Disclaimer: I own nothing of BtVS or Angel. Don't sue!
Spoilers: Sleep Tight
Summary: My own version of the Connor/Holtz yadda yadda yadda story. The day Wesley takes Connor, he calls Buffy for help. It sticks mostly to the Sleep Tight script with a few changes I made myself. *Fate & Complications was my first story from this series....kinda like a prolouge because I decided to expand on that story with this one...if you haven't read it, you can find it on my website, http://www.angelfire.com/tv/foreverlove or probably on BA_Fluff yahoo group website.*
Feedback?: Yes please..!
Rating: PG-13/R (language I guess)

Buffy turned onto Spring Street and parked Wesley's jeep against the curb. She spotted her own car about two blocks away, near, what looked to be like an abandoned bridge. She headed down the sidewalk, a bit relieved when she watched the young woman named Justine get out of the driver's side, open the back door and pull Connor out. He was safe....for now. She had no problem with confrontation...this girl was strong, but not THAT strong. She slowed her step when she noticed a short, stocky man walk out from a darkened alleyway. He wore a long black trenchcoat. From what Buffy could see, he had longish brown hair and goatee...he smiled at Justine as he took the baby from her. She took a deep breath and headed towards the bridge.

"I realize that sometimes, old men can't...you know...procreate as they'd like...but if you wanted a child *that* bad, there are so many different alternatives to kidnapping, " Buffy called to them, walking casually across the street, "Surrogate mothers, adoption..."

"Who's this?" Holtz asked Justine, who's back stiffened in defense.

"Some bitch who was helping Wesley take the baby away..." Justine answered, keeping her eyes on Buffy, "She's strong."

"I would hope so, it's pretty tough slaying vampires when you're an ordinary girl..." she replied, staring squarely at Justine.

"The Slayer..." Holtz realized, smiling. "You could be a powerful ally..." Justine turned to him, fury in her eyes.

"No way," she snapped in disgust, "this one is helping *them*."

Holtz cradled the baby, cooing at him before looking up at Buffy once more. "That seems a bit strange..a vampire slayer helping a vampire. Ecspecially one as vicious as Angelus."

"Angel is not the vampire you knew...not anymore. And unfortunately for you, I'd give my life for him if it helped him in anyway. I'm not going to let you take Connor." Buffy said, resting her hands on her hips. "Now you can hand him to me now, or suffer some unbearable pain before I take him from you."

Justine walked up to Buffy slowly. Buffy braced herself. Justine didn't seem supernatural and she didn't want to kill her. The two girls came face to face.

"You're pathetic," Justine spat, "don't you realize the monsters vampires are? Or have you not seen the way they rip out innocent beings throats? Angel is no different. Maybe you didn't know he massacered Daniel's family," she added, nodding towards Holtz, "turned his young daughter and left her for Holtz to deal with...do you think a thing like that is worth saving?"

Buffy tilted her head. "Angelus is gone, little girl. Angel has a soul. Living with the guilt of what he's done will hurt him more than anything you can throw at him."

"Including killing his son?" Justine asked, smirking. She flew back on the pavement as Buffy backhanded her.

"I knew a girl kind of like you...thought she was a bad ass...kind of skanky..." Buffy began, walking slowly to where Justine lay, holding her bleeding lip, "I put her in a coma." She turned to look at Holtz who was walking towards the door of the jeep.

"And you," she called to him, making her way around the jeep, "I've battled a lot more stronger evil than you in my day. Hell, I even took down a God. Besides, didn't you know auto-theft is pretty much illegal in all fifty states?"

"Slayer, this isn't your business...you would be wise to just leave."

Buffy searched his face. He showed determination, but there were also traces of faint pain and regret. She shot him a look of understanding. "Angel is my business...and I won't let you take his son. You'd have to kill me first." she replied quietly.

"Not a problem..." a voice from behind her answered. Buffy turned quickly to see a tall demon smiling at her. His hair was long, his eyes dark. His face was pretty grotesque. Several ancient scars were cut into his cheeks and forehead. He moved towards her, dressed in a long brown shroud. Buffy quickly readied herself for an attack. She punched at the demon when he reached her, her hands flying through him. Her surprise caught her offguard as the demon raised his hands, flinging her into the side of her car. Pain shot through her head as she got to her knees. She didn't have time to move. A strong force lifted her off her feet and threw her against the jeep again. Justine smiled as she got to her feet.

"A coma huh?" she asked, standing in front of Buffy, "Let's see what damage I can do." She punched Buffy across the face. Through the pain, Buffy tried kicking her feet, to no avail.

"Sahjhan, this is the Slayer..." Holtz said calmly, tickling Connor under his chin as Justine pummeled the blonde girl.

Sahjhan looked quietly at Buffy. "Ahh...I know this one...he feels for her..."

Holtz looked up in surprise. "Angelus? Cares for a Slayer?" He began to laugh loudly. "He never ceases to amaze me, does he?"

"They were lovers...his heart still bleeds for her." Sahjhan explained. Justine stopped her beating of Buffy for a moment to look over her shoulder at him.

"All the more reason to kill her huh?" she turned back to Buffy, who's face was already starting to bruise. "I thought Slayers barely showed any sign of battle..."

Though the pain was great, Buffy lifted her head to look at the girl...she began laughing softly. "It's so sad...when you have to use magic to hold me back...it just shows you're weak..." she murmured. She felt the blood trickling from her nose, dripping onto her lips and chin. Her eye...it almost felt swollen. It had been a long time since she felt any real human physical pain...and it was really pissing her off.

Justine smiled for a moment before backhanding Buffy across the cheek. Holtz set the baby in his car seat. "We need to go...now." he commanded, interrupting by the squealing of tires. Several black Hum-vees pulled up, surrounding Buffy's jeep. Justine stopped her assault on Buffy and cursed loudly. Holtz repeated an even cruder word and grabbed Connor, who had begun crying, from the car.

Angel jumped from one of the Hum-vees and ran towards the jeep. Holtz stepped forward and Justine dropped Buffy, who fell lifelessly on the pavement. She ran towards Angel, only to be easily tossed aside.

"Come any closer and I'll snap his neck!" Holtz yelled, holding the baby up for Angel to see. Angel stopped quickly, his eyes noticed a body laying behind the jeep. He couldn't tell who it was...it could have been Wesley, but the feet that stuck out from the side looked too small to be a mans. He snapped back to attention when several commandos jumped from their own vehicles, some inching their way slowly towards Holtz, machine guns cocked and ready.

"Who are they?" Holtz demanded, glaring when Lilah stepped forward.

"They work for me."

"Ah. The attorney." he replied, clutching the baby tighter. Lilah nodded.

"Yes. You are gonna give us the kid, Captain Holtz."

Angel panicked. "Don't!" he yelled.

"That's cute. You'd rather see the fanatic with the baby than us?" she asked Angel calmly before turning back to Holtz. "Those are automatic weapons pointed at you. They didn't have them in your time. They fire sixteen bullets per second."

"And if they were going to use them they would have already. They want the baby alive." Angel added quickly. It was his worst nightmare coming true...he couldn't take everyone himself...and he believed Holtz when he said he would kill Connor...of that he was sure of.

"Something we all have in common." Holtz announced, his hand hovering over the baby's head. Cold air breezed through Angel as Shahjan turned towards him.

"Not all of us." he announced, nodding towards Lilah. "You do not want the child alive. You want the child dead. That was our arrangement."

"Yeah. I'm a lawyer." she shrugged, "Have you met me? We have a new arrangement. I'm keeping the baby."

Angrily, Shahjan protested. "You can't do that!"

Lilah turned towards her commandos, rolling her eyes. "Ignore the loud mouth with the bad skin. He's impotent to human beings..."

Holtz and Justine, who had made her way back to him, turned towards the jeep. "We're leaving."

Lilah called to him quickly. "No one's going anywhere." She was in for a long angry lecture if she let the baby out of her grasp...and she had plenty of work to do as it was.

Angel saw his chance as a commando took a step towards them. Angrily he grabbed the weapon from the commando's grip, knocking him away quickly and aiming towards Lilah.

Silently she cursed. That soldier was definitely in for a world of pain. Her eyes on Angel, Lilah informed the soldiers not to shoot.

"Yeah. You really don't want to. Your bullets won't kill me. But mine will kill you...and her first." he explained, his eyes on Lilah. He hated that his hands were shaking...it showed weakness. He turned his head towards Holtz and Justine, the gun still aimed at Lilah. Holtz didn't flinch.

"He'll be dead before I hit the ground." Holtz said matter-of-factly, no sign of fear in his eyes.

Angel nodded. "I know."

"So. I'm going to leave now, right? With me, he gets to live, anyone tries to take him, he dies." Holtz informed Angel, understanding passing between the two men.

Angel paused. He would lose Connor either way. But losing him alive was the better choice. He would still have a chance to save him. "Take him." he said finally.

"Woah! No! What is wrong of you people?" Shajhan burst out.

Holtz ignored Shajhan and studied Angel. "I will take good care of him, as though he were my own son. He'll never even know you existed. Don't come after me." he tilted his head, reconsidering, "You will though, won't you? Maybe I should just..." he brought his hand back to Connor's head.

"No. Please." Angel pleaded, grief flowing through him. "Take him." Holtz nodded as Justine stepped behind the jeep, she picked up Buffy. Smiling smugly, she dragged her body around to the front of the jeep.

Angel's eyes widened. "Buffy!" he cried, stepping towards her. Her eyes was black, swollen shut and her lips and nose were covered in blood. Her cheeks were bruised. He couldn't tell if she was alive...or dead.

Sahjhan, who had finally had enough of all this nonsense, raised his hands. "Lekko najine forkahdio!"

A large black hole exploded in the sky, turning the night sky to the color of blood. Parts of the street caught fire as Angel shielded his eyes from the flame.

"What you are looking into is the Quortoth, the darkest of the dark worlds. So, I can widen the portal and you can all be swallowed up by a world you can not begin to imagine" Shahjan threatened, glaring at Lilah, "or you can keep your word and kill that child. Now!" When no one moved, Shahjan chuckled.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." he cried, spreading his arms. As he did so, the hole grew bigger, the blackness swelling.

Still unbelievably calm, Lilah motioned towards Connor. "Kill it."

"No!" Angel cried, raising his gun higher at the commandos, who aimed back at him. Justine dropped Buffy to the ground. Though her vision was blurry, Buffy opened her good eye and pulled herself to her knees. She looked up and saw Holtz turned towards the portal.

Mustering all her slayer strength she could, she got to her feet and grabbed at him. She grabbed a handful of Holtz's coat and began to pull him away from the black hole. With a cry of outrage, Justine grabbed Buffy's arm, turning her around. She pulled her knife from her belt and quickly stabbed it into Buffy's stomach. Angel's scream of anguish mirrored Buffy's scream of pain as Holtz jumped into the portal. Justine cried out his name, dropping Buffy once more to the ground, but he ignored her.

"No! NO!" Angel screamed. Torn between helping Buffy and chasing Holtz. He ran towards Buffy and the portal when a lighting bolt lashed out from the blackness, striking Angel. It flung him back, and he landed hard against the street. He rolled over, looking through tears as his son disappeared. Sahjhan smiled. "Wow. I didn't count on that. Kinda takes care of my problem."

Justine fell to her knees, staring at the darkened hole in disbelief.

"Forkahdio najine lekko." Shahjan cried and the portal closed quickly, disppearing into the night.

Shahjan approached Angel. He lookd over his shoulder at the night sky, then at Buffy, who lay bleeding on the street. "All right then." he glanced down at Angel, who was staring past him in shock. "Have a good summer." he told him happily, disappearing as quickly at the portal he conjured.

Lilah sighed in frustration. "Well, I'm looking at a mountain of paperwork." she complained as she turned to go.

Justine got to her feet and stumbled into Buffy's car. She started the engine and quickly took off down the road.

One of the commando boys stopped Lilah. "Should we do something about..."

Lilah glanced back at Angel. He was the cause of all her problems. And no doubt would cause her more in the future. He deserved everything he got. "Yes, we should. We should let him suffer."

Angel got up on his knees, watching Justine drive away in Buffy's jeep. He began crawling to Buffy, who lay beaten and stabbed in the middle of Spring Street...and Connor...

He fell to the ground again, a few feet away from her. He was suddenly emotionally and physically weak. The tears starting to spill over..."Buffy..." he whispered..."Connor..."

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