Wesley couldn't believe how close he was to her, the Wolf. She was in an office just down the hall. Why hadn't she fired him or sent him to hell? Why was she allowing him to just casually go about his work? Why did she trust him to do that work? Wesley rubbed his temples. His theory about vampires was turning out to be just that, a theory. He had no proof one way or the other on its validity and he was getting nothing done here. He headed for the exit.
"Hey Wes, lunch break?" Harmony asked as he passed by her desk
"I don't eat Harmony." Wesley reminded her "Hey," He said as a thought occurred to him. "What do you do all day anyway?"
"File," Harmony said "You'd think what with the end of the world and all there wouldn't be much of a need, but you'd be wrong. The end of the world is a bureaucratic nightmare."
"Who knew?" Wesley said
"Not me," Harmony said "So if you're not going to lunch where're you going?"
"Back to the abbey." Wesley said "I'm done for the day."
"You've only been here four hours." Harmony said "You must be super time-efficient."
"Well I never have to get a glass of water or go to the bathroom." Wesley said
"Heh," Harmony chuckled "You're funny." She leaned over her desk exposing her vast cleavage and looked toward Lilah's old office. "She's creepy huh?" Harmony whispered
"The Wolf?" Wesley didn't bother to whisper, assuming the Wolf was aware of everything that happened in this building and possibly the whole city (with the acceptation of the abbey) at all times. "She's evil, that's a little beyond creepy."
"Well I'm evil," Harmony said in an offended tone "And I'm not creepy."
"No," Wesley assured her "Definitely not. See you later Harmony."
"I know why you're leaving so early!" Harmony called after him. "It's because you brought Fred back yesterday!" Wesley pretended not to hear her, which was a bit of a stretch considering how loud Harmony was. He continued on his way.
…
"This is a disaster." Angel muttered
"You figured that out huh?" Lorne asked
Angel looked at the members of this meeting. They were all gathered to plan their next moves, but so far all they had done is list problems. The other members of their little council were Gunn, Spike, Kate, Buffy, Faith, Willow, Xander, and someone he'd never met named Kennedy. Not one of them had a solution to any of their problems. "So my son is plotting against me, Fred and Teresa are both completely crazy, we have a house full of Werewolves most of which have no control over their condition and the Wolf can control them if they leave here, and there might be a plot to bring all vampires under her control but we're not sure and if there is we can't do anything about it. Did I leave anything out?"
"Everyone's soap opera-ish personal problems?" Spike suggested
"Spike shut up." Angel said
"Okay," Buffy said "Let's just try to knock these problems out one at a time."
"Good plan," Spike said "Why didn't we-"
"Shut up Spike." Angel and Buffy said at the same time.
"Is there anyone Conner has a repertoire with he can talk to?" Kate asked "He won't let his dad or sisters anywhere near him, but maybe someone who knows a little more about his past could get him to talk? Then he could vent some of his frustration and maybe calm down."
Angel wasn't overly hopeful for volunteers. "I'll do it." Gunn said
Angel was caught by surprise. When he looked at his friend he saw the man was less than eager. "Conner and I don't exactly get on well, but we did live together for a few months."
"Okay," Angel said, remembering Fred's stories of how terrible that summer had been and how while Conner and Gunn had some good moments they mostly just fought. But it wasn't like they had any better plans. "Thank you," Gunn nodded, looking like a condemned man.
"Can you get Fred and Teresa to sing for you?" Spike asked Lorne
"Teresa sang like a bird." Lorne said "All I got was pure undiluted crazy." Angel saw the sadness in his eyes and felt sympathy for him, he knew there was something between Lorne and the psychic Cordelia had sent to him. "As for Fred, once we get past speech maybe we can move on to song. She hasn't uttered one coherent sentence as of yet."
"She knows who we are." Gunn whispered "She just…"
"I'm so glad we sacrificed an able fighter to bring back Wesley's crazy girlfriend." Kate said, she didn't know why she was so bitter, she was just exasperated.
"You've been spending too much time around Conner." Spike said
"Seconded, with an added go to-"
Angel cut Lorne off. "Okay, Willow can you do anything for either of them?"
"I'll try." Willow said "The only thing is, whatever is wrong with them might be contagious." Everyone gave Willow an odd look. "Magical interference with someone's mind is tricky, and with an insane person it's dangerous. I could get all caught up in the crazy."
"Then you can't do it." Kennedy said "We can't risk it." She was adamant. Where Willow's safety was concerned Kennedy wouldn't allow any risk.
"Kennedy's right Will," Buffy said "We can't risk you."
"So come full moon what are we supposed to do?" Xander asked "We can't let these people out to be controlled by the wolf." He looked around the table. "Right?"
"We could lock them in the basement." Kate said
"They'd get out." Spike said "All that power focused on one little door,"
"We tie them up." Lorne suggested
"They'll break free." Faith said
"How's Wes doing on researching the possible vampire control thing?" Gunn asked
"He's not back yet." Angel said
"So what do we do about you and Spike if that happens?" Kate asked
"Spell shouldn't work in here." Angel said "The senior partners don't have power here."
"Besides, if you guys start acting wonky Buff, Ken, and I can put the smack down on you." Faith's attempt at being reassuring was having the opposite effect.
Angel rubbed his face with his palms, and thought about all of their problems. He felt as though they had accomplished nothing, only ran in a circle. "This is a disaster."
…
While having the two crazy women in the same room wasn't exactly a brilliant idea it was necessary considering how short on hands they were. Angel hadn't been happy about the traitor looking after Fred and Teresa, but Gunn had convinced him it was the best course of action. Well actually Gunn had just said 'trust me' and Angel had agreed, which wasn't exactly convincing, just trust. Now Anne had one of the hardest and most thankless jobs in their little camp and she couldn't be happier about it. She wanted to be put to work, she wanted to spare someone else this grueling duty. She wanted to make amends.
"I'm sorry I got you shot." Anne told the woman she knew couldn't understand her.
Teresa giggled and tried to move her hands, but they were tied to the side of the bed, just like her feet, to prevent her from hurting herself when she thrashed around. "Cool water," Anne reached for a glass of water and a straw to give the giggling woman some water. "Not me, the little orphan and her puppy dog. He's an old dog, but he can learn new tricks." She chuckled some more and her chest rose off the mattress. "Pitter patter, little feet like rats with long teeth."
"Shhh," Anne patted Teresa's scaly hand. She looked over at the room's other occupant, who was sitting unbound and silent. She never moved or spoke, just sat there with her arms wrapped around her knees staring at them, or past them. Anne could never tell. In a way that woman was responsible for this, but Anne didn't blame her.
"We're waiting," Teresa said, still giggling
"What are we waiting for?" Anne asked without turning away from Fred, watching the frozen woman watch them, or something else.
"The magic man, want to see a magic trick?"
Anne looked at Teresa, who was still grinning like a fool. "Sure,"
"First you need to bake a cake. You start with a broken egg, and then add two unwanted fruits, like raisins and prunes, you let that sit for a while and then guess what happens."
"What?" Anne asked, finding herself drawn into the mad woman's ramblings.
"I'll tell you later, the rules are breaking." Teresa said
"So they put you in charge of the crazies huh?" Wesley asked
Anne gasped and dropped the glass of water she was still holding. It shattered on the ground and Fred shrieked. Wesley looked stricken as Anne knelt to pick up the glass. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." Wesley said "I wish I could help you pick that up."
"It's okay," Anne said "Not your fault."
"I scared Fred." Wesley looked far more upset about that then the glass.
"Maybe that's good." Anne said as she looked at the woman who had returned to staring, her fright gone as well as her awareness. "Maybe it woke her up a little bit."
"Does she say anything?"
"Lorne was here." Anne replied "He got her to say a few words, but not her own. He would say his name and she would say it back, but we couldn't tell if she knew what it meant."
Wesley walked over to her. "Fred, it's me Wesley, you remember me."
Fred wouldn't look at him. "Fred," Anne said "It's Wes, say hi."
Fred just kept staring. "Do you think she's thinking about something nice?" Wes asked
Anne thought back to her catatonic state. What had she been thinking about? All she could remember was pain, and numbness. "Yes, I think so."
"You're lying, I can tell." This unnerved her, but not as much as the smile he turned to give her, it was so sad. "But thanks for trying. I keep thinking she's in Pylea or… worse."
Anne didn't know what to say to that, and not just because she had never heard of Pylea before now. She didn't know where Fred was, or if she was going to be okay. She watched Wesley watching Fred and wondered what it must be like to be so close to the one you love, unable to touch them or speak to them. Well he could speak, but Fred wouldn't hear, so did it really count? Anne stood up, uneasy. "Which do you think is worse?" she asked "Fred who doesn't seem aware of us at all, or Teresa who sees us, but can't stay connected to reality?"
"Maybe she's more connected than you think." Wesley said "Teresa," He quit staring at Fred long enough to look at the hybrid. "Tell me the rest of your story."
"The broken bits never come back together, no matter how you sew." Teresa assured him. She giggled some more. "Daddy did a bad thing and little brother fell down, down on the ground. Parts go smash and everyone is so cold. If you had just touched each other you would have been warmer. Castles in the clouds always fall to earth." Teresa closed her eyes.
"It's just a bunch of nonsense." Anne insisted
"There's a certain wisdom to nonsense." Wesley said "We can hear whatever meaning in it we want to. You said Illyria's screams did this to her?" Anne nodded "Maybe she saw something, and that's what drove her crazy. Maybe she saw Illyria's mind."
"Didn't Illyria live for a really long time?" Anne asked
"Longer than the tenfold sum of all Teresa's other memories, there's no way she would have been able to handle all of those images." Wesley looked guilty. "We didn't know."
"But if you did know," Anne said "You would have done it anyway." Years of working with the homeless had given her good perception.
"Yes, but I still feel bad about it." Wesley said "I know it doesn't make a difference, but I derive no pleasure from hurting the innocent. I just wanted to help Fred."
"These are the choices we make." Anne said "We do the best we can."
…
Buffy froze as she turned the corner and saw Spike. She forced a smile. "Spike,"
"Buffy," Spike said, the picture of cool, while internally he was shivering glob of goo
"Good to see you,"
"Yeah, you to." Spike said
"Good to know you're alive, well you know." Buffy told her undead ex
"Close enough," Spike said "Or not," He reconsidered "Look Buffy I…" He sighed
"Spike, maybe we should just focus on the apocalypse, deal with the personal stuff later."
"Yeah okay," Buffy started to walk away. "I mean no." Spike said "No, Buffy we need to talk about this. In Sunnydale you said you loved me."
Buffy returned her attention to the vampire. "You said I didn't and that it was okay."
"I was being noble!" Spike didn't like the way his first real conversation with the slayer since his death was going. He could see why she'd been avoiding him.
"Well you did a good job." Buffy said "Spike, I care about you-"
Spike snorted in derision. "You've got a funny way of showing it."
"What do you want Spike? Do you want us to be together?"
"Oh no," Spike said sarcastically "I wouldn't presume to think myself worthy of a relationship with you, I'm not dark and troubled enough like his great poofiness or the bloody immortal!" Spike's voice gradually rose to a shout and he saw Buffy was glaring at him.
"Is that why you came to Italy?"
Spike began to backtrack. "I uh… I meant- you see that-"
"You've been keeping tabs on me!" Buffy was outraged
"It was Angel." Spike immediately shifted the blame to his grandsire. "He hired a guy."
"I see," Buffy's voice was as cold as ice. "Did that guy tell you I was working undercover to find the largest vamp nest on the Italian Peninsula?"
"No- why is it in Rome? There's like a million churches there." Spike got distracted.
"Don't change the subject, you have no right to interfere in my life!" Buffy wasn't sure why she was so angry. She knew in principle why she was mad, Spike and Angel had invaded her privacy, treating her like a child. Yet she hadn't pictured this moment going down this way. From the end of the battle until now she had avoided Spike, trying to figure out what to say to him, where they stood. She still wasn't sure. They weren't together, but what the hell were they? She was glad he was alive (in a manner of speaking) but his presence threw her for a loop.
"Sorry," Spike threw his hands in the air. "Won't happen again." He started to go.
"Spike wait!" Buffy wished she had just let him go when he turned around and had a big smirk on his face. "Don't do this, don't let it be like this."
"How do you want it to be Buffy?" He actually seemed sincere when he asked this.
Buffy sighed, making a strand of hair hanging over her eyes dance. "I want it to not be awkward between us. I want us to be friends." She really did want that.
"Just friends?" Spike asked
"For now at least," Buffy said "There's too much going on right now for me to be thinking about my love life." Her eyes asked him to understand and accept this.
"Okay," Spike couldn't believe this was happening to him. "We're friends."
"Thank you William,"
"Are you going to have a similar conversation with his broodiness?" Spike asked
"I don't know where he is." Buffy said "I haven't seen him since the meeting."
…
Angel knocked on the door, feeling incredibly nervous. He had thought Nina was far away from L.A. enjoying a relaxing vacation with her niece and sister. This was apparently not the case. Where had she been all this time? How had she survived? The door opened and Angel was filled with trepidation. Nina looked tired and… older. "Nina,"
"Angel," She gave him a weak but genuine smile. "Come in,"
Angel walked in and nodded at Nina's roommate. "I had no idea you were still in L.A., how have you been holding up?" Angel looked into her eyes and saw unpleasant things.
"I thought I was okay. Then that transformation the other day happened. I had to go to that hotel where you were. I was compelled. I didn't enjoy it." Nina sat down on the bed.
Angel pulled up a chair and sat across from her. "I wish you had gone."
"I had to stay." She said even though she wasn't sure it was true
"Why?" Angel hoped the answer had nothing to do with him, he didn't want to be responsible for her weariness and pain. "Why did you have to stay?"
"It's complicated Angel." Nina said "Everything is so complicated now. For the first time in my life I knew who I was and what I was supposed to be doing. There was this guy and-" Nina cut herself off and gave Angel a bashful look. "Now I don't know anything."
"Well you're here." Angel said, not sure if that was going to be comforting. "You're safe now and I'm here for you… unless you don't want me to be."
Nina nodded. She reached for Angel's hand and they sat in silent camaraderie for a few moments. "Thank you Angel, for everything."
…
Faith wandered down another hall, about to give up on the possibility of finding the man she was looking for when she saw him, her old watcher. "Wesley,"
He stopped and waited for her to reach him. "Can I help you Faith?"
"I just wanted to ask you something." Faith couldn't believe she was really doing this.
"Go ahead,"
"What's it like?" Faith only paused for a second. "I know it's wrong to ask, especially for me, but it's driving me crazy. I just- I need to know what it's like."
Wesley frowned. "Are you planning on dying soon Faith?"
Faith gave him a cheeky grin. "My life doesn't always go according to plan."
"No," Wesley chuckled. "That's true." He thought about her question. "It wouldn't have been so bad if it were instantaneous. It was very painful. I wanted the pain to stop, but I knew if it did that would mean I was dead. I didn't want to die. Death is a frightening prospect."
"Did you see- I mean-" Faith shook her head. "I sound like a fool."
"I didn't see what comes next." Wesley said "I was held to the earth, and not allowed to cross over, nor even see what I would have crossed over to." Wesley paused, unsure if he should continue. "I'm glad, I don't think there is anything good in store for me."
Faith shook her head. "Come on Wes, you're a pure-hearted hero." Her tone teased him.
Wesley wanted to believe her, or pretend he did. "I've done terrible things."
The smile evaporated from Faith's face. "I've murdered people."
Wesley felt guilty. By condemning himself he was condemning her. He tried to find a way to escape this logic. "It's not the same. I betrayed people that trusted me, that cared about-loved me. You chose the path of redemption Faith, I didn't." Wesley thought about all of the booze, all of the violent sex, that hadn't managed to heal the void of Conner's disappearance. He thought about the darkness within himself. "You saw what you had become and tried to change."
"Angel taught me it's never too late to change." Faith said
"I'm dead Faith, that's pretty late." Over Faith's shoulder he saw someone walk past the entrance to the hall. He gestured with his eyes. The two of them headed toward the man.
…
Conner closed the door quietly behind him. Anne and Teresa were gone, Anne had taken Teresa on her daily walk to prevent muscle atrophy. Fred was alone in the room, still sitting on the bed staring at nothing. "Fred?" Conner asked "Do you remember me?"
She didn't give any indication she had heard him.
Conner walked up and waved his hand in front of her face. She blinked. "Fred, it's Conner, you used to make me bologna sandwiches." He felt like an idiot for saying that. "I don't know why I'm here, not really. I just…" Conner rubbed his eyes. "You can't even understand me can you?" Conner sat down in Anne's chair. "I could tell you anything, you wouldn't know what I was saying or be able to tell anyone." Conner let out a large breath. "I hate you a little bit." He saw that she still wasn't reacting and continued. "Illyria was my friend. I guess that isn't your problem. I guess none of this is your problem. All of this bad stuff is happening and you don't even know, you're too busy being crazy." Conner stood up and put his face close to Fred's, staring into her eyes. "I'm jealous," He said "I'd stay in there too if I were you."
Fred blinked and Conner jumped back, startled. Fred's eyes followed him. "Conner,"
Conner sat down and nodded. "Yeah, I'm Conner. You remembered." His heart was beating at an accelerated rate. Had she heard any of what he said?
"Conner," She stared at him, it was unnerving. Her brown eyes seemed to swallow him whole. "Conner," She said the word slower, like she was tasting it.
"Right, do you remember me?" Why did it matter?
"Conner," She spoke even slower this time.
"Yes," Conner was beginning to feel like he was in an asylum. He wasn't getting anywhere, she was just repeating his name. She probably didn't even know why. "You're not even there are you?" He asked "We go through all of this trouble to bring you back and you're not even there. Do you even know who you are?" She was silent. "Hello,"
"Hello,"
Conner rolled his eyes. "Yeah hi, how are you, my name's Conner." He mocked
"Conner," Not this again, "Fred,"
Conner jolted. "What?"
Fred pointed at him. "Conner," She pointed at herself. "Fred," She pointed behind him, towards the door. "Wesley," Conner spun around to see the ghost watching them.
"How long have you been there?" Conner demanded
"Long enough, please continue," Conner glared at the ghost, but when he looked at him he sensed not disapproval or surveillance, but hope and fear. Wesley wasn't watching Conner, he was watching Fred. Conner turned to look at Fred and then back at Wesley.
Fred recaptured his attention by speaking again. "Conner,"
"Yeah," He didn't expect her to actually say anything coherent.
Fred started humming and Conner was shocked by the tune. It was an Irish lullaby. He wasn't sure where he had heard it before. "Angel sang it to you when you were a baby." Wesley answered Conner's unasked question.
"Before you stole me away." Conner said
"Conner," Fred pointed at Conner. "Baby Conner,"
"I'm not a baby anymore." Conner said with a smile that snuck up on him
Fred shrieked and the two men were shocked, Conner almost fell out of his chair. "We have to find baby Conner." Fred said in terror "He got lost in a portal."
Wesley flinched. Conner couldn't quite suppress all pity for the man. "I came back Fred, I'm okay." Her eyes bugged out and she shook her head. "I'm right here." On an impulse he reached out and touched her shoulder. "I'm right here."
Fred reached out and poked Conner in the shoulder, hard. "Right here,"
"Ow, I mean yep." Conner said
Fred stood up and started to walk toward Wesley. He knew what she was going to do and backed away. "No Fred, you can't touch me."
Fred tilted her head and her face took on a look of deep sorrow. "Wesley's dead."
"I'm sorry." Wesley whispered
Fred began to hum again and the tune didn't so much pull at his heartstrings as it did rip them out bloody and warm. At that moment Anne returned with Teresa and Teresa began to sing the words that went with the tune Fred was humming. "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine."
…
"Nina!" Oz ran up to his fellow werewolf as she walked down the hall. "I've been looking for you." Nina wouldn't look at him. "I need to talk to you."
"So talk," Nina kept looking ahead.
"Is there any chance you might forgive me?" He asked
Nina almost stopped for a moment, but only almost. "I don't know."
"You mean a lot to me Nina." Oz said "I care about you."
"We have a connection." Nina remembered
"Yeah," Oz replied
"I'm not sure I want to be connected to you anymore." Nina said "Please stop following me." She picked up her pace and Oz stopped, respecting her wishes. Part of her wanted to forgive him right at that moment, but the other part couldn't forget her terror when he had transformed and she had been forced to follow suit or be devoured. They had been pulled to the hotel and seen those awful things, because he had been weak. She didn't know if she could forgive him for that. She didn't know if she could forgive him for letting her down.
…
Wesley slipped through the door and Faith found herself feeling a little queasy at the sight. "What's that like?" She asked "Does it feel funny?"
"It doesn't feel like anything." Wesley said, leaving out the fact that he could no longer feel from his explanation. There was no need to further upset Faith.
"So what's with the singing?" Faith asked
"I think Fred's starting to get better." Wesley said "She spoke a coherent statement."
"That's good." Faith said
"Faith," Wesley's voice was so quiet only Faith's advanced slayer senses allowed her to hear him. "I need to ask you for a favor."
"Anything," Faith told him
"Will you look after her? Will you make sure she makes it out of this?"
"If it costs me my life." Faith swore "I'll look after her Wes, I promise."
Wesley looked into her eyes and nothing else needed to be said. The two broken souls connected in a glance. They saw each other's sins and they accepted those horrors along with the happier moments. Faith reached out to touch him and stopped a centimeter from his face, remembering just in time that her hand would go right through him. "I'm sorry." She whispered
"Me to," Wesley said "I'm sorry I let you down."
…
Wesley walked into the Wolfram & Hart office and was frustrated by Harmony's excited waving and calling out. "Hey Wes!" She grinned "Any new conspiracies today?"
Wesley thought that soon just looking at Harmony would be enough to give him a headache, like Pavlov's dogs. "No Harmony, nothing is going on."
"Well that's boring." Harmony complained "How's Fred?"
Wesley almost jumped. "Why?"
"I mean is she okay? I want to know."
Wesley glared at the vampire. It was possible this was true, it was also possible Harmony had switched sides again and was pumping him for information. "Why is that?"
"Fred was really nice to me." Harmony said "Not like you guys." Her voice wasn't accusing, it was matter-of-fact and Wesley felt a little guilty.
"She's getting better." Wesley said
"Good," Harmony said "Maybe once she's all better you'll start coming to work more often. You're like never here." Harmony said
"Well I'm not exactly devoted to the cause." Wesley reminded Harmony
"But aren't you supposed to be spying on us and figuring out the scary lady's evil plans and like researching stuff and… stuff." Harmony said "You do the book thing."
"Right," Wesley said "I'm going to go do the book thing." He headed to his office in a foul mood. If there was one thought guaranteed to put Wesley in a temper it was that Harmony might be right. He had been slacking off, had been spending too much time with Fred.
"Don't beat yourself up lover-boy." The Wolf said as Wesley came through his office door. She sat seductively on Wesley's desk. "Love makes fools of all mortals."
"Thanks for the encouragement." Wesley said "What can I do for you?"
The Wolf put her head back and let the tip of her delicate pink tongue escape through her slightly different shade of pink lips. Her golden curls bounced up and down in the light. She looked like she was in the throes of deep sexual pleasure. "What can I do for you Wes?"
Wesley wondered what it was about him that attracted evil-doers.
"Your innate darkness," The Wolf answered his thought "Do you want to feel my power dead boy? Do you want to feel alive?" She lifted her head and batted her thick eyelashes.
"Not particularly, it would be a lie."
"But you had Illyria lie for you." The Wolf adjusted her legs so that her skirt rode up and revealed her thighs. "She offered you a lie as your parting gift, which you accepted."
"I wasn't in my right mind." Illyria, she had done that for him. She had cared about him and he had killed her. But to get Fred back it was worth it.
"We all make choices." The Wolf said "It is in death that we are in our most right mind, the choices we make then reveal the true us. You wanted her to lie to you. You used her, and when you could trade up you discarded her like a cheap whore."
"That's not what happened." Wesley said "Illyria was never meant for this world."
"But you taught her to be a part of it when it met your needs. You fashioned her to suit your needs just like you did Lilah. You made her into something you could bare to look at and then used her as a toy. You are drawn to these vulnerable women with low self-esteem that you can mold to your liking. You degrade them and make them feel like they deserve it." The Wolf lay back on his desk and stretched out her smooth arms. "Face it Wesley, you hate women."
"You're trying to get to me, it won't work." But it already was working and Wesley knew that she could see into his mind and discern this. He remembered the time Lilah had dressed up like Fred to tease him and he had been… aroused to say the least. Wesley wanted to deny that the Wolf's description fit Lilah, but the truth was she did have low self-esteem. She put on a hard exterior each day for work and went toe to toe with the big boys, but when she came home she was sad and alone. All of the horrible things they did together, Wesley wondered if she truly liked them or just felt like she deserved them. "I never meant to hurt her."
"We always hurt the ones we love. Angel can attest to that. Speaking of Angel," The Wolf opened her hand and a sliver of paper lay in her palm where one had not been before. "He's in a spot of trouble." The paper burst into flames. "That job you were supposed to be doing, the one related to your oh so brilliant deduction, how's that coming along?"
Wesley stared at the flame in her palm. "What did you do?"
"Why don't you go find out dead boy?" The demon asked "Unless you changed your mind about feeling alive?" She snickered as Wesley ran from the office and stopped right in front of Harmony's desk. The vampire was gone. She could see in his mind, see the wheels turning in that beautiful machine. He started running again, but it didn't matter how fast he ran, he wouldn't be able to do anything when he got to the abbey. It was too late.
…
Angel knocked on Conner's door, expecting that if he got a response at all it would be a negative one. The door opened and Conner glared at him. "So you've come to threaten me yourself instead of sending one of your goons this time?" Conner asked
"What are you- Gunn threatened you?" That wasn't helpful.
"Not exactly, but he wanted to have a serious talk, which is pretty much worse."
Angel sighed. "I just came to thank you for talking to Fred. You helped her."
"It was sort of an accident." But Conner looked a little proud of himself.
"Regardless, thank you. It means a lot to me that you care about her." Angel paused, mulling over his next words. "I'm sorry if I hurt you. That's the last thing in the world I wanted to do. I know you were friends with Illyria, but what she did to Fred- It doesn't matter now. The point it I want us to be good. I love you Conner."
Conner stood in the doorway, unsure of what to say, do, or even think. So many parts of him wanted to hate his father. So many wanted to love him. "I have two dads and no mom." This realization came from nowhere but Conner could think of nothing else to say. "I don't have any maternal figures in my life anymore." He thought about the mom he had known. "But that's not true, I'll always remember her. She'll always be there. My other mother, I only know what she looks like and the unflattering things Holtz said about her." Conner looked at Angel.
"You want me to tell you about your mother?" Angel asked
"Could- look out!" Angel ducked and a ball of fire grazed the side of his face. He turned around and sighed. He thought it would take longer for Harmony to betray them.
Something was happening. Angel felt as though he were being paralyzed, he couldn't move a muscle, but yet they were moving. He felt himself thrown to the back of his mind and locked in a room. He could see, he could see everything, but it was like TV, he was powerless to control anything. Conner flew across the room. Angel shouted, but there was no sound.
