Looking over at Fred when she put on his shirt, he smiled at her remark that she would have to keep it. "Actually, I think you should keep it just because it looks much better on you than it does on me."
He then turned to his own clothes, stepping into his boxers and pulling them up. Looking at her feet before turning and looking at his closet, he nodded, knowing that she was right - he wouldn't have any shoes that fit her. The idea of having to carry her... He paused for a moment and smiled. "I'd carry you anywhere," he told her.
Once he had his jeans and shirt on, he found a dry pair of shoes and put them on with a pair of socks. "All right, I suppose we should head back."
Down at the main entrance to the building, he was about to turn and ask her if she wanted him to carry her from there when suddenly, she was on his back, her legs tight around his waist. He was both incredibly amused and somewhat turned on by her display, but given the fact that she was on his back, it made his want to pin her to the wall and snog her senseless a bit awkward.
So instead, he carried her out to his jeep and looked inside, suddenly wrinkling his nose when he realized the state the seats were in from when they had driven back here earlier.
"Just hang on to me a moment," he told her before going to the boot and pulling out the large roll of plastic sheeting he kept there for when they needed to do an emergency clean-up at a site. Quickly he rolled a few sheets over the seats and then turned to let Fred climb into the passenger seat.
"Remind me to have the car thoroughly cleaned later," he told her as he got behind the wheel.
Starting the car, he opened all the windows before heading for the Hyperion.
Fred hung on as Wesley fixed up his jeep so they wouldn't have to sit in the demon and sewer slime. She got in and gagged a little from the smell. Once Wesley had the jeep started, she rolled down the window and took in a few breaths of fresh air. "I will because it smells in here," she said, making a face.
Going over to the hotel helped air some of the smell out but Fred was happy to get out of the jeep. She didn't wait for Wesley to carry her in. Instead, she walked along the sidewalk, making sure not to step on anything. Unlocking the front door, Fred stepped in and looked over at Wesley. "I'm going to go get some clothes on," she said before going up the steps.
Once she was in here room, Fred pulled the sweatpants off and placed a pair of panties on before grabbing a pair of jeans. She looked down at Wesley's shirt and decided to keep it on. Fred then slipped a pair of sneakers on before pulling her hair back into a loose ponytail. She then left her room and went back downstairs.
"Has Angel..." She stopped when she saw Angel, Gunn and Lorne standing there. She walked over and stood by Wesley. "Did you take the job?"
"Fred, are you sure...?" He stood by the Jeep for a moment, watching as she made her way across the pavement and up the walkway to the hotel before he could go over to help her out. Then he looked over at his vehicle and sighed, perhaps he should take it to be cleaned before he took Fred anywhere else.
He followed her up to the hotel entrance and waited for a few moments so she could open the door to let them in. While she went upstairs to get changed, he went into the office and looked around, a bit uncertain what to do. The map from their search for Cordelia was still sitting out, which reminded him that they still didn't know what had happened to her. He walked over to check the messages on the phone before checking e-mail.
Just as he listened to a message from Faith and Willow telling them to watch the news when they had a chance and that they call them later, the front door opened, and Angel, Gunn and Lorne walked in. Wesley wasn't completely sure whether it was just his paranoia over all this, but they seemed...different somehow.
"Where's Fred?" Angel asked.
"Upstairs. She should be down momentarily," he told him as he walked over to the reception desk and leaned against it, just watching them.
"Don't you want to know--?"
"I think we can wait until Fred is here."
Just then, she came down the stairs and walked over to join Wesley. He put his arm around him when Angel answered her question, telling them the news that they hadn't wanted to hear but had known they were going to. He looked over at Fred, seeing her looking down at the ground, and sighed softly.
"We realized that we can do a lot of good," Angel told them. "They have resources we could never hope to have. And if you two want to join us, there's places for you."
Wesley shook his head. "That can't be the only reason. What about Connor and Cordelia?"
"They--Wolfram and Hart is helping them. Connor is getting a new home, a new life that I can never give him. Cordelia's getting medical care until they can figure out how to bring her out of her coma."
Wesley saw a haunted look in Angel's eyes and wondered what exactly had happened, but he decided not to ask, not sure if he could or if Angel would actually tell him, especially since he had...because of his own actions. "When--when do you...?"
"Soon. Are you sure you don't want to come with us? We really could use both of you. Their language guy is a joke, and the guy running their lab is a bit of a dweeb."
Fred listened to Angel talk and shook her head. None of this sounded right, especially when he said Wolfram and Hart was taking care of Cordy and Connor. And how was it that Connor got a 'new life'? She looked over at Wesley when he asked his question and then she looked at Angel. When he said soon, Fred sighed and shook her head.
"No," she said, stepping away from Wesley. "We aren't going with y'all. It's bad enough I've lost all of you already but I'm not going to lose Wesley too." Tears were threatening to fall and she looked at all of them. "How many times have all of us almost died for this cause Angel? And now you're walking away from it because you rather work for them?"
"Fred...you don't understand..." Angel said in a quiet voice.
"I do understand." She turned toward Wesley and took a deep breath. "I-I can't stay here and watch my family pack so Angel can lead them into the slaughter known as Wolfram and Hart. I'm going to pack up some of my stuff and then I want to go back to your place. You can talk to Angel about the agency."
And without another word, Fred turned and went up to her room.
Wesley had wanted to tell Angel no when he asked them again to come work at Wolfram and Hart. But Fred beat him to it, and at the sight of the tears in her eyes, he wanted to reach out and pull her to him, let her know that it was all right, that he refused to leave her.
But before he could say anything, she told him that she was going to go pack so she could stay with him for a while, then left the room. He watched her go before turning to Angel.
"Wes--."
"Don't, Angel," he told him. "Don't. Fred's right. This isn't right. This is Wolfram and Hart, the place we've spent years fighting against. The place, if you remember, spent quite a bit of time trying to either hurt, kidnap or kill Cordelia. And now you're trusting her and Connor to them?"
"I didn't have a choice," Angel said.
Wesley looked at him, wondering if that was supposed to be a dig at him and what had happened, but he didn't pursue it. They had made their decisions, for whatever the reasons were. He wasn't going to be blamed for what they decided to do, just like he didn't blame anyone else for the choices he had made.
"Whatever the reasons, you're going," he said with a shrug. "But Fred and I want to keep the agency running here at the hotel."
"The hotel's yours," Angel told him.
Wesley blinked. "Just like that?"
"I'll sign it over - you just take over the payments, and it's yours. At least I'll know this place is in good hands."
"Thank you. I...I should go see about Fred." He looked at his three friends. "Good luck."
Heading upstairs, he went to Fred's door and knocked gently. "Fred, love, it's me, may I come in?"
When Fred got to her room, she wanted to slam her door shut. She also wanted to scream and throw things around. How could Angel do this to all of them? How could he walk away from the real fight? She knew he was sure being at Wolfram and Hart was the right thing for them to do but Fred knew better. The firm had a way of pulling people in.
They were the ones that brought Darla back to taunt Angel, and they were the ones who helped change the prophecy that had changed Wesley's life. She knew this time wouldn't be any different, and it was obvious Angel had already made a deal or two since Connor now had a new home, and life.
Sighing, she pulled out a couple of boxes and started to throw things in them. When she heard the knock on her door, followed by Wesley's voice, she opened it and looked at him for a second before stepping out of the wall. Once he was inside, she shut the door and looked at him. "Can we leave now?" she quietly asked as more tears welled up in her eyes. "I don't want to be here, Wesley."
Fred then stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him as she buried her face against his chest.
Seeing the tears welling up in Fred's eyes, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close, not wanting to allow her to stay here any more than she did. Something had changed in their friends downstairs. Something profound, he could tell. And he didn't like it one bit.
"We can leave, but I still need to get the car cleaned out," he told her, remembering how bad the smell had been on the way over. He didn't want to subject Fred to that again. That or their sodden clothes still sitting on the bathroom floot at his flat.
He didn't want to stay here, however. Not until the Hyperion belonged to him and Fred, and the others were completely gone. That would take a few days, though.
"Tell you what, love. I know a service - quick, discreet and very good. They specialize in...clean-ups of the sort we're used to. I found them last year, and they've always been reliable. I'll call them and have them come get the Jeep and go to the flat." Leading her over to the bed, he sat her down, then joined her and picked up the phone on the stand. "Once I've set everything up, why don't we lock things up here, and then go for a walk somewhere? Maybe get something to eat?"
Fred pressed herself against Wesley, knowing he was all she really had left now. Lorne, Angel, and Gunn were all leaving for the firm, and Cordy was in some hospital being taken care of by their enemies. So when Wesley said he didn’t want to be there either and suggested they leave while he got his Jeep cleaned, she nodded.
She quietly sat there as he made his phone call. Looking over at her stuff, she got up and quickly finished packing before going to her closet door. “I have to put the stuff in it,” she told Wesley with a slight blush. “It’s kinda rigged because I didn’t want people in my stuff...old habit I guess.” She carefully unlocked it and loosened a wire no one else would’ve seen.
“It can cut your hand off,” Fred said, her blush growing. Once she had the door open, she placed her stuff inside before setting the wire again. She then locked the door and looked over at Wesley. “You probably think I’m weird, don’t you?”
The service was more than happy to come by and pick up the Jeep for a cleaning as well as go over to the flat to get rid of the clothes and make sure the bathroom was decontaminated. Considering what they charged, of course they would be. Once Wesley had set up the magic password with them to allow them access to the flat and the vehicle, he hung up the phone and looked over at Fred, seeing that she had finished her packing.
He watched as she disarmed the booby trap she had set on the door to the closet. She never ceased to amaze him with her ingenuity, and once again, he was struck by how much she had dealt with and lived through.
"I don't think you're weird," he told her, getting up from the bed and walking over to her, wrapping his arms around her. "I think you're absolutely brilliant. You've been through so much, and you're still here because you come up with things like that."
Leaning slightly, he gave her a long, gentle kiss, then pulled back and gave her a smile.
"Come on, love. Let's go take a walk and find something to eat. By the time we get back, the Jeep should be ready." He took her hand and lead her out of the room, downstairs to the lobby, where they found Lorne sitting alone. "Where are Gunn and Angel?"
"Gunn's upstairs, making some calls, I think. Angel had to leave, said he had some things he had to do. He left this for you, though."
Lorne handed him a folder of papers, which Wesley opened. It was the deed to the Hyperion and the mortgage papers.
Fred blushed and shook her head, "It's nothin' really. I just did it so people wouldn't get in my stuff when Jasmine was here because they were crawlin' all over the place," she said as she blushed and shrugged her shoulders. When he kissed her, Fred pressed herself against him, almost wanting more. Then he reminded her they were going out to have something to eat.
Taking his hand, Fred went downstairs with him and looked at the papers in the folder. The hotel would be there soon. She smiled a little and took the papers from his hand. "I'll put them away for you," she said, running up the stairs and placing the papers in the closet with the rest of her things. Fred then came back down and took Wesley's hand.
"Bye, Lorne," she said, looking over him.
"Goodbye, Fred," he quietly said. "And, hey, about time you two."
Fred smiled and led Wesley out of the hotel and out to the front sidewalk. "There's a diner about four blocks away from here. They have the best breakfast burritos I've ever had," she said, tugging on Wesley's hand.
While Fred hurried upstairs to lock up the papers for the time being, Wesley glanced over at Lorne. He wasn't sure what to say to the demon, especially since he knew that in a way, they were saying goodbye.
"You two finally...?" Lorne asked after a few moments of silence.
Wesley nodded. "Yes."
"I'm happy for you. I know how long you've--well, I've known. Take good care of her."
"I intend to. That's why we're not going with the rest of you," he told him.
All Lorne could do in response was nod. Just then, Fred returned to the lobby, and Wesley smiled at her, taking her hand in his and allowing her to lead him out of the hotel after she and Lorne had said goodbye.
"The diner sounds just fine, love," Wesley said, looking over at his Jeep and seeing that the service had just shown up to collect the vehicle for cleaning. He nodded to the man who looked over their way before turning his attention back to Fred and letting her lead him to the diner.
When they arrived, the breakfast rush was over, so there weren't very many other customers there. Wesley and Fred slipped into a circular booth in the corner, sitting next to each other.
"So you say the breakfast burritos are good?" he said as he picked up the menu and opened it so both of them could read it. "I don't think I've ever had one. Actually, I don't tend to have more than toast for breakfast usually."
Fred slid into the booth and sat close to Wesley. "They are. Just don't get the ones with the hot peppers on them or you'll have a stomachache for the rest of the day," she said as she remembered when she had made that mistake. She read the menu and her eyes lit up. "Waffle boats! They are so good. Waffles made to look like boats and they're filled with whipped cream and strawberries!"
She gave Wesley a grin and took a drink of the water the waitress had left for them on the table. "When I was little, and living in Texas, there was a diner in the town I lived in. On Sundays we would go there after church. And the waitress use to give me starburst mints, y'know, mints with the red stuff in them. Anyway, I would never eat them. Instead, I would put them in my little purse. Well, one day I remembered I had all of them so I sat in the barn and ate like twenty of them. I got so sick." She shook her head and looked at him again. "Diners remind me of mints and being sick, I suppose."
"Are you two ready to order?" the waitress asked as she came over to the table.
"I want one of the waffle boats with strawberries and a glass of orange juice," Fred said before she looked over at Wesley and waited for him to order.
He then turned to his own clothes, stepping into his boxers and pulling them up. Looking at her feet before turning and looking at his closet, he nodded, knowing that she was right - he wouldn't have any shoes that fit her. The idea of having to carry her... He paused for a moment and smiled. "I'd carry you anywhere," he told her.
Once he had his jeans and shirt on, he found a dry pair of shoes and put them on with a pair of socks. "All right, I suppose we should head back."
Down at the main entrance to the building, he was about to turn and ask her if she wanted him to carry her from there when suddenly, she was on his back, her legs tight around his waist. He was both incredibly amused and somewhat turned on by her display, but given the fact that she was on his back, it made his want to pin her to the wall and snog her senseless a bit awkward.
So instead, he carried her out to his jeep and looked inside, suddenly wrinkling his nose when he realized the state the seats were in from when they had driven back here earlier.
"Just hang on to me a moment," he told her before going to the boot and pulling out the large roll of plastic sheeting he kept there for when they needed to do an emergency clean-up at a site. Quickly he rolled a few sheets over the seats and then turned to let Fred climb into the passenger seat.
"Remind me to have the car thoroughly cleaned later," he told her as he got behind the wheel.
Starting the car, he opened all the windows before heading for the Hyperion.
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Going over to the hotel helped air some of the smell out but Fred was happy to get out of the jeep. She didn't wait for Wesley to carry her in. Instead, she walked along the sidewalk, making sure not to step on anything. Unlocking the front door, Fred stepped in and looked over at Wesley. "I'm going to go get some clothes on," she said before going up the steps.
Once she was in here room, Fred pulled the sweatpants off and placed a pair of panties on before grabbing a pair of jeans. She looked down at Wesley's shirt and decided to keep it on. Fred then slipped a pair of sneakers on before pulling her hair back into a loose ponytail. She then left her room and went back downstairs.
"Has Angel..." She stopped when she saw Angel, Gunn and Lorne standing there. She walked over and stood by Wesley. "Did you take the job?"
"Yes," Angel said.
Fred sighed and looked down at the ground.
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He followed her up to the hotel entrance and waited for a few moments so she could open the door to let them in. While she went upstairs to get changed, he went into the office and looked around, a bit uncertain what to do. The map from their search for Cordelia was still sitting out, which reminded him that they still didn't know what had happened to her. He walked over to check the messages on the phone before checking e-mail.
Just as he listened to a message from Faith and Willow telling them to watch the news when they had a chance and that they call them later, the front door opened, and Angel, Gunn and Lorne walked in. Wesley wasn't completely sure whether it was just his paranoia over all this, but they seemed...different somehow.
"Where's Fred?" Angel asked.
"Upstairs. She should be down momentarily," he told him as he walked over to the reception desk and leaned against it, just watching them.
"Don't you want to know--?"
"I think we can wait until Fred is here."
Just then, she came down the stairs and walked over to join Wesley. He put his arm around him when Angel answered her question, telling them the news that they hadn't wanted to hear but had known they were going to. He looked over at Fred, seeing her looking down at the ground, and sighed softly.
"We realized that we can do a lot of good," Angel told them. "They have resources we could never hope to have. And if you two want to join us, there's places for you."
Wesley shook his head. "That can't be the only reason. What about Connor and Cordelia?"
"They--Wolfram and Hart is helping them. Connor is getting a new home, a new life that I can never give him. Cordelia's getting medical care until they can figure out how to bring her out of her coma."
Wesley saw a haunted look in Angel's eyes and wondered what exactly had happened, but he decided not to ask, not sure if he could or if Angel would actually tell him, especially since he had...because of his own actions. "When--when do you...?"
"Soon. Are you sure you don't want to come with us? We really could use both of you. Their language guy is a joke, and the guy running their lab is a bit of a dweeb."
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"No," she said, stepping away from Wesley. "We aren't going with y'all. It's bad enough I've lost all of you already but I'm not going to lose Wesley too." Tears were threatening to fall and she looked at all of them. "How many times have all of us almost died for this cause Angel? And now you're walking away from it because you rather work for them?"
"Fred...you don't understand..." Angel said in a quiet voice.
"I do understand." She turned toward Wesley and took a deep breath. "I-I can't stay here and watch my family pack so Angel can lead them into the slaughter known as Wolfram and Hart. I'm going to pack up some of my stuff and then I want to go back to your place. You can talk to Angel about the agency."
And without another word, Fred turned and went up to her room.
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But before he could say anything, she told him that she was going to go pack so she could stay with him for a while, then left the room. He watched her go before turning to Angel.
"Wes--."
"Don't, Angel," he told him. "Don't. Fred's right. This isn't right. This is Wolfram and Hart, the place we've spent years fighting against. The place, if you remember, spent quite a bit of time trying to either hurt, kidnap or kill Cordelia. And now you're trusting her and Connor to them?"
"I didn't have a choice," Angel said.
Wesley looked at him, wondering if that was supposed to be a dig at him and what had happened, but he didn't pursue it. They had made their decisions, for whatever the reasons were. He wasn't going to be blamed for what they decided to do, just like he didn't blame anyone else for the choices he had made.
"Whatever the reasons, you're going," he said with a shrug. "But Fred and I want to keep the agency running here at the hotel."
"The hotel's yours," Angel told him.
Wesley blinked. "Just like that?"
"I'll sign it over - you just take over the payments, and it's yours. At least I'll know this place is in good hands."
"Thank you. I...I should go see about Fred." He looked at his three friends. "Good luck."
Heading upstairs, he went to Fred's door and knocked gently. "Fred, love, it's me, may I come in?"
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They were the ones that brought Darla back to taunt Angel, and they were the ones who helped change the prophecy that had changed Wesley's life. She knew this time wouldn't be any different, and it was obvious Angel had already made a deal or two since Connor now had a new home, and life.
Sighing, she pulled out a couple of boxes and started to throw things in them. When she heard the knock on her door, followed by Wesley's voice, she opened it and looked at him for a second before stepping out of the wall. Once he was inside, she shut the door and looked at him. "Can we leave now?" she quietly asked as more tears welled up in her eyes. "I don't want to be here, Wesley."
Fred then stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him as she buried her face against his chest.
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"We can leave, but I still need to get the car cleaned out," he told her, remembering how bad the smell had been on the way over. He didn't want to subject Fred to that again. That or their sodden clothes still sitting on the bathroom floot at his flat.
He didn't want to stay here, however. Not until the Hyperion belonged to him and Fred, and the others were completely gone. That would take a few days, though.
"Tell you what, love. I know a service - quick, discreet and very good. They specialize in...clean-ups of the sort we're used to. I found them last year, and they've always been reliable. I'll call them and have them come get the Jeep and go to the flat." Leading her over to the bed, he sat her down, then joined her and picked up the phone on the stand. "Once I've set everything up, why don't we lock things up here, and then go for a walk somewhere? Maybe get something to eat?"
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She quietly sat there as he made his phone call. Looking over at her stuff, she got up and quickly finished packing before going to her closet door. “I have to put the stuff in it,” she told Wesley with a slight blush. “It’s kinda rigged because I didn’t want people in my stuff...old habit I guess.” She carefully unlocked it and loosened a wire no one else would’ve seen.
“It can cut your hand off,” Fred said, her blush growing. Once she had the door open, she placed her stuff inside before setting the wire again. She then locked the door and looked over at Wesley. “You probably think I’m weird, don’t you?”
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He watched as she disarmed the booby trap she had set on the door to the closet. She never ceased to amaze him with her ingenuity, and once again, he was struck by how much she had dealt with and lived through.
"I don't think you're weird," he told her, getting up from the bed and walking over to her, wrapping his arms around her. "I think you're absolutely brilliant. You've been through so much, and you're still here because you come up with things like that."
Leaning slightly, he gave her a long, gentle kiss, then pulled back and gave her a smile.
"Come on, love. Let's go take a walk and find something to eat. By the time we get back, the Jeep should be ready." He took her hand and lead her out of the room, downstairs to the lobby, where they found Lorne sitting alone. "Where are Gunn and Angel?"
"Gunn's upstairs, making some calls, I think. Angel had to leave, said he had some things he had to do. He left this for you, though."
Lorne handed him a folder of papers, which Wesley opened. It was the deed to the Hyperion and the mortgage papers.
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Taking his hand, Fred went downstairs with him and looked at the papers in the folder. The hotel would be there soon. She smiled a little and took the papers from his hand. "I'll put them away for you," she said, running up the stairs and placing the papers in the closet with the rest of her things. Fred then came back down and took Wesley's hand.
"Bye, Lorne," she said, looking over him.
"Goodbye, Fred," he quietly said. "And, hey, about time you two."
Fred smiled and led Wesley out of the hotel and out to the front sidewalk. "There's a diner about four blocks away from here. They have the best breakfast burritos I've ever had," she said, tugging on Wesley's hand.
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"You two finally...?" Lorne asked after a few moments of silence.
Wesley nodded. "Yes."
"I'm happy for you. I know how long you've--well, I've known. Take good care of her."
"I intend to. That's why we're not going with the rest of you," he told him.
All Lorne could do in response was nod. Just then, Fred returned to the lobby, and Wesley smiled at her, taking her hand in his and allowing her to lead him out of the hotel after she and Lorne had said goodbye.
"The diner sounds just fine, love," Wesley said, looking over at his Jeep and seeing that the service had just shown up to collect the vehicle for cleaning. He nodded to the man who looked over their way before turning his attention back to Fred and letting her lead him to the diner.
When they arrived, the breakfast rush was over, so there weren't very many other customers there. Wesley and Fred slipped into a circular booth in the corner, sitting next to each other.
"So you say the breakfast burritos are good?" he said as he picked up the menu and opened it so both of them could read it. "I don't think I've ever had one. Actually, I don't tend to have more than toast for breakfast usually."
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She gave Wesley a grin and took a drink of the water the waitress had left for them on the table. "When I was little, and living in Texas, there was a diner in the town I lived in. On Sundays we would go there after church. And the waitress use to give me starburst mints, y'know, mints with the red stuff in them. Anyway, I would never eat them. Instead, I would put them in my little purse. Well, one day I remembered I had all of them so I sat in the barn and ate like twenty of them. I got so sick." She shook her head and looked at him again. "Diners remind me of mints and being sick, I suppose."
"Are you two ready to order?" the waitress asked as she came over to the table.
"I want one of the waffle boats with strawberries and a glass of orange juice," Fred said before she looked over at Wesley and waited for him to order.
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