Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters or the setting of the story. All things I borrowed from the Buffyverse are a creation of and belong to Joss Whedon. I have also borrowed several ideas and concepts from to J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books, I used some in this chapter, some will be in the rest of the story. (the mirror of Erised, the Room of Requirement)

Timeline: two years after NFA ("Angel").

Summary: Prequel to "Needed". Hearing about the last battle (NFA), the survivors of "Chosen" go to Los Angeles to find out what has happened. Buffy, Dawn, Xander and Andrew look for Angel and Spike. Giles, Willow, Faith and Robin go looking for Wesley and Fred. The only body they find is Wesley's, everyone else seems to have disappeared. Willow and Robin go to Buffy's group and set up several magical spells to track down all possible survivors. Giles and Faith go to Wesley's apartment.

After Angel's disappearance, and finding Wesley's body, Faith starts to have a kind of existential crisis. She begins to sabotage her relationship with Robin Wood. A couple of months later, after chasing a demon, Faith ends up in a strange place, and meets... Wesley.

The second visit.

If you're over 17, you can read the full version of this chapter on my LJ community, archive2.

Beta: Rachael

"I missed you," she confessed.

"That's... nice," he said in a strangled voice. "Faith, this is not appropriate."

"Shut up."

When he tried to disentangle himself from her embrace, she felt it. She looked at him turning red as she pasted herself even more insistently against him. Cold bastard as he had always been, he was a man, and he was interested in her. He put his hands on her shoulders to push her away, but he didn't once she rubbed herself against that part of him that refused to submit to reason or propriety. He closed his eyes. His fingers dug deep into her flesh. He held his breath. Faith could see his education oppose his natural urges. She watched his reason lose the battle. Against his will, he leaned his head to kiss her. Faith pulled away with a wicked smile.

"A common tart, Wes? I guess slumming it once in a while is ok even for you."

Faith shook her head. Why was she doing this? Why couldn't she just take what he was offering? He was just another man.

She looked back at him. She understood.

Because he was not like other men. Not to her. He had been there when she had begun her slide into darkness. He had been the victim of her darkest hour. He had been there when she began the rocky road to redemption. He had been stronger than anyone else she had ever met during those sunless days in Los Angeles. He had fathered her child...

She was reeling from this realization of the depth of her feelings, when he pushed her against the window and kissed her. Not quite as bad as his description of that awkward kiss with Cordelia, but a far cry from the refined attention he had bestowed on her during her first visit to the cave. If he had tried it when she was seventeen, she would've been merciless. Now she was aware of his potential. She was going to have so much fun training him.

Chapter 2, part 2

Too bad she hadn't had sex since the last time she had been with him. That had been two years earlier. She was liable to be even more eager than him.

Two years! That was like a lifetime for Faith. She had gone out on a few dates, but there had been never was any sparkage. If she didn't count the odd moments of awkward sexual tension between her and Spike.

She felt clumsy, and insecure. Wesley's own fumbling was not helping. She wanted to play Mrs. Robinson versus the inexperienced version of her Watcher, but it wasn't working.

It was that whole 'you're not real thing', she decided. Next time she won't tell him... Next time? How the hell had that happen? There was NOT going to be a next time. The cave was keeping its secrets and no amount of sex with Wesley's ghost or whatever was going to change this.

She knew, deep down, that there was a next time. And maybe more than one.

He was reaching around to unhook her bra. Faith closed her eyes and enjoyed the way his usually nimble fingers were struggling with the clasp. She was in his arms. She wanted him, but somehow the intimacy of their adolescent-like awkwardness was an unexpectedly enjoyable foreplay.

She would never admit, sometimes not even to herself, but she wished that her life had been different. Simpler, happier, normal. She had had the luxury of being innocent for too short a time. She understood herself a little better by reading about Wesley's own yearning for a return to innocence. His love for Fred had been just that. Maybe her attraction to Wesley was the same. In this cave, away from prying eyes, Faith wanted to please him, to make him proud, to be the girl he had expected her to be when they had first met.

She had come to the cave looking for that Wesley who was her equal in darkness. She had entered the game without knowing the rules. She had come looking for answers, and solace, and satisfaction. She felt Wesley's breath on her shoulder and on neck, and she couldn't bring herself to regret meeting the younger version of her lover.

'C'mon, Faith, let go!' she told herself.

What the hell had happened to her? Why was she still holding back? No consequences. This was her kind of encounter. And this time, she had made sure there weren't going to be any consequences. She had been on the pill for months, despite her arid sex life. She loved her son more than life itself, but she died every day, worrying about him, not knowing what he was, not knowing what he'd grow up to be. No one had been able to find out anything out of the ordinary with Alex, but Faith hardly dared to believe that he was a normal little boy. She had never been that lucky.

She had been so lost in thought that she hadn't even noticed that Wesley had undone her bra. She smiled realizing that had this happened when they had first met in Sunnydale, there would have been no bra for him to undo.

Wesley had lowered his mouth diffidently to her breast. He didn't have the proficiency of his older self, but his tongue was already proving skilful. Must have been all those Latin declensions, she thought. Considering that the only Latin words she knew were sexual terms, Faith had the utmost respect for the old language.

It felt good, but he was still too gentle.

"Harder," she whispered in his ear.

He stopped and looked up at her surprised. Faith almost blushed at the mixture of innocence and lust in his gaze.

"Harder," she repeated, pulling his head back to her breast.

She arched into him when he obeyed her command. The moan that escaped her lips almost embarrassed her. He had obviously got the message, because the pressure exerted by his mouth was damn near the pain threshold. Still, the boy had good instincts because he never went too far.

She helped him push her shirt and bra off her shoulders, his mouth never leaving her. When he added soft, shallow bites to the sucking and licking, Faith threw her head back hard and hit the window. Wesley raised his head instantly.

"Are you hurt?" he asked.

Faith took advantage of the respite to kiss him. She parted his lips and began exploring his mouth, while walking him backwards toward the nearest table. He was catching on fast, she couldn't help but notice. When he had felt the edge of the table behind him, he lifted her in his arms, and sat her on the table. He sucked on her tongue while he pushed her back onto the table, and swept the books to the floor.

How the hell did he get to be on top, Faith wondered, feeling his weight pressing her into the hard, wooden surface. She reached down between them and began to massage his erection through the fabric of his pants. He thrust his hips instinctively against her palm, forgetting to contribute to the kiss anymore. Faith bit his lower lip playfully just to get his attention back. When his tongue started to swirl around hers once again, she raked her nails over the tweed covered hardened flesh. Wesley growled, and, for the first time, she believed that his lust was just as intense as hers.

She couldn't wait anymore. She unfastened his belt, unzipped his trousers and took him out. He felt so smooth and hot in her hand. She watched him blush at the sight of his dick in her fist, being stroked into full hardness in a few expert movements.

... ... ... ...
Faith was still shaking when she let herself slide to her knees, next to him. His face was shiny with sweat and her juices. She cupped his face, and kissed his eyes, his cheeks, his mouth.

"Was it okay?" Wesley asked softly.

"Oh, baby, do you even have to ask? You rocked my world. And I did not mean that in an ironic way," she added hurriedly when she felt him drawing back.

She kissed him again. He began to respond to her kiss with renewed enthusiasm. He put an arm around her, and lowered her to the floor, covering her with his body. He was completely dressed, while she had nothing on, except the skirt that was bunched up around her waist. It felt strange and wonderful at the same time. He stopped kissing her and propped himself on one elbow, looking at her.

"What is it?" she asked.

"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. I can't believe I get to do this with you. I can't believe you want me," he said.

"But I do. I want you," she said.

And just like that, Faith understood why she had returned to the cave. Because she felt wanted.

To be continued...