"Have faith in me. 'Cause there are things that I've seen I don't believe

So cling to what you know and never let go.

You should know things aren't always what they seem" - A Day To Remember - Have Faith In Me

(O.O)

Normally, it took at least 12 hours to get to England from LA, however, Wolfram and Hart had a jet that only took six.

Amazing, to any international flyer such as herself.

Unfortunately for her, she was stuck on a said jet with the biggest brooding vampire in history, so she couldn't even enjoy the flight.

What a drag, if you asked her.

But she was willing to endure it for the sake of her sister and pseudo big brother.

She knew if either of the two went with the gigantic forehead, her month-long sacrifice to get those two together would be ruined.

She knew Angel. If left alone with the people she loved, he would do some sort of psychological bullshit to her sister or vampire and make them doubt each other's love for one another and she couldn't have that.

She didn't understand how he did it but for some reason, he had such a great effect on the two strongest people she knew. She wasn't going to risk it.

"You know, if looks could kill, I'm pretty sure I'd be dust by now, Dawnie."

Her eyes narrowed at the vampire.

"Only Buffy and my mom are allowed to call me that."

"Sorry. Dawn, I mean."

She huffed and turned away from the vampire and focused her attention on the window overlooking the sky.

It was daylight and the other wasn't a pile of dust.

It must be enchanted, she thought.

She was curious about how it was done. But she wasn't going to ask how it was so. She didn't want to have any kind of small talk with him.

"So how did you know?"

She turned to him and glared. She didn't need to ask what he meant.

"How'd we know Spike was back? Well, it was no thanks to you. I got the information from Giles and Willow."

"Oh."

He looked surprised. He probably thought those two were on his side in trying to keep Spike's return a secret.

Truth be told, those two had actually been on Angel's side, and if she hadn't overheard their conversation about the blonde vampire's resurrection, she had no doubt they would've kept Spike's return a secret to their graves.

Fortunately, fate thought overwise and allowed her to hear them.

She didn't tell Angel this though, she was going to let him think what he wanted and have him believe Willow and Giles approved of Spike and Buffy's relationship.

"So Buffy just came to Spike after learning about it? She left the life she had for Spike, of all people?"

She snorted. Stupid bastard, of course, her sister was going to go after Spike. That's what you do for the ones you love. You go after them and seek to be with them.

"Yeah, she did, because she loves him."

"She loves Spike?"

He looked confused. Of course, he would be. She doubted the other knew what true love was, even if it bit him in the armpit.

"Well, duh. Why else would she go after Spike? She loves him."

He looked sad and turned away from her gaze to look at the window.

For a single millisecond of a moment, she felt sorry for the guy. Then she remembered what he did to her sister in the past and all her empathy shriveled up.

So she shut her mouth and didn't offer him any words of comfort. He didn't deserve it from her. And turned to look back outside the window.

"You know, this isn't what I wanted for your sister," he suddenly said.

She faced him again and gave him a confused look.

"I wanted her to live her life without being involved in the darkness of the world. I wanted Buffy to have the normal she always wanted. To be free of the burden of being the Slayer. And Spike can't give her that."

A vein popped in her head because of his statement.

"Wow, you are such an egotistical asshole," she told him.

Angel turned back to face her with a shocked expression.

"There are so many things wrong with that statement. First, Buffy's the Slayer, that's never going to change or disappear, so the darkness of the world will always follow her. I think she should be with Spike rather than with some ordinary, normal idiot, who could get himself killed because of her. At least with Spike, he still stands a chance of surviving if people try to get him to get to her."

He looked like he would argue but she didn't let him.

"Second, normal? Buffy hasn't wanted to be normal since high school. She's accepted her life as a Slayer. Wants it even. She isn't going to stop anytime soon and when she does, she'd probably be dead by then."

She stopped herself from flinching at her callous way of mentioning her sister's death. She was on a roll and she wasn't done giving the idiot a piece of her mind.

"Third, Spike's the perfect person to give Buffy the kind of life she wants. He's able to stand beside her and face the darkness with a smile on his lips, a sword in his left hand, and a reassuring hold on her hand with the other. He actually understands Buffy's sacred duty and is supportive of her. But at the same time, he's the only guy who can make her laugh and allow her to just be Buffy the girl. If there was a type of normal that she wants, it would be one with Spike in it."

She leaned at the edge of her seat and gave Angel a hard glare as she said the last part of her long rant, "And lastly, no one gives a shit what you want. Buffy is her own person and you and she are not together. You are nothing to her but an ex-boyfriend who left her back in high school. Get it in your head that you DO NOT HAVE A SAY IN MY SISTER'S LIFE."

She crossed her arms and huffed, sitting deeper in her chair. She said all she wanted to say to Angel. Whether he accepted it and kept quiet for the rest of the flight or he spoke up and argued with her some more, she didn't care. She said her piece and that was that.

An uncomfortable silence followed her little speech but was broken a few minutes later by Angel.

"Okay. You're right. I don't have a say in Buffy's life."

Her eyes widened. Did he just agree with her?

"But Spike is a whole different matter. I know you might not believe me, Dawn, but I actually care about Spike. And I know that if he stays with Buffy, it will end in heartache for him."

The vampire dawned a sorrowful look.

"Humans are extremely fragile beings. They could be here today but die tomorrow. A vampire in a relationship with a human, a Slayer with a short life expectancy at that? It'll end in doom. He's destined to lose her, and when that happens, he'll be alone again."

He turned to the side and had a far-off look, as he continued, "That kind of loss? It kills you inside, hallowing everything, making you not care, and leaving you with nothing but a shell of your former self. I don't want that for William."

He sounded like he was speaking from experience. Like he had lost someone really dear to him and it was killing him even now.

"He's a vampire of passion and action and he feels too much. If he stays with Buffy and loses her? I don't think he'll be the same again. I don't want that for that boy."

Though she always doubted everything that came out of Angel's lips, this time, she believed him. The grief in his eyes and the fire she saw as he talked about Spike was all too real for it to be made up.

He really did lose someone he loved to death, and that person wasn't her sister. He also cared that Spike would feel the same loss in the future if he stayed with Buffy.

Those two things were genuine, and this time, she didn't stop herself from empathizing with the souled vampire.

"I'm sorry for your loss," she said.

He gave her a small smile. "Thank you. But let's not talk about my loss. I'd rather we talk about Spike and Buffy."

A part of her wanted to yell at him for still wanting to split her sister and her vampire up. But the grown-up part of her, who saw Angel's genuine concern for Spike, wanted to make the other understand how much of a bad decision that was.

"They belong together, Angel," she said.

He opened his mouth to argue, but she cut him off.

"But you're right, maybe Spike will end up hurt and changed should anything happen to my sister. And you do have a right to be concerned."

She watched as Angel stared at her in interest.

"But Angel, that's Spike's choice. He wants to be with Buffy now and be happy with her. Don't you think you should respect that?"

"But you said so yourself, he'll end up hurting himself."

"Then let him. Spike's a big boy, he can make decisions for himself, and right now, he's decided to be happy."

"But that's only temporary."

"Temporary or not, he's still happy with Buffy. Don't take that from him. I mean, if you were in his position and the woman you love comes back to you, wouldn't you rather spend whatever little time you have with her happy together with her?"

He looked contemplative, before answering, "I would," with a sad smile.

"Then let him have this. Let them both have this. And when the time does come and Buffy dies or something, be there for Spike."

She leaned back in her seat.

"You know, there's a saying that goes, it's better to be with the one you love for a short time than to spend an eternity regretting it."

He smirked. "Pretty sure that's not how that saying goes."

She shrugged. "Same diff. Anyway, let them be and maybe you might still be friends with those two by the end of all this."

"Friends with them, huh?"

"Yeah. Spike and Buffy, for some reason, care about you and I think they'd really appreciate it if you continue to have some sort of friendly relations with them."

"They told you this?"

"No. But I know those two. And I know what they want without them telling me," she told him with great pride and confidence.

Angel laughed at this and she smiled.

Then he added. "You know, this is the longest time you've talked to me without insulting me."

"That's cause this is the longest time you've spoken without being a controlling, overbearing jerk." She shrugged. "I can take the brooding. But I don't like it when you become a hypocrite and start thinking you know better than everyone in the room."

"I do tend to do that."

"I'm happy to hear you admit it."

The vampire smiled and went back to looking back in the window.

She did the same.

After another minute of comfortable silence, he said, "Do you think we can save Fred?"

She thought about it and if she was honest, she knew that the odds were against them. She listened to Wesley's explanation about this thing inside the Texan scientist and she knew that the other's chances were slim.

But the vampire didn't need such harsh words. She knew he needed something to hold on to.

So she said, "We're going to try. And trust me, I know right now it might feel like the world is stacked against you, but don't lose hope."

The vampire turned to face her again.

"If there is anything I learned from Sunnydale, it's that the good guys always win. So yeah, I believe that we can save her."

He smiled softly and for a moment, she could understand why her sister fell for him.

He's got a really nice smile.

(O.O)

Eight hours. That's how long she'd been researching.

Eight hours of musty, moldy books, and yet, she found nothing on how to save Spike's friend. Maybe she just wasn't equipped for research. Back in Sunnydale, Giles and Willow and the rest of the Scoobies did it for her. They were the experts on it. She just knew how to kill things.

But right now, she couldn't kill this thing that was hurting her boyfriend's friend. And that pissed her off. She really wanted to help and yet she was useless, the self-translating books on the desk that she was reading were useless, the evil multi corporation with unlimited resources was useless!

Everything was so damn useless to save an innocent young woman from being eaten by an ancient demon!

She swiped the books in front of her to the side of the desk in frustration.

"Woah, Slayer, Percy is going to kill you if you destroy any of those books."

She turned to the room's entrance and there was Spike, standing with a plastic bag, which she assumed was food, in his hand.

"Sorry, I lost control of myself."

He smiled at her. "It's alright, pet. Books tend to do that to the best of us," he teased.

"That's not what I mean, you jerk."

He turned serious. "I know," he said, "So, still couldn't find anything?"

"None. All these books and not one of them say anything about how to expel an evil ancient demon from people. Apparently, this thing is so ingrained in Fred's being that to remove it, you'd end up killing her."

"Damn," he cursed, "Wesley said the same thing."

"You spoke to him?"

"Yeah. Ran into him while he was taking Fred back to her apartment."

She looked worried. "Is that a good thing? I mean, shouldn't they be here in case Angel and Dawn come back?"

"Her apartment's upstairs. Most employees, or at least the executives, live in the building."

"Convenient and a bit worrying."

"Yeah, seemed that the higher-ups want to keep an eye on them, for some rotting reason. Been trying to tell Angel it's not a good thing."

"Good thing you got your own place."

"I don't work for them, so I don't get the same treatment."

He walked towards the desk and put the plastic bag with her food on the table before picking up the books she dropped.

"I hope the Poof and the Bit are fairing better than we are," he said, looking really worried.

She took his hand. "We're gonna save her, Spike."

He smiled. He really was glad she was here. Her mere presence eased some of the feelings of helplessness and worry in his heart.

"Go on, eat your dinner. We're going to pull an all-nighter for this, Luv. You got to keep your strength up."

She nodded, and took the food, which was a cheeseburger, and carried it to the couch at the side of the office. As she sat down, she felt a lump on her seat.

She pulled the offending object that she sat on and was surprised to see what it was.

"Hey, what's this doing here?" she asked, as she stared at the foot and half long rod with Latin words engraved on it.

"Probably one of the artifacts that Wes and his team are looking into. They

tend to leave items lying around in this office."

"This thing looks familiar though. Like, I've seen it before."

"Stand up a bit, pet. Normally Percy and his team put tags and labels on their artifacts, you might find it under you."

Buffy did as she was told and like what the vampire said, there was a small postcard on her seat with the name of the rod in her hands.

"Ferula Gemina. Belonging to a Tothric Demon." - the note said.

From the name, Buffy immediately remembered where she saw the item. It was the rod that split Xander into two a few years back.

If she remembered correctly the rod could split people up into two parts. One part will have the person's more dominant personality and the other will have their weaker personality.

An idea popped into her head.

If the thing inside Spike's friend is its own person, then maybe this rod could split up Fred and the demon, thus increasing the young woman's survival rate. They can put them back together once Dawn and Angel come back with whatever cure or information they get from the Deeper Well.

She told Spike of her idea and her vampire seemed to respond positively to it. He added one thing though to her plan.

"Before we present this to Percy, let's research everything there is to know about this rod first. We need to make sure it's safe before we use it on Fred."

She nodded in agreement and immediately started to look for books that had information on the Ferula Gemina rod.

This wasn't a permanent solution. But at the very least, it would help Fred until Dawn and Angel got back.

Hopefully.

TBC

(O.O)

Thanks for reading.