Beyond All Things Ch. 2

By: Lily DeSilva

Disclaimer: I don't own, I just write. Don't sue!

Timeline: Not Fade Away

Spoilers: A Hole in the World to Not Fade Away

A/N: I can't take full credit for any of the chapters. My co-writer (Jazzmaster) and I are very pleased with the reviews. Keep 'em coming!!

"Okay, time for a little Whyndam-Pryce family history lesson!" Gunn was lying in bed with Angel, Wesley, Spike and Illyria at his side. Angel had called everyone back to the hospital to hear about the girl. Wesley had confirmed that the girl in Angel's drawing was his sister, Lara.

"As you know, my father and I didn't get along very well. Well, part of that was…my brother. There were three of us, you see. My brother, James, was the oldest. He's three years older than me. He was always my father's favorite. He never got criticized. Yet he held something against me my whole life.

"Obviously, I was next. It was just James and I for quite some time Eighteen years, in fact. I was still in school, and James was abroad. That was when Lara was born.

"My father was very old fashioned. He wanted only boys, and when he found out my mother was pregnant, he insisted on the name Charles."

Gunn smiled. "Oh, yeah! Best name in history!"

Wesley nodded. "My father ha his heart set on having a little boy. When he found out it was a girl, he was outraged. He wanted nothing to do with the upbringing of this child. He arranged have he sent away when she was three years old. None of the rest of us knew about this."

Angel shook his head. "No wonder you hate your dad."

"Oh, and that's not even the worst thing he did," Wes continued, "but I'll get to that later. When my baby sister was born, James and I came home to see her. That was the only time he and I ever got along. We named her together. Lara. That was the name we chose. I remember I suggested the name and he said, 'A beautiful name for a beautiful girl', and we smiled at each other.

"Because m father wanted Charles, we decided to call her Charley as a nickname. Charley with an 'ey' at the end. When Charley was three years old, my mother fun out about my father's plan. She insisted that we go with he to Canada. That was where my dad had planned to send her. So, my mum, dad, and I went to Montréal with Charley, while James stayed in England with his new job. He worked for the watcher's council.

"We stayed there for five years. When Lara was eight, my dad abandoned her. I was working for the council by then, and my mum had gone back to England. As far as I know, my dad left one day and didn't come back. Charley was told that he was dead. That we didn't care about her."

Spike shook hid head. "How horrible," he started, but everyone looked at him. "I'm serious! For once in my life I'm being serious!"

Wesley shook his head, tears in his eyes. "I miss her so much. It's been sever years."

"Well, do you have a picture? Maybe talking about it will make you feel better." Angel stepped forwards.

Tears shimmering in his eyes, Wesley reached into his wallet. He extended a photograph of three people. One was obviously Wesley. The other man looked almost the same, but his eyes were hazel and his expression was cold. There was a little girl with them. She had the sane striking blue eyes, the same wavy brown hair as Wes. On the back it said: 'James, 24, Wesley, 21, Lara, 3 years.'

The picture was passed around the circle, Wesley crying the whole time. It was quite the sight, two grown men (one crying), a girl with a solid expression and two vampires. Eventually, Wesley excused himself for a drink of water.

"Damn," Gunn commented, "Wes's got a tough life. His dad being abusive, Fred, demon hunting, Fred, love issues, Fred, his brother, Fred, his sister, Fred, and did I mention…Fred?"

Illyria's eyes narrowed. "This human mocks me. I wish him pain."

Spike put his hand on Illyria's shoulder. "Hold on there, blue. First off, we all loved Fred, especially Percy. You took that away from us. Totally your fault." The vampire paused as Wesley walked in. "And second, Charlie's right…oh…I guess we can't call him that anymore. Now that we have another Charley on our hand."

"What?" Wes asked he seemed kind of out of it.

"Well, we are finding your sister, aren't we?" Angel asked.

Wesley smiled. "Thanks, guys. Thanks a whole lot."

"What else can you tell us about Lara?" Angel asked.

Wesley shrugged. "I haven't seen or heard from her in seven years. All I can assume is that she still has the same brown hair and blue eyes as me. She's strong, and she knows about vampires and such. She's smart, too. She speaks almost the same amount of languages as me." Wes gave a little smile. "I remember…I gave her a necklace for her fifth birthday. It was simple, just a gold chain with a little ladybug on it. She…she told me that she would never take it off." He looked down. "If she still wears it, it'll be a miracle."

A/N. Next chapter: we meet Lara for the first time… coming soon!