Chapter 68

Fred and Buffy walked along the side of the road winding through Griffith Park. They were all alone, the sun lowering on the horizon, the wind whistling forlornly through the trees. Buffy watched warily as an SUV passed them by. It proceeded past them up the road for about 200 feet, then screeched to a halt. Tires squealed as it backed toward them at high velocity. Buffy sighed and tackled Fred off the road into the bushes. Buffy hadn't realized here was an embankment and they tumbled down the hill and then crashing through the roof of a small cave.

Fred crash-landed on top of a gnome-like creature. It was green with small worm-like tentacles trailing off either side of a mouth filled with small but sharp teeth. The little beast fought with Fred and they both rolled across the dirt floor, a tangle of arms and legs, toward the creature's campfire. Buffy grabbed the little demon off of Fred and tossed him to the other side of the cave while Fred picked up a hatchet.

The demon held his hands up. "I'm a vegetarian!"

"Really? With those choppers?" Buffy asked.

"Okay. I eat fish and occasionally vermin. But that's it, I swear! You believe me, don't you?"

"You're still breathing, aren't you?"

"More like hyperventilating. You two scared the cream cheese out of me."

"Glad to know I still have that effect on demons."

"Say what?"

"Do you know who I am?"

"Not really, but you do like this familiar celebrity.. Sarah something."

"Ever heard of a Slayer?"

"Who hasn't?"

"You'd be surprised." Buffy helped Fred stand up. Fred she checked her injuries, wincing at the sore spots. She stripped off her jacket and kneaded her bruised shoulder.

"What are you doing? Don't do that. Come on, get a room!"

"Oh, sit down! Any monkey business and I'll chop you down like a cherry tree." Buffy growled. "And I don't need an axe." Buffy glared menacingly and the demon reluctantly complied. Fred gingerly sat down on the opposite side of the cave from him, groaning from her aches and pains. "You ok?" Buffy asked her.

"Don't have you're healing abilities, but I'll be ok." Fred said.

"Yeah. Just call me Wolverine's daughter."

The demon sat on the opposite side of the cave, watching them. "You a big fan of X-Men? I thought the movie was great. Really did the comics justice."

"Hey! Do you ever shut up?"

"So we're just going to sit here like this?"

"Maybe."

"Can you give me a time frame? Cause I got a bladder the size of a Jujube."

"Ew! Would you just shut up? We're trying to figure some stuff out."

The demon glared, but then he complied and sat silently. Fred was thinking hard and Buffy could really tell. A couple of hours passed with Fred and Buffy conversing quietly. Buffy was now sitting on the ground, back against the rock wall, and her knees up to her chin.

"Kind of drafty in here, what with that hole you two smashed in the roof. You mind if I quest for fire?" The demon asked, standing and going to the fire.

"Sit down." Buffy barked.

He sat down quickly. "Forget it. I'll just freeze to death. Not like I care anymore. I'm on the run like an animal."

"You don't live here?" Fred asked.

"Do you live in a dirt hole?"

"No."

"Do you want to live in a dirt hole?"

"No."

"Then why the hell do you think that I live in a dirt hole?"

"You're a demon." Buffy said, standing up.

"I'm an executive demon, thank you very much. I had an office and an assistant and a beautiful porcelain cup for my tea. Now I live in a dirt hole because of those freakin' Jasmaniacs and their demon jihad."

"Wait.. you're here because of Jasmine?" Fred asked. "Us, too. We're fugitives, too."

"Wow, amazing! Three beings, as dissimilar as you two and me, discovering a shared link against a common foe. Huh. The irony. My feelings for you two are changing. I feel.. warmth. Wait. No, I don't. That's just me wetting myself because you wouldn't let me pee! Thanks for nothing."

"Hey, I'm as new to this fugitive thing as you are. That's what we've been trying to suss out all night: how Jasmine controls people. We have to stop her."

"Okay, we'll stop her. But not tonight. Not till I've had a little shut- eye. I'm beat." He walked over to a pile of blankets and lifted off the top one, revealing four severed human hands. Fred gasped in shock and the creature looked down, realizing his gig was up in the presence of a Slayer. "Hey.. these yours? Cause I've never seen em before. Why would anyone keep a stash of these tasty little.. I mean, disgusting meaty things like this laying around?" Buffy put her hands on her hips and glared. "Okay. So.. not a vegetarian." He ripped a finger off and munched on it. "Finger food?" Buffy glared, not buying it for a minute. The demon dropped the hand, bared his teeth, and charged Buffy. He leapt on her, driving her to the ground and sunk his teeth into her shoulder. "I got your demon jihad right here!" The little beast bit her again, pulling away a chunk of flesh and eating it. Buffy cried out in pain and she closed her hand around the hatchet lying next to her. She raised it up and slammed the blade down into the back of the demon's head, killing it.

"Son of a bitch." Buffy said, heaving the dead monster off of her and struggling to her feet. She held her injured arm. As Fred looked at the blood oozing from the wound, a realization hit her. Buffy saw it. "What?"

"Blood." Fred said.

"Yeah. You tend to bleed a lot when you're a Slayer. Comes with the job."

"No. I meant, that's how we break Jasmine's glamour."

Buffy understood what she meant. "When we were washing Jasmine's shirt, the blood from it sunk into my stomach wound when I touched it and it sunk into your fingers when they bled from scrubbing too hard."

"So all we have to do is get some of Jasmine's blood."

"Easier said than done." Buffy looked up. "I think I have a plan."
Buffy and Fred stood in front of the bookstore surrounded by people, all followers of Jasmine, all staring at them blankly. They had stopped and gotten a couple of jackets from the car at the motel. Nobody had seen them luckily. Now, here they were in front of a lot of people who were prepared to kill them. Buffy sighed and said, "Here we are. Come and get us." Nobody moved. "Ok, then, we're going to go in here and wait." They turned and headed into the store.

Ted stared at them. "Hey Fred. Hey Buffy."

"You know our names." Fred said.

"You two are famous." He started towards them.

"Then you know I'm not just a girl." Buffy said. "One step closer and you'll be a woman the rest of your life."

"No need to worry. We're under strict orders not to hurt you."

"How'd I figure? Jasmine's coming for us."

"Yeah. Hey, could I get your autograph?"

Buffy held up her hand and stopped Ted. She and Fred walked over to the counter, opening the drawer there. "Anything for a fan. Who should I sign it to?"

"To me, of course." Jasmine said. She was standing in the doorway with Angel on one side and Connor on the other. She turned to Ted. "And to reward you for your faithfulness.. Dallas. November 22, 1963. There was no second gunman. Oswald acted alone."

"Oh my God!" Ted said.

Jasmine smiled, then turned to Buffy and Fred. Her smile turned predatory. "You know that I love you, don't you? And there's nothing you can do or say to make me stop loving you."

"I'm so sorry." Buffy said.

"It's okay. I forgive you both."

"No. I'm talking to my husband. I hope he can forgive me." Buffy lifted her hand from inside the drawer to reveal she was holding Ted's gun. She aimed it at Jasmine and fired with perfect aim. The bullet punched through Jasmine's shoulder and buried itself in Angel's chest. He reeled backward, then whirled on Buffy, his face vampiric. As Connor rushed to Jasmine's aid, Angel leapt across the room, knocked Fred back against the wall, yanked Buffy out from behind the counter, seized the gun from her and jammed it up under her chin, cocking the hammer.

"Dumb idea for such a Slayer." Angel growled. "You know bullets don't kill me. You want to see how they work on you?"

Buffy lifted her hand to Angel's cheek and pushed his head gently in Jasmine's direction. "Look at her, Angel."

Angel looked over at Jasmine and saw a moldering corpse, maggots squirming in its eye sockets. "No! No.."

"Angel?" Jasmine asked confused.

Buffy sat up and helped Fred to her feet. She walked over to Angel. "I'm sorry. I had to show you. I'm so sorry."

"Show you what?" Connor asked.

"No, it can't be." Angel said.

Jasmine took her hand from her wound and looked down at the blood, realizing. "My blood.."

"Dad, what's going on?" Connor asked. He moved towards Angel, but Jasmine stopped him.

"Don't! He's been infected. I'm sorry, Connor. He's as dead to us as your mother and Fred."

Fred leaned down and picked up the discarded handgun. She pointed it at Jasmine tearfully. "I loved you so much." She fired. The bullets slammed into Jasmine's body staggering her. Connor wrenched the gun away before she could fire more than three rounds and hurled her over the counter.

He turned to Jasmine as Buffy started forward. "We need to get you out of here." Buffy grabbed Connor's arm and spun him to face her. He punched her in the face and she blocked the next punch. "You ruined everything!" Connor yelled.

"Yeah? I did? Sorry about that." Buffy punched Connor hard and he staggered, getting ready to come at her again. "You don't want to do that. I'm stronger than you."

Connor stared at her, then backed down. He turned to Jasmine. "I don't understand. How did it happen?"

Buffy ignored the rest as she went back over to Angel and Fred. Fred was unconscious and Angel was holding her. They walked out the back and went out into the night. Buffy found an alley a few blocks from the store and Angel set Fred down. He walked away from Buffy and leaned against a wall. Buffy tried to hold back the tears. She felt so bad that she had ruined Angel's happy. With a deep breath, she turned to Angel. "Angel? You okay?"

"Bullet feels like a bee sting." Angel said.

"That's not what I meant."

"I know what you meant. I don't want to talk about it."

"I think you do." Buffy walked over to him and put her hands on his chest.

He took them in his hands and looked down at Buffy. "I miss her so much. I never.. Not since you were gone."

"I know. It's been over a week and I still cry. Part of me wishes I still believed the lie."

"Well, why don't we? I mean, I'm not exactly clear on.."

"Jasmine's blood. It was on the bullet that hit you. Somehow it breaks her spell when it mingles with ours. I think it must have got in my system when I was trying to help Fred get the blood off Her blouse."

"You did the right thing, Buffy. It took a lot of courage." Buffy started to cry and he pulled her to him. "Look, it must have been hard for you."

"I'm sorry. I've been so alone, even with Fred here.. and I was so scared. I don't feel like a champion anymore. I don't feel like I should be the Slayer."

"Everything I see says different." Buffy looked up at him and he wiped away the tears from her cheeks. Behind them, Fred stood up and walked over.

She offered them a smile, but then got down to business. "We need more of Jasmine's blood. We have to help the others."

"We'll never get close to her. Not now." Angel said.

"Then we need another way."

He thought for a minute then looked at Buffy, hesitating. Buffy looked at him. "What?"

"It's pretty horrible but maybe.." Voices came from the end of the alley as several people approached. Fred ducked behind a dumpster and Buffy quickly grabbed Angel and started kissing him, making out like lovers out on the town. The voices faded and Buffy broke the kiss, her lips still inches from Angel's. "Wow. I missed that."

"You think they bought it?"

"I did. I mean, I didn't hear anything. God I missed you."

"Angel.." They turned around to find half a dozen men and women staring at them silently.

"Angel.." Said one woman.

"You're dead, Buffy." Said a man.

"I'm thinking they didn't buy it." Angel said.

"Well, there goes that plan." Buffy said.

"Get him!" A man yelled.

Buffy and Angel glanced at each other and then waded into the mob. They punched and kicked their way through. Once everyone was unconscious instead of dead, Buffy turned and called to Fred. She came out from behind the dumpster and joined Buffy and Angel. They decided it was best to get somewhere safe, so they headed down the nearest manhole.

"You guys came down here a lot, huh?" Angel asked.

"It's not like we would leave for Bali or anything." Buffy said, holding Angel's hand tightly. "We're fugitives. The sewers are perfect for us."

"I'm sorry about this."

"It's ok. We're used to it by now. What were you thinking before we got interrupted?"

"Oh! Jasmine's blood! Well, it's kinda bad in the small picture, but in the bigger picture.. Cordelia."

"Cordelia's the bigger picture?" Fred asked.

Buffy knew what he was saying. "Cordy's blood might have the same effect as Jasmine's. Cordy did carry Jasmine and I remember all those baby books talking about how pregnancy works! The mother and the baby share blood."

"So, if Connor shares your blood, then Jasmine should share Cordelia's blood." Angel said.

"Why Cordelia though?" Fred asked.

"She's the easiest to get to seeing as how she's a little comatose." Buffy said. "Connor would fight and that would cause attention and that would cause us to get caught." Buffy looked at Angel, who was sniffing the air. "What?"

"You're hurt." He said.

"Yeah. Turns out vamps aren't the only things that bite in this town." She pulled down her jacket enough to bare her shoulder. Angel ran his thumb over it gently, causing Buffy to hiss.

"We need to patch that up."

"I'll be fine. It's a lot worse than it looks. You should have seen it earlier." Angel looked at her concerned. "The demon's dead and I'm not."

"It could have been poisonous."

"If it was, I'd be dead right now. Besides, the only threat it poses now is not decomposing properly and the hole in the Ozone layer gets bigger."

"Still.." Buffy silenced him with a gentle kiss on the lips. "Ok, let's get going."