A Valentine's fic! Written...on time but posted late. It was for the Valentine's Fluffython. The requirments were Wes/Angel with UST on Angel's side and possesive Angel. Along with the prompt: "Rule number one was quickly becoming: Don't let Wesley technobabble with the demons. It just makes them want to keep him. And they tended to get pissy when Angel invariably objected."

Entirely by Accident

He thought that he could pinpoint the moment to when he'd caught Wesley wearing his coat. It hadn't fit him, didn't sit right on his shoulders. Wesley had looked drop-dead gorgeous in it.

Yeah. That had definitely done it for Angel.

That, or when he'd started throwing orders around.

Or maybe it had been when Wesley had smiled just so that one time that Angel couldn't actually remember but was sure had happened.

God. The way Wesley's lips turned up when he smiled, the way it always seemed to lighten the man's entire being. Angel's own lips were turning up into a smile now, as his thoughts became more fantasy.

The sound of Wesley's voice… He could imagine the sound of him moaning…

Something was vibrating in his jacket pocket and he jerked himself to sitting, looking around bewildered. He'd been sprawled in a chair in his room after having gotten back from a quick patrol with… Well, obviously Wesley since it seemed he couldn't take his mind off his best friend for a long while after he'd spent any amount of time with him.

It was his cell phone that was vibrating and he scrabbled to answer it, speaking an articulate "Um…" into the receiver.

"Angel?" Wesley's voice questioned him over the line. "Angel, what are you doing?"

Angel fumbled for a response as he caught up with the fact that he was now talking to that voice he'd thought would moan so nicely… "Uh… I was napping."

"Right, well, Cordelia's had a vision, we need to go deal with it." Angel thought he could hear the faint hum of a motor in the background over the phone as Wesley rattled off some address and tried to hide the instant worry over Wesley's driving while talking. Wasn't that dangerous? "-think that you can meet me there?" Wesley was still talking.

"Sorry, meet you where?"

Wesley's irritated sigh was clear through the static of the phone. "If you're not ready I can call Gunn."

What? Gunn? "No. I'm ready. I'm just… Where?" Wesley said the address again. "Okay, got it. But, Wes, don't go in without backup."

He rushed the last word out but Wesley had already hung up.

When Angel got on the scene and burst through the door with a battle axe raised and ready for combat, he thought he'd never seen a more irritated look in his life than the one that was spread over Wesley's face. And aimed directly at him.

Angel looked confused, shifting his weight and lowering the axe. He tried to form a question or maybe some statement along the lines of 'I don't understand'.

Wesley was looking at him impatiently as he stood in the remains of the door. "If you'd answered your cell phone a few minutes ago, I could have explained and you wouldn't have to look like that."

Angel frowned, dimly recalling feeling the phone vibrating away in his breast pocket and him ignoring it as he sped off to Wesley's rescue. Only Wesley really didn't seem to need any rescuing. Unless there was poison in that tea he was drinking.

He looked from Wesley over to the two demons that were sitting across from him. They looked a little annoyed that he had broken their door. They were also holding mugs of tea.

"I don't understand."

Wesley sighed and set his mug down on the coffee table. "As it turns out there wasn't much of a problem at all. They were just having some computer troubles. We all get a little tetchy over the things."
Angel stared and tried to comprehend.

One of the demons piped up happily. "The human was most helpful." It sounded thoughtful and Angel eyed it.

Wesley smiled at it. "According to Cordelia's vision, they would have thrown a computer out the door and hit a passing car."

"Entirely by accident," the demon interjected. Wesley nodded.

"But it would have killed the family in it."

"Accidentally," the thing insisted.

"Yes."

"Oh. And now you're…?" Angel asked uncertainly. Wesley had the grace to look a little embarrassed.

"Well, they invited me to stay and talk."

"He's been very helpful. Very smart."

Angel couldn't help the warm smile. "Yeah. He is."

It garnered him an odd look from Wesley who didn't comment. The demon continued.

"Very smart."

The other agreed with it, nodding its head. "Yes. We think we're gong to keep him."

Angel looked pleased at all the praise that Wesley was getting while Wesley just smiled. Until the actual words sank in and they both froze.

"You want to what?" Angel started. Wesley just muttered a quiet 'oh dear'.

The demons didn't seem to see that anything was amiss. "Oh yes. We think that he would come in very useful."

"Useful?" Wesley squeaked. He seemed to finally be looking worried about it all now.

The demon's nodded.

Now this was just the sort of situation that Angel had expected to barge into. One where he could rescue Wesley. He stepped across the ruins of the door and hoisted his axe.

"That's something we're going to have to talk about."

"Actually, we've pretty much made up our minds."

They both carefully set their tea down. Angel smirked. He could deal with this problem within a few minutes then take Wesley home, safe and sound where he should be.

The two demons got to their feet and proceeded to morph together to make one version of something that reminded Angel of a huge sort of lizard. Complete with six-inch teeth.

"…Oh," was all Angel could think to say.

Wesley scrabbled back in his chair, falling over the arm in his bid to get away as the newly formed uberdemon made a grab for him. "Angel!'

Angel was shocked out of his stupor as Wesley called for him. He leapt into action, axe raised and ready to start hacking.

It breathed fire.

He grabbed hold of Wesley, turned and ran out the door with him instead.

Something squelched under Wesley's shoe and he made a face at the noise. Angel tried not to look sheepish at the glare that was sent his way through the dim light.

"Why is it," Wesley began as he picked his way around some more muck, "that these outings always lead to
us spending the night in the sewers?"

"…Not always. I told you to wait for backup," Angel reminded him.

"I must have missed that part."

"I remember when it was you telling me to wait for the backup. I guess the-"

"Shhh," Wesley interrupted his patronizing speech. "Do you want that thing to hear us? Besides, it's hardly relevant now. We're still down here."

Angel shrugged. "Yeah. So we may as well make the most of it." This could be his chance. Time to make his move while they were both alone and the chances of Cordelia popping up were really nothing.

"Oh God, I think I've just stepped in something dead."

Possibly he should wait until they were somewhere a little…classier.

"How on earth would you suggest 'making the most' of it?"

"Well, we could…um…" Somehow Angel didn't think that suggesting they could always make out against the sewer walls would be the best of ideas.

Wesley sighed a little at Angel's continued silence after he had trailed off. "I'm sorry, Angel. I should have waited for backup."

Angel knew that tone, heard it far too often. Wesley had started on the beating himself up over something he couldn't have prevented path. Shoving him back into the wall and kissing him would probably stop those thoughts in their tracks pretty fast. He just rested a hand over Wesley's shoulder instead. Wesley stopped walking and turned to him.

Angel had all sorts of encouraging words planned. About saving the family and doing what was best and Angel not really minding walking around the sewers with Wesley anyway.

What he did do when Wesley turned to him with that vaguely hopeless expression was lean in and lay a tiny kiss on his lips. Nothing more than a ghost of a touch but still more than enough.

Enough to have Wesley gasping and taking a step back away from him. Angel waited and Wesley stared at him. Oh God, he'd stepped over the bounds.

Thankfully, the demon chose that moment to leap around the corner and shoot a stream of fire down the corridor.

He didn't really know when he'd started to think of Wesley not just as Wesley but as his Wesley.
He figured that he could pinpoint the moment down to when the demon had come leaping down the corridor, eyes fixed on Wesley and roaring out 'Mine!'.

It had snapped a little something in Angel, made something stop dead and just go 'no'. It had also
proceeded to have him hacking the demon into little bits with his axe. He may have ended covered in gore but at least Wesley was safe as they finally headed back towards the hotel.

"Well, that certainly was an interesting night," Wesley remarked as they trudged on.

"Yeah. What kind of demon did you say that was?"

"I didn't. That also wasn't what I was referring to."

"…Oh," Angel said after a quiet moment. "Yeah. About that… Y'know, I… It's…um…" He was surprised that Wesley wasn't laughing at him yet.

"I'm going to let you in on something, Angel. If you're going to seduce someone, you might not want to randomly kiss them in a sewer."

That sounded strangely like Wesley wasn't upset with him and Angel gaped. "…What?"

"Asking them out someplace," Wesley glanced around their current location, "nice might work better."

"Oh."

Wesley sighed and rolled his eyes when Angel failed to say anything else. "Angel…"

"Oh! You want to-"

"That would be lovely."

They shared a smile.

"Just one more thing, Wes." Wesley looked at him curiously. "No more chatting up the other demons."
"I wasn't- Angel!"

But they'd reached the access ladder and Angel was already scrambling up it with a smile, sounds of Wesley just behind him.