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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
- 8
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Angel muttered to himself
as he walked into the Hyperion, shaking the demon goo off his arm. He hadn't
found any sign of the demons that were after Anne and Connor, but he had
managed to run into an eight foot tall Kulphor demon
in a seriously bad mood.
He started towards the weapons cabinet to
put away his sword when he noticed his office door ajar and the light on. He
stopped, catching the scent of who was in there. Connor� He put away the sword
then went to his office, frowning as he saw Connor behind the desk with a drink
in his hand.
Connor looked up. "I hit your liquor
supply. Don't really care if you mind."
"How much have you had to drink?"
"I don't know. But
not enough."
Angel pulled a chair over in front of the
desk. "Connor�"
"Please, no fatherly advice right now. I'm really not in the mood."
"Wasn't going to. Just going to ask you to pour me
one." Connor looked at Angel skeptically for a moment before doing
what he'd asked, sliding the glass across the desk. Angel gave his son a nod.
"Thanks."
Neither man said anything for a while,
letting the silence hang heavy in the room. Connor knew why his father was
there now, why he hadn't gone up to join Cordelia in his bed. He wanted Connor
to talk, wanted him to say what had driven him down here to the liquor cabinet.
Normally, Connor wouldn't have cared one way or another about that.
But tonight he felt like spilling. He could
feel everything crashing down around him, and it was too much to carry on his
own. That coupled with the fact that he'd had more than a couple of drinks
before Angel had shown up made him want to talk.
"Laura's leaving me. At least she says
she is. Though I think she really means it this time. She's been gone longer
than any of the other times."
"Other times?"
"She leaves when things get bad. We
fight a lot. About her wanting children. About me not
being enough of a man. She tells me I act like an animal."
Angel's expression darkened. He couldn't
stand to think of anyone telling his son that, especially not after all the boy
had been through. "Did you talk to her tonight?"
"Yeah. I called her about an hour ago. Figured I should
tell her�"
"About Anne?"
Connor frowned. "No. About
the kitchen. Yeah, like I'm going to tell my wife I've been sleeping
with a sixteen year old girl. I'm sure that would help all our marriage
problems."
"How bad are the problems, Connor? Why
did she leave?"
"I threw a plate."
"She left because you threw a plate? At her?"
"No. It didn't go anywhere near her.
And it wasn't just that�that's just what made her actually walk out the door. This time."
"How often does she leave you?"
Connor shrugged. "Depends.
More, recently. She goes to her mother's to 'think
about things.' Waits for me to call and beg her to come back."
Angel had always thought Laura's extended
trips to her mother's were strange. After all, the woman lived all of about
twenty minutes away. There wasn't a lot of reason to stay with her. But Connor
had brushed it off time and time again like it was nothing. Just
a visit. Angel wondered what else Connor had kept to himself about his
marriage. "How bad have things been with Laura?"
Connor looked down, though Angel had caught
a glimpse of the shame in his eyes. "Bad. I've been really good for the
past couple of years. I haven't gone out at all. Haven't
fought anything, not even when you asked me for help. I've gone to work,
and I've paid the bills. I did everything she asked me except that, and it wasn't enough."
"What's 'that?'"
"She wants a baby."
That much Angel knew. He just didn't know to
what extent it caused problems in his son's marriage. "Is that what the
fight was over? With the plate throwing?"
"Yeah. I've explained to her why I can't. But she puts that
with the part of my life she doesn't want to exist. She tells me to just be
normal. To quit letting there always be something wrong with me."
"Connor, there's nothing wrong with
you."
Connor looked up sharply. "Yeah, Angel
there is. I'm just a fuck up."
"No. No. Connor, don't say that. Don't think it. You've come through some
much, more than most people could even begin to handle, and you're still here.
Life hasn't been fair to you, but it isn't your fault. It's not because of
anything wrong with you."
"There has to be something wrong with
me, Dad. I can't fit in anywhere. I can't feel anything. I don't even think I
love my own wife. How can something not be wrong with me?"
Angel winced. His son was still so
emotionally shattered, and he knew a lot of that was his fault. "There's nothing wrong with you. You're just not like other people. And if Laura's
telling you otherwise, then she's the one that's fucked up, Connor. Not
you."
"You're just saying that because you
don't like her."
"I don't like her. I've never bothered
to hide that. But that isn't really the issue here. She makes you miserable.
Listen to what you're saying. You're with a woman that tells you there's
something wrong with you? That you're an animal, not a man? Plays with your
emotions by leaving you and waiting for you to beg her to take her back? It's
no wonder you're not in love with her. She doesn't give you any reason to
be."
"She's put up with so much from me, and
all I've ever done is fail her."
Angel had disliked Laura from the moment he
met her. But he'd never wanted to physically hurt her. Not until now. When he
looked at Connor now he could still see the same boy who had turned to him with
a bomb strapped to his chest and told him that he was dead inside. He didn't
believe in his capacity to love and all Laura had done was reinforce that.
Angel wanted to rip her throat out. "You didn't fail her. She failed you.
She couldn't accept who you are, and she tried to change you into what she
wanted. She never bended for you. All the problems in
a relationship can't be one person's fault alone, and she certainly can't
expect you to change everything about yourself just to please her. Especially if she won't compromise at all for you."
"What's there to compromise, Angel?
It's not asking too much of your husband to tell him to stop fighting
demons�"
"It is if it's you, Connor. You're a
fighter. It's in your blood."
"No! I don't want this. No one can ever
accept me this way, Angel."
"There's a woman upstairs who
does."
Connor blinked. "Okay, now I know I've
had too much to drink because it sounded like you just said�"
"That's because I said it. Although
this doesn't mean I'm not really disturbed by the idea of you with Buffy's
daughter, because I am. And I think you should�wait a while. But if anyone in
this world is your match, it's her. Whatever you are, she is, too."
"That's what she keeps saying."
"It's true. Her father isn't quite as
much of a vampire as I am these days, but�" Angel looked his son in the
eyes. "Connor, I saw how you reacted when she was hurt. The
fear and the determination in your eyes. You feel something for
her."
"I�I do. It's really strong, Angel. It
can't explain it. But just one look at her, and my
whole world turns upside down."
"It scares you, doesn't it?"
"Terrifies me. It's too intense to be anything but dangerous."
Angel knew Connor was right there. But he
also saw more emotion come from his son where Anne was concerned than he had in
a long time�if ever. He wasn't sure what would be better for him, giving in or
trying to play it safe, and he doubted Connor had any idea either. "Why
don't you get some sleep? It's late�or early."
Connor downed the last of what was in his
glass. "Yeah, I probably should. I don't think there's quite enough of
this here to actually make me feel any better."
Angel sighed as Connor stood up. "Look,
you probably don't want to hear this right now, but this thing with Laura
leaving�it could be good for you. Even if you steer clear of a relationship
with Anne, this could give you an opportunity to find something better in your
life than the way you've been living."
"I don't know. I mean, I wasn't happy
in my marriage, but I was settled. I could go through my routine, and I could
make it from day to day. I wasn't falling apart."
"You weren't? Looks a
little different from the outside, Connor."
"I'm going to bed. You were right about
the me needing sleep thing."
"Yeah, okay. Good night."
"Good night, Angel."

***
*** ***
Connor stood in the hallway outside of
Anne's room. He knew he shouldn't go in. Spike was still in there, and the last
thing he wanted to do was give Spike any reason to suspect that something was
going on with him and Anne.
But he needed to see her, even for a moment.
He really wanted to hold her, knowing that feeling her in his arms would make this
all hurt a little less, but he was smart enough to know that wasn't going to
happen. Not with her father keeping a bedside vigil.
Spike's eyes opened as soon as Connor walked
into the room, and he set up straighter in the chair beside Anne's bed.
"Is there trouble?"
"No. I was just on my way to bed and I�wanted
to see how she was doing."
"She's fine," Spike replied.
"She's stayed asleep. Breathing's normal and everything."
"Good. I was worried. That demon really
did some damage."
"Anne's tough. She's a survivor. Girl's
been through a lot, and she hasn't stopped yet."
Connor stepped closer to the bed, unable to
keep himself back from her. He pushed back a bleached strand of her hair,
letting it fall into the darker tresses fanned out over the pillow. "She
is tough. She's like�a force of nature."
Spike glanced between Anne and Connor, a
frown on his lips. "Yeah, she is. So I haven't heard much from you since
you came back here. Angel says you're married now?"
"Uh, yeah," Connor said, pulling
his hand away from Anne quickly. "Going on ten years
now."
"That right? What's her name?"
"Laura." Connor looked over at
Spike, noticing the strange way he was looking at him. He moved away from Anne,
backing towards the door. "I should go to bed. It's really late."
"You do look like you need sleep."
Spike's expression had gone back to normal,
and Connor resisted breathing a sigh of relief. He'd almost messed up there,
making his feelings for Anne too evident in front of her father. "I'll see
you tomorrow. Or later today�"
"Yeah. Good night."
"Night." Connor hurried out of the room and back to his own. He needed to find a way to stop this�

***
*** ***
Anne's eyes fluttered open, looking over at
her father. "Was Connor just in here?" she asked sleepily.
"Yeah. He came to check on you," Spike replied.
Anne smiled, even as her eyes drifted shut
again. "I thought I felt him."
Spike's eyes widened at his daughter's
half-asleep declaration. Connor's behavior a moment ago had seemed strange to
him, too tender towards a girl he barely knew. And now what Anne had just said�
Maybe if she said she'd heard him.
They had been talking. Would stand to reason that hearing their voices would've
pulled her momentarily out of sleep. But felt� That was something else entirely.
Spike shook his head. It couldn't be what he
was thinking. That was insane. Anne was only sixteen, and Connor would know
better. It was just his mind jumping to foolish conclusions.
He settled back into the chair. Yeah, that
was all it was. Nothing to worry about at all�

***
*** ***
Please, please, please review. This is me
begging�
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- 10
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Dangerous