Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters except for the ones that I created like Mercedes and Audrey.
Author's Notes: It had to happen sometime…and here it comes…though I'll leave you guessing as to exactly what "it" is until it happens in the chapter…though given my ships it shouldn't be to hard to figure out, though it's a bit more descriptive than I usually am, but still within the rating guidelines.
Tamara-Spike seems to always try to stay calm around Dawn regardless of the situation.
Jess-Yes a cliffhanger…ooh I'm evil, lol. Anyway hope you like the next chapter.
CHAPTER 17-FROZEN PARADISE
"I cannot wait until we are far from here," Faith grumbled with a large yawn as she threw her arms back and stretched a bit, popping her back in the process.
"I would if we knew where we were going next, or how Angel expected to get us out of here without paying, the hospital staff won't be happy about that," Wesley replied weakly with a slightly pained grimace on his face as he shakily stood up out of the wheelchair and leaned up against the wall to stay standing.
"Simple Wes, by the time that they come calling for the Benjamin's you and I will be nowhere to be found, I'd like to see them try to take Angel to court," Faith jokingly replied with a content smile on her face as she lightly tapped her knuckles onto Wesley's shoulder before Illyria purposefully walked out of their room with Nina in hot pursuit, looking scared.
"Nina what," Wesley started to asked with a confused and alarmed expression on his face before Illyria half turned to him, held up her hand to silence him, and then spoke.
"The half breeds are in peril," Illyria said softly without the slightest hint of concern in her voice before she looked away from Wesley and stared down the hallway towards the waiting room. Faith was about to ask where when she heard the sounds of a violent fight going on in the waiting room, bodies crashing into the wall, chairs being broken, and glass shattering.
"Let's go," Wesley announced with a very weak look in his eyes but firm tone to his voice and set to his jaw as he pushed off of the wall and started to head for the waiting room before Faith jumped in front of him and stopped him with a hand on his chest, with her doing her best to keep it there solely as a deterrent.
"I don't think so Wes, you're still to banged up from our last fight with these guys, better let me and Smurfette handle this," Faith said back with a very firm and serious look on her face as she kept Wesley where he was.
"The spiteful one is right, you are not fit for battle, you will only slow us down, but do not be disheartened, I will bring you a severed head," Illyria added with a less than pleased look towards Faith, who returned the look with an impatient scowl on her face before she turned back to Wesley, who was about to speak.
"See…told ya, just stay here and watch…ya see something that you like maybe I'll get it for you later, come on…five by five," Faith concurred with at first an awkward look on her face as she slowly turned her head back from looking over at Illyria to looking up at Wesley, before finally donning her usual daring grin and winking. Wesley was about to argue when Faith turned around and raced off down the hallway towards the waiting room.
"Come on Wesley let's go," Nina said softly with a very serious look on her face though Wesley could hear the fear in her voice as she grabbed his arm and started to pull him away from the waiting room.
"It would grieve me if you were to perish again, I do not wish to experience that again," Illyria stated with an odd look on her face as she stared at Wesley before she also took off down the hallway to join in on the fight.
"But…ah, bloody hell," Wesley grumbled with an unhappy and frustrated scowl on his face before he relented and let Nina lead him out one of the hospital's back entrances.
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"You ever get the feeling that he doesn't like us very much," Spike asked with an impish grin on his face, while standing on the back of one of the couches, before he leapt off of it and over the heads of two vampires that were trying to tackle him.
"Shut up Spike this is serious," Angel growled back with an angry scowl on his face before he ducked underneath an attack and then slid in behind one of the attacking demons and snapped its neck.
"I mean, last time he just simply strung us up like a couple pieces of meat and tortured us for hours while having his way with Darla and Dru, but now," Spike continued with a fake look of hurt on his face as he continued to fight, almost dancing in between his attackers as he kept them off guard. Angel started to growl something back but a streak of red hair interrupted him as Mercedes, game face bared, tore into any vampire, demon, or guard unlucky enough to cross her path. At first the three vampires held their own, basically toying with their opponents. But by the time that Faith and Illyria burst through the doors the vampires and guard had been replaced by the grunt demons. The grunt demons were of no particular class of demons though as their main lot in life was to fight and overwhelm their enemies. Each one looked a lot like a human, though their skin was a bright orange and each one had few weak points.
"Who the hell are these guys," Faith asked with a serious look of concern on her face as she stopped running into the room and catching sight of the grunt demons.
"Insignificant pawns," Illyria stated with a look of skeptical disapproval on her face as she sneered before launching into an attack.
"Grunt demons, not very bright but harder than hell to kill," Mercedes shouted across the room to Faith as she raised herself back up to her feet after using her fangs to rip the throat out of one of the guards.
"Who are you," Faith demanded with a surprised and uneasy scowl on her face before she was sent tumbling back over one of the chairs after receiving a snap jab from one of the grunt demons.
"Enough of a friend to help right now," Mercedes shot back as she slid back into her regular visage and licked the blood off of her lips.
"Less talking people, Illyria…where's Nina…and Wesley," Angel started to growl back with an unhappy frown on his face before he noticed that he didn't see Nina or Wesley anywhere.
"The half breed is taking him to safety, we cannot win this fight on strength of arms alone, we must withdraw soon," Illyria replied without missing a beat as she caught the fist of one of the guards, began to crush it, and then spun him around she had him in an arm lock.
"We can't leave, not yet," Angel started to shout back through the fight before police searchlights blanketed the windows.
"Perfect timing…as usual," Spike grumbled with an unhappy but sarcastic smirk on his face as he ducked out of the way of one of the searchlights beams before he leaned out to check out what the situation was in the parking lot.
"How many," Angel asked with an impatient tone to his voice as he fought over to Spike and then tossed one of the vampires over his shoulder, through the window, and falling down to the parking lot below.
"To many, time to leave Peaches," Spike joked back with a not very amused grin on his face before the police shot tear gas canisters through the windows of the waiting room while other officers advanced up the stairwells.
"Damn…okay, everybody out now, that includes you," Angel shouted out loudly over the crowd as Illyria pretended that she didn't hear him, before he turned around and grabbed Mercedes' arm.
"What are you…but I have to," Mercedes started to argue back with a very serious and determined look on her face before Spike stepped in.
"We're leaving, your bird will be safe, move," Spike interjected with a very serious tone to his voice and look in his eyes that left little doubt in Mercedes' mind that arguing was out of the question.
"Damn," Mercedes grumbled like a small child that didn't get their way before she wiped a bit of blood off of her knuckles onto her pant legs and then she dove out of the waiting room over a door that was broken in half.
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"Have you seen the news yet Rupert, ghastly attack, undoubtedly the work of that vagabond Angelus and his associates," Roger exclaimed with a discouraged and angry scowl on his face as he shook his head at the television as Giles entered the room.
"Including Wesley," Giles asked with a less than pleased tone to his voice as he sat down in the chair beside Roger and poured himself some tea.
"That boy is nothing to me, he's been a complete and total failure from the day that he was born, he's nothing like me, I don't know where he gets it from, by the time that I was thirteen I had already killed a dozen vampires…Wesley would see a shadow on the wall and wet himself," Roger spat out with a look of such disdain that Giles had to grit his teeth to keep from snapping back immediately.
"He's changed since then you know," Giles softly replied with a measured tone to his voice as he calmly sat back in the chair and scanned the screen.
"For the worse I can assure you," Roger grumpily stated back with a frustrated look in his eyes before he set his tea cup down and then picked up a file and handed it to Giles.
"What's this," Giles asked with a confused look on his face as he turned the file around the right way in his lap and then opened it.
"Her name is Kristine Johansson, she works for The Immortal as a lawyer, handling the simplest of cases," Roger started off with a very calm and almost carefree tone to his voice as he recanted what he had learned before Giles stopped him.
"Then why am I sifting through a file about her," Giles interrupted with a confused look on his face as he half closed the file but slid the picture of the young woman out to the side and stared down at it as he waited for Roger to answer.
"Because sometime yesterday someone broke into her office and brutally attacked her, she was taken to the same hospital that was assaulted last night, she's in a very poor state, the doctor's don't know if she'll make it, the council needs to protect its own now more than ever, I want you and your slayer to find out who did this and see that they be held accountable," Roger replied with a serious and dour tone to his voice as he slowly got up to his feet and straightened his tie. When Giles replied neither men noticed that someone was out in the hallway spying on their conversation. Giles almost caught a flash of Kennedy, as her eyes grew wide in shock and fear before she tore out of the building, headed for the hospital in the first available taxi.
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"Where's Wes," Faith asked with a concerned look on her face as she stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.
"He said that he needed to take a shower, but the only one in here that works is down in the basement, it's one of those old showers, uses well water to so it's probably going to be a pretty cold shower," Nina replied with a tired look on her face as she set about covering up the windows with blankets to block out the sunlight.
"Not for long," Faith mumbled softly under her breath before she silently turned around and walked out of the room, leaving the door ajar and Nina staring back over her shoulder with a confused look on her face.
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Each step caused him pain. Nina had told him that the only working shower was down deep in the basement. As he slowly made his way down the steps he discovered that she hadn't been kidding. After first finding the house, that was being renovated from top to bottom, Nina had raced through every room, making sure that no one was living there while at the same time getting a quick lay of the place, knowing full well what Angel would do later. Angel and Spike had dragged Mercedes off with them as they went on an inspection tour of the house, agreeing to stave off a trip to the basement long enough for Wesley to get his shower in. Illyria had at first wanted to come along and help Wesley but he had waved her off and told her to help Nina. She had done that at first before she had grown bored and went off to explore the upper levels of the massive house that stood on the outskirts of Rome.
Wesley had wanted to wait and make sure that Faith was all right but Illyria had assured him that she was covering their tracks. When he got to the basement he discovered that the shower was in the far corner of the basement, but only after having to weave his way through piles and piles of old furniture and building supplies. The shower itself was a rather simple one. Tucked into a corner with two of the walls made out of what looked like freshly laid bricks while an old curtain had been crudely strung up to give the shower taker some privacy. The drain was several feet away and the showerhead was nothing more than a metal disc that had holes punched out in it. It was obviously only meant to be a temporary shower to be used by the men that were remodeling the building so Wesley silently counted his blessings as he slowly sat down in an old chair and carefully removed his shoes. He grit his teeth to keep them from chattering at the chill in the air. Being underground and with very little insulation the basement would probably serve pretty well as a cooler if nothing further were done. Wesley threw the towel that he had found on one of the upper levels over a sawhorse and turned the water on, not bothering to pull the curtain out to give him some privacy as he was sure that no one would bother him, at least without alerting him to their presence early enough. He closed his eyes and ducked his head and body underneath the descending cascade of water, gasping in shock and almost pain as the frigid water struck his body. It took him a few moments to be able to stand under the shower of water without losing his breath. He grit his teeth and picked up a small bar of soap before beginning.
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She slipped her shoes off a couple of floors above the basement, not wanting to make a sound. She had checked herself and made sure to step carefully on the old wooden floors, sure that she wouldn't be heard as she made her way down through the house. She almost passed the stairwell that led down to the basement until she heard the faint sound of water running and stopped to listen long enough to follow it down the steps. As she paced down the dirty steps she wondered in the back of her mind if she should be doing this at all. Had she stopped and thought about it for a few moments she probably would have turned around and gone back up the stairs and talked to Angel. But here she was, stepping off of the final step onto the floor of the basement and shivering a bit as her feet hit the cold floor. She stubbed her toe against something in the dimly lit room and had to literally bite her tongue to keep from speaking. A smile crept up onto the edges of her mouth as she rounded a corner and caught sight of Wesley, fighting through the cold to take a shower, having left the curtain open thinking that no one would have followed him down into the basement. Faith couldn't help but allow the smile to grow as she slowly made her way forward, a part of her screaming to get out of their while another part was screaming just the opposite, to pounce before he finished. Her mind was made up for her when Wesley unintentionally dropped the soap and in an effort to find it twisted his upper body just enough that he grunted and hissed in pain as he started to drop to his knees.
"Wesley," Faith unexpectedly shouted in alarm as she rushed to his side, stopped momentarily as she nearly passed out and lost her breath at the bitter tang of the frigid water.
"Faith," Wesley spat out through the water, seeming surprised but not entirely upset, as he made no motion to cover himself. Instead he waited until the swimming in his head stopped and he could see clearly again through the water.
"Water cold enough for ya Wes," Faith tried to joke with a weak smile on her face before Wesley couldn't help but glance down a bit. Faith knew almost immediately what he was staring at and a resoundingly sarcastic and witty comment snapped to her lips, but died on them as he twisted just enough and leaned back just enough. Even in the cold of the shower Faith couldn't help but grin.
"Not anymore," Wesley shot back with a daring scowl on his face as he reached up and laid his hand on Faith's thigh that was closest to him.
"You're real bad at this ya know, you think maybe we could," Faith started to say back with an impatient expression on her face before Wesley breathed in deeply and almost instantly grimaced badly in pain and wrapped an arm around his broken ribs while starting to crumble back down to the ground. This time Faith was ready and she moved under him so that she could use her slayer strength to support him, though it did mean her becoming face to face with him and his body draped over hers. She couldn't help the dirty thoughts that ran through her brain or her right hand as it slipped off of his arm and landed on his stomach. She had to concentrate to keep it from going any further downward before she looked up at Wesley and blushed with a guilty look on her face. "I see Wes naked for the first time and I'm blushing like a damn baby," Faith grumbled in her thoughts as she bit her bottom lip to keep her emotions in check before the hand that Wesley had laid on Faith's shoulder slid off, his thumb grazing the side of her breast on the way down.
"Sorry I," Wesley started to sputter out through the cold before she followed her heart and dared to dream, dropping her hand that had been on his stomach down even further with a sly raising of her right eyebrow and sensuous pout on her face. Faith expected him to push her away and fumble for his towel. But he surprised her by using the hand that had just grazed her breast to reach up and return the favor. If she had been inexperienced in sex she might have stopped there or gotten flustered and run away.
"Don't be," Faith started to say with a nervous light in her eyes before her lips found his and for an instant the temperature of the water was forgotten. Her first memory after that was of Wesley, with her assistance stripping off her soaked shirt before she guided his hands down to her jeans as he fumbled to undo the button. She briefly let go of him long enough to slither out of her jeans before she was pulled back into another kiss as his hands snaked around her body, one hand fumbling with the clasp of her bra while the other slid down her back before he took a handful of her butt and squeezed hard. Her breath hitched into his mouth at that time before she did the same, delighting in the flash of lightning that sparkled through his eyes. Wesley grinned into another kiss as he ripped Faith's panties away and then surprisingly had enough strength to wrap his arms around her and lift her up off of the ground. Faith would later admit that she had helped him by hopping up but in the end she'd concede that she was just as eager for it to happen as he was. The cold water did nothing to hinder him as he slid in, with her wrapping her legs around his waist before claiming his mouth with her own, losing her hands in his hair. He responded by slamming her into the brick wall. Her last thoughts before letting go were that she'd probably have some scratches and bruises in the morning, but she couldn't care less.
END OF CHAPTER
Author's Note: Yeah it was a bit more descriptive in the two having sex than I usually am but it's not nearly as descriptive as some of the other sex scenes that other writers have written here. Anyway I thought that it was time that Wes and Faith have sex for the first time and I could see how the whole having it in the basement of an old building in a brick shower with cold water being more their style then some hotel or usually romantic setting. Wesley and Faith aren't normal and both are more than a bit kinky so it'd be an adventure every time that they were together. Hope I didn't go overboard with the scene. Anyway Mercedes didn't want to leave Kristine but she knew that she had to after Spike told her to go, Spike isn't her sire but he might as well be, just wondering if I should have Kristine live or die, and then who should Mercedes be with, stick with Kennedy and Kristine or go with someone new, you all can suggest a character if you want, a cannon character or not. The two mystery guys and the mystery lady will be back, perhaps even a vacationing former cop and an old friend of Willow's that would help Nina out a lot. Though don't worry the guest stars, like the mystery guys are, won't be part of the main story just kind of a side story that culminates at the end. When Roger and Giles talked Kennedy overheard them and then ran off to the hospital. The house that Angel and the gang found isn't one that they can stay in long, but given that they're currently being hunted by The Immortal that's not entirely a bad thing. The Audrey from the disclaimer will show up pretty soon, finally…thanks to you all for reading and reviewing this story and I hope that you all continue to, I'm hoping to break my record of 59 reviews with this story.