be on his own again with nowhere to go. He let out a sigh. He wasn’t looking forward to it. Connor was surprised to hear a matching sigh to his left. He and Wesley both looked surprised for a second. Then Wesley’s voice, still unused to being utilized lately, cut through the silence. “Not looking forward to this either?”

Well, that was a small comfort. Very small. “No. He’s not going to want to see me.”

“My presence probably won’t go over well either.”

Connor suddenly burst out with the thought that had been plaguing him ever since he realized he was wrong. “I can’t go home again.”

That hung in the air for a while. Finally Wesley broke the silence once more. “No, I suppose not.”

Left unspoken was the fact that Wesley hadn’t been able to, although it was ringing in both their ears as if it had been said.

“You can stay with me.” Surprised, Connor looked to see if Wesley was serious. He was! Huh. Connor said the only words he seemed capable of at the moment. “Thank you.”

Wesley nodded as if he hadn’t expected any different. Then they both faced out to sea again anxiously waiting to get this over with.

*

The box came out of the water with a loud, almost sucking sound. As if the sea was reluctant to part with its victim. Wesley and Connor guided it over the side and carefully lowered it to the deck. Angel seemed to be unaware of what was going on. He looked horrible. Just like the corpse Holtz had always said they were. He was covered in sores, and so thin. Bones were visible, and the sight of him was making Connor’s stomach uneasy. He looked at Wesley, but he wasn’t showing anything. He was wearing the same stoic face he had shown all day. If the sight of Angel was bothering Wesley, Connor couldn’t tell. Out came the rest of the equipment. And by the light of the torch, Connor could see in Wesley’s eyes that this was just as awful for him as it was for Connor. It was loud and messy and halfway through came the moment they were dreading. Angel opened his eyes.

Connor and Wesley both froze.

Angel’s eyes landed first on Wesley, then Connor. The widening of Angel’s eyes was his only reaction when he realized who his rescuers were. It was an awful sight, given how huge his eyes seemed in their sunken state. It seemed like an eternity passed where they all just stared at each other. It stopped just as suddenly as it had begun and in the opposite manner. Angel closed his eyes.

Connor and Wesley shared one glance as they tried to control their racing heartbeats then went back to their task. They both finished at the same time. Connor motioned to Wesley to stand back. Then he picked up the heavy lid and threw it easily onto the deck. Connor’s ears barely picked up the low sigh Angel gave. Wesley stepped forward with the cooler of blood they had brought. He cut a small hole with his pocketknife and then held it over Angel’s mouth. They went through two packets before Angel’s sudden grip on Wesley’s arm startled them all. Wesley only showed that one small jump in reaction. He just waited to see what Angel would do. Surprisingly, it wasn’t ripping off Wesley’s arm and beating him over the head with it. All Angel did was take the packet away from Wesley and quickly finish it on his own. He held up his hand for another. That continued until all the bags were gone. As Wesley dropped the last empty bag back into the cooler, Angel said the first words he had spoken to them in weeks. They weren’t the ones anyone was expecting though. “I’m sorry.”

Connor’s mouth left his control and blurted out what he was thinking. “That’s my line!”

*

By the time the boat reached dry land again apologies had been made and given. Relationships were tenuous at best, but on their way to being repaired. It would take a while but Connor and Angel would try to work on their relationship. Likewise would Wesley and Angel work on reviving their friendship. It wouldn’t happen at the Hyperion though. This tentative truce was too new for that. Instead, Wesley and Connor would be staying at his apartment while Angel went back to the hotel. They would try working cases together or hanging out. And Connor and Angel would spend time getting to know each other for real this time around. It had all gone better than Connor or Wesley expected. But first, Angel had to be brought back to the hotel and things would need to be explained to Fred, Gunn, Cordelia, and Lorne.

Not surprisingly, the explanation didn’t go well.

“Are you nuts? Maybe that seawater pickled your brain Angel but they can’t be trusted!” Gunn was shouting at the top of his lungs. Both Angel and Connor winced at the assault on their sensitive hearing. “He tried to kill you Angel! More than once!” Gunn pointed his finger at Connor just in case Angel’s addled brain cells didn’t recognize whom he was talking about. “And he!” This was also said with a helpful glare and point in the right direction. Namely at Wesley who stood next to Connor with an unreadable expression on his face. “He betrayed you Angel! He stole your son and just handed him over to your enemy! He attacked Lorne!”

Angel just gave a weary sigh and continued sipping on the glass of blood Cordelia had heated up for him.

“This is lunacy Angel!” And the rant continued. For now, Lorne and Fred just sat on the couch in the lobby glaring at Wesley and Connor mistrustfully while Gunn said everything they were thinking. They had been quite vocal in their disagreement in the beginning but Gunn’s loud voice and angry words soon took over the job of yelling some sense into Angel. Cordelia was standing near Angel silent. Surprisingly she hadn’t said a word yet.

“You’re a fool Angel!” This was screamed so loud the glass in the front doors shook.

Angel finally reached the end of his patience and roared, “Enough!”

Fred jumped, Lorne winced, and Gunn’s mouth hung open, frozen in mid-word. “Connor is MY Son, and Wesley is My Friend. And I will be seeing them as often as I want. They would be staying here-“

“Hell no!” This interruption came from Gunn with a simultaneous “No!” from Fred and a “No Way, sweet cheeks!” from Lorne. Cordelia was still silent, just taking it all in.

“As I was saying,” Angel bit out between clenched teeth. “They would be staying here, but they’re not ready for it and neither am I. I tried to jump start a perfect relationship with Connor without knowing who he is or how he’d changed. And living in a hell dimension does change you. I kept thinking he was that little baby who loved me unconditionally, but he’s not. And Wesley’s actions led to one of the most painful moments in my life. They both screwed up. I can’t forget that.” He looked towards Connor and Wesley. “But I can forgive it.” Connor gave a small smile, and Wesley still had a serious expression on his face but Angel could see in his eyes he appreciated everything Angel had said so far. “So, I will be working with them. And I won’t ignore them because of you.” Angel looked at Fred, Gunn, and Lorne in turn. “You don’t have to like it, but you will be civil.” This was said with a determined stare. “And you will ignore your feelings while there’s a job to be done. Our work is more important than holding a grudge. If you’re going to hold their mistakes against them then you might as well hold all of mine against me too and I’ve had hundreds of years to make some really big ones.” The hotel was silent. Angel finished his glass of blood. He turned toward Connor and Wesley. “I’ll see you guys tomorrow.” They nodded and left. Angel looked back toward the group. “I’m going to go take a long shower now. Goodnight.”

Fred, Gunn, and Lorne watched him leave and turned to Cordy to see what she thought of all this. She dismissed the discussion with a wave of her hand. “I don’t want to talk about it,” she said. Cordelia headed to her room. She had a lot to think about.

*

Cordelia spent the night trying to wrap her mind around the concept that the baby she had helped take care of, the one she had fed, and changed diapers, and sung to sleep, was the same person who had shoved Angel into a box and left him on the bottom of the ocean. Then he had just come home and went on like nothing had ever happened. Connor had spent the summer being so nice, wanting to get to know them, to learn about Angel and this new world. He had even helped search for Angel! Cordelia felt so betrayed. She could only imagine what Angel felt, but she imagined she was feeling a little of the same. She felt like her own son had betrayed her, and then lied about it. It was hard to tell if any of the things he had told her that summer were real. It felt like he had rejected all that she and the rest of them had tried to offer him. Just taken their hearts and stomped on them without caring of the damage he caused. She was so hurt and angry! And even more so on Angel’s behalf.

Angel who had thought he could never have children. Angel who had been so excited about being a father, and sharing all that he knew with his son. Angel so excited about spending time together and fighting demons with Connor when he came back from Quortoth. Angel who had bought all of those baby toys and clothes he never got to see Connor wear or play with. Angel, who had felt so blessed when Connor was born. And so very heartbroken when he was handed over to Angel’s worst enemy and condemned to a hell dimension.

Yet, Angel had welcomed Connor and Wesley back once more. Not even caring about the damage they had done. The horrible fate Connor had left Angel too. And the gaping wounds they had both created on Angel’s and the gang’s hearts. Cordelia couldn’t comprehend it. Why was Angel so trusting? So willing to hand his heart back to Connor and Wesley to break again. It wasn’t right. Sometimes you had to stand up for yourself. You couldn’t always let people back in to hurt you, no matter how much they said they’ve changed. Had she let Xander just waltz all over heart after he had cheated on her with Willow? No! She had stood firm and took care of herself. That was what you had to do sometimes.

But, maybe Angel was right. People make mistakes. She may have cared for Xander, but she knew his heart wasn’t completely hers. So maybe just a tiny little bit of the blame in that situation fell to her and the way she had treated him. Angel had kicked them all out for a time when Darla was back before he slept with her. He had shut them out which was a stupid action on his part. But she had forgiven him because he was her friend and she cared about him. She couldn’t blame him for wanting his friendship with Wes back or a real relationship with Connor if he could.

Angel was right everyone makes mistakes. Just look at the wish she had made back in Sunnydale to Anya wishing Buffy had never come. That one was a class A blunder. If she was going to blame Wesley for not coming to them with the prophecy and letting Holtz kidnap Connor, or Connor for sinking Angel to the bottom of the ocean then she might as well blame Angel for his mistakes, and herself for her own. Wasn’t forgiveness and redemption the whole point of Angel Investigations? How can you seek redemption or forgiveness if you’ve made no mistakes? Mistakes were what made them human. So she could forgive Wesley and Connor. But that doesn’t mean she wouldn’t be watching them closely. Because the second they stepped out of line and hurt Angel or anyone else, they would wish they could live to regret it. They didn’t call her Queen C for nothing.

“Ok, I’m ready to pick up Willow.” Buffy and Dawn looked up from their books to see Xander holding a big sign. They were researching the new nest of demons outside of town that had been attacking people. There weren’t any surviving victims to gather any details from. All victims had been eaten with only a stray head or bone left. Research had been moved to the Summers house while the Magic Box was being rebuilt. When it was finally done Buffy and Willow would be co-owners and Dawn would help out occasionally when needed. Giles had opted to stay in England and Anya was off somewhere granting wishes leaving the Magic Box to the remaining Scoobies in Sunnydale. They were trying to get a little more research done so they could take care of the demons before they had to pick up Willow from the airport. She was arriving home today after months spent in England recuperating from her end of the world attempt and learning magic the right way.

Buffy squinted at the sign. “Is that writing Xander?”

Xander grinned proudly. “Yep. It says Welcome Home Willow!”

Dawn stepped close and eyed the sign so she could verify that it did indeed say something. “You can hardly tell what it says. Is that? Xander, did you use a yellow crayon?”

“Yeah. You know, sort of a visual reminder of how much I love her.”

“Really,” Buffy asked skeptically. “And the fact that it’s a reminder of how you saved the world has nothing to do with it?”

Xander frowned. “No! It doesn’t! The yellow crayon was part of a wonderful speech about our friendship. And yeah, ok it did save the world but that has nothing to do with it!”

Buffy smiled. “I’m just kidding Xander. That was a beautiful and heroic thing you did. We’re all proud of you.”

Dawn gave Xander a hug. “Yep, it’s true.” She stepped back with a teasing look on her face. “But, if I hear one more time about how you saved the world…” She trailed off with a grin. “You stop one apocalypse, and we never hear the end of it.”

Xander got a superior look on his face. “I saved the world with talking from my mouth. My mouth saved the world. You could learn from me.”

Dawn reached for a notepad and pen off of the table. “Right, I should start taking notes of everything you say.” Her pen was poised above the paper ready to write. “Give me your gems of wisdom. I’m ready.” She suddenly got a sly look on her face. “Hey, Xan refresh my memory, what was that you said the other day about Buffy’s singing? That she could slay demons with her voice alone? I want to be sure I get everything you’ve said down. It could save the world someday.”

“Uh, um.” Xander got a panicked look on his face and slowly started backing away. “I didn’t say that!” He laughed nervously. Buffy had a dangerous look in her eyes. “Buffy, my friend, my best friend, the love of my life, you know I would never say that about your singing! I love your singing! It sounds great! Really!”

She didn’t look convinced. She matched him step for step. Desperate, Xander searched for something else to say that might save his life. “In fact, I would really love it if you sang for me right now.”

“Sure Xan, I have the perfect song to sing as I bury your body. What do you think of this?” She kept pace with his retreat while singing.

“Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na, Hey, hey, hey, Goodbye!”

Xander let out a high pitched, “Eep!” Dawn watched Buffy chase after him when he turned and ran. She walked back to the table and her research with a satisfied smile on her face. “That’ll teach you to keep me up all night with the sounds of you boinking my sister!” That was another thing that had changed around the Summers house. Xander and Buffy had started dating over the summer, which led to Xander moving in recently. This was good for Buffy and Xander, but their relationship tended to keep Dawn awake at nights. “I so can’t wait till I can move out.”

*

Willow’s welcome home was spent with everyone catching up. Calls to England were expensive and Internet time wasn’t always available so they had a lot they wanted to talk about that night. There were tears and apologies on all sides before they got down to serious celebrating. The Summers house was a noisy one that night. The neighbors just sighed in resignation. They had gotten used to strange and loud noises at all hours of the day or night at the Summers household, not to mention the weird occurrences.

The next morning they were all gathered in the kitchen. Buffy was making pancakes, Willow was emailing Giles on her laptop, Xander was reviewing plans for work later that day, and Dawn was reading the paper.

“Hey guys, the obits are longer than normal today.”

Buffy looked up from the skillet. “What do you mean?”

“Well instead of the usual 10 or so pages there’s 20.”

“And so it begins.” Xander started putting away his plans. This was more important. “Is there anything else in the paper?”

Dawn reached for the main section. She had gotten in the habit of checking the obituaries first for potential problems instead of starting with section A like normal people. “There is. It says gangs on PCP are now making break-ins to people’s homes at night now. In addition to the usual safety measures when leaving the home people are urged to upgrade their home security.”

Willow looked up concerned. “They’re breaking in now? How is that possible? They’re supposed to need invitations!”

Buffy turned off the heat on the stove, and quickly transferred the now done pancakes to a platter that she set on the table. “Dawn does it say how they’re getting in?”

Everyone was now intensely focused on Dawn and what she was saying. “No, it says police are baffled.”

Xander interrupted. “Well that’s nothing new, when aren’t the police baffled?”

Dawn continued. “Sunnydale residents have reported massive numbers of break-ins in the last two days. Sixty people alone were killed on Tuesday night, police Chief Stevens informed the press this morning.”

This time it was Buffy who interrupted. “How did we not notice that?”

“Ah, Buff Tuesday was the night the Chaos demons were looting and making one big slimy mess,” Xander reminded her.

“Oh yeah,” Buffy made a disgusted face. “I had to take five showers that night just to get rid of all the slime.”

“Oh, eww. Change of subject,” Willow called. “Dawn, finish the article!”

“A lone survivor when questioned revealed that the gang had jumped out of the closet and attacked unexpectedly. The victim and his family had been completely unaware of the gang’s presence in the house before the attack. The victim stated that a gang of six attacked and slaughtered his family that night. He is currently recovering in Sunnydale Memorial hospital where his status has been recently upgraded to critical. He had been left for dead and only the concern of a neighbor saved his life when they called an ambulance. People are urged to heighten their security to limit the possibility of gangs hiding inside and causing another round of attacks similar to those just seen.” Dawn finished and passed the paper to Willow when she reached for it.

“Six vampires hiding in a closet? Sounds like a bad joke to me.” Xander reached for the pancakes and loaded his plate, then held his hand out to Buffy for the syrup.

“I highly doubt they were actually hiding in a closet Xander.” She handed him the syrup and received a smile of thanks.

Dawn looked up and grinned. “Raises interesting questions of how they passed the time if they had, don’t you think?”

Buffy rolled her eyes. “What I want to know is how they got in without an invitation through a closet door.”

“Research?” Willow asked.

Buffy nodded. “Research.”

Dawn jumped up. “I’ll get the books.”

“No,” Buffy handed Dawn her backpack. “You’ve got school.”

“Rats.” Dawn took the bag. “You sure? This looks awfully important.”

“We can do this without you till you get home.”

Xander carried his empty plate to the sink. “I’ll give you a ride Dawn on my way to work.”

“Great,” Dawn said with a sigh. “I’ll see you later.” She and Xander left a few minutes later.


Part 2

The fang gang was gathered in the lobby the next morning. Angel was drinking blood and the rest were eating donuts in an uncomfortable silence. Angel cleared his throat. “So what’s been going on while I was gone?”

Fred hesitantly spoke up. “Well, there have been more vampire attacks lately.” She pulled out the coroner’s reports she had printed out. “The number of violent deaths has tripled in the last few days.” She passed the papers to Angel.

Gunn looked away from his glaring contest with Wesley and Connor. He didn’t know whom he was more pissed with at the moment. A warning glance from Angel reminded him to be civil. Gunn gave them both one last glare before contributing the information he knew to the discussion. “My old crew has been telling me that the vamps are turning as many of their victims as they can. All the homeless, the ho’s and the dealers are almost gone completely in some of the neighborhoods.”

Fred turned to Gunn with a hurt look. “Why haven’t you told us this yet?”

Gunn’s angry expression softened when he looked at Fred. “I hadn’t told anyone yet because I just found out yesterday when I went to check up on them. Then I got back and found out that Angel lost his mind.”

“Gunn,” Angel interrupted with a growl.

Gunn rolled his eyes. “Fine. Last night’s big sappy reunion pushed the thought from my mind. I didn’t remember I hadn’t told you till now.”

“Okay.” Fred smiled and reached for Gunn’s hand. She could feel how tense this whole situation was making him. He saw himself as a protector, and the fact that he hadn’t seen anything that indicated what Wes or Connor were going to do before really bothered him. It had messed up the group and caused a lot of heartbreak and Gunn blamed himself for not being able to stop it.

Angel ignored Gunn’s comment in favor of keeping the discussion on track. “Has anyone seen anything in the papers or on the news that could give us any clues?”

All around the group heads were shaking. Cordelia spoke with an even voice. “We were all pretty busy lately tracking down leads on where you were, none of us has been paying much attention to the news. We had Fred checking the Coroner’s reports frequently in case someone found you and you showed up in a morgue. That’s the only reason we’re aware of this now.”

Connor looked at his hands, still feeling guilty for what he had done. They may not be kicking him out, but it looked like they won’t be letting him forget either.

“Well we can fix that now.” Angel turned to Lorne who was sitting nearest the TV. “Would you turn on the news?”

“Sure thing Angel cakes.”

The TV was switched on and changed to the local news. They hit immediate pay dirt. They all focused on the female reporter. “Hi this is Amanda Carlton. If you’re just tuning in we’re reporting on the terrible tragedy that befell a group of 63 people last night. Relatives from all over the US in the Newton family gathered at the mansion of Timothy and Catherine Newton yesterday for a family reunion. All of them were discovered brutally murdered by one of the maids this morning. Police are not commenting on whether they have any suspects as of yet. However, a source told us this morning that while all of the victims were not killed in the same manner all were in fact drained of blood. The house showed no signs of forced entry and the security alarm was still engaged until the maid disarmed it upon her arrival. That’s all we have for now. We’ll keep you posted all day of the details in this breaking story as we get them. Back to you, Bob.”

They all looked away from the TV. “Well,” Angel said. “I can safely say that we have a problem.” He took a deep breath then rattled off orders. “Wesley, Fred, Cordelia I need you guys to get started on research. Find out if there’s any prophecies we need to be aware of and look for ways a vamp can get in without an invitation.” The three got up and immediately headed for the books. Next Angel turned to Gunn. “Gunn I need you to check with your contacts. Try to find out how many have been killed, who, where, and if there’s any common thread linking the victims. A link might be a stretch. It looks like they’re going for quantity instead of quality but check anyway.” Gunn got up and headed out the door. “Lorne, I need you to check with all the demons you know. See if any of them have been bragging or knows what’s going down. If you need to get one of them to sing for you, try and find out as much as you can.” Lorne nodded.

“Connor and I will hit my contacts. We’ll be back in a few hours and regroup to see what everyone’s learned. If you need me call my cell. Come on Connor. Let’s get dangerous.”

Connor looked up in surprise. “I didn’t know you watched Darkwing Duck.”

Angel smiled and put his hand on Connor’s shoulder. Their voices trailed behind them. “There’s a lot you don’t know about me son. Did I ever tell you about the time I attended the wedding of Elvis and Priscilla?”

*

They got together again three hours later. Angel and Connor sat at the table with a sigh.

“Nothing much huh?” Fred had a sympathetic look on her face.

“The most we could find out is that somebody’s recruiting for a big showdown somewhere off-world with Earth as the spoils if they win. No one could tell me who was in charge or where this battle would be taking place. Did you guys find anything?”

Lorne shut the book he had been reading. “I found out much the same as you. I got some of the guys to sing. All I could read was that the person in charge is chock full of evil genes. Couldn’t tell you who it is though. Everyone says they only heard him, never saw him. It’s as if he was invisible.”

Angel turned to Wes with a questioning look on his face. “Wes? Anything?”

Wesley let out a frustrated sigh. “So far all I’ve been able to ascertain is that the Turok-Han were the only vampires able to enter without an invitation.”

Connor was surprised. “There’s more than one type of vampire?”

“Not any more. The Turok-Han were actually vampires’ ancestors. They came here from another dimension, though where from has been lost to history. They were eventually killed off from this one, but not before some evolved into the vampire we typically see today which by the way should not be able to enter without invitations. That ability was lost during evolution.”

“Well it’s a start,” Angel stated. “Cordelia, any visions?”

“Nary a one,” she replied. “You’d think with something this big going on the PTB’s would get off their fat, lazy butts and-“ Cordelia suddenly stopped mid-sentence and her hands went to either side of her head.

Five voices shouted simultaneously, “Cordy!”

“I think she’s having a vision,” Wesley stated.

Gunn shot him a disgusted glare. “No kidding Einstein.”

Everyone relaxed back into their chairs and waited for Cordelia to let them know what she had seen. After a few minutes Cordelia lowered her hands and took a few deep breaths before glaring at the ceiling. “It’s not supposed to hurt anymore you retards! Jeez you call someone fat and lazy just once and they go all Mistress of Pain on you.”

Angel looked at her concerned. “You all right Cordy?”

“Yeah, I’m fine; the pain’s a one-time thing. Someone’s just a little oversensitive much.” This was said with another glare directed at the ceiling. “But I could use a painkiller.” Fred got up and went in search of one. She returned quickly with a pill and a bottle of water. “Thanks Fred.” Cordelia quickly took the pill. “Ok here’s the deal. The vision says that we and the gang in Sunnydale are supposed to be in Monstropolis fighting the big vampire army that’s being built. If we don’t win, the vamps are going to keep getting in without invites and turn the world into a bloodbath big enough to drown millions of cute little rubber duckies.”

Lorne grimaced. “Thanks for the visual kid. You’ve totally ruined bath time for me now.” He didn’t notice the strange looks this garnered him. The same thought was running through everyone’s mind. Lorne has a rubber ducky?

“Ok, gang.” Angel stood up and rubbed his hands together. “New game plan. I’ll call Sunnydale and let them know they’re needed. Then we’ll get to work on this Monstropolis. We need to find out how to get there.”

Angel left the room to make the call while everyone pulled out more books but Cordy. Cordy was sitting in her chair, staring off into space remembering the last time she had been to Monstropolis.

Angel came back a few minutes later and informed them that Buffy, Xander, Willow, and Dawn would be there in a few hours after they packed and informed Dawn’s school she would be on vacation for two weeks. They’d be bringing their own books to help with the research and would pack enough to stay a couple weeks. No one knew how long this would take. Everyone went back to research and no one noticed how little Cordy turned the pages or the small smile on her face that didn’t fit with what she was looking at.

*

“Thanks Phil for letting us know, what’s going on.” Sully calmly showed Phil out of his office. Sully was the head of Monsters Inc. the foremost energy source of Monstropolis a big city that was home to many monsters. The city needed a lot of power to run. Unlike the human world, which used electricity, monsters used laughter. Children’s laughter to be exact. It hadn’t always been that way though. Monsters Inc. had used children’s shrieks of terror in the past to fuel their businesses. This practice had given rise to children everywhere being afraid of the monster under their bed or hiding in the closet.

It had only been during Boo’s accidental visit to Monstropolis that Sully had discovered the power of laughter. Boo. The thought of her always brought a smile to Sully’s face. He knew now that Boo was not her real name. He had kept in touch with her over the years. Her name was Cordelia, and nowadays she was a part demon seer who worked for a vampire in LA. But to Sully, she would always be his Boo who had taught him that scary packages didn’t always mean scary things. Before Boo, Sully had been afraid of humans. But she had taught him how fun they could be and how wonderful the sound of their laughter could be. In more ways than one. Sully’s discovery of the power benefits of laughter had made him one of the most famous Monsters in Monstropolis. He had even been named Monster’s magazine’s sexiest bachelor. Those things Boo had brought him weren’t what made him so fond of her though. It was the excited way she always called him Kitty when she first saw him, her sense of humor, and the fun times he had with her. There were different pictures of her scattered around his home and his office. He still had the picture she had drawn of them together the last time she was here. It was currently hanging on the wall in his office in a frame he had made for it.

Mike’s voice called him back to the present. “How can you be so calm Sully?” Mike was wringing his hands together and his one eye was twitching.

Sully immediately tried to head off the panic train at the beginning. “This is not the time to panic Mike.”

“Are you kidding?!” Mike lunged out his seat and threw his hands up into the air. “This is the perfect time to panic.”

“Now just calm down. We need to think calmly and rationally about this.” Sully steered Mike back to his chair. He poured him a drink and handed it to Mike. “Here drink this.”

Mike knocked it back in one swallow. “Hit me again, barkeep. I say screw rational thinking! Let’s get really drunk and flee the city.”

Sully rolled his eyes. “We can’t flee the city Mike. We need to stay here and fight.”

Mike gave Sully a wary glance. “Are you feeling okay? Cause I’ve only got one eye and even I can see we’re doomed!” Mike’s voice was rising again.

Sully poured Mike another drink. “We’re not doomed.”

“Did you hear what Phil said? Randall is building an army of vamps to take over the city and kill you!” Mike waved his drink to emphasize the danger of the situation. Some of it sloshed onto the floor. Sully eyed the mess with a mournful expression. That’s not coming out of the carpet. That bottle cost me 5oo dollars an ounce too. “He’s stolen our portal technology and built a facility for himself so he can recruit even more vamps and you say we’re not doomed? Were you even listening? How are we going to fight? We’re not vampire hunters! The Turok-Han were driven out ages ago. We don’t know anyone who can kill vampires!”

“Yes we do,” Sully interrupted.

“Who?” Mike had a suspicious look on his face now. He doubted Sully could produce anyone.

Sully said one word in reply. “Boo.”

“Boo who?”

“Quit crying, I told you. Boo.” Sully had a big smile on his face now, proud of his little pun.

Mike rolled his eyes. “Good grief. Let me rephrase that.” He took a deep breath then yelled at the top of his lungs, “Who the heck is Boo?”

“Jeez you don’t have to yell. Boo’s Cordelia.” He waved his hand at the picture on his wall. “That’s Boo. Remember now?”

“Oh!” Mike nodded slowly in dawning recollection. “Did you know I got 13 awards for Put That Thing Back Where It Came From or So Help Me?”

“I know.” Sully knew that all 13 of those awards were sitting on shelves in the office across the hall from his. “I’ll go see Cordelia tomorrow and find out if she and her friends can help us. Try not to worry about it Mike.”

Mike sighed. “I make no promises.”

*

Buffy, Xander, Dawn, and Willow showed up at the Hyperion at six that night. Willow gave Angel a grateful smile when he grabbed some of her bags. “Thanks Angel,” Willow said. “Sorry we’re late but Buffy couldn’t find her favorite sword, then Xander said he had forgotten his favorite axe and we absolutely had to go back and get it 30 minutes into the trip.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Angel set the bags beside the desk.

Dawn came in next with a towering stack of books and one bag hanging on each shoulder. The hilt of a sword strapped to her back was visible above her head. Connor rushed to help. He took the stack of books, saw her face and was immediately headed on the last train to blush-ville. “Hi.”

She smiled at him. “Thanks.” She adjusted the straps on her shoulders which had started to slip when her hands were too full of books. “I’m Dawn.”

“Co-Connor,” he stammered out. Dawn walked over to the desk to put her bags with Willow’s and Connor followed.

“Nice to meet you.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Are those the books?” Wesley’s voice brought Connor out of his girl-induced haze.

“Uh yeah.” Connor brought the books over to the table.

Buffy and Xander came in together arguing. “How come I have to carry the bags? You’re the one with Slayer strength!”

“But you’re the guy. You have to carry the bags. It’s like an unwritten rule.”

“Uh-huh,” said Xander not convinced.

“When a guy carries the bags, he gets to look all manly and sexy.”

“Now you’re just stroking my ego so I’ll quit arguing.”

She agreed, unrepentant. “Did it work?”

“Yeah.” He gave her that goofy grin that always melted her insides.

She gave him a big smile in return then grabbed some of the bags he was carrying. “I’ll take those.” She gave him a quick kiss on the lips and walked off to deposit the bags with the rest.

“Well that’s new.” Cordy turned to Dawn with a questioning look after she sat in the chair next to Connor. “When did those two get together?”

Dawn turned around to see whom she was talking about. “Oh. That happened about halfway through summer. They’ve been shagging like bunnies ever since.”

“Dawn! I heard that.”

Dawn just rolled her eyes at Buffy. “It’s the truth, and you’re not fooling anybody about your sex life.”

Xander joined them at the table with a pained expression on his face. “Dawn, could you please not use the words shagging or bunnies? It brings up unpleasant memories.”

Now it was Lorne who made a face. “I don’t even want to know what that story is about. Let’s keep this discussion pg-13.”

A simultaneous ew was heard around the table. “Get your minds out of the gutter,” Dawn said. “What Xander means in his totally un-animal shagging way is that the word bunnies brings up reminders of Anya who Xander would not like to think about now that she can bring vengeance down on him. And the word shagging brings up reminders of Spike whom neither Buffy or Xander would like to think about since the word was a big part of his vocabulary when he was boinking Buffy. Not to mention Spike and Anya shagged, I mean boinked, each other on top of the table in the Magic Box. Thus ends our recap of As The Hellmouth Burns.”

“Huh,” said Cordy. “Looks like I got out of Sunnydale just in time.”

Angel stood up and cleared his throat getting everyone’s attention. “Ok, here’s a recap of what we know so far. 1, vampires are entering homes without invitations here in LA and so Buffy tells me in Sunnydale too. 2, the only vampire who ever had the ability to do this was the Turok-Han who came here from another dimension but have all died out. 3, the vampires are recruiting an army for someone in another dimension. If the army wins, they get earth and keep the ability to enter without invites however they’re doing it. 4, we have no idea who the demon in charge is except that he appears invisible. 5, Cordelia had a vision that all of us are in someplace called Monstropolis fighting these vampires. That’s where we need to start our research, since none of us knows where it is.” Angel sat back down.

Cordelia’s next words shocked them all. “Actually I do. I’ve been there before.”

Questions were shouted at her from all sides.

“What? When?”

“Why didn’t you mention this before?”

“How did you get there?”

“Why were you there?”

“Where is it?”

“You knew and you waited till now to tell us?”

Cordelia held up her hands to stop the flow of questions. “Guys.” The shouting continued. “Guys.” Cordelia took a deep breath and projected her voice. “I said be quiet!” She smiled proudly on the inside and thought those acting lessons finally paid off.

“I didn’t say anything before because I was waiting till everyone was here. This way I only need to tell this once.”

“Monstropolis is a city in a whole other world filled with monsters. It isn’t run on electricity, they actually use children’s laughter to power everything now. They did use children’s fear in the past but that changed after I arrived. So many good things happen after I arrive.”

Buffy made sure the exasperation she felt didn’t show. Typical Cordy, she thought.

“Yes but how did you get there?” Wesley wished she would get to the important part of the explanation.

“I’m getting to that, Wesley. Anyway when I was 6 this monster came out of my closet and scared me to death.”

“Ha! I knew it!” Dawn turned to Buffy with a smug smile on her face. “I told you there were monsters in my closet, but you wouldn’t believe me. You were all, ‘I’m older. I know everything. There’s no such thing as monsters.’ The truth comes out.”

“Dawnie, technically I was right since you didn’t really exist until a few years ago.”

Dawn waved this unwelcome fact away. “Doesn’t matter if I was really here or not. The fact is that monsters really do exist.”

“That seems just a little ridiculous.”

Dawn looked at Buffy incredulously. “You can say that after being a slayer, dating two vampires, seeing the whole town’s nightmares made real, watching the mayor turn into a giant snake, having a key for a sister, being enthralled by Dracula, and coming back from the dead twice. Need I go on?”

Buffy looked a little sheepish by the end of this recital. “Sorry Cordy. Monsters are real. Go on.”

“Where was I? Oh yeah so this monster comes out of my closet and scares me to death. I screamed bloody murder and hid under the bed while the monster left. Ten minutes later this cute, giant blue kitty comes in and takes a look around. He starts to leave and I followed him.”

Wesley interrupted again. “Why on earth did you do that Cordelia? You could have gotten hurt.”

“I was six and I wanted to play with the kitty. Anyway, I went through the door and ended up in Monsters Inc. That’s the place that provides power for Monstropolis. Kitty and Mike-“

“Mike who?” This time it was Angel who interrupted.

“Mike Wazowski. He’s another monster. You know this would go a lot faster without interruptions,” she said exasperatedly. “Anyway, monsters are scared of humans in Monstropolis. They think we’ve got cooties or something. Mike and Kitty tried to get me home without getting caught but it turned into this whole big thing where monsters were trying to kill us so they had to hide me and figure out what was going on. Eventually we got the whole thing straightened out. Listening to me laugh while I was there Kitty figured out that a child’s laughter has more power than a shriek of terror and solved the energy crisis.”

‘Sorry to interrupt Cordy,” Xander stated, “but what energy crisis?”

“Oh, kids were getting desensitized what with TV and video games so they were getting harder to scare, which inevitably caused lower power reserves.”

“Ah.” Xander nodded his head. “Perfectly logical.”

“Anyway, long story short I got to go back home, the power crisis was solved, and the bad monsters were carted off to jail. An all around win situation.”

Angel voiced the question he had been thinking since Cordy started her explanation. “Can you go back?”

“No, the portal has to be opened on their end and they’re the only ones who can open it on this side.” Everyone looked disappointed. “But Kitty visits regularly. He’s about due for another visit anyway. I’ll mention the problem the next time I see him and find out if he knows anything.”

“Ok,” Angel stated. “In the meantime we should still try to find out as much as we can about Monstropolis and who from there might be recruiting while we wait for Cordy’s friend to visit.”

Part 3

“Here’s your room,” Connor said.

Dawn followed him in and looked around. The room was pretty simple. It had a single bed, a desk and chair, an armoire and dresser, and a bathroom to the left. There was a picture hanging over the bed of a bowl of flowers. It looked like a typical hotel room. “This is good. Thanks for showing me around.”

Connor hesitated in the doorway. “I wanted to ask you something.”

Dawn looked back at him in surprise. “Ah, so it wasn’t a completely altruistic gesture.”

Connor blushed. “Um, no. What did Buffy mean when she said you didn’t even exist until a few years ago? Were you in another dimension too?”

“We’d better sit down, this is a long story.” Connor grabbed the chair and set it facing Dawn who sat on the bed with her legs folded indian style. “Until a few years ago I was just a big glowy ball of energy some monks were protecting.” She glanced at Connor to see how he was taking this. He just looked intrigued and nodded for her to continue. “There was this hell goddess who was after me, so the monks made me a human and sent me to the Slayer for protection.”

“Why was a hell goddess after you?”

“Because I’m a key. I can open doors between dimensions. Glory, that’s the hell beast, wanted to use me in this ritual to get home that would destroy the barriers between all dimensions. She kidnapped me and everyone tried to stop the ritual but it was too late. My blood had opened the portal and only my blood could close it.” She looked down. This was the hardest part to talk about. “That’s how Buffy died the second time. The monks made me from her. We share the same blood. She,” Dawn paused and fought back the tears that still came. She knew Buffy was back, but she still felt terrible about it. And it wasn’t like Buffy was only gone a few minutes like she had been when the Master killed her. No, Buffy had been gone for months. Horrible months where Dawn was all alone, the last surviving Summers, trying to go on along with the rest of the Scooby Gang. None of them had fared well emotionally without Buffy. She had been their linchpin and without her things fell apart.

“What. She what?” Connor’s voice called her back from the memories of those terrible months.

“She jumped off the tower into the portal and died,” Dawn said quietly.

“But, she’s back. How is that possible?” Connor stated.

Dawn sighed. “Willow brought her back with magic but at a terrible price. Buffy was ripped out of heaven, and the magic got out of Willow’s control after that.”

Magic. He hated magic and this just supported his dislike. He’d rather not talk about magic. Connor went back to his original question. “So, you didn’t exist until a few years ago because you’re a key?”

“Yep.”

“So you’re not entirely natural, not normal?”

Dawn’s face froze with hurt. She had struggled with herself ever since she found out she was a key, wondering if she was real, and if she had a soul that could go to heaven with her Mom and Buffy. She wasn’t born. She was created. For all she knew, after Dawn died she might just cease to exist. She might become a glowy ball of energy again. To hear him, someone she had trusted with her story, say that she was unnatural hurt. So much for getting along with the only other person here near her age.

Connor grinned. “That’s great!”

Dawn blinked. “Huh? What did you say?”

“I said that’s great. I’m not completely natural either!” Connor had a grin on his face at her dumbfounded expression. “You know Angel’s my dad right?”

“Yeah,” she slowly nodded. “I don’t know how that’s possible or who your mom is, but everyone said you’re human. Just because Angel’s your dad doesn’t make you unnatural.”

For the first time in his life Connor didn’t hate the moniker Holtz had bestowed on him as a kid. He would gladly call himself unnatural since it gave him a common bond with Dawn. For once, Connor wasn’t the only person who didn’t seem to belong to this world but was here nonetheless. It was a good feeling to finally have something in common with someone else. “But I’m not completely human,” Connor replied. “I’m the son of two vampires. I’ve got the strength, the speed, and the extra senses of a vampire.” Connor raised his finger in emphasis. “And, technically I wasn’t born either,” Connor said happy to prove his point. “Darla had to stake herself, and I was left in the ashes.”

Dawn uncrossed her legs and set her feet on the floor before leaning forward. “Wait a minute! Darla’s your mother?” she asked incredulously.

Connor leaned forward too. “Yes. And until a year ago I was living in another dimension completely. I was kidnapped by Holtz as a baby and raised by him in Quortoth, a hell dimension.”

Dawn’s eyes widened. “Okay you win. You beat me hands down for the weirdest life.” She smiled at him and he smiled back. It was then that she realized just how close they were. She could actually see her reflection in his eyes. He had the most beautiful blue eyes. Her heart skipped a beat and she knew he had to be aware of it. He inched loser, and her eyes dropped to his lips. She couldn’t believe this. Her first kiss was a vampire, and now she was going to kiss the son of a vampire. I don’t think the monks knew what they were doing. They’ve given me a little of Buffy’s weird taste in men. That was her last thought before their lips met.

*

Fred and Gunn lay in bed that night talking. Fred was snuggled close with her head on his chest and one of his arms around her. Gunn’s other hand was running his fingers through Fred’s hair. “So what do you think? Fred asked.

“About what?” Gunn replied.

“What Cordy told us. About this Monstropolis. Is it just me, or are we doomed never to stay in this dimension for very long?”

“I think it’s just you Fred.”

“I’m not so sure. Angel said he was once sent to a hell dimension, Connor was in Quortoth, all of us but Connor have been to Pylea, and now this Monstropolis. Why can’t the end of the world happen in LA? Granted it’s smog filled, crime ridden, and full of other demons but you’d think that would be a plus! All the comforts of home.”

Gunn chuckled. “I suppose it does seem like it should be a vacationing demon’s paradise. We should tell the vampires to bring it up at their next End of the World committee meeting.”

Fred sighed. “What if we can’t stop it this time?” Fred hesitantly asked.

“We’ll stop it. We’ve got some of the best people on our side.”

Fred lifted her head so she could look into his eyes and see his reaction. “Even Wesley and Connor?”

Gunn’s face radiated irritation. “Sure, if they don’t sell us out to the other side first.”

Fred cursed her ability to see past what they did and to how they were needed for the greater good. It had kept her awake last night after the big fight when Wesley and Connor had shown up with Angel. Fighting evil really sucked sometimes. This wasn’t going to be easy. She took a deep breath. “Maybe you should try to forgive them.”

Gunn gave her an incredulous look. “Forgive them? Fred, they betrayed us!”

They sure did Fred thought. Her vengeful inner Fred helpfully reminded her of the pictures she had painted in her mind last night of ways for them to pay for it slowly and painfully. Unfortunately, another little voice also pointed out how much they were needed and the consequences that could happen if they didn’t help. Well that shut up vengeful inner Fred. Damn conscience. “I know Charles. I know. But it was one mistake. Surely you won’t hold that against them?”

“Yes I will!” Gunn insisted. “Watch me. This isn’t like forgetting to turn the coffee maker off and busting the pot. Or putting a red shirt in the load with whites Fred. This was way bigger than one mistake.”

I know it Fred thought. She smoothed her hand over his chest trying to calm him down enough to listen. “Some people’s mistakes just happen to be bigger than others. Charles, Wesley thought he was helping. All his training told him that the prophecy was genuine. And Wolfram and Hart manipulated events to make it look true. With all those signs,” at his look she rephrased herself. “With all those false signs pointing to the same thing he thought he was saving Connor from Angel and Angel from doing something he’d regret.”

“He should have come to us,” Gunn bit out angrily.

“You’re right,” Fred agreed. “He should have come to us. Because our strength is in working together and that’s why we need to work with Wesley.”

“Fine,” Gunn agreed. “I’ll work with Wesley.”

“Good,” Fred stated. “Connor too?”

“That’s asking a bit much don’t you think Fred?”

“I know what he did was wrong. I’m pissed about it too. He lied to us and tried to kill Angel.” Vengeful inner Fred piped up about the fun to be had with tasers, spikes, honey, and fire ants before rational Fred tied and gagged her.

“Damn right he did, the little punk!”

“Stop a minute Charles and listen. Please.”

Gunn looked at the pleading expression on her face and gave in. “Fine.”

“Just put yourself in his shoes for a minute.”

“It’ll be a bit hard since I’m not a lying murdering brat,” Gunn grumbled. Fred gave him a determined expression. “All right, all right.” Gunn sighed. The things he did for Fred.

Fred smiled at him thankful he was listening. “Okay,” she started. “You’ve lived in a hell dimension for as long as you can remember. One of the worst hell dimensions!” she reminded him. “Your only role model is Holtz, a fanatic who only sees you as a weapon in his vengeful war with Angel. But you don’t know that. To you he is your father and teacher. You’ve been taught that Angel is one of the worst vampires who ever lived, and the soul is a deception to keep you from killing him. Then you come to this dimension, and it’s so different to anything you know. Everyone is telling you how good Angel is after years of being told he’s a murdering demon and a deceiver. Then you find a scene set to make you think Angel killed your father. You think Angel has just killed the only person who took care of you and mattered to you. What do you do?”

Gunn looked like the next words tasted sour in his mouth but he said, “I’d go after Angel and kill him.”

Fred hugged him. She was making progress. “It was awful what Connor did. It was deceitful. He kept us from finding Angel. He pretended he was as concerned about Angel as we were. But living with us exposed him to the truth. He realized how wrong he was, and he brought Angel back to us.”

“Angel wouldn’t be here now if he hadn’t,” she pointed out. “He knows he did a terrible thing, but he’s trying to atone. He can be a big help to us Charles.”

Gunn sighed. “I suppose I can work with him. But that boy better not step out of line again or I’ll give him the royal smackdown. I’ll be watching him.”

Fred gave a sigh of relief and lay back down. “Thank you, Charles.”

Gunn kissed the top of her head. “You’re welcome Fred. I know you don’t want to do this, working with them either.” Fred blinked in surprise. “But, if you’re going to think of the greater good I can do no less. Goodnight Fred.”

Huh, Fred thought. He knows me better than I think. She grinned. “Goodnight Charles.”

*

Cordelia followed Angel into his room. They had gotten everyone settled for the night. Cordelia had shown Buffy and Xander where they could stay while Angel had taken Willow. Strangely Connor had volunteered to show Dawn to her room before he left with Wesley who was doing last minute research. It seemed Wesley had missed the books and now that he had access again he was reluctant to give it up. That had brought no argument from Connor. There was something going on there. She hoped it wouldn’t be a repeat of the Buffy and Angel show. That had been hard enough to get through the first time. Thankfully no one could say that Connor and Dawn were clones of Angel and Buffy so maybe things would be alright. She’d still keep an eye on things though. Connor may be trying to change, but Cordelia didn’t think he was ready for a relationship.

Cordelia and Angel settled into their usual seats for late night discussions. “How come you never mentioned your friends before? Or introduced them to me?” Angel asked.

“Hold up there mister.” Cordelia knew that look. She could recognize the beginnings of a good brood when she saw one. “It’s none of the things you’re thinking. I’m not ashamed of you. You’re one of the most important people in my life Angel and I want you to meet them. I wasn’t keeping things from you. There wasn’t a good time to tell you before.”

“I never said anything in Sunnydale for a good reason. You and I weren’t close. That didn’t happen till I moved to LA. No one in Sunnydale would have believed me if I had said anything. Be honest would you have believed me or even cared?”

“No.” The broody expression was lifting.

“That’s right. Your head was filled with Buffy and that’s ok. I lost touch with my friends a couple times when I moved. Then things were so crazy with Darla messing with your head, Connor being born and kidnapped, and then you were at the bottom of the ocean and out of reach. There wasn’t a good time. It’s time now though. I can’t wait for them to meet you. You’re my best friend, Angel. Closer than that even.”

The broody face was completely gone now, but it was quickly replaced with an intense one that flustered Cordelia. “How close, Cordy?”

“Uh…”

Angel got up then took Cordelia’s hands and lifted her out of her chair. “You know we never got to have our conversation that night.”

“No. No we didn’t.” She searched his eyes wondering where he was going with this.

“You said it Cordy. It’s time. I think we should have it now.”

“Ok,” she agreed. Was he going to say what she hoped he would? She had been waiting a long time for this conversation. It was funny how she couldn’t remember any of the words she had rehearsed now when she needed them. She was so nervous.

Angel looked down at their hands for a moment and Cordy looked down too. She watched him rub his thumbs over her hands. The action calmed Cordy. This was still Angel. She looked back up at him. He was waiting for it. “I agree that you’re closer than my best friend Cordy. I’d have to say that you’re so close it feels like you’re a part of me.”

He was saying it! He was saying it! Cordy’s stomach flipped and every sense was focused on him. Keep going Angel, she thought.

“I love you.”

He said it! Cordelia now had a huge grin on her face. Angel matched it a minute later when she said, “I love you too, Angel.”

Part 4

Everyone was gathered together in the lobby going through the books for any mention of Monstropolis, and any baddies who lived there. They wanted to be prepared for anything they might face. Lorne was on the phone calling more contacts while Dawn and Connor eavesdropped.

“No, Monstropolis.”

“No, I don’t mean Metropolis.” He rolled his eyes. “I know the name sounds ridiculous.” He sighed. “I promise I’m not joking with you. Do I look like a kidder?” Lorne frowned. “That was rhetorical. And I never mentioned those extra eyes you have waving about your head.”

“No, I’m not making fun of you.” Connor and Dawn watched Lorne reach down and cover his ass with a grimace. “Now that’s not nice. Yes, I do like my heart where it is thank you very much!” There was a short pause in the conversation then Lorne asked, “Well keep your eyes open for me? Any little bit helps.” He rolled his eyes again. “ No I wasn’t commenting on your extra ocular appendages again. It’s a form of speech!” Another pause. “Yeah, see you at the next Karaoke convention. Bye Frances.” Lorne hung up the phone and muttered, “Sensitive much?” He crossed another name off his list. “Well that was another no-go.” He sighed and picked up the phone to dial again. “Back into the fray.”

Dawn leaned over and whispered to Connor. “Why was Lorne holding his butt?”

Connor grinned and whispered back. “That’s where his heart is.”

“Oh.” Dawn tilted her head and studied Lorne’s butt. “Well that’s interesting.”

Buffy passed by with Willow carrying more books. “What’s interesting?” she asked absentmindedly. Willow was paying more attention and followed Dawn’s line of sight before she glanced away.

Willow waited till Buffy was out of earshot before leaning over and asking, “Dawnie, were you staring at Lorne’s ass?” She grinned when Dawn blushed.

“No, Well I mean yes,” she said flustered. “But, not for the reason you’re thinking. I swear!” Dawn lowered her voice, and glanced around to make sure no one else was listening. Luckily, no one was paying any attention to them. “Did you now his heart is located…” she trailed off embarrassed then finished determinedly, “in the caboose section of the train?”

“No!” Willow leaned back in surprise. “Really?” She also glanced around before asking with a wicked grin, “And how did you find out?”

“Willow!” Dawn’s raised voice got everyone’s attention. She blushed again, while Willow and Connor just laughed. When Dawn didn’t say anything else, everyone else went back to their research. “Connor told me.” She vehemently stated.

Willow looked askance at him. “And how did you find out?”

Connor rolled his eyes. “I can hear it. Extra senses,” he said tapping his ears.

“Oh.” Willow looked disappointed that it wasn’t anything more interesting than that. “Well here’s some more books to go through,” she said. She deposited a third of the stack she was holding in front of them before joining the rest of the adults at their end of the table. She set her load down and took a seat next to Wesley.

“Great, more books.” Connor reluctantly opened another one.

Dawn took another too. The room was silent again except for the sound of Lorne on the phone punctuated by a halfhearted request for another book now and then.

“Hi Estelle. How you doing kid?” Lorne, with fake cheer, began another phone call. “Listen do you know anyone who’s ever been to Monstropolis or is from there.” A short exasperated pause followed. “Yeah laugh it up. I’m serious.” Another pause followed. “Alright,” Lorne said disappointed. “Let me know if you hear anything.” He hung up the phone and crossed Estelle off his list. “Well that’s the last one. I’m out of contacts. Heck, I’m even out of friend of a friend of a friend’s contacts. I got nothing.”

“Don’t worry Lorne. Here have a book.” Fred passed Lorne a book after he took a seat at the table.

“Thanks Fred.” Lorne opened it up. “Is it just me or is the print getting smaller?”

Wesley looked up tiredly. “It’s not just you, Lorne.”

Willow slammed her book shut. “Too bad there’s not a spell to make reading easier.”

Connor and Angel suddenly looked up intent. “What?” Cordy said. “What’s going on?”

“Did you hear that?” Connor asked Angel.

“I sure did,” Angel replied.

They both got up slowly from the table. “It’s coming from the closet,” Connor said. He pulled out his stake and together, he and Angel walked quietly over to the closet in the far corner. Everyone else got up from the table as well and fanned out. Willow let her eyes go black, while Buffy and Gunn both grabbed swords just in case. Fred reached down under the table for her crossbow, and Wesley let his sword spring free from under his sleeve. Dawn and Xander both pulled out stakes, while Lorne edged far behind everyone else. Cordelia stepped next to Willow and started glowing. Everyone was ready. It wasn’t paranoia, if you had a reason.

Angel flung open the door and looked up. Way up.

“Nyah,” Xander yelled. “How the hell did that get in there?”

“That’s what I’d like to know,” Angel growled.

The giant, blue furry creature with horns and purple colored spots in his fur just sheepishly waved his fingers and said, “Hi.”

Cordelia gasped. “Kitty!” she shrieked.

The blue creature looked in her direction at the sound of her voice. His mouth spread wide showing lots of teeth. Connor and Angel both growled, but the creature paid no attention. In fact, he actually pushed them out of the way and yelled, “Boo!” His arms spread wide open as he came out of the closet. Everyone watched wide-eyed as Cordelia and the whatever it was ran towards each other laughing and smiling. Cordelia was pulled into a bear hug and spun in circles.

Angel looked up irritated from the floor. “What is going on here?”

Cordelia was slowly put down. She saw Angel and Connor on the floor. “What are you two doing down there?”

They both wore long-suffering expressions. “Having a siesta, Cordy. What do you think?” Angel said.

Connor irritably followed that up with, “We were knocked over by the brute over there.” He pointed at the blue giant.

“Kitty? Is that true?” Cordelia asked.

“Uh yeah. Sorry.” He held out his hands and helped Angel and Connor back up.

“Um, Cordelia,” Lorne hesitantly spoke, “ I don’t know if you’ve noticed this, but your friend there looks as far away from any kitty I’ve ever seen.”

“Oh, right.” Cordelia laughed. “I keep forgetting. That’s what I’ve called him since I was a kid. This is Sully.” She looked around and grinned excitedly at everyone. “He’s one of my friends from Monstropolis.”

A chorus of, “Oh, nice to meet you,” sounded around the room as everyone hurriedly dropped and put away or hid their weapons.

Cordelia took Sully’s hand. “Why don’t I introduce you to everyone. This is Connor and Angel.”

Angel and Connor shook hands a little reluctantly with Sully before Cordelia dragged him away to make the rounds. “I’ve heard a lot about you Angel,” Sully called over his shoulder. “You’re usually all she talks about.” Angel grinned foolishly at Cordelia and Connor shook his head at his dad’s love struck expression. Maybe he wasn’t so bad after all, Angel thought.

“This is Lorne. He’s from Pylea.” Lorne and Sully shook hands.

“Oh Really?” Sully looked at Cordelia. “Isn’t that where you…” he trailed off.

“Yup. And this is Fred.”

Fred smiled. “Hi, nice to meet you.”

“And Gunn,” Cordelia continued.

“Hey.” Gunn nodded.

“And Wesley. That makes up everyone from LA.”

“I’ve heard a lot about all of you.” Sully said.

Cordelia drew him over to the Sunnydale crowd. “These are my friends from Sunnydale. They came to help us with a problem. That’s Willow, Dawn, Buffy, and Xander.” Cordelia pointed at each of them in turn.

“Xander?” Sully asked. “The same Xander who broke your heart?” he said with eyes narrowed.

Xander laughed nervously. “I see my reputation precedes me. Are you still telling everyone that, Cordy?” He carefully edged behind Buffy.

“Yeah, this is him. But that’s water under the bridge. We’re just friends now.” Sully relaxed. If Cordy was okay with Xander then Sully would be too. “Besides my heart is being well taken care of.” She looked over her shoulder at Angel and smiled at him. “Come on Kitty, sit down.” She led him towards the table. “There’s something we need to talk about.”

Sully tentatively sat down on a chair, waiting to see if it would hold his weight. When it managed to stay together he spoke. “I’ve got something important to say to you too, Boo.”

“You first,” said Cordelia.

Sully took a deep breath. “I’ve come to ask for your help. Randall is trying to take over Monstropolis. And he’s recruited vampires to help him. Randall’s promised him this world if they help him.”

Cordelia and Angel exchanged looks. Was this their big bad? “Kitty, has he been sending vampires through the doors by any chance?”

Sully looked at her in surprise. “You already know about this?”

Cordelia shook her head. “Not who was behind it, but yes we knew about the rest of it.” She frowned. “Should have known that snake was behind this. I suppose he snuck out of jail. But how did he get past security to use the doors?”

“He didn’t,” Sully answered angrily. “He managed to recruit a couple of guys from work to duplicate the technology for him. A few days ago Phil came to us when Randall attempted to recruit him. We can’t take on vampires, monsters, and Randall by ourselves so Mike and I came to get you. We need your help.”

Cordelia laid her hand on his arm. “You’ve already got it. The PTB’s let us know what’s going on and we’ve just been looking for a way to get there.”

Sully sighed in relief. “Thank you, Boo.” He stood up. “Look I’ll go back, let Mike know you’re coming and arrange a place for you to stay.” Sully glanced around at everyone. “Will all of you be coming?” Everyone nodded or spoke in agreement. Sully clapped hi hands. “Alright. I’ll go arrange things, and give you all time to get ready. I’ll be back tonight to get you. That work for you guys?”

“That will be fine,” Cordelia said. “I’ll see you later.” She gave him a quick parting hug before Sully went back through the closet. Everyone then separated to get packed for the trip.

End Part 4