I don't own. I only play with.


Mercedes stood there in shock as the tall dark man carried the little girl she had been looking for into the room. She then took in the little girl's condition. Grabbing the nearest weapon, which was a sword, she brandished it. "What did you do to her?" she asked.

Instantly JP was at her side, pulling on the arm that so easily held up the metal weapon. "He save her!" the little boy told her. "Don't be mad, be glad!" the boy said with a sickly happy voice.

Angel didn't move. He didn't like the look that the teenage girl in leather was giving him. He took a sweep of the room. Connor stood there, as did JP, and there was another girl who looked familiar. "Dawn?" he asked.

She smiled, "That's me. But we'll talk later, the little girl, Skye, looks like she's seen better days. Nothing a good cup of hot chocolate won't fix, or a bath. It's a toss up really."

Angel nodded and quickly went upstairs. Everyone trailed him.

Once the little girl, Skye, had been bathed and given new clothes, they sat in the room Angel had chosen for her. It was near his room, on the third floor. JP was in his pajamas thanks to Dawn and was now curled up next to Skye, content and dozing.


Oz stepped into the club/lounge, Oasis, and breathed in the smoky air. It reminded him of the Bronze, back home. Sunnydale wasn't exactly home anymore. The Hellmouth had lost any semblance of appeal it had once had when he had found out that Willow dating the non-supernatural guy. The pain of finding out still hurt him, but Oz hoped that his first love was happy.

Walking to the bar, he bought a beer and took a look at the person on stage. She was a pretty woman with dark hair and almond shaped eyes and by the look of her purple dress, she had all the right curves. Taking sip of his beer, Oz took a step toward the stage. By the time he had reached it, his beer was almost gone. Taking the last sip he looked up at the stage. The woman ended her song and bowed when she heard the applause. Flashing a smile, she stepped down. Oz found his mouth start to dry as he took a step toward her. It reminded him of when he was about to ask Willow out.

When he looked up, he found the woman slinking towards him. She flipped her dark curly hair behind her shoulder before tucking an errant piece behind her ear. She gave him a smile. "Hello," she said, her smile growing even wider, warm, and inviting. "Hey, wanna grab something to drink or to eat? They have the best wings here," she told him matter a factly.

Oz shrugged and down next to her. The woman gave him a coy smile before flagging down a waiter and ordering. When the guy was done, she turned to Oz, "My name is Chase," she introduced herself.

Oz nodded, "Oz," he said simply. She smiled.


Kieran walked into the library and breathed in deeply. The smell of books surrounded her and she could feel herself smiling. The library was open late, one of the best things about the city. She could play hooky tonight, there were others were about, so it didn't matter if she took the night off.

Wandering into the John Jay wing of the library, Kieran found herself in very warm atmosphere filled with many nooks and crannies where she could hide for a few hours. Browsing the stacks, Kieran finally found a book to her liking, The Wizard of Oz, she found a place to sit.

"That's one of my favorites," a voice startled Kieran into looking up. A boy stood in front of her. He looked as if he ha just stepped out of a Ralph Lauren ad. She bet he was one of those people who would pronounce it Ralph Lau-REN instead of Ralph Lauren too. He saw her studying him and flashed a smile. "I know, tragically hip. My name is Jay," he held out his hand.

Kieran found herself smiling as well. "Like the library wing we're in?" she asked him.

He shrugged and simply said; "You could say that." He then got a slightly mischievous glint in his eye. He leaned down, picked up her hand, and kissed it, "But I never caught your name pretty lady."

Kieran blushed; no one had actually called her that before in real life. "Kieran," she told him, not looking him in the eye. Mentally she kicked herself in the butt, why was she melting into putty. He was just a guy; she had seen tons of them before. She shook her head slightly; she had no clue what was making her act this way.

Jay just smiled and took a seat next to her, and they talked into the night.


Austin scowled as he stood in front of Quentin Travers; the man who quite possibly could have been his boos. "So you're telling me that you're turning your back on an innocent little boy?" he asked. His teeth clenched and unclenched as his eyes narrowed. Granted, he didn't know the kid too well, but he had just called Wesley the night before, never mind the time difference. The former watcher had filled him in.

Quentin Travers looked down upon the twenty-three year old. "That little demon is far from innocent. We don't deal with tainted blood."

Austin snorted, but resisted from rolling his eyes. "That five year old in California has seen more horrific things than many of your Potentials Mr. Tavers. And he lived to tell the tale."

Travers wasn't moved at all. "It is still a demon. Human 28 days of month, but he has the darkness in him. We can't risk it."

Austin wasn't giving up, "Look me in the eye, and say that."

"We can't risk it," Travers told him, but he looked away from the younger man.

Austin spit at the man's feet. "You disgust me. I hope you rot in hell." And he walked out. He was going home.


Esther was extremely happy, ecstatic even. She was sitting in her room, the Prophetica sitting on her right. On her left sat a Latin book and on her lap sat her laptop, at which she was typing. Finally she finished her work and sat back. Amazing, she had translated it into making sense. Quickly she grabbed the cordless phone and dialed Wesley's cell phone number.

"'Ello?" the Wesley's weary voice answered.

"I did it!" Esther said excitedly.

"You did?" Wesley was more alert now.

Esther smiled and nodded, although she knew the man could not see her, she did it anyway. "You translate into Latin and then translate that into English…"

"You sound as if there is a problem," Wesley noted. She could almost see the British man sitting up now; glasses perched upon his nose jauntily.

Esther sighed, "Unfortunately so. It seems as if the whole thing is one big riddle, or a scavenger hunt, or both."

"Read it to me?" Wesley asked simply, he was tired.

Esther juggled the phone as she scrolled up.

Find the soul of the sky
But that is only found in a child's eye
Of which is trained upon the earth
Protected by family not of birth
These three are yours to keep
They only work as three
For if one is gone, the power will flee
But if the three are there
Oh the miracles they will share
So heed me that and heed me this
Innocence you will surely miss
But that was the past
Surrounded by family and friend
Wounds will slowly mend
First, second, last challenge
And it will be done

Esther sighed as she took a rest. "That was a bitch to translate by the way."

Wesley cracked a small smile as he chucked, "Yes, I'm sure it was. But if you translated it, why does it rhyme?"

"Erm…Um," Esther was at a loss for words. "They're words of God. Does God need a reason?" she snapped.

Wesley sighed, "No, I suppose he doesn't. Now would you mind letting me go back to sleep?"

She blushed, "Oh, um. Sorry for waking you. See you tomorrow," she hung hastily. As she clicked the phone off, she buried her head in her hands. What an ass she had made of herself! But there was still more to be done, only a line or two, or five. Frowning she scanned the lines she was about to translate. "Blood of the sun? Second chances? What the hell?" She sighed. It was shaping up to be a long, long night indeed.


Angel looked at Mercedes, who had eventually put down her sword and introduced herself. "What is she?" he asked quietly as to not wake the two children in front of them. JP was dozing again; every so often he would make a whimpering sigh. It remind the vampire of something that JP's father had said. "Just like a puppy," he muttered to himself.

Mercedes looked at him, but answered the man's first question. "An experiment I guess. Like we all were. They shot me up with stuff, so right now I'm a cross between a female superhero and a neck chomping demon. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside, you know? But the government was just cruel to her. They killed her whole family just so they could legally own the kid so they could use her powers."

"Powers," Angel questioned. "Does one of them happen to be turning into a blue lizard?" he spoke freely. Dawn had already left the room, finally deciding to answer her cell phone. Connor had wandered away as soon as he saw nothing interesting was going to happen. He had walked out while muttering something about crazy sadistic girls.

"Dragon actually," Mercedes told him. She had grown to like the vampire in the short time she had known him. She knew he could help her, and right about now, she needed all the help she could get. "They did something to her, hormones I think. To make her produce more blood, it has healing properties. Unfortunately, the hormones made her adherent magical ability break out. Last time they made her angry, well let's just say a few weeks later, some guys were still picking glass outta their skin," she smirked, "Don't get mad."

Angel nodded silently as he looked at the little girl he had carried in. She was small and thin for her age, but that didn't surprise him. With what he knew about her, her left had been a mass of bloody and horrid memories, only for golden pinpricks of the good memories to shine few and far between. Her blond hair, now free of grime, blood, and sweat, pooled around her head as if it were a halo. Her pale skin already had signs of color about the cheeks, and bruises and cuts were slowly healing. She would be okay soon, and they would finally get to the bottom of this.

"Are you sure she's not some kind of were-lizard?" Angel asked. He had never heard of a were-lizard, and he was sure they didn't exist. But then again, he had never heard of a little girl, only ten years of age, turning into a dragon.

"No," JP rolled over onto his back, his shirt riding over his tummy. He looked at the pair that sat in front of him. He blinked the sleep out of his eyes. "Oh no, my Skye is not a were-lizard. My Skye is not a dragon, she's a Draygon." He told them this with a serious tone in his voice.

"Where's your father?" Angel asked, running a hand through his hair. Oz always seemed to know what JP was babbling on about.

"He's having slunky fun time," JP told him, snuggling back down.

Dawn walked in, her cell phone in hand. "Hey Angel," she ventured. "Do you have room for on watcher, one witch, and one rather irate vampire?"


Okay, You like this fic? Good. Go vote at World's End. The link is on Firefly's bio page. Thanks.