Author's Note: : This chapter has some spoilers for the episode 'Apocalypse, Nowish (aka Rain of Fire)'. But I messed with the time line a little, so the rest of the spoilers for that episode will be in the next chapter. Written - July 14, 2004 Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters, and I am not making any money from these stories. Warning: Non consensual disciplinary spanking of an adult by a parent.
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How it Should Have Been Chapter 6
Wesley woke up to see the sun shining in the bedroom window. He felt a movement beside him and turned to see Lilah stirring next to him. He felt the usual mix of happiness and shame at the sight of her. He pushed the shame away and smiled at her as he brushed the hair away from her face with his hand. She opened her eyes and smiled back at him. She said, "Morning lover."
Wesley kissed her and said, "Morning."
Lilah looked at the clock and said, "I've got to get ready. Mind if I use the shower?"
"Go ahead."
Lilah got up and walked into the bathroom picking up her clothes along the way. Wesley watched her and thought, 'She's really quite beautiful.'
Wesley heard the water start, and he lay there thinking about the night before. On the way home from Angel's hotel he had been thinking about Fred and wondering when she and Gunn were going to be coming home. He thought, 'They've been gone for three days now. I'm sure that means they've resolved their differences. I should be happy for them….I should be, but I can't be. Fred should be mine. Gunn isn't right for her. He never has been. He didn't help her find a way to kill the professor, I did. He didn't understand what she needed to do, I did. Why does she stay with him? What does she see in him?'
By the time he had arrived home, he was very depressed. He opened his apartment door, and saw Lilah sitting on his desk across the room. Since she had used him to get to Lorne, they hadn't slept together, and since that was what their relationship was based on Wesley didn't see the point of her being there.
Lilah said, "Hard day at the office?"
"I've had worse."
Wesley closed the door behind him and said, "What are you doing here?…..And why are you dressed like that?"
Wesley noticed that Lilah had her hair in two braided pig tales. He had never seen her in glasses before, but she was wearing them now. And her clothes were less provocative than usual. She looked like she should be in school. Lilah used a bad southern accent when she said, "Isn't this what you like? A big brain in a tight little…"
Wesley quickly realized Lilah was doing a bad imitation of Fred and interrupted her with "Lilah…"
But not wanting to be stopped yet, Lilah continued with the southern accent and interrupted Wesley with, "Forget that witch Lilah. Let's talk about me. I'm good and pure and science turns me on. And some day if I pray really hard, and eat all my veggies, I might just have hips."
Wesley smiled in spite of himself. He asked her quietly, "Are you quite finished?"
Lilah got off the desk and walked towards him. She said, "Did it turn you on to watch her up there in front of all those brainiacs?
Wesley tried to change the direction of the conversation with, "Her theories deserve attention."
Lilah wouldn't be dissuaded. "Just her theories?"
Lilah walked into Wesley's personal space and said, "I saw the way you looked at her."
Wesley looked away and tried to come up with a convincing way to deny it.
Lilah put her arms around Wesley's neck and said, "Oh come on, do you really think I care about your little crush? Moon over twig girl all you want. I know whose bed you'll be crawling into at the end of the day…"
Lilah kissed Wesley. She came up for air and said, "….or in the afternoon."
Wesley was getting turned on, but wanted to deny it. One side of him wanted to push Lilah out the door, but the other part wanted to pull her to the couch with him. He said, "You think you know me so well?"
Wesley looked at Lilah's face when she said, "Better than she ever will."
Wesley knew she was being completely honest with that sentence, and he knew it was true. Lilah did know more about his dark side than his other friends, and she lusted after him because of it. He thought about Fred and how she didn't love him, and he snapped. He pulled Lilah to him for a crushing possessive kiss. He pulled her with him to the couch still kissing. He sat and pulled her down to straddle his lap. He pushed her skirt all the way up, and started to unbutton his pants. Lilah was smiling with lust and victory as she pulled off the glasses. Wesley stilled and was deadly serious when he said, "Leave them on."
Lilah lost a little of her smile, but put the glasses back on and helped Wesley to get out of his pants.
Wesley's thoughts of last night were interrupted when he heard the water turn off in the bathroom. He rolled out of bed too and gathered up clothes. They had been together often enough to know each other's routines, so while Lilah was fixing her hair and brushing her teeth, Wesley showered. Soon they were both sipping coffee. Lilah looked at her watch and said, "I've got to go."
She put her coffee down and picked up her bag with yesterday's clothes in it. She went to Wesley and gave him a long kiss before going out the door.
Wesley shook his head and said to the empty room, "Not the worst way to start the day."
Wesley finished his coffee and headed to the hotel. When he walked through the front door, he could hear the faint muffled sounds of yelling and smacking. He had heard them before, and wondered what Connor had done this time. Then he saw Gunn standing at the counter reading the paper and drinking some coffee. Gunn looked up and said, "Hi Wes."
Wesley smiled and said, "Good to have you back."
The sounds of the spanking stopped, and both Gunn and Wesley looked in that general direction for a second. Wesley said, "Do you know what he did this time?"
"He snuck out of the hotel around seven this morning and just got back a few minutes ago. I'm not sure what he was doing while he was away, but from the sound of things, it wasn't something he should have been doing."
Wesley nodded and went to the kitchen to get his second cup of coffee for the day. He walked in to see Fred making some toast. She turned and smiled at him. His breath caught in his throat at the rush of feelings seeing her provoked in him. He thought about Lilah, and how her beauty paled in comparison to Fred's. He covered up his feelings as best he could, and smiled back and said, "It's good to see you. How was your trip?"
Fred said, "It was good."
Wesley was afraid to ask, but couldn't help himself. "So did you and Gunn….Are you….?"
"Okay now? Yes."
Wesley felt crushing disappointment, but smiled and said, "Glad to hear it."
He walked over to the coffeepot and poured himself some. He said, "How are you doing Fred? I haven't seen you since…."
Fred buttered the toast that had popped up and said, "Since I came to you looking for a way to kill the professor?"
"Yes."
Fred said, "I'm fine."
Wesley thought that sounded insincere, and tried to make eye contact with her when he said, "Really Fred?"
Fred stopped buttering and looked at Wesley when she said, "No, but…"
Gunn walked in, and both Fred and Wesley tried to look like they weren't having a serious talk. Gunn went to get some more coffee, and purposely stood between Fred and Wesley. Fred, hating the strained silence, said, "Our hotel room was very nice. We were on the fourth floor, and we had an amazing view of the ocean."
All three of them were glad when Angel walked in. Angel looked and felt tired. He said, "Hey Wes, glad you're here. I'll go into more detail later, but it turns out Connor has been going out to see a girl."
The room was silent for a few seconds and then Gunn said, "You mean like a girl….girl?"
"Yeah."
Fred said, "Well, that's…..nice."
Angel said, "I need a little more sleep, and Connor is already asleep. Could one of you wake us in two hours?"
Fred said, "Sure."
Angel said, "Thanks." And headed off to bed.
Fred, Wesley, and Gunn stood there for a few more seconds, and then Lorne came in. He said, "Morning kids. What's up?"
A couple hours later Connor was wolfing down some early lunch while Angel sipped some blood in the kitchen. When Connor was almost done Angel said, "I'm gonna go find Fred and we can talk for just a minute about her meeting Julie tomorrow morning before you start your tutoring."
Connor nodded and took another bite. When Fred got there, Angel said, "Hey Fred, we wanted to ask you a favor."
"Sure."
"I told you that Connor has been seeing a girl right?"
"Yes."
"Well, I wanted to meet her but Connor is a little uncomfortable with that, so I was hoping you could go with Connor and meet her tomorrow morning."
Fred smiled big and said, "I would love to meet her."
Connor cringed at the thought, but still knew it was better than Angel going would be. Angel said, "Then maybe when Connor sees that Julie doesn't run screaming from the room, he'll be more willing to let the rest of us meet her."
Connor said sarcastically, "Very funny Dad. Ha, Ha."
Angel ignored Connor and said to Fred, "Connor usually sees her around 7:30am, so you'll have to get up early."
"That won't be a problem. When Charles and I were away, we got up earlier than we usually do here."
"Good. Okay Connor, you can meet Fred in the lobby at seven, and go out the front door instead of your window."
Connor glared at Angel and said, "Fine. Are we done here?"
"Yep."
Connor got up and went to find Wesley or Gunn. When Fred and Angel were alone he said, "Hey Fred, I didn't want to say anything while Connor was here, but I want you to take a close look at Julie, and ask her some questions about her and Connor. He said that he told her about growing up in Quar-toth, and that he told her about vampires. He said that she believes him, and still likes him. Now that may be true, and if so that's wonderful, but it takes most people a little more than a week to wrap their heads around those concepts. And half the people I've met are so good at denial that they wouldn't believe Connor even if he were to show them proof. I just want to make sure she's for real, and not trying to scam Connor in some way."
Fred said, "I understand, and I'll do my best. I don't want him to get hurt either."
Later that afternoon after tutoring with Gunn, Fred, and Lorne, Connor went to find Wesley. Wesley said, "Hello Connor. No hard feelings about yesterday I hope."
Connor raised his eyebrows and said, "I don't know."
"Well if it helps, I don't hold it against you that you punched me."
Connor did hold it against Wesley that he had shot him with bullets full of paint, so he said, "Okay."
"Angel has asked me to give you a little training with guns today. Just the basics of how to load and unload, and a little practice shooting."
Connor nodded and said, "Yeah, he told me."
Wesley nodded and said, "Okay then let's get going. I'll let Angel know we're on our way."
"Where are we going?"
"My apartment. Some of my guns are not legal, and I wouldn't want us to be looking at them here in the lobby if someone came in looking for help. Then we'll take a couple of the legal guns to the shooting range for some target practice."
Soon they got to Wesley's apartment. Connor was surprised when he walked through the door at how much the place smelled like Lilah. As Wesley was getting out his guns Connor said, "Why do you like her?"
"Who?"
"That lawyer Lilah. The one Dad says is evil."
Wesley frowned and said, "What makes you think that I like her?"
"Your whole apartment smells like her."
"Oh."
They stood in silence for a while. Then Wesley said, "I don't really like her. Well, that's not entirely true. I like her sometimes, and there are some parts of her that I have grown to love, but I don't trust her. And the side of me that she likes I don't usually like in myself."
Connor was confused. He said, "Then why do you spend time with her."
"Because…. I suppose because I'm lonely."
Connor nodded. They stood there in silence for a few minutes while Wesley thought about what he had just said. Connor eventually said, "Should we get started?"
By the end of the afternoon Wesley was confident that Connor knew enough about various guns that he wouldn't have any trouble knowing how to use one, or how to disable one.
That evening things were quiet. Fred had Connor mop the lobby floor for his hour with her, and while he worked she asked him all kinds of questions about Julie. Connor was embarrassed at how happy Fred seemed to be about the whole thing, and he answered her with as few words as possible. Once he was done with Fred, he was dreading finding Gunn and having to go over it all again, but went to find him anyway.
Connor found Gunn watching some baseball on TV. Connor said, "Hey Gunn. I'm done with Fred. What do you want me to do."
Gunn said, "Go wash and wax my truck, and let me know when you're done."
Connor was relieved when Gunn just stayed in front of the TV and didn't come to ask him more embarrassing questions about Julie.
When he was done he found Gunn again. Gunn was now flipping channels. Connor sat next to him and said, "I'm done, and there's still half an hour left."
Gunn said, "Hey, I wanted to tell you that I think it's great that you're seeing someone your own age."
Connor tried not to groan and waited for Gunn to start asking the questions. But to his surprise Gunn said, "If you ever have questions, or want to talk to someone about it, but you're too embarrassed to talk to your Dad, you can come to me. You can ask me anything you like, and I'll be straight with you. And I completely understand if you don't want to talk about it."
Gunn looked over at Connor and saw he had a huge grin on his face. Connor said, "Thanks Gunn."
Gunn turned back to the TV and said, "Sure."
They sat there for a few minutes and then Connor said very quietly, "You know, I've never said so, but I'm glad you're my friend."
Gunn reached over and put an arm around Connor's shoulders and then pulled his head down and towards him and gave him some noogies with the knuckles of his other hand. Connor said, "HEY!"
Gunn laughed and let Connor back up. He said, "It's my turn to make dinner, and since you have a half hour left, that means it's your turn little man."
Connor muttered, "Great." And walked towards the kitchen.
That night Connor went to bed a little early, and as he was getting into bed he heard a knock on the door. Angel came in and said, "I just wanted to say goodnight, and talk to you for a few minutes about Julie."
"Do we have to?"
"I don't mind you seeing her, but I do mind you going off and not telling me. So you'll have to make new arrangements for seeing her. No more leaving to see her when you should be sleeping. Get her phone number, and give her ours so that you can call her and set up times to go see her when you're both awake and not busy."
"Okay."
Angel walked over and gave Connor a hug and said, "Sleep good, and I'll see you in the morning when you get home with Fred."
"Goodnight."
The next morning Fred drove Connor over to see Julie. It actually was slower than when he ran because of traffic. On the way there Connor said, "Julie won't be expecting you, so do you think you could meet us in the coffee shop. You know, to give me a chance to explain."
Fred smiled and said, "Sure. The same coffee shop you were in last time?"
Connor said, "Yeah. I didn't say so before, but I'm sorry that I ditched you that day. I should have stayed with you to see the professor."
Fred patted Connor's knee and said, "You didn't ditch me, I told you it was okay to go. I know Angel told you to protect me, but we didn't know the professor was the bad guy."
Connor looked at Fred and said, "I think Angel and Gunn would say that I should have stayed with you even if you didn't want me to."
Fred laughed and said, "I'm sure you're right."
Fred pulled into the coffee shop parking lot, and said, "I'll see you in a few minutes."
Connor said, "Thanks Fred."
Connor ran to Julie's dorm room and knocked on the door. Julie opened the door and said, "Hi. I'm glad you're here. I was worried you weren't coming."
Connor said, "I came a different way, so I'm a little late."
Julie put her hands around his neck and kissed him. When they were done Connor said, "I need to tell you something."
"Okay."
"I haven't exactly told my dad, or anyone at the hotel that I've been seeing you."
Julie shrugged as if to say 'that's okay with me'. Connor continued, "And yesterday my dad found out I've been seeing you, and well he wanted to meet you."
Julie smiled and said, "That would be nice."
"Maybe we can do that sometime, but for now he wanted one of the group to meet you so I brought Fred with me today."
Julie smiled and bounced up and down a little and said, "The girl from Freddie's website? The one who was missing?"
"Yeah."
"That's so cool. I would love to talk to her. Let's go."
Julie pulled Connor's hand and started them walking towards the bookstore. Connor was a little unhappy that Julie was so excited to see Fred. He wanted Julie to be his friend or maybe more than a friend, but he didn't necessarily want Julie to be friends with everyone in the hotel. On the way Connor said, "Hey, could I ask you a favor?"
"Sure."
"Could you not talk about us going and hunting that vampire."
Julie stopped walking and said, "Why?"
Connor started to get a little red and said, "I would just rather you didn't."
"I don't like to lie Connor, and I'm not used to keeping things to myself. I'll try, but I might slip up."
Connor started them walking again and said, "If it comes out it's okay, I just didn't exactly tell my dad about it, and he wouldn't be happy about it."
"Why? You seemed to know what you were doing."
"Because I brought you, and you could have gotten hurt."
Julie frowned and thought about it the rest of the walk. They arrived at the coffee shop, and they ordered some drinks. Once they got their drinks Connor and Julie went over to the table Fred was at.
Fred had already gotten a coffee, and had been watching them. She noticed right away that they were holding hands when they came in. Fred thought it was cute. When they got to the table Fred smiled and said, "Hi, I'm Fred."
"I'm Julie. It's nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you too."
They all sat there in silence for a minute, and then Fred said, "So Connor tells me that you are studying Philosophy, what classes are you taking?"
Julie told Fred about her classes. Soon Fred realized that when she was going to college there, she had taken a class from one of Julie's favorite professors, and they talked about him for a while. Connor sat there feeling like an outsider while they talked about school.
Then when that subject had been talked out there was a lull in the conversation, and Julie said, "I read all about you and the other girls that disappeared on Freddie's website."
Fred lost her smile. Julie said, "Connor told me all about the dimension he was from. What was yours like?"
"I don't really like to talk about it. It was a nightmare."
Julie looked disappointed but said, "Okay. Sorry if I brought back some bad memories, it's just that all this supernatural stuff is new to me, and I want to learn more."
Fred said, "Most people who hear about other dimensions don't really believe it."
Connor said, "I told you she was there at your lecture. She saw the portal open up."
Fred looked at Julie and said, "Lot's of people saw it, but not very many of them actually believed what their eyes were telling them."
Julie shrugged and said, "I've always believed in the supernatural. It's just exciting to be right."
Fred said, "I suppose I can see that. I mean, when I was younger I never imagined this kind of thing was real, but I think I would have found it exciting if I hadn't learned about it the way I did. Sometimes I still get kind of excited when we see something new, like a demon that hasn't been documented."
"How many kinds have you seen?"
"I don't know….hundreds."
"Wow."
"But vampires are the ones you have to watch out for, because there are so many of them."
Fred noticed that Julie visibly shuddered at the word vampire. Fred continued with, "Connor said that he told you about them."
Julie nodded and looked away. No one said anything for a few seconds, and Fred thought something was off, because Julie had been quite a chatterbox so far. Connor wanting to get the conversation away from vampires said, "Hey Julie, I know I've been meeting you in the mornings, but I can't keep doing that. Because of the work my dad and the other's do we keep odd hours, and usually I don't get up until about ten, so I've been getting pretty tired."
Julie put a hand over his and said, "You should have said something. We don't have to see each other in the morning. I'm usually done with classes around four, so anytime between then and midnight would be good for me."
Connor smiled and said, "Okay. Can I get your phone number so that I can call you and set up a time to go out?"
Julie smiled too and said, "You mean like a date?"
Connor's eyes darted to Fred who smiled and nodded, and Connor said, "Um….I guess."
Julie got a napkin from off the table and got a pen out of her purse. She wrote down her number and gave it to Connor. She said, "Can I have yours too?"
Connor said, "Yeah."
He wrote his on a napkin too, and gave it to her. Then he said, "I guess Fred and I should get going."
Julie smiled and said, "Okay. Do you have time to walk me home like usual?"
"Yes."
Fred said, "It was nice to meet you Julie. You should come by the hotel soon and meet the rest of the group."
"Thanks that would be fun."
Connor rolled his eyes while neither woman was watching. He pulled Julie's hand slightly and said, "Let's go."
Julie and Connor walked back to her room, and on the way Julie talked about how nice Fred was, and how she would like to meet the rest of Connor's friends. When they got to her room Connor leaned down and kissed her for a few minutes before letting her go. When he was done he said, "I'll call you around four tomorrow, and we can make plans for tomorrow night if you want."
Julie gave him another quick kiss and said, "Sounds fun. Maybe we could go to a movie. I love movies."
"Okay."
Connor met Fred back at the coffee shop, and they headed for home. Fred talked about Julie and how she seemed to be a very nice person all the way back to the hotel.
When they got back to the hotel Connor did his tutoring with Fred first since they were both up. Then when Wesley arrived, Connor did tutoring with him while Fred talked to Angel. She gave a glowing report about Julie, and Angel was a little less worried, but still knew he wouldn't be all the way happy until he met her himself.
The rest of the day went pretty normally for Connor. He did his tutoring, and his hours with Fred and Gunn. After dinner he did some training with Angel. While they were practicing some hand to hand combat Angel said, "So, was it horrible to have Fred meet Julie?"
"No, but it wasn't fun either."
"Do you think you could bring her by here to meet the rest of us soon?"
"Well, I don't really want to but Fred invited her, and Julie wants to, so I guess I can bring her by tomorrow after we go out. She asked if it would be like a date…isn't that a sticky fruit? I think I've had some. Why would going out be like fruit?"
Angel was so busy laughing he didn't block Connor's punch, and took a hit in the stomach. Connor was pleased that he got in a punch, but then looked at his dad's face and saw he was laughing too hard to talk. Connor said, "What?"
Angle couldn't talk for a few seconds and finally he said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't laugh, it's just…"
Angel broke down again and laughed some more. Connor got mad. He said, "What's so funny!?"
Angel stopped laughing with effort and said, "Sorry. The word date has more than one meaning. There is a fruit called a date, but date also means two people who are attracted to each other going out together to get to know each other better. There's also the date on the calendar."
"I thought about that. Wesley always shows me what the date is on the calendar, but that didn't seem to make sense. I thought it was one of those weird phrases that never seem to make sense when I first hear them. Like 'hold your horses' or 'don't have a cow'."
Angel nodded and said, "You like her a lot don't you?"
Connor had gotten a little more comfortable with the fact that everyone knew about Julie, and that they were going to let him keep seeing her, so he said, "Yeah I do. It's so coincidental that she was there to see Fred when the portal opened. It's like….destiny."
Angel got a vision of Spike saying something similar about Drusila and had to laugh again. Connor was even angrier this time and started to walk up the stairs and away from Angel. Angel said, "I'm sorry Connor. Don't go. I didn't mean to laugh at you, it's just that you sounded a lot like someone I used to know."
Connor having been laughed at twice was not in the mood to open up to Angel any more that night, and kept walking. Angel said, "Connor?"
Angel knew he hadn't been very nice and let him go. Fifteen minutes later Angel went to find Connor in his room doing homework. Angel said, "Hey Connor, I wanted to say I'm sorry again."
"Whatever. It doesn't matter."
"Yes it does. It matters because you were opening up to me and I shut you out by laughing. How about if I try and make it up to you by telling you about the person you reminded me of."
Connor gave in and said, "Okay. I guess."
Connor listened to Angel talk for the next two hours about William the Bloody a.k.a. Spike, and some of the less evil things Darla, Angelus, Drusila, and Spike did together back in the day.
When Angel was done Connor asked, "Is Spike still alive?"
"Unfortunately. Still in Sunnydale last I heard. Probably giving Buffy a headache."
"Who's Buffy?"
Angel thought, 'How do I explain to my eighteen-year-old son that I slept with a girl who was barely seventeen? Then I have to explain that I'm still in love with her but can't be with her. Then we have to go into the whole Angelus coming out and trying to kill her thing.'
Angel sighed and said, "It's late. That's a story for another day."
The next day Connor kept watching the clock waiting for four o'clock to roll around. When it was three, he was done with all his tutoring, and he went to find Angel. Angel was in his office and looked up when Connor came in. Connor said, "Hey. I'm gonna call Julie in an hour, and I was going to ask her to see a movie tonight."
"Okay. As long as you still have time to finish all your other responsibilities that's fine with me."
"Um….I was wondering…"
"What?"
"I remember when we went to the movies that it was kind of expensive, and I have some money left, but not much…."
Angel stood and got a couple of twenties out of his wallet. He said, "Here."
Connor was happy that it had been so easy. He took the money and said, "Thanks."
Angel said, "How are you going to get there?"
"Run."
"No, I mean how are the two of you going to get to the movies?"
"Walk?"
Angel pulled out a couple more twenties and said, "We'll have to teach you how to drive soon, and get you your drivers license. For now take a cab. Do you know how to do that?"
"No."
Angel got the phone book and wrote down a number for Connor on one of his business cards. He said, "Just call this number and tell them the address you're at, and they'll come get you, and drive you where you want to go. They charge you by the mile, and you should give them a little more money then it actually costs for a tip."
"Okay. Thanks."
Angel put a hand on Connor's shoulder and said, "You're welcome. I just hope I can meet her soon."
Connor called Julie right at four o'clock and set up a date for eight that night. He finished up his hours with Fred and Gunn before he left.
Connor ran to pick up Julie. He knocked on her door and when she answered, he just stood there staring for a few seconds. She had on a tight green top that exposed her midriff and a short black skirt that showed off her legs. Connor couldn't think of much of anything while he stared at her. She smiled and said, "I thought I should dress up for our first real date."
Connor tried to say 'yeah', but the sound that came out was more like, "yah-huh."
Julie pulled him down for a kiss. When they were done Connor said, "You look good."
"Thanks."
"We should call the cab, and then while we wait, we can decide what movie to see."
"Okay, come on in."
They called the cab, and looked at movie times on the internet while they waited. Things went well at the movies, and when they were getting ready to call the cab to leave Julie said, "I had a really good time Connor. Thanks for taking me."
"I had fun too."
"All day yesterday I was thinking about Fred and meeting her, and I was wondering when I could meet your dad and the rest of your friends."
Connor sighed and said, "I guess we could go right now if you wanted to take the cab there."
Julie smiled and said, "That would be cool."
Connor and Julie arrived at the hotel half an hour later. Connor went in and kept a hand on Julie's hand. He yelled out, "Hello. Anyone here?"
Angel came out of his office and was pleased to see Connor and a girl he assumed was Julie. He smiled and said, "Hi."
Connor said, "Where is everyone?"
"Fred and Gunn decided to go on a date too. Wesley already went home, and Lorne…Lorne went to karaoke night at the bar down the street."
Angel shuddered at that last one. Connor frowned and said, "Oh well, I brought Julie to meet everyone, but I guess she just gets to meet you."
Julie let go of Connor and walked over to Angel. She held out her hand and said, "Nice to meet you…Connor's dad."
Angel smiled and shook her hand. He said, "It's Angel, and it's nice to meet you too. Did you kids have a good time?"
"I did. Did you Connor?"
"Yes."
Angel said, "Would you guys like to have some coffee or something? I think there's some leftover pie in the refrigerator."
Julie said, "Thanks, but I should be getting home. I have to get up for class tomorrow at eight."
"Okay, well thanks for stopping by, and I hope to see you again soon."
Julie went back over to Connor, and as they were going up the steps Julie figured she was out of Angel's hearing range and whispered to Connor, "Your dad's hand was cold. It felt like that horrible vampire you took me to see."
Connor closed his eyes and shook his head at his luck. He looked behind him to see Angel who had lost his smile, and had one eyebrow up questioningly. Julie said, "Connor?"
Connor looked at Julie and whispered back, "He doesn't have very good circulation."
As they got to the door Angel called, "See you later son."
Connor didn't reply. As Connor opened the door for Julie she whispered, "And he looks so young. He must have been a teenager when you were born."
Angel could just make out Connor's reply of, "He's older than he looks. And besides in this dimension, it's only been seven months since I was born." before they were out of range.
The whole way back to Julie's place Connor was distracted and didn't talk much. When they got to Julie's dorm Connor forgot to pay the cab driver until the guy yelled at him. Julie was able to distract him for a few seconds with a long kiss, but then she said goodnight, and Connor was alone. He decided to walk back to the hotel instead of taking a cab or running. He thought, 'If I walk really slowly, it might take me an hour to get back. And hey if I get attacked and have to kill something along the way, well that won't be my fault.'
An hour later he was standing outside the hotel, and thinking about trying to sneak in his window. After another five minutes of thinking about it, he took a deep breath and went through the front door. Angel went to his office door as soon as he heard the hotel door open. Angel leaned against the office doorframe with his arms crossed and looked at Connor expectantly. Connor sighed and said, "I had to show her. She was walking around at night, and didn't believe me when I told her why that wasn't safe."
"So you put her in danger to keep her safe?"
Connor went to sit on the round couch in the lobby and said, "No. Not exactly. Well, maybe. It was just the one time."
"And when was that?"
Connor looked down at the floor and muttered, "A few days ago."
"I see. Why don't you come into my office, and we can talk about it some more."
Connor got up and slowly walked over to the office door. Angel stepped back and held the door open until Connor was through. Connor sat in one of the chairs and Angel shut the door behind them. Angel moved the chair that was next to Connor and put it directly across from Connor and sat down. He said, "I can't imagine that you went to go hunting at seven in the morning, so when was it?"
"Two thirty."
"When you told me you'd been seeing Julie every morning, was that a lie?"
"Two thirty is morning."
Angel asked, "Didn't I just spank you for lying by omission? Didn't I tell you that if you were out doing something that I probably wouldn't approve of, and then kept it from me that it was the same as lying?"
"Yes."
"And you didn't think this counted? Or maybe I didn't make a strong enough impression on you."
"You were already mad! I didn't want to make it worse."
"Well it's worse now then if you had told me about it then. Tell me exactly what you did."
"I snuck out right after going to bed, and met her at her dorm room. We tracked a vampire to the sewer, where I killed it."
"You took her into the sewer?!"
"Yeah."
Angel shook his head and stood up to start pacing. He said, "And when did she touch it?"
"I sort of got knocked against the wall, and he….kind of grabbed her….and maybe tried to bite her."
Angel said, "I can't believe she's still talking to you! It sounds to me like you almost got her killed."
Connor got defensive. "At least when she was with me I had a good chance of protecting her. It would be worse if she didn't believe in vampires and got killed walking home alone at night."
Angel said, "You know Connor if you would just talk to me about things you would avoid a lot of trouble, both for yourself, and for other people. If you had told me about it, and convinced me that you really wanted her to believe in vampires, we could have caught one and brought it here to show her, and then we would have had the whole team for backup."
Connor thought about it. He said, "I didn't occur to me that you would do something like that."
"I wouldn't do it just any time, but since she's someone you're seeing I would find a way to show her that was safer than what you did."
Connor nodded and then Angel said, "Is there any thing else you want to tell me about? Any thing else you did, that you know I wouldn't like, while you were seeing her?"
"No."
Angel sighed. "If you had told me the morning I found out you were seeing Julie, I would have given you a few extra swats, and it would have been done. Now you get a whole new spanking."
Connor just glared at the floor. Angel picked up the hairbrush that he had put in his office right after Connor had left with Julie, and sat back down in his chair. He said, "Come on. Let's get it over with."
Connor stood and walked the couple of steps to Angel's side. Angel said, "Pants down."
Connor cringed and undid his jeans. Before Connor could push them down, Angel pulled Connor down across his lap, and pushed the jeans and underwear out of the way. He started spanking hard and fast. Connor yelped at the first couple of swats, and then the thought flashed through his head, 'What would Julie think about this?'
Connor bit his lip to keep silent as he felt his face heat up with shame at the thought of the girl he liked seeing this. He yelled, "You have no right to humiliate me like this."
Angel stopped in mid swing. He said, "I'm not doing this to humiliate you Connor. I'm doing it to help you. I want you to learn how to be a man in this society, and a champion. I have to teach you everything you need to know about life and this world in a year, and I can't fail you. I love you more than I can put into words. I know you hate it when I spank you, but I also know that it works."
Angel paused for a second and then started spanking Connor again and said, "You don't lie to me Connor, and you don't hide things from me because you think I'll be angry."
While Angel was talking Connor was listening intently, and thought about who he was when he first came to this dimension, and who he was now. His face heated up a second time thinking about what Julie might have thought of him wearing his animal skins and going off to take vengeance on a drug dealer because one of his junkies died. Or what she would think of him trying to kill his biological father. Then the spanking started again, and his mind was brought to focus on the reason for it. After twenty swats Connor was wiggling around involuntarily. He yelled, "Okay! Aahhh! I got it! Owww! No lying, and….Owww…no hiding things!"
Angel then said, "Good, now the rest of this is for taking Julie to hunt the vampire. Really not your best idea Connor."
Connor was soon crying, and Angel stopped once he thought he had gotten his point across. He tossed the brush on the floor, and pulled Connor's pants up. Then he turned Connor over and held him on his lap. Connor rested his head on Angel's shoulder and cried softly while Angel hugged him close. Angel said, "I don't know if this will help you or not Connor, but I want you to know that I'm not going to be spanking you forever. I do expect that there will come a time, probably in the next year or two when you won't need it. I kind of think of this time as retraining. Holtz taught you a lot of things that weren't right, and I have to fix those things if I can. But you have to know that I hate doing it. I don't like to see you in pain, and believe me, I remember what it's like to enjoy watching people in pain. But by giving you a little bit of pain now to change your behavior, I'm trying to prevent you from having much more pain later."
Connor was feeling better about it, and was extremely happy to hear that Angel did see an end in sight to this arrangement of theirs. He pushed himself off Angel's lap and wiped his face. He said with some humor, "I would call it more than a LITTLE pain."
Angel laughed and stood up next to Connor. He put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Try a hundred years in hell. Trust me its a little pain."
Connor said, "I'm tired. I'm going to go finish my homework and go to bed."
"Okay. Sleep well."
Connor headed towards the door, but then stopped right before he went out. He turned around and said, "Hey Dad."
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for….for keeping me here."
Angel was at a loss for words. Connor turned and went upstairs. Angel had a big grin on his face the rest of the evening.
The next day was Saturday, and Connor knew Julie didn't have any classes, so he was hoping to see her during the day. He planned to ask Angel if it would be all right at breakfast. When he walked in the kitchen he saw Fred sitting on Gunn's lap, and they were kissing. Fred heard the noise, and stood up quickly and wiped at her mouth. She smiled at Connor and said, "Morning. I made some scrambled eggs if you want some."
Connor decided things were definitely back to normal for the two of them. He had caught them kissing on more than one occasion in the four months he had lived with them. He smiled and said, "Thanks Fred."
As Connor was finishing his plate of eggs, Angel came in and gave everyone a short wave of hello. After Angel had a mug of warm blood in his hands Connor said, "Hey Dad, Julie doesn't have any classes today, so I thought maybe I could see her around lunch time. I mean her lunch time, around noon."
Angel took a sip and said, "I guess. As long as you finish up all your other stuff sometime today it's fine. And you should know that the first time you see her and don't get all your other stuff done, you won't be seeing her the following day."
Connor nodded and said, "That's fare."
Angel was surprised at how mature that sounded, and it showed. Connor smiled and said, "I've decided to prove to you that one year of retraining is more than enough."
Angel nodded and smiled.
Connor called Julie and asked her if she wanted to go out to lunch. She offered to take him to a restaurant that she liked which was right next to the campus. Connor did his tutoring with Wesley and Lorne, and then went to meet Julie for lunch. They had a nice lunch together, and on the way back to Julie's dorm room Connor thought about how glad he was that Angel had made him stay at the hotel. He wondered where he would be now if Angel hadn't gone looking for him. He was pretty sure it wouldn't be as nice as what he was doing now. When they got to Julie's dorm room she said, "Do you have to get back right away?"
"No."
"You wanna come in for a little while?"
"Okay."
Connor went in and stood by the window while Julie shut and locked the door behind her. Julie went and sat on the bed. She said, "Why don't you come sit by me?"
"Okay."
Connor sat next to her, and she put her hands on his face and pulled him down for a longer kiss. Soon he felt her hand on his knee, and it slowly moved up his thigh. He jumped a little when her hand got to his groin. She stopped the kiss and took off her shirt as she said, "Have you ever been with a girl Connor?"
Connor looked confused and said, "I've been with you lots of times."
Julie smiled and said, "No, I mean have you had sex before?"
"Sex? I don't know."
Julie's smile got bigger and she said, "If you don't know, then you probably haven't."
Julie took Connor's hand and brought it up to cup her bra. She said, "Would you like me to take this off."
Connor stared at her bra and nodded. He let go of her when she reached behind her and undid the clasp. She took it off and he just sat staring. She reached for the bottom of Connor's tee shirt, and pushed it up as she said, "Your turn."
Connor helped her take off his shirt. Once they were both topless Julie lie back on her pillow and said, "Come kiss me."
Connor lay on his side next to her and they kissed for a while and explored each other's skin. After a few minutes of this Connor stopped and said, "Do you want to mate with me?"
Julie looked at him confused and said, "Mate?"
Connor said, "You know, like mating season, when the animals mate, except people do it anytime of year."
Julie said, "Yes. I want to mate with you. Sex is a different word for the same thing."
Connor smiled and kissed her again while trying to get out of his pants.
A while later Connor and Julie lay on the bed cuddled together relaxing. Connor said, "That was amazing."
Julie said, "Yes it was."
Connor gave her another kiss and said, "But I really should get going. If I don't get back soon, someone will come looking for me."
Julie said, "Okay. Will you come see me tomorrow?"
Connor kissed her and said, "No one could stop me."
When he got home Connor walked into Angel's office and sat down. Angel looked up for a second to see who it was and then looked back at his paperwork. He said, "So how was…"
Angel looked back up and sniffed the air. He got up and walked closer to Connor and sniffed again. He said with disbelief, "You had sex."
Connor smiled easily, "Yes. It was good. I liked it."
Angel stared at his son for a few seconds. He blinked and said, "What?"
Connor spoke slowly as if he were talking to a child, "I enjoyed it. I plan to do it again…..Is there a problem?"
Angel shook his head. "You've only known Julie for a week!"
"I know, that's why I was so pleased that she chose to mate with me."
"Mate?"
"Oh, sorry, have sex."
Angel couldn't believe how casual Connor was about it. He said, "Did you at least use protection?"
"You mean like a sword or something? No, but I can hear well enough to stop and get ready to fight before anyone could attack. She was safe."
Angel stood there for a few seconds trying to understand what had gone wrong. He opened his office door and yelled, "Wesley!"
Wesley and Fred were researching a demon together when they heard Angel yell. Wesley looked questioningly at Fred. She shrugged and said, "I don't know."
Wesley went in to Angel's office. Angel shut the door behind them. He crossed his arms and said, "Connor had sex."
Wesley looked from Angel to Connor and back to Angel again. He looked fairly uncomfortable and said, "I don't see what that has to do with me."
Connor mumbled to himself, "Me either."
Angel tossed his hands in the air in frustration and said, "You were the one who tested him for knowledge of this world! How did sex education not come up?"
Wesley looked even more uncomfortable and said, "We went over anatomy. He could name all the….parts and their functions. He was able to explain pregnancy and what happens to a woman's body."
Connor laughed and said, "Why are you talking about pregnancy? I didn't go out and marry her."
Wesley said, "Oh my."
Angel said, "Exactly."
They both looked at Connor who said, "What?"
Angel grabbed a fist full of Wesley's shirt and said, "Fix this."
Wesley hissed, "You fix it."
"You're the teacher."
"He's your son."
Connor was getting a little uneasy. Angel said, "Okay, we'll both do it."
Angel pushed Wesley into a seat and took one himself. He looked at Connor and said, "I don't know where to start."
Wesley said, "Why don't you tell me what having sex means to you Connor. What is the reason for it."
"The reason for it? I'm not sure. On Quar-toth Holtz and I saw many different beasts mating. Usually the most powerful male was the one who got to mate with the most females. The females trust the strongest males to protect them and help them find food, and so they stay with those males. Sex feels good, so I guess sex is like a reward for being the most powerful male around."
Angel shook his head and said, "Jeez, don't let Fred hear you say that."
Wesley said, "Or any girl for that matter. Sex is supposed to be enjoyable for the woman as well as the man. Did Holtz tell you that sex was like a reward for the male?"
"No, I just figured it out from watching things around me. Like Gunn and Fred. He's the most powerful male of her species here, so she has chosen him to mate with, and he protects her."
Angel groaned and said, "What did Holtz tell you about sex?"
"He said it was a good time to hunt, because the animals were distracted."
"No, I mean what did he tell you about you having sex."
Connor looked up to the ceiling thinking. He said, "I don't think we ever talked about it. There were no females of my species in Quar-toth. I had never seen a human female before coming to this dimension, so why would we talk about me having sex with one?"
Angel looked frustrated. Wesley said, "What did Holtz tell you about marriage?"
Connor got a serious look and said, "He often talked of his wife and how he missed her. He said that a man wasn't really a man until he had a wife, because you have to have a wife before you can have a child to carry on your family name and traditions. He said once a man is married, he is responsible for the care and protection of his wife and children for the rest of his life."
Wesley continued the questioning. "How does a woman become pregnant?"
"God."
"I'm afraid I don't follow."
"Once a man and woman are married, God decides when they should have a child, and then He allows the woman to become pregnant."
Angel said, "Did Holtz tell you this?"
Connor looked at Angel and said, "Yes. He also told me that the Devil was the one who allowed Darla to become pregnant. He said God didn't think you were worthy of a child, and that's why God put me in his care, to protect me from you."
Angel was getting more and more frustrated with the conversation and said, "How could you not question that Conner? I mean you've been here for four months now. I know I've only been around for the past month of that, but haven't you watched enough TV, and seen enough people to know that most of what Holtz told you was a lie?"
Connor got defensive. "How should I know what to believe?! Every time I ask about something that happened on TV Gunn, Fred, or you tell me it's not real. You say it's just pretend, and that those things aren't really happening unless it's the news or sports. And the only people I know are here. The only other people I meet are new clients, and all of you lie to them about what's really happening. I don't see what your problem is anyway. Gunn and Fred mate all the time. Wesley and Lilah mate all the time and he doesn't even trust her. Lorne doesn't mate, but he doesn't have anyone of his own species here to mate with. You're just jealous because I've found a girl who wants to mate with me, and Cordy left you."
Angel closed his eyes and counted to ten in his head. He said, "I'm sorry I've failed you in this area Connor."
Angel turned to Wesley and said, "Time for Sex Ed. 101."
Wesley said, "And we haven't even talked about diseases."
Angel said, "Oh God! I didn't even think….Oh God."
Connor looked nervous and said, "What diseases?"
Wesley thought about it for a minute. He looked to Connor and said, "Have you ever been sick Connor? Can you ever remember having a runny nose, or a sore throat? Have you ever vomited?"
"No. Holtz used to get sick all the time. He said it was because of the monster."
"What monster?"
"The monster inside me that made me heal fast. He said it also stopped me from getting sick the way I was supposed to. He always made me fast and say extra prayers when he got sick, because the monster was too strong to let the sickness get me."
Angel felt ill hearing more about the way Holtz had twisted Connor's sense of himself.
Wesley turned to Angel and said, "I doubt he can get any diseases, sexually transmitted or other. He should be tested of course both now, and a few months from now for AIDS and the others, but I doubt it will ever be a problem for him."
Angel thought about what he had heard. He looked at Connor and said, "I know I've told you before, but I'm telling you again, there is no monster in you. If Holtz had been a real father to you, he would have been grateful that you didn't get sick when he did. I hope Wes is right."
An hour later, a fully informed and somewhat dazed Connor came out of the office. He went to his room and sat there thinking for half an hour. Then Gunn yelled at him from the bottom of the stairs, "Connor! Phone!"
Connor went down the stairs, and saw everyone in the lobby. There was only one person who would be calling him, and he didn't really feel like talking in front of everyone so he asked Angel, "Could I use your office?"
Angel nodded and Connor went in and shut the door. He picked up the phone and said, "Hello."
Julie said, "Connor?"
Connor could tell right away that something was wrong. He said, "Are you okay?"
Connor could hear Julie crying, and he said, "Julie?"
"My….my mom. She's dead."
Connor felt a rush of emotions. He remembered how he felt when Holtz died, and felt awful that Julie now had to feel that kind of emotional pain. He felt useless, because he didn't know what to do to help, and he felt angry that this happened just as their relationship was starting out. He said, "I'm so sorry. Do you want me to come over? Is there anything you want me to do?"
Julie couldn't talk for a few minutes because she was crying. She said, "No…I…I have to go home. I'm…taking the next flight. Dad set up the ticket. The cab is waiting. I just can't believe she's gone…"
Connor didn't know what to say or do. There was silence while Julie cried. He said, "When will you be back?"
"I don't know."
"Will you call me?"
"Yes."
"I'll miss you."
"Me too. I have to go."
"Okay."
"Bye."
Julie hung up the phone. Connor stood there looking at the phone for a minute, and then ripped it off the desk and smashed it against the office wall.
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