A/N: THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!! Someone actually likes it and took the time to review!! A thousand thanks, now I can continue the tale. It was on hold till someone reviewed it. :)

Disclaimer: I don't own the Buffy or Angel rights, I just manipulate them...:)



Miranda fell asleep that night in tears. She felt so trapped! She hadn't left the immaculate room or her bed for that matter since the old vampire left. She had mixed emotions about him. Her slayer part wanted to fight him, and her vampire half felt inferior to him- as if she should cower, or worse offer him her neck. She felt creeped on the whole. As 2 a.m drew, she became restless and went to wander the home. Mir felt her stomache grumbling, and she soon found the kitchen. She yanked open the giant stainless steel fridge with ease and began to sift through the near empty shelves. She looked through the drawers and stopped stunned when she came across a pint pack of blood. She felt thick disgust flow through her. She was horrified by the sight of the brilliant crimson. Part of her wanted to sink her teeth into the thick packet. The other half wanted the throw it in the trash, but she knew Angel needed the life blood to live.



"I thought I heard you come down here" a voice said, startling Miranda. She quickly dropped the packet and turned. Angel looked almost through her wavering presence, and smiled. "Please pick that blood back up. If you don't want it, I'm kinda hungry." he purred. She did, as if under his spell, and handed it to him, their fingers brushing. She felt a cold tingling run up her arms. Mir looked at the pack longingly as he poured it into a clear coffee mug. "You could have some if you want..." he tempted. Miranda looked away, scared by the taunting. She watched him microwave the cup and then take slow, long, sighing sips of the mixture. He looked at Mir, who was watching his every move like a starving minion. "C-C- Can..."she trailed off, in rapture of the elder vamp. "Miranda, you're not a monster...remember? Why would you want this??" he jabbed. Miranda's anger soared....and she felt something strange come over her. Her face shifted and long fangs slipped down into her mouth and her eyes shone a dull yellow.



She lunged at Angel, longing for the cup of blood, his blood, any blood! He easily evaded her first run, but was caught off guard when she threw her onto his back. She shoved the new fangs into his neck, stunning him. She began sucking, but the Master flipped her off. "You ALWAYS ask, baby." he laughed, his monster face slipping through. She gasped, and clawed away from him. He was quicker, scooping her up and shoving her back against the counter. She was paralyzed with fear. "Who's the monster now?!" he yelled, looking into Mir's vampish eyes. The young girl began to cry, and Angel suddenly felt like the beast. "Mir, Mir...shh...I'm sorry. I know it's hard. Your emotions are starting to bring you into the changes...Just calm down"Angel urged, but the girl only cried harder. "I'm sorry!" she sobbed, her face going totally human. "I didn't mean to!"



He patted her back, trying to calm her. She nuzzled against his cold frame and put her small arms around his neck. Angel let his face slip into it's more handsome appearance. He ran his fingers through her fine hair and sighed. Miranda was weak, she was frail. How was a girl like her supposed to fit into either category? "It's ok, it's okay..."he whispered, over and over- as if he was saying it to himself as well. "Miranda, you are part human slayer and part vampire. It's your heritage. Don't be ashamed, if you use it right you could do great things. You've just got a lot to learn about both sides of the coin before you go sucking down a cup of blood or slaying an army of undead. " Angel said. Mir looked deep in his eyes, "And you'll explain this all to me?" she asked. "I've got an eternity to tell you everything, Mir. I promise I'm going to help you adjust to this role and you fall under my protection till you can find your feet- even if that is a hundered years from now. Okay?" Mir nodded. She liked the elder vamp, he was handsome and reeked of power- and he was giving her hope in a hopeless hour. "Just remember, you're not my dad."she stated, and walked towards the stairs. "She's definatly Spike's girl" Angel thought to himself and followed her.



Miranda found herself in an immaculate library of wonderfully old books. She breathed in the musty air and sighed. It reminded her of the library at her old school. She noted the antique furniture and ancient texts, Angel must have a fortune. "Tell me what I am." Miranda commanded the vampire. Angel smiled grimly and went to the wall where he picked a text with care. "We'll start at the beginning, since all or none of half of what applies to vamipires could affect you.". She frowned, "I'm unpredictable?". "Oh, very," Angel said "Now let's begin...'Once upon a time there was a Vampire named Angelus....."

*********

Several hours later, Miranda awoke in a stack of books. She faintly remembered falling asleep, and what she had been doing here in the first place. From one of the impossibly tiny windows Miranda saw sun seeping in. "Angel must be in bed" she thought, and she flipped open the nearest book. Last night, or early morning, Miranda had learned about all the horrible things Angel had done before he was souled, and about how awful her own father had been. She learned about what the sunlight, and fire, holy water and crosses could do to her. Mir noted that she wasn't right in the vampiric face. She didn't go all prune wrinkles and buggy eyed, she simply attained the fangs and cat's eyes. She learned that she would eventually stop aging and stay immortal, and that she would maybe one day become full vamp. It all depended on how much of her really was vampire, and how long it would take for it to all shine through. Miranda wasn't sure how she felt. She really liked breathing, and seeing the sun rise despite the occular discomfort even though sunglasses. Mir also wasn't big on drinking blood, even though she was already beginning to feel the urge to do so. One thing that confused the teen was the fact that once one was a full fledged vampire, the inner demon steered them. Being half vampire, there had to be some in her. So, if she did go full vamp, she's still be the same her....wouldn't she. She remembered asking Angel the question, but he held no answer.



Mir looked at the book. It was about Slayers. Her mother was listed in the index. She began to read, enthralled with the topic. Hours later, the young girl emerged from the tome, full of knowledge. It was her job as a slayer to kill vampires. However, being a Slayer wasn't something you really inherited. She could inherit her mother's human traits, but she'd never really be a true Chosen One- unless it was really somewhere in her destiny. So, it really boiled down to was that Mir was half human, half vampire...with a small dash of superwoman Slayer(maybe) and some good natured Wiccan. "Boy, I really am a mess..."she muttered, and flipped the page to a startling picture of her mother. She was a girl only Miranda's age in it, and she was surrounded by people Mir recognized and Willow and Xander and some of their old high school buddies who visited. She read on, and was stunned by the words. Her mother, Buffy, had slept with ANGEL!! She was shocked at this fact, but worse was the fact that the kindly vamp had lost his soul in doing so! She had sent him to hell to save the world, and when he came back he left her for L.A. The chronicle was not kind with it's words to her mother. She had dropped out of the Council which looked out for Slayers, and her Watcher or guide or whatever had been fired by them. There were some positive facts, such as Buffy stopping numerous apocalypses. She had killed herself for the life of her sister, and the opening of the hell that was Sunnydale. She had came back to life, and then courted her father in a series of battles, and harsh words. "Jeeze, she sounds more like Bitchy the Vampire Layer to me."Mir laughed.



"Actually, that's not all true Mir. She was an excellent woman." Angel said, from somewhere behind her. "The Council wrote that book, they didn't appreciate her free thinking and her love of friends. She wouldn't comply, so they told her to quit. She did. She was a wonderful person, and you don't know how much I miss her, how I wish things could have been different."

"I'm sorry" Mir whispered. "Hey, it's okay. You don't know these things, I'm just setting you straight." Angel said. Mir smiled at him. "Say, Mir. My friend Cordy would just love to take you shopping, since you'll be starting school here in L.A this coming Monday."Angel pushed. "School?! No! I can't set foot in one, no one would understand it when I vamped out when someone pissed me off, or if I accidentally broke my desk when I was throwing a book on it!" she protested. "Mir, you're gonna like this school....it's for 'gifted children'. You won't be the weirdest, trust me." he assured her. "Cool, like X-Men or something??"Mir asked. "Actually, yeah, a little bit at least. Now go shop!" Angel laughed. Miranda jumped up and ran to get her purse.

****** Miranda came back to the townhouse laden with bag upon bag. It took her nearly 4 trips to haul the junk to her room. Cordelia followed close behind with a long credit card reciept for Angel. He looked at it and nearly died (again). "TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS??!!!"he yelled, causing Cordelia to grin. "She's gonna be here for a while, Angel. She needed to have stuff which suited her personality. I mean that guest room is nice, but so not a 16 year old's taste.".

"Good point," he agreed and walked down the hall to estimate the damage the teen would cause to the antique laden room. He was surprised to see her adding books to the shelves, and posters of metal bands to the walls. "Like what you're doing to the place..."he trailed as she tacked up a poster of the Sex Pistols. He shook his head in disgust. "Angel! Wait!" she called when she saw him leaving. "Yes?" he asked. "Thank you...for helping me. I really, really appreciate it."Mir said, looking down at her feet. "Thanks." Angel smiled, and glanced at the teen with adoration. "Uh, Angel?" Mir said after a few moments. "Oh, yes?" he answered. "You can, uh, go now." "Right, sorry!" he apologized, and walked back down the hall. Teens could be so difficult!



A/N: Hope you like it, suggestions welcome!!! Keep on readin' and reviewin'!