*****

"…somebody saw him jump

but nobody saw him slip

I guess he lost a lot of hope

and then he lost his grip…"

Faith holds tight to the numerous bags of groceries she carries as Robin knocks on Wes' door. Angel opens it and seeing Faith, visibly relaxes. Robin, using a cane now instead of crutches, limps into the apartment.

"Whoa," Robin says, spotting Lorne sitting in one of the chairs in the living room.

"Nah, he's cool. He's one of the good guys. That's still true, right?" Faith says, looking to Angel.

"Yeah. This must be Robin,' Angel reaches out his hand and shakes Robin's. "Robin, this is Lorne, he's an empath demon. Over there in the books, that's Fred. I'm Angel."

"Not Angelus?" Robin asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Robin's mom was a slayer. He knows all the watcher lore, he was raised by her watcher," Faith says, quickly, putting down the groceries and taking Robin's arm.

"Spike killed your mother," Angel realizes.

"That's not a good subject, Angel," Faith says, before Robin can respond.

"Sorry. Welcome to L.A., Robin. You'll be a great asset to the team," Angel says, nodding. "I'll take these into the kitchen and start on dinner."

"So is Wes okay with the party that's going on in his living room?" Faith asks, sitting down beside Robin on the couch.

"He's kind of unconscious back there. I think since we're all here to help that he won't mind," Fred replies, not looking up from her book.

"You wouldn't happen to read Sanskrit, would you, Faith?" Lorne asks.

"Sorry."

"I can. What do you have?" Robin asks.

"No way. You can read this?" Fred asks, surprised. She passes the book to Robin.

"I learned a lot of languages from my foster family. Comes in handy in our line of work," Robin replies, studying the book.

"Wes is our ancient prophecy/translation guy. It just doesn't seem right that we make him translate the spells that Lilah used…" Fred sighs.

Robin lowers the book. "This is pretty extreme. I think we need some help. Willow's the only person that I know of that could fix this. The way I read this one, when Lilah goes, Wes goes with her."

"Faith. Call Willow. I'm going to get Lilah…" Angel says, turning to leave.

"Wait, Lilah? You're bringing her here?" Lorne objects.

"The closer to Wes, the better he is. I want her to be here if we need her," Angel says, leaving.

Faith glances at the others. "Fred, make sure Angel didn't leave anything burning in the kitchen," She says, opening up her newly purchased cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Ken. Is Willow around?" Faith asks, recognizing Willow's girlfriend's voice.

"Hang on. This Faith?"

"Yeah. How's New Orleans?"

"Boring compared to Sunnydale. LA?"

"Not so boring. We need your witch," Faith replies.

"Here she is. Take care, Faith," Kennedy says.

"Faith? What's up?" Willow asks.

"We've got a problem out here. Wesley's in some trouble," Faith says.

"What kind of trouble?"

"This lady…it's a long story, but somebody's put a spell on him. Plural spells. It's killing him," Faith says.

"What kind of spells?" Willow asks, alert now.

"Here's Fred, she knows more about the details," Faith says, handing the phone to Fred. "Tell her what kind of spells."

Lorne and Robin go into the kitchen to attend to the food that Angel and Fred have abandoned.

After a few minutes, Fred hangs up the phone.

"Well? What did she say?" Faith asks.

"That she'll be here in a minute." Fred shrugs.

"A minute? She's in Louisiana…" Faith replies, but she blinks and finds Willow standing beside her.

"I love that!" Willow smiles.

"What the fuck…" Faith gasps.

"Teleportation. A new trick I learned. Cool, isn't it?" Willow laughs. "Now, where's Wesley? I need to see him."

"Lilah…"

"Evil lawyer, Lilah? That's who did this?" Willow gasps. "I thought she was dead…"

"She is. She had a contract with Wolfram and Hart that extended beyond death. She's only got a few days before she has to go back to hell. Obsessed little bitch wanted to make Wes love her…" Fred explains, leading her and Faith toward the bedroom.

"Poor Wes…" Willow says, stepping into the room. She gasps. "She…what did she do to him?"

"I take that as a bad sign," Faith says, looking at Fred.

"I need to talk to him. Can you give us a minute?" Willow asks, quietly, sitting down on the bed beside Wes' immobile form.

"Sure. Angel's bringing Lilah here in case we need her. We'll be right outside," Fred says, pulling a reluctant Faith from the room.

"Wesley?" Willow calls, reaching out for the watcher. He sits up at the sound of his name, looking around with glazed eyes.

"Willow? What are you doing here?" Wes asks, putting a hand to his pounding head.

"They called me. Said you were having some spell problems…" Willow smiles gently.

"It must be bad if they called you," Wes sighs.

"Wesley, I want to do something that will help me figure out what Lilah's done to you. It shouldn't hurt…" Willow says.

"Everything hurts, Willow. Just do it," Wes replies.

Willow hesitates. "Wes, do you even care? Look at me. What's happened to you?" She asks.

"Willow. I appreciate the concern. I really do. I'm just not feeling too good right now…I don't know if it's the spells or my own depression, but…" His blue eyes flash suddenly, startling Willow. "Is Lilah here?"

"Wes, calm down…" Willow says, trying to stop him from getting up and rushing from the room.

"I can't believe they'd bring her here…" Wes says, stopping his struggle and remaining seated on the bed.

"Let me take a look at you, Wes. Close your eyes." Willow puts her hands on each side of his face and her eyes fill with black.

Wes sighs, fighting nausea as Angel steps into the room.

"Willow?"

Willow's eyes return to normal. "Okay, Wesley. Angel, could you wait outside?" Angel obeys Willow's stern tone.

"Wesley. Your friends care about you. It makes you sick when they come around because Lilah gave you a potion. They don't hate you. They're trying to help you," Willow says, quietly.

"I know," Wes replies. "But…my mind keeps telling me…"

"Your mind is clouded right now because of the magic. Do you trust me, Wes?" Willow asks.

"I believe you, Willow. I trust your judgement," Wes replies.

"I need a few things from Lilah and then I'll be back to try and help you, okay?"

"So I should stay here…" Wes says, his eyes glazed slightly.

"I'll be right back, Wes," Willow promises, stepping outside the room.

Wes slides off the bed. He reaches underneath the bed and grabs a half-empty bottle of whiskey. He sighs and holds it in his shaking hands before turning it up and draining the bottle. He feels better, but he knows that it's because Lilah is in the other room. The liquor helps his trembling, but doesn't stop it. He puts his head in his hands.

"Well if it isn't the little witch…" Lilah snarls, leaning back lazily on Wes' couch.

"I could say the same about you with a few consonant adjustments," Willow replies, coldly. "I am glad you're here. You have something I need," Willow says, her face cold. Faith and Angel are startled by Willow's unfazed confidence. Fred, Lorne and Robin watch from the kitchen doorway.

"Really?" Lilah sneers.

Willow reaches out and grabs Lilah's arm, the nail on her index finger grows and she slices Lilah's wrist, spilling blood. Lilah screams but can't free her hand from Willow's grasp.

"Willow!" Angel says, starting for the two women, but Faith stops her.

Willow begins to chant as she coats her hands in Lilah's blood. Lilah is finally released, cradling her damaged wrist against her as Willow returns to the bedroom.

Willow kneels beside Wes' and whispers to him soothingly. He nods. She takes Wes' face in her bloody hands and chants a language that no one recognizes. Angel watches from the doorway.

Wes and Willow start to levitate from their kneeling positions on the floor. There is a flash of light and Lilah cries out from the other room. Angel blinks.

"Something's wrong," Willow gasps, kneeling beside Wes' unconscious body.

"Lilah's out cold!" Fred yells.

"What happened?" Angel asks, helping Willow put Wesley on the bed.

Wes' nose has started to bleed. After a few moments, blood starts to run from his mouth, too. The only sign of life is the slow beat of his heart.

"What did you do?" Angel asks.

"I unbound their souls, I dissolved the binding that Lilah had put on him and…I don't know what's going on…" Willow says, panicking.

Faith enters the room, hearing the raised tone of Willow's voice. "What's up?"

"We don't know. Something went wrong…" Willow says, stuttering.

"Calm down, Red, calm down. We need you conscious and not hyperventilating. Come on, Will," Faith pulls Willow away from Wes and into the living room. "Take a deep breath and…"

"I killed them…I killed Wes…I was trying to save him…" Willow gasps. Faith slaps her across the face. Willow takes a deep breath. "Thanks. I needed that."

"Robin. Fred. Help Willow find out what's funky here. Wes has books…" Faith's grasp on the situation slips as Angel yells from the bedroom.

"We need to get Wes to a hospital!"