Chapter 20

Buffy turned and put the mug of coffee she was holding onto the tray. Angel had made some food while Buffy had made the coffee. Another scream rang out and Buffy rolled her eyes with a smile. Fred had received a copy of some science magazine that had printed her work.

"You ready?" Angel asked.

Buffy grabbed the sea breeze and followed Angel up to Lorne's room. When they had arrived at the Hyperion the night before, Lorne had been tied, gagged, and a hole had been driven into his skull to get the info about Cordelia out of Lorne's head. Buffy opened the door to Lorne's room and walked in.

"Here you go." Angel said, putting the tray down in front of Lorne.

"How's your head?" Buffy asked.

"Smashing. Listen. I know I've been a wee bit jumpy the last couple of days, but did I hear a scream?" Lorne asked.

"Oh, it's just Fred. I think it's a Texas thing." Angel said.

"Well, it's all too much Sturm and Drang for my appetite. Cordelia shacking up with your friend Xander and the hole between my horns."

"And you're probably a little on edge because of the whole 'slouching towards Bethlehem' thing."

"No."

"No?"

"No? That's good, because.."

"Sorry. I jumped ahead. That 'no' was the one that comes after you asking me to read Cordy again."

"I wasn't going to ask you that immediately. I was gonna build up to it subtly."

"I appreciate that, sugar pie, really, but the answer is no. I'm not a champion. I'm just a regular, old Karaoke-singing empath demon."

"You saw something. If we knew what it was.."

"Wolfram and Hart would come after me again. And maybe they wouldn't stop with a little gray matter."

Angel turned away and walked to the door. "I'm listening."

"Hey, death just doesn't look good on me. I wish I could tell you what was coming and when, but.. When you say 'listening' you don't mean to me. You heard something, didn't you?"

"It's probably just Fred."

Lorne fumbled a small ax out from under the blanket covering him. Angel walked out into the hall, Buffy going after him. They walked down to the second story and looked over the railing into the lobby. Xander stood there looking around. Buffy giggled slightly at the look on his face.

"Xander." Buffy said.

Xander jumped and turned to look up at them. "Buffy! Don't do that. It's fatal sometimes to sneak up on people."

"Sorry."

"Cordy wanted some of her stuff."

"How is she doing? Anything coming back to her?"

"Nothing."

"Is she alone right now? Because.." Angel started.

"She's safe. Don't worry guys. I can take care of Cordy."

"I trust you Xander." Buffy said. "Come on. Cordy's things are up here."

Xander followed Buffy into Cordy's room and took the box that Angel handed him. Xander grabbed a few shirts and a couple pairs of pants.

"Thanks guys. She'll appreciate it."

"Wait! You should take her fuzzy slippers. Her feet get cold." Angel put the white slippers in Xander's box.

"I know. She's always stealing the covers."

"You two are sleeping together?" Buffy asked.

"No. Not in the way you think."

"I didn't mean.."

"Chill Buff, I know."

"Good. I don't want her all confused about stuff."

"Where's Willow, Conner, and Dawn?"

"Sleeping."

"You know, I feel kind of bad that we left Faith and Spike alone to take care of Sunnydale."

"They'll handle it. Faith's not with Spike right now, but she still loves him enough to take care of him. She's wounded and it's going to take some time for her to come around."

"Maybe I should call." Xander said, stopping at the lobby doors.

"Nah. You take care of Cordy. We'll be here if you guys need anything."

"Later Buff. Angel." Xander left.

Angel sighed and Buffy got the hint. "Angel, Cordelia's fine with Xander. He won't let anything happen to her."

"I know." Angel said.

"Come on. I know what'll take your mind off all this."

"What?" Angel pulled Buffy to him tight.

"I think you're getting the idea." Buffy squealed as Angel swept her off her feet and walked up to their room.



"You don't wanna go in there." Gunn said as Buffy and Angel walked past him on the settee. "The girl kept me up all night. She is un-stoppable."

"More than I need to know." Angel said.

Fred spotted Angel and Buffy and ran out to talk to them. "Did Charles tell you?"

"He-he didn't describe it."

"I've been asked to present my article at the physics institute! P- dimensional subspace has always been a fascinating area, but I had no idea there would be so much interest. Can I practice my speech for you guys? I think Lorne's a little conked."

"That all night. Well, mostly that." Gunn said, watching Fred run back into the office with Buffy.

"I didn't know Fred was getting back into physics." Angel said.

"Yeah. I don't think she wanted anyone to know. Think she was afraid she lost the knack."

"Hmm. She seems over that." Angel followed Buffy into the office and sat down between Lorne and Willow. Buffy laid across Angel's lap and rested her head on his shoulder. Conner and Dawn were up in Conner's room playing some video game.

"It's nothing big, really. Just a little breakthrough in quantum particles. Emphasis on little. Probably be disproven in no time. It's just: I used to dream I'd discover some revolutionary concept, and.. oh, it's silly." Fred said.

"Doesn't sound silly." Angel offered.

"I-I guess I just wanted all those people I looked up to.. I wanted them to see me, too. And then I got sucked into Pylea, and, well, when you're a cow-slave you don't want anyone to see you at all."

"Everybody will be watching you now." Gunn said.

Fred stared at Gunn, eyes wide. She sucked in a deep breath and looked down at her cue cards. "I've got to practice. You-you'll be there?"

"Cheering you on. Right?"

Lorne made a face. Angel was looking at the woman his lap that had almost fallen asleep. Gunn looked at both of their backs, while Fred looked from Angel to Lorne to Willow, shifting on her feet.

"Blondie and Big Guy had a lot of midnight fun last night. Wore them out." Lorne said.

"Not to mention that Xander was here." Buffy yawned.

"Xander was here?" Willow asked.

"He picked up some of Cordelia's things." Angel said.

"She's just trying to put the pieces back together. It'll work out and it'll all be for the best. It will! Five years of unendurable torture and mental anguish aside, if I hadn't been sucked through that portal I never would have figured out my string compactification theory." Fred said.

"Exactly. Cause, you know, strings need to compactify." Gunn said.

Everyone stared at Gunn. Buffy yawned again and shifted in Angel's lap. Angel smiled slightly, seeing that his wife had fallen asleep. He wrapped his arms under her knees and back and stood slowly.

"I'm gonna lay her down and take a nap with her." Angel said.

"You're not going to listen to my speech?" Fred asked.

"Surprise me. I like surprises." Angel walked out and up the stairs.

Once Buffy was under the covers and sleeping soundly, Angel crawled in next to her. On instinct, Buffy curled around his body and Angel held her. They slept most of the day and were woken up by Conner telling them it was time for 'Fred's thing at the place where she's talking about science stuff.' It took them a few minutes to actually wake up and get downstairs, but once they did, Fred had them out the door.

Angel dropped Conner and Dawn off at Hank's house because they weren't into the whole 'science crap.' Once they got to the place where Fred was to present her speech, both Willow and Fred were balls of bubbly bouncy science geeks. Gunn straighten Fred's cue cards and handed them back to her as they all rode up an escalator at the institute.

"Thank you." Fred said. They got off the escalator and moved through a crowd of academics. "At least I remembered the uniform."

"All these people here to see you?" Gunn asked.

"I'm just a minor speaker. Oh, god!" Fred walked over to the list of speakers. "I'm between Ed Witten and Brian Greene?"

"Really?!" Willow asked, coming up next to Fred.

Buffy, Angel, and Gunn al stared at the two dumbfounded. They had no clue who these people were.

"Think Nomar Garciaparra and Sammy Sosa." Fred said.

Gunn whistled as Angel said, "Fred's skipped the minors and went straight to the show."

"This can't be right. Somebody must have made a mistake!"

"Listen up: all this stuff about particles and.. stuff, it's gonna blow them away. Nothing to worry about." Gunn said.

"Well, what if my theory is wrong?" Fred spotted someone. "Professor Seidel?"

"Winifred!" The man said, turning to a blonde. "Laurie, I'll meet you back at the lab." Laurie left. "There you are. It's been, what? Two years, or so."

"Yeah. Heavy on the 'or so.' Wow. It is great to see you. Are you gonna be in there?"

"I'm introducing you. I had to arm wrestle the chair of the department for the honor."

"Oh."

"Winifred, you have done some great work. You don't have anything to worry about."

Gunn cleared his throat loudly and Fred turned to them. "Oh, ah, these are my friends: Charles and Willow and Angel and his wife Buffy."

"Hey." Gunn said, shaking the professor's hand.

"Hi. Fred's said a lot about you over the phone." Willow said, shaking the professor's hand enthusiastically.

"Hello." Angel said, shaking the professor's next.

"Hi." Buffy said, shaking too.

"My, you are a pretty thing. Awfully young to be married." The professor said to Buffy.

"Yeah, well.. Life is short."

The professor laughed.

"I was gonna be a history major, and then I took Professor Seidel's physics class, and, well.." Fred said.

"Winifred is a natural. By the end of the first semester she was taking on w.i.m.p.s." Professor Seidel said.

"You should see her now! Killer left hook." Gunn said.

"Wimps are weakly interactive massive particles." Willow said.

"Oh, yeah, ah, just kidding."

"Do you remember that Higgs Scalars tutorial?" The professor asked Fred. "I still remember your take on spontaneous symmetry breaking."

"You know, it's, ah, filling up. I'm gonna go find and save some seats." Angel said.

"Going with." Buffy said, following Angel. They walked in and found some seats near the front and sat down. Buffy glanced around at all the smart looking people. "Angel?"

"Yeah?"

"I've never felt more like a blonde than I do right now. I probably stick out like a sore thumb! I'm the only blonde here."

"Buffy, relax. It's ok."

"No! It's really not! I have no clue what any of this crap means."

"Don't worry. Gunn looks more like a blonde than you."

"He's bald."

"Well, he was kind of looking foolish out there."

"I almost said the same thing."

"Oh."

Buffy sighed and looked around the place. She spotted Wesley sitting further away and poked Angel in the ribs just as he was putting his jacket over the back of one of the seats in the front row of the far from completely filled auditorium. Angel was about to look over, but a guy wearing a comic book T-shirt bumped into his arm with the backpack he was carrying as he made for a seat in the row behind Angel and Buffy.

"Oh, sorry about that." The guy said.

Buffy poked Angel again. He looked sharply at her because her nail had jabbed him hard. She rolled her eyes and pointed. Angel looked where Buffy had pointed and saw Wes sit down. Gunn walked in and handed Angel his jacket as he sat down in the chair Angel had reserved with it. Willow sat on the other side of Buffy and watched as Fred and her professor came up the aisle.

"Listen, man, I'm gonna need simultaneous translating on this thing. You know, like the president with the Russians, but just give me the highlights." Gunn said.

"No problem. Of course, I have no idea what she's talking about." Angel said.

"Will you tell Fred that? If she thinks we're both stupid, I won't stand out as much."

"Switch seats with Buffy."

"Why?"

"Willow knows what Fred's talking about."

"Oh." Gunn tapped Buffy's arm and gestured at his seat then hers. She got the hint and stood up, switching seats just as he lights dimmed and the professor guy came on stage.

"There have been many recent insights into string theory, but few have so elegantly tied together the disparate threads as the one you will hear tonight. As a student, Winifred Burkle showed outstanding intellectual rigor. Her work continues to exemplify the highest standard of academic excellence. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to introduce Winifred Burkle."

As polite applause filled the small auditorium, Lilah walked into the back of the lecture hall. Angel turned his head and saw her looking around.

"Thank you professor." Fred said. "This one just says 'open with joke.' But I forgot to think of one. But it's possible that my theory will take care of that. There are, um, there are several competing dimensional theories, and while each provides insights, physicists have long searched for a unifying theory. One that can account for both the behavior of the smallest subatomic particles, and the largest forces of nature. If space- time can undergo massive rearrangement of its structure, which I believe it can, tearing and reconnecting according to a predetermined disposition then T-duality would allow for the compactification of extra space dimensions. Consider the non-perturbative properties of superstring theory. In D- Branes, especially as it applies to Dirichlet boundary conditions with dual open strings that are t-transformed, this in turn leads to the conclusion that strings can only end in P-dimensional dynamical.." As Fred talked, a disturbance formed above her head. As the commotion spread, Fred stopped talking and looked up.

A bundle of long, snake-like tentacles, each ending in a tooth-filled beak suddenly reached out of the hole in the air and took hold of Fred, while Seidel quickly ducked away. Gunn, Buffy, and Angel jumped out of their seats and headed for the stage as Wes also got up from his seat at the back of the hall.

"Fred! No!" Gunn cried.

Fred was screaming as the tentacles wrapped around her tried to pull her up into the hole. Gunn was holding on to Fred's legs. Angel and Buffy stabbed at the monster with the microphone stand and a small dagger Buffy had had hidden in her boot.

"Hang on baby. I got you!" Gunn said, straining to hold on.

One tentacle wrapped around Angel's neck and lifted him off the floor. Buffy went for him, but the demon pulled him higher. She tried to snap kick a tentacle, but the thing caught her leg and wrapped around her ankle, lifting her up viciously.

"Angel!" Buffy cried.

"Yeah. Vampire strangling. Not gonna happen." Angel said.

"Rilascio e ritorno!" Willow yelled. (A/N 'Rilascio e ritorno' means Release and return in Italian.) The demon screamed and let go of Fred, Angel, and Buffy.

"It's over, baby. You're fine." Gunn said, holding Fred tight.

Angel stood and helped Buffy up. She started to walk over to Willow, but nearly fell when she took a step on the foot the demon had grabbed. Angel caught her just in time and carried her to a chair.

"My ankle. It must be twisted pretty bad." Buffy said, massaging it.

"Stay here." Angel said.

"Where are you going?"

"Lilah." Angel ran out.

Willow came up and sat next to Buffy. "You ok?"

"I'm fine. It's just a little swollen. I'll be better in the morning. Check on Fred for me, ok?"

"Sure." Willow walked over to Fred.

Wesley walked up to Buffy and kneeled down in front of her, taking her ankle gently. "You should get this checked out."

"It's fine, really." Buffy said.

"This is bad lighting. You can tell that it's going to need a wrap, possibly even a stint."

"Nuh uh. It isn't that bad. Is it?"

Wesley gently lifted her ankle and showed Buffy the large purple whelp forming on her ankle. "I wouldn't be surprised if it was cracked. You want me to take you to a hospital?"

"No. Angel will."

"I thought Willow was off the magicks." Wesley said, sitting next to Buffy.

"She was. She's got too much power in her. Giles said it was best she learn to use it for good."

"She seems to be doing well."

"So do you. I mean, you're actually talking and being all caring like."

Wesley smiled a little. "Can't let a former charge of mine go unattended."

"Is that how you see me now? A former charge?" Wesley looked down. "Wesley, as far as I'm concerned, you're a friend. You helped us with Angel and then Cordy. Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Angel ran up. "Hey Wes. Buffy, are you ok?"

"She's going to need a doctor." Wesley said, standing up and walking away.

Buffy watched him go. "You scared him off." She said to Angel.

"I didn't mean to." Angel said.

"I know."

Angel lifted Buffy in his arms and carried her off the stage. Willow, Fred, and Gunn followed him out to the convertible.