Title: A Time to Regroup
Author: Gypsy
Email: gypsy_gray@msn.com
Summary: Wesley waits for his family to come for him.
Rating: Pg (angsty, slashy, AU)
Spoilers: Up to last episode of current seasons of both shows. (say that 3 times fast.
Disclaimers: There not mine, ut I promise that if they were things would be alot different.

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Wes watched the world go by from his apartment window. He'd been home from the hospital for two days and he still couldn't bring himself to make the call.

He knew his time was running out. The hospital would have notified his next of kin when he was admitted. The arrangement gave him four days to contact the other man and tell him he was alright. When he was shot he got Cordelia to make the call. He'd managed to convince her that it was only polite to let Mr.. Giles know he was alright. He'd known that the Giles would pass the message on to the others in Sunnydale in some offhand way. He'd counted on it. It was how the two of them communicated without raising suspicion.

When he'd left the Hellmouth he'd been able to just call. Then when the other man had joined him they'd been together everyday and slept beside each other every night. He couldn't remember a time in his life when he'd felt safer or more content. So when his companion was ordered back to Sunnydale and he was sent to L.A., he was more miserable then he had ever been before. Then he'd found Angel. Setting up communications through Cordelia and Mr. Giles had been easy. Neither human questioned the fact that they suddenly developed a need to keep each other appraised of what was happening with their perspective groups. Link established, four day rule firmly in place, and both of them missing their dearest friend; they'd done their duties. Then he'd begun to hear word of an ex demon. He was happy for his friend, especially since he knew the other man was hearing similar news of a man named Gunn. Things went on like always. They did their jobs, snuck away to see each other when they could, and were each genuinely happy that the other had found someone to love.

Then Fred had arrived. He'd lost Gunn. True he never had him the way he wanted him, but he'd always moved slower in the romance department than his companion. His own heart was broken; then to discover the truth of the prophecy. His orders were clear. He would have to give up his new friends and his home. There was no choice. There would be no second chance with Gunn.

Things had been horrible. Then they'd gotten worse. A wedding called off. A bride left standing at the alter by a man who loved her. It was obvious his companion had received his orders. The message of where to bring the baby came soon after. He knew his dearest friend would be there. They would be together again at least.

Then Holtz. He'd gotten sloppy and gotten his throat cut for it. His was too weak from his own injury and misery to find Conner on his own. He'd known for weeks that his reserves were depleted. He'd let self pity over a broken heart keep him from building them up.

It didn't matter. His companion would be here soon. They would find the baby and leave L.A., and neither of them would see the people they loved again. That was the way of things for their kind. Still, no matter how many times he lived among humans it hurt to leave his charges behind.

He'd been guarding the group in L.A. since his cousin Doyle had been called to Scotland to help the Highlander and the Old One. Both were necessary to the final battle, and their masters had decided that only Doyle could help them. So everyone had been re-assigned. He'd gotten the L.A. job, Xander had resumed his place on the Hellmouth, and Francis had gone to play matchmaker to the two most stubborn men in history.

Footsteps outside his door signaled the arrival of his dearest friend. Xander walked into the apartment as if the door had been locked and enchanted against all intruders. They could never hide from each other. Wes felt strong arms wrap around him and he turned in his brother's embrace. Holding each other close they stood and let the world go by for a little longer. It was always like this. For seven centuries he and his cousins had served the powers that be. The three of them were the last remnants of an all but forgotten age.

Humans remembered the ancient world as primitive. The Powers That Be had carefully restructured the remainders fo the past so that very little of the truth was known. Only a few of them were left now. Shiva and Ganesh, Isis and Ra, Thor and Loki, and of their own family their was only Ares and Joxer. The two Gods had cared for them since their own parents had fallen into the Twilight, along with most of the other deities in the world.

Wes could remember standing with the Joxer and watching Ares seal up the temple that housed the sleeping forms of Cupid and Strife. He'd held his younger brother and they'd both cried while their grandfather did the only thing he could to protect their parents. It had been equally horrible to watch Ares perform the same service for Doyle's parents. He could still remember how his cousin had sobbed while Hercules and Iolaus were sealed inside their temple on Olympus.

The three of them had helped their guardians organized the remaining gods and goddesses of the world into the Powers That Be. They'd worked ever since to protect mankind and to find a way to awaken the others. It was Loki who found the prophecy first. "The childe of a Bachae to usher in a new age of the ancients. In the time of the Key made flesh, he shall be the child of a fallen Angel, born into their city..." Conner had been their hope. For the first time in soo long they had a chance. They would not lose it now.

The End