Disclaimer: Me no own, you no sue
A/N: Yup, a new plot bunny hit. I wanted to write a little kid centric fic, and this plot bunny came and nibbled in the middle of the night. I have a thing of picking up gidgetgirl's fic-stuff, so a) read her stuff, and b) I'm checking stuff over so it doesn't bear resemblance to her stuff. Might seem like it in this chapter, but I'm promising, it's very different.
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"Angel. Angel!" Harmony said a bit louder. The vampire shook his head.
"What?"
"God, you aren't going all freaky memory loss, are you?" she asked. "Cuz you've been around like, a long time, and my grandparents always forgot who they were and stuff, and you're older than-"
He held up a hand. "Harmony, do me a favour. Shut up."
"Whatever," she said dismissively, then her eyes widened. "You're not gonna stake me, are you?"
"No," he said faintly. She beamed.
"There's like, a meeting for you, with some clients,"
"Which ones?" he asked. She shrugged.
"I don't know."
He groaned. "What time?"
"This afternoon," she said brightly. "Three o'clock sharp. Don't be late. In room twenty two." She left, humming to herself.
He drifted back into his train of thought, and leaned back in his chair. Fred assured him Cordy was doing okay, still under the coma, but vital stats were all good, and they were 'working on it'.
There was a knock at the door.
"Go away, Harmony," he called. The door opened, and Fred's head poked around it.
"Hey," she said uncomfortably. "It's us."
"Us?"
Wesley appeared beside Fred. "Us."
"What's wrong? Has something happened?" Angel asked, instantly alert.
Fred shook her head.
"We're kinda worried, Angel." She exchanged a look with Wesley, and he nodded, a solemn look on his face.
"You've been shut up in here for a while," Wesley added. "We're wondering-"
"I'm not evil, I'm not planning to be evil, and I don't want to kill anyone," Angel interrupted. "I just want to think."
They exchanged a look again.
"Maybe you need to talk?" ventured Fred. She had a worried expression on her face, and her fingers were twisting together. Angel sighed.
"I'm not going to break down, Fred. I just miss her. We all do," he began.He broke off as a small light began bobbing around in the centre of the room. The ex-Watcher stared at it in bemusement.
"What in the world?" he said, frowning.
Angel shoved back his chair, and stood up, staring at it, as a wind whipped up, and the light suddenly flared, bright blue, and formed a wide circle, the wind forming a whirlwind, papers flying off Angel's desk. It was too bright to focus on directly, and they covered their eyes, as two figures moved out of it, and the portal closed behind them.
"Flashy entrance, huh?" said a faintly sarcastic voice. A girl stood there, in her late teens, holding a young child in her arms. The little girl was sound asleep, her fingers crammed in her mouth, leant against the older one's shoulder.
"Uh, miss, the dimension entrance and exits in this building are located-" Wesley began, stepping forward. She shot him a withering look.
"I don't do queues, okay? I have something Angel here wants to know, and I have other things to do with my day. Hanging around to benefit company policy isn't on the list." She looked around the office.
"Is there a chair or something? She's kinda heavy. She was non-corporeal on the way, so I could carry her, but now it feels like my arms are going to fall off." She grinned. "If, y'know, I had 'em."
The Fang Gang looked, confused, at one another.
"I'll take that as a 'Yes, Jory, you can borrow the chair,'" she said, with a roll of her hazel eyes. "Fine."
She laid the sleepy girl down in Angel's leather chair, and straightened up, folding her arms.
"I would do the thing with wings and a halo, but you wouldn't appreciate it," she said lightly.
"You're an angel?" the non-angel Angel asked. She smiled enigmatically.
"Plain Jory, straight and tall. But sometimes. When the need arises. What I am isn't a real big concern right around now. You should be wondering what she is," she said, indicating the little girl.
"So who is she?" Angel countered, folding his arms. Jory gave a laugh.
"There's the million dollar question. Of course, you lost your connection to the Powers that Be, so you didn't get a warning. Figures. They were always bad at admin." She smiled. "She's yours."
"My what?" Angel asked, suspiciously.
"Great. Shove the hard jobs onto Jory day," the girl sighed. "See, way back when, there was a vampire, and he got himself human. And he and his Slayer got pelvic," she raised an eyebrow. "I presume you know this little tale?"
He swallowed, thinking of sunlight, and ice cream, and Buffy. The day he'd been a man.
"Yes," he said reluctantly.
"Well, I suppose you know this world's ending. When the big champion decides to return his humanity, to save the one he loved, big white charger, sunset, ring any bells?" she drawled, rolling her eyes. "Not that I'm allowed to have an opinion. It would have just cut my work in half. Anyhoo, he deletes that day, the sex, the fun, anybody's memory of him eating ice-cream," she sighed. "God I wish I could taste ice cream. And sex. Looks fun. Forget that. Back to you. The catch was, he still remembered. Wonder why?"
"Angel?" Wesley said, tentatively, in disbelief.
"Surprise, big guy," Jory continued. "This world ended that way. But you taking back the day meant your daughter didn't exist. And she has a destiny that would make your hair curl." She looked at his hair. "Well, if it could," she observed.
"A daughter?" he repeated.
"Yup. So this destiny existed, that was all written in stone, pre-PTB. They couldn't do anything about it. So the world split. A different dimension existed, one where you, and Miss Stake-a-lot stayed together. And she got born." Jory glanced over at the little girl, stil out for the count. "Still asleep. Dimensional travel will do that to ya."
She looked straight at Angel. "That's who she is. Big mystery solved."
"My daughter," Angel whispered, a hundred different emotions hitting him at once. His, and Buffy's. He watched the child sleep, her tiny body rise and fall with peaceful breaths. Soft dark baby hair, long lashes lying curled up on her cheeks, little fingers curving around her mouth.
"Yup. She's a little different to the average kiddo, though." Jory shrugged. "You'll find out."
"What do you mean?" Angel whirled around. "What is she?"
"She would have been one of us. A child of different possibilities. Only, her possibility was supposed to happen, not could have happened."
"What are you?" he demanded. She gave him a sad smile.
"It's complicated, but we go by Star children. We watch over the worlds. The PTB got nothin' on us," she grinned. "We don't live, so we can't die. We're separate but we don't do the cryptic, controlling people's lives thing. They do. When you died-"
"Died?" he asked, in shock, surprise. Her eyes widened.
"I thought you had the heads up on that," she commented. "My bad. They warned you, the oracles. Told you, staying human would get you both killed. It did. She stayed alive though. So she got shoved in with us. Non- dimensional. Being non-corporeal bites sometimes," she said, with a grimace. "The Powers decided that being with us, at least, she was where she should be. She doesn't remember much of the Slayer, or you, but she'll recognise you. She knows you're not that Angel, you're a different one."
"We died," he said softly, still gazing at the little girl. Whose eyes did she have, he wondered. Buffy's wide hazel eyes, changeable with her mood, or his own, dark brown?
"Problem was," Jory said, watching him carefully. "She wasn't just one of us. A Star child. She's different. Being corporeal, she's the only one of us," she broke off. "Not dead. Plus, she's got a little bit extra."
"What?" he asked, confused, still stuck on his daughter. His. Real.
"Well, the Destroyer was supposed to be born to a vampire," Jory said, looking at him. "But he wasn't. Again, you played with destiny. In her world, it wasn't so much. She became the Destroyer. She is. Powers and all, down to the cute little tush."
"Connor," Angel met Jory's clear gaze.
She nodded. "That, and she's a Traveller. All of us, Star children, we walk the astral paths. She can too. We do it to work, she kinda-" Jory considered. "She plays. She would have stayed with us, but the world expects her. The PTB, they're trying to alter her space. Settle stuff down. She's disruptive. The death of the Champions in her world-" Jory stopped, and went silent.
"Damn it!" she complained. "I have to go. You need me, she'll reach me. I'll be around." She gathered herself, and a smaller, less flashier portal appeared in mid air.
"Wait!" Angel called. Jory paused, waiting for him to speak.
"What's her name?" he asked, finally. Jory smiled.
"Hero Brynna Angel. She goes by Bryn."
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
A/N: The name 'Brynna' or 'Bryn' I took from a challenge at Chocolate Covered Strawberry. Pyro's site, and was written by gidgetgirl. Also, sidenote to Jen, if this gets Hopie-like, let me know. I'm reading, and checking over, and making sure it doesn't infringe.
REVIEW!
A/N: Yup, a new plot bunny hit. I wanted to write a little kid centric fic, and this plot bunny came and nibbled in the middle of the night. I have a thing of picking up gidgetgirl's fic-stuff, so a) read her stuff, and b) I'm checking stuff over so it doesn't bear resemblance to her stuff. Might seem like it in this chapter, but I'm promising, it's very different.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
"Angel. Angel!" Harmony said a bit louder. The vampire shook his head.
"What?"
"God, you aren't going all freaky memory loss, are you?" she asked. "Cuz you've been around like, a long time, and my grandparents always forgot who they were and stuff, and you're older than-"
He held up a hand. "Harmony, do me a favour. Shut up."
"Whatever," she said dismissively, then her eyes widened. "You're not gonna stake me, are you?"
"No," he said faintly. She beamed.
"There's like, a meeting for you, with some clients,"
"Which ones?" he asked. She shrugged.
"I don't know."
He groaned. "What time?"
"This afternoon," she said brightly. "Three o'clock sharp. Don't be late. In room twenty two." She left, humming to herself.
He drifted back into his train of thought, and leaned back in his chair. Fred assured him Cordy was doing okay, still under the coma, but vital stats were all good, and they were 'working on it'.
There was a knock at the door.
"Go away, Harmony," he called. The door opened, and Fred's head poked around it.
"Hey," she said uncomfortably. "It's us."
"Us?"
Wesley appeared beside Fred. "Us."
"What's wrong? Has something happened?" Angel asked, instantly alert.
Fred shook her head.
"We're kinda worried, Angel." She exchanged a look with Wesley, and he nodded, a solemn look on his face.
"You've been shut up in here for a while," Wesley added. "We're wondering-"
"I'm not evil, I'm not planning to be evil, and I don't want to kill anyone," Angel interrupted. "I just want to think."
They exchanged a look again.
"Maybe you need to talk?" ventured Fred. She had a worried expression on her face, and her fingers were twisting together. Angel sighed.
"I'm not going to break down, Fred. I just miss her. We all do," he began.He broke off as a small light began bobbing around in the centre of the room. The ex-Watcher stared at it in bemusement.
"What in the world?" he said, frowning.
Angel shoved back his chair, and stood up, staring at it, as a wind whipped up, and the light suddenly flared, bright blue, and formed a wide circle, the wind forming a whirlwind, papers flying off Angel's desk. It was too bright to focus on directly, and they covered their eyes, as two figures moved out of it, and the portal closed behind them.
"Flashy entrance, huh?" said a faintly sarcastic voice. A girl stood there, in her late teens, holding a young child in her arms. The little girl was sound asleep, her fingers crammed in her mouth, leant against the older one's shoulder.
"Uh, miss, the dimension entrance and exits in this building are located-" Wesley began, stepping forward. She shot him a withering look.
"I don't do queues, okay? I have something Angel here wants to know, and I have other things to do with my day. Hanging around to benefit company policy isn't on the list." She looked around the office.
"Is there a chair or something? She's kinda heavy. She was non-corporeal on the way, so I could carry her, but now it feels like my arms are going to fall off." She grinned. "If, y'know, I had 'em."
The Fang Gang looked, confused, at one another.
"I'll take that as a 'Yes, Jory, you can borrow the chair,'" she said, with a roll of her hazel eyes. "Fine."
She laid the sleepy girl down in Angel's leather chair, and straightened up, folding her arms.
"I would do the thing with wings and a halo, but you wouldn't appreciate it," she said lightly.
"You're an angel?" the non-angel Angel asked. She smiled enigmatically.
"Plain Jory, straight and tall. But sometimes. When the need arises. What I am isn't a real big concern right around now. You should be wondering what she is," she said, indicating the little girl.
"So who is she?" Angel countered, folding his arms. Jory gave a laugh.
"There's the million dollar question. Of course, you lost your connection to the Powers that Be, so you didn't get a warning. Figures. They were always bad at admin." She smiled. "She's yours."
"My what?" Angel asked, suspiciously.
"Great. Shove the hard jobs onto Jory day," the girl sighed. "See, way back when, there was a vampire, and he got himself human. And he and his Slayer got pelvic," she raised an eyebrow. "I presume you know this little tale?"
He swallowed, thinking of sunlight, and ice cream, and Buffy. The day he'd been a man.
"Yes," he said reluctantly.
"Well, I suppose you know this world's ending. When the big champion decides to return his humanity, to save the one he loved, big white charger, sunset, ring any bells?" she drawled, rolling her eyes. "Not that I'm allowed to have an opinion. It would have just cut my work in half. Anyhoo, he deletes that day, the sex, the fun, anybody's memory of him eating ice-cream," she sighed. "God I wish I could taste ice cream. And sex. Looks fun. Forget that. Back to you. The catch was, he still remembered. Wonder why?"
"Angel?" Wesley said, tentatively, in disbelief.
"Surprise, big guy," Jory continued. "This world ended that way. But you taking back the day meant your daughter didn't exist. And she has a destiny that would make your hair curl." She looked at his hair. "Well, if it could," she observed.
"A daughter?" he repeated.
"Yup. So this destiny existed, that was all written in stone, pre-PTB. They couldn't do anything about it. So the world split. A different dimension existed, one where you, and Miss Stake-a-lot stayed together. And she got born." Jory glanced over at the little girl, stil out for the count. "Still asleep. Dimensional travel will do that to ya."
She looked straight at Angel. "That's who she is. Big mystery solved."
"My daughter," Angel whispered, a hundred different emotions hitting him at once. His, and Buffy's. He watched the child sleep, her tiny body rise and fall with peaceful breaths. Soft dark baby hair, long lashes lying curled up on her cheeks, little fingers curving around her mouth.
"Yup. She's a little different to the average kiddo, though." Jory shrugged. "You'll find out."
"What do you mean?" Angel whirled around. "What is she?"
"She would have been one of us. A child of different possibilities. Only, her possibility was supposed to happen, not could have happened."
"What are you?" he demanded. She gave him a sad smile.
"It's complicated, but we go by Star children. We watch over the worlds. The PTB got nothin' on us," she grinned. "We don't live, so we can't die. We're separate but we don't do the cryptic, controlling people's lives thing. They do. When you died-"
"Died?" he asked, in shock, surprise. Her eyes widened.
"I thought you had the heads up on that," she commented. "My bad. They warned you, the oracles. Told you, staying human would get you both killed. It did. She stayed alive though. So she got shoved in with us. Non- dimensional. Being non-corporeal bites sometimes," she said, with a grimace. "The Powers decided that being with us, at least, she was where she should be. She doesn't remember much of the Slayer, or you, but she'll recognise you. She knows you're not that Angel, you're a different one."
"We died," he said softly, still gazing at the little girl. Whose eyes did she have, he wondered. Buffy's wide hazel eyes, changeable with her mood, or his own, dark brown?
"Problem was," Jory said, watching him carefully. "She wasn't just one of us. A Star child. She's different. Being corporeal, she's the only one of us," she broke off. "Not dead. Plus, she's got a little bit extra."
"What?" he asked, confused, still stuck on his daughter. His. Real.
"Well, the Destroyer was supposed to be born to a vampire," Jory said, looking at him. "But he wasn't. Again, you played with destiny. In her world, it wasn't so much. She became the Destroyer. She is. Powers and all, down to the cute little tush."
"Connor," Angel met Jory's clear gaze.
She nodded. "That, and she's a Traveller. All of us, Star children, we walk the astral paths. She can too. We do it to work, she kinda-" Jory considered. "She plays. She would have stayed with us, but the world expects her. The PTB, they're trying to alter her space. Settle stuff down. She's disruptive. The death of the Champions in her world-" Jory stopped, and went silent.
"Damn it!" she complained. "I have to go. You need me, she'll reach me. I'll be around." She gathered herself, and a smaller, less flashier portal appeared in mid air.
"Wait!" Angel called. Jory paused, waiting for him to speak.
"What's her name?" he asked, finally. Jory smiled.
"Hero Brynna Angel. She goes by Bryn."
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
A/N: The name 'Brynna' or 'Bryn' I took from a challenge at Chocolate Covered Strawberry. Pyro's site, and was written by gidgetgirl. Also, sidenote to Jen, if this gets Hopie-like, let me know. I'm reading, and checking over, and making sure it doesn't infringe.
REVIEW!