DISCLAIMER: I own Kaya, Claire, Noelle, Brookie, Val, Geyton, Drew, Brandon, and Sunny. All others belong to Joss Whedon et al.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: A quick update…even though a lot of people didn't review.. aren't you proud? My muse had a little song to sing, so you all get an update. I hope you enjoy… it will be less fluffy and more action than usual, but it must be done…
And to the person who asked, you'll get to see the logistics of Angelus being 'dead' in my world a bit later… it alllll ties together. Just know that you're asking the questions you're supposed to be asking.
SMALL PACKAGES: CHAPTER FIVE
"Daddy-daddy-daddy," Brookie sang, tugging on his shirt sleeve, trying to get his attention. Lindsey's eyes were fastened on Faith and Kaya. Absentmindedly, he lifted Brookie into his arms and pressed a quick kiss to her temple. Claire held tightly onto his hand, so glad to see him that she almost couldn't stand it. Over the course of the past two years, she'd stopped worrying that he wasn't going to come to pick her up after school, stopped worrying about going back to being hungry and alone and scared with her momma.
"Hello Faith," Lindsey said, his tone soft at the way the child in Faith's arms was staring at him.
Kaya wiggled in her mother's arms to get down. Faith, wanting to clutch Kaya to her, set the little girl down, squeezing her a moment before she did.
Over in the corner, Brandon rolled his eyes at the way Lindsey was cuddling the two little girls. When he'd first met Brookie and Claire's daddy, he'd thought that Lindsey was pretty neat. He'd even played football with them at the Potential Class Picnic, but then Lindsey had let Brookie play.
Brandon shook his head in disgust. Brookie was too hyper to do anything right, she was too little to know how to play, and, by far the worst of her sins, she was a girl. Catching the boy's look out of the corner of his eye, Lindsey winked at him, and Brandon tried not to grin.
Whether he wanted to or not, he still liked Lindsey, even if Claire, who Brandon hated-hated-hated, was Lindsey's daughter.
Seeing Brandon looking at her daddy, Claire glanced up at Lindsey to make sure he wasn't paying attention, and then she stuck her tongue out at Brandon and crossed her eyes. Stupid boy.
Willow stifled a grin.
"I saw that," Lindsey told his daughter, half playfully.
Faith grinned at Lindsey in appreciation. He hadn't been looking at Claire, but in the way of parents, he had known exactly what she'd been doing.
Brandon stuck his tongue out at Claire. A moment later, his mother walked into the room.
"Brandon," she said, her voice low pitched. She succeeded in keeping the smile off of her face, but as they always did, her eyes lit up when she saw her son. He brightened her life, little broody face and all.
"I saw that," Kate told her son, having no idea that Lindsey had just uttered the exact same words.
"You know," Geyton said thoughtfully, "mommies and daddies see an awful lot."
"Like when you pretend to have a tail and chase it and accidentally knock over a lamp," Drew said.
No one in the room commented that, at certain times of the month, Drew actually did have a tail.
"Hmmmm," Anya said thoughtfully. "A tail."
Spike rolled his eyes, but grinned good naturedly. After five years together in the afterlife, he and Anya were starting to get used to each other.
"You could do interesting things with a tail," Anya said dreamily.
"You could be one of those monkeys that plays the cymbals and wears a sodding fez," Spike said, moving slightly toward the door. A flash of light caught his attention, and he and Anya both turned to look at its source. They saw her only for a minute, staring at them, at all of them, in silence, and they could hear the soft whimpers of a small child.
Instantly, Anya was standing on one side of Kaya and Spike was standing on the other. Whatever kind of mystical attack this was, they would protect her.
It wasn't the first time.
"Sodding fez," Kaya said out loud, walking right up to Lindsey and putting her little hands on her hips as she looked at him. She blinked suddenly, and rubbed her eyes, and then she stared at him for a moment.
"Where did she go?" she asked, her voice tiny.
"Who?" Lindsey asked, kneeling down to the ground next to her.
"Darla," Kaya whispered.
In unison, Faith, Buffy, Willow, and Xander groaned.
Lindsey's mouth went dry. "Darla?" he asked. Kate arched an eyebrow. She knew quite well who Lindsey McDonald was, but neither of them had mentioned their respective pasts in crossing. She knew that he was a man who wasn't easily shaken, and, ever the cop, she could see that whatever this new child had said, had shaken him.
Faith recognized Kate, and in that instant, she felt a wave of feelings that she'd tried to banish wash over her. She wasn't good enough. She was bad. Evil. She deserved nothing. Less than nothing.
Faith forced her breathing to slow, and she looked at Kaya. No matter what she'd done wrong or who she'd hurt, Faith had managed to do one thing right in her life. The small dark haired child was the only thing Faith had going for her, and for the millionth time, Faith realized that it was enough. She walked over to her daughter and knelt beside her.
"You saw Darla again, baby?" she asked, her voice gentle, the affection she had for her daughter clear. "Tell Mommy what you saw, Kaya."
"Bright light," Kaya said, her eyes still locked on Lindsey. "Then Darla. Sunny cry. Why Sunny cry?"
Lindsey stared at the child. He had a sinking feeling that he knew exactly why this little one was at Potential, and it had nothing to do with the fact that her mother was a slayer.
Brandon watched, fascinated, as Kaya spoke. When she was speaking, it was almost easy to forget that she was a girl. He walked up to his mother. She ruffled his hair, even though she knew he hated it.
"Hey kiddo," Kate said, her eyes still half on the scene in front of her. "How goes it?"
Brandon thought for a minute. "They made me play with weapons," he complained. "And weapons are for girls." Kate tilted her head slightly, waiting for him to continue. She was convinced it was just a phase he was going through, and honestly, Kate didn't like girls very much herself.
Then again, most of the time, Kate wasn't overly fond of people, except for her son.
"Kaya bit Claire," Brandon continued. It was clear that had been the highlight of his day.
"Yeah," Geyton said dreamily, thinking about biting Claire, or maybe even kissing her. She was kind of pretty.
"Kaya," Faith said, scolding her half-heartedly. She was more concerned about what Kaya had just seen. These flashes, the ones that scared Kaya, were the ones that had convinced Faith to bring her daughter to Buffy in the first place. Looking at the child, Faith knew two things.
Faith knew that she was scared, and that if she ever met the person who'd bestowed this 'gift' on her child, she'd kill them, if they weren't already dead.
Ready to get Lindsey's attention back, Claire nodded vigorously. "SHE BIT ME," Claire bellowed, in typical Claire fashion, getting more fun out of saying the words than anyone else would have thought was possible. To Claire, having been bitten was almost worth it, just to give her something to say.
"Indoor voice," Lindsey reminded her automatically.
Claire spent a great deal of her life being reminded to use her indoor voice.
"Can I go outside?" Claire asked. "On the playground?" Outside, no one could make Claire be quiet, because, sounding very much the little lawyer, she'd informed them that if she had an indoor voice to use indoors, it only made sense that she had an outdoor voice to use outdoors.
Sometimes, her daddy said that Claire was a chip off the old block. Sometimes, Claire gave her daddy a headache.
"I want to go outside, too," Noelle piped up.
"Her dress probably isn't muddy enough yet," Xander said. "Noelle likes her white dresses muddier than that."
No one said anything.
"That was a joke," Xander said.
"Like Cheetos," Brookie said suddenly, and then she began giggling fiercely.
Xander smiled. At least the two year old thought he was funny. "Oh yeah," he said. "I've still got it," He paused for a minute and then shrugged. "I'll take them outside."
Claire followed Xander, and Brookie wriggled out of Lindsey's arms, intent on doing whatever Claire did. Noelle ran ahead of them, onto the playground, and, shrugging, Drew, Geyton, and the twins followed.
"Why don't you go outside, too?" Kate asked Brandon in her I'm-the-Mom voice. Brandon knew that when his mom used that voice, it wasn't really a question. Compliantly, he followed Xander and the other kids, brooding, just for the fun of it.
Kaya put her hand on Lindsey's cheek. "Where Darla?" she asked him. "Where Sunny?" She looked at Faith and sniffed a little. "Kaya miss Sunny," she said.
The adults stared at Kaya, no one knowing quite what to say.
Kaya filled the space. "Damn," she said, still sniffing.
Lindsey raised an eyebrow at Faith, and Faith had an insane desire to laugh.
She hugged Kaya to her. "I second that," she said.
"My mommy isn't here yet," a little voice said, so softly that Willow almost didn't hear it.
She looked down at Val, and she picked her up. "She'll be here soon," she promised the little girl. Val said nothing. "Way with the soon-ness," Willow said. "I promise."
"Willow promise?" Val asked. She knew that if Willow willow-promised, then everything would be all right.
Willow nodded. "Willow promise with whip cream," she said. "And sprinkles. And you know those little yogurt covered gummy bears…" Willow realized she was babbling and grinned at herself.
"Anne said she'd be a little late," Buffy told Willow, "but she'll be here."
Willow nodded. Val's mom was still working on finding a solid job, and there were lots of days that Val stayed later than the other children at Potential. Willow didn't mind. She loved spending time with the quiet child, one on one.
Buffy clasped her hands in front of her. "Okay," she said out loud, "game plan." She was silent for a minute, wishing Giles was here. He was more of a game plan-y person than she was. "I'm going to go call Dawn, and I'll see if Angel has any lawyer-y types that can get on this. There's got to be a prophesy about Kaya and what she's seeing somewhere."
Realizing that she was speaking friendly about prophesies in front of Kate and Lindsey, Buffy's eyes widened a little, and she froze.
"An educational prophesy?" Lindsey asked dryly.
For the thousandth time, Kate wondered if Potential was the right place for Brandon.
"A very educational prophesy," Willow said, nodding vigorously.
Kate sighed. Was there any other kind?
"Okay," the voice whispered. "Move in."
When Xander heard the first child scream, he knew it was Claire. The little slayer had an extreme set of lungs on her, and the moment one of the men in black made a grab for her, Claire let out a scream that made the walls shake.
"YOU'RE A STRANGER. I DON'T TALK TO STRANGERS." When the man slapped a hand over her mouth, Claire just continued screaming. Then she bit his hand, and in a move too quick for him to anticipate it, she kicked him, knocking him to the ground.
"And that," Xander said out loud, running toward Claire, "is why you don't make little slayers mad."
Xander knew from personal experience that a little slayer temper tantrum was not a pretty thing.
He rushed toward the child, but in the next instant, he heard more screaming, and then he felt a slight pinch in his neck, and everything went black.
The man on the ground dodged Claire's next kick, and in the time it took him to do that, a dart whished through the air and hit the little girl on the neck, and Claire collapsed to the ground. Brandon stared at the man, horrified. He was hurting Claire.
Brandon wasn't about to let anyone hurt Claire.
He ran toward the man, his little mind racing. "Canta Dieze!" he yelled, scrambling to remember the right spell. The man stood, frozen to the ground for a split instant before the Wolfram and Hart shaman managed to break the small child's spell.
Seeing Noelle struggling with one of the men, Geyton and Drew ran to defend her. Drew was pretty sure it would be okay for him to bite this guy.
"NO NO NO NO NO!" Brookie screamed. "Brookie doesn't want you! You're not shiny. You're not a sporkie. Bad man!" The man struggling to sedate Brookie groaned as she came dangerously close to kicking him in a very sensitive place. He hadn't realized a two year old slayer would be quite so strong.
The twins ran to Brookie, ready to fight with her, but before they knew what was happening, they'd been hit with darts as well, and they collapsed in unison, unconscious.
Whish. Whish. Whish. The darts flew through the air, and Geyton, Drew, and Noelle fell to the ground. The man holding Brookie thrust a needle into her arm the second before she broke his nose, and a moment later, the tiny blonde Slayer was unconscious as well.
Panicked, Brandon looked around him. Everyone else was down. Manfully, he kicked the man who held Claire and, mumbling under his breath, he put up a shield against the darts the other Wolfram and Hart operatives were trying to shoot at him. He looked around. Men were dragging off Brookie and Noelle. They were trying to take Claire.
"Don't take her," he said, trying to be brave, but really wishing his Mom was there with him. "Take me." He kicked the man again, and he managed to rip the unconscious Claire out of his grasp.
"We don't want you," the man hissed. "We want her."
The magic he'd used had drained almost all of Brandon's energy. He was getting tired, and he didn't know what else to do. He only knew one thing. He couldn't let the man take Claire, Noelle, and Brookie all by themselves. They were just girls, and somehow, Brandon was pretty sure that these men weren't going to be giving the little ones dolls or weapons to play with. The girls would need someone to protect them.
"Junarnos Ami," Brandon whispered with the last of his strength, supernaturally tying himself to Claire through the spell.
Now there was no way they were taking Claire without him. No way.
It all happened in the span of fifteen seconds, and after four more, the playground was empty, except for Xander and four unconscious children.
Noelle, Claire, Brookie, and Brandon were nowhere to be seen.
TBC… This is the longest chapter so far, so please review… I know it was a lot of action and not a lot of fluff, but I hope it was okay anyway…
Oh, and next chapter, I'll hop back inside, and you'll get to see what was going on in there during the fight, especially with Anya, Spike, and another familiar face. And yes, there's a reason that Buffy and company didn't come running out to save the kiddos, and yes, you'll learn what it is next chapter.
Anyway, coming up, Dawn and Angel enter the picture, the kidnappers learn about slayer temper tantrums first hand, and Brandon realizes he's stuck with a bunch of girls… plus more on Sunny, Darla, and the crypticness that is the W&H plot.
PLEASE REVIEW!!!