Chapter Twenty-Seven – Dreams of the Dead

They were able to get back into the club because Faith had somehow wedged the door open just slightly when they had walked out. It was now almost midnight and Wesley's body was on overload. They'd been up early, no sleep the night before, had sweaty sex, and then slayed a couple of vampires. His body screamed sleep.

Faith pulled him along til they made it to the door. Both breathed a little easier when they exited the front. The two very large bouncers and crowd helped them fade away into the night.

Faith tapped on the room door twice, waited, then three times. Connor immediately opened the door. It was mostly dark inside, so they were quiet. Dawn was snuggled on the bed, fast asleep.

"Fell asleep waiting for you guys. So?"

Faith wanted to say something smart ass, but she understood that Connor just wanted to see the info. A couple of years ago, she would have thought the bad.

"Got it. We need to go over it. Make sure the route looks viable."

Wesley shook his head yes and walked to the bathroom. "I'll do it in here. Less likely to see a light."

Faith started to follow, but he stopped her. "Get some rest. This may take some time," he said as the bathroom door. Connor had already crawled back into bed with Dawn.

"I want to help."

"Then sleep for a while. You've had less sleep than I have."

"Not so sure about that."

Wesley pulled her in the doorway to plant a searing kiss on her lips.

"You sure you don't wanna, I mean again," Faith added.

"Not so sure, but I need to look this stuff over. If it's not in line with where we want to go, we'll have to find another way."

"You're right. Wake me in a couple of hours."

"I will." She knew he wouldn't, so she'd try to will herself to wake up in a couple of hours.

Wesley sat on the tile floor, analyzing the maps that he had been handed. He checked the route over, comparing it to the maps that they had acquired over the course of the journey. It just might work. No major towns to travel through. Hopefully it would be with a minimum of trouble.

His eyes couldn't stay open any longer. So he laid his head back against the wall for a quick power nap. Those seemed to work a lot when he was at Angel Investigations. Cordelia would always tell him if he drooled or snored. Of course, several times he paid her back.

He drifted off into oblivion not long after. It didn't take long for a dream to start. He was in a dark, damp place, similar to a dungeon or the sewers that Angel was so very fond of.

Fear. He could feel it to his very bones.

A ritual was taking place up ahead, chanting coming from where the light shone. As he walked along the corridor, he wondered why he was having this dream. The place didn't look familiar.

As he entered the lit room, beings in robes lined up several rows deep, still chanting. It sounded like ancient Aramaic, but with a smattering of Latin thrown in. The ritual was not familiar at all. It actually didn't make sense. Something about three being unique in the world, helping someone attain power. It was always about power. The rest seemed to be gibberish.

He walked up the aisle because this was a dream so he couldn't get hurt. Or so he hoped.

Hearing a different voice in front, he kept walking. The voice seemed familiar, and getting angrier by the second.

"You so don't want to do that. I'm nothing. Matter a fact, I'm dead. So why don't you just leave me that way and run along. And hey, those robes are so passé."

Then he ran toward the voice. The aisle seemed to go on and on and his body never making progress.

A scream echoed in the chamber. A man's scream of rage. Then a woman. Then a screech from the first woman.

"You are going to die a horrible death when I get out of this. I'm going to feed your fucking nuts to you and watch you choke, you stupid bastard."

He ran as fast as he could. That's when he saw her. Faith as she had been in that first dream that seemed so long ago, but only a few weeks past. She was screaming in pain and rage, blood pouring out from her. And he couldn't get to her. Another scream.

Wesley awoke with a rush, trying to catch his breath. That's when he heard a real scream coming from the next room. Stumbling out of the bathroom, he saw Connor trying to awaken Faith. He quickly crawled onto the bed.

"Faith, wake up. It was a dream. Come out of it now. Wake up."

Faith still thrashed around, almost decking him in the process. He shook her shoulders hard and got no response. Holding her down as best he could, he placed his mouth on hers, thinking that the intimate contact might jar her out of her nightmare.

Her body stilled and softened slightly. She pulled her head back and gasped. "Wes?"

"I'm here. Are you alright? That nightmare was . . . ."

"You saw it?"

"Some of it. It was just a nightmare. Go back to sleep."

The teenagers had crawled back into bed, watching Wesley and Faith's byplay. "Go back to sleep you two. She's OK now."

"Don't go anywhere?" Faith begged. "That one was bad."

Wesley settled down with her, pulling the blankets up over her. Her body shivered, then sank into the contact of their bodies.

"It's OK. I'm here. Not going to let anything happen to you."

"My Wes."

"Back to sleep, love."

Faith sighed and snuggled deeper. Wesley did the same. They were almost one body, relaxing into one another.

"Hello," Wesley whispered in her ear. It was early morning. Faith had not let go of him for one second that night. Since there was no heat in the room to speak of, they both were nice and toasty.

"Whoever said that Englishmen were cold and stogy?"

"Not me," he told her as he kissed her neck.

"Thanks."

"Really bad dream?"

"Yeah. The worst. Never had one where I died. Had one of the coma ones, but nothing that gruesome."

"Doesn't mean it will happen," he whispered to her, rubbing her back to sooth her.

"I know."

Wesley looked into her dark brown eyes. Really looked at her. They were such sorrowful eyes. Like he could see into her soul.

"Remember you can if you try hard enough."

God, she was getting good at reading him while he still was trying to master just the emotion part.

"Quick study," Faith said while kissing his jaw. She moved down to his neck, starting to nibble and bite.

"Children?" he growled.

"Just tasting."

"Just playing with fire is what."

Faith's eyes twinkled. Mischievous wench.

"You have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen on a guy." Faith was trying to be quiet.

Wesley snorted. "Reading too many romance novels."

"No. It's true. When you're turned on, they seem even more blue."

"Faith, you couldn't whisper if your life depended on it," Dawn called from the other bed. "And yes, he does have nice eyes. Do you know what color mine are, Connor?"

Connor whispered to Dawn as Wesley groaned. Those two were too smart for their own good.

"We should get moving," Wesley said to them all.

"Breakfast in bed sounds nice," Faith told him as she laid her head on his chest. Her long, dark hair cascaded over him like a waterfall. He wondered what it would look like over his naked . . . .

"Not in front of the children," she whispered.

"Enough fantasizing. Time to get up."

The other three groaned and threw their pillows his way.

TBC

What color are Dawn's eyes? I can't remember.