REPRECUSSIONS

Disclosure:  I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Kelli.

CHAPTER 19-FAITH THROUGH TRICKERY

"You should stay here Miss…," An older guard told Willow as politely as he could without having to resort to actually point his weapon at her as Willow tried to push past him out of the room and into the hallway beyond.

"But Dawn's hurt and Gunn said that he'd be back with help…," Willow protested with an impatient and simmering look of anger in her eyes as she held herself back from using magic on the guard.

"Ooh…the baby sister of the slayer got a boo-boo, I'm beside myself with worry," Lilah purred out with a vindictive streak a mile long as she sauntered past the guard and avoided eye contact of any sort with Willow before settling down on the stool beside Dawn's bed.

"Get away from her," Willow demanded with a very stern tone to her voice as she hurried forward and pulled Lilah back up off of the stool.

"Easy on the suit will ya honey…it cost more to dry clean this thing that you've probably made in your entire lifetime," Lilah growled with an unhappy and jeering sneer on her face as she smoothed out a wrinkle in her suit and turned away to check her hair in a nearby mirror.

"Who are you, what do you want," Willow blurted out as she made sure to keep herself in between Lilah and Dawn's bed.

"Big on the questions eh…well you can relax honey, honestly I don't give a dam what happens to that little we…," Lilah started to reply with her trademark aloof smile before she leaned in a bit closer to Willow to give added weight to her final word but was caught off guard when Willow realized what that word was going to be before she said it and reared back and slapped Lilah hard across the face.

He felt pain.  Not your run of the mill pain either.  The pain seemed to be deeply rooted in the wound that made his left shoulder feel like there was a spear jutting out of it.  He had yet to open his eyes after regaining consciousness, but not out of fear of where he would find himself or what condition he would be in.  The last memory that flitted through his mind as he tried desperately to latch onto it was of Faith yelling at him with tears in her eyes as she tried to appear as if her own wound wasn't making it hard for her to stay conscious.  He could feel the effects of the drugs coursing through his veins and yawned deeply, taking a second or two to adjust to the warm and pain free feeling that he expected to come any minute.  He was left in such a state for a few more seconds before the mostly logical side of his brain kicked in and gave out a thunderous question of why his left shoulder was still hurting if he could feel the pain relieving drugs rushing through his system.  Cracking his left eye open he almost immediately forgot about his pain.  His breath caught in his throat at the heavenly image that greeted his opened eye.  Holding his breath now he carefully slid his right eye open and focused it on the sight that his left eye had been first to behold, almost seemingly to double check and make sure that his left eye hadn't been deceived in some fashion.

With her cheek resting almost directly overtop of the most painful spot on his injured shoulder lay in his mind a vision of beauty.  Her left arm, which had been originally simply lazily draped across his body, had slipped in between his right arm and the side of his body.  In her sleep he guessed that she had instinctively tried to hold onto him as if she expected him to drift away at and second.  Her eyes were closed and the once dark blue bruise on her left temple had almost completely disappeared thanks to her enhanced slayer healing. Her lips were slightly parted and to his eternal surprise a small line of drool was dribbling out.  He made a mental note to remember that scene for the rest of his life, knowing full well that she would never openly admit to it.  Feeling a tad more courageous than usual he cautiously picked his right arm up off of the bed, reached over and paused before making sure that Faith hadn't noticed his actions.  With a very gentle touch he moved his hand in a bit closer and brushed some hair that had fallen down over her face back behind her ear, tracing the ridge of said ear softly with his fingertips.  She stirred a bit at his touch and for a moment he was sure that she was going to wake up, but after a half cough in her sleep she relaxed and resumed drooling.  He stared at this sight for what seemed like forever before he began to feel the effects of the drugs more fully and he began to drift in and out.  Forcing himself to stay away for as long as he could Wesley ran a hesitant thumb tip over first the curves of her upper lip and then tilted his thumb just a bit and ran the pad of his thumb across the fullness of her bottom lip as he imagined kissing her until he ran out of all of the breath housed in his entire body.  His last act before succumbing the every increasing pull of the drugs to reenter his former state of sleep was to trace a line down the front of her neck from the cleft in her chin and ending when his thumb reached her collarbone.

"I still don't believe what I'm hearing," Oz mumbled sadly out loud as he finished helping Kelli get the rest of her restraints off.

"It's true…at least that's what Spike told me and when I asked Buffy about it later she didn't correct him…just don't mention it to Angel," Molly said with an almost scared look on her face as she shivered at Connor's touch as he took her left ankle with one hand and pulled off the last of her restraints with the other.

"Why not," Connor asked from his kneeling position as he cast aside the restraints and picked his sword back up off of the ground.

"Because…," Molly stammered out quickly as she tried her best to keep her mind off of the patch of skin that she spied in between the top of Connor's jeans and the bottom of his shirt as he stood up.

"When he found out he nearly ripped my head off…well my head and Mr. Wood's arm," Kelli added with a slightly painful wince as she popped her neck and shrugged her shoulders.

"Why…what's so special about this Mr. Wood," Oz asked with a bad feeling picking away at the back of his mind.

"He's special, his mother was a slayer," Kelli replied with an almost excited smirk on her face at the looks that Oz and Connor were giving her.

"Spike killed her…but that was years ago, he's different now," Molly quickly added with an impatient scowl etched upon her face, and an angry glare cast Connor's way, as she saw him clench his fists tightly before she took off at a brisk pace through the parking garage.

"Wait…where's she going," Connor asked with a confused frown on his face as he turned to watch Molly walk away.

"Got me…," Kelli replied softly before Oz could as she only shook her head and watched Molly disappear into the darkness.

"Thank you Lilah, that'll be all," Angel stated glumly with an apprehensive expression on his face as he ushered her out of Dawn's hospital room before he took a deep breath and turned around to face an unhappy Willow.

"What took you so long Angel, Gunn said that…," Willow began with a very unhappy and frustrated scowl on her face as she marched up to Angel.

"Need I remind you that you're in no position to be demanding anything of me Willow…now then…how's Dawn," Angel growled loudly at first before he calmed down and tried his best to not let the situation get out of hand.

"See for yourself," Willow mumbled with a look of restraint clearly evident on her face as she bit her bottom lip to keep from expressing how she truly felt.

"Honestly Willow, I've seen worse…what did the doctors say," Angel added glumly with a half smile cast Willow's way before he settled his face down into a concerned pout that he liked to wear.

"Not much, the only thing they'd do without your authorization is stabilize her and make sure that she wasn't going to…," Willow started to quickly answer with a frustrated look on her face before she found that she couldn't continue her answer because of where it was headed.

"She's not going to die Willow, no matter my feelings towards you and the others I'm not about to let Dawn die, Buffy would never forgive me…," Angel declared with a soft but yet very serious edge to his voice as he kept his gaze locked onto Dawn's face and took her small left hand in his.

"Is…is Buffy…," Willow stammered out as she rather noticeably tripped over her words in a feeble attempt to discern the whereabouts of her former best friend.

"I don't know where she is Willow, we all separated to find you guys before the firefight happened, my people are out looking for her and Spike as we speak, if…when they find them they'll radio in, until then it's best that we remain here and tend to the wounded," Angel interjected with a very serious and non argumentative tone to his voice as he rubbed the back of Dawn's hand with his right thumb before laying her hand back down onto her hip.

"What happened, one minute I'm about ready to cast a thy will be done spell with Dawn safe and sound beside me and the next thing that we know Gunn and Fred show up and we get dropped into the middle of the Twilight Zone," Willow wondered aloud with a tired yawn as she pulled up a chair and sat down beside Dawn's bed, but on the opposite side from Angel.

"We're still trying to figure that out…but one's thing that's for sure, they knew what they were doing…almost like…damn," Angel began to reply with a nervous scowl on his face before a smell clicked in the back of his mind and he clenched up his right hand into a fist before he snapped it back, sending the small cart sailing up into the air and crashing loudly into the far wall.  Willow tensed up like she expected to be next as she used her tiptoes to slowly push herself away from the bed, hoping that Angel's sudden and violent outburst wouldn't continue.

"A…Angel," Willow tried to say in her calmest voice but all that came out was a slight whimper before Angel turned his glare her way and cut in.

"I knew I had smelled that scent before…but what the hell is the Initiative doing here in Sunnydale," Angel interjected with an incredibly furious scowl on his face as he leapt to his feet and began to angrily pace around the room, seemingly in a fit over trying to figure out the exact reason as to the Initiative's presence in Sunnydale.

"The…Initiative, this can't be good," Willow asked with still a very nervous and slightly scared look on her face as she slowly backed up against the wall furthest away from Angel.

"Tell me something I don't know…stay here, I'll give the doctors the authorization and they'll help Dawn…," Angel stated with a very clear and calm inflection to his voice before he hurried out of the room, leaving Willow to finally let out the nervous breath that she had seemingly been holding since Angel's initial outburst.

The deep, powerful, and even beating of a heart was the first sound that greeted Faith upon her regaining consciousness.  Because of her enhanced slayer healing the sound of the heart had shaken her from her once deep sleep and tore her away from the best dream that she'd had since leaving prison.  A smile was splayed widely across her face as she slid her eyes open and almost immediately a gasp escaped her throat at the discovery of Wesley's right hand resting on the collar of her shirt, with his thumb tucked in between her skin and the garment.  Her mind boggled at how this had come to be but she closed her eyes for a moment and laid her ear back down over Wesley's heart and couldn't help but smile in relief at the steady beating.  She pulled her free hand back from across his body and intertwined the fingers of his right hand with her left and pulled them close before she leaned down and slowly placed a feather light kiss on the back of his hand, not caring when the spot that she had just kissed became wet with tears of joy.  She was about to close her eyes, snuggle up even closer to him, and try to resume the wonderful dream that she had been having before waking up when he mumbled softly incoherent in his sleep.  With a subdued snicker she smiled deeply and laid her head back down onto his chest.  Her eyes were almost fully closed before a painful sounding cough wracked his entire body.  Her eyes snapped open in seconds and even though her injured right shoulder protested wildly, sending skewers of pain through her shoulder, up her neck and down spine she fervently tried to wake Wesley up.

"Wes…Wesley," Faith hissed through fearfully gritted teeth as she tried her best to gently shake him away.  On the second attempt if worked and he lazily opened one eye momentarily before wincing deeply in pain and groaning.

"Nnh…Faith…," Wesley mumbled out in more of a ramble than in actual speech before he could manage to open both of his eyes wide enough to fully come to the realization that she was staring intently at him, concern clearly evident in the depths of her eyes.

"Wesley…are you okay, how do you feel, does your shoulder hurt, I could get a nurse…," Faith started to ask slowly as the concern deepened in her eyes before her fears overtook her and possibilities rambled out of her trembling lips.

"Fine Faith…I'm fine…," Wesley mumbled back softly in reply as he slowly and deliberately scratched a spot on his forehead with his free hand and took in a deep breath.

"Good…because now you can give me a straight answer about why you spur of the moment decided to play hero and oh so gallantly threw yourself in front of me and got a bullet in your shoulder for your efforts…you stupid jerk you scared me to death…," Faith grumbled angrily with a nearly furious scowl on her face as she clenched her left fist tightly and for a split second seriously thought about giving one of Wesley's temples a thump.

"F…fundamental instinct, of humanity Faith, protect fellow members of your societal group…one's family, I've always fiercely protected those that I love…," Wesley grimly replied with a slightly sickly frown on his face as he kept his eyes closed and thereby didn't noticed the almost euphoric explosions going off in Faith's gaze.

"Lecture aside Wes I'm the nigh invulnerable one here remember, I'll be back on my feet in no time, but you're part in this is done…you could have been killed…you almost were," Faith stated as she tried to make it out to be one of her usual overly sarcastic jokes but she couldn't help but let out a touch of anger as she did so.

"Disappointed that I made it Faith…thought you'd be glad if I snuffed it…wouldn't have to…," Wesley declared sourly with a tired expression on his face before something snapped inside of Faith and her body and soul acted before her head could realize what was happening.

"Shut up, shut up…you stupid idiot shut up…I am not disappointed that you made it…I love you…so don't…," Faith exclaimed quickly, almost in an angry shout, as her left hand snapped forward and she forced Wesley to look her in the eyes, as she drew her head closer to his, before she gazed deep into his eyes until she saw that he was going to stay quiet long enough for her to get her entire message out.

"Gotcha…I got you Faith…," Wesley interjected with a proud smirk on his face before Faith went over what she had said in her mind and very nearly gasped in shock as her mind clicked onto the last few words that she had uttered.

"Yeah well…don't look all smug and make it anything more than it is, it was just a moment of weakness…one of my few so you'd better savor it and…," Faith uttered plainly with an angry scowl on her face as she glared down at Wesley before he smiled.

"I love you to Faith," Wesley cracked back with a sly grin on his face before he leaned in close and captured Faith's lips with his own.  Faith wanted to pull away and give him a piece of her mind for tricking her, even in his weakened state, to admit to her feelings for him but she was soon awash and mesmerized by the effect that Wesley's kisses had on her anger, instantly draining it from every pore and fiber of her being and replacing it wholly with a lust for her former watcher that she would have scoffed terribly at years earlier.  The last words to be heard before caution was thrown mercilessly to the wind came from Faith, "I can do gentle."

"Here pet let me get that for you," Spike whispered softly as he stiffly sat up, his torso still giving him grief even though most of the bullet holes had closed up, and helped Buffy wriggle into her bra, given that her injured shoulder was forcing her to try and do it one handed.

"Thanks…my shoulder still feels like shit," Buffy grunted back her appreciation at first before she winced in pain at having to move her injured shoulder.

"Yet another example of slayer healing not being all that it's cracked up to be eh…don't worry luv, I doubt it'll leave a scar," Spike quipped with an uneasy smile on his face at first before he leaned down and lightly kissed the spot of Buffy's injury, sending pleasurable pain through her shoulder and chest.

"It'd better not, or else bikini season is a lost cause…," Buffy joked with an impish smirk on her face as she scrunched up her nose and turned back to Spike before continuing, "but that's not important right now, we have to figure out how to get back to Angel and the others and alert them to the Initiative's presence here in Sunnydale."

"After last night I'm pretty sure that they all got the message, loud and clear," Spike added grimly as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed and wriggled his toes a bit as he stared down at them.

"But with that explosion and the ubervamp…Spike, even though they kicked me out I have to know that everyone's…that they're not…and what about Molly and Angel's crew," Buffy started to drabble on softly as her bottom lip began to quiver a bit and a lone tear rolled down her cheek before she was drawn into Spike's arms and he tried to soothe her fears away.

"We'll find them Buffy, even if I have to get along with that prick Finn," Spike stated very clearly, his voice full of certainty and honesty, before Buffy pulled back a bit and wiped away her tears.

"Good, because I have the feeling that Riley's going to have more than a few questions for us before he lets us go…got a cigarette…," Buffy interjected with an almost annoyed frown on her face before she scrunched her face up again and looked hopefully to Spike.

"I think so…just one though…we're going to have to share it though," Spike answered with a slightly optimistic smile on his face as he produced a pack of cigarettes from his left front pocket after fishing around in it for a time and pulling one cigarette from it. 

"Fine with me…," Buffy said with a tired yawn as she leaned forward, grabbed the lighter off of the nightstand and handed it to Spike, who wasted little time in lighting the cigarette up before taking a drag and handing it to Buffy.

END OF CHAPTER 19