Disclaimer: Angel belongs to Joss Whedon. I own nothing.

Beach

"C'mon, Fred. It'll be fun. And I'll go, too." Cordelia pleaded. Fred gave her a dubious look.

"But, but, I like it here, and it's not real safe out there, what with the demons and monsters and portals and men with guns." Fred wrung her hands, staring at her with wide eyes.

Cordelia flinched at the reminder of their last fiasco of an attempt to reintroduce Fred to the world. But she knew that there was one surefire way to get the girl to go.

"Well, Angel will come."

Fred's eyes lit up. "Really?"

Cordelia nodded. "Sure. Angel loves beach parties."

"He doesn't seem like the partying type to me," Fred replied, looking doubtful.

"It wouldn't be a real party. It'd only be me, you, Angel, Wes, and Gunn. We'd just relax, talk, maybe even have a bonfire. We could roast marshmallows!"

"Marshmallows!" Fred was hooked. "Okay, well, if everybody's there, I guess it'll be safe. Can we get some tacos, too?"

Several hours later, they were all at the beach. Fred had just set her fourth marshmallow on fire, and was trying to blow it out.

"This is harder than I remembered," she said dejectedly, pulling it off of her stubby wooden toasting stick.

"Here, I'll help." Angel gently took the stick away and positioned it over the flames. "Do it like this." Fred happily took it back, and soon she had another flaming lump of charcoal on the end of it.

"Why are we doing this again?" Gunn complained, staring around at the deserted beach.

"We want to have a nice, quiet night out," Cordelia replied, looking pointedly at Fred.

Angel suddenly tensed, staring down the beach. "Sadly, I don't think that that's going to happen."

Cordelia spun, squinting into the night. "Vamps?"

Angel nodded tersely.

"What's going on?" Fred asked, looking confused and scared.

"Fred, get back," Wesley ordered, pushing her behind him. He turned to Angel. "How many?"

"Seven. They're coming this way. They probably think we're drunk beach partiers. An easy meal."

Gun moved into position next to him, and Wesley did the same. Fred was alone behind the line of defenders, clutching her toasting stick.

"Guys?" she asked timidly. They ignored her, drawing stakes out of their pockets or boots.

"I –" she began, but was interrupted by Angel.

"Now!" the vampire yelled, and the group charged toward their now-visible assailants.

Fred watched, wide eyed, as the group fought the vampires. Angel grappled with a huge male, while Cordelia dodged a blow from a different one. Wesley was punched in the gut, and she thought he was a goner for a moment. But then he just got back up and took a swing at his attacker.

Fred was terrified. She hadn't seen a real vampire fight before, and it was not something she wanted to be a part of. But she didn't have a choice. One vampire had broken away from the fight and came straight towards her. His rough vampire features were twisted into a snarl, and his yellow eyes flashed cruelly as he reached for her.

She was paralyzed with fear. The vampire grabbed her shoulder, and she heard Angel calling her name desperately.

Angel. Angel had done so much for her. He was busy fighting now, though, so he couldn't save her. Then, a thought formed in her head. Why couldn't she save herself this time?

Jerking to life, Fred gripped the toasting stick in her hand. She shoved it forward with all her might, and the vampire had just enough time to look down and see it stuck into his chest before he exploded into dust.

Fred had not expected that. She just stood there for a moment, stunned and covered in the stuff, before Angel rushed to her side.

"Are you okay?" He asked worriedly. Fred nodded slowly, and then looked around and realized that the fight was over. Cordelia and Gunn had escaped with minor nicks and cuts, and Wesley had broken his glasses but seemed otherwise unhurt.

"Do they… usually explode?" she asked, staring at the dust now coating her clothes.

Angel laughed. "Yep. They usually do." He turned towards the rest of the group. "Did you see that? Fred staked a vampire!"

"Well done, Fred," Wesley told her, smiling. Cordelia also grinned, and Gunn gave her a thumbs up.

"Let's get back to the hotel and clean up," Angel suggested, surveying the grimy bunch, and they all let out sounds of agreement and headed back to the car.

When she was back in her room, Fred carefully placed the stick on her nightstand. It had better uses than roasting marshmallows.