Twice Upon a Time
Part 2 of "The Gunn Years"
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~Author's Note~
Picking up where I left off in "Past Tension", this story deals with some of Gunn and Company's experiences in LA. The characters you recognise are property of Joss Whedon, the other stuff I made up! This is story 2 in a (currently) 6 part series of stories. The first part is also on ff.net
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"Tell me a story, Gunn." Alonna tugged at the sleeve of her brother's gray sweatshirt. She was eleven years old, always making a big fuss about being big enough to take care of herself now, but every now and then she would backslide into little girl mode and all that came along with it-- being tucked in at night, having a story told to her before nodding off to sleep. It wasn't that Charles Gunn minded, either. He felt most protective of her at these times. When those little chocolate brown eyes looked up at him, wide and searching for comfort, he could just feel the tension of the day melt and slip out of his body.

"I've told ya every story I know, Lonna." He looked back at her teasingly with what he hoped were equally round and puppy-dog-like eyes.

She shook her head stubbornly. "No way. I hear ya an' the others tellin' stories all the time. About them pretty girls ya see in the stores all the time. Tell me a story about one of your pretty girls!"

Gunn's eyes went wide. Those 'stories' weren't exactly bedtime material. At all. They were more--- eeehhhh... "A story about a pretty girl, huh?" He twisted the question around a little into something which he could answer in a G-rated manner. "Alright."

Alonna stood up suddenly. "Wait. Lemme get somethin' first." She scampered across the large warehouse the gang shared, stirring up little clouds of dust in her wake. It wasn't the most inviting place, but it had been home for the past three years. As long as it didn't collapse around them and the police didn't track them to it, the Miller Warehouse was as good a place as any to set up shop.

Three years. Seems like yesterday that we was livin' in the Plummer Street Shelter an' Bullseye an' I--- He stopped. He couldn't go any farther into his memories of the past. The pain of loosing his best friend was too much. If he got to dwelling on it, he would start to cry, and no one could ever see him cry. Ty had seen the twelve year old Gunn cry, and in that moment, Gunn had given away any advantage he might have had over the pulseless monster. It showed weakness, and it showed that he could be beaten, prehaps not through physical attack, but through mental assault.

Mercifully, his sister returned before Gunn could think any more about his momentary weakness those three years past. She was clutching a small teddy bear to her chest, it's fur matted down, and button eyes scratched into a mess of white lines. Still, it was her favorite childhood toy, and he wasn't about to tease her about it. Whatever it took to calm her down when things got rough was good enough for him. The bear didn't have a name, and was only a miniature sized brown teddy, but she loved the thing to death. "Couldn't go ta sleep without yer pal, eh?"

"Nope. Now you'd better start with that story, Charles, or I'll tell the others that yer sweet on that Fuller gal that works at McDonald's." She stuck her tongue out playfully.

"Well, once upon a time...."

"All the good stories start with 'once upon a time'." She smiled encouragingly.

"... there was this little girl who lived with 'er brother and 'is friends..."

Alonna made a face. "This is soundin' familiar."

Gunn only smiled and continued. "Ya see, they looked out for each other, an' the girl knew that nothin' would ever happen to her while her brother was watchin' out for her........"