Birthday Prezzie

[cornerofmadness]

Well I know I promised to finish a lot of WIP's for birthday/christmas gifts this year. Looks like I won't make it. But I DID get a little of chapter seven of Buile Mo Chroi done for marenfic 's birthday. Go me. I AM proud of myself since I did this all today after not touching this story for over a year.

If anyone cares to read it, the prequel to it was Nil Se Ina La which is just a few pages long. It's a total AR of the end of S4 of Angel. S5 never happened. And Sunnydale never fell in.  Buile Mo Chroi takes place a few years later. Things you need to know, both Angel and Spike shanshued and are more like Connor, human but with vamp strength. Connor is a special Ops Watcher partnered with Faith and Wes.

Here's the VERY rough and unbeta'ed new chapter (well part of it, I do suck for not getting it done) for Maren's birthday.

Chapter Seven
 
I still felt like hell the next morning, my side aching and pulling as I tried to get to the rest room. Faith was out of bed and I thought I heard her in the kitchen with Dad. I nearly fell over trying to pee but afterwards, I took a few minutes to steady myself in front of the vanity before heading for the kitchen. My face was the same color as the porcelain, looking almost doll-like especially with the waist length fall of hair framing it.
 
I walked as steady as I could into the kitchen. If they thought I was weak, Dad would fuss until I was forced to kill him. I collapsed gratefully into a chair at the kitchen table. I glanced over at Faith and Dad, hoping for the best. “Morning.”
 
“Afternoon, stud but who’s keeping track?” Faith grinned at me.
 
“Damn! Dad what’s for lunch?” I hoped food would shore me up a little bit. “How’s everyone holding up?”
 
“Badly,” Angel said, getting up. He put on a pot of leftover potato soup from the scent of it. My mouth watered and my stomach growled. “We’ll be heading over there shortly. The ladies are becoming more aware…and to be honest I’m not sure what we’re going to do.”
 
“Not get distracted,” I said trying to tell myself that I wouldn’t, knowing it was lie. “I screwed up getting hold of Ethan but I’m not going to let him distract us away from his goal.”
 
“Easier said than done,” Faith replied, getting me some orange juice.
 
“I know but I figure it this way, you don’t have too many emotional ties to those women, Faith. Hamish, Kate, Maddie and Lindsey have none, really.” I gulped the sweet liquid, getting a rush. “You’re the ones who need to work the hardest even if the rest of us are falling apart around you.”
 
Faith glanced over at Angel. “Can I have a few minutes alone with Connor, Angel? I’ll mind the soup.”
 
Angel nodded and retreated into another room. Faith sat next to me, taking my hand. "Connor, you need me now. I know I’m not good with the heavy emotional stuff but I know you need me bad. I know what Cordy meant to you.”

“Meant…as in past tense. You mean a lot to me now, Faith,” I assured her but I sounded anything but sure. Cordy being back was something I couldn’t even think about. “I need you to not let Ethan get away with this. I need you to make him pay for disturbing their rest. I was dead once, only briefly. I barely remember it but even I feel guilty about still being alive again from time to time. Ask Buffy how she feels. You can’t imagine the horror that Ethan has wrought. Someone has to make him pay.”
 
Faith caught my long, loose hair, pulling me close as she kissed me hard. “If you need me, you can tell me. Maddie, Ham, Kate and Lindsey can get along without me.”
 
I slipped a hand behind her head, kissing her back hungrily. “I will I promise. I know if I break, I’m not good to anyone.”
 
“I won’t let you break,” she whispered.
 
I smiled, “Thanks. Think you need to stir my soup.”
 
“Damn.” Faith raced over and saved the soup from scorching.
 
“Dad, Faith’s catching the house on fire.” I smirked.
 
“Brat.” She hissed at me.
 
Dad came racing in. “Away from the stove, Faith.”
 
“I can cook, you know.” She pouted.
 
“No, baby you really can’t,” I said as Dad poured my soup into a bowl. She pouted more. He whapped the soup with a generous dollop of sour cream, mounded on bacon bits then buried it in cheddar. Oh yes, Dad had become an epicurean since becoming human and oh yes, his butt really needed to be working out. He’d weigh three hundred pounds if he ate like this all the time.
 
I tucked into the loaded potato soup like a starving man. Dad could cook well. “Delicious,” I mumbled around a hot mouthful of soup.
 
“We’ll be heading to Buffy’s. We’ll fill you in when we get back,” Dad said.
 
“I’m going with you,” I protested.
 
“You’re not well enough,” he insisted.
 
“I’m more than capable of sitting there as I am of sitting around here,” I argued, getting a little ticked. Logically, I knew I should just crawl back in bed and let myself recover but I didn’t like being helpless and hated appearing that way. I was going with them, like it or not.
 
Angel sighed.
 
“He’s stubborn,” Faith said.
 
“So was his mother…and his father is, too.” Angel sighed again. “Fine, but we do have to dress that wound again before we go and if it looks bad, you’re staying home.”
 
“Fair enough.” I knew that wasn’t a fight I could win and didn’t want to because that was just dumb and my foolish pride only went so far.
 
I finished my soup and tried not to let the pain show as I walked back to the bedroom. I laid on my side so they could fix me up. I struggled to keep my breathing even. God, it really hurt. I could see by Dad’s expression he didn’t buy that I would be okay. He was probably right but I was willing to risk it.
 
By the time I was in the car, I was sweating badly. I was probably even paler than I felt, which was saying something. Both Faith and Dad gave me a look that said I was trying their patience with my stoic routine. Well, too bad. They’re lucky I could think and function at all. Given the circumstances, I thought I was doing okay. As much as I wanted to have Angel or Faith let me lean on them, since my strength was fading fast, it would mean they’d know how weak I was and take me home.

I didn’t even have to ask once I got inside. Kate took one look and vacated a chair. I dropped into it.
 
The detective put a hand on my shoulder. “Need anything, Connor?”
 
“Thanks no,” I said then my mouth stopped working entirely. Buffy came down the stairs with the resurrectees behind her. Suddenly Cordelia was very real to me again and I didn’t know what to do or say.

AND I could use some help. Ethan and the brotherhood have created this massive spell to distract the Slayers and their friends from whatever they want with the hellmouth...problem is I'm not sure what they want. It's the reason the story stalled...do if you have suggestions I'd love to hear them.

 

Comments

[makd.livejournal.com]

printed this out last night; figured I'd have bedtime reading. Bummer! I had to do an ER run, so spent four hours there last night and thank you --- this made for good, engrossing reading that kept my mind off why I was there. (Gil has Bell's Palsy, so he was quite awhile in the ER, while they triaged patients, did a blood test, etc.)

Anyway - thank you for the new (to me) and longish read. Much appreciated.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry you two had to go to the ER last night,hope everything's okay.

And you're welcome. I'm hoping to get a little input on to what Ethan and the Brotherhood really want. Did a little brainstorming last night. definitely want to get moving on this and other WIP's

[rahirah]

Hmmm...

Ethan's a chaos mage. In the past, he's never had any grand world-conquering agenda. He either wants to stir things up for the hell of it, or (in a weird way) he's flirting with Giles. I don't mean that in a slashy way, necessarily, though it could be that too, but Ethan is Giles's oldest friend and colleague, and he wants Giles's attention. Wants Giles to notice him. Hates that Giles has cut off their old association.

The other possible motive is revenge. I doubt Ethan's really happy about being locked up in an Initiative cell for years. That's probably tangled up in his desire to make Giles notice him, too. Of course, a lot depends on who's really in charge. Is Ethan the tool of the brotherhood, or vice versa? If the brotherhood is really in charge, then they could easily have more far-reaching goals.

So why would either of them need access to the Hellmouth? If the Brotherhood is in charge and they have big conquery plans, perhaps they're after that army of Turok-Han stashed down there. Someone who's brighter than the First Evil could do big things with an army of ancient super-powerful vampires. Or perhaps they're trying to raise some other kind of demon, such as the one from The Zeppo. It seems like you can get different things from the Hellmouth depending on the phase of the moon or the alignment of the stars or whatever. Or maybe the Brotherhood are some kind of mystical order, and want to use the Hellmouth to ascend to a higher plane--which would unfortunately destroy Sunnydale, but what do they care, they'd be gone.

[cornerofmadness.livejournal.com]

Thanks, in some YIM convo's, I pretty much came up with what you suggested for the Brotherhood. They're after a Demon-King Ashmedai and to permanently open the mouth up wide.

And I love your ideas for why Ethan's along for the ride (which is what he was doing). This gives him the motivation I need. I keep forgetting he was imprisoned. That would be plenty strong motivation there.

Thanks