"Oh?" Kate scowled at Connor. "That's all you have to say? Oh?"

Connor shook his head. "I really don't know what else to say right now. Except come in." He sighed. "I guess we really need to talk about this."

"Yeah, I'd say we do." Kate strode in. She paused when she saw Salome rising to her feet in the living room.

Connor stepped up beside Kate, gesturing to Salome. "Agent Lockley, this is--"

"Salome Simpson," Kate replied. She pulled out a file. "Also know as Salome Beckett, Salome Wagner and Salome Mallory." She held up the file. "I was told I would probably be meeting you." She opened the file and scanned over it. "Suspect in drug possession, drug trafficking, aggravated assault, breaking and entering, grand theft auto..."

Salome smiled tightly. "Never charged."

Kate snapped the file shut. "Because the evidence in all of the cases disappeared..." She leaned in. "Like magic." She turned to glare at Connor. "Sort of like in your case."

"Salome has nothing to do with that," Connor growled. "I hadn't even met her back then." He paused. "...Technically." He shook his head. "Now do you mind telling me exactly what's going on? What about... That incident?"

"Incident?" Kate got nose-to-nose with Connor. "Terrorizing a store full of people isn't what I would call an 'incident'."

Connor looked just as fierce as Kate. "You want to explain exactly what's going on, rather than just coming into my house and scowling at me? What are you?" Connor demanded. "Department H deals in demon capture."

"All right." Kate nodded, walking out of Connor's glare, pacing a bit. "I was on the LAPD in Robbery-Homicide until I met your father and immediately I was thrown into a world of vampires and demons and... Everything. Up until I got fired for it. After that, I was recruited by Department H, who needed someone to head up the Supernatural Investigations Division." She crossed her arms over her chest. "I handle police investigations the police can't handle. Which includes yours."

Connor crossed his arms as well. "What does that mean?"

"It means there's two officers from the Palo Alto police force accompanied by a detective from the LAPD about to knock on your door." Kate replied. "And I've been instructed to make sure you're agreeable to being brought in."

"Connor!" Salome yelled, leaping forward as Kate plunged the hypodermic needle in her hands into Connor's neck.

Connor howled, throwing his head back. He pushed Kate as hard as he could...

...And she only stumbled a step.

"What?" Connor looked down at his hands. "I don't understand."

"When the police department insists on handling the cases of super-powered beings themselves, it's my job to subdue them enough for questioning and, in a lot of cases, incarceration." Kate looked cold. "You can thank your friend Faith for that." She slipped the needle back into her briefcase. "It's a special mixture of muscle relaxants to surpress your abilities."

"You bitch!" Salome hissed, balling her fists. "You're going to regret that."

"Salome!" Connor snapped, looking to her fiercely. "Don't. You're not going to get in trouble too."

"You're just going to go?" Salome asked angrily.

Connor nodded. "I am."

"Ace..." Salome took a step to him, leaning in to whisper in his ear. "You do know you're guilty, right?"

Connor nodded. "That's why I have to go." He nodded to Kate. "You could have just asked. I wouldn't have attacked the detective." He sighed. "Now you better go. I don't watch a lot of Law and Order, but I'm pretty sure it's illegal to warn a suspect about police coming to visit them."

There was another knock on the door. Connor jerked his head towards the back. "You can go out the back door, Agent Lockley." He sighed at her disbelieving look. "I'm not going to run." He held up his hands in surrender. "I promise!"

Kate nodded and strode out. Salome grabbed Connor's arms. "All right. Come on, Ace."

Connor pulled back, shaking his head. "What are you talking about?"

Salome just stared at Connor in utter amazement. "I'm talking about my brilliant plan to teleport out of here. For Illyria's Sake, Connor, I've had these powers nearly a year, get use to them!"

Connor shook his head again. "I'm not going anywhere."

"There is a cop at the door," Salome insisted. "A cop who wants to arrest you for building bombs and terrorizing people! That is bad times bad. It is bad squared."

"You teleport." Connor cupped Salome's chin. "Go find Andrew. Meet me. You know how to find me."

"I'm not leaving you," Salome insisted.

Connor looked down. "I have to answer the door."

****

Connor sat, arms crossed in the small interrogation room. He looked up at Detective Cohen blankly. "Do I need a lawyer?"

"We're just talking." Cohen pulled out the chair across from Connor, sitting in it backwards. "Why? Do you think you need a lawyer? I just want to ask you some questions."

Connor shrugged.

"Your name is Connor Francis Angel, right?" Cohen asked, reading over his file.

"Just Connor's fine." Connor leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I just wanted to make sure I had brought in the right person," Cohen replied. "There seems to be records of you as Connor Francis Riley."

Connor ran his tongue over his teeth. "I used my foster parent's name for a couple of years." He looked around. "So why did I have to come to a police precinct in LA to be questioned about my name?"

"You seem a little anxious, Connor." Cohen cocked his head. He then smiled. "What are you afraid I'm going to ask you?"

"I just want you to get to the point," Connor replied tersely.

Cohen stood up and leaned in. "Do you mind if--" He pushed aside Connor's hair, revealing the puncture mark in his neck. "Ah... So Agent Lockley filled you in on the situation. I thought she might. She did have a rather special relationship with your father."

Connor's eyes widened. "My father..."

"I know who you are, Connor," Cohen leaning in. "How they call you the Destroyer. Not a very friendly name, that."

"Well, it makes demons wet themselves," Connor snapped. "I think I should have a lawyer with me before I answer anything else."

"Your girlfriend's industrious, Mister Angel. Your lawyer arrived at the station five minutes after we did." Cohen stood and opened the door.

"My--" Connor's brow furrowed in confusion.

Wearing a sharp blue pinstriped suit, Charles Gunn entered the interrogation room. He adjusted his tie. "My client refuses to answer any questions without me present."

"He's already done so," Cohen replied.

"Uh--" Connor looked from Gunn to Cohen and back to Gunn once again.

"I'd like a minute to confer with my client," Gunn said to Cohen. "Now why don't you just go behind your little two-way mirror and give us some time?"

Cohen left the room, shutting the door behind him. Gunn slid into the seat next to Connor. "Okay, this is how it's going to go down..."

Connor shook his head. "I think I'd be better off with court-appointed." He lowered his voice to a hiss. "I need a real lawyer, Gunn."

"I am a real lawyer," Gunn replied. "Well, okay, not. But got all the knowledge. And fake documents. Believe me, I'm the best you're going to get."

"Really?"

Gunn shrugged slightly, leaning in closer. "I've gotten off guiltier people than you. Now just follow my lead."

****

Andrew paced back and forth in the tiny motel room. "My Slayer got arrested. I can't believe my Slayer got arrested."

Faith crossed her arms over her chest, watching Andrew pace. "You're acting like it's the first time it's ever happened. Kid's got good company."

"You sound almost proud of that," Jamie commented, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"Relax." Faith gave Andrew a shot in the arm. While it was barely a tap, Andrew still whined and rubbed the spot she had hit. "Kid's just gone in for questioning. They haven't arrested him."

"Not that it's not nice to see you, Faith," Mandy said, holding Jamie's hand. "But why are you here?"

"Wanted to keep Chuck company," Faith shrugged. "And I figured if anyone knows what the kid's going through, it's me. I can be all... Helpful."

"So," Mandy voice was low. "Connor is being questioned about holding a bunch of people hostage with bombs and stuff." She looked around. "But he didn't actually do it, right?" Her eyes widened at the averted gazes around the room. "Right?"

"Well..." Andrew sighed. "If it makes you feel any better, he had suffered a complete psychotic breakdown."

Mandy shook her head furiously. "Just how is that supposed to make me feel better?"

Jamie held up a hand. "I'm still a bit fuzzy on how Connor knew how to build bombs when he spent seventeen years of his life in a hell dimension."

The general assemblage looked at each other in silence for a long moment. Andrew frowned. "Yeah, we should really ask him about that."

"What are we supposed to do?" Mandy asked, looking to Faith. "I mean, Connor is being questioned by police and from the grim around here, I'm guessing he's going to be arrested... What do we do?"

"We sit tight," Faith replied coolly. "Gunn knows what he's doing. He got me off." She smiled. "In more ways than one."

Salome entered the room, looking pale and worn. Everyone stood up, looking at her questioningly.

"So what's the verdict?" Jamie asked. His shoulders slumped. "Wow... I wish I had said something else."

"They're going to hold Connor," Salome replied. "They haven't arrested him yet, but they're going to be doing a line-up later. Gunn's still with him."

"What do they have on him?" Andrew asked. "I thought the memory spell..."

"Only got rid of Connor, not what he did. And now that the spell's broken, all bet's are off." Salome explained. She sank down on one of the beds. "They have a bloodied knife. Wolfram and Hart missed it when they did their clean-up. It had... I dunno. Rolled under a display or something. They need to do a DNA test."

"Are you sure it's Connor's?" Mandy asked. "I mean, if he was threatening them with bombs..."

Salome nodded. "Angel cut Connor's throat. Not to mention they got into a huge knockdown from what I heard." She laughed bitterly. "It doesn't really matter what happened. It's what the cops think." She sniffled. "They've also got some witnesses. Sound like they're pretty reliable ones too."

"How did they ID Connor?" Andrew asked. "It's not like he spends a lot of time in LA."

Salome shrugged. "I really don't know."

Jamie put an arm around Salome's shoulders. "I thought you were going to stay at the station with Gunn."

"I was," Salome replied, resting her head against Jamie. "Until my boyfriend who I love dearly and do not want to kill at all told me to get the hell out of there."

"Well..." Andrew pat Salome on the back. "He's probably going to be arrested. You can't blame him for being in a bit of a bad mood."

"I don't understand why he doesn't want me to be there for him." She gripped the edge of the bed so hard her claws broke through the mattress. She looked to Faith. "So when's Angel going to get into town?"

Faith averted her gaze. "...Angel?"

"Yeah." Salome nodded. "Angel. Connor's father. The crazy-protective vampire with a soul who ran a half-ass law firm that didn't know how to clean up a crime scene properly."

"He's not," Faith replied, keeping her head down.

Andrew frowned. "He's... Not?"

"We..." Faith sighed, finally looking up. "We don't exactly know where Angel is right now, all right? He and Spike were taking care of some demons in Nepal and... Disappeared."

Andrew stared at Faith in absolute shock. "And we're only hearing about this now why?"

"Angel goes off the radar sometimes." Faith shrugged. "So does Spike. They've only been gone a few days." She looked at the others. "Don't look so down. Come on--" She pointed to herself. "Murder-Two. Twenty-five to life." She pointed to Andrew. "Multiple bank robberies, accessory to murder, grand larceny." Finally, she gestured to Salome. "And I don't exactly know, but it sure had Angel's panties in a bunch last time I saw him. Huge group of felons in this room. But we're all still around. So just lighten up. Connor's going to be fine."

****

Connor was laying flat on his back on the bench in his small cell. He had his hands behind his head, sighing deeply.

He looked up when he heard the footsteps. He stood when he saw Kate stop in front of his cell along with an officer.

"Open it up," Kate requested. The officer opened the door and Kate stepped in. She nodded to the officer. "Close it and leave us alone."

The officer shut the door and left. Kate reached into her briefcase and pulled out her hypodermic needle. Connor sighed and rolled up the sleeve of his shirt, holding his arm out to her. "If you're going to stick me, can do you it in the arm? I don't like when people touch my neck."

"You seem pretty calm about this," Kate commented as she stuck the needle into his arm. "I have to explain to most of my cases they'll get thrown into the Demon Capture Unit if they don't behave."

"Why am I here?" Connor asked, hissing as the drugs were injected into his bloodstream.

"You committed a crime." Kate rolled down his sleeve. "A very serious crime."

"Is any crime not serious for you?" Connor asked tersely. He shook his head. "I didn't mean here... I meant here. You know what I can do, Detective Cohen knows what I can do..."

"What?" Kate looked at Connor in shock.

"Yeah." Connor rested his elbows on his knees and leaned against his folded hands. "So why am I sitting in jail with you giving me shots every twelve hours? I know Department H has special places for people like me."

"Believe me, I'd much rather you'd be sitting in our lockdown," Kate replied harshly. "But your crime wasn't actually supernatural. That's the only condition we can bring people in under." Kate leaned in. "You have the support of the entire Slayer's Council behind you... And it makes me sick."

"Maybe you chose the wrong line of work," Connor muttered.

"I chose to become a cop," Kate snapped. "It was your father who chose that I should find out about this damn world and made it so I couldn't be anymore. I can't stop being a cop and I can't unlearn what I know. So I do what I can with what I have." Her expression was one of pure loathing. "But I see you. You've been walking the streets for two years. And your girlfriend used her magic powers to make her connections to crimes disappear. Faith Lehane got off on a technicality on a murder charge and escaping from a federal penitentiary." She laughed coldly. "And you have the same lawyer. And he's probably going to use the same tricks to get you off."

Kate got up and paced. "And I'm supposed to just let it go, because you people are supposed to be the heroes. The fate of the world rest in your hands. But as far as I can see, you're as bad as anyone else in this jail!" Kate shook her head. "In fact, you're worse. You don't just think you're above the law. You think you are the law."

Connor shook his head. "I don't. I regret every day what I did. I see how scared the people were in the store. I'm sure you were in the room when they picked me out of the line up. Was it the elderly couple? Or the father and his daughter? The newlyweds? I took something from them. Their ability to feel safe. And it haunts me. I don't deny what I did, Agent Lockley. And I did more... Horrible things that Detective Cohen will never be able to punish me for. But he doesn't need to. Because I punish myself every day for them." He swallowed hard. "But the thing is... I'm a different person. Not because Angel did some memory spell. Because I am different."

Connor's eyes welled with tears. "You were a cop, so I'm sure you've heard every excuse in the book for why people did what they did, so I'm not going to pull the 'I was raised in a hell dimension by a revenge-obsessed psychopath card' on you."

Kate turned to Connor in shock.

He laughed coldly. "You didn't know that, huh? Guess the Supernatural Investigation Division doesn't tell you everything. Did they tell you how the man who raised me for seventeen years killed himself so I would think Angel did it?" He leaned close to Kate. "And how I locked Angel in a steel box and dropped him in the ocean for three months? What about the part where I was manipulated by a murderous higher power for a year so she could be brought into being?" His laughter was almost maniacal now. "And how about five hours after I punched my fist through her-- my daughter's-- skull... I held twelve people hostage."

"None of that justifies what you did," Kate whispered, her voice shaking.

Tears ran freely down Connor's face. "Do you think I didn't know Angel would get in before the cops?"

Kate remained silent. Connor stared at her, tears sliding down his cheeks. "Come on, Agent Lockley... You know my father. You don't think he was going to do everything in his power to get into that building before anyone else? You don't think I'm smart enough to know that?"

"What are you saying?" Kate asked quietly.

"I'm saying my father loves me more than anything," Connor whispered. "And even with everything that happened, he wouldn't be able to do it. He tried to hurt me, but he couldn't bring himself to... I had to make him believe I would hurt them. Hurt her. So he would do it. I wanted to know he loved me enough to..."

"You want Angel to kill you," Kate whispered. "You held those people hostage so your father would kill you."

"And he did," Connor's voice faltered. He licked his lips. "It just didn't take."

ACT THREE