You're Where I Am
Chapter Four: Heaven's a Lie
By EclipseKlutz

PG-13
Action/Adventure/Drama/Romance
Disclaimer: If I owned Angel Wes wouldn't have died…

A/N: This chapter is, more or less, exploring why Illyria, even though she'd resumed the form of Fred, was so willing to kiss Wes in the last episode…

A deathly silence rang through the room, preceded by a stale stillness that led one to wonder if time had frozen in its place—afraid to unfold the sequences that were soon to come. No one was moving, and had it not been for the fact that they remained breathing it would have seemed that they were merely life-size figurines to a dramatic movie scene. But this was no act in a story, this was reality…

Finally though, Wesley spoke, slicing through the harsh silence—his voice choked and constricted as though he was refusing to utter the words he said anyway, "Fr-Fred's dead?"

Illyria narrowed her eyes at him; the stubborn mortal he was could not accept what he had seen. "Have you not been listening?"

"How very… interesting," Vail drawled, making it very obvious how bored he was becoming with the conversation. Removing his own long, scabbed fingers from Illyria's fist he stepped back and announced carelessly, "You're both free to leave."

Illyria spun around, momentarily ignoring that Wesley was still dangling in the air, suspended by an invisible force. Although still on guard and keeping her senses attuned, she inquired of him in a dangerously soft voice, "You tell us to leave, to forget this… what is it you're waiting for?"

Vail neglected to reply for a moment, as he pulled both of his arms behind his back and shook his head. "Nothing, of course nothing."

"You lie!" Illyria stated through gritted teeth, her voice rising slightly with the words. Without warning she lunged forwards and allowed the anger, the grief, and the frustration canned up inside her to spill out of the surface.

It was a matter of seconds before Vail was pinned against the highly polished walls, receiving blow after blow from the ex-god-king, none of which seemed to have and particular target but they all collided with him nonetheless. Despite the blood trickling down his face, and the pain searing through his body, the aged demon let out a low snigger, which turned into a chuckle that allowed for a grin to seep onto his face.

Illyria took a step back, eyes wide and obviously alarmed by his sudden actions only to be caught in the gut with a surge of energy, sending her across the room and leaving her winded, sprawled out in odd angles on the floor beside the wall she'd had contact with.

Wesley, though, had used this dilemma to free himself from the barrier that restricted him, yet the efforts left him feeling weak—what little power he had left would be lucky if it could conjure a small fireball. Still, he had to try…

Behind him, Illyria had climbed to her feet and was now engaged in a fierce clash of will and power with Vail, but it was next to impossible to predict who'd win by the current circumstance. With their attention distracted, he clenched his eyes shut tight and willed the strength and magicks still lingering within his system to flow into his hand, and in one movement he hurled it at the ceiling and collapsed to the floor—breathing heavily.

He couldn't bring himself to stand; although the cracking noises running along the ceiling and the walls alerted him that if he didn't run soon he'd be trapped beneath the rubble. No… he wouldn't stand; he'd lie here and die, and he'd allow his life to leave with the pride of knowing he'd saved Illyria and that he'd see Fred again…

Fred's face dragged itself into his mind, fogging his vision. He'd had his fairy-tale ending, he'd had his princess; and then she was stolen from him… It didn't seem fair that she'd died—he would have died in her place if he'd had a chance… His thoughts wandered, hovering around his memories of Fred as he abandoned all regard for the fact that the building he was residing in would be collapsing soon, as it was no longer able to reside on its now-broken main beam.

Suddenly, something hit the ground beside him with a loud 'thud' and blood instantly made a puddle around the figure, some of it drenching his hand and arm… but he didn't care. He didn't notice either as a shadow fell across him and he felt himself being gently lifted from the ground and carried hastily out of the building. His attention only redeemed itself as he heard a voice he knew too well, the one of the woman he'd seen die… the one of his true love.

"Wesley, c'mon, Wes, wake up," Fred's voice was pleading, and he felt a delicate hand run through his hair. "Don't give in, Wes… don't give up."

He felt fresh tears slap down on his face, sliding down his cheeks, and then he felt himself being clutched hard in Fred's embrace, and distantly he heard her crying, "I won't loose you again, Wes… not again."

Still he felt her grip tighten, and her sobs growing slightly louder as she buried her head in his shoulder, obscuring her voice as she begged him not to give in…

'But give in to what?' he found himself wondering faintly.

"Don't give in, Wes," she sounded grieved, barely able to speak through her tears, "Heaven's a lie… don't give into it…"

'Heaven's a… what?' Wes wondered, his mid still drowsy and hazy—unable to register HH

Fred's words. Then he briefly felt her mouth on his and then suddenly colder as she drew away.

"Heaven's a lie." It wasn't Fred's sweet, delicate voice anymore uttering this phrase. It was Illyria's; grief-ridden and dulled by faint sobs he would never have expected to hear from her.

Finally, with all the will he managed to muster, Wesley blinked his eyes open, taking in the foggy darkness, only broken through with light from the flickering streetlamp nearby. He was lying in the mud beside a collapsed building, his head resting on Illyria's lap. Illyria herself had her head in her hands, choking back tears and apparently forbidding herself to look down at him—down at what she thought would be a corpse.

He hesitated, but this was overridden as he reached forwards and gently pulled her hands away from her face, and saw that she had indeed been shedding tears. There was not much time for him to do anything else though for he was instantly pulled into a suffocating embrace, with Illyria still sobbing into his shoulder—although this time he hoped it was from relief.

"You died in my arms last time," she managed to say, her voice muffled from the cloth of his shoulder. "I would not watch it happen again."

He didn't have enough air in his lungs to respond, and was grateful when she let go, tears still sparkling on her cheeks. With a great amount of effort, he hauled himself to his feet before offering to help Illyria do the same. She ignored his hand though and climbed to her feet herself, apparently slightly embarrassed by her earlier display of emotion.

Gently wiping off several of the tears, he responded quietly, "You're right though, Heaven's a lie."

She nodded, but he could have sworn he heard her mutter as she turned away,"But only when you are charged to keep one from it."

'Then she succeeded.'

The End

A/N: Well, that's a wrap… hope you enjoyed and don't you dare forget to review!

Shahid: You can be reassured that I've yet to kill Gunn.

Tp96: Patience is a virtue… that not many seem to have…

Split Butterfly: So it is a good thing then. Okay, well, hope you're happy!

Philyra: Hope you're satisfied with the way this turned out… it didn't seem right for this specific fic to put too much about Gunn in there. Thanks for the many reviews you've given to this fic since it began!

Tariq: 'Tis okay, and thanks, by the way for the reviews.

Hieko: lol… Well, hope you're satisfied… Vail was mostly trying to creep them out. The Angel crew have bent the rules several times in the past.

Ann aka tnbella: Thanks -. That's really nice…:starts tallying things off, then gives up: a lot of people have said what you did about my take on Illyria so far.

The Shadower: First off, thanks for the very long and detailed and nice reviews! The Season 6 I'm writing will not share in this plot, as there's several other ideas I maintain for Wes's resurrection, but at the rate I'm going there may not be a S6 at all. Personally, I'm a fan of both ships (Wes/Illyria, Wes/Fred) but I understand where you're coming from. And as for the B/A thing, you'll never have anything to fear—I cannot stand the two together. And I apologize for wrapping this up now, but there's so many fics I want to work on right now and I've set myself a limit of only two stories at once due to old circumstances in which five fics had to be taken down, so hopefully you'll understand there. And once again, thanks a ton for your reviews.

Wesfan1234: Really? You're right—they can't kill Wes, he's too big of a character… of course, they can't end a series like that either, now can they?

Just as a reminder, REVIEW! And thanks for reading.