Disclaimer: Joss owns ‘em, I just play.

Author’s note: Ok, so I’m dabbling in a happy season Seven for Buffy and gang, lets assume a happy season 4 for Angel and his crew. Just go with it. Beta’d by the wonderful Bloodytearsoflife.
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Chapter 19: Hotel

“We can’t let him go back to the pseudo initiative, not with what he knows,” announced Buffy as she walked back into the lobby of the Hyperion hotel.

The gathered Scoobies looked up at her announcement, several people nodding their heads.

“What exactly does he know?” asked Cordelia. “I mean, Dawn brought him here by dimensional gateway, right? Does he even know that he’s in LA?”

“I let that one slip,” noted Dawn coming up behind Buffy.

“And does he know what you are?” asked Giles. “I think that could be the most dangerous piece of information at the moment.”

“Um, I let that out,” confessed Buffy with a slight dip of her head.

“What? Why?” asked Xander.

“The what and the why aren’t important, Xander. She did it, move on,” ordered Dawn, borrowing her sister’s general like tone.

“Should we talk about a forgetting spell?” asked Tara. “I don’t like doing them, but if it’s for Dawn’s safety…”

“How much would we want him to forget? How long?,” added Willow, looking at Dawn with sympathy.

“The longer the time frame that we erase, the more complicated the spell,” added Amy.

“I vote we erase Dawn from his memory,” contributed Xander, “completely.”

“No.” Dawn’s voice rang out into the lobby, staring Xander down. “No, I want him to remember me.”

“Dawn…” Tara said sympathetically.

“Maybe not the keyness, or the dimension hopping. He was my first real boyfriend…”

Willow nodded in understanding. “I’ll…we’ll get working on the spell.”

“The question I want answered,” asked Molly, exhibiting first signs of a slayer like tone, “is how bloody long are we going to be staying here?”

All eyes turned towards Molly and then to Buffy.

“Well, I guess I need to find out if there’s a house to go back to,” answered Buffy with a shrug.

“That might be a good idea,” added Dawn. “I don’t think Principal ‘my mother was a slayer and therefore I know all’ is going to hold our exams…”

Molly snorted. “That man hates you,” the Slayer noted to her friend.

“I attract the principal hatred, it runs in the family,” Dawn commented, sharing a smile with Buffy.

“Perhaps we could home school you?” suggested Andrew with a knowing look.

“No, big no,” Dawn responded.

Andrew was about to open his mouth again, sure to say something incredibly witty or nerdy, when his attention was diverted to the front door of the hotel.

“Who’s that?” Molly asked practically drooling.

Buffy’s eyes went wide as she beheld the creature she’d never met, but knew all about. There was a time in her life that she’d been intensely angry about his mere presence in the world.

“Are we having a party?” the boy at the door asked of Angel and Cordelia, who both immediately looked at the floor.

“I think this was why Angel wasn’t jumping for joy when they got here,” muttered Gunn, his gaze taking in the wide range of emotions over the plethora of faces.

“Great, someone else to revel in my misfortune,” Dawn griped, plopping down on the circular couch in the middle of the lobby, beside Anya and Giles.

The boy moved down the stairs towards the group. “You gonna tell me what’s going on?”

Angel moved forward towards the boy. “Hey, I thought you were going to be gone…”

“One night, as planned, what’s going on?” the boy repeated.

“Yes, just who is this young man?” asked Nate, standing up from his position on the couch.

“Right, uh, introductions,” Angel stammered, looking directly at Buffy and not Nate. “Connor, this is, Xander, Amy, Giles, Anya, Buffy, Spike, Dawn, Andrew, Nate, Molly, Tara, Willow, and there’s a guy downstairs chained to the wall named Graham. Everyone this is Connor, my son.”

“Oh. My. God!” bellowed Dawn, standing up from her spot on the couch. “You have a son? Were you ever going to tell us…err, Buffy? Buffy, did you know about this?” Dawn faced her sister in shock.

“Well…” Buffy started.

“You didn’t think to add that one part to the whole narrative flow last year when you were all dishing about the future alternate reality that Willow messed up when she brought you here?” Dawn questioned.

“Well, it’s not like Angel ever told me, I just kinda found out about it. I had all the power and crap for all those years,” Buffy answered.

“You knew!” exclaimed Cordelia. “We were all hush, hush for absolutely no reason what so ever?”

“Seems like,” Buffy answered, suppressing a smile.

“A child of a vampire,” murmured Nate, reaching for a pad. “Intriguing.”

“Unprecedented, really,” Wesley contributed.

“Actually, two vampires. Darla was his mom,” added Fred.

“Hold on, not that I want to be speaking about you while you are in the room and all, but he looks, well he looks like he should be in junior year. Just when did Angel and Darla get this bun all oven-y?” asked Dawn.

“Is anyone going to tell me why the hotel is suddenly…a hotel?” Connor asked, his eyes drifting from person to person.

“Does he have any super powers?” Andrew asked with a hint of jealousy.

“Wait, hold on!” Cordelia cut through the chatter. “I think the important thing here is to remember why you are all squatting in Angel’s home. The sooner life goes back to normal the better, I think.”

“Give the girl a prize,” Xander muttered. “Cutting to the chase as always.

“She is right,” added Buffy. “It was nice to finally meet you though, Connor.” With that, Buffy turned to her mate and fiancé and took his hand. “Wanna go on a road trip? We’ll even take Angel’s car…pseudo crime.”

“Sure, pet,” Spike said with a grin, ignoring the ‘hey’ from the other vampire.

“And while we’re gone, we can leave all the mundane-ness to the others,” Buffy continued. “I expect the memory spell done by the time we get back,” Buffy said to the witches. “Giles, and uh, watchers? You can take care of documentation, if you need more info from Graham…I’m putting Dawn in charge of him. Xander, she is NOT to be left alone with him, ever.”

“Buffy!” Dawn protested.

“Andrew….make a funnel cake or something.”

“Oooh funnel cake!” giggled Fred.

“Molly…I really don’t have anything for you do. Why don’t you hang out with Anya? I’m sure she’s bored.”

“She’s right, I am,” inputted the vengeance demon.

“What? No instructions for us?” asked Cordelia.

“I don’t want you to take my car,” Angel muttered.

“You have my permission to do whatever it is you normally do…’kay?” Buffy continued. “Keys please?”

Gunn leaned over the check in desk and tossed Buffy the keys. “Just please don’t crash it,” he noted with a grin.

“’Cause we’ve never done that before,” noted Fred sarcastically.

“Gotcha,” Buffy said, nodding.
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Once Buffy managed to get the top up on Angel’s convertible, they were all set to go. Spike definitely had fun reprogramming the radio stations to classic rock and punk stations.

“The easy listening stuff had to go, pet. No way can we survive a two hour road trip with bloody Barry Manilow.”

Buffy gripped the steering wheel, wondering just how Spike managed to stay non crispy-fied while fiddling under a blanket in the front seat.

“I swear, I smell burning vampire smell and you are getting kicked into the back seat. God, do you have a burn wish?” she commented as she passed a semi on the highway.

“Thought about what we are gonna do if the house isn’t standing?” he asked still messing with the radio stations from under the blanket.

“We have insurance. I bet we could get enough to build a new one,” she commented. “Or buy one. There’s always vacant houses in Sunnydale.

“Would you want to stay there though? Seems to me that Sunnyhell’s been nothing but trouble for you.”

“Until the Hellmouth closes, I suppose that there has to be a slayer there. Molly’s only here for training. I’m sure the Council has plans for her to be somewhere else when that’s done. They probably even have plans for Faith when she gets out of jail, you know, now that she’s all reformed.”

“Probably. You don’t have to stay here out of obligation. Didn’t you say you were all retired?”

“I did, didn’t I?” she smirked, though he couldn’t see it, being hidden under the blanket as he was. “I think I definitely deserve an extended vacation. Where are we going on our honeymoon? Somewhere hellmouth free please?”

“I promise, love,” came the muffled voice from under the blanket.
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Molly watched this Connor person as he circumvented the room. The way he moved, it was addictive watching him. At first she’d tried to keep her looks to a minimum, but now, after fifteen minutes, she was certain that he knew just what she was doing.

Buffy had told her to hang out with Anya, but Anya was all over Giles, adding her two cents worth to what Nate, Giles, and Wesley were saying.

Connor was setting off her slayer senses in a way that no one, no demon or vampire had ever done. It was as if her senses couldn’t figure out what was up with him. There had never been a slayer that had come face to face with whatever it was that Connor was.

It seemed that nearly everyone was giving off some sort of non human energy. Molly had gotten used to Dawn, she felt human, but not quite. Probably ‘cause she was fake and all. Anya was a demon, pure and simple. Though she’d never get used to it, Molly had long decided not to patrol with Anya ever, ‘cause it would really screw up the senses.

Willow, Tara, and Amy also had their own thing going on. It was as if residual magic clung to Molly’s senses. And then there was Spike. But that was her own crew, her slayer family as it were. Here in this hotel, it was a completely different ball of whacks.

Angel: vampire, pretty simple, but then there was Cordelia, who was not so simple.

Molly could swear there was some sort of demon thing going on with her.

Molly turned to look at the woman in question to find her looking right back, brown eyes into brown eyes.

“You could go and talk to him you know,” Cordelia stated. “He’s just a normal kid. Okay, not normal, being the spawn of two vampires, and really only a year old.”

“A lot like Dawn then. Except that Dawn’s the product of only one vampire, and she’s two years old,” muttered Molly. “Oh bollocks, I shouldn’ta said that.”

Cordelia turned in place to look at Dawn for a moment, shook her head, and turned back to Molly. “So not important right now, and so glad that Angel didn’t hear that. Back to Connor, you should go talk to him. You might find out that you two have much more in common than you think.”

“Right, he’s a chosen warrior on the side of good?” Molly mocked.

“Well, his birth was prophesied, he’s already a really good demon hunter. They called him the Destroyer in the demon dimension he was raised in,” added Cordelia. “Go on, talk to him. You’re probably freaking him out with all the staring.”
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Buffy and Spike pulled up to 1630 Revello Drive just after sunset. The house looked like the only damage that had occurred was the smashed in door.

“It’s too quiet,” Buffy commented, depositing the keys to the car in her pocket. “I don’t like it.”

Spike nodded. “We don’t have to go in if you don’t want to love.”

“That’s what we came here to do.”

“Could check out Willy’s, see what he has to say about it,” Spike offered.

Buffy pulled out the keys again and started the ignition.

“There you go being all smart again,” she said planting a kiss on his cheek.
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The pair of supernatural beings walked into Willy’s Alibi Lounge like they owned it. The assorted demons drinking all manner of disgusting concoctions cringed at being noticed. Buffy even waved at a couple, making fun of their cowering.

“It just makes me feel all powerful. I never got that reaction when I was little old lady woman,” she commented. “It didn’t matter that I could still kick their asses. ‘Course it did hurt a lot more, and the number of hip replacements I went through…”

Spike and Buffy stepped up to the bar and glared at the little man behind the counter wiping a glass.

“Hey Willy!” Buffy beamed brightly at the bartender. “How’s it going?”

“Slayer, not seen you around for a while, was wondering when you were going to show your face around here. Some of the boys had bets that Spike had finally turned you,” retorted the weasel man.

“Oh Willy! You know if Spike did turn me, I’d be right here frequenting my favourite demon bar!” she gushed falsely. “Actually, we were thinking about this place for the reception. You heard we were getting married right?”

Willy nodded. “You were thinking about my place for the reception?”

“Ya, for all of three seconds, you know, before common sense and logic kicked in.”

“We need information. Want to know what’s up with the guys in the army gear,” said Spike, breaking into Buffy’s tirade.

“What? Like you don’t know. You haven’t been in your own house? It’s a death trap. Better to burn it to the ground.”

“Excuse me?”

“The way I hear it, after the military cased your house, a few, questionable types decided to see what they could do to your house while you were on an extended vacation.”

“We haven’t been gone that long!” Buffy shouted.

“The point is, slayer, they never came out.”
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Tbc…