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Different Point of View

By Rach

Xander walked into the library, setting a cup down onto the table and taking a seat. He looked up as Giles walked out of his office.

"Here's your cup of coffee. Brewed from the finest Colombian lighter fluid."

"Thank you." Taking a sip, Giles grimaced. "Horrible." He took another sip anyway, and put the cup back on the table. Xander looked bemused.

"Aren't you supposed to be drinking tea, anyway?"

"Tea is soothing. I wish to be tense."

"Okay. But you're destroying a perfectly good cultural stereotype here." He grinned, before picking up a book from the pile on the table and starting to glance through it. They worked in silence for a few minutes, until Xander heard the door swing open. He looked up as Fred walked into the room, looking upset.

"Fred!" He looked at her more closely and noticed that her eyes were red and puffy. "What's up? Have you been crying?"

Fred raised her hand to her face and wiped her eyes self-consciously. She turned to Giles.

"I just got off the phone with Wesley. He could hardly speak he was so upset. He said there was something about a fight? And he's leaving the country. Giles, what's he talking about?"

Giles sighed. "Buffy has quit the council. She'll not be working with Wesley from now on." Fred sniffed, her face puzzled. "But he's her Watcher."

"Buffy no longer needs a Watcher."

"Well, does he have to leave the country? I mean, you got fired, and you still hang around. Why can't he?"

Giles smiled a little, and pulled out a chair for Fred. "Fred, it's not up to me what Wesley does now. He's not my responsibility, and I doubt the council will keep him on much longer. If he wants to stay, he'll stay." He smiled at her. "If you want him to stay, you have to tell him. Now - would you like to help us, seeing as you're here?"

Fred shrugged her coat from her shoulders and picked up a book. Xander grinned at her. "We're trying to stop a massacre. It's great fun."

****

The phone in the library rang, jolting Giles from his concentration. Willow and Oz had arrived a little while before. Willow jumped up and reached the phone before Giles had even registered what the noise was.

"Hello?" Oz walked over to her as he watched the colour drain from Willow's face. She could feel everyone's eyes on her as she listened to the voice on the other end. "We'll be right there."

****

Fred tapped a sleeping Xander on the leg as she spotted Buffy walking towards them. At first she thought she was dreaming - when they'd looked in the door just before, she'd looked almost dead, and yet here she was, almost back to normal.

"Buffy!" Fred heard her voice echoing down the hall, alerting the others to Buffy's presence. Xander jumped up and hugged her. "Are you okay?"

"How do you feel?" Ignoring Xander and Giles' questions, Buffy looked around her.

"Is Angel here?"

Oz shook his head. "He had to go. It got kinda sunny."

Buffy nodded. "Get him. Get everyone."

"Buffy, are you sure you're all right?" Giles laid his hand on her shoulder.

She nodded again, more impatiently this time. "I'm ready."

Willow was puzzled. "Ready for what?"

"War."



****

Buffy looked around the library. Everyone was there, which was exactly what she needed. Everyone had to be on board for them to pull this off. The Mayor had to have a weakness. Every good villain has a weakness.

Angel spoke up, pulling her from her thoughts. "Faith."

Buffy glanced over at him. "Faith?"

"At the hospital he was grieving. Seriously crazed, and not just in a homicidal I want to be a demon way. She's his weak link." Fred looked up as Wesley entered the library. He glanced at her, and she smiled reassuringly. She'd called him earlier, she was glad he listened. As stubborn as everyone round here seemed to be, she knew he could be of use.

"Faith." Buffy nodded to herself, and looked up at Giles. "I can work that."

Wesley stepped up behind her. "You haven't an enormous amount of time." His voice was quiet, close to a whisper.

"Hey, it's Mr. States-the-Obvious." Xander joked, his smile dropping as Fred slapped him on the knee.

Buffy didn't turn round. "The council isn't welcome here. I have no time for orders. If I need someone to scream like a woman I'll give you a call."

Looking at Fred, Wesley realised that he had the support of at least one person here, giving him the confidence to carry on. He raised his voice slightly. "I'm not here for the council. Just tell me how I can help." This made Buffy look up at him, smiling a little.

Fred grinned, moving to stand beside Wesley.

Slipping his hand into hers behind his back, Wesley took a deep breath. "So, is there something I can do… besides scream like a woman?"

Buffy nodded. "There's plenty. There's chores for everyone."

****

Wesley walked up into the stacks, carrying a couple of boxes. He set them down on the floor beside where Fred was already working, emptying the shelves. She smiled at him as he passed her, before turning back to her job. They'd been working their way around the library for an hour or so, filling up box after box with books, some you would expect to find in a high school library - most not. Some of the time she could feel his eyes on her, but every time she turned round, he looked away. She smiled to herself. But every time she thought about anything happening between her and Wesley, the same two thoughts were getting in the way. The Mayor at Graduation. They needed to survive it before they could even think about having a relationship. And even if they did, he was going back to England. She sighed to herself, and she could feel him looking at her again.

Perhaps she should just go for it. If they were all going to die, she might as well kiss him before the world ended. At least that way she had no reason to be embarrassed if it turned out he didn't like her in ... that way. She shook her head. She knew he *did* like her like that. That dance at the prom ... it wasn't the kind of dance you would share with a friend. She just *knew* that he liked her.

She could feel his gaze on the back of her neck, and she blushed. She heard him drop the books he was working with onto the floor beside his feet, and she straightened with anticipation. Was this it? After a few seconds had passed, she started to doubt it. He's probably just taking a breather, she thought. We have been working for a long time, my arms are starting to hurt like hell. She reached up for another handful of books, and froze as she felt his cool hands on her arms. She turned around to face him, and she could see how nervous he was.

"Fred?"

"Yes?" She wasn't going to drag this out.

"You know that… when this is over…" he began to stammer, and she smiled, urging him on.

"Yes?"

"Uhm, well, should we prevail… I'll ... be going back to England."

Fred sighed and turned back to the shelf she'd been working on. This wasn't what she'd been hoping for. "I know."

Wesley shifted awkwardly. This wasn't going how he'd hoped. "I mean, with Buffy no longer working for the Council ... there really is, well, no place for me here."

Fred nodded, her back still facing him.

"I guess not."

Wesley laid his hand on her shoulder. "No ... reason to stay." She turned around, realising what he was saying. "No… cause to hope that… I might be needed?" He questioned, an amount of hopefulness in his tone. Fred nodded slightly, her face inching closer to his as he removed his glasses. "Or ... wanted?" He voice was no more than a whisper as he finally gathered the courage to lean down and kiss Fred. She titled her head to one side, slipping her arms onto his shoulders. He dropped his arms awkwardly to his sides, unsure where to put them. Fred tried to move his arms around her hips, but he pulled them away almost immediately, finding the position uncomfortable. After fidgeting for a few seconds longer, they both broke away, staring at each other with a mixture of disappointment and confusion. They tried again, this time Fred initiating the kiss, wondering how this could have gone so wrong. Moments ago it had seemed so right ... she pulled away from him, shaking her head and running down the stairs and out of the library. He followed as far as the top step, watching her run from the room as Willow jumped up to follow her. The redhead shot a puzzled glance up at Wesley before running from the room.

****

Wesley and Giles watched as the Mayor began to speak. It wasn't long before they realised he was planning to do his entire speech. Wesley looked over at where Fred sat with Buffy and Willow, feeling embarrassment wash over him once again. Part of him was hoping they didn't survive the battle - it would mean he wouldn't have to face Fred again, which he knew would be worse than fighting the Mayor in some ways.

He glanced up as the sky began to darken. The Mayor was slowing down - it was going to happen soon.

"We…" He stopped his speech in pain, glancing up at the sky again. "We must all…" This pause was accompanied by a scream. "It has begun. My destiny." He smiled eerily, and Wesley grasped his weapons tighter, ready to fight to the death if necessary. "It's a little sooner then I expected I had this whole section on civic pride… but I guess we'll just skip to the big finish!"

Everyone watched in horror as the Mayor's skin contorted and stretched, his suit splitting in two as he transformed. Within seconds the battle had commenced, the complete eclipse bringing all the vampires back into the game.

Wesley watched as the first wave attacked, led by Xander, and he headed towards Angel. He took his place slightly behind Angel at the front of the group, ready to catch any vampires who tried to escape from the back. Fred took her place at Angel's other side, smiling at Wesley seconds before Angel launched himself at retreating vampires. The rest of the group followed, taking out the vampires one at a time. Wesley charged forward, stake in his hand, full of determination, and ran straight into the fist of a vampire. He fell straight to the floor, and was immediately accepted as one of the casualties, everyone ignoring him - standing on him or stepping over him. He tried again and again to push himself up, but he continually got knocked back down. Eventually giving up, he lay back onto the floor, and looked over at Buffy. He watched as she taunted the Mayor with Faith's knife, and led him into the school. He smiled to himself - the plan was going to work. He looked around for a few seconds before his eyes landing on Fred, making him feel ashamed of himself. She was still fighting valiantly, despite appearing to be in pain, her left arm stuck rigidly to her side.

He watched as she stuck a stake in the vampire she'd been fighting, and he exploded into dust. She looked around, and realising the vampire numbers had been drastically reduced, she took the opportunity to head towards Wesley and help him up.

Taking her hand gratefully, he stood up and wrapped his arms tightly around her, his worries about the incident earlier disappearing. He closed his eyes, opening them again just in time to see a vampire creeping up behind Fred. Reaching into his pocket, he tightened his hand around his only remaining stake.

"Duck!" He yelled at Fred, pushing her down onto the floor, staking the vampire before he'd realised what had happened. As it exploded into a shower of dust, Wesley crouched down to offer Fred his hand, just as Giles pushed the detonator. Fred curled into Wesley's shoulder as debris rained on them, and he tightened his hold on her again. They watched in silence as years of history went up in smoke, along with the Mayor.

A long time had passed in silence before people started to move around again. Wesley pushed himself up from the ground, pulling Fred with him. She winced in pain as her arm moved, and he glanced down at it.

"You need to get that seen to." He whispered. She nodded, looking round wide-eyed as emergency vehicles began to arrive.

****

Fred stepped into the ambulance and sat down, as the paramedic turned back to Wesley.

"Are you hurt, sir?"

Wesley looked at Fred, and shook his head. "Just a few bruises. I'll survive."

Fred smiled at him. "You gonna come in here with me?"

Wesley ducked his head and climbed the steps into the ambulance, taking a seat beside Fred as the paramedic headed back out into what was left of the school grounds. He cupped her chin in his hand, rubbing her cheek gently. He leaned towards her and kissed her lips gently, smiling as he pulled away.

"How come we couldn't do that the first time? It would have saved a lot of ..." Fred trailed off as Wesley leaned in for another kiss, months of hoping being released in a few seconds.

"You know I have no reason to stay in Sunnydale now ..." Wesley began, and Fred looked away, nodding.

"So, I made a few phone calls, and I've lined a few things up in LA."

Fred looked up, her eyes wide. "That's where I'm going! To study."

Wesley laughed. "I know."

"When are you leaving?"

"Whenever you are."



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