Chapter 15: A Beginning and an End
"Oh my god…" Wes just stared at the paper for a few minutes while everyone watched in anticipation. The group quickly became antsy and soon was getting annoyed - if the answer was yes, then Kary could stay. If the answer was no, then…. But no one wanted to think about that. In a little over a month, Kary had become part of the family, it had nothing to do with the fact that she used to be Cordy's sister, or could be Wes's daughter or that Angel played her over protective brother, or even that Conner, for once in his life, seemed to be completely happy.
"Wes, c'mon! I can't take much more of this!" Cordy was losing her patience, which wasn't that strong to begin with. "Tell us, is she ours?" Cordy had started to whine, and Angel knew that violence would follow if her wishes were not met.
"It…it, uh…says that…" Wes could hardly speak and when he looked at the faces around him, he saw anticipation and a little annoyance, so he decided to read on. "It says here that the Watcher's Council denies any knowledge or participation of the alleged subject 1-19 or Kary. It there by declines any and all responsibilities to her and offers the legal rights to that which had the most claims over her. There for Wesley Windom Price had full legal responsibilities over Kary and has adopted her as his daughter. Her legal name, as indicated in the letter to the Council has been changed to Kary Chase Price." Wes stopped reading and looked up at Kary; she had tears in her eyes and smile that melted his heart. In seconds, Kary had thrown herself around Wes in a very tight, but emotional hug.
'Oh my god I have a family! Oh my god I can stay!' The excitement was over whelming to Kary, she had never had anything to get this excited about before. Meeting Cordy was nerve racking, and then she had to worry about the other's reactions, but this, this was guaranteed to work; she just had to stay the same. 'No more tricks, or lies or tests! This is one hundred percent real! Oh god!'
Kary flew around the room hugging everyone, who all met her with a smile and a hug. Angel even kissed her on the cheek - and he had never done that to anyone except Cordelia before. The room was buzzing with excitement and congratulations - Angel Investigations just got a new member.
Conner watched on as Kary hugged person after person, so happy to have a family who wants her and loves her. In fact, both of them discovered the true meaning of a family in the last two weeks. Kary had opened up Conner's eyes to the gift that he had. Everyone in this room loved him without question or hesitation, even if he made mistakes. But he had never seen that before, his past from Quor-toth and blocked it all out and faded away the picture. 'But now…now I've got you!' Conner smiled as Kary turned to him, and then took a running jump into his waiting arms.
He loved her, he loved every part of her. From the smell of her hair, to the touch of her lips and more, oh so much more. And she loved him too. She loved his eyes and the way they held such mystery, she loved the way he walked and the soft touch of his hand. But neither knew how to say it.
'I love him - but it's only been a month since we met. I don't want him to think I'm a slut or something - I want him to know it's real!' Kary kept her arms around Conner, as he slowly let her down. "Conner, I…I." But she couldn't do it - she couldn't bring herself to, it just didn't seem like enough.
But Conner understood just fine and pulled her into a passionate kiss, broken only by a cry from Wesley.
"Hey - there's more! It gives us the cure. Oh…" Wes's face fell as he finished reading the instructions. He didn't look too impressed with the solution to his new daughter's death.
"Well, c'mon sweetie pie, spit it out." Lorne was curious as to what could be so bad. A cure's a cure, no matter how tricky it'll be to do.
Conner and Kary came over to the group, their fingers intertwined with anxiety. 'C'mon Wes, what does it say? What do I have to do?' Kary was picturing horrible things that would have to happen in order for her to be cured, only something's were worth living through.
"Um, it's a spell. But it's more complicated then I've ever seen. It allows Angel's blood only to pour out through the wounds." Wes continued to re-read the segment.
"Wounds? There's going to be wounds?" Angel did not look impressed, there was no way he was going to let them cut Kary, which brought a smile to her face.
"Just a few, but it shouldn't be that bad. I've actually done it before, to de-demonize a soul. Much like an exorcism. But she'll be out for two days." Wes began to mumble to himself while the others discussed the new info.
"Guys, I think I can pull it off - but we should probably do it right now. I'll go get the ingredients, Fred can you come with me, and Conner, why don't you take Kary up to her room and get her ready. Honey, you should probably be in a tank top and shorts, it'll just make it easier, and don't get under the covers." As soon as Wes was done, everyone left to do their task.
"Wes…" Angel moved behind Wes and pulled him aside, "Are you sure you can do this? I mean, it sounds pretty hard. And we can't take risks here, I mean, this is Kary we're talking about." The protective brother feelings started to come over Angel and he began to worry.
"You don't think I would try to hurt my own child do you? I know what this is, I've done it before. Remember Angel, Kary is my one and only shot at fatherhood, I'm not going to fuck things up." And he went off to gather the necessities.
"Okay, everyone get out. I need to be alone to do this, it'll take an hour or so." Wes had set up as much of the room as he could, the rest was part of the ceremony. The gang started to back slowly out of the room, all except Conner.
"I'm not leaving her." And he turned to face Kary again, the two smiled before Wes answered, "Fine - but you'll have to move back. I need to get all the way around her." Conner kissed Kary's hand and stepped backwards.
Wes started to pour red sand in a semi-circle around Kary's bed, then the room was full of his chanting and incense. A ceremonial knife was picked up and sliced Kary's arm near the shoulder. By this point Kary's eyes had rolled back and she had gone unconscious. It continued with chanting and mixing of ingredients, until Wes and Conner came out of the room.
"No one can go in there now. The spell has to work and it takes a lot of space - if anyone disturbs the air, it'll ruin the spell. Got it?" Wes was sweating and looked exhausted. Conner looked worried and concerned - feelings that no one had ever seen on him before.
"When will we know?" Cordy asked in a whisper.
"Only time can tell."