Title: The Torn Dollar 3/3
Author: DollarBill
Email: Goldy05403@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Joss, Joss, and, yet, more Joss. Don't sue.
A/N: Kind of short, kind of to the point, kind of weird. I don't know. It was my first L/W fic and I'm mildly proud of it. I hope you all enjoyed, too!
Dedication: To my lovely Alexis Denisof, you've earned the 'and' spot in the credits! Keep playing Wesley so wonderfully.
A half-hour later, Wesley felt composed enough to walk into Angel's office. The vampire barely looked up as he entered, and concentrated on looking over Fred's shoulder at the documents she was poring over. Fred audibly tensed when he entered, but made no other signs that she acknowledged he was there.
"Nice of you to join us, Wesley," Angel greeted, his voice betraying his annoyance.
Wesley didn't feel very apologetic. He thought that perhaps Angel had more important things to worry about than a pile of papers from the bosses at Wolfram & Hart. "I was otherwise engaged," he lied.
Angel scowled at him. "Don't be engaged during work hours."
"Don't give me orders."
Angel stared at him for a moment, considered. Letting it rest, he handed him some of the business papers. "What do you think?"
Wesley dug in his pocket for his glasses. It wasn't often that he chose to wear them. He found that contacts made him more intimidating. But during the emotional morning, slipping in his contacts had been the furthest thing from his mind.
He rifled through the papers, noting that there was a suspicious small, black print at the bottom. "Do you have a microscope?"
Angel grunted, obviously feeling that he didn't need to waste any more breath on Wesley than was needed.
Wesley sighed. The whole thing was completely useless. With the technology and money that literally oozed from Wolfram & Hart, they could have imprinted just about anything onto the documents.
He put the papers down on Angel's desk and slipped off his glasses. Fred trailed a finger down a page and refused to look at him. "Reading these things is a complete and utter waste of time and abilities."
Angel growled softly. "It's important to know what we're getting into. Feel free to leave at any time if the excitement isn't up to your level."
"Angel, Wolfram & Hart could have put anything into these papers. Reading them, with or without a microscope, is not going to do us much good, I'm afraid."
Fred looked up. "He's right," she said quietly.
"Fine," Angel snapped. "Then what do you suggest, Wesley?"
Wesley smiled thinly. "Let me talk to Lilah."
"No."
Wesley rolled his eyes. "For God's sake, you're a 250 year old vampire. Grow up and get Lilah in here."
Angel gave him a cold, calculating look. "Lilah! LILAH!"
Like magic, Lilah opened the door to Angel's office. She leaned against it with a knowing look. "Thought about my offer a bit more, Angel?"
Wesley couldn't help himself. "What offer?"
Lilah's gaze landed on him, like she was seeing him for the first time. "Oh, Wesley, how good to see you again! How was the cosy little breakfast with Fred?"
Fred got up suddenly from the desk. She slammed the papers down and hurried out of the room, elbowing past Lilah on the way out. Lilah watched her curiously. "Was it something that I said?"
Angel looked her up and down. "Wesley wants to talk to you."
"Does he?" she purred. "Talk… that will be something new for us."
Wesley felt himself growing frustrated. Yanking on her arm, he physically dragged her out of the room. Once in the hallway, he willed himself to relax.
Lilah followed him serenely. "Problem, Darling?"
"What was that all about?" Wesley hissed, trying—and failing—to keep the jealous tone out of his voice.
"Oh? You mean, Angel?" Lilah feigned shock. "Don't you know? There's always been something running deeper between Angel and I. An attraction, if you will. I've always wanted him."
Wesley closed his eyes, feeling the headache pound beneath them. "Fred and I didn't do anything."
"Only because she wouldn't touch you."
Wesley flinched. "I turned her down," he said flatly. "Mostly because of you."
Lilah watched him carefully. "What do you want, Wesley?"
Wesley opened his eyes. "I need to know whether or not it's safe to sign those documents."
Lilah's laugh was deep and rich. "And you think I'm going to tell you? Guess again."
Wesley leaned back against the wall, slid down so he could sit. He cradled his head in his arms. "I don't know what to do."
Lilah took a step back. "No. You're getting emotional. You can't get emotional on me, Wesley."
Wesley rubbed his head wearily. "I'm not good enough to be with Fred… and I'm not evil enough to be with you."
"How do you know?"
Wesley looked up at her, his eyes red. "I'm not evil."
"You have it in you," she pressed. "That's why you kept falling in with me. You love being on the edge, you love the danger. You love being with me."
Wesley refused to let her see how much her words effected him. "We can't have a future and I can't… I can't be with Fred, either."
"I love you."
Wesley looked up sharply. "What?" he demanded. "You're not serious."
Lilah shrugged and slid down next to him. "Testing. Just curious to see how those words felt in my mouth… and your reaction, 'I love you.'"
"And?"
"Odd," she admitted. "And you were horrified."
"You can't love."
"No," she agreed. "Probably not. I care about you, Wesley. Almost as much as I care about myself."
Wesley took in her words. She said the plain and simple truth. No matter how close they got, the only thing Lilah ultimately cared about was her own self-preservation. He leaned his head back against the wall. "Finding your dead body was one of the hardest moments of my entire life. Second only to watching Angel come at me with a pillow."
Lilah smiled thinly and put a hand on his knee. "Don't sign the papers, Wesley. It's like giving your soul to the devil."
He looked into her eyes. "Thanks."
"No problem." She stood, brushed herself off. "But you should have already known that."
Wesley looked off into space. "I think I did."
"I love you," Lilah said again.
He smiled at her. "How do they feel now?"
"Nauseated."
"I love you, too," he tried experimentally. He looked at her helplessly.
Lilah laughed. "If only you were a little more evil."
"If only you were redeemable," he said, softly.
Lilah touched his hand and walked off. He watched her go, a far-away look in his eyes.
He opened the door to Angel's office. The vampire looked up expectantly. "Well?" he demanded.
Wesley glanced at the papers. "They're safe. For once, Wolfram & Hart just needed to close a regular business deal."
Angel watched him suspiciously for a moment before picking up his pen. He signed each of the papers, one by one.
Wesley watched him the whole time. He was damning all their souls to the devil. And he found that, almost to his deep chagrin, he really didn't care.
After all, Lilah had signed hers away a long time ago.
END