Here's a new chapter. Please enjoy!
"It's been a long time comin'. And the table's turned around
'Cause one of us is going. One of us is going down."
- Sick Puppies, You're going down
(O.O)
She woke up with a start.
She looked around and found that she had been lying down on the floor of Wolfram and Hart's lobby.
How she got there, she had no idea. The last thing she remembered was Wesley pointing a magic rod at her, then, nothing.
She stood up and smiled.
Although she had only been sick for about two days, it felt like an eternity since she had been able to walk on her own feet without feeling pain.
Whatever Wesley and the others did, it worked.
She was 100% certain that the ancient demon was no longer inside of her.
"Oh my god, Fred, you're alright!"
She immediately turned in the direction of the voice and was surprised to see Dawn and Angel appearing from a green portal, with another man behind them.
"Yeah. At least, I think I am."
Angel approached her, a look of disbelief on his face.
"How? I thought removing Illyria was impossible," the souled vampire asked.
She smiled at her friend. "It was Spike and Buffy. They found an artifact that splits individuals into two. As you can see, it worked." She gestured to herself.
"Interesting. I didn't expect that there would be an item that had such power," the man with Dawn and Angel said.
"That's so cool. And what about the blue streaks in your hair? Is that part of the magic?" Dawn asked.
"Blue streaks?"
She took a couple of strands of her locks in her hand and, as the teen said, there were blue tints in her hair.
"Woah. Wesley never mentioned that I'd be getting a new hairdo!" she exclaimed.
"I do not think that is all you got," the man in black said. He eyed her in a knowing way that was beginning to creep her out.
"What do you mean by that?" Angel asked, looking worried.
"She-"
"Do you hear that?" She cut him off. "It sounds like Wesley and the others are in a fight."
The other three paused, trying to listen to what she just heard.
But none of them heard anything.
"And I think they're getting beaten up by whoever they're fighting."
"Fred, I don't hear anything," Angel, who was the only one in the group with enhanced hearing, said.
"That's probably because they're three floors above us," she told her boss, looking up at the ceiling. "Oh, you did not just do that."
That was the last the group heard from her before she disappeared.
She appeared in front of a familiar locked room. She knew it was the room Wes and the others took her to when they planned to use the rod on her earlier that evening. She didn't wonder how she got there, because there was only one single thought running through her head at that very moment.
No one hurts my friends and gets away with it . She thought before kicking the magically locked double door and smashing it to pieces.
She entered the room and saw a sight that made her angrier.
Her lover was being choked to death by her doppelganger.
"Hey, bitch. Let my boyfriend go," she said to the other version of her.
Her double stared at her in confusion.
"Who are you?" she said.
However, instead of answering, she punched her imposter in the face.
"I'm the owner of that body," she said, "And I'm going to make you pay for hurting my man and my friends."
She had no idea how she was doing it, but for some reason, she was able to fight her other self, which she just now realized was probably Illyria, and kick the other's ass without breaking a sweat.
She sent a series of punches towards her double.
Left hook, right hook, straight punch, uppercut.
They were moves she had only witnessed in boxing matches and from Angel when he fought hand-to-hand.
And yet, she was doing such moves with great skills and on pure instincts.
(O.O)
Illyria tried to step away from her attacker but was unable to because, for some reason, her lookalike was able to teleport along with her.
In an attempt to stop the other's assault, she used her power and tried to stop time for her opponent.
It was useless. Her lookalike merely shrugged off the God-King's magic and performed the same spell on the Old One, but with better effect.
Illyria stood frozen. Unable to do anything as her double slowly approached her with angry eyes intent on ending her existence.
She saw her double raise a palm in front of her and she immediately recognized what spell the other was going to use. It was the same one she tried to do on the strong human she fought earlier that evening.
It was a spell that destroys a body down to its molecular structure. It was one that should have killed the human in one blow, however since for some reason her powers were weaker, it didn't.
But she had no doubt that the being in front of her would be more successful should she use the spell on her.
She could do nothing but wait for the end of her life.
"Wait!" One of the humans said. It was the one whom she tried to choke earlier.
(O.O)
She paused her final attack on Illyria because of Wesley and turned to her boyfriend.
"If you kill her, you'll end up killing yourself as well, Fred."
All of a sudden, the conversation she had with the others popped up in her head and she remembered Buffy's words about not killing her double because that would destroy all of her.
This was enough to make her drop her hand and end the spell she was casting.
"Right, I completely forgot about that," she said.
"Fred?" she heard Wesley say.
She turned to her lover, who was slowly approaching her.
She smiled. "Hey, you."
The next thing she knew Wesley was on her and kissing her lips.
She felt herself melt with his touch.
Yum.
God, she missed this.
While she was sick, Wesley avoided doing anything too romantic with her. It both touched and frustrated her.
However, now that she was okay, she was just ecstatic to feel him again.
She felt him deepen the kiss and she responded in return, kissing him with the same passion.
Unfortunately, the need for air became apparent, and so their lips parted.
But she didn't move away from his embrace. Her forehead leaned on his and they both stared into each other's eyes.
"It's really you," he said, tears were streaming down his face.
"Yes, it's me, Wes. It's really me," she responded.
He hugged her tight, afraid to let her go and lose her again. He breathed in her scent and thanked God, or whoever was listening, for this third chance with her. He knew that after this experience, he was never letting her go.
She felt wetness on her shoulder where her lover's head lay, and she knew her man was crying. She felt like crying too.
Well, maybe she did cry.
She was alive and hugging the man she loved. That was more than she expected a mere few hours ago.
She had this new opportunity in life and she wasn't going to waste it.
"I love you, Wesley," she said.
She felt him stiffen, and for a short moment, she thought he wasn't going to respond.
He eased his hold on her, just enough so he could see her.
"Really?" He asked, eyes puffy from crying.
She nodded.
"Oh, Fred." His hand cupped her cheek. "I love you too."
He kissed her again.
She wanted to touch more of him. Her mind told her to simply teleport them to her apartment and lock them up there for several days so they could make love to one another.
It was a nice plan, and she would've gone through with it had it not been for the new voice that resonated throughout the room.
"Oh, God! Buffy! Spike!"
The couple immediately parted and turned to the source of the voice, which had been Dawn, who was now crouching on the floor next to the unconscious form of her sister and pseudo big brother.
"Gunn! Lorne!" Angel followed the teen to his own friends who were also hurt.
"Let's continue this later, my love, and focus on helping our friends," Wesley suggested, to which she agreed wholeheartedly.
(O.O)
She woke up feeling like she had been in a fight with a ten-wheeler and lost miserably. Her body ached, and she felt like her head had been split into two.
She opened her eyes and immediately regretted it.
The light passed through her eyes and added more to the growing pain in her head.
"Ooowiee!" She stated.
"Buffy, you're awake!" She heard a familiar voice exclaim, before hearing someone run away from where she lay.
It took her a couple of minutes before she finally was able to open her eyes and she finally put a name to where she was.
A hospital.
Why was she there?
She tried to remember.
Her last memories were-
"Illyria!" She sat up and immediately felt as if electricity was running through her body.
Pain should never be this horrible.
She clutched her chest, which was where it hurt the most.
"What the bloody hell are you doing sitting up?"
Her head whipped towards the door where the voice came from and she felt relieved at the sight of the person who was standing there.
"Spike! You're okay!"
"I am. But you're not, so better lie back down 'fore I knock you out myself. You're still supposed to be recovering," her vampire told her.
She didn't need to be told twice. Her body was aching badly enough that she knew she needed to lie down to ease some of the pain.
Her boyfriend helped her settle on the bed before he occupied the vacant seat beside her.
"Aside from pain, how're you feeling, Luv?" he asked, looking worried.
"Tired. Even though I had just woken up. How long was I out?" she asked.
"'Bout two days. You really had me worried. Thought I was going to lose you again."
He grabbed her hand.
"Nope. Not going anywhere anytime soon. Especially now that I just got you back."
"Illyria nearly killed you."
"But she didn't. I'm here. In pain, but here nonetheless."
She squeezed his hand comfortingly, before asking about what happened.
"Well, it turns out the rod was able to successfully separate Fred and Illyria. It was just that the Fred version of the two was transported three floors down from us, so we only ended up seeing that crazy Smurfette."
"So, Fred's all right?"
He had a strange look in his eyes, before answering, "Yeah. She's as well as she can be given her new situation."
That answer worried her.
"What happened to her? And where's Dawn? What happened to Illyria?"
"Woah, woah, Luv. No need to get worked up. You don't want to get the attention of the docs around here. I don't want them kicking me out."
"Yeah, well, you haven't answered any of my questions so of course, I'll get worked up."
"Well, don't. The important thing right now, is that everyone's alright. Dawn's safe and so is Fred. We all saved the day and Angel promised to treat us all to pizza and drinks once you've fully recovered. For now, rest. Get better. That blue bitch did a number on you and you need to recover before we delve into more serious topics."
She gave him a disapproving look. She didn't like being kept in the dark. But she eventually agreed to his suggestions.
She was indeed tired and still really in pain.
Her boyfriend called for a nurse, who came in and added a couple of doses of something for the pain that made her sleepy.
Not long after that, she fell asleep.
TBC
(O.O)
So for those wondering why Fred is stronger than Illyria, this is because when the rod separated them, she got the dominant part of them. So she's considered the stronger version of the two, while Illyria is her weaker part. I know, weird, right? But I like to think that the fact Fred's essence stayed in Illyria in canon despite everyone saying she died, is proof that she was stronger than anyone would've pegged her to be. Also, she survived Pylea, that's something as well.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed the update. Thanks again for reading and hope to see you in the next chapter.