A/N: Hey! So I'm here with a new chapter. I'm really getting invested into this story. I swear its like my baby. I'm planning on trying to tap into Angel's character more because I've been rewatching season 4 and I feel like I haven't addressed Angel's feeling's for Cordelia enough, or explained them so I'm going to be doing that but also over time I'm planning on adding more Wes and Fred bits into older chapters because I realized while they're one of my favorite coupledoms I haven't written any scenes for them and ones I did got left out by accident so if and when I do add these scenes I will definitely let you know where they are so you can read them. Anyway thank you again for reading, sorry about the super long author's note. Enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review!
Carpe Noctum
Chapter 20
Fred feels her heart racing in her chest and her adrenaline flowing as she pounds the pavement. Moments after she left the diner Wesley, Gunn and Xander were on her tail, chasing her all around town. She's been running ever since. Jasmine's interview is over and the streets are becoming flooded with people, people who are all smiley and … oblivious.
It makes Fred sick to her stomach with fear. She's running from her friends. Friends who now want to kill her. Her Wesley hunting her down. She looks over her shoulder and sees Gunn and Wes starting to catch up and she bites her lip nervously. She's got to get out of open sight or else they'll catch up with her for sure. She makes her way into the street slamming on a car window as she goes. Her eyes dart frantically around her as she looks for an escape. Any escape and in a flurry of panic she hands a woman her coat and ducks down into a sewer hatch. The smell is overwhelming as she cowers quietly listening to Gunn, Wesley and Xander's conversation flowing through the holes in the sewer hatch.
"All right, now I'm getting mad." Gunn scowls as he and Wesley scan the crowded court yard. He's getting annoyed. Jasmine wants Fred caught but she keeps slipping from their grasp everytime they think they've got her.
"Guys." Xander calls out, a little breathlessly as he finally catches up. He puts his hands on his knees and sighs. This running around is really doing a number on him. He's not built for this much physical activity. "I'm here. Found her?"
"No, but we will." Wes assures him, his eyes intent on his surroundings. He loves Fred, he really does, but he has to find her so he can bring her to Jasmine. Maybe Jasmine will be able to sway her back to the right side. One can honly hope for the best. And if she refuses to see reason well then she'll have to be eliminated.
"Do a whole lot worse than just find her." Gunn promises as he, Xander and Wesley scan the area. She's gotta be around there somewhere. They just have to look hard enough.
They keep looking for Fred until Wes points at a woman in the middle of the courtyard.
"There." Wesley says as he points to a woman. He and Gunn take off toward her and Xander takes a deep breath and follows suit.
They bump into a few people, throwing apologies over their shoulders until they finally reach the girl in question. Wesley spins her around and Xander frowns.
"Your jacket." Wesley points out and the woman grins.
"A woman gave it to me." she tells them excitedly. "She said Jasmine wanted me to have it. Isn't that sweet? Isn't Jasmine the best?" the woman asks and Wesley, Xander and Gunn nod.
"Best of the best." Gunn smiles.
"She's so wonderful." Wesley says sweetly.
"Amazing actually." Xander corrects, still short of breath.
"We should split up. She can't be far." Wesley points out and Gunn nods determinedly as Xander takes a deep breath.
"Agreed." Gunn says, taking the initiative with Wesley and going off to looks for Fred.
"Wait up. I just… oh boy." Xander complains as Gunn and Wes take off again. Xander sighs before he splits off in an opposite direction as Wesley and Gunn. He's tired but this is important. Jasmine needs him to do this. It's the least he can do for her.
xxxxxxx
"She's been down here." Conner tells Buffy as he closes his eyes and tries to focus on the scent that's barely clinging to the air. They've been freelance searching for Fred all day ever since they saw her outside the diner. Every time they think they've caught her she disappears and he loses track of her.
"How old were you when you realized you could track like this?" Buffy asks absently as her and Conner comb the sewers. Not exactly her favorite place in the world by the way. But she always thought the whole smelling people thing was just a vamp and werewolf specialty but here Conner is, tracking Fred down like it's nothing.
"I don't know. Five, six. We didn't exactly celebrate birthdays in Quor-Toth. Holtz made up a game so I could practice." Conner tells her quietly. It isn't exactly something he can say he's grateful for, while the tracking comes in handy, the days were long.
"What do you mean he'd hide things for you to find?" Buffy questions, her brow furrowing. What kind of games can you play on a hell demension anyway?
"Kind of. He'd tie me to a tree and then run away." Conner replies and Buffy's eyes widen and her jaw drops open. Tied him to a tree and ran away? How could someone do that to a little kid? In a demon dimension no less!
"What?" Buffy demands as she stops walking with him in the underground tunnel. He tries to shrug it off as he turns to her but she sees through it. She may not have Spike's way of seeing all truth in every person she sees but she knows that this affected Conner alot more than he's letting on.
"You know, so I'd have to escape and then find him. One time it only took me five days." Conner says, a little brighter and she scowls thinking of this Holtz guy and how much she'd like to find him and give him a piece of her mind, maybe a punch or two. She already didn't like him, after all she'd heard but this… made it even worse.
"Five days. He abandoned you... Connor, that's terrible. That's—" Buffy plans to tell Conner what she thinks but he interrupts her.
"Why I'm so good at tracking." Conner reasons, shrugging again before turning to the sewer again. He doesn't really want to talk about any of the stuff that went on in Quor-Toth. It's bad enough that Holtz tricked him into thinking his father killed him, thus resulting in Conner sinking him to the bottom of the ocean for three months. He wonders if Buffy knows about that. Probably best to never bring it up, ever. "Fred rested here for a while. But her scent is very faint she wasn't here long."
Understanding his need to drop the subject Buffy leaves well enough alone.
"Anything else?" she prompts and Conner shakes his head.
"No it stops." he replies, a look of confusion on his face.
"Huh, well, uh we better get back." Buffy advises and Conner nods, agreeing as they make their way back to the apartment.
xxxxxxx
"I'm too late, aren't I? For a room?" a man asks solemnly, his facial features contorted in sadness.
"Yeah, 'fraid so, Buckaroo. Singles, suites, even the mouse holes are triple-booked. I got pilgrims pitching pup-tents in the parking lot. Try saying that three times fast and you'll get a sense of the day I'm having." Lorne tells the man, standing at the front desk. The man frowns before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a set of keys.
"I'll give you my house if I can stay. It's nice. There's a pool." the man tells Lorne and the docile demon purses his lips sadly.
"Sorry, it doesn't work that way around here, partner." Lorne says to him, pushing his keys back at him. "Jasmine doesn't want your things, and neither do I."
"I just want to be near her, you know. Saw her on the news last night. And I wanted to say thanks for making me feel—" the man pulls his hand to his face and breaks into tears. Lorne shakes his head and nods sympathetically.
"Hey, preaching to the choir. I thought Our Lady of the Perpetual Sea Breeze was the real deal until the Divine Miss J walked right through that door and right into my ass—" Lorne pauses and the man's brows furrow. The green demon puts his hands up to explain. "Which is where my heart is...physiologically. I could show you an x-ray."
The crowd oohs and ahs as Jasmine enters the room. Angel and Faith are with her.
"Hey, don't be shy, Slim Jim. Go get some of that gorgeous goodness." Lorne encourages and the man grins at him before turning to face Jasmine.
"Hello, and thank you all for coming." Jasmine says pleasantly as she enters the lobby and greets people in her pathway. "Your child will lead a healthy and loving life." she says to a Chinese woman she passes. The woman bows repeatedly wanting to convey her respect for Jasmine.
"How do you do that?" Angel whispers in awe as they continue into the lobby.
"Mandarin's not so tough when you've been around a zillion years." she says lightly but Angel shakes his head.
"No, I mean, how is it that you always know exactly what each person needs to hear." he wonders and she smiles.
"Just look into their hearts. And sometimes, it's right on their face." she explains as they come upon a man with a large mustache. "Señor…" Jasmine addresses and the man looks up at her eagerly.
"Si?"
"Tu bigote te da fuerca y dignida.*" she tells him and he smiles broadly.
Your moustache provides you great strength and dignity.*
"Gracias. Muchas gracias." the man replies as the three of them delve deeper into the lobby.
"I wish I could see what you see." Faith sighs, her eyes sparkling with wonder.
"You will." Jasmine assures her before turning to all the other people in the Hyperion's lobby. "Hello. My love is all around you."
Angel catches sight of Wesley, Gunn and Xander and turns to Faith and nudges her.
"Will you excuse us for a moment?" he says to Jasmine as he and Faith make their way to the back office where Willow, Xander, Gunn and Wesley have gathered, discussing their search for Fred and the others.
"This close, then she pulled a Houdini." Gunn tells them with frustration and Faith's face contorts in confusion.
"What's a Houdini?" the slayer questions. She probably would know something about Houdini if she stayed in school.
"She escaped." Wesley says curtly and Faith shrugs.
"What about Buffy, Conner, Dawn and Cordelia? Any trace of them?" Willow wonders and Xander sighs.
"We didn't get a single trace of them." he replies, shaking his head.
"Fred's obviously learned a trick or two here at Angel, Inc. But we'll catch her. And Buffy, well she's got a history of disappearing before right?" Angel prompts and Willow and Xander nod heartily. They remember very clearly when he disappeared, right after she had to kill Angel.
"We'll find them. Bring back their scalps." Faith grunts and Wesley shakes his head vigorously.
"No. Jasmine wants her alive." he insists and Angel nods in agreement. What Jasmine says goes.
"Wes is right. Fred and the others get to live until we understand why they rejected Jasmine's love." Angel reasons and Willow cocks her head to the side in bewilderment.
"Why would anybody reject love?" she asks and Xander shrugs.
"Maybe 'cause she has a history of doing that." Gunn grumbles. Fred did reject him when he tried to be with her… it's a good thing Faith is here now.
"Whatever the reason is, we have to find them so Jasmine can straighten them out." Angel tells them and they all exchange looks before they disperse, going back out into the lobby.
Jasmine watches as Willow, Gunn, Wesley, Angel, Xander and Faith trickle out of the back room, disappointment written all over their faces. She frowns for a moment before turning to the crowd and picks a woman out of the crowd as well as the man that tried to check in earlier.
"Would you like to come with me?" Jasmine asks and the woman nods. "And you, my friend, will you join us?" she questions and the man smiles.
"Yes. Thank you." he replies.
"Bless you all for coming." Jasmine tells the people in the lobby before turning and ascending the stairs, the man and woman following behind her.
"You think she'll ever pick us?" Xander sighs as he and Wes watch Jasmine and her two followers disappear up the stair case.
"If we're lucky. But not before we find Fred." Wesley says and Xander nods with him.
"And the others." Xander agrees, a whole new wave of determination washing over him.
xxxxxxx
Fred bites her lip and takes a deep breath as she shuffles down the empty street, shooting nervous glances over her shoulder. She swears someone's following her. She wouldn't have risked the trip out but she needs to find a way to fight Jasmine. She doesn't know where Buffy or the others are and she needs to do something. As the "Magic Bullet Books" store comes into view she speeds up her pace, swallowing hard just as she comes to the mouth of an alley. Before she can even get past it four figures step out and Fred screams fearfully.
"Fred!" Cordelia squeals. She's never been so glad to see Fred.. alive and well.
"You're okay!" Dawn says as she throws her arms over Fred's frame. Fred's eyes widen before she starts to cry. They're really there. In the flesh. She's not alone anymore.
"I'm so glad you guys are here." Fred sobs, trying to catch her breath. She can't believe they found her. She can feel relief washing over her. "I was so alone."
"You're not alone, Fred. Not anymore." Buffy assures her and Fred smiles at them all. She sighs as she swipes away her tears and chuckles softly.
"Sorry, y'all. I just got so worked up." she tells them, blushing in embarrassment. She doesn't like to breakdown, not when they're so much thats always going on but it's just been so hard being all off on her own.
"Its okay Fred." Conner tells her and Buffy's brows furrow as she takes in the seedy area they finally located Fred in. It isn't exactly the place she'd expect ot find her.
"So. what are you doing here Fred?" Buffy wonders, her eyes scanning the area to look out for any unwelcome visitors. You can never be too careful.
"I figured this guy was my only chance to figuring out where to go from here. I couldn't find you guys and… did I say how happy I am to see you?"
"Just about five times." Buffy quips and Fred grins gratefully. They really don't understand how happy she is and relieved, very relieved.
"Well I am. What's are you guys doing here anyway?" Fred wonders curiously.
"Tracking you." Conner supplies and Fred scrunches her nose in distaste. She forgot Conner could do that. She can't help but find the whole thing mildly creepy.
"Oh." she replies simply and Buffy smirks at her reaction. She knows exactly how Fred feels. Even when Oz used to do it, it gave her the wiggins. It's just not natural to be so stealthy and track-y.
"That's what I said, its helpful though." Buffy shrugs and Cordelia puts a hand on her hip. Is she the only one who thinks all the heroes have ADHD or something?
"Alright are we going in or what?" the brunette questions impatiently and Fred jumps over and wraps her arm around Cordelia tightly.
"Oh how I've missed you Cordy." she says happily and Cordelia smiles as she hugs back.
"Lets go." Buffy says as Fred and Cordelia separate, following Buffy, Dawn and Conner into the book store.
"Um, hi. You probably don't remember me—" Fred starts to say to the guy at the counter but he shakes his head.
"Three days ago. Mass hypnosis. You wondered if it was possible." he tells her and she gestures to the stack of books behind him.
"I read those books. Some wacko theories, by the way. All of the mass hypnosis theories seem highly flawed to me. I'm looking for a type of mind control that could affect everyone across the board." Fred tells him and he pauses before turning to sift through a different stack.
"I might have a book on that." he replies as he keeps looking. As they wait Cordelia, Dawn, Fred and Conner drift around the store searching for anything useful. Buffy keeps her eyes firmly placed on the guy at the counter, her fingers clenched in a tight fist.
"Astral Projections. Satan's Dictionary? You must get some pretty colorful customers in here." Cordelia states as she fingers a few books set up in the middle of the store.
"Used to. You're the only customers I've had since last time you were here." he shrugs casually, his face void of any real emotion.
"Oh." Fred says as she and the others watch the man move books with crime scenes and bodies out of the way. He chuckles and shakes his head as he holds one up and shrugs.
"Not a huge demand for photo books of serial killer autopsies when you're living in a utopian wonderland. You know what I mean?" he asks and Dawn looks sympathetically at the man while Buffy still looks grossed out by the books he showed them.
"I hadn't really thought it— Must be hard." Fred concludes and he shakes his head. Of course with Jasmine's new world order no one would come in and start looking for books about anything really. Not when they're being controlled and distracted by the enchantment their under.
"Hard? Are you kidding? It's great." he counters and Dawn brightens at his attitude. She kind of felt bad about him losing all his customers but he seems happy despite it. Not that it really makes a difference. The Jasmine thing is bad either way, its just nice to see someone benefiting.
"Great? Really?" she wonders and he shrugs nonchalantly.
"Yeah. Look at me. I've never been happier." he tells them and Cordelia quirks an eyebrow. He doesn't look all that happy. Truth be told he doesn't look all that anything, but that's just her assumption. Maybe the others disagree.
"Uh, sure. I see it now. You're practically glowy." Buffy supplies lamely and Cordelia shakes her head sadly. No one disagrees.
"I was flicking through the radio the other night—there's nothing really good on since Art Bell retired. But, uh, ended up listening to this woman talk."
"Jasmine." Conner says grimly and Dawn casts her gaze to the floor.
"Yeah. You too, huh? What a breath of fresh air she is. I listened for almost an hour. I'm a new man. I-I used to be obsessed with mind control. I read everything I could get my hands on."
"And you don't believe in it anymore?" Buffy asks and the man shrugs.
"I believe. I just don't worry about it anymore." he tells them, walking behind the counter.
"So, you don't worry that it's possible for someone to send out a biological or electronic trigger that effectively overrides your own sense of ideals and values, and replaces them with an alternative coercive agenda that reduces you to little more than a mindless meat puppet?" Fred prompts, leaning forward trying to bait him. He still has to be freaked about mind control, especially now when he's an actual a victim of real life mind control.
"Wow. People used to think that I was paranoid. I mean, don't get me wrong. I still got the implants in my head. C.I.A. is still listening in. It just doesn't bother me anymore. Instead, I—I beam Jasmine's love up to their satellite, you know? Share the love with those M.K.-Ultra bastards." the man says.
"That'll teach 'em." Buffy grins sarcastically. Conner snickers at her comment and Dawn brings her hand up to her face.
"Hey. Now I get it." the man says, squinting at them and all their eyes widen as he points at them knowingly.
"You do?" Cordelia asks nervously and Buffy tenses at her side, ready to strike if she has to as her and the others eye the man behind the counter ever so cautiously. Buffy doesn't want to hurt the guy but if its them or him, she's gonna have to go with them.
"Yeah. I know what you're doing." the shopkeeper nods before reaching into his desk drawer and pulling out a pistol. Buffy goes to make a move but his hand reaches back into the drawer and Dawn puts her hand on her sisters shoulder to restrain her as the man pulls out a yo-yo and then a book entitled "Making Mind Control Work for You." He holds the book up for them to see.
"You want to fight fire with fire. Make sure the government and the other savages learn about Jasmine's love." the man says grinning as he gestures toward the small book in his hand. Fred smiles and grits her teeth.
"Exact— that's exactly right. Why should we be the only shiny, happy people?" Fred counters as she reaches her hand out for the book he's holding. There's a possibility that there might be something in there on how to fix this.
"We don't need to use the evil tools of "the man" when we have "the wo-man"." he tells her, pulling the book out of Fred's grasp. "We need to trust that Jasmine's love will reach the rest of the world just like it reached us."
"Oh, happy day." Dawn says through a clenched jaw and Conner rubs her back soothingly. Guess they're gonna have to figure this out another way. One that doesn't involve the help of other people who happen to be Jasmaniacs.
xxxxxxx
Jasmine sits in front of a laptop with Willow, Lorne, Gunn, and Xander as a clip from Jasmine's interview on "Good Morning LA" plays back.
"Before the time of man, great beings walked the Earth. Untold power emanated from all quarters—"
Jasmine presses pause and shakes her head in embarrassment.
"I sound like the prologue to one of those movies about magical dwarves." she tells them, shakign her head back and forth at her silly tone.
"Hobbits." Gunn corrects playfully before furrowing his brows. "And you watch movies?" he wonders and she smiles at him.
"I love movies." Jasmine replies, beaming up at him from her chair.
"Well, then you should know this is the greatest story ever told." Lorne informs her and Jasmine touches his arm and smiles. "Sweet."
"The design team will have your site ready to go in a couple of days. Just let me know when you want it to go online." Willow tells Jasmine and she nods, standing up and stretching.
"Soon." she says as Gunn, Lorne, Wesley, Xander and Willow watch and worship Jasmine in muted awe.
"I still don't understand why you don't just sashay into a TV studio, say, 'scoot over Regis' and sweet-talk your love to the whole wide world." Xander insists and Jasmine shrugs and smiles lazily at him.
"It's not the world's time yet. There's still a lot I have to learn." she tells them wisely, turning toward the door when a knock sounds. "Come in."
"You called us." Angel says as he and Faith walk through the door together. They were just out on patrol when Angel felt this overwhelming feeling bubbling in his chest. Something that told him that Jasmine was calling and he just had to come.
"How did you do that?" Faith asks with wide, appreciating eyes. She just knew it when Jasmine needed them.
"We felt it." Angel says in wonder and Jasmine nods.
"We're all becoming connected—all of us. And, now that you're all here, I want to test that connection. We're going to find Buffy, Fred, Cordelia, Conner and Dawn."
"Isn't that what we've been trying to do?" Faith questions and Jasmine shakes her head.
"This is different. No more running around town. Everybody, join hands. I can't do this alone. Not yet. I want y'all to close your eyes. Now, picture Buffy. Picture what she looks like: her face, her big hazel eyes, the way she styles her hair, the clothes she likes the wear, the sound of her voice, what she looks like when she smiles. Now concentrate. Where are you, Buffy? I'm looking for you." Jasmine drawls as the gang bands in a circle and joins hands. Angel watches as the others close their eyes and takes a deep unnecessary breath before joining them.
"I see her. I see them all." Jasmine smiles as she uses her followers eyes to track them.