[Gunnwesley] FIC: Leaving 1/2

[Katarina Hjärpe]

TITLE: Leaving
AUTHOR: Katta ( head_overheels at hotmail.com )
SEQUEL/SERIES: Tenth in the Birthday series. Previous parts can be found at 
http://www.geocities.com/katta_hj/fanfic/Angel or in the list archive.
THANKS TO: Tammy, always a fabulous beta reader, this time fast as well.
RATING: R for sexual situation
PAIRING: Gunn/Wesley
DISCLAIMERS: All major characters in this fic, and most of the minor ones, 
belong to Mutant Enemy. The universe was also created by them, though 
developed further by me.
SPOILERS: Birthday/Sanctuary
SUMMARY: The Sunnydale and L.A. people work together to get Faith out of the 
Watchers' hands and the country.

**********

Alonna watched the other girl closely. Skinny blond cheerleader type of 
girl, but those tiny little arms still had some muscle, and she hadn't 
forgotten how a girl not much bigger than this one had tossed her around as 
though she weighed nothing. 'Slayers', both of them, apparently. And the 
older guy was a 'watcher', which Wesley had been too. He reminded her a bit 
of what Wesley had looked like the first time she'd seen him

Gunn was smirking as if he thought it was some kind of joke, but both Wesley 
and old-guy-Wesley were looking quite serious.

"A Slayer, huh?" she said, trying the new word in her mouth. "And that other 
girl too?"

"That's right."

"And you have super powers?" She couldn't help the amused scepticism that 
showed through in her voice.

"In a way, yes."

"Okay." Alonna picked up a stake from the inventory and tossed it to the 
girl. "I'm a vampire about to attack. Stake me."

Wesley gave a discreet cough. "You might want to choose a blunter weapon."

That seemed a bit unnecessary – Alonna had never heard of anyone actually 
managing to kill a *human* with a stake – but the Buffy girl flipped the 
stake over in her hand so she was aiming with the blunt end.

"Okay," she said, tilting her blond head to the side. "Attack me."

So Alonna did, though with some caution since she wasn't eager to be thrown 
into a wall again. Instead she ended up flat on her back with a little 
blonde girl sitting on her chest. Whoah. That Buffy girl was *way* stronger 
than she looked. Like she was used to, she faked weakness for a moment, and 
when she felt the other girl's grip relax a bit, she flipped her legs over 
her head. She had counted on Buffy falling over, but instead found the 
little blonde bouncing back up on her feet and attacking. Alonna had to roll 
over quickly to avoid being "staked". She managed to get back onto her feet 
and even get a few punches in, but soon she was flat on her back again and 
Buffy's stake pounded her in the chest.

"You're dead."

"I guess I am." As soon as Buffy had released her grip, Alonna sat up, 
dismayed and embarrassed to have been "killed" so fast in front of the 
others. "Damn."

"You're good, though."

She gave a half-hearted laugh. "Right. You beat me."

"But it took me a full minute."

Alonna glanced up sharply, but it was clear the other girl wasn't joking and 
actually *did* think that a minute of fighting was a job well done. The 
English guys apparently agreed, because they seemed neither surprised nor 
about to start laughing - while Gunn, bless him, looked like his jaw was 
going to fall off entirely.

"Catching flies?" Alonna asked, standing up and brushing the dirt off her 
clothes.

Gunn was clearly still too shocked to answer or even close his mouth, but 
Buffy snickered, and even old-guy-Wesley smiled a little. Giles, that was 
his name, and he looked a lot less stuffy when he was smiling.

"So, are you coming to England with us?" Buffy asked.

It was such a weird question, had been even the first time they asked. What 
was England anyway? A faraway country with a lot of people like Wesley and 
this Giles guy who all had tea in the afternoon and talked like a bunch of 
snobs. She'd never even been to Mexico.

And now the question struck her as even weirder. "Why? I didn't even last a 
minute against you, and you said she has the same powers."

"You *did* last a minute, and she won't have those powers when we take her. 
Giles has a drug that'll make sure of that." Buffy glanced at Giles, and 
some unspoken agreement passed between them. "Actually, we wanted them too," 
she said, nodding at Gunn and Wesley, "but they wouldn't come. And you might 
need to get out of here for a while."

Buffy's voice was very level saying that, and Alonna was entirely grateful. 
Need to get away from possible police interrogations, was what that meant, 
and it was a pretty unnerving thought. She had tried to kill a human, and 
even though she was getting increasingly convinced that she couldn't have 
acted any other way, it still wasn't the same as killing a demon. She'd 
already had to lie to two police officers and a social worker.

"Yeah, I appreciate it," she said, and if her short tone belied her words, 
that wasn't her fault. She tried to tell herself that it'd just be for a 
little while. It could be exciting, almost like a vacation.

A vacation spent transporting a fugitive, torture-loving chick half around 
the world. Right. She bit her lip.

"So, when are we leaving?"

"That depends on when Weatherby and his thugs make their move," Giles chimed 
in. His face was sympathetic, and she almost wished it hadn't been, because 
she was starting to feel miserable. "It probably won't be for a few days 
yet, but we should keep guard at the hospital."

"Well, we've got enough people for that, at least."

"Yeah, we thought of making a roster," Gunn said, sounding just a little 
sarcastic at his own choice of words. "If we have just one or two guys at a 
time, chances are the Brits won't even know they're being watched."

She nodded. "Sounds like a good idea."

He held her gaze and said in a low voice, "Take care, little sister."

Oh God, now he called her 'little sister'. Why did everyone have to be 
*nice* to her?  She glanced at Wesley, hoping that he at least would give 
her one of those cold stares she'd come to expect from him. But no, his face 
was serious, but far from unkind.

Much more of this, and she'd start bawling.

**********

"Okay, people," Gunn said, trying to remember all the details of the plan as 
he ran it over with the gang. "Wesley and Giles know these guys, so they'll 
take turn at the hospital. They're our insiders, so to speak. Everyone else 
will take shifts waiting outside. Three or four people maximum, we don't 
want to attract any unnecessary attention. This was, the rest of you can 
still chase some vamps between sleeping and duty. When these 'Watchers' make 
their move, those of you who are on watch are to call the rest up  – make 
sure you have a cell phone in each group out there. No matter *what* you're 
doing you're coming over as soon as you get the call. The people on shift 
will also be the ones to take over the Watchers' car or whatever it is 
they're driving. They're bound to leave someone there, but they won't be 
expecting interference, so it should be a walkover. But don't take that for 
granted – they're professionals just like us. And remember, these are humans 
we're fighting. Which means *no* killing them. If it's your life or theirs, 
do what you must, but it'll be murder."

He watched the guys to see their reactions to what he was telling them. They 
didn't seem very enthusiastic, but then, it would have been pretty creepy if 
they had been.

"Why are we doing this again?" Chain asked.

Gunn had never been the kind of leader to go 'because I said so', but right 
then he very much felt like it. He wasn't sure why *he* was doing this, 
except that if Wesley wanted it after what that girl had done to him, it had 
to be the right thing somehow.

"I have worked with these people before," said a voice behind him, and he 
didn't have to turn to know it was that guy Giles, but he did anyway. "I 
have no reason to believe them anything but killers. Unfortunately, their 
activities can't exactly be taken to the police."

"Yeah, they're bad. I get it," Chain replied. "But that girl's not an 
innocent either, is she? *You* tried to kill her."

That last part was aimed at Alonna, who had been standing silently by Gunn's 
side.  There was a pause before her answer, and what she finally said was a 
low, "Yes, I did."

Gunn remembered what she'd looked like that day in the hospital corridor, 
but that was for her to share if she wanted to and none of his damn 
business.

"She's not an innocent."

Giles again, and for a moment Gunn thought he meant Alonna. But no, he was 
speaking of that Faith girl, of course.

"What she is, is a young woman who has done some very bad things and is 
trying to avoid paying for them by going on the way she started. As well be 
hung for a sheep as a lamb, as they say." A shadow of a smile came over his 
lips. "I recognise the way of thinking, I guess you could say. That's why 
*I'm* doing this. What your reasons may be is up for you to decide."

He wasn't the sort of man the guys would usually listen to, but there was 
something in his voice that raised Gunn's hair, and he could tell the others 
were reacting the same way. Giles wasn't bullshitting them – he *did* know 
the way of thinking that would make a chick turn into a killer, and probably 
better than they did. What the hell kind of people did Wesley use to hang 
with?

The guys stared at Giles for a quiet moment, and then Jamie's head turned to 
Alonna. He didn't say anything, but his expression clearly asked her 
opinion. Poe and Bobby soon caught on and glanced in her direction as well.

She looked down, and then she nodded. "Just do it."

They didn't ask any more questions after that, nor did they look to Gunn. 
What had just happened was so unusual that it took Gunn a while to realise 
that he'd been outranked – by a stuffy old Brit and his own sister.

**********

Gunn lay down on the narrow bed. It was eleven AM, but he hadn't slept well, 
and just lying down was a relief.

"You look distracted," Wesley said, lying next to him. It forced Gunn to lie 
with his back against the cold wall, but that was okay.

"Nah, not distracted." He pulled Wesley closer still. "Everything *but* 
distracted. That's the problem. I just keep thinking 'what if something goes 
wrong?' And there ain't nothing can distract me from that thought."

"I could distract you," Wesley offered, voice level as he moved his hand 
down to Gunn's groin.

Gunn caught the hand on its way and shook his head. "When this is over, Wes, 
you can distract me all you want. Not now. Not when they can call us up any 
minute."

Wesley said nothing, only put his arm around Gunn's waist. In the living 
room, Angel turned on the television, but in here the only sound was of 
their breathing slowly setting into rhythm. "You were never thís nervous 
before."

Gunn shrugged.  "I never fought humans before."

Silence again, and Gunn tightened his embrace, as if that would stop his 
thoughts from racing. "We'll have to be a lot more careful," he said. "But I 
guess
 in all other ways it's the same as always."

"Is it?"

That should have been a simple question. It sure sounded like one.

"We can't let ourselves be seen," Gunn continued, trying to reason his way 
out of his discomfort. "And we can't kill anyone, of course. Or let them 
kill us."

"That should be a given."

"Not really." He couldn't quite explain the difference, and had to search 
for words. "On the other missions, I know I'm right. I know they're the bad 
guys, and if I die at least I'm taking some with me. But this..." He 
realised that the embrace had turned into a hard grip, and although Wesley 
hadn't said a word of complaint, he let go. "She wanted to kill us. And she 
hurt you... and we're saving her. I think we're doing the right thing – but 
I don't know it."

Wesley didn't answer, damn him, but lying this close Gunn could feel the 
shivers in his body and knew that the reason for Wesley's silence was that 
he didn't have the answers either.

Everything Gunn had said was true, but it wasn't enough. And he found 
himself saying, "Or maybe I just don't want to die."

A tiny smile showed on Wesley's face. "Nobody does."

"No, that's not what I mean. I always know I can die, and obviously I don't 
*want* that, but at the same time that's the point, knowing that is what 
makes it worthwhile. But now... now I'm just scared. And that's no way to do 
it, being scared all the time."

For a brief moment, it looked like Wesley was about to nod in agreement, but 
instead he said, "I am. All the time. Every second out there, I think I'm 
going to die, and I hate it."

Gunn had figured that much, but he still had a hard time wrapping his mind 
around it. "How do you *do* it, then? How can you go out there and be 
*scared*?"

Wesley averted his eyes for a moment, but Gunn didn't get the impression 
that it was to avoid the question. Just to think.

"I don't really think I have a choice."

"You had a choice not to piss off the lawyers," Gunn pointed out. He felt 
Wesley go tense and hurried to add, "Hey, hey, I'm not saying you did wrong. 
Just that you made a choice."

"I suppose I did." Wesley smiled a little and shook his head, soon growing 
serious again. "If you're not sure, perhaps you shouldn't do it."

"Who's paying for Alonna's ticket?" It sounded like a change of topic, but 
it wasn't really, and in any case it was the first thing that came to Gunn's 
mind.

There was no sign that Wesley was surprised by the question, though he 
seemed a bit reluctant to answer.

"Giles is paying half, and I'm paying the other half."

"Crazy bastard," Gunn said softly, squeezing Wesley's hand. He knew Wesley 
couldn't afford half a plane ticket to England *and* make sure to eat well 
for the rest of the month. Figured he'd go along with it anyway – probably 
insisted on paying that half. "Can *he* spare that kind of money?"

A frown formed on Wesley's brow. "He said so, but I don't know... The 
council fired him last year, and then we destroyed the high school, which 
pretty efficiently ruined his day job. I'm not sure he has any employment at 
all right now. Though I didn't want to ask."

"No, you just offered him several hundred bucks instead." Gunn had to laugh. 
"You're both crazy bastards. And you're doing it for my baby sis. How could 
I *not* help?"

Wesley's frown deepened. "I meant to keep her out of this."

"Didn't quite work out that way." Gunn tried to keep his voice light. 
"Anyway, Alonna's never needed to be kept out of anything. She'll be okay."

"Right," Wesley agreed, kissing him.

"And when this is all over, we'll get distracted." He let his lips touch 
Wesley's ear as he whispered, "All you want."

**********

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