Anne hadn't said a word since they'd gotten back to the hotel. She sat on the bed, her knees pulled to her chin as she stared forward at the wall, clutching the cross around her neck tightly in her trembling hands. Spike had tried to talk to her, but she didn't respond, seemingly lost in her own private world.

"How is she?"

Spike turned to towards the doorway where Cordelia was standing. "Unresponsive," he replied.

Cordelia walked over to the bed, sitting beside Anne and taking her hand. "Anne? Sweetheart, I need you to talk to me, okay?"

Anne blinked, turning to look at Cordelia. She opened her mouth to speak, but all she could manage was a sob. Cordelia pulled her into her arms, murmuring softly and rocking back and forth until Anne's tears stopped and she fell asleep. Cordelia laid her back against the bed and pulled the covers up over her.

"What did you do?" Spike asked as Cordelia stood up.

"Just helped her fall asleep," she replied. "She needs the rest."

Spike went over to his daughter, pushing her hair out of her eyes. "She really loves him, doesn't she?"

"Yes, she does," Cordelia replied. "She didn't mean for it to happen, but she couldn't help it."

Spike's lips turned up in a half smile. "I know the feeling."

"I didn't see this until tonight, and by then it was too late," Cordelia said. "If I'd just gotten the vision sooner…"

Spike put his hand on her shoulder. "You can't control your visions, Cordy. If anything, it was the bloody Powers that sent it too late."

Cordelia turned to look back at the girl sleeping on the bed. "What she must be going through right now… I told her everything would be all right. They showed me that everything would be all right. Why would they let me see that if it wasn't the truth?"

"Maybe it still will be. Connor's survived a hell dimension before. If we can pull him out of this one…"

"The demons didn't leave behind anything useful," Angel announced, alerting Spike and Cordelia to his presence. "Maybe if one of the demons had been left behind for questioning…"

Spike's eyes flashed. "You better not be about to go where I think you're going with that," he warned.

"You were there, Spike," Angel said. "She tore them apart with her bare hands. And unless I've grown suddenly delusional, she was slightly bumpy in the forehead region at the time."

"She's my daughter, Angel," Spike replied, his jaw tight. "I may have a pulse these days, but I'm not exactly fully human either."

Angel crossed his arms in front of him. "When's the last time you looked that much like a vampire?"

"Well, aren't we Mr. Hypocritical."

"Spike…" Angel said, his tone one of warning. "I'm not in the mood to run around in circles. Tell me what I saw back there."

Spike glared at Angel as he spoke. "When Anne was eight, Drusilla took her. Got it into her crazy little head that we could be a 'family,' and kept trying to turn Anne. But all it did was strengthen the demon that was already in there. She isn't a vampire. Not completely anyway."

"She looked pretty damn close," Angel said.

"She has a soul," Spike replied. "And she's alive, which is more than I can say for you."

"Stop arguing in here," Cordelia said. "You'll wake her up. And Angel, just knock it off. I know you're upset about Connor, but this isn't helping anything."

"What will help?" Angel snapped. "My son is gone—again."

"I know," Cordelia said. "But it isn't Anne's fault."

"He was there trying to save her." Almost as soon as the words were out of Angel's mouth, Spike swung, punching the larger man in the jaw, Angel's head snapping back.

Anne bolted up in the bed, screaming as she did. Spike ran to her, pulling her back into his arms. He cooed words of comfort to her, stroking her hair.

"Angel, go somewhere else. Now," Cordelia said angrily

Angel blinked. "Cordy…"

"You're hurting. I know. But taking it out on Anne and Spike is nowhere in the neighborhood of helpful. So just leave the room. I'm going to help Anne get back to sleep, and then we'll figure out what to do next," Cordelia said.

"I know what to do next," Angel replied. "I'm going to get my son back."

"I swear, if you paint one single pentagram on the lobby floor, I will stake you," Cordelia warned. "Rushing into something without thinking has never worked for you before. Don't you think it's time you learned from a mistake or thirty?"

"I'll be in our room," Angel said, storming out.

Cordelia sighed as she went back towards the bed. "Here, let me," she said, taking Anne from Spike and soothing the girl back to sleep. She tucked Anne in again before looking over at Spike. "If it makes you feel any better, he's blaming himself, too."

"Yeah, I'm blaming me a good bit as well, but I'm not going to take it out on a sixteen-year-old girl. If he says anything to her like he said to me earlier, I will hurt him. A lot. Make sure he knows that."

"Oh, I will," Cordelia said. "And you won't be alone in the whole hurting him thing either."

Spike gave her a small, grateful smile. "Thanks."

"Are you going to stay in here with her?" Cordelia asked.

"Yeah," Spike replied. "Least until I know she's calmer. I need to call Buffy, too. Anne won't leave L.A. now, I'm sure, and she'll need her mum."

"Your whole family is welcome here," Cordelia said. "And if Angel has any problems with it, I'll handle him."

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

"She's in a lot of pain right now," Cordelia said, looking softly at Anne "She'll need people around that she loves."

"Go on to Angel," Spike told her. "He's hurting, too. Man had a child taken from him. That's never an easy thing to handle."

"Let me know when she wakes up?"

"I will."

Cordelia left the room, leaving father and daughter alone.

*** *** ***

Anne awoke with a pain in the pit of her stomach, an emptiness that she couldn't seem to shake. She thought she'd been asleep for a while, but she still felt weary, a tiredness that had set deep into her bones. And then it all came back to her in a rush and she remembered why.

Connor was gone.

The tears hit her in a flood, and she curled up in the bed, the ache she felt more than she could bear. Soon, however, she was being pulled up into a comforting embrace. Anne looked up in surprise, her voice breaking as she spoke. "Mommy?"

Buffy gave her daughter a small, sad smile. "I'm here, baby."

Anne collapsed against her mother, her tears flowing freely. Buffy said nothing as she held her, letting Anne cry herself dry.

Finally, Anne sat up, wiping at her face. Buffy reached over, grabbed a box of Kleenex from the bedside table, and handed them to Anne who thanked her softly. "When did you get here?" Anne asked after a moment.

"A couple of hours ago. You father called me right after it happened, and I came immediately. Dawn agreed to take care of William and Joyce," Buffy replied.

"So I guess I've been out for a while."

"Cordelia did something to help you sleep. Thought it would be for the best."

"Wish I'd stayed asleep," Anne said. "I wasn't hurting then."

Buffy tucked her daughter's hair behind her ear. "We're already trying to find him, sweetie. They're working on it downstairs, and your aunt and Giles are looking for information on the demons in the Watchers' Library back in England. We're hoping if we can figure out what sort of demons they are and where they come from, we can find out where they sent him."

Anne looked down. "Hell. They sent him to hell. No matter which one he's in, it's horrible."

Buffy took Anne's hand. "But if we know which one he's in, maybe we can get him out."

"I feel so lost," Anne said. "Like I've been ripped in two, but I can still feel that other half aching." She took a deep, shuddering breath.

"I know. And I know what you're going through, what you're feeling. I'm here for you, sweetheart. You don't have to be strong right now," Buffy said.

"Good, because I really don't think I can be. Not when it hurts this much just to breathe."

Buffy wrapped her arms around Anne again. "I know, sweetie. I know."

Anne stayed there for a moment before pulling up again. "So, um, I guess Dad told you everything, huh?"

"About you sleeping with Angel's son?" Buffy asked with a quirked eyebrow. "Yeah, he did. But under the circumstances, I'm not going to freak about that."

"I really do love him, Mom. I didn't even know I could feel this way about anyone. It's like he somehow made himself a part of me and now that's just been torn away from me."

Buffy wished she could say something to make Anne feel better, to make that ache lessen, but knew from her own personal experience that she couldn't. A wound like that couldn't be closed with a few trivial utterances. But she'd do what she could do—she'd be there for her daughter, make sure she didn't have to suffer alone the way Buffy herself had once done. She stroked Anne's face softly. "I love you, Annie."

Anne's eyes filled with tears again, though they didn't spill this time. "I love you, too, Mom."

"So she's awake?"

Anne's head turned quickly towards the open door, her eyes widening and an almost-smile forming on her lips. "Rebecca? What are you doing in L.A.? I thought you said you could never be in a place with that much sunlight. Something about it ruining your pasty British complexion."

Rebecca Giles smiled at her best friend. Born only a few months apart, the girls had been friends for longer than either one of them could even remember. "Eh, I can deal with it for you. Heard you might need a friend."

"You heard right. I am so glad to see you." Anne looked back over at her mother. "Both of you."

"Which is why we're here," Buffy said. "For moral support and all." She patted Anne's leg. "I'm going to go downstairs and make sure your father and Angel aren't trying to kill each other again."

"They've been fighting?" Anne asked. She frowned. "Okay, when are they not, but more than usual?"

"A bit," Buffy replied. "Angel just said a few things that upset Spike. Punches were thrown, but nothing major."

Anne turned her gaze downward. "Angel blames me, doesn't he?"

"Sweetie, Angel's…"

Anne cut her mother off. "No. It's all right. I blame me, too."

"Anne, no," Buffy said. "Don't do that. It isn't your fault."

"He went into that portal for me, Mom. To save me."

Buffy put her hand on Anne's chin, tilting her face upwards. "Connor made a choice. He was willing to trade himself for you so you wouldn't have to suffer. Don't hate yourself for that. It wouldn't be what he would want."

"But I can't stop feeling this way."

"I know, baby," Buffy kissed Anne's cheek.

"Go check on Dad," Anne said, wiping at her eyes again. "You can make sure he and Angel aren't trying to kill each other and Rebecca and I can talk some."

Buffy gave her daughter one more hug. "I'll be right downstairs if you need anything at all."

"Okay."

Buffy left the room, shutting the door to give the two girls privacy. Rebecca came and sat on the edge of the bed, a silence following until she broke it with, "Angel's son, huh?"

Anne gave a humorless chuckle. "You know me—sucker for doomed romance."

"No, usually you run screaming from anything that begins to even develop the flavor of romance. I've never seen you want to keep a guy around long enough to learn his phone number, never mind fall in love. Then you're gone for a week and all that changes?" Rebecca replied.

"I know. And believe me, no one was more shocked than I was." Anne frowned. "Okay, possibly my dad. And probably Connor himself. But that's not the point. It just…felt right with him. Like being with Connor made everything be the way it was supposed to be. And then the demons that were attacking me back home in England came after him, too. They called him my 'mate.'"

Rebecca raised an eyebrow. "Your 'mate?' So you two have…"

"Oh yeah. But not before the first time they showed up and called him that, so it's not like the demons could smell it on us or anything."

Rebecca wrinkled her nose. "Okay. That's just gross."

"Sorry," Anne said. "But my point is, these demons had been going on about prophecies, and then they linked me to Connor. Couple that with the fact that I had this instant, uncontrollable attraction to him, and I thought maybe we were fated or something. But now he's gone and I'm alone feeling crazy for ever thinking something so ridiculous."

"Hey—no. Don't think like that. He's not gone forever. He's in a hell dimension, which is bad, but he's not dead," Rebecca replied.

"You don't know that," Anne said. "He could've gotten killed once he got there, or even going through the portal. Or he could've gone to a world where time moves so fast that it's been like a million years there already."

"You're not being very optimistic."

"I watched the man I love get sucked into a hell dimension. Doesn't make for the optimism."

"Then I'll have to be optimistic for the both of us," Rebecca said. "You'll find Connor, the two of you will be deliriously happy together, and will buy a puppy."

"A puppy?"

"They're cute. Everyone loves a puppy."

"They pee on the floor."

Rebecca sighed with mock exasperation. "Fine, a kitten then."

Anne shook her head, chucking slightly. "You are such a freak."

"Yeah, but I made you smile a little."

"You did," Anne admitted. She was glad Rebecca was there. The ache was still tearing her up inside, but having her friend there was making it a little easier to bear.

"You've got to be hungry," Rebecca said. "What do you want to eat?"

Anne looked at her askance. "You're not going to cook, are you? Because that has only led to badness in the past."

"I told you that was blackened," Rebecca said, rolling her eyes. "It's not my fault you've never expanded your gastronomical horizons. But no, I'm not going to cook. I'm going to go downstairs and tell your father you're hungry, and he's going to run out and find whatever you want, even if he has to tear up half of L.A. in order to do it."

"It has been a while since I've eaten…"

"Well, then place your order," Rebecca told her.

"I don't care. Fast food will be fine," Anne replied.

"Got it. Grease on a bun coming up."

"Thank you," Anne said, her voice breaking as she suddenly began to cry again.

"Hey, I'm being lazy and playing on Spike's fatherly concern. No need to go getting all weepy on my account," Rebecca said, though she put her arm around Anne.

"I know. It's just…" Anne sniffed. "You're a really good friend."

"'Course I am. I'm the best. Now let me go get something for you to eat and then I'll come back and you can cry on my shoulder, okay?"

"Okay," Anne replied with a nod as she let Rebecca go.

*** *** ***

Spike was on his way to get lunch at Rebecca's behest when a tall, blonde woman in her mid-thirties walked into the lobby. He stopped, eyeing her warily. "Can I help you?" he asked.

She took off her sunglasses, her blue eyes fixing coldly on Spike. "I'm Laura Angel, and I'm looking for my husband."

*** *** ***

Chapter Fourteen