Chapter Eighteen – Whatever Tomorrow Brings

Angel was getting antsy. There was no sign of any kind of zombies. No sign of Wesley anywhere. Maybe Spike and Faith had imagined what they saw. But he wouldn't put anything past Vail, even if he were dead. The dark mage could make things happen, bad things if he remembered correctly. Why he had trusted Wolfram and Hart to take control of erasing his son's memories was beyond him. They had contracted out with the vile character, making Angel vulnerable all over again. And in the end, Wes had died by Vail's hands.

None of his sources, what was left of them that would actually talk to him, knew of any kind of zombie raising. None of them knew anything about Vail either. Angel gripped the ring Spike had given him in his coat pocket, wondering who he should let examine the thing. It might very well turn out to be a clue, as Spike had told him.

Roaming the streets was his only other idea. With the rest of his team out of the way, he could take on the demon and dispose of it before anyone was hurt. Then what, he thought? Would Vail or whoever had done this still keep sending demons after him to kill him? A bigger plan would have to be put into play. One that didn't involve anyone else. He had already put enough people in danger, already gotten enough people that he cared for killed.

A familiar scent reached his nose. Why on earth she had not listened to him? He had been heading over to Wes's apartment to check up on her, but she obviously felt the need to not listen to him.

"Faith," he growled.

Creeping along the silent sidewalk, he came closer and closer to her, only to pick up another scent that seemed familiar, but was not. He saw two figures running through the park next to the apartment building. It was that same park that Wesley had almost bled to death in after Justine had slashed his throat. Taking off after the two fleeing figures, he lost sight of them until seeing them crossing the next street over.

Using his vampire speed, he circled around to put a halt to Faith's progress. He needed to find out who she was with and quickly. As he stepped out of the shadows in front of the two, he was brought to a halt by the sight in front of him. He drew his sword quickly. When had zombies started kidnapping humans?

"Faith," he yelled as the two approached. "Step away, now."

"Angel, it's not what you think. It's really Wes," she answered.

"He's dead. Now get out of the way."

Instead of Wesley charging him, trying to bite him like zombies did, he shoved Faith behind him. When did a zombie protect a human?

"Angel, listen to her. I don't know how it happened. We need to talk," Wesley replied.

It sounded like Wes, but it didn't really smell like him. It was different somehow. Had he come back like Buffy had that second time? He didn't get too much time to contemplate that question as four very ugly, vicious demons came upon them. Before he could move, Wesley pushed Faith out of the way and took on the first two to arrive.

Angel started to lend some help to the ex-watcher, maybe zombie when he heard a crack of a neck snapping. Wesley had killed the first one single-handedly. Wes kicked out at the second quickly, bringing it down to its knees. When the other two joined in the fight, Angel jumped in, sword swinging. The two of them made quick work of it. Angel was amazed at the speed with which the four demons had been dispatched. It would have taken much longer with Gunn, Wes, and himself before. Now it didn't.

As he finally turned to face Wesley, he noticed another change in him. His eyes were coal black, where before the fight they had been their regular cobalt blue. Something was definitely off. The thing before him must not be his Wesley. He swung the sword up in front to challenge the beast that had taken over his friend's body.

"Angel, I don't want to fight you. Put the sword down and we'll talk."

Faith, who had been standing next to a building, came up to stand beside Wesley. She had thankfully stayed out of the fight because of her loss of powers.

"Faith, you're not listening."

'Yeah, when do I ever? It's him. I swear."

But his senses told him it wasn't. Why didn't she listen to him, trust his judgment? So he swung his sword in an arc to take down the so-called zombie. And missed by a mile. Wesley had successfully dodged, bringing up a fist to his face, taking him down with one punch. His world went black after Wes's foot connected with his head.

"Dammit, why did you do that?" Faith asked.

"He was going to kill me. Would you rather that have happened?"

"Well, no. But, damn, that must have hurt."

Wesley took a hold of Angel's arms to drag him into the building next to them. "He should be fairly safe in here until he wakes up."

"He is so gonna kill you once we figure this out."

"If we figure it out, you mean," he answered back as he unceremoniously dropped Angel's prone form on the floor.

"Be careful," Faith told him as she carried the sword that Angel had used.

Faith watched as Wesley checked to make sure the vampire was alright. She wasn't really worried about Angel at the moment. What she was worried about was the enormous strength she had seen Wesley display in the fight. Sure he'd gotten better in a fight over the years, but nothing like what he was now. It was almost spooky, like he had her powers now, instead of herself, only multiplied by twenty.

"We should go," Wesley panted out, still out of breath from the fight.

Faith kept the sword as they exited the building. They needed it more than Angel did at the time. Going around the next corner into an alley, Wesley brought her up short, stopping her forward momentum. Scanning the next street from the mouth of the alley, she didn't see any kind of danger. And Wesley wasn't even looking. He was bent over, like he was in pain.

"Hey, did one of those guys get you or something?" she asked.

"Just, um, give me a minute," he told her, still trying to catch his breath.

His hand went up to the side of his head.

"We need to get moving," she implored.

Before she could take his arm to pull him away from the building, Wesley cried out in pain and collapsed. Now what the hell did she do? She had no one to rely on but herself. Getting down on her knees, she tried to stop Wesley from hitting his head on the ground since he was thrashing around. She laid the sword down so she would have both hands free.

Slowly, he calmed down, but still doubled over so she couldn't see if he had actually injured himself. As he raised his head to be parallel with hers, she noticed that his eyes were black. Not what they were supposed to be, she concluded.

"Get away from me," he told her in a calm voice.

Faith shook her head no, trying to see if anything could explain why he was starting to act strange.

"Something's wrong," Faith whispered to him as she placed a hand on his forehead, thinking that maybe he had a fever from the wound on his stomach.

His hand shot out to wrap around her neck, drawing the breath out of her. He slowly stood, taking her with him and keeping the pressure up until she started to choke. She clawed at him, trying to get him to stop. Slowly, he picked her up and slammed her into the side of the building, holding her there as if she were a puppet.

"Stop," she managed to squeak out.

"I thought you liked it rough, Faith," he still said in that calm voice, no expression crossing his face.

His hand eased up on the pressure to her throat as he brutally brought his mouth over hers, biting her lip until she bled. Now that she could actually breath again, she took her fist and slammed it onto his temple, staggering him. Another brought him down to the ground.

"What the fuck?" she groaned out, sliding to the filthy ground.

At least she didn't need any slayer power to bring him down. A couple of well-placed punches had done the job for her. But her hands hurt like hell, whereas before it just stung a little.

Wesley looked to be out cold, so she made her way over to where he fell. She could tell that he was still breathing, which meant her punches had only hurt some, not killed him. Opening his eyes up slightly, he looked up at her and made her jump back some, just in case he wanted to throttle her again. The blue in his eyes had returned.

"Did we encounter those demons again?" he carefully asked her.

"Yeah, you could say that."

"You're afraid of me," he countered.

Faith couldn't stop the shaking. So she just shook her head in agreement as he gingerly sat up from the ground. His eyes widened when he saw the bruise forming on her throat. She self-consciously placed her hand over it.

"Did I . . . ?"

"Proved that I still have a mean left hook and right cross."

"You have to go to Angel," he told her as he scrambled away from her and stood up. "I'm dangerous."

"I don't think you'll kill me," Faith answered, knowing what she had seen from him a few minutes before.

He had the power to snap a demon's neck with one twist. Yet, he had only cut off her air for a few moments. Did that mean he was dangerous to her, or just angry with her?

"What did I do?"

"Took on a mess load of demons, then tried to cut off my air supply."

He looked down at her in horror. "I don't know what to say."

"Let's say we avoid any more fights so you won't go ballistic on me again."

Faith rose from the hard ground, moving her neck slightly to see how much it really hurt. The thought of him snapping her neck still roared through her mind. He could have done it. Instead, he hadn't.

"Your lip is bleeding." He hesitantly reached a hand up to her face to wipe away the blood. "How?"

"You decided to take a little bite out of me," she told him frankly, not glossing it over.

"Oh," he answered. "Don't trust me. Go to Angel."

"What? He wants to kill you. We'll find Spike, convince him. Then we both go to Angel. Got it?" Faith had a plan, at least a strategy. The two of them might not survive if they went it alone. But he did have superhuman strength. That was a plus. Damn, if she got her slayer powers back, they'd be virtually unstoppable.

"We find Spike?"

"We find Spike."

"Bloody hell," Spike yelled as the demon examined the blood on the microscope.

"It looks human, but not. I'm not an expert on this."

Illyria stood against the wall, arms crossed over her chest, face unreadable. She had shut down any emotion she had been feeling once they had left the hotel. Spike had a hell of a time just trying to figure out if she hurt or not. She looked so much like Fred, but the expression on her face was never something Fred displayed. The Texan always had smiles for everyone, even him.

"Does she have demon blood in her?" Spike asked his source, Karl.

"Every time I look at it, it changes. I just don't know," Karl told him hesitantly, since he knew that Spike was a vampire and didn't want to get on the wrong side.

He had helped Karl out of a tight spot when he was helping the helpless for Lindsey. Now the human owed him. But if Karl the technician that took blood every day didn't know what it was, then who else could he trust to look at it.

Spike threw his arms up in disgust. The whole freaking world had fallen apart around him. And every single person that he could rely on either didn't know he was alive or was dead. They needed Illyria for backup. And if she lost her powers, then it would be him and the big poof. Not nice odds.

Spike grabbed the slide off of the microscope and washed the evidence away down the drain. No use giving anyone any evidence to use against them. If Illyria were turning into a human, then they wouldn't let on until the last possible moment. He'd protect her if need be.

"Let's blow, Illyria." She stood at attention, looking at him strangely. "Let's go find Angel, love. This isn't working."

Spike took her hand to lead her out of the building, just so he could keep track of her. She had a way of disappearing when he least expected it.

"What will happen now?" she asked as they walked to the car.

"We hope that we don't have to prove whether you have your powers still, that's what."

Illyria stopped his progress by pulling on his hand. "I cannot lose my abilities. I would be a sitting goose."

"It's duck. Sitting duck. Yeah. You're right. You would be."

Her now changed brown eyes started to tear up. When had Illyria developed any other emotions other than anger and gloating? He had heard so much about the great god she was in her time, this display of vulnerability threw him for a loop.

"I'll protect you if you can't."

The tears changed to anger so quickly Spike wondered that if Illyria did stay human, she would be hell on wheels. Not that she wasn't now.

"I do not need a half-breed to protect me. I am Illyria . . . ."

"Save it. Heard the speech a thousand times."

Illyria threw her small fist flying towards his face, which he caught easily. Illyria's anger increased to the point where she threw the other hand too. Spike held the other one firmly too. Jerking her towards his body, he held tight against him until she calmed. The defiance was still present in her eyes, but her arms went slack. But for some reason he still didn't let go.

"You couldn't protect a flea right now, pet."

Spike shook his head as if to break the spell that Illyria put on him. He couldn't release her, nor turn his head away from her. Instead he slowly lowered his head until his lips lightly pressed against hers. Both still had their eyes open, looking to the other to give up first. So they stood in suspended animation, lips touching, but nothing else. Until Illyria shifted slightly, increasing the pressure. Spike took that as an invitation to taste her fully, which Illyria responded too, more fully than Spike could ever expect.

As he pulled back, some sense finally had come to his addled brain. The look of defiance had softened somewhat on Illyria's face.

"That was an interesting experiment."

Spike sighed to himself. She just thought it was an experiment. "Not an experiment," he growled as he pulled her head back and dove in for another kiss.

Illyria was the first to pull away. "I cannot," she stuttered, and then headed off to the car again.

Before she made it to the car, Spike stopped her with a hand to her wrist. Turning her around, he could see the tears fall now.

"Did you love him?" he asked her, frustration apparent in his voice.

"I, I do not know."

Illyria did have feelings for the watcher, that he could tell. But what bothered him was she couldn't figure them out. And here he went and made it that much harder for her to accomplish. It didn't matter. He was dead. Spike was there.

"I'm sorry about the you know. I shouldn't have taken advantage."

"You apologize Spike?"

"Yeah. First for everything."

"You don't tell us everything, I mean everything, so help me I'll torture you until, until . . . ." Cordelia managed to get out with her teeth mashing together.

"Cordelia, just calm down," Doyle implored her to do.

"I don't know much," Lindsey panted, having taken a punch to the gut from her already. "Will you quit with the violence. You're supposed to help people, not beat up on them."

"Talk, mister," she finished.

"All I know is some being, which I think is evil, is trying to open a gate between heaven and hell. I don't know what that gate is. Might be a portal, I don't know. They told me to shut the system down, not let any more guardian angels down to Earth until we are sure the crisis is over with."

"Guidance counselors. How come no one likes that name?" Doyle added, then backed down when he saw the look on Cordelia's face.

"Why send you? Aren't you evil?"

"Well, sometimes. After I died, I had a lot of time to think. Being evil sucks. So I got this deal. If I worked any job they wanted, then maybe some day I could redeem myself."

"What a crock of shit," Doyle told the man.

"Angel did a favor by killing me."

"Angel didn't kill you. I've been watching. And there was no killing of you by Angel," Cordelia wanted Lindsey to know.

"Wasn't Angel personally. Which by the way really ticked me off. He had Lorne do it."

Cordelia's eyes widened in surprise. "Bastard. Must have made you feel like this big," she emphasized with her pinky finger. "Poor Lorne. Should have had Wes do it."

"He had bigger fish to fry. Now where is he? I need to talk to him. He's the expert on portals."

"Uh, not here?" Cordelia put her hands up as if to say oh well.

"He's down there? Oh, shit. This is worse than they thought."

"Who are they? Like to know who shut it all down, you know," Doyle wanted to know.

"The Powers That Be."

"You've seen them? And here we are, slaving away, talking to people in their dreams," Cordelia sighed.

"But, hey, you do have to admit, we get to watch movies in surround sound."

Cordelia slapped Doyle to make him stay on topic. "Focus," she whined. "So some bad guy wants to open the gates of hell, like real hell, not just a hell dimension."

"Yep. Nasty place, I've heard. They didn't even send Lilah there."

Cordelia snorted. "So what will they do, take this place over?"

"Yeah, and keep moving until every dimension, including our little nice one down there is ripped to shreds."

"OK, not liking the visual," Cordelia told the ex-lawyer. "Wes is gone. He went down just before you put the locks on the doors. Something was wrong with Faith. He went to play hero."

"Shit," Lindsey added. "Well, at least the place is locked down tight."

"But it won't if the gate is opened?" Doyle questioned.

"Nope. It can't hold forever. We are the last line of defense. We should gather as many as we can. Plan a strategy if it happens."

"Oh, like we'd put you in charge."

Lindsey smiled at Cordelia. "Plan away."

TBC

Next: What in the world is Vail planning? I have no idea. He's a little more powerful than anyone ever knew, now isn't he. Hey, we haven't seen Gunn lately. I'll try some time with him and Angel. Because Angel is certainly flipping out about now. I really have set myself up for an epic battle, now didn't I? Something I've never written. Help, help.

Author notes: Help, help. It's fun when Wes can actually kick some butt. Hope you liked my explanation of what is the ultimate goal. And I guess that the gang is deep in the middle of it all, whether they're dead or not. Long chapter, hope it sets up some things for you. But wait, wasn't I supposed to do that sooner. I've just been having too much fun with them. This thing still has a lot of chapters to go. It'll be long, so hold on to your seats, or computers, as the case may be.

Thanks to: OK, now that I have lots of pressure on me to come up with more exciting stuff, because everyone's been saying they're liking it, now I'm shaking in my boots, or slippers. So the thanks go out to shahid, tp96, pari106, Caity, Uberwicca, Steph, qkith, Mandie (yay, new reviewer), Imzadi, Illiyra, and everyone else who is reading. It's nice to see people reviewing each chapter, but I know how life goes. Sometimes it takes forever to read and review. So do it when you can!!

Answers (to some of the questions):

Shahid—you really do keep me on my toes! Thanks so much. I didn't make Angel as dark as he could be, because frankly I really hate dark Angel. Sometimes I wanted to slap him silly in season two. Not that the lawyers didn't deserve what they got. I'm not sure I can go there with him, yet. We'll see. As you see in this chapter, he doesn't believe it's Wes. Even with Faith backing Wes up. That either makes him dark, or an idiot. But that damn sense of smell?

Caity—to answer your question, Angel will eventually. I would love to do a fight scene between Angel and Wes. It would be fun. But it would have to be Wes, not possessed Wes, so I'm not sure what will happen.

Uberwicca—yes, there are consequences, as you see in this chapter. He fights, the bad comes out. And yeah to your second question. Spike and Illyria? Hmm.

Qkith—body control issues galore, and it just keeps getting worse? Can Faith figure it out to help him?

Mandie—thanks for your great review. Sometimes it takes me a while to review a fic too! So don't worry. Drop a line any time.