TITLE:  The Very Best Time of the Year

AUTHOR:  Eloise

RATING: PG13

DISCLAIMER: Joss and ME own Wes, and all things Angel. I'm only playing with them. I promise not to hurt them. Much.

NOTES: Chap 2 of 4 (I hope!) Okay, I am not a monster. I know I tortured him in Soul Cages, but seriously, did you really think I would kill off Wes, especially in a CHRISTMAS fic?! I'm not that heartless! Once again, big hugs to Lonely Brit for her Beta brilliance!

Chapter title and quote from John Rutter's carol 'The Very Best Time of the Year'

Chapter 2: Families and Friends Together

'Families and friends together

Feel a special kind of love and cheer,

Sharing all the joys of Christmas time,

The very best time of year.'

'Come on. English. Open up.'

Gunn knocked on the door a little harder this time. No response. He looked over at Angel.

'You think maybe he's not answering for a reason?'

He wondered if Gunn knew how stupid that sounded. Of course there was a reason for Wes not answering. That's what they were there to find out.

Off his rather sardonic look, Gunn continued.

'I mean, a *particular* reason. You know, maybe he met someone last night and brought her home…' he paused, briefly, then continued. 'He's not going to be very happy if we go charging in while they're in the middle of…' he tailed off again.

'It doesn't seem very likely. Let's face it, when was the last time any of us met someone who wasn't a demon? Or at the very least, about to be sacrificed to one.'

Gunn nodded resignedly. 'Guess you're right. Can't see English falling into bed with someone he just met.

'You think we should… you know.'

Angel motioned with his shoulder. Gunn shrugged a little.

The vampire took a step back and threw his weight against the solid door. The only thing which gave way was his shoulder. He swore softly and threw the other man a reproachful look.

'You could help.'

An odd little smile played around Gunn's lips.

'Mm. Or I could use the spare key that Cordy gave me.'

He reached into his pocket and retrieved the key, rather smugly, earning him a reasonably hard punch to his shoulder. Angel scowled and swiped the key from him, jabbing it savagely into the lock. He heard the mechanism of the deadlock unbolt, and pushed the apartment door open.

The place looked the way it always did – neat. Wes was freakishly tidy, he thought. Almost obsessively so. He was willing to bet good money that the contents of his bookcase were catalogued and alphabetized. Hell, knowing Wes, he probably had them organized by ISB number as well.

The blinds were drawn, and with relief he stepped into the room. The only light in the room came from a small Tiffany reading lamp, poised on the edge of a disturbingly tidy desk. The little kitchenette was also spotless, the sink devoid of washing up.

The meticulous arrangement of the rest of the room only served to emphasis the disorder that was the coffee table. Books and DVDs were spilled across the surface, along with a gift package of cosmetics and a half-empty whisky tumbler. The empty bags on the floor beside the table confirmed that Wes had been Christmas shopping. He moved closer, surreptitiously trying to discover which gift was intended for him.

'His bed's not been slept in.'

Gunn came back into the living area, and Angel stepped back guiltily, almost tripping over the end of the table.

'He must have gone Christmas shopping last night.' He waved his hand towards the table, trying to adopt an air of unconcern, and failing miserably.

'Anything good?' Gunn leaned over, and began to rifle through the purchases without shame. A broad smile appeared when he discovered the DVDs. 'I knew if I dropped enough hints…'

'Gunn!'

'What? If he didn't want us to see them, he shouldn't have left them lying around.'

He had stopped listening. He had heard something, only the faintest sound, a whisper of breath that even his vampire hearing could only just detect. He put his finger to his lips and motioned for Gunn to follow him.

The almost sound seemed to have come from the closet near the apartment door. They stopped outside it, and Angel tested the handle. Opened it slowly. The amber glow of the reading lamp barely penetrated the darkness of the cupboard. He reached into the cupboard and clicked on the light.

A tiny gasp, this time audible to Gunn too.

'Not real. You're not real.' A soft voice whispered slightly frantically.

He stepped into the closet and brushed through the coats and jackets that hung at the back. This time the gasp came from himself and Gunn.

A small dark-haired boy, no more than six or seven years old, was huddled in the corner to the closet, his knees drawn up to his chest in an effort to make himself even smaller. He looked up at Angel, and the vampire was frankly shocked by the piercing blueness of those fear filled eyes.

He took a step back, not wanting to terrify the child any further.

'Hey, there,' he began very tentatively, then added rather lamely 'Um, what're you doing in here?'

The kid scooted further back against the wall of the closet, eyeing them with barely concealed terror.

'I-I have to stay here. I'm s-supposed to wait till he comes for me.'

The English accent was unmistakeable, reminded him intensely of Wesley, except for the slightly lisped sibilants. He was suddenly aware of Gunn beside him, kneeling on the closet floor.

'Who's coming for you, kid?'

The child's startling blue eyes grew impossibly huge and round as he observed them.

'My father, sir.'

He took a step back, his mind spinning with questions he really didn't want to know the answers to.

'What's your dad's name?' Gunn again, talking in a soft voice, as if he was soothing a spooked horse.

'Roger Wyndham-Pryce.'

Gunn turned and looked at him, his dark eyes puzzled.

'Wes got a brother?'

He shook his head. 'I don't think so… I mean, he's never mentioned one.'

He realized then how little Wes spoke about his family. He moved closer to the child and held out his hand to the little boy, who cowered in the corner.

'You can come out, it's okay. I'm sure your Dad won't mind if you come out now.'

The child was obviously torn by his offer.

'I-I can't. I have to stay here.

'Look, kid,' Gunn began, then broke off. 'Can't keep calling you kid. What's your name?'

The little voice was quiet. 'Wesley.'

A sharp intake of breath from Gunn.

'You're named after your Uncle, then?'

The boy looked up, his eyes wide again.

Angel stepped back into the hallway, and stopped in front of a small console table. He retrieved a photograph from a small collection gathered there. It was one of himself, Wes and Cordy, and he held it out to the child.

'Is that your Uncle?'

Wesley shook his head. 'No, sir. I don't recognize any of those people. Except you.'

Angel smiled at the open truthfulness of the little boy. He gazed at the other pictures on the table, and his eye fell on one of Wes as a young man, with his mother and father, taken at his university graduation. He became aware of the child next to him, the little gasp of air.

'That's my father. But he looks different. Older.'

He knew he wasn't talking about Wesley. The bright blue eyes were fixed upon the stern visage of Wes's father.

And then he realized.

'You're him.' He couldn't hide the incredulity in his voice. 'Gunn, it's Wes. Our Wes.'

The other man screwed up his face and shrugged his shoulders. 'Huh?'

'He's Wesley.'

'Yeah, right. 'Cause last time I checked, Wes was three foot tall and ready for grade school.'

'I don't know how, or why, but I'm telling you, it's our Wesley. Maybe he was researching a spell or something.'

There was a slight movement, as the child beside him shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

'Um – I made a wish.' The tremor in his voice betrayed his fear.

He tried to keep his own voice light. 'What did you wish for?'

The child's lower lip was already beginning to tremble, and he wiped his hand roughly across his eyes.

'It's okay, Wes. No one's cross with you.'

'I shouldn't have been so stupid… I always make a mess of things…'

He heard an adult's scorn in the child's words.

'Wes, really, it's all right. What did you wish?'

'He s-said it would come true, everything would be fine.' Wesley looked up at him, eyes liquid. 'I didn't mean for this to happen. I j-just wished for a happy family Christmas.'

*~*~*~*

'So he made a wish, and some kind of demon fairy godfather sent us the mini-watcher?' Gunn raised his eyebrows expressively. 'I don't know, it sounds kind of far-fetched…'

'Oh, but killing vampires and travelling to alternate dimensions is totally normal,' he hissed back, hoping that the little boy seated on the couch hadn't heard them.

Too late.

'You know about watchers?' His voice was tentative. 'I'm not supposed to talk about it…'

Angel moved over to couch, sat down next him.

'It's all right. We know all about the council.' He hated the look in Wesley's eyes just then. The fear that flashed suddenly and then was gone.

'You know about the other things, then…' he tailed off, and looked down at the floor.

'Vampires, demons and slayers, you mean?'

 Wesley nodded, his head still bowed.

'That's scary stuff for a kid to cope with.' Gunn offered in a kindly voice.

The boy's head came up; he looked a picture of shame.

'I try not to get scared…'

'Hell, Wes, everyone gets scared. Good thing, too. You got to have a good healthy fear of those monsters.'

There was surprise in Wes's face as he looked up at Gunn's impressive frame.

'Do you get scared?"

'Every time, kid. I'd be a fool if I didn't.' He flashed him a wide grin. 'Course, our Wes would say I was a fool anyway.'

'Your Wes? I don't understand – do you work for the Council?'

He looked at Gunn over the child's dark head, read the same question in his eyes.

'Not exactly. But we do work for the Powers that Be.'

Off Wesley's puzzled look, he explained.

'We work for the good guys. Fight the demons, stake the vamps…' He caught Gunn's eye again and shook his head. Better not get into that one just yet…

'Our friend, she gets visions of people in danger. We help them.'

He accepted this as if it were the most normal thing in the world. A child born into a world where the lines of good and evil were very clearly defined, where the concepts of duty and honour would have been instilled from an early age.

Gunn had been prowling restlessly in the kitchen, rifling through the cabinets.

'You hungry, Wes?'

He nodded shyly.

'There's nothing good here.' He waved a hand at the contents of the cabinet, which were all nauseatingly healthy. 'Wes really needs to get himself some decent junk food.'

'Why don't we head back to the hotel and we can get something there?' Angel suggested.

Wesley looked down at the striped pyjamas covering his tiny frame.

'Hmm. Maybe pick up something to wear on the way, Gunn?'

The other man nodded. 'Some of my cousin's kids will be his size. You're six, right?'

'I'm seven.'  He spoke so quietly that they almost didn't hear him.

'Well, we'll find something. Cordy can take him shopping later.'

Angel threw him a look.

'You're going to let her take him shopping? That's just plain mean.'

The boy looked puzzled. 'Who's Cordy?'

'Vision girl. She tells us who to help,' he answered.

'So she's in charge.'

Angel caught Gunn's eye, a half-smile hovering on his lips.

'Not exactly. She likes to think she is.'

'She's the girl on the phone. The one who's cross with me.' Wesley pointed to the answering machine, the message received button flashing impatiently.

Angel pressed it, and instantly they were treated to the sound of Cordelia Chase in full rant mode, finishing with - 'Wesley, where the hell are you? You don't get your ass in here this minute; I'm coming round to kick it!'

Anyone who knew Cordelia would know that this was simply her way of expressing her concern. But this Wesley didn't know her, and he looked quite terrified. Close to tears, in fact.

'But I don't know where I am. I was at home last night, and when I woke up this morning I was here. I made that stupid wish and now I don't know where here is or who you are…'

His lower lip quivered ominously and he tried to choke back the sobs rising in his throat.

Angel fought an overwhelming urge to hug the forlorn child.

'You heard us talking about our Wes.' The boy nodded. 'Well, that's you. When our Wes didn't come into the office today, we came to his apartment to check on him.'

'And found you,' Gunn added, barely able to suppress a huge grin.

'It's obviously got something to do with the wish you made. We can research it back at the hotel.'

'He, I mean, I work for you?'

'Kind of the other way round.' Gunn gave up trying to hide the smile. 'You're the boss of Angel Investigations. That's Angel, I'm Charles Gunn, and that,' he said, pointing a finger at the answering machine, 'Was Cordelia Chase.'

He lifted the photo of Cordy, Wes and Angel, and handed it to Wesley. The seven year old studied it intensely.

'That's me?' he said in wonder and Angel nodded.

'I look so… old.'

He set the photograph carefully back on to the table and turned to them.

'I'm in America, yes?'

'Los Angeles.'

'The city of angels,' he whispered, almost under his breath. Angel sensed that he wanted to ask more, but was too timid to question them further.

'Let's head back to the hotel.'

He grabbed his duster and Wesley stood up obediently, moved to stand next to him. Gunn came over and dropped his hand lightly onto Wesley's shoulder. The little boy's arm jerked involuntarily, as if warding off a blow. And immediately there came an apology.

'S-sorry… I didn't mean to…'

Gunn lifted his hand carefully.

'No, Wes. That's okay. I'm sorry.'

Again Angel caught Gunn's eye and read the frown there. They were both realising that there was more than one question that needed answering here. He shook his own head slightly.
'I'll meet you back at the hotel, okay?'
Questions and answers would just have to wait a little longer.

*~*~*~*

Cordelia was cleaning.

Not an activity in which she frequently indulged, she admitted to herself, rather grudgingly. But sitting around doing nothing in the office only gave her more time to think, to worry herself frantic about what had become of Wesley.

He was never late, he always called. He was the reliable one. The sensible one.  The one she really shouldn't have to worry about. When they found him, she was going to damn well kill him.

She lifted a pile of boxes from under the counter and swiped a duster over the area fairly frenetically. A sudden movement behind startled her, and she brought her head up sharply, smacking it smartly on the counter top. That dumb vampire.

'Scare me half to death, why don't you!' She felt the top of her head for a bump, and fixed him with an accusatory glare.

'Would it kill you to remember that some of us actually need our hearts to beat?' She demonstrated this by clutching her hand over her own, a gesture she had been practicing for her actors workshop.

'Well, did you find him?'

Angel nodded, and then peeled off his duster, folded it infuriatingly carefully and set it on the counter.

'Sorry to interrupt your highly engrossing clothes folding, but is there any chance you're going to tell me where Wes is?'

'He's out getting new clothes with Gunn.'

He's been attacked by slime demons, abducted for sacrifice to one of the more minor deities, even held to ransom by Wolfram and Hart, was what she'd been expecting. But shopping?

'Say that again. I'm here going quietly out of my mind with worry, and he's on a shopping spree. With Gunn!'

She wasn't sure what pissed her more. The fact that Wes was clothes shopping, or the fact that he'd gone with Gunn, rather than her.

'He is so going to get his sorry ass kicked.'

A strangely beatific smile was playing on the vampire's lips.

'No, I don't think you'll be doing that.'

Her hands found her hips and she faced him squarely as he leaned against the office door.

'I think you underestimate me.'

'Fatal mistake.'

She turned at the sound of Gunn's voice; he was depositing boxes of takeaway on the counter.

'Where is he? Oh, right, he knows he's in trouble.' She took a breath, then yelled as loudly as she could. 'Wesley Wyndham-Pryce, get your ass in here now. I mean it!'

There was a pause, and then a small boy stepped out from behind Gunn. She registered a shock of short dark hair, and huge, impossibly blue eyes that stared back at her in obvious terror. He was scared stiff. Of her. She scooted out from behind the counter and dropped onto one knee in front of the petrified child.

'Oh, sweetie, it's okay,' she soothed. 'I'm not cross with you,'

'Actually you are.' Angel came forward. 'Cordy, this is Wesley.'

She turned her head to the vampire, gave him an exaggerated eye roll.

He shrugged his shoulders slightly. 'It's him. Look at him, Cordy.'

So she did. The child looked about five, maybe six years old, his small frame emphasized by the too big navy sweatshirt and jeans he was wearing. The hem of the sweatshirt hung almost to his knees, and the cuffs of the jeans had been rolled up at least four times to stop him from tripping over them. She took in a pale face turning pink under her intense scrutiny. And then those eyes. She'd seen Wes without his glasses, and recognized those eyes now. Somehow even bigger and bluer than she remembered.

'Oh my God. It's him. It's really Wesley, isn't it?'

Angel and Gunn both nodded. She looked again at the small boy who stood before her. God, but he was a beautiful child.

'He doesn't remember us.' Angel warned softly, as she leaned forward to touch his face.

'He's so cute!' she squealed softly, but caught the warning in his voice and refrained from gathering the boy in her arms and hugging him tight.

'What happened?'

Angel pulled a couple of books out of the shelf and dropped them on the counter.

'Wes made a wish.'

She frowned at him. 'Uh-uh. Wes has way more sense than to do that.'

The vampire made a face back at her. 'Not our Wes.' His voice dropped to a whisper. 'Mini Wes.'

'Oh. Oh, okay.' She smiled at the despondent child. 'So, this wish. Who granted it? Good dress sense, kind of turned scary and veiny when she granted it?'

Wesley shook his head. 'He said he was an elf. That I was on his list.'

She felt a sudden shock of recognition; the first time she had met Wesley back in the library in Sunnydale High, his accent had been as strong as it was now.

Gunn opened a carton of noodles.

'Hungry, Wes?'

The boy nodded, and Gunn leaned down, and lifted him up to the counter, plonking him carefully beside the cartons of food.

'And I thought the adult version was skin and bones. You eat as much as you want, kid.'

He handed Wes a fork and dug in himself. Cordy watched as mini-Wes began to eat hesitantly, as if he expected the food to be removed from him at any minute. She lifted a pair of chopsticks and joined them.

'So what's the plan?'

Angel shrugged lightly. 'Enrol him in Kindergarten?'

She slapped him with a chopstick.

'Big funny man. Don't be mean,' she added, seeing Wesley's face redden.

'We'll figure it out.' Angel indicated to the pile of books on the counter. 'There's bound to be something about elves and wishes in one of these.'

'I could help.' His voice was soft, tentative.

'Aw, honey, that's sweet. But this stuff's a bit above your level.' She smiled at him.

'I could translate. Latin and Greek. Some Norse and Old English…'

Gunn threw her a look. 'Bit above your level, Cordy.'

Another chopstick attack, this time a stab, aimed at Gunn's shoulder. She saw Wes shift himself on the counter, out of the line of fire.

'Sure you can help, Wes.' Angel flicked his hand at the food. 'After you finish eating,' he added, as Wesley made to open the largest book.

'Yes, sir.' The quiet apologetic tone made Cordelia want to gather him in her arms and cuddle him.

'You like ice cream, sweetie?'

Wes looked up at her, his face suddenly bright.

'Yes.' Then he faltered. 'But I haven't finished my dinner.'

She scowled at Angel. "Don't listen to him.'

She opened the freezer compartment of the refrigerator that she had installed behind the counter, and scooped out two bowls of New York Super Fudge Chunk. She placed one in front of Wes, offering him a spoon.

'A kid should have ice cream.' She said simply, when Angel raised an eyebrow.

'Did I say anything?'

'No, but you looked.'

She noticed how Wesley did not eat, but watched Angel, waiting for permission.

'It's okay, Wes, you can eat it,' she encouraged.

Angel nodded his assent. 'Go ahead, Wes.'

At last he obeyed, working carefully at the ice cream, savouring each spoonful as if it was his last.

'First thing we do is get him some decent clothes,' she stated. 'He looks like he was dressed by goodwill'

'Hey!' Gunn half-protested, but he obviously knew she was right.

'I'll need the credit card, Angel.'

She opened her palm and flashed her sweetest most perfect-teeth smile at the vampire. He sighed in acquiescence; she knew that bitter experience had taught him the futility of arguing with her about money.

'Gunn, go with her. Protect the boy.'

Her ice cream spoon hit him squarely on the back of the head.

'Cordelia! What sort of example is that to set?'

But she saw the half-smile, and knew he wasn't really mad.

'Yippee! Gap Kids, Gymboree, Tommy Kids…'

She hadn't realized she was saying this out loud. The three males were staring at her in surprise, Wesley in something approaching terror.

'Take it easy, Cordy. You're scaring him,' Angel said softly.

Wes set his spoon down carefully and cleared his throat.

'Um, could I please have some new glasses? If I'm going to be reading, I'll need glasses. The other Wesley's will be too big.'

She briefly imagined him in Harry Potter spectacles and gave a squeal of delight.

'Sure, sweetheart. Anything you want.'

The vampire sighed deeply and handed over the credit card.

'Please remember he's not going to be a kid forever.'

She snatched the card from his grasp, not really listening to him.

'Fine, whatever.'

There was shopping to be done.