V

The Angel



Even though she was starting to tire from Cordelia's manic trail blazing through the stores on Fifth avenue, Fred still found that she was enjoying herself immensely. The surging crowds, the glittering bright decorations, the Christmas music, everything had her in a whirl. She could have gone on like this forever. However she noticed that Cordelia was starting to fray at the edges. Finally Cordelia collapsed wearily on a nearby bench.

"Tired?" Fred asked needlessly.

Cordelia shot her a tired, but satisfied smile, "Yeah, I think so. I just wish this didn't have to end. This is the best time I've had in a very long time."

"I know what you mean," Fred replied as she sat down next to Cordelia. "This could make me almost forget Pilea."

"Almost?"

Fred nodded. "Almost."

Cordelia playfully shoved Fred in the shoulder. "I bet Gunn helps a lot in that matter."

Fred smiled shyly as she pulled a strand of wavy hair away from her face. "Yeah, you could say that."

Rummaging through the mountain of bags and boxes around her feet, Cordelia ran through the Christmas list in her head. "Well," she finally said, "I think I have just about everyone covered. Of course I maxed out my credit card, but that's okay." She glanced over at the single bag that sat next to Fred's feet. "Couldn't find anything you liked?" she asked.

"Oh," Fred replied, "I found what I needed. It's just that I already had most of my shopping done back in LA."

"Lord save us from efficient people," Cordelia breathed. "And to think I dragged you through all these stores," she added in alarm.

"Don't worry about that," Fred assured her, "I'm having a wonderful time, besides this way I can help you with your packages."

Cordelia tilted her head thoughtfully. "Yeah, you got a point there." She grabbed up her bags and boxes. "I think we better head back," she said with a mixture of regret and relief in her voice as she unsteadily rose to her feet. Suddenly she screamed, "Hey!" and toppled back onto the bench, burying a little girl in boxes and bags.

"Catch her!" a man in a security guard's uniform yelled as the little girl struggled out of the avalanche.

"Now wait a minute," Fred demanded, pushing herself between the red faced man and the little girl.

"She stole something," the security guard growled at her.

Cordelia held the little girl protectively as she cringed in her arms. Her clothes were ragged, far too thin for the chill winter weather, and it looked like she had not bathed for a very long time. Her tiny frame was nothing but skin and bone.

"Where's your Mommy?" Cordelia asked gently.

"I don't have any. Mommy died when I was little and I haven't seen my Daddy for a very long time," she answered as she buried her face against Cordelia's thick coat.

"Humph," the guard growled. "Kid's lyin'. They all do. I'm takin' her in."

"Now wait a minute," Fred protested, "It's Christmas Eve."

"Yeah, so if she has no family, I'm takin' her to Social Services."

"No!" the girl wailed, clinging even more tightly to Cordelia.

"What did she steal, anyway?" Cordelia asked.

The little girl held out in her hand a gold wrapped chocolate.

"Godiva," Cordelia observed, "You have got to admit she has good taste." She looked up at the guard. "Can't we just pay for it and you can drop this whole mess?"

"No way, lady. Gotta take her in. It's for her own good," the guard replied, reaching for the little girl who continued to sob and wail as he tried to pull her away.

"Please," Fred begged, "We could take her in. At least let her have a nice Christmas. Please."

"Now lady, I don't know you from Adam. I gotta take her in," the guard insisted although he was starting to waver. Especially since a crowd was starting to form around them. Judging from the angry muttering going around him, there was no one on his side. It could get very ugly.

"You may not know these young ladies," said an elegantly dressed woman as the crowd parted before her. "But, I am sure you know me and my husband."

The guard touched a hand to the bill of his hat in respect, "Yes ma'am, I do. You're Mrs. Lamont Cranston. You gotta understand, ma'am. I'm only doing my duty."

"I'm sure you are," Margo replied soothingly, "However these girls seem to be quite taken with the child. Why don't you release her into their custody, and mine, of course. We will see that she is well taken care of."

"But ma'am," the guard began to protest.

Margo favored him with a benign smile. "I'm sure you have more important things to do than to harass a little girl. Don't you?"

The guard's eyes momentarily glazed over, then cleared. "Yes'm I do," he said sheepishly before turning away with a nod to the ladies clustered around the little girl.

Cordelia gazed open-mouthed at Margo. "You're Margo Cranston, aren't you?"

Margo nodded as she signaled toward Shrevvie who had been waiting on the sidelines.

"I've heard all about you and Mr. Cranston," Cordelia gushed, "My mother's friend said that if we ever had any problems we should look you up. But I never imagined. Why I heard that only the most important...."

"You're staying at the Forest, aren't you?" Margo interrupted easily as the girls piled Cordelia's packages in Shrevvie's arms.

"The Forest?" Cordelia echoed.

"Yes. We call it the Forest because it looks like a forest inside," Margo explained.

Fred nodded. "That's the place," she confirmed.

"Good. We'll take you there and help you get the child settled in." Margo knelt down to face the little girl who peeped out from behind Cordelia. "What is your name, little one?" she asked.

"Angela," she replied shyly.

Margo smiled sweetly. "I'm sure you are."





Angela looked like an entirely different little girl once they had her cleaned up and dressed in some new clothes that they had bought along the way. Long, pale blonde-white hair feathered around a delicate pixie face and enormous bright blue eyes shone with pleasure as the little eight year old sipped on hot chocolate and nibbled on chocolate chip cookies. "This is the best Christmas I have ever had," she enthused as she curled up contentedly between Cordelia and Margo.

Fred stepped back from the Christmas tree that she had just finished decorating. "Do you think the guys will like it?" she asked the others.

"It's lovely," Margo said.

"What are we going to do about Angela?" Cordelia asked Margo.

"I know some people who will be very glad to take her in," she replied, fingering the little girl's soft hair. "They've always wanted a little girl. You would like that, wouldn't you, Sweetheart? To have a family of your own?"

Angela nodded vigorously in reply. "I don't want to be cold any more. There's always so many bad people around. Christmas shouldn't be that way. People shouldn't be afraid then."

"No, they shouldn't," Margo replied thoughtfully.

Dashing through the snow on a one horse open sleigh... filled the air as Fred turned the radio on louder. "Jingle Bells, jingle bells," Fred chimed in.

Angela hopped off the couch and joined the slender brunette. Giggling with joy as they swung hands, she joined in, "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way..."

"Cordy, Fred," Angel said, bursting into the apartment, "Have Connor and Gunn come back yet?" Behind him the Shadow stood silently observing the gaily decorated apartment.

"No," Cordelia answered, "Is something wrong?"

"I don't know yet. I, well, we, found a vampire nest below this building..." he began.

"Oh, no," Fred said unhappily. "Can't we just forget about them for one night at least?"

"They are no danger to you," the Shadow said. "I don't believe they will return. At least not until long after you have left New York."

"Then what's the problem?" Cordelia demanded of the tall black-cloaked man.

"That is to be seen," the Shadow intoned ominously. "Their victim prophesied that the Spirit of Christmas was in danger. That its death would bring about the destruction of the world."

"Now, she could have delirious, you know," Angel said hopefully.

"I doubt it," the Shadow replied.

"It the lady okay?" the little girl asked as she bravely walked up to the Shadow.

The Shadow knelt down to her. "Yes, the paramedics said that she would recover. The vampires had not yet harmed her thanks to Angel's intervention."

Angela looked up at Angel who stared down at her curiously. "That's good, she said, "I am glad that she was not hurt badly."

"Just frightened," the Shadow assured her.

"Who is she?" Angel asked gesturing at the little girl.

"Her name's Angela," Fred replied, "Some security officer caught her shoplifting and was going to take her to Social Services."

"But where's her parents?" Angel asked.

"She doesn't have any," Cordelia answered.

"But..." Angel continued, looking confused.

"We thought it would be nicer if she spent Christmas with us," Margo supplied. Smiling graciously, she extended her hand, "I don't believe that we've met. My name's Margo Lane-Cranston. I'm an old friend of Cordelia's family. You might say I helped Fred and Cordelia rescue Angela from what was promising to be a very dreary Christmas."

Angel nodded his understanding, but still seemed at a loss.

Margo continued, addressing the Shadow, "And you must the be legendary Shadow. I've always hoped to meet you."

"And I, you, Mrs. Cranston," the Shadow answered rising to his feet. He bowed slightly to Margo, "I heard much about the good you and your esteemed husband have done for this city."

Margo's smile broadened slightly, amused by the fact that she was greeting her husband as a stranger, "Thank you," she replied.

"Uh, nice," Angel broke in, "But where's Gunn and Connor. I can't believe that the two of them have been hanging around a museum this long."

"That's because we haven't," Gunn answered grimly as he came in through the open door. Connor's been kidnaped."

"What?!" Angel exclaimed turning on Gunn.

"It was some kind on weird elf or demon, I dunno. He was talking some kind of trash about that there's going to be no Christmas and that it'll take the innocence of a child to kill Santa. Then he threw a snow globe at Connor and poof they were gone."

"I wouldn't exactly call Connor an innocent," Fred said, "And he's not quite a child, either..."

"Perhaps not," the Shadow said thoughtfully, "But from what Angel has told me, he is still very much the innocent even though you may not think so. While he may be a warrior, and thinks of himself as such, he still thinks as simply as a child. He thinks of only himself and has no goals outside of preparing and engaging in battle. To him it is still a game." The Shadow noticed that Fred was going to disagree, "A deadly game to be sure, but still a game. Like any other child he gives little or no thought to the future, either his own or mankind's, outside of fantasizing."

"Well, you might be right," Fred answered, "but still, at eighteen..."

"But that is the point, while he has lived eighteen years and has the body of an eighteen year old, in the terms of the number of years between the time he was born and now, he is still a child, in fact, practically an infant. Also more importantly, he believes in Santa Claus."

"I don't know about that..." Fred said uncertainly.

"Does he know not to believe in Santa Claus?"

"I guess not," Fred admitted. "We have all talked about Santa Claus like he was a real person and as far as Connor is concerned I guess he's about as believable as any of the hundreds of demons he has fought."

"Exactly, for you see Santa Claus can only be seen by those who truly believe he exists."

"And that's why he was taken," Angel said finishing the thought. "He's a trained warrior in mind and body, but he's still a child in a lot of ways."

"And more importantly," the Shadow added, "He has never learned to believe there is no Santa Claus."

"But there is no Santa Claus," Gunn said.

"You're wrong," the Shadow said, "While Santa Claus may not exactly slide down people's chimneys, he's still very much real. He's the embodiment of the Spirit of Christmas. He stands for the hope we have this time every year for peace, love, joy and most especially selfless giving. Even among the flurry of overzealous shopping, people still hold in themselves that special spark that comes with thinking about others instead of themselves. Everyone treats each other a little more kindly, with a little more respect, even here in New York. That will all be lost if that creature succeeds with his evil plan."

"But what can we do?" Fred asked.

"The woman we saved," Angel said, "she mentioned something about an Angel saving the Spirit of Christmas. Where are we going to find an Angel?"

The Shadow knelt down in front of the little girl, "Do you know where we can find an Angel?"

Angela smiled. "Yes," she replied. She reached for Angel's hand, "It is time," she said as she led him toward the door.

The others looked at each other curiously then followed the little girl and Angel out of the apartment. They followed her down the elevator until they had reached the first floor lobby. When the elevator doors opened everyone stood entranced at the vision before them.

The lobby had been transformed. Where it once had resembled a summer-bright forest glade in the mid-afternoon, it now looked like a winter-bare forest in the middle of the night. Overhead was the deep blue black of a clear winter evening from which bright stars shone. The largest overhead actually seemed to twinkle. The air had a fresh cool snap to it but yet was comfortable enough not to require a heavy coat. Even the flower strewn carpet beneath their feet had changed. It was thicker now and snow white. They could almost feel the cool chill of snow as they walked toward the center of the vast lobby.

The lobby was packed with several hundred people who turned to greet the newcomers with welcoming smiles. The crowd parted before them as they walked to the center of the room. Soft music filled the air as did voices raised in song. Although it was many languages, it was the same song. Stille Nacht! Heil'ge Nacht! Alles Schlaft; enisam wacht. Noche de paz, noche de amor, Todo duerme en derredor. Oiche chiuin, oiche Mhic De, Cach 'na suan dis araon,. Silent night Holy night, All is calm all is bright.



"This is the most holy of nights," Angela explained. "This is the fulfillment of the pact between God and man. It is the ultimate sign of God's love for humanity."

"But..." Cordelia began.

"You have all seen the power of evil, and yet you doubt the power of good," Angela said. "You have been in buildings that were the focal points of evil, but you see, this one is a focus for good. Many, many years ago, the builder had found out that the woman he loved had betrayed him in a moment of foolishness. Instead of hating her, he chose to forgive her, for he knew that their love was for all time. Sadly, she died in a terrible accident before he could tell her that he forgave her and that their love was still strong. He built this building in her memory. On the night that this building was completed, the night he disappeared, his lover's ghost came to him and he was finally able to tell her that their love would never die. This building stands as a testament to their undying love."

"When Angel and the Shadow chased the vampires from beneath this building,"she continued, "the stage was set for this miracle."

"A miracle," Cordelia breathed.

Angela waved her hand and the air before them shimmered then coalesced into a door that glowed goldenly.

"Then you're the Angel the woman was talking about," Angel said.

She shook her head. "No, not me, you."

"I'm not an Angel," Angel said, "Far from it."

"But you are, for this quest requires one who has been to the depths of evil. Only one who has done great evil can accomplish the greatest good."

"I don't know..." Angel said doubtfully. "How will I know what to do? Will you be coming with me?"

"No, I can't. The evil elf has barred the way. Only those who have had to conquer the evil within them can enter."

"That is why Angel can go through," the Shadow guessed.

"Yes, as will you, for you are much the same. You have both battled and conquered the demons within you. This quest requires an Angel, but the Angel needs a Shadow, for the shadow will reveal what the angel cannot see."

"You know what she's talking about?" Gunn whispered to Fred who gave him a dirty look then elbowed him in the gut.

Angela turned to Gunn. "It will all become apparent when they enter the portal.

"Can we come too?" Gunn asked.

"No, this quest is for the two heroes, but here on this side we will all join in the vigil. Our united power on this side will give them the strength to battle the evil one."

She waved her hand again and the door opened. An icy wind bearing biting pellets of snow swept into the lobby.

"Don't we need some heavier coats or weapons?" Angel asked as he doubtfully eyed the blizzard on the other side of the portal.

"Everything you will need is on the other side," Angela answered.

"You sure?"

Angela nodded. "I'm sure." For a moment the girl transformed into a tall winged being of eye-blinding beauty. Angel was not only awestruck but was filled with more warmth and peace than he had ever experienced during his entire existence as either man or vampire. "Believe," said the heavenly creature in a voice that was more a song than words.

Angel smiled, now sure of his mission. "I believe." He stepped through the portal.