Of Love and Hate: A Tale of Family
Author's Note: Part of the Of Love and Hate series. Same earthquake; different place...again. Noah and Lyle are transported to the crater that was once Sunnydale. Climbing out they meet Buffy and the Slayerettes. Set right at the end of Buffy S7 and five years after the events of Heroes. Except slash (since this is, well, me).
Disclaimer: I do not own Heroes or Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Or the quote by Leo Tolstoy.
__________________________________________________________________________________
All happy families resemble one another; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way – Leo Tolstoy
Lyle punched his father in the face, catching him off guard. "You are the lowest scum I have ever had the misfortune to know," he hissed as Noah rubbed the sore spot.
"Oh? We're stooping to insults now?" Noah sneered. "Well, if that's the case, I never loved you. You were never good enough. Not like Claire Bear."
Lyle would never show how much that hurt him because he knew, deep down, that it was true. It cut like a knife, just like that song said, but it was true nevertheless. And he'd somehow always known it. This was why he didn't care anymore. His entire life – the girl he'd loved, the organisation he'd nurtured and watched grow, the people he'd helped – it had all been for nothing because his father still thought he was useless. His father still didn't care.
He punched Noah again. He didn't tell him to take it back. It had been said. It could not be undone. Instead he kept punching, borrowing strength from the people around him, until his father was on the good side of a bloody pulp, if there was one, that is.
Noah laughed. It came out a bit gurgled. "Struck a nerve, did I?"
Lyle had never fought in the previous battles. But then his father had never been there before. Thus this time it was different.
"You...bastard," he said. "You...you..." He stopped and thought. Thinking had always come naturally to him (unlike the rest of his family, with the possible exceptions of Mom and Mr Muggles). "You know, there's not actually a word horrible enough to really describe what you are. And I don't think any civilisation is going to come up with one. At least," he conceded, "not any time soon."
Noah smirked. "Oh, grow a pair, Lyle. You were always a waste of space. People were always forgetting you. Is it any wonder I did too?"
Lyle began to laugh. It wasn't a horrible one either; instead it was out of place in the midst of battle, full of the very essence of laughter: the ability to see the hilarious in the most terrible thing. Noah blinked.
"You really have no idea, do you?" he said, giggles frequently interrupting him. He leaned down. "People will remember me when you've died and turned to dust. Don't you get it, Dad?" he sneered. "I ran the Souhaiter Organisation. And, as you well know, the world loved the Organisation. Because it, unlike your stupid Company, gave people a chance at redemption. It gave them hope."
Noah would have responded with something very clever and cutting – oh yes he would have – if the building hadn't started coming down around their ears at that particular moment.
Lyle immediately became distracted and looked around for his friends. He couldn't see that well through the dust and pieces of building.
Noah used that distraction to his advantage. He tackled Lyle bringing him to what, a moment ago, had been the ground. Somehow it had turned into thin air.
Noah and Lyle plummeted to the ground. It hurt.
Coughing, Lyle stood up shakily. "What did you do that for?" he asked, not really expecting an answer. He looked around and blinked. Okay... "Where are we?"
Noah, his animosity towards his son forgotten for the moment, glanced around too. "Some sort of crater, I think." He squinted. "Hey, is that...? Is that a school bus I see up there?" He pointed.
Lyle looked in the direction he was pointing. He had to squint. "I think...yeah, I think it is."
Noah began walking. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go and find out."
Lyle rolled his eyes but followed his father.
The Scoobies looked out over the crater that had once been the town of Sunnydale.
"We have a lot of work ahead of us," Giles said.
Faith responded with a half serious, "Can I push him in?"
"You've got my vote," said Willow.
Faith nodded. "I just want to sleep, yo, for like a week!" The other Potentials – Faith guessed they were Slayers now – nodded wearily. They were in complete agreement.
Dawn thought for a minute. "I guess we all could. If we wanted to."
Willow agreed. "Yeah! The First is scrunched. So, what do you think we should do, Buffy?"
Faith looked over at Buffy, who was staring out over the crater just like the rest of them. Consequently all she saw was the back of Buffy's blonde head. "Yeah, you're not the one and only Chosen anymore. Just gotta live like a person. How's that feel?"
Dawn, who was standing next to Buffy, said, "Yeah, Buffy. What are we going to do now?"
At that moment Noah and Lyle scrabbled up and out of the crater. Noah purposely kicked Lyle in the face as they did. Payback for all those punches, Lyle guessed. He groaned in pain.
Buffy's smile slid slowly off her face. "What the..."
__________________________________________________________________________________
Hehe. Poor Buffy, she really thought all of that was over. Little did she know...
Review please. They make me happy.