Lorne had called in some help to close the portal so that when the sun went down, Angel, Fred, and Lorne were on their way to Sunnydale.  They met up with the other half of their crew in front of Willy's bar.

"Did you find him?" Angel asked anxiously.

"No, I'm sorry.  Maybe he's not here.  Maybe he got off the bus before it got to Sunnydale."

"I doubt it." Lorne said.  "There were no stops from L.A. to Sunnydale, and he may be tough but he's still human and he couldn't jump off a moving bus without major damage."

"What do we do now?" Fred asked meekly.

"We split up.  Cordy, Groo, and Lorne check out the south side.  Fred, Gunn and I will take the north side and I also want to go try and get some information from Willy.  We all have cell phones, call if you hear anything."  Cordelia's group headed off to the otherside of town while Angel's group entered the bar. Their entrance caused several patrons to turn their heads and Gunn protectively pulled Fred  to his side.

"A..A..Angel," Willy stuttered.

"Hey Willy, good to see you again," Angel said with asmirk at the man's fear.

"Didja come about the Slayer?  To see who shot her? Cause I don't know."

"She was shot?" Angel said shocked.

"Oh no!  Is she okay?" Fred squealed.  She remembered how sad Angel had been the first time, she didn't want the girl to be dead again.

"Yeah, I heard she's fine." Willy turned his eyes toFred and leered at her.  Gunn shot the bartender an evil look and pulled Fred closer against him. Meanwhile, Angel pushed his worry about Buffy to the back of his mind and focused on Connor.

"We're not here about Buffy.  Have there been any new arrivals in town?  Male, looks 16, dressed in animal skins?"

"I haven't heard anything."  Angel considered pounding the man's head into the bar, but could tell that foronce, the sleazebag wasn't lying.  He turned and, with Gunn and Fred on his heels, left.

****

"I'm going patrolling." Buffy anounced, gingerly pulling her leather jacket over her injured arm. Willow came scrambling out of the kitchen.

"What?  No you're not.  You just got shot."

"Well, that doesn't mean the vampires are going to stop eating people.  The dork squad is in jail,there's no big bad out there, but I need to be."

"Buf..."

"Wil, my arm is fine.  Go spend some quality time withTara, I'll be home later."  With that, Buffy stepped out the door and into the night.

She wandered through a few graveyards checking forf resh graves and staked two vampires.  Feeling satisfied and a little worn out due to her injuries,she started to head home for some hot chocolate and sleep.  But her plans were thrown as she walked past the park and heard the sounds of a fight.  She ran towards the sounds but when she arrived at the source,she discovered she was barely needed.  She gaped as the boy who had saved her from Warren earliervaliantly and successfully fought two vampires.  She watched as his body moved in the ballet of battle and once again was struck by a sense of familiarity thatshe couldn't quite put her finger on.  Her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed three more vampires approaching.  She pulled out her stake and began to fight.  When the vamps were dust, she became aware that the boy was staring at her.

"You fight well," he told her, eyeing her warily "but why do you fight?"

"It's my duty," she told him, eyeing him right back. "Why do you fight?"

"It is my duty as well.  I am avenging the wrongs done to my father."

"Well, um, yeah, that's a good reason."  She still eyed him suspiciously.  Something was very off about him and she couldn't shake the unsettling feeling that she should know him from somewhere.

"I need assistance in my mission," Steven said. Would you be willing to help me?"

"Why don't you come back to my house and we can talk more about this," Buffy suggested, not wanting to get drawn into something that she didn't want to be a par tof.  Noting the boy's skinniness, she added.  "And maybe get something to eat."  Realizing that he was ravenous, Steven quickly agreed.

"So where are you from?"  Buffy asked, as they walked towards Revello Drive.

"Quartoth," he answered.  Her experiences telling her that this was not some small town somewhere, Buffy realized that it was shaping up to be an interesting week.

****

Buffy slid her key into the lock and with a twist of her wrist, pushed the door open.  Dawn, who was sitting at the counter munching on popcorn and reading the latest Seventeen, turned her head.

"Hey Dawnie, this is Steven.  Steven, this is Dawn, my sister."  Dawn looked the boy her sister was with up and down.  He was cute and definitely much too young to be her date.  This could have possibilities.

"Hi," she said with a little wave.

"Hello," he replied.  Buffy led him over to the stool next to Dawn and sat him down.

"I'll be right back.  Dawn give Steven some popcorn or something."  As Buffy left the room, Steven reached out a hand and stroked it over Dawn's hair.  She looked at him surprised.

"It's so shiny," he said and she beamed.

"Well, ya know, I condition."

****

"Willow.  Tara," Buffy called as she went upstairs,not wanting to walk in on any intimate moments.  She hated to interrupt them this soon after their reunion but as always the Hellmouth called.  Willow came out into the hall in her robe.

"Buffy, you're home.  Patrol go okay?"

"Yeah, fine except I met this guy.  The guy who knocked over Warren this afternoon.  He was in the park fighting vampires and doing a good job of it. His name's Steven and he says he's on a mission to avenge the wrongs done to his father and he wants my help.  He's downstairs in the kitchen."

"So?" Willow prompted.

"He's wearing animal skins and says he's from a place called Quartoth.  Something's very off about the whole thing.  I was thinking research."

"Oh ok, let us get dressed and we'll be right down." Willow went back into her bedroom and Buffy made a quick phone call to Xander before going back into th ekitchen.  As she entered, she noticed that Dawn was in full flirting mode while Steven seemed oblivious to her advances.  She supressed a giggle.  Willow and Tara came down a second later and introduced themselves, then Xander arrived.  Buffy took the clothes he carried with him and handed them to Steven.

"Why don't you put these on?"  Steven nodded and began to undress.  Willow, Tara, Buffy were shocked while Dawn stared open mouthed at his newly exposed chest. Xander had the presence of mind to steer the boy into the bathroom.

"Change in there," he said, closing the door.

"See, I told you something was off."

"We'll start researching right away."

It was almost sunrise when the L.A. crew arrived at
the mansion.  They were all tired and discouraged by
not finding Connor.

"This is where you lived?"  Gunn asked, looking
around.  "It's kind of..."

"Decrepit and dirty?" Cordelia interjected.  "Angel,
do we really have to stay here?"  The harried and
exhausted vampire pressed his fingers against the
bridge of his nose.  He really didn't feel like
dealing with her whining right now.

"It's cleaner than the motel, and unless you want to
pay for the hotel, yes we have to stay here.  There's
enough beds upstairs, a working shower, and it's just
for a few hours, ok, so deal."  Cordelia pouted until
Groo wrapped his arms around her and cheered her up.
Angel disappeared into his old bedroom, not wanting to
deal with his friends.  Being in Sunnydale always drug

up a load of emotional baggage and being there because
of Connor just made it harder.  He settled into his
old bed, not even noticing the imprint of another body
on the sheets.

****

Morning came to find the A.I. team sans Angel scouring
the town once more.  Fred and Gunn wandered aimlessly
not knowing their way around, but asking nearly
everyone they met if they had seen Connor.

"Charles, this is useless.  We've searched everywhere
in this town.  Connor can't be here."  Gunn stopped in
the middle of the street and turned to face Fred.

"Hey where's the optimistic girl I know and love?
We'll find him."

"I don't know."

"How bout we get some food?  Will that cheer you up?"
Fred's face brightened.

"Food would be wonderful."  Gunn steered her into the
nearest food place he spotted.  Fred's grin got even
wider as the smell of fast food wafted towards her.
"Mmmmm, grease."

"How you're not 300 pounds is beyond me."  Gunn
teased.  Fred just smiled and dragged him to the
counter.

"Hi, how may I help you?" the blonde behind the
register asked.  The couple's collective jaws dropped
as they read the name on her nametag.

****

Buffy barely concealed her annoyance towards the two
people in front of her.  She had stayed up nearly all
night talking to Steven without getting any clear
answers, the bullet wound in her arm was aching, and
to top it all off she had to wear the stupid hat with
a chicken on it.  She just wanted to finish her shift
and go home and she certainly didn't have the patience
for two slack-jawed losers holding up the line.

"How may I help you?" she asked again with thinly
veiled impatience.

"Um, we'll have a number two and a number six,
supersized," the man said.

"Fine, that will be $4.63."  The man handed her the
money, took the food then went to sit down.  As she
helped the next customer, she could feel the pair's
eyes boring into her and she turned her head to glare
at them.  When they saw her eyes on them, they quickly
looked away.

****

Fred and Gunn stared at the blonde in front of them
whose nametag clearly said 'Buffy'.  They continued to
stare in shock until Buffy spoke again in an annoyed
voice.

"Um, we'll have a number two and a number six,
supersized," Gunn said, shaking off his stupor.  He
paid and took the food to one of the farther away
tables so that they could talk.

"Do you think it's her?"  Fred whispered.

"Of course it's her," Gunn whispered back.  "How many
people are named Buffy, especially in a small town
like this?"

"She's pretty, I can see why Angel would love her."
Fred snuck a furtive glance at the girl.  "But she
doesn't look that strong, are you sure she's the
Slayer?"

"Honey, she's blonde, named Buffy, and lives in
Sunnydale.  I'm pretty sure."

"I guess you're right.  What do we do now?"

"We eat and leave.  Angel didn't want to alert his old
gang to his presence and I think we should respect his
wishes because he's going through so much right now."
Fred nodded her acquiescence, so they scarfed down
their food quickly and left.

****

"Any luck?"  Fred asked hopefully.

"Nope," Cordelia said feeling defeated.  "This is
useless.  For all we know, Connor is back in L.A. at
the hotel wondering where we all went to."

"Maybe you're right," Angel sighed from his spot
brooding near the fireplace.  "Maybe he is back in
L.A. or someplace else all together.  We'll do one
more sweep tonight then go home."

"Are you giving up?"  Cordy asked shocked.  Sure she
was whining about it, but she never expected Angel to
actually listen to her.

"Of course not,"  he answered.  "We're just not doing
any good here.  We'll go home and research, find
another way to locate Connor."

"Maybe we should ask Buffy," Fred suggested softly.

"No." Angel said emphatically, spinning around.  Gunn
shot her a look.  "We're not bringing Buffy into this.
It would only complicate things.  Besides, if she
knew something one of my sources would have known
about it as well.  One last sweep, then we go home."

TBC...