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2020-11-04
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Paradox

Summary:

Wes always has a back up plan. Set during the Season 3 Baby Connor arc.

Work Text:

Title: Paradox
Author: Angel Negra
Rating: FRT-13
Pairings: None.
Summary: Wes always has a back up plan.
Disclaimer: I don't own them, Joss does. And he's very good about not suing me for playing with them.
Spoilers: Minor Season 3 Angel (Baby Connor).
Archiving: The Plural of Apocalypse ( http://www.redkrowe.com/~poa/ ) and my site ( http://www.redkrowe.com/~sgm/ ). Otherwise, please ask first.
Author's Notes: This is set in Season 3 of BtVS and Season 3 of Angel. The purloined letter is a ref to Edgar Allen Poe's short story 'The Purloined Letter'.
Author's Notes 2: Thanks to Am-Chau for the beta and Christina for the enthusiastic response. There will be a sequel to this, which will tie this fic into actual canon and explain a few questions.
*

The Father will kill the Son.

Obviously, the best way to avoid this would be to hide the baby. Away with Justine and Connor, on the run, possibly forever. It was a sound plan, but Wes had small doubts. And where Connor was concerned, small doubts were important.

He needed a way to hide Connor from everyone. Some place no one would think to look. A regular purloined letter. And that's when it struck him.

Wes had to check to be sure. Connor's blood records were easy, they were already part of his gathered research materials. He only had to pull some old files out of storage for the rest.

***

"Really, Mr. Whydham-Pryce. Is knowing their blood-types all that important?" Anderson gave him a look that was a mix of disbelief and annoyance.

Wesley lifted his chin and smiled coldly. "As the Watcher of two active Slayers, I should think I would know better than you what is important and what is not. Preparation is the key, one must know all one can before even hoping to grasp how to handle a case such as-"

"All right, all right!" Anderson thrust the medical files at Wesley and pushed him out the door...

***

The more Wes worked through the details of his plan, the more bits and pieces started to make sense.

***

Wesley spotted Ms. Chase and Xander arguing again and his heart gave a little thrill. Ms. Chase was simply stunning when angry, simply- no, no. Get a hold of yourself, man. She's a student and you are in a position of authority. However, if you just happen to be inspecting Mr. Giles' copy of 'Daemons of Undar' to see if it matches your own and it just brings you a tad nearer to Ms. Chase, that would be acceptable...

"God, Xander! Did every nurse in the hospital drop you on your head as a baby?"

"Hey, there was no dropping of any kind! Sure, a fading scar came out of nowhere and my parents couldn't prove anything, but that wasn't dropping. But you, oh Frosty the Snow Queen, I bet they used you to run the mini-fridge."

"Well, that was the lamest comeback I've heard in the past five minutes. Can't your tiny brain..."

***

Wes worried at first about going through with it, but then there was all the proof that his plan had already worked. And if he didn't do it. Well, that would be an interesting paradox, wouldn't it?

It made sense in a way. It answered the questions Mr. Giles had asked many a time in his Watcher's diary. Why was the paranormal continuously drawn to Xander Harris? Why had the boy never developed a particular supernatural talent?

There had never been a child born of two vampires before. No precedent set. No clear way to tell what the boy was, other than human.

And the more time Wes spent first looking at Connor, then at the cheap school photograph of Xander, the more he could see it. The features Connor would develop. The similarities between Xander and his blood parents.

Xander's attitude towards Angel. And Angel's towards Xander. It was like some deep part of them recognized their blood connection.

***

Wesley's breath rushed out of his lungs as he slammed into the gravestone. He looked up helplessly as his opponent swooped down for the killing blow. The vampire was yanked back and thrown to the side, and Angel was there, pulling him up.

"You all right?" Angel asked.

Wesley nodded, then noticed another vampire rushing towards Angel's back. He opened his mouth, but before he could speak, it lurched and fell, having been hit on the head by Xander's baseball bat. Angel caught the stake Xander tossed him, and dusted Wesley's original opponent.

Angel kicked the second vampire in the stomach, and shoved it onto the stake Xander had pulled from somewhere. It exploded into a cloud of dust. Xander grinned, nodded briefly to Angel, and pocketed the stake...

***

The spell hadn't taken as long as Wes had feared. He quietly made his way to the maternity ward, cradling Connor and humming softly in hopes of keeping the baby asleep.

He lit his small torch and began scanning the names. Alexander Harris was the fifth baby in the second row.

There was a brief second of panic as Wes tried to figure out how to hold his torch and switch the two babies at the same time. He settled for sticking the torch in his mouth, moving Connor to his left arm and picking up Alexander Harris with his right.

Once Connor was settled, Wes placed a soft kiss on his forehead. "I'm sorry about your new parents. But at least this way, you'll live. Just remember, your real parents loved you more than anything. We all did. Do."

Blinking back a slight stinging to his eyes, Wes cradled Alexander Harris to his chest and made his way back to the awaiting portal.

Arriving back in L.A., two blocks from his meeting place with Justine, Wes paused to catch his bearings. He glanced down at Alexander Harris. No- Connor Angel now. "I'm sorry I had to do that. Your new life won't be perfect, but you helped save the life of someone I love very much... And for that reason alone, I swear I will raise you to the best of my ability. Now, time to meet your new mother..."

End