CONSEQUENCES

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Katy and Morgan.

CHAPTER 17-PAINFUL MEMORIES, AND GHOSTS?

Faith's eyes flickered open as the shot rang out. She had been having one of the worst dreams of her entire life. She had been seeing through Wesley's eyes again, this time chasing after Gunn and his two friends while mumbling something about how that can't be his plan. She saw the concerned look on Cordelia's face before he had left the unfamiliar office and had only begun to get a grip on where she was when she rounded a corner and saw Gunn and his two friends being confronted by a police officer that didn't look like he believed anything that Gunn or either one of his friends was saying. She heard Wesley try to reason with the police officer before he suddenly and calmly turned around and squeezed the trigger, firing off one single shot. The effect of the bullet hitting Wesley in his memory was enough to snap Faith back to consciousness. Immediately upon waking up she hissed and whined in pain at the stabbing and shooting pain in her gut. She remembered the fight and being attacked by the demons, but couldn't remember anything past that until waking up here in a strange room. As if on cue one hand slipped down from her forehead and reassuringly and comfortingly took hold of the medallion, its cool metal calming her. Summoning up most of her strength she slowly pulled back the sheet and saw the wrap that encircled her midsection, complete with a couple of patches of red where she had been injured. Gritting her teeth through the pain Faith pulled the rest of the blanket away and thanked whoever had brought her home that they had left some clothing on her body. As it was she found herself covered only by a bra and a pair of panties. She somehow made it to the bathroom and flipped on the light. Tears sprang to her eyes as she caught sight of her reflection in the mirror. Gone was the powerful and dominant rogue slayer. In its place was left a pale and thin copy, one that looked like she had been crying far too much and hadn't been eating well.

"Damn you Wes, what's happening to me," Faith grumbled through the pain and the tears as she fumbled to turn the cold water on.

"This is none of my doing Faith, you started all of this yourself when you put the medallion on and spilt your blood on it, you should have been more careful," A voice whispered softly from out of the darkness, sounding an awful lot like Wesley, causing Faith to freeze in place and momentarily stop crying.

"What…how the hell was I supposed to know what would happen if I put the damn thing on," Faith shouted back loudly at the thin air before the exertion of shouting pulled on her wound and she started to sink down to her knees but stopped when a ghostly image of Wesley appeared in the mirror.

"I see that the phrase look but don't touch has been completely lost on you," The ghostly image of Wesley said with a sly grin on its face, initially receiving an angry glare from Faith before she had to look away lest he see her own sly grin.

"So what now, why can I see you, are you a ghost," Faith demanded with a curious look on her face as she looked back up into the mirror.

"I don't know, I'm not sure why you can see me…but I don't much feel like a ghost," The ghostly image of Wesley answered with a concerned look on his face as he crossed his arms and began to nervously pace back and forth within the mirror.

"You're a big help," Faith grumbled with an unhappy and sarcastic frown on her face before she closed her eyes as a wave of nausea washed over her. When she opened her eyes and looked at the mirror again the ghostly image of Wesley was gone.

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

"Nice digs," Dawn said with a look of awe on her face as Spike led her into the library, where Illyria stood beside the Axis of Pythia, seemingly guarding it from anything and anyone.

"Thank you," Illyria said without the slightest hint of emotion in her voice as she cocked her head to one side and stared oddly at Dawn.

"I think she was talking to me Illyria," Spike said back with a casual shrug of his shoulder before he slipped his duster off and flopped down into one of the chairs.

"My apologies," Illyria said with a slightly confused look on her face before she slowly walked over and took her seat, not noticing the look of surprise and subdued lust on Willow's face.

"Uh Angel…who is that," Willow asked under her breath as she followed Dawn into the room and glanced away from Illyria, who looked more ready for a night out on the town at one of the hotter clubs than to be standing guard.

"That is…Illyria, one of the early ones, a demon that existed before vampires, and Wolfram and Hart, once insanely powerful but now she's a little bit stronger than your average slayer, and she killed Fred," Angel started to answer with a calm and almost relaxed tone to his voice before he whispered the last part. It took a few moments before Willow fully realized what Angel had said and her eyes grew very wide in shock before slowly changing to more of a glare.

"Relax Red, there's nothing you or anyone else can do about it, right now we just have to live with it," Spike added with an unhappy pout on his face as he picked up a book and started to idly flip through it.

"Maybe, doesn't mean that I have to like it," Willow grumbled softly under her breath with an angry scowl on her face as she walked over to the Axis and stared at it.

"With the Axis we will be able to locate Wesley's soul, but we're still going to need someone with a working knowledge of the dark arts and the power to bring him back," Angel stated with a calm expression on his face as he crossed his arms and leaned back up against a row of books.

"However we still need something to anchor his spirit to this world, otherwise the spell is worthless," Illyria said with a calm tone to her voice as she looked up at Willow and seemed confused when Willow didn't immediately reply.

"So we don't have the anchor then," Willow asked with a nervous frown on her face as she skimmed the book that was open on the desk in front of her, mostly the passage that detailed the need for an anchor to keep the spirit of the deceased in this realm long enough to be fully brought back to life.

"We do now," Whistler announced with an energized grin on his face as he made his way into the library, helping a still queasy Faith, wearing a pair of sweatpants and a sweatshirt, limp into the room and to the nearest chair.

"Whistler, what are you doing, what is she doing out of bed," Angel demanded with an angry scowl on his face as he rushed over to the chair and knelt down beside Faith.

"It's okay Angel, I'm okay…just a bit queasy is all," Faith mumbled back weakly with a half smirk on her face as she lightly patted Angel on the shoulder.

"Are you sure," Angel asked pointedly with an unimpressed look on his face while Spike was already on his feet at the sudden intrusion and Dawn was almost instinctively ducking behind Spike and peering out over his shoulder while on her tip toes.

"I said I'm fine damn it," Faith angrily shouted back as she slapped Angel's hand away before she placed both hands on the medallion that hung around her neck.

"What's with that bloody thing anyway," Spike asked with a confused and slightly wary look on his face before Whistler spoke up.

"That thing William, is the anchor with which you will be able to bring your dearly departed friend Wesley, well part of it anyway, the rest of it is in this beautiful lady right here, her connection through that medallion is what will facilitate his return to this realm," Whistler interjected with a half amused look on his face before he began to rummage around in his coat for something to drink, finally producing a small metal flask and taking a sip.

"So that's what the medallion is for," Angel said with an amazed, but inwardly suspicious, tone to his voice, while staring at the medallion around Faith's neck, as he stood up and slowly made his way over to the Axis.

"That…or it's a glorified knickknack," Katy said with a sarcastic smirk on her face as she walked back into the mansion with a sullen Connor trailing silently behind her.

"Sorry babe but that's what the medallion is for, when Faith's blood came into contact with the surface she became bonded to it and the last person's blood that it came into contact with, forming an unbreakable bond between them that not even death can sever," Whistler said back with a confident grin on his face as he pulled up a chair and sat down.

"So that's why I've been seeing…reliving pieces of Wesley's past, and just now when he appeared in the bathroom mirror," Faith mumbled out with some awe and confusion in her voice as she looked up at the immortal demon from her chair.

"Guess so…it makes an odd sort of sense, wait…you said that you saw him earlier," Willow began to say with a deep in thought frown on her face, as she could feel the power emanating from the Axis, before the part about seeing Wesley caught her attention.

11111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

"Where are they, it's been almost two hours," Buffy demanded with an impatient and worried look on her face as she checked her watch momentarily before continuing on her path of pacing back and forth in the lobby.

"Calm down Buffy, I just sent Kennedy over to the restaurant, if she doesn't find anything then you can get scared," Giles said with an optimistic smile on his face as Rhona crossed her arms and scowled heavily as she stood guard by the door while Vi looked up from her crossword puzzle.

"What if she does find something, like they've been kidnapped or…okay I'll shut up," Andrew said with an eager smile on his face at first before he quickly shut up when everyone in the room glared angrily at him.

"We're jumping to wild conclusions here guys, this is Willow we're talking about remember," Xander interjected with a hopeful look of unease on his face as he leaned back in his chair and stared up at the ceiling as Kennedy nervously walked into the lobby.

"Well…did you find them, is Dawn alright, where are they," Buffy demanded with an over anxious edge to her voice as she rushed up to Kennedy and made sure that she got a straight answer.

"Sorry Buffy…they were gone, when I asked one of the waiters he said that he remembered seeing Willow and Dawn in there earlier but that they left with a bunch of people, the waiter had never seen any of them before, but the guy did say that the leader of these strangers had all of the waitresses swooning," Kennedy answered with a sad and confused look on her face as she made little to no effort to get by Buffy without answering.

"So the guy's a hottie, doesn't exactly get us anywhere," Rhona grumbled with an upset pout on her face as she shook her head and stared down at the floor.

"Well the waiter described the guy as tall, dark, brooding and…," Kennedy started to say with a look of disinterest on her face before a light bulb went on in Xander's head.

"Angel," Xander announced with a great amount of pride and gusto as he jumped up out of his chair and turned to Buffy.

"If Xander is correct then it could possibly be safe to assume that Angel has made the first move, now what we have to do is come up with a tactically sound," Giles started to say with a very concerned and serious look on his face before Buffy turned around impatiently and interrupted.

"No Giles, what we have to do now is find out where Angel took Dawn and Willow and get them back, I don't know what game Angel is playing but kidnapping my younger sister and best friend is definitely not a good idea," Buffy snapped with a very frustrated and terrified look in her eyes as she wheeled around on Giles and stormed up to him.

"He's not going to hurt either of them sugarplum, you see while Angel rightfully so believes that all of you turned your collective backs on him at the first possible opportunity he still has his soul and he still is on his mission to save the world, and from the explanation that Ms. Kennedy gave us it didn't sound like there was any struggle or arguing or shouting, so perhaps you should open yourself up to the possibility that your friend and little sister went with Angel on their own accord," Lorne interjected with a calm but deadly serious expression on his face and tone to his voice as he slowly leaned back up against the far wall while watching a small piece of lint sail down from the ticket counter to the floor.

"That's crazy, Dawn knows better than that…and Willow, what could she have been thinking, this just doesn't make any sense," Buffy groaned with a very worried expression on her face as she fished her hands through her pockets and jingled what little change she had left.

"Is it supposed to," Vi wondered with a timid look on her face as, despite the fact that she was a slayer and usually raced into a battle with reckless abandon, when it came to offering up help on problems such as this her old attitudes returned with a vengeance.

"Afraid not sugarplum, you see that's when you know that what's happening all around you is serious, because none of it makes any sense," Lorne added with a sly smirk on his face as he pushed away from the wall and slowly walked into the center of the lobby.

"You're a lot of help," Xander joked coldly with a very sarcastic scowl on his face as he shook his head and glared at Lorne, who restrained himself from sticking his tongue out in return.

"Well I try," Lorne shot back with a sly grin on his face before he walked past Buffy and the others and headed for the stairs.

1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111

"Think this will work," Spike wondered aloud with a nervous edge to his voice as he leaned back up against one of the stone pillars in the backyard of David Nabbit's estate.

"It has to, Willow's strong but no matter what she says we can't trust her fully, once she helps us get Wesley back I'll have David bring her and Dawn back to Buffy and make sure that they don't say anything to her about what we're doing, then all we have to do is stop the world from ending…again," Angel

"Hurrah for us, hail the conquering hero's," Spike joked with a mock look of joy on his face as he stared up at the stars.

"Shut up Spike," Angel growled back with an annoyed and overworked scowl on his face as he glared over at his grandchild.

"Easy Peaches, I was just having a little fun, but on a more serious subject, what are we going to do once we get the old watcher back, after how hung up he was on Fred and then Illyria…and with her looking like," Spike calmly said back with a slight trace of a smile on his lips as he pushed away from the column and turned to Angel.

"A Barbie doll on steroids," Angel shot back with an anxious smirk on his face as he slipped his hands into his pockets and slowly began to pace away from the column that he had been standing next to.

"Er…something like that, but can we expect Wesley to be happy to be back, I mean Fred will still be dead and now with everything that's happened since we left L.A., not to mention now that we have to hope that you can convince Red and Dawn not to spill the beans," Spike countered with a slightly unsure look on his face as he half heartedly fished around in his duster for a cigarette, but came up empty-handed.

"I said I'll talk with Dawn and Willow and I will, they won't tell Buffy anything that I don't want them to, and Wes's a big boy, he'll be able to put his personal feelings aside and tackle the task at hand," Angel said with a look on his face that seemed to hint that he was hoping against hope and trying to make himself believe that everything he had said would come completely true.

"Let's hope you're right, because otherwise we don't stand a snowflake's chance in hell of coming out of this apocalypse alive…but I wonder…if we do, do we get a discount on the next one to come along," Spike added with a steadily growing sly smirk on his face before Angel rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Hey Angel…Nina wants to see you about something, she's up in your room," Katy interrupted with a tired smile on her face as she slipped out of the house and walked out towards Spike and Angel, who immediately turned around at the sound of his name.

"Did she say what it was," Angel asked with a nervous expression on his face as he pulled his hands out of his pockets.

"Not really, although she didn't really look like she was in the mood to go to sleep just yet, if I had to guess what she wanted to talk to you about then I'd have to say that she want to learn how to defend herself, so that she'll be able to help you," Katy replied with a somewhat timid smile on her face before Angel nodded his head in silent thanks and walked back into the house.

"You could use a little training yourself you know," Spike quipped with an eerily calm look on his face as he stared up into the night sky.

"Yeah I know…but that can wait till tomorrow sometime, whereas tonight I really needed to talk to you…cigarette," Katy slowly replied with a slightly scared look on her face as she stepped out of the shadows and held out a package of opened cigarettes.

"You shouldn't smoke you know…bad for your health," Spike firmly stated with an odd fatherly tone to his voice even though he reached out and pulled a cigarette from the pack and the lighter that she was holding along with the pack with her thumb.

"I know, I only have one before I go to bed…it helps me to relax, but that's not why I'm here, I'm here because I need to talk to you about Morgan," Katy shot back with a slight shrug of her shoulders before she shivered in the cold night air.

"Thought she was safe and sound in her room, dreaming of puppy dogs and teddy bears what with all of those drugs that the doctors gave her, something wrong with her pet," Spike asked with an unsure and slightly confused look on his face as he lit his cigarette and inhaled deeply.

"She is, Michelle made sure of that, but I wanted to talk to you because well…she likes you a lot and," Katy started to say with a nervous look on her face as she accepted the lighter back and lit up her own cigarette.

"You came out here to speak to me on her behalf right, trying to play the little runt with wings and a diaper, shooting his little arrows of love all over…well sorry luv but there's only one bird for me, a petite blonde slayer who's had to shoulder more than her fair share of shit for to long," Spike stated with an almost nostalgic smile on his face as he recalled more pleasant memories with Buffy.

"Not really, you see Connor…he, well he has it bad for her but she's barely noticed that he even exists," Katy said with a pensive pout on her face before she took another drag on her cigarette.

"I think I can see where this is headed pet, you need my help, well…count me in," Spike said through a grin before he took another drag on his cigarette and tried not to laugh as Katy grinned her thanks back as she began to form a plan in her mind of how to help Connor get his girl, now with Spike's help.

END OF CHAPTER 17