DISCLAIMER: All the characters in the story belong to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy and co. I own Taylor, the story idea and the story itself.
RATING: PG Wesley/Taylor Xander/Anya
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Wesley scratched his eyebrow lightly as he watched the nurse force Taylor to stand up. A look of pure agony crossed her face and Wesley slammed his hands against the window he was standing behind. He smiled when everyone else in the room looked at him and realized that was the reason they had kept him behind glass.
Taylor looked over at him, biting her lip and holding herself up on the two parallel bars. He shot her an encouraging smile, waiting for her to begin. Wesley saw her sigh, then began to push herself along the bars, stepping slowly.
Taylor had been doing this for nearly four months now and in the recent weeks she had begun to get better. Then a doctor had suddenly worried about an infection in her leg and had to operate. Since she had to stay off the leg for a week she wasn't used to moving around and it hurt her to do so. Wesley picked her up from the apartment she shared with Riley and his friend every day she had an appointment and drove her to the hospital. Then he would wait the long two hours and drive her home. Sometimes he would take her out to eat after her sessions but usually she was too tired.
He turned his dark eyes back up to the room to see Taylor walking slowly on her own, without the help of the bar. She was grinning broadly and turned to see Wesley smiling proudly at her. She smiled back and Wesley found himself thinking, *I love her.* He stopped himself and glanced down at his shoes before he looked at Taylor again.
"I love her?" He murmured to himself slowly, testing each word carefully. "I love her." He said it as more of a statement than a question this time. Wesley smiled slowly and repeated it once more, "I love her."
"Tell her that." Someone said from behind him and Wesley whirled around to see Buffy standing there. She grinned, "Hey Wes. How's everything going?"
"Uh . . . good, I suppose."
"Oh my God! Taylor's walking!" Buffy blurted out excitedly, suddenly forgetting the statement Wesley had made only a few minutes ago. "This is so great. She can walk on her own."
"Barely. It will take time before she'll be strong enough to walk without becoming tired."
"Wesley, she's a slayer. She's naturally much stronger and I'm sure her muscles can build themselves faster than normal people."
He nodded slowly. "You may be right. Hm, that's something I might look into tonight."
"What's tonight?"
"Researching. Giles had something he needed to show me, some prophecy or demon I suppose."
"Well, have fun." Buffy smiled at Taylor through the glass and waved as the other slayer made her way back to her wheelchair. "I just thought I'd drop by and see how Taylor was doing. Looks like she's doing pretty good so I'll be going now." She paused and looked at Wesley. "Tell her." Then she smiled and was gone.
Wesley bit his lip as he thought about it. *Should I tell her?* He asked himself. *She has a right to know. But what if she doesn't feel the same way? What if she doesn't say it back?* He shook his head. *No, too much of a risk.*
Taylor stopped her wheelchair beside him. "Hey there."
"Hi." He stooped down and kissed her. "Ready to go?"
She nodded. "Yeah."
"Want to try walking to the car?" He smiled. "You looked great in there."
"Thanks, but the nurse said I should try to avoid walking on my own. What if I fell?"
Wesley smiled. "Then I'd help you up and you'd try again. Don't tell me you're scared of falling."
Taylor shook her head. "Not really. I'm just afraid of what the nurse would do if she saw me walking on my own." Her blue eyes glittered as she glanced around, then motioned for Wesley to lean closer. He put his head near hers and she grinned. "Tell you what. We'll go to the car the normal way, but once we get back to my apartment I'll walk in and to the elevator and down the hall so Riley can see me walking."
Wesley nodded. "Sounds like a plan to me." He took the back of the wheelchair and pushed her toward the exit. "Speaking of Riley, why hasn't he been here to see you yet?"
"I don't think he's really comfortable seeing me try to walk again." Taylor shrugged. "I think he still kind of blames himself. I kind of pushed the blame onto him didn't I?"
"That was four months ago. If he's not over it by now, it's not your fault."
She shook her head as Wesley helped her stand up and she got into the front seat of the car. "You're right but sometimes," she sighed, "sometimes I'll catch him staring at my legs or at the wheelchair and he looks really sad."
"He'll be really happy to see you walk Taylor." Wesley started the car and pulled out onto the highway. "There's actually something that Buffy brought up that I didn't think of. I have to check with Giles first and if I have something I'll call you from his place. Okay?"
She nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
* * *
Riley drummed his fingers lightly on his desk as he marked the last of the papers from the psychology class. His made a neat red mark on the paper and flipped it over before pulling another from the pile.
"Hey Riley!"
He looked up to see Todd at the window, the other person he and Taylor were sharing the apartment with. "You have to come see this."
Riley joined Todd at the window and looked down. "What?" He asked.
"Would you just look?"
Riley looked harder and suddenly he saw Taylor get out of Wesley's car below them. He opened his mouth to ask Todd what was so exciting about Taylor and Wesley when he saw for himself. She stepped out of the car on her own. She leaned on Wesley for support as she righted herself then began to walk toward the building. She still had a limp from the surgery in her right leg and Wesley held her arm carefully in case she fell, but she was walking on her own.
Riley watched in awe until they were inside the building then ran to the door to wait for them. He waited until he heard the elevator chime and the doors slid open. Taylor and Wesley stepped out of the elevator and she was still walking by herself. Riley felt a smile stretch out over his face as he ran to her.
She smiled up at him when he reached her and he hugged her tightly.
"I can't believe it." He murmured into her shoulder. "You're actually walking."
"It's still tiring." She said when he let her go. "But I'm managing."
"I'll go get the chair." Todd volunteered, then ran down the stairs.
"Thanks for driving me." Taylor said, turning toward Wesley. She kissed him quickly, missing his lips and hitting his chin then started toward the apartment with Riley helping her along.
"I'll call." Wesley said. "Remember."
She smiled at him over her shoulder and nodded. "I will."
* * *
Wesley knocked lightly on Giles' front door before letting himself in. He was surprised to find that he had begun to think of the former watcher as his friend after the past few months he had spent in Sunnydale. In fact, it was nothing at all like the time he had spent there while Buffy and the others were still in high school.
"Giles?" He called, stepping into the front hall.
"In here."
He heard Giles' voice call from the living room and followed the sound to find Giles buried in books, sitting on the couch.
He glanced up when Wesley came in.
"Wesley, come in. Sit," he looked around, "if you can find somewhere to sit that's not covered in books."
Wesley perched carefully on the edge of a chair then looked at Giles expectantly. "You had something you wanted to show me?" He asked.
Giles nodded. "Oh yes. Uh, where is it now?" He scanned the books quickly until he found what he was looking for, then held it up for Wesley to see. "Have you ever encountered one of these before?" He asked.
Wesley squinted at the picture. It was a demon wearing a large headdress. The rest of the demon was covered in armour and heavy artillery.
He shook his head. "I've never seen anything like that before. Definitely looks as if it relies on weaponry more than its own power."
Giles nodded slowly. "Buffy came up against one of these guys last night. She said he was a tough fight but she killed him in the end. But before she did, he said something that obviously worried her as much as it's worrying me. He said, 'The end of days is near. Both slayers are doomed'." Giles took off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "According to Angel a demon said something similar in Los Angeles when Buffy was there. He's just as worried as I am."
Wesley frowned. "What does this mean? Have you been able to find anything?"
Giles shook his head. "Nothing more than the picture. It doesn't even have a write up on it in here. Angel said he'd look around and see what he could find." He shut the book and leaned back. "Now you said you had something to ask me."
"Actually yes, I did." Wesley moved a book and tried to find a comfortable place before speaking. "I was at the hospital with Taylor today when Buffy came in and said something very interesting. Taylor was up and walking on her own and I mentioned that it would take a very long time for her to regain strength and build up her muscles. Then Buffy said that maybe it wouldn't take as much time because she's a slayer. Would that be true?"
Giles thought for a moment then sighed. "I really don't know Wesley. It's a good point she brought up and if Taylor's muscles do rebuild faster that would be a great thing for all of us." He sighed again. "Why don't you try calling the Council? Maybe they'll have something for us." He nodded toward the phone. "Go ahead."
Wesley leaned over and picked up the phone that sat on the end table. He dialled an eleven digit number, then waited to be put through to the Council. "It's Wesley." He said when they picked up the phone. He listened for a moment, then sighed. "Windham Pryce." There was a long pause and Giles saw Wesley's face harden. "Just put me through to the council you fool!" There was another long pause, then Wesley smiled again. "Yes. It's Wesley Windham Pryce. I'm Taylor Finn's watcher and as I'm sure the Council knows she was paralysed a few months ago." He paused again. "Yes, she's doing much better actually. Now I was just wondering, would her muscles regenerate faster than that of an average human?" He nodded. "All right then, thank you."
Giles watched as he hung up the phone then turned to look at him. "Well?" He asked.
Wesley smiled. "They said her muscles will be able to rebuild themselves within two weeks if she's using them. Isn't that great?"
Giles nodded. "It is. Are you going to call and tell her?"
* * *
Taylor was sighing over her psychology assignment when the phone rang beside her.
"Hello?" She knew her voice sounded tired and ragged but she didn't care. She was tired and ragged.
"Taylor?" Wesley's voice came over the line. "I have great news."
She brightened a little. "What is it?"
"I talked to the Watcher's Council today and they told me something very interesting." He paused to take a breath. "Since you're a slayer, your leg muscles will be able to rebuild themselves faster than that of a normal person."
"What does that mean?" She asked, her heart beating a little faster.
"It means that within two weeks you should be able to walk on your own again."
Taylor felt her jaw drop. "Wesley, are you serious? I'll really be able to walk? In two weeks?"
"Yes, but only if you keep using your legs like you have been. Maybe you should do a little yourself, outside of your physio therapy lessons."
"Definitely." She smiled. "Wesley this is great."
"Feel like celebrating?" She could hear the smile in his voice.
Taylor sighed. "I don't know. I mean, I want to but I'm so tired." She glanced back at her paper. "And I have this essay to finish for psychology. I don't think so Wesley. Not tonight."
"Tomorrow then. I'll take you out somewhere and you'll walk."
She smiled again. "I'll walk. Yeah, that sounds good."
"Good night Taylor."
"Good night."
* * *
"So she'll be able to walk again?" Willow asked as she and Buffy walked through the campus that night. "Soon? That's so great. Wesley and Riley must be ecstatic."
Buffy nodded. "Yeah, I think they both are. I talked to Riley earlier and he sounded just like a little boy at Christmas." She paused. "After what happened the first night Taylor was here, I'm glad things are turning around for her. I mean, she and Wesley can have a normal relationship, completely normal. And she can walk. That's just so great in itself."
"It is." Willow smiled. "Hey, we should have a party for her. A 'welcome back to the walking' party. That'd be so much fun."
Buffy laughed. "Welcome back to the walking? Think she'd appreciate that?"
"Sure. Taylor's great. She's got a good sense of humour, I don't think she'd mind."
Buffy shrugged. "If you and Xander want to plan this then go right ahead. I'm still not sure she'd like it."
Willow waved her hand in the air. "I know she will. Don't you worry, it'll be a great party."
Something jumped out in front of them and smiled. "Not if I have anything to do with it."
Buffy kicked the demon in the stomach as Willow backed up to get a better look. This one was even uglier than the one they had fought last night. He had grey tentacles spiralling out from his black head and body, his eyes were the colour of blood and Willow shuddered when he looked at her.
Buffy flipped him over onto the ground and tried to get her stake into his body. He dodged the shot and rolled away, then kicked her in the side.
"Willow!" Buffy called and her friend started.
"Oh yeah, the knife." Willow crouched on the ground and pulled a knife out of her bag, then threw it to Buffy.
The slayer plunged the knife into the demon's stomach, then stood up and watched as he sank to the ground.
"You can't stop it slayer. The end of days will come no matter what you do." Then he dropped to the ground and died.
Buffy frowned. "That's the third reference we've had to the end of days. I don't like it Willow."
"Giles said he and Wesley were working on that. They're trying to find what the end of days means, then they'll see if we can stop it."
"I don't like it at all." Buffy shook her head. "Especially with Taylor not up to full strength. If she hears about this she'll want to get out and fight, I know her."
"But she'd get herself killed."
Buffy nodded. "That's what I'm afraid of."
* * *
"Right. So you have the book Angel?" Giles spoke rapidly into the phone, then waited for the vampire to answer.
"No, not with me. It's on its way to you right now." He said. "I sent it. You should get a package tomorrow probably."
Giles nodded. "Right. Did you happen to read what it said?"
Angel faltered on the other line.
"Angel?"
"Yeah, yeah I read it." He sighed. "It's not good Giles. I can tell you that much. The rest you'll have to read about. Take care of yourself." Then the line went dead.
Giles hung up the phone and sighed. That phone call hadn't done much more other than worry him. If Angel was worried about what was happening, he should be too. Giles took a seat on his couch as he began to go through his books once more. Maybe there would be something in there, something he missed.