A/N: And now some mischief, mayhem, and Daddy & Will snuggles! And things will progress through the seasons of Angel as we go along, n'kay? N'kay! RnR if you please!
Angel lifted Will into his arms and sighed, looking at Cordelia, "Thanks for watching him, but I think I'll take him home now."
She nodded, "Okay, feel free to leave him any time, Dennis just loved having a little pal around."
The lights blinked as if Dennis was agreeing and Angel smirked, "Okay, I'll see you at the office, bye."
Angel shifted Will's weight more securely and ducked into the sewers, making his way home with the snoring boy clinging to his shirt. He pushed up the tunnel cover and climbed up into his apartment. He was about to put Will on the couch when he blinked and stared down at the blonde boy, he nodded and went into his bedroom, turning down the blankets and setting Will down on the bed, then turned and pulled off his own clothes.
He went back to the bed wearing his black lounge pants and a beater, climbing in next to Will and turning off the light, he rolled onto his side and stared at the sleeping Childe.
"I'm sorry," He whispered, "I'm sorry I abandoned you last time, I'm sorry you were alone . . . It's really all my fault this happened."
Angel was about to go on with his internal self-loathing but then Will curled into him, his hands reaching out and grasping at Angel and the little vampire started to purr softly, making the older man blink in surprise and smile,
" . . . It'll be okay, sweetheart, we'll get through this." Angel rolled onto his side and snuggled Will against him, "I promise."
"Daddy? . . . Daddy . . . Da-addy!" Will poked Angel in the face again, but the brunette refused to wake up, he only rolled over and mumbled about cake. Will huffed and shrugged, climbing to the edge of the bed and hopping down. He yawned and stretched, tugging off his pajamas, a little miffed that they were too small for him, and went about digging some clothes out of his suitcase. He got himself dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans and went into the kitchen, looking around until he found a clean mug, Will tapped his chin and hummed as he opened the kitchen,
" . . . pig or . . . pig?" He asked himself, giggling behind his hand so as not to wake Angel.
The little blonde pulled a bag out of the fridge and stared at the dark red, almost black, liquid as it sloshed about . . . he grimaced and shrugged, setting it up on the table next to his mug, he tried to open the bag a little but the knot was slippery and really tight, he glanced around until his eyes fell on the knife block, he grinned and hopped up onto the counter to pick out a sharp-and-pointy. Will grabbed a steak knife then climbed carefully back down, he held the bag in one hand and the knife in the other and stabbed into the plastic with one vicious jab, moving his mug quickly to catch the blood that spurted out. There was just one problem: sure his mug was full, but the blood didn't stop.
Will's eyes widened and he bit his lip at the puddle that started to form, "Uh oh . . . " he glanced at Angel, still fast asleep then he opened the fridge and put the bag in it, closing the door quickly and breathing out slowly. He smirked and chucked the knife into the sink, mopped up the puddle with a paper towel, and put his mug in the microwave.
"Ummmmms . . . . " Will stared at all the buttons, then shrugged and pressed a few, then pushed the big 'START' button, smiling with satisfaction as the appliance whirred into life, "There!"
The boy went into the living room and sat on the sofa, glancing about for something to do, then he saw one of Angel's thick tomes, he opened it up and blinked at the pictures of demons, "Bo-oring!"
He groaned and was about to snap the book shut when his eyes fell on a box of crayons Cordelia bought for him, his face broke out in a smile and he swiped them off the coffee table, dumping them out next to the book.
Angel woke to the worst smell since he didn't know when, he groaned and sat up, rubbing at his eyes and wrinkling his nose, "Ugh, Will, you smell that?"
He glanced down at where the blonde had been sleeping, "Will?"
Angel got up and he could hear a popping sound, a wet, nasty popping sound, he stumbled into the kitchen to see the microwave's door spattered with dark liquid and there was blood leaking out of the bottom of the fridge, "What the he- ? Will?"
Angel turned off the microwave, grimacing at the smell of burnt blood and quickly went about cleaning up the mess around the fridge, opening it only to groan and look toward the heavens for patience then he threw out the punctured bag and started cleaning up the mess of wasted blood. He was about to yell for that boy to get his ass in there and explain when he heard a loud snore coming from the living room.
Angel blinked and went in, looking over the sofa and there was Will, fast asleep with his head on a book, thumb wedged firmly in his mouth, Angel was about to smile and just forget that he was pissed for once, until his eyes landed on the book, his jaw dropped,
"Will!" He snapped.
The blonde jolted awake with a start, quickly pulling his thumb out of his mouth and wiping it on his shirt, he sat up and smiled up at Angel but the smile quickly turned into a scrunched mask of disgust,
"Ugh, Daddy, wot's that smell?" He plugged his nose and grimaced.
"Okay, the bag of blood, the fridge, the microwave, those are simple mistakes, those I can handle," Angel said, his voice dangerously calm, "But you COLORED in my anthology of Sumerian Demons?"
Will blinked then looked down at the book, smiling uncertainly at Angel, "I tried ta keep in the lines . . . " He explained, looking down at the demon he had almost finished, it was purple and green and blue now.
Angel closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "Will . . . that book is over a hundred years old and there are only seven that I know are still in one piece . . . and you colored in it."
Will stared at Angel then he started to get the idea, "But . . . but it was all black an' white an' boring an-"
Angel stalked around the couch and swiped the book off the floor, watching Will scurry toward a corner before he started to assess the damage, to his dismay Will chose to start at the beginning of the book and was almost to the middle before he decided to take a nap, and not only did he color the Demon profiles, he decided to make some alterations, giving some 'smiley faces' and others new body parts, extra horns, or hairstyles.
" . . . 'm sorry, Daddy." Will mumbled, biting his lip miserably, "I-It looked loike the colorin' book Cordy bought me . . . "
Angel snapped the book shut and looked at Will for a second before taking an unneeded breath then he shook his head and put the book on a higher shelf, "You see these?" He gestured to the bookshelves lined with old, worn volumes.
Will nodded frantically, his eyes welling up already, "Y-Yes, Daddy."
"These are mine, do you understand? You are not allowed to touch my things, they are very old and very expensive and I don't want you destroying any more of them!" Angel didn't realize his voice had risen until Will burst into tears and kept nodding, "Go in the kitchen and sit down at the table and don't touch anything!"
Will scurried out of the room while Angel closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, "I did not sign up for this . . . "
Angel finished cleaning the microwave out, grumbling the entire time at the dried gunk caked all over the place and ignoring the snuffling coming from the table behind him. He finally got the last of it then he heard someone coming downstairs.
"Wow, not even out of your pj's?"
Angel turned his death-glare on Cordelia, "I would be if I had the sense to chain that one up every day."
Will shrank in his seat and sniffed hugely, wringing his hands under the table, Cordelia blinked, "He just got home, what could he possibly . . . hang on, what is that smell?"
"Well, that would be dried, burnt blood from Will's attempt to make himself breakfast, or are you referring to the gallon bag of pig's blood he spilled all over the floor and inside the fridge? Or maybe you mean the smoke coming out of my ears from my brain frying when I found out he doodled all over one of my ancient books?" Angel ranted.
Will burst into fresh tears and covered his face with his hands, "I s-said I was s-sorry!"
"Sorry doesn't replace irreplaceable books, Will." Angel snapped, he looked at Cordelia, "What?"
"Oh well I was just waiting to see when the volcano would cool off long enough to see how stupid it looks." She crossed her arms and popped a hip, tilting her head in that way that screamed 'disapproval'.
"Wait, are you saying I'm the one that's the problem?" Angel snapped incredulously.
Cordelia glared at him then grabbed his wrist and dragged him into the other room, "Okay, number one way to break a child's heart? Call them a problem."
"Cordelia, he-"
"Is a little kid, and while being a child may be too far back for you to remember, the rest of us are bright and shiny from that era. Will is behaving like a little kid behaves, he tries to do things on his own because he wants to be a 'big boy' like Daddy and he tries to impress you the only way he can think of. So he colored in a goddamn book, so what? So he blew up the microwave, so what? He has feelings too and your words are hurtful enough."
Angel stared at her for a moment, "Then what?"
"Go in there, tell him it's okay, that they're just things and they aren't important. Remember the mug he broke? Same diff."
"But, that was just a mug, the book-"
"Still functions as a book," Cordelia rolled her eyes, "He didn't light it on fire or rip the pages, he just colored it, to make it pretty probably."
Angel bit his lip and nodded, "Okay . . . "
"Angel, try to put things into perspective, alright? When you were gone those few days Will would not shut up about you, he kept asking when you were coming back and how much longer and blah, blah, blah." Cordelia sighed and looked over at the kitchen where Will was slumped over the table with his forehead on his arms.
Angel blinked, thinking about what Cyprus had said, "Unconditionally . . . alright, I can do that."
He took a slow breath and went back into the kitchen, Will looked up and then immediately lowered his eyes, Angel squatted down next to him, "Hey, Will, I'm . . . I'm sorry I got upset with you."
"I didn' mean ta make a mess . . . " Will mumbled, turning in his chair and rubbing his knees.
"I know, it's okay . . . it's just . . . stuff." Angel said, tilting his head to try and catch Will's eyes, "And you're more important than stuff."
Will blinked and slowly looked at Angel, "I goofed 'gain, didn' I, Daddy?"
Angel chuckled and ruffled Will's hair, realizing that it was starting to turn to it's original color again, "We all goof, kiddo, not a big deal, that's how we learn. Can we be pals again?"
Will nodded and smiled a little, nodding, "Okay."
"Alright, come here." Angel pulled Will into his arms, feeling the little body cling onto him tightly, he was about to let go when his boy trembled slightly and Angel realized he was crying, "Hey, come on now, what's with this? It's okay, I fixed everything right?"
Will nodded and sat back, wiping at his eyes, " . . . you can color in my colorin' book if you want, Daddy."
Angel chuckled and nodded, "Okay, fair trade, let's get you something to eat, sound good?"
Will nodded and hopped off his chair to retrieve a mug from the cupboard.
Upstairs Angel was talking to a client about some trouble with an infestation of rat-like demons while Will sat behind Cordelia's desk and read a picture book, he looked up when the client scurried out of the office,
"Wot does Daddy do, 'xactly?" Will asked, looking up at Cordelia when she moved to put a file away.
"He helps the hopeless." Cordelia shrugged, "Sort of a knight in brooding armor thing he has going on."
"Oh." Will went back to his book then he glanced up again, "Cordy?"
"Mhm?" Cordelia looked over her paperwork and started scribbling away.
"Can I go out an' play?" Will stood up, looking down at her, "Please?"
"Remember what happened last time? You almost became a bite-sized snack. I think you should stay in." Cordelia glanced up at him.
"But, 'm bored!" Will whined, drumming his hands on her desk.
"William, please, I'm trying to work!" Cordelia grimaced, she hated yelling at the little guy but really?
Will groaned and went into Angel's office, "Daddy, can I go out an' play?"
"Hm, what did your babysitter say?" Angel asked without looking up.
Will rolled his eyes, "Nanny said 'no'."
"Well then, what'cha think I'll say?" Angel looked up, "'sides, you need to pack a bag, we're going to Sunnydale to visit some friends of mine."
Will blinked excitedly, "Okay!"
Angel watched him rush to the lift, when he was out of sight Wesley stepped in, "And why are you bringing him there?"
"Because it's safer, I don't like that he goes out all by himself, not in a big city like this where Demons are the least of my worries." Angel looked at Wesley, "He may be a vampire, but to anyone else, he's a little boy, easily abducted and I don't even want to think of what might happen then."
"You're talking mainly about Zephyr." Wesley observed.
"Yes, Zeph's been jealous of me and Spike for some time now, and the idea that he can get at both of us by hurting Will . . . the opportunity is what he would call 'delicious'."
"Rather unsavory character isn't he?" Wesley grimaced.
"You don't know the half." Angel said softly, shaking his head and grimacing when he heard something shatter downstairs.
A/N: See, Angel is finally fitting into the proper role of 'Daddy' now, took him a bit but he's a quick learner.
