Chapter 67

The crowd was gone and just Angel, Gunn, Wes, Lorne, and Jasmine remained. Angel sat on the settee with his head in his hands. He was completely heartbroken over Buffy going evil again.

"I can't believe Fred and Buffy evil." Wes said. "Ok, well.. Buffy I can since.."

"Should have seen it coming. It was just too tempting for her." Gunn said.

"Nothing like two homicidal maniacs to put a damper on an impromptu spiritual gathering." Lorne said.

"What they saw tonight.. it's not what I would have wanted." Jasmine said. "But now they all understand the reality of what hatred can do to a person."

"The reality is we need to find my wife and Fred." Angel said, looking up. "If we leave now, Connor and I can probably still track them."

"I know you're all in pain. Most especially you Angel. You all trusted Buffy and Fred and they betrayed you."

"Forget us. Fred tried to kill you."

"And the sadness that brings me is immeasurable."

"I should have just let Buffy cut my head off. My species.. decapitation loophole."

"She still might have stabbed you, let you bleed to death." Connor said, just as miserable as Angel felt.

"Why didn't I see it?" Angel asked. "She's my soulmate. I should have seen it."

"Angel, none of us did. You can't blame yourself." Jasmine said.

"She was acting weird earlier but I just thought it was Buffy being post evil Buffy."

"That man at the hospital.." Wesley said. "I'm still shocked they would go and see him."

"Once he had them there, he must have monkeyed with their brains somehow." Gunn said.

"Maybe he made them do it, with magick or something." Connor suggested.

"I doubt even Fred and Buffy understands why they're so determined to destroy everything we're trying to create. Which makes them even more dangerous." Jasmine said.

"We have to kill Fred. There's no other way." Angel said.

"What about Buffy?" Gunn asked.

"She's my wife! I'm not going to kill her. Maybe I'll turn her and then Willow can give her back her soul and then she'll be ok again."

"As long as they're out there, they're a threat." Wes said.

"It may come to that but first we have to try to help them, get to the root of the hatred that's infected both their hearts." Jasmine said.

"The only way to do that is to bring them home. Let's go." Angel said. He stood up and the others moved to follow him but Jasmine stopped them.

"No. We'll find Fred and Buffy but not tonight. Tomorrow will be easier than today. We'll have eyes everywhere."

Angel stared at her for a moment, but then decided Jasmine was right. He excused himself and walked up to his and Buffy's room. Closing the door, he sat down on the edge of the bed and put his head in his hands again. Maybe he should call her. That would get through to her if she heard his voice and trusted him. Buffy trusted him. She always had. Why would things be different now? He decided it was the best thing to do.
Buffy sat in the car, her head lying on the wheel. She had cried herself to sleep there in a deserted parking lot. Fred lay curled up in the passenger's seat, gently sleeping. Earlier, they had tried to contact Willow to see if there was a spell to use to get rid of Jasmine's influence, but no one had been home. Now, Buffy dreamed of better times. Connor was a baby, Dawn was five, and she and Angel were happy parents living in Buffy's house. No one else lived there in her dream. She and Angel were the All American Family. Well, almost. They had the dream house and the dream van and they were the picture of a happy loving family with a dog and two kids, even though Dawn wasn't their baby. Yeah, there was a dog in this dream. Suddenly, a weird sensation came from Buffy's hip. She looked down at herself, but there was nothing there. Then she woke up. It was her cell phone that had interrupted the dream. Buffy stared daggers at it, but it didn't do much good. It was an inanimate object. Opening the phone, she saw that it was Angel. Why would he call her? Unless he had seen it too. Slowly, she pushed the talk button. "Hello?"

"Buffy?"

"Angel? Did you see it?"

"See what?"

"Jasmine! Her face!" It hit her. Angel wasn't calling to tell her everything was going to be ok. He was calling to find out where she was and what she was doing. "You didn't see it, did you? Angel, I swear I'm not crazy. It's there. I don't know how it's there, but it is. I need you to believe me."

"Buffy, I believe that you need help. Come back here and let us help you."

"I can't do that."

"Why?"

"Because She'll kill me. She'll kill me and Fred."

"Why would Jasmine do that? She loves you both. All She wants to do is help."

"That's not her agenda Angel. How can I convince you of that?" Buffy sighed. "I love you Angel."

"I love you too Buffy. That's why you need to come back here and let us help you. Let me help you. I want to show you joy again."

"I know you do. But you can't when you're like this. I'm a Slayer Angel and I need to see the other side of things. I'm on the other side and it sucks, believe me it does. But if I had to choose between not knowing what evil was going down or knowing and giving up that happy, not caring feeling.. You know what I would choose."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

"It is. I didn't love you enough."

"What? Of course you did.. Do. You do love me enough. Some might say too much."

"I can't love you enough because you're just not a loving person."

"Angel! This isn't you. You would never say that. I love you. You know that."

"You've been tempted by Fred's hatred."

"Fred's hatred? No. Fred doesn't hate anybody. I wasn't tempted anyway. I don't know why we can see Jasmine's true face, but we can."

"They're going to kill you if they find you."

"So I figured. But would you kill me Angel? Could you? Do you love Jasmine more than me? Do you love her so much that you would kill me for her?" Angel was silent. "You can't answer me, can you? Didn't think so. Call me back when you can." Without letting him say anything else, Buffy hung up and tossed the phone in the seat beside her.

Fred was awake and looking at her hopefully. "Was that Angel?" Buffy nodded. "Does he believe us?" Buffy looked at Fred sadly. "He doesn't. What did he want?"

"He wanted me to come back so they can try and help me. Fred, we've got to find a way to make him see. Make them all see." Buffy's stomach growled. "But not on an empty stomach. Let's find somewhere safe we can eat."

"I'm with you."

Buffy started the car and pulled out of the parking lot. The sun was just starting to come up. By the time they found a place far enough out of the way to eat, it was almost seven in the morning. They walked in and sat down. Buffy ordered French toast with a side of bacon and Fred ordered eggs, bacon, and pancakes. The chef brought them their food twenty minutes later.

"Here you go. Looks like you two just lost your best friend." He said.

"All of them." Fred said.

"And my husband." Buffy added, twirling her claddagh. "I never thought.."

"Yeah, well, that's life in the big city." He tore off their ticket and slid it across the counter, then went back to the grill. Buffy and Fred ate their food while the TV played a morning news show called Good Morning L.A.

"Welcome back." The announcer named Trish said. "Chef Arnold Michske will join us later but right now, we have the most amazing surprise. Please join me in welcoming a very special visitor.. Jasmine!"

"Good morning, Los Angeles. Thank you for inviting me. This is a special day." Jasmine said on the TV. Buffy and Fred's heads snapped up and they stared at the TV in shock.

"We want to know everything about you. Start at the beginning."

"Trish, in the beginning, before the time of man, great beings walked the earth. Untold power emanated from all quarters: the seeds of what would come to be known as good and evil. Yet there was a balance. But the shadows stretched and became darkness and the malevolent among us grew stronger.."

Buffy and Fred looked around them to find everyone in the diner kneeling on the floor, expressions of enraptured bliss on their faces as they watch Jasmine on the TV. They got shakily to their feet and walked quietly out of the diner, unnoticed by the enthralled customers. They walked out onto the street and made their way back to the car. Buffy gunned the engine and they peeled off. This was getting bigger than they had expected.
Five days later, the afternoon was a beautiful Southern California afternoon. The sun was shining and everyone was happy. Everyone but Fred and Buffy that is. At the moment, they were running from Gunn and Wes. Buffy had separated from Fred and got Gunn to chase her while Wesley went after Fred. Gunn was the faster and stronger of the two men and Buffy knew that he would go after her. She rounded a corner and spotted Fred running past a car. Buffy grabbed her and hauled her behind a fountain.

"Buffy!" Fred said.

"Sorry I left you. Give me your jacket." Buffy said.

"What?"

"Just do it." Fred handed Buffy her jacket and Buffy took her jean jacket off. They found a girl with long dark hair like Fred's and Buffy handed her Fred's coat. "Here. Jasmine wants you to have it."

"Thanks!" The girl said, slipping it on.

Fred pointed to a girl with long blonde hair and Buffy handed her the camisole, telling her the same thing. Then, Buffy grabbed Fred and they darted off into an alley just as Gunn caught up to Wes. She pulled open a manhole and the two dropped in. Buffy closed the manhole and dropped next to Fred. "There. They won't be able to find us for a while.. I think. Angel does know the sewers pretty well."

"It's ok. I'm just glad we got outlawed together. I don't know where I'd be if it had been just me." Fred said.

"You'd probably be dead. Cause if Jasmine had told me to kill you, I know I probably would have. No offense." They started to walk.

"None taken."

"So, the sun goes down in a little while and Angel can come out then." Buffy took out the Gem of Amara and stared at it. She had hidden it at her father's house in a loose floorboard in her old room. Buffy had gone to an ATM to some cash for clothes for Fred. Buffy had had clothes at her dad's house. They were a little big on her because she had lost so much weight in the past couple of months. Buffy slipped the ring back in her pocket. "If I didn't have this.. I think we'd both be dead by now."

"Cause it wouldn't have been just Charles and Wesley out there."

Buffy sighed. "I really am sorry about all this."

"It's not your fault."

"No, it is. I let Jasmine be born. I was right there and I hesitated then I got blown away. If it weren't for me, we'd both be somewhere else. I'd probably still be in a living hell because things are getting worse in Sunnydale. I've got a crap load of more potentials staying at my house and Faith is getting kinda edgy. More Bringers are coming to town and Faith's mad because all the vampires are starting to high tail it too."

"Well, that's there and this is here. We need to figure out if there's a way to break Jasmine's spell."

"Maybe your book guy has found something. It's been three days."

"Let's check."

"The car's just a block away."

"How can you tell?"

"Angel knows the sewers here pretty well and therefore I knew them pretty well too. I parked it in a parking garage ten blocks away from the Promenade."

"Oh."
Buffy and Fred drove to an occult/conspiracy theory themed bookstore that Fred had introduced Buffy to. They walked in and found the owner, Ted, shelving books among the stacks. He was a squirrelly little guy. Paranoid and hyperactive. He looked up at them. Fred smiled. "Hi. You probably don't remember us.."

"Three days ago. Mass hypnosis. You wondered if it was possible." Ted said.

"We read those books. Some wacko theories, by the way. All of the mass hypnosis theories seem highly flawed to me. I'm looking for a type of mind control that could affect everyone across the board."

"I might have a book on that." He headed over to the counter and Fred perused the books on the reading table. Buffy looked at a couple, but nothing struck her as something she'd want to read.

Fred picked up a couple of the books. "Astral Projections.. Satan's Dictionary? You must get some pretty colorful customers in here."

"Used to. You're the only customers I've had since the last time you two were here."

"Oh."

"Not a huge demand for photo books of serial killer autopsies when you're living in a utopian wonderland. You know what I mean?"

"I hadn't really thought.. must be hard."

"Hard? Are you kidding? It's great."

"Great? Really?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah. Look at me. I've never been happier." Ted stared at them, stoned faced.

"Sure. I see it now. You're practically glow-y."

"I was flicking through the radio the other night. There's nothing really good on since Art Bell retired. I ended up listening to this woman talk."

"Jasmine." Fred and Buffy said.

"Yeah. You, too, huh? What a breath of fresh air she is. I listened for almost an hour. I'm a new man. I used to be obsessed with mind control. I read everything I could get my hands on."

"And you don't believe in it anymore?" Buffy asked.

"I believe. I just don't worry about it anymore."

"So you don't worry that it's possible for someone to send out a biological or electronic trigger that effectively overrides your own sense of ideals and values and replaces them with an alternative coercive agenda that reduces you to little more than a mindless meat puppet?" Fred asked.

"Wow. People used to think that I was paranoid. I mean, don't get me wrong. I've still got the implants in my head. The CIA is still listening in. It just doesn't bother me anymore. Instead, I beam Jasmine's love up to their satellite, you know. Share the love with those MK-ULTRA bastards."

"That'll teach em."

"Hey, now I get it."

"You do?" Buffy asked, moving next to Fred protectively.

"Yeah. I know what you two are doing." He opened a drawer beneath the counter and started going through the contents. He casually took out a revolver and set it on the counter while he looked through the drawer. Fred's eyes went wide and she started to back away as Buffy tugged her gently. Ted found what he was looking for and held it up. It was a book called Making Mind Control Work for You. "You want to fight fire with fire. Make sure the government and the other savages learn about Jasmine's love."

"Exactly. That's exactly right. Why should we be the only shiny, happy people?" Buffy reached out for the book, but Ted pulled it back.

"We don't need to use the evil tools of 'the man' when we have the wo'man'. We need to trust that Jasmine's love will reach the rest of the world just like it reached us."

Buffy smiled, gritting her teeth in frustration. Fred just smiled and said, "Oh, happy day."

Buffy tugged Fred. "Ok, well, we have places to be, people to spread the love to. Bye now." They left in a hurry and climbed in the car. Buffy groaned. "This sucks! Everyone's infected! Even the weird nerds who believe the CIA is after them and Scully and Mulder are real people."

"Thank I'm not one of those people anymore."

Buffy smiled at Fred's attempt at a joke. "I'm tired. Let's go back to the motel?"

"Ok."

Buffy pulled the car into the old raggedy motel they had chosen that was way out of the way. As Buffy parked, Fred walked up to the window and asked for the key. An old woman leaned against the wall nearby, smoking. Fred took the key and walked into the motel courtyard with Buffy. They headed up the exterior stairwell to the second-floor landing. As they walked past the rooms, a face suddenly appeared in one of the windows, watching them. Ahead of the two, a hooker and her client emerged from a room and they both suddenly turned and stared at them.

"Hey Fred?" Buffy asked.

"Yeah?"

"I don't think they're looking for some X-rated fun. Do you?"

Fred shook her head and she and Buffy made their way back down the stairs. As they rounded the corner at the bottom, the old woman seized Fred by the arm and spun her around. Buffy pushed the lady back and Fred broke free with a gasp and ran toward the car only to find the way blocked by the motel clerk. They switched directions and ran through the parking lot toward the opposite street. As they passed a row of cars, one started up and pulled out, following them.

Fred and Buffy ran down the sidewalk, glancing back over their shoulders at the car following them. Another driver pulled across the sidewalk, cutting them off and they dashed out into the street, heading for the opposite side. The first car instantly accelerated, heading straight for Buffy and Fred. Buffy grabbed Fred's arm and leapt out of the way at the last second and tumbled to the grass as the driver slammed into a parked car. Both vehicles exploded in a massive fireball. Buffy rolled onto her back and stared in shock as the driver got out of the flaming car and walked calmly toward her and Fred, his clothes ablaze. The fire started to melt his flesh but he seemed not to notice it as he reached his hand out toward them.

"Fred? Buffy? Don't be afraid, Buffy. Don't be afraid, Fred."

Then the man dropped to the ground, dead. Buffy was more than freaked now and she grabbed Fred's arm and together, the two women took off running.