Chapter Three

Lilah stayed longer than usual. It wasn’t really all that long for what they were doing, but it wasn’t like they had much to talk about. A little repartee, a veiled suggestion that Wolfram & Hart was his only option, and then right down to the fucking.

It was an ugly word, but Wes thought it suited. There was nothing tender or comforting about it. He thought, wistfully, of Virginia, and wondered how it was they had drifted apart.

He refused to think of Fred.

Lilah pressed a goodbye kiss to his cheek and tapped his jaw. “Don’t forget about me,” she reminded him with the coyness she had displayed surprisingly often of late.

“Never,” he assured her with no sincerity at all.

As he turned from shutting Lilah out, he wasn’t surprised to see Faith standing there. It couldn’t have been fun, listening to him and Lilah.

Couldn’t have been helped, though.

“What the hell was that about?” Faith spat, her whole face red.

“Business as usual,” Wesley said with a shrug.

“Business as usual is sleeping with Reptilica?” demanded Faith in disbelief. She would have given hundred to one odds that Wes hadn’t gotten laid in … ever, and it turned out he was tagging Viper Woman? Unreal!

And it sounded like he knew exactly what he was doing, a little voice inside her said. She ignored it. Her little voice was, and always had been, full of shit. “I thought you said you told her no way?!”

“I said I rejected her invitation to join Wolfram & Hart. I didn’t say I rejected everything,” Wes returned evenly.

Wes had taken Lilah into the bedroom so the sound had been muffled, but Faith had heard it clear enough. She’d been furious to find herself becoming aroused as she crouched in the dank little closet, nipples hardening even as she’d sworn under her breath. Yeah, Wesley was out there getting some while she was trapped in a closet—she couldn’t even get herself off for fear she might make too much noise and Lilah would find her while she was preoccupied.

Yeah, it would have sucked all right, just not in a good way.

“Jeez, Wes, if you were so desperate, why didn’t you tell me? I haven’t had any touch in awhile, we could have scratched each other’s itches,” she jeered, dropping down onto the couch and sprawling suggestively. She had no idea what was wrong with her, but she felt irritation riding her like a Hell’s Angel just out on parole. “Come on, what’s she got that I haven’t got?”

“Faith—”

“You know, I think I’d be more careful if I were you,” she continued, toying with the button on her jeans. She did it casually, as if she didn’t know it riveted his attention to the spot. “I mean, you don’t know where she’s been.”

Then suddenly Wes was leaning over her, his face inches from hers, pushing his hand between her legs. “Is this better, Faith?” he asked curtly, massaging her roughly through her jeans. “I wouldn’t want you to feel neglected.”

Faith’s jaw dropped in shock. She couldn’t believe he was touching her like this—Wes—“God,” she muttered, her eyes drifting shut. She wasn’t wearing panties, and the denim rubbed against her tender skin like it was the nasty stubble on his face. Almost. Almost—

Wes began to pull back, feeling angry and guilty and resentful. What kind of a man was he? What kind of a person would—

“Don’t stop,” Faith said gutturally, grabbing his wrist and pressing his hand against her again. His eyes flared in surprise, and she thought he was going to pull away.

But he didn’t. Instead he spread his hand over her, making her gasp by squeezing briefly before insinuating one finger flat against her pussy and nudging it against her. “Harder!” she gasped, bucking against his hand.

He obeyed, rubbing against the barely-giving denim. Without warning she grabbed his hand, directing his movements, before she came with a shriek. It hadn’t taken much, she thought, dazed.

And it had taken Wes.

~*~*~*~

He disappeared into the bedroom and locked the door behind him. She probably imagined he was in there masturbating—which was, admittedly, true—but mostly he was upset. No, not upset: Angry. Unreasonably, almost unbearably angry.

When he came out of the bedroom, she was gone.

~*~*~*~

Faith didn’t return that night, or the one after that. Wesley was tempted to go after her, but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to find her until she wanted him to. She was experienced at hiding.

After a few days he resumed their routine of patrolling, only it was now a patrol of one. It seemed odd, but he thought he had to do something. It felt empty and pointless, but he persevered.

He hadn’t had much luck when she surprised him.

“I guess now I have my answer,” she said behind him. Wes swung around and there was Lilah, shaking her head as if disappointed.

“What answer?”

“About how far gone you are. You wouldn’t have let her go if some little part of you wasn’t still suffering from a good-guy complex. It’s a pity, really. You had potential, but then pow, you let her go. I’ve got to say, I’m disappointed in you.”

“You knew?” asked Wes in surprise. “Knew I took her?”

“Of course I knew,” she told him with malicious pleasure. “I arranged it.”

“You went to all that trouble … for what? Why would you do such a thing, there was no benefit to you,” he protested.

Lilah looked amused. Business as usual, Wes thought, feeling queasy. “Of course there was a benefit—it gave me an answer. If you killed her, or tortured her, or made her your plaything, I knew you were ready for Wolfram & Hart. And if it didn’t work, there was a Slayer out there, aligned with you. And in case you missed it, you’re in opposition to Angel. Face it, Wes,” she added, “it was a win-win situation … as long as you’re me.”

“You were toying with me,” he muttered, mostly to himself.

Lilah burst out laughing. “Come on, Wes—evil, remember? And surprise, surprise, she left you—just like the rest of them.”

“She didn’t leave, I let her go,” Wesley mumbled.

“Sure, tiger—and now you’re in the exact same spot you were a few weeks ago. All alone, just your books to keep you company—”

“Don’t you ever get tired of hearing yourself talk?” Faith asked from the mouth of the alley.

Lilah started slightly. If Wes hadn’t been so surprised by Faith’s sudden appearance, he might have been amused. It felt good to get a little back at Lilah. Very little, considering how thoroughly she’d played him, but he’d take his petty pleasures where he could.

Faith didn’t look at him. She kept her eyes on Lilah as she stalked towards her. “Hey, remember what I did to your friend’s head with a table? I’m actually a lot more pissed at you right now, so imagine what I could do to your head with a brick wall.”

Lilah darted a look to Wes, as if to evaluate the likelihood of his protecting her against Faith. She didn’t move to him, so apparently she found him lacking, thought Wes with a tinge of amusement. “I can have my men here in seconds,” she warned Faith, her voice trembling slightly.

Faith laughed. “Not before I—”

“Let her go,” cut in Wes. Faith sent him an angry, disbelieving look, but didn’t continue. He nodded to Lilah and she hastened out of the alley, carefully avoiding meeting Faith’s eyes.

It didn’t matter. Faith wasn’t looking at her. She hadn’t taken her burning gaze off Wesley.

For a few moments they listened to the click of Lilah’s heels grow fainter, and then Faith could wait no more. “Now you’re protecting her?” Faith demanded.

“I’m protecting you,” he snapped. “You turned yourself into the police for a reason, didn’t you?”

“Well, yeah—”

“Do you want to throw all that away?”

Faith was silent for a moment. Lilah shouldn’t count, should she? She was the scum of the earth, even if she was human. She couldn’t count, no way.

But Faith kind of had the feeling that thinking those things wouldn’t lead her anyplace good. “No,” she said reluctantly.

“I don’t want you to either,” said Wes softly.

Faith glanced away. It had been so long since anybody been like that with her—ever, she corrected herself. It was the first time some one had ever been like that with her. Angel—Angel had been saving his soul when he took care of her. Wes didn’t owe her anything; she owed him, and she didn’t think there was any way to make it right.

Maybe she didn’t even want to. This way, there was a connection between them. It may not have been nice, or pretty, but it was real.

“So what now?” she asked, trying desperately not to sound like she cared.

He shrugged. “Now I go home.”

He thought there might have been a flash of hurt across her face, but she covered it quickly. She had practice, after all. “Are you coming?”

He didn’t wait for an answer, but passed her and started down the street. A moment later she fell in beside him. She didn’t say anything.