Note: This chapter is really short. Just want everyone to know part of the story. Lots of implied death. Boo Hoo. I don't like it either, but that's what came out. Please read!!
Chapter Six – Part of the Story
He didn't know if he could tell the teenagers all that had happened. Dawn reached over and grabbed his hand in hers. At least she had temporarily forgiven him for his comments earlier.
"After Jasmine died, the demons started becoming bolder. More killings, more trouble. Like her death was some kind of trigger. We couldn't keep a handle on anything. All of us worked 24-7. It just wasn't enough. Panic started to ensue. Some people left, some didn't. The National Guard came in to restore order. The monsters mowed them down. In all the chaos, we did what we could to help. Angel and I decided we should fall back and regroup. But he needed to make one stop before we left Los Angeles."
Connor rubbed his face to be able to take it all in. "Cordy."
"We needed to bring her with us. I went with him while Fred and Gunn gathered supplies for the trip. Lorne had arranged a way out of the city. We got to the hospital. It was a madhouse, literally. It had been taken over by vampires and a couple of demons I had never even heard of. We . . . "
The hard part, Wesley knew, was even remembering what happened next because it hurt so much. Dawn also sensed the terrible outcome.
"Angel grabbed Cordelia. We fought our way to the exit. He had pushed me forward, I think out of the way. It all happened so fast. By the time I had regained my footing and turned around, all that was left was dust."
"He's gone?" Connor struggled not to cry.
"I'm afraid so."
Tear streamed from Dawn's eyes. She looked so small and fragile, he thought. I can't screw up protecting her also.
"Cordelia I think was already dead. I think Angel knew that when we got there. I ran as fast as I could back to the hotel. It must have taken over a day to get there. To find that it had been burned to the ground. We'd pissed off a lot of demons in our time. Both Fred and Gunn were in there when it happened. I found them. There was nothing I could do."
"They're all gone?"
Wesley's brain was telling him to run as far away from Angel's son as possible. That to be around him more would only invite more heartache and destruction. But why had he found both Dawn and Connor? Something bigger was going on. He'd have to play it through to the end. If he didn't die first.
Not that he was afraid to die. Some days he had almost welcomed it. Something kept driving him. Maybe these two child-adults had those answers.
"I'm sorry, Wes," Dawn whispered to him as she stood up to hug him. The girl sometimes was much too touchy-feely for him.
Connor still sat at the table, staring off into the distance. "I should have stayed."
"I don't think it would have made much of a difference."
"How did you survive?" Dawn asked him. She wouldn't let go of him. That definitely made Connor uncomfortable.
"I grabbed as much supplies as I could from my apartment and ran. I went part of the way on my motorcycle and some of the time on foot. I'd only seen a handful of humans before I found Dawn. I had to keep moving. I couldn't save any of them."
Wesley's head was ready to explode and he couldn't draw enough air into his lungs. But Dawn would not let him go.
"Bathroom?" he groaned, trying to dislodge the girl.
"Dawn, let him go," Connor commanded her to do.
Wesley ran as fast as he could before losing it totally. He slammed the door and vomited violently. His body shook from head to toe. He had not been allowed to grieve for his friends, his family. Now he broke down and didn't know if he could get back up.
After a while, he lay down on the cool tile and slept. His dreams were muddled, filled with smiling images of his friends. Then images of their deaths. He slept for a while longer in oblivion. Dawn and Connor finally rousted him, gingerly putting him to bed like a child with the flu.
TBC
I know. Wesley falls apart. There are reasons for this. Please continue to read. Thanks in advance for all the input and reviews.