Title: Daughters of the Unnatural

Part: 4: That Overwhelming Feeling

Author: Liayso

Disclaimer: The characters of the Angel and Buffyverse are not mine. I'm just borrowing them for this story. I do own the characters D.J. and Abby.

Summary: The daughter of The Key and The Destroyer sure has her hands full. Her twin sister wants to kill her and now she's stuck in the past. Can she possibly calm her raging sister down and get back to her own time? Lame summary, I know.

Rating: PG-13 for swearing and violence

Spoilers: Everything I guess. This story is set a couple of months after Angel's series finale.

A/N:

Lili: Ack! I made D.J. seem too Mary-Sueish? I'm sorry! Thanks for pointing it out though! Don't worry; she's going to get her butt kicked in the next few chapters, including this one. And I'll try to make her seem a bit more human, you know with the internal conflict and stuff. Also, you're English is really good. I probably have some grammar mistakes, because both my parents are Filipino immigrants and their English isn't exactly proper.

bob-the-blue: I did kind of take your suggestion. I was going to have D.J. and Abby call Angel "Gramps" anyway, but your suggestion of involving Spike made it a bit funnier. "Gramps" does kind of have a negative connotation. XD

Italicized words in between the dashes are flashbacks. Ex: -Words, text, whatever-

Now onto the story!

The vampire let out a roar when it turned into dust. Abby pulled her arm back from the falling dust particles. She had just taken out a vamp hideout of four vampires. She looked around her surroundings. It was a common vamp nest; junk was everywhere. Abby placed her stake down on a table, along with the sword she had gotten from D.J. the other night. Her clothes were still stained with blood from the demon that she had killed. How she longed for a bath.

Abby rummaged through the articles of clothing on the floor of the abandoned apartment, smelling each piece to see if it was decent enough to wear.

"Stupid D.J. It's her fault that I'm stuck here rummaging through trash like a homeless person." Abby muttered bitterly as she tossed aside a shirt with holes in it.

She came across a pair of jeans in front of a doorway. With hope in her heart, she pushed open the door and flipped on the lights. It was a bathroom, complete with a mildew-tiled bathtub. Abby settled for it.

A bath's a bath. She thought.

She set the clothes she had picked up onto the counter and turned the squeaky knobs. Cold water filled the tub as she took up a hairbrush and started brushing her hair. Looking into the mirror, she saw the smudges of dirt adorning her face. She stared at the bitter face before her as the bathtub filled up. Her face wasn't always so hard looking. Sure, her face had a usual devilish smirk, but it hardly ever held such anger and bitterness before. Abby set down the hairbrush and closed her eyes. She remembered that night very vividly, as if it just happened yesterday.

-Abby was knocked down to the floor. She was bruised, battered, bleeding, and broken. For the first time in her life, she was very afraid. Her attacker advanced a couple of steps towards her. Each of his steps thundered in Abby's ears. She shuffled back into a corner, her frightened wide eyes never leaving the demon before her.

"Prophecies are overrated anyway." The large demon raised his right arm. It turned into a pointed blade. Abby finally shut her scared eyes.

"Abby!"

Abby heard her sister call out, but she thought it was too late. In a matter of seconds, she would be slit in halves. She heard the swift swish of a blade being swung in the air, then the squish sound it made when it connected with flesh, then the crunching of bone, and finally the sound of a head thumping to the floor. However, it wasn't her head that fell. Abby opened her eyes to see her would-be-killer fall to the floor, headless. She moved her gaze to her twin sister. D.J. had a look of shock on her face as she stared down at the dead demon. She then looked to her sister. The two of them stared at each other for a brief minute in complete shock. Then D.J.'s look changed to one of concern. She dropped her sword and rushed to Abby's side. She enveloped her sister in a hug.

"Thank God and the Powers That Be that you're all right!" D.J. cried into her sister's shoulder.

But Abby was far from all right. She looked to the dead demon. The demon that had almost killed her. The demon that had managed to reduce her to a sniveling coward. The demon that her little sister had killed.-

Abby opened her eyes. For a split second, she felt humiliation and disgrace, but then those feelings changed to feelings of anger. She clenched her fists so tightly that her fingernails dug into her palms and drew blood. The bathtub was filled up now. She turned off the water, stripped down, and got in. Abby leaned back into the tub and started reflecting some more. She wasn't stupid; she knew she and D.J. were stuck in the past. The Orb of Meti had that kind of ability, she knew that. What she didn't know was why she ran away. It only angered her further that she had ran like a coward while D.J. stood her ground. Of course, she didn't know that the reason why D.J. didn't run was that she was too much in shock of the whole situation to move.

As Abby sat in the cold water thinking about everything, her rage towards her sister grew. D.J. was the cause of her humiliation, her anger. Abby was used to being the better fighter. When it was seen that D.J. might surpass her in that, Abby became enraged. She wouldn't let her little sister take what was important to her. She loved the thrill of a battle. She loved the praise her family gave her for a job well done. When it became possible that D.J. could take all that away from her, she snapped. She couldn't let that happen.

"It's settled then." Abby said to no one. "I will kill my sister."

But she couldn't do it, at least not in front of her family. The looks on their faces when it did happen would destroy her. She needed to get her little sister alone.

When Abby finished her bath, she got dressed and looked around the old apartment once more. She found a closet. Inside she found some knives and a crossbow. An evil looking smile appeared on her face.

D.J. ducked a punch from her grandfather, but Angel anticipated her dodge and kneed her in the head. She was sent flying into the basement wall. Angel freaked out. He rushed to his granddaughter's side.

"I'm sorry, D.J.!" Angel said as he helped her up

D.J. just smiled at him. "It's okay. What doesn't kill me can only make me stronger, right?"

Angel smiled back at her, but then found himself on the floor. D.J. had taken advantage of the situation and flipped her grandfather onto his back. She stood over him, smirking.

"You're learning quickly. That's good." From his spot on the floor, Angel swept his foot out, knocking D.J. to the ground. He realized that he couldn't take her too lightly.

D.J. fell with an "Ahh!" but she and Angel quickly got back and began sparring again. Angel was obviously the more skilled fighter, but D.J. was improving.

Dawn watched everything from her seat at the top of the basements steps. She chuckled at their little exchange of knockdowns. Angel's training was a little intense. Dawn wondered if Buffy had trained her as aggressively as Angel trained D.J., then she wouldn't have to rely on long distance attacks like the crossbow and magic. Of course, Buffy couldn't have been as aggressive as she could have been, since Dawn lacked the super strength. At least she was able to handle Giles and Willow's rigorous training in magic, with her being the mystical Key.

"Hey."

Dawn looked up and saw Connor. He sat down next to her on the steps. She smiled at him.

"Hi."

Connor motioned to the two training down below. "They're training again? Is it just me, or have they been spending a lot of time together lately?"

Dawn shrugged her shoulders. "I think you're dad's some kind of pedophile. He seems to like strong teenage girls. This case is strange, because she's not blonde."

"Hey, that's not fair. My dad's a vampire; of course, he's going to be much older than the people he meets. He's probably just happy that he found someone to teach. But I see your point with the young blonde preference."

Both of them chuckled. Dawn looked at Angel and D.J. exchanging blows.

"So he's trying to make her a female mini-Angel? Haha, I just pictured D.J. in a long black trench coat. Very funny." Dawn smiled at the fighting pair, and then looked to Connor. "We know your father's preference for girls, what about you? What's your preference?"

"Me? Well, I'm kind of the opposite of my dad." Connor leaned back into the steps. "Older and brunette, that's the type I usually go after."

"Oh." Dawn looked down at her feet. "How much older? Like a few years older? Or a millennia older?" Hey, she could have been older than time itself, being a mystical ball of energy.

"I don't know. It never really worked out with the older women." He turned to face Dawn and smiled. "But she would definitely have to be brunette."

Dawn blushed. D.J. finally noticed the two on the stairs, smiling and laughing amongst each other. She shouldn't have let herself be distracted because BAM! she was struck on the side of her head. D.J. stumbled to the floor.

"D.J., you have to stay focused. Focus is an important thing in battle. Don't get distracted." Angel extended a hand out and helped her up.

"Don't forget about balance, Dad." Connor called down to them.

"Yeah. Yeah. You lose your balance, you lose. You guys told me this about a zillion times already. I mean, uh, in the future." D.J. said, brushing herself off. "Can we take a break?"

Angel nodded. They all left the basement and D.J. immediately headed straight for the kitchen. Dawn went with her. Connor watched his father let out a tired sigh.

"So, what's with you and D.J.? When she first got here, you were all 'I don't trust her.' Now you're all buddy-buddy."

"She's a good kid that has a lot of potential. Plus, she's eager to learn." Also, she's my granddaughter, as well as your daughter. Angel thought. "And in no way am I a pedophile."

Connor chuckled. "You heard that?"

Angel nodded. "I also heard you flirting with Dawn."

Connor flushed a bit. Then he frowned. "Let me guess. You're going to tell me to back off her, aren't you? That I shouldn't even try since she's Buffy's sister."

"No. I say go for it."

"I mean it's not like you and Buffy are still going out. I don't see why-" Connor stopped mid-sentence and then looked surprised. "What? Really?" Angel nodded. "So say if I asked her out, you wouldn't protest against it or anything?"

Angel shook his head. "Even if I did you would just go out and do it anyway."

"Damn straight. I just can't believe you are giving a blessing."

"Well, a couple of days ago I wouldn't, but some things have happened to change my mind."

Connor raised an eyebrow. "What kind of things?"

Angel suddenly let out a small yelp. He turned to see D.J. behind him. Her eyes were narrowed and in her hand was a wooden stake. She had jabbed him in the side with it.

"Remember your promise?" D.J. turned on her heels and went to the basement.

"Uh, sorry, Connor." Angel followed his granddaughter.

When D.J. was certain that her father couldn't hear them, she began freaking out in her grandfather's face.

"You promised!"

"I didn't tell him anything."

"But you were about to! Gramps, no one can know that Connor and Dawn are my parents!"

Angel suddenly felt another presence in the room. He turned to the stairs and saw Illyria at the base of them. Angel became nervous.

"Illyria, uh…" Angel stammered. "What D.J. said…"

D.J. placed a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay Gramps. She knows."

Angel looked between the two. "She knows? She already knows? You told her? You told her before you told me?"

D.J. held up her hands to calm him down. "Whoa! What's with the double questions? She figured it out when she caught me calling Connor 'Dad' during the fight with the Halaman demons."

Angel looked towards Illyria. She only stared back at him. Angel looked back at D.J.

"And you trust her with your secret?"

"Illyria's pretty good at being a confidant. You know, with the not talking much."

"Okay then." Angel looked back at the Old One. "So, what are you doing down here?"

"You are teaching her too much. I do not want you to fully taint her with your half-breed ways." Illyria said with that usual superior tone.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Angel took a step towards the goddess.

D.J. got in front of him. "I think it's kind of a territory thing. She was my teacher first, ya know."

He looked down at her. "But you're my granddaughter. Don't I get like Granddad rights to teach you?"

D.J. looked between Illyria and Angel. Then she clapped her hands together.

"How about we train together?" She suggested with a cheery smile.

D.J. let out a pained groan as she stumbled into a room, which was going to be the Angel Investigations' library. Dawn was shelving her books and was startled when D.J. came in. D.J. sat herself at a table and let her head fall onto it, letting out another painful moan.

"Angel training you hard?" Dawn asked as she placed a book on a shelf.

Without lifting her head, D.J. replied. "Not just Angel, Illyria too." She now regretted having the both of them train her at the same time. "I'm so sore, it hurts even to breathe."

Dawn chuckled. "You sound like the potential slayers after a training session with Buffy and Kennedy. At least you have your super healing, they didn't have that yet."

"Yeah, but it doesn't seem to be kicking in, 'cuz these aches and pains aren't exactly going away." D.J. finally lifted her head off the table. She slid a book towards herself. "You know, I think I like being book girl better than being muscle girl. No bruises or broken bones involved."

Dawn turned back to the shelf, looked at a book, and then placed it in its rightful spot. "Nope, just paper cuts. Although those things can sting a lot."

D.J. giggled and flipped through the book in front of her. "Besides, we already have a lot of muscle people. We need more brainy people."

Dawn turned back to the girl and saw that the book she was reading was in Latin. She motioned to the book. "You know Latin?"

D.J. looked up. "Yeah. I learned it from the best when I was a kid."

"By best, do you mean me?" Dawn asked.

"Yeah."

The two of them smiled at each other. D.J. shut the book and helped her mother with the shelving. She picked up a book titled 'Portals, Dimensions, and Barriers'. D.J. eyed it curiously.

"Are you looking into your key heritage?" She asked.

"Uh, yeah." Dawn took the book from her. "I thought that maybe if I read some stuff, I could, you know, tap into that key part of me and create some portals or something. Without the messy bleeding ritual."

"Any luck?"

"Nope." She paused. "Am I able to do it in the future?"

"If you are, I wouldn't know. There wasn't a need to go dimension hopping in the future."

"Really? No one even tried to use me to open a dimension or anything?"

"No." D.J. paused. "Well, there was this one thing where this group wanted to use the essence of the key to call forth their master, but by then you were so strong with the magics, so they backed off you and went after-" D.J. caught herself. I shouldn't be telling you this." She quickly turned back to the bookshelf.

"Wait, there's another key? Like me?" Dawn asked.

"Kind of." D.J. weakly replied.

Dawn was about to ask more questions, but then Spike came in. He sat at the table and propped his feet onto it.

"Hey Nibblet." He turned to D.J. "Little Bit."

"Hey Spike."

"Hi. What brings you here?" D.J. asked, glad to steer the conversation away from the future.

"Boredom, Pet. Seems like we've been bloody waiting for a case forever." Spike leaned back in his chair. "I'm thinking about going out and look for that sister of yours. See for myself if she's really as strong as you say she is."

D.J. turned back to the bookshelf and shelved a book. "Well, good luck to you if you do."

"Come on now. She can't be that strong." Spike crossed his arms.

"She is. Especially when she's uber pissed off, like now."

"Please. I've killed two slayers. You guys aren't so tough." Spike paused. "No offense, Bit."

"None taken." Why should D.J. be offended? She wasn't a slayer; they only assumed she was since she was strong, but she wasn't. She was just vampire-powered.

Dawn shelved two more books. "If I recall, Spike, you got your ass kicked practically a zillion times by a slayer that was nearly a foot shorter than you." She turned around and smirked at him. Spike scowled in response and D.J. giggled. "Anyway, since you're so bored, how about you help us with the shelvage?" She tossed a book to him.

Spike caught the book. "All right, but only because you're my little Nibblet." He touched the book to the top of Dawn's head and shelved it. They shelved their books in silence for like five minutes.

Dawn broke that silence. "Hey D.J."

D.J. looked to her. "Yeah?"

"You and Abby are twins, right?"

"That's right."

"Who's older?"

"Abby is, by three minutes."

Spike stopped shelving and smiled. "Well ain't that adorable. You're the little baby of the group." D.J. blushed in embarrassment.

"Really? You're the youngest?" Dawn asked. D.J. nodded. "Do we treat you like a little kid? I got a lot of that growing up because I was the youngest."

"The two of you and Illyria didn't treat me like a little kid. Everyone else did, but you guys didn't."

Dawn smiled. "That's good."

Spike smirked. "So Peaches treats you like a little tyke? Well, I'm going to have to kick his ass for that."

"Oh god! Angel and Connor are the worst! They're so overprotective, it's annoying! But then again, sometimes it's kind of humorous." D.J. shook her head. "It was so funny when they freaked out when you let me smoke a cigarette. Angel was so mad." She let out a giggle. "He was all 'I will not let you corrupt her and Abby!'."

Spike let out a laugh, but Dawn looked a little worried for some reason unknown to her.

"You smoke?"

D.J. shook her head. "It was only that one time. Besides, I didn't want them spazzing out on me all the time."

"That's too bad. I would have liked having a ciggy buddy."

D.J. smiled at him then realized something. "Damn it you guys! How is it that you made me talk about the future?"

Spike chuckled. "We just talk, Bit. It's not our fault you're so eager to expose your deepest darkest secrets."

He smirked at her and D.J. just scowled back at him. The scowl on her face irked Spike a bit. It was strangely familiar.

Angel touched a blood mark on an alley wall. He rubbed the blood in between his thumb and his index finger.

"It was just here. Let's go."

They had finally gotten a couple of cases, and had split into two groups. One group consisted of Gunn, Illyria, Dawn, and Connor. They took on a case dealing with a demonic rat infestation. The other group consisted of Angel, Spike, and D.J. They were tracking a big lizard demon, maybe even two or three of them.

"D.J., get in between Spike and me." Angel led the way into the alley.

D.J. rolled her eyes. She turned to Spike and mouthed a silent 'See what I mean?' to him. Spike only gave her a silent chuckle in reply. She fell into her position and gripped the sword in her hand tightly. She reviewed all the lessons she learned in her mind.

Okay, tight grip, focus, and balance. I think I can do this.

The three walked deeper into the alley. Out of nowhere, the lizard demon jumped in front of them. The demon stood at nearly eight feet in height. It was scaly and it had a pointy tongue that slithered in and out of its mouth. It let out a loud roar. D.J. froze. She completely forgot everything Angel and Illyria taught her. While Spike and Angel leaped away, she stood dumbfounded and the demon knocked her into the side of a dumpster.

"D.J.!"

Angel tried to get to his granddaughter, but another lizard demon appeared in front of him. It shot out its tongue at him, looking to pierce his brains, but Angel dodged it. Spike tackled this second lizard demon from the side. It got up and ran further down into the alley. He chased after it. Angel turned his attention back to the first lizard demon and his granddaughter. D.J. leaned her weight against the dumpster and shook the dizziness from her head. The demon let out another roar. Figuring that D.J. was an easy target, it lunged for her. Angel tackled it before it reached her and was soon struggling with it on the ground.

D.J. was finally able to fully compose herself. She mentally kicked herself for freezing up. She grabbed her sword from the ground and started to run towards her grandfather, but a third lizard demon jumped in front of her. D.J. jumped back, startled. Its tongue slithered in and out of its mouth at her. D.J. looked to Angel; the demon had pulled Angel up and had thrown him down the alley. It went after him. She would have to face this demon alone. The lizard made the first move. Like the others, it shot out its tongue at her, but D.J. sidestepped it. She quickly gripped her sword with both hands and sliced through the extended tongue. The demon pulled back, cried out in agony, and began flailing about. D.J. took the opportunity to strike. Her sword slit into the scaly flesh and pierced its heart. The demon stopped flailing and it fell to the pavement with a thud as D.J. pulled her sword out of it. D.J. stared at the corpse with disbelief.

"I can't believe I actually got it."

"Neither can I."

The voice behind D.J. was very familiar. She froze up when she felt what seemed to be a crossbow pointed to the back of her head. D.J. immediately knew it was her sister.

"Drop your sword and turn around."

D.J. did what she was told. She gulped hard when she faced Abby. The crossbow was now pointed at her forehead.

"Abby…" D.J. started.

"Don't. Say. A. Word."

D.J. immediately stopped talking. Abby looked to the demon corpse.

"Impressive. You've certainly learned a lot. But I thought I told you to stop trying to be the hero." Abby glared at her sister while she remained silent.

"D.J.!" Angel had just taken out his demon and was now running towards his granddaughters.

"Damn it!" Abby muttered. She aimed the crossbow at her grandfather and pulled the trigger.

"No!" D.J. cried out in desperation. She reached for the crossbow.

The arrow slammed into Angel's shoulder. He stopped and grunted from the pain. D.J. tried frantically to retrieve the crossbow from her sister but Abby elbowed her in the face. D.J. fell to the ground on her butt. Angel grabbed Abby from behind, but she spun around in his arms and kneed him in the crotch. She jumped back as Angel fell to the ground, his face contorted in pain.

"You can't protect her forever. She will die." With those words, Abby took off once again.

Both Angel and D.J. could only watch as Abby sped off. Neither could move. They heard footsteps behind them and turned their heads to see Spike covered in demon lizard blood.

Seeing the looks on their faces, all he could ask was, "What the bloody hell happen to you two?"

"Oh god!" Dawn exclaimed. "I have to take like ten showers in order to get the stink of rat demon off me!"

They had just gotten back from their extermination of the rat infestation. They stood in the Hyperion lobby putting away their weapons and tools.

"They were so numerous. It seemed as if there was no end to their onslaught." Illyria stated.

Gunn shuddered. "I hate rats. Especially when they're jumbo-sized and all over the place." He looked over the scratches on his arms. "Do you think we have to get rabies shots or something?"

Connor chuckled as he put away his axe. They all looked up when they heard the hotel doors open and close. A sudden gloom fell upon the hotel as Angel, Spike and a sullen D.J. walked in. They all knew what had happened.

"You had a run in with Miss Scary, didn't you?" Gunn asked.

Angel only said, "Yeah."

Everyone turned their gaze to D.J. who had her eyes fixed down on the floor. Avoiding eye contact with everyone, she let out a quiet "I'll be in my room," and went upstairs.

Connor stood in front of D.J.'s bedroom door. He was dressed in fresh clothes and his hair was damp from showering off. He took a deep breath and knocked on the door. A quiet "Come in," was heard on the other side. Connor stepped in and found D.J. on her bed. She was sitting with her back against the headboard. She hugged a pillow against her chest and played with its seams.

"Hey." Connor said as he stood in front of the bed.

"Hey." D.J. answered unenthusiastically.

Connor sat on the corner of the bed. "I thought you said the basement was the place to brood." He tried lightening the mood.

"It's your place to brood. Besides, I'm kind of sick of the basement." D.J. said, remembering her rigorous training sessions.

"Are you all right?"

"It just hurts. It hurts that she's mad at me and hates me. She's my best friend."

"Not much of a best friend if she's trying to kill you."

"It's a thin line between love and hate."

"I know what you mean."

There was a pause between father and daughter. Connor stared at the sad girl. He was filled with concern for her, but he didn't know why.

"Do you want anything? A snack or a drink?"

D.J. shook her head. "I just want to rest."

"Then rest." Connor helped her into bed and tucked her in. "Maybe in the morning you will feel better."

"Thank you." D.J. said quietly, closing her eyes.

Connor stood up. "Good night, D.J."

"Good night."

Connor brushed the hair from her face. He gave D.J. a final looked and closed the door behind him. Angel was waiting in the hallway.

"Is she okay?" He asked his son.

"She's a bit depressed. She's sleeping now, you shouldn't bother her." Connor stared at the door. "I can't explain it, but whenever I'm with her I get this weird feeling. Like I want to keep all the bad stuff away from her and keep her safe. It's kind of overwhelming."

"Really…"

Connor shook his head. "I don't know. It's strange."

"Not so strange." Angel added in his mind, It's not strange that you want to protect her, because she is your daughter and you are her father. It's not strange.

"It's getting late. I should probably get some shuteye. G'night, Dad." Connor walked away.

"Good night, son." Angel walked to his own room.

TBC….

A/N: Review please! They are always welcomed! Even if it's criticism or flames!

Preview for the next chapter:

Feeling like D.J. has gone through enough drama, Angel decides to let the gang take her out to the amusement park for some fun. Unfortunately, for them, their day of amusement is interrupted when Abby decides to attack innocent people to get D.J.'s attention. Can D.J. stop her or will she breakdown?