Disclaimer: I do not own Angel: the series or Buffy: the Vampire Slayer shows or characters. I do however own the characters of Cathy Lucy Angel and Nicholas (Nicky) Wood. No money is exchanging hands. Please don't sue me. I'm just a poor college student without a dime.
Summary: This story is the sequel to Fast Forward. Connor has finally come back home after living in Quar'toth for ten years. Each chapter will focus on a separate character's point of view as Connor adjusts to being back home and living with his family.
Pairings: Angel/Cordy, Faith/Wood, Fred/Wesley, Gunn/OC, Spike/Buffy, later on Connor/Dawn, Anya/Xander, Willow/Kennedy.
The song that inspired this story is This Year by Christina Aguilera. (Click to get the lyrics)
If you want to skip around to other chapters first you can, but they might not be up yet. I just put in the links in advance. They are all separate stories with different points of view.
Chapter One: October (Nicky's POV)Chapter Two: November (Lorne's POV)
Chapter Three: December (Faith's POV) will be x-over with Tru Calling.
Chapter Four: January (Connor's POV)
Chapter Five: February (Wesley's POV)
Chapter Six: March (Angel's POV)
Chapter Seven: April (Cordy's POV)
Chapter Eight: May (Spike's POV)
Chapter Nine: June (Fred's POV)
Chapter Ten: July (Robin's POV)
Chapter Eleven: August (Gunn's POV)
Chapter Twelve: September (Cathy's POV)
This Year
By: Sensue
Chapter One: October [Nicky's POV. Written in Third Person]—remember he's just five years old.Hyperion Hotel (October 24)
The beginning of the month was filled with pain and heartache over Connor's kidnapping. Everyone in the Hyperion had felt it. No one more than Nicholas Wood, or Nicky, as everyone called him. The five year old little boy could feel what others felt, no matter how hard they tried to act happy and unconcerned.
He'd felt his mommy's sadness. His daddy's anger. His mommy Cordy was very upset all the time, but acted like she was "normal," doing the usual things like taking him and Cathy to the park and meeting his teachers for open house with his mommy. His daddy already knew his teachers because he works as a principal of the big kids' school, so he got to meet everyone in the district.
Everyone was worried about Uncle Angel. He heard his mommy say that "he wasn't taking this well." Nicky guessed that to mean that his Uncle Angel felt sad and mad all the time. Sometimes Uncle Angel was so mad that he couldn't be around him or his head would start to hurt. One time his head hurt so badly, he couldn't stop crying. His daddy took him away and told him it was okay. That Uncle Angel didn't mean it. He was just 'grieving' over Connor. He told his daddy and mommy that he didn't want to play with him anymore because he always yelled at him and Cathy. He didn't like that, Uncle Angel wasn't fun anymore. He didn't even smile at him anymore. He even forgot about his birthday. He knew that Uncle Angel didn't mean to forget his birthday, but he still did.
Mommy Cordy was afraid too. Nicky didn't want her to be. He just wanted his happy family back. So, that night, he pretended to sleep when he was supposed to, but instead went to the window to look for a shooting star, to wish upon. It took a long time because every time he thought he saw one, it turned out to be an airplane, but after forty minutes he saw a real shooting star. He wished for everyone to be happy; as an afterthought he also wished that Connor could come back. After he made his wish, he snuck downstairs to see if it worked.
It was lucky that he did because Mommy Cordy told everybody that they were going to go on vacation. Not only was she smiling, but she laughed too. So did Uncle Angel and everyone else. Everyone was happy again. His wish worked. Thinking, If my one wish worked, then my wish that Connor'll come home should come true too. He was so excited. Finally, he was going to get his best friend and brother back along with a happy family. He just knew that Connor was going to come back. He had to.
Next week was Halloween so Connor could help him with his costume and tell him which houses had the best candy. Nicky had already decided he was going to be a Power Ranger this year. Connor wanted to be a ninja and Cathy was going to be a Princess, AGAIN. She always was a princess.
While he was planning for Connor's return, a swirling windy thing opened in the middle of the lobby. His first thought was that it was Connor, but instead a furry monster fell out of it. Uncle Lorne took him and Cathy so that they could hide under the desk. He was scared and so was Cathy. Uncle Lorne whispered that they were going to be okay; that their mommies and daddies would protect them all. He listened quietly under the desk. He heard his Uncle Gunn swear a bad word and heard his Mommy Cordy say Connor's name.
It was Connor. Well, maybe he was already dressed up for Halloween. Maybe he doesn't want to be a ninja anymore, Nicky thought. Uncle Lorne said that it was okay now, so they got up. Nicky caught his first sight of Connor in months. Wow. He's big. I wanna be big, too. That's not fair.
He was going to run up to Connor and hug him, but then Connor yelled and pulled out a knife. He was going to kill Uncle Lorne! Panic set in and he and Cathy ran to their mommies. All Nicky felt in those few moments was scared. This wasn't Connor, was it? Connor wouldn't hurt Uncle Lorne. He loves Uncle Lorne.
Then his mommy took him and Cathy upstairs. "But, mommy. I wanna play with Connor. I don't wanna go upstairs. I wanna show him my new book and the car that daddy bought me for my birthday three days ago."
"Nicky, be good. I know you want to play with Connor, but he's a little confused because he doesn't remember anyone yet. Give him some time and then I promise that you can play with him. Okay?"
Nicky wanted to be a good boy for his mommy so he listened to her and played, reluctantly, with Cathy and her Barbie's. What seemed, to a five year old, like a very long time later, they were taken downstairs to say hello to Connor.
When he saw his brother, he ran up to him and gave him the biggest hug in the world. Then he told Connor how much he missed him. And how he was sorry that he couldn't help him fight the bad guys who took him.
Connor didn't seem to know what to say. He just held his brother, remembering all of the fun times that they had together and wishing that he could have seen him grow up with them as a family. Nicky wiped at his eyes, it's okay now, Connor's back and we're going to have lots of fun. It doesn't even matter that he missed my birthday party, 'cause he's my real present.
After that hard first meeting, Connor adapted to living with his family. He needed lots of attention and love, but Nicky didn't care that Mommy Cordy was always busy with Connor. He knew—no, he felt that Connor was scared if she wasn't with him. He wanted his mommy and that was something that Nicky understood.
The one thing that Nicky couldn't believe was that he and Cathy STILL had to go to school. That wasn't fair because Connor didn't have to go to school. Cathy tried to sweet talk her daddy into letting them stay home, but Mommy Cordy caught her and said "no-way!" even though Uncle Angel was getting ready to say yes. Mommy Cordy shook her head at him and called him a 'pushover', I don't know what that means, but Uncle Angel turned really red at that, Nicky thought.
It was so exciting that Connor was back. Everyone wanted to welcome him back home, even Uncle Lorne. Nicky was also excited over the Halloween Party and Haunted House that they were going to make. Uncle Angel and Uncle Spike decided that the Hyperion was big enough to host a party this year, especially now that they had something to celebrate. My mommy even suggested that it could be both a Halloween party and a welcome home party. She laughed at Connor and told him he could wear the furry monster outfit that he wore when he came, no one would know who he was.
My daddy wasn't as excited as everybody else. He said that Halloween was the worst holiday in school. His students go wild and spray everything with silly string and paint and even throw toilet paper on the trees. Daddy said that last year some stupid teenaged boys went into the bus garage, that's where the busses go to sleep after they picked everybody up and dropped them off at home, and cut all the tires. That costs lots of money and the boys even went to jail. I don't like jail, Nicky thought, it's scary there. Every time mommy thinks about it, she feels scared and alone. I don't want her to ever go to jail again. I want her to stay with me and daddy and all the Uncles and Aunts forever.
So Uncle Angel and Uncle Spike decorated the inside of the hotel for the party. They fought over lots of stuff. Usually Aunt Fred had to smack them on the head to get them to stop. Uncle Charlie got to put up the lights and scary things outside with Uncle Wes's help. They even put up a coffin with a FAKE body inside of it and skeletons.
Connor thought that this was weird. He was confused as to why everyone was excited over death. Death was the enemy of survival. That's when Cathy pulled him aside and told him that Halloween was just a fun holiday in which kids got to dress up and pretend that they were other people or monsters to get LOTS of candy. The more candy the better.
It took three days before the decorating was finished. The Hyperion looked really spooky. It was great. There were pretend spider webs everywhere with spiders crawling on them. There were lots of things that jumped at you if you weren't looking, like the skeleton in the closet. Daddy thought of putting in that one, after he got into the Halloween spirit. He even decided to invite some of his 'best' and 'worst' students to the party. The best ones were invited to come over on "Beggar's Night", the night before Halloween in order to set up some scary tricks for the bad kids that were coming over on Halloween. Daddy said that it would teach them a lesson they would never forget. I think that it's going to be funny.
Everybody had to have a costume, too. Everyone, except Nicky and Cathy, kept their costumes a secret until Halloween night. Even Connor found a costume. His mommy was trying to find out what it was, but he smiled and told her that she'd see later. Mommy Cordy looked nervous. She even told Aunt Fred that she just hoped he wasn't wearing his 'birthday suit' to the party. Nicky heard her say that so he walked up to her and said, "Mommy Cordy, Connor doesn't have a birthday suit. He missed my birthday party, remember?"
They both patted my head and laughed. "Yes, sweetie, we remember."
So FINALLY, it was Halloween. Cathy and Nicky went to school in their costumes and as planned, Nicky was a Power Ranger, The Red Ranger to be exact, and Cathy was Princess Jasmine of Aladdin. School that day wasn't productive in terms of learning anything besides, non-scary ghost stories.
Everyone in their class got a chance to tell a ghost story of their own. Cathy was excited. As far as they knew, they were the only one's in the class who KNEW a ghost for real. Uncle Phantom Dennis had lived with Mommy Cordy for a long time. They were roommates. After Mommy Cordy and Uncle Angel got married though, she started living at the Hyperion with her husband. She felt really bad about leaving Uncle Phantom Dennis by himself, but he wrote her a message saying that as long as she was happy and came to visit at least once a month, he'd keep their apartment safe and tenant free. Mommy Cordy kept her promise and every Saturday morning she came over with things that Dennis liked and visited with him. Usually, Cathy, Nicky and Connor, when he was littler, came to visit with her. Dennis loved the kids and always played with them.
Now Angel Investigations uses that apartment as a safe-house. If they needed to, they could also use it for when company comes over. Sometimes when Mr. Giles comes over to visit with Uncle Wesley, he stays with Dennis, so he could have some privacy. But only people who Uncle Phantom Dennis liked could stay with him, or he'd kick them out of his apartment.
So, when it came to Cathy and Nicky's turn to tell a ghost story, they didn't understand why the other kids laughed at them or why the teacher shook her head and thought they were 'cute'. They really did know a real ghost, and his name is Phantom Dennis. No one believed their story. It was a disappointment because it was a really good story about how Dennis' mother put him in the wall because he was going to leave her.
After the sugar filled lunch of candy all of the kids were given, they were sent home to their parents. They were bouncing off the walls. But it was time for fun. Trick or Treat time.
Before they went door to door in the traditional, ring the doorbell and scream, trick or treat, manner, Cathy and Nicky were instructed to finish ALL of their homework by both their mommies and daddies. There was no way of getting out of that one. While they did their homework, the grownups started to get ready and put on their costumes.
Uncle Lorne, since he was already "in" costume made them all a quick dinner of Kraft macaroni and cheese. After the quick and hearty meal, the kids were ready to party.
Soon the adults walked down the stairs in their costumes.
Connor was ready first, having spent countless hours on trying to decide what he wanted to be for this 'Halloween' thing. He came down the stairs dressed like Uncle Angel. He even put on hair gel and made his hair spike up. He took Uncle Angel's cloths and his favorite jacket. When Uncle Angel saw him he was shocked. He couldn't believe how much his son looked like him. After he got over that shock, he complained endlessly that "my hair doesn't look like that. Cordy, tell him, that my hair doesn't stick up like that." She just shook her head, "Cordy, It doesn't. My hair is COOL. It doesn't look like that. I don't look like that. Do I really look like that? 'Cause I, just a little, mind you, look a little gay. Do I look gay to you, Cordy?" The headshaking turned to laughter. [I hope I don't offend anyone with this. I just thought it was funny. ~Sensue]
Uncle Angel frowned. He sat on the table and brooded. "Stop, laughing. I don't look gay. If I did look gay, why didn't you tell me? You're my wife; you're supposed to tell me. It's not like I can look in a mirror or anything." He continued to look depressed. It was quite a sight. Batman, sitting on a chair, looking depressed, in black tights.
Uncle Spike walked down the stairs just in time to catch the last part, "Why, grandpa. I've been telling you that you looked like a big poof since I first met you. I don't know why you're acting all surprised now." He was wearing exactly what he wore everyday. His red shirt with his leather duster and black jeans. The only thing that had changed was his hair color. He sprayed it with a dark brown temporary color that many people used for costumes.
"Hey. You're supposed to be in costume, William. That's not a costume! You just, not even dyed it; you sprayed your hair brown. That's not a costume." Cordy scolded. It was no fair that she and Angel had to dress like superheroes: Angel as Batman ™, while she had to wear a very tight Wonder Woman ™ uniform. "Lorne put in more thought and effort than you and all he did was wear flashier clothes than normal."
"Princess, I am wearing a costume. I'm James Dean. Can't you tell? I'm a rebel." He said this with a smile.
"Yeah, Spike, You just keep thinking that," Faith said jokingly, as she came down dressed revealingly like Poison Ivy, a female villain in the movie Batman and Robin. Cordy helped her with the face paints and foliage. There were roots and vines drawn on her everywhere and plastic leaves pasted on her hands and body in various places. Nicky's daddy came down dressed like a clown, specifically like the Joker, who was Batman's main nemesis. He didn't even have to buy anything. He asked Lorne if he could borrow his purple and green suit. It fit him really well. The only thing that he bought was the face paints and a green wig.
Aunt Fred came down wearing a robe over her costume. Nicky laughed as everyone encouraged her to take it off so they could see her costume. She would shake her head and cover up even more. "Oh, come on Fred. It can't possibly be worse than mine. I'm practically naked. All I can say is at least we're in California. If we were anywhere else my as—leaves would freeze off."
After a few more minutes of haggling and urging, the robe was removed to reveal Batman's female partner in the fight for justice, Batgirl. Poor Fred had turned red as her costume was revealed. It really was skin tight. "I'm not bending down. At all. Nope, I'm not doing that," Fred muttered. Angel just nodded, still moping at the table.
The others stared at her, blushing as well until they were distracted by Wesley coming down the stairs. The cat calls and whistles almost caused him to go running back up the stairs. Fred stopped him though, by reminding him that he agreed that if she wore her Batgirl costume, he'd wear the Robin, 'Boy Wonder' costume that represented Batman's sidekick. Even Angel brightened up, thinking that Wesley's costume was worse than his.
So both Wesley and Fred were beet red, Fred hiding behind Wesley as they all laughed at their costumes. Soon after that the door opened to reveal Charles Gunn and his new girlfriend, Andrea Schow walked in dressed like Penguin and Catwoman, respectively. Right then and there, it was decided unanimously that they were NEVER going to dress up like superheroes, especially the ones with revealing costumes.
So Wonder Woman and Poison Ivy took Angel, Jr., the Red Ranger and Princess Jasmine trick or treating around the neighborhood for a couple of hours until the sun went down and the real party started. The kids, even Connor, ran to each house for candy. They were instructed not to eat any candy until it was checked, as usual safety precautions for the season. The kids ran into their friends in the neighborhood and chattered with them until it was time to go home and get ready for the party.
As they reentered their home, they were surprised to feel the entire mood change. It was no longer their home, but a haunted house, full of scary and freaky things. Cathy and Nicky's friends, along with their parents, came to the party. Angel Investigations former happy clients were also invited to the party along with any informants and/or demon friends that they had. It was Halloween. No one needed to know that they were real demons, right?
What was really a surprise though, was Connor. He actually smiled, and had tons of fun. He even danced and made fun of his daddy by singing "Mandy" by Barry Manillo like Connor had caught him in the shower. Uncle Angel would reach over and mess up his hair, saying once again, that his hair did not look like that. His hair was cooler.
Nicky thought, this is it. This was my wish and it came true. My family is happy now. My birthday wish came true. Next month is Connor's birthday (Nov 19th) and I hope that his birthday wish comes true too.
The End (of October anyway)
How'd you like it? It was really, really hard to write as a five year old and it didn't come out as well as I wanted but once I got into the Halloween Party part, it started flowing.
Coming soon is November. Stay tuned and see what Lorne thinks about the Thanksgiving season.