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Willow crept slowly from the bed, smiling while she pulled on Angel's robe. Her Mates were exhausted and sleeping like... well, like the dead, actually, which was made even *more* amusing by the fact that only one of them *was* dead. Still, her Angel was pretty damned lively for someone without a heart beat. "I'll be right back, guys," she whispered into the still air, knowing they'd hear her even through their slumber. She stepped out into the hall, gently closing the door behind her.

Her smile faded slightly as she followed the tugging sense of *wrongness* that had woken her, and she wasn't even slightly surprised to find herself outside a never-used room at the very end of the hallway. She sighed softly before pushing the door open. "Wesley." she greeted the former watcher who-- she'd been told-- had tried to kill her in an effort to negate the Mating between her, Angel, and Liam.

She stared sadly at the bound and gagged man, pity rising within her for the wild look in his eyes. She'd never seen him this way before, and the idea that her happiness with her Mates had driven him to such a state was almost more than she could bear! Still, she reminded herself, she'd been given the opportunity to *change* that. "Love and truth," she murmured quietly, drawing strength from the words as she stepped closer, "Love and truth..." She reached out, with both hand and mind, and forced herself not to scream as she entered his psychosis.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

She hadn't really wanted to get out of bed, but eventually she'd *had* to, seeing as it was the only way she could get any *rest*! A sly smile plastered itself to her lips, and her eyes glazed over, remembering the way Spike hadn't seemed able to stop touching her for more than a minute at a time. Not that she'd minded, but she was only *human*, after all! None the less, when he'd eventually drifted off, she'd taken the opportunity to come down to the lobby. She glanced quickly towards the main staircase, knowing somehow that he was on his way down.

He'd *hated* waking up alone; just purely *hated* *it*! And it shouldn't have happened, he told himself, growling. The girl was his *Mate*, after all, so... what the bloody *hell* had she been *thinking*? His eyes locked on her the moment she was visible, and he practically flew down the rest of the stairs, not stopping until he was standing beside her. He spun her chair quickly, and pulled her from it, pressing himself hard against her warm, toned body. He growled again, holding her brown eyes with his own golden ones, and slammed his lips hard against hers. "Don't do that again," he ordered, when he finally let her mouth free.

Cordelia's hands dug hard into his ass, pressing his groin against her soft belly. "You were asleep," she purred teasingly, "And I was *bored*!" She grinned just a bit wickedly before pushing him away and sitting back down. "Besides, you *did* tell Angel we'd take care of the business, you know..."

Spike chuckled slightly, his anger thoroughly dissipated by being in her presence once more. "Bored, pet?" he smirked silkily, "More like *sore*, I think, hmmm...?" He laughed out loud, delighted, when she blushed. "Yeah," he continued, the fingers of one hand tangling lightly in her lustrous hair, "I guess you *would* be..." His other hand slid slowly up her arm before coming to rest lightly on the bite he'd given her, and he smirked again at her sudden gasp. "Maybe we can *fix* that, love," he murmured, bending down just enough that his lips tickled her ear, "Make you... *less* sore..." His eyes closed in satisfaction when she lifted her hand above and behind her head and her fingers came to rest on the back of his neck. "Love you, Cordy," he said softly, only then realizing that he hadn't said it yet, "Love you, pet..." His eyes flashed at the intensified wave of arousal flowing from her, and he pulled away, a sly smile on his face. "But if you want to stay down here and *work*, I suppose I shouldn't stop you..."

"Bastard!" she cried at his retreating back, just before leaping from her chair and chasing after him. She suddenly found herself in his arms again, his glittering golden eyes only inches from hers.

"And you *love* it," Spike said, lifting her quickly and starting back up the stairs. They'd have to talk about their living arrangements, but... not yet.
Her arms wrapped gently around his neck, and she licked swiftly at the spot he'd bled for her from before replying. "No, Spike, but I *do* love *you*, so I guess I'll just have to deal!"

Gunn rolled his eyes from the door of Angel's office as he watched the girl he *still* called 'Barbie' on a regular basis being carried up the stairs by the *other* resident vampire. "Damn," he said softly, "Doesn't anybody *work* around here?" He shook his head and went to sit down at Cordelia's desk. After all, *somebody* had to man the phones...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Wesley's mind was a scary place, but she could tell, from the small flashes of bright light, that it hadn't always been so. She traveled swiftly, never stopping for long, and gathered all those flashes to her, collecting them into one compact ball. She frowned slightly at the almost overwhelming darkness left behind, and anchored her colorful globe of brilliance before diving into one of the slowly swirling pools of dark purple and blue.

A small scream slipped from her when she saw what had started his descent. "Oh, you're *very* clever," she said coldly to the spider-ish looking thing that was attached on the the wall of the small compartment, "Hiding in here, feeding his fears until they took over... It was a nice try," she admitted, a sharp lance of green fire springing from her fingertip and burning the thing until not even ash was left. "But it wasn't good *enough*!" She watched, satisfied, as the darkness she stood in began to fade, and she stepped back, letting the light assume its natural place.

Willow sighed softly, and moved on to the next blob of inky blackness, and the next, and the next, burning away the obscene imps without fail, and finally, when all that was left was the original inherent goodness of the man she called 'friend', she released the original globe and stood back, smiling as it dispersed howsoever it would. "Love and truth," she said again, slipping from his mind back into her own.

She was surprised to find that she was shaking, but it hadn't been an easy process, she reminded herself. Not for her, and *especially* not for Wesley. She wished she could have removed at least some of the memories of what he'd done while he was... unwell... but that was neither her right nor her privilege, and she supposed it was actually for the best. There was no way to ward him from the creatures who'd infested him, and if he remembered everything, he might recognize the symptoms if it started happening again. "Wes...?" she said softly, meeting his eyes. He was looking at her as though he wasn't sure of whether to laugh or cry, and as she bent down, releasing the gag, he apparently decided on the crying.

Tears poured down his cheeks even as she untied him. He couldn't believe that he'd actually tried to kill this girl who had been a friend to him since the day she'd arrived in Los Angeles, but he *had*, and he had no idea of how to make that up to her, or if that was even *possible*! But he'd try... if she'd *let* him. He was afraid to even hug her after what he'd done, but the decision was taken from him when her knees buckled. A small shout of surprise burst from his lips, and he forced his protesting muscles-- sore from being bound in the same position for more than a day-- to move, and he sighed in relief when he managed to catch her before she hit the floor.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

It was the absence of a small warm body beside him that woke him from his sleep. Well, that and the fact that there was only one heart beat where there should have been two. Sleep-blurred eyes blinked quickly, and he sat up, glancing around. A sly, slumber-tinged smile crossed his lips, and he nudged gently at the *other* warm body-- the one that was still where it was supposed to be. "Our Mate seems to have wandered off," he explained to Liam, his grin growing wider when the human matched it, "Why don't we see about finding her...?"

Liam chuckled softly, all thoughts of sleep banished from his mind as he climbed from the bed and pulled on the slacks he found on the floor on *his* side of it. "Oh, *good*," he almost purred, his eyes twinkling merrily, "A *hunt*... haven't been on one of *those* in a while..." He continued to laugh softly, following the similarly clad form of his vampiric-self from the room. His amusement lasted only as long as Angel's though, which was until they realized just where their search was taking them.

Angel turned suddenly gold-tinged eyes to his Mate. "If he's hurt her, I'll kill him," he said seriously.

The human nodded his agreement, but... "I don't see how he could have; he's all tied up and everything."

The vampire's hand slid slowly around the door knob, and he flung it open, growling at the sight of Wesley holding the limp, subdued body of his other Mate. "Let her *go*," he demanded, wanting nothing more than to twist the bastard's head from his shoulders, "*Now*!" He felt Liam right behind him, and knew the human was glaring balefully at the former watcher, as well.

Wesley's eyes widened as he realized what they must look like, especially after what had happened the previous day, and he slowly-- carefully-- lay the girl down on the bed. He stretched his hands out to either side of him, palms open and facing the Mates of the one he'd tried to kill. That was when he found himself somehow face down on the dusty floorboards, both arms held behind his back. "Liam," he started, noticing the warmth of the body pinning him, "I didn't..."

"*Shut* *up*," Liam hissed. "If she's hurt, you're *dead*; *got* *that*?" He pressed his knee harder into the asshole's back, and waited as patiently as he could for Angel to speak.

For his part, Angel was swiftly running his hands over their girl's body, paying careful attention to the steady sound of her heart beating. He was doubly careful while checking her head, hoping the damned fool hadn't somehow managed to concuss his Willow. It wasn't until he went to check her pupils that he realized... not only was Willow *awake*, but she was looking at him as though he'd lost his mind. "Willow...?" he said softly, all his relief in his voice.

The redhead cocked one eyebrow at her confused Mate. "Can I help you with something?" she teased lightly, trying to wipe the worry from his face with her tone, "Or did you find whatever it is you're looking for...?" She grinned into his almost breathless laugh, and turned her eyes to the two men on the floor. "And Liam. Would you mind letting Wesley up...? He's better now." She pushed her vampire away for just long enough to get to her feet, then wrapped one slender arm around his waist. "So..." she continued, tentatively, "I guess you guys... missed me...?" Her reply came in the form of suddenly being crushed between two very large, hard bodies, and she gasped for a moment, until she not only realized that they'd been *scared*, but also *why*. "It's okay," she managed to squeeze from her oxygen-deprived lungs, "I didn't untie him until I was *sure*... eeep..."

It wasn't until he heard the small squeak coming from her throat that he realized just how tightly he and Liam were holding her, and he loosened his arms just a bit, satisfied when he heard her swiftly indrawn breath. Still, she'd said...

"Sure of *what*, Will?" Liam asked quickly, well aware of the fact that he'd barely beaten Angel to the question. "And how can he be *better*?"

The witch sighed, wrapping an arm around each of them. "Thobian Imps," she said shortly, "And I didn't release him until I was sure I'd gotten them all, but I *did*, and..." She shrugged, glancing at the Englishman who was staring fixedly at the floor, shoulders slumped with shame. "He's clean." she finished, "It wasn't really *him*."

Angel thought about that for a moment before nodding tightly. "All right," he said curtly, staring at the once again sane man, "I suppose I'll have to accept that." He glanced quickly at his human-self, the look in his eyes stopping the other man's words. "But we should keep him here for a while, just to be sure." He nodded again when Liam relaxed slightly. Neither of them would take the chance that Wesley might try to hurt their Mate again. It would be easier, they agreed silently, if they had the man where they could keep an eye on him. He was also a bit concerned that Willow had been weak enough to collapse, but... she seemed to have recovered quickly enough... Still, he and Liam would have to make it clear that she wasn't to *risk* herself that way. If anything happened to her, he'd... he didn't know *what* he'd do, but it wouldn't be pleasant.

Willow carefully held in an amused snort. She could tell what they were thinking, and they were being ridiculous! Of course, they'd figure that out for themselves, eventually, and... She somehow had the feeling that Wes would feel better if he knew he was being watched for any signs of reverting to the crazed being he'd become. A quick glance at the former watcher proved her right. "He can stay in my old room," she volunteered, "Or Liam's." She deliberately ignored the oh-so-speaking glances her Mates were giving her; she'd explain what she'd done-- and *how*-- after Wesley was settled in.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Sionelle joined her brother at the scrying pool, a swift smile crossing her lips when she saw what he'd been watching. "She chose well, I take it," she murmured, sitting down by his side, fingers dangling almost motionlessly in the water.

"Yes," Mathry admitted, still surprised by the girl's shouted decisions. "This one will last a *very* long time, I think. The Powers chose better than I believe even *they* knew." A smile matching that of his sister's softened his normally grave face. "Love and truth," he said, in answer to her unspoken question, "Not any of the others, either; just those *two*! Love... and truth...!"

The female nodded slowly. "And you're puzzled by that," she interpreted correctly, "But you *shouldn't* be, Brother. The witch has her Mates; they will *always* be foremost in her mind and heart." She stood quickly, and allowed her visible form to dissolve, glad she'd managed it before he saw the sly smirk on her face.

It took him a moment, but when he finally got it, he laughed loud and long. "Well," he muttered to himself, still amused, "That explains *that*!" He'd been wondering why she'd used Liam's heart when they'd made him Eternal again; he thought he might have the answer now. Still, while the redhead's choices had made her more powerful than he'd dared to hope... It wasn't an easy path she'd travel; not even with her Mates by her side. But she had a *much* better chance than he'd thought, and he contented himself with that knowledge, even as he faded his own form.

End.
 

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