A/N: Don't you ever feel slightly silly posting more of your story when no one's reading it? I'm not complaining . . . much . . . XD

(Chapter Five - - - - - - - -)

It hurt more than Wesley had expected it to. Wesley had expected to feel a twang of pain and very cold, but instead he was so cold he was burning. The pain was unbearable and he tried not to scream, but he couldn't hold it in.

Giles was the only one outside, after sending the reluctant teens home, when he heard the scream. He looked up and his forehead creased and part of him was happy that he could hear inside but he was overcome with terror with realization.

He knew that now he could hear inside it meant something happened and that the something couldn't be good. Giles stood and began to bang on the window.

"Wesley? What's going on? Wesley?"

Wesley's ears were pounding with pain and he barely heard Giles calling. He crawled to the window and held his head as he tried to ignore the ghost's whispers buzzing deep in his brain.

"Mr. Giles. . . I'm sorry." Was all Wesley could find the strength to say. Giles only just heard Wesley.

"Wesley? Sorry about what?" Giles called through the door but got no response. "Dammit!" Giles slammed his hand hard against the door at the same time Buffy rounded the bush and walked up to the house.

"What happened Giles? What did you do to your hand?" Buffy inspected Giles' bleeding hand. Giles pulled away quickly and avoided looking at Buffy's face.

"I heard him scream Buffy. I heard it. That means something's wrong. Something happened. We wouldn't be able to hear anything unless something happened. . ."

"Calm down." Buffy wasn't sure she had ever seen Giles react this way about anything. The pair suddenly felt something familiar lash on their cheeks. "The wind. . ." she whispered. She never wanted it to go away so badly before. Buffy charged at the door and kicked but it still wouldn't budge. "Why can't we still open the door?"

Giles just shook his head and turned away. He walked down the steps and made his way to his car. Buffy watched him go and wasn't quite sure what to do. Giles got into his car and closed the door.

"Where are you going? GILES!" Buffy yelled as Giles started the engine and backed away. Buffy took one last sad look back at the house and started chasing after the car. "GILES! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?"

(-------)

Wesley curled into the chair and shook feverishly. He wrapped his coat around him to keep warm, but it didn't help. He hoped to be totally taken over quickly but he was still himself.

"W-w-hat ha-happened?" Wesley's voice trembled so badly that it was incomprehensible to even himself. The ghost explained that he was old and the act of just entering Wesley took too much out of him and he needed to rest.

Wesley wrapped his arms around himself tighter and felt his eyes grow heavy. He had no choice but to close his eyes and fall asleep.

(-------)

Willow returned to the house (after sneaking out her bedroom window) to see it was abandoned. Giles' bag was still there but his car was missing. Willow approached the window and tapped lightly on it.

"Hello? Wesley?" she called softly. Wesley slowly pulled his eyes open.

"Ne lui répondez pas. . ." the ghost, now in Wesley's head, warned, but Wesley ignored it.

"W-w-who's th-th-there?" his voice still quavered.

"I can hear you!" Willow called out to him, but her eyes became serious. "Wait," she said to herself. "That can't be good. Oh, my god. The wind. . ." Willow put her hand up and let the wind blow in between her fingers. The dead tree danced again and the birds chirped. It was still freezing cold, though, but Willow was so used to it that it didn't bother her anymore.

Willow had an idea, one she thought was brilliant, and she tapped on the window once again.

"Wesley, can you open the door?" she asked and Wesley dreaded it, because it meant he would have to stand and he wasn't sure he could.

"I'll. . . I'll try." He replied and pushed himself out of the chair. He clung his clammy, shaking hands onto the wall to keep him standing.

He finally made it to the door and placed his hand on the knob, repeating 'Please open' to himself over and over. He weakly turned the knob and the door clicked. Wesley grew excited, as did Willow, as the door began to open. Suddenly, the ghost realized what Wesley was doing and began yelling at Wesley.

The yelling hurt worse than the whispering, if that was possible, and Wesley dropped to his knees and held his head. The door started to shut and Willow yanked her hand out of her pocket and made a mad reach for the knob, but was too slow and the door slammed shut again.

"NO!" she cried out and agitatedly pushed and pulled on the knob, but to no avail. "I almost had it! We almost had it! Wesley, why'd you stop!" Willow let go of the knob forcefully and stumbled backwards.

"He won't let me! He won't let me go! He screams in my head. . . what did I do!" Wesley sobbed on the dusty floor, his face in his hands. Willow's mouth hung open, putting what he said together to face the completed and ugly jigsaw puzzle.

"Why did you. . ." Willow backed away from the door and eventually the house. She ran and all she knew was that she had to find somebody – anybody – to help her. And right now, she didn't care who.

(-------)

Buffy followed Giles until he stopped his car outside his house. She finally stopped running and felt like she was going to be sick, but she did not pause as she walked steadily behind her ex-Watcher. She trailed after him, right into his house, before speaking once more.

"What the hell was that! How could you just walk away like that." Buffy spat with sincere anger and Giles was slightly startled with it as he looked up from his bookshelf.

"I . . . I don't know what came over me. I had an idea and something suddenly made me turn around." Giles desperately tried to explain as he clutched the worn down book in his hands. Buffy was about to yell something when Willow came tearing through Giles' open door.

"Will? What's the matter?" Buffy helped her panting friend sit down and Giles immediately went to fetch her a glass of water. Willow gladly accepted the water and gulped it down, her breathing better. She swallowed and finally spoke.

"I went to the house and nobody was there. I tried to talk to Wesley and I heard him answer back. The wind. . . I asked if he could open the door and he sounded weak. Really weak. He got it, the door was opening but something happened and he stopped. I wasn't quick . . . he was crying. He said. . . said that it wouldn't let him go. It screams in his head. Giles, I think he. . ." Willow couldn't finish and she leaned back on the couch and sighed remorsefully.

Buffy did all she could not to have her jaw hang open and Giles felt like knocking everything to the floor. He knew something wasn't right and knew somewhere in the deep recesses of his mind he knew why.

"Why would he. . .?" Buffy asked, truthfully not sure the answer. Willow looked to her friend like the answer was obvious.

"Why would you?"

"If I thought the people who were helping me abandoned me." Giles answered for Buffy and for that she was grateful. Willow nodded.

"I think he thought we left him."

"What was this brilliant idea you had that I had to chase your car all the way here for?" Buffy changed the subject. She didn't understand why she was feeling the way she was. She never really enjoyed the Watcher's company and found him to be rather foppy. She was willing to play a prank on him in the beginning and now all she cared about was saving his life.

Before Giles had a chance to explain, Xander came running through the door and skidded to a stop.

"What? You found out too, huh?" Buffy sighed. Xander looked at her strangely.

"About what? I saw Willow running here and followed her. What's going on?" Xander looked around at the morbid faces. Giles and Willow turned to Buffy.

"Wesley . . . he. . . he let the ghost infect him. Willingly. He thought we abandoned him."

"Oh." Was all Xander could say. Giles cleared his throat.

"Anyway, I remembered I had this book. . ."

". . . a really old book."

"Thank you Buffy, yes. It has a spell in it to remove a ghost from a person's body but . . ." Giles continued, but Willow interrupted.

"Great. Let's do it. What do we need?" Willow stood and began to look for pen and paper. Giles cleared his throat again.

" BUT, it's dangerous. There is the possibility we could grab the wrong thing, leaving the ghost to harbor itself fully in Wesley's body. It also could not work at all and kill him." Giles finished and stared at Buffy. Xander waited for someone to say something.

"Great. Let's do it. What do we need?" Willow repeated and lowered the pad of paper with frustration at having to explain herself again to her confused friends. "We owe it to him. All the times we've. . . I mean Buffy's . . . been mean to him. . ." Willow paused and grumbled. "Look. He thinks we abandoned him. Do you know what kind of a feeling that is?" Willow asked and Buffy opened her mouth, but Willow interrupted. "Before you say yes, I'm going to answer for you. You don't know, you don't have any idea. I do. It's the worst feeling you can ever have, abandonment. It makes you feel depressed and leaves you wishing you were someone else. Someone stronger who you think knows how to handle it.

"We weren't in there. He didn't have any of us to rely on – to lean on. He became alone the moment he stepped in that house. Have we really been trying as hard as we can? Does he have to die for us to put every bit of energy we have into saving his life? He is a human being. He's not Spike. He's not me. Buffy, he's not you. He's a god damn human." Willow took in a breath and paid no attention to all the jaws of her friends falling through the floor. Willow turned to Giles. "Now, what. Do. We. Need." Willow said slowly.

"Oh, well. Uh, let me see. . ." Giles fumbled with the pages.

Buffy literally fell out of her chair.

I lied because I love what I had Willow say and couldn't wait to share it with you. . .