Chapter Eight – Searching, Wanting

Wesley could see them, could feel Faith's touch, could respond with grunts when necessary, but he couldn't communicate verbally with any of them. He was trapped in his own mind. He hated being trapped. Why he kept reliving the scenes of his life was a mystery to him. It scared him to think that he could stay this way forever.

He wanted to tell Giles and Willow that he was very sorry for borrowing their power. He just thought about using more power and there it was. He couldn't even tell Giles that Willow was teetering on the edge of using dark magicks again. But her magicks held the barrier in place at the Council for now. The demons that had broken into the place would be hard-pressed to break them any time soon. But the whole system would have to be overhauled once he was well enough to speak with Giles.

The van that they had taken was a big, uncomfortable hunk of moving metal. Faith held his head in her lap, but the rest of his body lay on the cold metal of the van. Both Angel and Spike crouched by the sides to avoid any errant sliver of sunlight that had emerged while they were traveling. Sam, the watcher who Faith had hit on was driving. And Clarisse was riding shotgun. Wesley wanted to yell at Giles for letting the two of them come along. Yes, it might be a good plan to have the two of them in front so the rest of them wouldn't be seen. He just didn't want either one of them around. It complicated matters immensely.

So he decided to think about something pleasant. In his mind, he sat in a field, much like the one he had encountered in the other dimension. It would help clear his brain to formulate a plan of action.

"You know they'll find you," Spike spoke up from behind him.

"I was wondering when you'd appear."

"Hey, not my fault."

No, none of this was Spike's fault. He seemed to just be along for the ride.

"You have to help them, protect them," Wesley pushed.

"Yeah, and you have to come out of that self-induced coma that you're in. The bloody poof is driving me into an early grave."

"Spike, you're already dead," Wesley pointed out.

"Yeah, well, driving me to stake myself just to get away from his annoying stare."

This was the part that Wesley didn't understand. Spike was the only thing even remotely real in his dream state. He was the only being that Wesley could speak with at the moment. Even Faith didn't have that kind of access, although she was helpful in pulling him back from going too far inside of himself. This teetering on the edge of nothingness was getting old.

"Why are you here?" he asked the vampire.

"Don't rightly know. One minute I'm losing my bloody mind, the next minute I hear your voice in my head."

"If it will keep you sane," Wesley started.

"Too late for that, mate. I'm already headed down that demented path."

"We all need you. Including Angel. Just hold it together for now. Wolfram and Hart won't stop until we're all dead. Angel needs you to continue the fight."

"Angel needs to not have taken the jerks on in the first place. But nothin' we can do about that now. And he also needs you. Don't you forget that."

No, there was nothing that any of them could accomplish until he woke up and Spike regained full use of his faculties. Only Faith and Angel were at full strength. He didn't know whether he could trust Buffy and the others not to bail out on them if the going got to be too much.

"Protect her," Wesley finished, knowing that Spike would pick up immediately of whom he was speaking.

"She's not exactly cooperative when someone wants to take care of her."

"She's all that I have."

"No, Wes. That's where you're wrong. Definitely wrong."

Faith wasn't feeling any bad vibes coming from Wes at the moment. What she didn't understand was why he woke up in the first place, helping them defeat that swarm of demons. She figured that he would be in la-la land for a little while, but not this long. Now he was totally blocking her, not letting her see what he was dreaming. How did he have all these abilities and not be awake? Maybe she should just punch him to see if he would react.

"Don't," Spike whispered to her.

He had worked his way over to her, sitting close by her side now. He kept looking at her, probably trying to figure her out. They were somewhat alike, she thought. They both enjoyed the fight and liked to win.

"Don't what?"

"Hit him. Wake him up. Whatever is going on in that pretty little head of yours. He'll come 'round. Don't you worry."

"Yeah, only I want him to wake up right now. Not later. This is so stupid."

The frustration in her voice was apparent even to her. She wanted Wes around, not in some mystical coma. She wanted Angel and Wes to make up. She wanted the world to not be so evil. Faith never got what she wanted. That was a given.

"Welcome to my world, Faith. Just hang on to him."

Faith's mind whirled as she thought about what Spike was saying. Did he know more than he was telling her? If he did, he'd be looking at the hard dirt in the sunlight before he turned to ash.

Looking over at Angel on the other side of the van, she sighed. Angel looked as if a car had run over him. He was dirty, demon blood covering his front. He had fought well back at the Council headquarters. If he looked this bad, then she must look just as disgusting too.

"You look like shit, Angel," she announced.

Buffy snickered a little at her comment, but no one spoke up. The rest of the group had been deathly quiet as they drove to their destination. She wondered what they thought about this little show that Wes and Angel had put on for them. She bet they hadn't had such a crazy blast in a long time. Buffy and the others weren't used to fighting this way, like they did in the past. They were no longer on the front lines. Now she and the others brought the fight right to their front door.

"Could use a shower," Angel responded by picking something out of his hair.

A part of it stood on end after he freed whatever was sticking to it. Xander smiled but didn't challenge Angel at all. She didn't think that she would either by the look on Angel's face. He really didn't like his hair messed up.

Faith combed her hands through Wes's hair, trying to make him more comfortable. Since she had never had the opportunity to just look at him, she took that chance now. She would really have to kid him about the few gray hairs she had found as she absently stroked his head. He was older than she was, that she knew. Probably going prematurely gray around Angel. He hadn't cut his hair in a while, so it curled around her fingers as she touched it. Even though they all smelled a little ripe from fighting, she could still distinguish his different, unique scent from all the others. But she missed seeing his eyes the most. The looks that he would give her made her feel special. She was certain that Giles must give those looks to Buffy too. But that sparkle that he showed as he was talking to her was reserved only for her. The blue was so captivating that sometimes it was hard to look away.

Oh, damn it, why was she thinking about him like this? He was her watcher, that was it. But as she sat there with his head in her lap, she sometimes wished he meant a little more. She could let him in, if she wanted that, if he wanted that. Did she want to? He certainly had changed over the last couple of years. She hoped that her about face was apparent to him also. She had felt something strange the last time they had worked together. But he had been hurting then from his evil girlfriend's killing and taking Angelus down. That's why she didn't push anything between the two of them. Not that they didn't have the opportunity to kiss and make up any of the time they spent together. They must have danced around each other the whole time she was in Los Angeles. Damn it, he looked way too yummy for her to ignore him for any length of time.

Right now she'd strip and dance naked around his body if that was what got him moving again. She'd come to depend on him in more ways than one. She had even looked forward to training with him again. So why didn't he get his ass up and do what he was trained to do, what she wanted him to do?

Her fingers traced the scar on his neck. Angel had explained that Wes had gotten it from a woman who had taken his child right out of Wes's arms. If she could figure out who the woman was, she would hunt her down and give her a going over, maybe give her a matching scar as a souvenir for what she had done. She knew that the memories that Angel had taken from them weren't coming back. Wes was the only one who knew exactly what had happened. She was glad that Angel had explained it all to her, why the two of them were at such odds. And she also knew that Wes still felt almost overwhelming guilt at having misjudged the whole situation. Get them talking again was her only solution. Angel cared for the man still. He wouldn't have put so much effort at protecting him if he didn't. Wes was part of Angel's family, whether he liked it or not.

"Angel?" Faith finally spoke up while she lightly traced the scar on Wes's neck.

Angel looked into her eyes, not at what she was doing. "Yeah?" he answered back.

The two of them didn't need to say anything else. They would both die protecting the man in her lap. They had both hurt and betrayed him, just like he had done the same thing to them. But the connection was still there. It had survived all the turmoil, all the adversity to still remain strong. Angel had not only taken Wes's memories away, he had taken some of his heartache away too, if just for a while. He had not only done it for Connor, he had done it for his best friend.

"Your hair is sticking up," she quipped back, earning a small quirk of his lips.

"Fighting is hell on the hair," he told her.

Buffy laughed, not getting the joke on the same level as she and Angel did. "You should see what it does to my clothes budget."

Faith and Angel smiled back to each other, knowing that Buffy would never understand what they were going through. Redemption wasn't easy, wasn't fast, wasn't fun, and it surely wasn't only confined to just the two of them. Spike sighed a little beside her too. He probably knew exactly what the two of them exchanged. And if Wes woke up from his weird coma, then he could probably join in also.

"So you know what to do?" Willow asked Giles as the two sat in the back of the van.

"Similar to what you did with Buffy the time she couldn't escape her mind. When Glory took Dawn," Giles explained.

But that was her doing the spell, before evilness. They needed Buffy to fight Glory. And Buffy is a slayer, she thought. Wes was just a man. Well, a man with a wicked sense of magicks, she realized. He could probably block Giles out. Giles winced in pain as he tried to get more comfortable on the hard floor of the van. She'd have to tell Xander when they arrived at Giles's place to next time get something a little more conducive to actually sitting, not something that hauled cattle. At least then her butt wouldn't be asleep.

"You're not strong enough," she told him emphatically.

"I will be once we arrive."

Willow wanted to argue with him, but she knew it wouldn't do any good. Arguing with Giles was like arguing with the smartest man in the world. Well, she concluded he was definitely wrong this time. He couldn't handle it. The last time he had been injured and she had to bring Buffy back from her self-induced coma. She'd find a way to convince him that she was the perfect person for the job.

"I'm not sure how on earth we will all fit in my house."

"We will. Hey, Angel and Spike can stay in the basement."

"It's dank and dark, and oh, you're right. They could."

"That would leave four girls, three guys and one comatose stupidhead. We should fit."

Willow was still upset that Wesley had taken most of her power away from her. He had taken the good, earthly power, leaving behind the evilness that she felt growing in her every day. Once this was all over, she'd have to make a trip to Devon to see the coven. Centering her power would be helpful and they might have some insight into how she could get rid of the evil part once and for all.

"I do believe that you are still upset with Wesley. Until we know exactly why he did what he did, I suggest you hold your judgment."

Giles was right, dagnabbit. As always.

"Yeah, yeah. It's just you were hurt and I couldn't help you. And I'm still so not gonna forget that tackle you put on me. You wouldn't be this way if it weren't for me. So I'm going to say thank you and when you're well I'm going to punch your lights out for putting yourself in danger again, I might add."

Giles rolled his eyes her way from her ranting. "I would rather not have a knife sticking out of your head. Mind you, I did hit you fairly hard, but it was necessary."

Willow just snorted in reply, knowing that Giles would always have some kind of explanation. "Just don't do it again."

"You know that I can't promise that."

She wouldn't want him to promise that. He had saved them plenty of times and vice versa. As she looked at the contingent from LA, she wondered if they had gone through similar experiences. She was sure they had just by the looks on their faces. But her group hadn't lost as many members. Angel had lost everyone but Wesley and the guy named Gunn. Anya and Tara had been gone for so long, she sometimes just had to pull their pictures out to see them again. But they were still in her heart, and probably in a better place than she would ever be. She still ached for Tara sometimes, but the more time that flew by, the less it hurt. Angel had lost everyone in the last year, including Wesley. It seemed that he had gained Spike and Faith in his corner, which probably helped. But losing most of your friends was so not good. God, how that must hurt, how it must have hurt just as much as when they lost Buffy. She'd ask Angel if it ever got any easier to lose someone that you loved.

"Just promise me that you don't put yourself in danger any more than you have to," she finally answered.

Giles frowned at her and touched her hand with his. "I will, Willow. I mean, I promise," he stammered out.

After this, she'd get the four of them together and go on a vacation. She, Xander, Buffy, and Giles never spent any time together any more. Now she realized that was what she missed. She missed her family. And if it took the threat of death to get them back together, then so be it.

"Do you know where they are headed?"

"No, sir. I do not. They were not very forthcoming about their destination. But I shall endeavor to discover where they were off to. It shouldn't be hard. The girl gives away everything."

"You do that. If you fail again, there will be dire consequences. We need him to open up that damn door. No one else can accomplish that."

"Why? Why him?"

He knew he shouldn't ask that of the man at the other end of the line. He had put himself in too much danger already to achieve the goals set out for him.

"She has connected him to it somehow. He must be the one. Do not fail again. If he is not there by the time we have the spell ready, all will be lost."

He wanted it to turn out perfectly, wanted to have the power that was denied him so long ago. And if this was the only way to gain that power, gain that prestige that he had taken away from him, then so be it. His circumstances would change and his bastard of a father would see him for what he was finally. He was shaken out of his musing by the voice on the line.

"Failure is not an option. We will succeed and have the power to rule the world."

The line then went dead. To rule the world? He just wanted to be recognized. He wanted to claim his place in the world. Something his father had never given him. He had spent all of his time on the other one, the rightful heir. Being a bastard went both ways, he thought, amusing himself with the statement.

On the other side of the line, the man placed the phone down carefully, turning to see the other in the room with him.

"There has been a change in plans. It seems that the law firm has stepped up its search and destroy. They almost succeeded."

"Then crush them," the other said with no emotion.

"It might bring their wrath down on us also," he said to the other figure.

"Those insolent beings will be crushed when my power is restored. Stop them. I do not care what it costs. I will not be denied this time."

The man could not get used to the shock of blue on the figure before him. As he placed another phone call to make sure that the law firm kept its paws off of their prize, he mused that some day he would be at the right hand of the ruler of the world, that was if the other didn't rip him to shreds first. His plan would go off without a hitch. And the interference from the slayer and her friends would not affect it. Their prize would come to them willingly, would help them with their task, and would bring about the dawn of a new era. And he would be right in the middle of it all to take advantage of it. Absolute power at its finest.

Angel had drifted off as the van swayed back and forth while moving toward their destination. He and Faith had shared some staring time, but other than that, no one else spoke to him. Even Buffy had pointedly ignored him. Must be thinking about that new guy in her life. What on earth did she see in the man, he thought? He was so glad that Giles had suggested the guy stay back at the Watchers' Council building. He could only handle one problem at a time.

Wesley was his immediate problem. Every time Angel touched the man, it sent him into a tailspin that he sometimes thought he would never recover from. Was Wes's mind really that screwed up? Kind of like his mind sometimes too. Wes wasn't the only one who thought that he failed. Angel thought that every day, every minute of his life. Since he had signed away his ability to become human again, he figured that it just wasn't worth it anymore to live in the real world. But his friends kept pulling him back. Even Spike kept him from going over that edge. Cordy had once told him in a dream, or was it reality, that his little family needed him, if not the world at large too. And he never challenged Cordelia when she was on one of her rants. He wondered if Faith could get as bitchy as Cordy could? He didn't doubt that Faith could pound him into the ground if she so wanted. Hell, even Wes did that on one occasion.

Reaching over, he fixed Faith's hair behind her ear. It had fallen over onto Wesley's face, probably bugging the shit out of him. Even in a coma, he was too gentlemanly to say something was wrong.

"You need to wake up now," he whispered as he leaned over.

He bet that only Faith and Spike had heard him. He wasn't sure whether Wesley had heard, he just wished it were so.

"Hiding in your mind isn't solving anything, you know."

"Oh, he knows it. He just doesn't want to believe it," Spike answered.

No one else save he and Faith had heard the statement.

"Spike, stop playing games," Angel growled out.

"I am not playing at anything, Angel," Spike responded, losing his Cockney accent. It sounded so much like Wes, he wanted to punch Spike for it.

"Spike, not nice to kid the deadly vampire," Faith said to the both of them, trying to head off a fight.

Spike sighed. "I'm not kidding. I never kid. Oh, there was that one time, never mind. Getting off track."

"Spike, stop babbling," Angel implored him to do.

The look on Faith's face was what scared him. Like she believed just a little bit what he was still trying to piece together. Angel watched as she slowly inched her hand over to Spike. Before Angel could warn her to not touch Spike and Wesley at the same time, her hand shot out and grabbed Spike's in her free hand. So he took hold of her arm to wrench it away, just in case.

Big mistake, he thought. Faith's instincts were probably right. And he had to go and screw that up to play hero. The only other time his heart had actually beat was when Gwen supercharged it with her electro girl act. But now, he could feel each heartbeat from Faith and Wes, could feel the blood pumping through their veins, like he was a part of them, living through them. And the funny thing was he felt at peace with it. He had only somewhat felt this feeling once before, when he would snuggle with Cordy and baby Connor on the bed. To feel them both breathe in unison as they slept on the bed beside him, he would sometimes pretend to breathe right along with them. He could hear each and every sound that they made. Now he could feel each and every sound, breath, heartbeat, and thought that the other three made.

Faith was scared that the three of them would leave her and she'd be alone in the world again; Spike was worried that he would fall into that pit of despair that he had felt right after regaining his soul; Wesley felt totally useless to the group as a whole, hiding inside of himself, not wanting to come out. He could literally see the line between Faith and Wesley, tight as ever. The line between Wes and Spike was strengthening every day, even though the two of them didn't really know each other all that well. What he couldn't see was how he fit into this scheme? He wanted to be a part of this new, convoluted group that had been created out of necessity. What he didn't understand was how to achieve it?

"Angel, you dumbass, you remember how to do this," Cordelia said in his mind. "They need you now. Don't let them down."

With that, Cordy's voice faded into the ether, bringing about a bit of sadness in his heart. Oh, how he wanted her to be a part of this new little circle that had been created.

"You need to listen to Queen C, Angel. Not good to cross her," Faith answered back in his mind.

"This time the handsome man will save them all from the monsters," Fred added. "Or I'll come kick your ass for all of them. They need your help, Angel. Please don't let me down again. Don't let them down again. You can do this."

He swore he could feel Fred's small, slight hand on his as she spoke to him. He had never once dreamed of her, except to see her die right before his eyes, over and over again. Now she was here, trying to get him to do something he had no idea how to do.

"She's right, you big poof. It's time to get back on the saddle." Spike even annoyed him in his dreams.

"Angel, what they're all saying? It's true. The mission is still what we should be fulfilling. Helping the hopeless," Wesley started.

"Helping the helpless," Cordelia interrupted. Wesley glared at her to stop correcting him.

"It's what we're all about."

"Hey, Mr. Coma Man, I made that slogan up."

"Stupid ass slogan, if you ask me. It should be we came, we saw, we kicked some butt," Spike wanted the rest of them to know.

"No one asked you Spike," Cordelia spat back.

"I like the kicking butt part, because it's been way too long since I got any," Faith added. Everyone looked at her pointedly. "I was talkin' about fighting. Get your minds out of the gutter."

"That's where mine always is, love," Spike wanted everyone to know.

"Yes, well, with that said, I should say that we all want you back in the game, so to speak," Wesley insisted of Angel.

"Nice babbling, there Wes. I think what he's sayin' is, we need you. All of us. Even Gunn. I don't know why he didn't join us," Faith said to him.

They all stood in a circle in the Hyperion, all as they were before the mess with Wolfram and Hart had come about. He hadn't noticed it until now, because it had made him uncomfortable having this kind of dream. Now he felt a little more at peace with himself.

"Oh, damn. I missed the pep talk. Make sure I know about it next time, guys. I hate to miss one of these stupid ass meetings." With Gunn's appearance, the group was complete.

"It's good that you're all here, with me. It means a lot," Angel told them all.

Everyone shook his or her head, agreeing with him wholeheartedly for once.

"Angel, we're always here for you, whether you know it or not. We will always be here for you. You just have to look into your heart," Cordelia said to him as she approached.

"Enough with the sappiness. What she's tryin' to say is, you can't go it alone. Won't work that way." Spike was right, he realized. First time for everything, Angel concluded.

"We're a team. Will always be a team." Fred smiled his way.

"And no matter what, we will always be there for each other," Wesley finished.

If Angel had the capacity right then, he'd hug each of them in return. Well, except maybe for Spike because the vampire really did just piss him off most of the time.

"We're a family," Angel announced, looking at each of them in return.

Angel jolted awake as the van slowed to a stop. Spike was near the back now, and Faith still had her hands tangled with Wes's. There was no evidence that he had ever touched them. They gave no acknowledgment that anything strange had passed between them. But something had, he had felt it. He now was on more solid ground than before.

"Time to go, mate," Spike announced, fitting a blanket over his head so as to not burst into flames from the sun.

"Yeah, time to go," Angel agreed with him.

Fred jumped up and down as her heart nearly burst. It worked, it worked, she cheered to herself. Yeah, she probably broke about a million rules, but Angel had heard her. She had gone through Spike to get the job done, but now she knew that if anything happened, the four of them would know and protect each other. Now she just had a few other things to handle before she could get them to wake Wesley up.

She had concluded that Wesley was hiding away in his mind, and that it probably wasn't his fault. Something had happened to make it that way. She'd just have to puzzle it out and get the others to do the job they needed to do.

She just hoped that Lindsey was having a better time of it, trying to find out what exactly happened to Illyria when she had sacrificed herself. She wondered if it would be good news.

Lindsey cringed as he walked into this hell dimension. Rows after rows of office desks, all piled with papers that never seemed to go away. One pile would be finished to have another pile replace it. He saw the familiar face he sought for answers. He contemplated going to someone else to try and find the information he needed. Illyria just hadn't disappeared. All beings went somewhere after death. All of his sources didn't have any idea where she went. There could be trouble if he couldn't find her. The havoc that Illyria could wreck wasn't something that he wanted to think about right then.

"Well, well, well. Slumming again. Or are you finally joining us down here?" Lilah asked him as he approached her desk.

Even in hell, she had one of the better desks. Probably bartered away some other portion of herself to get this luxury. He was so grateful that he had never signed away his soul to the damn law firm. Surprise washed over his face as he looked at the stacks on Lilah's desk. They were tall and never ending. Must be driving her crazy, he concluded. But Lilah always landed on her feet, even in a hell dimension.

"I need information," Lindsey started.

"Not even a hello, how are you? I'm shocked. You used to be so polite."

She was baiting him. He wouldn't fall for it. Too many lives were at stake, including his own dead one.

"Illyria? Old One who took over Fred Burkle? I need to know where Old Ones who die, where they go?"

"That was such a shame, what happened to Fred," Lilah bit out, sarcastic as ever. "You know where they go. Why are you asking me?"

"She's not in the Deeper Well. She's not anywhere that I can find. She's dangerous on the loose, even dead."

"Yeah, dangerous. Why do you care?" Lilah flipped up her hands in the air, like she didn't have a care in the world.

"Because it's my job."

"Listen, Lindsey. They'll never let you in permanently. You're fooling yourself if you think that will happen. You're bad to the bone."

Lindsey cringed inwardly again. He so wanted to believe that Lilah was wrong. He was trying to prove that Lilah was wrong. He'd taken all the assignments to prove to the higher powers that he really wanted to do some good.

"You're wrong. But I'm not here to talk about me. Fred and I haven't been able to figure out where Illyria might have gone."

The look on shock on Lilah's face was unexpected. "Fred? What are you talking about?"

"When Illyria died, Fred's soul was freed from whatever place it had been sent. Didn't you know? I thought you knew everything."

Lilah recovered quickly in front of him, but he knew that look on her face. The wheels were spinning. He just hoped that it didn't interfere with anything he was working on.

"Not my area of expertise. So you're working with her now?" Lilah ground out.

"Yes, I am. Don't worry. She's dead. She can't get her paws on your precious Wesley." Lindsey did that to bait Lilah, but she had been so schooled in hiding her emotions, she didn't let any kind of hurt show through.

"He's not mine. He's not hers. Kind of satisfying if you look at it. So Illyria, I have no idea where she could have gone. Did you actually go to the Deeper Well? Check it out for yourself?"

No, he hadn't. He only had his sources. And they said that she wasn't there. Another trip on his horizon.

"My next plan of action. Do me a favor?"

Lilah looked a little surprised that Lindsey would actually ask her for a favor. "What kind of favor?"

"If you hear anything about Illyria, could you let me know?"

"Now why would I do that?" she shot back.

"You tell me, Lilah. You tell me," Lindsey told her. He paused for a moment, contemplating if he should say something. "Now I know what he saw."

"Who saw?"

"Wesley."

"The only thing he saw was every inch of my body."

Lindsey smiled a little, knowing that wasn't what he was shooting for. "Not exactly the answer I was looking for. But you know what I'm talking about. Maybe if he had looked harder, if you had let him look harder, you wouldn't be sitting here right now. Redemption's a bitch, now isn't it."

Lilah couldn't always hide her emotions. Lindsey remembered very well the day that he had left Wolfram and Hart. She had her emotions taped to her sleeve that day. Her frown said it all. She didn't want to be saved by good old Wesley. Since she had saved him in return. And she knew it.

"What are you watching now, princess?" Doyle asked as he wandered into Cordelia's office.

Yes, she had her own office. She didn't use it much, only when she wanted to be alone, which was definitely now. She didn't know why the dumbass hadn't listened to her when she said she wanted to be alone. Too much work to do and not enough time to do it.

"You never listen," she told the man.

"Nah. Not in my life did I ever. So, what's up?"

Nosy Irishman, she thought. Oh well, might as well tell him what her plan was now. And she'd make him swear, cross his heart and everything if she told him.

"I'm trying to do something."

Doyle snorted. "Good explanation, sweetheart. Now what in bloody blazes is going on? Why are you keeping tabs on Lindsey and Fred?"

Damn, the man saw more than she thought. She just hoped he could keep his mouth shut.

"I'm supervising, that's all."

"More like manipulating. Give it up."

"OK. But you have to promise to keep a secret." Doyle zipped his lips closed. "Yeah, I am manipulating the whole thing."

"See, told ya I'd know. But why?"

Cordelia sighed. If he knew exactly why she was manipulating the whole scenario he might get mad at her.

"Because I have to. Orders."

"Orders? Oh, PTB orders."

"Yep. Obviously whatever is going on is worrying them something fierce. This is big, very big."

"So what can I do to help?"

Doyle wanted to help her. That's why she loved him so much. He took her at face value, no matter what was happening. Angel and Wes were the only two other friends that ever did that. She aimed to keep them alive, well, fighting since Angel technically wasn't alive, for a long time. For once, the PTB's agreed with her assessment. They were much better off where they were. The PTB's weren't exactly happy when they lost Wesley the way they did, even though he was still on their side.

"I need to talk with Angel. I mean really talk with him. Which means I need you to mind the store. Keep Lindsey and Fred in line."

"Ha, those two. They'll be fine."

Oh, if Doyle only knew how much the two of them messed with the system if only to accomplish the goals that had set out to achieve.

"Do you know how many rules the two of them have broken since they got here?"

Cordelia handed him a stack of papers to show Doyle just how many.

"Wow. They've been busy. Broke more rules than I did."

"That's because you didn't have a partner in crime then."

"And now I do," he said as he approached her.

Putting his hands on her desk, he leaned over until they almost touched foreheads together.

"So much more fun with a partner, now isn't it, love?"

"So much more," Cordelia said as she gave him the full wattage smile in return. "Now get your ass in gear," she finished as sweetly as possible.

"Such the charmer," he responded.

"Always. Now quit screwing around. Move your butt. Make sure those two don't get into too much trouble."

Doyle backed away slightly, but then pushed forward and placed a light kiss on her lips. They tingled as he pulled away and slowly walked out her door.

"Talking about being the charmer. Whoa, baby," she said to herself as she checked off another item on her to do list.

Doyle was helping her out. Now all she had to do was get Angel and the rest of them on board and save the world from total annihilation. Just a day's work for a higher being.

TBC

Next: Cordelia talks to Angel, Spike talks to Wesley, and the rest go out of their minds with boredom. (That's because I haven't exactly figured out what to do with them yet!)

Author notes: Sorry for the delay. The holidays just about drove me insane and I was out of town. I started this while I was out of town, but didn't have time to finish it until now. I hope it's getting a little clearer what is happening. Look for more twists and turns coming up.

Thanks go out to all who have kept up with reading. I know how hard it is at the end of the year to do this. I'm trying to keep up with mine also. Thanks to ShatteredTears89 (yay, new reviewer), I.B. Slackin, Kat (new reviewer), Cayt, Darklight, Imzadi, pari106, tp96, and all you others out there trying to find time in all your busy schedules. Thanks a bunch.

Answers to questions:

ShatteredTears89—hey, thanks for the review; I'm glad I'm not the only one who will sit down and read stuff, it keeps us writers going and posting, etc. to have support.

I.B. Slackin—yeah, sorry, not so actiony this chapter. I've seemed to fall into the pit of exposition in this fic.

Kat—it would be quite funny to tell that to Angel and Spike, although no slash in this fic.

Cayt—blasted fight scenes are hard, but they're fun to write too

Imzadi—love Ray Bradbury by the way, met him once, he really is a nice, funny guy. Funny Gavin comment-Lost yeah! Only decent thing to watch lately (OK, so I'm addicted to Desperate Housewives too) and I might get into Alias finally.

Pari106—I always loved scary and powerful Wes, like in Season four. Good times.

Tp96—expositiony chapter, more action to follow.