CharlieGunn1
Ready for battle...
((AU Angel Season 6, Hey everyone, as I've been cooped up for the last 4 months due to the world becoming a badly written YA Apocalypse Novel, I decided to share some of my stories and fanfics. Hope you enjoy, and stay safe.))
Chapter 1
"Hey, keep your head up."
The sound of an aluminum bat smacking a ball hit Gunn's ears. The small playing field was only occupied by a small boy and a grown man, clearly in the midst of practice.
"Here it comes..." The man, dressed in an old Angels t-shirt and patched jeans tossed another ball towards the little boy.
The boy, remarkably familiar to Charles swung and missed. Whiffing by the ball as he swung.
"So close." The older man said.
"But I missed... I stink." the boy tossed the bat down and pouted. His small frame wearing a smaller version of the older mans' baseball t-shirt.
"Now son come on.... what you miss once and your done."
"This game is stupid." The boy complained as Gunn approached the bleachers... sitting and watching intently.
"I tell you what... it is pretty dumb. But you know what's dumber?" the older man approached and picked up the bat. Carefully he dusted it off, and handed it back to the boy.
"What?" the young boy asked.
"Giving up before you start." The older man responded, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"But what if I try a hundred times and keep messing up?"
"Then you try again. Games not just about the times you nail it, it's about what happens when you miss too. Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, hell even me, we all mess up and miss, that's what makes the game interesting. Now you try again, and this time, keep your head up."
"Ok... dad." the young Gunn said smiling as his father went back to his place and prepared to throw again.
Gunn's expression dropped. He was no longer smiling, he knew exactly what this was. Dreams weren't this sharp.
---
"You don't like it?" Illyria said as her blue face intruded upon his solitude. The evening hours filled the night with cool air that seemed to unnatural for LA.
"How'd you guess?" Gunn asked sarcastically.
"You are more transparent then Wesley ever was. You wear your emotions like a badge, like armor, but they are easier to read. Yet, you see to enjoy them more." the blue bomber said as she squatted inhumanely above him on the bleachers.
"Why the... fantasy?" Gunn asked unsure of just what could have occurred to force Illyria to make this projection.
"Because you haven't recovered yet, and I could sense you struggling. Your weak mortal shell was damaged. The coma has helped keep you from more harm as your body heals, but your mind is lost, clouded by anger and guilt and the lack of clarity." she said plainly,
"Should have let me die." Gunn said, realizing at once that the fight had gone much more badly for him, then he'd hoped. "After what I did to Fred..."
"You did nothing to Fred. I did. I took her mortal form from the world. Now I cannot return what I have taken, and this world was made worse from her absence. Now even if I leave all that waits for me is darkness. I feel as if-"
"-You failed." Gunn said mournfully, turning his head as his young self hit the ball and sent it a few dozen feet away.
"-Yes. I did more violence, crushed a hundred demon spawn.... two hundred... yet I cannot recover Wesley, and I cannot bear this 'grieving'." she said fervently as if angered by the idea of failure.
"Well... that's something we share in common. So, I'm what, the consolation prize? Save my soul and poof you win?" Gunn said not moving his eyes from him former self playing catch with a father never existed.
"Your soul is not mine to save, and would be far to complicated to attempt to extricate." she replied, suddenly appearing next to him on the bleachers.
"What gave the illusion away... be specific. I wish to learn from my error." the blue demoness asked without pause.
"I'm not going to help you be a better liar." Gunn replied gruffly.
"IT's not lying. This reality exists. If it didn't I couldn't project it." Illryia said dismissively.
"You're telling me there is a reality where my father was as good a baseball player as Babe Ruth?" Gunn asked incredulously
"I do not know who this Ruth infant is, but your father is a powerful part of you, in every dimension. Either through his absence or his presence. You humans have such limited abilities to sense the realities that penetrate you." she said pointedly.
"Putting aside the penetration part... You can see these realities? Project them into the present?" he asked excitedly.
"For those who lie and yet don't wake yes... in my time nightmares and dreams fought each other for control of time and space, mastering combat with them is essential. Showing you the various possibilities is simple, if our connection is strong enough."
---
"What's she doing?" Angel stood in the corner watching as the blue haired demon queen held her hand to Charles Gunn's forehead. A low glowing light illuminated his head and as she stood chanting silently.
"I don't know... She might helping him.... his vitals are getting stronger." Harmony stood examining the two as they connected. "Or she could be sucking his brain dry." Willow said quietly she turned to Angel. "That's a joke." She said trying to smile but it faded as Angel didn't respond. He simply sat back down in the chair by the door. The county hospital was full of horrific scene like this, the full onslaught from Wolfram & Hearts contingency plan had taken hours to put down.
The arrival of Willow and Faith along with a few backups had helped to turn the tide. But somehow he couldn't celebrate there wasn't much left of 'Team Angel'. Wes hadn't checked in, Lorne had gone a-wall. Now Gunn was teetering on the brink. A day and night, and nothing.
The blood loss made Gunn look small, fragile even. Angel tried not to consider what that level of beating must have felt like. Gunn had taken a spear through the shoulder, a knife to his chest, several demony bites to his extremities, and yet hadn't stopped fighting until he collapsed near the end. He fought like a man possessed. Angel had seen men fight in valiant struggles before, and Gunn's was up there with the best. The doctors had written him off, and if it hadn't been for Willow's intervention, and the transfusion of blood from Faith, Gunn would have perished.
He got up, and left the hospital room. "I'll be back." he said almost mournfully.
---
The TV in the hospital waiting room blared the events of the last three days to angel as he exited Gunn's room.
Coming up at 11... the recent sightings of winged lizards has some locals swearing that dragons are real.
and as Los Angeles cleans up after another shake up, news today that Wolfram and Hart will shuttering it's LA branch due to financial irregularities in legal documents sent to the district attorney.
---
"How is he?" Spike asked standing up as her and a few other slayerettes sat around.
"Alive. Illiryia's doing something..." Angel mumbled.
"Helping him... right? 'cause Faith didn't give old Chucky her blood for her to-"
"I think she is yeah." He said as he began to walk away.
"Angel, don't do that mate." Faith said after him, She grabbed his shoulder. "You lost a lot in the past few days, don't go gettin' all broody."
"What?"
"You know that thing you do where you stand in rooms and pretend to be sullen? Not the time."
"Spike, I lost Wes, I lost Fred, I lost Chordy, I'm this close to losing Gun. Can we not do the lil' brother big brother routine?"
"First, you didn't lose anyone, we lost them... together. That's how we get through things like loss, we don't do them one one one. IT's a team effort, just like living. Also I'm big brother material." Spike said as he patted his chest pocket for a cigarette pack then noticed the big sign on the wall, with a large no-smoking symbol.
"Second, 'case you haven't noticed we won. Big fight with big evil, and we kicked big evil's bloated ass. So lets' not go running up to roof tops and looking all pensive." Spike said as he shook his head.
"They'll be back." Angel said in a low tone and turned around, He put his back to the wall in the hospital corridor. A few nurses wandered by, as a loud speaker announced that a certain doctor was needed in ward 22.
"Well sure, that's one way of sayin' it." Spike said as he came closer and folded his arms. The cockney brit vampire's sarcasm was cutting as usual.
"I'm just tired. We fight and we fight, and we just lose people. It's-" Angel said as he leaned against the wall. Spike did the same next to him, looking into the same nothing in the distance.
"Well that's the root of it inna it? Whats the bloody point? Don't go down that road lil' brother, that's were evil lives. You and I both know that. It ain't about winning, it's about the fight. Someday's we get a little ahead, and someday's we lose, but when we give up, when we despair... that's when it all goes to-"
"Am I interrupting an intimate moment?" Faith said as she spoke up "A real feelings fest here fella's." Faith's long brown hair was kept out her face by the locs now gracing he head. she smiled at them both and walked past.
"Oh, hey, uh...How are things out there?" Angel asked pointedly, as he bounced up from his lean slightly embarrassed.
"Better, the Wolfram and Hart took their ball and went home. The buildings being demolished. Losing so many senior partners in one night put them in a running mood. Hell of thing ya'll did." Faith said smiling.
"Yeah, it was." Spike said reminiscing to the fight. "Did you kill the dragon? Cause you really had your heart set -"
"It's complicated." Angel said frowning.
"How's Gunn?" Faith asked, her tone no longer playful, but concerned.
Chapter 1
"Hey, keep your head up."
The sound of an aluminum bat smacking a ball hit Gunn's ears. The small playing field was only occupied by a small boy and a grown man, clearly in the midst of practice.
"Here it comes..." The man, dressed in an old Angels t-shirt and patched jeans tossed another ball towards the little boy.
The boy, remarkably familiar to Charles swung and missed. Whiffing by the ball as he swung.
"So close." The older man said.
"But I missed... I stink." the boy tossed the bat down and pouted. His small frame wearing a smaller version of the older mans' baseball t-shirt.
"Now son come on.... what you miss once and your done."
"This game is stupid." The boy complained as Gunn approached the bleachers... sitting and watching intently.
"I tell you what... it is pretty dumb. But you know what's dumber?" the older man approached and picked up the bat. Carefully he dusted it off, and handed it back to the boy.
"What?" the young boy asked.
"Giving up before you start." The older man responded, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"But what if I try a hundred times and keep messing up?"
"Then you try again. Games not just about the times you nail it, it's about what happens when you miss too. Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron, hell even me, we all mess up and miss, that's what makes the game interesting. Now you try again, and this time, keep your head up."
"Ok... dad." the young Gunn said smiling as his father went back to his place and prepared to throw again.
Gunn's expression dropped. He was no longer smiling, he knew exactly what this was. Dreams weren't this sharp.
---
"You don't like it?" Illyria said as her blue face intruded upon his solitude. The evening hours filled the night with cool air that seemed to unnatural for LA.
"How'd you guess?" Gunn asked sarcastically.
"You are more transparent then Wesley ever was. You wear your emotions like a badge, like armor, but they are easier to read. Yet, you see to enjoy them more." the blue bomber said as she squatted inhumanely above him on the bleachers.
"Why the... fantasy?" Gunn asked unsure of just what could have occurred to force Illyria to make this projection.
"Because you haven't recovered yet, and I could sense you struggling. Your weak mortal shell was damaged. The coma has helped keep you from more harm as your body heals, but your mind is lost, clouded by anger and guilt and the lack of clarity." she said plainly,
"Should have let me die." Gunn said, realizing at once that the fight had gone much more badly for him, then he'd hoped. "After what I did to Fred..."
"You did nothing to Fred. I did. I took her mortal form from the world. Now I cannot return what I have taken, and this world was made worse from her absence. Now even if I leave all that waits for me is darkness. I feel as if-"
"-You failed." Gunn said mournfully, turning his head as his young self hit the ball and sent it a few dozen feet away.
"-Yes. I did more violence, crushed a hundred demon spawn.... two hundred... yet I cannot recover Wesley, and I cannot bear this 'grieving'." she said fervently as if angered by the idea of failure.
"Well... that's something we share in common. So, I'm what, the consolation prize? Save my soul and poof you win?" Gunn said not moving his eyes from him former self playing catch with a father never existed.
"Your soul is not mine to save, and would be far to complicated to attempt to extricate." she replied, suddenly appearing next to him on the bleachers.
"What gave the illusion away... be specific. I wish to learn from my error." the blue demoness asked without pause.
"I'm not going to help you be a better liar." Gunn replied gruffly.
"IT's not lying. This reality exists. If it didn't I couldn't project it." Illryia said dismissively.
"You're telling me there is a reality where my father was as good a baseball player as Babe Ruth?" Gunn asked incredulously
"I do not know who this Ruth infant is, but your father is a powerful part of you, in every dimension. Either through his absence or his presence. You humans have such limited abilities to sense the realities that penetrate you." she said pointedly.
"Putting aside the penetration part... You can see these realities? Project them into the present?" he asked excitedly.
"For those who lie and yet don't wake yes... in my time nightmares and dreams fought each other for control of time and space, mastering combat with them is essential. Showing you the various possibilities is simple, if our connection is strong enough."
---
"What's she doing?" Angel stood in the corner watching as the blue haired demon queen held her hand to Charles Gunn's forehead. A low glowing light illuminated his head and as she stood chanting silently.
"I don't know... She might helping him.... his vitals are getting stronger." Harmony stood examining the two as they connected. "Or she could be sucking his brain dry." Willow said quietly she turned to Angel. "That's a joke." She said trying to smile but it faded as Angel didn't respond. He simply sat back down in the chair by the door. The county hospital was full of horrific scene like this, the full onslaught from Wolfram & Hearts contingency plan had taken hours to put down.
The arrival of Willow and Faith along with a few backups had helped to turn the tide. But somehow he couldn't celebrate there wasn't much left of 'Team Angel'. Wes hadn't checked in, Lorne had gone a-wall. Now Gunn was teetering on the brink. A day and night, and nothing.
The blood loss made Gunn look small, fragile even. Angel tried not to consider what that level of beating must have felt like. Gunn had taken a spear through the shoulder, a knife to his chest, several demony bites to his extremities, and yet hadn't stopped fighting until he collapsed near the end. He fought like a man possessed. Angel had seen men fight in valiant struggles before, and Gunn's was up there with the best. The doctors had written him off, and if it hadn't been for Willow's intervention, and the transfusion of blood from Faith, Gunn would have perished.
He got up, and left the hospital room. "I'll be back." he said almost mournfully.
---
The TV in the hospital waiting room blared the events of the last three days to angel as he exited Gunn's room.
Coming up at 11... the recent sightings of winged lizards has some locals swearing that dragons are real.
and as Los Angeles cleans up after another shake up, news today that Wolfram and Hart will shuttering it's LA branch due to financial irregularities in legal documents sent to the district attorney.
---
"How is he?" Spike asked standing up as her and a few other slayerettes sat around.
"Alive. Illiryia's doing something..." Angel mumbled.
"Helping him... right? 'cause Faith didn't give old Chucky her blood for her to-"
"I think she is yeah." He said as he began to walk away.
"Angel, don't do that mate." Faith said after him, She grabbed his shoulder. "You lost a lot in the past few days, don't go gettin' all broody."
"What?"
"You know that thing you do where you stand in rooms and pretend to be sullen? Not the time."
"Spike, I lost Wes, I lost Fred, I lost Chordy, I'm this close to losing Gun. Can we not do the lil' brother big brother routine?"
"First, you didn't lose anyone, we lost them... together. That's how we get through things like loss, we don't do them one one one. IT's a team effort, just like living. Also I'm big brother material." Spike said as he patted his chest pocket for a cigarette pack then noticed the big sign on the wall, with a large no-smoking symbol.
"Second, 'case you haven't noticed we won. Big fight with big evil, and we kicked big evil's bloated ass. So lets' not go running up to roof tops and looking all pensive." Spike said as he shook his head.
"They'll be back." Angel said in a low tone and turned around, He put his back to the wall in the hospital corridor. A few nurses wandered by, as a loud speaker announced that a certain doctor was needed in ward 22.
"Well sure, that's one way of sayin' it." Spike said as he came closer and folded his arms. The cockney brit vampire's sarcasm was cutting as usual.
"I'm just tired. We fight and we fight, and we just lose people. It's-" Angel said as he leaned against the wall. Spike did the same next to him, looking into the same nothing in the distance.
"Well that's the root of it inna it? Whats the bloody point? Don't go down that road lil' brother, that's were evil lives. You and I both know that. It ain't about winning, it's about the fight. Someday's we get a little ahead, and someday's we lose, but when we give up, when we despair... that's when it all goes to-"
"Am I interrupting an intimate moment?" Faith said as she spoke up "A real feelings fest here fella's." Faith's long brown hair was kept out her face by the locs now gracing he head. she smiled at them both and walked past.
"Oh, hey, uh...How are things out there?" Angel asked pointedly, as he bounced up from his lean slightly embarrassed.
"Better, the Wolfram and Hart took their ball and went home. The buildings being demolished. Losing so many senior partners in one night put them in a running mood. Hell of thing ya'll did." Faith said smiling.
"Yeah, it was." Spike said reminiscing to the fight. "Did you kill the dragon? Cause you really had your heart set -"
"It's complicated." Angel said frowning.
"How's Gunn?" Faith asked, her tone no longer playful, but concerned.
Last edited: