A Stalker's New Life

Story based off of XV-Dragon's story, Stalker A Christmas Version

Beta read by MagicalGirl23


Well here's the new chapter everyone, I hope you all like it. One more chapter to go before the big changes from the main story take place. Actually, the next one being the ski lodge and Christmas morning will have a drastically different take than in XV's original Stalker, and Will won't be happy like she is in Stalker A Christmas Version.

I also wanted to thank my new beta reader MagicalGirl23 who has helped a lot making sure this isn't riddled with screwed up grammar, punctuation and spelling.

Also, I used a few references to the Oracle this chapter which I am sure I may have seen somewhere before. I can't think of where, but if it was your story and don't want me to use the references then let me know and I'll change them. If you don't mind, then let me know and I will give you credit, thanks.


The drive home took much longer due to the holiday traffic and icy roads, but Susan finally made it back to her two bedroom apartment. She was worried about the young girl who was curled up against the door snoring lightly. She wasn't sure if she should make sure that the girl went to an actual hospital because of her fever even though the child begged not to be taken there. In the end Susan was sure she could treat the girl's fever for now until she found out more about the girl, such as whom exactly the child was and were the redhead came from.

Deciding to let the girl sleep, Susan carefully pulled the redhead out of the car after parking it, and carried her as gently as possible to the elevator. It was a little difficult performing a balancing act with the sleeping girl in her arms, but Susan finally managed to hit the elevator call button. A few moments later she repeated the process inside to send the car up to her floor.

"This is going to be fun." Susan grumbled in annoyance when she arrived to her door. It took a lot of shifting to be able to balance the girl with one arm long enough to slide her keycard. Thankfully the girl didn't wake as Susan pushed the door open and slipped inside. She was a little worried, besides being grateful, that the girl didn't wake with all the moving around.

Susan hoped that the girl was just a very deep sleeper as she proceeded to strip the redhead of her backpack, coat and shoes and placed them next to the couch where she sat the child. Deciding it would be better for the girl to sleep in something drier, not to mention cleaner, Susan went to her room and searched through her things before finding the perfect thing. It was one of her nightshirts that had shrunken in the wash becoming far too small for her, but it would be perfect for the girl even though it would be more like a dress on the child.

Before changing the girl, Susan stripped off her own coat and dropped it on her bed. She still had to figure out what to do about the child; no matter what she did she would surely have to get the police involved at some point. The girl seemed so frightened of them for some reason, but Susan knew Tom would only do his best to make sure the redhead was okay.

Deciding to figure out what to do later, Susan made her way back to the girl giving the redhead a quick look over. She decided it would be best to start with the child's top as that would cause the most movement. Slowly Susan began to inch the ratty thing off the girl's body, stopping when she felt something warm, wet and sticky on the girl's back. Curious as to what could be on the girl's back Susan leaned the redhead forward while looking.

"Oh my god!" Susan gasped. She sincerely wished that she just hadn't seen that as the young girl's back was torn up from what looked like whiplashes. They looked like they were healing, but from the way skin was red around the wounds, it looked like they were much worse before. They could also be starting to get infected which worried her even more.

Susan quickly removed the shirt and then the sweatpants all the while hoping she wouldn't find anything else. She did though, there were so many scars and wounds littered across the girl's upper arms, back and legs. It was a horrendous sight, one that Susan couldn't believe. She felt tears begin welling up in her eyes as answers began to formulate to her questions. The girl said she didn't want 'him' finding her, that 'him' was most likely the child's father and the way the girl feared the police led Susan to believe they wouldn't do anything to help.

Susan was very tempted to use her powers and heal the child's back, but then the bastards on Candracar would only get their knickers in a twist over it. Grumbling to herself, Susan went to fetch the first aid kit she kept for non-magical emergencies. Thanks to the number of wounds and how bad they were, it seemed to take forever for Susan to clean and bandage them. Susan couldn't even begin to imagine the pain the young girl went through, but it hurt thinking about it. Father or not, whoever did this to the redhead was a monster, plain and simple.

Laying the girl onto the couch Susan went to grab a pillow and blanket to help make the redhead more comfortable. Lifting the girl's head gently, Susan placed the pillow under it before laying it back down gently. She then took the blanket and tucked the girl in on the couch so she could get some rest.

She was about to go call Yan Lin when the heart lifted out from under her blouse and floated between the two. At first Susan was worried that the Heart was going to the girl as that would mean that it was either Wilhelmina or this girl was replacing her daughter as the new keeper. It would have most likely been the second seeing how the girl already said that she had a mother who died.

A pink light shot out from the Heart and covered the sleeping redhead in a protective shield of energy that made Susan sigh in relief while she also grew confused. Why would the Heart be seeking to protect the girl, they were safe in Susan's apartment. It only took a few moments for the answer to come as a large portal formed from violent swirling energies formed casting a purple hued light across the living room.

"Great, just what I need, Charlie Brown and the whole Peanuts gang." Susan growled quietly. At first she didn't mind the council despite their whole no direct interference policy. It was when they refused to help find Wilhelmina that Susan began to hate them. She quietly admitted that the Oracle wasn't that bad, he tried his best to help out when possible, but the council kept him from saying too much. That little fact didn't stop Susan from hating the whole bunch of them with a passion as they were nothing, but bureaucratic cowards.

"Ah, greetings Oh Bald One." Susan said as she mock bowed to the Oracle as soon as he stepped through the portal to stand before Susan as she stood protectively over the young redhead. "So what is it this time? Come to command your personal gophers to eradicate some evil dust bunnies under the council's beds?"

"Actually I came personally to spare both Luba and Tibor your infamous wrath, and myself the headache of hearing the council bitch about you." The Oracle sighed, "Plus, no one knows I'm here. I can't tell you a lot, but I came to tell you something important."

"Well, at least you give a damn about some people." Susan snorted in a most unlady like way, showing just how upset she was that this man dared to invade her private space.

"Well, if you don't mind my curiosity," The Oracle said while ignoring Susan's outburst of, "I do!" he continued, "What exactly do you plan to do with the child? I can assure you that she won't stay where she isn't safe, she risked everything to run from him as he will most likely beat her to death if gets a hold of her again. She won't stay in a foster home, nor will she stay if you alert your world's police officers about her."

Susan couldn't help but curse silently as the bastard was right. Turning slightly she looked over her shoulder at the slumbering form of the redhead on the couch, her heart ripping in two. On one side, she was angry that the Oracle was pulling was even here or that the child had to show up. The young girl reminded Susan so much of her own daughter that it hurt. If she kept the child there then it would be like trying to replace Wilhelmina with the child.

On the other hand, she felt for the girl. The young girl must have been through so much pain from just the marks on her now. What about all the scars that were healed up and the emotional damage that must have been done. There were reasons that the girl feared the police, not to mention the man she was running from which Susan was sure was the girl's father.

"I honestly don't know." Susan said as her anger deflated. She could ask Elyon to care for the girl on Meridian since they had Phobos on the run. It would be the perfect place were no one from this world could reach her to hurt her ever again. Then again, Elyon had enough trouble herself without adding the burden the redhead would be to the princess.

"She has a great destiny before her, Susan. She needs someone to care for her, to guide her on the right path." The Oracle said softly as he took a piece of paper out of his robe sleeve and handed it to Susan. Looking at it the woman arched an eyebrow, why would the Oracle be giving her what was obviously the girl's clothing sizes in neat calculated rows.

"No! Damn you, how could you do this to me?" Susan asked as tears started leaking from her eyes. It wasn't fair after all, how could the bastards let her daughter go and now expect her to take this child in?

"I won't force you to take her in, Susan. You know I would never force you to do anything." The Oracle sighed, "I know you are upset about your daughter, you must think about her a lot this time of year. This girl has never had a Christmas though, don't you think that she at least deserves one just once? With people who care about her and will protect her?"

"Damn you!" Susan hissed out, her anger returning with a vengeance. This bastard was doing what he did best; he was pulling at her heart strings to manipulate her into doing exactly what he wanted her to. "Fine, I'll take care of her...For now."

"That's all I ask." The Oracle said bowing his head to Susan. "And one more thing, this girl has a love of anything with frogs on it."

"Just get out." Susan said through gritted teeth, clenching her eyes shut as the man backed away through the portal.

"Just as the simple act of becoming very close to the current Queen of Meridian helped you expose Phobos and force him go into hiding, so shall helping this girl assist you in a similar manner." The Oracle in a sagely tone before the portal collapsed in on itself.

"Damn you." Susan sniffed as the man's words swimmed in her head. As usual they didn't make sense, but at the moment she was far too angry and hurt to care. Turning from where the portal was, Susan checked on the girl one last time before going to her room to get some sleep for the night, but first she had some phone calls to make.


The following morning Will woke up, her eyes snapping open as she realized she was sleeping on something warm, soft, and sinfully comfortable. She felt a lot better than last night, but she still felt like she had no strength. To make that worse, the siren call of the comfortable couch was making it even harder to get up. She had to though, she wasn't sure where she was at, but she had a good idea.

Looking around Will realized that she was in a poshly decorated living room filled with expensive looking leather furniture, a large flat screen television and a fire place. There was also some art that looked more like a kindergarten student made them, but somehow Will bet that they were very expensive as well. The crappiest looking art always seemed to be the most expensive for some reason.

Realizing that she was no longer dressed in her clothes Will jumped off the couch before realizing it was a bad idea. She almost fell back from the dizziness, but thankfully she was able to catch herself in time. She stumbled over to where her coat was sitting on one of the leather loveseats and grabbed it. Looking on the inside she found one of the rips that looked like it was just a normal tear, but this one was special. This is where she kept her most precious items, her picture of Susan and the newspaper article. Thankfully they were still there and seemed to be untouched, but her backpack was clearly empty.

Looking at the picture Will wondered what the woman thought when she was bandaging her wounds. She felt the bandages on her back and it worried Will, every time someone saw them the police were called. Then children services were called and went to investigate Tony to be paid off by him. As soon as she got back home she paid dearly for being stupid enough to let someone see.

She was just stuffing them, back in her coat when the front door opened startling Will. Spinning around Susan stood there with a basket in hand loaded with what looked like Will's ratty clothing.

"Well, good morning there." Susan said with a bright smile, "Feeling better are we?"

"Y-Yeah." Will said, looking confused at the woman. The staring contest was broken when Will sneezed and almost fell. Susan dropped the basket on the floor and helped her back on the couch where she could relax.

"You know, I didn't get a chance to get your name." Susan said smiling a bit. "My name is Susan Vandom."

"My name is...Wilma." Will said after trying to come up with a name, "I'm fourteen years old; I'll be fifteen in a few months."

Will couldn't help feeling bad when she saw the woman's face light up in hope at her name only to sink into a depression after hearing her age. She changed part of her name, but outright lied about her age taking an extra year onto it so Susan wouldn't suspect anything. The older woman quickly hid it with a smile.

"Well Wilma, I hope you don't mind, but I took your clothes downstairs and washed them for you." Susan said, "And I have a friend coming over to take care of you while I go shopping for a bit."

"A friend?" Will asked, nervousness clearly in her expression as she looked fearfully at the woman.

"Yes, she's one of my friend's mothers and she said she will bring over some of her miracle chicken soup." Susan said. "I'll be going to finish off some last minute Christmas shopping. You, young lady, will be getting some rest while Yan Lin looks after you. I want you to get better, and then we will have a discussion over what happened to you."

"What is going to happen to me? What do you plan to do?" Will asked, sniffling a little. She really wished that the room would stop spinning as it was starting to again, and it was beginning to make her a little nauseous.

"Don't worry, you are safe here, whoever hurt you won't ever lay a finger on you ever again. I promise." Susan said running her fingers through the short red hair.

"I'll never be safe." Will sighed, shaking her head a bit. She was beginning to think that this whole thing was a mistake; her dad had to be having a fit right about now. When he found her she knew that she would feel pain like never before, but spending a little bit of time with this woman may be worth it. Especially since she seemed so caring, so much like what Will always dreamed a mother would be like.

"Hun, no one will hurt you. I swear that whoever this bastard is that hurt you, he is nothing compared to the things my friends and I have faced. I may have failed my little girl, but I won't fail you. I will protect you, I give you my word.." Susan said just as the doorbell rang. "That must be Yan Lin now."

Will sank into the couch pulling the blanket around her as she watched Susan answer the door. She wanted to think about the woman just said about failing her daughter, but the immediate crisis took priority. There was an older woman carrying a large pot of something, her face holding the friendliest and warmest smile Will had ever seen on a person before. No matter how friendly and caring the woman looked, the redhead could somehow feel the strength just rolling off the woman in waves.

"Just in time, Yan Lin." Susan said smiling as she let the older woman into the apartment, "I hope that stuff of yours can work its magic with Wilma here."

"So the girl's name is Wilma." Yan Lin asked, a sad smile crossing her lips. "Reminds me of..."

"I know, me to, but she's a year older." Susan sighed sadly as Will watched the two from the couch. She was worried about being left alone with this woman, but there was something whispering in the back of her mind that this woman was safe.

"Well, let me get this to the kitchen and I'm going to make our little Wilma up a bowl of it." Yan Lin said with a grin. "You need to get going, the girls are waiting downstairs for you and despite being your sisters they only have so much patience."

"I'm going." Susan said before going back over to Wilma and kneeling before her. "Don't worry, Wilma. Yan Lin will take good care of you. I will be back in a few hours so I want you to get some rest."

"Okay." Will sighed, nodding her head a little. She really didn't want her mother to leave, but she really couldn't stop her. A part of her wondered what it was like to actually get Christmas presents, but she shook off that train of thought. It always brought her pain so she didn't want to think about it. Susan kissed Will's cheek as the woman stood up and grabbed her coat and purse and hurried out of the apartment.

"I'll be back soon, Yan Lin. Thanks again." Susan's said as she closed the apartment door behind her leaving her alone with the old woman.

"Well then girl, let's get you some food into shall we?" Yan Lin asked as she gave Will a warm smile.

"Ummm...sure." Will said, uncertain what to make of this woman.


The mall was a complete madhouse with last minute shoppers rushing from one store to another. It was almost as if the entire world had gone insane as people fought over things that were almost out of stock. Thankfully with the small group of women splitting up they were able to quickly finish up just in time for the food court to be opening where they decided to grab a bite to eat and rest from the mad rush of Christmas shopping.

Susan herself left a lot of the clothes shopping to the girls as she herself went off in search of something special for the girl who loved frogs. A part of her wanted to finish up quickly as there was something about the girl that drew her to the redhead. She realized it was probably just some of the similarities of what she imagined her daughter to be like today and this girl in her apartment.

"Finally, I love shopping but this is crazy." Elizabeth sighed as she dropped into the chair, her bags dropping to either side of the chair as the owlish looking blonde woman leaned back in it. Susan liked the woman well enough, but the two butted heads on many occasions as the blond woman was a bit of a control freak and with Susan being the leader of the guardians, the earth guardian couldn't help being a little bit jealous.

"Yeah, I totally agree." Anna agreed whole heartedly as she rested her head on her crossed arms on top of the table. Anna was the water guardian and one of Susan's closest friends since they were little. The two have always gotten along very well, the woman being the one who supported Susan the most when Tony kidnapped Wilhelmina. Unlike the others Anna didn't have a career out of the home, she devoted her life to being a guardian, wife and mother which was something Susan envied greatly.

"Don't put your elbows on the table." Theressa grumbled, but she was too tired to really care as she propped her own on the flat surface resting her chin in hand. Theressa Cook was usually very passionate, but very proper at the same time. Unlike most people, the judge's glare could burn a hole straight through you.

"Like you're doing?" Joan giggled a bit; much like her element of air the woman's attitude could be flighty. Of course the woman had a serious side when it came to her family and friends, especially Wilhelmina. Joan had often sworn that she would ground the bastard up into ground meat in her restaurant and feed it to the neighborhood dogs if she ever caught Tony. Of course that would make the dogs sick by eating the slimeball so Joan really wouldn't do it. But however, the sentiment itself was nice.

"Are you sure the kid isn't yours?" Elizabeth asked as they waited for their food. Most of the restaurants there you waited for your own food, but they were so far behind they were forced to have their customers take a seat while the food was cooked and someone would bring it out.

"She's a year older than Wilhelmina." Susan sighed; they had already gone over that in the car on the way here. In fact, they talked a lot about the girl and the Oracle's cryptic message. The man could piss them all off very easily with his vague hints, but they knew it was because the council more or less kept the man on a short leash. He still managed to at least give them clues to help on their various missions, even if those clues usually didn't make sense until much later.

"Maybe she's lying about that, you said she was hurt and running from someone." Theressa suggested, "I've sadly seen a lot of children come through my court in similar circumstances and lied trying to protect themselves."

"Don't get Susie's hopes up girls, I want to believe it might be little Willie, but we have been burnt so many times already." Anna said as she looked up from her slumped over position.

"What about cueball's message?" Joan asked, "How could helping this girl help us like helping Elyon did?"

"I don't see why the bunch of you tease that poor man." Theressa said shaking her head in annoyance. "So he shaved his head, big deal."

"Don't forget the avatar tattoos." Anna piped in making Susan smirk a little bit.

"Maybe we should start calling him Aang." Joan suggested."

"Ladies, ladies, let's get back on topic here." Elizabeth said, "Namely what to do with our little guest. What are we going to do after Christmas? Susan already said she will watch the kid until then, but we need a more permanent solution."


"More please!" Will said with a bright smile while holding the bowl out toward the grinning older woman. She hadn't eaten this good in a long time and she was going to enjoy it while it lasted.

Of course she didn't exactly trust the old woman at first but they spent awhile talking, or mostly Yan Lin talking and Will nervously listening. After just a short time Will started to relax around the friendly woman and giggled at some of the jokes. One of her favorites being when she told Will, ""I don't bite, these old teeth of mine couldn't even chew mashed potatoes if I tried." Will really hoped that she had half the energy this woman had when she became that old.

"I'm glad to see you have a healthy appetite." Yan Lin said as she refilled the bowl and gave it back to the girl sitting at the small table. She then went about making another grilled cheese for the redheaded bottomless pit.

Will couldn't believe how good the soup tasted, or how it seemed to make her feel much better from just eating it. Every bite seemed to spread warmth throughout her body and restore her strength except that it was also making her drowsy at the same time. It was a strange feeling but she didn't care. Even back home she didn't normally eat this well and she was enjoying every minute of it.

"I want you to make sure you eat up and get better, we're going to the ski lodge in two days and you need to be feeling better for then." Yan Lin explained. It shocked Will a little as she didn't think that far ahead, were they really planning on keeping her around and protecting her? "I'll make sure to bring some extra skis for you to use, I bet Irma and my little Hay Lin will love teaching your how to ski, unless you already know."

"I've never been skiing." Will admitted as she looked up at the older woman, Yan Lin's expression honest and sincere with not even a hint of deception. A part of Will was hoping to feel better in time to go while another part was telling her it was a lie. That Susan might even throw her out before then even if it wasn't a lie so t would be a moot point.

"Well, my granddaughter and her friend will be more than happy to show you the ropes." Yan Lin said, "All we have to do is get Susan to agree to come."

"Why wouldn't she want to?" Will asked curiously between bites of the delicious soup, her eyes locking onto the two grilled cheese sandwiches that was cut in half as the older woman sat the plate in front of her. She never even had a grilled cheese before and she honestly couldn't get enough of them. They were that good.

"Well, I guess it goes back to her ex-husband." Yan Lin sighed as she sat down opposite of Will. "You see, her ex-husband seemed like a pretty decent guy, but he had everyone fooled. After they got married he showed his true colors."

"What do you mean?" Will asked, her food momentarily forgotten as she looked up at the older woman who was studying her, though Will didn't realize that.

"At first he would only berate her, but when she got pregnant he got abusive." Yan Lin explained sadly, "She left him and filed for divorce, but he held it off until Susan gave birth. Tony grabbed the child, claimed that Susan was an unfit mother, and he ran"

"Why didn't she look for them if she cared?" Will asked, she could feel the tears beginning to form but she refused to let them fall.

"Honey, we looked all over for them, for little Wilhelmina. All of us love her, but not as much as Susan herself. At first Susan refused to leave home unless it was looking for Wilhelmina, then she slowly started going out again...to work. She threw herself into work making enough money to pay for the best private investigators, but not even they could find her."

Will didn't know what to think, it sounded like her mother may really want her but she wasn't sure she could trust this. She wasn't sure who she could trust, the stories seemed so different from parent to parent, but at least Susan acted like she cared. What should she do?