Backdated to last Friday, and locked: Bringing Up Baby
Note to self: don't fuck this up. Because one way or the other, you'll be in a position to. Either through the bringing-a-demon-to-the-housedoor thing, or otherwise, by being you. You know, that Larkin poem I quoted to Harry the first time we met? And don't have any kids yourself? Still good advice
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"Yeah, I noticed," he says. But snow has its own miracles. He never knew it at the West Coast. He remembers skating with Cordy and learning how to ski with Harry.
"I get it," he continues, because he does. Los Angeles is both Angel's city in a way Boston just couldn't have been, and a new start for Kara. "I know Kara tried to kill herself," he says abruptly, because he doesn't want to continue wondering whether Angel would ever tell him.
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He does know. After all he was told who paid the hospital bills so that people wouldn't ask questions when it came to releasing Kara to Angel and Darla. If Harry Osborn is expecting a thank you...well he'll be waiting a very long time.
"It's probably best she doesn't know that you guys know. I think she's still trying to convince us...or maybe herself that she didn't mean to do it and that I overreacted. She's got nothing left holding her here, and I think she just needs a new start. I miss my city and I miss the hotel."
It will always be home to Connor if he wants to come back, but Angel knows better than to suggest that. It will just be met with another reminder that his life is with Harry now. He gets it, he does, and considering everything that has happened with both Connor and Kara lately, he isn't sure it's good for either of them to be in the same state let alone house any time soon. They both have some serious issues with each other that they need to work out.
"You have to realize why we weren't telling anyone, son. You've been where she was and the last thing she needed was more people finding out and making her feel cornered."
He doesn't want to think of bathrooms with spilled pill containers or sporting goods stores, yet it's all he seems to be able to think about lately.
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Unless you want them to kill you, and he really tries not think about that at all, which is probably why his subconscious drags it up so often in dreams.
"You two should go with her to Disneyland," Connor says randomly because he remembers Kara's high, angry voice demanding TEACUPS. "She'd like that." Then, a second too late, he recalls that Angel can't, unless it's for the last two hours after sunset. "I mean, she'll like being with you guys wherever you take her to," he continues awkwardly and sounds utterly like Connor Riley until he says in Stephen's tones, and means it: "You'll hold on to her, Dad. I know you will."
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"Your mother will take her to Disneyland and I'll be sure to take her down to the pier with the ferris wheel."
He avoided the beach sometimes, but he thinks maybe Kara will like the pier.
"When you visit you and I can go there and we'll take advantage of our hand eye coordination and win some things for Kara and your mom. After we clean out the warehouse district for nests of course."
He sounds whimsical as he speaks about LA. He's missed it. "I'm going to see if Cordy maybe wants to move back. She seems pretty lost since she's been back and really I don't want to leave her in Gotham with Bruce or Boston alone."
He hears what Connor is saying too and he's not sure what to say to it so he just says, "I don't plan to let go of either of you, Connor."
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Being his parents' son, of course, he expresses this in an indirect way.
"I'll bring the hockey stuff along," he says, referring to Angel's birthday present from last year. "Los Angeles has arenas, too. I checked."
After that Connorian way of saying "I love you and am glad you still love me because maybe I was afraid you kicked me out again for what I did to Kara", his mind turns to the Cordy topic.
"A couple of days ago Cordy told me she misses the sun. I'm pretty sure she'll come along, if she has someone to go with or to."
Which means no Cordy in Gotham, on the downside, but on the upside no Harry-Cordy arguments in Gotham, either, and, the ultimate plus, probably no Cordy/Bruce Wayne or Cordy/Lindsey McDonald. It's not that Connor begrudges Cordelia the chance for happiness, he tells himself, of course he doesn't, but he's seen how Bruce treats his girlfriend Julie. And while Lindsey does deserve credit for helping to save Harry and Cordy - something which Connor felt obliged by honour to tell Cordelia - he still works for Wolfram and Hart. Which makes him less than worthy of Cordelia's affection, clearly.
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"Good. I almost had you the last time we played so expect me to win the next time."
They're both learning the sport, but Angel is enjoying it. There will be a part of him that will always remember tiny hockey sticks and a little jersey.
"I wanted to talk to you first, and then I'm going to talk with her. There is plenty of room in the hotel if she wants to move in, but even if she doesn't she could still move back and get her own place."
He's excited. He really has missed his city, his hotel, and the tripping over people who share the same space.
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"Didn't she have a ghost in her old apartment? I remember packing her stuff with Gunn and Fred when they moved it to the hotel, but the ghost never talked to me. Fred claimed it was there, though. Could be she wants that back."
Making an educated guess, one would assume Dennis deduced what Gunn and Fred did not at the time: that 17 years old Connor was, if not responsible for Cordy's disappearance, then responsible for Angel's. But Connor isn't guessing about ghosts right now. The talk of hockey together reminds him of his own secret, which he hasn't shared yet. That there is a little boy with Harry's hair who is part of their lives now.
Unfortunately, it's not just his secret to tell. Though Angel would understand the mixture of terror and joy the prospect of a child evokes in Connor better than anyone. But Harry doesn't want Kara to know yet, for good reasons, and if Connor tells Angel, Angel will have to lie about it to Kara. Not a good new start. It would also get the excitement and joy out of Angel's voice in no time flat. So, no Evan news.
Still, his voice sounds a little more serious now when he asks: "What about Wolfram and Hart? Is the Los Angeles Branch back in business?"
Because if they are, and if it is business as usual, Angel will fight them. And they might still have that contract he signed, because of Connor.
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"Yeah, he wasn't too happy about them moving her stuff I don't think."
He vaguely remembers Fred and Gunn telling him about it. It's probably not the best time to bring up Harry's kid. Angel is already in panic mode when it comes to Kara's safety. The idea that Harry has a child will just make him wonder who the mother is and how much deeper this is going to drag Connor into Harry's clutches, and Kara into depression.
"I don't know. I'm going to restart Angel investigations." It's his way of saying he has no plans to go back to Wolfram and Hart, contract or no contract.
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Meaning he counts on Angel to tell him if there should be serious trouble, and not via a last minute conversation. Just then, he hears Harry laugh in the next room, and suddenly realizes it's just a question of time before Evan babbles or squees loud enough for Angel to hear. Which means he should cut the conversation for now, and call him later, after the move, with the child not anywhere nearby.
So he waits for Angel's answer, and then plans on saying goodbye for now.
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It's true too. If he has to go up against the firm again, he'll call Connor for help. He'll call Faith and Buffy too. Even Spike if he can track him down. After all, he's not going to roll over and be a puppet on a string for them anymore.
"You call if you need anything."
It's not a request either, but he figures that it's not something they will have to debate for now.
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No kidding. If you're responsible, well, half responsible, well, a third responsible for a child that your lifestyle could threaten, you do not indulge in manly "I can deal on my own" pride if a crisis approaches.
"Call me when you get there, okay? Just that I know there wasn't another air plane crash."
At least he's assuming they'll move by plane. And after what happened to Harry and Cordelia, he's a bit paranoid on that account. Which must be doubly true for Cordy. Poor Cordy, though the prospect of going home must make up for that.
"I've got go now, school stuff. Just call me. And - thank you. For holding on."
And after Angel's goodbye, he hangs up.
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