FIC: 5 POV ficlets for Wesley/Lilah
Title: Binary: Purgatory’s Love Story
Author: houses
Pairing: Wesley/Lilah
Notes: The following five POV ficlets/drabbles are presented in chronological order, all set during Season 4 of AtS except for Illyria’s drabble. Her POV is set at the very end of S5 and references Fred. The order is as follows: Cordelia, Angel, Lorne, The Senior Partners, and Illyria.
Dedication: For empressvesica's Birthday!
Title: Bullseye
POV: Cordy
Timeline: Early S4
You have got to be kidding me. Has he lost his little English mind? What does he think he’s doing? With her!
Okay.
Deep breaths.
Maybe this is a mirage and my sooperdooper secret spying from the clouds thing is broken.
Wesley cannot be getting it on with Lilah.
That’s, like, against the rules!
Angel! Where is your sorry vampire ass! How could you let this happen?
Oh, this is all your fault. It has to be. Angel? Angel!!
Right. He can’t hear me.
Ew.
And apparently neither can they. Lilah get your skanky ass off my Watcher! Oh, hell no. He is not putting that there. That’s…that’s…whoa. Obviously I’ve seriously underestimated Wesley’s skill with a pair of handcuffs.
No. This is not happening. What is wrong with you two?
I swear, if I ever get out of this cloud-filled nightmare, I am going to come kick your sorry lawyer-y ass, Lilah. Just you wait. Nobody puts the evil moves on my watcher.
Title: Patchwork
POV: Angel
Timeline: Mid S4
When Angel first realized that Lilah was obsessed with Wesley, he thought it could be useful. When he first realized that Wesley was obsessed with Lilah, he was undone.
He screamed in silent rage, drowned in guilt, and wondered if this was the inevitable outcome of Wesley’s betrayal. That he should slide into the grasp of that woman with nary a backwards glance? One slip of trust and Wesley condemned himself to her?
In Lilah’s careful, calculating arms, Angel knew Wesley had finally come unraveled.
And was it Angel’s fault, the quiet voice inside murmured. Yes, if he had only understood what Wesley had done, had forgiven him, then Wesley would not seek comfort in Lilah’s arms. The man was broken, a mere shell of his former self. That could be the only explanation.
Angel ignored Angelus’s chivvying, as he usually tried to do, and thought about what would become of Wesley.
And whether it was Angel’s responsibility to care.
Title: Misgivings
POV: Lorne
Timeline: Mid/End S4
If Lorne had any inkling that the tremors he’d felt in Wesley’s future would lead the former Watcher to this, to her, he would have downed a gallon of Seabreeze and clubbed Wesley over the head with a bar stool. Sure, the man had some lurking darkness in him, but show Lorne a patron who didn’t. They all had something under their skin or they wouldn’t have come to him, warbling all sorts of awful melodies in an attempt to fix what was ever going wrong in their tiny little lives.
Wesley had been no different, a bit more scattered perhaps, but nothing that would have alerted Lorne to such a catastrophic fall from grace. To steal Connor and betray the people Wesley called family was bad enough, but to run into Lilah’s waiting arms? That viper? Lorne never saw it coming.
Which is pretty sad for a guy who can see the future every once in a while.
Back when Wesley first fumbled into his world, Lorne saw the shades of shadow in his truly awful rendition of Lady Marmalade, but chalked most of it up to his choice in song, not his future path. That Wesley was both stronger and more fragile than Angel gave him credit for was a given.
Hidden depths, that one.
But not in a million years did Lorne think Wesley would shack up with the woman who drilled a hole in his head. Sure, the woman knew a thing or two about shiny, perfect hair, and how to work her Bruno Maglis to the best long-legged effect, but talk about a bitch with an ice pick.
Title: Goodbye, Lover, I hate to go.
POV: The Senior Partners
Timeline: End of S4
She stands naked, clothed only by her sin. The Senior Partners watch her with the intensity of buzzards circling a carcass, and they know she understands she is done for. Her contract is forever, in the way that truly means something.
Lilah tilts her chin up, eyes bright, and refuses to speak again. She has made her case, the pathetic plea of a lesser mortal to the gods that own her.
It is intriguing.
The Senior Partners chitter to themselves, speech like shattering glass. She is not broken like the others that come before them, expired in contract and awaiting fate. Dead, yes, but not broken. And in her death demands something of them.
One last chance to say goodbye.
To him, one of the Adversary, Wesley Wyndham-Pryce.
Were they human, they would be curious, tempted by compassion. But the Senior Partners are not human and her fate is of no concern to them. That she loves that Wesley they have no doubt, and this could serve them even still. They will honor her request, give her one last mission among the living. One final chance to spin her lies and save her skin.
She will have her last goodbye in exchange for the soul of her lover.
It is a fair trade; the Senior Partners are satisfied.
Title: Last call
POV: Illyria
Timeline: End of S5
Illyria remembered things the Shell forgot. She wished it were not so, these creeping memories that cling to her like vines. Mysteries of human thought that served no purpose other than to distract.
One, though, cut through all the rest like blades through soft flesh. The image of Wesley with another woman, tall and brunette, a scarf around her neck. This memory had burned the Shell, seared the tender skin of her emotions until it blistered and bled.
She wanted to ask her guide what it meant, who the woman was, and why the Shell’s disgust and hatred bothered her so. But that would be an admission of human weakness, a taint on the perfection of a former goddess, and that just would not do.
So Illyria swallowed the memory, like she had so many others that bubbled up from the Shell’s broken mind, and willed herself to forget. Like the Shell had done.
Like Wesley was unable to do.
Author: houses
Pairing: Wesley/Lilah
Notes: The following five POV ficlets/drabbles are presented in chronological order, all set during Season 4 of AtS except for Illyria’s drabble. Her POV is set at the very end of S5 and references Fred. The order is as follows: Cordelia, Angel, Lorne, The Senior Partners, and Illyria.
Dedication: For empressvesica's Birthday!
Title: Bullseye
POV: Cordy
Timeline: Early S4
You have got to be kidding me. Has he lost his little English mind? What does he think he’s doing? With her!
Okay.
Deep breaths.
Maybe this is a mirage and my sooperdooper secret spying from the clouds thing is broken.
Wesley cannot be getting it on with Lilah.
That’s, like, against the rules!
Angel! Where is your sorry vampire ass! How could you let this happen?
Oh, this is all your fault. It has to be. Angel? Angel!!
Right. He can’t hear me.
Ew.
And apparently neither can they. Lilah get your skanky ass off my Watcher! Oh, hell no. He is not putting that there. That’s…that’s…whoa. Obviously I’ve seriously underestimated Wesley’s skill with a pair of handcuffs.
No. This is not happening. What is wrong with you two?
I swear, if I ever get out of this cloud-filled nightmare, I am going to come kick your sorry lawyer-y ass, Lilah. Just you wait. Nobody puts the evil moves on my watcher.
Title: Patchwork
POV: Angel
Timeline: Mid S4
When Angel first realized that Lilah was obsessed with Wesley, he thought it could be useful. When he first realized that Wesley was obsessed with Lilah, he was undone.
He screamed in silent rage, drowned in guilt, and wondered if this was the inevitable outcome of Wesley’s betrayal. That he should slide into the grasp of that woman with nary a backwards glance? One slip of trust and Wesley condemned himself to her?
In Lilah’s careful, calculating arms, Angel knew Wesley had finally come unraveled.
And was it Angel’s fault, the quiet voice inside murmured. Yes, if he had only understood what Wesley had done, had forgiven him, then Wesley would not seek comfort in Lilah’s arms. The man was broken, a mere shell of his former self. That could be the only explanation.
Angel ignored Angelus’s chivvying, as he usually tried to do, and thought about what would become of Wesley.
And whether it was Angel’s responsibility to care.
Title: Misgivings
POV: Lorne
Timeline: Mid/End S4
If Lorne had any inkling that the tremors he’d felt in Wesley’s future would lead the former Watcher to this, to her, he would have downed a gallon of Seabreeze and clubbed Wesley over the head with a bar stool. Sure, the man had some lurking darkness in him, but show Lorne a patron who didn’t. They all had something under their skin or they wouldn’t have come to him, warbling all sorts of awful melodies in an attempt to fix what was ever going wrong in their tiny little lives.
Wesley had been no different, a bit more scattered perhaps, but nothing that would have alerted Lorne to such a catastrophic fall from grace. To steal Connor and betray the people Wesley called family was bad enough, but to run into Lilah’s waiting arms? That viper? Lorne never saw it coming.
Which is pretty sad for a guy who can see the future every once in a while.
Back when Wesley first fumbled into his world, Lorne saw the shades of shadow in his truly awful rendition of Lady Marmalade, but chalked most of it up to his choice in song, not his future path. That Wesley was both stronger and more fragile than Angel gave him credit for was a given.
Hidden depths, that one.
But not in a million years did Lorne think Wesley would shack up with the woman who drilled a hole in his head. Sure, the woman knew a thing or two about shiny, perfect hair, and how to work her Bruno Maglis to the best long-legged effect, but talk about a bitch with an ice pick.
Title: Goodbye, Lover, I hate to go.
POV: The Senior Partners
Timeline: End of S4
She stands naked, clothed only by her sin. The Senior Partners watch her with the intensity of buzzards circling a carcass, and they know she understands she is done for. Her contract is forever, in the way that truly means something.
Lilah tilts her chin up, eyes bright, and refuses to speak again. She has made her case, the pathetic plea of a lesser mortal to the gods that own her.
It is intriguing.
The Senior Partners chitter to themselves, speech like shattering glass. She is not broken like the others that come before them, expired in contract and awaiting fate. Dead, yes, but not broken. And in her death demands something of them.
One last chance to say goodbye.
To him, one of the Adversary, Wesley Wyndham-Pryce.
Were they human, they would be curious, tempted by compassion. But the Senior Partners are not human and her fate is of no concern to them. That she loves that Wesley they have no doubt, and this could serve them even still. They will honor her request, give her one last mission among the living. One final chance to spin her lies and save her skin.
She will have her last goodbye in exchange for the soul of her lover.
It is a fair trade; the Senior Partners are satisfied.
Title: Last call
POV: Illyria
Timeline: End of S5
Illyria remembered things the Shell forgot. She wished it were not so, these creeping memories that cling to her like vines. Mysteries of human thought that served no purpose other than to distract.
One, though, cut through all the rest like blades through soft flesh. The image of Wesley with another woman, tall and brunette, a scarf around her neck. This memory had burned the Shell, seared the tender skin of her emotions until it blistered and bled.
She wanted to ask her guide what it meant, who the woman was, and why the Shell’s disgust and hatred bothered her so. But that would be an admission of human weakness, a taint on the perfection of a former goddess, and that just would not do.
So Illyria swallowed the memory, like she had so many others that bubbled up from the Shell’s broken mind, and willed herself to forget. Like the Shell had done.
Like Wesley was unable to do.