Making Amends
an Angel: the series story
by Cimorene

"Grab the tissues and I’ll get the soup."

"M’kay!" Fred hopped out of the passenger’s seat of Angel’s car, taking the box of tissues with her and standing in front of the looming apartment building. She waited for Cordelia to gather her items and then walked along side her as they entered the building. Closing the door behind them, Cordy and Fred wandered down the halls, chatting lightly.

"Now remember, if he gets all annoying and doesn’t let us in, go on in anyways," Cordy remarked, turning a corner as Fred scrambled to catch up. "He can’t come into work halfway dead and get off scot-free."

Fred smiled. Despite Cordelia’s often insulting fashion of communicating with her colleague, she knew Cordy cared deeply for him, in a very sisterly way. Fred knew years of working together had formed a sort of bond between the two, a bond that Fred would perhaps never quite understand. Wesley had come in to work that day with a streaming nose and a cough, insisting that he was in perfect health. At the end of the day and after watching him leave the office, Cordelia had made the comment that Wesley would rather die than take care of himself properly, and she then decided to grudgingly bring over a care package to him. Fred had volunteered herself along for the trip, mainly because she wanted to prove to Wesley that everything was all right between them. Ever since Wesley had been under the influence of Billy’s demonic powers and unwittingly terrorized Fred with an axe, he had been uncomfortably distant and almost afraid of going near her. She knew that he still blamed himself, and when she saw her opportunity to restore their friendship, she took it.

Cordy strolled up to Wesley’s apartment door and was about to knock when she looked in the paper bag she was carrying and sighed. "Crap," she murmured, "I left the tea leaves in the car. He really likes those…um…why don’t you go on ahead and I’ll be back in a sec?" Before Fred could respond, Cordelia had already taken off.

Fred stood in front of the door uncertainly, box of tissues in hand and an uneasy expression on her face. Last time she had stood in front of Wesley’s door, the outcome had been less than desirable. She still felt guilt over leaving him like that, wracked with heartbroken sobs as he cried alone on the other side of the door. She stood, staring blankly at the apartment number for a while. She then took in a deep breath and mustered up the courage to knock.

Fred waited with butterflies in her stomach, hoping the situation would turn out to be quite a bit less awkward. Before she could fully reassure herself, however, the door cracked open to reveal the tired-looking ex-Watcher. His appearance suggested that he had been awoken suddenly, as his hair was slightly mussed and his glasses weren’t quite aligned correctly on his face. He blinked in surprise and then opened the door slightly wider. "Fred?" he said in a slightly incredulous voice. "What are you…that is to say…this is certainly a surprise!"

Fred smiled softly, not sure how best to address the flustered man before her. "Hi!" she squeaked, her smile growing a bit wider and a bit more nervous. "Cordy and I noticed you might’ve been feeling… well…not. Not well, I mean. So we thought that maybe…um…"

There was an awkward silence during which the two looked at each other anxiously. Fortunately, Cordelia appeared around the corner at just the right moment. "Okay, you," she said in a characteristically threatening voice, "you know if you don’t let us in we’re coming in anyways, ‘cause guess what? Not vampires!" She switched the sack to her left arm and smiled sweetly. "Now how about some soup?"

Wesley couldn’t help but chuckle good-naturedly as he swung the door open and stepped aside to allow the two women inside his apartment. "How could I say no to such a tempting offer?" He coughed a little as he shut the door behind him. "Although you certainly don’t have to – "

"Yeah, I think we do," Cordy commented as she set the bag down on Wesley’s coffee table, pulling out a large Tupperware container of pre-made soup and taking it to the kitchen. "You wouldn’t happen to have a microwave, would you?"

Wesley glanced at Fred, who smiled encouragingly. "Well…it’s somewhat in disrepair at the moment. But you can use on the stove, if you need to…the pots are under the - "

"Found ‘em!" Cordelia called from the kitchen. She stepped back into the living room and smiled, tin pot in hand. "Everything’s under control, so relax." She gestured to the couch. "Relaxation involves sitting, in case you’ve forgotten."

"Yes," Fred chimed in, "sitting and relaxing are pretty much synonymous." She paused thoughtfully. "Unless you’re a horse…but you’re not, obviously."

Wesley shook his head and gave into the girls’ prodding. "This is very kind of you both, but…you really are…" His mouth dropped open tentatively and he quickly pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket. "Huh…huhtchooo!" Wesley’s cheeks reddened as he blew his nose as discreetly as possible. "Excuse me."

Fred sat down beside Wesley and remained there awkwardly. "Bless you!"

Wesley wiped at his nose once more and pushed his glasses back up his nose. "Thank you…but I honestly don’t feel very ill."

Fred looked skeptical as she watched him catch an unexpected sneeze in the crook of his elbow.


"HetCHHshh! TCHH!" The second sneeze was muffled quite badly, resulting in several heavily congested snuffles. "Sorry, excuse be…" He sniffled but seemed reluctant to pull the handkerchief out again.

At this point Fred realized she was still holding the box of tissues, so she abruptly handed them to Wesley. "Here…Cordy got these for you…"

Wesley took them and stared at them for a moment, as if unsure what to do with them. He then set the box on the coffee table along with the paper sack Cordy had brought. "Oh…thadk you…"

Fred swallowed, fidgeting nervously. She knew what she wanted to say to him, but she wasn’t sure if now was the right time. Finally, the pressure escalated to unbearable levels, and she jumped off the couch suddenly. "I’m…um…gonna go see if Cordy needs some help." She then darted into the kitchen, leaving a quite confused and congested Wesley to sit on the couch and debate the appropriateness of blowing his nose in front of his female colleagues.

Cordelia seemed to have made herself quite at home in Wesley’s kitchen. She had strewn various cookware over the counters and all other free spaces, and Fred wondered how she could have possibly used so many utensils just to heat up some soup. Cordy was now stirring her soup like a madwoman, looking somewhat impatient. Fred found a free space on the counter and jumped up onto it to sit, dangling her legs distractedly. She sighed and then said quietly, "I don’t know what to say to him."

Cordy looked up from her wild stirring. "What do you mean?"

"Um…" Fred’s voice trailed off, only to start again. "Ever since…well, you know…he seems so much different. I mean, he’ll hardly even look at me."

"Oh." Cordelia paused her stirring to answer Fred. "He just feels really bad about the whole situation, I think." She listened to several more muffled sneezes come from the living room. "You should talk to him…it’d probably make him feel better."

"Yeah, I figured that much," Fred responded with a sigh. She hopped down from the counter. "I guess I’ll just have to go with the braveness. I mean, I faced off with countless Pylean hell beasts, right? This should be a cinch."

Cordelia laughed a little at that. "Yeah, plus, Wesley’s not big on the biting and ripping your head off. Kinda puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?"

Fred nodded seriously and reentered the living room. Her eyes fell on Wesley, who seemed to be in the middle of a wet, messy nose blow. He looked up guiltily and paused in mid-blow, finishing off by wiping his runny nose with the tinge of embarrassment in his cheeks. Fred tried to make him feel more comfortable by completely ignoring the event. She sat down beside him again and smiled. "So…" she said open-endedly, and then in a panic scrambled for a topic. "Do you… think Conner’s safe now?"

She felt like slapping herself as she listened politely to Wesley’s knowledgeable but somewhat hesitant response. Why couldn’t she simply discuss the awkwardness between them? Like Cordelia had said, it wasn’t as if Wesley was going to bite her head off. And it wasn’t that big a deal. All she had to do was bring up the issue tactfully and casually.

"So really, the main problem lies in identifying the rest of Conner’s enemies," Wesley continued, sniffling occasionally, "and perhaps we could also find the - "

"I don’t want things to be weird anymore!" Fred blurted, interrupting Wesley and throwing him off completely. So much for tact.

"Wh…what?" Wesley asked, his face a map of confusion.

"I mean…" Fred sighed, gathering her thoughts. "I thought you understood when I said everything was okay with us. You don’t have to feel bad about things…please?" Her large brown eyes begged understanding.

Wesley seemed momentarily frozen, and Fred wasn’t sure if he needed to sneeze or if he was simply shocked by what she had said. After a while, he found words. "Fred, I never meant to…to be honest, I wasn’t aware that you had noticed."

"Oh…" Fred watched the deflated look on Wesley’s face and placed a hand over his. She squeezed it encouragingly, trying to warm him up. "Of course I noticed! I just thought…maybe you didn’t want to be friends anymore or something like that."

Wesley looked up, concern etched in his features. "God, no! I… oh… dear…heh…" Fred couldn’t help but giggle a little as a sneeze found its way into Wesley’s nose. It twitched several times until he buried it into his shoulder. "IhhCHH!" He drew away, only to sniffle a bit and sneeze again. "HuhCHmmpphh! Heh-ggshhh!"

Fred reached for the tissue box and ripped it open, afterwards handing him a tissue. "Bless you." She smiled sweetly and was almost thankful for Wesley’s sneezes, as they had seemed to lighten the mood.

Wesley accepted the tissue, held it uncomfortably for a moment, and then blew his nose as quietly as possible. "I’m terribly sorry, I know this isn’t…" He lowered the tissue and simply smiled awkwardly in apology.

Fred smiled back, eyes lowered. "Aw, don’t worry about it." She drew a breath of air in and said, "I just wanted you to know that everything’s fine…you know…between us." She paused and then added hurriedly, "And that I’m not mad at you or anything."

This elicited a true smile from Wesley, especially when Fred reached over to pat his hand again. Even with a cold, he felt that maybe things were finally taking a turn for the better.

Cordelia stood against the wall, listening intently to the conversation that was occurring in the living room. She smirked as it wrapped up, realizing that the exchange had rather resembled chats she’d had with her boyfriends in sixth grade – choppy and awkward. But somehow, the short discussion she’d listened in on seemed to fit. It had been uncomfortable, yes, but it had also been sweet and heartfelt. Maybe those two did have a chance after all.

Cordy felt it safe to round the corner with her bowl of warmed-up soup. She set it on the table proudly and stood back to admire it. "Well, Fred, I guess our work is done here….you ready to go?"

Fred nodded, giving Wesley’s hand a final squeeze and standing. "Take care of yourself, ‘kay?" she said sweetly.

"EhKtchhh! Hah…hahtchhmmphh!" Wesley sniffled and nodded, hardly able to do anything else.

Cordelia grinned. "All right then! See you later, Wes…and there’s no need to come in to work tomorrow, because you know we’ll send ya straight back."

"Yes, I kdow," Wesley nodded again, leaning back against the couch tiredly. "Thadk you, Cordelia…really." His eyes met hers in gratitude.

"Eh, don’t mention it," she shrugged, but her smile gave away her sentimentality. She opened the door and allowed Fred to pass through before passing through herself. "Bye."

As soon as the door shut, Cordy touched Fred’s arm. "You’ve done a good thing, sweetie," she murmured.

Fred beamed. "You think so? I’m just glad it’s all over with…I mean, it’s never this hard with Charles…maybe ‘cause he’s so easy to talk to."

Cordy guided Fred down the hall and out of the building. "Yeah, I guess…it just takes a while to get used to Wesley at first. It’s hard for him to loosen up."

"Really?" Fred asked, hopping into the passenger’s seat and putting on her seat belt as Cordy revved the engine. "What did you think of Wesley when you first met him?"

            Cordelia burst into laughter, backing out of the parking lot and trying not to crash into the curb. "Well, you’re not gonna believe this, but…" She shook her head and hoped that Fred wouldn’t laugh too hard.

Disclaimer: I in no way own these characters or make money off of them....just playing Summary: Cordelia and Fred bring Wesley a care package, and Fred manages to soothe a few misunderstandings; slightly Wes/Fred
Author's notes: I felt like Wesley never really forgave himself for what he did to Fred (even if he had no control over it!), and so I needed to write this scene to clear things up between them