The Collecting of Thoughts

[prodigalwatcher]

Even after she and then Cordelia had both left the office, after custodial services had cleared away the remnants of our feast, Fred's words regarding her unusual experiences so far this day stayed with me.

"Well, when I got here this morning, other than I visit to drop off some mail... I haven't seen anyone today, I mean any of ya'll. I went

Comments

[da_lilah]

A polite if somewhat pointed cough brought me back to my senses. I turned around to see a wizened, and yet stately older man standing with arms crossed in the doorway.

"Well, I have to admit, Wesley, you have at last caught me completely by surprise."

Judging from the man's british accent, and hawkish demeanor, I concluded that his had to be none other than Wesley's infamous father. Which of course was confirmed when Wesley transformed from an outraged lover into a bumbling son trying appease an unforgiving parent in the blink of an eye.

It was really quite remarkable to watch the proverbial train wreck as Wesley up-ended a stack of papers, and tried in vain to rescue the situation with a few nervous pleasantries. A part of me was very amused by it all. And another, deeper part of me, hidden and tucked away somewhere actually felt sorry for him. Wesley hadn't told me much about his father in our time together, but he hadn't needed to. I knew the signs. I'd seen how Wesley had turned out, knew what buttons to push to set him off. I'd caught a glimpse of the boy who'd been prodded and browbeaten into a shape fit to be a watcher.

"Father, this is Lilah Morgan, one of our liaisons here to the, ah, Senior Partners. Lilah Morgan, my father, Roger Wyndam-Pryce."

I put on my most charming and benign smile and held out my hand. I figured it was best to pretend that Roger hadn't witnessed the little altercation before. Fleetingly I wondered if would it make Wesley jealous if I flirted shamefully with his father.

"Mr Wyndam-Pryce. Well, this is an honor. Wesley's told me virtually nothing about you at all, and I can see why. I assumed you'd be much older, and less...commanding." I moved forward and spoke in a consipiratorial tone to him. "I know what you're thinking. Formerly evil law firm, vampire running the show, how could your son possibly be mixed up with all of this? I assure you, Roger, may I call you Roger? that Wesley is, and will always be, one of the good guys."

I darted a glance back at Wesley. Why was I doing this? Defending him? Normally I would have gleefully fanned the flames. Years of pent up bitterness, disappointment, resentment and failed expectations, all wrapped up in a nice neat father/son package, ready to be opened with the tug of a well placed barb from me.

But for some reason I couldn't do it. The expression on Wesley's face was one I'd never seen before. Hurt, lost, embarrassed...

"And actually, your timing is impeccable. I was just about to give Wesley my report on an important case he's been overseeing, that you might also have a vested interest in. Seeing how it's about one of yours..."

I turned to Wesley and hoped he'd catch on quickly enough to play along.

"We still haven't been able to identify the body, but we're working on it. All we know is that she claimed to be a watcher, and was in contact with Faith and Kennedy. Fred is down in the lab performing the autopsy as you requested, and I was just about to deliver her a sample of fluid from the Permanent Storage facility. So shall we go down and see what progress has been made?"