Betrayal
You aren't her. You're a sham. A counterfeit.
Spoilers: End of series
Rating: R
Characters: Wes/Illyria
Disclaimer: They belong to Joss Whedon and Mutant Enemy.
Notes:For Em, who is faithful in her bubblefic love and always gives me the most interesting pairs to write. Much thanks to Yana for the beta and Bex for the title.
Wes closed his eyes and rested his head back against the rim of the tub. Things were getting harder, and he didn't know if he had the strength to keep on fighting. Everything felt so useless, so wrong, especially now that Fred…
He pushed his thoughts away. It was too painful to think of her as gone, too much for him to handle. That was one of the reasons he had come up here, to the penthouse suite above the office. To get away from the memories of her – memories of her delightful laugh, her shining eyes, her slender limbs…
There was a sudden draft of cool air, and his eyes drifted open to find Illyria standing above him, looking down at his naked form in the tub.
"What is this?" she asked in that cool, calm voice that was like Fred's yet so different. "I do not understand you humans. Why would you sit in such a vessel and fill it with water?"
"It's called a bath. Many of us find them relaxing," Wes answered with a sigh as he closed his eyes again. "Go away, Illyria. You don't belong here."
"Yet I have nowhere else to go."
He opened his eyes once more, and studied her. "That isn't my problem," he told her with cold detachment.
"You are missing the other one, the one whose body I inhabit," she stated. "Would it help if I was her?"
"I… don't know," he admitted softly. He blinked -- astounded by how low he'd sunk to even consider such a thing -- and when he opened his eyes after that brief second, her image had shifted, softened, taken on the more normal coloring of Fred. Against his will, his body reacted to the sight of her there.
"You find me appealing in this form," Illyria said in Fred's soft drawl as she peered down into the bathtub.
It was just too much for him, seeing her there, almost but not quite his Fred. "Go away!" he snapped.
"You order me away even though you enjoy the sight of me like this?" she asked curiously.
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Because you aren't her. You're a sham. A counterfeit. Merely a thing in her body!"
"Maybe if I were to try this… bathing," Illyria said, shifting easily back to her usual blue visage and dipping a finger into the still warm water of the bath.
He instantly shot upright in the bathtub. "Now?"
"Yes."
"You can't!" he protested.
She tilted her head and studied him. "Why?"
"Why? Haven't you heard a word I've been saying? You aren't her!"
Her hand brushed against his thigh and he shivered. "Your voice keeps saying no, but your body… it says yes. And the body does not lie."
"That doesn't matter," he barked. "You can't… we can’t…"
"Why?" she persisted.
"Because it's just not done!" he snapped.
She studied him a moment longer. "You are afraid you might like it," she said. "You find me appealing, even like this."
He shook his head, wanting to deny it even though he couldn't. He did want her. "Please, Illyria, go away."
But she didn't; she stayed. And there was no going back to the way things used to be.
Posted by Cassie on 01:07 PM