Title: Fighting Back
Rating: PG-13
Characters: Angel, Cordelia, the McAllister twins, Connor, Lucas, the Scoobies
Pairings: Angel/Cordelia with residual Buffy/Angel, Willow/Kennedy, Xander/Dawn, and mentions of Buffy/Spike
Summary: Sixteen years after "You're Welcome", six after Not At All and Making Do, Angel's new family returns to Scotland and all hell breaks loose.
Disclaimer: Most of the characters (sans Bella and Henry McAllister, Lucas Jacob Reilly, and a few select Slayers and villains) aren't mine, but the situation is.
Chapter Three: A Little Too Curious
When Bella smiles at Angel, the vampire understands fatherhood in a way he never did before. It's the same smile first gifted him six years ago, and yet it changes every time she graces him with it, growing older, more mature, more understanding. Her laugh still warms his undead heart, but the jokes that earn such a laugh are constantly evolving. And with every passing day, her child's body turns into a woman's, those beautiful, tender hands and dancer's grace turn more deadly.
Henry, who hides his growing maturity better under his boyish nature, is morphing more and more into a man, a good, proud man, on a daily basis. Though Angel must concede it's mostly Cordelia's influence, he hopes there's some of his own guidance in there. Henry studies diligently under the vampire's tutelage, hoping to keep up with his powerful sister and older companion. The way Henry jokes with and learns from and embraces Angel is everything he ever hoped for, and never got, from Connor.
His relationship with his biological son is not so promising. Though Connor has agreed to stay on and help their new family fight, Angel feels that has more to do with Cordy and Bella than it does with any filial loyalty. And though he doesn't grow any more distant than when they were first reunited six years ago, he neither gets any closer. He barely even notices Lucas's existence, and despite Bella's pleadings, that doesn't seem to be changing any time soon. But as a fighting force he has only improved, honed his reflexes and skill to fit in with the style of the twins.
Three weeks ago, he watched Connor, Henry, and Bella wipe out two dozen vampires before he could even join them. The three of them fight in such perfect, lethal unison that his demon gets nervous when he watches them.
But it's sometimes hard to remember how deadly those tiny, tender hands of Bella McAlister can be, when she's cuddling Lucas on her lap or granting reassuring touches to her brother or Connor or Cordy. Or how much destruction her tiny, dancer's body can cause when she's grinning and resting her head comfortably in his lap, going on about her day like any other girl her age.
He's reminded, though, when her face grows more serious as she recounts an earlier encounter with one of the other Slayers.
"She was a little too clueless and a little too interested. She was on individual assignment until last week. I'm not ready to accuse her of anything yet, but it's best that we stay on alert around her."
He promises he'll bring it up with the Slayer leadership and investigate for her, sending to her bed with the admonishment that growing girls that need their sleep.
"Growing women, Angel," she corrects, hands on her hips, so much like Cordy.
"My apologies, Bel'," he says warmly, earning a playful "humph" in return.
She leans down to brush a kiss across his cold cheek. Like her mother and brother and young charge, she doesn't pull away from his lack of warmth, instead providing her own warmth, own heartbeat where he lacks.
"Good night, McBroody."
Buffy is surprised to find Angel outside at this time of day, even if it is under the grand shadow of the castle. Then she sees what he's doing, why there's a slightly dorky smile spread across his ageless face.
Out of the shadow, in the bright but setting sunlight, under one of the few trees in the area, Cordelia, the twins, and Lucas seem to be dancing what looks to be a waltz. Well, Bella and Henry are spinning expertly; Lucas seems to just be learning from Cordy, feet set awkwardly on top of hers. They are all wearing warm smiles, though, enjoying the fresh air and relative safety of the last few days.
"They look pretty good," she announces her presence, though she's sure he's already aware of her.
"Cordy's been teaching them since they were little. Passes the time. She won't tell me if it's a Sunnydale skill or one acquired as a Higher Power," he answers, eyes leaving the scene in front of him briefly to meet hers.
"I'm sure it's a prerequisite in the Higher Realms."
Angel laughs softly. "Probably."
"You're happy."
It's not a question.
"I am," he confirms anyway.
"That's good. Very good. They're lucky to have you."
"I'm lucky to have them."
They watch in silence for a few minutes, watch the quartet change partners and Henry sweep Cordy off at a quicker tempo, earning a loud laugh from his surrogate mother. Bella and Lucas's feet get tangled, and they fall to the grass, earning a few green stains on their jeans as Bella launches an assault of tickling at the younger boy for tripping her up.
Angel turns his full attention to Buffy, face getting more serious.
"What do you know about Lucia Fennella?"
Buffy's brow crinkles at the question.
"About as much as I know about the other five hundred Slayers in the world. Why?"
Angel shakes his head. "Bella's getting some weird vibes off of her."
"'Vibes?'" Buffy grins at his word choice.
"That's a quote. She spends too much time with Cordy. But she mentioned it before she went to bed last night, so I promised I'd talk to you about it."
"I'll look into it," Buffy promises. "I never had a great relationship with my dad. Not after I got to be Bella's age. It's good that you're with her, especially at her age. She needs a strong man in her life."
Angel laughs kindly. "I'm sure she would've turned out fine without me. But I hope I'm making some sort of difference in her life."
"You are," Buffy speaks from experience. "It's hard to believe she's the age I was when all of this started. That she's so young and has been a Slayer just as long as the others. When did we get so old?"
"I've always been old," Angel grins.
"Hey! Broody! The sun's set enough. Get out here and take your woman for a spin," Henry cries across the field.
"'His woman'?" Cordy questions, hands on her hips.
Henry winces. "You know what I mean."
He earns a friendly smack from both Cordy and Bella.
"You, too, Buffy," Cordy calls as Angel starts towards them, eyes on the rapidly sinking sun.
"Scaredy cat, we're not gonna let you burn up," Bella calls. "Get a move on it."
When Buffy and Angel make it over to the group, Henry bows deeply, charmingly, and extends his hand to the Slayer.
"Flirt," Bella teases as she hoists young Lucas into the air and spins him about without fear of tripping.
"If I may have this dance, and if you may ignore my sister," Henry grins as Buffy accepts his hand.
The teenager leads well, naturally, as the three pairs dance to music in their heads. Buffy begins to fully understand why Angel left; the charm of Cordelia and the twins is infectiously hard to resist.
It had been going too well, their week at Slayer Central. Angel should've known that they're never allowed to be comfortable and happy for that long. But he was wooed by the way the twins relaxed around Kennedy and Willow (even if it confused him despite his knowledge), by the way Lucas and TJ happily chased each other around the halls of the castle, by the way Connor started joining them all for dinner, by the way Cordy was getting along with the Scoobies who had tormented her high school days (and vice versa). But he should've known it would come crashing down, and maybe he did, but he is still disappointed when he enters the training room one day to find Lucia Fennella dead on the mats, a sword through her chest, and blood on Henry's hands.
Bella hovers above her twin as he kneels next to the body, still on alert for any further attacks.
"She tried to kill us," Bella reports to Angel when he and Buffy rush into the room on the alert of the psychics. "We were sparring and…" Her voice chokes off as she loses her calm. Slayer or not, this is a human life they just took.
"'Abd al-Hamid turned her in Morocco," Henry announces, removing the leather cuff from the older Slayer's wrist to reveal the tell-tale tattoo of the crescent and pentagram. "Must've offered something better than the greatness of fighting the good fight."
"How'd she know you would be here?" Buffy asks, already on her cell phone calling in a clean-up crew.
"Lucky guess. They must have known about Henry's dreams and that we'd start seeking out answers," Angel answers, worried by how pale the twins have become. "Buffy, if you could make sure Cordy gets up here, and not Lucas."
He approaches Bella and wraps an arm around her trembling frame, gently taking her sword, bloodless, from her hand and dropping it beside them. He smoothes the hair from her face and lets her melt into him.
"I knew there was something wrong," she says, voice breaking. "I knew it… But she was so nice…"
Angel presses a kiss to the top of her head and holds her tight.
"It's okay," he assures her. "You were just protecting yourselves. It's okay."
"I want Mom," she chokes out, burying her face in his chest.
As if on cue, Cordelia bursts into the room, hand flying to her mouth at the scene that greets her. She looks between the twins, noticing that Bella's hands are clean and Henry's are soaked in red. She doesn't even ask what happened, just lifts Henry off the ground, gathers both of them against her and begins to glow faintly, her own tears slipping into their hair as they sob against her.
Angel, angry, turns his attention to the corpse beside them all, crouching beside it, ignoring the tempting scent of Slayer blood.
"How did we miss this?" Buffy questions, standing beside him.
Angel rips a talisman from Lucia's neck and hands it to her. "Protection from psychic investigation. Temporary. Probably would've worn off in the next few days."
"I'm so sorry, Angel," Buffy says softly as she notices his eyes slipping to Cordy and the twins.
"Don't be," he sighs, standing and meeting her gaze. "We got sloppy, soft. We'll leave in the morning."
Connor arrives with the clean-up crew, anger sparking in his eyes at the scene before him.
Noting the tattoo, he snarls, "'Abd al-Hamid."
Angel nods.
"Is Damascus our next stop?"
"Most likely."
"I'll go sharpen the weapons."
He disappears from the room.
"If 'Abd al-Hamid is after you, why are you going deeper into their territory?" Buffy questions, brow furrowed.
"Just to let them know we're not going to sit here and let them terrorize us. A quick hit on a regional headquarters and we'll escape to Asia. The Xui Syndicate hasn't made an attempt on any of us in a while."
"Angel…"
"Can we talk about this later, Buffy?" he asks tiredly.
The Slayer nods, letting him go to comfort his family.
"We should all talk before you leave."
That night, after the twins, Lucas, and TJ have all been sent to bed, the adults meet in the briefing room.
"I think we should leave Lucas here," Connor speaks up.
"Connor!" Cordelia objects. "We can't just…"
"Just because you have no interest in your son…" Angel interjects.
"No," Connor cuts them off. "This isn't about me. He likes it here. He's safer than being on the run. Dawn and Xander and TJ can give him a real family."
"He has a real family," Cordy says harshly. "You cannot separate him from us. We're all he's ever known."
"Connor has a point," Xander speaks up.
Angel growls, dangerously close to vamping out.
"Stay out of this, Harris," Cordy cuts at him.
"No, I'm in this," Xander says, standing up to her. "Dawn and I would be responsible for him if you left him."
"You already talked to him about this," Cordy turns on Connor, almost shaking with the anger. "You were conspiring to steal my baby boy from me."
"Cordelia," Connor pleads, not liking seeing her so upset. His own feelings about the woman are conflicted by memories of another life, but no matter what, he feels complete loyalty to her. And she loves his son like a mother should, like Kelly would've. "This is what is best for him."
"No," Cordy objects, tears filling her eyes. "No, you just want to be rid of him for good. It's not good enough that you won't look at him when you're with him, you have to get him as far away from you as possible."
"I'm trying to protect him! Isn't that what fathers do?"
"Fathers love their children," she spits back.
"Cordy," Xander tries to intervene, laying a hand on her shoulder. She quickly pushes him away.
"No, you can't let him do this to Lucas. Angel…"
"We're in this together," Angel snarls. "We're a family. All six of us. He comes with."
"He stays," Connor stands firm. "He's my son."
"Nice of you to finally admit it," Cordy spits. "You don't get to pull that now. We've raised him. We get the say. He comes."
"He stays."
"Cordy," Xander pleads, trying to get her to see reason.
"He comes," Angel says, voice deadly quiet.
"He stays," Bella ends the argument from the doorway. Her assertion, as usually the most vocal opponent of Connor's absent-fatherhood, and her sudden appearance brings everything to a grinding halt. Cordy looks a little betrayed, but mostly puzzled. Bella is followed by a haunted-looking Henry, groggy, sleep pants riding low on his hips.
"What's up, Bel'?" Angel asks, trying to keep his voice calm.
"Connor's not getting off the hook for all this crap, but Lucas stays here until it's over."
"What's over?" Cordy questions.
"Everything," Henry says, suddenly looking more confident.
The twins share a look and announce in unison:
"It's time."
tbc