a.connor  a.doyle  a.lindsey  a.oz  a.spike  a.wesley  a.xander  a.other  three.somes  het.fic  character.study           
Title: Bind
Author: The Brat Queen
Pairing: Angel/Wesley
Rating: NC-17
A/N: Part of a series, found here, that goes AU post-Epiphany. Can be read as stand-alone.



He wasn't ready.

Wesley knew this with absolute certainty.  He wasn't ready. He
hadn't prepared.  He was completely and utterly at a loss.

Normally, he knew how to deal with problems.  Analyze them.
Gather information. Form a strategy.  Itemize one's goals and
create a plan of attack. Implement the plan and adapt to any
changes necessary.

Adopt, adapt and improve - Motto of the Round Table,
according to Monty Python.  He liked it, actually.  He knew it
was a joke, yet the words were sensible in times of crisis.

Such as now. Now was a crisis.  It was, in fact, a large crisis
which made him wish he could remember the exact quote from
Blackadder regarding such things, but of course that was an
irrelevant detail compared to the information he *needed* to
remember at a moment's notice.  Mating habits of Levesitian
demons turned out to be far more useful on a daily basis than
being able to recall how many times Baldrick had discussed his
love for turnips.  Not that one would actually imagine such a
thing to be true, but there it was.

Wesley had grown accustomed to handling crisis situations.

He hadn't at first.  He wouldn't claim it of himself in retrospect,
however arrogant he may have felt at the time.  His months in
Sunnydale had more than proven to him that his education with
the Council had taught him bugger all about how to make
decisions under pressure.  Decisions as a concept, yes - save
the world, watch the Slayer, work for good - those were all fine.
 But instantaneous decisions? No.

Certainly not a decision like this.

Of course some decisions were easy.  Accept the position in
Sunnydale. Accept Angel's job offer.  Accept *Angel*, when it
came right down to it.

That last one was his favorite.  In a strange way, he wished that
was the issue before him.  Choose: Angel or your life.  Well that
was laughably simple, wasn't it? Angel.  It was always Angel. It
would always *be* Angel.  Protect Angel at all costs, even from
himself. That wasn't even a choice.

But no.  Angel wasn't in danger now.  At least, not directly.

That made it harder.

Not only because Angel needed him to solve this case.

It was a factor, certainly.  Wesley wouldn't deny it.  The look of
sheer *helplessness* on Angel's face - Angel, of all people -
when he and Gunn had returned from their mission had almost
been enough to undo him. Cordy had been right. They hadn't
reached the girl on time.  Neither to save her nor encounter her
attacker.  Instead they came upon her dead body, thrown
behind a building like so much refuse, and Gunn came back
demanding to know why in *Hell* the Powers would send a
vision so late? Why would they toy with them like that?  Why
tease them with the thought of being able to bring about a last-
minute rescue?

Angel had simply stared, his brown eyes meeting Wesley's and
quietly demanding: fix it.  Find a way to make it better.

Angel always startled Wesley whenever he looked young.  It
didn't seem possible for someone as old as he was, yet at times
he did.  And in those rare moments it was Wesley who felt the
more worldly, the more mature.  The one whose job it was to
take his loved one by the hand and reassure him that it *would*
be alright.

He would do it for Angel.  And for Gunn. And for Cordy, who
lay trapped in her bed, unable to keep down anything thicker
than broth or water, and for the two girls - one half-demon, one
not - who had been killed.

He would do it for them because he cared. And because he had
sworn to.  And that, in and of itself, was an irony.

Oaths were a sacred thing in the Wyndam-Pryce family.  Not
the least of which were the oaths taken upon entering the
Council.  But any oath was to be taken seriously.  A Wyndam-
Pryce was to be trusted at his word.

Wesley had given his word that he would protect the innocent.
That he would protect those who needed him.  It was the one
oath that he valued more than anything.

He would avenge those girls.  Save whomever was next. And
help his team in the process.  He would find the solution that
eluded them, locate the killer, and make the evil *stop*.

He just wished he'd had more time.

It was a foolish desire.  He'd had time. He'd had more than
enough time, and he knew it.  But in the end it felt as though it
didn't matter. As though in that week the minutes and seconds
had been stolen from him.  He noticed them, when they
occurred - a free moment here or there, a brief time in which he
could have called one of his informants, made a few inquiries,
slipped away to take care of things before anyone had noticed
he was even gone. He could have *stopped* it, somehow.

But he didn't.

He couldn't.

Which made him a failure yet again.

They tracked the murderer.  The brother of the first victim.  Part
demon, as she had been.  Psychotic, as she had not.  Angel and
Wesley and Gunn had swarmed upon him in the middle of his
third attack, and Wesley had calmed the entirely human girl
while Angel and Gunn fought with the assailant.

Angel's eyes had held a particular satisfaction when his sword
cut the man's head off.

They took the girl to the hospital, where she was too stunned to
do more than mention that she had been hurt.  The doctors
promised that she would be all right.

Angel told their clients that the threat was taken care of.  They
paid him in cash.

Cordelia's vision hangover faded.  She came into the office the
next morning with flowers and the leftover cake, and insisted that
everyone have a slice.  She then cleaned the entire office top to
bottom before the endorphins wore off.

Wesley deposited the money they collected.  Gunn took a day
off to check in with his friends.

They waited for their next client.

It was still too late.

***

"Angel?"

Angel stirred in his sleep.  He opened one eye blearily.  "Wes?"

Wesley stood in the doorway to Angel's bedroom.  "I've woken
you."

"Um - yeah," Angel wasn't clear-headed enough yet to think of
any polite lies.  He sat up, trying to force his eyes to focus.
"Wassup?"

"I - may I come in?" Wes shifted uncertainly, resting one hand
against the doorframe. "I don't mean to be a bother."

"You're not," Angel said at once. At least *that* he didn't need
to be coherent to think of.  "C'mere. What's wrong?"

Wesley came over and sat on the edge of the bed.  He wasn't
wearing his glasses, Angel realized.  And he was dressed
casually in jeans and a loose brown sweater.  "I· Angel, I need
to be with you tonight. Please?"

There were words. Even for a taciturn guy like himself there
were things he could say. He could ask again what was wrong,
or why Wes hadn't come home with him that night in the first
place if that's what he wanted, but something in Wes's posture
told him not to. Instead he reached out silently and pulled Wes
close.

"*Please*," Wes said again, and it wasn't like Angel needed to
be asked a third time.  He pressed his lips to Wesley's and felt
the younger man kiss back, straining in his arms as though it
were impossible to get close enough.

More than happy to comply, he held Wes tighter, drawing him
back onto the bed and tangling him up in his arms.  He parted
Wes's lips with his tongue and deepened the kiss, cupping Wes's
ass and rocking their hips together.

"Yes - yes," Wesley said. He kneaded Angel's bare shoulders
with his hands. "Please."

Angel rolled over, jerking the blankets down so he could climb
out of them.  His cock was already hard - it usually was just
being this close to Wesley.  Wes made it worse by moving
closer still, his fingers like icicles on Angel's skin as the fabric of
Wes's jeans rubbed up against Angel's erection.

"Please."

Since when was Wes this desperate?  Turned on as he was,
Angel could still feel the wrongness of the situation, the feeling
that *something* just didn't add up.  But Wes didn't want to talk
- at least not about that - and if Wesley needed action to feel
better, Angel was happy to give it to him.

"What do you want, Wes?" he asked, nibbling on his lover's lips.
Wes trembled underneath him, trying to capture his mouth in a
kiss. "Tell me. I won't say no."

Wes tangled both hands in Angel's hair.  "You. Angel - love -
*please*."

"What?" he asked again. He reached under Wes's sweater and
began to pinch and tease at his nipples.  "Tell me? I wanna do it,
Wes."

Wes responded by lifting his hips into Angel's in an unmistakable
gesture. "*Please*."

There was no ability to deny this request.  Angel kissed Wes
harder, moving his hand down to work at the fly to his jeans.
Not for the first time he was glad he never bothered much with
bedclothes.  It took him a few moments to free Wesley's cock,
but when he did he wrapped his fingers around it and stroked it
as he had so many times before, loving the feel of that part of
Wes - that incredibly intimate part of him - responding to his
touch.

Wes took in a shuddering breath. "Yes - like that - please."

"I love you," Angel said, and from the look on Wes's face he
could tell it was the right thing *to* say.

"Take me," Wes's breath was warm against his ear. "I - I want -
please?"

"Love you," Angel said again, as though it were an answer. He
looked down at Wes's sweater in frustration. From this position,
it would be hard to remove one-handed.

"It doesn't matter," Wesley said, then proved the point by
tugging it off himself and throwing it to the floor.  Angel drank in
the sight of Wes's half-naked body, which was something he
didn't think he'd ever become bored by.  "Angel, please - no
formalities."

No foreplay, Angel translated. He circled his hand around Wes's
cock again and started jerking him off properly.  "Okay, Wes.
You got it."

Wesley wrapped his arms around Angel's shoulders, holding him
tight.  His hips moved into Angel's touch.  His body shivered.

"You cold?"

"It doesn't matter," Wes's voice was tight - and not for reasons
Angel would have liked. But then Wes kissed him and Angel lost
himself in that.  "Angel, please -"

"Love you," Angel whispered, except now it was the wrong
answer.  Wesley shook his head and tried to get closer still.

"*Take* me," Wesley said, and he was begging, pure and
simple.  Angel fortunately knew what to do about that.

He pulled back, hating the sound of Wes's disappointed cry, but
ignoring it long enough to get rid of the rest of Wesley's clothing.
The nightstand held everything a man could need to fuck his
lover and many nights of practice made it easy for Angel to pull
the drawer open and locate Wes's preferred lubricant by touch.
He turned Wes over onto his stomach, parted his legs with his
hand, and began to work the lube into Wes's body.

"Dunno what you want, Wes," he said. "But if it's me - you've
got it."

Wesley moaned, then moaned again as Angel thrust inside of
him.  Whatever sounds came after were inarticulate.

"Always have me, Wes," Angel said. The feel of Wes around
him was enough to destroy most forms of coherent thought, but
even still he struggled to think of *anything* that would be
reassuring.  "I'm right here."

Wesley trembled, shifting his position to allow Angel deeper
access. He braced his hands against the headboard for balance,
thrusting back into Angel's movements.  "Please - Angel -
please."

Angel debated holding Wes down or stroking his cock.  Impulse
made him choose the former. He grabbed Wes's wrists in both
hands, drawing them up against the wall and pressing them flush
against it.  "I'm right here.  Right here with you, Wes."

Wesley took in a shuddering breath. "Angel - please - "

The words were intoxicating to him.  He loved Wesley so
damned much.  And deep inside he had to admit it was a
fantasy. Not Wesley's pain but his desire. His request.  The way
Wesley struggled against him in a manner which clearly said to
hold him *tighter*.  "God - Wes - love you - *want* you."

"Please. *Please*."

Angel thrust harder. His hands were like vices around Wesley's
thin wrists.  Experience told him that this could leave bruises but
Wes showed no sign of wanting him to stop.  "*Want* you,
Wesley.  Jesus.  You feel so fucking good."

"Yes, please," Wes leaned back, turning as best he could to
place a kiss on Angel's lips.  "I love you. Angel. Don't stop.
Please."

Wesley's lips were a temptation, but so was the look on Wes's
face.  Angel held back, keeping enough distance between them
to watch as his blue eyes clouded with need.  "You're a dream
come true, Wes.  *Need* you."

"*Fuck* me," Wesley said, breathlessly.  "Angel - fuck me,
please."

Angel cried out, keeping himself from coming by sheer force of
centuries-old will.  The vulgarity out of Wes's mouth was enough
to make him crazy, but he held on for Wes's sake. He forced
himself to focus on his own movements, driving his cock into
Wesley harder and harder with every thrust. "Like that?"

"Yes," Wesley moaned.  Angel could see a glimmer of tears in
Wes's eyes.  "P-please, yes·. Angel·."

Angel pulled Wesley's wrists together, holding them both against
the wall with one hand. His left hand now free, he reached down
to touch Wesley's cock, teasing the underside with a featherlight
stroke.

"O-oh," Wes thrust forward ineffectively. "Angel, please -"

Angel rubbed his palm against the tip of Wes's cock, wetting it with precome
before sliding it back down again. "Love you. Love you so much, Wesley."

The tears in Wesley's eyes spilled down over his cheeks.  "Don't - oh God,
Angel, don't stop.  Harder - *please*."

Wes would be sore in the morning, but fuck if Angel could say no.  He rammed
himself into Wes as instructed, this time taking advantage of preternatural
strength to fuck Wes as a mortal lover never could.  He was rewarded with a
groan that seemed to come from Wes's entire body.

"Yes - oh God - Angel - yes."

"*Mine*," Angel snarled, not knowing where the urge came from and long past
giving a damn.  He pressed his weight into Wesley's wrists knowing for certain
that if he hadn't bruised them by now he sure as fuck was going to.  "Goddamn -
perfect - Wesley -"

"Angel," Wesley sobbed.  "Love - *Angel*!"

Wes came and came hard, jerking like a man possessed.  Angel
grabbed him tightly, holding him against his chest until his own
body couldn't take the stimulation and he lost control himself.
"Love you, Wes.  Love you· promise·"

Somehow that made Wes shiver.  They sank down into the bed
and Angel immediately pulled up the blankets and the sheets,
bundling Wes in them before he could catch a chill.  Wesley
accepted this silently, curling up against Angel's chest.

"Tell me?" Angel asked.  When Wes didn't respond he added
"Or - you don't have to."

"I love you," was all Wes would say.

"I love you too," Angel responded, and decided for now to be
content with that.

-End

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