Author Note: I'm thinking that there's only one more chapter after this one. Please read and enjoy!! And review!!

Chapter Twenty-Five – There's Hope That You'll Find Something Worthy

(from "Shells", Angel—Season Five)

"You're still here," Angel said as he sat down behind his desk. It was almost like he didn't believe it either. Wesley still existed. He hadn't withered away to dust.

"I am. Although what I don't understand is why?" Wesley responded to Angel, not exactly expecting an answer.

Wesley sat down opposite of Angel on the other side of the desk. This was a familiar sight, Wesley thought -- the two of them conversing in the office after slaying some evil demon. This very scene had taken place so long ago, them paling around as they recapped the events. He didn't know whether he liked that feeling or not. Hell, he still didn't know whether he liked being alive again.

"Mistake, perhaps?" Angel shrugged. "Maybe this is the way it's supposed to be."

"Vail made it happen. That's all I know. He apparently was going to use my body to bring the rest of you down. I shudder to think what evil he could have wrecked on this world being corporeal again."

"Good plan."

"Yes, excellent, if you ask me."

Ah, something they agreed on. That didn't happen very often. Things had changed so much in their relationship over the years. They had agreed on so much, especially the mission, up until the incident with Connor. He really didn't think that they could agree on anything ever again.

"What he didn't count on was you, Wes. And by the way, my head still hurts."

Angel actually smiled at him, not that demonic smile when he was pissed off, but a real, honest-to-goodness smile. Wesley didn't know how to react, so he just nodded in agreement again.

"Ribs not exactly a picnic, I can assure you."

"Are we gonna sit here and bitch and moan about our battle wounds?"

Would that be preferable to Wesley? Angel and Faith had saved him from being sucked into the portal with Vail. And Illyria had taken Vail out finally, having failed the first time.

"Seems like a plan at the moment."

"You always were good at planning," Angel answered back very sarcastically.

"Not to say that your plan wasn't a good one to take on the Circle of the Black Thorn. I just would have liked more time to prepare."

"Yeah, apparently. Since Vail managed to twist a knife in your gut."

"Don't start with me," Wesley stated, starting to stand from his chair.

"You gave up."

"I did what you asked me to do."

"You didn't have the confidence to take him on then. But you did have it to take me on. Pretty ballsy if you ask me."

Angel paid him a compliment. A backhanded compliment, but a compliment nonetheless. It amazed him how much he wanted Angel's approval even now, after everything they had been through together. Wesley sank back down into the chair again, ribs protesting as he did.

"So, what will you do now?" Angel asked.

"Sit here and wait to die again, I suppose."

"Not going to happen."

"How do you know?"

"Hey, because I'm Angel, OK. And what I say, goes."

"You sound like Cordy."

"Yeah, thought I'd channel her for a while."

Wesley laughed a little. He missed Cordelia fiercely. Would she want him to give up his special place to try again in the cruel world he had re-entered? He truly wished he could ask her. And he also wished he could sleep for a week or so to recover from the stress of the last couple of days.

"I should go," Wesley finally said, getting up slowly from his seat.

"Wait. I thought that you'd stay. Spike's not doing too well, and I'm a wreck. Faith needs someone to help her out. And I don't even want to tell you how bad off Gunn is. I need you. No, let me rephrase that. We need you, Wes."

That was something Angel had never told him, at least that he could remember. That Wesley was actually needed by him. Not in the sexual sense, because that just made him feel too uncomfortable to think about it, but in the sense of needing him there to help. Angel had managed before Wesley had arrived in Los Angeles, and had managed all that time that Wesley was estranged. Of course, for most of the time he was estranged, Angel was at the bottom of the ocean.

"So you add the messed up, potentially deadly, though not in the dead sense mind you, somewhat deranged at times ex-watcher rogue demon hunter. It sort of makes sense, if you look at it that way."

"You'll stay?" Angel asked, a look of hope on his face.

"I need to consult with Faith."

Angel stared at him like he'd really lost his mind. "I'm not sure why you need to do that," Angel said slowly.

"Neither am I. But I'm still her watcher, whether she likes it or not. I'm not going to abandon her just because you and I can't settle our differences."

"Then maybe we need to bury the hatchet, as they say. You know, I never understood that phrase. Sounds violent to me, but it's supposed to mean fixing something," Angel said as he pulled himself up, wincing at the movement.

"It won't be easy," Wesley added, rolling his eyes at Angel going off on the tangent.

"Have we ever done easy around here?" Angel finished as he made his way over to the door.

"Angel, Wes, come out here," Spike yelled as Angel held the doorknob.

The scene Wesley entered into made his blood boil. Faith was in trouble. And he had figured out just who had taken her power away.

Faith sat on the round sofa, actually holding the damn vampire's hand. His coldness felt good against her bruised knuckles. Her whole body felt like one big bruise. When she got her slayer powers back, she wasn't taking them for granted ever again. She liked the fact that she could heal ten times faster than any other human. Now she couldn't.

Spike was dejected that Illyria had died while sealing that portal and taking Vail with her in the process. They must have become close, she thought. Kind of like her and Wes. Man, she didn't know what to think about him now. She really wanted to ask him if she could stick around, knowing that his approval was what she craved, not Angel's. Soulboy would approve of whatever she did, just as long it didn't involve killing someone.

"So, Illyria? Spike, I'm not sure what to say other than I'm sorry," Faith wanted the vampire to know.

"It's OK, you know. I knew exactly how she felt. I knew why she did what she did. I'd done it before myself."

Spike dropped her hand to move around the lobby. She watched him pace back and forth, thinking on his feet.

"I'm not catching your meaning," Faith asked hesitantly.

"She went down in a blaze of glory for her man. Sort of what I did for Buffy."

"I don't think it was just for Wes. I think she figured out she did wrong and wanted to fix it. You were just stupid."

Spike stopped right in front of her, pointing a finger down into her face. Oh man, she shouldn't have opened her mouth. But she had to. Her attitude couldn't help scream out. She wanted Spike to know how she felt about his sacrifice.

"Excuse me? Fuck off."

"Hey, been there, done that. Listen, you did what you did in Sunnydale because you had to. Your reasons are your own. But don't think for one second that you did it only for her."

"Bloody hell, why else would I have done it? Not much fun going up in flames."

"Hey, you were atoning for all the wrong that you did too. If you think your sob story of saving the one you love is gonna hold as the only reason, then you're fucking crazy."

"You don't know me," Spike growled back.

"Yeah, I do. Welcome to the death wish club. Sometimes I wonder why I keep going."

Faith looked into his blue eyes, trying to see if he really understood what she was talking about. The four of them in the hotel right now were lost souls on a journey to find redemption. That's what made them so good at battling the forces of evil. At least, that's what she kept telling herself every day.

Pushing past him, she strode outside to the sunlight, because she knew he couldn't follow. Standing in the warm sun, she contemplated whether she should just take off now that everything had calmed down. Maybe go back to the apartment and sleep for two days. Her stomach growled in reply, since she hadn't eaten since the day before. So she closed her eyes momentarily to take in a second of peace and quiet.

"Hello, Faith," Robin Wood said from behind her.

The second she had closed her eyes, she had felt him near. But she hadn't wanted to break the tranquility she felt in her head. And she hoped that he would just go away.

"Yeah, hi. What do you want?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

She turned to look at Robin, not knowing what he meant by that statement. He had a look in his eyes that she had never seen before. A look of hate, betrayal. Something was definitely wrong.

"Not so obvious here, bud. You wanna tell me what's going on?" she asked as she shuffled back a few steps, hoping to break for the door as soon as she could.

"You ruined it. No doubt about that." Robin swung the taser stick out from behind his back. "Now, if you come quietly, we'll solve this matter between us and be heading back to Cleveland."

"Uh, one, I don't know what I ruined. Two, I don't think going back to Cleveland is going to solve anything."

She wanted to add you moron to the end of her sentence, but thought that it wouldn't be a good idea to piss off the guy with the weapon. Hoping that Spike actually saw what was happening, she expected for someone to at least poke his head out to see what Robin was doing there. But what if Spike had exited the lobby? Angel and Wes could be in that office for hours trying to hash out their differences.

"You were supposed to stay."

Faith shook her head no. "Listen, I don't really know what you're talkin' about. So why don't we go back into the lobby, and sit down for a little chat."

"Sorry."

Robin punched the taser stick out at her, hoping to catch her directly in her stomach. Her reflexes saved her from the first try. Stumbling, he backed her up against the outside garden wall. She knew exactly how strong he was, what his strengths and weaknesses were in a fight. He had her blocked in by the stairs to her left and planters to her right. If she stumbled either way, he would have her instantly. So she stood stock still, hoping to still talk him out of whatever he had planned.

"Why are you doing this, Robin?" she asked softly.

"I have to take you back. I have to protect what's mine. I'm your watcher, remember?"

"I can protect myself. You know that."

"Not now, you can't. I'm here for you."

Robin was sweating like it was a hundred degrees outside, when it was only in the seventies this early in the morning. If she could keep him talking, maybe she could escape. Or maybe one of the idiots would come out when they saw that she had left.

"What?" Angel said as he came out of his office.

"Wood's here. They're outside and it doesn't sound friendly. I can't go out there without turning into a big pile of dust."

Wesley started to charge outside to see if Faith was in danger.

"You can't just go running out there, Wes. We need a plan," Angel said as he peeked outside.

The two were still talking, Faith backing up against the wall. Wes noticed that the man had a taser stick in his hand. He was gesturing wildly towards Faith.

"Plan? My plan is to go out there and use my fists to say hello. Is there a problem with that?"

"Angel school of planning, I see," Spike commented, gesturing towards Angel.

"Just jump at him from the steps," Angel told Wes as he raced outside.

Both Spike and Angel followed his progress to the door, hoping that if the watcher failed, that they could somehow join in to help Faith.

"Let him handle it, Angel," Spike said as he put a hand up. "He needs to do this. Been a while since he's been able to save the girl."

Both vampires knew exactly to what Spike referred. It had been a while for the both of them too.

Wesley opened the door, took a flying leap and landed on Robin Wood with a hard thud, bringing him to the ground. As he was lunging off the top of the stairs, he noticed that Faith managed to just kick the taser out of Wood's hands forcefully, so at least he wouldn't be slammed with electricity. Wood's body didn't help cushion the blow as they both hit the concrete hard. Luckily, Wood was stunned by Wesley's actions. So that gave him the opportunity to put a fist to the man's face. Wood fought back immediately, throwing a punch to his face. Then it was a free-for-all. The two kicked and punched while grappling on the ground. Suddenly, the fight was over with, because Faith had managed to retrieve the taser from where she had kicked it. Wood got it square on the chest. It was just luck that Wesley hadn't been touching him at that moment, or he could have been shocked too. Or that was his guess.

Wesley rolled over, clutching his ribs tightly. His breathing was short and shallow, pain stabbing his chest.

"You remember those ribs," Wesley managed to pant out. "Well, now I think one of them is broken. I can't breathe."

Faith gave Wood one more shot with the taser as she knelt down to the ground. "That was fucking crazy, you know that."

Wesley just nodded yes as his head became dizzy from the lack of oxygen.

"You are such a fucking genius, you know that," Faith said as she sat beside Wesley's bed in the hospital. "Didn't want to wait to go back to wherever you were."

Wesley didn't open his eyes. He just lay in the bed, hooked up to monitors. Way too similar to Gunn. At least Gunn was awake and complaining now. Wesley hadn't moved in almost a day. After fixing the punctured lung, the doctors would give him a clean bill of health, just as long as everything healed all right. He was bruised and battered, but nothing permanently damaged.

She didn't want him to die again. It had been so hard the first time. He deserved a second chance, to start over. And whatever he decided to do, she would be there with him, if that was what he wanted.

"Are watchers supposed to sit on their asses all day? You've been in this bed for ages. Time to at least open your eyes."

She'd taken to insulting him for the last fifteen minutes, thinking it could bring him around so she would be assured that he was going to actually wake up. But he was just as thoroughly exhausted as she was. She had slept in a chair for a couple of hours, but otherwise had been at his side after they wheeled him into the room they were now occupying.

Gently, she laid her head down on his chest, just to assure herself that he was actually still breathing. Which made him yelp a little, but not fully wake up. Moving her head to the side, she sighed against his shoulder now. Slowly, she drifted off to sleep, none too comfortable, but too exhausted to care.

She awoke a while later to the feeling of Wes's hand in her hair. He was stroking her head? Now that did freak her out a little. She didn't know whether she should move out of his reach or stay there and let him do it some more.

"I seemed to have sprouted a growth on my arm," he quietly said as she moved just slightly.

"Shut it. I'm sleeping. And since you have the only bed in the room, you moron, I just thought that you should share."

"You talk in your sleep too."

He must be feeling better if he can joke with her. "There are other things that I can do in a bed, but now's not the time to think about that," she shot back.

She felt him squirm just a little. Raising her head, she saw him smile at her.

"You know, I had it under control."

"It didn't look that way," Wesley told her.

"I had already disarmed him. He was going down."

"Yes, that seemed to be my intent also."

"I am not the fucking damsel in distress."

"I didn't say you were."

"You acted like it though."

"I didn't know whether he had another weapon on him."

"So you just take a flying leap at the crazy person who took my strength away. You're an idiot, you know that."

Faith scraped the chair back to stand over him. He tried to sit up, but was unsuccessful, because he was in too much damn pain.

"Lay back down. You wanna have to stay in here any longer?"

"Believe me, Faith. I will be up and out of your hair as soon as I can."

Oh, man, and she just thought they were just having a mild discussion. He really thought that she wanted him to leave.

"Well, it seemed to me, Wesley," Faith started, drawing out the end of his name to piss him off, "that you wanted to be in my hair since you were doing just that when I woke up."

His face turned red, but he didn't back down. "Don't think that I'll ever be in the position to comfort you again, Faith, since you'll be leaving soon."

"Ha. You don't know the first thing about me."

"You don't know the first thing about me," he answered back, starting to breathe heavily.

"I know enough to know that you're a stupid asshole."

"Nice insult Faith," Wesley told her sarcastically. "It's what you do best. Now, I would like so peace and quiet, if you will."

"Sorry. I'm not moving."

"Fine. I'll just sleep."

Faith couldn't believe how juvenile he was being. Not that she wasn't being juvenile right back. He screwed his eyes shut, closing them too tightly to be comfortable.

"You are such a fucking moron," Faith grumbled.

"Shh," Wesley admonished her.

"Bastard," she shot back.

"Shh," he told her again.

"Scoot over," she finally said, realizing the only way she was actually going to get any rest was to be comfortable next to him.

"No," was his answer.

"Hey, don't mess with me, watcherboy. I'm not in a good mood right now."

Her tone of voice must have gotten through to him, because he complied, shifting over so she could fit beside him. He continued to grumble at her under his breath, but he finally settled down.

"Why do I put up with you?" he asked finally.

"Because you have to. Now go to sleep. I'm here to protect you."

"You couldn't hurt a flea."

"If you haven't noticed, neither can you."

"This bloody hurts. I guess I'm just Wesley now."

"Yeah. Not dead Wesley. Not inhumanly strong Wesley. Not kicking everyone's butt Wesley. Just my Wes." She could feel him choke just a little at her statement. "My watcher, I mean," she added.

"Right. Right," he agreed.

Careful to avoid tangling up in any of the several lines that were plugged into his body, she snuggled up to him and fell asleep quickly.

"Is he OK? I mean, I don't remember much of what happened. I mean, I do remember all of it, but I don't remember anything after what happened to me."

Cordelia looked at her friend as they sat next to each other on a comfortable sofa, in the same exact cottage that she had talked with Wes. The ramblings soothed her just a little.

"I'm sure he is, Fred. I haven't been able to contact Angel just yet."

"He died?"

"Yes, he did."

"Idiot."

"My thoughts exactly."

Fred was still not quite with it from the look on her face. Her soul must have been floating around in the ether for quite some time. Illyria dying had brought Fred's soul to where it belonged.

"This Vail guy brought him back?" Fred asked.

"Not exactly brought him back, as much as Wes's soul re-entered his own body. Vail must have somehow kept it alive."

"But he was dead."

"That's what Illyria told the others."

Cordelia still didn't understand any of it either. Wesley should have been able to come back to their realm. But it seemed now that he was tightly bound to the world of the living. He was alive again. And the only way he was coming back would be if he died again.

"A lot happened. I remember everything. Wes taking Connor, Jasmine, evil Cordy."

Cordelia winced a little at that. She had hoped that everyone had forgotten about that history. Now everyone mentioned it when they talked to her. Not the kind of rep she wanted to earn.

"Angel wiped everyone's memories of Connor, to give him a new life."

"He meddled."

"That's our Angel. But you? I'm not even sure what to say to you."

Cordelia wondered how Fred was dealing. Having died, her body taken over by an Old One, soul floating, then coming here to have two sets of memories.

"I'm just happy to be here. It was so cold and lonely where I was."

She had to ask Fred what she felt for Wes. She had seen through Angel's eyes the anguish that Wesley had felt. Would Fred not be able to rest until Wesley died again?

"Hon, I need to ask you something. I know it will be difficult."

"I'm happy for him, Cordy."

Damn girl was always too smart for her own good. And she saw things that other people never saw. Cordelia could see how much it hurt Fred to be here, instead of with Wesley.

"You're not sad because he wasn't here to be with you?"

"I'm still tryin' to figure out what my feelings really were for him. Those two sets of memories sure are playing havoc with my little ole brain."

But Cordelia could see the sadness in her eyes. Fred had totally rejected him before, only to seek him out after her memories were erased. That might take some time to sort out.

"We're here to help."

"I know."

Doyle and Lindsey strolled in, obviously in a heated discussion about something because it looked as if they would come to blows if someone didn't intervene.

"No way, you stupid jerk," Doyle continued.

"Hey, what do you know," Lindsey answered.

"OK, OK. Why is it I'm always playing referee? Now what?"

"Oh, we were just makin' a bet on the Lakers game," Doyle told her, smiling her way.

"That's all?" Cordelia said, miffed that they would be arguing about something like that.

Fred giggled a little. Maybe with time, Cordelia could help her deal with her new status. She was just so glad that her friend was here now, along with the two stupid idiots in front of her. And she hoped that her best friends on the other plane were dealing too. Because she so did not want to go down there and kick the vampire's butt again any time soon.

TBC

Next: The ending! Can you believe it? OK, so maybe I'm a happy ending sort of gal. Faith's power is restored too. Hopefully, resolution on the way.

Author Notes: Don't scream at me for it. Not that I didn't want to get Fred and Wes back together, but in light of him not being dead and her being dead, and the sets of memories, it's just too difficult. Plus, now Wes has a reason to live. Faith really does need someone who understands her. And Angel certainly needs someone to kick him in the behind occasionally. Spike? He needs some help too. And I'm not forgetting about Gunn. He'll be in the next chapter. If there are any other loose ends that I didn't tie up, please tell me in the next couple of days. I did make Robin the bad guy. He really was a little psycho.

Thanks go out to: pari106, Mandie, Uberwicca, Wav, qkith, Imzadi, Mary (new reviewer!), Shahid, and everyone else. I know there's more out there reading. Keep doing what you do.

Answers to questions:

Pari106—thanks for the nod about Angel.

Mandie—typical Spike, make a joke in the middle of chaos

Uberwicca—I couldn't see any way out of it. Illyria had gained some humanity throughout my fic. I don't like killing anyone, but it presented itself to me at about chapter four or five that this needed to happen.

Wav—Faith did a little kicking. I realized throughout this fic that I didn't let Faith be the slayer much at all. And I thought people would complain about that. But in a way, she did save herself from Robin, although Wes interrupted her.

Qkith—I can't stand that Angel and Wes had all of these unresolved issues. So they're working on them. My intention all along, actually.

Imzadi—Lindsey's staying.

Mary—Wow, new reviewer. I do that too. Catch a fic that I missed or just read it and get so involved that I read it all the way through. That's one reason I hadn't updated this one because I was reading this cool fic on another site and got caught up.

Shahid—thanks for all the input.