Title: Redemption: A Watcher Tale Wesley
Author: Lawrence Payne
Cast: Wesley, Buffy, Faith, Giles, Angel, and Harmony.
Timeline: BtVS post Season 7/Angel Season 5: After Chosen/Pre Conviction
Setting: Wolfram & Hart L.A. Offices.
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I own nothing. A whole slew of other people own these characters and concepts.
Comments: Constructive feedback is always appreciated. :)
Archiving: If you want to, sure. Feel free. Just tell me if you do.
FYI: (( )) is used to indicate internal thought, words said out loud use regular " ".
Summary: Wesley battles the most dangerous type of demon. The inner ones.
Authors Note: This fic was written before Conviction (A5x1) aired and before I watched Lineage (A5x7). Now I wish this story were "real" (in-canon). You'll know what I mean after you read it. Also this is the final rewrite of this story.
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Redemption: A Watcher Tale
Wesley
Preparation. The dictionary defines it as the state of being prepared. To be ready for an occurrence or event that you know will happen. But knowing something will happen and dealing with it when it does are two different things.
Wesley Wyndam-Pryce was not prepared for what he knew was coming. He only thought he was. When Angel came to his office at Wolfram & Hart, he asked Wesley to greet Buffy, Faith, and Giles at the door and show them around. Wes easily agreed. At the time he didn't give it much thought. It wasn't until later that it hit him. Dread. Wesley was overcome with a deep sense of dread. That was three hours ago. Now, standing here in the main lobby watching them approach, the feeling was ten times worse.
((I don't understand this,)) Wes thought to himself, ((There is no reason for me to feel this way. All I have to do is greet some former associates. I've faced vampyrs, all manner of demons, countless hell-spawn, even an evil god or two. So why is my heart trying to pound a hole in my chest?)) Wesley was about to start pacing when he caught himself. ((Have to be strong,)) he silently declared, ((I can't let anyone see what a state I'm in. If anyone senses weakness from us they may strike.))
Just then, as if on some hidden cue, Preston, one of Wolfram & Harts' Entertainment Division attorneys, walked by. Preston was a "real snake" as Lorne put it. If Lorne bad-mouths someone you knew they were trouble. Wesley knew that if he showed any signs of weakness the evil lawyer would find someway to use it against him. Wesley quickly buried his perplexing feelings before making eye contact with the young attorney as he walked by. The two men exchanged polite nods as Preston opened the door and went on his way.
After he made sure the lawyer was well out of sight, Wesley restarted his internal debate. ((It just doesn't make sense, I saw Faith less than a month ago.)) His mind wandered back to the events of last month. ((We worked well together. So why am I sweating like a schoolboy on prom night at the thought of seeing her, or Giles, or Buffy again?)) At that moment, the trio arrived at the door.
"Here we go," Wesley quietly whispered. He opened the door and greeted the new arrivals.
"Buffy, Faith, Giles," Wesley stated in a flat tone. He nodded a polite greeting at each of them before saying, "Welcome to Wolfram & Hart."
"Better watch out B," Faith said in her typically sarcastic manner, "He's using his Watcher voice again."
"Yes. This way please," Wesley requested as he made a servile gesture toward the inside of the building. He found himself relying on his well-learned manners to get him through this chore.
The trio entered the building. Wesley turned and began walking toward Angel's office without saying a word. The trio assumed he was leading the way and decided to follow him. As the four of them walked through the main floor, various well-dressed men and women were walking about. Everyone was wearing Armani suits and Bruno Maglie shoes as they read their legal briefings and talked on their cell phones. When a female lawyers walked by, Buffy made a mental note to find out where the lady lawyer got the skirt she was wearing.
"Nice place you have here," Buffy said, trying to break some of the quiet tension in the room. It was the kind of conversation topic that fills empty space. She could have just as easily talked about the weather.
"Yes it is," was the only reply Wes gave.
It was questionable before but now it was unmistakable, Wesley was acting very strange. Buffy suspected something was wrong when she first saw him, but she decided not to comment on it at the time. There was no reason to make a big deal out of what was potentially nothing.
Buffy was just about to say something when she was distracted by a very odd sight. It wasn't as much odd as it was out of place. To the left of the group walking very slowly in the opposite direction, was a small, strange looking man. The hunched-over fellow was pushing a mail cart slowly around the floor. He wore a poor-man's white dress shirt, a dark colored tie that was too short, and a wrinkled pair of brown dress pants. His complete lack of style was not what set him apart. What made him stand out was his face, or more specifically, what was on his face. The man was wearing a dull, multi-colored, Mexican wrestling mask with a small white '5' centered in the middle of his forehead.
Faith noticed Buffy staring at the strange man and asked, "What's with the hunchback?"
"Yeah... Is there some sort of Telemundo convention in town?" Buffy asked, only being half serious.
"He works here," Wes answered in the same flat tone as he continued his purposeful stride to Angel's office.
Wes was trying hard to keep the conversation to a minimum. Giles however, was keeping it at a stand still. Giles was being unusually quiet. He hadn't said a single word when Wes greeted him at the door and his continued silence was even more perplexing. Seeing Number Five for the first time always created conversation among the uninitiated, but the sight did nothing to break his silence. The more Wes thought about it, the more nervous he became.
"Here we are," Wesley stated as he and the trio arrived at the door to Angel's office. Just as he was about to open the pair of large wooden doors, a high-pitched voice screamed, "BUUUFFFFFFYYYYYYYY!!!" Everyone turned in the direction of the noise. Harmony was running toward Buffy with her arms extended in a give-me-a-hug gesture.
"It is so good to see you!!" Harmony yelled as she gently grabbed both of Buffys' upper arms and planted an air-kiss on the right cheek of the stunned Slayer.
"This is the best!! When I talked to Willow on the phone and she said you wanted to see Angel, I was like Wow!! The whole gang from Sunnydale now in L.A.! And everyone was coming here!! I can't believe it!!! You're here; Angel's here; Cordy's here; Well, she's kind of here; Mr. Giles, the school librarian, is here; and Willow and Xander are coming! Even you, that skanky girl who skipped every class and didn't graduate with us," Harmony looked briefly at Faith, "You're here too! It's like a class reunion or something!! It's so good to see you! Hey! How's Xander?! I hear he's not such a massive loser anymore! Last time I talked to Cordy, she said something about him working in construction, but she didn't give any details! Does he own the company or just work there?! Cause if he just works there, then Blah, but if he owns the company, Way Hot!! I can't wait to see Willow again! She's not mad at me is she?! I hope she's not! Last time we talked I was a little rude, but hey, I was hungry!! I heard she is really into witchcraft and got like really powerful! So if she's mad could you tell her I'm sorry for trying to bite her! I don't want her to turn me into a toad or something; or worse a rat like that Amy girl! UCK!! But enough of that, you look great! How have you been?!!" Harmony finally ended what was sure to be a new record for the world's longest run-on sentence.
If Buffy did not already know that Harmony was a vampire, it was undeniable now. No human could have said all that in one breath without passing out.
"Harmony? What are you doing here?" Buffy asked. Somewhere in the middle of that rant the stunned Slayer was able to clear her mind just enough to compose the question.
"She is Angels' secretary," Wesley stated.
"Secretary?"
"Yeah! It's a blast." Harmony interrupted, "Angel has a whole staff of people who type and file and make appointments and stuff. All I have to do is answer his phone, tell him when his appointments are, and get him his coffee and blood. Great Huh?!"
"I take it she wasn't hired for her great office skills," Giles said, finally breaking his silence.
"More like her great under-the-desk skills I'll bet," Faith quipped.
"No," Harmony stated, again only briefly acknowledging Faiths' presence, "Some Mexican lady comes in at night and cleans the floors."
"Say Buffy," Harm turned her attention back to Buffy, "You're not mad about the whole me-trying-to-kill-you-and-your-whole-family thing are you?"
"Over it," Buffy dismissed. She was finally able to wrap her head around the idea of Harmony being here.
"Great! I really hope we can be friends again. I know that I'm a vampire and you're the Slayer, but I really do want to see you again. Maybe we can go shopping! There's a really cool mall in Beverly Hills with the best shoe stores. Plus it has a sewer entrance. And just yesterday I told Angel about my No-Killing-People pledge, so the whole Vampire/Slayer thing won't be a problem."
"Harmony?" Wesley chimed in before Buffy could answer.
"Yes?"
"Does Angel know we're here?"
"I'll buzz him right now."
"Thank you," Wesley said during a long exhale.
Harmony quickly walked over to her desk and picked up the intercom phone.
"Angel, your 2:00 is here." After a short silence, the doors to Angels' office swung open and Angel smiled politely at his guest. Everyone quickly retreated into the safety of Angels' office.
"Bye Buffy! See you soon. Let's do lunch," Harmony said as she waved goodbye.
"I see everyone's meet Harmony," Angel said.
"Charming girl," Giles said. It was now his turn to be sarcastic.
"As much fun as a root canal," Buffy quipped. "Why is she here?" Buffy's voice had just a hint of jealousy.
"Well, you know Harmony," Angel answered, "She just kind of grows on you."
"Herpes sores just kind of grow on people," Buffy slammed, her proverbial claws were out, "All Harmony does is grates my nerves."
"Yeah, but you have got to admit. Those 34Cs on her chest really do a lot to distract from her personality," Faith joked.
"Can we get back to why we came here?" Giles asked everyone.
On that note, the meeting officially began. With the Harmony distraction over, the feeling of dread slowly returned to Wesley's mind. All through the hour-long meeting, Wesley was quiet. He sat in the chair by the window, the one farthest from Angel's desk, in total silence. His mind was obviously elsewhere, but Angel was too engrossed in the Hellmouth Battle/First Evil story Buffy and Faith were spinning to notice his odd behavior.
Then it happened. Somewhere near the end of the meeting, Wesley had an epiphany. He finally figured out why he was so afraid. He knew what he had to do. His fear faded, in its place was an odd sense of calm.
"I'll make the arrangements," Angel said. This snapped Wesley back to reality. It was the only part of the entire conference he heard. Everyone was getting up to leave. Wes got out of his chair and stood in the middle of the room with his hands up making a please-stop gesture.
"Please. Before you leave, I have something to say to all of you," Wes requested.
"What is it?" Buffy inquired.
"I just... I just want to say...," Wesley's voice suddenly failed him. The feeling of dread was returning.
"Say what?" Giles asked.
Wesley's voice was totally gone now. He tried again but this time nothing but garbled words come out of his mouth.
"Ohh For God Sakes Man Spit It Out!" Giles slammed, openly annoyed.
"I wanted to say... I'M SORRY!!" Wes finally said, "I'm sorry I failed you! All of you!" The words came spilling out of his mouth in one big burst. He did not say them as much as he released them. Everyone in the office was stunned into silence. Wesley then took a deep breath and quickly composed himself before continuing.
"Buffy," he said while looking her in the eyes. "I realize now that the reason why I didn't have your respect was because I had done nothing to earn it. When you needed my help against the Mayor, I wasn't there for you and I should have done a better job of representing your needs to the Council. I know now that I was the one who had to earn your respect, not the other way around. I should have listened to you. I tried so hard to be your fearless leader, but what you really needed was a friend. "
Wes paused a second before turning to Giles. "Giles," again he looked his former colleague in the eyes. "I was a stubborn fool back then. I thought I knew what was best, but I was really a bloody idiot. If I had listened to you and given you the respect you deserved... If I treated you like a colleague instead of an underlying... Then maybe, just maybe, we would be friends today."
"And Faith," he turned to her and met her gaze. Faith's face was a mask of nervous worry as she looked back. "If I had been a better Watcher, a better friend, I could have spared you a lot of pain. I knew you had trust issues stemming from your family. Believe me; I know what that's like. But I chose to ignore them. I was afraid I would lose control over the situation and I reacted poorly."
Wes paused for a second. He walked over to her and put his hands on her shoulders
"If I had trusted you just a little... If I had done something, anything, to earn your trust... If I had been willing to listen and let you know that you could come to me with any problem... Even with what happened on the docks... Who knows how different both of our lives could have been?"
Wesley then took another deep breath and stepped back into center of the room. There were several long, seemingly endless, minutes of silence as everyone was busy contemplating his words. Giles was the first to break the silence.
"You've been carrying this around all this time?" Giles asked.
"I guess I have," Wes answered.
After a brief pause, "Well then. It would be rather ungentlemanly of me if I did not accept your apology."
"Thank you Giles."
"Rupert," Giles extended his hand with a smile.
"Rupert."
The two former Watchers shook hands. A five-year acquaintanceship was now a friendship.
Buffy was the next to speak.
"Wesley, when I first met you, I pretty much hated you on the spot. I thought you were a total dweeb. I remember you standing there in the middle of the library with your tweed suit, shiny shoes, and those stupid little round glasses." Buffy laughed a little at the memory of the glasses.
"Please don't remind me."
"But now I see you for who you really are," She paused for a second. Her smile disappeared. Wesley's heart jumped a little when he noticed the change in her expression. She was obviously thinking about what she was going to say. Buffy continued, "I see now that you're a... smart and kind hearted guy who... who just made some mistakes. You're a good man Wesley." Buffy's smile returned.
"So apology accepted?"
Buffy put her right hand on his left shoulder and gently rubbed his upper arm. "Consider your apology accepted," she decreed, and then she gave his arm a little pat. It was now Wesley's turn to smile. Wes then took her hand into both of his and patted her fingers gently as she gave his hand a soft squeeze.
"Thank you."
Wesley had not felt this much inner peace in years.
The fond moment was broken when Wesley turned his attention to Faith. Sometime during his conversations with Giles and Buffy, she had walked over to the window. Her back was now turned to the group. Faith was staring out the window looking skyward. Her usual look of relaxed detachment was gone. She was clearly trying to hide her emotions, but the reflection in the glass betrayed her true feeling. Faith was crying. Two long streams of tears clearly showed on her face.
"You want me... to forgive you?" Faith asked her back was still turned. Her voice was a mixture of sadness, confusion, and more than a little of anger. "After everything I've done? After everything I did to you? You want ME to forgive YOU ?" Faith uttered a nervous and tearful laugh. "That is too funny."
"Faith?" Wesley questioned gently. He walked over to her and placed his hands on her arms, trying to console her. Faith could not hide her emotions any longer. She started to cry openly. Her forehead flopped against the window as the tears began to flow.
"Faith?" Wes gently asked again. His own voice was now starting to show emotion. Faith turned away from the window and fell into Wesley's arms. The tears streamed down her face as she cried on his shoulder. Wesley and Faith hugged each other. The pair tried to find some comfort in each other's arms. Buffy walked over to Faith and took one of her hands into both of hers' while Giles and Angel tried to console her by rubbing her shoulders and back
"Does this mean you forgive me?" Wesley asked, his voice barely above a whisper. He said it in a tone that was only half serious. The shear absurdity of the question caused Faith to laugh. It was a weak laugh, but it was all she could muster through the tears.
"I'll take that as a yes," Wesley quipped.
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TEN MINUTES LATER
Everyone gave Faith the time she needed to compose herself. Angel let her use the private bathroom in his office. When she returned, they greeted her warmly and asked if she was OK. She put everyone at ease with one of her usual wisecracks.
"I guess we should be going now," Giles said.
"What? Emotional torment not as much fun as it use to be?" Faith joked. Everyone was happy to see her fall back into her usual patterns. Giles responded by giving Faith a little smile and he placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Come on. We'll see you out," Wes said. He automatically included Angel in his invite because he knew that Angel would want to spend as much time with Buffy as possible.
Before they left the office, Angel called Harmony on the intercom. He told her to go to the M.R.D. and find the Scroll of Anthemia. It was a pointless errand.
"What's the M.R.D.?" Buffy inquired.
"Mystical Records Department. It's where all the ancient texts are stored," Angel answered.
"Why send her there?"
"It's on the other side of the building," Wesley replied for his boss. "It will take her at least ten minutes to get there, another twenty to find the scroll, and ten more to get back."
"Giving us plenty of time for a clean getaway," Buffy added. "Good thinking."
Once the coast was clear, Wesley and Angel escorted the trio back to the main entrance. Everyone exchanged hugs and handshakes while they said their goodbyes. The three visitors were walking back to their car when Faith turned and ran back to Wesley. She smiled and said, "You know, you're not so bad for guy with a stick up his ass."
"I'm not sure how to take that. So I'll take it as a compliment."
Faith quietly looked at him for a few seconds before she asked, "What could have been, Huh?" Her face showed a look of thoughtful reflection.
"What could have been?" Wesley replied, his expression now matching hers.
They both exchanged a smile before Faith turned and hurried to catch up with Buffy and Giles. For the first time in years, maybe in their entire lives, both Wesley and Faith knew the meaning of true inner peace.
END
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