Everything either belongs to Joss or it should, no infringement is intended and no profit is to be made. When you get right down to it I'm not really worth suing anyway unless you want a share of an underpaid civil servants wages and it just wouldn't be worth the hassle trust me.

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – June 2004

Faith was sat on the edge of her bed waiting for Wesley when he came in after closed the door behind him. He sat next to her, not touching. 'Well this is awkward' he said eventually.

'No shit' Faith responded dryly.

'I'm afraid I really don't know where to proceed from here' Wesley admitted.

'Normally I'd be ripping your clothes off' Faith told him.

Wesley nodded. 'Well I can see how that might be an ice-breaker' he deadpanned, trying not to start laughing, she looked upset and might knock his teeth out if e did and besides which it wasn't that funny, it just felt that way because of all the bottled up feelings.

Faith turned her head to look into his eyes, Christ they were almost as blue as Illyria's only without the freaky crystal thing going on. She was willing to be the skinny bitch loved looking into them. 'You told me you loved me back in Cleveland' she said.

'Yes I did' Wesley agreed.

'It was bullshit wasn't it?' Faith asked.

Wesley frowned. 'Don't be ridiculous of course it wasn't' he told her. 'It just sneaked up on me so gradually I didn't notice' he told her. 'Until we kissed I thought I was merely starting to think of you as a close friend I could relate too better so that's why I valued your company so much and missed you when you weren't there.'

'I thought I just wanted to get inside your pants' Faith replied quietly. 'I get that with guys a lot' she admitted. 'Only difference is I gave a shit if you cared about me or not.'

'Alright I admit it, there was that too, the wanting to get into your pants thing I mean' Wesley told her with a smile, 'but I imagine you have that effect on most men.'

Faith looked at the floor. 'I don't want to be your fucking concubine' she stated flatly, having been told by an uncomfortable looking Giles what that was earlier.

Wesley resisted the urge to ask if there was such a thing as a platonic concubine by definition and took her hand instead. For all the strength her skin was so soft and felt so much warmer than Illyria's. 'That was merely face-saving on her part you know' he told her. 'She could never bring herself to accept the concept of sharing me with anyone because that would imply some sort of equality existed between you and we really are lower-life forms as far as Illyria is concerned.'

Faith snorted and pulled her hand away from his. 'Oh yeah you love the fucking idea of screwing both of us' she said angrily. 'I thought you were different.'

'Faith I'm not going to lie to you' Wesley replied, 'at a certain level, which is just below my abdomen for the most part' he joked, 'I can't help but be bloody ecstatic at the idea of bedding two girls even if the fantasy is usually more concurrent than consecutive' he told her, 'but believe me if it was just about sex this situation wouldn't exist, unfortunately it's about love and that makes things far more complicated.'

'How?' Faith countered. 'You say you love me, I…' Faith paused, 'I think I love you' she said. 'Dump the blue bitch and if she goes psycho again I'll stick my scythe up her anorexic blue ass' she told him.

Wesley sighed. 'I love Illyria too' he replied. 'I get to see a side of her the rest of you rarely do' he told her.

'What you're going to tell me she's all sweetness and light behind closed doors?' Faith retorted sarcastically.

'As a matter of fact she can be quite sweet sometimes, she talks to me about things she wouldn't say to others but it's the fact she's so terribly insecure regarding me that first made me fall for her' Wesley told her. 'It's nice to be needed, cared about an I needed to be needed that way.'

'I need you' Faith replied. 'I can care about you' she continued, 'I'm…' she petered off.

'Insecure?' Wesley surmised. 'You don't need to know much psychology to realise that' he said. 'With me it's always been lack of self-belief that's held me back, seeking worth in the validation of others' he told her, 'you know I think I only reached my potential when I thought nobody cared and I decided I didn't give much of a crap anyway' he continued. 'It was quite liberating.'

Faith smiled faintly. 'When you came to the prison all bad-ass attitude and stubble I thought you'd seen the light' she said.

'More like the darkness' Wesley told her, mirroring her smile. 'I was empty inside as I'm sure you noticed.'

'Cutting on that junkie for information made me think so' Faith agreed. 'You frightened the shit out of me' she told him. 'You still do kinda' she admitted. 'I can't do the unemotional cold-blooded shit you can.'

'Well you're only vicious' Wesley told her, 'I'm clearly a sociopath' he said with a chuckle. 'I still had one piece of emotional baggage I needed to get rid of and Illyria was the reason I could.'

'Yeah?' Faith responded quizzically.

'My father' Wesley explained. 'I knew for absolute certain I loved Illyria when he badmouthed her and all the bloody holds he had over me vanished and I told him to get lost' he said. 'I love her, I really do.'

'How the fuck can you love both of us?' Faith wanted to know.

'Well why the fuck can't I?' Wesley snapped back. 'Monogamy isn't necessarily the natural human state of affairs, do you think cultures with polygyny or polyandry don't have love?' he asked rhetorically.

'Poly-what?' Faith queried.

'Polygyny is one man, two or more women, polyandry is the reverse' Wesley explained.

'So if I fell in love with another guy you wouldn't have a problem with me screwing him too?' Faith asked with a smirk.

Wesley considered that. 'Okay so apparently I'm a hypocritical bastard' he told her, 'but in my admittedly weak defence polyandry is rare as hell and always has been' he noted.

'I don't think I can share' Faith told him honestly.

'Then I hate to say it but perhaps Illyria loves me more than you do because she'd rather do that than lose me' Wesley replied. 'Or maybe that's what's she's hoping, that you can't share so she gets all of me.'

'Sounds like you're both trying to manipulate my ass' Faith retorted. 'I don't like this mind-game shit' she declared.

'Faith if I was going to play mind-games I wouldn't have been so blatant about it' Wesley told her. 'Look at it from my perspective, I love two women, they're both headstrong and could beat the hell out of me without trying, and they've both harboured the intention of killing the other over what is basically a dispute over yours-truly' he said, 'which is bloody flattering I'll admit but not exactly a welcome situation to be in since it leaves me as the poor bastard stuck in the middle' he said. 'Cordelia suggested I break off relationships with both of you which I would do if it came to that, because I sure as buggery don't want either of you to die' he stated seriously, 'and if we're being brutally honest I can't exactly dismiss the prospect of either of you committing murder' he added flatly.

'Low blow Wes' Faith told him.

'Hey I admitted to being a sociopath earlier and my other girl is a mass murderer' Wesley replied. 'No need to take it personally' he told her, taking her hand again and bringing it up to kiss it sweetly.

Faith considered pulling it away again but didn't. 'If she calls me a fucking concubine again I'll put her on the floor if I have to break every bone in my hand to do it.'

'I'll let her know' Wesley told her.

Faith raised her free hand and ran it through her hair, she couldn't believe she was contemplating this shit, it was fucked-up and not remotely like that goofy daydream she had of being in a normal relationship with a nice guy that wouldn't hurt her. 'I'll try and see if I can deal with it' she said, 'but if you start looking smug I'll hurt you' she told him. There now she'd said it. It wasn't going to work out, she knew that but she was damned if she'd give Illyria the fucking high-ground.

'I might have to learn to take the pain because you have no conception about just how jealous of me the other men in this building are going to be of me' Wesley replied seriously. 'I'm only human.'

Faith nodded. 'That could be a problem too because neither of your harem are' she pointed out, Giles had told her of that one and its association with being a concubine, 'and I expect you to perform mister and I reckon she won't accept any less than what you're giving her now either.'

Wesley blinked. 'I'll be dead of exhaustion in a week' he said as he leaned over to kiss her, releasing her hand as she leaned back on the bed, the kiss deepening as he followed her. As deaths go he couldn't imagine a better way to go he decided as he tasted her, Illyria wasn't a bad kisser, and her skin didn't really feel like something that steel shattered upon should, but she was always a few degrees cooler in body temperature that he was and this felt more right somehow as the kiss became increasingly passionate.

'That asshole Berith said some shit about you knocking me up' she said breaking away from the kiss. 'If we're doing this, and we are' she told him sternly, 'you're putting something on' she informed him.

Wesley inwardly groaned, birth control wasn't something he had to think about with Illyria but unless Faith was going to go on the pill he had better get used to how things were before he had a girl that couldn't get pregnant. 'I haven't got any' he told her.

'I picked some up at the airport' Faith told him. 'I was thinking about having my way with you on the flight back from Cleveland but you looked too damn guilty.'

'You should have suggested it' Wesley replied as Faith got off the bed and started rifling through the cabinet next to it. 'I wasn't feeling that guilty' he added as she fished out a packet of condoms. 'Sociopath remember' he said with a grin.

'You're not a sociopath Wes' Faith told him, 'you're just a cold-blooded, ruthless bastard' she continued. 'Now take off those pants because you look good in them and I don't want to tear them off.'

Wesley pulled off his timberland boots first. 'Can I help you remove anything?' he asked hopefully. 'It's always seemed like unwrapping a present somehow.'

'Less talk, more removing clothes' Faith told him with a distinct edge to her voice now as she pulled her top over her head, 'this is cleavage' she told him pointing at her chest, after noting his reaction to the sight of the lacy black bra she had been wearing underneath her top. 'Yeah I know it's been a while since you've seen something like that but no need to stare, it's like perfectly normal' she told him trying to sound serious.

'I'll investigate thoroughly in a second' Wesley replied before falling off the bed whilst trying to take off his jeans. 'Little help' he requested from his undignified position on the floor.

Faith couldn't help but break out laughing. Not exactly the suave, sophisticated guy he was out in the field beating on demons and shit. Illyria wouldn't know any better but there's no way Lilah would have put up with this crap she decided. 'If you don't start acting less like a clumsy horny teenager you ain't getting any' she told him.

'Well stop looking like the girl of my sordid teenage fantasies then' Wesley replied, getting up under his own steam. 'If you think watcher trainees don't all have a thing for slayers you're terribly naive.'

'I fucking knew it' Faith exclaimed. She was willing to bet D'Artagnan took a cold shower every night living with those Cleveland chicks.

'Well you're about to get certain proof and I'm going to the special hell dimension they reserve for watchers who screw their slayers' he told her.

'Illyria will bust you out' Faith replied as they fell onto the bed together still wrestling with a few stubborn items of clothing.

Smelling Faith on him later Illyria offered no reaction but headed for the roof where she cried for the best part of an hour. She only hoped she could adapt as she had to so much else that she hated.

Chase River – Pylea – July 2004

The Groosalug looked across the river, it was nearly a hundred and fifty yards across at this point and deep and swift-flowing enough to be a serious obstacle. There was a ford ten miles upstream which was already being fortified, as were the pair of bridges which constituted the only other ways to cross in this region, but other that those the river was a natural barrier and neatly split the land into two halves.

'We should cross immediately and press on towards the capital' a member of the Deathwok Clan insisted. He was wearing the recently invented insignia that designated a Captain in the Pylean Defence Forces and was amongst the first to be promoted to Company Commander after proving himself in the field and had been invited to join the Undefeated Champion and the aging human in conference on a rise that overlooked the river while others took rest nearby.

'We're already stretched to have any control of the ground we already occupy' Stirling responded as he looked over a map which had been unfolded over a flat dry patch of earth. 'This is the most defensible line we have, and would require the smallest number of troops to defend while we train additional forces' he told the PDF Officer.

The Deathwok scowled. For all their wondrous weaponry, and the indisputable effectiveness of their ways of making war, the humans were still overly cautious to his mind. 'We have won every major engagement, and practically every skirmish, since we took the field in force' he said. 'We have left thousand dead at our feet' he continued, 'we could sweep on and vanquish our enemies in no more than a matter of months' he insisted.

'We have no reserves' Stirling replied evenly. 'They already outnumber us considerably and are still able to call in dozens of legions from offworld if required' he noted. 'One thing we cannot do, despite the superiority of our armament, is manage to be in two places at once' he said, trying not to sound superior as the demons reacted badly to hearing those tones from a human despite the PDF being racially integrated itself. 'If we overreach ourselves we risk both losing control of much of the land we already control and of putting our supply lines in severe jeopardy.'

'We have already discussed this Captain' the Groosalug told the Deathwok Officer. 'Glory in battle is wonderful but we should not seek it at the expense of losing the war' he said.

Stirling indicated his agreement with a nod. 'We still have two full companies ring-fenced for immediate deployment if they try to portal a force into our rear' he pointed out. 'Once we have the additional troops and logistical infrastructure in place we can resume our advance, though only until we reach the point at which we become overstretched again which will be well short of the Capital' he said. 'Our cavalry units can continue to launch incursions into enemy territory across the coastal plains which will draw off forces from the main theatre, and I'm sure we can find plenty of volunteers for small scale commando raids over the river to harass their supply lines, but in terms of taking and holding land this is the best choice for a defensive line' he declared indicating the river first on the map and then in reality before them with a sweep of his hand. Rivers were a pain the arse to deal with if you needed to cross in force that was why along with a load of other poor sods wearing Red Beret's he had ended up dropping into Arnhem in 1944. They needed to take the bridges that led into German held territory intact if they wanted to bring the war to a rapid conclusion. It hadn't worked but at least the Germany Army had left him with what was now a very valuable lesson in how to successfully defend a bloody bridge.

The Groosalug looked down at the map. 'We will erect watch towers on the hills overlooking the river with both the binoculars and night vision equipment our slayer allies have provided' he said. 'We will also do likewise on the hills and mountains far upstream from whence the river flows so that they cannot flank us from deep inland and use our cavalry scouts to watch the plains.'

Stirling pointed at the crossing points on the map. 'I'm going to place two thirds of the slayers and our mortar team on the ford here as that's the place they'll be most likely to attack given that they know we'll be wiring the bridges with demolition charges' he said. 'If I can borrow the two PDF platoons already there digging in to make up the numbers that should be enough to hold the position against the enemy even if they could in better than full Legion force' he said. 'I'll establish my Headquarters there too' he told them. 'Looking forward to the rest to be perfectly honest' he added, rubbing his back. He was getting far too old for marching, or even riding horses about even if he did mentally feel younger than he had in many years.

'What of the other slayers?' the Deathwok Captain queried.

Stirling grinned. 'A few will assist in PDF training as ever but as for the rest have you ever heard of the Long Range Desert Group?' he asked rhetorically. 'Well no of course you haven't, but back in my dimensions Second World War, that was the one I learned to soldier in sixty years back, my people found that small numbers of elite troops riding fast all-terrain vehicles were a recipe for mayhem if they operated behind enemy lines' he told them. 'We've not used the four-wheel drives we bought to Pylea since January because they just weren't suited to fighting in the forest and they were too easily tracked back to base, but now we've got secure lines to operate from I'm planning to send them across the coastal plains and into the enemy occupied farming country beyond with orders to create chaos for a few days, come back to re-fuel and re-arm and then go do it again.'

'How far inside the territory of Sebassis and his lackey Narwek will they range' the Groosalug asked.

'We could make it further but I'm going to limit them to know more than one hundred and fifty miles inside enemy lines' Stirling replied.

'That's far beyond the Capital' the Deathwok said in surprise. 'How swiftly do these wheeled machines of yours move?'

'On the plains, or half-decent roads, they can cover that in less than three hours' Stirling replied. 'They can actually do over eighty miles an hour flat out but I wouldn't advise it unless you're on the roads we have back home' he told him. 'It would rattle the teeth out of your head on the trails here if you got anywhere near that speed.'

'Eighty Miles in an hour?' The Deathwok said incredulously.

'Whilst on Earth I once travelled on a flying machine that carried me to my destination at over six-hundred miles an hour' the Groosalug told the Deathwok, 'and they have other machines built for war that are far swifter' he continued. 'As fast as the bullets from your rifle that can travel faster than sound itself and rain death on enemies hundreds or even thousands of miles away.'

'You surely jest' the Deathwok responded suspiciously. The bullets from his AK-47 moved too fast to see. 'If you have such machines why not bring them here to fight our enemies?' he asked.

'Governments take a dim view of private citizens owning that sort of thing' Stirling replied with a chuckle. 'Even the Americans don't take their right to bear arms quite to those extremes.'

'You could always hire mercenaries Sir' Ashton interjected, walking over to join them. 'During the Eritrean-Ethiopian War a few years back one side hired Russians flying SU-27's and the other had Ukrainians flying MiG-29's' he told them, 'some of them probably flew in the same squadrons back in the USSR days' he continued 'That's probably outside our budget though' he added with a grin before saluting. 'We've established secure radio communications with the GNF and they're going to start shifting supplies from there towards the lines as well as informing the refugees from this side of river it's considered safe to go home' he reported.

'Thank you Caporal-Chef' Stirling replied. 'What's your opinion?' he asked. 'Do we press on or dig in here?'

'If we had armour and artillery support I'd vote on going forward now' Ashton replied. 'Smash them before they get a chance to consolidate but with Infantry and a few Cavalry, Horse Cavalry, we don't have the numbers Sir' he replied. 'We're getting more volunteers for the PDF all the time but unless we want to let our quality drop severely we need at least a couple of months to turn a farmer into a soldier and I'd be happier with twelve weeks training under their belts before we put them in the field' he said. 'It's not just the weaponry that's put us in the driving seat here it's the fact the PDF fight like proper soldiers, Earth soldiers' he opined. 'It took me some time to get them used to the idea but they fight smart as well as hard.'

The Grossalug put his hands behind his back in the fashion the humans called "Parade Rest". 'What is the situation as regards equipment?' he asked.

'As we issue some of the PDF grunts who are best suited to carrying a sniper-rifle or a light machine-gun with the SVD's and RPK's we're freeing up the rifles they were carrying' Ashton replied. 'But we'll need another five hundred AK's shipped in from Earth to equip those already in training let alone if we're thinking about continuing recruitment' he replied. 'The ammunition situation is better, thank God we don't train to use suppression fire or it wouldn't be, but in the next few weeks we want to be thinking about getting another shipment, maybe a half million rounds so we don't run the risk of running short.'

'That sounds like a great deal of bullets' the Groosalug stated.

'We can easily burn off a hundred thousand rounds in another large engagement' Ashton replied. 'We're going to be approaching a thousand troops in the field soon and hundreds more in training, half a million rounds is less than four hundred apiece, you should hear what the ammo expenditure is back home, when both sides are shooting, and almost all the bullets are used to keep the other sides head down instead of blowing it off' he declared, one advantage of having an enemy only carrying swords and clubs, or often just their own claws, you could make your bullets count when they came at you.

'But what of the cost?' the Groosalug asked. 'We are in no position to pay for them' he pointed out. 'It would be dishonourable for us to continue to accept military aid without efforts to make recompense' he said.

'I agree' the Deathwork concurred. 'Slayers have fought and died for Pylea, we already owe you a debt and should not shame ourselves by accepting your charity forever.'

Stirling frowned. 'Not to put too fine a point on it' he began. 'But you don't really have anything' he told the Pyleans. 'Most of your world's wealth, the state treasury for instance, is still in the hands of Narwek and Sebassis.'

'Land grants' Ashton interjected. 'The population here isn't that high, there's masses of unused real estate' he continued, 'if you want to pay offer land and mining rights and when you're the government pay them back for the weaponry that way' he suggested.

'You know you're worryingly bright for a non-com sometimes' Stirling responded with a wry smile.

'I keep it under wraps Sir' the mercenary replied. 'It bothers the Officers' he added. 'Seriously though I only got the idea because I was up on a hill overlooking a valley a couple of days back and I thought it would be a great place to retire and build a house, I'd accept the land as part payment on my contract.'

Stirling smiled. 'Roman Legionaries often retired on land they had won from the enemy too' he told him.

'Bet they didn't need to build damn great fences to keep out wandering Droken Beasts though' Ashton replied with a grin. 'Definitely going to have plenty of barbed wire imported' he told the Watcher.

The Groosalug looked to the Deathwok Captain. 'Offering land in fair trade for armaments would be acceptable to me, they have spent blood and coin for Pylea they have surely earned part of her in return.'

'I agree' the green skinned demon replied. 'We will then be dealing with our allies as equals, fair exchange not holding out the begging bowl' he said.

Stirling spoke up. 'I doubt my people will not accept your offer' he told them. Certainly the mining rights had been talked of before, 'but can I formally request one piece of land to be signed over first?' he asked.

'Surely' the Groosalug replied. 'What land do you wish?'

The Watcher straightened up, ignoring the continuing pain in his back. 'The clearing in the Great Northern Forest where our slayer dead are buried' he replied in the most official tone he could muster.

'That land is yours already' the Groosalug replied. 'With the price paid who could argue otherwise?' he asked meaningfully.

Stirling turned and looked across the river. 'I hope we don't have to earn any more the same way' he said wistfully, as he looked into occupied territory. How much of Pylea was worth the life of a teenage girl anyway?

Hyperion Hotel – Los Angeles – July 2004

No it hadn't got any less tense and awkward in the last fortnight Wesley decided as he once again found himself sat between Illyria and Faith at breakfast with tension in the air that could be cut with a knife, the girl on one side carrying one and on the other a girl whose skin shattered them. His ribs hurt slightly too, from now on he was definitely going to get his eyes into focus before saying good morning because calling Faith Illyria at seven AM when the alarm clock went off had been really painful.

Like so many things in life the theory was better than the practice he decided, one thing he hadn't counted on was that not only would they both seek to drag him into arguments between them on their side, regardless of topic, but sometimes to his horror they ganged up on him like when he'd gone after that trio of vampires alone the day before and once Illyria found out why Faith was yelling at "My Wesley" she joined in the lecturing.

One the other hand the practice was still damn good he decided when he caught a glimpse of the expression on Spikes face when both girls kissed him on the cheek. Now there was a bloke with girl trouble Wesley decided, he only had two in his life, Spike had to deal with having Buffy, Drusilla and now Harmony on the premises, at least when the latter was working. Three of them and poor old Spike wasn't screwing any of them.

Faith generously poked him hard in the side of the ribs she hadn't already damaged when she noticed the smug, self-satisfied expression Wes was directing at Spike. They were going to have to cure him of that, it was annoying the other guys. She'd have a quiet word with Illyria after breakfast, Faith decided, it having already become clear that if they both cajoled him he folded almost immediately on any issue.

Sharing still felt wrong, and Illyria treated her as an inferior which Faith knew wasn't personal in so much as she treated everyone that way, but it still annoyed the crap out of her nonetheless and Faith got to experience it more often now, but despite it all Faith was happy. She had even been compelled to thank Illyria for training Wes up nicely in the sack because weirdly saying that sort of thing to her didn't bother the girl in the slightest, Illyria was always pleased to be told she had successfully achieved an objective, any objective, she was goal orientated that way as well as kinda inhuman given the subject matter.

'Can I ask a favour?' Illyria requested looking past Wesley towards Faith.

'What?' Faith replied.

'I realise you continue to expect me to tear out your spine at some point' Illyria stated. 'And the possibility still exists' she admitted, 'but if I promise not to do so at mealtimes would you please not carry your scythe to the dining table as its proximity ruins my enjoyment of my breakfast' she said, indicating her plate of chorizo and eggs.

Faith looked at the scythe resting beside her. 'Does that truce thing you did with Berith hold for people too?' she asked.

'If I offer it to be yes' Illyria replied.

Faith reached out her arm in front of Wesley and Illyria touched hands with her and they both ran their hands up the others forearms before taking hold. 'Okay no more scythe at meals' Faith agreed.

'My girls agreeing not to attempt to kill each other three times every day' Wesley said, feigning to wipe away a tear. 'It's so sweet.'

'Wesley you're being a smart-ass' Illyria told him. 'It is not one of your more appealing personality traits' she stated.

'She's right on both counts' Faith agreed.

If I got a third girl, two of them might gang up on the other and leave me alone Wesley theorised for a second before remembering practice never worked out exactly how you hoped. 'I'll try and work on that' he told them.

'Good boy' they told him almost simultaneously, Illyria patting him on the head with her free hand.

Note from the Author:

You've got to pity poor Wesley right? No, me neither :-p

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