Disclaimer the same as with chapter one, all I own is what is mine and none of the
following is mine.
Locked Away
Chapter Two.
Fred opened the door of her room and peeked out shyly from behind its protective
barrier. "I guess you've come to see my pool," she said sheepishly to Angel and his two
friends from Sunnydale.
One of them, the girl with short red hair, she had met before, if only briefly. The
other, the tall professor looking man, she had not and his presence unnerved her. She
couldn't help but feel that he was judging her. The disarray of her room, the notes taped
to the walls which she failed to organize to her satisfaction, the greasy film blurring the
lenses of her glasses, all of this she had to open to the scrutiny of this forbidding-looking
man. She could see the instant disdain on his face and if Angel had not been there to
reassure her she would have shut the door more quickly than she opened it.
"Fred," Angel said warmly sensing her unease. "You remember Willow."
"Hi," Fred said quickly. She fought the urge to retreat farther behind her door.
"I'm sorry it's such a mess."
"That's okay," Willow said cheerfully. "I've made many messes myself."
Willow possessed such a gentleness in her voice and such caring in her smile,
Fred felt great reassurance. She stepped back, opening the door to her room much wider.
She would allow them to come in.
All of them.
No matter how bad the mean professor guy was, he kept excellent company.
As they came through the door, Angel introduced the stranger. "This is Rupert
Giles," he told her. He hadn't expected him to come and like his fractured friend he
didn't really want him to come.
"Yes, um, thank you, um," Giles murmured only partially paying attention to his
hosts. As Fred had expected, he surveyed her living quarters like a social worker taking
stock of Angel's parenting skills.
She tried to ignore his misdirected attention and want to the bathroom door.
"Everyone here just calls me 'Fred'," she told him nervously. She turned only to find her
words and actions were being ignored. Instead of coming to see the pool like they were
supposed to, Willow and Giles had focused their attention to the notes scrawled on the
walls. She looked to Angel helplessly, feeling that she had lost control of the situation.
Meanwhile, Giles had adopted the composure of someone utterly appalled by his
surroundings. He leaned towards Angel and spoke in a hushed tone. "Angel, this young
woman needs serious medical attention. You cannot be keeping her like a pet. You are
doing her a great disservice--"
"I told them no doctors!" Fred said suddenly. Evidently Giles had not spoken
quietly enough. She trembled with anger at this presumptious man but her anger was
cloaked in her intensified self-consciousness.
"There is nothing wrong with me," she declared in a tremoring voice as she
focused on a stray take out box residing on her floor. "Considering my experiences in the
past few years, I think my eccentricities are minor. Angel has done nothing but show me
kindness and patience." Her hands had balled into tight fists at her sides as she
summoned the strength to look Giles in the eye. "I might become what you consider
normal someday, but it will be on my terms, not when someone like you prescribes me
to.
"Now, Mr. Giles, I'll remind you that you are in my home," she continued,
gaining strength from the prideful smile on Angel's face. "Please direct any questions or
comments about it to me."
If Giles had been at all affected by her words, he did not let it alter his composure.
He merely blinked and said, "I was terribly rude and I apologize. I did not intend to
offend you. I forgot my place as a guest in your home." He bowed her head slightly
toward her in a show of respect. "I assure you, it won't happen again."
"Apology accepted, Mr. Giles," Fred said quietly. Finally her hands relaxed and
she reached for the bathroom door again.
"What does this mean?" Willow's question came suddenly. "The demon who
first mourned..." Fred had lost track of her while she dealt with Giles. When she saw
where she stood, her eyes grew wide. Willow glanced up from the papers on the wall to
see if her question would be answered only to see Fred shaking her head at her.
She understood instantly. Don't ask. Not now. Not yet.
Angel and Giles had already made their way to the perflecting pool. They did not
see this exchange.
Minutes later the four of them together faced the vision that had sent Angel to call Willow days before. However much he trusted Fred's abilities to decifer the pool's images, he himself knew he needed outside help. He didn't want to be selfish. Buffy was important to many people. He also knew he had to be careful and he trusted Willow for her discretion.
Perhaps Willow thought this was too big for her too. He had only implied that she needed to keep it quiet. He didn't specify whom she shouldn't tell. Maybe she thought they would need Giles.
Maybe she was right.
As they watched the image of Buffy wandering amidst the multitude of people in darkness, Giles broke the silence first. "Where is she?" he asked in a whisper.
"As far as I can tell," Fred answered in kind, "this is her afterlife."
Willow's expression drew downward into one of sorrow. "How sad," she remarked.
"It's really not," Fred said brightly. "What she sees is very different from what we see. Where she is it's very quiet and restful. She is probably very much at peace."
Giles took off his glasses and looked down at them as he proceeded to clean them. They didn't really need it but it gave him the excuse to look away. "I believe it is what she wanted," he said softly. "We should leave her there."
At first no one objected. His observation seemed very true. Why should they bring her back if she didn't want to come back?
This time Fred broke the silence. "The pool is very persistent in showing this image," she said matter-of-factly. "It doesn't just want to show us she's okay. It wants us to do something."
"Are you saying this pool is sentient?" Giles asked incredulously.
"It has to be," Fred insisted, "otherwise it wouldn't work right. It has to have independent thought in order to be helpful. If it didn't, we would just see what we wanted to see. This one has a great desire to heal."
"Can they ever have bad intentions?" Angel asked.
"Of yes, there are many stories in Pylea of people meeting horrible deaths because of evil perflecting pools," Fred replied happily but quickly added, "but I've done some tests and this one is a good one."
"What would you have done if it was bad?" Willow asked curiously. "Pull the plug?"
Fred nodded enthusiastically not seeing the joke.
As fascinated as Giles could be with the inner workings of perflecting pools he knew they had drifted too far from the purpose of their coming. This wasn't about how Fred tested it to find out if it was good or evil, nor was it about the origin of its sentience. This was about Buffy. If she was supposed to come back, they needed to work on how. "What does it want us to do?" he asked.
Suddenly Fred's tone became somber. "When Angel first found it, I had thought that I could lead her back." She approached the pool and looked down at the image of Buffy. "But now I know I can't. The pool keeps telling me that someone has to go in and lead her out."
Fred then began to explain the complex imagery the pool had projected to communicate with her and how she had deciphered its messages. She didn't explain why this had such a serious effect on her mood, but Willow could tell that she was deliberately leaving out certain details. Things she wasn't ready to explain. With one glance at Angel she knew why.
If the room were larger he would have begun pacing instead he looked like he was ready to pounce. He was like a soldier anxiously awaiting the order to go in. "So how do you get me in there?" he asked Fred.
She became the portrait of uneasiness. "Uh, well," she stammered as her hands began to wring each other mercilessly.
"You're not the one to go," Willow announced, looking to Fred. "Is he?"
She shook her head, looking away from all of them.
"Why not me?" he asked with an edge to his voice. "Fred, you told me that the pool wanted to help me. I thought that meant that I could--"
"You can't OKAY?!" Fred suddenly snapped in her nervous high-pitched voice. She felt torn apart that in some way she had let him down. She went to him as if facing him would somehow make them both feel better. "I've heard them talking, you know? Cordelia and Wesley. I heard them say how you thought you let her down by not being there. I believed it too, when I first saw the pool that this would be your chance to fix things, to somehow make it up to her. But it's not for you. I don't know why it's not but it's become very clear, you can't go in there."
Angel clenched his teeth together to hold back his emotion. "Why not?" he pleaded softly.
Fred took his hands in sympathy. She stepped closely to him until their foreheads touched. She spoke soothingly. "It's a place for souls to go to rest."
"If you go in, you won't come back out," Giles finished for her. "For once, your uniqueness as a vampire with a soul exempts you from this quest."
Willow came alongside Fred and rested a reassuring hand on Angel's shoulder. "It's not all hopeless, Angel," she said. "You aren't the only one who feels like they let Buffy down. I understand something that Fred may not have figured out."
Fred looked up at her with surprise. "Which thing? I have about seven right now."
"The thing on the wall out there, about the demon who first mourned," Willow responded.
"What demon?" Angel asked, He looked at both the women trying to catch up.
Giles rubbed his eyes in futility. "Oh, dear Lord," he muttered to himself. He hadn't seen the notes on the wall but he understood the meaning immediately. "It's a shame you've been so much out of the loop. This revelation's not going to go down easily."
"Oh good," Fred said, ignoring Giles. Relief flushed out the sadness she had felt moments before. "Now if you guys only understood what the pool means about a key."
To be continued...
Next: The 'demon who first mourned' and 'the key' come to the pool.
following is mine.
Locked Away
Chapter Two.
Fred opened the door of her room and peeked out shyly from behind its protective
barrier. "I guess you've come to see my pool," she said sheepishly to Angel and his two
friends from Sunnydale.
One of them, the girl with short red hair, she had met before, if only briefly. The
other, the tall professor looking man, she had not and his presence unnerved her. She
couldn't help but feel that he was judging her. The disarray of her room, the notes taped
to the walls which she failed to organize to her satisfaction, the greasy film blurring the
lenses of her glasses, all of this she had to open to the scrutiny of this forbidding-looking
man. She could see the instant disdain on his face and if Angel had not been there to
reassure her she would have shut the door more quickly than she opened it.
"Fred," Angel said warmly sensing her unease. "You remember Willow."
"Hi," Fred said quickly. She fought the urge to retreat farther behind her door.
"I'm sorry it's such a mess."
"That's okay," Willow said cheerfully. "I've made many messes myself."
Willow possessed such a gentleness in her voice and such caring in her smile,
Fred felt great reassurance. She stepped back, opening the door to her room much wider.
She would allow them to come in.
All of them.
No matter how bad the mean professor guy was, he kept excellent company.
As they came through the door, Angel introduced the stranger. "This is Rupert
Giles," he told her. He hadn't expected him to come and like his fractured friend he
didn't really want him to come.
"Yes, um, thank you, um," Giles murmured only partially paying attention to his
hosts. As Fred had expected, he surveyed her living quarters like a social worker taking
stock of Angel's parenting skills.
She tried to ignore his misdirected attention and want to the bathroom door.
"Everyone here just calls me 'Fred'," she told him nervously. She turned only to find her
words and actions were being ignored. Instead of coming to see the pool like they were
supposed to, Willow and Giles had focused their attention to the notes scrawled on the
walls. She looked to Angel helplessly, feeling that she had lost control of the situation.
Meanwhile, Giles had adopted the composure of someone utterly appalled by his
surroundings. He leaned towards Angel and spoke in a hushed tone. "Angel, this young
woman needs serious medical attention. You cannot be keeping her like a pet. You are
doing her a great disservice--"
"I told them no doctors!" Fred said suddenly. Evidently Giles had not spoken
quietly enough. She trembled with anger at this presumptious man but her anger was
cloaked in her intensified self-consciousness.
"There is nothing wrong with me," she declared in a tremoring voice as she
focused on a stray take out box residing on her floor. "Considering my experiences in the
past few years, I think my eccentricities are minor. Angel has done nothing but show me
kindness and patience." Her hands had balled into tight fists at her sides as she
summoned the strength to look Giles in the eye. "I might become what you consider
normal someday, but it will be on my terms, not when someone like you prescribes me
to.
"Now, Mr. Giles, I'll remind you that you are in my home," she continued,
gaining strength from the prideful smile on Angel's face. "Please direct any questions or
comments about it to me."
If Giles had been at all affected by her words, he did not let it alter his composure.
He merely blinked and said, "I was terribly rude and I apologize. I did not intend to
offend you. I forgot my place as a guest in your home." He bowed her head slightly
toward her in a show of respect. "I assure you, it won't happen again."
"Apology accepted, Mr. Giles," Fred said quietly. Finally her hands relaxed and
she reached for the bathroom door again.
"What does this mean?" Willow's question came suddenly. "The demon who
first mourned..." Fred had lost track of her while she dealt with Giles. When she saw
where she stood, her eyes grew wide. Willow glanced up from the papers on the wall to
see if her question would be answered only to see Fred shaking her head at her.
She understood instantly. Don't ask. Not now. Not yet.
Angel and Giles had already made their way to the perflecting pool. They did not
see this exchange.
Minutes later the four of them together faced the vision that had sent Angel to call Willow days before. However much he trusted Fred's abilities to decifer the pool's images, he himself knew he needed outside help. He didn't want to be selfish. Buffy was important to many people. He also knew he had to be careful and he trusted Willow for her discretion.
Perhaps Willow thought this was too big for her too. He had only implied that she needed to keep it quiet. He didn't specify whom she shouldn't tell. Maybe she thought they would need Giles.
Maybe she was right.
As they watched the image of Buffy wandering amidst the multitude of people in darkness, Giles broke the silence first. "Where is she?" he asked in a whisper.
"As far as I can tell," Fred answered in kind, "this is her afterlife."
Willow's expression drew downward into one of sorrow. "How sad," she remarked.
"It's really not," Fred said brightly. "What she sees is very different from what we see. Where she is it's very quiet and restful. She is probably very much at peace."
Giles took off his glasses and looked down at them as he proceeded to clean them. They didn't really need it but it gave him the excuse to look away. "I believe it is what she wanted," he said softly. "We should leave her there."
At first no one objected. His observation seemed very true. Why should they bring her back if she didn't want to come back?
This time Fred broke the silence. "The pool is very persistent in showing this image," she said matter-of-factly. "It doesn't just want to show us she's okay. It wants us to do something."
"Are you saying this pool is sentient?" Giles asked incredulously.
"It has to be," Fred insisted, "otherwise it wouldn't work right. It has to have independent thought in order to be helpful. If it didn't, we would just see what we wanted to see. This one has a great desire to heal."
"Can they ever have bad intentions?" Angel asked.
"Of yes, there are many stories in Pylea of people meeting horrible deaths because of evil perflecting pools," Fred replied happily but quickly added, "but I've done some tests and this one is a good one."
"What would you have done if it was bad?" Willow asked curiously. "Pull the plug?"
Fred nodded enthusiastically not seeing the joke.
As fascinated as Giles could be with the inner workings of perflecting pools he knew they had drifted too far from the purpose of their coming. This wasn't about how Fred tested it to find out if it was good or evil, nor was it about the origin of its sentience. This was about Buffy. If she was supposed to come back, they needed to work on how. "What does it want us to do?" he asked.
Suddenly Fred's tone became somber. "When Angel first found it, I had thought that I could lead her back." She approached the pool and looked down at the image of Buffy. "But now I know I can't. The pool keeps telling me that someone has to go in and lead her out."
Fred then began to explain the complex imagery the pool had projected to communicate with her and how she had deciphered its messages. She didn't explain why this had such a serious effect on her mood, but Willow could tell that she was deliberately leaving out certain details. Things she wasn't ready to explain. With one glance at Angel she knew why.
If the room were larger he would have begun pacing instead he looked like he was ready to pounce. He was like a soldier anxiously awaiting the order to go in. "So how do you get me in there?" he asked Fred.
She became the portrait of uneasiness. "Uh, well," she stammered as her hands began to wring each other mercilessly.
"You're not the one to go," Willow announced, looking to Fred. "Is he?"
She shook her head, looking away from all of them.
"Why not me?" he asked with an edge to his voice. "Fred, you told me that the pool wanted to help me. I thought that meant that I could--"
"You can't OKAY?!" Fred suddenly snapped in her nervous high-pitched voice. She felt torn apart that in some way she had let him down. She went to him as if facing him would somehow make them both feel better. "I've heard them talking, you know? Cordelia and Wesley. I heard them say how you thought you let her down by not being there. I believed it too, when I first saw the pool that this would be your chance to fix things, to somehow make it up to her. But it's not for you. I don't know why it's not but it's become very clear, you can't go in there."
Angel clenched his teeth together to hold back his emotion. "Why not?" he pleaded softly.
Fred took his hands in sympathy. She stepped closely to him until their foreheads touched. She spoke soothingly. "It's a place for souls to go to rest."
"If you go in, you won't come back out," Giles finished for her. "For once, your uniqueness as a vampire with a soul exempts you from this quest."
Willow came alongside Fred and rested a reassuring hand on Angel's shoulder. "It's not all hopeless, Angel," she said. "You aren't the only one who feels like they let Buffy down. I understand something that Fred may not have figured out."
Fred looked up at her with surprise. "Which thing? I have about seven right now."
"The thing on the wall out there, about the demon who first mourned," Willow responded.
"What demon?" Angel asked, He looked at both the women trying to catch up.
Giles rubbed his eyes in futility. "Oh, dear Lord," he muttered to himself. He hadn't seen the notes on the wall but he understood the meaning immediately. "It's a shame you've been so much out of the loop. This revelation's not going to go down easily."
"Oh good," Fred said, ignoring Giles. Relief flushed out the sadness she had felt moments before. "Now if you guys only understood what the pool means about a key."
To be continued...
Next: The 'demon who first mourned' and 'the key' come to the pool.
