Disclaimer: I do not own Marvel Cinematic Universe, Buffyverse or anything else you may recognize
Thank you to everyone who has favorited, followed or reviewed this fic so far.
And thank you to Brainstorm Sorcerer for his help again.
This and next chapter will be quite interesting.
Chapter 18- The 'infection'
Los Angeles
Fred screamed as she fired her flame-thrower at various egg-sacs on the wall, the disgusting creatures squealing as one of them opened up beside her head and a creature crawled out, squealing, only for a gunshot to go off as Wesley stood with his shotgun.
The two shared a nod as Fred said. "We got the nest."
Angel, Spike and Stick then approached, bickering, with Matt and Faith walking in behind them too.
"Fuss, fuss. The thing was about to strike. It was on your back, what was I supposed to do?" Spike asked Angel, who'd been run through with a large sword which entered his chest and exited his back, a creepy bug Demon hanging on the pointy end, and a katana had been run through him in the opposite direction, entering his back and exiting his chest, another bug Demon hanging on the pointy end there.
"Ask me to turn around", Angel groaned.
"Heat of battle, there wasn't time", Spike argued. "And you had one in the front too."
"You just like stabbing me", Angel scoffed.
Spike was outraged. "I—I'm shocked—shocked that you'd say that. I much prefer hitting you with blunt instruments."
Angel told Spike. "You know, we only asked you along 'cause we felt sorry for you."
"If it weren't for me, you'd be bug food, so stop winging", Spike snarled.
Angel then turned to Stick. "And you! Sticking a katana? At least we were feeling sorry for Spike, you're just freeloading off of our action."
"Be thankful, I saved your ass suckhead", Stick argued with Angel.
"Do these kids ever stop?" Faith asked out loud.
"Not really", Matt shook his head.
"Thought so", Faith shrugged.
"Like, really Stick, why?" Angel asked him in annoyance.
"I thought we were all doing it. At least I didn't chop off your head, you know how difficult that was?"
"About as difficult as it is not to try and find a way to send you to Hell!"
"I am shocked! Can you believe this guy, Matty? Here I thought we were bonding."
"Angel, I'll put Stick in a timeout", Matt assured Angel.
"Thank you", Angel said to Matt as Stick seemed outraged.
"I am not a child!"
"Then stop acting like one!"
"Who's the elder here?" Stick asked incredulously.
"Who's the ghost?" Matt countered.
Angel snickered now.
Fred walked up to Angel. "Angel?"
"Ah, I'll be all right."
Fred grinned. "No, I just want the bug. It's in pretty good shape, and I'd like to take it back to the lab. I always like a new specimen."
Knox was working late in the lab when a deliveryman brought in a huge stone sarcophagus. The sarcophagus was sandstone colored with a circular iris at the top, surrounded by 5 fist-sized crystals.
Knox asked him. "Whoa, uh, what's this?"
"Delivery."
"Ancient Relics is two floors down", Knox told him.
"Invoice reads: Science Department. Winnifred Burkle", he took a piece of paper off his clipboard, placed it on top of the sarcophagus, and walked toward the exit.
"You need me to sign...?"
"Been signed", the deliveryman exited, shutting the door behind him.
"OK."
Gunn was walking around his office bouncily, singing "Three Little Maids From School Are We" from "The Mikado" by Gilbert and Sullivan. He was singing Broadway style with ease.
"Three little maids who, all unwary, Come from a ladies' seminary, Freed from its genius tutelary—", he picked up a printout from the printer; continuing to sing. "Three little maids from school! Three little maids—" He noticed Matt, Faith, Wesley and Lilah is at his door, and changed to singing Rap style, but struggled "..and ya don't stop with all the ladies in the...gangsta but ... go", he spoke. "What's up?"
"Come on Gunn, you were breaking stereotypes before we showed up", Lilah quipped as they all shared snickers while Gunn sighed.
"And you seem unutterably cheery", Wesley added.
"Oh, right, its because of this", Gunn picked up a framed picture from the table of himself with Luke Cage and T'Challa, and hung it on the wall, and Gunn's excited, crazy fanboy smile was something.
"Right, that, nice to see it here", Faith said with a smirk.
"Hmmmm, looks like it was a fun wedding", Lilah commented. "Still glad I missed it because I'm-"
"Evil, yes, we know", Wesley said as all chuckled.
"So anyway, what had you called about?" Matt asked Gunn.
"Lindsey McDonald", Gunn walked around his desk to give a report to Wesley.
Wesley stood. "You know where he is."
"Settle for was? He can hide from the Senior Partners, but not from the DWP and not from our many, many ears", Gunn said.
"Yes, no matter who you are, you always leave a print behind", Lilah nodded in agreement.
"He was living here..." Faith noted.
Gunn added. "Under the name of Doyle. The way he was messin' with Spike and Angel, could be he had some other schemes laid out. Senior Partners took him out fast. I don't even think he had time to pack."
"Yeah, I saw that bit myself", Lilah said with a fond smile.
Wesley told Gunn. "Worth checking. Nice work. You should tell Angel."
Gunn squirmed. "You can tell him. I ain't goin' in there."
"What's going on in there?" Wesley asked Matt.
Matt frowned and said. "You don't want to know." He left, the confused Faith following him.
"It's bollocks, Angel! It's your brand of bollocks, from first to last", Spike snapped.
"You can't ever see the picture. You can't see any picture!" Angel said with a forced calm tone.
"I am talking about something primal, right? Savagery. Brutal animal instinct—" Spike started.
"That wins out every time with you. The human race has evolved, Spike!" Angel said, as if he was lecturing a child and wiping his face in frustration.
"Into a bunch of namby-pampy, self-analyzing wankers, who could never hope—" Spike started.
"There's a thing called 'teamwork.' Not to mention the superstitious terror of your 'aggressions'…"
"You want it to be—"
"It's not about what I want!" Angel said in frustration.
"Sorry." They turned to see Wesley there. "Is this something we should all be discussing?"
Angel was embarrassed to be caught by Wesley and backed away from Spike. "No."
Wesley noted. "It just...sounds a little serious."
Angel stuttered. "It was mostly...theoretical. We..."
Spike said calmly. "We were just working out a b-" He turned passionate again. "Look, if cavemen and astronauts got into a fight, who would win?"
He crossed his arms and looked expectantly at Wes.
Wesley asked. "Ah. You've been yelling at each other for 40 minutes about this?"
Angel looked down, Spike stared at Wes, still expecting an answer. Wesley looked pensive, crossing his arms.
"Do the astronauts have weapons?"
The Vampires said simultaneously. "No."
Fred was inspecting the sarcophagus while Knox worked nearby. "I couldn't find any invoice on it. I thought maybe you went crazy on eBay."
"No. No eBay", Fred circled the sarcophagus. "After that commemorative plate incident, I'm living clean. Did you run a spectral analysis?"
"Yeah. Everything's bouncing off it, which doesn't thrill me", Knox told her.
Fred nodded. "Yeah. Let's not be hasty about opening it. It's probably just a mummy."
"Mummies can be a lot more trouble than you think", Knox said as he put on protective glasses. "You want me to get our HazMat's on this baby?"
"Yeah, and see about where it came from."
Knox exited the lab, leaving Fred there alone to inspect the sarcophagus. She stared at the end of it where the iris was located. She reached out tentatively toward one of the crystals that decorated the surface.
Slowly, gently, she touched her fingertips to a purple crystal, and before she could react, the iris opened, letting out a gust of air right into Fred's face. Fred gasped and stepped back, coughing.
Knox rushed back in. "What happened!?"
"I don't know. It opened, and there was air", Fred breathed deeply.
Knox asked. "Are you OK?"
"Uh, I think so. That was odd", Fred stared at the sarcophagus.
"So, who do you think wins?" Cordelia asked Matt, Faith and Stick while holding Connor.
Angel and Spike stood there expectantly too while Wesley was confused and Lilah amused.
"Cavemen, easily. Why is it even a question?" Faith asked with a shrug. "I mean, prehistoric Vampires can rip apart current Vampires like a twig, except some of the better ones like ours truly Angel and Spike."
"Hey come on Faith!" Angel said with a groan as Spike cheered.
"Nice one, Faith", Spike raised his hand as he and Faith high-fived.
"I'm unsure personally", Matt told them.
"Yeah, now that's a thinker", Stick agreed with a nod.
"Come on, cavemen, think about it, brutal rage", Spike tried to coax them both.
"Seriously, astronauts have all the brains to come up with strategies", Angel added, trying to coax the two himself.
"I support astronauts", Cordelia told them all. "Like Angel said, brain and brawn, even if its less brawn than cavemen."
"Astro", Connor cried out with a squeal and an 'AWWWW' escaped everyone.
"See? Even the baby knows it", Cordelia said as Angel stroked his head.
"Thank you for supporting dada, Connor", Angel smiled at him.
"Why are we discussing this though?" Lilah finally asked.
"It is a question related to evolution, Lilah! The answer shall tell us how far humanity has come, don't you understand?" Angel asked in a serious tone, as Lilah snickered and all rolled their eyes at Angel's and Spike's antics.
A while later, Lorne and Fred were in conversation as they walked together.
"But that doesn't make any sense."
Lorne shrugged. "I just call it like I see it."
Fred pointed out. "But the cavemen have fire. That's what they live with in their caves. The astronauts should at least have some sort of weapon."
Fred noticed Wesley and Cordelia with Connor walking up the stairs toward them. "Hey there."
"Hey", Cordelia greeted. "So where are you coming from?"
Fred told them. "Oh, medical. I breathed some old mummy dust. Had to make sure I didn't discover any new germs."
Wesley was concerned. "You all right?"
Fred assured. "They shooed me right off. Mummy free."
Wesley was relieved. "Good."
Cordelia sighed in relief too. "Yeah, wouldn't want my friend and our science department head becoming a mummy now, would I?"
Fred snickered and took Connor. "Hey there."
Connor smiled up at Fred as she rubbed her nose against his and kissed his forehead, and he laughed cutely.
She handed him back to Cordelia. "Now go to mama."
"Oh nipper is so adorable", Lorne quipped as he walked off.
"You'll still find me for lunch, though, right?" Fred asked Lorne.
Lorne paused, turning to face her. "I'll just look where the sun shines." He sang. "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine..." He started down the stairs.
Fred turned to Cordelia and Wesley, smiling and singing a little herself as she liked the song. "You make me happy—"
The instant Fred started singing, Lorne stopped in his tracks and turned back to Fred, utter horror written across his features.
A moment later, Fred coughed up blood on Wesley's face and collapsed, falling down the stairs as Connor started crying but Cordelia was too stunned to even comfort him.
Lorne caught Fred, and Wesley rushed to her side as she began convulsing in their arms. Cordelia soon stood over them, looking at Fred in horror and concern while covering Connor's eyes.
"Get medical", Wesley now yelled. "Someone get medical NOW!"
Fred later woke up in the hospital bed, with Angel, Matt, Faith, Spike, Wesley, Lorne, Gunn, Stick, Groo, Knox and even Lilah around her.
Cordelia was sitting on her bedside with baby Connor in her arms.
"It's my guys and gals. I haven't had this many people at my bedside since that night with the varsity lacrosse team." No one reacted; Fred laughed. "That was a joke."
Lorne told her. "Well, you sure gave us all a big scare, Freddles."
Angel added. "Yeah, you just need to rest. The lab is doing some blood work."
Fred frowned. "I'm a mummy, aren't I?"
Spike quipped. "I've fought plenty of mummies, and none of 'em were as pretty as you. Almost none."
"If you're a mummy, their fashion sense sure has improved", Cordelia quipped too.
Fred could tell something was off. "Now y'all are being too comforting. What's really up?"
Gunn assured her. "You're sick, and you're making it worse by worrying."
"He's not wrong, thinking about it makes it even worse", Stick nodded.
Knox assured Fred. "We've got that sarcophagus under the scope. If it gave you anything, we'll isolate it in a few hours."
Fred asked. "So, you don't know what it is?"
Angel said. "Yet."
"OK."
Angel assured Fred. "We're gonna work this. Shouldn't take long."
Fred reminded Angel. "Handsome man saves me."
Angel chuckled. "That's how it works. Let's get crackin'." He exited, everyone but Wes followed, so Lilah lingered in the doorway.
Fred told Wesley. "Hmph. "Get crackin'." He's such an old fogy." Wes sat on the bed beside her, stroking her head. "I know you gotta go be book man."
Wesley assured. "Yes. Just hit that line—I'll be here in a heartbeat."
"We all will", Lilah added, sounding genuine, to both of their surprise.
Fred sighed. "Assuming I still have one."
"Hush", Wesley stroked Fred's hair, then walked to Lilah who shared a nod with him.
They walked down the hallway purposefully. Angel and Lorne were waiting for them. They all walked down the hallway, accompanied by Matt, Faith, Cordelia, Gunn, Spike, Groo and Knox.
Angel then asked the big question. "How is she handling it?"
Wesley pointed out. "She's smarter than all of us put together. She knows it's bad."
Gunn wondered. "How bad? What do we know?"
They all started walking down the steps into the lobby.
Matt had heard and felt what was happening to Fred, and it was breaking him inside, he had just kept a poker face. Now he finally spoke. "Her skin is hardening, her organs are melting, Fred's whole body is changing."
All exchanged horrified looks as Matt and Faith held hands as Spike's expression turned from horror to determination. "No, not Fred. Not this day, not ever."
Angel asked. "What about the sarcophagus?"
Wesley said. "My team is cross-checking the symbols, but it's also new territory for us."
Angel told them all. "Look, Wes, you gotta tell me what was in that box. I need a name, a history, anything."
"Yeah, finding out would help", Lilah nodded.
Knox sighed. "We can't get it open. Not even the lasers—"
Wesley asked. "Where did it come from?"
Knox told them. "It just showed up. No return address. Didn't recognize the guy who brought it in—come to think of it, in the middle of the night."
"I think we should try to find this guy", Faith then said.
Lorne wondered. "Senior Partners?"
Gunn wasn't sure right now. "Doesn't add up, but I'll hit the White Room. Talk to the conduit."
Angel told Gunn firmly. "Now, look, if the Senior Partners didn't do this, you gotta get them to help us."
"Any way I can", Gunn assured.
Spike then asked. "What about Doyle—uh, Lindsey? The man likes to play his games."
Angel realized. "I was looking to work the streets, and we've got his address. For all we know, he's probably sitting there laughing. And if there's muscle work to do..."
Spike suggested. "Let's make it twice as fast."
Lorne quipped. "And baby makes three—in case anybody feels like singing."
"Four", Groo added himself to the group as well.
"I can keep Fred company", Cordelia suggested. "She shouldn't be alone in this."
"You're right, you and little guy can stay with her", Faith said and Angel had a look of agreement as Cordelia nodded.
Now that left Matt.
Stick then appeared and groaned. "This sucks. Went to the Mystics, turns around some rogue Mystic called Karl Mordo is abducting and killing Sorcerers for some revenge scheme, Strange put all Sorcerers on lockdown, and they're trying to find Mordo. What a timing!"
They all groaned as Angel sighed. "Why do all of us get problems at the same time?"
"Willow and Tara are unreachable again, outside of when they showed up at our wedding and when I sent them the picture, they're mostly missing nowadays, guess they want to keep a low profile", Faith groaned too. "I told Buffy and Giles to try to reach them, still no luck though."
With Strange and the Mystics as well as Willow and Tara out of the picture, Matt knew there was only one option, which was the worst one.
"I'm going to Hell, if we can't figure things out, Mephisto is to likely know of a cure."
All of them now exchanged shocked looks.
"Matt, it's too dangerous." Cordelia told him.
"The last time you talked to that bastard, you nearly died." Faith reminded him, holding his hand as he grasped hers back.
"Fred's dying right now, if anyone knows a way to stop that, it's him."
Angel reluctantly nodded. "Alright, go, but be careful. Last time things didn't end in Mephisto's favor, he'll be angry, even more so than before."
Matt then took off his shades and his eyes flashed red. "So are we."
"Be careful, please", Faith said as she and Matt shared a loving kiss.
Angel started. "Good. Guys..."
Wesley assured. "You don't have to say it."
Angel shrugged. "I'll say it anyway. Winifred Burkle. Go."
Everyone headed off in separate directions.
Wesley was sitting at his desk looking at a blank book. The book filled with text, and Wes leaned over it to begin reading it. A lawyer stopped by his office and knocked on his door.
"I'm sorry to interrupt. I just need to know if the Holbine Clan history was here. It was supposed to be sent to my office."
Wesley simply said. "It can wait."
"These guys are really important. I just need— I mean, the whole company can't be working Miss Burkle's case."
Wesley reached into his desk. "Of course." He pulled a gun out of his desk but before he could shoot, a gunshot rang out, hitting the man's leg. Someone else had shot him.
The lawyer fell to his knees in pain as Lilah lowered her gun behind him, then walking to him, rolled her eyes. "You do realize we literally fire employees? Questioning a higher-up is a rookie mistake, you're an idiot. Now you realize to do as told, and you seemed quite interested in distracting Wes from Fred's case, hmm?" Lilah grabbed him by the collar and put her gun to his face, making his eyes widen in fear. "Are you involved?"
"No! NO! I SWEAR!"
Lilah scoffed and pushed him to the ground, then shut the door, leaving the guy outside and sat next to Wesley.
"Thank you", he said.
Lilah now turned a bit softer. "How are you holding up?"
"What do you think?" Wesley asked as Lilah actually held out her hand, grasping his for comfort.
"We'll save her", Lilah assured.
"Really?" Wesley asked, sounding a bit skeptical.
"Yes, I was evil, still am, but, evil with a purpose, doing anything to Fred has no purpose to me", Lilah told Wesley, shaking her head. "I have no reason to do anything to her, I do have a reason to save her though."
Wesley looked at Lilah as she told him. "You."
Wesley's face turned softer as well as he remembered his conversation with Cordelia from weeks ago and decided to tell her.
"I love you, Lilah", Wesley finally confessed as Lilah was touched and gave him a smile.
"I love you too, Wesley", Lilah said and leaned over, kissing him on the lips as he kissed back, the two finally feeling like they were giving this relationship their all.
They parted as Lilah said. "Now let's work on saving Fred."
"Definitely", Wesley nodded as they started looking through stuff together.
Gunn appeared in the White Room. The place was deserted.
"Hello? Here kitty, kitty. Look, I know there's someone in here, and it ain't just me. I'm not goin' anywere 'til ya—" Someone punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground; Gunn looked up at him. "Well, whaddaya know? It is just me."
The conduit had taken the form of Gunn and was standing in front of him, frowning.
"You don't want to be here."
Gunn pointed out. "I never want to be here. What happened to the cat?"
"The physical form of the conduit is determined by the viewer."
Gunn stood up. "So, I'm looking at me because, what? We gonna play a mirror game? Get our mime on?"
They circled each other.
"You are failing", the Conduit snarled.
"I'm not the issue here."
"I believe that you think that."
Gunn requested. "You can't let this happen to Fred."
"This is the part where I need to be clear", the Conduit punched Gunn hard in the chest, sending him across the room. "I am not your friend. I am not your flunky. I am your Conduit to the Senior Partners, and they are tired of your insolence. Oh, yeah. They are not here for your convenience"
"I didn't come for a favor", Gunn got to his feet. "We can make a deal."
"Deals are for the devil."
"You want someone else—a life for hers—you'll get it. You can have mine."
The Conduit laughed. "I already do." It grabbed Gunn by the lapels and punched him in the face repeatedly.
Faith was on her computer, looking at the paper which the deliveryman had placed on the sarcophagus, it had the name of the courier company that had done the service, but searching on the Internet, she didn't find any company with that name.
"What in the…..?" Faith wondered. Someone had planned hard to play this game.
Cordelia and Connor were with Fred, the baby lying against her as Cordelia was trying to comfort Fred with small talk of her current crush. "Do you think he has an American flag patterned towel?"
Fred blushed and giggled. "Didn't ask."
Connor lay against her as Fred idly ran her hands through the baby's growing dark brown hair.
Spike said. "No sign of Lindsey."
Angel demanded. "Look for plans."
Angel opened the bedroom doors and walked in. "Well, I'll be damned all over again."
Eve was sitting in bed, wearing a man's button-up dress shirt. She clutched the sheets to her body to cover herself and recoiled toward the headboard.
"Don't touch me."
Angel walked in followed by Spike, Lorne and Groo. "Hiding out from the Senior Partners, Eve? How many sick days do you get before they dock you?"
"I believe they will if she is found here", Groo shrugged.
Eve asked. "What do you want?"
Angel told her. "Fred's dying. Some mystical parasite. Ring a bell?"
Eve shook her head. "No, I don't know what you're talking about."
Spike walked toward her; standing beside Angel. "What about your boyfriend, luv? You got some wacky scheme brewin'? Sending coffins about?"
Eve demanded. "You two stay away from me."
Angel told her. "Look, Eve, this happens quickly or very, very slowly."
Spike then said. "Sarcophagus. Older than anything we know."
"And it is killing Fred", Groo finished.
"Lindsey and I had nothing to do with that. I'm not lying. I—I'm not", a beat. "Have you...heard from him? About him?"
Spike rolled his eyes. "Oh, this is truly poetical."
Angel said. "You're not saying what we need to hear."
"Why would we do anything to Fred?" Eve started to stand up. "Why would we even care about her—?"
Lorne punched Eve in the face, knocking her down. "Ooh. Oh, I'm sorry. That was a knuckle-buster. I'm Jake LaMotta over here. It's pathetic. Oh", he leaned in close to Eve. "Here's the thing, Eve: You're going to sing for me, and I'm going to read you right now. And here's one more thing: Winifred Burkle once told me after a sinful amount of Chinese food, and in lieu of absolutely nothing, "I think a lot of people would choose to be green. Your shade, if they had the choice." If I hear one note—one quarter-note—that tells me you had any involvement, these two won't even have time to kill you, you already hurt the nipper, this won't end well", Lorne stood up. "Oh, and anything by Diana Warren will also result in your death—well, except "Rhythm of the Night.""
Eve begged them. "I wanna help. I swear to you. I've got nothing against Fred."
Angel demanded. "Say it...with a song in your heart."
Eve looked around at them, sighed, then sang. "Pretty as a picture. She is like a golden ring."
Lorne immediately said. "She's clean."
Angel reminded. "You've been wrong before."
"Yeah, and I might be now, but she reads clean. Her future's not too bright, but..."
Eve looked up, concerned. "What do you mean?"
"Well, nothin's written in stone—lately—but, uh, if I was about to face your future, I'd make like Carmen Miranda...and die", Lorne smiled, walking to the door to leave.
"Wait. Please. Are you going to tell the Senior Partners where I am?"
Spike shrugged. "Hell of a bargaining chip."
"No, they can't help you. I mean it. If you're talking about a sarcophagus that doesn't match anything in our records...there's nothing that's not in our records except what came before. The Old Ones."
Angel knew what they were. "The original demons. They were there when Earth was a playground for Gods, Demons and whatever else. They were all driven out of this dimension."
Eve told them. "The ones that were still alive. But long before that, they were killing each other all the time, and they don't die the way we do. Wesley may not know it, but his source books can conjure up anything, not just our own stock. Tell him to look for the texts that are forgotten, the oldest scrolls. You need to find the Deeper Well."
Stick appeared in that moment and said. "Nothing in her place. Don't think she has done it."
"You were searching my place the whole time?" Eve asked incredulously.
"Get over it, bitch", Stick scoffed as she looked away in fear.
Matt walked through Hell, as some Demons rushed him but the Hell-Mark glowed and they cowered away in fear now.
The Hell-Mark burnt away his shirt, leaving him shirtless, but he remained in normal form.
There was determination on his face as he continued. Then he got to the foot of Mephisto's throne, looking up at the one of the few beings he could actually see.
"Unless you've come to bring me new toys for amusement, you are unwanted here, Murdock. Leave." Mephisto waved his hand dismissively.
"My friend is dying. I need to-"
"You are not seriously asking something of ME?!" The fires of Hell flared into towering infernos as Mephisto stood from his throne. "I must have addled your brain when I unlocked Abaddon's power if you actually think I would do anything for you!"
"His name is Adam!" Matt shouted up at the Devil, his other's power flaring through his still human skin. "And I don't care who you are! Tell me how to save Winifred Burkle!"
From Mephisto's hand did a stream of hellfire launch itself at the human's, whose body erupted into flames as the Hell-Lord's spawn emerged, only to be thrown back by his creator's power, soaring through the blood and brimstone filled air as his body finally landed, skidding across the landscape, leaving a trench in his wake. Adam spat out globs of blood as the Devil pushed himself back on his feet, nearly falling over as the pain of the attack was still healing.
Adam groaned, before looking up, only to be crushed under a giant fist that raised itself again, and to pummel the winged demon's body further into the crater now formed. The hand picked Adam's body, crushing his being in it's grasp, bringing him up until he was face to face with Mephisto, now taller than a skyscraper.
"You forget yourself, boy! I AM THE LORD OF HELL! THE PRINCE OF LIES! MEPHISTO! NO HUMAN MAKES DEMANDS OF ME!"
Adam roared in defiance, his mouth glowed and spat a fireball into Mephisto's eye, making the giant Demon close it in irritation while Adam flexed his arms and wings and freed himself from the old demon's grasp. Flying up, the Murdock Devil halted before descending down towards the Hell-Lord with a fist stretched out.
"SAVE! FRED!"
Wesley was briefing the gang about his research. "It's called Illyria, a great monarch and warrior of the demon age murdered by rivals and left adrift in the Deeper Well."
"Which is what?" Angel asked.
"A burial ground, a resting place of all the remaining Old Ones."
Gunn pointed out. "This one ain't restin'."
Wesley agreed. "No. I don't think this is merely an infection. Fred's skin is...hardening like a shell. I think she's being hollowed out so this thing can use her to gestate, to claw its way back into the world. That's speculation. Either way, she dies."
Angel asked. "Do we have any chance of finding this Deeper Well?"
Lilah told him. "We already have. It's in England, in the Cotswolds. That's the location."
"To the inch", Wesley added.
Angel ordered. "Lorne, tell Harmony to prep the jet. We can be there in 10 hours."
"You can be there in 4", all looked at Knox. "We aren't Stark Industries, but we have really good jets."
Wesley told them. "It will have a guardian, maybe several."
Spike shrugged. "Let 'em send an army."
"I'm coming too", Faith added herself to the group. "Three of us can take 'em."
"What about delivery boy?" Spike asked.
"Well, I found the address", Faith gave it to Groo. "Why don't you go to his place?"
"Sounds good", Groo nodded.
"So Deeper Well, eh?" Stick asked when suddenly he started fading. "The hell?"
"What's happening?" Angel asked.
"Strange must be in trouble, so his protection spell is weakening, well shit", Stick realized. "As much as I hate to say it, you won't be getting much help from me now."
With that he disappeared to hide himself lest any dark power after him would find him as Strange's protection spell had weakened.
"And that happened", Faith sighed, seeing just how much the odds were against them this time.
Gunn brought them back to the matter at hand. "How do we know goin' there's gonna do squat?"
Wesley informed them all. "The Deeper Well is almost like a prison for the dead. If something gets out, it's written it can be drawn back from the source."
Angel realized. "That's our shot."
Lilah told him. "We'll keep working here, but, yes, I think it is."
Lorne then added. "Since Matt is not here, I'm going to pray."
Faith winced at Matt's mention, wondering what was going on with him.
Angel ordered. "Come on. Let's save the day."
Spike and Faith walked out with Angel as Groo went off to find the address.
Fred tried to get up as Cordelia grasped her shoulders. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! What do you think you're doing?"
"I have to do this, only I can", Fred insisted.
"Whatever it is, they will stop it", Cordelia promised her.
Cordelia pointed out. "You have to lie down."
Fred was in denial. "I am not—I am not the damsel in distress. I am not some case. I have to work this. I lived in a cave for 5 years in a world where they killed my kind like cattle. I am not going to be cut down by some monster flu. I am better than that!" She softly said. "But I wonder... how very scared I am." She looked away as Connor started fussing and Cordelia lifted him to soothe him.
Cordelia assured. "We will stop this, but stay in bed. That's where we need you to fight."
"Like I'm 6 years old?" Fred collapsed back onto the bed. "This is a house of death."
Wesley then entered as both he and Cordelia embraced the weak Fred, Cordelia putting Connor on the bed again as Fred asked on seeing the source book in Wesley's hand. "That can call up any book you need?"
"Every one."
"Then bring it. Take me home", Fred begged.
Wesley turned around to see Lilah, who had a soft expression, and she nodded in approval, walking to them and awkwardly putting a shaking hand on Fred's shoulder.
Fred's apartment was cozy, decorated with homey attributes like various pictures, including from the wedding (there was one of her and Steve that was framed) as Wesley carried Fred gently in his arms and put her on the bed, Cordelia behind them with Connor in her arms.
Spike, Faith and Angel were sitting on either side of the aisle of a private jet. Angel was gripping the armrests, and Spike was obsessively fingering his seatbelt as Faith tapped her foot anxiously.
Spike sighed and crossed his arms. "We've flown before but…."
"Still don't like it..." Angel looked nervously out the window.
Spike noted then suggested. "Back to the mother country in just 2 weeks now. Hey, after we save Fred, we should hit the West End, take in a show."
Angel told him. "I've never seen Les Mis."
Spike scoffed. "Trust me, half way through the first act, you'll be drinking humans again."
"Guessing I'll go psycho again too", Faith muttered. "Well then, I'll bring Matt, you two bring Cordy and Buffy, best for us all."
"Not wrong there", Spike nodded. "Nice idea."
Angel sighed. "Can't lose her, Spike."
Spike assured. "We won't."
"We will save her", Faith added.
Gunn was pacing, talking excitedly on the phone. "You're not hearing me. I know you've got healers working for you. I don't care if the Old Ones scare them. I don't care if the Old Ones kill them. Get their asses down here, or you're gonna be in a world of hurt. No, I am not talking about a law suit. I'm talking about bones that go crunch, and if you think—" the phone went silent, to a dial tone.
Knox walked up to the office door. "We freeze her. Take her down to cryogenics. If we can't stop this thing, maybe we could just, you know, freeze it—in its tracks 'til we can come up with something."
Gunn asked. "You know for sure you can do that?"
Knox shrugged. "Let's test it out."
Wesley was paging through a book while sitting beside Fred's bed in the fading sunlight, with Cordelia and Connor on her other side.
Fred stirred and woke up, looking over at them. "Hey."
Wesley closed the book. "You dozed off. Was I making too much noise?"
"Not enough. I need noise to keep me here", Fred breathed deeply. "Is it today? I mean…."
"No, just an hour, honey", Cordelia assured her.
Fred sighed. "That's an hour I don't got now."
Wesley reminded her. "Angel, Faith and Spike are on their way to finding your cure, and I shouldn't like to be the thing standing in their way."
Fred asked. "And book man?"
"Book man came through. I think I gave 'em what they need."
Fred sat up anxiously. "Feigenbaum."
Wesley stood up. "What?"
Fred panicked. "I—I have to find him. He's the master of— I have to have Feigenbaum here."
Wesley inquired. "Who is Feigenbaum?"
Fred stopped and cried. "I don't remember."
"I do", Cordelia said, as Connor had played with the bunny a few times, and walking off, returned with it, handing it to Fred.
"Oh Feigenbaum", Fred wept while holding the bunny, as Connor got upset too and started crying.
"Shhh", Cordelia lifted Connor and soothed him.
Fred now begged. "Read to me."
Wesley looked at his source book. "The Dreadhost's Compendium of Immortal Leeches?"
Fred asked. "Can that be any book in the world?"
"Name one", Wesley told her.
A while later, sitting beside Fred on the edge of the bed, Wesley read from the source book as Cordelia and Connor listened too. He was reading A Little Princess (1909)' by Frances Hodgson Burnett. "She was such a little girl that one did not expect to see such a look on her small face. It would have been an old look for a child of twelve, and Sara Crewe was only seven. The fact was, however, that she was always dreaming and thinking odd things and could not herself remember any time when she had not been thinking things about grown-up people and the world they belonged to. She felt as if she had lived a long, long time."
Spike, Faith and Angel walked through a grove of trees in the foggy moonlight as Spike asked. "When is a door not a door? When it's not soddin'-well there."
"Right there", Angel looked at a large tree. "You wanna bet that's the entrance to the Deeper Well?"
Spike quipped. "Either that, or Christmasland."
"Better that than Wonderland", Faith shrugged as Angel gave them a confused look. "Do you ever have any fun?"
In a flash of light, armored men wielding swords rushed out of the tree, growling.
Angel replied. "I'm about to."
Spike commented. "And they even brought us weapons."
"I prefer fists to swords", Faith shrugged.
Spike asked. "Strategy?"
Angel ordered. "Just hold my hands, both of you."
Spike and Faith raised eyebrows, but reached out to take Angel's hands, nodding.
Spike realized. "St. Petersburg."
Angel shrugged. "Thought you'd forgotten."
"Nice strategy, bet B would love this", Faith quipped as they snickered.
Angel and Spike let go of each other's hands, and so did Angel and Faith, dropping lengths of wires between them all.
As the armored creatures approached, Spike and Angel stepped apart and so did Faith from Angel as they pulled the wire taut.
The Demons ran into the two wires, getting clotheslined by them, cutting off their heads.
Angel and Spike took the swords from the first demons and used them to fight off the next group of demons coming at them, taking them down while Faith kicked one away and picking one up, slammed it down before elbowing another out.
More arrived but Angel and Spike decked, stabbed and sliced each of them while Faith grabbed two of them and broke their necks, then running, did a flip, kicking one's chin as it was sent flying off.
Knox was looking into a microscope while Gunn sat nearby, looking on. Knox then sat back. "Damn it!"
"No! Don't say, "Damn it."" Knox threw up his hands. "You got me all up in this Walt Disney mojo, don't say—"
Knox shook his head. "They're impervious to the cold. The blood tissue freezes, but they just keep working away like it's a sunny day in L.A. I—I'm sorry."
Gunn noted. "OK, so that's a bust. What else you got?"
"I don't, um—" Knox took off his work gloves. "God, I can't think, I'm so nervous." He sat. "Look, I'd never tell her this, but I—I care about Fred more than— She's like no one I've met, you know?"
Gunn sat across from Knox. "I do."
Knox continued. "And nothing would make me happier than to be the White Knight in this situation and to have her look at me the way that... I mean, I don't just care about Fred, I practically worship it."
Gunn now quizzically looked at Knox. "You said, "It.""
Knox asked. "What?"
Gunn pointed out. "Not "her." You said, "I worship it.""
Knox gave a smirk as he realized his error.
"Oops."
Faith punched a Demon's head off, then leapt at another, throwing it down with her feet and snapping its neck.
Angel and Spike took down more Demons effortlessly too.
When they finished off the last three, Angel called out to the sky. "Is that all? We haven't even started!"
A man appeared at the tree gateway and walked out toward Angel. "I'd say that's enough."
"Drogyn", Angel recognized him.
"Angel", Drogyn greeted back.
Angel noted. "You're the keeper of the well."
Drogyn nodded curtly. "Have been for decades."
Spike started. "Well, who in the bloody—"
"Do not ask me a question", Drogyn was up in Spike's face. "If you ever ask me a single question, I will kill you outright. Don't think for a moment that I can't."
Angel agreed. "He can. He would."
Spike wondered. "Eh?"
"He must be fun at parties", Faith quipped.
Drogyn noted. "You're here about Illyria."
Angel nodded. "Yes."
Drogyn gestured. "Walk in."
Spike started. "But how—?"
Drogyn was angry. "I just said to you, not one moment ago, don't ask."
He walked to the tree.
Angel told Spike. "Seriously. He doesn't like questions."
Spike asked. "Why the bloody hell not?"
Angel revealed. "He can't lie."
Faith quipped. "He must suck at poker."
Gunn grabbed Knox by the lapels and slammed him into a lab desk, breaking glass. "You did this. You did all of this!"
Knox grinned. "Technically, that's not the case. I just played my part."
Gunn asked. "Why? You couldn't stand the thought her liking Captain America over you, so you kill her?"
Knox pushed Gunn off of him and backed away. "No, I meant everything I said about her. I chose Fred because I love her, because she's worthy. You think I'd have my God hatched out of some schmuck?"
Gunn started. "What are y-"
Knox revealed. "This was all set in motion millions of years ago, Charles, and there's just no way to stop it."
Gunn looked down. "Angel, Faith and Spike."
Knox replied. "Oh, they're really on track, but it doesn't matter. Angel's not gonna save her."
Gunn declared. "You don't know Angel."
Knox revealed. "I'm not being clear. I don't mean that Angel's gonna fail to save her, I mean he's gonna let her die."
There was a knock on the door as it opened to reveal the delivery man from earlier, and outside the door stood Groo.
Before he could say a word, Groo grabbed him and pushed him inside before shutting the door.
Fred asked. "Would you read to me some more?"
"Of course", Wesley started to get up, but Fred distracted him, looking at a light over her head as Cordelia followed her gaze, holding Connor.
"The light...hurts my eyes, but I don't want you to turn it off. But it hurts my eyes. Everything's so bright and hollow. Cave men win. Of course the cave men win."
"Yeah, they do", Cordelia agreed for now, having a fool's hope that just agreeing with Fred could somehow save her.
Drogyn lead the way into the Deeper Well holding a torch. Angel, Faith and Spike followed in the firelight.
"I would never have thought you'd end up here, Angel."
Angel replied. "I could say the same."
"So, you two know each other." Drogyn glared at Spike. "That was a statement. I already know that you do."
Drogyn told them. "I'll tell you as much as I can. The Old Ones were Demons pure. They warred as we would breathe—endlessly. Compared to the likes of Mephistopheles, Lucifer, Chthon and Shuma-Gorath, they were inbred. The greater ones of these were interred, for death was not always their end. Illyria was feared and beloved as few are. It was laid to death in the very depths of the well... until it disappeared a month ago."
Spike told him. "Someone took it from under your nose a month ago, and you didn't miss it 'til now? That makes you quite the crap jailer, doesn't it."
Drogyn glared again.
"Also a statement."
"The Sorcerer Supreme didn't destroy these", Faith noted.
"They had many more pressing concerns, and over time they thought little of the Old Ones or the Deeper Well", Drogyn told her. "So I tried my best."
Drogyn stopped walking as Angel said. "The man I remember couldn't be stolen from so easily."
Drogyn then revealed. "The tomb was not stolen. It disappeared. I believe it was pre-destined to as part of Illyria's escape plan. And as for my not noticing", he extinguished his torch in a tub of water at the entrance of another chamber, "well, my charges are not few."
Faith, Spike and Angel had followed Drogyn into the chamber. They were standing on a bridge. When they looked over to see what the bridge spanned, they saw an endless pit lined with thousands of coffins just like the sarcophagus delivered to Wolfram & Hart.
Spike realized. "Bloody hell."
"So many, looking the same, yeah, if it disappeared one can miss it", Faith was more sympathetic to Drogyn now.
Angel asked. "How far does this go down?"
Drogyn revealed. "All the way. All the way through the Earth."
Angel pointed out. "So, the coffin disappeared, teleported, but it was brought to us."
Drogyn said. "Illyria was a great power—so great that, after millions of years dead, somewhere on this Earth still has acolytes."
A smiling and excited Knox backed away, walking around the room, keeping himself more than arm's length away from Gunn. Gunn glared at Knox. "There's only a few of us now. I came to L.A. because I knew that's where its kingdom has been. It was supposed to teleport back to the base of its power, but the continents drifted—which they do. I had others help me get it here, but then it got stuck in—would you believe it—customs."
The delivery man lay, bleeding and whimpering as Groo looked through papers related to the sarcophagus, then his eyes widened at what he found.
It couldn't be!
Knox took a paper out of his pocket; unfolded it; holding it out to Gunn. "But you took care of that. You signed the order to bring it into the lab so you could get another brain boost."
Groo stumbled against the wall, his back to it as he slid down, the shock and horror on his face clear.
Gunn stumbled back, looking away, disgusted. "It's like I said, I'm just one small part of a great machine."
Gunn said again. "Angel's gonna save her."
Knox told him. "What he's fighting against is older than the concept of time. I couldn't stop it. There's nothing left to do now, but wait."
Gunn put his hand on a metal canister.
"Wait and try and figure out exactly what you want to tell your—" Gunn swung the metal canister at Knox's head, knocking him out cold.
As Knox lay on the ground, unconscious, Gunn stood over him with the canister in mid-motion for a final swing. Gunn paused, pondered, looking around, then completed the motion.
Wesley frantically unwrapped a pre-packaged hypodermic syringe. He sat beside Fred who was writhing and convulsing, Cordelia trying to restrain her as best as she could.
Wesley tried to inject her, but the needle couldn't penetrate her skin. Fred was in a feverish delirium.
"Oh, God! I sinned. I've sinned, and I'm being punished. I don't know what's wrong. I never got a B- before. Uhh! Sorry. I'm sorry. Make it stop!"
Wesley, watching her writhe, held his hand to his mouth as his inability to help her brought him to tears, and Cordelia had tears too as Connor started crying and Cordelia stroked his head.
Drogyn turned to Faith, Spike and Angel in alarm. "It's been freed—the demon's essence."
"Yeah, it's been freed. Why do you think we're here?" Drogyn glared at Spike, who went into a tirade, unabashedly hurling questions at Drogyn. "And what's your favorite color? What's your favorite song? Who's the goalkeeper for Manchester United? And how many fingers am I holdin' up?" Spike held up his index and middle fingers in a rude gesture. "You wanna kill me? Try. But I don't have time for your quirks."
"Damn right!" Faith agreed. "Our friend is dying, and we are running out of time!"
Drogyn looked at Angel. "The power to draw back Illyria lies in there. It requires a Champion who has traveled from where it lies to where it belongs."
Angel pointed out. "You got three of those right here."
"But I didn't know it was free", Drogyn looked down, sighing. "If we bring the sarcophagus back to the well, it will draw Illyria out of your friend...and into every single person between here and there. It will become the mystical equivalent of airborne. It will claw into every soul in its path to keep from being trapped. Entire cities—tens maybe hundreds of thousands will die in agony if you save her."
Faith, Spike and Angel looked floored.
"There has to be another way!" Faith snapped.
"The only way is going back in time, which would do more harm than good", Drogyn warned.
"Unless you are the Master of Time", Spike realized, thinking of Strange.
"The Sorcerer Supreme is missing, someone is hunting Sorcerers, and now the strongest of the Order has been taken", Drogyn revealed, horrifying the three as they remembered Stick's mention of Mordo and realized he had taken Strange.
Damn it!
"No", Angel walked to the edge of the bridge to look down into the well.
Spike said. "That's madness."
Faith was just numb in shock, feeling like the ground had shifted from her feet.
"This is a place of madness. I'll prepare the spell. Your choice." Drogyn walked away.
Spike looked down from the other side of the bridge.
"To hell with the world." Angel followed Drogyn.
In her apartment, still weak, but seemingly more lucid now, Fred lay in her bed talking to Wesley who was sitting on the edge of the bed beside her. "Why did we go there? Why did we think we could beat it? It's evil, Wesley. It's bigger than anything."
Wesley leaned in closer. "I don't believe that."
Fred backed up toward the headboard, panicked. "Uggh!"
She pointed to Wes. "I'm with him!" She cried. "He won't leave me now. We're so close."
Wesley assured. "I will never leave you."
Connor started crying as Cordelia lifted him and carried him away into a crib Fred had gotten for the baby in case he was at her place.
"Hmph. Oh. Hmm", Fred panted. "That was bad, but it's better now. You won't leave me?"
Wesley kneeled in front of her. "I won't."
Fred whispered. "My boys. I walk with heroes. Think about that."
Wesley was crying, trying to hold himself together. "You are one."
"Superhero. And this is my power: to not let them take me. Not me", Fred panted and cried. Wesley sat beside her. "That's right."
"That's right", Wesley put an arm around Fred. "He's with me."
Angel turned around to see Spike and Faith were still looking down the well.
"Spike. Faith..."
Spike told him. "This goes all the way through to the other side. So, I figure, there's a bloke somewhere around New Zealand standing on a bridge like this one, looking back down at us. All the way down. There's a hole in the world. Feels like we ought to have known."
"We….." Faith trailed off. "The hole is getting bigger…"
Wesley was sitting on the bed, holding Fred in his arms. She was sitting beside him with her arms around his neck.
Cordelia returned, joining Wesley as she embraced her friend too.
"Could someone like Steve have loved me?" Fred now wondered deliriously.
Cordelia assured Fred. "If he didn't, then he's the biggest idiot this side of the Universe."
Fred muttered. "I'm so sorry."
"No, no, no."
"Fred!"
Fred choked on her coughs, crying. "I need you to talk to my parents. They have to know I wasn't scared, that it was quick. That I wasn't scared."
Fred started convulsing. "Oh, God."
Cordelia and Wesley grabbed her, looking into her eyes as the latter said. "You have to fight. You don't have to talk, just concentrate on fighting. Just hold on."
"You survived five years in Hell! This is nothing! This is nothing, Fred!" Cordelia tried to encourage.
Fred was holding onto their shoulders, looking into their eyes, quivering.
"I'm not scared. I'm not scared. I'm not scared."
Her grip softened, she couldn't hold herself up.
"Please, Cordy, Wesley, why can't I stay?"
She went still as Cordelia and Wesley held her in their arms.
They could hear Connor had started crying in his room again.
Wesley looked at Fred. "Please..." He hugged her. "Please..."
"Fred….." Cordelia trailed off as she and Wesley hugged each other and sobbed, Fred's limp body lying near them.
Suddenly, Fred's eyes changed into a crystal blue.
Fred started twitching and kicked her body away from Cordelia and Wesley nearby so hard that it sent them across the room and pushed her to the floor.
On the floor, Fred's body convulsed as Cordelia and Wesley watched in horror from across the room.
Finally, Fred stood, but her hair, eyes, and the edges of her face were royal blue. Fred, looking quite possessed, looked down at her arm and hand to examine it, flexing her fingers.
It was Illyria!
"This will do."
The ending was really hard to write.
Though my request to you all is wait till next chapter before making a full judgment on this plotline, thank you.
Lilah in this story is now basically like Lionel Luthor, like damn! What do ya all think?
Hope the explanations for why they can't get Strange, Willow or Tara makes sense.
Thanks a lot to Brainstorm Sorcerer for his help again.
Hope all enjoyed (or not) and see you all next time with another chapter.