Chapter Twenty-Two – Insanity

By the looks of things, nothing had been looted or destroyed in these mountains, just deserted. Faith was worried. Wesley hadn't moved much since the incident with Lorne. She didn't know what the history was between the two, but something had gone wrong in the past. Could it have to do with Connor?

The two teenagers realized that there were some major problems with Wesley and kept quiet. They weren't scared, just worried.

"Right over there," Connor pointed out to Dawn. He had spotted a house in the woods.

Connor climbed out and cautiously approached the dwelling.

"Kid, do you want me . . . ?" Faith started to ask out the window. Connor stuck a finger up at Faith to wait. She hated being useless.

Not too many minutes had passed before Connor came back to the vehicle. "Checks out. No one around. It'll work for the night."

Dawn proceeded to get out. "Coming?" she asked Faith.

"Yeah. Just give us a minute, will ya?"

Dawn waved and followed Connor inside the house.

"We should get the lay of the land. Figure out where to park this beast before it gets dark." Faith took hold of Wesley's hand. It felt like ice.

"The kid says it checks out, but we should make sure. And maybe if I strip down right here and have my way with you, you'll actually look at me."

"What did you say?" Wesley whispered to her.

"Figures. The reference to hot and sweaty sex brings you back to life."

"Where are we?" That glassy-eyed look was slowly leaving her watcher.

"Cabin in the mountains. Looks like we might get some rain tonight. Come on. Let's go find the kiddies."

Faith took his hand and led him out of the car. When they opened the door to the cabin, Dawn and Connor jumped back from each other like they'd been caught doing something they shouldn't have.

"I'll go figure out where to hide the car," Dawn squeaked out.

"I'll figure out food," Connor said, heading off in the opposite direction.

"Well, what'll ya know? Who would have thought? Guess it's in the blood."

Wesley stood beside her, motionless. Boy, if he had been with it, Connor would be lying on the floor right now with a bloody nose. Lucky kid.

"Come on. Let's check it out."

The cabin turned out to be quite large and well equipped. There was even some food for them to eat. She could tell as she kept up the one-sided conversation that Wesley would drift in and out, listening only part of the time.

"Here. Sit. I'm going to see if Dawn needs help." She led him over to a couch and pushed.

"But you can't drive."

Hey, the man was at least half listening. "I can drive, just not something that monstrous."

Faith backed out of the room, really not wanting to take her eyes off her charge, but wanting to take a breather. She really didn't know what to do.

"Hey," she waved to Dawn as she walked out the door.

"Parked it behind the house. There wasn't any place else. And what in the hell is going on?"

"Wish I knew, little one."

"I knew he went through some trauma, we all have. But to watch all of your friends die. I would have snapped a long time ago. I'm worried about him."

"Me too, kid. Me too."

Wesley was looking out at the room, but not. Flashes of scenes that had happened before in his life appeared. He couldn't focus, didn't understand what was going on.

Is this what happened when a person went insane? Since it had never occurred to him before to find out, it wasn't a subject he was at all familiar with in the least.

His whole very world was in shambles, and there was no way to change it. Did he want to move forward? When he had headed back to the car, he had wanted to take it, drive back from whence he had come, challenging every bad demon in his wake.

Faith had stopped him. Why, he didn't understand. She'd definitely understand about running away, the expert that she was. But she was the calm one now, the logical one. And she'd stopped him physically from putting himself in harm's way. Why did she care one way or the other?

Sure, they had flirted along the way. But he'd done nothing to warrant her attitude now. She'd grown up and he'd regressed to a cave man.

When she re-entered the room, she smiled but said nothing. Was she afraid of what he might do? If he was in her shoes, he might be.

"Looks like rain. Connor and Dawn are bringing in our things. Is there anything you need?"

"What? Oh, no. I'm OK." Wesley sighed as he said OK. He'd never be just OK again. Happiness was always fleeting in his life. Today was no different.

Faith bent down in front of him. Putting her hand on his cheek, he saw concern etched on her face. That's when he saw it all. He could read her mind. He saw her concern. She was scared for him, not for herself. She wanted him to be better. To tell her what to do. Hell, he couldn't even take care of himself.

He pulled her hand away from him and the connection was broken. His head ached again, just like it had days ago, after the dreams he had been having.

Faith arched her back as she shucked his now ruined sweater. There was blood splattered all over the arm in addition to the large tear the bullet had made. She grimaced a little, putting the sweater down on a chair.

"Warm in here."

Wesley touched his arm where it twinged. The phantom pain had occurred in the same, exact spot that Faith's injury had happened.

"Faith?"

"Um, yeah?"

"How's your arm?"

"That demon guy did a decent job of patching me up. Why?"

"What?"

"You have that look on your face, like hey, wake up and smell the coffee."

His mind formed theories upon theories. Their blood had mingled somehow, creating a connection. Or just by touching. Or they were somehow under a spell. The list could go on for hours.

"Could you find me a paper and pencil?"

"Sure." Faith rummaged through the house, coming out with a yellow, legal pad and lots and lots of pencils. "I, uh, didn't know how many you needed."

"That's fine. Thank you."

Ticking time bomb Wesley. Faith was treading lightly around him. Not like he didn't give her any ammunition. But he was feeling a little more like his old self. Something to research always calmed his nerves. Nerves that had turned into very violent tendencies toward his friend.

Wesley sat at what was a dining room table and started to make lists. All the coincidences. All the dreams (minus the erotic one of course), and all the physical reactions he had been encountering.

The three others worked at settling in and making a simple dinner. Since there was no electricity, the cabin became chillier. Wesley hadn't really noticed until Faith had placed a blanket around his shoulders.

"Getting cold. Don't want you getting sick on me."

"Thank you." Wesley looked back down at his now increasingly large stack of papers.

"Dinnertime," Connor announced.

The cabin had some canned meats, including chili that Dawn and Connor had been able to heat up with a gas stove that worked. Wesley took a bite and savored the spiciness. Maybe that would clear his head so he could become more organized.

"So what's with all the tables and whatnot on the papers?" Dawn asked him.

Wesley didn't know if he should share all of it or any of it. The three already thought he was crazy.

"Maybe we could help," Connor added.

Maybe the three could. All had been involved with solving puzzles before, with even Dawn researching. Giles had told him once that he thought she'd be a promising candidate to be a watcher.

"We all agree that something isn't right. Like we've been led to each other."

"Yeah. Coincidences are never coincidences in our world," Dawn chimed in.

"So I took the liberty of mapping it all out, from why Dawn and Connor were where they ended up, to Faith doing her favor for Giles. It just doesn't add up."

"Yeah. Add to that your demon friend Lorne."

Wesley closed his eyes to block out the image of Lorne's shocked face when he told the demon that all his friends were dead.

"Sorry. I won't interrupt again." Connor's scowl said it all.

"Then I made a list of all the dreams I had been having. Faith and I had already compared some notes on that. We were having the same ones, growing in intensity the closer we became to each other. What I mean is, the closer we were to finding her, the more vivid my dreams became. She shared some of those dreams."

"Wait a sec. You just don't share dreams," Dawn offered.

"Well, we were. Just a little too creepy for me," Faith shivered.

"Then the physical reactions."

"Excuse me?" Faith raised her eyebrows like he'd say something inappropriate.

"Faith, when we first found you fighting that demon along side the road, I felt every time that demon hit you."

"What? Why didn't you say anything?"

"I didn't know at the time what was happening. It was only when you were shot that I realized that it wasn't normal. I physically felt the bullet wound that you experienced."

"That's just freaky. Your arm hurt right now?" Faith's concern was etched on her face. But he didn't want her touching him just yet.

"A little. I've also been having flashes of what you're thinking at the time. Mind you, it's usually just emotions."

"Whoa. You can read my mind now too?"

"OK, officially very freaky. Could you be infected with something or I don't know, Wes. We don't have anything to go on." He was right. Dawn was smart and already thinking.

"I wrote down all the known spells, demons, etc. that could cause this."

"Why? Do you think one of those things caused this?" Faith asked.

"It could be the Powers That Be sending me a message for all I know. Without any documentation, we're flying blind here, Faith." His frustration level started to become apparent so he took a deep breath and waited five seconds before speaking again.

"Faith, I need to know if you've been experiencing any other strange symptoms?"

"What, like vivid dream-sharing, phantom pains, mind reading?"

"Listen, if this is too much."

"No, no. Just confusing is all."

"Faith, take my hand."

"Might not work if you will it to, Wes," Dawn pointed out.

"Maybe. I just know the more we're together, the stronger this bond is becoming."

TBC