Part Three
London.
**Home at last **
Wesley sighed with heartfelt gratitude as he turned the key in his frozen fingers and unlocked the front door.
Dragging his bulky luggage inside the small hallway of the house he shared with Angel, he pushed the heavy wooden door closed behind him and facetiously promised never to leave home again.
**Well, at least not for a week or two** the ghost of a smile crossed his tired lips. After the trip he'd just had, there simply wasn't enough energy in his exhausted body to try anything more strenuous.
Having been on the road for over eight hours straight, driving back from the new Watchers' council, Wesley's only concern now was for a long hot shower and twenty-four hours sleep.
Leaving his abandoned luggage by the doorway, he entered the darkened living room and reached for the table lamp. As his fingers fumbled in the darkness for the switch, a muffled sob caused Wesley to hesitate. The unexpected sound triggered years of uneasiness, at 3 o'clock in the morning the house should have been as quiet as the grave.
Standing foolishly in the dark, Wesley allowed a few seconds to pass before reassuring himself that it was only his overactive imagination and not a blood-sucking fiend searching for an early morning snack. As his fingers reached once more for the light switch, a much louder cry stopped him cold.
"Okay, so it's an ex blood-sucking fiend" he muttered into the darkness and smiled in relief
On recognising the voice, the next thought that crossed Wesley's mind was that Angel had got lucky and had finally brought a girl home for the night, but as the noise grew louder he recognised the difference between a cry of passion and a cry of despair. This was definitely the latter, his best friend and so called *cousin* sounded deeply distressed.
At first Wesley felt uncomfortable, as if he was eavesdropping on a conversation not meant for him but, after a few seconds, the disturbing noise became almost impossible to ignore.
Leaving the house in total darkness, Wesley carefully made his way along the familiar hallway and climbed the stairs. It was an old house and the landing floorboards creaked out loudly no matter how softly he trod. Angel had always been a light sleeper and on any other night, the creaking would have been sufficient enough to wake him, but not this night.
Turning to his left, Wesley could see that the door to Angel's bedroom was slightly ajar and the heavy lined curtains were pulled back, allowing the pale moonlight to dance across the sleeping man's troubled features.
Moving a few steps forward, he watched in wide eyed horror as his friend, covered in thin layer of sweat and deeply asleep, rocked back and forth in apparent agony. Angel's incoherent rambling started to transform into actual words and, as the words became clearer, they left Wesley dumbfounded.
"Angel...Old soul...Needs me.... " Angel thrashed wildly in his sleep as if the illusions were actually causing him pain. Each new word he mumbled only seemed to increase the torment.
"It wasn't my choice... It wasn't my choice... Angel...face of an angel" as the torrent of words flowed faster, Angel's new memories struggled to keep their hold on his mind. His new existence was under a heavy attack and his whole body seemed to be battling the alien thoughts invading his subconscious.
Wesley was torn, he knew technically that you should never waken somebody from such a traumatic nightmare and yet the look on his friend's face was terrifying. Something powerful was filling Angel's head with words and visions he should never be remembering. Wesley dithered, his curiosity split between waking his friend and watching to see what happened next.
With one last heart wrenching cry, Angel solved the dilemma for him, he sat straight up in bed ripping the sheets from his sweat drenched body, as if the fabric was slowly suffocating him.
After taking a few seconds to gain his bearings, Angel focused his eyes on the dark shape hovering in the doorway.
"Wesley? Is that you?" he gasped as he fought for breath. In his chest, his erratic heart beat so fast it threatened to explode
Wesley just nodded; he wasn't capable of speech, he felt as if he had just woken from his own worse nightmare.
The word Angel had cried out so hard it had woken him from his deep sleep was impossible...Without a shadow of a doubt, Angel had cried for Buffy.
*****
The following morning, Angel was sitting drinking coffee when Wesley finally pulled himself from his room. Already exhausted from his long drive, Wesley had spent the rest of the night desperately trying to ring LA.
When there had been no reply at either the office or Cordelia's apartment, he resisted leaving a message on the machine for fear of freaking his friends, especially Buffy. The last thing he needed was the Slayer finding out that after five long years, the Oracles' deal had gone pear shaped. Wesley knew there would be plenty of time for freaking if Angel's memory really had returned.
**Boy, was he going to be pissed** Wesley ran his hand over his hair as he looked through his old address book, searching for more phone numbers. It didn't make any sense, Angel remembering anything from his past life; demon or human should have been impossible. The Oracles, when they had granted Angel his new humanity, had promised that every single memory had been washed away. And yet, last night, he had definitely cried out his old lover's name.
**Buffy**
There could be no mistaking whom the name belonged too
**Christ, how many Buffy's were there in his world**
In his desperation for answers, Wesley had then tried calling Giles in Sunnydale but the answering machine had just switched on relaying the message that he was out of town for a few days.
With a heavy heart and no sleep, Wesley went downstairs to face the music.
Angel smiled brightly as his *cousin* walked over to join him for breakfast.
"I didn't expect to find you home this week, you said you were heading off to Egypt for an exhibition" Wesley carefully watched Angel's face for any small sign of remembrance, but the face of the man seated opposite him was a picture of normality.
The ex-vampire sat at the breakfast table in a white T-shirt and blue jeans happily working his way through a hearty meal of bacon, sausage, eggs, and all the trimmings. As Wesley hesitantly approached the table, Angel snatched up a piece of warm toast from the rack, snaked it threw his egg and bit into it hungrily.
"That's next week, I leave on Friday." he replied as his teeth again attacked what was left of his toast.
Wesley stood still for a few seconds, feeling slightly uncomfortable after what he had witnessed the night before. The scene in front of him seemed strangely surreal.
"And how are you feeling this morning?" he asked carefully, as he pulled out a chair and waited for the torrent of questions he was positive would be thrown at him, but Angel just continued digging into his breakfast.
"Me?...Great thanks...Do you want some tea?" he offered, gesturing in the direction of the small black pot in the middle of the table.
Wesley was thrown; this wasn't what he'd expected at all. One moment he was crying out for an ex lover that in his mind should never have existed, and now, he was "Mr. Not A Care in the World" guy offering the beverage of the day.
Wesley decided to go straight for the truth, at least that way they could get it out in the open.
"That was some nightmare last night" he dipped his toe further into dangerous waters and waited for it to be bitten off at the knee but, there was still no bite.
"Nightmare? I don't remember having a nightmare. I did had the strangest dream though, can't remember it very clearly, one of those dreams with scrambled pictures and not much logic but, there was this girl" Angel's thoughts trailed off as if savouring the moment.
**Her hair had been the colour of golden sunlight as it trailed silkily across his naked chest, then the reddest, sweetest lips pulled at ....... **
"I think that gypsy girl I helped last night really got into my head, although it wasn't her, the girl in my dreams was blonde, body to die for" Angel smiled as a warm feeling spread all through his own body.
"Wait? What gypsy girl?" Wesley choked on his tea, spilling its contents across the table.
Angel started at the beginning and explained all about his eventful walk home.
" I think she felt sorry for me, maybe she could read in my hand that I haven't been laid for a while" this time Angel actually laughed at the thought and the laughter made Wesley even more nervous.
**This wasn't the same Liam Price he had come to know over the last five years**
"And then what?" he demanded a little more curious then was necessary.
Wesley didn't like this gypsy aspect one little bit, these people possessed magic's more powerful than he understood. After all, it was a gypsy that had cursed Angelus all those years ago. Even though Angelus was never coming back, the thought of gypsy magic around the once vampire made him jittery.
"She blessed me....I just have no idea what she blessed me with, she said I was lonely, so maybe she sent the dream I had last night." Again Angel's face beamed like a lovesick schoolboy as he remembered how the nameless blonde girl had wrapped her arms around his body and...
"And if that's the case I'm more than grateful"
*****
Later that morning
"Are we still eating out tonight, only I need to spend a few hours at the museum " Angel called searching in his briefcase but failing to find the papers he needed.
He really didn't want to go into his office today but, if the papers were not signed and returned before Monday, heads would roll, and more importantly, his Egyptian trip could be in jeopardy.
"Sure, I'm going to be busy most of the day myself" Wesley shouted back down the stairs while still trying to dial the number of Cordelia's cell phone.
"Where the hell are you?" he muttered almost angrily as the call went unanswered for the millionth time.
Downstairs and totally oblivious to the worry, Angel continued with his daily routine without a care in the world.
"Right, where do you want to meet up? What about that pub in Shaftsbury Avenue? He offered knowing that it was close enough to walk to ** if those goddamn trains started playing up again**
Without even thinking, Wesley agreed to the location. In all honesty, at that moment in time, food was the last thing on his mind as he hit the redial button.
Later on in his life, whenever he remembered that conversation, the words *frying pan* and *fire* would always return and bite him on the arse...
TBC
London.
**Home at last **
Wesley sighed with heartfelt gratitude as he turned the key in his frozen fingers and unlocked the front door.
Dragging his bulky luggage inside the small hallway of the house he shared with Angel, he pushed the heavy wooden door closed behind him and facetiously promised never to leave home again.
**Well, at least not for a week or two** the ghost of a smile crossed his tired lips. After the trip he'd just had, there simply wasn't enough energy in his exhausted body to try anything more strenuous.
Having been on the road for over eight hours straight, driving back from the new Watchers' council, Wesley's only concern now was for a long hot shower and twenty-four hours sleep.
Leaving his abandoned luggage by the doorway, he entered the darkened living room and reached for the table lamp. As his fingers fumbled in the darkness for the switch, a muffled sob caused Wesley to hesitate. The unexpected sound triggered years of uneasiness, at 3 o'clock in the morning the house should have been as quiet as the grave.
Standing foolishly in the dark, Wesley allowed a few seconds to pass before reassuring himself that it was only his overactive imagination and not a blood-sucking fiend searching for an early morning snack. As his fingers reached once more for the light switch, a much louder cry stopped him cold.
"Okay, so it's an ex blood-sucking fiend" he muttered into the darkness and smiled in relief
On recognising the voice, the next thought that crossed Wesley's mind was that Angel had got lucky and had finally brought a girl home for the night, but as the noise grew louder he recognised the difference between a cry of passion and a cry of despair. This was definitely the latter, his best friend and so called *cousin* sounded deeply distressed.
At first Wesley felt uncomfortable, as if he was eavesdropping on a conversation not meant for him but, after a few seconds, the disturbing noise became almost impossible to ignore.
Leaving the house in total darkness, Wesley carefully made his way along the familiar hallway and climbed the stairs. It was an old house and the landing floorboards creaked out loudly no matter how softly he trod. Angel had always been a light sleeper and on any other night, the creaking would have been sufficient enough to wake him, but not this night.
Turning to his left, Wesley could see that the door to Angel's bedroom was slightly ajar and the heavy lined curtains were pulled back, allowing the pale moonlight to dance across the sleeping man's troubled features.
Moving a few steps forward, he watched in wide eyed horror as his friend, covered in thin layer of sweat and deeply asleep, rocked back and forth in apparent agony. Angel's incoherent rambling started to transform into actual words and, as the words became clearer, they left Wesley dumbfounded.
"Angel...Old soul...Needs me.... " Angel thrashed wildly in his sleep as if the illusions were actually causing him pain. Each new word he mumbled only seemed to increase the torment.
"It wasn't my choice... It wasn't my choice... Angel...face of an angel" as the torrent of words flowed faster, Angel's new memories struggled to keep their hold on his mind. His new existence was under a heavy attack and his whole body seemed to be battling the alien thoughts invading his subconscious.
Wesley was torn, he knew technically that you should never waken somebody from such a traumatic nightmare and yet the look on his friend's face was terrifying. Something powerful was filling Angel's head with words and visions he should never be remembering. Wesley dithered, his curiosity split between waking his friend and watching to see what happened next.
With one last heart wrenching cry, Angel solved the dilemma for him, he sat straight up in bed ripping the sheets from his sweat drenched body, as if the fabric was slowly suffocating him.
After taking a few seconds to gain his bearings, Angel focused his eyes on the dark shape hovering in the doorway.
"Wesley? Is that you?" he gasped as he fought for breath. In his chest, his erratic heart beat so fast it threatened to explode
Wesley just nodded; he wasn't capable of speech, he felt as if he had just woken from his own worse nightmare.
The word Angel had cried out so hard it had woken him from his deep sleep was impossible...Without a shadow of a doubt, Angel had cried for Buffy.
*****
The following morning, Angel was sitting drinking coffee when Wesley finally pulled himself from his room. Already exhausted from his long drive, Wesley had spent the rest of the night desperately trying to ring LA.
When there had been no reply at either the office or Cordelia's apartment, he resisted leaving a message on the machine for fear of freaking his friends, especially Buffy. The last thing he needed was the Slayer finding out that after five long years, the Oracles' deal had gone pear shaped. Wesley knew there would be plenty of time for freaking if Angel's memory really had returned.
**Boy, was he going to be pissed** Wesley ran his hand over his hair as he looked through his old address book, searching for more phone numbers. It didn't make any sense, Angel remembering anything from his past life; demon or human should have been impossible. The Oracles, when they had granted Angel his new humanity, had promised that every single memory had been washed away. And yet, last night, he had definitely cried out his old lover's name.
**Buffy**
There could be no mistaking whom the name belonged too
**Christ, how many Buffy's were there in his world**
In his desperation for answers, Wesley had then tried calling Giles in Sunnydale but the answering machine had just switched on relaying the message that he was out of town for a few days.
With a heavy heart and no sleep, Wesley went downstairs to face the music.
Angel smiled brightly as his *cousin* walked over to join him for breakfast.
"I didn't expect to find you home this week, you said you were heading off to Egypt for an exhibition" Wesley carefully watched Angel's face for any small sign of remembrance, but the face of the man seated opposite him was a picture of normality.
The ex-vampire sat at the breakfast table in a white T-shirt and blue jeans happily working his way through a hearty meal of bacon, sausage, eggs, and all the trimmings. As Wesley hesitantly approached the table, Angel snatched up a piece of warm toast from the rack, snaked it threw his egg and bit into it hungrily.
"That's next week, I leave on Friday." he replied as his teeth again attacked what was left of his toast.
Wesley stood still for a few seconds, feeling slightly uncomfortable after what he had witnessed the night before. The scene in front of him seemed strangely surreal.
"And how are you feeling this morning?" he asked carefully, as he pulled out a chair and waited for the torrent of questions he was positive would be thrown at him, but Angel just continued digging into his breakfast.
"Me?...Great thanks...Do you want some tea?" he offered, gesturing in the direction of the small black pot in the middle of the table.
Wesley was thrown; this wasn't what he'd expected at all. One moment he was crying out for an ex lover that in his mind should never have existed, and now, he was "Mr. Not A Care in the World" guy offering the beverage of the day.
Wesley decided to go straight for the truth, at least that way they could get it out in the open.
"That was some nightmare last night" he dipped his toe further into dangerous waters and waited for it to be bitten off at the knee but, there was still no bite.
"Nightmare? I don't remember having a nightmare. I did had the strangest dream though, can't remember it very clearly, one of those dreams with scrambled pictures and not much logic but, there was this girl" Angel's thoughts trailed off as if savouring the moment.
**Her hair had been the colour of golden sunlight as it trailed silkily across his naked chest, then the reddest, sweetest lips pulled at ....... **
"I think that gypsy girl I helped last night really got into my head, although it wasn't her, the girl in my dreams was blonde, body to die for" Angel smiled as a warm feeling spread all through his own body.
"Wait? What gypsy girl?" Wesley choked on his tea, spilling its contents across the table.
Angel started at the beginning and explained all about his eventful walk home.
" I think she felt sorry for me, maybe she could read in my hand that I haven't been laid for a while" this time Angel actually laughed at the thought and the laughter made Wesley even more nervous.
**This wasn't the same Liam Price he had come to know over the last five years**
"And then what?" he demanded a little more curious then was necessary.
Wesley didn't like this gypsy aspect one little bit, these people possessed magic's more powerful than he understood. After all, it was a gypsy that had cursed Angelus all those years ago. Even though Angelus was never coming back, the thought of gypsy magic around the once vampire made him jittery.
"She blessed me....I just have no idea what she blessed me with, she said I was lonely, so maybe she sent the dream I had last night." Again Angel's face beamed like a lovesick schoolboy as he remembered how the nameless blonde girl had wrapped her arms around his body and...
"And if that's the case I'm more than grateful"
*****
Later that morning
"Are we still eating out tonight, only I need to spend a few hours at the museum " Angel called searching in his briefcase but failing to find the papers he needed.
He really didn't want to go into his office today but, if the papers were not signed and returned before Monday, heads would roll, and more importantly, his Egyptian trip could be in jeopardy.
"Sure, I'm going to be busy most of the day myself" Wesley shouted back down the stairs while still trying to dial the number of Cordelia's cell phone.
"Where the hell are you?" he muttered almost angrily as the call went unanswered for the millionth time.
Downstairs and totally oblivious to the worry, Angel continued with his daily routine without a care in the world.
"Right, where do you want to meet up? What about that pub in Shaftsbury Avenue? He offered knowing that it was close enough to walk to ** if those goddamn trains started playing up again**
Without even thinking, Wesley agreed to the location. In all honesty, at that moment in time, food was the last thing on his mind as he hit the redial button.
Later on in his life, whenever he remembered that conversation, the words *frying pan* and *fire* would always return and bite him on the arse...
TBC