PART FOUR: Brutal Understanding

The Hotel

Wesley descended the double staircase and approached the lobby. He was reloading his 9mm pistol as he did so, having used his entire round during his 'talk' with Angelus.

In the lobby area, Willow and Lorne were discussing the sanctuary spell while Connor complained about his distaste for magic. Buffy was slumped on the couch as Fred continued to treat her wounds. They all turned in Wesley's direction as he approached them.

"Did you find out anything?" Fred asked.

"Quite a bit actually. He was very accommodating…after a few bullets."

"You tortured him?" Buffy asked, taken aback.

"I did what was necessary," Wesley replied as he placed the gun on the reception counter. He paused for a moment to try to regain his composure after the brutal session he had just had with Angelus. It sickened him that he had had to do that, but clearly, pain was all Angelus responded to. A simple conversation would have left Wesley with no further information on how to stop the Beast. Perhaps he could have worn Angelus down eventually, but eventually was exactly what they didn't have. Time was running out. Permanent midnight throughout Los Angeles had turned the city into a demon playground. Thousands of innocents were dying by the minute. Wesley had been left with no choice.

"Well, how about we don't go into great detail about that, um, I–"Lorne began, but was cut off by Buffy.

"How about we do," Buffy said curtly, grimacing as she struggled to her feet.

"He'll be fine," Wesley assured her, unwilling to delve into a discussion of ethics at this point in time.

"What does that mean, Wes? He's barely alive?" Buffy asked, aggressively, as she approached him.

Willow stepped in between them. Both her hands were at her side crackling with magic and emanating a blue glow. She was ready to break the two of them apart if needs be, "Let's just all calm down, okay? It's been an intense couple of days. Emotions are high. Tempers are frayed," Willow said, looking between Buffy and Wesley.

Willow knew that Buffy would never even admit it to herself, but seeing Angelus again had taken a great emotional toll on her, not to mention the obvious physical toll it had. She knew she had to defuse the situation immediately, because the moment Buffy lost her temper it was game over due to the power that she yielded. It was one of the downsides to being the Slayer. Buffy didn't have the luxury of indulging her emotions and losing her temper no matter how much she was pushed to at times. The current situation was no exception.

"Like I told you, Buffy, I did what was necessary; what I knew you couldn't."

"And when will doing what's necessary reach the point where you can never come back from it, Wes? There's a line, you know."

"We're talking about Angelus, Buffy!" Wesley shouted, aggressively.

Fred and Lorne exchanged a look, clearly stunned by Wesley's outburst.

"Feelings don't enter into the equation. Angelus is a murderer. He likes pain. He shows no mercy. And, neither should we. I have the information we need. There is no discussion left to have."

"Angel is still in there, Wes," Buffy told him.

"I'm sure he'll understand," Connor spoke, suddenly arriving back in the Hotel lobby with Gunn trailing close behind.

"Great, just what we need, more gas to the flames," Lorne whispered to Fred.

"What's happening up here?" Gunn asked.

"Nothing," Fred said, in an effort to end the discussion.

"Sounds like Wes tortured Angelus. Good. It's about time someone did," Connor informed Gunn.

Gunn looked at Wesley incredulously, "Wow, man. You just get darker by the day, don't you?"

"Charles-" Wesley began.

"Guys, that's enough! Look, we've got a great big apocalypse at our feet right now. Not to mention, we got the Beast who I'm sure you're all thinking is pretty much gonna come after us any moment now if we don't knock him out first. So let's save the fights for afterwards, okay?" Fred yelled, flailing her arms in the air.

No one said a word. They were all stunned by Fred's outburst.

Buffy shook Gunn's arm off of her. He had been holding her back from Wesley. She stepped back and let out a deep sigh, "Fine, I'm gonna go take a shower."

She limped away slowly. Wesley didn't say another word. He just watched her go, deep in thought.