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Dangerous	By : addielogan Category: Angel the Series > Het - Male/Female Views: 3801 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Angel: The Series, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
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"Where the bloody hell is my
daughter?"
Angel winced as he heard the call from the
lobby, debating for a moment if he should just stay here in the office. But that
wouldn't do him a damn bit of good and he knew it. He walked out, standing in
front of his newest visitor with his arms crossed. "Hello, Spike. So nice to see you again."
"Cut the sarcasm, Angel. Where's
Anne?"
"She's upstairs resting."
"After you let her
get mauled by some demon? Oh,
very good job protecting her there. I knew I could trust you."
"I thought we were cutting the
sarcasm," Angel snapped. "And it's not like I let it happen, Spike. She'd only been gone for a few moments when
the demons attacked."
"Probably been
waiting for just such an opportunity, Peaches. It's one of those things you do when you're trying
to kill someone. You should know."
"Do you want to see your daughter, or
do you want to harass me?"
"Usually, I'd say both, but right now,
Anne's taking precedence. I'll harass you later," Spike replied with a
glare.
"She's in room�"
"I can find her," Spike snapped,
going up the stairs.
Angel let Spike go, hoping his son was
behaving well enough to keep himself in one piece�

***
*** ***
Connor woke to the feel of Anne weakly
pushing against his chest. "Annie?"
"Get up. Now."
"Is something wrong?"
"My father's here. I can smell
him."
"Shit!" Connor wasted no time
then, scrambling out of the bed and over to the chair. He hadn't had sex with
Anne in a while, and Connor prayed to any god that would hear him that Spike
wouldn't catch the scent of what had gone on in that room earlier. Anne's blood
was the dominating scent for him, and he was banking on it being the same way
for Spike.
The door opened, and Connor held his breath.
Much to his relief, Spike went straight to the bed, hugging Anne as she pulled
herself up to meet him. "Hi, Daddy."
"Hey, baby girl." Spike pulled
away, resting his hand against her cheek. "I was so bloody worried when I
heard what happened�"
"I know. I'm sorry I scared you. But
I'm all right. Connor saved me."
Spike turned to Connor then. "You did?
What happened?"
Connor tried to push down the uncomfortable
twinge this was giving him, knowing Spike would be able to sense any fear on
his part. "It wasn't a big deal. I just stopped the demons that were
attacking her is all."
"It was a big deal," Anne said to
Connor before addressing her father again. "There were five of them, and
he took them out like they were nothing. Then he grabbed me and brought me back
here so I could get fixed up. He�he was amazing."
Spike looked at Connor. "Thank you. For saving my little girl."
Connor knew he had saved her life, but with
Spike look at him like that, thanking
him after the other things he'd done to Anne, Connor felt guilty. "It was
nothing."
Spike shook his head. "It was
everything."
Connor looked down. "I just did what
needed to be done."
Anne put her hand over her father's. "I
think you're embarrassing him, Dad." Connor glanced up at Anne, a bit of gratitude
in his eyes.
"I just� When Angel called me and told
me you were hurt, Anne� All I could think about was how I should've been here. To protect you. If something had happened because I hadn't
been here�"
"I'm fine. I'm strong, just like you
and Mom taught me to be."
Spike caressed her face, his hand trembling
as he took in how pale and weak she looked. "I know. But that doesn't mean
I wouldn't give my last breath if it meant protecting you."
"I know," Anne replied.
Spike pulled his hand away. "I need to
call your mother. She made me promise I would as soon as I saw you. Needs me to
tell her you're really all right. She wanted to be here, but�"
"She needs to stay with William and
Joyce," Anne said. "And they certainly don't need to be here, not
with those demons attacking. I worry enough about you being here."
"Well, I'm not leaving until you do,
princess. Shouldn't have sent you here on your own in the
first place."
"I'm
glad you did," Anne thought,
though she kept it to herself. "You're here now. And I'll be fine. Takes more than hordes from hell to stop me."
Spike gave her a mock stern look. "Stop
trying to be your mother."
"You're the only person who says I'm
like her. Everyone else says I'm like you. I think it's the stubbornness."
"Nope. That's her brand of stubbornness you've got."
Spike stood, kissing the top of Anne's head. "I'll be back soon. Buffy's
just a nervous wreck. Gotta put her mind at ease a
little."
"It's okay. Besides, I have Connor here
to take care of me." Anne shot him a quick look, a mischievous grin
quirking up at the corner of her mouth. Connor sunk a little in his seat. That
was just evil�
"Right then. Back in a few."
Spike left the room, leaving Anne and Connor
alone again. "Could you not talk about me 'taking care of you' in front of
your father?" Connor hissed.
Anne rolled her eyes. "Relax. He
doesn't even suspect. Besides, I don't think he'd mind so much. He likes you,
doesn't he?"
"Anne, no father likes the man who's
sleeping with his sixteen year old daughter. Sometimes they kill them."
"He's not going to kill you."
"How can you be so sure? I'd kill
me�"
Anne reached over and took his hand.
"Because that would hurt me, and he isn't going to do that."
"I'm not feeling a lot of confidence
about that."
"Well, he's going to have to know
eventually."
"Why?" Connor asked, his eyes
widening at the prospect. "You're not crazy enough to tell him, are
you?"
"No. But sooner or later, don't you
think he'll notice?"
Connor pulled back, letting her hand slip
from his. "Anne, nothing more is going to happen between us. I've already
gone way too far with you, and I'm not going to keep making that mistake."
"This isn't a mistake," Anne
snapped. "Stop trying to say it is."
"It is! Dammit, how many times do I
have to remind you I'm married?"
"I wish you'd stop. Every time I think
about some other woman thinking you're hers� Bloody hell, Connor, you and I
both know your marriage is a lie. Why even bother keeping it up? Wouldn't you
rather have something real?"
"Nothing's real. You just have to find
the lie that's easiest to live with."
Anne stared at him. He couldn't honestly
believe that? The best part of life was that it was real. Sometimes real was
messy, but that was just part of the fun. "I'm real, Connor."
"I know." And he did. To the point that it scared him. He'd searched so long for
someone who could make him feel, for someone who he could look at and see in
vibrant color. For someone who let him know he was really alive. But to find
that in a sixteen year old girl he could never really have� It was just the
world playing another cruel joke on him. Dangling fulfillment in front of him
only to make it something he could never grasp.
"Let me be yours, Connor," Anne
pleaded. "Let me be the one to love you. I know I can."
"No, you can't!" Connor yelled,
making Anne pull back. He saw the pain flash across her face at his harsh tone,
but he didn't soften. She had to understand this. "I'm not someone you can
love. I'm�damaged. I've seen terrible things. Done terrible
things. I'm not cut out to be a teenager's boyfriend. I'm not someone
who will walk through the mall holding your hand or who you can gossip about
with your friends. There's darkness in me, Anne. Serious
darkness. More than you could ever handle. If I let go with you, then it
all comes back. I'm not going to let that happen."
"I don't want you to be a 'teenager's
boyfriend.' Dammit, Connor, that isn't what I'm asking from you, and you bloody
well know it. I'm asking you to acknowledge that I'm your mate. And I know there's darkness in you. I'm not daft. But it
doesn't frighten me away. It makes me want you more."
"It shouldn't. It should make you want
far away from me."
Anne rested her hand softly on his leg.
"But it's part of what makes you who you are.
It's part of what makes you real."
Connor blinked. "Anne�"
"No. You need to get this, Connor. You
need to understand. You told me nothing's real. That everything's a lie. But
look at yourself. Look how real you are. All those scars inside, they're what
make you a person. It's flaws that make us human."
"My life has been one lie after
another."
"Yes. It has been. But that's your
life. It's not you."
"What am I if I'm not the life I've
lived?"
Anne shrugged. "Why don't you look
inside yourself and find out?" She yawned. "I'm feeling tired still. Must be all that blood loss. I'm going to sleep again, but
you think about what I said, yeah?"
Connor nodded numbly as Anne settled back on
to the pillows, her eyes sliding shut. She'd told him to think about what she'd
said, and he knew he'd have no way not to. It had hit him hard. Anne was
sixteen. She wasn't supposed to have insight. Not like that. He felt visibly
shaken.
"You all right?"
Connor looked up sharply, realizing Spike
was back in the room. He hadn't even heard him come in� "Yeah, I'm just�tired,
I guess," Connor said. "I've been watching over her."
"Go get some rest. I can do that."
"Yeah, okay," Connor said as he
stood. Part of him hated to leave Anne when she was like this, but another part
of him needed to get away. He needed to think, and that was a lot easier when
she wasn't around. Besides, her father probably had more of a right to sit at
her beside when she was hurt than he did�
Spike clasped his hand on Connor's shoulder.
"Thanks for looking out for her like you did. Can't tell you what that
means to me."
Spike's words made Connor's insides twist.
What would he think if he knew why he'd been so zealous in his protection of
the other man's daughter? "I did what I had to do," Connor said.
"You didn't have to�"
"Yeah, I did. But she's in your hands
now." Connor glanced at Anne quickly before walking out of the room.

***
*** ***
Connor's mind was moving faster than he
could keep up with. What Anne had told him had hit him hard. It seemed too
simple. A solution to the problems he'd struggled with for his entire existence
coming from the mouth of someone who was barely more than a child. Just accept himself. Find something to embrace, to see as truth.
It would be perfect if it was as easy as
Anne seemed to think it was.
He did acknowledge that she knew parts of
him that he normally kept hidden. She had a demon side the same as him. She
knew the wildness that called to him because it called to her, too. Yeah, she
understood the demon.
It was the man that he didn't think she could
know. That was the part that was damaged. The man who had
grown from the scared, lost boy who had known nothing but pain, loss, and
betrayal. Anne had been too sheltered. She had no reason to distrust
love. It had never turned its back on her.
Connor couldn't accept that he was being
handed real love now. Anne couldn't be the missing piece in his life because
the missing piece didn't exist. No matter what he felt for her now, it would
just be another lie. Another empty promise that would shatter the moment he
held it close.
What would happen if he took a chance again,
let himself really fall for Anne? He'd have to give up
everything, his wife, his job, his home. He knew he was living a lie. Anne
didn't have to tell him that. He'd known it from the very beginning. But it was
a very easy lie to live.
Connor turned his gaze towards the bedside
table and to the phone. He hadn't spoken to Laura since the last time she'd
called the house, and he knew he should. She'd be angry when he told her he'd
gotten wrapped up in something concerning Angel, but he needed to tell her. She
was his wife after all�
He picked up the phone and dialed the number
from memory, gritting his teeth through each ring.
"Who is this?" a voice demanded on
the other line when the ringing stopped. "Do you have any idea what time
it is?"
Connor forced himself to sound polite.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Cramer. It's Connor. I need to talk to Laura."
"Laura's asleep. It's one o'clock in
the morning."
"I know. It's important."
Connor heard a rustling on the other end of
the line and then a muffled voice, as if Laura's father had placed his hand
over the receiver. "Becky. It's that no-account husband of Laura's. He
says it's important."
Connor rolled his eyes. Couldn�t that man at
least have the decency to pretend he didn't hate him to his face?
"What does he want, Rick?" Laura's
mother asked.
"I don't know. Boy hasn't been to work
in days."
"Well, bring Laura the phone."
Connor listened as his father-in-law
begrudgingly got out of bed, mumbling the whole way to Laura's room. He heard
him wake up Laura, telling her who it was and handing her the phone.
"Connor? It's late�" Laura said as soon as she had the
phone.
"I'm sorry. I know."
"Where have you been? Daddy says you
haven't been at work, and you haven't answered any of the times I've called the
house."
"I know. There's been a problem."
"What sort of problem? Are you okay?
Where are you?"
"I'm at my father's."
Laura was silent for a moment before she
finally made a sound. Just a simple "oh."
"There was a problem. The daughter of
some old friends of his needed help, and he wanted me to look after her, just
until he could figure out what was going on."
"And why do I doubt it was as simple as
that?"
"There were demons after her. They�they
attacked the house. We had to run to Angel's."
"Dammit. Connor, I've told you and told
you, I don't want that in my home! I've accepted the fact that that thing is your father, but honestly� I
told you not to help him anymore."
"A girl was in trouble, Laura. I
couldn't just ignore that."
"No. You had to go play hero."
Laura sighed heavily. "How bad are things at the house? Did the whatever they are attack there?"
"Yes. The kitchen's
trashed."
"What?! God, I am so sick of this. You told me when we got married
that you wanted to give all of that up. That it would never touch our lives.
Well, it has, Connor. Again and again."
"I know, Laura. And I'm sorry. I really
didn't mean for it to happen. It just�"
"No. I'm so sick of the excuses. Ten years of excuses, Connor. That's all I've
gotten. I have begged and pleaded for you to give me what you promised me the
day we got married and you never have. Where's our family, Connor? Where's our
life?"
Connor winced. "I can't give you that,
Laura. You know that."
"No, you don't want to give that to me. I'm sick of this. Do you remember what I
said when I left, the decision I told you I needed to make?"
Connor closed his eyes. "Yeah, I
do."
"Well, consider it made."
The dial tone rang in his ear. Connor hung
up the phone and lay down.

***
*** ***
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Dangerous