Chapter 26
OK and we are off. Not a lot just thanks to everyone who is taking the time to read this. Tolbert you made me spit Pepsi all over my screen from your last review! I thought I was going to pull a muscle I was laughing so hard.
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Preview: At last Buffy sees Wesley's dark side. How will she react? Hmmm lets get to the story shall we?
As the group gathered up materials to take to the hotel, Andrew confronted Dawn.
"You know more than your letting on don't you?" He said quietly.
"A little." Dawn admitted. "How do you know?"
"Unlike everyone else I know when you are hiding something." Andrew said a little hurt.
"Andrew I'm sorry." Dawn said "I made a promise."
"To Spike?" He asked a little jealously.
"Not just to Spike." Dawn said "To Anya too."
Andrew thought for a minute.
"Well if Anya and Spike think this is that important then I think I understand." He said. "But you'll tell me later right?"
"Of course." She promised as Emerald came up. Andrew looked at the two of them and excused himself. He wasn't sure what happened but he knew it was important and he trusted Dawn as well as Anya and Spike.
"Dawn?" Emerald said softly "They may hate us afterwards.Are you prepared for that?"
Dawn nodded.
"I know. But I'm learning there aren't a lot of happy endings in life." She said almost bitterly. "If saving the people I care about means sacrificing one, well then I guess I can say I am not my sister. I will sacrifice Cordelia as Buffy probably should have sacrificed me."
"Did you ever think that maybe your sister was not as strong then as you are now?" Emerald asked.
"No, I never thought of that." Dawn said softly "I wish Spike would have given this to anyone other than me. Why not Buffy? Or Xander? Or Willow? Why me?"
"Because he trusts you most." Emerald said. "Even though he knows their power he still chose you. Because you ARE strong, strong enough to handle this. The rest may not have been."
"I've never been strong." Dawn admitted "Not on my own. I always had Buffy or Xander there"
Emerald chuckled.
"Then maybe it's about time you learned your own strength." She said matter of factly "I read people.I see what's in them, what they can do. I see the strength that you cannot even see in yourself. So don't argue with me or I'll turn into a panther and bite you."
Dawn laughed.
"I'm really going to like you." She said happily. "But you know Cordelia isn't going to come back. How can you still go in and try to help her knowing it won't work?"
"I don't know it WON'T work." Emerald said. "Stranger things have happened. I'm still going to try with every inch of my being to prove your friend wrong and bring her back."
"Good." Dawn said simply. "Just checking."
Meanwhile Buffy and Wesley were outside talking.
"We never went shopping." Buffy commented.
"Well hopefully there is always tomorrow." Wesley said. "Barring Cordelia turning everyone in this world to nothingness of course."
"Of course." Buffy agreed solemnly. She looked thoughtful for a moment before turning to him again.
"Wesley?"
"Yes Buffy?" He asked a little worried at her tone.
"How do you feel about me?" She asked.
Wesley began to fidget and look everywhere else but at Buffy while he searched for an answer.
"Well, I admire you and the things you've done" He said nervously "And, well I enjoy what we have."
"What we have." Buffy repeated. "And what do we have exactly?"
"Friendship." Wesley said watching her. He was surprised when she looked disappointed.
"Of course, friendship." Buffy said dully. "That's good. Friendship is important."
"Buffy I don't think I understand." Wesley said "What are you asking me?"
His breath held as he waited for her answer. Buffy didn't say anything for a minute. Finally she got angry.
"You know what?" She said irritably "I'm sick of this. I'm sick of always waiting for someone to say something and missed signals and then missing opportunities."
Wesley was taken aback as he watched her rant.
"And you know what?" Buffy asked the still silent Wesley. He shook his head, fascinated despite his confusion.
"I'm not going to be all coy and then watch you leave and come back with some irritating wife who has horrible speech patterns in a year. We like each other, at least I like you. Why can't we just say it instead of dancing around it. I feel a little guilty that I'm attracted to you so soon but who cares!"
Wesley felt like he had been sucker punched. The Slayer was attracted to him? How did this happen? He wanted to tell her he was attracted to her also but it appeared she wasn't done ranting.
"And then there's the whole we work together thing." Buffy said oblivious to the wide eyed Wesley "I mean OK. I know working and dating aren't supposed to happen and-"
Buffy was cut off by Wesley grabbing her and kissing her. For a few precious minutes they simply explored the novelty of each others lips and taste. Buffy wrapped her arms around his neck to keep from falling over in shock.This was Wesley! How had she never noticed his perfect teeth and lips before? And his eyes! Xander once said he had Pierce Brosniny eyes but he was wrong, Wesleys were better. As the two reluctantly started to pull away from each other a bitter voice came from the shadows.
"Well, well Wesley." Justine sneered "Guess this ones an improvement on the last one."
Wesley whipped around to see who was talking. He took in Justine's ragged form, and the knife in her hand. His gaze hardened as he remembered what she could go with that knife.
"Justine." Wesley said coldly "Miss your bucket? Or just wanting to slit my throat again."
Buffy looked at the two. She was shocked at Wesleys cold voice and the violence radiating off him. He had never sounded like that around her, he was always calm and patient. She watched the girl sneer at him
"You know Wes, things would have been so much simpler if you had died. But no! You survived and came after me." She laughed bitterly "You couldn't even kill me. How pathetic is that?"
"Almost as pathetic as you are now perhaps?" Wesley asked sharply. Justine dropped all pretenses of being stable.
"You ruined my life!" She screamed at him.
"Good." Wesley said "Couldn't have happened to a more deserving person. Makes us even for you trying to take my life as I see it."
"No, we are not even." Justine said irately "You got what? Everything? What did I get?" She took a step towards him. Wesley shoved Buffy behind him and took a step closer.
"You got what you deserved." Wesley said wrathfully "How many lives did you try to ruin? I should have let Angel feed off you." He said disgustedly.
With a cry of rage Justine charged him. Wesley sidestepped her advance and pushed her away from Buffy. The rest of the group, hearing the argument, ran outside.The Scoobies watched as Wesley viciously fought the girl unarmed. Angel growled at the sight of Justine drawing everyone's eyes to him. He started to move in to help Wesley.Wesley turned to him sharply
"No." He said halting Angel "Not this time. This is my fight."
"Oh, gee Wes, I'm flattered." Justine said trying to bait him "You want me all to yourself. And here I thought you were into Blondie over there."
To Buffy she said
"Your a lucky girl, I heard some things as he had me chained up in his closet. The man is kinky, I'll give him that." She sneered.
Wesley ducked the knife blade and grabbed Justine by the arm. We threw her over his shoulder and into the house. The lights flickered and a deep rumbling sounded. The group, looked around in confusion before turning to watch Wesley. Justine turned and kicked Wesley, sending him into the wall. Buffy screamed a warning to Wesley as Justine aimed her blade for Wesley's throat. Wesley, distracted by Buffy's scream, turned back as he saw the knife blade descending at his exposed neck. Angel jumped in an effort to stop Justine even as he knew he was too late. Suddenly Justine was thrown away from Wesley by a flash of light and wind.She was suspended above the floor and dropped the knife as a shock seemed to radiate through the room. She turned to look at Wesley and their eyes locked once more before the lights flickered and she disappeared. Wesley and the group stood frozen and stared at the spot where moments before the girl stood. Angel reached out to help Wesley to his feet.
"What just happened?" Fred asked in shock.
"She just, disappeared." Giles said reaching up to remove his glasses. "Where did she go?"
"Away from here, that's all I know." Gunn said in a shaken voice.
"But what WAS that?" Kennedy asked "The lights and the boom?"
"That was Samuel." Willow said softly.
"Are you sure?" Lorne said to the witch "I mean how?"
"The spell on this place." Dawn said putting it together "It protects us and those who try to hurt us. Nothing happened till Wes and that girl were in the house."
"Are you OK Wesley?" Angel asked worriedly.
"I'm fine." Wesley answered. "I think maybe we should keep a better eye on our enemies though."
"Who was that?" Dawn asked.
"That was Justine." Angel said. "She slit Wesley's throat a while back and helped someone dump me in the ocean for 3 months. Wesley kidnapped her and made her help him find me. She blames him, or us, for ruining her life I guess."
Wesley wasn't listening to Angel. He was watching Buffy. She stared at him uncertainly and then looked away from him.Wesley felt his heart sink. He laughed to himself silently.
"So maybe dark Wesley is gone." He thought mocking himself. "Hardly, he just returned in time to make Buffy never trust me again."
Buffy kept her eyes on the ground
"We'll work out the why and how later.Right now we should get to Cordelia." She said.
Everyone grabbed books and supplies and started to walk out to the cars. The Slayers and most of the Watchers went back into the ballroom to continue training. Finally only Buffy and Wesley were left in the room. They both sat silently before Wesley cleared his throat.
"I suppose we should get going." He said flatly.
"I guess so." Buffy said in the same tone. She looked at him for a second before silently opening the door and walking into the night. Wesley cursed softly before following.
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Sorry these past couple of chapters have been short! I'm working on making them longer but I figured I could update quicker if I kept them short. Let me know if you want quicker updates or longer chapters.
OK and we are off. Not a lot just thanks to everyone who is taking the time to read this. Tolbert you made me spit Pepsi all over my screen from your last review! I thought I was going to pull a muscle I was laughing so hard.
.........................................................
Preview: At last Buffy sees Wesley's dark side. How will she react? Hmmm lets get to the story shall we?
As the group gathered up materials to take to the hotel, Andrew confronted Dawn.
"You know more than your letting on don't you?" He said quietly.
"A little." Dawn admitted. "How do you know?"
"Unlike everyone else I know when you are hiding something." Andrew said a little hurt.
"Andrew I'm sorry." Dawn said "I made a promise."
"To Spike?" He asked a little jealously.
"Not just to Spike." Dawn said "To Anya too."
Andrew thought for a minute.
"Well if Anya and Spike think this is that important then I think I understand." He said. "But you'll tell me later right?"
"Of course." She promised as Emerald came up. Andrew looked at the two of them and excused himself. He wasn't sure what happened but he knew it was important and he trusted Dawn as well as Anya and Spike.
"Dawn?" Emerald said softly "They may hate us afterwards.Are you prepared for that?"
Dawn nodded.
"I know. But I'm learning there aren't a lot of happy endings in life." She said almost bitterly. "If saving the people I care about means sacrificing one, well then I guess I can say I am not my sister. I will sacrifice Cordelia as Buffy probably should have sacrificed me."
"Did you ever think that maybe your sister was not as strong then as you are now?" Emerald asked.
"No, I never thought of that." Dawn said softly "I wish Spike would have given this to anyone other than me. Why not Buffy? Or Xander? Or Willow? Why me?"
"Because he trusts you most." Emerald said. "Even though he knows their power he still chose you. Because you ARE strong, strong enough to handle this. The rest may not have been."
"I've never been strong." Dawn admitted "Not on my own. I always had Buffy or Xander there"
Emerald chuckled.
"Then maybe it's about time you learned your own strength." She said matter of factly "I read people.I see what's in them, what they can do. I see the strength that you cannot even see in yourself. So don't argue with me or I'll turn into a panther and bite you."
Dawn laughed.
"I'm really going to like you." She said happily. "But you know Cordelia isn't going to come back. How can you still go in and try to help her knowing it won't work?"
"I don't know it WON'T work." Emerald said. "Stranger things have happened. I'm still going to try with every inch of my being to prove your friend wrong and bring her back."
"Good." Dawn said simply. "Just checking."
Meanwhile Buffy and Wesley were outside talking.
"We never went shopping." Buffy commented.
"Well hopefully there is always tomorrow." Wesley said. "Barring Cordelia turning everyone in this world to nothingness of course."
"Of course." Buffy agreed solemnly. She looked thoughtful for a moment before turning to him again.
"Wesley?"
"Yes Buffy?" He asked a little worried at her tone.
"How do you feel about me?" She asked.
Wesley began to fidget and look everywhere else but at Buffy while he searched for an answer.
"Well, I admire you and the things you've done" He said nervously "And, well I enjoy what we have."
"What we have." Buffy repeated. "And what do we have exactly?"
"Friendship." Wesley said watching her. He was surprised when she looked disappointed.
"Of course, friendship." Buffy said dully. "That's good. Friendship is important."
"Buffy I don't think I understand." Wesley said "What are you asking me?"
His breath held as he waited for her answer. Buffy didn't say anything for a minute. Finally she got angry.
"You know what?" She said irritably "I'm sick of this. I'm sick of always waiting for someone to say something and missed signals and then missing opportunities."
Wesley was taken aback as he watched her rant.
"And you know what?" Buffy asked the still silent Wesley. He shook his head, fascinated despite his confusion.
"I'm not going to be all coy and then watch you leave and come back with some irritating wife who has horrible speech patterns in a year. We like each other, at least I like you. Why can't we just say it instead of dancing around it. I feel a little guilty that I'm attracted to you so soon but who cares!"
Wesley felt like he had been sucker punched. The Slayer was attracted to him? How did this happen? He wanted to tell her he was attracted to her also but it appeared she wasn't done ranting.
"And then there's the whole we work together thing." Buffy said oblivious to the wide eyed Wesley "I mean OK. I know working and dating aren't supposed to happen and-"
Buffy was cut off by Wesley grabbing her and kissing her. For a few precious minutes they simply explored the novelty of each others lips and taste. Buffy wrapped her arms around his neck to keep from falling over in shock.This was Wesley! How had she never noticed his perfect teeth and lips before? And his eyes! Xander once said he had Pierce Brosniny eyes but he was wrong, Wesleys were better. As the two reluctantly started to pull away from each other a bitter voice came from the shadows.
"Well, well Wesley." Justine sneered "Guess this ones an improvement on the last one."
Wesley whipped around to see who was talking. He took in Justine's ragged form, and the knife in her hand. His gaze hardened as he remembered what she could go with that knife.
"Justine." Wesley said coldly "Miss your bucket? Or just wanting to slit my throat again."
Buffy looked at the two. She was shocked at Wesleys cold voice and the violence radiating off him. He had never sounded like that around her, he was always calm and patient. She watched the girl sneer at him
"You know Wes, things would have been so much simpler if you had died. But no! You survived and came after me." She laughed bitterly "You couldn't even kill me. How pathetic is that?"
"Almost as pathetic as you are now perhaps?" Wesley asked sharply. Justine dropped all pretenses of being stable.
"You ruined my life!" She screamed at him.
"Good." Wesley said "Couldn't have happened to a more deserving person. Makes us even for you trying to take my life as I see it."
"No, we are not even." Justine said irately "You got what? Everything? What did I get?" She took a step towards him. Wesley shoved Buffy behind him and took a step closer.
"You got what you deserved." Wesley said wrathfully "How many lives did you try to ruin? I should have let Angel feed off you." He said disgustedly.
With a cry of rage Justine charged him. Wesley sidestepped her advance and pushed her away from Buffy. The rest of the group, hearing the argument, ran outside.The Scoobies watched as Wesley viciously fought the girl unarmed. Angel growled at the sight of Justine drawing everyone's eyes to him. He started to move in to help Wesley.Wesley turned to him sharply
"No." He said halting Angel "Not this time. This is my fight."
"Oh, gee Wes, I'm flattered." Justine said trying to bait him "You want me all to yourself. And here I thought you were into Blondie over there."
To Buffy she said
"Your a lucky girl, I heard some things as he had me chained up in his closet. The man is kinky, I'll give him that." She sneered.
Wesley ducked the knife blade and grabbed Justine by the arm. We threw her over his shoulder and into the house. The lights flickered and a deep rumbling sounded. The group, looked around in confusion before turning to watch Wesley. Justine turned and kicked Wesley, sending him into the wall. Buffy screamed a warning to Wesley as Justine aimed her blade for Wesley's throat. Wesley, distracted by Buffy's scream, turned back as he saw the knife blade descending at his exposed neck. Angel jumped in an effort to stop Justine even as he knew he was too late. Suddenly Justine was thrown away from Wesley by a flash of light and wind.She was suspended above the floor and dropped the knife as a shock seemed to radiate through the room. She turned to look at Wesley and their eyes locked once more before the lights flickered and she disappeared. Wesley and the group stood frozen and stared at the spot where moments before the girl stood. Angel reached out to help Wesley to his feet.
"What just happened?" Fred asked in shock.
"She just, disappeared." Giles said reaching up to remove his glasses. "Where did she go?"
"Away from here, that's all I know." Gunn said in a shaken voice.
"But what WAS that?" Kennedy asked "The lights and the boom?"
"That was Samuel." Willow said softly.
"Are you sure?" Lorne said to the witch "I mean how?"
"The spell on this place." Dawn said putting it together "It protects us and those who try to hurt us. Nothing happened till Wes and that girl were in the house."
"Are you OK Wesley?" Angel asked worriedly.
"I'm fine." Wesley answered. "I think maybe we should keep a better eye on our enemies though."
"Who was that?" Dawn asked.
"That was Justine." Angel said. "She slit Wesley's throat a while back and helped someone dump me in the ocean for 3 months. Wesley kidnapped her and made her help him find me. She blames him, or us, for ruining her life I guess."
Wesley wasn't listening to Angel. He was watching Buffy. She stared at him uncertainly and then looked away from him.Wesley felt his heart sink. He laughed to himself silently.
"So maybe dark Wesley is gone." He thought mocking himself. "Hardly, he just returned in time to make Buffy never trust me again."
Buffy kept her eyes on the ground
"We'll work out the why and how later.Right now we should get to Cordelia." She said.
Everyone grabbed books and supplies and started to walk out to the cars. The Slayers and most of the Watchers went back into the ballroom to continue training. Finally only Buffy and Wesley were left in the room. They both sat silently before Wesley cleared his throat.
"I suppose we should get going." He said flatly.
"I guess so." Buffy said in the same tone. She looked at him for a second before silently opening the door and walking into the night. Wesley cursed softly before following.
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Sorry these past couple of chapters have been short! I'm working on making them longer but I figured I could update quicker if I kept them short. Let me know if you want quicker updates or longer chapters.
