"When the demon that's inside you is ready to begin. And it feels like it's a battle that you will never win. When you're aching for the fire and begging for your sin. When there's nothing left inside, there's still a reason to fight." - Disturbed - A reason to fight"

(O.O)

She and Angel walked through a grove of trees in the foggy moonlight. All was quiet and actually pretty creepy if you asked her. But she soldiered on and continued to walk beside the souled vampire to make sure she didn't lose him on the way.

Although the two of them had reached an understanding, it didn't mean that they were going to be best friends. Angel still had a big stick up his ass and for some reason, he refused to talk to her. The silence they shared was deafening, which was weird because, how can silence deafen someone. Anyway, she could no longer keep things to herself, so she tried to start some small talk with him.

"When is a door not a door?" she suddenly said.

"Huh?" Angel eyed her in confusion.

"When it's not freaking-well there." She points to a weirdly large tree.

Ignoring her initial statement, Angel agreed. "Right there. So, how much you wanna bet that's the entrance to the Deeper Well?"

"No bet. Either that's the entrance we're looking for or it would lead us to Halloween Town, which would be so cool and fun. Do you ever do anything fun?"

"I'm about to," Angel said, eying a hoard of demons in front of them.

She looked scared. She hadn't expected that they would fight off monsters.

"Stay behind me, Dawn. I'd rather not have Spike get on my case if you get hurt."

She gave him an incredulous look. "You're more afraid of Spike than my sister?"

"I can handle Buffy. But never underestimate how annoying Spike can be when he wants to. He can make you wish you dusted just by how annoying he is."

"Right," she answered, simply taking his word for it before focusing on the hoard in front of them. "Any strategies?"

"Just hold my hand."

She raised an eyebrow in a way that reminded him so much of the younger vampire he left in LA.

"Just trust me on this," he said.

So she did as she was asked and reached out to take Angel's hand. She felt something on her palm and when Angel let go, she saw that he had dropped a length of wire between them. She immediately understood what the souled vampire had in store for the demons and smirked, so much like Spike.

"Smart, which is surprising."

Angel merely rolled his eyes at this. He really didn't appreciate it when people underestimated him. But he opted to ignore the statement and focused on the approaching demons. The two of them stepped away from each other and pulled the wire taut.

The demons ran into the wire, getting clotheslined by it and their heads got cut off, just like what happened in the opening sequence in the Ghost Ship. Angel took a sword from one of the fallen demons and readied himself to fight off the next group coming at them.

"Stay behind me," he told his companion.

She nodded, before picking up a smaller blade from the bodies to serve as a weapon to protect herself. While she wasn't as strong and skilled as her sister and pseudo big brother, they did teach her well on the art of defending herself. She wasn't going to let any of the demons use her against her companion and if she could, she was going to help him as well. She was just going to be smart while she was at it.

No sooner than she thought this, the demons attacked and a fight broke out.

(O.O)

On the other side of the world, another fight broke out.

She watched as Wesley held the man, Charles Gunn, by the lapels of his expensive suit, cursing the other for what he did.

Earlier that evening, the dark-skinned man just confessed his contributions to what happened to Fred and the former Watcher couldn't believe his ears. Gunn signed the papers that allowed Illyria's sarcophagus to be transported to LA and into Fred's office, all because the man wasn't willing to let go of the fake memories that W&H gave him.

At that moment, she could tell that her former Watcher was really going to kill his coworker, for having placed his lover in this position.

Before he could do anything though, Spike put a stop to it. Her boyfriend placed a hand on the former Watcher's shoulder as he said, "Mate, I get it. You're angry but this isn't the time. Fred's more important than your squabbles with Charlie. Do that later when we save the girl."

Wesley looked behind the vampire and made contact with Fred. She looked in pain and all his anger washed away.

That's right. They were here for Fred. So she was glad that he remembered that. He had to save his anger for later once his girl was saved.

"Very well," he said, moving towards an empty hospital bed. "Um, Buffy, please put Fred here."

She did as she was told and carried the scientist to where Wesley asked her to, and gently laid the young woman on the mattress.

"Thanks," Gunn said to the vampire who just saved him.

This earned him a glare from the blonde. "I didn't do it for you," Spike hissed, "Like Percy, I'm right pissed with you, mate. I can't believe you would do something so stupid."

The man looked guilty. He couldn't believe it himself either. Power got into his head and now, someone very special to all of them was paying for it.

"The only reason you're here is for extra muscle. This plan of ours? Well, we could end up releasing an ancient demon god before its time, so we need all the help we can get. Don't think this will make up for what you did."

"I know," Gunn said, agreeing with the vampire's harsh words. He knew that nothing was going to make things right. He betrayed his friends and caused suffering to the woman he loved.

Yep, it wasn't going to make things right. But as long as Fred was still around, he would still have a chance to do that, so he would do everything he could to help.

"So we're starting this?" Fred asked the group weakly from her bed.

Wesley smiled and caressed the strands of her hair that were on her forehead.

"Yes, my dear. We're doing this. But this will only be temporary until Angel and Dawn get back with a more permanent solution for you."

"Ri-right. I'm kinda excited. I mean, it's not every day you get to be split in two, right? Can you make sure to take notes on the personalities that come out?"

"Fred, pet, the theory is that Illyria would be expelled from your body. So you technically won't be split into two, just separated from the other being inside you," Spike explained.

The brown-haired scientist shrugged. "This being will look like me, right? Maybe it will also have some of my characteristics. Who knows."

"Well, only one way to find out," Buffy said, gaining everyone's attention. She handed Wesley the rod. "You ready for this, Wes?"

"As ready as I can be in this situation, Buffy." He took the rod and looked at everyone in the room. "Please make sure to close all doors and be ready for an attack. We don't know Illyria. It might end up killing everyone as soon as it makes an appearance."

"Well, it's a good thing we've had experience with Hellgods then because we'll so kick this demon's face if it tries so much as to hurt anyone," she told her former Watcher confidently.

This earned a smile from the man.

"And don't worry about it escaping, Wes. Gunn and I had this entire room sealed off. No one is getting out unless we say so. Until Little Ms. Slaypal and Scrupulous Billy here knock her out and put her in the sarcophagus, we're not letting her out," Lorne said.

"Right. Thank you, Lorne."

Wesley turned back to the bed and gave his girlfriend one last tender smile before he cupped her cheek and kissed her lips.

"Once we get this out, let's go out on that date, shall we?"

"That's the deal," the weakened Texan replied.

After that, he took a couple of steps away from the bed and pointed the rod at the woman he loved, before activating the device and shooting its ray at the scientist.

(O.O)

After helping Angel kill a bunch of demons, (and yes, she did help!) another being appeared before them. This time it was a man, who looked like he was in his late 20s to early 30s. He had shoulder-length black hair, in an all-black ensemble. He had this doom and gloom expression and for a moment, she thought he must've been Angel's long-lost brother or something.

Unfortunately, the man wasn't Angel's brother but he was the guardian of the Deeper Well, where the ancient demon, Illyria, was once kept.

She tried to tell Drogyn, the man's name, about Illyria, but it seemed that the guardian already had an idea about what was happening. Instead of answering her questions about what he could do to save Fred, he led them inside the Deeper Well.

Seeing that there was no other option for them, she and Angel followed the man with the torch as he led them inside.

"I would never have thought you'd end up here, Angel," Drogyn said.

"I could say the same," Angel responded.

"So, I'm guessing, you two know each other?" she joined.

Her question was ignored.

"I'm taking that as a yes."

The man turned to Angel and conversed with him, leaving her feeling left out.

"I'll tell you as much as I can. The Old Ones were demons pure. They warred as we would breathe—endlessly. The greater ones 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."

"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?" she said, earning a glare from the guy.

Wow, talk about family resemblance. Maybe he is related to Angel.

"Your friend likes to talk," he said to Angel.

Her companion shrugged. "She takes after my Grandchilde. However, she's not wrong." The souled vampire gave him a pointed look. "The man I remember couldn't be stolen from so easily."

"The tomb was not stolen. It disappeared. I believe it was predestined 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."

Dawn and Angel followed Drogyn into the chamber. They were standing on a bridge that was overlooking an endless pit lined with thousands of coffins just like the sarcophagus delivered to Wolfram & Hart.

"Holy shit!" she exclaimed.

"How far does this go down?" Angel asked.

"All the way. All the way through the Earth" was Drogyn's answer.

"So, the coffin disappeared, teleported, but it was brought to us. How?" the vampire asked.

"Illyria was a great power—so great that, after millions of years dead, somewhere on this Earth still has acolytes," the guardian explained.

It made sense. Glory was also millions of years old and yet she still had minions that were loyal to her and served her. She had no doubt that this Illyria demon was the same. Hopefully, Spike and the others already caught the guy who was responsible for all this.

"Okay, so how are we going to do this?" she suddenly asked, "Illyria's freed and has infected Fred, we need you to help us save her."

Drogyn looked horrified. "It's been freed—the demon's essence?"

"Yeah, that's what I've been trying to tell you but you ignored me. Anyway, why do you think we're here?"

The guardian glared at her again, but she was having none of it. She didn't take crap from Angel, she was so not taking any from him.

"Oh, don't give me that look. Regardless of how many demons you're watching, it was still your job to guard this place and someone stole from you. Now an innocent young woman is dying and we need your help to clean up your mess."

He stared at her for a minute, and she glared back at him. After a minute, he turned away and faced 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."

"You got one right here," she pointed at Angel.

"But I didn't know it was free," he said before looking down and 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."

She and Angel looked floored.

"No," Angel uttered and walked to the edge of the bridge to look down into the well.

"This is stupid. There has to be another way," she said, giving the man a pleading look. She didn't come all the way back to England just to fail Spike. She promised him and by extension Angel, that they were going to save Fred. How could this be the man's only answer to their problem?.

"I'm sorry, this is the only option," he said, before moving away from them, "I'll prepare the spell. Your choice."

She stared at the vampire's back and she could see he was shaking. This was really hitting him hard.

"To hell with the world," she heard him say.

Oh, if only it was that simple.

TBC

(O.O)

Thanks for reading!