Destiny

By PSUBrat

Slayer Interrupted

As soon as Giles' plane landed at London's Heathrow Airport, he practically sprinted to his car. He was surprised that he had made it from the airport to his flat in record time and without one speeding ticket. Throwing his bags to the floor inside the doorway, he quickly went to the answering machine to check his messages. There were several from the Council catching him up on the latest translations and begging him to come to headquarters as soon as possible. Finally, he got to Willow's message, she and Tara were on their way and there was something urgent they wanted to discuss with him.

"I think I may already know what it is," he sighed to himself. He looked at his watch; it was pushing the wee hours of the morning. It didn't matter; they had a long night and maybe an even longer day ahead of them. The translations needed to be accomplished as soon as possible and he was hoping that Tara and Willow would be able to help him with those.

The insistent knocking at the front door brought him out of his thoughts. He quickly opened it and greeted two very tired witches.

"Giles," Willow cried hugging him. "Something bad…"

"Is about to happen. Yes. I know. That's why I've called you here. I need you both to accompany me to Council headquarters. I need your assistance with a few things. It's quite urgent."

Both Tara and Willow nodded their heads and followed Giles back out into the night.

***

Buffy quietly walked along the tree line in the oldest cemetery in town. She was glad to be out of the shop and alone with her thoughts. The day had been overwhelming and tonight's patrol gave her time to unwind. Her eyes slowly swept the graveyard. She thought things were a little too quiet, especially since she was sure that the Master was lurking about somewhere. She knew her dreams couldn't be wrong; he was here in Sunnydale somewhere, waiting for her. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw movement. It looked like a demon fighting with a vampire.

"Maybe they'll kill each other and make my job a little easier," she said to herself.

She took a few steps closer to get a better view of what was happening. At first glance, she hadn't recognized the demon, but now, being closer to the action, she saw that it was Clem. Without a second thought, she sprinted towards the demon who was obviously in trouble. Grabbing the supposed vampire by the collar, she pulled him off Clem and threw him to the ground. She turned to Clem and helped him to his feet.

"Are you okay Clem?" Buffy asked as she dusted him off.

"I-I'm fine. I think. Kid came out of nowhere and started pounding on me!"

"Kid?"

"Yeah," Clem replied as he pointed over at his assailant.

Buffy's eyes widened when she realized who it was. "Steven?"

"What? You know this kid?"

"He's Dawn's boyfriend," she said absently as she walked over to the teen.

"Heh," Clem replied. "You Summers women certainly have strange taste in men."

"Clem why don't you head home? I'll take care of this."

"Sure thing Slayer. Thanks for the help. I'll have you and Dawn over for dinner sometime soon but she can't bring him."

"Sounds good Clem," she said still staring at Steven. She waited until Clem had gone before she said anything to the boy. "Wanna tell me what that was all about?"

"You let him go."

"Uh, yeah. Clem's a friend."

"You are stupider than I thought," Steven growled at her.

"I don't think I'm liking this tone…"

"I don't care what you like," he hissed as he came at her full force.

Buffy was stunned as he knocked her to the ground.

***

"Wait a minute here," Dawn exclaimed as she stood up. "You mean to tell me that you have a son? Like in flesh and blood and Darla's his mother?"

"Yes," Angel replied quietly.

"No," she said shaking her head. "I don't believe you. Vampires can't have children! Isn't that what you told Buffy? Isn't that why you left her?"

"It's much more complicated than that Dawn."

"I'll say. Next thing I know you're going to tell me that you're in love with Cordelia!"

He looked up at her, not saying a word.

"Oh my god," she cried, backing away from him. "How could you? How could you do this to Buffy?"

"This isn't about Buffy. This is about me and Connor and Cordelia."

"Why are you telling me this then? What kind of reaction did you expect from me?"

***

On the other side of Sunnydale from where Steven and Buffy were fighting, Wesley and Lilah were in the throes of passion when the phone rang.

"Don't answer it," Lilah begged.

"I must. Could be the office."

Lilah flung herself off Wesley and onto the bed in frustration as he answered the phone.

"This better be good," Wesley growled into the receiver.

"Good evening Wesley."

"Gavin. Is there a particular reason you're calling me at home?"

"Yes. I need you and Ms. Morgan at the office immediately. The identity of Buffy's new watcher has been ascertained."

"And you felt the need to interrupt me at home to tell me this?" Wesley demanded.

"You'll understand better after you get here. I suggest you two get moving immediately. I'd hate to have to tell the senior partners that their best two associates were too busy getting it on to care about anything else."

"Right. We'll be there in fifteen minutes. Goodbye." Wesley hung up the phone and threw his legs over the side of the bed. "Get dressed. We're going to the office."

***

Buffy pushed Steven off her and rolled to the side. She stood up glaring at him. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" She demanded.

"I'm going to kill you," Steven spat back at her.

"You'll have to stand in line, lots of others would like that honor. Just one question though. Why?"

"Because you loved the beast willingly."

"I loved the…" Before she could finish her question, Steven came at her again brandishing a sword.

"You deserve death!"

Her mind struggled to understand what was going on. Why was Dawn's boyfriend attacking her? He had seemed like such a nice, quiet boy. Aren't those usually the ones you should watch out for though? Didn't her mom tell her that at some point? It didn't matter right now, because right now, she was fighting for her life. She attempted to disarm him by kicking his hand but he had anticipated her move and turned to his left. His strength and prowess surprised her.

He lunged at her with the sword, hoping to gut her but she moved quickly to the side. He should have known that she would be a worthy adversary. Taking a step back, he grinned at her.

Buffy shivered at the sight of his grin. It was cold. Calculating. This was not the same boy that loved her sister. It couldn't be. As she stepped out of the way of his attack, she picked up her knee and kicked him in the small of his back. He went down on the ground, the sword flying away from him. Before he could get back up, Buffy grabbed the weapon and pointed it at him.

Steven stood up. He wiped the blood away from his mouth with his sleeve. The cold smile crossed his lips as he began to circle his prey. "How could you love the beast? You're a warrior like me. How could you do it?"

"Okay, first of all, no clue to what you're talking about. Second, you're really starting to piss me off. I think now would be a good time for you to explain yourself."

"I don't need to explain myself to you."

"Oh but I think you do…"

***

"Dawn, listen to me, please," Angel begged of the hysterical girl in front of him.

"Why? Why should I listen to any more of this crap?" Dawn demanded, glaring at him. "I should kick your ass for what you've done to Buffy, I really should. She is so much better off with Spike!"

"Spike? What are you talking about?" Angel challenged.

"None of your business," she snapped. "You still haven't told me why you're telling me these things. What do they have to do with me?"

"Because I believe that Connor is with you…"

"I don't know how many times I have to tell you, I don't know any Connor!"

"I realize," Angel said putting his hands up defensively. "I think you might know him by another name."

Dawn rolled her eyes and flopped down on one of the sofa furthest from him.

"I think he might be using the name Steven."

"W-What?" Dawn asked, her eyes getting wide.

"Connor was kidnapped and taken to a hell dimension and raised by a man who called him Steven…"

Dawn was shaking her head back and forth. "No. No. This can't be…" The pieces were starting to fall into place now. What Steven had told her was making much more sense, but god no, this couldn't be true.

"I want to show you a picture of Connor, right before…before he tried to kill me."

Dawn's head jerked up at his last comment. "He tried to kill you?"

Angel looked down at his feet and then back up at Dawn. "Yes. He sent me to a watery grave. If it hadn't been for Cordelia…" He trailed off as he handed the picture to Dawn.

Dawn gasped and put her hand to her mouth. The tears started flowing.

"Is that him?" Angel asked, already knowing the answer.

She nodded and collapsed back into the sofa.

***

"So are you going to tell me what this is all about or not?" Buffy demanded of Steven.

He shook his head and smirked again. "If you can't figure it out for yourself, I'm not going to tell you."

"You are quite the jerk, aren't you? If you want to continue to see my sister…Wait, what am I saying? You're never going to see my sister again. Not after this!"

Steven's eyes narrowed and his face darkened. "You cannot threaten me that way. Once you're gone, Dawn will be able to do whatever she wants." He lunged at her again but she was ready for him.

"Okay, I've had about enough of this," she said grabbing him by the shirt and backing him against a large oak tree behind him. She held him to the tree with one hand and put the sword to his throat with the other.

***

Abruptly, Dawn stood up and threw the picture at Angel. "Are we done?" She asked still sniffling back the tears. "Cause if we are, I'd like to go home now."

Angel nodded and stood. He walked over to the teen and put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry."

She looked up at him with anger in her eyes. "I don't think you should be touching me right now. What you did to Buffy…"

Suddenly electricity charged the air around them.

***

Buffy continued to hold Steven captive against the tree. "I want answers, now!" She demanded as she pushed the point of the blade a little harder against his throat.

He started to laugh at her but said nothing.

"I really don't see anything funny about this Steven," she replied coolly. "Did you think by getting rid of me, Dawn would come running to you to thank you or something?"

Still he said nothing, just stared at her with that same cold smile.

In the midst of their confrontation, neither had noticed the portal open beside them.

"Don't make me kill you!" Buffy yelled at him.

"Buffy no!" Angel screamed from the other side of the portal.

Confused, Buffy looked around for the voice that she remembered so well. "Angel?"

"Buffy don't do it!" Angel cried out as he crossed through the portal and ran towards the two figures by the tree. "He's my son!"

The distraction was enough for Steven to break free from Buffy's grasp. He took off running, never looking back.

Buffy dropped the sword and looked at the man who had been the love of her life. "He's what?"

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