Habeas Corpus Verse. First Foray.

[demonologist]

Wes stumbled down the sewer corridor, ignoring the various hurts which plagued his body. He was almost there. To the Hyperion. Not that he believed he'd find sanctuary there, but it was the closest thing to it right now.

Fred. Gunn. He couldn't let himself dwell on his failures. The beast was too powerful. None of them had stood a chance against it. Or the damage it had already wrought with its zombie-lawyer horde. Wes paused, leaning against the sewer wall...

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[succubitch]

Lilah hadn't gotten far since Wesley helped her out of Wolfram and Hart. It had been difficult to move at all, considering the still bleeding wound on her side. But she was managing. She was Lilah Morgan, after all. If nothing else, she was a survivor.

She had been slowly making her way towards the Hyperion, because if anyone had a chance of beating the Beast, it was Angel. And not that she'd ever ask for help, but it'd be good to keep close to the action, keep a tab on things just in case.

But then she noticed a familiar figure leaning against one of the walls. One she had seen earlier today. He was only in slightly better shape than she was, and her pride still stung from being dumped and saved by him all in one day, but survival was key right now. And she had a better chance of it if she wasn't alone.

"Wesley?"

[demonologist]

Wes straightened, suddenly on the alert.

"Lilah?"

No, he'd told her to leave town, to not give the Beast an easy target. What was she doing so close to the hotel? She should have been long gone by now? He didn't want her to see him like this. To know...what he knew.

"What are you doing here?"

[succubitch]

"Where was I supposed to go, exactly?"

She tried to make the answer come out flippantly, but it fell a little short. There was truth to the words though. She didn't have anywhere else to go. And it wasn't like she was likely to get far when she was this wounded.

Not that there was anywhere she could even go to get it properly treated right now.

[demonologist]

There was a slight pause where he stared at her, hearing the unfortunate truth behind the flippant tone. "Surely you had a contingency plan for such situations?" Lilah had always been smart, a survivalist. He couldn't believe that she didn't have a half dozen plans in place in case she was put in mortal danger due to her Wolfram and Hart exploits.

But...something in her posture and the look she gave him made him wonder if for once she'd truly been blindsided by the events which had unfolded.

Wes had certainly been. He was still reeling from them, in fact. His mind wasn't quite yet ready to accept the truth. And so he pushed on, focusing on Lilah's (and his own) predicament.

He surged forward and put a supporting arm around her waist.

"We need to get that wound tended to. Come on." Wes himself was somewhat worse for wear. But his injuries were superficial. Some bruises and lacerations. There was persistent ache on the left side, but he didn't think the ribs had been fractured.

[succubitch]

His question stung a little. Because it was true. She usually always had a back up plan, something to fallback on in case things didn't go the way she planned. But not this time. She had no escape routes planned for this scenario. She had been completely blindsided.

Though, it seemed as is just about everyone had been this time. After all, she was the only survivor of Wolfram and Hart and the zombie attacks that had happened there. No one had planned on that.

Normally, she might even feel some pride at being the only survivor, but it seemed a little soon to be cashing in on that.

There was a part of her that wanted to protest as she felt his arm wrap around her, supporting her. This would be the second time today he would come to her aid, and she hated him for it. Hated that he could dump her and still save her all in one day. Hated that he still gave a shit.

And hated even more that she did. That she had felt relieved to see he was still safe.

"Where do you plan on going? In case you haven't noticed, most of the hospitals are pretty useless right now," She said in her usual sort of way, leaning against him more than she would have liked. How much blood had she lost by now? It was hard to be certain.

[demonologist]

"I have a few safehouses set up for my agency. We can go to one of them, my car's parked outside the Hyperion. There'll be a medical kit underneath the lobby counter at the hotel. So that will be the first stop."

Wes didn't know how severe Lilah's wound was, but he was glad that she was still on her feet and not about to pass out on him. He may have cut things off romantically with her, but that didn't mean that he'd stopped caring what happened to her.

[succubitch]

She nodded as he listed his resources. She wasn't surprised to hear them. Wesley was almost as good as she was about having backup plans, things to fall back on just in case. And in this situation, his had panned out better than her own.

Not that she would ever admit it out loud. Even now, as she leaned against him for support, she still had her pride. She might not have much else left, but she still had that.

[demonologist]

It took some determination on both of their parts to climb up the sewer entrance to the hotel, but Wes went first, then reached down to help pull her up to safety. Temporary safety. He knew that they couldn't stay here. If the beast and Angelus were both loose, then they needed to go somewhere that neither knew about.

He eased her down on one of the ottomans and then grabbed the medkit and returned to her side.

"Lift up your top, let's see how bad it is."

[succubitch]

She hated this. Being hurt, needing his help like this, but while Lilah was stubborn, she wasn't stupid. She was going to need his help if she was going to survive all this, and she was determined to survive.

So with that in mind she lifted up her shirt so he could better expect the wound. In her days on the run since the attack at Wolfram and Hart, she hadn't had time to get it properly taken care of. Hence why it was still bleeding.

"What's the verdict, boss?"

[demonologist]

As carefully as he could, he inspected the wound, pressing gingerly around it, and peering at it closely. It was still oozing fresh blood, which he frowned at. "I need to irrigate the wound and disinfect it. It's going to need stitches too, I'm afraid. We also ought to get you some antibiotics, just in case. The good news is that I don't believe his finger ruptured any of your vital organs."

He started to lay out the supplies on the seat next to her in preparation.

[succubitch]

His touch stung, and she couldn't help but hiss in pain lightly as he inspected her wound. His assessment doesn't really come as a surprise. She had suspected it might need stitches, with the way it had been bleeding for days now.

At his attempt to look on the bright side, she rolled her eyes a little. "Yes, lucky me."

[demonologist]

There's a briskness to his movements as he begins to tend to her which betrays an underlying tension. So much has happened. He's still reeling from it all.

"You were supposed to leave town, Lilah. To get away from all of this madness." You were supposed to be safe. He doesn't say the last part out loud. It would be revealing too much.

[succubitch]

"Yes, well, a lot of things didn't turn out like they were supposed to."

She should have just left town, gotten out. Contacted one of the other branches of Wolfram and Hart. But she hadn't. She had been stubborn and stayed, living down in the sewers since the firm was destroyed.

And now she was here, needing his help again.

[demonologist]

He wondered if that was a dig at him. For terminating their affair. Fair enough, if it was.

Looking up at her, he adopted a slightly gentler tone:

"I need to sew it up, next. It's going to hurt. There's probably some liquor in the cabinet if you want to down some before we get started."

Lord knew he could use several stiff drinks. Would love to drink himself into a mind-numbing stupor. But for now, he needed his wits about him and not just for his own sake.

[succubitch]

Perhaps it had been a bit of one. She's never been the type to resist getting in a dig wherever she can. Even when she does need his help.

And does she hate that she needs his help.

"Alcohol might be a good idea."

For a variety of reasons, the least of which being that she knows the physical pain is going to be worse before it's better.

[demonologist]

It didn't take Wes long to track down a bottle of whiskey. It was even unopened. An expensive brand, most likely Angel's. They needed it more than he did, right now, that was for certain.

He handed her the bottle, figuring she didn't mind drinking straight from the source. Time was still of the essence. Rifling through the medkit, Wes began to set out what he would need to patch her up properly. His side still hurt, and occasionally he grimaced when he moved the wrong way, but he did his best to hide his discomfort. He would have to bandage it up later once they were at the safe-house and had more time to regroup.

After a few minutes of preparation and trying to give Lilah a head-start on the whiskey, he finally checked with her again.

"Ready?"

[succubitch]

She takes the whiskey from him. Given the circumstances, she could care less about drinking straight from the bottle. It's not like anyone is around to care if she's doing so (she knows Wes won't care). She notices a slight wince in his stance occasionally, but didn't comment on it. Right now, she needed to focus on the task at hand.

Which was knocking back as much whiskey as she could before he had to start sewing her back up. She's taken a few long swigs before he finally speaks again.

"As I'm going to be."