Disclaimer: None of the characters in this chapter are mine of course nor am I affiliated with Fox, the WB, and Paramount and other agencies mentioned here.

Spike's Apartment

Angel walked into the living room with a cup of blood in his hand and saw that Spike was still on the couch with his video games.

"Is that the only thing you ever do around here Spike?" Angel asked as he placed his cup down on the table. "Play video games? A little childish wouldn't you think?"

"Better than just sulking around mate. At least I get to work out my fingers." Spike replied and wiggled his right hand at Angel. "So how are our two love birds?"

Angel turned to the bedroom which had the door closed. "Illyria and Gabriel are still in there, I think he's still resting. The wound looked pretty bad." He picked up a chair and sat down on it. "He told me everything…" Spike looked up at Angel. "Another Old One has taken over Wesley."

"Bloody bastards." Spike said. "As if it wasn't bad enough to lose Charlie boy to them."

"Yeah…" Angel replied quietly. "And the souls' gone too so."

"Never a fair world is it?"

"Never is."

The two vampires turned as Illyria entered the room. "He is resting but his wound has healed." She said. "I wish to know whether or not you have a plan Angel."

Angel straightened himself on his chair. "Not much really…" He chuckled and removed the ring from his finger and examined it in the light. "We find them and destroy them." Angel got up from the chair and picked up the sword. "It's been quiet for some time now."

"A little too quiet." Spike interrupted.

"But there must be a reason why they chose our friends as our shells." Angel replied as he turned back to Illyria and then Spike. "Regardless of it, we aren't just going to let them waltz around in our friends' bodies."

"What happens if they choose to fight with us?" Spike asked again but this time he turned to Illyria. "Blue here was our enemy but now she's on our side right mate?"

Illyria's face turned angry with her icicle eyes focused on Spike. "They will not!" She said. "I will tear them limb from limb and mutilate their faces and spit at their corpse!" Illyria continued to sneer at Spike.

"Uh okay." The blonde vampire just picked up the controller and continued to play on the Gamecube. "Even if that person was someone you cared about deeply?"

Spike's words made Illyria think for a moment, did she really cared about Wesley and loved him? "Yes…" Illyria said weakly, it was preferable to her not to reveal her emotions to anyone else at this time. It seemed Spike was a little taken back by her words but decided not to continue any further torment and returned to his game.

With a sigh Angel tapped on Illyria's shoulder and she turned to face him and he spoke quietly. "I need you here Illyria, you said you'll join us and help us in this fight." He came a bit closer. "I know how you feel…"

Illyria snapped back quickly. "Do you half-breed!?" She took a step back from Angel and continued. "Wesley was the only one I could trust and rely on. He was my guide in this world despite the fact that I took away his only love." She pointed at Angel. "And what did you do? You did whatever you could to control and destroy me! It is because of you that Wesley has ended up like this! He was my…"

"Lover?" Spike interrupted which caught both Illyria's and Angel's attention. "Pet? Friend? Your priest? Dad?"

Again, Illyria did not wished to reveal more of her human emotions and remained silent. Angel stepped forward.

"He knew the risks." Angel crossed his arms. "Wesley was one of my best friends as well as the person I could rely when things got bad even though he betrayed me and stole my son." This captured Spike's attention and he dropped the controller with a dumbfounded look but did not say anything. "He saved my life and I'll never forget that or him."

Illyria stared at the vampire for a bit and then turned around and left to check on Gabriel but she was indeed hurt.

"Tensions have always been high between our fearless leader and blue queen." Lorne said.

A voice in the audience responded. "Why is that?"

"Why?" Lorne replied. "Mainly because of how those two met, she was a slave trapped in a hell dimension with all hope lost and he was her knight in shining armor that came and saved her." He took a sip of his drink. "If you ask me, they had a daughter and father relationship. When things got bad with her he was willing to do what it takes to save her. She was a sweet crumpet. When Illyria came though…it not only struck Wesley's heart hard but Angel's as well as the rest of us."

"What about Wesley? Didn't he betray Angel by kidnapping his son?" Another member in the audience asked. "How could Angel still trust him?"

"Well the thing with Wesley was that he was a man who tried whatever he could to do to contribute to the good fight." Lorne replied. "With Connor's case he thought he was doing what was best for everyone else." He shifted a bit on his stool. "I don't think I ever understood why he did it but after some Sherlock's thinking it wasn't just the false prophecy that led him to do this but what had happened early." Lorne stood up and walked around a bit on the stage. "You ever know what's it like to be lonely? To have the whole world shut out from you? No matter what you do you feel like the oddball?"

Illyria entered the bedroom and sees Gabriel on the bed with his gaze stuck on the ceiling. She quietly walks up to the bed and sits on the side and Gabriel took notice of her but returned his stare back at the ceiling.

"Fred was always the heart of Wesley's desire." Lorne said. "Much like what happened to Angel when Groo came back to Cordelia was what happened to Wesley. He found himself at a loss. At least with Angel's case he had a son to tend to, Wesley had nothing but his books." He chuckled a bit. "I mean who wants to have books as companions?"

"What about you?" Someone asked. "Didn't you feel lonely at all?"

Lorne shook his head. "Nah, I'm an all-around loveable guy and I had a lot of things that kept me busy during those times. But back to our story."

As the door closed Spike finally spoke out.

"You have son!? That's impossible!"

"A lot of impossible things have happened in the past." Angel replied.

"But with whom? I don't recall seeing Buffy pregnant!"

"This isn't up for discussion Spike!" Angel said sharply. "Just drop it."

"Suit yourself mate." Spike replied as he returned to his game. "Wow. Who would've thought of it?" He spoke up again. "As long as it wasn't with Buffy."

Angel simply ignored him and went to the kitchen to grab a drink.

In the bedroom, Gabriel spoke. "You had a disagreement with the vampire Angel?"

Illyria remained seated on the bed next to Gabriel's side but did not turn her eyes to him. "Yes…I am…" She staggered a bit and turned to Gabriel. "Unsure of what to do. Angel wishes to annihilate our current enemies regardless of the loss. Sometimes I think he does not care about the soldiers who die for him in battle."

Gabriel cocked his head with an interested look. "Strange." He said which caught Illyria's full attention. "I do not remember you having this kind of emotion or care for things you would have considered in the old days as insignificant."

Illyria would have ripped Gabriel's throat for his words but she held herself back. "A lot has happened to me ever since I came into this world. I am still at a loss with my place in this world and my purpose."

"Our place?" Gabriel asked as he shifted himself up into a sitting position on the bed. "Our place is back in the Deeper Well, this world belongs to the mortals, not us. These are not the same humans we knew back then, if we tried to wrestle this world from them they will strike back hard."

"So I was told. Then is our purpose to become guardians of this world?"

"I think we have already found our destiny."

NOTE: I was hoping to finish this story but then so many tragic things happened to me this year and I've lost the fire for it as well as my schoolwork is killing me and taking up tons of my time so I dunno whether I'll finish it or not. I was planning three Acts for this but if I do end up finishing it I might just keep it one ACT and simplify it. Sorry to those who were hoping for more but I'm just so busy.