HARM'S WAY
Spoilers- up to season 5 ep. Harm's Way (ironically I just found out it was the name of the ep today) after that it's my AU-verse.
Disclaimer- Lets get two things straight, no matter what rumors you may have heard I don't own Angel. It belongs to Joss and that band of people that I can't remember. Secondly, I don't own the plot either. This is a response to a challenge by GidgetGirl.
Note- you've heard this before, blah, blah prequel 'I Just Wanted Someone To Talk To'. (I'm allowed to do that because I'm mocking myself)
Note 2- So sorry about the delay in the update, University has it in for me. Honestly I had so many assessments due in the one week it wasn't funny, but now it's over and I only have an exam to go.
Note 3- PassionateDarkness asked for the requirements, so here they are:
Harmony insults a powerful demon mage and gets turned into a small child as punishment. Angel and Spike have to look after her and she drives them crazy. (Paraphrased from Gidgetgirl)
Requirements:
— Harmony referring to Spike as Blondie Bear
— Harmony painting Angel's nails
— Harmony insisting on playing dress-up
— Harmony having a crush on someone
— Harmony mimicking Angel and Spike
Reviewer Responses:
PassionateDarkness- challenge posted above. I love that idea and as you can see it fits in with the requirements, do you mind if I use it?
SHODAN and WhiteRabbit- There was this whole thing over if Lorne's assistant was named Van or Danny. In Life of the Party he was named Van, in the rest it was Danny. So I'm going with majority and calling him Danny. Thanks for letting me know.
Chattypandagurl- sorry I didn't answer you're question last time, but no most of the time Harmony will be acting like a 4-5 year old.
Gidgetgirl- sorry about the grammar, I'm trying to improve I swear. Thanks for the heads up on the Connor thing, won't happen again. Glad you like the A/C pairing.
KColl2003- Thank you!
And finally, the fic:
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Chapter 4
Angel fidgeted in his seat as Cordy stared at him through narrowed eyes. She crossed her arms over her chest. "Angel, what aren't you telling me?"
Angel sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "Connor… he's not here."
"Why not?"
Angel stared at the tabletop. "Because…" Angel trailed off, fighting to tell Cordelia.
Cordelia leaned forward. "Where is he then?"
Angel kept his eyes trained on the table. "He lives a couple of hours outside L.A., well his family lives there. He has a dorm room at Stanford."
Cordelia smiled. "Stanford? That's great!" She stiffened. "Wait. What family? We're his family Angel.
Angel lifted his head, his eyes filled with pain. "No, we're not, Cordy. The Senior Partners, they altered reality. They gave him a life, a real family; dammit they gave him a childhood, something I was never able to give him, I could never have given him."
Cordelia eyes flared with anger. "Angel! How could you do that to him? You don't know what the Senior Partners could have done to him. They could have brain washed him!"
Angel slammed his hand down on the table. "To do what, Cordy? To kill me? Make him believe I'm evil and deserve to die? It wouldn't be the first time."
"Then why put him through that again?"
"You don't understand. You can't understand." Angel's voice rose. "He killed Jasmine. And you didn't see the look in his eyes, the hopelessness, and the defeat. He believed in Jasmine, and then he had to kill her. He thought he had nothing to live for, so he decided he didn't want to live anymore."
"What?" Tears welled up in Cordelia's eyes.
"He tried to kill himself. Not only that but he was going to take you with him, as well as a handful of other innocent shoppers. He rigged a whole shop to explode, Cordy. If I hadn't stopped him…"
"Angel…"
Angel continued on. "That's why I accepted the position. They placed you in the hospital and they placed Connor with the Reilly's. He's happy there, genuinely happy; something he could never be with us."
"Angel…" Tears trickled down Cordelia's face.
Angel pushed back his chair and stood, suddenly not able to meet her eyes. "I have work to do. Excuse me." He walked quickly out the kitchen and through the lounge room to his elevator. Within seconds he was gone.
Cordelia stared blankly after him, her mind reeling. "Oh god."
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Harmony looked up at Spike, her bottom lip caught between her small white teeth. "Mr. Spike?" she asked, her voice sounding very small.
"Yeah, pet?" Spike mumbled; his glazed eyes trained on the television screen.
"Is Nana Maria coming to pick me up soon?" Harmony asked.
Spike froze for a second, unsure whether he should lie to her not. He shrugged his shoulders, what else could he do but lie? It wasn't like she'd understand the truth, he snorted, even when she was adult-sized she wouldn't have understood the truth. "No, pet. Your Nana Maria said you could sleep over tonight."
Harmony's eyes lit up. "Really? I get to stay here tonight?"
Spike suddenly felt wary. "Yeah, luv."
Harmony's face fell. "But what about Bear?" she wailed.
Spike screwed up his face. "Bear?"
Harmony sniffled. "Bear, I sleep with him every night. He has super powers and protects me from the monsters."
Spike shifted uncomfortably as she started to cry. He sighed. Bloody females, all they had to do was leak a bit and he was bloody putty in their bloody hands. "I protect you from the monsters tonight, Harm. Don't you worry."
"Thank you, Mr. Spike!" She gave him a brilliant smile and clamored up onto the lounge next to him. She squirmed under his arm and rested her head against his stomach.
Harmony started to giggle and Spike looked down at her curiously. "What's got you so tickled pink?"
Harmony stopped giggling to look down at her hands; she frowned. "I'm not pink."
Spike exhaled sharply. "It's an expression. I meant, what's so funny?"
She smiled up at him. "You're protecting me from the monsters, just like Bear. And you have really bright hair."
"Yeah." Spike arched his eyebrow at her.
Harmony bounced on the cushion. "So that means you're my Blondie Bear!"
Spike groaned loudly. "Bloody Hell!"