TITLE:
How to Win a Watcher in 10 days
AUTHOR: Louise
SUMMARY: Fred notices Wesley. Now how can she make him notice her? Harmony
may have the answers to this question.
RATING: PG-13
CLASSIFIED: Romance
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters mentioned in this piece of fiction
belong to me. They belong to the cast and crew of Angel, especially Joss Whedon
and David Greenwalt, Mutant Enemy and Fox.
DISTRIBUTION: Permission granted to WNW, Blue Moon Rising, Gifted, Fanfiction
Net, Inevitable (http/pylea. and Private Poetry Reading
(http/poetry. If anyone else wants to archive it, please let
me know.
FEEDBACK: Very much appreciated. Please e-mail me at
PAIRING: Wesley/Fred
SPOILER: Set after You're Welcome to Smile Time.
DEDICATION: To Lara, who betaed and helps me with my English, and to
the wonderful people of WFSurvivors
A/N : Inspired by the movie "How to Lose a Guy in 10 days,"
and yes, it's one of my favorites movies. The song "Escape" is by
Enrique Iglesias.
Five days after they had stopped Lindsey with the help of Cordelia, Fred was trying to get Wesley's attention but without any success. She was watching him from Harmony's desk when the blonde vampire woke her from her daydreams.
"Hey, Fred!"
"Oh... Hi, Harmony. How are you?" she asked without taking her eyes from Wesley, who was in Angel's office, talking with him and Spike.
"He still hasn't made a move?"
"Move?"
"For you, silly. You've finally noticed him, right? But he hasn't noticed that you noticed him. Now you need to do something for him to notice that you've noticed him. I think. Wait. I'm confusing here."
"The weird thing is that I actually understand what you just said," Fred responded with a giggle. "I already tried giving him the signals, but...awww... Men - sometimes they are so blind."
"That's okay, Fred. I'll help you," Harmony told her with a smile. "It'll take a little work, but believe me, it'll be worth it."
"You will?" Fred asked, a little suspicious. "Okay. I really need him to see me, so I'll do anything to get his Wesley's attention. What should I do?"
"I have this little plan. I call it: How to Win a Guy in Ten Days."
"Wait...is this like that movie?" Fred found herself suddenly a bit curious.
"No, it's the opposite. Mine is what to do to win the guy."
"I guess in my case, the title should be How to Win a Watcher in Ten Days. Or former Watcher actually..." Fred commented.
"So that's what we'll do this week. I'll stick to you like glue. First day starts tomorrow with shopping. You need new clothes," Harmony explained, studying Fred's outfit with disapproval.
"What's wrong with my clothes?" she asked looking down at her blouse and skirt.
"Do you really want me to go into all that now?" Standing up, Harmony picked up her purse since it had reached the end of the day - it was time to go home. "I need to go now. Want to join me in a drink or something?"
"Well..." Fred gave her a slightly hesitant and embarrassed grimace.
"I promise not do anything like the last time."
"Okay. Just a minute. I need to talk to Wes first." She walked into Angel's office, where Wesley was listening to Spike and Angel fighting again.
"Fred!" Wesley said, thinking Thank God. He couldn't stand the vampires arguing anymore. "Are you going?"
"Yeah... Harmony and I are heading out to have some drinks." Fred looked at him, wishing he would notice. "Do you want come?"
"I wish I could, but I have to translate this new prophecy Angel discovered."
"Oh...what's it about?" she asked out of curiosity.
"It relates to the Shanshu."
"Ah. That the reason for the unstoppable fight?" Fred tried to contain her giggles.
"Well, it's a big deal for us." Spike remarked, having heard her. "We need to know who the real vampire of the prophecy is, and Percy is the only one who can tell us."
"I get it, guys, but do you have to know today? It's Friday, after all," she replied, hoping that she could still get Wesley out of there to go for a drink.
"That's okay, Fred. Make it's a girl's night - go have fun with Harmony," he told her without taking his eyes from hers.
"But-."
"Don't be concerned about me. I'll be fine. Have fun and be careful. You remember what she did last time, right?"
"I'll be okay," she stated with a sigh, looking at Wesley one last time, the desire to kiss him strong though she found herself lacking the courage to actually do it. "So...goodnight, guys."
"Goodnight, Fred," Angel and Spike said in unison before shooting each other annoyed stares.
"Goodnight, Fred" Wesley said, smiling at her.
Fred returned to Harmony's desk, where the vampire secretary was waiting for her with an anxious smile on her face. "So?"
"So? So nothing," she complained in a frustrated tone. "I couldn't do anything with Spike and Angel in the office, and they gave a new prophecy to Wesley for him to translate. He'll be busy all the weekend."
"That's great!" Harmony responded with an evil grin. "It'll give us time to work on the plan. Then on Monday, we'll put it into action, and you'll see. In less than ten days, Wesley will be your slave."
"I don't want him to be my slave. I just want him to be...mine," Fred said with a dreamy look.
"Are you sure?"
"Absotively," she giggled.
"Okay, but you don't know what you'll be missing out on." Harmony again picked up her pink purse, which matched her pink dress and sandals. "Come on."
They headed for the elevator, and Fred noticed Wesley looking at her before the doors finally opened and they stepped inside.
Later at Fred's apartment, she and Harmony were already drunk after some drinks in the vampire had purchased at the store next to Fred's apartment complex.
"Oh my God. Harmony, you're supposed to help me with Wesley - not get me drunk," said Fred, giggling and looking over at the clock. It was 3 a.m.
"Well...it's a start. Now before you pass out on the sofa, here's a small list of what we'll need." Harmony handed her the list, which turned out to be five pages. Front and back.
"Small?" Fred asked in disbelief while balancing herself on the couch. "You called this small?"
"Bare minimum. Anyway, you look this over, and tomorrow, we can talk. I need to go home."
"Now? But it's late and...dangerous. I don't want you to...I guess you could stay over and sleep in the guest room."
"You're inviting me to sleep over? Really? We're totally bonding - just like I knew we would," Harmony exclaimed, almost hysterically happy.
"Yes, I am, but you have to promise..."
"I won't bite you. I promise." Harmony raised her right hand in pledge, ecstatic with Fred's invite.
Day 1
On Monday morning, Wesley had to deliver the bad news to Angel and Spike. It was another fake prophecy -there was nothing to indicate which vampire would achieve shanshu.
"What are the odds? Of course, I should have realized it would be fake; Spike did find it, after all."
"Oh, shut it, you ponce. You're just jealous that I could be the One and not you," snapped Spike from his perch on Wesley's couch.
"You? The One? Who are you - Neo?" Angel shot back sarcastically. "And I did get my soul back first, so I should be the-."
"Shut up!" Wesley suddenly demanded.
"What?" Both of them looked over at him in surprise.
"Shut up. Both of you. I can't stand listening to you fight anymore. If you really want to, fine, but you can do it away from me!" The annoyance was clear in Wesley's voice and on his face.
"Sorry, Wes. I didn't mean... Come on, Spike; let's leave Wesley alone for a while."
Once they were finally out of his office, Wesley noticed that Fred and Harmony had arrived. But they looked strange, especially Fred, who was wearing sunglasses and an outfit totally unlike her normal style.
Wesley walked out of his office and over to them, concerned about her. "Fred, are you okay?" he asked, taking a closer look at her black dress and leather boots. "You look...different."
"I'm fine, Wes," she answered somewhat stiffly, setting off his warning bells.
"Harmony! How could you do that?" Wesley yelled at her while pulling off Fred's glasses. To his surprise, Fred was fine, though obviously a little tired.
"What did I do?" Harmony asked in confusion.
"You didn't bite Fred?" He felt just as confused as she sounded.
"No," she answered, crossing her arms.
"Sorry, but why Fred is dressed like that and wearing glasses then?"
"Harmony and I did some shopping this weekend, and well, she spent the night at my apartment again, and we drank a little...well, actually a lot. I'm afraid we have a bit hangover," Fred explained.
"Oh. So...you girls had fun this weekend?" he asked without taking his eyes off Fred.
"Yes, we did. So, do you like?" she inquired, indicating her outfit, anxious about it...and his reaction.
"Yes, of course. You look beautiful," he told her, his eyes shining.
"So, what do you think if we..." she started to suggest just as Knox appeared with a machine that Fred had been working on the previous week.
"Hey, Boss, I found the piece to make it work, but I need your help."
Damn it! Fred thought. Why does he always show up at the wrong moment?
Wesley glanced at them, fighting to contain his jealousy, and stalked back to his office to continue some previous research in his texts on magic while Fred headed for her lab, quite annoyed, especially since Knox was babbling incessantly at her now.
Day 2
Fred was alone in her lab mid-morning on Tuesday, studying a virus discovered by one of her scientists under her microscope, when Harmony bounced in to join her.
"So, the femme fatale look didn't work? Man, I should tie Knox up in some closet next time," she said in frustration.
"No... No tying up. You got in trouble the last time, remember?"
"Right. Okay, I'll be good, but if he gets in our away again, I'm not responsible for my actions. Stupid nerd."
"So, what are we doing today? We have only eight days left," Fred said, starting to get a little worried about the whole thing.
"Don't panic. Everything will work out. I know. Next time you go to his office, leave something of yours there on purpose. That way, he'll have to return it to you later," Harmony suggested.
"Heythat's actually a good idea. I hope this time it works." Fred took off her glasses and put them in her lab coat pocket.
"That's it!" Harmony suddenly exclaimed.
"What?"
"Leave your glasses on Wesley's desk. He'll definitely return those later."
Later, Fred entered in Wesley's office to find him sleeping with his head propped in his hand over an open book.
"Wes?" Fred called to him, causing him to jolt awake, feeling a bit disoriented.
"Fred? What happened?" he asked, still a little sleepy. "Is something wrong?"
"You were sleeping Wes. You should really go rest somewhere - it's not good to sleep in the office. Believe me, I know from experience."
"Thank you, Fred, but I think I'll just get some coffee and see if that helps me stay awake," he answered not noticing Fred taking her glasses of her pocket and setting them on his desk.
"Well, I should get back to the lab now. If you need something, just call me."
"Sure," he agreed with a smile.
Fred returned to her lab, anxious to find out if Harmony's plan would work this time. Unfortunately, it didn't - Wesley sent Spike to return her glasses.
"Damn it!" she said when the vampire handed the frames over to her.
"What did I do?" he asked, somewhat offended. "You try to help a friend, and this is the ruddy thanks I get?"
"Sorry, Spike. It's not you. It's Wesley. He's been driving me crazy lately."
"We're trying to make Wesley notice Fred," Harmony explained. She had come down to see how things were going.
"Are you blind, Harm? Percy's already noticed Fred," Spike said, rolling his eyes.
"Yeah, I know. Duh. Who doesn't? But he hasn't noticed that Fred has noticed him back."
"Ohhhhreally?" Spike smirked at this. "So, you girls are trying to get the head boy's attention?"
"Pretty much," Fred responded in frustration. "And we've already wasted two days."
"Two days?" Spike looked as confused as he felt.
"Part of my brilliant plan! How to win a guy in ten days," Harmony explained with a proud smile.
"Again with that movie? Okay, tell you what. I'll help you girls. Won't be easy, but we can try."
Day 3
Fred, Harmony and Spike were in the hallway talking about Harmony's plan now that Spike was helping.
"So that's what you do - take these papers and drop them on the floor. He's such an English gentleman, he'll probably help you with them. Then, when you stand up, you'll exchange looks and that's when it'll happen,"
"I think this is pretty silly, especially coming from a vampire, but I'm desperate. I'll do anything," Fred said, not really believing that Spike's plan would work out any better than any of Harmony's.
"Anything?" Spike asked with a smirk. "Well, if this doesn't work, I know what we can do tomorrow."
Worried about what that plan entailed, Fred grabbed the papers from Spike and waited for Wesley to come out of his office. When he did, she made her move, bumping into him and dropping the papers to the floor.
"OhI'm sorry. I don't know how I didn't see you," she apologized with a goofy smile.
"It's all right, Fred," he replied with a smile, noticing her new look. "Did you do something with your hair?"
"Ohhhyeah. I curled it this morning. Do you like?"
"It's lovely." He couldn't help but feel a bit suspicious about all this. "Fred?"
But before he say whatever was on his mind, Angel began yelling for him from his office, causing Wesley to give her shrug. "Sorry, Fred. We'll talk later."
"You've got to be kidding," she sighed in exasperation at yet another plan that didn't work.
"This time it was Peaches' fault," Spike insisted as he joined her. "If that ponce hadn't called for him, he'd probably be asking you out right now. But don't you worry, luv. Tomorrow, it'll work out for you. I promise."
He gave her a "trust me" smile.
Day 4
The elevator opened, and Fred exited into the hallway where Spike and Harmony were already talking about her and Wesley.
"This is getting ridiculous. What do I have to do to make him notice that I'm interested?" Fred asked in annoyance. "Is he here yet? Because I'm thinking forget the ten days rule and just do something now."
Spike studied her for a moment. "Calm down, luv. I have an idea."
What idea?"
"You said yesterday that you'll do anything to get Percy's attention, right?" Harmony said with a smile. "So, here's his idea, and I agree with it - you'll seduce him. Kiss him, for pete's sake!"
"What? I can't do that. I'm too shy to do something like that." Fred felt herself actually flushing red from embarrassment.
"You can, Fred. I have faith in you." Harmony suddenly pushed her away when she noticed Wesley arriving with some old books in his arms.
"Wesley?" Fred asked him. "What is that?"
"Some old books I brought from home to help in the translation of this new prophecy," Wesley explained. "Aren't you early? I thought you weren't supposed to be here until ten, and it's only eight."
"Yeahbut I needed to do something before I headed down to the lab," she explained.
"What?"
Fred glanced over at Spike and Harmony, who were miming, "Kiss him already," but she couldn't do anything besides smile uncomfortably. "Huhresearch for that thing I'm working on."
"What thing?" Wesley asked, again suspicious about her behavior. "Is everything all right, Fred? You've been acting a bit...odd this week."
"I'm fine. It's just" She tried to ignore Spike and Harmony's continued motions in the corner of her eye.
"What?" He looked around but didn't see the two vampires as they quickly ducked through a nearby doorway to hide.
"Nothing I'd better get to work on the research," she finally said and practically ran for her lab, red with embarrassment.
Day 5
"Don't worry," Harmony tried to reassure her with a smile. They were in the ladies' room where Harm was putting make-up on Fred's face. "Today I'm sure will work out.
"Are you sure Harm? Because I'm totally losing faith. We're already on day five, and nothing has worked. Nothing. Not even Spike's ideas."
"Yes, I'm sure."
"I think even the Powers are losing faith in us. Everything is going so wrong. It doesn't make sense," Fred complained in frustration. "Maybe I will do what you and Spike suggested. Embarrassment is better than my patience."
When Fred reached her lab, she was ambushed by a vampire named Lawson who made Wesley, Fred and Gunn his hostages in a confrontation with Angel. By the end of the ordeal, she was really tired and stressed out, so she didn't have the courage to do anything when Wesley dropped her off at her apartment. She just wanted to get some sleep.
Day 6
Fred arrived at the office very early the next morning after not sleeping at all due to her brain continuously running over and over the crazy week she had experienced and, of course, due to her thoughts about Wesley. The events of the day before were still on her mind well, having interfered with Harmony's plan. Fred just getting upset about it all again when Knox approached her with a new case - children were being found in some strange sort of coma in front of her televisions. She tried not to think about Valentine's card he tried to give her along with the reports since it would just make her upset again and instead spent the whole day researching the kids' case. It was almost evening when she checked the pathology again and finally decided it was time to ask the others for help. Maybe she could use the opportunity to talk to Wes about them too.
When Fred went to find Wesley, the former watcher was in his office with Angel, talking about Nina, who obviously had an interest in the vampire. Angel was afraid that she was falling for him too fast and that he wasn't the right person for a girl to date, even if she was a werewolf.
Wesley tried to make Angel realize that he could be happy with Nina - not perfectly happy but happy - if he put aside his past and tried to live a little. "Angel... if there's a woman out there...who you find truly attractive, who you think about, let's say, most of the time, who represents even part of what you think makes the world worth fighting for and who doesn't view you as an entirely sexless shoulder to lean on...you have to do something about it." By the time he was finished, it was clear he wasn't referring to Nina anymore.
"Who are we talking about here?" Angel asked.
"Fred," responded Wesley, noticing her at the door.
She walked into the office, holding some papers and smiling at them. "Hey, guys. I-I think I have a case."
Angel and Wesley replied in unison, "Thank God."
"Children's epidemic. Seven kids comatose, each with a semi-rictus of the facial muscles. I haven't been able to isolate a causative agent," she explained as she put the file on Wesley's desk. Angel picked it up and began flipping through.
"You think it's mystical," Wesley deduced.
"Well, I've been down the strictly physiological route, number-crunched all the victims' charts, even had our hospital contacts send over blood samples. I've pulled all their plasma apart. No indicators on the cellular or subcellular levels."
"TV," Angel interrupted.
"What?" Fred asked in confusion.
"Parents said all the kids collapsed between seven and...looks like seven-thirty a.m. And all of them in front of the TV." Angel showed her the file and point out what he had found.
"Huh. That could be something, but I'd still like to get a handle on the pathology," she responded with a smile.
"Good. I'll-I'll follow up on this lead. I'll need to clear my schedule. These kids need help." Angel took the file and headed back to his office.
"Wow. He really jumped on that one."
"Yes, he is a bit jumpy. He's realized Nina has feelings for him," Wesley told her with a grin as he circled around behind his desk.
"Well, took long enough." If Angel had noticed Nina's interest, when would Wesley notice hers?
"He can be rather dense."
Fred approached his desk, figuring it was now or never. "By the way, my car is in the shop again, and I was thinking..." she said with a big smile, hoping he would offer to drive her home so they could finally talk.
"Of course," he responded while picking up the phone.
"Maybe you and I, we could..." she tried to explain, but he didn't let her finish her sentence. He was already on the line with the driving pool, asking for someone to give her a life home.
Day 8
Fred didn't have much time to work on her "conquer Wesley" plan after that because she spent all the next day trying to solve Angel's puppet problem. Although she wasn't sure what had happened to the vampire, she also worked on that and on trying to find a cure to the children.
By four a.m. the following morning, Fred and Wesley were in the lab, watching the show "Smile Time" in an attempt to track down anything suspicious that might point to what was going on. Knox tried to hang around and get in the way, but she finally sent him home, allowing her to finally be alone with Wesley.
They were sharing a cup of coffee when he glanced the way her assistant had left and asked, "So...how's it going with you and Knox? I know you were starting to-."
"Started and stopped, actually." Fred interrupted with a nervous smile, praying he would get the hint.
"Really?" he said with seemed to be a hopeful smile in return.
"Yeah. We went out a few times, but...I don't know." She reached out and took back the cup he offered.
"So...you stopped it."
"Yeah. He-he's nice enough, but... I think he's been working here too long. Plus, he doesn't make me laugh at all. I mean, he tries, but..." Fred felt herself stumbling over her explanation and could see he wasn't understanding what she was really trying to say.
"I see. You're looking for someone funny." Wesley returned to typing and watching the television.
"A...certain kind of funny, yeah. But...I'm not really looking for so much as looking at..."
She wasn't able to conclude her sentence...again. Wesley discovered what was happening with the show, and they solved the mystery with some late-minute information from Gunn - the puppets were hypnotizing the children and sucking their souls out through the TV sets.
Along with Puppet Angel and Gunn, they invaded the "Smile Time" set and destroyed the puppets and their "nest egg". Angel was still a puppet when it was all over, but they found out it would only be for a few more days before the spell on him wore off.
Later that morning in his office, Wesley was organizing some scrolls and books when Fred walked into his office to tell him the good news.
"I just got off the phone. Looks like the kids are coming out of their stasis," she informed him with a big smile, shutting the door behind her.
Here's
how it goes
You and me
Up and down
But maybe this time
We'll get it right
Worth the fight
'Cause love is something
You can't shake
When it breaks
All it takes is some trying
"Oh...good. I think we did some excellent work back there," he responded with a grin of his own, once again failing to notice that Fred was attempting to flirt with him.
If
you feel like leaving
I'm not gonna
Beg you to stay
Soon you'll be finding
You can run
You can hide
But you can't
Escape my love
You can run
You can hide
But you can't
Escape my love
"I think you're right," she giggled, happy the case had been solved.
Wesley grabs grabbed his coat and began walking in Fred's direction. "And now..."
"And now...?" she repeated.
So
if you go
You should know
It's hard to just
Forget the past
So fast
It was good
It was bad but
It was real and that's
All you have
In the end
Our love mattered
"We'd better get some rest. No telling when the next crisis will strike."
Fred felt her smile fade away. Not again, she thought. This time she would not let him escape. She wasn't going to let go until he knew she felt. Not this time.
If
you feel like leaving
I'm not gonna
Beg you to stay
Soon you'll be finding
You can run
You can hide
But you can't
Escape my love
You can run
You can hide
But you can't
Escape my love
Moving in front of him, she stopped him from leaving the office. "You're just gonna go, aren't you?"
"Fred" Wesley gave her a look of confusion mixed with surprise.
You
can run
You can hide
But you can't
Escape my love
You can run
You can hide
But you can't
Escape my love
"Haven't you been...sensing anything lately...? About me...coming from me? Uh...didn't occur to you that...something might have changed? That-I'm looking at you in a different? Oh, screw it." Cupping his face, she gave him a long, passionate kiss before he could say anything.
"Um..." He didn't know what to say at all when she finally pulled away.
Here's
how it goes
All it takes is some trying
You can run
If you feel like leaving
"That was a signal. Okay? Is that...clear enough for you?" she inquired with a smile, looking up at him hopefully.
I'm
not gonna
Beg you to stay
Soon you'll be finding
You can run
You can hide
But you can't
Escape my love
Looking into her eyes, he dropped his jacked and smiled at her. "Not even close.". He leaned back to her and initiated the kiss this time. Soon, they were so wrapped up in each other that they didn't notice Harmony and Spike spying at them through the office windows from across the lobby.
If
you feel like leaving
I'm not gonna
Beg you to stay
Soon you'll be finding
You can run
You can hide
But you can't
Escape my love
"I told you it would work before day ten. My plans never fail!"
"This one almost did, Harm," Spike reminded her.
"It's not my fault that the men around this office are so damn slow at noticing the signals. And it's not Fred's fault either. She tried everything she could to get his attention."
Back in Wesley's office, he broke the kiss to murmur in her ear, "Fred?"
"Hmmm?" she asked, nuzzling his neck.
"I think you'd best draw the blinds. I don't want an audience." He pointed out Spike and Harmony, who were still watching them, not even trying to hide this time.
"Okay."
Stepping back a few steps, she closed the blinds and then returned to Wesley's arms to kiss him again.
The End.