Disclaimer: Not mine (I wish) please don't sue (I'm poor)
Feedback: Lovely lovely! And don't worry HR, I wouldn't kill of dear old Wes, he's too nice. Mmm. And I won't have his throat slit and disowned by his friends either, unlike certain mean writers. Keep your reviews coming, especially the regulars, I write this for you, ya know!
PART 7.
There is nothing to be afraid of. Everything will be just fine as long as you just do as you are told and do better this time. You can do it. Try harder and concentrate.
He quietened the little voices in his head and focused on the task in hand.
Father had said that these people needed their help. They didn't realise it yet, but they would thank them eventually. Besides, the Council had assigned this task to be done, and they were never wrong. It was for their own good, and they would make sure it was done properly.
Don't be scared. They can't get you.
His father had required his assistance in performing this particular duty, and he had said that the experience would be useful for his training, maybe teach him a thing or two. He hadn't objected. After all, he had helped his father do lots of things like this and had enjoyed the chance to learn. He enjoyed the time spent at his father's side, knowing that he was making a difference, possibly even getting the chance to impress him. That's all he wanted.
It's just that this wasn't something he had done before. Sure, he had seen demons. Father had exposed him from an early age, well, earlier than this, anyway, so he wasn't shocked by what he saw. It's just that, before now, he had felt much more protected. He had never come face to face with one before, and these ones were angry, and frightening.
Other children always got told that there were no such things as monsters, didn't they? They were afraid at night. Afraid of the dark and the things that 'didn't exist'. But he knew they were real. He had a reason to be afraid of the dark, but he wasn't allowed to be. Despite all of his father's good intentions, he just couldn't get over his fear of these…creatures. One more reason why he was a disappointment, a failure. Young men shouldn't be scared, not like little girls, they're strong and brave, they don't need sheltering.
He puffed out his chest and set his determination. If he could hide his fear and do this right, then father wouldn't need to remind him of his shortcomings, he'd prove that he could do something on his own.
OK, get ready. You've done this hundreds of times. This spell's a new one, but you know what to do.
"Boy, have you got what I gave you?"
The monsters snarled. Just ignore them.
He nodded.
"Do you think you can remember the sequence and do this right this time, or do I even have to do that as well? Use a bit of common sense, boy, for God's sake. If you'd learn to take your responsibility a bit more seriously, then I wouldn't have to say anything to you, would I?"
"No, father."
"Always got your head in the clouds, that's your problem. Now pay attention this time."
He listened as father started the spell. He felt proud when he realised he could understand some of the words. He was a quick learner when it came to languages, and he was good at it. At least he was good at something.
The beasts are snarling at him again, and thrashing around this time. What if they broke free and attacked him? What would he do? He was frightening himself again. Oh God, pay attention! You nearly missed your part! OK, concentrate. This powder first, then this one. Got it.
They looked like they new what was going to happen to them. They new their powers were being taken away, and it was going to hurt. He felt sorry for them. Was that wrong? No, they deserved it. They were filthy beasts, and this was going to cleanse them, bring back their humanity and banish the evil magic. Father was right. They'd thank them for it in the end.
Here comes the scary bit. All those flashing lights and loud noises. Cover your ears.
He tried, really he did, but he was still terrified. He couldn't help it, he was only small. And for some reason, something was hurting him. He couldn't see anything, but there was definitely something bad happening. Oh, no. He knew this feeling. Light-headed and dizzy, he was going to faint. Not again. It hurt so much and he was really scared, but father would punish him severely if he did anything so pathetic as collapse.
It's no good.
Well, looks like it's the cupboard again for you…
* * *
Cordelia still couldn't quite fathom what exactly had happened and why. Her mind was still a little groggy, and she couldn't stand on her own. Angel had lifted her onto the couch and was threatening to crush her to death with all of his over-attentive fussing and gestures. Maybe it was because she was being so unresponsive that he felt the need to mother her. He hadn't realised that she was just too tired to care at the moment. Still, she was quietly enjoying the attention, even if Angel's concerned but friendly voice was irritating her slightly.
When he finally shuffled away to find her something to drink, she took the opportunity to glance around the lobby she thought she had seen for the last time. It worried her all over again when she discovered, for the second time, that Gunn was right, Wesley wasn't here. Her drug-induced state had allowed her a pleasant lapse of memory for a few minutes, but now things were returning to her, as sharp and clear as anything. She was beginning to ache a little bit now too, and she recalled colliding with the counter on her way down to the floor. That was gonna bruise.
After her vision had finally returned to normal, she noticed someone sitting on the steps near the doors and struggled to shift herself up onto her elbows to get a better look. She frowned in annoyance when she realised who it was.
"What is he doing here?" she asked Gunn in an offended tone as he appeared from the basement, a whole arsenal in his arms.
Gunn glanced over to the demon as Harris perked his head up, obviously recognising the hostility in Cordelia's voice as being directed at him.
"Don't worry, Cordelia, he's been taken care of. We kicked his ass good and now, he's gonna help us, aint't that right?"
The demon nodded in resignation and returned to his vigil of the second step.
"We tied his hands, so, he won't be hurting us any time soon. Besides, we had a little talk. Apparently, this has all been some big scheme by Wolfram and Hart and he was an unwilling player in the game. Or so he says. By the way, did I mention that we totally kicked his ass?"
"Yes", Cordelia replied, humouring the big smile on Gunn's face. "But what about my vision? Don't the Powers That Be have a say in this? I kinda got the idea that they wanted something…you know…done…"
"Don't sweat it, Cordy. If we get time after this is done and we don't all end up as corpses, I'll explain it to you. Besides, he knows what Angel will do to him if he tries anything, don't ya albino boy?"
Again, the demon nodded, seeming quite willing to accept his fate and absolute obedience to the crew.
His reaction impressed Cordelia. Angel and Gunn must have done one hell of a number on this guy to make him act like that. She had seen what he was capable of, and it had scared her.
"Speaking of Angel, where did he go?" She felt a bit upset that he hadn't returned to pamper her some more. As if on cue, he emerged from the office with yet another book.
"Sorry, I got a bit side tracked. Before we went out on the vision mission I had found something in this book. Good news, Harris, it confirms what you said in the car back there. You score another mark on the trust-o-meter."
"What? What is it?" Cordelia asked, feeling very out-of-the-loop.
"Just something about why the spell might have affected Wesley. Supposedly, some very unique people are –"
"OH, MY, GOD! I totally forgot! I wanted to tell you guys right away but you didn't come back before the other guy got here and –"
"Cordelia…"
"Oh, right. Anyway, Wesley, he's got a power! You see that book over there by the door; he threw that at the guy…without even touching it! He can, like, make things float and stuff. The vase, that was him too. He says he doesn't know how he did it and that he doesn't like it, but you guys have to tell him how cool this is so that he won't try to get rid of it, I mean, how useful could this be! You wouldn't even have to get up to close a door or fetch the remote, you know, and… wait a minute, you guys knew, didn't you?"
Their blank expressions had stopped her rant, and she felt somewhat disappointed that this revelation hadn't affected them more.
"Cordelia, Harris explained it all to us. We think that Wesley had some kind of connection to the mystical energies that he didn't even know about. The spell must have awakened it or something. But we didn't know that he had actually done anything with it yet. Honestly!" Angel had noticed the scowl on her face, probably caused by the fact that he seemed to know more about this than she did, despite her discovery.
Thinking it better to avoid Cordelia's jealousy, he changed the subject slightly and addressed Harris.
"So, telekinesis, what does that mean? You said the individual determines the particular power, so why this?"
The demon blinked for a second, not sure how to respond. They all assumed him the expert in this, but most of his observations had been mostly down to guesswork. He decided it best to make a couple of educated assumptions, just to keep them happy.
"Well, it certainly seems to me that this power is not meant to be aggressive. I mean you'd expect fire or electricity or something if he was the bitter type…" He lowered his head a little at the looks that earned him but continued, determined to be of some help to the people who had brought him back from the brink of utter madness.
"I would guess that this is meant to be some sort of defensive thing, you know, protective. He likes to help people, right?"
The group looked at each other. It made sense; at least, as far as Wesley becoming some kind of magical receptor could make sense.
"It also means that he has the potential to become particularly powerful. Controlling fire and water or just physical elements generally, it's very limited. Most of the time, like with me, small bursts of energy have to be channelled into a restricted area to get a result, or the particular element has to be present for manipulation to a greater degree. With telekinesis, concentrated energy is not needed, so it can be spread over a wider area. As long as there are objects available to him, he is capable of moving many things at a time, or moving one very large and heavy object with some force. He could be really dangerous if he cannot contain himself or resist the temptation of all that power. Me, I'm nothing in comparison. Sure, I can throw a bit of fire here and there, set things alight. But I couldn't hurl a tree or make walls collapse. That would be far more devastating."
"Well, I guess we know now why Wolfram and Hart had an interest in this. They're all for a bit of devastation. We'd better get moving, Gunn. Now."
Angel went to sort through the weapons Gunn had brought up from the basement, grabbing a good assortment of offensive items. Bearing in mind that most of the lawyers were human, he packed a gun or two, just in case.
Cordelia looked on in amazement. "Wait a minute, what do you mean 'Gunn'? What about me, I'm coming too."
"Oh no, I really don't think that you are in any shape to fight right now, especially considering who we're dealing with."
"Yeah, and you are I suppose? You and Gunn, taking on the entire Wolfram and Hart building, full of demons, vampire detectors, magical entities and, not to mention, sadistic lawyers from hell. It's suicide, and you need all the help you can get."
"I really don't think you'd be much help to us right now anyway, Cordy." She was hurt by that, but she didn't let it show. It would ruin her 'hardened bitch' expression she was using to try and get Angel to let her come along.
"And besides, you don't need to worry, we're not about to storm the place. We'll use more…conservative methods. We need you to stay here and baby-sit."
Damn it. They were going to get themselves killed, and they didn't even look as though they cared! Gunn had that stupid 'yay, we're going to kill something' smile on his face, and Angel was being all bravado to impress her. It wasn't working. Did they even care that Wesley was her friend too and she wanted to help? Had they even thought about the reason they were doing this in the first place? Neither of them had even mentioned Wesley's name at all, let alone shown concern for his whereabouts. They didn't even know for certain if Wolfram and Hart had him or not. As usual, they were just rushing straight into things. Men. They were all the same.
She wished Wesley were here to add a little organisation and common sense to the proceedings. Oh well, looks like it was up to her.
She watched them leave the hotel without so much as a goodbye. They hadn't even made sure she would be all right with this demon guy who, for all she knew, could turn evil any second and try to eat/impregnate her or something. Had Angel even considered the possibility that it would be light when he got back, and that he might not be able to come home again? Ugh. They frustrated her so much. She looked over at Harris, who was nervously shuffling his feet around on the floor. He was her only hope.
"OK, look, mister demon guy. I don't like you, and you don't know me, but I need your help. We have to follow them and save them from themselves, and you're the only one in this room who can walk without crippling over…"
* * *
Murmurs. Rustling. A shadow and then nothing. Silence again.
He liked the silence. He was so tired; all he wanted to do was sleep. He wasn't very comfortable, but that didn't matter. He didn't have the energy to flip over, or even to move his arms. They felt awkward, like they were forced behind his back.
Oh well.
There's that murmuring again. God, it was bloody annoying.
He tried to open his eyes, but it didn't work very well. Everything was blurry, well, more than usual, anyway. He thought he saw movement, like a dark shape shifting before his eyes, but he couldn't be sure. Then some noise, close to his ear. Was someone there? Was someone speaking to him? That's a bit rude, coming into someone's apartment and waking them up when they hadn't been invited.
Who were they, anyway? It didn't usually take him this long to get up, especially if someone had disturbed him. This wasn't right, something was wrong. This wasn't his apartment, and he was on the floor.
Dread crept through his limbs, and he finally felt the hardness of the ground and the rough texture of the carpet grazing against his skin. He would have panicked, but he was too exhausted.
He felt his weight shift as he was pulled up and squeezed his eyes shut against the intruding glare of light that was shone in his face.
Someone was holding him up and had grabbed his collar, forcing him to face them.
They were talking again, but it was loader this time, harsher. Then they shook him. This was way too familiar. He decided he didn't like this dream anymore and tried to wake up, opening his eyes again and struggling to stay conscious.
This time, he got a better look at his assailant. Definitely a demon, no doubt about that. He was ugly and smelled funny, but that wasn't half as worrying as the fact that he seemed to have gaping holes where his eyes should have been.
Wesley strained his tired eyes and tried to focus without the aid of his glasses. He wasn't having much luck, and considered the possibility that he would probably regret getting a good view of this guy anyway.
OK, this was getting ridiculous now. He would have to do something about this. He tried to move, maybe push the demon away so as he could get some space to breathe. The demon countered his feeble attempts, however, and only shook him harder. He seemed to be asking a question that Wesley couldn't understand enough of to answer. It all sounded like an incoherent slur to him.
His failure to respond only seemed to anger the demon further, and he was thrown backwards into the wall. It didn't hurt as much as it should have done, the drugs still in his system saw to that. But it still jarred him, and he shrank away, trying to escape.
Didn't work. The demon had hold of him again, only this time, he was pressed against the wall so hard that he could barely breathe. A big scaly paw hit him in the jaw, knocking him sideways. He fell to the floor, not even uttering a sound in his defence. He was completely at the mercy of whatever monster this thing was, and he knew it. His heart sank as the demon loomed over him, ready to pick him up again and deliver another blow.
He wished that he hadn't woken up. This was not going to be good.
To be continued…
