Hey, Tara here. This is my latest thing (I know, I need to update BOTH my other fics; believe me, they're in the works. A bit of background info on this: This is not a cutesy "lets make my favorite character a baby" fic. No, this is a grown up fic XD. It's based on a roleplay that I'm working on with my netfriend, and without her this wouldn't be possible. The first part is mad slow, but it gets better I swear.

Timeline: Some point after Life of the Party…. We're REALLY screwing with the timeline. Here's the lowdown: in the rp so far there's references to Lineage. HOWEVER. Spike is incorporeal still.

Disclaimer: this stuff ain't mine. Even the plot is only part mine.

Early in the morn, way earlier than everyone else, Wes walked into his office and began his day. It started with reviewing police files, checking to see if anything had happened while the 'team' was having their rest. .''Oh...'' he stumbled on something about a...Oh no, that one had been solved. Wesley sighed in a bored sort of way and sipped his coffee-

It was about this time that Fred woke. She'd gone to bed particularly late the previous night, and should not by any means have been awake at this time. She closed her eyes against the light of the sun's rays, hopped out of bed and, not remembering she was only in her undies, headed off in the general direction of her lab.

Eve was doing her usual "drifting" thing; popping up in places where she was most unwanted. It was very entertaining, seeing the irritated looks on everyone's faces when they saw her coming. It bugged her a bit, but hey, that may as well have been in her job description.

She walked into Wesley's office and noticed with glee the glare she received from him.

"Well if it isn't Wesley, up bright and early as usual."

"Yes. As usual. As though I had anything better to do." He sighed, his annoyance clear. Eve walked over, sitting on his desk with a sigh of her own.

"You sound perturbed, Wesley. Have a bad night?"

Fred was still on her way to the lab at this point. There were a few employees hurrying about, but not nearly the number she usually saw drifting about the hallways. Reaching her lab, she was surprised to find it empty and the lights off. Shrugging, she flipped the lights on and began looking through her case files to see if there was anything she could work on without the help of her team.

Finding nothing, she headed off in search of coffee. She needed SOMETHING to wake her up. Why was no one here? What time was it? Come to think of it, what DAY was it? As she pondered these thoughts, she failed to notice that rather than going in the direction of coffee, she was headed straight for Wesley's office.

Wesley ignored Eve, and continued to sip his coffee. Eve let out a low whistle, arching an eyebrow.

"I'll take that as a yes then."

"How about you take that as an 'I want you out of my office', Eve?" he asked her. However, he kept his calm tone and didn't bother to look up at her. She wasn't worth it. Damn the women from Wolfram and Hart. Eve faked a wince.

"Ouch! That really hurt me! I think I'll go sulk somewhere. Wait…that's YOUR job."

"Then what IS your job?" he asked her, pretending to be baffled.

"Well," Eve replied, "It could be getting your do-good asses kicked out of here. Would you like that?"

"Or it could be annoying the hell out of us and filling the slot of the evil whore," Wesley countered.

"Whore?" she cocked her head to the side. "I don't see any whores here, Wesley. Unless you're hiding one in a closet somewhere…. Or the lab, possibly." She noticed Fred approaching the office. "Oh wait, I think I found her!" Wesley gave her a look.

"I hear a bit of jealousy, hmm? She's far better than you'll ever be."

"Some things, maybe."

Fred entered Wesley's office, still clearly half-asleep.

"Wesley? What…what are you doing here? I thought you didn't even like coffee…" she muttered sleepily. Eve crossed her legs, leaning back on Wesley's desk, propping herself up with her hands.

"I think you're missing something, Fred honey," She was clearly holding back laughter.

Wes looked up at Fred and smiled a bit, not yet noticing her lack of attire.

"Well, I don't…usually." He glanced at Eve. "Tea calms one, and I wish to be tense…in this place." Finally he took in what exactly Fred wasn't wearing. He practically choked on his coffee, and tried to focus on anything that wasn't her. "Oh…dear…" he muttered.

"Whaddaya mean I'm missing something?" Fred asked, turning her attention to Eve. "Why are you even here? Don't you have people to bother elsewhere?" she whined, still not fully awake. She attempted to glare at Eve, but yawned instead.

"Fred…I think she may be referring to…um…uh…" Wesley coughed slightly.

"One word," Eve leaned close to Fred, whispering loudly. "Clothes."

Poor Wesley's face and neck were completely red by now, and he had to clench his eyes shut just to keep from looking at her body. He felt awful for that.

Fred looked down at herself, and realizing what she wasn't wearing, finally woke up and bolted from the room t find anything that could be interpreted as clothing.

"At least she left before one of your blood vessels burst." Eve remarked with an amused look. Wesley shot her a glare.

"Do shut up, Eve." He said, swallowing, He was really…really…not comfortable.

"Aww, did little Fred get you a little bothered, Wes?" she smirked, watching him. He didn't answer, too lost in his own world as he tried to remove the latest image of Fred from his mind.

Meanwhile, Fred was busy cursing at herself as she ransacked her closet for the most conservative outfit she owned. Thanks to Wolfram and Hart, her outfit consisted of a v-neck top and skirt that ALMOST reached her knees.

"Bookman? Bothered? That's one hell of a bad mental place," Spike said, walking into Wesley's office via the wall. Eve was a bit startled, sighed, and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Hello." She said emotionlessly.

"Give you a bit of a spook, did I?" Spike asked with that perpetual smirk of his.

"I need to…uh…get the other files." Wes got up, and rather than going to the nearest bathroom as expected, he actually left to get the files.

"Oh yes, watch me shake with fear." Eve retorted sarcastically, watching Wesley leave.

Fred sighed. She stood a few feet from Wesley's office, trying to decide what to do next.

"Well I could ignore him and avoid him and make everything awkward between us, or I could apologize to him and make things just as awkward but hopefully for a smaller period of time... Oh, what if he doesn't want to see me? What if he thinks I'm all strange because I wasn't awake earlier?" She didn't notice Wesley reenter his office.

Wesley reentered his office, still looking quite flustered, and sat at his desk.

"Why exactly are the two of you here?" he asked Spike and Eve.

"Baby makes three," Spike remarked as Fred entered the room. No one seemed to hear the comment.

"Because it's my job to observe you. I'm observing." Eve told Wesley.

"What she said." Spike shrugged.

"Well than observe Spike. God knows you do any other time." Sure, Wes had caught Eve oogling Spike. He'd caught Fred looking at him too. Eve glared at Wesley.

Fred stepped closer to Wesley's desk, ignoring the conversation going on around her. When everyone finally quieted, she apologized to both Wes and Eve for the 'incident'.

Eve watched Fred with a look of amusement on her face.

"Oh, I'm sure Wesley didn't mind." Wes nearly went into a panic as Fred stepped closer, but managed to speak.

"…Fred…I-it's okay…I mean. Th-things like that happen, and…people…they…um…and…." He sighed and made himself shut up.

"No! No, it was completely my own fault! I mean, if I had gone to bed earlier instead of reading that book on Polgara demons, which I shouldn't have read before going to sleep anyway 'cause it was so gruesome but if I hadn't then I would have been more awake earlier and really wouldn't have done that. So, I'm sorry." Fred babbled.

Wesley nodded slowly, hardly able to handle her being in the same room with him. She was nearly 10 feet away and it was killing him.

Fred smiled weakly at him, barely noticing Eve and Spike. It hadn't registered in her mind that Spike had heard the whole apology when he hadn't even been there for the event. Wesley nodded, trying to focus on the word "rapist" in one of the files.

"Do you need any help with that case? I mean, unless Knox is in already, I've got a good handle on mine…" she offered. She wanted to be helpful. Needed to prove that that morning wasn't going to affect anything she said or did.

"No…no help…there hasn't been much, really." He said in a whisper.

"Looks like you're the one who finally stumped him, Fred." Spike told her. Wesley looked confused, but said nothing.

"Oh…I see…" Fred replied to Wesley. She looked down. "Well, maybe Knox is in…I could go check and see if he's there…" she sighed, trying to ignore Spike's words. Maybe she should go curl up in a corner and cry or something.

Wesley cringed at the mention of Knox, but tried to forget everything that was going on. Eve just remained on his desk, smirking, obviously enjoying this.

Fred wished she could take the morning back, just so she could get Wesley to stop pushing her away. She hadn't done that on purpose, as if she ever would. Wesley stood up.

"I need to go speak with Charles…" he got up and left the room in search of Gunn.

"Wesley wait!" Fred called, running after him. He stopped and turned around, keeping his eyes off of her.

"Yes?" he asked softly.

"I…" she was at a total loss for what exactly to say to him. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable! I don't want you to walk away and ignore me!"

"Fred…I don't want to act like that…I just…it's complicated, I suppose." He said slowly and delicately.

"I don't want to go back to my lab and be isolated from the rest of you! I don't' want to be alone with Knox all day, okay! Can't you understand that?" She was on the verge of tears.

"I do…more than you know." He looked directly at Fred for the first time since her original appearance that morning.

"Wesley…" there was so much she wanted to say to him. Instead, she turned around and stormed back to Wesley's office to find Spike and, likely, Eve. That girl was everywhere.

Wes was confused. When Fred said 'them', was she referring to herself and him? Or was she referring to the team and their current situation?

Eve was still sitting on Wesley's desk when Fred returned, tapping her fingernails on the wood and arching an eyebrow.

"Fred." Eve smiled, watching her. "You're back."

"You bet," Fred replied, trying not to look like she was about to cry.

"Something wrong?"

"Why would you think that?" Fred asked, her voice bitter. She wanted to go back to bed. Maybe that was a good idea; pretend today never happened.

"You look like you're about to cry." Eve said, faking a frown and a sad voice.