Chapter 3 ~ Welcome to Existence
It was the end of the day, and Noah was exhausted as he walked down the torch lit hall leading to his room. He nodded at Maria and Clarice as they waved at him and ignored their giddy chatter afterwards. He had no interest in even pretending to care about their silly crush.
Rubbing the back of his neck, he reached the door and rested his forehead on the wood. His head was throbbing, like someone had stabbed him through the eye. Or through his back. Or maybe through his chest. Repeatedly.
He was just in pain. Physical pain. Like all over. And he couldn't explain it, except for his head, because of the excruciating vision he'd had a little bit ago.
He flicked through his small set of keys and got to the one for the lock to his private suite, before opening his door and slumping back against the wood with a pained sigh. He rubbed his forehead and dropped the key ring in the bowl on his small table by the door, then walked further into the room to head for the bathroom to get some aspirin.
These were days he wished he still hit the bottle.
In the vision a teenager, about the same age as himself, was out walking with his friend or boyfriend and got shot by an arrow. A freaking arrow! Completely unexpectedly. Sometimes Noah wonders why demonic forces want to live in the dark ages, for all their fluff and bull.
"Oh, come on Puck, you gotta admit though, they do have the whole blind sighting people thing down," a familiar voice said to the right of him with a chuckle.
Stopping dead in his tracks, the teen's eyes widen as he places where he's heard it before.
"Course they're also pretentious and a giant pain in the ass; but hey, that whole duality clause to life isn't without its own set of subsidiary problems."
It couldn't be –
"Mmm, but it is," it continues in the same amused tone and Noah turns around to face the person with wide eyes and mouth hanging open. "Hello son. It's been a while."
~P&A~
Angel stepped inside the room and swallowed at what he saw.
Noah. On the bed. With wires and machines attached to him and making noises that were reverberating loudly in his sensitive ears. Angel bit his lip in an uncharacteristic display of weakness. He hadn't seen something like this since when Cordelia had been in the Wolfram and Hart hospital. And considering she never woke up, he wasn't very trusting the same thing wouldn't happen again.
He carefully walks into the room and sits in the small white chair next to the bed. Even unconscious Noah looked like a model. Perfectly shaped face, strong and defined muscles…he takes care of himself and the word handsome seems to be too light a word. But even for all the teen's beauty, he still had this little boy charm that showed through at times. Thinking of it made the vampire half smile, and reach forward to brush the damp bang from his face.
He soon frowned though. This was wrong. He shouldn't be thinking of his seer this way. Or any way at all. He was a sweet kid.
Angel cared about him…a lot…more than he should. But he couldn't seem to help it and it was beginning to worry him. Ever since their almost kiss Angel had been thinking, brooding. He loves Buffy. He adores Buffy. There's no way that he's lusting after this teen when the love of his life is with him for good this time.
Sex or no sex.
He had thought it has to be something magical. Noah has the power over persuasion, and his eyes had glowed it could be possible that he hadn't meant to cast a spell.
But deep down he knew it wasn't true. He had been trying to place blame, and wound up avoiding Noah because of his fear. And now, it nearly got the boy killed. Angel could barely function he was so far inside his own head in grief. How could he do that?
Blame someone so innocent that just wanted the vampire to see him. And hey, Noah had been right. Ever since he and Buffy had gotten back together it was as if the slayer was doing everything she could to stay away as much as possible. It bothered him.
Just like now, this boy could be dead soon and where was she? Attending Magical Beings Alliance Conference in Lisbon.
The hunters finding his seer was his fault. He should have been there. He shouldn't have let Noah go out on patrol without him. It was just Xander had said he'd been so sad and locking himself in Giles' office for hours to try and translate the code his father had left behind.
God. Angel was pathetic wasn't he? He had promised him. Promised to protect him, and… a sob bubble up in his chest and he swallowed it down.
He looked back up at the beautiful face and felt the tears swell in his eyes. "I'm so sorry, Noah," he whispered and took his hand, holding between his two larger ones. "We're going to fix this. Please," he swallowed, "please, baby, hold on. Come back to me, and we can fix it. Okay?"
He felt the tears begin to develop. He didn't realize you could miss someone you didn't have before, but here he was. Desperate to see those large brown eyes so full of wonder and amazement.
"Come back," he sobbed and laid his head on the teen's leg.
~P&A~
"Dad," Noah gasped and blinked his eyes, wondering if what he was seeing was truly real. "I don't understand. What are you – "
"I'm here because it's time, my son," his dad says smoothly. "It's time for you to come home."
Sobering up from his shock, Noah shook his head and took a cautious step back. "No, I'm not going back to Ohio. I can't I-I have a job here. And – "
"I didn't mean Ohio," Elijah Puckerman scoffed and crossed his arms. He came forward to stand closer to the boy, "I mean home home. With me."
"With you?" Noah replied slowly. "With you where? In faerie-topia-mania-land or whatever?" He pulls a face at his father. "Are you kidding me right now?"
"No, actually," was the answer with a hiked eyebrow. "I'm very serious. You don't belong in this world, Noam. You belong in the Otherworld. With us. Your kind."
"My name is No-ah. Or Puck. Mom stopped calling me Noam years ago," The teen rolled his eyes, and rubbed the back of his neck. "And why would I go with you anywhere? Huh? I haven't even seen you since I was five. Why would I trust you?"
Looking slightly affronted, the elder faerie said, "I'm your father. Whether you like it or not, I'm still responsible for you. I left you with your mother because I thought you'd be safe there in Lima until it was time for your harvesting."
"Still left me, Dad," Noah replied quietly. "I wouldn't exactly say I was very safe considering all the bull I got into."
"Not my fault you became a rebel."
"Actually it is," the teen steps forward and crowds his dad's personal space. "I had no father figure, and you left me with a drunk that didn't really give two shits about me. You wanna tell me how that's not your fault?" Not letting the man talk he continued, "Furthermore, I had no idea who I was. What if in all that time someone had come for me, I wouldn't have had any way to protect myself. My powers were bound!"
"We bound your powers so no one would come for you," Elijah calmly said.
"Who's we?" he shot back with a hiked eyebrow.
"Myself and some of the others, by the instruction of Odin. Our leader."
The teen rolled his eyes, "Really? Odin from Shakespeare or whatever? You telling me you're from – "
"Avalon, yes," his father finished. "Or what some cultures call Mag Mell, Emain Ablach, the Tir na nÓg, etcetera."
"Bored."
"The point is you must come home with me, before the hunters finish what they started," Elijah said urgently.
Head drawing back in confusion, he just said, "What? What are you talking about?"
"Noam, you're in a coma. You were shot with an arrow by hunters!"
Jaw dropping and feeling even more godsmacked then before Puck gasped. "I don't understand. I – " Oh. "The vision I had…it wasn't a vision."
His dad shook his head.
"So we're…we're in a dream?"
"Not quite," his dad said, taking a deep breath to calm down. "We're on the astral plane. I helped your body project itself here so we can talk without anyone hearing. But we don't have a lot of time, son. The poison on the arrow will kill you if we don't get you home."
"Poison?" the teen said startled. "I've been poisoned and shot with an arrow?"
"A flint arrow, yes. But we can fix this."
"Oh, god," Noah said feeling the pain in his back begin to throb as he fell back against the wall. "I need – I need to get to Angel. I have to see him."
"No you need to come home, Noam. Please," his dad begged softly pushing the bangs that had been growing out of Noah's eyes.
"I don't want to go to Avalon," he growled. "I want Angel. This is your fault anyway."
"I always planned to come back for you, son. I'm sorry but I had to leave. I had to get away from you before the hunters figured out you belonged to me. It wasn't safe. I left you with a way to find me if something happened."
"You mean the code?" Noah snorted. "It makes no sense. How would I have ever figured it out?"
Elijah looks at Noah curiously, "Your mother really never told you anything did she?"
Puck shot him a no shit, Sherlock look. Clearing his throat, Elijah nodded and unfolded his arms before swiping the air and producing a scroll. The teens eyebrows shot up. "How did you do that?"
Taking a breath, the man held the scroll out to his son. "This is the second half of the code I left with your mother. She was supposed to use the summoning charm to get it and give it to you when you wanted to reach me. When you were old enough to understand the truth."
Snorting, Noah shrugged sagging a little further into the wall. "Well, I've never told her I wanted you. So I guess that's why she never gave it to me."
Eye shining slightly, Elijah shook his head. "That's not true son, and you know it."
Shocked, Noah stood up. "Excuse me?" he gasped.
"I know all about you sitting in the corner of your mother's room with my guitar when she wasn't home, and wishing I would walk through the door and ask you what you were doing there. Like I did when you were little," he smiled affectionately. "I know because I'd project myself to sit next to you, and touch your shoulder. You'd always jump and look around, and I'd wish you could see me. That I could be there."
"Who the hell do you think you are?"
"You father," he replied with a loving smile and sniffled a little. "I was there, Noam. Watching. Every chance I could anyway."
"Bullshit," Noah whispered.
"No it's not," he responded, still holding the scroll. "And I dearly hope that when you come with me to Avalon, we can begin to build a new life. Together. The way we are meant to be."
Noah looked at the scroll in his father hands and finally reached for it, looking at the man with a careful eye.
~P&A~
A black hooded figure dropped through a small window and into an old, dirty living room. It sighed and removed its hood, revealing a dark skinned man with eyes the color of sapphires and a scar running along the length of his face.
He walked to the mirror and removed his black cloak along with his weapons and leather gloves.
"Тя ще бъде скоро, капитанa," he said lowly. Turning around he looks for the face in the dark that has promised him so many things. The other man was also had a dark complexion, but was dressed in ceremonial black robes and lying on a dingy couch with his arms crossed, unconscious.
"Аз го заразени с отрова. Подозирам, до полунощ ще го има, и ние ще бъдем в състояние да извършат ритуала." Walking forward to the side of the couch and he crouched down to smile at his master. "Аз ще се върна, баща ми. Моят господар. И тогава ние ще направим друго заплащане. За вечността."
Translation: It will be soon, master. I have infected him with the poison. I suspect that by midnight we will have him, and we can perform the ritual. I will get you back, my father. My master. And then we will make the other pay. For eternity.