Chapter Four – Give You What You Need

"I'm worried. Giles? Why isn't he awake?"

Spike didn't know how to answer Red because he didn't know why either. The doc was finally taking a look at the old man (old was all relative in Spike's book). Since Giles had been knocked out too many times in the past, perhaps this time it was that one time too many. Spike contributed to that tally a few times, he admitted to himself. But he never wanted to see the watcher dead, at least after he got the soul, that is. He did want to smack him around a little when Rupert let Wood have a crack at him. Wood deserved a crack at him for what he had done to the poor bloke's mum. Not a fair fight though. And to drag Buffy into the middle of it?

"Love, just hold on. The doc's lookin' at him right this instant."

"Oh, God. I remember. He's . . . ," Willow started, getting hysterical.

"Yes, do go on, Willow," Giles said as he carefully got up from his bed.

"Red, he don't look so good," Spike pointed out.

Yeah, Giles looked scarier than he ever had. That calm demeanor was what got to Spike. Like he could take all their heads off and like it while he was doing it.

"Will, I don't wanna hit him," Faith added.

Giles placed his feet on the floor, stood up and stretched. In the process, he pitched the doctor across the room.

"Bloody hell," Spike muttered, taking hold of Willow's arm.

As he looked at her, he could see that she was frightened. Not turning veiny, which was a good sign.

"Giles, you know, you need to . . . ," Willow stammered.

"Need to what, my dear. I seem to remember the last time we had a go at it, you tried to kill me. What don't you say we even the score?"

Faith grabbed her other arm and jerked her off the bed. "If you're gonna do something, Will, do it now."

"I, I can't. If I do, I might not be able to hold back."

The poor girl was shaking like a leaf. Here her mentor was cracking up and she was afraid to do anything about it. Spike decided to take the subtle approach.

"Rupert, Red here is too juiced up. Why don't you put that magic stuff back in your pants. We'll have a nice chat, maybe a cuppa. What'll ya say?"

Spike figured that it was worth the shot. Might piss the old watcher off. Might get through to him. Either way, Spike knew he was going to get thrown, just for his insolence. Giles could blame it later on whatever had possessed him.

His injured head smacked against the wall hard again. The blood that had stopped flowing from his wound reopened. As he staggered up from his position on the floor, he saw Faith take a swing at Mr. Big Man On Campus. And for her trouble, she got slammed too.

"Compescor," Wesley shouted from the doorway, hand flung out to stop Giles dead in his tracks.

"Watcher Boy to the rescue," Spike mumbled as he felt his head wound.

Willow crouched down, hidden partially by the bed in front of her. Rocking back and forth, she had put her hands over her ears. Giles stood frozen to the spot where Wesley had restrained him. Kneeling to Willow's side, Spike tried to get her to raise her head.

"Red, Wes stopped him. It's alright."

Spike figured it wasn't alright if Giles was using dark magicks and Wes was the only one strong enough to stop him at the moment. Willow could kick their collective asses, hands down. Why wasn't she doing it now?

"It's all my fault. It's all my fault. He's not supposed to be like this, Spike. Please make it better," Willow cried.

Freaked out women definitely were not his specialty. They just seemed to gravitate to him. Buffy and all her troubles when she came back, Illyria and her deity issues, even Faith and her watcher troubles. For once, he'd just like someone to talk to him, to need him just for Spike.

Willow was the damsel in distress this time. All be damned to hell if he wanted to see something happen to her. No one else died on his watch. Not ever again.


Wesley nearly shouted "Eureka" when he found what he needed. Putting a particular binding spell on the two would be the only way. Then they would have to get the coven involved once again. These kinds of intricate magicks were over his head. Raw power didn't make up for not knowing all the tricks in the book. He hadn't studied much of what Willow and Giles already knew. Novice wouldn't even begin to explain it.

"Found it?" Angel asked as he put down his book.

"I believe so. Apparently since Giles still has the Mark of Eyghon on him, Rayne was able to use that to call forth any dark magicks that are present in Giles. I'm not so sure about Willow though. A binding spell strong enough should last until we find a solution from the coven in Devon."

"Don't you know this stuff?"

"In theory, some of it. In practice, I'm years behind the two of them. Probably why I didn't feel the affects. Rayne somehow targeted the two of them."

"You sure?"

No, he wanted to tell the damn vampire. He wasn't entirely sure of anything. But he had the control now, while Giles and Willow apparently did not. Did Angel trust him enough to let him do the job?

"Not one hundred percent. Ethan had some kind of an agenda. If we find out what that is, then we'll find out who is behind all of this."

Wesley picked up the book that he had been consulting, meaning to take it with him. It would give him all the words that he would need to say to be able to halt Giles and Willow's progress for a while.


"Oh, geez, that had to hurt," Lindsey said as he came in to watch the screen.

He had been looking for Fred, to see if she wanted to have a picnic on the grass before he had to tackle his next assignment. She had been so sweet with him lately, he just wanted to return the favor. He was so glad that he never tried to hurt her when he was alive, well, directly hurt her.

Faith was thrown across the room as the figure before him watched with anticipation. He could feel it roll off of her in waves. Off in the distance, Lindsey saw Wes walk into the room and stop the chaos with the wave of his hand. Magicks must be getting stronger, he thought. Could be a bad sign.

"Loverboy comes to the rescue."

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no, no. What are you doing here?" Lindsey spit out, coming around and grabbing Lilah by the throat.

"My job," she choked out. "Now get your slimy hands off me."

"You're in hell. Permanently. You're evil."

"Yeah, join the club. Just because you're conflicted about it, doesn't mean you deserve here more than I do. They just want us to clean up their messes."

"Conflicted," Lindsey echoed, taking his hand from around her throat. "At least I have a conscience."

"At least I was always truthful."

"Not likely. Why are you here? I'm asking, because if I don't get the right answer, there will be hell to pay."

Lilah watched as Wesley helped Faith up from the ground where she had sprawled out.

"They didn't put you in charge of him, did they?"

"Hardly. They made me Faith's guardian angel."

"Oh, good God. Who's in charge around here? Did we all get moved to a hell dimension?"

"Maybe you will, honey, but I'm gonna make the most of this."

"You can't buy your way into heaven, Lilah."

Did Lilah know what it was to try and redeem herself, Lindsey thought? Did she even care for anyone on that screen, save Wesley?

"Who said I wanted to."


Cordelia watched as Fred trampled on the daisies at the back of the house this time. The landscaping around it sure did take a beating when the girl got into a tizzy. Should she have said what she really wanted to say? Cordelia had seen it all coming, saw what would happen to Wesley, to the rest of her friends. She had tried so hard to change the outcome. Wesley dying had not been what she wanted. If Fred found out about her knowledge, would the girl ever trust her again?

"She's killin' the daisies again," Doyle said into her ear.

Good old Doyle. Always there for her when she needed him. That's what she loved about him.

"Yep. That she is."

"Not in a talking mood. First for Ms. Cordelia Chase."

"When did it get so messed up? Why is it that someone like Lilah can see right through me?"

Doyle turned her around to face him. "What'd she do now?"

"Nothing. Just forget it."

"Had to be about the Brit. I tell you, if I was a jealous man, I'd say the attention you pay that man is a little on the side of obsessive. Did the same thing with Angel back in the day, when you were alive."

"It was about the mission," Cordelia shot back.

"Sure. Tell that to someone who cares. It's me you're talkin' to, darlin'."

Shit, why did it have to be Doyle she was confessing to? He wouldn't understand this. She didn't understand this. It just was. Had always been.

"It's just that the three of us, we, well, we got close."

"You, Angel and Wes?"

"Yeah. We went through so much together."

"You were best friends. I understand. Very well, as a matter of fact."

"It fell apart. And I just wanted to hold them both and never let them go, you know," Cordelia told Doyle, starting to fall apart.

She had never told anyone this. Hell, she'd never admitted this to anyone. As Doyle looked into her eyes, it became clear to him. That she could see.

"I see," he said, embarrassed. He backed away towards the house. "I'll just go. See how our new charge is doing."

"Doyle, don't you walk away from me. It's not like that."

He whirled back to her, pointing his finger at her. "Then you tell me how it is, Cordelia. Tell me what this is."

"I love you," she wanted him to know.

"You're just not in love with me. You, why?"

"I do, I do love you. Don't you see?"

Cordelia wanted to ring his neck right then. This was so not how this was supposed to go.

"Oh, I see. Go take care of those you love."

"No," she shouted to him.

Off in the distance, Fred noticed them finally. She started to head towards them, looking like she wanted a fight also, fists at her sides.

"I failed," she yelled at him. "I screwed the both of them up so badly. I could have stopped all of it. But I didn't. They gave me a choice. Take the visions and become half demon or live a different life. No one would have fought the good fight if I'd chosen differently. I chose to go back to them, knowing that it would all fall apart. With the new power came the ability to see what was gonna happen. I tried to fix it. I really did. The Powers wouldn't let me go back when they saw how much I was meddling. I didn't want him to die. I couldn't let him die like that."

Cordelia never fell apart in front of anyone. It wasn't her style. Yet, here she was, in front of one of her best friends, falling apart, crying like a baby.

"You knew," Fred's voice called out softly from behind her. "You knew that Wesley would take Connor, that he would get his throat slit, that Angel would lose Connor to Holtz. Why did you let it happen?"

"I had no choice," Cordelia choked out.

"You did," Fred bit out. "You almost let him die. You let Angel try to kill him, have him believe that Wesley betrayed him. That's just cruel, Cordelia. Is that why you couldn't face Wesley after?"

"Cordelia, of all the things that you have done, this one tops it all," Doyle let her know.

"Is that why you pushed him towards me? Is that why you went after Groo, to push Angel away? You knew you couldn't have either one of them, so you hurt them both. They trusted you. And instead of loving them in return, you were the one who betrayed them. You," Fred yelled into her face.

"I didn't want any of that to happen. This wasn't supposed to happen. Every time I tried to fix it," Cordelia stopped short.

"You messed up," Fred finished for her.

"No. Every time I tried to fix it, someone got there before I could. Every single time." Cordelia concluded. "Who?" she asked herself, shaking her head.

"Excuse me? Are you telling me that you were manipulated? When you were doing all the manipulating?" Doyle said, arms crossed and closed off to her.

The Irishman hit the nail on the head. Every time Cordelia herself reacted, there was something in place to counteract what she had planned.

"When did you come back all wrong? After your birthday, or after your little vacation?" Fred asked of her.

"Um, the vacation. What? You think that I would have taken a vacation when all that stuff was happening? So not my style."

"Lilah knew when," Fred remembered.

"She did?" Doyle replied.

"She did. She knew. This means she's not telling us all she knows."

Cordelia was so gonna kick her ass before this was all over. If the Powers were playing games with her, they were so gonna feel her wrath too.


Faith's mood had not gotten any better. Traveling with Giles mumbling under his breath the whole way just made her feel dirty. The way he eyed her up and down, like she was a piece of meat. Not like he treated anyone else any better. He acted like he was possessed.

Now they were gonna get some wicca chicks to slap some sanity back into the man, so he'd quit saying he was gonna break every bone in her body. Yeah, she'd heard him too clearly. So had Angel and probably Spike. Wesley just sat next to Giles and closed his eyes, concentrating on making sure Giles was a good boy.

By the time they arrived at the witches' coven, Wesley was a nervous wreck. His hands were shaking, he looked deathly pale, and needed to sleep major big time.

The women took Giles off their hands as soon as they drove onto the estate. Those gates won't hold him, she thought. Until she figured out that they were enchanted. Spike had to go and touch them accidentally. His hand looked a little burned, but it would heal quickly.

Faith thought that Spike was more worried about Red than he was about Giles. No love lost there between the two of them, since Giles had wanted to have him dusted just to get Buffy back in the game against the First.

"Hey, you need a bed and quick," she whispered to Wesley as a guard led them inside.

"I certainly . . . ," Wesley started.

"Do. Hello, Mr. Pryce. I trust your trip was uneventful."

The woman that stood before them almost made Faith run screaming. She kind of looked like that character in "Harry Potter", McDougal, or McDonall, or something like that. Tall, formidable, bird-like nose jutting out. The grey-curling hair and the haughty expression rounded out the package. Oh, and the glowing hand at her side.

"Yes. I was able to keep the binding spell up."

Wesley leaned against her a little more. Since he was a head taller than she was, she hoped that he didn't accidentally tip her over when she wasn't paying attention.

"I don't wanna go in," Faith could hear Willow say from the door.

"If you will excuse me. I'm quite sorry the introductions are short. I'm Gertrude. If you need anything whatsoever, please ring. Marilyn can show you to your rooms and get you settled."

She really thought she heard a little snort come from Wesley, but she wasn't sure. He would never be that rude, would he? Of course, running on little sleep, virtually no food, and Giles throwing up magicks at him must have made him a little loopy.

Gertrude left to tend to Willow while Faith, Angel and Wesley stood there in front of Marilyn. A little mouse of a girl, probably no older than Faith, she thought.

"If you'll come this way, I'll get you settled. We've never had a vampire stay here. At least on purpose. I hear that you've had your soul for quite some time, Mr. Angel," Marilyn boldly asked him.

"Yeah, for a while."

"Am I gonna have to carry you?" Faith whispered to Wesley as they made their way up the stairs.

"You're too short," he quipped back.

"Don't tempt me, watcher. I can still spank you down anytime."

They stopped at the top of the stairs. "If you'll follow me this way, we put you in a room so the sun will not hit directly, for Mr. Angel's benefit."

"It's just Angel," he repeated for her.

"I would like to see you try it."

He may be tired, she thought, but he still got her little jokes. From the twinkle in his eyes, he really got her joke.

"I definitely know that I can hold you down and have my way with you."

"If wishes were horses."

"Dumb saying," Faith retorted back.

Wesley brushed his hand against the small of her back, sending shivers everywhere and there wasn't even skin-to-skin contact.

Marilyn stopped in front of an inner door, and directed Angel that was his room. She did the same for her and Wes, but on the opposite side of the hall. Angel arched his eyebrow Faith's way, for which she answered with her hands on her hips in challenge.

"There is food in your rooms. Mr. Angel, I have taken the liberty of acquiring some pig's blood for you."

"Thank you. And it's just Angel. No mister."

"Please relax while we get Willow and Mr. Giles settled."

"What will you do with them?" Wesley asked.

"We have ways of helping them both. As we do you, also, Mr. Pryce."

Faith grabbed his hand that he had tucked behind his back and squeezed.

"I am not the danger," Wesley pointed out.

"At the moment. Please, rest. Someone will be back for you in an hour."

Faith waved at the woman as she walked down the hall and disappeared around the corner.

"Well, that went great. She thinks we're all crazy or somethin'," Faith ground out.

"She's not sure of us. Can't say that I blame her," Wesley told her.

"Me either. You two get some rest." Angel entered his room and shut the door quietly.

"So," Faith started.

"So, we should eat and rest a little."

"Eat first," Faith said, pushing Wesley into one of the rooms, and shutting the door behind her. She grabbed a banana and downed it in no time flat. "Sorry about the big fight. I just, you pushed and I pushed back. Not proud of that. I'll be more careful next time."

"Just because that was the response that I wanted to elicit from you, doesn't mean that I'm not at fault. I thoroughly expected you to be angry with me."

"Nah. Doesn't work that way."

Faith sauntered over to him, pushing him onto the bed.

"Faith, now is not the time," he grinned up at her.

"Just wanted to thank my watcher for fixin' my leg. That wicked hurt. Now it doesn't. Nice to have you around, most of the time."

Faith climbed onto the bed with him, snuggling up against him. Kissing him on the nose, she smiled back at him.

"That's for saving my life, again." Then she kissed him on the cheek. "That's for stopping Giles." She kissed his chin. "That's for being nice to Angel." Finally she kissed him on the mouth, slowly, gently until she had him panting a little. "That's for listening to me."

"I didn't listen to you," he mumbled out, moving over to lie across her chest.

She stroked his hair for a few moments, trying to find another excuse to kiss him. But from the snores that he was now starting to make, he was in dreamland.

"I can't believe this. I am not a fucking pillow. These are not fucking pillows."

She turned to her side so he wasn't putting all his weight directly on her chest. Grumbling a little, he snuggled down into her cleavage and sighed a little in his sleep. As Faith kissed his head softly, she put her arm around him to bring him even closer.

"That's for bein' you. But since you're asleep, you won't hear me bein' a softie."

His hand snaked over to her back and up her shirt, touching her skin. Then he settled down. She thought she heard the word soft come out, but she could have been mistaken.

TBC

Next: The coven goes to work. Angel and Wes really start to talk. And I need to have Cordy speak with Angel. Everyone hates her now. I need a Fred/Lindsey scene too. She's hurting big time. Oh, some Wes/Faith time. They're getting closer. I swear.

Author notes: I probably just confused the hell out of you. I'm trying to explain some of the inconsistencies of the series. We all hated the fact that Cordelia didn't say one word to Wes after his throat was slashed. She couldn't is my explanation. She changed the outcome. That's why she got spanked and had no more control. So, does that make any sense? There's more to reveal too. I'm sure some of you have already figured it out. And oh, my, I made Giles bad. That should be fun to play with.

Thanks to everyone who have stuck with this tome. It's been a bit tedious as of late. I'm working through the issues though. Thanks to Imzadi, pari106, Shawooshy, Maineiac, and everyone else who is following along. Thanks a bunch. Please drop a line if you can.

Answers to questions:

Imzadi: Ethan? Hmm. I'm not saying. Poor Fred. So conflicted. Remember, she does have all her memories back. Makes her all confused about Wes.

Pari106: Here's a partial explainage about Cordy. The abandoning of Wesley was not forgotten. That really made me mad when I saw it. Yeah, his eyes do go to a deeper blue when he is pissed (or acting pissed as the case is).

Shawooshy: Lilah, tension? Sort of her middle name. That's why I wanted her around. Cordy storyline—I'm working on it. Angel—not focusing as much on him in this fic. But there will be some closure, finally between Wes and Angel.

Maineiac—It took way too long, I know.