Harmony folded the thin brown paper as neatly as she could and slipped it inside the white envelope. "To Wesley." She whispered as she made squiggles that was supposed to be his name. She placed one sparkling butterfly sticker to seal the envelope because Harmony did not like licking it even when the adhesive tasted better than she thought. "I'm all done!"
Gunn looked up from his paperwork and smiled. "Done what, baby girl?" He asked curiously.
Harmony skipped towards him, blonde hair flying around her face. "I made Wes a get-well letter because I gave him make up allergies." She solemnly declared.
Harmony had been devastated that they would not let her go with Wes to the lab yesterday, in case it really was chicken pox. And they also reminded her that Fred's lab was off limits because of what happened with Jones. Harmony had been hoping to see some eye-poking despite what Wes said about doctors being nice and she also wanted to see the magic stuff again.
"That's very nice, Harm. I'm sure Wesley will appreciate it." Gunn said.
She smiled optimistically. "I even used special paper, Gunn. And stickers. Can we take it to him?"
"I have a lot of work, Harm. We can have someone else bring it to him."
Harmony shook her head stubbornly, a set expression on her face. "I want to take it. It might get lost and Wesley will never get it. He'll be sad. Please?" Before Gunn could answer, Angel knocked and stepped inside the room. "Hi, Angel!"
The vampire smiled at Harmony, wondering if she remembered that he promised to play dress up with her. "Hey, Harmony. Gunn, I'm on my way to Wesley's. He said you have some paperwork for him. This not having a secretary phase is not fun. We need to get-" He tilted his head towards Harmony's direction. "Back to her older version. I'm missing important appointments here."
Gunn nodded. "Right. You never know you need your secretary until she's turned into a five year old." He uttered and Angel just shrugged. "Here are the papers that Wes needed. Oh, Harmony wants to deliver something to Wesley. Can you take her with you? You're on your way there anyway."
"I have a special delivery for Wes, Angel." She announced. "It's super special."
Angel looked hesitant. It was only an elevator ride away. What bad could happen in that small time span? "Alright." He relented.
Harmony looked pleased and she grabbed her purse, which was a present from Gunn since she was sulking yesterday, and slung the thick straps over her shoulders. Tucking the envelope inside for safe keeping, she walked over to Angel and held his hand.
"Play nice, Harm." Gunn warned her softly.
"Bye, Gunn. I'll miss you." Harmony whispered as she ran back to him and hugged him tightly like they were never going to see each other again. Angel shot Gunn a questioning look.
"She's a hugger." The other man replied. "And a little dramatic."
Angel tried to concentrate at what Wesley was saying but the other man's appearance was proving to be an immense distraction. "In conclusion, if you eat a monkey and sacrifice fifteen of your employees to Satan, demon or human, he'll be happy to decrease sale on the soul-selling black-market by fifteen percent."
"Satanic monkey? What?" Angel asked, looking thoroughly confused.
Wesley pressed his lips together and gave his boss a displeased look. "I thought so. Will you pay attention?" He snapped. "And no, Angel, looking at me at a different angle will not make me look less swollen."
"Sorry." He mumbled. "Wes, you look horrible."
"Angel, your words are so tender and affectionate that you have me weak in the knees." Wesley drawled sarcastically, miffed. "And yes, I am very aware of how revolting I look and will look for the next few days." They had discovered that he was allergic to an ingredient in Harmony's make up and the effects were not pretty.
"You're still pretty, Wes." Harmony chimed. "Red and puffy but still pretty."
Angel snickered.
Wesley gave her a small smile as he tried not to scratch his face. He caught his reflection in the nearby mirror and cringed. Aside from the chicken pox looking blisters, his face was red as well, eyes swollen to a point that he looked like a swarm of bees had attacked his whole head. His lips were inflated, set in a pucker, looking like a Botox injection gone wrong.
"Thanks, Harmony." He replied morosely.
Harmony hopped off the chair Angel told her to sit on while he and Wesley talked. "Guess what? I have a surprise for you. To make you feel better, Wes." She announced happily as she dug into her purse.
Wesley gave Angel a questioning look and he shrugged. "Really?" He asked. "You have more ointment for me? And maybe some morphine?"
"We don't have dolphins here and they live in the water. And you don't have a water bed. Silly, Wesley." Harmony bobbed her head. "You have to close your eyes or else it won't be a surprise." She said seriously and waited for Wesley to shut his eyes. When Wesley did what she asked, Harmony pulled the now crinkled envelope from her purse. "One, two, three! You can open them now."
Harmony was standing in front of Wesley, smiling excitedly; her arms outstretched as she held out a white envelope to him. "Mail?" He asked as he took the envelope from Harmony.
She shook her head eagerly. "Nuh-uh. It's a special mail from me. Open it, Wes. Open it."
Wesley nodded and opened his surprise. Folded at least five times, filled with heart, butterfly and teddy bear sparkly stickers mixed with Harmony's earnest doodling and what looked to be a pair of brightly dressed stick figures, was Wesley's precious and only existing Mar'turan'i scroll-his holy grail.
Angel watched as Wesley twitched one swollen eye and made a small saddened noise as he stopped himself from screaming no at the top of his lungs. "I love it." He gasped with great effort. "It's…it's…"
"It's a get-well soon letter, silly. I made it just for you, Wes. With your special paper. I'll make more-"
"No!" He quickly protested. "One is enough Harmony. I shall take good care of this one." And see if I can somehow restore it. Wesley thought with dismay as he tried not to show his disappointment to Harmony. She did have the best intentions in mind and obviously, she put a lot of effort into his surprise. "Thank you."
Harmony beamed. "I knew you'd like it. It's better than chicken soup, you know." She declared. "In the bottom I put my name on it. Harmony. H-a-r-m-" She trailed off and frowned slightly. "I have to start over now. H-a-r-m-o-n-y. That's my name. I'm a good speller, huh, Wes?"
Wesley patted her head. "You sure are, Harmony. I'm proud of you."
"I practiced. Gunn helped me. Only a little though." She keenly added.
"Come on, Harmony." Angel beckoned. "I think we need to leave Wesley alone now." When Harmony looked like she was about to protest and declare that she wanted to stay with Wes a little longer, Angel gave her a firm look. "We have to go or else Wesley will never get better. And it's lunchtime already."
She grudgingly took his hand. "Bye, Wes." Harmony waved as Angel led her out and into the elevator. "Let's sing a song. Do you know a good song, Angel?"
"How about we sing something by Barry Manilow?" He suggested.
Harmony gave him a blank look and the scrunched her tiny nose.
"Oh, I know!" She said happily and then proceeded to sing. "A, I'm adorable; B, I'm so beautiful; C, I'm a cutie full of charms." She sang enthusiastically, spinning around Angel and doing her little dance. He smiled, amused and not the least surprised that Harmony revised A-You're Adorable and made it all about her. "D, I'm a darling and E, I'm exciting."
"That's very good, Harm. Very good."
"I know." She smiled, continuing to do her little dance around him. "I'm good today, huh?" Harmony asked him.
"Yes, you are." Angel told her. There were no fires set, not carts stolen or anything broken, no one shot or fountains used as pools. It was a perfectly perfect day and as if someone was mocking Angel, the elevator suddenly stopped.
Harmony stopped singing and turned worried eyes to Angel. "What happened?" She whispered, standing close to him. Angel did not answer her and pressed a series of buttons.
"This is Angel, can someone hear me?" He asked sternly, speaking into the intercom.
"Hi, Mr. Angel. This is Ronald speaking." An all too cheery voice replied from the other end.
Angel frowned. "Ronald who? Never mind. Why have the elevators stopped?"
"There seems to be technical problem, sir. All the elevators have been grounded. Everyone's looking into it right now." Ronald replied.
"Looking into it?" Angel echoed irritably. "It should have been fixed before I called. I'm stuck with Harmony in the elevator. Get us out here!" He glanced back at the little girl who had currently retreated in the corner, a frightened expression on her face as she clung to her purse.
"Will do, sir." Ronald replied just as brightly.
Little Harmony let out a shaky breath. "We're stuck. We struck. The elevator ate us!" She exclaimed, panicked.
Angel went towards Harmony. "Elevators don't eat people and we are not stuck. They'll get us out real soon, okay, Harm?"
Over half an hour later, with the elevator lights flickering above them and the intercom no longer working, Angel had decided that he was going to take Satan up on that offer fifteen of his incompetent employees, beginning with chipper Mr. Ronald.
The elevator had only moved an inch since it stopped and then got stuck again. It was becoming sweltering hot already and Angel and Harmony had collapsed on the floor by then. The little girl had kicked her shoes off and her socks as well, her blonde her sticking to her face. She had cried a good torturous five minutes and Angel, wanting to calm her down and end his agony, suggested that they sing more songs.
And so Harmony's cries reduced into sniffles and together they sang most of Mother Goose's songs and Angel even paid homage to some Irish song he surprisingly remembered from his childhood. Harmony had given him a strange look and called him funny.
"Why don't you play with what you have in your purse, Harm?" Angel suggested with a heavy sigh as he gave the elevator doors another look. His throat was hoarse from singing.
Harmony gasped. "We didn't try open sesame, Angel!" She declared; eyes large and hopeful. Standing by the doors, Harmony balled her fists and whispered, "Open sesame, you wanker." Harmony looked back at Angel, disappointed.
"It's not a magical cave, Harmony." He told her. What is taking those people so long?
Harmony nodded sullenly as she sat back down, crossed her legs and rummaged through her purse. "Angel, I don't think I like elevators anymore." She told him.
"Neither do I." He agreed dryly. "I think I'll try getting someone to orb me places next time." Angel frowned.
Harmony looked at him curiously. "Are you brooding?" Absently, Angel nodded. "Can I paint your nails while you brood? I like fun, Angel, and did you know that painting nails is more fun than brooding? And dusky rose is a really nice color." Harmony said breathlessly as she held on to the nail polish bottle that she found in her purse.
Angel shook his head. "Nail polishes are for girls, Harmony."
"Spike wears nail polish." She challenged.
Angel scoffed. "I don't want to be like Spike."
The little blonde gave him a long, questioning look. "Are you sure?" Harmony asked, giving him a small pleading smile. "Spike is cool. Don't you want to be cool?"
I'm being pressured by a five year old. Angel mused. "Not really." He said as casually as possible.
"Please?" Angel shook his head firmly. "Please? Please? You never play with me." Harmony whispered dejectedly as her bottom lip quivered and large tears rolled down her cheeks. She gave Angel one long affronted look before putting her head down and letting out a small hiccup-sounding sob.
Her small shoulders shook as she scooted away from him, still looking down and Angel felt truly awful. "Don't cry." He told her, trying to appease her. "I'll let you paint my nails. Just don't cry." Angel told her. He was such a sucker for tears and wounded looks. And he really couldn't endure another round of Harmony's crying.
Harmony lifted her head up. "I don't think I want to paint your nails anymore." She told him as she sniffled.
"Alright then."
"Okay, I changed my mind." She said just as quickly. Angel smiled as he held out his right hand. Harmony sighed contentedly as began to coat Angel's nails with dusky rose, smearing them on the sides slightly.
Harmony was finishing up with the left pinky when elevator began to shake, followed by a loud rumbling noise.
Angel looked up. "What the-?"
Startled and her vampire senses picking up something unfamiliar, Harmony dropped the nail polish bottle, its contents spilling all over the floor.
She leapt into Angel's arms for protection just as something phased through the wall behind her and reached for Harmony. Angel tried to shield her but not in time and it scratched a good portion of her back and left arm. Harmony let out a frightened scream as the blood began to smear all over the back of her shirt and down her arms to her fingertips.
Angel set her down and tried to fight off the demon. It disappeared as quickly as it came. Panting, although he wasn't breathless, Angel kept his guard up in case the creature returned. He knelt down towards Harmony who was curled on the floor, her back still soaked with her blood, her blonde hair matted with the dark liquid around the tips.
She was whimpering and wailing in hysteria, her tearstained face buried in her small hands.
Angel gingerly lifted her up and she winced from the pain, letting out another frightened cry. "It's only me." He whispered as he pulled her into his arms. Harmony had vamped during the attack, golden eyes brimming with large tears.
The elevator doors opened and Angel was met with a unit from Wolfram and Hart's security. "Sir, we-"
Angel brushed past them, shooting them an acrimonious look. "Get out of my way!" He growled. "She needs a doctor."
A/N: I know that it was mean to hurt Harmony but it's all part of the storyline. It's all part of the curse punishment.
ReganX and Charmed-Angel4, I know you guys were looking for a chicken pops infested chapter but I really couldn't do that to everyone and most people, even in the Angel universe, get theirs when they're young. I just gave Wesley a severe case of an allergic reaction in return.
Brigurl, the dress-up will be up soon. There was a reason this chappy came first.
Seatbelts, Eve might meet child Harmony but I don't consider Knox significant enough to be mentioned much more be in the company of little Harmony. Maybe I'm biased because he killed Fred. But you never know. I just might change my mind. You also mentioned Cordy and I'm trying to get her mentioned but I don't think bringing her back as an adult or a child might be a good iudea just yet. We'll see. By the way, what's tsujing?
Darklight, I kind of agree with you on Lorne being the parental figure. It would be cute but I think Gunn should have the role. Lorne will be the fashionably conscious uncle. He will have his moment in the spotlight very soon.
Also, thanks to gidgetgirl, Cordyfan and Katey for your reviews.
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