(no subject)

[sam_gamgee]

Title: "Galileo part deux"
Author: sam_gamgee
Fandom: "Angel"
Pairing: Wesley/Lindsey
Disclaimer: The important stuff still belongs to Joss. The rest, though, is mine.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Three and half years on, some changes are in store for Wesley and Lindsey.
Note #1: Many thanks to soft_princess for the *amazing* beta she did on this fic. Believe me, you wouldn't have wanted to see the first draft.
Note #2: Sequel to Galileo


A complete copy of the fic can be found at Galileo part duex



"Good morning," Wesley said as he approached the kitchen.

"Hi, Daddy," Zane replied with a big, syrupy smile.

Wesley smiled and kissed the top of Zane's head before moving to kiss Lindsey, who had looked up from the newspaper, good morning.

"Good morning," Lindsey replied once Wesley pulled away, though he didn't move his hand from the juncture of Lindsey's neck and shoulder. "Sleep well?"

"As always," Wesley answered with a smile.

"Daddy, can I watch cartoons?" Zane asked.

Both men looked at Zane and his plate, which had a few pieces of pancake and a lot of syrup left, and Lindsey replied, "Yes, but wipe your hands and face first," as he handed him the damp wash cloth. Zane dutifully did so before Wesley picked him up and cuddled him before setting him on the ground. "Don't forget your juice," Lindsey replied as he handed Zane his sippy cup and picked up the remote and turned to turn on the TV for Zane, who settled on the couch, his back to them.

Wesley retrieved his plate of pancakes and cup of coffee before removing the booster seat, pushing Zane's plate out of the way and sitting in the now vacant chair. After taking a sip of his coffee, he asked, "What's on the agenda for today?" as he began preparing his pancakes.

"Zane has a play date with Tyrell this morning, which'll give us time to go grocery shopping. Then he's got a swimming lesson this afternoon. Other than that," Lindsey gave Wesley a warm smile, "it's looking pretty free."

"Good," Wesley replied before taking a bite of his pancakes.


Wesley couldn't help but smile as he watched Lindsey play with Zane in the water after Zane's swimming lesson. Granted, it wasn't so much a swimming lesson as it was getting the toddlers used to the water and teaching them some basic things so that they wouldn’t be afraid of it. As always, Lindsey was extremely careful, even as they splashed and giggled and tickled. If one didn't know any better, it would be easy to assume that Zane was Lindsey's biological child – no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

Wesley was vaguely aware of someone sitting down next to him and looked up to see who it was. He smiled when he saw it was David. "Hey, you," he said with a smile.

"Hey yourself," David replied. "How's Zane doing with the swimming lessons?"

"Like a duck to water. What brings you out here this afternoon?"

"Field trip with some of my youth group." He motioned to some teens on the other side of the pool. "It's part of the mini-retreat we're doing this weekend."

"And where's Jonathan?"

"At home paying some bills. He claims he doesn't want to blind anyone with his pale legs."

Zane came running up, dripping wet and not heeding Lindsey's "Don't run!", and Wesley wrapped him in a towel before pulling him into his lap and toweling him off. "Look who's here, Zane," he said.

"Hi, Uncle David," he said with a grin.

"Hey, kiddo," David replied, returning the smile and ruffling Zane's hair.

After a few quick laps, Lindsey joined them, toweling himself off as he exchanged hellos with David. Sitting on the end of Wesley's lounge chair, he asked, "How's Jon?"

"He's doing good. Wondering when we're going to have our first barbeque of the summer."

"How about next weekend?" Wesley asked. "I’m almost positive Marty and Dory will be free."

"Sounds good," David replied. "Come over around 2 or so on Saturday. And," he added, before they could ask, "if you want to bring anything – bring dessert. And tell Marty and Dory to bring a side or two or something."

One of the girls from David's group came up. "He's cute," she said. "How old is he?"

"I'm three and a half," Zane replied, beaming.

"Wow," she replied with a smile. Turning to David she asked, "Is it okay if we go get a soda?"

"Yeah. Just be back sooner rather than later, okay?"

She nodded and as she stood, Zane asked, "Can we go on the swings?"

"Sure," Wesley replied and they stood, "but we have to get changed first." They gathered their things and he said to David, "We'll see you next Saturday if not sooner."

"Definitely," the other man replied.

The girl from David’s youth group waved to them as she passed by on the other side of the public pool and Zane waved back. Wesley could've sworn he felt something wash over him akin to the first time he had met Buffy and Faith, but it passed quickly and he thought nothing more of it as Zane started babbling happily about his swimming lesson.


Friday afternoon, there was an abrupt knock on Lindsey's office door before the secretary poked her head in. "Your 4:30 is here," she said, "shall I show her in?"

Lindsey and Wesley both exchanged a questioning look and Wesley simply shrugged, meaning he also had no knowledge of the appointment. "Sure, Leslie," Lindsey replied.

Leslie nodded and pulled the door shut behind her, only to reopen it fully a moment later to admit a small brunette who looked to be no more than 18. Both Wesley and Lindsey stood and crossed to meet her – Lindsey from his desk across from the door and Wesley from where he had been by the filing cabinets.

"Hi, I'm Lindsey McDonald and this is my associate, Wesley Wyndam-Pryce," Lindsey said, as they extended their hands.

Shaking their hands, she replied, "Stacey Davis."

“I hope you don’t mind me asking,” Wesley said, “but do I know you from somewhere?”

Stacey smiled. “We kind of sort of met at the pool the other day. I’m in David’s youth group.”

“Ah, yes. Enjoying your summer?”

“For the most part. David’s actually the one that referred me to you two.”

"So, how can we help you, Stacey?" Lindsey asked as he gestured to a chair across from his desk.

"I need a restraining order," she replied, sitting down.

Wesley grabbed a pen and pad of paper from his desk in front of the filing cabinets and sat in the other seat. "What makes you think that?" he asked.

"Well, the past about year or so, I've been having weird dreams and I've been seeing weird things out of the corner of my eye. And I've been attacked a few times."

"By who?" Lindsey asked.

"I don't know," she said, exasperated. "But they had these bumpy foreheads and fangs and golden eyes."

Wesley stopped taking notes and studied the young woman sitting next to him. His mind whirled as he took her in, noting that she did appear to fit the bill. He had heard rumors that Buffy and the rest of her group had turned the world's potentials into full-blown Slayers in a bid to stop a Torak-han uprising, but he had dismissed it as idle gossip. But now proof seemed to be sitting in the office with them.

"…that we can't put out a restraining order unless we have a specific person or group and a legitimate reason," Lindsey was saying when Wesley pulled himself out of his reverie.

"Then what am I supposed to do?" she asked plaintively. "I don't know what these *things* are and I *know* I didn't do anything to have them all of a sudden attacking me."

"What if I told you," Wesley spoke up, "that what's been happening is part of a birthright that's been assigned to you that's just recently come in to play?"

She looked at him. "Ask if I can trade it in for a new one? Because, seriously? This one kind of sucks from what I've seen of it."

"If you're interested," Wesley continued, "we could refer you to someone who could give you your options and some training and help you make sense of this."

She seemed to visibly relax and smiled. "That'd be cool. How soon can I get that info?"

"Would Monday morning be good?"

"Yeah, that'll be great." She stood. "Thanks for your time." Both men stood and she shook their hands again before heading out.


As they pulled into the parking lot and parked in front of their building, Lindsey asked, "Why don't you become her Watcher? That's what you were, right?"

After they got out of the truck and headed up to the apartment, Wesley said, "Yes, I was. Emphasis on was. That part of my life is over now."

"Okay, I'll admit that I didn't read enough of your file to know what happened pre-L.A. and I'm getting the vibe that it wasn't good –"

Wesley opened the door. "I'm not going to do it, Lindsey." Seeing Jonathan sitting on the couch watching "Blue's Clues" with a just-waking-up Zane, he said, "Hey, Jon," as he continued into the kitchen area to get a drink of water.

"Hey, you two," Jonathan replied.

Lindsey added a "hey" as he followed Wesley and continued the line of conversation quietly. "I'm sorry, I guess I just don't understand why you would pass this opportunity –"

Wesley slammed his glass down. "No, you wouldn't understand," he replied icily.

"Are you mad, Daddy?" Zane asked from where he stood in the doorway, where he was still rubbing an eye.

"No, I'm not angry, pumpkin," Wesley replied, scooping Zane up. "I'm just frustrated." He kissed Zane's temple. "Did you have a good time with Uncle Jon?"

"Yes." Zane beamed. "We went to the park and for a walk and read a book and only watched two shows and had a snack."

"My, my, my. That sounds like a very busy day," Lindsey said, coming up behind Zane and tickling him. When the boy finished squealing in laughter, Lindsey kissed Zane's other temple and, hitching his hands under Zane's shoulders, said, "Why don't you say goodbye to Uncle Jon?" before setting him on the floor. As Zane ran off, Lindsey moved in and wrapped his arms around Wesley's waist, Wesley's coming around Lindsey automatically. "At least think about it, okay? Whatever happened before, that's over and done with and this is a completely different situation. Consider it while you're getting her the info you promised and if you still don't want to do it come Monday morning, then give her the information and I won't say anything else about it, okay?"

"Okay," Wesley agreed. "I'll *think* about it."

"That's all I ask." Lindsey smiled as he leaned in and kissed Wesley.

Wesley yielded easily to Lindsey, a hand coming up to tangle in Lindsey's hair, but he cut it off quickly. "We still have company," he reminded.

"I'm not company, I'm family," Jonathan said from where he was making his way across the room. "I'll see the three of you tomorrow." Bending down to look in Zane's eyes, he said, "Be good now, you hear?" before tickling him with one hand. Zane laughed and hugged him. He leaned heavily on his cane to straighten up. Clapping Wesley on his shoulder on the way by, he said, "Have a good evening."

"Bye, Jon," the two adults said as he crossed the threshold and Lindsey shut the door behind him.


Late Saturday morning, Wesley called Giles and was surprised to find the number had been disconnected. He decided to chance calling the Council, and only got an answering machine – with which he left a message for Giles. Zane grabbed his free hand before Wesley had completely hung up the phone, telling him it was time to go to the barbeque.

"So, how's work, Lindsey?" Dory asked as they sat down to eat. Marty, her husband, worked at cutting up their 2-year-old son, Max’s food, while the boy valiantly tried to sneak pieces of food off the plate.

"It's good," Lindsey replied as he cut up Zane's hot dog. "As we all know, Wesley has been a godsend over the past four years. If it wasn't for him, I'm sure I'd still be wandering around my office with a dazed and confused look on my face."

"Any fun cases come up?" David asked. "Or are you not allowed to discuss them?"

"Nothing as of late, but Wesley had something interesting happen to him yesterday."

Wesley blushed as the adults looked at him. After swallowing a bite of potato salad, he said, "Apparently, the rumors going around that there's more than one active Slayer are true. One came into our office yesterday asking for help."

"Are you going to help her?" Jonathan asked.

“I hope you don’t mind me sending her on to you,” David interjected.

Wesley waved him off. "Don’t worry about it. And I, uh, I don't know. I haven't had the best experiences with Slayers and – Zane, stop that." He tapped Zane on the shoulder. "If you don't eat your food, you won't get any dessert. You can make faces at Max once you're both done."

Zane started to whine and looked at Lindsey who only shook his head and said, "Eat."

"But I have contacted my resources," Wesley continued, "so she can get the help she needs."

"But if you're qualified, why don't you help her?" Marty asked between bites of a burger. "From what I've heard, Watchers are in short supply these days – especially good ones."

"I –" Wesley started to reply.

"Wes," Jonathan interrupted, "if you're thinking of going on about how you don't think you'd be any good, you may as well just stop before you even start because then I'd have to come over there and smack you upside the head with my cane. My accident trumps any problems you *think* you're going to have. What's *really* stopping you from doing this?"

"Well, the fact that I haven't done it in seven and a half years." He took a sip of his iced tea. "And things didn't go very well with my last two charges."

"Was it completely your fault?" David asked.

Wesley thought for a moment, choosing his words carefully. "No, but I think I exacerbated the whole situation."

"You think or you know? Could it have been prevented if you hadn't been there?"

"I honestly don't know, but if I hadn't acted the way I did, I highly doubt things would've gone the way they did."

"Maybe you could consider this a second chance from God to atone for whatever part you did or didn't have in what happened with those two Slayers," Jonathan said as he gave Wesley a steely gaze, before digging into his potato salad and thus ending that topic of conversation.

As the kids ran around after the meal, Dory sat down next to Wesley. "I think you should give it a shot," she said as she handed him a cup of coffee. "You're a great guy and a wonderful dad. Who's to say you won't be a great Watcher as well?"

"Well, the other Watchers, for one," he replied with a wry smile.

"They aren't here, now are they?" she replied with a warm smile of her own.

"Are you two talking about me?" Lindsey asked with a grin as he came over carrying his own cup of coffee as well as two dessert plates.

"Only in your dreams, studmuffin," Dory replied. "We were actually making plans to run away together and leave you and Marty with the boys." As he fixed her with a glare as he put one of the plates down in front of Wesley, she added, "But only for the weekend. Though, we may have to extend it, once we see how it goes."

Lindsey sat down. "I'll keep that in mind if he ever suddenly disappears."

Wesley leaned over and gave Lindsey a peck on the cheek. "I'd leave a note first. I might write it in a foreign language to confuse the hell out of you, but I'd leave a note."

Lindsey smiled. "Well, thank you for that small consideration." Digging into his slice of pie, he said, "Now, about helping the Slayer…"


When they got back to the apartment, the answering machine was beeping. Wesley went to get it as Lindsey went to get Zane ready for bed. The single message was a brief one from Giles acknowledging Wesley’s call and giving him a new number and his available times. Wesley automatically calculated the times as he dialed.

After the third ring, a familiar voice answered the phone. "Rupert Giles, here."

"Hello, Rupert," Wesley replied. "It's Wesley Wyndam-Pryce."

"Oh, hello, Wesley." Wesley was almost positive he could hear a smile in Giles' voice. "How can I help you?"

"I'm sorry that I'm calling so late, but I was approached yesterday by a Slayer who wanted some help. And, while I’ve heard vague rumors, I was still under the assumption that we were operating under the assumption of ‘one girl in all the earth’.”

Giles chuckled. “That actually hasn’t applied for some time now. I don’t know what you’ve heard, but we had – considering it’s Buffy we’re talking about – an ‘apocalyptic incident’ a few years ago in which most of the Council was destroyed and all of the potentials were activated in order to avert it. I’ve been stationed in England, for the most part, since then to see what I could do in salvaging what’s left of the Council.”

“Ah. I hope you don’t mind me not voicing any regret at the loss of the Council. And I’m sure it’s safe to assume that the surviving Watchers are stepping things up, then? Would there be someone I could pass her off to?"

“I think we’re in the same boat there.” And there was a slight pause before Giles continued, in some confusion, "The Los Angeles person should've made contact with you, since I let him know you were out there. He's been stationed there for two years now."

"Oh, well…I guess that would be a problem," Wesley replied. "I should've mentioned that I'm not in Los Angeles any more – haven't been for about four years now. I'm currently in Oklahoma."

"Yes, that would be a good reason as to why you wouldn't have made contact with him." Giles chuckled again. "But, aside from the fact that we don't have anyone in Oklahoma right now, why would you want to pass her off? I know that things didn't go very well in Sunnydale, but you *were* trained as a Watcher and I'm sure that you can understand the value of that in our current situation."

"Well, I – uh…" Wesley desperately didn't want to appear weak in front of Giles after all these years, but he was, quite frankly, still terrified of being responsible for a Slayer. "Honestly, I wasn't sure of what the new protocols might be and –"

"The new protocols are quite simple, actually," Giles interrupted, saving him. "Especially since you already have the training. Train her to be the best slayer she can be. And if you honestly think you're not the right person for the job, let me know and I'll see about getting someone up there from Texas to help her get on her feet."

Lindsey appeared in the doorway to the kitchen carrying a sleepy Zane. "I think I'll attempt a go at it and let you know."

"Okay. Thank you for letting me know, Wesley," Giles said. "It was good to here from you. Keep in touch."

"You too," Wesley replied before hanging up the phone. At Lindsey's questioning look, he went over to them and said, "Apparently they're completely willing to have me back on board as a Watcher and willing to give me free reign in that regard."

"Is that good or bad?" Lindsey asked as the three of them made their way to Zane's room.

"I honestly don't know," Wesley said thoughtfully as Lindsey placed Zane on his bed and helped him get under the covers and Wesley got the copy of Treasure Island that they were working their way through. He stretched out on the bed and Zane snuggled against him, with one of Wesley's arms around him so they could both look at the book, even though Zane couldn't read yet and there weren't any pictures in the book. Lindsey lounged across the foot of the bed.

After they had read a chapter, Zane smiled sleepily and snuggled under the covers as Wesley put the bookmark in its place and placed the book on the nightstand. Lindsey moved up so he was laying across Zane's legs. Wesley leaned against the headboard and watched them.

"So, what shall I sing tonight?" Lindsey asked with a smile.

"My lullaby," Zane replied with a smile.

"Again?" Lindsey replied with a showy sigh of exasperation. "Are you sure? We sing that *every* night." Zane nodded vigorously. "Okay, okay," he replied in mock defeat and began singing softly. By the time he was finished, Zane's eyelids were closed and he was asleep. Both men kissed Zane good-night and quietly left the room, along the way turning off the lights, turning on the Snoopy nightlight and shutting the door most of the way.

Outside their son's room, Lindsey pulled Wesley to him and captured his mouth in his. Wesley kissed him back with an equal intensity as he tangled a hand in Lindsey’s hair and the other wrapping around Lindsey’s waist. Lindsey cupped Wesley’s face with his hands as his tongue delved into Wesley’s mouth. Wesley groaned as he willing submitted.

He pulled away and murmured, “Bedroom,” as he tugged on Lindsey’s hand.

Curled together afterwards, Lindsey asked, "Have you thought some more about having another one?"

"Yes," Wesley replied with a small sigh as he stopped nuzzling Lindsey’s neck and shifted slightly away from Lindsey. "And I’m still not sure. I would love to have a child that's completely ours, but I'm worried about its safety. The risks are high enough as it is for a normal woman at my age to have a child. I honestly don't know what it would be like if it was me."

Lindsey closed the distance and began gently caressing Wesley’s bicep. "Why don't you talk to your mom and/or Dr. Gonzales and see what they say? We both know that even though I love Zane like my own, how much I want to have one that's completely ours – but not at a risk to you. I love you too much."

Wesley reached up and placed his hand over Lindsey's and squeezed. "I know." When he relaxed his grip, Lindsey turned his hand so they were palm to palm. "I'll talk to them both and see what they say." He smiled. "I think Zane would like to have a little brother or sister too."

Lindsey laughed. "Although, after being over at Tyrell's, I think he wants a puppy more."

"Maybe one of these days," Wesley whispered as he leaned in to capture Lindsey's mouth with his own in a tender kiss.

***

The next morning, as the boys ran around the park and playing with the other kids, Marty asked, "So, have you decided what you're going to do about the Slayer?"

"I think I'm going to help her," Wesley said and saw Marty nod in agreement out of the corner of his eye as he watched Zane climb precariously up the side of the jungle gym. "But I honestly don't know how to do it. I mean, I know how to train her and such, but we both know what the demon population is like here. There's no real need for her here."

"What about going down to Oklahoma City?" Marty asked. "I'm sure they'd need help down there."

"We could do that, but she wouldn't get the training she'd need to survive up here and it wouldn't be possible for me to go down there with her until she got set up."

Marty shrugged. "You could always just go down there for a weekend or something to let her do her thing. I'm sure she'd enjoy it and the city would be appreciative, even if they didn't know what was going on. And even though we don't – Max! Be careful!" They watched as Max and Zane carefully jumped down from the bottom of the slide, both looking a bit contrite. Marty continued, "And even though we don't have a lot of problems and police ourselves, to be honest – the help would be appreciated."

"But in what capacity? Sure, we could go around staking new vampires, but wouldn't that get the community riled up?"

"It might," Marty replied thoughtfully. "Or you two could be like cool ninja assassins."

Wesley sputtered and stared at Marty before letting out a full-blown laugh. "'Cool ninja assassins'? Should I even ask?"

"Probably not, but we've been trying to figure out alternatives to our prison system, especially since it's starting to get crowded – especially our Death Row. And in our case it's not really bureaucracy, it's just that we have no idea how to kill them."

"Well, that could be a start," Wesley considered. "But what about after we finish with them?"

"Could always thin out the rest of the population – take out the life-sentences and such."

"Dare I ask how you know so much about all of this?"

"I'm on the demons' city council. It's been a big topic of discussion."

"While it is a good idea, I'm still not sold on it. I think mostly because of the fact that they'll be locked up. While it might be good for you, she wouldn't get the practical experience of fighting them out in the open."

"I'm sure we could figure something out – like letting them loose in the yard or something." As the boys came over clamoring for ice cream, Marty said, "Think about it, talk it over with her, do research, whatever, and let me know and I'll see what I can do on my side."

"Thanks, Marty."


Monday morning came and Wesley nervously fidgeted the whole way to work, not quite sure he was up to the task of training Stacey, even if everyone else seemed to believe he was.

Leslie handed Lindsey a sheaf of papers as he and Wesley entered the main office and said, "These are for you and your 9:00 am is already in your office. And if you don't mind me saying, she looks rather," Leslie dropped her voice, "*normal*."

"Ah, but looks can be deceiving," Wesley replied with a smile as he patted Leslie on the shoulder.

"Don't I know it?" she replied with a smile and a shake of her head as she went back to her desk.

"Good morning, Stacey," Wesley said, as they entered the office, looking over the young woman who was sitting in one of the guest chairs a little nervously. "How are you?"

"Good," she replied with a smile. "You?"

"Very well, thanks." He sat down in the other chair and out of the corner of his eye, he saw Lindsey set up their coffee maker and then pick up the sheaf of papers to start going through them as he wandered over to the window by the filing cabinets.

Before Wesley had a chance to say anything, she asked, "So, about this whole vampire business? How's it going to work? And do I get a title and membership into a nifty club?"

Wesley smiled, remembering some of the things Buffy had said to Giles. “Well, the quote-unquote official title is Vampire Slayer, but they’re not the only things you’ll be slaying. And, while you won’t be getting a membership card at this time, you are part of a very elite group of women.” He cleared his throat and, looking Stacey, realized that this was going to be easier than he had thought. He shifted in his chair to get more comfortable. "First off, I want to let you know that I was trained as a Watcher – which is what people who train and guide Slayers are called. I haven't done it actively for a number of years and since then a few things have changed, so I talked with my contact over the weekend and he said that it would be perfectly fine for me to be your Watcher, if you were willing."

Her eyes brightened. "I tried to do some research of my own over the weekend and couldn't really find anything aside from the normal vampire legends, so I have all these questions and stuff and I figured that I’d wait to start freaking out until I got some more concrete information. But any way you can help me get my life back to normal would be exceedingly amazing.” She glanced at her watch as she took a breath and Wesley smiled. “Crap. I’ve got to get going. When can we start?"

Not even thinking about it and easily slipping into Watcher mode, Wesley replied, "Tonight, if you'd like."

Lindsey cleared his throat and said, "Wesley, can I borrow you? I need your opinion on something."

"Excuse me for a second." Wesley stood and went over to Lindsey. "Yes?"

"Invite her over for dinner. She's going to need to know sooner rather than later if you're her Watcher."

"'Invite her over for dinner'? I thought you wanted my opinion."

"I do, but it can wait until later. Ask her." Lindsey had a determined and somewhat impish gleam in his eyes that Wesley knew not to say no to.

"Okay, okay." Going back over to Stacey, he said, "How about you come over for dinner first, and then we'll train?"

"That would be great!" She grinned. "I'm getting tired of cafeteria food. What time?"

"How about six?" He grabbed one of Lindsey's business cards off of the desk and wrote their home address and number on the back. Sitting on the edge of Lindsey's desk and handing the card to her, he said, "Here's the address and our office info is on the front, in case if you need to get in touch with me during the day."

Looking it over, she nodded, before sticking it into her pocket. Standing and shouldering her messenger bag, she said, "Thanks. I have to get to camp."

"Can I interest you in some coffee before you go?" Lindsey asked, gesturing to her travel mug with his papers.

She grinned. "Yeah, that'd be great." She filled up the big mug and added a liberal amount of sugar before snapping on the lid. "Okay, I'll see you at six. And thanks again, Wesley."

As the door shut behind her, Lindsey said, "Now, about that opinion –"

"I don't know whether or not to strangle you or thank you for giving me an easy out there," Wesley interrupted from where he was still perched on the edge of Lindsey's desk.

"I would assume a thank you would be in order at least this way, a) she won't go getting a crush on you or b) try to set you up with anybody."

Wesley blinked at him. "Now why would…" he trailed off.

"Wesley, Wesley, Wesley." Lindsey came over and put his papers down on the desk. "I grew up around here, remember?" He ticked off on his fingers, "You're good-looking, you have a foreign accent, and you're not wearing a wedding ring. That makes you prime meat." He put his arms around Wesley. "And, this may make it sound like I'm getting a little jealous, but I'd like to keep you and Zane all to myself, if that's at all possible."

"You know we'd never leave you," Wesley replied with a smile.

"Good." Lindsey kissed Wesley's forehead and picked up the papers. "Now, if we could get to work…"


After work, they stopped at the store for a couple last minute items for dinner and picked up Zane, who babbled happily the whole way home about what he and Max had done that day. Wesley and Lindsey let Zane color at the bar as they worked together to get dinner ready.

Once the lasagna was in the oven and the bread prepared as garlic bread and waiting to be toasted, Zane asked, "What’s for dinner?"

“Lasagna with vegetables and garlic bread,” Wesley replied. “We’re having a guest for dinner."

Lindsey added, "After which, you and I are going to watch a movie and Wesley's going to be teaching her some new things."

Zane looked at Wesley. "What is she learning, Daddy?"

Wesley smiled at Zane's curiosity at what was going on. "I'm going to be teaching her how to protect herself and other people from bad things. Just like I'm going to do with you when you're a little bigger."

"I want to learn now."

"We'll see, okay?"

Zane nodded, seriously. "Can I show her my toys?"

"Yes, you can. But only for a few minutes before dinner, okay?"

Zane nodded happily and went back to his coloring, curiosity satisfied for the time being.

Just then there was a knock on the door and Wesley went to answer it and Zane slid off of his chair and ran over to be the first one to meet her. Opening the door, Wesley said, "Good evening, Stacey. Come on in."

She smiled as she stepped over the threshold. "Hey, Wesley." Seeing Zane, she crouched down and said, "Hey Zane. We met at the pool, remember?”

Zane stared at her for a moment before nodding and, smiling, giving her a hug.

Standing she said, "Something smells good."

"Lasagna," Wesley replied, "and it's got a couple minutes yet before it's done."

"Great, I love lasagna." Putting her bag down by the door, she said, "Hey, Lindsey."

"Hey," he replied, as he stuck the bread in the oven. "Can I get you something to drink? We have milk, juice, water, and soda."

"Water's good," she replied with a smile as Zane tugged on her hand.

When she looked down at him, he said, "Daddy said it was okay if you want to see my toys."

Wesley and Lindsey caught each others' eyes and shared a silent laugh at Zane's well-intentioned, yet wrongly delivered, offer, deciding to not correct him this once as Stacey replied, "That would be really cool," and let herself be led toward his room.

After setting the tables, Lindsey went to get the younger two as Wesley pulled the lasagna out of the oven and put it on the table. He smiled at Stacey as she came over to the counter and Lindsey helped Zane wash up.

"He's a cute kid," she said. "If you don't mind me asking, which one of you does he belong to?"

Wesley fell into a momentary fear at being found out for going against Council regulations, but immediately quashed it. "Biologically, he's mine," he replied as he moved to put the bread basket on the table. "But he's really ours.” He decided to not elaborate any more as, thankfully, Zane and Lindsey joined them.

"You can really tell," she said with a fond smile.

After they cleaned up and Wesley promised Zane that he would be home in time to read, which
Wesley, in fact, had no doubt of, he and Stacey headed down to the YMCA. Once they had both changed into more comfortable clothes, they found a quiet spot on some mats in the gym.

As he led her through some easy warm up stretches, Wesley asked, "So, how much do you know in the way of martial arts?"

"I studied karate from the time I was five up until this past summer," she replied. "And I've watched a lot of that type of movies, though that probably doesn't count," she added with a laugh.

"Well, it's a start. But the karate will help out a lot with some of the things I want to teach you, since you'll already be familiar with some of the basic forms." He raised his arms above his head and stretched. "Though, we'll probably have to move somewhere else once we actually get into weaponry."

Her eyes got wide. "Weaponry? That would be *so* cool."

Wesley laughed. "I'll have to remind you of that when I'm making you go through everything over and over and you start telling me you hate it."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, how did you get into this whole Watcher business?"

"It's something of a family thing. Didn't really have a choice." Wesley swung his arms in and out a few times.

"That sucks. And this whole Slayer thing?"

"Some sort of genetic anomaly – we're still not sure how exactly it works. Up until about four and a half years ago, there was only supposed to be one Slayer at a time, even though there were two at that specific time – which is a really long story, but then all of the potential Slayers were activated in a bid to avert an apocalypse, so here you are."

"So you mean I have a choice in this whole Slayer thing?"

"To an extent, yes. And if you don't want to do it, that's perfectly fine. There are enough other girls – women – out there that it shouldn't be a problem. But I do strongly suggest that you at least get some sort of training, since there are things out there won't understand that you've chosen not to be an active Slayer."

She nodded. "Well, then let's get down to it. I'll decide after I've had the free trial." She straightened up and gave him a quick bow.

Wesley couldn't help but smile as an involuntary memory of Buffy's quips hurried through his mind. He returned the bow and began testing her, throwing in a few dirty tricks to test her ingenuity and response time. After a few minutes of sparring, he stopped them and they were both panting a bit. He was pleasantly surprised that he was still in good shape. Raising a child was obviously of some help – as well as hitting a gym or going for a run whenever he could. The occasional tussle with Lindsey when Zane was away on a play date obviously hadn't hurt either.

"Good," he replied with a pleased smile.

"Did I pass?" she asked with a cheerful smile.

"If it was an actual test, then, yes, you did. I think that'll be all for tonight training-wise. I just wanted to see where you stood with your fighting skills and such." He started stretching out again. "But we can talk some more if you'd like. I can tell you about the demon population in the area and how it's different for a Slayer than most places. I can tell you how I'm thinking of structuring your training. You could ask me questions."

She followed suit as she said, "Well, an actual definition of a Slayer would be nice. And I've grown up here, so I know what the demon population is like and since the active part of 'Slayer' is 'slay', I think it would be good to know what that's going to entail." When done, she sat down on the mat.

Wesley felt a little sheepish for not actually explaining it to her. He chuckled before saying, "Our old spiel went something like – 'In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer'." He dropped down on the mat next to her. "Obviously, there's more than one now. A Slayer is always a woman and she has superior strength and reflexes, faster healing, and is usually sought out by demons. I suspect it has something to do with genetic her make-up as well as the demons'."

"Do you think that more things will start happening now?" she asked, a little worried.

"Well, you've been an active Slayer for about four and a half years now and haven't had more than a few run-ins with some fledgling vampires, so I'd say, no, probably not – unless you decide to move out of town, and then it would depend on where you went. Though, there's always the chance that one or two passing through town might decide to take a swing, or the 'bad apple in the bunch' type, but overall, I don't think you'll have to worry too much."

"And since the demons are pretty peaceful, what's there for me to do here as a Slayer?"

"My friend Marty said he'd get in touch with the demon prison and see about possibly setting something up where you could help them out with some of their death row inmates – the ones they can't kill by human means – if both sides are interested. I know it goes against a lot of what being a Slayer is, but it'd be better than nothing. And there will always be the random vampire fledgling or 'bad apple'." As she nodded, he continued, "We could also always go down to Oklahoma City for a weekend or something and help out there."

"Cool." She looked at her watch and stood. "We better get going so you can get home to tuck Zane in." She smiled. "Wouldn't want to miss Treasure Island."

Wesley stood as well. "No, we wouldn't. Let's get changed and I'll drop you off."

As they pulled up in front of Stacey's dorm, she said, "I had a really good time tonight."

"So did we," Wesley replied.

"Say good night to Zane and Lindsey for me?"

Wesley nodded. "I will."

Stacey grinned as she got out of the SUV and shut the door. "Good night."

"Good night." Wesley waited until she got inside the building before driving off.


As they were eating lunch on Thursday on the outside deck of a restaurant near Wesley's office, Marty asked, "So, how's it going with the Slayer?"

"It's good," Wesley replied with a smile, "though we haven't done much aside from set up a schedule and testing out some of her fighting skills. She already knows karate, her reflexes are good, and she's good at thinking on her feet. I think she's got a lot of potential."

"Who's got a lot of potential?" Stacey asked, plunking herself down into an open chair at their table. "And before you ask, I went over to the office to see if I could take you and Lindsey out to lunch and Leslie said you were already gone and Lindsey was in a meeting."

"Hi, I'm Marty," the chaos demon said, holding out his hand. "And before you ask, I'm a chaos demon with a gland problem."

Stacey shook his hand with a confused smile on her face. "It's nice to meet you, Marty. Though, and I'm sorry, I have to ask –" she looked at Wesley, "a who-ah with a what?"

Wesley looked somewhat bemused. "Marty's a chaos demon, which is actually a misnomer – since they're a rather gentle species of demons. And a chaos demon's antlers usually ooze a slimy, viscous material."

"Oh, okay." She smiled brightly. "Sorry, Marty. It's just that aside from the crazy vampires, I haven't met any other demons."

"It's okay," he replied with a smile of his own. "I'm used to getting stares anyway from people who don’t know what I am." After taking a bite of a chicken tender, he asked, "So, how are you adjusting to the whole Slayer thing?"

"I'm adjusting. It's just a lot to take in – especially without a handbook." She looked at Wesley. "Is there a handbook?"

He chuckled as he put down his hamburger. "There was one that was used up until a few years ago, but it's hopelessly outdated, so it's thankfully fallen by the wayside. Besides, I honestly doubt how effective it was – especially given how the ones who didn't have it were the ones who survived better and lasted longer."

The waitress came over and Stacey quickly ordered a sandwich and a soda. When she was gone, Stacey asked Wesley, "So, have you found anything else out about the whole slaying-prison-execution thing?"

"That's part of what we were going to talk about," Wesley replied. "Marty's the one in charge of finding out all the information for us."

Marty wiped his mouth with a napkin. "The prison board's obviously interested. Especially considering how a high number of their death row inmates are immune to the human ways of execution – which are the only ways the officials are allowed to dispatch them and most of the other inmates are too scared to get near them for an 'accident'," and on that word he used air quotes, "to happen, so they're willing to look into an sort of alternative to help them out. And they're willing to pay you for your services."

"And what makes you think I'm the right Slayer for the job? I hardly even know what I'm doing."

"Because I know that Wesley's damn good at what he does and he'll make sure you're damn ready before he sends you anywhere to fight anything."

The waitress set down Stacey's plate and she set into eating. Between bites, she asked, "So, what all are you planning on teaching me, Wesley?"

"Various hand-to-hand fighting techniques, weaponry, types of demons – everything you'd need to know to go out and fight them, whether it's in a prison or on the streets of some city or town. And just as a word of caution – even though there will be various precautions set in place if you do decide to accept the offer from the prison, it's still essentially going to be a one-on-one fight between you and a demon. It'd be unwise to assume that there'd be no risks."

She nodded as she chewed. "Is it okay if I get back to you once I see how things are going, Marty?"

"No problem. It's going to take them a while to figure out the logistics on their end anyway."

She smiled. "Sounds like we got ourselves a plan."


Friday night found Wesley and Lindsey at the Stonewall for one of Lindsey's gigs and it was also one of their occasional double dates with Jonathan and David. As usual, it wasn’t long before there was a group of people around them, generally chatting, requesting songs, asking if Lindsey was planning on putting out any CDs – all the normal routine that Wesley had come to associate with Lindsey's playing. Not that he really minded – he knew everyone in the group, or those who didn't go to OSU at any rate, so he was able to talk with them as well.

After Lindsey's first set, Stacey came bounding up to them, grinning. "Oh, my god," she said, excitedly, once she had made her way through the crowd to where Lindsey was holding court.

"God's actually busy right now, can I take a message?" Lindsey replied with an amused smile.

"I didn't know that was you! I mean, I *did*, but I never actually connected this you with the other you and my friends didn't believe me when I told them that I knew you."

Lindsey put his hands on Stacey's shoulders. "Breathe, girl."

She did so and then said, "We've been coming to see you since we moved in last year. You're, like, a celebrity in the music department."

Lindsey laughed. "Thanks, but I highly doubt that. How are you guys enjoying it tonight?"

"It's great – as always."

"Good, good. Bring them over after the next set, okay?"

She grinned. "No problem. They're gonna die."

Lindsey finished off his drink and stood. "We wouldn't want that, now would we?" He quickly squeezed Wesley's hand and they shared a smile before he went up to the stage again for his second set.

When he came back from doing a few covers, as well as trying out some of his own stuff that he'd been tinkering with for a few months, Stacey and her friends were waiting at the table and chatting with Wesley, Jonathan, and David. He greeted them warmly as he slid into his seat. While taking a drink, he found Wesley's hand and gave it a squeeze. Wesley's gaze lit on him for a second and Wesley couldn't stop a smile from warming his features. He enjoyed watching Lindsey "hold court" as they had dubbed it, especially since this, playing music and interacting with fans, was where he was truly in his element – not in a court room arguing cases or in an office researching laws, no matter how much he enjoyed those things.

Wesley was also glad he got a chance to watch Stacey and see how she interacted with others. She was all smiles and when she got into the conversation, her curvy body went into it as well. And just seeing the delight on her face on being able to finally "meet" Lindsey after attending so many of his shows was amusing in and of itself. She also seemed to know when they had monopolized enough of Lindsey's time and bid them all good night before ushering her friends away. After they chatted with a few more people and were kicked out of the bar, the two couples said their good nights in the parking lot and headed their separate ways.


The next morning, after Wesley cooked breakfast for the three of them, they went grocery shopping. As they wandered the aisles and debated what to have for dinner, they ran into Stacey.

"Hey, guys," she said with a grin. "That was a great show last night, Lindsey."

"Thanks, again," he replied with a self-conscious smile.

"Hi, Stacey," Zane said with a grin, waving from where he was sitting in the cart.

"Hey there, kiddo," she replied, ruffling his hair. "Having fun grocery shopping?"

"Yeah. And Daddy said we could make brownies later." He pointed proudly to the box of brownie mix in the cart.

"Very cool," she approved. "How do you two know which dad he means?"

"You just know," Wesley replied with a smile.

"And if you're not completely sure, you toss for it and see what happens," Lindsey added.

Stacey chuckled. "So, what's the plan for the rest of the day?"

"Swimming lessons and laundry," Lindsey replied very matter-of-factly. "Did you two want to get together for a while to train?"

"Can I come too, Daddy?" Zane asked, looking completely hopeful.

"We'll see," Wesley replied. "You were going to meet Max and Tyrell at the park after your swimming lesson, remember?"

"Oh," Zane replied, looking a little sad that he wouldn't get to play with Stacey too. Brightening, he asked, "Can Stacey come too?"

Wesley and Stacey looked at each other. "Well…we could do a little bit of training while they're playing," he said. "There's enough room that I don't think it'd be a problem."

"And it's a nice day out," she agreed. "What time and which park?"

"We're meeting them at three at the park by the elementary school," Lindsey replied.

"I can do that," she replied. "I'll let you guys finish, since it seems like you're going to be having a busy day after all. Bye, kiddo." She ruffled Zane's hair again and he smiled at her.

"Bye, Stacey," he said, waving. She waved back and set out in the direction she had originally been going.

They went home and Lindsey and Zane put the groceries away and prepared lunch as Wesley dealt with the laundry. Then they gathered up their swimming gear and headed down to the Y for Zane's lesson.

Once they had all gotten their swimming time in, and had an ice cream sandwich from the snack bar, they changed and headed over to the park. Zane ran over to play with the other kids as soon as they got there, and Wesley and Lindsey found a bench where they could watch him easily.

"Hey, guys," Stacey said, a little while later, as she perched on the edge of the bench. Wesley scooted over so she could have a little more room. "How's it going since this morning?"

"Good," Wesley replied, and Lindsey flashed her a quick smile as he watched Zane climb the jungle gym. "You?"

"Not too bad.” She paused slightly before continuing, “I’ve been wondering about this and I hope you guys don’t mind me asking, and if you don’t want to answer, that’s totally cool. How long have you two been together?"

"A little over three and a half years," Wesley replied.

She smiled and nodded slightly. "I thought you had been together for a while. You two just seem to really gel and click and I’m getting really mushy and sentimental, aren’t I?"

Wesley colored slightly and Lindsey smiled. "Thanks, darlin'," he drawled.

Not wanting to put her foot any further in her mouth, she asked Wesley, "Want to get started?"

"Sounds good." He patted Lindsey's thigh. "We’ll be right over there.”

"Okay," Lindsey said as they stood. "Don't hurt each other too much."

"We'll try not to," Stacey laughed.

Going out a little ways, Wesley said, "We'll start off by going through some basic and generic forms and then move up to the more advanced ones. The hand-to-hand fighting 'style', if you want to call it that, that's taught by the Watcher Academy is a mixture of a few different fighting styles, so some of them will be either familiar, or at least vaguely familiar, from your karate training."

"Okay," she said, going a few steps past where Wesley stopped and swinging around to face him. She straightened up and bowed, before getting into the ready stance.

"A word to the wise, a demon that wants to fight you isn't going to wait for you to do that. They don't usually care about propriety at that point."

"And they probably won't give me lectures either, so let's have at it."

Wesley smiled. "And since this is the only time I'm going to ask, how much mercy would you like?"

"None," came the reply.

Wesley chuckled. "I think you *have* been watching too many martial arts movies."

He showed her a few forms before they sparred. They started off slowly and sped up, Wesley correcting her as they went along, a few of the kids coming over, but staying a safe distance away, to watch them. As they went along, Wesley could see Stacey was thinking about what she was doing too much and trying to keep everything perfect.

When they finished the sequence, he said, "You're thinking too much. It doesn't have to be perfect. Ninety-nine point nine times out of a hundred it won't be – it'll be dirty, hard, chaotic, and dangerous. You know what you have to do up here," he tapped her forehead, "so do it. Trust your instincts and feel free to improvise. This isn’t a symphony where you have to get all the notes just so.”

She smiled. "Okay."

"And one other thing – always be ready."

He took a swing at her. She easily blocked it and they went through the same sequence again. This time Wesley could tell the difference – she was more relaxed and definitely relying more on instinct than knowledge. He even threw in some extra stuff and she was able to adapt fairly easily, even if she hesitated, usually only for a split second, more than he liked. When they finished, he called it quits for the day, knowing that Zane would want to go soon.

He couldn't help but laugh when he heard a small voice proudly stage whisper from the group that was watching them, "That's my daddy."

As they headed back to the play area, herding the kids before them, Stacey asked, "I know this is an oddball question but, since you and Lindsey have been together for a while – if you two were legally allowed to get married, would you?"

Wesley shrugged. “I don’t know, really – it’s never really come up between us. Maybe. But at the same time, if it’s broke, why fix it?”

“True,” Stacey replied. “I was just curious, since you two have been together for quite a while and, with being lawyers and all, I wondered if you had any sort of stance on it.”

Before Wesley could reply, Zane suddenly broke away from the pack and hugged Wesley's leg. "That was *so* cool, Daddy." Letting go, he said, "Can you teach me?" and tried to imitate them.

"I will, baby," Wesley replied, picking him up. "Are you ready to go home?"

Zane nodded. "Are you coming too, Stacey?"

"Not today, kiddo," she replied. "But I promise I will another time, okay?"

He nodded. "Bye, Stacey."

She waved and headed off. After gathering up their things, Wesley, Zane, and Lindsey went home as well.

That night, after they had put Zane to bed, Wesley stood out in the hallway, leaning against the railing, thinking about what Stacey had said. It wasn't that he didn't want to get married, but at this point it seemed irrelevant. They both knew who the other belong to, and so did their friends, and they had all the legal documents drawn up that they thought would be necessary – co-parenting, domestic partner agreement, wills, power of attorney – earlier that year. A ceremony was just…

"Penny for your thoughts," Lindsey said softly, as he joined him and wrapped his arms around Wesley's waist.

"Just thinking about something Stacey said earlier," Wesley replied, crossing his arms over Lindsey's and hooking their fingers together.

Lindsey rested his head against Wesley's back. "Oh?"

"She had asked if we had ever considered getting married if we were legally allowed."

Lindsey snorted and Wesley could practically hear his eyes roll. "Like that’s going to happen any time soon.” There was a slight pause before he said softly, “But if you wanted, we could have a commitment ceremony."

"I don't know. I don't think we really need to. Do you want to?"

Wesley felt Lindsey shrug against him before the other man replied, "I agree that we don't need to, but it might be something to think about – getting up in front of all of our friends and publicly saying what we both know."

"And what would that be? That you make a damn good omelet and that I can't function in the morning without a cup of coffee?" Lindsey's laughter rumbled against Wesley's back.

"You know what I mean."

Wesley squeezed his arms. "Yes, I do. Neither one of us is going anywhere."

"Well, it's definitely food for thought and an intriguing idea." There was a pause. "Besides, who would be the bride?" At that they both laughed and Lindsey pulled Wesley inside and onto the couch. As they sprawled there, Lindsey said, "But it might be nice to make honest men of each other. Besides, if we have a child together, I don't want him or her to be born out of wedlock. What would the neighbors think? It would be scandalous!"

Wesley couldn't help it anymore and dissolved into a fit of laughter, resting his head against Lindsey's chest. "You're enjoying this far too much, aren't you?"

"Just a tad," Lindsey replied as he carded his fingers through Wesley's hair. "But it'll be nothing compared to when you have to pick out the bridesmaids' outfits."

"Oh, so suddenly I'm the bride?" Wesley asked indignantly, looking up at Lindsey.

"Well, you *are* the one that’s got the equipment."

"Oh, you –" Wesley scowled at him as he leaned in and kissed him.

The next morning, Wesley struggled out into the kitchen and flicked on the coffee maker before making his way back to the bathroom. A few minutes later he returned to the kitchen feeling refreshed and a little more awake. He poured a mug and took a contented sip before taking it with him as he went out to get a newspaper. After looking at the headlines on the front page on his way back in, he flopped it on the counter and picked up the phone to call his mom.

"Hello?" she answered the phone in Gaelic.

"Hi, Mum," he replied in the same language.

"Oh, Wesley!" she continued in Gaelic. "How are you, sweetheart?" Wesley was sure she was beaming on the other end of the phone.

"I'm doing good. How are you?"

"I'm just great. We've been having a wonderful streak of weather this past week and I've been able to get a bunch of gardening done. And how are the other men in our lives?"

"They're doing just great. Zane's been loving going to the pool –"

"Like a duck to water, I’m sure," Elisa cut in. "You were the same way."

Wesley smiled. "Lindsey and I have been busy at work, but in a good way. He had a show last night – which went very well."

"I'm glad to hear it. And what about you – has anything spectacular happened to you since we last talked?"

"Well…" Wesley refreshed the coffee in his mug and filled another one for Lindsey, adding sugar and cream like he liked, and headed towards their bedrooms with the phone tucked between his shoulder and ear. "I now have a Slayer."

"That's great, sweetie! And how did that come about? From what I remember, you weren’t too keen on getting a new one after what happened in California.”


Continue in Part 2