Chapter 30
Buffy sat in the back of the airplane curled in on herself. She was on the floor in the corner, knees up to her chest and head buried in her arms. They had allowed Fred to die. They had allowed Illyria to take over their friend and come into this world. Spike was sitting closer to her, but he was more occupied with getting drunk. Angel was sitting facing away from them, brooding. Spike emptied another Jack Daniels and set it on a table with about ten other tiny, empty bottles and picked up another full one.
"Can't even get drunk." Spike said. "Why would anyone ever make a bottle this small? It's inhuman. Thousands would have died if we'd saved her."
"Yeah." Angel said.
"She wouldn't have wanted that."
"Yeah. I tried calling Wes. There was no answer."
"I guess she's gone, then. It's like a bloody tease. It's like, 'Here's what a bottle of Jack would look like if you actually had one,' or, 'here's a drink, but it's very far away.'" Spike held the bottle at arm's length and then held his other hand to his brow like he was looking into a telescope.
"What does that mean? Really?"
"It's a play on perspective."
"Gone. What does it mean that she's gone?"
"Well, in the world of men, a person dies, they stay that way."
"Unless you're a vampire."
"Or the ghost of one that saved the world."
Buffy looked up. "Or me! Death doesn't have to be the end, not in our world. Rules can be broken. All you have to do.... is push hard enough." Both vampires looked at her. "We have to find Willow. She can bring back Fred."
"Do you think she'll do it?" Angel asked.
"She has to."
***
Wesley pulled his handgun out of his shoulder holster, pointed it at a tied up Knox in Angel's office, and cocked it.
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"Do you know?" Wesley asked, choking up. "You didn't feel her die. She was shaking with pain and terrified and so brave. And she was better than anyone I've known, and better than.... and she's gone."
"I know." Buffy said. Wes put the gun down when he saw Buffy, Angel, and Spike in the doorway. "Now let's get her back."
Twenty minutes later, everyone was gathered in Angel's office. Angel had just told them what had happened in England, leaving out the part about letting Fred die. "So that's it?" Gunn asked. "England was a bust?"
"Not entirely." Angel said. "We found out where the sarcophagus came from. There were thousands of them."
"Minus one." Spike said.
"What about this Drogyn guy?" Dawn asked. "He wouldn't help?"
"Couldn't. We were too late." Angel said.
"I should've seen it." Lorne said. "Knox. He sang for me and I should've seen this."
"It's not your fault." Buffy said.
"If I had concentrated harder, read him better, maybe Fred...."
"Look, there's a lot we might have done, all right? Starting with never coming to Wolfram & Hart in the first place. We can beat ourselves up over it later, but right now...."
"I'm sorry, Blondie. I, um.... I got nothing." Lorne stood. "I'm sorry." He walked out.
"Lorne...."
"No, let him go." Spike said. "If he's doubting himself, he won't be any good to us."
"Lorne's right." Gunn said. "We should have seen this coming."
"Ah, it wouldn't have made a difference." Angel said. "Drogyn said the sarcophagus was preordained to be released. Nothing could have stopped it from arriving."
"That's not completely true. I played a round of piñata with lab boy while you were gone. The sarcophagus was stuck in customs and it should have stayed there, but someone got it out."
"Who?" Wesley asked.
"I'm working on it."
"Oh, you're working on it? Good for you, Charles. Not a moment to lose."
"Wes...." Buffy walked over to him and took his hand. "I know you're hurting, but keep your footing. We need you sharp, all of you, for Fred's sake."
"There is no Fred anymore."
"You don't know that." Gunn said.
"I watched it gut her from the inside out. Everything she was is gone. There is nothing left but a shell."
"Then we'll figure out a way to fill it back up." Angel said.
"The thing only took over her body. Just a tip of the theological." Spike said.
"It's the soul that matters." Buffy said, looking at her vampires.
"What about her...." Gunn tried. "If her organs have been liquefied?"
"Flash fried in a pillar of fire saving the world. I got better." Spike said.
"You really believe there's a chance of bringing her back?" Wesley asked, looking at Buffy.
Buffy looked at Wesley grimly. "I'm here. Besides, Fred's soul is out there somewhere. We'll find it, and we'll put it back where it belongs. Then we'll make every son of a bitch who had a hand in this pay. We all on the same page?"
"Are you back?" Dawn asked.
"With a vengeance."
"Where do we start?" Gunn asked.
"We need the big guns."
"Willow." Wesley said.
"Won't be the first time she rattled the dead. Last time I heard she was in South America." Spike said.
"Then we'll track her down and get her here as soon as we can." Angel said.
"In the meantime, we need to contain Illyria." Buffy said. "Wes, you're the only one who had contact. Any idea where she's headed?" Wesley shook his head. "It's ok. We'll figure this out." Buffy pulled out her cell phone. "I'll try Willow. You guys get on whatever you need to get on." The Slayer dialed Willow's number, but no one picked up. After trying a few more times, she gave up.
"Not there?" Angel asked.
"I'm calling Giles. Maybe she moved again." Buffy called her ex-Watcher. "It's me. Buffy. Giles, I don't have time for formalities. I need Willow. As in now. What do you mean I can't reach her? She's in the Himalayas? I thought she was in South America." Buffy took a deep breath and glanced at Angel who was watching her. "All right, look.... What do you mean she's not on this plane? You just said.... Astral projection? Well, is there any way to get her astral ass over to L.A.? Giles, this is an emergency. No. No, I'm not going.... Don't you dare put me on hold. Yes, I'm back at Wolfram & Hart. What does that have to do with anything? Would you just.... Giles, shut up and listen to me for once! Giles? Giles!? God damn it!" Buffy let out a scream and threw the phone against the wall, shattering it. "That stubborn son of a bitch!" The Slayer turned and looked at everyone else. "We're on our own."
"Good, cause I was wondering." Spike said.
"Nothing's changed, all right? We find Illyria and...."
"Smack her a good one for me." Harmony said, walking in. She pointed to her bruised cheek, annoyed. "So gonna leave a mark."
"She's here?" Buffy asked.
"Duh!"
"Where!?"
"The lab."
"Angel...."
"I'll gather the ops." Angel said, headed to the phone.
"I'll get Illyria." Buffy walked out.
"Buffy, wait!"
The Slayer marched to the lab, Gunn, Spike, and Wesley mere steps behind her. Angel and the ops caught up a minute later and they all strode into the lab. "I'm ready to begin." Illyria said.
"Or we could just hang out." Angel said.
"A warrior. I was beginning to wonder if this world was void of your kind."
"Plenty of us to go around." Buffy said.
"You are just a mere child."
"You're gonna wish that."
"Two half-breeds, a little girl, and a band of primitives. Is this all that challenges me now?"
"That, and a whole lot of bullets." Angel said. The guards cocked their machine guns and pointed them at Illyria.
"Enough to temporarily incapacitate even you." Wesley said.
Buffy took a step forward. "We know what you are, Illyria. We've seen the rest of your kind. All the old ones, sealed away forever, like you were. Where you should've stayed. You've taken something of ours, something very precious. Stand down and I promise we won't destroy you taking it back. Your choice."
"I decline." Illyria grabbed Angel, who was closer to her than Buffy and threw him through the window.
"Angel!" Buffy yelled. She looked at Illyria. "That's two!" The Slayer went to attack Illyria, but she got slightly dizzy and a second later, Illyria was gone. "What the hell?"
"Where'd she go?" Spike asked.
"I don't know." Buffy ran out and got to the lobby just as the elevator doors opened and a bloody Angel got off.
He looked at Buffy as she threw herself into his arms. He winced, but didn't disappoint her with a tight hug. "I'm ok. What do you got?"
"Smoke and mirrors." Spike said, walking down the steps with Wesley.
"No trace of either of them." Wesley said.
Gunn walked in. "I put tactical on Code Black. If Illyria shows up again...."
"She won't. She got what she came for." Buffy said.
"Knox?" Harmony asked.
"And some spiffy new threads." Spike said.
"Any idea how she got past you?" Dawn asked.
"One second she was standing there, the next, poof." Buffy said.
"She's a teleporter?" Angel asked.
"I don't think so." Wesley said. "No characteristic displacement of the atmosphere around her."
"I fancied I saw a blur just before she went Houdini." Spike said.
"Yeah, like she was pulling a Barry Allen." Gunn said. Angel looked at him, not recognizing the name. Gunn looked around at the others. "Jay Garrick? Wally.... Like she was moving really fast."
"Or we were moving very slow." Buffy said. "Great. She's super strong and she can alter time."
"Well, that's not fair." Harmony said.
"It makes it complicated, but doesn't change what we need to do. Wes, take the lab apart. Check Knox's files, the sarcophagus, anything that can help us get Fred back."
"I'll go with." Dawn said. "I helped Fred, I know where everything is at." Harmony followed Wes. "Come on. I got a degree in tearing things up."
"Never a truer word." Spike said.
"I got a few contacts I could try, see if anything shakes loose." Gunn said, walking off.
"Great. Do it." Angel said. He looked at Buffy and Spike. "See if we can track her down, figure out where she's headed now." They headed to Angel's office.
"Any thoughts on how we're supposed to track Fred or Illyria or whatever the hell that thing was?" Spike asked.
"We just do it, that's all."
"Back in the lab, she was standing right there in front of me, but there was no scent. Nothing. It's like she wasn't even there." "I know."
"Look.... I want Fred back as much as any of us.... but seeing her there, like that.... maybe she really is...."
"Stop. No. Just stop it! Fred is NOT gone. We are going to find a way to bring her back if I have to kidnap Willow and drag her here. I am not losing another friend. I lost Cordelia because some thing violated her. It crawled inside and used her up. No way in hell am I letting that happen again. I will NOT fail anyone ever, EVER again."
"I've never seen you this fired up."
"You've never seen me lose someone I care about and it be my.... My fault." Buffy struggled to hold in her tears, but Angel touched her back and she turned to let him hold her. She refused to cry, but she just wanted to be held.
Before they could leave a few minutes later, a secretary came in and informed them that Gunn was in medical because Wesley had stabbed him. The Slayer went to check on Gunn. He was quiet and asleep in bed. Gathering her wits, Buffy hardened once again and stormed into Wesley's office. She slammed him against the wall hard. "What the hell did you do?"
"What I had to." Wesley said.
"I don't remember seeing 'Stab Gunn' on the agenda this morning." Angel said.
"I avoided the major organs. He'll probably live."
Buffy slammed Wesley to the wall again. "Is that supposed to make it all right?"
"Nothing is all right! Nothing will ever be all right."
"We'll get her back, Wes."
"No, we won't. Fred's soul...." Wesley broke down into tears. "Her soul was destroyed resurrecting Illyria."
"Are you sure?" Wes nodded and walked away. "What about Gunn?"
"He let the sarcophagus into Wolfram & Hart. What he knew, when he knew it, it doesn't change what happened! He let her die."
"So did I." Wes looked up at Buffy. "At the Well in England, there was a way to save Fred, but only if thousands of others died in her place. As much as I love Fred, I couldn't let that happen." Buffy walked up to Wes and hugged him. She looked him in the eyes. "Look, I need you to bury it. Everything you're feeling, everyone you wanna hurt. I need you to put it aside and focus on what has to be done."
"Illyria."
"We need to stop her before...."
"She unleashes hell on Earth?" Spike appeared at the doorway, wiping his bloody hands on a towel. He had been torturing the doctor Gunn had talked to while Buffy had checked on Gunn.
"What'd you get out of the doctor?" Angel asked.
"Screams. Various fluids. And a name: Vahla ha'nesh."
"Vahla ha'nesh. What does that mean?"
"I think I know." Wesley said.
Buffy sat in the back of the airplane curled in on herself. She was on the floor in the corner, knees up to her chest and head buried in her arms. They had allowed Fred to die. They had allowed Illyria to take over their friend and come into this world. Spike was sitting closer to her, but he was more occupied with getting drunk. Angel was sitting facing away from them, brooding. Spike emptied another Jack Daniels and set it on a table with about ten other tiny, empty bottles and picked up another full one.
"Can't even get drunk." Spike said. "Why would anyone ever make a bottle this small? It's inhuman. Thousands would have died if we'd saved her."
"Yeah." Angel said.
"She wouldn't have wanted that."
"Yeah. I tried calling Wes. There was no answer."
"I guess she's gone, then. It's like a bloody tease. It's like, 'Here's what a bottle of Jack would look like if you actually had one,' or, 'here's a drink, but it's very far away.'" Spike held the bottle at arm's length and then held his other hand to his brow like he was looking into a telescope.
"What does that mean? Really?"
"It's a play on perspective."
"Gone. What does it mean that she's gone?"
"Well, in the world of men, a person dies, they stay that way."
"Unless you're a vampire."
"Or the ghost of one that saved the world."
Buffy looked up. "Or me! Death doesn't have to be the end, not in our world. Rules can be broken. All you have to do.... is push hard enough." Both vampires looked at her. "We have to find Willow. She can bring back Fred."
"Do you think she'll do it?" Angel asked.
"She has to."
***
Wesley pulled his handgun out of his shoulder holster, pointed it at a tied up Knox in Angel's office, and cocked it.
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"Do you know?" Wesley asked, choking up. "You didn't feel her die. She was shaking with pain and terrified and so brave. And she was better than anyone I've known, and better than.... and she's gone."
"I know." Buffy said. Wes put the gun down when he saw Buffy, Angel, and Spike in the doorway. "Now let's get her back."
Twenty minutes later, everyone was gathered in Angel's office. Angel had just told them what had happened in England, leaving out the part about letting Fred die. "So that's it?" Gunn asked. "England was a bust?"
"Not entirely." Angel said. "We found out where the sarcophagus came from. There were thousands of them."
"Minus one." Spike said.
"What about this Drogyn guy?" Dawn asked. "He wouldn't help?"
"Couldn't. We were too late." Angel said.
"I should've seen it." Lorne said. "Knox. He sang for me and I should've seen this."
"It's not your fault." Buffy said.
"If I had concentrated harder, read him better, maybe Fred...."
"Look, there's a lot we might have done, all right? Starting with never coming to Wolfram & Hart in the first place. We can beat ourselves up over it later, but right now...."
"I'm sorry, Blondie. I, um.... I got nothing." Lorne stood. "I'm sorry." He walked out.
"Lorne...."
"No, let him go." Spike said. "If he's doubting himself, he won't be any good to us."
"Lorne's right." Gunn said. "We should have seen this coming."
"Ah, it wouldn't have made a difference." Angel said. "Drogyn said the sarcophagus was preordained to be released. Nothing could have stopped it from arriving."
"That's not completely true. I played a round of piñata with lab boy while you were gone. The sarcophagus was stuck in customs and it should have stayed there, but someone got it out."
"Who?" Wesley asked.
"I'm working on it."
"Oh, you're working on it? Good for you, Charles. Not a moment to lose."
"Wes...." Buffy walked over to him and took his hand. "I know you're hurting, but keep your footing. We need you sharp, all of you, for Fred's sake."
"There is no Fred anymore."
"You don't know that." Gunn said.
"I watched it gut her from the inside out. Everything she was is gone. There is nothing left but a shell."
"Then we'll figure out a way to fill it back up." Angel said.
"The thing only took over her body. Just a tip of the theological." Spike said.
"It's the soul that matters." Buffy said, looking at her vampires.
"What about her...." Gunn tried. "If her organs have been liquefied?"
"Flash fried in a pillar of fire saving the world. I got better." Spike said.
"You really believe there's a chance of bringing her back?" Wesley asked, looking at Buffy.
Buffy looked at Wesley grimly. "I'm here. Besides, Fred's soul is out there somewhere. We'll find it, and we'll put it back where it belongs. Then we'll make every son of a bitch who had a hand in this pay. We all on the same page?"
"Are you back?" Dawn asked.
"With a vengeance."
"Where do we start?" Gunn asked.
"We need the big guns."
"Willow." Wesley said.
"Won't be the first time she rattled the dead. Last time I heard she was in South America." Spike said.
"Then we'll track her down and get her here as soon as we can." Angel said.
"In the meantime, we need to contain Illyria." Buffy said. "Wes, you're the only one who had contact. Any idea where she's headed?" Wesley shook his head. "It's ok. We'll figure this out." Buffy pulled out her cell phone. "I'll try Willow. You guys get on whatever you need to get on." The Slayer dialed Willow's number, but no one picked up. After trying a few more times, she gave up.
"Not there?" Angel asked.
"I'm calling Giles. Maybe she moved again." Buffy called her ex-Watcher. "It's me. Buffy. Giles, I don't have time for formalities. I need Willow. As in now. What do you mean I can't reach her? She's in the Himalayas? I thought she was in South America." Buffy took a deep breath and glanced at Angel who was watching her. "All right, look.... What do you mean she's not on this plane? You just said.... Astral projection? Well, is there any way to get her astral ass over to L.A.? Giles, this is an emergency. No. No, I'm not going.... Don't you dare put me on hold. Yes, I'm back at Wolfram & Hart. What does that have to do with anything? Would you just.... Giles, shut up and listen to me for once! Giles? Giles!? God damn it!" Buffy let out a scream and threw the phone against the wall, shattering it. "That stubborn son of a bitch!" The Slayer turned and looked at everyone else. "We're on our own."
"Good, cause I was wondering." Spike said.
"Nothing's changed, all right? We find Illyria and...."
"Smack her a good one for me." Harmony said, walking in. She pointed to her bruised cheek, annoyed. "So gonna leave a mark."
"She's here?" Buffy asked.
"Duh!"
"Where!?"
"The lab."
"Angel...."
"I'll gather the ops." Angel said, headed to the phone.
"I'll get Illyria." Buffy walked out.
"Buffy, wait!"
The Slayer marched to the lab, Gunn, Spike, and Wesley mere steps behind her. Angel and the ops caught up a minute later and they all strode into the lab. "I'm ready to begin." Illyria said.
"Or we could just hang out." Angel said.
"A warrior. I was beginning to wonder if this world was void of your kind."
"Plenty of us to go around." Buffy said.
"You are just a mere child."
"You're gonna wish that."
"Two half-breeds, a little girl, and a band of primitives. Is this all that challenges me now?"
"That, and a whole lot of bullets." Angel said. The guards cocked their machine guns and pointed them at Illyria.
"Enough to temporarily incapacitate even you." Wesley said.
Buffy took a step forward. "We know what you are, Illyria. We've seen the rest of your kind. All the old ones, sealed away forever, like you were. Where you should've stayed. You've taken something of ours, something very precious. Stand down and I promise we won't destroy you taking it back. Your choice."
"I decline." Illyria grabbed Angel, who was closer to her than Buffy and threw him through the window.
"Angel!" Buffy yelled. She looked at Illyria. "That's two!" The Slayer went to attack Illyria, but she got slightly dizzy and a second later, Illyria was gone. "What the hell?"
"Where'd she go?" Spike asked.
"I don't know." Buffy ran out and got to the lobby just as the elevator doors opened and a bloody Angel got off.
He looked at Buffy as she threw herself into his arms. He winced, but didn't disappoint her with a tight hug. "I'm ok. What do you got?"
"Smoke and mirrors." Spike said, walking down the steps with Wesley.
"No trace of either of them." Wesley said.
Gunn walked in. "I put tactical on Code Black. If Illyria shows up again...."
"She won't. She got what she came for." Buffy said.
"Knox?" Harmony asked.
"And some spiffy new threads." Spike said.
"Any idea how she got past you?" Dawn asked.
"One second she was standing there, the next, poof." Buffy said.
"She's a teleporter?" Angel asked.
"I don't think so." Wesley said. "No characteristic displacement of the atmosphere around her."
"I fancied I saw a blur just before she went Houdini." Spike said.
"Yeah, like she was pulling a Barry Allen." Gunn said. Angel looked at him, not recognizing the name. Gunn looked around at the others. "Jay Garrick? Wally.... Like she was moving really fast."
"Or we were moving very slow." Buffy said. "Great. She's super strong and she can alter time."
"Well, that's not fair." Harmony said.
"It makes it complicated, but doesn't change what we need to do. Wes, take the lab apart. Check Knox's files, the sarcophagus, anything that can help us get Fred back."
"I'll go with." Dawn said. "I helped Fred, I know where everything is at." Harmony followed Wes. "Come on. I got a degree in tearing things up."
"Never a truer word." Spike said.
"I got a few contacts I could try, see if anything shakes loose." Gunn said, walking off.
"Great. Do it." Angel said. He looked at Buffy and Spike. "See if we can track her down, figure out where she's headed now." They headed to Angel's office.
"Any thoughts on how we're supposed to track Fred or Illyria or whatever the hell that thing was?" Spike asked.
"We just do it, that's all."
"Back in the lab, she was standing right there in front of me, but there was no scent. Nothing. It's like she wasn't even there." "I know."
"Look.... I want Fred back as much as any of us.... but seeing her there, like that.... maybe she really is...."
"Stop. No. Just stop it! Fred is NOT gone. We are going to find a way to bring her back if I have to kidnap Willow and drag her here. I am not losing another friend. I lost Cordelia because some thing violated her. It crawled inside and used her up. No way in hell am I letting that happen again. I will NOT fail anyone ever, EVER again."
"I've never seen you this fired up."
"You've never seen me lose someone I care about and it be my.... My fault." Buffy struggled to hold in her tears, but Angel touched her back and she turned to let him hold her. She refused to cry, but she just wanted to be held.
Before they could leave a few minutes later, a secretary came in and informed them that Gunn was in medical because Wesley had stabbed him. The Slayer went to check on Gunn. He was quiet and asleep in bed. Gathering her wits, Buffy hardened once again and stormed into Wesley's office. She slammed him against the wall hard. "What the hell did you do?"
"What I had to." Wesley said.
"I don't remember seeing 'Stab Gunn' on the agenda this morning." Angel said.
"I avoided the major organs. He'll probably live."
Buffy slammed Wesley to the wall again. "Is that supposed to make it all right?"
"Nothing is all right! Nothing will ever be all right."
"We'll get her back, Wes."
"No, we won't. Fred's soul...." Wesley broke down into tears. "Her soul was destroyed resurrecting Illyria."
"Are you sure?" Wes nodded and walked away. "What about Gunn?"
"He let the sarcophagus into Wolfram & Hart. What he knew, when he knew it, it doesn't change what happened! He let her die."
"So did I." Wes looked up at Buffy. "At the Well in England, there was a way to save Fred, but only if thousands of others died in her place. As much as I love Fred, I couldn't let that happen." Buffy walked up to Wes and hugged him. She looked him in the eyes. "Look, I need you to bury it. Everything you're feeling, everyone you wanna hurt. I need you to put it aside and focus on what has to be done."
"Illyria."
"We need to stop her before...."
"She unleashes hell on Earth?" Spike appeared at the doorway, wiping his bloody hands on a towel. He had been torturing the doctor Gunn had talked to while Buffy had checked on Gunn.
"What'd you get out of the doctor?" Angel asked.
"Screams. Various fluids. And a name: Vahla ha'nesh."
"Vahla ha'nesh. What does that mean?"
"I think I know." Wesley said.