Middle Son - ANGEL the Series/NCIS - FRMA - General - Multiple Pairings

[angelfirenze]

Middle Son
By Angelfirenze

Disclaimer: Mutant Enemy, Bellasarius, and all involved are the geniuses behind these characters. I just borrow them at times to manipulate them much like action figures before returning them slightly abused but generally in good shape.

Summary: "So you were going to just use my daughter as petrol to put your Humpty Dumpty back together and thought I wouldn't find out about it or care if I did?"

Spoilers: Well, it's completely departed from both canons, so -- nothing, really.

Inspiration: 'Not Fade Away'. Also adoxerella, particularly leelaa, and mendenbar deserve a certain (large) amount of credit for letting me know this story has been far from forgotten.

Rating: M

Notes: Stupid brain.

Timeline: For those who need reminding at this point (we can all thank my writer's block *kicks it*), post-AtS; AtF notwithstanding, though it's inspired some stuff; BtVS S8 has NOT happened, and the NCIS timeline has been fiddled with to match that of the Jossverse.

Part XXVI: Fealty

Contrary to Lindsey's words, Wesley didn't exactly bash the door down. Instead, he walked into the room, leaving everyone but the comatose form of Angel gasping as his eyes had turned scarlet and crenelations of light now traced his facial features.

"So you were going to just use my daughter as petrol to put your Humpty Dumpty back together and thought I wouldn't find out about it or care if I did?"

Eve scowled, both at Wesley and Angel's prone form. "She had it coming."

Behind her, Lindsey gasped, muttering under his breath that she was 'damn crazy' and leaning back toward the desk Lilah's research sat upon, feeling like he was watching a car wreck in progress, powerless to intervene.

"Whom is 'she'? Wesley asked quietly. "Certainly not my -- " he looked at a desperately anxious Lilah and amended his words. "Our daughter, since she's not even born yet and cannot possibly be guilty of her mother and my crimes. No, you were simply going to kill her while she was still inside her mother's womb and wouldn't be a threat anymore."

Connor, Sr. gasped again, turning from his son's prone form to stare at Eve in horror. "Ye would damn an infant so ye got what ye wan'ed? I'll lose my son because ye don' care about anyone except yerself!"

"You LOST HIM," Eve raged back, now irate with affront at being addressed this way by her brother's worthless human father. "Because you threw him out into the gutter, I wasn't there!"

"You're here now," Wesley interrupted quietly. "And back to what I was saying, you don't care about anything other than what you want, even though you know what your Fathers are like. Someone seems to think they're Daddies' little princess and won't have to answer for the blood of an innocent child just to get your boyfriend back. Well, even if no one else does anything about it, I will."

Eve flinched violently, only to gape in surprise as Wesley knelt down next to Angel and ran a hand over the vampire's face, bringing forth not his demonic visage, but the aegis Wes had watched the man painstakingly inscribe upon his flesh. Sighing deeply when Lilah and Liliana's blood smear once again rose upon Angel's brow, Wes put his own hand on the stain and whispered urgently to Angel, whose eyes were fluttering.

In the hallway, Connor, Jr., Kaitlyn, Laurence, and Colleen - who had dashed up the stairs when Connor realized what he was hearing) looked on in horror as tendrils of light grew out from Angel's chest and entered their own chests, as well as Wesley's and Connor, Sr.'s and suffused them with a pale green sort of aura before fading.

The family's eyes all widened, as did Connor, Sr.'s, when they realized Angel's consciousness was being piggy-backed onto theirs.

Wes stood again and waited, it seemed, for Angel to open his eyes, and both Connors immediately bent down as Angel's eyelids fluttered and opened, having returned to their original brown color, much to Connor Sr.'s, relief.

He looked over at Wesley and, tears coming to his eyes, told him, "Thank ye, fer bein' my son's great friend an' protectin' him and me grandson. I know it couldn' have been easy..."

To which, Wes merely smiled, but set his features in a calm façade. "I owe them both for my worst mistake, tenfold, but I must be honest: just as Lilah's assistance won't last forever, unfortunately - " and here, he steadied Angel's nearly limp form with an arm around his shoulder. "We need what Illyria referred to as 'acolytes' to help us. Generally, the power of an Old One isn't meant to be confined to that of a human-like body. They're just so massive. Their consciousness has to be passed through several beings at once so they don't go insane. That's what we need to do."

Readily, all the Reilly's stepped forward in addition to Connor, Sr., but Wes held up a hand, "As much as I'm sure Angel would appreciate the sacrifice, the by far best results would come from those who have a direct connection with Angel's unconscious mind and his blood, so while each Connor will be able to serve, we need others..."

Connor, Jr., bit his lip and nodded, "My stepmother, Faith, and Willow, and Xander Harris."

Wes smiled proudly at his godson, "Yes, all of them. We don't have a great deal of time, but someone will have to contact them. I'm guessing that Angel's grandchildren would be of a great help, as well, since they also share blood with Angel and your oldest brother. Only then, I believe, will Angel and Agent Gibbs will fully awaken."

Connor, Jr., shot to his feet, "What are we waiting for, then?" he then glared at Eve, who narrowed her eyes at him, likely wishing he would explode. "She needs to be locked away somewhere she can't kill innocent babies. She's as bad as Holtz."

Wes and a now more conscious Angel stared at Connor's mention of his kidnapper in this way. To say it was unexpected, at the very least, was obvious.

"It's true," Connor reasoned and Wesley nodded as his godson reached out to help his father to his feet. "But, I mean, where are..."

"Jethro's trunk," Angel stated and Connor, Sr.'s eyes widened, "Of course. Ye said that it was covered in all sorts o' magicks for protection. After ye jumped in an' out of it an' gave me a coronary, o' course."

"I already said 'sorry', Father," Angel stared at Eve before reaching a hand out and she immediately flew into it, Angel's grip on her arm like iron. "Now you can see exactly what you were so ready to do, for yourself!" he hissed before turning and hauling Eve out of Lilah's room.

Lindsey wanted to go with her, but he was still so tired. Lilah gave him a look, "Wes, levitate Boneless, here, onto the bed."

Wes gave Lindsey a once-over and proceeded to do so. With a quiet groan, Lindsey passed out after he was finally settled.

Turning and looking brightly back at Angel's father, Wes cheerfully said, "Right, let's go wake Jethro up and then we can..."

Wes' words petered out and the others looked at him. "I'd forgotten about what Jethro will most likely do if he sees Ari or Ziva here. Bugger."

"We'll solve that later, Uncle Wes," Connor, Jr., affirmed, eager never to see his father have another seizure. "Let's just wake him up!"

Wes paused slightly at Connor's take-charge attitude and brought up a hand to gently stroke Connor, Jr.'s cheek. "You're just like your father."

At this, Connor's face blanked and Wes was certain he was going to be thrown out the window.

To his shock, Connor's face split into a wide smile and he rolled his eyes, "Well, DUH, Uncle Wes!"

And, at this, Wesley smiled.

...TBC...

Author's Notes I finally did it. I finally managed to clear my mind enough to get this written. I hope it's enough for now. Thank you, faithful readers, for being so patient with my horrendous writer's block. I've got ideas; getting them WRITTEN is the problem.

prologue and part one, part two, part three, part four, part five, part six, part seven, part eight, part nine, part ten, part eleven, part twelve, part thirteen, part fourteen, part fifteen, part sixteen, part seventeen, part eighteen, part nineteen, part twenty, part twenty-one, part twenty-two, part twenty-three, part twenty-four, part twenty-five, part twenty-six