ficathon response!

for callmesandy thanks for this request, it was fun!
hope you enjoy it!


Title: Eurydice
Author: serena kitt
Rating: PG (nothin' serious)
Fandom: Angel
CoC: Charles Gunn
Disclaimer: grr, arrgh.
Spoilage: for AtS 1.19 "War Zone" and 4.22 "Home"
Author's Note: it's totally AU. takes place in what would be season 5. and it's hella long but, that tends to happen.
Summary: hmm. well, that would ruin the surprise.



“That’s a good one. I’ll have to talk to my supervisor,” the Panther said.

“Yeah, right. Assuming I take this job, I am your supervisor,” Gunn mocked. “Can you do it, or not? Cause I’m not the only one with Team Angel who was pissed to find out this place wasn’t zombied out of commission. If you can’t do it, I might just have to sue Wolfram & Hart for employment discrimination. What’s it gonna be?”

It paced a few steps, in a circle around Gunn.

“Let’s just clarify our terms?”

“Easy. It’s a trade, you get one Charles Gunn, I get the other one.”

“Intriguing. Done.”

Even though the room had no entrances, or exits, he would remember the Panther leaving before she appeared. He would remember taking her hand and walking out together. The rest of them were in the lobby. Lorne was gesturing effusively.

“Siegfried? Evil. Roy, not so much. Gunn! And hello, little miss striking resemblance. Friend on the inside?”

“Gunn? Who?” Fred asked, bewildered.

“Fred, Lorne, this is… my sister, Alonna. She’s gonna be working with us.”

Wesley and Angel came towards them from opposite sides of the hall and stopped in their tracks. Dead Lilah looked on. Alonna turned her eyes to Angel.

“What?” she asked. “What’s with you people? Like you’ve never seen somebody come back from the dead. Damn.”

“Lilah? What did you do?” Angel asked, clearly peeved. “We never said anything about resurrections, what is this going to cost?”

“Easy there, boss. I didn’t arrange this one, you’ll have to talk to your new general counsel,” Lilah nodded toward Gunn. “I don’t want to get mixed up in the red tape. Have to get back to hell and all.”

“She’s alive…” Angel said. Wes watched in silence, narrowing his eyes at Lilah.

“Do we still have a deal?” Lilah asked.

“Yes,” Gunn answered. Angel came toward him and reached for his arm. Gunn dodged. “You begging to differ?”

“We—I already decided to take the deal. But I didn’t know anything about this—about you,” Angel said to Alonna. She returned a cross expression.

“I’m alive,” Alonna said. “It’s news to me, too.”

“Am I to understand that you, Gunn, have negotiated some… special terms for your new position at Wolfram & Hart?” Wesley finally said, scowling a little.

“Look around, we all got special arrangements. I go into the White Room and find out I’m getting the California demon bar exam in my head. You think I’m gonna go into brain surgery like that without my next of kin around?”

“Alonna, hi, I’m Fred Burkle. I think it’s great that you’re alive,” Fred said, smiling. “And I’m sorry you were dead. It’s a pleasure to meet you in person, Gunn has said so little about you.”

“Hey,” Alonna replied. She smiled at Fred, shook her hand. “Thanks.”

“No offense, kids, but did everyone get the evil orientation on the way in? Ms. Gunn, it’s great to meet you, would you mind humming a few bars for old time’s sake?” Lorne asked her. She stepped away from Fred.

“Excuse me?” Alonna asked.

“He wants to read you to make sure you’re… well, you, human you,” Gunn explained. “She is. I know my own family.”

“What assurances do you have that this isn’t some illusion to induce you to accept the offer, Gunn? This firm isn’t exactly known for transparency,” Wes said, looking directly at Lilah.

“I’m sorry, can we stop talking about me like I’m still dead? Gunn, tell them.”

“Yeah, Gunn, tell us, what kind of deal did you make? And why wasn’t I told?” Angel added.

“I’d be careful with that line of questioning if I were you,” Lilah warned.

“Hold up, everybody. Especially you,” Gunn said to Lilah. “My so-called guide took me to the White Room. They were giving me some kind of retro Black Panther treatment, but I figured seeing Decapitated-at-Law here means there’s some serious benefits to working in the belly of the beast. So I told them I’d take the deal, with one condition—and I don’t mean to call you a condition, Alonna.”

“It’s all good,” she said.

“Clever boy, no wonder they picked you to work on strategy,” Lilah smiled. “Are we all on the same page? You’re all clearly impressed with what we have to offer, and no one has ever turned down a job offer from us, living, dead, or un.”

Angel looked around at his colleagues. He and Wes traded glances.

“It’s done,” Angel answered.

“And the small matter of Connor Riley? Feel free to check in, people seem to be getting a whole new lease on life around here,” Lilah said.

“No. No,” Angel said. “I won’t see him.”

“See who? Did Angel bring someone back from the dead, too?” Fred asked, puzzled. Wes gave her the same look of confusion.

“I didn’t get anything back. Welcome to the team, Alonna. Gunn… we’ll talk about this. Someday,” Angel said.

“Welcome back, Alonna Gunn,” Lilah said. “And Angel? It’s done.”

“Welcome back,” Gunn said to his sister and hugged her.

* * *
Charles Gunn, Esquire, sat with his feet up on his desk, reading a fax of upcoming California Supreme Court opinions on his clipboard. His intercom buzzed. “Who is it?”

“Your better half,” came the voice. “Lunchtime?”

“Why are you calling me from across the hall? Girl, you grew up without a phone, don’t start abusing it now,” he said and put the clipboard down.

“Are you busy?”

“Nah, these cases won’t be decided for another six months. Fax came in from the psychics this morning, I got time.”

“Good,” she said, now leaning against the glass double doors to Gunn’s office. She had on a dark purple skirt suit and talked into a flip phone. “Come on, I’m starving. I have to make up for all those meals I missed while I was dead. And while I was alive.”

“I’m looking at you right now and you’re still on the phone. This place is evil, look what it’s done to you,” Gunn said as he stood to meet her.

They took a car to a bistro downtown and sat over the remains of lunch. He thought about how much he had missed these times—the few times when they ever had enough food and enough time to sit and talk and digest it. He thought about what Angel had said the day she came to work for Wolfram & Hart, acting like he owned the place. Just because technically, he did have a controlling share. Still, they hadn’t had that conversation.

“Alonna, did you ever think about what you were gonna be when you grew up?” he asked.

“I wasn’t sure I would grow up, Gunn.”

“Sorry, I shouldn’t ask things like that.”

“No, full disclosure, I get it. You don’t have to apologize for me dying every day at 2:00pm on the dot. You know that, bro.”

“Well?”

“What?”

“You, grown up. My little sister, being a lawyer. An ex-vamp, ex-dusted Black female lawyer with the biggest firm since… ever, as far as I know. You ever feel like I pressured you into this? I mean, did you want to do something else?”

She grinned the way she would when he brought her something. When he stole a box of candy bars from the bodega. When he found a perfectly good jump rope in the garbage. When he made her a stake and showed her how to use it.

“Please. First of all, I’m sitting here with a full stomach, in a suit that cost more than I could carry in two hands before I died, talking to my only family who spent four years with strangers and still picked me when he could have anything in the world? You need to chill, Gunn. I love you. I owe you my life. I owe you my afterlife.”

“And you like studying law? Even having to watch me defend our shady client list?” Gunn took a sip of the Pellegrino.

“They’re not all that shady. I could find a good man on that list.”

“Hey! You are not allowed to talk about grown people’s business.”

“Is this even about me? Come on, Gunn, what did you want to be when you grew up?”

He thought about it. It was easy. He couldn’t remember anything else.

“Good. I wanted to be good. I wanted you to be able to look up to me.”

“I did, from jump. I still do. For real, think about it, you’re the only one there who really knows the law. You could turn the whole firm around. It could be Wolf, Ram, Hart & Gunn one day.”

“For real? You’re not just saying that on the off chance I’ll cede my division to you when I get promoted?”

“Well, either I’m going into the family business or I have to marry up. I’m just saying.”

* * *

Harmony knocked on the glass doors. Gunn looked up from his computer and waved her in.

“Staff meeting at 4,” she said from outside.

“I can’t hear you, Harmony, it’s bulletproof, soundproof glass.”

“Huh? I can’t hear you.”

“What?” Gunn asked.

Harmony opened the door and asked, “What did you say? I can’t hear through the glass. It’s bulletproof, I think. It’s smudgeproof, too, wanna see?” she ran her fingers down the pane.

“No thanks, I—stop that! I said I couldn’t… what did you come here to tell me?”

“Oh, Angel called a meeting. Everybody in his office at 4. Which is in...now.”

“Alright,” he said. “Tell Alonna? I have to finish this brief for Lorne. Did you know the Screen Actors’ Guild was evil?”

“Really? Oh, I knew I should have taken drama at Sunnydale. Then I could have had a career as a vampire and not be stuck in some dead-end job as a vampire…” she snapped her fingers. “Oh, he didn’t say to tell Alonna.”

“Yeah, of course he didn’t. See you in a few,” he said. He was a little frustrated. This was the third staff meeting Angel hadn’t let her in on. Granted, staff meeting usually meant go kill something, and Gunn never let her into harm’s way, but it was still part of her on-the-job training. “How can I not let her get out there if Angel won’t let me not let her… not…” Gunn fumed as he walked down the hall.

When he showed up at the office, Angel wasn’t there yet. Wesley was on the couch, talking to Fred who sat on top of Angel’s desk dangling her feet. She had on a lab coat. Wes was clutching a pandimensional text under one arm of his leather jacket.

“Was everybody in the middle of something when he called this meeting?” Gunn asked. “Fred, you didn’t leave anything explosive on the Bunsen burner did you?”

“Negatory, I was just working on the high-band virtual spectroscope with Knox,” Fred shrugged. “Practically calibrates itself.”

“I hear you and Alonna have been very active lately,” Wesley said. He gave Gunn that look he’d given Angel a few months ago. He did it every time he mentioned Alonna.

“Yeah, I’m teaching her the basics. Contracts, patents, interspecies custody rights... trying to get her a job outside the dusting vamps and fighting evil division, you know? Somewhere people aren’t trying to kill us all the time,” Gunn explained.

“People are trying to kill us all the time,” Angel repeated as he appeared in the doorway. “Lorne can’t make it, he’s still trying to get Charlton Heston out of our hair.”

“Duly noted. I assume there’s some threat afoot, something you’ve learned from the Senior Partners, no doubt?” Wesley asked.

“Yes. And no,” Angel began. “I ran this by Eve but she doesn’t tell us anything she doesn’t want us to know. This is about Alonna.”

“Yeah, what about?” Gunn asked. “How she’s not here, on the inside track against evil? I heard you didn’t want her here.”

“It’s not me. It’s them, the Senior Partners. Eve tells me they’ve been watching her,” Angel started again.

“Listen, if they have a problem, the Senior Partners can take it up with me,” Gunn said.

“That sentiment is ill-advised,” Wes said, cautiously.

“What’s this about, Angel?” Fred asked.

“What is this about? I’ve been watching her, too, you know? And she’s just like she’s supposed to be. She’s my sister,” Gunn said. “She helps me out, she gets along with Fred, she doesn’t fall asleep when Wes talks about old school magic, and she’s not afraid of you. She’s probably less corruptible than any of us here.”

“That’s it, Gunn. She’s good. Lorne’s read her like the rest of us, she checks out. You made a deal, brought her back with her original soul, no vampire,” Angel said. “Wolfram & Hart wouldn’t let more good into the world without strings attached. And maybe you know something about it you’re not letting on.”

“Me?” Gunn asked.

“Angel, I don’t think Gunn would…” Fred started. Wes watched in silence.

“Stay out of this, Fred. We’ve been tiptoeing around this ever since I brought her back. You have something to ask me, Angel?” Gunn said. He moved closer to the doorway. Angel shut the door behind him.

“She’s a risk, Gunn. You know it, I know it. She probably knows it, too, and if she knows anything about why the Senior Partners let you bring her back, she’d tell you,” he said, crossing his arms.

“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” Gunn said, now standing directly in front of Angel. The vampire took a step back.

“She wouldn’t?” he asked.

Fred stood and turned to Wesley. He offered nothing, watching their body language.

“No. You’re wrong about the Senior Partners. They didn’t let me do anything, don’t you get it? Nobody lets me do anything around here—”

“Come on, Gunn, you’ve been the brains and the brawn of this operation, you know I need you,” Angel said.

“No, I mean, you’re not letting me negotiate this place out of the evil business and you’re not letting me kick some demon ass. I decide,” Gunn said, pointing a finger into Angel’s chest. “Ow. See, that’s it. You think because you have the immortality you get to call the shots. I made the deal, same as everyone else. I was just smart enough to get something out of it.”

“Gunn,” Wes said. Fred shook her head, signaling him to stay out of the fight.

“What?” Gunn asked, still looking into Angel’s eyes.

“It’s all well and good if you’re right. But what are you saying. About us?” Wes asked.

He turned to look at Wesley, who had put the book down and had his arms folded. Gunn recognized that look. He looked like he had lost something.

“I mean…I was never really part of this outfit. I’ve been backup. I’ve been the muscle. I’ve been somebody’s hero. But not when it counts—not for her,” Gunn said to him.

“How can you say that?” Fred asked, tearing up. “How can you say you’re not my hero? You saved me from… it was worse than it looked. You saved me on a good day, you and Angel, and Wes and Cordy, together. Gunn, we all need you.”

“But that doesn’t matter. Every one you save, every one who thanks you, it just reminds you of the one that got away. It’s just a reminder that you couldn’t save her,” Angel said.

“I—I didn’t. I couldn’t save her then, but… wait a minute,” Gunn stopped. “I did. She’s here. She’s right here, every day now, and that’s because of me. That’s not something you can just explain because you lost… Darla? Cordelia? It’s not the same, Angel. She’s my family.”

“I know it’s not the same. Losing your sire is a pain worse than you can imagine, Gunn. And I lost—I could have had a family, Gunn, and I could have been with him—but that wouldn’t be fair to everyone. I had to do the best thing for this fight, and that meant taking some risks and not taking some others. I need you to be loyal to us. I need you to be loyal to the mission,” Angel said.

“I am,” Gunn said.

“She is the mission. For you, Gunn. She’s good, she’s everything that’s worth fighting for. You’re not going to lose her again,” Wes said. “Not for any of us.”

“And I’m not letting her out of my sight. Look, I thought I taught Alonna to look out for herself, but that’s not the end of it. You’re telling me that you had some kind of choice about Darla or Cordelia? You would have risked anything to have them right here, that’s what you do. Hell with the risk.”

“Angel,” Wes said.

“I know what you’re going to say Wes, and trust me, you could never understand what I had to give up. It’s not about Cordelia, or Buffy, or Darla. Wolfram & Hart is always playing us against each other,” Angel said. “Someone had to lose something… for you to get something back.”

“And what do you think that is?” Gunn asked. He wasn’t sure what Angel was getting at, what he thought he had lost, or what answers he was looking for. He wondered where Alonna was while they were having this conversation. He was glad she wasn’t around to hear it.

“I can’t say,” Angel sighed. “I don’t think you can, either. You may not agree with me, but the reason I’m keeping Alonna out of the loop is, you made the deal without us. You have to be responsible for her. But if something’s coming, we’re going to need you in the fight. You’re going to have to decide.”

“You already know where I come down on that,” Gunn said. “I never had to choose between her and you, and this. She was gone before I got the choice. And as long as she’s around, it’s always her, no matter what Wolfram & Hart has planned.”

“Then as long as we’re all on the same side, let’s do our best to stay that way,” Wes said.

“Let’s do that,” Fred added.

“I’m going. Call me when you need me,” Gunn said. He took a look back at Fred and Wes and walked out.

“What if we did lose him?” Angel asked, to Wes, but still looking where Gunn had been. “What if bringing Alonna back was Wolfram & Hart trying to divide us?”

“No,” Fred said. “Angel… no offense but, maybe since you’re a vampire and all, you don’t understand. Alonna’s human, and she’s his sister. Gunn has to look out for her, not just for himself, for all of us. She’s my friend. She’s probably keeping us together. It’s about family. I’m sorry… that you can’t ever know that.” She gave him a grin, with some frown in it, and then headed out the door after Gunn.

“Angel, we all need Gunn, brains and brawn,” Wes said, “but if we’ve missed our chance because he has someone else to… show his loyalty, then, as they say, better to have loved and lost…”

“You love him, Wes?”

“Maybe,” he replied, “but you envy him. He’s gotten back what he’s lost, Angel. You’ve had to lose so many people, not just the ones Angelus took from you. None of us can understand the choice he is faced with. Who wouldn’t have someone they loved back, if they really had the choice? I believe you would do the same, you would have them right in your sight. I know I would.”

* * *
“Gunn!” Fred called. He was almost in Alonna’s office at the end of hall. “Wait!”

He turned around and Alonna stepped out of the doorway with him. They waited for Fred to come closer.

“Sorry, Fred,” Gunn said. “You know it’s not supposed to be like this. I love all my girls equally,” he said, and put his arms around both of them in a weak embrace.

“It was about me, wasn’t it? I knew it was about me,” Alonna asked.

“It’s not about you, sweetie,” Fred said. “It’s kind of always about Angel, I mean, maybe he’s afraid that gaining you...he’ll lose his soul? He’s always afraid of that. I’m always afraid of that. You don’t want to meet Angelus.”

“You know what, though? He’s right. I owe you,” Gunn said, “Both of you. And Wes seems like he could use some attention too. We gotta be together in this.”

“Confidentially? Wes has got it bad, dogg,” Alonna said.

“Huh?” Gunn said.

Fred winked at Alonna. “It’s nice not being the only one to notice these things.”

end.